LBC |Love Beyond Control/Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After packing up his usual things, Xiang Zhufeng explained a few things to Xin Yuan, then went out again.

For the interview at Hanhai Group, Xiang Zhufeng had been preparing for a long time.

His first choice was the legal department, but the process at Hanhai legal department was very strict. After passing the initial interview, there was still a written test and a practical drill, which really tested an applicant’s overall ability.

So even though he had a mentor’s recommendation, Xiang Zhufeng still made an appointment with a senior who had worked at Hanhai.

This senior had gotten along pretty well with Xiang Zhufeng when they were in school, and later became the private assistant to the chairman of Hanhai. Knowing that Xiang Zhufeng wanted a job, he was very willing to help.

Not long after Xiang Zhufeng left, Xin Yuan also went to the nearby supermarket, planning to buy some things to clean the room.

When he took out his phone to pay, he suddenly received a text message.

“Your storage card ending in 0461 received 100000.00 yuan on the 18th, available balance after the transaction is 806537.90 yuan, payer: He Ye.”

The message flashed by, and right after that, a WeChat message from He Ye popped up.

“Some time ago, you performed pretty well at school. The professor praised you for having a lot of potential. Your father was very happy and wants you to keep working hard.”

“Xin Yuan, seize this opportunity. If you can smoothly get recommended for graduate school, I’ll directly reward you with the apartment you’re living in now. Don’t let me down.”

A reward?

Xin Yuan laughed to himself.

Ever since he started university, whether it was the Xin family or He Ye, Xin Yuan had tried his best not to spend their money.

The part-time jobs he did usually did not earn much, but it was already enough for him to survive on his own.

Yet He Ye only ever used this kind of self-important reward as if it were love and compensation for him.

Xin Yuan did not want to think about these things anymore. Carrying two big plastic bags, he hurried home.

He tried to avoid the clutter by the stairwell, but when he passed the corner, he still accidentally brushed something down.

A thermos rolled to his feet.

Xin Yuan quickly put down the things and bent down to pick it up. However, just as his fingertips touched the bottle, another pair of hands suddenly reached out from behind and pressed tightly on his hand.

Xin Yuan was startled and jerked his hand back.

“Hello, this is my thermos.”

He did not know when a man had appeared behind him. The man picked up the thermos and shook it. A crisp clanging sound came from inside, along with the inner lining.

Xin Yuan felt especially awkward. “Sorry, it looks like I accidentally damaged it. How about I go downstairs and buy you a new one?”

“It’s fine, I still have one that can be used at home.” The man did not seem angry. Seeing the two big bags on the ground, he took the initiative to ask, “You live so far upstairs, do you need me to help carry them up for you?”

“Thank you, no need.”

The man had a gentle expression and sincere eyes, but for some reason Xin Yuan just felt uncomfortable. He quickly picked up the things and sped up his steps, walking upstairs.

It took Xin Yuan more than half the afternoon to clean the room from top to bottom.

He carried the several bags of trash he had cleaned out to the doorway. Just as he was about to close the door, the landlord’s voice floated up from downstairs.

“You don’t know this, but that kid really has it hard. Didn’t you see that when he first came here a few years ago, the cotton coat he was wearing in the dead of winter was all torn? I thought he was pitiful living alone, so on New Year’s Eve I went to bring him something to eat. When I saw him, he was just holding a bowl of plain noodles with a bit of chili oil on top, not even a single vegetable.”

…Were they talking about Xiang Zhufeng?

Xin Yuan’s hand on the door could not help but pause. Through the crack in the door, he kept listening.

“Such a good young man, and not a single person in his family was looking after him?” Another person’s voice sounded from downstairs.

“He never told me the details. He just said his parents passed away early, and he only had a distant aunt. You don’t even need to think about it, that family must have treated him badly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been staying here alone every year.”

The other person clicked his tongue. “He’s already so outstanding now, and his life is still so tight and difficult. If you think about when he was even younger, who knows how he got through it.”

“Exactly,” the landlord said indignantly. “If you ask me, that family was stupid too. This kid looked promising at first glance. If they had treated him a little better, wouldn’t they be afraid he’d come back and repay them in the future?”

Even at night, those words kept echoing in Xin Yuan’s mind.

The water in the enamel basin was bone-chillingly cold. Xin Yuan’s ten fingers had already frozen red and swollen, but as if he could not feel it, he kept scrubbing and washing the clothes over and over.

