Obediently, Lean on my Shoulder - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

In the late September weather, neither cold nor hot, the moment of waking in the morning is the most comfortable, especially when waking from a beautiful dream.

The wind from Erhai blew in through the window; the scent was very pleasant. Fan Ye rolled over and habitually felt the side of the bed, but felt nothing. He felt again, and still, there was no one.

“Wife!” Fan Ye shouted several times, but no one answered.

Naked, he stepped onto the floor barefoot. His perfectly lined body, long legs, abdominal muscles, chest muscles, and the indescribable parts… were practically glowing.

Fan Ye checked his phone; it was 7:00 AM. He suddenly remembered that in his daze, Teng Ming had called him to wake up and see the sunrise by Erhai. It seemed he hadn’t been woken up, so Teng Ming went by himself.

Damn it, the two of them had been “busy” until two in the morning; how did he have the energy to get up so early?

Was it really because he hadn’t “put in enough effort”?

Teng Ming was indeed by the Erhai shore at this moment. He had been woken at 5:30 AM by his alarm. He really hadn’t wanted to get up, but he didn’t want to miss the legendary beauty of the Erhai sunrise, so he exerted his “old life” to get out of bed. He had called Fan Ye to go with him, but he knew Fan Ye had “morning grumpiness” and would likely be petulant if woken, so he went alone.

By the time he reached the shore, it was after six, and the sunrise was just beginning.

Quite a few people had gathered by the shore, and professionals had set up many cameras aimed at the sky.

Among these professionals, Teng Ming discovered Li Shuren and went forward to greet him.

Perhaps due to the morning grogginess, Teng Ming felt that Li Shuren looked a bit scruffy. This scruffiness wasn’t the unpleasant kind; rather, it was full of a decadent artistic sense…

To be honest, it was Teng Ming’s first time seeing such high-end photography equipment up close. Seeing Li Shuren fiddle with it naturally and professionally, he couldn’t help but praise his skills. Li Shuren grinned and said this didn’t count as being particularly skilled.

Erhai is not a sea, yet it has a feeling of waves slapping the shore, mixed with the delicate grace of a lake. These two feelings neutralized each other to become the unique beauty of Erhai.

When the sunrise came, the clouds on the horizon changed unpredictably. Golden light shot out from the cloud layers, illuminating the mountains in the distance, followed by layer upon layer of advancing gold. The sound of water accompanied the chirping of birds in the air, and the brilliant sunrise leapt from the mountains.

After Li Shuren finished shooting, Teng Ming asked to see what he had taken. After looking, Teng Ming looked at his own photos; they were worlds apart. Li Shuren’s composition, mood, and lighting were all excellent, while his were more like random snapshots.

Li Shuren leaned over to look at his photos, pointed to one and said it wasn’t bad, explaining its strengths and weaknesses, and shared some photography techniques along the way.

Teng Ming wanted to apply what he learned and immediately took out his phone to shoot. After a few shots that were unsatisfactory, he turned to ask Li Shuren, only to find Li Shuren’s face was right beside his left ear.

Just like that, he saw Li Shuren’s eyes, eyelashes, and high bridge of his nose at close range.

His heartbeat accelerated.

Fortunately, Li Shuren didn’t think much of it. His hand tapped Teng Ming’s phone, and he taught him hand-on-hand how to take a good-looking shot.

Teng Ming, however, had long lost the mood for photography. After taking two shots haphazardly, he quipped that photography skills needed constant practice. Li Shuren smiled and said that was true, then went to pack his photography equipment.

At that moment, Teng Ming suddenly sneezed. One was okay, but he sneezed four times in a row and immediately felt something was wrong his nose was about to run. He felt his body but found no tissues. Just as he was wondering what to do, Li Shuren walked over and handed him a tissue.

“It’s still a bit chilly here by Erhai in the morning. How can you get by wearing short sleeves and shorts?” Li Shuren said, then glanced at him. “You look quite sturdy, so why does it feel like you’re about to catch a cold?”

