Love Notebook of a Reclusive Beautiful Boy - Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Jiang Sheng blew for a while, felt it was about enough, and stopped.

He looked at Du Yu’s slightly reddened lips and looked away, “There, A-Yu, it won’t hurt in a moment.”

He didn’t want to continue, so he picked up the bowl of noodles on the table; it was still steaming.

He blew on it while stirring the noodles in the bowl, trying to disperse the heat that way.

After blowing for a bit, he felt it was about right, so he picked up a pair of chopsticks, reached out toward Du Yu, and said, “Eat, A-Yu.”

The burning sensation on Du Yu’s lips hadn’t fully dissipated, but it was better after Jiang Sheng had blown on them. Now, seeing Jiang Sheng holding out the chopsticks, waiting for him to open his mouth, Du Yu lowered his head without hesitation and took a bite.

“It’s not too hot anymore, right?” Jiang Sheng asked, seeing him eat at a leisurely pace.

Du Yu smiled slightly. Perhaps because he was being fed by Jiang Sheng, he looked quite happy and nodded.

Jiang Sheng said, “That’s good.”

He placed the bowl gently on the table, laid the chopsticks across the rim, and patted Du Yu, “Come on, A-Yu, eat by yourself.”

It wasn’t that Jiang Sheng was unwilling to keep feeding him; he just felt that these were things Du Yu could do, and besides, he was capable of doing them.

Although he was a child in his mentality, he was actually a grown man.

He believed that Du Yu could get better.

So, for some things, if Du Yu could do them alone, Jiang Sheng believed he should be encouraged to do so.

Du Yu looked at the bowl on the table, then looked up at Jiang Sheng, his expression confused as he asked, “A-Sheng, not feeding A-Yu…”

Jiang Sheng understood his meaning, looked into his eyes, and said, “A-Yu knows how to eat by himself, right?”

Du Yu nodded.

Jiang Sheng smiled and rubbed his head, “Then A-Yu, eat by yourself.”

Of course, Du Yu listened to him.

Even though he liked it when Jiang Sheng fed him—perhaps because it felt intimate, and because it was Jiang Sheng, the noodles tasted better than at any other time—he was still an obedient child. When he wasn’t being stubborn, he listened to Jiang Sheng very well.

So, even though the smile on his face faded, he picked up the chopsticks and began to eat the noodles slowly.

Jiang Sheng watched his silent face; his expression was clearly unhappy.

Jiang Sheng sat on the side, feeling somewhat helpless.

Perhaps it was that face, devoid of its smile, that gave Jiang Sheng an inexplicable feeling he couldn’t put into words.

This inexplicable feeling forced Jiang Sheng to compromise.

In fact, when faced with Du Yu, Jiang Sheng was always very easy to compromise.

He took the chopsticks from Du Yu’s hand and, under Du Yu’s surprised gaze, picked up a mouthful, reached toward his mouth, and signaled with his eyes that he could eat.

Du Yu was easily satisfied; he was never a greedy person.

The things he wanted were always very simple.

A kite, a pocket watch, a piece of cake…

He looked into Jiang Sheng’s eyes—perhaps there was something else, but he couldn’t explain it.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

Seeing that he was silent and unresponsive, Jiang Sheng asked.

Only then did Du Yu slowly lower his head and eat.

His eyes smiled like a quiet night sky, shaken and sifted by fine screens, filled with starlight.

Jiang Sheng watched him eat happily, chewing slowly, taking a long time for each bite.

He chuckled and said, “Eat up. When you’re done, I’ll have Uncle Fu take you to bathe.”

The noodles were finished, leaving only the fried egg. Jiang Sheng picked it up, “Eat this egg, too.”

Du Yu took a bite from the chopsticks.

While chewing, he watched Jiang Sheng, who was still holding his hand up. Accustomed to sharing things with Jiang Sheng, he said softly, “A-Sheng, eat too.”

Jiang Sheng smiled, “I’m not eating. Are you full, A-Yu?”

Du Yu didn’t answer his question, but continued on his own, “A-Sheng, eat…”

Jiang Sheng knew he was being stubborn again. He couldn’t win against him, so he simply followed his wish, leaned over, and took a bite.

He didn’t notice that a bit of egg yolk, along with some egg white, had smudged the corner of his mouth. After eating, Jiang Sheng smiled, “Alright, I ate. There’s half left, A-Yu, hurry up and eat.”

Du Yu stared at his face—a gentle smile hung on Jiang Sheng’s cold, sharp features.

Du Yu’s ignorant gaze slowly shifted to the egg white at the corner of his mouth. The Jiang Sheng in front of him looked a bit more worldly and human.

When he was a child, whether it was his brother or his mother, they always taught him that he must eat cleanly. He had learned the poem “Hoeing under the noon sun,” though he couldn’t quite remember it, but his brother and mother’s words were still ringing in his ears.

He muttered, “Egg…”

“What?” Jiang Sheng didn’t hear clearly.

Du Yu looked at Jiang Sheng’s mouth and repeated, “Egg…”

Jiang Sheng leaned slightly toward him, “What? Egg?”

He was leaning quite close to Du Yu, looking at him inquiringly, waiting for the next word.

Du Yu suddenly stopped talking. His movements were light and very slow, approaching Jiang Sheng, approaching his face, step by step.

Then, he stuck out his tongue and lightly licked the corner of his mouth.

His cheek brushed gently against Jiang Sheng’s, the sensation of their two faces touching like pulling someone down into a pool of wine to sink into decadence.

