The Wealthy Old Man’s Palm-Sized Pet - Chapter 12

This was an extremely high-end restaurant.

The private room was air-conditioned and very cool. As soon as Song Zhiyuan entered, he took off his jacket. Beneath it, he wore a short-sleeved camouflage t-shirt, which only made him look even more handsome.

After two days of exposure to the scorching sun, many students had tanned or turned a bright red despite their jackets, their necks and faces showing two distinct colors. Only Song Zhiyuan remained fair-skinned without any discoloration, as if UV rays had no effect on him. The girls around him were incredibly envious and often came to ask what brand of sunscreen he used.

When Song Zhiyuan told them he hadn’t applied anything, the girls were skeptical. How could someone not use sunscreen and not tan? Sui Tang came over to testify that Song Zhiyuan truly hadn’t used anything, which made the girls even more envious. How could a boy have such good skin? His pores were nearly invisible, his skin was flawless, he was so white, he never tanned, and most importantly—he was so good-looking!

The waitress on the side couldn’t help but let out a quiet gasp of admiration when she saw him. However, her professional training kept her face expressionless, and she ensured her gaze didn’t linger on him for too long.

The man across from him appeared much older, likely an elder or an uncle. Since it was the season for university military training, seeing an older man bringing a student out for a nice meal made it seem like he was quite caring toward his junior.

Fu Xingnian held the menu and asked Song Zhiyuan what he wanted to eat. Song Zhiyuan replied that anything was fine.

When he was young, after his parents divorced, no one looked after him. He often went hungry, until he grew just tall enough to stand on a stool in front of the stove and learned how to cook noodles for himself. Because he had experienced hunger, he wasn’t a picky eater. Of course, Fu Xingnian knew nothing of this.

Fu Xingnian ordered several dishes. With each one, Song Zhiyuan’s eyes lit up—they were all things he liked. He hadn’t lied in the car; he really was hungry, and right now, he felt he could eat a giant bowl of meat. Since Fu Xingnian had ordered mostly meat dishes and saw the joy in Song Zhiyuan’s eyes, he was in an excellent mood.

Closing the menu, Fu Xingnian ordered a glass of fresh-squeezed watermelon juice. This caused Song Zhiyuan’s eyes to curve into crescents; in this heat, nothing paired better than refreshing watermelon juice.

While waiting for the food, Song Zhiyuan took the opportunity to tell Fu Xingnian how exhausting the training was. Their instructor was very strict; if their movements weren’t precise, they were punished with laps around the field or push-ups. Today, he had been penalized with twenty push-ups, and the afternoon drill was crawling, which had left his arms and legs red.

Song Zhiyuan extended his arm toward Fu Xingnian: “Mr. Fu, look. The skin is almost rubbed raw. It hurts.” A patch of reddish-purple was visible on his fair arm. Then, he rolled up his pant leg to show his reddened knees, looking at Fu Xingnian pitifully: “Mr. Fu, my knees hurt too.”

Fu Xingnian glanced at them but said nothing. A few minutes later, however, he sent a message to Chu Wei.

The food arrived quickly. Perhaps because he was so hungry, Song Zhiyuan found the meal exceptionally delicious. As he ate heartily, he looked up to see that Fu Xingnian hadn’t moved his chopsticks. “Mr. Fu, aren’t you hungry?”

Fu Xingnian picked up his chopsticks. His hands were truly suited for holding things, looking very elegant. He ate with grace, his every movement carrying an air of sophistication a complete contrast to his frenzied behavior in bed. Thinking of this, Song Zhiyuan quickly shoveled a few more bites of rice into his mouth to replenish his strength, fearing he might faint later on.

He fervently hoped that Fu Xingnian had brought him out today simply for a meal.

When they returned to the car after finishing their meal, Fu Xingnian gave Song Zhiyuan a bag.

Song Zhiyuan: “What is this?”

Fu Xingnian: “See for yourself.”

Inside were spray bottles. Song Zhiyuan looked at the English labels; it was anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving spray.

Fu Xingnian: “Didn’t you say your legs and arms hurt? Spray it yourself.”

Song Zhiyuan: “Thank you, Mr. Fu.”

Fu Xingnian gave a hum in response to his thanks.

Song Zhiyuan thought they would head to a hotel, but to his surprise, Fu Xingnian drove him back to the school. Seeing the shocked look in Song Zhiyuan’s eyes, Fu Xingnian asked, “Didn’t you say you were tired?”

Song Zhiyuan nodded repeatedly: “Very, very tired.”

Fu Xingnian rolled down the window and instructed him, “Don’t forget the spray.”

Song Zhiyuan walked ten or so paces, then turned back to see the luxury car driving away. Only then did he truly feel at ease; Fu Xingnian had really left. He looked at the bag in his hand—it seemed that occasionally, Fu Xingnian did have a bit of a human side.

