The following day, the moment Xiao Yan woke up, he acutely sensed that something was different. Mu Li was still fast asleep, so rather than waking him, Xiao Yan went out into the courtyard alone. Even though he had already witnessed the horrors of the post-apocalyptic world, he was still stunned by the scene before his eyes: that potted mutated green rose had grown extraordinarily thick and tall, its branches extending along the courtyard walls to cover the entire yard, forming a natural canopy overhead. Palm-sized blossoms bloomed everywhere, filling the air with a refreshing fragrance.
“Tsk,” Xiao Yan mused, figuring the transformation was likely caused by the water from yesterday. Stepping down off the porch, he wanted to walk closer for a closer inspection, but Little Green proactively extended a vine carrying a large, beautiful flower right toward him, affectionately rubbing against Xiao Yan’s chest in a gesture of gratitude.
Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow and unceremoniously plucked the flower off. Seeing how fawning and eager the plant was, he knew there was no danger. Inspecting it, Xiao Yan said, “I know you can understand me. Be a good plant from now on, protect my baby well, and you’ll naturally be rewarded.”
A mutation reaching this scale certainly couldn’t just mean an increase in physical size. In the apocalypse, larger mutated plants were far more dangerous, though most lacked intelligence; yet this particular potted plant seemed to be an exception. Keeping it around to serve as a bodyguard actually sounded like a pretty good idea.
Naturally, Little Green understood every word. It shook its stalk in a frantic nodding motion. It adored Mu Li, so even without Xiao Yan’s reminder, it would have protected Mu Li with its life.
Carrying the flower inside, Xiao Yan entered the living room. Upstairs, the house was dead quiet, and the little pig in the bedroom had yet to wake up. Walking up on tiptoe and pushing open the door, Xiao Yan found that Mu Li hadn’t even changed his sleeping posture. Placing the flower right beside Mu Li’s pillow, Xiao Yan planted a kiss on his cheek and tiptoed back out to prepare breakfast. By the time he finished cooking, his little lazy-bones ought to be waking up.
Mu Li woke up right on schedule. Crawling out of bed in a daze, he noticed the spot beside him was empty. For a second, he sat there blankly, failing to even notice the rose resting on his pillow, and scampered barefooted out of the bedroom.
The pitter-patter of footsteps reached his ears. The moment he heard it, Xiao Yan knew Mu Li hadn’t put on his shoes. Stirring the pot of millet porridge that had already been taken off the heat, he called out over his shoulder, “Put your shoes on!”
Mu Li scampered back with another round of pitter-patter, but the second he re-entered the room, his eyes locked onto the flower on the pillow. A broad smile spread across his face as he grabbed the flower, slipped into his slippers, and dashed back downstairs.
“Big brother, did Little Green bloom?” Holding Little Green’s flower, Mu Li stood at the entrance of the small kitchen. There were two kitchens in the house; when Xiao Yan cooked Chinese cuisine, he usually used the small kitchen, while the other kitchen was open-plan, connected directly to the living room and better suited for simple western cooking.
Xiao Yan was dishing out the boiled porridge into bowls to let it cool. Hearing the question, he turned around with a hint of playful jealousy in his voice, “I gave it to you, it has nothing to do with Little Green.”
“Thank you, big brother, it’s so pretty!” Pleased by the coaxing, the kid ran over to the TV cabinet, fished out a vase, placed the flower inside, filled it with water, and set it in the most prominent spot in the room. After admiring it for a moment, he ran back upstairs to wash up quickly before heading back down. Xiao Yan had already served breakfast on the table. Mu Li helped pull out the chair for Xiao Yan, his mouth as sweet as honey as he cooed, “Big brother, you’ve worked hard.”
With a crook of his lips, Xiao Yan reached out, wrapped an arm around Mu Li’s waist to pull him straight into his lap, and lowered his head to plant a kiss on Mu Li’s lips, smiling as he asked, “Your mouth is so sweet today. Tell me, what do you want?”
Taking the opportunity to loop his arms around Xiao Yan’s neck, Mu Li tilted his head back to stare directly into Xiao Yan’s eyes. The boundless tenderness swimming in Xiao Yan’s gaze seemed capable of pulling him right under, making Mu Li completely forget whatever he had intended to say. He simply gazed blankly at Xiao Yan. How could Xiao Yan possibly exercise restraint when stared at with such dazed, soft eyes? Lowering his head once more, he captured Mu Li’s lips, this time bypassing a mere peck in favor of a deep, entwined kiss.
Mu Li had originally planned to ask Xiao Yan for permission to bring Little Green inside to play, but that thought was now completely thrown to the winds. With his body turning pliant from Xiao Yan’s kisses, he ended up eating breakfast right in Xiao Yan’s lap. It wasn’t until an hour later that he finally realized Little Green had grown into a massive tree.
……
The supplies Xiao Yan had ordered were delivered in a steady stream, and Mu Li had officially taken an extended leave of absence. A catastrophe like the end of the world was something nobody would ever believe if told outright, so Mu Li could only offer subtle, tactful warnings to a few of his closest friends.
Xiao Yan had already shared the secret of the spatial realm with Mu Li, and together they stored all their prepared supplies inside. With all necessary preparations fully arranged, they planned to head back to Beijing in a few days, especially since Mu Li’s family was still up there. Although Mu Li had spent the last few days playing happily with Little Green and acting as though he had pushed the apocalypse to the back of his mind, Xiao Yan knew that his little darling remained nervous and terrified underneath, deeply worried about his family far away in Beijing. As a loving partner, how could Xiao Yan bear to let Mu Li suffer? After all, he knew that the moment the apocalypse officially began, all forms of communication would collapse completely, making reunions exceedingly difficult.
Yet, despite having mapped out their plans and preparations, neither of them anticipated that contingencies would outpace planning. Two days prior to their scheduled departure, the apocalypse arrived early. That catastrophic red rain from his past life descended silently through the night, right while Xiao Yan was pressing Mu Li into the mattress to lavish him with intense affection, completely unaware that the world outside was already plunging into chaos.