Only after running outside did An Xiao stop. He patted his cheeks, silently scolded himself, and forced his attention elsewhere.
The Handsome Guy had already done all the chores…
Seriously, it wasn't like the guy was some useless pretty boy who couldn't lift a finger.
—No matter what the original body had been like, he couldn't accept that.
But what could he actually do?
In the past day, the heaviest work he'd done was filling a pot most of the way with water and carrying it out to boil.
He paced back and forth at the doorway, feeling like everything needed improvement.
After circling twice, he realized the Handsome Guy had somehow fallen into step right behind him, following his every move.
An Xiao stopped immediately.
The Handsome Guy stopped too, staring at him.
An Xiao: "…"
What a simple, silly guy.
He'd only been smiling for two seconds when a thought suddenly struck him—could this Handsome Guy… have some kind of mental issue?
That would explain why the guy didn't mind that his "core" had been swapped.
An Xiao eyed the Handsome Guy suspiciously.
The Handsome Guy stood obediently, still staring at him without blinking.
An Xiao tested a call: "Hey."
The Handsome Guy's eyes lit up. He stepped forward, gazing at him intently.
…He really did resemble that low-intelligence uncle from the five-guarantees household he used to visit.
An Xiao pressed a hand to his forehead. He couldn't be discriminatory!!
He was the one who was the freeloader living off someone else—what right did he have to look down on anyone?
His hand was pulled down, a warm palm pressed against his forehead. The guy he'd just judged as low-intelligence frowned slightly, checking his temperature.
An Xiao sighed helplessly and brushed his hand away. "[I'm] fine."
Seeing that the Handsome Guy seemed about to speak, he quickly changed the subject. "[The clothes], [you] washed them?"
Following his pointing finger to the clothes drying on the line, the Handsome Guy nodded. "[I washed them.]"
An Xiao repeated the words, then patiently used his meager vocabulary to explain why it was necessary for him to wash his own clothes.
Whether the Handsome Guy understood or not was unclear—he just kept looking at An Xiao.
After talking for a while with barely any response, An Xiao gave up helplessly.
Forget it. One step at a time.
He turned and went back into the kitchen.
He found a bowl to use as a rinsing cup, scooped some water from the vat, and walked out of the kitchen toward the edge of the gravel area.
Before he could reach the edge, he was grabbed.
An Xiao had no choice—but they were far enough anyway, so he stopped walking, crouched down, and took a mouthful of water to rinse.
Gurgle, gurgle. Ptooey.
Gurgle, gurgle. Ptooey.
He glanced at the Handsome Guy crouching beside him, watching curiously, and took another mouthful—wait.
He glared at the Handsome Guy, pointed at the bowl, then at the kitchen, signaling: "[You] need to rinse your mouth too."
After repeating it twice, the Handsome Guy got up and went to the kitchen.
A few seconds later, he came out carrying a bowl of water, crouched down next to An Xiao, and copied him—gurgle, gurgle.
An Xiao smiled and nodded. "Not bad. You're teachable~"
The Handsome Guy didn't understand, but his eyes stayed fixed on An Xiao.
An Xiao: "…"
He poked a finger at the guy's cheek, turning his head away. "Rinse."
And so the two of them crouched there together, each rinsing their mouth with a bowl of water.
Then An Xiao brought some water over and wiped both bowls clean.
After washing them, he prepared to head back to the kitchen.
He'd taken two steps when he noticed something off. He turned to look behind him.
This time, the Handsome Guy wasn't following him. Instead, he was staring at the water they'd used to rinse and wash the bowls, looking at it again and again, then scratching his head.
An Xiao was puzzled. "What's wrong?"
The handsome guy turned around, rose from his seat, took the large and small bowls from his hands, then grabbed his hand and led him back to the kitchen doorway, pointing at the gravel ground by the entrance.
“[No] **.”
An Xiao was bewildered. What did that mean?
The handsome guy ducked into the kitchen, filled a large bowl with water, came out, and poured it on the ground: “[No] **.”
Then he pointed at the spot where he had just rinsed his mouth, “[No] ***.”
An Xiao looked at the sandy gravel ground now soaked by the large bowl of water, then glanced into the distance, trying to figure it out: “You mean I don’t need to walk far—I can just pour the water here?”
