The small group of travellers got home just in time for New Year’s. Lin Feiran’s parents rushed home to spend New Year’s with their son, and on the 31st the family had a joyous reunion dinner. From the 1st to the 5th Lin Feiran accompanied his parents to visit friends and relatives, collecting red envelope money until his hands went numb. He could buy whatever sports shoes he wanted in the coming year; this round of visits was definitely worth it.

Over those few days, Gu Kaifeng was in a similar situation, running in all directions with his parents. The two only managed to find time to see each other twice. At Lin Feiran’s request, Gu Kaifeng would pack up the clothes he had worn over the past several days and give them to him, so Lin Feiran could absorb the Yang energy.

By this time Lin Feiran was not that scared of ghosts anymore, but he was worried about being disturbed by wandering ghosts in his sleep. So, every night before sleeping, he brought two or three of Gu Kaifeng’s articles of clothing into bed with him...

He looked quite thirsty!

In a coffee shop, Gu Kaifeng pressed a big hiking pack into Lin Feiran’s arms and said, “Inside are the clothes I’ve worn and some things I used these last couple of days.”

Lin Feiran happily took the huge Yang energy gift hamper and put it on the seat beside him.

“I have to say, all of this is rather troublesome,” Gu Kaifeng stirred his coffee and said. “Maybe your hubby should put some essence into a bottle for you...”

“Don’t tell me that.” Lin Feiran cut him off, red-faced.

Gu Kaifeng was too perverted!

Gu Kaifeng tsked and said coaxingly, “There’s a lot of Yang energy in that stuff. I’ve looked with my Yin-Yang eyes. Damn, so bright it’s blinding.”

Lin Feiran: “......”

Gu Kaifeng was caught up in his own pride and pointed a thumb at himself. “Your husband’s is a true-blue holy di...”

Lin Feiran swiftly scooped up a spoonful of sesame cake and shoved it in Gu Kaifeng’s mouth.

Gu Kaifeng swallowed the mouthful of cake and continued: “...ck.”

Lin Feiran glared. “Still can’t shut you up, can I?”

“I’ll be serious.” Gu Kaifeng’s demeanor became elegant and respectable.

Lin Feiran’s face was all distrust. “How serious can you be?”

He was a completely unserious person!

Gu Kaifeng lightly kicked Lin Feiran’s leg under the table and whispered, “RanRan, I’ve given you so many original-flavor clothes. Shouldn’t you return the favor?”

“No, I need the Yang energy.” Lin Feiran’s formality was chilling. “You want to beat your airplane.”

Gu Kaifeng bit his lip. “You’ve never beat it to my clothes?”

Lin Feiran’s eyes flashed. “No. Definitely not.”

Gu Kaifeng saw through him in a second. “As if.”

Lin Feiran: “......”

“So we’re agreed. Next time, bring your clothes too, or else I won’t trade,” Gu Kaifeng threatened with a smile.

“Got it, got it.” Lin Feiran rolled his eyes to conceal his internal excitement!

Exchanging clothes! Even the thought was thrilling!

The 7th day of the new year.

Lin Feiran had videochatted with Gu Kaifeng early into the morning, so the next morning he was still lazing in bed not having gotten enough sleep when his mother woke him up to go visiting. Lin Feiran carelessly washed and dressed in the same clothes he’d worn yesterday, then stumbled over to help his dad put visitation gifts into the car. These gifts were all high-end goods, and all together they were quite expensive. Lin Feiran asked curiously, “Dad, Mom, who are we visiting?”

Lin Feiran’s mother raised one eyebrow. “He’s what?”

Lin Feiran put a smile on his face. “Nothing. I’ll go change, then.”

Lin Feiran’s mother smiled. “What, just visiting a classmate and you have to doll up?”

“Yeah, or else he’ll laugh at me.” As Lin Feiran spoke he dashed like a rabbit through his door, opened his closet, and put together a matched outfit. Then he went into the bathroom and did his hair. By the time he returned, he looked especially radiant, completely different from the half-awake look he had worn before.

