WHI – Chapter 42

Lin Ting knew Wen Lan couldn’t cook. He had mentally prepared himself for Wen Lan to stare blankly at the supermarket shelves, asking if something was a scallion or chives with a face that had seen little of the world. But unexpectedly, Wen Lan was far more down-to-earth than he had imagined.

Since moving into the old Lin family home, Lin Ting had basically split housework and cooking duties with Old Lin, whoever had more time would cook. Thus, he took the initiative to handle dinner. He picked out two bright red tomatoes in the produce section, then grabbed a carton of eggs. “I won’t make anything too complicated. Tomato and egg, okay?”

“Sure,” Wen Lan replied, picking up two potatoes from the side. “How about some braised beef and potatoes too? I feel like having it.”

Lin Ting reached out, took the mud-caked potatoes from Wen Lan’s hand, and put them back on the ‘potato mountain’. “I don’t know how to make that. We’ll have to make do.”

“Then shredded potatoes in hot and sour sauce.”

“Don’t know that either.”

“I’ll make it.”

“You too…” Lin Ting paused. “You know how to cook?”

Wen Lan gave him a look that clearly said, ‘Are you looking down on me?’ He picked up the two potatoes he’d put back, took them to the weighing station, weighed them, and returned with the bagged, labeled produce.

“Can’t you just look up a tutorial for these things? Who’s the academic prodigy here, you or me?” Wen Lan’s voice was laced with teasing.

Lin Ting let out a soft hum and chuckled, thinking it was hard to say who was the real prodigy. Wen Lan’s grades had made a significant leap in the last few months. If it were him, he wasn’t sure he could keep up.

But this was also thanks to him being a one-on-one tutor… of course, he only thought that to himself.

The supermarket was crowded that afternoon, perhaps due to summer break. The children with their parents seemed particularly lively. In the distance, a father pushed a shopping cart, a child inside incessantly clamoring, “Daddy, daddy, what’s that? What’s this?”

Lin Ting couldn’t resist teasing Wen Lan. “Do you want a ride?”

Wen Lan’s eyes were still fixed on the beverage aisle, hesitating between cola and orange juice. He was also considering buying some beer. Suddenly asked, his mind hadn’t quite caught up. “A ride? Of course, we need a ride.” Not only was this supermarket far from home, but carrying so many things, were they supposed to walk back?

“Alright, my big son, Daddy will carry you up.” Saying this, Lin Ting reached out to grab Wen Lan’s arm and tried to drag him into the shopping cart.

With two men over six feet tall and of equal build and strength, Lin Ting naturally didn’t succeed. Wen Lan soon heard the background noise he had been ignoring – “Daddy, daddy, I want to buy that…”

“You’re quite something, I see you’re a bad one.” Wen Lan thought for a moment, then put a large bottle of orange juice into the shopping cart, freeing up his hands instantly. He then made a move to stuff Lin Ting into the cart as well.

Noticing some eyes glancing their way, Lin Ting coughed. “We’ll do that at home, at home. There are people here.”

Wen Lan grabbed his shoulder, pulled him closer, and whispered into his ear, “Owe me? Didn’t you get enough last night?”

Lin Ting gave him a middle finger and ignored his childish antics, pushing the cart towards the beer aisle.

Both of them had wanted to buy some alcohol, so they picked out some beers and fruit wines. Seeing the full shopping cart, they finally headed to checkout.

At the checkout, Lin Ting was about to take out his phone to scan, but Wen Lan beat him to it, holding out his payment code. “You don’t have much money left, do you? Save where you can.”

This was true. Lin Ting had originally wanted to earn some money at the cruise ship restaurant, but after that incident, going back now would be too awkward.

Lin Ting smiled and put his phone away, almost saying thank you, but bit his tongue hard.

One reason he bit his tongue was their current relationship. If he said thank you again, Wen Lan might really give him a cold shoulder.

The second reason was that as Wen Lan passed a shelf, he smugly picked up a box of ‘ultra-thin and moisturizing’ condoms from the counter and tossed it into the shopping cart while staring into Lin Ting’s eyes.

How childish.

