SFBF CH108

Automatically substituting the book’s vengeful villains with the round, tiny images of his own Duo Duo and Ao Zai, Shen Qing’s sadness completely vanished. He actually found the villains quite cute.

But this wasn’t a book.

His babies weren’t going to become avengers or villains, either. Only those who had suffered terribly would resort to extreme measures for revenge. Shen Qing straightened his back—he absolutely would not let his cubs walk down that path.

Afterward, he looked back at Gu Huaiyu.

When he had lost control of his emotions earlier, Gu Huaiyu had been comforting him non-stop. Only now did Shen Qing realize that, at some point, he had ended up half-leaning, half-sitting on one of the man’s thighs.

Uh.

Although there was nothing wrong with President Gu’s legs, even a normal person wouldn’t be able to bear the weight of a grown adult sitting on just one thigh!

Shen Qing subconsciously shot up.

Gu Huaiyu raised an eyebrow slightly, looking right up at him. Shen Qing lowered his eyes, his gaze meeting that pale, handsome face.

“I, I have just one l-l-last question…”

Having lost count of how many ‘last questions’ he had already asked, Shen Qing seemed a little embarrassed, his face suddenly flushing red.

Gu Huaiyu chuckled at the sight. “Mm, ask whatever you want, wife.”

Shen Qing spoke up, “It’s just… are you completely better?”

“Me?” It was an unexpected question. President Gu didn’t seem to understand and asked, “What about me is better?”

Shen Qing: “Your body!”

Gu Huaiyu smiled upon hearing this. “Didn’t you already ask that? I feel great.”

He kept his head tilted back. From this angle, his jawline actually looked quite sharp, sharing a distinct couples’ resemblance with Shen Qing.

“Then, then, then…” Shen Qing suddenly averted his eyes, not daring to look directly at Gu Huaiyu. His cheeks were still flushed a bright red.

Gu Huaiyu: “?” He looked at his wife in confusion.

Shen Qing: “How about we do something else?”

“Alright, what does my wife want to do?” Gu Huaiyu’s voice was clear, laced with a hint of doting indulgence. Up close, it carried a rich texture, making one feel as if they could sense the very vibrations in his chest.

Shen Qing: “…”

Hearing this voice and thinking about what was on his mind, Shen Qing instinctively bit his lip, his face growing even redder. The fingers resting on Gu Huaiyu’s shoulders felt searing hot. Mustering his courage, he said, “What I mean is, do you remember what we agreed on before… that once you’re better, we would do something else?”

Because he had finally made up his mind to say it and already crossed the starting line, Shen Qing’s ensuing words flowed smoothly. His speaking speed and tone returned to normal, pushing through in one vigorous breath.

For the next few moments, Shen Qing just looped his arms around Gu Huaiyu’s neck, lowering his head to meet his gaze.

Gu Huaiyu blinked.

Shen Qing blinked back.

Then, he saw Gu Huaiyu’s pitch-black eyes suddenly flicker, as if a dark, profound light had slipped through his pupils.

“…You mean.” Gu Huaiyu raised his hands again to lock around the young man’s waist, his long fingers lightly tapping against the small of his back.

Shen Qing: …

As if tickled, the young man subconsciously thrust his body forward a little.

Gu Huaiyu: “…”

Perhaps because the young man had been standing between his parted knees the whole time, this movement brought them even closer. Gu Huaiyu looked at the young man’s perfectly straight legs, feeling the narrow waist within his grasp.

His eyes darkened completely.

And Shen Qing, as if throwing all caution to the wind, lowered his head and kissed the other man’s lips. “…When we first came in, I locked the door.”

Gu Huaiyu: “…”

Shen Qing simply squeezed his eyes shut: “Just tell me, are we doing this or not?”

Teacher Shen had never been one to dawdle!

Previously, their interactions could only be described as exercising the utmost restraint, more platonic than Plato. It was because the incisions from Gu Huaiyu’s surgery hadn’t fully healed, because his body was still weak, because he wasn’t used to walking yet, and his stamina hadn’t recovered… Shen Qing had always thought this way.

But now, President Gu was obviously walking perfectly fine!

After today, everyone would know that Gu Huaiyu had fully recovered. So what were they still waiting for!

Of course, Teacher Shen wasn’t originally this passionate, insisting it had to happen right now. But wasn’t the atmosphere just leading up to this perfectly?

…At a bustling banquet, he and Gu Huaiyu were hiding in a secret corner, a world meant just for the two of them. On this humid, sultry summer night, they were chatting alone in their private world, and he had completely come to understand all of Gu’s past.

Because of this, Shen Qing vaguely felt that maybe, today was the day.

Feeling the force of the hands on his waist growing heavier, Shen Qing looked at Gu Huaiyu, distinctly sensing the man’s restraint.

