TLSMLMMM Chapter 39

The old man turned to look at the young man, his voice filled with bitterness.

“You’ve finally found someone so wonderful to love. If it ends up causing him to resent you because of me… what will you do then?”

It wasn’t as if the old man had never seen it before. Elderly people who fell seriously ill often became burdens on their families, the center of countless conflicts. Illnesses like these were rarely cured all at once. They dragged on, flaring up again and again, until they wore away every last bit of patience and kindness.

As the old saying went, “Long illness reveals the limits of filial devotion.” Let alone these two young men, who weren’t related to him by blood at all. They had only been married for a short time, yet they already had to deal with something this troublesome.

Hearing those words, Chu Junlie lowered his head, casually picked up a small stone, and drew a few circles on the ground.

They had only been married for a few months. He had brought home nothing more than his meager salary, while Mr. Si had been giving him spending money, buying things for Liefeng, supporting both him and the dog…

And now, because of him, Mr. Si had even paid for the old man’s medical examinations.

Not once had Mr. Si complained about any of it.

Yet now he was about to ask Mr. Si to lend him another 150,000 yuan for medical expenses.

Even if he sold himself for the rest of his life, he probably still wouldn’t be able to repay it.

The problem was…

Mr. Si didn’t seem to have any worldly desires toward his body.

Chu Junlie felt a little dejected.

Was it because the clothes he wore weren’t enough to catch Mr. Si’s interest?

Or was it because his chest wasn’t big enough…

Because his figure wasn’t good enough?

The old man was already heartbroken, and seeing the young man look even more miserable, he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

Before Chu Junlie returned home, Si Yunyì received a phone call from Aunt Wen.

Aunt Wen truthfully told him everything that had happened that day when Chu Junlie took the old man to the hospital. Her voice was full of concern.

“That old gentleman has no money and absolutely refuses to get treated. Xiao Chu is thin-skinned and has too much pride—he probably doesn’t dare bring it up with you. So I thought I’d call and let you know.”

“I understand, Aunt Wen,” Si Yunyì replied, his eyes shifting slightly. After saying goodbye and waiting for her to hang up, he finally put down his phone.

Now that the diagnosis had come back, it only confirmed one thing:

This elderly man truly was someone Chu Junlie was destined to meet.

In the original story, the two had met much later. It happened when Chu Junlie secretly slipped out to work while a branch of the Si family was overseas on vacation. He had been working construction when he met the old man.

Chu Junlie shared half of his boxed lunch with him. They talked about everything under the sun, and after spending a little over a month together, they became like old friends reunited after many years—a friendship that transcended generations.

Now, however, Si Yunyì had changed the story from the very beginning, causing Chu Junlie to work at the shopping mall instead.

Yet, by coincidence, during this very period, the old man happened to be begging near the shopping center.

The two of them still crossed paths—

like two lines destined to intersect.

Si Yunyì casually took out a sheet of paper and began mapping out the trajectories of the two characters from the novel. After carefully working through the details, he realized that everything followed a traceable pattern.

In the original story, Chu Junlie had married into a branch of the Si family as a live-in son-in-law, working as an unpaid servant. At the same time, the old man survived by begging near the shopping center in the new district. In such a crowded, chaotic place, it was only a matter of time before he crossed paths with those vicious thugs.

Back then, the old man had been completely alone. After being beaten, he most likely would have avoided the shopping center and gradually moved toward quieter areas. Beyond the shopping center lay the newly developing residential district, where construction sites were everywhere.

As for Chu Junlie, there were very few construction sites in Hong Kong’s urban area, and working there carried a high risk of running into acquaintances of the Si family’s branch. So he would naturally choose the construction sites in the sparsely populated new district instead.

Their meeting…

Seemed destined from the very beginning.

After thinking it over for a while, Si Yunyì came to a conclusion.

Even though he had changed the plot, the people Chu Junlie was meant to meet would still appear in his life. Certain events that were destined to happen would still happen.

The only difference…

Was that the timeline had been pushed forward.

That wasn’t exactly good news for Si Yunyì, who, in the original novel, had died in an accident.

People who died because they had offended Chu Junlie could be saved.

People who died from illness could survive if their conditions were discovered early.

But accidents were everywhere in life. Death by accident couldn’t really be prevented—aside from perhaps burning more incense at a temple, there seemed to be no way to escape such a fate.

