Yan Yi led the three of them into the breeding area. As they drew closer to the beehives, the number of bees gradually increased, their buzzing never ceasing, drilling straight into one’s ears and making the scalp go numb.
When the lid of the hive was lifted, dense clusters of bees beat their wings and swirled around the hive. The sight alone was enough to trigger anyone’s trypophobia.
Su Yi’an’s expression changed the moment he saw it. Beside him, Yang Jiayang rubbed his arms, his face twisted into an expression that looked as if he were wearing a mask of pure suffering.
Bai Yunchi turned back and saw the two of them standing stiffly in place. He soothed them gently, “Don’t be afraid. You’re wearing protective beekeeping suits. As long as the protection is in place, you won’t get stung.”
Su Yi’an nodded. He quietly swallowed, then stepped forward, copying Yan Yi’s movements. Using a feather, he brushed the bees off the brood frame, then carefully transferred it into an empty hive on the left.
Yang Jiayang also gathered his courage and followed suit.
After transferring one brood frame, he let out a long breath and said, “I thought they’d swarm and attack me. I didn’t expect them to be quite gentle.”
Only a few vindictive ones lingered, circling back and forth in front of his veil.
“They usually won’t attack people on their own unless they sense danger, so your movements must be light. The consequences of angering them, I’ve already tasted that for you. It’s really not a pleasant experience,” Yan Yi said as he lifted the honey extractor.
Yang Jiayang’s attention was immediately drawn to the machine in his hands. “What’s that?”
“A honey extractor.”
“So if you put the honey frames in and spin it, the honey comes out?”
“That’s right but before spinning, there’s another step. You need to use a knife to cut open the wax caps sealing the honey.”
Neither Su Yi’an nor Yang Jiayang had seen this before. Hearing that, they stepped closer with curiosity.
Nuomi stood not far away, whining softly. The little guy’s tail was held high, his eyes full of longing as he stared at the four of them.
When Bai Yunchi saw him sneak forward two small steps, he said in a deep voice, “Nuomi, no.”
The little guy immediately whimpered and retreated back under the tree.
“Teacher Bai, are you done over here?” After satisfying his curiosity, Su Yi’an walked over and asked.
“All done, Xiao Su, don’t move.” Bai Yunchi’s tone suddenly turned serious.
Su Yi’an froze, not daring to move or speak. He asked silently with his eyes what had happened.
Bai Yunchi didn’t respond. He removed his thick gloves and, quick as lightning, caught a bee that had slipped inside his mesh veil.
Su Yi’an stared blankly for half a second, then urgently said, “Teacher Bai, let go quickly!”
Bai Yunchi released his hand. Su Yi’an saw that the bee had already lost its stinger and his expression grew even more anxious.
He turned his head to seek help from Yan Yi. “Brother Yan, Teacher Bai was stung by a bee!”
Yan Yi was in the middle of spinning the honey. Without even lifting his head, he replied, “It’s fine. There’s a first-aid kit inside. Just disinfect it and apply some ointment.”
How could that be fine? Teacher Bai’s hands were needed for writing. If they swelled up like steamed buns, how was he supposed to hold a pen?
Su Yi’an complained silently in his heart.
“Teacher Bai, I’ll help you apply the medicine.”
Seeing the young man frown with a face full of guilt, Bai Yunchi said lightly, “If you really feel bad, then help me walk Nuomi more often when you have time.”
Su Yi’an agreed instantly. “No problem. I won’t charge you, free dog-walking service.”
Bai Yunchi laughed and joked, “Then this sting was worth it.”
Su Yi’an pressed his lips together and didn’t say anything.
The first-aid kit was on the coffee table. It was visible at a glance as soon as they entered the living room. He first took out a mirror and carefully used tweezers to remove the venom stinger embedded in Bai Yunchi’s palm, then disinfected the area with an alcohol pad.
The wound treatment took less than five minutes. The spot where Bai Yunchi had been stung was already starting to redden and swell.
Su Yi’an frowned again. “I’ve seen other kids get stung back at the welfare home. It usually takes several days before it fully heals.”
Bai Yunchi brought his palms together lightly, his tone as gentle as ever. “It’s fine. It’s just a little inconvenient to grip things, that’s all.”
Su Yi’an was full of guilt. On the way back, he thought about it the entire time and felt that he really had to do something for Teacher Bai. After all, the other man had been stung because he helped chase the bee away for him.
So the next morning, he got up early and went to the supermarket to buy bread and eggs. Half an hour later, carrying a freshly prepared breakfast, he rang the doorbell next door.
