Chapter 29 – Finger
Translator: Xena
[I like you.]
Not long after, Cheng Yinian received a message on WeChat from Chen Xiangsui. It wasn’t the Age account he had been chatting with before, but the one that Chen Xiangsui usually used.
Although he had received similar messages from Age before, this one in particular stirred his emotions, making him unable to resist secretly cursing Chen Xiangsui as a stupid, idiot, steel straight man.
After thinking it over, Cheng Yinian didn’t know how to reply, and finally could only awkwardly send: […okay.]
Chen Xiangsui: [You didn’t reply to me like this online before.]
Cheng Yinian: [That’s not it…]
Chen Xiangsui: [We’re online now, aren’t we?]
Cheng Yinian felt like he’d dug himself a hole in the conversation, so after thinking it over, he found a new angle to refute him: [But you’re not just an online friend anymore, you’re my friend in real life.]
Chen Xiangsui: [But it’s actually all me, isn’t it?]
[Does knowing it’s me mean you don’t like me anymore?]
Cheng Yinian sometimes felt that Chen Xiangsui, who could refute him with similar arguments, had a kind of shrewdness that he was unaware of, yet he would never have the heart to refuse Chen Xiangsui.
Oh well, he’s just a dumb straight man anyway.
Cheng Yinian: [I like you. Are you happy now?]
Chen Xiangsui: [Yes, happy.]
Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but turn around, only to see Chen Xiangsui staring blankly at the chat box for a long time. Before he could look away, Chen Xiangsui’s gaze suddenly met his.
“Do you want to eat more?” Chen Xiangsui’s gaze passed through him and landed on the empty bowl on the table.
“…No, I’m full, thank you.” After saying this, Cheng Yinian began clearing away the empty bowls and plates that had been picked clean. Before he could even put them in the sink, Chen Xiangsui stopped him. “I’ll wash my own dishes.”
“But I ate them all.” Cheng Yinian felt guilty and was about to take the things back when Chen Xiangsui firmly grasped his outstretched hand. “Your hands are so cold already. Don’t touch cold water anymore.”
Chen Xiangsui’s sweater had no pockets today, so he put down the bowl and plates in his hand and breathed on Cheng Yinian’s hand. His warm breath spread onto the other’s skin.
“I’m not some pampered young master who never lifts a finger.” Cheng Yinian withdrew his hand, but Chen Xiangsui still looked unwilling to give up. “But your hands are still cold.”
“I’ll cover it myself for a bit.” As Cheng Yinian spoke, he clasped his hands together and blew on them. Chen Xiangsui’s hand followed and touched the back of his hand. The taller boy’s body was as warm as ever. Cheng Yinian’s breath accidentally rolled onto the other’s hand. He immediately shut his mouth awkwardly and withdrew his hands. “It’s much better now. I’ll help wash the dishes.”
Chen Xiangsui seemed to know that he couldn’t persuade him, so he didn’t press him further. He simply went to the sink and gave Cheng Yinian some simple chopsticks and spoons to wash.
Cheng Yinian quickly washed the utensils and picked up the bowl next to Chen Xiangsui, intending to wash it as well, but Chen Xiangsui stopped him by grabbing the other side of the bowl. “I’ll do it.”
“I’m not a child who needs to be coddled even for this.” Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but frown and forcefully pulled the bowl towards herself.
“But I want to spoil you.” After Chen Xiangsui finished speaking, he pulled hard on the bowl. The two struggled back and forth for a few rounds until the bowl ended up falling to the ground, scattering shards all over the floor. Cheng Yinian subconsciously squatted down to pick up the large ceramic shards. Before Chen Xiangsui could stop him, Cheng Yinian accidentally cut his finger.
Chen Xiangsui immediately squatted down in front of him to examine his bleeding finger. The wound was small and would not cause any serious harm.The next second, Chen Xiangsui put the wound in his mouth. His finger was enveloped in warmth as a moist, warm tongue pressed against the pad. Cheng Yinian turned his gaze away as he spoke, “You can let go now, it’s nothing serious.”
Before Chen Xiangsui could react, Lu Yan and Xu Zitang, having probably heard the noise, quickly went from the dormitory to the balcony door. Lu Yan didn’t pay attention to the actions of the two. Instead, he was busy lamenting the broken glass bowl on the ground and got a broom to clean it up. On the other end, Xu Zitang glanced nonchalantly at Cheng Yinian and Chen Xiangsui, “You may continue.”
After saying that, he retreated back into the dorm.
Cheng Yinian was so embarrassed that he pulled his hand back. Chen Xiangsui quickly went back to his desk, found a band-aid, and applied it to Cheng Yinian’s wound. “Were you angry just now?”
“I wouldn’t say I was angry.”
