The Flower Of The High Mountain Is Pregnant With The Son Of The Sand Sculpture Ceo Chapter 34
byChapter 34 You Like Me, I Know…
Before Pei Yumin’s brain could catch up, his phone was already handed over.
Lu Shangyan swiped the screen but couldn’t unlock it. “What’s the password?”
Pei Yumin leaned in and was about to say “0,” but he choked it back. He suddenly remembered that his wallpaper was the photo of him kissing Lu Shangyan. “What are you doing with my phone?”
“Buying tickets.” Lu Shangyan tapped on his own phone a few times in front of him. “My phone freezes whenever it gets to the payment interface. Tickets to that small place of ours are very limited, and they don’t sell them every day. They sell out fast, so I’m in a rush. I’m not trying to spend your money on purpose.”
Pei Yumin clicked his tongue, looking displeased. “I wish you’d spend more of my money. I have so much money I could let you throw it around for fun.”
There he goes again.
Lu Shangyan sighed. He had actually been thinking about this these past few days. He figured Pei Yumin’s family must have some money, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to afford so many high-end fakes that looked like genuine articles.
But if he was asked to truly believe that Pei Yumin was a billionaire, he could only offer a temporary chuckle.
After all, everything required evidence, and Pei Yumin hadn’t given him a single piece of valid proof yet.
Seeing Lu Shangyan remain silent, Pei Yumin started to get anxious. Lu Shangyan quickly changed the subject. “No, I must give you the money.”
He had already received so much care from Pei Yumin during this time, and even Yuan Qingyu kept running around bringing him meals. If he didn’t contribute something, he would feel guilty.
Furthermore, he now clearly understood Pei Yumin’s feelings for him. If he continued to accept the benefits given to him without limit, it would be tantamount to exploiting those feelings.
He didn’t want that.
“Only if you accept it can you come back with me.”
This condition was too tempting, and Pei Yumin immediately took the bait.
But he had no idea that Lu Shangyan was considering this based on the nature of their relationship. He only thought Lu Shangyan was saying he didn’t want to owe him, trying to draw a clear boundary between them.
His face immediately fell. He unlocked the phone and placed it in front of Lu Shangyan. This time, he wanted to make sure Lu Shangyan saw the wallpaper immediately.
They had hugged, kissed, slept together, and were in a relationship so intimate—so intimate that two grown men could passionately create a miracle and produce a child!
Lu Shangyan saw it and involuntarily turned to look at him. “When did you take that screenshot?”
Pei Yumin gave a meaningful reminder. “I have the video too. It looks much more suggestive than the photo.”
Lu Shangyan felt awkward thinking that this photo might be seen by many other people. “Change it.”
Pei Yumin pouted. “I won’t.”
Lu Shangyan pursed his lips in displeasure, saying nothing more. He lowered his head and painstakingly changed the lock screen. This phone was the latest model, and he wasn’t used to it. After struggling for a long time, he finally changed it back to the default wallpaper.
Then, right in front of him, he bought himself a train ticket and handed the phone back.
Pei Yumin panicked. At this point, he couldn’t bother pretending to be wronged to get attention. He quickly lunged over and bought a ticket for himself. “You forgot me! Were you never planning to take me back, and that’s why you kept making excuses?”
Like a child. Why hadn’t Lu Shangyan noticed he could be this childish before? He had once thought Pei Yumin was reliable, but now it seemed it was all just a fleeting, false illusion!
Pei Yumin was still whining in his ear. He sighed. “I don’t know your ID number. How could I buy it?”
“It’s clearly saved here!” Pei Yumin seized the opportunity. “You made a mistake, so you owe me one.”
Lu Shangyan looked at him, trying hard to hold back his frustration. “Owe you what?”
Pei Yumin lifted his chin. “I haven’t decided yet. Just keep it pending, and I’ll tell you when I figure it out.”
Lu Shangyan couldn’t argue with him and went back to replying to messages on his phone.
