The car passed through the integrated urban-rural Renmin Road, heading towards Tianluo Bay. The sounds at night filtered through a layer of gauze—the chirping of insects was noisy, while human voices were quiet.
Yu Sui leaned against the window as usual, with his head resting against it, already fast asleep. His profile sunk into the darkness, leaving only soft lines visible.
The driver turned off the lights in the back seat, adjusted the air conditioner to a cooler setting, and played slow-tempo instrumental music.
Yu Sui’s schoolbag was placed between Yu Sui and Yan Xiu, and another backpack was placed on Yan Xiu’s lap.
Tianluo Bay was located on the edge of the largest artificial lake in Yandu, a residential area favored by the business elite of Yu Jingyuan’s generation. It was quite far away from the city, spanning across half of Yandu.
After a long time, the car stopped outside a convenience store, and the driver went out to use the toilet.
Yu Sui woke up in this silence.
For a moment, he couldn’t figure out where he was, nor could he recall why Yan Xiu was next to him.
Yan Xiu was leaning against the opposite window, playing with his mobile phone. The light from the screen reflected the shape of his facial features. His arm rested on his backpack, and noticing that Yu Sui had woken up, he reached into his schoolbag and took out a bottle of water and handed it to him.
Yu Sui reached out: “Thank you.”
Yan Xiu glanced at him and suddenly asked, “Why don’t you wait until you finish opening the gifts before leaving?”
Yu Sui couldn’t immediately recall which gift he was referring to.
His reactions were sluggish, and his throat felt dry and scratchy from sleeping too long. Only after slowly drinking half the bottle of water did he feel somewhat revived.
The young master realized belatedly that the seat was uncomfortable. Having slept in one position for so long, not only was his neck sore, but his lower back ached as well.
Yu Sui replied: “… Because if I don’t leave, I’ll get scolded.”
His voice was hazy from just waking up, trailing off abruptly as if cut short.
Yan Xiu thought he didn’t want to say it, so he didn’t want to press further.
Suddenly, the backpack between them tilted, and Yu Sui’s fluffy head nudged out from underneath, his hair brushing against Yan Xiu’s arm.
Yu Sui stretched out his arms, trying his best to extend his body within the limited space. His lazy bones cracked like piano keys as he indulged in a long, satisfying stretch.
As another giant living creature in the back seat, Yan Xiu was inevitably affected. He lowered his head silently and met Yu Sui’s dark eyes.
The young master grinned carelessly, as if he had gained a great advantage by making such a fuss.
Yu Sui straightened up and bounced back, still leaning lazily against the window: “My limb went numb from sleeping just now.”
He paused before adding, “Actually, I can wait until Susu finishes opening her presents, but Yan Wuyan will scold me once Susu has finished opening her presents.”
“Why?” Yan Xiu asked.
Yu Sui pursed his lips and said nothing.
He sat cross-legged, upright and proper, as if in meditation. The brief clarity he had shown when he woke up seemed to be gone again. Yu Sui muttered that his head hurt, but his eyes were wide open, and he probably wouldn’t fall asleep again anytime soon.
But even if he had a headache from drinking, Yu Sui was still the young master who cared about his reputation.
Yan Xiu watched him for a moment before figuring it out on his own.
When they had gone to pick up the package with Yu Sui, they had seen the girl—a toy that children would love, but one that his cousin’s family would rarely splurge on.
Just when Yan Xiu thought that Yu Sui was going to sit there and meditate all the way home, Yu Sui suddenly put down his legs and whispered, “But it’s only because my family owes them.”
The car door suddenly opened, and the driver came back. A rustling noise was heard outside the car. The driver apologized to them, fastened his seat belt, shifted car gears, and drove away.
The young man’s voice was soft, an almost murmuring voice vanished unintentionally into the tire tracks, never to return.
The car stopped outside Tianluo Bay. Yan Xiu paid the fare, slung his bag over one shoulder, and carried Yu Sui’s bag as he stepped out of the car.
The young master didn’t find it the least bit odd that someone was carrying his bag for him. Maybe after walking for a while, he remembered that he still had a backpack, so he reached out and took it from Yan Xiu.
The Yu residence was the most extravagant villa in the area, complete with a garden. Inside, an elevator connected directly to the second and third floors. The smart gate and decor were unmistakably in Yu Jingyuan’s taste.
The lights from the house can be seen from afar, and the noisy sounds can be heard when you get closer.
There was another door to go in. Yu Sui stopped outside the door and turned around and said, “Thank you for taking me back.”
Yan Xiu was in the middle of typing a message to Ms. Tang Ying. Hearing this, he deleted the words he had typed, word by word, then looked up and waited for Yu Sui’s next instruction.
Sure enough, Yu Sui said, “I should have invited you in to sit for a while, but there are a lot of people at home today. I’ll treat you to dinner when we get back to school.”
After that, he smiled politely at Yan Xiu.
“…”
Yan Xiu paused and put his phone back in his pocket.
He noticed that, for some reason, Young Master Yu was somewhat resistant to the idea that there were “too many people” inside. This had been evident earlier when Yu Sui refused Yu Jingyuan’s offer after school. Now he didn’t even want his classmates to run into “those people”.
Although the young master was being polite, Yan Xiu hadn’t forgotten that before getting into the car, Yu Sui resisted being sent home because he thought the exchange of courtesies was troublesome.
Tilting his chin slightly, Yan Xiu didn’t mention the meal: “Remember to do your homework.”
Yu Sui was stunned for a moment and said unhappily: “Shouldn’t you be telling me to drink honey water at a time like this?”
“…” Yan Xiu was speechless. Two seconds later, he said expressionlessly: “Remember to drink honey water.”
