Chapter 28: It's Not A Burden - Xixi's Translations

()x11-14 minutes 24.06.2022

When Chen Yuchuan came out of the shower, the second bedroom door was closed. Meanwhile, the master bedroom door was open with the lights on.

He knew that Lu Yang was sleeping in the second bedroom, so as he was wiping his dry hair with a towel, he walked to the door of the second bedroom

Knocking on the door, he asked, “Yang ge, are you asleep?”

He waited quietly for a while, but when he didn’t hear an answer, he went back to the master bedroom and began to poke around.

He discovered that Lu Yang had changed the sheets and the comforter. When he went out just now, the sheets were a light gray, but now they were a foggy blue. He sat on the edge of the bed and waited for his hair to dry before lying down. The sheets were very clean. He and Lu Yang have used the same brand of laundry detergent for many years, and their clothes also smelled like this.

Chen Yuchuan rolled back and forth in the bed a few times. Just as he was about to turn off the lights and go to sleep, his phone rang. He picked it up and looked at it. It was a WeChat message sent to him by Lu Yang.

Before, the chat page between the two of them was full of messages sent unilaterally by Chen Yuchuan, all full of the outgoing green frames. Now, when he opened it, it finally showed an incoming message framed in white.

“There’s medicine on the bedside table, one pill a night.”

After reading this information, Chen Yuchuan found a dark green bottle on the bedside table. He picked it up and looked at it. It wasn’t sleeping pills but was more like a sleep aid. He unscrewed the bottle cap and discovered that it had never been opened.

When did Lu Yang buy this? He muttered silently to himself, feeling quite happy. He got out of bed, poured himself a glass of water, and ate a pill once he got back to the room.

After eating, he laid back down and sent a message back to Lu Yang. “When did you buy this for me?”

As he laid on his side, holding the phone, and wondering if this sleeping pill will be more effective than his own, he fell asleep. He didn’t wait for Lu Yang to reply, and instead, had a nice dream where he was lying on top of thick, soft grass under the sun. The sun’s rays were cast on his face, making him felt very comfortable.

When he woke up the next morning, he recalled the sweet dream. The curtains had not been drawn last night, and when he glanced out the window, he saw that it was still snowing, turning the glass window a blue-gray.

Although the sky outside was extremely gloomy, he knew that it was definitely past 8 o’clock. He’d forgotten to set the alarm before going to bed last night.

He looked at his phone, and sure enough, it was already 8:20.

Lu Yang’s plane was at 8 o’clock. Had he left yet? He directly called Lu Yang’s phone, only to hear the familiar ringtone coming from the living room.

Holding his phone, he opened the door and called, “Yang ge?”

Even as he was shouting this, he saw Lu Yang standing by the sofa in the living room, wearing a black apron. He had one hand in his pants pocket while the other was holding his cell phone. He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket.

“I thought you left already,” Chen Yuchuan said, walking out.

“It’s snowing, so the signing has been changed to next Monday,” Lu Yang said and entered the kitchen.

Chen Yuchuan followed, asking, “Where did you buy the medicine I took last night? It’s really easy to use. I fell asleep after taking it, and didn’t wake up until now.”

“It’s recommended by a doctor friend,” Lu Yang said.

Chen Yuchuan stood next to Lu Yang and looked at the pot. Small wontons were boiling in the pot, and the white soup base was bubbling and blowing hot steam on his face.

He took in the smell, but couldn’t determine what the wontons were filled with.

“Shepherd’s purse meat,” Lu Yang said.

Chen Yuchuan smiled. He picked up the soup spoon next, but when he wanted to take a taste from the pot, Lu Yang patted the back of his hand very lightly.

“I just put it in. It’s not cooked yet.” Lu Yang took the spoon from Chen Yuchuan’s hand and used it to stir the pot. He said, “I made an appointment with a doctor at 3 in the afternoon.”

This time, Chen Yuchuan didn’t avoid going to the doctor as before. He nodded happily and said, “Okay, the doctor I saw before really wasn’t that good. After so long, I took a lot of medicine, but I still had a hard time falling asleep. I don’t have much planned today. I only have a meeting in the morning, and so I should be done by one.”

After Chen Yuchuan finished speaking, he leaned closer to the pot, inching closer to Lu Yang, “Yang ge, I left my car at Boxue last night. It’s snowing outside, so I guess it won’t be easy to take a taxi. You can take me to work later. Also, will you accompany me to the hospital in the afternoon? I’m afraid of getting blood drawn and some doctors are so fierce. I saw a new doctor last week, and he was very fierce. With you next to me, I could bear it more.”

Lu Yang knew that Chen Yuchuan was just talking nonsense. It wasn’t until they were eating the wontons that he finally asked, “Didn’t you send me a message yesterday saying that the doctor you added last week was very cold when he was wearing a white coat but really wild when he took it off? Why is he suddenly so fierce now?

Lu Yang said this in the same tone as if he was just commenting, “It’s snowing outside.”

