Chapter 71: Cannot Mark
Mu Feng felt a sticky sensation on his lips; the ointment he had applied carried a faint, bitter aftertaste.
He subconsciously acted a bit spoiled. “I can’t eat anything like this.”
“Drink the nutritional agents with me then,” Liang Yuhang said, withdrawing his hand. “Didn’t you develop a lychee-flavored one?”
Lu Zhuo let out a click of his tongue. “What a modern couple—sharing nutritional agents to endure hardships together.”
Jiang Yu’an chimed in, “Stop teasing them. If you keep saying it, people might actually start believing those jokes.”
The two parties involved remained in a tacit silence.
Mu Feng simply took the nutritional agents out of his pocket, opened them, and thoughtfully inserted a straw before handing one to Liang Yuhang.
Lu Zhuo practically couldn’t bear to watch. He urged Jiang Yu’an, “Hurry up and eat. We need to sleep early once we’re done.”
“This is one of the few moments of joy after an exhausting day. Let me enjoy the bustling night breeze for a bit,” Jiang Yu’an said, tilting his head back to look at the sky. “I’m so tired. I feel like my waist is about to snap.”
“I’ll give you a massage when we get back,” Lu Zhuo replied, speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Mu Feng teased, “Xiao Jiang, you really have it good. Someone to massage your waist after a hard day’s work.”
“Do you want one too?” Liang Yuhang asked.
Mu Feng nearly choked on his nutritional agent. He bit down on the straw and waved his hands. “No, no, I’m in decent physical shape. I won’t trouble you.”
Good heavens, who is soul-possessing Professor Liang? Please, whoever you are, leave his body immediately.
Liang Yuhang didn’t say another word, but even drinking a nutritional agent, he carried the noble air of someone tasting fine wine.
Lu Zhuo laughed uncontrollably. “Don’t scare the kid to death. With your strength, Mu Feng’s waist would actually break.”
Liang Yuhang shot him a look. “Can you stop talking?”
Lu Zhuo raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and turned his head. “Are you finished yet?”
“I want to go for a walk.” Jiang Yu’an dallied, reluctant to return, radiating the excitement of someone who had finally managed to escape confinement.
“Let’s go then. There’s a beach nearby. We’ll take a loop before heading back.” Lu Zhuo stood up and handed him his coat.
Mu Feng clicked his tongue twice. “Brother Lu Zhuo is truly attentive in every way. Xiao Jiang, you are too lucky.”
As soon as he finished, he felt Liang Yuhang give him a fleeting glance. “Are you envious?”
“Of course I am. Who wouldn’t want an older brother who has doted on them since childhood?” Mu Feng said with a smile.
A trace of heartache flickered in Liang Yuhang’s eyes.
Mu Feng had brothers, but instead of care, there was only endless verbal abuse and pain. Even this engagement was merely a brief escape for him.
The appearance of Jin Ling indicated that they were already being pulled into deeper unrest.
Liang Yuhang took off his uniform jacket and draped it over Mu Feng’s shoulders. “Let’s go. We’ll walk together.”
Mu Feng found it inconceivable. The Liang Yuhang today was fundamentally different from his usual self.
Is it because I helped him?
It must be his strong sense of morality; he probably feels he owes me.
The sand was soft, leaving deep and shallow footprints behind them. Jiang Yu’an and Lu Zhuo walked ahead. Having lived in a mansion for so long, Jiang Yu’an found even shells and starfish novel and kept making quite a racket.
Mu Feng and Liang Yuhang followed behind. Mu Feng spoke up slowly, “Professor Liang, are you still feeling awkward because of what happened earlier?”
Liang Yuhang turned to look at him.
The oversized uniform hung off Mu Feng’s shoulders, yet he didn’t look frail. He wasn’t short, but his shoulders were narrower than Liang Yuhang’s, giving him a delicate beauty of contrast.
“I don’t feel awkward,” Liang Yuhang said with a slight smile. “Am I the type of person who regrets his actions?”
The weight on Mu Feng’s heart lifted. “Then I’m relieved. After all, it’s not a big deal. We’re adults, right?”
“You sound like a scumbag,” Liang Yuhang evaluated.
Mu Feng: “???”
Scumbag? To think such a word could come out of Liang Yuhang’s mouth—how rare.
He began to feel that Liang Yuhang in his rut was indeed different from usual. If he was normally a cold, precision instrument, right now, he revealed a touch of human warmth.
He was very much like the twenty-year-old Liang Yuhang he had first met.
“You’re holding a grudge against me.” Mu Feng laughed even more happily, tilting his head to look at him. “Do you care that much about what I say?”
Liang Yuhang let out a light snort but offered no opinion.
Mu Feng continued to himself, “Then keep holding that grudge. It’s better than you drawing a hard line with me.”
He had his own set of standards for their relationship. Being able to provoke an emotion other than mechanical indifference from Liang Yuhang was, in a way, a victory.
