Lu Zhixing’s eyes widened. He looked like someone who had been deeply wronged, confronting an unrepentant offender.
“You keep saying you treat me well,” Lu Zhixing said aggrievedly. “You don’t even know how you’ve been treating me badly! You’ve changed, Xiyu!”
He had even used his full name. Xiyu knew things had gotten serious.
……………………….
The story behind the matter of names was a long one. Honestly, it was complicated enough to make anyone’s head spin.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Xiyu had always told Zhixu that his name was Lu Zhixing. But Zhixu had remained hung up on the fact that, before the slap in the garden, Xiyu had called out the name Zhixu.
Later, Xiyu had coaxed him by explaining that Zhixu was his childhood nickname. After changing his appearance, he had told both families that they should use the name Zhixu whenever they were around outsiders.
As for his own name, Xiyu had found the whole matter troublesome, so he had simply told Zhixu that his name was Xiyu.
As for why he hadn’t used Lanxing…
Apart from worrying that his family might overhear and find it strange, there was another reason. Xiyu had always felt that if Zhixu called him by that name during intimate moments, he would feel a little embarrassed.
It would remind him of their teacher-disciple relationship.
It just felt awkward.
It was much simpler to use Xiyu. That way, he could get up to all sorts of improper things without feeling so self-conscious.
But in truth, Zhixu hadn’t actually called him Xiyu yet. He usually threw around terms of endearment like husband and big brother indiscriminately.
This was the first time he had called him Xiyu like this.
And with such a combative tone.
Xiyu’s mind raced as he tried to figure out how he had mistreated Lu Zhixing.
Before he could think it through, Lu Zhixing had already begun listing his offenses like beans spilling from a sack.
“Lately, when you go to the company, you keep forgetting to hold my hand. You kiss me less often, too. Sometimes you even forget to give me a goodnight kiss before bed! But it’s okay. I can forgive you for all of those things. However, what you did yesterday was absolutely unforgivable!”
Lu Zhixing stared at Xiyu, the reproach in his eyes so intense that you would have thought Xiyu had committed some grave, unforgivable crime.
“You actually left me all alone and sneaked out! You made me look everywhere for you, and I couldn’t find you! You’re the worst, worst husband in the entire world!”
His voice was a little hoarse from the fever, his hair was disheveled, and his cheeks were flushed. He wasn’t exactly frail, but he did have a somewhat vulnerable, easy-to-bully appearance.
Yet he held his back straight, displaying not the slightest awareness that he was being unreasonable.
Xiyu had honestly felt like laughing. But Lu Zhixing was so serious that it seemed these weren’t trivial little matters to him at all. They were earth-shatteringly important.
Xiyu was completely undone by the earnestness in Lu Zhixing’s eyes. It took him barely two seconds to go from wanting to laugh to reflecting on his own behavior.
In those two seconds, Xiyu realized something.
If Lu Zhixing currently had the mind of a child, he wasn’t an ordinary child.
He was a child with high emotional needs.
A child who required him to be more careful and attentive, someone who could easily overthink things and imagine all sorts of scenarios.
Xiyu picked out the one incident Lu Zhixing seemed most certain about and began coaxing him.
“I was wrong yesterday. From now on, I absolutely won’t go out while you’re asleep again, all right?”
Lu Zhixing had been sleeping so much lately that he almost never woke up around that time. Xiyu really had been careless.
Xiyu’s attitude toward admitting his mistake was excellent. He took Lu Zhixing’s warm hand and kissed it.
“I already apologized last night, didn’t I? Look…”
Xiyu undid the buttons of his pajamas, revealing the red marks around his neck, and reminded Lu Zhixing of the outrageous night they had spent together.
“A good boy doesn’t get what he wants and then pretend it never happened, does he?”
Given Lu Zhixing’s current condition, Xiyu couldn’t possibly consummate their marriage with him now. He wanted to give Lu Zhixing a proper, complete wedding night after he recovered his memories.
So Xiyu would kiss him, embrace him, and occasionally allow things to become a little more intimate. But he wouldn’t let things go as far as they had the previous night.
He wasn’t a saint. He couldn’t guarantee that he would be able to keep his hands off Lu Zhixing if his rationality were completely swallowed up by desire.
So he could only exercise some restraint.
But last night, guilt and self-reproach had made him desperate to warm Lu Zhixing’s freezing body with his own body heat.
He had apologized to Lu Zhixing in the bathroom, apologized to him in this bed, and accommodated him as much as possible in practically every movement.
Now Lu Zhixing was using that very incident to accuse him. Xiyu was honestly a little heartbroken.
How could Lu Zhixing do so many outrageous things with him and then turn around and blame him?
That was very impolite, Xiyu thought.
Xiyu’s pajama top slipped from his rounded shoulder, revealing a delicate, beautiful collarbone with a small hollow beneath it. The red marks nestled there looked like droplets of juice squeezed from crushed roses.
Lu Zhixing’s furious eyes grew a little guilty. As his temperature had come down somewhat, his mind seemed to have regained a tiny bit of clarity.
But he wasn’t really all that clearheaded, because he quickly remembered something even more serious.
“All right, fine. I can forgive you for that,” Lu Zhixing said magnanimously.
Xiyu breathed a sigh of relief. But before he could finish exhaling, Lu Zhixing raised his voice and launched into another round of accusations, this time even more emphatically.
“But you’ve done something even, even, even, even, even worse!”
Lu Zhixing grabbed Xiyu by the shoulders.
