Chapter 154

Chapter 154

Yu He was enveloped in the soft bedding, completely shrouded in the shadow cast by Fu Yunzhen.

The bedroom lights were dim and ambiguous, casting a hazy shadow.

Yu He felt dazzled, and with one hand, he pulled down the eye mask from his forehead, covering his eyes.

He tilted his face up, the veins on his neck visible, tracing a beautiful and smooth curve.

Fu Yunzhen’s breath deepened, his index and middle fingers pressing against the protruding Adam's apple of Yu He.

Yu He seemed to be electrified for a moment and breathed out unconsciously.

Fu Yunzhen immediately rolled over and got out of bed, “I’m going to take a shower.”

Yu He: “......”

Well, maybe that was a bit too provocative.

When Fu Yunzhen came back from the bathroom, bringing a slight chill with him back to the bed, Yu He realized he hadn’t just been a bit too provocative; he had been extremely so. But then again, who wouldn’t gasp when their throat was suddenly pressed?

Yu He touched Fu Yunzhen’s cold arm, “Did you take a cold shower? Why are you so cold?”

Yun Su has already entered autumn. Although the temperature during the day is not low, there is a significant temperature difference between day and night in autumn. The current outdoor temperature is just in the teens, which is quite cool.

Fu Yunzhen’s originally light lip color appeared even paler due to the cold. Now, as he lifted the blanket and lay down, the most immediate feeling was warmth.

Yu He was at the age where his Yang energy was abundant and his vitality was strong, like a large hot water bottle. His hands were warm, his arms were warm, his back was warm, his abdomen was warm, and his legs were warm. This was in stark contrast to Fu Yunzhen’s cold body.

People unconsciously move towards warmth, a basic instinct evolved over thousands of years.

Fu Yunzhen couldn't resist this instinct. Even though the warmth under the blanket was not enough to dispel the chill in his body, he still couldn’t control himself from moving closer to Yu He.

Turning to his side, Fu Yunzhen tightly embraced his warm lover, his arms wrapped around Yu He's sturdy and supple waist.

With his back firmly pressed against Fu Yunzhen’s chest, Yu He arched his body, gently stroking Fu Yunzhen's arm with one hand.

Yu He said, “You are so cold.”

Fu Yunzhen hummed in response, “Mm, you are warm. Let me borrow some warmth.”

Yu He closed his eyes, feeling sleepy, “Okay, I am all yours. Use me as you wish.”

Fu Yunzhen’s lips landed behind Yu He’s ear, his voice soft, whispering almost to himself rather than to Yu He, “I really like you.”

The warm breath tickled Yu He's ear, making him reach up to rub it, “That tickles.”

Fu Yunzhen drew Yu He into his arms, “Yu He, do you want to drink more soup?”

Yu He, truly sleepy now, replied slowly and softly, “No more, I’m going to sleep.”

“Sleep then.”

Fu Yunzhen’s palm covered Yu He's eyes, shielding them from the lamp’s bright light.

With the bright light source now gone, Yu He’s breaths grew longer, he drifted deeper into sleep, his head grew heavier, his muscles relaxed, and he slept peacefully in Fu Yunzhen’s embrace.

Only when Yu He was sound asleep did Fu Yunzhen turn over to switch off the lamp.

However, as soon as Fu Yunzhen moved, the already sleeping Yu He unhappily grabbed onto Fu Yunzhen, unwilling to let the person beside him leave.

Fu Yunzhen patted Yu He's back, “I'm not leaving, I'm just turning off the light.”

Yu He didn’t care much about that; he wasn’t reasonable with Fu Yunzhen even when he was awake, and he was even less so when asleep.

He turned over, not just hugging Fu Yunzhen’s waist but also throwing his leg over Fu Yunzhen’s, trapping him in his arms as if he was wrapping a blanket around him.

Burying his head in Fu Yunzhen’s chest, Yu He fell into a stable sleep.

With an octopus-like embrace from Yu He, Fu Yunzhen naturally couldn’t move at all.

Reaching to the pillow side for an eye mask to block out the light, Fu Yunzhen placed one hand on the back of Yu He’s head, securely holding the young and coquettish “little crane” in his arms.

Leaving the light on, Fu Yunzhen and Yu He drifted off to sleep together.

*

Yu He realized something dreadful.

He had a workaholic by his side!

It had been said before that if human work efficiency could be compared to the running speed of a mobile phone, Yu He would definitely be equipped with an outdated system—low battery and slow operation—while Fu Yunzhen, on the other hand, would have a high-capacity battery and operate at high speed.

