BFILWY CH 19

Chapter 19: Is Teacher An the Same?

At this moment, Ye Qinghe and He Zhifan were dining in a private room at Yupinlou. Yupinlou was an old well-known Cantonese restaurant that Ye Qinghe used to love, and he had brought He Zhifan here a few times. Since he was familiar with the menu, Ye Qinghe ordered a few dishes without needing to look at the menu.

During the meal, He Zhifan was flustered, nervously serving Ye Qinghe, afraid that he might not take good care of him due to his lack of experience. He didn’t even have time to eat much himself.

Noticing He Zhifan’s flurry of activity, Ye Qinghe almost felt like he should feed him himself. He laughed and reassured him, “You don’t have to put everything in my bowl. Just tell me where each dish is, and I’ll find it myself.” Ye Qinghe continued, “At home, An Yue does the same. We practiced for a long time, so I can eat without much trouble now.” Hearing this, He Zhifan finally relaxed a bit.

After the meal, the leftover food was cleared away, and the server brought out some dim sum^[1] along with a pot of jasmine tea. Ye Qinghe asked He Zhifan to order an additional serving of fried milk cake to take away.

“An Yue really likes snacks and desserts with a strong milk flavor. The fried milk cake here is a specialty; he’ll definitely love it.”

“…” He Zhifan snorted, then called the waiter to order two servings of fried milk cake—one for takeaway and one to be served now.

“This fried milk cake is also one of my favorites. We’ve come here so many times, and you never remembered it,” He Zhifan half-complained, half-joking.

“Then why didn’t you order it just now?” Ye Qinghe thought He Zhifan was just looking for something to argue about.

“I already ordered the sweet mochi and steamed Cantonese cakes. I didn’t want to order too much in case we couldn’t finish it.” Since it was a light snow today, he had specially ordered steamed cakes as a subtle gesture between the two of them. He Zhifan didn’t dare to bring it up again, but Ye Qinghe casually said, “It’s fine, if we don’t finish it, I’ll take it back for An Yue. He probably likes everything sweet.”

An Yue, An Yue. After spending half a day with Ye Qinghe, He Zhifan had already heard the name of Teacher An Yue more times than he could count. He couldn’t help but feel curious. This person seemed to be more than just a caretaker; otherwise, why would Aunt Chen, who had been working in the Ye family for so long, never hear the Second Young Master mention bringing her anything?

“Where did you find this Teacher An? A friend?” He Zhifan skewered a piece of sugar mochi from the table, placed it on a small plate, and handed it to Ye Qinghe, unable to resist adding, “Or was it an old lover?”

“What old lover? He’s someone I found through the C University Teaching Hospital. The head of the ophthalmology department introduced him properly,” Ye Qinghe explained. He paused, trying to figure out the best way to describe An Yue. “He’s a bit… reserved.” He nodded as if affirming his own description, “He’s not very good at joking around, sometimes a little serious.” He took a bite of the soft, chewy mochi coated with peanut sugar, “Hmm? Has the dessert chef changed? This mochi tastes a bit different, softer. Hey, this one’s good.” Ye Qinghe took the rest of the mochi and asked He Zhifan for more.

“You can tell that the chef has changed? You really are a foodie.” He Zhifan teased, spearing another piece of sugar mochi and handing it to Ye Qinghe. “Only one more, though. Mochi is hard to digest.” He shifted the topic again, “I wouldn’t dare say anything random. I just guessed based on the way you two were acting. It felt a little… strange.”

Ye Qinghe was puzzled. “What do you mean ‘strange’?”

“You,” He Zhifan continued, “How many times have you mentioned An Yue today? Even during a meal, you’re still thinking of bringing him snacks. Do you have… feelings for him?”

“What feelings?” Ye Qinghe laughed. “The only reason I mention him is because I’ve been with him so much recently. If I’m telling you about my day, it’d be strange not to mention him, don’t you think?” He shook his head with a smile, “As for the snacks, I just happened to know he loves sweets, so I brought some along. You have quite an imagination, thinking there’s something going on.”

