To My Dear Mr. Huo

The faint smell of food wafted in the air. Shi Mengwan was wearing the clothes that Qiao Ze had bought back. In the kitchen, she placed the food on the plate and carried it out.

Qiao Ze sat at the small table like a master.

Yes. Qiao Ze found this table later from God knows where. Previously, Shi Mengwan and Qiao Ze ate on the coffee table.

This morning, she cooked porridge. When she brought it to the coffee table, she felt that it was very inconvenient to sit on the sofa and eat, so she had to bend over.

“We should get a table,” she said, “At least it’s more comfortable to sit and eat, right?”

When she said this, Qiao Ze moved this table over at noon.

Square tables like this were very common in the countryside in the past. Two chairs were also moved over here.

Shi Mengwan didn’t even know where Qiao Ze got it from. She watched Qiao Ze pick up his bowl and eat in big mouthfuls.

The young man was growing, so his appetite was astonishing. She basically ate the same amount of food that she did when she lived with her parents at home.

But apart from her portion, the rest went into the young man’s stomach.

The young man ate so much, but he didn’t look fat. He was extremely thin. He was rather robust. When the table was moved in, he moved it in alone. She said she wanted to help, but he didn’t let her.

After two days of recuperation, the injury on his face was much better. Only the corners of his mouth was still bruised. She could already see the young man’s original appearance.

He had an extremely good-looking face, and his eyes were long and narrow. The people in Shi Mengwan’s previous school, the town she lived in, and the people she met after coming to Lin City, weren’t as good-looking as Zhan Haoze.

He didn’t pale in comparison to those celebrities on TV at all.

It was just that his image was a little bad. His hand was injured, so he couldn’t hold the bowl. He just clutched it feebly while eating like that. His posture inevitably became a little ugly.

If this was in her house and her grandmother saw it, she would definitely scold him. She would say that he had no sense of propriety because he couldn’t even hold the bowl properly.

The youth noticed that Shi Mengwan was staring at him, so he stopped eating and stared at Shi Mengwan.

“What are you looking at?”

The moment the young man opened his mouth, his good-looking face was instantly ruined. His voice really wasn’t that pleasant to hear during the changing stage of his voice.

After Shi Mengwan was caught peeking at the young man, her face appeared a little uncomfortable. No matter what, she was only twelve years old this year. It was really too unreserved to stare at a boy like that.

“I just want to ask, where did you get that table?”

The youth didn’t say anything. He finished the rice in his bowl in a few bites. When he went to fill the next bowl of rice, he glanced at Shi Mengwan.

“Why? Are you afraid that my table was stolen? When the time comes, people will come looking for you and implicate you?”

She didn’t. Without waiting for Shi Mengwan to explain, the youth snorted, “Don’t worry. It’s not stolen. No one will come to arrest you.”

“Dear Brother.” Shi Mengwan bit her lip. She was a little hurt by the youth’s hostile and impatient attitude. “I was just curious.”

“I picked it up.” The youth answered casually, “If I were to steal it, I wouldn’t steal such a shabby table.”

It was indeed a little shabby. Looking at the corners of the table, she saw that even the paint had fallen off.

Shi Mengwan didn’t ask any further and just ate quietly. However, when she saw the youth put down the bowl, she had a new question.

“Where did you get the money to buy vegetables?”

The ones bought yesterday, plus today’s, wasn’t enough with the money she gave the young man.

The young man even bought pork ribs and meat today. Not only that, but the young man also replenished some rice noodles for the family.

She was really curious.

The young man relaxed his body on the chair. After he finished eating and drinking, the unruly and malicious aura on his body receded a little.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t steal or rob. They came legally.”

Her eyes filled with doubt, Shi Mengwan looked at him. “I can’t ask?”

“You can’t.” The youth was very arrogant, so Shi Mengwan didn’t ask anymore. She lowered her head and continued eating, but she muttered softly.

That sentence was heard by the youth. The youth tapped on the table. “What do you mean? Tell me clearly.”

