Chapter 36
Obviously, Xia Fengsheng had been the one to chase him first.
Shi Ye turned into a tormented Psyduck clutching his head. Why wouldn’t they believe him? They were even laughing at him.
After saying goodbye to the livestream one more time, Xia Fengsheng finally shut it down completely.
Once the livestream ended, Qin Buming and Xia Fengsheng both let out a sigh of relief. They decided they would never livestream again in the future.
Work one trade, hate one trade.
Feeling as if his body had been hollowed out, Xia Fengsheng slumped in the chair and tipped his head to one side, gone.
Fortunately, the startup money had been earned, and now they had the funds to rent a studio.
His gaze drifted toward the window. It was already dark outside. The two of them had livestreamed for an entire day.
The light snow from earlier had turned into goose-feather snowfall, and the roads outside were now covered in a thick layer of white.
The freezing wind howled, making the window gaps cry like ghosts.
Qin Buming started packing up his things. “Sheng’er, it’s getting late. I’m heading back first.”
Shi Ye stood up too.
He should be going as well.
Seeing him rise, Qin Buming said, “It’s late. Why don’t you just stay here with Sheng’er tonight?”
Shi Ye froze.
“Me?”
Qin Buming looked even more puzzled than he was. “Aren’t you two a couple?”
Wasn’t it normal for couples to stay together?
And besides, it was snowing like crazy out there.
If he went home now, had he committed some capital crime and been exiled to Ningguta?
The roads would be slippery in this kind of weather, and the snow was still falling. Snow removal would have to wait until it stopped. The roads were already layered with thick snow, and driving back would take at least two hours.
Like some fussy elder in the family, Qin Buming said, “The snow’s piled up too thick. You won’t be able to drive back. Stay here with Sheng’er. Driving in snow isn’t safe.”
Qin Buming’s dorm was in the H building next door. Walk out, take two steps, and he’d be there.
If possible, he would rather jump straight through the window.
He Qiang had gone back to his hometown lately and wasn’t in the dorm, so letting Shi Ye stay over wouldn’t disturb anyone else.
Xia Fengsheng glanced at the heavy snow outside. Shi Ye had even brought him food earlier today, so in a rare burst of mercy he said, “You can stay here tonight.”
He still wanted to disgust Shi Ye into breaking up with him, but the snow outside really was too heavy. If he made him drive back, it would be a safety issue.
After Qin Buming left, only Xia Fengsheng and Shi Ye remained in the dorm.
Shi Ye stood by Xia Fengsheng’s bed, still not quite processing the situation. Just like that, he was staying over.
Although the two of them had dated for a good while in high school, the number of times they had actually slept together was pitifully small—only once or twice.
Back then they had been young. Close their eyes and they just slept.
He had long forgotten that old flutter in his heart from sharing a bed board with Xia Fengsheng.
Shi Ye stood in the not-very-large double dorm, taking in everything inside.
Two single beds sat on the left and right. Xia Fengsheng’s bed was on the right. The other roommate was away, and a pile of unorganized things still sat on that bed.
With the roommate absent, it would be inappropriate for him to just sleep in the roommate’s bed.
So didn’t that mean he could only sleep with Xia Fengsheng?!
The single bed looked pitifully narrow—if two people slept on it, they’d be pressed tightly together.
Shi Ye turned back into Psyduck clutching his head.
Wouldn’t that mean Xia Fengsheng would be taking shameless advantage of him?
Though from the start of this fake reconciliation he had known there would be some physical sacrifice on his part—after all, he was entering the game with his body—he had never imagined the day would come this fast.
Tonight he was going to sleep in the same bed as Xia Fengsheng.
Just then Xia Fengsheng came out of the dorm’s private bathroom holding an unopened toothbrush. Looking at Shi Ye, who was standing there clutching his head and twisting in distress, he asked, “What are you doing?”
Shi Ye instantly returned to normal. “Huh? Nothing.”
Pretending to be completely relaxed, though the rims of his ears were a little red, he asked, “Is the toothbrush for me?”
Xia Fengsheng nodded. “Mm. It’s unused. I’ll find you a change of clothes in a second too.”
He stuffed the toothbrush into Shi Ye’s hand and was just about to turn to search the wardrobe.
Shi Ye stopped him. “Wait.”
Xia Fengsheng turned back. “What now?”
After hesitating for a few seconds, Shi Ye asked, “Where am I sleeping tonight?”
