The Gentle Man Next Door is a Rabbit - 55

 

TGMNDIAR - 55

Xu Mu thought about this matter all night long. The voice he heard had been fleeting, and he hadn’t heard it again since. But he still felt uneasy.

Could it be... that he was actually under a lot of stress without realizing it, and his body was sending signals to warn him that he was becoming neurotic?

No way.

Xu Mu suddenly sat up and pressed his temples, trying to recall the eerie sounds he had heard twice. The first time, it was a sizzling electric current sound, and the second time, it was the electric current sound combined with intermittent growls.

It sounded so familiar.

But why was Ye Ye mentioned? Was it his subconscious at work?

‘Why does he call you daddy…’

Was his subconscious telling him that he didn’t want Ye Ye to call him daddy?

From another perspective, did he actually have a big problem with being a stepfather and couldn't tolerate it? Was he only suppressing his feelings with love, but deep down, he wanted to monopolize Brother Nian?

Hiss! No way, could he really be that narrow-minded…

Xu Mu bowed his head in deep thought. Perhaps there really were ghosts in this world? After all, he had been reincarnated and changed from a human to a snake. What else was impossible?

Ghosts…

Xu Mu silently covered his face with the blanket, lying down like a snake, fully covered, with his head tucked in, as if he intended to suffocate himself.

Ten minutes later

Xu Mu couldn't sleep; his mind was filled with all sorts of scary ghostly things. 

No, the more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. 

Xu Mu couldn’t stay lying down anymore, so he got up to find something else to distract himself.

Let’s play games... Xu Mu wondered if anyone would still order a game companion service at this hour. He refreshed the page and found there was indeed an order, so he accepted it.

After chatting briefly with the client to understand the situation, they started the game. 

As the night passed, the moon set and stars faded, and the faint light of dawn peeked through the gaps in the curtains. Xu Mu swiftly opened the curtains, letting in the cold wind. He shivered and quickly threw on a jacket to go wash up.

Finally, it was daylight.

...

In the following days, Xu Mu kept hearing that sizzling electric current sound from time to time. It was especially eerie in quiet, empty spaces. 

Xu Mu wasn't sure if he was actually becoming neurotic, but if this continued, even if he wasn't neurotic, he would be. 

—--Who would believe he actually suffered from insomnia.

"Uh, classmate Xu, are you okay?" Huang Wenrui asked hesitantly.

Xu Mu took a deep breath. "I'm fine, I just suddenly missed a step on the stairs."

Both he and Huang Wenrui were key members of the work-study program, with very full schedules. They had run into each other several times and gradually became acquainted.

Huang Wenrui adjusted his glasses and said, "I thought you might be unwell. You don't look very good. Take care of yourself."

"Okay, thank you," Xu Mu replied politely.

"For the sanitation and book organization in Area D, shall we divide it as we did before?"

The school didn’t lack robots for cleaning and organizing old books, but the work-study program was mainly for aid purposes.

Xu Mu had no objections and nodded in agreement.

In the evening, Xu Mu picked up Ye Ye and took him home.

"Ah Mu, have you not been sleeping well lately? Your dark circles are really heavy..." Bai Nian frowned, gently sliding his finger over Xu Mu's eyelids. "Do you have something on your mind?"

Xu Mu was taken aback and touched his eyes. "Do I?"

Bai Nian nodded with a soft "Mm."

Xu Mu hesitated, unsure of how to explain.

"Is it because of the final project model you mentioned before?"

"Huh?" Xu Mu didn't quite follow.

Bai Nian continued gently, "I have quite a few design drafts from when I was studying. They were just things I did in my spare time. I’ll send them to you. Do you want to take a look when you have time? They might be a bit rough, but if you're interested in any of them, I can revise them."

He paused, "Or you could tell me the assignment requirements, and we can discuss it together?"

Xu Mu was still bewildered. Design drafts?

His mind was foggy, but his hands had already opened his device.

"They're in your email," Bai Nian reminded helpfully.

Xu Mu hesitated, then exited the chat page he had just opened.

"Did you find any suitable ones?" Bai Nian observed Xu Mu's expression.

Xu Mu was stunned. The file contained hundreds of examples, each with detailed drawings and model data.

"Brother Nian," he said, feeling a mix of emotions, "did you make these just now?"

Bai Nian chuckled, "Of course not. These are indeed practice drafts I did during university. The style and strokes are quite immature, with a lot of small mistakes—"

"But I have revised them once. What you see should be fine."

Xu Mu took a deep breath. "Thank you, Brother Nian. I'll make sure to study them carefully."

Bai Nian thought for a moment, "If it really doesn't work out, don't force yourself. These drafts were just for my own practice and have never been shared."

Xu Mu: "..." Okay, he understood what Brother Nian meant. 

Just copying, huh?

While feeling touched, Xu Mu also found it a bit amusing. Brother Nian thought his recent exhaustion was due to worrying about his final project. Well, that wasn't entirely untrue. It sounded better than being afraid of ghosts, so he accepted it.

"Brother Nian—" Xu Mu's arm skillfully wrapped around Bai Nian's waist, his lips nuzzling affectionately against his earlobe. "Thank you. I've just been overthinking, worrying about this and that, and couldn't relax. Don't worry about me."

Bai Nian smiled softly, his fingers gently combing through Xu Mu's hair at his temples.

"Ah Mu, you're still young. There are so many opportunities, and it's okay to make mistakes."

"And isn't there a saying? 'The world is vast, but sleep is the greatest.' There's nothing in this world so difficult that it's worth losing sleep over. If there is, tell me, and we'll face it together, okay?"

Xu Mu's lips pressed together as his heart softened, a warm feeling spreading through him.

Although he wasn't really worried about his assignments, he couldn't deny that these words hit home. 

