PD Chapter 23: Takeout

At noon, Wen Xunchuan sat in the staff cafeteria, listlessly picking at a plate of flavorless fish-flavored eggplant. He sighed and pulled out his phone, randomly tapping into an episode of A Bite of China, hoping to hypnotize himself into eating.

But he barely got two bites in before his phone lit up with a call—from home.

Wen Xunchuan swallowed the dry rice in his mouth with little enjoyment and answered, “What’s up?”

“I’m hungry,” He Linzhou said.

“Then eat,” Wen Xunchuan replied, slightly exasperated. “What, you think just telling me will fill you up?”

“I don’t have any money,” He Linzhou replied again.

“Check the fridge; there should be—”

“Just two bottles of mineral water.”

“Try the bottom shelf…” Wen Xunchuan thought for a moment, remembering there was a bag of frozen dumplings and half a pack of noodles. But he doubted this pampered young master would even know how to turn on a stove, so he sighed and said, “Forget it. Just stay hungry.”

After hanging up, he opened the food delivery app on his phone and realized he hadn’t asked if He Linzhou had any food restrictions. Too lazy to call back, he scrolled through the app casually. But soon enough, his stomach started to rumble at the sight of all the delicious food on the screen.

In front of him was an excessively oily fish-flavored eggplant and overly salty lion’s head meatball. On his screen were images of a sumptuous seafood fried rice and golden steamed egg topped with caviar.

Without hesitation, Wen Xunchuan ordered himself a deluxe seafood fried rice set for 69.8 yuan. After paying, the app redirected him to the lunch special page, where a 9.9 yuan green pepper fried rice with free delivery caught his eye. He clicked to order it.

Half an hour later.

Wen Xunchuan stared at the simple packaging of a green pepper fried rice on his desk, his face darkening as he rechecked his order. Only then did he realize he’d accidentally set the default delivery address to his home.

When ordering the second takeout, he’d even specifically chosen the second address on the list. Fast fingers, slower eyes.

Just as he opened the oily plastic lid, a nurse poked her head in, asking, “Dr. Wen, did you smell something burning around here?”

He Linzhou took the neatly packaged, generously portioned brown paper bag from the delivery guy and closed the door. Sitting cross-legged on the long-fur rug by the coffee table, he opened the bag, surprised at the lavish lunch spread. He whistled, “Wow!”

Picking out a couple of shrimp, he fed them to Chun Mei, who was drooling beside him with bright, eager eyes. Chuckling, he muttered, “Your dad sure has that tough-outside-soft-inside quirk. Kinda cute, huh?”

It was Friday, so as the afternoon crept closer to the end of the workday, more patients started showing up. Wen Xunchuan had no choice but to stay at the hospital a bit longer for overtime.

By the time all the registered patients had left, it was already nearing 7 p.m.

The roads were jammed with rush hour traffic. Rubbing his sore neck as he crept along with the flow of cars, Wen Xunchuan received a text message:

【Forbidden Color Bar】Dear Member, to celebrate Forbidden Color’s anniversary, we’ve invited the Xuankong Band to perform! We’ll be open all night, with 20% off on drinks, plus thrilling special activities. Looking forward to seeing you!

He’d been going straight home for the past week, thanks to a close call the last time he’d nearly lost his senses at the bar—and the fact that he now had a new troublesome kid at home. But the message made his heart waver a bit.

When he got home and opened the door, the lights were off. He switched them on and called out a couple of times, but there was no response. Neither He Linzhou nor Chun Mei was home. After changing his shoes, he looked around. Everything seemed normal, with no stray socks, slippers, or charging cables littering the corners.

Except for the half-eaten, uncleaned takeout box on the coffee table that irked him the moment he saw it.

“Hey, you’re back!”

He Linzhou walked in, holding Chun Mei’s leash. He squatted at the entrance, wiping Chun Mei’s paws with a wet tissue, and asked casually, “You’re home?”

A voice came from the open bedroom door, “Mm.”

Just thinking of how that silly dog had dragged him excitedly into a crowd of elderly people earlier, where some gave him bewildered stares while others looked on with disdain, made He Linzhou’s face burn with embarrassment. He looked toward the bedroom and complained, “Wen Xunchuan, you enjoy messing with me, huh? It was just square dancing. And you called it an open-air dance floor. Dance your damn grandpa!”

