Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 53 (Part 1)
Pure: Hello my lovelys, Alkonost will be our new editor now~ She’s still working from chapter 50, so give her some time to catch up, but we’ll get there soon, I promise! For now please bear with my unedited work >.<
Also, I want to thank my new patreon subs: Thank you dakhota, IDK, and S.S. for supporting me and this novel~ I love you all!! muah!
Translated by Pure
Edited by Alkonost
Chapter 53.1 Lin Jingzhe was completely befuddled. "?????"
The mornings in Dongtai Community were tranquil and beautiful. During these times, Yan City had yet to become a city plagued by smog. As long as there was no strong wind, the sky above remained blue. Sunlight danced upon Dongtai Lake's surface and sent shimmering reflections through the house, painting the floor between the shadows of the shedding trees. The long summer was coming to an end.
Although the Dongtai Community was more quiet than other neighborhoods and communities, the enthusiasm unique to this era was still present. Early risers would take leisurely walks, head to work, or indulge in a morning run. The voices of people greeting each other drifted in from the backyard lawn in the distance. It was now popular to raise starlings in Yan City, and occasionally one could hear these birds chirping ‘hello’s. In a few decades, when every city would be constructed entirely of reinforced concrete and where everyone would be scurrying from one place to another, this serene ambiance would be a rare sight.
Lin Jingzhe was still not completely awake, he often had a hard time distinguishing his past with the present.
However, the warmth on his back and the sensation of hair swaying atop his head brought him back to reality. He yawned and turned over in Xiao Chi's arms. He changed from facing the same direction, to snuggling directly into the latter’s embrace Lin Jingzhe affectionately rubbed his face against Xiao Chi's bare torso.
They played a little presumptuously last night, and thus his body inevitably felt a little tired. Lin Jingzhe noticed Xiao Chi's hand sliding from his hip, moving along his underwear with conscious intent after he adjusted his sleeping position. In order to retaliate, he opened his mouth and playfully bit down on his hand.
Xiao Chi stirred awake from the bite, but didn't fully open his eyes. He lowered his head and kissed the crown of Lin Jingzhe's head. After removing his hand from Lin Jingzhe's behind, he began to stroke his growing hair.
His voice was a little hoarse. "What time is it?"
Lin Jingzhe felt weak from his strokes. He looked back lazily, but because he turned his head, his face collided with Xiao Chi's hand that was initially patting the back of his head. Xiao Chi took the opportunity to pinch his lips with his fingers.
He pulled off the stinky hand that almost killed him last night and read the clock, "Nine-thirty."
Xiao Chi sighed. In the past, he used to get up by seven o'clock at the latest, and would have already arrived at the company by this time. However, since he started living with Lin Jingzhe, he found himself waking up later than usual.
Lin Jingzhe felt the arms around him tighten suddenly; he was pressed against Xiao Chi's warm chest. He felt the latter’s hardened morning wood between his two legs. Peeved, Lin Jingzhe moved his hand under the quilt and squeezed his unruly organ. "What are you doing?"
Xiao Chi let out a couple of grunts, as if in a struggle, but soon after, the alarm jolted him awake. He raised his hand and patted Lin Jingzhe’s butt gently. "Get up, I'll change the sheets."
Lin Jingzhe got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up. He squeezed toothpaste onto his and Xiao Chi's toothbrush, and then leaned against the door frame and watched Xiao Chi doing the housework chore.
The first time he saw Xiao Chi mopping the floor, Lin Jingzhe was taken aback for a couple of hours. But over time, he got used to seeing him in this domestic role. Xiao Chi's movements were swift, his whole body exuded a homely aura that was completely different from his original temperament. He quickly tore off the soiled sheet and replaced it with a new one. It took him another couple of seconds to change the quilt cover, smoothing it out without a trace of wrinkles. After fluffing up the pillows, he picked up the dirty clothes on the floor so that the housekeeper could get it cleaned later. Xiao Chi then turned his head and fixed his eyes on the underwear that Lin Jingzhe was wearing.
He waved at Lin Jingzhe. "Take it off."
Lin Jingzhe was very obedient to him in terms of housework. He immediately hid behind the bathroom door, stripped off his underwear, and threw it towards Xiao Chi.
Xiao Chi gripped the small piece of cloth, still warm from the residual body heat. His eyes narrowed as he caught a fleeting glimpse of Lin Jingzhe's soft, white thighs through the small gap in the door before he moved out of sight.
Supple white thighs… Supple thighs… thighs...
Xiao Chi's tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth. His arousal was on the verge of breaking free, barely contained by his loose pajama bottoms.
But from the corner of his eyes, Xiao Chi saw the clock almost striking ten. Knowing how long it would take for them to finish a session in the morning, he decided to go against his carnal desires. He would rather not develop the bad habit of arriving at work in the afternoon. Mr. Dedicated Xiao could only leave the room with the lingering resentment in his heart, holding the pile of laundry that needed to be cleaned.
