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Bai Xi stayed in Qi Xun’s house for over ten days.
The plum blossoms in the yard bloomed, its delicate yellow flowers glistened in the sun, spreading their faint fragrance in the air. Ms. Ding cut several plum blossom branches and placed them in a long-necked silver vase. The honey-like fragrance spread throughout the house when brought inside.
After Bai Xi’s minor episode, he should have lost weight. However, being fed with different meals cooked by Ms. Ding—such as the plum blossom dumpling soup—his skin was shiny and glowing. When he stood on the scale, it showed that he gained one and a half kilograms.
Qi Xun pinched his waist and said with satisfaction, “You seem to have gained some weight.”
Bai Xi didn’t like to hear this, so he slapped Qi Xun’s hand away.
He had maintained his figure for so many years, he must not destroy this image of his.
That night, he went to the gym on the third floor with Qi Xun.
Qi Xun easily completed more than an hour of aerobic exercise while Bai Xi lay on the ground exhausted, staring at the ceiling and panting after running on the treadmill for more than half an hour.
Qi Xun gazed down at him and teased with a smile, “Continue?”
He gasped for breath, and his eyes shifted from the ceiling to Qi Xun.
Qi Xun, who wore a sleeveless T-shirt with sweat on his forehead after a workout, looked younger than when he was in his suit. His hormones burst after the exercise.
Bai Xi humphed, “I’m done for today. Continue fighting tomorrow.”
But he did not want to move anymore. He stretched out his hand to Qi Xun and said feebly, “I cannot move anymore. Please carry me downstairs.”
He had just finished exercising. His hair was stuck to his flushed face as he stretched out his hand for a carry, looking extremely cute.
Qi Xun picked him up. He was very satisfied with how the other acted coquettishly, but he deliberately complained, “You are so sweaty.”
Bai Xi countered, “You’re sweaty too.”
Despite the complaint, the sweaty duo stuck to each other without feeling distaste as they went to the bedroom’s bathroom to shower together.
After their shower, Qi Xun sat against the headboard while reading. On the other hand, Bai Xi studied through his work document on the side. They did not disturb each other.
After two hours, they turned off the lights and went to bed together.
Because of Bai Xi’s health, it was not suitable for them to exercise on the bed, so they have not done it in many days. They just held each other and simply slept under the quilt.
Unbeknownst to them, it began to rain outside.
As the winter rain pattered, it knocked on the window and made the plum blossoms shatter on the ground. Instead of finding the sound annoying, it was as comforting as a slow lullaby.
.
It was Sunday in the blink of an eye. Qi Xun was still at work, while Bai Xi was resting.
He and Ms. Ding were the only people in the house. On a whim, he took a lesson from Ms. Ding on how to simmer soup.
He was not aiming to be the top chef. He was just doing it for fun, learning to cook half-heartedly. In the end, the soup he simmered was too thin for him to drink.
It was only Qi Xun who did the honour of drinking a bowl with a straight face. His final assessment, “It is a bit light. Is this spare ribs soup?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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If there were no spare ribs in the bowl, he would think it was non-seasoned hotpot soup without soup base.
However, this was a rare chance that Bai Xi thought about cooking. He did not want to hurt Bai Xi’s enthusiasm so, praised with difficulty, “You made improvement compared to the cake you baked last time.”
Bai Xi: “…”
Of course, there was progress. He almost blew up the oven the last time he tried to bake!
He glared at his failure, quietly placed the lid over the pot, and pretended it did not exist.
While he reflected on his failure, he then turned around and asked Qi Xun, “Do you want to drink more?”
Qi Xun refused by shaking his head.
No matter how much he wanted to please Bai Xi, he would not tempt fate for a pot of spare ribs soup.
If Pan Jinlian had given Wu Dalang this to drink, Wu Dalang might not have drank it.
Bai Xi could only mutter bitterly, “I’ll try again next time.”
.
On the eighteenth day of staying at Qi Xun’s place, Bai Xi touched his increasingly round little chin as he sat by the window and told Qi Xun that he should go back to his apartment in two days.
Qi Xun was reading his work documents. Although he was wearing house clothes and a pair of black-framed glasses, he vividly portrayed what a refined scum was with his white skin, high nose, and thin lips.
He asked absentmindedly, “What are you going back for? You forgot something?”
