Lin Wenbo was going to marry Gong Xiangyi so he was already half considered as part of the Gong family by Gong Yuanhang thus Song Haoran didn’t have to be polite and escort him out. The only reason his friend was being this polite meant that he had something to things to say. Lin Wenbo didn’t get into his car after they walked to the parking lot. Instead, he leaned on his Bentley and held out a pack of cigarettes as he waited for his friend to speak.
Years of friendship and this tacit understanding was still there. Song Haoran smiled and pulled out a cigarette and ignited it. After taking a deep pull, he breached the subject. "What happened to Xiangyi?" Why was she so sad she cried like that? Does she know that Lixin likes you?"
Lixin? When was his friend and Gong Lixin so close? Lin Wenbo raised his eyebrows and looked at Song Haoran with a strange expression. He then shook his head. "She doesn’t know this. She was normal until she fainted in the afternoon. But as soon as she woke up though, she was like that. She was also the only one at home until now, there was no outsiders. I contacted her when I didn’t get any call today. She said she had a nightmare and that’s the only explanation that’s makes sense the most."
That is to say, Lin Wenbo himself didn’t believe Gong XIangyi’s excuse about being scared by a nightmare.
She didn’t know about Lixin’s feeling. Song Haoran sighed in relief. A pair of sharp, eagle eyes stared at Lin Wenbo and he solemnly said, "I think you should talk to Lixin and solve the problem between you two." Upon hearing this, Lin Wenbo had a disgusted expression on his face, he stubbed out his cigarette and said, "Do you think I didn’t try talking to him? It’s useless, he doesn’t listen!"
"Oh?" Song Haoran blew out a plume of smoke. Dear good friend, your tone is somewhat unpleasant, he asks, "What attitude did you use to talk to him? Was it disgust like this? Was it with intolerance? Or was that not it? Lixin is a good boy, not as bad as you think, if your attitude is sincere, he will certainly listen!"
Without today’s incidence, Song Haoran would have never expected that his gloomy protective shell of his was to hide such a simple temper. He heard that some children would deliberately behave badly in order to gain attention from the adults. Considering that Uncle Gong and Xiangyi were not home all day long, Song Haoran felt that his guess was right. He couldn’t help but feel a little bit of pity towards Gong Lixin, thinking about how indifferent he initially was towards him.
When children go astray, the ones the most responsible were often adults.
Hearing his friend’s remarks, Lin Wenbo raised his eyebrows, curious. "Speaking of which, you seem close to him. How? Didn’t you look down on him before?"
"You were the one that convinced me before!" Song Haoran frowned, tapped the excess ashes away with his fingertips as he thought back to Gong Lixin’s true face, clear eyes and soft voice. "I realized today that he’s very sensible and very clever. It seems when people are helpless, they will reveal their true nature. This seems to be true."
After saying this, he paused and looked at Lin Wenbo. His expression was serious. "I’ve tried talking to him. You are right. He doesn’t truly love you, not like that, it’s more admiration or worship but the degree is deep so it’s easy to get it confused. But then again, I’m just an outsider. Don’t say something without weight and leave him hanging, answer him honestly. Break his heart if you must but don’t delay him or you and Xiangyi." The attitude of his friend was very cautious, Lin Wenbo didn’t agree right away but, in the end, sighed and agreed: "What you said makes sense, I’ll go find him and talk to him. Thanks!" When the words fell, he stubbed the cigarette butt and patted his friend’s shoulder before driving away.
Song Haoran watched the Bentley disappear around the corner before he returned to the house, went up to the second floor, saw that Gong Lixin’s room was still lit and suddenly wanted to see him.
The young master had studied Gong Lixin’s notebooks, martial art manuals and wardrobes. With the help of his memory, he had put on a set of pajamas. And now he was looking up at the crystal lamp on the ceiling.
The people here were really rich, this lamp was actually set with so many night pearls, no wonder the room was so bright. He didn’t know if the sky after sunrise was also as bright. The little boy smiled.
"If you keep staring at the light like that, your eyes will go blind." Song Haoran leaned in the half-opened doorway.
"Song Big Brother!" Hearing the sound of Song Haoran, the little master immediately returned to Earth, his eyebrows scrunching up. His eyes really did go blind, except for a colorful mosaic, he couldn’t see anything. He tried rubbing his eyes.
