In the darkness, the Handsome Guy suddenly got up.
An Xiao snapped back to attention and asked, "Aren't you going to sleep?"
The Handsome Guy walked over, pressed his shoulder to turn him around, and lifted the curtain with one hand, leading him into the room.
An Xiao turned his head to look at him, making a sleeping gesture. "Sleep."
The Handsome Guy nodded. "Sleep."
An Xiao silently repeated it twice, then asked, "What about you?"
The Handsome Guy pointed outside.
An Xiao frowned and immediately put his learning to use: "You sleep."
The Handsome Guy still pointed outside and said a long sentence.
An Xiao couldn't understand, but he could tell the man still wanted to keep working on the furniture, so he said firmly, "Sleep first. Get up early to work."
It was pitch dark—what if he cut his hand?
He pointed outside, made a gesture of slicing his hand, then waved his hand, and finally pointed at the bed.
The Handsome Guy watched him.
The firelight flickered, casting a golden veil over his face, making him look somewhat gentle.
An Xiao paused, then pushed him, repeating, "Sleep."
The Handsome Guy looked at him for a long moment, then finally nodded, pointing at his hands and feet, watching him.
An Xiao tried to understand. "Is it about washing up?" He made a hand-washing gesture.
The Handsome Guy: "Mm, wash."
An Xiao broke into a smile.
After confirming the Handsome Guy had gone to clean up, he stepped back to the bed in his cloth shoes, mulling over what he needed to do when he got up tomorrow.
He looked at the dirty moon-white clothes thrown on the table.
The clothes needed washing.
The water was painstakingly carried back from the mountain—there was no way he could haul it back just to wash clothes.
Was he supposed to wear new, clean clothes through the mountain paths to wash a set of dirty clothes, only to end up with a set of dirty clothes again?
And the shoes too.
Living on the mountain was really inconvenient. He'd have to live near a water source, or move down to the settlement below.
No, wait.
He still didn't know why the original body had been thrown into the cave… And now he was a different person inside, couldn't even speak the language. Better to stay far away from people.
An Xiao frowned.
That being the case, he could only think of ways to improve the living environment.
The bamboo curtain lifted, and a tall figure stepped in with the sound of squelching water.
An Xiao looked at the Handsome Guy's straw sandals, both amused and helpless, and said, "We'll have to figure out how to make a pair of slippers later. This must be so uncomfortable."
The Handsome Guy didn't understand. Seeing his gaze, he thought An Xiao was disgusted by the water on the straw sandals, so he quickly stopped in his tracks and stood still, watching him.
An Xiao laughed and waved him over. "Come on, sleep."
The Handsome Guy understood. He stepped forward twice and stood by the bed—
and started taking off his clothes.
An Xiao: "!"
The next second, he realized—the Handsome Guy's clothes were dirty.
The Handsome Guy untied his sash, pulled off his clothes, and tossed them onto the table beside the dirty ones.
An Xiao's gaze couldn't help but fall on the man's sturdy, well-built body.
His wheat-colored skin was bathed in the orange-gold firelight. As he moved, the muscles in his arms showed beautiful, powerful lines—broad shoulders, narrow waist, faintly visible abs. His long fingers reached for his belt—
An Xiao suddenly snapped back to reality and stood up in a panic.
"W-w-what are you doing—no, wait," he said frantically, "Are you planning to sleep naked?!"
Why was he still undoing his belt?! This place didn't seem to have any underwear!!
The Handsome Guy's hand still hovered at his belt, looking at him in confusion.
Afraid he'd get distracted if he looked again, An Xiao's gaze darted around. He pointed toward the storage area, then at the ground. "Go change into clean clothes and come back! Or bring them here and change—either works!"
The Handsome Guy, however he interpreted it, frowned and said something: "I ****."
He even took a step forward.
An Xiao could hear the displeasure in his tone and took a frightened step back, stammering nervously, "If you won't change, then don't… I-I'll sleep on the table."
—Right, the weather was nice, and the table was spacious too. He could sleep on the table.
He scurried over to the table in three quick steps, pointed at himself, then at the table.
The Handsome Guy stopped, looking at him at a loss.