Teng Ming gave a forced smile and said, “Maybe it’s because I didn’t rest well last night, so my immunity has dropped…” As he spoke, he wiped his nose.

At that moment, a piece of clothing was draped over him.

He looked at the clothes, then at Li Shuren, and said, “You’re doing this…” He paused and smiled. “I’m not a girl; I’m not that fragile. Why give your clothes to me?” He said this while moving to take the clothes off.

Li Shuren said, “Hey, this isn’t a matter of girls or boys! Just wear it. Don’t I still have a long-sleeved shirt? It wouldn’t be good if you really caught a cold.”

Teng Ming still felt it wasn’t quite right. Seeing this, Li Shuren said, “Then help me carry the photography equipment back to the hotel. That should make it even, right?”

Teng Ming looked at the pile of equipment, then at Li Shuren, and had no choice but to agree.

When the two of them carried the equipment back to the guesthouse, it was around seven. Sunlight shone into the courtyard; among the green plants and flowers were touches of pink, creating a unique freshness.

Teng Ming’s phone suddenly rang. Both his hands were holding equipment, so he couldn’t easily answer the call, thus he didn’t.

Li Shuren told Teng Ming to put the equipment on the ground to answer the phone, but Teng Ming shook his head, saying it didn’t matter.

The reason he said it didn’t matter was that he knew this call must be from Fan Ye.

On the other hand, Fan Ye’s call went unanswered. He felt a bit worried, so he dressed and walked from the room to the lobby, wanting to ask the guesthouse owner if he had seen his boyfriend. He had just greeted the owner and hadn’t even asked yet when he saw Teng Ming and Li Shuren walking side-by-side into the courtyard, talking and laughing.

The two of them walking side-by-side while talking and laughing wasn’t the big deal; the big deal was the clothes Teng Ming was wearing!

In Fan Ye’s memory, Teng Ming never had such a jacket. There was only one possibility—Li Shuren gave it to him. That is to say, when Teng Ming was watching the sunrise by Erhai, he was with Li Shuren?

A romantic thing like watching the sunrise, and it wasn’t with him?

Fan Ye felt his anger flare up.

The moment they walked in and Fan Ye met Teng Ming’s eyes, more than half of the fire in Fan Ye’s heart dissipated. He had originally thought about giving Li Shuren a warning, but in that instant of eye contact.

He thought about it and decided it was better not to do that. Firstly, it would make his man feel embarrassed, and secondly, Ming-ming had indeed gone out in short sleeves, so he should be grateful to Li Shuren.

So, Fan Ye stepped forward, rubbed his hair, and said in a slightly reproachful yet doting tone: “You went out so early. You were so tired last night, why didn’t you rest more?”

Hearing this, Teng Ming immediately thought of last night. Being in front of everyone, he instantly felt red-faced and hot-eared. “I’m alright. Seeing the sunrise was worth it.”

Fan Ye glanced at Li Shuren, then back at his man: “We aren’t leaving today; why are you in such a rush?” After saying this, he reached out to take the equipment Teng Ming was holding and said to Li Shuren: “Brother, thank you for looking after him.”

“It’s nothing.” The smile on Li Shuren’s face was a bit awkward.

Fan Ye waited to take over the photography equipment, but instead received a sentence from Teng Ming:

“No need. I can still carry this much weight.”

Having finished his sentence, he went straight up to the second floor.

Li Shuren followed him up as well.

A strange expression appeared on Fan Ye’s face. Is that fellow trying to rebel?

Meanwhile, Teng Ming felt even more huffy. He was blaming Fan Ye for why he had to be so disrespectful to him in front of others, seemingly feeling like he couldn’t do anything—did he even have to take this little bit of equipment?

At this moment, he didn’t appreciate Fan Ye’s doting on him, nor did he perceive that Fan Ye was trying to stake a claim in front of Li Shuren.

