RIACMET chapter 151

 

“Cough, cough, cough…”

“Niannian… cough, cough…”

Cheng Jing didn’t resist. He smiled and lay back, letting himself be choked.

He waited until the furious little bunny let go before whining pitifully:

“Ahem… A pinch would’ve been enough. You’d cry if I really died, wouldn’t you?”

Jiang Nian was furious.

“Nonsense! Haven’t you heard? Dancing on your ex-husband’s grave with your new boyfriend is all the rage now!”

If he really choked his husband to death, he’d kill herself too.

“Hahaha… That’s other people. Nian Nian, we’re in love. We promised to grow old together with tons of kids and grandkids. There’s no way you’d give me up.”

Cheng Jing winked at him shamelessly, his hands wandering up Jiang Nian’s back and waist as he pretended to console him but clearly acted like a rogue.

“Stop spouting nonsense and acting so spoiled!”

Jiang Nian almost couldn’t keep a straight face. He couldn’t bear to look at Cheng Jing’s face, let alone hear such cheesy lines. But after a few moments, he lost patience.

To avoid forgiving this big-tailed wolf too easily, Jiang Nian slapped his thigh and stormed out of the bedroom.

Out of sight, out of mind.

“Niannian, don’t be mad…”

Cheng Jing followed behind him like a clingy little puppy.

“I was wrong. I was just teasing you.”

“I won’t do it again next time…”

Jiang Nian didn’t even look at him. He pulled out his gaming tablet, puffed out his cheeks, and started playing.

“There’s gonna be a next time? You didn’t just lie to me; you mocked me! Are you the only one allowed to use it? Yours is the biggest, or something? Bah! Whatever. I’m mad.”

He had prepared so carefully!

He even worried that the dog man might be in pain on his first try.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

Cheng Jing didn’t dare argue. He quietly hugged the guy while listening to him rant and occasionally sneaking a kiss on that angry little face. Niannian was just too cute when he was angry.

Jiang Nian elbowed him in the chest.

“Get off me!”

He was ruining his concentration!

But someone just replied shamelessly and unreasonably:

“No, you can scold me and be mad, but that won’t affect our relationship. If I hold you like this, I can hear your complaints more clearly.”

“Honestly, I thought you’d understand this feeling. Niannian, I—”

Before he could finish, he was pinched mid-sentence.

“You just love pretending to be deep, huh? You wanna act? Go ahead and act! You’d die if you couldn’t act!”

Jiang Nian was furious. He set his gaming tablet aside and pinched the man until his face twisted in pain.

Understand? Understand what?

Why would a college student from a well-raised family know these shady gangster tricks?

“Domestic violence! Niannian, you’re committing domestic violence—owww…”

“Be gentle. If you don’t go easy on me, I’ll show up tomorrow shirtless, and everyone will see how passionate you are…”

His wife was strong. Cheng Jing didn’t dare fight back. He could only complain and whine helplessly.

His arms, legs, and thighs were bruised, but at least his face was unharmed.

That’s how important it was to him that his wife liked his face.

“Hmph!”

After venting his anger, Jiang Nian looked down and returned to his game.

The next second, the dog dared to speak again.

“Don’t take it to heart after hitting and yelling at me. Anger’s bad for your health. I really do know I was wrong…”

“Niannian…”

“…”

After all the hitting and yelling, and with his lover still acting pitifully, Jiang Nian’s fingers felt weak as he tapped the screen. He couldn’t even focus properly.

A few minutes later, Cheng Jing gently said,

“It’s really hot out here. Let’s go back to the bedroom and play, all right? I won’t bother you again. I’ll just shower and think things over.”

“But promise me this—don’t be mad when I come out of the bathroom, okay?”

“…”

When getting no response, he simply picked Jiang Nian up and carried him back to the room.

The air conditioning was wonderfully cool and helped him calm down.

After finishing a level of his game, Jiang Nian stared at the box on the bed in silence. He decided to give the big-tailed wolf one more chance.

When Cheng Jing returned from the shower covered in pinch marks and asked which flavor he wanted to try, Jiang Nian picked the mint one—Cheng Jing’s favorite.

Cheng Jing was so thrilled that he hugged Jiang Nian tightly and drooled like Xiao Qi when he was happy.

“Niannian…”

Cheng Jing leaned over, placing both hands on either side of Jiang Nian. Their eyes met perfectly.

He had always believed that the best kind of partnership wasn’t about control or obligation; it was about mutual love and indulgence straight from the heart.

Thinking back from when they first confirmed their relationship until now—aside from one sudden breakup—Niannian never wasted his time whenever they were together. Their occasional fights were just sweet little bits of seasoning.

Every year, every moment had been the best in the world!

“If something’s bothering you, just say it outright. If you keep talking in circles, I’m just gonna ignore you…”

Jiang Nian looked into Cheng Jing’s face and found it impossible to stay angry.

Cheng Jing leaned in and kissed her soft, slightly pouty mouth.

“All right, I won’t do it again…”

“…”

Jiang Nian felt the world spinning around him as if he were floating on waves, swaying and dizzy.

Cheng Jing stared at the man in his arms obsessively. During their two years apart, he spiraled into madness every time he imagined Niannian with someone else.

“…”

After that round of “non-conventional domestic violence,” both sides got what they wanted.

Once the lights were off, they couldn’t see their own hands in front of them. Jiang Nian muttered,

“It’s too dark.”

The nightlight on the bedside table was damaged in a recent scuffle and had stopped working completely.

“Hold on, I’ll replace it.”

Cheng Jing got up, grabbed a new bulb, and replaced it quickly. He knew Jiang Nian liked the soft, warm yellow light.

While changing the light, Cheng Jing suddenly remembered something. He lay back down, wrapped his arms around Jiang Nian, and asked,

“By the way, Niannian, Professor Mo said there might be a polar night[mfn]Polar night is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the polar regions, where the sun does not rise above the horizon for more than 24 hours. This results in continuous darkness or very dim light, lasting for days to several months depending on how close the location is to the pole.[/mfn] after this extreme heat. Do you remember anything about that?”

A polar night would plunge the entire world into darkness. Every major disaster brings chaos and death, sometimes scarier than zombies.

“Let me think…”

Jiang Nian rubbed his chest, his brows furrowing in thought.

“In my last life, we were entering the drug testing phase around the time of the polar night. Back then, they shut me away and monitored me very closely, so I didn’t know much about the outside world.”

“Sometimes, I’d fall into a comatose state for days because of the drugs. When I woke up, some memories were blurry. So, I don’t remember much about the polar night. Maybe I heard something, but I can’t clearly recall.”

Although he didn’t remember, judging from how events had unfolded so far, things were mostly following the same trajectory as in his past life—just a bit earlier.

Since the timeline had been accelerated in other areas, the butterfly effect might bring the polar night earlier, too, if it really was coming.

Cheng Jing lowered his head and kissed him.

“If you don’t remember, then don’t worry about it. Forget I asked.”

He really deserved to be scolded for bringing up something like that now. Even if the polar night came, it wouldn’t shake them.

Jiang Nian could hear the guilt in Cheng Jing’s voice and chuckled to ease the mood.

“It’s okay, Brother Jing. I don’t feel bad anymore when I think about my past life. The more I remember, the better prepared we’ll be for what’s ahead.”

“All right. Let’s sleep.”

“… ”