Deer Wife Chapter 59: Extra III [END]

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: KarateChopMonkey

 

Over the next few days, the two of them travelled around Longquan Town.

They went to the town primary school and town middle school which Lu Rong attended, and sat by the small playground, listening to Lu Rong’s stories about his childhood. It was summer vacation and the school was empty, so Lu Rong talked about those things and Shen Jize also listened very carefully, and looked through the classroom window at the desk where he used to sit.

In a trance, he seemed to have become the 14-year-old himself, not meeting Fatty Chen, but following the boss’s guidance to find this elementary school, and then found this classroom. Standing outside the window, he saw Lu Rong, the little boy who was leaning over to do his homework, and seemed to sense something, turning his head to look at the glass window, his eyes shining brighter than the stars… 

“…I forgot to bring my homework, but that was the only time I was punished.” Lu Rong had just finished telling the story of his punishment, and turned his head to see Shen Jize in a daze. The look on his face was strange, full of tenderness and a bit of melancholy at the same time.

“Brother, what are you thinking about?” Lu Rong reached out and waved his hand in front of his eyes.

Shen Jize grabbed the hand and whispered, “I’m regretting… Regretting that I missed so much time.”

Lu Rong paused, leaned forward and leaned into his arms, “No, I think it’s fine now.” He tilted his head to stare at Shen Jize’s chin again, “We’re still together after all, so I am very, very, very satisfied.”

He used three ‘very’ in a row, his tone also very serious, so Shen Jize lowered his head and kissed him on the forehead, and hugged him tightly back.

In the quiet of the campus, only birds chirping in the distance and the soft breeze rustling through the leaves could be heard. A few moments later, Shen Jize whispered, “I’m also very, very, very satisfied.”

Shen Jize made dinner, and Lu Rong accompanied his grandfather to chat in the courtyard. Shen Jize cooked four dishes, all of which tasted very good, and Grandpa Cai ate them to his heart’s content, taking the time to criticize Lu Rong for not knowing how to cook anything.

“I can’t cook because you spoiled me.” Lu Rong said, biting his chopsticks.

Grandpa Cai said sadly, “No, I regret now, I shouldn’t have allowed you to do nothing.”

Shen Jize gave Grandpa Cai a bowl of soup and laughed, “Don’t worry, Grandpa, Rong Rong won’t be hungry, I’ll cook for him.”

“You child, can you still cook for him for the rest of his life?” Grandpa Cai didn’t take this seriously, “Rong Rong, you will learn to cook from tomorrow. Not to mention living on your own in the future, even if you live with your brother now, he works so hard, so you will have to put in more effort”

“It’s okay, Grandpa, I give you my word. I can cook for Rong Rong for the rest of his life.” Shen Jize said in a smooth tone.

Grandpa Cai just thought he was trying to cheer him up, but Lu Rong’s heart jumped and he buried his head and tried to dig into his rice, only taking time to glance at Shen Jize from above the bowl.

The moment their eyes collided, he mouthed at him: ‘Wife’.

Lu Rong’s bowl almost slipped out of his hand, and he looked at Grandpa Cai in a panic, but then he saw that he was looking down and not noticing the two of them. He stretched out one foot and slid it under the table to gently kick the person across the table, but as soon as he kicked out, Shen Jize caught his foot with both legs.

Lu Rong tried to free himself twice but couldn’t get it out, and didn’t dare to use any force. Grandpa Cai was about to get up and go into the kitchen and when he passed by, Lu Rong was afraid he would notice, so he quickly changed his expression to one of begging and pitifully mouthed back at Shen Jize: ‘Husband…’ 

Shen Jize finally let go of his leg, and Lu Rong hurriedly lowered his head to dig into the rice, not daring to make any more moves.

After eating, Shen Jize went to wash the dishes, Lu Rong stayed in the courtyard, giving Grandpa Cai shoulder and foot massage.

“He’s also a guest, w​​hat’s wrong with you letting him do the dishes? Go and give your brother a hand.” Grandpa Cai pushed Lu Rong’s hand away and said, “He works so hard all day long, it’s rare for him to get a few days off, so if you can do more work, you should do more work to loosen up the lazy muscles.

