DYH | Chapter 4

Bai Wei watched as Butler Fu approached from a distance. The older man was carrying a glass of apple juice, something he always prepared for Bai Wei, who tended to forget to drink water while practicing the piano. Butler Fu had always done this—waiting somewhere nearby, listening for the moment Bai Wei’s music paused so he wouldn’t disturb him, then bringing the juice in.

Bai Wei had always known that Butler Fu was kind to him, and he was grateful for it. He even liked the old man. But this was the first time—

When Bai Wei accepted the glass, he looked up and said, “Thank you, Uncle Fu.”

Butler Fu froze for a moment, a trace of concern appearing on his face. “Young Master, what’s wrong with you today?”

Bai Wei lowered his head, deep in thought. “Uncle Fu, you think I’m acting strange just because I suddenly said thank you? Does that mean I’m usually really disrespectful?”

“Young Master, you’re definitely acting strange today.” Butler Fu recalled the morning and grew even more worried. “No wonder you didn’t finish breakfast. You’ve been feeling a little down all day, haven’t you?”

“I’m not feeling down,” Bai Wei immediately denied. If he were down, that would mean he had lost to An Tianming. And clearly, An Tianming was the one in the wrong here. “I’m just a little angry. Uncle Fu, I think that new guy…” He still didn’t see anything wrong with calling An Tianming ‘the new guy,’ but for some reason, he corrected himself. “An Tianming is ridiculously petty. He keeps targeting me for no reason, like he really hates me.”

…He didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt like a kindergarten kid tattling to the teacher.

Butler Fu couldn’t help but chuckle. “Since you’re so angry, how about I make him wash all the cars in the garage?”

Bai Wei shook his head immediately. “Wouldn’t that just make him hate me even more?” The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted shaking his head so fast—it made him look like he was afraid of An Tianming hating him. He definitely wasn’t afraid… At most, he was just—just a little concerned. “Uncle Fu, what about you? Do you all secretly hate me too?”

Butler Fu’s amused expression faded as he looked at Bai Wei more seriously. “Young Master, what exactly did An Tianming say to you?”

“What he said isn’t important—he was just being unreasonable,” Bai Wei stated firmly. He had to make sure Butler Fu understood that what he was about to say were his own thoughts and had nothing to do with An Tianming. “What really matters is… normally, Uncle Fu, Aunt Liu, and everyone else take such good care of me. I’ve always taken it for granted. I only ever make demands and never consider anyone else’s feelings. Last time, I accidentally stepped on the flowers in the greenhouse and even blamed it on the Colonel . I didn’t even apologize to Uncle Liu… Do you think I’m less well-behaved than the Colonel ?”

“The Colonel is a Border Collie, one of the most intelligent dog breeds. It’s expected that he’s well-behaved.”

Bai Wei felt like he had just suffered a heavy blow. “Uncle Fu, so you’re saying I’m not as well-behaved as the Colonel —but more importantly, you think I’m not as smart as him either.”

Butler Fu struggled to hold back a laugh and sincerely reassured him, “Young Master, you have a good heart. You have every right to be a little willful.”

Bai Wei sighed in disappointment, concluding, “So basically, Uncle Fu, you think I’m immature, not smart, and way too spoiled.”

Butler Fu’s expression softened. He lowered his head slightly to meet Bai Wei’s gaze and spoke gently. “Only children and truly happy people have the privilege of staying willful as they grow up. Young Master, I sincerely hope you’ll always be a willful little young master.”

Bai Wei finally had to admit that his mood had indeed been low this morning—because now, he was starting to feel better. His spirits were lifting. “Uncle Fu, I’ll do my best to fulfill your wish,” he promised earnestly, before adding with a small turn of thought, “But… I think I can also try to be just a little bit more well-behaved. Just a little—that should be more than enough. Uncle Fu, don’t set the bar too high, okay? Just remind me once or twice if I slip up.”

Butler Fu let out a relieved chuckle. “Young Master, you’re already perfect. Just don’t blame the Colonel next time.”

Bai Wei felt like that was an easy fix. “No problem! Next time, I’ll just say it was some stray dog that snuck in.” With that, he stood up and walked toward the door, eager to find An Tianming and tell him that he wasn’t mad at him anymore. This way, compared to the petty An Tianming, he would have the moral high ground!

Just as he reached the doorway, Bai Wei suddenly remembered—Butler Fu had specifically brought him a glass of apple juice, and he hadn’t even taken a single sip before leaving. That would definitely be rude.

Thinking this, he turned back, picked up the glass, and downed the juice in one go.

Butler Fu watched him, looking slightly dazed.

After setting down the glass, Bai Wei thought for a moment, then pointed at the piano. “Uncle Fu, I can play the piano, but the Colonel can’t.”

With that triumphant declaration, he turned and ran off toward the garage.

In light of Bai Wei’s father, Bai Qianyuan, traveling abroad, An Tianming, who was essentially Bai Qianyuan’s personal driver, hadn’t had any assignments lately. It didn’t take long for Bai Wei to find him in the duty room by the garage.

Upon spotting An Tianming, Bai Wei immediately slowed his steps, leisurely strolling over while putting on an air of grand arrival. An Tianming, who had been sitting in a corner of the room reading a newspaper, stood up. “Young Master Bai.”

Bai Wei nodded casually. “Oh right, An Shifu, you covered the bar tab last night, didn’t you?”

He had carried cash with him since this morning. Even though he was still furious at An Tianming, the guy had worked hard to earn his money, while his own money was practically handed to him without effort. No matter how he thought about it, he should be the one footing the bill. His plan was to settle this tab first before dealing with the next one.

