Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)-Chapter 403: Desperate Plea
Since that day, everytime He Juan returned for dinner, which was only one or two days per week, Mu Yuze would make sure to cook for him. He was a quick learner, and his skill continued to improve by leaps and bounds with the help of audio recipes Teacher Wei had shared with him.
Alas, it was too bad that he could only eat those meals by himself.
Even though He Juan said that the busy period aka territory expansion would end soon, it certainly did not look like it, judging from how difficult it was for Mu Yuze to see him at home. And on those rare occasions, he would be occupied with phone calls, with no time and attention to spare for Mu Yuze. Once, Mu Yuze even overheard him talking about cleaning up, and something told him that He Juan was not talking about trash and garbage on the street. In the end, Mu Yuze turned around and pretended to hear nothing.
He had decided not to care about who He Juan was, because for him, the man would always be his sweet, gentle and considerate Juan-gege.
And his resolution was further consolidated when weekend came, which marked the first day he would attend the dojo. Mu Yuze was taken aback when he came out of his room and found that He Juan was still in the living room, because usually the man would leave soon after he took his daily coffee.
"Juan-gege?"
He Juan raised his head from his phone and his eyes lit up in smiles when he saw Mu Yuze clad in a cotton white jacket and wide-legged pants with a white sash tied around his waist, looking every inch like a disciplined student. He put the phone into his pocket and grabbed his jacket, standing up, "Shall we?"
Mu Yuze was confused. "You are not working today?"
"I will go after I drop you off," He Juan said as his eyes fell on Mu Yuze’s waist. He walked over to the boy, grabbed hold of the end of the sash and tugged it gently.
Mu Yuze’s entire body froze in shock as he felt the sash loosening around his waist. W–What did He Juan want to do?! He watched with bated breath as those slender and graceful fingers moved to tie the sash in a neat and beautiful knot, a total opposite to the messy knot Mu Yuze had done earlier.
"There," he took a step back and gave Mu Yuze a once-over, satisfied. "Our Xiao Ze is so handsome today!"
O–Oh, so He Juan was just helping him tie the sash better. Of course, what did he expect?! Mu Yuze mentally beat himself up for overthinking He Juan’s simple gesture, and he quietly remarked as they walked out of the house to get into the car. "You don’t have to do this, you know. I can find my way there with my bike."
"Hush," He Juan urged him to fasten his seatbelt, which he obliged. The car smoothly drove away from the peaceful neighborhood, leaving the house behind them. "This is your first day, how can Gege let you go alone?"
See, this was his kind and considerate Juan-gege, no matter what kind of profession he had outside. Mu Yuze let out a scoff, though he was feeling very happy inside, "What? Am I a kindergarten student on my first day of school?"
He Juan couldn’t help but laugh at that snarky question, and he playfully teased, "What are you talking about? Our family’s Mu Yuze is still a baby, and that’s why Gege is not rest assured to let him out of the house!"
Mu Yuze harrumphed and turned his gaze out of the window, trying and failing to pretend that his heart did not flutter at He Juan’s words. In the end, not only did He Juan drop him off at the dojo, he even tagged along inside until they met with Mr. Song Yin in the inner building, who was meditating with his eyes closed and back ramrod straight.
"Please take care of him, Mr. Song," He Juan smiled and patted Mu Yuze’s back. Then turning to Mu Yuze, he advised earnestly, "Study well and do your best. Gege will see you later, okay?"
"Wait!" Mu Yuze caught He Juan’s sleeve just as the man was turning around, and he mustered up the courage to ask. "Will you come home for dinner tonight?"
"What?" He Juan raised an intrigued brow. "Does Xiao Ze have a new recipe he wants me to try?"
"Something like that..." he mumbled under his breath. He did not say how he had been learning to make a delicious potato stew from Teacher Wei these past few days, partly because he was still hung up on the previous failure and partly because it was a dish that they both loved to eat. Thus, Mu Yuze couldn’t help but feel as if he had to redo it and make it perfect this time!
He Juan thought for a second before he decided, "Okay, then Gege will come home early tonight."
Yes! Mu Yuze’s eyes lit up and he finally let go of He Juan’s sleeve, waving him goodbye, "See you tonight."
He watched as He Juan walked out of the building and disappeared from sight before turning to the man who was going to be his martial arts teacher in the future. He took a deep breath, steeled himself and gave a deep bow, "I’m looking forward to learning from you, Mr. Song!"
"Good," Song Yin was pleased by his spirit and determination. "Let us start now. But let me warn you first, I will not go easy on you just because of your connection with XIU."
Mu Yuze nodded with nary a hesitation, "I didn’t expect you to, Mr. Song. Please train me hard."
He had promised He Juan that he would grow up healthy and strong so that in the future, he did not have to become a burden anymore. And he was going to achieve it with his own strength!
***
"Boss..." Chen Youzhi finally could not keep mum anymore when he heard He Juan humming under his breath when he was checking over documents, when usually the man would be grumpy to be buried in office work. He carefully commented, "You look like you’re in a very good mood today."
He Juan signed the document and let out a light chuckle, "My little bunny keeps wanting to show off his cooking skills and stuff me with handmade food, so how can I not feel happy?"
Hearing that, Chen Youzhi parted his lips to speak, only to close them again because he had no idea what to say.
When He Juan first took Mu Yuze under his wings, he had assumed that it was just an act of kindness and sympathy, and He Juan would quickly let the boy go as soon as his safety and livelihood was secured. But now, almost six months had already passed and the two of them had become closer than ever, it was not exaggerating to say that they were attached at the hip. This had gone totally out of his expectations.
Their line of work was precarious and full of danger at every twist and turn, and excessive emotions would more often than not turn into a hindrance. Yet Chen Youzhi noticed how the boy had filled He Juan’s mind almost every hour of the day, and how his words and actions could easily affect He Juan’s mood.
He was dreadful to find that Mu Yuze was slowly but surely becoming a thorn on He Juan’s side. A weakness that could be fatal, especially to someone in his position. XIU was not allowed to fall, for if it were to happen, then not only his direct subordinates but the entire Xuanlong would also go down together with him. Chen Youzhi got chills down his spine at the mere thought of it.
"You look like you have a lot to say, Chen’er," He Juan remarked lightly without looking up, but then he gave no permission for Chen Youzhi to speak as if he had known what the man was going to say. Who would know better about the swords threatening XIU from all sides, poised to kill him at any moment, more than He Juan himself?
"How is the trip to Hebei?" He Juan switched the topic smoothly. "Did you find that bastard Mo Feng?"
Sighing inwardly, Chen Youzhi decided to shelve the private matter for the time being and shook his head in response, "The warehouse is empty and there are no signs of him anywhere. I tried to snoop around a bit, but it did not seem like he had been to Hebei at all, Boss."
He Juan clicked his tongue in mild annoyance, "So are you saying that our source of information has become completely unreliable?"
Chen Youzhi immediately understood the underlying meaning behind his sentence. He dipped his head low and gave his word, "I will seek out those who tried to mislead us."
"Good, and don’t forget to—" He Juan’s sentence was cut off midway when his phone buzzed on top of the table. The first person that crossed his mind was Mu Yuze, because who else would call him at a time like this if not the boy? But then when he glanced at the screen, he saw that it was a string of unknown numbers.
He Juan narrowed his eyes. Wait a moment, this combination... was it from a telephone booth?
"Hello?" He Juan picked it up at once, and his expression instantly became grim once he heard Ye Qiu’s breathless and desperate plea coming from the other side.
"Please... please help us! I beg you, XIU!!"
