Reborn: Back to the 1980s Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Love Confirmed

There had been many kisses between Zhao Shenggu and Guan Yuan, but never like this — mouth to mouth!

"Brother, do you understand now?" Guan Yuan left Zhao Shenggu's lips and murmured close to his ear.

Zhao Shenggu's mind was a complete mess. He was stunned by Guan Yuan's sudden move and unconsciously said, "But... but we're both men..."

Hearing this, Guan Yuan's heart ached. So it was still different after all? Then in the previous life, was he wrong about Zhao Shenggu liking him? Was Zhao Shenggu's feelings for him just pure "brotherly love"?

For a moment, Guan Yuan felt utter despair. The lover he had always believed in was just his brother? Had he been fooling himself?

"But I also want to spend my whole life with you..." Zhao Shenggu's next words pulled Guan Yuan from hell straight into heaven.

"Brother, you mean..."

Zhao Shenggu raised both hands to Guan Yuan's face. "I know this isn't normal. I like being with you. Even when you lean on me, it makes my heart race..."

Guan Yuan was about to cry with joy. So he hadn't guessed wrong after all. They really did love each other.

"But this isn't right. We're both men. You'll have your own life in the future. I don't want to hold you back because of this..." Zhao Shenggu thought about Guan Yuan getting married in the future, having his own little family, and his heart felt like it was being torn apart.

Guan Yuan knew Zhao Shenggu's pain. In the previous life, hadn't he also failed to confess to Zhao Shenggu because of this very problem? But after two lifetimes, he had come to understand that nothing mattered more than the person by his side. As long as he was strong enough, who would dare gossip?

Guan Yuan leaned against Zhao Shenggu's chest. "Brother, I've lived two lifetimes and seen more than anyone. In the previous life, we were also too afraid, and we never confessed to each other even until death. Do we still want that kind of ending now? You watching me get married, me watching you have children, each of us with someone else by our side?"

"No..." Zhao Shenggu unconsciously tightened his grip on Guan Yuan. He couldn't imagine such a scene.

"See, you can't bear it either, can you?" Guan Yuan's voice was light and cheerful.

"But you're still a child..." Zhao Shenggu said, looking at the youthful face before him.

Guan Yuan's face darkened. "I just look young. Actually, I'm much older than you, okay? There's absolutely no obstacle to us dating."

"Dating..." Zhao Shenggu chewed on the word, and his face instantly turned red. How could Xiao Yuan say something like that!

Guan Yuan looked at Zhao Shenggu, who was always so steady and composed, now actually so shy, and the wicked seed in his heart sprouted. "Brother, do you like me? I mean, like between husband and wife!" He deliberately leaned in very close to Zhao Shenggu.

Zhao Shenggu felt like everything today had gone crazy. It seemed like his whole body was on fire. Only when he saw Guan Yuan's smiling eyes did he realize that Guan Yuan was teasing him.

After calming himself for a moment, he finally said, "I like you. I will like Xiao Yuan for my whole life. What about you, Xiao Yuan? Will you always like me?"

"Huh?" Guan Yuan looked at Zhao Shenggu, who had already returned to his usual calm. After confirming Zhao Shenggu's feelings for him, his rationality came back. He had originally wanted to keep watching Zhao Shenggu act shy, but he had not expected Zhao Shenggu to recover so quickly. Now it was his turn to feel awkward. Like an ostrich, he buried himself in Zhao Shenggu's chest and said in a muffled voice, "I like you."

"Hehe..." Zhao Shenggu's low laugh made Guan Yuan blush even more.

The two had confessed their feelings to each other, but nothing seemed different from before. They only felt that their hearts were closer. With just one look, they could tell what the other was thinking.

Guan Shitou and Guan Mumu sat in Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu's room, rubbing their arms. They felt something was off, because Zhao Shenggu and Guan Yuan had been staring at each other for so long and still had not snapped out of it.

"Are you two playing a game?" Guan Shitou felt the air was sticky and could not help asking.

Zhao Shenggu came back to his senses and coughed. "Yeah, we're playing to see who can go longer without blinking."

Guan Shitou had been dragged over by Guan Mumu to do homework and had long been impatient. Now that he heard they were playing a game, his eyes lit up. "I want to play too, I want to play too. Boss, play with me."

Zhao Shenggu pushed Guan Shitou's head a little farther away from Guan Yuan. "We've already played this game. Xiao Yuan is tired. Go play something else by yourself."

Guan Shitou pouted. "It's just staying still, isn't it? How is that tiring? Mumu, let's play together."

Guan Shitou leaned close to Guan Mumu and smiled, showing his toothless gums.

Guan Mumu did not even lift his head. He only said, "You haven't finished your homework. You can't play."

"Hmph, if you won't play with me, I'll go find someone else. I'm not doing this homework anymore!" Guan Shitou threw the homework book in his hand onto the table.

Guan Mumu looked up at Guan Shitou, his eyes gradually turning red. "Brother Shitou, are you not going to be good with me anymore?"