However, instead of answering his question, An Tianming was completely thrown off track. He stared blankly at Bai Wei for a moment. “An… ‘Shifu’?”

Bai Wei had never taken those inter-campus shuttle buses, but he’d heard that people usually addressed the drivers as ‘Shifu.’ Last night, he had racked his brain over what to call An Tianming and eventually came up with this.

“What? Is there something disrespectful about calling you An Shifu? Or should I call you An Daya (Grandpa An) instead?”

An Tianming paused. “Young Master Bai, just calling me An Tianming is fine.”

“But calling you by your name feels disrespectful,” Bai Wei said in a mock-serious tone.

An Tianming sighed in resignation. “Alright then, just call me An Daya.”

“…An your head, Daya!”

An Tianming chuckled. “That phrasing’s too wordy. If you’re gonna curse, keep it short and sharp. Next time, just go with ‘Your Daya’ and you’re good.”

Bai Wei never cursed. He had only meant to use the ‘your head’ phrase structure, yet An Tianming had completely misinterpreted it as ‘Your Daya.’ The artist in him, who studied music, was now too exasperated to argue.

An Tianming kept laughing. “Though you’re more arrogant than me, your heart is bigger. You win.”

This time, Bai Wei was genuinely at a loss for words.

Of course, Bai Wei hadn’t come to find An Tianming just for a bit of money. His main goal today was to showcase his magnanimity, and that final line—“I win”—was supposed to be his moment of triumph. Yet, An Tianming had snatched the punchline before he could deliver it. The words he had carefully prepared to show off his dominance had just been stolen?

“…Do you even want me to pay you back or not?” Bai Wei grumbled, forcibly dragging the conversation back on track.

An Tianming quickly shook his head. “No need, just consider it my treat.”

Bai Wei wasn’t having it. “I’m not your friend. Why would you treat me?”

“I heard that good-looking people often get free drinks at bars,” An Tianming said with a completely straight face.

Bai Wei was so speechless he could feel the heat rising to his face. Of course, it was purely out of anger—whether anyone else believed that or not, Bai Wei himself was convinced. This guy was obviously mocking him, comparing him to some girl being flirted with.

“Either way, I don’t need you treating me to drinks.”

“Then you shouldn’t have left without paying last night. Now it just looks like you intentionally skipped out on the bill.”

“…You—” Bai Wei swore he’d sign up for a debate class next semester. Otherwise, talking to An Tianming was just asking to be at a disadvantage. He glared for a long moment, struggling to come up with a retort, when suddenly, An Tianming reached out his hand.

Bai Wei noticed that his knuckles were red and swollen.

An Tianming explained, “After you left yesterday, Arsenal scored a goal. A Manchester United fan started cursing Arsenal, so I threw a punch. But I messed up the angle and ended up hurting my own hand.”

Bai Wei stared at him in a daze for a while. He carefully examined An Tianming and, though he didn’t see any other injuries, couldn’t help but scold him. “Why are you so impulsive? Let them curse all they want. You don’t even know how to fight properly—what if you got beaten up instead?”

“But you said that from yesterday onwards, I’m an Arsenal fan. Of course, I had to defend Arsenal’s honor.”

Bai Wei could hear his own heartbeat in the silence. He didn’t know why, but suddenly, he felt like crying. He wasn’t sad, nor was he upset, nor did he feel any pain, but for some reason, he had the urge to cry.

He never cried in front of anyone—let alone in front of An Tianming, whom he was still supposed to be mad at… Well, fine, he realized he wasn’t mad at him at all anymore.

But no matter what, he couldn’t let the other guy see him suddenly tearing up like some moody kid.

Bai Wei lifted An Tianming’s injured fist and lowered his head to examine it, avoiding his gaze. “Your fingers are really swollen. I’ll go find some medicine for it.”

With that, he hurriedly ran out of the duty room.

By the time Bai Wei returned with the ointment, An Tianming was still standing there, waiting for him. When he saw Bai Wei, his expression was unreadable as he asked, “If I said I wanted to be friends with you right now, would it be your turn to reject me this time?”

Had this been just a few minutes earlier, Bai Wei would have gleefully nodded and answered, “That’s right.” But time was a strange thing.

“Actually, I know you’ve already considered me a friend from the start,” Bai Wei admitted without meaning to. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have said those things to me. I know you were being sincere when you pointed out my problems.” He had unintentionally blurted out the truth. “I got mad because what you said made a lot of sense—though only a little bit, of course. But I also knew I shouldn’t be mad about it, so—” Bai Wei extended his hand. “Let’s call it even.”

They shook hands.

Then, An Tianming said seriously, “Alright. Now you can say you’re treating me to drinks from last night. I’ll tell you the total, you’ll hand me the money, and you’ll say, ‘No need to give me change.’”

Bai Wei burst out laughing. “I thought you didn’t care about the money! So you were just pretending, huh?”

“Of course,” An Tianming admitted shamelessly. “You have no idea how much my heart was bleeding earlier when I said it was my treat. Three thousand bucks—that’s nearly half a month of my salary.”

Still grinning, Bai Wei took out the cash. “Here, I knew I should be the one paying. After all, someone once said that good-looking people should be treated to drinks.” He threw An Tianming’s own words right back at him.

An Tianming took the money with zero shame, nodding. “That’s right. I do have a face worth three thousand bucks.”

Bai Wei instinctively glanced at his face.

Honestly, three thousand was an understatement. But there was no way he was saying that out loud. A symbolic compliment was enough.

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Bai Wei said with a smirk. “Next time, I’ll treat you to a five-thousand-dollar drink.”