“Ah…” Shen Qing looked around the empty room, suddenly realizing, “But this is a reception room, it doesn’t seem quite appropriate. Should we wash up first?”

Gu Huaiyu: “…”

Shen Qing: “…Come here.”

He suddenly took a large step back, leaving the space between Gu Huaiyu’s knees. He also pulled the man up while he was at it. “The bathroom is over there, right?”

Gu Huaiyu: “…”

Rising to his feet, Gu Huaiyu firmly planted his heels, not letting the young man pull him a single step. With a backhand tug, he pulled Shen Qing straight back into his embrace. “What exactly is going through your mind?”

His voice was low. Compared to before, it sounded significantly hoarser.

“…Exactly what you’re thinking. I’m serious.” Shen Qing struggled to turn himself around so he was facing Gu Huaiyu again. “Don’t tell me you don’t have any thoughts about it?”

“I do,” Gu Huaiyu said. He said it very bluntly.

“Then isn’t that sett—mm.”

Shen Qing didn’t even get to finish his sentence before his lips were sealed. Already being held tightly in the other man’s arms, Shen Qing could directly feel the frantic beating within his chest.

This pale, ice-cold man who gave off such a severe impression was excessively scorching right now.

Wow…

Teacher Shen suddenly grew even more excited. He thought, Gu Huaiyu isn’t actually going to do it right here, is he…

In that case, President Gu was actually much younger and more passionate than he had imagined.

…

Shen Qing, who had been slightly distracted, suddenly shuddered.

At first, he was still thinking about what they were doing, feeling a bit excited and finding it thrilling. But later, because it was truly thrilling, his brain short-circuited, on the verge of crashing, leaving nothing but instinctual trembling.

He felt the world spinning dizzily. It felt like he was constantly retreating, confined by someone else, unable to determine his direction.

But what Gu Huaiyu was doing…

Clatter.

The expensive suit jacket fell to the floor. Dropping along with it was a button from Shen Qing’s collar.

Shen Qing sobered up instantly. He finally didn’t have to keep moving backward—his back was pressed against a wall. However, in front of the wall was a small wooden display shelf, about half the width of a chair and reaching up to his waist. Scattered ornaments rested on the shelf.

If Shen Qing wanted his back to lie completely flat against the wall, he would have to be “displayed” on that shelf, too.

“Ah-wu~”

Practically lifted by the other man to sit on the shelf, Shen Qing let out a tiny yelp from the sudden upward motion of his body. Among the exquisite art pieces resting on the display shelf that perfectly suited Gu Huaiyu’s aesthetic, there was now an excessively exquisite young man added to the collection.

Only then did Shen Qing realize that their positions had completely swapped—previously, it was President Gu leaning there while he stood wedged between the man’s long legs. Now, it was entirely reversed.

The only constant was that Shen Qing still had both arms looped around Gu Huaiyu’s neck. The only difference was that Gu Huaiyu was also hooking one of his legs.

Shen Qing: !!!

No, wait, never mind not considering the bathroom, but uh, shouldn’t we consider the sofa?!

Being pressed intimately against the wall, sitting on a wooden plank that wasn’t wide enough, his room to move became extremely limited. Being essentially balanced on one leg right now, he couldn’t muster any strength. He was completely at the other man’s mercy.

Gu Huaiyu said, “I thought you didn’t want to.”

An unknown amount of time passed before Shen Qing slightly regained his senses. “Huh?”

The light shone down from directly above them, casting Gu Huaiyu’s expression entirely into the shadows. In a hoarse voice, he said, “I thought you didn’t like me touching you.”

Shen Qing: “…What, how could that be?”

Gu Huaiyu seemed to be heavily suppressing himself, his voice even rougher than before: “Aren’t you straight?”

Shen Qing: “Mm…”

“I heard that some straight men don’t like being touched by other men.”

“…”

Within the narrow space created by Gu Huaiyu, relatively heavy breathing echoed. Because the other man pulled back slightly, Shen Qing subconsciously took a deep breath, feeling his head clear up significantly.

“What do you mean…” He had almost forgotten that he used to be straight… Shen Qing continued to mutter, “If I didn’t like men, then why would I like you?”

Perhaps because he had just been kissed, Shen Qing didn’t feel shy saying this now. And Gu Huaiyu had always loved his straightforward confessions of affection.

A trace of pleasure washing over his expression, Gu Huaiyu raised his hand, his fingertips tracing the young man’s tender, vibrant lips. “Because lately, you’ve been doing your best to avoid my touch.”

He wouldn’t avoid it normally, and he wouldn’t avoid it when kissing. It only happened at night when they were sleeping. This avoidance had to do with his body, but not entirely. Perhaps because he paid too much attention to the young man, Gu Huaiyu could sense all of this.

