The Missing Husband Returned (15)

Zhao Ying was used to the villagers' crude talk, but he hadn't expected someone from the city to speak so casually about such things. He suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and glanced at Xue Ci.

Xue Ci had already lowered his head in fright. His long, curled lashes trembled faintly, and his eyelids were pink.

He looked especially pitiful, yet he also made people want to bully him.

Perhaps the person who had left the footprints by the window had come for Xue Ci.

A wave of lingering fear washed over Zhao Ying, and he immediately took Xue Ci's hand.

Perhaps because he was frightened, Xue Ci's palm was cool.

Zhao Ying warmed it with his own dry, warm hand. "Don't be scared. We've lived here for so many days without anything happening. Even if something does happen, I'm here."

Xue Ci kept his head down and gave a quiet "Mm," without looking up at him.

Zhao Ying turned to look at Lu Xiunan, his tone growing a little stern. "Your sister-in-law is easily frightened. Don't scare him."

"That was my fault." Lu Xiunan sounded apologetic, but the expression he wore as he looked at Xue Ci was anything but. It looked more like he wanted to swallow him whole. "Little sister-in-law, I was joking. With my brother and me here, you're perfectly safe."

"..."

Xue Ci pursed his lips.

He really did think Lu Xiunan was good at putting on an act. He was worth learning from.

When the other man said nothing else strange, Xue Ci let the matter go. They checked the security bars and, after confirming they were secure, returned inside.

Zhao Ying bagged up the household supplies he had bought in town and placed them in a corner of Lu Xiunan's room. Then he checked the time and went to prepare dinner.

Perhaps because there was another person in the house, Xue Ci clung to him more than usual.

The kitchen was small to begin with. Zhao Ying felt cramped in there alone, let alone with another person.

As the man washed and prepared the vegetables, Xue Ci followed him closely whenever he turned around. But he was always half a beat slower, so he kept bumping into him.

Xue Ci was all soft flesh, like a glutinous rice ball, fragrant and yielding. After Xue Ci bumped into him a few times, Zhao Ying could no longer keep his breathing steady.

He felt like a bit of a beast. Xue Ci was just standing there, doing nothing, yet Zhao Ying was aroused every day.

But... he couldn't control himself.

Although Lu Xiunan hadn't come out of his room since entering it, Xue Ci remained on guard, afraid the man would tell Zhao Ying about him mistaking someone else for his husband when he wasn't prepared.

There were actually still some things in the house he hadn't had time to put away, such as the large refrigerator and the shirts in the wardrobe. Xue Ci had glossed over them with excuses like "a friend didn't want them anymore."

Fortunately, Zhao Ying was a career-focused protagonist and didn't pay much attention to such things, so he hadn't asked any further questions.

But in any case, an ordinary protagonist probably wouldn't accept his wife having two husbands.

The progress bar was already at 68%, and the plot had been set right. Xue Ci didn't want anything to go wrong, so he stayed as close to Zhao Ying as he could whenever he was home.

Just standing there made him seem so unnecessary. After Xue Ci bumped into him a few times, Zhao Ying looked as though he wanted to say something, but held back.

Xue Ci looked at the vegetable basket in the corner and finally found himself a job. "Are we having tomato and egg soup today? Then I'll wash the tomatoes!"

He ran over and crouched beside the basket, picked out two fresh tomatoes, and hurried to the sink.

The tomatoes made his fingers look even paler and cooler in tone. Water splashed over the fine blue-purple veins in his wrist, and droplets rolled down his delicate skin.

There were separate knives for cutting vegetables and fruit and for cutting meat. Xue Ci wasn't familiar with the kitchen, so he turned to ask, "For cutting-"

Why...

Was his face so close?

"For cutting vege-"

Before Xue Ci could finish, his soft lips were caught in a kiss.

Zhao Ying no longer kissed him clumsily like a greenhorn. He took Xue Ci's lips into his mouth, slowly wetting them as he kissed him gently.

The kiss didn't last long.

When Zhao Ying let him go, Xue Ci's eyes were misty, and the corners of his lips had turned bright red.

He stared at the man in a bit of a daze.

Though his cheeks had been kissed red, his expression was utterly innocent. "Why did you kiss me all of a sudden?"

Just hearing his voice was enough to overwhelm Zhao Ying.

His voice was low and husky, and Xue Ci's scent still lingered on him.

"I just..." The man's face flushed. "I l-like you."

Xue Ci froze.

He hadn't expected Zhao Ying to confess so suddenly.

