Love Notebook of a Reclusive Beautiful Boy - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Du Yu woke up fairly quickly; opening his eyes and seeing that Jiang Sheng was not by his side, he didn’t even put on his pants before getting out of bed and going out.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw Jiang Sheng in the main hall having a meal with Jiang Jianguo.

He stood by the doorframe and called out, “A-Sheng…”

He was bare-legged, white, flashing skin. Jiang Jianguo glanced at him, “Young Master Du, it’s cold out here, don’t catch a cold later.”

Jiang Sheng pulled him into the room, “Why didn’t you put your pants on properly?”

Du Yu couldn’t explain that it was because he couldn’t see Jiang Sheng and was anxious to find him; everything here was strange to Du Yu.

Only Jiang Sheng was familiar to him.

He couldn’t explain these words, so he only silently put on his pants.

Jiang Sheng, however, understood him, rubbed his head, and smiled, not saying much more.

After the meal, someone from the Du family had already come to pick them up.

It was Fushan, standing politely at the Du residence entrance, knocking on the door a few times.

It was actually still quite early; a layer of thin mist was still dim on the face of the copper lion on the door knocker. The sunlight was hidden under the clouds, only slightly revealing a shadow of wanting to show its face. The front doors of the nearby neighbors were all tightly closed one by one.

Jiang Sheng pulled back the door latch and saw Fushan smiling politely, nodding slightly toward Jiang Sheng, “Mr. Jiang, Mr. Du wants me to come pick up A-Yu to go back.”

Jiang Sheng pulled the door wider, “Come on in.”

Fushan smiled and followed Jiang Sheng inside, politely expressing his apologies, “Mr. Du wanted me to come earlier; I don’t know if I disturbed Mr. Jiang’s rest.”

Several of the old servants in the Du family—whether it was Fang Ma, Fushan, or Old Ma—were almost all respectful to Jiang Sheng.

Logically speaking, as an elder, it should be Jiang Sheng who was courteous, but instead, it was them who were courteous; this was probably because Jiang Sheng used to be a policeman.

The profession of a police officer, when spoken of, naturally commands respect.

Therefore, even though Jiang Sheng’s expression was always calm and indifferent, they all smiled and spoke kindly.

Jiang Sheng said, “It’s fine.”

Master Fu smiled behind him, “That’s good.”

He glanced around the surroundings and continued, “Mr. Jiang’s home looks quite spacious.”

“An old house left behind by my ancestors; it’s very old.”

Although Jiang Sheng was plain with the people from the Du family, he was by no means cold. So when Fushan spoke to him, he answered sentence by sentence.

“A-Sheng, who is this…”

Seeing the two walk closer, Jiang Jianguo asked.

“It’s Master Fu from the Du family.”

This was Jiang Jianguo’s first time seeing someone from the Du family. The Du family was wealthy and had large holdings; even this servant looked different from ordinary people.

Jiang Jianguo hurriedly stood up to welcome the guest, “Really troubling Master Fu to make a trip personally.”

Fushan said, “You are too polite.”

Jiang Jianguo busied himself, “I don’t know if Master Fu has eaten yet; if you don’t mind, why not have a meal here?”

Fushan smiled slightly, “No need, I already ate early this morning.”

After finishing, he looked at Du Yu, who was drinking porridge. Fushan said, “A-Yu, we need to go back.”

Hearing this, Du Yu raised his eyes, glanced at Jiang Sheng, shook his head, and said, “Don’t want, A-Yu is not going back.”

Fushan had already heard from Fang Ma yesterday and knew that Du Yu was determined to follow Jiang Sheng. Hearing him now refuse to go back, he said to Jiang Sheng, “I wonder if Mr. Jiang is going back today?”

Jiang Sheng had finished his meal and was standing under the eaves, replying while lighting a cigarette, “I am going back.”

Fushan felt relieved. Before he came, Du Yanyu had already told him that if Du Yu refused to come back, he should ask Jiang Sheng to come along. He had originally been worried that if he forced Jiang Sheng to go back, he would be unhappy. Fortunately, he was going back too.

“A-Yu, look, Mr. Jiang is also going back together; aren’t you going back?”

Du Yu knew he was talking about Jiang Sheng. Hearing that Jiang Sheng was going back, he nodded, smiled slightly, and said, “A-Yu is going back.”

Outside, even at the Jiang residence, everything was a strange place.

What he liked most was staying at home; he really wanted to go back. But if Jiang Sheng wasn’t going back, he didn’t want to go back either. He wanted to be with Jiang Sheng forever; he had to see him every moment.