“Young Master Si, dinner is ready.”

The part-time housekeeper knocked on the study door to let him know.

Si Yunyì fed the sheet of paper into the shredder before leaving the study. He headed to the dining room and sampled a few bites of the dishes the housekeeper had prepared. Suddenly, he realized that her cooking now tasted almost identical to Chu Junlie’s.

It wasn’t that the housekeeper’s skills had declined.

It was simply that Chu Junlie had improved far too quickly.

Smelling the aroma of the food, Liefeng ran in from the balcony. Taking advantage of Chu Junlie’s absence, the dog happily rubbed against Si Yunyì’s calves, his tail wagging nonstop.

By now, Si Yunyì was quite practiced. He took a small plate, served a little of the food onto it, and crouched down to place it in front of Liefeng.

Liefeng was extremely interested in human food, but since people’s meals contained plenty of seasonings that weren’t good for a dog’s cardiovascular system, Si Yunyì had once asked the housekeeper to prepare dog food for him.

Liefeng, however, was far too clever. The moment he smelled that it wasn’t human food, he completely lost interest.

So nowadays, one dish on the table was always prepared with almost no seasoning specifically for Liefeng.

Liefeng polished off the food on the small plate in just two bites.

After eating, he didn’t freeload. He rubbed against Si Yunyì’s leg before lying across his feet, acting as a furry foot warmer.

Although the room was warm, Si Yunyì had naturally cold hands and feet, so he didn’t mind the arrangement.

After all…

Rejecting a foot warmer worth over a million yuan would be rather impolite.

Halfway through the meal, the front door opened.

Since Chu Junlie had taken the day off to accompany the old man for his medical examination, he returned home much earlier than usual.

Liefeng immediately noticed him. Panicking, he scrambled to run toward the bedroom, but in his haste slammed his head into a table leg.

“Ow!”

He stumbled backward before quietly lying back down on Si Yunyì’s feet as though nothing had happened.

Chu Junlie quickly changed his shoes and entered the living room. He saw Mr. Si eating dinner and didn’t notice what was under the table at first.

Then he heard the yelp.

A large fluffy tail peeked out from beneath the dining table.

Walking over, Chu Junlie met Liefeng’s eyes.

The dog awkwardly looked up at him, then guiltily turned his head away.

Chu Junlie stared at Liefeng lying on Mr. Si’s feet, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“The food’s still hot,” Si Yunyì said, gesturing toward the kitchen. “Your dinner is there too.”

“Thank you, Mr. Si.”

Chu Junlie went to the kitchen, filled himself a bowl of rice, and returned.

Liefeng hadn’t moved an inch.

Still lying there.

Still burying his head.

Chu Junlie fixed the dog with an intense stare, unable to hide the jealousy in his eyes.

Remembering past experiences, Liefeng couldn’t help shivering.

Noticing the dog’s nervousness, Si Yunyì looked at Chu Junlie, who seemed to be competing with a dog, and finally set down his chopsticks.

“Do you want Liefeng to warm your feet too?”

The moment Liefeng heard that, he immediately turned around and deliberately placed his fluffy tail over Chu Junlie’s slippers, silently declaring that he was merely a foot warmer.

“W-Warm my feet?” Chu Junlie froze, suddenly feeling the faint warmth of Liefeng’s tail covering his feet.

“Mr. Si… are you feeling cold?” he asked immediately, concern and guilt filling his eyes.

“My hands and feet are naturally cold,” Si Yunyì replied calmly as he continued picking up food.

Chu Junlie lowered his head and looked at Liefeng warming Mr. Si’s feet.

His expression became even more ashamed.

Mr. Si treated him so well.

Yet he wasn’t even as perceptive as Liefeng.

He hadn’t realized what Mr. Si needed.

After dinner, Chu Junlie cleared away the dishes, quickly cleaned the table and floor, then returned to the bedroom.

Si Yunyì knew that tonight Chu Junlie would certainly come to borrow money for the old man’s medical treatment. Instead of returning to his study, he moved his work to the living room and quietly waited for him to speak.

Now that Liefeng had officially become a foot warmer, there was no need for him to avoid his owner anymore. He openly lay across Si Yunyì’s feet, occasionally rolling onto his back and asking his beautiful master for belly rubs.

Just as Si Yunyì expected, half an hour later, Chu Junlie emerged from the bedroom and walked over to him.

