SM Chapter 6

Chapter 6 We Are Not Lovers (Minor Edit)

Chapter 6 We Are Not Lovers (Minor Edit)

Ye Lai had a good dream all night, and the corners of his mouth were still curved when he woke up in the morning.

He thought it would be like any other morning, opening his eyes to find the space beside him already cold, but the good dream continued until the sun rose.

Ye Lai felt the hot and even breath spraying behind his ear, and the arm across his waist, which felt very heavy. Sheng Mingqian’s hand was still inside his clothes, his palm pressed against his lower abdomen, and a warm current seeped into his body from the center of his lower abdomen.

Sheng Mingqian hadn’t left. They had been married for so many years, and rarely did they still sleep together in the morning. Sheng Mingqian had too much work, and he always came back in the middle of the night and left early the next morning.

The relationship between the two of them seemed to be able to continue only in the darkness, like Cinderella’s glass slippers, with a time limit. The sunrise meant the clock was striking, and they would each return to their own world, living unrelated lives.

The tender affection in the darkness, the interweaving of sweet whispers, seemed never to have existed. All traces would be washed away by the scorching light the moment the sun rose, leaving no trace.

Like two strangers, it seemed the only thing remembered was the heartbeat Ye Lai tried so hard to hide.

The bedroom curtains weren’t completely closed, and strands of warm yellow sunlight leaked in. The two feet intertwined outside the quilt at the foot of the bed happened to fall in that area of irregular light. The shadows left on the off-white sheets seemed to have just broken the spell of the clock; they were still together.

Ye Lai moved his ankle, which moved the back of his foot. He curled his toes and hooked them, sliding his toes over Sheng Mingqian’s instep, from top to bottom, and finally rubbed Sheng Mingqian’s instep against his own.

The person behind him breathed a little heavier. Ye Lai quickly held his breath, pressing against Sheng Mingqian’s instep, not daring to move any further.

Mornings like this, embracing each other in the sunlight, were too rare and precious. Ye Lai wanted to enjoy it a little longer. When the breathing behind him became even again, Ye Lai gently exhaled and slowly relaxed his body muscles.

But his instep had been arched for too long, and this sudden relaxation caused a cramp. The piercing pain in his instep instantly extended to his calf, which also cramped.

Ye Lai groaned in pain. He reached for his foot with both hands, but his legs were too weak, and his fingers ached so much that he couldn’t reach it.

Hearing Ye Lai’s painful and hoarse moan, Sheng Mingqian instantly woke up and sat up.

“What’s wrong?”

“My foot, my foot is cramping.”

Sheng Mingqian pulled back the quilt, reached out and held Ye Lai’s foot, his palm supporting the sole of his foot, stretching it in the opposite direction of his curled toes. His other hand massaged his calf, stroking it up and down.

Ye Lai buried his face in the quilt in pain. The pain slowly subsided after two minutes, and sweat had already broken out on his forehead. A thin layer of sweat covered the tip of his nose, like the mist on morning petals.

“Mingqian,” Ye Lai said, turning over when the pain was completely gone, “It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

As Ye Lai spoke, he moved his foot, trying to pull it out.

But Sheng Mingqian didn’t let go. Feeling Ye Lai pulling away, he gripped him even tighter with both hands, his left palm still supporting the sole of Ye Lai’s foot, and the massaging motion of his other hand never stopped, slowly kneading.

Ye Lai’s legs were long and straight, his calves had smooth and shapely lines, and his skin was smooth and delicate, as if it couldn’t withstand the slightest wind or rain.

The only flaw was that there was a long scar on the instep of Ye Lai’s right foot, from the ankle to the toes. The edges of the skin around the scar were irregular and slightly raised, but it was already very faint, a light pinkish-white.

“Do you often get cramps?” Sheng Mingqian asked as he massaged.

Ye Lai shook his head, his eyes filled with clear water as he looked at Sheng Mingqian: “Not often, occasionally.”

Sheng Mingqian kept his head down, massaging his legs and feet. The skin on Ye Lai’s calves had already been rubbed red, revealing a bright color.

