Free Web NovelChapter 144: Chapter 144: The Two of Them Holding Each Other
The two of them had gone to bed with a clear line drawn between them, but as the temperature dropped during the night, Mu Tangfeng’s body instinctively sought out warmth.
Waking up in the morning, the discovery that they were intimately tangled together sent the bedroom into a bout of chaos.
Mu Tangfeng found his arms wrapped tightly around Jiang Xia. He was hogging most of the blanket, but Jiang Xia had a death grip on his own part, which meant Mu Tangfeng had inadvertently trapped him.
Disgusted, he quickly let go and instinctively tried to pull back, only to feel a sharp, painful tug on his scalp. His face instantly scrunched up, and he snarled angrily, "You short-legged beast, get your mouth off my hair!"
Jiang Xia was a much heavier sleeper. All of Mu Tangfeng’s squirming hadn’t woken him. He only opened his eyes groggily after Mu Tangfeng, unable to hold back, finally cursed him out.
His mind was still lost in a dream. Feeling something fuzzy against his mouth, he thought it was the ball of yarn he usually hugged while sleeping and instinctively stuck out his tongue for a lick.
Mu Tangfeng’s hair was now covered in saliva. Unable to bear it any longer, he ignored the pain in his scalp, and seeing that Jiang Xia’s bite had loosened, he forcefully yanked his head up.
Jiang Xia felt the resistance, and his brain slowly started to clear.
And so, when he realized he had just mistaken Mu Tangfeng’s hair for a ball of yarn—biting and licking it—he frantically spat out the hair in his mouth and bolted for the bathroom to retch.
BLECH~
Mu Tangfeng wasn’t faring any better. He felt that his fragrant, freshly washed hair from last night was now stinking from Jiang Xia’s saliva.
Downstairs, Shi Lan, who was making breakfast, heard a clattering and banging coming from the guest room, punctuated by the occasional shout.
Worried that the two were fighting so early in the morning, she turned off the stove and knocked on the guest room door.
Inside the room, the two mutually disgusted men had nearly come to blows. However, mindful of Shi Lan’s presence, they had so far only dared to fight with their words.
Then, upon hearing the knock, the voices inside instantly fell silent.
The two exchanged a glance before Jiang Xia opened the door. "Lanlan, what’s wrong?"
Shi Lan’s gaze drifted into the room. She saw the blankets on the bed were a mess, but there were no real signs of a fight. The furniture hadn’t been moved, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Mu Tangfeng, however, had washed his hair again first thing in the morning. His orange-yellow hair was damp, clinging to the side of his face and making his skin look even more translucent and fair.
Shi Lan gave him a puzzled look, then thoughtfully pulled a disposable hair-drying cap from her Space Bag. "Here. The temperature is low in the morning, and you can catch a cold from washing your hair. Don’t get sick."
Moved, Mu Tangfeng accepted it. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Shi Lan then took out a set of toiletries she had prepared for Mu Tangfeng and said, "Come down for breakfast soon. After we eat, I’ll take you guys out for a walk and to buy some clothes."
"Okay."
Jiang Xia and Mu Tangfeng both agreed. Seeing this, Shi Lan returned to the kitchen.
She had made noodles for breakfast. The noodles were piled high with toppings. For Jiang Xia and Mu Tangfeng, she had covered the tops of their noodle bowls with a thick layer of meat and added a fried egg for each of them.
The eggs were similar to ostrich eggs, each about the size of two fists. When fried, one could almost cover the entire noodle bowl.
Knowing that males had bigger appetites, Shi Lan used large bowls for the two of them, while she used a more regular-sized bowl for herself, adding toppings according to her own usual appetite.
Upstairs, the two men didn’t fight again after Shi Lan’s intervention, but they gave each other the silent treatment, each going about his own business.
Jiang Xia came downstairs first. A few minutes later, Mu Tangfeng followed, his hair now dry and styled, looking exquisitely put-together.
But as soon as he came down, he sneezed.
Jiang Xia scoffed. Mu Tangfeng was dressed so flamboyantly, with a bright feather pinned to his collar—as if he were afraid people wouldn’t know he was a bird Beastman.
He looked away and, playing the part of the attentive and obedient one, went to the kitchen to get the noodles, telling Shi Lan to rest.
