Xie Ji was carried back to Lu Xunji's room over his shoulder.
The others standing outside exchanged looks, falling silent for half a minute.
In the end, Shang Yan broke the silence. "...It's not very convenient for Xie Ji to keep sleeping in Lu Xunji's room, is it?"
Ji Shi hurriedly agreed. "I said so ages ago. He's in the wrong here! Xie Ji and Lu Xunji aren't blood brothers. How can sleeping together all day be okay?"
Mu Yao leaned idly against the wall. "What, do you have a solution?"
Shang Yan paused, then folded his arms. "You don't want Xie Ji sleeping in his room either. Can't you come up with something yourselves?"
"Them." Zhou Heyu, who never spoke up in the group, unexpectedly joined the conversation. He pinched the hem of his clothes and said quietly, "There's nothing wrong with it, is there?"
"Given how oblivious Xie Ji is about that sort of thing, there's definitely nothing going on right now." Mu Yao straightened up. "But who knows about the future? As they say, the pavilion closest to the water catches the moon first. When someone steals your sweetheart away, certain people had better not go hugging the toilet and crying."
Ji Shi bristled. "You're calling me out, aren't you? If you're so capable, get Xie Ji to stop going to Lu Xunji's room!"
Seeing that none of them could currently think of a way to get Xie Ji out of Lu Xunji's luxurious bedroom without offending him, Zhou Heyu shook his head and returned to his own room.
Shang Yan adjusted his glasses. "If we can't talk Xie Ji around, would it be easier to work on someone else?"
Mu Yao stopped and turned his head slightly. "If you've got an idea, you sneaky bastard, just say it. Why all the mystery?"
"What I mean is..." Shang Yan scratched the end of his eyebrow. "A large part of why Xie Ji keeps going to Lu Xunji's room is the luxurious bedroom. If we could deprive Lu Xunji of the chance to have a luxurious bedroom..."
Ji Shi curled his lip. "It won't work. I've tried. My bedroom isn't bad now either, is it? He still hasn't come to mine."
Mu Yao snorted and clapped Shang Yan on the shoulder. "You and Xie Ji...?"
Shang Yan paused, then said evenly, "I'm only interested in the mysterious pills he has. I'm not you."
"Okay, got it. Leave this to me."
Ji Shi's eyes widened. "What do you mean, you've got it? What do you mean, leave it to you?"
Shang Yan said nothing more and turned to enter his own room too.
Ji Shi gritted his teeth in frustration.
Had these two sneaky bastards learned some exclusive language behind my back?
Why can't I understand anything they're saying?
Cruelly excluded from the sneaky bastards' team on account of his IQ, Ji Shi shut his door resentfully.
After Xie Ji entered the room, Lu Xunji held him down, stripped off his clothes, and tossed him into the bathtub.
His golden hair was soaked with hot water and clung to his snowy shoulders. Xie Ji poked his head out of the tub. "What are you doing?"
"Giving you a bath." Lu Xunji rubbed his temple, picked up Xie Ji's discarded clothes, and took them away to toss into the washing machine. "You stink."
"Oh," Xie Ji said, patting the water as he sat in the tub. "Get my little shark for me."
Without complaint, Lu Xunji dug Xie Ji's little blue shark bath salts out of the bathroom storage compartment, unwrapped them, and tossed them into the water.
The blue bath salts sank with a bubbling gurgle. Before long, the entire tub of water had turned a clear, deep blue, with white foam floating on the surface and concealing the view beneath.
Xie Ji produced a bath pouf. "Master Lu, give me ten minutes."
Lu Xunji looked at him helplessly. "Little brat. Give you an inch and you take a mile."
The little brat said with perfect confidence, "What's wrong with good brothers helping each other out? I can just scrub you later too."
Lu Xunji took the bath pouf and sat down beside the tub. Xie Ji sat with his back to him, a ring of white foam surrounding his waist.