Pei Yumin, however, took that as agreement and immediately cheered up, continuing to busy himself with enthusiasm. “There’s no direct high-speed rail. The train ride takes over three hours. It’s not too far, though. How about I drive you?”
Lu Shangyan recalled Pei Yumin’s impeccably polished car. “Forget it. The road back is rough, and we have to transfer and travel a long distance after arriving. Taking the train is more convenient.”
Seeing him speak to him properly, Pei Yumin knew he wasn’t truly angry and immediately felt relieved.
The next second, he secretly changed the wallpaper back, and this time, he changed the lock screen too.
He didn’t dare use the photo of him kissing Lu Shangyan’s eyelid for the lock screen, opting instead for a photo of the two of them briefly looking at each other close up. Still, this was enough to show that their relationship was out of the ordinary.
Lu Shangyan quickly transferred the money to him. Pei Yumin didn’t accept it. “You sent double the amount. Are you buying the return ticket too? Which date should I buy it for?”
Lu Shangyan said, “You’re accompanying me back this time. I’ll reimburse all your expenses, as a thank you for taking care of me these past few days.”
“I searched online just now. The VIP ward is very expensive, and with so many doctors treating me, the cost must be huge. I probably can’t pay you back right away…” He paused, slightly afraid to look into Pei Yumin’s eyes. “You have to let me contribute something first.”
Pei Yumin felt a pang in his heart and immediately stopped smiling. “You don’t need to calculate things so clearly between us. My decision to be good to you is my own, and I don’t need any repayment.”
Lu Shangyan simply said, “I want our relationship to be purer. Otherwise, if too many things are involved, I’m afraid I’ll lose my judgment.”
Lose judgment regarding his feelings.
–
The next day, after Lu Shangyan was discharged, he rested in the rental apartment for a few more days and bought many things to take back with him.
But Pei Yumin was even more exaggerated, bringing five extra-large suitcases. Lu Shangyan told him to take some out, but he insisted, “Didn’t you say we’d stay for at least a month? A month is a long time. I’ve already packed lightly.”
Lu Shangyan said, “The train will be packed with people. Bringing so many things will be troublesome. Bumps and scrapes are minor, but losing the suitcases or the contents inside would be a real loss.”
Pei Yumin had never taken a train and didn’t know what the situation was like. He had originally thought someone would help him with his luggage. Now, hearing Lu Shangyan’s words, he immediately pushed the suitcases back into the room. He really needed to be careful. He had to protect Lu Shangyan; that was the most important thing.
But he still took two suitcases out. This way, he could carry the luggage with one hand and protect Lu Shangyan with the other.
His plan was perfect, but when Yuan Qingyu dropped them off at the train station, he immediately regretted it. He instantly told Yuan Qingyu to take all the luggage back and either mail it to him later or he would buy new things when he arrived.
The train station was practically shoulder-to-shoulder. Standing at the security checkpoint, he could see a dense mass of people inside. The line for ticket inspection stretched to the center of the hall, and even so, many people had no place to sit and chose to spread plastic bags on the floor or sit on their luggage.
Lu Shangyan leaned his shoulder against Pei Yumin’s, smiling. “I warned you not to bring so much.”
Looking at it now, Lu Shangyan’s backpack and small suitcase were indeed much lighter.
Pei Yumin was practically petrified. In the end, he only took one suitcase. He followed Lu Shangyan, mimicking him by using his ID card to check the ticket. After passing security, he realized the hall was unbearably stuffy and crowded everywhere.
Seeing the crowd up close made him dizzy. In the moment he was stunned, several children ran straight toward them. Fortunately, Pei Yumin was quick enough to pull Lu Shangyan aside, otherwise those children would have lined up to crash into Lu Shangyan’s stomach.
After the children ran off, a woman who looked to be in her fifties, carrying a red tote bag full of drinks, chased after them, shouting, “Little treasure, come drink some water and rest.”
Pei Yumin was still shaken by the near-incident. When the woman passed him, he stopped her with a serious expression. “This is a public place. Please keep an eye on your children so they don’t bump into others. Letting them run wild like this shows a lack of manners.”