An Xiao stared back nervously.
They faced off for a long moment. The Handsome Guy pressed his lips together, and his hand finally left his belt. Stepping on his rustling straw sandals, he retreated to the wall, sat down cross-legged, and closed his eyes.
An Xiao was stunned.
He looked at the discarded robe, then at the Handsome Guy sitting motionless with his eyes shut—
He hesitated.
Could it be… the Handsome Guy hadn't meant it that way?
He wavered for a moment, then called out to him, "Hey."
The Handsome Guy opened his eyes to look at him.
An Xiao pointed at him, then at the bed.
The Handsome Guy didn't move, just kept watching him.
An Xiao had no choice and looked away. He folded his dirty clothes, rolled the soiled parts inward, pressed them flat, and set them by the table. Then he kicked off his shoes, climbed onto the table, and lay on his side with his knees bent.
The Handsome Guy froze for a moment, then immediately stood up.
An Xiao smiled at him and pointed at the bed: "You, sleep."
The Handsome Guy's expression turned grim as he strode over to the table in two steps.
An Xiao instinctively scrambled up: "What—"
His body was lifted off the ground, and the next second he was lying back on the bed.
He, "…"
Before he could even feel nervous or scared, the Handsome Guy who had carried him over stepped back a few paces, returned to the corner of the wall, sat down cross-legged, and closed his eyes.
Even his hands were obediently resting on his lap.
An Xiao, "…"
He stared at the Handsome Guy for a long time.
The Handsome Guy didn't move a muscle.
An Xiao gritted his teeth and sat up.
The Handsome Guy opened his eyes and frowned at him: "Sleep."
An Xiao felt even more certain.
He scooted toward the edge of the bed, then beckoned to the other man, patting the other side of the mattress.
The Handsome Guy's eyes lit up instantly, and he shot to his feet.
An Xiao tried once more, gesturing: "Can you go grab a set of clean clothes and change into them first…"
The Handsome Guy's eyes dimmed again.
An Xiao, "…"
Fine, sleeping naked it was.
He gave up gesturing helplessly, patted the spot beside him, then covered his eyes and lay back down.
The room was quiet for a moment. The next second, there was a rustling sound, followed by the scuff of straw sandals.
An Xiao expected the Handsome Guy wouldn't do anything, but he couldn't help tensing up, his body going rigid.
The thick woven mat shifted slightly.
An Xiao parted his fingers just a crack.
The Handsome Guy was sitting on the other edge of the bed looking at him, his pants—he immediately covered his eyes again, mumbling awkwardly, "Sleep, I'm tired."
He really was tired.
Even though it had only just gotten dark, even though he hadn't done any work today.
Come to think of it, he'd been groggy when he was sent to the cave… Could this body have some incurable illness?
Something heavy settled over him.
It was a blanket.
An Xiao moved his hand away.
The Handsome Guy's hand had just withdrawn as well. He glanced at An Xiao twice, then lay down beside him.
Nearly two feet away.
The bed was large. An Xiao hugged the edge, and the Handsome Guy hugged the other edge, so even with his big build, there was still a wide gap between them.
The Handsome Guy, now lying down, covered a corner of the blanket over himself, hands resting on his stomach, lying quietly with only his head turned to look at An Xiao.
His expression seemed to say: See, I'm being good, I didn't come over.
An Xiao couldn't help his eyes curving into a smile.
The Handsome Guy's eyes brightened, and he propped himself up on his elbow—
An Xiao startled and immediately wiped the smile off his face.
The Handsome Guy looked disappointed, then lay back down.
An Xiao, "…"
Seeing that the Handsome Guy was still staring at him with eager eyes, An Xiao cruelly closed his eyes and went to sleep.
He had expected to be on edge, his mind racing with wild thoughts, but to his surprise, he actually fell asleep.
He slept all the way until dawn.
A variety of bird calls, like surround-sound speakers, woke An Xiao up.
He sat up groggily, taking a few seconds to remember what the situation was.
The firewood stuck in the wall had long since burned to ash, and the Handsome Guy who should have been sleeping beside him was nowhere to be seen.
