Arc 6: Interstellar Art Soldiers Chapter 8
Zuo Lei lay down beside him and hugged him from behind, pressing tightly against his body, saying, “Stop looking and let’s do something fun.”
Tao Yuan pushed him lightly from behind and said, “I’m almost done reading, it’s quite interesting. You go write first, we have plenty of time, no need to rush.”
“If you don’t want me to rush, then put on your underwear. Without underwear, how can I not be impatient?” Zuo Lei lifted his clothes up and reached down with his hand.
Tao Yuan closed his legs and said, “I just finished bathing, I’m dressing like this for comfort, not to seduce you. If you weren’t in the room, I wouldn’t be wearing anything, which is even more comfortable.”
“When I’m here, you can still wear nothing. Didn’t I say I’d teach you?” Zuo Lei took off his clothes and said, “Let’s finish the lesson earlier so you can sleep early. You have a performance tomorrow, right?”
Tao Yuan could only turn off the communicator and turned to look at him, saying, “Why didn’t I realize before that you have such an impatient personality?”
Zuo Lei kissed his lips for a while and then looked into his eyes. He was truly infatuated and moved by this person. When they were apart, he wanted to see him. And when they were together, he couldn’t think of anything else except holding him and kissing him.
Tao Yuan locked eyes with him for a moment. As Zuo Lei pressed closer, Tao Yuan hugged his shoulders and said, “I heard the first time might be painful, so go gently…”
“I’ll be very gentle, don’t be afraid,” Zuo Lei lifted his legs.
Tao Yuan’s body was flexible from years of practicing dancing. Zuo Lei originally wanted to be gentle and give him a comfortable first experience, but as he felt the wonderful sensations from his body, he quickly lost control.
……
Tao Yuan had reminded him that it was his first time and wanted him to control himself, but he still lost control. Tao Yuan’s throat was hoarse from all the calling out, and before falling asleep, he thought to himself that luckily tomorrow’s performance was dancing instead of singing.
Zuo Lei held the already sleeping Tao Yuan, covered his body with a thin blanket, and let him rest against his own body. He felt somewhat guilty for his indulgence and, thinking about Tao Yuan’s dance performance tomorrow, he felt even more remorseful.
……
Because he had a performance the next day, before falling asleep, Tao Yuan remembered to activate the system’s recovery function. After a good night’s sleep, he woke up feeling quite refreshed.
Tao Yuan stretched and yawned in bed, but he noticed that Zuo Lei was not in the room. He picked up a nearby t-shirt and put it on, then walked to the room’s door and looked outside. Zuo Lei was not in the living room either. Assuming that Zuo Lei had some business to attend to, Tao Yuan headed to the bathroom to freshen up.
While brushing his teeth, he suddenly heard the doorbell ring. Tao Yuan was puzzled since he knew Zuo Lei wouldn’t ring the bell, and it was too early for anyone else to visit. Besides, if someone had something to say, why couldn’t they just send a message instead of coming in person?
Tao Yuan felt a little bit puzzled. He decided not to answer the door, regardless of who was outside.
He finished his morning routine, changed clothes, and prepared to head back to his room. Although there was still time before the performance, and Zuo Lei wasn’t around, he needed to go back to have breakfast and rest for a couple of hours before he started preparing..
As Tao Yuan opened the door to leave, he saw the person standing outside, and he was taken aback. He had assumed that whoever had rung the bell had left by the time he was done washing up and changing, but it turned out the person was still there. What surprised him even more was that it was this person who had come to find Zuo Lei.
Erman was even more surprised than Tao Yuan. He stared wide-eyed in shock, never expecting to see Tao Yuan coming out of Zuo Lei’s room.
Although Tao Yuan was also taken aback by the encounter, he quickly regained his senses, turned around and started walking away while ignoring Erman.
“Stop!” Erman shouted loudly.
Tao Yuan halted and turned around to see what Erman wanted to say.
“Why are you in Zuo Lei’s room?!” Erman angrily questioned, as if he were Zuo Lei’s lover and had just discovered Tao Yuan as the third person in their relationship, interrogating him with a self-righteous attitude.
