Yan Shenyu remained silent.
Xie Siyan released the lamb, looked down at him, her gaze clear and earnest.
"Don't look at me, I haven't forgiven you yet," Yan Shenyu said calmly, pushing his face away. "You can't just touch a man's hair like that, don't you know that?"
"I don't know," Xie Siyan replied. After a pause, he lowered his head and said, "You can touch me however you want, for as long as you want."
Yan Shenyu paused, then couldn't help but ask, "Really? I can touch it however I want?"
"Okay, touch me however you like."
As soon as Xie Siyan finished speaking, his head suddenly went limp. He felt Yan Shenyu's hands go into his hair and rub it haphazardly.
Yan Shenyu rubbed his hands for a long time before letting go. He clapped his hands, got up, and walked towards the tent, saying with satisfaction, "Alright, I forgive you this time."
Xie Siyan breathed a sigh of relief, raised his hand to tidy his hair, and immediately realized something was wrong.
The hair was so dry and rough that it was impossible to penetrate; upon closer inspection, there were even small bumps.
Xie Siyan finally managed to remove one, and looking at the date-pit-sized thing with a small hook, he was somewhat bewildered: "What did you put on my head?"
“Cocklebur, also called burdock,” Yan Shenyu’s voice came through. “Have you studied the Book of Songs? ‘Gathering cocklebur, the basket is not full. Alas, I miss my beloved, who is far away.’”
Xie Siyan frowned: "You..."
Yan Shenyu: "Didn't you say I could touch you however I wanted?"
Xie Siyan changed his question, asking, "Where did you get the cocklebur from?"
Yan Shenyu: "Taken from the cow."
"Well……"
"Come here, help me take it down," Xie Siyan said, reaching out to him with a deep sense of helplessness in her voice. "I have a meeting this afternoon."
"Excuse me, I have to go take some photos. I haven't had any design inspiration lately, so I need to get back to work." Yan Shenyu had already picked up her camera and left, her yellow softshell jacket standing out against the green grass.
Xie Siyan stared at it for a long time until the bright yellow color disappeared from his sight, then he looked down and took out his phone to look at his hair.
One glance was enough to freeze him in place.
Xie Siyan put down his phone, both amused and exasperated, and spent the entire afternoon trying to remove cockleburs from the front-facing camera. He had only managed to get a few off; this plant called cocklebur was far more resilient than he had imagined.
That afternoon, at a meeting of Wildfire Technology's overseas business division, President Xie Siyan appeared on camera with messy, unkempt hair, stunning everyone watching.
...
Yan Shenyu returned to the camp under the setting sun and saw Xie Siyan sitting at a small table with his legs propped up, a laptop on the table, seemingly still working.
Hearing footsteps, Xie Siyan looked up at him. His head was still covered with many burrs, and he looked mournful and aggrieved.
"Pfft..." Yan Shenyu couldn't help but laugh, and said incredulously, "You hold meetings with those subordinates like this?"
"Otherwise what?" Xie Siyan retorted, his eyes filled with even more sorrow.
"At least you could wear a hat to cover it up."
Xie Siyan: "I can't remember."
Yan Shenyu took out her phone and secretly snapped several photos before asking, "They didn't laugh at you?"
"They dare?" Xie Siyan's face darkened.
Yan Shenyu wanted to laugh again, completely unable to imagine Xie Siyan's expression when he was reprimanding his subordinate in this manner.
He suppressed the upturned corners of his mouth and walked over to her, saying, "Okay, don't be angry anymore, I'll help you take it off."
Xie Siyan remained silent.
Yan Shenyu pretended to leave: "Don't let me go!"
"Yes." Xie Siyan quickly reached out and grabbed him.
Harvesting cockleburs is a delicate task. Yan Shenyu had Xie Siyan sit in the sunlight, and he combed down each strand of hair in the light of the setting sun.
Xie Siyan sat on a small stool, his shoulders broad and his back wide, his two strong arms draped over his thighs, his two long legs stretched out casually, feeling Yan Shenyu's fingertips running through his hair.
Yan Shenyu was quick and removed several in no time.
"Take it." He couldn't carry that much, and he was afraid of accidentally getting it on his hands if he threw it on the ground, so he touched Xie Siyan's shoulder.
Xie Siyan obediently opened his right hand, and Yan Shenyu put the burdock in his hand into it. When he tried to pull his hand away, he couldn't, and Xie Siyan grabbed it.
"Stop messing around," Yan Shenyu patted Xie Siyan's back with her other hand, threateningly, "You don't want to go back with this burr on your head tomorrow, do you?"
Xie Siyan remained silent for a moment, then quietly released his right hand.
By the time he had finished tidying up Xie Siyan's hair, the sun had already set, the wind had become cool, and a crescent moon hung in the sky, scattered with stars like shattered diamonds.
Xie Siyan lit the oil lamp, and the warm yellow light instantly spread out, dispelling the blue of the night.
Xie Siyan messed up at lunch, so Yan Shenyu volunteered to be the chef for dinner.
There are many videos online that teach how to make pasta. Yan Shenyu chose the one with the most views and followed the steps one by one.
After finishing, Yan Shenyu took a bite and exclaimed in surprise, "Did I really make this? It's so delicious!"
Xie Siyan: "That's so good?"
"Really, you should try it." Yan Shenyu picked up a piece of pasta with her chopsticks, her eyes sparkling. "How is it? Is it good?"
