Offered as a Stand In

替身相许

offered-as-a-stand-in

Returning Home

The sun rose as the moon set, and night gave way to day.



 The tide receded, revealing several sunken holes on the damp sand. Crabs poked their heads out in the morning sun, twitching their two small eyes. After confirming it was safe, they lined up and scurried away quickly across the beach.



 The sea breeze blew open the curtains, and the fresh, slightly salty air diluted the sweet scent of roses in the bedroom.



 Xie Guan awoke from a dreamless, deep sleep. The moment he moved, Huo Mingjun, who had been awake for a while, also opened his eyes. He gently cupped Xie Guan&#x27;s forehead with his palm. &quot;Morning. How are you feeling? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?&quot;



 &quot;Huh?&quot; Xie Guan, still drowsy, rolled over, rubbing his forehead against Huo Mingjun&#x27;s palm. He then hissed, drawing in a sharp breath. &quot;Ah...&quot;



 The memories of last night&#x27;s passionate entanglement, accompanied by the soreness of strained waist muscles, came rushing back into his mind. He stared at Huo Mingjun&#x27;s chest, his face feeling a little hot.



 It seemed his vocal cords had been overused last night too. Xie Guan&#x27;s voice was hoarse. That single sound from him nearly made Huo Mingjun hard.



 &quot;Is your waist sore?&quot; He slipped his hand under the covers, hooked it around Xie Guan&#x27;s side, and had him lie flat on his stomach, facing away. He used the heel of his palm to press and knead his lower back. &quot;What about behind? Does it hurt?&quot;



 Xie Guan was still reeling from the gap between his failed attempt to pounce and being the one on the bottom. Last night&#x27;s bravado was gone. Huo Mingjun&#x27;s question nearly made him spontaneously combust. He shot Huo Mingjun a glare, a mix of shame and anger.



 &quot;We&#x27;ve already done it, what&#x27;s there to be shy about?&quot; Huo Mingjun chuckled lowly. &quot;Be good, don&#x27;t throw a tantrum. You have to tell me if it hurts.&quot;



 Although Xie Guan&#x27;s waist was sore and his legs were weak, it was just muscle soreness from holding one position for too long. In comparison, his behind was much better, with only a slight discomfort.



 It wasn&#x27;t that he was exceptionally gifted, but that Huo Mingjun doted on him too much. He had done plenty of foreplay and had hardly caused him any pain. Even on a night with such special meaning, a night where it would be easy to lose control, he had been extremely restrained and only did it twice.



 The reason was, &quot;It&#x27;s your first time, so you can get hurt easily. Let&#x27;s not rush. We can take it slow in the future.&quot;



 He wasn&#x27;t a child who couldn&#x27;t resist temptation and had to devour all the candy at once. The years and the long wait had taught him to bide his time and proceed step by step.



 Huo Mingjun had all the patience in the world, waiting to devour Xie Guan completely, from body to heart, bite by bite.



 And Xie Guan knew perfectly well that Huo Mingjun had him completely wrapped around his little finger, yet he couldn&#x27;t break free, nor did he have any intention to.



 A harmonious sex life was beneficial for enhancing a relationship; it wasn&#x27;t just about doing it and feeling good. This &quot;exercise&quot; was so harmonious that it made Xie Guan accept eighty percent of the fact that he was the one on the bottom. It did, however, remind him of something else—



 &quot;Darling, you seem to be... quite knowledgeable about this, huh?&quot;



 Huo Mingjun&#x27;s body heat warmed the patch of skin under his hand; further down was the forbidden zone he had personally marked out. His thoughts were a bit scattered, and he didn&#x27;t quite understand at first. &quot;Hmm?&quot;



 Xie Guan decided to just be blunt with the truth: &quot;This isn&#x27;t your first time, is it.&quot;



 &quot;Do you mind?&quot; Huo Mingjun asked, his expression calm.



 Xie Guan wasn&#x27;t an idiot. He guessed that Huo Mingjun most likely had experience. Given his status and position, there surely wouldn&#x27;t be a lack of people around him. Besides, he was in his thirties; it would be abnormal if he hadn&#x27;t.



