Chapter 15 Trying to Grasp with Both Hands

Chapter 15 Trying to Grasp with Both Hands

The searing heat suddenly moved far away from him. Shi Zai, dissatisfied, sat on his lap and tried to squirm forward but found himself unable to move. Instead, he was met with an intense, inscrutable gaze. He called out "Brother" repeatedly, only to be answered by slightly furrowed brows. Anxious, Shi Zai asked:

"Brother, what's wrong?"

"..."

"Are you uncomfortable? I..."

"Don't ask."

The voice was so hoarse and deep. Shi Zai blinked, and the meaning in those eyes gradually became clear—an aggression that made him want to hide yet also made him reluctant to escape. It enveloped him tightly, fierce yet somehow making him feel safe under such a gaze.

He was even happy. Shi Zai heard his own heart pound twice and suddenly became certain of one thing:

"Brother, is it because of me?"

"..."

"Is it because of me?"

As the second question landed, Shi Zai felt a sudden weight on his shoulders. Shu Yangkuo, unable to endure or avoid it any longer, felt his burning gaze nearly consume all rationality in a blaze. Yet he could only bear it, avoid it, burying his face in the younger man's shoulder, taking heavy, slow breaths.

Shi Zai asked a third time, and then heard a burning whisper by his ear: "Yes." He lit up instantly, exclaiming:

"Brother, I kissed you into this state!"

"..."

"I want to see, Brother, let me see. I’ve never seen it before..."

As he spoke, he reached out, but his arms were immediately gripped tightly. The person on his shoulder lifted his head. Shu Yangkuo wanted to simply carry the little pup to bed and make him sleep, but before he could act, the look in the eyes of the one in his arms grew pleading...

Did he even understand why he was curious? Did he know what he was doing?

Shu Yangkuo abruptly released him, leaned back against the sofa, and stared up at the ceiling, silently reciting the "Chun Qi Jing." But after just two lines, he stopped, feeling strangely eerie, even overwhelmed with guilt—the person in his arms hadn’t even experienced wet dreams.

Too young.

Shi Zai didn’t understand why he kept being called young. Muttering "I'm not that young," he continued looking down, secretly comparing with his own arm. Indeed, it was terrifying, seemingly radiating heat, burning the night into recklessness and delirium. When Shi Zai heard another heavy gulp, he couldn’t resist reaching out with two fingers to tug at the thick hair. The thick shaft in the middle immediately swayed, growing even more immense.

So red, so enticing.

It had ripened, gradually glistening, as if luring and enchanting in the thick night mist.

Shi Zai glanced at the tall man who allowed himself to be observed. Though his behavior had become indecent because of him, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his waist and below indescribably absurd, his expression gradually calmed, as if he were a lifeless doll to be played with, even closing his eyes.

A sudden panic arose in Shi Zai’s heart—or perhaps a desire for this man to always be stirred by him. Tentatively, he reached out with both hands to grip.

One second, less than two seconds—the man with closed eyes suddenly opened them, dark red instantly flooding his gaze like blazing fire. Along with it, what he held became burning hot, almost too much to grasp. Before he could move, Shi Zai’s hands were pushed away. As the man surged forward, Shi Zai’s belly, through thin fabric, abruptly touched a patch of searing heat. Instantly, his soft gasp mingled with a strained groan.

Shi Zai was carried under Shu Yangkuo’s arm into the bedroom, tucked under the covers. It was a bit hot, but he dared not move, quietly closing his eyes.

Soon, he heard the sound of water rushing in the bathroom. It stopped, then suddenly started again. Not long after the second round of water, Shi Zai snuggled back into the embrace he had every night, still sprawled frog-style. Suddenly, he understood why.

He also felt the chill on Shu Yangkuo’s body before the heat—first a cold shower, then a hot one.

The second hot shower was to avoid chilling him. Shi Zai quietly took a breath, buried his face against Shu Yangkuo’s neck, and stayed still, sleeping obediently.

