BYBOTE Chapter 20: Glowing

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The kiss was unexpected and, perhaps because Luo Fei had just finished his bath, it felt like a rush of warmth that erased all the coolness he had felt earlier.

Was this guy insane?

Luo Fei stepped back in shock, his face red. “Wh—what do you think you’re doing?!”

His eyes avoided meeting Xie Yanqing’s as he spoke. In those eyes, there was a storm raging, and it felt like once you looked into them, you couldn’t escape.

Xie Yanqing raised his hand, then let it drop with a sigh, his voice hoarse and full of helplessness. “Do you need to ask? Of course, I want you.”

Luo Fei was dumbstruck. This guy was speaking about it as if it was as normal as eating and drinking!

He quickly crossed his arms in defense, trying to joke his way out of it. “No! Listen, we agreed—you’re the boss, and I’m the employee. Office romance is off-limits, you know?! Especially rural office romance! It can disrupt social stability and company development!”

Xie Yanqing laughed at his serious tone and raised his hands in mock surrender. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Don’t be scared.”

Luo Fei was starting to relax, though still conflicted. Should he just pretend it was no big deal? But that felt too awkward. What if Xie Yanqing kissed him again? He could totally do that!

But on the other hand, he wasn’t really that upset about it…

Luo Fei absentmindedly touched his lips, recalling how soft and warm Xie Yanqing’s lips had felt.

What was he thinking?!

Xie Yanqing was the boss, the big tiger! And he was the little donkey!

But so what? It was just a kiss. Besides, they were roommates. He couldn’t make things awkward, or Xie Yanqing might fire him!

He couldn't get too carried away with things.

Luo Fei sat on the bed, red-faced, and started sewing, hoping his mind would distract itself. The less he thought about it, the better.

Xie Yanqing eventually went outside to deal with the water, and Luo Fei stayed in the room, sewing absentmindedly.

As he stitched, he realized he had meant to embroider vegetables and fruits for the kitchen. But somehow, it ended up being a tiger’s head. If it weren’t for his reluctance to waste fabric, he would have cut it up right there. But he had already done so much work, and honestly, it didn’t look too bad.

If yellow-green tigers were considered well-done embroidery, this one was definitely impressive!

Luo Fei sighed and decided to continue embroidering, accepting his fate. Xie Yanqing would never know he had secretly imagined him as a tiger.

The next morning, as they prepared to head out to the dry fields, Han Xu arrived early with the veil and asked Luo Fei for some help with embroidery. Han Xu had been struggling with phoenix-eye stitches and needed Luo Fei’s help to finish.

When Han Xu saw the unfinished tiger head, he couldn’t help but tease Luo Fei. “Oh, so you really want everyone to know you like big tigers, huh? Didn’t you say you were going to embroider fruits and vegetables for the cabinet curtain? Did you get distracted thinking about your tiger?”

“Stop talking!” Luo Fei quickly interrupted, looking nervously at Xie Yanqing. He didn’t want Han Xu to keep talking and risk Xie Yanqing figuring out what was going on. But Han Xu wasn’t the type to stop easily.

“Come on, admit it. You like big tigers,” Han Xu grinned, clearly enjoying the situation.

"Take your time chatting, I'll go work," Xie Yanqing said, but his face didn’t show the bashfulness or happiness that Han Xu had expected when being teased. In fact, he didn’t seem happy at all.

"...What’s wrong with Xie-ge? Did I say something wrong?" After Xie Yanqing left, Han Xu asked Luo Fei in confusion.

"No, he's probably just busy with the farming tools," Luo Fei guessed, recalling the little incident from the previous night. He thought Xie Yanqing might want to avoid the awkwardness.

But in reality, Xie Yanqing wasn’t avoiding anything—he was feeling somewhat sad. His cousin, Liang Boyuan, was born in the year of the tiger, and Luo Fei was born in the year of the rabbit. As for Xie Yanqing, in his previous life, he was born in the year of the pig, and in this life, the year of the ox. Whether it was an animal or livestock, it felt a bit depressing.

