Over the past two days, An Chutang followed several of Li Yan’s close friends around to various places to take a look.
He called it market research for future business, but in reality, An Chutang already had a general idea of the current commercial environment anyway. He was simply taking advantage of the wandering to steal a few casual perks—no, rather, to get close to Li Yan and maintain his fragile remaining lifespan.
With policies having just recently opened up, individuals doing business independently were still a rare sight in the interior; most people were just engaging in basic resale, and everyone else was still in a wait-and-see attitude. Meanwhile, in coastal cities, people were already bustling away making money hand over fist.
He had to admit that Li Yan still possessed great long-term vision to be able to give up his iron rice bowl so decisively in this kind of environment.
After a few days of getting along, An Chutang had figured out the general situation of their social circle through the system and that big-mouthed Li Guangtao.
When they first met, that group of people who had almost gotten into a physical altercation with them belonged to Wen Cheng’s circle, who had ties to the same residential compound as Li Yan.
Wen Cheng was the same age as Li Yan, and the two had never seen eye to eye since childhood. The position of Elder Wen was two ranks lower than Elder Li, but Wen Cheng’s family had three sons and a daughter, all of whom had gone into politics and were distributed across various government departments. On the other hand, the Li family only had one son, Li Jianchuan, who had chosen the path of scientific research.
Wen Cheng liked to hang out with other third-generation descendants in the compound, whereas Li Yan preferred running off to the military camp, and the close friends by his side were all retired soldiers.
To put it accurately, Wen Cheng simply couldn’t stand the fact that Li Yan possessed such great resources yet failed to cherish them, while also outshining him everywhere since childhood. Especially after Li Yan’s parents went missing and Li Donghai retired, Wen Cheng began targeting Li Yan at every turn, as if eager to prove that he was no less capable than Li Yan.
Wen Cheng was the first person in the Wen family to resign and start a business, and he was still playing around with small-scale ventures. Who would have expected Li Yan to want a slice of the pie by diving into the economic sea as well? If Elder Wen hadn’t caught wind of some rumors and, out of respect for Elder Li, warned Wen Cheng to go easy on Li Yan, Wen Cheng would have likely tried to crush all the people around Li Yan.
Putting all that aside for now, he—the most distinguished young master of the An family—had seen his life value stubbornly hover right around a precarious ten hours!
Right now, every night before falling into sleep had become a terrifying ordeal for him, terrified that if he accidentally overslept, he would never wake up again.
An Chutang leaned sideways on the sofa, letting out an unstoppable yawn, still racking his brain for an excuse to buy himself a bit more time.
Remembering how his forcible embrace right before bed last night had led Li Yan to question whether he was mistaking him for an ex-girlfriend made him want to crawl into a hole and hide.
What to do! What to do! What to do!
“It’s getting late, you should head to bed. We need to get up early tomorrow to take you to Haishi to look at cars.”
Driving him to bed again! Again! Again!
An Chutang forced himself to perk up, widening his eyes as he said, “I’m not tired! How about we chat for a bit longer?”
Li Yan stared at him in silence until the other couldn’t hold his gaze and looked away, prompting Li Yan to let out a sigh. “Why are you forcing yourself to stay awake?”
“I’m not.” An Chutang felt a bit guilty, his voice dropping significantly.
“Hmm?”
Whenever Li Yan turned serious, An Chutang inexplicably felt a bit intimidated. “No, it’s just, well… I don’t sleep well.”
An idea flashed in his mind. “Right! I’m just afraid of sleeping alone! I keep having nightmares.”
Feeling that his reaction speed was truly top-notch, he tentatively probed, “Can I sleep in your room? I can just make a pallet on the floor!”
Li Yan narrowed his eyes for a moment before letting out a soft chuckle. “It’s cold at night. If you really want to sleep in my room, you’ll have to share my bed.”
“Hiss…” An Chutang was nearly knocked out by such a massive pie falling from the sky. He was so excited that he couldn’t keep his mouth from curling up, and his entire facial expression turned rather bizarre.
With a dark expression, Li Yan took a step closer. “What? Unwilling? Then you can…”
“Willing, willing! As long as I can sleep with you, it’s fine! I’ll go get my pillow and blanket, don’t you go back on your word!”
After speaking, An Chutang scurried rapidly back to his room, internally marveling at what a surprisingly nice guy Li Yan was.
Little did he know that the gaze of the man behind him was growing increasingly deep, resembling a wolf that had locked onto a rabbit, exuding a fatal danger.
He was certainly no good guy.
Obediently, An Chutang placed his pillow right up against Li Yan’s, most of his sleepiness vanishing instantly.
