ASSHKHME Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Learning from Lei Feng

Xie Yu’s entire body tensed up in an instant. He “whooshed” as he jumped off the bed, the tips of his ears red. “Who! Who’s your wife!”

Chen Zhuo, as he wished, had taken over the entire bed. He comfortably adjusted his position and propped himself up leisurely to look at Xie Yu. “You are. We were betrothed from the womb.”

Xie Yu hastily tightened the belt of his bathrobe, attempting to stand on the moral high ground and point fingers, saying with heartfelt grief, “Chen Zhuo, you really don’t cherish yourself enough! How can you just climb into a man’s bed!”

Chen Zhuo was too lazy to pay attention to Xie Yu. He casually turned off the bedside lamp, rolled over, covered himself with the quilt, and closed his eyes to sleep.

Xie Yu stood by the bed, staring at the back of Chen Zhuo’s messy head for two seconds, then silently took his own pillow and went to sleep on the sofa.

In the second half of the night, it rained again in the mountains, pelting the glass windows with a “pitter-patter.”

The sofa was too soft and not long enough. Xie Yu couldn’t sleep with his legs bent, so he propped his head on his arm and admired the pitch-black ceiling.

Chen Zhuo must have been a little congested from the mountain breeze. His breathing was heavy after falling asleep, piercing through the noisy rain and landing in Xie Yu’s ears, causing a dense, prickling itch.

Xie Yu rubbed his ears and sat up, the soft leather sofa making a slight “creak.”

With the faint light from the street lamp outside the window, Xie Yu seemed to be able to see Chen Zhuo’s tightly closed eyes, unguarded and well-behaved.

Xie Yu stared blankly, his thoughts wandering in the continuous drizzle, along with the swaying branches outside the window, submerged in the night.

He wondered if the bed he had just been lying on would be tainted with a sweet and cloying citrus scent.

Muffled thunder rumbled, pressing down from the horizon, coming with a “boom.”

The sleeping person in the bed was disturbed. In the dimness, Chen Zhuo subconsciously called out his name in a not-so-clear state of mind, “Xie Yu?”

Xie Yu didn’t move or make a sound, an indescribable emotion climbing to his heart, a faint, almost imperceptible current “whooshing” through.

The thunder wasn’t loud, but Chen Zhuo still had a reaction. His thoughts were uncontrollably washed back to the rainy season in Western Sichuan, the bloody and broken appearance of his parents’ tragic deaths illuminated by lightning and magnified infinitely in his pupils.

Even though Chen Zhuo wrapped the quilt tightly around himself, his body shook unconsciously. As he struggled to get up and turn on the bedside lamp, his cold hand was covered by a warm palm.

Chen Zhuo was like a person about to drown, desperately grabbing the last piece of driftwood.

The force with which he gripped Xie Yu’s hand was great, his fingernails almost digging into Xie Yu’s flesh, which hurt a lot.

Xie Yu’s lips moved slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he pulled the person into his arms.

His large, dry palm covered Chen Zhuo’s ears, and his voice, usually full of unrestrained laughter, was now low and gentle. “Don’t be afraid, why are you so scared? You’re trembling, Chen Zhuo.”

Chen Zhuo hugged Xie Yu tightly around the waist, wishing he could burrow into his arms completely.

His ear was pressed against Xie Yu’s chest, gradually calming down in the steady and powerful sound of his heartbeat.

The clock on the wall ticked “tick-tock,” and no one intended to turn on the light, not even a dim night light.

Chen Zhuo was afraid that Xie Yu would see his cowardice and misery.

And Xie Yu was afraid that after turning on the light, he wouldn’t be able to attribute this embrace, tinged with pity, to the impulsiveness and sensibility of the late night.

Even though he really wanted to see if Chen Zhuo’s red-rimmed eyes would be as cute as that little hedgehog when he was a child.

Xie Yu took back half of the bed’s usage as a matter of course. He was squeezed by Chen Zhuo to the very edge, where he would fall off the bed if he turned over, and he had no choice but to hold him.

“Where can you find someone as kind as me?” Xie Yu sighed softly.

