Tong Qiu had been worried to death and was pacing back and forth anxiously, but Huo Zhixing, the guy stuck inside the haunted house and was the perpetrator of all his worries, had a calm and relaxed appearance. If Tong Qiu knew the truth, he would not want to engage in an “exam” for quite a while.
While roaming around the haunted house, Huo Zhixing seemed to exude righteousness and fearlessness. He was not afraid of anything as he walked around with his hands slipped inside his jeans’ pockets. It looked like he was a land owner inspecting his own territory. He even felt leisurely enough to tease any passing NPC who dared to scare him to pass time. Lamentably, it would have been better if Tong Qiu had been with him.
He had become quite surprised when he found out Tong Qiu had disappeared. His first reaction had been to stare dazedly at where the other had once stood, before he woke up from his haze and started to look around. It turned out that they had been separated by an automatic door. If they wanted to meet again, they had to open their eyes and follow the red string connecting them – or you know, they could meet at the exit.
This situation felt a little similar to Xu Xian and Bai Sangzi’s. If you forget the fact that you waited two or three hundred yuan, it’s quite romantic.
Huo Zhixing felt very regretful about this. He originally planned to pretend to be weak, to let Tong-laoshi protect and cherish him, and as result he would be able to ask for some “sweet fruits” to eat. Instead what happened was he was only able to have the other in his arms for a few minutes – the game had ended prematurely.
He shouldn’t have let go of Tong Qiu earlier and left the other by himself.
Without Tong Qiu by his side, his interest in the haunted house dropped by 80%. The remaining 20% was because due to boredom, Huo Zhixing had made a little game to amuse himself. He kept in mind the amount of times he met with an NPC ghost every time he opened or closed a door and the distance between each one. It was like he had become a “ghost house researcher.”
Huo Zhixing played with a “bloody” hemp rope, and thought about all the interesting plays they could do inside the haunted house. It was a shame.
When he took Tong Qiu’s call, he was already on the third floor near the exit. He stood in place and contemplated for a while. He thought, although it would be dishonourable, it would be nice to make the other deliberately worry about him.
As a result, Officer Huo shamelessly wandered inside the haunted house for a long time before finally heading for the exit.
At that time, Tong Qiu held tight unto his mobile phone and paced around in circles outside the booth. He caught the notice of a parent and child near him and was asked in concern: “Little comrade, did you get separated from your child? There is a broadcasting room over there, you can ask them to broadcast for you.”
Tong Qiu smiled bitterly: “No, it’s my… friend.”
When the word “friend” was spoken, Tong Qiu felt that it didn’t sound right. He always felt that his relationship with Huo Zhixing can be described with either the word “friend” having a prefix in the beginning or the word had to be replaced completely with something else.
But what should it be replaced with?
The Chinese teacher suddenly formed a mental block.
While Tong Qiu was still troubling over the dilemma, the exit door was suddenly pushed opened. When he looked over nervously, he was relieved to find it was Huo Zhixing coming out.
Before he came out, Huo Zhixing deliberately exercised ahead of time to make himself look a little shaken. When he came out, before he had time to exhibit his acting skills, the bright glare of the sun made him squint in a trance. Then the next second, his wrist was caught by Tong Qiu.
“Are you all right?” Tong Qiu asked in a hurry, then looked at his left and right, as if he was checking whether Huo Zhixing’s soul was still in his body.
“I’m fine.” Huo Zhixing squeezed out a reluctant smile. “Have you been waiting for a long time?”
“No,” Tong Qiu replied, relieved to see that he was all right. Then he apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect for there to be a secret door.”
Huo Zhixing saw that he really made the other worry, and his conscience was eating at him. He raised a hand and rubbed the top of Tong Qiu’s head, smiled and said, “Its fine, you didn’t mean to leave me behind.”
Tong Qiu still felt guilty. He wanted to leave the place and find a comfortable place to sit for a while.
“Let’s go,” Huo Zhixing said and hugged the other closer, “I was so scared by the ghosts that I’ve gone thirsty. Let’s buy a bottle of water to drink.”
“Wait a minute.” Tong Qiu took Huo Zhixing to the information desk of the haunted house, and wrote several words in the suggestion book: It is recommended to inform the customers beforehand that there are secret tunnels inside so that they’ll become more vigilant and thus preventing them from being separated from their partners!
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.
Huo Zhixing looked at the words “partner” and smiled meaningfully. Then, while Tong Qiu was talking to one of the staff, he crossed out the word “partner” and changed it to “lover.”
