When Luo Yuan received Ye Zhe'an's phone call, it was already approaching dusk. He had already given up hope, but unexpectedly, Ye Zhe'an took the initiative to call and say that he wanted to come over. This made him so excited that he didn't know what to do.

After tidying up, he hailed a taxi and headed towards the apartment. When he arrived at the building, he had a sudden thought and decided not to go upstairs. Instead, he went to the supermarket near the entrance. Before entering the supermarket, he sent a voice message to Ye Zhe'an, saying, "Teacher Ye, you don't need to buy groceries today. I'll take care of it."

Then he took another picture of the supermarket entrance and sent it over.

He didn't receive a reply from Ye Zhe'an even after paying the bill, but he knew that Ye Zhe'an must have seen it.

After arriving at the apartment, he took the initiative to pick and wash the vegetables, then put them neatly on the cutting board. He quickly tidied up the room and sat on the sofa, watching TV while waiting for Ye Zhean.

Ye Zhe'an arrived at the apartment close to 8 o'clock in the evening. Originally, he didn't plan to come this late, but two hours ago, his younger brother suddenly developed a high fever due to a lung infection. He was delayed because he had to take care of his brother.

When Ye Zhe'an entered the room, Luo Yuan was lying on the sofa, fast asleep. The television was playing a variety show, with a group of hosts, whose combined age exceeded two hundred years, telling jokes on stage without any comedic value, amusing themselves to no end.

Luo Yuan was in a deep sleep, and when Ye Zhe'an walked past him, he didn't intentionally lower his footsteps, so he didn't wake up. The sound of the TV was a bit loud, and Ye Zhe'an lowered his head to search for the remote control. He found that the small black remote control was being pressed under Luo Yuan's body, only revealing a small portion of it.

He bent down, gripping the small piece and pulling it out, but before he could exert any force, Luo Yuan woke up.

As soon as he opened his eyes, Luo Yuan saw Ye Zhe'an. Luo Yuan was in a great mood, despite feeling extremely hungry and having a stomachache that made him want to throw up. Still, he smiled with a grin and said, "Teacher Ye, you're here."

Luoyuan's smile has always been very contagious. If it weren't for this complicated relationship, Ye Zhe'an would be more than happy to become friends with him. But once you miss the timing, you miss it for good. Life doesn't have that many "what ifs".

He picked up the remote control and turned down the volume, glancing towards the kitchen. "Have you eaten?"

Rubbing his belly, Luo Yuan said, "Not yet. I had some snacks on the way here, so I'm not very hungry." In truth, he was extremely hungry and couldn't eat anything at all.

"Have you eaten, Teacher Ye?" he asked Ye Zhean.

"I don't have any either," Ye Zhe'an said, rolling up his sleeves and walking towards the kitchen. "I'll just whip up something quick. You should eat a little less."

"Okay." Being able to eat the meals cooked by Ye Zhe'an was a rare sweetness in their relationship, and he cherished it very much.

Ye Zhe'an cooked very quickly, picking a couple of easy-to-cook dishes from the chopping board and putting the rest in the refrigerator.

Holding a bowl of rice that was served by Ye Zhe'an, Luo Yuan ate with a smile on his face. Ye Zhe'an glanced at him and furrowed his eyebrows, saying, "Just focus on eating your meal."

Hehe," Luo Yuan carried a bowl and moved more than half of the table, then ran to sit next to Ye Zhe'an, "Teacher Ye, I thought you wouldn't come today."

Ye Zhe'an lowered his gaze, concealing all his emotions. After giving it some thought, he felt that this would be detrimental to the conversation that would follow. He then looked up at Luo Yuan and hesitated, saying, "Because there is something I want to discuss with you."

Luo Yuan was taken aback. Whenever Ye Zhe'an looked at him, he had always been cold, arrogant, and impatient. He had never looked at him with such an expression before.

Luo Yuan felt a bit scared, so he lowered his head as if trying to avoid something and started shoveling rice into his mouth. After taking two bites, he felt extremely uncomfortable in his stomach and couldn't swallow anymore. He put down his chopsticks and remained stunned for a while, before opening his mouth to ask, "What do you want to tell me?"

