Extra (i): All the Way “West”
Edited: 12.17.2023
When Winter came, the temperature dropped suddenly and even before Chinese New Year, it had reached its lowest point. One could feel cold even if they stayed in a warm room looking at the howling north wind outside the window, let alone leaving the house for advertisements. A thick down jacket was a must, wrapping themselves from head to toe to ensure that the cold did not get in.
Sometimes, he was invited to be interviewed by one company, and sometimes he was invited to sing by another company. At first, Jiang Liushen was pretty lenient and allowed him to choose whichever company he wanted. It was a good thing anyway and more exposure would be beneficial to his future career.
However, when Xia Xi’ai sneezed three times in a row with a reddened face during a live interview, Jiang Liushen frowned and immediately wrapped his little kiddo in a down jacket and carried him home, coercing and coaxing him to stop his activities for the next few days.
“It’s just a small cold, I’ll be fine after taking some medicine.” Xia Xi’ai covered himself in the quilt and sniffed through his blocked nose: “Tomorrow’s event has already been promoted, we can’t let the fans’ excitement be for naught.”
“It’s okay to postpone it for a few days, the fans will understand.” Jiang Liushen tucked in the corner of the quilt for him, “If you don’t believe me, you can make a Weibo post. I can guarantee that all the comments will tell you to get some rest first.”
Xia Xi’ai frowned slightly: “How many days will it be delayed?”
“After the New Year.” Jiang Liushen didn’t want him to think about work anymore and changed the topic, “Sigh, I wanted to bring you home to spend the New Year with my parents, but it seems that I can only spend it at home.”
Xia Xi’ai quickly said: “I can go.”
“No, you have a cold and are not feeling well. You might infect my parents.”
“Then…..then I’ll get better as soon as possible in the next two days and won’t go anywhere.”
Jiang Liushen smiled with satisfaction: “That’s a good boy.”
By the time Xia Xi’ai vaguely realized that he had fallen into Jiang Liushen’s trap again, his cold was almost healed with careful care and rest.
But Jiang Liushen was still worried. Before leaving for his parent’s house, he wrapped him up several times tightly like a rice dumpling. And when he arrived at his parent’s house, he immediately asked the maid to make ginger soup to ward off the cold.
Xia Xi’ai scolded him for making a big deal out of it and Jiang Liushen laughed back: “Who made my precious kiddo so fragile?”
“I’m not fragile, I’m just a little afraid of the cold.”
Hearing this, Jiang Liushen hugged him from behind and kissed the top of his hair: “Mnn, my baby has suffered.”
Xia Xi’ai didn’t understand where he was coming from and asked suspiciously: “What suffering?”
Jiang Liushen smiled but didn’t say anything. Then he asked the maid to bring a blanket and told him to cover himself when he was cold. He didn’t need to be restrained and could just treat everything as if he were at home. After thinking about it, he felt something was wrong and changed his words: “This is your home.”
Before Xia Xi’ai put on the blanket, he felt his heart warm.
Almost all the New Year’s Eve dishes were cooked by Michelin chefs. Father Jiang apologized for this: “Little Xia, we really don’t know how to cook. It might lack the New Year’s flavor, please don’t be offended.”
Mother Jiang squinted at him: “You’re the one who doesn’t know how to cook, don’t put me on the same page as you. Didn’t I make this salad?”
Jiang Liushen: “Mom, you have the nerve to say that when all you did was just squeeze a packet of salad dressing and toss it?”
Xia Xi’ai couldn’t help but smile: “It’s fine, I think it’s perfect. As long as the family is together, the New Year will be full of flavor.”
He knew that Jiang Liushen’s parents were afraid that he wouldn’t be used to it so in order to get closer to him, they deliberately stayed at home to have New Year’s Eve dinner this year together instead of having a family gathering as usual in previous years. With such considerate care, what else could he be dissatisfied with?
After dinner, he wanted to take the initiative to wash the dishes to win some brownie points, but Jiang Liushen pulled him back and said plausibly: “If you’re going to be my family’s daughter-in-law, there’s no way you’re doing the dishes.”
Xia Xi’ai couldn’t refute and could only go to the living room with him, accompanying Father Jiang and Mother Jiang as they chatted about family matters.
Three of the four members of their family understood the entertainment industry, so they naturally had something to talk about. Only Father Jiang didn’t understand at all. The chairman of the board of directors was like a layman and kept responding with “really,” “is that so,” and, “it’s my first time hearing this!”
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Mother Jiang couldn’t stand it anymore: “You don’t even know about the Chinese Melody Awards? To think you watch the news every day.”
“I only look at finance and current affairs.” Father Jiang didn’t understand and asked, “What kind of status is the Chinese Melody Award? Is it very powerful?”
“It’s like the Pulitzer Prize in journalism and the Nobel Prize in science. Although it’s not global, it’s the top recognition for singers in China.” Mother Jiang said, “Little Xia is the youngest winner since it was held, don’t you think it’s impressive?”
Father Jiang was enlightened: “That’s really awesome!”
Xia Xi’ai was embarrassed by the compliment: “I’m still so-so, it’s mainly because of good luck……”
Father Jiang stroked his chin again and pondered for a while: “Do you need a sponsor for this award? I’ll invest in it next year, can I let Little Xia win a few more awards?”
Xia Xi’ai: “……”
“Dad, don’t tarnish Xi’ai’s sacred trophy with your dirty money views.” Jiang Liushen spoke righteously: “He won this award through his own efforts, it cannot be bought with money.”
