Chapter 74 Tangyuan

Everything changed after that night.

It wasn’t a dramatic transformation—only the two of them could feel it.

Two pieces of a puzzle that had already fit perfectly together clicked even tighter together, so seamlessly that not even air could squeeze between them.

Xie Fengshi couldn’t put his finger on it. Kaelen was still Kaelen, but something had undeniably changed. The love surging in Kaelen’s eyes had never subsided, but after that night, there was an extra layer to it. Xie Fengshi took a while to find the right word.

Treasuring. It wasn’t that he hadn’t treasured him before, but that treasuring had always been a bit cautious. Now that caution was gone, replaced by certainty.

The morning after New Year’s Eve, Xie Fengshi woke up in Kaelen’s arms.

Snow had fallen all night, frosting the windowpanes with ice crystals that filtered the morning light into a hazy silver-white.

The first thing Xie Fengshi did upon opening his eyes was look at the person beside him. Kaelen rarely woke up after him.

Kaelen’s body temperature was much higher than his, wrapping around him like a furnace, radiating warmth, holding him securely. Xie Fengshi’s back was pressed against his chest, his legs tucked between Kaelen’s long ones, his entire body nestled in a personal heater made just for him, keeping even his fingertips warm.

Asleep, the sharp edges life had given Kaelen all faded away, leaving only the gentlest core. Xie Fengshi watched him for a long moment before reaching out, his fingertips hovering over Kaelen’s brow, hesitating.

He was scared of waking him, but he wanted to touch him.

Unable to resist, Xie Fengshi lightly touched Kaelen’s skin, then quickly pulled back.

Kaelen’s hand caught his wrist, his blue eyes open and smiling. “Touch me and run?”

Xie Fengshi’s ears turned red instantly. “When did you wake up?”

“The moment you looked at me.”

“When did I look at you?”

Kaelen slid his hand down to Xie Fengshi’s palm, sliding his hand into Xie Fengshi’s and squeezing it. “When you look at me, I can feel it.”

Xie Fengshi’s heart did a flip at that low, hoarse voice speaking such words. “Feel what?”

“Here.” Kaelen pressed Xie Fengshi’s hand against his chest, palm flat over his heart. Through the thin sleep shirt, Xie Fengshi could feel his strong heartbeat. “It knows when you’re looking at me.”

Xie Fengshi was completely focused on the beat under his palm. His voice dropped unconsciously. “Your heart is beating so fast.”

“Because of you.”

Hearing that, Xie Fengshi buried his face in the pillow. Kaelen laughed and pulled him out, planting a kiss on his slightly flushed, just-woken face.

They held each other quietly for a long time. The light outside the window turned a pale gold, the frost melted away, revealing the snow-covered garden beyond.

“Any plans today?” Xie Fengshi asked.

“None. What do you want to do?”

“Not sure. Stay home?”

“Okay.”

Xie Fengshi was satisfied with that answer and buried his face back into Kaelen’s chest.

They lazed around for another half hour before slowly getting up.

When they came downstairs, Elena was already there. Hearing footsteps, she turned and saw Xie Fengshi. As he approached, she reached out to smooth the corner of his collar that was sticking up. “Where’s Kaelen?”

“He’s on the phone.”

“Working again.” Elena shook her head helplessly.

Kaelen came in right behind Xie Fengshi, one hand holding the phone, the other in his pocket, his brow slightly furrowed, his voice unreadable. He paused beside Xie Fengshi, mouthed “good morning” to Elena, then walked toward the other room.

Elena watched him go, then pulled Xie Fengshi down onto the sofa. “When he was little, he was such a handful. He’d come back after dark, pants wet up to his knees, and the butler would drag him home. I’d ask where he’d been, and he’d say he went exploring.”

Xie Fengshi was curious. “Exploring?”

“Yep. He had a map his father bought him. Later, he even took Isaac along into the woods. When they came back, Isaac had fallen and scraped his knee, crying the whole way. Kaelen carried him home on his back. He’d taken a bad fall himself but didn’t say a word. Guess what the first thing he said to me was?”

Xie Fengshi shook his head.

“He said, ‘Mom, Isaac cried. I didn’t.’”

Xie Fengshi burst out laughing.

Kaelen walked out, and the moment he saw Xie Fengshi, the seriousness on his face melted away. He sat down beside him. “What bad things have you been saying about me?”

Elena gave him a mock glare. “I was praising you.”

“By digging up embarrassing stories from my childhood?”

