Chapter 35
A cool, crisp fragrance instantly filled the bathroom, so strong that Si Jingce couldn’t help coughing a few times.
Seems like he sprayed too much.
He opened the window to let the scent dissipate. After it felt about right, he stepped out of the bathroom.
Yanyan was already asleep.
The boy curled up near the edge of the bed—one careless turn and he might fall off—but he had left a large space for Si Jingce. His eyelashes were long and curled, trembling slightly with each breath. A few strands of hair clung to his face, making him look especially obedient and soft.
Si Jingce lay down. The blanket had already been warmed thoroughly by Yanyan.
He reached out and pulled the boy into his arms. As he moved, Yanyan drowsily leaned over as well, burying his head against Si Jingce’s chest and rubbing against him.
Suddenly, Yanyan frowned in his sleep, took a deep breath, and began coughing instinctively.
“Cough cough… Brother…”
He opened his eyes in confusion, still half-asleep. “Did our house run out of water…”
Si Jingce: ?
Yanyan: “Why are you bathing in perfume?”
Si Jingce: …
Total failure.
He forced himself to respond, “I accidentally broke the perfume bottle.”
Yanyan slowly let out an “Oh.”
The scene Si Jingce had imagined—Yanyan clinging to him—didn’t happen. Instead, Yanyan tossed and turned restlessly under the blanket.
The warmth he had built up quickly faded as cold air slipped in, and Si Jingce’s arms were suddenly empty—
Yanyan moved aside, covering his nose with the blanket, looking at him pitifully.
“Brother.”
“I think I’m sick.”
“I can’t stop coughing.”
Si Jingce: ………
“And I don’t know if I might infect you,” Yanyan said seriously. “Coughing is really uncomfortable… I won’t hug you to sleep tonight.”
Si Jingce took a deep breath, inhaling nothing but his own perfume. “It’s fine… I’ll go take a shower. You’re just irritated by the strong scent.”
His first attempt had gone disastrously wrong. He felt an unprecedented sense of defeat.
He went back to the bathroom to wash off the smell.
To maintain the lie, he even threw the perfume bottle into the trash.
The scent on him shouldn’t be as overwhelming now.
As soon as he lay back down, Yanyan moved closer again, wrapping his arms around Si Jingce’s neck and sniffing deeply. “It really doesn’t make me cough anymore! Now brother smells nice again!”
The cool scent of Cangshan Snow blended with a faint hint of tea, as if it seeped into the bones—familiar and comforting.
Si Jingce felt conflicted as he held his waist. Yanyan took the chance to climb further up, wrapping himself around him with both arms and legs.
Now it seemed… things had backfired.
Seeing no resistance, the little bird secretly rejoiced, inching closer and closer until he was practically sprawled over Si Jingce.
Warm breath brushed against his neck. The boy kept sniffing him, exploring the scent—his neck, behind his ears, and even closer… so close it was almost a kiss.
Si Jingce unconsciously held his breath.
But Yanyan only hovered near his lips, as if discovering something new, then smiled happily.
“I really like brother.”
His hair brushed lightly against Si Jingce’s lips as he leaned against his chest, feeling the strong heartbeat beneath. “And I like how brother smells.”
The rhythm pounded against his ears, syncing with his own heartbeat.
His whole body tingled, heat spreading uncontrollably, strength draining away in an instant.
The boy weakly propped himself up, leaned toward Si Jingce’s neck, and lightly licked it.
The wet touch sent a shock through his entire body. Si Jingce froze for a moment, then quickly cupped Yanyan’s face to stop him.
The boy’s face was flushed red, breathing lightly, his gaze briefly unfocused.
Only then did Si Jingce remember something he had pushed aside.
Yanyan was still in his mating period.
Xiao Li had warned him early on to keep some distance.
At first, Si Jingce had done so. But Yanyan couldn’t stand the sudden coldness and tried every trick to cling to him. Since Yanyan didn’t show much reaction—at most building himself a “nest” out of blankets—Si Jingce gradually stopped paying attention to it.
But now…
It seemed Yanyan’s mating period had been triggered again.
The boy greedily inhaled his scent, trying to calm the restless agitation inside him.
Unconsciously, his legs wrapped around Si Jingce’s waist.
The man stiffened instantly.
“Yanyan.” He held the back of his neck. “Don’t rub.”
His own instincts were starting to stir as well.
Si Jingce lifted him up and sat up from the bed. The blanket slipped down, and the sudden cold made the person in his arms shiver.
“You…” Si Jingce’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “If you keep doing this, I’ll count it as you taking advantage of me again.”
Yanyan grabbed his clothes tightly, his rationality slowly returning.
The lingering heat of his mating period hadn’t completely faded. His expression turned confused and helpless. “Just now…”
Just now, he had reacted to brother.
His tail feathers swayed uncontrollably, building nests day after day—and today… under Si Jingce’s touch, he had lost control of himself.
And Si Jingce had seen it.
A sense of embarrassment nearly overwhelmed him.
At that moment, the man gently patted his back and comforted him softly, “You’re in your mating period. This is normal.”
He knew it was normal.
Yanyan barely managed to calm himself down and muttered, “Brother, can you not touch my back for now?”
Si Jingce: …
Right—he almost forgot. You can’t just pat a bird’s back casually.
