When Zheng Minyou stepped out of the elevator, he was still in a daze.
Before the elevator door closed, Lu Shiran was still comforting the young man.
Zheng Minyou truly admired him, as Lu Shiran’s expensive overcoat had been stained by Lu Xingmian without a second thought. He felt the 100,000 yuan he had lost was well worth it.
When they got out of the elevator, Lu Xingmian was much more sober and comfortable. He looked at his stained clothes and said apologetically, “Ge, I’m sorry, I got your clothes dirty.”
“It’s nothing,” Lu Shiran said, worried about Lu Xingmian. “Does your stomach still feel bad?”
Lu Xingmian replied, “It doesn’t hurt anymore. I think it was because I didn’t eat anything all night, that’s why I felt sick.”
Lu Shiran said, “You only drank alcohol?”
Lu Xingmian gave an embarrassed smile. Lu Shiran was right. The group of them had only eaten a plate of fruit and a bowl of popcorn.
After they got home, while Lu Shiran was helping him change his shoes, Lu Xingmian remembered there was another person in the elevator—someone Lu Shiran knew, who had witnessed the whole thing.
“It’s okay,” Lu Shiran said. “He’s a good friend.”
For Lu Shiran to say he was a “good friend,” he must be a very close one.
But the way he had acted in the elevator still made Lu Xingmian feel ashamed. “Ge, was I embarrassing just now?”
Lu Shiran laughed. “No.”
Lu Xingmian felt that Lu Shiran was just comforting him, but he was still a little dizzy. After washing up, he went to bed.
In the middle of the night, Lu Xingmian woke up hungry and got up to look for food in the kitchen. Lu Shiran woke up as well, thinking Lu Xingmian was going to the bathroom.
But Lu Xingmian quietly slipped out of the bedroom, and after waiting for a while without his return, Lu Shiran got up to look for him.
Lu Xingmian was squatting in the kitchen while rummaging through everything.
“What are you looking for, Zai Zai?” Lu Shiran asked.
“I’m hungry.” Lu Xingmian said.
Lu Shiran came over. “What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you.”
Lu Xingmian thought about it and decided to be honest. “I want to eat instant noodles.”
He said it with a hint of a whine.
Lu Xingmian really wanted instant noodles, and he had been looking for a long time but hadn’t found a single pack. He recalled buying two bowls last time and hiding them while Lu Shiran wasn’t watching. Had he misremembered?
He thought Lu Shiran would refuse, as he usually didn’t let him eat instant noodles, but today, Lu Shiran agreed.
However, since there were no instant noodles at home and Lu Xingmian wanted them, Lu Shiran immediately got dressed and went out to buy some.
It was past three in the morning, and the cold seeped in, so Lu Xingmian quickly grabbed his arm. “Ge, don’t go out. I’ll just have some fruit.”
Lu Shiran put on his shoes and patted his head. “Wait for me at home. I’ll be right back.”
After a brief nap, Lu Xingmian was fully awake. He sat on the sofa, hugging a cushion, and waited for Lu Shiran.
Just because he wanted instant noodles, Lu Shiran went out in the middle of the night to buy them. He hadn’t even considered what would happen if Lu Xingmian fell asleep before he returned or if he didn’t want them anymore.
Lu Xingmian gazed at the door, his heart swelling with a mix of tenderness and warmth. Lu Shiran treated him so well, no one had ever taken his words so seriously before, not even once.
Not when he was with the Song family, and certainly not with the Lu family either. Lu Xingmian suddenly thought of Lu Sihang. That day, Lu Sihang had said so many things, but there was one particular sentence that felt important, though he couldn’t remember what it was.
Forget it, don’t think about it anymore.
Lu Shiran had promised he’d return soon, and he did. When Lu Xingmian saw him carrying a bag of instant noodles, he felt that the image was a little out of place.
In the middle of the night, Lu Shiran was in the kitchen, cooking instant noodles for the very first time.
He didn’t use the seasoning packet and tried to make it as light as possible.
