CH 30

The moment Xia Xingchi slipped into Li Chengyuan’s arms, a loud bang sounded, as if the whole earth was trembling.

But in fact, it was only Xia Xinchi who was trembling all over. He held his breath and grasped the only object nearby even harder, buried in the familiar warm embrace like a confused and panicked little animal.

This was the first thunderstorm he had experienced in this world. If he was in Li Chengyuan’s villa at the moment, he might not be so afraid.

But here there were deep, barren mountains, a dilapidated old bungalow, and an unfamiliar environment.

The only familiar thing was the person he was hugging tightly. The fear of death was completely beyond reason, entirely a product of biological instinct, which caused Xia Xingchi to burrow crazily into Li Chengyuan’s arms.

“What’s wrong?” Li Chengyuan immediately hugged him in his arms and gently stroked his head.

He was a little dazed at first, not having expected Xia Xingchi to suddenly burst into the room and take the initiative to embrace him tightly.

Now, Xia Xingchi whispered intermittently as if sobbing: “Li Chengyuan……I’m going to be struck to death. I, I’m scared……my head will split……it hurts……”

The words were incoherent, and it took a long time for Li Chengyuan to realize that he was afraid of thunder.

“Don’t be afraid.” Li Chengyuan covered his ears and coaxed him in a low voice: “I’m holding you, you won’t be hit.”

He repeated this in a whisper many times, and Xia Xingchi’s tense body finally relaxed after tireless comforting.

The thunderstorm didn’t last long before it gradually died down, and Li Chengyuan slowly let go of his ears.

Xia Xingchi had already fallen asleep leaning into Li Chengyuan’s embrace. His arms were still wrapped around the other’s waist, and even his fingers were still clenched tightly into his pajamas.

Li Chengyuan could feel his uneasiness, so he didn’t forcibly pry him from his body, and simply let him cling like this. He even actively adjusted his posture to hug him tighter.

Xia Xingchi finally relaxed all the way. He hummed comfortably twice as the night rain faded outside the window, then murmured Li Chengyuan’s name in a daze.

Li Chengyuan could only brush the tip of his nose with his knuckles, and found that the corners of his eyes were moist from the tears that had flowed down in his panic.

There were so many men and women who had racked their brains over the years to find a chance like this to leap into his arms. He would obviously suspect them of trying to seduce him if someone else tried it. After all, it was unheard of to be afraid of thunder to this extent.

But it was different if the person was Xia Xingchi. Li Chengyuan only felt ecstatic, as if a big surprise had fallen from the sky……he even felt a hint of gratitude toward the thunderstorm.

If not for this little hedgehog who was afraid of thunder, he might even hope for a few more such thunderstorms tomorrow night.

– – –

Early the next morning, Li Chengyuan, who always got up early, made the rare decision to lie in bed instead of getting up to get ready.

Because after waking up, he found that Xia Xingchi was still hugging him without letting go. Although he usually hugged him like this, it wasn’t as tightly as today, like a sticky red bean bun that wouldn’t release him.

Li Chengyuan didn’t want to wake him up, so he just lay motionless in bed and habitually stared at his features.

After a long while, he gently touched his arm with his fingertips and brushed against the expected crescent-shaped scar.

Xia Xingchi felt a little ticklish from those cold fingertips, and called “Summer” indiscriminately. After a while, perhaps sensing that this was a human and not a cat, he muttered again, “Li Chengyuan.”

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips and raised his hand expressionlessly to give his cheek a light poke, like a big cat playing with a ball of wool.

Xia Xingchi couldn’t help but hum irritably a few times, trying his best to get into the arms of the person beside him and away from the cold and malicious fingers.

“Li Chengyuan……” Xia Xingchi lay in his arms and murmured dreamily, “Don’t die, okay.”

This wasn’t the first time he had said such a thing. It was clear that it wasn’t just a nightmare, but seemed instead like something he really thought could happen.

Before Li Chengyuan could think further, he heard a voice suddenly come from outside the door:

“Is Mr. Li awake? Here we come!”

