Chapter 39 Little Flower Brother's abs are only for me to see.
In order to get Xing Lan to agree to film a video with him, Li Baidong has become increasingly attentive in recent days, cooking him different delicious meals every day.
Recently, pomelos have been in season, so he peels pomelos for Xing Lan every day, cuts and washes them together with other fruits, and arranges them in the shape of a little rabbit in a fruit bowl.
While Xing Lan was eating fruit with a fork, he propped his arm on the sofa, watched him with a smile, and praised him incessantly.
"Brother, you're so handsome."
"Brother is so cute."
"If you become a star, I'll be your first die-hard fan."
"I'll definitely look handsome in my stage outfit. And if you get a stylist to do my hair, no one in the world will dislike me."
Xing Lan paused, glancing at him sideways.
Those lips are coated with honey; they're sweeter than the fruit on the plate.
With a strawberry in his mouth, he mumbled, "You're really suited to working in a kindergarten. Go be a kindergarten teacher after you graduate."
Li Baidong stretched out his long arm and hugged him from the side.
"I don't like other kids, I only like my brother."
"I wish I could be a child again," Li Baidong imagined. "I must have been so cute when I was little, with big eyes and chubby cheeks."
Before the age of five, Xing Lan was indeed the most popular child in kindergarten.
He is fair-skinned and handsome. Under his mother's careful upbringing, he has a good personality, is intelligent and sensible, and is poised and generous. Both teachers and classmates like him very much.
However, since her mother passed away, Xing Lan has become increasingly withdrawn and unwilling to face the camera.
On the day of kindergarten graduation, every child wore their beautiful new clothes and happily went to take pictures. Only Xing Lan hid in the bushes behind the school, away from the crowd. He held a long twig he had picked up in his small hand and carefully drew a picture of him and his mother playing together on the muddy ground.
"I really want to see the photos," Li Baidong said, turning to look at Xing Lan, his dark eyes shining with anticipation. "Brother, can I see them?"
“…I don’t have any photos.” Xing Lan wrinkled her nose somewhat awkwardly.
"Don't you have any kindergarten graduation photos either?" Li Baidong asked, hugging him.
"..."
"It's been so many years, I don't even know where I threw it away." Xing Lan glanced at him indifferently. "Besides, don't all kids look pretty much the same? Two eyes and a mouth, what's so interesting about them?"
Li Baidong pouted and replied dejectedly, "Okay..."
Seeing that he looked somewhat dejected, Xing Lan wanted to say a few words of comfort, but before she could speak, she was interrupted by Li Baidong's abrupt change of topic.
"What do you want to eat tonight, brother?" Li Baidong looked up at the clock and nuzzled his neck affectionately. "I'll go prepare it first."
Xing Lan thought for a moment, then said slowly and deliberately, "I'll go with you."
Li Baidong didn't react for a moment, blinking his bright black eyes at him.
—It's becoming more and more like a dog.
Xing Lan casually patted his hair, her tone calm: "I'll go with you. Didn't you say you were going to teach me how to cook?"
Li Baidong was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. He grabbed his shoulder excitedly and asked, "Brother, you agreed to film a video with me?"
"Mm." Xing Lan nodded.
Anyway, he's been semi-blacklisted in the industry and can't find a new job for the time being.
Change direction, and change your mood too.
Li Baidong was sticking too close, like a piece of chewing gum that couldn't be removed. Xing Lan could only feel his hot breath hitting her neck, making her feel a little itchy.
Fortunately, after seeing Xing Lan nod, he immediately jumped up from the sofa: "Then I'll go charge my phone, bro, wait for me a minute~"
He was so happy and impatient that he almost tripped and fell headfirst while walking, his left foot dragging his right.
Xing Lan swiftly grabbed his black hoodie from behind and dragged him back to the sofa like a dog.
"Be careful when you walk," Xing Lan glanced at him and casually reminded him, "If you hurt your back, how will you show off your abs to your little fans online?"
Li Baidong paused for a second, then suddenly turned his head, smiled at him with a hint of slyness in his expression: "Brother, don't you like me showing off my abs to others?"
"...What did I say?" Xing Lan's movements as she ate fruit with a fork suddenly became somewhat stiff.
