Xiao Lin then smiled with satisfaction, his eyes crinkling.
That evening, the two prepared a table full of dishes and sat facing each other.
Xiao Lin held the longevity noodles that Yu Tang had made for him, his dark eyes filled with warmth and contentment.
"General, I wish time could stand still at this moment." The boy's eyes were slightly red, and his voice was a little hoarse: "That way we could be together forever."
Yu Tang could sense a deep-seated fear in Xiao Lin's tone.
He reached out and placed his hand on Xiao Lin's, gripping it tightly, and said, "Time doesn't need to stop at this moment; let it keep turning."
That way, I will be with you every moment from now on.
Xiao Lin's eyes widened slightly.
After a moment, he laughed.
He hummed in agreement and obediently lowered his head to eat his noodles.
I spent this birthday with Yu Tang by my side, full of hope.
After finishing the New Year's Eve dinner, Yu Tang took out his radio and listened to the Spring Festival Gala.
In a small house filled with the voices of singers and actors, a man and a boy sit at a low table, chatting and making dumplings in a warm and harmonious atmosphere.
The dumplings were wrapped up, and it was already late at night. Firecrackers were still going off outside, creating a strong festive atmosphere.
Yu Tang yawned, and Xiao Lin noticed his drowsiness, so he pulled him into the inner room and told him to go to sleep, saying that he would take care of keeping watch over him on New Year's Eve.
He's not sleepy yet.
Yu Tang couldn't persuade him otherwise, so she crawled into bed and went to sleep.
The indoor lights were still on. Xiao Lin turned off the radio and lay down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), quietly watching Yu Tang's sleeping face.
They seemed to never get enough of looking at each other, and rarely blinked.
He really missed his general.
For more than a decade, they could only meet in dreams, but those dreams often ended tragically with a man in wedding attire stepping into a fire.
He was terrified by that dream.
They even slept with fear.
Now, the person I've been longing for is right in front of me; this feeling of happiness is unimaginable for ordinary people.
He simply couldn't bear to close his eyes for even a moment longer.
He was terrified that if he fell asleep and woke up, his general would have vanished again...
Chapter 23
Died for the villain for the eighth time (23)
Yu Tang was woken up by Xiao Jin.
"Host, host, Xiao Lin is cooking dumplings!"
Xiao Jin said: "Wake up!"
Upon hearing this, Yu Tang quickly opened his eyes, dressed, and went to the outer room. He said to Xiao Lin, who was standing there preparing to put dumplings into boiling water, "Your Highness, why didn't you wake me up?"
Xiao Lin smiled at him: "I want you to sleep a little longer."
Yu Tang noticed the dark circles under his eyes and learned from Xiao Jin that the other man hadn't slept all night, which made her feel sorry for him.
He bent down and found a string of firecrackers in the corner of the outer room, took a box of matches, and waved it at Xiao Lin: "In this world, we set off firecrackers when we cook dumplings. This is called bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new. I wish us all the best in the new year."
As he walked out, he said, "Your Highness, wait until you hear me call you before you start making dumplings."
Xiao Lin was stunned for a moment, then understood what Yu Tang meant, and his smile deepened.
He nodded in agreement, watching as the man first swept a clean area of the ground.
Then he placed the firecrackers in the center of the courtyard, half-squatted there, carefully lit the match, shielding it with his hand, and called out to him, "Your Highness! Let's make dumplings!"
The moment the dumplings hit the pot, firecrackers went off, crackling and popping, making the chickens in the coop squawk and squawk.
Yu Tang laughed as he called out to Xiao Lin, "Your Highness! Happy New Year!"
Xiao Lin looked at the man standing in the snow. Amidst the lively sounds of firecrackers and congratulations, his brows relaxed, and he called out to Yu Tang, "General! Happy New Year!"
Mu Nancheng returned while eating dumplings.
At that moment, Yu Tang just peeled a clove of garlic and handed it to him: "Your Highness, eating a clove of garlic while eating dumplings is especially refreshing. Would you like to try it?"
Mu Nancheng looked at him with a surprised expression and asked, "Yu Tang, I'm not a prince, why are you calling me Your Highness?"
Yu Tang was taken aback, looked up at him, and his expression was even more astonished than Mu Nancheng's.
"Are you from Nancheng?"
"If I'm not Mu Nancheng, then who am I?" The boy looked down at the garlic in his hand and the dumplings on the table, his brows furrowing. "Why are we eating dumplings on New Year's Eve? Something's not right..."
