Love Notebook of a Reclusive Beautiful Boy - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Arriving at the door of the study room, Jiang Sheng habitually knocked twice.

Inside was Du Yanyu’s voice: “Come in.”

“Mr. Du, you were looking for me.”

Du Yanyu, who was standing in front of the window sill, turned his body around and pointed at the chair beside the desk, “Sit.”

Jiang Sheng sat down, and Du Yanyu followed by pulling out the chair inside the desk and sitting down as well, “How was A-Yu at school today?”

Jiang Sheng replied, “Very obedient, except he still doesn’t like to listen to the lessons.”

“Did he talk to any of the other people?”

“No.”

Du Yanyu let out a sigh and stood up, “You worked in the police force for so many years; when it comes to judging people, I believe you have some capability. A-Yu trusts you. If you run into any decent peers around his age, take A-Yu along to spend more time with them. Once a long time passes, he will naturally be willing to speak with them. A-Yu, he… needs friends too much.”

“I understand, Mr. Du.”

Du Yanyu nodded, “I haven’t spoken to the school about A-Yu’s situation. Have his teachers and classmates grown suspicious of A-Yu?”

If he hadn’t let Du Yu go to school, this secret of the Du family might have been able to be hidden further, but from the exact moment Du Yanyu decided to let Du Yu go to school, he understood that this secret could not be hidden for very long.

But even if it couldn’t be hidden, he still had to do his best to hide it.

For what?

For the status and face of the Du family.

If the matter of Du Yu’s autism were to burst out, then Du Yanyu, as a frequent guest in the newspapers, would definitely be investigated by people with ulterior motives.

The Du family had high wealth-girt walls, rich enough to let an ordinary person live through tens of thousands of lifetimes. What hardships could a wealthy family’s young master suffer, what grievances could he experience? He had whatever he wanted, so how could he get autism?

If they investigated further, that nightmare from ten years ago would be laid out on the table once again.

When that time came, among the thousands upon thousands of mouths in Jinpu, people would say everything and anything.

Such a result was something Du Yanyu absolutely did not want to see.

But there was no choice. He had hidden it for ten years. Du Yu’s autism required him to go out; he could no longer stay inside the Du family forever. How many ten-year periods does a person have in a lifetime?

Even though Du Yanyu knew it couldn’t be hidden, he still had to hide it until the very last moment.

“After that incident last time, those people have probably already grown suspicious, but they likely won’t think of Du Yu’s illness for the time being.”

Between Du Yanyu’s brows was a lock of deep worry, “It’s all the same. Hide it as long as it can be hidden.”

“Right.” Du Yanyu opened a drawer, took out a piece of paper, and handed it to Jiang Sheng, “Remember, on the day of the birthday banquet, do not let A-Yu speak with others. They haven’t seen A-Yu, so they won’t be curious about his identity. The words on this paper—you must teach A-Yu to speak them well when you go back. Remember, he must speak them well. I know A-Yu trusts you, so I am leaving this matter to you.”

Jiang Sheng took it and scanned it. It was a very short script, writing: Thank you, friends, for attending my eighteenth birthday party. I just returned to the country this year, so my Chinese is not spoken very well. I hope everyone can have a pleasant time tonight.

It looked like Du Yanyu was borrowing a false identity of an overseas student for Du Yu.

Teaching Du Yu to speak?

Lately, Du Yu had been talking to him constantly, much better than before.

This task wasn’t difficult.

He put away the slip of paper, “Rest assured, Mr. Du.”

Seeing him put away the paper, Du Yanyu stopped talking.

Why did this birthday have to be celebrated on a grand scale even though it might cause Du Yu to expose his condition?

Because Du Yanyu planned to announce the news of Du Yu’s engagement on that day.

In fact, it was a fake engagement—a superficial commercial alliance he had negotiated with the boss of Huasheng Company.

The engagement partner was the daughter of the other party’s boss. The so-called superficial joining of forces was actually to let each take what they needed. A mole had already appeared inside the company, and external competitors were watching like tigers over prey. This mattered to the company’s survival, so Du Yanyu had no choice but to do this.

But he wouldn’t truly sacrifice Du Yu’s marriage because of this; maybe he would have in the past, but now he absolutely wouldn’t.

What was agreed upon was three months; after three months, the engagement would be dissolved.

But there was no need for him to explain these things to others.

“Right.” Du Yanyu suddenly remembered another matter, “I heard Auntie Fang mention this morning that A-Yu wanted some kind of flying bird. What kind of thing is it?”

“It’s a pocket watch. A flying bird is engraved on the watch cover. Du Yu doesn’t understand, so he kept shouting ‘flying bird’.”

“Where did the pocket watch come from?”

“Bought at the market.”

“Oh, A-Yu likes it very much?”

“Yeah, it’s a musical pocket watch, quite novel.”

Du Yanyu let out a laugh, “A musical pocket watch? This gadget is rarely seen. Speaking of this, for A-Yu’s birthday gift this year, I still don’t know what would be good to buy for him.”

