Chapter 88:
Extra 4: I Came For You | Until We’re Gray and Old
A few days after the hot spring trip, Li Ge waited for the New Year’s Eve he had been most looking forward to.
This was the first New Year Li Ge and Chen Shuo had welcomed together, and they had both entered their thirties.
He took it very seriously and had planned to have a romantic evening at home early on. He had studied recipes in advance and planned to cook a sumptuous dinner for his wife himself.
And Chen Shuo was also looking forward to his first New Year’s Eve with Li Ge. On the way back from the hot spring, he had already discussed with Li Ge that they would not go anywhere on New Year’s Eve and would spend it at home together.
They both wanted a private world for the two of them, and they hit it off immediately.
Anyway, they couldn’t hide it at home, so Li Ge simply said he wanted to have a candlelight dinner, and the romantic roses were a must. Chen Shuo now liked flowers, and no matter what Li Ge wanted to do or wanted, he would just nod and agree, listening to his little treasure.
So on New Year’s Eve, the two big men first went to the flower shop to buy flowers, then went to the supermarket to shop together. But not long after they returned to their cozy little nest, a small friction arose.
“I said you go and set the table, I’ll cook.” The kitchen was too small, and Li Ge found Chen Shuo in the way of his performance, so he squeezed past him and insisted on doing it himself.
“I’ll do it, you go and set the table.” Chen Shuo, on the one hand, was not at ease with Li Ge cooking, and on the other hand, he was worried that Li Ge would get addicted to cooking and would show off to him every day.
“It’s rare for your husband to want to show off his skills, why are you stopping me? Get out of the way!” Li Ge was washing the rice and pushed Chen Shuo away with his elbow.
Chen Shuo saw Li Ge’s rough movements, his hands repeatedly stirring in the rice washing basin, and the faucet was left on.
He went forward again, wanting to take over the work, and said, “Don’t rub the rice too hard, and don’t leave the water on, just wash it a little and it’s fine. Let me do it.”
“Why didn’t I see you being so frugal with water when we were showering together?” Li Ge turned off the faucet and poured the rice into the inner pot of the rice cooker.
“…” Chen Shuo didn’t care that much about Li Ge wasting water, it was just an excuse.
He had bought a lot of ingredients, including two main dishes. Although Li Ge had repeatedly emphasized that he had studied the recipes and assured Chen Shuo that he could definitely make them, Chen Shuo was still not at ease and wanted to help, but Li Ge refused to let him interfere.
He watched Li Ge slowly wash the beef, and following the recipe steps on his phone, he first cut the beef into strips and put them in a bowl, then picked up an onion, peeled it, rinsed it a few times, and put it on the cutting board where he had just cut the meat, without changing the knife.
Chen Shuo really couldn’t bear to watch anymore and timely reached out to stop Li Ge, reminding him, “You can’t cut raw meat and vegetables together, and you have to change the knife. Don’t do it.”
“I forgot.” Li Ge was so focused on the recipe that he didn’t remember. When Chen Shuo changed the cutting board and took out a new knife, he immediately snatched it and started cutting the onion, showing off his unskilled knife skills in front of Chen Shuo.
“…” Chen Shuo was helpless and could only watch from the side, telling Li Ge to be slow and not to cut his hand, and also afraid that Li Ge would be irritated by the onion, so he coaxed him not to be stubborn.
Li Ge: “Are you looking down on me? If I can’t even cut an onion properly, I’ve lived my life in vain.”
Chen Shuo: “…”
The pungent and irritating smell spread in the air. The onion was cut into thick and thin pieces. Li Ge’s knife skills were not just bad, and Chen Shuo’s OCD flared up, but he didn’t stop Li Ge.
After a while, Li Ge suddenly stopped his movements. Only then did he snatch the knife, seeing Li Ge’s eyes welling up with tears, and said unsympathetically, “You deserve it.”
“…” Li Ge quickly moved away from the smell of the onion, and as soon as he rubbed his eyes, tears came down. He turned back and blurted out, “Fuck, I feel sorry for you for cooking so hard every day, I wanted to cook a meal for you, and this is your attitude?”
Chen Shuo’s tone was not heavy, with a hint of teasing, but he couldn’t stand Li Ge’s young master’s temper.
“You’re the one who’s been messing around, always telling me what to do.” Li Ge turned and went into the bathroom to wash his face, his cursing mouth not stopping, complaining that Chen Shuo was looking down on him.
Chen Shuo’s mood, on the contrary, brightened up, finding Li Ge very amusing.
