The Missing Husband Returned (09)

Even someone as slow on the uptake as Xue Ci understood what Zhao Ying meant.

He was asking him for a kiss, or perhaps something even more excessive.

Why was this happening...

The protagonist was supposed to refuse him of his own accord.

Surrounded by the scorching heat, Xue Ci grew dizzy, and his head was hardly fit for thinking.

He instinctively sensed danger.

His voice was still very quiet.

He kept saying he was sleepy and wanted to go to bed, unable even to come up with an excuse to put him off.

So stupid.

Lu Xiunan held him tighter, as though he wanted to merge with this little glutinous rice ball.

The lights in the room were off, and the curtains had been replaced with thick linen ones, blocking out the moon that usually slipped in and helped him peep.

All he could see was a slender silhouette; he had to rely on touch for the rest.

Soft.

How could someone's body be so soft and fragrant?

Lu Xiunan breathed heavily, able to restrain Xue Ci completely with just one hand. He put his other hand on Xue Ci's waist, but the moment his fingers touched him, Xue Ci flinched away in fright.

Even the slightest touch drew a strong reaction.

So reserved, and so shy.

He was clearly the one who had started the fire, yet the moment anything was really about to happen, he immediately lost his nerve and hid.

"Dodging me? Then why did you rub your foot against me?" Lu Xiunan's voice was unbearably hoarse, every breath thick with desire. He pulled Xue Ci close, holding him so tightly that not even air could slip between them. "Look, you're going to torture me to death."

"The night you slapped me, I did it twice."

Xue Ci bit his lip, his lower back hot and uncomfortable.

His shoulders trembled uncontrollably.

No...

That experience of being held on someone's lap and rocked until he could barely breathe had been awful.

Like a little animal sensing danger, Xue Ci protected himself in the most primitive way.

No matter what the other man said, he wouldn't answer.

But the OOC alarm went off, warning him that avoiding the situation like this was out of character, and that he would be severely punished if he still refused to speak.

Xue Ci finally released his lip, and the man behind him, as if he had an extra pair of eyes, immediately pressed his fingers against it.

His teeth had just bitten the lip a deep, vivid red, and faintly fragrant warmth rose from his mouth.

The man's knuckles were calloused, scraping roughly against that lush softness.

Xue Ci finally spoke, and the first thing he did was stall for time. "Later... okay?"

Lu Xiunan's eyelids twitched wildly. Xue Ci's warm, soft, moist lips had him so tense that his whole body was slick with sweat, his veins bulging.

"Fine," he said hoarsely.

Xue Ci had just breathed a sigh of relief-

"When is later?"

Worn out and exhausted by his persistence, Xue Ci gave a perfunctory answer. "In a few days..."

His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.

Lu Xiunan said, "Fine."

He still didn't let go, deciding to hold Xue Ci like this until dawn. He noticed that his heart was pounding.

Meanwhile, the person in his arms began to breathe softly and evenly.

Strangely, even though Lu Xiunan couldn't see Xue Ci, he could still picture him.

His exquisite, beautiful eyes and brows, the small tip of his nose, and his cheeks, still round with baby fat.

When he was unhappy, his cheeks puffed up like those of a sulking kitten.

He was breathtakingly beautiful.

How could Song Xueci be so beautiful?!

The person in his arms was half asleep, but Lu Xiunan was wide awake and excitedly planning their future together.

He would take Song Xueci away from here, bring him to the city, and live together with him. They would buy a small bed. Or he would buy whatever kind of house Xue Ci liked, then buy lots of paintings and fill the courtyard with flowers.

Xue Ci would curl up in his arms and affectionately call him husband, kiss him of his own accord, and miss him so much that he would wait for him at home until midnight.

Lu Xiunan had never imagined including someone else in his plans for his life.

But if that person was Song Xueci...

Lu Xiunan felt light all over. He turned Xue Ci over.

Their faces were inches apart.

He rubbed the firm bridge of his nose against Xue Ci's soft cheek and, unsurprisingly, heard a soft little hum.

Once.

Then again.

After enough little intimate gestures like this, Lu Xiunan naturally wanted to go a step further.

It was as if Xue Ci had really become his little wife.

Xue Ci didn't sleep very soundly that night.

He felt as though a terrifying python had wrapped itself around him. His waist and limbs ached and tingled, and his mouth and chest felt sore and swollen too.

He thought it was because Zhao Ying was muscular and his body had pressed uncomfortably against him, so he paid no attention to the slightly swollen spots.

