Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Some couples set a safeword, something to use when disagreements escalate into fierce arguments, so they can avoid hurting each other’s feelings. Some use it to test boundaries, to feel each other out and understand one another; when they can’t go any further, they say the agreed-upon word, a sign that a line has been reached. And some… use it only in very specific circumstances.

Ning Qiuyan had heard of people setting safewords before, but he had never imagined he would ever need one himself.

“To avoid confusion, choose a word you almost never say in daily life. Something out of the ordinary,” Guan Heng said.

“We’ll agree that when you feel you can’t endure it anymore, you’ll say it.”

There was a flicker of panic in Ning Qiuyan’s eyes. He didn’t want any safeword. He wanted to tell Guan Heng that he didn’t think they needed restraints.

Guan Heng seemed to see through him. Before Ning Qiuyan could speak, Guan Heng said, “Even if you say it, I won’t stop immediately.”

His voice was very low, his tone both comforting and full of patient guidance.

It calmed Ning Qiuyan’s panic perfectly.

Guan Heng said, “I won’t suddenly leave you cold.”

“I’ll slow down and let you rest.”

Only after hearing Guan Heng say that did Ning Qiuyan’s fingers, which had been clutching the hem of his clothes, loosen slightly. The trembling in his body gradually began to ease as well.

He looked up at Guan Heng. “Do I have to think of one right now?”

Guan Heng gently brushed the hair away from his ear and answered, “Mm.”

Light swept over Ning Qiuyan’s flushed profile. Points of brightness shimmered in his dark eyes. His lips moved. “Zhaozhao.”

Guan Heng’s movements stopped.

Ning Qiuyan was still bound. In a very small voice, he said to Guan Heng again, “Let’s choose Zhaozhao. The name of that painting and that song.” He looked at Guan Heng intently and asked with great caution, “Can we?”

The light from the screen suddenly dimmed.

Guan Heng’s figure overlapped with the darkness, enveloping Ning Qiuyan within it.

He gave Ning Qiuyan his answer. “We can.”
The next day, Ning Qiuyan went to the kitchen to help Granny Bai and even learned how to make two delicate little pastries.

At night, Lu Qianque and Gu Yu also arrived on Du Island. When they came, Ning Qiuyan was in Guan Heng’s bedroom playing Xiaoxiaole on his phone, while Guan Heng continued reading the book he had not yet finished. The two of them rarely spoke.

They were both sitting, and their posture could not really be called overly intimate.

Ning Qiuyan was leaning back against Guan Heng, and Guan Heng merely had one arm loosely around him from the side. They were simply resting against each other.

It was snowing again outside, this time accompanied by strong winds.

The night wind skimmed across the sea and swept over the Forest on Du Island, howling toward the far end of the ocean.

Inside the room, however, it was as warm as spring, quiet and peaceful.

When Lu Qianque pushed the door open and saw this scene, he couldn’t help smiling. “Sir, Xiao Ning, good evening.”

Gu Yu was too noisy, so he was generally not allowed up to the third floor. But his cheerful voice could be heard downstairs as he spoke with Uncle Kang, and he was probably about to come look for Ning Qiuyan at any moment.

Lu Qianque stayed behind to talk with Guan Heng, while Ning Qiuyan automatically got up and went downstairs to find Gu Yu, bringing out the small New Year’s gifts he had prepared for them. Gu Yu had also brought Ning Qiuyan a gift-the very chuunibyou-style The Book of Answers.

“You always look so lost,” Gu Yu said in the tone of an adult. “If you don’t know what to do next time, just flip to any page. Whatever answer you want, it’ll have it.”

Ning Qiuyan: “…”

Although he did not think of himself as someone without opinions of his own, he still thanked Gu Yu and carefully put it away.

Gu Yu, meanwhile, liked the clay figurine Ning Qiuyan had given him very much. “Was this custom-made?”

Ning Qiuyan said, “Yes. I commissioned it online.”

“It really looks like us.” Gu Yu fiddled with the figurine. “But when was Lu Qianque ever this handsome? And I’m not that short, am I? I don’t even reach his shoulder here.”

