Chapter 53 Besides Bones Where Else

Chapter 53: Besides Bones, Where Else?

Smells so good.

Shen Ci nuzzled against it, feeling something round pressing into his cheek, a faint familiar scent.

Shen Ci liked to sleep in, but usually he was awake while doing so—he woke up between five and six every day.

He didn’t open his eyes. Half-asleep, his brain was short-circuiting. He nuzzled twice more and then just bit down.

“Hiss.”

A hiss came from above. Two seconds later, Shen Ci snapped awake, let go with his mouth, and looked up at the person.

Shen Shiyan had a faint frown line between his brows, dark circles under his eyes, his dark eyes unreadable.

“Get off me.” Shen Shiyan swallowed, his voice hoarse.

Shen Ci snapped out of it, realizing he had just bitten Shen Shiyan’s shoulder. He’d used a lot of force. The teeth marks were faintly visible through the thin white silk pajamas. Shen Ci was lying on his side, one hand on Shen Shiyan’s waist, his right leg bent and hooked over his hip.

“Shen Ci.” Shen Shiyan said his name, pushed his knee, and repeated, “Get off me.”

Shen Ci felt something hard poking his thigh. Without thinking, he quickly pulled his arm and leg back, because Shen Shiyan sounded pissed and his voice was super hoarse.

“D-ddy.” Shen Ci lay flat, grabbed his phone from the nightstand, and checked the time—5:47. “I didn’t mean to bite you. I was half asleep and smelled something good, couldn’t help it...”

“Don’t talk.” Shen Shiyan cut him off in a low voice, threw off the blanket, and without another look at Shen Ci, walked out of the bedroom.

Cold water ran over his shoulders, back, and stomach, the chill sinking into his skin. That weird restlessness finally washed away. Shen Shiyan pushed his wet hair back from his forehead and turned off the shower.

When he looked in the mirror, Shen Shiyan’s eyes landed on his shoulder. The teeth marks were faint. He reached out and touched them, still feeling the sting from the bite. He sighed softly.

Shen Ci’s first class was at eight. Wrapped in Shen Shiyan’s blanket, he lounged in bed and texted Song Qiuchi.

“Shen Ci: Boss Song, besides bones, what else on a person is hard enough to poke someone with?”

No reply. He thought about it for a while and came up with nothing, then opened a match-three game.

At seven, Shen Shiyan appeared at the door, fully dressed. “Get up and eat breakfast.”

This round had just started, with twenty-five moves left. Shen Ci just force-closed the game, obediently got out of bed, got dressed, and brushed his teeth.

At breakfast, Shen Shiyan drank milk while reading documents on his phone. Shen Ci chewed his toast, staring right at him.

Shen Shiyan turned off his phone, finished his milk, leaving a little on his lips.

“Do I have something on my face?” Shen Shiyan watched Shen Ci swallow and nod uncertainly, then grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth. “If you don’t hurry up, you’ll be late.”

Not anymore...

Shen Ci thought, chewing faster. He finished breakfast quickly, grabbed his jacket and backpack, and got in Shen Shiyan’s car.

On the way, Shen Shiyan called the appliance store to set up an appointment for the new AC installation.

Shen Ci, in the passenger seat, watched Shen Shiyan toss his phone onto the center console after hanging up, and pouted. “D-ddy, you’re so cheap.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Shen Shiyan could vaguely see Shen Ci’s lively expression. He curled the hand not on the steering wheel slightly, focusing on the road. “Your sleeping posture is terrible.”

Shen Ci held a breath, shifting it from his left cheek to his right, not answering. His phone vibrated, and he opened it to look.

“Song Qiuchi: ?”

Shen Ci replied with a “Huh?”

Five minutes later, Song Qiuchi responded again.

“Song Qiuchi: Are you talking about a man or a woman?”

“Shen Ci: A man...”

“Song Qiuchi: You?”

Shen Ci was confused by the conversation.

“Shen Ci: No, my d-ddy.”

“Song Qiuchi: ?”

“Shen Ci: ?”

“Song Qiuchi: Never mind, maybe it’s a hard heart...”

“Song Qiuchi: Awkward laugh.JPG”

Even though the heart wasn’t in the spot that poked him, Shen Ci agreed, because Shen Shiyan only let him sleep holding him for one day—his heart was too cruel.