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“Ktfgf jgf delaf j ofk qfbqif tfgf.” Ktfs kjixfv tjiokjs eq atf tlii jcv obecv atja wjcs qfbqif rabqqfv lc atf qjnlilbc yfibk jcv vlv cba mbcalcef bc.
“Qfii, wbra bo atfw tjnf ygbeuta atflg mtlivgfc. Jtlivgfc mjc’a kjix atja ojg.”
Huo Zhixing smiled and turned to look at him: “It’s better that there are fewer people.”
The words made Tong Qiu’s heart startled, and he subconsciously felt that Huo Zhixing wants to fight guns with him.
Tong Qiu reflected on himself and felt that since the divorce, he started to let his inhibitions go. Not only did he try to go hunting for sex, but also repeatedly went to bed with his ex-husband – and now he even had the idea of “exchanging gun shots.”
It was terrible.
As a respectable teacher, this kind of thought was very dangerous.
“What do you think?” Huo Zhixing noticed the other hadn’t spoken for a long time, and thought he was tired. “Should we continue upwards?”
“Of course, Grandpa’s house can be seen from the top of the hill.” In order to prove that he was physically strong, Tong Qiu deliberately quickened his pace.
Huo Zhixing followed him. He looked at the others’ back and laughed. His eyes shifted from the back of his opponent to his waist, and finally landed on his buttocks.
What a beast. Huo Zhixing complained to himself in his heart.
When the two people reached the top of the hill, they were already gasping for air. It was more for Tong Qiu. After all, he was a person who did not exercised all year round.
He sat on the pavilion bench drinking water and heard Huo Zhixing say: “This place is good.”
“It is,” Tong Qiu said, tightening the bottle cap, “But there are so many mosquitoes in the summer.”
Huo Zhixing originally stood in the middle of the pavilion, but now he walked over to Tong Qiu. He leaned forward slightly and asked Tong Qiu, “Have you thought about it?”
“What?”
Huo Zhixing got closer, and Tong Qiu’s heart beat faster.
“Where is my compensation?”
Tong Qiu forgot about it – well, he hadn’t really thought about it. At that time he was too preoccupied worrying over Huo Zhixing that he wasn’t able to think of anything else. In such a state, how could he be able to think up of an apology gift?
“Not prepared?” The corner of Huo Zhixing’s eyes lifted in a smile, “Can I make a suggestion instead?”
“What?”
Just after Tong Qiu asked, Huo Zhixing already moved closer and a shallow kiss fell gently on Tong Qiu’s lips. The other party made no move to deepen the kiss, but it felt otherwise – the sensation heightened by the lingering cold left on his lips when he drank water earlier. It felt very comfortable.
A moment later, Huo Zhixing stepped back and said softly, “That’s it.”
How could Tong Qiu stand such provocation? These days Huo Zhixing hadn’t been too far off his mind. He had already gone to bed with the person, and already had a taste of what the other could offer, so how could he ever resist him?
“You… I’m sick of this.” Tong Qiu murmured under his breath. Next second, he raised his arms and wrapped it around the other’s neck, pulling the person towards him.
This time, it was Tong Qiu who took the initiative to deepen the kiss without hesitation. The tip of his tongue slipped passed the other’s lips and they both enthusiastically made out undisturbed on the pavilion.
When they broke apart, Tong Qiu was panting a little, and his mind became dizzy.
He leaned in Huo Zhixing’s arms, gasping for breath, feeling a little short on oxygen and wanting nothing more than to inhale it all into his lungs.
He said, “Well, it’s over for me. I’ve gotten old – I’m afraid it’s impossible for me to do it again in the future.”
“You don’t need to move,” Huo Zhixing said, “You are only responsible for lying there and cooperating with me.”
Tong Qiu glanced at him with a smile: “What if I want to do it with others in the future? What if I become the one above? People have to have lofty ideals, right?”
Huo Zhixing knew that he was joking, but he still pinched the other’s waist pretending to be jealous: “Tong-laoshi has a lot of courage. You dare do it with others?”
Tong Qiu smiled and silently looked at him for a long time.
Huo Zhixing also returned the look. The both of them looked at each other before they started leaning unto each other and kissed again.
Sometimes, Tong Qiu couldn’t help but think that if asked, the story between them began after their divorce. In the past, their relationship can only be described as acquaintances. Even when they were married, none of them ever let their guard down.
