Love Notebook of a Reclusive Beautiful Boy - Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Du Yanyu knew that from this moment on, he could no longer treat Jiang Sheng merely as a bodyguard.

Whether or not Du Yu could be rescued might rely entirely on this person from now on.

He turned his head to look at Jiang Sheng, who was on the sofa, his eyes filled with anticipation. At the very least, there was hope, and that was enough.

He asked Tan Shao, “How should this be done?”

Tan Shao replied, “It still has to be done slowly; you cannot rush for success. Look, A-Yu does not reject him and is willing to be close to him. This heart must be opened bit by bit. Besides, I see that Jiang Sheng is mature and steady; there are some things that do not need to be pointed out. I believe he himself is also willing to help Du Yu.”

Du Yanyu glanced over, “Jiang Sheng is steady enough; I just hope he can bring A-Yu out sooner.”

Tan Shao smiled, “Don’t overthink it, Mr. Du. Let everything take its natural course.”

After sending Tan Shao away, Du Yanyu went to the company.

Yao Xiaohui hadn’t woken up yet, and only Jiang Sheng and Du Yu were left in the living room.

The sun outside the window had just risen, and there was a faint hint of warmth in the air. It was a rare weekend, and the weather was so good that Jiang Sheng didn’t want to stay cooped up at home with Du Yu all the time. Moreover, there was nothing to do at home, and it felt like a waste of time.

Jiang Sheng walked outside to take a look. The sunlight was indeed warm. If he had time, he would even like to go back to the hospital to see his mother; Sister Xia had sent a message yesterday saying that his mother’s condition had improved a lot recently.

He stood outside the door, lost in thought, when he suddenly heard Du Yu’s voice in his ear, “What are you looking at?”

Just as Tan Shao said, Du Yu had really improved a lot. In the past, he wasn’t interested in anything, like a shell; now, he would feel curious and want to know, even though this was only towards Jiang Sheng.

But it was a step forward nonetheless.

Jiang Sheng smiled, “Nothing.”

The Du family estate was very large with a high green coverage rate. Looking out, it was lush and green, like a large park.

Honestly, Jiang Sheng had been here for a long time, but he had never strolled around the Du estate.

He was in a good mood today. He went down the steps and said to Du Yu, who was standing there foolishly, “Let’s go, A-Yu, let’s look around.”

Anyway, he and Du Yu were always inseparable.

Du Yu followed him as soon as he heard his words.

Because they were in the Du estate, unlike at school, it was relatively safe.

Jiang Sheng did not hold Du Yu’s hand, which made Du Yu a little uncomfortable.

Because before, Jiang Sheng would hold his hand everywhere they went.

After following Jiang Sheng for a while, he realized that Jiang Sheng hadn’t held his hand, so he reached out and murmured, “Hand…”

Jiang Sheng glanced at him, not understanding what he meant at first, “What’s wrong with your hand?”

Du Yu looked at him, and this time he said it more clearly, “Want to hold hands…”

Jiang Sheng laughed, only then realizing what he meant. He held his hand without any hesitation.

Jiang Sheng’s palm was warm. When he held Du Yu’s hand, the warmth seemed to be transmitted over, and Du Yu just felt his palm was warm.

The leaves of the plane trees were glowing with a white light, the dew was crystal clear, and there was a faint dampness in the air.

Jiang Sheng originally wanted to just take a casual walk and go back, but as they walked, he didn’t know how they ended up at the glass greenhouse.

Looking at the glass greenhouse not far away, and remembering that Du Yu liked this place very much, he pointed to it and said, “A-Yu, do you want to go there and take a look?”

Du Yu naturally nodded in agreement.

The old master outside the flower house had arrived early to work and was pruning flowers and plants. He didn’t recognize Jiang Sheng, but seeing him approach, he smiled and nodded out of habit.

Jiang Sheng returned the gesture and took Du Yu inside.

The flowers in the greenhouse hadn’t been fertilized or watered yet in the morning, but they were growing very well.

As soon as Du Yu entered, he found fun like he had found a treasure, looking at the flowers one by one.

On the table in front of Jiang Sheng was a pot of baby’s breath. Seeing this baby’s breath, Jiang Sheng remembered the experience of being forced to wear flowers by Du Yu at school last time. He shook his head, wanting to laugh.

A spray bottle was placed underneath. Jiang Sheng picked it up and called to Du Yu while spraying water, “A-Yu, there is baby’s breath here.”

After spraying for a while, he saw Du Yu come over.

