—Try me out again.
Such a highly suggestive and ambiguous thought had initially just flashed implicitly in Yan Xun’s mind, but he never expected he would actually say it out loud.
“Try out again?”
Chu Tingyun acted as if he hadn’t understood. He smiled and tilted his head slightly, like a gentle older brother.
“What do you want me to try?”
“…”
Yan Xun vaguely sensed a bit of the other party’s wicked sense of humor. This person, Chu Tingyun, didn’t seem as gentle, modest, and gentlemanly as he had initially thought.
“I mean… try getting along.”
Yan Xun’s heated brain abruptly cooled down, and he began to backtrack.
“The doctor said I’m very healthy, so I’d like to ask if you could try spending some time with me again?”
Yan Xun guessed that there was nothing wrong with his own body; perhaps it was just that the cooperative process wasn’t very harmonious.
But he felt it was far more likely that the real reason for their divorce wasn’t just this, and Chu Tingyun simply didn’t want to tell him.
“Try getting along?”
Chu Tingyun repeated.
He knew that wasn’t what Yan Xun meant just now, but he didn’t refute it, merely asking with feigned interest:
“How do we get along?”
“Just like a normal married family. As for the specifics… we can slowly work them out together.”
Yan Xun could only give a general answer, because he had no idea how he and the other party used to interact.
Chu Tingyun caressed the wedding ring on his ring finger, his tone devoid of discernible joy or anger.
“So what you’re saying is, you’re going back on your word? You don’t want a divorce anymore?”
“…”
Yan Xun didn’t answer immediately.
Actually, after meeting Zhou Ze yesterday, he had thought about this seriously.
During these years he couldn’t remember, his family was far away abroad, and Zhou Ze had cut ties with him. Chu Tingyun was the only person who lived together with him.
So as long as Yan Xun wanted to know his past, Chu Tingyun was the one person he absolutely couldn’t avoid.
Taking a step back, if they truly weren’t suited for each other, it wouldn’t be too late to get divorced then. Destroying a relationship is easy, but repairing it to its original state is a thousand times harder.
Before figuring out what had happened in the past, he didn’t want to easily give up on the marriage and family he had once pursued so hard…
So, Yan Xun made his final decision.
“Yes, right now I don’t want to divorce you.”
He said earnestly,
“Chu Tingyun, can we try again for a period of time?”
“…”
The man remained silent, seemingly pondering and weighing his options.
But he didn’t look willing to accept this proposal. Yan Xun noticed the faint smile at the corners of his lips gradually flatten, revealing a degree of resistance and coldness.
It was like a silent rejection.
At that moment, Yan Xun had already prepared himself mentally to be turned down.
“…Alright.”
—But in the end, the other party actually agreed, almost like a compromise.
The instant he saw Chu Tingyun nod, Yan Xun’s heart beat unusually fast. He was stunned for a moment before he reacted.
“…You agreed?”
“What, you want to go back on your word?”
Chu Tingyun stared at him, flashing a smile entirely devoid of warmth.
“No.”
Yan Xun shook his head.
“I just feel a little surprised.”
He hadn’t expected Chu Tingyun to agree so easily.
Clearly, this person’s attitude had been very tough before—so tough that he insisted on meeting the newly awakened Yan Xun right at the door of the Civil Affairs Bureau to discuss divorce, stubbornly waiting for over four hours without leaving.
Yet in the end, he was also the one who compromised so easily.
This left Yan Xun feeling somewhat bewildered for a moment.
Buzz, buzz—
Chu Tingyun’s phone began to vibrate.
Although he had turned on ‘Do Not Disturb’, there were always one or two people exempt from that list.
“Hello?”
Yan Xun couldn’t hear what was said on the other end, but he noticed a slight change in Chu Tingyun’s expression.
“I understand.”
The man hung up the phone.
Yan Xun asked, “Did something happen?”
“Yes, something came up.”
Chu Tingyun nodded.
Yan Xun showed his understanding: “It’s fine, you go take care of your business first.”
He had already stood the other party up for over four hours, and now that Chu Tingyun had an emergency, Yan Xun couldn’t possibly drag his feet and keep him from leaving. But just then, the man handed his crutch over.
“Take this. I’ll drop you back at the hospital first.”
Yan Xun was taken aback: “…Drop me off?”
By this time, Chu Tingyun had already picked up the stack of medical reports on the table, showing no intention of letting Yan Xun take them back.
“Otherwise what? Don’t tell me you’re planning to hop back on one foot.”
“…”
Yan Xun knew it would be hard to hail a cab in this heavy rain, not to mention he was on a crutch, making it difficult to even walk to a bus stop.
“Then… I’ll trouble you.”
He took his crutch from Chu Tingyun’s hand.
A few minutes later—
Yan Xun sat in the back seat of the Maybach, beside Chu Tingyun, who was wiping his hands with a handkerchief.
