CH 51.3

Light Up For You (3)

Qin Yuan raised his head to look over there. “In junior year, the dorm would be pitch-black whenever I returned from night self-study.”

Ruan Qingmu turned to look at him.

There was a rare raspiness in the usually handsome and cold youth’s calm voice. “It was the same whenever I returned home. When I enter the door, there will be a little feeling of not wanting to enter.”

Ruan Qingmu blankly looked at him in a daze before asking, “Your dad… is not home every time?”

Last time, Qin Yuan told him that his mother had passed away when he was four years old. But it wasn’t like he didn’t have a father and he thought things were going well for him since his family was so well-off.

“It’s still okay when I was little. Although my dad was busy with work, a nanny was at home, and it wouldn’t always be dark when I returned home from school.” Qin Yuan indifferently said, “But a middle-aged man with a successful career and ample assets wouldn’t always be alone, so he looked for a new wife.”

Ruan Qingmu observed his expression. “Oh, that’s a common thing.”

After all, in this world, many women were like his mother and unwilling to remarry for their children but few were willing to be widowers for their deceased husbands.

Qin Yuan’s face had a hint of imperceptible sarcasm. “That’s right.”

“Was your stepmother not good to you?” Ruan Qingmu carefully asked.

“It’s not like that. Anyone who can get into my father’s eyes is a gentle and virtuous woman, so she wouldn’t treat me harshly.” Qin Yuan shook his head. “But my father’s business became bigger and she urged my father to move house, where they settled in another city.”

“Ah, went to the major city?”

Qin Yuan was in a daze. “Yes. But it’s not her fault. I knew this was also my dad’s intention.”

“Then, just go with him. Your dad’s business has become bigger and it’s good to go to Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou.” Ruan Qingmu scratched his head. “Don’t the rich usually wish to settle in a major city? Maybe he felt suffocated in the former house.”

Qin Yuan indifferently said, “There are traces of my mom everywhere in that house.”

After all, she had died in a disaster. The sight of every grass and tree in the courtyard would remind people of the original mistress.

Ruan Qingmu let out a stunned “oh.” “What’s going to happen to you?”

Children couldn’t part from the adults. If Qin Yuan’s father insisted on leaving, nothing could be done.

“Mm. I don’t want to go.” Qin Yuan stared fixedly at a distance, his gaze distant. “My mom’s grave is still here. Why should I leave with my father’s new family and let them rub their family harmony in my face?”

Several years before, he accidentally overheard Aunt Wei acting coquettishly to his father in the kitchen, whispering that she wanted to have her own son.

“So, you don’t live together with your dad now?” Ruan Qingmu was stunned beyond belief.

“When I was in the third year of junior school, my dad wanted to transfer me to another school, saying the whole family would move away.” Qin Yuan laughed. “I disagreed with him. I said to him that the senior school entrance exam was coming up and he would delay my studies by doing that.”

“Ah… Did he agree to that?”

“He hesitated but didn’t dare to force me. After that, he brought my stepmother and my new little sister and moved to a neighboring provincial capital.” Qin Yuan’s expression was indifferent. “Leaving me behind to proceed with the senior school entrance exam.”

Ruan Qingmu flew into a rage. “Was your dad mad? You were a child then. How could he leave you behind alone?!”

Qin Yuan looked at him. “Not alone. Of course, there will be people taking care of me.”

Looking at Ruan Qingmu’s furious expression, he indifferently smiled. “Don’t worry. He left four people for me.”

One chef to make the meal, one hourly worker to manage the housework, Uncle Yan, who was in charge of his safety since childhood, a driver to pick him up and drop him off, and a high-ranked secretary left behind to take care of his chores while handling business affairs in his locality.

Ruan Qingmu stared at him fixedly.

This boy was clearly smiling, but it was so hard to look at his face somehow.

Qin Yuan looked at him. “What expression are you making? It’s not like my dad has thoroughly abandoned me. He would especially come back to have a meal with me every week.”

Ruan Qingmu’s heart felt stuffed with something and he asked in a whisper, “So, there was nobody in the house every time you returned?”

“Yes, ah. I don’t like people in the house. The aunties making meals and doing the housework would come during the daytime and leave after finishing.” Qin Yuan paused before saying, “I’m used to it now.”

Anyway, it was the same whether returning to the dorm or his home.

Over at the dormitory building, the students who had been fooling around outside gradually went back and the boys could be vaguely seen hanging around the dormitory.

The lights were turned off late tonight. It was almost eleven o’clock and the night breeze seemed to be getting a little cooler.

Ruan Qingmu looked at the lonely and quiet Qin Yuan at the side.

“There’s no such thing as being used to it,” he whispered, tilting his head to drink all of his drink.

“I’ve decided, ah. You’re not allowed to ignore me.” He casually threw the bottle into the rubbish bin at a distance, accurately throwing it into the bucket. “After the National Day, I will inform Old Jian that I’ll be moving back to 106.”

He stood under the giant camphor tree. The light of the stars and the shadows of the light posts poured down on him, reflecting his open brow and eyes like cold stars. “I’ll return to the dorm early. Whenever you return in the future, I guarantee that the room will always be brightly lit.”