“Are you sick in the head!?” Wang Dian looked furiously at his exposed back.

He had gone quite wild with his outburst. In one day, the glass ceiling along with all those little trinkets Wang Dian had collected in his display cabinet were completely shattered. This fellow very conscientiously shielded him in his arms to prevent glass shards from cutting him, but his own back suffered the consequences with countless small wounds, some of which were still bleeding.

“They were all blocked by internal energy, it doesn’t hurt,” Liang Ye said smugly as he sat cross-legged on Wang Dian’s black bed. “Why don’t you lick them for Zhen?”

“I’ll lick your uncle!” Wang Dian grabbed his wobbling neck and poured an entire bottle of alcohol over him.

Liang Ye immediately felt a burning sensation on his back. It wasn’t actually that painful, but with Wang Dian in front of him, even half a point of pain could be magnified into ten. He let out a yelp and started hugging him while whimpering about the pain, only to be pressed into the blanket by the temperamental Wang Dian and nearly suffocated.

After tussling until late into the night, Wang Dian finally got to rest his head on a pillow. Before sleeping, he grimly warned Liang Ye, who was lying on the pillow, “Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. You’re not allowed to go out, and you’re definitely not allowed to do any wake-up exercises for me, understand?”

Liang Ye hugged the pillow and nodded seriously. Only then did Wang Dian turn off the lights.

As soon as he closed his eyes, Liang Ye rolled into his blanket and entangled himself around him.

“…Your wounds.” Wang Dian suddenly felt like an earnest idiot for having just applied medicine to him and prepared a separate blanket with gauze.

Liang Ye covered his mouth with his hand, contentedly pulling him into his embrace, and yawned, “Sleep.”

Early the next morning, Wang Dian was forcibly awakened by someone covering his mouth and nose. Not having slept enough made him particularly irritable, and he immediately kicked toward Liang Ye’s waist.

Liang Ye caught his ankle in one motion and pinned him down through the blanket. “Get up, today is New Year’s Eve. We haven’t bought New Year goods yet, we need to put up couplets, we need to–hiss!”

Wang Dian, full of resentment, grabbed his long hair that he refused to cut, and showed him his phone, fuming. “Ancestor, it’s only seven o’clock! Last night we were up until four! Can’t you let me get some proper rest?”

“New Year! New Year’s Eve!!” Liang Ye glared at him indignantly, raising his voice. “You’ve never spent New Year’s Eve with Zhen! Before our wedding you ran away! Zhen chased you all the way to Southern Zhao and you still wouldn’t come back! The couplets Zhen bought in Southern Zhao weren’t even put up! The melon seeds weren’t finished either!”

“If you hadn’t insisted on imprisoning me in the deep palace, I wouldn’t have run! And in Southern Zhao, you were the one who insisted on leaving a day early!” Wang Dian’s ears were nearly deafened by his shouting, and he shouted back just as fiercely, “Do you think I didn’t want to marry you?!”

Neither was willing to back down. Though if they really argued about it, neither could claim to be completely right, but both were the type who could stir up three waves without any reason. They glared at each other on the bed with murderous gazes for a while, before finally turning their heads away simultaneously.

“Zhen knew you didn’t want to get married,” Liang Ye muttered, then got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up.

Wang Dian lay on the bed for a moment, confirming that his sleepiness was completely beyond salvation. He scratched his head in frustration, sighed, and climbed out of bed to follow him into the bathroom.

Because of the commotion Liang Ye had caused yesterday, even the property management had been alarmed. Wang Dian had no choice but to allow strangers to enter his territory where only he had set foot for many years. In the end, they couldn’t sleep in the apartment, and in the middle of the night, they drove back to the villa where they had first stayed.

Liang Ye had insisted on returning, probably because his small treasury was underneath this villa.

Since he hadn’t planned to use it as a long-term residence, this villa’s decoration was relatively normal. Liang Ye probably had some kind of fledgling complex, stubbornly believing that this villa was the most beautiful of all his houses.

It was certainly the smallest. Wang Dian brushed his teeth irritably, pushing the other person toward the mirror.

Liang Ye directly and domineering pushed him out of the mirror’s view, making him brush his teeth against the wall. Wang Dian, with a mouth full of foam, angrily said, “If you’ve got the guts, break all the mirrors in the world!”

“Heh.” Liang Ye let out a cold laugh, accidentally blowing a toothpaste bubble from his mouth.

“…Damn.” Wang Dian’s anger instantly dissipated because of this bubble. He stared at him, both annoyed and amused, and finished brushing his teeth in an awkward position against the wall. He then swiftly grabbed Liang Ye’s hand that was trying to use the toothbrush handle to break the mirror. “Ancestor, it’s the New Year, can you please settle down?”

Only then did Liang Ye reluctantly stop.

While Wang Dian was putting on his coat, Liang Ye had already impatiently grabbed a set of car keys and entered the garage. When he came out, Wang Dian saw him driving out a bright red convertible sports car, wearing sunglasses and whistling arrogantly at him. “Get in.”

“We’re going to buy New Year goods, not go for a joy ride.” Wang Dian had little memory of this car and patted its rear. “Go back and change to a bigger one.”

“Zhen told you long ago to buy a truck, but you wouldn’t.” Liang Ye turned around disappointedly, muttering.

“…Buying New Year goods isn’t about hauling heavy cargo. Where would you park a truck?” Wang Dian waved his hand. “Hurry up.”

