Reluctantly Willing

An Xiaoyan stared at the number on the screen of his phone and hesitated. He did not have the courage to press the dial button. However, he knew that if he did not make the phone call, Guo Guo would suffer for another day.

He made up his mind and pressed on the dial button, and the ringtone could be heard.

The mobile phone on the table started ringing, and the display showed an unfamiliar number. Gu Jun stared at it for a long time before answering it.

There was a faint “hello” on the other end of the line.

Gu Jun could still recognize that the voice was An Xiaoyan’s, even though it was very faint.

His heart began to thump, as if it were about to jump out, but he still pretended to be calm and asked the reason why he called.

“Mr. Gu, Guo Guo wishes to go out and play, would you allow?”

Gu Jun restrained himself from replying “Sure, of course”, and said, “I’ll be coming back in the afternoon. We’ll discuss this matter after I get back.”

“Okay.”

After hanging up the phone, Gu Jun carefully stored An Xiaoyan’s mobile phone number by typing the words “Yan Yan” in the contacts of his mobile phone. Before he saved the contact, he felt that it seemed a bit inappropriate and changed it to “An Xiaoyan” instead.

An Xiaoyan put down the phone and looked at Guo Guo beside him. Seeing Guo Guo’s face filled with anticipation made his heart ache.

It was because he was useless. If he had pleaded Gu Jun on the phone, maybe there could still be a glimmer of hope. Now, it seemed that there was no chance at all.

“It’s all my fault, Guo Guo. Uncle will play jigsaw puzzles with you, okay? Let’s not go out. It’s too cold outside and we might freeze into a snowman.”

Obviously, Guo Guo did not believe An Xiaoyan’s words and shook his head firmly.

In the afternoon, after Gu Jun finished his work in the office, he drove back home alone. Along the way, lights and paintings of Santa Claus were everywhere.

Unknowingly, a brand new year was approaching.

Because the phone call he received today, Gu Jun came home early. An Xiaoyan was feeding Guo Guo apples at the table. All the food was prepared by the servants and brought over to the dining table. It was obvious that Guo Guo did not enjoy eating sour food. However, An Xiaoyan coaxed Guo Guo to eat them as he was concerned about Guo Guo not getting enough vitamins in his diet, and not too much foods which are high in sugar. A balanced and nutritious diet was essential to a child.

“What plans to you have with regards to bringing Guo Guo out to play?” Gu Jun sat down and asked directly. An Xiaoyan was shocked. He thought Gu Jun would not agree. After all, Gu Jun’s tone during the phone call did not sound too friendly.

“Mr. Gu, are you agreeing?” An Xiaoyan asked.

“Hmm.”

“I was thinking of letting Guo Guo go to the amusement park. He should have some contact with other children.” An Xiaoyan’s voice sounded softer as he finished his sentence, with no confidence at all.

From the birth of Guo Guo to the present, Gu Jun had accompanied Guo Guo only a handful of times. Usually, when the nanny saw him return home, she would hurry to take the child away for fear of Guo Guo disturbing him. He also had no concept of how to be a father. Now he felt that he really did owe Guo Guo a lot.

“I can spare a day.”

“Thank you.”

Gu Jun waited in anticipation for more words from An Xiaoyan, but did not hear a sound after waiting for some time.

“Do you wish to go too?”

An Xiaoyan shook his head in panic. How could he go out? Gu Jun said he would not let him go out. He did not dare to make excessive demands too, he only wanted to stay at home quietly.

“Tell me the truth, do you feel like going?”

Of course, he wanted to go. Growing up in the countryside, he never went to those places and visited the cinema only once when Liu Cheng invited him for a movie during his birthday. At that time, he planned to reward himself when he earned enough money in future.

But in front of Gu Jun, he would not say that he wanted to go.

Seeing An Xiaoyan shake his head, Gu Junxin’s heart sank for a moment. How he hoped that An Xiaoyan would say that he wanted to go. This would be a good reason for him to take An Xiaoyan out. Now, he did not even have a chance.

