***

When Gu Hai returned to the room, Bai Luo Yin was still sleeping soundly. His first instinct was to call out to the person lying comfortably on the bed as to interrogate him, but in the end, he held his tongue and swallowed his words.

Even if he’s not seriously injured, even if he only did it to scare me, it surely isn’t faked that his entire body is in such a sorry state?

Gu Hai lay down next to Bai Luo Yin again. As he turned over, the movement created a loud creaking noise, but Bai Luo Yin remained still in his slumber.

Carefully putting his hand on Bai Luo Yin’s chest, Gu Hai wanted to remove the gauze for a look. However, just as he was about to, Bai Luo Yin suddenly wrapped his arms around him, securing him tightly in place. That weather-beaten, yet tender looking face was being displayed in front of Gu Hai and warm breaths kissed along his neck. This kind of unconscious act was like a deterrence that slyly implored him: Just look at the state I’m in… do you still have the heart to blame me?

Gu Hai’s mind was being riled up by contradictory emotions.

Bai Luo Yin’s lie had nearly given Gu Hai a heart attack, so how could he not be angry? The desire to choke Bai Luo Yin to death had actually crossed his mind, but thinking back; why did he deceive you? Wasn’t it just to make you come see him? Before, you were always worried about him keeping all hards.h.i.+p and pain in his heart, and hoped that he would act spoiled towards you… And now that he has completely let himself go and plays around with you—even taking the initiative to demand your love and care, shouldn’t you be happy?

Gu Hai looked straight at Bai Luo Yin’s face, with eyes that held both love and hate. Even though it pained him, he still took pleasure in this game of deceit, as if he was a complete and utter pervert. The more mischievously Bai Luo Yin acted, the more infatuated Gu Hai became with his antics. In a way, he wished that he could be deceived once a day. Even if it riddled him with deep anxiety, being needed also gave him a sense of happiness.

Gu Hai let out a heavy sigh, not being able to decide whether he felt sorrow—or was deeply moved.

I admit defeat. It seems my life will forever be in the palm of your hand.

Bai Luo Yin slept soundly until nine o’clock the next morning. A nurse had come into the room earlier, saying that she needed to give Bai Luo Yin his medication, but Gu Hai simply told her to put it down and leave.

When Bai Luo Yin finally woke up, he was met by Gu Hai’s warm and gentle eyes gazing attentively at him.

Being able to enjoy such a pleasant treat first thing in the morning, Bai Luo Yin cheerfully patted Gu Hai’s soft face.

He effortlessly turned his body over, but suddenly seemed to realize something and quickly knitted his brows, revealing a painful expression.

Quick to notice it, Gu Hai accompanied him in the play by anxiously asking, “What’s wrong? Did you b.u.mp your wounds?”

A decrepit smile appeared on Bai Luo Yin’s face. “It’s nothing.”

Gu Hai deliberately moved closer to Bai Luo Yin’s side. “Let me see the wounds on your body!”

Bai Luo Yin was quick to display a cautious expression even though his mouth was spouting seemingly considerate words.

“There’s no need to see it. You’ll just feel miserable afterwards.”

“Then I have to see it. If I don’t, I won’t have peace of mind.”

When Gu Hai touched him, Bai Luo Yin’s face immediately twisted in pain as if he had been struck by an electric current. Then, as pain was painted across his eyes, he feigned misery and took a deep breath.

Not one to be deterred, Gu Hai anxiously asked, “Is it very painful?”

“It’s okay,” Bai Luo Yin said rather arrogantly.

At seeing Bai Luo Yin’s brilliant performance, Gu Hai’s mind inevitably filled with fright. How many times has this guy lied to me in order to be this good an actor?

“Where does it hurt? Tell me,” Gu Hai continued to ask in detail.

Bai Luo Yin dejectedly replied, “I can’t tell which part hurts. It just feels uncomfortable.”

“Does your b.u.t.t hurt?”

Bai Luo Yin immediately gave Gu Hai a puzzled glance, “My b.u.t.t? I don’t feel any pain there.”

