Chapter 64 Chapter 64 Pick you up and take you home

"What happened to your lips?"

Jiang Xun's hand reached towards Chen Luan's chin, and Chen Luan immediately dodged back subconsciously.

The hand paused in mid-air for a second and then dropped down.

"I bought some ice water."

A bottle of iced mineral water, still misting, was handed over.

Chen Luan lowered his eyes and looked at Jiang Xun's fingers holding the bottle. He filled the bottle with water, unscrewed it, and took a sip.

"It was bitten by a dog."

As the cold liquid poured into the somewhat dry throat, the racing heartbeat slowly subsided, and the chaotic mind finally became a little clearer.

Jiang Ling had done it, and he couldn't take his anger out on Jiang Xun just because they had the same face.

This is unfair to Jiang Xun.

So Chen Luan drank the bottle of water slowly and looked at Jiang Xun: "Don't you have any training this afternoon? Why are you here at the school hospital?"

"It's break time now. Qiao Zhile had a heat stroke, so Jiang Ling brought him here."

Chen Luan's fingers holding the bottle paused for a moment, feeling a little helpless.

I noticed that the boy was in poor condition this morning and reminded him to report if he couldn't hold on any longer. The training in the medical department isn't as rigorous as that in the mecha department which requires combat, so why did he still send himself to the hospital?

"Where is he? Take me to see him."

"good."

Jiang Ling followed the two people silently.

No one paid any attention to him.

Before he had taken two steps, Jiang Xun suddenly called out to Chen Luan.

"elder brother."

His light amber eyes, as calm as water, gazed at Chen Luan, who turned to look at him with some doubt. His clear voice echoed through the corridor: "The Band-Aid is a little crooked."

Jiang Xun raised his eyes and looked at Chen Luan calmly: "Do you need me to help you re-stick it?"

Chen Luan raised his hand and touched the back of his neck. Sure enough, he felt a slightly painful indentation outside the rough edge of the band-aid.

He couldn't see it himself, and he had applied it too casually in his unstable mood, so it didn't cover it completely.

“…”

"good."

The three of them returned to the treatment room.

Chen Luan sat down on the chair, turned his back to Jiang Xun, lifted the ends of his hair, and peeled off the crooked Band-Aid, revealing the red bite mark on the cold jade-like skin on the back of his neck.

The scent of tequila in the air instantly burned up and surrounded me.

Jiang Xun raised his eyes and glanced at Jiang Ling who was standing silently on the side. His beautiful light amber pupils turned golden due to the undercurrent of emotions.

The latter was leaning against the shadow beside the cabinet, with a little bloodstain on the corner of his red mouth.

The twins, who were born of the same mother, looked at each other in the oppressive atmosphere.

Jiang Ling pulled the corners of his mouth and lowered his eyes.

Jiang Xun tightened his fingers around the cotton swab.

He had already guessed what this idiot had done to Chen Luan.

The bite mark on the back of Chen Luan's neck was not deep. Jiang Ling was no longer in the susceptible period, so the pheromones absorbed were not much. It would probably dissipate completely by evening.

Jiang Xun took a cotton swab and applied some cooling and swelling-reducing medicine to the glaring red area. He tore off a new band-aid to cover the bite mark tightly, and sprayed it with cleaning spray again to suppress the slight pheromone smell.

Until unless you get very close, you can't smell the slight temporary mark belonging to Jiang Ling on Chen Luan at a normal social distance.

Jiang Ling felt unhappy as he watched his marks being cleaned up bit by bit, but he just pursed his lips and said nothing.

As soon as Chen Luan and Jiang Xun packed up and went out, he immediately followed them out like a little tail.

The ward where Qiao Zhile was staying was at the end of the corridor.

When Chen Luan raised his hand to knock on the half-open door, the child was leaning on the hospital bed, holding a bottle of electrolyte water and sipping it fiercely, with an IV on the back of his hand and holding up a mobile phone to watch a video.

