CH 82

After attending a conference in M country with Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu, Director Cui kept her promise and granted them three days off. Shen Fangyu had initially requested time off to talk to Dr. Kenn, but since he and Dr. Kenn had fallen out, it was unlikely that Dr. Kenn would provide them with any valuable information, regardless of whether they were patients or doctors from Z country.

Shen Fangyu decided to rent a car and take Jiang Xu for a drive in the outskirts of M country. When Jiang Xu learned that Shen Fangyu had returned to Z country with the help of the red-haired uncle who lent him money for the plane ticket, he expressed a desire to thank the red-haired uncle.

Reuniting with an old friend in adversity, the red-haired uncle was delighted and offered to be their driver and show them around M country for a whole day. During the car ride, the red-haired uncle brought up an old story of being robbed.

Some people who have experienced a traumatic event may develop post-traumatic stress disorder and avoid talking about the incident, while others may feel a strong urge to share their experience with others. The red-haired uncle clearly belonged to the latter group.

When recounting the decision to chase the car, the red-haired uncle exclaimed, “It was the most thrilling thing I’ve ever done in my life. I felt like a superhero and was both excited and scared.” After listening, Jiang Xu asked Shen Fangyu if he had been scared at that time.

“He wasn’t scared,” the red-haired uncle interjected, “He’s the bravest person from Z country that I’ve ever seen. Very calm, with strong psychological resilience.”

As Jiang Xu listened, a subtle smile appeared in his eyes, and he gave Shen Fangyu a sidelong glance.

Even though Shen Fangyu had a thick skin like a fortress, he couldn’t withstand the praise from the red-haired uncle and when Jiang Xu looked over, Shen Fangyu blushed.

“I wasn’t as brave as he said,” Shen Fangyu said, “I was just too anxious at that time, constantly thinking about the documents and not caring about whether I was scared or not. But afterwards… I was quite scared.”

When encountering such situations, it’s inevitable to have a sense of luck, getting caught up in the excitement and easily losing rationality.

Shen Fangyu pursed his lips and confessed, “After getting the documents, my heart kept trembling. Just the thought of what might have happened if something had gone wrong at that time, and you…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but Jiang Xu understood.

When he was chasing the car, he was thinking of him, and even after chasing the car, he was still thinking of him when he was scared.

Jiang Xu couldn’t help but switch to Chinese and said, “Can’t you think about yourself for once?”

Although it was a conversation among the three of them, the red-haired uncle was excluded from the conversation because Jiang Xu had switched to Chinese.

His expression changed subtly and although he didn’t understand what Jiang Xu said, he could see the obvious change in Shen Fangyu’s expression.

In the end, the red-haired uncle dropped them off somewhere. Taking advantage of the fact that Jiang Xu got off the car first, he looked at Shen Fangyu with a meaningful expression and said, “You seem to really like him. Keep it up, I’m helping you…”

Shen Fangyu hesitated for a moment but didn’t tell him that they were already lovers.

However, when they arrived at the hotel, he realized that he had underestimated the red-haired uncle’s understanding ability.

This hotel was recommended by the uncle’s friend, and Shen Fangyu thought that since they were acquaintances, he agreed to stay. He never expected that the red-haired uncle would directly arrange a themed room for them.

Shen Fangyu paused for a moment when he pushed open the hotel room door, quickly closed it, and stopped Jiang Xu who was behind him.

Jiang Xu looked at him with a puzzled expression, and hesitated before he asked, “Is there a ghost in the room?”

“No,” Shen Fangyu replied.

Jiang Xu pulled him aside forcefully, and Shen Fangyu didn’t dare to use force against a pregnant person, so he let him push open the door, only to see the room full of props, handcuffs, whips, and electric chairs.

Jiang Xu: “…”

The problem was not that there was a ghost in the room, but that Shen Fangyu had a guilty conscience.

