CH 19

Xu Juan suggested they move in together, and Pei Yu agreed.

But after making that decision, they realized that they hadn’t yet solved the issue of where they were going to stay. 

If comfort was the only criterion, then no doubt Xu Juan’s villa was more comfortable than Pei Yu’s faculty housing. However, September was quickly approaching and the semester was about to begin at Hong Uni. Xu Juan’s house was too far away from the school, so it wasn’t convenient for Pei Yu to go to work.

Conversely, if he moved into Pei Yu’s apartment, once the semester began, not only would his neighbours and colleagues catch them entering and leaving together, but there would also be many students in the area that they couldn’t avoid. It wouldn’t take even a week for rumours regarding “Pei laoshi and his boyfriend living together” to go rampant.

Xu Juan wasn’t afraid of anything, but he didn’t want to negatively impact Pei Yu.

Of course, this was the more superficial reason. Honestly speaking, he was just worried that once the time came for them to break up and he made himself scarce, he’d leave Pei Yu with a huge mess to clean up. That would be inconsiderate. 

This was quite a vile mentality, but taking a step back to think it through, even if they didn’t break up, he couldn’t make such trouble for Pei Yu.

So the discussion of their accommodation brought the both of them much torment. Eventually, Xu Juan said: “How about you move in with me. I’ll drop you off and pick you up from work every day, okay? It’s not too far away by car.”

“Isn’t that troublesome?” It weighed a little on Pei Yu’s conscience, so he was actually polite to him.

Xu Juan said: “Not at all. Anyway, I’m a slacker. Since I’d be lazing around anyway, I might as well do a good job serving Pei laoshi. Just take it as me indirectly contributing back to the country.”

“……”

Amused by his flattery, Pei Yu laughed, no longer hesitating to agree.

But Pei Yu said that it wasn’t necessary for him to drive him to and fro every day, he could take the subway to work. He was so understanding that Xu Juan felt a twinge of guilt. Wasn’t Pei Yu taking the trouble to move so far away, just so he could be together with him?

Xu Juan never expected that such a reserved and aloof Pei laoshi would be this open-minded when he was dating; He was rather tolerant of everything. 

Perhaps, it was because he was the first person that Pei Yu liked.

First times didn’t come with the baggage of having been hurt, so one would naturally be unfamiliar with how things work and not know that they should have reservations.

Thinking of this, the feeling in Xu Juan’s heart gradually became more complicated. Be it happiness or guilt, he wasn’t willing to contemplate them deeper. One’s troubles usually stemmed from “overthinking”, so if one thought of nothing at all, they would then be able to live freely in the moment.

The day after they returned from under the starry sky, they took a nap, and then started the move around four in the afternoon. 

Pei Yu had quite a lot of belongings, most of them were books, but it wasn’t feasible to bring all of them over, so eventually, only a small collection of them was taken. He decided he could pick up anything else he wanted to read during work hours, whenever he felt like it.

After he’d chosen his books, Xu Juan helped him to bring them downstairs and into his car, before returning to get the flowers.

Pei Yu kept a number of green potted plants, but Xu Juan sorely lacked knowledge in that department and had no inkling of what kind of plants they were.

Dea tf tjv atf tjyla bo abemtlcu atlcur tf rtbeivc’a. Qtlif Ufl Te kjr alvslcu atf mibrfa, tf kjr ybgfv ab vfjat, rb tf qijsfv klat atf ifjnfr ys qlcmtlcu ja atfw. Lf kjr ralii delfais qlcmtlcu atfw ktfc Ufl Te rtea atf mibrfa vbbg jcv aegcfv jgbecv: “We Aejc! Qtja jgf sbe vblcu!” 

Solemnly, Xu Juan crossed his hands behind his back, and blinked a few times: “Nothing much, your flowers look good, I was just touching them.”

Pei Yu: “……”

Pei Yu was furious, but it seemed too childish to get angry with him over a few leaves. After getting mad for a bit, he couldn’t help but laugh: “If I find them murdered in the future, I’ll hold you accountable.”

Xu Juan spluttered: “Don’t even go there. I used to have a nickname called ‘Blossom’s Despair’, because all my mom’s plants were killed by me. Whenever I saw a potted plant, I would pinch its leaves. Even cacti weren’t spared.” 

Pei Yu was baffled: “How does one pinch cacti?”

“With scissors, duh. I cut the thorns off with scissors, and whenever a bud emerged, I would break it off.”

Pei Yu: “……”

There was nothing else Pei Yu could say. Xu Juan attempted to exonerate himself: “Wasn’t it because I was exhausted? When I was a child, I had too much homework and had nowhere to vent. I had to find stuff to wreck, else I’d be terribly suffocated.” 

Since Pei Yu was kind, he would always first look at things from his perspective. He believed him the moment he complained, but was still somewhat hesitant: “Then you aren’t exhausted now, are you? You won’t wreck my flowers, right? If you really can’t help yourself, we might as well give these potted plants away. Zhang laoshi from next door loves keeping plants, too.”

“……”

Xu Juan nearly burst into laughter: “No, no. Keep them, it’ll be fine.”

They finished organizing the books, clothes, daily necessities and the house plants. Then, they loaded everything into the car and set off. 

