“You… maybe you should sleep on the inside instead?”
Luo Mingchen felt that with Huo Yan sleeping on the outside, he didn’t even dare to turn over.
Huo Yan said, “You’ll fall off.”
“Me? No way. There’s still so much—”
Before Luo Mingchen could finish speaking, he met those pitch-black eyes in the moonlight filtering through the window, and his heartbeat skipped a beat.
Those eyes were really too alluring…
Luo Mingchen looked away and heard Huo Yan say, “You’re afraid of me.”
“Hah. As if I’d be afraid of you?”
After saying that, Luo Mingchen didn’t hear Huo Yan respond, so he couldn’t help glancing at him again.
Huo Yan was also looking at him, his gaze unusually focused as he repeated, “You’re afraid of me.”
“I…”
To be honest, Luo Mingchen really was a little afraid of him. But as a man, he could lose anything except his pride.
So Luo Mingchen stubbornly replied, “I’m afraid that if I get groggy in the middle of the night, I might do something to you.”
Huo Yan asked with a half-smile, “Hit me with the kitchen knife?”
That made Luo Mingchen somewhat embarrassed. But seeing the teasing look in Huo Yan’s eyes, he refused to back down. He leaned closer, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said, “There’s something I forgot to tell you.”
Seeing the confusion in Huo Yan’s eyes, Luo Mingchen lowered his voice and said word by word, “I like men.”
After saying that, Luo Mingchen successfully saw a hint of surprise appear on Huo Yan’s face. Feeling secretly pleased, he smiled until his eyes curved into crescents, stretched lazily, and said leisurely, “So if you want to switch to the inside, you’d better do it now. Otherwise, if I get sleepy and confused, who knows what I might do to you? It’s entirely possible I might hug you and start nibbling on you.”
Huo Yan stared at Luo Mingchen’s fair side profile, still carrying a trace of baby fat, and fell silent.
Back then, when he decided to marry a male spouse, it was mainly because he wanted another bodyguard for the children. He also didn’t want to ruin some innocent girl’s future, nor did he want to be interrogated by matchmakers every time he came home.
As for liking men and doing intimate things with another man, he had never even dared to imagine it.
But if that person was Luo Mingchen…
For some reason, it didn’t seem so difficult to accept.
“Is that so?”
“Hm?”
Hearing his voice, Luo Mingchen turned his head.
A shadow suddenly leaned over him. His lips felt warm for a moment before the sensation quickly disappeared, leaving behind only a faint, soft touch.
Huo Yan had originally intended to kiss his cheek.
He hadn’t expected Luo Mingchen to suddenly turn his head.
Still, this seemed pretty good too.
Realizing that he had just been kissed, Luo Mingchen’s pupils abruptly widened. He shot upright.
“You—”
Huo Yan innocently licked his lower lip and said, “It’s soft.”
Luo Mingchen: “…!!!”
He was being flirted with, right?
Right?!
“It’s okay. I don’t dislike the feeling. You can hug me and nibble on me.”
Luo Mingchen stared in shock as Huo Yan closed his eyes and went to sleep immediately after saying that.
What was that supposed to mean?
Although he really wanted to say something—and wanted to do something to Huo Yan as well—by the time Luo Mingchen came back to his senses, quite a while had already passed. All he could do was lie down miserably and go to sleep.
That had been his first kiss.
And it had disappeared just like that…
Even though feeling conflicted about it seemed a little awkward, Luo Mingchen still felt somewhat disappointed.
Back then, he had liked that person, and that person had confessed to him first. Afterward, the most they ever did was hold hands or share a hug when no one was around.
Only later did Luo Mingchen learn that the man had heard he was gay and had deliberately deceived him, hoping to gain some benefits from him.
Meanwhile, Luo Mingchen had foolishly given him his whole heart. Just holding hands had been enough to make him happy for half a day.
Even when Luo Mingchen had wanted to become a little more intimate, he endured it after hearing the man say he was afraid other people would find out about their relationship.
All the while, he never knew that the man had secretly been keeping a lover behind his back.
Only when everything finally came to light did that man tell him that every second spent with him had been utterly disgusting.
