ITOTIABSAM | Landlord Tenant | 56
Suddenly finding himself in a completely unfamiliar environment, Xie Ye thought he would have trouble sleeping. But perhaps because Gu Cong was by his side, and he was sleeping in Gu Cong's bed, he actually woke up later than usual the next day.
Feeling drowsy, Xie Ye vaguely sensed the curtains being drawn open, letting light spill in. He subconsciously furrowed his brow and burrowed deeper under the covers.
However, within two minutes, he was pulled out of the soft, warm bed by someone. A peck on his lips jolted Xie Ye awake, and Gu Cong laughed, "Are you sleeping Beauty? It's already eleven o'clock."
Eleven o'clock?
Xie Ye, who had just closed his eyes the previous second, was instantly wide awake.
"Don't worry, there's no strict rule about getting up early in my house," Gu Cong said, wrapping his arms around Xie Ye just as he was about to get out of bed, his amusement evident. "Let me hug you first."
Xie Ye glanced at Gu Cong to confirm that he wasn't lying. Feeling relaxed and somewhat lazy, Xie Ye relaxed his shoulders, closed his eyes again, and nestled back into the arms of the young man.
Today was New Year's Eve, and according to tradition, they were supposed to stick couplets and make dumplings together, as well as stay up late to welcome the new year.
Gu Cong and Xie Ye, both tall and young, naturally took on the task of sticking couplets. They covered every door, including the main entrance and the garage.
The iron gate outside the courtyard was a bit high, so Gu Cong moved a chair from the living room and stood on it. Xie Ye, wrapped in a red down jacket, tucked his hands into the sleeves and held onto the back of the chair to support Gu Cong, preventing him from falling.
These clothes were personally bought by Gu's mother two weeks ago. There were two of the same style and color, just different sizes. They were bright but not flashy, chosen for their festive vibes.
Xie Ye's fair skin, complemented by the lively red color, looked even more like a piece of jade. Although they were wearing identical couple outfits, Gu Cong couldn't help but feel that they looked even better on Xie Ye.
"Alright, mission accomplished!" Gu Cong leaped down from the chair and looked up, carefully examining their handiwork. "Thanks to the commander, everything is perfectly straight."
Commander Xie Ye: Childish.
But also kind of cute.
"What else would I thank? Mr. Xie? Boyfriend? Darling?" Gu Cong playfully rattled off a series of cheesy nicknames, reaching out to cover Xie Ye's ears. "Feeling cold? Let's go back inside first. The congee in the kitchen should be ready. After dinner, we'll make dumplings as a family."
As a family.
It was a very unfamiliar term for Xie Ye. But Gu Cong had a way of making him feel at ease. Before this, of course, he had seen fireworks, watched the Spring Festival Gala, and eaten dumplings.
But he had always done so alone, lonely. It was a storyline typical of a villain, isolated and unloved, contrasting with the happiness of the protagonist. It was meaningless and not worth remembering.
But today was different.
Xie Ye thought, no matter how many worlds he crossed, he would never forget this New Year's Eve.
"Here, my mom asked me to pass these to you, she was afraid that you'd be too shy to accept them," Gu Cong said, as if performing a magic trick, pulling out a stack of red envelopes from behind him with a grin. "And here's my dad's. One for each of us, and I'm also delivering mine."
By then, it was past midnight, and the countdown for the Spring Festival Gala had begun. It was a new year, and Gu's parents, being older, had gone to bed early. Only Gu Cong was full of energy, insisting on watching the fireworks show in the city before going to sleep.
Xie Ye hadn't expected that Gu Cong would come back with a stack of red envelopes after just a quick trip downstairs.
He wasn't quite used to this kind of genuine kindness from elders, being treated as a child.
But looking at Gu Cong's sincere and smiling eyes illuminated by the fireworks, he eventually reached out and accepted this soft, weighty token of affection.
"I..." as if naturally, the words that he had never thought he would say out loud came to the tip of his tongue, only to be intercepted by Xie Ye's rationality, forcibly held back.
Standing beside him, Gu Cong didn't feel disappointed. Instead, he smiled and continued for him, "I love you."
Unable to describe the feeling of that moment with simple words, Xie Ye tilted his head back.
Under the sparkling night sky filled with fireworks, he gently exchanged a kiss with Gu Cong, free of any doubts or distractions.
Immediately, that kiss grew more intense.
Due to the location, despite Gu Cong's assurance that the room was well soundproofed and even a midnight disco wouldn't be heard, Xie Ye remained silent, pressing his lips tightly together, enduring and stubbornly refusing to make a sound.
It was precisely this opposite stance from his usual confident dominance that aroused the most intense desire for conquest in others.
In just a few short months, Gu Cong had made rapid progress, leaving Xie Ye feeling overwhelmed, his eyes reddened, and his body trembling with physical sensations.
With his head buried in the pillow, clutching the sheets tightly, he let out a breathy, trembling "Gege" in a hoarse voice.
Of course, the consequence of taking advantage of someone's vulnerability was that, after the first day of the new year, for several days, whenever they were alone in the bedroom, Gu Cong couldn't find an opportunity to be intimate with Xie Ye again.
On the seventh day, when he returned to Xie Ye's apartment with bags of belongings, he found himself "rewarded" with a familiar yet unfamiliar new bed — the living room sofa.
Luckily, Gu Cong knew too well the stubborn yet soft-hearted nature of a certain "cat". After sitting pitifully outside the master bedroom door for most of the evening, he was eventually let in by the young man, who used the excuse of being afraid he might catch a cold.
After the winter break, senior students entered the official graduation season. Gu Cong performed well in his preliminary exams, smoothly securing a spot for the interview at his desired university.
