Pastoral Daily Life

Lu Lingxi didn’t know about Wang Shuxiu’s worries. He was playing like crazy these days, leaving early and returning late.

As the largest botanical garden in China, the Kunnan Botanical Garden covered an area of 44 hectares and was home to a large number of precious plants, with 10 special botanical gardens set up according to different plant species. As the orchid exhibition had not yet started, Lu Lingxi’s itinerary for the past few days revolved around the Kunnan Botanical Garden. With the help of Wang Chaoliang, they were able to visit many precious areas that were not normally open to the public. In a matter of days, Lu Lingxi could be described as turning the botanical garden all over.

Today, Lu Lingxi and Wang Chaoliang agreed that the next day he and Yan Yue would follow Wang Chaoliang to the workstation in the primordial rainforest of Kunnan to have a look. After dinner, Lu Lingxi was thinking about going back to the hotel to pack up and set off early tomorrow.

Elder Zhang looked at Lu Lingxi lovingly and said with a smile, “Tomorrow, we two old men will not follow Xiao Xi. The old bones are a bit weary. Xiao Xi, you can take more pictures and come back to me and your Grandpa Zhao to show them.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Elder Zhao laughed. “I’m getting old, so I’ll have a few days to rest before the orchid show. Xiao Xi, you and Yan Yue have a good time and be safe.”

“Okay.” Lu Lingxi nodded obediently. The field station that Wang Chaoliang had mentioned was located on the edge of the primaeval rainforest in Kunnan, almost at the border of China and quite a distance away from Kunnan City, so even if Elder Zhang and Elder Zhao wanted to go, Lu Lingxi didn’t feel comfortable with them going along.

After listening to Elder Zhang’s and Elder Zhao’s instructions and sending them back to their rooms, Lu Lingxi rushed back to his room to take a shower and start packing the things he wanted to take with him tomorrow. Wang Chaoliang said that there was a possibility that they would stay there for a night and asked Lu Lingxi to bring more clothes. There were other things at the workstation, so there was no need for Lu Lingxi to worry about it. But even though he said so, it was the first time that Lu Lingxi had been to the primaeval rainforest. He couldn’t help but excitedly check the travel guide on the Internet for a long time and deliberately bought a lot of things according to the guide.

“Raincoat, long coat and trousers, rope…”

Lu Lingxi sat on the edge of the bed and carefully went through the items he had prepared, always feeling as if something was missing. What exactly was it? He puffed out his face and went through the items again.

“What are you looking for?”

Yan Yue came out of the shower to see Lu Lingxi sitting on the bed with a troubled look on his face, going back and forth through the things he had prepared. The weather in Kunnan was very hot and Yan Yue was only wearing a pair of shorts, with Xiaohei, who had also taken a bath, lying on his shoulder. As he wiped his still dripping hair, he walked over to Lu Lingxi’s side and leaned down to give him a kiss on the forehead.

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Xiaohei was dizzy from the heat in the bathroom, so when Yan Yue leaned over, he immediately fell off Yan Yue’s shoulder and landed into Lu Lingxi’s arms.

Lu Lingxi touched Xiaohei’s body and tilted his face up in confusion, “I always feel like there’s something I haven’t bought.”

Yan Yue raised his eyebrows and took advantage of the situation to sit down next to Lu Lingxi and reached out to hug him. “Let’s see.” He carefully went through the things on the bed, remembering the environment of Fengcheng, and smiled, “Did you not prepare mosquito repellent?”

Lu Lingxi was dazed. It was strange to say that although Fengcheng was now lush with greenery, especially the district where Lu Lingxi lived that was like a small ecological park, mosquitoes were very rare in summer, and mosquito coils and mosquito repellents were hardly used. Accustomed to the environment of Fengcheng, Lu Lingxi subconsciously ignored the mosquito repellent when he saw it in the supermarket. He came back to his senses, “What time does the supermarket open tomorrow?”

“Eight o’clock?” Yan Yue didn’t pay much attention either and kissed Lu Lingxi soothingly, “Don’t worry, Wang Chaoliang definitely prepared it.”

Lu Lingxi hummed and was about to say something, when Yan Yue’s mobile phone on the table rang abruptly.

“Big Brother Yan, who is looking for you? “Lu Lingxi asked casually.

Yan Yue looked at the phone carelessly and paused when he saw the caller number. Unexpectedly, it was Wang Shuxiu calling. Thinking of the last time, Yan Yue guessed almost immediately that Wang Shuxiu might want to talk to him and avoid Lu Lingxi. He picked up the phone as if nothing had happened, rubbed Lu Lingxi’s hair haphazardly and said, “It’s An Jie, I’m going out to take a call.”

Lu Lingxi nodded, not expecting Yan Yue to be lying to him at all. He watched as Yan Yue walked to the terrace and closed the door again, not thinking anything of it.

Through the door Lu Lingxi couldn’t hear what Yan Yue was saying, and after he had put the things on the bed away, he started rummaging through Yan Yue’s suitcase looking for clothes.

“Huh.” Lu Lingxi blinked and inadvertently flipped over the booklet that Wang Shuxiu had slipped him. He had only glanced at it last time on the plane, and then the booklet had been stuffed somewhere by Yan Yue. He had thought that Yan Yue had thrown it away and he had not expected that Yan Yue had actually put it away.

As the thought flashed through his mind, Lu Lingxi’s heart moved and he raised his head to take a quick glance at Yan Yue on the balcony, talking on the phone. From this angle, he could only see Yan Yue’s back, and it looked like Yan Yue wouldn’t be able to finish his phone call for a while. Lu Lingxi’s heart pounded and he secretly opened the booklet almost like a thief. He was actually very curious about the contents of the booklet, but he was too embarrassed to ask Yan Yue what was written in it.

