#then luo wenzhou keeps laughing

[mejomonster]

Fei Du: trying to be emotionless, to be fair quite numb to his feelings. Very easy to not notice the subtle ways they're working under the surface

Luo Wenzhou: makes fei du feel like SUCH a baby boy a scolded teen a playboy punk that he can't HELP but roll his eyes and glare and get pushed into action

[silviakundera]

Watching the rivalry scenes from ep 1-3 of Justice in the Dark has me going back to the novel...

Tao Ran was about to get out when Luo Wenzhou, suddenly turning to him, said, “I want to ask you something rather serious.”

Tao Ran was bewildered. “What?”

“Supposing—I say just supposing you were a woman,” said Luo Wenzhou, “would you want to marry me or Fei Du?”

Tao Ran: “…”

“Supposing.”

Tao Ran considered it for a long time and then issued a conclusion: “If I were a woman, I doubt I’d have any attention to spare for the two of you. I’d be spending all day worrying about how to come out to my mom.”

“No coming out. All the women have died off.”

“Then the other…”

“All the other men have died off, too.” Saying this, Luo Wenzhou didn’t manage to keep a straight face. Laughing, he said, “It’s just the two of us.”

With over six billion people annihilated by Luo Wenzhou’s brief words, the corners of Tao Ran’s mouth twitched. At last he unfeelingly said, “Then I guess it has to be you.”

Despite all he could do to hold it back, Luo Wenzhou didn’t manage to restrain the wily smile of someone who had just pilfered a chicken. “You’d choose me? You’re sure?”

Tao Ran counted on his fingers. “I can only choose you. I think Fei Du won’t be of legal age to marry for another two months… What are you doing?”

Luo Wenzhou was leaning back in his seat and laughing as if he’d just scored a signal victory.

...He didn’t see that Luo Wenzhou was so despicable that he recorded this conversation.

- Ch 10, Silent Reading (Mo Du) by priest

Fei Du looked up and saw that Tao Ran’s forehead was covered in sweat. He frowned, got a tissue out of his pocket and handed it over. “Do you always work this hard? It makes my heart ache to see it.”

Before Tao Ran could answer, next to him, Luo Wenzhou coolly said, “This is what it’s like for the people’s police. If your heart aches, pay some more taxes and don’t make so much trouble. Though, now that I think of it, President Fei, don’t you domineering director-generals have a myriad of business affairs to attend to? How come you always seem so idle?”

Fei Du smiled slightly. “I don’t keep my crew of professional managers around just so they can run their mouths. I’m truly very grateful for Officer Luo’s concern for the security of my financial affairs, but it’s really not necessary. Even if I threw away all my family’s property, the interest I collect on the spare change left in the bank would still be more money than you'll earn in your lifetime."

As expected, these two mental deficients couldn’t keep the peace for three minutes at a time before they were fucking at it again.

Grabbing one with each hand, Tao Ran forcibly pulled the two fighting cocks apart. With one hand, he dragged Luo Wenzhou into the office; with the other, he pointed warningly at Fei Du.

Not finding this at all uncongenial, Fei Du very suggestively grabbed his finger.

Luo Wenzhou lost his temper. “That little…”

Tao Ran closed the office door and very helplessly said, “In a while when I get off work, you two can make a date to go fight it out to your heart’s content.”

- Ch 15, Silent Reading (Mo Du) by priest

[randomingoftherandomness]

Hello😍.i really love your stories and your style of writing❤. Could you please write a wenzhou hanahaki au?

Thank you in advance 😘

Hi, so first of all I'm an avid fan of yours .I love all your fictions 😍.Can you please do a wenzhou hanahaki disease? Thank you in advance😘

WenZhou hanahaki au where one/both spends years pining for the other and doubting their feelings because they haven't been throwing up flowers only to realise that the love was requited the whole time

Okay, so a hanahaki au was a pretty popular request haha... To the two anons who left this from awhile back, sorry it took me so long to write an answering fic... I hope everyone enjoys this! (´▽`ʃƪ)♡

--

The tightness in his chest prickles and pokes and twists. His heart pounds slowly. Once, twice, rattling its cage of bones so hard that Zhen Yan thinks his new Shīxīong can hear it through the chatter of the adults around him.

He squeezes the hands in his and feels the reciprocal pressure.

Even though they’ve only met, even though they only started knowing each other, Zhen Yan cannot help but think that this new Shīxīong of his is very special and that if he can, he wants to always be with him and to always treasure him, listen to him, follow him.

This Gēge’s a very good person!

He has a very good complexion and countenance, and his face may look ordinary at first glance 

Something itches in the back of his throat and he bites back the burn to cough, when Shīxīong takes that first half step towards him. “Shīdì?” He asks, worry colouring in the warm darkness of his eyes. 

Zhen Yan quickly musters up a smile, closing the rest of the distance between them until they are hugging tightly. “Shīxīong!”

Tilting his head back to meet the older boy’s gaze, he giggles. He is going to cherish this person with all his heart.

Man plans and god disposes. 

The years pass with misery and the sole focus of revenge burning through his every conscious thought. The promises of childhood are tucked away into a special place that he only goes to in dreams and when his body and mind feels too heavy to bear. Wen Kexing holds on to that beautiful boy with his beautiful smile and the way he made him want to wrangle the world just to make him laugh.

And then one day, he exchanges moves with man whose face was clearly hiding a beauty and he was momentarily drawn away from any thought of death and destruction, and pulled into the orbit and path of a man who had held his heart from the moment he brought the sunlight with him.

Lao Wen cannot help but move to trail after him, heart pounding, chest twisting and aching, barely able to stopper the way he wants to be at the focus of this man; how the long buried part of him that was once good, wants to try being that, even as a false front, just to make Zhou Zishu look at him.

It was dangerous to keep thinking this way, he knows. It will only lead to death. 

There was a saying that a heart that bloomed with unrequited longing, bloomed to die. Moderation has always been the practice when it came to the matters of the heart and you were expected to have constant temperance in the issues of love. Over the years, he has seen more than a few of the women in under Aunt Luo’s care who had stumbled into the Ghost Valley; lost, empty eyed women at the end of their afflictions, die choking on petals in the prettiest shade of pink smeared the rust of life.

It was well known that there were avenues of cure for such a disease; if caught early, just let go of the person doesn’t reciprocate your ardour, if caught a little later, there was a slimmer chance of survival that only comes if you cut off your affections for the other party - ripping out all memory of the other root and stem.

It was why those ill-fated women came to the Ghost Valley as a last resort. If Aunt Luo’s Mengpo Soup could not cure them, then nothing would. Lao Wen had never understood why anyone would hold on to such cursed feelings to that point.

That was before he met his Ah Xu.

Ah Xu, who calls him friend.

Ah Xu, who calls him crazy.

Ah Xu, who calls him soulmate...

Lao Wen wants to wrap this man up in red but there was no indication that how he feels is reciprocated in that same exact shade. He wants to tie him to him but would that save his soul?

He wakes everyday waiting to feel an itch in the back of his throat. He waits to see that first petal. Anticipates the chest rattling coughs and the pain that comes from this sweetheart’s disease.

But none come.

It isn’t until that first night in the Four Season’s Manor, that he realises, oh. Oh. Between holding on to Ah Xu’s hands as he bares his soul to him and affirms this knowing, Lao Wen realises, oh he loves me too.

[sixteenthshen]

my rant on episodes 31/32

I feel so conflicted about them.

On the one hand, I wanted to watch the shared horse scene so much. On the other,  there were so many inconsistencies and WTF moments. I can't bring myself to touch those episodes again to make more gifs, which is such a pity because WKX falling down the cliff? SO PRETTY. 

Spoilers behind the cut. If you do follow the drama with Chinese fans, you’ll probably have heard the same things like a million times. To save yourself more angst/stress, skip my post. 

The upside is that the director took the fans complaints to heart. They were making edits until 2am last night. I heard it’s already live, but I’m still trying to prepare myself. There’re some things that can’t be fixed >< 

*hopes for the best on Tuesday* 

In episode 11, WKX wanted to tear the Scorpion assassins into ten thousand little itty bits because ZZS had some blood on his lip, which made me mentally scream so much from joy. In episode 31, he  LETS Duan Pengju, that evil dickface(TM) go, just like that? Where's the rage? Where's the anger? Do you see the colour of ZZS's face? Can you see what he's wearing? Do you know what dickface did? 

Although it's a very touching moment when WKX decides to acknowledge the shixiong/shidi relationship, it's super weird that the ghosts are behind. I mean, I suppose it can make sense if we focus on the fact that he's planning to "retire" from being the big bad CEO of Ghost Valley. But it seems careless to expose a weakness in case someone tries to take advantage of it since they have to kill you to get to be the new CEO. 

There's no follow up on the injuries sustained from being tortured by the evil dickface(TM). How could they make WKX seem so callous? Maybe a scene where ZZS asked Wu Xi to hide his injuries from WKX, but WKX's right outside. He overheard ZZS telling Wu Xi to hide it from him, so he pretends not to know. *cue angsty scene for WKX here* 

The only thing related to injuries was when Wu Xi said ZZS could be saved from his self-inflicted nailing. Okaaaay. What about the piercing of the scapula? (穿琵琶骨 (piercing pipa bones) - it's supposed to cripple your martial arts ability until you heal ok) 

WKX suddenly decides to go off and be a career man, which is perfectly fine. But he suddenly has Gu Xiang watch over ZZS like a hawk, not letting him drink. (Seriously, I forgot if this belongs in TYK or if this is yet another thing stolen from Sha Po Lang) Where is WKX showing any concern over ZZS's total loss of 2 out of 5 senses? I ASK YOU MS. SCRIPTWRITER. What have you done to WKX's character??? Poor WKX, poor ZZS. 

And did everyone laugh off the fact that ZZS can't taste, so why should he drink wine? Ok, I can make myself accept this if I remind myself that ZZS would not like people making a fuss and pitying him anyway... (but shouldn't someone, anyone care???) 

We get many hints that WKX has a sneaky scheme, but he doesn't tell Gu Xiang, his closest friend since childhood. He doesn't talk to his soulmate about this either. 

WKX and ZZS's dialogue just before he falls down the cliff... Seriously reminiscent of Silent Reading, when Fei Du makes the same self-flagellating confession & Luo Wenzhou stops him. 

ZZS draws his sword and stands beside WKX. What is going on?! How does he still have his martial arts ability? Did months pass since WKX saved him from evil dickface (TM)? Nothing makes any sense!  

ZCL's hidden weapon is what forces WKX over the cliff. If ZCL did not know about the sneaky scheme, then WTF is this kind of scriptwriting? ZCL's character turned from a good, young child to a prop-causing drama and angst. Even if he felt betrayed, was he not there to see how depleted WKX made himself trying to save Han Ying? Did he not see how WKX tried to keep his shifu safe? Or taught him how to fight? Did ZCL become stupid all of a sudden just to create angst? 

