Chapter 69
Because National Day was just around the corner, his family asked He Nuo to quit his job and go back to school after the festival. Shi Yan thought of He Nuo’s grades, and didn’t think that these few days would make much of a difference, so he agreed to letting him have this short rest as well. But Shi Yan has his own thoughts about this. He might not have the intention to hurt others, but his guard against them made him guess that they wanted to ensure the completion of fourth bro’s transfer before they could feel rest assured. Thus, Shi Yan made an appointment with fourth bro for the following day. He wanted to accompany him in handling the matters regarding the acceptance of his transfer order.
With the company of the crown prince Shi Yan, every department let them pass after giving them the green light. All of the seals that should appear on his transfer order were all stamped onto it without a single one missing, and those who had to sign the order form wrote their names down with much fervour as well. It was the first time for the He family’s fourth bro to come into contact with so many high-level personages. As he watched Shi Yan gracefully mingle and exchange pleasantries with them more easily than someone like him who already had two years of working experience, he couldn’t help but look at children of officials in a different light.
Fourth bro couldn’t understand why this kind of Shi Yan would hang out with He Nuo. He was of a completely different level from He Nuo, and they had such different personalities too. If he wasn’t willing, no matter how much He Nuo tries to suck up to him, they wouldn’t be able to become friends. Besides, fourth bro understood clearly that He Nuo wasn’t the type of person who knew how to make friends, let alone curry favour with someone. That meant that it was Shi Yan who took the initiative to look for He Nuo — which didn’t make sense either. However, he was still glad and envious that He Nuo had such a good relationship with Shi Yan.
On their way home, the two of them split up. All of the formalities had been completed, so all fourt bro needed to do was to report to work after National Day. Because the last person to sign his order form today was the head of He Aiwen’s new department, Shi Yan told the head that he still had to retrieve his luggage from his previous company and check out of his dormitory, so there would be a one to two days delay before he could formally start work. The head told them straight away that he could come over after the festival since the holidays begin on the third day anyway. Fourth bro said that he would retrieve his luggage tomorrow morning and return at night, then urged Shi Yan to have dinner at their place. Shi Yan readily agreed.
After lunch the next day, Shi Yan told his family that he wouldn’t be going home for dinner. He waited for his parents to go to work before setting out with a huge backpack. He Nuo was reading books by himself at home when Shi Yan came in, who immediately complained about his aching shoulders. He Nuo quickly took his bag from him and realised that it was pretty heavy.
“You brought books for me? I study arts. (You studied science)”
“What lousy books? You don’t need to add any more substance to your brain, these are for you to add some meat onto your body. You look like an electrical pole now.”
He Nuo chuckled and opened the bag — there was a pile of healthcare products inside. There were also two huge bottles of juice as well as one big bag of beef jerky. Shi Yan asked He Nuo to get a cup. He wanted to drink some water, yet he made He Nuo drink juice, “This kind of pure fruit juice is best for replenishing vitamins, I don’t like to drink sweet things so you can slowly drink all of that yourself.”
He Nuo was about to say that he didn’t like to drink sweet things either, but Shi Yan was a step ahead of him, “Don’t try to compete with me, I won’t get sick even if I don’t eat or drink any of these. Hng hng, someone with a body likes yours has no right to be picky.” These juices and beef jerkies were all prepared by Shi Yan’s parents for him to bring to his college when it reopened, and they had asked him to bring some along with him today. If it weren’t so heavy, Shi Yan would have brought the entire pile here for He Nuo; just for that slight hope that if he ate it, it would turn into more meat on his body. When he saw the stick-legged He Nuo who was left alone and uncared for standing amongst the autumn wind, Shi Yan couldn’t restrain his heart from being squeezed tight. To make himself feel better, he needed to raise He Nuo like a pig to fatten him up.
Shi Yan used one hand to hammer his shoulders. He couldn’t place such a heavy bag on his bike, so he could only walk here on foot as he carried it. If he had just held it in his hands it probably wouldn’t have been so bad, but his bag strap had constricted his shoulders and now it was still aching. He Nuo stood beside him and helped him massage his shoulders, then scolded him as his heart ached, “It’s not tough or tiring for me to go to school, yet you always treat me like some refugee. Your shoulders must be red now because of your straps ba.”
“I don’t know, you take a look.” Shi Yan pulled his collar open a little and He Nuo did see some red marks.
When He Nuo bent over, his pale neck was right in front of Shi Yan’s eyes. Shi Yan suddenly yanked He Nuo down as if he was possessed by a devil and He Nuo fell onto his body, who then shoved him away in fright. No matter how much he tried to ignore or conceal it, there was that bit of shadow in He Nuo’s heart that made him fear and resist bodily contact with Shi Yan.
Shi Yan had felt his resistance of course, but he wasn’t willing to let go. The slick Shi Yan even managed to find a reason for himself, “Strange, why don’t you ever grow a beard? Look at mine, it’s so manly.” Shi Yan jerked his chin up.
He Nuo really did look at his chin, and it did have signs of being shaven. He had never paid attention to whether or not he had a beard, so of course he had never shaved before. Out of curiosity, he stared at Shi Yan’s cleanly shaven face. Shi Yan has a thicker beard, so he started shaving as soon as he entered his third year but he didn’t need to do so frequently. Now that he was in college, he had to shave almost every morning, and it even had the tendency to turn into the chinstrap kind. When he touched his chin in the morning, it would feel scruffy because of his stubble.
On the contrary, He Nuo’s clean chin was bright and spotless; the fine fluff on it really couldn’t be considered a beard. Shi Yan grabbed He Nuo’s hand and led it to his face, “I’ll let you touch it, it’s absolutely manly.”
It felt prickly on his hands. Although He Nuo was curious, he felt embarrassed as well so he drew his hand back.
“Isn’t it more amazing than sandpaper?” Shi Yan proudly teased He Nuo. He liked to see him speechless from his teasing, and his wide-eyed angry look, “A bean sprout like you won’t have a beard.”
“Of course I have one. Why are you proud of being a caveman?”
“Then I’ll take a look.” Shi Yan looked carefully as if he was really searching for a beard. He Nuo’s face flushed red from his teasing, and he didn’t dare to look into his eyes because he felt quite flustered. So for some reason he closed his eyes, and his heart began to beat even faster.
Shi Yan looked at his quivering lips, and his trembling eyelashes. He suddenly felt parched and his blood boiled as it gushed straight up. He slowly leaned in; he was afraid of startling the person in his hands, and his breathing had turned ragged as well. He Nuo was forced to suddenly open his eyes because of the breath that was about to spray onto his face, then he saw the tip of Shi Yan’s nose right in front of him.
After his initial dumbfoundedness, he immediately understood what Shi Yan was doing. His face began to burn as he tried to get up. Shi Yan had also been startled by the sudden opening of He Nuo’s eyes, then he realised that he was about to taste those lips covered in a layer of frost out of impulse. He had already sneaked a kiss with He Nuo yesterday, but he had merely tasted those slightly cold lips before he stopped. He didn’t understand why he wanted to hug He Nuo whenever he saw him. Shi Yan couldn’t comprehend his abnormal behaviour, but he wasn’t willing to let He Nuo go either, so he said mischievously, “I haven’t taken a proper look at it yet, I want to see it.”
T/N: Do you guys ever feel like the translation is a bit ambiguous sometimes? Cause the raws are seriously that vague and I get confused sometimes as well