Shi Mengwan didn’t say anything further, but the youth suddenly moved his face closer. The table was old, and it wasn’t that big. When the youth suddenly moved closer, the bowl that Shi Mengwan was holding almost fell off.

“Let me tell you, I’ll worry about the money. It’s not up to you.”

After saying that, as if afraid that Shi Mengwan wouldn’t listen to him, he pointed his index finger at her face. “Remember my words.”

“Got it.”

“If you dare to pick up trash, I’ll cripple you.”

Shi Mengwan didn’t say anything. She looked at the youth and for the first time, she asked what she was wondering, “Dear Brother, where are your parents? Why are you living here alone?”

Moreover, other than the simplest furniture, there wasn’t a single photograph in the house. There wasn’t even a trace of any adult.

“My parents are dead.” The youth glanced at her, then sneered, “How about you, where are your parents? Why did you come here alone? I heard you talk, and your accent isn’t that of a Lin City native. You aren’t a native of this city, right? Then what about your parents? Why don’t they care about you?”

“I…” Shi Mengwan bit her lip and thought of her grandmother, who valued sons over daughters, and her mother, who had just given birth to a little sister who was despised by her grandmother. “It’s not that they don’t care about me, it’s just that I ran away from home.”

“You have quite the guts.” The youth stared at Shi Mengwan and clicked his tongue. “With your looks, you dare to run away from home?”

Nothing happened. She was really lucky. She had brought it upon herself when she met the two hooligans that day.

“What’s wrong with my looks?”

Shi Mengwan’s mother was a beauty. Shi Mengwan really didn’t think that she was good-looking.

His eyes staring straight at her, the youth suddenly moved his face closer. Shi Mengwan felt uncomfortable under his stare.

“What are you doing?”

“Do you really not know or are you pretending not to know?”

When the youth moved closer, she could see the fine hairs on his skin. She was a little girl after all, so she felt embarrassed.

Shi Mengwan moved her body back a little. “You…”

“Forget it, I won’t tease you anymore.”

She wasn’t like himself, who grew up in the city slums, so she didn’t know about these things very clearly.

She was just a child. The youth felt bored, so he stood up and walked out.

“Where are you going?”

“Let’s go, let’s go.” Perhaps he felt that his tone was a little unpleasant, but the youth added in a croaky voice, “I’m going to earn money. Aren’t you always worried that I don’t have money? I’ll go earn it now.”

Who was worried that he didn’t have money? Shi Mengwan wasn’t worried at all.

“You still have an injury on your hand. What do you want to do?” Shi Mengwan thought of the table that he had moved back earlier. “Did you forget that the doctor told you not to carry heavy objects?”

“Don’t worry. This little injury won’t kill me.”

The young man left after saying that.

The young man left, and he didn’t come back for a long time. When night fell, Shi Mengwan didn’t wait for him anymore.

It was just that she didn’t feel safe at home alone.

This bungalow only had one door. There wasn’t even an extra security lock outside.

It wasn’t like when she was in town, where her neighbors were all close. Nothing big could’ve happened.

She hadn’t seen anyone living next door in the past few days. What she didn’t know was that this place was very close to a development area in Lin City.

In this old city area, most of the locals were already unwilling to live here. They were all rented to migrant workers.

The people who lived here all worked during the day. The migrant workers each had their own things to do. It had been a tiring day back home. Who was happy to care about other people’s affairs?

This was also the reason why no one came to help Shi Mengwan when she was chased by two people last time.

Shi Mengwan curled up on the small sofa and stared at the door. She didn’t dare to sleep.

She didn’t know where Qiao Ze had gone and why he hadn’t come back so late. She got up and looked at the time again.

The old alarm clock was already pointing to 11:30. It seemed that the weather wasn’t good today either. She heard the sound of rain hitting the window.

That sound came and went. It made her more and more anxious.

After all, she was only 12 years old. She had left home alone and walked to Lin City. Even though she clearly wasn’t familiar with that youth, and even though the youth looked fierce.

