Moonlight Left Behind chapter 16

Although Qin Yue didn’t want to be fed like a pig, the two of them still went to a nearby Hong Kong-style restaurant to eat. Qin Yue had a good appetite, finishing half a plate of fried rice noodles and two custard buns, while Lin Qinzhou took care of clearing the leftover food.

“Do you want to try a chicken foot? This one is pretty good.” Lin Qinzhou asked while holding one in his mouth, looking at Qin Yue with hopeful eyes.

Though the refusal was already on the tip of his tongue, it didn’t come out. Qin Yue nodded, put on disposable gloves, and picked one.

Lin Qinzhou seemed to notice this, teasing him with a smile: “What’s the matter, Boss Qin? You are good-looking, so you have to pick pretty chicken feet to eat?”

Qin Yue forced a laugh from his throat: “Yeah, I’m afraid to eat the oddly shaped ones.”

Lin Qinzhou didn’t take his words seriously, laughing as he gnawed on the chicken foot. Meanwhile, Qin Yue had already restrained his smile, unsure of how to approach the chicken foot in his hand.

“What’s wrong? Is this one not good-looking enough? I think it’s quite well-formed. Look at these claws, these tendons, and this cartilage; it must have been the most beautiful one in the chicken coop before it died.” Lin Qinzhou said earnestly.

Qin Yue’s gaze was somewhat complicated, and after a long pause, he helplessly replied, “Mr. Lin, are all you teachers this humorous?”

“Ahem…” Lin Qinzhou also found it strange; he didn’t usually act like this. Tang Jingyu always said he could be too serious at times. But in front of this person, he somehow seemed to become someone else.

“Yeah, we teachers are all this funny and humorous. Do you have any objections Boss Qin?”

Qin Yue didn’t dare to voice his opinions; he bit his nails with a pained expression, his brows knitted tightly together, but his mouth remained shut, only slightly clenched.

Lin Qinzhou suddenly felt a sense of familiarity with this scene, a vague discomfort settling in his chest as he unconsciously grabbed Qin Yue’s wrist: “What’s wrong? Are you not used to it? Then don’t force it, hurry up and spit it out.”

Qin Yue didn’t spit it out; he swallowed the bones whole and slowly started nibbling on another few claws, looking much more at ease than before.

“It’s nothing; I was chased by a chicken when I was a child, so I have a bit of a shadow from that.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know…”

“What’s there to apologize for?” Qin Yue chuckled, “It’s just that I was a bit unaccustomed when I first faced it, but it’s actually quite delicious.”

“Does it hurt?” Lin Qinzhou suddenly asked.

“Hm?”

“Did it hurt when the chicken pecked you?”

Qin Yue had his head down but lifted it slightly at this moment and softly replied, “It hurt.”

Lin Qinzhou didn’t expect such a prompt acknowledgment from him and was momentarily at a loss for words. The fragments of bone pressed against his tongue, making it hard to swallow. He felt like vomiting, but it wasn’t appropriate, so he could only continue to hold it.

“Look here.” Qin Yue suddenly leaned closer, getting right in front of him, causing Lin Qinzhou to hold his breath, “What… what are you doing?”

At this close distance, the small black mole on Qin Yue’s face resembled a deep abyss, as if it would swallow Lin Qinzhou whole. He told himself not to look, not to stare, but his eyes were out of his control.

“Hmm?” Qin Yue squinted his eyes, appearing a bit curious and puzzled, “Mr. Lin, what are you nervous about? I just wanted you to see the scar on my face.”

He didn’t move back, instead lifting his hand to point at the corner of his left eye, looking at Lin Qinzhou with a half-smile: “Here, I got pecked by a chicken before. I almost went blind.”

It was then that Lin Qinzhou noticed the very shallow scar at the corner of his left eye, about half the size of a pinky fingernail, very close to the eye—just a bit more and it would have injured the eyeball.

“Does it hurt?” he asked again, instinctively reaching to touch it, but Qin Yue turned his face away at that moment, pulling back his body while saying in a very calm tone, “It hurt a lot before, but it doesn’t hurt now.”

Lin Qinzhou’s fingers reached for nothing, unable to describe his current feelings. A vague memory flashed through his mind: a wooden staircase, two boys sitting side by side, a light red scar at the corner of an eye…

Suddenly, his head throbbed painfully, and in an instant, his face turned pale, his palms clammy with cold sweat, his body swaying unsteadily. Qin Yue’s anxious voice seemed to come from far away, blurry and indistinct: “Mr. Lin—Mr. Lin—Lin Qinzhou!”

