Chapter 9
Originally, Yu Li thought that after moving into the Yan family's home, he would feel awkward around Yan Shiting, as the events of that night were still on his mind.
However, Yan Shiting had been very busy lately, leaving early and returning late, so they did not have many opportunities to cross paths.
On the rare occasions when they did, it was just when Yu Li had just woken up and Yan Shiting was about to leave.
With limited interaction, Yu Li heaved a sigh of relief, no longer needing to constantly avoid him.
Three days later, Yan Sui returned from his trip.
That day, after getting off work, Yu Li saw Yan Sui's car by the roadside.
The window rolled down, and the sun-tanned Yan Sui flashed a big, bright smile. "Xiao Li, your big brother has come to pick you up from work!"
The stark contrast in skin tone made Yu Li chuckle instantly.
He naturally got into the car and said, "With this appearance of yours, I almost didn't recognize you."
Yan Sui started the car and asked, "Am I more handsome or uglier?"
Yu Li seriously replied, "You're just tanned."
"Hahaha," Yan Sui laughed heartily. "Chang Ke also said I've gotten tanned, and she told me not to show up in front of her for the next two days, just do video calls, and wait until she gets used to my current appearance before meeting in person."
"I kept asking her why, why, and she said that with the filters during video calls, I don't look as tanned."
There was undisguised laughter in Yan Sui's tone.
Yu Li listened quietly and only chimed in with a sentence after Yan Sui finished, "Showing off your relationship, are we?"
It was rush hour, and the traffic was congested. Yan Sui slowed down the car and let out a seemingly exaggerated sigh. "Ah, this business of falling in love..."
Yu Li smiled and said, "I can see that someone is clearly enjoying it."
Yan Sui chuckled, "You've seen through me."
"Xiao Li, you really should also find yourself a romantic relationship and experience that feeling."
Yu Li smiled with his lips pursed, not saying anything.
Yan Sui rambled on about the interesting events of his trip, inserting a sentence about Chang Ke every five sentences.
Yu Li listened attentively, and after passing through a congested intersection, he became lost in thought, realizing that hearing Yan Sui's lovey-dovey talk no longer hurt him as much as before.
He still remembered how he felt when he first heard that Yan Sui had announced his relationship.
It was as if his soul had left his body, unable to settle, and his entire being suddenly felt cold, unable to find his senses.
Now, he didn't know if it was because he had gotten used to it, but his reaction was not as strong.
Yu Li quietly looked at Yan Sui.
No matter what, he was gradually letting go of his own feelings, and perhaps one day, when he was completely accustomed to it, it would mean that he had truly moved on.
*
After Yan Sui's trip, Yan Shiting also seemed to have passed the busy period.
Previously, he would only return home around 11 pm, but now he was getting off work on time every day, returning home to have dinner with Yan Sui and Yu Li.
At the dinner table, Yu Li sat next to Yan Sui, head down, picking at his food.
Yan Sui used the shared serving chopsticks to place a piece of braised pork ribs on Yu Li's bowl. "Xiao Li, eat this, this piece only has the crispy bone."
Yu Li looked up and also picked up a piece of stir-fried water spinach for Yan Sui. "You like to eat this."
As the two exchanged dishes, Yu Li felt a heavy atmosphere.
He paused, then discreetly glanced towards Yan Shiting.
The other man was gripping his chopsticks, not moving for a long time.
Seemingly sensing Yu Li's gaze, Yan Shiting looked up, his icy cold gaze falling on Yu Li.
Yu Li shuddered, quickly lowering his head.
...Yan Shiting was displeased.
He had forgotten that Yan Shiting had recently warned him not to like Yan Sui anymore, and now he was exchanging dishes with Yan Sui.
Yan Sui placed another piece of braised pork ribs on Yu Li's bowl. "Here, Xiao Li, this piece doesn't have much fat."
Yu Li forced a dry smile, waiting for the pork to be placed in his bowl, then said, "You should eat quickly too, I can serve myself."
Yan Sui, being easy going, didn't sense the heavy atmosphere and simply nodded. "Okay."
It wasn't until Yan Sui put down the shared chopsticks that Yan Shiting finally resumed eating.
Yu Li took a bite of his rice, secretly letting out a sigh of relief.
After dinner, Yu Li was dragged by Yan Sui to the gaming room to play games.
Since Yu Li agreed to move into the Yan family's home, Yan Sui had quickly bought many co-op games, waiting for Yu Li to keep him company in completing them.
The two played for a while, and Yu Li saw that there were only snacks on the table, so he put down the controller and said, "I'll go get some fruit."
In the kitchen, there were fresh fruits, so Yu Li brought out two halves of a cantaloupe and a bunch of grapes.
After carefully washing the grapes, Yu Li began to peel one half of the cantaloupe, using a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
Halfway through peeling, Yu Li suddenly heard light footsteps.
He looked up, only to see Yan Shiting approaching.
Yu Li was startled, his hand shaking, and the peeling knife cut deeply into his left index finger.
"Ah," Yu Li winced in pain, and the cantaloupe, due to his reflexive loosening of the grip, fell to the floor.
The finger had a large gash, and blood was flowing.
Yu Li stared at the wound, his mind briefly in a daze, when he heard hurried footsteps again.
Shortly after, Yan Shiting arrived with a first-aid kit, grasping Yu Li's wrist and firmly pressing a gauze pad against the wound to stop the bleeding.
