Chapter 27
Jiang Qingyu swore that he absolutely did not have that sort of inclination.
Thinking about it carefully, these past few days, they had spent most of their time together. It seemed that they had not really addressed each other much. You, me—conversation was not delayed at all, and they got along quite naturally.
Now, suddenly hearing Fu Jingqiu call him by his full name, apart from feeling a little unused to it, Jiang Qingyu’s legs had actually gone weak for a tiny moment.
What was going on? He really was not like that!
Fu Jingqiu stood beside the yoga mat and stared at him, his expression leaving no room for refusal. Combined with the angle of looking down from above, it gave Jiang Qingyu a strange… mm, very peculiar feeling.
This feeling made him involuntarily follow Fu Jingqiu’s command and stand up. He obediently stood beside the yoga mat. “…What are we doing?”
Fu Jingqiu motioned for him to take off his shoes and stand on it. He held Jiang Qingyu’s wrist, supporting his arm and shoulder while explaining, “You often lower your head to look at your phone. Once you start, it lasts several hours. By the time you react, your shoulders and neck are already very uncomfortable. This is something you need to pay attention to.”
Jiang Qingyu mumbled, “I’m usually not that absorbed.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Playing while lying down, playing while lying on your stomach, playing while half-lying and half-leaning—none of those postures are very good. If you often do some stretching exercises, your body will feel much more comfortable. Otherwise, after a long time, you’ll have strains everywhere.”
…Teacher, please stop scolding.
Fu Jingqiu pressed his shoulders. “Turn around. Face away from me. Give me your hands.”
Jiang Qingyu braced himself and did as he was told, trying his best not to think of any terrible lines. “And then?”
Fu Jingqiu wrapped both of Jiang Qingyu’s arms around him without allowing any protest, placing them on himself. Then he pressed one hand down on Jiang Qingyu’s lower back and lifted upward—!
The birds flapped their wings and hurriedly dodged aside, afraid of being overturned by this fierce wave of sound. Passing vehicles could not help looking over, observing the situation with these two RVs through their rearview mirrors.
Jiang Qingyu’s miserable scream woke Meimei, who was sleeping in the little nest at the very top of the cat climbing frame. She stood up, stretched lazily, and curiously watched her old father being brutally tormented.
Fu Jingqiu let go and helped massage his shoulders, very “considerately” introducing, “This is the first movement.”
Jiang Qingyu wanted to cry but had no tears. “What stretching movement? This is clearly torture used to interrogate prisoners.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Don’t talk nonsense.”
Jiang Qingyu flattened his mouth. “Fine, I take that back. Is there more? If it’s still this painful, I’m not doing it.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “You didn’t pay much attention to this kind of issue before. It’s normal for it to hurt a little at the beginning. But just like last night, once the muscles loosen up, stretching again will feel very comfortable.”
Since he had already said this, and was even staring at Jiang Qingyu with that look, plus the fact that the other man was doing it for the sake of his health, the refusal slid to Jiang Qingyu’s lips but somehow would not come out.
“All right.” Jiang Qingyu looked at him a little aggrieved. “Then hurry up.”
Fu Jingqiu seemed like he wanted to laugh. The corners of his mouth rose by one or two pixels. Perhaps because he did not want to ruin the current teaching atmosphere, he quickly returned to normal. “Okay. This movement requires you to lie on your side. Come.”
The RV drove steadily, continuing forward along the set route. The blazing sun was gradually covered by sand and dust, while the wind kept rolling layer after layer of sand against the vehicle body.
If not for autonomous driving, they would definitely have had to slow down now, or else stop by the roadside and wait for this wind and sand to pass.
Logically speaking, this also counted as an alternative kind of scenery.
Jiang Qingyu quite enjoyed the feeling of wind and rain blowing outside while he leisurely drank tea inside the RV.
If there was lightning and thunder outside, with torrential rain pouring down, that would be even better.
