Chapter 158: I’ll Teach You—Stick With Me From Now On
Under the table, Du Pan nudged Nan Xun with his foot, then coughed lightly.
Nan Xun obediently stood up, carrying his mess kit as he walked over to the man’s territory.
“Lord Yan,” Nan Xun called out.
Yan Luo froze for a moment when he heard the kid address him so properly. “Why the sudden change? Weren’t you calling me ‘bro’ during the morning run?”
Nan Xun pursed his lips. “The bosses said I’m just Lord Yan’s underling, not a buddy. I shouldn’t call you whatever I want—I need to follow the rules.”
Yan Luo snorted and glanced toward Brother Tie’s table.
Brother Tie, Du Pan, and the others immediately straightened up, a chill running over the backs of their necks.
“Call me ‘bro’ from now on. I like hearing it. Xiao Bai, come—sit across from me.” Yan Luo lifted his chin slightly, signaling Nan Xun to sit.
Once Nan Xun sat down, the two of them stared at each other in silence. The quiet cafeteria gradually grew noisy again, until at one point it reached a full din.
Yan Luo studied Nan Xun for a long while. Those dark, deep eyes made Nan Xun feel a little uneasy.
Had he done something to make Lord Yan unhappy?
“Bro,” Nan Xun called again, deliberately softening his tone.
Yan Luo gave him a cool look for a moment, then resumed drinking his rice porridge.
Nan Xun sneaked a glance at him and thought to himself that even the way this man drank porridge and ate pickles was elegant. No matter how you looked at him, he didn’t seem like someone from the underworld. On the contrary, he looked more like a young master raised in an aristocratic household.
“Xiao Bai, do you know what you did wrong?” Yan Luo asked casually, sipping his porridge.
Nan Xun immediately understood and grinned. “Bro, I promised I’d pour tea and run errands for you. I should’ve been the one to get your food too. That’s on me—I forgot today.”
Yan Luo glanced at Nan Xun’s mess kit with a half-smile. “If I waited for you to get my food, I’d have starved to death.”
Nan Xun felt embarrassed—it was obvious his awkward time standing in line had been seen.
“Bro, if I do anything wrong in the future, just tell me straight. I’ll definitely fix it,” Nan Xun said earnestly.
Yan Luo reminded him in a lordly tone, “If you’re going to serve me, stay by my side. Otherwise, when I need you, I won’t be able to find you.”
Hearing this, Nan Xun muttered, “After the morning run, I was looking all over for you, but I didn’t see you.”
“Oh? Feeling wronged now?” Yan Luo suddenly leaned closer, examining him carefully. “Your eyes are even watery.”
Nan Xun subconsciously touched his eyes. “Bro, stop teasing me. I’m a grown man—how could I cry at the drop of a hat?”
Yan Luo chuckled. “Kid, I’m really not teasing you. Your eyes look all moist—like a Xiao Bai rabbit.”
Only then did Nan Xun realize he was being toyed with. Not only was he not angry, he lifted his brows with a smile. “Bro, you don’t get it. I was born with tearful peach-blossom eyes—great for charming women.”
Yan Luo was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. He stretched out his long arm and, even with a table between them, easily reached Nan Xun’s head, giving his soft hair a vigorous rub. He laughed heartily. “Xiao Bai, you little brat—you’re learning bad things.”
Nan Xun had never seen him laugh so openly. Usually Yan Luo only curled his lips, or gave a low chuckle, or wore that inscrutable half-smile. Like this, he seemed less distant—almost like the big brother next door.
Nan Xun tried hard to free his hair from Yan Luo’s big hand and looked at him with grievance. “Bro, can you stop rubbing my head all the time?”
Yan Luo slowly reined in his smile and narrowed his eyes slightly, looking lazy—yet Nan Xun felt that this was when Yan Luo was most dangerous. Like a black panther stalking its prey: elegant and languid before striking, but once it did, it went straight for the throat.
Nan Xun surrendered instantly and changed his tune. “If bro likes it, you can rub my head. Rub it however you want. Back when my grandma was around, I wouldn’t even let her do it.”
At the mention of Su Mobai’s grandmother, Nan Xun’s gaze dimmed.
Yan Luo sensed something and asked, “What’s wrong, Xiao Bai? I was just teasing you—are you upset?”
Nan Xun silently shook his head. “I was sentenced for killing someone by mistake. Originally it should’ve been five or six, maybe seven or eight years. But the Cheng family didn’t want me to have it easy—they got me life imprisonment. When my grandma heard, she got so anxious she passed away. Bro, tell me—who should I settle this score with?”
Yan Luo paused, then reached out again to rub Nan Xun’s head—this time with a hint of indulgent gentleness.
“Get up where you fell. There are plenty of ways to make an enemy wish they were dead—it doesn’t have to be murder. Stick with me from now on. I’ll teach you.”
Yan Luo’s voice was low, carrying a strange power to soothe the heart.
Nan Xun pressed his lips together slightly, a faint curve lifting at the corner of his mouth. He held up his mess kit high as he drank his porridge, covering half his face—and hiding that small smile.
“Thanks, bro. I’m sticking with you from now on,” Nan Xun said indistinctly, his mouth full of porridge.
“I didn’t wait for you after the morning run because you were moving at turtle speed. I don’t like waiting for people—and I never do,” Yan Luo said suddenly, clearly answering Nan Xun’s earlier complaint.
Nan Xun froze for a moment, then his eyes curved into a smile. “Bro, are you explaining yourself to me? I’ll definitely speed up next time—won’t let you wait for me.”
Yan Luo looked at those smiling, dark, gleaming eyes and suddenly handed him one of the white steamed buns from his mess kit. “Eat this.”
Nan Xun stared straight at the big white bun. “Bro, this is for me? That’s really embarrassing…”
He said it was embarrassing, but his body was honest—he took the bun and bit into it.
People said buns had no real flavor, but Nan Xun thought it was especially fragrant, more so with every chew.
Yan Luo hadn’t had much appetite, but watching the kid eat with such gusto somehow stirred his own, and he started eating heartily as well.
He thought: seeing such a clean, innocent kid in prison was rare—almost endearing. Prison life was boring anyway; finding a bit of amusement wasn’t bad. He liked watching the kid scamper around trying to please him.
Normally, people could only get one boiled egg—but Yan Luo was different. The server gave him two.
Yan Luo quickly peeled the egg, revealing the creamy white, tender egg inside, and tossed it straight into Nan Xun’s mess kit.
“Eat more eggs. Get some protein. Maybe your fur will grow back in soon.” Yan Luo said this with a perfectly straight face while being utterly shameless.
Nan Xun nearly spat the porridge all over Yan Luo’s face.
Luckily, his self-control was strong enough to suppress the urge.
After finishing the meal, Nan Xun hurriedly grabbed Yan Luo’s mess kit. “I’ll wash it for you, bro. You rest!”
Yan Luo leaned back slightly, stretching out. One arm draped over the back of the chair beside him, as if it were the armrest of some custom-made luxury sofa. He lazily watched the kid’s cheerful figure run off.
Suddenly, a faint, pleased smile rippled across his lips—only to vanish in the next instant.