On the night they stayed at the hot spring, he happened to see such a post on an emotional forum, with the title—Bickering is the Real Deal.
There were no couples who didn’t bicker. Bickering didn’t necessarily affect the relationship, but was a kind of adjustment. After a good adjustment, the relationship would become deeper and deeper.
So Chen Shuo’s thoughts had changed a little now. Within his controllable range, he would allow Li Ge to bicker and throw tantrums with him, and it didn’t matter if he said a few rude words.
But one thing was one thing. Chen Shuo’s goal hadn’t changed, he insisted on cultivating Li Ge into a spoiled brat who didn’t touch anything domestic and was heavily dependent on him.
“I fucking don’t believe it,” Li Ge hung up the towel and came out of the bathroom, vowing to Chen Shuo, “Four dishes and a soup, I’m fucking making them for you today!”
Chen Shuo: “…”
Li Ge pushed Chen Shuo away, turned on his phone screen, and took out the seasonings to marinate the beef. Suddenly, he was hugged from behind by Chen Shuo, and a head rested on his shoulder.
“Xiao Bao’er, rely on me a little more.”
“…” Li Ge was stunned, almost immediately noticing that something was wrong with his wife.
He pondered Chen Shuo’s words, a bit confused about what “rely” meant, and wondered, “Am I not relying on you enough?”
“Yes.” Knowing what Li Ge was into, Chen Shuo’s voice was low, slightly releasing a bit of his own dissatisfaction, “You won’t let me cook.”
“…” Li Ge’s jaw dropped, “No, what kind of logic is that? Is it wrong for me to want to cook for you? I’m so dependent on you, I’m almost being raised by you, you’re fucking doing it on purpose, aren’t you?”
It turned out that Li Ge knew what was going on. His dark thoughts were exposed on the spot. Chen Shuo hugged Li Ge tightly and subconsciously denied, “Don’t talk nonsense, you’re the CEO of Gewu Media, you’re very amazing.”
“Nonsense, it’s not easy to gain a foothold in Beicheng, of course I’m amazing.” Li Ge scoffed and added, “I think you just want to raise me to be useless, so you can shit and piss on my head.”
Chen Shuo, having had a false alarm: “…”
Li Ge: “Mom called me yesterday, and she said I was lazy, urging me to be more diligent and not treat you like a housekeeper. Are you two secretly contacting each other behind my back?”
Chen Shuo was indeed in contact with Min Lanshu.
Influenced by Li Ge, he had also started posting on his Moments, all about his life with Li Ge, posting about the fish they fed together and the two little golden coin turtles, and occasionally posting about what he cooked for dinner, mainly to reassure Li Ge’s family that he could take good care of him.
“We chatted for a while yesterday,” Chen Shuo explained, “Mom showed me pictures of you when you were a child, and also from your middle school days.”
“Fuck, she showed you pictures of me when I was a child?” Li Ge put down the seasonings and turned around in Chen Shuo’s embrace, “How old? How many pictures did she send?”
Chen Shuo: “A lot, you were very cute and chubby.”
Li Ge: “…”
Time was so magical, it could turn a chubby little baby into a handsome and tall man.
Chen Shuo lowered his head slightly, tilted his head, and kissed Li Ge’s cheek, which had long since lost its baby fat and had sharp lines, then said, “No wonder you like to be naked at home, it turns out you haven’t liked wearing pants since you were a child, you were quite happy to wear a dress though.”
“…” Li Ge’s face turned sour, “Fuck, it’s so troublesome to put on and take off, wasn’t I just trying to save you some effort? Besides, wasn’t it you who bought that dress!”
Chen Shuo: “I was talking about the dress you wore when you were a child.”
Li Ge: “…”
Chen Shuo: “If you like it, I’ll buy it for you.”
“…” Li Ge immediately exploded, no longer in the mood to cook. He asked Chen Shuo for his phone, wanting to see how many dark histories of his Ms. Min had sent.
As long as Li Ge wasn’t cooking, anything was fine. Chen Shuo released Li Ge and pointed to the bedside table, letting Li Ge get it himself, and told him, “The password is your birthday.”
“Wasn’t it your birthday before? When did you change it?” Li Ge picked up Chen Shuo’s phone and sat on the sofa to unlock it.
“I changed it when I knew your birthday.” Chen Shuo skillfully marinated the beef, and after mixing it evenly, he put it aside and started to prepare the ingredients for the soup.