Lu Rong smiled and said, “I know.”

He crept into the kitchen and saw Shen Jize standing by the sink with his apron tied, his tall body making the kitchen even smaller, it even seemed difficult to turn around.

“Ha!” Lu Rong shouted, lunged forward and hung on Shen Jize’s back, “Did you get scared? Did I scare you?”

Shen Jize said flatly without looking back, “Oh, I was scared to death.”

He washed the dishes neatly, his forearms strong under the short sleeves of his T-shirt, a few drops of water dropped on his light brown skin.

“Go out and rest, let me do the dishes.” Lu Rong rested his chin on his shoulder and reached around his side, touching his forearm and rubbing it up and down.

“What’s with those lecherous hands? Don’t keep me from my work, get out.” Shen Jize feigned impatience, but the corners of his mouth curled up in a smile.

Lu Rong softened his voice and said, “But I want to keep you company.”

Shen Jize washed the dishes, suddenly turned around, and before Lu Rong could react, he pushed him against the wall and kissed him fiercely.

The water in the sink was splashing, interspersed with mushy sucking sounds, and by the time the long kiss was over, Lu Rong’s legs were too weak to hold him. Shen Jize held his back with one hand, wiped the saliva off his lips with the other, and said in a soft voice, “Go stay with Grandpa first, or the dishes won’t be finished.”

Lu Rong walked out of the kitchen in a daze, and just as he stepped out of the kitchen door, he saw a flash of a person at the front door, as someone had come out of the house into the yard just a second before.

His mind instantly cleared, his face turned pale and he froze in place.

——The only person in the house besides him and Shen Jize was Grandpa Cai.

Lu Rong rushed out of the house and stopped in a hurry, Grandpa Cai was sitting under the ginkgo tree with his back to him, clutching a porcelain pot in his arms, burying his head in shelling the young beans.

He took a deep breath, walked slowly to Grandpa Cai, dragged a small stool and sat down, peeked at his expression, but Grandpa Cai didn’t say anything, as the sunset reflected his furrowed face red, and looked very calm.

“Grandpa.” Lu Rong swallowed hard and spoke with difficulty.

“What’s wrong?” Grandpa Cai’s tone didn’t sound different, and he turned his head to look at him.

It looks like Grandpa didn’t see that scene just now… Lu Rong was secretly glad, but at the same time, a faint feeling of disappointment came over him. He felt that if Grandpa had seen it, he would have simply told him, but since he didn’t see it, he lost the courage to open his mouth again.

“Rest early if you’re okay, the vacation should be over, and you and Xiao Ze are going to the capital.” Grandpa Cai continued to shell the beans, and with a gentle twist of his rough fingers, the shells cracked open, revealing the full bean grains inside.

When Lu Rong heard this, he was keenly aware of a hint of something wrong. He had already told Grandpa that they would go to the capital together tomorrow, but why did he only mention him and his brother? So he asked, “Grandpa, you’re not coming to the capital?”

“No. You see, Puppy is old, so I don’t feel comfortable leaving him at someone else’s home, and if I take him to the capital, it will suffer on the way.” Grandpa Cai didn’t look at Lu Rong’s face, only lowered his eyes as he spoke.

“My brother got Puppy a permit, so he can get on the plane, and doesn’t need to go in the luggage compartment. He can travel with us in the passenger compartment, and won’t be exhausted.” Lu Rong was anxious, so his voice was also loud. “Grandpa, how can you not keep your word? You agreed to go to the capital with me!”

“Grandpa is old, so he doesn’t want to leave home.” Grandpa Cai said indifferently.

Lu Rong was anxious, because Uncle Bai had promised him that he would give Grandpa some medicine to prolong his life. This kind of medicine couldn’t make one live forever, but making ordinary people live another few decades in good health was still possible. He even pestered Uncle Bai to give Puppy some to eat. The reason for bringing Grandpa to the capital this time was because he intended to let Uncle Bai give him treatment, and let him stay in the capital indefinitely, never to be separated again.