Ye Zhe'an had only eaten half of his meal when he heard the question. He set down his chopsticks and took a deep breath before saying, "It's about my younger brother."

"Little brother?" Luo Yuan hurriedly asked upon hearing this, "What happened to my little brother? Oh, by the way, I haven't asked you yet, what happened to my little brother last time?"

Ye Zhe'an said, "The situation is not good. The doctor said that if I don't get a kidney transplant soon, I might not survive the year."

"Why did it turn out like this?" Luo Yuan had never met Ye Zhe'an's younger brother, let alone have any emotional connection with him. However, thinking about how Ye Zhe'an had worked tirelessly for all these years just for the sake of his brother, if something were to happen to his brother, Ye Zhe'an would probably collapse. This was something he did not want to see.

"Do you have a kidney source?" he asked.

"What I want to tell you is this," Ye Zhe'an turned around and looked into Luo Yuan's eyes. There was something complex in his gaze, something that Luo Yuan couldn't understand until he heard Ye Zhe'an say, "The doctor told me that there is a kidney source available, but..."

Luo Yuan understood, and then he heaved a huge sigh of relief, for Ye Zhe'an, for his younger brother, and for himself—his younger brother was saved, Ye Zhe'an would be fine, and if Ye Zhe'an was okay, then he himself would be okay too. Most importantly, Ye Zhe'an didn't actually want to terminate their contract ahead of schedule. This was really, really great news.

Luoyuan's mood suddenly brightened up. Without letting Ye Zhe'an continue to speak, he gripped Ye Zhe'an's sleeve and smiled warmly. "Teacher Ye, don't worry. Let my younger brother undergo the surgery with peace of mind. I will take care of the surgical expenses."

Ye Zhe'an's lips twitched uncomfortably. It was really embarrassing, hating this relationship all along, yet still having to rely on it in the end.

After receiving the news about the kidney source during the day, he did think about bypassing Luo Yuan and borrowing money from someone else. However, the cost of the kidney transplant was not low, and even if the surgery was successful, there would be a lot of postoperative recovery to do. In these past few years, he had been busy working hard for his younger brother and hadn't made any friends, let alone borrowing money. After careful consideration, the only person he could rely on unexpectedly turned out to be Luo Yuan.

Luo Yuan turned away and stretched lazily, standing up and walking towards the edge of the sofa. With a cheerful tone, he said, "Teacher Ye, hurry up and finish your meal. How about we watch some TV before going to bed?"

Anyway, the cost of my younger brother's surgery has been taken care of. Ye Zhe'an breathed a sigh of relief, putting aside all the emotions that troubled him and lowering his head to eat.

After finishing their meal and tidying up, Ye Zhe'an took some clothes and went to take a shower. When he came out of the shower, Luo Yuan was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, watching variety shows.

Luo Yuan enjoys watching variety shows and also likes to laugh.

Ye Zhe'an stood by the sofa, wiping his hair, his gaze involuntarily falling upon Luo Yuan's face.

Maybe sensing something, Luo Yuan looked up at him, with a lingering smile on his face. "Teacher Ye, are you done washing up?"

"Mhmm." Not sure if it was because of the lighting, but Luo Yuan's complexion looked much better than the last time Ye Zhean had seen him. Ye Zhean recalled the unfinished topic from their previous conversation and asked, "What's wrong with your body?"

Last time, the courage that was difficult to build up was interrupted. It's even more difficult to gather it again. Moreover, Ye Zhe'an is already exhausted from his brother's illness, he can't even speak anymore.

He knelt on the sofa and took a few steps on his knees to Ye Zhe'an's side, embracing his arm and pulling him down to sit on the sofa. He acted spoiled and said, "It's nothing, just like I told you before, my stomach hasn't been feeling well. After a few days of rest, it has improved a lot. Teacher Ye doesn't need to worry."

Ye Zhe'an blinked his eyes, turned his head to look at Luo Yuan's face, which was just within reach in the hazy light, and for a moment, there was a strange atmosphere.

Luoyuan licked his slightly dry lips and murmured, "Teacher Ye..."

He raised his chin, hooked his arm around Ye Zhe'an's neck, and kissed him.