Standing to the side with a smile, Jiang Sheng suggested a word, “I see that he likes music quite a bit. How about gifting a musical instrument?”

“Musical instrument?” Du Yanyu’s eyes lit up, “This is indeed a good idea. In previous years I gifted him things like a golden abacus or car models, and saw that he barely touched them. I haven’t gifted a musical instrument yet. How about this: in a moment, you take A-Yu to the instrument shop to have a look. See if he likes it; if he doesn’t like it, we will pick something else.”

When coming out of the study room, Jiang Sheng spotted Du Yu at a single glance. He had already finished eating the cake, sitting very straight and proper on the sofa. Perhaps out of utter boredom, he had lowered his head again to play with that pocket watch.

Jiang Sheng walked over, sat to one side, and smiled, “A-Yu, do you want a birthday gift?”

Du Yu looked at him blankly.

Jiang Sheng explained, saying, “It means things given to A-Yu.”

“Want…”

“It’s good that you want it.” Jiang Sheng smiled, calling out to a maid not far away, “Tell Master Ma to drive the car over. I need to take the Young Master out in a moment.”

After saying that, he stood up, “Let’s go, A-Yu.”

Du Yu just followed Jiang Sheng out like this.

Old Ma’s speed was very fast. Jiang Sheng stood at the bottom of the steps waiting for just a little while before the car drove over.

Old Ma opened the door, “Where is Mr. Jiang going?”

“To the instrument shop, to pick out an instrument for A-Yu.”

“An instrument?” Old Ma smiled, “How many years has it been since this kind of gadget was seen at home? In the past, I only saw the Madam play a pipa once.”

Jiang Sheng gave an acknowledgment and didn’t ask further, not knowing whether the Madam Old Ma spoke of was Yao Xiaohui or Du Yu’s mother.

The car drove all the way to the nearby Windmill Instrument Shop. Jiang Sheng got out of the car, led Du Yu, and went inside.

This was the largest instrument shop in Jinpu, occupying an area of over five hundred square meters. It had pianos, guitars, drum kits…

There were also traditional Chinese instruments—guzheng, pipa, konghou… but those were all learned by girls, and boys weren’t very suitable to learn them.

As soon as a shopping assistant saw someone coming, she immediately welcomed them up, “Welcome to Windmill Instrument Shop. What musical instrument does the gentleman need to look at?”

Jiang Sheng smiled, “We’ll look by ourselves, and call you if needed.”

The instruments in the shop were so numerous that they made a person’s eyes dazzled. Jiang Sheng brought Du Yu into the nearest guitar area first. Various brands of guitars hung above, and there were several models below available for trial playing.

When Song Jiahao was in high school, he loved playing the guitar. Although Jiang Sheng had never learned it, Song Jiahao had taught him to play a few times, so he still knew how to play a smattering of it.

Thus, he walked over, picked up a guitar, leaned against the edge of a counter, and started playing with some flair. The sound was crisp, and the melody was melodious.

After playing for about a minute, he put down the guitar. He originally just wanted to demonstrate it for Du Yu to hear, so he didn’t play for long.

Du Yu was looking at him, his dark eyes bright, and he said with a smile, “Good to hear.”

Jiang Sheng smiled, “Does A-Yu like this?”

Du Yu’s voice was clear and soft, “Like it.”

It was because Du Yu saw Jiang Sheng play the guitar that he felt he liked it; if a different person were here playing today, he wouldn’t necessarily like it very much.

It was just that seeing his eyes and brows carrying a smile, Jiang Sheng felt he truly liked music, and then raised his head just wanting to call a shopping assistant to introduce a model. As a result, someone not far away suddenly started playing the piano.

It wasn’t a trial playing of single key-presses; someone was truly playing a piece. It was probably some famous piece played by Beethoven or Chopin. Jiang Sheng had no research into music and couldn’t state the name, but it merely sounded faintly familiar to his ears.

Du Yu also heard it, and very quickly, his line of sight was drawn over there.

Seeing that he seemed to have a bit of interest in the piano, Jiang Sheng pointed over there and said, “Go take a look?”

Du Yu nodded his head.

It was a boy around the same age as Du Yu, playing at a very slow tempo. It could be seen that he had practiced for many years, and coming here was probably to select a good piano while showing off his skills along the way. A few people gathered to one side, not standing close, but listening quite intently.

There were several other pianos nearby. Seeing Du Yu standing slightly further away listening seriously, Jiang Sheng smiled and patted him, “A-Yu, let’s go over there.”

Jiang Sheng selected one piano, stood to one side, and guided Du Yu to sit down, “A-Yu, come try it.”

As he spoke, he pressed down a key first himself.

What he pressed was a bass key; like a small pearl dropping into a jade plate, the sound was crisp and transparent.

Du Yu was instantly attracted.

