Yore Descry (昔日的描述)

Glimpse 13; A Favour

Jianguo didn't hurriedly enter Haoyu's shop, he stood outside the door to see Haoyu reading a book on his chair behind the cash register, visibly getting droopy.

"Yo, Haoyu."

"Hey, Jianguo." Haoyu greeted him with a smile, closing his book to put it inside the shelf where the cash register sits. "What brings you here?" Haoyu was in a pleasant mood, like flowers were hovering around his head.

"If I ask him about the police car, I have a feeling that he's either going to dodge the question or lie about it..." Jianguo was sceptical, "I have a box for you in my car, my parents just visited and brought us a lot of food and snacks from Beijing." he pointed to his car outside the shop.

"Beijing? I haven't been there before," Haoyu seemed interested.

"I thought so, I brought you all the specialties."

"That's nice of you, and send my thanks to your parents." Haoyu said as Jianguo walked out of the shop, but he was thinking of something else. "He came in less than 3 minutes, there's no way he didn't see Mr. Liu leave."

"Here, my sister also gave you a note inside, telling which ones her favourites."

"Sweet~ Thank you," Haoyu beamed when Jianguo came back with the box, excited to try the treats given to him. Haoyu was about to open the box when a ringtone rang loudly in the shop, overpowering the rackets of the working antique clocks at one section of the room.

"It's Hua-mei..." Jianguo spoke of the name on his smartphone screen, "Damn it, I forgot that we're going to dinner after this."

"With your parents, I assume?" Haoyu smiled pleasantly.

"Do you want to come along?" Jianguo gave a random offer that made Haoyu freeze for a few moments, wondering if he heard that correctly.

"-Huh?"

"You're Xiao Haoyu? Guoguo and Hua told us about you!"

"Is that so?" Haoyu doesn't remember how he ended up sitting down at the restaurant with the Huang family later that night, dressed rather formally when he was supposed to be at home conducting an investigation.

"Oh my gosh, you're so handsome~ Why don't you marry Hua once she graduates?"

"Ma!!" Jianhua shrieked from her mother's joke, while her father laughed.

"You flatter me," Haoyu brushed off the joke with a smile.

"I heard you're really smart, Haoyu, even teaching at the college as a professor's assistant." Mr. Huang said as he placed his hands on the table. "But how come you run an antique shop?"

"The professors there always tell me that I could even be a doctor, but I prefer history and living a low-profile life." Haoyu smiled politely, in his neat but casual clothing that makes him appear the more appealing.

"That's interesting, it would be nice to be a little more ambitious, no?" Mr. Huang smiled, yet it made Haoyu somewhat uncomfortable.

"You're the top of your class again, you're so smart, Yu." It reminded Haoyu of the old days when his grandparents were still alive and healthy, had just received his score sheet for the final exams of his 11th grade. "You scored above 90 for each subject, but scored perfectly for history and science." His grandmother was praising him again and again, pinched his cheek at the end.

"Thanks, Grandma..." Haoyu smiled, both shy and slightly irritated because of his throbbing cheek.

"You could be a doctor with those scores, are you interested in it?" His grandpa asked curiously, whilst his grandson fidgeted with his uniform tie.