“You don’t hate me like this?” Chen Xiangsui’s gaze swept over Cheng Yinian’s slender fingers.
Cheng Yinian sighed almost imperceptibly. “…But I don’t like it either.”
Before Cheng Yinian could say “Don’t do this again next time,” Chen Xiangsui brought the finger to his lips again and licked the fingertip with his tongue.
“Then I’m doing it again.”
……
“Don’t do that again.” Cheng Yinian spoke with a flushed face, “Your stuff is all over my fingers…”
“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”Chen Xiangsui obediently admitted his mistake, “Yi Nian’s fingers are very beautiful, I like them very much.”
“What kind of way is this to show your affection?”
“If you can’t hug, just give it kiss.” After saying that, Chen Xiangsui seemed to realize something was wrong and added, “I really wanted to stop your bleeding the first time.”
“…That sounds like something a pervert would say.” Cheng Yinian felt a sense of shame welling up inside him, neither shallow nor deep.
“I know that staring at girls is perverted, but does that apply to men too?”
Cheng Yinian: …
It’s more accurate to say that liking to see men wearing skirts and licking men’s fingers is even more perverted than that.
Recalling that the next day was the weekend, Chen Xiangsui wondered if he could go to the rental apartment again this week to livestream with Cheng Yinian. Cheng Yinian had no reason to refuse, after all, Chen Xiangsui was indispensable in increasing the popularity of the live broadcast room.
Besides, no one would be unhappy about spending more time with their beloved.
……
Cheng Yinian’s live stream this weekend featured a maze battle game where players coud match or invite multiple opponents to navigate the maze simultaneously. The first to reach the finish line wins. In addition, one may encounter special items during the maze, which could be used to gain additional benefits or hinder others.
[They’re here! They just finished eating rice cakes at the boss’ banquet1A play on their names, Nian Gao can mean rice cake, and both eating rice cakes and eating at your boss’ feast are year end traditions that brings about a steady rise in your career and a prosperous life., and the newlyweds are already here to do a live stream?]
[Mn mn, I know you guys are busy with that but you still have to do a live stream. I’m really touched, I’m just rambling on with tears in my eyes]
[Newbie here, just asking: Is this couple official?]
[Take off your level 20 fan badge before you speak.]
Chen Xiangsui told him that this was his first time playing this game, but he had some experience with similar games in the past. “I might just be a tough opponent.” Chen Xiangsui turned his head and smiled at Cheng Yinian.
“Then this game is going to be very exciting.” Cheng Yinian returned the smile, and a faint dimple appeared on his left cheek.
“But all I want to do is give it my all and lose to you.” Chen Xiangsui logged into his account and wrote, “I always thought of you as that amazing Nian Gao.”
“What if I lose?” Cheng Yinian asked casually.
“You won’t keep losing.”
[Oh my god, Big boss, you love him so much! If this isn’t real, what is?]
[huhuhuhuh I’ll keep winning, Nian Gao]
[Big boss, I’ve ruined your wife’s numkeys, you can even make Nian Gao]
[Luckily, the previous post wasn’t finished typing, otherwise I would have reported it!]
Cheng Yinian created the room and invited Chen Xiangsui’s character to enter. The first map was randomized, and they happened to be assigned a desert scenario with medium to high difficulty. At the start of the game, in an attempt to hinder each other, both players controlled their characters to crash into each other, resulting in a stalemate. Eventually, both of them fell face-up onto the sand.
[Haha, it’s a love-hate relationship, isn’t it?]
[My cp is lying together now, I don’t need to tell you what to do next, right?]
Neither Cheng Yinian nor Chen Xiangsui showed any intention of going easy on each other. Seeing that the struggle was proving fruitless, Cheng Yinian simply sped up his search for the correct route, while also collecting items along the way.
He was as good as ever at completing these kinds of games. He knew the tricks and patterns to getting out of mazes and could complete the exploration quickly without repeating the same path. Cheng Yinian glanced at the distance and exploration percentage displayed in the upper-right corner for Chen Xiangsui, noting it lagged considerably behind his own progress.
He knew that Chen Xiangsui’s initial intention was to avoid being overtaken, so Cheng Yinian didn’t think much of it and walked directly towards the finish line.
Before he could take more than a few steps, Cheng Yinian’s movement speed slowed down significantly, clearly because Chen Xiangsui had used a prop on him.
Taking advantage of this moment, Chen Xiangsui quickly caught up, and the data in the upper right corner gradually increased.
[Age doesn’t want to win; he just wants to catch a glimpse of his wife]
[Um, big boss, could you hurry up a bit?]
[Above commenter, could you please change the color of your comments?]
After the deceleration effect was removed, Cheng Yinian used a buff item to speed up his advance, and simultaneously threw a freeze effect at Chen Xiangsui. However, at almost the same moment, Chen Xiangsui used a balloon prop on him. Cheng Yinian had to press the spacebar to pop the descending balloon before he could continue moving forward.
