Chapter 42: I’m Better to Touch Than a Dog

Unfortunately, this flash of pink was all too brief. After a fleeting glimpse, it was covered by clothes within a few short seconds.

Jiang Shi put on the shirt, then hesitated, holding the pants in his hand. The pants were loose and baggy; wearing his shorts underneath should be fine… right?

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but even with Cheng Ye’s back turned, Jiang Shi felt a chill run down his spine.

After a few seconds of thought, he decided to just pull them on over his shorts.

Once Jiang Shi was dressed, he turned around and saw that Cheng Ye was still standing in the same spot, not moving.

“Aren’t you going to change?”

Cheng Ye seemed to snap back to reality and moved. He turned around, blocking the half-cracked mirror behind him, and faced Jiang Shi directly.

Compared to Jiang Shi’s coyness, he was much more open. His shoulders and arms were relaxed, his posture casual, but his height was imposing. His head nearly touched the ceiling, and just by standing there, his sense of pressure and presence was exceptionally strong.

Cheng Ye felt Jiang Shi’s gaze fall upon him. He swallowed discreetly, took a step forward, grabbed the collar of his T-shirt with one hand, and pulled it off right in front of Jiang Shi.

His honey-colored body was exposed before Jiang Shi.

The sliver of light from the window fell across Cheng Ye’s feet. He opened his arms slightly, frankly allowing another male to admire his body.

Shoulders, back, pectoral muscles, abdominal muscles. The wound on his abdomen had scabbed over and fallen off, leaving a faint mark that rose and fell with his breathing.

This was the body of an adult male, transitioning from youth to maturity.

Jiang Shi found it hard to look away, his breathing gradually becoming heavier.

Cheng Ye took another step forward. The black pants hung precariously on his lean waist, revealing the edge of his underwear. A few blue veins snaked across his abdomen, extending downwards before being hidden again by the pants.

“Jiang Shi…” he asked casually.

“Want to touch?”

Jiang Shi: “…”

The boy was cornered by Cheng Ye. Compared to the bare-chested man, Jiang Shi looked more like a virtuous young man being forced against his will.

Jiang Shi averted his eyes, picked up the clothes Cheng Ye was meant to change into, and threw them at him. “Touch what? Is there something you have that I don’t?”

Cheng Ye held the clothes. “I have abs.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

Is having abs such a big deal?

Cheng Ye added, “Eight of them.”

Seeing that Jiang Shi’s glare was about to turn into daggers, Cheng Ye paused, then added, “I’m better to touch than a dog.”

Jiang Shi was completely exasperated with him. “Shut up. The little dog is fluffy. How dare you compare yourself to a dog?”

“I have it too.” Cheng Ye grabbed Jiang Shi’s hand and, before he could react, pressed it against his abs. “It’s here. Black, and a lot of it, but I was afraid you’d find it ugly, so I shaved it.”

“Jiang Shi,” he said in a low voice, “can you feel it?”

The sensation was strange—warm, firm, and even a bit prickly.

The hair Cheng Ye had shaved off was growing back.

Jiang Shi snatched his hand back as if burned. “Who—who wants to touch you? Can you have some shame, Cheng Ye? Do you just grab anyone and ask them to touch you?”

“Of course not,” Cheng Ye said. “I only let you touch. And only you can look.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

Who could be as shameless as Cheng Ye?

He couldn’t stay in this room a moment longer. Jiang Shi pushed Cheng Ye away and rushed out of the room with his head down.

Once Jiang Shi left, the room fell silent. Tiny dust motes danced in the light. Cheng Ye was completely immersed in the narrow space enveloped by Jiang Shi’s scent.

The bed Jiang Shi had slept in, the places Jiang Shi had walked, the wardrobe Jiang Shi had used, every breath Jiang Shi had exhaled…

Cheng Ye blinked, feeling a wave of discomfort, and looked down.

It was a good thing Jiang Shi’s attention wasn’t elsewhere just now, or he really would have provoked him today.

For an eighteen-year-old boy, inhaling a single breath of his beloved could keep him awake all night.

His pants felt uncomfortably tight. Cheng Ye tugged at his waistband and took two steps forward to stand by Jiang Shi’s bed.

Jiang Shi didn’t make his bed. The quilt was rolled into a messy lump. On the headboard lay a half-read novel. Although it was a bit messy, it was very clean. Just standing by the bed, Cheng Ye could smell the faint fragrance from the quilt, exactly the same as Jiang Shi’s scent.

His breathing grew heavier and heavier. As if bewitched, he knelt before the bed.

The little bear print on the quilt was cute, but Cheng Ye still preferred that big red wedding quilt—red like fire, perfect for pinning him down, his snow-white skin sinking into the fiery red, desire and blood burning.

He lowered his head, pressing his face against the bed, his back arched, sniffing lowly like a pervert.

Jiang Shi knocked on the door from the outside. “Cheng Ye, are you done yet? It’s been several minutes.”

The waistband of his pants drooped, the white drawstring dragging a line across the concrete floor. The last ray of light slipped away from the window.

Cheng Ye grabbed the clothes Jiang Shi had just changed out of, tilted his head back, covered his face with them, and his breathing grew heavy.

“Almost,” he said.

---

The last trace of light vanished from the horizon, and darkness enveloped Xiliu Village.

Gao Xinhe stood under the pear tree in front of Jiang Shi’s house. His dark face was flushed with excitement, and he was wearing new clothes. Seeing Jiang Shi squatting at the entrance, he called out happily, “Little cousin, are you guys ready? Let’s go out and play together!”

Jiang Shi was squatting in the courtyard, eating from a bowl. The black and red Yi clothing made him look even fairer. Compared to the slightly wild, traditional Yi people, he looked more like a young master from a photoshoot.

