Chapter 60
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The sky had completely brightened up. Fan Yuan finally let go of Gu Yang and hugged him to sleep while he was still in a daze.
Gu Yang’s brain was severely deprived of oxygen. He either stretched his legs or bent his waist all night, and he was already exhausted, not to mention his mouth that had been working hard all night, was now red and swollen, making people feel sorry for him at first glance.
Fan Yuan lightly patted Gu Yang’s back and comforted him, while Gu Yang complained in a low voice. He grumbled about something, but he was really too tired and fell asleep in no time.
He slept until late morning, and it was almost noon when Gu Yang finally woke up.
The bedroom curtains were only partially opened, allowing warm yellow light to shine on one side of the bed and sprinkle onto Gu Yang’s palm.
Gu Yang’s fingertips moved, and he withdrew his sun-warmed hand into the quilt, opening his eyes in a daze.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he hissed, feeling a burning sensation in his mouth, and his mouth corners were also cracked.
Fan Yuan seemed to have predicted when Gu Yang would wake up. Just as Gu Yang was stretching lazily on the bed, the bedroom door was pushed open.
As soon as Gu Yang heard the door opening, he instinctively hid under the quilt.
Fan Yuan walked to the bed and pulled the quilt. He found Gu Yang holding onto the quilt tightly inside.
Gu Yang’s muffled voice came from under the quilt:
“Don’t kiss me… please don’t kiss me. My mouth is sore… it hurts so much…”
Fan Yuan hesitated for a moment, then he used force to directly throw off the covers, revealing Gu Yang curled up into a ball.
As soon as Gu Yang saw the covers being thrown off, he immediately reached out to cover his mouth.
Fan Yuan knelt on the bed with one knee, he had already become smaller since it was the day, looking like a thirteen or fourteen-year-old, but his black eyes still exuded a powerful pressure.
He slowly approached Gu Yang, half propped up on the bed, and looked down at Gu Yang who was covering his mouth.
“Take your hands away and let me see.”
Gu Yang shook his head, still holding his mouth and refusing to let Fan Yuan see.
Fan Yuan approached closer, his lips brushing against Gu Yang’s ear, and repeated:
“Let me see?”
With the hot and soft touch, Gu Yang slowly loosened his hands, revealing his overly red mouth.
Last night, before going to bed, Fan Yuan had specifically looked at Gu Yang’s mouth, which wasn’t swollen like this at the time. He didn’t expect that it would become even more swollen after the morning had passed.
Fan Yuan lightly touched the corner of Gu Yang’s mouth that had a small cut with his fingertips. Gu Yang winced in pain and instinctively grabbed Fan Yuan’s wrist, wanting to remove his hand. In the end, he didn’t move, but weakly gripped Fan Yuan’s wrist.
After checking his mouth, Fan Yuan pinched Gu Yang’s chin.
“How’s your tongue? Open your mouth and let me see.”
As soon as he mentioned his tongue, Gu Yang became even more aggrieved, hesitantly opening his mouth to reveal his tongue, which was also abnormally red. He even complained to Fan Yuan that he couldn’t speak clearly because he couldn’t open his mouth, and his tongue lightly moved as he spoke.
“It’s all your fault… Why did you use so much force…”
Fan Yuan looked at the moving tongue and immediately got up, turning his back to Gu Yang.
“It’s a bit overused. From now on… it won’t happen again. Get up and have breakfast.”
Gu Yang murmured softly as he climbed out of bed. Although he kept talking, his tone didn’t sound unhappy at all. Instead, it sounded a little smug.
Watching Gu Yang go into the bathroom, Fan Yuan folded the blanket neatly and went downstairs first.
Because Gu Yang had been pressed by Fan Yuan in the pose of the 38 pictures drawn by Pan Fei for kissing all night, not only was his mouth uncomfortable, but his limbs and waist were also very sore. Fan Yuan was also very aware of this, and he took the initiative to sit next to Gu Yang with a bowl, undertaking the task of feeding him. The food on the table was mostly light and tasty.