“How did you get the scar on your foot?” he asked again. It wasn’t the first time he had seen it, but it was the first time he had asked.

“I was injured before.”

“A knife wound?”

“Yes, scar removal surgery could remove it, but I didn’t do it. If you mind, I can have scar removal surgery.”

Sheng Mingqian raised his head, his brows furrowed: “You don’t need to care whether I mind or not.”

Ye Lai smiled faintly and didn’t say anything more.

Sheng Mingqian continued to massage, and Ye Lai only felt his calves and toes getting hot. After a while, he became restless again, and the water in his eyes rippled. He reacted again, propping himself up on his arms and pecking at Sheng Mingqian’s lightly stubbled chin.

“Mingqian, I want more.”

Sheng Mingqian finally let go, pulled the quilt over and covered his legs, hiding the finger marks he had pinched on Ye Lai’s thighs last night: “Don’t be too greedy. Aren’t you going to the orphanage later?”

His reminder finally made Ye Lai remember: “Oh, right, I’m going back to the orphanage today. Mingqian, how did you know I was going today?”

“It’s written on the calendar.”

Ye Lai had a habit of marking his schedule on the calendar. He glanced at the calendar on the bedside table. He had circled Thursday and Friday of this week in red pen. Nothing was written under Thursday, only a circle, and under the red circle on Friday were the words “Orphanage.”

Ye Lai was sent to the orphanage at birth. He didn’t know who his parents were. He grew up in the orphanage. When he was five years old, he was adopted by a couple, but in the second month after they adopted him, the woman, who had been married for ten years without getting pregnant, finally conceived. They secretly sent him back to the orphanage and were never heard from again.

Over the years, Ye Lai would take a day each month to visit the orphanage, usually on weekends because he could see the children who were waiting for him on weekends, but he had work arrangements every weekend this month, so he could only take tomorrow off.

Every time he went to the orphanage, Ye Lai would buy a lot of things in advance, food, supplies, toys, whatever he could find, he wanted to buy for them.

Sheng Mingqian helped him move the things to the garage, and the back seat and trunk were filled with things.

“I’ll go with you.” Sheng Mingqian stood by the car.

“Huh? Where are you going with me?” Ye Lai thought he had misheard and subconsciously asked.

“I’ll go to the orphanage with you.” Sheng Mingqian said it again.

Ye Lai almost didn’t react. They had been married for so many years, and Sheng Mingqian had never gone out with him, let alone to the orphanage. These were all part of the agreement.

All he had ever wanted was to be able to stand in the sunlight with Sheng Mingqian openly, for them to hold hands and hug without any reservations, to be able to announce to the world that they were a legally married couple.

If he was being completely honest, Ye Lai didn’t even need those things. He just wanted Sheng Mingqian’s acknowledgment, an acknowledgment of their marriage, not just the restraint of a piece of paper.

Sheng Mingqian took the initiative to offer to go to the orphanage with him, and Ye Lai’s heart was pounding. He glanced at the trunk, couldn’t care about anything else, and threw the car keys to Sheng Mingqian.

“My butt hurts, Mingqian, you drive.”

Angel’s Home Orphanage was in the south of the city, more than an hour’s drive away.

Ye Lai leaned comfortably against the back of the passenger seat: “Mingqian, don’t you have to go to the film set today?”

“I’ll go in the afternoon.”

Director Jiang had already received Ye Lai’s call and was standing at the entrance looking around, wearing her reading glasses. She waved to him as soon as she saw Ye Lai’s car in the distance.

As soon as he got out of the car, Ye Lai ran over and hugged Jiang Ying: “Jiang Mama, I miss you so much.”

Jiang Ying smiled and patted him on the back: “You’re so big, and you still know how to act cute.”

Ye Lai chuckled softly and let go of Jiang Ying. She saw another man getting out of the car and asked Ye Lai, “Ye Lai, this is?”

“I’m Ye Lai’s friend. Hello, Director Jiang, I’m Sheng Mingqian.” Sheng Mingqian nodded slightly and introduced himself.

“So you’re Xiao Lai’s friend, come in, come in.”

Ye Lai turned back to the car: “There are still a lot of things in the car, let me move them.”

