GLIHBN Chapter 5
by Volare“Knock, knock,” Chi Ye knocked on the bathroom door. “Su Shi Ge, I brought you pajamas.”
The sound of rushing water came from inside, followed by Su Shi’s voice, “Coming.”
Su Shi turned off the water, slipped on his slippers, and walked to the door, opening it and extending a hand.
“Give them to me.”
The hand was fair and slender, dotted with water droplets, the fingertips slightly softened from the water.
Chi Ye paused for a moment and placed the clothes in his hand.
“Thanks.”
Su Shi closed the door, dried his body, applied body lotion, and then put on the pajamas.
When Su Shi came out after blow-drying his hair, he saw Chi Ye in a daze, his eyes unfocused, staring blankly at a certain spot, as if daydreaming. He softly asked, “What are you thinking about?”
Chi Ye snapped back to reality and looked at Su Shi. “Nothing.”
“Are you tired?”
Chi Ye shook his head slightly. “I’m okay.”
Chi Ye had been traveling all day, then cooked and cleaned the kitchen, and was dragged shopping by him, and even went back to the Chen Family Home. Su Shi felt a little bad about it. “You should be tired. Take a shower and get some rest.”
Chi Ye had no choice but to stand up. “Then I’ll go back to my room.”
“Okay, by the way, what are your plans for tomorrow?”
“What about you?”
Su Shi thought for a moment. “I have a meeting at the Studio tomorrow. If you don’t have anything planned, you can come with me, or you can go sightseeing on your own.”
Chi Ye quickly made a decision. “I’ll go sightseeing on my own tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Chi Ye went downstairs to find clothes for a shower.
As the shower gel lathered on his body, Chi Ye sniffed, wondering why the scent was different from Su Shi’s.
After showering, Chi Ye wore the new pajamas Su Shi had bought him that afternoon. He turned off all the lights, leaned against the headboard, and let the darkness engulf him instantly.
Once he adjusted to the darkness, it wasn’t so dark anymore. Chi Ye took out his phone and reopened his chat with Xu Chongming, rereading the message the other party had just sent.
【Listen to your sister-in-law, don’t cause him trouble】
Chi Ye’s finger tapped on the message, the light from the phone illuminating his face, coating his handsome features with a halo.
Chi Ye replied to Xu Chongming: 【Okay, I understand】
Putting down his phone, Chi Ye wondered: Sister-in-law, is that term appropriate to use for a man?
Besides, we can’t even get married!
Early the next morning, Su Shi was woken up by his phone alarm, as usual lamenting how quickly it was getting light. Then came the steps of choosing clothes, putting on accessories, styling his hair, and washing his face.
One of his hobbies was to dress himself up impeccably every day; it was his attitude towards life.
Su Shi went downstairs and saw Chi Ye bringing out breakfast and placing it on the table. He was momentarily stunned, almost forgetting there was another person in the house.
“Chi Ye, you’re up so early. Why didn’t you sleep in a little longer?”
“I’m used to it. Come and eat breakfast.”
“You’re staying at my place, I should be taking care of you.”
Despite his words, Su Shi sat down without any reservations and picked up a soup dumpling to eat.
He rarely ate breakfast at home, usually just grabbing a coffee and a European pastry at a cafe.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had a hot breakfast at home, or maybe it had never happened.
“Wow, this is delicious. Where did you buy it?”
Chi Ye placed a cup of hot soy milk in front of him. “Guomao Road.”
Su Shi frowned slightly. “That’s two streets away from here. Why did you go so far to buy it?”
“I did some research, and they said that place is delicious.”
Su Shi ate with relish. “It is indeed delicious.”
Su Shi glanced at his watch, realizing he was running late. He had spent too much time trying on different outfits. He shoved the last bite of breakfast into his mouth. “I don’t have time, I have to go.”
“But you haven’t had your soy milk yet!”
Su Shi reached out to touch the cup but quickly retracted his hand. “It’s too hot, I can’t drink it now. You drink it. I’m going to work.”
Chi Ye walked him to the door. “Don’t rush, drive safely.”
“Okay, I’m off.”
Su Shi hurriedly left.
Chi Ye sat back down to continue eating breakfast. He picked up the cup of soy milk, blew on it, and took a sip. The sweet and mellow liquid slid down his throat.
West Hangzhou is a tourist city with a pleasant climate, mountains, and rivers. It was selected as one of the top ten livable cities in the country.
It is said that to understand a city, you only need to take a bus to its final stop.
Chi Ye boarded a bus and chose a window seat.
The bus ride was quite long, taking over an hour to reach the final stop, Mu Se Village. In that hour, Chi Ye had almost seen the scenery and customs of half the city.
Finally, the last stop arrived. The doors opened, and Chi Ye got off.
Chi Ye carried a backpack containing only a bottle of water and a small packet of tissues.
It was rare for this village to retain its original appearance in a developed tourist city. Chi Ye looked at each house one by one, finally reaching the end and seeing what he was looking for.
A Fence Yard, a house with two upside-down fortune characters stuck on the door.
In the yard, an old woman lay on a rocking chair, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan, enjoying the peaceful morning.
Chi Ye stood quietly outside the yard, watching the scene.
The old woman’s face bore the marks of graceful aging, but from her superior bone structure, one could tell that she was a beauty in her youth. Even with her hair turned white, she did not appear old and haggard.
Grandpa had told Chi Ye that his father had insisted on eloping with his mother against the family’s wishes. They were in a car accident on the way, and both died. He was cut out from his dead mother’s womb. It was really a stroke of luck.
Grandpa said that it was fate, and the Chi family was destined to have an heir.
Grandpa never told Chi Ye about his mother, only that her surname was Li. He never said where she was from, how old she was, or what she looked like.
But one could tell from his words that Grandpa was very dissatisfied with Chi Ye’s mother.
He usually described her as petty and uneducated, and he didn’t care about anyone in his mother’s family.
Grandpa said, you only need to remember that your surname is Chi, and you are a member of the Chi family. As for your mother’s side, they don’t know of your existence, and there’s no need for our Chi family to have such poor relatives.
Li Ma was a maid who took care of Chi Ye’s father. Li Ma had secretly shown Chi Ye photos of his mother and father.
Li Ma said that his father loved his mother very much and fell in love with her at first sight. But the family strongly opposed them being together, and for his mother’s sake, his father was willing to give up his status as the Chi family’s heir and elope.
Because of this, Li Ma was later fired by Grandpa.
The old woman didn’t know when she had seen Chi Ye. “Young man, are you here for sightseeing?”
Chi Ye had a bag on his shoulder and didn’t look like a local, so it was easy to assume he was a tourist. Standing outside the fence, Chi Ye nodded. “Yes.”
“Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?”
“Is it convenient?”
“It’s convenient. The door isn’t locked, come in yourself.”
The old woman took out a disposable cup from a nearby cabinet and poured a cup of hot tea from the teapot. “Tourists often pass by and ask for a cup of tea. This tea is a local specialty. Try it.”
Chi Ye walked into the yard and saw that it was full of flowers of many varieties, but Chi Ye wasn’t knowledgeable and couldn’t name them.
Chi Ye sat in front of the old woman and took a sip of tea.
Perhaps because she didn’t have many people to talk to, the old woman talked a lot with Chi Ye.
She said that the other members of the family had moved away, but her husband and daughter had passed away here, and she didn’t want to leave, afraid they wouldn’t be able to find their way home.
Chi Ye listened silently the whole time, without asking a question.
After sitting for a while, Chi Ye stood up to bid farewell to the old woman.
Before leaving the yard, Chi Ye looked back at the old woman, who bore a resemblance to his mother.