1
Duan Yan had encountered a problem unlike anything he had ever dealt with before.
He lifted his eyes. At that moment, a slender figure was sprawled before the living-room window, a curtain of soft hair cascading to his waist like lustrous black silk.
The figure’s owner was not particularly tall. The T-shirt that fit Duan Yan a little too snugly hung loosely on him, the sleeves so wide that one could see straight through to the other side, while the hem had already fallen to his thighs. However, judging by Duan Yan’s observations, the boy should still grow a little over the next two years—he looked as though he had only recently reached adulthood.
Even if he never grew any taller, the boy’s already excellent proportions would still make him stand out. And it wasn’t only his figure that was striking; he also happened to possess an exceptionally beautiful face.
Small enough to fit in a palm, with phoenix-shaped eyes, thin lips, and very fair skin.
Duan Yan wasn’t very good at coming up with precise words to describe someone’s looks. Put simply, it was a face that would not lose out to any celebrity’s, even in a gathering of shining stars.
Yesterday, wearing a traditional hanfu and carrying such a figure and face, the boy had been surrounded by a crowd of men and women on the street outside the residential complex, all asking to take pictures with him.
Duan Yan had been carrying a bag of groceries home when he saw the commotion. Thinking something had happened, he had instinctively gone over to take a look.
Who could have guessed that the hanfu-clad boy in the middle of the crowd, his eyes full of bewilderment and panic, would suddenly break free, grab Duan Yan by the hand, and call out to him in a clear, ringing voice right there in the street—
……Husband?!
2
“Come wash your hands and eat.”
Hearing Duan Yan’s voice, the boy turned around and lightly wrinkled his straight, delicate nose.
He saw the man standing by the kitchen, wearing an apron with two furry, oversized pockets at the waist and holding a wok in one hand. The muscles in his arm bulged slightly.
Short hair, short-sleeved shirt, short…… Although he didn’t understand why Duan Yan was walking around in the underwear he only wore in the bedroom, he felt that A-Yan looked even more spirited and capable dressed this way than he had before.
“What are we having?”
He rose with a smile and walked toward the man as he asked.
“Carrot, corn, and pork-rib soup; scrambled eggs with tomatoes; and asparagus with razor clams.”
Seeing that he had obediently come over, Duan Yan turned around to serve the dishes, listing them one by one.
“They’re all dishes I’ve never heard of. I’ve never heard of many of these ingredients, either.”
His arm felt a little itchy. Duan Yan lowered his head to find the boy leaning over, his head pressed against his arm, a pair of beautiful eyes darting back and forth between the tomatoes and corn.
The boy seemed curious about everything. He could even stand at the window for more than two hours, watching the residents of the complex go about their business, without becoming bored.
3
Duan Yan turned on the faucet and pointed to the hand soap, telling the boy to wash his hands himself. Then he carried the food to the dining table and arranged the dishes.
When he turned back, the boy held out a pair of wet hands fragrant with lime.
Duan Yan paused. He glanced at the towel hanging nearby, then at the boy’s height. He reached up and took it down for him.
The boy looked at the plain blue towel piled in his palms, then raised his eyes to the man in front of him.
“Don’t tell me you don’t even know how to dry your hands.”
Understanding what Duan Yan meant, the boy lowered his gaze and slowly used the towel to dry his hands.
Duan Yan heard him murmur, “You used to dry them for me.”
After drying his hands, the boy walked silently into the dining room, but he didn’t stop there. Instead, he turned around and went back to the bedroom.
4
Duan Yan sat in the dining room for a while, but the boy, who had returned to the bedroom, still hadn’t come out.
He frowned and hesitated before finally heading to the room.
The boy lay on his side with his back to the door.
The hanfu he had worn the day before, exquisitely made and adorned with delicate embroidery, was still neatly folded on the bedside table.
Seeing him like this, Duan Yan softened his voice. “Sleepy?”
The boy didn’t answer.
Duan Yan wondered whether he had upset him by not drying his hands for him just now.
He gave a light cough and said, “Eat something before you go to sleep. It’s a little hot in here, so I’ll turn on the air conditioner and cool the room down first.”
The boy still said nothing.
Duan Yan had no choice but to walk around to the other side of the bed.
The boy was clearly wide awake, his eyes open.
Duan Yan was about to say that he was already an adult—how could he still throw such childish tantrums?—when he noticed that the corners of the boy’s eyes had already reddened.
“Y-you don’t have to cry.”
Duan Yan immediately panicked. “I’ll dry your hands for you. It’s only a small thing.”
“I don’t know why I have appeared in this place. Everything I see is strange, and I’m frightened. Thankfully, you are here as well, so I can at least feel somewhat at ease.”
“But yesterday you said you didn’t know me, nor anything about us. I thought you were merely joking with me, but I never imagined you truly meant it.”
The boy’s eyes grew even redder, and this time he really began to cry. “We only just got married, yet in the blink of an eye, you have become a different person.”
Duan Yan was thrown into complete disarray. If what the boy said was true, then he felt like an irredeemable scumbag.
Although the truth still remained to be verified, he inexplicably felt that the boy wasn’t lying.
Which only made things worse.
“I just need some time to process all of this. I never said I completely refuse to acknowledge what happened between us. Don’t cry.”
“I’ll take you out for ice cream in a little while.”
Duan Yan racked his brain, trying to comfort him. “You don’t have anything suitable to wear here. After we eat, how about we go to the mall and buy you some new clothes?”
Song Fengsui looked at the utterly flustered Duan Yan in front of him and wiped away the tear sliding down his cheek.