“You definitely did those things, so can’t I talk about them?”

After breakfast, Xie Fengshi curled up on the sofa scrolling through his phone.

Group messages from winter break piled up by the hundreds each day. He scrolled through the chat history—mostly Cheng Lang’s nonsense, interspersed with landscape photos from Zhou An and music links shared by Song Zhiyuan. Lu Shiyan’s messages were intermixed, most of which were his selfies.

The last few were voice messages from Lu Shiyan sent privately. Xie Fengshi hesitated before tapping on them.

The sofa dipped beside him as Kaelen sat down and casually pulled Xie Fengshi into his arms. “What are you looking at?”

“Lu Shiyan sent a bunch of voice messages. I’m still deciding whether to listen. I’m scared he’ll say something crazy.”

Kaelen raised an eyebrow, grabbed the phone, and hit play.

Lu Shiyan’s voice burst from the speaker, full of life: “XIE FENGSHI!!! I MISS YOU SO MUCH!!! You’re not here, and I feel like I’ve lost weight!!!”

“Wait, no, I haven’t lost weight. I’ve gained two pounds. My mom said my face is rounder.”

Kaelen listened, then placed the phone back in Xie Fengshi’s hand. “His spirits are high.”

Xie Fengshi took the phone, and the next one popped up right after.

“Do you know what I’ve been looking at lately? Airline tickets! But my brother says I’m crazy—break’s almost over and school’s starting. He told me to stay put. I said, ‘You don’t understand, this is my obsession with good food!’ So he canceled my card, boo hoo hoo.”

“No wait, I shouldn’t be sending voice messages. What if your boyfriend hears them? Listen and then delete them, okay? Don’t let him hear them. Cheng Lang says I’m overthinking, that your man would never check my messages. I don’t care, just delete them.”

Then came a string of emojis with reindeer pulling a sleigh across the screen, ending with a burst of fireworks.

Xie Fengshi listened to each one, his smile growing wider. He thought for a moment, then replied, “When we see each other, I’ll cook you something good.”

“I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO SAY THAT!!”

Lu Shiyan responded instantly. “You have no idea how rough my life has been since I got back. Our housekeeper went back to her hometown for the holidays, and my mom thinks she can cook. Since I was home for once, she insisted on cooking herself. Her cooking is so up and down. Yesterday’s soup was so salty I had to chug two bottles of water. And my brother and sister wouldn’t let me order takeout, saying I’m not allowed to eat junk when my brother’s not home. They’re having a blast at the company with all that good food!!”

“What's wrong with me ordering takeout at home?! But they said I always eat unhealthy food and wouldn’t let me order!! I told them, ‘You're my older brother and sister, not mom and dad,’ and then that brazen Lu Shixu said, ‘An older brother is like a father!’”

“He even had someone send me a box of salad—green! All green! If you think I'm fat, just say it! Stop pretending!”

“Now I feel sick just looking at anything green!”

Xie Fengshi laughed out loud, phone in hand. Kaelen's gaze never left him once.

Once Xie Fengshi finally finished replying to Lu Shiyan, he put his phone down on the coffee table and curled up in Kaelen's arms. “That call you just took—was something up?”

Kaelen wrapped his arms around him. “Mm. The cooperation with the Lu family has reached a critical stage. The next steps need to be finalized face-to-face. There are a few clauses that neither side can agree on, and emails and video calls alone won't cut it, so I need to go there.”

Xie Fengshi shifted in his arms to face him, a move that naturally brought his hands to Kaelen's shoulders and his knee between Kaelen's legs. “To China? When?”

“Next week.”

Xie Fengshi blinked, processing the news. “Have you been there before?”

“A few times. The first was in college, through a school exchange program—stayed for a month. Then a few more times after I started working, always rushed. The longest I ever stayed was a week.”

As he spoke, Kaelen's hand gently slid to Xie Fengshi's waist. “I'm not familiar, but it's not completely unfamiliar.”

Xie Fengshi said softly, “But you're going on business.”

Kaelen's blue eyes crinkled with amusement. “I'm telling you, Fengshi. You're coming with me next week.”

Xie Fengshi realized he wasn't surprised in the least. Kaelen never gave him the chance to say no in things like this. He knew too well how Xie Fengshi would choose, so instead of letting him overthink, he made the decision for him.