For the first time, Xia Xi’ai felt that his image was noble and his eyes couldn’t help but show admiration.
“If money could buy it, I would have already bagged all the awards for him.”
To think he almost believed him.
At this time, Jiang Liushen’s phone rang. The caller was Xu Yang and it was probably about work. The employees were still working so conscientiously during Chinese New Year so Jiang Liushen, the boss, had no choice but to accompany them. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be an important matter. After he got through, he chatted briefly and hung up.
“What is it?” Xia Xi’ai asked.
“Nothing, it’s just that the second season of ‘All the Way West’ is going to start filming next month. The director wants to invite us both back. But because it’s too cold, I told him I’d reconsider.”
“The weather should warm up next month……”
Jiang Liushen looked at him out of the corner of his eyes: “Why, you want to go?”
Xia Xi’ai nodded unabashedly. These days, it was almost a repetitive and tiring schedule. Naturally, he would be happy to go out to play if he had the opportunity. And the most important thing was that he and Jiang Liushen got to know each other through this show, it was more or less nostalgic.
“Didn’t you say you were afraid of the cold just now? If you catch a cold and your nose is runny, don’t come to me for coaxes and cuddles,” Jiang Liushen said.
Xia Xi’ai blushed and his voice was as thin as a mosquito: “I’m not that weak……you’re the one who has to be careful, don’t catch a cold and cause your stomach to act up again.”
He raised his eyes and glanced at Father Jiang and Mother Jiang. Fortunately, there wasn’t anything off with their expressions, otherwise, it was a bit shameful to flirt…..like this in front of the elders.
After chatting about family for some time, the night grew darker and darker, and the Jiang couple gradually became sleepy, so they retired back to their room first. Jiang Liushen sat with him in the living room for a while, but because he was still worried about the cold marble floor, he took him back to the bedroom early and asked the maid to bring him a cup of hot milk.
Xia Xi’ai tasted it and knitted his brows: “It’s not sweet.”
“It’s skimmed. You can’t have anything too sweet at night.” Jiang Liushen hugged him, “Milk helps you sleep. I was afraid that you wouldn’t be able to sleep if you were not used to this bed since it’s your time at my parent’s house.”
Xia Xi’ai gulped down the cup and licked the milk stains around his lips: “It won’t bother me. I used to be able to sleep on a blanket when I lived in the underground passage.”
Jiang Liushen wiped away the milk stains that he hadn’t licked from the corner of his mouth and added: “My baby has suffered.”
When Xia Xi’ai heard him say this for the second time today, he had to ask: “What are you referring to?”
Jiang Liushen’s arm tightened around him as he seemingly murmured: “Since Ai Ai is so afraid of the cold, how did you get through the past Winters?……”
Xia Xi’ai was stunned.
“I…..”
Jiang Liushen put his index finger to his lips: “Don’t say anything and don’t try to recall it, just let me feel the pain. The more I feel sorry for you, the more I want to pamper you, and I won’t let you catch a cold again in the future.”
Xia Xi’ai pulled down his hand: “I won’t suffer from recalling…..after all, I have you now.”
Jiang Liushen sucked in a deep breath and covered his heart: “How come you are getting better and better at flirting? Who did you learn this from?”
After Xia Xi’ai finished speaking, he also felt embarrassed and gave him a smack before diving under the quilt: “Stop fooling around and go to sleep.”
Jiang Liushen hurriedly followed him in and hugged him wholeheartedly. Since the kiddo had just caught a cold, he didn’t do anything animalistic. However, his fragrance was so soft that he couldn’t help but be distracted.
“Ai Ai, in fact, catching a cold once in a while is also a good thing.”
Xia Xi’ai: “?”
“One’s body temperature rises when one has a fever.” Jiang Liushen blinked, “And the heat travels from the inside……to the outside.”
His tone was too ambiguous. Xia Xi’ai had to do a double take even if he didn’t want to. His expression gradually changed from puzzle to surprise to shame. His head was almost smoking as he raised his hand to hit him: “W-What are you thinking? Using my illness to satisfy your——”
Jiang Liushen quickly grabbed his wrist, tightened his grip, and breathed hot air against his lips: “Who told you to have a fever? Even if you’re willing, I’m not. But if one day I get a fever……”
Jiang Liushen smiled teasingly: “Can my little kiddo serve me for a round?”
Xia Xi’ai couldn’t move. He angrily opened his mouth and bit his lips: “I don’t want to.”
“It’s not a joke, I won’t be able to infect you anyway.” Jiang Liushen was very happy even after being bitten and asked for another kiss, “Kiss me again and I’ll let you go tonight. “
“No.”
“No this, no that.” Jiang Liushen chuckled with some kind of threat, “If you keep saying no, I will make you want it.”
Xia Xi’ai immediately fell silent and hesitated for a few seconds. Seeing that he was currently under his control, he compromised obediently. He leaned forward and gently bit Jiang Liushen’s lower lip. Sure enough, he was sucked into the other party’s mouth. After a while, a gentle and lingering kiss could be heard in the quiet room.
The cold wind outside was still biting and blowing, but the temperature inside was like the warm sunshine in Winter, enough to melt the two people.
☽ ⋆ℍalf 𝕄oon 𝕋ranslations⋆ ☾ 
Thank You for the new chapter (੭ु ›ω‹ )੭ु⁾⁾♡♡
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