Chapter 12 – Luggage
Qiao Huaiyao’s actions of playing with his phone naturally didn’t escape the watchful eyes of the live-stream viewers.
Barrage: [“That photo looks absolutely amazing! Even if the camera captured the phone screen poorly, I want to shout ‘AWSL’
[“Ten years of being a fan of Bai Jinyan, rising from the grave to support this! How about sharing the photo?”]
[“I mean, come on, Bai Jinyan’s looks can definitely match with Qiao Qiao. Alright, I approve of your marriage!”]
After setting the screen saver, Qiao Huaiyao occasionally took sips of his iced Americano while his gaze remained fixed on Bai Jinyan on the stage.
The countdown to the start of the new semester had already begun, and Qiao Huaiyao checked his phone calendar. He still had one more day; the day after tomorrow, he would take an early morning flight to the school.
When he bought the plane ticket, he checked the early morning flights, wanting to spend a little more time here. However, with an early morning arrival, he wouldn’t be able to go to the school dormitory right away and would need to book a hotel room in advance.
A knock on the door sounded, and a familiar voice came from outside, “Is your luggage packed?”
Qiao Huaiyao replied, “Almost.”
His luggage was actually the same as the one he brought to school, so he didn’t need to sort it out again. He simply took it out of the closet, folded his clothes, and packed them into the suitcase. However, he had packed casually before, and he could buy many things at school, so he didn’t carry much with him.
Just now, when Bai Jinyan asked if he had his keys, he absentmindedly answered, “Yes.”
Then he suddenly froze and looked up at Bai Jinyan’s expression.
Bai Jinyan stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the door, and raised an eyebrow slightly, saying, “Oh?”
Qiao Huaiyao: “…”
He silently pocketed the keys again.
Clearing his throat, he tried to explain, “When I returned from school last time, I couldn’t find the keys, but sometimes things like this… When you need something, you can’t find it no matter what, but once you don’t need it, it pops up on its own.”
Bai Jinyan raised his head slightly, looking like he was smiling but not smiling, and didn’t seem interested in pursuing the matter. He just said, “Finish your milk and wait for me downstairs.”
Without giving Qiao Huaiyao a chance to react, Bai Jinyan had already turned and returned to his own room.
Qiao Huaiyao smiled wryly, put away his coat, and ran to the door in a few steps. He leaned against the door and shouted in the direction of Bai Jinyan’s room, “Okay!”
While waiting downstairs for Bai Jinyan, Qiao Huaiyao received a task message from the director.
Director: [Flowers are an important symbol of emotions. The program has prepared various types of flowers for everyone to make exquisite bouquets and give them to family members.]
[Pictures of the bouquets will be posted on Weibo based on family categories, and the family with the most votes will receive points and additional card draw rewards.]
[Let’s all work hard together!]
Packaging bouquets? Qiao Huaiyao wasn’t very interested in flowers, but he cared about the points. During the recorded part of the program, he wouldn’t be able to participate at school, so Bai Jinyan would be filming the family variety show by himself. They needed to prepare more points for that.
Hearing footsteps, Qiao Huaiyao quickly finished the remaining milk and said, “Brother, let’s go. The earlier we leave, the earlier we’ll be back.”
He handed the program’s phone to Bai Jinyan and said, “The director just released today’s task; they said they’ll come to deliver the flowers later.”
After Bai Jinyan read the message and checked the barrage, he turned off the phone. “Let’s go.”
Qiao Huaiyao’s villa was located opposite Bai Jinyan’s house.
Due to work reasons, Qiao Huaiyao’s parents were often not at home, and he himself didn’t like staying at home much. Previously, he used to live at Bai Jinyan’s place, and the cleaning of his own villa was taken care of by a housekeeping service.
Upstairs, while Qiao Huaiyao was packing his daily necessities into a bag, Bai Jinyan asked, “Is taking only one suitcase of clothes enough?”
Qiao Huaiyao replied, “It’s enough.”
“Since it might get colder in a few days, bring a few thick clothes as well.” Bai Jinyan brought out another suitcase, seemingly wanting Qiao Huaiyao to be more prepared. “Have you checked the weather over there? Get a few bottles of sunscreen for military training.”
Early September temperatures might not be as hot as during summer vacation, but the sun was still fierce. Not applying sunscreen could result in getting tanned, which was a minor issue, but the risk of getting sunburned was the main concern.
Qiao Huaiyao would be alone at school, and Bai Jinyan was worried about his ability to take care of himself.
Qiao Huaiyao obediently folded some thicker clothes and brought them in. “I’ll buy sunscreen when I get to school.”
When it came to checking sunscreen for air travel, the capacity had to be taken into consideration, making the purchase a bit troublesome.
Upon hearing this, Bai Jinyan used his phone to order several types of sunscreen commonly used. He filled in Qiao Huaiyao’s school address for delivery.
At the beginning of the semester, many people would buy sunscreen.
After placing the order, many other products appeared below the order.
