Ch 58

Summer vacation in the third year of high school was long enough. When Ding Xuerun took Lou Cheng home, Ding Zhaowen greeted him warmly and entertained him. He admired Ding Xuerun’s little classmate, who was about to reach the height of a door frame.

After preparing a sumptuous hometown meal, Ding Zhaowen asked Lou Cheng at the dinner table, “Where are you staying at night?”

“I don’t know, Uncle Ding. I haven’t decided yet.”

“Don’t stay in the hotel. Runrun room is big, just stay with him!”

Lou Cheng almost laughed and said, “Yes, sure!”

“You are both studying in Beijing, and your universities are very close to one another. When the time comes, you will look after each other and go out to eat if you don’t have anything else to do. Don’t cut off the contact.”

“Of course!” Lou  Cheng almost said it is impossible to break off contact because they are living together, and sleeping on the same bed.

After the meal, Lou Cheng secretly planned with Ding Xuerun in his room: “You see your father like me so much. If I kiss you in front of him, would he still like me?”

Ding Xuerun shook his head.

“Then he will hit me?”

Ding Xuerun still shook his head: “He doesn’t hit people, he will only drive you away.”

“That’s still…” Lou Cheng scratched his head, feeling a little helpless. His father had said that he had made a special trip to Guilin these two days to bring some gifts and see his in-law, but Lou Cheng did not dare to let him come.

“Let’s keep it a secret.” 

There was a knock on the door, and Ding Zhaowen’s voice came through the door: “Can I come in?”

Lou Cheng quickly loosened his arms around Ding Xuerun and stood up to open the door.

Ding Zhaowen brought the fruit plate and two glasses of water in: “Xiao Lou, did uncle interrupt your chat?”

Lou Cheng  shook his head: “No, Uncle Ding.” He thought Ding Zhaowen was too polite. What’s with Xiao Lou? Just call him son is fine.

“This is a photo of Runrun from little to adult, you flip through it,” Ding Zhaowen said as he took an album from the shelf.

The album was big and thick, and Lou Cheng happily took it over: “Thank you, Uncle Ding. I’ll take my time.”

Lou Cheng turned to the first page. The color photos were well protected by plastic packaging. The first one was a family portrait with a woman holding a child.

Ding Zhaowen explained: “This is when Runrun was born. This is his mother.”

Lou  sighed: “Mother is so beautiful.”

“This is the artistic photo we took in the photo studio when he was just one month.” He pointed to a picture of a baby.

Lou Cheng quickly took out his phone and took a picture. He couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “Why do you eat your own toes?” he asked, touching Ding Xuerun on the shoulder.

The baby in the picture is gnawing his toes in his mouth. You can’t tell the baby’s gender yet and has big black-and-white eyes.

Ding Xuerun explained: “I was too young to understand anything at that time.”

Ding Zhaowen turned another page in the album, and Lou Cheng saw Ding Xuerun grow up day by day, and he suddenly felt the illusion that he had participated in his previous life.

After turning a few pages of a photo album, Ding Zhaowen went out: “Don’t go to bed too late.” 

Lou Cheng’s tense expression relaxed as soon as he stepped outside, holding the photo album and gazing at it with delight: “Baby, is this you? Why do you wear a skirt…”

Ding Xuerun leaned over and looked at it, saying, “The primary school arranged a play, and there’s a role shortage, so the teacher let me take it.”

Putting on women’s clothing, Ding Xuerun, who is seven or eight years old, has a pink face, a wig, and white socks that make him look exactly like a little girl.

Lou Cheng’s heart moved: “Do you still have women’s clothing in your house?”

“Do you want to wear them? I can buy them for you if you want.”

Lou Cheng’s eyes flickered: “…I am not, I want to see…you wear them.”

Ding Xuerun didn’t have that habit, but he didn’t completely reject Lou Cheng. He just bypassed the topic and turned the album back one page.

Lou Cheng found in the photos that Ding Xuerun had begun to wear glasses.