But he was here, so at least it wouldn’t be so empty.

She turned over again, but still couldn’t fall asleep. The rain outside seemed to be getting heavier.

She couldn’t fall asleep even more, so she simply got up, wrapped herself in a blanket, and sat on the sofa.

The door opened at this time. She was shocked by the sound of the door opening, and almost jumped up.

It was at this time that the young man pushed the door open and entered. The clothes on the youth’s body were all wet, and his hair was also wet.

The soles of his shoes were stained with mud, and he looked a little disheveled. Seeing that Shi Mengwan was still awake, the youth froze for a moment.

“You’re still awake?”

“I –” Shi Mengwan was too embarrassed to say that she was timid and was afraid so she wasn’t be able to sleep. “Where did you go? Why did you come back so late?”

“Stop nagging.” The youth shook the water off his hair and went to his room.

Shi Mengwan stood up and followed behind him. “You, why are you all wet?”

“En.” The youth answered casually. He was going to take off his wet clothes. Suddenly, he turned around and glanced at Shi Mengwan.

“There should be more ingredients in the kitchen, right?”

“Yes. Are you hungry?”

“En, cook a bowl of noodles for me.” The youth looked at Shi Mengwan. “Cook more. I’m going to take a shower.”

His commanding tone didn’t cause Shi Mengwan to feel displeased or defiant in the slightest.

He was back, and there was one more person here, so she didn’t have to be so afraid.

She turned around and went to the kitchen. Cooking noodles couldn’t be any simpler for her.

The instant she took out the noodles, she thought of the youth’s overly skinny body.

After thinking about it for a moment, she took out another egg and the remaining tomatoes that the youth had bought.

She spent 20 minutes to cook the tomato and egg noodles. She took them out and placed them on the small table outside. The young man had just showered.

He smelled the aroma of the noodles the moment he came out. He glanced at Shi Mengwan.

He didn’t say a word. He sat down and picked up the noodles to eat. He picked up his chopsticks and realized something, then glanced at Shi Mengwan.

“You’re not eating?”

“No need. You can eat.”

Shi Mengwan shook her head. She had already brushed her teeth. She was a little O.C.D. After brushing her teeth, she wouldn’t eat again.

Hearing that, the youth ignored her.

Shi Mengwan could go to sleep now. “I’m going to sleep. After you’re done eating, put the bowl in the sink. I’ll wash it tomorrow.”

“Stop nagging.” The youth ate his noodles and replied without raising his head.

Shi Mengwan’s expression didn’t look that pleasant. How was she nagging?

She didn’t pay any further attention to the youth and went straight to sleep on the sofa. The moment she closed her eyes, she thought that her cooking skills weren’t actually that good, were they?

Why was the youth eating so happily every time?

She didn’t know what kind of life he had in the past. She was very curious about the youth. But at this moment, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to get anything out of him.

… ..

The sound of the bowl being placed on the table made Shi Mengwan come back to her senses. Only then did she realize that Zhan Haoze had already finished eating the noodles and was staring at her. She retracted her gaze and didn’t say anything else. She went back into the kitchen.

The ingredients were all ready-made. Her movements were quick and the cooking wasn’t complicated. She cooked another bowl of noodles for herself, but she found that she didn’t have much appetite.

In that year, how many times did she cook for Dear Brother? How many times did she cook noodles?

But she found that her brother’s favorite was still tomato and egg noodles. Even if her cooking wasn’t like that of a chef, even if it was a little weird, Qiao Ze still liked it.

For example, no one would cut the vegetables into pieces and put them into the noodles when they were cooking. For example, she always liked to cut the tomatoes into small pieces.

Her cooking style wasn’t like those of the restaurants outside, where the tomatoes were cut into pieces.

Saying that no one cooked the tomato and egg noodles like her, Su Qingsang used to laugh at her.

She fought back by saying that it was her own invention, okay?

Luckily, Su Qingsang wasn’t good at cooking, but she wasn’t picky. When the two good sisters gathered, she would eat whatever she cooked.

