Chapter 80
A little past nine, Jiang Qingyu and Fu Jingqiu were sitting in the restaurant owned by Duan Yu’s family, drinking coffee. Although there was no sun, the room was warm, and the air was filled with the aroma of toasted bread. Leaning against the sofa felt extremely comfortable even if they did nothing at all.
Tangyuan had gone out for a stroll and burned off some energy. Now it was obediently lying beside Jiang Qingyu’s sofa chair, letting him stroke its head every now and then.
Recently, it had been going through a growth spurt. Originally, it had been a small, plump little thing, but now its body had grown several times larger. Because of the extreme cold, it had skipped the awkward phase entirely and started growing out its coat. Its whole body was glossy and smooth, its fur flowing beautifully. Just looking at it, one could tell it must feel wonderful to touch.
At this hour, people gradually came to the restaurant to buy coffee and food. Seeing such a beautiful border collie, tongue out and smiling, many people turned to look. Some stood nearby, eager to try, and quietly asked Jiang Qingyu whether they could pet it.
When they had adopted Tangyuan, they had consciously cultivated the puppy’s own sense of autonomy, often asking what it liked and disliked. On top of that, border collies were already an extremely intelligent breed, and most of the time, Tangyuan could understand what they meant. So Jiang Qingyu transferred the choice to Tangyuan’s paws. He bent down and asked it whether it wanted to be petted by this sister or brother.
If Tangyuan was willing, it would stand up, shake its thick fur, and actively send its head beneath the other party’s palm.
If it was not willing, it would turn around and point its butt at them.
Of course, Tangyuan was a polite puppy. As long as the human asking was equally polite, they could almost always touch its wonderfully soft head. The whole puppy smelled fragrant and was incredibly likable.
Only now did Jiang Qingyu realize that there were quite a few tourists staying in this little resort village. Most were young faces, and they clearly had some financial means. Leaving aside their clothes, even their mental state looked quite good. Some lazily draped in fur coats came to the counter to order coffee.
They had arrived fairly early and picked a good seat beside the floor-to-ceiling glass window. Indoors were green plant decorations, while outside, snowy mountains and wooden houses were scattered in a picturesque arrangement. The scenery was excellent.
As more and more people gradually filled the restaurant, Jiang Qingyu planned to idle here until after lunch before going out for a walk. Duan Cheng had said that in the afternoon, he would take them to see the little horses. In this weather, a temporary shelter had been built around the stables. They could not possibly leave the horses outside unattended.
The light was just right at the moment. At the table, one of them was reading while the other was slacking off on his phone. Jiang Qingyu kept switching between the WeChat group and video apps, happily engrossed, when he suddenly seemed to hear someone making a few “tsk, tsk, tsk” sounds. The distance was a little far, so he did not hear clearly.
Who was that? Calling Tangyuan?
But Tangyuan was trained. It could understand its name, but it would absolutely not respond to “tsk, tsk, tsk.” Calling it like that was useless.
Jiang Qingyu thought about it and ignored it. A few minutes later, he suddenly heard someone ask loudly, “Who allowed a dog to be brought into the restaurant?”
That person’s tone was very bad, sounding rather aggressive. Jiang Qingyu did not react at first. If they were talking about someone bringing a dog, then among everyone here, it was probably only them. Several gazes followed and landed on him. Only then did he belatedly realize this person was probably talking about him.
Jiang Qingyu: Huh? Wasn’t that your voice making tsk-tsk sounds just now?
Whether it was the homestay restaurant or the café, plenty of cats and dogs came inside to warm themselves and obediently sat by the door. It could be considered an unwritten rule. No one had ever said that cats and dogs were not allowed inside.
Besides, Tangyuan was wearing a harness and leashed. It was sitting here perfectly well. How had it provoked him?
“Ah, sorry, sorry!” Duan Cheng, who had greeted Jiang Qingyu and the others earlier before slipping into the back kitchen, appeared at exactly this moment. He jogged out, apologizing nonstop. “Sorry, sorry. We were careless.”
As he spoke, under everyone’s gaze, he pulled two acrylic door stickers out of his pocket and slapped them onto the door with a loud snap, then made a gesture for everyone to look. “We forgot to stick these on.”
Jiang Qingyu focused his eyes and saw that it was a “pet-friendly” restaurant sign. The cartoon puppy on it had its tongue out and was smiling foolishly. The black words on the white background underneath were especially eye-catching.
He then turned to look in the direction the voice had come from. The one with the foulest expression was definitely the person who had spoken just now. It did not take much effort to find him.
