Flying Gulls Never LandCh67 - A little tail

I could feel Sheng Min Ou’s heartbeat through the close proximity of his body. For a short while, as if I was in a trance, it felt like our heartbeats gradually synced up and merged into one.

After hearing his words, I was caught up in between laughter and tears. I had no objections to enduring the world with him together, but the remaining part of his speech, where we were to spend the rest of our lives together following the incident should have originally been a touching sentiment. However, it somehow came out like coercion – and Sheng Min Ou was probably the only person who could do such a thing. q0HdhF

Even though I knew he probably didn’t mean it, that there was a 99% chance this wasn’t what he meant, I couldn’t help but think that he had just proposed.

And I, being the one who had just been proposed to, seemed to have only one answer to give him.

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“I do.” I held the hand resting on my waist and promised him without any reservations that I would never die before he did.

The person behind me didn’t respond for a long time. I waited for a while, only to hear light breathing, before I called out to him twice more, but there was no response. 6utFw8

I gently broke away from his embrace, and when I looked back, his eyes were closed and his lips were slightly parted. He had actually fallen sound asleep.

Since I had been admitted to the hospital, it might have been because he had to juggle both responsibilities of caring for myself and running the law firm, as his complexion continued to look bad. His dark circles were always prominent, a permanent shadow on his face as it made him appear exhausted. If he could so easily fall asleep just by talking with me, then how long had he been forcing himself to do what he did?

I sat beside him and pulled the quilt over his body. He didn’t stir or show any signs of consciousness, as he seemed to be knocked out, so deeply asleep to the point where his eyelashes didn’t even flutter.

After looking at his resting face for a moment, I gently closed the bedroom door behind me and began organising the pile of cardboard boxes in the living room.

I took out the clothes I wanted to wear first, as well as other daily necessities.

After unpacking a few boxes, its contents were strewn everywhere on the floor. When I reached for the fourth box and surveyed the mess of stuff that was piling around me, I suddenly came to the realisation that despite Sheng Min Ou’s place being big, there really wasn’t that much place for me to be able to store my stuff.

I paused as I stood up and began assessing the size of the kitchen, and even the whole apartment.

For two grown men, the storage space here was… slightly inadequate. Iforp5

I pulled out my phone and started browsing the internet for furniture. My original mobile phone was in the police’s possession as evidence, so the phone I currently had was the model that Sheng Min Ou had bought for me. Other than the fact that it was expensive, there were no other problems to it. Plus… any transactions made here were billed to Sheng Min Ou’s card.

Before I knew it, I was completely engrossed within the world of online shopping as I had ordered a sofa, a coffee table, a TV cabinet and other types of furniture. When I felt like I had enough, I looked at the time on my phone and three hours had flown by.

I massaged my sore neck and lay down on the plush carpet as I let out a long breath.

It felt great, to have a home to return to again. 80palO

Though I’m living now with Sheng Min Ou, it didn’t mean that he would be by my side all day long.

Mei Teng’s case involved many stakeholders and had severe repercussions. As a senior executive, Xiao Meng’s overt disregard for the law and his actions to resort to illegal means in order to subdue negative press concerning Mei Teng enraged people. He was Xiao Sui Guang’s nephew, so it was inevitable that the public began to make associations and start hypothesising whether this was how the Xiao family had always operated.

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.

Aside from the mess Xiao Meng had made, Mei Teng pharmaceuticals itself was facing many difficulties. Needless to say, the Therapeutic Goods Administration had launched a formal investigation into the company, but long term patients of the recent allergy drugs had also jointly filed a civil lawsuit against them. Their demands for the compensation amount was terrifyingly high, and if Mei Teng lost, that may spell their withdrawal from the stage of history.

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“Should I say thank god you had also been kidnapped? Otherwise, we’d be taking on the mess that is Mei Teng now. Even though they may pay a lucrative amount, this kind of lawsuit is a hard battle to fight and we’d be rebuked for it. If we examined this situation from a long term perspective, with Mei Teng being in this state, I honestly would not know if next year they’d even be able to afford paying the consultancy fee.” After speaking, he might have felt that something was amiss, as he quickly added, “I didn’t mean to say that kidnapping you was the right move for them to do, please don’t tell Laoshi!”

