Black Lotus

The whole house was exceptionally quiet. Knowing that Wen Niannan was afraid of the dark, Uncle Xu hired people to install lights almost everywhere in the building. 

At night, they would automatically turn on, and the entryway of Wen Niannan’s room was also equipped with switches to the living room and corridor lights.

After turning on the lights in the staircase, Wen Niannan walked quietly downstairs and saw that the lights in the study room were still on.

He walked into the kitchen, poured a glass of water, and took out some cookies made by Aunt Lan from the fridge. He leaned against the cupboard and started to eat.

Wen Niannan has always liked to eat sweets snacks. When he was a child, every time he passed the dessert shop and saw the bright smiles of those children eating desserts, he wondered if he could make people happy just by eating them.

During the time after his mother died, he had been hiding in his room and didn’t want to see anyone. The relationship between his father and him became tenser and tenser until he saw his father’s increasingly weak body.

Wen Niannan ordered a cake and brought it to his father. After they both finished their slice of the overly sweet cake, the bitterness in their hearts seemed to be thinned out by the sweetness.

“What are you doing?”

A low voice suddenly sounded behind him, Wen Niannan quickly put the cookie aside and stood up straight.

Gu Yansheng walked over with a tired face and poured himself a glass of water while looking at Wen Niannan.

“I… I can’t fall asleep, and… I felt thirsty.”

After saying this, he took a step back and stood in the corner, trying to reduce his sense of existence.

“Where is Uncle Xu? Let him bring me a cup of coffee.”

“Uncle Xu is already asleep, I’ll go make it for you… is that alright?”

Gu Yansheng raised his eyes to look at him and said nothing. He simply walked to the table and sat down with his eyes closed.

Seeing that he wasn’t directly rejected, Wen Niannan felt excited. After the coffee was brewed, he poured it out gently and placed the cup on the table.

Seeing Gu Yansheng’s distressed and bloodshot eyes, he felt quite sad. He cautiously asked, “It’s already early in the morning. You should get some sleep and deal with the business tomorrow.”

“Put away your mendacious concerns, I don’t need it.” Probably because of staying up late and was exhausted by his work, Gu Yansheng became very irritable.

Wen Niannan stopped and asked, “Aren’t you going back to the room to sleep?”

“Go back to the room? Whose room? What tricks do you want to play? Don’t forget, we are about to divorce.”

After that, Gu Yansheng turned around coldly and slammed the door.

In the study room, Gu Yansheng did not turn off the computer after finishing his work, but opened another website and clicked the play button.

Soothing music sounded in the study room, and the music was composed by the popular mysterious composer W.E.

It was two years ago when he first heard W.E’s songs and became a “fan”. Gu Yansheng would listen to every new song as soon as it came out. The strong emotions behind every piece could always help him relax no matter how tired he was.

The next morning, Wen Niannan woke up early and sat at the dining table, but his eyes kept glancing upstairs.

Aunt Lan knew what he was thinking about. She shook her head with a sense of worry in her eyes.

It didn’t take long for Gu Yansheng to walk down, and the two of them ate their breakfast in silence.

A ringtone broke the awkward silence, and Gu Yansheng’s face instantly calmed down after seeing the caller.

“Yes, I’ll go back soon. Do you want me to bring you your favorite tiramisu?”

Hearing the sudden change in tone, Wen Niannan knew exactly who the person on the other end of the phone was. His heart sank, and Gu Yansheng was leaving again…

He pretended that he never heard the conversation and continued to eat. Although his eyes were fixed on the food on the plate, his mind was not here anymore.

Translated by: Summit

Edited by: UnderTheMoon