Xingyuan slowly woke up. Perhaps because he had been too exhausted last night, by the time he opened his eyes today, the sunlight had already shone onto more than half of the bed.
He shifted his waist slightly, and the soreness in his upper body left him unable to lift himself up.
Xingyuan’s eyelids twitched, and then he gazed blankly at the top of the tent. Beneath his thick eyelashes, his clean eyes blinked repeatedly.
After a good while, he finally realized something was wrong, and hurriedly tried to climb up, but who knew his waist was so weak he couldn’t muster any strength, and he fell back down again.
Xingyuan went numb. He lay sprawled on the bed like a salted fish.
Ugh, he was truly no good.
Such a fine man, and he’d been slept on like this by him. Although nothing had actually happened, the fault still lay with him.
If that person found out a boy had slept in his bed last night, how angry would he be!
After resting long enough to regain his strength, Xingyuan slowly crawled up from the bed. He held his waist, his legs too weak to support him. But he still crawled to the edge of the bed, reached out and pulled over his backpack, and took out his little notebook from inside.
Thankfully his hands still had strength.
[…Although I was unintentionally brought to bed, the responsibility lies with me. It was I who presumptuously invaded this gentleman’s territory.
If by chance this gentleman is homosexual, then I suppose I’ve sullied his purity. Although the concept of “taking responsibility” is no longer fashionable, in the end I owe him, and I still must take responsibility.
I don’t know how to compensate for this kind of incident. As an initial measure, I’ll give the gentleman a check and let him fill in the amount.]
After Xingyuan finished writing, he looked at the sunlight and couldn’t help but rub his head.
He’d said he would work hard, and yet the sun was already high in the sky.
He no longer delayed. Even though his waist and back ached, he still gritted his teeth and climbed up, slowly getting dressed.
Walking out of the tent, he ran into several officers who were rubbing their shoulders and pounding their backs while whispering to each other.
“Damn, that’s it, from this moment on I finally believe the rumors.”
“What’s wrong with the lord today? Why is he hitting so hard? I feel like my arm is about to be ruined.”
Another person shook his head and hissed.
“No idea. I heard that things didn’t go well in bed last night, he got kicked out, and now he’s taking it out on us.”
Xingyuan had originally been listening in sideways, but the moment he heard the words that followed, he hurriedly quickened his pace—though of course, his eyes were still secretly glancing over.
“Everyone’s miserable. The new recruits trained half again as much as usual today. Even though it was already an extra-training day, this whole thing is strange no matter how you look at it,” one officer griped.
Hearing about the new recruits’ current state, Xingyuan’s heart tightened.
He clasped his hands, lowered his head, and muttered, “How could Aisley be like this? Even if… even if the young lady won’t pay him any attention, he shouldn’t take it out on others.”
Xingyuan sighed, and warned himself inwardly.
Aisley was too bad a person. He needed to stay far away from him. Although this man couldn’t reach him, when he vented his anger, it was easy for others to get caught in the crossfire.
Aisley sat alone on a rock, a dry blade of grass between his lips. He had draped his outer coat over himself, and after pausing for a moment, he slowly pulled out a bag of milk cake from inside his clothes.
The milk cake had been warmed somewhat hot by his body. Aisley’s eyelids drooped, and he turned his head aside, setting it down to cool.
He had no idea how long he’d been sitting on the rock, but at last he saw a fair, pale youth limping his way to the training ground.
He gazed at him for a long, long time, his eyes holding some unnamed emotion.
After a while, his brows twisted, and he plucked off a leaf.
At this moment, Fred walked over without anyone noticing and sat down beside him.
Aisley heard the sound but didn’t turn his head. He watched the youth, clicked his tongue, and asked.
“Tell me, how does a child like that, who looks like a porcelain doll, grow up?”
Without waiting for Fred’s answer, he muttered to himself: “I’d guess he drinks morning dew, eats the freshest flower petals, and grew up soaking in milk.”
Fred couldn’t help but laugh.
Aisley paid him no mind. He took the blade of grass from the corner of his mouth and muttered.
“I don’t seem to have made any wishes, right?”
After saying this, he glanced at Fred.
Fred was a bit dazed, and after realizing Aisley was speaking to him, he snapped back to his senses and hurriedly shook his head.
“No, when did you make a wish?”
Upon hearing this, Aisley broke into a smile.
Xingyuan had originally thought that not getting to eat was a problem of him waking up too late. Later he discovered that as long as he wanted to maintain his gentlemanly demeanor, eating had nothing to do with him.
