Chapter 42: The Frog Prince
With a shell necklace hanging around his neck, Huo Beixing looked at Huo Nanxun’s purple shell and made the sort of irritating sound that begged to be hit. “Dad, how come you only have one?”
Huo Nanxun had just opened his mouth when he heard him continue, “And it’s such a tiny one too.”
Huo Nanxun: ……
Don’t think I can’t tell you little brat are showing off.
Looking at Huo Beixing’s smug expression, Huo Nanxun was momentarily speechless. How had he given birth to such a thing?
He really held grudges.
Just now, when the two of them went for a walk, they hadn’t taken him along.
But Huo Beixing didn’t linger. His wife was still waiting on the beach for him to bring back something to drink.
Without waiting for Huo Nanxun to answer, Huo Beixing went back out carrying several bottled drinks in his arms. Once he returned to the beach, he crouched down and presented the drinks for An Yi to choose from.
There weren’t any domestic brands, but An Yi had always liked sweet things, so Huo Beixing had picked out quite a few and carried them all back.
“Wife, which one do you want?”
An Yi looked at the drinks in his arms. Every one of them looked as though it would taste good, so he hesitated for a short while before saying, “The apple one.”
Health points: maxed out.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Oh right, he forgot. He was abroad now.
It should be doctor keeps away from me.
Little Frog was just that rigorous.
After handing the apple juice to An Yi, Huo Beixing set the rest of the drinks down at the side, clearly having no intention of drinking any himself.
It was only recently that An Yi had discovered this preference of his. Huo Beixing never drank these kinds of beverages or sodas. Even fruit juice and milk, he only drank in the mornings, and they had to be one hundred percent pure or he wouldn’t touch them at all. He had his own standards.
Most of the time he just drank water, and he drank a lot of it every day, which also had to do with how much exercise he did.
An Yi glanced through the pile of drinks and realized there wasn’t any water among them.
Then what was he going to drink?
Stretching out one pale finger, An Yi poked Huo Beixing in the arm. “Aren’t you thirsty?”
Huo Beixing was pouring seawater out of a plastic bucket onto the sand pile at the side. Sitting there with his tall frame, the broad lines of his back looked extremely sexy. Seen from behind, he looked remarkably steady and mature; one would never guess he was actually a grown boy with the mental age of eight.
Hearing An Yi’s question, he shook his head. “I’m not thirsty. Wife, you drink.”
Just now, he’d been too busy thinking about his wife and had forgotten to bring his own water.
But he didn’t care.
As long as his wife had something to drink, that was enough.
Focused and intent on building his sandcastle, Huo Beixing kept working while muttering to himself, “Wife, I’m going to build you a castle. Then you’ll be able to live inside it.”
Little Frog was flattered and alarmed.
He hadn’t expected the other man to be giving him a house on South Island, where land cost a fortune.
Laughing at Huo Beixing’s house-gifting behavior, An Yi asked, “What would I live in it for?”
Huo Beixing turned to smile at him. “Princes all live in castles.”
An Yi froze, his eyes widening slightly.
He suddenly blushed.
He truly hadn’t expected the other man to call him a prince. In all his life, no one had ever praised him like that before.
Huo Beixing beamed. “I’ll build you the prettiest castle, and then you’ll be the prince who lives in the prettiest castle.”
Blushing, An Yi said, “How am I a prince?”
Huo Beixing suddenly leaned closer.
Looking at that handsome face so near at hand, An Yi swallowed.
“Of course you’re a prince. Princes look exactly like you.”
If anyone dared say otherwise, he’d go beat them up.
Huo Beixing really had once been a playboy for a reason. Even after becoming stupid, compliments still came to him effortlessly. There really was a bit of natural talent in him.
An Yi sat beside him waiting for the developer to hand over the property. In the meantime, he gulped down several mouthfuls of his apple juice.
Instantly, he felt much healthier.
The blazing sun hung in the clear sky. If one were actually in the water, then splashing around was fine, but just sitting on the beach without entering the sea was basically sunbathing. Daylight lasted long here. It was already six in the evening, yet the sky remained as bright as midday.
An Yi could feel the heat radiating from Huo Beixing. Seeing him lick his somewhat dry lips, he asked, “Do you want some water? I can go back and get it for you.”
Huo Beixing didn’t want his wife to leave, so he shook his head. “I don’t want water.”
An Yi scooted over and nudged him aside with his backside, intercepting the finishing touches on the project. “Take a break. I’ll do the rest.”
Then he tossed the apple juice in his hand over to Huo Beixing.
“This tastes pretty good. You can try it.”
As An Yi’s little finger brushed against his palm, Huo Beixing stared blankly at the drink in his hand for a few seconds.
His wife had already drunk from this.
In TV dramas, the male and female leads always drank from the same bottle, because their relationship was close.
Huo Beixing blushed. He looked at his wife’s mouth, then at the bottle of juice, and hesitated.
Kissing could cause pregnancy. If he drank from it, wouldn’t his wife end up giving him a second child?!
How could that do?!
