Love Notebook of a Reclusive Beautiful Boy - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

With his face covered in a red rash, Du Yu just looked at Jiang Sheng; he was in extreme discomfort.

Jiang Sheng guessed what was happening as soon as he saw it. Du Yu was having an allergic reaction.

Du Yu was scratching his face. Because it was so itchy, he couldn’t control himself, and the force of his scratching was quite heavy. His face was incredibly red, almost to the point where he was about to scratch it until it bled.

Jiang Sheng caught his hands. “Don’t scratch anymore, A-Yu. Don’t break the skin on your face.”

Du Yu’s expression was pained as he mumbled, “Itchy…”

Jiang Sheng lowered his hands. “I know, but don’t scratch, A-Yu.”

Suffering from the itchiness, Du Yu still repeated, “Itchy…”

Jiang Sheng threw the quilt aside. First, he rolled up the boy’s trouser legs, then quickly undid the first button of his pajamas. Fortunately, no other red rashes had appeared.

It’s not a major problem, Jiang Sheng thought to himself.

There was a trace of grievance in Du Yu’s gaze. Furrowing his brows, he lifted his hand, about to continue scratching his face.

“Don’t.”

Jiang Sheng grabbed his wrist. “Don’t scratch, A-Yu. Be good.”

Sometimes A-Yu was truly so stubborn that he couldn’t be reasoned with.

Du Yu looked at him with a face full of distress and said to himself, “Want… A-Yu is itchy…”

“I know.” Jiang Sheng let go of his wrist. “Endure it for a bit, A-Yu. Be good.”

As he spoke, he went to open the door. A Filipino maid happened to be on duty in the hallway.

“Please make a call and ask the family doctor to come over.”

At this hour, going to the nearby St. Maria Hospital was certainly not as convenient as calling the family doctor. Besides, Du Yu was likely just having a simple allergy; it wasn’t a huge issue.

The maid also guessed it was because of Du Yu. Upon hearing Jiang Sheng’s words, she hurriedly ran downstairs.

By the time he went back inside, Du Yu had already started scratching his face again. His fair cheeks were covered in the marks of his fingernails.

Seeing his face, Jiang Sheng helplessly took hold of his wrists, his tone becoming slightly heavy. “Why aren’t you listening?”

In truth, he didn’t intend to scold Du Yu; he just habitually spoke in that tone upon seeing him disobeying and scratching his face into such a state. It was just like when he was in the police squad and the officers would get rowdy or ignore orders.

He didn’t have a big temper. When admonishing officers, he always kept it brief and to the point. So even when he scolded them, his tone wasn’t heavy. Although the people in the squad feared him on the surface, they all knew in their hearts that Captain Jiang was an easy person to talk to.

But Du Yu wasn’t one of his officers. He only perceived that the tone of voice was heavy. The hand scratching his face paused, and his long eyelashes slowly drooped. Staring at the floor with a hint of grievance and bewilderment in his voice, he said in a soft, “glutinous” way, “A-Yu is itchy…”

Seeing Du Yu like this, Jiang Sheng suddenly realized his tone had been too harsh.

What was he doing?

How could he get worked up with a child?

Du Yu understood nothing; he felt an itch, so he scratched.

Wasn’t he originally like this?

Jiang Sheng lowered his head slightly to look at his face. Du Yu was staring blankly at the floor, not wearing shoes, his bare feet resting on the floorboards, who-knows-what he was thinking about.

“Is your face still itchy?” Jiang Sheng asked in a light, gentle tone. “A-Yu?”

Du Yu lifted his eyes to look at him. The hand gripping the edge of the bed slowly moved upward, looking like he wanted to scratch but didn’t dare to.

“Itchy…”

His voice was as thin as a mosquito’s buzz.

Jiang Sheng took hold of his lower leg. “Get up first. The floor is cold.”

Du Yu lifted his feet and sat back on the bed.

Jiang Sheng looked at his face and moved closer to Du Yu. His left hand gently tilted up the boy’s thin, fair chin so that his entire face was clearly imprinted in his eyes.

“Itchy on both sides?”

He lightly tapped the left and right cheeks with his right hand, asking in a warm voice.