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The booklet wasn’t thick, and Lu Lingxi had gone through half of it in a short while. He didn’t know where Wang Shuxiu found it, but it seemed to be a booklet aimed at the homosexual auditory. The statements on homosexuality were all very serious and even the cartoon characters were mainly cute, but Lu Lingxi felt his body getting hotter and hotter, and his face was unconsciously flushed red.

When Yan Yue finished his phone call and went back to his room, Lu Lingxi didn’t even seem to notice. After seeing what the young man was looking at, Yan Yue raised his eyebrows slightly. Not only did he not bother Lu Lingxi, but instead he took Xiaohei and stuffed him into a drawer, and sat down next to Lu Lingxi by himself.

The thin booklet quickly reached the end, and Lu Lingxi was thinking of stuffing it back into the suitcase. When he looked up at the balcony, he didn’t see Yan Yue, and then there was a familiar aura behind him, “Finished reading?” Yan Yue asked in a low voice as he hugged Lu Lingxi from behind.

Lu Lingxi turned his head suddenly, an indescribable shyness on his face. “Big Brother Yan…” This time, even his ears turned red. Although Lu Lingxi felt that it was not wrong for him to read the booklet, being caught by Yan Yue as he peeked at it seemed to have an extra hint of indescribable meaning.

Before Lu Lingxi could say another word, Yan Yue’s eyes darkened slightly and his body reacted honestly. He looked at Lu Lingxi’s eyes that seemed to be misted and involuntarily leaned over and kissed Lu Lingxi tenderly.

Everything was natural. Yan Yue had thought about the trip they were going to take tomorrow and his promise to wait until Lu Lingxi’s twentieth birthday, but he simply couldn’t control the lust that surged through his body, nor did he seem to need to. Just the thought that he could have the young man completely made Yan Yue shudder with happiness.

The night passed quickly, and Yan Yue stayed awake almost all night. Because Lu Lingxi lay in his arms, dependent and devoted, Yan Yue couldn’t move for fear of waking Lu Lingxi and disturbing his rest. He held the person in his arms carefully and almost reverently, his heart full of happiness.

At dawn at six o’clock, the alarm clock set last night went off. They made an appointment with Wang Chaoliang to meet at the entrance of the hotel at six forty-five, which was originally enough time, but looking at Lu Lingxi in his arms, who refused to get up with his eyes closed, Yan Yue was a little worried that they would be too late.

“Xiao Xi.” Yan Yue called out tentatively.

Lu Lingxi wrapped himself in the blanket and rolled over, trying to go back to sleep with his eyes covered. He didn’t think he had done anything, but he was very sleepy.

Seeing him like this, Yan Yue couldn’t bear to toss him, so he hugged him and coaxed him gently, “Why don’t I tell Wang Chaoliang that we’ll go to the field station another day?”

The mention of the field station aroused a trace of Lu Lingxi’s sanity. He struggled to sit up, rubbing his eyes and saying, “I’m up.”

Yan Yue laughed and kissed him, then helped him get dressed and squeeze the toothpaste. It wasn’t until Lu Lingxi had finished washing his face with his eyes closed that he woke up completely. Memories of last night returned to his mind and the tips of his ears reddened again at the thought of some things.

At the appointed time, they got into Wang Chaoliang’s car in front of the hotel.

Kunnan in the early morning was very beautiful. As a tourist city, 50% of Kunnan was green. There was vegetation everywhere you could see, the golden morning glow spilling over the young green leaves as if the whole city was dotted with countless green gems. When you looked up, the sky was blue and high, and your heart felt opening up at this sight. Out of Kunnan City, without the high-rise buildings around, there was greenery and the scent of flowers everywhere. The picturesque landscape swept past the window, as if a mysterious beauty had been unveiled little by little.

Along the way, Wang Chaoliang enthusiastically introduced the scenery to Yan Yue and Lu Lingxi. He had been here for several months and had driven this road countless times, so he was familiar with every place they passed.

At first, Lu Lingxi was still bracing himself to listen to his introductions, but later he was so sleepy that he simply found a place in Yan Yue’s arms and fell into a deep sleep. Yan Yue moved his arms carefully to make Lu Lingxi feel as comfortable as possible.

Wang Chaoliang saw Lu Lingxi’s sleepy appearance and was a little surprised, “Xiao Xi didn’t sleep well last night?”

Yan Yue smiled, “Xiao Xi was a little excited about going to the rainforest today, so he fell asleep a little late.”

Wang Chaoliang smiled and shook his head, thinking that Lu Lingxi was still a child no matter how well-behaved he was.

After driving for about an hour, Wang Chaoliang signalled that they were almost there. Yan Yue was thinking of waking Lu Lingxi up when his mobile phone suddenly rang. It was a call from Fang Lei. Yan Yue had heard from Lu Lingxi a few days ago that Fang Lei was coming to Kunnan on a business trip, but he didn’t expect him to come so soon.

“Where are you and Xiao Xi? I’ll treat you guys to lunch.”

Yan Yue sounded regretful, “Xiao Xi and I are out of town, I guess we won’t be back until tomorrow, so we’ll owe you this meal.”

He really felt sorry. If Fang Lei had called an hour earlier, he would still have had time to change his schedule and Xiao Xi would have been able to sleep more.

“That’s fine, we’ll meet when you guys get back, I reckon I can stay for a while longer.”

The case Fang Lei was working on this time was rather tricky, and he was all ready to struggle with it for a long time. After hanging up the phone, Fang Lei wandered out alone and prepared to find a place to eat breakfast. After two steps, he suddenly stopped and looked behind him. The alley behind him was bustling with people going to work and school. He took a wary glance and found nothing unusual, but there was always a vague feeling that he was being watched.