Chapter 52 Greater Khingan Mountains - 7 Tang Bufan suddenly...

Tang Bufan's sudden tears startled Lu Yi outside the window. He immediately burrowed into the thick snow and headed towards the car door, but the white snow quickly submerged his original spot.

Tang Bufan staggered towards the car door, and as soon as the metal door opened, he rushed over.

He was much shorter than Lu Yi, only reaching his chest, but even so, he still managed to knock Lu Yi back a step.

Lu Yi was stunned for a moment, then gently leaned down and hugged the man in her arms.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Lu Yi apologized to Tang Bufan. "The heavy snow covered the mountain, and I couldn't find my way back."

"It's good that you're back." Tang Bufan's voice choked with emotion. Despite being weak and having little strength, he still tried his best to hold him tightly, as if he was afraid of losing him again.

The image of Lu Yi crawling with maggots in his nightmare left a deep psychological scar on Tang Bufan. He couldn't help but look up and reach out to pull at Lu Yi's hair and face. Thankfully, he was a perfectly healthy person.

I feel a bit cold, not as warm as before.

Tang Bufan thought he must be freezing outside, so he snapped out of his daze, pulled him toward the bed, and said, "Come on, wrap yourself in the blanket."

"I'm not cold."

"You're cold," Tang Bufan said seriously. Lu Yi was wearing a loose V-neck sweater, and it was minus thirty or forty degrees outside. If he wasn't cold, who would be?

"..." Lu Yi was speechless. Well, there's a kind of coldness that others perceive as yours.

When the two reached the bedside, Lu Yi still hesitated. Tang Bufan's blanket was open on the bed. Although he had slept with Tang Bufan in his arms before, it was always through the blanket. He had never crawled into Tang Bufan's bed.

"What are you hesitating for? Go inside." Tang Bufan gently pushed him.

Lu Yi was defeated by his domineering attitude, and then crawled into the old quilt. Tang Bufan had only been asleep for a short time, and the quilt was full of his scent, which was elegant and charming.

Even though she had already passed her heat cycle, Lu Yi's cheeks still flushed slightly.

"Do you want some meat?" Tang Bufan asked him, standing by the bed. He wiped his disheveled face with his arm, feeling happy and wanting to take good care of him.

Lu Yi shook his head. Tang Bufan saw that he was not eating meat, so he reached out to tuck him in, but Lu Yi gently grabbed his hand.

"I'm fine, teacher." Lu Yi looked at him, not needing Tang Bufan to do anything for him, and asked somewhat strangely, "Why aren't you asleep yet so late?"

When he returned, he was stunned to find Tang Bufan sitting by the window. He rushed over and peered at him through the glass, but the noise of knocking on the frost startled Tang Bufan.

"I slept... but woke up from a nightmare." Tang Bufan was still shaken by the nightmare, so he asked him, "What time is it?"

"Around one or two in the morning?" Lu Yi wasn't sure either, then told Tang Bufan, "Around dusk I was still on the mountaintop next door. The mountain was buried in snow, with only a few tall ones still sticking out, like small islands. I had no idea where our mountain was, and I was afraid of getting lost and wandering further and further away, so I could only stay there. Then suddenly I saw the snow moving. It was Anderson shaking the trees on the mountaintop. He shook out a big eddy, and I immediately set off for this place."

But since he couldn't see anything around him, Lu Yi wandered around in the dark in the snow for a long time before finally catching a whiff of Anderson's scent and following it back.

"I asked him to find you." Tang Bufan's goodwill towards Anderson increased immediately: "I thought he was just looking randomly. I was very sad when he told me that our mountain was buried in snow and could not be seen. I didn't expect him to have gone to such lengths to mark you."

Lu Yi smiled faintly: "He was a good person to begin with."

"I won't hate him anymore," Tang Bufan said earnestly, planning to properly thank Anderson tomorrow.

He was still standing by the bed. Lu Yi hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked shyly, "Teacher, would you like to come to the bed?"

It's still late at night, Tang Bufan can continue sleeping.

Tang Bufan felt it was inappropriate for the two of them to sleep together, but he knew that Lu Yi would definitely not be able to sleep if he just sat there in the carriage. So he hesitated for a moment before lifting his knees and climbing onto the bed.

Lu Yi made room for him, letting Tang Bufan sleep on the inside of the bed.

"Then cover yourself with a blanket and turn off the light?" Lu Yidao asked.

"……good."

The two of them lay down together under the old quilt, both feeling a little uneasy.

"Teacher, aren't you going to take off your cotton-padded coat?" Lu Yi reminded Tang Bufan.

