Formatting 57

Chapter 57: Handprint, Finding Joy in Suffering

The setting sun shone through the floor-to-ceiling window, casting a glow on Li Ge. Chen Shuo and Li Ge were intimately intertwined, and he felt a sense of unreality, never having thought that in his lonely journey of life, he could have such a beautiful day.

This year’s Qingming Festival, he could finally put Chen Meifang at ease.

In that moment of daze, Chen Shuo had angered Li Ge again, who was being as despicable as ever, complaining that he was a slow and clumsy tractor.

“Don’t make me angry, if you can’t do it, hurry up and take some medicine.” Li Ge twisted and teased Chen Shuo mischievously. After teasing him, he couldn’t bear to part with him. Hearing no sound from behind, he turned back to coax him, “Just kidding, let me slap you a few times to let off some steam.”

Chen Shuo now liked Li Ge’s despicableness.

To be precise, he liked everything about Li Ge, from head to toe, inside and out, he liked it all and was willing to satisfy him. But in the orange light, the red handprints on his butt were clearly visible, and he really couldn’t bear to use too much force.

“It’s red, does it hurt?” Chen Shuo rubbed it with a heartache.

“Fuck, if I tell you to slap me, then slap me. I told you I’m thick-skinned and can take it.” Just as Li Ge finished his vow, he was slapped and gasped, “Ouch, fuck! It’s ruined, ruined, ouch—”

Chen Shuo didn’t use much force this time and was startled by Li Ge’s sudden wail. He quickly hugged him and kissed him to soothe him.

“Mmm…” Li Ge raised his arms and hooked them around Chen Shuo’s neck, his tongue pushing back. He relied on this kiss to relieve the pain for a while, and then he scolded Chen Shuo with a sense of disappointment, “I told you to slap me, not to stop and slap me, don’t you understand? Weren’t you quite good at it before? What’s wrong today?”

“…” Chen Shuo thought, his Mr. Li was a bit difficult to please, he needed to go online and learn more about this.

Seeing the quiet one not saying a word, Li Ge shook his head and sighed, “Sigh, it seems you haven’t graduated yet. Call me ‘husband’ and I’ll immediately pass on all my lifelong skills to you.”

Chen Shuo: “…”

But Li Ge didn’t get a “husband” from his wife, only a bunch of handprints, and his waist was also pinched red. He had no idea why Chen Shuo was suddenly going crazy.

“Ouch, wife, don’t hit me—”

“If you don’t want to call me, I won’t force you, ouch…”

“You said you would be gentle, a gentleman’s word is his bond!”

“Fuck, you dog…”

In the end, they didn’t go to that Chinese restaurant in the shopping mall, let alone the cinema. The two big men were like a raging fire on the new double bed, like a long-awaited rain after a drought, both drenched in sweat. It wasn’t until the sky outside was completely dark that the fire completely subsided. They were still snuggled together, face to face, occasionally kissing, so sticky.

Chen Shuo gently massaged Li Ge’s butt and asked him, “Do you want to take a shower?”

Gewu Media had recently taken on many projects. Li Ge was tired from the morning meeting, and he had spent a lot of energy running around all day, and then he was tormented by Chen Erdi.

He rested his head on his strong arm and felt a bit drowsy, moving his head and saying in a daze, “Tired.”

Chen Shuo felt sorry for him and said, “I’ll carry you to the shower.”

Thinking of how his entire body had been carried and tormented by Chen Shuo for half an hour not long ago, Li Ge opened his eyes and cursed with a smile, “Fuck, are you showing off your strength to me?”

Chen Shuo: “No.”

“Hmph,” Li Ge scoffed, “Isn’t it because of you that I’m tired? The company is a mess, I have to take care of everything, and I have to take care of you, and you’re angry with me.”

“Go to sleep.” Chen Shuo raised his hand and stroked Li Ge’s back, his voice much softer, “I’ll get some water and wipe you down later, we’ll shower in the morning.”

“You’re being considerate now.” Li Ge was pleased and became a bit more energetic, righteously ordering Chen Shuo, “There are still a few thongs in the wardrobe, you can wash them all for me.”

Chen Shuo: “…”

Li Ge: “When I come back from Jiangcheng, I’ll buy some more.”

