Only after she had fallen asleep did the man with his eyes closed open them. He gazed at her silently, continuously⦠for a very long timeâ¦
â¦
Dawn arrived.
Hai Xiaotang had not enjoyed such a good sleep in a long time.
She woke up refreshed and opened her eyes, but Dongfang Yu was nowhere to be seen.
Hai Xiaotang washed up and headed downstairs, where she discovered that he was making breakfast. It truly surprised her that he was cooking again â he had cooked dinner for her yesterday and now he was making breakfast.
Hai Xiaotang felt spoilt by his attention.
Upon seeing that she had woken up, Dongfang Yu greeted her with a smile, âI just finished making breakfast. Come eat.â
Hai Xiaotang took a seat and teasingly asked, âWhy did you decide to cook? You only just recovered, you should be resting.â
âIâm fine,â said Dongfang Yu as he passed her the sliced bacon. âHave more, youâve lost weight recently.â
âYou should have more too!â Hai Xiaotang handed him some bacon â she couldnât possibly finish it all.
Dongfang Yu promptly gave it back to her, insistently demanding, âEat all of this!â
Hai Xiaotang didnât argue. She simply nodded agreeably, âOkay.â
After a few bites, she noticed he wasnât eating, only watching her. There was an inexplicable light flickering in his eyes.
Puzzled, Hai Xiaotang asked, âWhy arenât you eating?â
With a soft smile, Dongfang Yu replied, âWatching you eat has me mesmerized.â
Hai Xiaotang felt bashful. She found his sweet words utterly heart-melting.
âEat quickly. After we eat, we can go back. My grandfather must be worried after not seeing me all night,â she urged him.
Dongfang Yuâs eyes flickered as he nodded, âOkay.â
With a smile, Hai Xiaotang continued eating. After a few more bites, she couldnât resist asking him, âBy the way, how did you save me? What exactly happened? Are someone setting us up?â
Dongfang Yu paused slightly, then spoke in a deep voice, âWe can talk after youâre done eating.â
âOh.â Hai Xiaotang hastily ate. She had hardly eaten anything yesterday and had also only eaten a little last night.
Although she didnât feel hungry last night, she was feeling extremely hungry now.
So she ate a whole strip of bacon, a fried egg, a slice of whole wheat bread, and also drank a glass of milk.
After finishing her breakfast, Hai Xiaotang felt very satisfied.
However, Dongfang Yu had eaten very little, not even half of what she had.
Concerned, Hai Xiaotang asked, âWhy are you eating so little? Are you unwell?â
âNo,â Dongfang Yu put down his cutlery, and again fixed his gaze on her.
Hai Xiaotang finally noticed his odd behavior, âWhatâs wrong? You seem preoccupied.â
Just as Dongfang Yu was about to reply, his cell phone started vibrating.
He took it, saw the caller ID, and was slightly taken aback.
The call was from Hai Lan.
Dongfang Yu was puzzled when he answered the call, but before he could speak, he heard Hai Lan say, âBrother Dongfang, I need to talk to Hai Xiaotang. Can you pass her the phone?â
Dongfang Yu could hear the urgency in Hai Lanâs voice, and a sense of foreboding filled him, âWhatâs the matter?â
âSomething happened to grandpa, she needs to come home immediately!â
Hai Lanâs voice was probably too loud because Hai Xiaotang overheard her.
She abruptly grabbed the phone, blurting out, âHello, Hai Lan, what did you say? What happened to Grandpa?â
âJust come back first, hurry back!â Without saying anything more, Hai Lan hung up the phone.
âHello, Hai Lan, helloâ.â A sudden fear gripped Hai Xiaotang, âDongfang Yu, what do we do? Something happened to Grandpa! I have no idea what it is, but I need to go back immediately!â
Dongfang Yu took her hand and led her to the door, âIâll go with you!â
They quickly got into the car and sped off.