Chapter 40

If Fang Yu were forced to describe this room, it was something he had only ever seen in the movies or on TV shows.

It was a suite of over one hundred square meters. The bedroom was connected to a study, and there was a very large bathroom, with a large, round, purely Western bathtub. There was a long and wide balcony outside, with exquisitely carved columns, manifesting the value of its cultural importance. Inside the bedroom were square French windows and doors, semicircular windows connected to a fan, hanging curtains, Chinese wisteria, carved windows, wisteria wood furniture, antique calligraphy and paintings… It was a lush spring outside. The shadows of the trees were dancing, coming in through the windows and onto the wooden floor with light and shadows swaying elegantly.

If a literary youth were to come here, he would definitely have more flowery language to marvel at this room’s elegance and beauty, but Fang Yu wasn’t a literary youth.

Fang Yu looked around the room and stood at the doorway silently without moving.

“Come in.” Yang Lei threw the things casually onto the bed and went over to help him.

Fang Yu took a few steps into the room and then stood still. He felt that he was very out of place here.

“Let’s go back to my place,” Fang Yu said.

“What’s the matter?” Actually, Yang Lei also knew what Fang Yu would think.

Fang Yu hesitated for a moment.

“It’s too nice here. I’m… not really used to it.”

Fang Yu was speaking the truth.

“How aren’t you used to it? You’ll be used to it after living here for a few days.” Yang Lei tried to dispel Fang Yu’s discomfort.

“It’s too troublesome for others,” Fang Yu said.

“It’s fine. Aunt Zhang and the others are all one of us, all my relatives. It’s not troublesome, really,” Yang Lei explained. “Besides, I haven’t been back for a long time. They’re also happy. We’re not troubling them for nothing. I’ll pay her for the food, hard work, and whatnot. You can rest here for a while.”

If Yang Lei were really to give Aunt Zhang money, she would possibly beat him out with a broom. Yang Lei could conquer the world outside, but here, he definitely couldn’t win over Aunt Zhang.

“I’ll pay the money. I can’t live here for nothing.” Fang Yu looked at Yang Lei.

Yang Lei was uncomfortable. He looked at Fang Yu.

“Do you have to keep score so clearly with me?”

He knew that if he had brought Fang Yu to this place suddenly, Fang Yu would definitely be shocked, surprised, and uncomfortable. But Yang Lei didn’t care about this. Right now, he just wholeheartedly wanted Fang Yu’s body to quickly recover and to regain his health.

“If you have to keep score this clearly with me, then you’re treating me as an outsider. Are you treating me as an outsider?” Yang Lei stared at Fang Yu as he asked.

“Are they the same thing?” Fang Yu was afraid that Yang Lei would bring this up.

“Then, I’ve been to your house so many times. Should I also calculate that with you?”

“…” Fang Yu was helpless.

Yang Lei smiled. He knew this move would work. Who made Fang Yu dote on him?

After the meal, Yang Lei went to Fang Yu’s house and brought over all of the everyday things he used.

For that dinner, Aunt Zhang did her best and brought out all kinds of delicious food. Fang Yu hadn’t eaten such delicious homemade dishes in years. Even though he owned a restaurant, he still thought that even the taste and flavors there couldn’t compare to Aunt Zhang’s skills.

When Fang Yu complimented her like this, Aunt Zhang smiled until she couldn’t close her mouth.

“Look at this child. He’s so well-spoken!” Aunt Zhang was very happy.

Yang Lei realized that when Fang Yu spoke sweetly, it seemed to be covered with honey, and he was comparable to Yang Lei. They were both especially good at pleasing the elderly.

The dining room downstairs was very large. It used to have a long rosewood dining table, but now it had a big round table. Aunt Zhang and her husband, the former gardener Mister Liu and his family and granddaughter, the former cook, Uncle Wei, and his wife, along with Fang Yu and Yang Lei, filled all the seats of this big table. These people had been together day and night for decades. They really were like a family, and the table was very cheerful. Several elders were vying to tell Fang Yu about Yang Lei’s “deeds” of taking bird’s eggs and climbing walls when he was young. Fang Yu listened with rapt attention. Hearing about Yang Lei’s embarrassing moments, he couldn’t help but laugh loudly. Yang Lei couldn’t bear the embarrassment. He just thought about bringing Fang Yu back to recuperate and hadn’t thought there would be these “byproducts.” His face turned green: “Uncle Wei, Uncle Liu, can you let me save some face?”

“You still know how to save face? Ever since you wore open-crotch pants, you didn’t want face at all!” These elders had all watched Yang Lei grow up. He was their own son and grandson.

“Don’t listen to them. There’s no such thing! Especially that writing a love letter thing. I wasn’t even five years old! Did I even know how to write?” Yang Lei was dying of injustice.

“You didn’t know how to write, but you knew how to draw! You even took a picture and put it in a little girl’s skirt…” When Aunt Zhang’s husband Wang Bo thought about it, he was amused.

“Hahaha!” Fang Yu laughed without regard for his appearance. Yang Lei was dreadfully regretful…

After eating dinner and returning to the bedroom, Fang Yu was in a very good mood. Yang Lei also noticed.

“What are you happy about?” Yang Lei asked Fang Yu.

“I haven’t eaten a meal like this in years.” Fang Yu was still immersed in the atmosphere.

“I’m quite envious. A large family having a meal together…” Fang Yu spoke this sentence and stopped talking.

Yang Lei looked at him. Fang Yu didn’t say anything else.