Hearing the key information, Chen Shuo was about to ask Li Ge, but then he remembered that it was Qingming Festival in two days, and he had to go see Chen Meifang. Li Ge was probably also going back to Jiangcheng to sweep the graves.

He only asked, “When are you going back?”

Li Ge: “I’m leaving tomorrow afternoon, I’ll stay for two days, so my mom and grandma won’t nag me. I’ll just deal with Qingming, and then I’ll be at peace until Mid-Autumn Festival.”

Tomorrow afternoon… Chen Shuo calculated the time in his head. Tomorrow was the second, and the earliest Li Ge would be back was the sixth. And after they parted tomorrow morning, he wouldn’t see him for at least four whole days and nights.

If Li Ge didn’t come back on the sixth, it might be five days and five nights.

He had just managed to coax Chen Shuo into willingly being his wife, and it was the perfect time to cultivate their relationship. Li Ge was really reluctant to part with him at this moment.

“You should be on vacation for Qingming,” he asked Chen Shuo, “Why don’t you come back to Jiangcheng with me? We can go and see Mengmeng, the little girl must miss you.”

“…” Chen Shuo didn’t hesitate for a moment and refused Li Ge’s suggestion, only saying that he wanted to stay at home and rest, and also wash the bedsheets and pillowcases and do a big cleaning of the apartment.

“Why are you so diligent? As expected of my wife.” Li Ge teased, “A homebody who loves watching palace dramas, you’re quite a character.”

Chen Shuo: “…”

Speaking of this, Li Ge remembered something and added, “I suddenly remembered, I invested in a palace drama, it was that Liu Dasen who came to me. Since you like to watch it, I invested. He said he would try to surpass ‘Empresses in the Palace.’ You can give me some comments later.”

“…” Chen Shuo wanted to advise Li Ge not to waste money on him, but then he suddenly remembered what Yu Rui had told him last year. Li Ge was actually very shrewd, he only invested in projects that would make money. Only those ignorant little lovers thought they had won Mr. Li’s affection.

The two of them chatted idly for half a day, which made Li Ge sober up. He nudged Chen Shuo with his arm, “Wife, cigarettes, on the dining table.”

Chen Shuo didn’t want Li Ge to smoke, but he had just slapped his own face a while ago, and he had been so dark that he had lost control of his emotions and hadn’t been careful, tormenting Li Ge so much. At this moment, he felt sorry for him, so he had to get out of bed to get him a cigarette.

“So good, you’re really my good wife, you were even nagging me to quit smoking last night.” Li Ge sat up to smoke, but his ass was leaking and still aching. He had no choice but to lie back down and let Chen Shuo serve him and light his cigarette.

He took a deep drag and handed the cigarette to Chen Shuo, “So fucking satisfying, you want a drag?”

Chen Shuo frowned slightly and refused, “I don’t smoke.”

Li Ge: “Just one drag, a cigarette after sex, better than a god.”

“No,” Chen Shuo couldn’t help but remind Li Ge, “you can only have one.”

“You’re already controlling me?” Li Ge exhaled a puff of smoke and teased Chen Shuo again, “My mom doesn’t even control my smoking, why is my wife so strict with me? Do you like me?”

“…” Chen Shuo couldn’t say it. Ten minutes ago, perhaps he could have said it easily.

Seeing Chen Shuo instantly become a quiet one, Li Ge stopped teasing. This big progress tonight was an unexpected joy for him, he couldn’t push too hard. They would just stay like this for now, he would wear the thongs in rotation every day, and if necessary, he would get a pair of black stockings.

So he complied with Chen Shuo, “I’ll listen to my wife, just this one.”

The smoke dispersed. Chen Shuo couldn’t stand the smell of smoke and went to the bathroom to get a basin of warm water, silently cleaning Li Ge. There were only a few drags left of the cigarette. Li Ge lay there like a paralytic, only caring about smoking, enjoying his wife’s considerate service. When the warm towel wiped his not-fully-retracted flower, he finally had a strong sense of being a patient, and Chen Shuo was a nurse.

“Fuck,” he glanced at the imposing Chen Erdi and immediately asked Chen Shuo, “What did you eat to grow up, are you even Asian? If I’m old and can’t handle it, you have to take care of me for the rest of my life, you know?”

“Okay.” Chen Shuo replied almost instantly.