Before he could think about how things had come to this, his view suddenly rose and swayed.

Wh-why did they all like picking him up like this?

The loss of support left Xue Ci feeling insecure, and he instinctively tried to grab Zhao Ying's clothes. But the man was wearing a close-fitting black tank top to make it easier to work.

Xue Ci's fingers brushed against Zhao Ying's dark skin.

There was a considerable difference in both their builds and their skin tones.

Without another word, Zhao Ying carried him into the bedroom and shut the door firmly.

The rough country man had just confessed, and he was too excited to calm down. He kissed him more fiercely than usual.

Xue Ci's cheeks were wet and red, and his lips glistened. Between breaths, he choked out a plea for Zhao Ying to stop kissing him, saying his mouth was sore and that he was willing to let him eat somewhere else.

A vein stood out on the man's temple. Without a word, he buried his head and ate his fill.

The man's mouth went over every part of Xue Ci's body, leaving him sticky and whimpering.

The soft little tangyuan spilled its sweet, rich filling.

Country houses were hardly soundproof, much less when someone was deliberately eavesdropping.

This time, the spot had changed from outside the window to outside the door.

Lu Xiunan's expression remained unchanged, his face cold and his brows severe, but his breathing was hot and heavy.

Xue Ci's voice was very soft. Though Lu Xiunan had never kissed him, he could imagine how good it would feel.

Ambiguous wet sounds mingled with the whimpers.

Xue Ci seemed to really like his husband. No matter how fiercely the other man kissed him, he would only softly say it was uncomfortable. It seemed he wouldn't refuse, no matter how excessively he was treated.

Lu Xiunan's heart pounded hard against his chest, each beat making his eardrums go numb.

Only when the wet sounds in the room stopped did he glance down, then leave with an expressionless face.

Dinner was two hours late this time. Fortunately, Lu Xiunan had been resting in his room and didn't ask many questions.

Xue Ci had bathed and changed his clothes, and his eyes were still moist.

A layer of moisture clung to his whole body.

For dinner, they usually sat on low stools around a small round table.

Xue Ci sat between the twin brothers.

Lu Xiunan had been wearing a cold expression, but before long he noticed that Xue Ci was sitting closer to him.

His lashes were lowered, and the flushed allure in his features had yet to fade completely.

He ate slowly with a sullen expression, his cheeks puffing in and out.

Zhao Ying kept putting food in his bowl and glancing at him, clearly wanting to say something. But seeing that Xue Ci didn't want to pay him any attention, he too fell silent, his face downcast.

A mocking smile appeared at the corner of Lu Xiunan's mouth. He could guess why Xue Ci was ignoring Zhao Ying without even thinking.

It was simply that the man had gone too far and shown too much desire, frightening him.

The three of them barely spoke throughout the meal.

After dinner, Xue Ci put down his bowl and went back to his room to rest, leaving the two brothers to clear the dishes.

In his own home, Zhao Ying naturally wouldn't let Lu Xiunan do any work. He quickly cleared everything away and took the dishes to the kitchen to wash.

He thought Lu Xiunan had gone back to rest, but the other man was still there.

"Brother, does little sister-in-law dislike me?"

Zhao Ying paused, stopping what he was doing and turning to look at Lu Xiunan. "No. Xiao Ci is just shy around strangers. He's actually very good-tempered. Once you've spent more time together and gotten familiar with each other, he'll be fine."

"Mm."

Lu Xiunan narrowed his eyes, though there was no smile in their indifferent depths. "Then I'll have to get properly acquainted with him. How long have you been married?"

"A few months."

"How long did you know each other before getting married?"

"...We got married right after we met."

Lu Xiunan's lips curved faintly. "So it was love at first sight?"

At the mention of romance, Zhao Ying recalled the "I like you" he had said to Xue Ci that day, and his ears grew slightly hot.

Lu Xiunan asked a few more questions afterward, most of them about his marriage to Xue Ci.

Zhao Ying wasn't much of a talker, but he answered almost all of them. When a question embarrassed him too much, he simply fell silent and skipped it.

It was getting late, and this was Lu Xiunan's first day staying there, so Zhao Ying briefly explained how to bathe. "The bathroom is that little room outside. The conditions in the village can't compare to the city. You have to heat water yourself and mix it in a bucket. But it's warm now, so it's convenient enough."

"Then what do you do in winter?" Lu Xiunan glanced at the kettle. "Wouldn't it be cold washing like that?"

Zhao Ying had considered that issue. Xue Ci's body temperature was lower than most people's, and he seemed sensitive to the cold.

