AMTBYIGA Chapter 77
by VolareLin Sui frowned tightly, his gaze fixed solemnly on the purple and blue marks above. The fingers grasping Gu Nian’s arm tightened slightly, causing Gu Nian a little pain. However, he seemed not to notice, lowering his head, not daring to look at Lin Sui’s expression.
After a long while, Gu Nian heard a sigh.
It was very light, too light to discern the emotion within, yet it made his heart clench instantly.
“I didn’t…” Gu Nian was about to explain but was interrupted by Lin Sui.
“You’re going to say it’s nothing again, right?” Lin Sui turned Gu Nian’s face towards him, a touch of annoyance in his voice. The questioning look in his eyes lasted only a few seconds before softening. Helplessly, he said, “I didn’t even say anything to you. Why do you look like you’re about to be scolded by me?”
Gu Nian subconsciously lowered his eyes, opened his mouth, and hesitated for a long time before he was too embarrassed to say what he was thinking.
He felt that he looked too ugly in this state, which would ruin his image in Lin Sui’s heart.
And if Lin Sui saw it, he would definitely worry.
But if he didn’t say it, Lin Sui seemed like he would worry too.
Gu Nian was caught in a dilemma.
Fortunately, Lin Sui didn’t really want Gu Nian to reveal everything. He unscrewed the cap of the ointment, dabbed some on his finger, and carefully massaged it onto the bruises.
The ointment was prepared by Doctor Chen in advance and worked very well. It felt cool and refreshing when applied, and the scent was a faint herbal fragrance.
Mixed with the milky shower gel scent from Lin Sui’s body, it was even more relaxing. Gu Nian quietly raised his eyes, watching the young man focusing on applying the ointment for him, his heart beating faster and faster.
“Okay.” It took a full fifteen minutes for Lin Sui to apply the ointment to all the bruises on Gu Nian’s body, including his legs and torso. In total, there were dozens of them.
Although he had expected it, Lin Sui still felt a real pang of heartache.
“You have to tell me when you get hurt in the future, understand?” With the serious business done, Lin Sui began to settle accounts, pursing his lips slightly as he sat on the bed, trying to make himself look less soft and easy to talk to. “If I find out again, I’ll… I’ll move to the room next door!”
Gu Nian couldn’t help but laugh. Under Lin Sui’s dissatisfied gaze, he gently rubbed the top of the other’s soft head and quietly responded with a “Okay.”
Lin Sui narrowed his eyes, snorted softly, rolled over onto the bed, and wrapped himself in the quilt like a silkworm, turning his back to Gu Nian, clearly sulking.
Gu Nian was about to say something to coax him, but he saw the silkworm in the quilt suddenly scramble up, huffing and puffing as he moved Gu Nian onto the bed and tucked him in, then wrapped himself up again, not even a strand of hair showing, refusing to communicate.
If Gu Nian hadn’t noticed a secretly opened gap at the edge of the quilt, he would probably have been worried because he thought Lin Sui was really angry.
It looked just like a sulky kitten, angrily bristling and ignoring people while secretly observing, flicking its tail and waiting for an opportunity.
Gu Nian was charmed by his own imagination and used a lot of strength to suppress the urge to pull Lin Sui out of the quilt and kiss him. He gently patted the quilt and apologized, “I’m sorry, I definitely won’t hide anything from you next time. I’ll tell you everything, okay?”
“…” Lin Sui stirred a little, as if he was thinking. A messy little head slowly emerged from the quilt, looking at Gu Nian generously and saying, “Just this once!”
Gu Nian smiled, lay down, pulled the person into his arms, wrapped his arms around his waist, and nodded.
Lin Sui pouted, but still obediently found a comfortable position, closed his eyes, and prepared to sleep.
In the sweat of rehabilitation, the days passed quickly. Gu Nian was exhausted almost every day, his bruises never disappeared. The result of falling and getting up again and again was countless mental breakdowns, which were then slowly healed by the various little things and bright smiles that Lin Sui brought back in the evening.
Perhaps it was because Gu Nian wasn’t the only lonely one. From some day onwards, Lin Sui began to bring Gu Nian things that he found interesting every day. Sometimes it was a handicraft from the street, or a passage he accidentally saw while reading a book, or even just a leaf, a flower, or a hastily taken photo.
Every night after applying the ointment, Lin Sui would lean in Gu Nian’s arms and chatter about the origins of these things, interspersed with other random thoughts. Gu Nian mostly just listened quietly, but sometimes he would bury his head in Lin Sui’s warm shoulder, smell the faint fragrance, and nod with a smile.
Gu Nian and Lin Sui didn’t spend much time together, but it seemed like he had deeply participated in those memories filled with the scent of sunshine, as if they had never been apart.
The days of rehabilitation were hard, but Gu Nian could feel a little sweetness in the bitterness.
On the fourteenth day after Lin Sui brought back a jar of the first snow of the winter, the Spring Festival rang its advance warning. The neighborhood seemed to have become festive overnight. Almost every household decorated their doors with auspicious couplets, and some people hung red lanterns.
Lin Sui and Gu Nian even received a Chinese knot as a gift from Auntie Li when they went for their morning exercise. Lin Sui loved it so much that he had to take it out to touch and look at every day, which made Gu Nian couldn’t help but secretly look up tutorials, wanting to give him a surprise.
