Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Do you like him?

"As for the company's new products for New Year's Day, I still plan to do what Zhao Zhao wants. After all, we owe him for so many years. As long as he asks, your aunt and I will give him everything we have. As for the original intention of Ruan's Food, the world is so big, who stipulates that only sweet things can make people feel happy? My son, who I have lost for more than ten years, acted coquettishly towards me for a mere new product for New Year's Day. That moment will be the happiest memory in my life. Ruan's Food was too narrow-minded in the past."

Because they felt indebted, Ruan's parents were extremely tolerant of Ruan Zhao. Even when Ruan Zhao asked for shares in Ruan Food as soon as he returned to China in the previous life, Ruan's parents gave them to him without saying a word. Until the Gu family was destroyed and the situation became irreversible, Ruan's parents no longer had the ability to stop it.

Of course, Gu Huaiyan was not thinking about these things. The only thing that kept echoing in his mind was that Ruan's father wanted to keep Ruan Zhao.

After leaving the study, he walked to the restaurant and subconsciously looked at where Ruan Zhao had been just now. Ruan Zhao was not there. Aunt Zhang was cleaning up the leftover cake. It felt like someone had left and the tea had gotten cold.

"Huai Yan, are you looking for Zhao Zhao?" Mrs. Ruan came out of the kitchen. "He's drunk. I've asked Aunt Zhang to take him to his room to rest. It's next to Cheng Cheng's room. Please help me check on him."

The Ruan family's house is older. When Mr. Gu was still alive, Gu Huaiyan's family also lived nearby. When he was a child, Gu Huaiyan often came to the Ruan family to play games with Ruan Cheng, and he always ran up this staircase.

The reddish-brown wooden stairs were swept clean to a shine. Gu Huaiyan walked up the stairs step by step, wondering if Uncle Ruan would not think that he was evading the engagement if he came to pick up Ruan Zhao in person on the first day.

"I don't think Ruan Zhao is bad."

——This is what he said to Ruan's father. If we don't consider what Ruan Zhao did in his previous life, the current Ruan Zhao has no shortcomings at all. Besides, he also knows what Ruan Zhao is thinking, and he doesn't mind it at all.

Besides, the last life is the last life, and this life is this life. Gu Huaiyan is not such a coward as to be wary of the current Ruan Zhao just because he suffered a setback in his previous life.

"So do you like him?" Mr. Ruan's words always hit the nail on the head.

Gu Huaiyan was silent. How could he like someone? He had never been attracted to anyone in the past twenty years and he would never be attracted to anyone in the future. He just felt that if he had to get married, Ruan Zhao was a very suitable person.

In the future, when he gets home from get off work, it will be better to see Ruan Zhao waiting for him at home than anyone else.

No, it's not that he is better than others, but he cannot tolerate other people in his house and appearing in front of him all the time. Just thinking about this kind of thing will affect his mood.

The door was not closed tightly, and Gu Huaiyan pushed it open gently. What came into view was a desk and a bed. The bed was covered with an off-white swan velvet quilt. Ruan Zhao had taken off his cotton coat, and was lying under the quilt in his swan yellow sweater.

"Huai Yan..." Ruan Zhao was still awake. He raised his head from the quilt and asked with his eyelids pricked up, "Did Dad agree to make salty cakes?"

Gu Huaiyan looked at his rosy, puffy cheeks, which looked as if they had been soaked in waxberry juice, and juice would ooze out if pinched.

"I didn't agree." Gu Huaiyan pretended to be disappointed and closed the door.

"I, I knew it!" Ruan Zhao propped himself up from the bed, "Don't be sad, I'll buy it for you. I have a job and I earn 500 yuan a month. It's my own money. I'll use my own money to buy it for you. I'll buy you all the salty cakes on the market."

"What if you can't finish it?" Gu Huaiyan walked to the bed and gently touched his face with the back of his hand.

"If you can't finish it, eat it slowly... Don't touch me." Ruan Zhao shook his face and dodged his hand.

Gu Huaiyan didn't force it and sat down beside the bed: "If you eat too slowly, it will go bad."

