Chapter 19: Video Call
After discussing the matter with Yao Manhuai, they decided to let Lu Lingxuan take care of Shao Junling during Yin Chang’s absence. As the work load was practically nothing, days were spent idle and thus, Lu Lingxuan readily agreed to her boss’s request. With plans set, that afternoon Yin Chang booked a flight.
On the day of Yin Chang’s departure, Lu Lingxuan came to the house in the morning to go over Shao Junling’s situation and asked very detailed questions about his needs.
“When does he go to bed and when does he wake up. What’s his daily routine like?”
“Generally, he goes to bed around nine in the evening and wakes up at about seven or eight in the morning…”
When he first brought Shao Junling back home with him, Yin Chang experienced a bought of insomnia from all of the stress. There was this one time when he couldn’t sleep until three in the morning. As a result, Yin Chang ended up sleeping until noon. When he woke up and opened his eyes, the unexpected view of another pair of dark eyes closely staring at him startled him. Lying next to him on the bed motionless, Shao Junling had been watching Yin Chang intently for an unknown length of time.
Being caught by surprise, Yin Chang was a little frightened and demanded: “What are you doing?”
Hearing the firm tone of Yin Chang’s voice, Shao Junling’s cheeks flushed. He shrunk his neck in an effort to make himself small. He had an instinctual impulse to flee as if he had been caught with a hand in the cookie jar. Before Shao Junling could explain himself, in a series of rumbles, his stomach answered for him.
After that incident, in order to make him breakfast in the morning, Yin Chang set an alarm clock to force himself to wake up at an appropriate time.
“Shao Junling will brush his teeth and wash his face, but….” Yin Chang quickly glanced around to checked if Shao Junling was nearby. He lowered his voice and whispered to Lu Lingxuan, “In terms of personal hygiene, you better supervise him.”
“Oh. Do you just want me to remind him to wash his face and brush his teeth?”
“Also, his bath….”
The weather was still relatively hot. Fearing that Shao Junling was too idle staying at home, Yin Chang decided to take him to the Huaihe River apartment community gym to exercise. Even though he was so small, his physical fitness was excellent. Perhaps his joy was due to the excitement of experiencing something new, but he ran over three thousand meters easily, laughing and smiling the whole time. In his mind, maybe Shao Junling was simply playing.
When they arrived back at the apartment, the air conditioner’s constant air flow quickly dried up Shao Junling’s sweat. It took three days until Yin Chang happened to get close to him and noticed the grime on his skin that he realized Shao Junling hadn’t been bathing.
Although it was autumn and the weather was getting colder, Shao Junling went outside with Yin Chang daily. He was a very active child and liked to feel everything as he explored; the trees, the grass, the rocks and dirt. As a result, when he returned home, he was always covered in sweat and dirt from head to toe.
“As for his dietary habits, he eats everything except spicy food and doesn’t like shellfish. If you prefer to cook, you can make something for him otherwise, just order take-out instead.” Yin Chang told Lu Lingxuan about several of Shao Junling’s favorite restaurants that he often ordered from.
“Okay. No problem. I won’t order anything heavy. Just some simple dishes like fried rice and noodles ….”
“But there is one thing you need to watch out for. He doesn’t know how to eat in moderation.”
Speaking of which, it took Yin Chang a while before he realized there was a problem. In the past, in order to figure out what he liked to eat, Yin Chang would order a variety of foods. Although he meant for Shao Junling to pick and choose what he wanted to eat, Shao Junling would end up eating it all every time and sometimes, as a result he ended up making himself sick.
“Ah, okay. I will pay attention to portion size.”
While she wrote down his instructions and took notes, she sighed in her heart. She couldn’t help feeling a little fond of Yin Chang. After all, she really didn’t expect a wealthy young master like Yin Chang to take child-rearing so seriously!
“Also, there are additional toys and children’s books in the closet of the guest bedroom, but his favorite toys are Legos. ” In an effort to make things easy as possible while he was away, a thought popped into Yin Chang mind. He went to get his iPad from the bedroom and said: “I’ll leave you with this. If he gets bored, you can download some small games for him.”
“Okay!”
The Huaihe Apartment had only two bedrooms. Yin Chang asked Lu Lingxuan if she wanted to sleep in the master bedroom, but she refused and remarked: “No, no. I’ll just sleep on the sofa.”
Even if it was Yin Chang ’s room now, it used to be Yin Dong ’s room. How could a regular young woman go to sleep there?