“It doesn’t hurt?” Gu Hai asked before the look in his eyes gradually changed from being gentle into becoming ferocious. A split second later, he shouted, “Since it doesn’t, then allow me to make it hurt a bit, so that your acting can be even more realistic!”

Once he saw that his supposedly flawless scheme had been exposed, Bai Luo Yin quickly scrambled to escape. Unfortunately, Gu Hai swiftly held him back. After that, the entire room was flooded with the sound of slaps;

Pa! Pa! Pa!

Someone was cursing in rage while the other person relentlessly interrogated him.

When the punishment had come to an end, Bai Luo Yin lay on his stomach and complained of blood and tears.

“My foot really is injured!”

A mischievous smile crept up in the corner of Gu Hai’s mouth, “I didn’t hit your foot, did I?”

“You can’t hit me anywhere!”

Bai Luo Yin gave Gu Hai an angry glance, then quickly turned his head away.

Smiling to himself, Gu Hai began to ma.s.sage Bai Luo Yin’s b.u.t.tocks while speaking to him in a rather cheerful voice, “Who told you to make me angry? Ask yourself; how could you be so cruel as to do something like this? If I would give you a call to tell you that I had gotten into a car accident, and you would rush over in a panic only to find out that nothing had happened to me, wouldn’t you harbor some anger?”

At those words, Bai Luo Yin elbowed Gu Hai before bitterly cursing at him, “f.u.c.k off!”

Gu Hai ruefully replied, “You’re so adorable when you’re lying!”

“You’re even more f.u.c.king adorable when you’re being lied to!”

“How about we keep on pretending?” Gu Hai smiled. It was the kind of smile that held a deeper meaning.

Now in a foul mood, Bai Luo Yin snapped back at him with only one sentence, “Pretend my a.s.s, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”

Indeed, they truly had their own way of getting along.

After breakfast, Gu Hai brought over a basin of hot water, threw a towel in and then quickly wrung it. While it was still hot, he used it to wipe Bai Luo Yin’s face. However, even as Bai Luo Yin cried out in pain from the heat rubbing against his skin, Gu Hai did not lessen the force he applied. He intended to do his utmost and spare no strength in removing the layer of rough and old skin.

When he was done torturing his face, Gu Hai grabbed Bai Luo Yin’s hands and shoved them into the basin. The bursting pain provoked another cry to break out in the room.

“Hot, hot…”

Gu Hai was not in the least sympathetic. “Aren’t my hands also in there to hold yours?”

Bai Luo Yin silently snorted to himself. Motherf.u.c.ker, from the second you heard that my injuries were only minor, you immediately treated me differently!

After he was done was.h.i.+ng Bai Luo Yin’s hands, Gu Hai squeezed a thick layer of ointment on them before repeatedly warning him not to touch it. Only when the ointment had completely penetrated the skin, was he allowed to move as he pleased.

“But I need to use the toilet.” Bai Luo Yin said.

Being a person with a big heart, Gu Hai helped support Bai Luo Yin’s arms. “Go, I’ll take you there!”

Once they were in the bathroom, they encountered a problem. Gu Hai a.s.sisted Bai Luo Yin with taking his pants off and even lifted the toilet seat for him, but little Yin Zi was still hanging soft between his legs.

Gu Hai had long foreseen a situation like this would come up. So he moved in closer, carefully held little Yin Zi, aimed it straight toward the eye of the toilet and said, “Pee!”

Bai Luo Yin’s face was still burning from the hot water, what kind of mental strength did Gu Hai think he possessed, expecting him to be able to urinate in his current state?!

“You can’t pee?” When Gu Hai finished asking, he started to whistle right away.[1]

Bai Luo Yin, “…!”

You only gave me porridge to eat this morning and even before it was fully digested, you waved another basin of water in front of me and applied another round of ointment… Gu Hai, you’re f.u.c.king doing these things on purpose!

In the evening, the two hugged each other while watching television.

Without thinking it through, Bai Luo Yin casually asked, “Did you finish handling the matter in Shenzhen?”

“No, but there shouldn’t be any problems. Yan Ya Jing is there to help me deal with it.”

