Xia Wennan slept till the sun came up. These days, he always sleeps late and rises early, with nothing but work on his mind. His slumber had rarely been restful—yet he’d had a good night’s rest last. He woke up muddle-headed this morning, unsure of where he was.
And then he saw Ming Luchuan lying beside him.
Ming Luchuan was already awake, but he remained in bed. Startled, Xia Wennan flinched back. “Why are you here?”
“Didn’t you invite me here?” Ming Luchuan sat up, the blanket slipping down his body and revealing a bare torso.
“Really? I don’t recall,” Xia Wennan began another round of bullshit while remembering what had transpired the night before.
After the night he went to bed with Ming Luchuan, Xia Wennan still habitually slept in his own room. Seeing Ming Luchuan’s face when he woke up first thing in the morning still made him feel a little apprehensive.
He lifted off the covers, climbed out of bed, picked up his clothes that had been discarded nearby, and hurriedly put them on.
“What are you doing?” Ming Luchuan asked.
“Going back to work,” said Xia Wennan.
“I already told you, today is Saturday.”
“And what’s the matter with that?” Xia Wennan had already pulled his pants on. He froze and turned to face Ming Luchuan.
“Just because you refuse to rest, does that mean your staff won’t need it?” said Ming Luchuan.
Xia Wennan briefly hesitated.
Ming Luchuan tore away the covers and sat on the edge of the bed, proceeding to put on his clothes. “Did you notify them about working today?”
“No…” Xia Wennan thought for a bit. “But I didn’t notify them about not working either.”
“Go see for yourself,” said Ming Luchuan.
Xia Wennan exited his office, rushed to his lab, and peered inside through the glass door. Sure enough, there was no soul in sight.
Ming Luchuan followed him unhurriedly, coming to a halt behind Xia Wennan.
“Everyone is so self-conscious,” Xia Wennan said ruefully. “That’s great, they won’t easily fall for capitalist exploits.”
Since it was the weekend, there was no food in the company cafeteria. Xia Wennan got into Ming Luchuan’s car and they drove to a nearby breakfast restaurant.
The breakfast restaurant served both youtiao and soy milk as well as sandwiches and coffee. Steaming hot noodles were also cooking in a pot behind a glass window.
Ming Luchuan wanted youtiao and soy milk, while Xia Wennan ordered a cup of beef noodles. As they waited for their breakfast to be served, the two sat face to face.
Xia Wennan propped his face up with both hands, mind wandering. His thoughts revolved solely around his half-finished work from the night before.
When the server brought their orders, Xia Wennan merely stared blankly at the big bowl of noodles in front of him, remaining motionless for a long time.
Ming Luchuan grabbed a pair of chopsticks and stirred Xia Wennan’s beef noodles for him before handing him the chopsticks, saying, “Your noodles are getting lumpy.”
Xia Wennan reflexively accepted the proffered chopsticks, and it was only after a while that he came back to his senses and asked, “Pardon?”
Ming Luchuan frowned. “I told you to eat your noodles.”
“Oh,” said Xia Wennan. Lowering his head, he picked up the noodles with his chopsticks and brought them to his mouth. After only two or three mouthfuls, he watched as Ming Luchuan placed a peeled tea egg into his bowl.
Xia Wennan bit off the noodles in his mouth, slowly lifted his head, and stared at Ming Luchuan as he chewed.
There was no change in Ming Luchuan’s calm demeanour. After peeling the tea egg for Xia Wennan, he broke off a small piece of his youtiao and dipped it in the soy milk.
Xia Wennan swallowed all of the noodles in his mouth and wiped his lips with a tissue. “Why are you treating me so well all of a sudden…” he said in a hushed tone. “It feels kinda weird.”
Ming Luchuan’s eyes flicked up at him. “Is there a problem? Give it to me if you’re not going to eat it.”
Xia Wennan picked up the tea egg with his chopsticks in a clumsy fashion. He moved his hand forward with the intention of returning the tea egg to Ming Luchuan’s bowl, but halfway through, he noticed something wrong with Ming Luchuan’s expression and immediately lowered his head to take a bite of the tea egg before returning it to his own bowl and saying, “I’m eating it, aren’t I?”
