Reluctantly Willing

Translator: Larbre Studio  Editor: Larbre Studio

When they arrived at An Xiaoyan’s apartment building, it was 6 p.m. Guo Guo was wearing a sunshade hat and perspired heavily. The heat in the north is dry and hot. When one gets out of the car, the bone-dry air blows against you and you start to perspire all the time.
“Daddy, is it here?”
“Yes, on the sixth floor, climb up by yourself. I’ll help you to carry your things.”
Guo Guo, who was dressed like a dignified young man, walked up the stairs. By the fourth floor, he was soaking wet, as if he had just walked out of a sauna.
“My dear son, there are only two more levels. You must persevere.”
Guo Guo once again began to ascend the stairs with his small legs. When he reached An Xiaoyan’s apartment door, he was dripping with sweat.
Yet again, a knock at the door. What’s the matter these days? There are always visitors coming.
Looking through the peephole, An Xiaoyan saw no one. He was mentally prepared to receive some animals again. As he opened the door, a soaking wet child wearing a hat was standing at the door.
“Uncle An!” Guo Guo embraced An Xiaoyan immediately, and regardless of his dirty and smelly body, they embraced for a moment or two. An Xiaoyan was stained wet too.
“Guo Guo, why are you here? Who sent you here?”
“Daddy, of course!”
Looking down, he saw Gu Jun climbing up the stairs with a big suitcase in his hand, and he was nearly soaked with sweat as well.
“Guo Guo said that he misses you, so I took him here to see you.”
“Uncle, it’s so hot here.”
With the presence of a child, An Xiaoyan felt it would not be very nice to drive Gu Jun away, thus he had to let the both of them in.
“The both of you should go and take a bath first. After that, you can go into my room and enjoy the cool air from the air conditioner. The weather is really hot here.”
Gu Jun did not stand on ceremony either. He took out his and Guo Guo’s clothes from the suitcase and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower with Guo Guo in his arms.
The little fur kids in the bedroom heard the commotion outside and made a lot of noise. The sound of Yippy scratching on the door was very loud.
As soon as An Xiaoyan opened the door, all the fur kids fell backwards.
“It’s hot outside. Get in quickly, or else nobody will be allowed to sleep in the apartment tonight.”
When chased back into the room, the kittens and dog lay in the air-conditioned room to enjoy the “cool” summer.
Gu Jun first bathed Guo Guo, put on his clothes and let him go out of the bathroom, then bathed himself.
When he got into the bedroom, he could hardly bear to look straight at the scene in front of him.
A five-year-old child mingled with a group consisting of a dog and a bunch of cats, and the group of animals rolled on the bed.
When he first brought the kittens to An Xiaoyan, they were still very small, but now they’re all grown up, with brighter fur and fatter bodies. The only thing that had not changed was Wonton. After all, it already had a large frame, so it couldn’t get much fatter.
“You have a good time here. Be careful not to get scratched by the animals. I’ll go and look for your Uncle An.”
An Xiaoyan rummaged through the refrigerator for ingredients when Gu Jun suddenly came over. He wanted to make something delicious, but unfortunately, there were not many ingredients left at home.
“What are you doing?”
The sudden question shocked An Xiaoyan and he shut the refrigerator door.
“There are no ingredients at home and I’m going out to buy some ingredients now. You can stay here with Guo Guo.” As he had put on his shoes and was about to leave, Gu Jun stopped him and said, “I’ll go with you. Those cats and the dog are enough to keep him occupied. You can lock the door from outside when we go. I’ll go and let him know.”
Guo Guo did not pay much attention to Gu Jun’s words and only focused his attention on playing with the animals. With so many small animals, Uncle An is so fortunate. He has so many friends to play with him.
When they went out, the sky was already turning dark. The nightlife on the island was rather lively. As it was too hot during the day, in the evening, many people came out to eat supper and enjoy the cool breeze.
An Xiaoyan walked side by side with Gu Jun. The chairs of the restaurant across the street had been set up, and a bunch of savory dishes were being barbecued. The distant fragrance made him swallow his saliva unconsciously. An Xiaoyan would usually cook for himself to save money.
