Chapter 16 Violent Bandit

Chapter 16 The Hot-Tempered Ruffian

Lin Yajun was startled and looked at Lin Zaishan in confusion: "It's already this late, why don't you two just stay here for the night."

"No," Lin Zaishan refused outright, patting Yuan Che on the shoulder. "What are you waiting for? Get up."

Yuan Che didn't say anything. He stood up and immediately started cleaning up the orange peels he'd just peeled. As he bent over, Lin Yajun stepped forward and shot her son a look that said: take it easy, talk nicely.

Lin Zaishan saw it, but couldn't be bothered to acknowledge. He just gave Lin Yajun's shoulder a quick hug. "It's fine, Mom. We're leaving now. I'll come see you another day."

With that, he headed straight for the door. Behind him came a faint "Goodbye, Mom," which gave him the creeps.

Now he was even more certain—this Yuan Che was putting on an act. Playing innocent, pretending to be a harmless little bunny. Coming here without permission today to butter up Lin Yajun, it was hard not to think he did it on purpose. And yet he had the nerve to be angry, to give him attitude?

Who does he think he is?

The two walked out one after the other, from the hallway to the elevator in complete silence. Yuan Che, especially, was a completely different person from the clingy version last night. Not only did he not speak, but he deliberately kept his distance, keeping three steps behind. Lin Zaishan strode forward quickly, planning how he'd teach this little brat a lesson once they got home.

He pushed open the front door and stopped.

He hadn't come by car.

The rain had stopped, but the ground was a muddy mess. Lin Zaishan stood at the entrance of the apartment building, staring at the puddles in dismay—he'd just been drenched by the rain and really didn't want to ruin another pair of shoes. Behind him, Yuan Che slowly caught up, walked past him, and headed straight out without even looking back. Lin Zaishan stared at his back and finally lost it.

Fine. Who did he put himself through all this trouble for today? This little bastard didn't show any remorse, but he was still giving him attitude?

Is there any justice?

"Stop right there!"

Yuan Che stopped and turned around, looking at him in confusion.

"Where are you going?"

"Home," Yuan Che answered calmly, his face completely expressionless. "Didn't you say we're going home?"

Lin Zaishan glared at him, his tone stiff. "I... I didn't drive."

"Then what should we do?" Yuan Che frowned. "Should we go back to Mom's place tonight? But—"

"Stop." Lin Zaishan waved his hand to cut him off. "Let's get this straight. That's my mom, not yours."

"We're married. Your mom is my mom too," Yuan Che corrected seriously.

"You..." Lin Zaishan wanted to argue, but then realized arguing about this with him was a total waste of time. "Fine. Go out to the main road and flag down a taxi. We'll take a cab home."

"What about you?"

"I'll wait here." Lin Zaishan looked at the water on the ground. "You want me to wade through these puddles for you again?"

Yuan Che looked down too. The rain tonight had indeed been heavy; his shoes were already wet the moment he stepped out. He thought for a moment, then asked earnestly, "Do you want me to carry you?"

"What?" Lin Zaishan thought he had misheard.

"I said, do you want me to carry you?" Yuan Che repeated patiently.

Lin Zaishan froze for two seconds, then suddenly laughed.

"You want to carry me?" He looked Yuan Che up and down, a hint of mockery in his eyes. "That's a nice dream. Why don't you ask me to carry you instead?"

"Then do you want to carry me instead?" Yuan Che quickly countered, his face showing no sign of being offended. "If you want to, you can carry me. Either way works for me."

Lin Zaishan's eyes went wide.

"Either way works for me"? You're pretty easygoing, aren't you!

The feeling of being made a fool of washed over him again. He couldn't wait until they got home—this kid was too infuriating. He had to teach him some manners right here, today!

"Come here." He suppressed his anger and beckoned Yuan Che with his finger.

Yuan Che stood right where he was. He didn't move.

That silent defiance was the last straw for Lin Zaishan. He threw caution to the wind and shouted directly, "What's your problem? Are you doing this on purpose?"

"I'm angry," Yuan Che suddenly said, his face blank.

Lin Zaishan was taken aback. "What did you say?"

"I said I'm angry," Yuan Che repeated in a calm tone. "Can't you tell?"

Lin Zaishan stared at the person across from him.

That face showed no anger, no hurt, no expression at all. He just stated it plainly: I'm angry.

He'd never seen anyone get angry like this before. No crying, no accusations, no hysterics—he just stood there, calmly informing him: I'm unhappy.

Now Lin Zaishan was intrigued. He looked Yuan Che up and down and snorted. "Angry, huh? Alright, alright, spill it. Tell me why you're angry."

"I don't like the way you spoke to Mom," Yuan Che answered without hesitation, as if he had been waiting for the question.

Lin Zaishan was confused. "How did I talk to my mom?"

"You yelled at her."

Lin Zaishan thought about it. He guessed he had, but he was even more confused now.

"I yelled at my mom. What's that to you?"

"It has everything to do with me," Yuan Che said firmly. "No matter how angry you are, you can't talk to Mom like that."