Just like her Dear Brother, no matter what she cooked or how she cooked, he would eat it.

And when she looked at Zhan Haoze just now… She thought of her Dear Brother. Although one of them wolfed down the noodles a little roughly, while the other ate slowly and elegantly.

However, she could really see the similarities between the two of them. For example, whether it was her Dear Brother or Zhan Haoze, they both liked to pick up the noodles first. After picking up a piece of noodles, they didn’t eat it but drank a mouthful of the soup in the noodles.

Also, the way Zhan Haoze picked up the chopsticks was the same as her Dear Brother. A normal person would hold the chopsticks flat.

However, Zhan Haoze’s fingers were especially long. When he held the chopsticks, the angle was slightly lower than the average person’s. It looked like he was holding the chopsticks askew.

After confirming once again that Zhan Haoze was Dear Brother and once again finding the similarities between the two of them, to Shi Mengwan, there was nothing to be happy about.

Dear Brother had long forgotten about her.

She looked at the bowl of noodles but had no appetite at all. However, she forced herself to take it out.

She froze when she didn’t see Zhan Haoze. She was so distracted just now that she didn’t hear the sound of the door closing.

Thinking about it, she thought that Zhan Haoze had already left. She couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or something else.

She felt her heart was empty. That feeling returned her to when she was thirteen years old and lost her Dear Brother.

Shi Mengwan ate a few mouthfuls of noodles, but she was no longer in the mood to continue.

She put away the bowls and tidied up the kitchen again. She was obviously exhausted, but she didn’t feel like sleeping at all. She simply mopped the floor of the kitchen and the living room.

After she was tired and finished with her work, Shi Mengwan returned to her room.

The moment she entered the door, she was shocked. The person she thought had left was actually sitting on the bed in her room.

“…”

Shi Mengwan stood at the door. She looked at Zhan Haoze, then at the door.

“You, you didn’t leave?”

She looked at Zhan Haoze, who had already taken off his suit jacket and vest. He was only wearing a shirt.

At this moment, two buttons of the shirt had been unbuttoned, and the sleeves were casually rolled up to his elbows.

The strands of hair on his forehead hung down, and his leopard-like eyes were still as sharp as ever, especially so when he was still sitting on the bed. Giving a nonchalant vibe to his handsomeness, his long and slender legs were casually folded together.

“…” If she wanted to chase him away, the words were stuck in her throat and she couldn’t say a word.

She didn’t know this before, but now she realized that it wasn’t just women who misled people. It was the same for men.

Shi Mengwan took a few seconds to find her voice, and she took a step back.

Looking at the magnified face in front of her, she couldn’t find her voice for a long time. She pinched her nails into her palm to remind herself that the person in front of her wasn’t her Dear Brother, and she couldn’t be entangled with him anymore.

“Mr. Zhan, it’s getting late. Please leave.”

Her expulsion order made Zhan Haoze stand up. The room was only so big, so he quickly walked up to her.

Shi Mengwan thought that he was going to leave, so she took a step back twice. She signaled that he could leave.

Zhan Haoze suddenly put a hand on the wall behind her.

Shi Mengwan’s back was tightly pressed against the wall, and she didn’t dare to move.

“What did you call me?” Zhan Haoze slowly moved his face closer. He breathed into her face.

Shi Mengwan felt uneasy. She didn’t know what kind of madness he was going through. Since he didn’t admit that he was her big brother and had a fiancée, then she should keep a distance from him.

“Mr. Zhan, it’s getting late. Please — wuuu –”

Her lips were kissed, and the man’s breath was filled with the scent of mint. Behind her was the cold wall, and in front of her was his hot chest.

In one day, she had experienced the same scene twice.

She didn’t understand what Zhan Haoze was thinking. All her consciousness was distorted by this overbearing kiss.

She thought of the way Zhan Haoze ate noodles, and she thought of the way her Dear Brother ate noodles.

She thought of Zhan Haoze sitting on her bed with his legs crossed, and then she thought of her Dear Brother sitting on the sofa in the small bungalow.