Being served by Fan Yuan, Gu Yang soon forgot the torture of last night. He felt very happy in his heart, watching Fan Yuan carefully cut the big piece of meat, leaving only a small piece to feed him, afraid that he might hurt his mouth. He even had the idea that if Fan Yuan took care of him like this after every kiss, he could endure the pain and swelling of his mouth.
After finishing the meal, Fan Yuan started to apply ointment to Gu Yang’s mouth in the same way as he did a few days ago. Gu Yang only needed to lie on the sofa and enjoy it, with his feet swaying back and forth. He almost had the word “smug” written on his face.
Fan Yuan walked over with an ice pack and looked at Gu Yang’s skirt hem that had slid all the way up due to his raised legs. Since Gu Yang could only wear skirts now, this scene could be seen every day. At first, Fan Yuan would help him tidy it up, but Gu Yang was always unaware, and after a while, Fan Yuan didn’t bother with it anymore, as only he could see it anyway.
As Gu Yang swayed his feet, the skirt hem also swayed. Fan Yuan sat next to Gu Yang, and placed the ice pack on his leg.
The sudden coldness made Gu Yang sit up straight, and the skirt finally slid down.
“It’s so cold!”
Fan Yuan was icing his own fingers on the ice pack and said, “That’s how ice works.”
Gu Yang watched Fan Yuan’s frozen white fingertips and suddenly fell silent again. He sat obediently, waiting for Fan Yuan to rub his mouth for him.
This time, Gu Yang’s mouth was more swollen than before, and it still hadn’t healed by the evening. After that night, Fan Yuan never kissed him again.
Gu Yang thought Fan Yuan was waiting for his mouth to heal before kissing him again, but several days passed and Fan Yuan never mentioned it again. It was as if they had never kissed. If it weren’t for their affection level still at 38 points, Gu Yang would have thought it was all a dream.
During this period, Gu Yang had also actively moved his mouth over, but was calmly pushed away by Fan Yuan, who acted as if he didn’t see it.
Their way of getting along suddenly returned to the way it was before. Time passed quickly, and the first month of winter vacation passed quickly. In a few days, it would be New Year’s Eve, and the “Snow White” golden finger was also coming to an end.
On the last day of the “Snow White” golden finger countdown, Gu Yang put on his best dress and took his phone to take a picture with Fan Yuan, who looked like a thirteen or fourteen-year-old.
However, Fan Yuan did not allow Gu Yang to take a photo. He pressed Gu Yang’s hand and led him to the study, where he set up the easel again.
“Gu Yang, don’t leave any evidence for the outside world. If you want a souvenir, I’ll paint one for you.”
Gu Yang still had his phone in his hand, looking at Fan Yuan standing behind the easel, which was set up to Fan Yuan’s normal height. At this time, little Fan Yuan standing in front of it, made it seem a bit too tall.
But Fan Yuan was unaware of it, with a serious expression on his face as he raised his arm to reach for the paper.
Gu Yang nodded hard. He knew that Fan Yuan was doing this to protect him. Photos were things that could be difficult to explain if they were accidentally discovered by others. So if you want a souvenir, it’s better to draw. Drawing is a free-spirited activity where you can imagine anything you want.
“How about a portrait of the two of us?” Gu Yang suggested.
Fan Yuan nodded to Gu Yang from behind the easel and started to mix the paint.
Fan Yuan took a long time to draw this time, from sunrise to sunset before finally finishing it. And Gu Yang had been quietly by his side the whole time.
The painting was hung next to the other two paintings in the cage room, side by side. This was the third painting in the cage room.
In the portrait, Gu Yang, with disheveled black hair and a complicated long dress, stood on the right, while Fan Yuan, who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old and was tightly pressed against Gu Yang’s shoulder, was on the left. The two held hands tightly, with their fingers interlocked.
Gu Yang lightly touched Fan Yuan’s face on the portrait, turned around to look at him, and smiled:
“Fan Yuan, how about we call this place our secret base from now on? Our secret base.”
Fan Yuan, who was also looking up at the portrait, didn’t object to Gu Yang’s suggestion, but just gave him a glance and immediately turned his head away, with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth.
