Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side

Ji Shaoyan patiently laid out some facts for Zhou Li. “Singing is actually about using the breath, not the throat. If you’re interested, you can sign up for proper training.” 

Zhou Li naturally knew about such tips.

He had a nice voice in the past so he didn’t need any special training. On the other hand, Qian Liye’s voice was not good. If he wants to sing well, he will need to practice. But he was currently in a peculiar situation and didn’t want to mess around for the time being, so he said, “I’ll practise more during the winter holiday.”

Ji Shaoyan was silent. This meant he’ll need to endure an entire semester.

Young Master Ji has always been very tolerant. After waiting so many days, waiting a few more won’t hurt. Since Zhou Li made the effort to stop being so persistent, he could now let this silly fool do other things. He said, “Alright.”

Zhou Li was very content and started to work through his homework.

Ji Shaoyan sat beside him and read his book. The bedroom suddenly became quiet. Zhou Li just started school and has only attended classes for one week so his knowledge wasn’t at too high of a level. Besides, Mingying didn’t try to forcibly squeeze a mountain of questions into their students’ brains like other public high schools, so he finished his work in less than an hour. He turned to look at Ji Shaoyan sitting beside him.

In all fairness, this young master was really a feast for the eyes*.

[T/N: 赏心悦目: warms the heart and delights the eyes]

Simply sitting here with a book in his hands gave a feeling of peace and tranquility. The title of ‘divine school grass’ really wasn’t for show.

Without raising his head, Ji Shaoyan asked, “Run into anything you don’t know?”

Zhou Li: “I’ve finished.”

Ji Shaoyan closed his book and carefully checked through his answers for him. After pointing out a small mistake, he watched the other boy make the correction, then suggested, “Want to review other subjects, or do you want to take a nap?”

Zhou Li glanced at the time and chose to take a nap.

He saw the young master rolling towards the big bed in his wheelchair and, despite knowing the answer, asked, “You want to sleep with me?”

Ji Shaoyan: “En, I’m also a little sleepy.”

Zhou Li: “Sure, then you can sleep here.”

Ji Shaoyan heard this and immediately sensed he was going to be sent to the guest room, so he looked back. “We slept together in the past, and you promised just then you’ll do everything all over again.”

After a pause, he added, “You can sing the first song for today before we sleep.”

Zhou Li looked at him, then at his injured ankle, and reckoned he wouldn’t be able to pull off any funny business. He hesitated for two seconds before agreeing. Besides, the bed was big enough that even if one of them rolled around they still wouldn’t touch each other.

He went to take out a pair of brand new sleepwear for the young master, sat cross-legged on the bed and howled a song without any psychological pressure under the other’s staring eyes before laying down to sleep with a heart full of nothing but content. 

Young Master Ji was rendered speechless for a few seconds and brainwashed himself: This Silly Fool was very good at leading people on but he doesn’t randomly go out to harm people, such as taking up all the spots in karaoke games or using the Zhou family’s resources to participate in talent shows. He only sang to him in their private space. As a future lover, he must endure this habit, let alone the boy’s other hobbies.

Thinking about it this way, he felt that the song wasn’t actually that grating on his ears, so he laid down and honestly took a nap with no other ulterior motives. Because he knew Zhou Li was smart, and because the boy’s brain consisted mostly of brain holes, he would essentially be shooting himself in the foot if he made any small moves at the beginning.

The two of them laid down for less than five minutes and had not lost the fight to their sleepiness when the bedroom door was suddenly knocked on twice. Immediately afterwards, Father Zhou walked in carrying a big and small bag, and couldn’t help but pause in his steps.

Zhou Luwen followed closely and swept his eyes over the room, instantly stopping on two people lying in the bed. His breathing tightened at once.

Father Zhou had been occupied the whole morning and attended a business meal at noon. Knowing that Zhou Li’s little brothers were at home, he bought them a bundle of welcome gifts*.

