Chapter 73 – I Like Seeing You Lose Control for Me

“Remembered?” Bian Ji turned to ask Yan Ankuo.

Yan Ankuo tapped his forehead, saying it was easy to remember.

The door opened and closed again, before Yan Ankuo could react, Bian Ji pushed him against the wall, pouncing on him like a koala hugging around his neck.

“Aren’t you leaving now?” Bian Ji looked pitiful.

Yan Ankuo supported his butt, asking, “How can I leave with you like this?”

Bian Ji chuckled, inching forward, “Although your intentions are right, I still have something to say.”

Yan Ankuo stood up straight, ready to accept criticism, “Go ahead.”

“In the future, no matter what, you can’t play with your own safety.” As punishment, Bian Ji bit his chin, “It’s dangerous for you to go home alone, what if you get hurt again… that would break my heart.”

With straightforward concern and a touch of coquettishness, who could resist.

Yan Ankuo’s eyes darkened, immediately lifting him up and carrying him to the bathroom, kicking open the slightly ajar door, then throwing him into the bathtub filled with warm water. The rain didn’t stop all night.

During these days living at Bian Ji’s place, it was the first time Yan Ankuo truly shared a bed with him.

Bian Ji lay in Yan Ankuo’s arms, listening to his strong heartbeat, his fingers circling on his chest.

After crying and talking things out, there were fewer obstacles they couldn’t overcome. At least Bian Ji now felt completely relaxed and fully immersed in this relationship.

Without the barrier of sleeping bags, the two could embrace, kiss, engage in the most intimate actions lovers could do, and discuss late-night helpless topics.

Bian Ji chatted about whatever came to mind, speaking about topics he would have never been candid about a year ago, “I’ve been thinking about buying a house. Actually, I can save up the money first and wait until I’m more stable. Then choose a good location, even if it’s smaller. After all, it’s our second family home, so we need to consider its value retention.”

Yan Ankuo played with his hair, seriously giving advice, “You don’t have to buy too small. While my house is still new and at a high price, we can sell it first and together upgrade to a bigger one. As for renovation and storage, follow your ideas.”

Bian Ji wasn’t opposed to this suggestion, anyway, they would definitely live together in the future, so there was nothing wrong with jointly buying a large house, except it would be somewhat complicated with the funds. Bian Ji scratched his hair and said, “Isn’t it a loss to sell the house now? Let’s prioritize looking at second homes first. If we really can’t find a suitable one, we’ll talk about it then.”

Yan Ankuo nodded, saying there was no problem, and they could start looking tomorrow.

The two cuddled and talked for a long time. Lovers in the honeymoon phase always found the hours too short, reluctant to turn off the lights. In the end, it was Bian Ji who couldn’t hold on, feeling it was really time to sleep, reluctantly turning off the bedside lamp.

The room plunged into darkness, Bian Ji turned over, lying flat and staring at the dark ceiling.

Suddenly, he heard Yan Ankuo’s soft call.

“Bian Ji.” Yan Ankuo turned on his side, his mouth close to his ear, “You once said that I always moved too fast. Looking back, this was indeed my problem.”

Bian Ji hadn’t caught on, lying on his side towards him, maintaining a face-to-face position, “What?”

“In the past, my family’s conditions weren’t great, I dared not buy anything I wanted, and what I bought was easily taken away by others, so I loved to hold onto good things in my hands, afraid they’d be gone before they were even warm.

“When I took out a lot of loans to buy the riverside house and took on a bunch of cases desperately, it was also because I didn’t want to be looked down upon.

“Later, I had a relationship, which you know, didn’t end well. I even doubted whether I was really that unworthy for a while.”

Yan Ankuo admitted his desire for control, “So whether it’s with things I like or people I like, I feel insecure. But I was afraid you’d hate it, so I could only control myself – not have too many unwarranted thoughts, not always be jealous, not upset you.”

This kind of “hardship,” Bian Ji was quite willing to endure. He covered Yan Ankuo’s mouth, whispering in his ear, “What if I say I like seeing you lose control for me?”

Yan Ankuo’s eyes widened instantly.

“In fact, I enjoy watching you get jealous.” Bian Ji said frankly and openly, “Understood?”

Yan Ankuo was comforted a lot, but still felt uncomfortable.

Bian Ji laughed, “So you see, how well-suited we are.”

Yan Ankuo was finally amused by him, causing the latex mattress to tremble along.

“Sleep.” Yan Ankuo covered his eyes, saying gently, “Tonight, may you have good dreams.”

Bian Ji could smell the faint scent on Yan Ankuo’s body, a unique fragrance that belonged to the two of them.

So on Lucky Bian’s bed, he dreamed of childhood scenes he’d never experienced, a vast blue sky and lush green grasslands.

He slept unusually soundly that night, so much so that Bian Ji didn’t hear Yan Ankuo leaving the next day.

Before leaving, Yan Ankuo prepared breakfast for Bian Ji and left a note. Bian Ji waited at home and watched three art films he hadn’t had the chance to see before.

At lunchtime, Yan Ankuo sent Bian Ji links to five new properties, along with a table listing the pros and cons of different areas, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the houses, letting Bian Ji make an initial selection.

Bian Ji teased him with a smile, saying he was trying to steal the real estate agent’s job. While eating a sandwich, he started working on the area homework.

By seven o’clock, after Yan Ankuo finished work and returned home, Bian Ji was still fiddling with a stew he wasn’t good at making.

Yan Ankuo looked at the lifeless pigeon in the pot and laughed, “Leave it, I’ll take over.”

