Once this extremely unhealthy mindset started, it was like a stupid dog fighting over food that couldn't be held back. It wouldn't stop until it gnawed on everything, bowl and all.

But right now, not only could he not gnaw on the bowl, he couldn't even get a bite of food.  

He stared at Gu Fei for a long time, and finally could only dejectedly smack him on the lower back. Then he pulled open the waistband of his sweatpants and pinched his butt.

"Hey!" Gu Fei was startled and looked back at him. "What are you doing?"

"...Punishing you." Jiang Cheng pulled his pants back up properly.

"There are underaged kids here," Gu Fei laughed. "Be more careful, okay?"

"I didn't even do anything," Jiang Cheng leaned back in his chair. "Underaged kids can't get a pinch on the butt for fun?"

Gu Fei looked at him for a while, smiling with narrowed eyes. "Are you thinking about something naughty?"

"Like what?" Jiang Cheng also narrowed his eyes.

Gu Fei didn't say anything. He leaned his arm on the chair's back and looked at him for a while longer before starting to laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Jiang Cheng had a serious expression.

Gu Fei still didn't make a sound. He just looked at him and laughed, with a meaningful expression that said he understood everything, making Jiang Cheng unable to hold back his urge to smirk.

"No, wait," Jiang Cheng got up and poured himself a cup of water before sitting back down. "A gentleman has nothing to hide. If you want to say something, just say it."

"Let's not hide from each other," Gu Fei laughed for a long time before finally speaking. "What are you thinking about?"

"What are you thinking about?" Jiang Cheng clicked his tongue.

"I know what you're thinking about," Gu Fei took his cup and drank a sip of water, then put the cup back in his hand. "And you know that I know what you're thinking about."

"Ah," Jiang Cheng thought about it and laughed again. "I thought of some shameless things, but if you don't say it, I really haven't thought about specifics."

"I haven't thought about it either," Gu Fei said.

"I don't know if I should believe that or not," Jiang Cheng looked at him. "But like you said, you hide things deep."

"It's not like I've never thought about it at all..." Gu Fei said, laughing again. It was a long time before he spoke. "But I'm remembering something I saw before."

"What was it?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"There was this guy, okay? He started dating another guy, and they had a really good relationship," Gu Fei said quietly, then looked back at Gu Miao again. He dragged his chair closer to Jiang Cheng and moved next to his ear. "Then they, you know... did it in bed..."

Jiang Cheng choked. He turned his head away and coughed for a long time. "Fuck, that's what you're talking about?"

"I'm not done yet," Gu Fei said. "You done coughing?"

"Done coughing," Jiang Cheng turned his head back and pressed his ear close again. "Go on."

"So then they discovered, when they were doing that," Gu Fei said with some difficulty. When he got to the key point, his voice was so low it was like a mosaic. "That their, you know, type... were the same."

"And they were both pretty stubborn and couldn't change, so they could only, jerk it until the end of time..."

Jiang Cheng didn't have time to feel embarrassed about the risqué content before bursting into laughter. He laughed a few times before getting himself under control.

"Fuck," Jiang Cheng turned to look at Gu Fei. "That's what you mean?"

"Just a joke after dinner," Gu Fei's expression was serious again as he answered.

"It's been ages since we ate, how is it after dinner," Jiang Cheng said. He wanted to laugh again. "So you... what? Huh?"

"What do you mean what?" Gu Fei was confused.

"Fuck," Jiang Cheng also glanced over at Gu Miao's side. Gu Miao probably couldn't figure out the math problems anymore and had started drawing circles one by one on a piece of paper, looking quite focused. So he raised his voice a little. "Do we need to jerk it until the end of time?"

"Oh," Gu Fei looked at him, probably at a loss for words. "Oh."

For two people whose most intimate interaction was just jerking each other of, the sudden jump to sex and explicitly discussing positions created an indescribable shift in atmosphere.

Awkward silence.jpg

Both of them couldn't continue. They just stared at each other.