Soon, a bowl of instant noodles was ready, without any greasy feeling at all.
“It smells so good.” Lu Xingmian took a deep breath. “Ge, do you make everything taste delicious?”
Ordinary instant noodles were instantly transformed into a delicacy in Lu Shiran’s hands. Lu Xingmian had also cooked instant noodles before, but the taste of his own cooking was completely different from Lu Shiran’s.
Initially, Lu Shiran was worried that he wouldn’t eat the noodles without the seasoning, but his worries were unnecessary. Lu Xingmian quickly finished the noodles, not even leaving a drop of soup.
Lu Xingmian summarized his day: “From now on, I’m never drinking so much alcohol again.”
He had humiliated himself in front of Lu Shiran and his friend, and he figured it would be some time before he saw Lu Shiran’s friend again.
However, the next day, Lu Xingmian met Zheng Minyou in the elevator. When he saw him, Lu Xingmian had the urge to run away. He tried to stay calm and greeted him, “Minyou Ge.”
“So you remember what happened yesterday?” Zheng Minyou blurted out, as he thought Lu Xingmian wouldn’t.
Lu Xingmian gave an embarrassed smile. He wished he didn’t remember; it was too embarrassing.
Hearing him call him Minyou Ge, Zheng Minyou guessed that Lu Shiran had already told Lu Xingmian about their relationship. Standing side by side in the elevator, Zheng Minyou finally got a good look at Lu Xingmian.
He was a good-looking, delicate-featured young man.
Zheng Minyou invited him to come over to his place, and Lu Xingmian said he would when he had time.
Zheng Minyou knew he was too embarrassed to come over, so he told him that he could come with Lu Shiran after the New Year.
“We have a horse ranch,” Zheng Minyou said. “You can ride horses.”
Lu Xingmian’s ears perked up. Horses!?
“Are they real horses?” Lu Xingmian’s voice was filled with excitement. He wasn’t hearing things, was he?
Zheng Minyou knew that few young men could resist the feeling of galloping on horseback. “There’s also a purebred Akhal-Teke horse at the ranch. Do you want to come and see it?”
Lu Xingmian said he would go home and ask Lu Shiran.
Zheng Minyou smiled, thinking Lu Xingmian was quite cute.
After returning home, Lu Xingmian told Lu Shiran that he had met Zheng Minyou in the elevator today and that Zheng Minyou had invited him to the horse ranch.
Lu Shiran promised to take him there during the New Year, and Lu Xingmian excitedly hugged him.
The day after Lu Shiran made that promise was New Year’s Eve.
After breakfast, Lu Xingmian and Lu Shiran began putting up couplets.
Then, Lu Xingmian spent quite some time putting up window decorations because the house had so many windows.
He rubbed the paper decorations on his clothes, and they stuck firmly to the windows. Once all the windows were decorated, the house was filled with a festive red glow, instantly creating a holiday atmosphere.
After the window decorations were up, Lu Xingmian started hanging auspicious ornaments, putting up every decoration he had bought.
When Butler Hou arrived with food, he couldn’t help but smile at the red couplets on the door and the festive ornaments all over the house. In the past, Lu Shiran had always been indifferent to these things.
Today, there were quite a lot of things to deliver, and Butler Hou brought two people with him to carry everything.
Lu Xingmian greeted Butler Hou. “Happy New Year’s Eve, Uncle Hou.”
Butler Hou replied, “Happy New Year’s Eve to you too, Xiao Lu.”
Since it was New Year’s Eve, Butler Hou asked Lu Shiran if he wanted the chef from the villa to come and cook the New Year’s Eve dinner, but Lu Shiran said it was unnecessary. Of course, he wanted to personally cook the New Year’s Eve dinner for Lu Xingmian.
Soon after Butler Hou left, the doorbell rang, and Zheng Minyou came up from downstairs.
When he entered, he saw the house decorated with a festive red glow, and Lu Xingmian was just hanging a large “good fortune” character on the wall. Looking at the decorations, he felt a pang of envy, as his own home was so desolate.
