My Husband's Eyes Have Been Looking Different Lately After Our Marriage of Convenience - Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Wanting to Hold You

Li Shang stared at them, still clicking his tongue in amazement. Wang Ruijing’s gaze also shifted back and forth between the two.

Song Ai kept a wooden face, unsure of how to explain, while Lu Tingyun adapted perfectly, even urging them along: “Aren’t we going to the Old City? Shall we leave now?”

Li Shang opened his mouth, hesitating to speak.

Wang Ruijing, slightly more composed, replied, “We’re still waiting for a car. It’s not easy to catch a ride around here.”

“Catch a ride?” Lu Tingyun raised an eyebrow, feigning confusion. He turned toward the side of the lobby, where Assistant Zhang appeared out of nowhere and walked toward them.

“President Lu, two couples have been placed in the garage.”

Lu Tingyun gave a brief “mm,” took the keys, and casually tossed one set to Li Shang. Before Li Shang could react, his hand had already clamped around them.

Song Ai was stunned. “Coupes?”

Lu Tingyun stuffed the remaining set of keys—studded with bright diamonds—into Song Ai’s hand. “Yeah. Don’t you like couples? It’s more convenient to drive ourselves.”

Song Ai regained his senses and exchanged a look with Li Shang.

Twenty minutes later.

With a roaring engine blast, two sleekly lined, uniquely styled coupes flew out of the underground garage one after the other.

Although Haishi was a tourist destination, it wasn’t peak season. Combined with the sparse coastal architecture and crowds, driving felt more liberating.

With the morning sun overhead, the sea breeze in his face, and music playing as they sped down the wide, flat road, Song Ai felt an unprecedented sense of freedom and joy. The corners of his mouth remained upturned, unable to be pressed down.

Lu Tingyun kept his eyes on him, gradually drifting into a daze.

Song Ai’s current state seemed to radiate light; he was dazzling and beautiful. In the end, Song Ai brought Lu Tingyun down.

 acted at the Lu residence, he was like a completely different person.

This suddenly reminded Lu Tingyun of the second time Song Ai got drunk. He had called himself a fish longing for freedom—one that couldn’t go ashore, or it would die of thirst. At the time, Lu Tingyun hadn’t understood and even thought the description was bizarre.

Thinking about it now, it felt perfectly fitting.

Lu Tingyun lowered his eyes, his heart aching with a touch of bitterness. It turned out that for the past six months, Song Ai had been stuck “on shore.”

…

The Old City was essentially a bustling downtown district. Even from a distance, one could feel the crush of the crowds.

Song Ai and Li Shang parked the cars in a nearby dedicated lot. The four of them got out and joined the human tide.

Though the weather looked hot, the sea breeze kept it cool. It looked crowded, but once inside, it felt manageable.

Li Shang loved lively places, especially shopping. He got excited the moment they hit the streets, filled with curiosity about everything and wanting to check out every single stall.

Song Ai didn’t feel much for it, but he was happy to go along. He was, however, a little worried that Lu Tingyun wouldn’t adjust well. After all, this man rarely “descended to the mortal realm.”

Just as Song Ai was considering whether to ask him, he felt a sudden itch in his palm.

He looked down and realized Lu Tingyun’s hand was scratching his palm intermittently.

Song Ai glanced at the two in front of them. Ensuring no one was looking back, he whispered a demand: “What are you scratching my hand for?”

Lu Tingyun looked down at him and said, “I want to hold your hand.”

The tips of Song Ai’s ears turned crimson. He said nothing, immediately withdrawing his hand.

The meaning was clear: In your dreams.

The other man seemed to pretend not to understand the implication. He deliberately leaned closer, his arm lightly bumping Song Ai’s, crowding him since he couldn’t hold his hand.

This was the old district, and the sidewalk was right next to a drainage ditch. Seeing that he was about to be squeezed into the gutter, Song Ai gritted his teeth and asked, “Try squeezing me again and see what happens?”