Lin Feiran’s mother looked him over for a moment, ruffled his hair and teased him with a smile, “You silly boy!”

Lin Feiran shrank his neck back and hurriedly straightened the hair his mother had mussed. He said guiltily, “Mom, how am I silly?”

Lin Feiran’s mother ignored him and lifted her chin. “Get in the car.”

In the car, Lin Feiran sent information to Gu Kaifeng like a little spy: “My parents are bringing me to your place to visit. We’ll be there in a bit. Make yourself look presentable.”

Gu Kaifeng replied in seconds: “Got it. Roger.”

Gu Kaifeng put down his phone and ran to the bathroom to tidy his own hair.

The two sets of parents met and exchanged greetings. The two children sat together in the living room for a while, but once their parents were not paying attention, they retreated into Gu Kaifeng’s bedroom.

Gu Kaifeng locked the door with the flick of a hand. He pulled Lin Feiran into his arms and kissed him hard, then said, “Baby looks so good today.”

“Of course I do. These clothes are new.” Lin Feiran backed off a little, proudly showing off his outfit to Gu Kaifeng. The two were intimate for a while then Lin Feiran said hesitantly, “Why do you think my parents suddenly thought of coming over to your house to visit?”

“Don’t know.” Gu Kaifeng hugged Lin Feiran, sucking on Lin Feiran’s neck like a little wolf. After eating his fill of his little cake, Gu Kaifeng straightened up contentedly and said mysteriously, “But I want to tell you something.”

Lin Feiran looked nervous. “What?”

“My parents seem to have found out about us.” Gu Kaifeng’s expression was calm. “It’s normal that they would’ve.”

Lin Feiran seemed to have been struck by lightning. “What?! How do you know?!”

“It’s just a guess. They didn’t say anything outright,” Gu Kaifeng said. “But these few days they’ve been beating around the bush and asking me about you.”

“And what did you say?” Lin Feiran asked nervously.

“I just praised you,” Gu Kaifeng laughed. “And I also beat around the bush to ask what they were doing. They said I should focus on my studies and not think too much, but no matter what difficulties happened to me in life ahead, they’d stand on my side and help me get rid of obstacles. No matter what, my happiness is important... At that time they didn’t say anything concrete, and were rather vague, but looking at them, I think that’s what they meant. What do you think?”

Lin Feiran thought a moment and said, “I think so, too... if there wasn’t anything the matter why would they suddenly talk about all that?”

Gu Kaifeng pinched his cheek: “So, rest assured, it’ll be fine. My parents are very open-minded.”

“My parents should also be...” Lin Feiran tried to imagine how his parents would react if they knew about Gu Kaifeng.

“No need to worry. Even if they don’t agree, my parents are around to do the convincing. Besides, didn’t Monk Cheng Guan say everything in our future will go smoothly? There won’t be a problem,” Gu Kaifeng said, and suddenly picked up Lin Feiran and threw him on the bed, pressed him down and started touching, rubbing and pinching. He whispered, “Let’s not talk about that. I haven’t touched you in a few days.”

He had swiftly regained his true unruly character!

The two were intimate in the bedroom for a while. In the living room, the four parents were chatting up a storm as though this was not their first meeting. Especially the mothers– they seemed to get along so well that the two fathers could not find a quiet moment to say anything at all, and had to quietly drink tea on their own.

Gu Kaifeng had taken enough advantage now and his manner was refreshed. He pulled the red-faced Lin Feiran out of the bedroom towards the study. Lin Feiran followed him, tugging the collar of his new sweater up as hard as he could. He chased Gu Kaifeng, asking “Can you see anything?”

Gu Kaifeng turned around and looked. The hickey he had sucked on had been hidden by Lin Feiran under his sweater, so he said, “Can’t see it any more. Don’t worry.”

