Don’t Be a Kept Man

Chapter 115: Will Never Ever Leave You By Yourself Again

Bai Yang looked quite dumb, but his heart was clearer than anyone else.
In front of him, Wen Chuo was like a child who hadn’t grown up, hiding none of his negative emotions.
He let Wen Chuo do as he wished to him, bringing on a rarely seen side of him, a moment of indulgence and pampering that no one else has ever seen.
The two of them unknowingly rolled together on the floor, merging together, and no matter what, would not separate.

Wen Chuo pulled away from the other’s teeth slowly while Bai Yang was still a bit dazed.
A faint red color was at the end of his tear ducts, and his pair of eyes were layered with a glassy watery color.
As he lied there underneath his body, he was soundlessly hooking hearts away.

“Bai Yang……”

Wen Chuo’s gaze softened before picking Bai Yang back up into his embrace.
Whatever he caught sight of then, it made him lower his head to look at his hand.
There was a slight momentary pause, but Bai Yang did not sense it at all as he was still zoned out, leaning against Wen Chuo’s shoulders.
There were a few dirt marks on his cheeks, and their messy greyness was so sharp in contrast to his paleness.

At that moment, someone felt a guilty stab in their heart.

Wen Chuo walked into the washroom to wash his hands and then grabbed a dry towel to wipe Bai Yang’s face.
His actions were a bit awkward and rusty, but he only stopped when he saw that Bai Yang’s face was cleaned up.
He didn’t dare to hug him again.

As if he understood what he was doing, Bai Yang lowered his head to look at his own white t-shirt.
The top was naturally already messy, and he patted it a few times with force, but the dirtied spots wouldn’t come off.
He climbed back up from the ground, with his eyebrows scrunched up in unhappiness, and went to the bedroom to change his clothes.

Wen Chuo: “……”

He stood in the doorway, too embarrassed to look over even if there very likely wasn’t anything good to look at.
With great familiarity, he pulled out some rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab from the drawer before putting them lightly onto the desk.

“Bai Yang, remember to sanitize your wound after you change your clothes.
I’m going home to shower.”

There was no movement from the room and Wen Chuo scratched his head before slowly closing the bedroom door.

He didn’t go back home.
Instead, he went back to the construction site and apologized to the head construction manager for leaving in the middle of work this afternoon before continuing to work.
He planned to finish up these last couple of days as earnings were still earnings.
If he worked a bit more, perhaps about a little under half a month, he could earn about five or six thousand.

Wen Chuo didn’t know how many bottles Bai Yang needed to pick up to earn enough money to buy the computer.
Right now, he only wanted to earn as much money as possible and then quickly return it back.
It seemed as if a strong invisible force was pulling at his agitated heart, and it finally felt like it was settling down.

The work was hard, causing a feeling of a tiredness he had never felt before.
But being tired was good.
It would always be remembered in his heart, always make him remember how hard it was for Bai Yang to earn money.

Wen Chuo didn’t go back home late at night as he did before.
When it was almost time, he hung around Di Ting Arcade to let Bai Yang think he was fooling around with his hooligan friends and prevent him from going to the construction site to find him again.

When he had free time in the afternoon, he would chew on a steamed bun as he learned how to edit short videos on his cellphone.
He planned to, once he practiced and levelled up his skill level, create an account on a streaming platform, being a gaming streamer or uploading short gaming guides.
If that didn’t work out, he’ll help others edit videos which could at least earn some money.
After all, these duties don’t take a toll on his body, and he would have some aim in life, some thought about the future in his heart.

In a blink of an eye, half a month had already passed and the construction project was almost at its end.
At first Wen Chuo had just been moving cement, but at the end, he was following along with the senior technical workers to make the walls.
Because of that, his final payout had about an additional 2000, which counting it all from the beginning, he received in total about 6000 yuan where each bill earned had been seeped through with blood and sweat.

Following the time slowly passing by, the weather in the air was slowly cooling down, and the cicada’s calls in the midst of the summer were gone.
The chef for the restaurant had already returned and Liu Meng Meng was behind the counter, taking charge of the cash register.
Noon was the restaurant’s peak hours, and only in the afternoon did it start to calm down.

There was a slight sound of wind moving trees outside, and as the tree leaves rang out with a “sha-sha” sound, a nice cool feeling settled in.

Liu Meng Meng was just taking a nap on the counter when the glass door was suddenly pushed open lightly.
In walked a young man with very handsome features and a body that was lean and long.
On his nose was perched a rimless pair of glasses, and it perfectly softened the usual sharpness of his face.
The peach blossom eyes behind the glasses contained a smile, looking very much like those high school seniors who could daze their female juniors.

