Xu Duwan is the kind of person who basically doesn’t know what he did after he blacked out when he’s drunk. So when he opened his eyes in the morning and woke up to find himself lying in Shen Mingjin’s arms, he calmly lifted his eyelids. His left eye seemed to say, “Wow, this guy is so handsome,” while his right eye seemed to say, “I haven’t had such a realistic dream in a long time. Never mind, I’ll just go for it.”
So, when Shen Mingjin was half asleep with Xu Duwan in his arms, he suddenly felt a wet touch on his right cheek. He slowly opened his eyes and saw out of the corner of his eye that Xu Duwan was coming up to him, cupping his face, and licking his right cheek until it was wet, like a puppy affectionately close to its owner.
Shen Mingjin thought about things all night and didn’t fall asleep until very late. He was a little sleepy when he first woke up, but Xu Duwan’s licking made him more awake.
He silently watched Xu Duwan, who was still oblivious and rubbing against him. He twitched his fingertips, lifted his right hand, which was a little sore from being used as a pillow by Xu Duwan, and turned Xu Duwan over, pinning him beneath him. Then he lowered his head and lightly bit Xu Duwan’s lips as if punishing him. After the other party let out a short groan, his tongue plunged in and gave Xu Duwan a long and tender good morning kiss.
This was Shen Mingjin’s first time kissing someone, but Xu Duwan was very obedient. When Shen Mingjin came closer, he obediently opened his mouth, closed his eyes, and let Shen Mingjin invade his inside and out. In the end, glistening silver threads uncontrollably flowed from the corners of his lips, which Shen Mingjin then wiped away.
Because of Xu Duwan’s overly affectionate advances, and seeing that an accident was about to occur if they continued kissing, Shen Mingjin decisively withdrew, released Xu Duwan, and kissed the forehead of Xu Duwan, whose face was flushed, breathing rapidly, and who seemed to be stunned by the kiss. He then pressed down on Xu Duwan, who wanted to continue kissing him, and said in a deep voice:
”good.”
Xu Duwan glanced at him, his eyes filled with doubt as if he were meeting Shen Mingjin for the first time. His hand was half-pressed on the pillow, staring straight up at Shen Mingjin with a blank expression, wondering why the dream was so long and why the feeling of being kissed so intensely felt so real.
I want to take another bite.
Xu Duwan glanced longingly at Shen Mingjin’s lips, which were slightly swollen from being kissed, and smacked them as if savoring the memory.
No, he’s probably having another wet dream and hasn’t woken up yet. He should sleep a little longer.
Shen Mingjin watched as Xu Duwan closed his eyes again, seemingly wanting to sleep a little longer. After a pause, he didn’t disturb him and quietly got out of bed.
He took a shower, wrapped himself in a towel, and opened Xu Duwan’s wardrobe. He intended to look for clothes that fit, but when his fingertips swept across the clothes rack, Shen Mingjin found two school uniforms placed together in the corner of the rack.
Shen Mingjin was stunned.
The school uniforms were a black and white color-blocked design, which they probably started wearing in their senior year of high school. One uniform was spotless, while the other had dark red stains, as if it had been washed haphazardly but not properly cleaned since they wouldn’t be wearing it again.
Shen Mingjin rubbed his fingertips against the even dirtier school uniform, instinctively feeling that the unwashed stains were probably blood.
His gaze shifted slightly to the right, landing on the clean school uniform.
The school uniform still had an ID tag hanging on it, which had turned yellowish due to its age, but Shen Mingjin could still tell at a glance that the person with a sour face in the photo on the ID tag was himself when he was young.
How did his school uniform end up with Xu Duwan? And how did they break up?
Shen Mingjin couldn’t remember.
Just thinking about it gives me a headache.
Shen Mingjin’s brain seemed to instinctively resist recalling past events, so whenever he came into contact with things related to the past, his body would experience varying degrees of stress, the most frequent and intense of which was headaches.
Shen Mingjin closed the wardrobe, took a deep breath to calm the inexplicable feeling of suffocation that welled up in his heart, and after a moment, turned and left the room.
He had intended to make breakfast for Xu Duwan before waking him up, but unexpectedly, Xu Duwan woke up in the room just as he started cooking. Upon seeing him, he paused in a flustered manner, like a child who had done something wrong, with his hands behind his back and his head hanging down, not daring to look at Shen Mingjin’s face.
”What’s wrong? Are you hungry?”
Shen Mingjin was cutting tomatoes when he heard the noise. He turned around and glanced at Xu Duwan, his gaze lingering on Xu Duwan’s bare feet. After a pause, he said:
”Put on your shoes.”
”…….”
Upon hearing this, Xu Duwan ran back to his room to put on his shoes, then returned to the living room. He cautiously observed Shen Mingjin’s calm expression, hesitated for a long time, and finally mustered the courage to whisper:
”Sorry.”
