Chapter 47
Sure enough, Fu Jingqiu responded cheerfully, “I’m fine. Besides, the floor is warm too.”
The same old excuse. Nothing new. Jiang Qingyu was too lazy to argue with him anymore.
Who knew what type of wood he was made of.
Fu Jingqiu said that because he felt Jiang Qingyu did not actually mind the two of them sleeping in the same space.
Just like last time. His mouth had refused, but his body language could not lie. After the bedding was moved over, sure enough, he had slept very soundly and even stayed in bed lazily as usual.
Since that was the case, there was nothing wrong with letting him sleep in the living room.
If Jiang Qingyu suddenly felt like chatting with him, they would not even need to go through the trouble of making a voice call again.
Jiang Qingyu pondered for a moment. “I don’t want to sleep in the living room.”
Fu Jingqiu asked, “Then?”
He considered the feasibility of sleeping on the floor in Jiang Qingyu’s room. Because of the steps, it did not seem that convenient, but if…
Jiang Qingyu’s voice interrupted his thoughts. The outline of his face was slightly tense, yet his expression gave nothing away. It could even be called calm. “How about this?”
He said, “Prepare a quilt and come sleep in the bedroom with me.”
Fu Jingqiu looked at him in a daze.
Jiang Qingyu turned his head away and did not meet his eyes, as if that would make him appear more relaxed. Little did he know that his reddened ears had already exposed everything. “You’re right. It really is a bit wasteful to keep the living room heater on too, especially when the space is so big.”
Even though, even if he kept it on day and night and added another heated space, it would still be more than enough.
The RV had both diesel heating and floor heating, and the two systems could switch seamlessly.
However, the former used Jiang Qingyu’s reserves, while the latter used the RV’s own resources.
Jiang Qingyu was not stupid. The RV’s built-in functions were all excellent. Just like its automatic driving, it was more high-tech than ordinary versions on the market. If he could use it, why not?
But Fu Jingqiu did not know any of this, so “saving energy” became the best excuse instead.
“This…” Fu Jingqiu hesitated a little. “Is that appropriate?”
His hesitant attitude annoyed Jiang Qingyu in one second. “What do you mean? What exactly is inappropriate? What do you think I’m going to do to you?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “That’s not what I meant.”
Just as Jiang Qingyu had said, staying only in the bedroom at night was naturally very convenient. The cats and dogs would all be together too. A family of four was quite nice, and it would not be wasteful.
But…
Fu Jingqiu said, “I’m just afraid it will deprive you of your personal space. If you want to do something, it might be inconvenient.”
His tone and expression were clearly very proper, but Jiang Qingyu himself had a guilty conscience and involuntarily thought of other things. A couple of nights ago, he had even taken out the toys the shop had sent as free gifts and studied them, but because he was embarrassed, he had thrown them back into the space.
If Fu Jingqiu were there, it really would not be convenient to study those things in front of him.
Jiang Qingyu’s face and ears heated. He said stiffly, “We’d only be in the same room while sleeping. It’s not like we’d be stuck together all the time! Anyway, think about it yourself. If I keep talking, it’ll seem like I have ulterior motives.”
Fu Jingqiu naturally had not thought in that direction, but seeing Jiang Qingyu like this, he knew that if he kept going, they might part on bad terms. He immediately said, “All right. Then let’s sleep together. I’ll pack my things and bring them over later.”
Saying “yes” sounded a bit too eager, while saying “no” was not what he truly wanted. After thinking it over, Jiang Qingyu threw down a casual “do whatever you want” and went back to the bedroom by himself to tidy up.
There were no forbidden items in his room. It could even be said to be arranged very warmly.
Jiang Qingyu looked around and felt there was not really anything special he needed to tidy up. He patted his own face and warned himself not to overthink. Ignoring Fu Jingqiu, he changed into pajamas and went to wash up first.
When he returned after washing up, the bed had already been reorganized by Fu Jingqiu.
His original quilt had been neatly rolled into a cicada cocoon, and beside it was another pillow and quilt set, rolled into the same shape.
Bro, are you treating these like sleeping bags?
After crawling in and turning over twice, they would fall apart, okay?
Seeing him come out, Fu Jingqiu politely stepped aside and asked for his opinion. “What do you think of this?”