Teng Ming knocked on the room door; it took a while for Fan Ye to come and open it.

“Why so long? What were you doing?” Teng Ming said, his eyes already landing on Fan Ye.

Fan Ye said slowly, “Changing clothes.” He said this while walking back into the room.

Teng Ming saw that he was changing clothes. He closed the door and followed him over, unable to stop himself from saying, “You’re so handsome! Are you really my boyfriend?”

Fan Ye gave a sigh and a smile. He had originally planned to give him a cold face, but his words broke his composure. He simply said, “So you still know I’m your boyfriend? Watching the sunrise with another man early in the morning don’t you know I get jealous easily?”

Ah! So he was jealous!

Teng Ming walked over, hugged him from behind, feeling the warmth of his back and the fragrance of laundry detergent remaining on his clothes. He said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect someone as handsome as you would still be jealous of me.”

Hearing this, he turned around and looked at him.

One looked up, one looked down.

Fan Ye kissed him immediately, then said, “No matter how handsome I am, haven’t I fallen into your hands?”

Teng Ming said, “Why use the word ‘fallen’? You look like you’re very unwilling.”

Fan Ye pinched his nose and laughed: “How did you hear ‘unwilling’? It’s clearly ‘willing’! Back then, I didn’t know what kind of soul-stealing spell you used on me. You should know, for you, I even rejected a certain celebrity…”

Before he could finish, Fan Ye felt that the expression on his little darling’s face wasn’t quite right.

Teng Ming said somewhat angrily, “Then go find that certain celebrity. I now declare the soul-stealing spell revoked!” After saying this, he turned and walked toward the bed.

Fan Ye went to grab his hand, but it was shaken off.

Teng Ming lay face down on the bed. He felt a huge object descend beside him, then press onto him, as a string of kisses fell on his neck.

“What are you doing, go away!” He struggled free and buried his head in the quilt.

Actually, he wasn’t angry; he just wanted to take the opportunity to sleep a bit more.

Fan Ye hugged him while he lay on his side and said, “Now this is great. Originally it was me being jealous and angry, and you should have been coaxing me. Now it’s me who has to coax you.”

Teng Ming couldn’t help but laugh when he heard this.

Fan Ye took the opportunity to tickle his ticklish spots. Teng Ming tried not to laugh but broke at the third attempt, turning into a messy tangle on the bed with him. Fan Ye pinned Teng Ming down, looking at him from above, their eyes meeting.

Fan Ye said, “Wife, I never regret choosing you. No, I should say I’m very happy I chose you.” He smiled and said, “Dating a man who writes is really not good; words must be used precisely!”

Teng Ming felt a surge of warmth in his heart and suddenly felt his eyes grow hot.

He was actually taking care of his feelings like this now. One should know that back when they first met, he was so cold and aloft.

As one might guess, it was Teng Ming who pursued Fan Ye.

At that time, Fan Ye was a graphic model recommended by a certain portal website. The shots were a bit “large-scale,” with only a tiny bit of fabric covering the vital parts… After that set of photos was released, it could be said to have attracted a huge crowd of comrades. Later, after the website released Fan Ye’s social media account, many people followed him, and Teng Ming was one of them.

As a person who tended to overthink and was skilled at using words, he often bombarded him with messages, and the messages were sent after much deliberation. The messages he sent, in his view, could be described as watertight.

The initial messages sent were all Read, but no reply.

But Teng Ming persevered in sending them. After sending for about a month, not only was he not blacklisted, but he even got a reply from Fan Ye: “Oh.”

Just that made Teng Ming happy for a whole day.

After they started dating, Teng Ming asked Fan Ye: “Why did you only ‘read and no reply’ back then?”

Fan Ye said: “Because I was ‘cold and aloft’!”

Teng Ming then twisted his ear: “Cold and aloft my foot! You erotomaniac!”

Fan Ye then cried out with exaggeration: “Ow, ow, wife, have mercy!”