 It only makes sense if ZCL knew about the scheme because of all the info he was privy to, such as Zhao Jing as the villain behind it all (when he heard WKX and ZZS talking). How would he go from knowing that to thinking ZJ should be the new head of the alliance? As a matter of fact, how could Shen Shen?  

Ye Baiyi has to be in on it unless WKX suddenly gained so much martial arts ability in the short time since they last fought. I mean, it only makes sense that WKX got so much stronger because he got injured by YBY, then depleted his strength saving Han Ying. 

So ZCL, YBY, Scorpion King and his buddies, fellow ghosts, possibly Shen Shen... WKX only kept it from the two people closest to him? The two most likely to do something stupid when they find out? *flails at this logic* 

The scene where ZZS's nails magicked their way out of his body... It's so awkward!!! I mean, we're supposed to feel emotional, but the special effects are just awful. I tried not to skip through it, I failed. 

So now what? ZZS essentially sacrificed himself to help WKX complete his goal. He gave up on his chance to be saved to fulfil WKX's pursuit of revenge (and take revenge for WKX's death). And it's all because of a misunderstanding. 

Between ZZS's nails and the ZCL-issue, I'm drowning in dog blood. What happened to WKX and ZCL's characters/personalities???? 

Also episode 32 is VERY choppy, it seems like we’re jumping to scenes randomly, the flow isn’t there. 

I can only say that the "Priest" spirit is gone; it's not a bad drama by any means. I'm still watching & I'm still going to buy the new episodes on Tuesday. But the random angst and abusive scenes inserted without no reason nor much logic are very un-Priest-like. 

I feel a little cheated about the scriptwriter being a fan of Priest. Priest's novels always feature couples who communicate. The supporting characters can come off flat in a drama sometimes because they're so normal. They don't have ridiculous backstories that make them tragic villains, and they behave logically. 

The angst "created" in Priest's novels makes sense. Characters don't suddenly change their personalities so that we can watch something exciting. The "dog blood angst/drama" is the big failing of so many Asian dramas. *CRIES* 

Now, the GOOD & HAPPY STUFF. 

WKX SAVING A-XU. *heart eyes* 

NGL, no matter how short it was, I liked the horseback scene 

There was a cute moment between Qi Ye and Wu Xi, scriptwriter knows how to ship!! & knows how to make it clear who’s gong/shou lol. 

THE HAIRPIN SCENE. IT’S EVERYTHING.

Even though I’m 90% sure the no-alcohol thing is copied from Sha Po Lang... I have so much love for Gu Yun and ZZS that it made me happy. My drunkards <3 

Did I mention WKX looks extremely pretty when he falls down the cliff? How do you fall so prettily? Plz teach me. 

WKX also looks pretty fake-dead. ZZS looks pretty when he’s heartbroken

I ship xiangcao so hard even though I know what’s gonna happen. (Cao Weining & Gu Xiang) They’re too cute.

I love the Poisonous Bodhisattva, I thought the Tragicomic ghost would be my favourite because of how gorgeous she is, but she’s too tragic & not enough comic. Poisonous Bodhisattva is my new goddess.

[eleanorfenyxwrites]

New Seductions (Ao3)

(Wenzhou one-shot - WoH episode 14 alternative scene - NSFW)

Yakalskovich on ao3/ @omgpurplefattie requested: I'd very much like to see what happens when, after they run into Ye Baiyi and the truth about the nails comes out, they finally get up close and personal again, and WKX realises what limits the nails set, and finds out how he can please his A-Xu despite them, working with the limitations set by the nails.

So this is my take on that!

--

Wen Kexing’s feet land solidly on the rain-slicked wood of a bridge in another of the inn’s courtyards. Gu Xiang’s pleading and crying is a grating addition to the relentless maelstrom of his own thoughts, and even though he’s left her behind a courtyard away her voice is still pinging around his head along with everything else that has happened over the course of the evening. The horrible things he’s learned and realized.

Destroyed meridians. Self-inflicted. Ten years - no, he refused help so it’s two years. He’s dying. None of them can escape death. So much death. Had his entire life not been marked by it since childhood, Wen Kexing might begin to wonder just what he’s done lately that was the final straw to earn such horrendous karma that it’s now spreading to those around him as well, making him the hub at the center of a wheel of painful torture. A spoke for his few true allies in the Ghost Valley, the Bureau of the Unfaithful. A spoke for Gu Xiang. Another for his parents. For his Ah-Xu. Anyone in his radius must be subjected to a life of pain and sorrow, it would seem.

He trudges along without thinking too much where he’s going, but when he realizes he can go no further he looks up and is unsurprised to find that he’s in front of Zhou Xu’s door. Where else would he go, after all? Where else in the world could he possibly go like this?

“Ah-Xu,” he calls weakly. He places the hand not holding the remainder of his xiao against the wood but makes no move to try to force it open, much as he might want to. It’s grounding, in a way, to press against the cool wood, to have something so steady against his palm. Steady is good. Feels good. He presses harder and leans in until his forehead is resting against it too, and that’s even better. Perhaps he’ll stay just like this for the night. As long as it’s Ah-Xu’s door he’ll stay until he’s forced to move, and even then when he is it will hopefully be to return himself to his Ah-Xu’s side.

If two years is truly all they’re going to get then he’s going to plant himself at his love’s right hand and never stray, and when Zhou Xu is gone Wen Kexing is going to leave the world behind to grieve for him in peace and quiet, where no one else can reach him.

“Ah-Xu?” Wen Kexing calls again with a gentle tap of one nail against the wood.

He huddles closer to the door and tries to imagine that it’s his Ah-Xu that he’s trying to curl around, that he could somehow make him safe with nothing but the circle of his arms, that he could heal him with nothing but the strength of his devotion. Raw power to make up for his lack of more delicate knowledge that he so desperately regrets not learning when he had the chance. The door feels nothing like when Zhou Xu is in his arms and his imagination can’t fool him otherwise, but he comforts himself with the knowledge that Zhou Xu is on the other side of it at least, that even though he can’t see him or feel him he’s still close by. It may have to be enough.

“Ah-Xu,” he begs the wood an inch away from his nose. “Let me in.”

He’s getting cold, standing there out of the rain under the eaves but already soaked from head to toe with it. He’s still cold from the flush of horror when he’d seen the nails in his love’s chest and heard what it means, as well, and though he could return to his own room and change his clothes to become physically warm he’s not sure anything will make him truly feel warm down to his bones again but holding his Ah-Xu close. He’s been waiting a lifetime for this man to hold him and light that fire in the hollows of ribs, in all the empty spaces of him - he can wait longer for it to be given again even if the weight of their two-year deadline is already bearing down on him and making him anxious to have whatever he can of his lover now, before it’s too late.

There are other things he needs to do. This farce of a Heroes Conference is far too soon, plans need to be set in motion. He needs to send someone trustworthy to check on Luo Fumeng. ‘Places’ needs to be called and each player set in their spot before his final call of ‘action’ on the revenge play he’s been planning for his whole life. He doesn’t have time to wait.

But more than that, he doesn’t have the strength to leave. Not now, not like this.

“Please,” he says so softly he can’t imagine it carries through the door, which is the only reason he’s not upset that it comes out as more of a whimper than anything else.

He’s just preparing to sink down to the ground and rest there against the door for the night when the wood suddenly disappears and he stumbles - right into Zhou Xu’s arms.

“Ah-Xu!” he gasps, eyes hungrily taking in the sight of him though it’s only been an hour or two since he stormed off after their fight. Even if pressed he won’t admit that he’s searching for any changes, any sign that his love is about to suddenly die in his arms.

“Lao Wen,” Zhou Xu says and it’s admonishing, stern, but not nearly as angry as before. That’s fine, Wen Kexing would welcome it even if he was still angry. At least Zhou Xu would still be here, calling his name, holding him steady with a too-hard grip on his elbows. “Why are you completely drenched?”

“It’s raining,” he replies numbly.

“I know that, why didn’t you -“ Zhou Xu’s eyes flick down to his hands at his sides and his brows furrow. “What happened to your xiao?!”

Wen Kexing looks down as well and brings the remains of the instrument in front of himself, studying it with a detached sort of curiosity. He raises his free hand to curl around the shards that were once the middle of the flute before he had destroyed it.

“Hey!” Zhou Xu yelps as he lets go of his elbow to tug on his hand instead, pulling his fingers away from the sharp, jagged points. “What are you doing? You’ll hurt yourself,” he fusses and it’s so surreal, hearing Zhou Xu of all people worry about Wen Kexing hurting himself after revealing the truth of what he’s done with those fucking nails, that he can’t help but laugh.

It’s a rusty, crackling, hollow sort of laugh as it escapes him in fits and bursts. He’s still staring at his hands so he watches Zhou Xu take the flute from him, and then he’s just staring at the floor when Zhou Xu turns away to set it on the table in the center of the room.

It’s only when Zhou Xu returns and puts a hand under his chin to make him look up and meet his eyes that Wen Kexing realizes he’s not actually laughing at all. The next tired sob rattles in his chest and Zhou Xu’s expression goes tight with worry, perhaps flavored with some of the anger he’d defended himself with earlier.

“Come on. You need to dry off,” he sighs a moment later and Wen Kexing allows himself to be ushered further inside so Zhou Xu can shut the door against the storm still raging outside. He manages to stop his ‘laughing’ as he trails behind his love without a second thought, perfectly content to follow as long as Zhou Xu is going to allow it. He doesn’t even bother paying attention to where they’re going, he just drags himself along in Zhou Xu’s wake and stops when he does only to realize they’ve stepped behind a privacy screen. There’s an empty bathtub stored neatly away for the night and a stack of clean, soft towels set aside on a stool, all of which Wen Kexing takes in with a sort of detached, numb neutrality that’s quickly becoming a very comfortable space to exist in.

He stays put for so long that Zhou Xu sighs softly and begins working on getting him undressed himself, which Wen Kexing stands obediently still and steady for. Each sodden layer that gets removed is arranged neatly over the screen to dry until Wen Kexing is left standing there wearing nothing but his hairpin while Zhou Xu turns to snag a towel from the stack.

It’s certainly not the first time they’ve been in some degree of undress around each other, but for reasons that are now obvious Wen Kexing has never actually seen Zhou Xu naked, and he abruptly realizes that he has never been entirely naked either. Whether that’s thanks to convenience while they’ve been traveling or an unconscious choice not to disrobe completely if Zhou Xu won’t, he’s not sure. But when Zhou Xu turns he seems utterly unaffected by the miles of skin now available for him to see, to touch, and as he begins dragging the towel over Wen Kexing’s arms and shoulders his expression stays closed off. Distant, even when he’s right there with his hands on his body with the intent to take care of him in such a mundane, practical way.