"Then, then..." Ruan Zhao didn't know what to do. He looked at Gu Huaiyan with his big watery eyes.

"Then find another way to compensate me." The room was not big and the sound was muted. Gu Huaiyan's voice was low, and every word shook Ruan Zhao's eardrums.

Ruan Zhao's face became even hotter at this moment. He placed his hands on the edge of the bed and slowly lowered his head, leaving only his shoulders raised high: "You...how do you want me to compensate you?"

"That depends on you." Gu Huaiyan played with a tuft of black hair at the back of his head with his fingers. "Why don't you dare to face me?"

Ruan Zhao felt very heavy-headed, and the bayberry wine seemed to be fermenting in his body. He was not conscious and didn't know how Gu Huaiyan knew that he didn't dare to face it. He thought he was the one who said it.

"Huh? Why don't you dare face me?" Gu Huaiyan was not in a hurry at all and just slowly teased him.

Ruan Zhao was dizzy from the mulberry wine, and his round head kept bumping against Gu Huaiyan's shoulder. After a long while, he muttered, "I have to respect you. I can't think... I can't think... Mr. Haibang, please put on your clothes quickly..."

As he spoke, the head rested on Gu Huaiyan's shoulder and did not move.

Gu Huaiyan draped his arms around his back and stroked the hair on the back of his head: "Why should you respect me?"

After waiting for a long time without any response, Gu Huaiyan thought he had fallen asleep. He gently pressed him with his arm and he fell into his arms. He was thin and not heavy at all. Then he heard Ruan Zhao's voice like a dream: "Xiao Zhen said... Don't think about it. You have to respect each other..."

His breath sprayed on Gu Huaiyan's neck, and Gu Huaiyan felt that the other person was very hot. He sat stiffly on the edge of the bed, his eyes gradually darkening. Just as he thought, Ruan Zhao was indeed a suitable person to marry. Just like now, he didn't mind Ruan Zhao falling asleep in his arms at all.

Gu Huaiyan held the sleeping Ruan Zhao in his arms and did not move even when his arm was numb. He did not move until he heard Mrs. Ruan knocking on the door. Then he put the man on the bed, tucked in the quilt, and went to open the door.

"Is he asleep?" Mrs. Ruan said to Ruan Zhao, but her eyes were looking back and forth at Gu Huaiyan's neat clothes, wishing to find a trace of tear.

"Just fell asleep, Auntie, do you want to go in and take a look?" Gu Huaiyan came out of the room, "I'll go downstairs and have tea with uncle."

Mrs. Ruan stood at the door and tiptoed to take a look at the person in the quilt. Seeing that the person was sleeping soundly, she closed the door and said to Gu Huaiyan, "Has Zhaozhao been well behaved these days at your place? I heard that he even found a job? Telling stories to children."

"Yes." Gu Huaiyan answered in detail, "They have a charity organization and they have their own radio station to tell stories to left-behind children."

"Will that affect your work? Should you let him come back to live here?" Mrs. Ruan asked.

"No." Gu Huaiyan paused. "His workplace is not far from my company, so we can go to get off work together. Besides, he recently got a cat. If he brings it back, it might affect my uncle and aunt's rest. The weather in autumn and winter is dry, and cat hair can easily cause allergies, which is not good for the body."

"He even has a cat? The kid didn't even tell me." Mrs. Ruan smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I was worried that he would be bored living at home and would like to be with you young people. I didn't expect that he actually has a cat. I'm really sorry to cause you trouble."

"No trouble." Gu Huaiyan pretended to be very cultured, "I like cats, too."

-

The alcohol content of the mulberry wine brewed at home was not high, and the alcohol dissipated quickly. When Ruan Zhao woke up in the afternoon, Gu Huaiyan was playing chess with Ruan's father downstairs.

"Zhao Zhao is up. Come over here and see if you can play." Mrs. Ruan called Ruan Zhao over.

Ruan Zhao glanced at Gu Huaiyan, who was staring at the chessboard intently. It was strange. He seemed to have dreamed that Gu Huaiyan asked him why he didn't dare to face him. It was really embarrassing. Maybe he dreamed about it at night because he cared too much about it these past two days.