One hand covered Chen Zhuo’s ear, and the other patted his back gently in a comforting manner, humming a tuneless lullaby to coax him to sleep: “Sleep, sleep~ my dear baby~”

Darkness could always blur emotions into a hazy ambiguity, and Chen Zhuo’s heart stirred slightly.

Then he heard Xie Yu sing again: “Mommy’s hands~ gently rock you~”

Chen Zhuo closed his eyes, his heart as still as water, and said softly, “Xie Yu, you’re off-key, stop singing.”

Xie Yu yawned, “You have no taste. Go to sleep, and if you keep thinking nonsense, I’ll give you a punch to help you fall asleep.”

Chen Zhuo chuckled in a muffled voice, still leaning against him, and said leisurely, “What should I do? Wife, you’ve been taken advantage of.”

Xie Yu almost blurted out the words, “Who’s taking advantage of whom isn’t certain yet,” but he swallowed them back forcefully, changing his tone. “Then you really took a big advantage. You can’t freeload, how about washing my socks for a month?”

Chen Zhuo struggled to get out of his arms and moved to the other side of the bed.

“…” Xie Yu’s self-esteem was hurt. He kicked Chen Zhuo’s calf under the covers, dissatisfied. “That’s too much, Chen Zhuo! What kind of attitude is that! My feet don’t smell!”

Chen Zhuo didn’t say anything and even snatched away the other half of the quilt, completely acting like a scumbag who throws things away after using them.

Xie Yu forcefully pulled back a little bit of the quilt’s edge, pitifully covering his stomach, and gnashed his teeth. “Fine! You’re playing the cross-the-river-and-demolish-the-bridge game, huh! If it thunders again, just cover your head and cry yourself. I won’t hug you again.”

Half an hour later, Xie Yu vaguely sensed that Chen Zhuo was diligently covering him with the quilt and then wrapped himself around him, limbs and all.

Xie Yu was speechless. “…Chen Zhuo, you’re really showing the world what a snobbish person is!”

Chen Zhuo didn’t speak, directly grabbing Xie Yu’s hand and placing it over his ear, pillowing his head on his chest, and closing his eyes contentedly in his warm body temperature and powerful heartbeat.

Toolman Xie Yu: “…”

Xie Yu tilted his head back to avoid the ends of Chen Zhuo’s hair brushing his chin. In the end, he still didn’t push Chen Zhuo away.

He comforted himself in his heart: I’m just learning from Lei Feng and doing good deeds. After all, a child who lost his father and mother at a young age, witnessed his parents’ death with his own eyes, and even developed psychological problems is really pitiful!

Xie Yu closed his eyes peacefully, righteously putting his arm around Chen Zhuo’s waist.

Five minutes later, he opened them again. But Uncle Lei Feng probably never slept hugging a man, right?

But then again…

Xie Yu was so tired from the back-and-forth jumping of his thoughts that he fell fast asleep.

—

The rain had stopped long ago. The gauze-like mist dissolved, and the morning sun shone into the room through the half-drawn curtains, casting small patches of warmth.

Chen Zhuo didn’t sleep soundly in an unfamiliar environment. He woke up early, and what he saw when he opened his eyes was Xie Yu’s handsome face in his sleep.

His gaze swept over his thick eyelashes, high and straight nose bridge, and finally landed on Xie Yu’s pale, thin lips. There was a small scab on the lower lip where there was a slight wound.

Chen Zhuo murmured softly, “It was just an accident, it doesn’t count as a kiss, right…”

Perhaps his gaze was too direct. Xie Yu moved his body in his sleep.

They were both nineteen, a good age to be full of vigor.

Swords clashed.

Chen Zhuo’s body stiffened. He silently went to the bathroom, and the sound of washing up didn’t come until ten minutes later.

Xie Yu was awakened by the “whooshing” sound of the water, but he pretended to still be asleep.

He didn’t open his eyes until he heard the sound of Chen Zhuo closing the door when he went out.

Xie Yu, who had never been afraid of anything in his life, was really a little scared at this moment.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of facing Chen Zhuo, but he was a little unsure whether he had been acting out of kindness or lust last night…

Xie Yu covered his face and rubbed it, feeling like crying but having no tears.

No matter how good-looking Chen Zhuo was, he was still a man!

This isn’t right!

Homosexuality won’t really be contagious, will it?

Is it still too late to drink Chinese medicine now?