Chapter 54
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
After knowing the location of the Peace Boxing Club, Lou Yan didn’t rush to go there. Half an hour later, they finally returned home as a group.
As soon as Li Sanxin opened the door, Lu Haoxiu rushed in like an excited little puppy returning home, “Wow, home is still the best!”
Opening the windows for ventilation, Li Sanxin joked, “What’s this called? A golden nest is not as good as one’s own dog’s kennel.”
“You can hardly call this a kennel,” Duan Zege walked to the sofa and leaned back, collapsing like a pancake, lazily saying, “It’s clean everywhere, you can’t even see any dust. Since I moved in, I’ve never seen it messy. Li Sanxin, listen to my advice, being a clean freak is tiring.”
Li Sanxin walked over and kicked him off the sofa onto the floor, smiling but not smiling, “Go take a shower, your butt is as dirty as a monkey’s, don’t dirty my sofa.”
Duan Zege, caught off guard, fell to the floor, his face directly against the ground. Li Sanxin had expected this person to at least have some shame. But he didn’t expect that Duan Zege would slowly change position on the floor, propping his head on his arm and yawning leisurely, “Comfortable, this floor is not bad, cleaner than me.”
Li Sanxin was speechless, “Duan Zege, can’t you have a bit of shame?”
Duan Zege took off his hat to cover his face, then casually patted the floor beside him, inviting, “Why don’t you lie down and try it too?”
Li Sanxin rolled his eyes, then turned to look at Lu Haoxiu, who was smiling. He said sternly, “You too, go take a shower and change your clothes, don’t just stand here watching the show.”
“Okay.”
Lu Haoxiu didn’t dare to provoke the head of the household who cooked, immediately stood upright, his voice loud. He didn’t stay to watch the fun either, after turning on the TV to put on a cartoon for Little Yu, he went into the room to take a shower with his change of clothes, only to find that the bathroom in Li Sanxin’s room was already lit up.
Lou Yan wiped his face, his voice muffled with moisture, unclear, “I’m in here.”
Lu Haoxiu said, “Okay, then I’ll go to Brother Li’s room to shower.”
Lou Yan chuckled, his tone teasing as it passed through the bathroom door to Lu Haoxiu’s ears, “I don’t mind showering with you, want to come in?”
Lu Haoxiu was stunned for a moment, rubbed his itchy ears, then ran to Li Sanxin’s room in a flash, feeling somewhat like he was fleeing in haste, “No need, Brother Lou, I can do it myself. I’ll go to Brother Li’s bathroom!”
In the bathroom, Lou Yan laughed out loud when he heard Lu Haoxiu’s breathless words.
He lifted his black hair, the hot water streaming through his hair, flowing past his sharp eyebrows, neck, the muscles of his chest and abdomen… In the billowing white mist, Lou Yan’s black hair and eyebrows were faintly visible.
The hot water relaxed the scalp nerves and muscles all over his body. Lou Yan propped his hands on the white tiled wall, closed his eyes, and enjoyed the warmth of the water.
The gauze wrapped around his right hand was washed away by the water and fell to the ground. Lou Yan opened his eyes, expecting to see the unhealed crack in his palm, but to his surprise, his palm was smooth, and the crack had healed at some point.
Lou Yan was stunned, he tentatively pinched his palm, feeling a small protruding bone under the skin, which remained motionless.
Lou Yan then pinched the bones of his arms and shoulders. The bones that had been eager to break free and emerge when he was in Liushu Village were now quiet and still, as if the feeling of impending resurrection he had before was just an illusion.
What’s going on?
Lou Yan pondered for a long time but couldn’t figure out what was going on. He suspiciously checked his whole body but didn’t see anything unusual.
It felt really good, completely relaxed all over. The dangerous anomaly power within his body was unusually calm, and Lou Yan felt as if the heaviness and suppression brought about by the resurgence of the anomaly power had disappeared. He even had a feeling that he could freely use the anomaly powers like bone spikes.
Lou Yan’s gaze was complex, showing some surprise but more alertness. “Strange… what’s going on?”
When he left Liushu Village at 10:40 in the morning, there were still cracks on his hands. Now, it was only three hours later, at 1:30 in the afternoon, yet his physical condition had completely changed.
Lou Yan pondered for a while but couldn’t figure out what was going on. He skeptically checked his whole body but didn’t see anything unusual.
He also lost the mood to continue soaking, quickly washed up, then came out of the shower, and dried off the water droplets from his body with a towel. He casually wrapped the towel around his waist and walked to the mirror.
The freshly washed clothes were placed on the sink. Lou Yan didn’t hurry to put them on, instead picked up the hairdryer and started blowing his hair.