Gu Miao's timing was perfect in breaking this mood. Probably because she kept being unable to solve the math problems and couldn't draw proper circles, she grabbed her pencil and started stabbing the paper one by one.

When Gu Fei took the pencil from her hands, the lead was already broken and the wood was blooming from her stabs.

Jiang Cheng watched with some shock. Finally he understood why Gu Fei didn't buy her mechanical pencils. With this kind of destructive power, she'd break one mechanical pencil after another. At least wooden pencils could be whittled down and still used.

With no pencil in hand, Gu Miao's actions didn't stop. Her face was calm, with no visible anger. You could only tell from the banging sounds on the table that she was probably not very happy.

"Er Miao, Er Miao, look at me, Er Miao," Gu Fei didn't try to stop her. He just crouched by the table and repeatedly said this. "Er Miao, look at brother, Er Miao..."

Jiang Cheng's earlier thoughts all faded away with the banging sounds and Gu Fei's endless repetition. He didn't know what he could do now, and just silently watched on the side.

Gu Miao wasn't an ordinary child, and her current behavior wasn't just childishness. Other than patience, there was no other method.

Jiang Cheng looked at Gu Fei, unable to comprehend his current feelings. He also couldn't imagine what he would be able to do if their positions were switched.

It wasn't once or twice, for one or two days. Gu Miao was already 10 this year, even if she was on the small side. Over these many years, Jiang Cheng didn't dare imagine how Gu Fei had persevered.

But he was slowly understanding where Gu Fei's eternally aloof temperament came from.

Gu Miao's little outburst lasted 10 minutes. Under Gu Fei's tireless repetition, she finally looked at Gu Fei and stopped her actions.

"You don't have to do problems you can't figure out," Gu Fei looked at her and spoke very slowly. "Don't get angry. Understand?"

Gu Miao didn't react.

"Nod so Brother knows you understood," Gu Fei said again.

Gu Miao nodded.

"Brother Cheng is thirsty," Gu Fei pointed at Jiang Cheng. "Get him a cup of water, okay?"

Jiang Cheng wasn't prepared. When he heard this, he hurriedly tried to grab his cup and drink the rest of the water. But Gu Miao had already nodded and come to his side, snatching the cup from his hand.

"I..." Jiang Cheng didn't know what to say.

Gu Miao looked down at the half-cup of undrunk water in the cup. She decisively poured it out on the floor, then went to refill it. She came back and handed it to him.

"Thanks, little beauty," Jiang Cheng accepted the cup and immediately drank half of it. "Thirsty to death."

Luckily Gu Miao's thinking was different from a normal child's. Otherwise, just from those words, Jiang Cheng would have been classified as an idiot.

"Shall Brother Cheng play skateboard with you for half an hour, you want that?" Gu Fei asked again.

"Okay," Jiang Cheng immediately put down the cup and crouched to Gu Miao's eye level. "Let's play skateboard for a bit?"

Gu Miao's eyes lit up and she nodded. She flipped the skateboard next to her with her toes, picking it up in her hands. Then she turned and walked outside.

"Thanks for the trouble," Gu Fei relaxed and said, "Brother Cheng."

"I'll give you a leg massage later," Jiang Cheng said, following Gu Miao outside.

The weather now was great for skateboarding, neither cold or hot. Gliding on the skateboard feeling the wind rush over his body, it was pretty enjoyable.

Gu Miao with her freshly buzzed cute doll head had a cool expression as she took turns with Jiang Cheng.

Every time Jiang Cheng saw her nimbly jump on the skateboard and do all kinds of difficult moves, he felt like if time could just stop here, or keep moving forward in this state of Gu Miao playing skateboard, that would be wonderful.

Gu Miao would have no worries, and Gu Fei wouldn't need to bear this pressure.

Jiang Cheng skated past the shop entrance and saw Gu Fei squatting on the steps at the door, a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he watched. Jiang Cheng lifted a hand and snapped his fingers.

Gu Fei immediately whistled back. The clear whistle followed him for about 10 meters before fading away.

