Translator: Xena
Editor: meowmiao
Proofreader: Sammy
When Chu Yu woke up, he was still so sleepy that he couldn't open his eyes. He stretched out his hand to touch Lu Shi's forehead, but faintly felt that the sensation under his hand wasn't right, so relying on intuition, he slowly touched upwards; chest, shoulders, Adam's apple, chin-
"What are you doing?"
"Ah?" Chu Yu was a few beats slow. He opened his eyes with difficulty, only to find that Lu Shi had awoken. His black bangs were messy, lips were pale and bloodless, and he was looking at himself.
"I wanted to touch your forehead, why did you wake up so early?"
"Can't sleep."
Lu Shi's voice was hoarser than usual, a bit lower, and it sounded sexy beyond his age.
Chu Yu subconsciously rubbed his itchy ears on the pillow, and finally put his hand straight onto Lu Shi's forehead. "Oh, it's not burning anymore. It really scared me to death earlier at dawn, it burned so badly and your breaths were so hot, I was ready to call 120!"
Lu Shi didn't have any memory of this so he asked Chu Yu, "What happened after?"
Yawning, Chu Yu vaguely recalled, "Afterwards, I followed a video and gave you physical cooling. When it was almost daybreak, your temperature finally dropped."
His voice gradually lowered as he spoke, and his head unconsciously began arching into Lu Shi's arms. "I can't hold it anymore, I'm so sleepy, I'll sleep a little longer..."
Before he could finish speaking, his eyes closed and he fell back to sleep.
He had big, wide eyes, and particularly white skin. With his eyes now closed, a faint circle of blueish black could be seen underneath them.
Lu Shi's lips met Chu Yu's hair as he pulled up the quilt, hugged the person, and closed his eyes again.
Winter was a good season to stay in bed, it could make people sleep softly and comfortably, making them not want to leave the bed at all.
Chu Yu rolled half a circle on the bed and turned to Lu Shi. "Should we get up?"
Lu Shi brushed his fingers along the ends of the other's moist eyes. "Awake?"
"Mm, I'm awake."
Chu Yu suddenly regained his energy. "It said on the Internet that patients with high fever need to drink porridge! Let me get up and cook porridge for you! Oh right, do you have rice at home?"
"No."
Lu Shi retracted his hand, rubbed the tear stain on his finger, and looked at Chu Yu inquiringly. "Did you cry last night?"
Chu Yu's expression solidified for a moment before he shook his head quickly. "Why would I cry!?"
Lu Shi didn't believe it. "You cried."
Chu Yu flatly denied, "I really didn't!"
He wanted to say that whoever cried was a puppy, but this oath was a bit poisonous so he couldn't say it. Instead, he simply stared at Lu Shi with a pair of big eyes to show that he wasn't guilty.
Lu Shi didn't speak and just quietly observed Chu Yu's expression. After a few breaths, he suddenly asked, "Did you see it?"
Panicked, Chu Yu's hands hidden in the bed suddenly clenched tightly.
For a long time now, Lu Shi had used the watch or the wrist guard to tightly hide the scars on his wrists, not exposing them the least bit.
Although they were dating, it wasn't in Chu Yu's mind to recklessly dig up the past that Lu Shi wanted to hide, causing it to drip blood again and forcibly expose it to the sun.
If Lu Shi didn't want anyone to know, then he could pretend that he never saw it.
However, before Chu Yu could continue denying anything or try finding another reason to prevaricate, he saw Lu Shi sit up and slowly unravel the watch on his left wrist, his expression unchanging.
Chu Yu suddenly felt an indescribable sadness. He stretched out his hand and grabbed Lu Shi's finger to stop him. "Don't, no need for this..."
His words were stumbling, and there were even hints of pleading in his eyes.
Lu Shi didn't stop until he had taken off the watch and threw it aside.
On his thin wrist, the scars were exposed unobstructed in Chu Yu's sight.
Lu Shi's voice was very soft. "These scars that have been hidden in the dark are already about to rot. It's not bad if you have a look."
He raised his wrist, lowered his eyelids, and looked at the scar with complete indifference. "Isn't it very ugly? You've always liked pretty things, so you shouldn't want to see more."
As Chu Yu unbuckled the watch strap from Lu Shi, he'd been still and silent.
He found that no matter how strong Lu Shi appeared to be or how indifferent, when facing him, he was akin to someone wearing heavy armor where an inch of softness remained.
Chu Yu didn't speak but rather pulled Lu Shi's wrist, lowered his head, and dropped a kiss on the hideous scars.
This action was unexpected. It was as if a layer of ice had disintegrated within Lu Shi's eyes, and a little smile was drawn.
Between going downstairs to buy rice for cooking porridge and ordering take-out, Chu Yu chose to have porridge and side dishes delivered from a restaurant he often ate at.
After hanging up the phone, he remembered that Lu Shi needed to drink more water, so Chu Yu threw on his slippers and got out of bed. He went to the kitchen with a 'tata' to boil water.
Seeing the empty kitchen, Chu Yu couldn't help clinging to the door and shouting, "Lu Shi, the mice in your house will starve to death!"
Lu Shi was leaning on the bed. When he saw Chu Yu holding the door with his soft, messy, fluffy hair, he stretched out his hand. "Come here."
Chu Yu approached with his slippers on. "What's up?"
"Let me kiss."
Chu Yu abruptly took a half step back. "Boyfriend, you're really so mushy like this!" He then approached again. "But, for the sake of your good looks, I'll give you a kiss to make you happy."
When the delivery arrived, Chu Yu urged Lu Shi to finish eating all the porridge and vegetables, all the while worrying, "Is there really no problem? Do you want me to buy medicine?"
"No need."
