Chapter 42: Wiping clean

Ye Yao takes Lu Xun's hand and walks through the amusement park at night.

Lu Xun helped him with the glowing clear balloons, which looked fantastic with the plush bears.

Lu Xun is usually a fast walker, but now he is walking more slowly than a snail.

"The ground is too dark and there are so many stones to trip over, the design is very inhumane." Lu Xun moved one step at a time, "Walk slowly, don't fall."

The playground floor is flat, where the rocks come from. Even though it was night, there was enough light to see the path underfoot.

Next to them was a fit little two-year-old looking child who ran ahead of them from the back and then looked back at their conspicuous pairing and giggled.

"Brother is walking so slowly, Xiong Xiong is walking so slowly." The child said, "Neither can walk as fast as I do!"

When the child was taken away by his parents, Ye Yao looked at Lu Xun.

"It's really hard to stand on two feet." Ye Yao said to Lu Xun, "After all, all the other bears walk on four feet."

Moving at tortoise speed, Lu Xun is not ashamed of his walking speed and shakes Ye Yao's hand in a vain attempt to draw the warmth from it through the plush leather cover.

Walk slower and they can hold on longer, maybe melt the holster and take Ye Yao's hand straight away?

"Human children nowadays are very good at walking on their own at such an early age, I'm not as good as them." Lu Xun says, "Unlike me, I would have lost my ability to walk independently without Ye students holding me."

Ye Yao did not say anything and after a long time they finally walked back to their original spot. Ye Yao let go of Lu Xun's hand, and three times in a row the bear's paw remained stuck to his hand.

Ye Yao: "...... moderation."

Lu Xun reluctantly took his hand off and left. The bear, who was unable to see the road, was now walking very fast again and soon disappeared from Ye Yao's sight.

The heat covering his palms dissipated and Ye Yao looked again at his hands with a soft sigh.

*

As Ye Yao had to go and help Wang Xue the next day, they did not go back to school but went straight to the house outside.

Lu Xun finally gave Ye Yao back the bear he had taken from him before he closed the door on the airsoft game.

"If you can't see me you can look at it more and allow it to be my replacement for a night for now." Lu Xun frowned reluctantly, "You can put it on the bedside table."

"This kind of toy will just go on the living room sofa." Ye Yao picked up the doll bear.

Lu Xun's frown tightened: "You think it's me and you can't bear to leave it on the sofa?"

Ye Yao thought about it and nodded, "That's a good point, we should throw it in the kitchen and put it in charge of watching the chopper."

Ye Yao bids farewell to Lu Xun who has a look on his face that says "hello cruelty". The door closes and he stands for a moment in the living room with his furry doll bear in his arms before walking towards the bedroom.

Ye Yao returned from a shower and sat on the edge of the bed staring at the bear for a long time before picking it up and putting it on the bed.

Ye Yao doesn't like to put anything on his bed, he only has a comforter and a pillow, no extra dolls or pillows.

The doll bear is placed on such a bed and adds a lot of interest to the bed.

Ye Yao followed, lying on his side with his head propped up on one hand, looking towards the smiling bear.

The bear's face is so cute, round and furry, that it resembles Lu Xun's costumed bear by a factor of seven or eight, and looking at it is like looking at a smaller version of Lu Xun today.

"The kitchen is still a bit too cold." Ye Yao muttered.

The bear doesn't speak, he looks at Ye Yao with a smile.

Ye Yao reached out with one finger and easily pushed the bear sitting on the bed down, pressing his index finger against the doll bear's soft, cotton-stuffed stomach.

"Really getting bent to accept men, straight man?" Ye Yao asked softly.

The bear doesn't respond, he looks safe and secure as he lies next to Ye Yao.

Ye Yao moved the pillow out a little so that the doll bear could lie with him, and finally buried his face in the fleece on the back of the bear and closed his eyes.

*

At 8.30am on Sunday morning, Ye Yao sat down at the table with Wang Xue, who had arrived.

"I heard you did well on your last monthly exam? Congratulations." Ye Yao casually chatted with Wang Xue, "The hard work has paid off."

Wang Xue got excited when he said this: "Yes, I did quite well in the exam, and I felt that they looked at me differently! You don't know, Yao, but my front table had a physics problem that he couldn't write and he came to ask me! He came and asked me!" Wang Xue's face turned into a smile, "And I actually did it, and I explained it to him! Oh my goodness, it was like a dream."

The joy is contagious and Ye Yao smiles as he turns the book to what he will be talking about today: "This doesn't feel any worse than winning a fight, does it? Keep learning and you'll have more fun later."

Ye Yao started the day's tutorial, but as he spoke, he noticed that his student was deserting and that the distance between the two of them was getting closer.

