Chapter 13: Chapter 5.3 - It's a date then!
When Li XinWen opened his eyes he was brimming with energy. He did a quick body scan and confirmed that all of his injuries have healed completely. The only indication that he suffered an accident was a scar under his right rib. It seemed that his cultivation became much easier and faster with LanYu's help. But now he was struck with a dilemma.
His injuries healed way faster than normal people in this world. If he were to slow down it would be detrimental to his cultivation. However, if he were to continue at this rate it would surely raise a lot of suspicions.
In fact, he was already very suspicious. Li XinWen found himself deep in thought when a knock was heard on his door. Judging from the light outside it was just the break of dawn. "Who could it be at this hour?" he wondered as he stood from where he sat and made his way towards the door. "Hold on," he told the person on the other side of the door as he unlocked the door.
Xue Rui stood on the other side of the door expectantly. He had woken up much earlier in order to catch Li XinWen before the rest of the Li household woke up. 'Why am I feeling nervous all of a sudden?' Xue Rui thought as he ran his fingers through his hair and straightened his shirt, as if to make sure that he looked his best. He readied his most radiant smile and held his breath. Li XinWen opened the door and found Xue Rui standing in the doorway, smiling. He wasn't exactly surprised that Xue Rui was standing in front of him at such an early hour. He had already suspected that this would happen considering Xue Rui's infatuation towards Li XinWen.
"XinWen, good morning!" Xue Rui greeted Li XinWen as he made his way into the room. It all happened so fast that Li XinWen didn't even have time to react. Xue Rui stood in the middle of the room facing Li XinWen who in turn stood fixed by the door holding the knob with furrowed brows and exercising a lot of self-control.
"Rui-ge… what's wrong? I didn't expect you to be up so early in the morning" Li XinWen asked, at the same time thinking, 'What could this fool be planning at this time?' as he let out a sigh barely audible to Xue Rui.
"Have you looked at your gift?" Xue Rui asked with excitement as he looked around the room. His gaze then fell upon the empty clamshell box by the door. Immediately Xue Rui's smile and excitement were replaced with a mixed expression of confusion and dejection. Noticing this change, Li XinWen followed Xue Rui's gaze and realized what had caused it. He suddenly remembered what had happened the night before.
"Is that the box where the pendant was kept in?" Xue Rui asked pointing to the item by the door. "Did you not like the gift that I gave you?" Xue Rui asked, his voice trailing, as he slowly went over to pick up the box.
Xue Rui held the empty box in his hand and looked at it as if he was about to cry. He looked like a child who just discovered his toy ruined and thrown aside. Seeing this, Li XinWen tried to remain calm as he tried to come up with an answer. Two facts were obvious, the box was on the floor and the content itself had disappeared. As much as he'd like to tell Xue Rui that he loved the gift, it was impossible to produce the item in case Xue Rui wanted to take a look at it.
"Uhh…" Li XInWen couldn't think fast enough, realizing there was no way out of this predicament. Regardless of his answer, Xue Rui was bound to get hurt so he might as well deliver the blow.
"I didn't like it and I accidentally disposed of it…" Li XInWen answered while looking down on the floor avoiding Xue Rui's gaze, feelings of guilt welling up within him.
"Oh…" Xue Rui responded trying hard not to choke as he felt a constricting pain in his throat. More than the feeling of disappointment after hearing Li XinWen's response, Xue Rui felt a stab at his heart and felt it break. For a moment the two men stood in front of each other by the open door, both gazing on the floor. Xue Rui then turned as if to leave. This made Li XinWen look up and catch a glimpse of Xue Rui's hurt expression. 'Ugh… are scums even allowed to have such an expression?! That's cheating! Why do you look like an abandoned puppy?!?' Li XinWen thought, feeling even guiltier.
He reached for Xue Rui's arm to stop him from leaving. Xue Rui turned to face Li XinWen trying hard to mask his hurt expression with a smile.
"Rui-ge… I apologize for disposing of the gift without considering how you might feel," Li XinWen remarked trying to make amends.
"I guess it can't be helped. Think nothing of it XinWen," but this remark made Li XinWen feel like the most inconsiderate person in the world.
"Let me make it up to you Rui-ge," Li XinWen offered, while racking his brain for ways to actually make it up to Xue Rui without the involvement of any type of indecency.
