Brother, you smell good - 73

 

| BYSG | 3/4 | 73

In Shen Yu's impression, whether it was the previous life’s Cheng Mofei or this life’s Cheng Mofei, he was always like a puppy—passionate, sincere, and direct.

But each time, Shen Yu couldn’t help but be deeply moved, his heart softening into a warm puddle of syrupy sweetness.

"Aren’t you afraid I’ll deceive you?" Shen Yu knew he shouldn’t ask this, that he should have known when to stop, but he still couldn’t help but seek repeated reassurance, to be trusted unconditionally.

Cheng Mofei, however, smiled. He gently rubbed his thumb on Shen Yu's cheek, thought for a moment, and then replied, "If you're willing to put effort into deceiving me, it means you care about me. You care about me, so what do I have to be afraid of?"

Shen Yu was momentarily speechless.

He felt there was something slightly off about Cheng Mofei’s words, but couldn’t quite argue against it.

After thinking for a while, he decided to end the conversation, which didn’t really have much of a point, and return to the main topic. "Actually, in our previous life..."

"Wait." Cheng Mofei suddenly interrupted him.

"What's wrong?" Shen Yu felt a little uneasy.

"Can I kiss you first?" Cheng Mofei’s thumb gently tapped his right cheek, his eyes filled with unmasked heat and longing.

Shen Yu’s face was so soft… he really wanted to kiss it.

All the other things could be talked about slowly; he wasn’t in a rush. Right now, what he wanted most was to kiss Shen Yu, officially, as his boyfriend.

He wanted to kiss him for as long as he wanted.

Shen Yu was stunned for a moment, then tugged at the corner of his lips, helpless but indulgent. "Okay."

As soon as the words fell, the kiss followed.

Compared to the brief peck before, this time the kiss lasted much longer. One kiss wasn’t enough, and he followed it with several more.

But Cheng Mofei was still too shy and only dared to kiss his cheek.

As he kissed, his own ears turned red.

Finally, it ended. Cheng Mofei, embarrassed, pressed his lips together and, satisfied, said, "Alright, you can talk now."

Shen Yu glanced at the cake on the table and suggested, "How about we talk while eating cake? The cake has ice cream on the outside, and I’m worried it’ll melt."

Cheng Mofei liked ice cream cake. Although it was a cold winter, the heating in the dorm was quite warm, so having a little ice cream now and then wasn’t a big deal.

"Okay."

Soon, the small cake was unwrapped. Thanks to the ice packs inside, it showed no signs of melting. The cake was shaped like an orange that had been cut in half, which looked really cute.

As soon as Shen Yu picked up the knife to cut the cake, Cheng Mofei quickly stopped him. "Wait, let me take a picture first."

Shen Yu paused, watching Cheng Mofei grab his phone and snap several photos of the cake. "Alright, I’ll post it on my WeChat Moments later."

Shen Yu quickly blinked.

Once Cheng Mofei posted it, maybe he should post one too...

Shen Yu used the knife to cut the small cake into four pieces, then sealed the other two pieces back up and placed them on the balcony, where there was no heating, to keep them cold for the other two people in the dorm.

By the time he returned, Cheng Mofei had already eagerly taken a bite, his eyes bright as he looked at Shen Yu. "It’s so good."

Shen Yu also sat down and took a bite. It was indeed delicious.

Picking up the conversation he hadn’t finished earlier, Shen Yu said, "Actually, we were together for seven years in our previous life."

"Why only seven years?" Clearly, the short duration of their previous relationship upset Cheng Mofei. He began to guess wildly, "Was it because I was a jerk in my past life and let you down?"

Shen Yu quickly explained, "No, it’s because I got sick and died later."

"...?!" Cheng Mofei almost choked on his cake, coughing for a while before asking, "What happened? What kind of illness?"

Shen Yu briefly explained to him about his previous life’s job and the bad habits he had of not taking care of his health for a long time.

He also mentioned a bit about his mother from his past life, along with some secrets that only Cheng Mofei himself knew, hoping to add credibility to the connection between their past and present lives.

Cheng Mofei listened carefully, slowly realizing that the "previous life" Shen Yu was referring to wasn’t what he initially thought — that they both had entirely different identities in the past life. 

Instead, it was more like an existence in a parallel world where he was still Cheng Mofei, and Shen Yu was still Shen Yu.

After listening, Cheng Mofei furrowed his brows tightly. He suddenly recalled the health checkup Shen Yu had mentioned when they went to Aunt Shen’s house for hot pot that day. 

He realized the connection and became serious. "So that’s why. You're not doing that kind of work again. Staying at Yan University as Professor Shen is great. When I become President Cheng in the future, I’ll renovate the entire Chemistry Building and Lab for you."

Shen Yu smiled and nodded.

