Attracted to Strength—Can You Understand?

The topic had shifted rather quickly. He Li'an took a moment to react before slowly answering, "Mm."

Yu An asked, "They all have ulterior motives toward you?"

He Li'an considered his wording. "Most of them."

Yu An sighed when he heard that. "Looks like there are still more bad people in this world."

He Li'an was amused by how serious he looked.

Yu An was focused on chatting with him and got a little distracted. He put too much weight on his injured foot, tugging at the wound. The pain made his leg buckle, and he pitched forward.

He Li'an swiftly reached out to catch him.

"Careful!"

He Li'an's hands supported either side of Yu An's waist. They were warm and strong, holding him steady.

With a clatter, Yu An tossed away his crutch and lifted his face from in front of He Li'an's chest. "Help me walk instead. You're more reliable than a crutch."

For some reason, He Li'an's gaze flickered away, though his voice remained calm and composed. "Mm."

After walking for a while, Yu An started feeling lazy and leaned most of his weight against He Li'an.

He Li'an thought he was tired and continued supporting him steadily. "We'll go inside after one more lap."

"Mm."

Yu An turned to look at He Li'an.

There was no sign of strain on his face.

His stamina is really good.

Yu An was a little envious, but also puzzled. Had He Li'an really not noticed that he was pretending to be tired?

He became even more brazen, pressing his weight against He Li'an. "Senior, don't you suspect I'm deliberately getting close to you?"

Without seeming to think about it at all, He Li'an replied, "You're not that kind of person."

Yu An pressed his lips together and admitted honestly, "I am."

He Li'an stopped walking and slowly looked at Yu An.

Yu An neither dodged nor avoided his gaze, allowing him to examine him. His round, bright eyes looked even more innocent and harmless beneath the lights.

After the two stared at each other for a long while, He Li'an suddenly made a baffling request. "Can I touch your head?"

Yu An did not understand what touching his head had to do with what they had been discussing.

But He Li'an's eyes looked full of longing.

Yu An reluctantly decided to indulge him. He nodded lightly, then lowered his head.

He Li'an carefully patted his head, not even mussing his hair.

"All right."

His tone sounded thoroughly satisfied.

Yu An looked up and saw the smile at the corner of He Li'an's lips. Realization dawned on him. "You don't believe what I said."

"It's not that I don't believe you." The smile at He Li'an's lips deepened as he looked at him.

"..."

That expression, like he was humoring a child, clearly meant he did not believe him.

That night, Yu An had a little trouble sleeping in an unfamiliar bed.

A change in environment naturally made people feel anxious and unsettled. It was an instinctive reaction that could not be resisted.

Yu An could not sleep. He left the bedside lamp on, stared at the ceiling with his eyes open, and began reviewing everything that had happened that day.

He had no family or friends, so it made no difference where he lived.

What mattered were his living conditions.

He needed a house of his own, as well as enough money to last him a lifetime.

His name and personal information had been verified through He Li'an, which meant his guess had been right. He should be able to make a house and money appear the same way.

And He Li'an was a very kind person who trusted others easily.

As long as he stayed by He Li'an's side and gradually made him believe that he had money and a house, everything he wanted would become reality.

What was so hard about life?

It was pretty simple, wasn't it?

Yu An had always maintained a healthy routine. Even though he had insomnia for the first half of the night, he still woke up on time in the morning.

His skin was fair, so whenever he did not sleep well, the dark circles under his eyes were especially obvious.

When he came downstairs, even Zhu Wen, who was openly hostile toward him, could not help asking, "Young Master Yu An, did you not sleep well last night?"

"Mm." Yu An looked expressionlessly at Zhu Wen. "Are you thrilled to death?"

Zhu Wen took a moment to understand what Yu An meant, then gave him a proper smile. "I am a professional butler. I do not bring my personal emotions into my work."

Yu An said, "So even if you're thrilled to death inside, you won't show it on your face."

Zhu Wen maintained his smile.

Yu An said, "You're so fake."

Zhu Wen's smile completely collapsed.

Yu An was pleased.

He Li'an happened to be coming down from behind them. Yu An turned and gave him a brilliant smile. "Morning, Senior."

"Morning." He Li'an's smile paused when he saw the dark circles under Yu An's eyes. "Trouble sleeping in an unfamiliar bed?"

Yu An nodded and explained seriously, "People naturally feel uneasy in unfamiliar environments."

He Li'an curled his lips. "So that's how it is, little panda."

His usual tone was gentle. Now, with this teasing voice and his obvious delight, he seemed even more vivid and charming.

Yu An muttered, "They're not that dark..."

He had seen pictures of pandas. The circles around their eyes were pitch-black.

"Mm." Thinking he cared deeply about it, He Li'an consoled him with a perfectly serious expression. "A warm compress will make them better later."

"All right."

During breakfast, Zhu Wen walked in from outside holding a phone and respectfully handed it to He Li'an.

"Young Master, someone from the school brought this over and said it was the phone you were looking for."

Yu An only glanced up once before freezing in shock.

That phone case with the hand-drawn faceless muscular man!

It was exactly the same as the phone he had used before!

He Li'an looked over with a complicated expression. The shock in his eyes was no less than Yu An's.

"Is this your phone?" he asked Yu An.

Yu An nodded blankly.

That tiny gesture made the atmosphere in the dining room turn subtle.

The look in Zhu Wen's eyes changed in an instant as well.

Yu An instinctively felt that they might have misunderstood something.

He tried to explain. "I'm attracted to strength. Can you understand?"

When he was little, his plan had been to grow into a strong adult.

But plans could not keep up with change.

The room fell silent for three seconds.

He Li'an nodded with a solemn expression. "I understand."

Zhu Wen looked at He Li'an in shock. He could not believe his young master could lie so blatantly with his eyes open.

As a professional butler, he absolutely could not hold his young master back.

He copied He Li'an's expression and said against his conscience, "I understand."

Yu An felt that something was off.

But what exactly was it?

After breakfast, He Li'an went to school.

Once Yu An had the phone, he inspected it inside and out.

The phone case was right.

The apps on the phone were right too.

This was the phone he had used before he entered the novel!

Had the phone entered the novel with him? Or could things that already existed not be made up out of thin air?

"Young Master Yu An."

Zhu Wen's voice suddenly rang out. Yu An jolted, nearly dropping his phone.

He frowned and looked over. Zhu Wen was walking toward him with a tablet and a stack of materials.

"These are course materials and videos that Young Master had someone retrieve from the school."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you need to study properly at home as well."

Zhu Wen spread out the materials for him and turned on the video. With earnest sincerity, he said, "Young Master Yu An, a partner worthy of our young master must be an outstanding student in both character and academics."

Yu An: "?"