“Whatever you want.”
At night, Gu Yang hugged a thick blanket and slept with Fan Yuan on the swing in their secret base, swaying slowly with the swing while wrapped in the blanket.
Gu Yang leaned on Fan Yuan’s body, holding the small black handle of the magic mirror with his right hand and spreading out his left hand, staring at the countdown on it.
Fan Yuan’s breathing had already become steady, indicating that he had fallen asleep, but Gu Yang was nervously waiting for the next golden finger.
Without looking to see what the next golden finger would be, Gu Yang would be too nervous to fall asleep.
As the countdown for “Snow White” on the small book in his left hand reached zero and the names of various fairy tales began scrolling on the random box again, Gu Yang closed his eyes and waited anxiously.
After the golden finger for “Snow White” reached zero, Gu Yang felt the magic mirror in his right hand disappear.
While Gu Yang still had his eyes closed, Fan Yuan, whose breathing remained steady, opened his eyes and looked at Gu Yang, who was lying on top of him.
After counting to ten in his heart, Gu Yang opened his eyes and looked at the small book in his left hand, which showed:
“Congratulations, your random golden finger ‘Rabbit Bride’ has started, with a countdown of 30 days. Please enjoy it.”
“Rabbit Bride”?
Gu Yang searched his mind for a long time but couldn’t figure out what kind of fairy tale story “Rabbit Bride” was.
The inside of the cage room had always been blocked by thick curtains, making it easy to lose track of time once you fall asleep.
Gu Yang slept especially well this time, gradually waking up but not opening his eyes. He leaned forward and rubbed against Fan Yuan, feeling something soft and fuzzy on the top of his head.
Long and…
Fuzzy…
Gu Yang suddenly opened his eyes and sat up abruptly. Due to the sudden movement, his body tilted backward and he was about to fall off the swing.
Halfway through falling, Fan Yuan quickly pulled him back into his arms.
Gu Yang, still in shock, leaned on Fan Yuan’s chest with one hand still grabbing the long fuzzy object on top of his head.
After a while, Gu Yang finally let go and lifted his head from Fan Yuan’s embrace, noticing that the black cloth covering the cage had already been lowered. The inside of the cage was dimly lit, and it seemed that Fan Yuan had been awake for a while, leaning against the back of the swing chair, looking at Gu Yang quietly.
Gu Yang let go of the long fuzzy object on his head and touched his tailbone instead, feeling a round fuzzy ball in his hand. He couldn’t believe it and pinched it hard, immediately feeling an electric shock-like tingling sensation running up his spine.
He grunted and let go of it, falling back into Fan Yuan’s embrace.
Fan Yuan lifted his hand and gently bit the soft rabbit ears on top of Gu Yang’s head.
Gu Yang immediately trembled and felt hopeless about the golden finger in “The Rabbit Bride”.
Couldn’t the golden finger be less explicit and more sincere?
In “Little Red Riding Hood”, he had wolf ears and a wolf tail. Did “The Rabbit Bride” have to give him rabbit ears and a rabbit tail?
He thought he would turn into a giant!
Fan Yuan didn’t stop after biting Gu Yang’s pointed rabbit ear, and turned to grab the furry ball behind Gu Yang. He squeezed it hard with his five fingers, and Gu Yang’s back immediately straightened, but the rabbit ears on top of his head still hung down softly and did not stand up.
“Don’t squeeze! Don’t squeeze!”
Gu Yang turned around and begged as he held Fan Yuan’s wrist. “Snow White’s Gold Finger” effect had ended, and Fan Yuan would no longer be affected and shrink, even during the day he looked normal.
Fan Yuan let go and then pinched the back of Gu Yang’s neck.
“Good afternoon, little bunny.”
Gu Yang looked at Fan Yuan’s face. It was very close, without any surprise. Fan Yuan was no longer amazed by the strange changes on Gu Yang’s body.
Fan Yuan patted Gu Yang’s back in a soothing manner before retracting his hand. But as soon as he did, Gu Yang’s back arched, and he climbed down from the swing, sitting on the ground.
