extra ko-fi chapter for Apricat (2/2) thank you so much 
When Lu Heyang reached the last steps, he heard the door opening. He looked up and saw Xu Ze pushing the security door open.
“Were you waiting by the door the whole time?” Lu Heyang smiled when he saw him and asked.
“I heard the car parking downstairs,” Xu Ze replied. He hadn’t waited on purpose, but as he knew that Lu Heyang was coming, he had been fidgeting for the entire half an hour. He couldn’t help but stand by the window to watch for any movement downstairs.
“Did you have lunch?” Xu Ze asked Lu Heyang as he closed the door.
“No, did you?”
“I was just about to cook.” Xu Ze scratched behind his ear. “There are only two dishes. If it’s not enough, we can order takeout. It’s just that the delivery might be slow.”
“It’s enough,” Lu Heyang said, “I’m not hungry.”
Xu Ze nodded. Just as he was about to speak, he noticed Lu Heyang’s gaze. He scratched his ear again nervously before turning to the kitchen.
“What are the dishes?” Lu Heyang put the car keys on the table and walked into the kitchen.
“Beef with taro and bok choy.” As Xu Ze answered, a taro flew out of his hand and fell into the sink.
Xu Ze seldom cooked; he mostly ate fried rice or noodles. However, he didn’t fight in a match last night, so he specially cooked some dishes to share with Ye Yunhua at the nursing home. The dishes today were the leftovers from yesterday.
“Can I help you with anything?” Lu Heyang asked.
As soon as he spoke, another taro flew out of Xu Ze’s hand. Lu Heyang picked up the taro root for him and rinsed it under the tap. He said understandingly, “Got it. I’ll wait for you in the living room.”
Xu Ze nodded while looking at the chopping board.
After staying in the living room for less than two minutes, Lu Heyang was bitten by a mosquito. It bit him on the back of his hand, leaving a small bump. Lu Heyang looked at the bump for a few seconds, then turned off his phone. He stood up, walked to the kitchen door, and said, “I got bitten by your mosquito.”
His remark made Xu Ze think that he kept a pet mosquito, and now Lu Heyang wanted to hold him accountable for being bitten. After a brief silence, Xu Ze put down the vegetables and said, “I’ll get the ointment.”
“Where is it? I’ll get it myself.”
“In the desk drawer.”
“Okay.”
Lu Heyang went into the bedroom. Textbooks and test papers were strewn across the desk, with pens and pen caps scattered around. Lu Heyang put the caps back on the pens and opened the drawer. The moment he opened it, the lid of a metal box inside the drawer came off due to the momentum. It seemed to be used to store some small items. Lu Heyang thought that the ointment was inside, so he opened the lid.
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.
To his surprise, there was only a pile of stuff that looked like trash.
Rba wfjclcu ab yf wbmxlcu bg vlrvjlcoei, yea atfs ufcelcfis ibbxfv ilxf ujgyjuf.
Mbivfv alrrefr klat ktja jqqfjgfv ab yf flatfg bli bg lcx rajlcr, lcvlnlvejiis kgjqqfv ecerfv kfa klqfr, j gfmflqa klat yieggfv afza, ecbqfcfv reqqgfrrlbc qjamtfr, jc eclvfcalolfv iewq kgjqqfv lc j alrref, jcv j yegcfv qtbab klat bcis bcf mbgcfg gfwjlclcu.
Lu Heyang stared at them for a moment, then reached out to turn the burned photo over to see the front.
The half-open door was pushed wide open with a loud bang, Lu Heyang turned around. Xu Ze stood at the door with his wet hands hanging down, his face pale, panting as if he had just run several hundred meters. He locked eyes with Lu Heyang for a second, then his gaze shifted to the open drawer.
Lu Heyang was calm. He picked up the ointment from a pile of iodine bottles and squeezed some out. Then he put the lid back on and closed the drawer. As he walked to the door, he asked Xu Ze, “Is the kitchen on fire?”
“No,” Xu Ze avoided his gaze. He didn’t seem to realize how strongly he had just reacted. Thinking he hadn’t made a blunder, he changed the subject, “Did you find the ointment?”
“Found it.” Lu Heyang tilted his head to look into Xu Ze’s eyes, “Didn’t you just see me use it?”
“…Right,” Xu Ze said, “I’ll go cook.”
