I Only Want You chapter 1

In May, Yan Lan secured a valuable part-time job—teaching art to a child twice a week. He taught sketching, watercolor painting, and various art techniques, receiving a generous reward that was five times the usual part-time pay.

However, this part-time job came with a unique requirement: proficiency in sign language. This requirement successfully deterred 99% of the competition. As a natural mute, Yan Lan even held a sign language certification at the teacher level.

With this significant advantage and his current status as a graduate student in the art academy, Yan Lan smoothly passed the demanding interview. He became the art teacher for Xie Lingying, a deaf-mute child.

Xie Lingying, nicknamed Tiantian, was only nine years old, a mixed-race child with blue eyes, a high nose, and chestnut-colored hair that naturally curled. He looked delicate, like a crystal doll.

Despite Tiantian’s young age, his temperament was already cold, resembling a miniature refrigerator.

Yan Lan had been teaching him for almost two months, during which he never saw any expression on Tiantian’s face other than indifference. It seemed like he could remain cool and calm forever without any fluctuations.

Coincidentally, Yan Lan’s temperament was also cold. When the teacher and student sat in the art studio, the atmosphere felt frosty enough to produce ice. Even the aunt who brought them a fruit tray couldn’t smile without feeling awkward.

Quietly sitting on the art stool, Yan Lan watched as Tiantian used a palette in one hand and a brush in the other, absentmindedly doodling on the canvas, creating a strange mess.

After fifteen minutes, Tiantian finally decided to stop his chaotic drawing. He placed the palette and brush on a small table beside him and turned his body to face Yan Lan.

Yan Lan, maintaining a calm gaze, gestured in sign language, “You’re not in a good mood.”

Tiantian showed no immediate reaction, just blinked his eyes slowly.

Yan Lan probably guessed the reason for his bad mood, but still asked, “Why? You can tell me.”

After a while, Tiantian finally moved his hands. Perhaps due to his unhappy mood, his sign language movements were quite sloppy: “He’s coming back.”

Even though Yan Lan had a premonition, he was still slightly surprised. Nevertheless, he consoled him, “He’s your uncle, and this is his home. He will come back.”

Tiantian: “I know, but I don’t want him to come home.”

Yan Lan had long noticed Tiantian’s dislike, or even disgust, towards his uncle, Xie Yun Zhi.

Tiantian strongly disliked his uncle. Although he rarely showed any emotions or fluctuations in his usual demeanor, whenever his uncle was mentioned, he would appear unsettled.

In simple terms, if Tiantian felt upset ten times, all ten times were related to his uncle.

In the nearly two months since Yan Lan started teaching, there were two occasions where Tiantian’s bad mood was caused by Xie Yun Zhi. One was when his uncle called to inquire about his situation, and the other was when, for Children’s Day, Xie Yun Zhi, who was abroad, had his assistant send a gift to Tiantian—a very delicate botanical house, about the size of a coffee table.

At that time, Tiantian had taken all the mini potted plants out of the botanical house, poured the soil and seedlings into the garden flower bed, and then slammed the small flower pots onto the ground. He refused to attend the art class that day, turned away, and retreated to his room.

Yan Lan’s salary was based on hourly teaching, so missing one class meant losing a considerable amount of money. Moreover, his boss, Xie Yun Zhi, did not mention that Tiantian could skip the art class on Children’s Day. Getting angry and hiding would be of no use.

That day, it was thanks to the aunt finding the spare key to Tiantian’s room that Yan Lan could bring charcoal and drawing books to give him a sketch class. Tiantian was the same as now, holding a pen and absentmindedly doodling on the paper, behaving indifferently during the class.

Yan Lan didn’t know much about the affairs of the Xie family. His job was to teach Tiantian art, so that’s all he knew. Therefore, when Tiantian expressed his displeasure about his uncle’s return using sign language, Yan Lan took down the messy drawing paper and replaced it with a new one, assigning a new homework assignment.

Tiantian cooperated and began another round of chaotic doodling with the palette and brush.

The two-hour art class ended this way, and Tiantian didn’t even submit a decent piece of homework.

Yan Lan had to assign him a new task, and he would check it during the next class.

Tiantian ignored him, lowered his head to play with the palette, mixing the colors together. He didn’t even want to look at Yan Lan’s farewell sign language gesture.