Bai Yunchi was in the middle of tying his tie. Because his right hand couldn’t move freely, his movements were much slower than usual. When he heard the doorbell, his tie was still not done properly, hanging loosely around his neck.
“I’ll help you, Teacher Bai.”
Seeing this, Su Yi’an took the initiative to offer help.
Bai Yunchi let go and allowed him to do it.
The young man was about half a head shorter than him. With just a slight lowering of his gaze, Bai Yunchi could see the dark swirl of hair at the top of the boy’s head, small and neat, looking inexplicably cute.
Bai Yunchi’s gaze paused for a moment.
Why would he think the boy’s hair whorl was cute?
It must be because he didn’t rest well last night.
“Teacher Bai?”
Bai Yunchi came back to his senses. He took the breakfast from the boy’s hands and smiled as he praised him, “It looks very good. You worked hard.”
Su Yi’an lifted his hand and brushed the tip of his nose, a little embarrassed to say that this was actually the second serving. He had burned the first egg while frying it and planned to keep that one for himself.
“Teacher Bai, hurry up and eat, then go to work. I’ll help you walk Nuomi.”
“Alright. There’s a steamed bun shop near the north gate that tastes pretty good. If you have time, you can go and try it.” Bai Yunchi took out a card from the cabinet by the entrance and handed it to him.
It was a membership card for the shop. Su Yi’an thought it would give him a discount. It wasn’t until he went there at noon that he realized there was money stored on the card.
“This is Teacher Bai’s card, right? Are you Teacher Bai’s younger brother?” The shop owner recognized Bai Yunchi. Seeing Su Yi’an leading Nuomi, she asked casually.
Su Yi’an shook his head. “No, I’m Teacher Bai’s neighbor.”
“A neighbor, huh.” The owner handed him the packed buns. “I see how close Nuomi is with you. I thought you were very familiar with each other.”
Su Yi’an didn’t reply, only smiled politely.
After leaving the bun shop, he bit into a bun while holding Nuomi’s leash and headed toward the park.
It was eggplant-flavored. Although there was no meat, it was fragrant and satisfying.
Mm, the pork buns were even better. One bite and it was full of meat.
Su Yi’an ate with a look of pure contentment. After finishing two buns, he was finally full.
He wondered how Teacher Bai’s breakfast tasted. He himself had only managed to eat two bites of the burnt one. The portion he gave Teacher Bai hadn’t been burned, so it should taste decent, right?
When they arrived at the park, he threw the frisbee. Nuomi shot out like a bolt of white lightning, tongue lolling, leaping up to catch the frisbee, then wagging his tail as he ran back to Su Yi’an.
He reached out and ruffled Nuomi’s thick, triangular ears, then threw the frisbee again.
Should he sign up for a three-day crash course in cooking? Teacher Bai’s hand wouldn’t fully recover for a whole week. With his limited cooking skills, he couldn’t possibly let Teacher Bai eat bland boiled vegetables with no flavor every day.
“Woof!”
Seeing him suddenly space out, Nuomi held the frisbee in his mouth, wagging his tail and letting out an urging bark.
“Coming. Big brother was just thinking about something.”
Su Yi’an stopped thinking and focused on playing with Nuomi seriously for more than half an hour. Before the sunlight grew scorching, he led Nuomi back home.
The little guy was exhausted from playing. As soon as they got home, he picked up the small bunny plush toy Su Yi’an had bought for him, crawled into his own little bed and fell asleep.
Su Yi’an curled up on the sofa, browsing the internet for crash-course cooking classes. Most of the short-term courses required some prior foundation and since he had none, he ended up settling for a second-best option: he scrolled through tutorials on a reading app and decided to learn step by step, following along carefully.
Fortunately, he had a decent knack for cooking. By noon, he managed to make braised pork ribs. The presentation was a little messy but the flavor was passable. The only problem was that he had added a bit too much salt and by the afternoon he had drunk several large glasses of water, constantly running back and forth to the restroom.
Just as Yang Jiayang called him via video chat, Su Yi’an was in the middle of designing packaging for a new product. His hand didn’t stop moving, holding a stylus as he scribbled and adjusted details on the digital screen.
“Is the online store promotion going smoothly?” Yang Jiayang asked, munching on some dried fruit.
“Not bad,” Su Yi’an replied, still sketching.
“Yi’an, I have an idea,” Yang Jiayang continued. “Livestreaming is really booming now. Anything can be sold through live broadcasts. Why don’t we start a livestream shop too?”