Ten minutes later—
Shi Ye sat there blankly on Xia Fengsheng’s bed… no, not on the bed—on the floor pallet beside it.
Shi Ye: ……
Might as well have gone home.
The last time he’d slept on a floor pallet had been in the army.
The bathroom was full of rushing water; Xia Fengsheng was in there showering.
Once he finished, Xia Fengsheng turned off the shower.
He had no habit of blow-drying his hair. Usually he just used a towel until it stopped dripping, then let it dry naturally.
When he was little, he had always tried to save on electricity bills and never used a dryer, and over time it became habit. Later, even once he had the means, he couldn’t stand the noisy rush of a blow dryer right by his ears.
The bathroom door opened. Xia Fengsheng came out through the steam, toweling his hair.
The soft towel sat over his head, and the hair that he always slicked back into a neat style now fell loose over his forehead, instantly making him look three or four years younger.
He padded over in slippers and stopped by the bed.
Smelled good.
Shi Ye’s nose twitched. As Xia Fengsheng passed by, a wash of fragrance came with him.
Xia Fengsheng had the habit of wearing perfume. Everything about him smelled good.
And the scent of his perfume and body wash matched unusually well, almost the same in the dry-down. It was nothing like sweet, cloying fruit scent. His smell was sharp and natural, present but never overwhelming, very pleasant.
Xia Fengsheng sat down on the bed.
His bed wasn’t a hard wooden plank. He had specially bought a good mattress, soft with spring to it. When Xia Fengsheng sat down, the bed bounced twice beneath him.
Seeing Shi Ye sitting on the floor with the back of his head toward him, Xia Fengsheng lifted a foot and kicked him once.
“Go shower.”
Shi Ye climbed up. “Oh.”
Holding the change of clothes and underwear Xia Fengsheng had found for him, he went into the bathroom.
Hearing the bathroom door lock, Xia Fengsheng cast a wary glance at it for another two seconds. Once he confirmed it wasn’t opening again, he pulled back his blanket and took something out from inside the covers, quickly stuffing it into the wardrobe.
It was a toy bear.
The bathroom was filled with the scent of Xia Fengsheng’s body wash. Shi Ye turned on the shower and started washing.
His physique had been well kept from childhood to adulthood. Back when he danced in his teens, he had carried a layer of lean muscle to support the movements. Then after high school, all through college, every winter and summer break he was tossed into the military, where daily physical training only made the marks of training on his body more obvious and his build more and more athletic.
Abs, V-lines—he had all of it. His thighs were especially solid, and his waist had the strength of carved stone.
After washing and drying off the water, Shi Ye put on the brand-new underwear Xia Fengsheng had found for him.
It was a little tight, uncomfortably binding.
Forget it. He’d make do.
The pajama pants were short on him too by a noticeable amount.
A blow dryer sat on the bathroom sink. Shi Ye picked it up and found that it worked just fine, so he plugged it in and dried his hair.
By the time he came out of the bathroom, Xia Fengsheng was already lying in bed under the blanket, looking at his phone.
He glanced at him once when he emerged.
“Go turn off the light.”
Shi Ye: ……
Oh.
Obediently, Shi Ye went and switched off the light.
The dorm instantly darkened, leaving only the small night lamp by Xia Fengsheng’s bed on.
He had night blindness. Since He Qiang wasn’t in the dorm, he would keep the night light on all night when sleeping.
Shi Ye didn’t care. His ability to adapt was strong. Light or no light, he could sleep.
He lay down on the floor pallet, turned his back to Xia Fengsheng, and pulled the blanket over himself. The moonlight from outside spilled across the floor beside him, stretched out parallel to him.
The floor was hard as a rock. It was not comfortable at all.
It reminded Shi Ye of the hard bed boards in the military.
Back then he had always been making mistakes and being a troublemaker, so he was constantly punished by being made to sleep on bare boards, without even a blanket.
The blanket on the floor and the one covering him were both Xia Fengsheng’s blankets, and both were full of Xia Fengsheng’s scent. How was that any different from Xia Fengsheng sleeping right next to him?
Shi Ye looked at the blanket.
Whatever. He could sleep no matter what.
Deep night, 2:45:32.
Shi Ye: Heh. I can’t sleep at all.
At this point, three whole hours had passed since he had lain down on the floor pallet and shut his eyes, but he was still terribly awake, without the slightest trace of sleepiness. Rustling softly, he turned over, only to find Xia Fengsheng already asleep with his eyes closed.
