After I Died, My Childhood Friend Became Daddy - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Surveillance Installed in His Room…

This turn of events was so sudden that even Huo Yan took a moment to react. Fang Ran’s actions, however, were a step ahead of him; he stood up and picked the object up.

Forget it.

For a fleeting moment, Huo Yan felt a sense of “letting it all go” (“letting the rot set in”).

He thought darkly.

Even if Fang Ran found out, so what?

If Fang Ran wanted to run, he would lock him up.

If Fang Ran wasn’t obedient, he wouldn’t allow him to go to school.

In S City, he could cover the sky with one hand. Fang Ran was like a bird fluttering its wings; no matter what, it was impossible to fly out of his grasp.

But Fang Ran looked at it closely and suddenly realized, “Is this a chip? To control this robot.”

The Fang Ran of ten years ago had never seen such a cool robot model—one that could move and talk on its own.

“…”

The words Huo Yan was about to say were swallowed back down.

He remained silent for a long time, then gave an “mm,” reaching out his hand toward Fang Ran. “Give it to me, I’ll go fix it.”

Fang Ran blinked and obediently handed the object to Huo Yan.

Huo Yan gripped his fist slightly. The revelation of the truth had been a second away, yet he had retreated.

It turned out he had things he feared too: fearing to see the shock on Fang Ran’s face, fearing to see an expression of loathing.

Taking a deep breath, Huo Yan whispered, “Go to sleep early.”

He turned off the light and pushed the door open to leave the room.

Shortly after he left, Fang Ran suddenly got up, walked over to that robot, and gouged out its other eye—it was a red glass bead, but there was nothing behind it.

…

…

The two days of the weekend passed quickly. After a day at the stables, Fang Ran spent the remaining day doing problems in his room, looking as if he were buried in study.

Huo Yan truly couldn’t stand seeing Fang Ran work so hard. His logic was simple: what he had, Fang Ran had. Why be so exhausted?

But if he said too much, Fang Ran would argue with him. In the end, he simply shut his mouth and went to deliver pastries and fruit to Fang Ran every half hour, forcefully turning Fang Ran’s desk into a dining table.

Monday morning, as Huo Yan was driving Fang Ran to school, Fang Ran suddenly asked him, “A-Yan, can I sleep over at Zhao Yan’s house tonight?”

The atmosphere inside the car turned cold instantly.

The man’s face turned gloomy as he looked sideways at Fang Ran coldly. “What did you say?”

Fang Ran spoke innocently, looking as if he were courting death.

“I want to stay over at Zhao Yan’s house for a night. There are a few other classmates; we want to play games together.”

“You can play online at home.” Huo Yan rejected him flatly. “Besides, the GaoKao is coming up; why is your head still full of games?”

“…”

What a double standard.

Fang Ran, however, seemed very unhappy. “But everyone else is going; why can’t I? And we’re in high school now; staying at a classmate’s house for one night is nothing, right?”

Huo Yan grit his teeth, his jawline tensed extremely tight.

He should have changed Ranran’s desk-mate long ago!

What kind of classmates were these! They were leading his perfectly well-behaved Ranran astray!

“I just want to go!” Fang Ran repeated forcefully. “Why won’t you agree to let me go?”

Huo Yan tried his best to restrain his emotions. “You won’t sleep well outside. Aren’t you used to your own little pillow? And that doll you always hold?”

“It doesn’t matter; it’s just for one night.”

Fang Ran was very persistent.

Since things had reached this point, Huo Yan seemed to have no more reason to refuse.

His face darkened slightly, and he closed his eyes. Then, his voice returned to being gentle. “Fine. If you want to go, go.”

…

…

“What? You want to stay at my house too?”

Zhao Yan looked at Fang Ran tremblingly. “Will… will your friend agree?”

Fang Ran pulled out his books, his tone calm. “Why wouldn’t he agree? He’s very easy to talk to.”