After finally changing to a suitable car, Wang Dian drove them straight to the supermarket. Liang Ye was eager to drive, but was rejected by Wang Dian on the grounds of driving without a license. “It’s the New Year, don’t make me bail you out from the police station.”

Liang Ye put on his sunglasses and coldly gave him the back of his head.

The New Year goods at the supermarket were much more lively than the market in the small county town of Southern Zhao. It was Liang Ye’s first time seeing so many people in modern society, and he was somewhat excited. Especially with Wang Dian accompanying him, he became even more uninhibited, throwing ice cream, drinks, and snacks into the shopping cart, and even tried to take home the man-sized chubby zodiac animal from the center of the supermarket.

“I’m sorry sir, this is not for sale.”

“Where did you buy it from–Wang Dian!”

Wang Dian hooked his arm around his neck and dragged him back. “Not buying it, the house is too small to fit it.”

Liang Ye clicked his tongue in disappointment. “So stingy.”

“Look at these two carts of stuff. Which one of these can be eaten for the New Year’s Eve dinner?” Wang Dian pointed at the carts full of fruits, snacks, drinks, and the bright red fortune buckets that occupied half the space. “What did you promise me in the car?”

“Only buy couplets and ingredients.” Liang Ye finally remembered the purpose of this trip and pulled Wang Dian towards the place selling couplets. “Hurry up, they’ll all be gone.”

“…No one’s fighting over them.” Wang Dian’s mouth twitched, but he still used all his strength to push the overloaded shopping cart and followed behind him.

The supermarket was filled with bustling, lively music. Coming and going were people shopping for New Year goods with their families. Both adults and children were dressed festively, busily and happily preparing for an auspicious year.

Liang Ye picked and chose among the couplets, and finally hugged two large lanterns, one in each arm, saying cheerfully, “To hang at the front door.”

“Okay.” Wang Dian reached out and wiped the thin layer of sweat on his forehead. “Take your time browsing, we have plenty of time.”

“It’s almost noon.” Liang Ye glanced at the time and pushed him forward with his shoulder. “Hurry up, let’s check out. We need to cook in the afternoon. Why are you moving as slowly as a snail?”

Wang Dian looked at the four full shopping carts and said with a wooden face, “I’m trying to figure out how to fit all this stuff into the car.”

Before leaving the supermarket, His Imperial Majesty became excited again and filled another shopping cart. The trunk and back seats were packed full. Liang Ye sat in the passenger seat holding a round, large lantern, wearing a fluffy ear muff on his head with a round little ear drooping down on each side.

…Quite cute. Wang Dian expressionlessly shifted his gaze, strongly resisting the urge to reach out and pinch him. “What did you buy ear muffs for?”

He wasn’t afraid of the biting cold wind, and the car wasn’t cold either.

“For soundproofing.” Liang Ye hugged the lantern while eating an ice cream cone, frowning. “Although it’s lively here, it’s too noisy, especially the cars.”

Liang Ye had good martial arts skills and keen hearing; naturally, he couldn’t stand so much noise when he first arrived.

Wang Dian raised an eyebrow, started the car, and agreed. “It is very noisy. Those will help somewhat. I’ll buy you a few more when I get the chance.”

Liang Ye responded with a sound, put on his beloved sunglasses, and coolly and arrogantly ate his ice cream cone while wearing the ear muffs.

By the time they had carried all the packages from the garage into the room, it was almost two o’clock. Liang Ye had eaten snacks all the way in the car and wasn’t hungry at all. Full of energy, he demanded that Wang Dian join him in putting up the Spring Festival couplets.

“I need some water first.” Wang Dian collapsed onto a chair, indicating for him to get him some water.

Liang Ye poured him a cup of warm water and handed it to him, complaining. “Just browsing a supermarket and you’re acting delicate.”

“You browsed from nine in the morning until two in the afternoon!” Wang Dian drank a large cup of water, experiencing genuine hunger for once. He tore open a fresh bread package and ate it clean in a few bites, having enough strength to curse, “You’re a beast.”

Liang Ye was hugging the bright red fortune bucket, looking for a place in the living room. He finally placed it in the center of the coffee table, displeasingly tossing the small ornaments that were there before onto the TV cabinet.

“Don’t think Zhen can’t hear you just because Zhen is far away.” Liang Ye stood up, hands on his hips, admiring his masterpiece, and turned to call him. “Wang Dian, does it look good?”

“Looks good.” Wang Dian didn’t even lift his eyelids, tearing open a box of sushi and swallowing them one by one as if they were Liang Ye.

“You dare say your stomach isn’t good?” Liang Ye came over wanting to taste some, only to see that he hadn’t left any for him. Shocked, he said, “Zhen thinks you just don’t exercise enough.”

Wang Dian proudly waved the empty box at him and tossed it into the trash bin.

Liang Ye was so angry that he pounced on him and started nibbling. With his persistence, he managed to taste a bit of the flavor. He smacked his lips and commented, “The taste is not bad.”

Wang Dian wiped his reddened lips that had been kissed and tried to push him off his legs. “You’re as heavy as a bear, get off.”

Liang Ye smiled and hugged him, leaning in to gently touch his slightly damp nose tip. “Why does Zhen feel like this is a dream?”

Wang Dian’s breath tightened as he wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him towards himself. “Your broken brain couldn’t dream up something this nice.”

Liang Ye kissed the corner of his eye, then lowered his head to kiss his ear. Wang Dian rubbed his back forcefully a couple of times. “Get up and let’s put up the couplets.”