"I can't." Ruan Zhao walked behind Gu Huaiyan.

"It's fun." Father Ruan said, "Your brother is very good at playing chess. When he returns home, let him teach you."

Ruan Zhao thought of the young man he saw in the photo, tall and thin, looked like Mrs. Ruan, very gentle and handsome. At first he thought he was going to be with Ruan Cheng and have a brotherly relationship at home.

For example, the handsome and gentle Ruan Cheng was jealous that he had snatched his parents' love, so he locked him up in a small dark room and abused him in various ways when his parents were not at home...

“Bang!”

The sudden sound of the wooden chess pieces being slapped was like a wake-up call, bringing Ruan Zhao back to his senses.

Father Ruan stared at the chessboard for two seconds before he laughed heartily and said, "One move to kill. Did Huai Yan give in to me before?"

Gu Huaiyan didn't smile. He picked up the chess pieces and said, "Ruan Cheng is still abroad. If he wants to learn how to play chess, I can teach him now." After saying that, Gu Huaiyan turned around and looked at Ruan Zhao behind him, "Sit down, I'll teach you."

Ruan Zhao thought he was not smart. Some time ago, he couldn't understand Mrs. Ruan playing mahjong, and now he couldn't understand them playing chess. He shook his head and said, "I'd better not learn it. It seems very troublesome."

"So what do you want to play? I can teach you." Gu Huaiyan said.

When Ruan Zhao thought about the games they played that required following rules and using his brain, he waved his hands and said, "I don't want to play anything." Then he went to get some fruit to eat.

Gu Huaiyan placed the chess pieces and frowned.

For the afternoon meal, Mrs. Ruan prepared a nourishing winter soup which tasted very fresh. Ruan Zhao drank two bowls in a row. Gu Huaiyan, probably still having the trauma of the previous "tonic" soup, did not drink a single sip.

"Don't you want to drink?" Ruan Zhao asked.

Gu Huaiyan shook his head and wanted to say that he was full, but suddenly an idea popped into his mind: if Ruan Zhao wore an apron to stew soup for him, then... what color apron should Ruan Zhao wear?

"The soup you made..."

"You still want to drink that?" Ruan Zhao's eyes lit up. Has he figured it out?

"No." Gu Huaiyan quickly interrupted Ruan Zhao's life-threatening thoughts, "I mean you can learn the skill of stewing soup from Auntie."

"But you didn't drink the soup my mother cooked." Ruan Zhao muttered.

Gu Huaiyan pretended to be profound: "I can tell by the smell."

After the family had dinner, Ruan Zhao wanted to go home with Gu Huaiyan and refused to listen to anyone's advice. Mrs. Ruan was very happy and his father patted Gu Huaiyan on the shoulder.

Although Gu Huaiyan made his attitude clear, Ruan's father had already made plans to keep Ruan Zhao at home. He put his hand on Gu Huaiyan's shoulder and squeezed it hard. Ruan's father said earnestly: "You have worked hard during this period. If Zhao Zhao is inconvenient for you to live with you, you can let him come back. As for the marriage, I will talk to your mother and your aunt when she comes back. This matter cannot be blamed on you."

"Let's talk about it later." Gu Huaiyan used a delaying tactic. Anyway, the Ruan family had no plans to let Ruan Zhao marry anyone else, and he also had no plans to marry anyone else. It was a good fit. The two families were old friends, and it was his duty to take care of Ruan Zhao.

On the way back, Ruan Zhao was staring out the car window. The lights were just coming on and the city's neon lights were speeding past his eyes, as if dragging colorful tails.

"Boss Gu," Xiao Zhao said as he drove, "The latest model of electronic products you ordered last time have arrived."

Gu Huaiyan glanced at Ruan Zhao's quiet face reflected in the car window and thought that since he didn't want to play with anything, he probably wouldn't be happy with electronic products.

After thinking about it, Gu Huaiyan looked down and saw the socks on his feet.

As it happens, the storyteller must have believed in Santa Claus.