Jiang Sheng was still spraying, and he smiled, “Look, the baby’s breath you like.”

Du Yu wore a pure smile on the corners of his mouth, “Baby’s breath.”

As he spoke, he reached out to pluck one, but Jiang Sheng was afraid that he would put the flower on him like last time, so he quickly reached out and grabbed his wrist, “Don’t pick the flowers, A-Yu.”

He handed the spray bottle in his hand to Du Yu, trying to divert his attention, “Do you want to try this?”

Du Yu raised his eyes slightly to look at him and took the spray bottle.

Jiang Sheng taught him, “Press here.”

Du Yu pressed the spray bottle and sprayed the baby’s breath a few times. The baby’s breath with water seemed to look even better.

Du Yu smiled slightly and sprayed it many times in a row. A few times he didn’t spray it well and sprayed it on the glass window. Jiang Sheng wiped it off, and faint fingerprints were left on the cold, damp window.

Du Yu’s eyes looked at the window. The mist-covered glass hadn’t been wiped by anyone yet, and the blurry silhouettes of Jiang Sheng and Du Yu were printed on the window.

He was a head shorter than Jiang Sheng. Under the blurry outline, he could only see two black shadows.

He was ignorant, but he knew that the tall one was Jiang Sheng and the short one was himself.

Jiang Sheng didn’t know what he was looking at, so he followed his gaze and looked, but it was just some flowers and plants.

Du Yu suddenly reached out and pointed to the glass window, “A-Sheng…”

At first, Jiang Sheng thought Du Yu was asking him to look at something, but after looking for a long time, he didn’t find anything.

“What is A-Yu saying?”

Du Yu kept pointing his finger, “A-Sheng…”

He walked slowly to the glass window and pressed his finger against the glass surface, “A-Sheng…”

Jiang Sheng stood a few meters away and could vaguely see his own shadow in the glass window.

He smiled; so that was what Du Yu was talking about.

“That’s a shadow, A-Yu.”

Jiang Sheng said while walking over, “When I walk away, it will be gone.”

“Gone?”

Du Yu muttered to himself, seeming not to understand.

Jiang Sheng moved out of the direct line of sight of that piece of glass, “Look, it’s gone.”

Du Yu looked down, and there was nothing on the mist-covered glass surface.

“Gone?”

He whispered to himself again.

Jiang Sheng didn’t know what he was thinking. Seeing the bright sunlight outside, he said, “Let’s go out, A-Yu.”

Who knew Du Yu ignored him, reached out, and wrote stroke by stroke on the wet, slippery glass surface: A-Sheng.

It was the place where Jiang Sheng’s shadow had just been printed. He wrote it very seriously, but the handwriting wasn’t very good; it was crooked.

Immediately afterwards, on the misty glass where he had left his own shadow, he tilted his head and, with slightly stiff writing movements, left: A-Yu

“What are you doing?”

Jiang Sheng saw the two names clearing away the mist at a glance.

There was an extremely faint smile on Du Yu’s innocent face, seemingly happy with the method he had thought of, “Saw it.”

“What?”

He explained to Jiang Sheng, pointing to the left first, “A-Sheng.”

Then immediately pointed to the right, “A-Yu.”

Jiang Sheng found his idea amusing. Just two shadows, and besides, he wrote his name there; it would be gone anyway once it dried.

But how could he tell him the truth? He smiled and cooperated with Du Yu, “Hmm, A-Yu is very smart, this way you can see it.”

Du Yu’s eyebrows curved, and there was a youthful smile on his simple face.

When they came out, they just happened to catch the old master moving a tree. The tree wasn’t big or small, but it was very heavy. Three masters tried to lift the tree, but because it was indeed heavy, they failed after trying twice.

Jiang Sheng saw it from afar and walked over.

He was someone who would never stand idly by if he could help.

“Do you need any help?”

The master who had just smiled and greeted him earlier was sweating profusely, his breathing unsteady, and he replied, “Thank you, thank you so much!”

Jiang Sheng prepared to step forward and glanced at Du Yu, “A-Yu, you stand further away, don’t get close, don’t run around, you know?”

Du Yu nodded lightly.

“Where should I lift it to?”

“Just to the side of the road will do, thank you very much, sir.”

The tree was indeed heavy. It took the four of them a lot of effort to lift it to the side of the road.

Jiang Sheng was a bit tired from lifting it. Compared to the masters who were covered in sweat, he only had a few beads of sweat on his forehead.

The old master thanked him several times. A truck came over there, probably to move the tree, so Jiang Sheng didn’t get in the way.