This man seemed to have a slight case of germaphobia. Yan Xun wasn’t sure if he was wiping his hands for so long because of those few tiny raindrops, or because he had just supported him earlier.
While Yan Xun was lost in thought, Chu Tingyun suddenly spoke up:
“Very surprised?”
“Hmm?”
Yan Xun didn’t catch on.
The man set down the handkerchief and cast a sideways glance at him:
“—You said earlier that you were very surprised.”
Yan Xun realized the other party was referring to his surprise at Chu Tingyun agreeing to call off the divorce so easily.
He nodded: “A little.”
Chu Tingyun gave a slight nod: “Because of that divorce agreement, there was still one clause we hadn’t settled on yet.”
He pulled out a folder kept in the car and extracted the divorce agreement, handing it to Yan Xun.
Sure enough, only Yan Xun’s name was signed at the end of both copies; Chu Tingyun hadn’t signed.
Yan Xun was curious: “Which clause?”
Most divorcing couples have disagreements over the division of property, which is why the divorce process often drags on forever. This is a very normal phenomenon.
Some even come to blows over it, turning against each other like sworn enemies. Others choose to muddle along and tolerate the messy marriage to protect their assets or preserve their so-called face.
But Yan Xun guessed wrong. The clause they disagreed on had nothing to do with money, assets, face, or social connections.
“—Regarding Baobao’s custody rights,” Chu Tingyun answered.
Yan Xun: “???”
Baobao?! [T/N: Baobao means baby/darling.]
They were both men; where did a baby come from?!
Could it be adopted?
So he was now not only married, but also a father?!
The sheer shock in Yan Xun’s eyes was so obvious that Chu Tingyun appreciated it with keen interest for quite a while.
“Don’t worry, I can’t give birth.”
The man explained leisurely,
“‘Baobao’ is a cat, a Dragon Li, a little over two years old.”
A cat?
Yan Xun’s expression was clearly stunned for a few seconds.
“Oh, I see…”
He liked cats, but his family couldn’t keep one.
Because his adoptive mother had said, “I’m sorry, little Xun, Mom doesn’t have the energy to take care of it, and the monthly expenses of raising a cat aren’t small. You know our family’s situation…”
Of course, the most important reason was that a kitten would be too lively and would disturb the highly sensitive Lin Ran.
But now, Chu Tingyun was telling Yan Xun that they had a little cat named Baobao, and the two of them were even deadlocked in an argument over the cat’s custody.
It sounded… exactly like parents fighting over a child.
This description of their relationship felt far more real to Yan Xun than Zhou Ze’s outrageous account.
He suddenly felt a deep sense of curiosity—
Curiosity about that new family he had zero memory of, yet which completely belonged to him.
Yan Xun subconsciously leaned a little closer to Chu Tingyun and asked:
“Our family, did we really get a cat?”
…Our family?
These three words made Chu Tingyun pause slightly, and he abruptly turned to look at Yan Xun.
This sudden movement closed the distance between them drastically, bringing them to a proximity that could almost be described as intimate.
At the same time, Yan Xun realized it too. But by then, Chu Tingyun had already casually turned his head back to look out the car window.
It was as if he felt absolutely nothing about that fleeting moment of intimacy.
“Yeah, we did.”
The soundproofing of the Maybach was excellent; the enclosed space completely blocked out the noisy downpour outside. Yan Xun felt as if Chu Tingyun’s voice was the only sound in the entire world.
“You brought it back. You threw an absolute fit, insisting we had to keep it no matter what.”
“…”
Threw an absolute fit, insisting we had to keep it no matter what.
Yan Xun froze, suddenly not recognizing the version of himself Chu Tingyun was describing.
He found it hard to believe he would do something so… so willful. In his memories, Yan Xun had always been the most sensible and obedient child in the family.
But in Chu Tingyun’s description, he was the exact opposite.
Yan Xun tried hard to digest the fact that he had somehow grown up to become willful and reckless.
“So… you agreed?”
Chu Tingyun retorted, “What else could I do?”
His tone held a hint of dissatisfaction, but it was also laced with a sense of utter helplessness.
For President Chu, who suffered from mild germaphobia, keeping a cat was a severe challenge to his bottom line, something extremely hard to tolerate.
—But in the end, he kept it anyway.
Because Yan Xun said they had to keep it no matter what.
“…”
After a long while, the young man pressed again:
“What about the name?”
Most people’s first reaction would probably be to assume he was asking what the name was, but Chu Tingyun seamlessly grasped the answer Yan Xun wanted to hear.
The man answered Yan Xun, “—You picked it, of course.”
You picked it, named Baobao.
“…”
Yan Xun froze.
A few seconds later, he blinked slowly. His body subconsciously leaned back, and his muscles gradually relaxed, eventually settling against the seat back in an incredibly relaxed posture.