Lu Tingyun repeated: “I want to hold your hand.”

“…Hold my foot.”

Song Ai’s face turned bright red as he kept his head down and walked. Because he was distracted, he didn’t notice his footing and nearly tumbled into the ditch. In the next instant, as the world tilted, a large hand wrapped around his waist. It took only two seconds to go from weightless to completely steady.

The people in front heard the commotion and looked back. They saw Song Ai leaning against Lu Tingyun’s chest.

Li Shang’s eyes went wide.

Wang Ruijing frowned, about to say something, but Song Ai had already pushed Lu Tingyun away and straightened himself.

The young man, face flushed, cursed under his breath: “This crappy place, the roads are so uneven.”

Only then did Wang Ruijing swallow his words.

The four of them continued walking aimlessly.

Lu Tingyun stayed quiet for a few minutes before asking inexplicably, “Am I that shameful to be seen with?”

Song Ai was momentarily confused. “What do you mean, shameful?”

“Why can’t we let them know we’re dating?” Lu Tingyun’s tone sounded genuinely puzzled. “Or is it… that I, as a ‘trial boyfriend,’ am a bit too embarrassing to show off?”

“…” Song Ai opened his mouth, but the word “Yes” simply wouldn’t come out.

Over 190cm tall, eight-pack abs, incredible skills in bed, the sole heir to the Lu Corporation… if this was “embarrassing to show off,” then there were very few boyfriends in the world who weren’t.

Unable to answer, Song Ai simply stayed silent.

But this didn’t stop Lu Tingyun’s next move—he reached out directly and grabbed his hand.

Fingers firmly interlaced, arms pressed tight. Just like most of the tourist couples on this road.

Song Ai thought he would be repulsed, as this kind of behavior was too sappy, but when his hand was actually held, he realized he wasn’t repulsed at all. In fact, it felt quite comfortable. There was a sense of security—even if he didn’t watch where he was going, he wouldn’t fall into a ditch again.

Song Ai instinctively glanced ahead. Li Shang and Wang Ruijing hadn’t noticed a thing. He breathed a sigh of relief and found an excuse for himself not to pull away—Since no one’s noticed, I’ll just let him hold it.

And so, they walked the whole way like that, as if no one else were there.

It wasn’t until Li Shang saw a glass tank in front of a restaurant containing a meter-long ribbonfish and let out a startled “Ah!” that Song Ai, predicting he would turn around, instantly snatched his hand back.

“Look at this fish!” Li Shang said excitedly. “Isn’t this even longer than the one we saw at the aquarium the other day?”

Wang Ruijing took the opportunity to turn and look as well.

Song Ai shot a quick glance at the tank and gave a flat “Mm.”

He thought he was being flawless, but his crimson cheeks betrayed him. Wang Ruijing’s gaze lingered on that flush for a long time, until he felt a cold glare staring him down.

He didn’t need to look to know who it was. Remembering what Lu Tingyun said yesterday, Wang Ruijing hesitated for a moment before turning his head back.

After walking a bit further, Lu Tingyun suddenly asked, “You guys went to the aquarium a few days ago?”

Song Ai gave an emotionless “Mm.”

“Was it fun?”

“It was okay.”

After a pause, Lu Tingyun asked again, “Then next time, could you take me there once too?”

Song Ai’s first instinct was to refuse, thinking, Haven’t you been there before? Why do you need me to take you?

Then he suddenly realized—Lu Tingyun might actually never have been to such a place. He couldn’t help but recall when he visited the Lu family estate and Old Mrs. Lu had said: “Tingyun probably endured more scoldings as a child than you did cold shoulders.”

Given Lu Haichuan’s way of doing things, he likely never allowed Lu Tingyun to waste time on any recreational venues. It made sense that he hadn’t been to an aquarium.

Thinking this, the refusal got stuck in his throat. Song Ai felt a bit stifled. After a long while, he muttered dryly, “We’ll see.”

The man didn’t respond further, but the corners of his mouth tilted up slightly as he took Song Ai’s hand once more.

