Xu Ji’s expression hadn’t warmed from the moment he left the house to arriving at the airport.
Li Ting followed behind, dragging a suitcase and humming a cheerful tune.
Xu Ji became even more annoyed upon hearing it. He turned his head and glanced back silently. Li Ting immediately smiled and made a zipping his mouth shut motion, though the amusement in his eyes remained undiminished.
It was the first time Xu Ji was in such a bad mood on a trip to Altay.
Since Li Ting had bought his ticket later, his seat wasn’t with theirs.
However long Xu Ji maintained his grim face was however long Ji Fangchi was trembling with fear by his side. Ji Fangchi asked quietly, “Ge, are you angry?”
Xu Ji propped his chin on the back of his hand and didn’t deny it, “Mn.”
In fact, it wasn’t exactly anger, but more a feeling of restlessness from having his plans disrupted.
Even if it wasn’t Li Ting but instead a friend he knew joining midway, he would still be very annoyed because everything from tickets to accommodation had already been booked. Moreover, they were staying at a hotel affiliated with the ski resort, which often required advance reservations; there were surely no rooms available now.
Now that Li Ting stuck his foot in here, where would he sleep?
Xu Ji suddenly woke up and lifted his head: Right, where would Li Ting sleep?
He didn’t hesitate to shake the slightly drowsy Ji Chi awake, “Are there any hotels near the ski resort that still have rooms available?”
Ji Chi jolted awake and opened his eyes, sounding annoyed, “They’re long gone. We booked our rooms back in November.”
Xu Ji fell silent and stared at him for a while. The murderous intent in his eyes pierced deep into Ji Chi’s soul, “Where’s Li Ting sleeping?”
Ji Chi pulled down his eye mask, “How would I know? Go ask the culprit!”
Xu Ji turned around to glance at Ji Fangchi, who shifted his gaze away guiltily.
“Since that’s the case,” Xu Ji decided firmly, “Ji Fangchi, you switch rooms with me.”
With things having reached this point, no matter how annoying it was, he still had to solve the problem.
He had booked a single room for himself, while the two brothers had a double room. Sharing a room with someone else was already the biggest compromise for him.
Apart from his ex-boyfriend, he had never shared a bed with anyone else to this day. The mere thought of not having personal space for the next one to two months made him so irritable that he felt like killing someone.
Clothes had to be neatly arranged and not thrown around, the bathroom had to be wiped clean after every use, lights had to be turned off if one party went to sleep; every action had to be mindful of the presence of the roommate.
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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Ji Fangchi felt aggrieved and blurted out, “I did it for Xu Ji-ge!”
Xu Ji, “What’s that got to do with me?”
Ji Fangchi laid out all his thoughts in detail, “It definitely does. Even though I feel like someone who cheats isn’t worthy of Xu Ji-ge, even if he looks like a celestial being, it’s still not acceptable. But Xu Ji likes…”
“Stop,” Xu Ji’s face had already darkened considerably before even hearing half of it. “Li Ting didn’t cheat.”
Now it was Ji Fangchi’s turn to be stunned, “Ah?”
Xu Ji asked, “Did you not see a middle-aged woman come out while you were squatting outside that day?”
Ji Fangchi was dumbfounded. “I did see her, but isn’t she the housekeeper?”
Xu Ji confirmed, “She’s the housekeeper.”
Ji Fangchi fully understood now; it was all his imagination. He said with difficulty, “So, Ge, you don’t actually like him?”
Xu Ji nodded decisively. “We don’t like each other, it’s just a marriage alliance.”
Ji Fangchi suddenly covered his face and finally compromised, saying, “Fine… I’ll share a room with him.”
Xu Ji looked at Ji Fangchi’s dejected face for a moment, then sighed. “Forget it, you can share a bed with your brother.”
Since getting married until now, it had been over a year, and to him, Li Ting felt like the most unfamiliar acquaintance. Li Ting wasn’t someone who meddled in things and meant what he said; he said he wouldn’t disturb him and he didn’t. In fact, upon learning that he single-handedly reclaimed his company, Xu Ji actually admired him a bit.
The outcome seemed straightforward, but without power or help, lying low at home while taking action in the shadows, Xu Ji wouldn’t believe that Li Ting had no skills.
Although not to the extent of having a favorable impression, at least they were still relatively familiar.
While Ji Fangchi and Li Ting had no interaction except for a few meetings, they would feel even more uncomfortable staying together. They didn’t know each other well and wouldn’t possibly sleep on the same bed. So, who would be sleeping on the floor? The weather was so cold here, and everything was unfamiliar. It would be very troublesome if either of them got sick.
They came to ski, not to leave one person behind to take care of a patient.
Moreover, Ji Fangchi had good intentions.
Ji Fangchi clearly felt very guilty. “I’m sorry, Xu Ji-ge… it’s all my fault for not asking clearly.”
Xu Ji shook his head and closed his mouth, saying nothing more.
After a three-and-a-half-hour flight, they got off the plane. The cold air immediately penetrated through everyone’s sleeves and collars, even Xu Ji shivered.
Li Ting zipped his down jacket all the way up, covering half of his chin. It was his first time here, and the novelty and interest clearly dominated his emotions.