[T/N: 见面礼: meeting gifts, often given by the older party to the younger one during their first meeting]

As a precaution, Zhou Luwen had wanted to come up earlier to knock and say a quick hello, but Father Zhou was very resolute*. After learning that Zhou Li had been studying for an hour straight, he wanted to come by and intervene so they could take a break for a while. Zhou Luwen was unable to delay him at all. 

[T/N: 说风就是雨: saying wind is rain (being stubborn)]

But to be reasonable, Zhou Luwen wasn’t actually too worried.

Because he thought they were, at most, just at the ‘slightly affectionate’ stage of the relationship, the type that will separate immediately when they hear the sound of the door opening. Who could’ve known they had the courage to roll on the bed without locking the door. This was bravery on a different level*!

[T/N: 这心也太大了: literally, their hearts are too big]

Zhou Lubo had been gifted with eyes of an eagle* since long ago and noticed the unnatural changes on Xiao-Wen’s face when they were downstairs, so he followed him to the bedroom out of curiosity. Right now, looking at the person sitting up on the bed, he couldn’t help narrowing his eyes——Ji Shaoyan of the Ji family, appears to have a good temper and treats everyone well, but by no means a person who is so easily willing to lie on a bed with another.

[T/N: 眼光毒辣: venomous eyes]

Father Zhou didn’t think much of it and was clearly regretful. “Did I wake you two up?”

Zhou Li: “No, we just finished our homework and wanted to lie down.”

At this time, Zhou Luwen noticed that they were both still wearing clothes and the breath that had been blocking up his throat was finally let out.

Everyone living under this roof had an open mind so there shouldn’t be any objections towards Zhou Li liking boys. However, it wasn’t a pleasant experience to walk in on a scene lacking morals*. Fortunately, they knew the severity of their actions.

[T/N: walking in on two people ‘doing the deed’ lol]

Zhou Li found out that Father Zhou wanted to give out welcome gifts and said, “They have to study for another hour. We should be awake by then, so let’s talk about what to do later ba.” 

Father Zhou naturally had no objections. He stopped disturbing their rest and randomly placed the bags of gifts somewhere in the room and herded his other two sons out. Zhou Lubo watched his father return to his room, then stopped Xiao-Wen who was about to follow suit, coldy interrogating, “What’s their relationship?”

Zhou Luwen said, “Friends.”

Zhou Lubo volume went up by a notch. “En?“

Zhou Luwen calmly said, “Really.”

Zhou Lubo: “Look into my eyes and say that again.”

“……” With this sentence, Zhou Luwen knew he was under the radar. Feeling like he was unable to withstand it, he helplessly pleaded, “Dage, why don’t we wait for Xiao-Li to wake up and ask him then?”

Zhou Lubo scrutinised his evasive expression and thought about Ji Shaoyan’s behaviour when Xiao-Li fell into a coma back then. He knew his guess was correct.

Thus, after Zhou Luwen, he became the second family member made aware of Zhou Li’s romantic relationship.

Zhou Li, who didn’t even know he was in a romantic relationship, slept for a short time. When he woke up, he saw that the little brothers just happened to be on their halftime break, so he took the presents over and introduced them to Father Zhou and Zhou Lubo.

Father Zhou was a well-tempered man who showed appreciation towards everything and very enthusiastically engaged in long conversations with the boys. 

The younger brothers became less tense in front of him and came to the topic of that one time they went to sell vegetables but forgot to bring a scale, almost sending Father Zhou into a laughter-induced paralysis. After having a snack break, they quickly started the second round of studying.

Zhou Li was idle and bored. When he heard Teacher Ji recommend for the two of them to watch a movie, his eyes lit up and he pushed the other into the small cinema room in the house.

Ji Shaoyan watched as the room darkened following the door being closed. Just when he thought this silly fool seemed to be rather naturally talented in running through the bases*, he saw the other dig out a copy of《Princess Niu Hulu》. After a moment of silence, he (once again) strongly reminded himself to endure it.

[T/N: ​​上道: on the road, means being on the right track/having civilised etiquette]

The two entertained themselves until the evening, when the little brothers’ classes finally ended.