This was the twentieth day since Xu Juan and Pei Yu met.

In the mere span of twenty days, they went from complete strangers to living together. Pei Yu felt that the development was rather fast, unfathomably fast.

On the other hand, Xu Juan found it very slow –– It had already been twenty days, yet he hadn’t managed to sleep with Pei Yu. This was the worst record in his glorious history of love; It had broken all his past records.

But that didn’t matter. Since they were going to date for a long time, why care about an insignificant twenty days? 

Xu Juan drove home slowly, and with Pei Yu, unloaded everything they had put into the car earlier. They took the items into the house one by one, then looked for a suitable spot to place them.

Although this was a very trivial process, Xu Juan didn’t find it troublesome. It wasn’t often he got to experience the joy of everyday life.

First went the books. Pei Yu was probably obsessed with classification; Not only did he classify his own books into different types, he even turned Xu Juan’s study room inside out, and disregarding whose book each one was, he organized them onto the shelves by category.

Then, there were the plants. Pei Yu brought three potted plants over. In the living room of the villa’s first floor, there were huge French windows. Since all his plants enjoyed sunlight, placing them beneath the windows worked well. 

Next, the clothes. Pei Yu didn’t own many clothes, only when he opened Xu Juan’s closet did he discover what “many” really meant. Fortunately, the closet was big enough. He unpacked the shirts and pants from his luggage and one by one, he properly hung them up. After that, he found a spot to place his computer, phone charger and similar miscellaneous items. Lastly, he took his toiletries into the bathroom and placed them together with Xu Juan’s.

Finally, it had now become a home for two.

Pei Yu let out a sigh of relief once he had finished busying about. When he turned around to look, Xu Juan was staring at him in a daze.

“What’s the matter?” Belatedly, Pei Yu got a little self-conscious, “Ahem, did I overdo it? Going ahead with all that without discussing with you first…” 

“No, why shouldn’t you? We’re already together, so don’t be thinking like that.”

Xu Juan got out two cans of iced drinks from the refrigerator and handed one over to Pei Yu: “I was admiring you. As expected, you’re a person who loves life.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, even I was infected. I suddenly find life great.” 

“……”

Pei Yu was once again embarrassed: “It’s not like I did anything significant, what are you blindly admiring.”

“All right, all right.” Xu Juan gave him a clingy hug, “Rest a little. What do you feel like eating tonight? Since Pei laoshi has exhausted himself, we should reward the effort well. I gave the chef the day off today, let’s order takeout.”

Pei Yu glanced over at him: “Normally, when you ask someone what they feel like eating, shouldn’t the follow-up be ‘I’ll cook for you’, Director Xu?” 

“Even if I want to, I don’t know how.” Not only did Xu Juan not seem ashamed, he even seemed proud of himself, “A nobleman stays clear of the kitchen. These hands of mine are for the arts. I’m fine with playing the piano and painting, but how could I cook?”

Anyway, he could say whatever he wanted and it would still make sense. He pressed Pei Yu down onto the sofa to let him rest, then took out his phone to order their food.

Xu Juan struggled a little with the options. He browsed through the entire takeout app, then raised his head to see that Pei Yu, who was sitting opposite him, was also on his phone. It was uncertain what he was looking at, but his expression continuously flickered between one to the next.

Xu Juan’s impression of Pei Yu was that he wasn’t part of the “heads down club”, neither did he enjoy using Weibo and other social media. He didn’t play games either, at best, he would just scroll through his Wechat Moments.

Walking over, Xu Juan sat down next to him: “Are you chatting with someone, Pei laoshi?”

Pei Yu reacted very fast, immediately locking his screen: “No.” 

Xu Juan: “……”

What was he doing that even needed to be hidden from him?

Xu Juan narrowed his eyes and glanced at Pei Yu, feigning grievance: “We’ve only just gotten together, you aren’t already having affairs out there, are you, Pei Yu?”

“What nonsense are you saying.” 

“Then why don’t you dare to let me look?”

“……”

Pei Yu’s pale face flushed faintly, and he reluctantly said: “Look, then.”

He unlocked the phone, and the search browser appeared. Xu Juan gave a cursory glance; The entire page was filled with appalling results, such as《The most thrilling ways of lovemaking between men》,《Techniques for two men in bed》and the like. 

“……”

Xu Juan wanted to laugh, but he didn’t dare for fear of hurting Pei Yu’s ego. However, his expression betrayed him. Pei Yu was exceedingly annoyed: “What’s wrong with me trying to learn a little? Hey!”

“Nothing wrong, there’s nothing wrong.” Xu Juan immediately tried to smooth his ruffled feathers, “Your spirit of learning is worthy of praise, but these are all paper theories, only practical experience will let you truly understand. Let’s put it into practice tonight, I’ll personally teach you, Pei laoshi.”

Pei Yu feigned indifference: “I’m not in a hurry.” 

“Okay, what if I’m the one in a hurry.” Xu Juan’s grin was so wide his eyes curved into crescents. He didn’t forget to take advantage of the situation, either, “Then, if I succeed in teaching you, will you call me Xu laoshi, Pei Yu?”

“……” Pei Yu sputtered, “Shameless bastard!”

Author’s note: Xu laoshi’s mini class has begun! See you all in the next chapter.