He turned to look at the boundless sea. “Professor Liang, have you been to the beach before?”
“Of course. There is a large stretch of sea near the hospital,” Liang Yuhang said. “You can see it from the windows.”
Then why do you remember even that, but don’t remember me?
Mu Feng felt a sudden pang of loss. He had read many books back then, and one line in particular had comforted him:
“One tends to forget the most fleeting and beautiful moments.”
So, he chose to believe that the happiest moment of Liang Yuhang’s first twenty years was meeting him.
“Then have you seen the Blue Tears?” Mu Feng asked. “They’re very beautiful.”
It was on July 17th that the Blue Tears had surged in the ocean, prompting Mu Feng to walk into the deep sea.
He had been thinking of ending his pain and finding salvation, and then Liang Yuhang appeared.
Liang Yuhang shook his head. “I haven’t. We can wait a bit today.”
Further ahead, Jiang Yu’an’s feet were already hurting. Lu Zhuo hoisted him onto his back and continued forward, the footprints in the sand growing deeper.
Lu Zhuo turned back to ask, “Heading back?”
“I want to wait a bit…” Liang Yuhang asked, “What did you call them? Blue what?”
“Blue Tears. It’s when sea fireflies and noctiluca scintillans emit a blue glow,” Mu Feng explained. “But they don’t appear every day.”
“Do you want to see them?” Lu Zhuo asked the person on his back.
Jiang Yu’an was already nodding off. He leaned against the broad shoulders, his voice sounding thick with sleep. “If Mu Bao wants to see them, then let’s wait.”
In reality, his eyes were almost completely shut.
However, things didn’t go as planned. After standing in the wind for an hour, there were still only dark, crashing waves.
Mu Feng glanced at Jiang Yu’an, whose eyelids were fighting a losing battle. He said in a light tone, “Forget it. No luck today. Maybe next time. Xiao Jiang is about to meet the God of Dreams.”
“Aren’t you disappointed that we didn’t see them?” Liang Yuhang asked him.
“Not seeing them is the norm. Good luck doesn’t happen every second, Professor Liang.” Mu Feng reached out and patted Lu Zhuo, saying softly, “Let’s head back. We have a lot to do tomorrow.”
Liang Yuhang felt that the boy was still hopeful.
It was just that after experiencing so many disappointments, he had lowered his expectations.
On the way back, Liang Yuhang spoke up, “I’ll make sure you see them before we return to the Capital Star. I keep my word.”
Mu Feng looked up in surprise. After several seconds, he finally broke into a smile. “Okay. It’s a deal then.”
You can’t break your promise like you did with the spring outing this time, Liang Yuhang, he said in his heart.
Lu Zhuo shifted the person on his back, who was now sound asleep. He grumbled, “He really sleeps like a baby. I bet a cannon blast right next to his bed wouldn’t wake him.”
Liang Yuhang’s lips twitched slightly. “It’s finally quiet. Much better.”
They still bickered, but it was a great improvement over before.
Back at the base, Lu Zhuo took Jiang Yu’an back to their room. Mu Feng looked at Liang Yuhang, who was still in his rut. “Are we staying together tonight?”
He paused, then changed the subject, pointing to his own lips. “Since things have already reached that point, I guess we don’t need to avoid each other for now, right?”
Liang Yuhang: “………”
Indeed, there was no point anymore.
He swiped his card and entered. The cleaning staff, likely having heard about their engagement, had actually pushed the two single beds together.
Mu Feng glanced at the seamlessly joined beds and added, “Since it’s like that, it shouldn’t matter if we share a bed.”
Since Mu Feng had said it all, Liang Yuhang simply nodded. “I’ll sleep with the muzzle on. It shouldn’t be an issue.”
He’s still keeping such clear boundaries. Mu Feng stared at him for a few seconds. “Fine. Wash up and go to sleep.”
Even though the beds were joined, Liang Yuhang very gentlemanly left a small gap in the middle.
Mu Feng felt like he was hogging more than half the space. He closed his eyes but couldn’t sleep.
His mind was filled with the image of the forceful Liang Yuhang from earlier, gripping his hair. Even now, he could still feel that delayed phantom pressure.
“If only I had pheromones,” Mu Feng turned on his side, staring at the sleeping Liang Yuhang. He sighed softly, “It would probably make you feel better.”
His fingertips slowly moved from the man’s brow, down the bridge of his nose, and touched the cold metal of the guard, where they paused.
“I can’t even give you a temporary mark,” Mu Feng mocked himself. “I can only help you like that.”
While he was spacing out, he suddenly felt a tightening around his waist.
He was pulled into the scalding embrace of an Alpha in his rut.
Liang Yuhang had lost his usual self-control. Only at a time like this did he reveal a hint of vulnerability, as if seeking comfort from his other half. He sniffed the other person very lightly.
Mu Feng felt the cold touch of the guard as the man buried his head into the crook of his neck. He heard a muffled murmur:
“Cannot mark… unless he is willing.”
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