Tao Yuan sneered and stepped closer, looking into Erman’s eyes as he said, “I’m in my boyfriend’s room. What does it have to do with you? By what authority do you dare to question me?”
Erman was forced to take two steps back due to Tao Yuan’s intimidating aura. The sharpness in Tao Yuan’s eyes inexplicably made him feel afraid. He was immediately weakened by the pressure but still shocked by Tao Yuan’s words.
“You… You are dating Zuo Lei?” Erman asked, his face in disbelief.
“Is it any of your concern?” Tao Yuan asked Erman one word at a time.
Erman took a deep breath, contemplating how to respond to Tao Yuan’s question.
Tao Yuan didn’t have the patience to wait for his answer and turned around again to leave. Just then, he saw Zuo Lei was approaching.
“Awake?” Zuo Lei walked closer and looked at Tao Yuan. “It’s still early. Why don’t you sleep a bit more?”
Tao Yuan didn’t answer him and walked past without showing any expression.
Zuo Lei grabbed his hand and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”
Tao Yuan turned his head and glanced at Erman. Following his gaze, Zuo Lei finally noticed Erman’s presence. When Zuo Lei had approached, Tao Yuan and Erman were facing each other at close range, with Erman slightly shorter than Tao Yuan. However, Zuo Lei only had eyes for Tao Yuan and hadn’t noticed Erman.
Zuo Lei frowned at Erman and asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Zuo Lei, I came to bring you something,” Erman raised the paper bag in his hand.
“Take it and don’t come to me again,” Zuo Lei said coldly, with a direct and serious tone.
“But, this is…” Erman tried to explain.
“I said take it,” Zuo Lei’s voice was low, but his tone was stern and not open to refusal.
Tao Yuan shook off Zuo Lei’s hand and quickly walked away.
“Luo Xi…” Zuo Lei watched Tao Yuan disappear around the corner and then turned to look at Erman, questioning with a harsh tone, “Did you say something to him?!”
“I… I didn’t say anything, I just asked him why he was in your room,” Erman explained with an innocent expression.
“You better not have said anything to him, or else I will make sure you disappear from the military forever,” Zuo Lei warned Erman with a piercing gaze.
Erman was scared by his expression and looked very aggrieved as he said, “I really didn’t say anything to him.”
“Don’t come to me again, I don’t need anything from you,” Zuo Lei said, then turned and went back to his room. He immediately sent a message to Tao Yuan using the communicator.
Erman looked at the closed door, feeling both aggrieved and filled with worry. He lowered his head to look at the paper bag in his hand, feeling a heavy burden of sorrow pressing on his heart, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.
While having breakfast in the dining hall, a small light on the transparent screen of Tao Yuan’s communicator kept blinking.
Lin Ya glanced at the communicator on his wrist and asked, “Someone sent you a message, why don’t you check it?”
“Too lazy to read,” Tao Yuan replied calmly.
Observing him for a moment, Lin Ya chuckled and said, “Are you having a fight with your boyfriend?”
Tao Yuan gave him a glance and replied, “You truly deserve the title of my senior in romantic experience. But it’s not exactly a fight. I’d call it more of a one-sided cold war from my end.”
“Even though you never told me who your boyfriend is, I’ve thought about all the possible candidates on this ship and figured out who the most likely one is,” Lin Ya said.
Tao Yuan smiled and said, “It’s not that hard to guess. You don’t have to satisfy your detective instincts this time. Among the people on this ship, how many have their own separate rooms and are of a suitable marriageable age for me?”
“So, that person is really Major General Zuo Lei?” Lin Ya wanted to confirm it with him.
Tao Yuan nodded.
“I’m both envious and jealous,” Lin Ya exaggeratedly made a distressed expression. “He’s been my idol for so many years, and now you just sleep with him like that.”
Tao Yuan ignored him and continued eating his food.
Seeing no response, Lin Ya took the food in front of him. “Stop eating. You have to perform the dance in two hours. Eating too much will affect your performance.”
Tao Yuan looked at him helplessly and said, “Even if I slept with your idol, do you have to starve me like this?”