…

They wandered until evening, with everyone’s step counts nearing their lifetime daily records.

Li Shang was truly exhausted and was about to find a place to rest when the friend who was getting married called. Upon learning Li Shang was already in Haishi, the friend asked if they wanted to join their bonfire party.

“Bonfire party?”

“Yeah, celebrating the last single night for me and my wife. I’ll send you a location, get over here!”

Li Shang looked at the three people beside him and asked loyally, “Can I bring a few friends?”

…

With engines roaring and accelerators pressed, they quickly arrived at the beach the friend had mentioned. The sound of the two coupes was hard to ignore.

As soon as they stepped out, the people gathered around the bonfire by the sea looked over. After seeing his friend waving his arms high, Li Shang led the three toward them.

Almost everyone’s eyes fell on them, particularly on Song Ai and Lu Tingyun, who were the most outstanding in appearance.

The friend laughed. “Shang-ge, your friends are way too handsome. This is giving me a lot of pressure!” As he spoke, he glanced intentionally at the two most attractive ones.

Out of social anxiety, Song Ai felt a bit embarrassed and rubbed his hair awkwardly. This caused his already messy, slightly curly short hair to turn into a literal bird’s nest.

Luckily, Li Shang punched his friend lightly on the shoulder and retorted, “Get over yourself! Stop teasing my friends. Hurry up, didn’t you say there was alcohol?”

The friend’s attention shifted, and he called a few people over to open the drinks.

Song Ai breathed a silent sigh of relief. Because of his beautiful looks, he had always been the center of attention. He had been used to such gazes since childhood and even enjoyed them. But later, during his time studying abroad, some unpleasant things happened because of that same attention, and he gradually became fearful of becoming the focus.

As for what exactly happened… Song Ai didn’t want to remember. He closed his eyes, trying to shake his head to stop his brain from working.

But before he could shake it once, he suddenly felt someone touching his hair. He turned around; it was Lu Tingyun, helping him tidy his stray locks.

In the moment their eyes met, both their hearts skipped a beat.

Lu Tingyun stared into Song Ai’s eyes with confusion. He rarely looked at someone like this. At least in Lu Tingyun’s memory, he had only seen this look during their discussion about whether the “fountain pen was good.”

Remembering that Song Ai had said he was a “pretty good person” last time, Lu Tingyun felt his body starting to heat up again. He licked his lips and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Song Ai blinked, not knowing what was wrong with him either. He just felt that Lu Tingyun’s action was… somewhat familiar. It was as if a long time ago, someone had also tidied his hair so gently and meticulously…

But he couldn’t remember for the moment, so he shook his head blankly.

Lu Tingyun’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. He wanted to say something more when he heard Li Shang shouting from a distance.

The two looked up and realized several rows of firework tubes had been set up nearby. Li Shang and Wang Ruijing were already there. Everyone else was moving in that direction like a school of fish; it was quite a sight.

Seeing the two of them still standing there talking, Li Shang couldn’t help but yell, “Ai-ge! What are you two just standing there for? Come over here!!”

Song Ai snapped out of it and scanned his surroundings. He realized that a steady stream of tourists was also rushing toward this beach. Before long, they were submerged in the crowd.

Lu Tingyun recalled the travel guide Assistant Zhang had sent him yesterday, which mentioned that there might be fireworks at this beach tonight. He had thought it was just a gimmick at the time, but it turned out to be true.

There were so many tourists that Song Ai was nearly dizzied. He retracted his gaze and suggested, “How about we head over too? Where Li Shang and the others are should be the best viewing spot.”

As he spoke, the young man prepared to follow the crowd.

However, before he could take half a step, his arm was grabbed without warning. In the next second, Song Ai was pulled entirely into Lu Tingyun’s embrace.

Beneath the broad, steady chest was a heartbeat like a drum. The man lowered his head slightly, leaning into his ear, and whispered:

“Song Ai, I want to kiss.”