Lu Shiran glanced at him. “Is there something you need?”
Zheng Minyou chuckled. “Can I join you guys for New Year’s Eve dinner? I just saw Uncle Hou, so I knew there must be good food here.”
“You can stay for dinner,” Lu Shiran said. “On one condition.”
“Any condition,” Zheng Minyou replied. “Just name it.”
Lu Shiran said, “When we go to the horse ranch, you have to let Lu Xingmian ride that Akhal-Teke horse.”
Zheng Minyou clutched his chest. “Lu Shiran, you’re too ruthless. That’s a precious Akhal-Teke! I haven’t even had a chance to ride it myself.”
Lu Shiran said coolly, “If not, then forget it. Feel free to leave.”
“Wait a second,” Zheng Minyou looked at the ingredients in the kitchen, considered Lu Shiran’s cooking skills, and immediately agreed. “Fine.”
During dinner, Zheng Minyou felt that the deal was an excellent one. The food was so abundant, and Lu Shiran’s cooking skills had become even more exquisite.
The only downside was having to constantly endure the “dog food.” Lu Shiran kept putting food on Lu Xingmian’s plate and peeling shrimp for him. He was just short of feeding the food directly into Lu Xingmian’s mouth.
Lu Shiran told Lu Xingmian that the firework display area was about 50 meters from the community entrance.
Lu Xingmian’s eyes lit up at the thought of setting off fireworks that night, but then they dimmed as he remembered they hadn’t bought any. His excitement quickly fizzled out.
Lu Shiran laughed. “Butler Hou sent over two large boxes of fireworks today.”
“Really!” Lu Xingmian’s eyes instantly sparkled again. “Thank you, Uncle Hou. I love Uncle Hou!”
Lu Shiran casually replied, “Oh?” Lu Xingmian quickly added, “Ge, I love you more.”
Zheng Minyou, who was watching the two of them, felt so full of both food and affection that he could almost burst.
Just before midnight, Lu Shiran carried the two big boxes and took Lu Xingmian to the designated firework spot.
When they arrived, some people had already started setting off fireworks, and others were arriving in a steady stream.
Lu Shiran and Lu Xingmian found a spot, and Lu Xingmian carefully arranged the fireworks in a row before going to light each one.
With a “whoosh” sound, the fireworks exploded in the sky, instantly illuminating the dark night. The fireworks were surprisingly extravagant.
The people who had come to set off fireworks were all captivated by the display Lu Xingmian and Lu Shiran were putting on.
Seeing Lu Xingmian so delighted, like a child setting off fireworks, Lu Shiran asked if he wanted to continue, offering to send over more boxes so Lu Xingmian could enjoy to his heart’s content.
Lu Xingmian said there was no need; Butler Hou had prepared not only the big display fireworks but also a lot of sparklers.
A nearby child gazed enviously at the sparkler in Lu Xingmian’s hand. Lu Xingmian handed him a handful, and the child exclaimed happily, “Thank you, Gege!”
The little boy then shared the sparklers with his friends.
As the sparklers lit up, looking like stars that had fallen to Earth, Lu Xingmian asked Lu Shiran, “Ge, do you want to play?”
Under the light of the fireworks, Lu Shiran looked especially gentle. “I’ll just watch you play.”
Lu Xingmian held up two sparklers, his eyes twinkling. He was smiling so beautifully that Lu Shiran pulled out his phone to capture the moment. Just then, Lu Xingmian happened to glance in his direction.
Lu Shiran was wearing his coat, his eyes were deep, and he was looking at him with a gentle expression. A firework then exploded in the sky above, just like it had a year ago on this very day. Lu Shiran was still as handsome and heart-stirring as ever.
Lu Xingmian walked up to him and tilted his head. “Ge, can I hug you?”
This time, Lu Shiran stepped forward and pulled Lu Xingmian into his arms.
i hope they get to have more new years together, they’re so cute 💖