Chapter 37 Little Bear Apron You never wear clothes when you film videos? ...

When they went to sleep that night, Li Baidong kept his promise and held Xing Lan tightly, never letting go for a moment, as if he wanted to melt Xing Lan into his own bones and blood.

Xing Lan quickly fell into a deep sleep in his warm and strong embrace.

Xing Lan thought she would have a peaceful night's sleep, but in the middle of the night, she was suddenly awakened from her dream.

In his dream, he vaguely returned to the night his mother jumped off the building.

This time, however, he woke up earlier than in reality, before his mother made up her mind.

The woman was standing on the balcony with her back to the living room, smoking. Her figure was still so slender and tall, so thin that it was heartbreaking.

At this moment, only a small crack was opened in the window for ventilation, and a cool breeze blew into the room, dispersing the dark, indistinct smoke around the cigarette.

She's still there; he still has a chance.

Countless times before, Xing Lan had fantasized in his heart: if he had woken up earlier that day, if he had called out to his mother earlier, would there still be room for everything to turn around, would there still be a possibility of change?

Xing Lan's mind went blank for a moment. In the deep darkness, he desperately rushed out of his childhood room and ran towards her without a care in the world.

That stretch of road seemed very, very long.

As he stumbled and ran, his vision became increasingly blurred, and the world around him seemed to be distorted.

The roof overhead pressed down heavily like dark clouds, and the floor beneath my feet swayed like surging seawater, making it difficult to maintain my balance.

After finally reaching the balcony, he hurriedly grabbed his mother's arm, trying to persuade her to go back to her room as quickly as possible.

He hurriedly said many things, calling her name again and again, tears falling unconsciously onto the cold ground.

Upon hearing his voice, the "mother" turned her face sluggishly, like a rusty machine.

When I turned my head, all I saw was a blank face.

Xing Lan's pupils contracted sharply. Before she could react, her body suddenly returned to that rainy afternoon yesterday.

Xing Yi raised his hand, his eyes wide open, and slapped him across the face.

"You bastard!"

"Go to hell!"

"You will never deserve to be my son!"

"..."

In her dream, Xing Lan was suddenly slapped to the ground, her heart aching and she could hardly breathe.

Suddenly, a blinding light flashed before his eyes, so bright that he couldn't open them.

The angry-looking Xing Yi in front of him suddenly disappeared.

In the quiet, dark house, a vague yet familiar voice suddenly appeared.

"elder brother?"

"elder brother?"

He groggily raised his eyes and met Li Baidong's dark, clear eyes.

The boy's voice was clear and distinct, each word spoken clearly and deliberately.

"Don't cry."

"I will always be with you."

Xing Lan was stunned for a moment, feeling herself gradually enveloped by a gentle and reassuring aura.

He breathed softly, his eyes slightly lowered, and his heart, which had been pounding violently just moments before, gradually calmed down.

-

Xing Lan was in a state of semi-consciousness all night, her thoughts hazy.

The lingering headache persisted until the next morning, when bright sunlight streamed into the bedroom through the gaps in the curtains, waking him up with its dazzling light.

I tried to move my arm, but I couldn't.

Li Baidong hugged him from behind, holding him tightly, his thin chin resting on his shoulder, his handsome eyes burying affectionately in the crook of his neck.

Xing Lan heard Li Baidong breathing evenly. He was sleeping soundly and peacefully, with a slight smile on his lips, as if he was using Xing Lan as a very useful pillow.

There are two kinds of creatures in this world that have the best sleep quality: children and dogs.

Li Baidong, who is already an adult, is clearly more in line with the latter.

Even on his days off, Xing Lan didn't like to sleep in. He shifted restlessly a couple more times, which woke up Li Baidong, who was hugging him from behind.

His voice, still slightly hoarse from just waking up, said, "Good morning, brother."

Li Baidong was still a little sleepy. He subconsciously reached out to touch Xing Lan's cheek and quickly touched the faint, cool tear stain below her left eye.

Yesterday, Xing Lan woke up crying in the middle of the night for some reason. Her crying was very soft, like a kitten's meow, but it was heartbreaking to hear.

He barely slept all night, constantly wiping away his tears and comforting him until his body stopped trembling and his breathing became steady again.

"Did you have a nightmare last night, brother?" Li Baidong asked with a faint smile, as if he were confiding a sweet worry. "He kept snuggling into my arms, it was so cute."

Xing Lan couldn't believe that he was someone who could be scared to tears by nightmares. This embarrassing behavior was exposed by Li Baidong so bluntly early in the morning. He was a little embarrassed and coughed lightly to cover it up.

Even more embarrassingly, he felt something pressing against him from behind.

