What kind of person is Ye Yubai?
A man who loves money more than life.
A man who pinches every penny.
And yet now, that very same man had handed Gan Lan a whole week’s living expenses.
Gan Lan thought the whole thing was completely ridiculous.
How could Ye Yubai possibly give him money?
This was a guy who’d painstakingly split the cost of a roll of toilet paper or a bag of milk with him!
He couldn’t help wondering if this was some kind of scheme.
But when he met Ye Yubai’s honest, kind gaze, he started to think he might’ve been judging him unfairly.
“Looks like some things really have changed.”
…
They went downstairs together and headed to the clinic.
The old doctor took Gan Lan’s temperature and asked him a few routine questions.
“There’ve been a lot of colds going around lately. Better not take any chances.”
The old doctor said this as he wrote out a prescription and handed it to Ye Yubai.
“Go pay for it. A nurse will come give him a shot in a bit.”
Ye Yubai passed the prescription straight to Gan Lan.
He looked a little awkward.
“Um, I gave you all the money I had on me. You go pay.”
Gan Lan said, “Oh,” and got up to pay.
The old doctor gave Ye Yubai an appraising look.
“Not bad, young man. You let your girlfriend handle the money?” the old doctor teased.
Ye Yubai gave an awkward chuckle.
He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.
“Actually, um, he’s not my girlfriend.”
Still, having a girlfriend like that didn’t sound half bad, did it?
What a shame.
Gan Lan was a boy.
As the Ye Family’s only son, he couldn’t go falling for another boy. Wouldn’t that mean the Ye Family line ended with him?
The old doctor gave him a look that said, “I get it.” “Good luck, young man.”
Ye Yubai smiled again.
This time, the smile was a little forced.
There was no way to “try harder” with something like this.
…
When Gan Lan came back, Ye Yubai and the old doctor were chatting away. They were even talking about “girlfriends” and things like that.
Gan Lan couldn’t help sighing.
It suddenly occurred to him that the old doctor’s granddaughter had once been one of Ye Yubai’s rumored love interests, too.
“Ye Yubai really does have love interests everywhere. He’s the textbook harem-novel protagonist.”
His rumored love interests might not actually have dated Ye Yubai, but Gan Lan was a guy too. He felt he shouldn’t interfere with anyone else’s judgment, let alone ruin someone else’s chance at love.
Besides, even if he did everything he could to stop them from getting together, it probably wouldn’t work.
From what Gan Lan knew of Ye Yubai, the guy lived entirely on his own terms.
He’d always been casual about relationships and never listened to anyone’s advice. He might even fall out with Gan Lan over a girl.
Something like that…
Had happened before in his previous life.
“Ugh, seriously. Why am I even thinking about all this?”
Gan Lan ran a hand through his hair.
He started grumbling to himself.
“Dating won’t affect his studies, and it won’t stop him from returning to the Ye Family someday. If he wants to date, let him! Why am I worrying about it?”
It was better to stay out of this kind of tangled mess.
He deliberately waited off to the side. Only after they’d nearly finished talking did he walk over.
Ye Yubai waved him over.
“I asked. There’s still a bed in the room inside, so let’s go there.”
Gan Lan gave a flat “Mm.”
As soon as they stepped into the hospital room, a nurse came in pushing a cart.
“Which one of you is Gan Lan?”
“Oh, that’s me.” Gan Lan raised a hand.
“All right. Lie down for me.”
Gan Lan took off his shoes and lay down on the bed.
Ye Yubai stood by the window with his hands behind his back, watching the people come and go outside.
“I still have to call our homeroom teacher and get both of us excused.”
Thinking of that, he pulled his phone out of his pocket.
He searched his contacts as he walked out.
Gan Lan’s gaze followed him without him realizing it.
Just as he realized he probably shouldn’t be staring, he heard the nurse give a soft laugh.
He immediately felt like he’d been caught red-handed.
His face turned bright red.
As the nurse started the IV, she suddenly leaned in and whispered, “Is that young man your boyfriend?”
Gan Lan froze for a moment, then quickly shook his head.
The nurse’s smile widened. “If he’s not your boyfriend, could you give me his contact info?”
Gan Lan said, “Well…”
To be honest, he didn’t really want to.
But he couldn’t explain why.
Something about it just made him feel weirdly uncomfortable.
He thought it over for a moment, then hesitantly said, “H-he’s still young. He’s underage. He can’t date.”
What was he even saying?!
Gan Lan wanted to smack himself on the head.
The nurse wore an expression that said she’d seen right through everything.
Her smile turned knowing.
After finishing Gan Lan’s IV, the nurse set the tray back on the cart.
As she was about to leave, she said softly,
“If you like him, you should make your move. That young man seems to have plenty of admirers.”
…
No one needed to tell Gan Lan that Ye Yubai had plenty of admirers.
He’d been Ye Yubai’s childhood friend and had known him in both of his lives. How could he not know the guy was popular?
But why should Ye Yubai having plenty of admirers bother him?
Could this be what they called envy, jealousy, and resentment?
Gan Lan sighed, tugged the blanket that smelled strongly of disinfectant over himself, and settled in.
He took his phone from his pocket, opened the news app, and started browsing without much thought.
At some point, Ye Yubai came back.
He was carrying a takeout container of black rice porridge.
“Here.”
He handed the takeout to Gan Lan.
Gan Lan opened the container and took out what was inside.
Ye Yubai plopped down on the edge of his bed and went back to fiddling with his phone.
Gan Lan propped one leg up to hold the takeout container in place and slowly spooned up his porridge.
For a while, neither of them said a word.
Every so often, they could hear the old man in the next bed coughing.
Ye Yubai suddenly sighed.
“This team’s playing like crap. They fucking lost again.”
He turned off his phone screen and lay down.
The hospital bed was narrow.
When he flopped down like that, he was bound to press against Gan Lan.
Gan Lan’s heart jumped, and he instinctively drew his feet in.
But before he could pull them away, Ye Yubai had already rested his head on them.
Separated by the soft blanket, the oblivious Ye Yubai hadn’t even noticed that his head was resting on the top of Gan Lan’s foot.
He turned his face and glanced at Gan Lan.
Because of the angle, all he could see were Gan Lan’s pale lips and the hand with an IV drip attached.
He’d never noticed before that Gan Lan’s nails were square-shaped.
Every nail was neatly trimmed, without a bit of ragged cuticle. His hands were prettier than a lot of girls’.
Gan Lan tried to pull his foot away again.
Slowly, he managed to pull his left foot free.
Just as he was about to pull his right foot away, Ye Yubai grabbed him by the ankle.
“Why are you dodging? Do you think I’m going to eat you?”
He raised an eyebrow and asked on purpose.
