Reluctantly Willing

Translator: Larbre Studio  Editor: Larbre Studio

“Meow…” Wonton seemed to have made a new discovery and played carefully in the grass on the balcony. When An Xiaoyan finally paid attention to it, it had turned from a ginger cat to a black cat, with its claws and body covered of dirt.
“Wonton, I’ll give you a bath this evening!”
Wonton jumped out at once and dropped a little grasshopper from his mouth into An Xiaoyan’s hand.
An Xiaoyan did not mind. After taking it, he threw it back into the grass and carried Wonton downstairs.
The rented house was on the sixth floor. It was inevitable that it would feel a little hot in the summer. Fortunately, it did not bother An Xiaoyan at all. He placed Wonton down and started to clean the house.
Every step taken by Wonton would leave behind a dirty paw print on the clean floor, thus An Xiaoyan had no choice but to throw it into the bathroom.
After mopping the floor, An Xiaoyan placed Wonton in a basin of water and bathed it.
Cats were not born to love water and Wonton was no exception. However, it must have known that it would smell good after a wash, as it did not struggle and allowed An Xiaoyan to “serve” it.
An Xiaoyan looked at its unwilling face and smiled casually. His actions were gentle. When Guo Guo was young, he had always bathed Guo Guo and the boy would always have this expression. No matter how unwilling Guo Guo was, he would endure silently.
After all, he watched Guo Guo grow up. Although they had only spent one year together, his feelings for Guo Guo were real. He would never marry in this life, let alone have his own children.
The brief unpleasantness lasted only a few seconds. An Xiaoyan found a hairdryer from the cabinet and dried Wonton’s fur, then continued to clean the place up.
When evening came, An Xiaoyan was tired out and the place finally looked like home. Wonton was lying on the sofa, moving from time to time and then going back to sleep.
The balcony was not big. After An Xiaoyan finished packing up the place, he laid on the balcony’s floor to enjoy the cold breeze. From where he was, he could see the coastline and some stars far away.
Sitting in the balcony alone, he thought a lot. He felt that the life he was leading now was what he wanted. He had no desire or wants, and had a job to support him.
With Wonton accompanying him, he was not too lonely.
When it dies, I will just bury it here.
Hopefully the cat makes it another 40 years or so. By then, I should have saved enough money to buy a grave for it.
…
As soon as Gu Jun arrived in B City, Chen Chen was informed that An Xiaoyan’s identity card had been used in a coastal city.
After waiting for so long, there was finally news of An Xiaoyan. Gu Jun was so excited that he secretly wiped away his tears. He had always regarded himself as a man of the highest position, but since meeting An Xiaoyan, he had become a little girl, always feeling lovesick.
“Tomorrow we’ll go there, without any delay.”
Chen Chen knew that Gu Jun was determined to find An Xiaoyan. However, Gu Jun might not be able to fulfill his wish at the moment.
“Old Mr. Gu wants you to go back and get engaged to Miss Xiu.”
“When did that come up?”
“This morning…”
Huh? What engagement? He had already given Xiu Yijian what she wanted. In short, they had nothing to do with each other now.
“Just say that I don’t want to go back for the time being and will discuss my engagement sometime later. If he asks for the reason, just say that since I have just accepted the chairman’s job, I am devoting all my time to it.”
Gu Jun took a deep breath when he arrived at the dock of the coastal city. He felt that the air was filled with the scent of An Xiaoyan.
“Computer records show that An Xiaoyan took a boat from here the day before yesterday. He must have gone to the island.”
“Then let’s go as soon as possible.”
The same boat left the port. Gu Jun had no idea what to expect and was feeling nervous on board. He did not know what to say when he would finally face An Xiaoyan.
“Chen Chen, if you are An Xiaoyan… Now, you try to imagine you are in his position, and then listen to what I have to say and see if it is appropriate.”
“Alright.”
“An Xiaoyan, I’m very sorry for what I did before. Can you forgive me? No, can you forget those unpleasant things and stay with me? It’s still not right.”
Chen Chen could understand Gu Jun’s thoughts and it was really tough to decide what to say.
“Mr. Gu, I think you can just act according to circumstances later. Mr. An is not the kind of person who will regard you as an enemy when he sees you. As long as you make your point clear, it will do.”
