Unexpected Softness

Chapter 23

The night in the suburbs was silent.

A black hovercar landed soundlessly at the estate.

The car door opened, and the gangway lowered.

The wheelchair rolled steadily down the gangway, and Ye Nanxun turned it 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 turned back at his words.

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

They fussed over him with 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, even though 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 and sitting by the bed, Ye Nanxun lowered his head to look at his phone.

While downstairs, Ye Nanxun had received a call and concerned inquiries from Jiang Yuenian.

In addition, after the call, Jiang Yuenian sent Ye Nanxun a message introducing his private doctor to the young man who had come to help and been accidentally injured.

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

Ye Nanxun replied to Jiang Yuenian's message and accepted his kindness.

After exiting his chat with Jiang Yuenian, a new message request 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 profile picture that did not match his identity or image.

The feeling of glimpsing another side of the Empire's leader somehow made his heart ache and swell.

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

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

The greatest assumption in that plan—

Included the Empire's General Zhu Yucheng, as well as 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 notification 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.

A person whose name he had not even dared to think of in the past.

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

He slept dreamlessly through the night.

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

He felt too lazy to get up.

Accustomed to sleeping in, on days when he did not have to rise early to practice piano, Ye Nanxun buried his head in the fluffy, soft pillow once more.

After an unknown amount of time, his mother's voice sounded outside the door. "Xiaoxun, are you awake?"

Ye Nanxun lifted his head from beneath the covers with sleepy eyes and rubbed them. "Mom, I'm awake."

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

The footsteps outside gradually faded away.

Ye Nanxun paused. His friends?

After washing up and changing clothes, Ye Nanxun took the electric wheelchair downstairs.

When the wheelchair reached the middle of the stairs, Ye Nanxun heard the voices he had heard in his half-dreaming state once more.

So it had not been an illusion.

Ye Zhineng: "Xiaoxun."

He Lanxue: "Brother Nan Xun!"

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

The beta female doctor first examined Ye Nanxun's foot injury.

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

"Thank you. Sorry for troubling you." Ye Nanxun looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long."

The doctor smiled faintly. "You're too polite. Then I'll see you the day 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 long they had delayed her that morning, Ye Nanxun's family did not insist.

His father personally escorted the doctor out, while Ye Nanxun and his mother remained in the first-floor guest room.

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

Ye Nanxun's cheeks burned. He did have a habit of sleeping in, but whenever he needed to get up early, he never lingered in bed.

Someone had come to see him early in the morning, yet he had been sound asleep in bed. It was truly rude and embarrassing.

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

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

When he heard Ye Nanxun was still asleep, Jiang Yuenian told them not to wake him. He had things to do 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 rushed 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 after many years of marriage, they remained deeply in love.

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

Affected by that warm family atmosphere, He Lanxue felt warmth bloom in her heart, and her gaze involuntarily fell on Ye Nanxun.

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

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

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

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

Still, if she had not ridden in Ye Zhineng's car, she would not have known where Ye Nanxun lived.

After lunch, He Lanxue suggested, "Brother Nan Xun, 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 so readily, she had not even had time to be happy before an annoying voice sounded from the side.

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

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

Clearly, He Lanxue had known Ye Zhineng longer, yet the way she addressed him was nowhere near as intimate as 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 pass.

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