After The Honest Person Was Discovered For Simultaneously Pursuing Three People - Chapter 54

Chapter 54: You Really Won’t Leave Me?

Tao Ning is a little surprised. If you ignore Song Yucong’s awkward tone, this is the first time he has said something similar to softening his stance. He thinks for a moment, and though he doesn’t know what has happened to Song Yucong, he still reaches out and embraces the person who is begging him for a hug.

Tao Ning’s head only reaches his chest. The moment he hugs the man, a wide, cold hand returns the embrace. The sweet scent of lemons lingers around his nose. The man buries his face in his neck and breathes deeply, as if afraid this sweet, wonderful scent will disappear.

And the inner turmoil and pain slowly subside with the hug.

This bumpkin can only be his. Song Yucong thinks with a hint of obsession. No one can steal him. Not Song Heng, not Xu Jun… no one.

Sensing the unease in the man in his arms, Tao Ning gently places the hand that was hanging in the air on his back and pats it. This should be okay, right? But this patting motion clearly hurts the man’s pride. Song Yucong, seemingly strong but actually very gentle, pushes him away and snorts, “Are you patting a child?”

Having been inexplicably asked for a hug and then inexplicably pushed away, Tao Ning isn’t angry. He just nods in agreement with Song Yucong’s self-awareness.

However, Tao Ning mutters to himself that he is a very ill-tempered brat.

Song Yucong’s face instantly turns dark, but compared to his previous pale, bloodless appearance, he now has a bit of vitality. He grunts, “I’ve already brought your medicine, so don’t think about finding another excuse to leave, or you’ll have to scrub all the toilets in the villa.”

“I took it. Thank you,” Tao Ning says, automatically ignoring the second half of the sentence. Thinking of the bloodstain on the bottle cap, he says hesitantly, “When your wounds are healed, let me go back to school.”

Song Yucong looks at him with a dark expression. Tao Ning remains unmoved. “It’s not because of anyone else; it’s for myself. You know I’m a student your family sponsors. If I don’t complete the tasks in the contract, I can’t stay here.”

Song Yucong’s face turns cold. “If you are my slave for life, I’ll guarantee you a life without worry here.”

A lifetime?

Tao Ning is stunned. The word “lifetime” is foreign to him, unimaginable. He won’t think about such distant things. Sometimes, he has to admit that no matter what happens—whether it’s Zhao Jingqun begging him not to break up or Song Yucong talking about a lifetime—Tao Ning always thinks rationally and never acts emotionally.

Tao Ning firmly refuses. “No… that’s not the same.”

He has his own pride. Even if Song Yucong’s current attitude is what he needs, which means getting one step closer to the mission’s progress, Tao Ning is capable of completing the task without anyone’s help.

But Song Yucong’s thoughts are very different from his. He approaches Tao Ning, a storm brewing in his phoenix-like eyes. “You don’t want to be my slave for life?”

Tao Ning says, “I’m not a slave to begin with.”

Song Yucong grabs his shoulders, but the grip is very light. “I mean for a lifetime! A slave who belongs only to me!”

Tao Ning looks at him silently.

Song Yucong stares at his beautiful, captivating eyes. He used to hate Tao Ning’s meek, rustic, and timid appearance, thinking that his blank eyes were full of cowardice. But now that he looks closely, he realizes…

There is nothing in these gem-like eyes. They are inorganic and calm, almost to the point of being cold and heartless.

Tao Ning watches as the man, who seemed to be possessed a moment ago, suddenly lets go of him, covers his head with his hands, and breathes heavily, as if he is spiraling into an uncontrollable panic.

He approaches cautiously. “What’s… what’s wrong?”

“Go… go away!”

The man covers his head with his hands and subconsciously clutches his hair tightly, as if he wants to tear his scalp off. When Tao Ning gets close to him, he flinches as if he’s been stimulated and backs up, finally leaning against the door. He trembles and crouches down, muttering incoherently, “You don’t want me… you don’t want me either… go away… go away…”

You don’t want me.

Tao Ning’s hand, suspended in mid-air, freezes. After a moment of thought, he sighs. He doesn’t fear Song Yucong’s rejection. He approaches him with light steps, and his voice is also very gentle. “I’m not leaving you.”

He bends down, and then crouches down to be at eye level with the trembling Song Yucong. But the latter is still holding his head, refusing to look at him. Tao Ning lets him hold his hand, but the position is starting to get numb. He simply moves closer.

The next second, he is embraced by a cold presence. Song Yucong kneels on the floor and pulls him tightly into his arms. His icy lips press against Tao Ning’s warm neck. Tao Ning shivers and can feel that the person holding him is still trembling.

This time, Tao Ning reaches out and hugs him back, gently patting his back, until the person holding him stops trembling, as if waking up from a nightmare.

After a long while, Tao Ning hears the person who is always so tyrannical ask him carefully:

“…You really won’t leave me?”

“Mhm, I really won’t.”

After what happened at the door, Tao Ning feels that Song Yucong has become even more awkward. He fiercely threatens him, “You are not allowed to tell anyone what happened today.”

Tao Ning nods, but even though he agrees, Song Yucong is still not satisfied with the answer. His handsome face is full of anger, glaring at him.