The young master held a sea bowl almost as big as his face, surrounded by a flock of chickens. When he came across food he didn’t want to eat, he would pick it out for the big rooster.

Hearing the voice, Jiang Xue came out of the house with a bowl. “Xinhe, you’re just in time. Come and eat.”

Gao Xinhe said, “I’ve already eaten…”

“If you’ve eaten, have a little more.”

And so, Gao Xinhe, holding a sea bowl even larger than Jiang Shi’s, squatted in a row with him. He stuffed a mouthful of rice into his mouth before speaking. “Isn’t Brother Cheng at your house? Where is he?”

Jiang Shi mashed the potatoes into his rice. “Getting dressed. It’s taking him forever.”

Stripped down to nothing but a pair of pants and staying in his room for so long, who knows what shady business he was up to.

Thinking of this, he turned his head to glance at the room’s door.

With a creak, the door was pulled open, and Cheng Ye walked out into the light.

His expression was normal. The abs Jiang Shi had touched were obediently hidden under his clothes. When he wasn’t smiling, he looked fierce, with cold and stern features—fierce and cold.

But it was this fierce and cold-looking face that, in that dim room, had looked down at him and said those words, asking him to touch.

It was simply…

Jiang Shi gripped his chopsticks tightly. Just thinking about it made his face burn with shame.

Standing by the door, Cheng Ye raised his eyes and met Jiang Shi’s gaze.

Jiang Shi’s face turned cold, and he looked away.

Gao Xinhe, who had been slurping down half a bowl of rice like a little pig, looked at Jiang Shi, then turned a slightly reproachful gaze towards Cheng Ye, as if to say—

How did you make my little cousin angry again?

Cheng Ye: “…”

By the time they finished eating, the sky was completely dark. Night had fallen, blanketing the earth in black, but flames began to burn from under the banyan tree.

A huge bonfire lit up the sky above Xiliu Village as if it were daytime. The villagers sang songs Jiang Shi couldn’t understand. He was pulled into the circling line of people.

The firelight illuminated everyone’s face. Cheng Ye turned his head to look. The boy’s eyes were sparkling. He was biting his lip, the pearl of his lip rubbed a little red. Though he was clearly a bit embarrassed, he was clumsily imitating the movements of the people next to him.

After a few circles, Cheng Ye pulled him out of the crowd.

It was hot in the summer, and with such a large bonfire, Jiang Shi’s face was covered in a layer of sweat, his fair skin tinged with pink.

Cheng Ye led him up to a high platform.

The bonfire and the crowd were below their feet. A wind blew from the valley, lifting the stray hairs on Jiang Shi’s forehead. His eyes reflected the star-filled sky.

The sounds of laughter and noise grew distant, and the rustling of insects came from behind them.

Cheng Ye turned his head and saw Jiang Shi propping his hands on the ground, leaning back to look at the sky.

“Are you happy?” he asked Jiang Shi.

The sweat on Jiang Shi’s face was dried by the wind, and his whole being felt blown open. His body felt light, but his soul had found a place to land.

Cheng Ye’s voice sounded again by his ear. “Are you happier here or in Jiangcheng?”

“Here, I think,” Jiang Shi said.

The mountains of Xiliu Village enveloped him. When he opened his arms to the mountains, he possessed freedom.

He tilted his head and looked at Cheng Ye. “In any case, I still have to thank you.”

“Thank me?” Cheng Ye chuckled. “Thank me for what?”

Perhaps the fire below was burning hot enough that the snail, which had been hiding in its shell, was finally willing to extend its feelers a little.

“Thank you for being by my side from the very beginning. Without you, my life might have been far less free than it is now. I also know I have a bad temper, and many people around me dislike me. You seem to be the only one who can tolerate my rotten temper.”

“It’s not bad,” Cheng Ye said. “Young Master has a very good temper. If possible, I hope you’d become even meaner, so that no one would dare to bully you.”

This time, it was Jiang Shi’s turn to laugh.

There were many stars tonight, and the moon was full and round, hanging quietly like a jade plate.

Their shadows were cast on the ground by the moon, pressed into a flat shape.

Jiang Shi swung his legs and suddenly asked Cheng Ye, “Cheng Ye, when we were changing clothes just now, you stayed in my room for so long. What were you doing?”

Cheng Ye was stunned for a moment. His throat tightened, and he didn’t make a sound.

Jiang Shi leaned in, bringing his face close to his. “Hmm?”

Below them, their flat shadows overlapped and merged into one.

Cheng Ye’s gaze fell on the upturned pearl of Jiang Shi’s lip, his throat tightening. “Young Master, what answer do you want to hear from me?”

After saying that, he let out a low laugh. “After you left, I stayed in your room for ten minutes. Ten minutes isn’t long, but it’s not short either. What do you think I could have done in there?”

Jiang Shi’s hand, propped on the ground, curled slightly.

Cheng Ye’s aggressiveness was too strong. The courage he had finally mustered was instantly extinguished under his dark, profound gaze.

Jiang Shi leaned his body back, avoiding Cheng Ye’s eyes. “I was just asking casually. Who cares what you were do—”

Before he could finish, a large hand clamped down on his waist.

The man’s palm was wide, fitting perfectly around the boy’s narrow waist. The fabric of the clothes wasn’t thin, but Jiang Shi could still feel the warmth of his palm.

“Young Master, I was thinking of you and mast-urbating.”

“In your room, with your clothes. But you weren’t there, so I rubbed until my hand was red, but I still couldn’t come.”

“I’ve been holding it in until now. It’s so uncomfortable.”