Su Yi’an paused his work and thought for a moment. “Livestreaming isn’t easy. Many streamers have been at it for half a year and their viewership still hasn’t broken a hundred. We’re both new, no investors, no backing, it would be difficult to gain traction.”
“Who said we don’t have an investor?” Yang Jiayang suddenly flashed a screenshot of his account balance. “Look, the investor just transferred twenty thousand yuan to me yesterday.”
Su Yi’an blinked, noticing the note attached to the transfer.
“Why did Brother Yan suddenly transfer you so much money?” he asked.
“It’s for promoting the shop,” Yang Jiayang explained. “Working with someone rich is just easier. Our little toy shop only spent a few thousand on promotion. Brother Yan is generous, he just handed over twenty thousand and said if it’s not enough, we can ask for more.”
“Startup capital secured. Next, we recruit streamers,” Su Yi’an muttered.
Yang Jiayang looked at him, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. Su Yi’an instantly knew something was up.
“Yi’an, to achieve our shared dream of financial freedom sooner, you’ll have to make a little sacrifice.”
Su Yi’an raised an eyebrow warily. “What are you up to this time?”
Yang Jiayang smiled earnestly. “Don’t worry, this time I definitely won’t trick you.”
Su Yi’an remained unconvinced and sure enough, that very evening, he received a livestream plan from his friend. It was packed with cringey lines he was supposed to memorize, perks for fans that included reaching thousands or even tens of thousands of viewers and, most shockingly… wearing women’s clothing on livestream.
Su Yi’an could only stare in disbelief. He immediately messaged his friend:
[No way I’m wearing women’s clothes and we’re livestreaming to sell goods, not to flirt with fans.]
Yang Jiayang video-called him immediately, trying to explain. “It’s not about flirting, silly. It’s called catering to your audience. As long as people are drawn into the livestream, it doesn’t matter what you do. Wearing women’s clothes? Fine. I could livestream washing my hair while standing on my head, for all it matters.”
Su Yi’an’s voice was flat. “Then why aren’t you doing it?”
Yang Jiayang shrugged his broad shoulders, looking regretful. “I have a big frame. I wouldn’t look good in women’s clothing. Besides, check out other livestreams, on platforms like Shu and Wei, one broadcast can pull in over a hundred thousand viewers, gaining tens of thousands of followers in just a few days.”
Su Yi’an felt a flicker of temptation but then he thought about wearing women’s clothing in front of Teacher Bai and his heart recoiled.
“Why not just sell normally? Why bother with all that…”
“You can’t attract traffic without these gimmicks,” Yang Jiayang said, using his silver tongue to persuade his friend. “It’s a marketing strategy, everyone does it and you won’t be wearing women’s clothes all the time, just occasionally as a perk for fans. Once the channel grows, we’ll recruit new streamers and we can step back behind the scenes and just count the money.”
“Occasionally? How often is that?” Su Yi’an asked hesitantly.
Yang Jiayang saw him giving in and grinned even more ingratiatingly. “When followers reach a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, or even a million? At most, four or five times in total.”
“You said it,” Su Yi’an replied, “and if there are more, you handle it.”
“Fine, I’ll cover it!”
Su Yi’an stared at him through the screen. “I’m recording this conversation.”
Yang Jiayang’s expression faltered for a moment but quickly returned to normal.
“See, our friendship is so solid yet you still don’t trust me?”
Su Yi’an crossed his arms. “I’ve been tricked by you several times already. Good thing I stayed alert this time, or I’d be falling for it again.”
“Come on, I’m not that kind of person,” Yang Jiayang said, trying to sound innocent.
Su Yi’an didn’t reply, just fixed him with a steady gaze.
“Well, the phone’s ringing. Let’s chat later.”
Feeling cornered under Su Yi’an’s stare, Yang Jiayang pretended to answer a call and quickly ended the video call.
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
Statistically speaking, coffee would be appreciated.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · New neighborsChapter 2 · Let’s just wash it.Chapter 3 · Pretty little girlChapter 4 · It’s impossible for us.Chapter 5 · Not as handsome as Teacher BaiChapter 6 · Happy cooperationChapter 7 · Making breakfastChapter 8 · LostChapter 9 · He’s hopelessly in love.Chapter 10 · Three CloudChapter 11 · Am I Old?Chapter 12 · Victory celebration banquetChapter 13 · Power outrageChapter 14 · Online dating meetupChapter 15 · Am I really that bad?Chapter 16 · Boyfriend?Chapter 17 · ConcertChapter 18 · Use Privileges.Chapter 19 · A night AloneChapter 20 · Do You Like me?Chapter 21 · The End