Ever since Zhao Ying had started down his career path, his cooking had improved considerably too.

After washing up, Xue Ci sat down at the table, and the man brought over two bowls of noodles.

Compared with the plain dried noodles in thin broth the first time, these bowls contained fried eggs and shrimp, along with some ingredients Xue Ci didn't recognize, but they tasted good.

September had arrived, and the temperature had dropped a little. Xue Ci had planned to weed and loosen the soil in the little garden, but then a task came in.

[Your bedmate is unwilling to be intimate with you. Feeling neglected, you get into an argument.]

[Please complete this within two hours.]

Xue Ci ignored the first sentence on the panel and glanced at the man squatting in front of the cabinet, looking for the little weeding shovel and gloves for him.

This task had a requirement: both parties had to be unhappy and start arguing for it to count as a success.

But the protagonist hadn't done anything to upset him lately.

Xue Ci agonized over it for a long time, unable to find a way to start an argument.

Never mind.

Anyway... he was going to start throwing a tantrum.

The old weeding shovel had been too bulky. Afraid Xue Ci's slender wrists couldn't handle it, Lu Xiunan had thrown it away and bought a smaller one.

He put the cloth gloves on him. "How about I do the weeding? You can rest inside."

Xue Ci seized the opportunity. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

Lu Xiunan looked at Xue Ci's face. Seeing his puffed-up cheeks, he couldn't help curving his lips, looking every bit like a man head over heels in love. "Don't say that about yourself. What about you is stupid?"

Xue Ci said, "?"

He was bewildered for several seconds, with the distinct feeling that the other man wasn't complimenting him.

He started picking a fight again.

"I'll do the weeding myself. Have you washed the dishes?"

"Mm."

"Did you wipe the table?"

"I did."

"What about the clothes?"

"I washed them last night, including the underwear."

"..."

Xue Ci knitted his brows in frustration.

So picking a fight was this hard.

He didn't even know how to argue...

Just then, Zhao Ying's pager rang. Xue Ci's light tea-colored eyes shifted as something occurred to him, and he immediately attacked the man, who was still reading the message.

"Why are you so secretive every day? Are you seeing someone else?"

Lu Xiunan froze for a moment and put away his phone. "What?"

Xue Ci pressed his advantage. "You never tell me what you do when you're out. You must be seeing someone."

Lu Xiunan narrowed his eyes.

For the past few days, his head hadn't seemed to be his own. Only when reminded of it like this did he suddenly remember that he and Xue Ci's original husband weren't the same person.

In Xue Ci's eyes, his husband was a carpenter who had grown up in the village, an honest, upright man with few friends who certainly wouldn't be out all day.

His breathing became uneven. On one hand, he was afraid Xue Ci would realize he wasn't his original husband and suddenly dump him; on the other, he was upset that he had become a stand-in for the original husband.

The man's brows visibly furrowed.

Was he starting to get angry?

Excited, Xue Ci continued making a scene, pretending to be both angry and heartbroken. "After what we did last night, you're actually going to see someone else?"

"I'm not seeing anyone else. You're the only one I have feelings for." Lu Xiunan was already upset and distracted, and hearing him mention last night made his blood surge. "What did we do last night? You wouldn't let me touch you or kiss you. I suffered through the whole night."

Soon, the sound signaling the task's completion rang out.

Xue Ci was a little stunned.

...He really did get angry.

His brows and eyes were cold, and his lips were drawn tight. The man looked a little frightening when he was angry.

Xue Ci sensed danger. "You're being mean to me. I don't want to talk to you anymore."

With that, he pulled the little shovel from Zhao Ying's hand and slipped out to the small garden by the door.

The man's voice rose behind him. "Are you arguing with me or acting spoiled?"

Xue Ci said, "?"

Ignoring him, he took the little shovel and weeded around the balsams that had just sprouted.

He had to admit, this little shovel was much easier to use. It took hardly any effort, and his palm didn't get rubbed painfully raw as it had before.

Lu Xiunan sat inside and counted to three in his head.

But Xue Ci still didn't come back in.

Was he really not going to talk to him?

Hadn't he been acting spoiled?

Lu Xiunan waited a little longer and realized that Xue Ci really was angry with him.

What was going on? What had he done wrong? He had washed everything that needed washing and tidied everything that needed tidying, so why was Xue Ci suddenly angry with him?

Did he want a new husband?

Lu Xiunan quickly dismissed the thought.

