Chapter 6 (1/2)

Chapter 6

He seemed to be surrounded by warm water, floating gently as it warmed him. It was extremely comfortable.

He didn't want to wake up. However, he was already awake, and nonetheless, continued to laze around in bed.

While he was extremely unwilling to do so, Tang Shan finally opened his eyes.

He'd never imagined he would feel safe and a sense of belonging from a man's embrace. It was something that he had felt strongly against, but at this point, it no longer bothered him.

”Good morning. How did you sleep?” Li Yuanyu kissed his forehead with a smile and greeted him. He had woken up long ago and seemed to have been staring at his sleeping face all this while.

”Mmhh.” Tang Shan groaned in reply and sat up. He rubbed at his eyes with his hand and yawned.

Li Yuanyu also sat up and came from behind, hugging him around the waist. He placed his face against Tang Shan's back.

”I love you, Tang Shan.”

”Okay.”

He took advantage of the situation and began kissing the back of Tang Shan's neck.

”Stop it.” Tang Shan turned away and discouraged him.

”I'm sorry.” His apology didn't sound sincere at all, but Li Yuanyu was aware that Tang Shan didn't like him clinging on like this. He had no choice but to let go.

Tang Shan thought he'd given plenty of leeway, and yet Li Yuanyu was still greedy for more.

It wasn't that Li Yuanyu wasn't allowed to do this, but Tang Shan needed more time. Li Yuanyu should know that.

He got off the bed, preparing to wash up in the bathroom. He didn't get to take more than a few steps before the man behind him hugged his waist and whispered into his ear, ”I can't bear to let you go.”

”I'm just going to the bathroom.”

”Can't we go together?” Li Yuanyu was already a grown man, and yet here he was, acting like a spoilt child.

”Nope.” Tang Shan outright refused him. No matter if Li Yuanyu acted cute or like a spoilt child to him, it didn't matter. He wasn't ready to show Li Yuanyu his naked body yet.

Li Yuanyu kept silent in his disappointment. Tang Shan ignored him and proceeded towards the bathroom. Luckily for him, Li Yuanyu didn't follow him inside and stayed by the doorway, staring at him pitifully with puppy eyes.

Tang Shan rolled his eyes in answer and closed the door in his face.

After a quick wash-up, he left the bathroom, only to find Li Yuanyu still at the door in the same position.

Ever since the kidnapping incident, Li Yuanyu changed his tactics and stuck close to him, not giving him any s.p.a.ce. At the beginning when his emotions were still unstable, he constantly needed someone by his side. Now that he was much better, this behaviour was gradually grating on his nerves.

Li Yuanyu smiled at him and reached for his hand naturally, and they went downstairs together.

Seeing their hands laced together, Tang Shan wished he could take his hand back. However, that was the one thing he couldn't bring himself to do.

Just the thought of Li Yuanyu's upset expression caused knots in his stomach.

”What's wrong? You look worried.” Li Yuanyu turned back and caressed Tang Shan's cheek, using his fingers to smoothen the lines of worry between his brows.

”It's nothing.” Tang Shan pushed his hands away. ”I was wondering if we could go out for breakfast. I'm getting tired of the food at home.”

Li Yuanyu was initially disappointed at how Tang Shan pushed his hand aside, but the moment he heard the word ”home”, he quickly cheered up despite it possibly being said just in pa.s.sing, with no extra meaning behind it.

”What are you smiling about?” Seeing him grinning, Tang Shan furrowed his brows in distrust.

”It's nothing,” Li Yuanyu answered, giving the same reply as Tang Shan. He linked their hands together.

”Let's go, I'll take you to a restaurant.”

Just as Li Yuanyu opened the door, they discovered Jake right about to press the doorbell, his hand suspended in the air.

”Morning! What a coincidence, I was just about to ring the doorbell!” he greeted merrily.

In contrast with Jake's good mood, Li Yuanyu seemed to be unhappy.

”What are you doing here?”

”Um, I'm just here to visit you and maybe have some breakfast as well. Are you two going out?” Noticing that Li Yuanyu's didn't seem to be in the best mood, Jake made a show of smiling. Seeing Tang Shan behind him, he could guess at the situation.

”Do you want to come along?” Tang Shan invited him.

”Oh! Can I?” Jake's immediately lightened up, but the sight of Li Yuanyu's scorching glare caused him to trail off, ”Nah, it's okay! I just remembered I had some things to tend to!”

It was obviously a lie, but Tang Shan didn't bother seeing through it. He turned to Li Yuanyu, and the change in his mood for the better caused Tang Shan to shake his head. He was just like a little kid. There really was nothing he wouldn't do to ensure the two of them would enjoy their time together.

”You're the manager of this city. I expected you to be more tolerant.” Tang Shan chastised him.

”That's different. You can't put it like that,” Li Yuanyu defended himself.

”Let's go.” Tang Shan couldn't be bothered with continuing this conversation and quickly got them to leave the house.

The moment they were outside, Tang Shan wanted to retract his hand. Two men holding hands out in the open seemed quite inappropriate. He had a rather traditional mentality and was unwilling to meet with the condescending gazes from the public. However, despite wiggling his hand around, he couldn't get Li Yuanyu to let go.

”What's wrong?” Li Yuanyu enquired.

”Can we not hold hands in public?” Tang Shan asked. Li Yuanyu's expression faltered at that, and he quickly added, ”At least not in broad daylight.”

”It's cloudy now,” Li Yuanyu blinked innocently.

”That's not the issue here.” Knowing Li Yuanyu was feigning innocence, Tang Shan had an internal struggle before he finally gave up on pursuing this matter. ”Never mind, forget I said anything.”