As soon as the hairdryer started, Li Sanxin’s voice came from outside, “Yan Zi, finished showering?”
Lou Yan responded, “Do you want to come in and shower?”
“Yep,” Li Sanxin said, “There are only two bathrooms at home, and we can’t even queue up. I’m coming in.”
Lou Yan flicked his hair lazily and said, “Come in.”
The bathroom door opened with a sound, and Li Sanxin walked in to see Lou Yan standing shirtless in front of the mirror, blow-drying his hair. He whistled and walked over with a smile, about to take off his clothes, when he noticed the tattoo on Lou Yan’s back.
“Yan Zi, when did you get a tattoo on your back?” Li Sanxin frowned, leaning in to ask.
Tattoo?
Lou Yan turned his head to try to see what was on his back, but he didn’t see anything. “Take a picture for me to see.”
Li Sanxin nodded and took out his phone to take a picture. Lou Yan took the photo and looked at it, seeing a blood-red coffin tattoo about five centimeters in size between his shoulder blades. On his fair back, this blood-red tattoo looked extremely conspicuous and somewhat strange.
“This tattoo looks like a red coffin,” Lou Yan reached back and touched his back, feeling nothing from the tattoo. He had a hunch that this tattoo could be troublesome. “When did this appear on my body…?”
Suddenly, Lou Yan thought of the inexplicable quietness of the bones in his body, and he couldn’t help but associate it with this red coffin tattoo: Could it be that this red coffin tattoo suppressed the resurgence of the anomaly power in his body?
But the red coffin was also strange. Could this red coffin tattoo bring him such a good thing?
Lou Yan furrowed his brows, and Li Sanxin patted his shoulder, looking worried. “The hairdryer is almost frying your hair. Don’t think about it for now. Let Duan Zege do a divination for you later to see what this thing is.”
Lou Yan nodded, turned off the hairdryer, and placed it aside. “You go take a shower first.”
Exiting the bathroom, Lou Yan went straight to find Duan Zege. Duan Zege was still lying on the living room floor, with his hat covering his face, not knowing if he was asleep.
Lou Yan tentatively called out, “Duan Zege?”
Duan Zege let out a long “Mmm” sound, his hoarse voice mixed with sleepiness, “What’s up?”
Lou Yan sat down on the sofa, not saying anything yet, but Duan Zege removed his hat, turned to look at him, and twitched his nose. “Finished showering? You smell good.”
“It’ll be your turn soon,” Lou Yan lightly kicked his arm, “Get up, I need to ask you something.”
Duan Zege slowly sat up from the floor, slower than an elderly person. He didn’t go to the sofa but leaned against it, asking, “What’s up?”
Lou Yan handed him the photo Li Sanxin had just taken and said, “I found a tattoo on my back. Can you do a divination for me to see what this thing is?”
Duan Zege looked at the photo for a while and clicked his tongue twice. “Lou Yan, you have a good figure.”
Before Lou Yan could respond, Duan Zege became serious in an instant, carefully examining the tattoo. He hesitated and said, “If I’m not mistaken, isn’t this the red coffin that swallowed you before?”
“Yes,” Lou Yan picked up an apple freshly washed by Li Sanxin from the coffee table and took a bite, pondering between his brows, “This tattoo seems to have suppressed the anomaly resurgence in my body.”
“Suppressed your anomaly resurgence?!” Duan Zege was surprised.
His voice startled Little Yu, who was focused on watching cartoons next to them. Little Yu shivered and looked at them with confusion.
Lou Yan gave Duan Zege a disdainful look, picked up an apple, and stuffed it into Little Yu’s hand. Then, he grabbed Duan Zege’s collar and pulled him onto the balcony. “Keep your voice down. This is just my guess. Whether this tattoo is good or bad, I need you to divine it for me.”
Duan Zege shrugged and handed the phone back to Lou Yan. “I can’t do a divination today, I’m out of mental energy.”
This was beyond Lou Yan’s expectations. He raised an eyebrow and gave Duan Zege a quick once-over. “What have you been doing today?”
“When I was in Liushu Village, I used up all my divinations,” Duan Zege sighed, “Later on, I’ve been running around with the villagers dealing with the anomalies, so I haven’t rested much. When everything was over, you, Li Sanxin, and Lu Haoxiu were all asleep, but I didn’t feel at ease, so I stayed up all night. Until now, I only slept for about an hour in the car, and my mental energy hasn’t recovered to five points yet. As for divination, I really need to wait until I’ve rested enough.”
After hearing this, Lou Yan felt a strange emotion in his heart.
He clicked his tongue uncomfortably, turned his head away from Duan Zege, looking indifferent, but somehow feeling awkward. “Next time, don’t sacrifice yourself like this. Rest when you need to rest. No one asked you to stay up all night. What’s the point of your self-sacrifice?”
