By the time they returned to the Ye house, it was already past ten at night.
Jiang Yun and Yu Ting were heading back to Haicheng tonight. Both of them were extremely busy people there, and it was rare for them to squeeze out a day to come to the capital to check in on Shen Shi. They had originally thought they might also get a glimpse of Ye Ran, who was being strictly protected by the Shen family but in the end, they didn’t see him at all, though they did get plenty of gossip.
After sending them onto their plane, Shen Shi didn’t go back to the company. He went straight to the Ye house.
The Ye house glowed warmly, with soft orange lights lit across the first and second floors.
Shen Shi pushed open the door. He was holding his suit jacket, and a few strands of hair on his forehead had been tousled by the wind, lying across his brow bone. He looked a little careless, softening the cold aura he usually carried.
His movements weren’t loud. The two people talking in the living room didn’t hear him enter.
Chen Ma had also been brought over from Haicheng this time. She was an excellent cook, well-versed in all eight major cuisines. She hadn’t understood why Shen Shi suddenly brought her over too until she saw how thin Ye Ran had become. She couldn’t help herself; all she wanted was to feed him and fatten him up a bit.
Ye Ran wasn’t picky at all, very easy to cook for.
He hadn’t eaten dinner tonight, so Chen Ma had specially made vegetable porridge, light and mild, just to his taste. She was trying to persuade him to eat some.
Ye Ran truly had no appetite. He softly refused, “Chen Ma, I’m really not hungry. If I eat now, I won’t be able to sleep later.”
“How can you not be hungry?” Chen Ma fretted. “You haven’t eaten anything since one o’clock, just drank a little water. If you can’t sleep, it’ll only be because you’re starving…”
Ye Ran listened quietly. He was holding a mug, probably having come downstairs to get water. He stood at the bottom of the staircase, head lowered. The warm yellow light at the landing spilled over him, illuminating his clear, dark eyes, the soft black hair at his nape, and his slim, pale wrist where the bones were clearly visible.
He had grown terribly thin lately.
Like a stumbling little kitten, pitiful and soft. When someone looked at him, he would show those gentle dark eyes and behave sweetly; but the moment no one watched him, he would stick out his small tongue, curl up in a corner, and weakly lick his wounds.
Shen Shi withdrew his gaze calmly. He shifted his suit jacket over his arm, deliberately making his footsteps heavier as he walked toward the living room. Immediately, he drew the attention of both people inside.
“Young Master!” Chen Ma called out.
“Mm.” Shen Shi responded. Seeing the steaming porridge in her hands, he asked, “He hasn’t eaten yet?”
He lifted his eyes slightly and looked at Ye Ran.
That single glance, dark and deep, made Ye Ran’s heart jolt inexplicably. His fingertips tightened around the stair railing. He was about to speak when he heard Shen Shi say:
“Chen Ma, heat a bowl for me too.”
Ye Ran paused and quietly closed his mouth.
Chen Ma, however, was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, of course. I made a whole pot, more than enough!”
The two of them walked into the dining room one after the other.
Father and Mother Shen were not home today. The Shen family had many connections in the capital from earlier years, and all of them were Father Shen’s. He needed to maintain those ties. These days, only Ye Ran was home. When he had free time, he sketched. When he felt low, he tended to the flowers in the garden.
He had hardly slept last night, painting on the balcony until very late. When he woke up today, his head ached. He’d felt unwell the whole day, his stomach aching with hunger, but he still couldn’t bring himself to eat. Listless, without spirit.
Ye Ran planned to take his temperature after eating.
The fragrant porridge melted the moment it touched his tongue. After a whole day of dryness, his tastebuds welcomed the warm food, and before he realized it, he had eaten quite a bit.
Full and warm, he became much more docile, sitting quietly. His eyes were faintly tinged red, long lashes lowered as he waited for Shen Shi to finish eating.
Shen Shi ate slowly. The dining room lighting was warm.
Chen Ma washed the dishes in the kitchen. The Ye house was old; when it was renovated, they hadn’t installed a dishwasher. With only Ye Ran and his father at home for years, there hadn’t been enough dishes to justify one anyway.
Listening to the gentle sound of running water from the kitchen, Ye Ran who had been sleepless for a week felt his nerves gradually ease. It was like being brushed by soft feathers; his limbs loosened, and all he wanted was to sleep, to forget the heaviness and tension that had weighed on him for the past half-year.
When Chen Ma finished the dishes and came out of the kitchen, she looked up to see Ye Ran sitting on the bench, elbow propped on the table, head nodding, his eyelids drooping shut before he jerked awake, only to repeat the cycle again and again, groggily falling asleep at the table.
She couldn’t help but laugh softly, her heart melting completely.
On the other side, Shen Shi continued eating with no reaction at all. He didn’t even lift an eyelid, cold, distant, as if he hadn’t seen Ye Ran struggling to stay awake, waiting for him to finish.
That bowl of porridge took him so long to finish that Chen Ma began to suspect something was wrong.
She walked toward him, wanting to ask if his stomach was upset. But after only a few steps, a shadow blurred her vision—
Ye Ran, fast asleep, suddenly slumped sideways, about to fall.
