Chapter 63
Of course it was fine.
Fu Jingqiu even freed one hand to hold the bend of Jiang Qingyu’s leg, so he could lie more comfortably on his back.
Jiang Qingyu swung his legs and watched as Fu Jingqiu, even with only one hand, could still make the bed neat and tidy, tightening the edges so they would not shift or wrinkle. It was very much like his usual crisp and efficient way of doing things. Jiang Qingyu could not help laughing. He lay with both hands on Fu Jingqiu’s shoulders, resting his chin there. “I feel like you’re the kind of person who treats his partner especially well once he starts dating.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Isn’t that only natural?”
Jiang Qingyu said, “But actually, even before we got together, you were already very good to me.”
Fu Jingqiu said seriously, “That’s because you treated me…”
Before he could finish, Jiang Qingyu’s hand reached around to the front and covered his mouth. This time, Jiang Qingyu rested his head on top of Fu Jingqiu’s and said lazily, “I’m tired of hearing that kind of thing. Don’t say it.”
Fu Jingqiu laughed softly. The bed was almost tidied. He reached back, wrapped an arm around Jiang Qingyu’s waist, and carried him around in a circle to the front. Jiang Qingyu only felt the world spin, and then he was face-to-face with Fu Jingqiu.
Jiang Qingyu: …
Was he performing acrobatics?
Fu Jingqiu said, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you don’t seem to like hearing other people express apologies, gratitude, or affection toward you.”
Jiang Qingyu froze. “Huh?” Did he?
Fu Jingqiu gazed at him. “Is it because you’re embarrassed, or is it something else?”
Jiang Qingyu was quite bewildered. “Why do I feel like I’m fine…”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Then it’s simply shyness.”
Jiang Qingyu: “Hey!”
His butt touched the bed, and he was set down. Fu Jingqiu leaned closer, almost pressing right up to his face, and asked very bluntly, “Do you like me?”
Jiang Qingyu choked.
Heavens knew that even when he confessed, he had taken a huge detour with Fu Jingqiu, okay!
Seeing this, Fu Jingqiu raised an eyebrow, as if waiting for him to continue. “Hm?”
“Uh…” Jiang Qingyu scratched his hair, his gaze already beginning to drift. “This… does it have to be so direct?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “I can be very direct.”
He stared at Jiang Qingyu, almost without blinking. “When we first met, I thought you were a very good person and needed to be taken care of. Also, you saved me and gave me a new meaning to keep living, so I was willing to follow you. Even if we encountered danger, it wouldn’t matter if I died for you.”
That was way too direct. It successfully made Jiang Qingyu anxious. “Hey!”
Fu Jingqiu held the hand he was about to use to cover his mouth and brought it to his lips, touching it lightly. Then he continued, “I’m very slow when it comes to emotions. I had never liked anyone before either. When you said those things to me back then, besides not believing that you truly liked me, I also had one feeling: if I rejected you, our relationship would end, no matter what kind of relationship it was. I didn’t want that.”
Jiang Qingyu quietly looked at him, seeming to realize something.
This was probably the first time in so long that Fu Jingqiu had laid his heart bare to him, straightforwardly and without any concealment.
This person really was not the least bit wishy-washy.
Fu Jingqiu said, “But now I’ve figured it out. I really do like you.”
Words like that, which made Jiang Qingyu feel embarrassed, sounded incredibly upright coming from Fu Jingqiu’s mouth. Jiang Qingyu wanted to laugh a little, but this was clearly not a suitable time to ruin the atmosphere, so he forced himself to hold it in. Yet his fingers pressed against the bed instinctively curled up.
He had really never imagined that one day, someone would express their feelings to him so directly and without the slightest subtlety.
But at this moment, it was not suitable to look away. Fu Jingqiu was being so serious, so he also had to treat him with the same attitude.
Fu Jingqiu said, “I really like staying with you. I like kissing you, touching you, and with you…”
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! If he kept going, the review definitely would not pass!
Jiang Qingyu quickly raised his hand to cover Fu Jingqiu’s mouth, his cheeks flushed red. “You don’t have to say it in such detail. It’s fine to stop here.”
Fu Jingqiu’s lips touched his palm, and that small patch of skin quickly became damp. Jiang Qingyu silently withdrew his hand again, his ears burning hot. “Mm, those things you said… I know.”
But Fu Jingqiu still refused to let him off and pressed him, “So do you like me?”
This was forcing Jiang Qingyu to change his subtle expression into a direct confession.
But, courtesy demanded reciprocity. Fu Jingqiu had already said so much. If Jiang Qingyu kept pretending to be mute, it did seem a bit inappropriate.
What was this? Was he here specifically to cure Jiang Qingyu’s thin skin?
Jiang Qingyu felt as though thousands of octopuses were crawling around inside his heart. It itched, and he also felt a little awkward. His cheeks were burning, heat practically rising from his heart to his face, as if his whole body were about to catch fire.
“Mm.” He struggled to squeeze out one shortened syllable. “I like you quite a lot.”
They had originally only been chatting normally. How exactly had they circled around to this topic? Did men become emotionally serious after doing that sort of thing?
But compared with what Fu Jingqiu had said, his own two or three words were far too reserved. Jiang Qingyu racked his brain and carefully chose his words. “Mm… You’re very good. Before you, only my grandparents had ever treated me this well. Being with you feels very safe and very comfortable.”
He had followed Fu Jingqiu’s format, right? Yes, right!
After thinking about it, Jiang Qingyu still added the rest. “Um, those things… I like them quite a lot too.”
He was a normal man, not an ascetic monk! And it really did feel quite good…
As soon as the words fell, Fu Jingqiu cupped the back of his head and kissed him.