Hearing the sound, he turned around and saw Chen Luan leaning lazily against the door with his arms folded. His eyes suddenly lit up, then curved upwards, revealing a silly smile: "Hey, Brother Luan."

Like a silly dog ​​wagging its tail happily.

The bright and sparkling atmosphere permeated him, and Chen Luan's heavy heart felt relieved a lot. He couldn't help but curl up the corners of his lips and tapped Qiao Zhile's forehead lightly with his fingers:

"What's wrong with you? Didn't you say to rest if you can't hold on any longer?"

Qiao Zhile scratched his head sheepishly: "I'm not doing this. I'm sorry to embarrass the alpha. The omega and beta next to me are still standing."

As he spoke, he put the phone down with the screen facing up.

The video being played was the battle video shot by the audience in the stands during the morning's confrontation with Qin Yang.

The red shadow like a stream of fire was making the black mecha spin around and push it down to the ground.

Qiao Zhile noticed Chen Luan's pause and excitedly raised his phone, "Brother Luan, that red mecha is what you drove, right? The video is going viral on the forums."

As he spoke, he slid the screen to show Chen Luan the comments on the post that had been marked with a red "Popular" header.

[My brother is the best in the world: My brother is still my brother! So flexible!]

[Woohoo, Caicai, Lao Lao: Tsk, if I go up to this level, I only need one move! Assistant Chen will cry and beg me not to die.]

[I really don't want to repair the mecha: My mom asked me why I was kneeling to watch the video.]

[The data doesn't lie: Anyone coming to the training ground this afternoon to review Teacher Chen's operations? I want to learn.]

[Salted Fish Non-Stick Pan: Who on earth is so lucky to be in Mr. Huo's class and get guidance from Assistant Chen! Assistant Chen, stop hitting him, hit me! I can take a beating better than him!]

[The data doesn't lie: The internet cafe upstairs just opened. Teacher Chen is no longer an assistant to Teacher Huo. This year, she's teaching new students. I wonder if they'll offer elective courses?]

My Luan Ge is the best in the world: Luan Ge actually taught Sister Lin's special pre-exam course. It should be offered again this year. Everyone who has taken it says it's great!

[Salted Fish Non-Stick Pan:??? This is such a good thing! Ahhhh, class registration is open, kick me out! I want to grab a class!]

At the same time, the progress bar of the video being played has reached the end.

In the picture, Chen Luan jumped onto the hatch of the black mecha and stretched out his hand towards the person inside.

Jiang Xun's gaze fell calmly on the screen.

The black-haired and black-eyed alpha was pulled by Chen Luan to stand up from the cabin, and then he swayed his body and leaned on Chen Luan's shoulder.

It looked like she was being held in Chen Luan's arms.

Then the two of them left together.

The pheromones of agarwood and vetiver in the air stirred for a moment, and the spicy smell of agave spread.

A mocking chuckle came from the side.

Jiang Xun raised his eyes and met Jiang Ling's gaze.

The latter raised the corner of his mouth towards Jiang Xun, and the meaning in his eyes was very obvious.

We're all birds of a feather, so who doesn't understand who? Look, if it were you, you wouldn't be able to keep calm either.

“…”

Jiang Xun knocked away the provocative pheromones that were rushing towards him and glared at his stupid brother who was losing his temper.

——You deserve to be beaten.

The two brothers on this side were secretly pinching each other with pheromones, while on the other side, Chen Luan, who was completely unaware, was chatting with Qiao Zhile, and the two of them burst into laughter from time to time.

He seems to be in a much better mood.

Before leaving, he said goodbye to Qiao Zhile and Jiang Xun, but ignored Jiang Ling.

Just treat him as air.

When Chen Luan walked away, Qiao Zhile looked at Jiang Ling, whose face was still red, and blinked while sipping electrolyte water. "Jiang Ling, are you having a conflict with Brother Luan?"

It looked like he was beaten.

What on earth did he do to anger such a good-tempered Luan Ge?