The other party was clearly very dissatisfied with Duan Cheng’s response. He did not directly flip the table and leave, but his expression was somewhat gloomy. From head to toe… mm, Jiang Qingyu did not know much about brands, but thanks to that senior from before, he had a little understanding of the brand that senior liked. The young man in front of him happened to be wearing that ridiculously expensive brand.
For now, he would call this person “Rich Bro.” Duan Cheng and the others had been here for more than half a month. If Rich Bro often came to this restaurant, he should know that they were the owners here. After staring at Duan Cheng for a while, he spoke in a strange, sarcastic tone. “So this is how you run a business.”
Duan Cheng’s reply was invincible. He tossed out three words directly. “So what?”
Rich Bro: …
Someone beside them helped speak up. “Handsome guy, this puppy’s just staying here nicely and not bothering anyone. Are you afraid of dogs or allergic to dog hair? Why don’t you switch seats with me? My spot’s far from them!”
Jiang Qingyu looked up and saw that the person helping them was an older sister who had just petted Tangyuan earlier. She had been especially fond of it, hugging it and kissing it, playing with it for quite a while before going to order food. The restaurant staff had even given her disinfectant wipes, arranging everything quite well. Everyone had been fine with it.
Except for this one person.
Rich Bro was probably used to doing whatever he wanted and did not like people talking back to him. He said impatiently, “You really are meddling in other people’s business.”
Duan Cheng’s hands were tucked into the pockets of his apron. Speaking of which, it was quite a coincidence. The restaurant’s uniform apron had a Samoyed printed on it, tongue out and smiling cheerfully. He said to Rich Bro, “How about this? I’ll refund your meal. Since you came over for coffee, I’ll throw in two more cups for you to take away?”
There was nothing wrong with the way he handled it, but Rich Bro was unwilling. “Do I look like I’m short of your little bit of money? Believe it or not, buying this restaurant of yours would be a matter of minutes for me. Who are you trying to fob off? I don’t want money. Stop with this pet-friendly or whatever nonsense. Anyway, I don’t like the look of that dog now. Kick them out!”
Duan Cheng’s face instantly darkened.
The people in the restaurant were almost all regular customers. There was only this one area of homestays in total, and only a few restaurants. Over the past half month, they had already become familiar with the Duan siblings.
Duan Cheng was carefree and laughed all day, while Duan Yu was steadier and handled things very thoughtfully and properly.
No one had seen Duan Cheng’s face darken in more than half a month. Now that it suddenly happened, even Jiang Qingyu was stunned.
“You keep opening your mouth and saying kick them out, kick them out. Are you insane—”
Duan Cheng’s verbal output had only just begun when Fu Jingqiu stood up behind him, placed a hand on his shoulder, and pulled him back. He stepped in front of Duan Cheng first and stared at Rich Bro. “So, under the circumstances where the puppy has not affected you and we are still separated by some distance, you are neither saying whether you are allergic nor accepting the compensation plan. Are you here to make trouble?”
Duan Cheng was not short either. He looked to be over 1.8 meters tall. But once Fu Jingqiu stood up, the impact he gave was clearly much stronger. On top of that, the room was heated, so he had taken off his coat and rolled up the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt to his forearms. His muscles were tightly tensed and large. Paired with that face of his, although he did not look exaggeratedly bulky, the visual effect made him seem a whole size larger than Duan Cheng.
Buzz cut, tall build, muscles, cold eyes.
Being stared at by him like this, Rich Bro immediately fell silent.
Actually, if the one staying in the restaurant had been a stray dog from outside, and if it had come over when he tsk-tsked at it, letting him rub it a few times while laughing and scolding it, Rich Bro might not necessarily have thrown a tantrum.
Or if Tangyuan had been called over at the time and obediently interacted with him, it would not have gone this far either.
The most important reason was still that this was someone else’s dog. It had an owner, and it was raised so well and so clever. Just looking at it made him unhappy.
Why did he have to be stuck in this godforsaken place? Why could these two newcomers still keep a dog? Why were they so carefree, so relaxed that they were just short of having sunshine arranged for them to bask in? Were they really not worried at all? Why!
The person at the bar had already very perceptively gone backstage to find Duan Yu. With the situation now frozen, she arrived just in time to smooth things over. With a few skillful words, she gave Rich Bro a way out and very politely “invited” him to return.
Rich Bro was only taking the opportunity to step down. Given the situation just now, with his personality, he might really have talked back, and once an argument got heated, starting a fight would have been too normal. But the result was obvious. He definitely could not beat that tall man.
