Chapter 107 – Making a Boast
To take it or not to take it—that was a question of pocket versus dignity.
If he took it, his reputation would be in tatters.
If he didn’t, he had just done a quick calculation. The transfers plus the red envelopes added up to almost twenty thousand!
Ugh! It was all Yan Shengping’s fault!
Lin Ganzhi resentfully bit Yan Shengping’s pillow.
At that moment, the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open. Lin Ganzhi smelled a fresh, savory aroma.
Lin Ganzhi peeked out and saw Yan Shengping holding a bowl of seafood congee, a sated look on his face. The more he looked, the angrier he got.
He wanted to throw the pillow next to him, but his stomach suddenly growled. Yan Shengping was still holding his food. After weighing his options for three seconds, Lin Ganzhi decided to eat first and settle the score later. He was quite self-aware.
Yan Shengping held the congee with one hand, then took out the long-unused small table from a drawer and placed it by Lin Ganzhi’s feet. He asked with concern, “Does it still hurt? I put medicine on for you this morning. I’ll put more on after you eat.”
!!!
Medicine?
Lin Ganzhi checked how he felt down there. He could only feel a dull ache now. It was one thing when he was asleep, but now that he was awake, there was no way he would shamefully lie on his stomach and let Yan Shengping apply medicine for him.
“No. You go out later, I’ll do it myself!” Lin Ganzhi said in a muffled voice.
Yan Shengping looked at the awkward Lin Ganzhi, and his mind uncontrollably flashed back to last night’s scenes. Even a super oblivious person like Lin Ganzhi could feel that Yan Shengping’s aura was not right at the moment. He held the bowl and scooted back a few steps, but in doing so, he brushed against his wound and let out an involuntary hiss, his eyes turning red from the pain.
Yan Shengping quickly reined in his thoughts and placed a hand on Lin Ganzhi’s lower back, saying, “Did you brush against the wound? Don’t move around. I won’t do anything to you for the next few days.”
Lin Ganzhi caught the key words: the next few days! Lin Ganzhi felt that he needed to discuss this matter with Yan Shengping. He couldn’t just abuse his body like this just because he was young. At Yan Shengping’s frequency, a few days of tonic soup wouldn’t be enough to recover.
“No. Once every six months,” Lin Ganzhi said, holding up one finger.
Yan Shengping’s smile faltered. He reached out and took Lin Ganzhi’s index finger, then gently pushed him down, looking at him with a somewhat dangerous gaze. “Ganzhi, think again.”
This meant there was no room for negotiation.
Lin Ganzhi, having witnessed Yan Shengping’s ruthlessness and patience, pitifully retracted his index finger and made a serious concession. “Once a month. No more than that!” This was all the sincerity he could muster. And this ‘once’ was calculated by Yan Shengping’s standards, so in a way, he was still the one losing out!
But Yan Shengping remained unmoved by this offer. He met Lin Ganzhi’s gaze with a gentle look and then spoke the devil’s whisper: “When you’re better. It’s inconvenient for you to apply the medicine. Be good. I can apply it more thoroughly. You don’t want to go without spicy food for the next few days of the New Year, do you?”
Lin Ganzhi froze, then looked at Yan Shengping in disbelief. Despicable! To actually use his weakness against him!
In Yan Shengping’s eyes, Lin Ganzhi at this moment was like a startled hamster, especially cute. Unable to resist, Yan Shengping hugged Lin Ganzhi and kissed him. Although Lin Ganzhi would struggle to push him away at first, once Yan Shengping led him to adjust, Lin Ganzhi would subconsciously let himself be kissed. Sometimes, the tip of his tongue would even uncontrollably hook his. Every time this happened, Yan Shengping would kiss him even more fiercely. He liked the way Lin Ganzhi looked with his eyes red from being bullied by him. When Lin Ganzhi cried, he was even more alluring than usual.
Of course, Lin Ganzhi hadn’t yet realized this thought of Yan Shengping’s, or else he would die before pretending to cry again!
