There Was No One Named Yu An

Yu An shook his head.

Saying it didn't suit his tastes wasn't quite right.

He had learned to cook for himself long ago.

He followed officially published dietary guidelines, precisely measuring ingredients and balancing nutrition before cooking.

Only the simplest oil and salt were needed for seasoning. Using the simplest cooking methods, the finished dish should still show the ingredients in their original form. That was the most nutritious and healthy way.

And the safest.

The dishes on the table before him looked lavish and delicious.

They also appeared to retain the ingredients' original forms, but they carried unfamiliar aromas of spices.

Yu An felt they were unsafe and couldn't bring himself to eat them.

Yu An had very round eyes, with slightly drooping outer corners and broad eyelid curves that made him seem innocent. When he silently looked at someone, even without any emotional fluctuation, he appeared somewhat aggrieved.

He Li'an couldn't bear to press him further. "How about having them remake the dishes?"

Yu An nodded.

Only then did He Li'an's lips curl slightly as he instructed Zhu Wen to call the chef and have the meal remade.

From an angle He Li'an couldn't see, Zhu Wen's gaze at Yu An became even more displeased.

While the chef remade the dishes, Yu An stood guard nearby, directing every step one by one. At last, they made food that felt familiar and reassuring to him.

His appetite was small, and he ate only half as much as He Li'an. Once he was full, he set down his chopsticks.

He Li'an frowned at the sight, but he didn't urge him to eat more. He merely told Zhu Wen to serve fruit after the meal.

Thanks to their earlier experience with cooking, the post-meal fruit was freshly cut and had nothing added to it.

Seeing that Yu An no longer found fault with anything, He Li'an said, "The student council has something this afternoon, so I need to go to the university. If you need anything, you can find Zhu Wen or call me."

Yu An directly ignored the part about finding Zhu Wen. "I don't have a phone."

Only after saying it did he remember that, given his family background of "three chandeliers in the living room," not having a phone sounded highly illogical.

So he added, "Someone knocked it out of my hand at the university gate earlier."

Guilt flashed through He Li'an's eyes. "I'll look for it when I get to the university. For now, use the landline at home."

There had to be plenty of important information on his phone. He had to help Yu An get it back.

Yu An paused before saying, "All right."

He Li'an was really too trusting.

No wonder the protagonist still couldn't forget He Li'an years after graduating.

What a pity. Good people didn't live long.

Yu An had a habit of taking walks after meals.

He Li'an had gone to the university, leaving him and Zhu Wen staring each other down.

Zhu Wen smiled. "Young Master Yu An, I'll take you out for a walk."

Yu An saw the wariness and hostility behind his smile. Expressionlessly, he asked, "Are you going to push me into the artificial lake behind the house and drown me?"

When He Li'an had shown him around earlier, he had seen the artificial lake behind the house.

The lake water was jade-green and unfathomably deep.

If he were thrown in, he definitely wouldn't be able to touch the bottom.

Most importantly, he couldn't swim, and Zhu Wen had a problem with him.

Zhu Wen's smile froze. "W-what?"

Yu An said, "You hate me, don't you?"

Facing his clear, certain gaze, Zhu Wen's expression turned slightly cold. "I do, but—"

Yu An didn't want to hear his excuses. "I don't really want to die right now."

Zhu Wen said, "I..."

Yu An said, "So I won't give you the chance."

Zhu Wen said, "..."

After being interrupted twice in a row, Zhu Wen silently recited the butler's code of conduct to himself and maintained his smile.

"Young Master Yu An, I graduated from the world's most prestigious Royal Butler Academy. My professional ethics would never allow me to do anything that endangered your life. Please believe me."

"Don't ask. I don't."

"..."

The smile on Zhu Wen's face froze again.

He was certain now that Yu An's way of thinking differed from anyone else he had encountered. He chose to give up trying to communicate with Yu An.

He stepped aside and made a welcoming gesture, indicating that Yu An could go out by himself.

Yu An maneuvered his wheelchair past Zhu Wen, then stopped again and slowly looked back. "Will you attack me from behind?"

Zhu Wen inclined his head, his expression unreadable. "No, Young Master Yu An. I have professional ethics."

Yu An tilted his head.

It was a habitual gesture he made when thinking.

Unfortunately, from this angle, he couldn't see Zhu Wen's expression and couldn't tell whether his words were true or false.

Yu An circled around the house a few times and somehow ended up by the artificial lake.

The scenery around the artificial lake was beautiful.

He looked around. Other than several groups of security guards patrolling in the distance, Zhu Wen was nowhere to be seen.

So he went to the lake's edge with peace of mind.

Ripples spread across the lake's surface. There seemed to be fish in it.

Yu An carefully parked his wheelchair at the edge of the shore and focused on watching the fish in the water.

Before long, schools of fish swam over.

At the same time, a reflection that didn't belong to him appeared on the lake's surface.

The smile tugging at his lips froze.

The next second, Zhu Wen's cold, heavy voice rang out.

"Young Master Yu An, be careful!"

Someone gave the wheelchair a hard shove. Just as half of it hung suspended in the air, someone grabbed it and pulled it back.

Yu An reacted quickly, gripping the wheelchair's armrests tightly. When he turned around, he saw Zhu Wen's icy expression.

"I looked into the records of Saint Birien University. Among the young master's direct junior schoolmates from his first year, there is no one named Yu An. Who exactly are you? What are you trying to do by approaching the young master?"

So he was a butler with brains and methods after all.

Yu An liked dealing with intelligent people.

Sitting in the precarious wheelchair, not a trace of panic showed in his eyes. "Look again. Maybe you'll find one."

If his name could appear on the badge, then his guess couldn't possibly be wrong.

As for why Zhu Wen hadn't been able to find his records, perhaps it was because of a time discrepancy.

Maybe his identity needed further confirmation from He Li'an before it could be found.

Zhu Wen was startled by his calmness. "What do you mean?"

Yu An curved his lips and smiled at him. "There's no time to explain. You should first think about how you'll apologize to He Li'an when he gets back."

As soon as he finished speaking, before Zhu Wen could react, Yu An let go, and his entire body slid straight into the lake.

With a splash, Yu An's body sank out of sight.

Zhu Wen's expression changed drastically. "Young Master Yu An!"

At the bottom of the lake, Yu An relaxed his body and held his breath, feeling the pressure of water closing in from all directions.

Only after seeing someone jump into the water did he begin to breathe.

Water rushed into his lungs. He struggled to catch his breath, seized by a powerful sense of suffocation.

His head began to hurt, and his vision gradually blurred.

Before losing consciousness, Yu An was still thinking, Drowning feels exactly like the books said it would.

When he woke again, Yu An still found it somewhat difficult to breathe.

An argument drifted in from beyond the half-open door.

"Young master, you truly can't keep trusting others so easily. Have you forgotten those people before, who approached you for your wealth and intended to harm you?"

"Besides, Yu An is really abnormal. I can't even communicate with him..."