Lu Heyang sat at the dining table just in a position where he could see the kitchen. There was an old radio on the windowsill. Lu Heyang examined it for a while and asked, “Does this work?”
“It does,” Xu Ze turned to answer him.
“You like listening to the radio?”
“It belongs to my grandma.” Xu Ze lowered his eyes and looked at the pot, “I listen to it sometimes.”
He had long been accustomed to being alone, but occasionally he felt the house was eerily quiet and needed some sound to dispel it.
Lu Heyang looked at Xu Ze’s profile without saying a word, then he switched on the radio. The radio emitted some static signal noises. Lu Heyang adjusted the frequency little by little, and the sound gradually became clearer. It was a news broadcast on the civic channel.
The beef taro soup was bubbling, and a faint cloud of smoke drifted out of the kitchen, carrying the aroma with it. Sunlight streamed into the living room through the window, resembling a glowing river. Xu Ze was cooking on the other side, while Lu Heyang was carefully tinkering with the radio. He tuned in to a music channel, where a slow-tempo foreign song was playing.
In between making the soup, Xu Ze couldn’t help but glance at Lu Heyang. Lu Heyang seemed genuinely interested in the radio. He probably hadn’t come across such an old device before. In many aspects of life, Xu Ze felt numb, but at this moment, he couldn’t help but think in a clichéd way that life had been kind to him.
Lu Heyang, who would only relax and smile in front of He Wei and Gu Yunchi, now seemed to be showing a hint of that side in front of him.
After eating and washing the dishes, Lu Heyang drank water while checking the time on his wristband. Xu Ze asked, “Are you leaving?”
The meaning of this sentence was obvious, but Xu Ze himself seemed to be unaware of it. Lu Heyang looked at him. Xu Ze stood by the table with his hands hanging by his sides. Although he didn’t show any expression on his face, there was a sense of helplessness, as if he would feel lost the moment Lu Heyang left and closed the door.
“Want me to leave so badly?” Lu Heyang walked over and put the water glass on the table, “Then I’ll head back.”
“No,” Xu Ze hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop Lu Heyang and said, “It’s not like that.”
Lu Heyang smiled, “Do you want to take a nap?”
“I don’t need to.”
“But I’m a little tired.” Lu Heyang said, “I don’t have much energy and tend to doze off in the afternoon.”
“If you don’t mind, you can sleep on my bed. I just changed the sheets two days ago.” Without waiting for Lu Heyang’s answer, Xu Ze was certain that he would mind and said, “I’ll change the sheets.”
“No, I don’t mind.” Lu Heyang picked up the water glass again, “Let’s go to your room.”
Xu Ze’s wooden bed was a little hard, but the pillow was soft. It had a faint pheromone scent and the fresh fragrance of the shampoo Xu Ze usually used. Lu Heyang lay down on the bed. As Xu Ze kept standing there watching him, he asked, “Do you want to sleep together?”
“I’ll do test papers.” Xu Ze realized that his gaze was bothering Lu Heyang again and quickly turned around to sit down at the desk. He turned the electric fan toward the bed.
“Set the fan to swing, or you’ll get hot,” Lu Heyang suggested.
He wasn’t actually tired, but he knew that if he didn’t mention taking a nap, Xu Ze wouldn’t be able to study.
“Okay.” Xu Ze pressed the button to turn on the swaying. The electric fan blew past Lu Heyang’s pillow, blowing up the curtains, and then onto the desk, making the corners of the books rustle slightly.
In the tranquil atmosphere, with a subtle hint of gardenias wafting through the air, Lu Heyang watched the swaying curtains, thinking about something, and then unconsciously closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, the scene in the room hadn’t changed at all. Lu Heyang thought he had just briefly zoned out. He glanced at his wristband and saw that forty minutes had passed. Lu Heyang sat up startled.
In a brightly lit room, without a sleep mask or earplugs—it had been ages since he had fallen asleep under such conditions and slept so soundly.
When Xu Ze heard the noise, he turned around and was surprised to see Lu Heyang’s puzzled expression, his brow furrowed as though lost in thought.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Ze turned around and asked him, still holding the pen in his hand.
Lu Heyang’s hair was slightly messy from sleeping. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled, “Just feeling drowsy.” With his hands on the edge of the bed, Lu Heyang shook off his drowsiness and asked, “Did you finish the paper?”