“I’m really innocent,” Shen Fangyu defended himself desperately, “I didn’t choose this room, I didn’t expect it to be like this, it was recommended by the driver.”

“Oh…”

“Don’t just ‘oh’, believe me, I really didn’t choose this.” Shen Fangyu suggested anxiously, “Let’s go and ask for another room.”

However, when the red-haired uncle’s friend led them to see the other rooms, Jiang Xu realized that their room was still the most conservative.

As the saying goes, the more familiar people are, the easier it is to be deceived.

It was already dark outside, and they were in the suburbs, so it was not convenient to go out and find another hotel, especially when they recalled Shen Fangyu’s previous experience, both of them were somewhat fearful.

After all, M country was not a place suitable for going out at night.

‘Staying for one night shouldn’t be a big problem,’ Jiang Xu thought.

Intimacy was not unfamiliar to them, they were a legitimate couple after all, just staying in a slightly special couple’s hotel shouldn’t be a big deal.

As a doctor, Jiang Xu had the advantage of having less exposure to messy movies and TV shows, so out of sight, out of mind. He ignored the facilities with too much presence.

On the other hand, Dr. Shen, with a rich reserve of theoretical knowledge, obviously couldn’t be as calm as Jiang Xu. He leaned on the sofa and frantically swiped his phone, quickly skimming through three documents in a row, but couldn’t shift his attention away from the bizarre scenes in his mind.

The bathroom glass was transparent, the sound of water was clear, and Shen Fangyu’s neck was stiff.

Jiang Xu finished taking a shower, put on his clothes, and glanced at him, “You go ahead and shower.”

Shen Fangyu blushed and nodded, quickly rummaging through his luggage for clothes, avoiding eye contact with Jiang Xu, and went straight into the bathroom.

“…”

They were already going to be fathers, yet they were still so easily agitated.

Jiang Xu sighed, shifted his gaze back to the news on his tablet.

After a while, the sound of water came from the bathroom. He subconsciously glanced at it and finally understood why Shen Fangyu was so flustered just now.

The bathroom glass was one-way translucent, which meant that one could see from the outside but not from the inside.

…Damn.

This time, it was Jiang Xu who blushed.

He turned his face away, his heart beating a bit faster, and his face felt a little warm.

There was a bottle of water he bought on the table, he reached out to take it, intending to cool down a bit, but accidentally knocked over the merchandise placed on it.

Jiang Xu bent down to pick up the items, only to realize that it seemed to be an unopened medicine bottle.

Perhaps it was the occupational disease of being a doctor, Jiang Xu held the few boxes of medicine in his hand with some curiosity and examined the labels on the bottles, which were all in English. Just as he was halfway through reading them, he suddenly realized that something was off.

However, before he could put the items down, Shen Fangyu finished his shower and suddenly pushed open the bathroom door.

Jiang Xu held a bottle of Rush in his left hand and a box of Sildenafil in his right hand, and both of them looked at each other for a while before speaking almost simultaneously.

Shen Fangyu: “What are you looking at?”

Jiang Xu: “Why are you wearing my underwear?”

Shen Fangyu: “…”

In the end, Dr. Shen, who was in a more embarrassing situation was the first to give in.

Seeing the man’s visibly flushed face, Jiang Xu pretended to be calm as he stuffed the boxes into the drawer and silently lifted the covers, planning to lie down on the bed.

But as soon as he lay down, the bed shook, and the two people in the room fell silent.

The warm water bed swayed gently with Jiang Xu’s movements, and he was startled, subconsciously clutching the covers.

The man’s fingers were slender and well-defined, and the way he held onto the covers easily gave rise to some unsavory thoughts.

“Ahem…”

Shen Fangyu cleared his throat and asked him with a hesitant look, “Can you sleep?”

Jiang Xu glared at him, took a deep breath, and persuaded himself not to get angry.

Shen Fangyu hesitated for a moment, then walked around to the other end of the bed and approached slowly.

But obviously, the bed was too sensitive, and slowing down his movements didn’t help.

