Chapter 381: Sensitive
Su Li waited for a moment but heard no reply.
She looked down at Wu Sheng and noticed his strange expression.
"What’s wrong? Did I ask something I shouldn’t have?" ’Could it really be because of Li Xian that he took this job?’
Wu Sheng let out a breath he’d been holding. He wanted to say something, but seeing Su Li’s innocent expression, he resentfully clamped his mouth shut.
"No, it’s not because of him."
He answered gruffly.
Su Li blinked and said, "Oh." Her tone was clearly perfunctory and full of disbelief.
Wu Sheng was so exasperated he almost laughed. He didn’t need to guess to know that Su Li was definitely thinking, ’It was definitely because of him.’
He let out a breath, trying to ignore his ears. "I’m telling the truth. It really wasn’t because of him."
"Every boy dreams of planes. The only difference is between those who act on that dream and those who don’t."
What guy doesn’t love cars and planes? Flying a plane is such a cool thing to do.
"When I was a kid, eight or nine out of ten of my friends wanted to be pilots. It took a lot of determination for me to ignore him and officially pursue my dream."
"I see." Wu Sheng’s explanation made sense to her. "What about your mother? Didn’t she object?"
Wu Sheng was silent for a moment. "My mom thought about it for a night and didn’t object."
"Actually... ever since I was little, whenever I’ve made a serious decision, my mom has never opposed it."
"She’s not like other mothers, who are always saying ’you can’t do this,’ ’you can’t do that,’ ’I want you to be this way,’ ’I want you to be that way.’ She’s never been like that."
As Su Li listened, her hand unconsciously began to play with Wu Sheng’s soft earlobe, stroking it again and again.
"Sounds like she gave you a lot of freedom..."
As she spoke, she suddenly grew puzzled. "Wu Sheng, why is your ear getting hotter and hotter..."
She looked down and saw his bright red ear, then gasped. "How did it get so red?"
Wu Sheng closed his eyes, at the end of his rope.
"It’s because you keep touching it!"
He shot upright. "Are a man’s ears something you can just touch whenever you want? You..."
Su Li was speechless.
She stared blankly at Wu Sheng’s ridiculously red ear. The next second, her own face flushed crimson.
"I... I didn’t do it on purpose."
Of course, Wu Sheng knew she didn’t do it on purpose.
"From now on... from now on, you’re not allowed to just touch them."
Wu Sheng replied gruffly, "I’m stepping out for a bit."
He left the hospital room and went straight to a faucet to splash some water on his face.
The heat in his face slowly subsided, but his ear was still burning hot and red.
It was the first time Wu Sheng realized his ears were such a strangely sensitive part of him.
Su Li went to the radio station to apply for some time off. Wu Sheng accompanied her, clarifying his identity and proving that the previous rumors were all nonsense.
She was just an intern, so the station had no objections and just told her to come back when she was well-rested.
Next, Wu Sheng applied for leave, and Su Li used the time to rest and pack.
Whenever he had free time, Little Tang Mo would go to the library.
Knowing they were going to Wu Sheng’s hometown, Little Tang Mo also made preparations—which, for him, meant borrowing books.
One day, as he was leaving with a backpack full of newly borrowed books, he saw Tang Yuanxiao standing outside the library.
After saying goodbye to the friend he had come with, Little Tang Mo slowly walked toward Tang Yuanxiao.
A smile appeared on Tang Yuanxiao’s face as he watched Little Tang Mo.
"Do you like the library a lot?"
Little Tang Mo nodded. "Mhm, I do."
He loved the smell of books, the scent of ink—that particular bookish aroma.
A library full of books allowed him to forget everything else.
"Let me carry that for you." Tang Yuanxiao reached for Little Tang Mo’s backpack, and the boy obediently handed it over.
"Why is it so heavy?" Tang Yuanxiao asked, lifting it.
"I borrowed some books." Little Tang Mo paused. "Mom and I are going to Uncle Wu’s hometown to escape the summer heat."