Responding to him seemed to have already become an instinct. Jiang Qingyu was used to his intrusion and obediently parted his lips, exchanging a long, lingering kiss with Fu Jingqiu.
When the other man released him with unsteady breathing, he still did not forget to lower his head and rub against the tip of Jiang Qingyu’s nose and his cheek. He did not know where Fu Jingqiu had learned this way of expressing intimacy, but it really was a little like Tangyuan.
Jiang Qingyu laughed silently.
The result of staying up late was that Jiang Qingyu woke up even later than usual. He had slept very comfortably. When he was hazily close to regaining consciousness, he smelled a faint sweet fragrance that seemed present and absent, its presence strong as it drilled into his mind.
Jiang Qingyu sat up while hugging the blanket. Fu Jingqiu had gotten up early. The bedroom door was half-open, and the fragrance seemed to be coming from the living room.
He got out of bed and put on his shoes. First, he stretched for more than a minute, then did a little light stretching and moving around before lazily walking toward the living room, looking refreshed and full of energy. “Fu Jingqiu—where are you?”
Just now, Jiang Qingyu had already felt that the smell was familiar. When he reached the living room, he saw milk tea boiling in the health pot on the table, steam rolling out hot and thick. Fu Jingqiu was teaching Tangyuan, and the little dog sat upright with several buttons placed in front of it.
The moment Jiang Qingyu saw it, he immediately laughed.
Wasn’t this that popular online thing where people used buttons to communicate with dogs?
Seeing him come over, Fu Jingqiu first put down what he was holding, got up, came closer, and kissed Jiang Qingyu on the cheek. “Morning kiss.”
Jiang Qingyu lightly coughed. “What’s this? So proper.”
He seemed like the kind of good student who dated by obediently following the correct procedure.
After kissing him, Fu Jingqiu stepped back, went to get a cup, and poured Jiang Qingyu a cup of salty milk tea. He asked, “Hungry?”
Jiang Qingyu said, “Not really.”
He lowered his eyes and looked at Tangyuan, who was staring up at them. The way it held its head high and chest out looked incredibly obedient, making Jiang Qingyu laugh nonstop. He asked Fu Jingqiu, “What step have you taught him to?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “For now, it’s just some simple training.”
He demonstrated for Jiang Qingyu. With a stern face, looking serious like an instructor, he asked, “What is your name?”
Tangyuan stretched out its paw and pressed one of the buttons in front of it. The name “Tangyuan” immediately sounded. It withdrew its front paw and sat properly again, looking at Fu Jingqiu with an expression as if waiting for a reward.
Fu Jingqiu fed it a small piece of beef and continued asking questions.
Clearly, before this, they had already familiarized themselves with some questions, such as which button to press when it needed to go to the bathroom and which one to press when it was hungry. Fu Jingqiu had even taught it how to express “uncomfortable.” It was unclear how this man and dog communicated, but evidently, Tangyuan already understood the meaning of these buttons and had started using its paw practically.
Jiang Qingyu was dumbfounded. “Is this for real?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “This isn’t much. Border collies are a very intelligent breed. In the future, it will only be able to master more short phrases.”
Some border collies could even “teach classes” themselves.
Jiang Qingyu had no choice but to be impressed. He gave Fu Jingqiu a thumbs-up. “Teacher, you’re still the impressive one. People say raising a border collie has a certain threshold. You’re more than qualified.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “This also makes it easier for him to communicate his needs to us in the future, and our cooperation will become more tacit.”
That made sense. After all, Meimei did not need to go out for walks, but Tangyuan did. Even if, later on, Jiang Qingyu expanded the RV’s range and made some kind of second or third floor for it to get air and go to the bathroom, for a sheepdog, it would still prefer to go outside and run around.
If conditions allowed, Jiang Qingyu would naturally satisfy the child. Of course, if conditions did not allow it, then they could only let it suffer a little.
Jiang Qingyu watched from the side for a while longer. Although repetitive teaching was somewhat dull, he quite enjoyed the feeling of sitting quietly to the side and watching. It was just that his stomach was not very cooperative. Seeing Tangyuan crunching the beef pieces so deliciously made him a little hungry too.
“Cooking, cooking!” Jiang Qingyu rolled up his sleeves. “We have to eat properly today!”
The snow outside still had not stopped, though it was lighter now. In this kind of weather, there was no rush to set off. They could talk about it after eating.
He was just about to take ingredients from the fridge when a sudden burst of noise came from outside the RV. Holding a tomato in his hand, he curiously looked outside and saw two or three young people anxiously looking around for a while before running toward them.
Jiang Qingyu had seen these people last night. They were the community staff. For them to look like this now…
Jiang Qingyu’s expression sharpened. Don’t tell me zombies appeared inside?
The RV door was knocked on. Fu Jingqiu casually grabbed something and kept it on him, then opened the window and leaned his head out, saying in a low voice, “What happened?”
The young man’s face was full of urgency. “Has your vehicle frozen over? We have an elderly person here who’s injured and needs to be driven to the hospital! Our cars have all been damaged by the cold and can’t start!”
Injured? Fu Jingqiu frowned. “What kind of injury?”
The young man said, “This morning, they insisted on going out for a walk and looking at the snow. They even wanted to do tai chi outside. We couldn’t stop them. At the time, nothing happened, but after lunch just now, they wanted to go out walking again and fell outside!”
No wonder. Elderly people could not afford to fall. If this fall caused a fracture, it would be even more difficult. In this weather, who could guarantee there were still people at the hospital?
Jiang Qingyu pondered for a few seconds, then stepped forward and leaned his head out beside Fu Jingqiu. “How about this? Carry the person onto the vehicle first.”