“How could you pat my back like that!” Gu Yang exclaimed.
When Fan Yuan patted him on the back just now, Gu Yang’s whole body went numb and weak. If he hadn’t bitten down on his mouth, he would have almost cried out.
Fan Yuan’s hand was still in mid-air. He had patted Gu Yang’s back before, but Gu Yang’s reaction had never been so strong.
Looking at Gu Yang’s red eyes like a rabbit now, Fan Yuan also got off the swing and walked to Gu Yang’s side. He approached, and Gu Yang took a step back until he was against the edge of the cage and couldn’t retreat any further.
Fan Yuan squatted in front of Gu Yang, lifted the soft rabbit ears on both sides of Gu Yang’s head, and asked him:
“Can’t your ears stand up?”
Gu Yang just realized that his ears were always drooping. He immediately tried to control them to stand up, clenching his fists and exerting all his strength. Finally, his ears stood up for a moment, but they fell down again and drooped on both sides of his head.
He raised his hand and pulled his two ears in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that the golden finger not only gave him two rabbit ears, but also made him a disabled rabbit!
Fan Yuan saw the surprised look on Gu Yang’s face and took the opportunity to hug him and pat his back.
Gu Yang struggled for a moment but couldn’t move, so he could only let Fan Yuan pat his back repeatedly.
As Fan Yuan continued to pat him, Gu Yang felt more comfortable, and his body and the two rabbit ears on his head both became soft and relaxed in Fan Yuan’s embrace.
He raised his head and stared at Fan Yuan’s clean neck. Suddenly, a thought came to his mind.
“This is my bride, and I want to keep him locked up.”
While Fan Yuan was playing with Gu Yang, he felt a cold sensation on his neck. Gu Yang had unfastened the necklace that had been hanging around his neck and put it around Fan Yuan’s neck.
But that wasn’t all. Gu Yang also took the shrunken version of the necklace that had been hanging next to the small pendant, and put it on Fan Yuan’s finger after taking it off.
After doing all this, Gu Yang looked at Fan Yuan seriously.
Fan Yuan’s hand was still on Gu Yang’s back, but Gu Yang had already knelt down on one knee, grabbed Fan Yuan’s hand with the shrunken chain ring on it, and lightly kissed his ring finger.
“I declare that from now on, you are my bride! I promise that one day, I will make you sit on my tail!”
Gu Yang now had two soft rabbit ears on his head. When he lowered his head, his ears drooped down, and when he raised his head, his ears blocked his eyes, and he had to use his hand to move them aside while speaking. Behind him, the short, fluffy ball of fur swayed, looking quite cute.
Fan Yuan took back his hand that had been on Gu Yang’s back and looked at the necklace ring that he had put back on his finger, and asked back:
“What do you mean by that?”
“Your bride?”
Gu Yang stood up and nodded solemnly. He turned around and slipped out of the cage that was left unlocked last night while Fan Yuan wasn’t paying attention. He closed the cage as he left.
He stood outside the locked cage and instructed Fan Yuan, “You’re already my bride, and my bride should stay in the cage. Wait for me to come back and make you something delicious to eat.”
After speaking, Gu Yang turned and walked out. He reached for the door handle of the iron gate, but it didn’t open.
Earlier, due to Fan Yuan’s constant teasing, Gu Yang’s mind was clouded, and he acted on instinct. It was only now that he realized that the iron gate and the cage were locked with Fan Yuan’s fingerprints. Without Fan Yuan, no one could come in, and likewise, no one could go out.
Gu Yang stood stiffly in front of the iron gate and suddenly banged his head against it in frustration, hitting it twice.
“Gu Yang, you grew two rabbit ears but has your brain capacity also shrunk to the size of a rabbit? Why did you do something so foolish!”
Fan Yuan sat leisurely next to the iron railing of the cage, watching Gu Yang come and go.
Gu Yang nervously licked his lips and stood in front of Fan Yuan, preparing his words. He said, “Fan Yuan… um, just consider me groggy from waking up. Can you please open the cage and let’s go out together? I want to make you something delicious to eat!”