The sky outside was already dark, and the surroundings were desolate. The wind was howling, he tightened his clothes and looked up. The sky was clear and clean, unlike the murky skies back home. There were even a dozen or so stars hanging high above.
They took a car from the airport to the hotel. Xu Ji got the key card for the double room and pointed to Li Ting, “You’re sharing a room with me.”
“Mn?” Li Ting was a bit surprised. “We’re not getting another room?”
It wasn’t that he minded sharing a room with Xu Ji. He never really cared about such things. It’s just that given Xu Ji’s personality, Xu Ji wouldn’t have accepted the fact that they would share a room so calmly. After all, in the past, just stepping into his house was life and death.
Xu Ji feigned a look of sudden realization and said, “Oh right, how did I not think of that? Go and ask if there are any rooms available.”
His acting was very fake, with an expressionless face and a monotone voice. Of course, Li Ting wasn’t actually foolish enough to go and ask. He followed Xu Ji in silence.
They were staying on the seventeenth floor. When Li Ting saw the two brothers open the door, he glanced inside, a single bed?
“Come in.” Xu Ji, wearing a black down jacket with his hands in his pockets, stood at the door looking at him.
Li Ting, dragging his suitcase, let out a small sigh of relief when he saw there were two beds.
The room wasn’t small; besides the two beds, there was also a sofa and a desk. It was more than enough to accommodate two men.
“Where are you sleeping?” Xu Ji asked.
Li Ting said politely, “I’m fine with either.”
Xu Ji said, “Then I’ll take the window side.”
He put his luggage away and began laying down the ground rules. He said, “Don’t touch my things, don’t sit on my bed, if my phone rings, ignore it, don’t come into the bathroom when I’m in there, don’t make any noise when I’m sleeping, and don’t disturb me.”
Li Ting listened and didn’t hesitate much before agreeing. They were all very basic requirements.
“Likewise, I will also follow these,” Xu Ji said.
After that, they each tidied up their own belongings. No one spoke, and the room was filled only with the sound of shuffling and rustling.
Xu Ji, who had finished tidying up first, went to take a shower. He closed the door and leaned against the wall with his chin up, his Adam’s apple bobbing a few times. His shoulders slumped slightly. He really wasn’t used to sharing the same space with someone else… No matter what he was doing, the other person’s presence was unmistakably felt.
He had already instructed the front desk to notify him if there was a vacant room, hoping that someone would check out in the next few days.
The room had heating, so Xu Ji emerged wearing shorts and a T-shirt. The thin fabric of his T-shirt clung to his still-damp body.
He furrowed his brow irritably. If he had a room to himself, he would have just come out wearing the bathrobe.
Li Ting was lying on the bed on his phone. His gaze shifted in that direction and he suddenly found it hard to look away. He openly admired Xu Ji’s physique, glancing back and forth several times before laughing and saying, “Laogong, your figure looks great…”
After hearing it many times, Xu Ji was starting to feel immune to Li Ting’s teasing. He took the towel draped over his shoulder and glanced at Li Ting’s white chopped chicken frame—though he wasn’t sure, he did seem a bit skinny under the clothes. And Li Ting’s face… it felt mismatched with a slightly more muscular body.
Though he had compared before, Li Ting’s shoulders seemed to be about the same width as his own.
“Go shower,” Xu Ji said, “We’re heading out early tomorrow morning, so turn off the lights and get some sleep early tonight.”
Li Ting wasted no time and swiftly entered the bathroom. He noticed that besides being a bit wet, everything else was just as it was when they first checked in. There wasn’t a single water spot on the mirror, indicating that someone had cleaned up after taking a shower.
Li Ting chuckled and muttered to himself, “Is he not tired?”
The sound of water rang out. Since Li Ting had long hair, his shower took a bit longer. After about half an hour, he slowly came out.
Xu Ji had already completed five sets of planks and watched some videos. When Li Ting came out, he didn’t move a muscle. It wasn’t until Li Ting asked, “Do you know where the hairdryer is?”
Xu Ji looked up and was momentarily startled.
Li Ting’s wet hair was tied into a small bun, with occasional drops of water dripping from the ends, dampening the back of his clothes. However, the most conspicuous of all was what appeared to be a very large scar on the back of that half-covered neck as Li Ting bent down to search through the cabinet.
“Ah,” Li Ting said, “Found it.”
With several bedside lamps on, the room was dimly lit, making it difficult to see clearly. Only the uneven texture of the skin could be vaguely discerned.
Just as Xu Ji was about to squint his eyes, Li Ting used his fingertips to unfasten the hair tie, and suddenly his black hair spread down, completely covering it.
Xu Ji felt like he’d been hit on the head, he quickly realized and averted his gaze. What was he doing staring at someone else’s privacy like that?
The author has something to say:
Xu Ji: I was thinking, this isn’t ABO, is it? So who marked my wife?
T_T I have been waiting for this book for so long ….
Xu ji is as cute as ever~
Thankyou lots for taking over and continuing this novel (个_个)(◍•ᴗ•◍)❤~
Finally caught up. Now the waiting begins 😆
Thank you for picking this up