During their marriage, they acted like proper lovers. They lived together in a reasonable and legal way and held some affection for the other, but it was never as explosive and intense as what was expected.
It’s not fun being respectful sometimes.
But now, Tong Qiu sat on Huo Zhixing’s lap straddling him, their bodies pressed against each other and lips still locked, while the rest of the world watch in shame at their sticky kisses.
When Tong Qiu was once again blushing and gasping on Huo Zhixing’s shoulders, he suddenly remembered a sentence: When you love someone, you can’t help but want to kiss him.
In the past, even when they were in love, they seldom kissed. Even if they did, it was very programmatic, dry and uninteresting. Their kisses before could lull Tong Qiu to sleep.
But this time, Huo Zhixing’s strength and enthusiasm fascinated him and made him wish to be kissed again and again.
Tong Qiu was a little confused. He didn’t know whether it was because he was interested in Huo Zhixing originally, so he raised his hopes up, or it was because this person’s kissing and bed skills have improved by leaps and bounds compared to the past that he couldn’t stop because it now fitted his own tastes.
Because the feeling that was left after lust has been fulfilled, it couldn’t be anything else other than love right?
When descending down the hill, the road was a little steep, and no protective fence was built. It worried Huo Zhixing, so the whole way down he held tight unto Tong Qiu’s hand.
Tong Qiu said: “When I was a child, I came here once together with my father. Back then I was dishonest and disobedient. I ran down here like I was being chased and as a result, I crashed on a tree.”
Huo Zhixing remembered the joke about the “pig bumping into a tree.” At first he held unto his laughter but the longer he did, the more it wanted to let out so hugged the other person and laughed out loud.
Tong Qiu felt exasperated at the beginning, but the other’s laughter was contagious that a moment later he couldn’t help but join in.
“You’re crazy!” Tong Qiu slapped Huo Zhixing’s chest lightly. “Don’t laugh!”
“Then give me a kiss and I will stop.”
Tong Qiu thought thet Huo Zhixing was too cunning. He never failed at taking advantage of a situation to ask for some sweetness. However, Tong Qiu still ate it up. He encircled his arms to the other’s neck and kissed him on tiptoe.
“Thank you, Tong-laoshi.” Hou Zhixing patted his waist, “Your lips are really soft.”
Tong Qiu blushed. He was a man in his thirties, and yet couldn’t handle such simple flattery. He turned around and wanted to run down by himself but Huo Zhixing caught him back.
“Take it slow.” Huo Zhixing pulled him close and together they slowly descended step by step. “Wouldn’t want you to hit a tree again.”
Tong Qiu smiled helplessly and was left with no choice but to be guided down the hill.
The road down the mountain was winding and rugged, and the end wasn’t visible at a mere glance. Tong Qiu always felt that on their way they left behind an imprint of their love, and what was yet they had to experience was waiting for them with open arms in the future.
In the setting sun, Tong Qiu turned his head and glanced at the people around him. He remembered the doubt that had arisen back when they had been at the pavilion: was it love all along?
At least what he felt at this moment was.
Tong Qiu was determined to be honest with himself. At least now he felt that he was hopelessly in love with Huo Zhixing.
The author has something to say:
Unexpectedly, after I scrapped 150,000 drafts of this article and revised the outline four times, the main text was finally saved and it could be finished next month.
Next is Fanwai and then Xinwen.
It’s really fulfilling.
Nell’s corner:
Don’t fret! Despite what our dear author said, the end is still a bit far away. Not to mention, we also have extra chapters (on that note I know “Fanwai” translates as “the extras” but idk what “Xinwen” is. Anyone care to enlighten me?)
Tong Qiu finally admitting his feelings huehuehue. Looks like Huo Zhixing’s little devious prank brought good results hahaha!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you liked what I did a cup of coffee would be appreciated 🙂
Finally, Tong-laoshi, you’ve finally realised you love your officer Huo! That’s the right direction, keep going the good way. Thank you for the chapter!!!
Buena historia
+1
Tong-laoshi you finally admitted your feelings 🥰🥰
This story is really sweet
Thank you ❤️
I adore this story. Tong-laoshi, it’s good that you’re beginning to be more honest with yourself. Your Officer Huo is a gem! You’ve got to hang on to a man like him with all your might!
Thank u for the chapter!! Also idk what the characters of “xinwen” are but maybe the author meant their next novel or smth?
All to do now is tell him….. jiayou ✊
My bones been chilling! I could see ants all over my screen!😭
Thank You for the chapter ლ(´ ❥ `ლ)