He said this while lowering his head and eating his meal quickly.

In his heart, he only thought about going back quickly with Jiang Sheng, returning to the Du family, returning to that small attic.

No matter how exciting the world outside was, he didn’t care for it.

His world was too small, small to the point that in this lifetime, he only wanted to stay in the attic with Jiang Sheng forever.

Fushan stood to the side waiting respectfully, with the appearance of waiting for Du Yu’s instructions. Their generation had conservative thoughts; they treated themselves as if they had been sold to the Du family, treating both Du Yu and Du Yanyu as masters, never daring to show a hint of slack.

His manner made Jiang Jianguo feel quite awkward about eating. He shoveled a few mouthfuls and urged Jiang Sheng to quickly take Du Yu back so as not to delay time.

Jiang Sheng was standing under the steps smoking; puffs of smoke rings hovered around his nose tip. Du Yu had finished his meal and walked to his side in a few steps, chanting, “Smoke…”

Jiang Sheng had let him smoke this thing last time; he knew it.

Seeing him come, Jiang Sheng took the cigarette down, “Full?”

Du Yu nodded. Actually, he didn’t like the taste of smoke; he had choked when he inhaled it last time. But he felt that Jiang Sheng really liked this smoke, seeing him smoke it many times.

Since it was what Jiang Sheng liked, even if he didn’t like it, he wanted to try hard to learn it well.

He lowered his head, looked at his hand, and reached out to take it.

He couldn’t distinguish where he should touch and where he shouldn’t. Jiang Sheng’s hand was close to him, and before he understood Du Yu’s intention, his fingertip had already touched the burning end of the cigarette.

The burning sensation immediately made him pull back his hand as a reflex. He was burned and in pain, his brows furrowed deeply; it hurt a lot. Although his eyes were a bit red, he didn’t shed tears, and his voice sounded heartbreaking, “A-Yu hurts.”

He cried out.

Jiang Sheng quickly threw away the cigarette butt.

Seeing a red mark burned onto his fingertip, he hurriedly pulled him to run water over it.

The cold water running over the fingertip only eased the burning sensation a little, but the pain did not disappear at all.

He kept saying to Jiang Sheng, “A-Sheng, A-Yu hurts.”

Jiang Sheng originally wanted to scold him; it had happened many times, always like this—last time it was glass shards, this time it was a cigarette butt. He didn’t know at all what was dangerous and what could be touched.

Jiang Sheng was furious in his heart, and at the same time felt pity for him. Seeing him shouting about the pain, and knowing he was most afraid of pain, getting burned by a cigarette butt must have been very painful.

Thinking of him being uncomfortable, Jiang Sheng couldn’t utter a single word of reproach, and could only keep comforting him, saying, “Alright, alright, it will be fine in a moment.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t serious, and no blister formed. After running water over it for a while, it was still a red mark.

Du Yu’s eyes were watery from the pain, shimmering; he was looking down and blowing on his hand.

He didn’t cry; he just felt the pain.

Although he was fragile and sensitive, he rarely shed tears. The last time he cried was ten years ago, when Du Li fell down in front of him. Ever since then, he had never cried again.

Rather than saying he was strong, it was better to say his heart had already become numb—numb for ten years; he didn’t even know that when injured or sad, one could shed tears—that at this time, it was allowed to shed tears.

When this numbness sinks into the bone marrow, it takes time to be awakened again.

Jiang Sheng saw his eyes become watery and knew he was afraid of pain. He should have felt pity for him, but suddenly found it amusing.

He hooked his chin with a smile in his eyes, “Let me see… crying?”

“Cry…”

Du Yu muttered while looking at him.

His eyes looked like rippling light on the water surface, and when people saw them, they really had a touch of pitifulness. With a soft, glutinous voice, he said, “A-Yu is not crying.”

Jiang Sheng smiled, “Really not crying?”

Du Yu nodded.

Jiang Sheng wiped the corner of his eye, but there wasn’t even a trace of moisture, “That’s good, don’t cry, A-Yu.”

He didn’t know what crying meant to Du Yu; he just simply didn’t want Du Yu to shed tears. He didn’t want him to cry, didn’t want him to be sad—even if it was sadness from pain, it wasn’t allowed.

How could he cry? Jiang Sheng felt heartbroken even if he just frowned. If he cried, Jiang Sheng’s heart would probably shatter.

In this life, it is enough for Jiang Sheng to see him cry just once.

And that is, tears of joy.