Tang Yuanxiao’s hand froze for an instant. "Is that so?"
Little Tang Mo hummed in affirmation. "You haven’t come by in a long time."
"Yeah, I’ve been a little busy." Tang Yuanxiao matched his pace to Little Tang Mo’s. "Do you come to the library often?"
"Mhm." Little Tang Mo nodded. "The library is great. I like to sit by the window where I can touch the osmanthus tree outside. The flowers are about to bloom, and their faint fragrance smells wonderful."
A faint hint of joy appeared in Little Tang Mo’s eyes. "There are sparrows, too. They aren’t afraid of people and come to play every day."
As Little Tang Mo spoke, Tang Yuanxiao could almost picture himself in that quiet, comfortable library, filled with the light scent of osmanthus and visited daily by sparrows.
"It sounds like a wonderful place."
He sighed with feeling.
Little Tang Mo looked up at Tang Yuanxiao, thought for a moment, and then suddenly asked, "What... what kind of person was my dad?"
Tang Yuanxiao’s steps faltered for a second as he looked down at Little Tang Mo.
Little Tang Mo tilted his head up, waiting for an answer.
It took Tang Yuanxiao a long moment to process what Little Tang Mo was asking.
He was quiet for a moment before finally speaking.
"Your father... he was just like you, very smart. If his family hadn’t been so poor, if he’d had the chance to study properly like you, he would have been just as brilliant."
’Mo Jianjun... he really was so smart.’
’Little Tang Mo gets his intelligence from him.’
As Tang Yuanxiao spoke of Mo Jianjun, his gaze was indescribably complex.
"Your father was a good person, a true, upstanding man."
’If Mo Jianjun hadn’t died, how wonderful that would have been. He would have been so happy to have such a smart, sensible son.’
A trace of a smile touched Little Tang Mo’s eyes. "Do I look like him?"
He posed it as a question, but it was practically a statement of fact.
He just wanted confirmation.
Tang Yuanxiao looked down at Little Tang Mo and nodded emphatically. "Yes, you’re very much alike. It’s like you were carved from the same mold."
His expression was incredibly complex.
If it weren’t for this day, he probably would have never imagined, in his entire life, that he would be discussing Mo Jianjun with Little Tang Mo.
Tang Yuanxiao hadn’t come to the Imperial City for some time.
Coming back again and seeing Little Tang Mo, he felt as if he were in a daze.
He had just returned to the country and was immediately swept up in matters concerning Su Li.
He hadn’t told anyone, but somehow, word still reached the ears of his mother, Mrs. Tang.
Mrs. Tang had caused a huge fuss for a long time.
The scratch marks Su Li had seen on his neck last time were just the tip of the iceberg.
Mrs. Tang insisted that only Qin Shanshan could take care of her; she refused anyone else.
Tang Yuanxiao couldn’t stop her, so he decided to treat it as hiring Qin Shanshan as a caregiver. However, no sooner had he given Qin Shanshan her wages than Mrs. Tang took the money back.
With Qin Shanshan at his house all day and night, Tang Yuanxiao only spent one night at home after returning before he stopped sleeping there altogether.
He left the entire house to Mrs. Tang and Qin Shanshan, moving into his duty room at the office.
These places were nowhere near as comfortable as home, but it was the only thing he could do.
He moved the pot with the half-dead Orchid to his new office and watched it come back to life.
No matter how Mrs. Tang tried to persuade or force him to marry Qin Shanshan, Tang Yuanxiao no longer responded.
He remained a filial son to Mrs. Tang, but he would no longer blindly obey her, much less give in again.
Ever since that inexplicably strange dream, Tang Yuanxiao had been having dreams from time to time. Sometimes it was that same, clear, recurring dream; other times, the dreams were hazy.
He didn’t know what they were about, only that he was dreaming, and they weren’t pleasant dreams.
A month passed like this. Finally, he had another clear, bizarre dream, but this time, it wasn’t about Su Li. It was about Qin Shanshan.