Lu Rong abruptly stood up, wanting to say “No, I won’t rest assured if you stay here alone, you must go to the capital with me, and Puppy must also come!”. But when his eyes fell on Grandpa Cai’s hand in the white porcelain basin, those words were cut off in his throat.

Grandpa Cai was still looking down and peeling the shells of beans, there was no difference in his face, but his hands were constantly trembling, shivering so much that the beans were turned out of the shells. His mood at the moment obviously differed from his expression, he in fact, wasn’t calm at all.

Lu Rong’s brain exploded with a bang, and his heart suddenly chilled. It turned out that Grandpa saw it all. He saw that scene just now and knew about his relationship with his brother.

“Grandpa, I… I…” He mumbled with a white face, unable to say a complete sentence.

Grandpa Cai got up so violently that the porcelain basin on his lap clattered to the ground, and the beans rolled down to the ground. He didn’t bother to pick it up, but hastily turned around and said, “I’m going to my room to rest.”

Lu Rong watched Grandpa Cai’s somewhat hunched back disappear at the stairway, standing motionless, only the dog slowly approached, looking at the ground full of beans, and looked up at him, wagging his tail in confusion.

“Rong Rong, let’s go help Grandpa pack his bags.” Shen Jize came out shaking his still wet hands, and after seeing this scene, he stopped dead in his tracks, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Lu Rong was still looking at the stairs, his eyes were full of fear, and his face had lost all its blood.

Shen Jize looked astonished and took a big step forward, grabbed his arm and asked anxiously, “What happened? Why do you look so bad? Where’s Grandpa?”

“Grandpa…” Lu Rong seemed to have come back to his senses, slowly turning his eyes to look at Shen Jize, “Brother…”

“Brother is here, don’t panic. No matter what happens, Brother is here.”

Lu Rong trembled his lips, “Grandpa knows about us.”

 

In the night, Lu Rong curled up in Shen Jize’s arms like a small animal, being gently stroked by him on his back.

“Grandpa just can’t accept it for now. It’s okay, we’ll take our time.” Shen Jize said softly.

Lu Rong buried his face in his arms, his voice was a little nasal, “But he’s not coming to the capital with us tomorrow.”

Shen Jize said, “Then we won’t leave tomorrow either. I’ll change the tickets, and we’ll leave when we’ve coaxed Grandpa to come with us.”

Lu Rong shook his head, “In a couple of days, you will follow the crew to promote the new movie, so you can’t spend time here.”

“The director and other actors are enough, it doesn’t matter if I go or not. What matters is that Grandpa’s here.”

Lu Rong raised his face and said, “Then I’ll stay. I’ll stay with Grandpa. You can’t neglect your work there.”

Shen Jize hesitated for a moment, “Is that okay?”

“Yes. That way Grandpa won’t be more upset when he sees us together.”

“Okay, I’ll pick you up as soon as I’m done there.”

In the quiet of the night, only the electric fan could be heard whirring its head, as Lu Rong sighed sadly and closed his eyes.

The next morning, Shen Jize dragged his suitcase down to the second floor with Lu Rong, and Grandpa Cai was busy in the kitchen as usual, and two steaming bowls of egg noodles were left on the dining table.

The two sat down at the table to start their breakfast, neither daring to say anything, only passing a careful glance.

Lu Rong winked at Shen Jize, indicating to him to look at the bowl of noodles in front of him: Grandpa’s still making breakfast for us, so he shouldn’t be as angry as we think.

Shen Jize picked up a chopstick and sent some into his mouth, winking at him as well: It tastes good, not too salty.

Lu Rong lifted his chin at Grandpa Cai’s back in the kitchen, then looked at the suitcase beside Shen Jize: Later, after you finish eating, say hello and leave, don’t stay to make him angry.

Shen Jize nodded steadily, indicating that he got it, and then turned to Grandpa Cai and yelled, “Grandpa, is there anything I should bring? I still have room in my suitcase.”

Lu Rong was shocked and reached out to cover his mouth, but Grandpa Cai stood in front of the sink rinsing his hands and said without looking back, “My luggage was already packed last night, so just bring that bacon from the beam later. I don’t know when I’ll be back once I leave, so don’t let all that meat go bad. Just take it all to the capital.”

