Chapter 3 - Living Together (1/2)

Chapter 3: Living Together

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Translation

The day Li Sui got discharged, Lu Shang wasn’t there. Uncle Yuen told him Lu Shang wasn’t feeling well, so he was resting in a care center.

Li Sui couldn’t grasp how bad this “wasn’t well” was, so he just thought it was something like a fever. As such, when he arrived at the care center, he couldn’t suppress his shock seeing Lu Shang being pushed out in a wheelchair.

“Lu Lao Ban.” His head slumped as he greeted Lu Shang.

Lu Shang didn’t say much, he looked at Li Sui and said, “Don’t slouch.”

Li Sui immediately stood up straight with his hands placed on his sides, standing up as formally as possible.

This kid was thin, but he wasn’t short, he was at the transition period between a teenager to an adult. Lu Shang could vaguely identify that Li Sui had mature-looking shoulders. Lu Shang only saw him curling up into a tiny ball in the car, so he saw Li Sui as nothing more than a kid. Now that he was standing straight, Lu Shang had the feeling Li Sui might be even taller than him.

Lu Shang looked away from Li Sui and gave him the paperwork that was on his lap, “Ask me if there are things you don’t understand.”

While the two were talking, Uncle Yuen had already left the room, leaving only Lu Shang and Li Sui behind.

As Lu Shang rested his back on the wheelchair, he propped up his head with his hand, looking at the pond outside. He didn’t talk or laugh much, neither did he make a lot of movements. When he sat down, he looked like an old oil paint under the sun at dawn. As if everything around them was infected, even the birds had stopped chirping, only the sounds of flipping paper could be made out in the room.

Li Sui finally flipped through the documents and signed his new name on the last page.

Lu Shang turned his head to Li Sui, “You understood all of it?”

Li Sui shook his head, “I didn’t understand most of it.”

This kid peeked Lu Shang’s interest, “Then why did you sign it?”

Li Sui raised his head up from the document, his eyes clear and sharp, but he said nothing. Lu Shang caught what he was trying to say from his eyes.

“You aren’t a merchandise I bought. You have the right to refuse.” Lu Shang’s voice was calm, “I don’t like to force people. The things I give you, they are all for a reason, and for that reason, you will have to pay dearly in the future. But, before that, I will do my best to compensate you. I want you to be willing when that time comes.”

This was the first time Li Sui heard Lu Shang speak for so long. In that instant, he felt his head was overloading. Yet, when he turned back to the document, the whole page of boxes and circles made him dizzy.

Lu Shang knew he was approaching this wrong. Being in the business sector for so long, he was used to doing things by the books. Deals, paper contracts, signatures, and stamps… But in front of him was a child. It was obvious that none of those would work.

“Let it be for now.” Lu Shang took the contract back, his gaze fixed on Li Sui’s signature. He stared at it for a while and said, “Your handwriting is quite good, who taught you?”

“I just copied it from the identification card.”

Lu Shang thought for a while and said, “Let’s start by teaching you how to read.”

They had lunch at the pondside, eating freshly caught shrimp and fish. Li Sui was sitting face-to-face with Lu Shang, so naturally he felt a little tense.

Lu Shang’s fingers were long and slim, his nails were tidy. He didn’t have any tattoos, nor any ornaments. Whenever he extended his arm to pick up food, a little bump, his carpal bone could be seen at the wrist. His movements were casual but, at the same time, elegant.

Li Sui didn’t dare to raise his head and look at Lu Shang. So he only stared at Lu Shang’s hand which occasionally reached over to get food, not noticing that a little mountain had formed in his bowl.

“Is the food not to your liking?” Lu Shang saw that Li Sui hadn’t moved his chopsticks much and asked in concern.

Li Sui shook his head.

“You don’t have to be so tense.” Lu Shang glanced at Li Sui. In the short time of half a month, Li Sui had already recovered a lot when compared to the last time Lu Shang saw him. It was also evident that Li Sui was too thin, his prominent collar bone could be seen through the soft fabric. His hair was all tidy now, just a very normal hairstyle, making him look like your everyday high school student.

“Li Yan always hit people for fun in that bar?” Lu Shang changed the subject.

Li Sui didn’t reply but his silence explained enough.

“Li Yan is a bad person, next time you see him, you don’t have to hold anything back.” Lu Shang said.