"I was angry because of you!" Lin Zaishan's voice rose again. "Why didn't you tell me before you took off?"

"I left you a note," Yuan Che's tone remained steady. "You just didn't see it. It's on the nightstand in the bedroom."

"Which bedroom?"

"The bedroom we slept in last night."

That made Lin Zaishan feel really awkward.

The image of cuddled up with another man last night came back to him. Even though nothing had happened, standing here under the old lady's building, going back and forth like this, supposedly talking things out—it looked way too much like newlyweds bickering!

That realization freaked Lin Zaishan out. He couldn't keep arguing. The more they argued, the weirder it got!

He stared into Yuan Che's eyes, about to speak, but the other man beat him to it.

"Anyway, you can't talk to Mom like that anymore, got it?"

"Got it, got it," Lin Zaishan said dismissively, just wanting to end this bizarre conversation as quickly as possible.

"And—" Yuan Che clearly wasn't going to let him off that easily.

"Enough already." Lin Zaishan cut him off, his tone unconsciously turning stern. "Are you ever going to stop?"

Give this little brat an inch, and he takes a mile? When did it become anyone's place to lecture him?

Yuan Che looked at him, paused for a moment, then unexpectedly softened.

"Fine," he said. "Let's go home then."

With that, he turned around and bent over in front of Lin Zaishan.

Lin Zaishan was startled. "What are you doing?"

"Get on," Yuan Che looked back over his shoulder. "I'll carry you."

Lin Zaishan frowned, instinctively wanting to refuse—are you kidding me? A grown man being carried on another man's back like this? But then he thought about it: this little queer had caused him so much trouble today. Left a pile of work at the company, ran around looking for him like a fool, got soaked in the rain, and even had his mother see him in such a miserable state. Let him do a little work, what's the big deal?

He looked around, made sure no one was watching, and directly climbed on.

Although Lin Zaishan stayed in good shape, he was tall and not light. He thought Yuan Che would wobble a bit, but the kid caught him steady, his steps not even wobbling.

Not bad, at least his height wasn't wasted.

Yuan Che silently carried the person forward. Both shoes were already soaked through, his feet in cold water, but he didn't mind. Lin Zaishan had gotten caught in the rain looking for him today, and he actually felt a bit guilty about it.

But as guilty as he felt, there were some things he still couldn't figure out.

The kick from last night, he hadn't thought much of it then. But today's events made him suddenly realize—this person he married, how could his emotions be so unstable?

Not just unstable, he was practically a different person from that steady, gentle man he'd first met. He wouldn't listen to explanations, threw tantrums everywhere, and yelled at anyone.

Was this right?

He thought back carefully. In fact, Lin Zaishan's temper had always been there, just that every time he was about to lose it, he'd immediately cover it up with sweet words. He hadn't thought much of it before, but now, looking back, it felt like trying to hide something.

When he was watching TV with Lin Yajun earlier, he hadn't been paying attention at all. He was too busy mulling over this, and the more he thought, the more he realized he didn't seem to know Lin Zaishan at all.

After much deliberation, a thought he least wanted to admit gradually surfaced—Lin Zaishan had fooled him.

And then thinking about Yuan Simiao, it seemed even more suspicious. Growing up, when had his sister ever given him anything good? It was either something she was tired of, or a defective item. This time, giving him her husband—how could that not be off?

But now, everything made sense.

Maybe his sister had noticed Lin Zaishan's bad temper long ago, and only he was kept in the dark.

Once this thought occurred to him, Yuan Che felt a despair he hadn't felt in a long time. He couldn't believe that the man he had fallen in love with at first sight was all an act. The real face of that man wasn't the gentle gentleman from the soap operas Lin Yajun loved to watch, but a downright violent bandit.

"Hey." The bandit suddenly spoke up from his back. "Why aren't you talking? Weren't you more talkative before?"

Yuan Che snapped out of it. "What do you want to hear?"

Lin Zaishan snorted. "You're still mad, aren't you?"

"A little bit," Yuan Che admitted honestly.

Lin Zaishan was taken aback. So straightforward?

But then he thought again, something wasn't right. What right does this guy have to be angry? Because he yelled at the old lady? Or was he deliberately using that matter to pressure him?

"What exactly are you angry about?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Didn't you tell me to stop talking?" Yuan Che retorted, a rare occurrence.

Although his tone was still gentle, Lin Zaishan wasn't stupid. He could clearly hear the impatience lurking beneath.

He immediately got annoyed, and without a word, he grabbed at Yuan Che's shoulders to climb down. But unexpectedly, the kid's strength was greater than he thought—Yuan Che almost instantly sensed his movement, stopped walking, and pressed his thighs firmly against his back to hold him in place.

Lin Zaishan got angry. "Put me down!"

"Don't move yet." Yuan Che didn't stop; instead, he quickened his pace. "There's still water here."

After saying that, he walked several more steps before stopping, slowly straightened up, and set Lin Zaishan down on the side of the road where there were no puddles.