Chapter 21 (1/2)

Chapter 21

By the time he was stripped and shoved into his bed, Xie Meng still had yet to register what was going on. Ji Qinyang climbed into bed from the other side, and Xie Meng felt a heat upon his feet. Ji Qinyang was holding his ankles.

“Don’t…” Feeling Ji Qinyang’s kisses on his toes, Xie Meng blushed, embarrassed. “They’re dirty.”

Ji Qinyang ignored him. His kisses moved from his toes to the top of his foot, then trailed up his calves, and to his thighs. When he started sucking on the skin of his inner thighs, Xie Meng had a very evident response in the lower part of his body.

The boy covered his face with the back of his hand. Ji Qinyang slowly kissed up to his waist and belly, finally popping his head out from under the blanket, and licked Xie Meng’s nipples.

The hand Xie Meng was using to cover his eyes was pulled away by Ji Qinyang. Clasping their hands together, Ji Qinyang held the hand down next to the pillow. He kissed him on the forehead, and finally stopped at the slightly damp corner of the boy’s eye.

Xie Meng opened his eyes and looked at him.

Ji Qinyang kissed as he mumbled, “As expected, you’re very handsome.”

Xie Meng shook his head, reaching out and holding onto Ji Qinyang tightly.

They spent the entire morning in bed, with Ji Qinyang kissing Xie Meng from head to toe several times. During the blowjob, Xie Meng covered his mouth, refusing to let his moans out. After coming, Ji Qinyang still refused to let him off, and his collarbone was covered with kiss marks.

Ji Qinyang too had a reaction, but he refused to let Xie Meng help him out.

“You should sleep,” Ji Qinyang hugged him through the blanket.

Xie Meng was so drowsy he could not open his eyes. Burying himself in the crook of Ji Qinyang’s neck, he sniffed at the clean scent of sunshine from the boy.

Ji Qinyang pressed his lips against Xie Meng’s forehead. He hummed for a while, and when he looked down again, Xie Meng had fallen asleep.

He slept all the way till 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Covering himself with the blanket, Xie Meng sat up. He could hear Zhang Ganggang and Qi Fei speaking in the living room.

“You’re awake?” Ji Qinyang entered the room with clean clothes. He closed the door, and sat down next to Xie Meng.

“Why didn’t you wake me up…” Xie Meng rubbed at his face. “How long have they been here already?”

Ji Qinyang smiled, looking at Xie Meng’s expression. Reaching out, he stroked his face. “You look so much better.”

Xie Meng held his hand. “I slept very well.”

“Seems like it’s all thanks to me.” Ji Qinyang leaned in and kissed the boy’s lips. “Raise your hands.”

“?” Baffled, Xie Meng raised his arms. Ji Qinyang wrapped his arms around him, and pulled him onto his thighs with a little bit of strength.

“Come, Gege will help you dress.”

“…”

Zhang Ganggang had brought along with him his mother’s cooking. Qi Fei was in charge of buying fruit, and the two almost filled Xie Meng’s refrigerator entirely. As they ate, Zhang Ganggang’s eyes were red.

Xie Meng looked at Ji Qinyang, and the latter shrugged innocently, implying that he did not know what had happened.

“Don’t, don’t be sad…” Zhang Ganggang choked up as he placed some food in Xie Meng’s bowl. “This too will, will pass…”

Xie Meng was rather helpless. “I’m not even crying, why are you crying?”

Zhang Ganggang cried aloud. “I-I’m crying on your behalf…”

Xie Meng, “…”

After spending quite a lot of effort to coax Zhang Ganggang, the four of them sat in the courtyard during the evening and chatted. Qi Fei asked what plans did Xie Meng have now.

“For now, there’s no problem with money. There’s still some left over from my parents’ insurance, and my grandmother had savings as well.” Xie Meng took the bankbook out and made some calculations. “If there’s not enough, I can work after the college examination, and earn the university fees.”

Qi Fei, “You don’t have to work. The country has scholarships to help students, and in your situation, you can apply for them.”

Zhang Ganggang was more concerned about other matters. “Then where are you planning to apply to? You’re not going to Beijing?”

Ji Qinyang did not speak, but turned his head to look at Xie Meng.

“My grandmother’s greatest wish before she died was for me to go and study in the capital. So…” Xie Meng said slowly, meeting Ji Qinyang’s eyes and smiling faintly. “I’ll try my best, and get into Beijing.”

Zhang Ganggang cheered. Ji Qinyang raised his brow, reaching out and giving Xie Meng a high-five. Qi Fei clicked his tongue, “If you’re all going to the capital, it seems like I’ll be the only one left in Suzhou then.”

Zhang Ganggang urged him, “You should go to Beijing too.”

“This is something you won’t understand,” Qi Fei folded his arms, speaking solemnly. “I’m developing my tyranny over Suzhou here. Later on, when you guys are no longer able to handle being out there, and you want to come back, I’ll take care of all of you!”

Ji Qinyang punched him lightly, giving a lazy laugh. “What a good buddy.”

Qi Fei was smug. “Of course!”

Emotionally, Zhang Ganggang hugged Qi Fei. “Mama Qi! I’ll definitely be very filial towards you in the future!”

Qi Fei exploded. “… Who the fuck is your Mama Qi?! Let go! Let go of me now!”

After seven days of mourning, Xie Meng returned to school. Early in the morning, he bumped into Zhuo Xiaoyuan outside class.

“Morning.” Zhuo Xiaoyuan’s eyes fell onto the boy’s left arm, where a piece of black silk was hung. “Has everything been settled?”

Xie Meng nodded. “Everything was fine.”

“Is Ji Qinyang back?”

“Yes.” Xie Meng revealed a small smile. “Is Jinjin still ok?”

Zhuo Xiaoyuan shrugged. “It’s still the same situation, I’m used to it already.”

Xie Meng thought over it, and said slowly, “She’s still young, there’s still hope ahead of her.”