Love Notebook of a Reclusive Beautiful Boy - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

When they returned to the Du residence, it was already past seven o’clock.

Du Yanyu was in the living room, reading a newspaper.

As soon as Jiang Sheng came in, Du Yanyu caught sight of him. “You’re back.”

Jiang Sheng gave an “mm” in response. “Is Mr. Du still busy?”

“Just a few remaining things. Have you eaten?”

“I’ve eaten,” Jiang Sheng said. “Is Young Master Du in the attic?”

Speaking of this, Du Yanyu appeared to be quite happy. He smiled and put down the newspaper, saying, “He went to the glasshouse (flower room). After eating dinner, he said he wanted to go out, so Nanny Fang took him over there. This child has indeed become a bit more cheerful; previously, he wasn’t even very willing to step out of the attic door. This is all thanks to you.”

Jiang Sheng said politely, “Mr. Du speaks too seriously.”

“Is your business finished? If it’s not finished, I can give you one more day of leave.”

When Jiang Sheng reported to Du Yanyu, he only said that there was something to take care of at home. As for what exactly it was, he didn’t say, and Du Yanyu didn’t ask.

They were a wealthy family after all, and their good breeding was innate. When it came to other people’s privacy, they had a very good sense of propriety; even with a subordinate, one shouldn’t pry into their personal affairs.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Du. The matters at home have all been settled.”

Du Yanyu nodded, picked up the newspaper, and said, “Go take a look at A-Yu. He actually missed you; during the evening meal, he even asked Nanny Fang about you.”

Jiang Sheng was somewhat surprised, but didn’t ask further. He smiled and said, “Then I’ll go take a look at him.”

…

Winter days are short. By this time, the sky had already hung up its black curtain, and the stars were gradually rising. The glasshouse was lit up, and Jiang Sheng could see Du Yu from afar, standing among the flowerpots with Nanny Fang standing beside him.

Jiang Sheng pushed open the door gently and heard Nanny Fang teaching Du Yu to recognize the flowers: “A-Yu, do you see? This pink one is the Chinese rose (yueji).”

Next, he heard Du Yu repeat after her in a soft, sweet voice, “Chinese rose…”

“Ah, yes! A-Yu is so smart. This red one is the peony (mudan). It’s our national flower, the peony.”

“Peony…”

“Ah, yes, the peony. This purple one, do you see? It’s called a hyacinth (fengxinzi).”

Du Yu obediently repeated after her, “Wind letter (fengxin)…”

Nanny Fang looked at Du Yu. “It’s not fengxin, it’s fengxinzi.”

Du Yu followed and chanted, “Hyacinth…”

“Ah, right. This blue one is baby’s breath (mantianxing—literally ‘a sky full of stars’).” Nanny Fang said with a smile, “A-Yu, smell it and see, is it fragrant?”

Du Yu did not smell it. He just looked at the clusters of baby’s breath; they truly looked just like the stars in the sky. He thought it looked very beautiful, so the corners of his mouth turned up slightly as he praised, “Beautiful…”

He had always been like this, saying whatever came to his mind.

Nanny Fang was about to continue teaching A-Yu to recognize flowers when out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a figure at the door. Turning her face to look, she saw that it was actually Jiang Sheng.

Nanny Fang said with a smile, “Mr. Jiang has finally returned. A-Yu has talked about you several times.”

In reality, he had only asked once during dinner, but Nanny Fang intentionally engaged in pleasantries with Jiang Sheng, framing it in the best possible way.

Jiang Sheng smiled. “I took care of some personal matters and just got back.”

He closed the door and walked over.

“What are you doing?”

Nanny Fang replied, “Teaching A-Yu to look at flowers. This child actually has an interest in flowers.”

Jiang Sheng let out a laugh. “It is indeed rare for him to have an interest.”

Du Yu was touching the baby’s breath in front of him. Seeing Jiang Sheng, his eyes rippled with emotion. The upturned corners of his mouth from just now had not yet faded, and he looked to be in a quite good mood. “A-Sheng is back.”

The tension in Jiang Sheng’s brows smoothed out. “Mm, I’m back.”

After saying that, he asked another question, “What is A-Yu playing with?”

“Baby’s breath…”

His dark, bright eyes looked at Jiang Sheng as he recited what Nanny Fang had told him.

Jiang Sheng took a glance, his voice warm. “It’s very beautiful.”

Du Yu plucked a stalk, gently bringing it to the tip of his nose. The faint floral fragrance filled his nasal cavity, and he thought it smelled very nice.

Therefore, he reached out his hand and held it under Jiang Sheng’s nose, his eyes shining brightly. “Fragrant.”

Jiang Sheng took the opportunity to smell it. The floral scent was not intense—it was very faint. He had no interest in flowers and plants, but looking at Du Yu’s expectant expression, he said with a smile, “Mm, very fragrant.”

Nanny Fang said with a smile, “Mr. Jiang likes flowers too?”

Jiang Sheng glanced at Du Yu and gave an “mm.”