“I finished it.” Xu Ze felt conscious of being checked by Teacher Lu. He set down his pen and stood up, “I was just reviewing my notes.”
“Do you have to talk standing so far away?” Lu Heyang blinked slowly, “It seems like you’re used to keeping your distance from me.”
His expression seemed to convey the feeling of “hurt but still sincere”. Xu Ze couldn’t argue with that. He wasn’t good at explaining, so he just shook his head and said, “That’s not true.” Then he walked over to Lu Heyang and handed him a glass of water.
Lu Heyang’s phone rang. Lu Heyang took the glass and glanced at the phone screen, but didn’t pay it any mind. He took a sip of water and told Xu Ze, “I have to go.”
Xu Ze’s eyelashes drooped. Lu Heyang had spent a considerable amount of time with him today, but Xu Ze still felt that it was too soon. While Lu Heyang slept, he only dared to steal glances from time to time, just for a second or two at a time.
“Okay, drive slowly.”
Lu Heyang, however, asked him, “How can I thank you for cooking for me and letting me nap on your bed?”
“It’s no big deal.” Xu Ze completely missed the romantic cues and responded with, “It’s my pleasure.”
“Xu Ze.” Lu Heyang looked up at him and said with a hint of helplessness, “Do you really want to make me feel guilty?”
At this moment, Xu Ze finally grasped Lu Heyang’s intentions. He began to cautiously think as to what he could ask.
“This time you can’t say that you hope I won’t be unhappy,” Lu Heyang reminded him, “I haven’t been unhappy today.”
“…..Okay.”
Xu Ze’s eyes fell on Lu Heyang’s face. He couldn’t come up with any requests. Being able to look at Lu Heyang like this for a while was good enough—of course, it would be even better if he dared to get closer and kiss Lu Heyang like before.
“Where do you want to kiss?” Lu Heyang met his gaze and asked directly.
Xu Ze felt a sense of shame as his thoughts had been exposed, but he didn’t lie and replied honestly, “Your face.”
Xu Ze wasn’t sure if it was a misperception, but he felt that Lu Heyang let out a soft sigh. He immediately tensed up, fearing that his request had complicated matters for Lu Heyang. However, Lu Heyang placed the water glass by the bed, stood up, and leaned down in front of Xu Ze, “Go ahead, kiss me.”
When an opportunity presented itself right in front of you, it was undoubtedly the hardest to refuse. Xu Ze couldn’t even bring himself to close his eyes, he turned his head and kissed Lu Heyang’s left cheek.
At the same time, his hand was pulled. Xu Ze looked down and saw that Lu Heyang was putting a wristband on his wrist. The wristband was brand new and not the one that Lu Heyang typically wore.
“Next time, I might come over for another meal.” Lu Heyang squeezed Xu Ze’s palm and smiled at him, “I’m paying for the meal in advance.”
The cost of the meal was a bit high, and Xu Ze wasn’t sure how many meals he would have to cook for Lu Heyang to pay off the 20,000 yuan wristband. By the time he realized what had happened, Lu Heyang was already walking to the door.
Lu Heyang reached the door and held the doorknob. Before opening it, he turned to look at Xu Ze, who was following him like a shadow. Xu Ze didn’t say anything or smile, but his eyes were shining.
Lu Heyang knew that Xu Ze wasn’t happy because of the wristband, but because he had kissed his face.
Xu Ze ought to be one of the easiest people in the world to please, being content with the smallest things without asking for much. He didn’t even know how to accept the things that were given to him. Even if his hands were clearly empty, he would still worry if he was being too greedy.
Lu Heyang pursed his lips. His hand on the doorknob seemed to lack the strength to open it. After refusing to budge for a few seconds, Lu Heyang finally turned around. He wrapped his arms around the back of Xu Ze’s neck and kissed him on the corner of his mouth.
“Why are you so silly?”
Lu Heyang smiled as he said this. He opened the door and waved at Xu Ze, “I’m heading out.”
Author’s note: No matter how vicious this frigging world is, it won’t affect Lu Heyang’s joy in teasing his wife.
Translator’s note: Xu Ze’s pet: 🦟
Thank you for the chapter~ (omg they’re so cute TAT)
I’m so literally super¹⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰ jealous omg🙄😭😭
Nooooo that’s the worst pet ever TᴖT
Super cute ~
Thank you for the chapter ☺️
AHHHHHHHHHHHH 🤩