Shi Lan took the opportunity to sit at the table, her eyes scanning Mu Tangfeng’s outfit. Her brow furrowed slightly. ’He’s wearing even less than yesterday.’
She said, "Aren’t you cold like that, Lord Mu?"
Mu Tangfeng, wanting to maintain his elegant demeanor, forced himself to shake his head. "Not at all. We males aren’t that fragile."
Shi Lan thought for a moment. "Mm, I see. But I think that dark red overcoat you wore yesterday would look even better on top of that."
Mu Tangfeng looked at her, uncertain. "Really?"
Shi Lan nodded again.
Upon hearing that, he immediately went upstairs to put on the dark red overcoat he had worn the day before.
When Shi Lan saw him, the corners of her mouth curled up discreetly. She praised, "That looks great. And it’ll be warmer, too."
Mu Tangfeng smiled. He watched Jiang Xia thoughtfully place the breakfast on the table, then seemed to remember something and reminded her, "Lanlan, we’re not at the prison anymore. You don’t have to call me ’Lord.’ Just my name is fine."
He had noticed yesterday that Shi Lan used a more familiar form of address for Jiang Xia, but still called him ’Lord Something,’ which sounded quite jarring to him.
Shi Lan didn’t fuss over the matter of address and simply nodded.
She had simply gotten used to calling them ’Lord’ before, so the address slipped out unconsciously.
A smile spread across Mu Tangfeng’s lips. Just then, Jiang Xia shoved him aside with his hip, muttering, "Don’t block the way."
With that, he sat down in that spot.
Jiang Xia placed a bowl of noodles in front of Shi Lan. He naturally knew the size of her appetite, so he immediately knew which of the three bowls in the kitchen belonged to whom.
Mu Tangfeng glanced over and almost laughed in exasperation. Jiang Xia had brought out two bowls, but not his own.
Shi Lan noticed this too, but she didn’t think Jiang Xia had done anything wrong. After all, he was under no obligation to do so.
Afraid the two would start arguing again, she started to get up to help bring it out, but Jiang Xia stopped her. "Lanlan, you’ve already worked so hard cooking. How could we let you serve it too?"
"A certain someone shouldn’t be so shameless, should they? A male, and he doesn’t lift a finger."
Mu Tangfeng’s brow twitched. "When did I ever say I wanted Lanlan to get it for me?"
With that, he immediately went to the kitchen to get his noodles and sat down on Shi Lan’s other side.
Shi Lan sat in the main seat in the middle, while Mu Tangfeng and Jiang Xia sat facing each other.
Neither looked at the other. They just hunched over and furiously scarfed down their noodles.
Jiang Xia would occasionally pipe up with a compliment. "Wow, Lanlan, these noodles are amazing today!"
"And this egg! The yolk is still runny."
Hearing this, Shi Lan’s eyes curved into a slight smile. "I’m glad you like it."
Meanwhile, Mu Tangfeng, sitting to the side, stubbornly kept his mouth shut. Listening to the conversation between Shi Lan and Jiang Xia, he found that even though he was starving, he had somehow lost his appetite.
Nevertheless, he still finished the entire large bowl of noodles, leaving it spotless.
After breakfast, Jiang Xia proactively gathered the bowls to wash them, but Shi Lan stopped him and handed the task to a robot.
"Be good now. We don’t need to do little chores like this. Let Xiao Ou do it."
The main reason was that when Jiang Xia had washed the dishes after dinner yesterday, he’d broken two bowls and hadn’t even gotten them very clean.
Shi Lan had to have Xiao Ou rewash them all afterward.
For the safety of the bowls in her home, she decided to liberate Jiang Xia’s hands from this duty.
Jiang Xia obediently let go. "Alright."
"Well, Lanlan, if there’s anything else you need me to do, you have to tell me! I can do anything."
Shi Lan nodded. freewebnovёl.ƈom
Mu Tangfeng silently clenched his fists. The movement of his tense arm pulled at the wound Jiang Xia had gouged into him last night. Although it had scabbed over, it was still very painful.
The pain helped dissipate some of the sour taste of jealousy in his mouth. He chimed in, "Lanlan, I can do a lot of things, too."
