Chapter 21
Qin Feng's residence is located on the top floor of the officers' apartment near the city defense headquarters.
Completely different from Qin Mu's extremely luxurious canary cage, this place is more like a functional fortress.
The space is spacious but the furnishings are simple to the point of being cold and hard. The colors are mainly black, white and gray, with clean lines and spotless appearance.
Every item is placed in the most reasonable and efficient position, without any unnecessary decoration. The air is filled with the faint smell of metal and detergent, and it is so quiet that you can hear your own heartbeat.
When Lin Yao was brought into this space, it was like entering a strictly ordered glacier.
He subconsciously slowed down his breathing and looked around. Qin Feng's cold and powerful sense of personal domain came over him.
This was the first time that someone other than him had set foot in this absolutely private territory.
Qin Feng stood at the entrance, his body stiffening for a moment, almost imperceptibly. A sense of discomfort from his territorial awareness being violated ran through his nerves like a tiny electric current.
He was not used to it, very not used to it.
However, when he turned to look at Lin Yao...
The silver-haired boy still had his head lowered, his slender body wrapped in the overly large black coat that Qin Feng had temporarily found for him, making him look even thinner.
He stood there quietly, like an orchid ravaged by a violent storm, with a silent, deep-rooted fragility and helplessness surrounding him.
The shock had not yet dissipated, and there was a trace of water in the depths of his blue eyes. His long eyelashes trembled restlessly, as if a slightly loud noise would scare him away.
He looked so needy, so fragile.
It's like a young animal that has strayed into human territory and has its hind legs caught in a trap. It can only curl up on the cold ground, waiting for an unknown fate, with no other choice but to shiver.
The cold vigilance that arose in Qin Feng's heart due to the invasion of his territorial sense was instantly covered by a softer and more unfamiliar emotion.
It was an almost instinctive desire to protect. He sighed silently, and the discomfort quietly dissipated.
"Are you hungry?"
Qin Feng's voice echoed in the silent room, still low, but less cold and hard than usual, with a hint of subtle concern.
Lin Yao seemed not to hear, still immersed in his own thoughts, but unconsciously tightened his oversized cuffs.
“Gurgle—”
A clear and embarrassing rumbling sound came from Lin Yao's abdomen at an inopportune time, breaking the silence in the room.
Lin Yao suddenly came back to his senses, and two blushes instantly appeared on his pale cheeks, spreading all the way to his ears.
He lowered his head quickly like a frightened rabbit, wanting to bury his face in his collar. His voice was as soft as a mosquito's, filled with deep shame and fear of being disliked: "I'm... I'm sorry... I..."
Qin Feng looked at his embarrassed and cautious appearance, and a faint smile flashed across his icy eyes, but it disappeared in a flash.
He said nothing, just turned and walked straight to the kitchen.
Through the transparent glass partition of the kitchen, Lin Yao could see Qin Feng busying around inside.
He took off his uniform jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves, revealing his sleek forearms. His movements were skillful and precise: washing vegetables, chopping them, heating the pan, pouring oil... Each step was done neatly, with an almost mechanical regularity, yet flowing like water.
The spatula made a crisp sound when it hit the pot wall, accompanied by the sizzling sound of oil and the stir-frying of ingredients. Soon, the tempting aroma of food spread, injecting a rare touch of homeliness into this cold space.
Lin Yao watched quietly.
Looking at Qin Feng's focused profile, and his hands that manipulated the spatial blades as easily as his arms, he now held the spatula firmly, stirring the ingredients in the smoke.
This strong sense of contrast should have been an observation sample that interested him.
But his thoughts drifted away uncontrollably.
He drifted back to the dormitory of the city lord's son in City D. That clumsy yet stubborn figure—Lu Cheng.
He remembered the mixed expression of nervousness and eagerness on Lu Cheng's face when he first said he wanted to cook for him.
He remembered the sounds of banging and bustling in the kitchen.
I remember when Lu Cheng brought out the bowl of meat porridge that looked ugly and tasted just barely edible, his sleeves were stained with flour, his face was covered in sweat like a big tabby cat, and he had an expression of extreme nervousness and anticipation.