To show that he had “backbone” and that he had strength, Rich Bro did not accept the refund or the takeout coffee. He secretly cursed a few times and was about to leave. When passing by Jiang Qingyu, Jiang Qingyu had already vigilantly picked Tangyuan up and held it toward the inside. Rich Bro shifted his hatred, unable to resist glaring at Jiang Qingyu.
Seriously, nothing had gone smoothly since he came here! He wanted to go home, back to his luxury mansion, where servants waited on him, and people followed him everywhere. Everyone around him had to watch his expression before doing or saying anything!
His family would not let him go back, saying that staying in Altay was pretty good now. What was good about this damned place? They might as well send a helicopter to pick him up!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. When he passed beside Jiang Qingyu, his brain short-circuited. He made an obvious fake movement, pretending to step on his shoelace, intending to kick Jiang Qingyu or punch him while “falling.”
Fu Jingqiu had been watching him the entire time. Naturally, he saw this small movement clearly. Before Rich Bro could clumsily topple over and play the victim, Fu Jingqiu directly grabbed him by the back of the neck and lifted him up.
Rich Bro’s whole body stiffened as he turned to look at Fu Jingqiu. Fu Jingqiu said expressionlessly, “Be careful.”
Now he no longer dared to stay. Fu Jingqiu’s gaze just now had been genuinely frightening. Rich Bro had thought he was about to take a punch. He had not expected to escape unscathed. Once he regained his freedom, he immediately slipped away as if oiling the soles of his feet.
Duan Cheng rolled his eyes and gave Jiang Qingyu a look. “Now you know what I meant last night, right?”
Jiang Qingyu silently asked, “Are there a lot of people like this?”
Duan Cheng shrugged. “They feel aggrieved being stuck here and want to go back. Every day they complain about this and complain about that. They also think the vaccine and serum research is too slow and curse nonstop.”
Of course, he said this quietly after sitting beside Jiang Qingyu. Duan Yu had instructed someone to send each table in the restaurant an egg tart. Just then, another phone call came in, so she apologetically raised her hand toward Jiang Qingyu and the others before going off to work again.
Duan Cheng hugged Tangyuan over, buried his head in the puppy’s head, and kissed it wildly. “It’s all right, it’s all right. We won’t bother with that person, okay? Our place is a pet-friendly restaurant. Come next time too. Come every day. Brother doesn’t dislike you. Brother welcomes you…”
Jiang Qingyu’s eyelid twitched. He had originally wanted to hug Tangyuan and coax it himself, but he had not expected Duan Cheng to snatch that job away. He could only lean toward Fu Jingqiu and let out a small sigh.
Fu Jingqiu touched his head. “I have something to tell you later.”
What was there that could not be said now?
Jiang Qingyu was a little confused. He originally wanted to ask more, but when he met Fu Jingqiu’s eyes, he knew that Fu Jingqiu probably would not explain now. He forced down the impulse to question him. After finally waiting until Duan Cheng finished “comforting” Tangyuan, he said he had something to do and swiftly dragged Fu Jingqiu away.
This was way too suspenseful!
His impatient appearance was really adorable. Halfway there, Fu Jingqiu could not help laughing. While laughing, he advised, “It’s not something you like hearing. Don’t be so enthusiastic.”
Jiang Qingyu pulled on his arm. “Even if I die, I need to die knowing why!”
Fu Jingqiu tugged him back slightly, his tone serious. “Don’t say things like that.”
Jiang Qingyu accepted advice readily and immediately changed his wording. “Then my curiosity urgently needs to be satisfied.”
Fu Jingqiu deliberately teased him. “Even if it’s bad news?”
Jiang Qingyu did not turn back. “How bad can it be? I don’t believe it.”
If Fu Jingqiu wanted him to reduce the frequency of bringing Tangyuan out, Jiang Qingyu had no objections. After all, less trouble was better than more trouble. It was better to keep a low profile as much as possible.
Once they entered the wooden house, Tangyuan was utterly unaffected and flopped onto the carpet. It even rolled comfortably. Jiang Qingyu squatted down to rub its belly, but before he had rubbed twice, he suddenly heard Fu Jingqiu call his name from behind him.
His full name, at that.
This gave Jiang Qingyu quite a shock. To be honest, Fu Jingqiu almost never called him by his full name. On the contrary, Jiang Qingyu was the one who had often been impudent, calling him Brother Fu, Old Fu, and all kinds of things. Being called like this all of a sudden made his spine go cold. He secretly thought, oh no, and for a moment, he did not know whether he should turn around. His mind rapidly reviewed everything that had happened recently. He thought he did not seem to have done anything bad.
Fu Jingqiu said, “There’s something I originally wanted to discuss with you, but after thinking about it just now, I decided it must be carried out.”