Yesterday, the program team was worried that the couple were engaged in activities between lovers, but since they split rooms, they didn’t have to worry so much today.

What’s more, the audience left messages one after another, asking them if they could stop giving warning and just directly attack.

If they treated Li Chengyuan like they did the other guests, they might be able to see a more lively side of the male god.

How dare the program team push the door straight open and directly enter. At most, they would push the door open after calling out, and try to walk a tightrope to satisfy both parties.

Xia Xingchi opened his eyes in a daze: “Li —”

The moment the wooden door opened, Li Chengyuan reached out and wrapped Xia Xingchi tightly in a blanket!

But when he tried to get up to block the camera like yesterday, he found himself hugged tightly by a little hedgehog of unknown condition who refused to let go.

It was too late to grab him, and the cameras of the photography team had already followed along inside.

[Ah ah ah this is the first time we’ve seen Mr. Li in only pajamas! These collarbones, this deep V! So perfect, nice, nice]

[Sure enough, a male god doesn’t need to dress up to be a male god. Designer pajamas! Make money!]

[In fact, it’s okay to not wear pajamas, hehehehe…..]

[Wait a minute, is there someone else on the bed?]

[I see it too! I think there really is another person in the bed, and by the posture, they seem to be hugging Mr. Li’s waist. That’s why he didn’t sit up completely]

The program team was taken aback for a moment. Netizens may not be able to see clearly through the lens, but they witnessed it with their own eyes and could clearly see Xia Xingchi trying to turn over beneath the blanket.

It never occurred to them that last night it wasn’t that the couple had a disagreement and wanted to sleep in separate rooms. This was obviously enjoying the fun of having a secret affair, ah!

Xia Xingchi stared in bewilderment. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was wrapped up in a blanket and couldn’t move. He couldn’t figure out what happened at all, and was so sleepy and rebellious that he insisted on breaking free.

Li Chengyuan had no choice but to hold his head with his hand to keep him from moving, and the two competed silently under the cover of the blanket.

“Go out,” Li Chengyuan said to the program team with a frown.

Only then did the team recover from the shock of the “playing” between husband and wife, and hurriedly pick up the camera for a quick evacuation.

Before they had time to step back, they suddenly heard a roar from the bed that didn’t sound fully awake:

“Li Chengyuan! How can I get out if you hold my head, ah! Release your claws quickly!”

Program group: ! ! !

Li Chengyuan: ……

Li Chengyuan never expected that someone would drop the ball at a critical moment, and suddenly let go of his head. Xia Xingchi then struggled to get out of bed, and rushed at him like a hungry tiger!

The moment he successfully pounced on Li Chengyuan, Xia Xingchi realized something was wrong and turned around to see the stunned program team standing aside.

Xia Xingchi: ? ! !

[Hahahahahahahaha! I don’t know what to say other than screaming]

[Is this something I can watch for free?! Pounce, baby Xingchi is so proactive! Boss Li, fry him up! ! !]

[I’m shocked. Didn’t they sleep in separate rooms yesterday? Why did they go to the same bed in the middle of the night?]

[Yuanchi CP is real! Sure enough, the early bird gets the worm! We can actually see this scene hehehe]

[Impossible! This must be a misunderstanding, isn’t Mr. Li Xiao Yu’s fiance? Why did Xia Xingchi come to climb into bed!]

[Dear, have you never thought that Mr. Li and Xia Yu have nothing to do with each other?]

[No way! It doesn’t matter how many photos were released in one day yesterday?!]

[Purely a passer-by, I just want to ask why they slept together again? Wasn’t there a room split last night?]

[Yes, ah! This is where the problem lies! Even if they have separate rooms, they had to sleep together, Yuanchi CP is real! A clingy young couple who don’t want to be temporarily separated hehehe]

The two sides fought again as they chatted, and the camera had already been covered by the cameraman’s hands.

There was no need to go to Xia Xingchi’s room, and the workers received the “benefits” of taking a few steps less and the risk of being assassinated by the young master Xia who had just caused a rollover crash.

Until everyone left, Xia Xingchi still hadn’t fully recovered from the shock.