Without thinking, Cheng Yinian started pressing the space bar repeatedly. The clatter of the keyboard reached the Chen Xiangsui, who was sitting next to him. Once the former stopped moving, the latter couldn’t help but stand up from his seat.
“It’s just a tiny, barely noticeable cut, and I used a band-aid, so it’s nothing.”
“Then I’ll help you get a new band-aid.” After Chen Xiangsui finished speaking, he took out a box of band-aids from his bag. Cheng Yinian was surprised that the other person carried so many, and then he saw the other person showing him other medicines. “You’re always getting hurt, so I’m carrying all of these with me.”
“Only two or three times, not really always.” Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but feel embarrassed as he watched Chen Xiangsui tear off the old bandage from his hand, but instead of immediately putting on a new one, he lingered on the snow-white fingertip for a moment before putting it on the corner of his mouth.
Cheng Yinian forcefully pulled his hand back. “…Don’t touch me like that.”
“Are you upset that it didn’t get wet?” Chen Xiangsui hung his head in shame. “I was wrong, I’m sorry.”
Cheng Yinian looked like he couldn’t do anything about the other party. Chen Xiangsui’s apology was meaningless. Saying sorry a hundred times wouldn’t change anything. He was still an idiot.
He returned to his computer. The game automatically paused due to prolonged inactivity, but his device did not lose its audio input. Clearly, he’d stumbled over the same issue twice, sending the bullet comments into another frenzy.
[Haha, Nian Gao, you’ve messed up your live stream again. We should probably rename this place the “Mishap Live Stream Room”]
[Help! Is this something I can hear? Age, please spoil him! Waaaaah!]
[What touch? What wet? have you really gotten this far? Having a baby next isn’t too much to ask, is it?]
[I’m very simple person. I didn’t think anything of it. It was you lov birds who insisted on dancing right in front of me! You insisted! YOU!]
[This doesn’t need to be made public, right? Everyone knows what’s going on, right? Nian Gao wouldn’t treat you like outsiders, would he? You’ve got some idea of the progress, right? So it’s not unreasonable for everyone who saw this to receive a wedding invitation, right? The kid can have godparents, right?]
The barrage of comments from fans in the live stream was so colorful that Cheng Yinian felt like he was about to blush with embarrassment any second. Chen Xiangsui, on the other hand, seemed not to care about any of this. “The outcome is still undecided.”
“……Hmm.”
As the game progressed to the end, Cheng Yinian unsurprisingly reached the finish line first. The chat was filled with “666” comments, with one commenter adding, “Age, this is for your wife.”
The two played several more rounds of matches until the evening before ending their stream. As it turns out, Cheng Yinian never lost when it came to finding a way around.
“Are you tired?” Chen Xiangsui took off his headset, turned his head and asked Cheng Yinian.
“It’s not tiring at all, I’m used to it.”
“It’s good that you’re alright.” The light from the computer screen shone on half of Chen Xiangsui’s face. “Dad’s been swamped with work. Staring at the screen too much isn’t doing him any favors. I’ll take tomorrow off to go see him.”
Upon hearing this, Cheng Yinian immediately pressed for an answer. “How is he? Is it serious?”
“He should be fine after resting for a while. My mom is taking care of him, but I won’t feel at ease if I don’t go and check on him.”
……
Cheng Yinian offered a few words of well wishes. As expected, Chen Xiangsui was not in the dormitory early on Monday. He sent a message to the other party to confirm that the other party had returned to his home in Xunxi Old Street.
Chen Xiangsui: [Don’t worry, I’m fine here. Dad is doing well and in good spirits.]
[I should be back tomorrow. Can we have a voice call tonight?]
Cheng Yinian: [Yes, I’d also like to hear about your family situation. It’s good that nothing serious happened.]
That evening, Cheng Yinian received a voice call invitation from Chen Xiangsui. Xu Zitang was probably in the study room, and Lu Yan was playing games nearby. After confirming that he wouldn’t disturb anyone, he answered the call.
“Xiangsui, how’s your father now?” Cheng Yinian quickly inquired with concern.
“He’s asleep. The family doctor came by and said he’ll be fine with proper rest—he’s just exhausted.” Chen Xiangshui paused. “Don’t wear yourself out either. I’ll feel bad.”
“Yes, I’ll be more careful.”
“You weren’t like this when we talked on the phone last time.” Chen Xiangsui suddenly spoke, and fragments of memories from his conversation with Age unexpectedly flooded Cheng Yinian’s mind. “Can you call me like you did before?”
Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but freeze for a moment, as if his head had been hit hard.
“…Don’t think I’ll agree to your request like I did before.”