The tiger that Luo Fei had embroidered couldn’t possibly represent him; it must have been for his cousin.

Thinking about how Luo Fei looked somewhat troubled the previous night, Xie Yanqing even wondered if he had done something wrong. When Xie Yanqing first arrived here, the original body had been traveling home with old comrades. The original body had died from an allergic shock in his room, and Xie Yanqing had taken over soon after, so no one really noticed the oddity. In fact, the original body had already planned to return home to pay respects to his parents before joining his comrades to work on a sheep farm. There was a young man named Jing Rong, who had experience raising sheep, and with their connections, the future seemed promising.

But after returning home, he didn’t want to go back because from the moment he arrived at the Luo family’s place, he knew Luo Fei had also come.

At first, he only considered the possibility. Since he and Luo Fei had died in the same car, it seemed likely that if he had arrived, Luo Fei might have arrived as well. Furthermore, his fiancée was named Luo Fei, which sounded similar to Luo Fei’s name, so he couldn’t help but pay attention.

The first time he went to the Luo family after returning was to see if this "Luo Fei" was the one he was looking for, and Luo Fei’s reaction confirmed his suspicion. If it had been the original Luo Fei, their meeting would not have been like that. Even if Luo Fei didn’t like him, there would still be some childhood connection, and after years of separation, their reunion would at most be awkward and helpless, but not the kind of hostility one would expect between rivals. It was more like a hostile glare that could even cause one to faint.

The stubborn look in his eyes was exactly like the way the modern Luo Fei looked at him. With just one glance, he knew for sure. So, he stayed, never intending to leave. He even married Luo Fei, believing that there was no Liang Boyuan here. As long as he treated Luo Fei well, Luo Fei would eventually fall for him. After all, they would have more in common than anyone else. But in reality, things didn’t seem to be going as he expected.

Luo Fei finished embroidering the detailed parts of the phoenix eyes and sent Han Xu on his way. He picked up the lunchbox that Xie Yanqing had given him in the morning and said, "Shall we go?"

Xie Yanqing nodded silently, not saying anything. After locking the door behind him, he walked on in silence. Unlike Luo Fei, who liked to make small gestures when he was thinking or hesitating, Xie Yanqing preferred to walk quietly alone. He had always been like this, both in his past life and this one.

Luo Fei, at a loss, followed behind him. When they were on an empty road, he asked, "Xie Yanqing, can I ask you something?"

"What?" Xie Yanqing stopped and turned to face him, looking at him against the light.

"Are you upset about something?" Luo Fei asked, sensing something was off with Xie Yanqing.

"...Why do you like Boyuan?" Xie Yanqing asked abruptly.

"Uh, he's my idol, a lot of people like him," Luo Fei tried to recall but couldn’t quite remember why he liked Liang Boyuan. "Does liking someone need a reason? It’s just a kind of attraction. What about you... why do you like me?"

"Yeah, why?" Xie Yanqing smiled. "Maybe it’s because there’s something wrong with my eyes."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Every time I see you standing with other people, only you are glowing," Xie Yanqing said quietly, turning to walk ahead. "So you become the focus, and I can always see you first." He said it softly, perhaps not expecting Luo Fei to hear it.

At that moment, a cloud drifted away from the sun, and the golden light burst through, casting a faint golden glow around Xie Yanqing.

Luo Fei thought to himself, Who’s glowing? You’re the one glowing! Your whole family glows! Beep beep, bling bling!

This person is so confusing. How is he glowing? He’s not a night pearl!

Luo Fei, whose mind was sometimes a little slow, only realized later on the field that Xie Yanqing was saying that he was special to him. But given the situation, he didn’t want to continue the topic.

According to Yu Qing’s regulations, land was inherited for life unless one died. After death, the land would be returned, and once new life was born, the land would be redistributed to the new generation. Each child, once they turned one year old, would usually receive two to five mu of land, depending on the land's quality, which could be dry or irrigated land.