He didn’t even get off Li Chengyuan’s body immediately, but lay on top of him in disbelief, saying with patronizing indignation and despair: “Li Chengyuan! Why did you come to my room!”

A black pot fell from the sky, and Li Chengyuan asked helplessly: “Whose room?”

Taken aback for a moment, Xia Xingchi looked around. After a moment, his consciousness gradually returned.

The moment thunder sounded last night, he completely lost his mind and fell to pieces. Now he vaguely remembered Li Chengyuan holding him in his arms and gently comforting him.

Thinking about yesterday’s sudden storm, Xia Xingchi couldn’t believe what had happened to him.

He never thought that the pain of death could actually bring a deep, indelible physiological terror to the mind.

Even before, he hadn’t liked thunderstorms. Although he wasn’t frightened to the point of madness at the time, he always felt flustered whenever thunder sounded.

It was as if something bad was about to happen, or was happening, just waiting for him.

“Do you remember?” Li Chengyuan asked lightly.

Xia Xingchi blushed and slowly crawled off him, retracting into the bed like a little turtle and wrapping himself tightly.

But after all, he and Li Chengyuan were in the same bed. Li Chengyuan lightly pressed his head with one hand and smiled faintly.

Obviously, Li Chengyuan’s tricks could not be blamed for overturning the car this time.

Even when the drowsy Xia Xingchi tried to get out of bed, he had taken the initiative to hold his head down to keep him from moving, trying to protect his persona.

– – –

When Xia Xingchi had no choice but to appear with a blush in front of the camera, he found that Li Xiu and Han Yuanhe had actually gotten up earlier than him.

Both of them sat at the table while drinking water exhaustedly, as if they had gone to steal chickens from the neighboring village in the middle of the night. Although their clothes were dry, their hair was damp and frizzy.

“What happened to you?” Xia Xingchi asked doubtfully. “Did you not sleep all night?”

Li Xiu took another trembling sip of hot water, waved his hand in misery, and said: “God, the useless life experience has increased.”

Xia Xingchi: ?

Han Yuanhe promptly freaked out and said: “I know the house leaks air, but I didn’t think it would leak rain! I know what it means to say, ‘The roof leaks when it rains, and there is no dry place in the house, the water trails down like twine!’”[1]

At first, the two had been sleeping soundly. In the middle of the night, Li Xiu first felt water falling on his face and shoved Han Yuanhe, asking him if he felt it.

Han Yuanhe didn’t bother to open his eyes, and said faintly, “No, ba.” But before the word “ba” could be spoken, he was suddenly slapped in the face by a bucket of water.

The roof was uneven, and the low-lying water finally leaked through. First, a large jet of water hit Han Yuanhe’s face, and then the entire roof began to seep everywhere and Li Xiu also got a headful of water.

This time, the two of them couldn’t sleep any longer. They got up shivering in the middle of the night to find clothes, picked up their luggage, and left the room to squat for half the night in this small broken house where the farm tools were piled up and the door was not even secured.

Xia Xingchi couldn’t help feeling very sympathetic after hearing of their tragic experience.

At the same time, he had a flash of inspiration, and calmly said in front of the camera:

“Coincidentally, my roof leaked too……fortunately, Mr. Li was next door, so I had to squeeze in with him in the middle of the night.”

The two of them had no doubts. After all, the rooms allocated to this handful of people were similar, and the possibility of rain leakage was high, so it just depended on who was more unlucky.

Xia Xingchi heaved a sigh of relief. He had finally recovered his persona that had almost been stripped clean, and strived to hold out for one more day so that Li Chengyuan’s crazy girlfriend fans would have enough buffer time.

At exactly this time, Li Chengyuan came back from making a phone call for work, and smiled slightly after hearing this sentence. He didn’t expose Xia Xingchi’s little lie. In any case, it was only a matter of time.

Today the task was rather in keeping with the times, and turned out to be patching the roof.

Not only had his and Han Yuanhe’s rooms leaked, but who would have thought that Xia Yu’s room had leaked too. 

The big teapot turned into a drowned teapot, and came over similarly wet and tired. Today was a rare day where he didn’t cause trouble.