"Then at least tell me what you would like as your gift, since you did not like the jade pendant I gave you initially," Xue Rui replied. Although he had spent a considerable amount for the jade pendant, and it hurt him that Li XInWen did not like it, he was determined to exhaust all means to show Li XinWen how serious he was at wooing him.
"Then… I'd like a Jian…" Li XinWen unconsciously answered before he realized what he was asking.
"Jian? XinWen do you want to practice martial arts with it?" Xue Rui asked playfully as if his heart had been restored by the mere fact that Li XinWen had wanted to make it up to him. Upon hearing this, Li XinWen was suddenly hit with enlightenment.
"Yes! Uh… I want to practice martial arts! Who knows, it might come in handy in the future. I could maybe star in a martial arts film!" he said in an excited tone. Li XinWen was relieved that he was able to derail the topic from the jade pendant to practicing martial arts. Of course, acting was far from Li XinWen's mind. But this little white lie was working in his favor as Xue Rui did not seem to suspect anything.
"Alright!" Xue Rui responded with renewed enthusiasm. "I know just the right place to acquire your Jian. I still have work this morning, but I will finish everything up early so that we can get you the blade today."
"Thank you Rui-ge and my apologies again…" Li XinWen expressed almost embarrassed.
"It's a date then!" Xue Rui responded as he leaned forward and planted a kiss on Li XinWen's lips, which caught the latter unawares.
Chapter 14: Chapter 6.1 - How could you stoop so low?
It was just a quick kiss. A simple, harmless touch of the lips. But for Li XinWen, it was the second time that a kiss was stolen from his lips. It didn't matter that this body had done a lot of indecent things in the past because the original Li XinWen was a different person altogether. 'I didn't even have a cultivation partner back in Long Xing. Let alone kissed another person!'
Because he was so focused on cultivating, he had never experienced holding hands either, except when he had to save someone. Li XinWen felt that he was about to lose it but managed to hold himself back from displaying any violent reactions.
"XinWen? What's wrong?" Xue Rui asked worriedly, leaning even closer as if examining the tiniest of details in Li XinWen's expression.
"That… Rui-ge, can you…" Li XinWen's voice trailed as he tried to avert his eyes from Xue Rui. "No, never mind…" Li XinWen continued, shaking his head in resignation. Li XinWen badly wanted to tell Xue Rui to stop kissing him, to stop fancying him and to just focus on pursuing Li JingHua. But he held back, remembering that if he ever uttered such words, he knew that Xue Rui would go back to making threats. 'A promise is a promise. I, Li XinWen have never broken a promise, not even once and will not start now…' he sighed inwardly.
"Are you sure it's nothing XinWen?" Xue Rui asked as he reached out and caressed Li XinWen's right cheek before gently turning Li XinWen's head to face him. "Come on XinWen, you can tell me anything," Xue Rui coaxed in a seductive tone, as if encouraging a lover to open up and share their deepest thoughts.
He continued to gaze at Li XinWen with an expression of gentleness that perhaps Xue Rui was not even aware of, which caused Li Xin Wen to blush for a second. Xue Rui was suddenly taken aback by the split second reaction he saw from Li XinWen which caused him to pull his hand away and avert his gaze. 'Why am I suddenly feeling butterflies in my stomach?' Xue Rui thought.
The two men stood in awkward silence for a brief moment. Neither men budging. 'What is with this situation?' Li XinWen thought. Back in Long Xing he could have just acted aloof and could have easily just walked away being a cultivator. But here he couldn't just do that.
"Uh… XinWen will go and…" Li XinWen started, wanting to break free from the awkwardness and to get away from Xue Rui, He searched through the original's memories to see what he can do in this situation. And at last he got it and said: "Cook! XinWen will go and prepare breakfast!" as he hurriedly left the room and headed for the kitchen, surprising Xue Rui and leaving him dumbfounded.
When Li XinWen reached the second landing he decided to pause and compose himself. "Ugh… that was close. Why am I even flustered?!?" Li XinWen asked himself as he continued his way to the kitchen.
Xue Rui on the other hand was left standing in Li XinWen's room. He suddenly felt a warmth surging from within. "That was a surprise!" he chuckled. A feeling of elation spread within him at the thought that his beloved Li XinWen was going to prepare breakfast for him. A smile formed on his lips and he unconsciously touched his fingers to his lips, as if remembering the feeling when their lips touched earlier. It wasn't the first time that he kissed Li XinWen but somehow it felt different. Xue Rui turned to leave the room to head downstairs, anticipating breakfast.