It was still a night of good dreams, but this night’s dreams became hazy and fragmented. Yet at the end of each fragment was the same scene—Shi Zai’s belly abruptly colliding with that searing heat.

In the dream, he muttered, uncomfortable—bursting to pee, constantly being jostled, wanting to relieve himself.

The moment Shi Zai opened his eyes, he knew it was bad. His face flushed red—he was almost twenty, yet he’d wet the bed!!!

In the bedroom, Shu Yangkuo wiped casually, his hand sticky, torn between amusement and concern. Should the kid not have grown up so soon?

In the bathroom, one hissed, "I wet the bed, don’t tell Second Uncle," while the other held back laughter: "You’ve grown up." The whisperer added, "Then can I be as big as him?" The one holding back laughter burst out: "Keep dreaming."

Shi Zai felt even more embarrassed, mumbling, "In my dreams, I’m still not big either." After washing his shorts, he chased Yang Yun out, took a shower himself, and checked—it wasn’t that small; Shu Yangkuo was just too much of a freak. Tsk, finally it was his turn for a cold shower. Brr, too cold—better switch to hot water.

Back in the bedroom, Shi Zai tackled the man who had just opened his eyes, laughing:

"Brother, I dreamed that you jostled me so hard I peed. So fierce, but..."

"...Stop!"

Shu Yangkuo’s eyelid twitched as he covered the little mouth of the person in his arms. Out of the corner of his eye, Yang Yun was shaking with laughter, his butt shaking. Only then did Shi Zai belatedly feel embarrassed—some things shouldn’t be said recklessly in front of Yang Yun. Hehe.

Glancing down at Shu Yangkuo, Shi Zai blushed:

"Brother, aren’t you going to take a shower?"

"..."

Shu Yangkuo, ears red, went.

That day, Shi Zai was incredibly happy, even whistling while collecting junk outside. While running lines, he even practiced the sound of "kissing" from last night. Hehe, he finally knew how, and even learned to press his lips against his arm to make a similar sound.

When he returned home that evening, the meal was unusually fancy. Puzzled, Shi Zai saw one smirking and the other congratulating him with a grin for becoming a man. Though embarrassed, Shi Zai was excited and felt deeply happy—he’d never even celebrated a birthday, yet here he was being celebrated for this.

That night, Shi Zai no longer slept on his stomach, for a good reason:

"In the morning, I’ll definitely be like that too. What if I can’t get up because I’m lying on it?"

"..."

"What are you laughing at! Otherwise, you lie on me, and surely it’ll also... Mmm!"

Before he could finish, Shi Zai’s mouth was covered. He hadn’t said anything wrong—it was the truth. But the younger one laughed endlessly, while the older one chuckled, ears flushed. These two, really, so conservative. Such prudes.

Muttering to himself, Shi Zai turned sideways and nestled into Shu Yangkuo’s arm, falling asleep comfortably.

The next morning, it was Shu Yangkuo who woke first. But the moment he left the bedroom, Shi Zai woke up, immediately yanked his pants down to check. Indeed! Though not as exaggerated as Shu Yangkuo’s, it was still...! Before, he’d thought he was abnormal. Finally grown up.

Hearing a "snort," Shi Zai jumped onto the small bed, startling Yang Yun into a yelp. Then, clutching his pants tightly, he yelped again... Xiao Shizai was too much of a freak!

Shi Zai laughed heartily—he’d already seen:

"Let’s see you laugh now?! Shrimp dick!"

"...I’m a bird! I’m only sixteen!"

"Who said it happens usually between twelve and fifteen?"

"...Hmph, I’ll definitely be before you."

"I'm a grown-up now!"

"...Then let me congratulate you again, congrats on the little brother growing into a man, hahaha..."

Shu Yangkuo returned to the bedroom and instantly felt his eyelids twitch—the two youngsters were tangled up together, one tugging at clothes, the other yanking at pants. He walked over and lifted one of them up, finally making the two burst into laughter and separate... Sigh, where’s the grown-up part? he mused.