Yan Xun turned his head to watch the scenery speeding past the window—
Towering skyscrapers, heavy traffic, and even in the torrential rain, the dazzling neon lights remained brilliantly colorful and fantastical.
He had woken up to a world transformed.
The first-tier metropolis he was currently in was incredibly prosperous, while the small hometown city in his memories was already thousands of miles away.
But gradually, that initial unfamiliarity, which had made Yan Xun feel lost and bewildered, now gave rise to a tiny spark of anticipation within him.
“I picked it…”
He repeated silently.
I brought it back, I named it, the little cat we raised together…
Although he had only learned a few fragmented details, Yan Xun suddenly felt that the him from seven years later… was doing very well.
At the very least, he had found some traces related to happiness. And these traces all pointed to the man sitting right beside him.
Pointing to the marriage and family he had already forgotten—one that was once happy, but was now heading toward its end…
Yan Xun suddenly felt a strong, overwhelming urge to look at Chu Tingyun.
But the moment he put this into action, his gaze crashed right into the man’s eyes. Chu Tingyun had turned back at some point, and Yan Xun had no idea how long he’d been watching him.
“What are you thinking about?”
“I’m… thinking about getting discharged.”
In a flash of inspiration, Yan Xun found an excuse to cover it up. He lowered his eyes and said casually:
“Today’s checkup results are all pretty good. The doctor said my body is recovering well, and I can be discharged in a few days.”
Yan Xun had disliked hospitals since he was a child, even harboring a slight physical aversion to them. Coupled with the fact that the fees at this private hospital were truly exorbitant, he couldn’t wait to get discharged as soon as possible.
“When?”
Chu Tingyun asked casually,
“If I’m free, I can come pick you up when you’re discharged.”
“No need.”
Yan Xun refused outright without a second thought, his tone consequently sounding a bit stiff. All along, he had been accustomed to not troubling others.
Besides, Chu Tingyun looked very busy.
“Aren’t you going on a business trip next week? Just give me my ID card, I’ll need it to process the discharge.”
Chu Tingyun: “…Fine.”
For the next half hour of the drive, the man closed his eyes to rest, not saying another word to him.
Yan Xun had originally wanted to ask something else, like whether he could see a picture of the little cat, or about their past from when they first met to when they got married.
However, Chu Tingyun kept his eyes closed, his brow slightly furrowed as if he was feeling a bit unwell. In the end, Yan Xun chose to stay quiet.
Before long, the Maybach pulled into the hospital’s underground parking garage.
From here, you could take the elevator straight up to the inpatient building. If they had parked at the main entrance, he would have had to walk several meters in the rain after getting out.
Yan Xun didn’t leave immediately after getting out. Instead, he hobbled on his crutch to the front window, knocked on it, and carefully reminded the driver—
“Sir, the roads are slippery in the rain, please drive safely.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Yan.”
The driver uncle must have known him, as his tone of response was very familiar. Before leaving, Yan Xun didn’t forget to say goodbye to Chu Tingyun:
“Goodbye, be careful on the road.”
“…”
The person in the car didn’t respond.
After Yan Xun had walked a good distance away, as if remembering something, he hobbled back on his crutch.
Surprisingly, the car was still parked in its original spot.
When Yan Xun got close, the rear window rolled down silently, revealing the exquisite, handsome upper half of President Chu’s face.
He didn’t look at Yan Xun, his gaze fixed straight ahead, and his tone was very cold:
“Is there something else?”
Yan Xun bent down, leaning against the window, his voice laced with concern.
“Chu Tingyun, do you have a little motion sickness?”
President Chu turned his head expressionlessly: “?”
“You kept your eyes closed the whole time in the car, you seemed a bit uncomfortable. Do you feel like throwing up?”
The crutch-wielding young man considerately pointed to the side.
“I just saw a really big trash can over there, it looks brand new too. How about I help drag it over for you?”
“…”
President Chu stared at Yan Xun for a few seconds, the corners of his mouth slowly hooking up.
“Sure.”
The man’s eyes curved behind his lenses, flashing him a gentle smile.
“Go ahead.”
Yan Xun froze slightly, then suddenly lowered his eyes and spoke very quickly—
“Then wait a moment for me.”
To speed things up, he actually started hopping on one foot again.
Even though his left leg was still in a cast, Yan Xun was so agile he didn’t look like a disabled person with a fracture at all. Instead, he looked like a young athlete doing leg training.
However, when the crutch-wielding young man finally managed to drag the oversized trash can back with great difficulty, that black Maybach had just pulled a U-turn and floored it out of there.
Yan Xun: “…?”
He stood frozen in place, dragging a half-person-tall trash can.
Before he could snap out of it, the uncle security guard from a short distance away was already charging at Yan Xun with his baton, furious:
“Hey, you little punk—!”
“You’re here to steal the trash cans again, aren’t you!”
“I’ve been staking you out for days!”
Yan Xun: “……..”
That was mean…
Thanks for the chapter