Ch.19 – Promise

Shen Yu gazed at Tang Li for a long time. Suddenly, he let out a big chuckle and gently reached out his hand to pinch the tip of Tang Li’s nose.

“Wouldn’t it be better to say it directly? Do I seem like a difficult person to communicate with?”

Tang Li was shocked by Shen Yu’s sudden action. On instinct, he leaned back unconsciously. Realizing his reaction, he blushed and tipped his body forward again.

Originally his face and Shen Yu’s hand were still a little far away, so as a result of leaning in too fast, Tang Li’s whole face hit Shen Yu’s palm.

In the blink of an eye, Shen Yu felt that his hand, which he had not yet had time to put down, was full of something soft. After overcoming his shock, he found that he was holding the hot cheek of the villain.

Shen Yu smiled and raised his eyebrows. “So active?”

During the conversation, Tang Li’s breathing became more and more urgent. The hot air on his hand warmed Shen Yu’s heart. It was like a feather gliding past, hot and itchy.

Even though most of Tang Li’s faces was covered by his hands, Shen Yu could still guess that the little villain’s face had turned bright red.

In certain moments, this child is particularly shy.

Just like now, he can’t even lift his head from Shen Yu’s hand.

Sighing, Shen Yu was both amused and helpless. He took his hand off Tang Li’s face and then gently took the little villain into his bosom.

Tang Li was stunned stiff, he dared not to move at all.

After a long time, Shen Yu pat the back of the villain two times: “Are you all right now?”

It took him a while to finally hear Tang Li’s muffled reply: “Yes…”

“Then I’ll ask the doctor to come and deal with the wound on your hand. After that, we’ll go home.” Shen Yu let go of Tang Li, smiled, and pinched the little villain’s bright red cheeks. “Okay?”

Tang Li opened his beautiful phoenix eyes and thin lips, and there seemed to be stars shining in his dark eyes. He looked at Shen Yu for a long time and nodded almost imperceptibly.

Shen Yu laughed and rubbed the head of the little villain, “Thank you for today.”

After that, Shen Yu left the room in his wheelchair. He asked Uncle Zhang, who was outside the door, to call the doctor and treat the wound on Tang Li’s hand immediately.

As a result, the little villain’s hands were once again wrapped tightly in gauze.

When they finally got home, the clock on the wall showed that it was already 11:30 at night.

Shen Yu remembered that Tang Li had not eaten much at Elder Shen’s house, and ordered his servant to cook a bowl of noodles.

In the huge dining room, Shen Yu and Tang Li sat face to face at the table.

The poor villain’s right hand was still wrapped in gauze. The chopsticks in his hand were so awkward that when he finally managed to pick up a piece of the noodles, before he could put them in his mouth, the noodles would slide down from his chopsticks.

“Pfft-“

Shen Yu, sitting across the stable, let out a chuckle.

Tang Li stopped immediately, looked up at Shen Yu, and his cheeks instantly became a brilliant red color.

Shen Yu held his own chin calmly in his hands and looked at Tang Li’s embarrassing appearance with his head slightly tilted, but he didn’t intend to help at all. Instead, he laughed happily.

“I’m afraid it will take a few days for your injuries to get better. During this period, it will be inconvenient for you to use chopsticks and pens, and you’ll have a hard time at school.” Shen Yu said.

“I know.” Tang Li whispered.

“Now that you see the consequences, will you act like this again in the future?” Shen Yu sat up slowly and straightened his spine, arms crossed, he said in a rather serious tone, “It is the unwise to attract the attention of others by self-mutilation.”

Tang Li put down his chopsticks silently and hung his head.

It looks pitiful.

In the end, for Shen Yu, this is the child he raised himself. When he sees the villain like this, he can’t bear it. Yet he still manages to continue his lecture: “If a person doesn’t care about you, even if you fall in front of them, they won’t look at you. If a person cares about you, even if you frown, they can feel it… And what you did tonight will only hurt those who care about you.”

Speaking of this, Shen Yu paused and suddenly felt very aggrieved. “Didn’t you see me panic tonight?”

Tang Li dared not look up, nor did he dare to look directly into Shen Yu’s eyes. He spoke as quietly as a mosquito, “I’m sorry, Shen Yu.”

“I accept your apology.” Shen Yu calmly replied, “But don’t hurt yourself like that again.”

Tang Li tightened his lips and after a long time said, “But I don’t regret it.”

Hearing this, Shen Yu was stunned.

Tang Li stared at the noodles that had already cooled down in front of him. There was no expression on his bright and beautiful little face. The boy’s clear voice echoed through the air before landing in Shen Yu’s ear.

“I don’t want you to get married to that aunt. I don’t want you to get married at all. Those people say that if there’s a wife in this house, you’ll never notice me again…”

After that, Tang Li’s voice became smaller and smaller until it slowly died down.