Xingyuan stared blankly at the empty bowl for a while, then looked around, only to spot that familiar man again.
The man was sitting on a rock not far away, slowly unwrapping a cloth bundle, and a milk-white pastry came into view.
Xingyuan had been exhausted all day yesterday, and by now he was already starving. Compared to the black bread, the milk cake made him unable to help licking his lips.
Ugh, Xingyuan’s face flushed, and in the end he walked over anyway.
He didn’t know what to say. Aisley seemed to have become his meal ticket, which made him quite embarrassed.
Xingyuan walked up to Aisley and took out the milk cake, and although he went through another round of thanks, it still fell on Aisley’s ears as incomprehensible.
Xingyuan squatted on the ground savoring it bit by bit, and seen from above, he looked exceptionally well-behaved and adorable.
Aisley took a piece and put it in his mouth. Seeing this, Fred exclaimed loudly.
“Well would you look at that, I haven’t seen you in a moment and you’ve already gotten milk cake from somewhere?”
Aisley said nothing. After stuffing the milk cake in his hand into his mouth, he used one hand to hook around Fred’s neck and cover his mouth.
The posture was such that it seemed as if Fred said one more word, Aisley would twist his neck right off.
Fred’s scalp went numb, and he quickly shut his mouth.
To strengthen his physical fitness, as soon as Xingyuan ate his fill, he went right back to continuing his training.
Aisley wasn’t responsible for training the new recruits, but he still had to carry out his routine inspections.
He was escorted into the training ground by an officer, and the atmosphere around them instantly turned serious.
Xingyuan ran along, panting, when suddenly he heard a soldier ahead wailing.
“Why has that dog of a man come again? We’re done for, we’re going to get skinned alive again.”
Dog of a man?
Although Xingyuan hadn’t been in the army long, he already knew everyone’s code words.
It looked like Aisley had arrived?
If at school he’d worried about being caught by the homeroom teacher, Xingyuan was now just as on edge here, afraid that this “dog of a man” would give them a hard time.
He gritted his teeth and tried to keep up, his gaze unconsciously searching the training ground for the trace of that legendary man.
However, aside from the great benefactor and good man in his heart, he simply couldn’t spot anyone matching that figure.
The reflection in Aisley’s pupils encompassed the entire training ground, but his focus was fixed on that youth.
The youth was drenched in sweat, his figure flickering slightly, his legs faintly trembling. Aisley could tell at a glance that he’d overexerted himself, not to mention he already knew this well.
He turned his head aside and strode forward, raising his hand.
The officer hurried to follow, understanding that the lord was about to issue an order.
Aisley let out a breath and said slowly, “Let them slow down. This morning’s training already exceeded the quota.”
The officer: ?
The lord’s behavior today was as if the sun had risen from the west.
Just before Aisley was about to leave, Xingyuan came running toward him.
The sun was blazing, and Xingyuan’s constitution had always been poor. Under these conditions, his vision blurred with sweat, his head spun, and he was almost losing the ability to think.
Seeing this, Aisley’s expression appeared unchanged, except his footsteps suddenly quickened. As the two drew closer and closer, Aisley gradually slowed down.
Finally, Xingyuan’s strength gave out, everything went dark before his eyes, and he pitched forward.
A pair of broad arms suddenly reached out and caught him just in time.
Aisley had no sense of touch; he didn’t even know whether he had caught him or not.
However, less than a second later, he suddenly heard a soft “mm” sound, a voice filled with both wakefulness and tension.
Having been through countless battles and being highly vigilant, he instantly withdrew his arms.
He heard the sound of quick footsteps, as if steadying one’s stance. Clearly, without knowing what had just happened, the youth had obviously already woken up.
He hurriedly took a few steps forward, then glanced back.
He saw the youth, his deep blue deer-like eyes wide open, scanning his surroundings in shock. One hand covered his waist, his fingertips trembling slightly, and he unconsciously took a few steps back.
Aisley saw clearly how the youth’s lean waist, free of any excess flesh, shrank back slightly, and how in his eyes there still lingered some unusual emotion that hadn’t yet dissipated.
Aisley suddenly understood.
His lips parted and closed, and his mind suddenly grew hot, turning into a chaotic blur.
He hastily avoided the other’s gaze, while that hand of his—which clearly hadn’t touched anything at all—felt as if something were rubbing against it, itching intensely.
He couldn’t help but curl his palm inward, yet his palm grew hotter and hotter, until it was scalding.