Cheng Mofei suddenly thought of something else, sighed, and said, "If you died, wouldn’t the other me be heartbroken?"

Hearing this, Shen Yu lowered his gaze.

Before he died, he heard the sound of crying at his bedside. He wanted so badly to open his eyes, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t.

Actually, when he had just been reborn, he had already struggled with a question—was it fair to impose the entanglement from his past life and the other Cheng Mofei onto this life’s nineteen-year-old Cheng Mofei, who knew nothing about it?

Was it fair to Cheng Mofei from his previous life?

Was it fair to this life’s Cheng Mofei?

He couldn’t come up with an answer and could only follow his heart for now.

Even to this day, he still felt a bit lost.

That’s why, on the small card that accompanied the cake for Cheng Mofei, he wrote his full name instead of a nickname like "Little Orange," or other nicknames that belonged to Cheng Mofei in his previous life.

Shen Yu hesitated for a moment, raising his eyes to meet the gaze that only reflected his own image—clear and passionate.

He took a deep breath and decided to tell the person in front of him everything, not wanting to hide anything from him.

At the same time, he hoped Cheng Mofei could give him an answer, or at least some guidance.

After hearing this, Cheng Mofei couldn’t help but laugh. He reached out and gently pinched Shen Yu’s cheek, his tone light and carefree. "What’s there to be conflicted about?"

"For me, even though I’ve never been in a relationship before, I wouldn’t mind if the person I like has had past relationships or even still has feelings for someone else. Especially since that person is also 'me.' You see, I misunderstood that you were going to confess to some other random guy, but I still boldly pursued you, didn’t I? I like you, and I’ll work hard to keep you by my side—your body, your heart… everything about you. That’s what I need to focus on, not fairness, and you don’t need to worry about it."

"For that 'me,' losing you was already irreversible. The fact that you have the chance to go back and take better care of yourself, to clear things up with your mom, to avoid the bad ending of death, and even have another version of me from a different timeline or dimension accompanying you—it's already the best outcome."

"Although I’m not the exact same person as that 'me,' we are still connected in countless ways. My feelings for you are the same, so don’t let this love become a burden."

"You just need to know—Cheng Mofei will always love you."

At this point, Cheng Mofei suddenly thought of something and joked, "When we finish this life together, when you reincarnate back into kindergarten, you and Aunt Shen can come to Yancheng City. We’ll meet in kindergarten, and you can be my child bride."

As Shen Yu listened, his eyes unknowingly began to redden. He quickly blinked, but his vision still blurred with tears.

Cheng Mofei hurriedly grabbed a tissue, feeling flustered.

"Don’t cry, don’t cry, hey, look at my big mouth..."

This wasn’t the first time Cheng Mofei had seen Shen Yu cry, but he still fumbled, not knowing what to do.

Finally, he simply pulled Shen Yu into his arms, gently running his hand up and down his back, placing a few soft kisses on the top of his head.

Shen Yu buried his face in Cheng Mofei’s chest, quietly sobbing, his tears soaking into his shirt. He wrapped his arms around Cheng Mofei’s waist, holding him tightly in return.

It was a warm, reassuring embrace, a feeling of safety.

However, Cheng Mofei suddenly couldn't control a sharp hiss of pain.

Shen Yu noticed something was wrong. He sniffed, raised his head from Cheng Mofei’s chest, quickly wiped away his tears, and, controlling his emotions, pressed a few spots on Cheng Mofei’s waist.

When his hand pressed on one particular spot, Cheng Mofei flinched, his brows furrowing in pain.

"Hey, that hurts..."

"Go to the hospital with me." Shen Yu's voice still carried the lingering sobs from before, but there was no room for argument.

Cheng Mofei didn’t dare to refuse.

The two of them took a taxi straight to the familiar Hospital.

On the way, Shen Yu asked, "When did it start hurting?"

Cheng Mofei nervously shifted his gaze, speaking in a low voice, "It’s been hurting a bit since I fell..."

He tried to lighten the mood with a joke, "It’s fine, love can heal pain."

However, it didn’t work. Shen Yu let out a cold laugh. "You better not be seriously hurt."

...

In the end, the hospital's examination results showed that Cheng Mofei had fractured a rib and had some soft tissue damage.

"The road is slippery with ice, so be careful. Lately, there have been quite a few people coming in with broken ribs. You're actually lucky—some have had fractures that injured their internal organs. Just go back and rest properly, it’s not a big issue." The doctor said earnestly.

Cheng Mofei sheepishly nodded repeatedly.

On the way back, Cheng Mofei leaned against Shen Yu, pretending to ease his waist pain, holding the medicine in his hand, looking content and happy.

Suddenly, he thought of something and pulled out his phone, quickly changing the group name for the dormitory chat.

【Group name changed to: "Progress of getting rid of singleness 3/4"】

Not long after...

Xiao Xiong: 【?】

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