Jiang Ying went to the yard to call the other children to help. Soon, several children ran out, chattering.

The oldest was Xiao Yu, a 12-year-old boy, whom Ye Lai had watched grow up. He was a sturdy and lively boy.

Xiao Yu ran the fastest and threw himself at Ye Lai, hugging him tightly: “Brother Lai, you’re finally here to see us. Xiao Yu misses you so much.”

Ye Lai stroked Xiao Yu’s head and squatted down: “Brother Lai came to see you today. By the way, it’s Friday today, why didn’t Xiao Yu go to school?”

“Xiao Yu had a fever today, so I didn’t go.”

Ye Lai reached out and touched his head: “You still have a fever. Did you take medicine?”

“I took it, Brother Lai. I’ve been very good recently, helping Jiang Mama with a lot of things.”

“You’re great,” Ye Lai took out a small red flower from his pocket and pinned it on his chest, “Brother Lai is giving this to Xiao Yu as a reward.”

After giving Xiao Yu a small red flower, the other children hugged his legs, asking for red flowers too.

Sheng Mingqian watched from the side as Ye Lai seemed to be performing magic, taking out small red flowers from various pockets of his clothes and pinning them on the children’s chests.

“They all like you very much,” Sheng Mingqian said.

“What about Mingqian? Do you like Ye Lai, Mingqian?” Ye Lai stood among the children, pointedly directing the question at Sheng Mingqian.

But he didn’t hear an answer. Director Jiang came over and looked at the boxes by the car: “Ye Lai, you bought so many things again. Be careful not to spoil them.”

“It doesn’t matter, they’re all things that children like. They’re all very good, buying them something occasionally is a reward.”

The smell of food came from the kitchen, and Ye Lai changed the subject: “Jiang Mama, let’s move the things in. You can give them to the children when they get out of school in the evening. We’ll freeload lunch here.”

“Eat here, eat here,” Jiang Ying said with a smile, taking his hand. “I just asked Aunt Zhang in the kitchen to add more dishes. You all stay for dinner.”

Xiao Yu sat next to Ye Lai during the meal, took a few bites, and tugged at his sleeve.

“Xiao Yu, what’s wrong?”

“Brother Lai, what’s the name of the uncle next to you?”

Ye Lai wanted to laugh. Xiao Yu called him brother and Sheng Mingqian uncle.

It wasn’t that Sheng Mingqian looked old, but his stern face made him seem unapproachable, more like a strict uncle than a brother to play with.

“His name is Sheng Mingqian, you can call him Uncle Sheng.”

“Then Brother Lai,” Xiao Yu suddenly lowered his voice, “What’s your relationship with Uncle Sheng?”

Hearing Xiao Yu’s question, Ye Lai paused with his chopsticks. His eyes kept drifting towards Sheng Mingqian, and finally he turned his head and looked at him with a smile.

Xiao Yu didn’t hear an answer right away and guessed to himself, “I know, Brother Lai, you had stars in your eyes when you looked at Uncle Sheng just now. Are you two lovers?”

“Uncle Sheng and I…”

Ye Lai had just opened his mouth, but before he could finish, Sheng Mingqian interrupted him, denying Xiao Yu’s statement: “Your Brother Lai and I are not lovers.”

The second half of Ye Lai’s sentence rolled around in his throat twice before he swallowed it with difficulty. His trachea was blocked.

But he quickly understood and wasn’t too disappointed. It was written clearly in the agreement.

Moreover, Sheng Mingqian wasn’t wrong. Their relationship was indeed not that of lovers.

What was he expecting again?

Ye Lai shook his head, picked up a piece of tofu and put it in his mouth. The tofu was too tender, and he bit down too hard and too quickly, his teeth biting down hard on the tip of his tongue.

The bloody taste instantly filled his mouth, piercing down his throat. Ye Lai’s eyelids trembled from the pain, but he forced himself not to make a sound.

The pain on the tip of his tongue reddened Ye Lai’s eyes. Ye Lai pressed his tongue against his teeth, and after a long time, he repeated Sheng Mingqian’s words: “Yes, we are not lovers.”