Chapter 12

Yu An woke up drenched in sweat.

Suddenly, he dreamt of a scene from junior high when there was a parent-teacher meeting. His grades were excellent, and the homeroom teacher hoped his parents would come to speak on stage. Early that morning, he had already informed Yu You. Not long after Yu You arrived, he told Yu An he had urgent matters and had to leave.

At that moment, Yu An felt both disappointed and hopeful. Because this gave him an excuse for his mother to attend the parent-teacher meeting instead. Full of anticipation yet nervous, he sent the carefully prepared speech he had drafted, only to receive a bright red exclamation mark in reply with a message saying he was not her friend yet.

He had faced this situation many times before. Yet every time it happened, his mind went blank, and he felt as if he were falling. Still, he always pretended as if it didn’t matter, thinking that if he acted indifferent, he wouldn’t get hurt.

Later, he calmly took his seat among the other parents to attend the meeting. Wearing a school uniform among a crowd dressed in suits and dresses, he looked utterly out of place.

The embarrassment and sadness from the dream were so vivid that even now, when he opened WeChat and found his mother’s profile picture, he still lacked the courage to send a single message.

A call from Yu You popped up on the screen—it was from eleven o’clock last night. Yu An pressed it, guessing that the other party was probably going to question him again about pushing Yu Qing into trouble. He didn’t answer but instead deleted the call record without hesitation.

A soft, furry sensation touched his hand. Looking down, he saw the cat, already awake, had jumped onto the bed and was nudging his hand with its head, its eyes moist and gazing at him.

The lingering tension from the dream instantly faded. He picked up the cat and rubbed against it.

The cat stretched out, trustingly exposing its belly. It was an orange tabby with soft, yellowish fur, but on its exposed belly was an irregular patch of white fur that, upon closer inspection, resembled a heart.

Yu An froze when he saw the heart-shaped mark on the cat’s belly and tentatively called out, “Pingping?”

The cat let out a “meow” as if responding.

After the initial surprise, Yu An calmed down. Pingping was the cat he had found when he was five—twelve years ago. This cat looked less than a year old and could not possibly be Pingping.

He tried giving the cat another name, but it didn’t respond.

He tried again with Pingping, and the cat meowed once more, nudging into his arms.

He smiled and stroked its head. “Then I’ll just call you Pingping from now on. You’re the clean Pingping, and the other one is the brave Pingping. I won’t mix you up.”

Pingping lifted its head and rubbed against Yu An’s chin.

Yu An prepared food and water for Pingping in advance, patted its head once more, then hurried off to the theater.

—

After training all morning at the theater, Su Su gave them the afternoon off.

She reminded them, “Tomorrow’s dance ball starts at four in the afternoon. Don’t forget.”

Everyone responded and left the training hall together.

It was still early, so Yu An planned to visit Teacher Yu first and said goodbye to the troupe.

Song Zhao watched him leave along another path in the theater, pondering for a moment, feeling as if there was something he had overlooked.

Someone patted his shoulder. “Hey, what are you staring at, Song Zhao? Let’s go eat.”

Song Zhao didn’t think much more and left arm in arm with the others.

—

Yu An rang the doorbell of the small villa, feeling somewhat uneasy.

Yu Ling opened the door and was pleasantly surprised to see Yu An.

Yu An’s tense grip on his backpack strap instantly relaxed. He smiled and said, “Teacher Yu, I came to freeload a meal!”

Yu Ling laughed and led him inside. “Come on in! You’re always welcome!”

After dinner, Yu Ling frowned at Yu An’s clothes and suddenly said, “I’ll take you to buy some clothes!”

Yu An touched his collar. “Are these clothes not nice?”

Yu Ling had him stand and said, “You look good in anything, but these clothes are too big and don’t fit.”

Yu An realized and smiled, “It’s okay, Teacher. Big clothes are comfortable.”

Yu Ling tapped his nose playfully. “You!”

—

She gave Yu An no chance to refuse. “There’s the dance ball at the theater tomorrow. We’ll buy an outfit for that, too.”

Yu An realized he had only packed casual clothes after leaving the Yu family.

At the mall, Yu Ling took him straight to the men’s section.

As Yu An’s dance teacher, she knew his approximate size well.

Yet every time she picked clothes and he tried them on, she would step forward like a mother, carefully tugging at his waistband and asking, “Is it tight?”

Yu An’s nose suddenly stung with emotion. He shook his head, “No, it’s not tight.”

Yu Ling didn’t notice his reaction but examined his clothes carefully and asked the staff to bring a smaller size.

Listening to her talk with the staff, Yu An thought of when he had just been taken back to the Yu household. Yu You’s gaze had always been on Yu Mu and Yu Qing. The adults didn’t pay attention, so the servants naturally couldn’t be meticulous.

Either they forgot to prepare daily necessities or the clothes were too small.

Later, Yu An bought his own clothes, purposely two sizes larger so he could wear them longer.

Yu Ling proudly said, “Of course. My kid looks great, a perfect clothes hanger, and can dance and perform—very outstanding.”

Yu An lowered his head and smiled softly.

After buying several outfits, Yu Ling took him to a tailoring shop they frequented.

She had already left Yu An’s measurements there long ago, so this time he just needed to try them on and see what adjustments were needed.

Yu An’s waist was slender, so pants cut to his height were usually loose at the waist.

