Chapter 137 I will serve you in the future

"Why didn't Eunuch Chu come today?"

Until the evening, Li Fu still hadn't seen Chu Ran, who had occasionally appeared in front of him recently, and finally couldn't help but ask Dong Quan.

Dong Quan bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, Xiao Chu has asked for leave."

"Take a leave?" Li Fu was stunned for a moment, "How long will the leave be?"

"Five days."

Five days.

Li Fu thought about his dream last night, in which Chu Ran told him that he would not come for the next few days. He also told Li Fu not to eat anything indiscriminately and not to cut himself with a dagger again.

Li Fu asked him: "How many days is it exactly?"

Chu Ran thought about it and said, "Five days, five days is fine."

Five days was really a long time. When Li Fu heard this number, he felt like the sky was falling.

But Chu Ran just looked like he was negotiating, in fact Li Fu had no room to refuse.

"His Majesty?"

Dong Quan saw that the emperor looked a little strange. After thinking for a while, he boldly speculated: "Your Majesty, do you want Xiao Chu to serve you? If so, I can..."

"No need." Li Fu said expressionlessly.

…

"Oh, you took five days off? Where are you going to stay during these five days?"

Li Dingning sat on a low stool at a noodle stall on the street outside the palace and slurped a mouthful of noodles.

Chu Ran sat opposite Li Dingning and ate a few mouthfuls of food. After hearing Li Dingning's question, he thought for a moment and said, "I'm not going back to the palace anyway, so I can just stay in a hotel."

"You can live with me. I have several houses outside the palace."

"Thank you, Your Highness. But it's not necessary. I don't think you can stay here for more than a few days."

Chu Ran thought about it, suddenly raised his head and smiled at Li Dingning.

The noodles made on the roadside only had a little salt in them and a piece of sesame leaf sprinkled on top. The taste was very bland. Li Dingning, who was used to eating big fish, meat, and delicacies from land and sea, naturally couldn't stand this. He stopped eating after one or two bites.

"Xiao Linzi, can we not eat here next time? The noodles here are too disgusting."

Li Dingning has always been a person who cannot bear to suffer injustice. If he is dissatisfied with something, he will definitely say it to others in person.

Chu Ran looked at him embarrassedly and said, "I don't have any money... Next time, when I get my monthly salary, I'll treat Your Highness to a good meal."

Chu Ran had only been back for a few months and didn't have much savings. This was already the best thing he could afford.

"You should have told me earlier if you didn't have money. I have plenty of money. At worst, I'll treat you to dinner."

"How can that be possible?" Chu Ran ate while mumbling, "It's my promise, so I have to treat you..."

After the meal, Li Dingning wanted to pay, but Chu Ran paid first.

Li Dingning didn't understand why Chu Ran was so obsessed with a meal. But for Chu Ran, it was more than just a meal.

Before, he was Chu Qinglin, and also a slave beside Li Dingning. The money he spent was given by Li Dingning, and he had to do whatever Li Dingning said. But now, he is Chu Ran, he spends his own money, and is no longer anyone's slave.

"Thank you for your help during this period, Your Highness." Chu Ran said.

The reason why Chu Ran came out of the palace to invite Li Dingning to dinner was that he wanted to express his gratitude.

Li Dingning didn't take Chu Ran's thanks seriously. He turned around and got on the carriage back.

After seeing Li Dingning off, Chu Ran found an inn on the roadside and stayed there.

Chu Ran really had no money, but luckily he had worked in a bookstore for a few months and had some money on hand so he wouldn't starve to death. But even so, he still had to live frugally and spend thriftily.

He had originally planned to spend all the savings he had accumulated over the years when he was Chu Qinglin, but when he went to the house where he used to live, he found that the entire yard had been sealed off by Li Fu's decree, and no one was allowed to enter. Chu Ran had no choice but to spend whatever he had.

On the first night of staying at the inn, Chu Ran fell asleep and did not get up until noon.

When I have nothing to do during the day, I just wander around the streets. When I’m hungry, I eat. When I’m sleepy, I go back to sleep.

Chu Ran felt that this was the life of his dreams, eating, sleeping and lying down, which was perfect for a salted fish like him.

Besides the lack of money, there is not much left.

When the money is gone, he will go back to the palace.

Today is the fourth day. Chu Ran went out for a stroll in broad daylight as usual. He felt hungry at noon, so he sat down in front of the noodle stall. He has been eating at this noodle stall for the past few days, not for any other reason, but mainly because the noodles here are the cheapest.

Chu Ran sat down on a stool and asked the store owner for a bowl of vegetarian noodles as usual.

"Shopkeeper, I want a bowl of vegetarian noodles too. Oh, and two eggs."

This voice was the one Chu Ran was most familiar with. He had once put his ear close to Chu Ran's ear and forced Chu Ran to say some embarrassing love words. Chu Ran refused to say it, so the owner of the voice kept rubbing and nudging Chu Ran in a coquettish manner, forcing Chu Ran to say those words.

Chu Ran looked up in shock, his eyes gradually turning red.

The figure in front of me was tall and straight, like a mountain. He stood against the light, his figure slender and majestic.

The little boy who was dressed in rags and bullied everywhere finally grew up to be a real man who could control his own destiny.

"Give me this bowl of noodles." Li Fu said to the shop owner.

He held two bowls of steaming noodles in his hands and turned around. Perhaps it was the mist in Chu Ran's eyes or the steam rising from the noodles, but Li Fu's face became blurry in Chu Ran's eyes, with only a rough outline remaining.

Until Li Fu sat down with two bowls of noodles and handed Chu Ran a pair of chopsticks.

Chu Ran lifted his sleeves and wiped away the non-existent tears from his eyes. His eyes were slightly red. "Are you healed?"

Li Fu didn’t know whether his illness was cured or not, he just knew that Chu Ran was back.

"Are you hungry?" Li Fu asked him.

Chu Ran nodded with red eyes. Li Fu put a salted egg into Chu Ran's bowl and said, "Eat it."

So Chu Ran lowered his head and concentrated on eating. Perhaps the hot steam made his eyes uncomfortable, so Chu Ran raised his sleeves to rub his eyes several times.

"I'm sorry for making you suffer." Li Fu said.

Chu Ran also felt that he was suffering.

It seemed as if he and Li Fu had always been like this, never going smoothly, as if fate just couldn't bear to see him and Li Fu live a good life. When they were finally together, fate always tried to find a way to separate them.

After eating a few mouthfuls, Chu Ran finally couldn't eat anymore. He lowered his head and whispered, "I don't want to eat anymore. I want to go back."

"Okay, let's go back."

Li Fu didn't even touch his chopsticks. After hearing Chu Ran say that he didn't want to eat anymore, Li Fu stood up, grabbed Chu Ran's wrist, and pulled Chu Ran to the carriage on the side of the road.

The carriage blocked the view of outsiders. As soon as they got on the carriage, Li Fu pulled Chu Ran to sit next to him.

"I should have recognized it sooner."

He held Chu Ran’s face with his right palm, and his thumb rested on the corner of Chu Ran’s red eyes.

"You know that too." Chu Ran said aggrievedly.

"It's my fault."

Chu Ran said: "It's just that you are not good."

"Um."

He held Chu Ran in his arms and gently stroked Chu Ran's back as it gradually relaxed, as if to comfort him.

The burden on his shoulders was finally lifted at this moment, and Chu Ran felt unprecedented relief in his heart.

"Working is really tiring, and serving others is also tiring. I don't want to serve others anymore in my life."

"Then I will serve you in the future."

"good……"