He mimed rinsing his mouth and spitting, then pointed at his feet.
The handsome guy nodded.
An Xiao was caught between laughter and tears.
He gestured with his hands: “A few bowls of water won’t make much difference, but if you pour it here every day, and pour a lot, it’ll breed bacteria and mosquitoes—bad for your health.”
Now it was the handsome guy’s turn to look confused.
An Xiao pointed at the spot where he had rinsed his mouth earlier and said firmly: “It has to be far from the front door.”
The handsome guy frowned, unsure whether he understood.
An Xiao didn’t bother with him… he needed to use the bathroom.
Then he realized with horror that he hadn’t used the bathroom at all yesterday.
Could this body actually have some serious illness?
…Never mind that for now.
An Xiao looked around, then finally headed toward the direction of the small woods.
He had only taken a few steps when his arm was grabbed again.
An Xiao met the handsome guy’s dark, deep eyes and froze for a moment. Why was he suddenly unhappy?
…He was unhappy, right?
He thought uncertainly, then pointed at the woods and said: “[I’m] going to the bathroom.”
The handsome guy tightened his grip on him.
An Xiao sighed helplessly, pointed at a certain part of himself, and said: “[I], [water].”
The handsome guy: “…”
He seemed to understand, and let go of him.
An Xiao breathed a sigh of relief and hurried toward the woods.
He didn’t bother when the handsome guy followed.
Once inside the woods, he pressed the handsome guy down and warned: “[Don’t move.]”
This time, the handsome guy obediently nodded.
An Xiao passed between two trees, confirmed he hadn’t followed, then circled behind a tree trunk that looked reasonably thick, undid his belt, and relieved himself.
When he turned back, the handsome guy was indeed still standing there.
An Xiao glanced at him and walked back while thinking.
Every time he pointed in that direction, the handsome guy seemed to get unhappy.
Whenever he walked farther away, the handsome guy would follow.
Could it be that he was afraid An Xiao would run away?
He looked around at the desolate wilderness and the residential area at the foot of the mountain…
…
Could the handsome guy be a human trafficker?
Had he been kidnapped?
Oh, no wait—two groups of people had come by yesterday and greeted him… and besides, the handsome guy practically treated him like a god.
An Xiao couldn’t figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it.
With his physical needs taken care of, he started pondering—doing it out here occasionally was fine, but if he did it here every day, wouldn’t his place stink to high heaven?
And it wouldn’t be convenient to stumble into the woods in the dark either.
Not to mention the other business…
An Xiao frowned in thought, then quickened his pace and headed straight for the cliff.
Sure enough, he was grabbed a few meters from the edge.
An Xiao glared at him: “If you’re afraid of danger, why live in a place like this? Since you do, then take some safety measures!”
The handsome guy didn’t understand and pulled him back.
An Xiao had no choice. He pointed at his eyes, then pointed at the cliff edge.
The handsome guy shook his head.
An Xiao thought for a moment, turned, walked to the pile of lumber, and picked up a log as thick as an arm and two or three meters long.
Sure enough, the handsome guy immediately took it from him.
An Xiao secretly grinned, then went to grab another log—and it was taken from him again.
The handsome guy caught on and proactively grabbed three or four more.
An Xiao picked up the knife and gestured for him to walk toward the cliff edge.
Handsome Guy hesitated, glancing at him, then carried the log quickly to the edge of the cliff—two meters away.
An Xiao leaned over to look.
Their platform was shaped like a circular arc.
Most of the arc gradually widened outward. Facing their house, the slope descended steadily before disappearing into a small grove of trees. On the side of the house, it extended upward, winding around to the back hillside.
The half-arc platform near the warehouse connected to a sheer cliff—a hundred meters of towering precipice, with a dense expanse of wild forest below.
After confirming there were no residents below, An Xiao began directing Handsome Guy to work.
The log was split in two, one end sharpened, and then driven into the gravelly ground.
An Xiao recalled how easily Handsome Guy had planted torches the night before and figured he'd have no trouble with this.
Sure enough, no trouble at all.
Handsome Guy didn't even need tools. He shoved the sharpened log into the ground, gave it a couple of punches with his fist, and the whole log sank twenty or thirty centimeters into the earth, standing there rock solid.