Xia Xingchi was helping to carry the repair materials while pondering why he didn’t see the usual tea ceremony session today.

Shouldn’t a green tea spirit be getting more and more courageous?

It must be that Xia Yu realized he was putting on a lively performance after watching Weibo last night, while at the same time Li Chengyuan was also quietly showing affection. The comparison between the two seemed ridiculous.

Xia Xingchi thought about it as he began to mix the mortar proficiently. At any rate, he had been a cement worker for several months, and would show off his skills in a while.

Before Li Xiu heard that he was going to repair the roof by himself, he was in complete despair.

This was not as good a job as setting the table. Please, god, let it stop raining. He didn’t know just what proportion of mortar to mix. He might not only be unable to repair it, but might also have to get his head drenched in half-dried cement rain in the middle of the night.

Seeing Xia Xingchi at this time, he felt as if he had seen his savior. He squatted to the side and looked at him expectantly, admiring the “man who mastered various skills.”

Although Xia Yu didn’t continue to approach Li Chengyuan, the green tea spirit was alive and well as he stood aside like a young master and merely watched.

He also gave strange praise: “Xingchi-ge is really amazing, he must have rich professional experience!”

For the fans, Xia Xingchi’s background may be the only thing that could be repeatedly ridiculed.

After all, in their eyes, Xia Yu was the “only young master of the Xia family,” and Xia Xingchi was just a poor waste from the countryside. In contrast, there was quite a sense of superiority.

“Watch closely.” Xia Xingchi raised his head with an impolite sneer. “You are permitted to be my apprentice, after all, you will have to repair your section of roof yourself later.”

Xia Yu promptly widened his eyes innocently: “What? Xingchi-ge, won’t you help —”

“You can learn, come on.” Xia Xingchi smiled.

Although it was fun to see the green tea spirit admit defeat, Xia Xingchi couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

Yesterday’s ideas were broken by thunder, and now he continued to think. If the person in the photos really was Li Shengrui, it was obvious that the protagonist’s plot had been greatly advanced.

If he remembered correctly, not long after the villain and the protagonist got together, the big villain boss died of illness without warning.

Through this period of observation, Xia Xingchi gradually felt that although Li Chengyuan’s physical condition was poor, he was far from dying of illness. After much deliberation, he couldn’t help coming to a terrifying conjecture —

Could he have been murdered?

Although the original novel was very strange, it must be written within legal norms, after all. Naturally, the murderer couldn’t be the protagonist who got a happy ending.

Therefore, the original text only vaguely mentioned that the villain died suddenly of illness. Could his frailty and sickness have been used to forcibly cover up the discordant illegal plot?

Thinking of this possibility, Xia Xingchi, who lived in a civilized society ruled by law, couldn’t help feeling horrified. A murderer hiding a knife in a smile was definitely more terrifying than an outright crazy villain.

In the end, Xia Yu was just a green tea spirit with despicable methods and distorted views, but the protagonist gong Li Shengrui was different. He was a vicious character who dared to do anything.

It stood to reason that Li Chengyuan was not the “First Young Master” originally, born with a golden spoon in his mouth since he was a child, the sole heir of a wealthy family and an upright young master.

He had unexpectedly witnessed his mother’s suicide when he was seven years old, and immediately afterward, such a cheap illegitimate brother and vicious stepmother appeared out of nowhere in less than three days. At that time, his mother’s funeral wasn’t even finished.

The book didn’t describe what kind of devastation he suffered at that time. There was only a blurb that mentioned how his character had become completely distorted and maddened once his mother died, and he later became a complete villain.

To be so cruel to a frail and sickly child, to cause the victim to become so twisted and crazy, and to beat him down as a villain, the three views of the original text’s strange theme were beyond comprehension —

The protagonist gong and shou consisted of two people: a vicious fake young master who had taken over the magpie’s nest and a despicable illegitimate son who successfully attained a high position. The theme was “Resisting the fate of the original sin.”[2]

To put it bluntly, it was wicked and self-righteous. Even if someone else’s life was snatched, this was called “my fate is up to me,” and the inspirational message showed that if you want something, you can fight for it.

