CH 3

We're recruiting an editor for this novel.

JOIN US!

A wooden corridor surrounds the walls of the cabin. Ning You put the fallen clothes on the corridor railing, and then stood barefoot on a concrete platform next to the corridor.

The floor of the platform has a drainage slope, and drainage outlets are also made at the corners. It seems that this is the unfinished “shower room” that Li Mu was talking about. 

Shower supplies were placed on the ground next to the platform but supposed shower supplies were just a bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap.

Ning You picked up the soap and smelled it. It smells like the aroma of Chinese herbal medicine, it smells exactly the same as Li Mu.

Scent is a private property of a person, Ning You doesn’t want to stain himself with the smell belonging to others, so he put that soap back on the ground.

At this time, a gust of autumn wind blew. It was so cold that Ning You had goosebumps all over his body. 

Among the cold and dirty, Ning You would rather choose the cold. However, the experience of taking an open-air bath for the first time was not as easy as he imagined. Every time the cold wind blew over, his upper and lower rows of teeth chattered uncontrollably, emitting tiny but fine clashing sounds.

Fortunately, the temperature of the hot water is high enough. After about a minute or two, Ning You gradually adapted to it and began to wash his body at the fastest speed in his life.

At this time, a dark shadow suddenly flashed on the birch tree not far away. Ning You was so frightened that he quickly stopped what he was doing and stared in horror at the direction from which the movement came.

The forest is said to be infested with wild animals, so they wouldn’t pick the time when he was showering, right?

If he was attacked by wild beasts while naked… then he might as well be trampled to death by a dark horse.

At this time, the sky hadn’t completely darkened, plus there was light coming through the kitchen window, so Ning You looked carefully for a while and found that the shadow jumping up and down in the birch tree was a squirrel.

Don’t know what species it is, but the squirrel’s body is black with a white circle on its abdomen. The stray hair on its ears is raised high and its big fluffy tail is looming behind it.

It hid behind a birch tree, stuck out a small head, and looked at Ning You with its blinking big eyes. 

Ning You felt very uncomfortable all of a sudden, Li Mu also said who would watch him take a shower. Isn’t there a small audience here?

The experience of learning equestrianism made Ning You indifferent to small animals, and he didn’t know how to deal with them. He was originally showering with his back to the cabin, facing the direction of the birch forest, and now there was suddenly an extra pair of eyes coming from the birch forest. So he had to turn his body 90 degrees and continue to wash with the side facing the cabin.

This is not enough.

Although the little squirrel’s eyes were pure and innocent, Ning You always had the feeling of being spied on. He chose to crouch down and cover the key parts. Just then, the little squirrel whooshed out of sight, and the sound of Martin boots stomping on the wooden corridor rang out from the other side. 

“Don’t you want a bath towel?”

Li Mu, holding a clean white towel in his hand, just stood on a side corridor. Not in the least avoid looking down on Ning You who was squatting on the ground.

Rlcu Tbe kjr lwwfvljafis raeccfv rliis, ktja lr atlr qfgrbc vblcu? Lf’r ajxlcu j rtbkfg jt!

“Lfgf obg sbe?” 

Vfflcu atja Rlcu Tbe vlvc’a gfrqbcv, Ol Ze jrxfv jujlc, jcv ufraegfv klat tlr fsfr ab atf kbbvfc gjlilcu atja kjr tbivlcu Rlcu Tbe’r mibatfr.

Rlcu Tbe’r tfluta lr ifrr atjc 1.75 wfafgr, jcv klat tlr rwjii ogjwf, tf ibbxr fnfc wbgf qfalaf joafg rtglcxlcu lcab j yjii jcv tlr ybvs qgbqbgalbcr jgf ubbv. Coafg rdejaalcu, tlr xcffr mjc fzmffv tlr rtbeivfgr. Ktf mbwylcjalbc bo ragjluta atlut ilcfr jcv jgmtfv yjmx ilcfr wjxfr Ol Ze lcfzqilmjyis atlcx bo… j ktlaf rkjc.

The white swan still looked dumbfounded, Li Mu looked at it twice more, then put the towel on the railing, turned around and returned inside the cabin.

After the footsteps completely disappeared, Ning You’s emotions surged, thinking how could this savage be so rude, not even saying hello? 

Of course he thought about wiping his body after taking a bath. He always carries a cotton handkerchief on his body to wipe his sweat and deal with unexpected situations.

Now is the typical unexpected situation, he has long thought of using a handkerchief to dry his body, and didn’t even think about using Li Mu’s towel.

The reason for not using it is very simple –

He has mysophobia, and he doesn’t like to use other people’s towels. 

Although using a towel can greatly shorten the time cleaning up, Ning You still pulled out a small square handkerchief from his jacket and forced himself to bear the cold to wipe the water droplets off his body.

Back inside the cabin, it was completely dark.

Seeing that there were two bowls and chopsticks on the dining table, Ning You put his emotions aside for the time being.

No matter how rude Li Mu was, he was always Ning You’s savior, preparing towels and dinner for him. At this point, Ning You was still grateful to Li Mu. 

“Can I use your body lotion?” Ning You asked.