Du Yu listened to his words and stood there obediently. Jiang Sheng walked a few steps and called him, “A-Yu!”

Du Yu saw him coming over and didn’t move.

Jiang Sheng knew him; he was probably waiting for him to tell him that he could come over.

He smiled and waved, “Come here.”

Then Du Yu walked over slowly.

When they returned to the villa, Aunt Fang was telling people to prepare morning tea. Seeing Jiang Sheng come in, she smiled and said, “Where did Mr. Jiang go? You look a bit breathless.”

Jiang Sheng’s breathing was indeed not very steady, and he didn’t want to explain too much, “Nothing much, it’s just a bit hot.”

He pulled out a chair and sat down, with sweat on his forehead.

Du Yu also sat to the side. He leaned very close to him, and the sweat on Jiang Sheng’s forehead was almost clearly visible.

He raised his head and touched Jiang Sheng’s forehead, the movement very light, and said softly, “Wipe.”

Jiang Sheng was probably used to it and smiled, “Thank you, A-Yu.”

Then he looked up, took Du Yu’s wrist, and put his hand down, “It will be dry in a moment.”

Du Yu was persistent, “Must wipe…”

Jiang Sheng knew that once he got stubborn, there was no way to change him, so he pulled out a tissue and wiped his forehead with his big hand, and the sweat was almost gone.

He smiled, “Look, it’s gone, right?”

Just as he was speaking, Aunt Fang brought the dining cart over, “Mr. Jiang, morning tea.”

Jiang Sheng had the habit of eating only three meals a day, and he wasn’t used to the morning tea, brunch, or afternoon tea of these rich people.

He smiled and politely declined.

But Du Yu seemed to like it, picked a piece of mousse cake, and sat on the side digging and eating it.

Just as he was eating, Fu Shan led a woman in from outside.

Yao Xiaohui and Du Yanyu were not there, so he greeted Jiang Sheng, “Mr. Jiang, this is Ms. Xue Xue, Ms. Xue, whom Mr. Du invited to teach A-Yu to play the piano.”

Jiang Sheng didn’t expect Du Yu’s progress to be so fast; she arrived as soon as it was mentioned.

Ms. Xue’s temperament was a bit pure, wearing a white headband, a white dress, and a black long down jacket on the outside.

After following Fu Shan in, she heard Fu Shan talking to Jiang Sheng and said, “Hello, Mr. Jiang, Mr. Du told me to come directly to you after I arrived at the Du family.”

Jiang Sheng didn’t have much to say and nodded, “Hello.”

Regarding teaching Du Yu to play the piano, Du Yanyu only mentioned it this morning and last night. He thought he would have to wait at least a day or two, but he didn’t expect it to be so fast.

Ms. Xue tentatively asked, “Shall we start now?”

Jiang Sheng looked at the time and then at Du Yu, “Wait for A-Yu to finish the cake.”

Ms. Xue said, “Okay.”

After Du Yu finished the cake, Jiang Sheng took him and Ms. Xue upstairs.

He opened the door, “Ms. Xue, this is the place where you teach the young master to practice piano. The young master doesn’t like to talk much. If there is anything you need, there will be a Filipino maid outside, or you can call me.”

“Understood, thank you.”

After briefly talking to Ms. Xue, Jiang Sheng closed the door and prepared to go upstairs.

Du Yu kept looking at him, and just as he was about to close the door, he suddenly called him, “A-Sheng…”

“What’s wrong?”

Du Yu looked at him, “Study together.”

Jiang Sheng was stunned for a moment; he didn’t expect him to remember this.

It was something he had said casually yesterday, and even though Du Yu’s memory was so poor, he remembered this thing so clearly.

“I…” Jiang Sheng was speechless.

After a while, he said, “I won’t learn; I’ll watch you learn here, okay?”

Du Yu hesitated for a while and nodded.

Ms. Xue sat Du Yu down and opened the sheet music, planning to start by teaching him how to read music.

“Young master, let me give you a simple introduction. This is a staff, generally speaking…”

She raised her head and found that Du Yu was not listening to her at all, but was tilting his head and looking at Jiang Sheng by the bed.

She called him, “Young master, young master, young master, young master…”

After calling several times, it was useless. Just as she was about to push him, Jiang Sheng, who had put away his phone, replied, “Don’t call him young master, just call him A-Yu.”

After saying that, he said to Du Yu, who was staring at him without blinking, “A-Yu, you have to listen to the class. Didn’t you want to learn the piano?”