The man touched up his freshly cut black hair (courtesy of himself), with his arm that was very thin but which slightly revealed a hidden sense of strength, before asking Liu Meng Meng, 

“Where’s Bai Yang?”

Liu Meng Meng hadn’t been able to move her gaze off the handsome guy’s face when she suddenly choked on air.
She coughed and coughed until her face was red.
As she patted her chest, she asked in disbelief, 

“You……you are Wen Chuo?! Cough cough cough…… you dyed your hair black?”

Yesterday, Wen Chuo still had a head full of red with some yellow interspersed between some black.
With his hair tied up, as he had not been taking care of it for a very long time, he looked too much like a wandering homeless artist.
Yet today he had dyed his hair black and cut a very refreshing short style that Liu Meng Meng almost could not recognize him.

Liu Meng Meng: “Omona, you finally dyed your hair back, and you are even wearing glasses.
I almost didn’t recognize you, but you are quite handsome……”

Her voice got a bit quiet at the end, so Wen Chuo didn’t hear it, 

“Staying up all night to play games lately so my eyes have gone short sighted.
Where’s Bai Yang?”

Liu Meng Meng pointed towards the back, 

“Inside washing dishes, what’s up?”

Wen Chuo said, 

“Nothing much.
I was just upstairs and saw your bedsheets on the balcony being blown away.”

“What, how did it get blown away again!” 

Liu Meng Meng quickly locked the cash register and grabbed her clothes line stick before running upstairs.
Seeing this, Wen Chuo walked straight into the kitchen, brushing aside the plastic curtains.

“Bai Yang—-“

He originally thought that there would only be Bai Yang inside, so he never expected that by the counters was a chubby chef just cutting vegetables.
The words on his lips suddenly got swallowed back down, where a feeling of having it stuck in-between, a feeling that was painful to endure, emerged.

Bai Yang was just sitting on a little stool and washing the vegetables.
Hearing Wen Chuo’s voice, he looked up subconsciously.
Seeing that it was a black haired young man however, with a pair of glasses on his nose that made him look so gentlemanly and made him recall back memories long forgotten, for whatever reason, the vegetables in his hand fell with a plop into the water basin below.

The chubby chef gave a glance before continuing to work on his creation of a new dish, 

“Young man.
Don’t wander randomly into a kitchen.”

Wen Chuo: “Chef, I’ll just stand here at the door to say a few words.
I won’t go in.”

He walked to the sink area, crouching down in front of Bai Yang.
The corners of his lips slightly hooked up, and his smile transferred to the corners of his eyes and his eyebrows.
He was darker than before, and a bit thinner.
But there was finally that youthful ambition on him, and he looked way finer than before.

Bai Yang stared at him for a few seconds, his face and eyes slightly trembling.
Then he lowered his head to pick the vegetable he dropped back up, when his wrist was suddenly grasped.

Wen Chuo stroked across Bai Yang’s hand, confirming that the injury from before had scarred and was starting to heal before holding his slightly cold, full of old scars and injuries, hand again and pointed at his own hair, 

“Bai Yang, I’ve dyed my hair back.”

Wen Chuo said, 

“I’m back.”

His pair of eyes looked deep and encompassing, and because of his smile, they were slightly curved up, bringing on a bit more of a pureness to him.
Bai Yang lifted up his eyes to look, and his fingers slightly moved, as if he wanted to touch his hair.
But when he saw the dirty water on his hands, he quickly retracted them back.

Faint footsteps rang out from upstairs as Liu Meng Meng unhappily came down with her dirty bed sheets, looking as if she was going to wash them again.
In that moment, Wen Chuo wondered if his mouth was blessed as a simple lie has actually turned into a truth.

He let go of Bai Yang and walked back out.
Seeing Liu Meng Meng preparing to go into the storage room for some laundry detergent, he knocked on the door frame with his knuckle, 

“Hey, can Bai Yang take half a day off?”

Liu Meng Meng moodily turned her head back, 

“What for, does he have an emergency?”

Wen Chuo nodded his head as he leaned against the doorframe, 

“Hmm, emergency.”

Liu Meng Meng wanted to say, what could Bai Yang as an orphan have as an emergency, but she didn’t have the effort to investigate too deeply.
She thought that since Feng-shu will come back from the market in the afternoon, they should have enough hands on deck.
Plus she had that bit of a crush on Wen Chuo, so she waved her hand in the air as to agree, 

“Go go, as you wish.”

Only after her confirmation did Wen Chuo turn around and walk back into the kitchen.
He pulled Bai Yang up from his stool, 

“Let’s go.
I have something to talk to you about.
I’ve already asked for a day off for you from Liu Meng Meng.”

