Reluctantly Willing - Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Progress

The joy of passing the interview turned into worry when he got home. If he were to go to work, what should he do to settle Guo Guo?

He would not be able to go home at noon and no one was able to help to cook lunch for Guo Guo.

As it was such a major family issue, Gu Jun intended to have a serious discussion with Guo Guo.

“Son, Daddy will be going to work in a few days. What will you do when Daddy is at work?”

Guo Guo answered directly, “When Daddy goes to work, I’ll stay at home. Isn’t that the same as before?”

Gu Jun shook his head. “It’s different now. There’s no nanny to cook for you anymore. You’ll have to stay at home alone.”

“Then what shall I do? No one will play with Guo Guo.”

Hearing that, Gu Jun felt a little sad. In these five years since Guo Guo’s birth, Guo Guo only enjoyed good times for less than a year. “Normal” family relations were a recent thing.

“Son, Daddy will go to work at noon every day and I will order lunch from the restaurant next door to be delivered to you. Remember that there will be an uncle or aunty with a yellow hat delivering your meal to you daily. Daddy will place a stool at the door, and you can stand on the stool to look through the peephole. When you see the right person, you can open the door.”

“When will Daddy come back?”

“Daddy will come back right after work, and you can wait for me at home. In September, Daddy will send you to school so that you can play with other children every day.”

Guo Guo was not aware of any crisis. He nodded and grinned as he thought it was a fun thing to try out.

The time came for Gu Jun to go work and Guo Guo was left at home. He told Guo Guo to give the Big Dumpling Army some cat and dog food and reminded him to remember to eat his lunch at noon.

This had been the case for the week and Gu Jun could not stay home even on weekends. He had to wear a suit and meet clients. Just like when he first started the Sheng Kong Group. To him, it felt as if he had gone back in time.

An Xiaoyan was looking at the animal inspection records in the pet hospital. Da Zhou, who was standing beside him, whispered, “Xiaoyan, the rich man who was following you around before, I saw him running around to meet clients a few days ago.”

“It’s impossible. He’s a chairman, why would he run around and meet clients?”

Da Zhou knew that his eyesight was good and was certain that he was not mistaken. However, he did not dare to reaffirm his statement. After all, the 100,000 dollars seafood treat was real and he went to eat there again just last week.

On the weekend, Gu Jun was signing a deal with a client and hurried to call the restaurant at noon to order lunch. While he was placing his order halfway through, the client rushed him over. Gu Jun quickly rushed through his order of the remaining dishes and hung up the phone.

Guo Guo was waiting for his meal at home. There was a TV in the living room, thus on normal days, he would lie on the sofa and watch TV with a cat in his arms. At 3 p.m., his lunch had still not arrived while Wonton had already eaten two meals and fell asleep happily. Guo Guo opened the door secretly and peeped outside, but there was no one there.

“Daddy, Daddy, why hasn’t the food arrived yet?” Guo Guo said to Wonton.

The clock hand turned another round again. It was 4 p.m. and Guo Guo was famished. As he knew where Uncle An’s home was, he decided to make his way to Uncle An’s home.

After opening the door, Guo Guo stepped onto the street and walked on, according to his memory. Half an hour later, he stood downstairs at An Xiaoyan’s house and happen to bump into An Xiaoyan who had just come back from grocery shopping.

“Uncle, hungry! Guo Guo is very hungry.”

When An Xiaoyan heard the familiar voice, he quickly put down the ingredients in his hand and asked what was wrong. When he heard that Guo Guo had not eaten his lunch, he carried Guo Guo in his arms and went upstairs to cook.

Tears flowed down from the corner of Guo Guo’s eyes. Seeing that, An Xiaoyan’s heart ached for him. After he settled Guo Guo somewhere in the house, he used the leftover rice from yesterday to make egg and ham fried rice. When the fried rice was served, Guo Guo used a small spoon to eat his food. An Xiaoyan proceeded to the kitchen to cook dinner with the ingredients he had just bought.

“Where’s your father? Nobody is at home to cook for you?”

“Daddy is not at home, there is no one else at home either. Every day at noon, someone will deliver lunch to me, but that person did not come today.”

An Xiaoyan did not think much about it. He thought that maybe the nanny was just careless. Fortunately, Guo Guo knows where I stay, or else he would have to go hungry all day.

Seeing that there was still a lot of food left, An Xiaoyan asked about Gu Jun, “What does your father eat when he comes back from work every day?”

“Daddy always buys dinner and eats with me every day, but Daddy has been coming back late lately and Guo Guo feels so hungry each time.”

An Xiaoyan looked at the leftover food on the table. A few days ago, when he’d visited the supermarket, he saw a thermal lunchbox and bought it for some reason. Now it happened to come in handy.

“Uncle will bathe you and take you home.”

Guo Guo said happily, “Okay.”

An Xiaoyan held Guo Guo in one hand and lunch box in the other hand. When they left home, the last ray of sunshine before dusk shone on them.

Guo Guo took An Xiaoyan to his home, but they reached the door only to realize that they had no keys.

The small building looked old. An Xiaoyan felt that Gu Jun would not be living here. After repeated confirmation from Guo Guo to make sure that he wasn’t mistaken, the two of them sat on a deck chair downstairs to wait for Gu Jun to return home.

Evenings during autumn were a bit colder than usual. An Xiaoyan took off his coat and wrapped it around Guo Guo. There were some crickets in the grass chirping and behind him were some birds singing on the willows.

“Guo Guo, don’t run around on your own next time. You are only five years old. What if you get abducted? Your Daddy would be sad. I would be sad too.”

“Uncle, I get it. But today I was just too hungry.”