“Ah, I wanted to show off a bit.” Bian Ji awkwardly took off the apron, giving the kitchen to the chef, “Forget it, let the capable do their thing!”

Yan Ankuo took the apron from his hands, sprinkled some salt into the soup, adjusted the heat, put on the lid, and turned to Bian Ji, “In twenty minutes, it’ll be ready to eat. Go sit down for a while first.”

“No way, let’s sit together.” Bian Ji pulled him to the sofa, starting to chat, “Was the law firm busy today?”

Yan Ankuo said, “Not bad, I didn’t take on new cases, mainly dealing with the previous incident.”

Bian Ji asked with concern, “How did it turn out?”

“The verdict for Wu Hongying’s ex-husband has come down, and the people who went to my house to cause trouble last time have already been arrested. In a few days, we can bring a public prosecution.” Yan Ankuo sighed with relief, “There’s nothing urgent for the moment, so I told Old Zhou that I plan to take an annual leave.”

Bian Ji was surprised, “You still have annual leave?!”

“This is a statutory holiday, why wouldn’t I have it?” Yan Ankuo was amused by his shocked expression, “In your eyes, what kind of black-hearted workshop is Hengtian?”

Bian Ji protested, “I saw you working during New Year’s Day, I thought you guys never took holidays.”

“At that time, there were a lot of cases, and when it was busy, there was no count.” After all, those in this line were considered the underdogs, with no fixed working hours, and rest days depended entirely on clients and cases. Yan Ankuo’s annual leave was always unused, so he applied for cash compensation, but this time he wanted to take advantage of the downtime to spend it quickly, “Now is the lull period, you don’t have flight duties either, why don’t we go on a trip together?”

Bian Ji agreed happily, “Good idea!”

It was rare to have nine days off for both of them at the same time. In the past, even trips within the Yangtze River Delta had to be squeezed into Bian Ji’s four-day off days, but this time they finally had ample time to go farther.

The two looked over the map of China, finally choosing the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a place they rarely visited, as their destination.

Bian Ji was the type to go whenever he wanted, wanting to set off the second he chose a destination, “Then let’s buy tickets now and go tomorrow?”

“Hold on.” Yan Ankuo was baffled by his action, “Don’t you need to check the weather first?”

“There’s no need, it won’t be bad for nine days straight.” Bian Ji was excited, eager to pack his clothes and set off immediately, “Besides, this season, the plateau is at most a bit sunny, the weather won’t be that harsh!”

Despite the purser’s claim of having traveled the world, Yan Ankuo still didn’t dare to take it lightly, “Wait, don’t buy the plane tickets yet. I have membership with your airline, buying tickets will be much cheaper.”

A platinum member buying tickets was indeed more cost-effective than an internal rate, and the service was excellent, so Bian Ji didn’t insist and turned to pack his luggage.

Yan Ankuo opened his computer and focused on searching.

Several hours later, Yan Ankuo finally finished planning and said to Bian Ji, “We’ll go next Tuesday.”

Bian Ji was puzzled, “Why next Tuesday?”

“It’s going to rain next Monday, and Sunday is too cold.” Yan Ankuo pointed to the weather forecast, “The temperature is just right next Tuesday, we only need to bring sunscreen and cold protection clothing.”

Bian Ji nodded in shock.

Yan Ankuo flipped the laptop around and showed Bian Ji, “I’ve also written out the itinerary, we can drive according to this route when the time comes.”

Bian Ji stared at the screen full of dense text, reading in disbelief, “Route, wake-up time, essential luggage, accommodation, restaurant… No way, you’re even writing down the train times and daily fatigue levels?”

Planning a detailed itinerary for travel was almost a standard procedure for Yan Ankuo when traveling far, he shrugged, “Just in case.”

Bian Ji wore a look of shock, saying, “I have a rough idea why you seldom go on vacation. This level of workload… is indeed terrifying.”

Yan Ankuo looked up at him with a smile, then lowered his head to concentrate on fiddling with his phone, saying, “Not really.”

Seeing him open the social interface, Bian Ji curiously asked, “What are you arranging now?”

“Adding the car rental boss’s WeChat.” Yan Ankuo said calmly, “I’m afraid I won’t be able to rent a car on the spot, better book in advance.”

Bian Ji widened his eyes, “But what if we get there and find the car rental place is far from the destination?”

“It won’t happen, I calculated the distance on the map and found the nearest car rental location.” Yan Ankuo affirmed.

Bian Ji opened his mouth, unsure how to put it, “But what if we don’t follow the plan?”

Yan Ankuo was puzzled, “Is that possible?”

Bian Ji looked at him, for a moment, out of distrust of himself, nodded somewhat embarrassedly.

Yan Ankuo paused for a moment, refraining from contacting the car rental boss. He reopened the computer spreadsheet and typed as he spoke, “You’re right. I’ll make a Plan B and find a car rental place that offers deposit refunds.”

The purser, who always followed the principle of going whenever he wanted and could spontaneously purchase flights and hotels, was greatly impacted. He stood behind the screen, looking at Yan Ankuo, who had the air of making a million-dollar deal, and joked, “Honey, you look like you’re preparing an IPO project for the Mount Everest Travel Group.”

Yan Ankuo’s hand paused from typing, looking up blankly, “What did you say?”

“I said you’re taking this too seriously.” Bian Ji walked in front of him, sitting on his lap and wrapping his arms around his neck, “We’re going on vacation, not to work. As long as I’m with you, everything’s fine, relax.”

Yan Ankuo swallowed, asking awkwardly, “No, I mean, before that. What did you call me?”

“Uh…” Bian Ji blinked, tilting his head innocently, “Calling you honey, what’s wrong with that?”