Is this what boys at this age are curious about? He never was like that when he was that age.

Another happy day.

That day, Shi Zai took Yang Yun along when he went out, dropping him off at the potter in the east end of town—during the days when Shi Zai wasn’t home, Shu Yangkuo had been writing a lot of things he couldn’t understand, and Yang Yun hadn’t been idle either, crafting a bunch of lively clay figures. Shi Zai couldn’t help with what Shu Yangkuo was busy with for now, but Yang Yun… he planned to have the little bird learn pottery. Not to make him earn money from it, but just so Yang Yun could have something of his own.

Even without his feathery tail, Yang Yun could still fly, in other new ways.

Yang Yun stood in the tricycle’s truck bed, clinging tightly to Shi Zai’s shoulders, raising his voice against the wind:

"Brother, I’m scared I can't do it!"

"Whether you can or not, we’ll see later. Just give it a try for now. Even if it doesn’t work out, it’s fine—we’ll learn to fly slowly."

"Okay!"

As he said this, Yang Yun let go with one hand, raising it high in the air. So good, brother is so good.

The moment Shi Zai stopped the tricycle, Yang Yun was about to jump down. Shi Zai quickly caught him with both hands, and the two burst into laughter. With Yang Yun, Shi Zai often felt as if he alternated between acting mature and childish—the kid seemed very understanding and mature around him and Shu Yangkuo, but when it came to himself, he was like a little child.

Maybe it was also a sign of insecurity, acting obedient and eager to please outwardly.

Before taking him inside, Shi Zai kissed his forehead and held his little face:

"Just like Yun Bao himself said, the three of us are different from each other, so don’t worry about troubling me. If you do, it’ll always remind me of my own childhood. You can do whatever you want—brother just wants to hear you laugh happily, I like it when you laugh, understand?"

"Got it! I’ve never laughed this much before, little brother, you know that, hehe."

"Mm, but it’s okay to cry too. No matter what’s upsetting you, you can always tell me. Brother will always be here."

"Okay! Someday I’ll tell you about Second Uncle!"

Shi Zai smiled helplessly. These two sometimes seemed to read each other’s minds, and other times deliberately talked about each other—it was pretty amusing.

He had already explained his purpose to the old potter the day before, bringing gifts and money. He’d let Yang Yun observe for a couple of days first, and if it works out, then he’d pay the tuition. Today, he didn’t say much—just introduced Yang Yun, then gave him the new phone he'd bought recently:

"If anything happens, call brother immediately."

"Okay, can I call if I miss you too?"

"Of course! I’ll call you too. If you miss your Second Uncle, call him as well."

"Hehe."

Little rascal.

Only then did Shi Zai ride off on his tricycle. Today was a day where all three of them were apart, and he really missed them. Especially since Shu Yangkuo and Yang Yun were suddenly separated, Shi Zai was worried they might not adjust well. He called each of them almost every hour.

When he asked Shu Yangkuo, "Did Yang Yun call you?" Shu Yangkuo denied it, but Shi Zai knew he definitely had. No need to say more—Shu Yangkuo must have called Yang Yun too. If these two really had a past life, Shi Zai thought, they must have been quietly keeping each other company.

Yang Yun had been learning for two days, and Shi Zai was really happy—it looked like their family would have a potter too, maybe even a really skilled one.

The calls between them went from every hour to every two hours, but Shu Yangkuo, who stayed home all day, seemed even busier than him and Yang Yun. Twice, he didn't pick up immediately, calling back a minute later.

There was some noise in the background during the call, which Shi Zai found strange. Shu Yangkuo said it was from the TV, so Shi Zai felt relieved.

He was afraid someone might have tricked Shu Yangkuo into going out, hehe.

By evening, Shi Zai’s faint unease peaked. During the dusk call, he heard Shu Yangkuo breathing somewhat heavily, not like someone sitting normally at a desk writing.