The two ate with their own worries on their minds.
Unfortunately, Xia Shule was straightforward and couldn't keep anything bottled up.
"Ugh!" Xia Shule set his bowl down hard and let out a heavy sigh.
He really couldn't handle the Jiang Gechen situation alone. If President Yan was only going through the motions, he would really have to go begging!
Across from him, Yan Zhiyi looked puzzled by his behavior.
Xia Shule figured the gardener couldn't solve his problems, either. All he could do was talk and vent a little.
So...
"Help me figure something out. You saw me when I was hurt, and you helped me, right?"
"Then, when I woke up in the hospital, my mom told me President Yan would investigate it. But it's been two days, and there's still no news. That's why I asked you whether President Yan was busy earlier. I wanted to know if he was looking into it."
"Turns out you don't know, either. Sorry for putting you on the spot. But I just can't settle down! I blurted it out that night, so you know Jiang Gechen wants to kill me. If President Yan doesn't help, there's no way I can do it alone!"
"Do you think President Yan will actually investigate, or was he just being polite? Help me figure it out."
Confusion filled the young man's face. He genuinely wanted an answer, his innocence almost endearingly foolish. His large eyes rested on the stern man opposite him, the confusion and unease in them dimming their usual sparkle.
Something stirred in Yan Zhiyi's heart. Had he misunderstood him? Had Xia Shule only wanted to ask whether he had investigated the incident?
Those eyes again. Every time their gazes met, they seemed capable of drawing him in. How could someone like this be scheming? He had simply overthought it.
He really was investigating the incident. It was just that Jiang Gechen had cleverly avoided the cameras, and much of the physical evidence was difficult to find. Some of it was still being tested.
Yan Zhiyi gazed at the young man opposite him with deep eyes. "President Yan always does what he says."
"Oh, that's good." Although the man was only a gardener, he was at least the Yan Family's gardener. He certainly knew President Yan better than Xia Shule did.
Hearing him say that really did ease Xia Shule's mind a little.
Xia Shule figured that, with the gardener's quiet personality, he wouldn't go telling other people even if Xia Shule shared a few things with him.
"Is your job tiring? Do they treat you well? Did you get yelled at after I left that day?" With nothing else to do, Xia Shule started making small talk.
Yan Zhiyi ate elegantly. Every movement carried an air of nobility, while an innate coldness and distance surrounded him, as though he didn't belong in this world.
He didn't look like an ordinary gardener. He looked more like some family's wealthy young heir.
Oblivious as he was, Xia Shule didn't think much of it. He simply found every movement pleasing to watch.
Yan Zhiyi swallowed a bite of fish, his voice cool. "It's all right. The compensation is good. I didn't get yelled at."
Xia Shule: "..."
This wasn't a gardener. This was a lord who needed waiting on.
There were fewer words coming out of him than dishes on the table... Had spending every day trimming flowers alone caused his vocal cords to atrophy?
Sensing Xia Shule's speechlessness, Yan Zhiyi added, "Thanks to you speaking up for me."
"Hmph~" Xia Shule gave a haughty little snort, looking utterly smug. "It was nothing. Don't mention it."
He hadn't learned what he wanted today, so Xia Shule had come away empty-handed. He needed to find time to visit Grandpa Yan soon, build a good relationship with him, and get to know President Yan. Otherwise, he would run out of time.
The gardener didn't like talking. Xia Shule simply assumed he wasn't used to it after working alone for so long without speaking to others, so he stopped trying to find topics, and they finished their meal quietly.
The man had saved his life. He wanted to make him as comfortable as possible.
They walked out together. Xia Shule had actually wanted to ask about President Yan's relationship status, but the gardener didn't even know whether President Yan was busy. There was even less chance he would know about that, so Xia Shule reluctantly gave up.
As they passed the front desk, Xia Shule raised his voice slightly. "Lao Zhu, take it off my card!"
"Sure thing, Xiaxia!"
He glanced back at Yan Zhiyi. "My treat, my great savior!"
Xia Shule smiled at him, radiating youthful energy and a naturally haughty silliness. With his eyes curved in a smile, he looked captivating.
That smile dazzled Yan Zhiyi. Both this young man's eyes and his smile held an attraction for him. It was a kind of vitality.
I should find a chance to tell him I'm President Yan.
He was such an innocent kid. Yan Zhiyi couldn't bear to keep deceiving him.
The moment the words "couldn't bear to" appeared in Yan Zhiyi's mind, he jolted.
He could actually have a thought like that. It had never happened before.
"Well, well~ Xia Shule!" Lin Yushan approached with two others, his tone mocking. "What's this? Finally too ashamed to keep chasing Jiang Gechen? Makes sense. He's never thought much of you!"
