Chapter 58: Husband Kiss, Little Fox Spirit
Chen Shuo had three nicknames. One was what his grandmother called him out of habit, “Shitou,” another was what Chen Meifang called him, “Shuoshuo.” Later, when he started elementary school, he found the repeated characters childish and strongly requested that Chen Meifang call him by his full name.
At that time, Chen Meifang was amused by her son’s grown-up yet childish appearance. She suggested calling him “Shitou” again, but her son was unhappy, still finding it childish. After a serious discussion between mother and son, Chen Shuo’s nickname was finally changed from “Shuoshuo” to “Xiao Shuo.”
Chen Meifang called him this for more than ten years.
Chen Shuo didn’t like his stepmother Wen Ling calling him this, but if it were Li Ge, he would be very willing. He had thought about Li Ge’s nickname, probably “Xiao Ge,” because calling him “Gege” was a bit strange, like the princesses in Qing dynasty dramas, but his personality did fit.
“What’s your nickname?” Chen Shuo repeated his question to Li Ge, wanting to hear Li Ge tell him himself.
On this side of the apartment, Li Ge, who was preparing to wash up in the bathroom, didn’t understand why Chen Shuo was suddenly asking this. Could it be that he wanted to call him by his nickname in the future? No way!
“What’s our relationship?” Li Ge turned on the speakerphone, put his phone on the mirror cabinet shelf, and brainwashed Chen Shuo, “We’re a couple, you’re my wife, I’m your husband. I know you can’t say it right away, no rush, I’ll give you time to get used to it.”
The red light passed, and the sound of car horns rose and fell. Chen Shuo was afraid of not being able to hear Li Ge’s voice clearly, so he turned on the speakerphone and held the phone to his ear, driving with one hand.
“Is it not convenient to say?” He asked.
It wasn’t that Li Ge didn’t want to say it, he just found his nickname too childish, not even as good as his cousin’s “Zhuangzhuang.” He was already so old, but as soon as he got home, he became Xiao Bao’er, people who didn’t know would think he was a baby who hadn’t been weaned yet. Although he had been wanting to suckle these past two days, his wife wasn’t very willing to breastfeed him. If she knew his nickname, she would definitely make some sarcastic remarks.
So Li Ge spouted nonsense, “No, your husband’s nickname is ‘Husband’.”
Chen Shuo: “…”
Li Ge picked up the matching toothbrush with Chen Shuo and started his daily teasing, “Hurry up and call me that to get used to it. Whether I have time at noon depends on how sweet your mouth is.”
So informal. Chen Shuo took the initiative to ask, “Is it Xiao Ge?”
Li Ge had long since brainwashed his own mother and aunt, forcibly changing his nickname to “Xiao Ge.” His grandfather had been dead for many years, and now only his grandmother and father still called him that. He gave up after failing to correct them.
Chen Shuo had guessed half right, but he wasn’t happy, “I’m older than you, don’t be so disrespectful.”
“…” Chen Shuo reminded him, “We’re the same age.”
Li Ge: “I’ve still eaten a few more months of food than you.”
Chen Shuo: “…”
His wife had become a quiet one again. Li Ge coaxed, “Alright, during the adaptation period, you can call me ‘ge,’ how about that? You’re the only one who always makes me make exceptions, like a little fox spirit, always making my heart soft.”
Not to mention whether he could say it or not, Chen Shuo was very mindful and disgusted. At this moment, he was sulking again and didn’t want to talk to Li Ge anymore.
He hadn’t forgotten that in March last year, at the hotel where Liu Dasen’s audition was held, that little star who was dying for love had called Li Ge “husband,” crying and accusing Li Ge of being unfaithful.
“I’m driving, see you at noon.” He said.
“Hey,” Li Ge called out to Chen Shuo, keeping him in suspense, “Given your performance, I might not have time at noon, I’m very busy.”
Chen Shuo still remembered the little star’s original words of accusation—”You said I was the only one for you, you said you loved me.”
Li Ge had just casually replied, “The sight of you really makes me sick now, my taste has changed, understand?”
He could even say he loved a little lover who made him sick, but in Li Ge’s love words to him, there was only “like.”
Knowing that he shouldn’t be petty, shouldn’t care about Li Ge’s promiscuous past, Chen Shuo couldn’t do it. He understood the logic, but he really couldn’t help but be petty, couldn’t help but care. He really wanted to tie Li Ge up, so that he couldn’t see the light of day, so that Li Ge wouldn’t be able to interact with other people, wouldn’t change his taste, would only see him, would only have eyes for him.
Chen Shuo looked at the road ahead and said, “Then let’s wait until you come back from Jiangcheng, I’ll hang up first.”
“Fuck, I was just teasing you—” Before Li Ge could finish, the call was cut off.
This dog, so easily offended.