Christmas songs soon permeated the air. It was said that the amusement park would have ice-sculpted castles on Christmas Day, and there were many entertainment programs slated for Christmas. That was why many people would visit on Christmas Day every year. Although there were only a limited number of tickets available, it was absolutely no problem for Gu Jun to snag a few.

At dinner time, Guo Guo was in a state of excitement, gulping down the rice in his bowl, hoping to leave earlier. Gu Jun’s mind was elsewhere while eating, staring at An Xiaoyan from time to time. He wanted to ask again if An Xiaoyan would go. There were actually three tickets in his coat’s pocket.

After dinner, the sky started to turn dark. An Xiaoyan put a cotton jacket on Guo Guo and wrapped him up like a dumpling. While adjusting Guo Guo’s clothes, he reminded Guo Guo not to touch the icy cold things, and that he must remember to say something if he felt cold.

When they were about to leave, Gu Jun held Guo Guo’s hands, but Guo Guo was reluctant to leave and hugged An Xiaoyan.

“Guo Guo, be a good boy, Daddy will take you out to play.”

Guo Guo held on to An Xiaoyan’s hand and sulked, “Uncle, Uncle, go.”

Gu Jun never thought that his son would create such a great opportunity for him!

“An Xiaoyan, come along with us. You can take care of Guo Guo if you go. Otherwise, I’m afraid I can’t take care of him alone.”

After Gu Jun said so, he had no reason to refuse. An Xiaoyan casually replied with a “hmm”, and went upstairs to change his clothes.

The three of them headed to the amusement park. When they arrived at the park, it was brightly lit with colorful lights flashing.

As soon as Guo Guo got out of the car, a Mickey Mouse came up to him and gave him a fluorescent balloon. He had never seen these things before. He held the balloon and flicked it, then laughed as the balloon rebounded.

The majority of the people at the amusement park were parents and their children. It was rare to see two men, like Gu Jun and An Xiaoyan, bringing a child with them.

After handing in the tickets while queuing up, they realized that the scene outside was just the tip of the iceberg.

Upon entering the gate, a large castle ice sculpture stood before them. Under the ice sculpture, there were yellow lights shining. It looked just like a real castle and its color was as brilliant as gold.

An Xiaoyan was unknowingly immersed as such a scene could only be seen at this time.

Guo Guo was curious and walked up to hug an ice pillar. As soon as his hands touched the pillar, the cold feeling made him quickly retract his hand. Seeing that, An Xiaoyan quickly used his bigger hands to cup Guo Guo’s small hands in order to transfer some heat to him.

After the castle, there was a real amusement park and they spotted the merry-go-round first. Guo Guo rushed towards the merry-go-round and was stopped by a staff. He was told to wait for the next round.

These wooden horses were exactly the same as those Guo Guo saw on the TV. He was bouncing up and down and those people in the queue could not help but smile when they saw how happy he was.

“The child can sit on the small horse on the inside, and the accompanying adult can sit on the big horse on the outside. For those children who are accompanied by parents, they can share a big horse.” the staff with headphones shouted.

“Guo Guo, do you want a big or small horse?” Gu Jun asked.

Guo Guo pointed at the big horses on the outside.

“Do you want Uncle to accompany you, or do you want me to accompany you?”

“Daddy.” In fact, Guo Guo preferred Uncle to his daddy. Uncle was very gentle, and his father kept a straight face, which was scary to him. But he was told that he must like his father the most and choose to be with him whenever possible.

Gu Jun’s heart was full of a father’s love. He went to the stage of the merry-go-round with Guo Guo and sat on the big horse.

When the music was about to play, An Xiaoyan stood aside without the intention of entering. Gu Jun called him in.

“Did I pay money for the tickets for you to stand aside and watch?”

