What does planting a tree represent?
Sometimes, it represents nothing at all. Planting a tree in itself is meaningless.
The meaning comes from the person who wants to plant it.
Some people are accustomed to arranging their surroundings well wherever they go, adapting to their environment, or perhaps they have a broad mind and open heart.
Those who are not familiar with Su Zhi, or have only had brief contact with him, might think he is one of those people.
But Xie Yi knows very well that Su Zhi can sometimes be quite the opposite of what he appears.
In some ways, Su Zhi is a very stingy and clear-cut person.
His heart is very small.
Objectively speaking, even if Su Zhi is mean, it’s quite limited. After all the commotion between them, it seems grand, but to say it caused real harm would be far-fetched.
Yet, no one can deny the stubborn rebellious streak hidden within him.
Su Zhi has been living semi-forced in this villa for over a year now, but so far, the traces he has left in this house are still too faint.
Normally, when someone lives somewhere for such a long time, they inevitably leave some traces of life.
But Su Zhi hasn’t. His belongings are always just a few simple items.
— Not counting the things Xie Yi bought for him.
In reality, Su Zhi never uses those things, so they probably don’t count either.
Only someone always ready to leave would keep things this minimalist, as if ready to move out the next second with ease.
How long does it take to plant a tree?
Narrowly speaking, transplanting might only take a few hours, just a procedure. But broadly speaking, a tree’s journey from growth to lushness to old age and death can span eight or ninety years at the least, or even dozens to hundreds of years, longer than an ordinary person’s lifetime.
If one were to seriously fulfill the duty of planting, accompanying a tree from its growth to its death, it’s hard to measure how long that would be.
Xie Yi’s gaze fell on Su Zhi.
He hadn’t been sitting in the dark for long, just over half an hour, but it seemed like a long, bitter time had passed, so much so that his eyes had adapted to the dim light. When the light suddenly turned on, the bright incandescent light seemed too intense, slightly scorching his eyes.
However, he never looked away.
His gaze gripped the figure standing by the table like a beast ready to leap from its cage.
Su Zhi.
Did he know what he was saying?
…
Su Zhi was hurt by his grip; Xie Yi’s hand clamped onto his wrist like an iron vise, making the protruding wrist bone ache.
He could almost feel the pulse in his wrist, beating intensely, like a threatened instinct.
As if a little rabbit was kicking inside.
Su Zhi saw that he hadn’t answered, just looked at him with a slightly deep gaze.
The faint smile on his face slowly faded.
No way?
He asked in disbelief, hesitantly, “Is it not okay?”
Would Xie Yi really disagree?
Previously, Su Zhi hadn’t even considered this outcome.
He was simply coming to inform Xie Yi, and the question was just a formality.
He was stunned for two seconds, his eyes wide with astonishment, finding it incredible.
It was like overturning his long-held perception—some things, though he had never accepted them, had become ingrained over time—making him a bit uncomfortable.
Perhaps even he hadn’t realized, there was a hint of anger in his surprised gaze.
A very faint anger.
“No, it’s okay, you can plant it if you want,” Xie Yi realized Su Zhi misunderstood his reaction and repeated, “It’s okay. You don’t need my opinion for things at home, you can arrange them yourself.”
“…Oh.” Su Zhi’s unraised anger dissipated instantly, his unruffled fur smoothed again.
The process was so subtle that even he didn’t sense it.
Xie Yi observed him.
Like a greedy hunter, judging the distance of his beloved prey from the trap through its tiny actions.
Su Zhi: “I told the gardener already, and I saw him working when I came back just now.”
As he spoke, he frowned and tried to pull his wrist back, but couldn’t: “Why are you gripping so tight?”
Xie Yi’s strength was like that of a large animal. Su Zhi didn’t want to admit it, but he really couldn’t break free.
He saw the faint blue veins bulging on the back of Xie Yi’s hand, and wondered if it had something to do with muscle mass. Xie Yi’s veins were particularly prominent, especially on his neck, arms, and… somewhere else. They were especially noticeable, usually okay, but more prominent when he was excited or exerting force, to a scary extent.
Sometimes, Su Zhi would get a bit frightened.
He always felt there was something inhuman about Xie Yi.
After all, Su Zhi himself was not like that, and he hadn’t paid attention to whether others’ veins were this prominent. Why would he stare at others’ veins for no reason?
It was a bit strange; he carefully looked a few more times.
Xie Yi: “Sorry, does it hurt?”
He released his grip, and sure enough, there was a red mark on Su Zhi’s wrist.
After letting go of the wrist, he instead grasped Su Zhi’s hand with his palm, rubbing around the wrist bone, still holding on tight.