The faint glow of the night lamp lit his side profile, quiet and secretive.
When he slept, he looked like a Sleeping Beauty carved by some great Western sculptor.
Why could Xia Fengsheng sleep so peacefully while he couldn’t?
Shi Ye’s gaze dropped lower, resting on the mattress beneath Xia Fengsheng.
It had to be the bed.
The last time he’d slept military-style had already been half a year ago. After six months of not sleeping on a hard bed board, it was only natural he wasn’t used to it anymore.
The floor was hard and cold. Wouldn’t he catch a chill?
Health was the most important thing.
If he didn’t love himself, who else was going to?
Shi Ye threw off his blanket, got up, and stood by Xia Fengsheng’s bed for a second.
Then he lifted a leg and climbed onto it, sleeping there directly.
Since it was a single bed, Shi Ye could only lie on his side, but even so, lying sideways was still more comfortable than sleeping on the floor.
He settled into the soft mattress, then tugged half of Xia Fengsheng’s blanket over himself too.
Shi Ye: “:D”
One of a hundred ways to love yourself.
Xia Fengsheng was sleeping deeply, eyes shut tight. After a while, his body instinctively shifted to seek a more comfortable position. Shi Ye held his breath and didn’t dare move.
Fortunately, Xia Fengsheng didn’t wake. He merely changed from lying flat to sleeping on his side, and with a blink Shi Ye found Xia Fengsheng’s sleeping face turned toward him.
When asleep, his usual sharpness was much softer. With his hair falling before his eyes, he looked very well-behaved. His blanket wasn’t cold like the floor had been, and from so close, Shi Ye could feel the warmth coming off the pale skin of Xia Fengsheng’s neck.
One side of his face was pressed into the pillow, and because of the light, the mole at the corner of his mouth was especially clear.
Once again, Shi Ye thought of earlier that day in the livestream, when that tiny mole of Xia Fengsheng’s had pressed at the corner of his own mouth.
It had to have been deliberate.
Pressing cheeks together was one thing, but even bringing the mole right to his lips?
The fingers that pinched his cheek had smelled faintly good too.
Shi Ye frowned. Why did Xia Fengsheng smell good everywhere on him? How much perfume had he used to marinate himself into that scent?
He remembered that in high school Xia Fengsheng hadn’t smelled like anything at all, at most just the clean scent of laundry soap.
So why now did even his fingertips smell so good? And after showering, did his hands still have that scent?
Shi Ye leaned closer and sniffed. After showering, Xia Fengsheng still carried some fragrance, which only made Shi Ye even more curious whether there was still any on his hands.
“Xia Fengsheng?” Shi Ye called him once, testing whether he was really deeply asleep.
Xia Fengsheng slept soundly, eyes still shut.
“Xia Fengsheng.” He called again.
Seeing no response, Shi Ye took hold of Xia Fengsheng’s wrist and slowly pulled one of his hands out from under the blanket.
He took the left hand; the right was pinned under Xia Fengsheng and harder to get.
Holding Xia Fengsheng’s fingers in both hands, he still couldn’t tell whether there was any scent left.
He closed his eyes, leaned in, and pressed Xia Fengsheng’s fingers against his own face, inhaling.
There was!
Shi Ye opened his eyes again, and Xia Fengsheng’s hand was still resting against his face.
How did his hands still smell even after a shower?
It was truly baffling.
The next second, Xia Fengsheng’s brows faintly furrowed as if he were about to wake.
Shi Ye immediately put his hand down and hurriedly closed his own eyes.
The moment Xia Fengsheng opened his eyes, what he saw was Shi Ye sleeping right beside him.
Xia Fengsheng: ?
When had this dog climbed up here?
Shi Ye could clearly feel that Xia Fengsheng had woken. His breathing when awake was completely different from when asleep.
Shi Ye subtly shifted his face, revealing what he considered the most handsome sleeping angle.
He had been praised as handsome since childhood. Even asleep, he looked like a prince.
Shi Ye: “:D”
Watch me charm him to death with my sleeping face!
There was no way Xia Fengsheng could look at him sleeping and feel absolutely nothing.
Very soon, movement stirred beneath the blanket.
A warm touch landed on Shi Ye’s ankle—Xia Fengsheng’s toes had touched his calf.
Shi Ye’s heart clenched. Before he had time to process that nervousness, Xia Fengsheng’s foot continued upward, from his calf to his knee, then up to the region of his thigh.