Therefore, Yu He was the salted fish among salted fish, while Fu Yunzhen was the king of workaholics.

However, Fu Yunzhen’s workaholic tendencies never overwhelmed Yu He. As Yu He’s partner, Fu Yunzhen’s operational speed was even forcibly slowed down by Yu He.

Take this morning for instance; Fu Yunzhen was up at six, but since he was entwined by an ‘octopus’—one that would moan at the slightest touch—he was forced into involuntary hibernation until Yu He woke up.

Which was four hours later, at ten o’clock.

At ten in the morning, bathed in glorious sunshine, Yu He finally opened his beautiful, peach blossom-like eyes.

Just as he was preparing to embrace the new day, he saw six missed calls and over a dozen text messages on his phone.

The contact was his apprentice, Shen Ming Le.

The first call was made at exactly eight in the morning.

This was bad.

It meant that Shen Ming Le had been awake for quite some time, and was only waiting until eight o’clock out of courtesy.

The moment the clock struck eight, Shen Ming Le, with incredible precision and eagerness, made the call.

As a laid-back salted fish, Yu He had a natural intuition about workaholics. His sixth sense was ringing madly, warning him to cherish life and stay away from workaholics.

Yet his apprentice was just such a workaholic, and a high-quality one at that, requiring little sleep to maintain his energy and having precise control over his time.

Didn’t Shen Ming Le go to a music festival yesterday? How could he get up so early today?

This was really terrible.

It was one thing for Yu He to lead Fu Yunzhen into a laid-back lifestyle, but he couldn’t possibly encourage his apprentice to slack off as well, could he?

Isn't this holding up the kid's future?

Yu He's hands dropped in despair, and the phone slipped from his palm, falling to the floor.

Fu Yunzhen was fastening the buttons on his shirt in front of the dressing mirror. Hearing the commotion, he turned around and saw Yu He’s dejected face.

Yu He's long arms dangled by the side of the bed, his eyes vacant, lost in thought.

Fu Yunzhen had an appointment to discuss business today. He was already running late because of being entangled in bed. As he went to the wardrobe to get a tie, he passed by Yu He and casually ruffled his hair, asking, “What’s the matter, young master? Waking up unhappy this morning?”

Yu He said, “Nothing, I'm just mourning the imminent loss of my leisurely life.”

Fu Yunzhen picked a tie, then put on his suit jacket, “Why would it be coming to an end?”

Seeing Fu Yunzhen in a hurry to leave, Yu He estimated that he probably didn’t have time to listen to a detailed discussion on 'the connection between Shen Ming Le waking up too early and Yu He losing his leisurely life'.

In short, the little workaholic Shen Ming Le was the catfish his master had thrown into Mount Guanyun to stir things up. To avoid appearing weak in front of his apprentice, Yu He had no choice but to pick up the medical books he had set aside.

Sigh, his master was truly cunning with age, knowing exactly how to cure him.

Yu He sat up and returned Shen Ming Le’s call.

On the other end of the line, Shen Ming Le respectfully called out "Master," his attitude seemingly much better than yesterday.

It was probably because he didn’t have high expectations of Yu He to begin with, but after spending some time together, he found Yu He quite easy to get along with, and so he stopped resisting the idea of Yu He being his master.

This morning, he took the initiative to contact Yu He, specifically to ask for guidance on his study tasks for the day.

Just awake, Yu He’s voice was husky, “Uh, Shen Ming Le, I’ve caught a cold... have a bit of a fever. Go out and have fun by yourself today. I’ll contact you once I’m better.”

Hearing Yu He feigning illness to take leave from Shen Ming Le, Fu Yunzhen paused in his act of putting on his watch. He lifted his eyes, looking at Yu He with a smirk.

Yu He pointed a finger at Fu Yunzhen, signaling him not to mock him.

Fu Yunzhen shrugged and continued to adjust his watch.

The mechanical heart of the watch has a built-in automatic winding mechanism, and the spring inside the mechanical heart will wind up automatically with the movement of the arm, keeping the hands of the watch moving continuously.

Such a watch, if not worn regularly, will stop ticking, and the watch will stop. One would need to recalibrate the time and manually wind up the spring.

Fu Yunzhuo always kept his wristwatch close at hand, winding itself automatically with his movements. He rarely ever had to manually wind it. He was a person with a strong sense of time, adept at planning his schedule in segments and efficiently completing his work within the set time.

However, when with Yu He, time didn’t seem to matter as much.

The time spent with Yu He was leisurely and unhurried.