The woman immediately glared, her eyebrows raised, looking fierce. “You have manners? You have manners picking a fight with a child?! Stop pretending! Isn’t it always like this here! Besides, he’s just a child, what does he know? It’s his nature to play and run! If you can’t stand it, go take a plane or a cannon, no one is stopping you! Then you can fly however you want and run however you want, all by yourself!”
Her sharp voice pierced through the air. She pointed her finger at him, inching it closer to his face. Pei Yumin looked displeased, but in this public setting, he truly couldn’t do anything to her.
Lu Shangyan grabbed his wrist, signaling him to let it go.
After finally finding a place to sit in the waiting room, Pei Yumin grew angrier the more he thought about it. While Lu Shangyan was checking which bus route to take after the train arrived, he found a manager and reported everything that had happened, demanding they improve management.
The staff promised well enough at the time, but no one came out to intervene after he left. The mischievous children ran around several times and eventually returned to his side, sitting right across from him.
They sipped their drinks, looking at him smugly, and then deliberately laughed and spat out the drink mixed with saliva, splashing both of them.
The woman watched from the side, occasionally wiping their mouths with tissue paper. Pei Yumin was so angry he laughed. After being sprayed with water again, he abruptly stood up and looked at the woman. “Fine, if you won’t control them, don’t blame me for being rude to you!”
He bent down and pulled open his suitcase, revealing it was filled with bread and snacks. The other half contained supplements Lu Shangyan usually took.
These children had to sip their drinks slowly. Seeing so many snacks, their eyes immediately lit up. They threw their drinks away, jumped off their chairs, and surrounded him, staring for a long time.
“Are those soft candies in that little plastic box? They look like orange flavor. Give me one.”
“And the sandwiches, I’ve only seen them on my phone. Take those out for us too.”
“…”
They clamored for things, not even saying “please,” their tone demanding.
Pei Yumin scoffed, looked at Lu Shangyan, and mimicked the woman’s earlier words, calling out, “Little treasure, what do you want to eat?”
Lu Shangyan looked down, flipping through his phone. “Where are your things?”
“I had my mom take them back just now. Actually, that suitcase had the massager I brought for you and stuff. Didn’t you always say your back aches?” Pei Yumin casually picked up an orange, peeled it, and handed it to him. “The towels too, I’ll have to buy them when we get there. I just don’t know if I can find that brand. You’re used to that towel; you don’t find it scratchy.”
He talked to himself, taking out several other items and placing them on the seat, planning to let Lu Shangyan eat them once they got on the train after all this hassle.
One child wasn’t having it. “What about mine! Where are the things for me!”
He started to cry. Pei Yumin felt a little better and laughed mockingly. Seeing this, the woman stood up again, pointing and cursing at him. “Are you doing this on purpose? A grown man bullying children, have you no shame!”
Pei Yumin pretended not to hear her. He sat back down and pointed at the stains on his clothes. “This shirt cost over thirty thousand. I just bought it a few days ago. You owe me compensation.”
The woman was even more furious, practically jumping up to yell at him. “What nonsense are you spouting! If you were really that rich, why would you be sitting in hard seat here!”
Pei Yumin glared at her. “None of your business. I like it.”
The children cried louder. One was already lying on the floor throwing a tantrum. They grabbed her clothes and legs, demanding she buy them snacks and demanding she steal Pei Yumin’s things.
Pei Yumin was highly protective of his food at this moment. “Dare to touch it, and I’ll report you for robbery!”
The woman was annoyed by the noise. Many onlookers were gathering to watch the spectacle. Even with her lack of shame, her cheeks felt hot. She could only shout at the children to stop crying. “Get up, all of you! I’ll take you to buy some!”
Things inside the train station were much more expensive than outside. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She ran up to Pei Yumin and spat several times before cursing under her breath and leading the children away.
Lu Shangyan finally had some peace. He said with a wry smile, “I dread to think how distraught I would be if my child acted like that.”
