MLROCSHR Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Sticking Close Keeps You Warm

“Ah Xun, you’re in Shang Jiang?” A gentle male voice came from the other end of the phone. “Why didn’t you tell me? If you need any help, just ask.”

Lian Xun subconsciously glanced at Qi Luzhi beside him, “It’s okay, Jingqian Ge, I just came back to take a look.”

“Where are you staying? I’ll arrange a nice hotel for you.”

“No need, Jingqian Ge, thank you.” Lian Xun hastily refused, “I’m at the old house, it’s quite good here, I can manage for one night.”

“The old house hasn’t been lived in for a long time, how can that be? I’ll still arrange accommodation for you.” Gao Jingqian insisted relentlessly.

“Really, no need, thank you, Jingqian Ge.”

Lian Xun glanced at Qi Luzhi, who had already silently begun assembling the tent, deliberately making a lot of noise.

Hanging up the phone, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became subtle.

Qi Luzhi lowered his head and tightened the screws, his voice muffled: “How did I forget, your Jingqian Ge is in Shang Jiang. If that’s the case, why did you even ask me to come along?”

Lian Xun was stunned for a moment, then a smile curled on his lips. He moved closer to Qi Luzhi, “Are you jealous?”

“No.” Qi Luzhi moved unobtrusively to the side, speeding up his actions.

“That’s right, you’re not my boyfriend, what are you jealous of?” Lian Xun also spoke sarcastically.

For a moment, the room fell silent.

The two quickly set up the tent. Qi Luzhi was the first to crawl inside, lying on one side, dropping the sentence, “I’m tired, I’ll sleep first,” before closing his eyes.

Lian Xun was stunned for a long while before crawling in as well, lying down beside Qi Luzhi.

Qi Luzhi faced away from him, not saying a word. Lian Xun couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

What’s going on? Is he really jealous?

“Um, we didn’t find any useful clues today, what should we do?” Lian Xun tried to break the silence by chatting.

Qi Luzhi still didn’t turn around, but finally spoke, “Think about whether there were any witnesses back then, like the housekeeper or servants, maybe they know something.”

“There really is.” Lian Xun’s eyes lit up, and hope rekindled, “Uncle Chen, the old house’s housekeeper, lives in Shang Jiang. We lost contact with him after we moved away, I don’t know if we can still find him now.”

The night wind seeped in through the seams of the tent, and Lian Xun shivered, “Qi Gege, it’s so cold.”

As he said that, he pressed his whole body against Qi Luzhi’s back.

Qi Luzhi stiffened for a moment, but didn’t move away.

Lian Xun took the opportunity to wrap his arms around his waist, “Let’s visit Uncle Chen tomorrow, he should know some things.”

“Okay.” Qi Luzhi responded, still not turning around.

Lian Xun buried his face in the back of his neck, smelling a faint rose fragrance. He muttered coquettishly, “Qi Gege, I’m really cold.”

Qi Luzhi suddenly sat up, took off his coat, and threw it at Lian Xun, “Cover yourself with it.”

Lian Xun pulled down the coat covering his face, only to find that Qi Luzhi had laid back down again, still facing away from him.

Sigh, he’s really hard to coax, Lian Xun thought.

He scooted closer to Qi Luzhi, the two of them pressed tightly together, and then he covered both of them with the coat.

“Sticking close keeps you warm.” Lian Xun whispered in Qi Luzhi’s ear.

Qi Luzhi’s ears turned visibly red, “Go to sleep.”

The next morning, Lian Xun woke up in Qi Luzhi’s warm embrace. At some point, the two had turned to face each other, Qi Luzhi holding him tightly, his legs still draped over Qi Luzhi’s waist.

Looking at the unguarded sleeping face so close to him, Lian Xun couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile, leaning over to plant a kiss on Qi Luzhi’s lips.

Qi Luzhi’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes. Lian Xun was startled and hurriedly retreated, sitting up, “Cough, it’s dawn, let’s get up, we still have to visit Uncle Chen today.”

“Okay.” Qi Luzhi shifted his gaze away from Lian Xun’s face, his cheeks almost imperceptibly flushed.

The two packed up the tent. As soon as they came out, they saw a black sedan parked in front of the old house.

Gao Jingqian rolled down the car window, “Ah Xun, where are you going? I’ll give you a ride.”

Qi Luzhi’s face instantly darkened.

Lian Xun smiled awkwardly, “No need, Jingqian Ge, we plan to visit Uncle Chen, ask him if he knows anything about the fire back then.”

“Uncle Chen? Chen the housekeeper?” Gao Jingqian pondered for a moment, then asked.

“Yeah.” Lian Xun nodded.

“Perfect, I’ll go with you too. Investigating the truth of the fire back then isn’t just your business, it’s mine too.”

Lian Xun was about to refuse when Gao Jingqian had already gotten out of the car and opened the front passenger door, “Get in the car, Ah Xun, don’t be so polite with me.”

Lian Xun looked at Qi Luzhi, who was staring at him with his arms crossed, his eyes full of warning.

He looked at Gao Jingqian again, who was smiling and gesturing for him to get in the car.

Sigh, what kind of shura field is this!

Lian Xun closed his eyes, giving Gao Jingqian a polite smile, “Jingqian Ge, there’s really no need to trouble yourself, we can go by ourselves.”

“Don’t overthink it, I don’t mean anything else. Like you, I just want to find out the truth as soon as possible.” Gao Jingqian withdrew his smile, his eyes carrying a hint of disappointment.

Since he had already said that, Lian Xun couldn’t refuse any longer. He opened the back door and climbed in, “I get carsick in the passenger seat, I’ll sit here.”

“Alright.”

As soon as Gao Jingqian finished speaking, Qi Luzhi had also gotten into the car expressionlessly, sitting next to Lian Xun.

Gao Jingqian sullenly closed the front passenger door, unwillingly becoming their driver.

On the way, Gao Jingqian occasionally glanced at Lian Xun in the back through the rearview mirror, always catching Qi Luzhi’s sharp gaze fixed on him, which made him very unhappy.

“Ah Xun, have you been doing well lately?”

Gao Jingqian was just trying to make conversation.

“He lives at my house, he’s been very happy.” Qi Luzhi turned his head to look at Lian Xun, “Right?”

“Ah, yes, I’m doing fine.” Lian Xun looked dazed.

After a while, Gao Jingqian spoke again, “Ah Xun, do you remember, when we were little, we often played in the attic of your house, and you even said you wanted to give me your favorite toy.”

Qi Luzhi: “He didn’t sleep well last night, let him rest for a while.”

Lian Xun glanced at Qi Luzhi incredulously, but still cooperated and leaned against the window, pretending to sleep.

Gao Jingqian was constantly interrupted by Qi Luzhi, and was very dissatisfied. The hand holding the steering wheel tightened slightly, and he secretly stepped on the gas pedal.

Before long, the group arrived at an old, dilapidated building in the old district.

Lian Xun stepped forward and asked a few people playing mahjong gathered at the entrance, “Excuse me, is this where Chen Da, Uncle Chen, lives?”

“You mean Uncle Chen? He just moved away a few days ago.” An old woman replied.

“Moved away?” Lian Xun and Qi Luzhi said at the same time.

“Yes, his old wife has cancer, and it hasn’t been cured for many years. A while ago, he suddenly said that his son was going to take them to another place for treatment, so they moved away.”

After the aunt finished speaking, she continued to arrange the mahjong tiles on the table.

Lian Xun frowned. This is too coincidental. They were just about to look for Uncle Chen, and he moved away?