As the saying goes, the early bird catches the worm; at this time of day, everything is full of vigor and vitality.

Twenty-year-old male college students are always passionate and sensitive in every way.

Li Baidong squinted and saw that Xing Lan's ears were already bright red, and her soft body suddenly stiffened.

He feigned innocence and continued to nuzzle his neck gently, deliberately lowering his voice to say, "Brother—"

Xing Lan's eyelashes twitched almost imperceptibly.

Xing Lan has a strong learning ability and a wide range of knowledge, but she has very little experience in this area.

While all boys were openly or secretly sharing that kind of knowledge in their teens, he was single-mindedly focused on doing exercises, and the books he read were serious literary tomes, obscure and difficult to understand, reflecting a life of detachment and detachment.

Only once, when I was searching for study materials online, an annoying little ad popped up in the corner of the webpage.

The advertisement was very persistent; every time Xing Lan clicked the "X" on it, it would quickly reappear in the same spot, and the "X" at the top would become smaller and smaller.

After a tense standoff between man and machine, Xing Lan's hand holding the mouse slipped, and she accidentally clicked on something.

That was the first time he had ever seen two men wrestling on the bed, as fiercely as if they were fighting.

They are the same parts, but they are assembled in different ways.

His face flushed red, and he immediately closed the webpage, but he felt a strange feeling he had never had before.

After that day, he knew he probably liked men, but he didn't know which one he would like specifically.

He always demanded of himself that he disliked no one and kept his distance from everyone.

The more you like something, the more painful it becomes.

It's not uncommon for men to cheat in the world. Some wives who are betrayed choose to leave decisively, while others turn a blind eye for the sake of their families.

Xing Lan's mother was particularly heartbroken and desperate when she discovered the betrayal because of her deep affection for Xing Yi.

If I had known things would turn out this way, I would have preferred never to have met them in the first place.

If the two were just ordinary friends, without so many entanglements and complications later on, even if they treated each other with respect for a lifetime, they could still leave a good impression.

In that case, his mother wouldn't have died of grief, and perhaps she could have lived a peaceful life.

Xing Lan thought for a moment, then stiffly pushed Li Baidong away, trying to break free from his embrace.

Li Baidong did not let go of him.

The temperature behind me had unknowingly risen a few degrees.

Xing Lan took a deep breath and said helplessly, "I need to go to the toilet."

Li Baidong paused for half a second before reluctantly letting go of him.

Xing Lan got up and sat on the edge of the bed, glancing at Li Baidong who was still lying in bed, and said in a light tone, "Pack yourself up before you come out."

Then he put on his slippers and went to the bathroom, leaving Li Baidong, who still wanted to cuddle with him for a while, alone on the bed.

Although he and Li Baidong were theoretically lovers, Xing Lan still felt a little nervous and subconsciously wanted to escape whenever the atmosphere between them became ambiguous and Li Baidong gave him a moist and longing look.

Except for the day when Li Baidong kissed him in the store, when he was caught off guard by Xing Yi's sudden appearance and failed to dodge.

Xing Lan wasn't just like this with Li Baidong. When he was in college with his ex, every time his ex tried to kiss Xing Lan, he would frown and dodge, pushing him away.

Because of this, my ex was very unhappy. The two argued many times, and neither of them was willing to give in. They eventually broke up.

Xing Lan's ex was a spoiled rich kid. In comparison, Li Baidong was obviously better-tempered and respected Xing Lan more.

However, when it comes to intimate contact, no man can tolerate his partner constantly playing hide-and-seek with him, and he might even doubt whether the other person truly likes him.

Xing Lan didn't know how many times Li Baidong could endure being cruelly pushed away by his lover.

When he repeatedly takes the initiative with great joy but receives no response, and one night he suddenly realizes that he has a lover but is still very lonely, will he break up with him like his ex did?

This was exactly what Xing Lan had hoped for when she decided to be with Li Baidong – a peaceful breakup.

But after experiencing Li Baidong's meticulous and thoughtful comfort last night, and hearing those heartwarming and sincere promises, now, when he thinks about how one day in the future Li Baidong will irritably push him away and look at him with an extremely cold gaze, his mood has undergone a subtle change compared to the past, and he is even unwilling to continue thinking about it.

If Xing Lan breaks up with Li Baidong, she will be alone again, while Li Baidong will still have so many friends, many of whom must have had feelings for her long ago.

Knowing that he is single again, those people will definitely pursue him openly, and with the enthusiastic matchmaking of mutual friends, Li Baidong might just agree to go with the flow.

Perhaps Li Baidong's burning gaze will eventually fall on someone else, and he will do childish or intimate things with someone else, and use new couple profile pictures with someone else.

