Chapter 211: Promise

By the time Lin Xiao returned to Yuan Yu’s house, it was already past midnight.

When Lin Xiao opened the security door, he saw Yuan Yu sitting on the lounge chair with her arms wrapped around her knees, her snow-white chin resting on top of them, staring blankly ahead.

She was wearing cute pink pajamas, her pale feet together, and her smooth black hair draped over her shoulders, covering half of her face. She looked like an ethereal fairy.

“I’m back,” Lin Xiao said softly, clearing his throat.

Yuan Yu didn’t turn around, her body remained motionless as if she hadn’t heard Lin Xiao’s words.

But her rosy little mouth was tightly pressed together, her breathing became a bit more rapid, and her chest rose and fell intensely. Her thick, long eyelashes trembled continuously.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Xiao hung his coat on the rack and walked over to Yuan Yu, raising his hand to touch her hair.

Yuan Yu turned her head away, avoiding his hand, and said in a stiff tone, “Nothing.”

“Are you angry?” Lin Xiao could tell something was off from her tone.

“No.”

Although she said that, Yuan Yu’s little mouth was already pouting.

Her facial expression and the tone of her voice clearly conveyed to Lin Xiao that she was indeed angry, and very much so.

“I’m sorry, I came back late,” Lin Xiao said softly.

Yuan Yu’s pout grew more pronounced, her eyes fixed ahead. She refused to look at Lin Xiao.

In all the time he had known her, this was the first time Lin Xiao had seen Yuan Yu angry. The more he looked, the cuter he found her. He couldn’t help but reach out again to touch her hair.

This time, Yuan Yu didn’t move away, but her eyes suddenly reddened. Crystal-clear tears fell like broken pearls, dropping one after another.

She was usually gentle and composed, rarely getting angry, but when she did, it meant she was truly hurt.

Lin Xiao sat down beside Yuan Yu and put his arm around her shoulders.

“What’s wrong?”

He was completely bewildered, having no idea why Yuan Yu was angry or why she was crying.

Yuan Yu bit her lip, shook her head forcefully, and said nothing. She cried silently, her tear-streaked, pale face looking pitiful and heart-wrenching.

She hadn’t cried for a long time, not even when her mother was sick. But now, once she started crying, her tears flowed like a flood breaking through a dam, unstoppable.

“Did someone bully you?” Lin Xiao’s brow furrowed deeply, and a terrifying aura of menace erupted from him.

Yuan Yu wiped away her tears and said in a choked voice, “No one bullied me. I… I was just worried about you.”

Hearing Yuan Yu’s words, Lin Xiao felt a sudden pang in his heart.

He was an orphan and had been living alone since he was six, never knowing what it was like to have a family. His experiences growing up made Lin Xiao silent and stubborn, accustomed to solitude.

Although he had come to the Yang family, replacing Yang Hu to become part of Yuan Yu and Aunty’s family, in his heart, he still felt he was the same orphan with no parents or relatives. Despite promising to call and tell her he’ll be late. He had forgotten. It simply wasn’t ingrained in him.

In this world, he was always alone.

But at this moment, Yuan Yu’s tears made Lin Xiao understand what it felt like to be cared for by someone. It also made him realize that he was no longer an orphan. He had a new family.

Lin Xiao opened his mouth but found his throat dry and couldn’t say a word.

“Big Brother Lin, I was really worried about you. Worried that something might have happened to you. I couldn’t sleep while you were away,” Yuan Yu said softly, crying as she spoke.

Lin Xiao didn’t say anything, he just held Yuan Yu’s delicate shoulders tighter, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.

Yuan Yu wrapped her arms around Lin Xiao’s waist, silently shedding tears, quickly soaking a large part of his shoulder.

After about ten minutes, Yuan Yu finally stopped crying, but she still lay in Lin Xiao’s arms, not daring to lift her head.

“I’ll try to come back earlier in the future,” Lin Xiao promised her, gently stroking her hair.

“Okay.”

