Love Notebook of a Reclusive Beautiful Boy - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The next day, the household became noisy and chaotic.

Du Yanyu learned about Du Yu’s allergy, and in a rushed panic, called for Fu Shan and Jiang Sheng to take him to the hospital for an examination.

To Jiang Sheng’s surprise, even Du Yanyu did not know the cause of Du Yu’s allergy. In the end, it was Old Ma, who had just parked the car and come inside, who spoke up, saying that Du Yu was allergic to shrimp.

“Shrimp?” Du Yanyu turned around and asked Nanny Fang, “Did A-Yu eat shrimp last night?”

He was getting on in years, and many things slipped his mind the moment he turned around.

Nanny Fang glanced at Yao Xiaohui, who was sitting on the sofa drinking coffee, and said hesitantly, “Yes, he did eat it last night. It was the Mistress who told Fu Shan…”

As she reached the end of her sentence, her voice grew quieter and quieter, until it was barely audible to anyone but Du Yanyu and herself.

Du Yanyu understood the remaining half of that sentence perfectly well.

The events of ten years ago had left him exhausted in mind and body. Over the past few years, he hardly managed the affairs at home, pouring almost all of his mind into the company.

Regarding Du Yu, he always felt that he owed this child. He hadn’t let him go outside for ten years, so he always wanted to leave the best of everything for him, thinking that in the future if he died, at least the boy wouldn’t have to worry about food and drink.

However, this did not mean he would allow others to bully his son.

“Did you know A-Yu is allergic to shrimp?”

He walked over to Yao Xiaohui’s side and asked.

Yao Xiaohui stirred her coffee. “How would I know that? Has something broken out on his face from an allergy?”

“Yes, he ate shrimp last night.”

Yao Xiaohui took a sip of her coffee, suddenly realizing what Du Yanyu meant.

Du Yanyu’s suspicion was indeed mistaken. Although Yao Xiaohui disliked Du Yanyu, she would absolutely never play such a foolish trick. Even if she wanted to harm him, she would find someone else; how could she get herself entangled in it?

With a clack, Yao Xiaohui slammed her coffee onto the table, burning with rage. “What do you mean by that? Do you think I, Yao Xiaohui, deliberately tried to harm your son?!”

Du Yanyu looked at her. He disliked arguing, and his voice remained calm and even-tempered. “I didn’t mean that.”

“You didn’t? Speak with a clear conscience, Du Yanyu! Look at what you take me for! I married you when I was twenty-two, and now I’m thirty-two. The son of Mrs. Liang from Huasheng is already in primary school, and what about me? I’m still being a stepmother to this foolish son of yours! It’s bad enough that you usually ignore me, but now that something happened to your son, you suspect me! I… I really don’t want to live anymore!”

As she spoke, she began to make a scene.

Yao Xiaohui had always held a grudge over Du Yanyu’s refusal to have a child with her. Whenever they argued, she would bring this matter up to talk about it.

But this time she was truly furious to death. As she spoke, she threw a tantrum in the house. Several Filipino maids nearby, along with Nanny Fang, held her back and tried to persuade her from the side. For a moment, the house was a scene of fierce shouting.

Du Yanyu was also annoyed. He did not want Du Yu to see these things, so he waved his hand and said to Jiang Sheng, “Take A-Yu out.”

With that, he went upstairs.

Du Yu, on the other hand, paid no attention to this farce. Although the red rash on his face had not fully subsided, it had faded a lot. He was looking out the door somewhat abstractedly.

Jiang Sheng was also used to him being this way. He patted his shoulder. “A-Yu, let’s go out.”

Outside, the bright sun was shining high, and a warm breeze blew gently.

The weather in Jinguang was famously strange; one could be wearing a cotton-padded jacket yesterday and short sleeves today.

The light was somewhat piercing. Du Yu stood on the steps, tilting his head slightly. The glaring light made his eyes very uncomfortable. He craned his neck, squinting his eyes, and murmured, “Butterfly…”

After saying this, he slowly lowered his head and looked at Jiang Sheng.

Jiang Sheng suddenly remembered that he had promised Du Yu to fly a kite with him.

Today was clearly a good time for it.

He stood one step lower than Du Yu, so as the two of them stood face-to-face like this, their lines of sight were almost level.

Jiang Sheng smiled. “A-Yu, do you want to go fly a kite today?”

Du Yu raised his head blankly. His line of sight reached a tall London planetree (French parasol tree) not far away, which had been transplanted to the Du residence many years ago.

He had always believed that he was still only seven years old. The events of his childhood seemed to still remain vividly before his eyes. In his memory, he recalled a time when he was flying a kite on the large lawn of the Western-style house with Du Li and his mother, Li Jiayi. By accident, he let the kite fall onto the very top of that planetree. It was Du Li who fetched a long ladder and finally managed to get it down with great difficulty.

Everything felt as if it were just yesterday.

He did not know that ten years had already passed since that day.

Du Li was dead, and his mother was gone too.

And he would forever only live at seven years old.

A person’s life is like a sea of time where the end cannot be seen. From the moment of birth, one boards a single-plank boat and canoes alone across the boundlessly vast surface of the river. No one knows where their destination lies; they can only be forced to row with both oars.