Lin Qinzhou was all too familiar with this situation. He knew exactly how to calm himself down at this moment, gripping his palms tightly and taking several slow, deep breaths.

“I… I’m fine.”

Qin Yue held tightly onto his shoulder, his brows furrowed, seemingly not believing his words at all.

“I really am fine; I just accidentally choked a bit,” Lin Qinzhou said.

That was truly a clumsy lie; as long as Qin Yue wasn’t an idiot, he would definitely not believe it. So Qin Yue’s brows knitted even tighter, and his beautifully shaped, narrow eyes brimmed with obvious anger, making Lin Qinzhou instinctively look away.

After a while, the hand gripping his shoulder suddenly loosened, and Qin Yue leaned back to his own seat, falling silent.

Due to this unexpected little incident, the atmosphere during the latter half of the meal was quite gloomy. Qin Yue seemed to be angry; no matter how Lin Qinzhou tried to joke around and lighten the mood, he wouldn’t even spare him a glance, as if Lin Qinzhou was a transparent person with no presence at all. After finishing the meal, he wheeled himself toward the guesthouse.

He didn’t want to play tour guide for Lin Qinzhou anymore.

Lin Qinzhou felt incredibly frustrated. His condition had to flare up at such a time, when he was with Qin Yue—what terrible timing.

However, that day’s bad luck didn’t end there. Upon returning to the guest house, Lin Qinzhou was further disheartened—earlier in the morning, they had talked about how Qin Yue had admirers lining up all the way from the guest house door to the ferry terminal, and on the same day, Lin Qinzhou happened to bump into one.

“…I’m telling you, Xiao Yao, don’t be ungrateful. I’m here to find your boss, not you. Why do you keep blocking my way like a Buddha? Do you like me, or do you also like your boss?”

“You—are you crazy? I would never like you! That’s ridiculous; you should take a good look at yourself in the mirror and stop being so full of yourself!”

“Well, why are you always blocking me? I don’t care; I have to see Qin Ge today!”

From a distance, Lin Qinzhou could hear shouting in the small courtyard, including Xiao Yao’s voice and a strange male voice. The two were raising their voices without holding back, so Lin Qinzhou had already heard their conversation clearly, and his heart immediately sounded alarm bells.

Even though he was somewhat mentally prepared, he was still shocked when he really saw the courtyard filled with red roses.

He instinctively glanced at the person next to him, whose expression was calm and unreadable.

“Boss! You’re finally back!” Xiao Yao was standing on the platform of the three stone steps connecting the courtyard and the lobby, hands on her hips, facing the entrance. As soon as Qin Yue walked in, she quickly spotted him, “Lin Cong, that fool, is back again!”

The young man named Lin Cong also heard the commotion. When he turned around and his gaze landed on Qin Yue, his eyes lit up instantly: “Qin Ge, you really weren’t home!”

This guy looked quite young, about the same age as Xiao Yao, and was much taller than Lin Qinzhou, a whole head taller. Upon seeing Qin Yue, it seemed like there was no one else in his eyes; he kept circling around Qin Yue, flattering him extravagantly:

“Qin Ge, you didn’t like the white roses last time, so this time I brought red roses. Every single one is carefully chosen by me; do you like them? If not, that’s fine, I can bring different ones next time.”

“And I heard you recently enjoy listening to the guitar, so I specially found a teacher to learn, and I’ll play for you!”

Lin Qinzhou had long noticed that the young man was carrying a wooden guitar. Initially, he thought it was a sign of a literary youth, but it turned out to serve this purpose.

However, this person’s skill really left much to be desired; he strummed the guitar chaotically and sang out of tune, yet he had no self-awareness and sang passionately to Qin Yue.

Xiao Yao looked extremely disdainful, hiding to the side while covering her ears and rolling her eyes. Lin Qinzhou walked over and pretended not to care, asking, “Who is this person? Does he do this often?”

“Of course! This idiot’s family runs a flower shop, the one on the west side called ‘Encounter,’ our island’s largest flower shop. They never lack flowers at home, so he comes here every now and then to deliver flowers to the boss.”

Lin Qinzhou knew that flower shop. When he and Qin Yue came back, they had passed by it, and a big bucket of stunning red roses had been placed at the entrance. Lin Qinzhou had been tempted and wanted to buy one. Unexpectedly…

“Does Boss Qin have no objections, letting him act like this?”

His tone was filled with jealousy, and the sourness in his heart could probably sustain the entire Coral Island.