Yu Ling tugged at the waistband, marked the areas for alteration, and Yu An couldn’t help but lean back slightly.

“Xiao An, why are you still so ticklish?” Yu Ling teased.

Yu An smiled sheepishly.

After an afternoon of shopping, they found a restaurant in the mall for dinner.

While waiting for the food, Yu Ling suddenly asked Yu An, “What do you think of Gu Yuzhou?”

Yu An was momentarily stunned, then replied seriously, “Mr. Gu is very good.”

Recalling the subtle ways Gu Yuzhou had helped him, he added, “He’s very attentive.”

Yu Ling raised an eyebrow. “Attentive?”

She didn’t recall that being one of Gu Yuzhou’s traits.

After dinner, Yu Ling didn’t let Yu An see her off but called a cab for him, watching him leave.

—

Back at his rented apartment.

The moment Yu An opened the door, a cat jumped into his arms.

He bent down to kiss the cat’s head and held it for a long while before setting it down.

He put away the clothes Yu Ling bought for him, then changed into his dancewear and went to the dance room to practice.

Pingping lay by the door, watching him with open eyes.

After practice, Yu An washed up and returned to bed holding Pingping.

Thinking of Yu Ling’s question at dinner, he opened his phone and saved Gu Yuzhou’s number into his contacts.

Yu You hadn’t called him again today. He put down his phone and fell asleep holding Pingping.

—

At the Yu household.

Yu You got up early but didn’t go to the company. Instead, he sat on the sofa, waiting for Yu An to wake.

After breakfast, Yu Father left for work, and Yu Mother took a bowl of porridge upstairs.

At nine o’clock, Yu You went to Yu An’s room, raised his hand to knock, hesitated, then lowered it.

The butler came out from the next room. Yu You asked, “Have you seen Yu An today?”

The butler shook his head, then recalled something. “Young Master left at six o’clock a few days ago in the morning and is expected back tonight.”

Yu You nodded.

At eleven in the evening, the living room was still brightly lit.

Yu You had the butler use a spare key to open Yu An’s room.

The room was empty, the bed neatly made.

Yu You’s expression changed. He strode inside and opened the wardrobe. Seeing the clothes inside, he finally relaxed.

“The Young Master hasn’t been home for two days.”

The butler was calm about it, finding Yu You’s reaction odd.

After all, this was common at the Yu household.

Whenever Yu Mother had an episode, seeing Yu An would cause her headaches. When it was severe, she couldn’t recognize anyone.

So Yu An often had to move out, sometimes living away for more than half a month each month.

Yu You was aware of this, but Yu Mother wasn’t unwell now.

Then why hadn’t Yu An come home?

He took out his phone and called the hotel Yu An frequented. Upon hearing Yu An hadn’t checked in, unease crept back into his heart.

Unable to explain it, perhaps because of his insistence to find the answer, he dialed Yu An’s number.

After forty-eight seconds, the call was automatically disconnected.

No one answered.

Was he asleep? Or just didn’t want to pick up?

Yu Father came downstairs and frowned when he saw Yu You.

“Why are you still here? Have you prepared the materials for tomorrow’s negotiation with the Gu Group leader? Mr. Gu is difficult to deal with. This opportunity is rare and must be seized.”

Yu You rubbed his temples, pushed Yu An’s matters aside, and followed him upstairs.

—

The next morning.

Gu Yuzhou returned to the old family residence.

The estate was on a mountain, surrounded by dense woods, exuding an eerie quiet.

Upon arrival, the driver opened the car door on Gu Yuzhou’s side.

Gu Yuzhou stepped out calmly and entered the courtyard, his assistant following with head bowed slightly.

The mansion was very old but well maintained.

Inside was a rock garden with a koi pond. Corridors branched off at both ends but connected again.

Though a place of serene beauty, pink gauzy curtains hung everywhere, instantly casting the atmosphere into an unspeakable realm.

The assistant, smelling the strong sandalwood incense mixed with a faint scent of decay, lowered his head further.

At the main house door, Gu Yuzhou stopped.

The assistant knocked.

After a moment, a red-haired man slowly came to open the door. Upon seeing Gu Yuzhou, he immediately showed respect and greeted, “Third Uncle.”

His complexion was flushed, clothes disheveled, and there were suspicious red marks on his neck—he had likely just gotten out of bed.

Gu Yuzhou, impeccably dressed in a suit, with fingers as refined as jade hanging at his side, merely asked, “What is it?”

“The Grandfather is ill and has been insisting on seeing you.”

Seeing Gu Yuzhou hesitate, he hurried on, “Grandfather has gone to Chaoge Garden and is waiting for you.”

Only then did Gu Yuzhou turn and head toward Chaoge Garden.

Half an hour later, Gu Yuzhou emerged from the Gu residence.

The assistant began to brief him: “Mr. Gu, you have a meeting this afternoon with…”

Gu Yuzhou received a call from Yu Ling, and the assistant fell silent.

On the phone, Yu Ling’s tone was anxious, “Something urgent came up here, and I can’t leave. I won’t be able to make it to the dance ball on time. Could you please dance the opening with Xiao An for me?”

He frowned. Yu Ling seemed to anticipate his refusal and quickly added, “I finally got close to Xiao An and don’t want to disappoint him again. Just think of it as your aunt begging you for a favor.”

After a long moment, Gu Yuzhou loosened his tie and agreed.