“These are two different things. We can talk about you sleeping with my idol later. But today, you must perform in your best condition and secure the lead role in the dance. Eating until you’re 50-60% full at breakfast is enough,” Lin Ya said. “However, because your boyfriend is the idol of many people, I think it’s right for you to keep your relationship private. On one hand, if others think you’re single, you can attract more people. On the other hand, if other females find out you’re dating Major General Zuo Lei, they’ll definitely hate you.”
Tao Yuan sighed and stood up.
“Where are you going?” Lin Ya looked at him with confusion.
“You didn’t let me eat, so I’ll go back to my room and rest,” Tao Yuan replied, walking towards the exit of the dining hall.
“I haven’t finished my meal yet. Wait for me,” Lin Ya said, abandoning his own plate and getting up to follow him.
Meanwhile, Zuo Lei had sent several messages to Tao Yuan, but he didn’t respond to any of them. Zuo Lei was starting to get worried and thought about going to find him. However, the dormitory area of the literary soldiers was restricted. Other males were not allowed to enter freely. Although he could enter if he wanted to, it required some privilege, and at this time, it was not convenient to go directly to look for him.
Back in his room, Tao Yuan opened the messages sent by Zuo Lei but didn’t reply. He wasn’t really angry with Zuo Lei. In fact, he didn’t care much about Zuo Lei’s past relationships. However, he couldn’t show that he didn’t care, as he wanted to control Zuo Lei’s emotions and make him personally handle those who upset him.
After resting for two hours, Tao Yuan went backstage of the performance hall. He warmed up by stretching his muscles and then changed into his performance costume and makeup.
Today, Tao Yuan was going to perform the classical dance “Red Lotus.” Sitting in front of the dressing table, after the wig was put on by the hairdresser, he refused the makeup artist’s assistance and applied his own specially prepared makeup.
Like an artist painting on his own canvas, Tao Yuan delicately added shallow red lotus petals to the corners of his eyes. Once he finished, his eyes instantly gained a touch of charm.
“Are you ready? It’s about to start,” Lin Ya pushed open the door of the makeup room and walked in. When he stood behind Tao Yuan and saw his face in the mirror, he was stunned, and couldn’t speak for a while. “You… Are you… Are you Luo Xi?”
“Who else could I be?” Tao Yuan put down the makeup brush and picked up a powder puff for the final touch.
“Oh my God! Oh my goodness!” Lin Ya leaned in and looked at the mirror, exclaiming, “You, you, you are just too beautiful!”
Tao Yuan smiled at the compliment and continued to finalize his makeup. He was fully prepared to give his best performance in the dance, and he was determined to showcase his talent and win the leading role in the debut performance of the musical.
“You’re, you’re, you’re too exaggerated.” Tao Yuan glanced at Lin Ya and playfully imitated his tone.
“I’m exaggerating? Clearly, it’s you who looks too stunning! Why did you make yourself so attractive? You’ll bewitch the souls of those soldiers, and that could be a serious problem.” Lin Ya said with a serious expression.
“Well, didn’t you tell me to win the leading role in the debut performance? I dressed up seriously for the dance I’ll perform later, and now you’re saying this again.” Tao Yuan did it purposely, but not to bewitch the souls of the soldiers – rather, he wanted to captivate a certain person’s heart.
“I did say that, but you might have gone a bit too far, I think.” Lin Ya looked at him.
“That’s the effect I wanted.” Tao Yuan stood up and walked out, with Lin Ya following closely behind.
As they walked through the makeup room towards the stage, everyone who saw Tao Yuan was stunned. They only snapped out of it when he left, wondering if they had just seen an illusion. How could such a bewitching and ethereal person exist in this world? Even if it was just an illusion, they couldn’t imagine a more beautiful appearance.
Tao Yuan stepped onto the stage to prepare, and when the time came, the curtain would be drawn, and his performance would officially begin.
Lin Ya leaned against the side of the stage door, watching Tao Yuan. He thought about how many soldiers would be mesmerized by him after this performance. Now, he deeply understood a saying – being good-looking can also be a burden.
Turns out i scheduled the wrong date. Instead of saturday and sunday, I did sunday and monday ORZ
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