Chapter 67
Thinking of this, Jiang Qingyu turned the heat down a little, untied his apron, and walked over to Fu Jingqiu. He reached out first and grabbed the other man’s wrist. His warm body temperature pressed against Fu Jingqiu’s skin, already incredibly familiar and natural. “Your expression doesn’t look right.”
Fu Jingqiu lowered his lashes. “…It’s nothing.”
Jiang Qingyu raised an eyebrow slightly. “Is me waking up before you that terrifying?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Of course not.”
Jiang Qingyu said, “Then why are you acting like you made some kind of mistake?” As he spoke, he patted Fu Jingqiu’s chest and said in surprise, “Hey, it’s hard?”
Fu Jingqiu was nervous?
Jiang Qingyu did not understand, but he continued comforting him anyway.
Only, it seemed Fu Jingqiu had not taken in what he had just said. Since that was the case, he would use body language to ease his emotions.
He tried hard to stretch his arms around Fu Jingqiu. “I was cooking just now, so I still smell like oil and smoke. Don’t dislike it.”
How could he?
The kitchen’s fresh air system was very good. These advanced devices had greatly improved their living experience, and at this moment, the body hugging him was very warm. The little clay pot in the kitchen was bubbling, fragrance drifting out, while white mist lightly wrapped him in its embrace.
In such an atmosphere, Fu Jingqiu gradually relaxed and let Jiang Qingyu’s face rest against his soft chest muscles.
“I’m… used to it,” he suddenly said.
“Hm?” Jiang Qingyu lifted his face to look at him. “Used to what?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “A regular schedule, household chores, meals to bring to the hospital, tasks that had to be completed within set times. Not a single mistake allowed.”
His words were fragmented and unclear, like clouds and fog, but Jiang Qingyu still understood: this was Fu Jingqiu’s former life.
After leaving the army, his family probably had not made him feel warm or comfortable either. Thinking about it, that younger brother of his would not have helped him much. Taking care of his mother, handling daily matters, and sometimes even having to make time to help his younger brother—it was simply impossible to relax for even a moment.
If anything went wrong, his mother would blame him, using words that seemed painless on the surface but were actually full of veiled sarcasm to stab him.
Even after his mother recovered, he still had not been able to relax.
Of course, because some time ago, the conflict between him and his younger brother had deepened, almost to the point of being irreconcilable, his mother had stepped in as the peacemaker, seeming to persuade both sides. She had raised the two brothers alone, which had not been easy, and Fu Jingqiu always softened.
But afterward, once Fu Jingqiu had satisfied their demands, they only became worse.
The extremely ironic thing was that looking back over the past two years, the deepest sleep he had had, the sleep in which he did not have to worry about chores at all, was actually that night after his mother and younger brother joined hands to drug him, and because of the drug’s effects, he fell into a heavy sleep inside Jiang Qingyu’s RV.
That had been the moment he softened completely because of a “family trip,” yet in the blink of an eye, his own family had delivered him a grand gift.
But after that, there were no longer any matters that only he could handle, no more arranged chores, no more messes that required him to step forward and clean up.
Although a string in him was still instinctively tense, Fu Jingqiu’s sleep quality had improved far, far beyond what it had been before.
Now, reflecting on it, his personality had indeed been a large part of the problem.
If he had been able to withdraw in time after seeing them clearly earlier, those later things would not have happened.
But it was precisely because of those things that he had met Jiang Qingyu.
Fu Jingqiu suddenly remembered the curse Jiang Qingyu had blurted out in front of him last time and could not help laughing.
How had they ended up circling back to these past events again?
He always had a feeling that each time these things were mentioned, the hurt faded a little more in his heart. The pain brought by the past was gradually disappearing, replaced by the plain yet happy daily life he shared with Jiang Qingyu.
Jiang Qingyu was baffled by his laugh.
What was he laughing at? They were being serious.
He punched Fu Jingqiu’s back, neither lightly nor heavily. “Hey, I’m feeling sorry for you right now. What are you laughing at?”
Fu Jingqiu, with his thick brows and bright eyes, had actually learned how to pretend to hurt. How much strength could Jiang Qingyu possibly have? Yet he still gave a deliberate hum, as if intentionally trying to win pity.
He held Jiang Qingyu, burying his face even deeper. Such a tall man still wanted to bury himself against Jiang Qingyu’s shoulder, making it even harder for Jiang Qingyu to break free.
Fu Jingqiu said, “I was just thinking of what you said last time: thank her my ass.”
Jiang Qingyu: …There was no need to repeat it exactly.
Fu Jingqiu said, “But I really am very grateful to have met you.”
Jiang Qingyu’s face heated a little. In broad daylight, why had he suddenly started confessing? Fu Jingqiu had clearly been very reserved before.
Poor thing. Sleeping in once could even cause this kind of “stress reaction.” If not for his steady personality, who knew what kind of abnormal behavior he might show? He was already doing very well like this.
One thing that comforted Jiang Qingyu was this: Fu Jingqiu was actually someone who could save himself. That alone was already very impressive.
After all, giving in to self-destruction came much faster.
Sensing that Fu Jingqiu’s emotions had mostly settled, Jiang Qingyu “rebelliously” patted his butt and said solemnly, “All right, you’re not allowed to keep clinging to me. My food isn’t done yet. I now order you to wash up, change clothes, tidy the dining table, and wait for the meal!”
Fu Jingqiu was amused by his tone again. After letting him go, he answered very solemnly, “Yes, sir!”