Thinking back to the ugly doll An Yi had brought home before, Huo Beixing still found it disgustingly irritating every time he remembered it. That child couldn’t even sleep on its own and still needed his wife to hug it. Not independent at all.
These days, the world advocated for independent women and independent men.
They absolutely could not have a second child.
Holding the bottle, Huo Beixing failed to realize at all that if they had never even kissed mouth-to-mouth before, then how exactly had his wife given him the first child?
Once the sandcastle was complete, An Yi pulled out his phone from his trouser pocket and took a photo of the “property deed.”
At that moment, a voice called out from behind them.
“Brother Beixing, Brother An Yi.”
Both An Yi and Huo Beixing turned around to see Huo Xiao running over holding a rolled-up tent bag in his arms.
Huo Xiao only had a few months left before the college entrance exam. This month on South Island had been spent entirely in study mode. He was the type to care nothing for what went on outside the window, devoting himself wholly to reading the sages.
Coming to South Island was supposed to be about relaxing. His parents had told him to spend some time playing with people his own age, but because Huo Xiao had always been too capable for his peers, and because his personality was quiet and taciturn, he had never fit in very well. Nor did he want to play with those people.
Aside from mealtimes, he stayed almost entirely in his room, living the brutal daily life of a high school student grinding himself to death.
It was only when he heard just now that An Yi and Huo Beixing had arrived that he suddenly became interested.
He had wanted to set up a tent by the sea for ages, but had been too embarrassed to do it by himself. Now that An Yi and Huo Beixing were here, they would definitely accompany him.
After all, who could reject a male high school student?!
Stopping in front of the two of them, Huo Xiao’s face carried some of the spirited energy fitting for his age. “Brother An Yi, Brother Beixing, you’re here.”
An Yi nodded and smiled. “We got here around noon.”
Huo Xiao lifted the tent bag in his hand, going straight to the point. “Do you want to pitch a tent with me? This one is really big—it can fit several people.”
His face was full of excitement, impossible to refuse.
Seeing the tent, Huo Beixing also became interested. He had never stayed in a tent together with his wife before, so he immediately agreed to help pitch it.
Huo Xiao had long ago picked out the spot. He pointed toward an open area not far away. It was a relatively dry stretch of gray ground backed by reef rocks, very open and perfectly suitable for setting up a tent.
Huo Beixing took the tent from Huo Xiao and slung it over his back. When he saw that An Yi also wanted to come, he was afraid that in the heat his wife would get tired, so he made up an excuse.
“Wife, go pick up some conches. There might be some over there.”
At moments like this, his eight-year-old brain worked exceptionally fast.
The moment An Yi heard that there might be seashells to pick up, he stopped in his tracks and didn’t continue following them to pitch the tent.
Watching from the side, Huo Xiao hadn’t expected that even though Huo Beixing had gone stupid, he still knew how to care for people.
He followed Huo Beixing to the empty patch of ground.
Huffing and puffing, Huo Xiao spread out the tent net. Huo Beixing pulled out the support rods, but every now and then he still turned his head to look toward where An Yi was, as if afraid he might somehow get lost.
Then Huo Xiao asked, “Brother Beixing, do you really like Brother An Yi a lot?”
Since theirs was an arranged marriage, there shouldn’t really be much feeling between them in theory.
A little clumsily, Huo Beixing nodded. Thinking of his wife, he blushed and grew somewhat shy. “I do.”
Curious, Huo Xiao asked, “Why do you like Brother An Yi?”
Huo Beixing replied, “Because my wife is a prince.”
Frog Prince—you deserve to have one.
Huo Xiao was utterly baffled. “But aren’t princes supposed to be with princesses?”
Without the slightest shame, Huo Beixing declared, “I am one.”
Huo Xiao: “…Aren’t princesses supposed to be girls?”
The moment he heard that, Huo Beixing was unwilling to accept it. “Who says so?!”
Then, standing on the moral high ground, he began wagging a finger at Huo Xiao. “You’re discriminating based on gender.”
Huo Xiao: ……
Fine. You’re the princess. You are absolutely the princess!
At the seaside, An Yi walked along with his head lowered, searching for conches. At that moment, a volleyball rolled over to his feet.
Quite a few young people on the beach had set up nets and were playing volleyball in teams.
An Yi bent and picked up the volleyball at his feet, intending to return it, but when he looked up, there were no fewer than four groups playing. He had no idea which team the ball belonged to.
Fortunately, it only took a moment before a young man with skin even darker than wheat-color ran over. “Sorry, that volleyball is ours.”
Hearing the voice, An Yi turned his head and met the other man’s gaze.
After looking him over for several seconds, the young man stepped forward, a warm and friendly smile already on his face. “Thank you for picking up our volleyball.”
An Yi extended his hand and passed the ball over. “You’re welcome. Here you go.”
With that, he turned to leave, intending to continue his shell-hunting journey.
Seeing that he was about to go, the young man called after him. “Um, are you local or here on vacation?”
An Yi didn’t understand why the other person was asking that, but answered honestly all the same. “I came here on vacation with my family.”
He had no intention of continuing the conversation. After all, they were strangers, and there wasn’t much to talk about.
