Bone-Attached Disaster - Chapter 54:

Chapter 54: The Four Seasons

Fu Jia’an felt like he could no longer distinguish between pain and pleasure. The overly stimulated area was numb. If he felt nothing at all, it would be fine, but when the stimulation reached a certain point, the burst of pleasure shot through the top of his head, making him tremble uncontrollably.

He felt like a fish that had accidentally flopped from a lake into a puddle, barely clinging to life, only for a touch on its fin to make its whole body arch, flapping in futile desperation.

Both of them were dripping wet. Lu Jie hadn’t thought to turn on the air conditioning initially, but in the middle of summer, as they rolled around like they were fighting, their clothes were quickly soaked. Yet, even without clothes, it didn’t get much cooler; Lu Jie stuck to him like a furnace, his energy astonishing.

“Air conditioning… it’s too hot…”

Lu Jie’s eyes brightened. For some reason, he was particularly fixated on making Fu Jia’an speak up in bed. If he spoke, he would grant any request. Of course, the way he responded wasn’t exactly considerate.

Since this wasn’t their home, the AC remote wasn’t out in the open. Lu Jie picked up Fu Jia’an, maintaining their position as he searched around the large room. By the time he finally managed to turn on the air conditioning, Fu Jia’an was so infuriated that he had left a row of teeth marks on Lu Jie’s shoulder.

After an unknown number of rounds, Lu Jie was still going at it like a mad dog. Fu Jia’an simply refused to beg for mercy, only instinctively tried to evade him. But after shifting just a couple of times, he was yanked back by his ankle.

Lu Jie leaned over, his broad back muscles flexing into a beautiful curve. He embraced Fu Jia’an’s neck, chasing his already bitten and reddened lips for a kiss. After kissing him, he stared directly at him and asked, “Why aren’t you making any sound? Am I not doing a good enough job?”

Lu Jie thrust a few more times in quick succession, calling out “Jia’an,” “Jia’an” softly and pleadingly as he moved. Fu Jia’an finally couldn’t hold out, but the sound he made was broken up by the impact: “Didn’t… didn’t you say I’m… weak?”

Lu Jie stopped.

He finally understood. Perhaps he was the main culprit who had driven Fu Jia’an to leave so ruthlessly. Fu Jia’an, who was already physically and mentally exhausted from a series of terrible events back then, was inexplicably pushed to the ground and beaten by him, only to be abandoned with the final words, “You are too weak.”

That single, casual sentence was the last straw that crushed Fu Jia’an.

“Why did you stop moving?” Fu Jia’an’s finger joints were red. He hesitated for a moment and reached out to grab Lu Jie’s arm, which was braced by his ear, urging him to continue. Staying still like this was also agonizing.

“Jia’an, I didn’t mean it that way,” Lu Jie looked contrite, pulling out and sitting up. “Thinking back now, I think I was jealous.”

The scar on Fu Jia’an’s ankle had faded over the years, appearing as a patch of whiteness from a distance. However, touching the scarred area still revealed a raised texture. The snowflake-like mark felt scorching to the touch, and every time Lu Jie touched it, it felt like someone had burned his palm with a cigarette butt, an agonizing pain.

In an instant, Lu Jie connected many dots. How many times had he tormented Fu Jia’an due to his youthful impulsiveness? He had tricked Fu Jia’an into a long-distance run, which led to him bleeding and scarring…

“Are you overthinking things again?” Fu Jia’an interrupted Lu Jie’s thoughts, immediately straddling him and leaning in to kiss him with flushed cheeks. “I love any torment you give me.”

“But I…”

“I believe you. Since you were jealous back then, let’s just turn this page.”

“Okay, whatever you say.”

Late at night, Fu Jia’an finished showering and lay down on the soft, large bed. Although his physical condition had improved significantly over the years, he could still only barely manage to be on par with Lu Jie. His beautiful eyelashes, lit by the warm yellow light, fluttered down and up a few times before he gave up; he was too tired and sleepy to wait for Lu Jie to come out of the bathroom.

In a daze, just before he fell asleep, Fu Jia’an felt the mattress behind him dip slightly. A familiar, slightly warm body snuggled close. “Fu Jia’an, are you asleep?”

Since he was 99% of the way to sleep, Fu Jia’an was too lazy to speak.

“Do you think we should buy a house later?” Lu Jie’s voice sounded wide awake. “Otherwise, with two lightbulbs at home, we’ll have to come out to a hotel often.”

Mmm… good.

Fu Jia’an thought he answered, but he couldn’t remember if he actually did.

The next morning, Fu Jia’an was woken up by the heat.

He dreamt he had gone to Flaming Mountain, climbing from the foot to the summit, his whole body sore and exhausted. More inexplicably, many parts of his body were burning hot and painful. When he finally reached his destination, ten suns were waiting for him. Sweat streamed down his forehead. Even standing perfectly still, he was drenched in sweat.

Fu Jia’an opened his eyes and found himself smothered in Lu Jie’s embrace. They were both covered by a duvet, and the inside of the blanket was soaked with sweat, as if they had just been swimming.

Oh God, who turned off the air conditioning last night? Fu Jia’an exerted all his might to pull his head completely out of the blanket. After looking around, he found the AC remote control behind Lu Jie’s back. It seemed this person had accidentally slapped the remote while sleeping.

Fu Jia’an was on the verge of heat-induced madness, but the more he struggled to break free, the tighter Lu Jie, frowning in his sleep, held him.

…He finally understood why he had dreamed of Flaming Mountain.