Just yawning on this bed would make it shake incessantly, and occasionally turning over would cause even bigger fluctuations.

Although they were just lying there and hadn’t done anything, there was an inexplicable sense of ambiguity.

Jiang Xu closed his eyes in a confused state of mind, and his thoughts wandered aimlessly. After a while, he suddenly remembered something and reminded Shen Fangyu, “You seem to have forgotten to change out of my underwear.”

Both of them were of similar height and build, and their clothes were of the same size. Jiang Xu had only bought a size larger due to the elasticity of the waistband after becoming pregnant.

Men’s underwear is nothing more than black, gray, or blue in color, and Shen Fangyu can be forgiven for accidentally grabbing the wrong one from the suitcase… but it’s unreasonable for him not to change it after being reminded.

However, Shen Fangyu seemed to have a defiant attitude, saying, “I’ve already worn it… do you still want it?”

Not only had he worn it, but it had probably been slightly contaminated as well.

He had originally planned to change back into his own pants, but Jiang Xu and the bed made him completely forget about it.

And going off the bed to change in his current physical condition… seemed no different from openly being a pervert.

Shen Fangyu, who wasn’t drunk, still had some face left.

“I’ve already worn the one you’re wearing.” Jiang Xu tried to get his underwear back.

For some reason, the act of sharing clothes with Shen Fangyu made Jiang Xu’s heart itch like a feather scratching over it, causing an indescribable warmth.

“Just consider it a gift for me,” Shen Fangyu nuzzled his neck and said, “Can I surprise you tomorrow?”

“Surprise?”

“Mmm.” Shen Fangyu adjusted his position slightly, looping his arm around Jiang Xu from behind, intending to cuddle him while he slept.

Unexpectedly, the highly unreasonable water bed started swaying like a cradle, rocking them both.

“…I didn’t mean to.” Shen Fangyu said.

Jiang Xu buried his face in the covers. “Go to sleep.”

However, in doing so, his ear was fully exposed in Shen Fangyu’s line of sight.

Jiang Xu’s ear was very white on the side, and a hint of emotion could easily turn it red. The earlobe, rich in tiny blood vessels, turned bright red, making it look soft and inviting to touch.

Shen Fangyu stared for a while, his gaze becoming unfocused. Finally, he wad unable to resist reaching out to gently rub Jiang Xu’s earlobe.

“What are you doing?”

Jiang Xu kicked him first, then bumped into him from behind in dissatisfaction, but didn’t expect the undulating waterbed, to cause him to bump into Shen Fangyu’s leg.

The temperature was a bit high.

The air fell silent for a moment.

But the tips of their ears turned even redder.

The waterbed was definitely the dumbest invention in the world.

Shen Fangyu: “It’s really not my fault this time.”

“Shut up.” The voice came out muffled from under the blanket.

Shen Fangyu also wanted to shut up, but for some unknown reason, he blurted out, “Speaking of surprises, they’re also related to water.”

Jiang Xu: “…”

Whether it was because of Shen Fangyu’s words before bed, or because the bed kept swaying all night, or because the touch was too real and clear at that moment when they accidentally bumped into each other.

Jiang Xu had a rare dream.

In the dream, the rain was heavy, and the surging water wet the transparent umbrella. Shen Fangyu coaxed him to let him take the umbrella off and told him that it was a surprise.

When Jiang Xu woke up in the morning, he looked at his pants in silence for a moment and glanced at Shen Fangyu who was still sleeping.

The dream was very exciting.

The mood was very complicated.

The cognition was also collapsing.

And a platonic relationship seemed to out of question.

———–

But in fact, Shen Fangyu’s surprise was a yacht.

At that time, they were walking along the beach when Jiang Xu suddenly saw a yacht in the distance.

The yacht was not big, but it was beautifully decorated. The white hull was paired with deep blue glass, and the seven colors of lacquer painted on the hull created a huge rainbow.