Once he was sure Fu Xingnian was gone, Song Zhiyuan’s pace quickened, showing no sign that his knees were particularly painful.

The crawling drill had left many students complaining; not only were Song Zhiyuan’s knees and arms rubbed red, but many others were in the same state. When he returned to the dorm, the room was lively. Sui Tang and the others had found the abrasions on their bodies after showering, but there was no spray in the dorm. The three of them were playing a 1v1 solo match to decide who would have to go out and buy some.

When Song Zhiyuan returned, the results were in: Sui Tang had lost and had to go. Everyone was exhausted after the day’s training, and after showering, they wanted nothing more than to lie in the air-conditioning and not move. But a loss was a loss. As Sui Tang changed his clothes, he “wailed” about how his roommates could be so heartless as to make him go to the pharmacy.

It was then that Song Zhiyuan stepped in. Seeing him, Sui Tang went up and hugged him to complain: “Zhiyuan, I’m so miserable. My body is aching and they’re making me go buy medicine. I have to get spray from the pharmacy; I’ll get a bottle for you too.”

Song Zhiyuan smiled. “I have spray here. It should be enough for all of us.”

When Song Zhiyuan pulled out the spray, Sui Tang hugged him again in excitement: “Song Zhiyuan, you’re the best! You’re literally a lifesaver!” With the spray available, he didn’t have to go out.

The spray felt cool and comfortable on their arms. Sui Tang asked, “Zhiyuan, did you anticipate we’d need this and buy it in advance?”

Song Zhiyuan just smiled and went into the bathroom to shower. He was covered in sweat; if he didn’t wash up, he wouldn’t be able to stand it. Furthermore, to make Fu Xingnian lose interest in him, he had deliberately run around earlier to make himself sweat even more.

While he undressed in the bathroom, Sui Tang and the others were spraying their arms and legs outside, feeling the immediate relief. They praised the effectiveness of the spray, and Sui Tang asked through the door where he had bought it so he could stock up tomorrow.

Song Zhiyuan truly didn’t know which pharmacy it came from. He suddenly wondered how Fu Xingnian had managed to prepare it so quickly the man hadn’t known his arms were hurting today.

After showering and washing his clothes, Song Zhiyuan finally sat down to apply the medicine. As his roommates said, the spray was very cool and comfortable. Once applied, his whole body felt much better. His roommates thanked him again, and Song Zhiyuan thought that the person they should really be thanking was Fu Xingnian.

For the first time, Song Zhiyuan took the initiative to message Fu Xingnian.

Mr. Fu, the spray you gave me is very effective. My arms and legs feel much better. Thank you.

To prove he had used it, Song Zhiyuan took a photo of his knees and sent it to him. Afterward, he set his phone aside, knowing Fu Xingnian likely wouldn’t reply. Usually, when Fu Xingnian messaged him, it was brief and only to tell him to come out. Clearly, he wasn’t going to do that tonight.

Since everyone was back in the dorm, Sui Tang came over: “Zhiyuan, let’s play a game together. We need a fourth person.” The young men shared similar interests and all liked e-sports. So, they put on their headsets and started playing PUBG.

After dropping Song Zhiyuan back at school, Fu Xingnian returned home. After showering, he checked his phone—not a single message. Song Zhiyuan hadn’t sent him anything.

In the car, he had seen Song Zhiyuan messaging Fu Can and more than once. Having given him the spray, he should at least get a thank you, but after so much time, there was nothing. He was truly ungrateful.

Just as Fu Xingnian’s displeasure was rising, his phone vibrated. He opened the message to see a picture. It was a photo of a pair of knees, slightly reddened, with a small section of thigh visible. Although it only showed the knees and a bit of thigh, it was clear that the owner of these legs had an excellent figure.

Fu Xingnian saw the sentence sent with the picture. The slight redness on the knees reminded him of another scene; in bed, Song Zhiyuan’s knees often looked just like this. He thought of Song Zhiyuan’s cries and the flush at the corners of his eyes.

His desire was instantly ignited by the photo. He seriously wondered if Song Zhiyuan had sent this on purpose. He shouldn’t have let him go back today.

In the dorm, the four were wearing headsets. The sounds of gunfire and explosions were loud, and everyone’s attention was on the game. Song Zhiyuan didn’t notice his phone vibrating repeatedly. After several vibrations failed to catch his attention, a call came through ten minutes later, but the game audio drowned out the phone. By the time Song Zhiyuan looked at his phone, it was sitting quietly with a dark screen.

Song Zhiyuan turned back and continued the game. With training again tomorrow, the four played until 11:00 PM before heading to bed.

Only then did Song Zhiyuan see Fu Xingnian’s message and missed call from over an hour ago. Seeing this, Song Zhiyuan put his phone down and closed his eyes to sleep. He had training tomorrow.

In truth, he had seen the caller ID earlier; he just wanted to see where Fu Xingnian’s limit was.