Study. The lamp on the office desk is still on. Gong Yue closes the computer, opens his phone, and finds that there are still no new messages. He looks at the text message records, and his gaze falls on the words “I miss you,” not knowing how many times he has read them.
Regular knocking sounds come from the door. Hawk, the butler, opens the door and walks in.
“Young Master, the car is ready, rain gear is also prepared. We will depart in five minutes, and it is estimated to take three to four hours to reach Yanhui Mountain. Because your phone is linked to Mr. Ye’s location, we didn’t inquire about the specific location of Mr. Ye’s program.”
He adds, “Mr. Ye himself also doesn’t know you’re going.”
Gong Yue nods, “What about the steamed buns?”
“They are already in the insulated box.” The butler hands over the box he’s holding.
Gong Yue doesn’t say anything more, takes it, stands up, and walks out.
After confirming the weather at Yanhui Mountain, Hawk follows Gong Yue, “Young Master, it’s better to wear another windbreaker; the temperature is lower on the mountain.”
Seeing that Gong Yue doesn’t pause at all, he adds, “If Mr. Ye sees you wearing too little when he comes to find you, he will surely worry.”
When leaving, Gong Yue puts on an additional windbreaker.
※※※
Ye Shanshan hadn’t been asleep for long when he was once again disturbed by the relentless sound of the rain, feeling resentful, and his soul exhausted.
He covered his ears, but it had little effect. The surrounding sounds made him feel like he was surrounded by strange creatures—thinking about it, he could go crazy at any moment!
Feeling both restless and uncomfortable, he felt like he was becoming a tangled mess, like a hundred-meter diameter kind of mess.
After changing positions more than ten or twenty times in a row, Ye Shanshan finally gave up on the idea of putting himself to sleep. Silently, he took out his phone and started playing Tetris.
Rotating combinations while endlessly thinking, he wondered what Gong Yue was doing now. It wasn’t yet early morning, and the workaholic was surely still in the study, facing endless financial statements. Hmm, let’s sympathize with our Majesty.
After playing for a while, Ye Shanshan’s tapping hand suddenly paused, and his gaze moved from the phone to the door. He rubbed his ears, feeling puzzled. Was it because he missed Gong Yue so much that he was experiencing auditory hallucinations?
Outside, the wind, rain, and rustling leaves merged into a continuous sound. However, amid these noises, Ye Shanshan sensitively caught a sound—the footsteps of boots stepping on mud, water, and dry leaves.
Hey, the frequency of these footsteps is really too familiar.
Ye Shanshan turned off his phone, sat up dazedly, and listened as the footsteps, gradually approaching, stopped outside the tent’s door curtain. The air seemed to tense up instantly.
The door curtain of Ye Shanshan’s tent is closed with a two-way zipper from the inside and outside. Sensing a pair of hands gently resting on the zipper, it was originally a very small movement, but Ye Shanshan’s heart trembled with it.
It’s really the big demon king!
He quickly got out of the sleeping bag, reached for the zipper, and quickly pulled it down—
Ye Shanshan saw Gong Yue, soaked in rain, standing at the side of the tent.
He was slightly bent, holding an umbrella in his left hand and a thermos in the other. As if not anticipating that Ye Shanshan would unzip from the inside, his eyes showed a bit of surprise.
In the dim light, Ye Shanshan looked at the man who suddenly appeared in front of him. The wind and rain outside formed a continuous scene, and Gong Yue’s dark gray windbreaker was completely soaked, with water dripping from the hem. His hair was not spared either, wet as if he had just come out of the bathroom.
Glancing slowly downward, Ye Shanshan stared at Gong Yue’s muddy leather boots, with mud spots still clinging to his calves. After a while, he raised his head again, shifting his gaze back to Gong Yue’s face.
The man’s eyes, showing a bit of fatigue between his brows, looked gentle. Holding the umbrella, his finger joints were slender and powerful. At this moment, all Ye Shanshan could hear was the “thump-thump” of his heartbeat, almost drowning out the sound of the rain outside.
