Chapter 43: Brown Eyes (17)

Back at the rental house, Shen Qiuxun opened the door. Suddenly, a black shadow darted out from nowhere. Kitty was weaving cloyingly between his legs. Shen Qiuxun closed the door, bent down to scoop up Kitty, and fiercely inhaled its scent for a few deep whiffs.

Kitty meowed wildly.

Entering the room, he saw the figure still bustling about in the kitchen. Shen Qiuxun inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief. He stepped closer. The person chopping vegetables in the kitchen suddenly turned around.

Fu Mingchuan was wearing a light blue T-shirt today, with a pink apron tied tight around his waist, which made his shoulders appear even broader and his waist narrower. Yet it wasn’t the intimidatingly powerful build of someone like Xu Zhiyuan. From head to toe, he practically radiated the phrase “ideal for home and family.”

“Xiao Er is back?” Fu Mingchuan wiped away his tear stains in a poorly concealed manner, turning back to continue chopping vegetables. “Just a minute, dinner will be ready soon.”

Shen Qiuxun awkwardly scratched his chin, lowered his head, and saw those green cat eyes. He cleared his throat lightly. “Ah Chuan… are you chopping onions?”

Ahhhhhhh, why did he just say that.

Fu Mingchuan wiped the rims of his eyes again, his voice husky and low. “Yeah… the onions are irritating my eyes a bit.”

Shen Qiuxun looked left and right, released Kitty to run off, then stepped forward two paces and wrapped his arms around the man’s waist from behind, pressing the side of his face against that broad back. “I saw a great deal of the wider world on this trip. Aren’t you happy for me?”

The man stiffened for a split second, then quickly relaxed. He lowered his head, looking with tender infatuation at the fair hands clasped over his abdomen. “Happy… Does Xiao Er really want to go live in the Upper City District?”

Shen Qiuxun thought back to the action Xu Zhiyuan had made just before the elevator doors closed earlier. He tilted his head, sliding his palm up from the man’s abdomen to touch his Adam’s apple. It was a hard lump, the shape very distinct, rolling up and down under his fingertips, bringing a subtle tremor. The man’s words immediately set off alarm bells. “I don’t like it. I just like my current poor but leisurely life… I’m warning you, don’t you dare pull any sneaky moves behind my back.”

He tightened his fingers around the man’s Adam’s apple in a threatening manner, leaning his face closer and lowering his voice to warn. “Outside, the crackdown is so strict. If you get discovered, I won’t be able to save you.”

Warm breath spilled over his ear, like thousands of ants gnawing away, a fine, dense itch penetrating deep into his bone marrow from his ear. Fu Mingchuan tensed the corner of his mouth with difficulty.

Fu Mingchuan shifted his other hand upward slightly. He turned his head and gave a soft “Mm.” “I’m not going anywhere… I’ll only ever stay by Xiao Er’s side.”

Following the source of that warmth, he leaned in and gently touched the corner of Shen Qiuxun’s lips.

It tickled slightly. Shen Qiuxun instinctively licked them. His lips parted slightly, and just like that, the villain found his chance.

The two shared a wet, lingering kiss.

Shen Qiuxun opened his mouth awkwardly, his eyelashes trembling wildly. When he began to feel a little lightheaded, he uneasily opened his eyes and unexpectedly caught sight of the obsessive, dangerous look buried deep within those dark-brown eyes right in front of him. These expressions, so incongruent with Fu Mingchuan’s usual aura, were quickly concealed, making him think it was his own illusion.

Kitty was so anxious it was meowing frantically in the kitchen.

It didn’t understand why its Master and its human companion were sticking so close together. It wanted to lick Master too!

After the meal, Fu Mingchuan knelt beside the reclining chair to massage his legs. Shen Qiuxun had never liked wearing clothes that felt restrictive. As his legs swayed, his ankles, faintly marked with red traces, were dimly visible.

Too bad Fu Mingchuan was a blind man.

A while later, he heard sounds from the reclining chair. He went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water and came back to help the Beta drink.

