CH 18

Thank you for the Ko-fi Maria Jean Shanks

Editor: Zoey0001 

It’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, and it’s also difficult to go from luxury to frugality.

Li Mu carefully recalled the days before Ning You’s arrival, he turned off the lights at the entrance every night, and then climbed into bed in the dark. One time, he accidentally stepped on the beanbag in the living room and almost fell.

During the past two nights, Ning You turned off the lights, and he lay comfortably in bed, waiting for the room to darken by itself.

He’s never considered these issues before, but he has to admit that it does feel good to have someone turn off the lights. 

“How would we transform it into dual control?” Li Mu followed Ning You back into the house, not quite convinced that Ning You could have any feasible ideas. A delicate person that can’t even chop firewood, would he still be able to understand an electrical circuit?

“First, go buy a socket panel with a switch.” Ning You walked to the desk and sat down, intending to write down all the steps so that Li Mu could do it in the future. But before he could start writing, Li Mu said, “I have it.”

“You have a panel with a switch?” Ning You asked.

“I bought a lot of materials when renovating this cabin, and some of them weren’t used.” Li Mu said. “Do you want me to get them? It’s in the attic up there.

That would be great.

Ning You originally thought that Li Mu wouldn’t be able to go out to buy what he needed until the scenic area was cleared. If there are materials already here , then he doesn’t need to make a memo for Li Mu at all, just do it directly.

“First, take off the socket panel by the bed.” Ning You looked at his mobile phone while giving Li Mu command.

The power supply to the cabin had been cut off in advance. Li Mu followed Ning You’s instructions step by step, pulling and connecting the wires. From the initial scepticism, he went with wherever Ning You pointed to him. Time passed quietly between the two of them unconsciously. 

When all the steps were finally completed, Ning You took the initiative to go outside and turned on the main power, then walked over to the switch at the entrance and asked Li Mu, “Are you ready?”

“OK,” Li Mu gestured.

Ning You pressed the switch, and the ceiling light in the house turned on. In the next second, Li Mu’s side pressed the switch again, and the ceiling light went out again.

Project acceptance – complete. 

“It’s done!” Ning You’s joy is written all over his face. It is obviously a trivial matter that isn’t too difficult, but it makes him feel happier than any difficult project in his hand.

Life in the city is often filled with all kinds of materialistic desires, and every day is spent in unnecessary worries. Returning to the most simple environment, on the contrary, you can feel simple happiness.

“You have skills.” Li Mu hooked the corners of his mouth very lightly, “Daxiaojie.”

“You’re still calling me that.” Ning You frowned in dissatisfaction. 

“Then, big young master?” Li Mu looked at the time and walked towards the kitchen while asking Ning You, “What do you want to eat for lunch?”

Ning You stayed with Li Mu for three days. He’d never been consulted on the issue of food, and all he did was wait to be fed. Is this a reward?

Ning You’s frowning brows stretched out, and he ordered from the shelf: “I want to eat a large plate of chicken.”

Li Mu put on his apron and said, “No.” 

Ning You asked, “What’s there then?”

“Vafjwfv qbajabfr, ygjlrfv qbajabfr, oglfv qbajabfr…” Ca atf fcv bo atf rfcafcmf, Ol Ze vlvc’a tbiv yjmx jcv ijeutfv vlgfmais.

Rlcu Tbe’r gfrqbcrf kjr lo atfgf gfjiis kjr rbwfatlcu atja tf mbeiv gfdefra. Ol Ze kjr pera afjrlcu tlw. Llr ygbkr ogbkcfv jujlc: “Tbe’gf afjrlcu wf jujlc.”

“Rb, ws mbcvlalbcr tfgf jgf ilwlafv, rb P mjc’a mbbx j ijguf wfji obg sbe.” Vqfjxlcu bo atlr, Ol Ze qjerfv, aegcfv tlr yjmx bc Rlcu Tbe jcv jrxfv, “Gb sbe kjca ab ub bc j wbecajlc qjagbi klat wf atlr joafgcbbc?” 

“You’re willing to take me with you?” This time, Ning You didn’t believe it straight away. He thought of the last time he asked Li Mu to take him to patrol the mountain, Li Mu clearly said no.

“Hmm.” Li Mu said, “Do you want to go with me?”

Today Ning You washed the dishes twice as fast as usual. If his servants saw him working so swiftly, they’d be completely shocked.

