old things

Once inside the house, Qi Zui's first reaction was to rush into the bathroom and take a cold shower.

Wen Xubai: "?"

Watching the other person dash into the bathroom with lightning speed, Wen Xubai stood in the entryway, completely bewildered and a little confused.

Wen Xubai casually placed the key in his hand on the shoe cabinet, then slowly took off his trench coat and hung it on the coat rack by the door. This was his usual habit, and the coat rack was specially bought by Qi Zui when the two of them moved in.

To be honest, Wen Xubai was a little surprised that the clothes hanger was still sitting there untouched.

After all, the two of them had rented this house before. Having been away for so long, he had long been prepared for the landlord to rent it to someone else and for the interior to be completely changed by the new tenant.

But unexpectedly...

Wen Xubai slowly scanned the small house.

Not only is the clothes rack still here, but everything in the house is exactly the same as when he left.

Did Qi Zui deliberately rent the house back before he returned? And even renovate it?

Or is it that... this house has been vacant all along, without ever welcoming a new owner?

A jumble of thoughts tugged at Wen Xubai's brain like a tangled mess, threatening to drift away...

After wandering aimlessly for several minutes, the gaze finally settled on the bathroom door with the light on.

The space inside was cramped, and the warm lights were on. The sound of water could be heard clearly, and the shadows on the snowflake door moved very obviously, like a shadow puppet show.

Wen Xubai walked into the corridor and suddenly stopped.

Seriously? When did Qi Zui become so obsessive about cleanliness?

He remembered that when they used to live together, Qi would occasionally come home late from class or work, and if he was really tired, he would just collapse onto the bed and fall asleep immediately.

Wen Xubai often couldn't stand the smell of sweat on him, so he would frown and kick him off the bed, warning him to either take a shower or go sleep on the sofa. Only then would Qi Zui reluctantly move his heavy feet to the bathroom.

Why are you so self-disciplined now?

Meanwhile, Qi Zui, inside the bathroom, was completely unaware of his lover's wild thoughts outside the door. He turned on the shower and immediately poured a stream of cold water over his head.

I was startled by the sudden chill and took a step back. However, the space in the bathroom was too limited. If I had taken another step back, I would have been on the toilet. I finally stopped and resignedly closed my eyes to the biting cold water.

As he gradually adapted to the water temperature, much of the heat from his body was dissipated, and the small spot where his head had been raised finally calmed down. Only then did Qi Zui breathe a sigh of relief.

Qi Zui vigorously tossed his hair, feeling it was about time, before turning off the shower and instinctively reaching for a towel.

As a result, the attempt to scoop it up came to nothing.

Qi Zui: "..."

Oh no, I was in such a rush, I forgot to bring a bath towel.

He opened his eyes and looked around. Apart from the dirty clothes he had just changed out of, there was nothing on the washing machine. He had even forgotten to take his pajamas.

Standing naked in the bathroom, Qi finally felt the chill of late autumn and couldn't help but sneeze.

Achoo!

Although he wasn't easily embarrassed, and he and Wen Xubai had already been intimate, streaking wasn't his hobby. So, after a moment of contemplation, he helplessly called out, "A-Che!"

"A-Che" happened to be standing outside the door and was startled by his sudden shout. He quickly regained his senses and replied, "What's wrong?"

"I forgot my pajamas..." Qi Zui was on the verge of tears. "Could you please get them for me?"

Wen Xubai: "·······"

Walking into the bedroom with a blank expression, Wen Xubai was almost blinded by the dazzling array of colorful clothes inside the familiar wooden wardrobe!

Wen Xubai: "·······"

He overestimated Qi Zui's taste.

He asked why the Wen family had so few clothes. It turned out that Qi had put all his "treasures" there... including the "couple outfits" they had bought together before.

Recalling the scene from long ago when Wen Xubai said he was going to throw away all of Qi Zui's ugly clothes, and Qi Zui crumpled his clothes into a ball and hugged them to his chest, shaking his head at him with great heartache... Wen Xubai's face darkened again.

Wait a minute, are all the clothes here?

With a question lingering in his mind, Wen Xubai reluctantly picked out a gray two-piece pajama set from a sea of ​​brightly colored patterns, stuffed it into the bathroom through a crack, and waited for Qi Zui to come out after changing. Then, he asked quietly, "Have you been living here for the past few years?"

"Ahhhhhh!—" Qi Zui was startled by Wen Xubai, who was leaning against the wall like a ghost and suddenly made a sound. He was so startled that he almost dropped the towel in his hand!

After seeing Wen Xubai's face clearly, she patted her wounded heart, still looking shaken, and said, "Why are you standing here? You scared me!"

Wen Xubai looked at him with a somber expression and asked, "Is that so?"

