Chapter 62 Gentle Pain
Not long after Fu Yanle's mother passed away, Yan Chaoqing was busy with her career and traveling around, so Yu Jingchen was unable to see Fu Yanle again until the Lu family moved.
"Let's go for a walk outside."
Yu Jingchen reached out his hand, and Fu Yanle's fingertips curled slightly as he took his hand and stood up. This time, Yu Jingchen did not let go; he kept their hands tightly clasped together until they left the Yu family residence.
The Yu and Lu families were on the same road, and the two walked towards the Lu family's direction along the main road. Apart from the residents and their guests, no one else had the right to pass through, so it was very quiet here, and there were very few people coming and going.
Yu Jingchen walked on the outside. "The next time I saw you was on this road after you were three years old. You and Lu Minghe were running on the side of the road, and Grandpa Lu was chasing after you with a cane. I was sitting in the car and just passed by you, only getting a fleeting glance."
Fu Yanle looked towards the side of the road. Grandpa Lu advocated starting physical exercise from childhood, so ever since they moved here, he and Lu Minghe would walk along this road every day. Sometimes cars would pass by, but he never glanced at them.
Yu Jingchen said, "Actually, I didn't go back to the Yu family often back then because the school was far away. But since you moved here, I come back every week during my holidays, but I can never see you."
“Every weekend, Lu Minghe and I would go out and have fun. We are both very playful. During the week, we have to go to school and take extracurricular classes, so every weekend, we always have a lot of places we want to go and things we want to do. And every time we go out, we don’t want to go home.” Fu Yanle paused and said jokingly, “In the past, it seemed like we were destined to be apart.”
Yu Jingchen didn't respond to that, but said, "I come back every week, but I never see you. Later, when my mother finally had some time off, she would pick you up from school to have dinner. You were in sixth grade at the time, and when you came out of school, you were wearing your blue and white school uniform, full of youthful energy."
"In my memory, that was the first time I saw you and the first time I spoke to you." Fu Yanle recalled that distant and hazy memory.
He said, "I'll call you brother."
“I know it’s just a title, and it doesn’t mean anything to you.” Yu Jingchen suddenly stopped and pointed to a row of plane trees by the roadside. “Back then, a gatekeeper from the Yu family said that you and Lu Minghe climbed those trees.”
Fu Yanle gripped his hand tightly, without saying a word.
“Later, my mother went abroad, and I was busy with my studies, so I rarely went back to the Yu family even on weekends. You and your mother met a few times in between, but I didn’t make it. It wasn’t until your freshman year of college that your mother invited you to an art exhibition, and I saw you again. That time we added each other on WeChat,” Yu Jingchen said.
Fu Yanle's heart skipped a beat.
However, he already knew Su Fengyao at that time, or rather, his fate was already decided from that moment on. Otherwise, he wouldn't have distanced himself from Madam Yu, much less delete Yu Jingchen's WeChat account so long later. Only Fu Yanle would do something so thoughtless and irrational.
WeChat... WeChat!
Fu Yanle finally understood why Yu Jingchen's WeChat profile picture looked so familiar. That strangely styled pink doll... was the one he gave to Yan Chaoqing when they went to the art exhibition that day.
He always forgets everything related to Yu Jingchen, always.
Fu Yanle felt dizzy and suddenly broke free from Yu Jingchen's hand. He seemed to want to say something, and his mouth opened urgently. A mouthful of cold wind rushed into his mouth, and he immediately covered his mouth and coughed.
The first cough was so violent that his throat felt itchy. He coughed again, the coughing getting worse and worse, as if he couldn't stop. Yu Jingchen reached out to support him, but he took two steps back as if trying to escape, bent over and braced himself on his knees, choking on his cough, gagging, and tears streaming down his face.
The hat fell to the ground, turning into a blurry white in Fu Yanle's vision.
"Brother..." he clutched at his chest, "I feel terrible..."
Yu Jingchen reached out and pulled him up, his grip a little too strong. Fu Yanle choked back sobs, tears streaming down his face. Yu Jingchen kissed his cheek, his kiss reaching his eyes.
Tears were salty and wet; when they got into my mouth, even breathing felt bitter and numb.
Yu Jingchen didn't kiss Fu Yanle's lips, afraid that Fu Yanle wouldn't be able to breathe, because Fu Yanle was still crying. Yu Jingchen looked down at Fu Yanle, who was crying uncontrollably, and said in a bitter tone, "If I had known... I wouldn't have told you."
"No, don't not tell me..." Fu Yanle choked out, "Don't let me go."
Yu Jingchen cupped Fu Yanle's tear-streaked face in his hands, "It should be asking you not to let me go."
Fu Yanle hiccuped and nodded haphazardly.
“…Little kitten.” Yu Jingchen sighed. “Let’s go back.”
"I'll carry you on my back." Fu Yanle opened her arms, her moist, reddened eyes staring straight at Yu Jingchen. Yu Jingchen immediately turned around and squatted down, and Fu Yanle hopped onto her back.
Yu Jingchen stood up, carrying Fu Yanle on his back, while Fu Yanle pressed his chin against half of his shoulder. He walked steadily and slowly, each step careful and firm, because he wouldn't fall and wasn't afraid, but with Fu Yanle on his back, he was afraid of everything.
Fu Yanle would still occasionally let out a long, drawn-out breath, his body trembling slightly. He stared at Yu Jingchen's profile and suddenly said, "I'm going to have a runny nose."
"What should we do then?" Yu Jingchen teased him, "Won't you blow out another snot bubble?"
"Ugh!" Fu Yanle exclaimed angrily, "I'm going to spill it on your clothes and disgust you to death!"
