Chapter 6 – Call Me by My Full Name
Around three in the afternoon, Yan Shengping’s recovering body started to heat up again. Uncle Yan and Lin Ganzhi spent the entire afternoon and evening applying ice packs and checking his temperature. It wasn’t until nine at night that Yan Shengping’s fever finally broke. His pale face, half-sunk into the pillow, was a distressing sight.
Exhausted from the long day, Lin Ganzhi was sent off to rest by Uncle Yan. Before bed, Lin Ganzhi deleted all his superficial friends from his contacts. Given his personality, he would never contact these people again in this lifetime. After half an hour of this, his contact list was surprisingly sparse, containing only Uncle Yan, his aunt’s family, and his manager, Zhang Dianhuai.
It seemed the original owner was truly disliked.
But that suited Lin Ganzhi just fine. From now on, this contact list would only be filled with people he genuinely wanted to know.
Oh, right. He still didn’t have Yan Shengping’s WeChat. He’d have to find a way to add him tomorrow. What if he went out to work and needed to message his boss to maintain his presence?
The next day, after making breakfast, Lin Ganzhi went upstairs to wake him. He knocked on the bedroom door for a long time, but there was no answer. Just then, Uncle Yan, holding what looked like a stack of documents from a delivery, knocked on the study door, and an immediate “come in” was heard from inside.
Damn! Differential treatment!
Lin Ganzhi huffed angrily and changed course to go in.
Uncle Yan placed the documents next to Yan Shengping and left. As he passed Lin Ganzhi, he gave him an encouraging look. Lin Ganzhi winked back confidently.
“Hub—”
“Do you remember what you said yesterday?” Yan Shengping looked up. He looked much better. Today he was wearing a dark gray shirt, unbuttoned at the top to reveal a striking collarbone and the mole on his neck. The cuffs were also unbuttoned and folded back, his well-defined wrists resting lazily on the desk. Coupled with his lean figure…
Gulp!
“Finish swallowing what’s in your mouth before you speak.”
“That’s a compliment for good-looking people!” Lin Ganzhi clenched his fist.
Yan Shengping averted his gaze, trying to immunize himself against Lin Ganzhi’s antics. “Don’t change the subject. You promised me yesterday.”
Tsk~ What a petty man, not even letting him say it one more time.
“Not ‘hub’—”
Yan Shengping shot him a chilly look.
Lin Ganzhi was so scared he stood up straight. “Then, call you by your name?”
Only then did Yan Shengping retract his gaze. “Mm, call me by my name.”
Lin Ganzhi braced himself. Being so formal all of a sudden, he felt that saying his name was somehow more embarrassing than calling him “husband.” It was like during high school military training when the drill instructor made you call out to a classmate you’d just met.
He cleared his throat. The three words swirled in his mouth a few times but just wouldn’t come out.
Damn it, is this really you, the one with the silver tongue? Lin Ganzhi gave himself a stern talking-to for a few seconds.
Finally, he looked up, his eyes watery, and uttered three words: “Yan… Shengping?”
Upon finally hearing a satisfactory title, Yan Shengping finally looked at Lin Ganzhi properly. But when he saw his slightly flushed cheeks, like a little steamed bun that had sprung a leak, it felt as if someone had deliberately brushed against his spine. A tingling sensation rushed to his cerebral cortex, leaving him stunned for a full three seconds. His throat belatedly felt a little dry.
“Not satisfied?” Lin Ganzhi confirmed.
“It’s fine.” Yan Shengping’s mouth moved faster than his brain, feeling a sense of relief and successfully masking his own change in demeanor.
Today’s breakfast was wontons. There were no green onions in the soup, and Yan Shengping took a bite, chewed a few times, and confirmed there were no green onions in the filling either. His expression relaxed considerably.
“You made these?”
Lin Ganzhi nodded like a pecking chicken. “Don’t worry, they’re all made without green onions~”
Yan Shengping lowered his head again. This time, he didn’t even notice the corner of his mouth uncontrollably turning up.
Meanwhile, Lin Ganzhi sat in his usual spot, guarding Yan Shengping like a sentry until he finished eating.
Growl—
Yan Shengping, who was halfway through his meal, looked up.
Lin Ganzhi also dazedly looked up from the joy of his card game. “Are you still hungry? I’ll cook some more for you in a bit. Uncle Yan and I made enough for a few days.”
Yan Shengping pondered. “Is it possible that it wasn’t my stomach that growled?”
…
Lin Ganzhi lowered his head and clutched his stomach. Three seconds later, he looked up pitifully. Although he didn’t say a word, his feelings were written all over his face: If you know, then why aren’t you eating faster?
Yan Shengping coughed. “Did you wait for me to finish before going down to eat before, too?”
“Yeah, your stomach is weak. It’s best to eat freshly cooked, hot food,” Lin Ganzhi said naturally. When he first had stomach cancer, he had taken care of himself in the same way. It was just a pity that in the end, he had no financial means left, and he couldn’t try anymore even if he wanted to.
