Love Notebook of a Reclusive Beautiful Boy - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Jiang Sheng was surprised that Du Yu had actually called his name.

The hand gripping Du Yu’s arm gradually loosened, and he echoed him, “Yes, I am A-Sheng.”

Du Yu’s eyes were bright as he looked at him. “A-Sheng…”

“It’s me.”

Jiang Sheng smiled, then took another look at Du Yu’s back. “Did the bump hurt?”

Only then did Du Yu feel the pain in his back. He said softly, “It hurts.”

He looked at Jiang Sheng with a bitter, miserable face.

“Where does it hurt?”

Jiang Sheng tilted his head to look at his back, reaching out to press lightly on the spot he vaguely remembered being bumped. “Here?”

Du Yu looked at him and nodded.

Jiang Sheng rubbed it gently, comforting him, “It won’t hurt in a little while.”

It was just a slight bump. If it had been Jiang Sheng himself, he probably wouldn’t have even knitted his brows, but Du Yu, after all, was a child who was afraid of pain.

“Does it still hurt?”

Jiang Sheng asked after rubbing it for a while.

Du Yu turned his body to look at the stall display and caught sight of that pocket watch again. His mind quickly shifted back to it, and he looked at Jiang Sheng with an expression of wanting it very badly. “I want it.”

Jiang Sheng smiled, looked at the owner, and asked, “Owner, how much is this…”

Before he could say another word, out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed someone flying through the air. He swiftly pulled Du Yu and dodged to the side.

It was the owner of the adjacent stall, who had been kicked to the ground by the leading man. The man planted his foot on the stall display and said in a haughty, overbearing manner, “Boss Huang, I’ll give you one more day. If the money isn’t in the account, tomorrow I will be the one coming to pack up your stall!”

The stall owner was scared out of his wits. He scrambled up hurriedly and said in a low, subservient manner, “Brother Diu, tomorrow, I will definitely make it up to you tomorrow!”

Jinguang was chaotic to begin with. Jiang Sheng did not like to meddle in other people’s business, and was just thinking of buying the pocket watch with Du Yu and leaving, when suddenly, a ceramic teacup came flying through the air. Looking at its direction, it was hurtling right toward Du Yu.

It was probably because that group of people was making a scene and not paying attention, accidentally throwing it in the wrong direction.

The ceramic teacup flew over very quickly, and seeing that it was about to smash into Du Yu’s face, Jiang Sheng’s eyes were sharp and his hands were quick. Du Yu only felt as if a gust of wind had swept past his eyes, carrying a slight chill, and the teacup was caught by him.

“Are you alright?”

Jiang Sheng asked Du Yu while placing the teacup down on the small stall.

This path was narrow to begin with, and now that a ruckus had started, the road was packed completely water-tight.

Jiang Sheng originally wanted to act as if he hadn’t encountered these matters and not bicker with these people, but he hadn’t expected them to be so completely unbridled.

He glanced at Du Yu. Fortunately, he hadn’t been hit.

Taking another look at the leading Brother Diu, Jiang Sheng picked up the teacup he had just placed on the stall, aimed it right at his face, and threw it over swiftly.

By doing this, he hoped they would know when to stop.

After all, no one could guarantee what would happen in the next every minute and second; he could not let them harm Du Yu.

The strength he threw it with was very great, and the speed was also very fast. Brother Diu was just flaunting his power when, caught off guard, his face was smashed into by a teacup. It hurt terribly, just like being punched by someone.

He clutched his cheek, turned his head, and cursed loudly, “Damn it, which dead puk gaai dares to mess with me? I want your mother dead!”

As he spoke, he looked around wildly. His few lackeys also followed suit, grabbing weapons and rolling up their sleeves as they cursed, “Snipe your mother’s crown! Which ci sin (crazy person) dares to mess with my boss!”

“It’s me.”

The group of people looked toward the source of the voice. It was a tall man with handsome features, looking slightly cold and proud.