Bai Xi was a little drowsy from the sun. He went out to take pictures yesterday and just came back after a busy day. He was so tired that he already felt sleepy.
“I’m going back to live in my apartment,” Bai Xi said vaguely. “After living with you here for so long, my body has already been healed. Since most of my things are still back at home, it would be more convenient for me to move back. You can also have Ms. Ding come less. Since she had been working for your house, she must be used to it.”
But he was very reluctant to give up Ms. Ding’s work of art.
Qi Xun stopped typing on his keyboard and looked firmly at Bai Xi.
Who was puzzled by the look. “Yes?”
“Are you uncomfortable living here?” Qi Xun asked.
“No,” Bai Xi was caught off guard and quickly denied. “I’m very happy living here, and Ms. Ding is very nice.”
He thought that Qi Xun might have felt that Ms. Ding’s work was undependable, which is why he wanted to leave, so he emphasised it in haste.
“Then why do you want to go back?” Qi Xun’s eyes stared at him from behind the lens. Under the sunlight, the colour of his eyes was closer to amber. It looked warm and felt very cold. “If you have something you need, just bring it here. This place is not far from your work either. I can also take care of you.”
It took Bai Xi two seconds to understand the meaning behind Qi Xun’s words.
His eyes widened, he was no longer sleepy anymore.
Was Qi Xun inviting him to live together?
The proposal Liang Song told to him a month ago suddenly popped into his mind. At that time, he vowed that Qi Xun was not willing for them to live together at all.
Bai Xi sat up slowly from the soft couch. His hair curled up disorderly because he was lying down.
He stared at Qi Xun strangely. “Are you…asking me to move in?”
“Yes.” Qi Xun admitted calmly, “I told Ms. Ding not to go back to my parents and work for me instead, and she agreed.”
Bai Xi’s expression became stranger.
He had this urge to smile.
He straightened his back, cross-legged, on the couch and hugged the small blanket in his arms. He tilted his head and gazed up at Qi Xun, looking pretty strange.
“What’s the matter?” Qi Xun’s gaze made Bai Xi feel uneasy. “Don’t you want to live here?”
How could he not want to?
Bai Xi could not hold his smile as dimples appeared on his cheeks.
He was actually very accustomed to living in Qi Xun’s house. Qi Xun had also bought many things for him to use. The soft couch was specially purchased for him to lie on, eat snacks, read books and bask in the sun.
When he got off work, he would unconsciously move his steering wheel and drive towards this house as if this had also become his territory.
He leaned against Qi Xun, put his legs over Qi Xun and asked, “But don’t you not like living with other people? Do you not feel uncomfortable that I am living here?”
Qi Xun glanced at him and took the man into his arms, with his chin gently propped above Bai Xi’s head.
He held Bai Xi in his arms while multitasking on replying to emails.
“I wasn’t used to it at first.”
He was really someone who preferred to live alone, otherwise, he would not have lived in this large villa without a full-time housekeeper.
“But you’ve lived here for more than half a month. I see nothing wrong with it. I was not used to it, but I gradually became familiar with it.”
Bai Xi smiled brighter, pulled Qi Xun’s collar, and kissed his cheek.
Qi Xun was also used to having Bai Xi. His eyes were fixed on the screen, but he arched his neck cooperatively.
Bai Xi ridiculously gave him a loud ‘mua’ on the face.
Twenty metres away, Ms. Ding walked into the room with Bai Xi’s afternoon tea tray. Looking at the two men by the French window, she did not know whether she should enter or not.
She shook her head and sighed, thinking that no wonder Qi Xun gave her a raise. This salary was high so the job was not easy.
.
Since he will move in, Bai Xi went with Qi Xun to his apartment two days later.
Qi Xun had all of life’s necessities. Bai Xi mainly packed some porcelain he liked to use, papers from work and a pot of orchid he had raised for a long time.
Bai Xi took all of these back to Qi Xun’s house.
Strange to say, Qi Xun’s house was a three-story villa. The place was spacious enough to offer a room for ten more people. Adding one more would not make a difference.
But after Bai Xi moved in, Qi Xun looked at the house he had lived in for several years, and he felt like it was full.
Bai Xi’s antiques and porcelain collection filled the shelves. A cabinet stores snacks in the room and a pile of Bai Xi’s favourite desserts were stuffed in the fridge.