Yuan Yu made a nasal sound, rubbing her face against Lin Xiao’s clothes to wipe away her tears before finally leaving his embrace.

Seeing Yuan Yu return to normal, Lin Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, and said, “You should go to bed now. I’m going to take a shower.”

“No, I don’t want to sleep yet. I want to talk to you,” Yuan Yu said, looking up. Perhaps because she had just been crying, her voice was a bit hoarse. “Big Brother Lin, did you get into another fight?”

She noticed the various marks on Lin Xiao’s clothes and the fresh bandages on his hand.

“I’m a bodyguard, fighting is part of the job,” Lin Xiao said with a slight smile. “Don’t worry, I’ve already treated it with medicine. A good night’s sleep and I’ll be fine.”

“Go take a shower first, Big Brother Lin.” Yuan Yu took the clothes from Lin Xiao’s hands and held them in her arms. “After you finish showering, the medicine will be washed away. I’ll help you reapply it, and I’ll wash your clothes too.”

Although her voice was gentle, her expression was firm.

Lin Xiao knew that despite her gentle exterior, Yuan Yu was very determined once she made up her mind, and it was hard to change it. Besides, this wasn’t a big deal, so he nodded, “Alright, but if you get tired, go to sleep first.”

Lin Xiao walked into the bathroom. Because of the bandages on his hand, what normally took five or six minutes for a shower took over ten minutes this time.

When he came out of the bathroom, he found Yuan Yu still waiting in the living room, with bandages, tweezers, cotton, alcohol, scissors, and other items laid out on the table in front of her.

Since he had just showered, Lin Xiao was only wearing a pair of shorts. His well-proportioned and strong body made Yuan Yu blush deeply, her heart pounding.

“Big Brother Lin, come sit here.”

Yuan Yu, trying to suppress her shyness, pointed to the stool in front of her.

Lin Xiao obediently sat down. He straightened his back, waiting for Yuan Yu to treat his wounds.

Yuan Yu first used scissors to cut the bandages on Lin Xiao’s hand. When the wounds on the back of his hand were revealed, she couldn’t help but cover her mouth with her hand. Her eyes welled up with tears again.

“It’s okay, just superficial wounds,” Lin Xiao comforted her.

“You have to promise me that you won’t get into fights so easily in the future,” Yuan Yu said, her head lowered as she applied the medicinal powder to his hand, her mood still gloomy.

“I promise.”

“And even if you do fight, don’t get hurt.”

“Alright.”

In this exchange of simple, everyday conversation, time flew by quickly. Finally, Yuan Yu finished cleaning and bandaging Lin Xiao’s wound.

Afterward, both Lin Xiao and Yuan Yu felt a sense of relief.

“Now, go to bed,” Lin Xiao said, standing up and stretching. He glanced at the clock on the wall and said to Yuan Yu, “It’s almost one o’clock. You have class tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Yuan Yu nodded. “By the way, we’re going out the day after tomorrow on Sunday. Can you come with us?”

“We? Is Huang Caixing coming too?” Lin Xiao asked.

“Yes, Caixing and I planned to go to the beach, but I want you to come with us.”

Hearing that Huang Caixing was coming too, Lin Xiao felt a bit of a headache. He found her clingy personality hard to handle. However, seeing the expectant look in Yuan Yu’s eyes, he finally nodded and said, “Alright, I’m off on Sunday too. I’ll go with you.”

“Great, thank you, Brother Lin,” Yuan Yu waved to Lin Xiao before heading to her room. “I’ll go to sleep now. Good night, Brother Lin.”

After Yuan Yu went to her bedroom, Lin Xiao also went to his room and lay down on the bed to sleep. The day’s fighting had left him mentally exhausted.

Boom!

But Lin Xiao hadn’t been asleep for long when a series of loud thunderclaps suddenly erupted outside, followed by a torrential downpour.

Shortly after the thunder began, the door to Lin Xiao’s bedroom silently opened, and a delicate figure tiptoed inside.

“Big Brother Lin, are you asleep?”