CH 17

TL: Hua

Shen Boyan wanted to get angry, but because Xia Shu’an was still sick, he finally managed to suppress it and gave Xia Shu’an a cold look at most to make him feel it.

How to say it? It looks quite pathetic.

Xia Shu’an thought it was funny but didn’t dare to laugh. Shen Boyan entered the study with an unhappy expression on his face, and it wasn’t until late at night that the light was turned off.

Because Xia Shu’an was still sick, they slept separately. Xia Shu’an slept in the master bedroom, while Shen Boyan slept in the second bedroom. After closing the door, Shen Boyan was about to go to bed when suddenly there was a knocking sound on the door.

He took a few steps forward, and, as expected, Xia Shu’an’s pale face appeared outside the door. He had slept enough today, so he was still very energetic at night, but his complexion still looked sickly.

Shen Boyan looked at Xia Shu’an as he slowly, slowly, took out a storybook from behind his back.

Shen Boyan: ?

Xia Shu’an looked up at him and said, “Shen Boyan, can you read me a story?”

Shen Boyan laughed angrily.

“Xia Shu’an, how old are you?”

“It doesn’t matter how old I am; I want to hear a story or I won’t be able to sleep.”

“My mother used to tell me stories when I was sick.”

Xia Shu’an inwardly said, There is no such thing.

He tilted his face and looked at him pleadingly, “OK?”

Although Shen Boyan hadn’t agreed yet, the expression on his face was already starting to waver.

Xia Shu’an went one step further: “I really need you.”

“Please.”

Perhaps because of his nervousness, there was a tinge of blush on his face, and his fair skin glowed with luster under the warm night light, making him look extraordinarily charming. Bewildered by the beauty, Shen Boyan nodded involuntarily.

“That’s great.”

Xia Shu’an stepped into the room, consciously climbed onto the bed, covered his body with a small blanket, and beamed at Shen Boyan. Shen Boyan held the storybook and started reading with difficulty.

Although this is a storybook, it’s not a fairy tale book about a princess or prince but rather a story about an adventurer going on adventures around the world, which was once a bestseller.

Shen Boyan unfolded the pages of the book and started reading from a certain chapter. Xia Shu’an was lying on his chest, his soft hair exuding a faint scent of shampoo and rubbing against his chest gently.

Shen Boyan felt strange at first, but as he read, the atmosphere gradually calmed down, and his heart was also at peace. That feeling was like a traveler who had been on a journey for many days finally returning home, a sailor who stepped foot ashore again, or the children who came back at dusk and saw the smoke rising from their house.

And the breath of the young man in his arms gradually stabilized.

“Xia Shu’an, Xia Shu’an.”

After two soft calls, the young man didn’t respond. Shen Boyan put him on the pillow and was about to get out of bed when suddenly—

“Shen Boyan.”

He glanced back, and the young man, who had closed his eyes a while ago, had a slight frown, as if unhappy.

He murmured under his breath:

“Shen Boyan, don’t, don’t smoke.”

Shen Boyan: “…”

He got off the bed lightly, and his figure quickly disappeared behind the door of the room.

…

…

When Xia Shu’an woke up the next day, he realized that he had changed to another bed. He recalled what happened last night.

Yesterday, he just wanted to give it a try, but he didn’t expect to really succeed. So, Shen Boyan really likes to eat soft instead of hard, and he really likes others to act spoiled. No wonder, “in the past,” he always forced himself to act coquettishly towards him. It turned out that he had this special hobby.

After washing up and going downstairs, Shen Boyan was already having breakfast in the dining room. When he saw Xia Shu’an coming down, he just raised his eyes.

The two of them didn’t say a word about what happened last night, as if it were just a dream.

Seeing that breakfast was coming to an end, Xia Shu’an said, “I have to go to work on Wednesday. The leave I took before is up.”

Shen Boyan raised his eyes and looked at him: “If you have to go, just go. You don’t need to report to me. I won’t imprison you.”

Remember what you said.

After tidying up, Shen Boyan was ready to go out. Xia Shu’an had already waited at the door. When Shen Boyan stepped out of the house, Xia Shu’an opened his arms and hugged him vigorously.

“Be careful on the road and come back early.”

The scent that belonged exclusively to Xia Shu’an immediately filled Shen Boyan’s nose. Shen Boyan seemed to be a little drunk. He arrived at the company in an exceptionally happy mood, and the vaguely scented fragrance did not dissipate until he entered the company door.