“Shen Ci: Agree.JPG”

The chat was inexplicable, and when he entered the classroom, Song Qiuchi’s look at him was also inexplicable.

Under Song Qiuchi’s gaze, Shen Ci sat down and pulled out the math test paper the teacher would be covering today.

“Did you do the second sub-question of the last problem?” Shen Ci flipped the paper over and tapped with his pen at the bottom, where a problem had been scribbled and corrected.

Song Qiuchi snapped back to reality. “Yeah, I did. It was easy.”

“...” Shen Ci felt a bit defeated—he had only solved it with Shen Shiyan’s help.

“You couldn’t do it?” Song Qiuchi also unfolded her paper.

Shen Ci looked a bit dejected. “Forty percent of it.”

As they spoke, the homeroom teacher, who was also the math teacher, walked up to the podium and tapped the blackboard. The class quickly quieted down.

Chalk scraped against the board, the teacher’s handwriting neat and firm. Shen Ci looked up and saw five big characters: “Parent-Child Summer Camp.”

This was an old tradition at Yunxi Middle School. Each class’s summer camp destination was different, determined by a lottery.

“Before we officially start class, let me first announce the school’s arrangements for the second-year summer camp.” The teacher rested both hands on the podium, looking at the dozens of eyes below. “This year’s camp is different from previous ones. Our class will go to a tropical rainforest in Canghai City for a week-long outdoor adventure. Since the destination is far and the rainforest has a special climate, to avoid accidents, students who wish to participate need to submit a parent’s consent form by tomorrow, and parents are required to accompany them throughout, following the school’s arrangements.”

After speaking, the teacher handed a stack of consent forms to the first-row students to distribute. The class buzzed with excitement, everyone whispering to their neighbors.

Song Qiuchi lowered her head and quietly asked Shen Ci, “Are you going?”

For anything new he hadn’t eaten, seen, or experienced, Shen Ci always felt curiosity and a bit of longing. But this trip was too long, and he wasn’t sure if Shen Shiyan would agree to go with him.

“Where is Canghai City?” Shen Ci poked his scratch paper with the pen tip. “Seven days, huh. My d-ddy is very busy; he probably won’t have time to go with me.”

Song Qiuchi took two consent forms and placed one on Shen Ci’s desk. “It’s pretty far from Yun City. I’ve been there a few times—it’s okay. That rainforest has tons of bugs.”

Shen Ci's scratch paper quickly became a mess. He swapped it for a fresh one and kept poking holes in it. "Are you going, then?"

"Got a grudge against the scratch paper?" Song Qiuchi glanced at him, pulled a cardholder out of her bag, and opened it up. "My aunt's too busy with her love life to come with me, and I was planning to take leave anyway—to go to a concert."

Shen Ci temporarily spared the scratch paper, leaned in to look, and saw a male celebrity's signed photo on the small card. The guy was wearing a white feather outfit, like a feather duster.

"Who's this? Is he famous?" Shen Ci sat up straight and played with his hair.

Song Qiuchi put the cardholder away, her expression shifting from adoring to disdainful. "A top idol. You seriously don't know that?"

Shen Ci shook his head blankly, like some caveman. "No idea. I don't think he's as good-looking as my d-addy."

Song Qiuchi wore a "here we go again" look and nodded frantically. "Right, right, your d-addy's the best in the whole world."

Up at the podium, the teacher clapped her hands, pulled out the test paper, and started explaining problems. Shen Ci perked up but didn't pay attention. Instead, he imitated Shen Shiyan's signature on the scratch paper—the one he used for signing contracts—in a shaky, uneven script, then pushed it toward Song Qiuchi.

"How about you stop stanning that feather duster and start stanning my d-addy? I can copy his signature," Shen Ci said in a very low voice.

Song Qiuchi used her red pen to check off her first multiple-choice question. At his words, she looked at him like he was crazy, grabbed the signed scratch paper, and wrote on it—

An idol has to sing and dance, and charm fans, and call them all 'wife.' Can your d-addy do that?

Sing and dance?

Shen Ci pictured the scene and found it terrifying.

He shook his head, picked up his red pen, and started listening to the lesson.

Before long, he lost track of which problem the teacher was on. As his mind wandered, he thought hazily that the word "wife" spoken in his d-addy's voice would probably sound pretty nice.