Xie Siyan tasted it and nodded in satisfaction two seconds later.
"The garlic flavor is strong, the milk flavor is rich, the shrimp is fresh and tender, and the pasta is just the right firmness," Xie Siyan summarized. "A great pasta."
Yan Shenyu felt good after being praised, and happily served Xie Siyan noodles, even arranging the plate thoughtfully: "I never thought I had this talent. Even if I go bankrupt in the future, I can still open a restaurant to make money."
“Sure,” Xie Siyan said casually as he took the plate. “You’ll be the chef, and I’ll be the boss and manage the accounts.”
"I'm not inviting you," Yan Shenyu said disdainfully. "You're so good at making money, you might just run off with all my hard-earned cash."
“Impossible,” Xie Siyan said seriously. “I give all the money I earn to my wife.”
"Uh..." No one spoke after that. They silently finished the large pot of spaghetti. After the meal, Yan Shenyu began to slump in his chair and do nothing.
"Okay, go wash the dishes." As the head chef, he had plenty of reasons to slack off.
Xie Siyan nodded, stuffed a box of fruit into Yan Shenyu's arms, and took the initiative to put away the portable gas stove, pots and pans.
They finished all their work, and it was only 7 p.m. They sat by the lake, watching the sky gradually darken and the Milky Way slowly rise from the valley.
The air quality at this campsite is excellent, and there is no light pollution around it, so the sky is filled with stars that can be seen with the naked eye.
Yan Shenyu wanted to film a video of the Milky Way, so he excitedly looked for a foreground and chose a camera position.
"How long will it take to film?" Xie Siyan walked over.
“I don’t know either,” Yan Shenyu said, plugging the camera into the charger and adjusting the angle. “I’ve seen landscape photography bloggers spend all night shooting.”
Xie Siyan nodded and told him to come and take a shower after he finished. Washing in the wild was inconvenient, so Xie Siyan had prepared two large buckets of mineral water for a quick shower.
Yan Shenyu didn't want to take a shower at first, but he had been hiking all afternoon and had sweated a lot. He had also picked up a lot of cooking fumes while cooking. After hesitating for a while, he decided to take a shower anyway.
The outdoor shower facilities were far too basic; Yan Shenyu looked around and found no place to shelter herself.
How am I supposed to wash it now? In front of Xie Siyan?
Yan Shenyu was immediately alarmed. He quickly stood up and said, "I suddenly remembered that I didn't adjust the camera settings properly. Go take a shower first, and call me when you're done."
"good."
Xie Siyan nodded and carried the bucket to the side.
Yan Shenyu secretly glanced back and found Xie Siyan not far from the camp. She casually took off her clothes and started pouring water on herself.
The warm yellow light of the oil lamp fell on him, illuminating his strong shoulders and muscular thighs. Water trickled down his skin and was absorbed by the grass beneath his feet...
Occasionally, he would turn his body to the side, revealing his full chest and muscular waist and abdomen. His skin would become shiny and glistening after getting wet, which was very pleasing to the eye.
Wait a minute, even if he's pleasing to the eye, that's no excuse for you to peek at him!
Yan Shenyu quickly looked away and tried to hide behind the tent.
He pulled out his phone to distract himself, but no matter what he looked at, the scene of Xie Siyan taking a shower just now kept replaying in his mind: the sound of rushing water, the occasional moo of a cow in the distance, and Xie Siyan's smooth, shiny skin, gleaming with an alluring light...
Stop thinking about it!
Yan Shenyu covered his ears, not knowing what had happened, when he suddenly felt someone tap him on the shoulder.
Yan Shenyu looked up in a bit of a panic, meeting Xie Siyan's dark eyes. He was wearing a loose tracksuit, his hair was a little damp, and he smelled pleasantly of shower gel.
"You're done washing?" Yan Shenyu was taken aback.
Xie Siyan nodded: "Go take a shower. The temperature difference is big on the mountain, and it will get a bit cold later."
"Oh." Yan Shenyu slowly stood up.
Let him take a shower, but where should he shower? Perhaps in the same place where Xie Siyan showers?
No, no, we're so close, he can see everything! Xie Siyan has no shame, he has his pride.
Yan Shenyu couldn't bear this embarrassment no matter what. He carried the bucket and walked a long way away, until all around was pitch black and the tent looked tiny.
They probably won't see us here, right?
Yan Shenyu breathed a sigh of relief, took off her clothes, and started taking a shower.
This was the first time he had ever bathed under the open sky, with stars hanging high above him and no trace of human intervention in his surroundings. He stood naked on the earth, as if he had become one with nature.
At this moment, he shed all the identities and values attached to him by the outside world; he was no one, he was simply himself.
Yan Shenyu closed his eyes and began to imagine the meaning of life, the birth of life, the origin of the universe...
As he wandered through the mysterious world of philosophy, he suddenly felt a warm current flowing over him.
A warm current fell on him...
Wait, he took a cold shower, so where did the warmth come from?
Yan Shenyu froze, not yet deciding how to react, when suddenly, that "warm current" returned. Warm and soft yet with a hint of strength, it roughly brushed against his skin, leaving a sticky residue…
"Ah!!" Yan Shenyu cried out in fright.
Was he right? That was a tongue? Someone was licking him?
Is that just your imagination? There's nobody around, so who would be licking him? And even if there were someone, how could they possibly be licking him?
Could it be that I was so engrossed in thinking that I was hallucinating?