Jiang Qingyu: “…Fine. It works.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “I assumed you’d sleep on the inside. If you want to switch to the outside, just tell me.”
Jiang Qingyu said, “It’s fine. I like sleeping on the inside.”
After saying that, he felt the atmosphere become a little awkward. He pressed his lips together and said, “Um, your turn to wash up.”
Why did it feel even more awkward?
Fortunately, Fu Jingqiu did not have all the strange, derived thoughts filling Jiang Qingyu’s head. He nodded, said okay, and took his things out, leaving Jiang Qingyu alone in the room scratching his ears and cheeks.
Thinking about it was one thing. Inviting him was another. But actually carrying it out, and being about to realize it, was yet another thing entirely.
As if venting his frustration, Jiang Qingyu fiercely grabbed at his own head. Then he simply stopped thinking about anything and climbed straight into bed.
Having learned from last time, he did not dare casually lift the privacy curtain this time. He planned to wait until Fu Jingqiu came back before checking how heavily the snow was falling outside.
He had turned on the electric blanket in advance, so the entire bed was warm now. He would turn it off before sleeping later, so it would not “roast” a person dry overnight.
Burrowing into the blankets, the feeling of being surrounded from all sides by the soft texture of the down quilt was still very comfortable.
Jiang Qingyu wriggled deeper into the cocoon, then slowly moved out again, revealing only his head. Just as he was about to let out a long breath, he looked up and met Fu Jingqiu’s gaze as the other man came out of the bathroom.
Fu Jingqiu was standing beside the bed, while Jiang Qingyu was wrapped in the quilt with only his head exposed. The scene was very strange.
That breath got stuck halfway in his throat, neither able to cough nor swallow.
Fu Jingqiu had changed into pajamas. His collar was not very proper, and his buttons were not fastened neatly either. The curve in the middle was very obvious. Jiang Qingyu shifted his gaze away and heard him ask, “Do you want to see if it’s still snowing outside?”
Exactly what he wanted!
Jiang Qingyu said, “Yes!”
Fu Jingqiu helped him lift the curtain and pull down the privacy shade. Outside, everything was a vast whiteness, pouring down from above as if covering the sky and earth. In such a short while, the ground had already turned completely white. The nearby poplar forest was covered in clusters of snow, looking very beautiful.
Jiang Qingyu unconsciously leaned closer to him. One hand braced against Fu Jingqiu’s knee as he poked his head out like a little cat to look outside. “By the time we wake up tomorrow, will the snow outside be up to our calves?”
Fu Jingqiu let him brace against him and did not move. “If it keeps snowing through the night, that’s very possible.”
At this point, pulling open the privacy curtain over the skylight would be useless too. There was probably already a layer of snow on the roof of the vehicle. Although the RV was equipped with an automatic snow-clearing function, using it now would be too noisy. It was better to stay quietly like this.
Jiang Qingyu pretended to mention casually, “That’s fine too. I bought a lot of snow-melting agent, enough to use.”
Fu Jingqiu raised an eyebrow. “Snow-melting agent?”
“Mm.” Jiang Qingyu lowered his head and picked at the colorful little koi pattern on the bedsheet, pretending nothing was wrong. “Isn’t this a self-driving trip? I was afraid of running into special situations, just in case.”
Fu Jingqiu lowered his eyes and looked at the faintly visible crown of Jiang Qingyu’s head hidden in his soft hair. Beside it, a little cowlick stuck up, making his hand itch just from looking. He smiled and praised him, “So foresighted.”
Jiang Qingyu coughed twice in embarrassment. “I-it’s all right.”
He sat back down, tugged at the blanket, and said, “Sleep, sleep. It’s late.” As he spoke, he felt around for his phone, unlocked it as he lay down, and opened an app he often browsed.
Fu Jingqiu: ?
He stretched out his arm and turned off the light with a click. In the darkness, aside from Meimei’s pair of cat eyes glowing like light bulbs, all the light came from the phone Jiang Qingyu was holding, reflecting onto his face.
Fu Jingqiu imitated the tone Jiang Qingyu had just used and repeated, “Sleep? It’s late?”
Jiang Qingyu: “…”
Bro, look at you.
He turned over, facing Fu Jingqiu with the back of his head, and even hid his phone a little under the blanket. “What about this? Better?”
Better, my foot.