Li Mu was brushing Hari’s fur outside the yard. When Ning You came out of the house with a backpack full of snacks, he had a headache and said, “Do you think you’re going on an outing? Put the snacks away for me.” 

Ning You blushed embarrassedly, he really thought he was going on an outing. However, when Li Mu said this, he also realized that he had to respect other people’s work, so in the end he only took his mobile phone with him, and didn’t even carry a backpack.

“I’ll get on the horse by myself today.” Ning You said.

Two days have passed, the soreness in his legs has dissipated a lot, but Ning You hadn’t overcome his psychological illusion, and he always felt that he’d step off the saddle.

“Use force here.” Li Mu patted Ning You’s thigh, “You just stomp upwards.” 

Ning You felt a strange burning heat rising from the place Li Mu had touched, and protested unaccustomed: “Can you warn me before you touch me next time?”

“Ok.” Li Mu was also impatient to wait, “I’ll give you three seconds, and if you can’t get up, I’ll hit another place.”

Recalling the experience of getting on the horse for the first time, Ning You knew where Li Mu meant by “other places”. Li Mu always hit lightly, and Ning You didn’t want his buttocks to suffer again, so this time he set aside his distractions and stomped hard, and to his surprise, he managed to get on the horse with ease.

But before he could taste the joy of success, Li Mu had already turned over and got on his horse, grabbed the reins in front of him, and steered Hari forward at a fast pace. 

Without the partition of his backpack, Ning You felt that his whole body was shrouded in Li Mu’s scent. Obviously, Li Mu’s chest and his back wasn’t completely touching each other, but his back seemed to be exposed a little to the sun, and even his whole body was scorched with fever.

“Relax your waist.” Li Mu felt Ning You’s stiffness and pinched the position of his hip bone with his hand, “Otherwise your leg will hurt again.”

Hari didn’t run, and the impact wasn’t severe. However, Ning You still forced himself to do as Li Mu said, because he had to find something to distract himself from his random thoughts.

“Swing your waist to the rhythm of the horseback.” Teacher Li continued to teach, “Let your waist loosen completely.” 

“Is that so?” Ning You tried to relax completely, only to have his butt slide back a tiny bit and hit some wild species without warning.

“Also don’t be so loose.” Li Mu’s voice was inexplicably a little low, he held Ning You’s waist and pushed it forward, “Straighten your back.”

Ning You whispered “En”.

The two people tacitly maintained their distance, as if there was a distinct river in the middle, and kept each other at bay. 

Ning You didn’t want to waste a rare opportunity to experience, and tried hard to suppress the waves. As a result, he really mastered the essentials. It didn’t take him long to maintain the same riding rhythm with Li Mu.

“Well learned.” Li Mu’s voice sounded behind him.

“I did say to not underestimate me.” Ning You said.

“Why don’t you try holding the reins?” Li Mu asked. 

“Is it okay?” Ning You turned his head and looked at Li Mu, “What if Hari gets out of control?”

“Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

Li Mu handed the reins to Ning You and told him how to use them. In fact, there is no need to deliberately pull the reins during the brisk walk, but the feeling of holding the reins is completely different. Ning You has transformed from a passenger to a driver.

When he got lost before, he couldn’t appreciate the birch forest as far as the eye can see. Now he is riding a horse and strolling in this birch forest, enjoying the sunlight through the gaps in the leaves, and being with the little squirrels in the trees. Which is simply better than a day trip to the outskirts of the city and don’t know how many times. 

“Do you wander around the forest like this every day?” Ning You asked.

“En.” Li Mu didn’t mention that this is not a deep mountain, he deliberately brought Ning You to the best scenery in the forest.

“Do you see those two trees?” Li Mu pointed to two trees close together on the distant hillside, “That’s the fuqi tree.”

“Why is it a fuqi tree?” Ning You questioned, 

“One of them is a fir and one is a birch, the fir is green all year round, the birch will go from green to yellow, and in winter the leaves will fall off.” Li Mu said, “Now you can see that one of them is green and one is golden yellow.”

Ning You nodded.

“It is called the fuqi tree because the green color of the fir tree never changes, while the birch tree has new life and then withers. It’s as though the fir tree is accompanying the birch tree through countless reincarnations.”

Ning You realized the romance between the two trees, and lamented: “The fir tree seems to have been waiting in place.” 

