Pastoral Daily Life

All the way from the community to the airport, the blush on Lu Lingxi’s face didn’t fade away. He was thinking hard about where this booklet had come from. He had packed his own bag last night and kept it by his bed in his room. In addition to him, only Xiao Feng and Wang Shuxiu could enter the room, but Xiao Feng usually wouldn’t go there. It could only be… Wang Shuxiu. Whenever he thought of his mother putting this booklet in his bag, Lu Lingxi felt blushing beyond belief. It was good he was not at home these days, but how should he face his mother when he returned from Kunnan?

Lu Lingxi’s emotions were all written on his face, and Yan Yue’s heart was itchy when he saw it; but knowing that Xiao Xi was thin-skinned, he could only pretend that he hadn’t seen anything and quietly guided Lu Lingxi to talk about other topics.

As they were out of the city, the journey went very smoothly and the originally expected forty minutes only took half an hour. When they arrived at the airport, Elder Zhang and Elder Zhao had not yet arrived. Lu Lingxi looked around curiously, finding everything he saw interesting.

Yan Yue accompanied him, his eyes doting as he looked at Lu Lingxi. He somewhat regretted not taking the young man to different places earlier. If he remembered correctly, this should be Lu Lingxi’s first time going out.

“What’s that?” Lu Lingxi gestured to the security check device in the distance.

“A device to check if passengers are carrying dangerous items.” Yan Yue took his hand, explaining, and finished in a soft voice, “If Xiao Xi likes it, we can come out for a trip once every six months in the future, how about that?”

As soon as he finished speaking he saw Lu Lingxi’s eyes light up as he nodded vigorously. Yan Yue couldn’t help but rub Lu Lingxi’s hair. The young man’s eyes were clear and crystal bright, like the twinkling stars in the night sky, looking at him with such expectation and trust that it made his heart indescribably happy.

The two of them were talking when Elder Zhang greeted them from afar, “Xiao Xi.”

Lu Lingxi turned around and saw Elder Zhang and Elder Zhao walking over together with a smile on their faces. Beforehand, Elder Zhang already knew that Yan Yue was also going to Kunnan together with them and insistiny on covering his and Lu Lingxi’s expenses himself. Therefore, Elder Zhang wasn’t surprised to see Yan Yue, and even when his eyes swept over Lu Lingxi’s hand held by Yan Yue, he had a kind expression on his face.

After the four of them met, they quickly received their boarding passes. Their luggage wasn’t too much and boarding went very smoothly. Yan Yue and Lu Lingxi’s seats were the last row of double seats by the window. Yan Yue had just put his luggage away when he saw Lu Lingxi leaning to the window looking out curiously. As the plane took off, the buildings on the ground floor continued to get smaller and smaller, and Lu Lingxi couldn’t see anything after looking for a while. Yan Yue had been indulging his behaviour, and seeing that he seemed to have lost interest in the outside, he smiled and stroked his hair, asking, “It’s a three-hour flight, does Xiao Xi want to take a nap?”

Lu Lingxi gave a muffled “en”. He hadn’t slept for long last night due to his excitement, and now that the excitement had worn off and the sleepiness had set in, it was the perfect time to catch up on sleep on the plane. As he said that, he found a comfortable position on Yan Yue’s shoulder, closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

As Yan Yue watched him sleep, he instructed the flight attendant to bring a blanket. Although the temperature outside was high, it was a little cold on the plane with the air conditioning on, so it would be bad to sleep for a long time and catch a cold. Carefully putting the blanket over Lu Lingxi, Yan Yue was quiet for a while. Then he looked at Lu Lingxi’s backpack and suddenly thought of the booklet. Even if Lu Lingxi hadn’t said anything, Yan Yue could still guess what was going on with the booklet. He imagined Wang Shuxiu’s tangled mood, and he couldn’t help but feel a little moved in his heart.

Because of his family, Yan Yue didn’t have a deep understanding of the meaning of the word ‘mother’. It was only after he met Lu Lingxi, and from the relationship between Lu Lingxi and Wang Shuxiu that he slowly came to understand what it meant. At this time… Yan Yue pulled out the booklet from the bag. He believed that Wang Shuxiu might not like him in her heart, nor might she accept him now, but she still prepared such a booklet. Maybe this is… the heart of a mother!

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Yan Yue glanced sideways at Lu Lingxi’s sleeping face, stretched out his hand to push away the messy hair on his forehead and touched his face with great affection. He wanted to bow his head and kiss the young man, but he was afraid of being seen by the people around him. Suppressing the impulse in his heart, he rubbed the boy’s lips with his fingers, then smiled softly, retracted his hand and looked at the booklet in his hand seriously.

