LWDC Chapter 186

November 11th.

Ning Fei had said before that he didn’t remember his birthday, then later said it was this day. To be precise, it was actually an estimated date.

Or rather, it was after he joined the church that he happened to meet a former servant who had worked in his household before his family fell into decline, who vaguely recalled that his birthday was around this day. Ning Fei didn’t bother to investigate further, so he simply treated this day as his birthday. At least, in his original world, he had always celebrated it on this day.

After joining the Time-Space Administration, Ning Fei had celebrated birthdays in various worlds during different seasons, some lavish, some simple, some amidst sword fights, and some filled with joy. But no matter what they were like, Ning Fei never celebrated his birthday again on November 11th. He himself couldn’t say whether he was deliberately avoiding it or had truly become indifferent to his birth.

Anyway, celebrating his birthday again on November 11th was indeed a very, very long time coming for Ning Fei.

However, the arrangements for this day were different from what he had imagined. He slept through lunchtime. Duan Yunhong had absolutely no intention of waking him up to go out. It was almost two in the afternoon when Ning Fei, while leisurely eating his late lunch, glanced at the man sitting beside him reading the newspaper and raised an eyebrow, saying, “No wonder you were so unrestrained last night. Turns out you had no plans for the entire day.”

“If I had to go out early in the morning, would I dare to play like that? You’d definitely be in a foul mood all day after being forcibly woken up, and you wouldn’t enjoy your birthday properly,” Duan Yunhong flipped a page of the newspaper, shaking it lightly. “Besides, wasn’t it you who kept pestering me to play this and that, even using your birthday as an excuse? You’re the birthday star, you’re the boss, isn’t that what you said?”

“It was,” Ning Fei looked at his leisurely appearance, his gaze fixed on the newspaper, and thought to himself that this guy claimed not to care about the affairs of this world, but he still read the newspaper and followed the news every day. Hypocrite. So Ning Fei didn’t disturb him reading the newspaper and ate his own food. As for Duan Yunhong’s lunch, he had gotten up before noon, so he had eaten at the normal time.

However, when Ning Fei quieted down, Duan Yunhong put down the newspaper and simply looked at him. Ning Fei noticed his movements and put down his soup bowl: “What?”

“Nothing, just looking,” Duan Yunhong said, “After you finish eating, you can rest for a while. We’ll leave at half past three. If you want to drink coffee later, I’ll have someone grind it for you.”

“Oh, an evening party,” Ning Fei nodded, then asked, “So, are we coming back tonight, or are we going to some hotel or restaurant?”

“Why are you asking so clearly?”

“I’m not trying to ruin your surprise, just want to give you a little suggestion,” Ning Fei extended his thumb and forefinger, indicating a small distance, “Regarding tonight, is that okay?”

“…Are you still not done playing?” Duan Yunhong suddenly felt thirsty, picked up his water glass, and took a sip. “Tell me about it first.”

“It’s just your suit, oh, a shirt will do, dress pants, leather shoes. And then use some rope, and then you…” Ning Fei spoke as he reached out, his left palm facing up, his right index and middle fingers turning into “little people,” kneeling in his palm.

Duan Yunhong: “…”

Ning Fei saw that he didn’t answer, and kicked him under the table: “Boss Duan, CEO Duan, give me a straight answer, is the birthday star the boss today?”

“This request of yours is about the same level as your bet requests, right?” Duan Yunhong’s hand holding the cup didn’t let go, his fingers secretly exerting force for a moment, then releasing. “You want to mess with me again? You think using your birthday as an excuse is a universal key?”

“If this isn’t a universal key, I don’t know what else could be a reason. Besides, it’s just asking you to wear your usual clothes, just bring an extra rope, how simple is that,” Ning Fei propped his chin on the table, looking at him, “Or did you prepare other tricks? Then let’s play yours first, then play mine, okay? Do you want me to have someone cook you a soft-shelled turtle soup? Or leeks and oysters…”

“Alright, I got it! Eat your lunch.”