I had to reassure him repeatedly that I wouldn’t snitch on him before he could fully breathe out a sigh of relief.

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Since Sheng Min Ou had lost such a big client being Mei Teng, he had been busily trying to find a substitute elsewhere. He had been especially preoccupied the past few days, often returning home late at night with the scent of alcohol clinging to him. Once he got home, he would simply take a shower and fall asleep right after.

I knew that he was tired, and I didn’t have the heart to disturb him. However, I was feeling exceedingly bored, so I resorted to playing on my phone and bantering with Wei Shi and the others in the group chat all day long. q5YrKs

Shen Xiao Shi: What are you eating during the day then? If Lawyer Sheng is this busy then can he still take good care of you? How about you move in with me, at least my mother can make porridge for you. 

Me: No need, my brother has arranged for meals to be delivered to me from a nearby five star restaurant. Someone comes over on the dot every day to drop it off, so I won’t be inconveniencing auntie.

Wei Shi: Don’t meddle with what the two brothers have decided on. Would Lawyer Sheng ever forget to provide him with a meal? 

Shen Xiao Shi: What’s with that, I’m brothers with Feng ge too, and we’re so tight~ Right, Feng ge? DKTEVv

Wei Shi: You’re still different to Lawyer Sheng

Me: Yes, you guys aren’t the same

Shen Xiao Shi: ?? Whaat, how could you guys do this to me

Yi Da Zhuang: Guys! Look at how this article turned out!! Today I felt super inspired, I feel like I got it again!  h9cn6N

As I was reading the group chat and laughing to myself, Sheng Min Ou came out of the shower and walked in the bedroom with a green and white can in his hand.

“What is this?” he asked, his eyes cast downwards at me as he stopped in front of me.

“Lanolin cream, it’s for you to moisturise your hands with.” I put down my phone as I pulled his hand towards me for closer inspection.

Disinfectants really were harsh, it had been more than half a month but the skin around Sheng Min Ou’s nails had still not properly grown back. At the same time, because the newly grown skin was even thinner, it revealed the red capillaries underneath. Every other part of him was a pale white revealing sheens of green, with only the tips of his fingers appearing pink, as if he had dyed it with rouge. M3oKjT

“Does it hurt?” I asked, taking his hand and gently kissing the joint between his index and middle finger.

I wanted to flirt further, but Sheng Min Ou abruptly pulled his finger back so that instead I kissed my own hand.

“I know it’s lanolin cream, I’m able to read English.” He replied, tossing the can of lanolin oil into my lap as he continued, “Have you never opened it?”

Now what was this all about? IpTgHD

I was a little confused as I replied, “You’re right, I haven’t opened it. What’s wrong… is it expired?”

“You’ll know when you open it and see for yourself.”

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After which, Sheng Min Ou ignored me as he circled around the bed to his side and then proceeded to lie down with his back facing me, as he went to sleep.

My anxiety spiked seeing his attitude as I nervously unscrewed the lid of the lanolin container. Y9Fbyd

After removing the lid, I saw that there was a small flat cover inside to prevent its contents from spilling, and within its concave design was exactly enough space to house a folded note.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I unfolded the note, written on a piece of paper with decorative designs printed, as I found a chibi illustration on it.

A small chibi figure in armour was holding a sword and shouting “I will eradicate all evil and protect the weak!”

Under his feet was a dragon with spirals for eyes, evidently being the “evil” which he spoke of. wBjUid

Then there was another chibi who was covered in wounds and had his hands tightly clasped together as he revealed fervent admiration in his eyes. This chibi was saying, “You really are my hero!”

In the corner of the drawing was Mo Qiu’s signature.

“…”

I understood why he did it, but why did he have to sneak an illustration of his own underneath a lid of a lanolin cream?! What was wrong with this Mo Qiu guy? Could he not have expressed anything he had to say to me face to face? 7kRTiL

I silently put the lid back on the lanolin cream and glanced back at Sheng Min Ou, whose back was still facing me. I was fretting over this to the point that my stomach was starting to hurt.