Chen Ma’s mind went blank. She gasped.
The next second, a pale, slender hand lifted smoothly, supporting Ye Ran’s back. The man beside him had already put down his bowl at some point. Like a lion finished with his meal, he leaned forward, dark gaze settling on Ye Ran’s face as he lifted him into his arms.
Chen Ma finally reacted and hurried over, heart pounding. “Is—Is he okay? Oh, my little young master, how did you fall asleep in the middle of eating…”
Even with all the commotion, Ye Ran didn’t wake.
He slept very sweetly, a gentle flush on his cheeks. Pressed against Shen Shi’s solid chest, his black hair brushed his face, making his skin look even more jade-like. His lips were tinged a soft, unusual red.
Shen Shi held him by the waist absent-mindedly, thinking that one arm really could encircle that waist completely. If he used just a little more strength, it felt like he could break it.
Too thin.
He thought silently.
His face remained expressionless. After softly reassuring Chen Ma, he carried Ye Ran upstairs under her relieved gaze.
—
The hallway on the second floor was carpeted in wool.
Ye Ran’s bedroom door wasn’t closed, just slightly ajar, warm light spilling through the gap.
Shen Shi walked in, looking around. He could vaguely see how this room had accompanied little Ye Ran, from boy to young man.
Flower paintings taped to the wall, a basketball in the corner, Ultraman figurines, a plush rocking horse… all of it dividing the room into two eras at once.
He lowered his head to the sleeping boy in his arms. His eyes darkened with an indistinct hint of a smile.
…Sentimental.
He couldn’t bear to throw anything away, leaving the room warm and crowded, full of a sense of safety.
The large bed was pushed up against the wall.
Shen Shi stepped around scattered sketch papers and oil pastels, bending down to place Ye Ran gently onto the bed.
Soft footsteps approached behind him. Chen Ma, having removed her apron, followed but did not step inside, simply standing at the door with heartache in her eyes as she looked at Ye Ran and sighed.
Shen Shi straightened slowly, shadows draping over him like dark ink, enveloping Ye Ran entirely. Ye Ran’s cheeks were still red. He lay quietly under the blanket, fast asleep.
Yet even in his dreams, he didn’t look peaceful, his brows knitted, his expression weary and pitiful, like a little cat.
Soon, he seemed to sense something. Half of his body lay in the shadow cast by Shen Shi’s figure. He curled inward, eyes reddening in distress even in sleep.
Chen Ma felt her heart twist. “Oh, little young master…”
She knew everything that had happened to the Ye family and felt even more protective of Ye Ran because of it.
Such a young child, just out of the ivory tower of school, suddenly forced to hold up a collapsing family in the storm. Before Ye Huaishan could wake, he was pressured into a political marriage with a man.
Even now, he couldn’t sleep peacefully, his dreams full of the suffocating reality waiting for him.
Shen Shi still didn’t move. He stood beside the bed, coldly watching Ye Ran quietly sob into the blanket. Chen Ma had wanted to say something, but seeing his expression, she instantly fell silent.
…She had forgotten, Shen Shi hated it when people cried.
Chen Ma wanted to defend Ye Ran, but figured that if Ye Ran couldn’t even vent in his dreams, it would be even worse. So she kept her mouth shut.
By the time they left the room, Ye Ran’s eyelashes were still damp, a faint gray shadow beneath his eyes.
Chen Ma wanted to look again, but Shen Shi closed the door behind them.
“Young Master… can’t we help the little young master with the things happening at his home…” Chen Ma hesitated.
Before she could finish, Shen Shi glanced at her lightly. His eyes were cold. The tailored shirt outlined his sharp, elegant figure. One look was enough to silence Chen Ma.
Then, unexpectedly, he spoke, voice mild:
“Wait.”
Chen Ma froze.
Shen Shi said, “Not yet.”
He wanted Ye Ran to remember—
No matter what happened, it wasn’t worth sacrificing his own life to repay.
—
Half an hour later, the house was silent.
Shen Shi left his own room.
The second-floor hallway was dark.
Chen Ma had turned off the lights when she left.
Her stunned expression still lingered in his mind, she must have thought he was too heartless. She had trembled, pointing at him, unable to speak.
Shen Shi walked through the darkness step by step until he stopped firmly in front of Ye Ran’s room.
The door wasn’t locked. He pushed it open. Warm yellow light spilled onto the floor. The figure on the bed, exhausted from crying, slept curled under the blanket.
The pillowcase was soaked. Ye Ran’s eyes were closed, lashes lowered, eyelids faintly swollen and tinged red.
Shen Shi dimmed the lights and sat beside the bed.
The mattress dipped.
Silently, he pulled out a wet tissue. His cold profile softened under the warm light as he leaned over, gently wiping away the tear stains from under Ye Ran’s eyes, slow, delicate movements, from clumsy at first to practiced. Only when Ye Ran’s face was clean again did he stop.
…He really could cry.
In the dim glow, his gaze deepened. With a touch of helplessness, he reached out and lightly brushed Ye Ran’s swollen eyelids.
If he keeps crying…
He wouldn’t have the heart to punish him anymore.
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