Wen Kexing continues to stand still and lets Zhou Xu rub him down with the towel, his eyes never leaving his face though Zhou Xu keeps his own gaze on his hands as he works. He finishes the task with them face to face as he slides his arms over Wen Kexing’s shoulders with a fresh towel in hand to start carefully squeezing and rubbing the water from his hair.

And he’s so close, but Wen Kexing feels like there may as well be all of the Central Plains between them.

“Ah-Xu,” he finally finds the will to mumble. A small knot of tension in his jaw loosens slightly when Zhou Xu instantly meets his gaze.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Zhou Xu murmurs, soft under the vestiges of hurt and irritation lingering around his eyes.

“Like what?”

“Like you’ve already lost me!”

Wen Kexing’s breath hitches as he sucks in a gasp and he finally finds the motivation to raise his hands again, to reach out and touch, but this time instead of grabbing for Zhou Xu’s robes he cups his face, palms tucked against the lines of his jaw, fingertips digging in just under his ears and his thumbs caressing the soft warmth of his cheeks.

“I thought we had more time,” Wen Kexing admits, voice as firm as it can be while he’s unable to raise it above an agonized whisper. “I thought we had more time, Ah-Xu, I-“

Wen Kexing’s quickly spiraling panic is stopped in its tracks, at least for the moment, by Zhou Xu leaning in to kiss him hard and fast.

Zhou Xu is not a gentle lover. Wen Kexing had been unsurprised to learn that very quickly over the course of their short (and rather hurried) relationship, but it’s only now, as he thinks what he always does, that he realizes why.

He touches me like it’ll be the last time he ever gets to.

Because it might be. Because that is, in fact, the reality that Zhou Xu has to live with every day. He estimates he has two years left but Wen Kexing had heard the resignation in his voice, the acceptance that whether it’s two years or two months or two hours, it won’t make a difference. He’s saying his goodbyes to the world now, just as they’re finally getting a chance to explore it together.

For the first time since they came together like this, Wen Kexing fights back.

He bites Zhou Xu’s lip hard enough to make him jerk in his arms, clearly startled. He slides his hands into his hair and yanks on it to force his head back so he can bury his face in his neck to bite and kiss there too, staking his claim, trying to show Zhou Xu exactly how savagely Wen Kexing longs to keep him.

“Lao Wen,” Zhou Xu snaps, a warning, but Wen Kexing doesn’t care enough to heed it, and it’s not exactly effective when Zhou Xu is hauling him in closer by a bruising grip on his shoulders anyway.

He runs out of steam soon enough though, unable to keep up the harsh biting for too long even though it’s clear Zhou Xu doesn’t mind it.

“Are you done?” Zhou Xu asks, perhaps with something a little like his usual dry humor though there’s still the sharp bite of irritation in it. Wen Kexing replies first by sliding both arms and one long leg around him, and then, softly-

“Never.”

Zhou Xu sighs long and slow right next to his ear, one hand gliding up and down his back and leaving trails of soft heat in its wake - he’s still chilled from his time in the rain, and Zhou Xu is like a furnace against him. Wen Kexing relaxes slightly as Zhou Xu slides his hand up to rest against the back of his head, cradling him close as he turns his head to nuzzle against his ear.

“You’re still cold,” he murmurs softly. “Go get in bed and I’ll be there in a second.”

Wen Kexing takes a few deep breaths in before he complies, reluctantly unwinding himself from Zhou Xu to pull back. He studies Zhou Xu’s face for a long moment to make sure he isn’t lying about joining him and only when he’s reassured himself does he retreat, snagging Zhou Xu’s comb off the dressing table on his way to the bed. He sits down in the center of it with the blanket tugged over his lap and his damp hair pulled over one shoulder to begin combing the tangles out of it with long, slow movements. His hands go still and his eyes - previously half-shut with a mixture of exhaustion and muted pleasure for the feeling of the comb in his hair - go wide when Zhou Xu steps out from behind the screen.

He’s naked. Completely and utterly bare, and while of course Wen Kexing’s gaze is drawn first to the nails holding his meridians in place, he also can’t help but stare greedily at the rest of him that is finally free for his perusal.

“Let me do that,” Zhou Xu says with a gesture at the comb as he approaches and Wen Kexing is powerless to stop him from taking it from his frozen fingers on his way to settling in behind him. Right behind him, in fact, as he parts his legs to rest them alongside Wen Kexing’s lap and presses close enough that they’re flush, Zhou Xu’s chest against his back and his chin resting on the opposite shoulder from his hair. He lowers his newly-freed hands slowly to his lap as Zhou Xu wraps his arms around him to continue combing his hair for him as if they do this every day.

“Ah-Xu…”

“Hm?”

“Can you tell me about the nails?”

“What do you want to know?”

A dozen questions rush to the tip of his tongue in response to such an open invitation, but in the moment none of them feel right, or truly important. He mulls over the issue for a few long, quiet minutes as Zhou Xu continues combing his hair, hands uncharacteristically slow and gentle as he works.

“What does it feel like?” he finally settles on, the question whispered into the peaceful hush around them, nothing but the muffled sounds of the storm outside and their quiet breathing.

Zhou Xu stays quiet even longer than Wen Kexing just had, but he can feel that he’s going to answer him eventually so he stays quiet as well. Part of him chafes at the delay, that sensation of time bearing down on them - the heartbreaking and inevitable end of this - still too strong for him to be able to truly be patient. But he knows if he pushes too hard that Zhou Xu will retreat instantly, push him away, and he won’t be able to stand that. Not now.

He takes a deep breath in as Zhou Xu sets the comb aside once he can run it through the loose sections of his hair with no resistance, and he goes willingly when Zhou Xu pulls him to lie down with him, the pair of them safely cocooned under the blankets where it’s nice and warm and some of the chill can finally leave his skin.

“It doesn’t feel like much of anything,” Zhou Xu finally murmurs as Wen Kexing turns on his side to study his profile while Zhou Xu keeps his gaze on the ceiling above their heads, laid out perfectly on his back, his hands resting on top of the blanket over his chest.

“Bullshit,” Wen Kexing replies instantly, but even that comes out sounding gentle. Zhou Xu just shakes his head a little with an achingly sad smile that Wen Kexing instantly wants to kiss away from his lips. His Ah-Xu should always be smiling of course, but that smile should be happy. He’d destroy the entire world and lay it at his feet if it made his Ah-Xu happy.

“No, I mean it. Besides the pain, which you’ve already known about, it doesn’t..feel like anything. I’m losing my senses.”

Wen Kexing goes very very still for a moment as he processes that, and then he pushes himself up onto one forearm to look down at Zhou Xu, to move into his space and force the other to look up at him instead of the ceiling.

“What?”

Zhou Xu huffs out a sigh and reaches up to pinch at the bridge of his nose and rub at his eyes with his fingertips. Wen Kexing stays right where he is - he wants answers, has wanted them for a while, and he’s going to get them - so he’s still precisely in the same spot when Zhou Xu drops his hand again and opens his eyes to find the silent demand for those answers in Wen Kexing’s steady gaze.

It doesn’t take more than the span of a few breaths before he gives in with another sigh. “The nails..when I created them, I designed them to..steal the senses, to make it impossible to do much of anything once they’ve been administered, along with destroying all of the victim’s internal force. The way I applied them slowed the process down, but I can’t stop it.”

Wen Kexing keeps studying the lines of Zhou Xu’s face as he considers the implications of that, as he holds the new information up against what he already knows of his soulmate and a few idiosyncrasies he’s noticed about him slot a little too neatly into place.

“So..you don’t eat very much because-”

“I can’t really taste it.”

“And..You never let me touch you when we have sex because-”

“I can’t really feel it.”

“So when we sleep together you’ve never actually-“

“No.”

Wen Kexing takes a slow breath in, holds it, and exhales slowly again as he leans down to press his forehead against Zhou Xu’s, his eyes slipping shut.

“Can you feel it when I kiss you?”

“Yes.”

Wen Kexing wastes absolutely no time in pressing their mouths together and he’s relieved that Zhou Xu returns the kiss without a moment of hesitation. He leans into it, kissing him long and slow in an attempt to soothe some of the aching in his own chest and hopefully to communicate to Zhou Xu that he’s here, that he doesn’t want to even imagine living any longer without him by his side. With such things on his mind it’s only natural that he would drift closer and closer, and in fact he doesn’t even really consciously notice that he’s moved until Zhou Xu’s arms wind tightly around his waist to finish reeling him in as close as possible and suddenly he’s very aware that he’s sprawled out on top of his lover - and that there’s absolutely nothing between them to separate them anymore.

“Ah-Xu,” he mumbles into their kisses which have long gone slick and hot and clumsy. Perfect.

“I can’t…” Zhou Xu mutters, frustration creeping into his voice as he shifts his hips a bit, and Wen Kexing immediately shushes him (gently) and tries to soothe him with another deep kiss, only relenting when he feels Zhou Xu shiver and then relax again.

“Do you trust me?” he asks into the hollow between the corner of Zhou Xu’s jaw and the soft curve of his ear. It’s a slightly dangerous question to ask considering the fight they’d had just hours ago, and he’s perfectly ready for the answer to reflect the anger he’d pushed his lover to out on the balcony, but when the answer comes it’s instant and earnest.

“Yes. More than anyone.”

“Let me try?”

He pulls back enough to meet Zhou Xu’s eyes only to find them full of uncertainty, which he supposes is only to be expected, and underneath it a particular flavor of vulnerability he’s not sure he’s been allowed to see before this moment.

“I don’t think there’s anything that will work,” Zhou Xu mumbles but Wen Kexing is nothing if not stubborn, especially in pursuit of his Ah-Xu. He smiles and presses a feather-soft kiss just above Zhou Xu’s upper lip, deliberately missing his mouth just to better feel him smile despite the fact that he also rolls his eyes.

“I won’t mind if it doesn’t work,” Wen Kexing promises in between little sips of more kisses, his eyes wide and pleading in his best pout to try to be as convincing as possible. “Can’t I just want an excuse to touch you for a while? I’d really like to, I can keep coming up with more reasons if you want them. But I think it’s worth trying anyway.”

For a few minutes there’s silence again but for the rain outside and the sound of their lips meeting and parting without any discernible pattern. It isn’t the first time they’ve taken their time kissing like this but of course it is the first time that they’ve done it when Wen Kexing can feel miles of warm, smooth skin pressed against his own and that alone would be enough to make him embarrassingly eager. He has to be patient though - if he tries to push Zhou Xu is just as likely to balk and call the whole thing off as he is to agree, and he just can’t take that risk.

“Alright,” Zhou Xu eventually murmurs between one heated kiss and the next. “You can try.”

Wen Kexing takes a slow, deep breath in to attempt to calm himself enough to take his time.

“Does it hurt to touch the nails?” he asks against the curve of Zhou Xu’s bottom lip, soft and warm and slightly swollen already from his kisses.

