Can't You Sleep with Me?

"Was it soft or hard?" Su Tingbai asked with a smile, pressing down on his hand.

The heart beating in Su Tingbai's chest and his scorching skin made Shen Rui'an yank his hand back as if he had been shocked. A suspicious blush rose on his pale face, his ears heated up, and for some reason, he felt a little flustered. "It, it..."

Shen Rui'an's mind was a tangled mess, and his voice was so soft it was almost breathless. "It was soft."

"What?" Su Tingbai fixed his gaze on Shen Rui'an's panicked eyes.

"I said, it was soft!" Shen Rui'an snapped in embarrassment, muttering, "Novels are all lies. Abs aren't hard at all."

Su Tingbai suddenly laughed. His piercing gaze fell on the exasperated little cat, and he said softly, "Idiot."

Shen Rui'an had sharp ears. Hearing Su Tingbai call him that, he looked up angrily, stunned and aggrieved. "You called me an idiot?!"

"Idiot." With amusement in his eyes, Su Tingbai looked at him. Unable to resist, his large hand ruffled Shen Rui'an's hair. "They only get hard when your body is tense. Normally, muscles are soft."

Unless someone was deliberately flexing for show.

Shen Rui'an glanced at him, then glanced again. "Oh~ So you were really nervous just now?"

Su Tingbai looked at him helplessly. "Can't I be nervous when I'm embarrassed, Lord Shen Rui'an?"

"Hmph!" Shen Rui'an huffed, then suddenly turned back with a sincere question. "Su Tingbai, how did you train your muscles? I want some too."

As he spoke, he raised his arm and flexed as hard as he could, but nothing changed. It was still soft flesh, unlike Su Tingbai, whose arm would show a clearly defined muscle whenever he lifted it.

Su Tingbai pinched his arm, then calmly withdrew his hand. Hidden behind his back, his fingers rubbed together. So soft, and so thin.

"First, you need to eat more. You're too skinny."

Shen Rui'an looked a little disappointed. "Sigh, I know."

He just did not absorb nutrients very well, and his appetite was not particularly big either. No matter how much he ate, he never gained weight.

They talked as they headed back, Baisui wagging his tail happily as he followed behind them.

"You're not allowed to be picky."

"I'm not picky. It's because those things don't taste good. You can't blame that on me being picky."

"Then I'll work harder to make them taste better."

"Okay~"

Xing Ying and the others clung to the awning and craned their necks to look. When they saw the two returning while chatting and laughing, they all let out a sigh of relief.

"They made up again."

Hearing that, Meng Meng and Ya-ya exchanged a look and relaxed considerably. Thank goodness, the couple I shipped hadn't broken up.

"These two are just like a little couple," Huo Heng muttered, earning a glare from Xing Ying. "Give it a rest. It's still too early!"

From what he could see, Shen Rui'an had not caught on yet!

And Su Tingbai was still so stubborn. There was plenty more to watch!

As soon as Su Tingbai and Shen Rui'an came closer, everyone beneath the awning swiftly pulled their heads back and pretended to be playing cards.

Once Shen Rui'an's mood improved, his whole presence brightened. He walked a little faster, his somewhat long black hair swaying with his brisk steps. A breeze swept past, lifting his hair and scattering the fringe over his forehead, revealing his exquisitely delicate features.

With smiling crescent eyes, he hurried over to Su Tingbai. "Su Tingbai, what are we playing later?"

Since they had come camping, they would definitely be staying outside for the night. That was what made it feel like camping!

At that thought, Shen Rui'an suddenly wondered what they would do about bathing that night.

He loved taking baths. Every time he bathed, it felt as if all the exhaustion had been washed away, so even in the coldest weather, he would get up for a hot shower. In summer, he had to wash every day.

"There's an astronomical telescope in the RV. There's less light pollution here, so we might be able to see the Milky Way. I'll take it out and set it up later. You can have a look tonight." As Su Tingbai spoke, he led him to the RV and somehow found an astronomical telescope.