He had to stay awake until Li Yan fell asleep before he could carry out his underhanded deeds.
The moment the two of them lay down, something that made An Chutang deeply regret his decision occurred.
Although Li Yan was wearing long pants, his upper body was clad in a vest that exposed his entire arms!
Those smooth muscle lines were brimming with infinite tension, starkly showcasing their raw attraction.
What a prime opportunity for skin-to-skin contact.
Except!
He was actually wearing a long-sleeved set of pajamas! Trying to casually brush against him was completely out of the question!
Looking quite depressed, An Chutang flipped over to face away, his back turned toward the other. At this point, the best strategy was simply to stay quiet and wait until the other fell asleep.
The curtains were drawn tightly shut, and a deep, low voice broke the dark room’s silence: “Still can’t sleep?”
Turning his head, An Chutang could only make out the other’s blurred silhouette. “No, I’m much more settled now.”
He timed a small, subtle yawn. “So sleepy, let’s hurry up and sleep.”
Quiet descended upon the room once again.
There was no sound of bustling traffic outside; because nighttime activities were scarce, people had turned in early.
In such a silent night, memories of his past life inevitably floated into An Chutang’s mind—his grandfather’s sudden passing, the vicious infighting and persecution within the family, and whether Uncle Li, who had come to fetch him at the very end, had managed to escape safely.
Fortunately, right before heading abroad, he had given the man a hefty retirement fund. If things over there could bring an end to the strife with his own death, Uncle Li’s later years would at least be free of financial worries.
Although he was used to being pampered and the living conditions here completely failed to suit his preferences, there was still someone he had taken a fancy to here, after all.
He carefully rolled over to face Li Yan, studying the other’s silhouette closely.
An Chutang was thoroughly pleased with this life-extension target arranged by the system. Not only was he handsome and good-natured, but he was also genuinely kind.
“Li Yan?” he probed softly.
“Are you asleep?”
Seeing that the other’s breathing remained steady with no movement, An Chutang breathed a sigh of relief.
Extending his slender, well-proportioned fingers, he gently reached out until his fingertips brushed against the mouth-watering arm muscles.
[Ding! Skin-to-skin contact increases life value by thirty minutes.]
With the stealth of a petty thief, An Chutang pulled his hand back, waited quietly for a few seconds, and then reached out again to stroke him.
[Ding! Skin-to-skin contact increases life value by thirty minutes.]
Having seemingly found a fun new toy, An Chutang began a repetitive cycle of touching, withdrawing, touching again, and withdrawing again.
Until, on an unknown attempt to touch him, the sleeping man beside him suddenly rolled over to face him and grabbed his mischievous hand in a firm grip.
[Ding! Holding hands increases life value by one hour. By the way, a reminder: repetitive touching may be judged as cheating.]
An Chutang shuddered, his gasp choked back entirely in his throat. He even held his breath completely, lacking the composure to argue with the system’s warning.
Observing quietly for a moment, he saw that Li Yan made no other movements.
Using a breathy whisper, An Chutang called out, “Li Yan?”
Silence reigned.
He let out a long breath. It seemed the other hadn’t woken up after all.
Since his hand was tightly encased in a grip, An Chutang didn’t dare make any further moves for now. There was plenty of time ahead, and the time he had just gained should be enough for the moment. With those thoughts, he finally succumbed to exhaustion and drifted into a deep sleep.
Once the other’s breathing grew steady and even, Li Yan slowly opened his eyes in the dark of night.
Those eyes were crystal clear, devoid of a shred of sleepiness.
He stared intently at the person right before him. Though the face was indistinct in the dark, the delicate smoothness in his palm felt intensely real and utterly addictive.
“What on earth are you trying to do?” A dangerous murmur drifted softly out.
The next instant, Li Yan raised an arm to wrap around An Chutang’s lower back, pulling the person straight into his embrace with a slight exertion of force.
[Ding! Hugging increases life value by three hours.]
Surrounded by the faint scent of wood and grass lingering around him, Li Yan suppressed his trembling breath, lowered his head, and pressed a light kiss to the other’s smooth forehead.
[Ding! Skin-to-skin contact increases life value by thirty minutes.]
Once contact was made, he grew addicted and could no longer pull away, tracing his lips downward in a slow caress.
When he finally brushed against the soft corners of the lips, Li Yan paused abruptly, and his uneven breathing grew even heavier.
Hesitating for only a fraction of a second, he used his well-defined fingers to tilt up the other’s chin and kissed him directly.
[Ding! Kissing increases life value by ten hours.]
(Life Countdown: 28 hours 20 minutes.)