Help, My Buff Roommate is Begging to Touch my Abs - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Hubby keeps me company while shopping

Hong Zhuang suddenly burst into laughter, her crisp, bell-like laughter almost blowing the roof off.

“Hahahaha, Jin Bao’er, this friend of yours is such an honest person!”

“This is just too cute. He looks big and rough, but he didn’t hold back at all when giving a gift.”

Jin Bao’er’s ears turned bright red with shame. He wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground; he had never wanted to die more than at this moment.

In the end, Hong Zhuang still accepted the “big gift” Zhao Yuheng delivered with a smile.

The two were arranged to wait in a quiet lounge. Hong Zhuang flipped through Jin Bao’er’s manuscript carelessly. As she read, she suddenly stopped and looked up with an inscrutable smile.

“Jin Bao’er, this ‘top’ (gong) you wrote here… is it based on the person behind you?”

Jin Bao’er was startled, and he almost lost his grip on the water cup in his hand.

“Ah? No, no, Hong Zhuang Dada, this is purely fictional, fictional!”

Hong Zhuang leaned closer, lowering her voice and snickering like a best friend gossiping.

“The one you wrote is a rough man who is tough on the outside but soft on the inside, but looking at this one…”

She pointed to the figure sitting upright outside the door, her eyes sharp.

“He looks fierce, but actually, the way he looks at you is about to drip water; it’s so clingy.”

“Jin Bao’er, is the prototype too obvious?”

Outside the door, Zhao Yuheng listened to the two of them whispering inside. Every now and then, silver-bell-like laughter would drift out, and then two pairs of eyes shot toward him at once. He wasn’t annoyed; he just scratched his head honestly, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, his eyes full of indulgence.

…

“Jin Bao’er, you write quite well; you have this talent.”

Although he hadn’t actually read a single word, for his own “little kid,” he just had to praise him. Hong Zhuang put down the manuscript and made the final decision.

“Alright, I’ll take this apprentice.”

“In the future, if there’s anything you don’t understand about writing, especially how to create tension in those heart-pounding emotional scenes, just ask me on WeChat.”

Jin Bao’er’s eyes instantly lit up, full of surprise.

“Really? You don’t mind that the subject matter I write is… on the niche side?”

Hong Zhuang patted Jin Bao’er on the shoulder, earnestly.

“Silly brother, readers these days like this style.”

“As long as the emotions are sincere, someone will read whatever you write.”

“Besides, you have such a good ‘living resource’—why not make good use of it?”

She turned and shouted at the door.

“Hey, big lug!”

“In the future, if Jin Bao’er loses inspiration for his book, you have to be extra cooperative, you hear me?”

Zhao Yuheng stood up straight immediately, as if hearing a military order.

“Cooperate! I’ll cooperate however it takes!”

“Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it!”

…

When they left Hong Zhuang’s studio, it was still early, and the sunset had dyed the street a warm gold.

“Heng-ge, since we’re already out, how about we go shopping?”

Jin Bao’er clutched the corner of his shirt, his voice small. Actually, he was hiding a little wish in his heart; shopping is what couples often do, and he wanted to try it with Heng-ge too.

Zhao Yuheng looked down at him, his deep eyes reflecting Jin Bao’er’s expectant little face. His Adam’s apple rolled, and he answered decisively.

“Alright.”

This could be considered the first real shopping trip in Jingbei for Jin Bao’er since starting university.

The two squeezed onto a slow-moving bus and arrived at the busiest pedestrian street. Both sides of the street were filled with all kinds of food stalls; the burnt aroma of roasted sweet potatoes and the sweetness of sugar-fried chestnuts mingled in the air. A dazzling array of trinkets were displayed on the roadside, each one attracting Jin Bao’er’s attention.

He was like a little hamster just out of its cage, curious about everything. When he was young, he had no money, and in high school, he buried his head in his books every day; he had almost never been out to see the world. Jin Bao’er looked at the accessory shop on the left and then the doll shop on the right, pressing his face against the glass of every store for a long time.

Zhao Yuheng just kept his hands in his pockets, following at a distance like a dedicated guardian god.

After visiting several shops, Jin Bao’er was already carrying two or three paper bags. He suddenly noticed there was no sound behind him. He turned back and saw Zhao Yuheng leaning against a lamppost, raising his hand to cover half his face and letting out a big yawn.

“Heng-ge, are you very tired?”

Jin Bao’er immediately rushed over and reached out to touch his arm.

“If you’re very tired, let’s go back; let’s not shop.”

“It’s fine, not tired.”

Zhao Yuheng lowered his hand and rubbed Jin Bao’er’s head; the temperature of his palm made Jin Bao’er’s heart tremble.

“Let’s shop a bit more; I see you’re quite happy.”

In truth, he had indeed stayed up all night last night. His dad, that old stubborn guy, had computer problems and insisted on having him help troubleshoot remotely, tossing and turning for half the night before getting it done. He didn’t know what kind of miraculous websites his “old man” had been visiting behind his back; the computer was full of all sorts of random viruses.

“Heng-ge, Heng-ge, hurry over here!”

Jin Bao’er’s eyes suddenly lit up; he dove into a hanging ornament shop and waved at him excitedly. Zhao Yuheng immediately cheered up and strode over.

“Heng-ge, let me buy you an amulet; you can hang it on your backpack.”