Chen Yuchuan had just swallowed a wonton, and after listening to Lu Yang’s words, he held it in his mouth for two seconds, before realizing that Lu Yang was responding to the words he’d said in the kitchen, as well as the message he sent on WeChat yesterday.

If Lu Yang hadn’t mentioned this, he would have forgotten. Obviously, Lu Yang hadn’t forgotten about it and was worried.

He swallowed the wonton in his mouth whole, and his expression twisted in pain.

Lu Yang frowned and said, “Eat well.”

Chen Yuchuan pushed the bowl of wontons to the side, got up, walked around the table, and sat next to Lu Yang. After dragging the chair closer to Lu Yang, he leaned toward him and pulled out his cell phone. Then he opened WeChat.

“I’m not familiar with the people I sent yesterday.” He located all the photos he’d sent to Lu Yang. “This fitness coach, I added him during class when we went to the gym and he wanted to sell himself as a personal trainer. Later, because the gym was too far away, we stopped going there.”

After he said this, he deleted the fitness coach’s WeChat account.

Once the account was deleted, he glanced at Lu Yang and noticed that his expression was much lighter than before.

Delighted, Chen Yuchuan found the doctor’s WeChat. “He gave me sleep medicine for a week, but it didn’t make any difference at all. It’s not as good as the one you told me to take last night. Delete.”

“Also, this person, I added him at Ling Qun’s bar. We went there together one time, and I noticed that he kept looking at you. Although he was sitting in the innermost booth, his eyes were fixed on you. Later, when you went to the restroom, he came up to me and asked me what my relationship was with you. I saw that he was interested in you, so I told him I was your husband. He added me, just to prevent others from prying as he did. Also deleting…”

“This 22-year-old college student, delete it…”

“How did you know this person?” Lu Yang asked lightly.

Chen Yuchuan glanced at his remarks and said, “He used to be an intern at the hotel.”

“There’s a new regulation at our hotels that says interns need to be added to the boss’s WeChat now?”

Chen Yuchuan tilted his head to think about it, scratching his ear as he did so. After thinking about it for a long time, he couldn’t remember when or why he added that intern.

It wasn’t his habit to delete people. The only time anything remotely like that happened was when they got divorced and he’d angrily blocked Lu Yang. Otherwise, Lu Yang was always at the top of his list.

His notes for the intern were simply his name, age, and the word intern. He had a habit of adding notes like this. If it was a customer, it would be the customer’s name plus the company name plus the title.

But no matter how hard he thought about it, he still couldn’t remember. If he hadn’t glanced a few more times on WeChat yesterday, he wouldn’t even remember that there was such a person.

“I really can’t remember…” He was still scratching his ears.

He had the habit of scratching his ears whenever he was trying hard to recall something. In public, he would rub his fingers in his pockets. He would only scratch his ears when he was at home and in front of Lu Yang.

He himself had determined that scratching his ears while outside would make him look very stupid, and so he would only do it at home.

Even after thinking about it for a long time, he still couldn’t remember. He habitually became a little anxious again.

Li Yang pulled Chen Yuchuan’s hand down, preventing him from scratching his ear. Removing his hand, he said, “Stop scratching and eat.”

Chen Yuchuan sat back down in his own seat. Straightening his body, he picked up the spoon and continued to happily eat wontons.

Lu Yang didn’t particularly like eating wontons very much, so he only served half a bow for himself. As such, it didn’t take long for him to finish and put his chopsticks down.

Chen Yuchuan saw that he ate so little and asked, “Yang ge, are you full? Do you want to eat something else? Is there anything else in the fridge?”

“No.” Lu Yang wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I’m done.”

Chen Yuchuan subconsciously accelerated his speed of eating. Lu Yang kept sending messages with his mobile phone. Hearing Chen Yuchuan gobbling his meal, he tilted his head and asked him, “Are you in a hurry?”

“I’m not in a hurry,” Chen Yuchuan said, swallowing the wontons in his mouth. “I’m afraid you’re in a hurry.”

“I have nothing to do this morning.”

Chen Yuchuan slowed down the speed of eating, and waited until Lu Yang hung up the phone before saying, “You don’t have to make me wontons next time, I can eat anything.”

Lu Yang didn’t speak, and was still sending messages. Chen Yuchuan added, “Actually, in the past six months, although I was not the same as before, I began to accommodate you in a lot of things, making you the most important person. But it wasn’t all because I was constraining myself. Just like how you don’t like to eat wontons, I naturally won’t find it a burden, and I also don’t feel constrained…”

Chen Yuchuan ate two more bites of wontons and said, “Of course sometimes I felt a little tired, but it’s not because of these things that I feel tired. Therefore, I deliberately wanted to change myself quickly to cater to you, and I want to avoid many problems. I thought that if I change, I would be able to avoid them. It became a vicious circle, and I didn’t know what to do. It was because of this that I began to feel more drained…”

Lu Yang put down his phone and looked at Chen Yuchuan.

Chen Yuchuan tilted his head and grinned at Lu Yang, looking stupid. After laughing, he took a big gulp of the wonton broth. The broth was hot, warming his stomach.