When they reached the island, fresh ocean air rushed toward them. Mai Ding stared dumbly at the scenery. It was almost too beautiful. Azure sea, golden sand, clouds made whiter by the contrast. Mai Ding happily ran ahead, then remembered getting lost yesterday and limited himself to happily running back and forth instead. An Zi Yan watched Mai Ding repeatedly cross the beach, leaving countless footprints behind. It felt as though he had brought a dog out for exercise.
Mai Ding looked back at An Zi Yan standing several meters away and immediately became jealous again. Beautiful people really had every advantage. All An Zi Yan needed to do was walk through beautiful scenery and instantly the entire image became a painting. When An Zi Yan reached him, Mai Ding linked their arms proudly. Whenever he got the opportunity, he had to show this man off. So really, for a man, being born handsome wasn’t as important as marrying well. Mai Ding had married someone this good-looking and somehow felt his own status had risen a level.
An Zi Yan genuinely attracted attention too. Even abroad, surrounded by blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigners, he didn’t lose to any of them. If anything, he appeared even more striking.
When they reached their accommodation, Mai Ding completely lost control. The room was built directly over the sea. It wasn’t enormous, but it had incredible atmosphere. The moment Mai Ding entered, he discovered transparent glass beneath his feet, allowing him to see the seawater and occasional fish swimming below. Mai Ding wandered around exclaiming continuously. “Whoa! The floor is transparent! Whoa! You can see the ocean from the bed! Whoa! This place is amazing!”
“Can’t you lower your voice?”
“Would lowering my voice properly express how excited I am? Besides, we’re the only two people in this room. You’ve already seen every ugly side of me. What image do I need to maintain? We’re an old married couple now.”
“Looks like you’re charging full speed toward becoming a frumpy old wife.”
“Have you ever heard ‘poverty cannot move me, wealth cannot bend me’? And a man must never cast aside the wife who shared his hardships.”
“So you admit you’re the suffering wife?”
“Either way, don’t ever do something immoral like abandoning me. Nobody would want me afterward. Divorced men have low value these days. Men divorced from other men are probably worth even less.” Mai Ding had somehow dragged the conversation miles away again.
“Depends on my mood.” An Zi Yan spoke casually as he walked to the window and opened it. Wind rushed inside, making the blue-and-white curtains billow.
“Bah! Believe me, I’ll push you into the ocean and feed you to sharks! Something like that depends on your mood?” After thinking a while, Mai Ding compromised. “How about this? If you ever get tired of looking at me, I’ll go stay with my parents for a few days. We’ll separate briefly, then our reunion will feel like newlyweds again.”
“Look at that ambition.”
Mai Ding could only grin foolishly, then pulled swim trunks from the suitcase and immediately started changing. He had been desperate to experience the Maldivian sea. He glanced at An Zi Yan, picked up the clothes, and headed toward the bathroom. “I’ll change in there. Wouldn’t want someone seeing me.”
“Is there still any part of your body left where you can pretend to be innocent? Point it out for me.”
Mai Ding threw a towel at An Zi Yan from the bathroom. An Zi Yan dodged it. Mai Ding slammed the door furiously. What did he mean, pretend to be innocent? Mai Ding had always been innocent! An Zi Yan simply lacked appreciation. No taste whatsoever. Of course, Mai Ding only dared think that. He had no intention of saying it aloud. He wasn’t much of a hero, and courage—along with balls—wasn’t something he carried around with him.
By the time Mai Ding finished fussing around in the bathroom and came out, An Zi Yan had already changed. He wore dark blue beach shorts. His proportions were perfect, and his skin tone looked beautiful. With the ocean directly behind him through the window, he instantly became a painting again. Mai Ding complained, “Can you stop already? Are you planning to keep being handsome forever?! How is an average-looking citizen like me supposed to survive?”
Being criticized for absolutely no reason, An Zi Yan stared coldly at him. “Mai Ding, has it been too long since I last committed domestic violence? You’re getting overconfident again.”
Mai Ding immediately grinned. “I’m complimenting you! How can you not even understand that?”
They walked outside together. Mai Ding continued, “We eat exactly the same food. Why are our bodies this different?” He pinched his own stomach. He was thin as a monkey. Compared with the foreign men nearby with six or seven abdominal muscles, Mai Ding felt even more inferior.
“Whose fault is that? You were born deficient and then spent your entire life accelerating the deficiency.”
“An Zi Yan!! Not only are you insulting me, you’re insulting my parents too! I’m going to throw myself into the ocean!” Mai Ding jogged forward and jumped straight into the sea, sending up a huge splash. He loved the water. It was unbelievably clear. Mai Ding took a deep breath and dove beneath the surface, staring at everything below. It felt as though he had entered an extraordinarily beautiful dream. Only when he could no longer hold his breath did he surface and wave both arms wildly toward An Zi Yan. An Zi Yan walked over helplessly. Mai Ding was about to splash him when An Zi Yan spoke. “Don’t even start that mutual-water-splashing nonsense.”
“Can’t you understand even a tiny bit of romance?”
“Two grown men frolicking by the ocean and you call that disgusting thing romance? Aren’t you afraid I’ll vomit all over you?”
“Hmph! An Zi Yan is an annoying bastard!”
“Stop hmphing and ah-ing over there. Don’t swim too far away, understand?”
“I know!” Mai Ding repeatedly dove underwater and surfaced again. Whenever a wave rolled in, he laughed brightly like a child. Then he would secretly glance toward An Zi Yan sunbathing on the beach. Life had reached this point. Mai Ding was satisfied.
After tiring himself out, Mai Ding went to buy drinks. A little shop stood beside the beach, built from wood with a roof of palm leaves, giving it a distinctive charm. Mai Ding stuck his head inside and was about to ask the owner for two bottles of water. The owner stood up. They both froze. The owner spoke first. “Chinese?”
