Little Meteor Chapter 42
byChapter 42: Give Me More, I Love to Eat It.
Shen Mu had told Jiang Chengxuan he could do whatever he wanted tonight, and Jiang Chengxuan certainly intended to comply. Shen Mu held him tightly, pressing his body closer. When it became too much, he would bite Jiang Chengxuan’s shoulder, but no matter how rough Jiang Chengxuan got, Shen Mu never pushed him away. Jiang Chengxuan felt that Shen Mu was incredibly compliant today and couldn’t help but take him again and again.
When he carried Shen Mu to the bathroom to wash up, Jiang Chengxuan felt aroused again. The bathroom was filled with steam. Shen Mu was pressed against the tiled wall, Jiang Chengxuan’s palm supporting his waist. His voice still carried the remnants of passion as he kissed Shen Mu’s damp eyes: “You don’t have to be this obedient.”
Shen Mu smiled, the corners of his eyes flushed red: “I told you, it’s up to you.”
Jiang Chengxuan lowered his head to kiss him, the sound of the water masking the soft noises. When Shen Mu was lifted by his waist, he went completely soft in Jiang Chengxuan’s arms, his forehead resting against his shoulder, his breathing still uneven. Jiang Chengxuan turned off the shower and wrapped him tightly in a towel: “Are you tired?”
Shen Mu shook his head, then nodded, and finally buried his face in Jiang Chengxuan’s neck: “…Sleepy.”
Jiang Chengxuan chuckled, carrying him out of the bathroom. The moment Shen Mu touched the blanket, he curled up inside. Jiang Chengxuan lay down too, pulling the person into his embrace, and placed a very light kiss on his brow: “Sleep now.”
“Not yet,” Shen Mu was clearly exhausted, yet he stubbornly refused to close his eyes. “Let’s talk for a bit.”
Jiang Chengxuan smiled, turning over to face him: “What do you want to talk about?”
Shen Mu’s voice was very soft, tinged with a sleepy nasal tone: “I never thought we could have this result today.”
Jiang Chengxuan looked down at him, gently brushing the stray hairs from his forehead: “Hmm?”
“Before, I always felt that for someone like me, it would be enough just to live out my life peacefully and safely, and I dared not hope for anything more. I always thought I had bad luck; good things never came my way, but I could run into bad things with a one-in-a-million probability.”
Jiang Chengxuan didn’t speak, he just tightened the arm wrapped around Shen Mu’s waist, his thumb gently rubbing the back of his neck.
Shen Mu smiled: “Axuan, meeting you is truly wonderful.”
“I’ve never told you this, but the first time I saw you wasn’t in your College of Medicine cafeteria. It was at the Speech Contest organized by the school.”
Jiang Chengxuan raised an eyebrow slightly. Shen Mu looked a little embarrassed when he said this: “I’m a Looks-Obsessed Person, and I thought you were very handsome.”
Jiang Chengxuan pinched his cheek: “You just thought I was handsome?”
“Ah,” Shen Mu nodded. “That was definitely the first impression. Handsome, dazzling, like a shooting star.”
“A shooting star?”
Shen Mu often had such poetic statements, which Jiang Chengxuan usually didn’t quite understand. He asked him: “Why am I a shooting star?”
“I don’t know,” Shen Mu smiled. “I suddenly thought of a lyric at the time: ‘Even tiny dust particles in the universe can reflect the sun’s light, following the meteor shower, with light steps, just to streak across above your head.'”
Jiang Chengxuan wrapped a strand of Shen Mu’s hair around his finger: “So you think I’m a shooting star that just streaks across above your head and then vanishes?”
“No,” Shen Mu thought carefully about how to make the analogy. “It’s that feeling of knowing something is fleeting, but still being unable to resist making a wish.”
Jiang Chengxuan was very pleased by his words, but the happiness didn’t last long. Shen Mu continued to add: “At that time, my advisor said the stories I wrote lacked soul and told me to observe life more, preferably by falling in love. So I often went to the College of Medicine to eat, hoping to experience the feeling of a secret crush.”
Jiang Chengxuan didn’t speak for a long time. Shen Mu scratched his palm: “Are you angry?”
“Not exactly angry,” Jiang Chengxuan’s expression was hard to describe. “Mumu, don’t give those unnecessary explanations in the future. The psychological gap is too big; I can’t quite handle it.”
Shen Mu burst out laughing, lying on top of Jiang Chengxuan, acting spoiled: “Don’t be angry, Doctor Jiang. I really, really like you.”
Jiang Chengxuan was generous: “Fine, I forgive you. I wasn’t enlightened back then either, so we’re even.”