Du Yu didn’t speak, just looked at him like this.

“A-Yu, you are not being obedient.”

A look of urgency flashed on Du Yu’s face, “A-Yu is obedient.”

“Then you have to listen to the class.”

He didn’t speak again.

Ms. Xue looked at Jiang Sheng and said, “Mr. Jiang, I’m sorry, can I trouble you to go out? If you are here, the young… A-Yu can’t concentrate. I can’t teach the class like this.”

Jiang Sheng looked at Du Yu and knew that his presence here not only had no effect but would also interfere with Du Yu.

So he said “Sorry,” then glanced at Du Yu and said softly, “A-Yu, learn quickly. When you learn it, you can teach me, okay?”

He knew that Du Yu was different to him than to others, so he had to use this point, hoping he would learn it diligently. After all, he could see that A-Yu liked music very much.

Du Yu looked at him, his voice crisp, “Okay…”

Aunt Fang was cleaning the table and beamed when she saw Jiang Sheng come down, “I see that Ms. Xue is polite. It’s A-Yu’s first time learning the piano, I don’t know what he will learn.”

Jiang Sheng said, “I think A-Yu has talent, maybe he can learn well.”

“If that’s really the case, that would be great.” Aunt Fang said, “It’s been so many years since we heard music in the Du family. The last time was when Madam played the pipa, it’s been ten years.”

Jiang Sheng heard Old Ma mention this last time, so he asked, “Which Madam?”

Aunt Fang said, “Which Madam could it be? Our Madam Li.”

As she spoke, she sighed, “Our Madam Li was really a very good person, kind-hearted, and had no airs as a madam. If Madam were still here, A-Yu might not be like this.”

After she finished speaking, she sighed to herself and didn’t continue.

Jiang Sheng felt that this involved the Du family’s privacy, and seeing that she didn’t continue, he didn’t ask.

He learned the piano quickly. There was only one lesson a day. Since Jiang Sheng said that, the class had been going more smoothly.

Although Du Yu didn’t listen carefully enough, it was much better than at the beginning.

When Ms. Xue had taught him enough, she brought Du Yu down.

Aunt Fang politely asked if she wanted to stay for a meal, but Ms. Xue declined, knowing her place.

After lunch, something was sent from the Small Corridor Pavilion. It was sent by Old Ma, saying it was from Zhong Huien for Jiang Sheng and Du Yu.

It was an envelope. When he opened it, it was a blue invitation card, designed in a very fancy way. When he opened it, it turned out to be Du Yu’s birthday invitation.

It also had words printed on it: If you have time this afternoon, please come to the Small Corridor Pavilion with A-Yu, Zhong Huien.

Jiang Sheng guessed it was probably about Du Yu’s birthday banquet.

He called Old Ma to drive and was about to take Du Yu out when he happened to bump into Yao Xiaohui.

After her big fight with Du Yanyu yesterday, she thought she would be badly hurt, but unexpectedly, early the next morning, she started her usual style again.

Walking over in a new-style cheongsam, she had sharp eyes and saw the blue invitation in Jiang Sheng’s hand at a glance. She couldn’t see the other words clearly, but the word “Yu” was especially clear.

Outside, Old Ma drove the car over. A maid came in and said, “Mr. Jiang, Housekeeper Ma told me to ask you when you are leaving.”

Jiang Sheng replied, “Leaving immediately.”

Yao Xiaohui got angry as soon as she heard this. You shouldn’t guess a woman’s mind. Her brain turned and she guessed what was going on. It must be Du Yanyu and Zhong Huien discussing Du Yu’s birthday banquet outside, and it just happened that these two were called over together.

Thinking of that woman, she got angry, “Who allowed you to leave! Lock the door for me, no one is allowed to leave this door today!”

Jiang Sheng didn’t want to talk to her, “Sorry, Mrs. Du, I hope you are clear that there has never been any transaction between you and me. I came to the Du family because of Mr. Du.”

After saying that, he took Du Yu and left, only hearing Yao Xiaohui behind him cursing, “Rebellious, rebellious! How dare a dead pauper talk back to me!”

The car drove fast and arrived at the Small Corridor Pavilion in no time.

This was a good local hotel in Jinport. As soon as Jiang Sheng and Du Yu got out of the car, they saw people coming and going inside, and it looked like business was booming.

As soon as he got out of the car, a woman came over, wearing a sky-blue cheongsam with an enchanting figure, “Welcome, sir, how many of you?”

Jiang Sheng said, “I’m looking for Boss Zhong.”