After washing up and going to the stove to open the steamer lid, Li Ge first smelled the fragrance of the tea eggs, then saw a peeled tea egg, two buns, and a bag of soy milk on the steaming rack, all still warm.
The buns he had last time were filled with braised beef. He took one and took a big bite, this time it was actually a fresh shrimp and vegetable bun. He immediately took back the “dog” in his heart, he was so in love with his darling wife, he even knew to change the flavor for him.
Li Ge took the breakfast to the dining table and ate with big mouthfuls. He wanted to call Chen Shuo back, but was worried that he would be distracted while driving, so he ate and sent WeChat messages. His gaze casually swept over and found that on the balcony drying rack, besides the bedsheet he had changed last night, there was also a row of colorful thongs.
Fuck, his darling was so fucking considerate.
His negative emotions weren’t fully digested, and Chen Shuo didn’t really want to see Li Ge at noon. Seeing him would only make him more reluctant to let him go. He might as well watch a drama with Yuan Feng, and he could use the half-day leave he had taken in the afternoon to go to the mall and buy some gifts for Yuanbao.
After parking the car, he saw several WeChat messages from Li Ge. He still couldn’t resist and opened them.
Li Ge: [My darling wife is getting more and more considerate, I can’t live without you.]
Li Ge: [Love you (kiss)]
Li Ge: [Come and find me at noon, I have a surprise for you, be good.]
Li Ge: [You’ll regret it for a lifetime if you don’t come.]
Looking at the shortest message, just two simple words, with a playful little emoji, Chen Shuo seemed to see Li Ge’s smug and punchable smile, and all his anger instantly dissipated, even though he knew it was just a casual love line from Li Ge.
He changed Li Ge’s nickname to “Xiao Ge,” long-pressed the chat window and pinned it to the top again, and also changed the formal “Mr. Li” in his contact list to “Xiao Ge,” before replying to the WeChat message.
Chen Shuo: [Okay, I’ll be there around 11:30.]
Xiao Ge: [Are you at Yuan Feng’s place?]
Chen Shuo: [Yes.]
Xiao Ge: [Did you hang up on me just now because you were throwing a tantrum with me?]
Chen Shuo: [No, it’s not safe to answer the phone while driving.]
Xiao Ge: [Then give your husband a kiss.]
“…” Chen Shuo only wanted to kiss Li Ge, not his husband. But Li Ge had just said he loved him, couldn’t live without him, so he decided to be generous and not hold a grudge. He chose a “kiss” emoji from WeChat’s built-in emojis and sent it, but Li Ge was still not satisfied.
Xiao Ge: [An emoji is not valid, type it for me, or send a voice message.]
Anyway, it was just a few taps of his fingers. Chen Shuo typed: [Kiss, kiss]
Xiao Ge: [Missing a subject, who are you kissing?]
It was almost nine o’clock, and Chen Shuo had to go and teach Yuan Feng. He hurriedly opened the door and got out of the car. Li Ge’s WeChat message came again, urging him to kiss again, and if he didn’t, the surprise at noon would be canceled, so clingy.
Chen Shuo: [Kiss, kiss, Mr. Li]
Xiao Ge: [Fuck, you’re pissing me off so early in the morning, I can’t live like this!]
So despicable, there was nothing he could do. Chen Shuo was in a hurry to go to work, so he quickly typed four words and sent them, his cheeks instantly flushing, a bit uncomfortable.
As if with a guilty conscience, he quickly put his phone back in his trouser pocket, but couldn’t hide the faint smile on his lips, even his steps were a bit lighter.
Seeing “husband kiss, kiss” personally typed by his wife in the chat interface, Li Ge almost went crazy in the car, so excited that he was about to ascend to heaven. The two thin strings in his trousers, no matter how tight, how uncomfortable, were all worth it. As long as his wife liked it, he would fucking wear them every day.
Fuck, he had to buy some black stockings soon.
In the study.
Yuan Feng found that today’s Teacher Chen was very strange. It was still that expressionless face, but there was something different about it, even his speech was more emotional than when he was a robot.
“Yuan Feng, you’ve made great progress in math,” Chen Shuo looked up and saw Yuan Feng staring at him, and asked strangely, “Do you have any questions?”
“Ah,” Yuan Feng shook his head, “No! You go on.”
Chen Shuo: “You’ve made great progress in math, I think we can start with the first-year junior high content, but let’s arrange it after Yuanbao is born, the baby is more important.”
Yuan Feng said cheerfully, “He Yan also taught me, he was with me when I did this math paper, I didn’t cheat, he just watched me do it.”
Chen Shuo: “Okay, let’s take a break.”
Seeing that Chen Shuo didn’t run to the bathroom, Yuan Feng sighed, “No wonder they say dating nourishes a person, you seem particularly different today, hehe, I’m happy for you.”