As expected, this brunch was swept clean. Jiang Qingyu drank soup one mouthful at a time and sighed, “Outside, heavy snow fills the sky, and you invite three or five good friends…”
Fu Jingqiu looked out the window. Right now, there was only wind. Where was the snow?
The moment Jiang Qingyu saw his expression, he knew Fu Jingqiu had never heard this before. Half his face was buried in the bowl as he looked up at him. “Do you usually listen to crosstalk?”
What did this have to do with crosstalk?
Fu Jingqiu answered honestly, “I’ve seen some crosstalk programs at evening galas.”
As expected.
Jiang Qingyu said, “I’ll watch it with you next time. It’s definitely perfect with meals.”
There were far too many things he wanted to watch with Fu Jingqiu. And since he did not have the habit of watching things at double speed, it would probably take a lot of time to finish them.
Jiang Qingyu’s tastes were broad. He watched Marvel and DC, and as long as he found American or British dramas interesting, he would watch them. If Korean dramas or domestic dramas had decent reputations, he would try them too. He did not even reject dating shows or short dramas.
Days with something to look forward to made Fu Jingqiu feel very comfortable.
According to international custom, the person who cooked did not participate in post-meal cleaning and dishwashing. Jiang Qingyu went to the driver’s cabin to set the route and sat there for a while. Only then did Fu Jingqiu come find him while wiping his hands. “Recently, we haven’t seen many vehicles on the road.”
Jiang Qingyu crossed one leg over the other. “In this situation, a vehicle has to stay running twenty-four hours a day to make sure it doesn’t freeze. Unless there’s a necessary transport mission, ordinary people won’t come out.”
He had been paying attention all along. Although the shelters had big and small problems appearing here and there, even now, they were still continuously receiving homeless civilians.
The living conditions were a little poor, but as long as people could survive, those things were not a problem.
There was also news saying new shelters were being built, wasn’t there? Under the condition of compressing living space, they were trying to ensure greater capacity as much as possible.
Simply put, each person would have their own individual space, just a bit smaller.
When people discussed it online, they were all imagining a design similar to capsule cabins. Who knew whether the public’s suggestions had been adopted?
Although the extreme cold was difficult, it also gave them buffer time. They could use this gap to do many things.
“Huh?” Jiang Qingyu suddenly saw something up ahead. He manually intervened in the automatic driving program, and the RV gradually slowed down. Through the windshield of the driver’s cabin, a luxury RV could be clearly seen. It was exactly one of the skins Jiang Qingyu had previously used: a Mercedes heavy truck.
Of course, it was not unusual for this kind of luxury vehicle to appear outdoors in Xinjiang. The strange thing was that there was actually a flag stuck on the vehicle. It had probably been soaked with water and was frozen stiff, like an iron sheet. The English letters SOS were written on it with lipstick.
Jiang Qingyu turned his head and exchanged a look with Fu Jingqiu, who was standing behind him. The other man supported himself against the back of the chair with one hand and said in a low voice, “Drive over to the side and take a look first.”
The RV started moving again. Just as they had driven a little over ten meters, the people in the heavy truck seemed to discover them too and honked to signal them.
The sound of the horn carried especially far along this empty roadside. After two symbolic honks, the window lowered, and a small red national flag was stretched out, waving madly at them.
Holy shit. Who was this smart?
Jiang Qingyu half-jokingly said to Fu Jingqiu, “Doesn’t it feel kind of familiar?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Mm.”
“All right, since we saw them, leaving them to die doesn’t seem like our style.” Jiang Qingyu took out that “gun” of his and started the RV, looking as though he was about to do something big. “Since they’ve even used this trick, we have to at least go take a look.”
He waved the gun at Fu Jingqiu. “I forgot to tell you. Next time, teach me a few movements that look especially intimidating. At the very least, I need to make them believe this thing in my hand is real.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “That’s simple enough.”
Jiang Qingyu said, “Heh, show-off.”
The RV slowly drove up beside the heavy truck. Jiang Qingyu switched places with Fu Jingqiu, so Fu Jingqiu sat in the driver’s seat, while Jiang Qingyu stood at his side, hands behind his back holding the gun, ready to pull it out and bluff people at any time.
Before their vehicle even stopped, the heavy truck’s window hurriedly lowered. Before they saw the person, they heard the voice first. “Heroes, save me—!”
Pfft. With that tone, what kind of living treasure was this?
Jiang Qingyu laughed first, then looked up and met a young pair of eyes. The person clung to the window and said anxiously, “Sorry, sorry. It’s just that our situation here is a bit urgent. We’re not bad people. You can tell just by looking at me. We’re just…”
He rambled on for a long time without getting to the point. Fu Jingqiu frowned and interrupted him. “What difficulty are you facing right now?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Before the chatterbox young man could finish, a hand reached out from inside the window and pushed him to the side. Immediately after, a young woman took over his position and said to them very quickly, “We’re running low on fuel. We originally came here to refuel, but we didn’t expect the map information not to have updated in time. This is an abandoned gas station. If we can’t get fuel, we probably won’t make it to our next destination, and there isn’t much electricity left in the vehicle either.”
Understood.
Jiang Qingyu asked, “You want us to give you some fuel?”
The young woman said, “Yes. You can name any conditions. As long as we can satisfy them, whether it’s money or food, either is fine.”
The chatterbox young man popped his head out again. “Sis! We don’t have much food left!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he was pushed away by his sister pressing a hand against his face. Her eyes remained fixed on Jiang Qingyu and Fu Jingqiu. “I know this request may be a little excessive, but—”
Jiang Qingyu said, “Sure. How much do you need?”