Si Yunyì stopped working, looked up at him, and waited to see how this future overpowered protagonist would ask to borrow money.

“Mr. Si.”

Dressed in his fluffy pajamas, Chu Junlie looked at him with complete sincerity.

“I just took a shower.”

…

That was definitely not the opening Si Yunyì had expected for someone asking to borrow money.

“Mr. Si, I can warm your feet too.”

Chu Junlie sat down beside him, nervously fidgeting with the fabric of his fluffy pajamas before speaking with a serious expression.

“And… I don’t shed.”

Liefeng, who had suddenly been dragged into the conversation, lifted his head in disbelief and stared at his owner.

What’s wrong with shedding?

What dog doesn’t shed?!

Si Yunyì found this entire “borrowing money” process growing stranger by the second.

“Really. You can try.”

With great enthusiasm, Chu Junlie bent down, gently shooed Liefeng aside, and quickly slipped off Si Yunyì’s slippers.

Holding Si Yunyì’s ankles with both hands, he unzipped the middle of his pajama top and carefully pressed those two fair, beautiful feet against his own abdomen before swiftly zipping the pajamas back up.

His movements flowed smoothly from beginning to end, as if he had planned it all along.

Liefeng stared from the side, so stunned that even the dog was dumbfounded. Before Si Yunyì had a chance to stop him, he felt his feet come to rest against what seemed to be Chu Junlie’s firm abdominal muscles.

Their skin pressed closely together, warmth steadily radiating between them.

Keeping his head lowered, Chu Junlie tried his hardest not to let Mr. Si see his burning ears and flushed face. One hand carefully cradled the precious feet tucked inside his pajamas, while the other reached up to gently pick a few strands of dog fur off Mr. Si’s pant leg.

He deliberately gathered the fur into a tiny pile on a tissue so Mr. Si could clearly see it.

Si Yunyì fell silent for a long moment.

“Mr. Si, you can continue with your work,” Chu Junlie said earnestly, looking up. “I’ll be very quiet.”

The million-yuan foot warmer seemed to realize it had been outmatched. Defeated, Liefeng lay dejectedly off to one side.

Si Yunyì tried to estimate Chu Junlie’s worth. He vaguely remembered the novel mentioning a figure in the tens of billions.

It was… rather extravagant.

He had never imagined Chu Junlie would go this far just to borrow money.

Seeing Chu Junlie keeping his head down, genuinely intending to remain silent, Si Yunyì tried to withdraw his feet.

Instead, he found Chu Junlie’s hands clamped around his ankles like iron shackles.

“Mr. Si, could you try a little longer?” Chu Junlie sensed him trying to pull away and desperately tried to keep him there.

“I really did wash myself thoroughly.”

I’m really better than Liefeng.

Before Si Yunyì could respond, Chu Junlie suddenly looked up, his eyes already rimmed with red.

“I’ve never let anyone else touch me. I’m very clean.”

Aside from patting his head, Mr. Si had refused to touch him throughout their entire marriage.

Chu Junlie also knew very well…

That he wasn’t worthy of Mr. Si.

But at the very least…

Every month, every year…

He hoped he could get just a little closer.

Just a little.

His eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

After calmly considering the situation for a moment, Si Yunyì decided to change the subject.

“You took the old man to the hospital today. What were the examination results?”

Seeing that Mr. Si was no longer rejecting his “foot-warming service,” a faint light returned to Chu Junlie’s eyes.

But as soon as he recalled what had happened at the hospital, sadness crept back onto his face.

“Aunt Wen said… Grandpa most likely has liver cancer.”

“But fortunately…”

“It’s still in the early stage.”

“Aunt Wen contacted me today,” Si Yunyì said, looking at him.

“How much will it cost?”

“One… one hundred and fifty thousand yuan.”

Chu Junlie lowered his head guiltily.

“Aunt Wen told us… that’s only a conservative estimate.”

Si Yunyì took out a bank card he had already prepared from his wallet and handed it to Chu Junlie.

“There’s five hundred thousand yuan on this card.”

Staring at the card held between those long, elegant fingers, Chu Junlie slowly widened his eyes and looked up.

“Mr. Si… i-it’s one hundred and fifty thousand… not five hundred thousand…”

“You need to be fully prepared,” Si Yunyì replied as calmly as ever.

“And you need to reassure the old man, don’t you?”

 

 

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