Du Yu tilted his neck back, his chin almost level with his forehead. With a pure gaze looking at the ceiling above, he spoke softly without looking away, “Itchy…”

Jiang Sheng lifted his hand to gently scratch the itch for him. His movements were very light, moving slowly from the corners of the eyes down to the neck, the force used on Du Yu’s face very soft.

There was no other way; allergic rashes themselves cannot be scratched roughly as it easily causes infection. If he let Du Yu do it himself, the force would definitely be heavy, and it would be troublesome if it became serious.

“Still itchy?”

After scratching for a while, Jiang Sheng asked Du Yu softly.

Du Yu was still looking at the ceiling. His gaze had hardly moved elsewhere, honestly staring fixedly at the ceiling before him as he let out an “Mhm.”

Fortunately, before long, the family doctor arrived.

Fang Ma pushed open the door; she had been alerted after all. As soon as she came in and saw Du Yu’s face, she was startled. She hurriedly sat at the bedside, staring at Du Yu’s face from left to right. “Oh my goodness! So many rashes how did this happen? If the Master sees this, his heart will ache to death!”

“Excuse me, please move aside.”

Wei Yi was the Du family’s doctor. He didn’t know much about Du Yu’s situation, only that this young master of the Du family didn’t like to speak and seemed to have some mental issue though he only thought these things in his heart and didn’t dare say them.

After all, these were secrets of a wealthy household. Except for Jiang Sheng, Fushan, Fang Ma, Old Ma, Du Yanyu, and Yao Xiaohui, the rest of the Du family knew almost nothing about Du Yu. Even if they gossiped and made wild guesses in their hearts, they didn’t dare say much.

Wei Yi placed his medicine bag on the table and urged Fang Ma to move aside. He looked at Du Yu’s face and checked it for a while. “Besides the face, where else is itchy?”

Du Yu didn’t speak, his face looking somber as he tried to touch his face.

Jiang Sheng caught his wrist. “Alright, the doctor is here. It will be better soon. Don’t scratch.”

Then he replied to Wei Yi, “Nowhere else, only his face is itchy.”

Wei Yi nodded. He stood up and opened his medicine bag while saying to Jiang Sheng, “Undo his clothes.”

Jiang Sheng sat over. Du Yu’s face was still very itchy. Jiang Sheng looked at Du Yu and said softly, “Endure it for a moment, A-Yu.”

As he spoke, he slowly undid the buttons of his pajamas.

Jiang Sheng undid them quickly. Reaching the last button, just as he was about to pull the clothes open, Du Yu suddenly grabbed his collar tight, looked at Jiang Sheng, and said while blinking, “Cold…”

Jiang Sheng patted his shoulder to soothe him. “I know. It will be over in a second.”

Then he said to Wei Yi, “Alright, please be quick.”

Wei Yi turned around. “Lift the clothes so I can see.”

Du Yu wasn’t familiar with him. He didn’t like talking to strangers, so he ignored Wei Yi and just gripped his collar tight.

Wei Yi was used to it. He had been the private doctor for the Du family for nearly three years and had spoken to Du Yu many times, but this Du family young master had never acknowledged him once.

Fortunately, every time he performed an examination, someone from the Du family was by his side.

Fang Ma spoke in an anxious tone, “A-Yu, this is Doctor Wei. Quickly listen to the doctor and undo your clothes so he can see.”

“It will be over very soon.”

Jiang Sheng was also on the side, gently patting the hand gripping the collar in a comforting way.

Du Yu lifted his eyes to look at Fang Ma and Jiang Sheng, then looked at Wei Yi beside him. He let go of his hand and said in a small voice, “Cold…”

Jiang Sheng smiled. “I know. It will be very fast, A-Yu.”

As he spoke, he moved back a little to make room for Wei Yi.

Wei Yi lifted Du Yu’s clothes, checked his back, stomach, and arms, then let go. “Are there rashes anywhere else?”

Jiang Sheng replied while buttoning Du Yu’s clothes back up, “No, just on his face.”

“It’s nothing serious, just a common allergy.”

Wei Yi stood up, took some medicine from his bag, and handed it to Jiang Sheng. “Take one tablet of this with water, three times a day, one tablet at a time. He should be fine after taking it.”

