HSS Chapter 13
Translated by Novice Translations
Proofread by Yserieh
Chapter 13:First Day Living Together
At the gate of the hospital, Mu Xiaoya took Bai Chuan to say goodbye to her parents.
"Dad, mom, I'm staying at Xiao Chuan's house tonight."
"I see. I'll pack some clothes for you tomorrow." Shen Qingyi nodded.
"No, I'll go back and pack it tomorrow." Mu Xiaoya refused.
"Alright." Shen Qingyi answered, then turned to see Bai Chuan standing beside her daughter and asked, “Xiao Chuan, does your hand still hurt?”
"It doesn't hurt." Bai Chuan was in a good mood at this time and didn’t feel any pain from his hand.
"That's good, in the future ... I'll always come to accompany Xiaoya when I’m free." Shen Qingyi knew that her daughter was now considered a married woman. Just thinking of this, Shen Qingyi’s nose couldn’t help but get a little sour.
"Let’s go, the car is here." Mu Ruozhou reminded his wife.
After saying goodbye to his in-laws, Mu Ruozhou and his wife left by car. Shen Qingyi’s eyes couldn’t help but look back as the car drove far away.
"Don't look. You’ll be back tomorrow." Mu Ruozhou comforted his wife.
"Ruozhou you say our family’s Xiaoya just got married like this?" Shen Qingyi didn't think about this scene where her daughter marries and leaves, but she never thought it would be so unexpected and make them uneasy.
"It's not far. We can see each other at any time." Mu Ruozhou's heart was uncomfortable, but he still wanted to comfort his wife.
"I know, I just don't feel at ease." Shen Qingyi worried. "You say, what do you think about Xiao Chuan? What if he gets sick again in the future, what can Xiaoya do against his great strength?"
“It’s unlikely, mother-in-law said that Xiao Chuan’s sickness rarely outbreaks. Today was a special situation.”
“If it wasn’t… at the hospital just now, I would have really gone back on our approval and not agree to it.” Shen Qingyi was shocked by the appearance of Bai Chuan’s illness onset. She always thought that Bai Chuan wasn’t talkative and didn’t know how to communicate. She never expected that he had the tendency to become violent when his illness onsets.
During the time Bai Chuan was receiving treatment in the hospital, Shen Qingyi was hesitant. She didn’t care about the marriage, but now that she witnessed Bai Chuan’s illness, she regretted it and almost took Mu Xiaoya home at the spot. But in the end, she saw Bai Chuan’s smile.
Shen Qingyi didn't know how to describe that smile. It was a smile that would make anyone soft once they saw it. At that moment, Bai Chuan was full of vitality, like a seedling struggling hard in the spring to grow towards the sun; and her daughter, Xiaoya, was his sun.
Shen Qingyi suddenly felt sad. She quietly looked back at her husband and found that his face was similar to hers. At that time, Bai Chuan’s mother cried. At last, her heart softened and left her daughter to Bai Chuan.
"Don’t worry, the Bai family will take good care of Xiaoya." Mu Ruozhou comforted his wife, but also comforted himself at the same time.
Bai Zheng was driving the car that carried Mu Xiaoya and his brother Bai Chuan. He closed the window to isolate most of the outside noise, then turned on the stereo and played soft piano songs.
This particular song was provided to them by Professor Feng. It is said that it can help people with autism to ease their mood. He and his parents had it prepared to play at home and in every car. When Bai Chuan’s mood was unstable, they would play it for him.
While turning up the volume, Bai Zheng secretly observed the situation behind him from the rearview mirror. Bai Chuan was very quiet. He had reclined on the seat with his eyes closed, as if he had fallen asleep. His body no longer emitted irritability, nor… the lively smile that he revealed earlier.
It’s not that Bai Zheng has never seen Bai Chuan smile before. From his childhood to now, Bai Chuan also had times when he’s happy. Bai Chuan liked to read and purse his lips into a smile, his eyes bright and his ears red. They all like to watch Bai Chuan smile. As long as Bai Chuan smiled, it was as exciting as seeing their company’s performance double in one year. But the smile they just witnessed- they have never seen before.
Did this smile only reveal itself for Mu Xiaoya?
