Han Shuo, who was on the bed over there, suddenly sat up, nervously staring at the commotion on the bed here.
“Xiao Meng, you are…” Han Hong stared blankly at Meng Yuxiu, who was straddling his long legs over his side, and asked in a daze.
Meng Yuxiu’s mind went blank for a moment, and he swallowed.
“…Bro.”
“Huh?…”
“I…” Facing Han Hong’s puzzled gaze, Meng Yuxiu’s facial muscles twitched slightly, “I’m thirsty…”
“Oh, you want to drink water, right?” Han Hong immediately got up, putting on his slippers while saying to Meng Yuxiu, “Xiao Meng, if you want to drink water, just call me. It’s so dark, be careful not to fall. I’ll get you some water, just wait.”
Han Hong went downstairs to get water for Meng Yuxiu.
Han Shuo, sitting on the bed, could see the extremely frustrated expression on Meng Yuxiu’s face on the other bed and the sharp look he cast over.
Meng Yuxiu gritted his teeth and whispered, “Didn’t you say your brother couldn’t be woken up even by ten oxen?”
How could Han Shuo have known his brother would be so alert tonight, to such an absurd degree? He could only whisper to comfort Meng Yuxiu, “Maybe he just fell asleep not long ago. Wait until his snoring gets longer. Don’t be mad, don’t be mad.”
Meng Yuxiu took a deep breath to calm himself, and after a while, Han Hong brought him a cup of tea upstairs.
Meng Yuxiu wasn’t thirsty, but under Han Hong’s watchful eyes, he forced himself to drink half a cup of tea.
“Thanks, bro.”
“What’s there to thank for?” Han Hong took the enamel teacup from his hand and placed it on the desk beside him. He smiled at Meng Yuxiu and said, “You must be thirsty after cutting rice all afternoon. Sometimes when I work a lot during the day, I get thirsty at night too. Xiao Meng, if you finish drinking, just call me, and I’ll bring the thermos upstairs.”
Meng Yuxiu’s mouth twitched a couple of times, feeling guilty, “Okay…”
The lights went off again, and they went back to sleep.
However, for the next half of the night, Meng Yuxiu got up and lay down repeatedly.
The second time, Meng Yuxiu waited until Han Hong had been snoring for an hour before quietly getting up.
But Han Hong seemed to be wound up like a clockwork toy, “swish,” he turned on the light.
“Xiao Meng, want some water?”
Meng Yuxiu forced a bitter smile at the corner of his mouth, nodded, and then silently took the half cup of water Han Hong handed him and drank it all.
The third time, Han Hong directly brought the thermos upstairs, smiling as he said to Meng Yuxiu, “Xiao Meng, this time there’s plenty of water!”
Meng Yuxiu’s eye twitched hard twice.
Finally, on the fourth time, Han Hong was truly asleep. But to be absolutely sure, Meng Yuxiu still called out to his brother softly a couple of times.
Only when Han Hong didn’t respond did Meng Yuxiu feel as if he had finally seen the light after going through countless hardships, and his heart was filled with indescribable excitement.
He quickly got out of bed, but when he tiptoed in the dark to the bed at the stairway, he found that Han Shuo was already dead asleep.
In this household, Han Hong snored like thunder, Han Shuo ground his teeth, and even the little one didn’t know what his mouth was doing, making popping sounds like blowing bubbles. Everyone slept soundly, each in their own world, so wonderfully, except for him, staying up with dark circles under his eyes, like a clown.
“…” Meng Yuxiu felt a breath stuck in his chest.
He calmed himself down a bit, patted Han Shuo’s arm, but couldn’t wake him up. He didn’t dare to pat too hard, afraid of waking the others.
“Han Shuo… Han Shuo…” He leaned down to Han Shuo’s ear, “Wake up…”
Finally having the chance, Meng Yuxiu was unwilling to give up. Unable to wake Han Shuo, he could only stand there silently for a minute.
In the end, with no other choice, he reached out two long fingers to touch Han Shuo’s face, found the spot, and inserted them into his nostrils.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Han Shuo couldn’t breathe. It felt like sleep paralysis, and he suddenly opened his eyes, almost shouting, but in the end, because his nose was blocked, he widened his eyes and made a couple of muffled sounds.
In the pitch-black darkness, Han Shuo, just waking up, saw a shadow standing by the bed, and it really scared him.
His mind was groggy, and he was mentally traumatized, instinctively blurting out, “Damn! Who the hell are you?”
Meng Yuxiu finally waited for Han Shuo to wake up, pulled out his fingers, and almost through gritted teeth said, “I’m your grandpa.”
“…”
Only then did Han Shuo come to his senses, remembering that Meng Yuxiu was staying over at his house.
“Damn, I think I fell asleep.”
“Not think.” Meng Yuxiu closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them, and said irritably, “You were already asleep.”
Han Shuo scratched his head, embarrassed, “I was originally waiting for you, really! I heard my brother snoring, and I was still waiting for you, but after waiting for a long time and you didn’t come, I thought you fell asleep too, hehe, sorry, sorry.”