Duan Yunhong interrupted him, covering his head with the newspaper: “Saying ‘birthdays are universal excuses,’ you just want these as birthday gifts, huh?”

“Haha, so you agreed!” Ning Fei chuckled, pulled the newspaper off his head, and smiled, “Anyway, you’ve arranged the program, I don’t want anything else, so let’s just have some fun. I’ve played a lot of tricks on you before, what’s wrong with you playing some?”

Duan Yunhong: “Didn’t I have to pay you back enough in the previous world?”

Ning Fei: “There’s never too much of this kind of repayment.”

Boss Duan was completely speechless. What else could he do? He had already confirmed before that even if it was an excessive request, as long as Ning Fei put in the effort to pester him, he would probably agree. Look at now, isn’t this a practical example?

Moreover, they were really compatible in bed.

Just anticipating the “battle” tonight made Duan Yunhong feel a little numb.

*

At half past three in the afternoon, Ning Fei followed Duan Yunhong into the car on time, not caring where he was taking him.

The car swayed along the way, driving out of the street district with rows of houses and bustling crowds, and gradually only forests remained on both sides of the road. At this time, it was the season when the leaves were changing colors and falling, colorful and vibrant, which could be regarded as the most eye-catching scenery since arriving in Pingdu.

Ning Fei silently admired it for a while, and after a moment, suddenly opened his mouth and asked, “Where are you taking me? Is this still Pingdu?”

Duan Yunhong casually said, “Taking you to the suburbs to sell you to a slave trader.”

Ning Fei was too lazy to look back at him: “Oh, then remember to sell me to a rich one.”

“People all say sell for a good price, but you want to find a rich next owner, huh?” Duan Yunhong grabbed his hand on the seat and squeezed it. “Okay, find someone richer than me and send you to live a good life.”

Ning Fei scoffed and pulled his hand away. Duan Yunhong grabbed it again, and Ning Fei turned back to glare at him. As a result, Duan Yunhong opened half of his coat, revealing the full suit inside, and Ning Fei fell silent.

Honestly, since being a judge on a show in the first world, Duan Yunhong hadn’t dressed so… luxuriously for a long time. Beauty really does mislead people, alas.

Duan Yunhong knew that this trick would work. Ning Fei had a slight preference for visual animals. As long as it didn’t violate his principles, a beautiful appearance could soften Ning Fei somewhat. Especially since Duan Yunhong now had a layer of “Ning Fei strongly requested him to dress like this,” this small step back was enough to make Ning Fei secretly happy.

Sure enough, when the man went to grab Ning Fei’s hand again, Ning Fei didn’t dodge.

Ning Fei turned his head to look out the window: “…Put on your clothes!”

…

The car drove for another period of time, finally passing through the colorful forest and arriving at the edge of a lake. This lake was very large, and some buildings from the previous dynasty could be seen on the edge, with carved beams and painted rafters, ingenious craftsmanship, and exquisite details. Ning Fei originally thought he was going to those buildings, but the car drove along the lake, finally onto a wide stone bridge, and stopped on a small island in the middle of the lake.

Ning Fei glanced at the time before putting on his coat and getting out of the car, just past four o’clock. After getting out of the car, the cold wind blew on him, and the degree of sobriety was more effective than drinking coffee.

“What are we doing here?” Ning Fei threw his scarf behind him, squinted his eyes, and looked around. There were also some buildings on this island that were in the style of the previous dynasty, but only the exterior could be viewed as a whole. Looking closely, it was obvious that they had been neglected for repairs and were mottled with traces. Not to mention the inside, which was all empty and desolate. And the lakeside was overgrown with weeds, and some lotus stalks withered in the lake, leaving only branches. Ning Fei really couldn’t understand what was so good about this.

“What, here to perform jumping into the lake? There’s a little too little water, can it drown someone?”

Duan Yunhong brought the gloves he had left in the car and stuffed them into his hands: “Don’t you have any good words?”

“It is, old houses, deserted lakeside…” Ning Fei put on his gloves, “I can only think of a good place to kill people and dump corpses. Or is your surprise hidden in these houses, and we have to go inside?”