Upon hearing the door close, Lin Jingzhe looked into the room with his toothbrush in his mouth. Xiao Chi’s new quilt cover was green with wide stripes. It was slightly darker than the leaves on the swaying branches in the breeze outside the window. The bed was immaculately made, the floor spotless, and beyond the bright window, the tranquil ripples of Dongtai Lake glimmered like jasper.
Comfort flooded his body, making Lin Jingzhe stretch lazily before bounding from the bathroom to the bed. Mid-leap, he turned over in mid air, landing on the fluffy bedding.
Then, with his legs bent and feet still hanging on the bedside, Lin Jingzhe continued to brush his teeth comfortably and completely naked.
Xiao Chi could be somewhat obstinate, especially after observing Lin Jingzhe's antics.
Lin Jingzhe smelled the aroma of porridge wafting from the living room. When he went downstairs, he saw that there was indeed a big bowl of snow-white rice porridge on the table. He hadn't seen a grain of millet in the house since the day he had chosen rice over millet.
And because he had praised the pickled bamboo shoots Xiao Chi once brought home, Xiao Chi would also have them with every porridge he served. Just like now, there was a plate on the table that was stacked with enough slices of bamboo shoots to feed seven people.
Xiao Chi was serving porridge at the table. Sensing Lin Jingzhe's approach, he tilted his head and accurately pecked him on the lips without looking up. The same peppermint scent from the same tube of toothpaste mingled. Lin Jingzhe hugged him from behind, resting his chin on Xiao Chi’s shoulder to watch his movements. After Xiao Chi filled the two bowls with porridge, he pinched Lin Jingzhe’s face and said, "I'm going upstairs for a bit."
"Aren't you going to eat?" Lin Jingzhe turned his head, Xiao Chi's long, curly and untrimmed hair tickling his face. He stretched out his fingers to brush the loose hair strands behind his ears. "The porridge will be cold in a while."
Xiao Chi replied, "You eat first. I will come down after I fix my hair."
By ‘fix’, Xiao Chi was referring to the mousse that he applied to the top of his head every day. His hair styling products were placed in the bathroom of the master bedroom. During the beginning, Xiao Chi directly moved in a small box of the same product. Lin Jingzhe thought he was going a little overboard, but later found out that Xiao Chi can almost use up one-fifth of a bottle for every ‘fix’. Xiao Chi obviously had a good taste in clothes, but Lin Jingzhe questioned his aesthetics when it came to hairstyle.
Xiao Chi would douce his whole hair in mousse. Every day, his head was like a metal plate, and Lin Jingzhe, who liked to comb through his hair when kissing, complained about it many times.
Hearing his reply, Lin Jingzhe couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Lin Jingzhe tugged at him and said, "Can’t you wait until right before we head out?"
Xiao Chi replied, "I can’t stand the hair in front of my eyes."
"I have a solution." Not keen on the overpowering scent of lemon-mint mousse during breakfast, Lin Jingzhe quickly produced a scrunchie he'd borrowed from Deng Mai's place. Then, Lin Jingzhe pushed Xiao Chi on a seat, fiddled his fingers, gathered all the hair on the top of his head, and then tied it tightly.
"See, isn’t it all good now?"
Lin Jingzhe flicked the bunch of fluffy hair that was huddled together obediently after being tied tightly. Although the hair was all tied up, every individual curl was unruly, free and soft to the touch. Lin Jingzhe declared, "From now on, when we are at home, you will keep your hair like this!"
As for how he maintained his hair when they went out, Lin Jingzhe definitely couldn't control this. At least at home, when they kissed, he was extremely reluctant to touch a large piece of hard-plastic-like hair that was glued together with mousse.
Xiao Chi didn't protest outright, he simply looked at his reflection in the glass door with some hesitation.
******
The black car came to a smooth stop. The morning rush hour had already passed, and the tide of white-collar workers that usually flooded the office building had ebbed. Occasionally, there were a couple of people who were either going out to run errands or were already late. New Beginnings Real Estate and Flux Realty were in the same building. In order to avoid attracting people's attention, Lin Jingzhe wanted to propose they drive their own respective cars to work in the morning, but for some reason, Xiao Chi refused to comply. Therefore, the two usually came in the same car, and the strange thing was that no one asked about this weird situation.
Xiao Chi unbuckled Lin Jingzhe's seat belt. "Go up first, I'll park the car."
Lin Jingzhe opened the car door, stepped out, and waved goodbye to him. As he watched the black car drive towards the parking lot, he turned to leave when a sudden realization stopped him. He looked back at the receding car, a puzzled expression on his face.
Why did he feel something was off? Did he miss something important?
Translated by pure, hosted on puretl.com / do not repost!