Feng Yan was sure that after returning this time, Zheng Yixuan would become another source of gossip for Aunt Lin. She must have told her friends all about this poor “deaf-mute” and gathered around to sympathize with his suffering.
Now that she knew Zheng Yixuan wasn’t actually deaf or mute and simply didn’t like to talk, Aunt Lin was probably dying to know why he was like this and would try to chat with him.
Feng Yan’s guess was exactly right.
The next day, when he was about to go to sleep, Feng Yan kept hearing a woman talking. After waking up once and realizing that the voice was coming from next door, he lay back down. He didn’t hear anyone answering her. It seemed Aunt Lin was simply talking to herself.
Feng Yan tried listening for a while, but after hearing two sentences without understanding anything, he fell asleep again the very next second. As a result, he dreamed about his mother nagging him, and all Feng Yan could do was lower his head and listen.
Feng Yan slept until noon. While lying in bed, he ordered a pizza. He’d been given a coupon the last time he ordered one, and it would expire if he didn’t use it.
“I really wanted spicy fried pork today, but I just can’t bring myself to waste a pizza coupon.” Feng Yan muttered to himself. His thoughts jumped to the neighbor next door.
‘I wonder what Zheng Yixuan is eating today. It must be nice having an assistant who prepares food for you.’
Feng Yan’s family was fairly well-off, but his father was a little stingy, so they had never hired a housekeeper. Besides, a family of three didn’t have that much housework. As long as Feng Yan kept his bedroom door closed, his parents wouldn’t see the trash inside.
Feng Yan’s editor actually had a live-in housekeeper because he had a five-year-old child, and his home would turn into a garbage dump if it wasn’t cleaned for even one day.
Before this, their family had gone through six housekeepers, each with problems of her own. The one they had now was the best, so they did everything they could to keep her, afraid she might quit.
Hiring a housekeeper required both money and a good attitude. Plenty of people didn’t meet the qualifications and didn’t know how to be good employers, so they ended up wasting a good employee. After all, good housekeepers weren’t easy to find.
Once you found a good housekeeper, you wouldn’t want to let her go. Even if you no longer employed her, you would introduce her to your relatives and friends rather than let her go work for some other stranger.
Half envious and half curious, Feng Yan messaged Zheng Yixuan: [What delicious food did Aunt Lin cook for you today?]
Zheng Yixuan responded quickly, sending a photo in reply. The photo showed a tiered lunch box. Only then did Feng Yan realize that Aunt Lin always sent the food over in containers and then arranged the dishes on the table, making it look as though they had been cooked in Zheng Yixuan’s kitchen.
“Aunt Lin’s work is so good and neat. Her monthly salary must be really high.” Feng Yan muttered again, commenting on Aunt Lin’s handiwork.
Of the four dishes, the one Feng Yan wanted most was the stir-fried pork with chilies. But he wasn’t shameless enough to knock on his neighbor’s door and ask for food, so he could only compliment it.
[That looks delicious. I bet it tastes great too.]
Feng Yan didn’t know whether Zheng Yixuan understood what he meant, but he suddenly replied: [Do you want to come over and eat?]
Feng Yan was delighted, but he tried not to make it too obvious and answered: [Hahaha, but I already ordered food.]
Zheng Yixuan: [Oh.]
Feng Yan felt awkward as soon as he saw Zheng Yixuan’s response. If it had been an ordinary person, he would have assumed Zheng Yixuan was only being polite. But it was hard to tell whether this person did things like that too.
Feng Yan thought of another trick and asked him: [Do you want some pizza?]
You could say Feng Yan wanted to take advantage of him but was too embarrassed to say so outright, which was why he could only use the pizza as a stepping stone. Yes, that was his plan.
Aunt Lin had been bringing food over for the past three years, and Zheng Yixuan had never gone out. He must not have eaten this kind of junk food in a long time.
Zheng Yixuan: [Okay.]
Feng Yan’s smile widened. He’d succeeded!
