Pastoral Daily Life

That night, Yan Yue had insomnia again. It seemed that after he returned to Zhongjing, he never slept well. Holding back the urge to rush back to Fengcheng overnight, Yan Yue casually took a book from his luggage, intending to use it to pass the time.

Between the pages, a note with a picture of Dahei stealing a tomato showed up. Yan Yue’s eyes fell on the note and he couldn’t help but smile faintly. He remembered this note, which he had taken away from Xiao Xi’s house when he first went there for dinner. At that time, he had been jealous of Dahei being drawn, imagining that one day Dahei on the drawing would be replaced by him.

As the thought flashed through his mind, Yan Yue smiled and flipped the note over, only to be slightly stunned when he saw the back of the note. He didn’t know when two little people appeared on the back of the note, one tall and one short, standing hand in hand together. Although the figures looked cartoonish, he immediately recognised that one of them was himself and the other was Lu Lingxi. Yan Yue’s heart suddenly raced; the corners of his mouth turned up and the smile was impossible to suppress. He didn’t know when Lu Lingxi had found this note and when he had drawn these two little people, but the happiness Yan Yue felt at this moment made him unable to resist the urge to see Lu Lingxi as soon as possible. Yan Yue touched the little people on the paper reverently and changed his mind, intending to rush back to Fengcheng overnight.

An Jie had long been accustomed to his boss’s crazy behaviour and packed his bags in one go. In fact, he and Ye Kang had made a private bet on whether Yan Yue could hold out until the fourth day of the first month before returning to Zhongjing. Now it seemed that he had won, and Ye Kang would have to pay.

“Should we let Xiao Xi know?” An Jie asked.

“No need.”

Yan Yue shook his head. It was almost twelve o’clock now, and it would be after midnight when they got back. If Xiao Xi knew he was rushing back all night, he might hold back from sleeping and wait for him. Yan Yue didn’t want to torment Lu Lingxi, so it was better to forget about it.

There were not many people on the high-speed train at night, and the journey was very smooth. By the time they saw the Fengcheng station, it wasn’t yet two o’clock in the morning. Yan Yue was in a good mood all the way, holding the book from before and looking at the note inside for a long time. He didn’t know how to describe his mood at the moment; he was so happy he was about to explode. Yan Yue knew in his heart that his methods of getting him and Xiao Xi together were not very honourable; to be more precise, he had snatched Lu Lingxi without the young man knowing anything. He had imagined how Lu Lingxi would look back on their time together when he grew up and had his own understanding of the world, but didn’t dare to think about it… until the two little people on the back of the note told him the answer.

Yan Yue looked at the note and smiled faintly.

Hongfu Community

Lu Lingxi didn’t know that Yan Yue was about to come back and was sleeping soundly under the quilt. When Dahei closed his eyes and huddled beside Lu Lingxi, he heard a soft noise on the ground, which seemed to be the sound of Xiaohei wagging his tail. Dahei’s ears twitched, he opened his eyes and stood up suddenly.

On the floor of the bedroom, Xiaohei excitedly showed his tongue at Dahei, his tail curled around a small snake with red stripes. Dahei squinted his eyes and jumped out of the bed lightly, holding the little red snake with one paw and opening his mouth to bite it. Xiaohei in a hurry stopped Dahei from biting and hissed at Dahei.

“What’s the matter?” The movement of the two awakened Lu Lingxi. Lu Lingxi rubbed his eyes and sat up, turned on the light and looked at the floor in a daze.

Xiaohei eagerly showed his tongue at Lu Lingxi, and his tail curled around the little red snake vigorously, trying to pull it out from under Dahei’s paw and push it towards Lu Lingxi.

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Lu Lingxi looked at it blankly, wondering where Xiaohei had found such a snake and what did he mean pushing it in front of him? “…Xiaohei, are you going to give it to me? “Lu Lingxi guessed hesitatingly.

Xiaohei waved his tail quickly; obviously Lu Lingxi guessed his meaning correctly.

Lu Lingxi had a bit of a headache; what did he need a snake for in the middle of the night? And this little red snake might also be a poisonous snake. After thinking about it, Lu Lingxi patiently said to Xiaohei, “I don’t need this snake, Xiaohei, can you send it back to its original place?”

Xiaohei spun around on the floor twice, seeming aggrieved, left the little red snake behind and crawled out. The little red snake moved its body and tried to run, but Dahei held it down with his paw. In a short while, Xiaohei crawled in with half a piece of cake left over from the evening’s meal, pushed the cake in front of Lu Lingxi and pushed the little red snake in front of Lu Lingxi as well.

Lu Lingxi looked at the cake and then at Xiaohei, and understood what Xiaohei meant in a flash. “You want to trade the little red snake for the cake?”

Xiaohei waved his tail excitedly.

Lu Lingxi: “……”

He didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Just because Fang Lei had promised five pieces of cake in exchange for the little green snake, Xiaohei remembered this and went out in the middle of the night to catch a little red snake and came back to exchange it for cakes. Lu Lingxi crouched in front of Xiaohei in amusement, thinking how to explain it to Xiaohei. Dahei suddenly twitched his ears and barked in a low voice. Lu Lingxi’s eyes lit up and he no longer cared about Xiaohei. He grabbed his coat haphazardly and pulled open the balcony door, running out in a flash, Dahei followed behind Lu Lingxi quickly, leaving Xiaohei staring dumbly at their backs, somewhat aggrieved.

“Big Brother Yan!”