After class, Yan Lan never stayed longer. After packing his things, he was ready to leave. The aunt came out of the kitchen, holding an apple and a mango.

“Teacher Yan, take these fruits with you.”

Yan Lan shook his head in refusal, making a gesture of thanks.

The aunt looked helpless, “Today, Tiantian must have troubled you, but he didn’t mean it. Teacher, please don’t be mad at him.”

Yan Lan was also helpless. “I’m not angry.”

He had always had a cold face, coupled with his somewhat indifferent nature, which easily led to misunderstandings. People thought he was unhappy, even when he wasn’t.

When the aunt brought them the fruit tray, she thought Tiantian’s disobedience had upset him. However, in reality, he just had a very ordinary expression, not one of anger.

As the aunt’s job was to take care of Tiantian, she knew sign language. Seeing Yan Lan express that he wasn’t angry, she still found it hard to believe.

Yan Lan didn’t know how else to explain, so he simply didn’t. He made a farewell sign language gesture and was about to leave. However, before he reached the entrance, someone pushed open the front door from the outside.

A handsome man in a suit, wearing shiny leather shoes, walked in. Following him was another man also in a suit.

As soon as the two entered, a chilly atmosphere accompanied them, especially the leading man. He appeared quite young but exuded a powerful aura. His deep and sharp eyebrows conveyed a sense of authority, making him seem highly aggressive at first glance.

Perhaps not expecting to encounter a stranger upon returning home, Yan Lan saw Xie Yun Zhi frown slightly at their first eye contact, but he quickly relaxed.

“Are you Tiantian’s art teacher?”

Yan Lan nodded, somewhat surprised that Xie Yun Zhi still remembered him.

After successfully passing the interview, Yan Lan had his first class with Xie Yun Zhi on the day he was accepted. Xie Yun Zhi was quite satisfied with him at that time, thinking that he had a professional image and was overall suitable. Most importantly, Yan Lan’s temperament was cold and serious enough to handle Tiantian.

“Is class over, teacher? Why don’t you stay for a meal before leaving?”

Yan Lan shook his head, gesturing that there were still matters at school, making it inconvenient to stay.

Understanding sign language himself, Xie Yun Zhi had hired a sign language teacher two years ago to help Tiantian after his parents died in a car accident. Thus, his sign language proficiency was not low.

Seeing that Yan Lan needed to return to school, Xie Yun Zhi nodded without insisting. “How did you come here? I’ll have the driver take you back.”

Yan Lan declined, shaking his head: “I’ll ride a shared bike, it’s convenient.”

Then he nodded politely to Xie Yun Zhi and the person behind him, turned and left.

Xie Yun Zhi stood in the entrance, looking back at Yan Lan’s departing figure, and asked his secretary with confusion, “Is he angry?”

“It seems like he’s a bit… but also not really…”

Xie Yun Zhi didn’t pay much attention and, after entering the house and changing shoes, asked the aunt about Tiantian’s situation.

The aunt was protective, dearly loving Tiantian. She didn’t tell Xie Yun Zhi about Tiantian not taking art classes seriously and casually mentioned two small matters.

Xie Yun Zhi didn’t have any special reaction after hearing them. He nodded and led his secretary upstairs to the study.

The aunt stood downstairs, watching Xie Yun Zhi, who had finally returned home, not showing any intention to go check on Tiantian. She felt sorry for Tiantian but couldn’t do anything.

With Tiantian’s rejection, Xie Yun Zhi’s better treatment only intensified.

On the other side, Yan Lan, who was already far from the Xie family, passed by at least two rows of shared bikes. However, it seemed like he didn’t see them at all. He walked with his head down on the quiet sidewalk, displaying a cold and indifferent expression, warning people to stay away.

Almost every passerby couldn’t help but turn their heads to look at him, wondering why such a good-looking person had a facial expression as if God owed him five million.

Normally, Yan Lan’s expressionless face might just be genuinely expressionless. But at this moment, there was indeed some dissatisfaction with himself in his heart.

He couldn’t understand why, after finally getting a chance to meet Xie Yun Zhi, he didn’t even show a smile. He was so cold that he shouldn’t be surprised even if he got fired tomorrow.

Who else dared to have such an attitude toward the boss in this world?!