Jiang Ling: “…”

Jiang Ling, who usually gets angry at the slightest provocation, leaned against the window with his eyes lowered, turned his head to look out the window, and didn't want to talk.

A chuckle filled the air.

Jiang Xun threw the empty bottle in Qiao Zhile's hand into the trash can in the corner and glanced at Jiang Ling: "Don't worry about him, he deserves it."

Chen Luan has been very restrained.

For the next whole week, although Chen Luan no longer deliberately avoided his two brothers, he did not say a single word to Jiang Ling.

This kind of torture, like a blunt knife cutting flesh, made Jiang Ling feel like he was trapped in the torn between ice and fire.

On the one hand, he was clamoring frantically to grab Chen Luan, to turn that cold face to look at him, to force him to look at himself and acknowledge his existence. On the other hand, he kept flashing back to the glacial look that Chen Luan gave him in the treatment room, and recalled the moment when Chen Luan's sleeve was pulled away from his fingertips.

He doesn't dare.

He would rather Chen Luan beat him up than suffer the torment of being completely ignored. Even his heartbeat seemed to have fallen into a deep and endless ice cave, and all that awaited him was an endless fall.

But Jiang Xun did nothing.

As usual, he acted like a good and obedient brother in front of Chen Luan, as if the pheromone agitation in Qiao Zhile's ward that day was just an illusion.

Like a predator hiding in the darkness, calmly waiting for its opportunity, neither hasty nor slow.

The weekend is here again soon.

The weather was not good. The lead-gray clouds pressed down heavily, accumulating above the steel forest in the distance, and even the air became damp.

The freshmen complained bitterly after days of high-intensity training, so they all took a day off.

It was already long after get off work, but Chen Luan was still sitting in the office, staring blankly at his almost bald cactus.

Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling must have arrived home by now.

"Chen Luan?"

Huo Lin's voice came from outside the office: "Why haven't you left yet?"

The alpha, who had just finished overtime and was about to leave school, came in and knocked on Chen Luan's desk with a smile: "What's wrong? You look so lifeless lately. It seems like you're almost getting corpse spots."

Chen Luan was silent for a moment.

How to say it?

He couldn't tell Huo Lin that his brother had forced a kiss on him and he didn't know how to deal with it, right?

Huo Lin could tell that Chen Luan didn't want to answer, so he didn't continue asking. Instead, he stretched out his hand towards Chen Luan and raised his chin: "Come on, come with me and help me."

"Where are you going?"

"My home."

An hour later, the car passed through most of the city, crossed the Jinghai Bridge, turned and passed through the narrow and dark alleys of the Chenggang slum area, and stopped outside a courtyard with red tiles and white walls.

The shabby but clean iron gate was half open, and green vines hung down from the top of the wall.

There is a sign hanging next to the gate: Chenggang District Home of Hope.

The moment Huo Lin's fiery red hair appeared at the door, a childish and crisp voice suddenly rang out in the courtyard:

"Sister Huo is back!!"

Then there were more and more shouts of surprise, and a group of little kids, big and small, swarmed out of the yard like sparrows and surrounded Huo Lin.

The middle-aged woman downstairs in the courtyard put down the bucket she was carrying and looked at Huo Lin gently. She then glanced at Chen Luan beside him and narrowed her eyes. "You're back. And you brought friends with you?"

"Yeah, I'm back, Mom."

Huo Lin was squeezed by a group of little kids holding their legs and arms, unable to get away. So he leaned over and pointed at Chen Luan beside him, and whispered with squinting eyes, "See this handsome guy? He has candy on him."

So the next second, the one who was squeezed in among a group of furry little cuties and sweetly called brother became Chen Luan.

Chen Luan, who was wearing a small outfit, fumbled around in his pocket for his candy. Huo Lin, who had escaped, stood aside, crossed his arms, and began to laugh.

Chen Luan crawled out from the pile of little kids after a long while. He looked at the little ones running around the yard, let out a sigh, and then slowly began to smile.