“Weren’t we just in the yard a moment ago? The snow had just started falling…” He stood up, pushed open the door to the outer room, and looked at the snow on the ground with disbelief: “Is this the second day?”
After saying that, he turned to look at Yu Tang: "What exactly happened? Why do I have no memory of this at all?"
He was dumbfounded, and Yu Tang was even more dumbfounded.
"Holy crap! My hunch came true!"
Xiao Jin was in an uproar in Yu Tang's mind: [Host, I was wondering if Mu Nancheng would come back, and now he really is!]
As he spoke, he covered his flushed face: "Oh my god, they're clearly the same person, but I have this strange feeling that you're dating a lot of people at the same time!"
Yu Tang: ?
He didn't have time to argue with Xiao Jin. His mind raced, and he forced himself to remain calm as he lied through his teeth: "Uh, it's like this, didn't you fall on your head earlier and then get hit by a stick?"
I suspect it might be a side effect. Yesterday you suddenly lost consciousness, and when you woke up, you told me that you were a prince of a country.
"And I am a general who follows you, yet you insist on putting on this show for me. I have no choice but to comply."
Mu Nancheng looked at him suspiciously.
“There’s nothing I can do if you don’t believe it, that’s just how it is.” Yu Tang continued, “So, I think when you get back to the Mu family, you’d better go to the hospital for a full medical check-up, so as not to delay your treatment.”
Hearing this, Mu Nancheng calmed down a little.
He does indeed experience headaches from time to time after suffering a series of brain injuries.
Therefore, what Yu Tang said is very likely true.
Moreover, compared to when he sang to chicks when he was a fool, this time he positioned himself as a prince and Yu Tang as a general, which doesn't seem too outrageous.
"Hmm..." In the end, he agreed with Yu Tang's words and nodded, "When we get back to D City, I will get a check-up."
After saying that, he sat back down and continued eating dumplings, not forgetting to chew the garlic in his hand along with the dumplings.
She commented, "I didn't like garlic before, but now that I eat it this way, it tastes pretty good."
In the Mu family, he was not entitled to eat at the table during the New Year. The servants would bring the food to his room separately, and he would only eat a couple of bites before putting it down.
I have no appetite at all.
I don't know what's wrong with me today, but I got more and more addicted to eating. I ate two plates of dumplings with Yu Tang before I stopped.
After we finished eating, I offered to pour water and wash the dishes, but while washing them I couldn't help but say, "This time, I have no memory of yesterday at all. It's like I didn't spend the New Year with you."
Yu Tang paused slightly as he tidied the table, sensing regret in Mu Nancheng's tone.
For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
It's all Wei Yuan's fault. Why did he have to split into ten versions of himself?
So what if you want to split up? You can merge up too!
Not only are you not getting along, but you're also jealous of each other?
Isn't this just making trouble out of nothing and wanting to annoy people?
What's even more outrageous is that when he heard Mu Nancheng say such things, he actually felt a little guilty!
If this continues, Yu Tang feels he'll go crazy along with Wei Yuan.
"So what do you want to do?" He leaned closer to Mu Nancheng and asked with a smile, "Do you need me to make up for it by celebrating New Year's Eve for you?"
Mu Nancheng was still a little uncomfortable with Yu Tang's sudden closeness. He turned his head away and said, "That's not what I meant..."
But then his voice suddenly stopped.
Because he saw the dark red marks hidden under the man's cotton-padded coat.
His eyes widened suddenly. He grabbed Yu Tang's clothes and examined the mark closely. He realized that it couldn't possibly be a bruise, and there was no way he could have bumped into something like that!
A thought flashed through his mind, and Mu Nancheng's voice trembled: "These...these are hickeys?!"
"It wasn't here yesterday!" he asked Yu Tang. "Who did it?!"
"Hahahaha, oh my god! I'm dying of laughter!" Xiao Jin was already laughing uncontrollably in Yu Tang's mind.
[What kind of social media frenzy is this? The God of War is hilarious!]
The people of Yutang were all numb.
He replied, "From a mosquito bite."
Mu Nancheng gritted his teeth: "Where did these mosquitoes come from in the dead of winter?!"
Yu Tang was extremely frustrated and also became angry.
He pointed at Mu Nancheng's forehead: "You!"
"Can't you see a mosquito this big?"
He pointed to the marks on his body and said, enunciating each word clearly, "Here, here, they're all... bitten by you!"
Mu Nancheng: O__O!
Chapter 24
Died for the villain for the eighth time (24)