“Then that’s really a coincidence. Our A-Yu also likes flowers, just like our Xiao Li…”

As she spoke, she halted, knowing she had said something she shouldn’t have. Her eyes became slightly flustered as she glanced at Du Yu; fortunately, he hadn’t heard.

Du Yu was a pure and simple child who loved everything associated with those he cared about. The one who had always liked flowers wasn’t actually him, but Du Li.

This was something that nobody knew.

He was still there looking at the flowers. Jiang Sheng glanced at the time—it was 8:30, which was just about time for Du Yu to wash up and go to sleep. Tomorrow, he still had to wake up early for school.

“A-Yu, we have to go back. Let’s come back to play tomorrow, alright?”

Du Yu was very obedient; the times when he was single-minded and stubborn were a minority after all.

“Alright…”

Still holding that stalk of baby’s breath in his hand, he turned his head.

“Let’s go.”

Jiang Sheng was just about to lead him back when he saw Du Yu suddenly reach out his hand and tuck the baby’s breath behind Nanny Fang’s ear.

His movements were somewhat clumsy. This was, after all, the first time he had ever placed a flower on someone. He placed it askew and crookedly, but he still managed to tuck it in.

He looked at Nanny Fang, his clear, bright gaze completely full of innocence. “Beautiful.”

He was like someone who had been awakened. In the past, no matter how good anyone was to him, he would behave like a physical shell that had lost its soul—showing no reaction, unable to smile, and not liking to speak.

But in reality, he knew everything. Nanny Fang had taken care of him for over ten years; he knew that Nanny Fang was someone who was very good to him.

Nanny Fang was nearly sixty years old, and both sides of her hair had turned white. In a few more years, she would be leaving the Du family. Regarding Du Yu, she was the one she was most reluctant to part with.

Looking at Du Yu, her eyes became somewhat moist. This was the first time in ten years that Du Yu had been close to her like this, which made her feel somewhat moved.

Touching the baby’s breath tucked behind her ear, her eyes turned slightly red, and she said with a smile, “With A-Yu putting it on, it must look beautiful.”

Du Yu did not understand Nanny Fang’s thoughts; his gaze was quickly attracted by another place.

He pointed to another pot of white baby’s breath. “Beautiful…”

“Yes, they are all beautiful,” Nanny Fang echoed him with a smile.

She rubbed away the tears that had not yet gathered in her eyes. “A-Yu, hurry back. You still have to go to school tomorrow morning!”

Jiang Sheng pushed open the door. “Nanny Fang, then we’ll head back first.”

“Ah, alright.”

…

Outside the glasshouse was the green garden area. There were no lights, and the path ahead was very dark with trees and plants everywhere. Jiang Sheng was worried that Du Yu wouldn’t be able to see the path clearly and might trip and fall, so he grabbed his hand right after stepping down the stairs.

Du Yu was perhaps used to it, and obediently kept pace with him.

Jiang Sheng’s strides were large and he walked fast, but to accommodate Du Yu, he deliberately walked very slowly.

Neither he nor Du Yu were chatterboxes, so they walked very quietly along the way.

In the tranquil night, Jiang Sheng suddenly heard a familiar piece of music.

He turned his face. It turned out that Du Yu was playing music—it was from that pocket watch they had bought earlier.

His left hand was being held by Jiang Sheng, and his right hand held the pocket watch close to his ear.

In the quiet garden area, the music of the pocket watch was even clearer than what they had heard before.

“You like it very much?”

Jiang Sheng asked.

Du Yu didn’t zone out this time. He raised his eyes, and in the darkness, Jiang Sheng’s face could vaguely be seen. His eyes curved slightly. “Like it.”

The main melody of the entire piece was driven by the sound of wind chimes. The rhythm went from short to long, and finally returned to that initial melody.

Although the pocket watch looked old, its tone was very good. After listening for just a short while, Jiang Sheng involuntarily began to hum along softly, looking as though he was listening very intently.

He hummed in a very low voice, probably because he didn’t want others to hear. But because Du Yu was close to him, he could hear it very clearly.

Du Yu tilted his face to look at him. Perhaps because he found it amusing, or perhaps because he thought Jiang Sheng hummed well, he also began to hum along with him anyway.

He hummed clumsily, always a beat slower than Jiang Sheng. It was as if he wanted to keep up with his rhythm but couldn’t remember the next beat, so he just imitated Jiang Sheng’s humming step-by-step.

Originally, with Jiang Sheng humming by himself, if someone else heard it, they could give a pretty good review.

But due to Du Yu’s out-of-sync addition, it made this duet sound a bit messy when listened to, as if the whole thing had gone out of tune.

After humming for just a short while, Jiang Sheng truly couldn’t hold it in and laughed.

Looking at Du Yu’s manner of trying his hardest to keep up with the beat, he said with a laugh, “You know how to hum?”

Du Yu was quite honest. Regardless of whether Jiang Sheng could see it or not, he shook his head and said, “Learning…”

He paused for a moment. “…A-Sheng.”