An Xiaoyan stroked Guo Guo’s hair and replied, “I know.”

Guo Guo lay his head on An Xiaoyan’s knee and suddenly asked, “Uncle, can I call you Daddy?”

An Xiaoyan was a little surprised, “Gu Jun is your father.”

“But I think you are also my father, just as good as my father.”

“That’s still not the same.”

As the sky grew darker, Guo Guo fell asleep on An Xiaoyan. A lot of small insects were flying around the street lamp.

By the time there were few people on the street, Gu Jun appeared with a suit coat in his hand, smelling strongly of liquor.

When Gu Jun made it to the stoop of his home, he saw An Xiaoyan holding Guo Guo, who was soundly asleep.

Gu Jun was still conscious. Even though he drank quite a lot of wine tonight, the majority of it was vomited out already.

“Why are you here?”

“Let’s talk upstairs. Guo Guo is asleep.”

Passing through the narrow corridor, Gu Jun took out a key from his pocket and inserted it into the keyhole. He hesitated as he felt so embarrassed to let An Xiaoyan see him in this sorry state.

“Open the door. My hands are sore.”

When the door was opened, an unknown smell overwhelmed them. An Xiaoyan put Guo Guo on the bed and handed Gu Jun the lunch box in his hand.

“If you haven’t had your dinner, eat some. It’s still hot.”

Gu Jun had been drinking with his clients all evening and he hadn’t eaten much. The only food he’d eaten had all been vomited along with the alcohol.

“I’ll help you clean up the house first. You can go and eat your dinner.”

This not only gave Gu Jun to excuse himself from the awkward situation but also allowed An Xiaoyan to avoid embarrassment.

The dirty clothes and garbage in the house were mixed together. Gu Jun did not know how to pack these things as he had not done it before.

Gu Jun opened the lunch box and looked at the red-roasted chicken wings, boiled tofu, fried meat slices and sesame rice at the bottom. His heart felt uneasy.

He subtly glanced at An Xiaoyan, who was collecting the dirty clothes on the floor into the basin. Men like An Xiaoyan who can cook and do housework are really rare. Gu Jun had previously checked the news on the gay circle on the Internet secretly. Many gays often feel that the other party was very suitable until they move in to live together. They would usually find that one of them was unwilling to share the housework and their differences grew more apparent before they’d eventually split up.

Share.

It is not God’s arrangement for the same sex to be together. To violate the normal law, one of the parties naturally had to give up his identity.

Dinner was delicious. Gu Jun went to take a bath after his meal. The smell of sweat and alcohol on his body were mixed together. It was unbearably pungent.

When Gu Jun came out of the shower, An Xiaoyan had tidied up the living room and was mopping the floor.

“Xiaoyan, thank you for everything you’ve done for us today.”

“You live here? Why is Guo Guo here alone? Shouldn’t he be back in A City?”

Gu Jun did not know how to say that he had become a poor man, or that he had nothing now. Besides, he was worried that he might be despised by An Xiaoyan if he were to say it.

“Xiaoyan, everything is alright. I was careless today.”

Gu Jun’s eyes clearly were hiding something. An Xiaoyan did not expose his lies but listened to him quietly.

“Since you’ve finished eating, I’m leaving. I’ve stuffed the clothes in the washing machine. When the clothes are clean, take them out to dry. Next time, if you are not free, you can send Guo Guo to the pet hospital. At least, it will be safer for him to be by my side. I don’t want to hear about him going missing one day.”

“Thank you, Xiaoyan. Thank you very much.”

The man who used to despise everything, now for the sake of his child, spoke humbly. Gu Jun, where is the arrogant you?

After An Xiaoyan left, Gu Jun realized that An Xiaoyan had accepted Guo Guo once again. At least he would not ignore Guo Guo. This was considered an improvement.

Walking under the streetlamp, his shadow changed from long to short. An Xiaoyan knew that he could not bring himself to be completely cruel. Now he could only be cruel to Gu Jun, but he loved Guo Guo dearly. Everything concerns only Gu Jun. It has nothing to do with the child.

The next day, when Gu Jun was about to go to work, An Xiaoyan stood downstairs. When Gu Jun saw An Xiaoyan, he hurried upstairs to bring Guo Guo down.

“Son, from today on, you will be with Uncle An when Daddy goes to work. Do not mess around and you must listen to Uncle An, otherwise, Daddy will make you stay at home alone next time.”

Guo Guo nodded and ran quickly to An Xiaoyan, hugging his thigh.

An Xiaoyan stretched out his right hand and led Guo Guo to the pet hospital.

There was a kind of tacit understanding between the two of them without saying. One did not ask the reason while the other did not answer.

Ji Lin had been notified in advance that Guo Guo would be coming in. Guo Guo sat obediently and looked at the kittens and puppies from time to time. Seeing how obedient Guo Guo was, both Da Zhou and Lin Nian rushed to store next door to buy ice cream for the boy.

At noon, they had lunch together. An Xiaoyan ordered an extra portion and fed Guo Guo beside him. In fact, Guo Guo knew how to eat on his own using the small spoon.

Da Zhou joked, “Xiaoyan, this is not your son right? Because you couldn’t afford to keep him, you gave him to a wealthy family, and now you are taking him back.”

Lin Nian and Ji Lin rolled their eyes at Da Zhou. Da Zhou was obviously a straight man of iron and steel. His girlfriend watched TV dramas on wealthy families every day and this had made him nervous.

“Stop letting your imagination runs wild. There’s really nothing going on. I just happen to like this kid, so I brought him here. Moreover, I was worried about him being home alone.”

After all was made clear, that Da Zhou winked at him, and no one in the room cared.