It happened that Sheng Songbai passed by with a few documents. When he saw Shen Boyan, he smiled and greeted him familiarly: “Morning, Boyan. By the way, when will you call Xiao Xia over? I’ll treat him to a meal.”

Shen Boyan remembered Xia Shu’an’s curiosity about Sheng Songbai last night, and his smile faded. His tone was polite but alienated: “He has had a bad appetite recently, and he isn’t used to eating outside; let’s talk about it another day.”

“Uh, good.”

Sheng Songbai looked at Shen Boyan’s back and couldn’t figure out why Shen Boyan’s attitude towards him suddenly changed until he returned to the office.

…

Xia Shu’an rested for two days and finally went to work on Wednesday.

He was in poor health, so Xia parents didn’t want him to do heavy work. In addition, Father Xia had funded the school, so Xia Shu’an stayed in the school’s research lab and became the legendary person who walked through the back door.

But he has always been mild-tempered and doesn’t fight against others. He doesn’t talk about how hard he works, but he never slows down or messes up anything. In addition, he never participates in internal disputes and does not grab other people’s credit, so everyone treats him very kindly.

The people in the research lab only have a rough idea about the Xia family’s situation. When they saw him come back, they thought he had already dealt with it.

“Xiao Xia, you’re finally back.” The teacher patted him on the shoulder in relief.

This teacher is a friend of Father Xia and has always looked after him at school. This time Xia Shu’an asked for leave due to an accident in Xia’s family, and he also helped with the situation.

“Yes, teacher, I’m back.”

“Go in, go in; you seniors all miss you.”

As he said, when Xia Shu’an entered the research room, he was surrounded by several seniors, and everyone squeezed together.

Xia Shu’an’s senior sister, who is a PhD student, hugged him and shouted, “Xia Xia, my Xia Xia, you are finally back. You don’t know that without you, the scenery of this laboratory will be lost by half. I’m so exhausted every day, but there’s no soul to comfort me. This is too difficult…”

Because of his good looks, Xia Shu’an even has the honorary title of “Laboratory Room Flower”. As for why it is “Room Flower” instead of “Room Grass1A school flower, for example, means the most beautiful girl in school, while grass refers to the most handsome guy.“, Xia Shu’an doesn’t know and dares not ask.

Another senior shouted, “Are you saying that I’m not handsome enough to comfort your soul?”

The senior sister turned around and said, “Have some self-awareness, ok?”

“…”

Looking at the noisy laboratory, Xia Shu’an was relieved by the familiar atmosphere. A man walked in with a folder in his arms; his eyes lit up after seeing the situation inside the room.

“Shu’an, you’re back.”

Xia Shu’an calmly said, “Yes, I’m back.”

This senior’s name is Chang Jun, who is only one year older than Xia Shu’an. They met before entering the laboratory, so he also takes great care of Xia Shu’an. Xia Shu’an walked to his desk and helped him tidy it up.

Chang Jun sized him up and finally said, “You’ve lost weight.”

“Is that so?”

Xia Shu’an himself didn’t notice it. In fact, he felt that it was no small achievement for him to be able to maintain this body shape under Shen Boyan’s tossing.

“Now that you’re back, you can make up for it.”

“Yeah, I miss the cafeteria food too.”

“I’ll treat you to a meal at noon.”

“One cafeteria meal, and you’re ready to dismiss me?”

“OK, OK, you pick the place ……”

The two were talking and laughing. The familiar and relaxed atmosphere made Xia Shu’an feel extremely happy. It takes one to two years, or even longer, to study a project. Xia Shu’an left for a month, but the progress of the project didn’t deviate too much from the progress he had made when he left. On his first day back, he mastered the latest data, and soon he was reintegrated into his work.

Time passed by, and at noon, a group of people walked to the cafeteria together.

There are four cafeterias in the school. They went to the one closest to the laboratory. The cafeteria has two floors. The first floor mainly serves meals, and the second floor serves various snacks. Xia Shu’an ordered light noodles on the second floor. Because the peak period has passed, there were not many people in the cafeteria.

Xia Shu’an ate the least and finished the meal the fastest. Everyone was used to it. After putting down his chopsticks, he quietly sat on the stool, waiting for others. Suddenly, his phone on the table vibrated and made a buzzing sound. Chang Jun, sitting on the opposite side, took a glance at the name, but before he could see it clearly, Xia Shu’an had already picked up the phone, said sorry, then got up and walked to the hallway outside the cafeteria.