…
The more Luo Mingchen thought about it, the stronger his sense of disappointment became.
Seeing that Huo Yan had truly fallen asleep without a care in the world, he lifted his leg and kicked him, then turned over and stole the entire blanket.
Huo Yan, who actually wasn’t asleep: “…”
At some point, Luo Mingchen drifted off to sleep.
When he woke up, the sky outside was already somewhat bright. Behind him was something that felt like a giant furnace.
Yawning, Luo Mingchen turned around in confusion.
When he saw a somewhat familiar face, he still wasn’t fully awake. He only thought it looked handsome, so he reached out and gave it a squeeze.
“Morning.”
The slightly hoarse voice sounded beside his ear.
Luo Mingchen froze for a moment before suddenly waking up. He sprang out of Huo Yan’s arms.
“Why are you holding me?”
Huo Yan was still a little sleepy.
“You tossed around for most of the night. You cried, kicked me, and later seemed to be searching for something. I couldn’t sleep without holding you.”
“Really?”
Luo Mingchen frowned.
“I sleep very well. Don’t lie to me.”
Huo Yan sat up and looked at him. There were faint dark circles under his eyes as he lazily asked, “Who told you that you sleep well?”
“Cough…”
Luo Mingchen suddenly felt guilty.
Then he found it strange.
“Xiaohui and the others never said I slept badly.”
“Maybe they didn’t dare?”
The two looked at each other.
Luo Mingchen: “…”
Fine.
That was indeed a possibility.
But…
Surely he wasn’t crying and kicking people?
Remembering that Huo Yuhui and Huo Xiang had to attend Baiye Academy, Luo Mingchen quickly got up to make breakfast, while Huo Yan fetched water and fed the chicks and ducklings.
By the time Luo Mingchen finished cooking, Huo Yan had already fed the poultry, and the two children had cleaned the courtyard.
While eating noodles, Luo Mingchen casually asked, “Xiaoxiang, did I ever kick you while sleeping before?”
If he asked Huo Yuhui, the boy might lie to save his dignity.
But Huo Xiang was different. She was a simple, sweet child who answered whatever she was asked.
“No.”
Huo Xiang asked in confusion, “Little Daddy, did you kick Dad last night?”
“…No.”
Luo Mingchen glanced at Huo Yan and secretly kicked him under the table.
The meaning was obvious: You lied to me, didn’t you?
Huo Yan calmly asked, “Xiaoxiang, how does your Little Daddy usually sleep at night?”
“He hugs me and Yueyue. Sometimes he cries.”
As she said this, Huo Xiang suddenly missed the days when she slept in Luo Mingchen’s arms.
Little Daddy smelled nice and wasn’t hot. His body was cool, and when he was beside her, she wasn’t afraid of being taken away.
After hearing that, Huo Yan looked at Luo Mingchen.
The meaning was equally obvious: Did I lie to you?
Luo Mingchen, who had been planning to step on Huo Yan’s foot again, silently withdrew his own.
So…
He actually had that habit while sleeping?
Luo Mingchen lowered his head and buried himself in his noodles, pretending not to understand anything.
After breakfast, the family headed into town together.
It was the children’s first day of classes. They had forgotten to buy school bags yesterday, so the bags they carried were canvas backpacks that Luo Mingchen had dug out from his space.
After sending Huo Yuhui and Huo Xiang into the academy, Luo Mingchen carried Huo Xinyue while he and Huo Yan went to buy some vegetables. They also bought a large stone mill and took the opportunity to check the market price of tofu.
Selling things on the streets here was fairly simple. One only needed to rent a stall. Most foods could be sold freely.
Only particularly unusual foods required inspection to ensure they hadn’t been mixed with poison or anything harmful.
After buying everything and gathering the information they needed, the two adults and one child took an ox cart back home.
The tofu here wasn’t very tender. The gypsum was probably added in excessive amounts, though the texture was also related to technique, cooking time, and pressing time.
Of course, Luo Mingchen didn’t know whether people in this world simply preferred firmer tofu.
He could try making some and selling it first.
If the response was good, then he would have work settled for the next three months.