Chapter 60

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Ning Chen's breathing unconsciously became a little lighter.

Xie Tingyun curled up on Ning Shen's neck like a little beast, and fell asleep in this position again.

It was not until she heard Xie Tingyun's slow breathing that Ning Chen secretly sighed.

You can actually sleep in this position. Aren’t your legs numb?

After an unknown amount of time, Xie Tingyun suddenly woke up. He was stunned by the scene in front of him. Then he stood up, let go of Ning Chen, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry."

Ning Chen yawned and said lazily, "Did you have a nightmare, Senior Brother?"

Xie Tingyun was silent for a while, then replied softly, "Yeah. Sorry to have embarrassed you."

He pushed himself up, his legs were numb from kneeling, so his movements seemed a little stiff.

Ning Chen pulled the quilt over his head, and his voice sounded much duller when it reached Xie Tingyun's ears: "Are you still sleeping?"

Xie Tingyun coughed lightly with a slight embarrassment and said, "I'm leaving."

The person under the quilt understood: "Okay, I'll sleep for a while."

According to Ning Shen's previous personality, he would have teased her that she was such an adult and yet she still wanted someone to hug her when she had a nightmare.

But Xie Tingyun also looked very ashamed, and Ning Chen was happy with himself, so he didn't care about the verbal dispute.

But to be honest, this hugging posture was quiet but somehow familiar. He had never been hugged like this by someone this old, but before, there were children who often liked to silently reach out to him for a hug.

Ning Chen yawned again, his mind was almost too confused to think.

He hasn't slept all night and is extremely sleepy now. He might as well wait until he wakes up before opening his main account to fight or something.

Xie Tingyun's bed must have some magical power that can seal people in the bed, make them sleepy and make them unable to wake up.

“…”

After Ning Chen covered his head, he successfully and effectively blocked the line of sight between the two of them.

Xie Tingyun breathed a sigh of relief without leaving a trace.

But after calming down, Xie Tingyun couldn't help but want to reach out and lift Ning Chen's quilt to look at him.

Xie Tingyun hesitated for a while, but finally restrained himself and stopped.

*

Ning Shen fell into a deep sleep again.

During this time, someone gently lifted Ning Chen's quilt, but Ning Chen held the quilt tightly, and Xie Tingyun couldn't pull it out at all, so he had no choice but to ask: "Ning Chen?"

"Ning Chen, get up and eat something first."

Ning Shen was extremely sleepy and there was no movement.

When Xie Tingyun came back, it was already afternoon, and Ning Chen had not gotten up yet.

Xie Tingyun reasonably wondered if he hadn't slept that night.

He had no choice but to try to dig the person out from under the quilt little by little, but Ning Chen was annoyed and suddenly opened the quilt, directly pushing Xie Tingyun into the quilt, and unceremoniously stuffed Xie Tingyun into the deep of the bed.

Xie Tingyun: "..."

Xie Tingyun was extremely shocked and said while struggling: "You..."

Ning Chen forcefully rolled Xie Tingyun into the quilt, then felt annoyed by the freshly-made spring rolls being too noisy, so he used his hands to calm him down, pressing Xie Tingyun into his arms, and then he just lay there motionless.

“…”

Xie Tingyun was wrapped up in Ning Chen's quilt, which was still carrying Ning Chen's body temperature, pressing against him.

Ning Shen held him down like an octopus and refused to let him struggle. Half of his face was buried in the pillow, and there was obvious displeasure between his brows, as if he was accusing Xie Tingyun of disturbing his sleep, which was a heinous crime.

Xie Tingyun stared at the face he had been thinking about for a long time, and sighed silently: "If you go back to sleep, what are you going to sleep for at night?"

Before he finished speaking, Ning Chen closed his eyes and raised his hand to touch him, touching his ear bones, jaw, and side of his face. Finally, he successfully pressed the corner of Xie Tingyun's lips, refusing to let him continue speaking.

“…”

After Ning Chen fell asleep again, the hand that was holding Xie Tingyun relaxed quietly.

Xie Tingyun lowered his eyes and looked for a long while. He could clearly escape, but he didn't know why he didn't take any action for a long time.

*

When Ning Shen woke up, it was already midnight.

Ning Chen looked down and saw Xie Tingyun wrapped in a quilt, lying quietly in his arms with his eyes closed.

Ning Shen's heart skipped a beat. He thought hard for a long time before he remembered that he seemed to have had a dream about wrapping spring rolls during the day. In the dream, the spring roll was not only very noisy, but also very humanely ran over with a plate of food to wake him up.

Ning Chen was still wondering how there could be a spring roll spirit in this world. It turned out that the spring roll spirit was actually Xie Tingyun, whom he had wrapped in a quilt and pressed into his arms to prevent him from struggling.

Ning Chen turned his head and saw, as expected, a food box being warmed on the table.

“…”

He had a good sleep and felt refreshed. As expected, it was already midnight and it was Xie Tingyun who fell asleep again.

Ning Chen was completely speechless by this strange combination of circumstances.

The key point is that their current posture is not quite right. They are shoulder to shoulder, with only a few thin layers of quilts between them. They can feel each other's body temperature and the rise and fall of their chests, and even their breathing is intertwined, like lovers rubbing their necks together.

Xie Tingyun's body temperature was on the cool side, and after being held by Ning Chen for so long, it finally warmed up a lot, but it was still not as warm as Ning Chen's.

Ning Shen remained in this position for an unknown amount of time. He always felt something was wrong and wanted to reach out and quietly let go of Xie Tingyun. However, as soon as he made the slightest move, Xie Tingyun's breathing rate began to change.