The open deck was bathed In the orange sunset, and the elongated shadows on the deep blue sea were silent and gentle.

The scenery was so beautiful that Jiang Xu couldn’t help but take out his phone and take a photo, but Shen Fangyu suddenly leaned close to his ear and said, “You can go up and take pictures.”

Jiang Xu put down his phone and looked at him with some surprise. The latter raised his lips and said, “It was originally rented for you,” he said with a smile, “Surprise.”

The yacht broke through the white waves on the water, and the setting sun gradually descended, leaving only a faint night sky.

Jiang Xu stood on the deck with his head tilted slightly. The starlight was dim, and the wind blew through his hair, making him feel refreshed and content.

“How did you come up with the idea of renting a boat?” he asked Shen Fangyu.

“I remembered the song we sang together,” Shen Fangyu’s hand rested on the railing, looking at Jiang Xu with affectionate eyes, “We sailed together for ten years, and slept together for a hundred years,” he said.

“We have the latter half of the sentence, so today we complete the first half.”

The refreshing sea breeze made Jiang Xu’s mood very pleasant. After listening, he suddenly teased, “Do you have a lot of hidden money?”

Renting a yacht is not cheap, especially such a new and beautiful boat.

“I dare not hide any money,” Shen Fangyu explained with a smile, “Huo Chengchun’s family in Country M owns a boat company, and I asked him for help and got a discount.”

“…”

Shen Fangyu’s brother was really unlucky to have met him.

“What a good brother,” Jiang Xu commented.

“Yeah,” Shen Fangyu joked, “We’ve been good brothers for over ten years. Shouldn’t I ask for a gift now that I’m dating?”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xu glanced at him with a meaningful look, “Who was belittling himself before? Do you want me to change my mind now?”

“No, besides me, you won’t meet anyone better looking and more outstanding,” Shen Fangyu said with a thick-skin.

This person was embarrassed when others praise him, but he praises himself without blushing.

Jiang Xu “tsked”, “What if you change your mind?”

“Even more impossible, I won’t meet anyone better looking and more outstanding than you,” Shen Fangyu said.

Jiang Xu turned his face away and said slowly, “That’s not certain.”

“In case I do meet someone like that, it has nothing to do with me. Even if there are people who are better looking and more outstanding, there will naturally be people who like them. In this lifetime, I’ll only date you, and I only like you. We are evenly matched and meant to be together like a pair praised by Socrates himself,” Shen Fangyu said.

Jiang Xu was bombarded with a basket of sweet words and couldn’t find his bearings for a while. He came back to his senses and said, “Socrates probably doesn’t have time to deal with you.”

“And,” he said, “I think you watched ‘Legend of the White Snake’ too much?”

Even the lines from TV dramas are used to impress him.

“ I have watched it several times,” Shen Fangyu said seriously, “but not as many times as I have watched you.”

Jiang Xu first rolled his eyes at his teasing, but then couldn’t help but chuckle softly, pressing down the corners of his mouth that had curled up.

The sound of the waves was distant and vast, falling into Jiang Xu’s ears, tranquil and gentle.

Suddenly, he said to Shen Fangyu, “Sing it again.”

“Hmm?”

“That song,” Jiang Xu looked at his lover on the yacht, “I want to hear you sing it.”

When a person is doing what they are best at, their charm will be fully displayed.

Jiang Xu looked at Shen Fangyu as he sang softly, as if he had returned to the stage at Jihua.

That day, he was too nervous and didn’t remember to look at the audience throughout the performance, but he remembered the way Shen Fangyu smiled while singing.

The corners of his eyes lifted slightly, naturally carrying a smile, and his eyes were bright, like a moonlit pool.

His bangs covered half of his forehead, unrestrained and free.

The two sat shoulder to shoulder on the deck, holding warm water cups and enjoying the sea breeze. The sky was not completely dark yet, and the distant lighthouse had already lit up. The familiar melody sounded somewhat soft in the night wind, and the unaccompanied solo was pure and moving.

