Chapter 86 - Here to serve (Translated and edited by Xing)

That day, Mama Li had an extremely enjoyable day. Of course, this did not include the shock brought by Tang Xue's singing

As she was too happy, she drank a little during dinner.

All four of them drank. Li Yubing drank the least while the remaining three people drank around the same amount. Papa Li had good alcohol tolerance and did not get drunk while Tang Xue and Mama Li were both tipsy.

Tugging on Tang Xue's hand, Mama Li said, "Do you know, I really wanted to steal you home when you were young."

Tang Xue answered, "Do you dare to acknowledge me if I call you mom?"

Li Yubing lowered his head with a stifled laugh. He ladled a bowl of duck soup for Tang Xue. "Don't just drink. Have some food."

"Consort Dog, good job." Tang Xue giggled as she stirred the duck soup with a tiny porcelain spoon.

Li Yubing narrowed his eyes. "What did you just call me?"

"Consort Dog."

Li Yubing wanted to gnash his teeth in anger. He was at a loss of how he should punish her. When he looked up, he saw his father's head lowered in a chuckle. After laughing, his father said, "Is this how kids these days do it?"

Even his father, a normally good-natured person, was having a joke at his expense… He must have been led astray by a certain person today!

Li Yubing grounded his teeth and whispered into Tang Xue's ear, "Let's see how I fix you when we get back."

After they finished their meal, they decided to return to the hotel. Mama Li had booked a hotel resort on Wuling Mountain. As it had great reviews, she booked three rooms to let Tang Xue and Li Yubing enjoy a stay as well.

Right after they stepped out of the restaurant, Tang Xue draped an arm over Mama Li's shoulders. With how her arm dangled, she gave off both a flippant and domineering presence.

At the side, the Li father and son was shook.

Tang Xue said, "Let me tell you the key to short track speed skating. Listen carefully."

Mama Li nodded. "Yes, boss!"

Just like this, she prattled on about key techniques the entire journey back. They checked in and the three rooms were on different levels. Before Mama Li—who was held upright by Papa Li—exited the elevator, she turned and waved to Tang Xue. "Goodbye, boss!"

Tang Xue very graciously dismissed her with a wave. "Off you go."

Papa Li was utterly speechless. Holding his wife, he looked back at his son and Tang Xue who stood next to each other. He opened his mouth to speak but hesitated.

Observing his father's hesitation, Li Yubing held the elevator doors open and asked, "Dad, you have something to say?"

"Take good care of Tang Xue. Mm, keep yourself in check.' Papa Li steered his wife away after saying this.

Li Yubing could read what his father implied. Hurt, he muttered, "Am I such a beast…"

After Li Yubing sent Tang Xue back into her room, he had her lie on the bed and tugged up the blanket with the intention of tucking her in.

Having tossed her shoes aside, Tang Xue slumped back on the headboard and hugged a pillow as she looked at Li Yubing while giggling. Her two cheeks were pink while her eyes were intoxicated. Her vermillion lips were slightly parted, revealing neat and pearly-white teeth.

Li Yubing was a little regretful that he was not a beast. Translated by Xing for only teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.

He bent over to draw up the blanket, pulled over another pillow and commanded, "Lie properly."

Tang Xue held onto his neck and with a sudden flip, pressed him onto the bed.

Li Yubing felt his heart swung. He lay on the bed, both arms raised in a surrender pose. He steeled his mind and asked, "What do you want?"

Tang Xue's elbows were propped on the bed. She looked down at him in a spirited manner. "Are you here to serve[1]?"

Half of her weight rested on his body. Li Yubing felt that his mouth and throat were parched. He stared at her eyes and asked, "Do you still recognize who I am?"

"Yes."

"Who am I?"

"Consort Dog."

Li Yubing let out a breath and rolled his eyes. "You scoundrel mmhm…"

Tang Xue kissed him. She kissed him once before lifting her head and licking her lips. Feeling like it was not enough, she lowered her head again in another kiss. It was as if she sampled an exquisite dish. She stretched out the tip of her tongue and licked bit by bit until his entire lips were damp.

Li Yubing's resentment vanished into thin air. Consort Dog? So be it. Right now, he was about to explode, into either wisps of clouds or a firework.

He closed his eyes to welcome her kiss, parted his lips and stretched out his tongue in response.

Their breaths became heated flames that seemed to sear this kiss into oblivion. The next moment, it melted like b.u.t.ter—soft, silky and sweet.

As Tang Xue ate along, she felt the taste change. She wanted to lift her head and think about it for a while but the moment she moved, Li Yubing instantly captured the back of her head and forced her to continue the kiss.

Tang Xue had difficulties breathing and her brain was like glue. Originally, she was already dizzy. Now that she could not breathe properly and lacked oxygen, she became even dizzier and… fell asleep.

