Unexpected Softness

Chapter Twenty-Three

The night in the outskirts was quiet.

A black hovercar landed soundlessly at the estate.

The door opened, and the gangway lowered.

The wheelchair rolled steadily down the gangway. Ye Nanxun turned his wheelchair around.

"Mr. Yan, this is far enough. I'll give your proposal careful consideration."

The alpha, who had already taken a step toward the cabin door, stepped back upon hearing this.

Ye Nanxun returned home in his wheelchair, startling his parents, who were still awake.

They bustled around asking questions. By the time his mother escorted Ye Nanxun back to his room, more than half an hour had passed since he arrived home.

Thanks to modern technology, although his right foot made walking inconvenient, Ye Nanxun could manage everything himself, from going up and down stairs to personal hygiene.

After changing into his pajamas, he sat by the bed and looked down at the phone in his hand.

While downstairs, Ye Nanxun had received a call and words of concern from Jiang Yuenian.

Afterward, Jiang Yuenian had also sent Ye Nanxun a message, introducing his private doctor to the young man who had come to help and been unexpectedly injured.

With Ye Nanxun's consent, the doctor would personally come to the estate tomorrow to examine his injured foot.

Ye Nanxun replied to Jiang Yuenian, accepting his kindness.

Just as he exited the chat with Jiang Yuenian, a new message popped up.

It was a new friend request.

There were only three words in the request note: Yan Beiyou.

The profile picture was a little yellow dog.

Ye Nanxun looked at Yan Beiyou's name, then at the adorable avatar that did not match the man's status or image.

The sense of glimpsing another secret side of the Empire's leader inexplicably made his heart ache and swell.

The moment he pressed "Accept," Ye Nanxun realized that his fingers were trembling slightly.

Ever since the day he had decided, after his rebirth, to return and face everything, he had been planning and strategizing even in his sleep.

The greatest assumption in that plan was this.

There was Imperial General Zhu Yucheng, and there was General Zhu Yucheng's lover, Teacher Jiang Yuenian.

He did not want much. He only wanted to get closer to these people at the pinnacle of power.

He did not dare hope for their protection. He only wanted to get a little closer, just a little.

A new-message alert interrupted Ye Nanxun's daze.

Yan Beiyou: Are you asleep?

Taking a deep breath, Ye Nanxun lowered his head and replied.

Little Mushroom: I'm about to sleep, Mr. Yan.

Yan Beiyou: Mm. Good night.

Little Mushroom: Good night.

There was no further response from the other side. Ye Nanxun placed his phone face-down on the bedside table.

Carefully lifting his right foot, he lay flat on the bed, pulled up the blanket, and closed his eyes.

Yan Beiyou.

Those three words belonged to someone he had never even dared think about in the past.

Yet now, he had received a good-night message from that person.

He slept dreamlessly through the night.

In the hazy state between sleep and wakefulness, Ye Nanxun seemed to hear car wheels rolling over the ground outside the window, a door opening and closing, and a vaguely familiar voice.

He felt too languid to get up.

Having grown used to sleeping in, in days when he no longer needed to rise early to practice the piano, Ye Nanxun buried his head in the fluffy, soft pillow once more.

He did not know how much time passed before his mother's voice sounded outside the door. "Xunxun, are you awake?"

Ye Nanxun lifted his head from beneath the blanket, still bleary-eyed, and rubbed his eyes. "Mom, I'm awake."

"Come downstairs for lunch. Your friends have been waiting for you for quite a while."

The footsteps outside the door gradually faded away.

Ye Nanxun froze for a moment. His friends?

After washing up and changing clothes, Ye Nanxun went downstairs in his electric wheelchair.

When the wheelchair reached the middle of the stairs, Ye Nanxun heard the voices again—the ones he had heard while half-asleep.

So it had not been an illusion.

Ye Zhineng: "Xunxun."

He Lanxue: "Brother Nanxun!"

There was also a middle-aged woman wearing glasses. "Hello, I'm Teacher Jiang's private doctor."

The beta doctor first examined Ye Nanxun's injured foot.

"The ankle injury has been treated very well. Conservatively speaking, you should be able to walk again in about a week. I'll come back at this time the morning after tomorrow to take another look."

"Thank you. Sorry to trouble you." Ye Nanxun looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry for making you wait so long."

The doctor smiled slightly. "You're too polite. Then I'll see you the morning after tomorrow."

Chen Mingzhu said from the side, "The meal is ready. Doctor, why don't you stay and eat with us?"

The doctor politely declined. Thinking of how they had delayed her for so long that morning, Ye Nanxun's family did not insist.

His father personally saw the doctor out, while Ye Nanxun stayed in the first-floor guest room with his mother.

"Mom, why didn't you wake me when the doctor arrived?"

Ye Nanxun's cheeks burned. Though he had a habit of sleeping in, he never overslept when he needed to get up early.

Someone had come to see him first thing in the morning, yet he had been snoring away in bed. It was far too rude, far too embarrassing.

Chen Mingzhu said softly, "Oh, Mom wanted to go wake you too, but Teacher Jiang wouldn't allow it. He said you should rest more."

It turned out that Jiang Yuenian and the doctor had arrived early in the morning.

When he heard that Ye Nanxun was still asleep, Jiang Yuenian told them not to wake him. He had matters to attend to himself, so he sat for a while before leaving.

Not long after Jiang Yuenian left, He Lanxue and Ye Zhineng somehow learned that Ye Nanxun had been injured and hurried over as well.

His parents thought Ye Nanxun had made new friends and warmly welcomed He Lanxue and Ye Zhineng.

Ye Xiangsong and Chen Mingzhu had married for love, and even after many years of marriage, they remained deeply in love.

The atmosphere in their home was relaxed and warm, something He Lanxue had never experienced in her own home.

Moved by that warm family atmosphere, He Lanxue felt warmth spread through her heart, and her gaze unconsciously fell on Ye Nanxun.

Ye Nanxun had always given her the impression of being aloof and distant.

But before his family, with his cheeks slightly flushed, Ye Nanxun was unexpectedly soft.

When her gaze shifted to the side, He Lanxue discovered that Ye Zhineng, seated beside her, was also staring at the omega youth sitting across from them.

She instinctively frowned. Ye Nanxun was such a wonderful person—how could he have such an awful cousin as Ye Zhineng?

Still, if she had not caught a ride with Ye Zhineng, she would not have known where Ye Nanxun lived.

After lunch, He Lanxue suggested, "Brother Nanxun, there's an art exhibition this afternoon. Do you want to go together?"

Ye Nanxun said, "Sure."

He Lanxue had originally worried that Ye Nanxun would not want to go. Seeing him agree immediately, she had not even had time to be happy before an irritating voice came from beside her.

Ye Zhineng looked up at Ye Nanxun and said with a smile, "I'll come too. I can take better care of Xunxun on the way."

He Lanxue shot the alpha beside her a sidelong glance and said sarcastically, "Young Master Ye, don't you need to keep Xu Wenyan company?"

Although He Lanxue had known Ye Zhineng longer, she was nowhere near as familiar with him in the way she addressed Ye Nanxun.

Ye Zhineng's expression did not change. "Isn't your brother keeping him company?"

He Lanxue's expression stiffened. Considering that Ye Zhineng was Ye Nanxun's cousin after all, she quickly let the subject drop.

She just had not expected that they would run into He Yiming and Xu Wenyan at the art exhibition.