Ming Luchuan stared at him with an icy face.
Xia Wennan slightly choked on the egg. He swallowed a gulp of milk and said, “What are you angry about? I’m just not used to you suddenly being so gentle.”
“Then how do you want me to treat you?”
“Just, the same as before.”
“So nothing has changed between us?”
“Changed how?” Xia Wennan had a slightly vacant look on his face.
“Why did you come to me that night?” Ming Luchuan said coldly.
“Wasn’t it to get my memories back?” said Xia Wennan. “But it failed.” After saying that, he suddenly felt a little guilty, so he stole a glance at Ming Luchuan. In reality, he was also after Ming Luchuan’s pheromones, hoping to find more inspiration for Xishui Hall. From the moment he and Ming Luchuan stood in front of the research institute’s red-brick building, this idea had crept into Xia Wennan’s thoughts. He’d wanted to head home and have Ming Luchuan unleash his pheromones the one time, after which he would devote his all into his work on developing the perfume.
In no universe would he dare to say all that to Ming Luchuan’s face.
As for last night… he’d only thought that the first time was so good, and it had been half a month since then—he was just a little greedy for Ming Luchuan’s body.
“Didn’t you say that even if you don’t regain your memories, you’d still love me the same?”
“Didn’t I pose that as a question?” Xia Wennan said in a small voice.
The moment his words fell, Ming Luchuan slammed his chopsticks down on the tabletop.
Aware that he’d made Ming Luchuan angry again, Xia Wennan hastily said, “Don’t be mad, I really wou—” he broke off mid-sentence, because he suddenly saw—on the television set fixed to the wall of the breakfast restaurant—a broadcast of Li Xin singing and dancing at an evening gala.
Too many things had happened that night. When he saw Li Xin again now, Xia Wennan was reminded of his and Lu Wenxing’s ambiguous relationship.
Ming Luchuan was sitting with his back to the TV. When he took notice of Xia Wennan’s line of sight, he looked over his shoulder and his face immediately clouded over. “What are you looking at?”
Xia Wennan snapped out of his daze and said, “Ah, I didn’t know Li Xin could sing.”
“Does he sound good?” Ming Luchuan asked.
Xia Wennan lowered his voice. “Not really, to be honest.”
Ming Luchuan abruptly stood up and left the restaurant.
Xia Wennan had no choice but to put down his chopsticks and flee the breakfast restaurant to chase after Ming Luchuan. “What the hell? I haven’t even finished eating yet!”
Ming Luchuan didn’t say anything, immediately making his way to where his car was parked on the side of the road.
Xia Wennan jogged up to him and pulled at his arm. “What on earth are you angry about?”
Ming Luchuan opened the car door with his other hand and instantly slid into the driver’s seat.
Xia Wennan stood outside the car. He bent over, and as he gazed at Ming Luchuan, he had a sudden epiphany and said, “I’ll be responsible for you!”
Ming Luchuan froze.
Xia Wennan hastily circled the car. Upon reaching the door of the passenger seat, he opened it and climbed in. Glancing at Ming Luchuan, he inwardly thought, turns out Ming Luchuan is so pure and innocent. He thus asked, “Am I your first?”
Ming Luchuan didn’t answer him, mutely starting the engine.
Xia Wennan pressed on, “Am I your only one?”
At that moment, the ringing of Ming Luchuan’s phone sliced through the air. When he dug it out of his jacket pocket, Xia Wennan took the opportunity to peep at the screen—it displayed an unlisted landline number.
Ming Luchuan took the call. “Yes?”
Xia Wennan looked towards the breakfast restaurant, and when he saw that the server was clearing the unfinished plates at their table, he felt a little bad.
Meanwhile, Ming Luchuan ended the call a short time later. “Your car has been repaired,” he told Xia Wennan.
Xia Wennan was taken aback. “Wow. Turns out I own a car—I would’ve completely forgotten if you hadn’t said anything.”
The author has something to say:
Xia Wennan was taken aback. “Wow. Turns out I own a car—I would’ve completely forgotten if you hadn’t said anything.”
Sorry, the one who actually forgot is the author.