Before sleeping that night, Yang Lei brought Fang Yu to the bathroom. This building was very old. There was no shower, only a bathtub, but this large, round bathtub was a high-class product. It was a foreign good imported from the west during the Republic of China Era decades ago. In the old days, it already had automatic temperature control. At the bottom of the bathtub, there were also small holes that could spray water upwards and massage the body. It was quite classy.

“Can you do it?” Yang Lei was worried that Fang Yu would be inconvenienced.

“Why don’t… I help you?” When Yang Lei said these words, his heart was hot, and he swallowed once.

This bathtub was more than twice the size of an ordinary rectangular bathtub. It was more than enough for two people to bathe together.

“No need, I can do it.” Fang Yu took off his top. With Yang Lei’s help, he very skillfully used gauze and plastic bags to cover his numerous major wounds and prevent them from getting wet. He had gotten used to doing these things. He did them with familiarity, without any effort. Yang Lei was a little annoyed that Fang Yu was too capable.

“Okay, then be careful. Don’t bathe for too long.”

Yang Lei also couldn’t keep standing in the bathroom. He put water in the bathtub for Fang Yu and unwillingly closed the door.

Yang Lei lay in that large carved wooden bed, listening to the sound of running water in the bathroom, and his heart felt like it was being scratched by a cat.

He thought wildly for a while and thought of Fang Yu’s body.

When he helped Fang Yu take off his clothes, he clearly saw the bruises and blood stains all over his body again. Yang Lei thought of Zhou Er and Sun Ke.

Fang Yu hadn’t showered for a day and a night. Moreover, because of his difficulty in moving, he washed in the bathroom for a long time before coming out. He wiped away the water on his body with difficulty and carefully took care of his wounds, before he put on his clothes and opened the door to come out.

Yang Lei seemed to already be asleep. He lay on the bed without moving.

Fang Yu was afraid of waking him up. He carefully found the light switch and turned off the lights. He felt his way along the walls back to the bed and lay down.

This bed was very wide. It was more than enough for three people to lie down side by side, and the mattress was very thick and soft. It was very different from Fang Yu’s small steel wire bed.

Fang Yu got onto the bed and pulled the blanket over. He first covered Yang Lei before lying down. Just as he was about to pull up his own blankets, Yang Lei suddenly turned over and hugged him around the waist.

“…”

Fang Yu didn’t speak.

Yang Lei’s hand reached into Fang Yu’s clothes, carefully stroking along his skin. He avoided the treated wounds, but there wasn’t much uninjured skin that Yang Lei could stroke.

“…Don’t move.” Fang Yu grabbed his hand.

“…They’re all a bunch of bastards!” Yang Lei finally cursed aloud.

In front of Sun Ke, he didn’t curse. In front of Lao Liang and Hua Mao, he also didn’t curse.

“It’s over. Forget it,” Fang Yu said.

“Forget it?”

Yang Lei smiled coldly.

“Is anything this cheap?”

Fang Yu also wasn’t a pushover. In the past, he too would definitely not suffer like this and swallow things down in vain. He couldn’t afford to provoke the police, but at the very least, he definitely wouldn’t let Zhou Er go.

But now, Fang Yu was much more mature. Ever since he had the Grand Century Restaurant, Fang Yu cherished it a lot. He really put his whole heart and body into this restaurant. He wanted to run it well and treat it as a repayment for Luo Jiu’s trust. More than that, he regarded it as his career. Once people had cares, then they would have worries. Through this incident, the Grand Century Restaurant had already been greatly damaged. Fang Yu didn’t want to cause any more trouble and affect the Grand Century Restaurant. The business had gotten on the right track with much difficulty. If it really got to the point where it needed to be closed, then it would be too late to save it.

Yang Lei didn’t talk about this subject anymore. He propped up his body. By the dim street lights in the courtyard downstairs, he looked closely at Fang Yu.

Not allowing Fang Yu to refuse, Yang Lei gently rolled up Fang Yu’s vest. Under the light, he looked closely at the wounds on his body.

The more he looked, the more he gritted his teeth. He wanted to tear up that Sun Ke right now. He regretted even more that he just happened not to be in Jianghai last night. If he were in Jianghai, he would have definitely known about this matter. He would immediately have brought back Fang Yu intact and unharmed and not covered in wounds like right now!

“Stop looking. What is there to look at?”

Fang Yu was uncomfortable from his look and pulled his shirt down. He didn’t want Yang Lei to get upset from seeing it.

“…I only knew you went in this morning… I was really worried that you…!”

The emotions that Yang Lei had suppressed for a whole day, in this dark and quiet building, were finally all released on this bed where only he and Fang Yu were lying.

“…Can you not be so stupid in the future? If anything happens to you… I could really go crazy. Don’t you know?”

This sentence from Yang Lei was held in his throat and shouted. In an instant, he felt extremely aggrieved and upset. Did Fang Yu know what he felt when he took the first glimpse of Fang Yu lying there silently in the Public Security Bureau lounge??

Fang Yu stared at him. Fang Yu’s heart was also troubled.

“It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Fang Yu reached out his left hand that was still able to move, grabbed Yang Lei’s neck, and forcefully pulled him down. Yang Lei lay on Fang Yu’s chest, hugging him.

Yang Lei hugged Fang Yu tightly, even though this strength would make Fang Yu’s wounds hurt. He was really afraid. Afraid that one day, this embrace would be empty. Afraid that he would never be able to hug this warm body.

Yang Lei had never been afraid of anything. Even when he was at the gates of hell, he wasn’t afraid.

But now, he vividly felt what fear was.

Fang Yu hugged him, looking at the ceiling.

After a moment’s silence, Fang Yu spoke.

“Tell me truthfully, how did I get out?”