Chapter 22
Han Qiaoye, seeing Long Yu lean over, shouted: “Don’t play like that! Long Yu, that’s cheating!”
Long Yu glanced at the cards: “He’s a civilian.”
Han quickly revised: “Jing Yao hasn’t played in years—probably rusty. Help him out.” Jokingly—they were allies, of course, looking out for each other.
Mali nodded: “The senior still helps his comrades after all these years—truly fortunate for us.” In the literary club, Long Yu was treated like the emperor, Xie Chunkai like the right minister, and Han Qiaoye as the “Grand Tutor”—called that because in youth, Han looked scheming, like the strategists in TV dramas.
Xie Chunkai, annoyed: “You’re colluding!”
Mali smiled silently.
So Xie Chunkai and Zhuo Yifan were trounced.
Zhuo Yifan slumped in his chair, an IOU stuck to his face, feeling humiliated, glancing at Han Qiaoye who placed it there: “You’re grown up—taking card games so seriously, is it fun?”
Han retorted: “You’re grown up—can’t play properly, yet have the nerve?”
Zhuo Yifan: “…”
Faced with such shameless reasoning, he had no rebuttal.
Long Yu had a habit of napping. Han had prepared a room; Long Yu took the key, looking at Fang Jing Yao: “Let’s go.”
Fang Jing Yao blushed but stood.
Xie Chunkai nearly choked on beer, staring at Han: “They… Fang Jing Yao followed Long Yu? Long Yu actually got someone?”
Han laughed: “What’s new? Even monks eventually return to secular life.”
Xie Chunkai, coughing, eyes still on their departing backs: “First time I’ve seen this. I thought Long Yu was a solitary type—no romance at all. Never expected him to keep someone by his side.”
Han winked: “First person Long Yu keeps around—probably for life. Want to bet?”
Before he could finish, Xie Chunkai raised both hands in surrender: “No bet. I trust you.”
The two literary club traditions: don’t play cards with Long Yu and don’t bet against Han—they always win.
Han found it boring and went to drink elsewhere.
Zhuo Yifan, young, wasn’t sleepy. He moved with the chubby guy to continue drinking.
Having had a bit too much, he told the chubby guy: “I need the restroom.”
The chubby guy waved him off, sitting back to enjoy the chatter.
Whether it was bad directions or Zhuo Yifan being drunk, he wandered to the front lobby, climbed stairs, and finally found a restroom.
While taking care of business, he vaguely sensed someone nearby. Looking up, he first saw a man in a wine-red shirt, with an embroidered dark rose near the collar. It highlighted his pale neck skin and gave his handsome face a slightly sinister charm.
Han Qiaoye was also observing him, noting his delicate appearance. When his gaze reached the small white-haired boy, he squinted.
Zhuo Yifan had a pink bunny hair clip in his bangs—unclear when he put it on while drunk.
They assessed each other mentally with one thought: flirty.
Han looked lower, Zhuo Yifan, emboldened by drink and the card game rivalry, shook what he held and glared: “What are you staring at? Never seen it? Think it’s better than yours?”
Han returned his gaze to his face, smiling: “Do you say that to everyone, or just trying to provoke me?”
Zhuo Yifan may have lost the game, but he didn’t lose face. He straightened up as best as he could, glaring at him. His bangs were messy and tousled, though a few strands still fell down. His long eyelashes made his eyes look even rounder and almond-like when glaring, giving him a small, lean-headed, untamed appearance.
Han Qiaoye became somewhat interested.
—
Long Yu took Fang Jing Yao back to the room. He disliked the smell on his coat and wasn’t too impressed with the hotel environment either. He removed his coat, lying down in just his long pants and shirt to rest.
Fang Jing Yao walked a few steps over and asked, “You’re not used to staying in hotels, are you? Traveling usually requires bringing a lot of your own things, right?” He didn’t mean anything malicious—just curious about the lifestyle of people like Long Yu.
Long Yu patted the space beside him, inviting him to lie down. When Fang Jing Yao lay down next to him, Long Yu said, “It’s not that I can’t stay—it’s just I don’t like the smell of hotel laundry, that disinfectant scent.”
Fang Jing Yao laughed, rolling onto his side to look at him: “You’re a doctor and you’re afraid of the smell of disinfectant?”