The young man carried the volleyball back to his friends and tossed it to them, then started to leave.
One of his friends called out, “A Jiao, where are you going?”
The youth called A Jiao headed in An Yi’s direction and answered casually, “Saw someone I clicked with. Going over to have a look.”
He too was Chinese, though he had immigrated to South Island with his parents when he was eight. There were more Europeans on South Island, but unfortunately he simply couldn’t appreciate European looks. Asian people only became more common around the end of the year, and ones that suited his tastes were even harder to find.
All his relationships from childhood to adulthood had been make-do affairs.
But the moment he saw the boy picking up the volleyball just now, it had practically been love at first sight. There was no way he could miss this chance. If they talked properly, maybe something could come of it.
Barefoot, A Jiao quickly reached An Yi’s side. “What a coincidence—we meet again.”
An Yi: ?
Hadn’t they literally just met?
A Jiao looked at his innocent expression, and the more he looked, the more he liked what he saw. He took the initiative to start chatting, but seeing that the other seemed rather shy and worrying that he might frighten him, he said, “I don’t mean anything bad. You just seem really approachable, so I wanted to make friends. You can just call me A Jiao—my friends all do. What’s your name?”
The other man was warm as fire, and his attitude was very friendly. Out of politeness, An Yi replied, “My name is An Yi.”
A Jiao stepped a little closer. “An Yi. Good name.”
An Yi asked, “What’s good about it?”
A Jiao said, “It just sounds good.”
An Yi looked at him in a new light.
This person had some taste.
After learning that An Yi was here traveling with family, A Jiao asked, “How long are you staying here?”
An Yi didn’t know either. Uncle Zhong had said that the Huo family usually didn’t go back until winter was over, but there could always be special circumstances.
“For now, I don’t know. But I won’t be leaving within the next month.”
Hearing that, A Jiao felt even happier inside. If that were the case, then while the iron was hot, it would be best to develop things quickly.
So he went straight to the point. “Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend?”
An Yi shook his head. “No.”
Wonderful. In his heart, A Jiao made a victory sign. Heaven was truly helping him.
“Then how about the two of us try developing something?”
A Jiao had more than enough confidence in his looks. Back when he was in school, he had always been highly sought after because of his appearance.
After hearing that, An Yi said, “I refuse.”
A Jiao could hardly believe it. “Why? You don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, do you?”
An Yi replied, “But I do have a male husband.”
A Jiao: ……
That escalated awfully fast.
How had a perfectly good boy suddenly become a young married wife?
But after thinking it over, it somehow seemed even more exciting.
A Jiao refused to give up. After so many years, he had only just now found someone who fit his tastes this well. Men generally didn’t come with especially strong moral standards to begin with, and most only cared about enjoying themselves and acting on impulse.
A Jiao was that sort of person. So he began tempting him. “Won’t you reconsider? I’d treat you really well. And I own a house locally.”
What a coincidence.
An Yi said, “So do I.”
A Jiao hadn’t expected him to be fairly well-off too. “Where?”
An Yi stretched out a hand and pointed. “Over there.”
A Jiao followed his line of sight and saw the majestic, imposing… sandcastle.
A Jiao: ……
What kind of house was that supposed to be?!!!
For a moment, A Jiao felt a headache coming on.
An Yi found the whole man rather strange. They had only met for the first time today, and already he wanted to “develop feelings.” He was already married—how presumptuous could one be?
He had known foreign countries were open-minded.
He just hadn’t expected them to be this open-minded.
There was no way he would agree.
Trying to dispel this line of thinking, An Yi said, “I won’t agree. My husband and I have a very good relationship. I’m not considering an affair.”
People ought to have morals. Even if theirs was an arranged marriage, that still wasn’t any excuse for him to cheat.
A person’s greatest skill was self-restraint.
Clearly, Little Frog excelled in that category.
Then he lowered his head and smiled.
Damn, he really was excellent.
A Jiao hadn’t expected the person before him to be so utterly devoted to his husband.
So he asked, “What kind of person is your husband?”
An Yi led A Jiao to a spot not far from the two-person tent team. “That’s my husband over there.”
Just then, Huo Beixing brought the hammer down and drove a tent stake straight into the ground.
A Jiao: ……
A brute.
He swallowed. “Are you really not willing to try something with me? I guarantee I won’t let your husband find out.”
An Yi shook his head, trying to persuade the man to abandon evil and return to the right path. “That kind of thinking is wrong. You’re a perfectly good young man. Why would you want to be the other man? The other man gets slapped.”
An Yi deliberately made it sound more serious.
A Jiao refused to give up. If the two of them could actually develop something, then getting slapped didn’t sound like such a bad bargain. Dying beneath a peony flower—even as a ghost, one would still be romantic!
“It’s fine, I’m not afraid!”
An Yi felt the other man was still too young. “You need to be afraid.”
A Jiao asked, “Why?”
An Yi said, “This wouldn’t be an ordinary slap.”
A Jiao tested the waters. “Would it be a slap from Wang Wei’s poetry?”
An Yi answered, “It’d be a full-arm wind-up slap.”
A Jiao: ……