Jiang Qingyu: Brother, please don’t scare me.
He turned around stiffly, deliberately looking up at Fu Jingqiu from beneath his lashes. He even very schemingly blinked at him twice, trying to act cute to reduce the “sentence.” He played dumb and asked, “What is it?”
Fu Jingqiu really was weak to this. After meeting Jiang Qingyu’s eyes for a moment, he finally looked away and hardened his heart. “For the next period of time, you must learn some self-defense moves from me.”
Huh? Huh???
“…” So that was it?
Fu Jingqiu said, “I know you may not like doing this, but the current situation is special. You have to learn some hand-to-hand skills.”
Just what kind of lazy impression had he left on Fu Jingqiu?
Jiang Qingyu said guiltily, “Although I don’t really want to… I know this is for my own good. I’m willing.”
Fu Jingqiu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He reached out to stroke Jiang Qingyu’s cheek. His calluses brushed over his skin, leaving a faint tingling sensation. “Good boy.”
“.” Jiang Qingyu felt even guiltier.
Actually, back in university, he had been someone who could work three part-time jobs. He had been a server in a restaurant, shaken milk tea, handed out flyers in summer, stuffed himself into a hot mascot costume to interact with children, and even worked as a server in a bar.
Things like exercise or running were truly not much compared to those in his eyes.
After all, the probability of encountering a lunatic at the gym was still very low.
During this period, he had merely been indulging in retaliatory laziness, wanting to make up for all the vacations he had missed during university. That was why he kept playing, having fun, and sleeping in. But in reality, he was not the kind of person who needed praise just for washing a bowl!
Forget it. Better to keep the misunderstanding going.
Otherwise, if Fu Jingqiu really dragged him to the gym later, that would be bad.
Fu Jingqiu explained, “At the restaurant just now, that person made a fake move when he was leaving. In reality, he wanted to kick or punch you. His intention was very obvious.”
Jiang Qingyu said, “Ah.”
Was that so? At the time, all his attention had been on staying alert in case the other party suddenly went crazy at Tangyuan. This puppy baby was not even one year old yet and could not endure this kind of neurotic human.
Fu Jingqiu said, “If you had some skills, when he lunged over, you could have twisted his arm and kicked him out, or used a shoulder throw.”
Jiang Qingyu pointed at himself. “Me? A shoulder throw?” He shrank his neck a little. “That person looked bigger than me.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “With technique, it’s possible.”
Jiang Qingyu imagined that scene and laughed. “Then I want to learn that!”
Someone wanted to attack him, but instead got thrown to the ground by someone who looked like he had no exercise habits. Just imagining the scene felt satisfying.
Fu Jingqiu said, “Not just that. I can’t guarantee what kind of situations we’ll encounter later, nor whether I’ll always be by your side. To prevent even the one-in-ten-thousand possibility, you need the ability to protect yourself. Without relying on those self-defense tools, you should still be able to make the other party lose fighting ability in a short time.”
“All right, Teacher Fu, I understand what you mean.” Jiang Qingyu stopped him in time. “If you keep going, you might say something I don’t like hearing, so let’s stop here for now. You can tell me your teaching plan, or…”
He abruptly changed the topic and smiled as he leaned closer. “Let’s talk about how much you remember from last night.”
Fu Jingqiu: .
He had thought that page had already been turned.
Jiang Qingyu could now understand most of Fu Jingqiu’s expressions. With one glance, he guessed what Fu Jingqiu was thinking and ruthlessly exposed him. “You didn’t think that just because I didn’t mention it, I also blacked out, did you?”
“…” Fu Jingqiu turned his face slightly, the tips of his ears suspiciously red. “Sorry.”
Jiang Qingyu asked, “Mm?”
Fu Jingqiu cleared his throat tactically. “I, the things I said last night, may have been a little… excessive.”
Jiang Qingyu deliberately teased him, pretending not to understand. “Ah? Which things? You said quite a lot last night. Which ones exactly?”
Fu Jingqiu was silent for a few seconds. “The ones about liking doing it with you.”
This time, it was Jiang Qingyu’s turn to fall silent.
What was with this honest man? He was no fun to “bully” at all!!
Fu Jingqiu said, “Normally, I wouldn’t… say things like that.”
Jiang Qingyu said expressionlessly, “Not really. You clearly say a lot.”
Fu Jingqiu shook slightly. “When?”
“When we’re in bed.” Jiang Qingyu lifted his eyes to look at him. “When you praise me, you’re also pretty direct.”
Come on! Wasn’t this just a competition to see who dared to say more? This round was his win!!