Seeing the slight change in his expression, Li Baidong's smile deepened.
He raised his hand and tossed his hair, staring at Xing Lan, and said in a relaxed tone, "Okay, then I'll record with my clothes on from now on."
"I'll hide all those old videos later. From now on, I'll completely reform myself. I'll only show my abs to you, brother," Li Baidong said, raising three fingers with conviction.
"What kind of oath are you making?" Xing Lan stood up from the sofa, slapped away his raised right hand, and said coldly, "Why hide the photos you worked so hard to take?"
"...Besides, I don't want to see your abs." He pursed his lips, turning his face away without saying what he really meant.
"Not just abs." Li Baidong suddenly leaned closer to Xing Lan, his expression serious, and whispered in his ear, "The rest are only for me to see—"
Before he could finish speaking, Xing Lan, her ears red, lowered her head and pushed him away.
"Don't, don't talk nonsense." He didn't know why, but he stammered and hurriedly urged Li Baidong, "Aren't we going to film a video? Go get your phone."
"Yes, ma'am!" Li Baidong winked at him with a grin.
-
"Smack."
The kitchen lights were turned on.
Li Baidong turned his phone sideways and placed it on the kitchen counter with a stand.
This angle is just right to capture the person's entire upper body without showing their face; at most, it will only reveal a bit of their neck.
After setting up his phone, he pressed the video record button, his tone more lively than usual, his eyes brimming with undisguised joy: "Hello everyone! Welcome to Little Tree's Kitchen!~"
"We have a new head chef in our kitchen today, and he is... ta-da—"
Li Baidong took a step back, walked behind Xing Lan, and placed his hands naturally on Xing Lan's thin shoulders, whispering in his ear, "Brother, quickly tell them who you are."
Xing Lan stared at the two people's shoulders pressed together on the screen, and thinking of the words Li Baidong had just taught him, he stood frozen for five seconds, finding it really hard to speak.
Do I really have to say it?
“Of course, brother.” Li Baidong turned his face and looked at him innocently. “If you don’t tell me, how will people know your identity?”
Seeing that Xing Lan still had his lips tightly pursed, he leaned close to his ear and coaxed him gently, word by word: "It's okay, brother. This is just like recording a variety show. It's all for the sake of the show."
"..."
Xing Lan gritted his teeth, as if he had finally made up his mind, rolled up his shirt sleeve, and quickly recited the lines that Li Baidong had carefully designed for him: "I am Teacher Xiaoshu's first apprentice. You can call me, call me—"
"Uh, Little Flower Brother."
After Xing Lan finished speaking, she lowered her head and fell into deep silence. Her entire face, visible off-camera, was almost completely red.
Because Li Baidong's online nickname is "Little Tree," the newly appearing Xing Lan also had to have a similar nickname.
Xing Lan felt that even if he couldn't be a tree, he could at least be a blade of grass. But Li Baidong insisted on naming him Flower, saying that it was cuter and more appealing to the audience.
Li Baidong patted his chest and said that he had many years of experience in self-media and was more tech-savvy than Xing Lan, earnestly pleading with Xing Lan to listen to him.
But when Xing Lan actually uttered the shameful name "Little Flower Brother," he saw Li Baidong turn his head away and chuckle where he couldn't see him.
He instantly felt a surge of anger, realizing that he had been tricked by this little pup.
Xing Lan frowned angrily, gritted her teeth, glared at Li Baidong who was trying hard to suppress his laughter, and nudged him lightly with her elbow.
"What are you laughing at? Didn't you tell me to say that?"
"No, brother." Li Baidong thought of all the sad things in his life before he could barely keep his expression steady in front of Xing Lan. "It's just that it's the first time I've recorded a video with you, and I don't know why, but I just felt like laughing."
"It's probably like those actors who are prone to bursting into laughter when acting opposite someone they know."
"Stop laughing!" Xing Lan's face darkened, her tone serious, her slightly furrowed brows revealing a hint of ferocity, like a cat with its fur standing on end.
"Okay, okay." Li Baidong quickly coaxed him, but his voice still carried a hint of breathlessness. "I won't laugh anymore. Brother, let's continue."
The first dish Li Baidong taught Xing Lan to cook was hot and sour shredded potatoes.