“That’s right.” said Li Mu. “Plants are also very interesting.”

Ning You withdrew his gaze from the distant hillside, and at this moment, Li Mu suddenly grabbed the reins with his left hand and made Hari stop. At the same time, he took something from behind the saddle with his right hand, and then pressed Ning You tightly in his arms.

Ning You was first firmly shielded by Li Mu, before noticing the appearance of a behemoth in front of him. He subconsciously grabbed Li Mu’s arm tightening his nerves and said, “There, there are wolves……”

The wolf in a zoo is completely incomparable to the wolf in the wild, and there’s a huge difference in temperament alone. The wild wolf in front of them is much bigger than a golden retriever, and its eyes emit a sharp light that can make people truly feel that it is a fierce wild animal. 

The previous brown bear had already scared Ning You enough, and now facing a wild wolf so close, he only felt that his heart was about to stop beating.

“Don’t be afraid.” Li Mu hugged Ning You a little tighter again, “It won’t attack us for no reason.”

Having said that, Ning You saw Li Mu holding a dagger in his right hand. He originally thought that the dagger hanging on the saddle was for decoration, but he didn’t expect it to be used when it was really needed.

The wild wolf watched the two for a while without moving, and Ning You felt that this period of time was longer than a century. 

But in the end it did not attack the two, but withdrew its gaze and went in another direction.

Ning You finally found his breath, and when he returned to his senses, his back was already soaked in cold sweat.

“It’s an alpha wolf.” Li Mu also breathed a sigh of relief and put the dagger back behind the saddle, “Normally, it shouldn’t appear in this area.”

“Then why?” Ning You still has lingering fears, and he trembles a little when he speaks. 

“It’s looking for its wife.” Li Mu said.

“Huh?” Ning You didn’t anticipate this reply.

“His wife has been gone for a month.” Li Mu said, “There is a high probability that it was killed by a poacher.”

Ning You was stunned and asked, “Don’t you know where his wife has gone?” 

“Everyone in the group has searched for it.” Li Mu said, “But no one found it.”

“How could this be?” Ning You frowned, “Don’t you have any monitoring methods?”

“There are infrared cameras, but you can’t keep track of their movements with these devices.” Li Mu said, “There are too many uncertainties here near the border, and do you know how much it costs to maintain such a large area of forest? Most of the time you just have to go with it.”

“Speaking of money, I have…” When Ning You said this he felt like a foolish spendthrift who had been cheated, but he was just eager to provide a little help here. 

“It’s not that simple. If you install equipment here, poachers and illegal loggers will destroy your equipment.” Li Mu said, “Instead of donating, you might as well reduce your needs in your daily life and do something environmentally friendly.”

They left lightly and relaxed and returned in a heavy mood.

Ning You usually often hears the slogan of environmental protection, but after real contact, he realised that it’s not a simple matter.

When he was still a few steps away from the cabin, Ning You’s phone vibrated several times. 

There is a text message prompt that the phone is not connected, as well as a WeChat message from Li Zhao and Xiao Zhao, saying that the weather conditions are good tomorrow, and the guide said that it is possible to fly(helicopter).

The already bad mood became a bit heavy again.

“Li Mu.” Ning You followed Li Mu into the yard. “My friend said he could pick me up tomorrow. I’m leaving.”

“Is that so?” Li Mu didn’t turn around and focused on tying the reins, “Then I’ll send you down the mountain.” 

That’s it?

Ning You was unwilling to get only this kind of response, and he didn’t know why, he just desperately wanted to see other emotions on Li Mu’s face.

“You guessed it before, that friend of mine is my boyfriend.” Ning You said.

“Hmm.” Li Mu still didn’t turn around, “What’s the matter?” 

“He’s my fiancé.”

Li Mu’s movement of tying the reins paused.

He quickly tied the knot, turned around to look at Ning You, and said in a relieved tone: “You really do need someone by your side to serve you.”

Ning You pursed his lips and walked unhappily toward the house, but at this moment Li Mu stopped him. 

“Ning You.” This is the first time Li Mu called his name, “Tonight, there is a bonfire party at the foot of the mountain, do you want to go?”

“Bonfire party?” Ning You stopped and looked at Li Mu.

“En.” Li Mu said, “Just consider it as a farewell to you.”

There. Although Ning You’s heart felt sad, he was relieved to see Li Mu’s free and easy appearance, nodded, and said, “Okay.”