“Why did Luo Cheng’an say I was your younger brother? Aren’t we a couple?! Why didn’t you admit it? This is a very serious matter!”
Why did it seem as though his identity was something to be ashamed of?
This was truly a grave issue, Lu Zhixing thought. It was even more serious than Xiyu leaving him behind and going out yesterday.
Lu Zhixing glared at Xiyu as though, if Xiyu couldn’t give him a satisfactory explanation, he would turn the whole world upside down.
The previous night, Xiyu had promised to let him kiss him for a long time, so Lu Zhixing hadn’t had the chance to ask about it.
But the television drama The Art of Being a Married Couple had taught him something.
A healthy, stable relationship required trust and respect.
Lu Zhixing had taken it upon himself to interpret this as meaning that he should express his love for Xiyu without concealing anything, and openly voice his dissatisfaction whenever something upset him. That way, the two of them wouldn’t develop misunderstandings or lose their trust in each other.
Of course, respect was important, too. For example, he respected Xiyu’s opinions very much. If Xiyu disagreed with something, Lu Zhixing would use all sorts of methods to persuade him until he agreed.
How was that not respect?
He respected Xiyu so much that he would patiently pester him and coax him until Xiyu finally gave his consent before doing something Lu Zhixing really liked but Xiyu might not be quite as enthusiastic about.
But yesterday, he had felt deeply disrespected!
Still, because he trusted Xiyu, he firmly believed that Xiyu would give him a perfect answer.
Lu Zhixing was brimming with confidence. If the Lu Zhixing who still had all his memories had experienced everything that happened the previous night, he would probably have felt a little hurt, but he wouldn’t have questioned Xiyu about it.
Such a trivial matter was beneath the notice of the Lu Zhixing who had his memories.
But the current Lu Zhixing, who had lost his memories and had been indulged by Xiyu throughout this period, had developed a degree of spoiled, presumptuous behavior without even realizing it himself.
In the relatively short span of memories he possessed, Xiyu occupied every corner of his world. So even a small matter like this was of earth-shattering importance to the current Lu Zhixing.
Until now, whenever Lu Zhixing had made any kind of request, Xiyu had always responded quickly, whether his answer was yes or no.
But this time, Xiyu was at a loss for words.
He looked at Lu Zhixing, paused for a moment, then said, “You’re sick right now. Let’s get your temperature down first, and then we can discuss this later, all right?”
With a loud crack, Lu Zhixing heard the sound of his own heart breaking.
………………..
Before he could say anything else, the bedroom door opened.
Luo Cheng’an stood in the doorway, his striking red hair impossible to miss.
“What’s going on?” he asked Xiyu.
Xiyu turned to look at him. Luo Cheng’an was still wearing yesterday’s clothes: a black leather jacket over a tank top. As he approached, the faint smell of alcohol clinging to him grew more noticeable.
But Xiyu didn’t ask about it. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“He has a fever.” Xiyu opened his palm to show how little spiritual power he had left. “Give me a hand.”
Luo Cheng’an yawned as though he hadn’t slept well.
“I knew something was up when you called me several times.”
Xiyu almost never contacted him by phone.
Luo Cheng’an walked over to Lu Zhixing and raised his hand.
Perhaps he felt guilty because his use of spiritual power to awaken Lu Zhixing had indirectly contributed to the latter’s illness. Or perhaps he was simply exhausted. Whatever the reason, there was an inexplicably heavy look in Luo Cheng’an’s eyes as he gazed at Lu Zhixing.
He positioned his fingertip half an inch from the space between Lu Zhixing’s eyebrows.
A pale golden glow seeped out from his fingertip.
But in the next second—
Smack!
The flow of spiritual power was interrupted.
Luo Cheng’an clutched his struck hand and stared at Lu Zhixing in disbelief.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
Xiyu frowned. Assuming Lu Zhixing was simply throwing a tantrum, he sighed and reached out to pull him closer.
Lu Zhixing dodged backward.
“Don’t touch me!”
Bad person! Xiyu was the worst, worst person in the entire world!
So he really was someone who had to be kept hidden!
Otherwise, why hadn’t Xiyu explained himself?
“Stop fooling around,” Xiyu said gently. “Let’s treat your fever first. I’m really worried about you.”
Lu Zhixing glared resentfully at Xiyu.
“I don’t want you interfering!”
Luo Cheng’an rubbed his reddened hand and silently ground his teeth. He turned to Xiyu.
“Just look at what you’ve spoiled him into.”
You little green-tea schemer. You actually dared to hit me.
Seeing that Lu Zhixing simply wouldn’t cooperate, Xiyu took off his shoes and climbed onto the bed. He bundled Lu Zhixing up in the quilt, wrapping him up haphazardly, then held him firmly in place.
“Go ahead. Sorry to trouble you.”
Only Lu Zhixing’s head was sticking out of the quilt. Looking at Xiyu straddling him, he worried that if he struggled too violently, Xiyu might fall off the bed. So he could only continue shouting.
“I don’t want either of you interfering! You’re all bad people! You say I’m your cousin, but am I really so shameful that you have to hide me? And you said I was your precious darling, your little puppy, and you even made me…”
“Mm-mm-mm-mm!”
Xiyu clapped a hand over Lu Zhixing’s mouth. His forehead throbbed, and he hardly dared to look at his friend. Keeping his head lowered, he ground out through clenched teeth,
“Hurry up, please. Thank you.”
Luo Cheng’an raised his hand and began channeling spiritual power into Lu Zhixing. Watching Lu Zhixing’s furious expression, he finally understood why the man was throwing a tantrum.