"Oh!" Tang Bufan was so flustered that he forgot.

So he got up and took off his cotton-padded coat, revealing the old black sweater he was wearing underneath.

The two men's arms were pressed together through their sweaters. Kai turned off the lights, plunging the carriage into darkness.

But Tang Bufan couldn't sleep.

Lu Yi is the same.

The two lay awake in the darkness. Lu Yi, being an orc, had glowing eyes, which Tang Bufan noticed, so he urged him, "Go to sleep."

"oh."

A dozen minutes later, Tang Bufan opened his eyes with concern and met the glowing eyes of the orc boy.

"Go to sleep!"

"...I can't sleep." Lu Yi told the truth and whispered to Tang Bufan in the dark, "I've been separated from you for so long, and I want to see you more."

Tang Bufan's heart fluttered, and he couldn't help but confess, "Me too, I miss you terribly."

“I’m afraid you’ll die while I’m not around,” Lu Yi said, after all, Tang Bufan was so frail.

Tang Bufan also said, "Me too, I'm very worried that you'll freeze to death outside."

"Then let Kai turn on the lights?" Lu Yi suggested.

Tang Bufan felt a little embarrassed to face Lu Yi, as their relationship was currently delicate, but after hesitating for a moment, he still agreed.

"Okay." He also wanted to see Lu Yi again.

Kai then turned the lights back on in the carriage, allowing the two people lying on the bed to see each other clearly again.

Lu Yi rolled over and lay on his side, his long blond hair spread out on the pillow. Because he hadn't been in the sun for a while, his skin had become a little whiter, and Tang Bufan felt that he was even more handsome.

As for himself... Tang Bufan thought of Anderson's evaluation of him: So ugly.

Feeling inferior, Tang Bufan shrank further into the tattered quilt, half-covering his pale and thin face.

"Are you cold?" Lu Yi thought he was cold.

"...A little." Tang Bufan lied, of course not explaining that it was to hide his ugly face.

Looking at the man curled up in the blankets, Lu Yi thought he was really cute, with his dark, bright eyes peeking out, and a little idea popped into her mind.

"Let me hold you," Lu Yi said. "I'm feeling hot."

"Uh..." Tang Bufan was caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to accept or refuse, feeling as if he had shot himself in the foot.

Seeing that he did not explicitly refuse, Lu Yi tentatively reached out to Tang Bufan, his strong and slender arm wrapping around the man's delicate body.

He even pulled Tang Bufan towards him.

Tang Bufan immediately snuggled into his arms, feeling how warm his body was; the usually cold blankets were now cozy and warm.

Lu Yi, having succeeded, curled the corners of his mouth in satisfaction.

Tang Bufan lay flat on his back, his hands unsure of what to do. He had been quite composed when he pulled Lu Yi to sleep with him before, mocking Lu Yi for overthinking things, but now their attitudes had reversed.

After thinking it over and over again, he gently placed his hands on Lu Yi's arms.

Lu Yi suddenly reached out and pulled up his sleeve, letting Tang Bufan's icy fingertips touch his arm directly.

"I'll keep it warm for you," Lu Yi said.

“…Okay.” Tang Bufan was deeply moved. What a wonderful, sunny, and warm-hearted man.

After chatting, the two didn't know what to say next. Although the lights were turned on so that they could see each other, Tang Bufan was too embarrassed to stare directly at Lu Yi.

Lu Yi lay on her side, staring intently at Tang Bufan. Tang Bufan kept his face half-hidden under the blanket, feeling a little annoyed. He wished he could still be the same as before.

Tang Bufan was quite confident in his former appearance. If he still looked the same, he would definitely be able to accept his gaze without any problem.

"Teacher," Lu Yi suddenly called out to him.

"Um?"

"May I kiss you?"

"!" Tang Bufan was shocked, his eyes widening slightly.

While he was still in a daze, Lu Yi slightly raised his body, and the old quilt covering the two of them was lifted along with his body, revealing Tang Bufan's face that had been covered.

He had nowhere to hide, so he could only lie there staring blankly at the handsome face that appeared above him, his breathing becoming rapid.

Lu Yi lowered his eyes, staring at Tang Bufan's lips, which were blackened due to severe poisoning, and then lowered his head...

Tang Bufan suddenly raised his hand and narrowly blocked Lu Yi's lips with his fingertips.

Tang Bufan was utterly shocked: "Kissing?!"

Lu Yiban pressed down on Tang Bufan's body, looking down at him.