The voice came suddenly, interrupting Yan Zhiyi before he could think any further. Before him stood three people who looked about Xia Shule's age, their expressions irritating to look at.
Before Xia Shule could even put away his smile, he spotted several stomach-turning faces.
Lin Yushan and his two lackeys. Now that was a long story.
This particular piece of work had been at odds with him since high school, right up to the present. Lin Yushan had been in the honors class, earned good grades, and was fairly popular.
He was thoroughly girly, and his family had raised him like a girl, too. Originally, their paths had never crossed. Then, in a school vote, Xia Shule beat Lin Yushan by four votes.
From then on, Lin Yushan held a grudge against him. He had to target Xia Shule and put him down over absolutely everything, as though he couldn't feel comfortable otherwise. Whenever there was anything that could embarrass Xia Shule, he was always the first to arrive.
To harbor that much hostility toward someone he had never even met-Xia Shule wasn't a pushover, either. In front of a crowd, he tore Lin Yushan down until he was worth nothing.
The two had kept fighting like that for three years.
This was their first encounter since Xia Shule returned to the country, and Lin Yushan was as sharp-tongued and spiteful as ever.
"If you like him, go get him. Have eight sons for him." Xia Shule switched into combat mode, his smile vanishing.
"Are you sick in the head?! I'm a freaking man! How am I supposed to give birth?" Lin Yushan planted his hands on his hips and lifted his chin, looking every bit as nasty as he sounded.
Xia Shule looked him up and down, finally stopping at one particular spot. "Get a sex change. Cut it off. It's useless anyway. If that doesn't work, go die. Give yourself another chance to choose your sex."
"Xia Shule, are you sick in the head?! Getting dumped must've driven you crazy!"
"Is 'sick in the head' the only insult you know? You're the sick one, coming up here and running your nasty mouth. Were you feeling empty without me around these past two years?"
"Screw you! Whatever, I won't hold it against you. You're pretty pitiful, too. Following him around like a dog, and in the end... oh my~~ Don't you have any shame? Even if you stripped naked, he wouldn't spare you a glance."
Xia Shule: "..."
Xia Shule said, "I'm not an exhibitionist. Why would I strip naked? You seem like one, though..."
Under Xia Shule's strange gaze, Lin Yushan felt uncomfortable all over. Usually, the slightest mention of Jiang Gechen made him explode. Why hadn't he exploded today?
Out of the corner of his eye, Lin Yushan noticed a tall man beside Xia Shule and turned to look. The man stood straight and tall, with deep-set features that instantly took his breath away.
But when he saw the man's clothes, Lin Yushan's expression changed again. He had to stay far away from a pauper like this. He couldn't let that stench of poverty rub off on him!
He was handsome enough, but far too shabby.
Oh my god! Could he be a pretty boy Xia Shule was keeping?
At this revelation, Lin Yushan covered his mouth in shock!
The gesture startled Xia Shule. "Are you having a fit?"
"Oh my god, Xia Shule! Have you sunk this low? You couldn't get Jiang Gechen, so you kept a pretty boy instead. And such a shabby one... Seeing you like this makes me so happy. A completely useless man like him is perfect for you." As he spoke, he even pinched his nose, as though he really could smell poverty on him.
Yan Zhiyi had been quietly watching Xia Shule trade insults. That little mouth looked beautiful when he smiled, but the words coming out of it were sharp enough to sting.
Before he could react, Xia Shule grabbed Yan Zhiyi's wrist and pulled him behind himself. His small frame stood in front of Yan Zhiyi's large body, though he couldn't actually shield any of him.
Like a fledgling protecting a hawk, it was adorable and heartwarming.
Yan Zhiyi lowered his gaze to the whorl of hair on Xia Shule's head. This was the second time. A feeling he had never experienced before, and Xia Shule had now given it to him twice.
Xia Shule didn't care if someone insulted him, but insulting someone else made his temper explode. Especially the gardener. The man worked diligently and earned an honest living, yet in Lin Yushan's mouth, he had become a kept pretty boy?
"Are you spewing shit? You open your mouth and start making up dirty rumors. Is your brain full of crap? And you were in the honors class? Did all that education go straight down the drain?"
"You're the one spewing shit! Your brain's full of crap! Your education went down the drain! Why are you so disgusting? The truth hit a nerve, didn't it?" Lin Yushan looked smug.
"Even if I were keeping him, I could give him a good life forever. A much better life than yours. But he earns his living with his own skills and has a proper job, and that makes him useless in your eyes? If you want to insult me, insult me. Leave other people out of it!"
Every word Xia Shule spoke rang firm and clear, striking Yan Zhiyi squarely in the heart.
Funny, really. This was the first time in his life he had experienced the feeling of being defended...