“Can I move into the bedroom to sleep? The days you’ve been gone have gotten colder. The living room is so cold.” Fu Mingchuan’s thumb brushed across Shen Qiuxun’s lips. He gently leaned on the armrest of the reclining chair, coaxing him. “I’m all alone in the pitch-dark living room, unable to see a thing. I’m so scared.”

“…” Shen Qiuxun yawned. “The bedroom is pitch-dark too.”

Fu Mingchuan kissed the corner of his lips. “It’s completely different. Could it be that Xiao Er met some other man up in the Upper City District and is starting to find me distasteful?”

Shen Qiuxun pondered how this blind man, who couldn’t see, could possibly display such an adoring gaze. He awkwardly twitched the corner of his mouth. “Ahem, how could that be. Fine, fine, have it your way.”

Late at night, in the darkness, Fu Mingchuan still kept his eyes open. He was assessing, assessing the unbridled mental fluctuations on Xiao Er’s body—fluctuations that did not belong to him, and even less to Xiao Er himself.

Who was it?

Heavy rain poured down, a cold current surged, and gale-force winds made the dead branches outside the small inn creak loudly. The rain was blocked by the plastic curtains of the small inn, flowing down and gathering into a curtain of water.

Shen Qiuxun, behind the front desk, was dozing off. He looked up at the sound, and his cheek still bore several finger marks. He propped his head on one hand, speaking listlessly. “The singles are full. There are still ten standard doubles and two triples left. Doubles are 50 a night, triples are 70, deposit is 100.”

A dark shadow fell over him, and there was no sound.

Shen Qiuxun rubbed his eyes and looked up, crashing straight into a pair of dark-green eyes. The man wore a hat and a mask. Seeing him look over, the man curved his eyes, and his originally sharp, cold brows and eyes seemed much gentler.

“?” Shen Qiuxun stood up and took a look outside, then opened the small gate of the front desk to pull the person inside.

Xu Zhiyuan was soaked all over. His soft silver hair was flattened by his hat. His clothes, drenched by the rain, clung tightly to his muscles. He obediently crouched behind the front desk cabinet. “Little Xun.”

Shen Qiuxun watched him come all the way up to the desk, then batted the brim of his hat down. “Didn’t I tell you not to come here?!”

Xu Zhiyuan silently lifted his hat brim back up. “No, I have a project over at Three Waters Lane. I came to check on the project.” He wiped his hands clean and ingratiatingly hugged Shen Qiuxun’s calf, like an obedient dog with sparkling eyes.

“Really?” Shen Qiuxun kicked his arm away, somewhat unconvinced.

“Really. If you don’t believe me, I’ll take you there to see.”

Just then, another person walked in. Shen Qiuxun kicked the man deeper under the front desk cabinet, stood up, and re-swiped the tenant’s key card. The customer grabbed a few toothbrushes and toothpaste and left. He looked down and saw the drenched green-eyed puppy underneath.

The puppy, driven somewhat out of control by the faint, lingering whiffs of cold fragrance nearby, ingratiatingly used its mouth to catch the metal zipper on Shen Qiuxun’s pants, scaring the man into hastily covering his crotch.

“Aren’t you going to change your clothes?”

Xu Zhiyuan’s eyes lit up. “Can I go to your place to change?”

He didn’t know how many years he’d been yearning for that tiny rental house from back then.

He didn’t understand before, but now he finally got it. It turned out the size of the house didn’t matter; whether it was expensive or cheap was utterly meaningless. The important thing was whether the person in your heart was there.

In those five years of despair, every single day he prayed: If only he could return to those days living with Shen Qiuxun in that small rental house.

Shen Qiuxun’s mouth twitched. He lowered his head slightly to hide the metal zipper away. “No.”

Xu Zhiyuan sat down on the floor. He took off his hat and shook his head, scattering wet silver strands that drooped over his forehead. His coat fell open, and the thin white inner shirt beneath showed the color of his skin through the damp fabric.

Shen Qiuxun’s heart was as cold as iron. He even kicked the man right in the chest.

“Mn…”

Having posed for half the day, Xu Zhiyuan looked up at him resentfully, only to see Shen Qiuxun looking down at him with a cold face. He stared blankly for a long time, and finally swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

His nose tip was so small. His lower lip had a bit of plumpness to it, slightly pursed, only a faint hint of pink.

