You Don't Get to Decide

He Li'an found it amusing. His clear, mellow voice carried a hint of teasing. "Not bad. It really isn't narrow."

Who said this kid was emotionally detached? He could even throw shade at people. He had plenty of emotions.

Yu An flipped through a few pages without much interest. Trusting He Li'an's character, he picked up a pen and was about to sign.

But a large, well-defined hand suddenly reached over and covered the signature line.

Under the bright lights, the hand—perfect enough to belong in a textbook—displayed an almost extreme beauty. Yu An admired it for a few seconds before turning to He Li'an. "I want to sign."

He Li'an's voice was cold. "Did you understand it? You're signing without even reading it?"

Yu An looked at him with those harmless, animal-like eyes. "No."

He didn't think there was any need to read it. He trusted He Li'an anyway, and taking his time to read it before signing would only waste time.

He was so frank and self-assured that He Li'an couldn't bring himself to say anything harsh.

"Whenever interests are involved, you can't let your feelings guide you like this." His tone was noticeably gentler than before, carrying the air of instruction. "Even if it's... me, you can't do this. If you trust others too easily, you'll suffer for it."

Yu An said, "I don't trust others easily. I only trust you easily."

He Li'an: "..."

Everything he had said had been for nothing.

This kid thought everyone was as innocent as he was. Who knew how often he would be tricked in the future?

The more He Li'an thought about it, the more worried he became. He said gravely, "If you ever come across a contract that needs signing, you must come ask me first."

"Mm." Yu An agreed readily. He didn't understand these things himself, and He Li'an was so rich that the lawyers he hired had to be the best.

Only after seeing He Li'an's relieved expression did he ask, "Can I sign now?"

He Li'an moved his hand away.

Yu An's sleeves were a little long. He tugged one up to reveal his wrist, then began signing his name.

Standing to the side, He Li'an's gaze fell on Yu An's exposed wrist. It was a little red. Looking closer, he realized they were finger marks.

"Done." After Yu An signed, he set the pen atop the contract and pushed it toward He Li'an.

There were no spare chairs at the workbench. Yu An was about to stand and let He Li'an sit down to sign, but He Li'an stopped him.

Yu An didn't hesitate and sat back down comfortably.

He was used to writing while seated. His handwriting didn't look good when he wrote standing up.

Maybe He Li'an's handwriting looked good even when he wrote standing up.

He Li'an picked up the pen. As he signed, his gaze swept over the neat printed characters, "Yu An," on the other side, and the corner of his lips curved faintly.

That signature was just like its owner—textbook-perfect in its calmness and composure.

Sure enough, the handwriting reflected the person.

Yu An's attention was entirely on He Li'an's signature.

Unlike He Li'an's gentle nature, his handwriting was sharp and forceful, full of an edge.

"How's your wrist?"

He Li'an suddenly asked this, catching Yu An off guard. "Hm?"

He Li'an had already finished signing. He reached out and pressed the red finger marks on Yu An's wrist. "Here. Does it hurt?"

Yu An shook his head.

He Li'an said quietly, "Sorry. I'll be more careful next time."

Yu An said, "Mm."

He Li'an was stunned at first, then understood that Yu An meant he had accepted the apology.

Most people would say, "It's okay," in a situation like this.

It was an unspoken courtesy in social interactions, but Yu An probably didn't have many social relationships, so he didn't really understand that kind of formal politeness.

Still, He Li'an didn't think that was a bad thing.

Yu An seemed to have a very simple personality, but he was actually someone who required others to put real thought into understanding him. That relatively unique personality would instead filter out the people around him who were insincere.

"I'll go first. Don't stay up too late." Yu An had already resumed what he had been doing before. He Li'an knew that staying any longer would only disturb him.

After several seconds, Yu An gave a distracted "Mm" without lifting his head.

He was so focused. It seemed he really liked making things by hand.

He Li'an watched silently for a moment before turning and leaving.

Just as he had thought, Yu An truly liked handicrafts.

When living alone, loneliness was an objective reality, so Yu An needed many things to pass the time.

Compared with reading and studying, handicrafts produced tangible results and offered a great deal of emotional fulfillment.

Yu An hadn't done any crafts since coming here. Once he got started again, he became somewhat engrossed.

After making one sample, he made another phone case. After thinking about it, he hand-painted a chibi Song Yuechi on it.

Yellow hair and a face with dimples whenever he smiled.

A slightly silly but sunshine-like, warm-hearted friend.

Yu An was extremely satisfied and decided to take it to school tomorrow as a gift for Song Yuechi.

Song Yuechi would definitely be happy.

The next morning, when Yu An yawned for the third time at the dining table, both He Li'an and Zhu Wen looked over.

He Li'an's clear, mellow voice rang out in his usual gentle tone. "What time did you go to sleep?"

Yu An had just stuffed a piece of flatbread into his mouth. His chewing paused as he looked at He Li'an with puffed cheeks, blinking his big eyes several times.

He Li'an said calmly, "You can finish eating before you answer."

"I went to bed very punctually." After swallowing the flatbread, Yu An immediately lowered his head.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Does one-thirty in the morning count as punctual?"

"..."

Yu An abruptly raised his head, his eyes practically screaming: How did you know?

He Li'an looked at the dark circles beneath his eyes and cruelly announced, "Starting today, the basement will be locked. Every time you want to work, come get the key from me. Then return it within the agreed time."

Yu An refused. "I don't want to!"

He was used to living alone and had never been managed by anyone. He wouldn't accept He Li'an's control.

"You don't get to decide."

"..."

This was He Li'an's territory. Of course He Li'an got to decide.

Yu An was furious.

But there was nothing Yu An could do.

On the way to school, Yu An sat beside He Li'an and stared out the window the entire time, expressing his anger by refusing eye contact or conversation.

When he got out of the car, He Li'an said, "You don't have class this afternoon. After school at noon, I'll have the driver come pick you up."

Since he had taken the initiative to speak, Yu An decided to stop being angry. He held out his hand to him. "Give me the key."

"No." He Li'an refused without hesitation.

How cold-hearted.

Yu An decided to keep being angry. "Don't have the driver pick me up at noon. I'm not going home!"

He was going to resist He Li'an.

He Li'an became interested. "If you're not going home, where are you going?"

According to information gathered from several sources, Yu An's home was far from A City. During the week he had spent recovering from his injuries, no one had called to check on him, which meant he probably had no friends either.

He Li'an was genuinely curious where Yu An planned to go to pass the time.