Chapter 152
Chapter 152
It was July, and the greenhouse was filled with flowers in season.
The gardener’s novel still wasn’t finished and would need further polishing later on, so they kept renewing the monthly payment to keep the gardener on. The flowers had been cared for well the whole time.
Ning Shuo picked out a pot of plumeria. Narcissus was currently in its dormant period, and in terms of color distribution, plumeria was fairly similar to it.
Ning Wang had come in a hurry. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes were visibly bloodshot. He looked like he’d only been awake a short while.
Looking at the man in front of him, still unable to tie his hair into a braid but with hair that had grown much longer, Ning Shuo set the flower aside and opened his arms. “Want a hug?”
Before the words had even fully left his mouth, he was already in someone’s embrace.
“I missed you so much.”
Ning Shuo hugged him back. “Me too.”
From the moment I became conscious, I had already started missing you.
—
When Ning Wang saw the plumeria, his first reaction was: “Ge, is your love for me really this silent?”
That was the flower’s meaning. For two people who, after confirming their relationship, had one flamboyantly make a post on the Forum to announce it and the other race to grab the first comment and happily declare himself one of the people involved, “silent” really didn’t seem to fit them.
Ning Shuo had just been about to explain when he caught the smile in Ning Wang’s eyes and realized he was teasing him. Ning Wang knew exactly why he had picked that flower.
Before they got home, Ning Wang had acted completely normal, which instead made Ning Shuo feel that something was very wrong.
Too normal.
So normal that he didn’t seem like himself.
That was until they got home and he saw the room full of mirrors.
Leaving aside how shocking the sight itself was, Ning Shuo saw in the mirror that Ning Wang, following behind him, suddenly had a darker look in his eyes.
The door slammed shut with a bang, and Ning Wang pinned him against the mirror from behind. “Ge, you can’t leave now.”
“Wait.” Ning Shuo stopped him seriously. “Did you brush your teeth?”
“…” Ning Wang gritted out, “I did. Washed my face too. I was eating breakfast when you called me.”
Smiling, Ning Shuo wrapped his arms around his neck. “Idiot. I was teasing you.”
It was his first time doing this while pinned against a mirror, and also their first time doing anything after so many days. You didn’t realize it when you weren’t doing it, but once you started, it became impossible to stop.
Ning Wang took a sip of water, then kissed Ning Shuo. Water dripped steadily down his chin. “Ge, get some water in you. Feels like you’re about to dehydrate.”
Caught in the utmost entanglement of pleasure and exhaustion, Ning Shuo lifted his eyes and looked at their two equally flushed faces in the mirror.
The whole room was covered in mirrors, making it possible to see clearly from every angle exactly what position they were in.
He turned his head and kissed Ning Wang. “Cut the nonsense.”
—
Ning Shuo’s return really was a surprise, but no matter how great the surprise, it still had to follow the rules of society as it currently stood: all returned persons had to go to the hospital for a physical examination. Once the examination was done, the hospital would give them a wristband, and only after confirming that all returned persons posed no danger to society would they notify everyone that it could be removed.
Ning Shuo had still underestimated just how many people knew him. By the time he arrived at the hospital, quite a few people at the entrance had recognized him, including plenty of acquaintances.
The one yelling loudly was Qi Yang: “King! You came back and didn’t even tell me! We only found out because Ning Wang said in the group chat that you were back!”
The one letting out a shrill scream was the number one CP fan, Li Ziqian: “They’re cuffed together!”
That’s right. Right now, no matter where they went, Ning Wang kept himself handcuffed to Ning Shuo. Some people who knew them thought they were doing some kind of play.
For example, Rao Lin.
He stared thoughtfully at their inseparable wrists, then looked at Song Zhu. “Teacher Song, can I…”
Teacher Song was merciless. “No.”