“You don’t have to try to avoid them, it’s fine.”

“Ah-Xu. Does it hurt?”

A long pause, a sigh, and then a reluctant, “Yes.”

“Mm, I won’t touch them, then. Can you feel this? No looking, just tell me if you can feel it.” Wen Kexing rests his weight on one elbow to free up his other hand to run his fingertips slowly up and down the outside of Zhou Xu’s thigh. He marvels once again at the feeling of it, all that warm, surprisingly silky skin made available to him and his wandering hands.

“A little,” Zhou Xu murmurs, frowning slightly in concentration. Wen Kexing watches his face carefully as he digs his fingers in harder - not enough to bruise or even to hurt, probably, even if Zhou Xu’s senses weren’t dulled, but it’s certainly not gentle except for how tender he feels as he does it. He keeps pushing in in slow increments until he sees what he’s looking for - Zhou Xu’s eyelids flutter and his lips part ever so slightly.

“You can feel it more now,” he murmurs before Zhou Xu can speak and the man nods as his expression does something complicated. It doesn’t seem negative, at least, so Wen Kexing is willing to let it pass without comment to instead focus on the task at hand - literally. He takes careful note of how much pressure he’s applying and then he slowly drags his hand from the outside of Zhou Xu’s thigh to the top, and then over to the inside to rub his fingertips in small, firm circles against the tender skin. Zhou Xu responds instantly, parting his legs a little further to give him more room to work.

He takes his time, just stroking and rubbing wherever he thinks Zhou Xu might be even slightly more sensitive in an attempt to help him feel his touch, and all the while he kisses him whenever the mood strikes him. That, at least, always has the desired effect, and eventually he has Zhou Xu breathless and shivering slightly underneath him.

“Lao Wen,” he breathes as Wen Kexing is pressing slightly sloppy open-mouthed kisses along the graceful curve of his collarbone, moving towards his shoulder.

“Mm?”

“I still can’t -”

“I’m nowhere near done with you yet, Ah-Xu. Let me work.”

“Lao Wen…”

“Ah-Xu.”

“You’re only going to be disappointed.”

Wen Kexing props himself up on his elbow again to look down at Zhou Xu in shock and affront, brows drawn tightly together as he searches for any sign at all that his lover may be joking.

“Disappointed?” he parrots after a moment, incredulous. “Disappointed?! Ah-Xu, for once you’re letting me have my way with you without rushing or pushing, I can finally kiss you as much as I’ve wanted to since that night by the river, I’m going to find any way I possibly can to pleasure you, and you think I’ll be disappointed?”

“Yes! If nothing makes me feel good then yes!”

“Don’t you feel good now?” Wen Kexing asks softly with a glance through his long lashes that makes Zhou Xu tip his head back to sigh gustily for the fact that Wen Kexing has his number so thoroughly - he knows precisely what to do to get right at Zhou Xu’s heart.

“Yes, I feel good,” he finally grumbles. Wen Kexing doesn’t bother to say ‘I told you so’ in so many words, but the sentiment is clearly there in his answering hum as he bends to his task again with renewed fervor. “But-”

“Enough, Ah-Xu!” he snaps, though he immediately apologizes by pressing a few soft kisses to his lover’s shoulder. “If you are disappointed then tell me so and I’ll try something else. If you’re not, trust that if I didn’t want to be right here with you, doing exactly this, then I wouldn’t be.”

Wen Kexing waits for a long moment of excruciating silence for Zhou Xu to push him away or tell him to stop, but in the end all he does is bring his hand up to the back of his head to draw him down more firmly against his shoulder and relax into the stretch of his widely-spread legs again with a soft sigh.

Wen Kexing takes a long moment to close his eyes and compose himself, to remind himself not to rush, not to accidentally hurt Zhou Xu in the course of trying to find what makes him feel. When he feels he can continue he does so happily, pleased to feel Zhou Xu growing more and more languorous under his touch. Even if they can’t find a way to get him sexually satisfied tonight, Wen Kexing would still be plenty happy with finding a way to get his perpetually-tense Ah-Xu to just relax.

“Lao Wen!” Zhou Xu finally gasps, though, and just like that sexual gratification is definitely at the very top of the agenda. He zeroes in immediately on what earned him the exclamation and chases it with a single-minded intensity.

It’s his fingers, he knows it is. He’d worked up to sliding one inside the tight heat of Zhou Xu’s body - the digits slicked with his own spit and some of the pre-come leaking steadily from his thoroughly ignored erection - a while ago, but just like with everything else so far he had decided to take his time. It’s only now that he’s stretching him open with a second and doing more with them than a simple slow thrusting, and he does it again, curls them up as much as he can and pushes slowly in again - and Zhou Xu’s back arches right off the bed.

“Perfect, Ah-Xu, absolutely beautiful,” Wen Kexing purrs as he begins to do only that, or variations of it, and within moments Zhou Xu is trembling underneath him. He’s quick to readjust his free arm a bit to slide it under Zhou Xu’s slender waist and hold him close as he closes their mouths together in a heated kiss as he continues moving his fingers inside of him, now hunting for something else that could make him gasp like that while still giving him enough of what they already know feels good to keep him pleasured.

Wen Kexing quickly discovers that as long as his mouth is free (and ‘free’ just means ‘not currently full of Wen Kexing’s tongue’, whether he’s still kissing Zhou Xu or not is apparently irrelevant) Zhou Xu can’t seem to help but call his name in a voice that sounds thoroughly wrecked. As soon as he realizes this extremely important fact he makes a point of withdrawing enough to breathe each time he curls his fingers again, and he’s rewarded with the best of both worlds - kisses that curl his toes interspersed with desperate cries of his name that are quickly growing louder, less controlled.

It takes a little longer of this before Wen Kexing can concentrate enough to find what he’s looking for, but when he does he worries for a moment that it won’t be as pleasurable for Zhou Xu as he had hoped. Wen Kexing is nothing if not stubborn, though, and so he keeps trying, keeps nudging and pressing and rubbing until Zhou Xu yanks him into a desperate kiss, all teeth and gasping breaths, in a clear attempt to muffle himself as he moans so loudly even Wen Kexing’s ears go hot with what little blood hasn’t made its way to his cock yet.

Wen Kexing holds him close and kisses him messily as he refines his process further and further, only repeating actions that make Zhou Xu whimper or moan into the possessive press of his tongue until he finally feels Zhou Xu shudder and arch his back, tearing free of the kiss in the process only to orgasm completely unrestrained. Wen Kexing has just enough common sense left to hope for others’ sake that the adjoining rooms are empty, but he personally doesn’t give a damn if others can hear or not. His Ah-Xu is finally satisfied, finally feeling as good as he deserves, and anyone who can’t appreciate that should just make themselves scarce.

Wen Kexing doesn’t stop as Zhou Xu begins to quiet again, though he’s still panting hard and occasionally making little noises that Wen Kexing will very generously not call whimpers to his face, though that’s absolutely what they are.

“How did you do that?” Zhou Xu finally groans, sounding completely wrecked as he covers his eyes with one hand - very rude of him, when Wen Kexing’s hands are busy holding him around the waist and fingering him through his aftershocks and so are unavailable to uncover him again.

“I’m still doing it, in case you haven’t noticed. Must you ask?”

“Shut up,” Zhou Xu mumbles but the beginnings of a smile are curving at the corners of his thoroughly abused lips. “I meant how when I can’t..I didn’t...Lao Wen I can’t even get hard!”

“Mm. There are other ways,” he teases with a kiss to the back of Zhou Xu’s hand over his eyes and a flex of his fingers still buried inside of him. “And you agreed that I could try to find what works for you.”

“I did..and you did,” Zhou Xu mumbles as his smile fades into..something else, though it’s hard to identify the expression with half of his face hidden.

“Ah-Xu you’re so cruel to your soulmate,” Wen Kexing sighs dramatically. “I’ve worked so hard and yet I’m not allowed to see your beautiful face as my reward? So cold to me, Ah-Xu.” He holds his pout with an effort (he desperately wants to smile instead) until finally Zhou Xu relents enough to uncover one eye to glare up at him (extremely unconvincingly).

“All you do is stare at me, Lao Wen, you can survive a few minutes without seeing my face.”

“I can’t, I can’t,” Wen Kexing sighs as he ducks in to kiss his cheek. “I miss it already, I will never see my fill of you and when I can’t see you I dream of you inst-mm!”

Wen Kexing melts into the kiss Zhou Xu has interrupted him with without an ounce of shame or hesitation. It’s quick and filthy, as their kisses usually tend to be, and Wen Kexing can’t help but to roll his hips for a bit of friction on his neglected erection.

“Lao Wen?” Zhou Xu mumbles around his bottom lip caught between his teeth.

“Hm?”

“Your turn.”

Wen Kexing breaks the kiss enough to talk, lips still brushing against Zhou Xu’s anyway as being any further apart in this moment seems completely unbearable.

“No, it’s fine this was for you-“

“Lao Wen!” He goes still at the tired frustration in Zhou Xu’s voice. “Shut up and just get inside me.”

“Mmm my soulmate is so romantic,” he teases after a moment’s hesitation as he slowly withdraws his fingers and checks to make sure that he’s dripped enough while pleasuring Zhou Xu to ease the way - and yes, he’s already made quite a mess of both the sheets and Zhou Xu’s thigh, which is unsurprising. “I make tender love to him and he says to me ‘shut up and get inside me’, I’m truly humbled to be the recipient of such sweet advances.”

“You knew what you were getting into,” Zhou Xu scoffs, finally removing his hand from his eyes. Wen Kexing meets his gaze just in time to watch them go a bit glassy and unfocused as he slides his aching cock inside of him.

“I did know,” he agrees, sounding a bit strained. “I knew and I have never wanted someone so desperately as I want you.”

After that there’s no room for coherent thought, let alone any further flirting or teasing. There’s only space in him for loving Zhou Xu, for showing him just what that love makes him yearn to do. Zhou Xu holds him close for all of it, kisses him and murmurs to him so gently that Wen Kexing might feel inclined to tease him for it if he were capable in that moment of being anything but utterly, passionately, eagerly Zhou Xu’s.

He stays right where he is after he finishes, his weight resting on his forearms on either side of Zhou Xu to avoid crushing him as he presses their foreheads together and takes the time to appreciate the simple intimacy of sharing the same space, of being connected as intimately as they are and in no hurry to part. Zhou Xu’s hands are skating slowly up and down his back again and it’s only now that he’s thoroughly warm that he realizes his lover’s hands are actually cool to the touch. Where before they had felt searingly hot when he needed them to be, now they’re soothing on his overheated skin and his entire expression softens into a besotted smile as he nuzzles his nose against Zhou Xu’s.

“Perfect,” he mouths against Zhou Xu’s lips, not even bothering to put so much as a whisper into it. He doesn’t need to - Zhou Xu smiles back and Wen Kexing knows he understands.

