The immediate consequence of a successful confession was—
“I’m disfigured!!” Xia Yiyang let out a strange yelp, covering his face and fleeing the bathroom mirror.
Who would have thought—the young master had cried so much last night that when he woke up this morning, his eyes had swollen into five layers of eyelids. The entire eye area was red and puffy, and even the slightest touch sent him yelping in pain.
Something this serious required someone to take responsibility! The more Xia Yiyang thought about it, the angrier he got. He kicked Sheng Lin squarely in the calf, sending his slipper flying two meters away.
“It’s all your fault!” Xia Yiyang planted himself firmly on the moral high ground. “Why did you have to make the mood so sentimental? You made me cry like a complete idiot.”
“My fault, all my fault.” Sheng Lin went to retrieve his slipper, brought it back to his feet, and crouched down to put it on for him. “Can we eat breakfast first? After that, I’ll help you apply a cold compress to your eyes.”
The young master reluctantly accepted.
Today’s breakfast was chilled fermented rice soup with little glutinous rice balls—a new item not yet on the menu. These “little balls” were essentially tiny, unfilled tangyuan, each no bigger than a fingernail. A single spoonful could scoop up four or five, and they were refreshingly chewy when chilled.
Xia Yiyang chewed the little rice balls noisily while his mind wandered.
It was unbelievable—he and Ling Ge were actually dating! He said he liked him, Ling Ge said he liked him too, and then they just got together?
It sounded simple enough, but then what… What were you supposed to do when you were dating?
Xia Yiyang was a complete novice at romance. Forget dating a guy—he’d never even dated a girl! In high school, everyone was grinding away at their studies. They had five practice papers to finish every day after class, and any free time he had went straight to catching up on sleep. The teachers were constantly hammering home the rule against early relationships. Xia Yiyang honestly didn’t know how anyone managed to have a pure love affair in high school—he was only capable of pure exhaustion.
Take last night, for example. He’d cried himself tired and fallen asleep in Sheng Lin’s arms in a daze, dreaming of nothing. When he woke up, he’d gained a pair of swollen eyes and a brand-new boyfriend.
At the thought of the word “boyfriend,” Xia Yiyang’s heart stirred. He pretended to be focused on eating his rice balls while secretly stealing glances at Sheng Lin.
Across the table, the man had just returned from his morning workout, still carrying the faint minty scent of a post-exercise shower. When he reached for a napkin, the lines from his shoulder to his arm stretched into a smooth, fluid curve, his muscles taut like bowstrings, every contour radiating coiled strength.
“What are you looking at?” Sheng Lin had actually caught him sneaking a peek.
Busted, Xia Yiyang didn’t flinch. He put down his bowl and said with utter confidence: “If you weren’t looking at me, how would you know I was looking at you?” He was a master at turning the tables. “Besides, aren’t you deliberately trying to seduce me? What good boy wears such a tight T-shirt on purpose!”
“…” Sheng Lin looked down at his own T-shirt. “This is just a regular workout shirt.”
“Did I force you to build your pecs that big?” Xia Yiyang snorted. “Don’t bother explaining. You’re a sly one. Good thing I, the Emperor, have piercing eyes and saw right through your little scheme.”
For the rest of breakfast, Xia Yiyang alternated between staring at Sheng Lin’s chest and finishing the rice balls in his bowl.
Those little rice balls were so bouncy!
He wondered if Ling Ge’s pecs were just as bouncy.
After breakfast, Xia Yiyang lay on the sofa waiting for Sheng Lin to apply a cold compress to his eyes.
There was plenty of crushed ice in the freezer. Sheng Lin took some, wrapped it carefully in a towel, and tested the temperature against the back of his hand—just right.
“Close your eyes.” He approached the sofa and leaned down to remind him.
Xia Yiyang lay there, looking up at the man leaning over him, feeling inexplicably restless. He quickly shut his eyes and mumbled: “I’m ready. Go ahead.”
Before the words even faded, he realized just how ambiguous that sounded.