He had heard that other village households had installed heating lamps. In a while, he would go to the city and see if there was a suitable one.

But before he could answer, Lu Xiunan changed the subject. "Brother, can I borrow a couple of things to wear? I didn't bring anything."

It was no trouble, so after heating the water, Zhao Ying went to the bedroom to get some clothes.

He carefully glanced at the bed. Xue Ci seemed very tired and had already fallen asleep.

Zhao Ying closed the door softly and went to the main room. Lu Xiunan had already poured the hot water into a clean bucket, with a towel draped nearby.

He seemed very accustomed to country life, which didn't quite match his air of a young master.

Zhao Ying couldn't help asking, "Have you lived in the countryside before?"

The sound of running water stopped, and Lu Xiunan straightened up. "I stayed for a while when I was pursuing someone. He ended up dumping me."

Zhao Ying froze.

No wonder the man had kept asking about him and Xue Ci all evening. He had suffered a romantic setback.

Zhao Ying didn't understand much about romance himself, much less how to comfort someone. But it wouldn't be right to be so cold to the younger brother he had just acknowledged. So he asked awkwardly, "What did you two fight about?"

Lu Xiunan sneered. "He used to act spoiled and call me husband, but now he won't."

Zhao Ying didn't think it was a big deal. "It's just a form of address. That's no reason to break up. Are you still in contact?"

"I'd like to be." Lu Xiunan enunciated every word. "But after his real husband came back, he stopped paying attention to me."

"..."

Zhao Ying felt there was a lot to take in.

After he had fully digested it, he finally realized: Lu Xiunan had... fallen for someone else's wife?

Zhao Ying hadn't received much education, but he was an upright man. At the very least, he couldn't accept breaking up someone else's family. But given his relationship with Lu Xiunan, he couldn't very well say much. He merely told him stiffly to turn off the light after his bath.

Xue Ci slept especially soundly. He didn't even wake when Zhao Ying stole a kiss on his cheek in the morning.

By the time he fully woke, it was past nine in the morning, and the other man had long since left the room.

[The protagonist hasn't been sleeping on the floor lately.]

Remembering yesterday's confession and the constant requests for kisses lately, Xue Ci looked troubled.

Why is this different from the original plot...

There shouldn't be any intimate contact between us.

Eleven was indignant. [They even used the protagonist's halo to lock Eleven up without permission, boo-hoo!]

Xue Ci stroked the little ball's head. Since the progress bar hadn't gone backward, he didn't bother thinking about it.

He got up and went to the bathroom, where Zhao Ying happened to be brushing his teeth.

Xue Ci was surprised. "Did you get up so late today?"

Probably because it was hard to speak, Zhao Ying only gave an "Mm."

Perhaps he had been busy with other things.

There was only so much room in front of the faucet. Zhao Ying was tall and broad, and he didn't move aside, so Xue Ci could only brush against his shoulder as he approached.

He noticed that his toothbrush cup had been moved to a higher shelf.

"Husband."

Freshly awake, Xue Ci spoke with a nasal sound, his expression even more dazed than usual.

His fingers tugged at Zhao Ying's worn short-sleeved shirt.

"Help me get my toothbrush cup."

Zhao Ying obediently took it down and even squeezed toothpaste onto the brush for him.

Xue Ci took it and was about to put it in his mouth when he realized it wasn't his toothbrush.

He lifted his face, his eyes suddenly widening.

"...You used my toothbrush."

His voice was unmistakably accusing.

Zhao Ying gave an "Mm," without stopping brushing. "Picked up the wrong one."

Xue Ci stared at him for a few seconds and sensed something was wrong.

This didn't seem to be Zhao Ying.

The man noticed it too and bent down to look at him. "Little sister-in-law, do you like calling me husband that much?"

"..."

Heat rushed to Xue Ci's face. Once he realized he had mistaken him for someone else, his cheeks instantly burned. After a few seconds, he said indignantly, "Give me my toothbrush."

Lu Xiunan said, "No. Little sister-in-law's toothbrush smells so good. Your mouth must smell good too."

Perhaps because he was too surprised, Xue Ci didn't register that the man's behavior was already outright flirting. He merely widened his eyes, unable to understand why anyone could be so shameless.

Unable to get his old toothbrush back, Xue Ci took the new toothbrush and cup to the sink by the kitchen instead.

After washing up, he hid in his room.

He ignored Lu Xiunan even when he came and knocked on the door to apologize.