Father Zhou took them to enjoy another grand meal. After dinner, Zhou Li pulled them back to wander around the community, then had them go back to complete the homework assigned by their teachers. The boys seldom worked on homework so seriously and were so emotional they almost cried.

They will sleep here overnight and continue to attend their class the next morning.

This time, it really was a whole day of solid studying. When it was time for them to return home in the evening, they felt that the time they spent here was not as good as they had imagined. However, they all knew that it had cost a lot of money to invite these teachers over and that they wouldn’t need to worry about what to eat and drink here, so they really couldn’t handle the mental toll of disappointing Ying-ge’s brand new education-based mentality. So, with a loose and cheerful smile, they said goodbye to Ying-ge and boarded the car with their school bags before leaving for home.

Ji Shaoyan carefully noted down their statuses and asked, “You didn’t ask them what they want to do in the future?”

Zhou Li: “They said they want to deliver takeaways.”

Ji Shaoyan: “Then let them deliver.”

He looked at Zhou Li. “It’s useless to drag them blindly. If you want them to study for themselves, let them deliver takeaways for half a month first.”

Zhou Li was also thinking about this detail, and agreed with a light “en“.

Ji Shaoyan continued to offer his insightful advice, “This decision will need to be discussed between the teachers and their parents in advance, so the school can approve their leave. That second personality of yours has too many offending records from the past, what you say won’t be credible. It’s best to let Zhou Luwen go since he looks the part of an ideal student; if he comes forward and says he wants to take you guys towards a proper education, the parents will probably believe it.”

Zhou Li hummed “en” again, feeling what he said made sense. It would save them the trouble of explaining everything down to the littlest details.

Ji Shaoyan said, “Don’t wait for them to get tired of doing this, just start next week ba.”

As an activist, Zhou Li shared this same idea and repeated his “en” for the third time.

Ji Shaoyan was met with this one noise answer and stopped talking, feeling very comfortable.

According to Zhou Luwen’s character, if he took care of this matter, he would take care of it until the end. This meant that for the next two weekends, other than an attention-seeking golden retriever, there will basically be no one else within Zhou Li’s vicinity. He can finally enjoy a two-person world.

Although Zhou Li knew that this white-shelled, black-souled person must have his own careful schemes, he had to admit that the other’s analysis were all spot-on.

Thus, after he watched Young Master Ji be sent home, he discussed with Zhou Luwen for a while about their plans. The next day, they asked for a half-day off to go talk to the little brothers’ parents separately and quickly settled the matter before returning to school.

As soon as he stepped out of the car, he received a call from Professor Xia.

The ancient book was a bit damaged. Even after reading for two days, Professor Xia still wasn’t close to finishing. Today, he took another leave of absence and temporarily remained in the city, spending another morning dedicated to the book and finally managed to reach the end.

“This book is indeed written around the Tiansang tribe,” he started. “From their origins, to the gods they worshipped. However, the content seems to be only half of a whole text; the rest should be written in another book.”

Zhou Li questioned, “Is there anything about the jade?”

“There is. That jade petal is one of eight pieces.” Professor Xia continued, “They all have distinct engravings that form the phrase ‘Three Thousand Flowers Bloom, Personally Sending Monarchs Off’*. According to the book, the whole jade lotus was their clan’s holy artifact.”

[T/N: eight petals with one of the characters engraved from ‘三千繁华，送君亲临’. Tried to make the translation fit eight words, but this (literally) translates to ‘three thousand flourish, sending the monarch personally’. Personally as in, in person. You can also read this is as ‘sending monarchs propria persona’]

Zhou Li stopped breathing ever-so-slightly. “Then, what use does it have?”

Professor Xia’s slightly hoarse voice held the faintest hint of a laugh. “The Tiansang people’s ideas were really ahead of their time. They believed that in the world, there are three thousand realities. Every world has one ‘you’, similar to the parallel universe concept that’s been trending nowadays. And, this jade has a special power; if you hold it after dying, it will send you to another ‘you’.”