CH 24

The next morning, Ning You woke up and didn’t see Li Mu working in the kitchen for thefirst time. Instead, he lay quietly beside him like a pillow.

He raised his head from the warm shoulders and found that Li Mu was already awake.

At this moment, following his actions, he turned his head slightly and met his gaze.

“Good morning.” Ning You greeted, then lazily returned to laying down on Li Mu’sshoulder again. 

Just looking at his eyes, he closed his own. He opened his eyes again, looking into LiMu’s eyes, and asked lazily, “What are you looking at me for?”

“You……” Li Mu wanted to say something but he hesitated.

“What about me?” Ning You asked in a daze.

“You have eye boogers in the corner of your eyes.” Li Mu said.

“Huh?”

Ning You’s drowsiness disappeared in an instant. He immediately sat up from the bed, opened the quilt, and made a movement to get out of the bed, but at this time Li Mupressed him back into the quilt and said with a smile: “I lied to you.”

Ning You rubbed his eyes, clearly there was no such thing. He punched Li Mu’s chest and said angrily, “Why are you so annoying?”

Li Mu couldn’t help laughing, holding Ning You’s fist and saying, “Why are you so amusing?” 

He’d never met someone so particular as Ning You. As long as any words were related to those three words, the elegant white swan would transform into a big white goose with explosive combat effectiveness.

Originally, Ning You wanted to beat Li Mu again, but he was pressed in Li Mu’s arms and couldn’t exert himself. He poked Li Mu’s chest with his index finger, frowned and said, “I told you a long time ago that you are not allowed to mention those three words in front of me.”

“Which three words?” Li Mu said deliberately, “How do I know if you don’t say it.”

“You obviously know!” Ning You glared. 

“Tell me about it.” Li Mu said, “Let’s see if it’s different from what I had in mind.”

Ning You took a deep breath, the initials of ”sh” had already reached his mouth, but his good upbringing in the past 30 years really did not allow him to say those three words.”I won’t say it.” Ning You said, “Anyway, I’ll beat you up if you say it again.”

Ning You obviously has never beaten anyone before, and the swing of his fist on Li Mu is superficial. Even though Li Mu was hit, he was still too happy. Why didn’t he find this white swan so cute when they first met?

“You can do whatever you want.” Li Mu said, “I’ll be your punching bag.” 

“Don’t.” Ning You pushed Li Mu away, “Go away, I want to get up.”

There is still no electricity in the cabin, and Li Mu can only use the stove to heat breakfast.

Ning You unscrewed the Dabao bottle by the sink, painstakingly scavenged theremaining lotion, and barely finished his morning skin care. But after looking in the mirror, he was very dissatisfied with his state, because four or five days had passed, and a thin and soft beard grew on his chin. Although it was not obvious, if you lookclosely, you can still see the greenish-gray area.

“Ol Ze.” Rlcu Tbe mjiifv bea, “Qtfgf’r sbeg gjhbg?” 

Ol Ze rfa atf ygfjxojra ja atf ajyif, kfca ab ufa j wjcejiis bqfgjafv gjhbg bnfg jcv jrxfv, “Gb sbe xcbk tbk ab erf la?”

Pc Rlcu Tbe’r mlgmif, wjcs qfbqif vfilyfgjafis erf wjcejiis bqfgjafv gjhbgr yfmjerf atfs yfilfnf la lr wbgf glaeji. Dea Rlcu Tbe tjv cb lvfj jybea atf yfjgv ja jii. Lf vlvc’a cffv jcs glaeji ab gfwbnf tlr yfjgv.

“No.” Ning You said calmly, “It should be very simple.”

“If you don’t, just stay and behave.” Li Mu said. 

Perhaps because of the poor performance of milking and chopping wood, Li Mu subconsciously labeled Ning You as clumsy.

He took out the shaving foam and applied it to Ning You’s chin. While waiting for the beard to soften, he also conveniently applied the foam to his own chin.

Ning You’s beard is very easy to shave, and it is soft in itself, not much thicker than silk fur. But despite this, Li Mu spent a hundred times more patience than usual, clearing Ning You’s chin little by little.

“How is it?” Li Mu asked Ning You while cleaning the razor. 

“Not bad.” Ning You is very satisfied with Master Li’s skills. He looked in the mirror and then peeked at Li Mu curiously, “You should shave your beard too.”

Li Mu originally planned to shave off his beard, after all… he was going to meet another male at the foot of the mountain later. He doesn’t want to appear rough at a time like this.

Shaving by himself is much more casual, and he’s not afraid that the blade will hurt the skin. In a few strokes, he shaved the beard on his chin clean.

A young and handsome guy emerged in the mirror, supporting a smooth jawline, and aprominent adam’s apple. Without the presence of a beard, the eyebrows seem more eye-catching and look heroic. 

Ning You looked at Li Mu in disbelief, and only after a long time did he speak dumbly,

“You seem to be ten years younger.”

Both faces were Li Mu’s. He had long been used to seeing them, and he casually said, “No way.”

“How old are you, ah?” Ning You asked curiously. 

“Older than you.” Li Mu didn’t elaborate.

Ning You wanted to say that he was more than twenty-three years old, but didn’t want Li Mu to think he was “old”, so he avoided this topic out of selfishness.

He studied Li Mu’s face carefully, trying to carve it into his mind, but at this moment, athought suddenly flashed in his mind, and he blurted out: “You seem a bit familiar.”

“Am I?” Li Mu said. 