“Mn, alright.” Shen Jize froze after answering and looked at Lu Rong with his mouth half open in shock.

Lu Rong was also frozen in place like a fool, and only after a few seconds did he jump to his feet and ask in a loud voice, “Grandpa, you’ve agreed to come with us to the capital?”

Grandpa Cai wiped his hands with a dry towel and said, “What if I don’t go? Would I just let you two worry about me, an old man, and delay your work?”

“Ahhhhhhh!!!” Lu Rong burst out in a series of screams, and rolled into the kitchen like the wind, hugging Grandpa Cai and incoherently babbling, “Grandpa, you’re too good! Grandpa, I love you so much! Grandpa, I’m so happy ah!”

He buried his head in Grandpa Cai’s neck and whispered in a choked voice, “Grandpa, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to upset you.”

A moment later, Grandpa Cai reached out and touched the top of Lu Rong’s hair, “Silly boy, no matter what, you’re still Grandpa’s boy. As long as you are doing well, Grandpa’s satisfied.”

Lu Rong looked up at Grandpa Cai, and saw that his pale eyes were still red from a long night of sleeplessness, and he had obviously struggled intensely last night. But even though he no longer wanted to, he finally gave in, because he was more reluctant to make Lu Rong sad than anything else.

Shen Jize has been standing in the kitchen doorway, quietly watching the two, a moment before saying in a soft voice, “Grandpa, don’t worry. I won’t let you down.”

Grandpa Cai looked sideways and Shen Jize met his gaze, not avoiding it, his gaze full of determination. Grandpa Cai sighed imperceptibly, “Go ahead, load up what I said, and we’ll leave later.”

Grandpa Cai knew that although Lu Rong said he was only taking him to play, he was actually thinking of letting him stay in the capital to retire. The furniture and appliances in the house couldn’t be taken away, so they were covered with cloth sheets.

“Next summer, you can come back and stay for a while to escape the heat.” Grandpa Cai sealed the big kimchi jars as he told Lu Rong, “The most important thing is that jar of old brine, as long as it is sealed, it won’t go bad for several years, and you love to eat Grandpa’s kimchi. The big jar is sealed, so I’ll bring the small jar to the capital with me and continue to make kimchi for you.”

Lu Rong only nodded frequently, he would agree with anything Grandpa Cai said now, smiling so much that his eyes narrowed into a slit.

“For two people to get along, they have to understand each other. Xiao Ze is good to you, but you shouldn’t be too capricious, and hurt the feelings between you, understand?” Grandpa Cai lowered his head and sealed the jar lid, as he spoke seriously.

Lu Rong’s heart warmed up and he said, “I know, I will be good to my brother.”

When Shen Jize’s reserved commercial vehicle arrived, the three of them loaded their bags onto the car, took the dog with them, locked the door and headed to the city airport.

It had just rained heavily in the morning, and the highway surface was still a bit slippery, with a thin layer of water accumulating in some slightly depressed places, and there was a slight sense of deflection when the wheels ran over it at high speed.

“Master, we’re not in a hurry, so drive slowly ah. Safety first.” Grandpa Cai couldn’t help but remind the driver.

The driver laughed and said, “Don’t worry, I’m only going 80, it’s safe.”

Lu Rong and Grandpa Cai were sitting in the back seat with Puppy in the middle. Shen Jize, who was in the passenger seat, would turn his head from time to time and ask if the two wanted to drink water or go to the service area for a break.

When he turned around again, the commercial vehicle suddenly slowed down, and the driver said in shock, “There’s an accident up ahead.”

It was only visible a short distance ahead, where a section of the guardrail was knocked off, making an opening, the road was scattered with glass fragments and a few pieces of clothing thrown about. And the guardrail on the grass, and an off-road lying on the bottom, wisps of white smoke still billowing from the car. Two people, a young man and a woman, were loudly choking and coughing, while crawling out of the car window.

The driver was very concerned, and seeing the situation, he rushed to the business car parked in the emergency lane, then hit the double flash to the trunk to take the roadblock sign. As soon as the car parked, Shen Jize pushed the door open, jumped over the guardrail, before Grandpa Cai and Lu Rong also rushed to get out of the car.