Xie Fengshi thought back to Lu Shiyan's messages. Lu Shiyan didn't usually send so many texts in a row. He chatted a lot in the group, but his private DMs to Xie Fengshi were always hit-or-miss. It was only in the past few days that he'd been sending so often. Xie Fengshi began to sense something. “Did Lu Shixu tell Lu Shiyan about your cooperation?”

Kaelen nodded. “Lu Shiyan probably knows.”

The way Lu Shiyan had tried to be wishy-washy in his voice messages but couldn't hide his tone—Xie Fengshi should have realized earlier. Lu Shiyan wanted to be indirect, but he wasn't good at it.

Xie Fengshi picked up his phone and opened the chat with Lu Shiyan. He sent a message.

Lu Shiyan replied instantly with three voice messages. As Xie Fengshi listened, he asked Kaelen, “Is your schedule packed over there?”

“A few meetings, signing some documents, meeting a few partners. Nothing too busy.”

Xie Fengshi didn’t quite believe him but didn’t press further. Kaelen’s idea of “not too busy” probably wasn’t the same as his.

On the morning of their departure, Xie Fengshi woke up early and lay in bed staring blankly for a while. Kaelen sensed he was awake and scooted closer, nuzzling him. “What time is it?”

“Six twenty.”

Kaelen opened one eye, saw the dark sky outside, and closed it again. “Too early. Sleep a bit more.”

So they lingered in bed until Xie Fengshi’s stomach growled, finally getting up.

Breakfast was laid out on the table: white porridge, soup dumplings, and a few small dishes, all steaming. Xie Fengshi sat down, scooped a spoonful of porridge, and felt warmth spread through him.

Isaac was up unusually early, his hair still wet. He sat across from Xie Fengshi, grabbing a soup dumpling and stuffing it into his mouth, cheeks bulging.

Kaelen said, “You didn’t dry your hair.”

Isaac said, “No time.”

“It’s only seven ten.”

“I need to go change after I eat.”

“How long does changing take?”

Isaac didn’t answer, just bit into his dumpling viciously, as if he were biting Kaelen.

Xie Fengshi pulled two tissues from the box and handed them over. “Wipe your mouth. You got sauce on your chin.”

Isaac took the tissues and rubbed them roughly across his mouth, only to find there was nothing on his chin. He looked up and met Xie Fengshi’s smiling eyes. “Kaelen is a bad influence on you!”

Isaac huffed, stuffed the last dumpling into his mouth, downed his milk in one go, and turned to leave. After two steps, he stopped. “When will you be back?”

“About a week,” Kaelen said.

“Oh.” Isaac thought for a moment and added, “Come back soon.”

Elena watched the scene with a smile, then set down her napkin and walked over to Xie Fengshi. She bent to kiss him on both cheeks. “Safe travels. Let me know when you arrive.”

“Okay.” Xie Fengshi’s ears warmed at her affection, but his heart felt warm and fuzzy.

Elena then walked to Kaelen and kissed him too. “Take care of yourself, and take care of Fengshi.”

“Got it, Mom.”

The car was already waiting. Fritz stood by the door and, seeing them come out, gave a slight bow and opened the rear door. Luggage was loaded into the car behind, and the two cars drove out of the gate one after the other.

Xie Fengshi looked back. Elena and Albert’s figures grew smaller and smaller until they disappeared at the end of the road.

Kaelen took his hand. “Reluctant to leave?”

Xie Fengshi nodded honestly. “Your parents are really wonderful.”

…

Beside the black sedan, Lu Shixu’s coat was pressed tight against his body by the wind, but his hair remained perfectly in place—who knew how much hairspray he used. Seeing Kaelen walk out, he gave a slight nod and stepped forward, extending his hand. “Mr. Zefir, you’ve had a long journey.”

Kaelen shook his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Lu.”

Xie Fengshi stood half a step behind Kaelen, about to greet him, when his peripheral vision caught the rear door being pushed open from inside, and a round figure burst out.

“Xie Fengshi!!”

Lu Shiyan charged toward Xie Fengshi, his puffer jacket bulging, arms spread wide like a speeding snowball.

Xie Fengshi stumbled back half a step, his back meeting the hand Kaelen had extended to catch him.

“I missed you so much! Why are you only back now?!”

“I told you when I'd be back.”

“I don’t care! I've been hyped since last night—didn’t sleep a wink!”

The two of them standing together was especially comical: both in thick puffer jackets, both with scarves wrapped up to half their faces, both squinting slightly against the cold wind.

One creamy white, one light gray, like two sweet dumplings set side by side in the snow.