Xie Ji quickly grabbed A-Gang's dog paw, knelt down in front of Brother Bug's grave, bowed three times, and hurriedly ran out of the dog villa.
After washing her hands, she naturally plopped down next to Lu Xunji, picked up her chopsticks, and without eating herself, first put a piece of chicken on Lu Xunji before starting to eat her own rice.
Ji Shi sat to one side, unusually not grumbling as usual, but simply lowering his eyelids and silently starting to eat.
Like a wronged wife, she tries to remind her dead husband with some trivial little movements:
I'm angry, come and comfort me.
Xie Ji didn't get it at all and even leaned over to talk to Lu Xunji.
Did you disturb my Brother Bug's grave?
Lu Xunji glanced at him, said nothing, and continued eating slowly and deliberately.
Xie Ji turned and placed a piece of fish on Lu Xunji, smacking his lips. "Eat more! Wow, your handwriting is so beautiful, did you practice on purpose?"
Lu Xunji: "..."
Ji Shi silently put down his chopsticks.
[I feel like Ji Shi is about to break, Xie Ji take a look at him!]
[Hahahaha, what could a straight guy do wrong? He only has eyes for his brother.]
[To be honest, if it were me, I'd also choose Lu Xunji. A man who can cook and is good-looking is a better partner than Ji Shi.]
[Seriously, Lu Xunji seems so emotionally stable. He didn't even get angry when Xie Ji burned his kitchen down like that!]
[I'd like to talk.]
[Nothing to discuss, wishing you well.]
[Hahahaha, given Brother Lu's physique, it shouldn't be too small.]
[Wishing you a speedy recovery.]
[ Lu Xunji is an all-rounder, Xie Little Ji, you should just give in to him!]
[ Xie Little Ji, listen to me, follow my Brother Ji, and you'll never suffer again!]
Mu Yao chuckled softly, about to utter a sarcastic remark, but seeing Ji Shi's listless and dejected appearance, he lost interest and quietly lowered his head to eat.
Xie Ji likes to chatter during meals. Usually, apart from Shang Yan and Lu Xunji, who are completely silent during meals, everyone will chat with Xie Ji for a bit.
But the dinner table was unusually quiet today.
Xie Ji swallowed a mouthful of rice and said, "There are a lot of fireflies over by the paddy fields. It looks like it would be beautiful at night. Do you want to go see them?"
The dinner table was deathly silent. The young masters were well-mannered; even the clinking of their bowls and chopsticks was barely audible.
"..." Xie Ji pursed his lips, glanced at Lu Xunji, and leaned closer to whisper, "Brother, did you put a mute drug in the food?"
Lu Xunji glanced at him, but didn't speak. Only after swallowing the last bite of food, drinking a glass of water, and wiping his mouth did he slowly and deliberately say, "No."
Xie Ji: "..."
Being picky about money.
He said a couple of things, but really didn't find it interesting, so he sped up his eating and then quickly stood up to wash the dishes.
Xie Ji seemed a little embarrassed, pretending to be very busy. Lu Xunji didn't call him out on it and went into the kitchen to help Xie Ji tidy up.
Xie Ji silently finished washing the dishes, cleaned the grease off his hands with the hand sanitizer on the counter, and stood behind Lu Xunji without saying a word.
"Don't be sad," Lu Xunji's voice came calmly. "This isn't your fault today."
"I don't know." Xie Ji scratched the back of his head. "It's a little unusual. Maybe I'm being too dramatic."
In the past, not to mention Ji Shi, even Mu Yao and Zhou Heyu could talk to him for a bit. He was the kind of person who couldn't sit still, and his mouth was always ready to be returned. Even when he was eating, he would steal a moment to say a few words.
"What's wrong with them?" Xie Ji frowned. "Never mind, I'll go ask Ji Shi."
Lu Xunji turned and glanced at him. "No need to go, he'll figure it out himself."
Xie Ji didn't understand. " Figured out what?"
"The relationship between you two," Lu Xunji leaned against the dressing table, his tone still unhurried, "He'll figure it out eventually."
Xie Ji was silent for two seconds. "... The more you talk, the less I understand. What does he need to figure out? What's wrong with our relationship? We're just good friends."
Lu Xunji raised an eyebrow, said nothing, reached out and turned off the kitchen light, and said in a low voice, "Go out."
Xie Ji pursed his lips, turned around, and walked out.
