In the days that followed, Lu Family Village was bustling with activity.
The injured from the accident were gradually picked up by their families, and Su Liang moved into the dormitory the village chief had arranged for him. With that, he was officially settled into Lu Family Village.
With this new addition, the village’s aunties and gossiping sisters couldn’t help but bring up the handsome young man whenever they chatted.
“Hey, did you hear? That school’s opened again!”
“Can you believe it? That Su teacher looks all delicate like a girl, but in just a few days, he actually managed to get that rundown school back up and running!”
“Have you kept an eye on your kid? School’s about to start, and I bet there’s gonna be a fuss.”
“Of course there’s gonna be fuss! My brat would rather roll around in the pigsty than go to school…”
“My girl’s not too bad. She even dug out the old textbooks that Teacher Huang left behind. Says she’s getting ready for school.”
…
When the previous teacher was brought up, everyone fell silent for a moment.
Even with the school reopening, most villagers weren’t optimistic about Su Liang.
After all, the conditions in Lu Family Village had been terrible. When the first teacher came, everyone was thrilled—they’d kill their best hen just to give him good food. But the scrawny, shabby-looking teacher only lasted a few days before running off.
As for Su Liang… Well, he was definitely beautiful. Maybe too beautiful. He looked too delicate—like a rich young master. In the villagers’ eyes, someone who looked like that couldn’t possibly handle hardship.
“Sigh… Who knows how long this school will last this time.”
The cheerful tone of the woman planning for her child’s schooling turned somewhat gloomy.
This sentiment was shared by most of the villagers—everyone except Lu Taipan.
Of course, Lu Taipan didn’t think Su Liang couldn’t handle hardship. But on the day the village school officially reopened, watching the young man who had clearly lost weight over the past few days, he couldn’t help but feel a little worried.
“If those little punks act out, just tell me. I’ll come help straighten them out.”
His voice was calm, but the tone was grave.
Su Liang couldn’t help but remember the way Lu Taipan had meticulously made plans to take down armed criminals on that cruise ship all those years ago. And yet, back then, he seemed more relaxed than he did now.
…Just what kind of trauma did the village kids give Lu Taipan?
For some reason, Su Liang wanted to laugh just looking at Lu Taipan’s current expression.
“I’ll be fine. I’m the teacher—I can handle it.”
Su Liang offered him a gentle reassurance.
“Besides, it’s not like I can really trouble you to help me beat up little kids.”
He added with a wry smile.
“Why not? Back in the day, even my squad full of unruly punks started behaving after a proper beating or two—” Lu Taipan replied instinctively, but upon meeting Su Liang’s softly smiling face, his voice automatically softened.
Su Liang was just… too soft.
So soft that even raising his voice around him felt like a kind of sacrilege.
Something warm and unfamiliar stirred in Lu Taipan’s chest.
“Anyway, if anything comes up, just come to me.”
He cleared his throat and added a bit awkwardly.
“I will. Thank you… ge.”
Su Liang blinked and, after a moment’s hesitation, said it in a soft voice.
In the spring sunlight, his cheeks turned faintly pink as he called out that “ge.” The breeze swept past, carrying with it a few delicate peach blossoms from the tree outside the school. One petal floated down, landing softly in Su Liang’s hair.
Lu Taipan stared at him. Before he realized it, his hand had already reached out to gently pluck the petal from Su Liang’s temple.
His calloused fingers brushed lightly against Su Liang’s cheek. Even though they were both men, Lu Taipan couldn’t help but think—Su Liang’s skin… was as soft as tofu.
Like he’d been burned, Lu Taipan quickly withdrew his hand, clutching the petal between his fingers.
“I—I’ll head off then.”
He didn’t even realize he was stammering slightly, nor did he notice Su Liang’s heart racing from that small touch.
As Su Liang turned and walked toward the classroom, he took a few steps before sneaking a glance back.
Lu Taipan was already gone.