The young man's body was slender and long-limbed, his waist slim and supple. His thin layer of flesh flushed pink in the steam from the hot water. Tiny droplets gathered into a bead of water that slipped from his shoulder blade over the beautiful, butterfly-like bones of his back, then left a wet trail inch by inch down his spine.
In his dreams, Lu Xunji had traced that beautiful, fragile spine with his fingers. Then, it had curved to its utmost as its owner arched under more than he could bear.
His fingers unconsciously tightened hard around the bath pouf, squeezing out the lather worked up from the shower gel onto the pink-tinged skin.
Lu Xunji pressed his lips together and slowly wiped the pouf over Xie Ji's back.
"Oh, right, Lu Xunji, I..." Xie Ji seemed to have something to say, turning around as he spoke.
The blue water concealed nothing. With a growing headache, Lu Xunji held Xie Ji's shoulders in place, his voice low and hoarse. "Don't move."
"Oh." Xie Ji blinked and turned back around, leaving only the line of his waist visible beneath the water. "Do you think A-Gang and A-Qiang will be cold at night? Or hungry? I'd better go check on them later."
Lu Xunji lowered his head and swept a hand through his black fringe, dampened by the humidity in the bathroom, pushing it back to expose his full forehead. He let out a breath. "You like those two little brats that much?"
Xie Ji propped his hands on the rim of the tub and thought about it, then gave a small laugh himself. "I don't know. Maybe I've raised so many cows that I want to raise every animal I see...I think I'm pretty good at raising little animals. Half the fish in Mu Yao's pond next door have died, but not a single one of my cows or ducklings has!"
"Mm." Lu Xunji chuckled. "Our little money pouch really is so accomplished."
"Right?" Xie Ji chuckled twice. "I keep feeling like I used to raise something before too. It was pretty fun...Hey, hey, hey, don't touch there! That tickles. Go a little lower."
Lu Xunji's eyes were frighteningly dark. Any lower and he feared he would lose control of himself. He simply stuffed the bath pouf into Xie Ji's hand and said quietly, "Wash the rest yourself."
With that, he stood and left the bathroom.
Xie Ji squeezed the bath pouf without giving it much thought, then happily began scrubbing his own butt.
Lu Xunji leaned out on the balcony in the cold breeze for a long while, but the heat in his body refused to subside. He paced a couple of steps in agitation, then instinctively reached into his pocket for the small razor blade he carried.
The first thing his fingertips touched was the medicine bottle Xie Ji had given him.
He took them out and stared blankly at the two white medicine bottles.
Xie Ji had said these two bottles of medicine were very expensive.
A moment later, freshly bathed, Xie Ji pushed open the door and walked out. Lu Xunji turned to look at him.
Xie Ji paused. "What?"
Lu Xunji strode over, grabbed Xie Ji's wrist, and pulled him into his arms.
His freshly bathed body, carrying cool moisture, did an excellent job of soothing the burning heat in Lu Xunji's body. Lu Xunji locked his arms around Xie Ji's waist with enough force to practically squeeze him in two.
He buried his face in Xie Ji's neck, urgently breathing in his scent, as though only that scent could make him feel better.
Xie Ji patted Lu Xunji's shoulder and struggled to speak. "Loosen...loosen up a little. My waist's going to snap. Bro, bro, what crime did I commit to deserve the ultimate punishment of being chopped in half at the waist!?"
Lu Xunji raised his head and rested his forehead against Xie Ji's cool one. After a long moment, he couldn't help laughing aloud.
His scorching lips brushed Xie Ji's nose as Lu Xunji chuckled. "...Mm, works pretty well."
Xie Ji: "?"
Huh? What works pretty well?
Lu Xunji released him, then turned to grab some clothes and went into the bathroom to shower.
But when he finished washing and came out, Xie Ji was nowhere in the room.
Hooray, it's Xie Ji's mouth! Lu Xunji is saved!