Not a single one of their problems are gone, and he knows that. It’s just very difficult to worry about such things anymore when he finally has his Ah-Xu fully and completely, when his soulmate has allowed himself to be vulnerable and known and held and loved. The peace they keep trying to find together will be shattered again soon, he’s sure, but for now they have this, and for now it’s enough.

[lynne-monstr]

@afincf-tirwer replied to your post “huang shaotian buys yu wenzhou a life-sized huang shaotian bodypillow...”

It's like that meme: me, my boyfriend and his giant body pillow of my and my glory avatar. Yx: hst you bought it for him. hst: I DIDN'T EXPECT HIM TO ACTUALLY SLEEP WITH IT, LEAVE ME ALONE I'M SUFFERING. Ywz isn't entirely sure what the issue is, but he's certain that it can be resolved by buying hst his *own* body pillow with swoksaar and himself on either side and hst is wondering what he did to deserve this. 

Oh yeah, he bought his captain one, okay v funny universe but *he* wants cuddles now, captain come on, aren't i a better cuddler than the pillow???? ywz hesitates for a moment too long and hst is *Betrayed*. (In ywz's defense, the pillow doesn't wriggle tho hst is nice and cool to cuddle with) It takes a series of apologies (that do not involve talking but do involve ywz's mouth) before ywz is allowed back in hst's bed and he isn't allowed the bring the body pillow. I'm sorry for the slightly nsfw crack.

IT’S HIS OWN FAULT HE SHOULD KNOW YU WENZHOU IS GOING TO LOVE ANYTHING EVEN REMOTELY HUANG SHAOTIAN THEMED. can u imagine ye xiu’s face when huang shaotian has to explain over the phone that yes, he was ditched for a glory body pillow of HIS OWN LIKENESS and yes the whole thing was HIS IDEA. ye xiu is laughing so hard he nearly spits noodles out his nose. 

(later that week, team happy stops dead in their tracks when they enter the strategy room because the seats are already filled. with lifesized body pillows of themselves. ye xiu is like, yeah this will keep them on their toes. luo ji is thrilled to see his body pillow has a little tiny slide rule

also, ye qiu gets a ye xiu body pillow)

but yeah poor huang shaotian’s shocked face when yu wenzhou is like, “you lose to your body pillow in cuddling points.” after the very erotic apology, they settle on a compromise. on nights when they’re not sharing the same bed (they still officially have two separate rooms) then yu wenzhou can cuddle with the huang shaotian body pillow. 

but there can only be one (1) huang shaotian per bed per night.

what huang shaotian will never admit is that on night when yu wenzhou is out of town for captain stuff, he cuddles with the yu wenzhou body pillow and mumbles to it until he falls asleep.

[syncogon]

[QZGS Audio TL] Chinese New Year

(link in reblog)

The proplayers celebrate Chinese New Year! Featuring group chat shenanigans, WJX being good dad, ZZK being lowkey savage, Steamed Bun wanting hot pot, and other fun tidbits!

This was a rush TL, so if there are any errors, please let me know!

<Proplayer Groupchat: 90 people online> HST: Hey it’s almost New Year, anyone have plans, everyone share! HST:  @One Autumn Leaf Old Ye come out come out come out come out come out come out! HST: Huh where is he? HST: Oh I forgot, now I have to @Lord Grim YX: Hey, what’d you call me for? [misc pros]: pay respects to god! YX: Hello everyone, long time no see, I’m leaving now.

HST: Every time you come out you always just say one sentence, can you not? Old Ye, it’s almost New Year’s Eve, how are you planning to spend it this year? YX: You ask me before answering yourself, don’t you have any shame? HST: Me? During New Year of course I have to watch the New Year’s Gala [t/n: a huge performance held every year with a wide variety of acts], how could I miss such an important day? You can’t keep up with the times if you don’t watch the Gala and complain. HST: Oh yeah, seeing the complaints online is also part of the experience, I bet this year there’ll definitely be someone talking about Glory players!  HST: And then afterwards I’ll be setting fireworks! But these past few years the smog has been kind of thick, should probably use electric fireworks instead in order to protect the environment. YX: No matter what the fireworks, it wouldn’t be louder than you. [misc pros]: [suddenly laughing to death].jpg ZZK: [hehe.jpg] HST: Zhou Zekai what are you tagging along for! Don’t just lurk here for the entertainment! I haven’t asked you yet, what are you planning to do this New Year? ZZK: [hehe.jpg] ZZK: Going home HST: When you go home you have to make small talk, right? What do you say every time? Do you say more than when you’re being interviewed? ZZK: Uh…… ZZK: Happy New Year HST: That’s it? Is there anything else? ZZK: Happy New Year everyone. HST: Uh…… [misc pros]: …… YX: What about your captain, what are his plans? YWZ: This year I’m going to travel. YX: Oh, turns out you’re here. Where are you going? YWZ: It doesn’t matter, I’ll just explore around, and at the same time take the chance to relax. ZXJ: Travelling without plans will be very inconvenient. YWZ: You’re here too ^_^ YX: Relax? It’s not just that, is it, are you also going to think about strategies for the second half of the season? YWZ: Not excluding that possibility. ZXJ: As expected of Blue Rain’s captain. YWZ: I’m sure you’re not going to relax over New Year either, Tyranny’s Vice Captain. ZXJ: Of course not. Because many people will be setting off fireworks, it will affect my sleep at night to some extent. So, I’ve already prepared earplugs and recordings of the twenty-one matches from last year. ZZK: @Huang Shaotian HST: Zhou Zekai what are you @-ing me for! Isn’t it a common thing to set fireworks during New Year! It’s not my fault that Zhang Xinjie can’t sleep! What do you mean by that what do you mean what do you mean what do you mean? ZZK: [hehe.jpg] YX: Watching matches even during New Year, so diligent! ZXJ: Someone who spends all day in game has no right to criticize me. On New Year’s Eve, if I’m unable to sleep at a normal time, I plan to closely study all the mistakes of these twenty-one matches. YX: Hey! What about Old Han? You Tyranny are all working so hard, shouldn’t he come and praise you guys? ZXJ: Captain is currently creating a practice regimen for the New Year break, and isn’t online right now. WJX: …… HST: Fuck, Wang Jiexi you’re here too! Turns out so many people are pretending to be dead, shameless shameless shameless! I despise all of you! WJX: I was here the whole time. I was picking presents just now, and didn’t say anything. YWZ: Presents? WJX: Mm, going home for New Year, the presents are for my younger siblings. YX: Are your Tiny Herb members getting New Year’s presents as well? WJX: Of course. I’ve already bought presents for each team member, and will give them out shortly. YX: Oh, you’re quite thorough. WJX: It’s the new year, giving them presents is also to celebrate their growth and improvement over this year, and I hope that they will continue to work hard in the coming year. YX: Hehe, what a good captain. HST: No no no! Old Ye how come you’re asking other people! You still haven’t said how you’re spending the New Year! YX: I remember, during the New Year I’m going to be leveling, of course. HST: Fuck you, who’s asking you about that!!! Since you’re in game, hurry up before the break and come PK with me! WJX: PK? Which room, if you don’t mind I’ll bring the whole team to watch. ZXJ: I will go as well. YWZ: If you don’t mind I’ll watch too ^_^ ZZK: +1 [some pro]: watching from front row *** SB: Sister Su, the New Year is almost here, how are you planning to spend it? SMC: Mm… Probably the same as usual! Eat New Year’s dinner, watch fireworks. Oh right, there are some TV shows I wanted to watch, I’ll catch up on them during break. Steamed Bun, what about you? SB: Me? Eat sleep play Glory! Oh also, I hope during New Year I can eat hot pot! Even better with everyone together! The type with lots and lots of meat! SMC: Hot pot, huh. I also think rice cake is good, “every year higher” [t/n: a pun on the pronunciation of “rice cake”], especially that flavor… No that’s not right, went on a tangent. Steamed Bun, now let’s give everyone our New Year well-wishes! SB: Okay! Then I wish that everyone can eat hot pot for New Year’s dinner! The type of hot pot with lots of meat! Happy New Year! SMC: That wish is really direct… Then I wish that everyone may have today’s glory forever, that older friends have good fortune, that younger friends have red packets. Happy New Year! Together: Happy New Year!

END: Preview of QZGS cast New Year’s wishes. There will be one club/team audio released every day, starting from New Year’s Eve! HAPPY: Ye Xiu Su Mucheng Qiao Yifan Bao Rongxing Luo Ji Wei Chen BLUE RAIN: Yu Wenzhou Huang Shaotian Blue River TINY HERB: Wang Jiexi Gao Yingjie SAMSARA: Zhou Zekai Sun Xiang TYRANNY: Han Wenqing Zhang Xinjie

[mejomonster]

Silent Reading Chapter 49. I just find it funny here Luo Wenzhou is half hard and cursing himself and his failure to find a partner, and in This Particular instance I don't even think Fei Du meant to flirt lmao. I mean, maybe he did, Luo Wenzhou does know him the best out of anyone and is good at reading people. It is Fei Dus style to cleverly touch someone then flit off leaving them longing for him lol. What's possibly the funniest part to me is Fei Du ramped up his flirting at first with basically "wanna try sleeping with me?" And after that he can only go downhill in intensity (unless he moves past verbal lol) and since he opened with a sex offer and Luo Wenzhou didn't respond, now he probably thinks it's Free Game to tease Luo Wenzhou nonstop without anything coming of it but a good laugh. Well jokes on you Fei Du, he's getting an increasingly frustrated crush you keep fueling and a boner (which I'm sure you'd find funny).

I mean, maybe Fei Dus falling too? I can't judge well. I can say he's warming to the idea of Luo Wenzhou as a role model though/a Ge like Tao Ran (but able to be flirted with too lmao). Since he's also trying to be nicer, a bit touched Luo Wenzhou secretly cared for him for years, and Luo Wenzhou gave him a fucking birthday dinner, and solves crime and Fei Du enjoys helping people by helping with that (and is now considering a job down thar route like his people Tao Ran and Luo Wenzhou). So naturally, he's a bit warmer to Luo Wenzhou now. But does he Actually mean his come ons, or is it a joke he'd back out from still? Not sure yet. Either way it's Extremely funny to me Luo Wenzhou felt he could simply Ignore attraction to fei du, while instantaneously Fei Du decided it'd be fun to see how hard he can make Luo Wenzhou. Like yall are a mess but clearly you're both happy so I guess keep doing what you want ToT

Also??? Hilarious Luo Wenzhou thought when he was young and graduated he was a lot like Fei Du. 3 guesses this is another area Fei Du "took after" surrogate caretaker Luo Wenzhou. Like of COURSE he's a playboy. The guy he grew up emulating (and rivaling trying to one up and beat and be Equal to) did it, so of course Fei Du was like "I can flirt Better I can have More Lovers I'm More Desirable" and when that wasn't enough "I can have Tao Ran when YOU can't (despite you know Tao Ran being wholly unavailable)". Speaking of, another thing Fei Du took after Luo Wenzhou was pursuing unavailable relationships, preferring them (either consciously or unconciously). Luo Wenzhou had yearssss with Tao Ran and is self aware enough to know his platonic partner spouse-replacement in life was never gonna get in bed with him and Serenade him and hold him in his arms. But he still kept flirting, putting that effort into Tao Ran when there were a number of dating partners over the years that if he'd directed the effort into he might be in a relationship now. On some level yeah it's hard to meet people (lol I feel Luo wenzhou a lil too much) but on the other it's like, my dude you're Clearly making sure the time and energy you'd spend ON a spouse you're putting into Tao Ran. You're making it so single is pretty much all you can be.