Mai Ding immediately felt a sense of kinship and nodded enthusiastically. Before he could say anything, the owner sighed helplessly. “I really don’t like you. Look, this is literally our first meeting. There are no feelings between us. Even though we’re both Chinese, I’m not someone casual. I’m really sorry.”
Mai Ding stared in complete confusion. “What? Brother, why are you apologizing? Who’s being casual? Who asked you to like me? I only came here to buy two bottles of water. What exactly are you imagining?”
Seeing Mai Ding’s annoyed expression, the owner realized his mistake and hurriedly apologized. “Sorry, sorry! My mistake. My romantic luck has been ridiculous lately. Foreign tourists keep confessing to me.”
Mai Ding gave him a displeased sideways look. Only then did he properly examine the owner. He appeared nearly thirty. Probably because he lived beside the ocean, his skin was a healthy bronze. To be fair, he was quite handsome. But Mai Ding couldn’t appreciate that huge muscular frame at all. Chest muscles, abdominal muscles, biceps—everything about him made Mai Ding uncomfortable. He definitely preferred An Zi Yan’s perfectly balanced build.
Mai Ding handed over money. “Two bottles of water.”
“Right, right. Coming up. So, you came to the Maldives alone?”
“Boss, there should be a limit to stupidity. If I came alone, why would I buy two bottles?”
“That’s true. That’s true. My brain’s a little slow.” The more Mai Ding looked at this owner, the more simple-minded he seemed. Even Mai Ding’s intelligence was higher. How had this man survived abroad?
“Here with a friend?”
“On my honeymoon.”
“You don’t look very old and you’re already married?”
“If I didn’t tie him down, I wouldn’t be able to relax.”
The owner laughed. “What, can’t control your wife?”
“I’m not worried about him. I’m worried about everyone else. And it isn’t a wife. It’s a husband.” Mai Ding twisted open one bottle and took a long drink. Refreshing.
The owner froze for several seconds. He hadn’t expected Mai Ding to admit it so openly. Mai Ding’s expression showed absolutely no embarrassment. The owner couldn’t resist teasing him. “You’re not worried I’ll look at you strangely after hearing that?”
“If I cared that much about strange looks, I wouldn’t have married a man. You get stared at long enough, you become used to it. If you don’t like it, that’s your problem. Who are all of you anyway? A bunch of strangers I don’t care about. Am I supposed to abandon the person I love because of outsiders? No matter how I calculate that, I lose. I’m not stupid.”
“I was joking. Why are you suddenly getting angry?”
“I know you were joking. One look at you and I knew you were a good person.” Mai Ding drank more water. The two of them continued chatting happily. An Zi Yan eventually noticed Mai Ding had disappeared for far too long. He turned his head and discovered Mai Ding chatting cheerfully with some man wearing tight briefs. An Zi Yan frowned deeply and walked toward them.
“Mai Ding!”
Hearing the summoning voice, Mai Ding immediately turned and jogged toward An Zi Yan. He handed him the second bottle of water. Seeing An Zi Yan’s unpleasant expression, he asked worriedly, “Master, what’s wrong? Who offended you? Tell this humble servant. I’ll teach them a lesson.” He still had time to joke. An Zi Yan said nothing. He merely swept one seemingly casual glance toward the owner, then grabbed Mai Ding and dragged him away. The owner felt cold all over from that one glance. Goosebumps rose instantly. Though thinking about it, he truly hadn’t expected Mai Ding’s husband to be such a beautiful man. He saw handsome tourists in the Maldives all the time, but someone handsome in such an unusual way was a first. His face was cold, yet somehow there was warmth beneath it. Strange.
Mai Ding stumbled while being dragged. Nevertheless, he politely turned back and waved goodbye to the owner. The owner suddenly remembered something. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Mai Ding! What about you?” Mai Ding, completely oblivious to the situation, was still enthusiastically making friends. “Ow! An Zi Yan, you’re squeezing too hard! It hurts.”
Hearing Mai Ding complain, An Zi Yan loosened his grip slightly. He stared unhappily at Mai Ding. Mai Ding desperately reviewed his memories, trying to remember when exactly he had offended An Zi Yan.
“Who gave you permission to talk to strange men?”
“Huh?”
“Who gave you permission to tell strangers your name?”
“Huh?”
“Who gave you permission to enjoy chatting with them that much?”
“Huh?”
Wonderful. Nothing but questions from both sides. After a long while, Mai Ding finally organized everything An Zi Yan had said. He pouted. His attitude became extremely firm. “That’s too much. So now I need Your Majesty’s permission just to talk to another man?”
“You absolutely need my permission.” An Zi Yan had always been unreasonable. He forcibly swallowed Mai Ding’s strong attitude alive.
“You… that’s an authoritarian clause!”
“I like it. It makes me happy.”
“Why?! I do the laundry, I cook, you’re the one fucking me every night, and now I don’t even have personal freedom?”
“No reason. I simply don’t like seeing you with other men.”
Mai Ding’s previously serious expression immediately transformed into a smile. He poked An Zi Yan with one finger, smiling sweetly. “You silly thing. You always choose the worst way to say things. If you directly told me, ‘Baby, don’t talk to strange men. I’ll get jealous,’ then obviously I’d listen. Right? You need to be gentler with your lover so I can understand. Right?”
An Zi Yan kicked Mai Ding straight into the sea. “Stop disgusting me.”
Mai Ding climbed out of the water rubbing his aching backside, hair dripping wet. He pointed at An Zi Yan. “You actually kicked me! That really hurt!”
“If it didn’t hurt, why would I kick you?”
This thing called a honeymoon.
It felt like an entire lifetime still wouldn’t be enough.
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