During this return trip to Guanyun Mountain, Fu Yunzhuo hardly wore his wristwatch at all. Yu He could wake up whenever he wished and eat whenever he felt like it.

Fu Yunzhuo hadn’t gone out for a long time.

Only when with Yu He did Fu Yunzhuo truly feel alive. He was no longer a high-powered machine, constantly striving to create value, exhaustingly coordinating the affairs of Fu’s Group.

Fu Yunzhuo adjusted his wristwatch just as Yu He hung up the phone.

The moment Yu He ended the call, he sought Fu Yunzhuo out, demanding in a gruff tone, “What were you laughing at just now?”

Without lifting his head, Fu Yunzhuo, while tying his tie, responded, “I wasn’t laughing.”

Yu He was not ready to let it go, “You may not have laughed on your face, but you were laughing in your heart.”

“Yes, yes, yes, I was laughing,” Fu Yunzhuo didn’t argue with Yu He. He went over to the sink to wash his hands, swept the stray hairs from his forehead to the back of his head, revealing a smooth forehead. Looking at Yu He through the mirror’s reflection, he said, “I’m just unenlightened, aren’t I?”

Yu He slightly raised an eyebrow, asking, “Unenlightened about what?”

A hidden smile in Fu Yunzhuo's eyes gave him away, “I've never seen a master feign illness to get a leave of absence for their disciple before.”

Yu He: "......"

He knew it!

He just knew that nothing good would come out of Fu Yunzhuo’s mouth!

There was Fu Yunzhuo, dressed to the nines so early in the morning, clearly harboring mischievous thoughts, wearing a smug expression as he waited to mock him!

Yu He had just woken up, his hair sticking up in places, looking dazed and scruffy, a stark contrast to the impeccably dressed Fu Yunzhuo. He seemed like an easy target for deception, appearing somewhat naive.

Looking through the mirror, Yu He tried to pat down his messy hair but couldn't understand how Fu Yunzhuo had managed to groom himself so impeccably in the short time he took to make a phone call.

This is what an efficient top student looks like.

There used to be only one around, but now there were two.

Double the effort.

Yu He already felt exhausted before even getting out of bed. He asked Fu Yunzhuo, “Dressed so sprightly, are you going on a blind date or something?”

Fu Yunzhuo was accustomed to Yu He's bluntness. He turned around to lean on the sink, looking at Yu He, “Blind date? Do you know about the Sand Control Project?”

Yu He tilted his head, “The desertification control project with shelterbelt plantations?”

The shelterbelt plantation project in the desert involves encircling the desert with grass squares and plants to transform the vast expanse of yellow sand into a green belt, aiming to prevent the desert from continuing its expansion eastward and to mitigate the occurrence of sandstorms in the north.

In the northwest, the most famous landscapes are the grasslands and the deserts.

Every spring, the northern regions experience widespread sandstorms, creating blinding, difficult-to-manage conditions. However, at the source in the desert, plants as short as half a meter can effectively keep the sand in place.

Seeing that Yu He had a good grasp of the topic, Fu Yunzhuo didn’t feel the need to elaborate further.

He had been spending a lot of time at home with Yu He lately. The meeting with the person in charge of the Sand Control Project had been scheduled while they were in Inner Mongolia, but he never found the right time until today when Shen Mingyue was at the Fu residence.

Since returning from Northern Myanmar, Yu He’s bipolar disorder showed signs of recurrence.

Although neither of them explicitly acknowledged it, Yu He’s sleep quality was poor, often waking from nightmares, and his mood fluctuated between depression and agitation.

The two of them tacitly let the matter slide, understanding each other without words.

But Fu Yunzhuo dared not leave Yu He alone at home.

Fu Yunzhuo said, “Yes, I’m meeting with the person in charge of the Green Plant Project today to donate a batch of Haloxylon ammodendron saplings and some drip irrigation equipment.”

Yu He sat up, interested, “Mr. Fu is doing good deeds again, huh?”

Fu Yunzhuo responded as he put on his suit jacket and headed for the door, “Yes, we planted a peach tree on Dragon Head Mountain, didn’t we? With such strong winds and sand in Inner Mongolia, how can we not protect the surroundings?”

To protect that single peach tree, Fu Yunzhuo planted a shelterbelt forest for Yu He.

Yu He loved listening to Fu Yunzhuo’s casual expressions of affection.

For Fu Yunzhuo, loving Yu He came naturally, every action of his conveying his love.

Fu Yunzhuo had barely stepped out the door, and Yu He already started missing him.