“Let’s go home.” Watching Fang Lei leave, Yan Yue said, turning to Lu Lingxi.
Lu Lingxi nodded and said, “Big Brother Yan, do you think Officer Fang has guessed something?”
Yan Yue patted Lu Lingxi soothingly, his voice low and containing a kind of reassuring power. “He probably guessed about Dahei by now, and it makes his heart feel itchy. But he also knows that we won’t admit it and there’s not much he can do to us.” Seeing that the person who had been coming for Xiao Shi was Fang Lei, after his initial surprise Yan Yue was relieved. He had dealt with Fang Lei a few times and knew that the other party was very cautious. No matter what Fang Lei guessed, as long as he didn’t want to be treated like a madman, he definitely wouldn’t say anything out in the open.
Lu Lingxi was relieved to hear this; he didn’t want to be in the news because of this.
Yan Yue looked at him and chuckled, reminding him, “Xiao Xi, have you forgotten what happened to Xiao Shi?”
Xiao Shi was ostracised by his friends because he went around the village saying he could understand Ah Huang’s speech, and now he was called Xiao Shi the liar. Fang Lei wasn’t five years old and would not make the same mistake.
When Lu Lingxi thought of this, he completely calmed down. Although he didn’t understand how Fang Lei could believe the words of Xiao Shi; most people should not believe it, right? But it didn’t matter if Fang Lei believed it or not, as long as he didn’t say anything.
The two men didn’t take the matter seriously, but Fang Lei was concerned about it. The day after they returned, Fang Lei came to Tiny Garden along with a big, powerful dog. Fang Lei only touched lightly on the matter of Xiao Shi and the whole time he was advertising this big dog to Dahei.
According to Fang Lei, this big dog was the flower of their police force, specially selected by him from the police dog base and was liked by many police dogs. He thought of asking Lu Lingxi to help take care of her for a while, but of course it would be better if she could stay with Dahei every day.
Yan Yue: “……”
He was already completely at a loss for what to say.
Lu Lingxi was laughing to death when he realised what Fang Lei meant. Yesterday he still had some alienation in his heart from Fang Lei, but after such an outburst he unexpectedly felt that Fang Lei was quite an interesting person, not like what they thought he was.
It was a pity that after Fang Lei’s long and diligent efforts to arrange a date for him, Dahei wasn’t at all interested in the so-called flower of the police force and just squatted quietly at Lu Lingxi’s feet. On the contrary, the big dog brought by Fang Lei looked at Dahei in fear but also wanted to get closer. She looked a little annoyed and kept turning in circles. After drinking four cups of water, Fang Lei saw that the two dogs really didn’t get along and had to leave in regret. Lu Lingxi thought that Fang Lei would give up, but to his surprise, he came back the next day, this time with a different dog.
Lu Lingxi & Yan Yue: “……”
For seven days in a row, Dahei had to go on blind dates with a different dog every day. Fang Lei acted as if he didn’t mean anything, praising Dahei for being a good match for the dog he brought. Lu Lingxi laughed so hard every day that his stomach hurt, and when some of his regular customers came to the shop and saw this scene, they laughed and teased Lu Lingxi, saying that it was really time to find a partner for Dahei.
In the past few days, Dahei didn’t get acquainted with these dogs, but Yan Yue and Fang Lei did get acquainted. The two of them were not more than a few years apart in age, and with Ye Cheng as their connection, in a few days they got to get along quite well. Fang Lei was very smart and didn’t even mention the question of whether Lu Lingxi and Dahei could communicate, and was committed to tying a red thread for Dahei and one of his police dogs. Lu Lingxi figured that Fang Lei thought that since Dahei could communicate with humans, then Dahei’s children would probably be no worse off. Unfortunately, Dahei wasn’t interested in the dogs Fang Lei brought with him, and no matter what Fang Lei said, he just didn’t care.
Lu Lingxi even discussed with Yan Yue in private about what kind of dog Dahei really liked. Yan Yue joked, “That little white cat upstairs?”
Lu Lingxi: “……”
Just as Fang Lei was relentlessly bringing different dogs on a blind date with Dahei, Wang Shuxiu and Xiao Feng’s wedding arrived.
On the day of the wedding, Tiny Garden and the small restaurant were closed for the day and everyone went to the wedding. For the wedding Xiao Feng chose a five-star hotel not far from the community. Wang Shuxiu thought it was too expensive, but Xiao Feng insisted on having a big wedding and marrying Wang Shuxiu in style.
s
Lin Mei pulled Wang Shuxiu jokingly, “What do men earn money for? It is to make women comfortable. You haven’t even entered his family yet and you’re thinking of saving money for him. Who to save it for?”