 &quot;I don&#x27;t mind, I&#x27;m just curious,&quot; Xie Guan said in a small voice. &quot;After all, your technique is good... so I&#x27;m not the one losing out...&quot;



 Huo Mingjun smiled, holding him securely in his arms, his doting affection on full display. &quot;Don&#x27;t worry, you really haven&#x27;t lost out.&quot;



 It took Xie Guan a few seconds to understand what he meant. He was so shocked he almost bit his tongue. &quot;N-no way?&quot;



 &quot;I&#x27;m not lying, it&#x27;s true,&quot; Huo Mingjun said calmly. &quot;The Huo family used to have an unwritten rule. After coming of age but before getting married, they would find a woman to help you &#x27;open your body.&#x27; The function was basically similar to the tongfang servant girls of the past.&quot;



 Xie Guan was incredulous. &quot;The Qing Dynasty has already fallen!&quot;



 Huo Mingjun hummed in agreement. &quot;When I was twenty, my family also found such a person for me. The moment I entered the room and saw her lying on the bed, I was so disgusted I couldn&#x27;t eat for a whole day.&quot;



 Xie Guan reached out and touched the side of his face. &quot;So you were born gay?&quot;



 &quot;No,&quot; Huo Mingjun held his hand in his palm. &quot;Before I met you, I never thought about what my orientation was. I was unwilling to accept the family&#x27;s arrangement back then because that&#x27;s how Kong Ni met Huo Zhongchen. He had his first taste of sex, got a feel for it, and started fooling around outside time and time again, which is how Kong Ni ended up having his child.&quot;



 &quot;The only thing he, as a father, taught me was to prefer quality over quantity.&quot;



 Xie Guan kissed their intertwined fingertips, as a form of comfort.



 &quot;Prefer quality over quantity,&quot; he repeated softly, carefully savoring the meaning behind it, and smiled. &quot;Now we are both complete.&quot;



 I held fast to the void in my life, preferring to let it remain barren rather than have it filled with poppies.



 It wasn&#x27;t until I met you that my life could become whole.



 In some respects, Xie Guan was as dense as a block of wood, but at other times, Huo Mingjun felt he had a heart of exquisite subtlety.



 &quot;Wait, what was it I wanted to ask in the first place?&quot; Xie Guan&#x27;s coolness didn&#x27;t last three seconds before the mood went off-track. &quot;So why exactly are you... ahem, so skilled?&quot;



 Initially, when Xie Guan was eager to top Huo Mingjun, although he knew how things worked between men, his mind went completely blank when the time came. But when it was Huo Mingjun&#x27;s turn, the man was practically an old hand at it, showing no signs of inexperience or stage fright. He was a bona fide old pro—fast, steady, and smooth.



 Huo Mingjun&#x27;s laughter rumbled in his chest. &quot;Of course I did my homework beforehand. There&#x27;s a lot of study material online. You just have to research it thoroughly.&quot;



 Xie Guan was skeptical. &quot;Just by researching? Without any hands-on practice?&quot;



 &quot;Didn&#x27;t I just practice on you?&quot; Huo Mingjun said with a straight face. &quot;Looks like I&#x27;m a pretty good student.&quot;



 One had to admit, when it came to learning new things, the gap between people could sometimes be greater than the gap between humans and gorillas.



 This private island was located in the Pacific Ocean in the Southern Hemisphere, in the subtropics near the tropic line, with a comfortable and pleasant climate. Xie Guan and Huo Mingjun had come here for their honeymoon. During the day, they went swimming, diving, or sea fishing, and at night, they &quot;studied&quot; together in the villa. The top student led the underachiever; the two, upholding a rigorous and pragmatic academic attitude, and full of a spirit for practical application, tried all sorts of positions. As a result, Xie Guan&#x27;s last remaining twenty percent of straight-man dignity was tossed into the sea to feed the fish.



 Half a month later, the two returned to the country. When Huang Cheng saw the visibly tanned Xie Guan, the expression on his face was too tragic to behold. Xie Guan laughed at him for making a fuss while putting his domestic SIM card into his phone.



 He had informed the company before he left, so Lin Yao rarely contacted him. Besides spam messages, there was a text on his phone from his old landlord, notifying him that his lease was up and he should come and pack up his personal belongings as soon as possible.



 Huo Mingjun glanced at his phone screen. &quot;Send me the address. I&#x27;ll send someone over to help you move.&quot;



 &quot;I can go by myself,&quot; Xie Guan said. &quot;I don&#x27;t have much stuff anyway. Most of it needs to be thrown out, but I can&#x27;t just leave it in the residential complex. It&#x27;s a hassle.&quot;



 Huo Mingjun: &quot;Your place has long been exposed. Who knows how many cameras are outside your door. You&#x27;ll be photographed the moment you go. Besides, your shoulder has just healed; it&#x27;s not good for you to move things. Don&#x27;t argue with me. Be good.&quot;



 Huang Cheng and the driver stared straight ahead, turning a deaf ear.



