07

When Qi Xiu Yuan had gone downstairs to find Xiao Li, he was sweating profusely from having been too anxious, so the moment his skin made contact with the cold breeze, a sudden chill swiftly ran down his spine, refusing to dwindle. As they walked back, the sneeze that tickled his nasal broke free in three to four consecutive sessions. Quick to note that, Xiao Li immediately pushed him into the bathroom to take a hot bath the second they arrived home.

Qi Xiu Yuan was wiping his hair and when he walked out, he saw Xiao Li by the bedroom window.

Since Qi Xiu Yuan played that perverted joke with such an expressive meaning, he seldom approached this window. But, now he was standing there with one hand gently on the window sill, looking at something while deep in thoughts. 

He has already changed into a light comfy outfit, that is, Qi Xiu Yuan's old shirt and casual pant. His silent silhouette was akin to that of a melancholy hero.

Qi Xiu Yuan silently smiled and reached out to close the lights in the room off.

In the darkness, only the hazy light from outside came through the window.

Xiao Li's dark silhouette turned to look at him. He knew that Xiao Li could not see it but he still smiled, threw the towel in his hand to the side and simply jumped on the bed.

"It'll be clearer if we look outside this way," he said, patting the space to his side, "Come here."

Xiao Li walked over and lied down beside him.

When they were recuperating from their injuries in 'A province', they like to take advantage of Han Jia's absence and lie side by side on the small bed. There were no intimate behaviors then, but just by chatting or simply lying there together filled them with shear happiness. And although the bed is bigger now, they are still as close as they were before at that one simple moment, and the feeling of peace and fulfillment has once again lingered around them.

More importantly, Qi Xiu Yuan was correct. Looking outside in this way, the night sky was crystal clear and the stars were resplendent. Since the windows are large, it almost looked like the two were being enveloped by the stars.

After looking for a long while, Qi Xiu faintly smiled then reached for Xiao Li's hand first before holding it in his. Xiao Li hesitated for a moment but in seconds, he held his hand back.

The two quietly lied side to side and after a long time, Xiao Li's breathing became smooth and drawn out. Qi Xiu Yuan softly whispered, "Asleep?"

"No." Xiao Li also lightly whispered.

Qi Xiu Yuan looked at the sky outside the window and slowly said, "I didn't expect this city, with such a messy ground, to have such a clear sky."

Xiao Li smiled softly and held his hand tighter.

"Honestly, I haven't looked at the stars like this in a long time." Qi Xiu Yuan took the opportunity to move in just a bit closer. "When I was a child, we lived in the countryside so I was able to see it every day. After that, I rarely saw such a clean and clear sky."

There was a moment of silent before Xiao Li finally asked, "Qi Xiu Yuan, what did you look like as a child?"

"Me?" Qi Xiu Yuan turned to his side in order to face him; his voice was soft with a teasing tone. "Take a guess."

Xiao Li was still lying on his back. From that angle, Qi Xiu Yuan could see the long shadow of his lashes, and not being able to control himself, he reached out to touch it.

Xiao Li evaded, caught his hand and turned to face him, "I guess it's the same as now."

"Oh?" Qi Xiu Yuan smiled, "How am I now?"

"Very smart," Xiao Li answered intuitively then thought for a moment and said, "Very...very good."

Qi Xiu held back his smile so that it was not too appearance then moved even closer and placed his hand on Xiao Li's chest.

In that split second, Xiao Li held his breath but Qi Xiu Yuan only left his hand there with no attempt to caress him. That kind of physical contact provided him a peace of mind. In order to express his fondness of that simplicity, Xiao Li also placed his hand on Qi Xiu Yuan's body. The lied beneath the stars and embrace each other without any desire.

"I was not a good kid," Qi Xiu Yuan said after a while. He lowered his voice, sounding as though he was immersed in the past. "You know my family's situation. Both my grandfather and parents were good, and even though they were in the underworld scenery, in the end they were all severely affected by it. They didn't want me to participate in any of it. After thinking about it for a while, they felt that teaching was the safest route since the environment was simple yet stable. So, when I was still very young, they decided to let me become a teacher."

