Chapter 38 Came Without a Word

Chapter 38: The Quiet Arrival

The cicadas outside the window chirped incessantly. Gu Shiying pulled a thin blanket over his ears, rolled over, and tried to go back to sleep.

A moment later, he heard the rhythmic thudding of a chopping board downstairs. He wondered what his grandma was up to.

Unable to fall back asleep, he finally got out of bed.

His grandma lived in the suburbs of a third-tier city. Their original home was near a quarry, but after the local government introduced new policies to improve villagers' quality of life, the quarrying industry was reorganized. Everyone in their village was relocated to this new area, and all villagers received new plots of land. Since the new location was closer to the city, his family didn't hesitate to move.

With local government support, his grandma's family built a four-story villa. His uncle and aunt stayed on the second floor when they visited. Gu Shiying and his mother occupied the third floor, while his elderly grandma lived on the first. The fourth floor remained completely empty. His uncle usually lived in the city, and since he and his wife still had a mortgage, renovating another floor of the villa was too expensive. With financial pressures, they decided against it.

The first floor was decorated in the traditional Chinese style his grandparents adored, featuring a large round table in the center. The second and third floors, designed by his parents, embraced a modern aesthetic with numerous cabinets. They had hired an acquaintance for the work, but the final result was a bit of a hodgepodge.

He didn't mind any of that—he found it quite comfortable.

Gu Shiying threw on a T-shirt and shorts and headed downstairs, where he found his grandma still busily chopping in the kitchen.

"Grandma, I could hear you chopping all the way from the third floor. What are you making?"

His grandma, wearing a promotional apron from the supermarket, didn't look up. "Your uncle and his family are coming for lunch today. Lin'zai wants my homemade meatballs, so I'm making some for him. What's wrong? Couldn't you sleep? You should've worn earplugs."

Gu Shiying: "Didn't think of it. Let me help you chop."

Grandma: "Alright. After I'm done, take some over to Granny Chen next door. Her grandson seems to be back from out of town. You know him, right?"

Gu Shiying: "Who?"

Grandma: "You used to play with him when you were little. You called him Brother Erdong."

Gu Shiying chuckled: "Erdong Chen?"

Grandma: "Yes, yes."

Every weekend, his uncle's family from the city would come for lunch. Sometimes they stayed overnight; other times, if they had prior engagements, they left early.

Gu Shiying also lived in the city, but he preferred staying at his grandma's house. His mother had passed away from an illness when he was in middle school, leaving only him and his father. Later, his father remarried and started a new family.

Although his stepmother treated him well, something always felt missing. Whenever he had time off, he preferred coming to his grandma's house.

He felt closer to his grandma's side of the family than his father's.

In Jinshi Village, it was customary to share food with close neighbors. Gu Shiying brought the freshly made meatballs to the Chen family.

The villas throughout the village were painted in similar colors—a unified scheme to create a tourist destination. The roofs were vermilion red, and the exterior walls were white.

Next to the village was a famous river, surrounded by fields. In spring, the canola flowers bloomed abundantly, and on weekends, many tourists camped along the riverbanks.

The Chen family had a good head for business. They often made fresh steamed buns and sold them to tourists. Many people came specifically for their homemade buns, steamed bread, and locally grown corn and sweet potatoes.

It seemed like no one was home at the moment. Gu Shiying rang the doorbell, but there was no answer.

Just as he was about to leave, the door opened.

"Gu Shiying?"

The person who opened the door was a trendy guy with a few dyed white streaks in his hair and earrings.

Gu Shiying recognized him by his familiar face: "You're Brother Erdong?"

Chen Jian: "Haha, you still remember that name?"

Gu Shiying: "My grandma just reminded me. It's been years since I last saw you."

Chen Jian: "Thanks a lot. Just call me Brother Jian."

Gu Shiying: "Sure. By the way, my grandma asked me to bring these for Granny Chen."

Granny Chen was Chen Jian's grandmother.

Chen Jian took the meatballs: "She went with my dad to run the stall."

The layout of both houses was quite similar. In front of each home was a large open yard—some families used it to grow vegetables, others paved it for drying quilts, and some turned it into a small garden. The Chen family had laid out dried fruits and vegetables to sun-dry.

As Gu Shiying was about to leave, a somewhat plump middle-aged woman walked out of the house. Seeing Gu Shiying, she smiled and said, "Is that you, Xiao Ying? Your grandma made something delicious again?"

Gu Shiying: "Yes, Auntie. We brought you some meatballs."

Auntie Chen: "Wait a moment. I just steamed some buns. Take a few back with you. Your grandma likes them soft."

Gu Shiying: "Thank you, Auntie."

Auntie Chen smiled warmly at him. Chen Jian took the meatballs to the kitchen, and Auntie Chen followed behind him: "Look at Gu Shiying—such a good kid. Why can't you be more like him?"

Chen Jian said helplessly: "How can I? You didn't give me genes like his."

Auntie Chen pointed at the various piercings on his body: "You hopeless child. He's a great student, and look at you—no ambition. If your dad finds out you like men, he'll beat you to death."

Chen Jian rolled his eyes: "It's not my fault. I was born this way."

Auntie Chen: "Anyway, while you're home these few days, dress properly. Take off all those messy piercings and behave yourself."

Chen Jian: "I know, I know. Why are you so old-fashioned?"

Auntie Chen brought out a big plate of steamed buns and handed it to Gu Shiying.

Gu Shiying: "So many? If you give them all to us, what will you eat?"

Auntie Chen: "We made plenty. We can always sell the rest. There's more than enough."

Gu Shiying: "Thank you, Auntie."

At noon, his uncle's family returned.

After lunch, his uncle told him they were taking Grandma to the city in the afternoon for a basic check-up the next day. It was always better to keep tabs on her health.