“Okay what!” Li Ge was only worried that his Li Sanmei couldn’t handle his strong desires and would just give up on him, that would be a real fuck-up, “No, I have to practice, I’ll go see a Chinese doctor when I get back from Qingming to see how to maintain myself.”

“…” Chen Shuo no longer spoke.

The new bedsheet was already wrinkled and dirty, sweat mixed with Li Ge’s scattered children and grandchildren, it was impossible to lie on. He lay on the sofa, enjoying Chen Shuo’s wiping service, being served comfortably, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

“Wife, I’ll order takeout, what do you want to eat?”

There were vegetables in the refrigerator, and Chen Shuo planned to cook, but Li Ge refused, saying he felt sorry for him.

He asked Li Ge to order, something light would be fine, then turned to tidy up the bed. When he took off the bedsheet, he saw the torn black lace, picked it up, and threw it into the trash can. Coincidentally, Li Ge saw it and started being despicable with him again.

“Why did you throw it away?” Li Ge deliberately questioned.

“It’s broken.” Chen Shuo said and took the dirty bedsheet to the bathroom.

“Wife,” Li Ge shouted, “You tore it, you have to compensate me! Since we’re a couple, I won’t make things difficult for you, just compensate me with 365, one for each day, enough for me to wear for a year.”

Chen Shuo in the bathroom: “…”

After dinner, Li Ge took the initiative to suggest watching a movie, and Chen Shuo’s desired interaction was realized.

He and Li Ge lay on the bed together. Although they were both naked and close to each other, there was no lust involved, it was a very pure interaction.

They discussed and chose a suspenseful crime movie together. Actually, it was Chen Shuo who guided the choice, because this genre was more likely to stimulate discussion and communication.

He wanted to talk more with Li Ge, to slowly and deeply understand each other, to establish a deeper emotional relationship, to find a spiritual resonance, and thus to achieve a long-term companionship.

Until the end of life.

Knowing that he was dull and uninteresting, Chen Shuo was also worried that he couldn’t find it, so it didn’t matter if he couldn’t. He could try to change, try to integrate into Li Ge’s world, as long as Li Ge returned his sincere liking.

However, after a few sentences of communication, Li Ge fell asleep.

The movie became noise. Chen Shuo turned off the TV and, while covering Li Ge with a blanket, noticed the handprints on his butt, and was briefly lost in confusion.

While chatting, he had originally wanted to introduce Chen Meifang to Li Ge, but felt it wasn’t the right time. Coincidentally, Li Ge didn’t ask, he didn’t seem interested in his family, or rather, he wasn’t interested in him, only in that one thing.

If Li Ge was interested in knowing, he could actually talk about his childhood, about the story of that grocery store.

Why wasn’t it the right time yet?

He had already made up his mind to treat Li Ge as a partner, to fight for a chance for himself, but how could he fight for a chance, Chen Shuo didn’t know.

If cooking for Li Ge, tidying his clothes, and washing his underwear every day could win him a chance, then he and Li Ge would never have had a beginning.

These trivial little things, a housekeeper could do, and the little lovers Li Ge had kept in the past could also do, not worth mentioning. As time passed, his appearance would age, his body would age, he had no advantage or chance of winning.

But there was joy in suffering.

With joy, Chen Shuo wasn’t so miserable, and he also learned to find joy in suffering.

He turned off the light, took his phone, and lay down lightly. He opened the forum in his browser, intending to thank the kind netizens who had given him advice, and then delete the post, but he saw a few new notifications.

He didn’t hesitate and clicked on them.

Li Ge woke up with a start, the pillow beside him empty, and next to his pillow, there was still a set of neatly folded clothes, underwear, socks, and a belt.

“Wife?” He called out, but there was no movement in the bathroom.

After getting out of bed, Li Ge noticed a note on the dining table. It was more convenient to send a WeChat message, why was he so fond of writing, wasn’t it tiring?

He picked up the note.

“There are tea eggs, buns, and soy milk in the steamer.

Are you free at noon? Let’s have lunch together, my treat.”

Chen Shuo was waiting at a red light in his car when his phone suddenly rang. Seeing the caller ID “Mr. Li,” he immediately answered, thinking that he should change the note to something more intimate.

Li Ge: “Wife, why are you treating me to lunch at noon? Do you miss your husband?”

Chen Shuo: “What’s your nickname?”

Li Ge: “Huh?”