Despite the efforts of the villain to hide his expressions, Shen Yu still saw his nervous face and timid eyes.

For a while, Shen Yu felt like he had a sharp needle sticking in his heart, which made him frown and grip the armrest of the wheelchair.

“Those people?” Even Shen Yu did not realize that his face was terribly gloomy. “Who are you talking about?”

Tang Li moved his lips: “Those people in the school.”

Shen Yu gave a sneer.

He thought he had specially warned the principal himself, but he didn’t realize that those people were still bullying his child. Even he couldn’t bear to say a few harsh words to the villain, so who was it that dared to speak such harsh words so openly in the villain’s ears…

Shen Yu was so angry that he felt his lungs were about to explode. Then he saw the little villain’s pitiful look that was full of dejection, and felt his whole heart soften.

He rolled to Tang Li in his wheelchair, put out his hands, held the little villain’s face, and lifted it up gently.

Tang Li had no resistance. His grieving eyes fell on Shen Yu’s face. A close look revealed that the shining black eyes of the villain were covered with a thin layer of water.

The little villain’s eyes are almost red.

His face was very pale, and his lips trembled slightly.

Soon, a pea-sized tear fell, smashing on the tips of Shen Yu’s thumbs as he was cradling the little villain’s face in his hands.

Shen Yu felt his heart break.

“Don’t bother with what those people say. I swear to you that I won’t get married for the time being.” Shen Yu wiped the tears from the corners of Tang Li’s eyes with his fingertips and spoke in a very earnest and gentle voice.

“Really?” Tang Li’s expression was not quite right. Only tears, like broken pearls, keep pouring out of his eyes.

The villain, as if unaware of his tears, stared directly at Shen Yu and asked in a husky voice, “For how long?”

Shen Yu thought about it and said, “At least until you grow up.”

“Okay, I believe you.” Tang Li burst into laughter and wiped the tear marks on his face with the back of his hand. After calming down, he gradually became serious and solemnly said to Shen Yu, “I will remember this promise.”

Shen Yu was amused by Tang Li’s adult-like act, he rubbed his head and said, “Just remember, I’m the one who said it.”

It was getting late. Shen Yu asked the servant to tidy up the dishes and chopsticks, and then took Tang Li upstairs for some rest.

The little villain had finally seemed to unravel the knot in his heart. His smile was so brilliant that it could even overshadow the bright lights in the hall. Now, in front of Shen Yu’s bedroom door he was stuck like a piece of gum [1] to the man in the wheelchair.

“Go to sleep.” Shen Yu helplessly urged, “You have to get up early to go to school tomorrow.”

Tang Li responded in a crisp voice, “Good night, Shen Yu.”

Shen Yu smiled and was too lazy to correct the little villain’s bad habit of calling his full name. He waved, “Good night, Chestnut.”

Tang Li watched Shen Yu shut the bedroom door and stood motionless for nearly five minutes before finally turning to his own bedroom door.

Within seconds, he had regained his old indifference, completely without the fragile look that Shen Yu saw while holding his face not long ago.

Only his still red eyes proved that he had just cried.

Tang Li sat down on the sofa, picked up his mobile phone and opened the photo app to find the hidden album inside, which was completely comprised of photos of Shen Yu, all of which were taken secretly.

When he saw these pictures, the frost in his eyes began to slowly melt.

He gently touched Shen Yu’s picture with his fingertips.

“You promised me, so you can’t regret it later.”

———————

Every bath is a challenge for the disabled Shen Yu. Fortunately, the bedroom has a barrier-free design.

Even after completing his rehabilitation program for such a long time, Shen Yu can barely stand for two or three minutes.

As a result, even though he had just come out of the bath, he was already sweating.

Before going to bed, Shen Yu took out his mobile phone to check his work email. Pressing on the screen of his mobile phone, he saw a text message from a strange number at the top.

[Hi, Mr. Shen, I’m Jenny Yang, who had dinner with you this evening. I’m afraid to disturb you. If you don’t mind, can you add my friend request through Weibo? (*^^*)]

Shen Yu stared at the text for a long time before he realized who Jane Yang was.

Oh…

The girl’s name was Jane Yang.

But what does she look like?

Shen Yu’s impression of the girl was blank, so he did not hesitate to ignore the text message, unlock the mobile phone, click on the mailbox, and start checking his work email.

Later, Shen Yu slowly fell asleep with his mobile phone still in his hands.

——————————-

The next day.

Shen Yu was awakened by the loud ringtone of his mobile phone.

He jumped out of bed in horror and sat up. It took a long time for his dull brain to regain some consciousness.

He picked up the mobile phone to check it.

It was a call from Elder Shen.

[1] The story uses “stuck like a piece of brown sugar candy”, which makes sense for anyone that’s made sugar candy, but I still substituted gum.