The young man and woman had already gotten out of the car, both ignoring the parts of their bodies that were still bleeding, and lunged for the cliff at the edge of the meadow.

“There he is! He was thrown out the car window and got hung up on a tree!” The man pointed down and shouted excitedly, the woman immediately fell to her knees, poking her head out and crying, “Baby, hang on! Mommy will come down to save you!”

Shen Jize quickly rushed to the edge of the grass, looked down and saw just a few meters below the foot of the cliff. In a few horizontal tree trunks, a small swaddled baby was waving his two small hands, bawling with his eyes closed. And further down, was a more than a hundred meters deep valley.

The driver also rushed over and was horrified to see this scene, “Hurry up and call the police! Hurry up!”

The father looked around the terrain, squatting down like he wanted to climb down, but was grabbed by the driver, “Are you crazy?! There’s not even a place you can step on this cliff, you’ll fall.”

“But my baby… if he moves, he’ll fall.” The father said with a pale face.

“I’ll call the police right away. Don’t be impulsive, don’t be impulsive.”

The father held his head with his still bleeding hands and squatted in pain, whimpering and burying his face between his legs.

“Let me go! I won’t fall! Let me go!” The mother, however, was holding the edge of the cliff with both hands and was about to slide down, when the quick-eyed Shen Jize grabbed her wrist and said in a stern voice, “Don’t move, or the baby won’t be saved and you’ll be in trouble yourself.”

The baby’s cries were even more heartbreaking, the swaddling clothes were broken away, as his two fat little feet also desperately fluttered, his body slowly sliding towards the gap.

“Bao’er!” The mother let out a miserable cry, and the whole person closed her eyes and fell limp to the ground.

Just then, a white shadow swept past the edge of the cliff, with an arrow-like rush towards the baby hanging on the trunk of the tree.

It was a white deer, its four hooves narrowly stepped on the cliff, and its silver antlers hooked the baby’s clothes, before it leaped upward, and like a light feather, rushed up the cliff.

At the same time, the paralyzed mother’s legs sank, as if she was pressed down by something heavy.

Then, the white shadow darted to the right, and with a red light flashing on its legs, and silver horns resembling two clumps of coral, it quickly leapt to the back of the hill and disappeared.

Only Shen Jize and the driver saw this scene, but the driver couldn’t go over to see what was going on, because the mother on the ground suddenly screamed, “My baby! My baby’s in my arms! He was saved!”

The baby, who had been hanging from a tree a moment before, was now lying on her lap, crying with a deflated mouth. The mother was in tears, clutching the baby in her arms, shaking with excitement, and the father looked up in shock and ecstasy, stumbling forward and wrapping the mother and child in his arms.

Shen Jize looked back and saw Grandpa Cai standing next to the commercial vehicle, with Lu Rong just running back to him, still looking down and arranging his clothes.

Amidst the family’s cries of joy, the driver asked Shen Jize, eyes wide open, “Did you see that? Did you just see it? I think I saw a white deer bringing the boy down.”

Shen Jize said decisively, “No, no, you are wrong. Someone grabbed a rope and lifted the child up.”

“Then, where’s that person? There was no one around.” The driver looked around and only saw Grandpa Cai and Lu Rong standing in the emergency lane.

“I saw him go around the highway from behind the dirt slope, drove a sedan and left.” Shen Jize made up a lie with an expressionless face.

“But I… but I clearly saw a deer with antlers on its head—”

Shen Jize denied with a steady gaze, “No. You saw it wrong.”

“There’s really no—”

“Go get your eyes checked, either you’re highly myopic or you’re going to go blind.”

“I—”

“Or hallucinate from too much stress. Relax and breathe deeply with me. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out… Better?”

“…Better.”

At this moment, Lu Rong was standing beside Grandpa Cai, not daring to breathe loudly.

He just rushed straight to the small dirt mound, hid behind it to change into a deer, saved the child, then rushed back to the small dirt mound to change back, get dressed and return here. This series of movements, although fast, should’ve been seen by Grandpa Cai, and it was unclear if he found out anything.