Halfway through the flight, Lu Lingxi woke up in a daze. Feeling the familiar aura beside him, he rubbed against the man next to him dependently and asked vaguely, “What time is it?”

Yan Yue quickly grabbed the blanket that almost fell to the floor due to Lu Lingxi’s movements and covered Lu Lingxi’s body again. He stretched out his hand and touched Lu Lingxi’s forehead, whispering, “There is still an hour, do you want to drink some water?”

Lu Lingxi shook his head, not feeling thirsty. He opened his eyes blankly, just in time to see the booklet Yan Yue had placed on his lap. The booklet was unfolded, and on the upward page were two naked cartoon figures hugging each other. Lu Lingxi blinked his eyes and almost immediately came to his senses. The blush burned his face once more, and even his neck was red.

“Big Brother Yan…” Lu Lingxi buried his face in Yan Yue’s shoulder with a muffled cry.

Yan Yue held back a laugh and patted his back, coaxing in a whisper, “It’s human nature, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Lu Lingxi sat up straighter with a frown on his face and said vaguely, “…it’s from Mom.” What he was embarrassed about wasn’t the booklet, but the person who gave him the booklet.

Yan Yue guessed what he was thinking and could no longer hold back a chuckle, earning a disgruntled look from Lu Lingxi in return. He tried hard to suppress his laughter and tried to sound sincere, “I know, this is your mom’s heart, let’s not let it down, okay?”

Lu Lingxi: “……”

All the way to Kunnan, the smile on Yan Yue’s face didn’t disappear. He thought of the shyness mixed with shock on Lu Lingxi’s face, and only felt that the urge in his body was about to become impossible to suppress. If only he and Lu Lingxi were alone now, Yan Yue thought to himself, reaching out to hold Lu Lingxi’s hand under the cover of the luggage cart.

As soon as the group of four left the hall, they saw the person who came to pick them up. The man was one of Elder Zhao’s nephews, who looked to be in his thirties, named Zhao Jian. He was very close to Elder Zhao. Zhao Jian had already booked a hotel for them, the one located next to the Kunnan Botanical Garden. He suggested that they should go to the hotel and drop off their luggage before going to a very well-known restaurant near the hotel for dinner.

Elder Zhao agreed with a smile on behalf of everyone.

Zhao Jian had deliberately come in a business car to pick up the people. Lu Lingxi was about to get into the car when his mobile phone suddenly rang, and the caller ID was Fang Lei.

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“Brother Fang?”

“Are you in the shop now? I have to go on a business trip for half a month. Can Xiaohui be boarded at your place for a few days?” Fang Lei said as soon as the call was connected.

Lu Lingxi reacted with some embarrassment, “Brother Fang, I am now in Kunnan, and the shop is under the care of Brother Tiger. If you don’t worry, just leave Xiaohui to Brother Tiger.”

“Kunnan? You’ve gone to Kunnan? Yan Yue is with you?” Fang Lei seemed very surprised.

Lu Lingxi affirmed.

Fang Lei smiled, “It’s just a coincidence that the place I’m going on a business trip is also Kunnan, so I’ll treat you guys to dinner when I arrive.”

Knowing that Lu Lingxi wasn’t in Fengcheng, Fang Lei didn’t mention the matter of fostering Xiaohui again. Lu Lingxi’s suggestion of Tiger was well-intentioned, but when he thought about Xiaohui’s temper, Fang Lei really didn’t dare to give him to a stranger.

After hanging up the phone, Lu Lingxi thought of reporting to his family that he was safe. But when he thought of the booklet, he didn’t know how to speak to Wang Shuxiu. After hesitating for a few seconds, Lu Lingxi pressed Wang Shuxiu’s number, and the other party quickly picked up.

“Mom…”

He was interrupted by Wang Shuxiu before he could finish his sentence, “Xiao Xi, you’re here? I see, something’s going on right now, I’ll call you back later.”

“Oh, okay, Mom.” Lu Lingxi said obediently.

“What?” Yan Yue heard something wrong and asked.

Lu Lingxi shook his head, “Mom said she had something going on right now and would call me later.”

Elder Zhang in the front row laughed at their fuss, “Xiao Xi reminded me, I should also report a safe arrival to my family.”

As they joked and laughed over here, Wang Shuxiu, who was far away in Fengcheng, hung up the phone, took a deep breath and looked up at the old man in front of her, saying with a sullen face, “You’ve mistaken him for someone else.”