Chapter 12
Zhuo Xiang Ming didn’t stay in the study room for long, he soon came downstairs to find Tong Yan.
While the two were preparing to return home, Lin Yue Hua still tried to persuade them to stay, and her main target of attack was Tong Yan.
But, without waiting for Tong Yan to reply, Zhuo Xiang Ming immediately refused: “Nothing has been prepared for today, I also have to get up early for work tomorrow. Forget it, next time we come over, we’ll spend the night.”
He smiled good-naturedly and spoke reasonably, Lin Yue Hua had no choice but to agree, but she still complained: “Don’t manipulate your mother. You only come back for two days at a time. I obviously have such a big son, but I never get to see him.”
Following behind them, Zhuo Jia Shuo sincerely helped Zhuo Xiang Ming explain: “My brother is very busy, don’t you know that? Haven’t you seen it?”
But the helpful words didn’t exceed that one sentence, and he immediately added, “Okay, my sister-in-law needs to do his homework, let’s just let the young couple go home.”
Tong Yan’s eyes widened, and he glared at him.
At the dining table, Zhuo ZhengDe had brought out wine, and Zhuo Xiang Ming drank a little. Although it was just a small glass, he couldn’t drive after drinking, so Lin Yue Hua dispatched a driver to take them home.
Tong Yan hugged his schoolbag and sat in the back seat with Zhuo Xiang Ming. When Zhuo Xiang Ming picked him up this afternoon, he’d driven a business car, so it was very spacious, there was a gap between the two.
Zhuo Xiang Ming was usually taciturn, and at this time, Tong Yan also had nothing to talk about, so the car was very quiet. After watching the streetlights for a while, Tong Yan completely relaxed into the backseat. In this brief moment of peace, he thought about nothing.
“Sleepy?” Zhuo Xiang Ming asked.
Tong Yan hurriedly said “No, it’s so early.”
Zhuo Xiang Ming raised his hand and glanced at his watch, nevertheless, he said: “You can lean on me if you don’t mind. We’re still a long way from home.”
Saying it like that, it made it seem that if Tong Yan didn’t lean on him, he was admitting that he did minded it—and Tong Yan truly did mind it. His sudden blushing disease when he got near Zhuo Xiang Ming still hadn’t been cured, and it might never be cured, but could he really say that he minded it? Tong Yan had no choice but to shift the schoolbag and move closer.
The distance from the school to the Zhuo family house and Zhuo Xiang Ming’s house wasn’t very different, but traveling from one house to the next, the journey was doubled, and so was the time.
In the beginning, Tong Yan really wasn’t sleepy. Except for Zhuo Xiang Ming’s shoulder, which was being used as a headrest, the rest of their bodies were kept to themselves, nothing touching.
But when a car was in motion, bumps were inevitable. Zhuo Xiang Ming’s shoulder was very comfortable, and the already familiar pheromones made Tong Yan feel an unspeakable reassurance. At some unknown point in time, Tong Yan was rocked to sleep.
When he woke up, he was in Zhuo Xiang Ming’s arms. They were already home, and Zhuo Xiang Ming was carrying him, about to walk up the stairs.
Tong Yan, who hadn’t been held in a princess carry since he was a small child, flushed bright red, his eyes widening, completely confused. Zhuo Xiang Ming casually put him down and took a step back, a smile tugging the corners of his lips: “Awake? You can go up on your own.”
The two were standing at the corner of the staircase, when Tong Yan was set down, his back was facing the handrail. Leaving behind a “Thank you brother”, he immediately fled, stumbling on the last step, resulting in a, “Be careful!”, being called out behind him.
Zhuo Xiang Ming also told him to slow down, and Tong Yan answered okay. He ran back to his bedroom and put down his schoolbag, then he tidied up and prepared to take a bath. After changing into his pajamas, his heartbeat was still a little quick, but it wasn’t as shameful as before.
He thought, Zhuo Xiang Ming had always taken good care of him, and he was very nice. Just now, he probably saw that he’d fallen asleep and couldn’t bear to wake him up, that’s all.
The bath drove away a lot of his drowsiness. Seeing that it was almost nine o’clock, Tong Yan sat down to write his homework.
International high school students faced less pressure for the college entrance examinations than ordinary high schools, because the proportion of students choosing to go abroad was higher. But that didn’t mean that no effort was required.
Tong Yan’s results have always been in the middle to upper levels, sometimes he could even make it into the top ten of the grade, but most of the time, he was steadily in the top thirty.
He wanted to study design, but he couldn’t say whether there were any particularly desirable schools at home or abroad. Tong Yang planned it out for him a long time ago, he wanted him to go to his own undergraduate school. Some preparations were already complete, so Tong Yan also tacitly agreed to go abroad after the college entrance examinations.
The desk in the room had been there since the day he moved in, but it was only truly useful today.
A few minutes later, Xuan Gui came in. Aware that he was studying, it moved quietly, and just stayed to the side, waiting for Tong Yan to take a break before talking to him: “Did you go to your mother-in-law’s house today?”