”The restaurant is at the other end of the city. Should we call for a carriage?” Li Yuanyu brought up, quickly changing the topic.

”A carriage? The kind that almost crashed into me the last time?”

”Yes.” Li Yuanyu nodded.

”I've never been on a carriage before. It's like going back to the eighteenth or nineteenth century.” Tang Shan was curious and eager to try it out.

”You've been on one before. It's just that you forgot.” Li Yuanyu got his mobile phone and proceeded to call for the carriage.

”Are carriages the typical mode of transport here? Are there no buses or cars here?” Tang Shan asked again, finding this peculiar and quite interesting at the same time.

”Carriages are primarily used. Cars aren't as common. I have a car at a villa near the outskirts nearby. Do you want to take this chance to see it?” Li Yuanyu suggested.

”Just to see a car? No, thanks,” Tang Shan grinned while he thought to himself, Li Yuanyu has another villa that's close to the outskirts? It might be worth a look. He continued, ”I'm more interested in the villa.”

”Then we'll go after breakfast. It's really close to the restaurant, so we can take a stroll.”

”Okay, you're in charge.” Tang Shan had no objections and didn't bother thinking through his word choice.

Unbeknownst to him, Tang Shan saying 'you're in charge' made Li Yuanyu extremely satisfied. He was positively beaming with happiness, a huge grin apparent on his face.

After a short wait, the carriage arrived.

”Good morning, Mr Li and Mr Tang Shan.” The driver removed his cap and bowed. His attire had a historic feel to it, from how it was extremely similar to the way someone from the eighteenth century dressed.

”Good morning.”

The driver glanced at their linked hands momentarily and kindly said, ”What a sweet couple. You two seem perfect for each other.”

Tang Shan was obviously perturbed, but Li Yuanyu grabbed his hand firmly and answered with a smile, ”Thank you.”

The driver simply accepted his answer as if it was the most natural thing to do.

The two of them got onto the carriage. Tang Shan gazed at the scenery outside, not daring to turn around and look at Li Yuanyu. He didn't retract his hand and left it on the s.p.a.ce between them.

The carriage proceeded at a leisurely pace on the road. Tang Shan didn't see anyone on the way.

”Are there a lot of people in the city?” He couldn't help but ask.

”Not really.”

”Oh... It's just that there are a lot of buildings here, so I thought there were a lot of people living here.” He still remembered how the city looked, with new and old buildings built all over the place.

”Some of them are empty. It's a small place; emigration is a serious problem here.”

”I see.” So that was the reason. Feeling that the topic seemed to be getting heavy, Tang Shan quickly added, ”It's not bad to see all these carriages that give a sense of antiquity. We can focus on this and advertise to the public. Now that we have the internet, everything's very convenient! How about I help set up a website for the city?”

”We're not within the service area. Don't even mention the internet, sometimes we have difficulties just making phone calls! Mr Tang Shan, have you lost your memories again?” The driver heard their conversation and chuckled as he spoke.

Tang Shan went beet red in embarra.s.sment and shut his mouth, unwilling to continue to find out more. It was much too embarra.s.sing!

Was there anyone in this city who didn't know he often lost his memories? Gosh, what a joke he was!

It took about an hour and a half for the carriage to reach the restaurant. Li Yuanyu got off first and extended a hand to Tang Shan, wanting to help him down.

”Thanks, I can get down myself.” Tang Shan rejected him, not wanting to be made fun of again.

”Let me help you,” Li Yuanyu changed his approach. ”I want to help you.”

It's just getting off the carriage. What's there to help with! Tang Shan stepped on the carriage step, not finding it unstable at all. Even then, Li Yuanyu's arm was still out, and Tang Shan had no choice but to give in and hold his hand.

Li Yuanyu grinned at that.

Tang Shan didn't want to dwell on this and began to look over the restaurant they were going to. Surprisingly, it was a small place. The decorations made it look cozy, and the gentle lighting as well as wooden interior were extremely similar to those in Li Yuanyu's house.

At the door, there were decorative ceramic gnomes half the size of a man, just like those in Li Yuanyu's house. The interesting thing was that every one of them looked slightly different.

Li Yuanyu opened the door to the restaurant. The moment they entered, the owner walked out from behind the counter to welcome them warmly. It seemed that the owner and Li Yuanyu knew each other well.

”Mr Li and Mr Tang Shan! Long time no see!”

”Long time no see.”

Tang Shan simply smiled as he nodded, silent.

”The same spot?”

”Anywhere's fine.”

”Sure, sure. Come right this way.” She personally brought them to their table, which was up on the third floor.

There were no customers on the third floor, as if this place had been reserved just for them. Tang Shan gave Li Yuanyu a look, wondering if this was inconveniencing anyone, but Li Yuanyu seemed to be extremely comfortable in this situation. Tang Shan decided not to make a fuss over it.

Li Yuanyu helped him pull his chair aside and invited him to sit. The owner chuckled as she watched from the side. Tang Shan hesitated for a moment, but then sat with a smile as he thanked Li Yuanyu.

The owner lighted scented candles for them.

It was daytime now, so what was the point of lighting scented candles? There was no need to enhance the atmosphere for two men anyway! Tang Shan wanted to complain about all these little details, but eventually decided to keep it to himself.

”The usual?”

”Yes, please,” Li Yuanyu answered.

She nodded, kept the menus and left after some small talk.

”Do we come here often?” Tang Shan had a feeling this was so.

”Yes. Before you lost your memories, we used to come here three times a week.”

”Three times? To come here all the way from the other side of town...” He was surprised.

”There was a time when we stayed at the villa. It's not far from here, just ten minutes on foot.”

Right, he'd forgotten about Li Yuanyu's villa.