As soon as he stepped out of Li XinWen's room he saw Li JingHua coming out of hers. From his vantage point, he could make out Li JingHua's expression, a mix of shock and displeasure. 'Here we go,' Xue Rui thought to himself, sighing, prepared for the onslaught Li JingHua was about to bring. He was determined to not let whatever JingHua was about to say ruin his mood.
Li JingHua saw Xue Rui step out of Li XinWen's room, smiling. Surprised at the scene unfolding before her, she gasped at the image that suddenly popped in her head.
"You!" she said, almost fuming as she approached Xue Rui. "What were you doing in Ah'Wen's room?!?" she asked in a low angry voice. She quickly pushed him aside and looked around Li XinWen's room to find it empty. "Where is Ah'Wen?" she continued, glaring at Xue Rui.
"Calm down JingHua. XinWen went downstairs to cook breakfast," Xue Rui answered with a smile.
"Cook?" Li JIngHua asked confused. "Ah'Wen is going to cook breakfast?" she repeated. "Okay…But why did you just come out of Ah'Wen's room? How could you stoop so low? Have you no respect for my family? It hasn't been long since we ended our engagement and here you are acting all bold and daring!" Li JingHua continued.
"Don't jump to conclusions JingHua, you're blowing all this out of proportion," Xue Rui answered in his defense, shaking his head.
As if on cue, the door to the right of Li JingHua's bedroom opened and Sun Xiao emerged, half-asleep with his bed hair.
"Ah'Xiao! Did Rui not sleep in your room last night?" she asked, her voice hinted a sense of urgency, as if wanting to get to the bottom of the situation.
"Hmm…?" Sun Xiao responded still half-asleep. "Initially… but Rui-dage was being noisy and kept on asking about Xin-gege even though I already wanted to sleep… so I kicked him out or else I will feel sleepy at school later..." Sun Xiao responded with not a hint of apology.
For someone who valued his space, Sun Xiao thought that he had every right to kick Xue Rui out since it was his room and had also warned Xue Rui what would happen if he were to make any unnecessary noise.
"Pffft.. hahaha!" JingHua laughed. "You got kicked out for being noisy. That's too funny Rui," JingHua addressed Xue Rui in jest as she wrapped her arms around Sun Xiao affectionately. "Good job Ah'Xiao," she whispered.
Sun Xiao hugged Li JingHua in return. "Hua-dajie, Ah'Xiao wants scrambled eggs for breakfast…" Sun Xiao requested as he looked up at JingHua with pleading eyes.
"My XiaoXiao is so affectionate so early in the morning. Hmmm, it seems…" Li JingHua didn't even get to finish her sentence when Xue Rui interrupted her.
"Xiao Xiao, your Xin-gege is currently cooking breakfast downstairs. You wouldn't want to hurt his feelings by not eating what he has prepared right?" Xue Rui asked Sun Xiao, beaming.
"Xin-gege is cooking?!?" Sun Xiao asked amazed, and Xue Rui nodded in confirmation. And for a minute the two looked like old friends, both excited at the thought of breakfast. Sun Xiao pulled away from Li JingHua, saying: "Then Hua-dajie doesn't need to make scrambled eggs!" and excitedly made his way downstairs, sprinting as fast as he could manage.
Once Sun Xiao was out of earshot, Li JingHua's smile disappeared as she turned to address Xue Rui. "Speak! Since you did not sleep in Ah'Xiao's room, where did you sleep then?"
"JingHua, you should relax a bit or else you'll get wrinkles on your forehead," Xui Rui said jokingly. "Anyway, you'll find out soon enough when we get downstairs," Xue Rui responded nonchalantly as he made his way past Li JingHua.
Sure enough, when they reached the living room, Li JingHua saw where Xue Rui slept that night. 'It was on the living room sofa!?' she thought, seeing the blanket and pillow were still there. That night, Xue Rui had actually planned on letting Sun Xiao kick him out so he could go to Li XinWen's room.
But he did not expect that there would be no answer when he knocked on the door. When he tried to open it, he found that it was locked. He waited for a good fifteen minutes, before finally deciding to go down to the living room and spend the night there instead. His plan had backfired and he felt defeated. As much as he wanted to sleep next to Li XinWen, he decided not to bother him any further and just allow him to rest, as it seems that he had already fallen asleep.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
3 Power
stone 
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