Chapter 34 Turbulent Tenderness

Two wall lamps cast a soft glow as Fu Yanle lay half-lying on his side on the pillow, staring blankly at the bedside table.

Yu Jingchen is pursuing him.

Fu Yanle thought to himself.

Although he had suspected before that allowing Yu Jingchen to send roses was a subtle test, Fu Yanle still found it hard to believe when he heard it confirmed.

But why pursue him? Is it because you like him?

Fu Yanle unconsciously fiddled with his pillow, fragments of memories of his time with Yu Jingchen flashing through his mind. He was then surprised to realize how clearly he remembered these fragments of time related to Yu Jingchen. His heart raced at this discovery, and he felt inexplicably nervous, immediately burying his face in the pillow.

If Yu Jingchen truly had feelings for him, it shouldn't have started after their arranged marriage. After all, from the day they met at the Lu family home, Yu Jingchen's attitude towards him was exceptionally good. So, it must have been... even earlier?

"It's a kind of pain that can't be relieved."

These words echoed in Fu Yanle's ears once again.

He had to admit that he had been bothered by those words. Perhaps it was because the fact that "Yu Jingchen had a history of unrequited love" was unbelievable, or perhaps it was because he couldn't imagine Yu Jingchen secretly having a crush on someone, or maybe it was because Yu Jingchen's voice held an unconcealable pain when he said it.

These reasons were beyond his comprehension, and even evoked a subtle and complex emotion within him. He couldn't refute them; those complex emotions made him very uncomfortable.

But now Yu Jingchen says he's pursuing him?

Fu Yanle couldn't help but have a bold idea: Could Yu Jingchen's secret crush be... him? Was the marriage agreement with him not just to appease Madam Yu, but intentional?

Although thinking this way might seem a bit narcissistic, the logic is sound... right?

As soon as the fiddling stopped, Yu Jingchen opened his eyes and heard a sound of someone turning over. Fu Yanle, who had been standing stiffly not far away, turned to face him and moved closer.

"Brother Chen," Fu Yanle asked softly, "Are you asleep?"

Yu Jingchen said, "No."

"I can't sleep." Fu Yanle punched the pillow. "It's all your fault."

"Okay, it's all my fault." Yu Jingchen tilted his head slightly, looking at Fu Yanle in the soft, warm light. "Do you need me to sing you a lullaby?"

"I'm not a child!" Fu Yanle simply rolled over and sat down next to Yu Jingchen, resting his head on Yu Jingchen's pillow. "Brother Chen, I want to ask you a question. Please keep your principle of 'a handsome guy doesn't lie to another handsome guy' and answer me honestly, okay?"

Fu Yanle was unaware of the implications such intimate cuddling would have on others.

Yu Jingchen took a barely audible breath and said, "We'll see."

"No way!" Fu Yanle reached out and grabbed Yu Jingchen's shoulder, her tone indignant. "You kissed me, you have to answer me honestly!"

Yu Jingchen asked, "Is there any necessary logical relationship between these two things?"

"You! You're a truly wicked capitalist, never suffering a loss!" Fu Yanle pointed a finger and poked Yu Jingchen's shoulder in frustration. "You kissed me like that, you have to compensate me!"

"Oh," Yu Jingchen said ambiguously, "How intimate have you become?"

Fu Yanle said seriously, "I almost threw up."

Yu Jingchen was taken aback, then sat up straight. "What did you say?"

"I was almost out of breath, and then I felt a little nauseous," Fu Yanle said, touching his chest, still shaken.

Although Peony died in bed, she was still a romantic ghost, but being kissed to death is too shameful, isn't it? If he was fucked to death, it would prove that Yu Jingchen was really awesome, but being kissed to death only shows that Yu Jingchen was an imposter, and his tongue could steal souls.

Upon hearing this, Yu Jingchen lay back down and said, "Ask away."

“Okay, um—” Fu Yanle leaned down and, with great foresight, extended a hand to gently touch Yu Jingchen’s cheek, preventing him from turning his head away later. Then, their eyes met, and Fu Yanle’s eyes shone with a mysterious light that was both awe-inspiring and captivating.

Yu Jingchen grunted in response, his tone rising, and calmly stared at him.

Fu Yanle's ears were itching from the teasing, but he held his ground and said, "You—"

Yu Jingchen said, "Hmm?"

Fu Yanle tentatively cast a hook, "Is that right?"

Yu Jingchen raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Fu Yanle suddenly leaned down, his nose almost touching Yu Jingchen's, and whispered, "You like me?"

