Huo Tinglan took care of everything for Ye Hongjun to go to the United States for treatment.
Things went smoothly and Ye Ci didn't have to worry about anything. He simply signed a few agreements as a patient's family member and transferred Ye Hongjun out of the nursing home.
His seriously ill mother had traveled across the ocean to seek medical treatment. Even though he knew that the accompanying team would take good care of her, he could not help but worry about her. So Ye Ci asked for leave from school, and together with Huo Tinglan, accompanied Ye Hongjun on the plane to San Francisco.
He was still a dropout during the provincial high school entrance exam at the end of last year. He missed it, so he had to take the supplementary exam in June. He had to squeeze in a few days of vacation. He brought a bag of history, geography and politics exam materials, and even memorized them on the plane. When his eyes were sore, he leaned out the window and looked at the sea of clouds below, which was intertwined with cotton white and gray blue, immersed in a peaceful and tranquil mood, and was in a daze.
The exam time was tight, so Ye Ci could only stay for three days after landing. It was his first time going abroad, so he felt fresh, but thinking that he didn't know if he would be able to see his mother in the next few months, he didn't want to go around. He just stuck to Ye Hongjun like a little tail, wherever his mother was, he would be there.
Three days passed quickly, and seeing that Ye Hongjun had settled down properly, Ye Ci had to return home.
He really couldn't help if he stayed here. There was a whole team looking after him and he couldn't even pass something. Ye Hongjun also started to drive him back to school.
Seeing that Ye Ci still looked uneasy, Huo Tinglan continued to stay in San Francisco on the pretext of "dealing with some backlog matters of the American subsidiary". He said that he could handle official business while accompanying Ye Hongjun to adapt for a while, so that she would not be in a foreign country and see all kinds of unfamiliar faces when she opened her eyes, which would make her feel unstable.
"... I have work to do here, I'm not lying to you." Huo Tinglan rubbed Ye Ci's head. It was still early before boarding time, and he sent an assistant to accompany Ye Ci back to China. He was not worried that Ye Ci might not be familiar with flying, so he was not in a hurry to let him go. "Even if this didn't happen, I would have to make time to come in June. It's the same."
"So when, when do you plan to return home?" Ye Ci forgot to ask before, and hearing Huo Tinglan's nonchalant tone, he subconsciously thought it would only be a few days.
"It's hard to say. It depends on when we're done." Huo Tinglan estimated, "A week to half a month."
It doesn't matter if I deal with the subsidiary's matter later, but since I can't leave now, I'll just do it.
Ye Ci was stunned. He scratched the strap of his schoolbag with his fingernails and muttered, "That, that long time."
"Too long?" Huo Tinglan lowered his eyes, looking at Ye Ci's lips that were tilted down like lead. The bad intention of teasing a child emerged, and his words gradually became out of place. "Yesterday I said I would stay here for a while to handle official business and accompany your mother. You seemed very happy at the time, so I thought it would be okay for me to stay a little longer..."
Ye Ci was embarrassed and said in a low voice: "I thought it would only take three to five days."
"Don't you want me to spend more time with your mother?"
"Yes and no." Ye Ci shook his head vigorously, feeling torn and regretting that he could not stay in San Francisco.
"No one will be watching over you when you go back, so take good care of yourself." Huo Tinglan softened his tone and reminded her of some trivial matters in a friendly manner, "Don't smoke, don't stay up late, get up early to memorize, eat three meals on time, and if you have a temporary fever, go to my room and lie down for a while. If there is anything," he paused, and said with a kind of malicious tenderness, "Call me anytime, don't worry about the time difference... Remember?"
A mere half-month of separation—and that was an estimate—had given him the same effect as if they had been apart for half a year.
Ye Ci's chest rose and fell rapidly, and the bad guy's farewell tone made him lose his words. He didn't know what to do, and he was not good at talking, so he could only clamp Huo Tinglan's wrist, hooking his five fingers tightly, and looking at him eagerly. The pale pink eye sockets, the eyes were shining, like a kitten who was unknowingly spoiled by people, and usually didn't seem very clingy, but when he came to his senses, he was unwilling to leave people. When they parted, he hooked the tip of his claws on people's sleeves and meowed tenderly.
"Uncle Huo," he asked awkwardly, holding back his embarrassment, "Can you please come back a little... earlier?"
Huo Tinglan smiled: "Well, I'll do it as soon as possible."
Ye Ci still didn't let go.
Huo Tinglan asked softly, knowingly: "What's wrong?"
What's wrong? It's so obvious.
But Ye Ci couldn't say it, he had reached his limit, his two red and tender lips seemed to have dried up in just a few minutes, and they felt astringent.
A moment of silence.
Huo Tinglan whispered coaxingly, "Miss me?"
Ye Ci nodded weakly.
Too soft.
It was like a piece of soft tofu. I wanted to poke it gently with my finger to see it tremble softly, but it collapsed as soon as I poked it.
After playing with the child, Huo Tinglan gathered up his scattered conscience and gathered it into a small pile again, and comforted him: "Try to do it for a week, okay?"
It's time to get ready to board the plane.
Ye Ci reluctantly followed the assistant.
Five minutes later.
Huo Tinglan's cell phone rang.