Qiao Huaiyao originally intended to pack some things casually, but unconsciously, one suitcase after another got filled with items.
However, Bai Jinyan felt that they still didn’t have enough things. “Get another suitcase.”
Qiao Huaiyao couldn’t help but smile wryly. Two suitcases were already quite a lot, and having more would be inconvenient to carry.
But seeing how earnest Bai Jinyan was, he didn’t want to refuse either.
If it weren’t for the sudden distance between them, when he was going to school before, Bai Jinyan would have probably helped him with the packing.
Thinking this way, Qiao Huaiyao fully accepted Bai Jinyan’s arrangements.
When they arrived, they each carried a large suitcase.
Bai Jinyan asked, “Have you informed Aunt about your studies at Tsinghua University?”
“No,” Qiao Huaiyao shrugged, somewhat helpless. “My mom has been busy lately, and I don’t think she has time to listen to me.”
Speaking of which, he couldn’t help but add, “Even Aunt Meng called me when I left for school before.”
Bai Jinyan’s expression paused for a moment, and he quickly concealed the fleeting emotions. He asked, “When my mom called you, what did she say?”
Qiao Huaiyao only remembered receiving a call from Aunt Meng before boarding the plane, but the details were hazy in his memory.
He could only give a general answer, “She asked about some school matters and reminded me to stay safe.”
Bai Jinyan nodded thoughtfully.
When they returned home, they happened to meet the staff coming to deliver flowers in the corridor.
On a small cart were various kinds of flowers, with their stems trimmed and placed in floral foam for easy use.
The staff brought the cart inside and left a basic flower arranging guide before departing.
Qiao Huaiyao played with the flowers while noticing that Bai Jinyan was typing on his phone, appearing to be busy with work, so he didn’t disturb him.
Barrage comments popped up in the live stream: [“Despicable! Bai Jinyan actually let his wife arrange the flowers all by himself. That’s too much!”]
[“That’s right, that’s right. Unlike me, I only know how to cherish my wife. How could I leave her to do everything herself?”]
Arranging flowers was not necessarily difficult, but it could be challenging to achieve a perfect result.
Qiao Huaiyao filled the floral foam bit by bit, and the bouquet he made looked quite presentable.
When Bai Jinyan put down his phone, Qiao Huaiyao had already finished making a bunch of flowers.
“Brother! How does it look?” he asked.
Bai Jinyan praised, “Not bad.”
The flowers filled the whole room with fragrance.
Qiao Huaiyao placed his bouquet aside, intending to take a photo together with Bai Jinyan after he finished.
He noticed that the trimmed stems of the unused flowers were all blooming beautifully. It seemed wasteful to throw them away.
So, Qiao Huaiyao used some soft branches to tie the flowers together, twisting the twine around them, connecting the ends to form a simple flower crown.
Qiao Huaiyao looked at the flower crown and then at Bai Jinyan beside him. He moved closer to the left and softly called out, “Brother.”
“Hmm?” Bai Jinyan responded.
“Don’t move,” Qiao Huaiyao said as he lifted the flower crown and placed it on Bai Jinyan’s head.
Barrage comments: [“??!!”]
[“Wow, Qiao Huaiyao is so bold! He actually dares to put a flower crown on Bai Jinyan’s head!”]
[“Unbelievable! My wife is so courageous. He actually dared to put a flower crown on Bai Jinyan!”]
[“Oh no… It’s over. Is Bai Jinyan angry? His expression doesn’t look good. He won’t hit his wife, right? I mean, he won’t hit my wife, right?”]
[“Bai Jinyan has never liked wearing decorations. Even the stylists can’t make him. But now, Qiao Huaiyao is the one doing it, and after getting slapped in the face during previous live broadcasts, I’ve decided to observe for a while.”]
[“Saying not to move, and Bai Jinyan actually didn’t move. That’s the most unexpected thing!”]
[“Brother, you spoil him!”]
…
After placing the flower crown, it actually looked quite nice.
However, because it was not tightly tied, the moment Qiao Huaiyao let go, the soft branches loosened, and the petals scattered. Some of the already unstable petals fell.
For a moment, there were scattered flowers all over the floor.
A few petals happened to fall precisely on Bai Jinyan’s collar.
The situation changed so quickly that Qiao Huaiyao didn’t react in time.
Qiao Huaiyao blinked lightly and looked at Bai Jinyan, who was now covered in flower petals. He held back his laughter, reached out, and took off one rose petal from Bai Jinyan’s collar. “Actually, it… looks… quite… nice.”
Bai Jinyan’s expression remained unchanged, and he didn’t rush to remove the remaining petals either. He only gave Qiao Huaiyao a casual glance.
That single glance sent shivers down his spine. Qiao Huaiyao couldn’t count how many times he had seen this kind of look since childhood, and without hesitation, he turned around and ran.
However, he had only taken a half step when his waist was caught.
Bai Jinyan’s arm wrapped around Qiao Huaiyao’s waist, and with a slight force, he lifted him up.
“Ah—”