While watching Bai Chuan, Bai Zheng was also watching Mu Xiaoya. Mu Xiaoya was looking out of the window. It seems she was watching the scenery along the way, but she always looked back, every once in a while, to confirm whether Bai Chuan was asleep or awake.
The car quickly returned to the Bai family’s home. Without Bai Zheng’s warning, Mu Xiaoya had already woken up Bai Chuan. They got out of the car, but Bai Guoyu and his wife Li Rong arrived ahead of them and were waiting for them at the gate of the home.
"Uncle Li, this is Xiaoya, Xiao Chuan's wife." Li Rong introduced Mu Xiaoya's identity to the housekeeper.
"I know, I know, the wife of the Second Young Master is good." Uncle Li had heard of Mu Xiaoya since long ago and discovered that, like the rumors, their family’s little Two was really close to her.
“Xiaoya, this is Uncle Li, the housekeeper of the family. You can find him if you need anything in the future.”
"Uncle Li." Mu Xiaoya greeted Uncle Li.
"I don’t dare. Second Miss, if you need anything in the future, just tell me.”
Bai Chuan was just ill, so they needed to rest at this time, so everyone was done with the greetings and entered the house. Li Rong took Mu Xiaoya to the door of Bai Chuan’s bedroom and left after a brief explanation.
When the door closed, only Bai Chuan and Mu Xiaoya were left in the room.
Mu Xiaoya couldn't help but look around Bai Chuan's bedroom. She took Bai Chuan to the bed, pulled back the quilt, and signaled him to lie down and rest.
"I haven’t bathed yet." Bai Chuan turned to look at the bathroom.
‘Bai Chuan wants to take a bath?’ Mu Xiaoya subconsciously glanced at Bai Chuan’s bandaged right hand and said, “Your hand is injured. You can’t touch water.”
Bai Chuan looked down at his right hand and his eyebrows twisted unhappily: “I want to take a bath.”
“…” Still likes to be clean, Mu Xiaoya was speechless. “You probably don’t want me to help you wash, right?”
Bai Chuan was silent for a moment and seemed a little embarrassed.
"You probably don't want me to help you wash." When Mu Xiaoya saw that he was still troubled, she immediately laughed, “Wait, I’ll get Uncle Li to come help you wash.”
"No, I’ll wash myself." Bai Chuan refused immediately without hesitation.
“They said you can’t touch the water.”
"Don't wash ... I can't sleep." Most people with autism will have some obsessive-compulsive disorder. They will have their own inherent rules of life that will not be easily changed or broken. Once changed or broken, they will become anxious.
It was tentative that he really wouldn’t be able to sleep because of this.
"Then you wait. I'll get plastic wrap for you." Mu Xiaoya went out and asked Uncle Li for a roll of plastic wrap. She took it back to the room and wrapped Bai Chuan's injured right hand twice with three layers. It was almost wrapped like a pig’s hoof, so she stopped.
"Okay, go wash. Don't let your right hand touch the water, okay?"
"En." Bai Chuan nodded obediently and turned to take a shower in the bathroom.
Soon came the sound of water from the bathroom and Mu Xiaoya was doing nothing, so she began to explore Bai Chuan’s room. Bai Chuan’s room was minimalistic, except for the necessary furniture; there was almost no decoration. Most of the books in the room were placed in the corner near the balcony. There was a bookshelf about two meters high, which was filled with all kinds of books that Xiaoya has never seen. The thickness of the book caused Mu Xiaoya to be seriously concerned. If the book fell and hit his head, he would immediately have a concussion.
Bai Chuan likes to read. Mu Xiaoya remembers that there was a big study in Grandma Bai’s house. There were many books in it. When she was a child, she didn’t go to the library, instead she went to Grandma Bai’s house to read. But Grandma Bai’s books were world-famous books, so sometimes they were too boring to read. So she would secretly bring comic books and force Bai Chuan to read them together with her and didn’t allow him to read ahead by himself.
The sound of the water stopped, and Mu Xiaoya knew that Bai Chuan was almost done. Sure enough, after a while, Bai Chuan exit the bathroom in his pajamas. He had wet hair on his head. The first thing he did was raise his right hand to Mu Xiaoya, who stood on the balcony, “Not wet.”
