Chapter 80: Ji Shuohan
Ye Zhile was used to sleeping in, but at Grandma’s house, he was forced to wake up early. Grandma coaxed him, “Eat breakfast before sleeping, be good.”
“I don’t want to… I’ll eat later.” Ye Zhile kept burrowing into the quilt. Grandma pulled him out again. “Eating later makes it lunch. You need to eat all three meals well, otherwise how will your health improve?”
Ye Zhile was talked into getting up by Grandma’s words. He wore a short-sleeved shirt and a light jacket, dragging his slippers downstairs and sitting at the dining table with a dazed face.
“Oh, it’s already nine o’clock and you still haven’t had enough sleep?” Grandpa teased him. As he spoke, he used a small spoon to feed Dudu cod puree. Dudu ate happily, making ‘wu-wu’ sounds and opening his small mouth to express something to Ye Zhile.
Ye Zhile’s heart softened at the sight, and he made ‘a-ba a-ba’ sounds back at him. Grandma laughed from the side. “Only children understand what children are saying.”
“Isn’t that right?” Grandpa agreed. “Our Lele is just a slightly bigger child.”
Ye Zhile laughed and ate the vegetable and meat pancake in his hand.
The sun was nice today. Ye Zhile didn’t go back to his room to sleep; instead, he took pruning shears to trim the flowers and plants in the yard.
“Lele! Don’t ruin Grandma’s flowers!” Grandma shouted when she saw him.
” I am not!” Ye Zhile shouted back, thinking to himself that he had learned this from Xiao Ru, after all.
Dudu sat in his stroller, with the sunshade pulled down, sunbathing inside.
‘Ding-dong,’ the doorbell rang.
Ye Zhile put down the shears and went to open the door. “Hello, who are you looking for?”
Standing outside the gate was a youth with slightly curly hair. He was stunned when he saw Ye Zhile. He blinked and handed over a plate of golden fried pork. “Oh! My grandma fried some pork and told me to bring some over for you to eat.”
“Oh! Wait a moment!” Ye Zhile called inside, “Grandma!”
Grandma poked her head out of the house and greeted him, “Xiao Yu is here! Come in and sit.”
Ye Zhile made way for him. As he entered, Lu Xiaoyu was a bit stiff. He had been to Great-Grandma’s house many times but had never seen this Omega before.
“Come, sit.” Grandma took the fried pork from him and smiled. “Your grandma always thinks of us.”
“Grandma says neighbors are like family, it’s nothing. You often send her things too.” Lu Xiaoyu sat properly on the sofa. He looked at Ye Zhile. “And this is?”
“This is my little grandson, Lele. You two are about the same age, so come and find him to play often.” Grandma then introduced him to Ye Zhile, “Lele, this is Lu Xiaoyu, the grandson of Grandma Liu from across the way.”
“Hello,” Ye Zhile nodded. Lu Xiaoyu quickly stood up and nodded back. “Hello!”
Grandma laughed. “Xiao Yu, don’t be nervous. Lele is only a year older than you, and he’s very easy to get along with.”
“Okay,” Lu Xiaoyu gave a shy smile and sat down again.
Ye Zhile pulled Dudu onto his lap to play with him. Lu Xiaoyu’s eyes widened; this Omega looked so young, yet he already had a son!
Over the next few days, Lu Xiaoyu found various excuses to come play with Ye Zhile. Being close in age and still loving to play, Lu Xiaoyu pushed a bicycle to the gate and called out to Ye Zhile, who was sunbathing in the yard, “Ye Zhile! I’ll take you to pick cherries!”
“Cherries?” Ye Zhile took the book off his face and rose from the rocking chair. “There are cherries here? Who planted them?”
“They aren’t planted by anyone, they’re wild,” Lu Xiaoyu said. Cherries weren’t considered valuable to the people here; everyone replaced them with more expensive ones like Bing cherries, so no one really bothered with the wild ones.
“Let’s go, it’s boring staying at home anyway.” Seeing Ye Zhile hesitate, Lu Xiaoyu tempted him, “You probably haven’t experienced the fun of picking cherries in the countryside. It’s really fun, and there’s grass everywhere—you can lie on the grass and sunbathe.”
“Go on, Lele. Don’t stay in the house all day, you’ll feel suffocated,” Grandma said.
“Alright.” Ye Zhile opened the gate. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll give you a ride.” Lu Xiaoyu got on the bike. “Hop on.”
Ye Zhile sat on the back and gripped the hem of his jacket. “I’m on.”
“Here we go!”
Youran Town lived up to its name; the people were truly relaxed and free. After driving out of the villa area, both sides of the road were lined with birch trees. There weren’t many cars on the road, so Lu Xiaoyu rode everywhere. The sea was not far away.
Under the blue sky and white clouds, Ye Zhile tilted his head back to soak in the sun. “I haven’t felt this kind of weather in so long.”
Lu Xiaoyu smiled. “The city and the countryside are different, after all.”
“This is a developed countryside,” Ye Zhile joked.
“I’ll take you to the beach tomorrow. This weather is perfect for playing in the water,” Lu Xiaoyu said.
Ye Zhile readily agreed. “Okay.”
Ye Zhile had thought it would be just one or two cherry trees, but it turned out to be a whole cherry forest. He was stunned and asked Lu Xiaoyu, “Are you sure these weren’t planted? There are so many!”
“Rest assured, they weren’t,” Lu Xiaoyu promised. “This cherry forest has been here since I was little. Everyone comes here to sit when they’re bored, but they don’t really eat them, just pick one or two occasionally.”
Ye Zhile nodded understandingly. The small red fruits on the trees looked very tempting. He couldn’t help but pick one and put it in his mouth; the sweet juice immediately filled his mouth. Ye Zhile nodded repeatedly, “Delicious! So sweet!”
“I didn’t lie to you! Eat as many as you want!” Lu Xiaoyu laughed.
Ye Zhile smiled. This cherry forest had lush foliage, and the sunlight filtered through the gaps, forming dappled spots on the grass. Ye Zhile lay under a shaded tree; he didn’t mind that some overripe, mushy fruits had fallen onto the grass.
Lu Xiaoyu leaned against the tree and hesitated for a long time before asking him, “Are you married?”
Ye Zhile opened his eyes and smiled. “Divorced.”
“Oh…” Lu Xiaoyu felt the smile was dazzling. He looked away and smiled.
The two stayed until the afternoon before heading back. On the way back, Ye Zhile wanted to ride the bicycle, but he didn’t know how. “Can I use your bike to practice a bit?”
“Sure,” Lu Xiaoyu agreed instantly. “I’ll teach you.”
“Okay.”
Ye Zhile’s learning ability was quite good, and his balance was decent, so he didn’t give Lu Xiaoyu much trouble. Lu Xiaoyu protected Ye Zhile as they rode all the way home.
“Fun!” Ye Zhile said. Grandma watched from the yard and reminded him, “Ride slowly!”
“I know!” Ye Zhile replied. He stopped the bike at the door and watched Lu Xiaoyu huffing and puffing as he ran over. He felt a wave of guilt. “Sorry…”
Lu Xiaoyu waved his hand. “It’s fine. You did great for your first time.”
“Thank you.” Ye Zhile smiled. As he returned the bike and turned around, he saw a figure standing not far away. Ye Zhile looked over, and his smile froze on his face.
Ji Shuohan stood not far away. He was about to step forward when he saw the youth push open the gate and go inside without sparing him another glance.
Lu Xiaoyu looked at the two of them and instantly understood what was happening. He tactfully went home.
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