But these words became scorching hot in Yan Shengping’s ears. The tips of the fingers holding his chopsticks were trembling slightly.
This kid, is he always this direct and passionate when he talks to people?
He had already agreed to leave, and for now, he showed no ill intentions. Why should he make things difficult for a child?
After thinking for a moment, Yan Shengping finally stood up. “Let’s go. Downstairs.”
Lin Ganzhi didn’t react. “Huh? You’re not eating anymore? How can that be?”
“I’ll eat downstairs.” Yan Shengping rarely stood in front of Lin Ganzhi. Looking at him like this, Yan Shengping’s presence was much more oppressive, but he didn’t feel any malice from him. He lowered his gaze, obscuring much of his handsome eyes, and said in a somewhat hoarse voice, “From now on, I’ll eat downstairs. You don’t have to wait for me to finish while you’re hungry.”
Lin Ganzhi was stunned for a moment, then his pupils dilated. Had the old tsundere finally found his conscience? What was this feeling of being on the verge of tears?
His own child had finally grown up!
Yan Shengping saw that Lin Ganzhi was about to burst with words.
“I guarantee that if you say certain things out loud, everything will turn sour.”
Lin Ganzhi paused, then let out a very dissatisfied “tsk” in his heart. What an old man with absolutely no sense of humor!
Uncle Yan, who was waiting downstairs for Lin Ganzhi to come down for breakfast, was completely stunned when he saw Yan Shengping willing to come downstairs for the first time in months. Uncle Yan, who had seen all sorts of storms at his age, couldn’t help but get teary-eyed. On the other hand, Yan Shengping didn’t know how to comfort this old man who had been with him all this time.
“Uncle Yan, I’ll eat downstairs from now on. You don’t have to wait with him for me to finish.”
“Okay, okay, Master!” Once Uncle Yan said this, he decided not to bring up any sentimental words to trouble the master. He knew Yan Shengping’s personality best. This could also be considered the master’s initial approval of Lin Ganzhi. Maybe these two kids would really end up together.
Uncle Yan’s gaze shifted from emotional to something else, something meaningful.
“Uncle Yan, I have eye drops. I’ll give you a bottle later. I know how uncomfortable twitchy eyes can be, I get it!” Lin Ganzhi said profoundly.
Uncle Yan thought: What do you get!
He had figured it out. This kid, Ganzhi, was good at everything, except for being infuriatingly dense when he was acting up!
After the meal, Yan Shengping didn’t stay downstairs for long. He drank a cup of tea and went up, as if he weren’t the master of the villa, but a tenant living on the second floor.
What was Yan Shengping busy with upstairs every day? Lin Ganzhi muttered, not paying it much mind. Maybe his partner was just a homebody, unlike him. As soon as Uncle Yan finished cleaning the kitchen, he cheerfully announced he was going to the nearest market with him.
There were two shopping places nearby: a market closer to the suburbs, and a supermarket a little further into the city. Between the two, Uncle Yan preferred the former because the vegetables at the market were grown by local farmers. There was no middleman markup like at the supermarket, and they were fresh, picked and sold on the same day.
Uncle Yan was also an experienced hand. He just rode a small electric scooter to the market. And as a graduate of a professional butler academy, Uncle Yan’s interpersonal skills were also excellent. In just a few months, he could chat with more than half the aunts and uncles at the market. They would even give him extra vegetables, like a few heads of cabbage when he bought radishes.
Lin Ganzhi followed Uncle Yan for a few stalls before handing over the grocery shopping task to him. He went to look for vegetable seeds.
Uncle Yan agreed. After a round of shopping, he found the little pink-haired youth squatting obediently at the market exit.
Uncle Yan, who had been childless his whole life, suddenly felt a strong urge to show off. He took out his phone, snapped a picture, and sent it to Yan Shengping.
Uncle Yan: [Ganzhi looks just like a high school student like this. So well-behaved (smile)]
Yan Shengping looked at the message on his phone with a disdainful expression, but his finger subconsciously tapped open the photo.
Lin Ganzhi was wearing a creamy white sweatshirt and light-colored ripped jeans. A small tuft of hair that hadn’t been properly slept on stuck up from his soft pink hair. His Crayon Shin-chan-like chubby cheeks made him look only seventeen or eighteen. He was currently squatting in front of a stall, his serious expression creating a strong, cute contrast.
So dumb!
Yan Shengping, with his concise evaluation, didn’t exit the interface for a long time.
“Fifty cents a pack,” Lin Ganzhi said seriously.
The stall owner was a fifty-year-old auntie. She frowned and let out an “Aiyo!” “Little classmate, you can’t haggle like that. Your math teacher didn’t teach you that way. This tomato seed is a new hybrid variety! The seeds it produces are big and sweet. I have some at home right now! If you don’t believe me, go take a look!”
The auntie was about to get up, but Lin Ganzhi calmly pressed her back down with his hand and then repeated with utmost seriousness, “Fifty cents a pack. And I’ll take the other ten packs of radish seeds too.”