Pei Yumin shook his head, disagreeing with his thought. “A child inheriting either of our genes wouldn’t be like that. Besides, I believe you would raise the child very well.”
Lu Shangyan reached out and touched his hand, then looked at Pei Yumin with a serious expression, lowering his voice. “I haven’t said I’m keeping the child yet.”
Pei Yumin chuckled a few times, noncommittal, but deep down, he felt that Lu Shangyan leaned more toward keeping the child.
After finally avoiding the troublesome children, pushing through the crowd, and painstakingly boarding the train, Pei Yumin realized there were even more problems waiting for him.
The carriage was filled with the smell of stinky feet, oily sweat, coughing, and phone calls. Crucially, the carriage was packed, with people standing everywhere in the aisles.
Lu Shangyan even said, “It’s a good thing we bought tickets early, otherwise we’d only have standing tickets.”
Pei Yumin heard the term “standing ticket” for the first time. He paused for a few seconds before following along. After finally squeezing in, he realized his seat and Lu Shangyan’s were not together, not even in the same carriage.
Lu Shangyan looked at the seemingly endless crowd. “Didn’t you check which carriage you were in before boarding?”
Pei Yumin looked utterly justified. “Why would I check? I never planned on being separated from you. At worst, I’ll stand next to you.”
Lu Shangyan couldn’t deal with him. He struggled to put the luggage up and placed the plastic bag full of snacks on the small table.
Fortunately, his seat was near the aisle. He moved inward, leaving a hand-span of space for Pei Yumin. “You’ll have to make do.”
Pei Yumin saw that Lu Shangyan had to hunch his shoulder to make space for him, clearly uncomfortable, and his heart instantly softened. “I’ll sit on the suitcase when I’m tired. Just let me hold onto you.”
Thus, he found a perfect excuse to grab Lu Shangyan’s arm and shoulder whenever he wanted.
The train rattled along. After a while, Pei Yumin felt a lack of oxygen, almost suffocating him.
He had to close his eyes, trying to calm down and breathe deeply to find any available oxygen. But as he inhaled, a sour, foul odor suddenly entered his nostrils. The smell was strange yet familiar. He opened his eyes and saw that someone across from them had taken off their shoes and was wearing a pair of shiny black, slightly damp-looking socks.
Because the train seats faced each other with a small table in between, the person across the aisle had stretched their foot directly into the space between Lu Shangyan and the passenger next to him.
Lu Shangyan felt uncomfortable all over. He reclaimed the hand-span of space he had given up, wanting only to move as far away from that foot as possible. The owner of the foot, meanwhile, was leaning back, snoring away peacefully.
Pei Yumin blinked, his eyes watering from the stench. “How many stops until we get off?”
Lu Shangyan didn’t dare look down at his phone and relied on memory. “It should be four or five stops. We’ll be there in just over three hours. Just wait a little longer.”
Pei Yumin tilted his head back, stubbornly refusing to let the tears fall. “How about we get off at the next stop? We can take a taxi back.”
Lu Shangyan didn’t agree. The money had been spent, and it would be a waste. Besides, after getting off the train, he still had a long bus ride ahead. Taking a taxi would take almost a day and a night.
Moreover, he wasn’t that delicate. He often traveled home like this, packed onto trains. During the winter break, caught in the Spring Festival travel rush, he would stand all the way home if he couldn’t get a seat. Back then, more people were sick, and the smell was much worse than it was now.
He originally intended to comfort himself, but the more he thought about that scene, the more uncomfortable he felt, an uncontrollable discomfort.
Pei Yumin didn’t get a reply before Lu Shangyan tugged at his sleeve. He looked down and saw Lu Shangyan’s face was pale, covered in cold sweat. His other hand was pressed against his stomach, and he was breathing heavily, looking like he might faint at any moment.
He didn’t care about the smell anymore. He quickly crouched in front of him and asked, “What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”
Lu Shangyan swallowed several times before speaking. “I feel like throwing up.”