Yin Chang tried to persuade her and insisted: “But it’s more than a few days….”
“It’s completely fine!” Hardships and endurance were the necessary qualities of an excellent agent. Regardless of the softness of the luxurious sofa, Lu Lingxuan felt like there wasn’t even a problem if she slept on the floor.
After thirty minutes of instructions, he finally finished all of his explanations. Yin Chang concluded: “Although Shao Junling isn’t so good at communicating and expressing himself, for the most part, he has been very obedient. You shouldn’t have any problems.”
“No problem!” If an eighteen-year-old boy could handle it, at twenty-five, she better be able too.
At noon the three of them ate lunch together. After, Yin Chang simply packed his luggage and called Shao Junling over. He said: “Brother has to leave for a week. Sister Lu Lingxuan will be here to take care of you. You must listen and obey her.”
Standing motionless, Shao Junling suddenly opened his eyes wide, staring at him dumbfounded. He didn’t make a peep.
Yin Chang made another gesture: “I’ll be back in seven days.”
Shao Junling still gazed at him without a word revealing nothing of his true feelings. Was he feeling resentment? Sadness? Anger? Was he ok? In short, it was not a particuarly good reaction.
Yin Chang didn’t know what to do about it and as a result, he was feeling a little guilty for leaving. Since they hadn’t spent much time together, he thought it wasn’t possible for Shao Junling to harbor deep affection for him and thus, in Yin Chang’s mind, it wasn’t a bit deal for him to depart. Thinking all would be well in Lu Lingxuan care, Yin Chang left with confidence.
When he returned to his home abroad, he talked with Fiona for a long time about Yin Dong and the past.
When Yin Chang mentioned the adopted ‘illegitimate son’, Fiona didn’t bat an eyelash even though she was born in the sixties and raised with traditional values. Instead, she offered some advice: “Even if the law required monogamy, many large wealthy families had three wives and four concubines.”
She added: “A close friend of mine worked as a nanny at a wealthy man’s house on Hong Kong Island. I heard from her that the family raised a dozen children out of wedlock. Your father was a billionaire. It’s nothing for him to have a bastard or two, but your father was unique in the way he treated you.”
Even though in Yin Chang’s mind, he understood the way wealthy families behaved, hearing the truth of the matter first hand made him feel depressed.
After dinner, he rested and it took another two days for Yin Change to get used to the time change. It wasn’t until then that Yin Chang remembered Shao Junling. Since it had been two days without a word, he hesitated for a while. Finally, he called Lu Lingxuan first by using WeChat’s video function. He let the phone ring, but there was no answer.
….. Did she go out?
Remembering that he left his iPad at home, he tried to contact her through FaceTime.
This time, the video call was answered. Unlike the usual well-polished and composed Lu Lingxuan, a desperate and haggard face answered the call instead: “Boss! You finally called!”
Yin Chang: “…What’s wrong with you?”
Lu Lingxuan looked exhausted: “Shao Junling has not slept for two days! He hasn’t eaten since you left!”
Yin Chang frowned: “Why not?”
“I don’t know! I ordered him some take-out, but he didn’t eat it. As soon as I got close to him, he attacked me!” Lu Lingxuan exposed her arm and showed Yin Chang her wounds: “Look as these marks! His fingernails are too long! Not only that, he doesn’t sleep when you said he would! ” Lu Lingxuan felt like she was being scammed.
Furrowing his brown, Yin Chang’s frown deepened: “Where is he now?”
With red eyes and a haggard look, it was obvious that Lu Lingxuan was exhausted and at wits-end: “Hes in the guest bedroom and won’t listen to me.”
Yin Chang said seriously: “Give him the iPad. I will talk with him.”
As she slowly moved to the room, Lu Lingxuan nervously explained: “I suggested he call you last night, but when I tried to give him my cell phone, he smashed it! If he smashes your iPad, don’t blame me!”
Yin Chang: “…” No wonder Lu Lingxuan didn’t answer the phone.
However, Yin Chang was very surprised at his reported behavior. When he was with Shao Junling, he neither had a temper nor exhibit any bad antics. How could he smash his phone?
Watching the screen, Yin Chang could see Lu Lingxuan push open the door of the guest bedroom. While it was still day time there, the curtains were drawn closed so it was dark in the bedroom. Yin Chang could see Shao Junling sitting alone in the dark by the bed.