Mu Yao squatted in front of the dog villa, teasing A-Gang Gang with a foxtail grass through the fence, while Zhou Heyu was seriously preparing goat milk for the two puppies.
Then, with practiced ease, he took a cube from a box of medium-sized baby diapers on the coffee table, turned around, opened it, washed it clean, and poured in the milk.
The only people who usually feed these two little cubs are Xie Ji and Zhou Heyu, so A-Gang and A-Qiang's favorite people are Xie Ji and Zhou Heyu.
The two puppies are growing very fast. When we brought them home, they were only a little bigger than the palm of our hand. After a little over a month, they've gained a lot of weight and have a lot of energy now. They often start causing trouble, destroying things around the house, and the toys in the dog house are all smashed to pieces.
Especially A-Gang, who was obviously smarter and bolder than A-Qiang. She quickly learned to open the fence gate and would run out to cause trouble when everyone was out working. She dug up the small pond that Lu Xunji was repairing and even went down into the pond to bite the fish. She was so active that she was practically a carbon copy of Xie Ji.
That's why they say they're father and daughter.
Then Xie Ji would hold A-Gang and nag him aloud, bringing her along to apologize to Lu Xunji.
But A-Gang is clearly incorrigible and adept at playing the victim; he'll do it again after being reprimanded.
So much so that every time A-Qiang was allowed to go out for fresh air, she could only stay in the cage and whine softly.
Xie Ji leaned against the railing, sighing with heartache.
Lu Xunji then took some time to give A-Gang a secret military training session. Now, the once mischievous dog is absolutely obedient whenever he sees Lu Xunji.
As long as Lu Xunji was present, his commands even took precedence over Xie Ji's, who fed her from below.
Xie Ji clicked his tongue. No wonder people can get into military academies; if they can train dogs so obediently, training people will be a piece of cake!
At 11 p. m., the island's cameras were turned off on time, and it was time for everyone to wash up and go to bed.
Xie Ji was about to go into Lu Xunji's room as usual when Shang Yan pulled him back.
"Brother?" Xie Ji turned around, looking at Shang Yan with great emotion, and said, "I thought none of you would talk to me today."
Shang Yan coughed slightly. "The rooms weren't finished before, but all six bedrooms are finished today. Go back to your own room to sleep."
Xie Ji touched his hair and thought about it; he couldn't keep sleeping with Lu Xunji forever.
After all, he's from Nantong!
"Okay, brother, I'll go get my pillow," Xie Ji said. "I'll go back to my room to sleep."
Shang Yan hummed in agreement and then said, "Don't be sad. It's not your fault today. Everyone is just a little tired and doesn't want to talk."
"I know." Xie Ji then asked, "Has Ji Shi run into some trouble again? Is he unable to borrow the machinery to harvest the rice again?"
Shang Yan patted Xie Ji's head. "Go to sleep."
Xie Ji nodded. "Alright."
Then he went into Lu Xunji's room to get his things and go back to his own room. But then he felt that since he had been sleeping there for so long, he should say goodbye to Lu Xunji before going back to sleep tonight. So he didn't rush to leave and stayed in his room with his pillow, waiting for Lu Xunji.
After Lu Xunji finished showering and went upstairs, he saw Xie Ji sitting by the window with a book in his hand.
"What are you looking at?" Lu Xunji walked to the desk and sat down, taking out the book that Director He had found for him today, and began to read it under the lamplight.
His expression was no different from usual, even carrying a hint of seriousness and earnestness, as if he were studying an academic problem. Xie Ji didn't think much of it, closed the book, and prepared to startle Lu Xunji with a zero-frame move. "Psychology of Sexual Abnormalities."
Lu Xunji raised an eyebrow, seemingly unfazed, remaining completely calm and collected. "You can understand it?"
"Damn it, what do you mean?" Xie Ji felt his intelligence had been insulted. "It's not in English, how can I not understand it?!"
"Hmm." Lu Xunji calmly turned a page of the book in his hand and asked, "What did you understand?"
Xie Ji: "..."
Although it wasn't the English version, the Chinese translation was still filled with a lot of technical terms and obscure idioms. He would start to feel sleepy after reading just a couple of sentences. He would finally understand the previous sentence, nod, and then look at the next one.
After reading it... wait, what did the previous sentence mean again?
"Never mind that, I just understood it." Xie Ji stubbornly insisted, "The book says your illness is because... well, anyway..."