With half of his inner self already breaking down, his expression became even colder, and the invisible chill, filled with resentment, made his flawless features appear more distant.

Back in the dormitory, his roommates were subdued by his overwhelming aura of resentment.

“Momo, Momo, what’s… What did you encounter that’s so unclean?”

Yan Lan lifted his eyelids slightly and looked at his flamboyantly dressed roommate with a puzzled expression.

Although Yang Xiaole usually dressed flamboyantly when going out, that day he seemed overly glamorous.

His face, adorned with delicate makeup, made it impossible to discern if it belonged to a man or woman. Wearing a silver strapless dress that exuded sexiness, aside from a flat chest, his height of around 1.7 meters combined with his slender waist, made it difficult for anyone to realize he was a genuine man, especially with the addition of a wig.

“How is it? Do I look good?” Yang Xiaole twirled around while giving Yan Lan a seductive look. He wasn’t afraid of Yan Lan’s cold face. Approaching with a pleasant fragrance of perfume, he pressed against Yan Lan, his two slender arms circling Yan Lan’s neck. Tilted his face slightly, he exhaled fragrantly, “Momo, do I look good?”

Yan Lan nodded and gently pushed away the person clinging to him.

Pouting, Yang Xiaole showed him his lipstick, “How about this? Is this color fabulous?”

Knowing that the more attention he paid, the more persistent Yang Xiaole would be, Yan Lan turned his head back to his computer.

With high heels, Yang Xiaole approached him, “Momo, why do you seem to be in a bad mood?”

Yan Lan shook his head.

“Although I don’t understand sign language, you can write it down!”

Yan Lan still shook his head.

Yang Xiaole could only give up, turning back to the mirror to admire himself, “Momo, my honey cheated on me.”

Yan Lan heard this, and the typing of his keyboard paused. He turned to look at him.

Yang Xiaole picked up a notebook from the side and wore a wig. Carefully adjusting it, he said, “Yesterday, I saw him hugging another woman while shopping at Venus Jewelry. Is it true that real women are better?”

Seeing this, Yan Lan picked up a pen and wrote down a few words on a page that he hadn’t finished writing. He got up and brought it to Yang Xiaole to show him.

In a slender, vigorous style, it read: “Don’t be sad, a man who cheats is not worth it.”

Yang Xiaole proudly raised his delicate chin, and his finely drawn eyebrows raised, “I’m not sad. It’s just a man. If this one doesn’t work, I’ll change until I’m satisfied. There’s a perfect opportunity tonight.”

Hearing this, Yan Lan picked up the pen and wrote another line on the paper: “What perfect opportunity?”

“Tonight, there’s a birthday party for the film queen Yao Jinni at the Capespin Hotel. She booked the entire top floor of the hotel, and I heard that A-listers from the entertainment industry and well-known figures from the business world will attend, including the renowned figure, Xie Yun Zhi. I want to sneak in and see if I can have a romantic encounter or something.”

Yan Lan, immersed in writing: Is it possible to sneak in?!

“I’ll just give it a try! If I can’t get in, so be it.”

Yan Lan was very worried: What if you get caught?

“If I get caught, I’ll just say I’m a fan of someone, whoever, and wanted to sneak in to see the idol. Anyway, those fans who received invitations to the film queen’s birthday party have already surrounded the Capespin Hotel. Magazine reporters are there in a bunch, ready to capture exclusive footage of Yao Jinni and the business tycoon Xie Yun Zhi.”

Yan Lan, hearing this, was taken aback for a moment, paused, and then lowered his head to write: Xie Yun Zhi is also going?

“Yeah, isn’t he rumored to be the film queen’s boyfriend? Look, Yao Jinni is already endorsing Venus Jewelry. I think they’re probably a real couple.”

A faint trace of melancholy flashed in Yan Lan’s eyes. This time, the speed of his writing slowed slightly, but Yang Xiaole didn’t notice.

Yan Lan: Why do you say they’re probably a real couple? Isn’t Xie Yun Zhi very busy with work?

Yang Xiaole shook his head, “I don’t know either. Everyone’s saying that. Didn’t they have a suspected date on the streets of Paris, which caused quite a stir? And at that time, neither of them came out to clarify. It must be true~ Talented and beautiful, quite a matching pair.”

After hearing this, Yan Lan nodded lightly and closed his notebook.