Long Yu took the opportunity to pull him into his arms, wrapping his arms around Fang Jing Yao’s waist. He lowered his eyes to look at him, his breath so close it could be felt. “I’m not afraid, just don’t like it. If I had a choice, I’d rather have…”
Fang Jing Yao’s face turned hotter and hotter. When Long Yu leaned close to his ear, almost biting it as he whispered “you,” Fang Jing Yao nearly pushed him away.
“You’re… too… too something…” Fang Jing Yao stammered, flustered and unable to think straight.
Long Yu chuckled. Fang Jing Yao’s ears itched from his breath. He twisted his body to avoid him, only to have Long Yu nibble on his earlobe, causing him to go, “Mmm!” He reached to grab Long Yu’s shirt but quickly let go, thinking he’d need to go out later and couldn’t mess up his appearance. He said, “Long Yu, are you drunk? Hey, what are you doing, don’t bite!”
Long Yu ignored him, sucking on him without letting go. He rolled over, pinning Fang Jing Yao beneath him, hands lifting Fang’s shirt and slipping inside.
He only touched him a couple of times. When Fang Jing Yao began to respond, Long Yu suddenly took a deep breath and released him.
Fang Jing Yao stared at him, bewildered. Long Yu rested his hands on either side of him, still leaning down to look at him. After a moment, he bent down and kissed his forehead. “Punishment for not focusing on cards.”
Fang Jing Yao: “…Huh?”
Long Yu kissed his lips lightly, chuckling: “Punishment is to take a nap with me.”
He then wrapped Fang Jing Yao in his arms and actually closed his eyes to sleep.
Fang Jing Yao was completely overwhelmed. He didn’t want to nap, but Long Yu seemed settled and actually fell asleep! After half an hour of staring at the ceiling, he reluctantly closed his eyes to rest a little, suppressing the small flame of excitement in his heart.
He didn’t know if Long Yu’s old-school habits were contagious, but despite his reluctance, Fang Jing Yao fell asleep, truly accompanying him in a nap.
After a short nap, Long Yu woke up refreshed. There was a banquet that evening. He asked Fang Jing Yao, and seeing that Fang had no intention of attending, he notified the others and left early.
Fang Jing Yao called Zhuo Yifan, but no one answered for a long time. Puzzled, he was about to call again when Long Yu said, “He’s probably drunk and doesn’t know where he’s sleeping. I’ll call Han Qiaoye to help find him.”
Han Qiaoye answered quickly. Hearing Long Yu, he laughed: “No need to look for him—it’s the little apprentice Jing Yao brought, right? I know, he’s here with me. No problem, don’t worry. He got drunk, had a while of drunken antics, and just fell asleep. I’ll bring him back to the city tonight.”
Long Yu nodded. Fang Jing Yao asked: “Han, are you okay? Yifan gets rowdy when drunk, he didn’t hurt you, right?”
Han paused, then said: “…Nothing serious. He insisted on showing me a whole morning of boxing and even broke two panels in the hotel wardrobe with bare hands.”
Fang Jing Yao hurriedly apologized: “Yifan’s just a bit wild. When drunk he’s rowdy, but usually doesn’t hurt anyone. Just stay a bit away from him. He studied martial arts as a child—if he really gets rowdy, even I can’t stop him. Just humoring him to sleep works.”
Han Qiaoye reluctantly agreed and hung up soon after.
Long Yu asked curiously: “Does Yifan still like this?”
“What? Martial arts? Not entirely. His family trained him to defend himself in case of kidnapping, so he’s a bit rough normally, and drunk even more so.” Fang Jing Yao sighed in relief, smiling at Long Yu: “This little rascal—I didn’t worry about Mali or the others this morning, only about this little drunkard causing trouble. He’s really hard to manage.”
He joked: “Luckily, Han Qiaoye only likes girls. If Yifan liked tearing clothes, it would’ve been scary.”
Long Yu was silent for a moment.
Fang Jing Yao: “Huh?”
Long Yu’s expression was complicated. He had known Han Qiaoye for years but never seen him take care of anyone. Usually, if Han takes care of someone, it’s because he has some affection for them. And Han’s preferences… in relation to Zhuo Yifan, it’s unpredictable.
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