Tong Yan corrected: “She’s Zhuo Xiang Ming’s mother, I call her Auntie.”
Xuan Gui: “You left this robot home alone, puny, pitiful, and helpless.”
Tong Yan smiled and said, “You’re just as dramatic as Zhuo Jia Shuo.”
Xuan Gui naturally knew who Zhuo Jia Shuo was, asking vigilantly: “Do you think he’s as good as me?”
Tong Yan: “Why do you think that I was complimenting you?”
Xuan Gui: “You said that we’re the same.”
Tong Yan bowed his head and started up his homework again: “They call this artificial intelligence …”
Tong Yan spent 40 minutes to answer the questions online. After inspecting it, Zhuo Xiang Ming’s signature was required to submit it.
In fact, there was still an English essay left to do, but looking at the time, he was afraid of disturbing Zhuo Xiang Ming for the signature at an even later time, so he took the tablet to Zhuo Xiang Ming for review in advance.
Zhuo Xiang Ming wasn’t in his room, so Tong Yan went to the study. The study room’s door wasn’t closed, when Tong Yan approached and raised his hand to knock the door, he heard Zhuo Xiang Ming say on the phone: “I’ve told you already.”
“I’ve always been clear about my decision.”
“This is your problem.” Finally, Zhuo Xiang Ming said, “That has nothing to do with me.”
Zhuo Xiang Ming’s voice wasn’t loud, and his tone wasn’t aggressive, it even had the gentle intonation that Tong Yan was used to, but Tong Yan could still hear some anger.
The two had lived together for so long, Tong Yan roughly knew how difficult it was to make Zhuo Xiang Ming angry. Although he shouldn’t be extremely furious, he obviously wasn’t matching well with the other person. Tong Yan could imagine, what kind of business partner could let Zhuo Xiang Ming show such emotions? Things must’ve really crossed the line.
It must be a business matter, Tong Yan guessed. The homework could also be signed tomorrow morning. He withdrew the hand that was about to knock the door, feeling that Zhuo Xiang Ming might not want to be disturbed at this time.
But before he fell asleep, Zhuo Xiang Ming came to him, gently knocking on his door: “Tong Yan, are you asleep?”
His voice was also very soft, if Tong Yan was asleep, he wouldn’t be woken up.
“Not yet.” Tong Yan quickly sat up, and Xuan Gui went to open the door. The lights in the room also turned on automatically.
“I was dealing with something, and it got so late.” Zhuo Xiang Ming hadn’t had time to change his clothes yet, he was still wearing a suit. He stood in front of Tong Yan’s door, his expression a little apologetic. “I just came over to take a look. It’s very late now, so go to sleep first. Can I help you check your homework tomorrow morning?”
He remembered … Tong Yan thought, he actually remembered.
Tong Yang frequently forgot about it. Sometimes he returned home late because he was very busy, sometimes he returned home late because he was fooling around. He thought that it was a trivial matter, and occasionally Tong Yan complained to him, but he didn’t care, and never took it seriously.
Indeed, it was just checking homework, if Tong Yan had to give his opinion, he also couldn’t give a reason for why it was important.
But students had to go to school, and at school, they had to face the teacher. The teacher obviously said that a guardian should sign, all of his classmates had theirs signed, only he came in with unsigned homework every few days, he really disliked it.
Tong Yan didn’t think that Tong Yang was no good, or that Zhuo Xiang Ming was superior to Tong Yang. They were two people with different characters. Tong Yan knew that Tong Yang was born with a carefree personality, and that Zhuo Xiang Ming was probably born with an attentive personality, very thoughtful.
Tong Yan agreed to the request, then pulled up the quilt and wrapped it around his body while calling out, “Brother.”
Zhuo Xiang Ming was about to close the door, and Xuan Gui had also already turned off the bedroom’s ceiling light. Hearing the shout, he stopped pulling the door handle and asked: “Yes?”
“You’re so good.” Tong Yan said quite boyishly.
Zhuo Xiang Ming smiled: “Good night.”
His smile was genuine, Tong Yan could sense it.
When he was standing in his doorway, Zhuo Xiang Ming’s bad mood had still not completely reset, he even looked a little exhausted. Tong Yan didn’t expect him to still be able to let out such a smile. Although the smile was very small, that type of happiness was very difficult to fake, especially without preparation.
Before Tong Yan fell asleep, he thought of how he’d made Zhuo Xiang Ming happy. Unexpectedly, he could now make Zhuo Xiang Ming’s mood better. At least a bit.
–
Zhuo Xiang Ming was lying in bed, still thinking about that phone conversation.
Lin Yue Hua had bad health, so, from the beginning of the year, Zhuo ZhengDe started asking him to come home. By this time, it was no longer a hint, but a direct order, basically saying, if he didn’t care about the Zhuo family’s affairs, it would be reprehensible.
But he had his own business to manage, and now he owned a controlling share in the family’s company. Additionally, there were many consortiums that employed managers, only a few families like Zhuo insisted on keeping the control in the family. It absolutely wasn’t as grave as Zhuo ZhengDe claimed, if Zhuo Xiang Ming ignored it, the Zhuo family would not go bankrupt.