Shen Mu rubbed against him in his arms and said again: “I truly like you.”
Jiang Chengxuan whispered: “And now? Do you still think I’m a shooting star?”
“Not a shooting star anymore,” Shen Mu leaned in and kissed his lips. “Now you are my Axuan, and mine alone.”
Jiang Chengxuan lightly rubbed his chin against the top of Shen Mu’s head: “Yes, I’ve always been yours alone.”
When Shen Mu woke up the next morning, Jiang Chengxuan was already gone. After being away from the hospital for so long, he naturally had to go back to deal with the aftermath.
Breakfast was on the table. Shen Mu heated it in the microwave, but after two bites, he couldn’t eat anymore. Although Jiang Chengxuan refused to tell him, he could guess that the hospital couldn’t possibly have approved such a long leave for him. Would Jiang Chengxuan be fired? If he was fired, what would he do? Where would he find a job? How would he explain it to his family?
“Mumu, wake up.”
Shen Mu was still a little groggy when he opened his eyes. Jiang Chengxuan reached out and rubbed the mark left on his forehead from sleeping on it: “That tired, huh? You fell asleep halfway through breakfast.”
Shen Mu hadn’t realized it. He had been resting his head on the table, lost in thought, and had drifted off. He grabbed Jiang Chengxuan’s arm, anxious: “You weren’t fired by the hospital, were you?”
Seeing his expression, Jiang Chengxuan deliberately sighed and sat down beside Shen Mu: “What if I really was fired?”
Shen Mu stared at him blankly, his eyes slowly turning red.
Jiang Chengxuan couldn’t bear to tease him anymore. Just as he was about to speak, Shen Mu patted his back, perhaps saying it to him or to himself: “It’s okay. I just took on two scripts recently. They aren’t exactly S-Class Major Productions, but they pay quite well. If things get really bad, I can teach evening classes at a training center. You don’t have to worry, I can support you. We should be fine if we save money until you find a new job.”
Shen Mu spoke very seriously, pulling out his phone and starting to calculate their monthly living expenses. Jiang Chengxuan finally couldn’t help but laugh out loud, pulling him into his arms: “Mumu, why are you so adorable?”
Shen Mu was still focused on the living expenses issue and looked up blankly when he heard this. Jiang Chengxuan lightly flicked his forehead: “I was kidding. The hospital didn’t fire me, don’t worry.”
Shen Mu froze for several seconds, then angrily punched Jiang Chengxuan’s shoulder: “You scared me to death!”
Jiang Chengxuan laughed and let him hit him, holding him tighter: “But I’m very happy. Now when something happens, your first reaction is finally not to think about leaving me.”
Shen Mu was also stunned when he realized this. Seeing Shen Mu remain silent, Jiang Chengxuan pinched the back of his neck: “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Shen Mu smiled. “I just remembered telling you that I don’t believe in those vague, ethereal things, especially phrases like ‘being loved gives you confidence, being loved gives you support.’ But now I feel like that might actually be true. Have I become shallow?”
Jiang Chengxuan pecked him lightly on the lips: “No. I told you, you’re right not to believe those things. You just need to believe in me.”
The two of them were affectionate for a while. Jiang Chengxuan said he didn’t want to cook lunch and suggested they eat out. Before leaving, Shen Mu was still persistent, asking exactly how the hospital handled his situation. Jiang Chengxuan had no choice but to tell him: “They deducted three months of my bonus, and I have to work all weekend shifts for the next three months.”
“That’s it?”
Jiang Chengxuan smiled: “What else?”
…Shen Mu was silent for a moment, then said: “Based on the plot we would write for a script, your promotion this year should also be canceled.”
Jiang Chengxuan clapped his hands, praising him: “That’s impressive.”
Shen Mu pursed his lips. Jiang Chengxuan rubbed his hair: “It wasn’t canceled, just delayed by a year. It’s not a big deal. Besides, even if it wasn’t delayed, I might not have been promoted anyway. It’s good to have an extra year to prepare. I’m still young; I can afford to wait.”
Shen Mu hugged him from behind, resting his face against Jiang Chengxuan’s back: “Idiot.”
Jiang Chengxuan turned around, wiping Shen Mu’s tears with the back of his hand, and joked: “They deducted three months of my bonus, Teacher Shen. How do you plan to support me?”
Shen Mu punched him and mumbled: “I’ll let you eat soft rice.”
“Sounds good,” Jiang Chengxuan leaned in to kiss him, whispering in his ear: “Give me more, I love to eat it.”