Fu Jingqiu dug him out of the blanket a little, grabbed his wrist, and tried to take the phone away. “Playing with your phone under the covers after turning off the lights. Do you not want your eyes anymore?”
Jiang Qingyu stubbornly said, “Just for a little while.”
“Not even for a little while.” Fu Jingqiu was impartial and strict. “Either turn on the light and play, then sleep after you’re done.”
Jiang Qingyu said, “Playing with the lights on has no atmosphere.”
Fu Jingqiu asked, “You need atmosphere to play with your phone?”
Jiang Qingyu was quite confident. “Mm-hm.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “In the current situation, if you become nearsighted, who’s going to get you glasses?”
Jiang Qingyu: “…” Good question.
It was not as if he absolutely had to play. It was just that he was not used to sleeping without playing on his phone for a while first.
Of course he knew that using a phone in the dark hurt his eyes. It was like staying up late and seeing online posts about how harmful staying up late was to the body, feeling terrified while continuing to stay up anyway.
Now that Fu Jingqiu had said a couple of things, Jiang Qingyu obediently put his phone away in the end. “Fine.”
Fu Jingqiu reached over to tuck in his blanket for him. After confirming that Jiang Qingyu had been wrapped into a plump, beautiful silkworm cocoon, he finally lay down as well, flat on his back in a proper posture. Who knew whether his hands were crossed over his abdomen under the quilt.
Jiang Qingyu also lay flat, staring at the ceiling of the vehicle in the darkness. The faint scent of laundry detergent that belonged uniquely to Fu Jingqiu filled his nose. His breathing was very light, but his presence was not weak.
Earlier, Jiang Qingyu had looked at the snow and wanted to play on his phone because he wanted the atmosphere between the two of them to feel normal. Or rather, he wanted himself to feel normal and not say anything strange.
The two of them lay side by side. Fu Jingqiu had brought his own quilt and pillow, so although they were on the same bed, there was actually still some distance between them. It did not count as too intimate.
But as long as they both lay on their sides, facing the correct direction, they could look at each other in the darkness and silently trace each other’s outlines with their gazes.
That was even more ambiguous than sharing one blanket.
Thinking this, Jiang Qingyu had no sleepiness at all.
A voice suddenly sounded beside him. “Why can’t you sleep?”
“…” Jiang Qingyu gave an “ah.” “How do you know?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Your breathing.”
He asked, “Is it because it’s your first time sleeping with someone else, so you’re not used to it?”
Oh, that was not why he was unused to it.
Was he not allowed to be shy? What was wrong with feeling a little embarrassed?
Jiang Qingyu thought for a moment, then simply replied in a deliberately deep manner, “I’m just thinking about life.”
Fu Jingqiu: ?
Jiang Qingyu turned over to face him. “Hey, the two of us have been teamed up for a while now, and I feel like you don’t seem to have any needs.”
Fu Jingqiu asked, “Why do you say that?”
Jiang Qingyu said, “You don’t have many preferences. As for food, you only like eating shrimp. And if there is some, you eat it; if there isn’t, it seems like you don’t care either. Usually, the thing you spend the most time on is fitness and training. Otherwise, you do some housework. Besides that, you play on your phone very little, occasionally read books, or…” He suddenly thought of something. “Hey, are you a bland person?”
Because he spent a lot of time with Jiang Qingyu and heard all kinds of meme words or dry jokes from him, Fu Jingqiu would sometimes go online and see what young people nowadays were talking about, so he naturally understood.
“Perhaps,” Fu Jingqiu did not deny it. “But is there any problem with that?”
Jiang Qingyu turned over and lay on his stomach, pulling the pillow over and hugging it in his arms. “That means you have no soft spots or weaknesses. If I want to ask you to do something, there’s nothing I can use to bribe you.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “You don’t need to bribe me. If there’s something you want done, just say it directly.”
Jiang Qingyu said helplessly, “I was just giving an example. You look too desireless.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “But this way, I can resist many temptations.”
Jiang Qingyu asked, “Then how do you make friends?”
Didn’t people need some similar hobbies, some circle, like-mindedness, and so on?
Fu Jingqiu took this very lightly. “It depends on fate.” He was not very enthusiastic about this aspect.
Wasn’t that the same as saying nothing?