Gu Jun took out a cigarette from his pocket and stopped before he lit it up. He remembered that smoking was not allowed on board a ship.
“I’m afraid he might treat me like a stranger.”
Chen Chen also considered this possible as An Xiaoyan may feel that he has nothing to do with Gu Jun anymore.
After getting off the boat, the scenery was really beautiful. There were only a few people on the distant beach, which was no worse than the famous foreign beaches Gu Jun used to go to.
“Let’s ask one family at a time. I’ll book a hotel for you first.”
Gu Jun did not reject the idea. He was prepared to accept that finding An Xiaoyan was akin to finding a needle in a haystack. It would definitely take some time.
“I inquired. This is a famous hotel with a unique style.”
“Let’s book it then.”
Two men went inside the hotel and Gu Jun asked for two rooms.
An Xiaoyan was looking down at the room record when he heard a voice and froze. The voice sounded very familiar.
Looking up at the moment, it was indeed someone familiar, but also someone he never wanted to see again.
Gu Jun’s mood at the moment was akin to bumping into an old friend in a distant land. He thought it would take a lot of effort to find An Xiaoyan. In the end, the person he wanted to meet was right in front of him.
“What kind of rooms do you want?” An Xiaoyan tried to calm down and look normal.
“Two business rooms.”
“Two identity cards, please.”
Gu Jun and Chen Chen were asked to hand over their respective identity cards. Chen Chen handed his over directly while Gu Jun was nervous as he handed his over. Gu Jun stared at An Xiaoyan for about ten seconds before he let go of his identity card.
Gu Jun’s hands could not stop shaking. Seeing Gu Jun again, An Xiaoyan still felt fearful. He keyed in the information into the computer and then put the room card on the desk.
“Take care.”
Except for some minor mistakes, An Xiaoyan performed as if he were serving strangers. After Gu Jun left, An Xiaoyan wiped his sweat away and continued to sit upright.
As soon as he entered the elevator, Gu Jun looked at the room card in his hand and said, “He still hasn’t forgiven me.”
“It may not be possible for him to forgive within such a short time. Let’s wait and see.”
After work, An Xiaoyan made sure that there was no one behind him while he was walking on the road, then he made his way to the vegetable market to buy vegetables and head home.
In the narrow stairs, the sound of footsteps was very clear. An Xiaoyan suddenly stopped to check and did not hear anything. It seemed that he was just being oversensitive. Gu Jun, a busy man, may have come here for business. After all, Chen Chen was with him.
Now Gu Jun, who was on the fourth floor, took a deep breath. He was almost scared to death. Fortunately, he reacted fast. Standing on tiptoe, An Xiaoyan continued to walk up. Right when he opened the door, a man jumped out from behind.
“Xiaoyan…”
What’s coming will come and you’ll just have to face it when it does. An Xiaoyan put the vegetables on the floor, turned around and said coldly, “Mr. Gu, we have nothing to do with each other now.”
“I know, but I really miss you and can’t sleep well. I’ve come to see you.”
“Then you can go back now. I’m busy.”
Wonton heard a voice in the room, jumped out of the room and lay at An Xiaoyan’s feet.
“Xiaoyan, even if we can’t be lovers, we can still be friends.”
“Mr. Gu, I’m a little receptionist. How can I be a friend of a big boss? I’ll call the police if you don’t get out of here.”
In fact, the calling the police would not do Gu Jun any harm. Gu Jun just didn’t want to see their relationship worsen. Squatting down and touching Wonton, he said, “I’ll leave now and I’ll be in the hotel for a few days. If there is anything, you can come and look for me.”
As the sound of footsteps gradually faded away, An Xiaoyan closed the door and sat behind it, while Wonton lay beside him.
Yesterday, he clearly thought that this would be a stable life now. Why did Gu Jun have to find me? It is impossible between us.
An Xiaoyan’s mood was totally spoiled. He made some simple food to eat and lay in bed. Wonton noticed that he was in a bad mood and did not throw a tantrum but lay obediently at the side of the bed.
“Wonton, if he said that liked and loved me, why did he hurt me so much? If he hadn’t sent me to Nan Qiang, I might consider making friends with him, but now nothing is possible.”
“Meow…”
Sigh… “You’re a lazy glutton. What do you know?”