Xia Xia ran up from the first floor and rushed at his sister-in-law, as if he really wanted a hug of love! But Gu Kaifeng coldly picked up Xia Xia and put him outside the door, then shut the study door.

The supporting male lead with the least screen time in history: “Woof? Woof woof woof?!”

“What’s the matter, haven’t gotten enough?” Lin Feiran was used to having that done to him, so the moment he saw Gu Kaifeng shut the door, he reflexively caught hold of his collar.

“What are you thinking?” Gu Kaifeng said with a smile. “Just want to show you something.”

“What?” Lin Feiran looked around. The study was still the same: bookshelves spanning two walls, the giant desk, the ancestral sword in the old cupboard...

“Open your Yin-Yang Eyes, and don’t be afraid.” Gu Kaifeng shut his eyes and skillfully controlled the flow of Yin energy. The air grew colder, and Lin Feiran saw the short sword in the cabinet radiate a violet-black light. He had never entered the room with his Yin-Yang Eyes active before, and had not noticed the true form of the short sword. Now Lin Feiran stared at it and discovered that the blackness was a smoke-like object swirling around the short sword, and the violet seemed to be a kind of light that gently wrapped around the sword.

The ancestors weren’t in the study at the moment. Perhaps they had all gone to the first-floor living room to visit Gu Kaifeng’s future in-laws.

Lin Feiran said in surprise, “This is...?”

Gu Kaifeng’s expression was very calm; clearly, he had already seen this before. He said, “This short sword is a Gu family heirloom. Many generations ago it was bestowed upon us by an Emperor. It was with the Emperor for a very long time, and my ancestors said that violet light was the royal violet energy the Emperor carried... this violet energy has protected our Gu family for many generations.”

“You asked your ancestors?” Lin Feiran’s expression was one of tender sympathy. “You didn’t get hit, did you?”

Gu Kaifeng: “......”

“Then... the ancestors didn’t go to reincarnate, because of this sword?” Lin Feiran asked again.

“Yes.” Gu Kaifeng nodded. “Several generations of the Gu family wielded this sword in battle. It has killed too many people. Look at the black cloud around it. My ancestors said that’s negative energy from having been stained with too much fresh blood. It brings bad luck to the wielder of the sword. All these years, if it hadn’t been for them not going to reincarnate and staying here to hold back the grudges on this sword, who knows what would have become of the Gu family. Perhaps I would’ve never even been born... On the other hand, my ancestral grandmothers all went to reincarnate, because my ancestral grandfathers felt that guarding the sword through these many generations and keeping the negative energy in check is a burden that shouldn’t be left to women.”

The Gu family had a hereditary trait of loving its wives!

“So that’s why!” Lin Feiran came to a realization. “In that case...”

He was about to tell Gu Kaifeng to hand the sword over to a museum so that his ancestral grandfathers could go to reincarnate, but recalling that this was the Gu family’s ancestral heirloom, he choked back the words.

Gu Kaifeng seemed to have guessed what he was thinking. “I told my ancestors they could put the sword in a museum, but they didn’t agree. They said that as long as the Gu family exists, the family heirloom cannot fall into another’s hands. Besides, the violet energy on the sword can still bring good fortune to the head of the Gu family... However,” Gu Kaifeng said with a sly smile, “You and I won’t have children. When I die, the Gu family will be gone, and my ancestors will have to go to reincarnate no matter what.”

The ancestors who knew nothing of Gu Kaifeng’s aspirations now circled the living room with pained hearts, watching the parents of the two families converse enthusiastically. “......”

They had even met that boy’s parents!

The Gu family was done for!

The Lantern Festival fell on the last day of winter vacation. The next day, school would start again.

That night, Gu Kaifeng booked a car and went to Lin Feiran’s house after eating dinner with his family. He called Lin Feiran and, five minutes later, Lin Feiran ran out the door. Seeing Gu Kaifeng with his arms folded and leaning against the car, he stopped and steadied himself for a couple seconds, then could not resist flying into Gu Kaifeng’s arms for a bear hug.