Meanwhile, Xie Ye continued to diligently pursue his passion as a food blogger, updating twice a week. When he ran out of inspiration, he would select dishes from the comments section to recreate, fulfilling the wishes of one lucky viewer.
With his culinary skills and vast experiences accumulated from countless worlds, coupled with a wide range of recipes sourced from the system's database, Xie Ye could replicate even dishes mentioned only in anime or novels with meticulous attention to detail.
Gradually, the "Big Eater" account developed its own unique style that couldn't be replaced by other similar content creators. The audience for his videos stabilized over time.
Occasionally, when Xie Ye live-streamed games on weekends, the barrage of comments no longer maliciously brought up his past; instead, discussions revolved around new topics.
For example: "Why isn't your roommate here today?"
【Let's start a "Godly Chef Xiao Fugui" series! Please!】
【Ah ah ah, I've been stuck on this level for so long, can I borrow Fanfan's brain and hands?】
Selectively filtering through the comments, Xie Ye skillfully dodged the boss's counterattacks while calmly replying, "He's busy preparing for exams."
【Haha, is mentioning the roommate (boyfriend) a trigger for revealing secrets?】
【Is it the interview? Is it the interview? Suddenly remembered I also have exams to take.】
【Stunned.JPG】
【Sisters in front, put down your phones! Immediately!】
Gu Cong's preliminary exam scores were very high, far exceeding the admission line, and his ability to adapt on the spot was beyond reproach. Xie Ye knew this very well, but he still couldn't help feeling anxious from time to time due to related comments.
Until Gu Cong passed the interview smoothly, Xie Ye finally stopped worrying.
Their desired graduate school was in the same city, allowing Gu Cong to successfully avoid the option he least wanted to accept: a long-distance relationship. However, this time the campus was closer to the city center, while Xie Ye's apartment was too far away. If he didn't live on campus or rent nearby, he would have to take a long subway ride.
Considering the convenience of travel and being able to sleep with his cat every night, Gu Cong would undoubtedly choose the latter. Besides, he usually had the habit of morning runs, so getting up early was not a problem for him.
Xie Ye didn't say it out loud, but he was silently calculating his savings.
Curious about his intentions, 1101, who constantly safeguarded the host's account, posted a breakdown: "May I ask, what are you planning to do?"
Xie Ye replied, "Buying a house."
When Xie Ye arrived in this world, his alternate self didn't have much savings left. However, he planned to buy a house near Gu Cong's workplace once Gu Cong graduated from graduate school.
1101 commented humorously, "This feels like a familiar 'sugar daddy' move."
Apart from their own host, where else could one find such down-to-earth "antagonists"?
In the system's store, the currency corresponding to each world could be exchanged for in large quantities with very low points. Reminding Xie Ye, 1101 said, "Points, not to mention the basic points you have. You haven't used much of them in this world."
Xie Ye shook his head. "It's different."
In the end, whether he could afford it or not didn't matter. He simply had a goal in this new world.
Though 1101 didn't fully understand, it could sense from Xie Ye's increasingly calm mind that he was very happy.
As time passed, in the year when Gu Cong graduated from graduate school, he chose not to pursue further education or join the big companies favored by his peers. Instead, he accepted an offer from an independent game studio. While the salary was average in the industry, the benefit of having weekends off without overtime was invaluable to Gu Cong.
For him, this was the most important thing.
Life is short, and he needed enough time to be with his family and his boyfriend.
With the experience from last time, Xie Ye went to the hospital for a check-up every three months, despite the system being able to monitor his health data at all times. Without forming a strong enough logical chain, it was easy to be loopholed by the natural rejection of the antagonist NPC's world consciousness.
Therefore, when the death point of the original character's of his alter self approached, Xie Ye only suffered from acute gastritis.
Even so, it frightened Gu Cong.
Apart from the time they first met, Xie Ye had hardly been hospitalized in all these years. Gu Cong took a leave of absence from work and, like on a certain night from long ago, stayed by the young man's bedside.
Compared to the agonizing suffering endured by his alter self from stomach cancer in the original story, Xie Ye at this moment appeared only a bit weak, with slightly paler lips. He remained thin, but his weight had stabilized within a relatively normal range. Walking down the street, he no longer attracted any surprised or curious looks.
Sitting on a small stool, Gu Cong peeled an apple while expressing regret, "I finally gained some weight, and now it's gone again. My mom sent me a few recipes for nourishing the spleen and stomach. How about trying them after you're discharged from the hospital?"
At twenty-eight years old, his facial features had fully matured, making him handsome and dignified. Yet the clean and sincere look in his eyes remained unchanged. On the other hand, lying on the hospital bed, Xie Ye seemed untouched by time, appearing just as he did when they first met.
Having developed the habit over time, Gu Cong skillfully wiped his hands clean and offered a piece of apple, cut into the shape of a rabbit, to Xie Ye's lips. "Ah."
Even though Xie Ye could have eaten it slowly on his own.
In a scene both similar and different from their usual routine, amidst the warmth of daily banter, it was as if a restraint that had long lingered in their hearts suddenly disappeared. Looking up, Xie Ye didn't take a bite of the apple but instead said, "Gu Cong."
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
Snap.
The poor apple rabbit fell by the bedside, rolling to the floor and getting squashed.
Happier than winning millions in the lottery, Gu Cong tightly held Xie Ye's delicate fingers upon hearing such straightforward words of affection from him for the first time. He caressed the small and faint mole on Xie Ye's hand and responded eagerly, "I love you too, I really do."
Xie Ye replied calmly, "I know."
He had known for a very, very long time.
Author's note:
End of the second arc.
A little bit more will be included at the beginning of the next chapter.
Volume Three: "The Tyrant in the Palace"
1 Comments
they heal me so much
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