Fan Yuan supported his chin and looked at Gu Yang without speaking.
Gu Yang knelt down, approached the cage, gently touched Fan Yuan’s hand on the other side, and cautiously asked, “Fan Yuan? Can you talk to me?”
Fan Yuan tapped his cheek with his fingers and asked Gu Yang, “Do you want to keep me locked up?”
Gu Yang lowered his head, blushing, his soft ears drooping down and sticking to his cheeks, but he didn’t say anything.
Fan Yuan asked again, “Do you want me to be your bride?”
Gu Yang’s hands were nervously clasped on his knees, with ten onion-white fingertips holding onto his knees. Unable to bear it any longer, he lightly nodded his head.
Fan Yuan raised one eyebrow and looked at Gu Yang who had been bowing his head the whole time. Suddenly, he said, “Gu Yang, turn around and let me see your tail.”
Gu Yang looked up at Fan Yuan, confused, “Huh?”
Fan Yuan still looked calm and composed as he said, “Don’t want to show it to me? Don’t you want to go out?”
Gu Yang gritted his teeth and slowly turned around, bringing the short, round furball behind him close to the iron railing.
As soon as he got close, Fan Yuan reached out and grabbed him.
As Fan Yuan’s grip strength changed, Gu Yang’s two soft rabbit ears on top of his head occasionally moved and stood up a little when he got excited, but he couldn’t hold it for long and soon they drooped down again.
It wasn’t until Fan Yuan had pinched enough that he unlocked the fingerprint lock of the cage, walked out, and took Gu Yang away from there.
Gu Yang followed behind Fan Yuan with his head bowed, watching Fan Yuan’s swaying hem, and couldn’t help but reach out and grab Fan Yuan’s clothes.
Fan Yuan turned to look at him, but Gu Yang still kept his head down and didn’t meet Fan Yuan’s gaze. He said softly but firmly, “You are my bride.”
His voice was too soft for Fan Yuan to hear clearly.
Fan Yuan leaned closer to Gu Yang, lifted up one of his soft rabbit ears, and asked him, “What did you say?”
Gu Yang finally looked up, his red eyes looking at Fan Yuan. Although they were such bright red pupils, they were not at all scary, but rather pitiful.
He sniveled and let Fan Yuan play with his rabbit ears while choking up and saying, “I’ll let you touch my ears and even pinch my tail, but you’re my bride, and you can’t run away. I have to lock you up and keep you locked up…”
Tears fell down his cheeks as he spoke, and Fan Yuan hesitated before releasing his grip on Gu Yang’s rabbit ears and opening his arms. Gu Yang immediately squeezed into his embrace, rubbing his two warm and soft rabbit ears against Fan Yuan’s chin.
Fan Yuan leaned in next to Gu Yang’s normal human ears and whispered, “You want to lock me up? First, you have to complete ten sets of exam papers.”
Gu Yang wiped away his tears and nodded vigorously, saying, “I’ll do it! Who’s afraid!”
Fan Yuan held onto Gu Yang’s hand and stopped him from rubbing his face too hard. He gently wiped away the tears from the corner of Gu Yang’s eyes and suddenly asked a strange question, “When you had wolf ears before, did you hear things more clearly with four ears?”
Gu Yang hiccupped and stared at Fan Yuan with his red eyes, seriously answering, “Stereo… it’s quite clear…”
Fan Yuan’s lips curled up slightly as he led his little bunny down the stairs to eat. They hadn’t taken a few steps before Gu Yang caught up and walked closely by his side.
Fan Yuan glanced at the two soft rabbit ears on top of Gu Yang’s head and thought about the characteristics of rabbits: they were timid, sensitive, jealous, and had long and frequent mating seasons. They were suitable for being kept in a cage.
Author’s note: Tada~ Your little bunny Gu has arrived~
“The Rabbit Bride” is a fairy tale in the Grimm’s Fairy Tales collection that may not be very well-known. I briefly mention it in the story, and if you’re curious, you can look it up online~
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