The moist, slippery tip of his tongue slid across the corner of his mouth, and then unintentionally trailed past his lip, causing a shiver—it was very itchy, very numbing.

The whole process was fluid; Du Yu didn’t have a hint of hesitation.

He didn’t have any other intentions; his goal was very pure. It was simply because he remembered what Du Li had told him, and because he wanted to be good to Jiang Sheng and help him.

He thought as simply as that.

However, it left Jiang Sheng in turmoil.

Turmoil about what?

Perhaps it had stirred up his heart.

But Jiang Sheng dared not admit this point.

He had never used the word “dare not” in his life. For many years, he was someone who had practically survived being in a pile of corpses; his state of mind was tempered beyond that of an average person.

Even with a gun pressed to his forehead, he could face it calmly.

But when that tongue tip unintentionally slid past his lips, he felt as if he could hear his heartbeat jumping out of his chest, as if it were right in his ear, startling him as if someone had pressed the pause button on him.

He could only let things be.

A thick, seductive, and ambiguous atmosphere swirled around them, seemingly ready to engulf them both.

Jiang Sheng was stunned for a long time without saying a word.

Du Yu’s gaze was innocent, his face clean, his head tilted as he leaned close to him, and he lightly nudged Jiang Sheng, “A-Sheng… A-Sheng…”

Jiang Sheng came back to his senses. The cool sensation at the corner of his mouth still lingered there. He wanted to forget that scene, but when he lifted his eyes and saw Du Yu’s face—that innocent, naive face—the scene replayed itself.

He knew clearly that Du Yu meant nothing else, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be flustered by it.

Twice now, Jiang Sheng cursed himself internally.

He was annoyed with himself for being like this. He put the bowl on the table; perhaps because he wasn’t paying attention, he set it down a little too heavily, making a “thud” sound.

With a silent face, he stood up and looked out the window.

Even if Du Yu were foolish, hearing the sound of the bowl and seeing Jiang Sheng’s face, he knew Jiang Sheng was unhappy, even if he didn’t know he was angry.

Du Yu gently tugged at the hand hanging at Jiang Sheng’s side, “A-Sheng…”

He didn’t understand these things, he just called his name like that.

Jiang Sheng was angry, but he was angry at himself.

Only when he heard Du Yu calling him did he return from his distracted thoughts.

Faced with Du Yu, he naturally couldn’t keep a dark face.

No matter how annoyed he was at himself, seeing him, the irritability in his heart could always disappear effortlessly.

It was unclear why, and Jiang Sheng didn’t want to probe too deeply.

His expression softened, and he sat down to ask him, “Why did you suddenly… kiss…”

He wanted to say “kiss me,” but felt the word wasn’t appropriate, and he hadn’t exactly been kissing him.

He tried to think of other words to explain it to Du Yu so he could understand, but after thinking for a long time without coming up with anything simple or easy to understand, he sighed and asked stubbornly, “Why did you… kiss me just now?”

Du Yu didn’t think too much and answered obediently, “A-Sheng’s face…”

As he spoke, he reached out a finger and touched the corner of Jiang Sheng’s mouth, “Egg…”

Only then did Jiang Sheng understand what had happened.

It must have been that he hadn’t noticed while eating that fried egg, and some of it had stuck to his face.

Having understood the cause, he felt more at ease.

He smiled and taught Du Yu, “A-Yu, you can’t do this next time. You can tell me, understand?”

Jiang Sheng felt that this point had to be made clear to Du Yu, in case this happened again.

He thought far ahead; what if Du Yu made some friends in the future? Although the probability was small for now, it wasn’t impossible.

Imagine if he were eating with someone and licked their face just because he saw something on it—it would scare them to death, and they might not even be friends anymore.

Du Yu nodded, looking as if he half-understood. Whether he understood or not was uncertain, but if Jiang Sheng said it, he had to nod.

Moreover, Jiang Sheng was indeed overthinking it, because Du Yu would never treat others as well as he treated him.

Because the person who had flown a kite with him and bestowed a light in his dark life was—in heaven or on earth—only the person before his eyes.

In this life, there would only be this one.

Seeing him nod, Jiang Sheng thought he understood and said no more.

He looked at the bowl on the table and asked, “Are you still eating?”

Du Yu nodded.

After Jiang Sheng let him finish the last half of the fried egg, he opened the door and called a maid to take the things away.

Uncle Fu was fast. A little later, he came to knock on the door. Seeing Jiang Sheng sitting beside Du Yu, he smiled and said, “Are Mr. Jiang and A-Yu busy? I’ve come to take A-Yu down for his bath.”

Jiang Sheng looked at Du Yu, “Go with Uncle Fu to take your bath.”

Du Yu obediently followed Uncle Fu out to bathe.

The attic was quiet. It was rare for Jiang Sheng to have such peace, so he lay on the bed alone, closing his eyes to rest.

Suddenly, he remembered he had promised Du Yu that he would get him that photograph of him from the Jingang Daily. So, he took out his phone, sent a message to Song Jiahao, and asked him to find someone to get the photo for him.

After sending it, he remembered Yu Chengyan and sent a message to Sister Xia: [How is my mother today? Did she eat?]

Once the message was sent, he closed his phone.

With his hand under his head and his eyes closed, he lay there, waiting for them to reply.

Perhaps they were both busy; he waited for a long time, but no one replied.

As Jiang Sheng lay there, the scene from just a moment ago appeared in his mind. Because it was too profound, he couldn’t wipe it away no matter what.

Du Yu’s innocent face, the way he licked the corner of his mouth—the sensation seemed to be there still.

He reached out and, involuntarily, touched the corner of his mouth.