Xu Zhiyuan reached out, sliding his hand up from the Beta’s pant leg, scratching the soft calf teasingly as if to seduce. The flirtatious allure had just begun to spread in his eyes when it suddenly froze solid.

He lowered his head a bit more and saw, behind the delicate, pale-white ankle, a small bite mark left there. Nothing else—clean, without a single blemish. A mark left hidden behind the ankle bone like that was more like a declaration of war.

The love bites he’d left a few days ago had already faded away. So when had this bite mark appeared?

Xu Zhiyuan circled the slender ankle in his hand, resting his head against the Beta’s knee. He said softly, “Little Xun, I’m so cold. Your little dog is about to freeze to death.”

He knew Shen Qiuxun hadn’t fallen asleep; he just didn’t want to deal with him and was finding an excuse to rest with his eyes closed.

Shen Qiuxun yawned, and tears dampened his eyelashes. “There’s a stall nearby selling clothes.”

Xu Zhiyuan concealed the darkness in his eyes. His tall, 1.9-meter frame was curled up wretchedly in that tiny space. “Little Xun, when do you get off work? Let’s go eat, okay?”

Harassed beyond endurance, Shen Qiuxun grabbed the man by the ear and pulled him out. He slapped his hat down onto his head and kicked him in the rear. “Get lost. I’ll report you for trespassing.”

“Little Xun, Little Xun…”

Shen Qiuxun pushed his back, shoving him out the door. After a thought, he still tossed him an umbrella. “Hurry up, get back and change clothes. Don’t catch a cold.”

A gust of wind blew by. Xu Zhiyuan clutched the umbrella in his arms, suppressing the corners of his mouth that wanted to curl up. He was about to say something else when he saw the person opposite him give him a dark, threatening gesture to shut up.

“Oh…”

“I’m leaving then.”

He still wanted to say something more, but a dilapidated little car passed by the entrance, splashing dirty water all over his pant legs. The driver even rolled down the window to curse at him a couple of times. “You got a death wish, standing in the middle of the road?”

Shen Qiuxun couldn’t help but laugh. The strands of hair on his forehead parted slightly to fall before his eyes. His beautiful brows and eyes relaxed, like the sky clearing after rain, a single crystalline drop of water falling onto a luxuriant crabapple blossom in full bloom.

When Shen Qiuxun returned home, Fu Mingchuan was sewing a duvet cover for him.

That night, he had said he wanted a couple of pieces of floral cloth, preferably in bright colors. He’d said he was too bored at home alone and wanted to make something.

Shen Qiuxun was so sleepy he was practically out of it, so he just mumbled his agreement. The next day after work, he remembered this matter and even made a special trip to the stall selling fabrics to look around.

His sense of aesthetics wasn’t great. The stall owner was a plump but very spirited old auntie, who enthusiastically started recommending things to him.

“Look at this piece, bright red mandarin ducks. Wouldn’t it just be so festive at home?”

“This one, this one. Look at this chubby baby, its face is as round as a steamed bun, so healthy, all smiles. It’s just perfect for a young couple like you two—take the good omen of having a child soon.”

“This piece, this piece. Let me tell you, the younger sister of the aunt of the grandniece of my third uncle’s nephew’s son—she just couldn’t find a suitable husband. Then one day she used this exact fabric to make a dress. My heavens, the suitors! They could’ve lined up all the way from here to the Upper City District.”

When he finished stating his requirements, the auntie teasingly bumped his shoulder. “Young man, that little wife of yours at home really knows how to live well.”

Nowadays, with technology so advanced, very few people made things by hand anymore.

Shen Qiuxun blushed furiously. He didn’t dare say a word, just silently paid and ran off with the fabric.

After he got back, Fu Mingchuan kept clinging to him, asking him to describe what the fabric looked like. Fu Mingchuan grabbed his hand, pulling his entire body into his embrace, leading his hand over the cloth to identify the positions.

“What’s this part like?”

“There’s a small flower here. A white, five-petaled flower. The stamen is a tender yellow, very, very small…”

“What’s this part like?”

