Chapter 5: Saving the Autistic Boy 05

In the room, Ji Yan curled up on the bed, taking out the things from the wooden box one by one; each thing represented a memory of him and his mother.

Fortunately, the Ji family didn't care at all about these worthless items, so he could still, after so many years, regain these beautiful memories.

He spread these things across the bed, like a small stall holding the world's most beautiful objects, a dazzling array.

The paper cranes folded with his mother, the handmade dolls they completed together, the felt toys his mother made, the scarf he wore as a child—every little bit.

Ji Yan gathered these things into his arms, gently closed his eyes, as if his mother were still beside him.

After a long while, a low sobbing sound came from the room.

Uncle Liu, who was about to bring the bird's nest and silver ear soup inside, heard it; his knocking motion paused, he thought for a moment, then turned back and returned to the study.

Half an hour later, Jin Chen knocked on the door.

Ji Yan, I'm coming in.

Inside there was no sound at all; even the sobbing Uncle Liu had just mentioned had disappeared.

Jin Chen's heart tightened suddenly, and he directly twisted open the door.

The boy held a pile of things in his arms, leaning against the head of the bed, holding a paper crane in his hand, his eyes empty and desolate.

As if sensing someone entering, Ji Yan merely glanced at Jin Chen, his eyes showing no emotion, as if he had not yet come to his senses.

Huh...

Jin Chen sighed, and a feeling he had never experienced before welled up in his heart.

Having entered the instance only two days ago, the mission target could easily control his emotions—this is not a good omen.

But whenever he saw Ji Yan unhappy, he felt as if he shared the feeling, strangely enough, yet he could not control it.

He set aside his thoughts, sat beside Ji Yan, and asked, "Is this paper crane folded by your mother?"

Ji Yan finally showed a slight reaction; he tightened his grip on the paper crane, nodded slightly, then shook his head.

Jin Chen, however, understood his meaning: "Did you fold this together with your mother?"

The boy's eyes brightened, as if he hadn't expected Jin Chen to understand his meaning.

"I still don't know how to fold paper cranes," Jin Chen said, softening his tone to the utmost gentleness, "Will you teach me?"

Then he saw the boy's eyes shine even brighter, after which he restrained himself, pressing his lips together to hide the smile at the corners of his mouth.

"... Okay."

Ji Yan arranged the things in his arms, then looked up at the man... No, paper.

"Yes." Jin Chen ruffled the boy's tousled hair, as if performing a magic trick, and pulled out a stack of multicolored folding paper from his pocket.

【……】 0731 took a terrified deep breath in the system space.

It had just seen clearly that the folding paper had appeared out of thin air!

Host! How many more surprises do you have that I don't know about!

Ji Yan took the folding paper, his almond eyes shining brightly, his delicate face gaining vitality.

He selected a blue sheet, folded it in half twice, then stopped moving, staring at Jin Chen without blinking.

Jin Chen found the boy's appearance utterly adorable, a low chuckle escaping his throat; he also picked a blue sheet and began to fold it in imitation.

Making this paper crane took only a few minutes; soon, two blue paper cranes appeared on the bed, leaning against the original pink one.

"Look, the paper cranes aren't lonely anymore."

Jin Chen watched the boy staring intently; the two blue paper cranes leaning on each other, he suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, Ji Yan's eyes shifted, and he earnestly lifted his gaze to Jin Chen.

This time, the boy stared for a long, long time, as if he wanted to engrave Jin Chen's appearance in his heart.

Jin Chen had a pair of so-called peach-blossom eyes that expressed emotion toward anyone, with relatively long eye shape and deep pupils.

When not smiling, they resembled a unfurled peach blossom petal—clear, aloof, inherently noble; when smiling, they instantly seemed to hold feeling, like a crescent moon in the sky.

At this moment, Ji Yan was being looked at by him with a smile; his cheeks quickly turned slightly red, he lowered his head, feeling somewhat at a loss.

【Detected Villain Blackening Value -5, detected emotional fluctuation of the villain toward the host, triggering Heartbeat Value, Heartbeat Value +20】

【Heartbeat Value? Isn't this just favorability?】 Jin Chen and Ji Yan tidied up the things on the bed together, asking 0731 in their minds.

【Humans can have favorability toward many people, but within a specific period of time, they only feel heartbeats for one person.】

0731 rolled around in the space, sweetened by their interaction.

As expected, even a big shot entering the Rescue Department will have pink bubbles!

So sweet it kills the system!

Many items had been collected by Ji Yan into the bedside cabinet, only three paper cranes placed on the desktop, leaning affectionately against each other.

"Your mood is better now, right?"

Jin Chen asked with a smile.

Ji Yan nodded slightly, his eyelashes trembling.

"Then let's eat something; from getting up until now you haven't eaten anything, and you're not afraid of ruining your stomach from hunger."

Jin Chen brought over the bird's nest and silver ear soup that had been placed on the cabinet by the door earlier, felt the temperature of the bowl with the back of his hand; it was still warm.

Ji Yan took the bowl and sipped it slowly.

He ate quietly, but did not tell Jin Chen that in the Ji family he had already developed a serious stomach ailment from starvation at age fifteen.

Later, he felt that whether he ate or not didn't matter anyway, since no one cared.

But now...

Ji Yan looked up at Jin Chen again; he seemed to like his obedient appearance.

Better not make him unhappy.

Ji Yan drank a little over half a bowl, but Jin Chen didn't let him continue; he took the bowl away, pretending not to see the boy's resentful gaze.

"We'll have lunch later; for now just fill your stomach a bit. If you still want to drink, let the kitchen make some more at noon."

The boy heard this, and suddenly reached out to pinch the corner of Jin Chen's clothes, "Anything, everything?"

"Anything is fine, what else do you want to eat?"

"... Pudding." Ji Yan looked at him expectantly, the hope in his eyes impossible to ignore.

"Of course." Jin Chen couldn't resist, pinching his cheek, the feeling soft and smooth, rather like pudding.

"But you can only have it four times a week; I'll have the kitchen note that, too much sweet is bad."

"... Okay."

Ji Yan happily agreed, the joy in his almond eyes barely concealable; for a moment, not a trace of his former gloomy, introverted self could be seen.

Without a doubt, Jin Chen had already begun guiding him, slowly developing in a better direction.

Knock knock knock—

A soft call came from the door: it was Aunt Liu, the nanny.

"Sir, lunch is ready."

"Right away." Jin Chen responded, handing the remaining silver ear soup to Aunt Liu, and saw the smile on her wrinkled face.

That relieved expression was just like Uncle Liu's.

It seems the only one clueless in this household is the original owner.

He helplessly shook his head and reached out his hand to Ji Yan.

"Let's go, let's eat at the restaurant."

But Ji Yan didn't move.

"Sir, Young Master Yan's meals can only be delivered to his room."

"Who said that?" Jin Chen wondered, why not have lunch at the restaurant.

"... You said so." Aunt Liu hesitated in replying, "When Young Master Yan first arrived, you said that seeing whether he wanted to eat or not made you lose your appetite."

Jin Chen: "..."

Is the original owner sick? If he has no appetite, he should go see a doctor; why blame others?