A long time ago, when he was still in the reformatory in the underground base, he also looked forward to the arrival of adults like these children.

They will bring a lot of things.

Sometimes it’s some new clothes and toys, sometimes it’s snacks and candies.

Sometimes, it’s new parents and a new home.

"Mmm, my mom made some steamed buns for dinner."

Huo Lin stuffed a hot bun into Chen Luan's hand, took a bite of his own, squinted his eyes happily, and then looked at the little ones who were queuing up to get the buns and said:

"They were all adopted by my mother. Some were abandoned in the hospital because they were sick, some were left at the gate of the yard in the middle of the night, and some were picked up by my mother when they were begging outside."

She laughed as she spoke:

"I gave all my salary to my mother to raise the children."

Chen Luan bit into the fragrant vegetarian bun in his hand and asked: "Do you come back every day?"

That's why the house outside the school is empty.

"Yes, there are volunteers during the day, but they go home at night. I'm afraid my mother can't take care of it alone."

Huo Lin finished his buns, clapped his hands, and stood up. He lowered his eyes and looked at Chen Luan with a smile on his face. "Didn't I capture a strong man like you to help me today?"

Soon, Chen Luan knew what he was being asked to help with.

Help play eagle catches chicken with the kids...

Chen Luan is responsible for protecting the cubs, and Huo Lin plays the eagle.

As the sky darkened, the lights under the eaves lit up early, casting a small ball of warm light.

The two adults were dragged into the yard by a group of little kids.

Soft and warm little hands were grasping the clothes at the waist, and behind them hung a bunch of young but bright faces.

Huo Lin leaned over and opened his hands, deliberately frowning and baring his teeth to act fierce, so the bright little suns shouted happily and hid behind Chen Luan.

Chen Luan also supported his knees and dodged left and right to intercept Huo Lin who was rushing towards the children. The little kids screamed and formed a string of crooked wind chimes, making crisp sounds as they swayed.

The laughter hit the courtyard wall with a crisp sound, and then bounced back staggeringly.

The one who is catching people is laughing, the one who is being caught is laughing, and the one who falls down is also laughing when he gets up.

Chen Luan also started laughing.

When the children were tired of playing, they huddled together next to Chen Luan and Huo Lin who were sitting on the ground, snuggling up to them softly and warmly.

Chen Luan panted as he looked at the warm light diffused from under the eaves. The depression that had been pent up in his chest for days was finally dispelled, and he felt a gentle warmth rising up.

Huo Lin looked at the gradually darkening sky and the lowering clouds, raised his hand and patted Chen Luan on the shoulder: "Are you happier now? Come and play more often in the future."

She lowered her eyes and pinched the soft face of the little girl lying on her chest, her eyes soft: "They like you too. Huh? Right?"

The little girl raised her head and glanced at Chen Luan's delicate and beautiful features, then immediately buried her head in Huo Lin's arms, and uttered a muffled sound like a kitten's meow: "Yeah! I like it!"

After saying that, she looked up at Chen Luan with a bright smile, revealing her missing teeth: "I like Brother Chen Luan!"

"The candy that Brother Chen Luan gave me is delicious~"

"Brother is handsome! Hehe."

"Brother, will you come again next time? When will you come again?"

The yard, which had just become quiet for a while, became noisy again.

My chest felt like it was being lifted up by a warm cloud, floating gently and softly.

Until Chen Luan went out and got into the car, Huo Lin and the dean stood at the door, and the children gathered around him to say goodbye to him.

"It's going to rain soon, please be careful on the road."

Huo Lin patted Chen Luan's car window.

Chen Luan looked at the little kid squatting at the gate, eagerly watching him leave, and waved his hand with his eyes curved. "Okay, let's go."

When I got home, the sky had completely darkened. The air was filled with condensed moisture, and the clouds were almost pressing down on my head, as if I could touch them with my hand.

Chen Luan met Jiang Ling downstairs in the community.