The earlier topic had really made Jiang Cheng's thoughts run wild, but after playing skateboard with Gu Miao for half an hour, sweating all over, those wild thoughts were temporarily pressed down.

He remembered an article he saw in middle school, about using exercise to get rid of the bad habit of masturbating... At the time he thought it was total bullshit, but now thinking back, there might be some truth to it...

But when Gu Miao sat at the table to pack up her books, and Gu Fei walked into the smal room and waved him over, he discovered this stuff was still bullshit.

He pounced into the smal room and fiercely kissed Gu Fei all over, until Gu Fei bit down on his shoulder. Only then did he suck in a breath and stop.

"Fuck! Why didn't you just bite my face?" He rubbed his shoulder, keeping his voice down, and grabbed Gu Fei's waist. "Are you secretly a vampire?!"

"As if you didn't bite me at all," Gu Fei hooked his shoulder where he bit. He pulled the shirt over to cover the bite mark. "A couple more bites and we wouldn't get out of here."

"I..." Jiang Cheng didn't get to finish speaking before Gu Miao's kicking sounds came from outside as she shoved the table.

The two of them separated at lightning speed. By the time Gu Miao dragged her little backpack to the doorway of their room, Jiang Cheng and Gu Fei already had at least a meter of distance between them. Gu Fei stood by the window while Jiang Cheng stood by the bed, even whipping out his phone to pretend to look at it.

"All packed up?" Gu Fei asked.

Gu Miao nodded.

"Brother Cheng," Gu Fei called Jiang Cheng, his voice full of laughter. "Nice acting."

"Let's go?" Jiang Cheng looked up and put his phone away.

"Mm," Gu Fei nodded.

Lately Gu Miao had been especially clingy to Gu Fei. Who knows if it was because Gu Fei didn't accompany her much those few days during the recent holidays. Now when Gu Fei wasn't home at night, she would sit on the bed spacing out, refusing to sleep.

"Do you have any objections?" Gu Fei asked Jiang Cheng softly when they split off at the intersection to say bye.

"What objections?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"I was thinking of going to your place tonight..." Gu Fei cleared his throat. "Later on."

"...I'm not that desperate," Jiang Cheng looked at him.

"I meant just going, not doing it," Gu Fei said. "And the way you just acted doesn't give you much credibility in claiming you're not desperate..."

"Fuck off," Jiang Cheng interrupted him. He kind of wanted to laugh. "Civilized society. Keep it tasteful in public."

"Meet me at the breakfast stall early tomorrow," Gu Fei said.

"Mm," Jiang Cheng agreed. Ever since Gu Fei's "injured" leg, he had shown extraordinary resolve and willpower in not being late even once.

"Good night," Gu Fei waved his bike and whistled at Gu Miao, who was darting around on the sidewalk on her skateboard.

"Goodnight," Jiang Cheng squeezed his hand.

Back in his rented room, Jiang Cheng methodically showered and changed clothes. He examined Gu Fei's bite mark in the mirror. Overall it wasn't too obvious, but the two canine holes were quite deep. If this bite was a little closer to his neck, he'd have to wear a shirt tomorrow.

"Mad dog!" He bared his teeth at the mirror, then turned and went back into the room. He sat at the desk and started on his homework.

But because the homework wasn't too difficult, as he wrote he could spare half a brain to think about other things.

Like the issue of positions that made his heart race and ears burn just thinking about it.

He actually hadn't thought about this issue in depth, or rather, every time he rolled around with Gu Fei hearing his breathing, he never thought about anything beyond Gu Fei pinned under him in various ways...

But Gu Fei had suddenly brought up this story, making him suddenly realize his imagination was probably a bit one-track. Maybe it needed to be more colorful.

Top or bottom... He stared at his pencil tip, bobbing it up and down. Without practical experience... he couldn't understand what each position actually felt like.

But.

As a generous, carefree, handsome... man like himself, letting his boyfriend take the lead wasn't unacceptable. After all Gu Fei was a month younger than him, so if Gu Fei wanted... although that wasn't certain, but if... what?