After a kiss and a bowl of congee, Lin Ganzhi finally regained some strength. It was just that after eating, he started to feel a little dizzy. After all, last night’s frenzy had left him unable to recover to his usual state in such a short time. As for the subsequent application of medicine, Lin Ganzhi’s resistance was not as strong as before the meal. He was half-pushed, half-willingly medicated by Yan Shengping, and then he slept in Yan Shengping’s arms for another half an hour before waking up.
Nothing else, he was woken by hunger. A single bowl of congee was completely insufficient to satisfy Lin Ganzhi’s appetite. Fortunately, Yan Shengping’s conscience made an appearance at this point. While Lin Ganzhi was sleeping, he had ordered some light dishes. He was originally going to bring them up, but Lin Ganzhi found it too embarrassing and insisted on walking down to eat. With the support of his pride, Lin Ganzhi was now incredibly tough!
However, when Lin Ganzhi got out of bed and saw the fountain pen on the nearby coffee table, his face instantly flushed beet red. The memories of last night flooded his mind like an open floodgate. Lin Ganzhi grabbed Yan Shengping’s sleeve and said fiercely, “This… why is it still here!”
Yan Shengping said with a smile, “Isn’t it quite useful? Why is Ganzhi suddenly starting to dislike the gift you bought me?”
How was he supposed to know this thing would one day be used on him! No wonder the lady’s expression was so strange that day. Would it still count if he went back to settle the score now?
“Throw it away!” Lin Ganzhi said with a cold face.
Right now, Lin Ganzhi’s opinion was paramount. Yan Shengping kissed the top of Lin Ganzhi’s hair and coaxed, “Yes. It will be gone by the time you come back up.” He would use it again next time. Yan Shengping smiled like a fox.
Slightly satisfied, Lin Ganzhi was helped to the top of the stairs by Yan Shengping but refused to be helped any further. If Uncle Yan saw this, where would he put his face! So, for the latter half of the journey, Lin Ganzhi bravely held his waist and walked down step by step, making Yan Shengping’s brows furrow together.
This house wouldn’t do. In a few months, he had to get a bigger one, with more separate living areas, so that Lin Ganzhi wouldn’t have to put on a brave face for the sake of his pride. He could also try a few more places, like the kitchen, the living room, and there had to be a big balcony.
Downstairs, Uncle Yan was just unpacking the takeout.
Seeing Lin Ganzhi, his smile gained a deeper meaning. “Ganzhi must be hungry. Come and eat.”
Faced with Uncle Yan’s kind smile, Lin Ganzhi gave a dry laugh and said, “Uncle Yan, I’m sorry. I drank yesterday and slept in a little. I didn’t even eat with you on the first day of the New Year.”
Uncle Yan quickly said it was fine. “We’re all family, why worry about such formalities? Come and eat, you must be hungry after not eating all day.”
Lin Ganzhi obediently sat down. For some reason, after he sat down, he felt that today’s chair was much softer, without the expected dull ache. Was it his imagination?
Lin Ganzhi looked at the kindly smiling Uncle Yan and the innocent-looking Yan Shengping.
Hmm, it must be his imagination.
So thought Lin Ganzhi, the one with the least cunning in the whole family.
After eating, Lin Ganzhi still couldn’t resist claiming the red envelopes in the group chat. Of course, he had to emphasize again that this wasn’t about the money, it was about politeness, a virtue! He also sent out a few of his own, for the sake of reciprocity.
Just as he finished, Lin Ganzhi was about to quietly leave the group chat, but Wenren Yi collected the red envelope in a second and replied just as quickly.
Wenren Yi: [Tsk tsk tsk! Young people still need to take care of their bodies~]
Lin Ganzhi: […I drank yesterday and slept in a little. What kind of dirty thoughts are you having?]
Wenren Yi: [Is that so? Why don’t I believe you?]
Lin Ganzhi: [When you get back, I’ll perform a backflip on the spot for you! Ten of them!]