He lifted a hand and gently touched the spot on his face where Lu Taipan had brushed him.
…Still warm. Hot enough to fry an egg.
Meanwhile, Lu Taipan hadn’t gone far before he stopped, loosening his collar. A restless heat simmered beneath his skin, leaving him tense and irritable.
And that petal—still in his hand.
A man who had never cared for romance or sentiment, now, in this spring moment, placed the petal into his mouth.
The tip of his tongue pressed it to his palate and crushed it. The taste was faintly bitter, but somehow… sweet.
A dizzying kind of sweet.
That night, Lu Taipan had a dream.
A very, very strange dream.
Everything in it felt foreign. And yet, the bizarre world—with flying cars and buildings made of metal—felt oddly familiar.
He even dreamed of the village chief. Only the chief was wearing a strange white lab coat, staring at him sternly.
“Lord Snake Master, I truly can’t make sense of this anymore.”
The chief’s voice carried a sense of frustration and despair.
“Your emotional readings are still way off the baseline. When it comes to Young Master Su Liang, your obsession and possessiveness remain in the danger zone. And if I’m not mistaken, you two have been married for over a decade? You still subconsciously feel hostility toward your three sons—that’s unacceptable. You have to get yourself under control!”
“…”
Married?
Ten years?
What the hell was the chief talking about? Lu Taipan frowned and opened his mouth to respond, but then he noticed a mirror in the room.
The reflection stunned him.
The man staring back at him was clearly over forty. Handsome, yes, but bearing the marks of time. Yet even so, there was an aura of power and stability—like someone who had it all.
For a fleeting moment, Lu Taipan genuinely felt like he had spent a decade married to Su Liang.
With… three kids.
His heart stirred. When he looked around again, the odd clinic was gone.
He was now in a foggy bathroom.
His body was wet, standing in front of a mirror, water dripping down and stinging the faint scratch marks on his chest and back.
Oddly enough, the pain felt… satisfying.
He even turned to get a better look at the scratches.
He could practically imagine how they got there—how someone soft and flushed had clawed at him while overwhelmed…
His breathing quickened.
He pushed open the bathroom door and stepped out.
Outside was a bedroom. The bed was a mess. In it, tangled in the covers, was a tear-stained young man.
No—he wasn’t exactly young anymore.
He looked about thirty, still achingly beautiful. But it was a beauty that had fully bloomed, like a ripe fruit dripping with sweetness.
A seduction that could swallow a man whole.
Sensing his presence, the man turned, still half-asleep. He reached out, wrapping his arms around Lu Taipan’s neck, and kissed him deeply.
This Su Liang… this kiss…
Lu Taipan completely lost control.
The next morning, Xue Yinhua jogged up to Lu Taipan’s house whistling, planning to sneak a peek at his idol practicing his martial arts—only to find Lu Taipan chopping wood instead.
Chop.
Chop.
The crisp sound echoed through the courtyard.
Xue Yinhua stared in disbelief at the towering stack of neatly split logs lining the wall.
“…Big bro, what are you doing?”
Usually, when Yinhua came to watch him, they had a silent agreement—Yinhua stayed quiet, and Lu Taipan pretended not to notice him peeking through the wall.
But today, Yinhua couldn’t help asking.
“It’s spring already. Why are you chopping so much firewood?”
Judging by the pile, it must’ve taken him all night.
Why?
Lu Taipan stood up, wiped his sweat with a towel, and cast a cool glance his way.
“…Couldn’t sleep. Needed something to do.”
He explained flatly.
Cold showers hadn’t worked. He’d burned with restless energy until he nearly split enough firewood to last through next winter.
“Huh? Insomnia? My dad has insomnia too! He’s got a folk remedy—next time I’ll steal it for you—”
Lu Taipan stared at him, his eyes narrowing.
“Why aren’t you in school?”
His voice turned chilling.