Su Zhi’s skin was too delicate, and if such marks weren’t rubbed away in time, they risked turning into bruises.
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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Ve Itl ibbxfv ja tlr tjcv, cbk tfiv lc j vloofgfca qbrlalbc yea ralii yflcu uglqqfv: “…Pa vbfrc’a tega.”
Ktlr wjc!
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Ktf wjc’r xcemxifr tjv atlc mjiierfr, geyylcu jujlcra tlr kglra, wjxlcu la offi j yla cewy jcv lamts.
Su Zhi wanted to curl up from the pressure.
Before he could protest again, Xie Yi spoke, “What made you think of planting flower trees? Gardenias, right?”
It wasn’t hard to explain, Su Zhi: “I saw them at school the other day and thought they looked pretty.”
“Hmm, pretty,” Xie Yi responded.
In fact, he had no concept of whether the gardenias that day were pretty or not. He only remembered that Su Zhi looked beautiful with flowers on him, especially with one gardenia resting on his wrist, which he picked and discarded when he stood up.
Perhaps because of that association, those plain white flowers also seemed worth noting.
Seemed like they were pretty good.
His dark eyes swept across Su Zhi’s face.
The light reflected in his eyes, creating some bright spots, but the base color remained a deep, heavy black, like dark seawater flowing within, bottomless whirlpools that seemed capable of swallowing a person whole.
The answer he wanted wasn’t this.
But this would do.
Regarding this topic itself, it was like an extra gift.
Perhaps he still has a lot of time to observe the owner who is about to plant the flowering tree.
Raising a wary little bird requires a lot of patience, and Xie Yi is definitely not a patient person, except in this matter, where he can show the utmost patience.
…
Su Zhi felt uneasy under his gaze, his heart slightly tightening, a very faint sense of panic.
Even though he felt that his reason for wanting to plant the flowering tree was normal, he couldn’t help but explain more, as if finding an excuse: “The courtyard is full of rose family flowers now, like roses and garden roses, which are too bright. Adding some plain-colored ones to balance them out, and also—”
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly remembered what had been done to him with these bright flowers a few days ago.
Some indecent memories floated through his mind, and he instantly got stuck.
He also recalled the relatively fresh bite mark on his body.
“…”
Su Zhi couldn’t speak anymore.
He stared straight at Xie Yi, hard to tell if he was delaying his anger.
It had to be said, Xie Yi knew him very well. Seeing his expression, he almost didn’t need to think to guess what Su Zhi had recalled.
In fact, he himself had to admit that his recent behavior was somewhat uncontrollable.
Too wicked.
Su Zhi had always been shy and naive in these matters, making his behavior seem even more outrageous.
But who can restrain themselves in such matters?
A thousand more times, he would still commit such wicked acts. These bad traits were carved into his bones and blood, growing alongside his love, which was inherently filthy and despicable.
The action of massaging his wrist paused, and he pulled Su Zhi closer.
Before Su Zhi could react, he suddenly pinched his waist, lifting him onto his lap.
Losing balance, Su Zhi instinctively grabbed his shoulder, fingers tightening. The man’s arm muscles tensed and hardened under his grip, and Su Zhi’s knuckles turned white from gripping so hard, barely managing to steady himself.
Before he could catch his breath, the man asked, “Sorry, darling, did I bite you too hard?”
Actually, it wasn’t very painful. If it really hurt, he would have woken up immediately from the bite, instead of realizing it sluggishly the next day while washing up.
The main thing was the shame and embarrassment. Who bites someone in such a place?
Too perverted.
Before Su Zhi could take the opportunity to scold him, Xie Yi leaned in and said into his ear, “Sorry, sorry, let me lick it for you.”
His voice carried a barely noticeable hoarseness.
Su Zhi took two seconds to react, suddenly raising his head to look at him.
He met the man’s pitch-black gaze.
He watched Xie Yi say such bizarre and erotic words with the calmest and most normal expression, feeling an indescribable sense of absurdity. He felt Xie Yi was like a pathological sex addict, as if he would starve to death if he didn’t torment him.
Su Zhi’s heart raced wildly, not knowing if it was from fear or something else, his body trembling slightly.
“Don’t want me to lick it?” Xie Yi said, “Let me rub it for you then, I’ll be gentle.”
“…”
His actions were swift. With Su Zhi in this position, it was easy for him to move. Before his words had even fully landed, his fingers had already slid over.
Actually, even this suggestion of rubbing it was excessive.
But following the previous outrageous and almost blackout-inducing suggestion, it seemed relatively acceptable.
…No, no!
How could it be acceptable? This was still very inappropriate!
Su Zhi was dazed for a few seconds before realizing he had been tricked.