Previously, the Xie family had four members, with eight mu of irrigated land and four mu of dry land. But after Xie Ping and his wife passed away, it became four mu of irrigated land and two mu of dry land. Some land had been sold during the old lady’s illness, so by the time it came to Xie Yanqing, there was only two mu of irrigated land and one mu of dry land.

Today, Xie Yanqing took Luo Fei to see the one mu of dry land under his name. He planned to plant soybeans and corn there.

Xie Yanqing had brought the seeds, including the corn that Luo Fei had used for popping popcorn.

"You said you were going to plant both. Why did you only bring corn seeds?" Luo Fei looked around but only saw corn and no soybeans.

"The soybeans will be planted after the corn, depending on how the corn sprouts. It will probably take about a week to ten days," Xie Yanqing explained, taking a small shovel to dig a hole about ten centimeters deep. "Do you want to try?"

"Sure, isn’t it just digging holes?" Luo Fei took the small shovel. "I’ll dig, you plant the corn seeds. Clear division of labor!"

"Right, clear division of labor. I’ll plant the seeds in the hole you dig," Xie Yanqing said with a smile as he placed a few corn seeds in the hole Luo Fei had dug, then covered them with soil.

"Do you know how to speak? You’re planting the seeds in the hole I dug, not 'in my hole'..." Luo Fei suddenly froze. "Xie Yanqing! Are you thinking of something dirty again?!"

Luo Fei pointed the small shovel at Xie Yanqing. "I’m not doing it! You dig the hole! I’ll plant the seeds!"

"The leader has arranged the work, don’t change it at will," Xie Yanqing said with a laugh, "Hurry up! No slacking! Otherwise, I’ll deduct your wages."

"Damn it, you’re such a miser!" Luo Fei cursed, grabbing the shovel and digging, but his mind kept drifting to dirty thoughts.

So big! So thick! There must be a lot of seeds...

Oh my god, Luo Fei, what are you thinking?! Dig your hole!!!

Luo Fei, using all his strength, dug the holes for the corn, when suddenly a conversation came from not far away. At first, Luo Fei didn’t pay attention, just glancing around to see who it was. To his surprise, it was Zhang Yangfan’s mother and Jiang Baining, those two troublemakers, followed by three people Luo Fei didn’t know.

It wasn’t until they got closer that Jiang Baining noticed them. Their family owned land, and a lot of it. It was the best land in the village, and they had always kept it. When he saw Luo Fei digging, he smiled, "Luo Fei, you’re out here farming too? Makes sense, with so little land, after the autumn tax, it’s not even enough to survive. You have to be tight with it. That’s why you need to marry into a good family. You see, my Yangfan is a scholar, and our family doesn’t have to pay taxes."

At first, Luo Fei didn’t understand what this person was doing, acting all sarcastic, thinking he was showing off. But he wasn’t falling for it!

“Is it better to marry a scholar or a soldier? Whoever marries who knows in their heart. You guys don’t pay taxes, but you still have to come out here and work, right? Did your scholar brother help you out? Feel sorry for you? What’s there to show off about? If you’re so capable, why don’t you have him come out here and work with you?” Luo Fei rolled his eyes and said to Xi Yanqing, “Qing ge, I’m tired. I want to play for a while.”

“Alright, sit to the side and rest.” Xi Yanqing said, moving the lunch box to the side for Luo Fei. “I packed some good food for you this morning, go ahead and eat.” After saying that, he bent down and pinched Luo Fei's nose, whispering, “Which family’s donkey is as spoiled as you? Little rascal.”

“Yuck!” Luo Fei stuck out his tongue and made a face, completely unbothered, sitting on the ridge and eating. To make things even more infuriating, he took out a jujube and waved it in front of Jiang Baining, silently asking, “Got any of these?”

Jiang Baining’s face turned red with anger. Xi Yanqing was completely exasperated—Luo Fei was truly too much! He made him think about the sun all day!

—

Tl Notes:

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