"Nngh."
Yu Li winced and retracted his hand slightly, his eyes brimming with involuntary tears.
Yan Shiting paused, loosening his grip on Yu Li's wrist a little.
After a while, the bleeding stopped, and Yan Shiting used iodophor to clean the wound, then applied medication and bandaged it.
His movements were gentle and skilled, and the entire process took only about ten seconds.
Yu Li lowered his head, looking at the bandage on his finger, biting his lip. "Thank you, President Yan."
Yan Shiting looked up at him, tightening his lips without a word.
He had seen the momentary panic in Yu Li's eyes when he saw him.
Yu Li was afraid of him.
Why...?
"Brother, Xiao Li, what happened?" Yan Sui's sudden voice startled Yu Li, making his shoulders jerk up.
He quickly turned around and saw it was Yan Sui, then relaxed and said, "I was just peeling a cantaloupe and accidentally cut my hand."
He glanced at Yan Shiting briefly and said, "My hand wasn't good at bandaging, so President Yan helped me."
Yu Li's speech was a bit hurried, as if he was anxiously trying to distance himself from the situation.
He looked at Yan Sui, completely unaware of the subtle sideways glance Yan Shiting gave him.
Yan Sui nodded, "Well, as long as you're okay now."
As soon as he spoke, he felt a gaze fall upon him.
Yan Sui looked at Yan Shiting and found his brother frowning, looking at him with a cold expression.
Yan Sui: ???
He scratched the back of his head, feeling puzzled.
Fortunately, Yan Shiting soon retracted his gaze and turned to get the coffee beans. "Play a little less, and go to bed early."
Yan Sui nodded, "Okay, brother."
He went forward to help Yu Li finish peeling the cantaloupe, taking two ice creams from the refrigerator and inviting Yu Li upstairs.
Before leaving, Yu Li secretly glanced at Yan Shiting again.
Yan Shiting had his back turned, and the sound of the coffee machine starting up was quite loud.
So he had come to the kitchen to grind coffee.
Yu Li had thought he came to warn him again.
Yu Li felt a bit embarrassed and quietly said, "President Yan, you should also rest early," then followed Yan Sui upstairs to the gaming room.
The two didn't rush to continue the game, first eating some fruit.
Yan Sui tore open the ice cream wrapper and took a bite.
The frozen ice cream chilled his mouth, and his mind also seemed to become clearer.
In fact, he had already been in the kitchen doorway when Yan Shiting was bandaging Yu Li.
He noticed that Yu Li was taking a long time to come upstairs with the fruit, and he was also craving the ice cream in the refrigerator, so he went downstairs to find Yu Li.
But he ended up seeing Yu Li and Yan Shiting in the kitchen, and also heard Yu Li's distant "President Yan."
Yan Sui remembered that before, Yu Li used to call Yan Shiting "Brother" together with him.
Later, he didn't know what had happened, but Yu Li started calling the other two roommates "President Yan."
Coincidentally, there was someone who had said some idle gossip about Yu Li, saying he was currying favor with the Yan family.
Yan Sui then went to warn those people, and afterwards, Yu Li started calling Yan Shiting "Big Brother Yan."
But why was he calling him "President Yan" again now? Could it be that in the time he was away, his brother had been harsh on Xiao Li?
Thinking about this, Yan Sui hesitantly asked, "Xiao Li, what kind of person do you think my brother is?"
Yu Li took a bite of the cantaloupe and thought for a moment after hearing the question.
What kind of person was Yan Shiting?
When he first interacted with him, he felt that Yan Shiting was the kind of unreachable figure that only appeared in financial reports, successful person columns, and CEO novels.
He was someone completely from a different world.
Over the past three years, the labels the outside world had given Yan Shiting were mostly words like "unapproachable," "cruel," and "resolute."
But...
"He's very good and attentive to you," Yu Li said slowly.
Yan Sui was taken aback. "You think so too?"
"Yes," Yu Li nodded. "I remember on the day we reported to the dorm, President Yan sent you to the dorm and prepared all the things you needed to live on campus, including all kinds of common medicines."
"Remember that one night when the eldest brother had a stomach ache, it was President Yan's medicine that saved the emergency."
Not only that, Yan Shiting would also carefully observe the people around Yan Sui, which was how he discovered Yu Li's unrequited love for Yan Sui.
Yan Sui chuckled, "If it were someone else, maybe they would just think the assistant prepared everything in advance."
But his brother was actually very attentive to the people he cared about.
Yu Li was taken aback.
Somehow, he had never thought of it that way.
When he first saw Yan Shiting and Yan Sui, he felt that Yan Shiting truly loved Yan Sui.
Perhaps it was because in some ways, he and Yan Shiting were the same.
"I never thought of it that way," Yu Li said.
He regained his senses and asked, "Why did you suddenly ask me this?"
Yan Sui finished his entire ice cream, chewing on the stick as he pondered for a while.
If he asked directly, Xiao Li might not tell the truth, since his impression of his brother was still decent.
"It's nothing, I was just asking casually," Yan Sui threw away the ice cream stick and noticed that Yu Li hadn't eaten the other one.
"Xiao Li, aren't you going to eat it? It's almost melted."
Yu Li frowned and shook his head. "It feels too cold, I'll get a stomach ache if I eat it. You can have it."
Yan Sui smiled. "Okay."
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