Xia Wennan slept till the sun came up. These days, he always sleeps late and rises early, with nothing but work on his mind. His slumber had rarely been restful—yet he’d had a good night’s rest last. He woke up muddle-headed this morning, unsure of where he was.
And then he saw Ming Luchuan lying beside him.
Ming Luchuan was already awake, but he remained in bed. Startled, Xia Wennan flinched back. “Why are you here?”
“Didn’t you invite me here?” Ming Luchuan sat up, the blanket slipping down his body and revealing a bare torso.
“Really? I don’t recall,” Xia Wennan began another round of bullshit while remembering what had transpired the night before.
After the night he went to bed with Ming Luchuan, Xia Wennan still habitually slept in his own room. Seeing Ming Luchuan’s face when he woke up first thing in the morning still made him feel a little apprehensive.
He lifted off the covers, climbed out of bed, picked up his clothes that had been discarded nearby, and hurriedly put them on.
“What are you doing?” Ming Luchuan asked.
“Going back to work,” said Xia Wennan.
“I already told you, today is Saturday.”
“And what’s the matter with that?” Xia Wennan had already pulled his pants on. He froze and turned to face Ming Luchuan.
“Just because you refuse to rest, does that mean your staff won’t need it?” said Ming Luchuan.
Xia Wennan briefly hesitated.
Ming Luchuan tore away the covers and sat on the edge of the bed, proceeding to put on his clothes. “Did you notify them about working today?”
“No…” Xia Wennan thought for a bit. “But I didn’t notify them about not working either.”
“Go see for yourself,” said Ming Luchuan.
Xia Wennan exited his office, rushed to his lab, and peered inside through the glass door. Sure enough, there was no soul in sight.
Ming Luchuan followed him unhurriedly, coming to a halt behind Xia Wennan.
“Everyone is so self-conscious,” Xia Wennan said ruefully. “That’s great, they won’t easily fall for capitalist exploits.”
Since it was the weekend, there was no food in the company cafeteria. Xia Wennan got into Ming Luchuan’s car and they drove to a nearby breakfast restaurant.
The breakfast restaurant served both youtiao and soy milk as well as sandwiches and coffee. Steaming hot noodles were also cooking in a pot behind a glass window.
Ming Luchuan wanted youtiao and soy milk, while Xia Wennan ordered a cup of beef noodles. As they waited for their breakfast to be served, the two sat face to face.
Xia Wennan propped his face up with both hands, mind wandering. His thoughts revolved solely around his half-finished work from the night before.
When the server brought their orders, Xia Wennan merely stared blankly at the big bowl of noodles in front of him, remaining motionless for a long time.
Ming Luchuan grabbed a pair of chopsticks and stirred Xia Wennan’s beef noodles for him before handing him the chopsticks, saying, “Your noodles are getting lumpy.”
Xia Wennan reflexively accepted the proffered chopsticks, and it was only after a while that he came back to his senses and asked, “Pardon?”
Ming Luchuan frowned. “I told you to eat your noodles.”
“Oh,” said Xia Wennan. Lowering his head, he picked up the noodles with his chopsticks and brought them to his mouth. After only two or three mouthfuls, he watched as Ming Luchuan placed a peeled tea egg into his bowl.
Xia Wennan bit off the noodles in his mouth, slowly lifted his head, and stared at Ming Luchuan as he chewed.
There was no change in Ming Luchuan’s calm demeanour. After peeling the tea egg for Xia Wennan, he broke off a small piece of his youtiao and dipped it in the soy milk.
Xia Wennan swallowed all of the noodles in his mouth and wiped his lips with a tissue. “Why are you treating me so well all of a sudden…” he said in a hushed tone. “It feels kinda weird.”
Ming Luchuan’s eyes flicked up at him. “Is there a problem? Give it to me if you’re not going to eat it.”
Xia Wennan picked up the tea egg with his chopsticks in a clumsy fashion. He moved his hand forward with the intention of returning the tea egg to Ming Luchuan’s bowl, but halfway through, he noticed something wrong with Ming Luchuan’s expression and immediately lowered his head to take a bite of the tea egg before returning it to his own bowl and saying, “I’m eating it, aren’t I?”