Since working at a construction site for almost a month now, his strength has increased quite a bit.
He dragged Bai Yang all the way to his home, kicking aside all the junk in his way before locking the door.
He entered his bedroom to grab a thick stash of cash.

Wen Chuo counted, leaving only 2000 for himself, and then stuffed the rest into Bai Yang’s hands, 

“Take it.
Buy whatever you want with it.
Spend it however you wish to spend it.”

Bai Yang didn’t take it and dazedly backed up a small step before turning around to leave.
Seeing this, Wen Chuo was slightly surprised and reached out to pull him back, 

“Why don’t you want it? I earned it myself.”

“No……” 

Bai Yang scrambled in fear and backed up.
In his eyes, that stack of money was like a swarm of poisonous, fearful creatures.
In his struggle, it all scattered to the ground.
He pushed off Wen Chuo’s hand as he ran towards to the door.

“No……”

“I don’t want……”

Wen Chuo suddenly remembered in his past life when he was leaving Lin Xian, and he had given Bai Yang a sum of money.
Back then, Bai Yang had acted the same as now.
Fearful and stubborn, throwing away the money and pulling on him, repeating, 

“Don’t want money……don’t go……don’t go……”

Wen Chuo’s eyes suddenly reddened and the feelings of apologetic regret and self-hatred suddenly rose like a roaring wave in him.
He ignored all the loose money on the floor and reached out to pull Bai Yang into his embrace.
Ignoring the struggles in his arms, he hugged Bai Yang tight against him, 

“Bai Yang, Bai Yang, listen to me!”

Bai Yang closed his eyes, fiercely shaking his head.
He covered his ears and crouched on the ground, and Wen Chuo followed suit.
He forcefully pulled down Bai Yang’s hands and picked up the money on the ground to hold it in front of his eyes.
He asked with all seriousness, 

“Bai Yang, do you understand my meaning? I’m giving you money, do you understand what I’m doing?”

“Bai Yang, I’ll raise you.
For the rest of your life, I will raise you.”

Wen Chuo let go of the money and held onto Bai Yang’s face, forcing him to stare directly at him, 

“From now on, what’s mine is yours, do you understand, Bai Yang? We will never be apart, always be together for the rest of our lives.”

After he finished, a huge rock seemed to have been released out of his heart.
As if this sentence had been hidden in his heart for a very long time and should have already been said; it should have already been said in his previous life.

Confused and surprised, Bai Yang seemed to think of something.
His pair of eyes were dark, so dark no light seemed to be reflected in them.
As if it was the night sky on a rainy day, interspersed with lightning and thunder, so empty it was suffocating.

Wen Chuo quickly picked up the money scattered on the floor and organized them well.
Seeing Bai Yang like this, he froze in silence for a moment, before reaching out and lightly brushing aside the bangs on Bai Yang’s forehead.

“Bai Yang, let’s live together.”

Wen Chuo took off his glasses and put them aside, so very clearly revealing his facial structure.
He then lowered his head and kissed Bai Yang very lightly on the eyelids, as like a dragonfly dipping into water.
The warm touch seeped all the way to Bai Yang’s heart, and he came back to reality, his eyes finally once more tinted with a bit of light.

Wen Chuo repeated again, 

“If you are willing, we can live together.”

“Just like a husband and a wife…..”

Wen Chuo didn’t explain what a husband and wife meant, as he knew Bai Yang understood.
Bai Yang understood everything.
It was only because of the silence collected from so many years that everyone thought he was an idiot.

He had taught Bai Yang everything, raised him up with all the knowledge he knew.
Idiot or not, no one knew better than Wen Chuo.

Dusk was breaking and the sun was setting.
The room was illuminated in a golden layer of light as Wen Chuo half knelt on the ground.
He slowly reached out his hand and said to Bai Yang, 

“Come here……”

His back was straight, and his silhouette highlighted on the living room floor was elongated.
It was an instinctive realization to those who saw it that Wen Chuo had already grown up so much.
His not very wide shoulders could hold up against the hard work and efforts that he would have never touched in his previous life.

Bai Yang looked at him and then after a very, very long time, he finally moved.
He lowered his head and leaned into Wen Chuo’s embrace, silently curling up into a ball.

Wen Chuo lowered his own head, brushing against Bai Yang’s hair.
He slowly tightened his embrace, before feeling that slightly wet feeling on his shoulder, and closed his eyes.
Slowly patting Bai Yang’s back, 

“Don’t cry……”

“I will never leave you behind by yourself again.”