Li Ge hadn’t touched Chen Shuo’s phone for centuries. After opening WeChat, he found that this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were chatting very frequently, and Chen Shuo was even calling her “Mom” affectionately. The chat content was almost all about him.
He scrolled up and was instantly moved.
Chen Shuo: [Mom, the temperature in Jiangcheng is dropping tomorrow, it’s quite cold, you and Dad should take care of yourselves, I’ll take good care of Xiao Bao’er, please don’t worry.]
Mom: [Thank you, Xiao Shuo, your dad and I are fine, you two should also take care of yourselves in Beicheng, let Xiao Bao’er do more housework, don’t spoil him.]
Chen Shuo: [He works very hard, it’s all what I should do, I like doing housework.]
This quiet one was a workaholic.
Li Ge scrolled to the chat records from yesterday afternoon. Sure enough, Ms. Min had sent many photos of him when he was a child, from when he was just born to when he learned to walk, at least half an album.
There were photos of him running around naked at home, with his little dick exposed, taking a bath naked, and even wearing a big red dress, with a little lipstick on his mouth…
He vaguely remembered that Ms. Min had told him about that big red dress, it was bought by his grandfather before he was born.
At that time, Ms. Min’s pregnancy symptoms were like she was carrying a girl, and his grandfather was quite happy, so he bought a fiery red dress, who knew that a big fat boy would be born.
“Wife,” Li Ge called out to Chen Shuo and told him, “This dress was bought for me by my grandfather.”
Chen Shuo replied with a “hmm.”
“He himself had two sons and had always wanted a granddaughter, he thought I was a girl.” Li Ge became sentimental, “He was most reluctant to part with me when he was leaving. I was abroad at that time and didn’t have much time to spend with him. He also hid it from me, saying he was recovering well and told me to focus on my studies. Sometimes I feel quite unfilial. If he were still alive, he would definitely support us, he wouldn’t resent me for liking men.”
Chen Shuo put down all his work and timely went over to comfort Li Ge. Li Ge wasn’t actually that sad, he was just recalling his childhood and feeling a bit sentimental. Hearing Chen Shuo say that he would be filial to his parents with him in the future, his mood brightened up again. Just as he was about to kiss his wife, a push notification popped up on his phone, it seemed to be some kind of forum.
Li Ge’s first reaction was a dating forum, but on second thought, his wife wouldn’t betray him. Seeing that Chen Shuo didn’t notice, he quickly urged Chen Shuo to go and cook, saying he was hungry.
As soon as Chen Shuo left, Li Ge quickly clicked on the notification and found that it was an emotional community. Chen Shuo had actually posted a thread in it, the first one dating back to spring.
Title: [My partner canceled our date, I feel very sad.]
Content: My partner promised to go hiking with me today, but he suddenly had something private to do and canceled the date. He only told me just before we were about to leave, does he not have me in his heart? So he doesn’t care about my feelings? But he’s always said he likes me very much and calls me wife. I’m very sad now, I’m not sure if he really likes me or if he’s just playing with my feelings.
Little Peach Blossom: [Your partner’s actions are too much, why didn’t he say so in advance? I don’t believe he only found out the night before, it’s obvious he doesn’t care about you.]
Knowing that Chen Shuo was secretly horny, but Li Ge never expected him to be so secretly horny to this extent, his heart was quite rich, and he was even secretly posting such threads online behind his back.
And what did this “Little Peach Blossom” mean? Wasn’t she trying to sow discord? How could he not care about his darling wife?
Seeing Chen Shuo’s reply in his defense, Li Ge felt much better. His darling wife was so considerate, knowing that he was very busy and tired with work.
But as he continued to read, he found that many people were scolding Chen Shuo, and they were even unjustly accusing Li Ge of cheating on him in the future, saying that Chen Shuo would be the one crying then, and that he deserved to be brainwashed by a man.
Fuck, it was all fucking nonsense.
And on the night at the hot spring, Chen Shuo had posted a second thread. Li Ge checked the posting time, it was two in the morning, at this time he was already exhausted and fast asleep.
Title: [I’m probably hopeless.]
Content: My husband and I had a fight on Christmas Eve. Because I like watching TV series, he said some childish and angry words, telling me to live with the TV. I was very sad, some things become true if you say them too many times, I’m so afraid he will leave me, afraid that in the future, I will only have the TV for company. These past few days, I’ve been thinking about his angry words, and I’ve been very uncomfortable. Today, I couldn’t hold it in and exploded, I hit him. I regret it, but I really couldn’t control myself at the time. It’s my fault, sometimes I don’t know how to control my possessiveness and violent urges towards him, I always can’t help but want to hit him, to make him always listen to me. I know such thoughts are dark and bad, he is an independent and free soul, I have no right to tie him down, but I only have him. If I lose him, then my life will also lose its meaning.
