Chapter 46
Long Yu held meetings in Haikou for two weeks. Apart from occasional mandatory lunch gatherings, he spent the rest of the time with Fang Jing Yao.
Fang Jing Yao had recently fallen in love with Bao Luo noodles and beef brine noodles. Every morning he happily ate a bowl. At noon, they went to Xinbu Island for seafood. If lucky, they would get freshly caught fish from the fishermen, and sometimes fresh lobsters from Lingshui Bay. Normally, Fang Jing Yao couldn’t eat lobster, but the more forbidden it was, the more curious he became—studying how to enjoy the freshest flavor with minimal intake. He understood it better than anyone else.
“Half steamed with garlic, half lobster porridge—the one with bird bones for the broth… yes, use that to cook the lobster.” Fang Jing Yao eagerly looked at the seafood, also ordering a steamed grouper. When he wanted to try sea urchin and abalone, Long Yu stopped him: “That’s enough. If we get more, you won’t finish it.”
Fang Jing Yao reluctantly followed, looking back: “Then give me two dozen oysters, fresh, with lemon!”
Long Yu laughed at his insistence, correcting: “One dozen.”
The shop owner agreed promptly. While waiting, Fang Jing Yao couldn’t help peeking at other tables, seeing vermicelli steamed with scallops and looking envious. “I forgot about it!”
Long Yu smiled: “If you like it, we can come back next time. A little each time, so you can eat more over multiple visits.”
The dishes arrived quickly, fresh and tender. Fang Jing Yao ate heartily, though Long Yu took the oysters away for him to eat cooked. “Cooked only,” Long Yu said, raising an eyebrow.
Fang Jing Yao reluctantly complied.
After a few days at the same restaurant, satisfied, they gradually moved to another, still enjoying it. They also found an old brand for Qingbuliang desserts, bringing Long Yu to taste it: coconut water with ice cubes, assorted beans, and soft ingredients—delicious and refreshing, perfect for a hot day.
Fang Jing Yao loved to play and was curious about everything. Even small things became interesting when he talked about them. Long Yu enjoyed discovering the world’s little pleasures with him, slowly developing more interest in the world. This period was more interesting than all his previous years, and increasingly so.
They visited many places. Professionally, Fang Jing Yao liked taking photos, partly for new comic material. He took beautiful shots; Long Yu took a few landscape photos too. His zombie account avatar finally saw activity. For the first time, he posted a photo on his social media.
It was a full moon captured by Long Yu, captioned: “It’s beautiful here.”
Long Yu didn’t like socializing, but that didn’t mean he knew few people. Soon, comments poured in. No one expected Dr. Long to post such a sentimental photo with words. Some even asked if his account had been hacked. A few others, with ambiguous intentions, commented suggestively, saying they knew more beautiful night views and invited him to watch the moon together next time.
Long Yu ignored these. He was more concerned about what his beloved would eat for a late-night snack. After ordering, he worried some ingredients might trigger Fang Jing Yao’s allergies, checking repeatedly with the restaurant before letting him go.
Long Yu generously let Fang Jing Yao handle his phone. A few private messages came in—polite but with little tests hidden inside. Fang Jing Yao glanced and said nothing, waiting until Long Yu returned to push the phone: “You have messages.”
Long Yu saw and deleted them. Fang Jing Yao teased: “Just one social post and so many people invite you to watch the moon?”
Long Yu laughed at his possessive, food-guarding expression. It reminded him of young Fang Jing Yao—always eager to show off good food or fun things, but reluctant to let others touch them, hugging it close. He pushed the phone to him, like giving young Fang Jing Yao his favorite rough-berry cake, smiling: “I don’t handle this. You do it.”
Fang Jing Yao, following instructions, opened his Moments (WeChat feed). There were five or six rows of likes, and a lot of comments. He glanced through them, and when he saw some flirty ones, he sneered to himself. He thought he couldn’t let Long Yu reply to each one—Doctor Long’s aloof persona mustn’t break! So he mimicked Long Yu’s tone and left a comment himself, a kind of unified reply: Hainan, honeymoon.
This caused an even bigger explosion.
The comments didn’t increase much after that, but many private messages came through. Long Yu glanced at him; Fang Jing Yao hid to eat and didn’t care. Long Yu laughed at him, replying to two messages from familiar contacts and ignoring the rest.