The fact that Xue Ci was still willing to argue meant he cared about him. Otherwise, why would he argue only with him and not with anyone else?

But the current situation was a little tricky.

Lu Xiunan had no idea how to resolve a cold war.

Before this, he had always done as he pleased, never caring what others thought of him or whether they were happy or angry.

He couldn't even be bothered to argue with people; in his view, it was a waste of time.

By now, three minutes had passed since Xue Ci had gone out to weed.

His little wife had been apart from his husband for a whole three minutes. He was probably missing him terribly.

Forget it. He would go take a look.

Lu Xiunan got up and went to the doorway. At first, he put on an act, folding his arms and leaning against the door while casting an indifferent glance at Xue Ci.

Xue Ci didn't even look at him.

Two seconds later.

Lu Xiunan's fingers moved back and forth.

Five seconds later.

He began pacing.

Ten seconds later.

He went straight over and squatted beside Xue Ci.

The man was tall and broad, casting a large shadow that completely covered Xue Ci.

So cramped.

Xue Ci shifted a little to the other side.

The man moved close again.

Xue Ci moved again... but there was nowhere left to go.

Squeezed between the wall and Zhao Ying, he only had to move his arm slightly in the cramped space for it to brush against him.

Lu Xiunan stared at that fair profile.

He hadn't expected Xue Ci to be so stubborn during a cold war, unwilling to speak to him even after being hemmed in like this.

He was probably already longing to talk to his husband.

As Lu Xiunan thought this and was about to speak, a voice suddenly called from nearby, "Xue Ci?"

The two people squeezed together both looked up. When they saw who it was, the face of a certain man surnamed Lu immediately darkened.

Xue Ci remembered that a few days ago, Zhou Qize had said he would call him over to see the roses once they bloomed. It seemed the flowers had opened.

The young man was small. After getting up, he nimbly slipped around Lu Xiunan through the gap, tossed the gloves and shovel into the basket by the door, and then left with Zhou Qize.

Lu Xiunan's face was dark enough to drip water.

What was that Zhou brat up to? Why was he staring at someone else's wife every day?

Lu Xiunan turned around, picked up the little shovel Xue Ci had left behind, and cleared away all the weeds. He also washed the gloves Xue Ci had used.

By noon, Lu Xiunan couldn't sit still any longer.

But the moment he stepped outside, he ran into A Hui.

Great, here was another one.

Lu Xiunan ground his back teeth. Fortunately, A Hui had only come to deliver fruit and lunch.

Another one trying to curry favor.

Lu Xiunan's eyelid twitched. He pulled a banknote from his pocket and held it out to A Hui. "I'll pay for it. Consider it a gift from me to my wife."

A Hui didn't take the money and searched the house with his eyes.

"What are you looking at? Don't have a wife of your own?" Lu Xiunan took a mean jab at his love rival, tossed him the money, then picked up the lunch box and shut the door. Unable to wait another moment, he headed for Zhou Qize's house.

Zhou Qize's house wasn't far away. He reached it in ten minutes.

Standing at the entrance, Lu Xiunan could hear the two of them chatting.

What was this?

Why was he being so cute while talking to another man?

He charged in furiously, but the moment he saw Xue Ci, all his bluster vanished.

He coughed, no longer caring about their cold war. "Why didn't you come home for lunch?"

Xue Ci had long since forgotten about their quarrel. "I'm eating at Zhou Qize's today."

The main reason was that Zhou Qize's family had recently acquired a television, the only color TV in the village.

Xue Ci had never seen one before and found it novel.

Before he knew it, he'd stayed until noon.

It was the first time Lu Xiunan had taken the initiative to back down, and the outcome was less than ideal. He was going mad with jealousy inside, but his expression remained placid. "Fine, I'll leave the food here. Consider it an extra dish for you two."

Of course Zhou Qize heard the way he spoke through gritted teeth.

But there was nothing improper between him and Xue Ci. They were just two friends looking at flowers and watching TV together; they hadn't done anything.

They simply happened to get along well.

He knew right from wrong and would never interfere in someone else's marriage.

"Your husband seems angry." Zhou Qize glanced at Xue Ci, who was still studying the television with his head tilted. "Did I keep you here too long?"

"It has nothing to do with you. He was already angry this morning." Xue Ci paid it no mind and waved him over. "Can you help me figure out how to adjust this? Please, please?"

That clingy tone made Zhou Qize start imagining things.