Gu Yu had just entered his growth period, and he had indeed gotten a little taller, but he still had not grown past Lu Qianque’s shoulder.

Ning Qiuyan didn’t know how to comfort a child, so he said, “Next time, I’ll have another one made for you.”

“Okay,” Gu Yu agreed happily, but then his face fell again. “I just don’t know when I’ll be able to get it.”

Last time, Gu Yu had told Ning Qiuyan that Lu Qianque was going to send him away to study elsewhere. Ning Qiuyan hadn’t expected the matter to be moved up; after the New Year, once spring came, he would be leaving. Ning Qiuyan asked Gu Yu where he was going to school and said he could mail it to him then, but Gu Yu shook his head. It turned out that even Gu Yu himself did not know where he would be going.

“I don’t know either,” Gu Yu said. “Lu Qianque said he’s afraid I’ll let it slip. For my safety, the location has to be kept secret.”

Ning Qiuyan was very surprised.

He guessed that some unavoidable change must have happened for Lu Qianque to have no choice but to make such a decision.

“If Lu Qianque treated me even half as well as Mr. Guan treats you, that would be enough,” Gu Yu said. He had probably already made a fuss and accepted the reality of it, so now he was only complaining for the sake of venting. “Mr. Guan listens to you about everything. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to study, it’s all fine.”

Ning Qiuyan said, “Lu Qianque treats you very well too.”

“I know.” Gu Yu sighed. “It’s just that we’re both adopted, but the difference is way too big.”

Ning Qiuyan froze and nearly choked on his own breath. “No… that’s not it. Mr. Guan isn’t adopting me!”

“He isn’t?” Gu Yu asked curiously. “Then what kind of relationship do you have?”

Ning Qiuyan opened his mouth, but he didn’t know how to tell Gu Yu, nor did he know exactly how to define his relationship with Guan Heng.

Guan Ziming had asked him more or less the same question before. It was just that Gu Yu couldn’t imagine the truth and thought he had been adopted by Guan Heng.

Gu Yu asked quickly, but he did not care about the answer. He was too busy worrying. “Maybe only when I grow up a little more and can take care of myself will Lu Qianque respect my opinion.”

Ning Qiuyan: “…”

Becoming family with Vampires was different from being part of an ordinary human family to begin with.

Gu Yu understood this at such a young age. Sometimes he had a great deal of freedom, but at other times, he also had to accept even more helpless inevitabilities.
Ning Qiuyan had always been a little curious, so he asked Gu Yu, “How did you two meet?”

Why had Gu Yu ended up following Lu Qianque? And where were his real parents?

“I’m an orphan too. Lu Qianque picked me up and brought me home.”

Gu Yu spoke of his past with a maturity far beyond his years.

“I was only a few months old then. He said that if I’d been even a little older at the time-if I’d been able to walk-he would’ve sent me to an orphanage and absolutely wouldn’t have kept me.”

Ning Qiuyan hadn’t expected that answer. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

But Gu Yu said blithely, “But he still kept me. Probably because he was afraid I’d die.” After thinking about it, he added to Ning Qiuyan, “Brother Xiao Ning, Lu Qianque is actually a very kind person.”

Ning Qiuyan nodded.

“Mr. Guan is too,” Gu Yu said. “They’re different from the rest of the Vampire kind.”

Ning Qiuyan gave a soft sound of agreement.

He knew that very well too.

“Maybe it’s because you’re already so old, so it wouldn’t be convenient for him to adopt you anymore,” Gu Yu comforted him. “But this is pretty good too. I heard Lu Qianque say that Mr. Guan doesn’t just look after anyone. He’ll treat you like family all the same.”

Ning Qiuyan: “…”
Once Gu Yu and the others arrived, the New Year’s atmosphere grew even stronger.

Ning Qiuyan took Gu Yu to the farm again to see Guan Ziming. This time, Gu Yu showed an excellent attitude in admitting his mistake and personally collected eggs once, without cracking a single one. The three of them also went to catch snow rabbits, but Guan Ziming’s hand slipped, and the little rabbit they already had in hand kicked its legs and vanished without a trace.

Their nightlife also livened up. The four of them watched a movie together and played a round of billiards.