Yet the young man’s reactions were otherwise completely normal, and the radiant, unfiltered affection in his eyes had never faded; in fact, it deepened by the day. So even though Gu Huaiyu didn’t quite understand, he wasn’t in a rush.

Later, he learned that some iron-clad straight men were just like this after bending. Mentally, they had someone they loved, but physically, they weren’t used to it yet.

Realizing this, Gu Huaiyu instantly felt at ease and became even less anxious. He could wait forever for the young man to get used to it. As long as he stayed by his side.

Shen Qing: “! That’s just because I was worried your body wasn’t fully recovered…”

Alright, as he kept talking, even he couldn’t keep going. Worrying about President Gu’s health truly was one aspect… a very large aspect. But at the same time, there really was a deeper reason that made Shen Qing subconsciously avoid “deep contact” with him.

But it certainly wasn’t because he was a straight guy struggling to adapt to being bent.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have any thoughts about the big boss, either.

…No, looking at that face and their perfect height difference, sometimes he swooned so hard his knees practically gave out, okay?!

He subconsciously avoided Gu Huaiyu, mainly because…

“I, I, I’m shy.”

Gu Huaiyu: “?”

Catching the crisp, piercing woody scent on the other man, Shen Qing’s face flushed a brilliant red all over again. “It’s just… it feels so hard to imagine, sigh. I can’t help but overthink exactly how we’d do it, and then the more I think about it, the more I feel like just forgetting the whole thing…”

Ahhh.

Even just breaking down his own thought process made Shen Qing want to shriek in absolute embarrassment.

It was actually quite strange. He was usually very thick-skinned; as long as he wasn’t being serious, he dared to crack any joke or pull any stunt.

But the moment he faced the serious, stern Gu Huaiyu—who was pale and carried a slight sense of fragile brokenness—he subconsciously became serious, too.

And once he got serious, he tended to overthink.

He wanted to give the other person the absolute best experience. He wanted to be perfect in his eyes…

Ultimately, because he thought too much, he simply decided not to think at all, content to be a lazy salted fish and comfort himself with the excuse that President Gu’s body hadn’t fully recovered yet anyway.

Just as many newlywed couples could actually still feel shy even after being married for a long time, Shen Qing felt that emotionally, he had always been a slow burner, very much taking things as they came.

Because once upon a time, falling in love had never been a mandatory option for him.

That was probably also the reason why he had remained single for over twenty years. He needed a major event to push him before he could make up his mind.

For instance, having died once before made him cherish life and time much more, pushing him to experience things he had never tried before.

And because he had previously thought President Gu was about to kick the bucket, leaving him absolutely no time to be shy, he had managed to be so bold and uninhibited.

“Right.”

Shen Qing, who rarely analyzed himself, suddenly remembered: The big boss hadn’t exactly taken the initiative before either! If he had just acted like he is right now… ahem, I probably wouldn’t have pushed him away, right?

So when had he ever avoided him? He was just a bit more well-behaved when sleeping. How did that count as avoiding?

It’s not like he knew what Gu Huaiyu wanted to do!

“So, big boss, are you shy too?” Facing Gu Huaiyu, Shen Qing blinked and asked.

“…” Gu Huaiyu blinked back at him, his tone low and deep. “I am not shy.”

After indifferently stating those words, Gu Huaiyu slowly asked, “Then why aren’t you shy today?”

“Isn’t it because the atmosphere just built up to it perfectly?” Shen Qing was still hanging off Gu Huaiyu’s body, looking a bit roguish. “Knowing how tragically you suffered, yet how amazing you are, how could I stay calm?! I just want to eat you up and be done with it.”

“…Eat me up?”

“I mean,” Shen Qing also felt the phrase ‘eat you up’ sounded a bit too crude, so he elaborated delicately: “Like a treasure I want to hold in my mouth, but I’m terrified you’d melt.”

Gu Huaiyu lowered his eyes to look at him, the depths of his dark pupils gleaming brightly. “…So you were really just shy?”

Shen Qing lowered his head slightly again, his voice a bit muffled. “Ahem, anyway, are we doing this or not?… If we drag this out any longer, I’m going to get shy again— Ah!”

Shen Qing felt like he had just been directly bumped into.

Bumped so directly that the end of his sentence quivered, even though it was through their clothes…

Shen Qing subconsciously tightened his arms, hugging the other man even fiercer.

Gu Huaiyu lowered his head, leaning in close to his neck.

Scorching breath puffed against the base of his ear, and Shen Qing thought once again: Wow, is the thrilling part finally coming?

But in the end, Gu Huaiyu only bit down—sometimes heavy, sometimes light—on his earlobe and neck a few times.

After that, Gu Huaiyu took a deep, heavy breath, straightened his posture, and set Shen Qing back down.