In the comment section, many people pointed out Chen Shuo’s problems. Some suggested he see a psychologist, some suggested he shift his life focus and live for himself, not just revolve around a man, as blind love would only hurt himself and his other half.
Chen Shuo replied to each one seriously, saying that he would correct himself.
The sound of oil sizzling came from the room, and the stew pot on the stove was bubbling. The air was filled with the familiar smell of cooking smoke that Li Ge knew so well.
He looked up at Chen Shuo’s busy figure. So Chen Shuo had secretly poured out so much of his heart when he couldn’t see, yet he had never poured out a single word to him.
Fuck, this big quiet one!
Li Ge seriously suspected that Chen Shuo was still hiding some secrets he didn’t know about. He secretly continued to investigate, and sure enough, he soon found a post by Chen Shuo in another forum in his browser’s bookmarks. The posting time was earlier than the other two posts.
Title: [My partner doesn’t like me, I’m in a lot of pain, what should I do?]
Content: I’m a very dull and uninteresting person. My partner says he likes me, but I know he just likes to do that kind of thing with me, treating me like a toy. There’s only sex between us. I’ve tried to abstain, but I’ve failed, I can’t refuse him. I’ve thought about being with him properly, but he has a rich dating history and has had many lovers. All his passion for me is fake. I wasn’t happy when he gave me an expensive watch, and the flowers he sent me only made me sick. I won’t be an exception. Sometimes I hate him very much. Last night, I couldn’t hold it in and got rough with him, hitting him very hard. He got angry, wouldn’t kiss me or hug me, and even cursed at me. I actually regret it very much, and I also hate myself for being like this. I don’t know what to do, it’s really painful. Maybe he’s lost his novelty for me. When he wakes up in the morning, he’ll leave me. It’s better to leave. When he leaves, my pain should disappear.
Li Ge didn’t look at the comments anymore, but put down his phone and silently watched the busy Chen Shuo.
He had originally wanted to take the phone over and have a good talk with Chen Shuo, asking him why he would rather talk to netizens than to him.
But then, Li Ge suddenly changed his mind.
It was his own fault for finding a big quiet one as his wife. Chen Shuo must have many more things hidden in his heart. He would secretly register an account and interact with his wife, until one day in the future, Chen Shuo would proactively open his heart to him.
Li Ge planned to tell Chen Shuo: Don’t correct yourself, just be bold and be yourself, release your possessiveness towards your other half, it’s okay to have violent urges, love will tolerate everything.
He loved Chen Shuo, Chen Shuo could do anything to him.
The beef was almost marinated. Chen Shuo was about to cut the green peppers when a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around his waist, holding him tightly. A head then leaned against his neck, nuzzling him coquettishly.
“Wife.”
Being held so tightly, Chen Shuo said “hmm” and slowly cut the green peppers.
“I love you.”
Chen Shuo’s movements paused.
“I really want to take out my heart and show it to you, it’s all your name, engraved on my heart. I’ll only love you in this lifetime. After tonight, we’ll both be thirty. Actually, I have a little regret, I wish I had met you in middle school, we missed more than ten years, but it’s a good thing we met last year. From now on, I’ll spend every new year with you, we have to grow old together.” Li Ge finished in one breath, then nuzzled Chen Shuo affectionately again, “I love you to death, do you love me?”
If a heart could leave the body without dying, Chen Shuo would also want to take it out and show it to Li Ge, not just the surface, but his entire heart was filled with Li Ge.
“I love you.” Chen Shuo replied.
“Just one word? You should at least say the whole thing, if you don’t say it clearly, who knows who you love.” Li Ge feigned dissatisfaction.
“Xiao Bao’er,” Chen Shuo said slowly, “I used to wonder why I came into this world. Others were people, but I seemed to be just an NPC with no goal.”
“What NPC? You’re my wife.” Li Ge smiled.
“Yes, I came for you.” Chen Shuo said seriously.
“Fuck…” Li Ge was moved, “Where did you learn that, you quiet one? Your mouth is so sweet, are you trying to make me cry?”
Chen Shuo turned around and hugged Li Ge tightly, looking into his eyes up close. Li Ge met his extremely deep gaze and chuckled, “You came for me, so love me hard, you know?”
