My Brother Was First My Boyfriend And Later My Husband

Chapter 12

Translator: PastTimer

Editor: PastTimer
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I knew that my action was akin to overstepping my bounds and tried to hang up in a panic. But a connection had already been established and Gu Yan's deep voice came in through the receiver.

"Duan He, what's wrong?"

He seemed to be in class and I could vaguely hear him explaining something to someone with the sound of some electric machine shutting down in the background.

"I'm sorry, I'm fine, I'm going to hang up, you should go back to class."

I apologized for my brashness and felt that I had bothered him.

Gu Yan wasn't angry, he just asked me: "What happened?"

His voice was very calm as if he really had something to talk about with me and would help me solve whatever problem I had without exerting much effort.

Of course, I was sure that he could do it if he wanted, but his bravado still made me a bit touched.

"I'm fine, I just wanted to tell you that I did well in my exams."

I heard Gu Yan's low laughter. He seemed to have walked away from the classroom, the background noise from the receiver became much quieter.

My heart seemed to be beating a bit fast, I couldn't help but urge him: "Go back to class."

"Hm," Gu Yan responded, clearly in a good mood. "I'll listen to you."

He said.

I felt embarrassed. I didn't know how to answer that, so I could only hang up.

I went to Gu Yan's apartment after school finished, he wasn't there yet. There was a message from him that said that he would probably come home late and that I should eat alone without waiting for him.

I glanced at the calendar; Friday, 27th, my birthday.

I didn't want to make anything special, so I just cooked instant noodles as usual and ate them. Then I went back to my room to read books.

Bo Xing didn't advocate unnecessary homework for the education of students. Even in my last year of high school, homework was scarce but simple.¹ The teacher was more inclined to teach problem-solving and critical thinking and discouraged blind memorization. But I was a student that came from an ordinary school before and was more used to solving repetitive problems.

Gu Yan had also said that there was no need to do such inefficient things.

But I couldn't change this habit.

I wasn't as smart or apt as my classmates² were, I was worried about falling behind. I wouldn't feel reassured if I didn't push myself to my limits.

After finishing my English exercises, I looked at the time, it was already 11:20, and Gu Yan was still not home.

I took a shower and spent a long time thinking while lying down on the bed. I stood up again to unlock my bedroom door.

Lying on my back, I didn't feel sleepy at all. I was afraid that Gu Yan would really come in, and I knew that he would definitely come in.

I'm not sure if this can be considered waiting for him...

I didn't know how long it took before I heard the front door downstairs being opened, followed by footsteps going upstairs.

The doorknob turned; the door opened, Gu Yan was standing against the light, a still figure by the door looking at me.

He was holding a white carton box that was tied with a purple ribbon.

"It's not twelve yet," He raised his wrist and looked at his watch.

I subconsciously looked at the alarm clock on top of the bedside table and the pointer really pointed to 11:57.

"Were you sleeping?" he asked.

I sat up on the bed, bowing my head and saying vaguely, "I couldn't sleep."

"Come here and eat some cake and then go to sleep," Gu Yan waved at me like I was a puppy.

I didn't act like a puppy, I put on my slippers properly and got out of bed.

Gu Yan opened the delicate paper box and took out the cake inside.

"Do you want a candle?" he asked me.

I shook my head and said no, I thought it would be quite hypocritical.

Gu Yan smiled, he put a piece of cut cake on my plate and said to me:

"Happy Birthday."

I blinked, embarrassed.

My mother used to buy me cake before, the cheapest one, it wasn't as good as Gu Yan's.

But I still thought that it was delicious.

"Alright, remember to brush your teeth before going to sleep. You just ate sweets," Gu Yan urged me.

Then he put away the remaining cake in the box and seemed to be ready to leave.

I looked at him in confusion and whispered, "Today... don't you want to do it?"

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Notes:

1- I'm not too sure about this translation, to be perfectly honest.
2- It was just an obscure they in the raws but it was pretty obvious that it was referring to Duan He's classmates so I just directly changed it to avoid confusion.