For an instant, Shi Ye stopped breathing.
The next second—
Thump—
Shi Ye rolled straight back down to his own floor pallet.
Shi Ye: ……
.
With the startup money in hand, Qin Buming ran all over the place, choosing carefully and finally renting a studio in a prime location.
The studio faced the sunlight and was surrounded by tree branches. Qin Buming had only managed to secure it by calling in favors.
Though he had been exploited all this time, he had built up quite a bit of goodwill. When he needed help, there were still people willing to lend him a hand.
Once the group moved everything in, they all felt a little dazed.
This was where they would be working from now on.
None of them said anything. They simply sat quietly in the studio the whole afternoon, sharing a rare moment of peace.
It looked as if they had only taken one step forward, but all the effort it had taken for them to reach today was like a river surging past—too much, too much to count.
Good news always came in pairs. Boss Zhao’s side had decided to approve the proposal and formally cooperate with them.
In a few days, they would receive the first real first bucket of gold of their lives, and the pay would be considerable.
To celebrate, everyone unanimously decided to go sing at KTV.
Inside the KTV private room, Qin Buming and Zhanshengyao had microphones in hand and were singing a duet.
Their crooked, off-key notes continuously assaulted the ears of Xia Fengsheng and Zheng Xing.
Xia Fengsheng felt as though his ears had died.
If life demanded he listen to those two sing, then he would choose deafness instead.
It wasn’t enough for Qin Buming and Zhanshengyao to sing on stage. They even carried the microphones right up to Xia Fengsheng and opened their throats for him.
Xia Fengsheng said, “If you two want to quarrel, go quarrel outside.”
Qin Buming: ……
Zhanshengyao: ……
.
The group kept singing until seven in the evening without stopping.
Xia Fengsheng came out to get some air. If he kept singing any longer, his throat was going to go hoarse.
Just as he was about to go back, he happened to glance through the doorway of one of the private rooms and saw who was inside: Yang Liwan and Boss Bao.
Xia Fengsheng: two heads of livestock.
When two pig spirits were together, it was really a case of like attracting like.
He remembered that during the last negotiation, he had thoroughly offended Boss Bao. Yang Liwan was probably inviting him out now to apologize.
Just then Yang Liwan came out to take a call and spotted Xia Fengsheng.
He instinctively took a step back. Ever since Xia Fengsheng had lost his memory, seeing him had never led to anything good.
“What are you doing here?”
With a smile on his face, Xia Fengsheng said, “Oh, so it’s Teacher. I came out to have fun with friends. What about you?”
“That’s none of your concern,” Yang Liwan said.
But then curiosity got the better of him. What kind of friends could Xia Fengsheng have after losing his memory? “Which friends are you here with?”
If they were from the same school, maybe the next time he needed Xia Fengsheng to show up for some task, he could start from his friends.
Xia Fengsheng said, “My friends already left. Teacher, are you here to sing too? That’s Boss Bao inside, right?”
Yang Liwan: “You still remember him?”
Xia Fengsheng said, “Of course. Last time I didn’t get a chance to have a proper conversation with Boss Bao, and it’s been weighing on me ever since.”
His eyes shifted. “Teacher, how about I go in and sing a song for you two?”
Yang Liwan froze. He had not expected Xia Fengsheng to voluntarily offer to sing.
Well of course that was good.
With Xia Fengsheng there, Boss Bao would definitely give him face.
President Fang’s side had already decided not to cooperate with him. Boss Bao was a subordinate from one of President Fang’s subsidiaries and could put in a word or two. Yang Liwan was still hoping Boss Bao might say something nice and make President Fang change her mind.
“Fine. Go in and sing properly.”
Xia Fengsheng nodded.
Taking advantage of a moment when Yang Liwan wasn’t watching, Xia Fengsheng sent a message to Qin Buming and the others, telling them to sneak off.
He would keep Yang Liwan occupied so they wouldn’t be discovered. If Yang Liwan found out they were gathering together, he would definitely become suspicious.
Xia Fengsheng stepped into the private room. Boss Bao was startled to see him, clearly not expecting to run into him again.
He still remembered the grudge from last time.
Yang Liwan said, “Little Xia said he’s felt bad all this time that he didn’t get to speak to you properly last time, so this time he’s come over to sing a song for us.”
Boss Bao said, “Really?”
Ignoring both of them, Xia Fengsheng simply selected a song himself.
Then he picked up the microphone.