Rao Lin: QwQ
A physical examination had to be done at least three times. After all this time, the hospital had finally encountered a returned person coming in for a first checkup more than three months later, and on top of that, the two of them were handcuffed together. Worried that something was wrong, they notified the Sinless Bureau.
The uninvited guest arrived at that moment.
During the physical exam, Ning Wang reluctantly unlocked the handcuffs, making the doctor feel like he was dealing with some kind of criminal or evil force.
The uninvited guest came in while Ning Shuo was having his blood drawn. “Hello. My name is Chi Shen. I’m an Evil-Exterminating Envoy from the Sinless Bureau.”
After many people came out of the System, they discovered they could see things that ordinary people who had never entered the System couldn’t see-for example, ghosts.
That was also one of the reasons they had to wear wristbands: many people had learned quite a few skills in the System, and the wristbands were meant to prevent anyone from using Ghost/Monster to commit crimes or do evil.
Because of that, Spirit Catchers, a mysterious profession once hidden from the public, had begun coming into the light: demon hunters, Yin Regulators, and so on.
Ning Shuo had already made some guesses about this emerging field. For example, demon hunters dealt with demons, Yin Regulators dealt with yin spirits, and Evil-Exterminating Envoys were skilled across all branches.
Chi Shen had only come to ask a few questions. After entering Ning Shuo’s information into the file, he was just about to leave when he noticed Ning Shuo and Ning Wang secretly holding hands.
He paused, then opened another text-heavy page on his tablet and said seriously, “I have a few more questions.”
Ning Shuo smiled. “Go ahead.”
“Was it love at first sight between you and your boyfriend?”
Ning Shuo: ?
After hesitating for a moment, he said, “…I guess yes and no. Is this some kind of required question for readjusting to society?”
“No, this is just for personal reasons.” Chi Shen suddenly realized this sort of thing seemed like it ought to require the other person’s consent. “May I record your story as source material?”
Ning Shuo: ?
Chi Shen was an odd-tempered Evil-Exterminating Envoy. Ning Shuo had now seen that for himself.
Openly showing off their love story was Xie Ning’s specialty, and that was plain to see on the System Forum.
Ning Wang vividly described how, during their ambiguous phase, Ning Shuo had deliberately flirted with him and he had deliberately flirted back. Chi Shen frowned. “Before officially confirming the relationship… kissing is allowed?”
Ning Wang answered with a straight face, “During the ambiguous phase, if both sides tacitly agree, then any activity is just exercising your rights as a boyfriend ahead of time.”
Chi Shen hesitantly wrote that down. Ning Shuo had finished his exam, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to keep pestering them with more questions, so he said goodbye.
But halfway through saying it, he saw Ning Shuo’s hand get cuffed to Ning Wang’s again.
Chi Shen: ?
He suddenly remembered one item from the hospital’s report: the two of them had been handcuffed together.
Noticing his gaze, Ning Shuo explained, “Just a bit of fun between lovers.”
As if he had suddenly been enlightened, Chi Shen solemnly wrote that down as well, thanked them just as solemnly, and only then left.
Ning Wang had been using his own phone. After returning Ning Shuo’s phone, he suddenly thought of something and hurriedly said, “Ge! Wait!”
Ning Shuo unlocked his phone and immediately saw the WeChat chat window. Every day, messages had been sent to the pinned contact, “Ningning”: “Good morning,” “Good night,” and “I love you.”
At the same time, “Ningning” would also send: “I love you too.”
Ning Wang normally wouldn’t find that embarrassing, but having the person involved suddenly discover that he had been secretly doing all this still made him too awkward to look Ning Shuo in the eye.
His mind raced frantically, trying to think of a way to smooth this over, when he suddenly felt warmth on his lips.
Ning Shuo’s smiling voice sounded by his ear, very close. In all the years to come, no one would ever separate them again. “Have I never said it before, Ningning? I love you very much.”
From now on, every single day, I’ll keep up this little ritual for you.
That was the new promise they made for the future.
/End.