“This part is blank, a tender yellow. It’s a bit like stirred-up egg liquid, but even a shade lighter… “

“Here… here… here…”

The words gradually took a strange turn. Fu Mingchuan had rested his chin in the crook of his neck, tilting his head to kiss his neck. Amidst the vague positional words, the kisses landed on Shen Qiuxun’s Adam’s apple.

And then… stop.

Shen Qiuxun took a deep breath. Putting on an air of forced solemnity, he knocked on the door.

Fu Mingchuan set down his needle and thread and looked up. The kitten also poked its head out from its little cardboard box.

Shen Qiuxun cleared his throat. “Kitty, you go into the bedroom. When adults are talking, Kitty isn’t allowed to interrupt.”

Kitty looked left and right, then jumped out of the box and trotted into the bedroom.

“You. Come here. Kneel properly.”

Shen Qiuxun put his stuff down and then sat on the chair beside him.

Fu Mingchuan obediently came over and knelt. “What’s the matter?”

Shen Qiuxun pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and slapped it in his face, leaving a few red marks.

After throwing it, Shen Qiuxun only then remembered that the person in front of him couldn’t see. So he silently picked up the piece of paper again. “Didn’t I say you’re not allowed to contact the outside world? Where did these communication records on here come from?”

“What if you’re discovered by the outside? What about me then?” Shen Qiuxun lowered his head, his fingers stroking the red marks on the man’s face. His tone was as gentle as he could make it, because the other man couldn’t see, he didn’t even bother to feign a cold look. “Do you want me to watch with my own eyes as you suffer imprisonment?”

He did not want to experience that stupid, true-goodness-beautiful reformation mission ever again.

Fu Mingchuan lowered his brows and eyes, reaching out to grasp Shen Qiuxun’s hand. “I’m sorry… I just…”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses, okay?” Shen Qiuxun bent down to kiss his eyes, his voice light and slow. “Your eyes can’t see, and you’re still a fugitive. Me taking you in is already a huge risk. Don’t make me worry anymore.”

An expression of shyness and being deeply touched appeared on Fu Mingchuan’s face. He shuffled forward two steps on his knees. Even though his vision was pitch-black, he stubbornly raised his head to look at him. “I’m sorry. I only saw that Xiao Er’s reclining chair was a bit loose. I couldn’t find any repair tools at home, and I wanted to give you a surprise, so I…”

He lowered his head, and his voice fell, sounding lonely. “So I used your identity to buy something online.”

“?” Shen Qiuxun looked over at his reclining chair. A few days ago he had felt the base seemed a little wobbly and had planned to find a day to livestream fixing the reclining chair, but because he got busy with things, he forgot. Now that he remembered, he only just realized that it had been fixed at some point without him knowing.

“Oh.” Shen Qiuxun rubbed the red marks on the man’s face. “Why would you hide something like that from me?”

He had wronged the guy. So awkward.

Wasn’t he just like the dog that bit Lü Dongbin, failing to recognize a good heart?

Save me!

“I understand.” Fu Mingchuan rested his head on his knee. “I know Xiao Er treats me well… I won’t go outside.”

He reached out, clutching Shen Qiuxun’s hand, then interlaced his fingers through his, his voice gentle. “I have only Xiao Er. Please don’t be angry.”

“…”

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

【Wow, Host, this mission of ours might actually succeed.】

‘Get lost. Of course it’ll succeed. If I don’t succeed, I’ll wash my hair standing on my head.’

【I’ve recorded it.】 The System said, and a clip of audio began to play in his mind: 【’Get lost. Of course it’ll succeed. If I don’t succeed, I’ll wash my hair standing on my head.’】

‘System buddy, are you a primary school graduate?’

Stiffly, Shen Qiuxun ruffled the man’s hair. “That… um, I’m not angry either.”

“The floor is so cold. Can I get in bed and hold Xiao Er while we sleep?”

“Mm… Mm?!”

【I don’t permit this, I don’t permit this!!!】

Fu Mingchuan kissed his wrist, full of dependence. “I have only Xiao Er.”

“F… fine then.”

【I hate you.】

In the middle of the night, Shen Qiuxun turned over and was gathered into someone’s embrace.

He opened his eyes and hazily saw the sleeping man in front him, saw the clear-cut lines of his profile: How exactly did things get to this point?