Jin Bao’er held a little tiger amulet made of peach wood and waved it in front of Zhao Yuheng.

“Okay, you can hang it wherever you want.”

Zhao Yuheng’s energy wasn’t very high, and his eyelids were fighting each other. He didn’t usually get like this even when staying up late; today, perhaps it was because the string in his heart had loosened, and drowsiness washed over him like a tide.

“Then… hang it on your waistband?”

Jin Bao’er asked tentatively.

After hearing this, Zhao Yuheng’s listless expression instantly brightened, and more than half of his drowsiness vanished. He wrapped his arm around Jin Bao’er’s waist, pulled him into his arms, and whispered in his ear.

“Then I’ll hang you on my waistband too, and keep you in my pocket every day.”

His hot breath sprayed onto his earlobe, and Jin Bao’er’s body went soft. Immediately after, Zhao Yuheng slapped Jin Bao’er’s perky butt firmly.

Pop! Crisp and ambiguous.

Jin Bao’er was startled, like a frightened rabbit, and quickly glanced around. Seeing that everyone was busy picking out things and no one was paying attention to them, he felt relieved. He glared at Zhao Yuheng with a flushed face, and quickly picked up two identical amulets to pay the bill.

…

On the bus ride back, there were more people than when they came. Zhao Yuheng naturally held the hanging ring with one hand, while his other hand protected Jin Bao’er, creating a small circle of safety around him.

“Heng-ge, where did that ginseng actually come from?”

Jin Bao’er was shocked by his Heng-ge’s actions; he hadn’t noticed he was carrying such a large box the whole way.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to give her something? So I prepared a little.”

Zhao Yuheng spoke lightly. Jin Bao’er muttered to himself: this wasn’t “preparing a little”—that box was big enough to fit him inside. The “little” he understood and the “little” Heng-ge understood were probably not in the same dimension.

“What do you think of this Hong Zhuang Dada?”

As Zhao Yuheng said this, he habitually ruffled Jin Bao’er’s extremely short buzz cut; the texture was excellent, and he couldn’t stop touching it.

“I like her very much!”

Jin Bao’er answered while nodding wildly, his eyes shining bright.

“That’s Hong Zhuang Dada, a top-tier author on Tomato Novel!”

“Not to mention her annual income is in the millions; every book she writes is at a million-level.”

“If I could write to be as popular as her, I’d be satisfied.”

“That’s good.”

After Zhao Yuheng finished speaking, he found an empty seat and pulled Jin Bao down with him. Soon, he leaned exhaustedly against the back of the chair, his head tilting gently toward Jin Bao’er’s direction.

Jin Bao’er was still immersed in the excitement of having taken a master, prattling on about his future plans. Just as he wanted to turn back to thank Heng-ge for his support, he realized the person beside him had gone silent. Zhao Yuheng had actually fallen asleep from exhaustion.

He saw his Heng-ge with his arms crossed over his chest, his head bobbing up and down. Finally, perhaps feeling uncomfortable, he simply turned his head to the side, his cheek gently rubbing against Jin Bao’er’s shoulder, and found a comfortable position without moving again.

The sleeping Zhao Yuheng had his eyebrows relaxed, more than ten times softer than usual. Before, he was a grumpy big wolf-dog, but now he looked like a groomed, docile big wolf-dog.

Jin Bao’er held his breath, not daring to exhale deeply for fear of disturbing his sweet dream. He secretly took out his phone, snapped a photo of Heng-ge’s sleeping face, and set it as his screen saver.

…

After returning to the dormitory, Zhao Yuheng was too lazy to even take a shower; he just rinsed his feet and crashed onto the bed. Jin Bao’er didn’t disturb him, and light-footedly took the backpack he had hung at the head of the bed.

Zhao Yuheng liked to carry a single-shoulder bag, black and white striped, just like the person himself—cool and handsome. Jin Bao’er tied the peach wood amulet tightly to the zipper. A bright brownish-yellow appeared between the black and white, looking a bit abrupt, but also revealing an indescribable festive joy.

Jin Bao’er looked at the amulet, feeling wonderful inside. It was like a mark he had placed on Heng-ge. He carefully hung the backpack back in its place.

Turning around, he saw Zhao Yuheng lying sprawled out on the bed, his sleeping posture wild, still wearing only black boxer briefs. It was gradually entering autumn, and the wind outside the window carried a bit of chill. Only in the strong sun would people wear short sleeves, but now almost everyone had added a jacket.

Afraid he might catch a cold, Jin Bao’er moved a chair over, stood on it, and reached out to pull a corner of Zhao Yuheng’s quilt over. He didn’t cover him entirely. He knew Heng-ge too well; this person loved to sweat, and if covered completely, he would definitely kick it off with one leg.

Jin Bao’er meticulously tucked the corner of the quilt, covering only Zhao Yuheng’s lean and muscular waist and navel. It was both comfortable and not too hot.

After covering him, Jin Bao’er climbed down from the bed lightly and sat at the desk to continue researching his scholarship application. He had suffered through this for so long for this scholarship, and Heng-ge had helped with so much; it should be in the bag.

Jin Bao’er looked at the computer screen, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but lift. Life seemed to have suddenly become different; there was something to strive for, and something to care about.

Outside the window, the night grew thicker, but inside the room, it was as warm as spring.