There was also a youth who was slightly shorter than him standing behind him. Whether it was because he was shy around strangers or because of something else, half of his body was hidden behind the man in front. He was gripping the man’s arm, and his face couldn’t be seen; only a pair of pure, innocent eyes could be seen from behind the man’s shoulder.

Jiang Sheng raised his eyes to look at Brother Diu in the crowd. A trace of disdain showed on his face, and his voice was cold and indifferent. “Boss Diu’s days after getting out of prison seem to be going quite well. Protection fees? It seems Boss Diu wants to protect the citizens of Jinguang together with the Jinguang Police Force. I just don’t know if I need to say a word to the police station to recommend Boss Diu?”

To be honest, at the very first glance of seeing Jiang Sheng, Brother Diu recognized him.

Three years ago, he was collecting protection fees around the Mingye Road area. Later, when trouble broke out, it was Jiang Sheng who personally put the handcuffs on him. Brother Diu had never been able to forget his face.

He still held some dread toward Jiang Sheng, and smiled to smooth over the situation. “So it’s Officer Jiang (Jiang-sir). I didn’t even recognize you just now. We haven’t seen each other for several years, and Officer’s skills are still this good.”

Jiang Sheng let out a cold laugh and didn’t reply to him.

Brother Diu was a clever man, and walked closer to him slowly. “Officer Jiang, rest assured, I understand what you mean.”

From all perspectives, he could not afford to enrage Jiang Sheng.

It was best to maintain a good relationship with him.

As he spoke, Brother Diu suddenly caught sight of Du Yu behind Jiang Sheng, and smiled as he approached. “Is this Officer Jiang’s younger brother…”

Du Yu stood behind Jiang Sheng. Brother Diu subconsciously took a step forward, wanting to get a look at him.

Who would have thought that just as his foot stepped out, Jiang Sheng blocked him directly in front, his gaze as cold as a knife, his face grim, and his voice chillingly sharp: “If you take another step forward, what smashes into your face won’t be a teacup.”

Brother Diu froze for a moment, not expecting Jiang Sheng to protect the youth behind him to this extent. He was merely curious, thinking that perhaps he could start from this youth to curry favor with Jiang Sheng, but he hadn’t expected Jiang Sheng to be like this.

He did not want to cross Jiang Sheng’s bottom line, so acting as if it were unintentional, he took two steps back, changed the subject, and said with a smile, “What did Officer Jiang come to look at? Do you need me to introduce it to you!”

Jiang Sheng held Du Yu’s hand, blocking him very securely.

“My meaning, Boss Diu should understand perfectly well.”

The subtext: You had better get the hell away!

Brother Diu understood of course. He had originally thought of saying a few more words to Jiang Sheng to curry favor, but he hadn’t expected him to be like a piece of cold wood. He had had enough of pressing his warm face against a cold corporate wall, so he stopped talking nonsense, turned around, signaled to those brothers of his, and left.

Du Yu stood behind Jiang Sheng, pressed against his back. Tugging his sleeve, he said softly, “Go home…”

Jiang Sheng patted his hand and smiled gently. “Alright, we’ll go back as soon as we buy the things.”

He didn’t want to stay here any longer either. He picked up that golden pocket watch on the small stall and gently flipped open the watch cover. To his surprise, the moment this pocket watch opened, it automatically began to play music.

The tone was crisp and clear, and the melody flowed slowly, like a clear spring among high mountains colliding with the murmuring water in a river, cleansing the mind and gladdening the heart.

Jiang Sheng took a look, tilted his head, handed it over, and said in a warm voice, “You only want this one, right?”

Du Yu took the pocket watch from his hand, touching that golden bird on the watch cover. The surroundings were somewhat noisy, but he could vaguely hear the sound of the music inside the watch.

He wasn’t quite sure, so he gently brought it close to his ear. His movements were slow and very cautious.

Once it was close to his ear, only then could the music be heard very clearly. There was a section of wind chime sounds in the middle. He looked at Jiang Sheng, listening abstractedly.

“Beautiful to hear…”

After a good while, his eyes and brows filled with pleasure, and he couldn’t help but say a word voluntarily, his voice soft and gentle, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly.