Outside the window, in the courtyard below, employees were still working normally, and the auntie was cooking in the kitchen, likely finishing in ten or twenty minutes. Everyone was doing proper things.
Yet he was being held by Xie Yi, doing such a thing.
He just came to tell Xie Yi about planting a tree, originally to discuss proper matters.
How did it turn into this?
Su Zhi finally found his voice: “I don’t want you to rub it!”
He thought his tone was stern and fierce, but it actually lacked strength, his voice trembling at the end.
Although Xie Yi said he would be gentle, Su Zhi didn’t feel his touch was any lighter. Xie Yi’s hands, like his person, were naturally strong, and the thin calluses on his knuckles were the nemesis of soft skin, causing a prickly numbness.
The rubbing made him shiver, not calming him but making it even stranger.
It felt like his entire being was focused on that small area, being squeezed and pulled.
It was hard to make any meaningful resistance.
He could only grip Xie Yi’s shoulders tightly, almost clawing at him.
But clearly, the man didn’t care about such playful protests. Sometimes, the pain would even stimulate his possessiveness more.
Xie Yi lowered his eyes, saying nothing.
Su Zhi’s body wasn’t excessively thin, within a normal range, but there wasn’t much flesh on him.
This area had the most flesh, barely filling his palm, like holding a slippery fish, his fingertips almost feeling suctioned.
“Ding—”
Xie Yi’s phone on the table rang, receiving a new message.
Su Zhi pushed him: “Your message, message!”
He didn’t know how to make Xie Yi stop. Reasoning with such a shameless person was useless, maybe pushing him to handle some serious matter would work.
Xie Yi initially ignored it.
Su Zhi urged several more times, finally sounding genuinely angry, as if he would really blow up if he continued. Xie Yi then stopped, seeing it was time to quit.
Reluctantly.
When he moved away, his jaw clenched tightly, his fingers twitching spasmodically like a starved man.
He reached for the phone somewhat irritably.
Su Zhi’s mind buzzed again as he watched Xie Yi use the same hand that had just rubbed him to grab the phone!
His body acted faster than his mind, snatching the phone from Xie Yi, saying, “You’re not allowed to touch it!”
Several seconds passed before he realized he had actually grabbed someone else’s phone.
“…”
Su Zhi had never done something so rude, staring blankly at the phone in his hand.
The screen was lit, and he saw the newly received message at a glance.
The sender’s name was a foreign name, indicating it was a male, but the relationship with Xie Yi was unclear.
The content was just a short line:
[Her emotions are very unstable, hope you can reply soon.]
Su Zhi saw it accidentally.
Once realized, it couldn’t be erased from his mind. Embarrassed, he said, “S-sorry…”
Su Zhi had never in his life snatched someone else’s phone or read their messages without permission.
He didn’t know why he had acted so impulsively.
He wanted to hand the phone back, but Xie Yi didn’t take it.
“Alright,” Xie Yi said, looking at him with deep, dark eyes, “I won’t touch it.”
His other hand supported Su Zhi’s waist from behind, fixing him in his arms and showing no intention of letting go.
From his angle, he obviously saw that message too, his eyes darkening almost imperceptibly.
Su Zhi’s words were stuck in his throat, holding the phone in a daze.
He pondered in confusion for a moment, not sure if it was because there had been too many twists and turns in a short time, causing his brain to short-circuit severely. He even curiously asked, “What is this person talking about?”
Xie Yi didn’t answer immediately.
He already had enough demerits in Su Zhi’s eyes and shouldn’t let him see more of his uglier side.
If he were smart, he wouldn’t add more risk factors between them.
Xie Yi had always been a smart person.
Those dark and ugly pasts were best left dead in the past.
That was a side no normal person would accept.
In comparison, his current misdeeds could barely be categorized as within the realm of human behavior.
He shouldn’t let Su Zhi be exposed to it.
Rationally, that’s what he thought.
But he wondered if he too had been provoked.
The person in his arms was covered in his scent.
The slender waist was tightly held, the hidden scars just rubbed by him, and even the scars themselves were left by him. Not long ago, he was talking seriously about building a nest.
Each and every act greatly satisfied his inner possessiveness.
But a beast is never fully satisfied. After brief pleasure, it leads to deeper hunger.
Wanting to devour a little more, get closer, make him sink deeper…
He was almost ensnared by the layered, spell-like greed, so much so that the rotten side of his heart began to greedily extend its tendrils, wanting to absorb the warmth of the bird’s feathers. Regardless of whether the little bird would be frightened by the filth all around.
Su Zhi: “…”
After asking, he realized he had made another mistake.
How could he casually ask about someone else’s private affairs?
Su Zhi had never behaved this way before.