The same bending motion, while Yu Jingchen's only conveyed an irresistible sense of oppression, Fu Yanle's was so harmless. All his pressure and intimidation were concealed, enough to make people panic and reveal their true feelings in the face of unpredictable danger.

Yu Jingchen's trembling eyelashes, like the fluttering of a butterfly's wings, sent a shiver down Fu Yanle's spine, mingling with Yu Jingchen's uncontrollable heartbeat, creating a dark undercurrent in the dim light.

Fu Yanle gently pressed Yu Jingchen's cheek with his palm and said triumphantly, "I caught you."

Yu Jingchen pursed his lips and silently met his gaze.

Fu Yanle was truly cunning, too adept at using his good looks—a truth that Yu Jingchen had long since discovered, but self-warning proved ineffective, and he could only give up resisting.

Fu Yanle, who was never patient, couldn't help but push him when she saw this, "Say it!"

“…What kind of answer do you want to hear?” Yu Jingchen said. “Different answers will have different costs.”

Fu Yanle tilted his head, brushed his nose against Yu Jingchen's lips, gently touched his chin, and said, word by word, "I want to hear the truth."

Yu Jingchen lowered his eyes, caught Fu Yanle's gaze, and said with a light laugh, "Yes, I like you."

"When?" Fu Yanle urged anxiously, "When did you fall at my feet? Tell me quickly!"

“This is the second question.” Yu Jingchen suddenly reached out and put his arm around Fu Yanle’s lower back, turning him over to the other side, and said, “Go to sleep.”

Fu Yanle, unwilling to give up, reached out and scratched Yu Jingchen's waist, "I'm not sleeping!"

Yu Jingchen tensed up, grabbed Fu Yanle's wrist, and pressed it against the bed in front of Fu Yanle's stomach, his arm also resting on Fu Yanle's side. He looked down at Fu Yanle's hair and said in a hoarse voice, "If you don't sleep now, you won't sleep tonight."

They were both grown men, and Fu Yanle couldn't pretend to be innocent. He clicked his tongue in response, "Really not going to tell?"

Yu Jingchen hummed in agreement. "I'm not telling you."

Fu Yanle turned his head and suddenly met Shangyu Jingchen's focused and deep gaze. He was stunned for a moment, then said with a forced smile, "Brother Chen, your mouth really is just like Xiao Xiaoyu's."

Fu Yanle pondered for a moment before choosing an adjective: "Resilient and unyielding."

Upon hearing this, Yu Jingchen remained silent. Fu Yanle took this reaction as irrefutable and was about to launch a second attack when Yu Jingchen suddenly moved forward and used his knee to push away Fu Yanle's leg.

"Can it pry open your mouth?" Yu Jingchen asked seriously.

What is that? Which mouth? The one on top or the one on the bottom—no!

Fu Yanle's eyes widened, and he stammered, "You're so sexy."

Yu Jingchen released Fu Yanle's hand, cupped his cheek, stroked his wrinkled nose with his thumb, and gently lifted Fu Yanle's jawline with his palm.

"Don't provoke me," Yu Jingchen said. "I'm not a good person."

The warm touch burned his neck, and Fu Yanle subconsciously shrank back, but tightened his grip on Yu Jingchen's hand. His neck stiffened, and he said, "You're very good to me."

"Just because I'm nice to you normally doesn't mean I'll be nice to you in bed," Yu Jingchen warned in a low voice. "Be a good girl and listen to me, okay?"

Tired of tilting his head, Fu Yanle simply turned around and lay face to face with Yu Jingchen on the same pillow.

“If you were really bad, you wouldn’t have wasted so much time talking to me. You’ve always respected me, even though you’ve had a bit too much tonight, you’ve only dared to take things a little further.”

The kiss was the perfect opportunity to push his luck, since he showed no signs of resistance. Yu Jingchen was well aware that this was a rare chance to attack, yet he still chose to stop, as if he could never forget the importance of "proper boundaries."

Yu Jingchen seems to have set a threshold for himself, so that even if things get out of control, he will not exceed the standard.

Fu Yanle leaned forward, closed his eyes, and said, "You're very different from what I imagined."

Yu Jingchen stared at Fu Yanle's face and said, "So, what kind of person do you imagine me to be?"

"High and mighty, domineering and autocratic, with a deep mind and ruthless heart, a ferocious beast that devours people without spitting out the bones. That used to be all I imagined about you," Fu Yanle said. "Approachable, gentlemanly and considerate, knowing when to advance and retreat, gentle and polite, even your fangs are in shackles. That's how you are in front of me."