Zhao Yan: “…”

He usually loved to play and often called several classmates to play games and stay over together, but he had never dared to invite Fang Ran.

Unless he didn’t want to live.

Fang Ran lowered his head slightly. “Besides, I have something I want to ask you tonight.”

Zhao Yan grit his teeth.

Having been desk-mates for so long, even without President Huo’s connection, he truly considered Fang Ran a friend.

Stay then!

It’s just for one night; President Huo probably won’t do anything!

“Fine! Stay!”

Zhao Yan had the expression of a warrior going to his execution.

So it was settled. Several other classmates also went to Zhao Yan’s house after school. Conveniently, Zhao Yan’s father was away on a business trip, so they could be more relaxed.

After school, the group left directly in Zhao Yan’s family car.

This was Fang Ran’s first time staying overnight at a friend’s house, but he didn’t look like he could muster much spirit. He didn’t speak the whole time in the car, sitting listlessly in the corner.

Upon arriving at Zhao Yan’s house, the other boys wanted to go to the game room, but Fang Ran shook his head. “You guys go play first; I still have a bit of my paper left to finish.”

Zhao Yan scratched his head. “Why do I feel like you’re in a bad mood today? What was the thing you wanted to tell me?”

Fang Ran glanced at the people behind them and hesitated. “I’ll tell you later.”

“Okay, then I’m going to play games first.”

Fang Ran didn’t enter the study; he lay on the table in the living room doing work. Not long after, the doorbell rang. Since Fang Ran was a guest, it wasn’t appropriate to open the door directly, so he called out for Zhao Yan to come out.

Presumably because the game was intense, Zhao Yan ran out looking irritable to open the door. “Who is it Huo…”

The moment he opened the door, Zhao Yan froze.

Huo Yan glanced at him coldly. “Where is Ranran?”

“A-Yan? Why are you here?”

In a flash, Zhao Yan saw Huo Yan’s face transform as he smiled gently. “Brought you some things.”

Zhao Yan snapped out of it and hurriedly stepped aside.

Huo Yan was carrying two bags. Inside were Fang Ran’s pajamas, some toiletries, as well as Fang Ran’s pillow and small blanket—he had brought the whole lot.

Fang Ran blushed a bit. “What are you doing?”

Huo Yan’s tone was natural. “Afraid you wouldn’t be comfortable sleeping.”

Fang Ran whispered, “I wouldn’t; I’m not that high-maintenance.”

Huo Yan didn’t respond. His gaze shifted, seeing the pile of papers on the table, and he frowned. “Didn’t you say you were here to play? Why are you studying here by yourself?”

His expression turned cold. “Are they excluding you from the games?”

Fang Ran hurriedly grabbed him. “No! It’s because I didn’t finish my own homework!”

Huo Yan was like those extremely overprotective parents who simply couldn’t stand seeing Fang Ran suffer even a bit of grievance, fearing his precious baby was being isolated by others.

Fang Ran’s face burned. “It’s really just me wanting to do the problems!”

Huo Yan thought for a moment, seizing the opportunity. “Then how about I stay? If there are problems you don’t know, I can explain them to you.”

With Fang Ran not at home, Huo Yan didn’t want to stay in the villa alone at all.

But Fang Ran quickly packed up his papers right in front of him. “I’m already finished.”

Huo Yan: “…”

The order to leave was very obvious. The man paused, his voice slightly low. “Fine. I’ll be going then. If you suddenly want to go home tonight, remember to call me.”

Fang Ran nodded. “Okay.”

No matter how loath Huo Yan was to leave, he finally did.

Once he was gone, Zhao Yan, who had been shrinking in the corner, walked over. He seemed to have figured it out a bit.

“Did you… have a fight with him?”

Fang Ran’s voice was muffled. “No.”

“Don’t lie to me; it’s so obvious, okay?”

It clearly looked like Fang Ran was throwing a tantrum and President Huo was coaxing him.