Jiang Qingyu was helpless. “Don’t you have any desires or anything? No matter what aspect, not even a tiny bit?”
Fu Jingqiu gave an “oh.” “Physiological needs? I do.”
Jiang Qingyu: “…………………………”
That is not what I was talking about!!!!
Almost instantly, heat rushed from his feet to the top of his head. Jiang Qingyu felt his face and body become scorching hot because of Fu Jingqiu’s words.
He truly could not understand how Fu Jingqiu managed to say such things in such a flat tone!!
Although with what he had, having needs was very normal, but still.
You, this person, are so serious that I previously thought you wouldn’t do handwork, and if you had a need, you would silently endure it until the reaction passed.
Jiang Qingyu pressed his face hard into the pillow, hiding his breathing, which had been disturbed by a single sentence from Fu Jingqiu, for more than ten seconds. Only then did he release his head, his cheeks burning as he pretended to be calm. “That’s not what I meant.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “I misunderstood. Sorry.” He seemed to think about it seriously. “If you’re not talking about that, then there’s nothing else.”
I’m begging you.
Jiang Qingyu gritted his teeth. Since the conversation had naturally reached this point, and Fu Jingqiu did not seem very resistant, it should be fine for him to ask a couple more questions, right?
He rubbed the tip of his nose with the back of his hand. “But speaking of that, uh, how do you solve it?”
Fu Jingqiu asked in confusion, “With my hand.” What else?
Jiang Qingyu probed, “Just that? Nothing else?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Mm. Usually that.”
It had to be said, this really was adult men’s late-night conversation. No matter how warm the topic was at the start, it would eventually gallop off forever in a colored direction.
Jiang Qingyu asked, “Then you… have never dated before?”
Fu Jingqiu answered without hesitation, “No. I had no time, and no one I liked.”
Now Jiang Qingyu was puzzled. “You’ve never met anyone you had a good impression of either?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “No.”
Jiang Qingyu coughed twice. “In that case, I’m about to ask a very clichéd question.”
His tone was interesting, and Fu Jingqiu unconsciously smiled along. “All right. Ask. I’ll answer truthfully.”
I believe you, Jiang Qingyu thought.
Up to now, forget covering anything up, you’re completely someone who can’t even be bothered to lie.
A little bee in action, a sloth in thought.
Jiang Qingyu cleared his throat again. In the darkness, he clenched his hand into a fist like a microphone and held it in front of Fu Jingqiu. “Then may I ask, Mr. Fu, what is your ideal type? Or rather, what traits would someone you like have?”
Try saying filial and see what happens.
Fu Jingqiu laughed quietly twice, clearly seeing his “microphone.” Very cooperatively, he held Jiang Qingyu’s wrist. “Wait a moment. Let me think.”
His palm was very large, and his fingers were long too. He could easily circle Jiang Qingyu’s wrist. There was no doubt that if he wanted to switch positions and wrap his palm around this “microphone,” he could do so effortlessly.
The temperature of his fingertips and the touch of his skin remained on Jiang Qingyu’s skin for a long time. Jiang Qingyu lowered his eyes, his lashes trembling slightly. “You need to think about this?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “I’ve thought of it.”
So fast?!
Fu Jingqiu said, “Someone a little quirky and clever, I suppose. It feels like they would be very interesting.”
Hearing this description from his mouth was also rather shocking.
Quirky and clever? It seemed to have nothing to do with him at all.
Jiang Qingyu was not very happy. “Didn’t you say you never had anyone you liked and never dated before? How can you suddenly give such a specific description now? Usually, it’s hard to answer so quickly without a reference.”
Fu Jingqiu said openly, “Because when I usually spend time with you, I feel your personality is very good. So I thought about it just now. If my future partner had this kind of personality too, it would probably be very nice.”
“?”
Wait. Something seemed wrong here.
Jiang Qingyu stared blankly for a moment. He wanted to say something, but did not know how. In the end, he squeezed out one word. “Ah?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Mm?”
Jiang Qingyu scratched his head. His other hand was still being held by Fu Jingqiu. The other man’s body temperature seemed a little higher than his, burning his fingertips numb.
He said, “Isn’t it a little wrong for you to use me as a reference?”
Fu Jingqiu suddenly understood. “Ah, sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose. Is this very impolite? I apologize.”