Chen Shuo still stared into Li Ge’s eyes, and Li Ge, anticipating what he wanted to say, waited, and soon got the three words he wanted to hear, followed by an overwhelmingly passionate kiss.
“Mmm—”
…
As the New Year’s Eve bell rang, Li Ge whimpered and begged for mercy. It wasn’t that his body couldn’t take it, but that Chen Shuo, when he went crazy, became even more perverted. He looked like a decent person, but the tricks he used on him were anything but. The bathroom was already small, and he even wanted to do it in front of the mirror. If he was going to do it, couldn’t he do it in a more normal way?
“You, you fucking, you’re treating me like a child again…” Li Ge couldn’t curse anymore, staring at Chen Shuo in the mirror, but his gaze was unconsciously drawn to Chen Erdi, so full of life, connecting him and Chen Shuo, inseparable.
“A grown man isn’t as mischievous as you.” Chen Shuo was referring to Li Ge interfering with his cooking. He just wanted to have a good kiss, but Li Ge was being despicable.
Li Ge: “You caused it, uh…”
Chen Shuo: “Who caused it?”
“I did,” Li Ge begged for mercy, “I was wrong, if you keep using so much force, I’ll really be ruined, you can’t just take care of me, fuck, let me down.”
Chen Shuo: “Didn’t you tell me to love you hard?”
Li Ge: “???”
Chen Shuo: “I’m loving you.”
Li Ge: “Get lost!”
Other people’s New Year’s Eve was full of parties and activities, with food and drink. Li Ge’s New Year’s Eve was different. The only thing he could eat was Chen Erdi, and he was squeezed into a small bathroom.
He hated that his new home was still under renovation. He had chosen a three-story small Western-style house with a courtyard three months ago with Chen Shuo, located in the city, not far from Gewu Media and Chen Shuo’s apartment, a quiet place in a bustling area, the only drawback was that it wasn’t new. Li Ge had directly spent a lot of money to renovate it, even tearing down the roof and rebuilding everything.
“Xiao Bao’er?”
Li Ge was in a daze, feeling Chen Shuo kissing him, the fine, dense kisses falling on his face and neck, slowly moving down. He moaned unconsciously, until a bite on his thigh made him a little more sober, and he said in a daze, “I’m sleepy…”
“Just a bite.”
“Mmm…” Li Ge approved in a daze.
Chen Shuo was used to leaving a mark on Li Ge’s body after sex, the position different each time, sometimes heavy, sometimes light. When it was heavy, the tooth marks were deep and would take two or three days to disappear. When it was light, they would disappear the next morning.
He liked the deep ones, but was afraid of hurting Li Ge.
Fortunately, Li Ge was in a daze and gave Chen Shuo an opportunity. Chen Shuo bit down on that piece of flesh, slowly grinding with his teeth, using Li Ge’s moans to gauge the force.
“Ouch…” Li Ge slowly opened his eyes. The room was pitch black. He felt for the pillow beside him, and it was empty. He patted the bed, “Wife?”
Chen Shuo couldn’t bear to bite anymore and went over to lie down next to Li Ge. Li Ge instinctively burrowed into his embrace, and he hugged Li Ge, saying softly, “Go to sleep.”
“Yes, Happy New Year, wife.” After speaking, Li Ge quickly fell asleep.
Chen Shuo listened to Li Ge’s steady breathing and said, “Happy New Year, Xiao Bao’er.”
Soon, he also fell asleep.
On this happy night, Chen Shuo had a dream.
In the dream, he returned to more than ten years ago, to the small county town where he lived with Chen Meifang. Life was simple, but full of warmth everywhere.
He was still in the second year of junior high, and a new, stylish student suddenly transferred to his class, with delicate features and a very cute appearance. The boy reluctantly followed the homeroom teacher into the classroom, seemingly disgusted with the old classroom, frowning in grievance. Under the teacher’s persuasion, he reluctantly introduced himself.
“My name is Li Ge, I’m from Jiangcheng, I don’t know why I transferred to this place, your classroom is so shabby, I’m so fucking wronged.”
He looked at the young and undeveloped Li Ge, who was slowly walking to his side under the teacher’s arrangement, then sat down and became his deskmate. He hesitated whether to greet this city person, but the other party spoke first.
“Hey, I’m a spoiled brat, don’t you dare wrong me. You have to treat your new deskmate well, you know? Otherwise, you’ll be in for it.”
Chen Shuo suddenly woke up, his arm numb, a fluffy head resting on it, shallow breaths hitting his neck, his little treasure was still asleep.
So it was a dream.
It was a dream.