“Heh heh,” He Zhifan coughed, clearly teasing, “Aunt Chen?”

“What?” Ye Qinghe didn’t hear clearly, so he tilted his head and asked again.

“Nothing,” He Zhifan replied, brushing it off, but he shifted his focus again. “His attitude is weird, too. When he saw me, his face went stiff like he had a grudge against me.”

“He has a grudge against you?” Ye Qinghe was intrigued. He leaned forward, ears perking up, “You two just met, and he already has a grudge against you?”

“I don’t know,” He Zhifan shrugged innocently, reflecting for a moment. “When he opened the door, I didn’t see clearly and thought it was you, so I gave him a hug. Who knew he reacted so strongly? He pushed me right out the door and glared at me a few times. You probably didn’t notice, but he completely ignored me after that. So cold.” He Zhifan exaggerated, playing up his ‘victim’ role.

“Why would you hug someone randomly?” Ye Qinghe chuckled at He Zhifan’s words. “He’s just a little slow to warm up. Once you get to know him, you’ll see he has a cold exterior but a warm heart. He’s really attentive.” Ye Qinghe defended An Yue, “He’s probably just shy. He didn’t know you, and you suddenly hugged him. Of course, he would be upset. When he first came to my house,he saw a bottle of Yun Ni Sha from the fridge, and he was upset with me for days. He didn’t talk to me much.”

“You put yunni sha in the fridge? That’s too much! Going that far?” Hearing that He Zhifan had reacted similarly to An Yue, Ye Qinghe laughed, “An Yue said the same thing. But wait, are you getting off track here?”

At that moment, the server brought over the fried milk cake and a small steamer with dim sum, saying that all the snacks were served. He Zhifan picked up a piece of fried milk cake and popped it into his mouth. It was still hot, so he blew on it before slowly eating it. He held out Ye Qinghe’s small plate and added some more fried milk cake for him. “Careful, it’s hot.”

Ye Qinghe was taken aback for a moment before he realized what He Zhifan was referring to. “I don’t know, probably not.” He took the plate He Zhifan handed him and shrugged, “At first, he seemed really resistant. I thought he was homophobic. He kept hinting that he was really ugly, as if he was afraid I’d make a move on him. I kept reassuring him that I wouldn’t do anything, and only then did he seem a little more at ease.”

“He’s definitely afraid of you,” He Zhifan chuckled. “An Yue’s not ugly at all. He’s actually cute and handsome—his eyes are round, his nose is sharp, and he has that fair-skinned, clean look. He just doesn’t smile much.”

Ye Qinghe laughed as well. “Oh? You have a thing for him?” He pointed his finger toward He Zhifan. “Don’t even think about it. I still need him right now.” His tone carried a hint of warning.

“What? No way! His eyes are always on you. If I were to go after him, he wouldn’t be my type!” He Zhifan protested, then added with a bit of grievance, “You don’t know, but when I first got here today, I blurted out asking if you were blind. He immediately shot me a glare. Then, when I waved my hand in front of you to test if you really couldn’t see, he instantly pressed my hand down and scolded me for being rude. An Yue really does look out for you. He can’t stand seeing you suffer even a little bit.”

Listening to He Zhifan’s complaints, Ye Qinghe smiled slightly. He knew that An Yue truly cared about him.

He thought back to when An Yue taught him facial protection techniques, setting up traps to make him collide with something, making him feel the pain so he would never forget the correct protective gestures. He remembered how An Yue guided him when walking, teaching him to take steps forward and to be mindful of his footing. An Yue always encouraged him not to be afraid, while also training him to protect himself. Despite being much younger, An Yue’s meticulousness and reliability made him seem like a mature, dependable man—something that unconsciously tugged at his heartstrings.

Ye Qinghe smiled faintly, his fingers brushing against the piece of milk cake on his plate. It had cooled, so he simply picked it up with his fingers and put it in his mouth.

(To be continued…)