In the past, Xin Yuan had always thought that as long as he did not care, then no matter how much wealth or power Xin Jianye had, it had nothing to do with him.

But in fact, regardless of his wishes, everything he had possessed over the years was telling him that he was an undeniable beneficiary, a recipient of privilege.

Whenever he thought about the things Xiang Zhufeng had exhausted himself to pursue, yet he enjoyed them so lightly and effortlessly, Xin Yuan’s self-disgust grew by another degree.

Xin Yuan tipped out the water in the basin. The drainpipe was badly clogged, and the water in the basin took a long time to drain, still bubbling “gurgle gurgle.”

By the time Xiang Zhufeng reached the door, he had already heard the sound of water, and he also saw the several large bags of trash at the doorway. He guessed that Xin Yuan had definitely been busy all day again.

But when he opened the door, he froze right there.

The room was clean, as if it had been replaced with a different one out of thin air. Even the lightbulb and the bedsheets were brand new. Fresh towels were placed by the bedside, new coat hangers hung on the wall, and even the floor was covered with a fluffy rug. There were also two pairs of cotton slippers placed beside the bed.

“You’re back?”

Hearing the sound, Xin Yuan immediately poked his head out from the bathroom, his expectant gaze looking as if he had been waiting for him for a long time.

Xiang Zhufeng was dazed for a moment.

He could no longer quite remember when he had last heard the words “You’re back.” He only remembered that back then, someone still cared about him, and he still had a home that truly belonged to him.

“You haven’t eaten yet, right?”

Xin Yuan was still holding a freshly washed shirt. He turned and hung it on the wall, wiped his hands, and said, “I was afraid you’d come back too late, so I left the food in the pot and didn’t touch it. It’s still hot. I’ll go get it for you.”

The room was filled with a rich aroma of food. Just as Xin Yuan was about to go to the kitchen, Xiang Zhufeng grabbed him from behind.

“Hm? You’ve already eaten?” Xin Yuan turned around.

Xiang Zhufeng did not answer. He just looked at Xin Yuan. Only when Xin Yuan looked so at a loss that he seemed about to lower his head did he ask, “Tired?”

The question was a little sudden and out of nowhere, but Xin Yuan still shook his head. “I’m not tired.”

Xin Yuan thought Xiang Zhufeng would say something else, but unexpectedly Xiang Zhufeng just kept looking at him. A few seconds later, he suddenly raised his hand and used his index finger to brush the tip of his nose.

“What’s wrong?”

Xin Yuan instinctively shrank back, blinking rapidly. “…I, I’m really not tired.”

“Don’t dodge.” Xiang Zhufeng held his wrist. “There’s dust all over your nose.”

Xiang Zhufeng leaned in closer and closer. Xin Yuan could even feel the chill that still lingered on Xiang Zhufeng’s body. Instinctively, he closed his eyes, but then felt that made things even stranger, so he opened them wide again, looking at Xiang Zhufeng’s face, which was almost pressed against his.

“There’s some on your face too.” Xiang Zhufeng gently rubbed his cheek with the pad of his finger, as if he were doing something extremely important. “It’s smeared all over, like a little calico cat.”

Xin Yuan was still frozen in place when Xiang Zhufeng had already turned around as if nothing had happened and gone to the kitchen to bring out the dishes.

There was no dining table in the room. Xiang Zhufeng pulled over a low stool to use as a table, let Xin Yuan sit by the bed, and then squatted on the floor himself.

Xin Yuan had cooked homestyle dishes, and to suit Xiang Zhufeng’s taste, he had added more chili.

“Good thing Director Wang Muge met you first.” After carefully tasting every dish, Xiang Zhufeng said sincerely.

“Huh…?” Xin Yuan was still immersed in the scene of Xiang Zhufeng suddenly leaning close to him, and for a moment did not understand.

“If some restaurant owner met you, they’d definitely drag you off to be a chef.”

Xin Yuan’s ears turned red. Thinking of what the landlord had said, he could not help but say, “Then for this year’s New Year’s Eve dinner, I’ll make something even tastier for you.”

“Then this is the first time I’ve ever looked forward to New Year so much.”

Xiang Zhufeng ate with his eyes shining. At first he was still picking up food one chopstickful at a time, but very soon he went to the kitchen to find a spoon and directly scooped dishes onto the rice, eating one bite after another without stopping.

By the time he finished his second bowl of rice, Xiang Zhufeng finally managed to lift his head. Xin Yuan was looking at him and smiling softly, revealing a few very pretty little white teeth.

