Chapter 8 — Give Me Your Picture
Mu Xiaoya got up early and ran to school after changing her clothes. Today was the day when the school will issue her diploma, but she missed her chance to take her graduation photo. If she doesn’t get her certificate on time, Fang Hui would probably kill her directly.
Getting off the bus stop on Xueyuan Road, she walked a few steps and saw Fang Hui at the school gate. Fang Hui at this time still wasn’t a capable and shrewd woman like she was a few years later, she was still that non-mainstream girl with more than three colour dyeing her hair.
“Fang Hui.”
Mu Xiaoya waved her hands towards Fang Hui happily. Fang Hui turned her head and saw Mu Xiaoya running towards her. Her mouth was still sipping on a milk tea, not intending to give Mu Xiaoya a reaction at all. But Mu Xiaoya didn’t care about it anymore, with a leap, she glomped Fang Hui like an octopus.
“My clothes! Mu Xiaoya, you’re going to die ah!” Mu Xiaoya’s sudden attack made the milk tea on Fang Hui’s hand spilled, staining her newly bought clothes with a brown tea stain.
“I haven’t seen you for a long time ah, I really miss you.” Mu Xiaoya didn’t hear Fang Hui’s complaint at all, still immersed in the joy of meeting her friend.
“Don’t give me this c.r.a.p, I tell you, if you don’t come out with your marriage certificate, you won’t get pa.s.s me.” Fang Hui shoved her away ruthlessly.
“I don’t bring my marriage certificate, but I still have the photo, wanna see?” Mu Xiaoya asked.
“…” Fang Hui hesitated, she couldn’t care less about the spilled milk tea on her body anymore and asked Mu Xiaoya, “Are you really married?”
“En.” Mu Xiaoya admitted it confidently.
“No way… who is it? Who are you married with? When did you fall in love? How can I not know ah?” Fang Hui always thought that Mu Xiaoya speaking about marriage was just to casually make an excuse for missing the time to take their graduation photo.
“It’s a long story, do you remember the neighbor I mentioned to you before?”
“Of course ah, you said that you have a handsome guy as your neighbor, but unfortunately, he has autism.”
“That’s him.”
“Mu Xiaoya, you’re crazy!” The people who studied art had a bit of good control over their face, but surely no one would go to such length and find an autistic person just for one’s face ah. (face = prestige)
“Don’t be so excited, I’ll tell you slowly.” And so, two people walked side by side entering the school, Mu Xiaoya and Fang Hui talked about the ins and outs of the matter.
After listening, Fang Hui’s expression became more complicated. She stared at Mu Xiaoya with an inquiring look and asked, “So then, did you marry him to fulfill the elder’s wish or did you really want to be married to Bai Chuan?”
“Both of them.” Mu Xiaoya answered honestly.
“How can you just say both… let me change my question.” Fang Hui felt that her question wasn’t really accurate, so she asked again, “If Bai Chuan’s grandma didn’t die at this time, would you agree to marry Bai Chuan?”
“Yeap.” After thinking for a while, Mu Xiaoya still gave a positive answer. Granny’s death just happened right at that point of time, but her original intention was still to marry Bai Chuan so she could prevent further tragedies. Of course, if Grandma Bai wasn’t on her last breath at that time, Bai Chuan wouldn’t propose to her, but this wasn’t what Fang Hui wanted to ask.
“Then… you like him?” Fang Hui asked.
Like? Does she like Bai Chuan? Mu Xiaoya asked herself, of course she liked him, but this kind of like wasn’t the kind of like between man and woman. If she liked him like that, she wouldn’t reject Bai Chuan at her last life. But after reincarnation, Mu Xiaoya felt that romantic love wasn’t really that important anymore, hence her marriage became much more pure and simple.
“Like.” Mu Xiaoya didn’t dare to tell Fang Hui what she really thought, otherwise, based on Fang Hui’s character, she wouldn’t just stop right here.
“Fang Hui, Mu Xiaoya…” Fang Hui still wanted to say something, but their names were called suddenly by someone in front. The two of them looked away and saw three to five of their cla.s.smates waving at them. The two stopped talking and went there quickly.
“Mu Xiaoya, why didn’t you come when we took graduation photo ah?” Mu Xiaoya was the only person missing on their high school graduation photo, so her cla.s.smates became curious.
“Fang Hui said that you’re married, is it real?”