Yu Jingchen smiled and said, "I didn't bring any toilet paper or handkerchiefs either, so you'll have to do with whatever you need."
Sensing that snot was about to stream down his face, Fu Yanle quickly tilted his head back and said in a muffled voice, "Hurry up and carry me back, I don't want to see anyone with my face covered in snot! Giddy up, hurry up and get going!"
"Marry? I want to get married soon too," Yu Jingchen asked, "but when will you marry me?"
"...Wow! Are you crazy?!" Fu Yanle punched Yu Jingchen's shoulder repeatedly, and thinking of his own face covered in tears and snot, he couldn't help but get furious. "If you don't hurry up, I'll smear my snot on your face! Even if I lose 20,000 of my own, I'll still hurt you 800!"
After he finished speaking, he leaned his face closer as a threat.
“You can do that. But if anyone sees anything suspicious on my face, I will expose you without hesitation.” Yu Jingchen calmly faced the danger and tried to persuade the little murderer. “But if you behave, I will cover for you and make sure no one knows.”
Fu Yanle roared in anger: "Aren't you human?!"
“I can be someone else.” Yu Jingchen suddenly lifted Fu Yanle up, startling Fu Yanle into looking up again.
The two argued back and forth for a few minutes before finally returning to the Yu family residence. Fu Yanle immediately fell silent, resting his forehead on Yu Jingchen's shoulder and quietly covering his nose with one hand.
The two old men were playing chess in the courtyard when they saw Yu Jingchen carrying Fu Yanle back, and they couldn't help but laugh.
Grandpa Lu said, "Oh, is Jingchen going for a walk with a heavy load?"
Grandpa Yu said, "Where did you bring back this little quail?"
Distracted from the game interface, Yan Zhihuai glanced at the screen from a distance and said, "So affectionate."
Without even looking up, Lu Minghe unleashed a powerful statement, saying, "That's how it is for young couples."
Yu Jingchen carried Fu Yanle back to the bedroom, placed him on the sofa, and then handed him a tissue.
Fu Yanle remained motionless, his eyes wide open, filled with resentment and anger, with a stubborn snot hanging from his nose.
“…I’ll wipe it for you.” Yu Jingchen suppressed a laugh and reached out to wipe Fu Yanle’s nose gently and carefully, giving the little snot no chance to escape. After wiping it, he took out a wet wipe and wiped away the remaining snot again.
Fu Yanle's gaze was deep and unwavering.
Yu Jingchen forcibly pressed Fu Yanle down on the sofa, then went into the bathroom and took out a towel that had been soaked in hot water, gently placing it on Fu Yanle's face. "You've been crying and have a runny nose, you need to apply a warm compress to prevent your face from getting cold."
Fu Yanle remained silent, like a corpse.
Yu Jingchen sat down on the sofa and gently poked the brown bear keychain on Fu Yanle's coat pocket. "On the first day of meeting the parents, Lele gave me the cold shoulder."
“First of all, I’m not speaking to myself, but to my soul. Secondly, this isn’t a cold war.” Fu Yanle said unhappily, “My behavior has a professional name: being furious.”
Yu Jingchen scratched Fu Yanle's hand, "So how long are you going to stay so angry?"
Fu Yanle's soul said earnestly, "No more than three minutes."
“Okay.” Yu Jingchen glanced at his watch. “It’s 8:11 p.m. now. Remember to reply to me in three minutes.”
After Yu Jingchen finished speaking, he got up and left the sofa.
Fu Yanle quickly began to count silently. He couldn't be soft on Yu Jingchen. He meant three minutes, and even a second less would be a sign of a lack of authority as a husband.
If you don't want to be utterly defeated, being soft-hearted is a major taboo!
57, 58, 59 —
Three minutes later, Fu Yanle promptly took off the hot water towel and sat up.
Yu Jingchen said, "Open your mouth."
Fu Yanle instinctively opened his mouth and was fed a candy. Yu Jingchen closed his mouth and ran his fingers across his cheek. Fu Yanle's eyelashes trembled slightly. He tasted the candy; it had a faint medicinal flavor, but it wasn't bitter at all.
"It's for soothing your throat. You were coughing so badly just now. If you don't moisturize it, you might become completely hoarse tomorrow." Yu Jingchen frowned as he recalled Fu Yanle's coughing and gagging. But all sorts of words—lecturing, pity...—swirled in his throat before he swallowed them back down.
“Three minutes have passed.” Fu Yanle puffed out one cheek. “I’m not angry anymore.”
Yu Jingchen smiled and sat down on the sofa, looking at him.
"...Why are you looking at me? It costs money." Fu Yanle rolled his eyes. "You have to pay if you look at me even once."
Yu Jingchen said, "How much do I have to pay? If it's too expensive, I'm going to file a complaint against you."
"I'm not a greedy person. My fees are very fair." Fu Yanle wrinkled his nose unhappily, and under Yu Jingchen's smiling gaze, he leaned in and gently kissed Yu Jingchen's lips.
Yu Jing froze, then got a playful bite from Fu Yanle and a fierce glare. He chuckled, reached out and pressed down on the back of Fu Yanle's neck, taking the initiative to taste the throat lozenge.
The throat lozenge was repeatedly tasted, gradually shrinking until it melted in Fu Yanle's mouth. Yu Jingchen licked it between his teeth and pulled it out.
Fu Yanle blushed and spat, "You stole my candy."
Yu Jingchen produced a glass bottle as if by magic and said, "You stingy guy, I'll give you another one."
Author's Note:
As usual, tomorrow will be updated in the afternoon and evening.
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