Even if the outside was really surrounded by little monsters, he wasn’t afraid.
“Shanshan.”
Hearing Gong Yue calling him, Ye Shanshan suddenly snapped out of his daze. He instinctively stood up and rushed towards Gong Yue’s direction with force, pushing him back two or three steps before he could stabilize himself.
Supporting the umbrella and at the same time steadying Ye Shanshan’s waist with his other hand, Gong Yue’s tone was somewhat helpless, “I’m all soaked, be careful not to get your clothes wet too.” As he spoke, he tried to distance himself from Ye Shanshan.
Feeling Gong Yue’s intention, Ye Shanshan tightened the hand around his waist, expressing protest through action.
The temperature in the mountains at night was a bit low, and after his clothes got wet, he felt a bit cold. However, he didn’t want to let go of Gong Yue’s hand right now. If he let go, what if this person disappeared?
Gently rubbing his head against Gong Yue’s, Ye Shanshan took a while before speaking, “Why did you suddenly become tangible?”
Could it be that the grand summoning technique of thoughts succeeded? When did I activate this skill?
Gong Yue held Ye Shanshan’s slender waist with one hand, understanding Ye Shanshan’s meaning without any hindrance. His voice carried an unusually gentle tone, “You said you missed me.”
Suddenly, Ye Shanshan felt a sourness in his heart, his eyes also feeling a bit teary. His throat was a bit choked as he spoke, “At night, going up the mountain, it’s raining, the road is slippery, and it’s very dangerous.”
“It’s okay.”
After another gust of wind, Ye Shanshan quickly raised his head, “Come in quickly.”
Handing the thermos to Ye Shanshan, keeping the long-handled umbrella, Gong Yue followed Ye Shanshan into the tent.
The tent was a luxurious single-person version, with a considerable height and area. The space wasn’t small, but with two adult men squeezed inside, it seemed a bit crowded. However, Ye Shanshan didn’t mind. He placed the thermos aside, reached out, and began to undress Gong Yue.
Gong Yue’s body froze for a moment, and before he could react, he heard Ye Shanshan muttering,
“Your outer clothes are all soaked. What happened to the waterproof fabric? The inner ones aren’t much better. Hurry and take them off; otherwise, you’ll get sick. Quick, quick, quick.”
Helping Gong Yue take off his outer coat, the inner shirt was also wet. Ye Shanshan couldn’t help but take a few more glances, feeling like Gong Yue looked even better like this than usual?
Hesitating for half a second, Ye Shanshan decisively took off Gong Yue’s shirt, revealing his bare upper body.
Taking another glance at the abdominal muscles was self-inflicted harm, but he still couldn’t resist, inflicting himself with it several times.
Finding his spare sports pants and helping Gong Yue put them on, then grabbing a towel to carefully wipe Gong Yue’s body, and reaching over to help him dry his hair, Ye Shanshan kept murmuring,
“Getting completely soaked like this is easy to catch a cold. There’s no hot water bath here. If you get a fever in the middle of the night, what do we do? I’d be scared to death! When you came, didn’t Uncle Hawk try to stop you? The rain is so heavy, the road is not only difficult to walk on, but you also don’t know the way. If something happens, I won’t mention that, and the program said it’s 48 hours, but I could have gone home tomorrow night…”
Listening to Ye Shanshan’s countless words, Gong Yue didn’t furrow his brows at all, and he listened attentively throughout, not interrupting.
Speaking of it, Gong Yue himself was someone who liked silence, spoke very little, even the people around him had to lower their voices by two degrees when talking to him. Because he highly valued efficiency, he never used two words when one would suffice.
After cleaning up his Majesty, Ye Shanshan carefully laid the two soaked clothes flat. After finishing, he noticed that Gong Yue was looking at him attentively. Ye Shanshan moved closer, put his head on Gong Yue’s shoulder, and gave a silly laugh,
“Hehe, brother, are you tired? Did you come up the mountain by car? Is there xiaolongbao in the thermos? I’ll have it for breakfast tomorrow!”