Those eyes, always filled with ardent love, stared at him with sparkling eyes, as if awaiting a judgment concerning life or death...
That scene is so clear that it seems like it happened just yesterday.
Lin Yao was slightly distracted.
Why... think of him again?
An inexplicable irritation quietly rose up, like seaweed wrapped around your ankles at the bottom of the water.
Was it because Lu Cheng's awkwardness, undisguised nervousness and anticipation, were more to his liking than the effortless proficiency Qin Feng was displaying?
That kind of unpolished performance with its roughness and flaws can better touch a cold corner of his heart?
He quickly suppressed the thought. They were just tools, why compare? Awkward or skilled, they were just means to gain convenience.
The meal arrived. It was a simple three-course meal with a soup, yet it was full of flavor and color, demonstrating that Qin Feng was no novice.
The two sat facing each other. Lin Yao ate in small bites, his movements gentle and elegant, but his eyes were a little vague, and he was obviously absent-minded.
The delicious food seemed unable to dispel the faint gloom and... a subtle unhappiness that shrouded his brow.
Qin Feng observed silently.
He thought Lin Yao was still sad about the incident at the bar and Qin Mu's betrayal. After all, being pushed into the abyss by his lover twice in a row was a blow that was enough to destroy all trust in such a fragile and dependent person.
Looking at Lin Yao's drooping eyelashes and slightly pursed lips, the unfamiliar tenderness and protective desire in Qin Feng's heart surged again.
He was not a good communicator, and he did not know how to comfort her. But he remembered his mother's words, and the way Lin Yao had clutched his sleeve tightly in the study, seeking shelter.
He hesitated for a long time, so long that Lin Yao had almost finished half a bowl of rice.
Finally, Qin Feng seemed to have made up his mind.
He put down his chopsticks, leaned forward slightly, and with his hands covered with thin calluses and distinct joints, he slowly and gently placed his hands on the back of Lin Yao's hand that was placed on the edge of the dining table with a hint of unfamiliar hesitation.
It felt warm and dry to the touch.
Lin Yao's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.
"Don't be afraid." Qin Feng's voice was low and tense, with a sense of tension that tried hard to convey strength but still seemed clumsy. "I'm here."
These words are like a stone thrown into a calm lake.
However, what was stirred up in Lin Yao's heart was not ripples of peace of mind or emotion.
A strong sense of displeasure, like an icy poisonous snake, instantly wrapped around his heart!
I'm here...
This sentence is so familiar.
It was so familiar that another young, eager face with unquestionable determination and clumsy affection flashed before his eyes - Lu Cheng.
Qin Feng's movements, tone, and even his desire to convey safety... all overlapped with a scene in his memory.
Lu Cheng had also held his hand awkwardly in the same way, and said in the same nervous but extremely firm voice: "Don't be afraid, Yaoyao, I'm here."
But this person before me... this action... this comfort...
Lin Yao felt it was extremely dazzling! Incredibly... clumsy!
It's like an unskilled actor clumsily imitating a classic scene, thinking he is affectionate but only makes people feel that he is pretentious and superficial.
Lu Cheng's almost paranoid sincerity, which came from his tampered memory and maximum favorability, although stupid, carried a primitive and desperate impact.
Qin Feng's protection at this moment was more like a mimicry based on responsibility, sympathy, and even the execution of his mother's orders.
A strong feeling of rejection surged in his heart. He almost couldn't control himself and shook off the hand.
But the next second, Lin Yao's strong rationality instantly took over his out-of-control emotions.
He forcibly suppressed his unhappiness, as if forcibly sealing the surging magma under the ice.
He raised his head, and a thin layer of mist just filled his blue eyes, a mixture of emotion, dependence and finally finding a sense of peace of mind.
He gently shook Qin Feng's hand back with his backhand, his fingertips trembling slightly, and his voice was as gentle as a sigh.
"Well... thank you, Master Qin Feng."
He acted like a drowning man who finally grabbed a piece of driftwood, and his performance of the touching moment was impeccable.
Only he himself knew that deep in the frozen lake of his heart, what was stirred up by this clumsy imitation was an even more biting chill and a hint of complicated thoughts about the old props, which even he himself did not want to delve into.
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