Li Mu took a small bottle from the windowsill where the mouthwash cups were placed and threw it into Ning You’s arms.

“Dabao?” Ning You had never used this domestic brand before, and after carefully examining the bottle for a while, he asked Li Mu, “How much is this?”

Li Mu said, “It’s not expensive.” 

Ning You really had no idea, and asked, “How much is not expensive?”

In fact, Li Mu didn’t remember the exact price, so he guessed, “Twenty.”

Ning You was dumbfounded.

For Ning You, who often uses lamer facial cream as body lotion, this price is ridiculously low, and even makes him wonder if this skin care product works in the end. 

But the weather in Xinjiang was really dry, and Ning You didn’t dare not to moisturize, so he finally opened the festive big red bottle cap.

The smell is very mild and the texture is relatively easy to push off.

Ning You only wore the innermost short sleeves when he entered the room. He carefully smeared Dabao on his neck and arms, and then he reached into his clothes and wiped his chest and back once.

When this was done, Ning You put Dabao back on the windowsill, then looked at Li Mu who was sitting at the dining table and asked, “Can I use your facial cream once?” 

Li Mu didn’t answer, quietly chewed his pilaf and raised his chin to signal the thing that had just returned to its place.

Ning You followed Li Mu’s eyes and asked in disbelief, “You wipe your face with body lotion?”

Li Mu slowly swallowed what was in his mouth, took another sip of the freshly brewed milk tea, looked at Ning You and asked, “What’s the problem?”

Ning You didn’t expect Li Mu to understand this, but he silently labeled Li Mu another rough man in his heart. 

After reluctantly doing skin care, Ning You came to sit down opposite Li Mu. Heater with warm tea made it extra comfortable on this cold autumn night.

The milk tea was salty, which Ning You was slightly unaccustomed to, but the taste of the pilaf was much better than he expected. It seemed to have been adjusted specifically for mainland taste.

“Do you live here alone?” Ning You inevitably asked curiously.

Li Mu gave a careless “hmm”, he obviously had no desire to continue the conversation. 

Ning You shut up obediently, and the two of them ate dinner without well-water that doesn't mix with river water. Only the sound of bowls and chopsticks colliding was left in the room.

Since Ning You skin care took a little time, Li Mu left the table before him. He swallowed the last grain of rice in his bowl unhurriedly, then wiped his mouth with a tissue and said in a disciplined manner, “I’m done eating.”

I’m ready to eat – a polite phrase, like “thank you for your hospitality” in Japanese. It’s just a formality, it doesn’t need to be answered.

However, Ning You’s voice barely fell when Li Mu from the living room spoke, “Wash the dishes when you’re done eating.” 

Ning You subconsciously looked over to the kitchen and found that there was no dishwasher installed, so he asked Li Mu uncertainty, “I’ll wash it?”

Li Mu asked rhetorically, “Otherwise?”

There’s that line again.

Every time Li Mu said this, Ning You felt like he was asking nonsense. 

Thinking about it, being dependent on others is naturally not as good as being the eldest young master at home, with servants at your service.

Ning You also realized that he should wash the dishes for the sake of reason, so he sighed resignedly. He was about to stand up and clean up the dishes, but at that moment, Li Mu’s cell phone suddenly rang.

In this quiet cabin, Ning You can hear the tone of the person on the other end of the phone was very impatient, and even Li Mu’s expression has become heavy.

A few moments later, Li Mu hung up the phone while walking quickly towards the foyer, he said to Ning You: “There is a fire over the mountain, you stay here and don’t go anywhere.” 

“Fire?” The slogan that could be seen everywhere in the forest immediately came to Ning You’s mind – set fire to the mountain, and you’ll go to jail. It was clear that a forest fire was a very serious matter, and it was no wonder that Li Mu was in such a hurry.

“Will the fire reach here?” Ning You asked worriedly.

“Not for a while.” Li Mu put on his jacket, completely unaware that his words were not at all reassuring.

Not for the time being, it means that after a long time, it may burn here. Ning You didn’t know anything about forest, but he at least had basic common sense. The weather in Xinjiang was extremely dry, and the wind was strong this night, making it even more difficult to put out a fire. 

At this time, it was pitch black outside, and Ning You had already spent an afternoon in despair in the birch forest. He really didn’t want to be left alone again. He subconsciously wanted Li Mu to stay by his side, but didn’t know how to speak, so he asked without end: “Do the lumberjacks have to fight the fire too?”

“Lumberjack?” Li Mu paused while tying his shoelaces, “Who told you I was a lumberjack?”

Uh… this is Ning You’s guess.

When he saw the appearances of Li Mu only wearing a vest, his mind somehow thought of a lumberjack with a big ax. 

Strong, powerful, splitting the trunk one by one, the sweat of labor flowing from his sturdy arms.

After dismissing the strange images in his mind, Ning You said, “I thought you were a lumberjack.”

“No.” Li Mu stood up and pushed open the heavy wooden door, “I’m a forest ranger.”

A moment of cold wind poured in through the doorway, drowning out Li Mu’s words, but not blowing away the blush of shame on Ning You’s face. 

He seems…… not qualified to dislike other people.