This phone call was naturally made by Shen Boyan, and this behavior was within his normal control operation. “In the past,” Xia Shu’an had to report to Shen Boyan whenever he went out. It would be even more troublesome if he had dinner with friends.

However, this is the embodiment of Shen Boyan’s hegemonic Power politics. Xia Shu’an should have hated it, but after what happened last night, he inexplicably had a feeling that his boyfriend was checking up on him. When he thought about it this way, the atmosphere suddenly became ambiguous.

Xia Shu’an picked up the phone while feeling funny in his heart: Xia Shu’an, as expected of you, you have top-notch self-regulation ability.

As soon as the phone was attached to his ear, a deep male voice pierced through the eardrums and reached Xia Shu’an’s brain.

“Still in school?”

For two or three seconds, Xia Shu’an’s heart beat 1.2 times faster. He put his hand on his chest and looked out through the glass window in the corridor. “Yes.”

“Have you eaten?”

“Just ate.”

“Eat with colleagues?”

“Yeah, the food in the school cafeteria is a bit greasy and not very tasty.”

Xia Shu’an was simply reporting, but this kind of word, similar to complaining to his boyfriend, made Shen Boyan very happy. A chuckle escaped from his throat, and when he spoke again, his tone suddenly became intimate: “Be good and bear with it. There will be delicious food in the evening.”

“Yes, hopefully.”

The topic seemed to have come to an end, but Shen Boyan had no intention of hanging up the phone yet. Xia Shu’an naturally didn’t want to make him feel awkward, so after thinking about it, he took the initiative to open another topic: “What about you? Have you eaten?”

“Yes.”

“Also at the cafeteria?”

“Yes, the same as you.”

There was a smile in the man’s tone. Xia Shu’an thought for a while and said, a little unhappy, “Then your cafeteria food must be better than mine.”

A deep laugh suddenly came from the receiver.

At this time, Chang Jun and the others came out of the cafeteria and walked towards the stairway. Chang Jun took a few steps closer to Xia Shu’an and said, “Xiao Xia, let’s go back.”

The smile on Shen Boyan’s face faded when he heard a man’s voice. The strange man on the other side of the phone said again, “You’re chatting with a friend?”

“Yes, my boyfriend.”

The smile on Chang Jun’s face suddenly froze, but the man who was a thousand meters away had a smile on his face again after hearing these words.

After Xia Shu’an finished speaking, he quickly said to the phone, “Ok, I’ll hang up first.”

There aren’t many people under the shade trees outside the cafeteria, and there are people playing basketball on the playground not far away. Youth is swaying wantonly under the sun.

Xia Shu’an caught up with his seniors in a few steps. He sorted out his wording and said, “Is it too sudden?”

Both of them knew what he was talking about. Chang Jun smiled briefly: “No… just a little bit.”

“My boyfriend is more… sensitive.” Xia Shu’an tried to explain this matter as tactfully as possible: “So I need to appease him and tell him not to worry too much.”

Chang Jun nodded repeatedly and said, “Understand, I understand.”

He thought for a moment and added, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

Xia Shu’an laughed out loud, looked at Chang Jun, and said softly, “I’m not worried about this. I believe in Senior’s character.”

Under a row of magnolia trees, Xia Shu’an had a faint smile on his face, and his black pupils were illuminated by the sun, overflowing with light.

Under the pure golden sunlight, his fair skin was like transparent white porcelain; even the tiny hairs around his ears were completely visible, and his whole body exuded a warm aura.

Facing such a gentle and handsome person, Chang Jun should feel comfortable and warm, but he felt an inexplicable pain in his chest.

“Chang Jun.” Someone over there was suddenly shouting his name.

Xia Shu’an turned his head and saw a girl standing under the opposite tree. “Senior, that’s your girlfriend.”

Chang Jun quickly realized, responded, and said, “Yes.”

Xia Shu’an waved to the senior and said, “Then you go over there; I’ll go back to the laboratory first.”

Chang Jun responded briefly, and after seeing Xia Shu’an turn to go in another direction, he slowly walked towards the opposite path.

The girl’s face, which was full of joy just now, has a sunken expression.

“That Xia Shu’an is back?”

Chang Jun frowned and said, “Don’t use such a tone.”

The girl screamed, “What’s wrong with my tone?!”

“…”

Xia Shu’an was oblivious to their quarrel, and he quickly went back to the lab. In the other office, Shen Boyan tapped his fingers on the desk with his eyes closed, and after a while, he called Assistant Qi in.