This child! Looking at the youth’s behavior, Song Haoran shook his head and laughed. He walked to Gong Lixin’s bed and pulled his hands away. He warned: "Don’t rub your eyes, they will get infected."
"Hn, I know." Always stuck in the darkness, the young master naturally didn’t know that long-term exposure to bright light can cause damage to the eyes. Hearing Song Haoran’s warning, he quickly promised and silently remembered in his heart.
"Why didn’t you sleep yet, it’s so late?" Song Haoran found that he liked getting along with this undisguised Gong Lixin. Such a Gong Lixin, who was quiet and had a gentle temperament, makes him feel very comfortable.
"Hn, I’ll sleep right away." From Gong Lixin’s memory, he knows that he had to go to school early in the morning, every day. The teenager who promised took the books and "The Sunflower Collection" that he’d thrown on the bed and returned to the bookshelf.
Song Haoran intercepted the "Sunflower Collection" halfway through and his eyebrows rose at the sight of the strange title. The words were confusing. "Let’s study this book later, do you want to learn martial arts?"
"The unbeaten leader of the East knew martial arts. If I practice martial arts, I won’t be beaten by anyone." The little master said with determination, his delicate eyebrows were scrunched up seriously.
"Pft~" Song Haoran was almost beaten by Gong Lixin’s serious expression and for a moment, almost laughed. This child, do you need to take a joke so seriously? It seems that he really would practice this "Sunflower Collection".
"Hn, you don’t have to practice martial arts to do magic. Well, go to sleep, there’s school tomorrow." Which man was not obsessed with martial arts when he was a kid? This was no big deal! Song Haoran laughed and patted the child’s soft hair and found that he had completely relaxed despite the tightness caused from his military training.
"Okay, I’ll sleep." Gong Lixin shyly nodded and pulled over the soft beaded quilt and wrapped himself in it, leaving only his head out on the silky pillow. He lightly rubbed his face and rubbed his cheeks against the pillow. The action was very adorable.
Song Haoran smiled, seeing his cute little movements, his heart softened and his fingers reluctantly stroked through his soft ink black hair. When Gong Lixin closed his eyes and his breathing evened out, Song Haoran stood up and turned off the lights, closing the door as he left.
The crystal lamp was extinguished. When the darkness came down, everything in the room was swallowed up by it. The young master opened his eyes and saw the world outside, quickly blinked and shouted: "No!" Song Haoran, who was preparing to leave, rushed back when he heard him. He asked with concern, "What’s wrong?"
"Song Big Brother, I want to sleep with the lights on." The young master whispered, with a hint of fear in his tone. When he was immersed in darkness, his heart felt uneasy. He was afraid that everything in front of him was just a dream. He was afraid to wake and find that he was still in the dark Underground Palace.
"Alright!" Song Haoran was surprised. After returning to Earth, he immediately turned on the lights on for him. He walked towards the bed and sat down. Looking down at the pale face, his appearance still appeared scared. He asked softly, "Are you afraid of the dark?"
Afraid of the dark? How? He grew up in the Underground Palace. He was accustomed to the darkness. But he suddenly got freedom and light, he was very attached to them and didn’t want to lose them. The young master stayed silent, he couldn’t reveal those thoughts. So instead, he shook his head and whispered: "Not afraid."
The youth’s eyes were crystal clear and this revealed his inner fear but the face showed that of a man trying to be brave. The youth didn’t know that his eyes couldn’t hide his fear and sold him out. This made Song Haoran laugh and also made him feel guilty.
Only children who were truly insecure would get used to sleeping with the light on. What happened to Lixin when he was younger? Were they too irresponsible to have him turn out like this?
Song Haoran fell into deep reflection. He reached out to those pale cheeks and comforted him: "Hn, I won’t turn off the light, you go to sleep, Song Big Brother will wait for you to have fallen asleep before leaving."
"Thank you, Song Big Brother!" Grateful to Song Haoran, he smiled and closed his eyes with confidence. With the closest person since coming to this world keeping him company, all his worries faded away and he quickly fell into a sweet dream.
Song Haoran watched as his breathing gradually evened out, sleeping quietly and looking beautiful. He stunned himself when he returned to Earth and then sighed, before quietly leaving the room.