An Xiao rubbed his brow, got out of bed, put on his cloth shoes, and was about to grab his clothes to wash them—
Huh?
Where were the dirty clothes on the table?
He looked around but didn't see them, then quickly walked out of the room.
And then he froze.
Overnight, many new things had appeared on the outdoor platform.
Next to the pile of lumber were two wooden crates.
By the campfire, there was a new stone platform, and on it were two leaf-wrapped bundles he had seen last night.
The wooden rack that had held the animal carcass yesterday now had another skinned prey hanging from it.
A few meters further, outside the warehouse, there was another wooden rack with his moon-white robe and trousers from yesterday hanging on it—along with the Handsome Guy's clothes from yesterday.
An Xiao: "…"
Did the Handsome Guy do all this?
Two wooden crates, a stone platform, hunting, picking fruit… even washing the clothes.
…Had he not slept all night?!
An Xiao frowned and looked around. Where was he now?
Crack, crack—two crisp sounds.
An Xiao immediately turned toward the kitchen and strode over.
The kitchen had no bamboo curtain, so he rushed in and saw a figure: the Handsome Guy, now wearing a set of gray coarse-cloth clothes, was facing away from him, hammering and working.
And the kitchen that had seemed so empty yesterday now had a stove against the inner wall—a real stove.
An Xiao stared at that square, not-very-smooth but perfectly standard stove, then looked at the Handsome Guy who was rubbing it with a stone, utterly stunned.
He couldn't believe it: "Wow, how did you get this stove here?"
The Handsome Guy didn't seem surprised at all that he had come in. He glanced at him and said something.
An Xiao: …Forgot he couldn't understand.
Maybe he had asked someone to move it over? He wondered what tools they had used.
He walked around the stove, excited: "So did you buy the other kitchen utensils too? Oh no, we have a pot, we can make do! If not, you can carve a wooden spatula! Haha, with a pot and a stove, life is definitely going to get better and better!"
Especially since his partner was capable, hardworking, and had a good temper—life wouldn't be hard in the future.
He couldn't fall behind either!!
The Handsome Guy stopped what he was doing and looked at him.
An Xiao stopped too, his eyes sparkling as he looked back.
The Handsome Guy suddenly reached out, paused, wiped his hand on his clothes, then reached out again and gently touched the corner of An Xiao's eye with his fingertip.
An Xiao froze.
The Handsome Guy leaned in and pressed a touch as light as a feather against the corner of his eye.
An Xiao: "…"
After kissing him, the Handsome Guy still stared into his eyes and spoke: "An Xiao, ***."
An Xiao had no idea what he was saying, so he mumbled a couple of responses and darted out of the kitchen like he was fleeing.
After pacing around the open space outside twice, he suddenly snapped to his senses—wait, he had been molested, so why was he the one running?
He steeled himself, turned around, and re-entered the kitchen, only to collide with the Handsome Guy who was just coming out—the Handsome Guy even kindly steadied him, afraid he might fall.
An Xiao was a bit embarrassed and quickly stepped back two paces: "Thanks." Then he craned his neck to look inside, "All done?"
"Mm." The Handsome Guy, probably guessing what he was asking, touched the corner of his eye again, "An Xiao."
"Keep your hands to yourself—huh?" An Xiao looked up in surprise. "You remember my name?"
The handsome guy looked at him.
An Xiao thought for a moment, then pointed at himself. "An Xiao."
Then he pointed at the other, and based on his memory from yesterday, made two sounds. "**?"
That should be his name that the handsome guy taught him yesterday, right? Too bad he didn't know what it meant.
The handsome guy nodded, then shook his head, and uttered a different pronunciation. "**."
An Xiao blinked. Why did it sound like the syllables that young man and girl were shouting yesterday—could it be that people here liked to address each other that way?
The handsome guy stared at him and repeated. "**."
He was much more persistent than yesterday when he was teaching various nouns—yesterday, he only repeated when An Xiao asked.
An Xiao practiced the pronunciation. "**."
The handsome guy's eyes softened, and he reached out to touch the corner of An Xiao's eye again, then lowered his head—
"Smack."
An Xiao slapped his face away with a palm and ran off.