“Where shall we go to play?” Lin Feiran asked with shining eyes.

On the phone, Gu Kaifeng had said that he wanted to take him out to have fun for the last day of vacation.

“Let’s go set off fireworks, all right?” Gu Kaifeng pulled open the door and let Lin Feiran in.

“We have to do it.” Lin Feiran nodded excitedly. His neighborhood regulated setting off spring fireworks, and Lin Feiran had never seen them on the New Year.

Gu Kaifeng entered through the other door and sat, leaning against him. “I’ve bought them. They’re in the trunk. Let’s find a deserted place with a good line of sight.”

Half an hour later, the car pulled to a stop in an open place in the suburbs. The snow from a few days ago still remained on the ground. Because the location was isolated, the snow looked pristine.

Gu Kaifeng pulled the fireworks from the trunk, then took a lighter from his pocket. He put the fireworks on the ground and lit them one by one.

Beautiful flames shot through the sky, and Lin Feiran’s upturned face was illuminated by the light from the fireworks.

“Baby, do you dare set one off?” Gu Kaifeng pressed the lighter into Lin Feiran’s hands. “Try it out?”

“Of course I dare.” Lin Feiran fiddled with the lighter for a moment, ran over to the firework and lit the fuse, then rushed back to Gu Kaifeng’s arms.

When the fuse had finished burning, something rose from the ground with a pop and shot into the heavens. In a flash, brilliant light spread through the sky.

“RanRan.” Gu Kaifeng wrapped his arms around Lin Feiran from behind, putting his chin on his shoulder, and asked gently, “I want to ask you something. Answer honestly.”

“Ask away.” Lin Feiran lifted a hand to touch his face.

“When you first transferred...” Gu Kaifeng’s arm around Lin Feiran’s waist tightened, like a punishment. “Why did you ignore me all the time and always provoke me?”

Lin Feiran said calmly, “In order to attract your attention. You’re the tyrannical school beau.”

“You’re not being honest.” Gu Kaifeng held onto Lin Feiran with one hand and started tickling him with the other.

Lin Feiran was so ticklish he laughed out loud, but he could not escape and had to plead for mercy: “Ha ha ha ha I know I’m wrong...”

Gu Kaifeng stopped and said, “Tell me, why?”

“At that time, I was...” Remembering what he had been thinking at that time, Lin Feiran felt that he had been so silly he was spouting bubbles. He was so embarrassed his neck reddened and he said softly, “I was a little envious of you. I thought you were better than me at everything and stole my thunder, so I was very unhappy... you’re upset, are you?”

Gu Kaifeng was stunned for a moment, then he laughed softly and said, “I’m not better than you at everything. On the contrary, I think you’re better than me at everything.”

Lin Feiran sheepishly made a noise of assent and explained, “I was too childish at that time...”

Gu Kaifeng said shamelessly, “Maybe it’s because beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, so when you look at me, everything is good.”

Lin Feiran not only did not contradict him, the corners of his lips even gently curved up.

Gu Kaifeng asked with a smile, “Then, are you still unhappy that I’m good at everything?”

“Of course not.” Lin Feiran turned around and faced Gu Kaifeng, and raised both arms to loop around his neck. Sincerely and audaciously, he said, “You’re mine. What’s there to be envious about? I’m happy that you’re good at everything...”

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a heated kiss.

On the ground, two sets of feet wearing identical shoes walked over the thin layer of snow that remained.

In the dark of the night, the light from the fireworks burst through the sky. A blossom of fire shot through the sky like a meteor, bright and radiant, drawing a tail through the tapestry of the sky. The small field of snow was warmed by its radiance.

They had weathered many things together, but their fated lifetime of joy and happiness had just begun.

Time was gentle, and the years before them were long——