Zhao Yan rubbed his chin and speculated, “Did he do something wrong to you?”

For someone of Huo Yan’s status, it would be quite normal to be out living it up and finding pretty boys.

But seeing how much Huo Yan doted on Fang Ran, it didn’t seem likely.

To his surprise, Fang Ran nodded with a solemn face.

Zhao Yan’s eyes widened. “Really? He…”

Halfway through, he abruptly stopped himself.

That was President Huo after all; talking behind his back could lead to trouble.

Fang Ran didn’t say more. He pulled out a piece of paper and began sketching with his head down. Finally, he handed it to Zhao Yan. “Do you recognize this thing?”

On the paper was a black, small iron-like object. But Fang Ran’s drawing skills were truly worrying; Zhao Yan looked at it for a long time and couldn’t figure it out. “This…”

Fang Ran pointed with his pen. “At this spot, there’s also a small red dot that keeps flashing.”

Zhao Yan let out a “tsk.” “If you put it that way, it looks a bit like a GPS tracker or a miniature surveillance camera.”

Fang Ran’s body went slightly stiff.

It was exactly as he had guessed.

When the object fell on the floor yesterday, that was the suspicion that instantly popped into Fang Ran’s mind. But the confrontation he wanted to have was swallowed back down; he even felt he didn’t want to and didn’t dare to expose it in front of Huo Yan.

So he chose to play dumb, choosing to “glaze over the peace.”

Coming to stay at Zhao Yan’s today was partly to ask clearly and partly to have an independent space to think things over. He didn’t even know how many cameras were still in his bedroom.

Just like the many messages the Class Monitor had sent him.

He said Huo Yan had changed, that he wasn’t the Huo Yan of back then. Fang Ran didn’t believe it and didn’t listen; he had eyes to see for himself, and he only acknowledged the Huo Yan he saw.

But now, he was confused.

The Huo Yan he saw was that the real Huo Yan?

“Young Master, fruit.”

The auntie (housekeeper) walked over with fruit and placed it on the table. With a casual glance, she froze for a moment. “Oh my, isn’t this…”

She paused, remembered something, and didn’t dare say more.

Zhao Yan frowned. “You’ve seen this?”

The auntie shook her head in panic. “No, no.”

The guilty look was too obvious.

Fang Ran snapped back to his senses, raised his head, and looked at the auntie seriously. “Where have you seen it?”

The auntie still shook her head.

Fang Ran thought for a moment and suddenly realized, “Is it on that jacket I lent to Zhao Yan?”

The auntie’s expression became even more panicked as she waved her hands. “Oh, the Mister won’t let me say.”

Zhao Yan rubbed his hair irritably and directly took out his phone. “I’ll transfer fifty thousand to you right now. Tell me; my dad won’t find out.”

The auntie immediately brought up her QR code.

“Young Master, it’s like this…”

“…”

After hearing what the auntie had to say, Fang Ran unexpectedly didn’t have much of a reaction. He lowered his head blankly, staring at the paper on the table.

Zhao Yan also had a complex expression.

He paused, walked over, and patted Fang Ran’s shoulder. “This kind of thing… is also normal.”

The “CEO and his canary” trope and such.

The TV often plays it.

Fang Ran raised his head and looked at Zhao Yan with a complex expression. “Normal?”

Zhao Yan spoke with hesitation, “This… might be a relatively distorted emotional relationship, but it can also be understood…”

Fang Ran bit his lip lightly.

He just couldn’t figure it out. Why would Huo Yan do this?

Placing a tracker on him, installing surveillance in his room what exactly was it for?

Weren’t they good brothers, good buddies?

Although he had traveled ten years, those ten years were just a blink of an eye for Fang Ran. In his eyes, Huo Yan was still the same A-Yan from back then.

But now, he felt like he didn’t understand Huo Yan anymore.

He turned his head and asked Zhao Yan very seriously.

“Tell me, if I move out of the house, would A-Yan agree?”