However, Zhuo ZhengDe, as always, was very stubborn. Once he set his mind on something, he never deviated. He treated Zhuo Xiang Ming as if he was still a new born baby, he should only listen to his willful assignments, staying wherever he casually put him.
When Zhuo ZhengDe was young, he was fascinated by oil paintings. After marrying Lin Yue Hua, with someone else there to manage the household, he was able to indulge in his art circle worry-free even more. His real business was attending auctions, and, to relieve boredom, he bought a yacht and went out to sea to sketch.
It wasn’t uncommon for the husband and wife to not meet for one or two months. Lin Yue Hua could bear it, but sensible aged, her temper was still frank.
The wide-spread gossip about Zhuo ZhengDe repeatedly chasing after the art studio’s female students made her feel too ashamed to go outside. When Zhuo Xiang Ming was born, it was at the critical moment of the newlyweds’ noisy divorce. He wasn’t even a month old when Lin Yue Hua sent him to be raised by her parents.
However, the Zhuo family blocked the divorce and persuaded them to reconcile, after wasting a lot of time, the divorce was followed by Zhuo Jia Shuo’s birth, and Zhuo ZhengDe curbed his desires and left things alone for a while.
However, Zhuo ZhengDe’s heart was not with the family, so Lin Yue Hua was once again really busy. Time passed, and new delays inevitably popped up, after Zhuo Xiang Ming started school, he was never brought back to the Zhuo family again.
He was raised by his grandparents. Despite his surname Zhuo, he’d only seen his biological parents a handful of times before going to college. Indeed, he had weak affection for the Zhuo family. He’d also declared a long time ago that he wouldn’t get involved with any business related to the Zhuo family, and even more, he wouldn’t touch any more of their money. If they really went bankrupt, that was also a result of survival of the fittest.
These words weren’t out of spite. Blood relationships between relatives were constantly cut. The contact in these recent years kept them close, however, the surface was lukewarm, but the bones were still cold. This blood relationship was not enough to make him sacrifice anything very valuable.
Two months ago, he agreed to fake marry Tong Yan, mostly because Lin Yue Hua had just been diagnosed with breast cancer, and for the sake of her haggard face. But he wasn’t kidnapped by morality, his thoughts were very clear. In any case, he had no plans to get married to anyone, if getting a certificate with Tong Yan solved Lin Yue Hua’s urgent need, that was fine.
Now, Zhuo Xiang Ming had two headaches, one was Zhuo ZhengDe’s self-righteous demands, and the other was Tong Yan.
Zhuo ZhengDe unreasonably demanded that he either choose to take over the company, or never mention divorce, so at least the Tong family could still be there to help the Zhuo family.
Zhuo ZhengDe was probably the only adult who could speak such words. He didn’t know if he should be called conceited or naïve, but Zhuo Xiang Ming was still somewhat worried.
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T/N:
So, ZXM’s dad is trash, and his mom may or may not have used her breast cancer to pressure him into getting married. And they both want to pull him back into their lives after ignoring him for most of his childhood, what a winning family.
Both ML and MC hava problem with their family. I dont mind carefree chara if they still have responbility, but ML father 😧 duh what a trash. What he think his wife is, free worker?? So he can enjoy his hobby while his family stuggle to support him? 😑
MC family situation and his lonely remmind me of someone. He said, “I have family, but i often feel i didnt.”
To ML father : You can enjoy your hobby and interest, but STILL dont forget your family and responbility!!!
I have suspected that ZXM’s parent was somewhat inattentive, but not to this extent. The grandparents are great to be able to make him this responsible.
Thanks for the chapter! We should be really grateful to his grandparents for raising him to be better than his selfish father… that man wanted the money but not the responsibility….
Thank you for the chapter. I love the story <3
I wonder if the problem with Tong Tong is that he’s starting to like him. Also, with that family I can see why he chose celibacy.
Thanks for the great translation ♥️
It seems fighting off the families will bring both the MC and ML closer together! Because looking at the father who forgets to check on his newlywed (and fragile) son and the brother whose brain circuits are… non-standard, I don’t believe that the Tong family is much superior to the Zhuo family…
Kez, thank you!
I like Xuan Gui. I like all of them, they are vividly human, but he is the only one whom the author uses to express her sense of humor. When she describes human characters, she hypnotizes us into taking sides, into being judge jury and executioner. Xuan Gui’s mashed potatoes with gravy and his unforgettable lines wake me up and lift me out of it into what’s normal and good.
ZXM’s perception of his spouse as a nuisance (yet another headache to endure) is a bucket of cold water. He might be a treasure, but he is not an angel nor a saint.
ZXM’s grandparents really raised him up to be such a gentle, considerate and outstanding man. Man, it seems his family is like just about strangers to him as they are to TY. I just wish he received more love growing up, but thankfully there’s TY who’s also been thinking more and more about him now that their lives are intertwined.
Thanks for the translation! You’ve really got me hooked into this story