The man let out a soft chuckle. The next second, the cool towel pressed against his eyelids. Xia Yiyang gasped sharply at the cold and instinctively reached up to grab the man’s wrist.
“What’s wrong?”
“You’re pressing too hard,” the young man said, his voice soft. “Be gentler—it’s so cold.”
“Mm.”
Sheng Lin sat down on the edge of the sofa. Though Xia Yiyang couldn’t see him, he could clearly feel the cushion sink a few centimeters beside him.
With his vision cut off, his other senses magnified infinitely. The man’s thigh pressed against his waist; Xia Yiyang was only wearing a loose set of pajamas, and through the thin layer of fabric, he could distinctly feel the taut muscles and the warmth radiating from Sheng Lin’s body.
The cold towel was pressed against his eyelids over and over, lifted and reapplied—but instead of cooling him down, it had the opposite effect. His blood surged through his veins. Embarrassed, he tried to shift positions, but the man warned him: “Don’t move. The towel will fall.”
“…” The young man’s mind involuntarily conjured their current position—they were this close, one sitting, one lying down. He couldn’t see anything right now, but Sheng Lin could see everything: every breath he took, the flush spreading across his face, the trembling tips of his nervous fingers. Nothing escaped Sheng Lin’s view.
If Sheng Lin simply leaned down, the distance between them could shrink to zero.
But would Sheng Lin do that?
Was what he was hoping for—was Sheng Lin hoping for it too?
Suddenly, a cicada’s cry rang out from the camphor tree outside the window. That summer-declaration of an insect’s call shattered the last shred of hesitation. In that second, in that moment, at the very instant the cicada sang—
—A kiss quietly descended.
It was a sweet kiss, carrying the faint aroma of fermented rice and little glutinous rice balls.
It was a kiss filled with the essence of summer.
Four lips met. The man gently claimed everything from the young man—not just his breath.
Xia Yiyang was forced to arch upward to meet him. His slender body trembled as his hands clutched the man’s shirt, unwilling to let go.
The towel that had been covering his eyes had long since slipped away. Their foreheads touched, yet Xia Yiyang still kept his eyes shut.
“Yiyi, won’t you open your eyes?” Sheng Lin paused, switching to gently nibbling at his lips.
Xia Yiyang’s lips were thoroughly moistened. He covered his eyes and turned away, mumbling vaguely: “No.”
Sheng Lin tried to move his hand away, but Xia Yiyang only turned more stubbornly toward the inside of the sofa, presenting his back to the man and curling up like a little wronged ball.
Sheng Lin leaned down again, kissing his cheek, his earlobe, his fuzzy nape with its fine baby hairs.
Everywhere was burning hot. Everywhere was kissed.
Xia Yiyang’s whole body flushed red. He murmured something under his breath, and Sheng Lin leaned in to hear—only to catch him saying: “My eyes are all swollen. I look so ugly.”
Sheng Lin chuckled: “Not ugly at all.” He kissed down along the young man’s fingers, inch by inch. “Our Yiyi is the most beautiful.”
Xia Yiyang reluctantly turned back over, cautiously parting his fingers just a crack to reveal one still-slightly-puffy eye: “Really?”
Sheng Lin: “Have I ever lied to you? You, on the other hand—you’ve been lying to me since the very first day we met.”
“…” The young man pouted, knowing he was in the wrong.
Sheng Lin seized the opening. This time, he firmly lifted Xia Yiyang off the sofa and into his arms, settling him onto his lap with his legs straddling either side. Caught off balance, Xia Yiyang let out a soft yelp, his hands instinctively dropping to brace against Sheng Lin’s chest.
This time, Sheng Lin kissed his eyes.
The young man’s lashes trembled—it tickled.
And it felt oddly nice.
Then came the tip of his nose, and soon after, back to the cupid’s bow of his lips.
They kissed and kissed, until Sheng Lin’s movements suddenly stopped.
Xia Yiyang, dazed and half-drunk from the kissing, whined: “Why’d you stop?”
He hadn’t had enough yet.
Sheng Lin was silent for a few seconds, then looked down at Xia Yiyang’s hands: “Xia Yiyi, what are your hands doing?”
