Yan Shuo felt his throat tighten, his eyes moving elsewhere rather unnaturally. However, when that person walked in, he still couldn’t help but return his gaze to the newcomer.
His clothes were somewhat flimsy, and although he was backlit by the sunlight, his features were still like an elegant piece of thin white jade, extremely penetrating and flawless.
He didn’t know whether it was because the other man was accustomed to having such a cold temper—though he wouldn’t be like that now, one could almost see a layer of frost over his features.
But that could also be from the colour of the snow outside, making his expression clear and distant.
Shen Zhifan cleared his throat and smiled. As soon as he smiled, that frostiness completely dissipated, replaced by a shy, childish air, his features seemed to change into a warm piece of fine jade.
However, Yan Shuo’s gaze still flickered away in that same unnatural manner, and he realised that no matter where he looked, he would think of yesterday’s embarrassing situation. In the end, he set his stare on Laurent.
“Cough, uh, good afternoon, Mr. Laurent.” Shen Zhifan’s voice was a bit strained, quiet as a mosquito, “Good afternoon, General Yan.”
Yan Shuo turned his head, expression extremely rigid.
“En…Good afternoon.”
“Mmhm.” Shen Zhifan was also somewhat awkward, and could only hum in reply.
Yan Shuo paused. Not knowing what to say, he could only nod stiffly and also sound an acknowledgement.
…In short, the scene was extremely embarrassing.
“Aiya,” Laurent spread his legs comfortably, “Mr. Shen is too formal. In the future, everyone will all be in the same division, so you can just call him General. <sup>1</sup> The soldiers address the General as ‘daren’ which is a title for superiors; this is what Laurent is telling Shen Zhifan to switch to. I’ve translated this title as ‘General’ or ‘esteemed’ before, and will be keeping it like this. General, you’re also pretty formal today ah? It’s fine, look, you already kissed yesterday, no need to be so polite hahahaha! We should all just make ourselves at home.”
Yan Shuo, “…”
Shen Zhifan, “…”
Oh, very well, the awkwardness of this scene had escalated to the max.
Yan Shuo had never realised that Yan Dao’s effect was actually so powerful, and he’d also never realised that Laurent’s destructive power was actually so strong.
“Hm?” Laurent tilted his head, “Why are you both looking at me? Hahaha, even if I’m handsome you don’t need to look at me like that ah, how about we just chat about what happened yesterday, oh…kay?”
As soon as Laurent looked up, he finally saw the General’s gaze that screamed of wanting to stab him to death. He didn’t know why his neck suddenly felt cold, and forcibly changed the end of his sentence.
He crooked his head, thinking of something that Yan Dao had nagged him about before he left.
——“Do not tell the General what happened last night.”
——“I’ll remember.”
——“And don’t bother the General and Mr. Shen when they’re with each other.”
——“I’ll remember, I’ll remember.”
——“If you want to stay alive.”
In his mind, Laurent began calculating on a little abacus, thinking that the General was too petty—wasn’t it just his lousy alcohol tolerance? Everyone already knew about it, what was hard to say? As for not bothering him and Mr. Shen…
He tilted his head as he thought for a moment.
He hadn’t done anything ah, right now, it was more like Mr. Shen was interrupting his and the General’s conversation.
Laurent felt extremely wronged.
He thought, surely Yan Dao just wasn’t smart enough, and there was nothing useful in his parting words.
Yan Dao, who’d just gotten home, was also suffering the aftermath of a hangover. He’d trudged home for a family meeting, his head aching. Right when he had come to his senses a little and was just about to speak, he suddenly let out a violent sneeze.
He sniffled, thinking—it wouldn’t be that wooden club Laurent talking shit about him, right?
He should have…listened to his advice, right?
Laurent was aggrieved, but he still considered the General’s expression, then also considered Shen Zhifan’s expression. In the end, he realised there was something a bit off.
“Laurent.”
Yan Shuo, at the end of his rope, spoke softly.
Although his voice was as light as a feather, Laurent didn’t know why he suddenly felt a burst of violent wind along his back, and he trembled. Somewhat petrified, he looked at the General, shivering all over.
He paused, and said extremely doubtfully, “Was there really anything?”
But he was just helping Mr. Shen with getting settled into the division ah.
D-Did he do something wrong again?
…Yan Shuo suddenly felt that without Yan Dao, he didn’t even have the motivation to punish Laurent.
Laurent stood up, wronged and pitiful, and retreated, surrendering to the esteemed General’s tyrannical abuse, “Then…then you two go on, I-I’ll go and shovel some snow.”
Yan Shuo had barely sighed in relief, when he looked up and caught sight of Shen Zhifan’s clear and somewhat half-lidded eyes, and his heart tightened again.
Only the two of them were left now.
So the awkward atmosphere didn’t improve even after Laurent left.
But he couldn’t stay silent forever, so he struggled to find a topic. He looked at the youth’s somewhat thin shirt, “Why aren’t you wearing more?”
Right after speaking, he suddenly went mute—when he recovered, he almost bit his tongue.
Shen Zhifan’s face reddened, his gaze flickering around, “…Because you’re wearing my clothes.”
Yan Shuo didn’t even have the strength to clear his throat.
He was really embarrassed.
Ever since the General’s rebellious and chuuni phases from many years ago, he had never been this mortified.
He was serious, calm and collected most of the time. So much so, that since he was young, it could be seen that his self-control surpassed that of almost any ordinary person.