Anyway, Wenren was still in the United States, and it would be a week before she came back. Lin Ganzhi had faith in his body.
Wenren Yi: [Alright, it’s a deal!]
The next afternoon, after his injuries had healed a bit, Lin Ganzhi was unwilling to just lie in bed all the time. The radishes in the field happened to be ripe, so Lin Ganzhi wrapped himself in a thick cotton coat and went out to pull them up, planning to make radish soup for dinner. However, Lin Ganzhi was, at most, the one picking up the radishes. There was no way Yan Shengping would let the current Lin Ganzhi bend over to pull them up.
Uncle Yan was a person who knew how to maintain a sense of proportion. Once he was sure that Yan Shengping’s health was gradually improving, he basically didn’t interfere in the young people’s space much. While Lin Ganzhi and Yan Shengping were outside, Uncle Yan would be at home cleaning and tidying up the rooms.
“Yan Shengping, twist it when you pull, the soil will loosen a bit,” Lin Ganzhi, wrapped in a thick cotton coat, instructed the former boss, the great beauty from the novel, on how to pull up radishes. If any of Yan Shengping’s former subordinates saw this scene, their jaws would surely drop.
But now, Yan Shengping pulled up radishes with sweet willingness. Basically, wherever Lin Ganzhi pointed, he would pull, without the slightest deviation.
“Ganzhi! I’m here to see you do your backflips!” At that moment, a large commercial van stopped at the gate of Lin Ganzhi’s house. Wenren Yi got out of the driver’s seat. Lin Ganzhi, who was standing at the door biting into a pear, froze, the pear in his hand almost dropping.
What the hell?
Was he dreaming? Lin Ganzhi took two steps forward in disbelief. It really was Wenren Yi.
Wenren Yi smiled slyly. Then, a person got out of the passenger seat—it was Wenren Yi’s father, Wenren Qi. The back door was also pushed open, and Grandma Li got out, supported by Grandpa Qin and Grandpa Wenren. Following behind Grandma Li was a man in his early thirties, whose looks could only be described as stunning.
If Yan Shengping’s handsomeness was a cup of fine tea, whose flavor deepened with each sip, then this man was a glass of red wine, beautiful with abandon, completely undisguised, and made even more charming by the passage of time.
“Yi-yi, how can you make Ganzhi do backflips? Ganzhi, Shengping, long time no see! I hope we’re not disturbing you by coming over today,” Grandma Li said with a smile as she looked at them. Although she missed them very much, her words still maintained a Chinese sense of modesty and politeness. Her complexion looked much better than before; it seemed she hadn’t had many episodes recently.
“How could you be! Grandma, I’ve missed you so much.” Lin Ganzhi wanted to run over, but his legs wouldn’t allow him to be so reckless. He froze in place for a long while. Yan Shengping considerately took Lin Ganzhi’s arm and walked slowly over, opening the small courtyard gate, and then gave Grandma Li a hug.
“Ms. Li, long time no see,” Yan Shengping said, his politeness tinged with a bit of affection.
Grandma Li was especially happy and hugged him back.
The man standing behind them had his hands in his pockets. His long, slanted phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, a deeper meaning and inquiry in his gaze.
“What are you standing here for? Go in!” Wenren Qi gave his younger brother, Wenren Lin, a push.
Wenren Lin gave Wenren Qi a faint smile and asked, “Brother, I remember you were called a sharpshooter in the army?”
Wenren Qi grinned. “That was so many years ago. Why have I never seen you admire your big brother so much back then?”
Wenren Lin also smiled. “Maybe I feel that your skills have improved rather than declined over the years.”
His own younger brother was a deep thinker. Wenren Qi, at fifty, had rarely seen his brother praise him so much. He couldn’t help but laugh heartily.
“You want to learn too? I can help you contact my old comrades.”
Hearing this, Wenren Lin politely declined. “No, I’d rather save my vacation time to spend with Ting Zhou.”
The two brothers chatted as they followed the main group into Lin Ganzhi and Yan Shengping’s home.