Ye Yao sits next to Wang Xue for the purpose of explaining and writing. There was a normal social distance between them, but now that Wang Xue's upper body is tilted towards him, the distance between them is getting smaller.

Wang Xue's eyes are not on the textbook, but on his hands, and on his wrists, which show a small section.

Ye Yao pulled away from the two without moving, while tapping his pen on the desk.

"Concentrate on the lesson." Ye Yao said.

"Huh? Oh oh oh, listening in listening in!" Wang Xue scrambled to pick up his pen and sit up straight, glancing at Ye Yao's face with what he thought was a covert glance as his pen scribbled on his sketchpad.

Ye Yao continued his lecture, which lasted about twenty minutes, and stopped.

Ye Yao said with an expressionless face, "You are not concentrating, if you don't want to learn today then you can leave now and we can continue when your mind is back on your studies and not mainly on me. If you can't solve this problem, then replace me as a teacher."

Wang Xue, who until recently considered studying to be the most painful thing in the world, was not happy to hear that he would not have to study today, but panicked.

Wang Xue sat upright and squeezed his pen: "I don't want to learn, Brother Yao! I listened carefully, I really listened carefully, go on."

Ye Yao did not continue, but said bluntly, "You learned well before too, what's going on today? Just say what you have to say."

Wang Xue bit his lip and finally spoke, "Yao ...... you're a sophomore this year, right?"

Ye Yao's face was expressionless: "Hmm."

"Look at how fast I'm progressing, I did so well on this exam, and if I double my efforts for the rest of the year, it's not totally hopeless to get into this school you're at now, right?"

Ye Yao: "Hmm."

"Then I'll be a freshman when you're a senior, and we'll still be at the same school." Wang Xue twisted on the bench a few times, his ears a little red, "Give me a chance to woo you and be your boyfriend then?"

Wang Xue felt he understood something after a period of hard work, promising Ye Yao a house and inviting him to touch his abs in an effort to recommend himself, but Ye Yao stayed put.

A man of such ability will not get his way with money alone, one needs to go to his side to have the possibility of something happening with him.

Wang Xue felt he had made a good point and waited nervously for Ye Yao's reply before he saw Ye Yao shake his head.

Wang Xue's mood dropped to rock bottom as he shrugged his eyebrows, "Can't you even give it a chance, Brother Yao?"

"Don't think about all this nonsense." Ye Yao said, "I don't like being chased by men, it feels creepy."

Wang Xue's mood sank to the bottom of the lake, it was hammering him straight from the gender!

Wang Xue, who was silently weeping inside, remembered something: "I ran into the guy next door when I came, the one who came back to school with you last time, the one you said was a friend."

Ye Yao Yao lifted his eyes, "What happened to him?"

"He stares at me!" Speaking of which Wang Xue huffed, "He definitely doesn't mean you well, you don't like being chased by men, so it's better not to hang out with him."

Wang Xue, who had told a story, saw a smile on the otherwise expressionless Ye Yao's face, a soft smile.

"You knew he was chasing you?" Wang Xue shuddered, incredulous, "It's okay for him to chase, but not me?"

Is this the legendary double standard?

The smile on Ye Yao's face tightened up again, "Well, that's not the attitude of others who chase me. Are you still studying today? If not, class will be over now and you can go back and adjust your mood and attitude towards studying."

*

There is still learning to be done, but Wang Xue, who has seen the double standards of adults, is devastated, so class will end earlier than usual today and the evening catch-up is cancelled for now.

It was not yet 5pm when Ye Yao stood up to move his muscles and went back to the bedroom to look at the bear.

The cute little bear is wrapped up in a quilt and sleeps soundly.

I wonder what Lu Xun is doing now?

Ye Yao took his mobile phone out to see that he did not see any message from Lu Xun asking him to go out for dinner tonight.

Ye Yao thought about it and went straight out and rang the doorbell across the street.

He didn't have to wait long before the door opposite opened and Lu Xun, armed with a kitchen knife, stood in the doorway.

The moment you open the door, the smell of the food in the room hits your nose and can easily whet your appetite.

"Classes are over so soon today?" Lu Xun frowned, "No way, not even giving me time to prepare for the surprise, is this the legendary God's will?"

"So I go?" Ye Yao said.

"Here you are and you still want to leave?" Lu Xun pulled Ye Yao by the wrist and pulled Ye Yao inside, then closed and locked the door.

"I've locked this door, Ye students just wander around the house for now." Lu Xun said, and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he thought of something, "If you feel tired, you can go lie down on my bed, whatever you want."

Ye Yao wasn't lying down, so Lu Xun took a pot of homemade fruit tea out of the fridge and poured Ye Yao a cup.