When he was in school, it wasn’t that classmates hadn’t wanted to confide some private matters to him, but Su Zhi always subtly sidestepped them.
It wasn’t that he was unwilling to be a listener, but his relationship with those people wasn’t close enough. After the impulse passed, they would become strangers, and the other party might feel awkward recalling this later.
A polite person shouldn’t casually touch others’ privacy.
Su Zhi had always conducted himself with such manners.
But he didn’t know why.
His principles and manners failed when it came to Xie Yi, as if all his life’s lack of etiquette and rudeness were poured onto him.
He had just snatched someone else’s phone, and now he was prying into their privacy.
Thinking about it, he found it very strange.
Su Zhi wanted to make amends urgently: “Forget it, I’ll just…”
Xie Yi interrupted his retreating stance, saying, “Open it and see for yourself.”
His voice was deep, not sure if it was because of what they had just done or some other reasons.
Su Zhi: “…”
Out of courtesy, he should refuse, but he felt a bit itchy inside, and his hand, as if possessed, touched the phone.
Feeling guilty, he thought: He’s showing it to me himself, it’s not illegal, I’ll just take a look.
Following Xie Yi’s instruction, he entered the password and unlocked the phone.
Feeling very guilty, he noticed that the password was his birthday only after unlocking it.
“…”
He woodenly clicked into the message, seeing that this person had already sent a message an hour ago.
The content was: [Your mother wants to talk to you.]
“Mother”, this title could conjure many thoughts.
Su Zhi recalled the basic information about Xie Yi. He didn’t know much; Xie Yi’s biological father had died when he was very young, and there was no information about his mother. Su Zhi hadn’t heard or asked in his previous life.
Xie Yi didn’t leave him hanging and explained the identity of the person who sent the message: “This person is my stepfather.”
Su Zhi blinked: “Oh…”
Su Zhi didn’t understand why matters between a mother and son had to be conveyed by someone with the status of a stepfather.
Too strange, no matter how you think about it, it’s not normal.
He recalled Xie Yi’s unusual behavior today, returning home early and looking extremely gloomy when the lights were first turned on.
Instinctively, he realized something.
Su Zhi knew Xie Yi fairly well. After all, they had lived together for several years. Whether actively or passively, consciously or unconsciously, those experiences had left marks on him.
But he didn’t know Xie Yi that well. Besides his personality and private demeanor, his understanding of Xie Yi wasn’t much deeper than that of an outsider.
Xie Yi’s past was like a fog to him.
In the past, he didn’t intentionally approach, and Xie Yi wouldn’t bring it up voluntarily.
But now, he seemed to be reaching the edge of that fog.
Whether it was active or passive contact, or perhaps a bit of both.
Su Zhi’s heart pounded, unsure if it was because he felt extremely embarrassed for prying into someone else’s private matters or because the hand gripping his waist tightened, constricting him.
Amid the restless heartbeat, he completely forgot about manners and respecting others’ privacy, forgot he was still angry with Xie Yi for doing bad things to him.
Driven purely by instinctive curiosity, he asked without boundaries: “Will you agree to him?”
Xie Yi didn’t answer.
His expression wasn’t good, even though he was holding his little bird and had just rubbed him a bit. It was clear his mood was still vexed by the messages.
Logically, it seemed like a tacit negative answer.
But Su Zhi knew that if Xie Yi were not hesitant at all, he wouldn’t still be undecided about replying to the message.
Xie Yi didn’t have procrastination.
Xie Yi didn’t seem inclined to answer this question.
He looked at Su Zhi, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, tightening his grip on Su Zhi’s waist, pressing him closer.
It was a bit too cramped; Su Zhi’s leg was suddenly poked by something.
He thought of something, struggling to push the man’s chest open a bit.
His fingers reached inside, searching around, and he found a piece of candy in his pocket. Because it had been sandwiched between them for a while, it was slightly warm but hadn’t melted, thankfully, or it would have been a disaster.
He handed over the leftover candy from the daytime, even though there was still lingering guilt about prying into others’ affairs. He sincerely said, “If you want to agree, then agree.”
Xie Yi didn’t say more; Su Zhi didn’t know the specific reasons.
But he wasn’t stupid; he could understand the atmosphere.
Behind a few simple words and titles, it probably wasn’t anything pleasant.
He didn’t know what Xie Yi hadn’t said, but he knew a simple truth: wounds left unhealed for too long would only get worse.
The first stage of healing is to clean the rotten wound.
I hope it all goes well 😥🙏🙏
Roses again… 😅
Thanks for chapter 😊
Thank you for the chapter 😍 ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
💖🌸💖💖
Time to clean up that wound and heal it for good 😌