Jiang Cheng clicked his tongue. It wasn't that big a deal!

More than this uncertain top or bottom, what Jiang Cheng cared about was that he seemed to not be mentally prepared yet to actually do anything serious with Gu Fei.

Gu Fei also didn't seem to want to take further action. Anyway, they were both quite satisfied after each shameless time.

Not the right mood yet?

Jiang Cheng gnawed on his pen and swayed it up and down.

How embarrassing, thinking about this stuff while doing homework.

Jiang Cheng and Gu Fei didn't continue discussing this topic further. The next day when Jiang Cheng saw Gu Fei's figure flash out from the intersection toward the breakfast stall, he immediately felt comfortable inside.

Fuck worrying and agonizing over this useless crap. Just seeing him was enough.

Up until now, he finally realized staring at someone's face wasn't as stupid as he once thought, depending on who it was.

Just this one day in class, he listened to the teacher while looking at Gu Fei, and didn't find the teacher's lectures to be like reciting scriptures anymore. He couldn't look to his satisfaction in Old Lu's class though. Old Lu's lectures were too passionate, plus the biggest entertainment was his teaching rod pointing to the back of the classroom, "Jiang Cheng, answer this question."

During self-study period Jiang Cheng lay on the desk, doing homework with one hand while continuing to scan Gu Fei's face with his eyes. Gu Fei glanced at him and smiled before lowering his head to tap at his phone.

His phone vibrated and he took it out to see a message from Cute Little Bunny.

- You're really staring hard at your boyfriend today huh

Jiang Cheng smiled and glanced at him, but Gu Fei still had his head lowered, playing with his phone.

- Why don't you look at me

- I just like you staring at me like this

"Why?" Jiang Cheng asked in a low voice.

"Reassuring," Gu Fei turned and smiled at him, bumping his leg under the desk.

- I want, to run wild in your eyes, I want, just this sort of look, till we're old

Looking at the line Gu Fei sent over, Jiang Cheng glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. Then he stretched his hand over to vigorously rub Gu Fei's leg.

After school, as soon as they walked out the gates, Liu Fan's beat up car was seen parked at the roadside with Li Yan sitting in the driver's seat.

"Come come come," Li Yan waved. "They already went over. Meet at the hospital entrance."

Gu Fei got in the car. "Did the surgery happen?"

"Done this morning. He's probably lying in bed contemplating the sweet, sour, bitter and spicy flavors of life right now," Li Yan said.

"Where's the sweet and sour," Jiang Cheng sat in the back seat and looked at the huge fruit basket placed next to him, a card stuck in the middle. He read the words out loud, "With you guys' thoughtfulness, he probably can't even taste the bitter flavour, there's just the bitterness left.

“When he's discharged you'll each get it,” Gu Fei said.

“Count yourself in,” Li Yan said.

“Ask if he dares,” Gu Fei clicked his tongue.

They gathered with the rest of the no-good birds at the hospital entrance, then carried the get-well fruit basket to Liu Fan's ward.

The ward conditions were decent. Liu Fan had a three bed room with just one other patient. When they entered he was playing on his phone lying on the bed.

Hearing them come in he turned and yelled in utter sincerity, “Li Yan I'll beat you to death someday!”

“We're all brothers here,” Li Yan set the fruit basket on the bedside table. “How could we leave you suffering alone in the hospital.”

“Then tell the doc to line you up and cut each of you once so you can join me!” Liu Fan glared around. “And Jiang Cheng you seem like a decent guy, why are you stirring up trouble!”

“Just passing by,” Jiang Cheng said.

"I'll remember you guys," Liu Fan made a fist bump gesture towards them, "I'll fucking remember this my whole life!"  

"Brother Fan, how did it feel?" Luo Yu moved over and asked.

"Like getting fucked in the ass! How do you think it felt? You wanna try it?" Liu Fan glared at him.  

The group of guys laughed loudly.