When Guan Shitou saw that Guan Mumu was about to cry, he immediately had no idea what to do. He hurriedly said, "Alright, alright. You're a boy, why are you crying so easily like a girl? Fine, I won't leave, okay?" He resignedly pulled the homework book back over and started writing, muttering, "This is really boring."

Guan Mumu whispered something into Guan Shitou's ear. When Guan Shitou heard it, his eyes lit up. "Really?"

Guan Mumu nodded. "After we finish our homework, we'll go."

"Okay." Guan Shitou's speed at doing homework increased a lot. Before long, he dragged Guan Mumu away.

When only Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu were left in the room, neither knew what to say.

"Cough, I'll go make dinner," Zhao Shenggu stood up and broke the silence.

"Ah, we just had lunch not long ago!" Guan Yuan looked at the sun still hanging right in the middle of the sky. "Brother, why don't we go out for a walk? It's rare for the sun to come out."

"Oh, okay." The two dressed neatly and went out.

Zhao Shenggu and Guan Yuan walked shoulder to shoulder. Several times, Zhao Shenggu wanted to hold Guan Yuan's hand but pulled back. In the end, he finally gathered his courage and took his hand.

For a moment, it seemed as if electric current ran through them. Both Zhao Shenggu and Guan Yuan felt that the snow under their feet was like cotton, so soft, and their hearts felt light and floaty.

"Hehe." Guan Yuan could not help laughing out loud.

"Hehehe." Zhao Shenggu also followed with a silly laugh. Now his face truly wore a silly smile, completely different from the shrewd young boss he usually was outside.

"Xiao Yuan, is this what dating is like? Why does it feel so good?" Zhao Shenggu said softly.

Guan Yuan's ears turned red. "Yeah, this is what dating is like."

When they ran into people they knew on the road, Zhao Shenggu and Guan Yuan let go of each other's hands like guilty thieves. Then they immediately realized that they had always been clingy anyway, and the people in the village had long since gotten used to it.

The two laughed out loud at the same time, then openly held hands and strolled around the village.

"Shenggu, Xiao Yuan, what's going on? Why are you so happy? I could hear your laughter from far away."

Li Ying was pushing her bicycle back home when she saw Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu. It was near the end of the year, and the braised spice workshop had also taken a holiday.

"Auntie, where did you go?" Zhao Shenggu did not answer Li Ying's question, but asked her instead.

"Sigh, I went back to my parents' home." When this came up, Li Ying looked unhappy. In her family, her parents had only her and her younger brother, so it was unavoidable that they favored her brother a little. At first, Li Ying's own family was poor too, so her parents did not say much. But now that her family had money, Li Ying's parents kept hinting that she should not forget her younger brother.

At first, when she brought things home, her parents were still very happy. But their appetite had been whetted and grew bigger and bigger. Now, even if she sent back a whole month's wages, her family still complained that she was stingy.

Every time Li Ying went back, she would return home fuming with anger. Unfortunately, her younger brother was useless. Last time Yuangu Garment was hiring, Li Ying got him in, but who would have thought that not only would he not work hard, he would also steal cloth and take it home. He was caught by the factory workers, not only kicked out, but also fined.

It made Li Ying lose face in front of Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu too. During that time, she felt too ashamed to face Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu.

Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu had also heard about matters with Li Ying's family, but now nothing could ruin their good mood.

Zhao Shenggu said with a smile, "Then Auntie, hurry back. Xiao Yuan and I are just strolling around."

"What's there to stroll around for in such cold weather? Go home early." After saying that, she pushed her bicycle away.

Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu looked at each other and smiled. When there is love, water tastes sweet. How could they still care whether it was cold?

The two strolled for a while longer, then went home.

"Xiao Yuan, if we want to be together, we need to be strong enough that we don't have to care about other people's opinions." On the way back, Zhao Shenggu suddenly said to Guan Yuan.

Guan Yuan paused, looked at Zhao Shenggu's serious eyes, and nodded. "Let's work hard together, so others won't dare talk nonsense about us."

Zhao Shenggu laughed heartily. "Right, make them not dare talk nonsense about us."

In a few days it would be New Year's Eve. This year was the day they officially got together, so it had special meaning. Zhao Shenggu decided that, as a way to reward the people of "Yuangu," he would hold a flowing-water banquet banquet in the village. Although it was not a public announcement, it could still count as having people witness it.

[Flowing-water banquet: a traditional Chinese feast style where dishes are served continuously in waves, and guests come and go freely, eating as they please over an extended period, often for weddings, funerals, or festivals.]

Guan Yuan asked, "Will it be too troublesome? Those people don't know anyway."

"It's enough that we know!"

Guan Yuan agreed. When the village chief announced over the loudspeaker that Zhao Shenggu was going to hold a flowing-water banquet in the village, the whole village boiled with excitement. This time it was not limited to the people of Guanjia Village. Anyone who worked at "Yuangu" could come.

So this flowing-water banquet was especially grand. All the tables on the grain-drying ground in the village were full. The dishes were also praised endlessly. Everyone who came praised Boss Zhao Shenggu for being generous.

Guan Yuan looked at Zhao Shenggu and thought, is this what it means to be rich and willful?