And Du Yu was that tiny wooden boat that had stopped on the surface of the sea. Everyone else was rowing forward; only he had lost the meaning of rowing with both oars.

He tilted his head higher and higher, until he could almost see the sun above him. His eyes were painfully irritated by the glare and narrowed into a slit, but he just insisted on seeing the very top of that tree. Sometimes, he was fiercely stubborn.

Suddenly, the light before his eyes dimmed.

It was Jiang Sheng who had stepped over, standing right in front of him. His tall and large figure instantly blocked everything before Du Yu’s eyes.

“What is A-Yu looking at?”

Without that piercing light, his eyes gradually opened. Raising his eyes with an innocent look that knew nothing of the world, he said, “Want to go…”

Perhaps because the consecutive days of overcast skies had suddenly cleared up, even people’s moods brightened along with it.

Jiang Sheng smiled. “The butterfly one?”

Standing below the steps, Du Yu nodded gently.

Jiang Sheng went to the study to report the matter to Du Yanyu, saying he wanted to take A-Yu out to buy a kite. Seeing that Du Yu was rarely interested in something, Du Yanyu was also in an excellent mood and immediately let them go.

Jiang Sheng drove a car over—not that conspicuous Rolls-Royce, but a very ordinary private car.

He opened the car door and pulled Du Yu into the car.

Kites were small playthings; shopping malls did not sell them. If they wanted to buy one, the closest place was the Lewan Market in Jinguang, where there were many small street vendors who specialized in selling these kinds of little gadgets.

The car could not drive inside, so Jiang Sheng parked in the parking zone by the roadside.

Du Yu followed him out of the car.

Lewan Market was not far away. There were relatively more people in this vicinity, and more people meant it was easy for things to get chaotic.

Before even entering, many small stalls were set up at the entrance, selling everything imaginable—calligraphy, paintings, antiques…

Jiang Sheng glanced around; there really were quite a lot of people inside.

He took a look at Du Yu, who didn’t show any signs of discomfort and just stood silently behind Jiang Sheng without saying a word.

Jiang Sheng lowered his head slightly and looked into his eyes. “A-Yu, keep close to me in a moment, do you hear?”

Du Yu looked at him and didn’t speak.

“Never mind.”

Jiang Sheng reached out and took hold of Du Yu’s hand. His fingers were thin and slender, as if they were nothing but a skeletal frame, and his hand was also very cold. Jiang Sheng hadn’t expected his hand to be this cold; logically speaking, a man should be like a ball of fire.

He gripped Du Yu’s hand tightly. “Why is your hand so cold? Are you cold?”

Du Yu shook his head.

Jiang Sheng nodded, lifting his feet to walk inside. “Keep close to me, A-Yu.”

Once inside the market, it was very lively. Jiang Sheng looked around and found that the vendors selling kites were further inside. He pulled Du Yu and kept walking forward. Halfway there, Du Yu suddenly stopped walking.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Sheng turned around and asked.

He was staring at the stall display in front of him. On it were placed many small knick-knacks. The owner asked cheerfully, “What has the young master caught his eye on?”

Jiang Sheng also asked him softly, “A-Yu, what do you want?”

It was a Western-style pocket watch. It looked like it had some years on it, and a golden bird was inlaid on the watch cover, which was quite attractive.

Du Yu pointed at it, his big eyes looking at Jiang Sheng. “Want this…”

Jiang Sheng was just about to ask the owner how much it was when five or six people suddenly approached from the side. The man leading them was very fat, with a thick gold chain around his neck. He was shouting at the vendor of the adjacent stall, “Damn it, diu nei go fei, you dead puk gaai! Last month you paid two hundred, and this month it’s only seventy? Are you looking for death?!”

This path was already narrow to begin with, and these few people were making large movements. The surrounding people shoved and jostled. Du Yu was just staring at that pocket watch when, caught off guard, his back was fiercely bumped into right on his spine. It hurt so much that his brows furrowed, and he was losing control, about to fall forward onto the stall.

“A-Yu, careful!”

Jiang Sheng shouted, taking a large stride toward him. The hand gripping Du Yu’s hand exerted force at the wrist, while his other hand grabbed his arm to pull him forward. All at once, Du Yu was pulled into Jiang Sheng’s embrace.

It was a wide chest that provided a great sense of security. A surge of intense warmth swept over him, seemingly shutting out everything in the surroundings.

Du Yu felt as though he had never possessed such a feeling before.

Very grounded, very warm.

He had stayed in the attic for too long, accustomed to loneliness and accustomed to desolation; he did not know that in this world, there could actually be such a feeling.

Jiang Sheng’s hand was still resting on his back, and he patted Du Yu’s back gently. “Are you alright, A-Yu?”

Holding Du Yu’s shoulders, he lowered his head, wanting to check the expression on his face.

What he saw first were his thick, long eyelashes, trembling slightly. With his head lowered, Du Yu’s head rested against Jiang Sheng’s chin. The long eyelashes completely covered his eyes, and his fair, thin chin carried a touch of softness.

Du Yu slowly raised his eyes, his clear gaze looking at him. After a long while, he finally said softly, “You are A-Sheng.”

His voice was clear and cold, and his tone carried a rare seriousness.

This time, he truly remembered him.