“This song is dedicated to Boss Bao, representing a heartfelt sentiment from my teacher.”
The next second, the music started, and Xia Fengsheng began singing while leaping about:
“You have no father and no mother, every one of you has no home~”
“No family or friends to help you, all alone, are you scared or not~~”
Yang Liwan: ……
Boss Bao: ……
Yang Liwan: “Boss Bao, listen to me—”
Boss Bao: “Get out!!!!!”
The private room instantly erupted into chaos. Xia Fengsheng paid no attention to the two men breaking down. After singing only a couple of lines, he ran off, and by then Qin Buming and the others had already slipped away too.
He took a taxi straight back to school, and on the way received a message from Shi Ye.
Shi Ye: “How about going to a hot spring resort this weekend?”
He sent over an address.
It was a natural hot spring lodge on a mountain outside the city, and it looked pretty nice.
The project with Boss Zhao’s side wouldn’t start following up until next week, which meant he still had another five or six days to enjoy himself. A hot spring trip sounded perfect.
The hot spring lodge was very famous, a local tourist hot spot. If you wanted to experience it and check in there, you normally had to book two months in advance.
But Shi Ye had the ability of money. He’d paid a huge amount to buy a slot.
Since it was up in the mountains and moving around would be inconvenient, before going, the two of them sent their luggage ahead. Their luggage would arrive a day earlier than they would.
That way, things would be much more convenient when they got there.
On the day they were meant to go to the hot spring inn, their plane landed and the driver picked up Xia Fengsheng and Shi Ye, driving them toward the resort.
Unfortunately, it had snowed heavily the night before, and now the mountain was sealed off. The mountain road was rugged and slippery, and the car simply couldn’t go up. There was no way for them to reach the hot spring lodge today.
Passing the entrance road into the resort, the driver pulled over.
Driver: “You can take photos here and check in. Lots of people take really good-looking pictures here.”
As he said this, the driver even took out a folding reflector to help light them. Young people these days all used things like that for photos.
There were green cedars planted all around, and sunlight glittered over the scene. If not for the sparkling snow, you’d think it was spring.
The mountain entrance was wrapped in lush green, like some mysterious gate into another world. It had a wonderful atmosphere.
The two of them got out of the car. Shi Ye took out his phone and got ready to take pictures for Xia Fengsheng.
Because parking wasn’t allowed there, the driver moved the car farther ahead to wait for them.
Xia Fengsheng stood at the entrance posing. Since so many people came here to take commemorative pictures, he wanted to leave himself some trace of this trip too.
Shi Ye began taking full-angle shots of him, but no matter how he looked at the finished photos, it always felt as though something was missing.
With his lashes lowered, Xia Fengsheng didn’t look very satisfied.
Shi Ye lowered his head and asked, “Not satisfied?”
Xia Fengsheng nodded. “Mm. I feel like they could still be better.”
Shi Ye fiddled with the phone and started finding new angles again. “I’ll take a few more.”
But after several more shots, there still wasn’t one Xia Fengsheng especially liked.
The sound of Xia Fengsheng’s voice came muffled from under his scarf, and those black jewel-like eyes watched Shi Ye. “Not good-looking.”
No matter how they took them, it wasn’t working.
Shi Ye licked his lips, stood there for several seconds, then glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before saying to Xia Fengsheng, “Go stand back over there.”
Ten minutes later, Xia Fengsheng finally got a set of photos he was satisfied with, and he and Shi Ye returned to the car.
The driver asked, “You finished that quickly?”
He had thought it would take a long time.
Xia Fengsheng said, “Mm.”
Meanwhile Shi Ye lowered his head and looked through the photos on his phone. The last few shots really did look much better than the earlier ones.
Since they couldn’t go up the mountain today, they could only hole up in a small inn at the base for the night.
There was still a stretch of road before the little inn. Bored, Shi Ye opened Instagram and started reading comments.
One comment was brand new, posted only seconds before:
“Blogger, I heard that once you get in a relationship, you go outside and act like a simp for someone else. Is that true?”
Who was ruining his lifetime reputation?
Shi Ye immediately clarified online: “False. I’m not the kind of person who loses himself in a relationship.”
The next second, another account replied under his comment:
“Blogger, is this you?”
And attached a photo.
In the photo, Shi Ye was standing upright from the waist up, but kneeling on both knees below, holding his phone in one hand and a reflector in the other, taking pictures of Xia Fengsheng in front of him.