“Exactly.” Zhou Xiaoman echoed, “When It is time to spend money, you have to spend it, and only when it hurts a man will he feel cherished, otherwise he will never take you seriously.”
The two sang in unison and Wang Shuxiu could do nothing about them both and just snapped, “Nonsense.”
Lin Mei and Zhou Xiaoman laughed and helped Wang Shuxiu to start changing her clothes and make-up. There were quite a few people coming today, basically all the friends of the two. Lin Mei looked outside, and a lively crowd filled the entire hall. She came back and sighed, “Brother Feng is putting his heart and soul into it. Xiaohua, your misery has come to an end.”
Wang Shuxiu smiled at her, her eyes slightly red as she thought of the past.
“Yes, the hardships have come to an end.”
In a room a wall away, Xiao Feng was dressed in a suit. Tiger and Erfei got together and heckled.
“Boss is going to carry Sister-in-law on his back later.”
“Carry on his back? He has to carry her in his arms!”
“Get lost!” Xiao Feng was obviously in a good mood, and just laughed and scolded at their jokes.
Lu Lingxi, dressed in a white suit, sat in the corner looking at them and laughing. Yan Yue accompanied him and silently reached out his hand under the table and held Lu Lingxi’s. Lu Lingxi froze for a moment, immediately glancing around sheepishly. Seeing that no one had noticed their little move, he squeezed Yan Yue’s hand in reply. The corners of Yan Yue’s lips curved up in a faint smile.
“Once Xiao Xi has passed his 20th birthday, we’ll go abroad and get married,” he whispered. “Okay?”
When he talked about getting married, Yan Yue looked as normal as if he was chatting about family matters. Lu Lingxi was taken aback at first and it took him a long time to react. Before he had time to reply, Tiger called out from the doorway, “Brother Xiao Xi, we should go and invite Sister-in-law.”
“Oh.” Lu Lingxi agreed casually and got up to leave. Yan Yue, however, pulled him back, looking at him with his eyes full of tenderness. Yan Yue’s lips curled up and his voice was low, “Xiao Xi, you haven’t agreed yet? Okay?”
Lu Lingxi looked at him and the tips of his ears instantly turned red. He quickly said, “Okay.”
When Yan Yue heard it, his eyes suddenly darkened. As he looked at Lu Lingxi steadily, his inner emotions were surging like waves of the sea.
“Brother Xiao Xi.” Tiger urged, not knowing what Lu Lingxi and Yan Yue were talking about.
Yan Yue reached out and scratched at Lu Lingxi’s palm before letting go of him. There seemed to be a smile in Lu Lingxi’s eyes as he glared at Yan Yue before he hurriedly followed Tiger. Wang Shuxiu had been ready for a long time and was waiting for Lu Lingxi to take her out. It was Xiao Feng who had come up with the original idea of Lu Lingxi leading Wang Shuxiu in and delivering her to him. In Xiao Feng’s words, this could be regarded as a promise he made to Lu Lingxi in front of everyone. He would take good care of Wang Shuxiu, so that Lu Lingxi could rest assured.
s
When the wedding march started, Lu Lingxi felt that he was even more nervous than Wang Shuxiu. He didn’t know how to describe the complex of emotions he was feeling now, with happiness, reluctance and all kinds of worries. From the time he was reborn until now, he had been dependent on Wang Shuxiu. Wang Shuxiu wasn’t what he had imagined a mother could be, but she was the best mother he had ever seen. He had thought about taking good care of Wang Shuxiu and staying with her for the rest of her life, but now there was another man to take care of Wang Shuxiu, and they would have a new family and perhaps a new child… But no matter what, Wang Shuxiu was his mother, his blood relative. Thinking of this Lu Lingxi curved his eyes and whispered, “I wish my mom happiness.”
Wang Shuxiu took Lu Lingxi’s arm and cursed in a low voice, “Little bastard.”
The wedding proceeded very smoothly, and Lu Lingxi solemnly handed Wang Shuxiu into Xiao Feng’s hands. Xiao Feng patted Lu Lingxi’s shoulder, and there was a faint smile in his eyes. It could be seen that Xiao Feng was really happy as he took Wang Shuxiu from table to table to toast and blocked all the wine for Wang Shuxiu.
“Drink less.” Wang Shuxiu squeezed his arm.
Tiger loudly heckled, “Sister-in-law is now in charge of Big Brother?”
Xiao Feng laughed, “Your sister-in-law is right to take charge, listen to your sister-in-law from now on.”
The crowd laughed, and Wang Shuxiu also laughed as she heard it.