The young man, who had changed back into casual clothes, was sitting on a bench under the street light outside the building, as if waiting for him to come home. When he saw Chen Luan from a distance, he immediately stood up.

"Chen Luan, you..."

Jiang Ling looked down at Chen Luan, pinching her palms and about to ask, "Where have you been?", but swallowed the words back at the tip of her tongue, and changed it to, "You're back."

He looked a little pitifully anxious.

Chen Luan pursed his lips, looked into Jiang Ling's eyes, and uncontrollably thought of the kiss, his heart becoming confused again.

So he said "hmm" coldly and walked into the building without looking back.

Jiang Ling did not follow.

Chen Luan turned around when he was getting on the elevator. Through the gap in the elevator door that was gradually closing, he saw Jiang Ling standing under the gray sky, looking at him from afar. His shadow was stretched out by the street lamp behind him and stopped at an angle at the bottom of the steps.

The figure looked as lonely as an abandoned large dog.

My heart skipped a beat uncontrollably.

The next second, the cold metal door completely blocked the view.

After returning home, Chen Luan changed his shoes and took a shower, then snuggled up on the sofa with a glass of orange juice and watched some melodramatic drama.

Jiang Xun made the orange juice.

Chen Luan did not mention that he met Jiang Ling downstairs, and Jiang Xun did not remind Chen Luan that Jiang Ling was still downstairs.

The empty living room was filled with the only sounds of the hysterical quarrel between the male and female protagonists in the melodrama.

Chen Luan held the cold glass in his hand, his eyes fixed on the screen, as if he was looking at it, but also as if he was distracted.

Suddenly, a loud thunder sounded outside the window.

The dull wind blew in from outside, carrying with it a damp smell.

Chen Luan blinked.

The next second, with a loud "crash", the Tianhe River began to flow backwards.

Jiang Xun, who was sitting at the table reading a book, stood up and closed the window to block the damp rain that was about to rush in.

The curtains were a little wet.

Jiang Ling didn't come back.

Chen Luan lowered his eyes and looked at the ice cubes floating in the orange juice, and the necklace on his chest swayed coldly.

The lonely figure seen through the gap in the elevator door kept getting bigger in his mind, and slowly overlapped with the figures at the door of Hope House who were staring at him and calling him brother.

Scenes from the past emerged in my thoughts, which had been tangled into a tangled mess for days.

Jiang Ling was so amused by him that her face turned red and she jumped up and down.

He forced me to call him brother unwillingly.

The warmth in my arms again and again,

On the day the results were announced, my eyes sparkled with joy...

Everything passed by like a slide show before my eyes.

The rain is getting heavier.

A sigh finally sounded in the silent air.

Chen Luan put down the empty cup, picked up the garbage bag beside the coffee table, and took an umbrella from the cabinet in the entrance hall in his slippers.

Open the door and go out.

At this time, Jiang Ling was squatting under the eaves of the building door with her knees hugged.

Dense rain lines flashed in the dim light of the street lamp, and crackling raindrops fell on the edge of the steps in front of me, and the splashing water soaked the soles of my toes.

He looked at the splashes in silence, raised his hand to catch the cold rain, and lowered his eyes.

Chen Luan definitely doesn't want to see him at home now.

Suddenly, a shadow fell from behind, blocking out the light above.

A familiar voice came down from above:

"What? You're squatting here waiting for the streetlight to be damaged by the rain so you can stand there and take turns with it?"

His fingers, wet from the rain, froze in place.

Jiang Ling's pupils narrowed, and he slowly turned his head, his dry lips parted:

"List--"

His throat felt like it was stuffed with a ball of wet cotton, and he choked. The pigeon in his chest, which had seemed dead for the past few days, flapped its wings and began to beat violently.

Jiang Ling's stiff Adam's apple rolled, and his voice became dry and hoarse: "...What are you doing here?"

The handsome young man holding an umbrella in front of him raised his eyebrows and shook the garbage bag in his hand: "Come down and throw away the garbage."

"By the way, pick up someone and take him home."