It was as if Xue Ci were speaking to him the way he spoke to his husband.

His body felt as if a faint electric current were passing through it, leaving him tingling all over.

For that instant, his mind went blank. A few seconds later, countless thoughts followed.

One of them defeated all the others and gained the upper hand.

Would Xue Ci divorce his husband?

The color TVs of this era didn't have good picture quality, but there was a distinctive charm to watching the images on them.

Xue Ci stretched and was startled to realize he had stayed until the afternoon.

"Are you going home?" Zhou Qize, who was sitting beside him, washed another plate of grapes. "Do you want to finish these before you go?"

Xue Ci wasn't hungry, and he was worried there might be a mission that evening.

He quickly got up. "No, I'm going home."

Disappointment showed on Zhou Qize's face. "Can I come play with you again tomorrow?"

Young people cooped up in the village really could get bored. Xue Ci occasionally felt the same way, so he understood Zhou Qize and nodded in agreement.

Zhou Qize got up to see him off, walking him all the way to the door. Only when Xue Ci disappeared from sight did he reluctantly turn back.

But he never imagined that Xue Ci, who had been sitting beside him a moment ago, would be pulled onto a man's lap the next moment, as soon as he stepped through his own door.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting for you at home?" Lu Xiunan's eyes were bloodshot and dark, and he looked very hard to deal with.

He gripped Xue Ci's waist with both hands and raised his knees slightly, letting gravity tip Xue Ci into his arms.

So soft.

Lu Xiunan took a deep breath and buried his entire face in the side of Xue Ci's neck. Then he lifted his head and stared at the skin that had immediately turned pink.

"It turned pink after just one touch. What if another man sees it?"

Xue Ci leaned forward and met the man's eyes.

It was as if the man's gaze had burned him.

His shoulders trembled.

He looked so fierce, as if he wanted to swallow him whole.

They were so close that their breaths mingled. Xue Ci grew wary, afraid the man would kiss him on the lips.

But Lu Xiunan made no further move.

Instead, he asked, "How about we move to the city?"

Xue Ci froze. "...Wh-what?"

"There are too many bad people here. Let's move to the city." Lu Xiunan voiced the thought he'd been turning over all day. "Do you like houses with gardens?"

Xue Ci was utterly bewildered, but he nodded anyway.

"What else? Do you have any other requests? Like me handing over all my money, for example?"

"There's no need..."

Xue Ci was wearing shorts, and the man's body was too hot, making him very uncomfortable. "All right, put me down before you ask me these things."

Lu Xiunan didn't let go. His dark eyes remained fixed on him.

He was like a wild beast, even his breathing heavy.

Xue Ci struggled, only to hear him suddenly say, "I want to do it."

Xue Ci's eyelashes trembled violently, and he deliberately pretended not to understand.

But Lu Xiunan grew even bolder. "I want to fuck you, fill your belly up."

Those vulgar words made Xue Ci's blood rush. His eyes widened. "Stop saying that..."

"We're married, and we like each other, so why can't we do it?" Lu Xiunan said something like a confession, without realizing it himself.

He was consumed with jealousy, wishing he could cover Xue Ci in his scent, inside and out.

"If you're scared, we can kiss first."

"...Y-you, stop saying that." Xue Ci dodged the subject, but the man began pressing the tip of his nose into his cheek.

He pressed it red, squishing the soft flesh together.

Xue Ci watched the face drawing closer and closer and felt that he probably wouldn't escape having his mouth eaten tonight.

His earlier struggle had already exhausted him, so he gave up, grabbed the man's clothes, and tilted his face up.

After being kissed a few times, he knew just how far to tilt his head so his mouth wouldn't get as sore.

They were inches apart.

A sudden clatter of footsteps came from the doorway, followed by someone forcefully pushing the door open. "Lu... Brother Zhao! Where are you! Fuck! Something huge happened!!!"

Fu Yun rushed into the house in a panic, only to find the bedroom door closed.

From inside, Lu Xiunan said sharply, "Don't come in."

Fu Yun stopped short.

What could they be doing in the room at this hour of the evening?

Even through the door, he could almost smell Xue Ci's scent. He was probably in there too.

"...Oh, then I'll wait for you. Hurry up and come out." Fu Yun urged him on, and Lu Xiunan soon opened the door. The man looked irritated.

Through the gap in the door, he could only see Xue Ci lying on the bed, covered with a thin blanket, the exposed part of his lower leg slender and pink.

There was a clear bite mark on his ankle, too.