Mu Xiaoya looked at the hand which became a pig’s hoof because of her and felt embarrassed.
"Sit down, I’ll untie it for you." Mu Xiaoya asked Bai Chuan to sit down, then went to the bathroom and took out a dry towel. Then directly dried Bai Chuan’s wet head until it was half dry. Afterwards, she bowed her head to remove the plastic wrap from Bai Chuan’s hand. After removing the plastic wrap, Mu Xiaoya went to find a hair dryer to help Bai Chuan thoroughly dry his half-dried hair.
During this period, Bai Chuan sat quietly allowing Mu Xiaoya’s actions, and it seemed he didn’t even blink.
"Well, you go to bed. I'll take a shower."
Mu Xiaoya asked Bai Chuan to go to bed, then she went to the bathroom to take a shower. Suddenly, she realized she didn’t bring a set of clothes, so she had to temporarily take a T-shirt from Bai Chuan’s wardrobe and change into it. When she got out of the bathroom, she found that Bai Chuan, who should have been resting, was still sitting at the head of the bed. His two big dazzling eyes were staring at her, without a hint of sleepiness at all.
"Why don't you sleep?" Mu Xiaoya asked strangely.
"Waiting for you," Bai Chuan replied.
Mu Xiaoya was stunned at first, then suddenly smiled. She went to the bedside, pulled open the quilt and sat beside Bai Chuan. In this series of movements, Mu Xiaoya didn’t feel unnatural or uncomfortable at all. She was now a wife and didn’t have the consciousness of sharing a bed with her husband for the first time.
"Well, I'm back, can you sleep now?" Mu Xiaoya coaxed Bai Chuan like he was a child.
Yes, in Mu Xiaoya’s eyes, Bai Chuan is a child, and she treats him as a child. So even if the two shared the same bed at this time, they didn’t have the slightest desire.
"Does it still hurt?" Bai Chuan suddenly asked.
"What?"
"Where I pushed you." Bai Chuan looked at Mu Xiaoya's waist.
"Oh, it doesn't hurt." Mu Xiaoya smiled suddenly.
Bai Chuan thought about it and suddenly reached out to lift Mu Xiaoya's T-shirt.
"What are you doing?" Mu Xiaoya was startled, and quickly reached out to stop his hand that caught the hem of her T-shirt and nearly jumped out of her underwear.
"I want to see."
"No, it's okay, it doesn't hurt at all." Mu Xiaoya tried to persuade him, but she forgot the persistence of people with autism.
Bai Chuan saw Mu Xiaoya disagree. He didn't forcibly lift Mu Xiaoya's clothes but didn't let go. He kept this action and stared at Mu Xiaoya with a pair of wet eyes like a deer. The eyes were determined, as if Mu Xiaoya didn’t let him see it then no one would be able to sleep tonight.
"..." Mu Xiaoya immediately wanted to cry. How exactly did she read so much information from Bai Chuan’s eyes?
"You ... must see?" No, she didn't believe it so she asked.
Bai Chuan nodded.
"Don’t look, okay?" Mu Xiaoya wanted to persuade him.
Bai Chuan continued to stare straight at her.
OK, you win!
Mu Xiaoya gritted her teeth, didn't he just want to look? Anyway, they were both husband and wife. It didn’t matter if he looked. Besides, Bai Chuan didn’t understand anything. He just cared about her injuries and won’t think about it.
Thinking about it this way, Mu Xiaoya released the hand that held Bai Chuan’s arm, turned around, and took the initiative to show Bai Chuan her back.
Mu Xiaoya was on her side and couldn’t see Bai Chuan’s expression. She just felt her clothes get rolled up little by little, probably to the area where she was injured. Then, there were two slightly hot fingers that gently pressed her waist and gently stroked her.
Mu Xiaoya had never been touched on her lower back like this. She felt agitated and a numbness that rushed up from her tailbone, causing her to tremble a little.
"Am I hurting you?" Bai Chuan's breath sprayed the side of Mu Xiaoya’s face. The strong masculine breath instantly caused her cheeks to flush.
Ba-dump. Her face quickly changed.
Bai Chuan didn't think much about it. Something must be wrong with her.