“Hello …?” Lu Lingxuan called out to him timidly: “Your brother has called. Do you want to talk to him?”
If not for the slight shrug of his shoulders, the boy continued to be unresponsive.
Lu Lingxuan approached him slowly and boldly placed the iPad directly into his arms.
Yin Chang’s screen suddenly was filled with Shao Junling’s small face. He continued to stare off in space, unresponsive. When Shao Junling realized there was something in his hands with the image of Yin Chang in front on him, like the shock of a loud bronze bell, he widened his eyes in surprised. Moreover, he touched Yin Chang’s face on the iPad screen with his hand.
Yin Chang was firm and asked: “Why aren’t you eating?”
Shao Junling: “…”
Yin Chang: “Why aren’t you going to bed on time?”
Shao Junling: “…”
Yin Chang: “Didn’t I tell you to listen to Sister Lu Lingxuan?”
After drilling him with three consecutive questions, Shao Junling finally reacted. He looked at Yin Chang earnestly and tentatively asked: “Where are you?”
Yin Chang: “???”
Lu Lingxuan: “?????”
“I …” Yin Chang hesitated, “I’m in California near Los Angeles in Pasadena …” He didn’t know if Shao Junling could understand so he switched the camera view to show Shao Junling his room. Yin Chang also walked over to the window so he could see outside.
However, as soon as the camera swapped angles and thus, the screen did not show Yin Chang, Shao Junling became visibly anxious. Not knowing where Yin Chang went, he touched the iPad’s screen and thinking it was broken, he shook it.
Lu Lingxuan promptly requested: “Yin Chang, change the camera back!”
As Yin Chang’s face quickly appeared on the iPad screen again, Shao Junling immediately returned to normal.
The two stared at each other in the video. Yin Chang was embarrassed at first: “Okay, I’m not going to tell you again; eat dinner properly, brush your teeth, then go to bed….. Do you hear me?”
Shao Junling: “…”
Quickly thinking, Lu Lingxuan added her own warning: “If you don’t listen to what your told, in the future, your brother will ignore you!”
Shao Junling: “…!”
As soon as he heard what she said, Shao Junling snapped his head nervously to look at her and then looked at Yin Chang on the screen.
Understanding Lu Lingxuan’s clever ploy, Yu Chang also followed her cue: “If you behave well, I’ll call you every day.”
Shao Junling touched the iPad screen and asked: “Here?”
Yin Chang wondered: “What? Here, where?”
Lu Lingxuan helped and explained: “He means the video-call on the iPad.”
Yin Chang: “… Ah, yes.”
Finally, he communicated with Shao Junling. Although it was with a few simple words, both of them felt very relieved.
After talking for about an hour, Yin Chang went to take a bath. Before going to bed, he saw a string of messages sent by Lu Lingxuan in WeChat.
“I was able to turn on my broken phone……”
“But it’s glitching and is seems like it will shut down completely at any moment.”
“Shao Junling has finally eaten! [Cry]”
“He ate a lot … [Speechless]”
When Yin Chang saw it, he breathed a sigh of relief and replied, “I’ll buy you a new one on the Internet. What brand do you use?”
“A Huawei model! Thank You.” Having experienced a couple of days of mental and physical trauma, Lu Lingxuan felt she deserved compensation.”
Ten minutes later, Yin Chang sent a message to her: “The order has been placed, but it probably won’t be delivered by tomorrow.”
Lu Lingxuan: “It’s all right. I’ll use the iPad in the meantime to login into my WeChat account.”
Yin Chang: “How is he now?”
Lu Lingjuan: “He fell asleep with the iPad in his grasp. Finally, I was able to steal it from him so I could use it.”
Yin Chang: “…”
Lu Lingxuan: “And, it’s clear that he will only listen to you.”
Lu Lingxuan: “How on earth did you take care of him before?”
Yin Chang was a bit confused. When he brought Shao Junling back home, he didn’t think his behavior was out of the ordinary.
Lu Lingxuan: “Ok. I’m heading to bed now. I stayed up with that bear child for two nights. I’m exhausted.”
Yin Chang: “Go ahead.”
Turning off the phone, Yin Chang was still lying in bed, recalling what Lu Lingxuan had just said. …… He only listens to him? Why? They just met.
__________
The author has something to say: 【Vignette】
Lu Lingxuan: Whatever happened to being an agent? Why am I suddenly helping my boss with a bear cub? (╯ ‵ □ ′) ╯︵┻━┻
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