Pei Yumin finally breathed a sigh of relief. “The restroom is up ahead. I’ll take you.”
With so many people, he didn’t trust Lu Shangyan to squeeze through alone. In his current state, Lu Shangyan looked like he might collapse after just a few steps.
Lu Shangyan had originally wanted him to stay here and watch the bags, but now he just had to carry his backpack and struggle forward with him.
There were many people in the carriage, and many were waiting to use the restroom. Lu Shangyan couldn’t wait and didn’t bother going back. He stood in the connection area between carriages. There was a slight breeze here, and the smell wasn’t as strong, making it much more bearable than sitting inside the carriage.
Pei Yumin stood with him, taking the bag from his hand and carrying it. He also braced his arm across the space, leaning against the cabinet. “It’s shaky here. Hold onto me.”
Lu Shangyan glanced at him but didn’t move, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, resting. He planned to take advantage of the train stopping at the next station to get some fresh air.
But unexpectedly, less than five minutes after feeling comfortable, he felt dizzy from the shaking again. This time, he couldn’t hold it in at all. He bent over and dry-heaved.
Following his movement, Pei Yumin immediately put his hand under Lu Shangyan’s face to catch anything, not having time to grab a trash bag.
But Lu Shangyan had only had a bowl of red date soy milk and some fruit that morning, which had long been digested. He retched for a long time, but nothing came out, leaving his eyes teary from the discomfort.
However, after retching, he felt better, and his head wasn’t as dizzy. Only then did Lu Shangyan notice a hand in front of him and another hand on his back.
“Aren’t you worried about germs?”
Pei Yumin didn’t think anything of it, his attention entirely on Lu Shangyan. “Are you still uncomfortable? Do you want some water? Should I go buy you some? And get some trash bags while I’m at it.”
Lu Shangyan nodded, watching him run off, turning back three times. Even he couldn’t help but feel disgusted with himself when he was nauseous, yet Pei Yumin could use his hand so naturally.
He sat there, holding his forehead, feeling that if things continued this way, he truly wanted to stay with Pei Yumin forever.
By the time Pei Yumin ran back with the water, Lu Shangyan had already stood up. It was the height of summer, and with so many people, the air conditioning seemed ineffective. Pei Yumin was sweating profusely, yet his only thought was to give Lu Shangyan the water first.
“I passed your seat on the way to buy water and found someone had taken it. The person across the aisle had both feet up on the table. All the snacks you put on the table were eaten, and they made a huge mess. Don’t go back there. You might feel sick and throw up again from the smell.” He pushed the suitcase in front of Lu Shangyan. “I brought all the stuff over. If you’re tired, sit here and rest. The air is a little better here.”
Lu Shangyan drank the water and felt completely better. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you squeeze in here with me.”
Pei Yumin strongly disagreed with his words. “I insisted on coming with you. Besides, you’re not feeling sick on purpose.” As he spoke, his gaze drifted lightly to Lu Shangyan’s lower abdomen. “You have a special condition.”
Lu Shangyan took another sip of water and slowly screwed the cap back on. His mind was in turmoil, but he couldn’t stop thinking.
Finally, he made up his mind, sitting there and grasping Pei Yumin’s forearm with his warm palm. “I know now.”
Pei Yumin leaned closer, letting him hold on comfortably. “It’s good that you know.”
Lu Shangyan lowered his head, not wanting to meet his gaze, and spoke haltingly. “I know you like me.”
Pei Yumin was stunned by this statement. It took him a while to realize what Lu Shangyan had said. When he looked over, he saw Lu Shangyan’s ears were bright red. He restrained himself from reaching out to pinch them.
He leaned his face closer, his voice trembling. “Then what do you think?”
Lu Shangyan continued to turn his head, avoiding eye contact, speaking in broken sentences. “Knowing is knowing. What else is there to think?”
“It’s just that, well, now you know I like you.” Pei Yumin leaned in even closer, afraid that outsiders might overhear their little secret. “Do you like me?”