Jiang Sheng reached out and pulled him into his arms.

He lowered his head slightly, his cheek pressed against his ear.

A hug is the warmest and most intimate posture, like two clusters of fire in the dark night. When alone, the light is weak, but when gathered together, when gathered into a single fire, that light can no longer be ignored by anyone.

He stroked the back of Du Yu’s head and murmured, “Don’t cry.”

This whisper was his hope for Du Yu’s future, hoping that he would never be sad.

In his arms, Du Yu couldn’t explain why, but the burning sensation on his fingertip, which was clearly so intense just now and made him feel uncomfortable from the pain, had now inexplicably disappeared.

A person’s embrace can possess the greatest power in the world, making those who want to die willing to live, making those who are sad stop shedding tears, making those who do not love continue to love.

Actually, it doesn’t have much to do with the embrace itself; the biggest reason is who the person bestowing the embrace is.

Jiang Sheng didn’t know yet that he actually possessed such powerful strength.

Du Yu was smiling confusedly. In fact, the pain in his hand had never disappeared, but Jiang Sheng’s embrace was too warm, so warm that he forgot he had just been burned.

“A-Yu is not crying.” Du Yu’s hand circled around, his face resting on his shoulder, an obedient murmur, “A-Sheng, don’t cry either.”

Jiang Sheng smiled slightly, hearing him think of him, and laughed in his heart.

He gently rubbed the back of his head and taught him, “A-Yu, don’t do this again in the future. If you want to do something, tell me, understand?”

Du Yu leaned in his arms, his thoughts floating far away from happiness, and murmured an “Mmm.”

Actually, he didn’t understand at all what was being said.

Jiang Jianguo had already packed Jiang Sheng’s things, putting in some things Jiang Sheng usually used at home, as well as his old clothes, all stuffed into the bag.

He also secretly stuffed in two thousand yuan, which was the money Jiang Sheng had left last time. Jiang Jianguo lived by himself normally and had his own job; he didn’t need money for the hospital.

Jiang Sheng had left him so much; he really couldn’t spend it. Knowing that if he gave it back, he might not be willing to accept it, so he had to secretly stuff it in.

His son had suffered so much; even if the Jiang family treated him well, he was still living under someone else’s roof—how could it compare to being at home?

But he himself was incapable and couldn’t share Jiang Sheng’s burden.

Seeing them both coming out of the kitchen, he handed the bag to Jiang Sheng, “I packed some things for you. You didn’t bring anything when you entered the Du house last time, and now the weather is turning warm. The bag is full of your old clothes; bring them, so you can change and wash them.”

Jiang Sheng took it and looked at Jiang Jianguo, “I’m leaving; call me if anything happens.”

Jiang Jianguo was a man of few words, and Jiang Sheng was also taciturn. The relationship between father and son was more like a silent way of getting along, but both knew that this silence was definitely not estrangement, but just a matter of personality.

Fushan had entered the Jiang residence a moment ago, probably feeling that his sudden arrival was disturbing their meal, so he said he would wait outside the door after staying for a short while.

Seeing Jiang Sheng come out carrying the bag, he asked, “Mr. Jiang, are you all set?”

Jiang Sheng said “Mmm,” opened the car door, and gently supported Du Yu to get into the car.

Jiang Sheng and Du Yu sat in the back row. The inside of the car felt a bit stuffy. Jiang Sheng subconsciously wanted to roll down the car window on Du Yu’s side; he was used to taking care of Du Yu and was always thinking about him at every moment.

Half-standing, most of his body leaned over toward Du Yu’s side, stretching his hand out to roll down the car window.

He turned his face sideways, the right side of his cheek pressed close to Du Yu’s, his eyes looking intently at the car window, trying to roll it down to the best width—neither letting Du Yu be blown into catching a cold, nor letting him feel stuffy.

Du Yu looked at the face so close in front of him and suddenly remembered kissing Jiang Sheng yesterday.

That feeling was very attractive to him.

So, confusedly and inexplicably, he lowered his head again and kissed his face lightly.

He had originally wanted to kiss his cheek like yesterday, but when he leaned over, because Jiang Sheng’s neck was stretched forward, it caused Du Yu to kiss slightly off-center. When his lips pressed against him, he ended up kissing the area right by the ear root.

This patch of skin tissue was even softer than the cheek, and being close to the ear, it was incredibly soft.

Regarding this kind of matter, no one can escape it.

Liking someone, that person seems to radiate hormones; whether psychologically or physiologically, moving close to him is a normal reaction, and it has nothing to do with other factors.