Gu Jun’s eyes were constantly looking at An Xiaoyan, and naturally saw his yearning for food. “Let’s come back here later to buy something nice. Back at home, I hardly take Guo Guo to dine out.”
“Okay.”
Though that was what Gu Jun said, in his heart, he was thinking he would not be letting that little boy eat.
There was nothing good left to buy at the market at this hour. Thus, they went straight to the supermarket nearby.
Fortunately, the food in the supermarket was relatively fresh. An Xiaoyan bought some marbled meat as he intended to roast it. He also bought a lot of shrimp, fruits, and vegetables. He would cook whatever Guo Guo liked to eat.
When An Xiaoyan thought of Guo Guo, his heart felt warm. Though he had not seen Guo Guo for more than a month, Guo Guo still loved hanging around him.
“Let’s buy some snacks.”
Children just love snacks. An Xiaoyan bought potato chips and biscuits in the snack section, while Gu Jun bought some milk.
Never before had the two of them been so tacit and harmonious.
When An Xiaoyan was about to take out his money at the register, Gu Jun took out his card and the cashier swiped it directly without giving An Xiaoyan a chance to pay.
“Since we have come to your place for dinner, we should not let you spend your money on the supplies. Treat it as compensation for our sudden visit.”
Gu Jun had really changed. He’d never uttered the word “compensation” before.
Back at the barbecue stand, Gu Jun told the boss that he wanted three kilograms of crayfish, ten strands of roast squid and twenty strands of roast mutton to take away.
“No need to order so much. We have already bought so much ingredients and Guo Guo does not eat much either.”
The silly boy did not understand his intentions yet. An Xiaoyan, such a sensitive person, was very insensitive to relationships. Gu Jun lowered his head and whispered in his ear, “Actually, I bought them for you to eat.”
He was as gentle as the hero of an idol drama and at that moment, An Xiaoyan seemed to have forgotten that Gu Jun was his enemy.
Back at home, Guo Guo was still playing with the kittens. The five kittens had all grown up and First Dumpling was the furriest among all them. Guo Guo liked First Dumpling the most and kept carrying it back and forth, trying his best to amuse it.
“You may go into the room as the kitchen is very warm now. When the food is ready, just come to the living room for dinner.” An Xiaoyan turned on the air conditioner in the living room and went into the kitchen.
An Xiaoyan’s concern swept away the gloominess in Gu Jun’s heart. All the unpleasantness before had been thrown out. Being in this small apartment of two adults, a child, and a pack of pets felt really nice.
“Daddy, the dog is hungry.”
Gu Jun found the dog food in the apartment and poured it into a small bowl. Yippy had a good time eating while the other kittens started mewing. He laid out a row of cat bowls and filled them up with cat food one by one.
Seven small tails lined up in a row and the scene looked very interesting. Gu Jun snapped some photos as a memento.
Soon after, dinner was ready. Before the rice was scooped out from the rice cooker, all the dishes were laid out on the dining table. An Xiaoyan called Guo Guo to wash his hands.
“Uncle An, I like those cats. Can I stay here for a few more days?”
“Guo Guo, you have to go to school. You can’t play truant.”
“Daddy agreed, anyway, it’s all play in school now. I like it here.”
Guo Guo was still young, thus it was normal for him not to like the rules and regulations in the school. When he was as young as Guo Guo, he was rolling in the mud. “Alright. But you must study hard next semester.”
“I will.”
An Xiaoyan helped Guo Guo wash his hands, and Gu Jun had placed the barbecue skewers he had bought on the dining table.
It was the first time Guo Guo had eaten these kinds of food and he was immediately attracted by the fragrance. He could not help but salivate. As soon as he reached out his hand and was about to take some for himself, Gu Jun grabbed his little hand.
“Don’t eat too much. It’s all for your Uncle An.”
“Dad, I can eat!” Guo Guo reached out and grabbed a skewer of barbecued meat, and then gnawed at it. An Xiaoyan helped Guo Guo peel the crayfish.
Just as An Xiaoyan put a crayfish in Guo Guo’s bowl, Gu Jun placed a crayfish in An Xiaoyan’s bowl. They both continued like this.