Could it be that he resembles a celebrity?Ning You pondered for a long time, but never figured out who Li Mu looked like.

Before leaving the cabin, Ning You fed the cattle and combed Hari’s hair.

Today, they still drive down the mountain, and the milk is delivered to the elementary school on time. However, unlike in the past, today there are two “mutinous” children who did not rush to Li Mu for the first time, but ran to hug Ning You’s waist.

Ning You suppressed the unwillingness in his heart and said goodbye to the two children one by one. 

Next, he and Li Mu went to Chief Lin’s house because Li Mu needed to borrow a small generator, and he took this opportunity to say goodbye to Chief Lin.

A few words were enough, but at the last moment of parting, Chief Lin waved his hand at Ning You and shouted loudly, “You’re welcome to visit Kanas Lake again.”

Upon hearing this, Ning You’s emotions could no longer be suppressed, because he knew he would not come again.

“Li Mu.” Ning You sat in the passenger seat, his eyes already wet, “I kind of want to cry.” 

“Don’t cry.” Li Mu said softly, “We can stay a little longer.”

The pickup drove to the vicinity of the landslide, hidden in the birch forest where no one came and went.

The huge car began to rock rhythmically, and if anyone approached, they could hear people inside the car crying.

In fact, Ning You doesn’t hurt at all. Making love with Li Mu in a cramped space can’t affect the pleasure Li Mu brings him. 

He just wanted to vent, and through this last carnival, he vented all his emotions.

Don’t know how long it took, the body gradually stopped shaking.

Ning You leaned in Li Mu’s arms, his brain emptied to calm his mood.

The phone suddenly vibrated, and it was a call from Li Zhao. 

He cleared his throat, picked up the phone and said, “Hello?”

“The road is clear.“ Li Zhao on the other end of the phone explained, “I’m now at the place where the landslide occurred.”

Ning You was quiet for a while, and he didn’t recover until Li Zhao said “Hello” and replied, “I see, I’ll be there right away.”

After hanging up the phone, Ning You didn’t move immediately, but looked at Li Mu and said, “I really have to go this time.” 

Li Mu took out something wrapped in oil paper from his coat, handed it to Ning You, and said, “This is for you.”

“What is this?” Ning You took it and looked at it, and found that a piece of soap was wrapped in oil paper.

“I make all the soaps I use by myself.” Li Mu said, “It’s the smell of verbena.”

Ning You picked it up and smelled it. It was indeed the same smell of Li Mu’s body. 

He was about to tear up again: “You’re also badly good, so how can I forget you?”

Li Mu did not answer, rather he sat in the driver’s seat and said, “Let’s go.”

Before crossing the last corner, Ning You sorted out his appearance in the rearview mirror.

Everything was normal except that his eyes were a little red, as though he hadn’t slept well. 

As the pickup drove through the final curve, the road gradually appeared in front of the disordered mountain rocks, as well as a new road that was obviously just opened. The figures of Li Zhao and Xiao Zhao are clearly visible. There are still a few local carsparked next to them. They should be local guides or leaders of scenic spots.

The pickup slowed down, Li Mu narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the approaching Li Zhao. He frowned and asked Ning You: “Is that your fiance?”

Ning You nodded: “Hmm.”

He could hear that Li Mu’s tone was not as calm as usual, because Li Zhao was indeeda good marriage partner, handsome and gentlemanly. 

The pickup stopped a few steps away from Li Zhao. Ning You lowered his head and whispered “Goodbye” to Li Mu. Then, abandoning all distractions in his heart, he got outof the car and walked towards Li Zhao.

Wearing a black business soft feathers jacket and expensive leather shoes on his feet, Li Zhao pulled Ning You from the primitive mountain forests back to modern times.

Ning You’s pace was extremely slow, and just a few seconds after he got out of the car, he had already begun to miss Li Mu’s embrace.

He made a crazy decision in his heart. If, just if, if Li Mu got out of the car at this time and told him not to leave, then he could abandon everything for Li Mu and stay in this mountain forest to live. 

The sound of the car door opening and closing suddenly sounded behind him, Ning You raised his head whoosh, and a small flame ignited in his heart, but his expected retention did not appear, only to hear Li Mu inexplicably shouted: “Brother.”

Li Zhao showed a surprised expression, “Ah Mu, what are you doing here?”

Hearing this conversation, Ning You was dumbfounded, and his gaze went back backand forth between the two.

“It was you who saved Ning You in the forest?” Li Zhao said, “Weren’t you in the mountains of Sichuan?” 

“I came to Xinjiang recently.” Li Mu stated.

“That’s a great coincidence.” Li Zhao gently supported Ning You’s back and said to Li Mu, “Let me introduce to you, this is your future sister-in-law, Ning You.”

Li Mu looked at Li Zhao’s hand, his jaw tightened, and his face stiffened as he said,”…Really?”

“I’ll let you know when the wedding is scheduled.” Li Zhao asked, “You will come to be my best man, right?” 

“……best man.” Li Mu’s expression cracked slightly and took a deep breath, “Let’s talk about it when the time comes.”

“Ning You.” Li Zhao withdrew his gaze and looked at Ning You, “You know, I have ayounger brother, that’s him, Li Mu.”

The two brothers came and went, Ning You almost fainted.

How could Li Mu be the unprofessional brother of the Li family?! 

He clearly remembered that Li Zhao was the same age as him, which means——He looked at Li Mu, his lips quivered, and he spoke with difficulty, “……you are the younger brother.”

Where is the said mature man??