Although Doctor Chen suggested that rehabilitation was best to be adhered to every day without fail, Gu Nian still took a day off on New Year’s Eve.
Because he was going to prepare New Year’s things with Lin Sui.
This was their first New Year together.
“Do you want to rest more? Your dark circles look really bad.” At six o’clock in the morning on New Year’s Eve, Lin Sui held Gu Nian’s face, which was marked with two large dark circles, worriedly saying, “Why don’t I go alone? Anyway, there’s a car, so I don’t have to carry anything.”
“No.” Gu Nian refused firmly. Although he had been too excited to sleep last night and only fell asleep in the early hours of the morning, he didn’t want to delay his rare time alone with Lin Sui because of sleep.
It had been several months since he started rehabilitation, and he couldn’t remember how long it had been since he and Lin Sui had spent the whole day together from morning to night.
Nothing could go wrong.
Lin Sui was amused, got out of bed, and instructed, “Okay, but you must tell me if you’re tired. Don’t push yourself!”
Gu Nian suppressed the urge to yawn and nodded steadily. As soon as Lin Sui closed the door, he immediately turned his wheelchair to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. He also took a bottle of his strongest-smelling perfume and hid it in his pocket to use as a pick-me-up.
However, he had clearly overestimated his ability to stay up late. He used to be able to work for several days in a row with only a few hours of sleep, but since being with Lin Sui, Gu Nian, who went to bed early and woke up early every day and couldn’t wait to sleep to death in his arms, was obviously powerless, so he had to resort to external aids.
As a result, when they went out, Lin Sui looked at the man in front of him who was exuding a choking perfume scent, and the corner of his mouth twitched, almost unable to hold back his laughter.
However, he still considerately pretended not to know anything and didn’t say anything to let Gu Nian go back to sleep.
He was also looking forward to this day, okay!
This was a date! A date after several months!
Lin Sui calmly adjusted his new clothes, making sure his peacock tail was perfect before secretly planning to spread it.
The two first went to the mall to buy ingredients and decorations. To be honest, Lin Sui had already bought a lot of the latter before, but it turned out that most of them were useless. After all, no one would use couplets that said “Pass the exam; Don’t get points deducted during inspection” to stick on their front door for the New Year.
Nor would they stick a blessing character with a pig’s head on it.
These things were eventually stuck on the door of their bedroom at Lin Sui’s strong request. Although Gu Nian felt a little weird, he didn’t care because Lin Sui was happy.
After buying the things and returning home, Lin Sui was about to go out again as soon as he put the things down, but this time he didn’t take Gu Nian. A sense of loss welled up in Gu Nian’s heart, and he was also a little strange. “Where else are you going?” Was there anything more important than being at home with him?
Lin Sui turned back and winked mysteriously, only leaving behind a “secret” before closing the door, leaving Gu Nian alone staring wide-eyed at the god of wealth pasted on the door.
Tsk.
Gu Nian put the ingredients in the refrigerator, classified them, and hung up the newly bought decorations one by one while cleaning, thinking fiercely that he would definitely not forgive Lin Sui this time unless he coaxed him.
At least he had to take the initiative to kiss him.
After Lin Sui went out, he went straight to the fireworks factory. As soon as the car stopped, he saw the boss waiting at the door, smiling like Maitreya Buddha when he saw Lin Sui, and happily said, “I’ve prepared everything. I’ve saved the biggest and best for you. There are a lot of things. Should I get a car to take them back for you?”
In the warehouse behind the boss were all kinds of fireworks and firecrackers, all of which were the most popular styles at the moment. Lin Sui looked through the list with satisfaction and said readily, “Okay, I’ll trouble you. Remember to set them up there. I’ll send you a message and you can light them. Don’t miss the time.”
“Don’t worry, boss, I’ll definitely handle it properly for you.” The fireworks boss patted his chest and assured.
Lin Sui ordered several more fireworks by name, “I’ll take these with me now.”
The boss’s eyes lit up when he heard this, and without saying a word, he waved his hand to get people to load them into the car. Lin Sui neatly scanned the code to pay, and repeatedly told them again before leaving home.
The driver was still the familiar Benz driver. The driver looked at the wife in the back seat playing with his mobile phone through the rearview mirror, wondering whether to tell the boss this secret in advance.
In theory, he shouldn’t hesitate to do his job.
The driver recalled the boss he had seen during this time, and it was no exaggeration to say that he was love-struck. Suddenly, he felt that his loyalty didn’t seem so necessary sometimes.
Anyway, the boss couldn’t possibly be angry with his wife. He should just be a background board.
Back at the familiar villa, Lin Sui gently followed the driver to hide the fireworks in the garden, and stayed outside for more than ten minutes to let the gunpowder smell on his body dissipate before returning home. Before he could say “I’m back,” he was shocked speechless by the scene in front of him.
He saw Gu Nian holding hairspray, which he didn’t know where it came from, and spraying it wildly on his hair. But the most eye-catching thing was his brand-new clothes, a black suit and a white shirt, with a blue gemstone pinned to his cuff, looking noble and imposing.
Lin Sui blinked and a smile rose on his lips.
Mm…
It seemed that he wasn’t the only one who had prepared a peacock tail today.