“They’re all compliments.” Yu Jingchen touched foreheads with Fu Yanle, counting his eyelashes up close. “I’m very happy.”

“I want to apologize to you. I shouldn’t have formed a preconceived notion about you based on what others said, and instead kept my guarded distance from everything related to you. That was wrong.” Fu Yanle’s eyelashes fluttered, and he opened his eyes, but he kept his eyelids down and didn’t look at Yu Jingchen.

"I won't lie to you, Su Fengyao also mentioned you to me, and the content was exactly the same as what I'd heard from others before. But I believed him completely, without thinking." Fu Yanle paused, then chuckled, "You can think of me as cannon fodder in a novel. My purpose is to be a stepping stone for the protagonists, so my original personality is nihilistic. I only need to give the reactions required by the character's setting to complete the role's task, but..."

Fu Yanle finally raised his eyelids, "I...I'm not like that."

Although his mother passed away early and his father was even worse than a piece of junk, he still grew up in a wealthy family. Apart from the few years of his childhood, ever since he met the old man, he could get whatever he wanted, and he grew up completely unruly.

It's about being presentable.

Yu Jingchen looked at Fu Yanle's reddened eyes and defended himself in a low voice, "If it weren't for this ridiculous character setting, how could I have become Su Fengyao's lapdog and become so stupid... He's not even as good-looking as me, I'd rather lick my own boots than lick his boots."

Fu Yanle's sobbing voice was like a hook; Yu Jingchen felt as if his internal organs were rotting away. He had to hold onto the murderer tightly to slightly alleviate the pain.

Fu Yanle nestled in Yu Jingchen's arms, feeling particularly sentimental. But Yu Jingchen's embrace was broad and warm, and as he pressed close, he could hear Yu Jingchen's steady yet restless heartbeat.

“I know you’re not.” Yu Jingchen reached out and covered the back of Fu Yanle’s head, pulling him tightly into his arms. His voice sounded like it was steeped in bitter wine. “Fu Yanle is a chosen one, the little princess of the Lu family.”

Fu Yanle: "Pfft!"

Yu Jingchen rubbed the back of his head, mimicking a parrot, "—Pfft."

Perhaps Yu Jingchen was unusually gentle tonight, because Fu Yanle blinked and tilted her head to look into his eyes. Under the dim light, Yu Jingchen was strangely handsome. Fu Yanle's heart skipped a beat, and she even mischievously tried to seduce and manipulate him.

"Brother Chen."

He was controlled by his own heartbeat, and no longer cared about what he said.

"Can you kiss me again?"

Yu Jingchen remained silent, slightly raised his shoulders, and used the tip of his nose to lift Fu Yanle's chin.

Fu Yanle turned on the switch to breathe, lowering her guard and defensiveness to welcome his reassurance. She obediently and honestly showed him her fleeting vulnerability, as if to say—

You are welcome to take advantage of this opportunity.

The attempt to appease him appeared to be under Yu Jingchen's control, but the initiative was entirely in Fu Yanle's hands. He accepted the comfort and gently burned his ears.

Fu Yanle's hands were stiffly clenched into fists, and he remained motionless at his sides, but he opened his eyes and boldly stirred the undercurrent in Yu Jingchen's eyes.

Tonight, he will drown in this surging tenderness.

Absolutely.

Yu Jingchen expressed the tenderness he had kept hidden for a long time to Fu Yanle, sparing no effort to give him the deepest sense of protection and possessiveness. He left a warm breath on every place he could touch, wanting Fu Yanle's breath to carry his mark.

He knew such thoughts were presumptuous and rude, but please allow him to do so this once.

After an unknown amount of time, Yu Jingchen buried his head in Fu Yanle's neck and said in a muffled voice, "Goodnight, Fu Yanle."

Fu Yanle pursed his lips, his tone mischievous, "Aren't you going to the bathroom?"

Yu Jingchen greedily enjoyed his closeness with Fu Yanle, unwilling to give up even a second; otherwise, he wouldn't go.

"It doesn't matter if it explodes." His tone was even more nasty than Fu Yanle's. "Anyway, you're with me."

Author's Note:

Xiao Fu finally knows Da Yu'er's feelings! Da Yu'er has finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel. (The old mother sheds tears)

Also, tomorrow's timing is a bit special, so I don't dare to update in the morning for fear of problems. Therefore, the 6 AM update will be moved to 6 PM tomorrow! (Sending love)