Chapter 143: Let Me Stay Over Just This Once

Chapter 143: Let Me Stay Over Just This Once

Xu Jianqing had already been home for two days when she called Xu Moxing.

"Hey, big brother."

"What's up?"

Xu Moxing was at Su Lichen's place, petting his cat.

Su Lichen was sitting right next to him. His company was also on holiday, but he still had to handle client messages from time to time, and was currently typing away at his laptop.

"Are you coming back this year? I already hired a cleaner to tidy up. Mom said she doesn't want to cook the New Year's Eve dinner this year, so we decided to just order a meal from outside."

Shen Qin had finally stopped griping and doing everything herself.

"Hmm... I'll see. I should be back, but not too early."

"Mom's been video-calling Aunt Luo a lot lately. She's been much more positive overall."

Xu Jianqing brought up their mother's recent situation with her brother. It was clear that Xu Jianqing was quite pleased with Shen Qin's changes.

"That's great."

Xu Moxing was also happy to see it, though he no longer looked forward to his mother's changes as much as before.

"Brother..."

Xu Jianqing hesitated.

In the past, Xu Moxing would have asked proactively, but now he wasn't as lenient with his sister, so he didn't have much curiosity.

"Meow~"

Little Tabby ran over to eat some kibble, drank some water, then ran back to Xu Moxing's lap and started kneading.

Xu Jianqing also heard the cat. She knew her brother didn't own a cat—he had picked up a stray before, and it was later adopted by Brother Su.

She'd figured that out from Brother Su's social media posts; her brother never told her himself. He didn't share much about his life with her anymore.

You gotta hand it to Brother Su, he's got his ways. Last New Year's when their mom had an incident, Xu Jianqing went to check and found out that Brother Su had reconnected with her brother, and they seemed pretty close now.

These past few days, Shen Qin had also been mentioning that her brother had a very outstanding friend. The day before yesterday, she couldn't help but tentatively ask—"Do you know Xiao Su? Maybe you should get to know him more?"

It was clearly another matchmaking attempt, but without the heavy pressure from before. Xu Jianqing didn't get as mad as she used to about that attitude.

After she politely turned it down, Shen Qin's lips moved, but then she remembered what Luo Shuling said and didn't push it.

Seeing that her brother wasn't going to ask, Xu Jianqing had to just come out and say it.

"Brother, what's going on between you and Brother Su now?"

Xu Moxing didn't feel like answering. They weren't officially together yet, so he didn't want to cause any extra trouble.

"Don't worry about it. That's between him and me."

"Oh, okay."

Xu Jianqing just gave a flat "oh."

Xu Moxing was no longer the person he used to be. He wouldn't blindly answer everything he was asked—that wasn't being genuine, that was just dumb, not knowing how to protect himself.

After the call with Xu Jianqing, a day later, Shen Qin also called.

This time there was no hysterical complaining or blaming, just a few casual questions: "Are you on holiday yet? When are you coming home for the New Year? The house is all cleaned, and Xu Jianqing has already ordered the New Year's Eve dinner."

Actually, what Xu Jianqing and her mom said on the phone was pretty much the same thing. Xu Moxing didn't mind; he figured they were just quietly hinting they wanted him home for New Year's.

"I'll go back the day after tomorrow, the 29th of the lunar month. That's the only ticket I could get."

"Okay, that's fine. We'll wait for you to come back."

Shen Qin sounded happy upon hearing this answer.

They talked a bit more and then hung up.

After the trip, Xu Moxing's life was simple but really happy.

Su Lichen bugged him to eat every meal together. As New Year's got closer, more and more shops were shutting down and people were heading home, while those that stayed open started raising prices.

Even delivery apps added a holiday surcharge, so they just cooked and ate together every day.

On the 27th of the lunar month, Su Lichen's mom, Dong Yuzhen, called him.

"Son, aren't you coming back? Not planning to spend New Year's with your folks this year?"

Dong Yuzhen teased him.

"I'll be back the day after tomorrow. My partner hasn't left for home yet."

Dong Yuzhen got it immediately and couldn't help thinking how attached they still were after all this time.

"Alright, I thought you didn't want to come back. You two go ahead and be inseparable for now."

Dong Yuzhen recalled how last New Year her son had rarely consulted her about relationship issues. A whole year had passed, and if he couldn't bear to leave that person, he'd probably figured things out.

As long as Su Lichen didn't bring it up, Dong Yuzhen wouldn't pry into his relationship troubles—she'd just tease him now and then.

On the 28th of the lunar month, the last day Xu Moxing stayed in Shenzhen before the New Year, Su Lichen kept bugging him to stay over.

"I'll crash on the couch. It's not like we'll be in the same bed. Can't you even let me do that?"

Xu Moxing shot him a look. The two of them had been spending all their time together lately, and Su Lichen kissed him every now and then, which was already way past friendship territory. But Xu Moxing insisted on going home every night.

Even though Xu Moxing was okay with the kissing, he still had this weird thing about not staying over.

"Come on? You're leaving tomorrow, and we won't see each other for several days. Can I at least crash here tonight? I'll drive you to the train station tomorrow."

Su Lichen was still trying to persuade him.

"Remember when your mom visited, you bought an extra blanket? I won't freeze."

"..."

Xu Moxing was at a loss for words.

Su Lichen kept playing the pity card: "Please? You're leaving tomorrow. I just want to hang out a little longer."

He put on a pitiful expression, and Xu Moxing finally gave in.

Anyway, he had already planned to officially get together with Su Lichen after the New Year, but he hadn't told him yet. He'd give him a "scare" then.

"Alright, just this once."

"Oh yeah!"

Su Lichen ran over and hugged Xu Moxing, spinning him around.

Xu Moxing decided not to take a suitcase; he would just pack a change of clothes in a backpack for home.

After they brushed their teeth that night, Su Lichen pestered Xu Moxing for a kiss.

They kissed for a long time, until Xu Moxing's breathing was ragged. He had to push Su Lichen away. "Alright, alright. After those two years in college, I never saw you this into kissing. What, you're acting like a lovesick puppy again?"

"What do you mean 'before and now'? We're a couple who just haven't made it official yet. We're in the honeymoon phase—it's normal to want to kiss all the time!"

Su Lichen kept playing dumb.

Xu Moxing kept calling him out.

"Look at you. When you're on business trips, you always contact me and ask me to play with Little Tabby because you're afraid it'll be lonely. Now, just to sleep on my couch, you've forgotten all about Little Tabby."

"Haha, it's only one night, no big deal. There's a camera to keep an eye on him."

Su Lichen had recently bought a camera to keep an eye on Little Tabby's condition and prevent any accidents. They also had an automatic water fountain, a self-cleaning litter box, and an automatic feeder at home.

With all this cat-care gear, a short absence wouldn't cause any problems.

"Alright, alright, let's go to sleep. No more kissing tonight."

"Just one last kiss!"

Su Lichen didn't give Xu Moxing a chance to refuse. He pulled him in for another long kiss before they finally went to sleep.

The next day, as Su Lichen reluctantly watched him go, Xu Moxing boarded the high-speed train and headed home, joining the Spring Festival travel rush—the world's largest annual human migration.