Li Sui raised his head with doubt in his eyes.

“Let’s eat.” Lu Shang didn’t say any further, he stood up from the table and said, “Accompany me to a banquet tonight. Go prepare yourself.”

After a while, Uncle Yuen arrived and Li Sui asked him, “Lu Lao Ban’s legs… are they healed?”

“There’s nothing wrong with his legs, the problem is the lack of blood supply.”

“I saw him in a wheelchair, so I thought…”

Uncle Yuen explained, “He doesn’t use the wheelchair very often. It’s only when his condition is really bad. He only uses a wheelchair because he can’t stand for long periods of time. Help him as much as you can when you are with him.”

Li Sui nodded his head with a serious face.

That night, Li Sui wore his shoes and stood in front of the mirror for a long time. The person in the mirror was in a new formal suit, brand new shoes, and had combed hair… This was the first time he inspected himself so critically, but all he felt was the odd feeling of unfamiliarity.

Uncle Yuen knocked on the door, snapping Li Sui back. He immediately folded up the clothes he just changed out of, putting them in the wardrobe. Then he totted down the stairs, but as he stomped his feet on the floor, he felt his ankle ache.

The wounds had yet to heal completely and he had been walking around a lot today. Now, suddenly forcing all his weight on his feet, certainly made him feel uncomfortable.

“Where are you drifting off to?” Lu Shang asked from inside the car.

The rain was drizzling down, Li Sui forced his pain down and stepped over to the car, opening the door to the front passenger seat.

“Come sit in the back.” Lu Shang stopped him.

Li Sui obediently sat next to Lu Shang. Rainfall in the winter was scarce; they also tended to have a metallic odor. The car began to drive forward and Lu Shang handed him a piece of tissue.

“Later, you can just follow me. You don’t need to say anything. If someone flirts with you, you don’t have to care about them.”

Li Sui replied “Hm”, after that Lu Shang just closed his eyes and didn’t say anything else.

The car drove past an observatory, the neon lights flickered and connected under the rain. It was just like a long mysterious snake, overlooking the city from above, all alone. Li Sui had been living in this city for years now, but it was just as unknown to him as if today was his first day here.

Li Sui got out of the car, he followed Lu Shang closely with his head angled towards on the ground. Walking through hordes of people, under their curious gazes, they were inspecting him. They then arrived at a grander hall after walking through the reception.

A ball would be held here, but it was not the time yet, so the people there were just chatting and laughing. The second Li Sui stepped into the room, he immediately attracted everyone’s gazes.

“What a pretty boy.” A young lady wearing a red dress was the first to walk up to Li Sui, she handed Lu Shang a cup of champagne. “Long time no see, Lu Shang.”

Only a few people would call Lu Shang by his full name. Naturally, Li Sui couldn’t stop himself from looking at this woman. But, to his dismay, their gazes just happened to meet each other, making Li Sui blush and look away awkwardly.

Lu Shang took the glass and raised it up symbolically, “XinYou, long time no see. I still haven’t thanked you for last time.”

“No, who said that? I received your present, look.” Meng XinYou waved her arm a bit, showing off the sparkling bracelet on her wrist, while her gaze went over to Li Sui, “So this is…”

“Hmm.” Lu Shang looked at everyone in the room and raised the glass of champagne again, “We are in your care.”

Meng XinYou was shocked beyond words, everyone in the hall stood up and raised their cups as well while whispering to each other.

“Are you serious?” Meng XinYou lowered her voice and said.

Li Sui was really sensitive to people’s gazes, though he had his head down behind Lu Shang all the time, he knew this woman’s gaze had never left him even once.

Lu Shang however was completely relaxed, he gave an unbridled answer, “He’s really obedient.”

His words invited a lot of ill thoughts, even Meng XinYou’s face was flushed with redness. As Meng XinYou was in a trance, two people entered the hall, laughter racketed through the room, someone even started whistling, chatters filled the hall.

“The Li family’s heir is a high note as usual.”

“Isn’t that the hot host from Apple Channel (i)?”

“……”

T/N: (i) There isn’t really an Apple Channel, but there’s an Apple Daily that reports news in the format of videos.

Li Sui heard a familiar voice amongst the crowd, he felt cold sweat sliding down his back. His already aching feet felt scorched, as if he had just stepped into burning charcoal.