On the bed, Bai Xi just took a bath and lay there waiting. He was dressed in in-door clothes, it was a large blue T-shirt, and his hair tied into a small ponytail. He was clicking away on his laptop for a while before stopping with a frown. He was like a high school student who was in a rush to finish his homework as he radiated youthfulness and innocence.
Qi Xun leaned against the door and watched the other person for a while.
He was indeed not used to living with others for many years. When he started this relationship with Bai Xi, he never thought that one day he would open his door to welcome people in.
But now, as he looked at Bai Xi lying on the bed, he thought about how Bai Xi would always live here in the future. He felt it was not bad.
.
After standing for a while, he went over, put his arms around Bai Xi’s waist, and followed it with a kiss.
He pries opened Bai Xi’s mouth with his tongue and only slowly retreated out after several minutes.
He gazed down at Bai Xi and said, “You drank coke behind my back.”
Bai Xi’s lips were sweet, the crispy-like sweetness from a coke.
Bai Xi did drink a can earlier.
“It is not cold.” Bai Xi stressed humbly. “It was at room temperature.”
He was strictly prohibited from drinking and eating cold food.
But Qi Xun still firmly looked at him.
This made Bai Xi feel slightly overwhelmed. He wanted to say something but stopped when he saw Qi Xun suddenly smile.
He immediately knew that Qi Xun was teasing him.
He wanted to call it quits right away, but before he could voice it out, Qi Xun captured his lips again.
Bai Xi was soon softened by the kiss. Even his eyes were teary.
Qi Xun’s wandering hands went under his clothes and grabbed his waist.
“Xi Xi.” Qi Xun whispered in his ear.
Bai Xi could not resist Qi Xun’s gentle and low voice. They clearly had done nothing yet, but he was already released under Qi Xun’s hand.
Qi Xun raised an eyebrow.
Bai Xi turned bright red like a cooked shrimp. “No, that’s not…it was an accident.” He tried his best to explain himself. “I wasn’t ready.”
He did not know if Qi Xun believed him or not.
But that night, Qi Xun gave him a chance to prove himself. If he couldn’t do it once, then twice; if twice was not sufficient then, three times.
Translator has something to add:
Qin Xun: Bai Xi is very talented in cooking.
Teo: That’s so sweet.
Qin Xun: He might be able to make biological weapons out of them.
Teo: *Dies laughing*
The desire to live separately is normal, as well as the desire to live together is normal
Thank you very much for the translation
Thank you for the chapter!
His love for BX making QX numb for terrible food made by his lover XDD
Thank You for the new chapter ❤
Not the biological weapons-💀💀
Ty for the chapter!!💜💜💜
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
Yeah, that biological weapon comment cracked me up too lololol
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for the chapter ❤️❤️
Aww, they’ve moved in together 🥰
Thanks for the chapter 💞
Living together is a small and big thing. But this happens so naturally without stress or angst. It’s lovely. BTW the plum blossom soup from before slayed me. Exquisite!
Ms Ding: got a raise to compensate for the hard work of eating dog food
Is it really possible for someone to be a teribble at cooking? It’s realky easy to cook food
Listen, Have you heard of how bad ‘select few’ mess up cooking rice? Like the most simplest one to cook and legend has it that someone fried uncooked rice in oil, I can’t imagine what has happened but it happens :’)
Dude really? Even my 7 yrs old brother can cook rice
Listen… nobody taught me to cook and im the kind of person that cant stay still fpr a long time.. ive had cases where i made something and its simmering or wtvr on the stove and id fall asleep on the sofa in the living room… thankfully i have a roommate that stepped in before anything blew up but yeah…
The funniest thing about Qi Xun is that when he jokes, it’s so serious that its funny🤣🤣😭
I just realized that it feels strange how the author uses “the older man” and “the younger man” too frequently, when they’re only two to three years apart. I don’t see that being used in novels with wide age gaps (e.g. Chu Wanning and Mo Ran). Though it does seem that mentally, the couple here have a wide gap. 😅
Also: beyond 30 minutes hard exercise before bed is stressful to the body. Mornings are best for exercises like HIIT, but if you must exercise at night, should be light cardio.
Actually, that’s my old stylist choice. My editor has been trying to get me out of it (°ー°〃)
Ahhh, I see. ☺
i love how natural it was for them to move in together.