 Xie Guan gave a dry laugh and whispered, &quot;That little shoulder injury healed long ago. Otherwise, how could I have gone up mountains and down to the sea, letting you have your way with me...&quot;



 Huo Mingjun&#x27;s eyebrow twitched. &quot;...Since it&#x27;s all better, why don&#x27;t we have an extra training session tonight.&quot;



 Xie Guan clutched his shoulder and sucked in a breath realistically. &quot;Hiss, I think... it still hurts a little...&quot;



 Huang Cheng and the driver: &quot;Who am I, where am I, I heard nothing...&quot;



 The people Huo Mingjun arranged were very efficient. By the evening of the next day, two suitcases and several cardboard boxes were already piled up in the apartment&#x27;s living room.



 When Huo Mingjun came in, Xie Guan was sitting casually on the floor unpacking, sorting his clothes, folding them, and putting them into a new box. The rest he put aside, waiting to be disposed of with other miscellaneous items. Another cardboard box contained some small trinkets and mementos. These, plus the two suitcases, were pretty much all his worldly possessions after sorting through them.



 No car, no house, possessing next to nothing. But the good thing was, he was no longer all alone.



 Huo Mingjun walked over to him, bent down, and gave him a kiss on the lips. &quot;The floor is cold. Get a cushion to sit on.&quot;



 &quot;Almost done, I&#x27;ll be finished packing in a moment,&quot; Xie Guan tilted his head back to receive the kiss, then took a card out of his pocket and handed it over. &quot;This is for you.&quot;



 Huo Mingjun looked at the bank card in his hand. &quot;What&#x27;s this?&quot;



 &quot;My salary card,&quot; Xie Guan used the excuse of tidying things up to turn his head and hide his flushed face. &quot;It&#x27;s a rule in my old Xie family. The family&#x27;s money should be managed by... ahem, the one in charge. You take it. Although this little bit of money is nothing to you, but this is all I&#x27;ve got, and it&#x27;s all yours.&quot;



 Huo Mingjun was visibly moved.



 Xie Guan wasn&#x27;t used to saying such heartfelt things. The more sincere he was, the redder his face became. By now, it was the same color as the sunset outside the window. Huo Mingjun reached out, turned his face forward, and his eyes crinkled. &quot;Alright, I&#x27;ll accept it. Thank you, hubby.&quot;



 Xie Guan was shocked speechless, desperately shaking off a full-body case of goosebumps. &quot;Huo Mingjun!&quot;



 Huo Mingjun paid him no mind. &quot;Call me hubby.&quot;



 &quot;What the hell!&quot; Xie Guan said, on the verge of a breakdown. &quot;I&#x27;m calling 120 right now. Please go get your mental illness treated, okay!&quot;



 Huo Mingjun waved the bank card at him. &quot;You admitted it yourself. Say it, what am I to you?&quot;



 Xie Guan gritted his teeth. &quot;You&#x27;re my ancestor...&quot;



 Huo Mingjun returned to the country from his vacation and dealt with the work that had piled up for half a month. A few friends happened to be getting together and, hearing he was also in the country, pestered him until he came out for drinks. During the dinner, there was no shortage of teasing and joking as they beat around the bush, asking if his recent leisurely mood was because he&#x27;d found a partner and was hiding them away in a golden nest.



 Everyone who knew him knew that Huo Mingjun&#x27;s love life was a blank slate. He had no hobbies besides work. Even when they dragged him out to debauched parties, he would remain as immovable as a mountain the entire time, acting like an air conditioner.



 When he sat down, not a single one of the paid escorts dared to approach him.



 Facing a table full of meaningful glances, Huo Mingjun drank his tea without a change in expression, then stood up to get his jacket from the coat rack. &quot;You guys chat. I&#x27;m leaving first.&quot;



 &quot;Don&#x27;t go! Stay and chat a bit longer.&quot;



 &quot;Your seat isn&#x27;t even warm yet. So you really just came here to drink tea?&quot;



 &quot;Pour the wine! If Boss Huo doesn&#x27;t finish three glasses today, tomorrow we&#x27;ll all go beg at the entrance of Hengrui Group!&quot;



 &quot;Begging is up to you, but I&#x27;ll pass on the drinking,&quot; Huo Mingjun said as he reached the door. He held the handle, turned his head to his friends, and said, &quot;There&#x27;s someone waiting at home. I&#x27;ll be taking my leave. See you.&quot;

Returning Home

Windwalker