Lu Lingxi and Yan Yue entered the apartment almost simultaneously. As soon as Yan Yue turned around, he saw Lu Lingxi running in from the balcony, looking at him with his eyes curved in a smile. The smile poured out of Yan Yue’s eyes, and in a few steps he walked over and hugged Lu Lingxi. “Still up so late?”

“I fell asleep and woke up again.” Lu Lingxi meekly explained.

“Boss?” An Jie pushed the door open with his luggage.

Lu Lingxi looked embarrassed and quickly pushed Yan Yue away. “Brother An.”

An Jie looked at Lu Lingxi with a smile, “Happy New Year, Xiao Xi, Brother An has wrapped a big red envelope for you.”

Lu Lingxi had been receiving red envelopes so much lately that he was a little embarrassed when he heard it. “I’m already nineteen, I don’t need red envelopes anymore.”

An Jie curved his eyes at Lu Lingxi, gesturing to Yan Yue, and said, “No need to save money for Brother An, just have the boss wrap two red envelopes for me when the time comes. The wool comes off the sheep anyway.”

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Lu Lingxi held back a smile and nodded.

An Jie didn’t stay here much longer and very consciously left after saying a few words. Looking at Yan Yue, he guessed that if he stayed any longer, his red envelope for next year would be half smaller. As soon as An Jie left, Yan Yue hugged and kissed Lu Lingxi eagerly. Lu Lingxi was so softened by his kisses that he leaned into Yan Yue’s arms. Yan Yue wrapped one arm around Lu Lingxi and patted his back, feeling that he couldn’t get enough of Lu Lingxi. He forced himself to let go of Lu Lingxi and said softly, “Xiao Xi, go back to your room first, I’ll come over after taking a shower.”

“Okay.”

Lu Lingxi didn’t go back next door but took off his coat and got under the quilt in his pyjamas. Dahei came over, licked Lu Lingxi’s fingers and consciously flopped down on the mat in the living room. In a few minutes’ time Yan Yue had finished taking a shower and lay down beside Lu Lingxi with his body still a little wet, encircling Lu Lingxi tightly in his arms.

“Xiao Xi.”

“En?”

“I love you.”

Yan Yue lowered his head and rested his forehead against Lu Lingxi’s, his eyes focused on Lu Lingxi, his gaze burning with amazing heat.

Lu Lingxi blinked and reached out to hug Yan Yue, letting out a low muffled sound.

Yan Yue chuckled and moved over to give Lu Lingxi a kiss on the lips, whispering, “Go to sleep.”

Lu Lingxi obediently closed his eyes. Yan Yue smiled and kissed him on the eyes, reaching out to turn off the light. The room was plunged into darkness, but Yan Yue couldn’t sleep for a while as he held Lu Lingxi in his arms. For the first time, he wasn’t repulsed by the feeling of insomnia; instead he was enjoying the silence almost peacefully. The emotions that had been suppressed over the past few days gradually eased, and the pale emptiness in his heart was filled with the warmth of being with Lu Lingxi. Yan Yue tenderly held Lu Lingxi; his body had no desire to do anything but to embrace Lu Lingxi like this.

Lu Lingxi rubbed himself against Yan Yue’s arms and found a comfortable position. He felt in a daze as if he had forgotten something. What was it exactly?

In the next room, Xiaohei was guarding the little red snake, waiting with bated breath for Lu Lingxi to return. He was a little hungry and had already eaten the cake from before. Xiaohei’s gaze fell on the little red snake, and he dripped two drops of saliva. The little red snake stiffened and didn’t move, trying to convey an air of “I am not tasty, don’t eat me”.

Xiaohei flicked his tail, aggrieved, and held back from eating the snake. The little red snake = cake, if you eat the little red snake, you won’t have any cake; Xiaohei still knew how to calculate. But Xiaohei didn’t understand why Lu Lingxi didn’t want the little red snake. Was it because the little red snake wasn’t as thick as the little green snake? Xiaohei slowly sized up the little red snake, hesitating whether to catch another one.

While Xiaohei was waiting, Lu Lingxi slept until seven in the morning, when Yan Yue had already returned from a run outside with Dahei. He entered the door while answering the phone, found a mat by the door and placed it in front of Dahei, letting him wipe his paws himself.

“Okay, say hello to Grandpa Su for me.” Yan Yue chatted briefly and hung up the phone, smiling as he looked at Lu Lingxi, “Awake?”

Lu Lingxi nodded in a daze, asking as he dressed, “Is it Dr. Su?”

“Yes, he told me that the lab is making very good progress on the mice and wants to extend it to clinical use.”

The word “clinical” caught Lu Lingxi’s attention and he was a little surprised, “So fast?”

Yan Yue came over and kissed Lu Lingxi, explaining, “It is not a general promotion, but the lab will come forward to recruit a group of volunteers to test the new drug. The scope won’t be too big, it is estimated to be just a few dozen volunteers.”

“Oh.” Lu Lingxi nodded and stroked Dahei as he prepared to go wash his face.

Yan Yue helped him squeeze the toothpaste and said smoothly, “I just came back and met Brother Feng, he asked us to go over for breakfast later.”

Lu Lingxi looked at Yan Yue sheepishly. Yan Yue chuckled and rubbed Lu Lingxi’s hair, saying in a low voice, “Don’t worry, Brother Feng said that your mom hasn’t gotten up yet.”

When he said this, Lu Lingxi couldn’t help but frown slightly. Wang Shuxiu seemed to be getting up a little late these days, was she too tired from the New Year?