So many sins in my last life, a beast of burden in this one

Huo Yuchen, who had followed him over at some point, was also transfixed.

He stood a short distance away, watching that slender figure move with ease before the fruit trees, watching that handsome face appear and disappear among the leaves.

Fine brows stood clear as distant ink-dark mountains, eyes glittered like stars, a straight nose rose like a mountain of jade, and moist lips outshone red cherries...

"If you want some, pick it yourself. Think it'll jump into your mouth if you just stare?"

"..."

Xu Su's mood-killing words dragged a certain someone out of his daze and back to reality.

Huo Yuchen looked away and coughed awkwardly. "I didn't want any."

Xu Su gave him a disdainful look. "You're drooling."

A flicker of panic immediately crossed Huo Yuchen's face, and he hurriedly raised a hand to wipe his mouth.

Only to discover that he hadn't been drooling at all.

"You lied to me."

He narrowed his eyes slightly, a trace of displeasure in his voice.

Entirely unafraid, Xu Su smiled. "You should reflect on why you fell for it."

"..."

You win.

Letting out an almost imperceptible sigh, Huo Yuchen walked over and said in a faintly teasing voice, "I knew you were quick, but I didn't expect you to be this quick."

He had disappeared in the time it took to play a game.

Xu Su seemed to misunderstand what he meant. His eyes abruptly widened as he glared at him. "Nonsense! I don't finish quickly!"

"..."

Huo Yuchen closed his eyes briefly, speechless. "I meant your speed."

Xu Su planted one hand on his hip. "So did I."

Huo Yuchen: "..."

It was the sort of helplessness where he really wanted to call the police but had no idea what he would tell them.

After several seconds of silence, Huo Yuchen explained again, word by deliberate word:

"I meant how quickly you walked here from the wasteland, not how quickly you finish in bed."

Xu Su planted his other hand on his hip too. "I meant how quickly I walked here from the wasteland."

Huo Yuchen: "..."

Let it all be destroyed. Who needs this planet anyway?

[Wait?! Who's making the dirty jokes here?!]

[Forget how dirty it is. First, figure out why Huo Yuchen insisted on picking fruit next to Xu Su when the orchard is this huge!]

[Holy shit! Is there actually something going on between them?!]

[Seriously, you're forcing yourselves to ship them over something this far-fetched?]

Since the people involved hadn't stepped forward to clear up the morning's misunderstanding-mainly because they knew nothing about it-the netizens with their vivid imaginations were now a little "sensitive" about any shot featuring the two together, always feeling there was something between them.

Meanwhile, the two people involved remained completely oblivious and therefore entirely unruffled.

For a while, everything was harmonious.

But that harmony lasted only three minutes before the mood changed.

It started when Xu Su noticed that after coming over to his side, Huo Yuchen hadn't taken a pair of shears to the fruit trees like he had. Instead, he was kneeling beside Xu Su's back basket, relentlessly stealing the fruits of his labor.

No, stealing wasn't the word. This was daylight robbery!

Xu Su was furious. "Do you not know how to use shears, or are you allergic to them? Why are you taking the apples from my basket?"

Huo Yuchen tilted his head up slightly and looked at him without a trace of shame. "Because my hand hurts."

"...What does your hand hurting have to do with taking my apples?"

Xu Su's expression was split down the middle: half speechless, half pissed off!

Huo Yuchen said, "From a legal and ethical perspective, there's no connection. From a macroscopic or microscopic perspective, there's no connection either. But from the perspective of the two of us, a certain connection does exist."

Xu Su: ?

"What connection?"

"The connection between perpetrator and victim?"

A faint curve lifted the corners of Huo Yuchen's lips. "A connection of quick and easy access."

[?? What does that mean??]

[Is this some new way of confessing your love??]

[Can a college student in the comments explain this?]

Xu Su was just as baffled as the netizens. "What kind of connection is that?"

Huo Yuchen's smile deepened. "You pick them quickly, and I take them easily. That kind."

In short: reaping the rewards without doing the work.

"You motherfucker!!"

Xu Su instantly flew into a rage, lunging forward and grabbing his collar.

Seeing this, the cameraman following Huo Yuchen hurriedly dropped his camera and rushed over to stop him, terrified that something might happen to Huo Yuchen.

But Xu Su sent him away with one mighty slap.

"Give me back my apples!!" Xu Su roared.

Rather than answer directly, Huo Yuchen leisurely raised his right hand, palm facing Xu Su. "It really hurts."

His voice softened slightly, carrying a hint of wheedling.

The live comments instantly erupted:

[What! Is! He! Doing!]

[Obviously, he's asking for love. (Asking for loving care = asking for love.)]

[You up there... never mind, you're right.]

[Well, now even Jesus couldn't explain this away.]

[Can I ask, are we allowed to ship them now? Nobody's going to curse me to have ten sons, five with no assholes and five with assholes on top of their heads, anymore, right?]

[Fine, fine, fine. Well done, Huo Yuchen. I'm out there fighting for my life on Weibo to clear your name, and you turn around and act all cute here?]

Though still angry, Xu Su instinctively glanced over.

On closer inspection, he saw three plainly visible little cuts near the top of Huo Yuchen's palm. Blood seeped from the surface flesh, giving it something of a "bloody mess" look.

It was just that the affected area was a little small. All three cuts together were smaller than a fingernail.

From another perspective, though, for a pampered young heir, this did indeed qualify as a serious injury.

"Does it hurt a lot?" Xu Su asked without feeling.

Huo Yuchen lifted his eyes slightly to look at him. "What do you think?"

Xu Su gave him a disdainful look. "That constitution of yours has more than a little Lin Daiyu in it."

He released Huo Yuchen's collar and turned toward the cameraman who had been slapped for no reason. "The production team has a first aid kit, right?"

The cameraman, a mark on his face, hurriedly nodded. "Yes. I'll get it!"

[Is everyone on the production team dead?! Can't they see my husband is hurt this badly?!]

[Exactly! This is outrageous!]

[Just putting this out there, but is it possible Huo Yuchen deliberately kept it hidden?]

[I agree with the comment above! He had so many opportunities earlier, like during lunch or when everyone gathered, but he never mentioned it! He specifically waited until it was just the two of them! There's definitely something fishy here!]

The observant netizens had spotted the overlooked detail, and the quick-witted Xu Su soon noticed the same issue. "Why are you only mentioning it now?"

Something unusual flashed through Huo Yuchen's eyes for an instant. He lowered his gaze and changed the subject. "You don't seem to have any problems at all?"

Xu Su clapped his hands and stood up. "Of course not."

Huo Yuchen stood up too. "Why?"

Xu Su gave a soft, self-mocking laugh. "Because I committed so many sins in my last life that I have to be a beast of burden in this one."

Huo Yuchen: ?

"What does that mean?"

Xu Su drawled, "Beasts of burden have thick hides and can take any hardship. As long as I'm not in an urn yet, what's this little bit of bullshit work?"

Huo Yuchen: "..."

[I was just enjoying a variety show, and suddenly it feels like I've been stabbed in the heart.]

[So only when I'm in an urn will I finally be free of daily eight a.m. starts?]

[Actually, not every beast of burden can endure hardship. Take me, for example. I'm very fragile. ┭┮﹏┭┮]

[The way Xu Su said that gave me this relaxed vibe of "living is fine, dying works too, and being half-dead doesn't bother me either."]