In the storage room, Ning Qiuyan saw a familiar cardboard box. It was sealed cleanly and neatly, set to one side of a high shelf.

It was his puzzle.

Ning Qiuyan was certain that when he’d first opened it, he had accidentally torn one corner of the box.

Lu Qianque had been waiting for Ning Qiuyan to bring back a replacement cue, but after waiting for quite a while without seeing him return, he came over to get it himself. Seeing Ning Qiuyan looking up at the box, Lu Qianque said, “It’s finished.”

Ning Qiuyan turned around. This time, he wasn’t startled by Lu Qianque suddenly speaking, but because he’d been lost in thought, he hadn’t heard clearly. “What?”

Lu Qianque smiled. “I said, your puzzle. Sir finished it for you.”

For a moment, Ning Qiuyan almost couldn’t believe his ears.

He turned back again to look at the puzzle, as if he could see through the box to the pieces inside, see how they looked when they had been assembled into a complete picture.

“After you left, the puzzle was left there just like that, exactly as it was, for a while. I don’t think anyone went in and touched it,” Lu Qianque said. “I don’t know when it was put away, but when I came to the island in September, Sir had already finished it. It had been sitting there for at least two months.”

Ning Qiuyan’s fingers tightened around the cue.

It felt as if something had scraped at his heart, and even his lashes trembled.

Guan Heng had actually finished his puzzle for him?

Was it because it had already been finished that he said there was nothing to regret?

Then why hadn’t he told him?

“Sir probably keeps everything you left behind very carefully. He just usually doesn’t say so.” Lu Qianque was always encouraging toward Ning Qiuyan, and as usual, he teased, “It all depends on whether you want to find out.”

Of course Ning Qiuyan wanted to find out.

Life on the island was very leisurely, and the days were especially free.

He wandered through the rooms Guan Heng had set up, going to Guan Heng’s library, the game room, and the music room. Each room was laid out like part of a maze, and this time, he had enough time to explore.

When he passed the studio, he suddenly remembered that at Camellia Night, the young woman named Sheng Huan, who had also attended as a Blood Contract Partner, had told him she had seen a portrait of him on Du Island. She said he looked as if he were about to cry in the painting.

He still hadn’t asked Guan Heng about that.

So he walked into the studio.

It looked a little different from the last time he had come in. There were more frames and art supplies now. Most of the paintings were stacked casually and covered with dust sheets. Only on the easel in the middle of the room was there a work that was more than half complete. It depicted a Forest on a moonlit night, with only blocks of color laid down as a base, though the direction of the details could vaguely be seen. He didn’t know if it was the same painting Guan Heng had been working on during their last video call.

Ning Qiuyan felt as if he had entered Guan Heng’s secret space.

His fingers brushed over the wooden edge of the easel, touched the brushes, the palette, and imagined what Guan Heng must have looked like when he touched them.

But scene after scene also flashed through his mind.

A strong back covered in a thin sheen of sweat. A body with clearly defined muscles and beautiful lines. Blue veins rising along his arms, the backs of his hands, and even his abdomen. The light reflected indoors from the snow made his skin appear pale, almost haloed. Beneath thick, dark lashes was the black mask that forbade all touch.

Cold and restrained, yet every part of him was wrapped in vivid life and desire.

The closer he came, the deeper the mystery became.

Ning Qiuyan realized he was obsessed with everything about Guan Heng, yet still didn’t understand him enough.

Among those paintings, he did not find the portrait of himself that Sheng Huan had mentioned.

But unexpectedly, he found another one.

That painting had been placed in the innermost corner. It wasn’t large and looked as if it had been painted casually, with no intention of ever taking it out again. A layer of dust had already gathered on it.

It depicted large, full clusters of flowers, dark green leaves, and a red clay flowerpot.

It was the pot of endless summer that Ning Qiuyan had brought to Du Island and given to Guan Heng.

So it had bloomed blue-purple flowers.

Author’s Note:

Gu Yu: We’re both orphans. Brother Xiao Ning must just be too old, so Sir is too embarrassed to formally adopt him.

Later.

Gu Yu: I was blind.