"Yes," Qi Zui said frankly, wiping his wet hair one last time with his left hand, and then tossing the towel in the air when he felt it was enough.

Then, right in front of them, the checkered towel fell into the washing machine in an extremely graceful parabola.

"Yes! Got it!" Qi excitedly struck a victory pose!

Wen Xubai: "·······"

If his right hand weren't still immobile, Wen Xubai had no doubt that the other party would be celebrating with both hands raised right now.

Unable to bear the other party's childish behavior any longer, Wen Xubai rubbed his temples in exasperation and continued the previous topic: "Didn't Wen Tingyi ask you to go back to the ancestral home to live?"

"Why go back?" Qi Zui shrugged calmly. "You know what kind of person Wen Tingyi is. It's enough to go back occasionally and pretend to be a 'filial son and father' with him. I don't have your good temper to watch him put on airs and act all high and mighty every day."

"Besides, I've already bought this house, so there's no harm in not living there. I'll be more comfortable living here by myself."

"You bought it?" Wen Xubai was a little shocked. "When did this happen?"

Qi Zui stroked his chin and thought for a moment, "It was about when I went back to the Wen family. At that time, the old man gave me a large sum of money in order to pretend to be a family member in front of the media. I thought I might as well use it, and the house wasn't expensive, so I just paid for it in full."

"How about it?" Qi Zui raised an eyebrow at him smugly. "Three years have passed, and house prices have increased several times over. I was very farsighted, wasn't I?"

Wen Xubai did not respond to him.

For some reason, he suddenly felt a pang of sadness in his heart.

In fact, with the Wen family's wealth, buying the entire building would be a piece of cake for Qi Zui if he wanted it, but he just bought this one. Even without Qi Zui saying it outright, Wen Xubai understood why.

Qi knew that Wen Xubai was starting to overthink again, so he simply reached out and pinched Wen Xubai's cheeks, forcefully interrupting his thoughts.

Before Wen Xubai could speak, he let go of his hand, patted the other's head, and said softly, like coaxing a child, "Be good, don't think too much. Go take a shower. We have important things to do tonight."

The effect was remarkable; Wen Xubai was immediately drawn off course and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"You'll know when you come out." Qi Zui smiled wickedly, crossing his arms as he looked at him.

Wen Xubai: "·······"

With a few random thoughts running through his mind, Wen Xubai forced himself to suppress them, changed into his pajamas, and came out. As soon as he looked up, he saw Qi Zui on the sofa, intently changing channels with the remote control.

The gray and white checkered pajamas made Qi's usually rugged profile appear exceptionally gentle, and the light above him cast a soft glow on him, making him look even more amiable.

Upon seeing him, Qi Zui immediately smiled, revealing two small tiger teeth, patted the seat next to him, and said, "Come on!"

"Is this the important matter you mentioned?" Wen Xubai walked over and glanced at the foreign film playing on the TV.

"Yeah! Come watch a movie with me! Isn't that the important thing?" Qi Zui nodded seriously, then pulled Wen Xubai down. "How long has it been since we watched a movie together?"

As soon as Wen Xubai's bottom touched the sofa, he felt an obstruction behind him. He turned around and saw a little bear that he had been sitting on looking at him with a smile.

Wen Xubai: "?"

He pulled the brown bear out from under its rear end, knocking down the other white bear as well, and then picked it up as well.

The two bears in front of me, one brown and one white, one with an upturned mouth and the other with a downturned mouth, were wearing similarly colored plaid sweaters, and their black bean-like eyes shone with a faint light.

Wen Xubai: "?"

"They're still here..."

"Huh? Who?" Qi Zui, who was focused on finding a movie, leaned closer, saw the two teddy bears, smiled, then grabbed the white teddy bear, held it to his face, and said in a high-pitched voice, "Yes, we've been waiting for you to come back~"

Wen Xubai: "...If it really is that sound, I will throw it out on the first night I come back."

Qi Zui was shocked: "Chen Che, if you throw it away, what will happen to its husband?"

As he spoke, Qi Zui glanced meaningfully at the brown bear in his hand.

Wen Xubai: "·······"

Wen Xubai coldly replied, "Then throw them both out together."

As he spoke, Wen Xubai got up and tried to snatch the polar bear from Qi Zui's hand!

Qi was startled and immediately lifted the polar bear high, then quickly retreated behind him!

They are now evenly matched, one only has his left hand and the other only his right. However, Qi Zui took advantage of his height, and by a hair's breadth, he made Wen Xubai unable to reach him.

Wen Xubai struggled to reach it on tiptoe, but every time he reached up a little, Qi Zui would deliberately rise a little higher, and just when he touched the furry texture, he would be immediately pulled away!