Duan Zege looked at him motionlessly for a while, then suddenly laughed softly. This person’s vocal cords were damaged, and his face was ruined, but when he laughed like this, there was a charm that made people’s ears itch. “Lou Yan, are you concerned about me?”
Lou Yan sneered, about to speak, but Duan Zege interrupted him, continuing to speak to himself, “I’m quite happy.”
“…” Lou Yan was speechless.
Duan Zege looked deeply at Lou Yan. The distance between him and Lou Yan was only half a meter, which wasn’t very close, but Duan Zege didn’t make any move to get closer to Lou Yan. He maintained this half-meter distance and asked in a clear voice, “Do you trust me now?”
Lou Yan glanced at Duan Zege, then looked at the balcony where Li Sanxin had planted several pots of flowers. A yellow butterfly was fluttering around a pot of orchids, looking very happy. Lou Yan turned his head and looked at the living room.
In the living room, the TV was playing a cartoon with anthropomorphic sheep on a spring outing, holding hands and singing. There was even an elephant mixed in. Outside the TV, Little Yu was watching the cartoon attentively, munching on an apple, and drinking milk when thirsty.
Finally, Lou Yan turned his head back and looked straight at Duan Zege. He said very reluctantly, “Hmm, just a little.”
Duan Zege smiled, “A little is good enough.”
The two of them chatted on the balcony for a while, and soon Lu Haoxiu came out all wet, with a towel wrapped around his head, exuding a youthful and energetic vibe with a layer of misty water vapor. His voice was loud, “Brother Duan, it’s your turn, remember to clean up after you shower!”
Duan Zege sighed and casually draped a towel from the hanger over his shoulder, slowly shuffling over in his slippers. “Got it.”
Lu Haoxiu took out two bottles of cola from the fridge, tossing one to Lou Yan. “Brother Lou, what should we have for dinner tonight?”
“Let’s eat out,” Lou Yan twisted open the cola bottle and took a sip, the icy bubbles instantly cooling his throat down to his stomach, “I know a nice private restaurant.”
“Great,” Lu Haoxiu turned to look at Little Yu, then suddenly frowned, looking hesitant, “Brother Lou, Little Yu hasn’t showered yet, what should we do?”
Lou Yan also glanced at Little Yu, lightly furrowing his brows. “No rush for now. After dinner, we’ll go shopping and buy her some new clothes, then teach her how to shower. Little Yu is very smart, she’ll learn easily.”
Though that was what he said, Lou Yan secretly pondered in his heart that living with four grown men, a little girl was indeed inconvenient in many ways.
As someone who wasn’t short of money, Lou Yan was already considering hiring a nanny.
After they all freshened up, they rested for a while. At 5 o’clock in the afternoon, Lou Yan took them to the private restaurant they had booked.
Since Lou Yan had taken notice of this private restaurant, it definitely had its merits. Sure enough, when they arrived, they found the place not only had a great ambiance but was also packed with people at every table, bustling and lively.
The strong aroma of spicy food wafted over, making mouths water. Lu Haoxiu subconsciously swallowed, his stomach rumbling loudly.
The waiter led them to their reserved private room and handed them the menu with a smile. “Most of our dishes here are spicy. Can you handle spicy food?”
“Give the kid two non-spicy dishes, and a sweet soup,” Lou Yan said directly. “For the rest, follow what’s on the signboard.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Lou. Would you like some drinks?” the waiter asked with a nod.
Lou Yan nodded. “Bring some.”
Although the private restaurant was crowded, the dishes came out quickly. Within ten minutes, the table was filled with colorful and fragrant dishes.
Li Sanxin poured a glass of juice for Little Yu and placed it in front of her, then served her a bowl of sweet soup. He pushed the dishes suitable for Little Yu within her reach, gently reminding her, “If you can’t reach, just call me, okay?”
Little Yu nodded obediently, gesturing a “thank you” to Li Sanxin.
Li Sanxin smiled and ruffled her hair.
As they ate, several of them were sweating from the spiciness, their mouths red and tingling, yet they couldn’t stop enjoying the food. Lou Yan also broke a sweat, rolling up his sleeves and drinking two glasses of wine to alleviate the tingling sensation in his mouth.
While everyone was eating heartily, there was a knock on the private dining room’s door, and the owner of the private kitchen walked in. This person was dressed in a dark blue short-sleeved shirt and shorts, with a slightly protruding belly and a shiny, oily face. He held a bottle of white wine in his hand and smiled as he approached Lou Yan. “Mr. Lou, why didn’t you call me when you came here to eat?”
Author’s note:
Mr. Lou (sneers) (indifference) (arrogance): Who are you?
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
