Chapter 266: His Hidden Condition 1
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“I’ve waited for you for quite a while now. Brother, you’ve finished that entire pot of tea and you still haven’t said anything. Seeing that you’ve come looking for me, surely you’re not thinking of asking for this house back but can’t bring yourself to say it?”
“That’s not it,” Lu Yan hurriedly refuted.
“Then, spit it out. You’re like a woman! Dilly dallying like an old granny! Missy Lu!” Qi Qingyao mocked him deliberately.
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Lu Yan frowned. His expression became ghastly but he remained silent. His gaze was extremely morose.
The look he was giving Qi Qingyao seemed to betray a feeling of desperation.
Qi Qingyao was taken aback by this. She somehow sensed that the atmosphere today was different from yesterday’s. She instantly knew that she had taken the joke too far and quickly said, “I was jesting, don’t look at me with that despondent look on your face.”
Lu Yan took a deep breath and picked up the tea bowl at the side. He gazed into the tea inside that had already cooled and pondered for a long time before giving a brief statement.
“I was actually looking for you for a serious matter.”
“Then, fricking say it!” Qi Qingyao exclaimed, her tone becoming unkind.
“I…” The way he stretched out his words revealed the extreme tension he was currently feeling.
His fingers squeezed the tea bowl tightly.
His knuckles had begun to turn white.
Qi Qingyao caught all this in her sight. A sudden thought flashed through her mind and she took the lead to speak first.
“Did you come to me to get treated? Then, I suppose I don’t need to elaborate more about your illness.”
Lu Yan immediately lifted his head, his gaze somewhat flustered.
Qi Qingyao smiled radiantly and said, “Don’t hide your problems from the doctor when you come to consult them! If you don’t say anything, I won’t know what’s the problem.”
Lu Yan was staring at a particular vase in the hall. His eyes and brows were relaxed while his gaze was cold.
He took a few deep breaths.
It was as if he was building his resolve.
Just when Qi Qingyao was about to lose her patience…
Lu Yan spoke.
“Let me tell you a story.”
Qi Qingyao nodded. She picked up a piece of walnut cookie and munched on it.
“Long ago, in the Lu family’s attached mansion in Jiangzhou, there was a little boy. His family was particularly wealthy. Once he was no longer a wrinkly baby, he soon grew up into a beautiful young boy. His family would always praise him, saying that he was as beautiful as a girl. The boy did not take kindly to these comments, but his mother assured him that it was a compliment in disguise, being told that you have good looks. The little boy then obligingly accepted the praises. The child grew up peacefully and happily and turned thirteen years old one day. His family members, from top to bottom, all liked him very much. The boy was still very pretty.
“The boy, who was already a juvenile, gradually grew taller. At that time, the teenager hadn’t developed a nitpicking habit for cleanliness and was just like any ordinary person. He could accept it when people touched his head or other kinds of physical contact. He also enjoyed having dinner together with everyone. But one day, after waking up from his sleep, he discovered that someone had tied him up and drugged him. His body felt uncomfortable. The person who then entered the house was an old granny servant who was in her fifties… That night, the young man experienced the worst devastation in his life.”
Lu Yan’s voice was very soft, his tone leisurely and far off as if he were telling ancient tales.
He was speaking as if this matter had nothing to do with him.
However, when Qi Qingyao heard the story with her own ears, she felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
“…”
She no longer dared to stuff the walnut cookie in her hand into her mouth.
She looked at the man, beautiful as the flowers of the early spring, with mixed feelings.
“When he next woke up, his body was bruised and it took him half a month to recuperate. Everyone in the mansion who learned what had happened was killed by his grandmother. After the boy recovered, everything was different from before. When he approached people, he felt uncomfortable. Plain and simple discomfort. He didn’t want to eat with people anymore. He couldn’t overcome that psychological barrier. Half a year later, the boy returned to the capital, but from then on, he was an anomaly in everyone’s eyes—a freak! But he didn’t care; his father’s heart went out to the boy after knowing what happened and he still adored the boy very much. He started teaching him how to run a business and helped him become a normal person. So the boy grew up day by day… and gradually became who he is at present.”
When he reached the end, his tone had become light and floaty.
However, Qi Qingyao felt that under this light tone, countless years of oppression could be heard.
Qi Qingyao took another tea bowl, poured him some tea, and passed it over. She said leisurely, “Drink.” She was trying to ease the atmosphere a little.
Lu Yan was silent as he accepted the bowl of tea.
He put down the previous bowl.
Gripping the new bowl of piping hot teal, he looked at the swirling tea leaves inside but did not drink.
There was just silence.