Chapter 48 Wrist

Chapter 48: The Wrist

Yan Zhoubai chuckled softly a couple of times; of course, he didn’t take Zhan Jiayu’s words seriously, only thinking that Zhan Jiayu was quite fond of joking around.

Zhan Jiayu watched Yan Zhoubai’s face, laughing happily, but the shadows in his eyes gradually deepened and intensified.

The more innocent Yan Zhoubai was like this, the less he guarded himself around him, and the more rapidly those dark thoughts grew in his heart.

But he couldn’t let those black vines grow unchecked in his heart just yet—at least not now, not when it would scare Yan Zhoubai.

The flight from Jing City (the capital) to Jiang City took just over two hours, and soon they landed at Jiang City Airport.

As they exited the airport, a pre-arranged driver by Chen Chu came to pick them up. Yan Zhoubai and Zhan Jiayu sat together in the back seat.

It was already around 5 p.m. Yan Zhoubai leisurely pulled out his phone from his bag and turned it on.

Yan Zhoubai’s phone was usually set to vibrate instead of ringtone. For the next minute or so, he learned what it meant firsthand to have his hand go numb from the vibrations.

As soon as he turned it on, notifications of unread messages and missed calls kept appearing on the screen. The first thing that caught his eye was the red "99+" notification badge, followed by the fact that these unread messages and missed calls came from several different people.

First was his eldest brother—his unread messages and missed calls both showed "99+" each. The last unread message was from half an hour ago, saying: "Give me a call when you see this."

The rest were messages and calls from his father and mother, and even messages from Bu Qiran and his uncle.

Yan Zhoubai was taken aback by the overwhelming response. Logically, he had only been unreachable for a few hours. He was a grown man, already of age—it wasn’t like he could just disappear.

But the "99+" messages did show that his eldest brother was really worried, so Yan Zhoubai decided to call him back first.

But before he could even tap the screen, an incoming call appeared—it was from his eldest brother.

Yan Zhoubai reflexively answered the call, but only after connecting did he remember he couldn’t speak right now. He should have texted his brother instead.

"Xiao Bai?"

But the call was already connected, and his eldest brother’s voice came through from the other end.

Yan Zhoubai had no choice but to tug at Zhan Jiayu’s sleeve beside him, holding the phone up to show him the ongoing call screen and the contact name "Eldest Brother."

He implored with his eyes: Help me, please explain to my brother.

Zhan Jiayu stared into Yan Zhoubai’s eyes for several seconds before taking the phone from his hand.

Yan Zhoubai’s eyes had looked glistening and bright just now. Even though he hadn’t spoken a word while asking for help, Zhan Jiayu felt the plea had tugged at his heartstrings.

"President Yan? Xiao Chuaner is right here with me, safe and sound. Don’t worry, President Yan." Zhan Jiayu put Yan Zhoubai’s phone to his ear.

Yan Zhoubai sat turned toward Zhan Jiayu, watching him intently, eager to know what his eldest brother was saying.

But he had forgotten to put the call on speaker, so he couldn’t hear what his brother was saying on the other end. He could only guess based on Zhan Jiayu’s responses.

"We just landed in Jiang City. I brought him here for a visit for a couple of days."

"If I’m taking Xiao Chuaner out to have fun, I only need his consent. He’s an adult now, not a child."

"Since President Yan can think that way, you should know I would never harm him. If I bring him out, I’ll bring him back safely. You can rest assured, President Yan."

"That’s my business, it has nothing to do with him. It won’t involve him."

"Don’t worry, I’ll be with him the whole time. Even if I have matters to attend to, my assistant will accompany Xiao Bai throughout. He won’t be left alone."

"It’s hard to say exactly—at least three or four days, maybe up to a week. He’s never been to Jiang City before, so since he’s here, he should make the most of his visit."

"I’ve said this before, President Yan. What I call him is my prerogative. As long as he responds to it, it has nothing to do with you, President Yan."

"Please also let your family know not to worry. Xiao Chuaner is also concerned that you might be anxious."

...

Yan Zhoubai listened beside him, surprised that Zhan Jiayu could talk so much with his eldest brother. At first, he could roughly guess what his brother was saying on the phone, but the more they talked, the less he understood what the two were discussing.

Yan Zhoubai gently tugged at Zhan Jiayu’s arm, wanting him to let him say a few words to his brother.

Even though he still couldn’t speak complete sentences, he could gesture; Zhan Jiayu was clever enough to understand his meaning—he could act as a translator.

But as soon as his hand touched Zhan Jiayu’s arm, Zhan Jiayu had already hung up and handed back the phone to him.

"Your brother said you should message him if you have anything to say. He’s worried you might not be able to speak clearly on the phone."

Zhan Jiayu passed on Yan Anxuan’s message. When he turned his head, he noticed Yan Zhoubai was facing him sideways like a little kitten waiting to be fed, leaning in his direction, with his hand seemingly about to rest on his arm, as if preparing to nudge him gently.