This time, the ball of silence was passed to Fu Jingqiu. He vaguely felt that something seemed a little wrong, yet he still discussed it seriously with Jiang Qingyu. “Then you don’t like it?”
No. This was getting a bit chaotic.
Jiang Qingyu was silent for a long while before suddenly laughing. He covered his eyes with one hand and casually fell back onto the sofa behind him. “What even is this?”
Fu Jingqiu did not understand. He sat down beside Jiang Qingyu as well. Today, Jiang Qingyu was wearing a pair of light blue jeans. When his legs crossed, the fabric on the inner thighs stretched into soft lines. There was a gap at the back of his waist, and a glimpse of luminous white appeared and disappeared faintly.
Fu Jingqiu tried his best not to let his gaze linger in those places and only stared at Jiang Qingyu’s face. His smile was very beautiful, lips slightly parted, teeth neat and white. Two days ago, when Fu Jingqiu had been bare-chested at the sink washing up, he had seen the bite mark on his own shoulder. It had been just as neat and tidy.
Jiang Qingyu laughed by himself for a while before leaning a little closer to Fu Jingqiu, resting his head against his solid arm. He said softly, “I like it.”
Including the things Fu Jingqiu had said last night. He liked all of them.
The muscles in Fu Jingqiu’s arm immediately tensed. Jiang Qingyu’s cheek was pressed against it, so he felt it very clearly.
He laughed silently and shifted into a position where he could lean against him while hugging his arm. “I really like Teacher Fu’s encouraging education style. Later, when you teach me self-defense, don’t dislike me for being clumsy.”
Fu Jingqiu loved it when Jiang Qingyu pressed close to him. His heart stirred, and he almost wrapped an arm around his waist, placed him on his lap, and kissed him. But the situation now was far too warm, and he could not bear to break it. So he endured the impulse and only lowered his eyes to hold Jiang Qingyu’s hand.
All the other skin on Jiang Qingyu’s body was very delicate. Only his hands were slightly rougher, with calluses and scars left from the past. If the skin was not stretched, they could barely be seen, faded until only faint white marks remained.
Fu Jingqiu liked rubbing those traces, as if he were touching a past of Jiang Qingyu’s that he had never seen.
He said softly, “I won’t.” He would teach him tirelessly, over and over again, until Jiang Qingyu learned.
Jiang Qingyu said, “Right, why didn’t you ask me what I went out to do so early in the morning? This should be one of the few times I woke up earlier than you, right?”
Fu Jingqiu smiled. “Yes, very rare.”
Jiang Qingyu poked him. “Don’t be sarcastic with me. Back to the point. I remember you really like keeping tabs on me. Why didn’t you ask?”
Fu Jingqiu was still smiling, but his tone became a little more serious. “At the time, I thought it was because you didn’t like the things I said last night and were affected by them, or perhaps didn’t sleep well, so you woke up earlier than me. But later, when I saw you and your condition seemed fine, I forgot to ask.”
Jiang Qingyu snorted softly. “I wouldn’t be affected by that. I went to the hillside, a place where you can overlook the whole village. I brought the family photo of me and my grandparents and talked to them for a while. I also introduced you.”
At this point, he suddenly laughed. “We seem like the male and female leads in an idol drama.”
Fu Jingqiu had not watched much in this area, but he still followed along and said, “Next time, remember to call me.”
Jiang Qingyu laughed even harder. “Are you going to say, ‘Grandpa, Grandma, please rest assured and leave Xiao Yu to me’?”
After saying that, before Fu Jingqiu could respond, Jiang Qingyu threw his head back and burst into laughter. He amused himself so much with the scene he had imagined that he nearly collapsed onto the sofa—that would make it even more like an idol drama!
Fu Jingqiu helplessly curved his lips and held Jiang Qingyu’s wrist, lifting him up. In the end, he placed him on his lap, lowered his head, and wanted to kiss him.
Jiang Qingyu laughed while dodging, refusing to let him kiss.
Fu Jingqiu played along, holding Jiang Qingyu’s waist and insisting on kissing him. His movements were different from his usual gentleness. They could even be called forceful, deliberately matching Jiang Qingyu’s little drama. In its own way, it was also a kind of flirtation.
“Hey, Brother Fu, let me tell you—” The atmosphere was warm when the door of the little wooden house was suddenly pushed open. Duan Cheng entered excitedly. His gaze landed on the two people “interacting” inside, and he instantly froze.
Wait, wait. What had he seen?
Weren’t they brothers?
No, no. It seemed one was surnamed Jiang and the other was surnamed Fu.
How had they explained this before?
Oh. He had not asked.
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