Du Yu seemed to find it fun; he kissed the root of Jiang Sheng’s ear and buried his face in it.

Originally, Jiang Sheng had been startled by the kiss, but Du Yu suddenly and inexplicably stuck out his tongue and licked it lightly, revealing only a tiny tip of his tongue, licking it lightly as if testing.

Perhaps it was the hormones guiding him; he just felt the root of Jiang Sheng’s ear was very soft and wanted to lick it to see what the tactile sensation was like. But that place was close to the earlobe, and with this lick, the earlobe was also licked along with it.

Even with Jiang Sheng’s composure, being licked suddenly by Du Yu’s soft tongue tip, a clear stream surged toward every part of his body from all directions; Jiang Sheng almost couldn’t stand.

He almost disregarded everything and kissed him.

It was only almost; in the end, he was rational enough.

Even being teased by Du Yu like this, even though the coolness at the earlobe kept him from ignoring it, even though he really, really wanted to lower his head and kiss him.

He was not an ordinary person; he stood at the tip of Jiang Sheng’s heart.

But even so, Jiang Sheng was occupied by reason as his main train of thought.

Du Yu hadn’t noticed Jiang Sheng’s wrongness yet. This light lick of his discovered a place even softer than the ear root—that was Jiang Sheng’s earlobe.

He rubbed his lips upward, wanting to kiss the earlobe again. He was like a curious cat; he wanted to play with this, he wanted to play with that, and having discovered something he liked, he could no longer let go.

Fortunately, Jiang Sheng dodged quickly. He turned his face, suppressed his voice, and said in a volume only the two of them could hear, “What are you doing?”

Because Jiang Sheng was turned sideways, and today Old Ma was driving a minivan with three rows, Jiang Sheng and Du Yu were sitting in the last row.

Looking from the rearview mirror, one could hardly see Du Yu’s face, so Old Ma who was driving and Fushan in the passenger seat didn’t see what Du Yu had just done.

Jiang Sheng wasn’t feeling guilty about anything. Ever since he chose to be with Du Yu, he knew that the relationship between the two was destined to be filled with thorns. But since he was determined, he would not allow a single thorn to stab Du Yu.

It was just that Jiang Sheng already had plans in his heart. He had decided that once Du Yu’s birthday passed, he would seek out Dr. Tan Shao to cooperate with his treatment, to let Du Yu recover as soon as possible.

If Du Yu was still willing to be with him at that time, he would explain this matter to Du Yanyu.

Therefore, at this very moment, no matter how one looked at it, it was not a good time to let others discover the matter between the two.

If Du Yanyu found out, what would Jiang Sheng say to him? That he had fallen for Du Yu, that he was sincere toward him? If he said this out loud, it would probably make people laugh and roll on the ground.

With Du Yu’s current situation, it was really hard for people to believe Jiang Sheng’s words.

Let alone Du Yanyu; he might mistakenly think he was after the Du family’s money, and in a rage, kick him out of the Du family. In that case, what would happen to Du Yu’s illness?

Du Yu was so sensitive. He had finally managed to get close to him; besides Jiang Sheng, who else could help him?

Could he continue to stay in the attic, looking out the window every day, year after year?

Jiang Sheng thought far ahead; he didn’t hope the final result would be like that.

So before this, he hoped everything would be calm and quiet.

Du Yu looked at Jiang Sheng’s turned face and blinked his eyes, saying, “Kiss, A-Sheng.”

As he said this, he had another appearance of wanting to lean over and kiss him.

Jiang Sheng reached out and resisted his shoulder, “Not allowed to play anymore.”

“Don’t, don’t.”

Du Yu, however, acted as if he were addicted and insisted on continuing, pushing hard against the force Jiang Sheng was exerting on his hand, wanting to lean over.

Jiang Sheng saw his struggling appearance and suddenly found it amusing, “Who taught you this?”

Du Yu replied, “A-Sheng.”

Jiang Sheng was even more confused, “I never taught you to kiss people at will.”

Du Yu thought for a moment and said, “Exchange photo…”

Jiang Sheng laughed, feeling his comprehension was truly mind-boggling, “I told you that if you want something, you have to use something to exchange for it, but I never said you should kiss me at will.”

Du Yu thought about it after hearing this, tilted his face, leaned the right half of his cheek close to him, looked out the window, with an appearance of pure innocence.

Jiang Sheng was confused, “What are you doing?”

Du Yu’s index finger pointed at his cheek, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and he said softly, “Exchange.”