Habits Are Truly Terrifying!
After Rong Hua described it like that, Su Jingyang immediately guessed who it was. “It’s Hao Jiasheng!”
Su Jingyang exchanged a look with Ling Li, then continued asking, “Then why did he go crazy at you? You don’t even know each other.”
Rong Hua’s eyes were full of hostility as he said coldly, “How would I know? He was spouting nothing but nonsense…”
As for what kind of nonsense it was, Rong Hua looked thoroughly irritated and refused to mention it again. Ling Li hesitated as he looked at Rong Hua’s face, then said, “I actually ran into him in Liyang before, too. He even said a few things to me. I keep feeling like he’s… kind of strange.”
Su Jingyang had only just heard this from Ling Li himself, so he was even more confused. He asked, “What did he say to you?”
Ling Li said, “He said… I resembled a relative of his.”
The moment Rong Hua heard that, his eyes widened abruptly and he slowly sat up straighter. He looked at Ling Li, then suddenly moved his gaze away. A thin sheen of sweat appeared on his smooth forehead, and he murmured, “He… actually said that?”
Su Jingyang was completely baffled. How could Ling Li possibly look like Hao Jiasheng’s relative? Could it be that Hao Jiasheng had gone mad from too much shock? Back then, outside Wangyue Mountain Manor, he had looked utterly heartbroken.
Strange, truly strange.
Su Jingyang couldn’t figure it out no matter how he thought about it, so he couldn’t be bothered to keep trying. He quickly threw it to the back of his mind. Rong Hua’s mood, however, seemed to stay unresolved. He grew increasingly irritable and gloomy.
Whenever he went out, someone ended up getting beaten and injured. The whole city was full of complaints, to the point that people filed a joint petition all the way to the great hall. Rong Ci couldn’t keep indulging him, so he placed Rong Hua under house arrest.
Rong Hua then spent his days drinking in his room, refusing to see even Ling Li.
That night, even after Su Jingyang lay down in bed, he was still telling Rong Ci about how odd Rong Hua had been. Su Jingyang rattled on for ages, only to realize Rong Ci had lowered his lashes, deep in thought, and hadn’t been listening at all.
When Su Jingyang saw that Rong Ci wasn’t paying attention anymore, he simply adjusted his position and prepared to close his eyes and sleep.
Rong Ci finally snapped out of it. An arm curled around him, their clothes brushing with a soft rustle, and Rong Ci chuckled. Su Jingyang immediately grabbed the wandering hand and said, “Stop bothering me. I’m going to sleep.”
Rong Ci pulled his hand free. While undressing him, he bit Su Jingyang’s earlobe and mumbled, “Sleep later…”
That “later” was absolutely not just a moment.
When it was finally over, Rong Ci came down from atop Su Jingyang and collapsed on the bed for a while. Turning on his side to embrace Su Jingyang, burrowed his head into the hollow of Su Jingyang’s neck, and let out a sudden soft sigh. “I’m exhausted.”
“…………” Su Jingyang’s face had been flushed, his whole body weak and sore. The instant he heard that, anger immediately flared.
Su Jingyang knew what Rong Ci meant by “exhausted.” He was exhausted from holding back. Since Su Jingyang was pregnant, Rong Ci didn’t dare move too aggressively, and Su Jingyang could always feel how painfully restrained he was.
Su Jingyang raised his hand and shoved Rong Ci’s head away, cursing hoarsely, “Serves you right!! I said we could do it again after I give birth… You just had to be impatient! What, are you afraid I’ll renege?”
“I’ve wanted you for so long, how could I endure it?” Rong Ci said righteously. After speaking, he grabbed Su Jingyang’s hand and kissed it twice. A dark glint flashed through his eyes. “Let’s do it again.”
“Aren’t you exhausted?” Su Jingyang glared at him.
Rong Ci flipped over, pressed in between Su Jingyang’s weak legs, leaned down and kissed him hard once, then lifted his lips with a deep, shadowed gaze and a curved smile. “Dying exhausted on top of you would be worth it.”
When it finally ended again, Su Jingyang truly couldn’t fight off his sleepiness anymore and fell asleep. Rong Ci held him in his arms, lowered his eyes to Su Jingyang’s quiet sleeping face, and gently brushed the fallen lashes with his fingertip, his gaze softened.
In truth, he hadn’t deliberately concealed anything. These past days, he and Su Jingyang had done it many times, yet Su Jingyang hadn’t noticed anything nor had he suspected anything.