Shen Qing: ?

Gu Huaiyu suddenly said, “We’re going home.”

“…???”

Set down from the display shelf, Shen Qing felt weak in the knees for a moment. He pitched forward, landing flat against a solid, somewhat hard chest, managing to avoid falling over.

However, this didn’t stop Shen Qing from calculating in his head: Don’t tell me President Gu actually can’t get it up?

He blinked while his head was lowered… But just now, when he bumped into me, it clearly… uhm, felt like he was more than capable, right?

Utterly baffled, Shen Qing looked back up at Gu Huaiyu. Even though he tried his hardest to conceal his speculation and evaluating gaze, Gu Huaiyu saw right through it.

As it was a matter of male dignity, President Gu’s facial expression tightened significantly.

He was clearly enduring with extreme difficulty as well; the color of his pupils had darkened into a bottomless abyss, and his breathing was much heavier than usual.

Raising a hand to gently cover the young man’s eyes, Gu Huaiyu struggled to level his breathing. “What are you thinking about?”

“I was thinking… could it be that you actually can’t?” Shen Qing, no longer accustomed to keeping secrets from his husband, blurted it out anyway.

Gu Huaiyu was so exasperated he actually laughed. Though Shen Qing couldn’t see his expression, he felt the crisp, woody scent draw closer. Slowly, Gu Huaiyu leaned into his ear and said, “You actually dare to think that.”

Because of his exasperated laughter, his voice even carried a hint of playful amusement.

Shen Qing: “…Then why aren’t we continuing?”

Grabbing Gu Huaiyu’s hand and pulling it down from his eyes, Shen Qing met his gaze again, pressing the question with a smile.

President Gu once again wore a what exactly is going through your head expression. “You didn’t really think I would do that kind of thing to you in here… you even wanted to go to the bathroom just now.”

Shen Qing: “…”

Ah. When President Gu had asked him what he was thinking earlier, he hadn’t even noticed. So Gu Huaiyu was actually disgusted by this kind of environment?

It was a bit slapdash.

But wasn’t this one of those rare, passionate moments in life where you just throw caution to the wind and cross mountains and seas for each other?

Besides, many of the passionate movies Shen Qing had watched took place in bathrooms. Didn’t that make it seem even more intense?

He truly hadn’t paid any attention to the appropriateness of the venue…

Alright, so it turns out President Gu doesn’t like bathrooms, nor does he like reception rooms.

…But could President Gu really endure that much?

Was he really okay? …

Gu Huaiyu was nearly driven to helpless exasperation by the young man. His Adam’s apple bobbing, he steadied the young man’s body, reached up to flick the pendant hanging around his neck, and said, “The name of this pendant is ‘Jewel in the Palm’.”

Shen Qing: “Mm…”

He had heard the name of the pendant when Gu Huaiyu first put it on him.

Gu Huaiyu said, “That is the name people gave to it. But you, to me, are my true jewel in the palm.”

Meeting the young man’s astonished, bright eyes, Gu Huaiyu slowly spoke, his voice soft and steady: “For our first time, I don’t want to be hasty.”

…

Shen Qing leaned diagonally against the wall while Gu Huaiyu kept his head down, tidying his clothes for him.

It wasn’t that Shen Qing was acting spoiled and refusing to do it himself.

It was honestly because President Gu had made him swoon so hard that he was still in a state of shock, trying to digest what the man had just said.

The clothes on his body rustled against each other.

The “Jewel in the Palm” around his neck clinked melodiously against his shirt buttons.

Outside, the rainy season winds howled.

He just felt that this was incredibly beautiful.

Afterward, the window of the small reception room was opened. It was about to rain, and the relatively crisp, refreshing air blew in, calming them both down significantly.

Even though he really just wanted to go home now, Shen Qing had come here for work. Socializing wasn’t necessary, but leaving early wouldn’t be good either.

While putting his clothes back in order, Shen Qing finally realized that the top two buttons of his shirt had fallen off, and Gu Huaiyu’s suit jacket was wrinkled.

…Luckily, they were the very top buttons; it was fine to leave them undone. Later, he would just buy this suit directly from the sponsor brand, so it wouldn’t count as ruining the sugar-daddy brand’s clothes.

That was what Shen Qing thought at first.

Until he turned around and caught sight of his reflection in the dressing mirror once more—

?!!

Wait, his neck, his mouth, his hair???

…It seemed his clothes weren’t the only things that had been ruined.

Suddenly, knock, knock, knock, someone rapped on the room door.

“President Gu, Madam,” came the voice of the bodyguard stationed outside. “Captain Tian just sent a message. The young master needs you both to go take a look.”

“…Coming.” Hearing this, Shen Qing subconsciously turned around.

Right before turning, he had already located three highly distinct hickeys on his own neck.