Going Against the Wind (Lan Lin)

Chapter 6

Ouyang had yet to see an expression on his face that was neither a smile nor grievance, and he couldn't help but cautiously coax him, exposing himself with his clumsy denial*: "What do you want to eat, Teacher will bring it back for you..." [*Literally: Three hundred taels of silver are not buried here.]

"..."

"How about pea cake? Pea cake then." Xiao Xuan had still not dealt with his dark expression, and Ouyang was a little timid, "Do your homework, I'm leaving."

Xiao Xuan frowned deeply, seeing Ouyang still at the door smiling and waving his hand at him like he was coaxing a child, really treating him as a child who was not yet of age. The moment the door closed, he grabbed his phone and pressed down hard.

The person on the other side of the phone reacted very quickly, "Young master, I've just had the lottery tomorrow at the supermarket for an air conditioner prepared. Do you want to move it up now?"

"I'm not talking about that." Xiao Xuan still had the attitude of someone who had just woken up, not very patient, "The person in the picture, where he goes, who he meets, what he does, what he says, what that person does, how long they've interacted, what relationship they have, report it all to me tomorrow."

"Yes."

"And," Xiao Xuan thought for a moment, "are the tickets ready?"

"I've already had people arrange it."

"Okay, tell them to add something more to it."

When Ouyang came back that night, Xiao Xuan was concentrating on reading, his expression slightly relaxed, like the attitude he had from being woken up that afternoon had already gone away.

"Look, here's pea cake."

Xiao Xuan was quite tractable, accepting it, obediently eating it with the hot milk tea he'd bought.

Ouyang exhaled, sitting down onto the bed, his whole body fatigued.

Today he had done a bit of shopping with Xiao Ya, that man, and the other finally let him hold his hand like it was a favor.

He was almost thirty years old, and it was time to find someone to properly associate with, but he also didn't know if he liked the other or not, and even more, the other was lukewarm towards him, with the attitude of a queen, not even necessarily satisfied with him.

But if he still didn't find a companion, in two years there wouldn't be much youth left; remaining single without even dating, he would even think wildly about a little kid.

"Teacher."

"Yes?" Ouyang quickly looked back, truly speaking of the devil.

"Can I sleep here tonight?"

"What?!"

"Going back is so hard, the bus is so crowded on the weekends."

"This, if you stay overnight, won't your family worry?"

"They won't, I'll just call home and report back. I'm a boy, why would they worry."

"..." Ouyang couldn't help but swallow nervously. He couldn't find an excuse; if he were to bring a pillow and blanket to sleep in the living room, it would be too much of a confession without having received a single blow, and going to find Zhong Li wouldn't be right—was Zhong Li not a man?

"Teacher?"

"Oh...okay, okay." Let him make mental preparations for a few hours before getting into bed.

"Okay, Teacher, I'm tired, you look really tired too, let's go to sleep now."

"..."

Ouyang was trembling with fear as he climbed into bed, not daring to move after pulling up the blanket and lying down. He felt the mattress sink down on his side, and his heart couldn't help but sink as well.