“Yeah.” Gong Yue nodded, wiped the raindrops off Ye Shanshan’s face with his hand, and asked, “Scared?”
“How could I be scared!” Ye Shanshan’s fur stood up, instantly sitting up and looking at Gong Yue, pouting angrily, “I’m not a child. I’m not afraid of the dark or the rain.”
Gong Yue nodded without refuting, looked at the simple tent, the not very bright energy-saving lamp, and finally focused his gaze on the slightly messy sleeping bag, “Were you sleeping before?”
“Yeah,” Ye Shanshan nodded, speaking a lot, “I slept after texting you. The signal here is really super bad. Later, I woke up again. It was raining outside, too noisy. I felt like my eardrums were being bombarded! Then I played Tetris for a while, and then I heard your footsteps. I thought it was an illusion because I missed you…”
Not sure which part of Ye Shanshan’s words pleased Gong Yue, a not very obvious smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, “Then go to sleep; it’s very late.”
Ye Shanshan nodded, indeed, he had this in mind!
With a few moves, he crawled into the sleeping bag, saying, “I’ve warmed up the sleeping bag. Come in quickly.” He instantly felt that he was being considerate and thoughtful.
Gong Yue, looking at his smile, nodded and followed suit, lying down.
※※※
The sleeping bag was not large, so Ye Shanshan and Gong Yue were very close, and his nose was almost touching the skin on the other’s chest.
Ye Shanshan was still a bit excited, mainly because he didn’t expect the person he was thinking about earlier to appear in front of him now. He was too happy and excited, moving around like someone with hyperactivity.
After a while, realizing that Ye Shanshan showed no signs of stopping, Gong Yue sighed lightly, hugged him tightly, and said, “Alright, stop moving.” After speaking, he felt his tone wasn’t good, so he added in a soothing manner, “Good boy.”
Ye Shanshan nodded, finally settled into a comfortable position, and obediently said, “Oh, I won’t move, just hold me.”
Gong Yue’s muscles were a bit stiff, but his body temperature was higher than Ye Shanshan’s. In a few minutes, he made the inside of the sleeping bag warm and cozy. After giving it some thought, Ye Shanshan shamelessly tucked his cold feet between Gong Yue’s calves, finding the warmth enough to squint his eyes.
So comfortable!
Gong Yue noticed that Ye Shanshan’s feet were indeed too cold. He adjusted his position and securely fixed his feet.
Feeling like he was about to melt in the warmth, Ye Shanshan didn’t fidget anymore. He maintained this posture and entered into a pre-sleep chatting mode with Gong Yue, “Are you leaving tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” Gong Yue held the person in his arms, trying to focus his attention on the conversation, but with minimal success.
Ye Shanshan, oblivious to any unusual signs, was earnestly recalling Gong Yue’s schedule, “I remember you’re flying to Vancouver tomorrow morning, right? Hmm, I’ll get up early to send you off. But you should rest well on the plane; today’s climb was tiring, and you’re getting up early again tomorrow.”
Once he started his chattering mode, Ye Shanshan couldn’t stop, “Oh, by the way, my wilderness survival skills are really maxed out, impressive, right? Speaking of this show, it’s quite fun. The production team even gave us fluorescent green jackets, a color I really like… Then we were kicked off the car, but we met an uncle raising piglets and hitchhiked… Had steak tenderloin for dinner tonight, all thanks to me…”
Buried in Gong Yue’s embrace, Ye Shanshan began to describe in detail the day’s itinerary, a typical detailed account without focus or logic. If he were to write an essay, 800 words would definitely not be enough, he would need at least 8,000 words.
After a while, Ye Shanshan’s voice gradually softened, and he fell asleep. The disturbing sounds of wind and rain were all shut out beyond this embrace.
Gong Yue gently hugged him and finally closed his tired eyelids.
※※※
At 5 a.m., Gong Yue woke up, his eyes briefly showing confusion before returning to clarity.
He looked down and noticed that Ye Shanshan was half pressed against him, his hand still around Gong Yue’s neck, breathing rhythmically, soundly asleep.