“You know why you ended up losing twenty to thirty thousand, right?” Wen Xunchuan fastened the buttons on his shirt as he stepped out of the bedroom, glancing at him—and froze.

He Linzhou was wearing the most expensive sweater from Wen Xunchuan’s closet. The black cashmere sweater was now covered in white dog hair, yet he didn’t seem to notice at all, casually wiping the dog’s dirty paws on himself.

“Why?” He Linzhou looked up at him, pausing in surprise.

Today, Wen Xunchuan had slicked his hair back, exposing his smooth forehead. The fitted black shirt outlined his slim but toned physique, and his slightly open collar revealed a glimpse of his fair skin and defined collarbone. He pressed his lips together, his narrow, slightly upturned eyes half-hidden behind gold-framed glasses. The gaze through the lenses looked a bit cold, as though the thin layer of glass softened his sharpness. This expression unexpectedly gave him a touch of aloof restraint.

Staring at him, He Linzhou hesitated for a moment and asked, “…Because you’re good-looking?”

No sooner had he spoken than his face was splattered with slobber.

He tilted his head back, dodging Chun Mei’s enthusiastic licking, and pointed at Wen Xunchuan, saying to the dog, “Your dad’s here! Go to him; you haven’t seen him all day. Show him some love!”

But Chun Mei ignored him completely, clinging to He Linzhou with her dirty paws. After wrestling with her for a while, he looked up to see Wen Xunchuan’s intense gaze fixed on the paw resting on his chest.

He Linzhou burst out laughing, pushing the paw away as he stood up. He muttered, “What, jealous of a dog?”

Standing far enough away, Wen Xunchuan couldn’t make out what he was muttering. All he knew was that every glance at He Linzhou made his blood boil a little more. Taking a deep breath, he turned and headed toward the bathroom.

Wen Xunchuan washed his hands thoroughly, then took off his glasses to put in his contacts.

“You still haven’t explained why.”

He Linzhou, who had followed him, leaned against the bathroom door frame and asked out of nowhere. Startled, Wen Xunchuan jerked, poking himself in the eye. A stinging pain spread through his eye as he rubbed it and yelled, “Because you’re an idiot! A complete fool with a brain malfunction!”

Momentarily taken aback by the unexpected scolding, He Linzhou was about to retort when he noticed Wen Xunchuan holding his eye, sniffling a little. Feeling a bit guilty, he softened his tone. “Hey, are you alright?”

“No,” Wen Xunchuan snapped. “I’m blind.”

He scooped some water to wash his face, then looked up in the mirror to check his eye. It was a bit red and sore, but nothing too serious.

He Linzhou pouted. “I didn’t mean it.”

“…” Wen Xunchuan glared at him, picked up a bottle of cologne from the shelf, and spritzed it on his wrist, dabbing some behind his ear.

The rich, woody scent filled the air. He Linzhou sniffed the lingering sweet fragrance and quipped, “Pretty bold choice.”

Wen Xunchuan brushed past him, heading toward the door, but He Linzhou followed. “Where are you going?”

Annoyed by the tailing, Wen Xunchuan replied, “None of your business.”

“To the bar?” He Linzhou handed him his watch with a hopeful look. “Take me with you?”

Wen Xunchuan buckled the watch and looked up, giving him a cool glance. “Got money for a room?”

“…” He Linzhou, speechless, eventually muttered, “Can’t I just have a drink?”

“Oh?” Wen Xunchuan smirked. “Got money for that?”

“…”

Wen Xunchuan looked him over. “My advice? Use this time to get back the money you lost and then go… wherever.”

“Nope,” He Linzhou quickly replied. “Once it’s given, it’s given. No taking it back.”

“Face over fortune.” Wen Xunchuan rolled his eyes, grabbing his keys to leave.

He Linzhou blocked the door, stubborn as ever. “I’m coming too. Take me with you.”

“No.”

“Come on.”

“No.”

“Brother Chuan!”

“Even if you called me Grandpa, it wouldn’t work.”

“Oh, come on, Wen Xunchuan! Don’t forget, I paid your last bar tab!”

“…!” Wen Xunchuan stared at him, this guy who had just made a big show of “no taking back what’s given,” and after a long moment, gritted his teeth and spat out, “Fine. Go change!”