Tao Ning sometimes truly can’t guess his thoughts. When he was a child, Tao Yuan would occasionally joke with him, regardless of whether the then-wooden Tao Ning could understand, and tell him that a woman’s heart is a needle at the bottom of the ocean. He said a boy as clueless as Tao Ning couldn’t even guess his own thoughts, so he shouldn’t think about getting a wife in the future.

Tao Ning thinks that what Tao Yuan said might be wrong now, because Song Yucong is a man, but his mind is a drop of water in the ocean. He has no idea how to even begin to guess.

For example, right now, he has already agreed, so why is he still angry?

Tao Ning is silent for a moment, then suddenly says, “I want to tell someone… that I, Tao Ning, want you.”

“…”

The system is also listening to their conversation and almost chokes on its sunflower seeds. What kind of dominating, outrageous words is this clueless guy saying?? But what surprises it even more is that the man it considered the most difficult to conquer—the one it almost passed on—now looks much better. His cheeks are even slightly flushed.

He just snorts. “I’ll reluctantly let you say that.”

…

Hehe, the evil world of humans. Sure enough, a pure and advanced AI like it can’t understand.

This day, Song Yucong barely lets Tao Ning leave the room. Instead, he has his own belongings moved in, one by one. Tao Ning wants to stop him, but he can’t see the person because Song Yucong seems busy, gone for five or six hours at a time.

During this time, Nuan Nuan and A-Yun both come to see him.

Nuan Nuan hugs his legs, reluctant to leave. “Pretty big brother, I have to go.”

Tao Ning is startled. The little girl is wearing a pretty princess dress. He thought she was a relative of Song Yucong’s. Is she not? Nuan Nuan’s voice brings him back to reality: “Pretty big brother, if you and Little Grass big brother get married in the future, you have to invite me to be a flower girl.”

“…”

A-Yun’s face turns pale with fright beside them, but when he sees that Tao Ning’s expression is normal, he doesn’t say anything. He has also gradually felt that the relationship between Young Master Tao and the Second Young Master is becoming unusual. He hasn’t read much and doesn’t know how to describe the atmosphere between them, perhaps it’s what they say on TV—an inseparable, deeply affectionate relationship.

Thinking of this, A-Yun feels a little sad. He has known his sexual orientation since he was a child, a homosexuality that everyone shuns. He has never dared to hope that a beautiful person like Young Master Tao would notice him, but he sincerely wishes him happiness.

He will also keep their secret. But Nuan Nuan’s innocent words are a little too much, and A-Yun plans to talk to her later that night before she leaves, to make it clear that some things shouldn’t be said in front of others.

Tao Ning doesn’t know how to respond to the child’s wish, so he just shakes his head and then nods.

Nuan Nuan can’t tell what he means and thinks Tao Ning agreed. She is so excited that she claps her hands and says that she will wear her best dress that day.

Later, an honest-looking man in a cleaning uniform comes to pick up Nuan Nuan. Nuan Nuan jumps into his arms and shouts, “Dad!” The man bows stiffly to them and says thank you, then picks Nuan Nuan up and leaves.

“Bye pretty big brother! Bye A-Yun!”

“Bye.”

A-Yun immediately sees Tao Ning’s confusion and explains, “Nuan Nuan is Uncle Liu’s child. Her mother passed away when she was very young. Uncle Liu is too busy with work and is afraid he can’t take care of her, so he occasionally brings Nuan Nuan over. But the Song family doesn’t allow servants’ children to come to the villa.”

“One time Nuan Nuan was discovered. The others wanted to kick them out and give Uncle Liu’s position to a relative, but they had bad luck and ran into the Second Young Master when he was not in a good mood…”

A-Yun pauses and lowers his voice. “The result was that the Second Young Master kicked all those people out and also allowed Nuan Nuan to come here occasionally.”

Tao Ning notices one thing and asks, “What do you mean ‘not in a good mood’?”

Normally, A-Yun wouldn’t talk about his employers’ affairs, but he thinks of Song Yucong’s attitude toward Tao Ning and their relationship. A-Yun says, “Young Master Tao, do you remember when I said the Second Young Master’s birth chart was bad?”

He remembers. That day he wanted to ask for more information about Song Yucong to conquer him, but he was interrupted, and A-Yun has been tight-lipped ever since.

Now that A-Yun brings it up, Tao Ning still wants to know. Before, he was forced to learn about Song Yucong, but now… thinking of Song Yucong trembling while crouching on the floor, Tao Ning feels a little soft-hearted for some reason.

He now wants to actively understand him, to understand the other side of him hidden beneath his tyrannical facade.

“Mhm, I remember.”

A-Yun sighs. He has been a servant in the Song family since he was a child. Although many people ostracize and look down on him, he knows more than they do.

He hesitantly begins, “…Master Song is actually a live-in son-in-law, but he never allows anyone to mention it. He is also superstitious, to the point of being…” A-Yun pauses, looking for the right word. There is a hint of fear on his face. “To the point of being possessed by demons and monsters!”

A-Yun lets out a long breath and continues, “But in Haizhou, anyone who is a big businessman worships those things. But because of this, the Second Young Master’s birth chart is bad. In Master Song’s eyes, he’s a useless son, a bad omen who will ruin their luck.”

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