Fu Yun took a deep breath and couldn't tear his gaze away for a long time. Only when Lu Xiunan gave him an displeased reminder did he come back to his senses.

"Oh... your family wants you to come over." Fu Yun lowered his voice. "They said they found your older brother."

Lu Xiunan was stunned.

Some time ago, Fu Yun had explained what had happened to Lu Xiunan to the elders of the Lu family. He had heard about the family's circumstances as a child: they had already lost one child, and if anything else happened to Lu Xiunan, the elderly Lu couple really would have no reason to go on living.

But it was a miracle too. He'd been missing for so long, and they had actually found him!

"I've already driven the car back. I'll take you there now. He's at your house."

Lu Xiunan quickly recovered his composure. "All right, I'll tell Xue Ci."

"Oh," Fu Yun said.

He watched Lu Xiunan return to the room and lift a corner of the blanket.

Lu Xiunan leaned close to Xue Ci's ear to speak. Fu Yun could vaguely hear words like "eat your tongue" and "swallow." His breathing tightened, and hot sweat broke out along his tense back.

By the time they drove into the compound, the sun was almost setting.

Lu Xiunan entered the house and immediately saw the man sitting in a chair.

His skin was a little darker, but otherwise he looked exactly like him.

Lu Xiunan still had some memories of his childhood. He remembered that his twin brother had a good temperament, excelled in his studies, and was more steady than others his age.

But more than a decade had passed in the blink of an eye, and his family had long since given up searching. As the Lu family's only child, he had been restrained and disciplined at every turn. His family had put all their energy and hopes on him, never giving him a moment to breathe.

That was how Lu Xiunan had grown up to the age of twenty-five, and the man opposite him, Lu Ximing, was also twenty-five.

Mother Lu saw Lu Xiunan and pulled him over to Zhao Ying. "Look, don't the two of you look alike? Ximing... you're my Ximing!"

Mother Lu broke down and began to wail.

Zhao Ying immediately stood up. "Please... don't cry."

He wasn't very good at comforting people, and he looked honest and dependable.

Mother Lu didn't know what he had been through over the past decade or so, where he had grown up, or what he was doing now. For the moment, only crying could ease her feelings.

Lu Xiunan patted Mother Lu's back. After comforting her, he asked Father Lu, who stood nearby, "Has the test been done?"

"It's being done, but the results won't come so quickly." Father Lu seemed more composed than Mother Lu, but a tremor could still be heard in his voice. The elder, whose back was usually held straight, now looked at Zhao Ying. "But... we should be able to say for certain."

"Of course he's Ximing! Wouldn't I recognize the child I gave birth to myself?" Mother Lu caught her breath. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at Zhao Ying. "Do you still remember me?"

Zhao Ying looked slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I can't remember anything from when I was little."

"You were small then. It's normal that you can't remember. You're our child! Look, this is your younger brother. He looks exactly like you! I still have photos of the two of you when you were little!"

Zhao Ying glanced at Lu Xiunan. He had to admit, it was hard to find two identical faces in the world.

But that alone wasn't enough to establish that he was the child of the family before him.

Besides, he didn't have the slightest memory of them.

"How long will it take for the test results to come back?" Zhao Ying asked.

Father Lu said, "About a week."

Mother Lu had obviously already decided that Zhao Ying was her child. "Would you like to stay here for now? I can take you to see the places you knew as a child."

"I'm sorry, I need to get home."

Although being reunited with a family had left Zhao Ying at a loss for several hours, Xue Ci was still the one he was most concerned about now.

He declined Mother Lu's attempts to make him stay, left his address and the landline number for Village Chief Zhou's house, then took his bundle and left.

Lu Xiunan hadn't even had time to say a word to him.

After he left, Lu Xiunan frowned deeply. "Why did he leave in such a hurry?"

"He said he already has a family. He hasn't been home for a long time because of a car accident, and he's in a hurry to see his wife." Mother Lu sighed. "He's actually started a family already. How much have I missed? I don't even know whether the car accident was serious..."

Seeing Mother Lu start to cry again, Lu Xiunan comforted her with a few words. That evening, he stayed to have dinner with the two of them before leaving.

Night deepened.

Mother Lu watched his retreating figure as he hurried away.

Why was this child acting as if he had a family too, rushing off to see someone?

Author's note:

He's rushing back to eat someone's mouth.

Unfortunately, the real husband has returned.

He starts going mad after his wife dumps him.