And if those emotions were to pour out…he didn’t need to imagine; just by hearing Laurent’s description, he could roughly imagine the reason why Shen Zhifan’s clothes would be on his body.
If he had let out everything that he usually repressed, then…then undoubtedly, this meant that yesterday, he must have…done something towards Shen Zhifan.
——“Then, you hugged Mr. Shen and kissed him for a while. After that, you said that you wanted to marry him in front of us. Hm, other than that, I don’t think there was anything else.”
Laurent’s words echoed in his ears, inescapable.
…He really wanted to stab Laurent to death. Of course, he wanted to stab himself to death even more, for doing those things yesterday.
He-He had wheedled Shen Zhifan to his side with great difficulty.
Alright, it hadn’t been that hard.
The current Shen Zhifan was clean and transparent, like a stream whose depths could be instantly seen. From the beginning, Shen Zhifan had an undisguised admiration of him.
So, luring in this Shen Zhifan was practically effortless. However, although it had been easy, facing the other, who trusted him too much, he also felt guilty and at a loss.
There was also a feeling of gasping torment.
Like a dried up fish nearing its demise suddenly in front of water—but the fish didn’t know whether it was a boiling pot, or seawater that could save its life.
So much so that…when that piece of paper was suddenly torn through, he felt a burst of confusion and fear.
“Last night, I was extremely rude.”
He wet his lips, his head drooping down, showing his severe and handsome profile.
“My alcohol tolerance…has always been bad. Did I scare you?”
“It’s fine,” Shen Zhifan paused, hurriedly waving a hand, then paused again, as if he couldn’t hold back, “It’s just…you were a bit…bolder than usual, that’s all.”
Yan Shuo, “…”
He cleared his throat again. Frankly, there was no reason for it, but when he was extremely nervous or embarrassed, he couldn’t help it.
“I was too rude yesterday.” He sat down and poured himself a new cup of hangover soup. After all, since the esteemed General had many years of leadership experience, he looked completely calm as he put on an act—aside from his faintly shaking fingertips which only he knew about, “I apologize.”
Shen Zhifan shook his head again, “No no no…you were drunk, so, it’s understandable.”
Yan Shuo’s throat moved a little. In a fit of nervousness, he directly drained the cup of soup in one go.
“I didn’t think that I would get drunk yesterday, and didn’t expect…cough,” After having some soup, he didn’t know if it was a psychological reason, but he felt a little better. He finally had the courage to look properly at the youth before him, “The next few days are holidays. I’ll send you home.”
Shen Zhifan somewhat hesitantly lowered his head. There was a pause, as if he wanted to say something.
“Ah, right,” Yan Shuo suddenly realised, “Did you come over for something?”
Shen Zhifan nodded, finally gathering up his courage, and took out a flower from behind.
Yan Shuo froze. Since he’d been too nervous and guilty, he hadn’t noticed that Shen Zhifan had a hand behind his back the whole time.
Now, he saw what he’d been hiding.
It was a single flower—but if it weren’t for the small bloom on the top, it was practically indistinguishable from a weed. The delicate white petals looked somewhat listless, after all, it’d already been plucked. In the lovely sunshine, even such a simple flower was dyed in a luminous gold.
His heart tightened. He looked at Shen Zhifan, somewhat confused.
“You gave me this last night, while you were drunk,” Shen Zhifan seemed to let out a quiet laugh. His head was lowered, and his expression couldn’t be clearly seen, but the light that landed on his brow was extremely gentle. “It hadn’t bloomed then, but when I woke up this morning I found that it opened. It’s so beautiful—could you tell me what flower it is?”
Yan Shuo’s throat went tight, and he replied softly, “The name of the flower…is moonlight forget-me-not.”
“En, I see,” Shen Zhifan’s head was still lowered. If one looked closely, it could be seen that the hand that was holding the flower was trembling slightly, “Then—then thank you, for giving them to me.”
He paused, as if realising that Yan Shuo wasn’t about to say anything, and hesitated. As if he was somewhat disappointed, he could only turn away reluctantly, “Then, I’ll leave first…”
Although he had turned away, he paused as he heard footsteps behind him. He didn’t have the time to turn back, when fingers latched onto his arm and he was pulled around, the other man’s fingers holding up his chin.
His chin was tilted upwards impatiently, but it wasn’t rough. His eyes hadn’t even widened before the other man kissed him.
He smelled the aroma of the hangover soup. It wasn’t strong, but rather refreshing.
This time, the kiss was especially short, just as the kiss from last night was especially long.
“…Are you still drunk?”
After the kiss, Shen Zhifan didn’t dare to look up.
The other man’s breath was so close to him. Shifting his gaze, he saw the bridge of Yan Shuo’s elegant nose.
“No,” Yan Shuo spoke without hesitation, his voice deep and echoing in Shen Zhifan’s mind, “I’m sober right now.”
“I’m…very sober,” He hesitated in his words, an inexplicably pleased quality in his tone. He couldn’t help but let a lover’s kind of lingering affection slip through as he murmured, “Really.”
His words hadn’t settled, and he didn’t wait for the youth he held in his arms to react as he kissed him deeply once again.
Death: *screaming echoes into the distance*
dead.jpg
1
The soldiers address the General as ‘daren’ which is a title for superiors; this is what Laurent is telling Shen Zhifan to switch to. I’ve translated this title as ‘General’ or ‘esteemed’ before, and will be keeping it like this.