“Of course not ah, isn’t Mu Xiaoya going abroad next month? SG ah, that was the place we dream day and night.”
Mu Xiaoya patiently waited for them to finish, then said with a smile, “Fang Hui didn’t lie to you guys, I am indeed married.”
“No freakin way, with who?”
“Any picture? Let us see for a bit.”
Someone asked this, so everyone suddenly didn’t want to talk about their graduation photo anymore. They all crowded at the cla.s.sroom building’s doorway, waiting for Mu Xiaoya to show them her husband’s picture.
“I don’t have it in my phone.” Mu Xiaoya thought, was it possible that she didn’t have any feelings to Bai Chuan before, there’s just no secretly taken photos of him in her phone, just the photo of their marriage certificate, but she can’t just directly show that picture to her cla.s.smates.
“Who are you lying to, how can you not have your own husband’s photo?”
“If there’s none, then just make one ah, let your husband send you his selfie.”
“That’s right, that’s right, let me see who’s so charming and robbed our beauty Mu Xiaoya as soon as she graduated.”
Mu Xiaoya looked to Fang Hui for help, but she also had the look of watching something interesting. To be honest, she listened Mu Xiaoya mentioning how handsome Bai Chuan was, but she hadn’t seen it herself after all, so she can’t help but has some curiosity.
“Then… I’m gonna try.” Mu Xiaoya’s phone has Bai Chuan’s contact, but she almost never used it. In her impression, Bai Chuan was someone who was often living inside his own world. Sometimes when you call him, he won’t necessarily respond to you, let alone calling him by phone. Mu Xiaoya even suspected that Bai Chuan absolutely won’t notice her wechat.
Although thinking so, Mu Xiaoya still pulled open Bai Chuan’s wechat and sent him a message.
“He’s usually very busy, so he might not see it.” Mu Xiaoya told them in advance.
“If he can’t see it, then just give him a call ah.” Her cla.s.smates just won’t stop nagging before they can see the picture.
Mu Xiaoya suddenly felt a sweat coming from her forehead.
In the Bai family’s mansion, Bai Chuan was sitting on the balcony while reading a book. His reading movement was extremely fast, it just took him two or three seconds for him to turn the next page.
There was a small round table beside Bai Chuan’s right hand where several breakfast meals were neatly arranged, but it can be seen from the cold porridge that these meals had been placed here for a long time already without being touched.
At this moment, Uncle Liu, the housekeeper of the Bai family, walked in quietly. He scanned the untouched breakfast at a glance and felt helpless, thinking that the Second Young Master had forgotten to eat his breakfast again.
It’s not just breakfast, but Second Young Master could easily forget to eat three meals a day. No, it didn’t seem accurate enough to say that he forgot to eat, but that he just eat only when he felt hungry. Second Young Master’s perception was different from ordinary people, he often eats a meal a day, or sometimes he just didn’t eat at all. Because of this, everyone in the Bai family felt extremely worried, but they were helpless as there was nothing that they could do, because when Second Young Master was immersed in his own world, he would be unresponsive to whatever you say to him.
And the only thing he can do was to always make sure that the food was readily available at Second Young Master’s hand, so when he felt hungry, there will always be food to eat.
Uncle Liu took the newly prepared breakfast from the kitchen, walked over, and replaced the ones that had been cold. He didn’t dare say anything but to stay for a while, turned away and walked out. As he approached the door to a bedroom, Uncle Liu suddenly heard a weird noise. He subconsciously took a look and found that the phone on the bedside table was ringing.
Uncle Liu didn’t take it seriously and thus didn’t remind him of the phone. Truthfully, Second Young Master’s phone has always been a single-way contact tool as it’s only used when he wanted to find someone. It’s basically nonsense for others to find him through his private phone. Usually, if the masters wanted to find him, they would call the house’s telephone, then he (Uncle Liu) will go and get him (Bai Chuan).
“Creaak~”
When Uncle Liu’s thought just turned, he heard the sound of a chair rubbing against the floor behind him, followed with the sound of footsteps. Uncle Liu can’t believe his own ears and turned around to see that Second Young Master actually put down the half-read book in his hand, walked in from the balcony, went all the way to the bed, and directly picked up the phone.
Did Second Young Master come over after hearing the text message?
No, that’s impossible, Second Young Master has never reacted so quickly, it must have been a coincidence, Second Young Master must be looking for someone else. Yes, it must be like that.