Fang Jing Yao helped him with his food, smiling and trying to please him: “Doctor Long, try this—it’s really delicious. The peanuts in the Hainan noodles—there are so few I couldn’t even finish them myself. Here, for you!”
Long Yu accepted the few peanuts with a smile.
Feeling relieved, Fang Jing Yao had just taken a few bites of his own food when his phone “dinged.” A new WeChat request came through. Opening it, he saw an unfamiliar name and a landscape profile picture—obviously a middle-aged person. Fang Jing Yao muttered, “Who’s this? Wrong person?”
Long Yu glanced at him and said coldly: “My mom.”
Fang Jing Yao nearly dropped his phone: “Auntie, how did she know my WeChat? Did you give it to her?”
Long Yu said: “Didn’t you reply on Moments that you were on a honeymoon? She saw it and asked me if I was with you.” He glanced at Fang Jing Yao, eyes glinting with amusement: “I said yes, and she wanted your number to chat with you.”
Fang Jing Yao covered his face, almost hiding under the table, screaming in his mind not to accept it, but still tearfully tapped Accept.
Long Yu said: “Good, serves you right for being naughty.”
Fang Jing Yao then chatted with Long Yu’s mom, carefully composing each message as if attending to an empress.
Meanwhile, Long Yu got a new notification. Han Qiaoye commented on his moon photo, clearly envious: Take it, I’m not eating this dog food.
Long Yu messaged him privately to thank him. After all, Han Qiaoye had helped him with the flower purchase; without him, Long Yu probably wouldn’t have remembered such a thing.
Han Qiaoye replied quickly: “Heh, nothing in the world is troublesome; fools only trouble themselves.”
Long Yu: “…”
Back in high school, he’d thought Han Qiaoye overcomplicated things and this phrase was often used against him. And now, this guy remembered it and was still getting revenge.
Living in Hainan for half a month, Fang Jing Yao felt that their relationship had progressed dramatically.
There was no helping it. Doctor Long’s advances were too overwhelming, wrapped in a layer of sweetness, and Fang Jing Yao couldn’t bear to resist once he got a taste. By the time he realized it, it was too late. Plus, during this period, Doctor Long had been actively “negotiating benefits” for him, using both medical and mystical reasoning to persuade him. Fang Jing Yao half-listened, half-watched.
He thought to himself: Damn, Doctor Long is too handsome. How does everything he says feel so right?
Doctor Long succeeded in his plan, and along the way indulged in many unspeakable desires.
At first, Fang Jing Yao played along to satisfy him, but soon he realized Long Yu was relentless, using his physical advantage to make endless requests.
Fang Jing Yao became a little resentful. His body was strong, yes, but it wasn’t meant for this!
One day, Long Yu was in the bath, asking Fang Jing Yao to wash his back, giving a perfectly reasonable excuse: “Meetings today were exhausting. Help me with a massage.”
Fang Jing Yao thought: You used to come back from night shifts and still make me late-night snacks. Now you have three hours of meetings a day, come back in the afternoon, and you’re exhausted? He grumbled in his mind but still massaged his shoulders a couple of times.
The two chatted in the bathroom. Long Yu closed his eyes, enjoying the massage. Fang Jing Yao, with a hint of affection, teased: “The fish today is fresh, even fresher than yesterday’s grouper. And you didn’t eat much—such a waste…”
Long Yu grunted, looking uninterested: “I don’t particularly like fish.”
Fang Jing Yao was confused: “Then why do you always order fish?”
Long Yu pressed his lips together, said nothing, and chuckled.
Fang Jing Yao realized and poked him with a finger, raising an eyebrow: “You’re calling me stupid? You order fish so I can get brain food? Alright, Long Yu, you were laughing at me back then, weren’t you?!”
“No,” Long Yu hugged him, kissed him lightly, and whispered against his forehead: “I just wanted you to remember quickly.”
Fang Jing Yao’s small flame of anger was instantly extinguished by Doctor Long’s gentle affection. He rubbed noses with Long Yu, feeling a little embarrassed, and laughed foolishly. They held each other quietly for a while, kissed a few times, unwilling to let go.
After a moment, Long Yu reached out and tugged him, whispering in his ear: “Jing Yao, will you wash with me?”
Fang Jing Yao resisted: “No need…”
Long Yu raised an eyebrow, soft and persistent, using his authority as a senior: “Auntie said you should take care of me.”
Fang Jing Yao threw a bath towel at his head: “Ugh! My mom keeps telling me to be a decent person! Let go… ugh!!”