Xu Mu actually envied those who grew up in complete families, nurtured by love, with an elder always there to guide them through confusion and hesitation, ready to offer a warm embrace and a safe harbor against the storms of life.

If only he had met Brother Nian in his previous life, how wonderful it would have been.

Looking back at eighteen, the Xu Mu in his memory might not have wanted to admit it, but his uncertainty about the future often kept him awake at night. Thinking about it now, he wished his younger self had been a bit luckier.

Xu Mu's lips brushed across Bai Nian's cheek, lingering near the corner of his mouth, leaving a trail of light kisses. He didn't forcefully deepen the kiss but gently lingered at the seam of their lips, softly licking.

Like savoring the supposedly never-ending giant lollipop in his childhood, Xu Mu felt a genuine sense of delight and joy.

He could hear his own heartbeat thumping wildly in his chest, pounding as if it was running a race. Bai Nian's eyelashes fluttered, and he seemed a bit unsteady. The two of them stumbled slightly, and Xu Mu fell back onto the sofa, pulling Bai Nian into his arms.

Bai Nian's knees pressed against Xu Mu's thighs, and half of his body sank into Xu Mu's embrace. His arms wrapped around Xu Mu's neck, and his waist felt weak. The kiss grew passionate, and a soft moan escaped Bai Nian's throat.

Xu Mu's hand slipped under Bai Nian's shirt, his fingertips tracing over smooth skin, as if magnetically drawn. He bit gently on Bai Nian's lip, not too hard, then released it and softly pecked it again, as if to soothe him.

In his vision, Bai Nian's gray-blue eyes resembled a wavy sea, with tiny waves reflecting the vastness of the sky.

Xu Mu's Adam's apple bobbed as he slowly moved forward again—

"Ahhhhhhh!!!! Stop it!!!"

"What are you doing? Who are you kissing??"

"How can you kiss the protagonist shou?!"

"Are you crazy?!"

Xu Mu froze, his eyes widening in surprise, looking quite comical.

"...As a supporting, cannon-fodder character, you're supposed to be the one who provides assistance and emotional support, always there when needed, but you can never get close to the protagonist. Your paths are like parallel lines, never intersecting, never having a future!!!"

"Do you understand what it means to admire from afar but never to touch? You are supposed to harbor a distant, lonely crush, a sorrowful and solitary unrequited love, do you get it?!"

"Ahhhh, I can't take it, what are you doing? I just went for maintenance for a few months, and you, you, you—"

The little black orb flitted around frantically in the air, its black wings creating a blur, like a duck struggling in water, desperately trying to save itself.

"Now the protagonist gong hasn't shown up yet, and you don't have any significant role, yet you dare to kiss the protagonist shou?"

"You, what else have you done? The protagonist shou is looking at you with such affection, oh my God, has he fallen in love?!"

"You damned bug!!! Do you know how many achievement points I spent to swap you out? I've been saving those strawberry-flavored batteries for hundreds of years, sob sob..."

"It's over, the plot is so messed up even its mother wouldn't recognize it. I'm going to be reformatted, I'll have to go back to the repair shop, sob sob sob..."

The little black orb sputtered out a flurry of words, speaking at an astonishing speed. It transitioned from righteous indignation to bawling within the span of a minute.

Xu Mu stiffly looked down at Bai Nian, who was gazing back with a puzzled expression. He swallowed hard.

"Brother Nian, did you hear anything just now?"

Bai Nian hesitated for a moment, then replied uncertainly, "Your...heartbeat?"

He reached out and placed his hand over Xu Mu's heart, his brows furrowing with concern. "It's beating so fast, are you feeling unwell?"

Xu Mu opened his mouth but couldn't find the words to explain. He remained silent for a while, then tightened his arms and lifted Bai Nian, shifting their positions.

With Bai Nianye's back against his chest, Xu Mu stared at the little black orb and asked in a low voice, "Brother Nian, do you see anything in front of us?"

"In front of us, there is a..."

Xu Mu's heart tightened, and he held his breath.

"A white porcelain vase?"

Xu Mu's arms tightened further, not willing to give up. "Uh-huh, and besides the white porcelain vase?"

"A hanging painting."

"And what else?"

"A floating lamp?"

Xu Mu asked with a complex expression, "Brother Nian, you—"

"Give it up. The protagonist shou can't see me," the little black orb said gloomily. 

It flew to Xu Mu's side and, sounding frustrated, said, "Hurry up and let him go. If you break up now, there might still be time to fix the plot. You need to transform from the gentle, supportive background character to the scumbag background character! When the protagonist gong appears, maybe the plot can still be salvaged..."

As Xu Mu listened to the little black orb's tirade, he began to grasp the gist of what it was saying. Cannon fodder character? Protagonist shou? Protagonist gong? Although he didn't understand the terms "shou" and "gong," the concepts of cannon fodder and protagonist were clear enough.

He was the cannon fodder, and Brother Nian was one of the protagonists.

"Quickly! Let go!" the little black orb urged.

Instead of letting go, Xu Mu held on tighter.

Bai Nian turned his head slightly, placing his hand on Xu Mu's cheek, his brows furrowing even more. "Ah Mu, what's going on?" he asked softly. "Tell me, okay?"

The little black orb kept shouting, "Let go! You're still holding on! This is protagonist shou, you—"

Xu Mu lowered his eyes, his lips brushing against Bai Nian's neck, gently rubbing.

The little black orb became even more agitated. "Ahhh!!! Stop it, the plot is deviating!!! You can't kiss him!!!"

Xu Mu ignored it. "Brother Nian, I want to tell you something."

"Hm?"

"…"

"Ah Mu?" Bai Nian leaned back slightly, looking up at him.

Xu Mu lowered his gaze, his lips touching Bai Nian's nose gently.

"Can we live together?"

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