By the time they got home with a pile of ingredients, and even pots, pans, firewood, rice, oil, and salt bought on impulse at the supermarket, it was already mealtime.

“I’m so hungry. No wonder people don’t want to cook anymore.” Wen Lan collapsed onto the small sofa as soon as they got home. He had only closed his eyes for a moment before standing up again to sort the ingredients.

Lin Ting had just washed his hands and took the items from Wen Lan to rinse some rice, when he suddenly remembered, “We don’t have a rice cooker. What did we buy rice for?”

As soon as he said it, both of them were a bit stunned. They had only remembered to buy a wok, and neither of them had remembered to buy a rice cooker.

Wen Lan thought for a moment. “Maybe we’ll just eat dishes today…”

“Okay.”

The half-rinsed rice was left by the stove. The two of them worked together, following a tutorial, to make shredded potatoes in hot and sour sauce and tomato and egg.

Wen Lan hadn’t cooked before, but with just a tutorial, he managed to make something seven or eight tenths as good, which surprised Lin Ting. As for the tomato and egg, Lin Ting had made it countless times, but he never tired of it. He really liked this slightly sour dish; it was quite refreshing.

Since there was no rice, they both used less salt, and it tasted just right. They were hungry, and this scene of living life together, shopping and cooking, felt quite flavorful. So, with a little wine and juice, their plates were quickly cleared.

After eating, Wen Lan still wanted to help wash the dishes, but Lin Ting stopped him. “You go rest.”

Wen Lan was confused. “Rest? I’m not tired. Don’t wash them all by yourself.”

“You’re tired.” Lin Ting didn’t explain, nor did he look up at him.

Seeing that Lin Ting wouldn’t let him help, Wen Lan went back to the table and started wiping it. As he wiped, he wondered where he was tired…

After they finally cleaned up and showered, they lay in bed. Wen Lan was about to pounce, but Lin Ting grabbed him. “No rush. Want to watch a movie?”

When movies were mentioned, Wen Lan’s eyes immediately lit up with hope. “Watch a movie? Okay, that sounds great!”

Lin Ting quickly turned on “Oppenheimer” on the smart TV opposite the bed.

After watching for a short while, Wen Lan realized something was wrong. This movie wasn’t quite what he had imagined.

Wen Lan had other things on his mind and couldn’t focus on the movie. But he didn’t want to disturb Lin Ting when he was concentrating, so he drank the wine intermittently. Soon, the cans of fruit wine stacked on the bedside table were empty, and Wen Lan opened some beer.

Having only eaten dishes for dinner and drunk a bellyful of alcohol, Wen Lan soon felt a bit dizzy. Just as the movie ended, Lin Ting turned off the TV, turned to embrace Wen Lan, and kissed him on the lips. “Tired?”

“Not yet.” Although Wen Lan said this, his limbs indeed felt a bit weak. Oh well, he’d let Lin Ting off the hook tonight, Wen Lan thought.

Lin Ting chuckled lowly and slipped his hand inside Wen Lan’s collar, squeezing his collarbone. “If you’re not tired, let’s do it.”

“Do what?” As soon as Wen Lan asked, he realized what Lin Ting meant. “Be good, wait for me to sober up.” Saying this, Wen Lan tried to get up to get some orange juice from the fridge.

Lin Ting grabbed his waist and leaned in, pressing down on him. “It’s okay, you just lie there obediently.”

With that, Lin Ting took a small box from under the pillow – the one Wen Lan had cheekily thrown into the shopping cart that afternoon – and took out a condom.

Taking advantage of Wen Lan’s inability to resist, Lin Ting straddled him.

Wen Lan quickly realized something was wrong. “Lin Ting, calm down. What are you trying to do?”

“Don’t you know what we’re doing?” Lin Ting smirked and moved the surveillance camera on the bedside table closer. “Who was it that said they wanted to record it?”

Wen Lan jolted upright, reaching out to snatch the camera. “We can talk this through. Look, last night I didn’t know there was a camera, right? Besides, you deleted all the videos. We don’t need to film it a second time… it’s too dangerous.”

“You don’t trust your own privacy management?”