Upon hearing her name, Bai Luo Yin’s expression immediately changed. “She went with you?”

Gu Hai gave him a quick glance from the corner of his eye and then smiled. “Don’t worry. She already saw the bite mark you left on my neck.”

For some reason, Bai Luo Yin pretended not to understand what Gu Hai had said. Donning an indifferent expression, he turned his eyes back towards the television

Trying not to chuckle, Gu Hai grabbed an orange from the fruit tray, swayed it back and forth in front of Bai Luo Yin and asked, “Do you want one?”

“In a bit.”

Gu Hai proceeded to eat it himself, but he only got to finish half of it before Bai Luo Yin without hesitation s.n.a.t.c.hed the remaining half from him.

After that, Gu Hai peeled a few more. Every now and then, Bai Luo Yin’s hand would reach out to grab some, while at other times, he would glance at Gu Hai first, then quickly turn his head away. It was only when Gu Hai had eaten until his mouth was packed with the sourly taste of orange juice, that he finally realized something. Bai Luo Yin, the scoundrel, was observing his expressions before deciding whether or not he wanted to eat it.

What a f.u.c.king conniving jerk!

Consequently, when Gu Hai picked up the next one and discovered that it was sour, he deliberately put on an air of enjoyment.

Seeing this, Bai Luo Yin immediately reached for the fruit.

Gu Hai generously placed the orange in Bai Luo Yin’s hand. However, when Bai Luo Yin broke off a wedge and was about to put it in his mouth, Gu Hai s.n.a.t.c.hed it back. “Nevermind, I’ll peel another one for you instead.”

Bai Luo Yin watched as Gu Hai peeled another one, tried a piece and then brought one near his mouth.

“Open your mouth!”

Thinking that Gu Hai had seen through his little scheme, Bai Luo Yin narrowed his eyes slightly, showing a guarded expression.

“Is it really sour or not?”

Having been asked such a question, Gu Hai angrily said, “Just look how bad the side of your mouth has become? Do you think I have the heart to stuff it with a sour orange?”

Bai Luo Yin slowly and cautiously opened his mouth and took a bite. It turned out it was sweet.

When Gu Hai noticed that Bai Luo Yin was carefully chewing the fruit, afraid of tearing the wounds at the corners of his mouth, he immediately felt miserable. He carefully turned Bai Luo Yin’s head toward him and gently caressed his lips before asking him with a frown, “How did you get this injury?”

Not in the least concerned, Bai Luo Yin casually said, “The Wing Commander pinched it.”

Gu Hai’s brows remained twisted. “Pinched?”

“Yeah,” Bai Luo Yin said while nodding his head, “I had an argument with him. He got mad and pinched it.”

Gu Hai’s complexion became dark and gloomy, and a cold and frightful aura appeared in the light reflected by it.

“He has a lot of ways to torment us. Honestly, this is considered a light punishment. Some soldiers were tortured by him until they cried out for their father and shouted for their mother…” Bai Luo Yin considered it a joke as he said it.

He didn’t know that the way he downplayed the incident by his casual words, really upset Gu Hai.

After some time, Bai Luo Yin yawned, buried his face in the crook of Gu Hai’s shoulder and then lazily said, “I’m a bit sleepy.”

Gu Hai got up and went to fill up the basin of water again, so that Bai Luo Yin could wash his face. The entire time, he didn’t say a single word.

Bai Luo Yin, who had gone to bed first, watched Gu Hai through narrowed eyes, letting his gaze wander over him, from head to feet and back again. He couldn’t sense anything peculiar.

After turning off the lights, Gu Hai also made his way to the bed. He took Bai Luo Yin in his arms, which allowed their bodies to press closely against each other. In seconds, Gu Hai’s hand snaked directly down between Bai Luo Yin’s legs and gripped that restless little monster before he faintly asked, “Yin Zi, tell me honestly… The day I left, why did it hurt here?”

—

Translator’s Note:

[1] “….started to whistle…” Apparently in some Asian countries, whistling is employed to potty train babies at an early age.