So Feng Yan went to Zheng Yixuan’s house with the pizza, and Zheng Yixuan invited him to eat his food. In short, they could be said to have bartered food.
Zheng Yixuan didn’t talk while eating, but he would listen and stop eating whenever Feng Yan spoke to him. That shameless neighbor was also incredibly talkative, continuing to ask all sorts of completely unimportant questions throughout the meal.
From their conversation, Feng Yan finally learned that Aunt Lin usually delivered enough food for the whole day at once. Besides breakfast, there were two meals, lunch and dinner. Before leaving, she would heat up one portion for Zheng Yixuan to eat for lunch.
When they finished eating and Feng Yan was about to leave, Zheng Yixuan gave him the lunch box.
Feng Yan was confused. “Doesn’t Aunt Lin only bring enough food for one person? If you give it to me, what will you eat later?”
Zheng Yixuan answered, “I won’t eat it.”
Feng Yan still didn’t understand. He asked again, “You only eat twice a day?”
Zheng Yixuan murmured, “Mm.”
“But you just let me eat your lunch, right? And now you’re telling me to take the entire box home. Won’t there be nothing left for dinner?”
Zheng Yixuan lowered his head. He rarely made little gestures like that.
Feng Yan noticed, but he kept pressing him. “Tell me, do you usually not eat?”
After Feng Yan continued questioning him, Zheng Yixuan finally confessed.
“Usually, I take everything out of the lunch box, put it in a small plastic bag, and throw it into the trash.”
Feng Yan’s mouth fell open. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.
Aunt Lin obviously had no idea that Zheng Yixuan had been throwing away all his food. If she found out, she would tell her employer, and the professor would be extremely worried.
For three years, Zheng Yixuan had thrown all his food into the trash because he didn’t want to eat. If Aunt Lin didn’t watch him during breakfast, he might not eat it at all. If he didn’t eat, he would eventually starve to death in the house.
“Big brother, you can’t do that. You have to eat. If you don’t eat, you’ll get sick.”
Feng Yan’s eyes swept over the pale, thin man standing in front of him.
Feng Yan still had plenty of questions, but Zheng Yixuan refused to say anything else and wouldn’t even look at him. So, with no choice, Feng Yan closed his chatty duck mouth and carried the heavy, three-tiered lunch box home. The variety of dishes inside showed that Aunt Lin must have assumed Zheng Yixuan enjoyed everything she cooked.
Feng Yan didn’t order takeout for dinner. Aunt Lin had made Zheng Yixuan dumplings fried until crisp. The top layer held chilled vegetables, while the bottom layer contained mushrooms and chicken soup.
They were supposed to have been specially prepared for Zheng Yixuan, but they ended up in Feng Yan’s stomach instead.
After finishing the meal, he politely returned the lunch box after washing it.
As soon as Zheng Yixuan opened the door, Feng Yan discovered that he hadn’t turned on any lights in his house. His face was buried in deep shadow, and even the faint light spilling in from the hallway couldn’t illuminate the tops of his feet. Emerging from the darkness, he looked exactly like a vampire who would die if exposed to sunlight.
“Aunt Lin’s cooking is really delicious,” Feng Yan said as he handed Zheng Yixuan the lunch box. “Why don’t you turn on the lights?”
He said slowly, “The lights are too bright.”
“What about during the day?”
“I close all the curtains.”
No wonder his skin was so pale. Feng Yan had thought he simply lacked exposure to sunlight. He should have realized something was wrong with Zheng Yixuan the first time they met. Yet Feng Yan had completely ignored it at the time and failed to notice that there was anything different about him from an ordinary person.
Feng Yan wanted to pretend to be casual and say something else, but Zheng Yixuan’s gaze was too stressful. Feng Yan remembered the saying: Once you realize someone isn’t normal, it becomes very difficult to treat him like a normal person.
In the end, he fled without saying anything more.
When Feng Yan closed his door, Zheng Yixuan’s was still open. He hid in the darkness, silently watching Feng Yan, as though gazing at a world he could never enter.