Raising his eyes, the corners of his mouth lightly turned up, a trace of novelty on his innocent and pure face as he looked at Jiang Sheng.

Jiang Sheng smiled, guessing that he probably liked it a lot, and pointed at the piano keys, saying, “A-Yu, try playing it yourself.”

Du Yu slowly raised a hand, and with a gentle press of his finger, what he pressed was also a bass key. As soon as the sound came out, Du Yu fell in love with it.

He raised his eyes to look at Jiang Sheng again, his eyes and brows fully opened with a smile, his voice crisp and clear, “Very good to hear.”

Then without waiting for Jiang Sheng to say any further words, his two hands went up together, and he followed by playing further.

Unfortunately, there was no melody; high notes and low notes blended together. Although it sounded like a mess, because the tone color of the piano sound was very good, it didn’t feel disruptive to the ears.

Seeing him playing so happily, Jiang Sheng didn’t even ask him whether he liked it or not, because he was definitely liking it.

He walked up to a nearby shopping assistant and pointed at that piano, “Hello, I want that piano.”

After paying the money, Jiang Sheng made a phone call to Fushan, telling him to send people to bring the piano back.

The people from the instrument shop had originally intended to deliver it directly to Jiang Sheng, but they were refused by Jiang Sheng. To have it delivered, they would bound to need to provide an address, but Du Yanyu had told him not to reveal the Du family’s address outside.

After buying the item, they prepared to head back.

Fushan had been waiting outside the door the whole time. Seeing Jiang Sheng come out, he asked with a smile from the car window, “Did you select well?”

While pulling the car door, Jiang Sheng replied, “Yeah, selected a piano.”

“A piano? A piano is good! A-Yu learn well, and in the future, maybe you can even play pieces by yourself.”

Jiang Sheng didn’t reply to his words. After casually guiding Du Yu into the car, he bypassed to the other side, preparing to get in.

But his eyes suddenly glimpsed that inside the glass display window of the accessories shop next to the instrument shop, a golden photo-locket hanging chain was displayed.

It was that very old-fashioned kind of dark gold, carrying a bit of a Victorian-period nostalgic style.

Jiang Sheng didn’t know why he took a fancy to this photo box at first glance. It was probably visual affinity; he just felt this thing seemed quite exquisite, and its style wasn’t majorly different from Du Yu’s pocket watch.

It wasn’t that he wanted this hanging chain for himself; he wanted to give it to Du Yu as a birthday gift.

Although Jiang Sheng had not known Du Yu for long, turning eighteen was the most important moment in a person’s life, and Jiang Sheng just happened to be around for it. Whether others gave gifts or not was none of his business, but since he and Du Yu associated so closely, no matter what, he had to fork out some item.

He pulled open the car door and said to Old Ma, “Wait for me a moment, I’ll be right back.”

After saying that, he went into that accessories shop.

Inside the shop, whether it was the decoration style or the items being sold, everything looked somewhat old.

Leaning right next to the modern-style-heavy Windmill Instrument Shop, it formed a stark contrast.

The boss was a man who looked to be in his fifties, clicking an abacus on a counter piled with miscellaneous goods. When Jiang Sheng came in, he didn’t even give a single greeting.

Jiang Sheng walked straight up to that hanging chain, “How much is this sold for?”

The boss cast a glance, “Which one are you speaking of?”

“This hanging chain.”

“Fifty.”

Jiang Sheng didn’t bargain with him either. Fifty yuan—he still had that on his body.

After giving the money, he took the necklace and left.

He pulled open the car door and came inside. Du Yu’s gaze, which had been looking out of the car, turned over, looking at him, and said softly, “A-Sheng… is not obedient.”

Jiang Sheng was stunned for a moment. He was actually scolded by Du Yu—although it was yet another bewildering scolding; last time he even said he tricked him.

He let out a laugh. Having the experience from last time, he wasn’t particularly surprised this time.

“How am I not obedient?”

Du Yu looked at him, his brows slightly furrowed, his childish voice saying, “Running around wildly.”

Jiang Sheng figured he was speaking about the matter of going to buy something just now. Stroking the photo-locket hanging chain inside his pocket, he smiled, “Bought a little item.”

And didn’t explain further.

The consequence of this led to Du Yu still looking at him with his brows slightly furrowed, the expression on his face completely filled with “A-Sheng is not obedient.”

Jiang Sheng found it quite amusing to be looked at by him like this, so as if offering an apology to him, he said, “There won’t be a next time.”

Only then did Du Yu’s brows smooth out.

Then he followed by shaking his head, blinked his eyes, and said, “A-Yu also wants to go.”

Sometimes Jiang Sheng couldn’t fathom him at all, unable to think how his mind worked—saying he ran around wildly, yet saying he wanted to go himself too.

Jiang Sheng lightly touched his hair, “It’s bought and done. Next time I’ll bring A-Yu along.”

Hearing that there would be a next time, Du Yu smiled faintly and nodded his head, “Mm.”