He picked it up and found it was a message from Ye Ci.
These two short words were the answer to the previous question, clearer than a nod.
[Ye Ci]: I miss you.
…
Night in East 8th District.
The video call screen was on, and the sparse morning light of San Francisco barely penetrated the fog and poured into Ye Hongjun's ward through the blinds.
Ye Hongjun smiled and waved at the camera. He didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but after taking the new medication, Ye Ci felt that her complexion was slightly better than before.
The camera turned and Huo Tinglan left the ward.
In order to have a video call with Ye Hongjun, Ye Ci had to go to bed later these days, which was considered legal staying up late.
After the video call is connected, he will chat with Ye Hongjun for a while, and then video chat with Huo Tinglan for about ten minutes, so that he can go to bed in the first half of the night.
In order to accompany Ye Hongjun more conveniently, Huo Tinglan set up a computer in the ward next to her to work these two days. Turning left when he goes out of the door is his temporary office in San Francisco.
"… Why are the lights so dim?" Huo Tinglan closed the door, narrowed his eyes slightly, and identified the wall behind Ye Ci, "You are not in your room?"
The paint color on the walls was obviously wrong.
That air-conditioned quilt also looks familiar.
When the video was connected ten minutes ago, he didn't look at it carefully and kept holding it up for Ye Hongjun to see.
Ye Ci shook his head, wrapped in a thin air-conditioning blanket, looking a little embarrassed: "I have a little, temporary fever..."
Huo Tinglan curled his lips: "In my room?"
"Yeah." Ye Ci pulled the air-conditioning quilt closer to him uncomfortably.
Huo Tinglan's eyes were sharp. He glanced at the thin misty blue on his collar and smiled, "Is my room cold? You're wrapped up so tightly."
Ye Ci's face and neck were all red: "Yes, it's a little cold."
It has been more than a month since that temporary marking.
Most of the alpha pheromones left in Huo Tinglan's body had been metabolized, the effectiveness of the temporary mark had weakened, and Ye Ci's hormone disorder had also been alleviated a lot.
In short, the symptoms of temporary fever are not as severe as they were a month ago.
You can tell from his condition that he is conscious and his facial expressions are normal. He is not as out of control as last time... He hugged the quilt that Huo Tinglan had slept on and rubbed it.
Huo Tinglan sat down in front of the temporary desk that his assistant had brought over, leaning back in a relaxed manner. After a moment of hesitation, he asked a shameless question in a kind tone, "What are you wearing inside?"
—Ever since he saw the words “I miss you” sent by Ye Ci at the airport that day, he couldn’t control himself.
The thought of those two words made my chest burn with excitement. Inside, there was an old house that had been uninhabited for a long time, and it had already been burning with flames reaching the sky.
The gentleman's suit that was deformed by the heat was no longer stable and had to be held down by hands, otherwise it would disappear without a trace along with the face at any time.
"That's it," Ye Ci said glitteringly, "a, a piece of clothing."
"I know it's a piece of clothing..." Huo Tinglan was silent for a moment, and then he asked shamelessly, "What else, sleeping naked on my bed?" and swallowed it. After all, they were not in a relationship yet, and could not cross the line between flirting and harassment. He only asked, "What clothing? Let me see."
The tone was calm, almost absent-minded, as if he was just asking for the sake of conversation, rather than being veiledly naughty.
"Just... shirt..." Ye Ci was very obedient, and with red ears he pulled the air-conditioning quilt down.
It's definitely not some shameful clothing.
Just a shirt.
The misty blue linen material and the long pointed collar are both retro and flirty, and the polished seashell buttons are as smooth as white jade.
…That’s Huo Tinglan’s shirt.
It's terrible.
Huo Tinglan's Adam's apple slid slowly.
Ye Ci is about 1.8 meters tall and usually wears a school uniform that fits him perfectly. Although he looks thin, he is not weak.
But once he put on his clothes, he became a completely different person.
The still childish face is set off by the mature style of the shirt, making it look even more pure.
His wrist bones were obviously narrower than Huo Tinglan's, and his wrist sticking out from the sleeve was very thin.
The muscles in the shoulders and back are thin and cannot hold up the material.
…
Not suitable.
But it looks good.
It's really small.
—A thought is like gasoline poured into a fire.
The fire surged to a higher level, threatening to burn away his sanity.
Huo Tinglan cleared his throat, but his voice was still hoarse: "What happened to this shirt... did they forget to wash it?"
"No, I washed it, washed it clean." Ye Ci hurriedly explained, "It's nothing, it's just pheromones, I just..."
He choked, not knowing where the courage came from. Perhaps it was the fever that was stirring him up, or maybe it was easier to say something once, or maybe the confusion he had been struggling with for the past few days finally had an answer...
Ye Ci lowered his eyelids and didn't dare to look at the camera. He said softly: "That's it. I missed you so much these days."
A clean shirt satisfies not the glands but the spirit.
Suddenly, the screen went black.
Ye Ci covered the camera.
“Wearing clothes that you’ve worn, worn… just feels like…”
Are you crazy
This little thing...
Relying on the fact that he is far away
Huo Tinglan tugged at his tie, almost unable to sit still: "Like what?"