Lu Rong didn’t dare to ask, he was listening to his own thumping heartbeat, his throat so dry, its upper and lower walls were glued together.

Grandpa Cai was also silent, only looking at the family still hugging and crying, until Lu Rong was a little breathless, when he said, “Rong Rong ah.”

“Yes.” Lu Rong answered. His voice was so rough that it sounded like he had mixed it with sand, and his hands and feet began to weaken from what Grandpa Cai might say next.

Grandpa Cai turned to meet his eyes, and there was a look of understanding and meaning in that gaze, but not the fear and disgust he feared to see. The only thing in Lu Rong’s mind was: Grandpa really knows everything… 

Grandpa Cai slowly walked forward, reached out and flattened a strand of Lu Rong’s hair that was sticking up, and whispered, “Good boy. Grandpa understands everything, don’t worry.”

“Oh, you understand everything.” Lu Rong’s mind was like a muddle, and he only responded mechanically.

A wry smile flashed across Grandpa Cai’s face, hidden in those wrinkles, as he said, “When you were little and thought no one was home, you would become like that, looking around in the dressing mirror, and Grandpa saw it a few times.”

Lu Rong’s rusty brain finally began to turn as he heard those words, and looked at Grandpa Cai in shock, “Grandpa, I…”

“The time the village collapsed, it was you who saved Grandpa, right?” Grandpa Cai’s seemingly old and cloudy eyes flashed with a hint of shrewdness, “Actually, Grandpa wasn’t completely unconscious at that time and could see your shadow. Also, before I was almost hit by that rock, it was you who pushed me out of the way.”

“Grandpa, I… I…”

Lu Rong was hit by the fact that Grandpa Cai had long known that he could turn into a deer, and was so caught off guard and dazed that he could no longer even say a formative word.

Grandpa Cai straightened out his uneven clothes and sighed, “Rong Rong, don’t worry. No matter what you are, you’re Grandpa’s good grandson, my child.”

When the rescue truck arrived, several people returned to the car and continued to depart for the airport.

In the quiet, the driver continued to ask Shen Jize, “Was it really not a deer? Are you sure?”

“It really wasn’t. As I said, it was someone who saved the kid and drove off in a car.” Shen Jize typed something on his phone, while he indifferently spoke.

“I saw it too, the man moved fast, the little car drove like the wind, I couldn’t even shout for him to stop.” Grandpa Cai suddenly added in the back seat, the tone of his voice not urgent at all.

Shen Jize was tapping away on his phone, when his fingers twitched, and he quickly turned to look back. Lu Rong met his eyes, but he didn’t say anything, only smiled and winked. He looked at Grandpa Cai again, only to see him leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed and his face calm.

Shen Jize turned back around and continued to fiddle with his phone, but with a not-so-subtle smile on his face.

“Could I have really been hallucinating…” The driver shook his head.

Shen Jize said in a serious tone, “It’s okay. Just go back and get some sleep, you might be too tired.”

“Yes, I should go back and get some sleep.” The driver muttered.

The business car drove smoothly to the airport, the sun finally burst out of the clouds, spilling a brilliant golden light.

 

Half a year later.

“Yes, don’t call me this month, I just finished this drama, and I have to relax and rest with my family. We’ll talk about work in a month.” Shen Jize dragged his heavy suitcase and made a phone call while pushing open the courtyard door of his villa.

His villa was different from other villas in the neighborhood. The yard wasn’t planted with flowers and grasses, but with all kinds of vegetable seedlings, with loofah stands around the edges, and the big garden has become a large vegetable patch. There were two people bowing and busy in the vegetable field, their backs belonging to Grandpa Cai and Wang Tu.

Hearing the movement at the door, Grandpa Cai looked up, holding a ladle in his hand, and said happily, “Xiao Ze is back.”

Wang Tu also straightened up and said, “I thought we were arriving tomorrow afternoon, since Rong Rong was clamoring to pick you up at the airport.”

Shen Jize dragged the suitcase in, and the courtyard door behind him closed automatically, he smiled and explained, “The crew is coming back tomorrow afternoon, but I couldn’t wait any longer, so I took the plane early today.”

