On the other side of the greenhouse, Gu Xingye held an umbrella and gazed at Yan Heqing's profile through the rain curtain.
He should have realized sooner that Yan Heqing liked men.
A complex mix of emotions welled up in Gu Xingye, a mixture of excitement at finding someone like him and an inexplicable sense of unease.
Images of Yan Heqing kissing kept flashing through my mind, like Florentina, the vines behind him, blooming with extreme beauty, vibrant and reckless, regardless of the lives of others.
Even when hidden in darkness, it can still be seen clearly.
He stroked the wooden umbrella handle with his fingertips, and after the two people in the flower room parted ways, he stepped away and into the rain.
Yan Heqing noticed the two leaving one after the other, and so did Lu Lin.
But that's not a very important thing.
The lights were turned back on, and the sunroom was filled with light again. Lu Lin's gaze swept over Yan Heqing's lips, just as he had imagined countless times. He thought that Yan Heqing's lips would look even more beautiful after a kiss.
If he hadn't noticed that Yan Heqing wasn't breathing properly and his chest wasn't rising and falling noticeably, he would have wanted to prolong the kiss.
She lost control for Yan Heqing, and regained her senses for him as well.
Yan Heqing adjusted his breathing slightly, turned to look out the window, and saw that the heavy rain was still continuing, wondering if it would stop tonight.
The plants covering the mountain probably don't want the rain to stop.
"Are you leaving now?" he asked, turning back.
Lu Lin released his waist. "Let's talk after the rain stops."
Yan Heqing seemed to have anticipated his answer. He looked up and said, "Your shoulders are wet."
A red flower was stuck to his head; Lu Lin picked it off, stepped back, and said unconcerned, "It's alright, it'll dry soon."
His body temperature was slightly elevated at the moment, although it wasn't outwardly apparent.
Yan Heqing took a professional mini laptop out of his white coat pocket, pressed the pen tip, and a faint blue spotlight shone out.
"Do me a favor, light it up."
He went back to work.
I squatted in front of a moonflower to take notes. It had large, smooth, lush green leaves, and every now and then No. 1 Primary School flower bud would emerge. It wasn't the flowering season yet.
The fact that he had just finished kissing and then went to work made Lu Lin doubt his kissing skills, but he still squatted down next to Yan Heqing, held up a lamp to shine on the leaves, and found that they were heart-shaped leaves.
Yan Heqing used a blank notebook, his pen scratching across the pages.
He painted a moonflower with just a few strokes, using shadows to depict the velvety texture of the flower. He then carefully recorded the painting, his neat small characters as beautiful as if they were printed.
Time passed, and by the time Yan Heqing finished writing three pages, the rain had stopped.
He twirled the pen back to its tip, then turned and met Lu Lin's gaze. He closed the notebook, the pen tucked into the cover. "Hungry? There's instant noodles." A slight smile played on his lips. "But they don't have the facilities to make soft-boiled eggs here, and no side dishes either."
Lu Lin also turned off the mini flashlight. "I'm easy to feed; as long as I have food, I'm fine."
There was only one box of chicken stew with mushrooms. Yan Heqing had brought a thermos when he came, but it had been too long and the thermos wasn't keeping the water very hot. After soaking for a while, the seasoning packet had barely dissolved. As you can imagine, this wasn't going to be a delicious bowl of instant noodles.
While waiting for the instant noodles, Yan Heqing found two fallen branches and used a knife to carve out a pair of makeshift chopsticks. He picked up a few mouthfuls of noodles and put them into his thermos, then poured in a little more soup. He ate from the thermos himself and gave the noodle bowl and fork to Lu Lin.
Lu Lin's gaze deepened. "Such a small amount, and you think you'll be full?"
"No." Yan Heqing picked up a piece of instant noodles with his chopsticks. "I just don't like the taste." He swallowed the noodles and took a sip of the soup. "You have snacks in your car; I'll eat some later."
This was the first time he had told Lu Lin that he also had things he didn't like.
Lu Lin finished his instant noodles in a few bites, went to his car to get some snacks, and came back with a cashmere blanket and a hand warmer.
As the weather warmed up, the temperature in the mountains remained too low late at night. While Yan Heqing was writing plant records...
A thin blanket was draped over Yan Heqing's shoulders. Lu Lin took Yan Heqing's hands in his, and they were as cold as he had expected, so he put hand warmers inside them.
The hand warmer was only slightly larger than Yan Heqing's palm, a dark brown color. It was warm and small in his hand, but Lu Lin still didn't let go. He held Yan Heqing's hands in his arms; they weren't very soft, and there wasn't much flesh in them. After a moment, Lu Lin finally released them. "I'm leaving. Contact me if you need anything."
Yan Heqing nodded. "Be careful."
The rain had stopped, but the mountain road was difficult to traverse, especially after a heavy downpour. Yan Heqing guessed that Lu Lin had something to do, otherwise he wouldn't have suddenly left earlier.
Lu Lin did indeed have something to do.
Lu Muchi hospitalized. Lu Han told Lu Ruchan, Lu Ruchan went to the hospital. Worried that something might happen to Lu Ruchan, Lu Lin had to go over there.
He raised his hand and gently touched the top of Yan Heqing's head. "Be sure to contact me if anything happens. I'm your boyfriend now."
*
It didn't rain in the capital, and Lu Lin arrived at the hospital in the early hours of the morning.
Ward 777 was still bustling with activity. Last weekend, Lu Muchi was so angry with Yan Heqing that he vomited blood several times. The housekeeper was so frightened that he contacted Lu Han. Unfortunately, Lu Changcheng overheard this. His beloved grandson was vomiting blood, so he insisted on getting out of bed and rushing to the villa to force Lu Muchi to be admitted to the hospital for examination.
Lu Muchi was like a walking corpse, cooperating the whole time, except for the nutrition injection. He would go crazy when he saw the nutrition injection, pulling out all the IV lines, telling everyone to get out, and taking away the nutrition injection. Then he would return to normal.
This greatly worried Lu Changcheng, who feared that Lu Muchi had developed some serious illness. He brought in several experts, but after examination, they all said Lu Muchi was normal. Lu Changcheng didn't believe it and sternly ordered Lu Han, "These experts are useless! Bring experts from other provinces over immediately!"
Lu Han nodded repeatedly and quickly walked out of the ward.
As soon as he stepped out of the ward, Lu Lin arrived. He was overjoyed to see his savior, which was why he had specifically gone to tell Lu Ruchan. Lu Ruchan would only appear if Lu Lin was there. He exclaimed repeatedly, "Dad, A-Lin is here!"
Lu Changcheng breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Lu Muchi, and sure enough, Lu Muchi finally reacted.
Lu Ruchan coughed softly by the hospital bedside. She was very uncomfortable with the smell of the hospital. Lu Lin went over and first put a shawl around Lu Ruchan's shoulders. "Where are you feeling unwell?"
Lu Changcheng wasn't angry today. He only had Lu Muchi on his mind right now, knowing that only Lu Lin could get Lu Muchi to eat. He didn't want Lu Muchi to starve to death before the experts from other provinces arrived.