"Your toothbrush smelled too good. I didn't do it on purpose." The man stood outside for a while, saying one moment that Xue Ci's mouth smelled so good and that he had promised to let him kiss it but never had, then admitting he was wrong the next and saying he wouldn't do it again.

Xue Ci thought he was deliberately trying to upset him.

He fiercely told him not to speak to him.

Lu Xiunan had completely abandoned all shame and become an utter rogue. "Little sister-in-law, you're so mean to me. I'm really hurt."

"You were just calling me husband a moment ago."

He just had to bring that up. Xue Ci stopped paying him any attention.

About an hour later, someone pushed the door open and came in. He looked up.

Zhao Ying had just returned from the cornfield, his sturdy muscles gleaming from the sun. When he saw Xue Ci staring at his body, he seemed to think of something and sheepishly pulled on a thin shirt. "Wh-what is it?"

Xue Ci said, "Are you Zhao Ying?"

Zhao Ying looked puzzled. "I am. Xiao Ci... wh-what's wrong?"

Xue Ci said nothing. He ran barefoot from the bed and wrapped his arms around Zhao Ying's waist, burying his face in his chest.

"Could you wear a red strip of cloth around your wrist from now on?"

His voice was muffled, as though he had been wronged.

Zhao Ying had just come back from working in the fields, and his hands were still covered in dirt. He didn't dare touch Xue Ci. "What's wrong?"

Only then did Xue Ci show his little face. "You two look so much alike. It's really easy to mistake one of you for the other."

So if he mistook someone else for his husband in the future, he couldn't be blamed.

Zhao Ying realized that Xue Ci must have mistaken Lu Xiunan for him.

"We're twins. It's normal to have trouble telling us apart sometimes." After saying that, Zhao Ying bent down to comfort him, only to sense that something wasn't quite right.

If Xue Ci had simply mistaken one for the other, he shouldn't have reacted like this.

Thinking of how Xue Ci usually clung to him and called him husband, Zhao Ying's breath caught.

Could it be... that Xue Ci had called Lu Xiunan husband? Or had he done something intimate before realizing the other man was Lu Xiunan?

Actually, Xue Ci could tell Zhao Ying and Lu Xiunan apart. The two looked identical, but their bearing and the way they dressed were completely different.

Lu Xiunan's skin was a little fairer.

But he seemed to have gotten darker recently. He was wearing Zhao Ying's usual clothes, and even his scent was similar.

Eleven came out of the little dark room. [Host! He did it on purpose! I noticed just now, but he locked me up!]

Xue Ci stroked the little ball.

He hadn't expected that, while carrying out his mission, he would also have to match wits with a pervert.

After that day, Zhao Ying wore the red strip of cloth and didn't even take it off to bathe. It soon began to fade.

Xue Ci asked if he wanted to buy a new one, but Zhao Ying felt that the red strip of cloth had great significance. When he was in the hospital and couldn't see his wife, he had relied on it to remind him of him and get through the hardest time.

Though Lu Xiunan was a rogue, he saw that Xue Ci was ignoring him and didn't dare overstep again.

But while the three of them lived together, he observed how Xue Ci and Zhao Ying interacted and realized that all the serving he had done before was nothing.

What the hell?

He'd been strung along like a dog.

Yet Lu Xiunan hadn't even realized that his purpose in staying here was to be a proper dog.

Seeing that Lu Xiunan was behaving much more properly, Xue Ci was no longer as resistant as he had been at first.

Life for the three of them was fairly peaceful.

Perhaps because someone else was staying with them, after Zhao Ying finished work during the day, he no longer asked for kisses in the evening as he had before. He only gave Xue Ci a light kiss.

Xue Ci found this life very comfortable.

However, a few days later, the mission refreshed.

[After the protagonist was acknowledged by his biological parents, he suddenly became a young master in the city.]

[He has been busy with work lately and rarely communicates with you. Your relationship as spouses has grown distant.]

[You already lacked confidence, and now, under these circumstances, you are very afraid that he will abandon you.]

Xue Ci had a bad feeling.

Sure enough-

[You take the initiative to seek intimacy with your husband. You may choose from the missions that appear on the panel (multiple selections allowed).]

What...

Soon, several lines appeared on the panel.

[Sit on your husband and ask him if he wants to drink sweet water.]

[Tell your husband your stomach feels uncomfortable and you really want something hot.]

[Make your husband swallow it all. Don't let him spit it out.]

Xue Ci said, "?"

The author has something to say:

Sorry to keep everyone waiting!

Hehe, probably another two or three chapters and then... eat... eat glutinous rice balls!