This dish isn't difficult to make; after all, everyone has eaten it before, and you can buy all the ingredients for less than ten yuan at the fruit and vegetable market.
However, to make it delicious and flavorful, it requires a chef's knife skills and control over the heat.
Xing Lan's fingers are long and fair, and she is very skillful and agile in everything she does, except when she is clumsy when cutting vegetables.
Two potatoes were wasted, and all that was gained were a bunch of potato chunks of varying sizes.
Not to mention Li Baidong, even he couldn't bear to look at it. After cutting it up, he secretly hid the unsightly pieces behind the cutting board in a blind spot, keeping a calm face and pretending nothing had happened.
Li Baidong stood with his arms crossed, watching all his little actions, and couldn't help but smile.
He silently walked behind Xing Lan, gently placing one hand on Xing Lan's hand that was holding the knife, his warm, large palm almost completely enveloping Xing Lan's hand.
"Brother, let's try one more time, together."
Feeling Li Baidong's familiar and warm aura behind her, Xing Lan's breath hitched, and after a few seconds, her heartbeat returned to normal.
Li Baidong glanced at Xing Lan, his expression unchanged, and patiently guided him to cut the last round potato on the cutting board into even and slender shreds.
As he finished the last cut, he smiled and praised Xing Lan generously: "That's fantastic! You're so handsome, and the shreds you cut are beautiful too."
Xing Lan paused for a moment, knowing full well that this was entirely Li Baidong's doing, and he was at most just a middleman.
The warmth of Li Baidong still lingered on the back of her hand. Xing Lan pursed her lips, turned to Li Baidong, and asked, "So, what do we do next?"
As he turned his head, Li Baidong saw his bright, earnest, and inquiring eyes, and suddenly leaned down to kiss him.
Xing Lan: "...?"
He subconsciously raised his hand and wiped his lips with his sleeve, asking in confusion, "Why did you kiss me?"
Li Baidong stared at him and said in a serious tone, "Brother, don't you know? Keeping the chef in a good and happy mood is also a key step in making good food."
"..."
Xing Lan silently tugged at the corner of her lips, then lowered her head and carefully scooped up the sliced shreds, soaking them in water.
-
After the video teaching her "roommate" how to make shredded potatoes was posted, it quickly garnered tens of thousands of likes, its popularity soared, and the comment section was bustling with activity.
[Help! You city folks call this a roommate??]
[You sneak a kiss on your wife while cooking?]
[06:32:11 Suddenly appeared in Tsukuba and secretly kissed, then sent an emoji]
[Thanks to the person upstairs, I've smashed my phone into the wall and watched this 800 times.]
I only have one question. If your upper body is so sticky, is your lower body also connected?
Although Xing Lan couldn't understand some of the strange things being said, one thing was clear: everyone took it for granted that he was Li Baidong's "wife".
He was a little puzzled by this.
Is it because the account owner is Li Baidong that his fans have preconceived notions and assume he is the husband?
Just then, Li Baidong, having finished his shower and carrying a faint scent of woody shower gel, lay down close beside him.
Suddenly, a warmth spread through her previously empty space. Xing Lan couldn't help but turn her head to look at the person lying leisurely beside her—the person's strong, broad body, honey-colored skin, and long, powerful arms.
Previously, due to his age, Xing Lan had always regarded Li Baidong as a little kid who was still in school, and had overlooked many aspects of him.
Only then did they realize that Li Baidong was tall, had a large frame, and was so strong that he looked like he could kill a bull with one punch.
Although Xing Lan is not short, she is too thin and her figure appears somewhat frail.
Aside from occasionally walking the dog, he doesn't have a habit of exercising. Unlike Li Baidong, who goes to the gym every day, is sunny, cheerful, loves sports, and has a handsome, muscular physique that appeals to both men and women.
The two are quite different in size, and their core strength is also significantly different. Li Baidong's hands are a whole size bigger than Xing Lan's. When he taught Xing Lan how to chop vegetables that afternoon, the difference in the size of their hands was very obvious.
Xing Lan pondered for a moment, then suddenly thought of a question that she had never dared to think about in detail before because she was too embarrassed.
So, given his physique, how did he manage to force himself on Li Baidong, who was so strong, during that accidental drunken night?
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