“…” Chen Shuo felt his cheeks getting a bit hot again. He was a bit embarrassed to talk about these things with Yuan Feng and briefly said “thank you,” changing the subject to recommend the family drama he was planning to watch, which He Yan’s mother could also watch together.
“Alright, let’s go, let’s watch an episode now.” Yuan Feng suddenly remembered, “I forgot you have something to do, are you going to find Li Ge?”
Chen Shuo glanced at his watch and said, “There’s still time, we can watch for a while.”
Knowing that Li Ge was going back to Jiangcheng in the afternoon, Yuan Feng didn’t keep Chen Shuo and urged him to go and find Li Ge.
Chen Shuo, on the contrary, was in no hurry and insisted on watching half an episode with Yuan Feng. He found it hard to say, he didn’t know what was wrong with him. As soon as he thought of going to see Li Ge, his heart would race, and his face would inexplicably get a little hot, in a state of both wanting to see him and not wanting to see him.
Just as coincidentally, when Chen Shuo went to the living room with Yuan Feng, he happened to hear He Yan’s mother on the phone, chatting with someone. From the content, it seemed to be Li Ge’s mother.
“Oh, don’t worry about your Xiao Bao’er, young people have their own ideas now, they’ll come when they’re ready, the more you rush them, the more they’ll go against you.” Min Lanying saw her daughter-in-law come out, “Alright, Xiao Feng is out, let’s talk later.”
Having lived with He Yan’s family for a long time, Yuan Feng could guess who was on the other end of the phone just by listening to Min Lanying’s tone. He wondered, wasn’t Li Ge an only child? How did the family have a Xiao Bao’er?
He wasn’t usually very gossipy, but now as Chen Shuo’s family, he was curious and asked, “Aunt, who is Xiao Bao’er? Does Li Ge have a younger brother?”
“His uncle’s family does have a younger brother, but Xiao Bao’er is just him, you can’t call him that in front of him, he’ll get angry.” Min Lanying explained with a smile. Her nephew disliked this nickname, and would get angry with anyone who called him that.
Chen Shuo then knew why Li Ge was unwilling to tell him his nickname.
Xiao Bao’er… he silently called out in his heart.
“Haha,” Yuan Feng laughed, “such a big guy with that name.”
Min Lanying: “Your aunt is about to become a grandmother, she’s so envious every day. Xiao Ge and his girlfriend have been together for half a year, but there’s no news, she’s anxious.”
“What?” Yuan Feng was shocked, “He has a girlfriend?”
Min Lanying: “Yes, they got together last year, it seems quite stable this time.”
When Min Lanying went to the kitchen to help the housekeeper, Yuan Feng hurriedly called Chen Shuo into the study and asked him, “How can he have a girlfriend? Do you know about this?”
Chen Shuo had just remembered that before the New Year, when Li Ge was pestering him the most, he had told him that his family was forcing him to go on blind dates, and to pursue him, he had found a girl to act as his girlfriend.
It was just that he had forgotten about this.
“I know.” He said.
Yuan Feng suddenly realized and asked Chen Shuo again, “It’s fake, right? I heard his family was rushing him to go on blind dates, it scared me, I thought you didn’t know, I was afraid he would fool you.”
“Yes, it’s fake.”
Chen Shuo found that even if it was fake, he couldn’t accept it.
Li Ge was an only child and had a family mission. What if it became real while they were acting? Then he would marry the girl, form a small family, and have a child.
“But even if it’s fake…” Yuan Feng put himself in his shoes and almost went crazy, “it’s still troublesome, how long can you fool them? It’s better to just come clean.”
“It’s okay.” Chen Shuo told Yuan Feng not to overthink it. As he was about to leave, his phone vibrated in his pocket.
“Chen Shuo, don’t you overthink it either.” Yuan Feng comforted Chen Shuo.
Chen Shuo only said “I won’t.” When he got back to his car, he took out his phone and saw a WeChat message from Li Ge.
Xiao Ge: [Wife, have you left yet? I’m done with my work, come and treat me to a meal.]
Thinking of Li Ge’s nickname that he himself disliked, Chen Shuo quietly changed the note in his WeChat and contact list again, and replied to Li Ge: [About to leave.]
Xiao Bao’er: [Hurry up!]
Xiao Bao’er: [But not too fast, be safe, I’ve cleared my schedule.]
Xiao Bao’er: [Another kiss.]
Chen Shuo sent a “kiss” emoji, and sure enough, Xiao Bao’er got angry with him again, sending a “fuck” and a fire-breathing emoji, like a fire-breathing dragon.
He understood Li Ge’s difficulties and felt frustrated by his own inability. How could he continue on this path, how could he keep Li Ge in his life, so that he would be the only one for him, only loving him?
Xiao Bao’er: [Where are you?]