Guo Guo ate some barbecued meat and all the rice in his small bowl. After that, he ran to the bedroom and continued to play with the kittens, leaving Gu Jun and An Xiaoyan at the dining table.
Both of them had the same thought before, which was to feed Guo Guo first. By the time Guo Guo had left the table, the two men still hadn’t eaten much.
“Eat the food quickly. The food’s not as good when it’s cold.” Gu Jun put a piece of braised meat in An Xiaoyan’s bowl.
Somehow, An Xiaoyan felt no discomfort in this kind of situation. His disgust towards Gu Jun at the beginning had disappeared without a trace.
“You should eat fast too. I’ll peel the crayfish myself.”
The two adult men did not neglect the rice. First, they finished eating the crayfish, then they ate the rice, and finally they finished the vegetables.
“There are five skewers of squid and three skewers of barbecued meat. Let’s take four each and finish it up.”
It felt good to live a “civilian” life with An Xiaoyan and it was definitely an experience for Gu Jun. In A City, he was the CEO of the company and had to be mindful of his image no matter what he did. He had to eat at high class restaurants, not the street food stalls. As for leftovers: they were a no-go. With An Xiaoyan, he could feel at ease when he went to buy barbecued meat and he could even finish all the dishes on the table.
After dinner, as An Xiaoyan was about to go and wash the dishes, Gu Jun stopped him and said, “Go and accompany Guo Guo, I’ll wash the dishes.”
“Do you know how to wash them?”
“Yes.”
After much hesitation, An Xiaoyan went back to his room to accompany Guo Guo. He treated Guo Guo as if he were his own child. As he did not know how much longer he would be able to accompany Guo Guo; he just wanted to do his best to make Guo Guo remember him a little more.
“Uncle, Daddy told me that you like small animals very much, and Guo Guo likes them very much too. Wonton still remembers me.”
An Xiaoyan touched Guo Guo’s head and said, “If Guo Guo likes animals, you can ask your Daddy to let you have some pets at home.”
“Uncle, why don’t you come back with us? When you come back, you can take all these pets back with you.”
An Xiaoyan choked and did not know how to answer. He could not tell the truth to this child. Yet within such a short time, he could not come up with a good answer.
“Um… Uncle can’t go back for the time being. I still have some work to do.”
“Then… After Uncle has finished all his work, he can come back right?”
“Well… Guo Guo, you should not be bothered with this. You can play with Wonton while I go and find your father.”
Gu Jun was washing the dishes carefully in the kitchen. Through his entire adult life, he had never done any housework.
“When are you and Guo Guo going back?”
Gu Jun placed the clean dishes back properly, and said casually, “Probably after some time. Guo Guo hasn’t seen you for so long, he must miss you very much.”
An Xiaoyan said helplessly, “We all have jobs to do and are adults. We can’t be so impulsive anymore.”
“I know. I’ll stay for a few days and leave. Anyway, there’s nothing urgent at the company right now. By the way, there’s a rolled-up paper in my bag for you.”
“Keep it for yourself. I can’t accept any of your stuff anymore.”
Gu Jun tidied up the dishes and chopsticks and retrieved the poster by himself. After An Xiaoyan came out from his bath, Gu Jun placed the poster in his hand and said, “Take a look at it.”
He opened the rolled-up paper slowly and a large poster was revealed. The image of the person printed on the poster looked very familiar to him. It was Asten, once his favorite star. When Asten first became famous during An Xiaoyan’s high school days, he had already thought that Asten was a potential star, and by now he had already transformed into a superstar.
Feelings from his young age were buried deep in his body, and now they had been summoned. Initially, he thought that all these things could be forgotten, but he was wrong. What he used to like… As long as he saw the familiar memories again, he could still feel the same.
“Keep it, it’s hard to get.”
Although this was only a poster, it meant more than money to him as it represented his youth.
An Xiaoyan took the poster, rolled it up and put it in the cupboard.
When it was time to sleep at night, trouble came.
There was a double bed in the bedroom. An Xiaoyan felt that Gu Jun and Guo Guo were guests and let them sleep in his bedroom while he sleeps in the living room. However, Gu Jun insisted against it.
In fact, the three of them could fit on the double bed, but Gu Jun was aware of An Xiaoyan’s misgivings.