He pushed Han Ting further into the bed, then lay down himself, making room beside him, “Come on, come on, lie over here.”
Meng Yuxiu took off his shoes and squeezed into the narrow bed. The two of them were now very in sync, lying down and naturally turning to their sides, and the next second, their lips were already pressed together.
After a whole day of fuss, they finally settled down to do the task.
However, Han Shuo, having worked all day, started to feel sleepy while kissing, and once sleepy, his head wobbled on the pillow.
Meng Yuxiu turned his face, “Can you focus a bit?”
Han Shuo yawned, pressed his mouth back, and said drowsily, “Sigh, cutting rice all day really wore me out.”
Someone as eager to do tasks as him even wanted to tell Meng Yuxiu, maybe they should just forget it for tonight.
But he couldn’t say it, after all, Meng Yuxiu endured sleeping with his brother to do the task, and then stayed up until who knows what time in the middle of the night to sneak over.
He couldn’t let his teammate down, so forget it, forget it.
Afraid of falling asleep again, Han Shuo reached out and hugged Meng Yuxiu.
Meng Yuxiu stiffened for a moment, staring at Han Shuo’s face in the dark, frowning, “What are you doing?”
Han Shuo: “I’m afraid I’ll fall asleep, and my head will tilt again. Hugging is better, at least our bodies are close, and my head won’t tilt anywhere.”
Meng Yuxiu thought it made sense, so he also reached out and hugged Han Shuo tightly.
It’s October now, and the nights are slightly cool. But Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu are both men, and men naturally have higher body temperatures, not to mention they’re hugging each other.
In this life and the one before he transmigrated, Han Shuo had never hugged a man so tightly, feeling particularly awkward, so he twisted and turned to adjust to the most comfortable position.
Meng Yuxiu, annoyed by his twisting, said unhappily, “Can you stop moving?”
Han Shuo said, “I want to stop, but you’re as hard as a brick, hugging you is uncomfortable all over.”
“If you don’t like it hard, then don’t hug.” Meng Yuxiu said coldly, about to let go of Han Shuo.
“Hey, hey, hey.” Han Shuo hurriedly pulled his hand back around his waist, “Why are you so petty, getting mad after a couple of words.”
“Actually, not everything is hard.” Han Shuo chuckled to lighten the mood, “Your lips are actually quite soft.”
After saying that, he pecked Meng Yuxiu’s lips a few times like a chick pecking at rice.
Meng Yuxiu rolled his eyes in the dark.
The two kissed for a while.
“What time is it now?” Han Shuo asked him.
“I don’t know.” Meng Yuxiu replied.
Han Shuo asked again, “How long do you plan to kiss?”
Meng Yuxiu asked him, “When does your brother get up? I’ll leave before he wakes up.”
Han Shuo: “My brother gets up when the rooster crows.”
“When does your rooster crow?”
“How would I know…”
Meng Yuxiu didn’t say anything, starting to think about the timing of this task. He asked Han Shuo if he had a flashlight, wanting to see what time it was.
“I do! I’ll get it.” Han Shuo climbed out of bed, then quietly felt his way to the desk in the dark, opened the drawer, and found a flashlight.
Back in bed, they both stuck their heads under the covers and then turned on the flashlight.
Meng Yuxiu took advantage of the dim light to lift his wrist and glance at his watch.
Two-thirty, he planned to do the task until five o’clock, and return to Han Hong’s bed before five.
Turning off the flashlight, they continued to press their lips together.
Han Shuo’s eyelids were so heavy he couldn’t keep them open, he struggled to stay awake, holding Meng Yuxiu even tighter.
Meng Yuxiu was also exhausted and sleepy today, and it wasn’t long before both of their heads were wobbling, almost purely by reflex, waking up with a start when their lips were about to part, then continuing to press together.
Han Shuo said wearily, “If only we had some tape.”
Meng Yuxiu asked, “Tape?”
“Yeah, like that thick clear tape, wrap it around our heads, that way even if we fall asleep, we can still do the task, don’t you think?”
Meng Yuxiu imagined the two of them wrapped up like mummies and couldn’t help but frown, “Feels like a murder scene.”
“…”
The two of them forced themselves to chat for half an hour, but in the end, they didn’t know who fell silent first, and Meng Yuxiu himself couldn’t remember when he fell asleep.
It was like when you have to go to work the next day, and the alarm doesn’t go off. He woke up almost instantly, but fortunately, it wasn’t dawn yet. He quickly turned on the flashlight to check the time, and it had only been an hour.
Four o’clock, they could kiss for another hour.
He shone the light on the side, and Han Shuo was already sleeping like a dead pig. He turned off the flashlight and turned Han Shuo’s face.
But Han Shuo was grinding his teeth, and Meng Yuxiu really couldn’t stand kissing while enduring the occasional movement of the other’s lips, followed by the grating sound of teeth.
“Han Shuo!”
Meng Yuxiu suddenly felt that Han Shuo wasn’t transmigrated at all, but was Han Hong’s biological brother, sleeping so soundly that not even ten oxen could wake him, it was hereditary!
