The atmosphere was filled with a sense of ritual.
Suddenly, Jiang Ciyuan withdrew his hand, gripped Tong Sui’s thin shoulders, and gently laid him down on the bed, carefully covering him with a blanket.
A wave of disappointment surged through the comments.
— How could he hold back?
— I thought we would see an explosive scene like in the second season.
Jiang Ciyuan turned around and cast a casual glance at the camera before walking over, finding a cloth to cover the lens.
— ???
— Did I just go blind? What can’t I see?
— Let me out quickly!!
…
Tong Sui dozed off without even realizing how he fell asleep. When he woke up, the TV was already off. Jiang Ciyuan was still sitting in front of the computer, but the blanket covering him was nicely arranged, which should have been Jiang Ciyuan’s doing.
Tong Sui propped himself up to sit. Jiang Ciyuan turned at the sound, “I didn’t wake you up, did I?”
Tong Sui shook his head.
Jiang Ciyuan pulled out the remaining ointment and waved him over, “Come over for another application.”
Tong Sui responded and pulled back the blanket to walk over, standing in front of the neatly dressed Jiang Ciyuan with messy hair, obediently extending his hand.
Jiang Ciyuan grasped his wrist.
After sitting at the keyboard for a long time, his fingers felt cold, like an ice pack was pressed against him. Tong Sui’s fingers trembled slightly.
Jiang Ciyuan asked, “Does your hand still hurt?”
It didn’t hurt much anymore; if he had to say it hurt, Tong Sui touched the bruised mark on the side of his neck with his other hand.
“My neck hurts a bit.”
For some reason, the marks that had long lost their sensation suddenly felt prickly and somewhat painful—nothing major, but not something he could completely ignore either.
The cold ointment smeared onto his fingertips drew Tong Sui’s attention back. Jiang Ciyuan lowered his eyelashes, meticulously applying the medicine, “It might have gotten hot; why don’t you take off the bandage?”
Although he felt this statement was a bit strange coming from Jiang Ciyuan, Tong Sui didn’t think much of it and tore off the bandage.
Jiang Ciyuan looked at it for a while, seemingly in a much better mood.
If Tong Sui looked in the mirror right now, he would find that the mark looked much fresher, as if… it had been intentionally deepened to cover the original mark.
After applying the medicine, the two of them descended the stairs one after the other. Tong Sui’s nose twitched.
“What’s that smell?”
A strange blend of delicious food with a burnt odor wafted through the air.
When he saw Zhong Yi and Chi Xingyu standing in the kitchen, he thought it was bad news. Fortunately, seeing Zhou Siyuan back provided him with inexplicable relief.
Tong Sui assumed that the two must have been assisting, until dinner started. He noticed several dishes on the table looked completely unidentifiable.
He could probably guess what had happened.
After Chi Xingyu sat down across from Tong Sui, he rested his chin on his hand, seemingly casually scanning Tong Sui’s face before his gaze paused at his neck.
Odd.
Was the mark he left that obvious?
Tong Sui’s skin flushed easily; even a slight touch looked severe. Chi Xingyu had no experience in this area, so he felt suspicious but had no way to verify it.
Just then, Zhong Yi eagerly brought over the dish he personally made and placed it in front of Tong Sui without hesitation, “Try it! I worked hard on this! I even cut my hand!”
He showcased his wound as if he were a bullied puppy seeking affection from his owner.
Behind him, Chi Xingyu rolled his eyes unimpressed.
“No one forced you to do this.”
Zhong Yi retorted, “You still mentioned me, didn’t you? Didn’t you start it?”
Forcing him to join in.
Tong Sui’s gaze followed over, and he noticed Chi Xingyu looking inexplicably embarrassed. He didn’t want to take credit like Zhong Yi did, as he knew the quality of his own cooking.
Tong Sui noticed the bandage wrapped around Chi Xingyu’s hand, “Did you cut your hand too?”
Chi Xingyu rolled up his fingers to hide the wound, feeling embarrassed about his clumsiness, “This little injury is nothing. I’m not as fragile as Prince Zhong.”
Zhong Yi, feeling stepped on, retorted, “Who do you think you are? You didn’t need treatment for all that blood loss, and you didn’t say a word after being burned multiple times—”
“Shut up,” Chi Xingyu interrupted him, a hint of pink tinting his ears beneath his black hair. “Not everyone is as clumsy as you.”