“Ge, this really isn’t on me…” I followed suit and lay on the bed as I pressed myself behind him and continued, “This is a gift from Mo Qiu after he had returned from his previous trip, and I had just kept it there without ever opening it. I had no idea there was something hidden inside.”

I stretched out one hand in front of him and hugged him over the cover of the quilt as I pressed my forehead to his shoulder, as I continued shifting against him in displays of affection.

“Don’t be angry, I really have nothing to do with him. Besides, he already has a boyfriend who is a fashion designer. If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you his Wechat feed…” This time around when Mo Qiu came to visit me, he had also brought with him the good news of not being single anymore, as his partner was the designer he had met while travelling. He also said that his application to attend a school abroad had been accepted, and next month he would be leaving with his boyfriend to pursue further education overseas. De9u0P

I was happy for him after hearing that he was living his best life, but this happiness was genuinely the kind one classmate got after hearing about another classmate doing well, and there weren’t any other mixed feelings in the bag. The sun and moon could bear witness and the heavens and earth could prove it, I… I… I was innocent!

Naturally, Sheng Min Ou wasn’t asleep yet, but he also wasn’t going to turn around to face me just yet.

“I know he likes you.”

I was pressed up against Sheng Min Ou’s shoulder, so whenever he spoke, my body would tremble slightly alongside his. kI3pdN

“Like I said…”

I was about to persist in clarifying further when I heard Sheng Min Ou continue, “Or should I say, I know that he previously liked you. You were his hero, his knight in shining armour, the warm-hearted, passionate and ebullient youth. He longed for you, adored you and admired you. If it wasn’t for the fact that you two reunited too late, he might have once again fallen for you.”

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I was stunned, having never thought of this possibility before.

However, none of this mattered. I didn’t care about who liked me, and I didn’t care whether these people still liked me or not. 2Xbtyf

Why would other people have anything to do with me? I only cared about Sheng Min Ou, and I would never fall in love with anyone else.

“But I like you. It’s you who I long for, admire and adore.” I inhaled the refreshing scent of his shower gel as I pressed my cheek against his back, “No one would ever be able to snatch me away from your side. My heart would not allow it.”

He made no comment on my remark as he said, “Continue.”

Huh? H2CqjN

“Continue with your saccharine speech.”

I had no idea what he meant by that, and whether there was some other hidden meaning within his words. However, when have I ever not followed one of his commands? After hearing his words, I immediately racked my brains for phrases of sweet talk as I gently coughed before I began to recite my words in blazing passion. “I like you, like the way stars would circle the moon, like the way sunflowers look towards the sun, like the way the desert yearns for drops of water. In front of others, I am invincible, but only with you do I become weak and vulnerable. Just like Prince Rupert’s drops, you… are the little tail that could shatter my whole being.” After finishing I even found what I said funny, as I couldn’t help but gently chuckle at my words.

“A little tail?” He probably also found it funny as he repeated the words in a weird tone. He didn’t ask me to continue further and also dropped the subject of the unfortunate lanolin cream, “This time you put more effort in compared to your usual old-fashioned pick up lines.” gFrs8A

I knew he wasn’t angry anymore, so I allowed myself a sigh of relief inwardly before complaining, “I’ve always put a lot of effort in. Besides, when have my pick up lines been old-fashioned?”

Sheng Min Ou however ignored me as he turned a deaf ear to my questions, and seemingly fell into deep sleep in an instant.

I knew he was awake, but I couldn’t do anything about him. I was angered but I also wanted to laugh as I got up to turn off the lights, before cuddling up next to him as I went to sleep.

Within two days, Sheng Min Ou left for a meeting that was held in another city. For one week, there would only be me at home. juFfkP

Though I felt a bit lonely, I thought I could put this time to good use and redecorate the place, thinking that he would get a surprise when he came back.

The furniture hadn’t arrived, but when I went downstairs to throw out the trash I instead found a cat.

It was orange, emaciated, and judging by the appearance of the kitten, it looked exactly the same as the one Qi Yang had killed back then.