“Are you short-sighted in junior high school?”

“Well, I studied too hard. My vision slowly became a little blurry.”

The pictures in the back were getting fewer and fewer. In the album, Lou Cheng noticed a paper certificate. Finally, he understands why the album is so heavy, it turns out that it contains many awards.

Each one tells Lou Cheng that Ding Xuerun has been so excellent since childhood.

When Ding Xuerun went out to take a bath after reading the photo album, he noticed that the light in Ding Zhaowen’s room had been turned off.

Despite his desire to be with him, Lou Cheng was afraid of being seen by Ding Xuerun’s parent in his house. Lou Cheng went to the bathroom again when Ding Xuerun returned to his room to sleep.

The two turned off the lights and lay on the bed, Lou Cheng was still not drowsy.

Ding Xuerun’s bed was one meter and five meters wide. Ding Zhaowen prepared two summer quilts for them. The original intention was to let them cover them separately. After all, it was summer. As a result, Lou Cheng abandoned the quilt that Ding Zhaowen had specially prepared for him and got in a quilt with Ding Xuerun.

He has a sweaty body, and as he held Ding Xuerun warmly, a layer of sweat appeared on his body.

Lou Cheng took off the pajamas he had just put on under the quilt.

Ding Xuerun opened his eyes: “Why are you still awake?”

“I can’t sleep…” He didn’t dare to speak loudly, instead lowering his voice, almost whispering, “I thought you were asleep.”

With that, he hugged him again. Ding Xuerun rolled over in his arms, facing him from behind.

Lou Cheng asked: “The picture of yours in the baby’s photo, the one where you gnawed toes. Can you still gnaw it now?”

“I don’t know.” Ding Xuerun sighed and wanted to laugh. “Who is okay with gnawing toes? ” he whispered.

“I just want to nibble.”

Ding Xuerun looked at him with big eyes, his eyes showing the look of a fool.

Lou Cheng added: “Runrun, I want to nibble on you. I want to lick you from head to toe.” 

Lou Cheng’s nose was filled with the sweet fragrance of Ding Xuerun’s body shower gel. He took a soft sniff: “Do you think if I put a kiss mark on you, your father will recognize it as something that I did? Will he believe you if you say it’s a mosquito bite?”

“He won’t believe it.” Ding Xuerun was a little hot, so he pushed the quilt away from him. Lou Cheng used this to turn over and arched in front of Ding Xuerun’s chest. He silently got into his pajamas, the tip of his nose rubbed against his skin, and the smell of his body seduced Lou Cheng.

Ding Xuerun’s pajamas rolled all the way up to his neck. He shuddered slightly and lightly placed his palm on Lou Cheng’s head: “…Make sure you don’t make too much noise. Don’t wake up my dad.”

Lou Cheng was more cautious and kissed very tenderly, daring not to make a sound.

At breakfast the next day, Ding Zhaowen carrying a newspaper suddenly said: “I don’t know if there are wild cats in the community. I have been vaguely heard the cat calls last night.”

Ding Xuerun drank soy milk.

“Strange,” he said with a puzzled expression. “It doesn’t look like a cat either.”

Lou Cheng didn’t understand anything, and stupidly agreed: “I seem to have heard the cat calls too!” In fact, the light went off last night and Lou Cheng heard nothing.

Ding Zhaowen nodded: “Yes, I’ll wait to see if there are any wild cats, and buy some cat food to feed.”

“You can take Xiao Lou out to the Lijiang River to take a bamboo raft,” he told Ding Xuerun.

Ding Xuerun took Lou Cheng out to play. Ding Xuerun asked him in the taxi, “Did you really hear the cat calls last night?”

“I didn’t hear it.”

“Then why did you say you heard it?”

Lou Cheng looked at him innocently, “In order to prevent your dad from felt alone.”

Ding Xuerun also looked at him: “Lou Ceng… Do you really think my dad heard cat calls?”

“Otherwise?”

“…Forget it.”