Ming Luchuan stared at him with an icy face.
Xia Wennan slightly choked on the egg. He swallowed a gulp of milk and said, “What are you angry about? I’m just not used to you suddenly being so gentle.”
“Then how do you want me to treat you?”
“Just, the same as before.”
“So nothing has changed between us?”
“Changed how?” Xia Wennan had a slightly vacant look on his face.
“Why did you come to me that night?” Ming Luchuan said coldly.
“Wasn’t it to get my memories back?” said Xia Wennan. “But it failed.” After saying that, he suddenly felt a little guilty, so he stole a glance at Ming Luchuan. In reality, he was also after Ming Luchuan’s pheromones, hoping to find more inspiration for Xishui Hall. From the moment he and Ming Luchuan stood in front of the research institute’s red-brick building, this idea had crept into Xia Wennan’s thoughts. He’d wanted to head home and have Ming Luchuan unleash his pheromones the one time, after which he would devote his all into his work on developing the perfume.
In no universe would he dare to say all that to Ming Luchuan’s face.
As for last night… he’d only thought that the first time was so good, and it had been half a month since then—he was just a little greedy for Ming Luchuan’s body.
“Didn’t you say that even if you don’t regain your memories, you’d still love me the same?”
“Didn’t I pose that as a question?” Xia Wennan said in a small voice.
The moment his words fell, Ming Luchuan slammed his chopsticks down on the tabletop.
Aware that he’d made Ming Luchuan angry again, Xia Wennan hastily said, “Don’t be mad, I really wou—” he broke off mid-sentence, because he suddenly saw—on the television set fixed to the wall of the breakfast restaurant—a broadcast of Li Xin singing and dancing at an evening gala.
Too many things had happened that night. When he saw Li Xin again now, Xia Wennan was reminded of his and Lu Wenxing’s ambiguous relationship.
Ming Luchuan was sitting with his back to the TV. When he took notice of Xia Wennan’s line of sight, he looked over his shoulder and his face immediately clouded over. “What are you looking at?”
Xia Wennan snapped out of his daze and said, “Ah, I didn’t know Li Xin could sing.”
“Does he sound good?” Ming Luchuan asked.
Xia Wennan lowered his voice. “Not really, to be honest.”
Ming Luchuan abruptly stood up and left the restaurant.
Xia Wennan had no choice but to put down his chopsticks and flee the breakfast restaurant to chase after Ming Luchuan. “What the hell? I haven’t even finished eating yet!”
Ming Luchuan didn’t say anything, immediately making his way to where his car was parked on the side of the road.
Xia Wennan jogged up to him and pulled at his arm. “What on earth are you angry about?”
Ming Luchuan opened the car door with his other hand and instantly slid into the driver’s seat.
Xia Wennan stood outside the car. He bent over, and as he gazed at Ming Luchuan, he had a sudden epiphany and said, “I’ll be responsible for you!”
Ming Luchuan froze.
Xia Wennan hastily circled the car. Upon reaching the door of the passenger seat, he opened it and climbed in. Glancing at Ming Luchuan, he inwardly thought, turns out Ming Luchuan is so pure and innocent. He thus asked, “Am I your first?”
Ming Luchuan didn’t answer him, mutely starting the engine.
Xia Wennan pressed on, “Am I your only one?”
At that moment, the ringing of Ming Luchuan’s phone sliced through the air. When he dug it out of his jacket pocket, Xia Wennan took the opportunity to peep at the screen—it displayed an unlisted landline number.
Ming Luchuan took the call. “Yes?”
Xia Wennan looked towards the breakfast restaurant, and when he saw that the server was clearing the unfinished plates at their table, he felt a little bad.
Meanwhile, Ming Luchuan ended the call a short time later. “Your car has been repaired,” he told Xia Wennan.
Xia Wennan was taken aback. “Wow. Turns out I own a car—I would’ve completely forgotten if you hadn’t said anything.”
The author has something to say:
Xia Wennan was taken aback. “Wow. Turns out I own a car—I would’ve completely forgotten if you hadn’t said anything.”
Sorry, the one who actually forgot is the author.