"I don't normally pour I give him." Lu Xun says, "I was going to drink it with you tonight, but since you're here first, I'll open it for you first."

"Aren't you going to drink?" Ye Yao asked.

"The chef is very busy." Lu Xun said, "We're having hotpot today and I have to go and get the ingredients sorted out. Don't come along to help, or else when I ask you tonight what score you'll get for today's date, you'll say it's not a date, it's cooking together today!"

Lu Xun was obviously very upset about the incident, so when he returned to the kitchen he pulled the transparent kitchen door shut and seemed to lock it behind him.

Ye Yao sits on the sofa with a sip of refreshing fruit tea and smells the aroma of the hot pot base as it rolls in the pot.

The fruit tea in his hand was icy cold and just the right amount of sweetness for his liking.

The tomato-flavoured hotpot base is also to his liking.

...... is another person in this room, again to his liking.

When one leaves home and one's parents, it is difficult to feel the warmth of home again. But around Lu Xun, he often feels this warmth.

Lu Xun used to say he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him, and he didn't.

The sweetness of the iced fruit tea fell down Ye Yao's throat, nourishing the heart and bringing out the seeds that had been suppressed.

He doesn't want to force a Lu Xun who is still straight, but equally, he doesn't want to miss a Lu Xun who is really bent.

He should stop being a passive observer and take the initiative in order to know Lu Xun's real attitude.

For example, touching Lu Xun's lips when he is not ready, or anywhere else.

It may be a little abrupt, but it is this sudden closeness that best reflects the true state of mind of the person.

Hopefully ...... he will see what he wants.

*

Lu Xun successfully finished all the ingredients and sat down at the table with Ye Yao.

Rather than sit in the restaurant in a fixed position, Lu Xun tentatively placed his chair next to Ye Yao, rather than opposite him.

Ye Yao did not raise his voice in objection and Lu Xun quickly took a seat next to Ye Yao.

"There's no atmosphere when you eat too far apart, you just have to get closer to make it easier to pinch the food." Lu Xun picked up his chopsticks and gave Ye Yao half a bowl of meat before he could open his mouth, so that Ye Yao would not have the heart to kick him out again.

The two of them never ate without talking, they just had fun. After they started eating for a while Lu Xun suddenly remembered, "Why did class end so early today, that high school boy didn't listen to me?"

"He has a bad attitude towards learning and is always inattentive, so he has been told to go back and adjust his mind and attitude first." Ye Yao said.

Lu Xun complimented himself and stepped on Wang Xue's toes: "I still have a good attitude towards my studies. I listened to whatever Mr. Ye said, unlike that high school boy who didn't know any better."

"Your attitude towards learning is much better than his." Ye Yao glanced at Lu Xun.

Lu Xun was delighted by the compliment and couldn't help but have some inappropriate fantasies at the dinner table.

If only they had been together in high school.

Ye Yao would give him tuition and he would get a kiss for getting a question right. After a night of tuition, Ye Yao's lips would be red from his kisses and his eyes would have a ring of red in them, and then he could lick those tears away.

"So spicy."

Lu Xun, lost in his fantasy, heard Ye Yao's voice, he turned his head to look and then froze.

Ye Yao's sauce was probably too spicy, turning Ye Yao's light-coloured lips, the tip of his nose and the thin skin around his eyes red.

...... It was very similar to the image he had imagined of Ye Yao being kissed hard by him.

Lu Xun's throat tightened and his throat twitched as he poured Ye Yao a glass of ice water.

"Have a cold one to ease your mind." Lu Xun pressed his voice and looked at Ye Yao out of the corner of his eye.

He would like to look at it openly, but he can't always control his eyes and might scare Ye Yao away.

"Lu Xun, you turn around." Ye Yao suddenly spoke.

Lu Xun didn't know what Ye Yao was calling him to do, so he controlled his face and turned to face Ye Yao.

Then he saw Ye Yao, whose lips and eyes were glowing red and who made him now afraid to look away, slowly leaning over.

Lu Xun almost heard his blood boil as Ye Yao's face came closer and closer.

He was all tense, just so he wouldn't lose his cool in front of Ye Yao.

Lu Xun still couldn't restrain himself from swallowing, and the next moment the knot in his throat, which was sliding as he swallowed, was gently touched by another hand, applying slight pressure to it.

It was a hand he knew well, whether it was the curvature of the fingertips or the warmth it carried, he was attached to it.

Lu Xun's mind exploded with a loud bang.

"Here you are, stained with sauce." Ye Yao said.

Lu Xun could not hear it, his heart was racing, Ye Yao tried to take his hand away, but he held it down again.

"Just a quick wipe and that's it?" Lu Xun's voice was hoarse, "You should at least wipe it carefully."