So Fei Du grows up, sees that, has his own innate life reasons to already be distant from everyone Except Tao Ran and Luo Wenzhou. Sees Luo Wenzhou get hung up on a straight man (likely for all those 7 years or at least many) and instead of oh I don't know, choosing Not to repeat the same mistake, he singularly focuses his first "serious courting attempts" on this straight guy too. 1 because he's one of the few people Fei Du does actually open up enough To like and get a crush on (probably only Tao Ran and Luo Wenzhou ever could fit that bill), 2 because he's straight as an arrow made of adamantium and therefore pursuing Tao Ran will never change the relationship and therefore cause things Fei Du might fear (while also scaring people off pursuing Fei Du seriously since he's "attached" to Tao Ran, and making people generally less inclined to approach Tao Ran and take him as a partner since they got Fei Du to compete with so Fei Du can keep his happy situation the same as long as possible).

It's really... no wonder these two idiots gravitate inevitably toward crushes whether they realize how much they did it to themselves by flirting lol or not. They've always used Tao Ran as their own "partner surrogate" and so it's natural to switch to using each other since Tao Ran has a girlfriend and they don't wanna make her or Tao Ran uncomfortable. But unlike Tao ran they both ARE into men so "surrogate platonic" partner is on less steady ground especially with them both physically thinking the other is quite nice. And emotionally already being extremely practiced at Turning their friend in this Triangle into their "crush they pursue" in a safe zone of knowing its always unavailable (or it was when it was Tao Ran). Cause as Luo Wenzhou thinks: if this were a stranger I'd pursue him, but it's Fei Du... but why does it being Fei Du matter? And of course, the answer is, because if Fei Du is the new "tao ran surrogate spouse" then he's supposed to remain platonic and always be unavailable. But when Fei Du flirts back... that's no longer true... he IS available (at least more than Tao Ran). Which means the familiar dynamic they were both hoping to replace with each other? Can not exist. It fundamentally can't. Because they both Are Available to some degree, would consider saying yes to sleeping together to Some Degree, horrifically might even consider marrying each other. Which opens them up to the abyss of fear that is the unknown they've DROPPED HEADFIRST INTO by pursuing each other.

Then the other part. They're already each other's closest people emotionally. Luo Wenzhous closest emotional bonds are Tao Ran and Fei Du, and Fei Du get "special" status as a boy he viewed as his responsibility which is an extreme he never tried to do for Tao Ran. That's finally waning as Fei Dus now seen as an equal (and now that it's waned the caretaking feelings are shifting to just broad care that's more compatible with romantic views of Fei Du). And then also, Luo Wenzhous already seen Fei Du at his (almost) "worst." Seen him say hey maybe I tried to kill my dad, say he'd enjoy killing someone, say he hates Luo Wenzhou... and that takes a level of trust in Luo Wenzhou. A level of trust Fei Du didn't risk with Tao Ran. And for all their fighting, Fei Du never totally cut Luo Wenzhou out of his life for HIS rude behavior, and Luo Wenzhou showed consistently for years he has no intention to stop caring for Fei Du ever even if Fei Dus a murdering asshole apparently. That level of trust and intimacy... even if built through fights after which they kept caring for each other/trusting each other Again to not leave them if they argued again? It's a foundation. A foundation Fei Du probably couldn't build with a new lover anyway, wouldn't want to, and Tao Ran was appealing cause this would never form. But it already IS formed with Luo Wenzhou. One of the scariest parts for Fei Du about being emotionally intimate and vulnerable with a lover he already HAS with Luo Wenzhou. So a more ideal partner doesn't exist. The "hardest" part of the work is done. He already knows Luo Wenzhou cares about him reliably, will not abandon him, and knows (most) of who he really is. Sleeping with him would just be opening a physical door they haven't yet which... to be fair is scary as it'd another area he'd now have shared honestly with the guy who knows him best, scary, but it's not like a leap from 0-100. It's a leap from like 75% to 100%.

However. I do think the bulk of their development right now is Fei Du wondering/fearing if Luo Wenzhou can TRUST him. Luo Wenzhou knows him yeah. But can Luo Wenzhou TRUST that if he kills someone, he has a goof reason? That if he hates someone, they did something deserving it? That if he makes a judgement call on something important, it's worth considering it important? Them solving cases together definitely Helps Fei Du build this trust. But I don't think he's there yet. And hearing Luo Wenzhou secretly helped him for years, seeing Luo Wenzhou at the grave, at his birthday, Luo Wenzhou saying he's a good person cause he helped mother He, Luo not even suspecting him of killing He Zhongyi when Tao Ran did... it all helps this trust. But to some degree Fei Du still feels like that kid, who fears he didn't do enough to save his mom, to get her to love him back, and she left him. And he's wondering if he's got some flaw that'll like his mom, "make Luo Wenzhou leave him." I get it. I feel you Fei Du. It's hard.

I predict there will have to be some scene at some point (at least I hope) where Luo Wenzhou has to trust Fei Dus instincts without logic agreeing with it (since so far Luo trusts him completely BUT logic also agrees fei du is right so it doesn't feel Luo believes him as much as "luos level headed when it's important"). Or a scene where fei du makes an awful choice, cruel choice, some action he can't take back... and Luo Wenzhou doesn't abandon him. Fei Du thinks he's a monster on some level (I think so - when you fear your parents pain is caused by you, you feel like a mistake, you feel like the reason for their upset even though it's not true) even before he thought the violent things he does now. I think on some level he wants to prove he is, show the people who still care (Luo) that he is, and see if they rightfully abandon him (which would confirm his self hate he's digging himself into a pit of). Anyway... I'll find out.

My point is. Luo Wenzhou already has all the ingredients to fall in love with Fei Du, he was just considering fei du "unavailable" by default in his head until recently. And fei du has more ties to Luo Wenzhou emotionally than anyone else, of all the people he could fall in love with Luo wenzhou is the one it could happen as easily as fei du deciding "I'll allow myself to." And the sexual jokes are fun for him I'm sure, but the instant he takes it from "haha hooking up would be funny" to "Oh I feel exposed and seen and vulnerable" he's going to be teetering on the edge of in too deep and already attached. So he's playing a fun game lol in which at some point he's gonna fall into his self made situation and then like cold water be shocked he's in love and exposed so thoroughly.

Quote:

Luo Wenzhou, expressionlessly, said, “Ongoing investigations are confidential.”

Before he’d finished, Fei Du was already evenly going on: “Oh, right, it was also that he had some connection to the serial kidnappings of little girls twenty years ago, so he seemed suspicious.”

Luo Wenzhou secretly ground his teeth, internally plotting to get back and closely investigate just which bastard’s mouth had been so unguarded.

“That is, you don’t have evidence. The little girl isn’t fully thirteen years old. Her IQ seems high, but her mental state can’t be described as stable. How much credibility can her testimony have? The alibi of the man you arrested today was personally supplied by the police force. What if he persists in denials?” Fei Du spread his hand slightly. “And there’s that little girl. You won’t get anything out of her mouth. At any rate, you can’t torture a confession out of her. Are you really planning to call in a specialist on children’s criminal psychology this very night?”

Each word Fei Du spoke was true; all of these things were giving Luo Wenzhou a headache.

All of tonight’s operations lacked the support of real evidence. If they hadn’t rescued Chenchen in the end, having relied solely on Luo Wenzhou acting on his own initiative, shooting first and asking permission later, he’d have been in for it the next day.

He’d already driven up to the ground floor of the hotel. Surplus cold air assaulted the senses, carrying the scent of the lobby’s chill and serene incense, refreshing to the heart and mind.

Though it was the small hours of the morning, there was still a doorman on duty who energetically stepped up to welcome the guest.

Fei Du got out of the car and was about to go when he suddenly remembered something and turned back. He leaned down and knocked on the window of Luo Wenzhou’s car, then pulled open the driver’s side door.

“I left my phone,” he said. “Could you pass it to me?”

Luo Wenzhou gave an “okay” and picked the phone up from the passenger’s seat. He was about to pass it over, but Fei Du, seeming unable to wait, reached out his hand to take it.

His shirt, disheveled from the car accident, hung down loosely. From Luo Wenzhou’s point of view, he could just see into his drooping collar. His chest was a little thin, but, displayed under a set of clearly defined collarbones, it had a sense of restrained power. He hadn’t purposefully sprayed himself with cologne today, but this person’s degenerate flesh had absorbed all the world’s essences; from his collar came a faint, almost undetectable masculine scent, vanishing without a trace before it could be clearly considered.

Reaching out his arm to take the phone, Fei Du almost brushed against him; after this near contact, his finger, by accident or by design, touched Luo Wenzhou as he grabbed his phone.

Luo Wenzhou: “…”

In the middle of the night, for a young and vigorous man, interested in men and having no fixed partner, under the infinite stress of work, to be taken by surprise by this sort of provocation was no less tragic than for a person who had been fasting for three days to see a late-night online ad for a Michelin restaurant.

“I should still be here in the morning. Come find me if you need me.” Fei Du straightened as if nothing had happened, sticking the pestilential phone in his pocket. “I can talk to the girl for you. While I’m not an expert in troubled young people, I have a considerable wealth of experience being a troubled young person.”

Mentally and physically exhausted, Luo Wenzhou waved his hand. “Go away already.”

When Fei Du had really gone away, Luo Wenzhou stopped his car by the side of the road and smoked two cigarettes in a row before he had finally recovered from his awkward half-hard condition. He started the car and went back to the City Bureau, his heart full of vicissitudes in spite of himself.

When an ordinary person was busy with studies or work, he could still resolve his personal problems by the “blind date” method; matters were much less convenient for those with niche interests.

When he’d just graduated, Young Lord Luo had, like Fei Du, fooled around all over for a few years. Later he’d found that while dissolution was easy, finding a suitable person was very hard. Moreover, he’d found that so-called “enchantment” was a four-step process: first infatuation, then habituation, then insipidness, and finally a revulsion of taste. Adding in his increasing stress at work taking away his attention, Luo Wenzhou had slowly evolved an “elderly” lifestyle of going to and from work, coming home, and petting the cat.

