After The Honest Person Was Discovered For Simultaneously Pursuing Three People - Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Why is This Country Bumpkin So White? 

The room the Song family arranged for Tao Ning was at the end of a corridor with a wool carpet. It faced north, so the lighting wasn’t great, but the room was spacious, five or six times the size of his small room in the mountains.

The room was a two-level suite. The outside was a living area, and the inside was a bathroom and a closet for clothes and shoes.

The entire room was covered with carpets, and every piece of furniture exuded a strong European style. The bed was four or five meters wide and oval-shaped. The light blue bed curtains cascaded down like a waterfall, with lace patterns on the edges, giving it a light and comfortable feel. The windows were sliding casement windows, and outside was a small garden. From a distance, one could see the mist in the mountains.

The male servant said, “Look, that mountain behind it is the Song family’s private hunting ground.” He was busy tidying up the things Tao Ning had brought from home—two hemp sacks and a large backpack, as well as some bottles of medicine. The labels had various foreign languages on them that he couldn’t understand, but he knew he shouldn’t pry into the guest’s private affairs.

He put all the washed-out old clothes into the closet in the inner room, each one carefully placed in a dust-proof bag. When Tao Ning saw this, he also tried to put his clothes away.

The male servant was so scared he became flustered. His Cantonese came out, and he stopped Tao Ning’s hand, his face flushed, and said, “Let me do it. You go and rest.” This guest was just too cute and well-behaved, and he felt even more sorry for him.

Tao Ning obediently put his hands down, his eyes silently watching him. With the boy looking at him like that, the male servant felt like his whole body was on fire, and his hands trembled slightly as he tidied up the clothes. “Young… Young Master Tao, this corridor has two directions to the living room. On the road we just took, did you see the outermost room?”

When they came in, there was indeed a closed bedroom on the outer part of the corridor. Tao Ning nodded and gave a soft “yes.”

The male servant was a little cautious, and his voice was lowered. “That’s the second young master’s room. I’ll take you the other way to the dining room later. You can just avoid that road in the future.”

Remembering what the system said, Tao Ning blinked and said softly, “Okay, I will.” It seemed he would have to walk on the road where Song Yuceng’s room was in the future, even though he didn’t want to. But… he couldn’t afford the high medical expenses, so he had to find a way to get what he needed from them.

Seeing the boy’s obedience, the male servant’s pity almost overflowed. After tidying up all the clothes, he stood awkwardly and adjusted his clothes. “Young Master Tao, I’m done here. I’ll go down first and come back to get you when it’s time for dinner.”

Just as the male servant was about to leave, a soft voice called out to him from behind, “Wait a moment…” He turned around, and the boy asked him with his eyes curved, “Can I know your name?”

His cheeks instantly flushed. The male servant nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice. “O-o-of course you can. My name is A Yun. You can just call me A Yun.”

“Then what’s your last name?”

The male servant shook his head. “I don’t have a last name, sir. I’m just A Yun.”

Sensing the man’s dejection, Tao Ning knew he had said the wrong thing and quickly apologized: “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean it.” His cautious look, with his eyes behind the glasses full of restraint, his slender hands nervously clutching the corner of his clothes, and his thin body looking even sicker at the moment, as if a gentle breeze from outside the window would make him collapse.

A Yun quickly waved his hands to comfort him and stammered, “No, it’s not your fault. No, no, no, you’re not wrong, it’s my fault…”

He would stutter whenever he was nervous. He was seventeen or eighteen, the same age as Tao Ning, and was just a young man himself. The two of them looked at each other. Tao Ning showed a very faint smile, and his thick eyelashes behind the glasses curved up.

A Yun was stunned again. After a while, he quickly lowered his head, said a hurried goodbye, and left.

The room was completely empty. At the same time, an intense feeling of fatigue came over him. There was an lingering tiredness in Tao Ning’s beautiful eyes. He sat on the sofa, feeling that ever since the hospital checkup, he had been more prone to fatigue and weakness.