He was kissing with a frustrated mood, enduring the throbbing at his temples, and finally, he couldn’t take it anymore, lifted Han Shuo’s upper lip, and flicked his teeth with his thumb and forefinger.
Han Shuo finally quieted down, and only then did Meng Yuxiu cup the back of his head and continue kissing.
Actually, Meng Yuxiu should have stopped at the first wake-up time, but he was disciplined, having set an hour, not a minute less.
However, he miscalculated his body’s endurance, having been exhausted all day, he unknowingly fell asleep again.
When he woke up again, he found Han Shuo’s face tilted to the side, only able to see his smooth neck and deep, long collarbone, and one leg was draped over his stomach.
At this moment, Meng Yuxiu was in a drowsy state, not even thinking about why he could see Han Shuo so clearly.
He instinctively reached out to turn Han Shuo’s face, ready to kiss him, when suddenly a loud shout came from beside him.
“You little brat!!!”
The rough voice startled the two teenagers and a child, almost making them jump out of bed.
Meng Yuxiu was instantly alert, he and Han Shuo both widened their eyes, quickly turning their heads, first seeing Han Hong’s eyes bulging like copper bells at the bedside, then realizing it was already broad daylight.
Then they looked down and saw Han Hong’s fist clenched hard.
“!”
“!”
At this moment, a random thought popped into Meng Yuxiu’s mind, why didn’t Han Shuo’s family’s rooster crow?
Did it crow?
When did it crow?
But now, whether the rooster crowed or not was meaningless, he and Han Shuo swallowed deeply, guiltily calling out in unison.
“Bro…”
“Bro…”
Han Hong was so angry he couldn’t speak for a moment, pointing at the bed with a trembling finger, Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu felt like he was a furious headless fly, spinning around, going here and there, not knowing what he was looking for, then he went downstairs.
The “thump thump thump” noise was so loud it seemed like he was going to collapse the stairs.
Meng Yuxiu and Han Shuo exchanged a frightened glance.
Han Shuo scrambled out of bed, ran to the stairway, and looked downstairs.
“Damn!”
Meng Yuxiu’s eyelid twitched, “What?”
Han Shuo hurriedly pulled the covers off Meng Yuxiu, urgently saying, “Run! My brother got a rolling pin!”
Meng Yuxiu’s eyes widened, “What’s he doing with a rolling pin?”
Han Shuo quickly and urgently said to him, “What else could he be doing?! Is he going to roll out noodles for you?! He’s probably going to break your legs!!!”
Meng Yuxiu’s face suddenly darkened, he quickly got out of bed to put on his shoes, but as he rushed to the stairway, he suddenly remembered something and dashed back to Han Hong’s bed.
Han Shuo, while rushing downstairs to stop his brother, shouted at Meng Yuxiu with wide eyes, “Damn! Bro, what are you still doing?!”
“I need to put on my clothes and pants!” Meng Yuxiu had taken off his jacket and pants before sleeping last night, and even though it was urgent, he couldn’t bring himself to run out in just a vest and underwear.
“I’m speechless! Others caught in the act would climb out the window naked, and you’re here tidying up your image?!” Han Shuo was so anxious he was jumping, and Han Hong was already storming upstairs with the rolling pin.
The sight of Meng Yuxiu clumsily putting on his clothes and pants looked to Han Hong like a hooligan molesting a young maiden.
“Alright, you little brat! I was really fooled by your appearance! No wonder you were sneaking around at night, saying you wanted to drink water!” Han Hong was so angry he was incoherent, grabbing the rolling pin and about to charge, but was held back tightly by Han Shuo.
“I didn’t expect you, this little brat, to be so bold, daring to sneak onto my brother’s bed!”
“Bro!! Bro! Damn!” Han Shuo struggled to wrap his arms around Han Hong’s arm, also getting so anxious he was speaking without thinking, “Don’t hit him! I was willing!!!”
“Let go of me!”
Han Ting, sitting on the bed, was already dumbfounded by the chaotic scene.
On one side, Han Shuo was restraining Han Hong, on the other, Meng Yuxiu was still fastening his belt, Han Shuo was completely exasperated, shouting at Meng Yuxiu, “Damn bro! You’re still fastening it?! Enough already! Do you want your image or your legs?!”
Meng Yuxiu finally fastened his belt, and just as Han Shuo could no longer hold back Han Hong, he dashed downstairs.
Following closely, Han Hong cursed and chased downstairs, and then Han Shuo, with legs like they had propellers, rushed downstairs, while the little kid on the bed, with his short legs, followed down the stairs, holding onto the wall.
The chickens pecking at the door and the dog lying on the ground were startled, scattering in all directions.
Han Shuo was really afraid Meng Yuxiu would be caught by Han Hong, but as he chased to the doorway, he saw Meng Yuxiu grabbing his bicycle, not even having time to get on, just running wildly.
He could only, in the midst of running, use his left foot to pedal the bicycle a few times…