But while his mentality was “elderly,” his body was after all still young; an enormous contradiction had arisen between his physiological and mental states. Luo Wenzhou had the perturbed thought that if he carried on like this, one day he just might take a shine to Luo Yiguo’s big fluffy tail.

He irascibly floored the gas pedal. The car groaned and gave a bound, charging towards the brightly lit City Bureau.

[mejomonster]

Silent Reading, chapter 63. There is absolutely so much to say but I'm tired right now. Some things my mind can still bring up: Fei Du hinting at a bad childhood and scared to share, sharing just this much being Heavy, him daring to reach out to Luo for emotional support with the hand (seeming like Luos cat when scared) and the trust in that, then Fei Du turning it into a flirtation when the moment passes to put a lock back on his vulnerability just then and move on, and Luo accepting the emotional support fei du needed but rejecting the put-on-act of kissing his hand (for a variety of reasons), fei du liking the feeling he gets when he puts moves on Luo Wenzhou, the fact that just generally in the novel up to this point their interactions still remain nearly always a battle. It starts as a battle of insults, but then as flirtation comes in the winner is still whoever stunned to silence "..." the other. The moment fei du asked to just touch his hand was one of their rare moments of no battle-which of course fei du then turned into a battle later. Or him using flirtation to avoid answering about his own relationship with his father-battling each other is a shield for them, especially fei du, to keep in control of their level of emotional sharing and backpedal it (or deepen it occasionally) as desired. It gives them the kind of enemies-to-lovers scene dynamics even though they're actually quite close. Just. So much about this scene was so good. I want to see Luo Wenzhous pov again soon on what happened.

And finally, a fun fact. When I was 6 months into learning Chinese I read this until around chapter 15 when I had to switch to mtl/chinese parallel text and trying to look up words for translations corrections and clarifications. And the line about fei du kissing his hand? All the mtls absolutely slaughtered it and struggled desperately to try and make sense of it, mostly could not manage to nail down the word used was kiss, and I had to look up individual words until I could figure out the line myself, thats how I learned 吻.

Quote:

After all, everyone thought that Malcolm and Donalbain had killed their benevolent father.”

The line of car headlights up ahead was like a dragon with its head stretching away into the distance. Luo Wenzhou pretended not to notice that these words were alluding to him. As if nothing were the matter, he asked, “What was Zhou Huaixin and the Venerable Zhou’s father-son relationship like?”

“An unworthy son, living outside of the mainstream, out of tune with the whole Zhou Clan, with his decathlon-running big brother above him to compare him with.” Fei Du shrugged. “What could it be like? If you think about it, you’ll know there was considerable strain.”

“And what about you?” Luo Wenzhou asked quietly. “As far as I know, you didn’t go out of line when you were a teenager, and you’re an only child. Why was your relationship with your father strained?”

At first Fei Du froze. Then he turned to Luo Wenzhou and slyly dodged the subject. “Hm? Is Captain Luo so interested in me? I’ve heard that according to the unspoken social rules in our country, people only ask after others’ family backgrounds when they regard someone as a potential mate.”

As he spoke, he half-turned, leaning a little closer to Luo Wenzhou. “Are you sure you want to know? I catch your drift, then.”

Just then the car in front of them shuffled forward. Luo Wenzhou stepped on the gas and leapt forward, then put on the brakes, sending Fei Du crashing back against the passenger’s seat.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t talk about it,” Luo Wenzhou said dully. “Don’t give me any of that.”

Fei Du laughed, not speaking.

The two of them sat in mutual silence for a while. The stoplight at the intersection went through a cycle, and the traffic in the U-turn lane stopped again. They’d have to wait for the next opportunity. The impatient drivers all around honked their horns one after another. Occasionally someone would roll down a window and look out; samples of all kinds of music leaked out of their cars.

The smile on Fei Du’s face gradually disappeared. Perhaps it was because the night was thick, and perhaps it was because the densely packed crowd had a particular feeling of loneliness. He suddenly spoke: “I sometimes find that it can be very difficult for a person to escape his parentage and the surroundings he grew up in.”

Luo Wenzhou looked at him.

“Thoughts, habits, disposition, manners, level of virtue, cultural accomplishments… These things, which can be altered later, are like the branches and leaves of plants. As long as you’re willing, you can prune yourself into any direction.” Fei Du leaned back in his seat, looking out into Yan City’s night sky with his eyes narrowed. “But the deeper levels, the most essential things, are very hard to alter. The things you encounter in the earliest surroundings of your childhood, when you have no notions about the world, settle into your unconscious mind. Traces of these things will be hidden in all the abstract concepts you take in through your native language. You won’t notice it yourself, but those things will shroud your whole life.”

At this point, it was as if Fei Du had exhausted his greatest efforts. There was a door in his mind, a very thick door with its hinges mottled with rust; even using all his strength, he could only open it this little crack.

Luo Wenzhou waited patiently for a while, but he didn’t continue.

Fei Du said, “Captain Luo, could you lend me your hand?”

Following this advance notice, all the nerves in Luo Wenzhou’s entire body instinctively collected in his right hand laying at his side. Then, Fei Du very slowly and gently covered the back of his hand. His fingers were long and slender, ice cold, but the palm of his hand was warm. He didn’t press hard, leaving him the opportunity to draw back at any time.

An indescribable feeling meandered up from Luo Wenzhou’s right hand. The temperature in the car abruptly went up at least two degrees. The muscles of Luo Wenzhou’s forearm instinctively tensed, but he somehow didn’t pull back his hand. Fei Du bent his head, carefully holding his hand, making Luo Wenzhou think of Luo Yiguo, startled awake by some nightmare, running to his pillow in the middle of the night.

Suddenly, the car behind them honked impatiently. Luo Wenzhou gave a start and found that the light had already changed and there was an empty space ahead of him, inviting others to cut in line.

Fei Du’s momentary fragile expression softly vanished in thin air like steam. The ends of his peach blossom eyes turned up, and he quickly bent his head and kissed the back of Luo Wenzhou’s hand, fingers lightly brushing the most sensitive place on his palm. When Luo Wenzhou immediately pulled his hand away, Fei Du blinked innocently at him. “Goodness, I’m sorry. Captain Luo’s charms are truly too powerful. I accidentally advanced a little too far.”

Luo Wenzhou: “…”

This joker really had seduction down to a military strategy.

Luo Wenzhou lost his temper. As he drove through the difficult intersection, he said, “Fei Du, have I spoiled you too much?”

Fei Du considered his expression, felt that he’d gone overboard, and thereupon shut his mouth, not pouring any more oil onto the fire. As Luo Wenzhou irritably left the flow of traffic for the west entrance, he held tightly to the handle of the car door as they dizzily flew back to the City Bureau.

“We ‘normal people,’ proper or not, aren’t in the habit of getting it on with our acquaintances.” Luo Wenzhou, his face slightly grim, indicated that Fei Du should get out of the car. “If you’re hard up, go find your picture-painting little skeleton of a drinking buddy.”

Then he shut the car door, turned, and left.

Fei Du sat alone in the service car among the unpleasant smelling aromatherapy, sampling the discomfiture Luo Wenzhou had left behind. He thought that the “taste” was unusually potent; he very much wanted there to be a continuation.

[mejomonster]

Chapter 111. I have so much to say but words don't say as much as the passage itself. Fei Du knowing it's ambiguous, Luo Wenzhou knowing it's time to clarify but taking care of Fei Du to distract for a moment, Fei Du deciding he'd like to postpone the clarification when he realizes it's about to end, Luo Wenzhou being the more emotionally mature one and. Clarifying. He wants to spend the rest of his life with Fei Du.

Stay inside,” Mu Xiaoqing said. Then she turned to Luo Wenzhou and ordered, “You’re a few years older than he is, you should take some more responsibility and restrain your spoiled temper at home, do you hear me?”

 

This speech was so domestic as to make it suspect. Luo Wenzhou agreed indolently, but Fei Du froze.

 

Then Luo Cheng spoke, saying to Fei Du, “I hear your parents are both not around. If you encounter anything in the future that you really can’t deal with, you can come to us.”

 

Fei Du was surprised and bewildered. Meeting those eyes that resembled Luo Wenzhou’s, he saw that Luo Cheng was actually smiling faintly at him, the expression on his imposing face almost kindly.

 

Mu Xiaoqing waved at him and stuck her hand into Luo Cheng’s pocket to keep warm. Beaming, she said, “Our son has been heartless since he was little. It’s been years since I saw him cry…”

 

Not waiting for her to finish, Luo Wenzhou yowled and cried out, “See you!” then closed the door, shutting out the rest of Mu Xiaoqing’s words.

 

With Mu Xiaoqing and Luo Cheng gone, the tumultuous living room at once quieted down. Luo Wenzhou knew that the old things hadn’t been able to contain themselves and had run over to see Fei Du. At first it had been all right, but in the end they’d sounded like they’d been enjoining a daughter-in-law. Fei Du had a monster-revealing mirror in his heart; he could see clearly through a conspiracy with only the slightest clue, never mind such an obvious demonstration.

 

Luo Wenzhou hadn’t let them come all this time because he’d been afraid they would rashly pierce through the window paper, but now that it had come to this, in spite of himself he was rather expectantly awaiting Fei Du’s reaction—never mind whether it was a good reaction or a bad reaction; at least it would resolve the anxiety of hesitating in place.

 

In contradictory fashion, he didn’t dare to look at Fei Du’s expression. He only seemingly indifferently complained, “They came without even calling ahead. They really know how to make trouble. I’ll go heat up some milk.”

 

Fei Du’s gaze, which seemed to have physical presence, bored heavily into his back, watching him tear open a box of milk, pour a bit into a saucer for Luo Yiguo, then pour the rest into a cup, mix in a spoonful of honey, and stick it into the microwave.

 

Luo Wenzhou knew that Fei Du was watching him, but he couldn’t determine the meaning of that gaze. His tongue moved; he thought over and over of bringing the subject up, breaking the awkward silence, but searching his guts and belly he still couldn’t think of what he wanted to say. A thin layer of sweat broke out on his back. In the whole kitchen, the only sound remaining in the silence was the whirring of the microwave.

 

Then the microwave beeped. Luo Wenzhou pulled himself together and reached out to open the door. Suddenly, a hand reached over from behind him, catching his wrist.

 

Luo Wenzhou gave a start. He’d been lost in thought just now and hadn’t noticed Fei Du approaching.

 

“What did you tell your parents?” Fei Du asked, teasing, carefully stroked his wrist. “I think there’s been a big misunderstanding.”

 

Luo Wenzhou’s throat moved slightly.

 

Fei Du laughed quietly, pecking at the most sensitive place at the base of his ear, his other hand untucking Luo Wenzhou’s shirt. “I just got a scare. Shouldn’t you make it up to me, shixiong? My technique really is very good. Just try it, I guarantee…”

 

Luo Wenzhou held down his groping paw.