This was Shen Rui'an's first time in an RV. He normally had no need for one when traveling, so he followed Su Tingbai inside to take a look. "Su Tingbai, are we sleeping outside tonight? What about bathing?"

Hearing that, Su Tingbai pointed to the RV's shower room. "You can shower here. The space is just a little small."

"Is there enough water for bathing? What about Ya-ya and the others?" Shen Rui'an asked worriedly.

"It's enough. After you're done, they can come onto the RV to wash up before going back too. I filled the tank." When Su Tingbai went camping in certain places, there would be public shower rooms where everyone could wash.

If they went camping somewhere without public shower facilities, they could only bring their own shower tent and water heater.

But an RV was more convenient. His RV had a three-hundred-liter water tank, and he normally would not fill it completely. A full tank made the RV too heavy and difficult to drive, but since the campsite was close and the road was not especially steep, he had filled it before setting out.

With that much water, as long as nobody planned to take a bath or anything, it was enough for simple showers. At the very least, it would be enough for Shen Rui'an to wash four or five times.

Shen Rui'an relaxed at that. "That's good. Camping is pretty fun, but it really is a bit troublesome."

Just thinking about all the things that had to be prepared made Shen Rui'an's head hurt, and camping had lost much of its appeal.

He had never camped before and had been extremely curious about it, but once it involved daily living, he found it far too much trouble.

After this trip, although Shen Rui'an liked the atmosphere of camping, he had no desire to come again next time.

A daytime outing would be fine, but staying overnight while camping was out of the question.

Su Tingbai noticed a trace of fatigue between his brows and stepped forward to unfold the bed. "There's still a long time until evening. Do you want to take an afternoon nap in the RV?"

Shen Rui'an yawned and nodded.

Su Tingbai made up the bed. "Go to sleep. I'll come wake you later."

"Mm-hmm. Su Tingbai, you're such a good person." After changing into another set of clothes, Shen Rui'an lay down on the bed and quickly fell asleep.

Su Tingbai envied that baby-like sleep immensely.

After seeing that he was asleep, he quietly went outside.

He met up with Little Zhu and the others to set up all the tents, then collected and bagged the trash they had made, piling it together so they could take it away when they left.

By the time Shen Rui'an woke up, the sky was already dark.

The scent of barbecue drifted in from outside the RV. He looked out the window and saw flickering firelight near the awning.

Su Tingbai had just finished preparing dinner and came to wake Shen Rui'an, only to find that he was already awake.

"You're awake? Perfect. Dinner's ready, and Huo Heng even set up a bonfire party. Want to go take a look together?" Su Tingbai found him a light jacket and draped it over his arm before extending his other hand.

The temperature dropped sharply at night, so it was better to bring a jacket. Shen Rui'an could not stand the cold.

"Okay." Shen Rui'an placed his hand in Su Tingbai's and carefully got out of the RV.

The mountain forest after dark was completely different from how it had been during the day, and Shen Rui'an found it a little frightening.

Fortunately, there were no large wild animals around, so it was still fairly safe.

Shen Rui'an's eyesight was not very good in the dark, so he could only hold Su Tingbai's hand and slowly follow behind him.

Su Tingbai reminded him from time to time.

Since it was not far away, they arrived after only a few steps. Shen Rui'an also noticed several tents set up near the RV. It seemed that was where Little Zhu and the others would be staying that night.

"Su Tingbai, are you sleeping in a tent too tonight?" Shen Rui'an looked around, a little scared, and gripped Su Tingbai's sleeve tighter.

Su Tingbai pointed to a tent closest to the RV. "Yeah, I'm sleeping there. If you're scared, you can call me."

Shen Rui'an looked in the direction he pointed. It was indeed very close, but when he thought about staying alone in the empty RV, he was still afraid.

Shen Rui'an bit his lower lip. "Can't you sleep with me? I'm scared."

Su Tingbai's breathing stopped. "W-what? Sleep together...?"