He said, showing her the invitation. The woman saw it at a glance and smiled, “Then please follow me.”

They went all the way to the third floor. Just as they came down the elevator, they saw Zhong Huien, who was directing the venue set-up. The woman went over and whispered a few words in her ear, and they saw Zhong Huien turn her head.

As soon as she saw Jiang Sheng and Du Yu, she smiled, “Mr. Jiang, I thought you wouldn’t come.”

Jiang Sheng said politely, “Since Boss Zhong is looking for Jiang Sheng and A-Yu, there must be something important; how could Jiang Sheng delay.”

Zhong Huien smiled, “There is indeed something, I want to discuss the matter of A-Yu’s birthday banquet with you.”

She looked at her watch, “Yanyu will be here in about half an hour. Let’s discuss it together after he arrives.”

As she spoke, she saw Du Yu and smiled, “How has A-Yu been lately?”

Du Yu’s hand was held by Jiang Sheng. He looked up at Jiang Sheng, and Jiang Sheng smiled, “Speak.”

Du Yu spat out one word, “Good…”

Zhong Huien smiled, “You really trust him. Don’t just stand there stupidly, do you want to go in and take a look?”

Waiting for nothing to do, Jiang Sheng simply agreed to go and take a look, “Okay.”

So he took Du Yu inside.

The area inside was very large, almost as big as the piano shop he visited that day. It could be seen that Du Yanyu really wanted to have a big event this time.

Workers were decorating the walls, and there was a screen with an ancient style in the middle. Zhong Huien walked over there and said to Jiang Sheng, “How about putting this screen here?”

Jiang Sheng looked at it, his eyes raised slightly, and found a spot on the top, not knowing if it was a stain or a hole. He couldn’t see clearly. He let go of Du Yu’s hand, pointed his finger, and said, “What is that?”

Zhong Huien took a look, and her face sank immediately. She turned around and called a few managers, “Who brought this screen? Come and show me, what is that? Sending this kind of thing to the stage, are you trying to smash the reputation of my Small Corridor Pavilion!”

The managers on the scene didn’t know much about it, so they called a few more people over and asked them one by one.

Suddenly, a lot of people crowded around.

Zhong Huien smiled and said to Jiang Sheng, “Thanks to you, Mr. Jiang, otherwise our Small Corridor Pavilion would really be pointed at the backbone by people.”

Jiang Sheng replied, “It’s nothing.” He subconsciously turned around to look for Du Yu, but when he turned his face, the person was gone.

He hurriedly looked around. There were people everywhere, and he scanned very quickly, but no, no, no…

“What’s wrong?” Zhong Huien saw Jiang Sheng looking for something and hurriedly asked.

Jiang Sheng frowned, his face showing a little bit of urgency, but more worry, “A-Yu is missing.”

“Missing?!”

Even Zhong Huien was surprised and hurriedly looked around, only to find no one.

She was anxious. Thinking of Du Yanyu, she was a little scared, “What should we do? Yanyu will be here soon. What if he doesn’t see Du Yu and blames me?”

After all, this party was organized by her. No matter how astute and capable she was on weekdays, she couldn’t bear the thought that the man she loved might blame her or reprimand her.

“Boss Zhong, please don’t make this public for now, I will find him.”

Jiang Sheng didn’t have the heart to explain the reason to Zhong Huien slowly, so he turned to find him.

He had been holding Du Yu’s hand until he let go when he mentioned the screen. From then until he discovered that Du Yu was missing, it was less than three minutes. In this short time, he definitely couldn’t have gone far. Perhaps he saw something novel and followed it to take a look.

He looked around the third floor first. There were people coming and going, but he didn’t see Du Yu. Just as he was about to go downstairs, he suddenly saw a waiter pushing a cake downstairs.

Cake… A flash of inspiration crossed his mind.

He followed the waiter pushing the cake downstairs, and the destination was a large private room on the second floor that was preparing for a dinner party. Jiang Sheng followed him in, walked around, and saw Du Yu walking towards him.

He was holding a small plate of cake, a very new-style cake. He didn’t know if it was because he hadn’t eaten it before or something else, but he held it in his hand, looking a bit cautious.

He caught sight of Jiang Sheng and his eyes curved, the corners of his mouth rising slightly.

Jiang Sheng was a little angry, and he intended to tell him in a stern tone this time that he must not run around next time.

He had planned it all, but when he walked over and saw him suddenly raise the cake in his hand to him, “A-Sheng, eat.”

In an instant, the fire in his stomach disappeared completely.