Rong Ci thought, perhaps this person, like him, also became hazy in memory after waking from a dream.
More than once, Rong Ci had wanted to tell Su Jingyang, but this fool always seemed so carefree, as if he never truly held Rong Ci in his heart. After hesitating, Rong Ci decided to let it go.
Rong Ci didn’t fall asleep because he was thinking. Not even half an hour passed before the person in his arms, who had been asleep, suddenly opened his eyes and pushed himself up. Rong Ci knew Su Jingyang needed to relieve himself again. Rong Ci steadied him and accompanied him out of bed to take care of it.
Su Jingyang, however, stayed leaning against Rong Ci’s chest and refused to climb back into bed. His eyes were half-open, half-shut. Rong Ci asked what was wrong, and Su Jingyang’s drowsy voice, blurry and muddled, said, “Let me, let me gather it up again, so I don’t have to get up again in a bit…”
Seeing him so drowsy and exhausted, Rong Ci truly felt heartbroken. These pregnancy reactions, however, were something even Rong Ci couldn’t help. He could only stay with him and wait. Su Jingyang gathered it up for a long while, then fell asleep directly while leaning against Rong Ci.
That day, Su Jingyang still got up repeatedly at night as usual. The next day he was listless. Near dusk, Rong Ci said he wanted to take him out for a walk to clear his mind. Su Jingyang thought that only by going out would he have a chance to collect energy, so he forced himself to agree.
Su Jingyang then ran off to bring Ling Li and Ah Xuan along as well. Ling Li originally didn’t want to intrude on their private time and tried to decline, but Rong Ci said, “Come together. It will be lively outside today.”
Only after they went out did Su Jingyang realize that the streets were filled with people selling lanterns, and the road was packed shoulder to shoulder. Rong Ci explained that today was Rongcheng’s Denghuo Festival, a relatively traditional holiday. On this day, every household kept their lights burning through the night.
With his belly so big, Su Jingyang naturally didn’t squeeze into the crowd. Their group stood somewhere a bit more open, feeling the lively atmosphere rolling over them.
Rong Ci wrapped an arm around Su Jingyang’s waist and said, “Let’s go. We’ll watch from upstairs. There will be fireworks later.”
Ah Xuan suddenly lifted his little face, eyes bright, and excitedly tugged on Ling Li’s sleeve as he pointed at the night sky. “Wow! Papa, look! Uncle, look! So many lights, so many lights! Yi-ge, look!”
Su Jingyang looked up and only then noticed people were releasing sky lanterns from the sacrificial platform not far away. A thought sparked, and he looked at Rong Ci and blurted, “Then how about we release one too?”
After they bought the lanterns, Su Jingyang slipped away on his own, acting all secretive, and wrote his wish on the lantern shade. Just as he was about to light it, he realized Ling Li was standing beside him without him noticing, his gaze resting on the four characters Su Jingyang had just written.
Su Jingyang was caught off guard. Instinctively, he wanted to cover it with his hand, but that would have looked too deliberate. He knew Ling Li had already seen it.
Ling Li’s expression remained normal as he smiled at him.
Su Jingyang dryly laughed along. Rong Ci, who was guiding Ah Xuan in writing his wish, suddenly turned his head to look at Su Jingyang. Su Jingyang discreetly rotated the lantern with “I want to go home” written on it so Rong Ci couldn’t see. He hadn’t believed in such things before, but now he felt that having something to rely on spiritually wasn’t so bad.
“What did Ah Li write?”
Su Jingyang leaned in to look at Ling Li’s lantern and saw that the line on it was about him. It said, “I hope Jingyang can safely and smoothly deliver the children.”
Su Jingyang felt embarrassed. “Why didn’t Ah Li write something about himself?”
Under the starlight and lantern lights, Ling Li looked at him with eyes as gentle as water and said softly, “Next year. Next year, we’ll come together again and then I’ll write something about myself. This year’s wish is this. I hope you and the children will all be safe and well.”
“Next year…” Su Jingyang met his gaze and nodded with a smile. “Alright! Next year we’ll come together again!”
They lit the flames inside the lanterns. They held the lanterns up together, and after a moment, they released their hands. The sky lantern, emitting with warm light, carried their wishes as it wobbled upward. Very quickly, it drifted farther and farther away alongside everyone else’s lanterns. The night sky filled with dense orange points of light rising and falling, breathtakingly beautiful.