Since his aunt was a head nurse, Gu Shiying didn't have to go along.

But now the question was: Should Gu Shiying stay here or return to the city?

Gu Shiying didn't want to go back to the city.

His uncle worried: "How will you handle meals?"

Gu Shiying: "I can cook for myself."

Auntie: "I'm not too confident in your cooking skills."

Grandma: "I'll prepare some dishes for you to heat up later."

Gu Shiying: "Uncle, Aunt, I'm all grown up now. I can take care of myself. No need to worry about me."

Uncle: "Alright then. If things get tough, you can always order takeout."

After giving him a few more reminders, his grandmother, uncle, and aunt returned to the city.

That afternoon, the neighbor, Chen Jian, noticed that Gu Shiying's grandmother and uncle's family had left, so he invited Gu Shiying to go fishing by the stream. In the end, they didn't catch any fish but ended up falling into the water while trying to catch shrimp. Making things worse, Gu Shiying sprained his ankle.

They went to the local clinic, where the doctor sprayed some medication on his ankle and said he'd be able to walk normally once the swelling went down.

Gu Shiying looked at his ankle, swollen like a bun, and was speechless.

Chen Jian gave him a ride back on his e-scooter, laughing.

"Don't worry, your uncle's not home, but your Brother Jian's got you. Since I'm partly responsible for your injury, I'll have your back."

"That's more like it. If you hadn't insisted on stepping on that rock, we wouldn't have slipped on the moss and fallen into the water." Fortunately, he wasn't afraid of water this year and managed to climb out on his own. The only unlucky part was spraining his ankle and hearing what Chen Jian was thinking as he helped him up, which almost gave him a heart attack.

"I miss my husband so much."

He never expected Chen Jian to be gay—and a bottom, at that.

Chen Jian: "I'll come help you bathe tonight."

Gu Shiying: "No need, I can manage on my own!"

Chen Jian: "What, do you dislike me because I'm gay? Look at you, you can't hide anything."

Gu Shiying: "How did you know that I know you're gay?"

Chen Jian: "You've never been able to keep a secret since we were kids. But I'm curious—how did you suddenly figure out I like men?"

Gu Shiying: "I just had a suspicion. I didn't know for sure."

Chen Jian: "As expected of a top student who made it into A University."

Gu Shiying: "..."

Could he say it was because he heard those embarrassing inner thoughts?

With his grandmother away, Gu Shiying was home alone. True to his word, Chen Jian took care of him, bringing him dinner in the evening and helping him back to his room.

That night, a huge argument broke out next door. Gu Shiying hopped on one foot to the balcony to listen and saw Chen Jian ducking into a car while covering his head, ready to make his escape.

Gu Shiying called out to him: "Brother Jian, where are you going?"

Chen Jian: "My dad found out I'm gay. He said he'd break my legs if I don't get married. I can't talk now, I've got to go!"

With that, he immediately got into the car, while Chen's father chased after him, shoe in hand!

Gu Shiying watched as he sped off: "Hey, wait—what about me?"

All he got was tire tracks.

This Chen Jian was so unreliable!

He couldn't tell his uncle and the others about his sprained ankle now—he'd made a big show of assuring them during the day that he could take care of himself.

Looking at his ankle, swollen like a bun, he got a little emo. He took a photo with his phone and posted it on his Moments, visible only to classmates and close friends.

"Welcoming Wealth God: Completely screwed. Home alone with no one to take care of me. [Bun-sized ankle.jpg]"

Within moments, he got a dozen or so likes and comments—clearly, everyone was on their phones at night.

"Zhang Zhi: What happened?"

"Gu Shiying replied to Zhang Zhi: Sprained it."

"Zhang Zhi: Find a girl next door to take care of you!"

"Gu Shiying replied to Zhang Zhi: Get lost."

"Guan Yu: Take care."

"Room 701 Head Honcho: Bro, I'll fly over tonight to keep you company!"

"Gu Shiying replied to Room 701 Head Honcho: No need to go that far, old man!"

"Yang Shuhang: I'll hire a nanny for you!"

"Gu Shiying replied to Yang Shuhang: No need for that either. You can just transfer me the money you'd spend on a nanny."

"Yang Shuhang: Transferred. Hire a good postpartum nanny."

"Gu Shiying replied to Yang Shuhang: Postpartum nannies are for people who've just given birth!"

Yang Shuhang actually sent him 10,000 yuan.

Gu Shiying: ...

Of course, he wanted the money, but he definitely couldn't accept it. This moneybags!

His classmates and friends left many suggestions in the comments, and one even taught him how to make a DIY crutch. He got a laugh out of it.

He remembered that his grandmother had a crutch from when she'd sprained her ankle, but since it was almost time to sleep, he couldn't be bothered to look for it. He'd look for it tomorrow.

Before bed, he checked his Moments again. When he didn't see a like from a certain familiar face, he felt a tiny bit disappointed for some reason.

The next morning.

Gu Shiying was woken up by the nonstop ringing of the doorbell.

At first, he wondered why his grandmother wasn't answering the door. Then he remembered—his grandmother was at his uncle's place, and he was home alone.

Who could be looking for him?

With no other choice, and the doorbell still ringing intermittently, he slowly hobbled downstairs, holding onto the railing. The moment he pressed the door open button and saw the person standing outside, his fingers nearly froze.

It took him a long moment to utter a single word: "Fuck!"

No, wait—everyone else was just joking about coming to take care of him. How did Fu Huan show up without saying a word?

Fu Huan's first words upon entering: "Who do you want to fuck?"

Gu Shiying: "..."

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Author’s note: Fu Huan: Babe, I'm here! [Hug][Hug][Hug]