Shen Mingjin layered tomatoes, chopped lettuce, eggs, and pork floss on the toast, then toasted it briefly. Upon hearing this, he raised an eyebrow in surprise:
“Why do you say that?”
”I didn’t mean to go crazy last night.”
Xu Duwan felt guilty: “I was just drunk and talked nonsense…”
”Hmm, I know you’re talking nonsense.” Shen Mingjin lowered his head and cut the toast in half:
”But I mean everything I say.”
”!!!”
Upon hearing this, Xu Duwan froze on the spot, as if he had heard some earth-shattering good news, his eyes wide with shock:
”What did you say!”
“When I said I would follow you, I meant it.”
Shen Mingjin is still unsure of Xu Duwan’s true feelings for him. After all, he had used him before, so it’s possible that Xu Duwan feels more hatred than love.
But no matter what, he was the one who wronged Xu Duwan. Now that he had remembered what had happened before, he couldn’t help but feel guilty.
Therefore, since Xu Duwan was keeping him as a mistress, he didn’t care and could leave only when Xu Duwan got tired of him.
“Are you serious?!”
Xu Duwan was overjoyed, mistakenly believing that Shen Mingjin had agreed to date him. A happy smile crept onto his face, and he couldn’t suppress it for a long time. Excitedly, he ran to Shen Mingjin’s side and hugged his waist tightly.
”Then you can’t go back on your word.”
“I don’t regret it,” Shen Mingjin readily agreed.
It’s just being a kept man, right? He’s never done it before, but he can give it a try.
He cut the toast, placed it on a plate, and flicked Xu Duwan’s forehead:
”Go brush your teeth.”
”Then after breakfast, can you come with me to the company?”
I don’t want to be separated from you.
Xu Duwan’s long-cherished wish was finally fulfilled. Even though he knew that Shen Mingjin didn’t like clingy people, he still couldn’t help but want to spend more time with Shen Mingjin and made a further request.
After all, this is his boyfriend; it’s okay for him to act cute, right?
Xu Duwan thought uncertainly, his face showing caution, like a kitten stretching out its soft paws and tentatively patting the palm of its former owner who had abandoned it.
There was a hint of unease beneath the intimacy.
Shen Mingjin was unaware of Xu Duwan’s concerns. After thinking for a moment, he decided that the project wasn’t in a rush and he could ask for leave, so he nodded.
”good.”
”I’ll go with you wherever you want to go today.”
A qualified canary should meet all the requirements of its patron.
Upon hearing this, Xu Duwan excitedly snuggled against Shen Mingjin’s chest, hugging his new boyfriend with a heart brimming with happiness.
He happily agreed, then ran into the bathroom, quickly washed up, took a shower, changed his clothes, sprayed perfume, and put on the fake tourmaline necklace in front of the mirror.
Shen Mingjin was sitting at the dining table, about to pour hot milk, when suddenly his phone, which was charging, vibrated and the caller’s name appeared on the screen.
Shen Mingjin glanced at it casually, then paused, nearly scalding his hand with the milk the instant he saw the name.
The caller was Lin Ciyang.
Shen Mingjin: “………”
I almost forgot about him.
He hesitated for a moment, then answered the phone. Before he could explain, Lin Ciyang’s loud and boisterous voice came through the circuit, tinged with a sob, asking if there was any chance of him getting money to save his sister by exchanging the agarwood bracelet.
Shen Mingjin had stood him up once before because of Xu Duwan’s matter, so it wouldn’t be good to stand him up again. Besides, it was a matter of life and death, and every day the surgery was delayed, the danger increased. After hesitating for a moment, Shen Mingjin immediately chose to comfort Lin Ciyang and told him to come over right away.
Besides, he thought about it all night and still felt that there were some things he should ask Shen Lian in person.
After all, judging from those photos, he and Shen Lian were inseparable most of the time, so he should know something about him. Last night, the album about him was only updated to when he was eighteen years old, which means that he and Xu Duwan must have been separated for quite a long time after he finished high school. Since then, he and Xu Duwan have never seen each other again. For many things, it is better to ask Shen Lian than to ask him.
After all, he had been back in Ningcheng for so long and still didn’t know where his parents lived.
Thinking of this, Shen Mingjin stood up, intending to explain the situation to Xu Duwan. Xu Duwan, who had finished tidying up, came out of the room. Seeing Shen Mingjin’s posture as if he was about to leave, he hesitated, pointed to the breakfast on the table, and said:
Are we leaving without eating breakfast?
”I won’t go to the company with you today,” Shen Mingjin said apologetically.
”I need to go find Lin Ciyang and Shen Lian first.”
They asked Shen Lian, an antique dealer, to help them find a buyer for the agarwood bracelet.
Before he could even say those words, he saw Xu Duwan’s face suddenly turn deathly pale.
Like a tree that has lost its nourishment, it leans against the door, teetering on the verge of collapse, suddenly devoid of any vitality.