"Because of the lack of various emotions in their upbringing," Lu Xunji added, "Patients are usually extremely lacking in love, so they choose to vent their desires in an attempt to gain emotional satisfaction."
Xie Ji nodded. "That seems to be the idea, brother. You read this book yourself too?"
"I've seen many psychologists, and some of them have suggested that I try to distract myself when desires arise, such as reading, sleeping, or listening to music," Lu Xunji said slowly. "But sometimes I think about giving those boastful idiots a little aphrodisiac and then locking them in their rooms to make them read more books."
Xie Ji: "..."
No, buddy.
"For me, reading doesn't require much effort to complete." Lu Xunji lowered his eyes. "These things aren't enough to diminish my desire, but I think you should be able to. Want to test it out?"
"..." Xie Ji couldn't understand what Lu Xunji was thinking. He tried to steer him to bed with just a few words, and Xie Ji felt that he was impossible to communicate with.
So he stood up, holding his books, and said, "I'm not talking to you anymore, I'm going back to sleep."
Lu Xunji keenly caught that word.
"Go back?"
Xie Ji nodded. "The bedroom is all renovated now, so I won't squeeze into the same bed with you anymore, to avoid you doing that to me every morning... Brother, I didn't say anything before because I was afraid you'd kick me out, but it really is weird. The most I can accept is kissing and hugging, but if you do that to me, I really can't accept it, brother."
Lu Xunji looked at him, his eyes darkening slightly under the lamplight.
The two remained silent for a long time. Xie Ji didn't know what to say, so he hugged his pillow and started to walk out.
"Wait," Lu Xunji called out to him.
His voice was as cool and clear as usual; he probably wasn't upset.
Xie Ji turned around to look at him. "What's wrong?"
Lu Xunji sat down at his desk and suddenly asked, "Do you want to know what book I'm reading?"
Xie Ji: "?"
Xie Ji: "I'm not interested in any books."
Reading is the ladder of human progress, but unfortunately he didn't really want to progress.
"The book says that 90% of men can achieve pleasure through foreplay," Lu Xunji boasted. "With my size, you'll most likely enjoy it very much."
Xie Ji: "..."
Xie Ji: "..."
Xie Ji: "..."
Bro, are you reading a serious book?
That's really enough!!!!
He glanced at the book in Lu Xunji's hand, gritted his teeth, and said, "Read some serious books instead."
Little Dirty Ji.
"This is very serious." Lu Xunji tapped a page in the book with his finger. "You seem a bit too conservative."
Xie Ji stared wide-eyed, probably never having seen someone so contrary to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.
Have you ever considered that you might be exposing yourself too much?
"Really?" Lu Xunji pretended to be deep in thought. "Perhaps that's possible, but actually I quite like it this way."
Xie Ji couldn't understand. "You like showing off? Are you an exhibitionist?"
"I like the look you give me," Lu Xunji said after a moment's thought. "It's like I said something that made you blush, even your earlobes turned red..."
Xie Ji: "..."
Bushgomen.
"I... you... you... damn!" Xie Ji scratched his head in frustration, feeling helpless as if he was afraid Lu Xunji would seize the opportunity to say something even more outrageous. In the end, he could only give a thumbs up. "You're really awesome, bro."
I've never seen such an awesome pervert in my life.
"I don't really like being exposed." Lu Xunji stood up and walked towards Xie Ji. "But if you look at me, I think I'd really like it... So, how about giving it a try?"
"Try what?!" Xie Ji exclaimed in despair, "What do you want to try?!"
"Look at me." Lu Xunji swallowed hard. "Touch my body, you can touch me anywhere you want."
After saying that, he took Xie Ji's hand and placed it on his lower abdomen, the firm muscles rising and falling with his breath. "Don't you like it?"
Xie Ji: "... You're really something else, buddy."
"I'm enjoying it." Lu Xunji leaned down and whispered in his ear, "The way you look at me makes me feel really good, sweetie."
Xie Ji: "..."
Forget it, I'm too lazy to criticize.
Xie Ji yanked his hand back, gritting his teeth, "I'm not rewarding you, you pervert!"
After saying that, he kicked Lu Xunji, baring his teeth menacingly, as if he wanted to say something very unpleasant.
But when he saw Lu Xunji's face, he couldn't say the words.
Damn, what a deceptive face.
If that face were even slightly less attractive, Xie Ji would have beaten him so badly he wouldn't even be able to find his mother after saying those words!