The doctor told him he couldn’t go a single day without his medication, so now Tao Ning had to take a dozen bottles of medicine, large and small. The medicine with Chinese, English, and even Arabic on the labels was spread out on the table like white chess pieces.

Looking at these bitter and unpleasant medicines, Tao Ning’s resolve to continue with the mission became even stronger, but Song Yuceng seemed very difficult to approach. The system was busy again, and he didn’t know how to “solve the problem.”

The boy was in a daze until the retro wall clock showed it was five in the afternoon. He didn’t tell Tao Yuan that he had arrived at the Song family’s residence while he was in the hospital because she knew him so well and would hear the weakness in his voice.

Tao Ning sat up, planning to call Tao Yuan to tell her he was safe—he would use the landline in the room. The phone was placed under his pillow, and it had been turned off and never turned on again.

The phone was picked up quickly, and the woman’s voice was a little rough and harsh, “Hello? Who is it?”

“Sister, it’s me.”

“Ning Ning!” The voice on the other end instantly dropped several tones. “Have you arrived at the Song family’s house? How is it? Are you tired? Are they gossiping about you behind your back…”

The woman’s voice was rambling, and Tao Ning answered while lowering his eyes and pinching the corner of his clothes that had been mended by Tao Yuan several times.

These clothes looked very old, but they were actually made by Tao Yuan herself with pure cotton fabric because Tao Ning’s skin was very fragile. Since he was a baby, he would get a rash all over his body if he used nylon fabric from outside. In severe cases, he would have an allergic reaction. He was only fine when he wore clothes made by hand with the cotton his family grew.

At that time, the family would laugh and say that they had not picked up a son but a “little princess.” After his adoptive parents passed away, all of Tao Ning’s clothes were taken care of by Tao Yuan.

Tao Ning was afraid that she would hurt her eyes if she made too many clothes, so he wore these clothes for a long time until they were faded, but he didn’t grow much taller, which sometimes made him feel depressed and sometimes a little relieved.

Tao Yuan rambled on the phone for a long time, a full half hour before hanging up. The wall clock also showed six o’clock. According to his usual time at home, it was time for dinner.

Tao Ning didn’t know when the Song family ate dinner, but for the sake of politeness, he decided to take a shower first and change into the new clothes Tao Yuan made him a few days ago before eating, because deep down, he still hoped not to be looked down on by the Song family.

It seemed that besides his good grades, he didn’t have anything else to offer.

When he entered the bathroom, he saw a bathtub in the corner that could fit three of him. Tao Ning stood there and studied it for a while. He turned on the shower by himself and filled the tub with water before finally lying down.

When he came out, Tao Ning changed into a shirt and trousers and put on his glasses. It was his first time taking a bath, so his snow-white skin was flushed pink by the warm water. His cheeks were also rosy, like a rotten rose in a garden. His knees and elbows were all pink. His soft, ink-black hair obediently hung down his forehead, a little eye-catching. Fortunately, his glasses worked and didn’t poke his eyes.

Just as Tao Ning had put on one shoe, there was a rapid ‘thump thump thump’ sound at the door. Someone was shouting outside, but because the room was very soundproof, he couldn’t make out what was being said.

Thinking it was A Yun, Tao Ning quickly went to open the door, not even putting on his other shoe. The door was just opened when he was met with a pair of cold and disdainful eyes. The man looked down at the person inside the door and said impatiently, “Are you deaf? It took you so long to open the door?”

“I… I’m sorry…”

The boy lowered his eyes, nervously pinching the corner of his clothes. His plump toes on the cold floor curled up. He looked both honest and awkward.

A Yun, who was standing behind Song Yuceng, was heartbroken. He wanted to speak up for him, but because of the man with the terrible temper in front of him, he finally couldn’t.

Song Yuceng’s gaze was critical as he coldly sized up the boy. His contemptuous gaze swept over his humble appearance and rustic clothes, but it lingered for a second on his snow-white ankles. He couldn’t help but frown. Why was this country bumpkin so pale?

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