As Li Yubing kissed her, he sensed that Tang Xue became still. He let her go and took in her even breathing.

Gasping for breath, he gritted out from between clenched teeth, "You scoundrel."

Mama Li fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up the next morning, she saw that her husband was already awake and was currently boiling water.

"Hubby, what's the time?"

"It's only 7 am. You can sleep in a little more."

"Mm, I'm not sleeping anymore."

After the water boiled, Papa Li used a bottle of mineral water to mix two cups of warm water. The married couple sipped on one each.

"How was your sleep?" Papa Li asked.

"Quite good." Mama Li thought for a while. "I think I had a dream just before daybreak."

"Oh? What dream?"

"I dreamt that we went fis.h.i.+ng."

"It's auspicious to dream of fishes. That's a good dream."

"No, listen to the whole dream. I dreamt that we went fis.h.i.+ng and both Tang Xue and Yubing went as well. Then… then, Tang Xue sang towards the water."

"Then?"

"Then, those fishes started floating up to the surface bellies up, densely covering the lake. There was really a lot of them."

Her singing alone could kill fishes… Papa Li wiped his forehead silently. "Looks like the trauma that Tang Xue left you with after yesterday is not small."

"Besides being tone-deaf, that child is great in all other areas. n.o.body is perfect." Mama Li nodded slightly before shaking her head. "But I'm not going to sing with her again, mainly because she led me off-tune as well."

"On the bright side, in the future when Li Yubing commits any mistake, punis.h.i.+ng him to listen to Tang Xue sing would be more effective than any other punishments like kneeling on the was.h.i.+ng board."

Mama Li was tickled to hear this. "Hubby, you're terrible."

As Mama Li had other plans in the late afternoon, they booked the noon train back. They spent the morning in the area near the hotel before taking the train back to Lake City. This chapter is a labour of love that should not be found outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.

On the train, Mama Li browsed through Li Yubing's fan group chat out of sheer boredom. She found them discussing a Weibo account.

ID: Little Bird Fly Fly Fly

That account posted the same content every day: Did Li Yubing and Tang Xue break up today—no.

Mama Li was fairly displeased. Pointing at her phone, she asked her husband, "What's up with people like this, what does other people's relations.h.i.+p have to do with them? Yubing is merely an ice hockey player and not a celebrity, can't he have the freedom to date? What's more, Tang Xue is so adorable!"

"They're all children. Don't be so petty with a bunch of children."

"Tang Xue is a child as well. She may not even be as old as this bunch of people."

"All right, wife, don't be angry. The more you get bothered by these people, the happier they are. As long as Tang Xue's relations.h.i.+p with Li Yubing is well, who cares about them?"

Though it was accurate to put things this way, Mama Li was still annoyed. After thinking for a while, she created a Weibo as well.

ID: Shoot Little Bird Fly Fly Fly

First Weibo post: Did Li Yubing and Tang Xue get married today—soon!

Mm, from now on, she would log in every day to fight against that other account.

Mama Li gave Tang Xue a Cartier bracelet as a meeting gift. In the centre of the thin rose-gold chain was a tiny orchid carved from pink chalcedony. In the middle of the orchid was a diamond.

Was it extremely beautiful? Yes.

Was it extremely expensive? Also yes.

Though she was thrilled wearing the bracelet, Tang Xue felt a little nervous as well. She looked at the tiny orchid bloom on her wrist and asked Li Yubing, "Say, auntie gave me such an expensive gift. What if we break mmhm—"

Li Yubing kissed her.

Tang Xue blinked. In an instant, she felt as light as a feather like she had stepped on soft and sweet cotton candy.

Remembering what Tang Xue did to him last night, Li Yubing nipped her lips as punishment.

Tang Xue raised her head to dodge him when she felt pain. "Hey!"

Li Yubing commanded, "You're not allowed to say such nonsense."

"I know, I was just joking."

"Even if you're joking you're not allowed to."

"Fine, fine. What a strict boyfriend."

Li Yubing grabbed her hand wearing the bracelet. He used his thumb and fingers to capture her palm and squeezed. He said, "My mom expresses her fondness by spending money. Just get used to it and don't be too bothered."

"Eh…" Tang Xue was a little puzzled. "Didn't auntie say that she sells medicine? Is selling medicine so profitable these days?"

"She's the boss of a pharmaceutical company. Simply put, 'selling medicine'."

"…" Tang Xue was actually able to meet a domineering CEO in this lifetime.

Translator's Notes:

[1] 侍寢 (shì qǐn): Literally translated as "a.s.sist" and "sleep", the "serve" here refers to concubines being picked by the emperor to, heh heh, serve him at night.