Jiang Sheng took it. “How long before his face gets better?”

Fang Ma also chimed in, “Yes, the child keeps crying that his face is itchy. How long until it stops?”

Wei Yi replied, “Do you know the allergen?”

Fang Ma was at a loss. “A-Yu has never had an allergy before. This—who knows?”

“Not even once?” Wei Yi said. “It’s best to figure out the allergen. You can take him to the hospital tomorrow for an allergen test. If he doesn’t come into contact with the allergen, the itchiness will stop shortly after taking the medicine. As for the rash on his face, it probably won’t fade until tomorrow morning.”

Fang Ma asked again, worried, “It’s nothing major, right?”

“No, just take some medicine. Usually, pay attention to drinking more water and eating more fruit to supplement vitamins.”

“Alright, alright,” Fang Ma responded.

Wei Yi picked up his medicine bag. “Then if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”

Fang Ma called a Filipino maid to see Wei Yi out.

…

After taking the medicine, it was already past one o’clock. Jiang Sheng saw Fang Ma out the door. Turning back, he saw Du Yu sitting on the edge of the bed, his bare feet resting on the floor again, the shoes by the bed looking like mere ornaments.

He was seven years younger than Jiang Sheng; Jiang Sheng treated him like a younger brother.

He thought of himself as an older brother and an older brother is, in fact, the role of a protector and responsibility-bearer.

He had actually played this role for many years.

The Jiang family, Yu Yan, the police squad, Song Jiahao over the past few years, the backgrounds had changed many times, but he had never changed this role.

Presumably, he himself had grown accustomed to it.

Jiang Sheng sat helplessly at the edge of Du Yu’s bed. This time he didn’t pull Du Yu’s feet up, but simply asked him plainly, “Is the floor cold?”

Du Yu’s hands rested on the edge of the bed. His gaze was fixed on the photo on the table; because he was spacing out, his eyes were somewhat hollow.

Compared to other times, he seemed even more heart-wrenching like this.

Jiang Sheng sighed, truly not knowing what he was thinking.

He reached out and waved his hand in front of Du Yu’s eyes.

Du Yu’s gaze gradually returned. His eyes were naturally beautiful, like those of a newborn baby clean and bright.

He turned his head and looked at Jiang Sheng.

“Is the floor cold?” Jiang Sheng asked again.

Du Yu looked down at the floor. The modern wooden boards carried a slight winter chill. When he spaced out, he was always very earnest, almost unaware of his surroundings. His mind would be filled with scenes from the past, or sometimes it was just purely empty.

Only when Jiang Sheng spoke did Du Yu realize, murmuring a response, “Cold…”

Jiang Sheng followed up, “Then does A-Yu want to wear shoes?”

“Shoes…”

“Mhm.”

Du Yu said softly, “Want…”

His shoes were not far from his feet; they could be reached with a slight stretch.

Du Yu lowered his head and obediently slid his feet inside.

“Is your face still itchy?” Jiang Sheng asked.

Du Yu subconsciously touched his face, then shook his head.

Du Yu wouldn’t be able to make it to class tomorrow. In the morning, Jiang Sheng would still have to inform Du Yanyu about the allergy.

It was already very late. Jiang Sheng soothed Du Yu to sleep. “If it’s not itchy anymore, hurry and sleep.”

Du Yu lay on the bed. Jiang Sheng pulled the quilt all the way up to his neck, leaving only his head exposed. His large eyes stared at him, simply not closing.

“What are you thinking about? Hurry and sleep.”

Jiang Sheng patted the quilt. His movements were very light, like the gentle soothing when coaxing a child to sleep.

Du Yu’s gaze shifted upward a bit, seeing the light above. He lowered his eyes to look at Jiang Sheng. “Light…”

Jiang Sheng stood up. “Alright, sleep now.”

As he spoke, he didn’t wait for Du Yu’s response; he likely guessed that Du Yu wouldn’t respond at all. He walked to the switch and turned off the light.

Complete darkness.

Jiang Sheng sat by Du Yu’s bed for a short while. When the sound of even breathing reached his ears, realizing the boy had fallen asleep, Jiang Sheng finally got up and went to his own bed.