Duan Yunhong led him to stand by the lake: “No need, just here, wait a while. If you want to see the buildings, we’ll go later.”

“How long?”

“Not sure, fast is ten minutes, slow is half an hour.”

“Then why not wait in the car until it’s time to come down?”

“…” Duan Yunhong didn’t know if he was really dissatisfied, or if he was deliberately making trouble today, but Boss Duan had a special way of dealing with it today. The man unbuttoned his coat again, spreading his lapels: “Why don’t you come here, and I’ll block the wind for you.”

“You’re an idiot!” Ning Fei laughed and cursed, hitting his hand. “Such a perverted action, close it quickly!”

“When I did this wearing a white coat, you didn’t say I was a pervert,” Duan Yunhong simply stepped forward and wrapped him in his coat. “Just stay here quietly for a while, and I’ll let you out when the time comes.”

Ning Fei didn’t like this, but he couldn’t resist that it was really much warmer, and Duan Yunhong specially covered the back of his head, so no cold wind invaded. So Ning Fei really froze in place, only saying in a muffled voice against the man’s chest: “I suspect you have a ball-busting fetish, CEO Duan.”

“Does this count?” Duan Yunhong scoffed. “I don’t have that kind of thankless fetish, but if you say it counts, then it counts.”

“Then what other XPs do you have? Besides cross-dressing,” Ning Fei really asked, “You’ve experienced so much, it’s impossible for you to be like a kid without any preferences, right?”

“Why do I have to have one? Even if I’ve experienced a lot, can’t I just be a normal person?” Duan Yunhong felt that this was ambiguous, and added, “But I’m just saying I don’t have too many preferences, not that I have no experience at all.”

“Hahaha, why are you explaining this, I didn’t say you had no experience!” Ning Fei laughed. “Look, every time I have an idea, you can perfectly cooperate, right? If you can do this without experience, you’re just gifted.”

“…”

“However, I suddenly thought that maybe you have an XP that you didn’t even realize.”

Duan Yunhong had a bad feeling, but he still followed up and asked, “What?”

“How should I describe it… It’s just that you actually like the other party to take the lead, right?” Ning Fei raised his head from his arms, with an obvious smirk on his face. “Every time I make you do this and that, you’re reluctant on the surface, but your body is very honest. Even under the strong influence of light magic, you’re very horny.”

“…That’s a physiological instinct!” Speaking of this, Duan Yunhong gritted his teeth a little. “At that time, I clearly didn’t want to do it at all, but your orders were irresistible, and my body couldn’t be controlled. If my psychology wasn’t strong enough, I would have had problems!”

“Hey, don’t always think about the pain at that time,” Ning Fei laughed. “Just tell me if you enjoyed it or not, the feeling of betrayal is also a major area of XP.”

“Don’t try to brainwash me, it’s clearly you who likes to play, and you’re brainwashing me into liking it,” Duan Yunhong took advantage of the hug to pinch him on the back of his neck. “Taking me as a toy with confidence, huh?”

“Tsk, don’t pinch!” Ning Fei covered his neck. “Haven’t you been too fond of playing like this lately, stop it. One more pinch and I’ll trade it for one of my designated ways to play.”

“Alright, don’t expose your XP,” Duan Yunhong let go of him, turning him towards the arched bridge. “Look quickly.”

Ning Fei looked in the direction he indicated, only to see that the sun had already set, and the sunlight was shining on the lake, sparkling and shimmering with gold. And the light of the setting sun passed through the arched bridge holes that the car had just driven through, illuminating that row of holes into a bright and dazzling gold.

“I used to come here almost every day around this time,” Duan Yunhong also looked towards the bridge, slowly saying, “At that time, my body was not good, and I had to sit in a wheelchair to go out. After having people move me down, I asked those people to go back to the car.

“I didn’t want to share this moment with anyone else, I just wanted to be alone. It seemed that only at this time did I belong to myself, rather than a pathetic bug struggling for Lin Jianru’s bet.

“I never thought that one day, I would specially bring another person here to share a moment that once belonged only to me.”