The wedding was a lively celebration that lasted for a long time, and with Tiger and the others deliberately heckling him, Lu Lingxi got a little drunk. This was the first time in his two lives that Lu Lingxi had drunk. When he finished drinking, he looked fine, sitting there obediently, listening to everyone else’s words, quiet and well behaved. Everyone thought he was fine, but only Yan Yue noticed that something was wrong with him. When no one was looking, Yan Yue touched Lu Lingxi’s face and felt that it was slightly hot, but it should be okay.
“How many is this?”
Yan Yue held up a finger.
Lu Lingxi looked dumbfounded for a long time, then grabbed Yan Yue’s finger and counted, saying seriously, “Two.”
A smile flashed in Yan Yue’s eyes, and this time he switched to two fingers. “How many is this?”
Lu Lingxi’s expression looked even more dumbfounded, a bewildered look on his face, “Three.”
Yan Yue couldn’t help but laugh.
Lu Lingxi’s eyes shone brightly as he looked at Yan Yue, “Big Brother Yan, you look so pretty when you smile. I like Big Brother Yan, I want to see Big Brother Yan smile every day.”
“Good.” Yan Yue’s gaze was gentle as he promised, “I will smile every day for Xiao Xi to see.”
Lu Lingxi reacted after a few seconds and slowly nodded. After a while, Lu Lingxi seemed to think of something and said in a low voice with a suppressed tone, “Big Brother Yan, I still have a secret I want to tell you.”
“What?” Yan Yue had a smile on his lips.
Lu Lingxi blinked and said in a small voice, “Actually, I already died, and I don’t know why I came back to life. I used to be called Lu Lingxi too, not this Lu Lingxi, but another Lu Lingxi. Can you believe it, Big Brother Yan?”
The young man’s expression was confused when he spoke, and when he talked about death, his eyes were serious. Yan Yue looked at him and only felt as if his heart was being gripped by something, it hurt so badly. He didn’t care that there were people around, he reached out and took Lu Lingxi in his arms, gently patting the young man’s back and coaxing in a low voice, “Xiao Xi, you are drunk.”
Lu Lingxi reached out and wrapped his arms around Yan Yue’s waist, burying his head in his chest, and said in a small voice, defending himself, “I’m not drunk, my mother doesn’t let me drink. Neither me nor my elder brother can drink. My elder brother is not well, I have to take care of him.”
He said this in a somewhat low voice just as Tiger looked over and asked what was wrong with Lu Lingxi. Yan Yue only heard the words “elder brother” vaguely. He shook his head at Tiger, “Xiao Xi is drunk.”
Tiger took a look, “Brother Yan, why don’t you take Xiao Xi and go back first? It will be fine here.”
This was what Yan Yue had in mind, and when he heard it, he helped Lu Lingxi stand up and said to Tiger, “Say hello to Brother Feng for me.”
“Okay, no problem.”
Yan Yue helped Lu Lingxi walk out of the hall. He was afraid that Lu Lingxi would get cold, so he didn’t dare to take him out directly, but first found Lu Lingxi’s coat and wrapped him up tightly before taking him to the parking lot. Lu Lingxi was very well-behaved all the way, following Yan Yue’s side obediently. When the two of them got into the car, Yan Yue helped Lu Lingxi fasten his seat belt. Lu Lingxi opened his eyes wide and looked at Yan Yue without blinking. Yan Yue moved when he saw it, cupped his chin and kissed him, and said softly, “What are you looking at?”
Lu Lingxi pursed his lips and shook his head without saying anything.
Remembering Lu Lingxi’s drunken words earlier, Yan Yue was worried and touched his face, coaxing, “Xiao Xi, you can sleep now. I’ll call you when we get home.”
“En.” Lu Lingxi obediently closed his eyes and fell asleep a little while after leaning against the seat.
Lu Lingxi slept till the middle of the night. Then he sat up drowsily, rubbing his eyes and trying to find Yan Yue. The next moment he felt himself fall into a warm embrace, someone hugging him from behind and handing him a cup of warm water. Lu Lingxi asked blankly, “Big Brother Yan?”
“En, I’m here.”
“I want to go to the toilet.”
Yan Yue smiled and put the cup of water back on the bedside. Lu Lingxi came to his senses somewhat and broke free from Yan Yue’s embrace to get off the bed. Yan Yue looked at him and pretended to ask casually, “Xiao Xi, do you remember what you said before?”
“What?” Lu Lingxi looked puzzled.
He really didn’t remember anything. Yan Yue hid the worry in his eyes and said as if nothing had happened, “Nothing.”