An Xiao gestured at the log's height—about one and a half meters—and nodded in satisfaction, directing him to plant one every two feet.
After three were planted, An Xiao pointed at the top of the log and gestured for Handsome Guy to carve a notch into it.
Then he ran back and grabbed a thin wooden strip, trying to wedge it horizontally into the freshly carved notch.
Handsome Guy understood.
Then he scooped An Xiao up with one arm and set him back at the doorway, picked out a pile of logs, carried them over, and started working with grunts of effort.
An Xiao watched him work quickly and steadily, then turned and went into the kitchen to boil water.
With the stove built, he no longer had to carry pots back and forth.
He set the big pot into the stove opening, lit the fire, and boiled water.
Then he pondered what to make for breakfast.
The porridge from the other day had tasted decent, but the texture had been… memorable.
An Xiao rummaged through the basket of food, picked out two fist-sized fruits, thought for a moment, and added one more.
Using a large bowl as a basin, he rinsed the three fruits twice, cut them into chunks with a small knife, and dropped them into the small pot.
Then he ran outside, studied the creature hanging on the wooden rack for a moment, and cut a piece of meat from its belly—this part had some fat, which would be better for soup.
After rinsing off the blood, he used a plate as a cutting board, carefully divided it into small pieces, and tossed them all into the small pot.
Finally, he added some water, placed the pot into the other stove opening, and lit the fire to cook.
Once the water boiled, he used chopsticks to prop up the lid, pulled out the big logs, and turned the fire down to a low simmer.
Only then did he find time to go out and check on Handsome Guy's progress—
Damn!
He was almost done!!
The entire half-arc cliff edge was now lined with logs.
Two rows of wooden strips were already wedged horizontally across them.
Handsome Guy had even dragged over a pile of vines from who knows where and was now wrapping and binding them tightly around the various logs and strips.
The vines still had leaves on them, which gave the whole thing a rather fresh, rustic look.
An Xiao ran over—this time Handsome Guy didn't stop him.
He pushed and kicked each finished wooden railing—all of them were rock solid!
He was thrilled, giving Handsome Guy a thumbs up: "**Awesome, man!"
Handsome Guy, still bent over wrapping vines but with his eyes fixed on An Xiao, was clearly pleased—though there was no smile, An Xiao could just tell he was happy.
An Xiao smiled softly and took the chance to pat the other man's head.
Handsome Guy froze.
An Xiao laughed and ran off, waving at him: "Hurry up and finish, then come back for breakfast!"
Handsome Guy's gaze followed him the whole way.
An Xiao was used to it by now. He ducked into the kitchen to check on his water and stewed meat.
Soon, the water and the fruit-and-shredded-meat stew were both done.
In the stew pot, An Xiao had only added a bit of salt. Tasting that the saltiness was just right, he turned off the fire and ladled it into a bowl.
Then he went out to call the Handsome Guy: "Handsome Guy, time to eat."
This was something he'd learned from last night's barbecue.
The moment the words left his mouth, he saw the Handsome Guy crouching at the kitchen door, eyes sparkling as he stared at him—
Wait, those eyes were as black as ink, how could he tell they were sparkling?
An Xiao paused, patted him on the head, and repeated: "Wash your hands, then eat."
The Handsome Guy immediately jumped up: "Okay!"
An Xiao: "…"
Why so excited?
The Handsome Guy washed his hands, then looked at him with eager eyes, his gaze constantly drifting toward the two bowls of fruit-braised meat on the stove—one big, one small.
The big one was a soup bowl.
The small one was a regular rice bowl.
An Xiao handed the big bowl to the Handsome Guy and shoved a pair of chopsticks into his hand: "Go outside, sit on the stool, and eat."
Then he turned around to get his own.
The moment he turned back, the Handsome Guy's bowl was already empty.
He: "…"
It had come out of the pot less than five minutes ago!! Isn't it hot?
Just as he was in shock, the Handsome Guy set down his bowl, wiped his mouth, and reached out to cup his face.
An Xiao, holding his bowl: "?!"
His lips went soft.
"Smack"—a resounding kiss!
The Handsome Guy said excitedly: "I like you, An Xiao."
An Xiao: "?"
What do you mean you like me?
—Wait, he just got kissed?!
Did he even agree before this guy dared to make a move?!