Uncle Yan froze in place.
His phone vibrated at that moment.
Yan Shengping couldn’t resist sending a message: [What is he doing now?]
Uncle Yan, with a complicated expression, took a video.
As soon as the video came through, Yan Shengping immediately opened it.
The little pink-haired ball was squatting on the ground, looking at the auntie opposite him with a profound gaze as she pleaded poverty: “Little classmate, it’s not easy for me to sell seeds. Three yuan a pack is already very cheap. I have to go pick up two kids from school later. It’s not easy for me!”
“Fifty cents a pack.”
“Aiyo!”
The little pink-haired ball stood up and made a move to leave, but his pace was extremely slow.
The auntie finally couldn’t take it anymore. She got up and hurried over. “Alright, alright! Fifty cents, fifty cents! WeChat or cash?”
The little pink-haired ball turned back, his smile brilliant. “Auntie, I knew you were the best!”
The video ended there. A hint of a smile actually seeped into Yan Shengping’s eyes.
Who said his acting was stiff and his face like a corpse? Wasn’t he acting quite well here?
The Lin Ganzhi he saw and the Lin Ganzhi of rumors had become two completely different people.
Two different people, huh? Yan Shengping’s eyes gradually sharpened.
By the time they got home, it was just about lunchtime.
Lin Ganzhi quickly made four dishes and a soup. Uncle Yan called Yan Shengping down. The three of them, Yan Shengping sitting opposite Lin Ganzhi, and Uncle Yan in the middle.
No talking during meals. The three of them only spoke after they finished eating.
Lin Ganzhi had been holding it in for a long time. He could finally look at Yan Shengping with bright eyes. Yan Shengping closed his eyes, knowing this person was up to no good.
“What is it?”
“Yan Shengping, what do you feel when you look at that lawn outside?” Lin Ganzhi gestured to the sun-drenched lawn.
Yan Shengping was silent for two seconds, his expression complicated. “Am I supposed to feel something?”
“Then would it break your heart if I stir-fried it?” One should respect the homeowner’s wishes in such matters, right?
“Even if you stir-fried it to a crisp, my eyes wouldn’t so much as blink!” To prove his normalcy, Yan Shengping was also playing along.
“Clap, clap, clap!” Lin Ganzhi applauded Yan Shengping’s first voluntary cooperation. “Then I’ll plant some vegetables, and you’ll get a cut later!”
…
The tsundere ghost put down his chopsticks after eating and left, not even staying for a second cup of tea this time.
Lin Ganzhi looked bewildered. “What did I do?”
Uncle Yan, as a spectator, gave a pertinent answer: “Perhaps the culture of our country is too broad and profound.”
Lin Ganzhi nodded with partial understanding.
Uncle Yan had originally wanted to look up some vegetable planting guides online first, but Lin Ganzhi was already huffing and puffing, getting to work. He was a pro at it.
He was familiar with planting vegetables. Back at the orphanage, he had cultivated more than half of the barren back mountain. Although he wasn’t fat, he ate a lot and got hungry easily. So, to increase his food portions, he insisted on telling the orphanage director every day of his determination to plant vegetables. Later, the director was so pestered she had no choice but to let him have at it.
Unexpectedly, in just two short years, the orphanage’s vegetable production had taken a quantum leap. If Lin Ganzhi hadn’t been so unwilling, the county TV station would have wanted to interview him. They had even drafted a headline for him—Shocking! A 10-year-old boy nurtures a mountain of miracles.
Tui! Nurtures!
Thinking of this, Lin Ganzhi frowned in disgust and continued to till the land with vigor.
As he was about to finish, Uncle Yan moved some of the tools inside. Lin Ganzhi stretched his back, preparing to wrap up.
“Excuse me, does Mr. Yan Shengping live here?” a rough voice sounded from behind Lin Ganzhi.
Lin Ganzhi turned around, and his hair immediately stood on end. A chill ran down his spine.
Standing outside the fence was a burly man, estimated to be 1.9 meters tall. The dark blue suit he was wearing looked like it was about to burst from his muscles, resembling a double-door refrigerator. The kind where Lin Ganzhi could probably squeeze in for a nap. The key was his expression—super fierce! His thick, dark eyebrows were almost knitted together.
“Ah, Yan Shengping, right? The name sounds a bit familiar. I think he lives over there!” Lin Ganzhi pointed towards the distant observation tower.
The burly man turned his head. “The master’s surname isn’t Bai.”
Ugh. Lin Ganzhi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, calculating whether he could rush inside and lock the door faster than the burly man’s fist could fly.
“I meant, just, below that tower.”
“Below the tower is an artificial lake. Your neighbor just told me the same thing. I just came back from the tower,” the burly man’s expression grew even more serious.
Damn it, people are even stealing excuses these days!!!
Lin Ganzhi stood numbly in the wind.
“Nini?” a surprised voice called from behind.