Thinking of this, Xia Xingchi couldn’t help but feel sorry for his big kitty cat.

His original fear of the crazy villain had almost completely vanished over time, and moreover, Li Chengyuan was different from the beginning.

He wasn’t crazy, reckless, and violent, but more and more agreeable.

After Xia Xingchi mixed the mortar, he went to step on the ladder to climb onto the roof, but Han Yuanhe and Li Xiu stopped him, saying that they should not bother him with such a dangerous job and that they would do it instead.

Xia Xingchi could feel everyone’s kindness, so he didn’t push back much. His eyes curved as he expressed that he would go back first and prepare a meal for everyone.

He wanted to see if the green tea spirit would be going to sleep in the rain again, or if he would lower his noble figure to try to plaster the mortar, but when he turned around, he didn’t see anyone.

Today he was well-behaved to a shocking degree. This was a good thing, but Xia Xingchi’s right eyelid kept twitching as he worried that he was holding back some sort of evil intentions.

– – –

Xia Yu stealthily confirmed that there was no one around before whispering into the phone: “It’s too dangerous, I can’t do it.”

On the other side of the phone, Li Shengrui said softly but firmly: 

“When he and Xia Xingchi receive the marriage certificate, we’ll have nothing. Xiao Yu, you know how ruthless he is. He won’t let me off.”

“This is a rare opportunity. He has been attacked before, so he is extremely vigilant. We won’t have the chance to try again after this.”

“He’s already in poor health, and it would be normal for him to become ill in such a harsh environment.”

Xia Yu frowned. A shrewd and calculating look flashed through his eyes, but his deceitful mouth was innocent: “But I’m afraid……A-Rui, I dreamt last night that you didn’t like me anymore, that you no longer wanted me.”

They were both clever people, and Li Shengrui naturally knew what he meant, so he smiled and said: “It will be okay, you still have the recording, right? We will get married after you return to Beijing, and we’ll share the inheritance.”

Xia Yu’s expression went cold, and he looked at the recording interface on the screen.

“Xiao Yu, Xia Xingchi will take everything from you soon. With Li Chengyuan here, he has already become popular. He will retaliate against you and let everyone know your identity.”

“But why should they have everything while we are said to be born out of sin?”

“Xiao Yu……”

These words clearly pierced Xia Yu’s heart. He gritted his teeth and said in a low voice after a while: “Happy cooperation. Wait till I get the stuff tomorrow, and I’ll look for a chance.”

– – –

The weather was clear in the afternoon, but it rained heavily in the evening.

When Han Yuanhe finally mastered the skill of plastering mortar and was eager to reinforce Xia Xingchi’s roof, Xia Xingchi said that there was no need to work during dinnertime, and that if it rained, he would go to Mr. Li’s place to make do for the night.

This was in case he was frightened by the thunder and got into Li Chengyuan’s bed again. There was really no other excuse if another accident happened, so the roof could not be repaired.

The rain was loud outside the window when Xia Xingchi snuck into the room with his pillow in his arms.

At this time, Li Chengyuan was taking stomach medicine with a pale face and holding a half glass of water.

Only then did Xia Xingchi remember Uncle Ding mentioning that Li Chengyuan was prone to stomach pains when it was rainy and cold.

He had come yesterday because he was afraid, and didn’t pay attention to whether he was uncomfortable or not.

No wonder he didn’t eat much today. It was probably because he wasn’t feeling well.

He likely wasn’t putting on an act this time. If Xia Xingchi didn’t find out, he would just take the medicine here in silence.

Spotting Xia Xingchi’s wide, round eyes peering in, Li Chengyuan dropped the hand resting on his stomach and said with expressionless indifference: “Go out. You won’t sleep well in the same room as me.”

Xia Xingchi hummed, thinking that this person was really vengeful. He was reminded of the issue of sleeping in separate rooms last night.

But in order to get into the arms of a reliable big pillow to escape the thunder, he had no choice but to coax with a smile: “Boss, do you have an upset stomach? I’m a professional masseuse, would you like the chance to experience it for free?”