But now, whether he drank tea or not, even if they encountered a sandstorm, he had no mind to care. As long as the RV did not flip over, he had to focus on facing Fu Jingqiu, who was arranging him into all sorts of positions.
Because if his condition was not focused, Fu Jingqiu would even tell him to concentrate! He was simply a demon!
He admitted that after stretching, it really did feel very comfortable. But when he was stretched to the limit, it truly felt deadly.
And Fu Jingqiu had no intention of showing mercy at all. He was so impartial that Jiang Qingyu wanted to cry but had no tears.
Along the way, he cried out on and off for ages. Later, he cried out so much that even Fu Jingqiu could not help breaking character and was amused. “Didn’t you say it didn’t hurt?”
Jiang Qingyu looked at him resentfully. “But I feel like I’m a noodle being pulled back and forth by you.”
Fu Jingqiu half-knelt beside him and soothingly stroked his back twice. His tone softened quite a bit. “The first couple of times are like this. It’ll be better later.”
Then he lowered his eyes and looked over Jiang Qingyu’s body. “You’re too thin.”
From the side, he was simply a thin sheet. The lines of each segment of his spine were faintly visible beneath the skin, and his shoulder blades opened like butterfly wings.
Jiang Qingyu waved a hand. “I’m already much better now. At least my complexion is okay. It was worse before. It’s fine. In any case, I’ll have plenty of time in the future. I can slowly recuperate.”
As long as it was not a genetic issue, if he kept living well, no matter how poor his health was, it could be nursed back. The current him was still very willing to use good things on himself.
Fu Jingqiu said, “It seems I’ve never heard you mention your own matters. Sorry, what I mean is—is this something I can ask?”
Seeing that Fu Jingqiu’s attention had temporarily been drawn away, Jiang Qingyu secretly let out a breath of relief. He crossed his legs and started chatting with him. “You can. There’s actually nothing special. I was raised by my grandparents. Half a year ago, their health wasn’t good and they were hospitalized, so I quit my internship to take care of them.”
Fu Jingqiu’s expression moved slightly.
In this regard, it was quite similar to his own situation before.
Jiang Qingyu’s tone became somewhat downcast. “Old people get old.”
If his grandparents had recovered and been discharged from the hospital, Jiang Qingyu should have been staying by their side to fulfill his filial duties, not leaving his hometown in an RV with all his belongings like now.
Fu Jingqiu’s large hand, which was against his back, moved upward. His warm palm pressed against the back of Jiang Qingyu’s neck and gently squeezed twice, the comforting meaning very strong.
“…” Jiang Qingyu, however, had a different reaction. “Why are you squeezing my neck?”
Fu Jingqiu was a little surprised and moved his hand away. “I only wanted to comfort you a little. Sorry. Is that not how it’s done?”
Was… it?
Jiang Qingyu did not speak. He raised a hand and touched the spot Fu Jingqiu had just squeezed. The temperature from his fingertips seemed to still remain on his skin, carrying a strange heat.
Fu Jingqiu did not know what he was thinking and very openly raised his hand again to stroke Jiang Qingyu’s head. “There’s still one last set of movements. Shall we finish it?”
Then maybe we should keep talking about the pain of our original families instead.
Obviously, avoiding it was not feasible with Fu Jingqiu. When health problems were involved, his attitude could be considered firm.
There was none of the earlier manner of discussing things with him and almost unconditionally accommodating him.
Jiang Dough weakly collapsed onto the yoga mat. The curtains were open, and the weather outside had turned gray and hazy at some unknown point. Sand kept being blown against the window.
Fu Jingqiu went to pour water for him, looking very considerate, while also helping to formulate a plan. “At least three sessions like this every week. It will help make your ligaments and muscles more flexible.”
Jiang Qingyu rolled over and lay on his stomach on his arms. “Instructor Fu, just spare me. Look at this little body of mine. Once a week sounds more like it.”