Carefully moving the person off him, Gong Yue put on his clothes, still damp, and buttoned them up. He was ready to descend the mountain back to City B and then fly to Vancouver.
Before leaving, hesitating for over ten seconds, Gong Yue half-knelt on the anti-moisture pad, leaned down, and gently lifted Ye Shanshan’s messy bangs, kissing his forehead with utmost caution.
As he heard the tent’s zipper being carefully closed, Gong Yue’s footsteps gradually faded away. Ye Shanshan opened his eyes, raised his hand to touch his forehead, feeling a lingering warmth.
In that moment, he felt his heart beating rapidly, and Ye Shanshan covered his chest, a bit worried – was he getting sick?
“What’s wrong with my little heart? Panic!”
※※※
Since the morning, Xu Luoyang had noticed that Ye Shanshan was completely absent-minded, needing to call his name several times to get any attention.
As a result, the two small games in the morning, with Ye not being online, both ended up with him in last place.
However, Xu Luoyang cared more about Ye Shanshan’s state. During the lunch break, he quickly pulled Ye Shanshan under a large tree, avoiding the cameras.
“Shanshan, did you not sleep well last night? Is that why you’re not feeling well?” He knew that Ye Shanshan was a typical “can’t wake up or will die” type, hence the question.
Yesterday night – Ye Shanshan seemed to snap out of his thoughts. “Did you sleep well last night?”
“Very well. I stuffed earplugs into my ears and fell asleep in minutes, slept until dawn. The air in the mountains is quite good, especially in the morning.”
Ye Shanshan nodded, then started zoning out again. After hesitating for a while, he finally spoke, “I want to ask you a question.”
Xu Luoyang nodded, “Ask away.” He was most afraid that Ye Shanshan had something on his mind. What if he kept things bottled up and it affected his health?
“I was kissed by someone.”
“!!!” Xu Luoyang’s expression instantly turned to horror. “What’s going on? Last night, there were only the two of us here. Did you encounter a fox spirit or a seductive ghost?”
Linking the images of Gong Yue with a fox spirit or seductive ghost, Ye Shanshan’s expression became extremely peculiar.
Seeing Ye Shanshan staring at him, Xu Luoyang rubbed his nose, retracting his unreliable imagination. “Alright, by whom?”
Ye Shanshan didn’t want to reveal what happened with Gong Yue last night to anyone. It was like guarding a cherished secret. So, he carefully chose his words,
“Someone very, very, very important.”
“…” How special could this person be? Isn’t the most important person the most important? Xu Luoyang naturally classified this “most important person” as a relative or a friend. After all, Ye Shanshan hadn’t truly been in a romantic relationship yet. As for Gong Yue, the two of them probably hadn’t kissed many times, so he wasn’t considered by Xu Luoyang.
“If you were kissed, let’s use the process of elimination. Which country is the other person from?”
“The United States.” Gong Yue’s heritage was Chinese, but his nationality was listed as American.
“Where were you kissed?”
“The forehead, just once,” Ye Shanshan recalled twice. “Only for a few seconds.”
Unable to resist, Ye Shanshan touched the place where Gong Yue had kissed him again. He felt that the sensation there not only didn’t fade with time but was becoming hotter.
Hearing Ye Shanshan’s explanation, Xu Luoyang sighed in relief.
“Scared me. I imagined so many scenarios. But it’s fine; it’s just a form of courtesy. In Europe, many people even have formal cheek-kissing greetings when they meet. If they kiss your forehead, it usually expresses affection and care, especially from elders.”
Though inexperienced, Xu Luoyang had some common sense.
Ye Shanshan thought about it and felt that Xu Luoyang’s explanation made sense. Ignoring the faint disappointment in his heart, he resurrected in high spirits.
—–
Author’s note:
Ye Ge: Chaos or not, Ye Ge decides [scissor hands]
Gong Ge: Oh?
Ye Ge: Gong Ge decides! [depressed] [tired] [little demon spirit]
Gong Ge’s diary: Today, I smiled and kept quiet.
1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ❤️”