His patience for the evening had run out. If Young Master Yu had any further instructions, Yan Xiu might just take him in directly.
Fortunately, the young master seemed satisfied. He nodded and turned to leave, narrowly avoiding the fate of being dragged through the door.
The evening wind was bleak, and the dim street lights created a silky ribbon of light, separating two different worlds. The gate closed in front of Yan Xiu, and Yu Sui waved goodbye to him obediently before leaving.
Yan Xiu’s phone vibrated in his pocket again. He took it out and answered Tang Ying’s call.
Tang Ying sounded worried: “Didn’t you say you both arrived ten minutes ago? Why hasn’t he come in yet?”
“He went in.” Yan Xiu said.
“Then why didn’t you come in?” Tang Ying immediately grasped her son’s point, puzzled as to why her son wouldn’t bother to walk those few steps.
Just then, there was a commotion at the door. Young Master Yu had run straight into Tang Ying and Old Yan, who were about to leave.
The boy was fair-skinned and handsome, with clear features, a curved lips and a docile look on his face.
Fridays at the Yu residence were always chaotic.
The young master had skipped a large family dinner, spent the evening in a remote corner of Fu Village—a place where even the lowest-paid workers earned less than Yu family’s gardeners—and returned reeking of alcohol.
Ms. Yuan Yu was so worried she could have pulled her hair out, following the housekeeper around to prepare honey water.
Yu Jingyuan, Yu Liao, Yu Zhen and Yu Si all took the stage to play the bad guys. It seemed as though they had suddenly found the time and just realized that their youngest had grown into a rebellious age, no longer willing to be controlled. They went all out, terrified of facing the future regret of “if he goes astray, it’s because we never reined him in.”
Meanwhile, Madam Yuan Yu played the good cop, stopping by the youngest’s room to urge him to drink some water.
She shut her husband and the other children out, walked over to Yu Sui, and asked softly, “Mom told you early this morning that your Aunt Yan’s family would come over for dinner today. Why did you go to Fu Village anyway?”
Yu Sui took slow sips of water, leaning against the table as he replied to Yan Xiu’s message.
He was particularly particular about the process, having asked Yan Xiu to message him once he got home.
Yan Xiu probably didn’t see it and replied with two words very late.
[Arrive1in Mandarin, it is [到了] which composed of two characters. I took the initiative to use two words (or two characters) as said in the raw.]
“I never agreed to it,” Yu Sui found a sticker and sent it over, saying, “Today is Susu’s birthday. I told you two weeks ago.”
“Susu…” Yuan Yu paused, her pretty eyebrows knitted slightly, and she said softly, “Maybe mom forgot.”
Among the family, Madam Yu was the easiest to persuade. She has never had a clear stance and is like a grass that sways in the wind.
Now, seeing her youngest son speaking softly with his head bowed, she thought he was being well-behaved again.
She glanced around, took away Yu Sui’s empty cup, and before leaving, noticed his hair. Casually, she remarked, “Tomorrow, Mom will call Tony over to do our hair. We can tidy up that messy hair of yours while we’re at it.”
Who knew that the lazy young master would put his hand on his head after hearing this and said, “No.”
Yuan Yu thought she misheard: “Why? I’m inviting the Tony you know.”
“Not getting it cut,” Yu Sui muttered. “I’ll just tie it up.”
Madam Yu: “?”
Yu Sui slept until dawn. When he woke up, he subconsciously touched his hair.
His hair had been air-dried in the air-conditioned room all night, feeling cool and comfortable—still the familiar length.
Yu Sui turned over and continued to sleep. Five minutes later, he was awakened by the vibration of his cell phone.
Normally, he slept with his phone on low battery, silent, and in airplane mode, but last night he’d been so exhausted that he fell asleep right after his shower and had left it on all night.
The messages were from a group chat named “Sneak into the Village, No Shooting.” Yu Sui had never seen this group before and was only added this morning.
Messages were flying fast, led by his good friend Yang Feiwen and his class monitor Yi Tian.
Yang Feiwen: [Quick, check the forum! ID ‘Fulaidao Future Boss Is My Crush’ just posted two minutes ago. DM them to delete it first. If they don’t reply within a minute, report it immediately!]
Yi Tian: [CP thread got bumped again! Hurry and start a new thread to bury it!]
Yi Tian: [Also tell everyone to change their IDs! ]
Then Yang Feiwen sent a private message to Yu Sui.
Yang Feiwen: [What the hell! We finally managed to cool down the CP thread, and now it’s been bumped again! Probably some newbies.]
Yang Feiwen: [They don’t know the rules!!!]
Yang Feiwen: [Anyway, let’s bury it for now. If that doesn’t work, we’ll bump other CP threads instead!]
A question mark popped up above Yu Sui’s head.
Just as he was about to reply, these messages were immediately withdrawn. Two seconds later, Yang Feiwen sent: [Sui’er, are you awake? ]
Yang Feiwen: [When did you change your profile picture? ]
Yu Sui changed his profile picture last night. He didn’t remember where he’d seen the image, but it looked nice, so he’d switched to it.
Shortly after, someone quietly kicked him out of the group chat without a word.
Yu Sui straightened up, rubbed his face, and once again went through the cycle of downloading and uninstalling the forum app.
He navigated effortlessly the No. 26 High School section, only to find that the previously pinned popular posts had all disappeared.
Scrolling a couple of pages back, he found the CP thread that was gradually losing traction. The latest replies were tagged with phrases like “sugar high” and “tea spilled”, accompanied by a dimly lit photo.
Two young men stood beside a taxi—it was unclear whether they had just gotten in or out. The taller boy outside the car had a backpack slung over one shoulder and was holding another bag in his hand.
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1