“Eat slower. If it’s not enough, I’ll go make more for you.”

Xiang Zhufeng’s chopsticks paused. That bitter feeling in his chest surged up again.

When was it?

It was probably when he had just arrived at his aunt’s house not long ago. His cousin accidentally smashed his aunt’s jade bracelet, then blamed it on him, and so he was naturally driven out of that home and moved into a small illegally built loft on the roof.

It was called a loft, but it was really just a small room built with a few brick walls. Before he moved in, it had always been used to store scrap.

In winter, the loft leaked wind, and in summer it leaked rain. In the first two years, Xiang Zhufeng could barely stand upright inside. Later, he could not even stretch his legs out when he slept.

He knew that family did not welcome him, so he never sat at the table to eat. Whenever he was not at school, he would prepare the meals in advance, then hide in the kitchen. After that family finished eating, he would quickly eat a few mouthfuls of leftovers, wash the bowls and chopsticks, clean up the place, and then hide back in his little room.

During those years when he was growing up, Xiang Zhufeng had never had a proper meal. By the time he was in middle school, a family moved in across from his aunt’s house because they had to move there for their little granddaughter to attend school.

The neighbor family had a very kind grandmother. After he got to know the grandmother next door, Xiang Zhufeng finally no longer had to wear his cousin’s worn-out old clothes. He had his first clean and warm quilt, and he also had a little girl who never minded how broken his room was and who pestered him every day to tell stories.

Every time the grandmother carried over a big basin of steaming meat dishes for him, she seemed to smile at him like this too, telling him to eat slowly and that if it was not enough, she would go make more for him.

He did not know why Xiang Zhufeng had suddenly stopped eating and was staring at him with such a complicated look.

Xin Yuan could not figure it out, but he inexplicably felt a little sad.

“When did you learn to cook?” Xiang Zhufeng suddenly asked.

Xin Yuan froze for a few seconds, slowly remembering.

Five years old, six years old?

In any case, it was when he had just learned to stand on a stool and reach the stove that he started learning to make noodles, steam dishes, and cook some simple things.

They did not taste very good, but it was better than starving to death.

At eight, his mother, who had been “wandering” around everywhere, finally settled down with him and no longer brought strange men home.

The house there was still very run-down. Whenever it rained, rainwater would seep in little by little through the cracks. There were always many small basins at home, used to catch the water dripping from everywhere.

But it was also there that Xin Yuan met Fenyi.

Xin Yuan could not understand why one mother could have many children, but one child could only have one mother. Otherwise, he would have called Fenyi mom too.

He loved following Fenyi the most, sitting in her lap and learning to knit sweaters from her, going to the kitchen with her to pick vegetables, and helping her tidy up the shabby house until it was spotless.

“It should have been when I was eight or nine,” Xin Yuan said.

A trace of surprise appeared in Xiang Zhufeng’s eyes.

When he first saw Xin Yuan, he had thought Xin Yuan was some rich young master from a wealthy family.

Although he dressed plainly, his temperament was very outstanding, like a young master who had never suffered hardships before.

Only after slowly spending time together did he realize that Xin Yuan was not picky about anything and had no bad habits at all, and even his temper was so good it seemed he had never learned how to get angry.

“Then you’re much more impressive than me,” Xiang Zhufeng said. “When I was seven or eight, I was probably still going head to head with my parents over being picky eaters.”

He had not expected Xiang Zhufeng to suddenly bring up such a sensitive topic. After a moment, Xin Yuan asked cautiously, “So, what you said before…?”

“I was ten when they had that accident.” Xiang Zhufeng paused. “When they first left, they were more than twenty years older than me. Now, in the blink of an eye, they’re only a few years older than me. Time really does go by fast.”

Xiang Zhufeng’s expression was very calm, and his tone could even be called relaxed, but Xin Yuan’s nose still stung for a moment.

Which was more painful, never having someone who loved you, or having had them and then losing them?

Luckily, only grades needed comparison. Pain did not.

So Xin Yuan also said lightly, “I’ve never even seen my dad, and I’m not close with my mom either. When I first started college, my roommates were talking about missing home, and I didn’t even know who I should miss.”

“When you don’t know who to miss in the future, you can miss me.” Xiang Zhufeng almost blurted it out.

After he said it, not only did Xin Yuan freeze, Xiang Zhufeng also froze. But he quickly said, half jokingly, “Think about how there’s someone in the world who’s about as unlucky as you. You might feel a little better inside.”