The tension in Jiang Sheng’s brows smoothed out. “Then this is the one.”

He turned his face to ask the stall owner, “How much does this sell for?”

The stall owner smiled and replied, “This is a foreign watch, thirty yuan.”

Jiang Sheng didn’t bargain with him at all, pulling out the money and handing it to him.

Du Yu was still listening to the music inside the pocket watch, his neck tilting slightly to the right, the pocket watch held very close to his ear, listening very intently.

Jiang Sheng took hold of his wrist. “Alright, A-Yu, listen to it again when we get back. Didn’t we still need to buy the butterfly kite?”

Hearing the word “butterfly,” Du Yu snapped out of it. He slowly lowered his hand, bowed his head, and carefully closed the watch cover to put it away.

There were many styles of kites on the small stall, mostly themed around animals.

Jiang Sheng took a look; there were several butterfly ones.

He lowered his head to ask Du Yu, “A-Yu, which one do you want?”

Du Yu looked and looked, and only after a long time did he select a yellow kite. The style was a very old design.

Because the style was old, it was very cheap. The stall owner had a mind to make a bit more money, and advised, “This yellow one is a style from over ten years ago. Young people like you can look at the new ones; this blue one is quite good.”

Jiang Sheng rejected the offer.

He knew Du Yu was absolutely set on choosing this one. He had seen the kite outside St. Paul’s that day, which was also a yellow one. Probably he felt that this was very similar to the one he had played with in his childhood.

Having chosen the kite, Jiang Sheng took Du Yu back to the Du residence.

Fu Shan was in the garden area talking to the gardener when he just happened to see Du Yu holding the kite, looking exceedingly happy.

“It’s rare to see A-Yu this happy. Is Mr. Jiang going to take A-Yu to fly a kite?”

Jiang Sheng was also in a good mood. “Yes.”

After saying that, he asked further, “By the way, is Mr. Du at home?”

Fu Shan replied, “He’s in the study.”

“Thank you.”

Outside the garden area, there was a patch of green, level ground. Jiang Sheng stopped his steps, turned to Du Yu, and said, “A-Yu, give the kite to me.”

“Hold the string, fly it like this, do you know how?”

He taught Du Yu while explaining.

Probably because he was about to fly the kite, he was very happy. He nodded and replied, “A-Yu knows how.”

Jiang Sheng let out a laugh. “It’s good that you know.”

As he spoke, he gripped the kite and slowly began to run against the wind. His speed was very fast. To Jiang Sheng’s surprise, Du Yu actually coordinated with him very well, letting out the string while his gaze remained fixed on Jiang Sheng in the distance.

When it was about right, Jiang Sheng let go.

The kite flew higher and higher against the wind. Du Yu played very well; he didn’t need him to teach.

He walked over with a smile and praised him, “A-Yu is playing very well.”

The corners of Du Yu’s mouth curved up slightly as he flew the kite. He seemed like a completely changed person—sunny and joyful.

A rare smile remained hung on his face the entire time.

Probably it was because, in the deep recesses of his memory, the most beautiful times were spent together with Du Li and his mother.

“A-Yu knows how…”

He looked at the high kite and replied to Jiang Sheng in a joyful mood.

Jiang Sheng just stood to the side watching him, smiling without saying a word.

The gentle breeze carried a touch of coolness, blowing the surrounding green plants so that they swayed gently. The wind at this time was the best—not too large, not too small, making people feel nothing but comfortable.

After flying it for just a little while, Du Yu’s brows knitted together. Looking at Jiang Sheng somewhat helplessly, he said in a gentle, soft voice, “Fly higher…”

Jiang Sheng glanced at the kite, and seeing that the kite was flying low, he smiled and lowered his head. Gripping the string spool, he gently lifted the string according to the wind speed. “A-Yu, try flying it again.”

Du Yu maneuvered the string spool, and sure enough, the kite flew even higher.

All at once, Du Yu smiled.

In his clear and bright eyes, his gaze rippled with light, and faint dimples hung at the corners of his mouth. In his voice was joy that could not be concealed: “A-Sheng, look quick, it flew high…”