Yinhua froze mid-sentence.
??!?!
Xue Yinhua was convinced something was wrong with his big bro.
Lu Taipan, who once single-handedly took down a rampaging boar that terrorized their cornfield, was now acting like… a nagging mom.
Back then, the boar had injured several villagers. The village chief had even thought about calling the town’s security team—but everyone knew that was useless.
Until one night, a gunshot rang out from the mountain.
The next morning, Lu Taipan dragged the dead boar down the hill.
From then on, no more wild pigs dared touch Lu Family Village.
From that day forward, Yinhua idolized him. He vowed to grow up to be a real man like Lu Taipan.
But now?
Now he was acting weird because of some pretty city teacher?
Since Su Liang arrived, Lu Taipan had started treating Yinhua like his own kid. He’d never scolded him for skipping school before—now, he caught him and made him copy essays as punishment!
“I can’t live like this anymore!” Yinhua wailed one day to his group of followers.
The younger boys awkwardly exchanged glances.
Finally, they pushed the smallest one forward.
“Brother Yinhua… why don’t you just go to school with us? Teacher Su tells the best stories!”
“Yeah, he’s not like Teacher Huang! He’s amazing. School’s really fun now!”
“We’re already on lesson three. I’ve learned over twenty characters! My mom gave me a sweet egg last night!”
“Come on, Brother Yinhua! Teacher Su said not knowing how to read is called being… illiterate! It’ll make life super hard!”
…
It was over.
Yinhua looked at his once loyal little brothers, eyes glowing as they gushed about Su Liang, and felt a wave of despair.
He had no doubt—his brothers had all been brainwashed.
All because of a pretty little schoolteacher.
That night…
Su Liang yawned and closed his lesson plans.
He stretched, then noticed how dark it was outside the window.
Had he really worked this late? He gave a soft laugh and rubbed his neck, gathering his things before heading out of the makeshift office.
Village nights were darker than the city. Once the sun set, only house lights lit the way. Luckily, the moon was bright tonight, silver light spilling across the ground, saving Su Liang the trouble of using a flashlight to find his way.
“Xiao Liang…”
A familiar voice called out.
Su Liang turned and, under the blooming peach tree, saw the tall figure of Lu Taipan.
“Lu-ge? What are you doing here?”
Su Liang called out in surprise.
He hadn’t seen him for days—rumor had it he was busy helping in the nearby town.
It had only been a few days apart, yet Su Liang felt like he’d been missing something, his heart inexplicably hollow.
Now, seeing him again, that empty feeling vanished in an instant.
“I was going to drop by your dorm, but I saw the lights here and figured I’d wait. Remember the family you helped during the car accident? They ran into me in the next village and asked me to bring you this watermelon as thanks.”
Lu Taipan explained.
“That’s so kind of them. But… why wait outside? You could’ve just come in.”
Su Liang smiled.
“I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Lu Taipan replied simply.
Of course, that wasn’t the whole truth.
Ever since he had that vivid, shame-inducing, yet impossibly alluring dream, Lu Taipan had been avoiding being alone with Su Liang.
The dream had felt too real.
Sometimes, he wondered if it had actually happened—that he had pinned Su Liang down, made him cry out hoarsely, even dragged him back when he tried to escape…
The images haunted him.
He should have stayed away.
That’s why he’d run off to the town.
But some things… can’t be controlled.
In all his life, Lu Taipan had faced countless challenges. Yet none had left him feeling this helpless.
It was just a dream. And yet, it had lit a fire inside him that refused to go out.
He missed Su Liang. Missed his voice, his smile, the way he said “ge” so softly.
He thought about him day and night, and the dreams only got worse.
Sometimes they were married with three annoying kids. Sometimes he just dragged Su Liang straight into the cornfield—
In just a few days, he’d nearly worn through his underwear.
Too many cold showers. Too many dreams.
And yet… here he was again.
Little Pink Starfish 
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