Grandpa Cai put down the water ladle and came to pick up his suitcase, Shen Jize said, “Grandpa, leave it alone, I’m not tired.”

Wang Tu turned around and went inside, “Brother is making lunch. I’ll go and tell him to prepare two more dishes.”

“Xiao Ze likes cold moss. I’ll go get it, he likes the taste I mix.” Grandpa Cai also hurriedly followed, his face full of smiles.

Grandpa Cai’s head of white hair was starting to turn black, and his body was getting stronger. Puppy also benefited, and now started to play around after lying still in the den all day.

Shen Jize dragged the suitcase to the spacious living room, but didn’t see Lu Rong, only heard the loud conversation of Grandpa Cai, Wang Tu and Uncle Chen cooking from the kitchen. He dragged the suitcase to his and Lu Rong’s bedroom on the second floor, but couldn’t find anyone there either, so he put down the suitcase, followed the stairs, and gently climbed to the third floor.

The third floor was a sunroom, one-way glass on all sides. Lu Rong usually loved to stay in the sunroom when there was nothing to do.

Shen Jize was still on the stairs when he heard an intense rock music, and when he stepped into the sunroom, this scene appeared before his eyes.

A white deer wearing sunglasses, lying on his back in a beach chair with a towel around his waist, was comfortably sunbathing. His front hooves relaxed behind his head, the hind hooves crossed, resting on a tan fur cushion, his hoof tips also rhythmically swaying to the music.

The fur cushion seemed to have heard the movement at the stairway and looked over to Shen Jize; it turned out to be an aggrieved Puppy.

On the left side of the white deer was a cell phone, and the remote control for the projector and stereo, and on the right hoof side was a small low table with a glass of juice and a plate of young leaves.

The juicy leaves were washed and cleaned, and were picked by Grandpa Cai in the woods in the back of the mountain. If not for the familiarity of the sunroom, Shen Jize would have suspected that he was in the Maldives.

Grandpa Cai, who had seen him eating leaves secretly for years, went to the back of the mountain every morning to pick the freshest leaves and give them to him as snacks.

Lu Rong bobbed his head and listened to the song, and counted the number of days his brother was out shooting. He went to the field this time to film, the full count has been almost half a month. Fortunately, the shooting would be finished tomorrow, and if he wasn’t back on time, Lu Rong wouldn’t be able to resist going to the set to visit him.

Thinking of Shen Jize, Lu Rong suddenly lost his mind to listen to the song and reached out to fumble around, trying to find the remote control to turn off the stereo. After a few touches, the music stopped abruptly, as if it had been turned off.

He opened his eyes and met the intriguing eyes of the person in front of him. The pair of eyes were dark and deep, filled with strong tenderness and smiling.

After a few seconds of stiffness, the white deer bounced up from the beach chair with an “Oooooow!” and sprang into Shen Jize’s arms with surprise, hanging on to his neck with both hooves.

Shen Jize skillfully held him, got close and kissed Rong Rong’s fuzzy deer face, and with an abrupt ‘ptooey’, he quickly turned away, having kissed a mouthful of fur.

The white deer’s fur turned into delicate white skin, with a moist texture in the sunlight, his two silver antlers disappeared, and with the wind blowing, instead there was soft black hair fluttering gently.

Lu Rong closed his eyes, his raven-winged eyelashes fluttering slightly, as he let Shen Jize suck on his two soft red lips, feeling the deep feelings and love in this lingering kiss.

Puppy sat upright on the sofa, watching the two with a serious face. After making sure they weren’t fighting, it slowly jumped off the beach chair and went downstairs to look for Grandpa Cai who was cooking.

In the courtyard of the villa, the water-soaked vegetable leaves were flourishing to their fullest, and a few bees were buzzing on the cauliflowers. The sun was shining, and the years were long… 

 

 

Addis note: Hey everyone! Thank you for sticking with us through another novel! Next up will be another novel by the same author, A Real Man Isn’t Afraid of a Little Demon. We hope you continue to read the next novel and we will see you in the near future! Chapter one will be out on November 7th.