Wild Creatures

Chapter 136

And then they both laugh, a huff from Lan Zhan that fits perfectly with Wei Ying's giggles.

The way Wei Ying had used his endearment with what should be a frightening prospect, it was unexpected and ironic, hence their amusement which diffused their simmering tension.

Wei Ying settles himself back comfortably on his Lan Zhan pillow, sighing softly.

"What do you think Grandmother is going to do with Vladimir?"

"Grandmother is thorough. She'll want to find out where Vladimir found the samples to begin with, and then she'll threaten Wen Qing. From what you said yesterday, I think Xiao XingChen sent A-Qing to collect the ones Vladimir had already taken."

"Is it bad if I don't want to know? About any of it?" Wei Ying gestures vaguely in the air.

"Not at all. In fact, I have a question for Wei Ying." Lan Zhan would prefer if Wei Ying could indulge himself: if he doesn't want to talk about yesterday, then talking about anything else would be a good distraction.

Wei Ying is getting frisky and restless apparently, as his mouth begins to kiss a warm path from Lan Zhan's jaw to his ear. It's becoming difficult for Lan Zhan to remember his words, let alone saying them out loud.

"Where... would Wei Ying like to.... get married?" His breathing is erratic, as little explosions of joy burst into life wherever Wei Ying's mouth lands, his sweet kisses becoming insistent and demanding.

"My love," Wei Ying tells him in between kisses, "as you know, I'm an organic kind of guy." Kiss, kiss, kiss. "We'll know when we see it," he smiles upon the blooming hickey he's managed to plant on Lan Zhan's neck.

"But, ah, I would like to, ah, plan something," Lan Zhan struggles to put together any kind of a sentence, because it's not only Wei Ying's mouth getting bolder; his hands have joined the party and are sliding under the hem of his pyjamas.

"Later," Wei Ying promised him, going to town.

No more thoughts existed in either of them after that.

***********

Saturdays were reserved for homework with the children, and Wei Ying sat down to tackle arithmetic with JingYi and A-Yuan, while Uncle Qiren put in his two cents here and there, and between the two of them, they managed to instil the basic principle of it.

Lan Zhan caught up with extraneous work on the architectural front, securing meetings for next week, between XiChen and possible new clients.

Lunchtime came faster than anyone expected, and then in the afternoon, they played educational games designed to make children think beyond obvious strategies for winning. Wei Ying had thought the games were a little too advanced for six year olds, but they soon proved him wrong, challenging him outright to try and win against them.

***************

Sunday morning came with an attack of cuteness brutally stealing their hearts as the children had remembered Wei Ying's promise of being allowed to go and help them with painting in their new home, so they were up and excited before anyone else was, in the manor.

Two strong black coffees later, and Wei Ying possessed about half of their enthusiasm as they finished breakfast together.

And then they were off.

Wei Ying had been thinking about JingYi's idea of having space bunnies on the walls and how to make it easy for the kids to help. Lan Zhan already told him that he could paint large surfaces, but anything artistic was beyond his capability, and he would be leaving that part of the decorating up to Wei Ying's expertise, thank you very much.