The two faces of youth and maturity overlapped in front of her. She couldn’t escape from Zhan Haoze’s kiss.

She even forgot how she resisted Zhan Haoze in the hotel, or perhaps she had to worry about someone passing by at that time, and now she didn’t have to worry.

The kiss slowly changed its taste, and Zhan Haoze’s hands began to move around her body.

Perhaps because of the high temperature in the room, she actually felt that his hands were a little hot.

Her consciousness became more and more blurred. The only string of rationality left told her that this was wrong, wrong. It couldn’t be like this.

But when Zhan Haoze’s hand reached into her clothes, that kind of rationality completely collapsed.

Retreating step by step, she was utterly defeated in front of him.

She didn’t know when her body landed on the bed.

She also didn’t know when her clothes fell to the ground.

She only remembered feeling Zhan Haoze’s kiss, Zhan Haoze’s touch, and the feeling Zhan Haoze gave her.

He wasn’t rough, wasn’t as urgent as he was the last time, and it couldn’t be said that he was very gentle. Although he tried his best to restrain himself, it was still a barbaric, almost predatory attack.

When she merged with him, her mind was blank, and the only thought left was Dear Brother.

“Dear Brother…”

She murmured those three words softly, but it made Zhan Haoze’s eyes become deeper and gloomier.

He kissed her lips, but he felt that it wasn’t enough. He increased his strength and knocked into her forcefully. Naturally, he couldn’t make that sound anymore.

… ..

There would be an end to everything.

When everything returned to calamity, Shi Mengwan’s remaining rationality finally began to return.

She suddenly realized what she had done, what Zhan Haoze had done.

She turned to look at him. The man was lying on the bed and looking at the ceiling above his head. His breathing was heavy.

There was silence. There were only the sounds of two people breathing in the room. Shi Mengwan turned her face away. Her body was tired, but her heart was even more tired.

What were they doing?

What did he take her for?

She turned over and her body slowly curled up. She was very tired. She needed to sleep now.

Her body was held in someone’s arms. She tried to struggle, but she had no strength.

Moreover, struggling at this time was actually very laughable.

They had just done everything they could and couldn’t do. Wasn’t it too late to struggle now?

Shi Mengwan felt that she was being high maintenance, but now, she had to be high maintenance.

“Don’t touch me or come again.” She didn’t have any strength left. Didn’t he know his limits just now?

Zhan Haoze didn’t do anything to her. He just carried her into his arms, and his arms were a little tight.

“Zhan Haoze, let go of me.” Shi Mengwan’s back was tightly pressed against his chest. The two of them were in an extremely intimate position.

She didn’t like this kind of intimacy, and she wasn’t used to it.

“I’m going to take a shower.” Seeing that he had no intention of letting go of her, she had no choice but to pull his arm.

“I said let go of me. I’m going to take a shower.”

Zhan Haoze didn’t let go of her. Instead, he turned her body around.

The resistance on her face was too obvious. It was so obvious that Zhan Haoze didn’t understand what she was resisting.

He kissed her lips again. Shi Mengwan really felt tired.

She didn’t understand how he did it, but she couldn’t ask, because Zhan Haoze started again.

Just as she wanted to regain her rationality and draw a line between them, he started a new round of plundering.

This time, she didn’t even have a place to run.

..

Shi Mengwan couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t sleep.

After having s*x three times in a row and being entangled with Zhan Haoze, she felt the same as she did last time. She was supposed to be extremely tired, but now, she was full of energy.

She looked at the ceiling above her head and didn’t quite understand how things had turned out like this.

Her gaze fell on Zhan Haoze’s face. What was he thinking?

Why could he have s*x with her while being affectionate with his girlfriend?

She had never seen them get along, but she felt that she didn’t need to see it. Just based on how Chen Feifei had been holding Zhan Haoze’s hand, she knew it.

In a place that she couldn’t see, the two of them must be intimate with each other.

But why?

Why did he come to provoke her?