Luckily, Lu Shang didn’t plan on continuing his chat with Meng XinYou, he found a relatively quiet place to settle down.

Li Sui didn’t know if he was nervous or what, but a layer of sweat surfaced on his forehead. He followed Lu Shang until he was in front of the sofa, hesitating until Lu Shang started waving at him, “Come.”

The second Li Sui sat down, Lu Shang’s hand reached over to Li Sui’s ankle, rubbing it lightly. Across them was a guy with tiny eyes who was staring at them teasingly. Li Sui leaned on the sofa with his face red, half of which due to the pain and half due to embarrassment.

“Lu Lao Ban.” Li Sui wanted to stop him.

Lu Shang’s head turned to him, under the yellowish lights, his eyes were sombre and full of depth. Looking at his irises, Li Sui saw a glint of blue. Lu Shang looked a bit like a foreigner, but the next second, the blueness was gone, and his eyes returned to being black, perhaps Li Sui was mistaken.

“What is it?”

Li Sui snapped back from his thoughts, but he had forgotten what he was about to say.

“Hey there, Lu Lao Ban, even Xiao Li is here. Sorry, did I interrupt you guys?” It was none other than Li Yan. He deliberately walked up to Lu Shang and Li Sui, following behind was a woman in sexy clothes.

Li Sui’s back immediately straightened up, that tiny movement didn’t escape Lu Shang’s eyes.

“So how are you? Lu Lao Ban didn’t mistreat you, did he?” Li Yan said as he gazed down on Li Sui.

Li Sui lowered his head, he had Lu Shang’s words in his heart. Lu Shang told him not to care about anyone, so naturally Li Yan also belonged to this “anyone” Lu Shang spoke of.

“Thanks, he’s just as you see.” Lu Shang lightly patted Li Sui’s tensed shoulder.

“He really is good looking if you tidy him up a bit, Lu Lao Ban truly has sharp eyes. It seems like I’ve been wasting him.” Li Yan smiled and sat down across from them. What Li Yan said was actually the truth, he even felt a bit sour towards this turn of events. This was exactly what Li Sui was afraid of, if Li Yan wanted him back and asked Lu Shang to return Li Sui, would Lu Shang agree?

“Li Sui, raise a glass for your brother Yan.” Lu Shang suddenly said.

Li Sui froze up, his hands balled into fists.

“A new name?” Li Yan looked at him with eyes smiling but also not. It felt contemptuous and, at the same time, felt like a warning.

A wine glass was given to Li Sui. He took it and felt Lu Shang’s breath on his ear, whispering, “Thank you for brother Yan’s kind care.”

Li Sui suddenly understood, Lu Shang was trying to help him get out of the conversation. He took a big breath and copied what Lu Shang said, “Thank you for brother Yan’s kind care.” Before Li Yan could reply, Li Sui shoved himself to the contents of the cup, sipping it slowly and not talking.

How unwelcoming… Not even leaving a shred of face for me. Li Yan smiled awkwardly, hugging the hot woman beside him and headed towards the dance floor. It was only after Li Sui loosened up could he taste the drink, what Lu Shang gave him was a glass of grape juice.

“Are you afraid of him?”

Li Sui stared at the ground emptily, trying to control his shaking legs. He knew his performance was below Lu Shang’s expectations, “I will…will try my best to overcome it.”

Daring to admit one was scared was a huge step forward. Moreover, being scared was natural, Li Yan was like a beast master to Li Sui. The tiny lion feared the tamer because it had suffered too much whipping when it was young. The lion just couldn’t get past the psychological hurdle and not because it lacked the physical strength to retaliate.

The two of them sat there for a while longer. When the dance floor became more lively, Lu Shang brought Li Sui and walked out of the front door naturally. Everyone knew Lu Shang didn’t fancy crowds, so the banquet holder let him go without a fuss, just sending two people to escort them out with umbrellas.

The sky was already dark, drizzles became heavy rain. Uncle Yuen had been waiting for them all this time. Seeing them come out, he immediately walked up to them and asked, “Are we going to assistant Xu’s home now?”

Lu Shang opened the car door and sat in the car, he said lightly, “Go home.”

Uncle Yuen wanted to say something, but seeing Li Sui’s complexion, he swallowed his words.