This inexplicable conjecture caused Xing Lan's rational thoughts to become somewhat chaotic. He didn't want to investigate the reasons for the time being, and simply and crudely attributed all the illogical changes to "habit".

Habits are a more terrifying thing than we imagine.

Over the past few months, not only Xing Lan, but even the little prince has probably gotten used to having the little fox as a companion every day. The dog and the cat snuggle together and take a nice nap every noon.

However, habit is also a problem that is very easy to solve.

Once you get through the initial period of adjustment, life will naturally return to normal.

Even if those fleeting moments are hard to let go of, they will gradually be forgotten.

Just hang in there and it will be fine.

Xing Lan has been a very rational and patient person since childhood.

-

When Xing Lan finished washing up and came out of the bathroom, she saw Li Baidong busy in the kitchen, making breakfast for the two of them.

Although he was wearing loungewear, his muscular upper body was bare, only thinly covered by a cute bear apron.

His expression was somewhat unnatural. He glanced at Li Baidong's well-developed back muscles, sat down at the dining table, and asked, "It's so cold today, why aren't you wearing any clothes?"

Li Baidong turned his head at the sound, his narrow eyes slightly narrowed, and his voice was clear and bright: "Brother, I'll put it on after I finish filming the video."

"...Filming videos?" Xing Lan was taken aback, and couldn't help but ask, "So you never wear clothes when you film videos?"

Li Baidong looked at him and nodded.

"Bro, the food blogger field is very competitive. You definitely won't gain many followers just by making pictures of food."

"But if you show a bit of your abs while cooking, you can attract some female fans. Female fans are more loyal and have stronger purchasing power than male fans, which can increase the commercial value of the account."

Li Baidong lowered his eyes, seemingly analyzing the situation with considerable expertise. He quickly turned around and began slicing cucumber into thin strips with practiced ease, the sound of crisp slicing echoing from the cutting board.

Xing Lan looked at his broad and strong back, and his nimble and slender fingers as he chopped vegetables. She seemed to be thinking of something, but then stopped herself from speaking.

After a while, Li Baidong had almost finished preparing breakfast. He turned his head and asked Xing Lan, "Brother, what kind of spread do you want on the toast? Strawberry or pistachio?"

"I think it's pistachio, the strawberry one is too sweet."

Li Baidong had just put breakfast on the table when he immediately went to the refrigerator to get the newly bought pistachio jam.

After sitting down, he scraped some sauce with a spatula, carefully painted a cat pattern on the freshly toasted bread, and then handed it to Xing Lan.

Li Baidong's handwriting was terrible, and his drawing skills were even worse. Xing Lan glanced down at him, then immediately looked up and stared at Li Baidong, saying, "What do you mean by drawing a pig's head on there?"

“Brother, this isn’t a pig.” Li Baidong blinked, trying to explain his painting to Xing Lan. “This is a kitten. Look, its ears are pointed and its eyes are round.”

That's as if pigs have square eyes.

Xing Lan didn't care what he was drawing, and just picked up the toast and put it in her mouth.

The pistachio butter tastes great, slightly sweet but not cloying, with a refreshing nutty aftertaste.

He noticed that Li Baidong had been watching him without touching his chopsticks, so he took a piece of toast from the plate, spread some sauce on it, and handed it to him.

"Eat quickly." Xing Lan frowned and said, "Eating breakfast late is bad for your stomach."

Li Baidong noticed the subtle concern in his tone, lowered his head and smiled slightly. After taking the whole wheat toast from his hand, he looked up again and said with a look of surprise, "Brother, the sauce you spread on me looks like a heart!"

"...Really?" Xing Lan was completely confused. He had just casually wiped his hands a couple of times, so how did it happen to form a heart shape?

Seeing that Xing Lan didn't believe him, Li Baidong casually turned the toast in his hand around so that the side with the sauce was facing him.

Although it's a bit of a stretch, it does have a resemblance to the shape of a big, fat heart.

Such an extremely low probability event, if not caused by human intervention, can only be attributed to fate.

Before Xing Lan could react, Li Baidong moved a chair and sat down next to him, his smile incredibly sweet.

"Brother, you drew a heart for me on purpose, didn't you? You did, right? Hmm? Hmm?"

Xing Lan was having breakfast when he kept excitedly asking her questions in her ear. In order to interrupt his incessant chatter, she had no choice but to nod and admit, "Yes, I did it on purpose."

Li Baidong was finally satisfied, grinning with narrowed eyes.

When he laughs, his eyes curve like crescent moons, making him look less like a dog and more like a triumphant fox.

childish.

Xing Lan glanced at him and shook her head helplessly.