Maybe it was because he had a nightmare recently and couldn't sleep well, Xie Tingyun refused to have a good sleep quality at this moment. As soon as Ning Chen relaxed a little, Xie Tingyun would open his eyes drowsily, and then react for a long time before shrinking back into Ning Chen's arms, and then leaning on his chest and closing his eyes quietly. The whole action was very smooth and natural, without any lag at all.

“……” This made Ning Chen totally confused.

The expression on Ning Chen's face changed slightly, and the emotion in his eyes was hard to read. No one knew what he was thinking.

It was Ning Chen who pulled the person in at first, but now it seemed not a good idea to push the person away, so Ning Chen had to maintain this posture until dawn.

Ning Chen was so bored that he even started counting sheep, cows, and cicadas chirping outside the forbidden area.

Later, my thoughts somehow began to revolve around Xie Tingyun.

I don't know why, but Xie Tingyun these days always reminds Ning Chen of the neighbor kid in his previous life.

When Xie Tingyun was sober, he never expressed his dependence on anyone. The only time Ning Chen saw him was in a dream. At that time, the little snow ball would lean on his mother's arms to express his dependence and reluctance.

At that time, Xie Tingyun was still young, so it was understandable that he relied on his mother. But after Xuetuanzi grew up, he became the one who relied on others.

This is the first time Ning Shen has seen someone so confused and instinctively clinging to others when he is not fully awake.

Ning Shen had only seen this kind of silent and unobtrusive way of expressing emotions in the kid next door.

Children always have bruises all over their bodies, and even if the quiet room is well soundproofed, one can always hear the sounds of beatings and insults mixed with rage and harsh words.

However, Ning Shen had never heard a child cry, not even once, as if he was born to accept all the scolding and beatings in silence.

One day when Ning Shen was about to open the door when he returned home, he saw the child sitting against the door with his knees hugged and his head buried.

Regardless of spring, summer, autumn or winter, he always wore long sleeves and long pants, but the scars on his face and neck could not be covered up, and they were so obvious that anyone could tell what had happened at a glance.

It was lunch time, and from behind the door where the child was sitting could be heard the sound of two people drinking and eating, watching the screen on TV and laughing.

Ning Shen looked at him twice, opened the door and went in, then came out a few seconds later and brought the child home.

The child's parents are often not at home, but when they are at home, they will beat and scold the child.

Sometimes the child's parents would be away on business for several days or more, and he is still alive today thanks to the kindness of God and his neighbors.

Ning Chen had gotten into the habit of picking up the kid from next door when he returned home every day, applying medicine to his wounds, and sharing half of the noodles he bought with him.

This behavior could not be hidden from the child's parents, but surprisingly, they did not get angry or try to stop others from doing after-sales service out of kindness.

After all, the death of a child is a huge trouble. Surprisingly, a neighbor is willing to pay to support this money-loser and buy medicine for his treatment. He also saves money on hair buns when he is on a business trip. Why not do it?

After being brought back by Ning Chen, the child didn't like to speak. He wouldn't express his needs and preferences, and would only nod and shake his head when asked anything.

The only things he would refuse were the single bed that Ning Chen gave up for him and the meals that Ning Chen evenly distributed to him during mealtimes.

Although it's useless to refuse every time.

When asked why, the child didn't say a word and just curled up on the floor. Even though he was picked up again and again, he insisted on climbing down and then tried to push Ning Shen up.

This cycle repeated five or six times. Ning Chen finally lost his patience and began to issue a final ultimatum: "Go up obediently, or I will throw you at the door and let the monster eat you in the middle of the night."

The child was silent for a long time. He raised his head and looked at Ning Shen with his dark eyes for a long time. Then he turned around and walked out slowly.

He would rather be eaten by the monster than occupy Ning Shen's bed and let him sleep on the floor.

Ning Chen: “…Hey!”

Ning Chen sighed, went out and brought back the child who was squatting at the door waiting to be eaten by the monster.

It was not until he touched the child's shoulder that Ning Chen realized that the overly thin body in his hands was shaking noticeably.

Ning Chen was stunned.

Ning Chen reacted quickly by pinching his chin and lifting it up. However, the child's eyes were still dark and there were no tears, but he was clearly trembling.

The child lowered his eyes and reached out to Ning Chen for the first time.

He didn't say anything, just stood there with his hands open, looking at Ning Shen quietly.

Ning Chen and the child stared at each other for a long time before they suddenly realized: Why was he holding his hand outstretched for so long? Could he be asking for a hug?

The child got tired of raising his hands and couldn't help but let them drop a little bit, but he still stretched out his hands as if he was still expecting an action, that's all.

Ning Chen was silent for a while, then accepted the hug.

The child was buried in the arms of peace as he wished.

Ning Chen said: "Is it okay?"

The child said nothing and did not let go.

After a long time, Ning Chen asked again: "Is it ok? Is it time to go to bed, ancestor?"

The child still held his neck tightly and refused to let go.

Ning Chen really couldn't do anything with him, so he sighed, "Alright, alright, alright, that's enough, how long are you going to hold me?"

The child reluctantly let go.

However, this action suddenly made Ning Shen wake up.

He lifted the child up to his face, held up a finger, and said, "Come on, say a word."

The child stared at him without saying anything.

Ning Chen knew this would be the result, so he continued, "Say one word and I'll hug you."

The child opened his mouth immediately, but perhaps because he hadn't spoken for too long, he moved his lips in a strange way, and after a long while he said in a very awkward tone, "Hmm."

After saying that, he immediately reached out to Ning Chen.

Ning Chen: “…”

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The author has something to say:

Ningmi: One word can be rua, two words can be kiss, and being able to speak a short sentence fluently can be burying the belly (sure)

Xiao Xie: Yeah, OK, no problem, that’s what you said (he takes the whole cat away)

Ningmi:?