Bro, is this a question of politeness? You have a problem, okay!
Was Fu Jingqiu a little slow in this area?
Would a normal person think it would be nice to find a partner with a personality like their brother or friend?
Then why not date the brother?
Jiang Qingyu muttered, “Not exactly…”
Perhaps Fu Jingqiu really was not enlightened in this area. Jiang Qingyu had also discovered this from spending time with him.
When he realized his abnormal reaction to Fu Jingqiu at the hot spring hotel, Jiang Qingyu had already prepared himself for a long battle.
The so-called patient guidance meant that at a moment like this, he had to press the advantage and absolutely could not drop the ball.
Jiang Qingyu secretly made a fist and quietly moved a little closer to Fu Jingqiu. “You just said you think my personality is pretty good, right?”
Uh, wait. It seemed he was about to say something a little cheesy again.
But the words were already at his lips. If he did not say them, he would feel itchy all over. So after hesitating for only two seconds, he smoothly asked the question.
“What do you think of me as a person?”
After saying it, even Jiang Qingyu himself felt a little embarrassed. Under the blanket, he pinched his own thigh, wincing from the pain.
Fu Jingqiu deeply felt that this was a question that required a serious answer. In the past, his teammates seemed to have asked him something like this too. He had given a very fair and impartial answer, so he was not completely unfamiliar with this situation.
After thinking for a moment, Fu Jingqiu said, “I said before that you’re someone who softens very easily, likes helping others, and has a good temper.”
“Of course, being soft-hearted is a double-edged sword. You may very well suffer a major loss because of this trait. This is something you need to pay attention to.”
Jiang Qingyu bounced repeatedly between blushing with a pounding heart and wanting to roll his eyes. One moment, Fu Jingqiu was praising him for being kind, and the next, he was telling him to be more vigilant. After all that talking, not a single sentence was what he actually wanted to hear.
So he waved his hand, interrupting Fu Jingqiu’s instructor-style graduation assessment, and said directly, “I mean, as a partner, what do you think of me?”
This time, it was Fu Jingqiu’s turn to freeze.
As a partner? He really had never thought about it.
This time, Fu Jingqiu thought several times longer than before, making Jiang Qingyu nervous and a little puzzled. Was this question that hard to answer?
This was a little awkward.
If you really can’t praise me, then why don’t you just snore twice and pretend you fell asleep, bro? I won’t blame you—yeah, right. Why are you silent for so long!!
After a long silence, Fu Jingqiu seemed to have finally figured something out and stated, “You’re not suited for dating.”
Jiang Qingyu clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. “Why?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “If you dated, I don’t know whether you could take good care of the other person.”
Jiang Qingyu said, “Ah?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Or rather, I can’t imagine it. Because no matter how I look at it, you seem more like the one who needs to be taken care of.”
Jiang Qingyu said weakly, “Not really. I’m actually quite diligent.”
He was not a lazy bum! Before Fu Jingqiu came, when he was alone in the RV, including the time before he had the system, he had always kept everything clean, tidy, and very proper. Meimei had also been raised very well. He was not allowed to say that about him!
Jiang Qingyu was just about to get angry when he heard Fu Jingqiu add an explanation. “That’s not what I mean.”
This was the conclusion he had reached after thinking about it very seriously.
In terms of strength alone, Jiang Qingyu was somewhat lacking and could not protect the other person very well.
Furthermore, he himself lacked a sense of security, so how could he give his partner a sense of security? This was still very important in a long-term relationship.
And so on. Every point was logical and well-founded.
After listening, Jiang Qingyu remained silent for a long while. He did not respond to Fu Jingqiu’s “not suited for dating” comment, and it was impossible to tell whether he was unhappy or sad.
Fu Jingqiu immediately reflected: Had his words been a little too harsh?
After all, Jiang Qingyu had enthusiastically pulled him into a late-night chat, specially asking for his opinion, only for him to strike the other person down like this.
It did seem a little too much.
“Sorry.”
“You’re right.”
The two of them spoke at the same time. Fu Jingqiu looked up in slight surprise and saw Jiang Qingyu close his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Because you’re thinking in the wrong direction.”
Fu Jingqiu did not understand. “What do you mean?”
Expressionless, Jiang Qingyu said, “Because my sexual orientation isn’t girls.”