At night, An Xiaoyan had many dreams. They included Gu Jun taking him to the amusement park to play… Handing him a cup of milk tea… Buying clothes… Getting their hair cut… Accompanying Guo Guo… And in the end, he was awakened by the last scene of Gu Jun’s big face.
It was dawn and only 5 a.m. Since An Xiaoyan was awake, he decided to get up. He took the sprinkler and went upstairs to water the plants. The morning dew rolled on the leaves. The distant sunset shone on the coastline and merged with the sea.
Gu Jun sat at the door of a breakfast shop, looking at the figure on the sixth floor not far away, and every movement touched his heart.
“Go and buy a house and a car here. Then, go back to A City and bring the company’s documents here. I’ll live here for the time being. By the way, don’t check out of the hotel room yet.”
Chen Chen was instructed to buy the earliest air ticket and prepare to return to A City.
“Have you finished your meal, sir?”
“Give me another basket of steamed buns.”
Gu Jun would never eat at a street food stall. However, he did so very comfortably today, all to see that man from afar.
He knew that if he were to disrupt An Xiaoyan’s life, An Xiaoyan would start to avoid him. Thus, he just needed to look from afar. It didn’t matter as long he had a chance to be closer to him.
It was 6 a.m. when An Xiaoyan finished watering the plants. He fed Wonton and took a bath, then went downstairs to buy breakfast.
Having lived here for two or three days, An Xiaoyan started to become familiar with the surrounding area. There were several breakfast shops across the street. First, he went to buy vegetables and came back just in time to buy breakfast. He would be working the evening shift today, thus had plenty of time in the day.
Seeing An Xiaoyan coming down from the stairs, Gu Jun retreated. He did not want An Xiaoyan to think that he was waiting for him.
After coming back from buying the vegetables, he saw that Wonton had just finished eating its cat food and was rolling on the sofa. Since he had some free time today, he planned to take Wonton to the vet for a review.
Ji Lin had a deep impression of An Xiaoyan. When he saw that An Xiaoyan came again with the cat in his arms, he was wondering what had happened.
“I’m here for its review.”
Ji Lin saw Wonton staring at him and gave it a checkup.
“Everything is normal. Just pay more attention to its diet and don’t let it eat anything else.”
An Xiaoyan nodded. There were a total of three men in the pet hospital. Besides Ji Lin, two others were documenting the cases of the treated animals.
“Ji Lin, shall we go to the beach next Monday? Let’s barbecue some fish!” A doctor said as he examined a cat.
“Sure, but you guys have to carry the ingredients this time. I am always the one who carries the ingredients; aren’t the two of you embarrassed to accept my kindness all the time?”
When An Xiaoyan was ready to go, these words made him stop in his tracks. The first time he saw the beach, he was attracted to it. If he could make a trip there, he would be very satisfied. As he was not very familiar with the place, he dared not go alone. Moreover, he had never been to a beach before.
“Why haven’t you left yet? Your cat is fine. If there’s anything urgent, just give me a call,” Jilin looked up and said to An Xiaoyan.
“No, it’s… Can you take me with you to the beach?”
It was the first time someone would take the initiative to ask to go to the beach. The little doctor next to Ji Lin gave a sly smile and said, “Ji Lin, we will go to the back and check on the other pets. You two have a good chat.”
“Why do you want to go there?”
“I wish to go and play as I haven’t been there before.”
Jilin finally understood why and thought An Xiaoyan was most likely a non-swimmer and was curious about going to the beach. “Sure, since I am so kind. I’ll send you a message later on what to bring.”
An Xiaoyan nodded gratefully and then asked, “Wonton is at home alone and I’m worried. Can it go too? You can rest assured that it’s not afraid of water. When I bathe him, he never throws a tantrum.”
Again, it was the first time Ji Lin had heard of someone bringing a cat to the beach. Jin Lin replied, “Okay, but you must let us bathe him and check for worms when we are back from the beach, just in case it gets infected at the seaside.”
“Sure.”
This person is still really strange. Two days ago, he looked like he was starving. But now, he looks so generous.
When An Xiaoyan went back to work again, he paid special attention to his surroundings. After not seeing Gu Jun for a day, he felt at ease and kept telling himself that it was pure coincidence that he had run Gu Jun.