"Of course it's the mouth." Lu's cheeks flushed, but she spoke matter-of-factly: "Otherwise, where did the teacher think it was?"

Tang Bufan thought frantically for a moment: "Forehead? Cheek?"

“…We’re not children anymore.” Lu Yi couldn’t help but chuckle.

"I'm an adult, but you're a child!" Tang Bufan didn't expect to be mocked by him, so he immediately put on a stern face and adopted the air of an elder: "You're only 17 years old, this is puppy love!"

“I’m not a child anymore.” Lu Yi said with a hint of grievance, “This year is almost over, and I’m turning 18.”

"18 is still young!" Tang Bufan retorted. "Besides, have we even officially started dating? You're trying to kiss me right off the bat... How can you do that!"

Tang Bufan was genuinely shocked by Lu Yi's actions. He was still fretting about his own ugliness when suddenly he was about to kiss Lu Yi... It caught him completely off guard.

“Then let’s confirm it now.” Lu Yi propped himself up on his elbow, grabbed Tang Bufan’s hand that was covering his lips with his other hand, looked at him affectionately with his golden-green eyes, and softly confessed, “I like you, teacher, and I want to date you.”

"..." Tang Bufan lay there, his heart pounding as he met his gaze. A blush rose on his pale face, but after a moment... he turned his head away to avoid the look.

“…I want to go back,” Tang Bufan said bitterly.

"I know," Lu Yi said calmly.

The moment he realized he liked Tang Bufan, he accepted that the relationship would end without a trace.

Lu Yi lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes gently kissing Tang Bufan's cold, pale fingertips.

“I know you want to go back, and I know you have your own principles, but liking someone has nothing to do with how it ends.” Lu Yi said gently but with mixed feelings, “I want to love you as much as possible in the limited time we have.”

Tang Bufan listened in a daze, his throat tightening. He hadn't expected to hear such words. He realized how different Lu Yi's way of thinking was from his own... He was running away because he couldn't give him a result, but Lu Yi faced it with joy.

Tears welled in his eyes, and he felt a pang of sorrow: "But how could I... treat you like this... I'm a terrible person... Between you and going back, I will definitely choose to go back..."

So, don't like him anymore; he's not worth it.

"I know." Lu Yi looked at Tang Bufan, who was crying again, and her heart softened. "I think the teacher's unwavering determination is also very charming."

After he finished speaking, his gaze fell on the collar around Tang Bufan's neck, and his voice lowered a few decibels: "After all, you are the kind of person who would rather die than give up."

Not everyone has the courage to risk their life for that incredibly slim hope, nor can everyone take the initiative to shoulder responsibility, not run away, and accept being condemned by everyone... even if the child's death was not Tang Bufan's fault.

“I will take you home, teacher,” Lu Yi promised him.

"..." Tang Bufan fell silent.

"So... even for just a second, I want to be with you." After saying this, Lu Yi lowered her head again towards Tang Bufan...

Tang Bufan still blocked it with his hand.

Lu Yi's lips touched Tang Bufan's fingertips, and she looked aggrieved.

"Why won't you let me kiss you?" Lu Yi looked at him with pitiful eyes; he had already said so much.

In that brief moment, Tang Bufan also thought about many things.

"Because I have to take responsibility for you." Tang Bufan calmed down.

He said to Lu Yi, "I understand you. You're just a teenager, the age when you love most wholeheartedly. But you're right, liking someone doesn't depend on the outcome. Not every relationship is destined. You are very outstanding, Lu Yi. Sooner or later you will meet someone hundreds of times better than me. I can't take away the first kiss that belongs to your future wife."

Tang Bufan knew that Lu Yi was a very serious person, but that was precisely why he was afraid of wasting Lu Yi's life. If Lu Yi were a playboy, he might be able to put aside his worries and date him.

Lu Yi was stunned, staring blankly at Tang Bufan's solemn face: "But... my future wife is you."

"You're kidding me," Tang Bufan retorted. "You just said you'd take me home, how could it be me? Your wife must be someone else."

Lu Yi was a little annoyed. "Then I won't get married."

Anyway, he never intended to get married.

Tang Bufan looked at his annoyed expression and couldn't help but find it a little funny. He actually laughed, and then reached out and hugged the boy with tenderness.

"I'm sorry, Lu Yi," Tang Bufan apologized softly, feeling like he was about to cry again. "I can't be with you."

As Lu Yi felt the man's gentle embrace, her eyes welled up with tears.

"It's alright, teacher." Lu Yi also reached out and hugged him; he understood.

Because that's exactly the kind of Tang Bufan he loves.