Coincidentally, there was an empty horse just in front of them. Gu Jun settled Guo Guo and took An Xiaoyan to the horse.

“Sit properly.”

In fact, Gu Jun wanted to sit with An Xiaoyan so that he could be close to him, and his intention would not seem too obvious. However, the staff clearly indicated that no two adults were allowed to sit together and there was no one else to take care of Guo Guo.

After making sure that everyone was seated, the rotating disc moved up slowly and the music box in the middle streamed out music.

“With gorgeous appearance and brilliant lights.”

“I am a merry-go-round horse in heaven.”

“Just to satisfy a child’s dreams.”

“Climb onto my back and I’ll take you to soar.”

…

After the wooden horse’s speed increased, the ups and downs of the jolt made An Xiaoyan hold the rod tightly for fear that a release of his hand would throw him out. An Xiaoyan was glad to be sitting in front of Gu Jun. Otherwise, Gu Jun might be angry if he saw this expression. He felt so useless that he was afraid to even sit on a wooden horse.

“Wow… Wowwwww!” the wooden horse’s movements gave Guo Guo a pleasant surprise. At each movement of the wooden horse, Guo Guo would give a shout as if he had found a treasure.

Gu Jun held Guo Guo tightly, but his eyes were always staring at the figure in front of him. From his angle, he could only see that An Xiaoyan had lowered his head and his body was moving up and down.

A bang of fireworks set off in the distance, illuminating the whole sky. Everyone looked at the fireworks, and An Xiaoyan was no exception.

Gu Jun happened to see An Xiaoyan’s face from the side. The streaks of hair on An Xiaoyan’s forehead were very obvious under the light. His high nose bridge and fair skin looked dazzling at this very moment.

Gu Jun took out his mobile phone from his pocket, turned on his camera and captured the beautiful moment. Fortunately, the fireworks lasted a long time and An Xiaoyan kept his face sideways.

“Rotating Wooden Horse.”

“No wings.”

“But I can fly with you everywhere.”

“When the music stops, you will leave.”

“That’s all I can do.”

“Oh… Oh… Oh… Oh…”

The music gradually stopped and the rotating disc came to a stop. “Well, this round is over. You’re welcome to take it again.”

Gu Jun came down from the wooden horse with Guo Guo in his arms and led Guo Guo off the rotating disc of the merry-go-round. An Xiaoyan followed behind them.

As they continued walking, they saw a snack shop.

Every stall was covered with colorful flashing lights. It was a beautiful sight. In front of a small stall, there was a person dressed as Santa Claus giving out glow sticks.

“Merry Christmas, come little child, this glow stick is for you.”

After receiving the fluorescent balloon, Guo Guo received a glow stick. As Guo Guo walked on, a burst of aroma piqued his attraction.

“Sweets, sweets.”

Gu Jun and An Xiaoyan both saw a cart, decorated with colored cotton candy, which sold colored cotton candy.

An Xiaoyan had only seen white and pink cotton candy before. This was his first time seeing multi-colored cotton candy. He was curious and stretched his neck to take a closer look. However, the thought of Gu Jun standing right beside him made him retract his neck.

“Boss, how much are these?”

The lady boss was very friendly and said, “These are ten dollars for two, but since today is Christmas, you buy two and get one for free. You pay ten dollars and get three.”

“Give us three.”

He handed one to Guo Guo and another to An Xiaoyan. Gu Jun did not give An Xiaoyan a chance to speak and stuffed one into his hands.

“Since we buy two and get one for free, it will be a waste if you don’t eat it.”

An Xiaoyan looked down at the colored cotton candy in his hand and licked it with his tongue.

It was very sweet, far sweeter than he thought. It had been a long time since he last ate something so sweet.

“Thank you.”

Gu Jun could sense from An Xiaoyan’s tone that these were his genuine feelings, and he was no longer replying mechanically like usual. To Gu Jun, the cotton candy he ate today was the sweetest.