After hearing what Zhan Jiayu said, Yan Zhoubai continued to look at him with pleading eyes. Zhan Jiayu immediately understood what he meant.

"I’ve explained everything to your brother clearly and asked him to update your parents as well. Don’t worry, just enjoy your time in Jiang City these next few days."

Zhan Jiayu took hold of Yan Zhoubai’s wrist. Originally, he intended to hold Yan Zhoubai’s wrist and lower his hand, but as soon as he took hold, he first felt the cool metal sensation, followed by Yan Zhoubai’s skin.

Looking down, he saw that the cool metal was the gold bracelet he had given Yan Zhoubai before.

He had initially meant to hold Yan Zhoubai’s wrist and move his hand away from his arm, but now he pulled it forward instead, bringing Yan Zhoubai’s wrist right in front of him.

Zhan Jiayu didn’t hold back his strength, so Yan Zhoubai’s body leaned forward slightly from the motion.

"Last time I only saw a photo. Seeing it in person is truly more beautiful than in the picture."

There was no subject—it was unclear whether Zhan Jiayu was complimenting the exquisitely crafted gold bracelet with red gems or something else.

The skin under his palm was pale and smooth, forming a sharp contrast with Zhan Jiayu’s slightly darker complexion and work-roughened hands. Zhan Jiayu thought little pressure would suffice; just holding Yan Zhoubai’s wrist and rubbing it a few times would likely redden the skin there due to the calluses on his palm.

Moreover, Yan Zhoubai was naturally quite slim, and his wrists were thinner than most people’s. In contrast to Zhan Jiayu’s large hand, it looked as though it could break with just a slight twist.

Yan Zhoubai felt somewhat uneasy. He thought Zhan Jiayu was admiring the gold bracelet he had given him, but Zhan Jiayu’s hand holding his wrist was very warm, and his palm was indeed somewhat rough, making Yan Zhoubai feel slightly uncomfortable.

Yan Zhoubai tried to pull away slightly, trying to free his wrist from Zhan Jiayu’s grasp.

Noticing the faint struggle in his hand, Zhan Jiayu realized he had been staring at that fair wrist, accentuated by the gold chain and red gems, for a bit too long. He let go without saying anything.

Zhan Jiayu hadn’t used much force, so no red marks were left on Yan Zhoubai’s wrist. Still, the warmth of Zhan Jiayu’s palm seemed to linger on his skin.

"Th-thank you."

Yan Zhoubai tried to speak and, unexpectedly, succeeded this time. Though it was just two disjointed words, they were enough to be understood.

Zhan Jiayu smiled faintly without responding.

He had just realized something—he really enjoyed this feeling of Yan Zhoubai depending on him entirely. Yan Zhoubai needed his help with everything; only through him could he communicate smoothly with others.

This situation arose because Yan Zhoubai had developed a temporary muteness due to the anger caused by the three people in the hospital.

Initially, the first impulse that struck him upon learning of the incident was an urge to kill those three individuals—he had even planned where to bury them. But now, he felt that Yan Zhoubai's being unable to speak might not be such a bad thing after all, as it meant Yan Zhoubai would have to rely heavily on him.

Whether it was wanting a Coke, explaining the situation to his family, or going out to have fun, having meals, and experiencing various activities over the next few days—everything would depend on him. Just the thought of it sent a wave of pleasure washing over him.

Of course, he knew such thoughts should be kept in check. While these dark, morbid ideas aligned with the most primal desires deep within him, they were unworthy of someone as innocent and cheerful as Yan Zhoubai.

Despite the traumas Yan Zhoubai had faced since childhood, he had always remained a person standing in the sunlight. He couldn’t drag him into the darkness.

At least not now. Their current progress was healthy and normal; there was no need for him to resort to those underhanded tactics.

Yan Zhoubai picked up his phone and began responding to everyone’s concerns and greetings, making sure each of them knew he was fine, that it was nothing serious—just away having fun for a few days, and he would be back soon.

His father hadn’t sent many messages, but each was concise and to the point, very much in line with his usual style. What surprised Yan Zhoubai, however, was how different his mother was acting this time.

In some ways, Yan Ren and Bai Rong were quite similar—both placed great importance on their careers, were highly ambitious, and truly embodied the saying "birds of a feather flock together." Their union produced his eldest brother, Yan Anxuan, an amplified version of them both, whose drive was so intense he had become a workaholic.

Bai Rong’s usual communication style was actually quite similar to Yan Ren’s. But this time, Yan Zhoubai noticed that his mother had sent him three times the number of messages as his father. They were filled with words of concern, though in the past, Bai Rong would have considered most of such talk a waste of time.

Just as Yan Zhoubai was marveling at how much his mother had changed these past few days, he saw the messages from Bu Qiran—also quite a few, mostly filled with punctuation and emojis, with only the last one containing any real substance:

"If you don’t reply soon, I’m turning your room into my walk-in closet tonight."

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Author's note: Here it is! [Let me see]