“It’s so cold, but my hands are super warm! And I can warm the bed!”

Under such enthusiastic self-recommendation, Li Chengyuan finally smiled helplessly, and his unbearable stomach cramps eased a little according to his mood.

Seeing his acquiescence, Xia Xingchi jumped up happily while hugging the pillow, and quickly got into bed for fear that the other would suddenly change his mind.

As soon as the two of them turned off the lights and lay down, Li Chengyuan felt that the person beside him was silently getting closer and closer. Then a hand was blindly inserted into his clothes, and fumbled around in the dark.

Li Chengyuan’s whole body immediately froze. The soft, warm touch rushed straight to the top of his head, and then filled his limbs and bones.

He quickly squeezed Xia Xingchi’s wrist, and said in a low voice: “What are you doing?”

“I’m giving you a massage, ah.” Xia Xingchi was baffled, and couldn’t help feeling distressed: “Your lips are turning white from the pain, why are you still acting like nothing is wrong? Boss, ah, you have to tell me, and I will rub your stomach anytime.”

After speaking, he continued to grope Li Chengyuan’s abdomen in the dark, rubbing it gently.

The little money-grubber was truly a jack-of-all-trades. His massage technique was rather good, and the stomach that he been hurting for almost a day and night was indeed much more comfortable.

But with such relief, that unspeakable fervent yearning became even clearer.

Li Chengyuan frowned. Calling a stop to it now would be suspicious, so he had to change the topic to avert his attention: “Why are you afraid of thunder?”

He knew that Xia Xingchi was not like this before.

Xia Xingchi blinked in the darkness, thinking that he couldn’t say that he was struck to death by lightning, right? Telling such a scary ghost story at night could easily frighten his fragile benefactor.

He calmly lied: “Why? It’s just a natural fear, like people who fear dogs or mice.”

Li Chengyuan smiled coldly. Knowing that he was lying, he didn’t expose him, but just said in a low voice: “I don’t like thunderstorms either.”

The big villain seldom chatted, let alone used words like “like” or “dislike,” and it was as if he was indifferent to everything and had no preferences.

Xia Xingchi pricked up his ears curiously and asked: “Why?”

This question did not receive an answer for so long that Xia Xingchi suspected it would never come. Then Li Chengyuan said calmly: 

“Because it’s easy to get sick.”

He wasn’t talking about the stomach pain. It was a coincidence that the two outbreaks occurred in such weather.

The first time, he watched powerlessly as his mother hanged herself in the dark.

Apart from his helpless wide eyes, he couldn’t make a sound or move his entire body. Accompanied by thunder, lightning flashed across the room, illuminating his mother’s distorted and hideous face after her death.

With the rainstorm as the only background sound, her head hung from above, looking down at him. The young Li Chengyuan and his mother, who had become strange and terrifying, stared at each other for a whole night.

The second time, he watched a little liar disappear irretrievably into a rainstorm.

Even though he made a vow for a lifetime, even though he left behind a fake train ticket to nowhere that was said to be “very important,” he never came back.

Li Chengyuan nearly died after being abandoned by the little liar, and when he woke up, he searched for him for more than ten years.

Everyone said that he had a mental problem, that he invented a little boy who didn’t exist out of thin air, and used this as an excuse to force him to take an unknown amount of messy drugs.

Xia Xingchi blinked his heavy eyelids. Li Chengyuan didn’t speak for a long time, and he gradually began to feel sleepy.

But he faintly sensed that Li Chengyuan seemed to be in a bad mood, so he really wanted to spend more time chatting with his big kitty cat.

Trying his best, Xia Xingchi said semi-consciously: 

“I never liked it. Every time the weather is like this……I always feel as if there is something very urgent for me to do. There may be a very important person.”

“I have to go, someone is waiting for me……”

Li Chengyuan was stunned for a moment upon hearing these words, and then sat up abruptly: “What did you say!”

[1] These lines are taken from Du Fu’s poem, “The Thatched House Is Broken by the Autumn Wind.” ⮐

[2] The “original sin” here is being born out of wedlock. ⮐