The family member in the next bed frowned, probably thinking they were too noisy. But honestly, with this group barging in, each with a look on their face that clearly said "Don't mess with me", looking like a gang here to make trouble, that family member didn't dare say anything after glancing at them a few times.

"Quiet down," Gu Fei said leaning against the wall.  

The few guys quieted down at that, holding in their laughter as they comforted Liu Fan.

Like getting fucked in the ass.

Tsk tsk.

Jiang Cheng stood next to Gu Fei, also leaning on the wall, but he wasn't listening to what they were saying at all. His mind was filled with that one sentence.

Although it was said in exaggeration, he could imagine that the first time probably wasn't a pleasant experience... Tsk tsk.

Jiang Cheng glanced at Gu Fei.

Gu Fei had his head tilted against the wall, his neck to collarbone forming a very attractive and sexy curve.

If they weren't surrounded by a group, he would have gone over to lick it.

Tsk tsk.

How could he restrain himself with Gu Fei like this?

They didn't stay with Liu Fan for long before being shooed out by the nurses for being too noisy and disturbing the patients.

"Where's everyone going after this?" Li Yan asked as they stood in the elevator, "I'm driving Liu Fan's car, I can give you a ride."

"Send us back." Gu Fei said.

"Let's all go to Da Fei's, been a while since we drank." Luo Yu said.  

"Mm." Gu Fei nodded.

The elevator stopped two floors down before the door opened. They could already hear chaotic yelling from outside.

When the door opened, the yelling got louder.

"You're just trying to scam money!" A man's voice yelled, "What surgery? You just want me to get admitted for surgery! I'm not getting surgery! What chemotherapy? It's all scams for money! You've already scammed me and now you say I don't have enough money? Don't make me smash this place!"

"Uncle, the treatment plan can be discussed with the doctor, there's a list for all the medication used..."

Jiang Cheng froze in the elevator. As soon as the door opened, the first thing he saw was someone waving his arms angrily with a furious expression - his biological father, Li Baoguo.

"I don't want to see any lists! I'm not getting treated now! Refund my money!" Li Baoguo shoved the doctors and nurses around him, "If I die then I die! But I won't let you scam my money! If you don't refund what I paid, I'm not done with you!"

The people who had entered the elevator were still watching the commotion outside, discussing in low voices. One person was even hovering in the elevator doorway, half in half out, watching the excitement.

Jiang Cheng moved but Gu Fei grabbed his arm.  

Li Yan stood by the door. After glancing over, he shoved at the person lingering in the doorway and pushed him out, then hit the close door button.

That person looked like he still wanted to enter, glancing inside the elevator before stopping.

The few people in the elevator were quiet. When they reached the first floor, Gu Fei pulled Jiang Cheng out by the arm.

"We'll go first then, meet at the shop or..." Li Yan asked.

"The shop, my mom probably isn't home again." Gu Fei replied.

"Mm." Li Yan nodded and left with the others.

Jiang Cheng numbly followed Gu Fei to a corner.

"Brother Cheng?" Gu Fei called him.

"Mm." Jiang Cheng responded.

"This matter..." Gu Fei hesitated, "You can't get involved."

Jiang Cheng looked at him but didn't say anything.

"You can't intervene," Gu Fei looked at him, "There's nothing you can do about this. You can go talk to him when he gets home, but you can't go over now. You understand what I mean right?"

"I understand." Jiang Cheng closed his eyes and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out.

Of course he understood what Gu Fei meant.

 

 

Author's note: To be continued tomorrow.

Happy Lunar New Year everyone⊙▽⊙! The author says happily, kneading her belly after eating a pot of braised mutton.

Everyone have fun o(≧口≦)o, and author don't change the topic o(≧口≦)o, what are you planning to do by letting Li Baoguo out o(≧口≦)o. The black fur spirit said loudly.

W( ゚Д ゚)w wah. The small black fur spirit says.

Chirp chirp chatter cheer <(ˉˉ)>!. The tiny black fur spirit says.

...... Black fur spirits 4 and 5 were silent.