Yanyan’s mind was still in a mess, replaying what had just happened over and over.
Did that count as taking advantage of brother?
Then… does that mean it should be added again?
“It’s fifty-seven now,” Yanyan said.
Si Jingce froze. “What fifty-seven?”
“The number of times I’ve taken advantage of you.” Yanyan looked at him seriously. “It was fifty-six before, now it’s one more.”
“But I just played games with you. If I play games, how many times can that deduct?”
Seeing him struggle with this all day, Si Jingce couldn’t help but laugh. “You don’t have to repay it. I was just teasing you.”
He had really counted it all the way past fifty.
“I have to repay it.” Yanyan bit his lip stubbornly.
Taking advantage of someone was very wrong—he was a principled gentleman bird!
“How about this,” Yanyan said slowly. “Playing games counts as deducting two times, okay?”
Si Jingce couldn’t bear it. “Four times.”
Yanyan insisted, “Two times.”
“Then there are fifty-five left now.” Yanyan thought for a moment. Somehow, he felt he had to reduce it to fifty today.
His gaze fell on Si Jingce’s lips.
In this weather, the man’s lips were a little dry.
“Brother…” Yanyan hesitated, “Do you need me to help moisturize your lips?”
The hand around his waist tightened unconsciously. “How are you going to moisturize them?”
Yanyan leaned a little closer, carefully observing his lips.
Then he smiled. “I know how now.”
Just as Si Jingce was about to refuse, Yanyan suddenly pushed him away and ran barefoot into the living room.
Not long after, he came back holding a full cup of water.
“Brother, drink!” Yanyan said proudly. “Drinking water will moisturize your lips too.”
Si Jingce: …
He silently drank the water.
It was ice-cold.
His heart felt just as cold.
“Alright,” Si Jingce said. “Don’t stand barefoot on the floor. Get back into bed.”
Yanyan obediently climbed onto the bed.
“Pouring water for brother counts as one deduction.”
Fifty-four left.
Yanyan wrapped himself in the blanket. “Does brother need me to do anything else?”
“No.”
“Do you want to look at your phone?”
Yanyan naturally unlocked Si Jingce’s phone and held it up in front of him. “Look, I’ll operate it for you.”
And so, under Yanyan’s “service,” Si Jingce was forced to watch half an hour of low-fat short videos.
The “operator” even slipped in his own agenda—lingering on snack videos whenever they appeared. Soon, Si Jingce’s homepage was filled with all kinds of snack recommendations.
Until Yanyan’s arms grew sore from holding the phone up.
“Helping brother use the phone counts as one deduction. Just three more today!”
Only then did Si Jingce understand his intention.
He wanted to repay the “debt” in installments, reducing it to fifty as a nice round number.
With interest, Si Jingce watched what he would do next.
Yanyan placed his hands gently on his shoulders. “Will brother’s shoulders feel sore? I’ll massage them.”
Sitting too long with his head down causes shoulder and neck pain—that much Yanyan knew.
He didn’t know if Si Jingce actually hurt… but for the sake of repaying the debt, he had to hurt!
At first, the boy kneaded randomly, but the pressure was decent and quite comfortable.
Later on, though, his strength faded.
It no longer felt like a massage—more like teasing.
Those hands occasionally brushed past his ears and the side of his neck, leaving a ticklish sensation.
Si Jingce glanced at Yanyan, who looked completely serious—not like he was doing it on purpose.
He grabbed his hands.
“That’s enough. Let’s stop here today.”
Yanyan hesitated. “But I haven’t massaged for long.”
And no matter how he calculated it, he was still two short for today.
“Can I massage brother for twenty more minutes,” Yanyan asked, “and count it as deducting three times?”
“No.”
He absolutely could not let Yanyan keep touching him like this, or he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight.
“That’s it for today. You massaged me, so I’ll deduct the remaining fifty-three.” Si Jingce said, “Your debt is cleared.”
Yanyan pressed his lips together. “Is that okay…”
“Then deduct three times.” Si Jingce bargained again. “Sleep first today, and repay the rest tomorrow, okay?”
Yanyan finally agreed. “Alright.”
Si Jingce watched him lie down, then turned off the lights.
Darkness filled the room. The boy skillfully slipped into his arms, finding the most comfortable position.
Si Jingce didn’t forget the usual goodnight kiss.
He lowered his head—but Yanyan reached out and pressed against his shoulder.
“No kissing!” Yanyan said. “If you kiss, it means I’m taking advantage of you again!”
Si Jingce: …
After everything tonight, even the daily goodnight kiss was gone.
Si Jingce was so exasperated he laughed. “Not letting me kiss?”
Yanyan looked at him timidly.
The next moment, his wrist was caught by the man.
Si Jingce pressed him down beneath him and planted several firm kisses on the boy’s face.
Yanyan: O.O?
“I kissed you seven times,” Si Jingce said, his breath slightly heavy. “Now you owe me fifty-seven times again.”
Yanyan was stunned by such a forceful move.
All his effort from the whole night was wasted. He stared blankly at Si Jingce, then finally reacted—his mouth drooped—
“You’re bullying a bird!!”
“It’s not me taking advantage of you—it’s you taking advantage of me!!”