Ling Li tilted his head slightly back, staring that way for a long time without blinking. Suddenly, he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes, murmuring something quietly. Su Jingyang didn’t manage to catch it in time.
Su Jingyang and Ling Li then went to look at Ah Xuan’s lantern and saw the crooked writing on it: “I hope Papa and Father can be together.”
Ling Li’s expression stiffened almost instantly, but he quickly returned to normal. He didn’t say much, only helped Ah Xuan light it and release it.
After watching the lantern fly away, Ah Xuan drew back his gaze, held Ling Li’s hand, and asked softly, “I miss Father. When will he come pick us up?”
Facing the child’s clear, innocent eyes, Ling Li felt his breathing turn difficult. He crouched down and held him tightly in his arms, staying silent for a long time.
Su Jingyang also didn’t get to see Rong Ci’s wish that day, because Rong Ci wrote nothing at all and directly released his lantern.
Su Jingyang was just thinking it was strange when Rong Ci seemed to know what he was wondering and looked at him deeply, speaking slowly. “A wish doesn’t have to be written. Keeping it in your heart is enough.”
Su Jingyang felt that he hadn’t told Rong Ci his own wish, so it wouldn’t be fair to question Rong Ci now. He held it in and didn’t ask.
After that day, whenever Rong Ci had even a little free time, he would take Su Jingyang out to clear his mind. Su Jingyang actually wanted to leave Rongcheng and go outside, because there would be far more chances to collect energy out there.
In the end, he still didn’t say it, because he knew that in his current condition, Rong Ci definitely wouldn’t agree. He also still had doubts about whether Ling Li was the protagonist, so for a while he couldn’t muster the drive to go outside either. He simply followed Rong Ci around within Rongcheng’s territory.
At first, Su Jingyang had thought Rongcheng was just a single city. He didn’t expect it to be far larger than he imagined. There were towns and villages, mountains, rivers, and waterfalls. Overall, the population wasn’t huge, yet the atmosphere of daily life felt like a Peach Blossom Spring, peaceful and tranquil. Su Jingyang truly loved it.
Rong Ci accompanied Su Jingyang everywhere they went and everything they did. When they grew tired, they would find a village with beautiful scenery and stay there for a period of time, eating fresh wild game and changing their tastes. With his belly so big, Su Jingyang couldn’t do much anyway.
When he was free, he would wander around to get some air, tease cats and dogs, watch village children chase one another in games, or sit by the roadside watching people work in the fields. Once he sat down, he could sit for half the day.
Su Jingyang simply followed his whims, doing whatever he felt like doing. Rong Ci accompanied him the entire time without objection, never leaving his side for a single step.
It had to be said that during this stretch of days, Su Jingyang lived very comfortably and leisurely, and his mood relaxed along with it. Sometimes, he would even have the desire to stay here for a lifetime, but the thought flashed past and was quickly extinguished. No matter how good it was here, it still wasn’t what he wanted.
In total, nearly three months passed like this. They unhurriedly toured every corner of Rongcheng’s territory. Su Jingyang also happened, by chance circumstances, to help resolve a few disputes and gained a tiny bit of energy. It could only be described as better than nothing.
By the time Su Jingyang was more than seven months along, his belly had grown so large that walking was completely inconvenient. He no longer planned to keep roaming. He returned to the city with Rong Ci and behaved himself, resting properly for a while. Sometimes, when he thought about it, he felt dazed. He would be giving birth in only two months…
Early the morning after they returned, Su Jingyang woke from a nightmare. He had dreamed again that his belly burst open, and the two children, grinning, crawled out from inside. The scene was incredibly bloody and vivid. After waking, he still felt chills down his spine. He let out a low gasp, not even fully opening his eyes, and instinctively reached for Rong Ci to tell him, only to find that the familiar warmth beside him wasn’t there.
Su Jingyang subconsciously groped to the side, slowly opened his eyes, and discovered Rong Ci was already gone from the bed, probably off to handle the official business that had piled up during these days.
During this period, aside from Rong Ci occasionally returning to deal with something important, the two of them had been together almost every day, clinging to each other with no outsiders disturbing them.
Su Jingyang had gotten used to always being able to see him at any moment, hearing him laugh and talk, and being held by him to sleep. Now that Rong Ci wasn’t there, the nightmare had no one to be told to, and a sudden emptiness rose in Su Jingyang’s heart, as if a piece of his chest had been hollowed out.
Su Jingyang stared blankly at the bed canopy for a long time before finally arriving at a conclusion… Habits are truly terrifying!!
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