Lu Shi turned on his phone and swept a gaze at the time displayed on the screen. "Someone wants to come over."
"Who, Shitou?" Chu Yu thought about it. "Or is it Zhu Zhifei? It's the first day of vacation, so his mother probably wouldn't be too uptight about letting him go to cram school, right?"
"No, it's Fang Weiyun."
His expression sluggish, Chu Yu suspected he'd heard wrong. "What's she coming here for?"
After asking, Chu Yu answered himself, "Is it because Iris is pregnant? Is she trying to... win you over?"
Chu Yu quickly understood.
In the past, Fang Weiyun treated Lu Shi badly because Lu Shi was her "own child", Lu Shaochu wouldn't have a second child, and her position as Madam Lu was very stable. As a result, she'd vent all her anger on Lu Shi and blame him successively when she flared up.
Later, Lu Shi learned that his biological mother was someone else and no longer got close to her. Still, in that short period of time, she was able to stay calm.
But now, it was different. A young, beautiful, and scheming woman, pregnant with Lu Shaochu's child, was directly aiming for the position of Mrs. Lu. She felt that she couldn't contend anymore and gradually spiraled into confusion. Only then did she think of going to and winning over Lu Shi.
Chu Yu calmed down and handed a glass of water to Lu Shi. "Drink, you must drink more hot water when you're sick!"
Lu Shi took it and drank all the water obediently.
Not long after, there was a knock on the door.
Chu Yu pointed to the bedroom, turned around, and ran inside like the wind.
Lu Shi got up and opened the door.
Fang Weiyun was wearing a white couture cashmere coat and deerskin-lace gloves, but her hair wasn't tucked up as usual and was instead draped down. She didn't put makeup on, making her look pale and haggard.
She was originally covering her mouth and nose with her hands as if to block out some unpleasant smell. After the metal door in front of her opened, she put down her hand very quickly and looked at Lu Shi with a sincere expression.
Lu Shi wore a loose black sweater, which in contrast, made his skin extremely white, and his lips bloodless. He stood at the door with an indifferent expression and no intention to let Fang Weiyun enter.
This was his mother's house.
Fang Weiyun glanced inside the room, her meaning obvious. "Lu Shi-"
Lu Shi only questioned, "What is it?"
Fang Weiyun clenched her handbag tightly, her eyes quickly turning red. "Lu Shi, i-it's vacation right now, do you want to go home and visit? Me, your father and even grandpa miss you very much. It's a New Year, we're all worried about you living outside alone, we..."
She burst into tears as she spoke and her voice became choked with sobs. "Mom-"
Seeing Lu Shi's expression, she changed the way she addressed herself. "I'm really having a hard time these days, your father hasn't been home for a long time..."
On the mottled wall, there were messy old stains, various small advertisements for engraving stamps and lock openers, as well as numbers and birdie drawn messily by children.
Lu Shi leaned against the door frame. Because he fell ill, he became a tad bit thin. With his deep dark eyes, he watched Fang Weiyun's performance from beginning to end with a hint of mockery.
Fang Weiyun cried for a while but had no choice then to slowly hold back her tears when she didn't get any response from Lu Shi.
She changed her approach.
"Apart from that, this time I came here in person to tell you something."
Fang Weiyun spoke softly while worriedly looking at Lu Shi. "This news might make you sad, but for your own good, I still have to tell you. Your father, he let a woman outside become pregnant with his child."
After Fang Weiyun finished speaking, she stared at Lu Shi's face, futilely trying to find expressions of shock, panic, embarrassment or any such feelings.
But unlike what she expected, Lu Shi didn't even change his posture, he just replied, "I see." Extremely indifferent.
Before this, Fang Weiyun had been suppressing her emotions. If it hadn't been her last resort, she wouldn't have come to Qingchuan Road to find Lu Shi at all.
But at this moment, Lu Shi's attitude was like oil poured on fire, causing the anger accumulating in her heart to burn up instantly.
"Lu Shi! Do you know what this means? It means we're all done for! We're finished! You're no longer the only heir to the Lu family, and your position will soon be snatched away! You'll get nothing either!"
Her voice was so sharp that it was ear-piercing. She was talking about Lu Shi, but it was she who was becoming more and more frightened. Her knuckles were turning white as her grasp on the handbag tightened, so much so that it even trembled.
The winter wind blew in from outside the corridor, bone-chilling cold.
Lu Shi raised the corner of his mouth, but there wasn't any hint of a smile. His words were distinct. "You didn't think this through."
Fang Weiyun was slow to react for a few seconds before lifting her head and looking at Lu Shi. "What?"
"So what if Lu Shaochu has a child outside? I'm 18 years older than him. He'll only be born, while I'm already an adult. Mrs. Lu, say, why would I be afraid?"
Fang Weiyun opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
She watched Lu Shi who was standing against the backlight and subconsciously took a half step back. Her high-heeled shoes stepped on the concrete floor and made a clear 'da' sound.
At this moment, she felt that Lu Shi was extraordinarily unfamiliar.
Obviously, it shouldn't be like this, it couldn't be like this, this wasn't the result she wanted to obtain on this trip!
Her tone becoming flustered, Fang Weiyun repeatedly said, "Lu Shi, you'll help me, right? You will definitely-"
"Mrs. Lu."
Interrupted, Fang Weiyun wasn't unhappy at all, rather a bit of hope rose in her eyes, and even her expression lit up.
Her eyes widened slightly, looking expectantly at Lu Shi, waiting for what he was going to say next.
Lu Shi's voice was soft yet his eyes were entirely cold with malice. "'The filthy blood of a bastard flows through your body'. It seems that you've already forgotten how you treated me before. Mrs. Lu, how naive are you to think that I will help you?"