 

Fei Du was planning to cover this awkwardness up. Luo Wenzhou was perfectly well aware of the situation and knew what was tactful; of course he understood. If he only went along with this, he could enjoy a bit of unburdened sex before the miserable weekend of overtime, then everyone could cheerfully carry on with the previous ambiguity, happily going on…

 

Until at long last the conditions were right…or the two of them parted ways.

 

“Too rash,” Luo Wenzhou told himself.

 

Then he peeled Fei Du’s hand off of himself, turned, and said to him a word at a time, “My parents have always been fairly permissive towards me, especially after I became an adult. As long as my general direction was all right, they wouldn’t come to interfere—as for who I hung out with, whether I had boyfriends or girlfriends, how I did my job, that was all my business. They wouldn’t ask about it.”

 

Fei Du faintly sensed what he was going to say and stared dumbly at him.

 

“There’s nothing to misunderstand.” Luo Wenzhou’s hand tightened involuntarily, encircling Fei Du’s wrist hard enough to hurt a little. “They came over on purpose to see you today and behaved that way because I formally told them…”

 

Fei Du was inexplicably somewhat panicked and tried subconsciously to interrupt him. “Shixiong.”

 

“…that you’re the person I’m planning to spend a lifetime with.”

[mejomonster]

Tumblr ate my meta agh :c it was about zhoudus novel start relationship now that I know more of fei dus pov. Oh well. Basically chapter 100 is <3. I love fei du loving when Luo wenzhou opens up to him emotionally. I love fei du wishing he could give Luo wenzhou a nice story but his childhood sucked and he likes Luo wenzhou as his family instead. I love fei du telling a "dumb youth" story of himself and of course its rhe part of his teenage years With Tao Ran and Luo Wenzhou. His happiest safest part of life:

Between the branches of the old trees that had lost all their leaves, you could see the ancient bell on top of the Drum Tower. The night was limpid.

 

The two of them had finally torn away the seriously damaged pretext, tossing aside this murder case where the murderer was evident at a glance.

 

“When I was fifteen or sixteen, I also plotted to run away with a group, though the reason was better than celebrating a Western holiday—KFC or some company like that was putting together a middle school basketball competition, and the prize was a basketball signed by an NBA celebrity, who just happened to be the basketball player I liked. So I got together a group of people, got a sick note from a classmate’s cousin who was a nurse, told my parents the school had organized a competitive summer camp, and ran around playing basketball for half a month.”

 

Fei Du: “…”

 

This was a recollection so wretched it really made you sigh in admiration.

 

“We did get the prize, and I fooled my mom by saying a classmate had brought it back from abroad.” Walking beside him through the peaceful little alley, Luo Wenzhou took his hand, felt it was cold, and gave him the still warm bag of chestnuts to hold, keeping watch out of the corner of his eye to make sure he didn’t sneak any. “Later there was a parent-teacher conference. As soon as the teacher talked to my mom, the whole thing came out. When my dad got home and heard about it he gave me a hell of thrashing.”

 

Fei Du thought that a late-stage problem child like this couldn’t be kept down with simple force.

 

“My dad, he seems pretty severe, but actually he’s very fair and reasonable,” Luo Wenzhou said. “When he got a handle on his temper, he said to me, ‘A forcibly picked melon won’t be sweet. If you don’t like going to school, then forget about it. Do what you like.”

 

Luo Wenzhou’s ridiculous stories of domestic trivialities had an unbelievable attractive force for Fei Du. Each time he occasionally said a few words like this, Fei Du felt that he’d encountered a hidden easter egg. Seeing Luo Wenzhou suddenly stop, Fei Du couldn’t resist following up. “And then what?”

 

Luo Wenzhou said, “At first I was pretty happy, thinking that the old fellow had ‘found salvation’ and changed his ways. I didn’t expect that he would ‘fairly and reasonably’ stop my senior middle Year 2 school fees and allowance.

 

“While I cut class sometimes, I wasn’t really prepared to become a dropout, so I had to go out and earn my school fees when I was on vacation. The old fart was as good as his word. He really didn’t give me a penny. I carried water barrels for people for a couple months for the sake of that basketball… Don’t laugh.”

 

If he could have preserved this story like a specimen, Fei Du felt he could have enjoyed it for half a lifetime.

 

“You always let me take the lead in telling this sort of embarrassing story.” Luo Wenzhou poked him with his elbow. “Your turn.”

 

Fei Du: “…”

 

There really was nothing fun about his whole endless upbringing, but he couldn’t bear to spoil the mood, so he had to rack his brains for a good while, finally managing to pull something out of his memories that would oblige.

 

“All right,” Fei Du said, “I’ll tell you a secret.”

 

Luo Wenzhou indicated that he was all ears.

 

“Around the Spring Festival one year, I went to pay a New Year’s call on a friend.” Fei Du paused, then said, “I saw a bicycle downstairs at his house, a racing bike with a gearshift and an especially flashy paint job, with a pattern like a poisonous snake. It seemed to be calling out to me.”

 

Luo Wenzhou somehow felt that the bike he’d described sounded familiar.

 

Fei Du licked his lips, very cautiously arranging his diction. “So I left a New Year’s present for it…by glueing its back wheel with chewing gum.”

 

Luo Wenzhou’s footsteps abruptly paused—he’d remembered. During the Spring Festival one year, Tao Ran had been unable to go back to his hometown because his duty schedule had been full, so Luo Wenzhou had ridden his bike over with presents to represent the citizens of Yan City in delivering comfort to the police comrade.

 

Before going, he’d thought of a certain little whelp with no one to look after him and had brought along a limited-edition game machine to give to Tao Ran to pass on to him.

 

In the end, he’d stayed twenty minutes at Tao Ran’s house, and someone had messed around with his bike, which he’d left downstairs—some wretched child had stuck a few small firecrackers to his back wheel with chewing gum. Luo Wenzhou hadn’t noticed it when he’d gotten on the bike and reached out his foot to peddle—

 

And he’d nearly been launched into orbit by the explosions!

 

Maintaining his smile, Fei Du guiltily took a small step back.

 

“Fei Du!”

 

President Fei reaped the consequences of lascivious activity. In order to entertain a beauty, he voluntarily gave himself up to the authorities as one possessed; it was too late for regrets.

 

He didn’t receive any “leniency” for his confession. Luo Wenzhou grabbed him and gave him a good seeing to. He was pushed against a wall from behind.

 

Fei Du said, “Wait…wait a minute.”

[mejomonster]

Silent Reading, chapter 32. 1. The Luo Weizhao line in the Justice in the Dark show of "I only keep promises to my future wife" is a direct quote so wife's just what he said. 2. I like that Fei Du here thought Captain Luo was implying he was planning to kill people then Luo Wenzhou reminded him no of course not I apologized, the acknowledgement Fei Du is acting a bit happier cause he actually addressed his grief recently on the big screen TV, and Luo Wenzhou reaching out to Fei Du for physical support (cause he's still an injured bastard) naturally which I like implies he either trusts Fei Du more to take that Tao-Ran level equals task and/or he's always trusted Fei Du on that level even though they argue. Quote:

Zhao Haochang was forced to raise his head to look at him.

“First,” Luo Wenzhou stuck up one finger, “He Zhongyi’s autopsy report showed that he had never touched drugs. As for the phone, witness testimony says that it was stolen by his roommate.”

Zhao Haochang’s brow furrowed. He was about to open his mouth to dispute it. Luo Wenzhou put up a second finger.

“Second, since you used your infinite resources to place the pinhole camera outside the window of He Zhongyi’s apartment, why didn’t you simply put it inside the room? Then you could film him day and night, film him eating, sleeping, and defecating. Wouldn’t you be able to know at a glance whether he was using drugs or trafficking them?”

Zhao Haochang froze at once.

“You’re too clever, Attorney Zhao.” Luo Wenzhou laughed. “Your humble servant is deeply gratified to be able to capture an asshole like you who won’t shed a tear until he sees the coffin. I feel it’s worth spending all the time I should be out having fun working overtime instead. As for my promise… Sorry, I’m an asshole, too. I'm only sincere in front of my wife. You… Leave it out.”

Luo Wenzhou stopped speaking. He didn’t feel like looking at this hypocritical painted face anymore and left the interrogation room.

Tao Ran didn’t come around at first. “What did he mean?”

“Using the images, you can trace the location of the cameras.” Fei Du stared unblinkingly at the crumbling Zhao Haochang. He quietly said, “He didn’t care at all whether He Zhongyi was innocent, whether he was involved with Ma Xiaowei and the others. From the time He Zhongyi started his unreciprocated attentions, constantly trying to contact him, Zhao Haochang wasn’t planning on letting him live.”

Tao Ran’s eyes opened wide. “You’re saying that he sent the video from the camera outside of He Zhongyi’s window anonymously to Wang Hongliang!”

“Though I don’t know why He Zhongyi escaped that calamity, that certainly does tally with the trend of Zhao Haochang’s logic.” Fei Du watched from afar as Luo Wenzhou threw on a jacket and stiffly walked over with a cigarette in his mouth. He turned to Tao Ran and nodded. “Ge, I’m not interested in the rest. I’ll be going.”

Then he pushed at his glasses and unhurriedly headed out. When he brushed past Luo Wenzhou, he looked curiously at Captain Luo’s rigid posture and very urbanely extended a greeting to him. “You seem to have strained your back. The elderly should look after their health.”

Luo Wenzhou: “…”

He was happy and laughing, and at the same time Luo Wenzhou inexplicably felt that the Fei Du of today was almost a little more carefree than usual—maybe because he had dug out a long-festering wound; it had perhaps been painful and bloody, but it had also been a fresh opportunity to heal.

“Let me ask you something,” said Luo Wenzhou. “Would you guess that Zhao Haochang was the one who killed his whole family?”

Fei Du was absolutely unwilling to cooperate and talk nicely. He mockingly answered, “Captain Luo, after all that time cheating and swindling, using hard and soft tactics, you haven’t worked out who killed the Zhao family?”

Luo Wenzhou’s back hurt hideously. He couldn’t quite stand upright. So he very rudely put his hand on Fei Du’s shoulder, using him as a human crutch. “It doesn’t look like it to me. Although our Xiao Qiao'er says he preserved the arsonist’s sleeve and therefore must have been at the scene, I still think that at most he watched them die without calling for help. Ordinarily, a criminal escalates. A novice will very rarely start out by tidily plotting to kill his entire family.”

Fei Du froze.

Luo Wenzhou shrugged. “I wasn’t alluding to you. I’ve already apologized.”

Expressionlessly, Fei Du said, “You’re pressing on my hair.”

He tilted his head, slipped away from Luo Wenzhou’s dog’s paw, distastefully dusted his shoulder a few times, and glided away.