The President’s Man - Chapter 347

During brunch, while the a.d.u.l.ts were conversing normally, Tian Le glanced at Xiao Zhihao, who had remained quiet since earlier.

“Hey, stop glaring at him. You’re not Superman. You can’t make a hole in my brother’s head,” Tian Le whispered as he nudged Xiao Zhihao with his elbow.

Xiao Zhihao glanced at him and said, “I’m getting rather annoyed at him.”

“Why?” Tian Le asked innocently, and when Xiao Zhihao gave him a “really?” expression, he immediately sighed and said, “Ok, that probably did happen… But they are a.d.u.l.ts, and I don’t think your mother was forced into it.”

Xiao Lei and Han Ye did not say anything about it, but based on how they constantly touched each other and whispering to each other, it was obvious to them that those two had taken another step in their relationship… Especially when there was another couple who did the same thing there for comparison.

“Did that guy think that just because he helped me out that I would be ok? Look at his smug face!” Xiao Zhihao growled as he continued to stuff prawn dumplings into his mouth.

“If you keep stuffing them in, you’re going to choke,” Tian Le said with a smirk. “Besides, look at your mother’s face. Aren’t you happy for her?”

With his mouth full, Xiao Zhihao looked at his mother’s face, which was radiating with happiness as she continued to chat with An Xin, and he sighed. “Maybeff…” he mumbled with his mouth full. As he chewed, he thought about how long had it been since he saw his mother like this… just relaxed and happy, smiling without any reservation.

“Exactly what’s your problem with my Brother Han Ye?” Tian Le asked in a low voice. His tone was calm as he did not want to appear judgmental. He was just curious. Han Ye could be a little annoying with the way he fretted over people at times, but he was not a bad guy.

“Nothing…” Xiao Zhihao. “It’s just…”

“Just what?”

Xiao Zhihao looked up at his mother again as he said in a low voice, “Nothing…”

Tian Le looked at Han Ye and Xiao Lei, and after a while, he stood up and said, “I’m going to check out the video game store down the road. Zhihao, come with me!”

Without waiting for Xiao Zhihao’s answer, he dragged the younger boy up.

“Tian Le!” Han Ye stood up. When Tian Le looked at him, Han Ye said, “Be careful when you guys cross the road…”

Tian Le rolled his eyes at him. “I’m 15!”

“Do you have money?”

“I’ve got your credit card!” Tian Le grinned before quickly leaving the room with Xiao Zhihao.

“What the…” Han Ye immediately took out his wallet and found that one of his credit cards was fake. There was a message on it.

[Your punishment.]

“What- When did he do this?” Han Ye gasped before sitting down.

“Probably earlier… When we were waiting at your place for Ziyan and An Xin to get ready.” Xiao Lei giggled. “He took your wallet and said that he had to do something with it.”

“You let a teenager take my wallet?” Han Ye asked in disbelief.

Xiao Lei shrugged. “Tian Le is a good boy, so what was I supposed to do?”

“Not letting a teenager take my wallet would be a good idea,” Han Ye said with a sigh. “That kid probably still holds a grudge against me…”

“Hell, if you walked in on me when I was trying to…” Ziyan was going to say it out loud, but he decided not to when he saw his lover looking at him with curious eyes. In the end, he changed his words, “… change my pants, I would be angry too.”

He heard about what happened from Tian Le this morning, when the teenager came home to change. Lu Ziyan heard him lock his room door and asked him about it. After all, it had been a while since Tian Le locked his door.

“Why would he be angry if you walked in on him while he’s changing his pants?” An Xin asked, totally confused by Tian Le’s behavior. The teenager did not seem to be the kind that would be angry over this kind of thing. “That’s an odd thing to be angry about.”

Xiao Lei chuckled and leaned over to whisper the truth in An Xin’s ears.

“Nooo!” An Xin gasped and looked at Han Ye. “No way! That only happens in movies!”

She looked at Lu Ziyan, who then said, “It happened quite often than you thought. For guys at least…”

“Have you?” An Xin asked with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she held his hand. “Have you? Come on, tell me.”

Lu Ziyan smiled and gently caressed her head. “I was too busy working to have time for that.”

Xiao Lei then looked at Han Ye expectantly. It was obvious that even without asking, what her question would be.

“No,” Han Ye replied but without looking at her eyes.

“Liar!” Xiao Lei scoffed. “Look at me in the eye and tell me that again.”

Han Ye picked up his chopsticks and quickly grabbed a braised chicken feet before stuffing it into Xiao Lei’s mouth. “Eat, woman.”

Xiao Lei frowned, and she quickly placed the chicken feet down in her bowl. “This is not over yet, Mr. Han,” she warned with a playful growl before letting the matter drop.

…

Meanwhile, the two teenagers found themselves in a video game store. As they were flipping through the catalog of games, Tian Le asked nonchalantly, “So, you want to talk about it?”

Xiao Zhihao’s hand froze for a second before continuing to flip the pages. “I don’t know… Not really…”

“I like you, Zhihao, but I don’t like how you’re treating my brother like he’s a bad person. He has never done anything bad to you or your mother, and I know that he genuinely likes you. You have no idea how often he asked me how you were doing at school,” Tian Le said in a calm tone.

Xiao Zhihao did not say anything. He knew that Han Ye was not a bad man, but he could not find it within himself to accept Han Ye just like that.

“Zhihao, you’re not an unreasonable person… and I know that you want your mother to be happy as well. But do you think your mother would be happy if Brother Han Ye is not in the picture?”

Xiao Zhihao thought about his words for a moment before mumbling, “No… But she wouldn’t be upset either.”

Tian Le frowned and turned to look at him. “What do you mean?”

“He brought all the bad news…” Xiao Zhihao finally admitted the truth of why he did not want to accept Han Ye in his life. “After we met Han Ye, bad things happen one after the other. I lost my best friend… I found out that my father had been gone for a while… Before that, I could still believe that he was out there somewhere, doing something, good or bad I don’t care… But he was still alive to me… And Han Ye ended that for me.”

Tian Le looked at him in disbelief.

“I know, it’s stupid of me to think that way,” Xiao Zhihao said. He continued to flip the pages on the catalog of games, but his hand was trembling. “But… I don’t know who else to blame.”

To him, the idea that his father was missing was easier to accept than the fact that his father was gone forever. And the fact that his mother was now with the man who brought the bad news made him loath Han Ye even more.

However, lately, even though he did not show it, he found himself hating Han Ye less and less after he saw how gentle the man was when he was with his mother. And after yesterday afternoon, he felt that despite Han Ye’s gentleness, he was not a pushover… which was the kind of man that his mother needed in her life.

But when his mother went to spend the night at Han Ye’s place last night… and when he noticed that hickey on Han Ye’s arm that he failed to conceal, Xiao Zhihao was annoyed and slightly angry at Han Ye again. He felt like his mother had just been taken advantage of by a man, and as the man of the house, he did not know what he should really feel about this.