Xia Yiyang followed his gaze downward—and saw that his own hands had slyly slipped up under the hem of the man’s workout T-shirt. One hand was groping his abs, while the other kept climbing higher, heading toward…
“Hehe.” Xia Yiyang pressed down with his palms like a kitten kneading dough, feeling the taut elasticity of the man’s muscles beneath his hands, and said with utter confidence: “I’m just checking how your muscle training is coming along.”
“…” Sheng Lin raised an eyebrow. “And how’s the inspection going?”
“A hundred out of a hundred.” Xia Yiyang, having gotten his way and then some, nuzzled up close again. “My beloved consort, you’ve successfully seduced the Emperor this time!”
Sheng Lin laughed. Well, since the little Emperor had bestowed his favor, he’d better put on a good show.
Mornings were always ripe for losing control, and they were both young. It didn’t take long for Xia Yiyang to notice something… out of the ordinary.
W-wait a second…
Xia Yiyang suddenly remembered that one time he’d “watched from across the shore” and seen something…
The heat in his face instantly drained by half—this isn’t good, this really isn’t good, he was only eighteen, still a baby, was he really going to come face-to-face with that thing right now? Wasn’t this moving too fast? They’d only just confirmed their relationship yesterday, and today they were already going all the way? Wasn’t that way too immodest? There must be something in the water in Rongcheng, but in any case, your Majesty cannot do this, the Emperor refuses to die young and gay ahhhhhh!!!!
Sheng Lin felt the body in his arms go stiff, but instead of letting go, he tightened his grip around the young man’s waist and pulled him even closer.
Xia Yiyang was frozen stiff with fear, not daring to move a muscle.
Sheng Lin deliberately asked him what was wrong.
The young man stammered, deflecting: “Ling Ge, it’s getting late. Shouldn’t we get ready to open the shop downstairs?”
But Sheng Lin said: “Opening downstairs can wait. Opening upstairs really can’t.”
“!!!” Xia Yiyang’s face was about to explode from redness. He desperately wanted to pretend he didn’t understand.
But he was a smart, good student—always quick to catch on and draw inferences—how could he possibly not understand, not learn?
—”Ding ding ding ding!”
Just then, the phone on the coffee table suddenly rang. That ringtone was an absolute lifesaver!
Xia Yiyang had never been this coordinated in his life. He scrambled off Sheng Lin’s lap in one swift motion and scrambled frantically for his phone.
Sheng Lin: “…”
He stared at the young man’s flipped-up pajama hem, at the white waist covered in his palm prints.
“Hello, yes, this is Xia Yiyang speaking.” Xia Yiyang sat up straight with the phone pressed to his ear, clinging to this call like a lifeline. He didn’t care if it was a delivery, takeout, or a spam call—he was thanking its ancestors eight generations over!!
But as he listened, his expression changed—first serious, then surprised, and then delighted.
Sheng Lin noticed the shift in his expression too. The man casually grabbed a cushion from the sofa to cover his lap and mouthed: “What’s wrong?”
Xia Yiyang’s hands trembled as he hit the speakerphone button. Then, a male voice came through the receiver—
—”Hello, Xia Yiyang. I’m Officer Xiao from the XX Police Station in the XX jurisdiction. We’ve apprehended the suspect in the telecom fraud case you reported, and we’ve recovered the stolen funds. Please come to the station as soon as possible.”
Xia Yiyang: “!!!”
He scrambled to his feet in an instant.
His money was back!! The New Year’s money he’d been scammed out of had actually come back!!!
Xia Yiyang dashed toward the bedroom as if he had fire wheels strapped to his feet, stripping off his pajamas as he ran, quickly pulling on a T-shirt and shorts, and hopping on one foot to put on his socks.
“Ling Ge,” he assigned Sheng Lin a task, “what are you still doing sitting on the sofa? Hurry up and take me to the police station!”
Sheng Lin moved the cushion off his lap, looked down at himself, then looked back up at Xia Yiyang.
“…?”
Wait—so neither upstairs nor downstairs was open for business now?
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