Loneliness

Chapter 10

After Chen Dong Lan moved back, their lives returned to how it was before.

Chen Dong Lan was already satisfied with this.

Early this morning, Chen Dong Lan received a call from his brother, Xiao De.

Afraid to wake Yuan Yuan, he walked to the balcony and closed the door completely before answering the call.

The sun had not risen and the wind on the balcony was very cold.

"Xiao De?"

"Ge?" Xiao De's voice hadn't changed. It was as candid and brisk as when he was in junior high. "Ge, my friend and I will arrive around ten tonight. Mom insisted that I gave you a call before I boarded the plane, so that you could come pick me up."
"Okay." Chen Dong Lan hugged his arms due to the cold. "I'll go wait for the both of you at nine."

Xiao De mumbled, "Actually, I don't feel that you need to pick..."
"I have to. This is your first time coming to T city, plus you haven't been back in the country for so long. If anything unexpected happens, it wouldn't be easy for me to explain to Mom and Uncle Xu." Chen Dong Lan usually spoke very few words, but with Xiao De, he would keep nagging.

Xiao De absolutely could not meet with a mishap when he was here.

"Okay okay. Then thanks, Ge." Xiao De seemed to have been made fun of by his friends and his thanks sounded careless.

Chen Dong Lan hung up the phone. They didn't have any common topics and were not very close growing up. After not seeing each other for so long, they understood each other even less and simply did not have anything to talk about.
Returning to the room, Chen Dong Lan couldn't sleep and stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.

That night, when it was time, Chen Dong Lan put on his clothes ahead of schedule and left his room. Taking the taxi to the airport needed quite some time, and it wouldn't be good to be late.

Although Yuan Yuan might not care about his movement, he went to Yuan Yuan's room and knocked on the door. "Yuan Yuan, I'm going out for a while."

"Okay.." Yuan Yuan took some effort to tear his eyes away from the document. "Where are you going?"

Chen Dong Lan didn't want to tell him about Xiao De, but since Yuan Yuan had asked, he didn't want to lie and tried to be as vague as he could. "There's a relative returning to the country. I need to pick them up."

This aroused Yuan Yuan's attention. "Pick them up? You don't have a car. Why would they want you to?"

Chen Dong Lan had no choice but to clarify. "It's my younger brother."

Yuan Yuan stared blankly. It was the first time he heard Chen Dong Lan saying he had a younger brother. 'Then take my car."
Chen Dong Lan was embarrassed. " don't have a driving licence."
He was ashamed to say it. As a man, Chen Dong Lan had never
had any interests in cars. He felt fine taking the metro and public transportation. If that wasn't possible, walking was fine as well. If it was really inconvenient, then he would take a taxi. He had never considered getting a driving licence.

Maybe it was time to get a driving licence. That way, he wouldn't need to trouble Yuan Yuan to drive him around every time.

Yuan Yuan closed the document folder. 'Then I'll go with you."
Chen Dong Lan was surprised and felt that it wouldn't work. This wasn't the same as other situations and Yuan Yuan didn't know Xiao De. Moreover, Xiao De would be in the country for many days. If there was a first time, there could be a second or third time, and he couldn't let that happen.

Yuan Yuan saw his expression and knew that he wanted to refuse. To him,since it was Chen Dong Lan, this small favour was nothing.

"'I just take a taxi over," Chen Dong Lan refused. "Plus, my brother brought a few friends. They wouldn't be able to fit in one car."
Yuan Yuan didn't insist. After all, it was someone else's family gathering. If they didn't want outsiders joining in, then he would be the rude one.