Fu Jingqiu gave a soft laugh and crouched in front of him with warm water. “Believe me, you still have a lot of room for improvement, Student Jiang.”
Jiang Qingyu met his gaze for a few seconds, then abruptly turned his face away.
No.
Why did this atmosphere feel a little ambiguous?
When he was in university, his roommates had seen many men showing interest in him and once jokingly told Jiang Qingyu to pick a good one from among them. They had even helped him list many requirements.
At the time, Jiang Qingyu had sworn confidently that his orientation was perfectly normal and that he would not consider those people.
But just now, the way Fu Jingqiu crouched in front of him, holding water and smiling at him, really made his face feel a little warm.
He awkwardly took the water. “Has the wind picked up?”
Fu Jingqiu turned to look out the window. “Just a small sandstorm. It won’t affect our journey.”
That being said, they probably would not be able to release the drone.
As it happened, Jiang Qingyu currently was not in the mood to fiddle with those things anyway. He waved a hand to show that he understood. Since heaven was not cooperating, they might as well not waste time here and head directly to the next destination.
He told Fu Jingqiu his plan, and the other man nodded and said all right. Fu Jingqiu also mentioned that he had bought many packages to be delivered to the next destination, so they could go there to pick up the goods.
As they chatted, Jiang Qingyu subconsciously changed posture, crossing one leg over the other and supporting his head with his arm. For some unknown reason, he shifted the topic back again. “Hey, then how did you comfort people in the past?”
Fu Jingqiu answered honestly, “Give them a hug.”
Jiang Qingyu asked, “What kind of hug?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Do you want me to demonstrate?”
That would not be good, right? Jiang Qingyu said, “Sure. Demonstrate.”
At this moment, Fu Jingqiu became easy to talk to again, almost granting every request. He immediately bent down, loosely wrapped his arms around Jiang Qingyu, and bumped him with his shoulder.
Good! Heavens! Above!
The bump nearly knocked the breath out of Jiang Qingyu.
Just kill me with the impact!!
He clutched his shoulder, grimacing in pain. “Brother, is this how you comfort people?”
Fu Jingqiu quickly came over to help rub his shoulder and apologized, “Sorry. This is how I used to do it before. It was quite useful.”
“…” Jiang Qingyu said, “I think they were bumped so hard by you that they didn’t have the mental energy to feel sad anymore.”
Fu Jingqiu lightened his force and rubbed while asking, “Then what do you think I should do? Teach me. I’ll learn from you.”
Good. He was not macho, admitted mistakes quickly, and was even willing to learn humbly.
Jiang Qingyu closed his eyes. This was not right. Weren’t these the requirements his university roommates had helped him list for a boyfriend before? Why was he applying them to Fu Jingqiu?
“Enough, enough,” Jiang Qingyu said. “That’s enough. It doesn’t hurt that badly. You don’t need to rub anymore.”
He rescued his shoulder from Fu Jingqiu’s hand and moved it slightly.
To be honest, after the stretching, his body was indeed much looser. It felt even more comfortable than after last night’s massage.
As a return gift, Jiang Qingyu decided to share some experience with him.
He sat up straight and said seriously, “Student Fu, Teacher Jiang will now teach you a method of comforting people that I learned from my grandparents. Personally, I think it works very well, but it’s for reference only. If you think it’s useless, you’re not allowed to laugh at me.”
Fu Jingqiu could not help smiling, but still followed along and became serious. “All right. I won’t.”
Only then did Jiang Qingyu rise slightly. Facing Fu Jingqiu’s focused gaze, he wrapped both arms around his shoulders, moved his head over, rested his chin on Fu Jingqiu’s shoulder, tilted to one side, and rubbed the top of his head against the other man’s cheek.
At the same time, his hand gently patted Fu Jingqiu’s back, just like coaxing a child, and he said softly, “Don’t be sad anymore. I’m here with you.”