“Ah, it’s not that I don’t trust it, it’s just…”

Lin Ting stopped teasing him and showed Wen Lan the unplugged cable of the camera. “Here, you coward.”

Saying this, Lin Ting reached out with one hand to untie the drawstring of Wen Lan’s sweatpants, and with the other, lifted the hem of his T-shirt, pressing and stroking his abdominal muscles with practiced ease.

The rhythm was well-controlled. Wen Lan’s mind was pleasantly occupied by the rhythmic kneading, and before he could react, his pants were tossed onto the back of a chair.

“Be good, listen to me, calm down…” Wen Lan’s mind was hazy with alcohol, and his hands were being rhythmically caressed by Lin Ting’s. His voice wavered as he spoke.

Lin Ting didn’t listen to him, leaning down to gently bite Wen Lan’s neck to distract him. Perhaps it was the alcohol, but Wen Lan’s resistance gradually weakened, and his lips moved to meet Lin Ting’s.

Seeing Wen Lan actively seeking his kiss, Lin Ting knew it was time. Following the tutorials he had researched and his experience from last night, his fingers slid down his abs, lightly, trying to maintain a touch that was both present and absent.

His fingers soon found their mark. Lin Ting pressed gently, and the person beneath him instinctively recoiled slightly. Lin Ting pulled his legs back, then used a bit more force, pinching his inner thighs. “Don’t move.”

Lin Ting seemed to be competing with yesterday’s Wen Lan, showing great patience and skill. In the small rented room, their breaths mingled. At first, there were a few curses from Wen Lan, unable to suppress the pain, but as soon as he started to curse, Lin Ting forcefully choked them back, leaving only whimpers in the room.

Later, those not-so-pleasant sounds gradually gave way to trembling breaths amidst their entwined lips and tongues.

“Call me.” Lin Ting felt that this feeling was different from last night, he couldn’t quite explain it, but they were both enjoying it.

Lin Ting’s lips left Wen Lan’s, allowing him to hear his words clearly.

Unexpectedly, Wen Lan acted as if he hadn’t heard, even tightly closing his lips, refusing to make any sound. Lin Ting had no choice but to stop his movements and look down at the person beneath him, a smirk playing on his lips.

Seeing the confusion on Wen Lan’s face, Lin Ting rubbed his eye corners with his fingers. Then, with tears still on his fingers, he unceremoniously slid them to Wen Lan’s lips.

Lin Ting’s nimble fingers easily pried open Wen Lan’s lips. “Taste it, is it salty?”

Wen Lan was unwilling to open his mouth, but he couldn’t withstand Lin Ting’s gentle persistence. When Lin Ting’s knuckles touched the tip of his tongue, he realized the person above him had a triumphant smile.

His long, bony fingers, moist and strong, tightly wrapped around the soft tongue. Wen Lan couldn’t close his lips, and saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth, staining the pillowcase. To Lin Ting, however, it seemed as if Wen Lan was completely unaware.

Only Lin Ting knew how tempting Wen Lan was in this state, but he still maintained a slow pace, meticulously wearing down the patience of the person beneath him.

“Lin, Ting,” Wen Lan finally managed to call out. Even though his voice was unsteady, both words were spoken haltingly.

Lin Ting curved his lips slightly, finally withdrew his fingers, and deliberately traced them from the corner of Wen Lan’s mouth down his jaw, touching his Adam’s apple, and then all the way down to that forbidden place.

Wen Lan, using the leverage, slightly lifted his lips to reach for Lin Ting’s Adam’s apple.

Lin Ting leaned in to let him nibble, while also lightly scratching as if to relieve an itch, until Wen Lan couldn’t help but bite down on Lin Ting’s Adam’s apple.

Lin Ting knew he couldn’t play around any longer. He held Wen Lan’s waist, his gaze losing its roguishness. He kissed Wen Lan’s forehead, then moved to his nose, his lips, and finally, poured down like a torrential rain.

By the time Lin Ting pulled the drunken Wen Lan to take a shower and returned to bed, dawn was breaking. They mumbled goodnights to each other and fell into a deep sleep.