Shen Fangyu’s voice was slightly low, but every word sang into Jiang Xu’s heart.

After a long time, the sound in his ears gradually faded, and just as Shen Fangyu finished singing, fireworks suddenly lit up on the shore not far from the sea.

Jiang Xu shifted his gaze from Shen Fangyu’s face to the sky. The fireworks were dazzling and colorful, bursting with tiny explosions and painted the night clouds with a brilliant palette, like a magnificent scene.

“Do you like it?” Shen Fangyu covered his ears and asked with a playful smile.

“This is also Huo Chengchun’s idea…?”

“It has nothing to do with him,” Shen Fangyu said, “I prepared it.”

“A City and B City have banned fireworks for many years. I thought you haven’t seen them for a long time and knowing that it’s allowed here, I prepared some.”

Shen Fangyu whistled at the helper setting off fireworks on the shore, waving his hand even though he wasn’t sure if the other person could see it.

Jiang Xu had always thought the boat was sailing aimlessly until this moment when he realized that Shen Fangyu had planned a predetermined route.

“Where is this boat going?” he asked.

Underneath the colorful fireworks lighting up the night sky, Shen Fangyu stood on the yacht, his face reflecting the vibrant lights. He leaned on the railing, gazing out at the endless sea.

“If you agree to my proposal, the yacht will continue sailing to Town H,” Shen Fangyu said.

“I’ve arranged for a wedding ceremony with the mayor tomorrow morning at nine o’clock. The photographer, Miss Ruisha, and the driver, Mr. Vincent, will be waiting for us at the port,” he continued.

“Afterwards, we’ll exchange vows, rings, and kisses in front of the priest… and then sign our names with a black pen on the marriage certificate.”

“If you decline, we can still enjoy the fireworks here and return to the starting point when the sun rises.”

Shen Fangyu turned his head and looked at Jiang Xu, who was sitting on the deck. He took out a small box from his pocket, which was covered in red velvet, and smiled.

“Although our marriage won’t be recognized in our home country, I still want to have a ceremony with you,” he said.

With one hand, he opened the box, revealing two identical rings in front of Jiang Xu. Shen Fangyu handed the box to him and asked, “So, Mr. Jiang, will you marry me?”

While most people are accustomed to stories of perfect matches between golden boys and jade girls, there are also unique love stories where two moons shine upon each other in remote corners of the world, illuminating each other’s suns.

Jiang Xu reached out his hand, and Shen Fangyu held it, pulling him up from the deck. Jiang Xu stood by Shen Fangyu’s side, holding a thermos cup, allowing the sea breeze to tousle his collar, and the fabric brushing gently against his cheek with the scent of laundry detergent.

There was no grand gesture of going down on one knee, no dazzling diamond ring, and no cliché question of “Will you marry me?”

His Mr. Shen simply stood beside him, calmly holding two identical rings, asking him if he wanted to marry him.

Shen Fangyu didn’t fully understand Jiang Xu, but he only needed to understand himself to understand 80% of Jiang Xu. He knew what kind of romantic relationship Jiang Xu preferred, and the perfect timing to discuss marriage.

Jiang Xu glanced at him and suddenly smiled, a subtle curl of his lips and a twinkle in his eyes.

“Have you ever considered that if the surgery fails, you might become a widower just three months after getting married?” Jiang Xu said to Shen Fangyu.

“If you’re not there, I’d rather be a widower for the rest of my life or stay single forever,” Shen Fangyu replied with a smile in his eyes. “I’m willing to choose the former.”

When they could joke about death and express love in the language of mortality, perhaps it was time to embark on their marriage.

Jiang Xu took the ring box from Shen Fangyu’s hand, opening and closing it repeatedly. Finally, he leaned against the white railing, turned to face Shen Fangyu across the vast blue sea, and said, “Then let the boat sail on.”