Finally managing to pull out a water-soaked arm, Fu Jia’an grabbed his phone. After reading the messages from Zhan Qionglou and Chu Yanchuan, he saw a message from Shen Rufēi from yesterday.

Shen Rufēi – Yesterday 12:15 PM: Has Lin Qi been discharged? I’ll come find you after I’m done here.

Shen Rufēi – Yesterday 1:07 PM: I heard Lu Jie went there. I won’t go then.

Shen Rufēi – Yesterday 8:50 PM: I have a surgery tonight. I might not be home.

Fu Jia’an finally replied to his brother’s message after almost 24 hours: I didn’t go home either.

Shen Rufēi replied instantly: Where did you go?

Fu Jia’an felt the slightly irritating abs pressing against his back and typed with one hand: Lu Jie abducted me.

Shen Rufēi: Fine. Are you coming home for dinner today?

“Who are you messaging so early in the morning?” Lu Jie’s voice carried a hint of morning grumpiness. “Is Shen Rufēi looking for you again?”

“It’s my brother. What’s wrong?”

Lu Jie snatched Fu Jia’an’s phone. “He’s showing a bit too much concern for you beyond a ‘brother,’ don’t you think? I’ve wanted to say it for a long time. Who has such an intimate relationship between brothers?”

“Hey, Lu Jie,” Fu Jia’an said. “How can you be jealous of my own brother?”

After this small commotion, Lu Jie finally felt the strangeness of the blanket on them, which felt as if it had been pulled out of water. He looked at Fu Jia’an, who was equally disheveled like a wet dog, and asked, “Did we sleep without the air conditioning on yesterday?”

“You have the nerve to ask!”

Since Lu Jie was awake, Fu Jia’an threw off the blanket and ran into the bathroom for another shower. When he came back, the air conditioning in the room was blowing cold air, making it much more comfortable. Lu Jie quickly finished his shower too. He took the hairdryer from Fu Jia’an’s hand and began to dry his hair first.

Fu Jia’an sat on the chair, holding up his phone to show Lu Jie over the buzzing of the hairdryer.

“What does this mean?” Lu Jie clicked the hairdryer switch off.

“Buying a house. We talked about buying one last night, didn’t we?”

Lu Jie swiped through the property listings Fu Jia’an had found. They were all in prime locations in the city center, not far from Jiang Yan’s house. “It’s fine, but is it the most cost-effective time to buy? Well, it doesn’t matter if it’s for us to live in. Do you have one you particularly like?” Lu Jie thought for a moment. He could pay the down payment first. Based on his current annual salary, he should be able to pay off the mortgage within a few years.

“I don’t want to be too far from my brother and them. Beiding Mansion should be fine. I looked at it, and there are a few nice floor plans. Let’s go see them this weekend, and if it’s okay, we’ll finalize it.”

Lu Jie was shocked by the genius’s efficiency: “Ancestor, are you treating this like buying groceries?”

Fu Jia’an said, “It’s fine. If we don’t like it, we can buy another one later. Consider it my gift to you.”

“Are you saying you’re going to buy it outright?”

“Yes,” Fu Jia’an nodded as if it were the most natural thing, having never considered any other way to buy it. “I forgot to tell you, I’m quite wealthy.”

Lu Jie was even more astonished: “Fu Jia’an, when did you rob a bank??”

Fu Jia’an: “Back in college.”

Lu Jie thought for a moment. Given Fu Jia’an’s intelligence, robbing a bank might not be difficult…

Fu Jia’an smiled and stood up, wrapping his arms around Lu Jie’s neck and whispering in his ear, “You forgot, Jiang Yan has a lot of allowance. I used that capital to help him earn a lot of money in college, and he gave me dividends. I could probably buy five or six houses in Beiding Mansion.”

Lu Jie hugged Fu Jia’an’s waist, their foreheads touching, and the atmosphere suddenly became intimate again. “You’re giving me a ring and a house. It looks like you really want to marry me.”

“It’s more than that. I can buy you all the good things. If the money runs out, I can earn it again.” Fu Jia’an looked at Lu Jie without blinking, like a child promising their parents that if they got a dog, they would be responsible for walking and feeding it.

“Put the house matter aside for a moment,” Lu Jie said with a smile. He took Fu Jia’an’s phone, unlocked it with his face, and opened the WeChat interface. “Since you want to give me a gift, I have something I want more right now.”

Lu Jie had something he wanted, which suited him perfectly. Fu Jia’an hastily said, “Tell me, as long as I can afford it.”

“It doesn’t cost money, just a tap of your finger,” Lu Jie said. “How about changing your profile picture and nickname? Let’s start everything new today.”

Fu Jia’an paused for a moment, then said, “Okay.”

At 9:30 AM, Lu Jie drove Fu Jia’an to the hospital first. The summer morning was scorching hot, so Lu Jie deliberately parked the car under a shade tree.

Before Fu Jia’an got out, Lu Jie called out to him. Cicadas chirped outside the window, the greenery was lush, and the sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting a warm patch of light on their skin even through the glass.

“Jia’an, this is the first summer we’re spending together.”

They had parted ways at the end of winter, and their reunion was in early spring. The four seasons cycled, miraculously connecting the beginning and the end, as if the many blank years in between had never existed.

In that instant, Lu Jie and Fu Jia’an let go of the cruelty of the passage of time.

Fu Jia’an: I don’t know what to change my profile picture to.

Lu Jie: How about this one? It’s the snowman I built in the third year of high school. I’m glad I took a picture of it.

Fu Jia’an: It’s so cute! Changing it now. (← Lu Jie fully approves)

Shen Rufēi: Bro, your new profile picture is so ugly.