Uncle Liu thought this way, and his heart calmed down somewhat as he continued to hold the plate and walked out from the bedroom.
At this time, Bai Chuan had picked up the phone and saw the message from Mu Xiaoya: ‘Can you send me your picture?’
Picture? Bai Chuan pursed his lips and looked left and right, thinking where his photo was placed, he turned his attention to Uncle Liu who was about to leave the door.
He didn’t know when Uncle Liu came in, and he also didn’t care, he only knew that he needed Uncle Liu’s help now, so he opened his mouth to call him.
“Uncle Liu.” Bai Chuan shouted.
“S…Second Young Master?!” Uncle Liu was too excited and almost knocked the plate on his hands over. He’s not hearing it wrong, right? He’s only 52 years old this year, he shouldn’t be too old to have a hearing problem. Just now, Second Young Master just called him? Is that right?
Also… Second Young Master actually knew his name.
“I want to take a picture.” Bai Chuan handed his phone over to Uncle Liu.
Take a picture? Second Young Master wants to take a picture? Second Young Master actually wants him to take his picture?!
Uncle Liu quickly responded, the plate on his hand was quickly put down the floor as he hurriedly ran over to pick up Bai Chuan’s phone, “Second Young Master, how do you want to take it?”
This might be the first time that Second Young Master asked him to do something, he have to do it perfectly.
“Take a picture of me.” Bai Chuan repeated.
I’m so stupid, why did I ask him how he wants to take the picture? How could Second Young Master understand photography skill and poses and whatnot, his willingness to let me take a picture was already a big leap. After a while, I have to tell Master, Madam and Young Master!
“Second Young Master, the light in the room isn’t good, how about we go to the balcony to take the picture?” Uncle Liu suggested.
“En.” Bai Chuan obediently walked back to the balcony and stood there casually.
Uncle Liu originally wanted to take a good shot and strived to make the picture as perfect as he can. But when his family’s Second Young Master stood at the balcony casually, Uncle Liu’s tears suddenly burst in emotion. His family’s Second Young Master just standing there so casually had already made a perfect scenery, where would he need his s.h.i.t technique?
Uncle Liu ‘click click’ took a lot of photos and returned the phone to Second Young Master, before he reluctantly left with the cold breakfast away.
With his photo taken, Bai Chuan immediately opened Mu Xiaoya’s wechat and sent his own photo over. He didn’t continue to read his book anymore, rather, he stared at his phone so tightly, waiting for her reply.
At that side, Mu Xiaoya who already prepared her heart to not get Bai Chuan’s reply, didn’t expect that she would get his reply without waiting for two minutes to pa.s.s.
“Quick, picture, open it quickly!” Before Mu Xiaoya could see it clearly, some curious cla.s.smates clicked on the photo. Suddenly, Bai Chuan’s appearance was enlarged in full screen in front of everyone’s eyes.
“Oh my~!”
“Sssshii~~!”
“Mu Xiaoya, your life is too good!”
Suddenly, sounds of exclamation and breath inhaled endlessly fell. Although it was just this one single photo, it could explain all of Mu Xiaoya’s unreasonableness to suddenly marry.
Even Fang Hui’s eyes were full of surprise. If it wasn’t for Mu Xiaoya telling her in the morning, she wouldn’t be able to a.s.sociate this handsome young man with bright eyes as an autistic person. If one was to say something impetuous, it was worth it to marry just based on this face alone.
Mu Xiaoya always knew that Bai Chuan was good looking, but it was her first time she discovered that he’s also photogenic. Bai Chuan in the photo was wearing a casual cotton shirt, his hair was a little messy like he just woke up from his slumber. He stood against the light, his eyes were gazing intently to the front, as if looking at her through the lens.
After everyone has satisfied their curiosity, Mu Xiaoya managed to get her phone back. She glanced at the silent teenager in the photo and noticed the breakfast in the lower right corner of the photo.
Frowning slightly, Mu Xiaoya returned a message: ‘The photo is so handsome, remember to eat breakfast.’
Breakfast? Bai Chuan looked up in confusion, finally noticing the breakfast placed in front of him.
Bai Chuan: ‘OK’
After replying her chat, Bai Chuan walked back to the table and started to eat slowly.
TL NOTE:
I know Bai Chuan is so cute, but Uncle Liu is also cute oh~ (ﾉ∀`♥)
Random rant: Panda, bulldozing good grammar before it was cool.
Translator: MadPanda