Xiao Li slightly frowned, "You didn't wish for that yourself?"

"Since I was still very young back at the time, they didn't think about discussing any of it with me at all. They had incessantly told me that doing business is too much trouble, being a politician is too dangerous. Doing this was bad and doing that was bad..." Qi Xiu Yuan's tone became complicated. "As a result, I was very rebellious when I was younger. I hated them for deciding my future and I always thought of every possible way to make them uneasy." He paused for a few seconds and smiled mockingly at himself. "I cut classes, had weird hairstyles, fought and even left home. ......have I told you yet that when Susu was still a kid, she was very afraid of me?" When Xiao Li nodded, he continued. "I hated them all... then one day, my grandpa took me out of school and said ..."

He could not go on and simply hugged Xiao Li tightly. Xiao Li couldn't see his face or hear his voice. He only felt his body slowly shook like a leaf in the wind.

Sighing, Xiao Li also hugged him firmly and gently kissed his neck.

Qi Xiu Yuan did not speak as his hold Xiao Li intensified. Although they were lying face to face, and Xiao Li was being tightly bound to him until he felt uncomfortable, he did not mind at all that Qi Xiu Yuan made him felt pain. His hands that were tightly plastered to his back, moved up and down to comfort him.

After just a moment, Qi Xiu Yuan suddenly relaxed his hug but his voice still sounded hoard. He tried to cover up that embarrassing moment by coming up with an excuse. "I said that I would take care of you but you ended up taking care of me instead. I-"

He pushed Xiao Li away a bit and got up, wanted to get off the bed but Xiao Li grabbed his arm, causing him to fall back on to the bed. He was met with a familiar warmth as Xiao Li embraced him and held the back of his neck so that he was able to rest his forehead in the crook of his head.

Qi Xiu Yuan always seemed to find the most appropriate words to comfort others. But Xiao Li thought that he also needed to be comfort by others.

Whenever he faced Qi Xiu Yuan, he often felt protected. Yes, he was more vicious and powerful, but the gentle and harmless Qi Xiu Yuan has always found ways to protect him.

Now, Qi Xiu Yuan, who has always been calm, needed him. Seeing that he was saddened after revealing the sorrow that once slept deep within his heart, he unexpectedly wanted to hide away from him. That won't do...now, he wanted to protect him.

That kind of thinking oddly lightened Xiao Li's state of mind. At that moment, the dark mood that stemmed from his past was no longer important. The man who buried his head on his shoulder and put his hands around his waist, his past and his emotions were more important, and occupied all his thoughts.

The two were close, so close there was no space that could break in between them. The fingers that Xiao Li had placed at the back of Qi Xiu Yuan's neck gently shifted up into his hair. He is not like Qi Xiu Yuan who can use words to resolve problems and ease someone's emotion. The methods of comfort that he was familiar with came from the tacit fists amongst his brothers of the underworld or a large sum of money as consolation, or promises such as 'I will get revenge for you'. He did not know how to comfort Qi Xiu Yuan. What's strange was that, he did not have to worry about it at all. He just quietly followed his instinct and hugged Qi Xiu Yuan, refusing to let him go.

Somewhere in his heart, he knew it would be useful.

After an unknown amount of time, Qi Xiu Yuan's tensed back relaxed. He released Xiao Li just the slightest then lifted his head from his shoulder before allowing their foreheads to touch.

Neither of them spoke. Sometimes, silence possesses the power of comfort that language could never surpass. Even if they are so close, no one thought of anything or felt uncomfortable. They naturally embraced each other, and knew clearly that such a sleeping posture would make their muscle ache when they wake up, but neither changed their posture to a more comfortable one.

-

Note: Qi Xiu Yuan's grandfather took him out of school to tell him that his parents passed away.

***'Sometimes, silence possesses the power of comfort that language could never surpass.' My favorite sentence T.T So true, so true.

Question from inbox: How quick can you translate? - Between 3-5 chapters if I am not super distracted (Idol Producer...), but it also depends on the length. :P