Wheat Seedlings - Chapter 6

The light in the room was on, and everything was thrown into disarray.

Amidst the chaos of the room, Chen Li's eyes immediately landed on Mai Miao.

Mai Miao had curled himself into the corner, limbs drawn in tightly.

He was drenched as if he'd been swimming, sweat soaking through his undershirt, his disheveled hair sticking damply to his forehead and face, his eyes and red lips glistening with moisture.

With every step Chen Li took into the room, the world around him seemed to shift gradually. The clamor outside grew muffled, as if separated by a thick layer of sponge, drifting further and further from his reality.

Slowly, his dark eyes focused solely on Mai Miao in the corner.

The moment someone entered, Mai Miao instinctively sensed danger.

Now, Mai Miao had become unusually sensitive the slightest movement could send him into a panic, let alone the oppressive aura emanating from Chen Li.

Just like the scent he had caught by the river that time.

It was an urgent, life-threatening odor, assaulting Mai Miao's heightened senses.

Terrified, Mai Miao shrank even further into the wall.

Before he knew it, Chen Li had reached his side.

He stared unblinkingly at the person before him, as if seeing him for the first time, or as if he wanted to scrutinize every inch of him.

Mai Miao tried to shrink away, but there was nowhere to hide.

Suddenly, Chen Li grabbed his shoulders and forcefully turned him around.

Only then did he see—Mai Miao was clutching a sweat-stained shirt tightly in his arms. It was Chen Li's.

All night, he had relied on the lingering scent of this shirt to ease his suffering.

Though Mai Miao was simple-minded, he still understood some things, vaguely aware of what was right and what wasn't.

For instance, now, he dimly realized that something was wrong.

Mai Miao trembled violently, his legs pressing together as if in shame, clumsily trying to conceal some frightening change under Chen Li's gaze.

His movements knocked over an enamel cup at his feet.

That enamel cup had been used at their parents' wedding, its once-bright floral pattern now faded and peeling. The swaying overhead light cast eerie shadows over the bold red "Double Happiness" character on its surface.

The neighbors in the courtyard were still gathered outside. After peering in and hearing nothing for a while, they debated whether to check inside again.

Unexpectedly, Mai Miao's piercing scream suddenly rang out from the house.

An old woman tugged at someone's arm, urgently pointing inside. "Hurry go in and see!"

Just as Aunt Liu's son was about to bang on the door, it was flung open.

Chen Li had wrapped Mai Miao tightly in the thick winter quilt and hoisted him over his shoulder.

To the onlookers, it seemed even Chen Li couldn't handle the situation, and they hastily offered advice.

Chen Li tightened his grip on the bundled figure and addressed the crowd, "I'm taking him to the clinic. Let the doctor check him."

In the dim light, none of the neighbors could clearly see Chen Li's expression. But his words inexplicably reassured them, and they murmured about how steady Chen Li was in a crisis.

At that moment, Aunt Liu's eldest son pushed a bicycle over from outside. "The donkey cart's too slow. Take this bike go quickly!"

As Chen Li carried Mai Miao out of the courtyard, Mai Miao continued to scream and kick, his shrill cries enough to wake the dead.

From the village to the commune was a journey of two or three miles, with wheat fields lining both sides of the path.

Chen Li rode his bicycle with one hand while holding Mai Miao close with the other.

Chen Li had genuinely intended to take Mai Miao to see a doctor—but what plan did he really have? He was just as panicked.

He he never expected... that in this lifetime, he would actually find his destined partner!

The thick, sweet scent of pheromones emanating from the person in his arms, the soft body pressed tightly against his chest, made Chen Li's heart burn fiercely once more—

People like them were different from ordinary folk.

It wasn't until his teens that Chen Li learned the world could divide people into several categories.

Among the dozen or so villages, he was the only one of his kind. Later, when he joined the military, he discovered that people like him had destined partners. But what this partner might be like none of them had ever encountered or experienced it before.

In his youth, he had imagined this partner.

He dreamed about it as he grew older, fantasized about it in his sleep.

Beautiful or thin, round or slender—even missing an arm or a leg—Chen Li thought he had imagined every possibility.

He had even considered whether they might be alive or dead, but he never imagined his partner would be Mai Miao.

As Chen Li came to his senses, his heart gradually cooled.

But before it could cool completely, Mai Miao's condition flared up again.

Chen Li knew that when their destined partners matured, they would fall ill. For some, it happened as early as their teens; for others, it could be delayed until their twenties.

If a compatible partner was nearby, the illness would strike earlier and more violently.

Mai Miao opened his eyes, dazed, his body frighteningly hot.

Then, as if possessed, he began struggling desperately, whimpering and letting out helpless, pleading sounds.

Chen Li's body tensed with arousal—if he had a knife in hand right now, he would have stabbed himself without hesitation.

Yet, even with such resolve, he couldn't withstand Mai Miao's single word: "Ge..."

Chen Li staggered, lowering his head to gaze at the person in his arms with bloodshot eyes.

Mai Miao was still wrapped in the quilt, his face flushed with fever, his bangs sticking to his forehead. He seemed delirious from the illness, yet he recognized the one holding him.

He looked at Chen Li with desperate longing, his lips parting with each ragged breath: "Ge..."

"Miao Miao." Chen Li called out silently.

In an instant, he abandoned the bicycle and lifted Mai Miao into his arms.

The wheat in the fields had already been harvested, leaving only stubble behind.

Chen Li didn't even make it far before they tumbled together into the scattered remnants of wheat.

Amidst the wild earth and straw, Chen Li finally became a beast.

He couldn't wait he pressed forward, biting Mai Miao's neck in a frantic, greedy frenzy, inhaling his scent with desperate hunger, lingering there as if it would never be enough.

Mai Miao twisted his face away, whimpering as he tried to evade, but Chen Li chased after him like a starving man tasting meat for the first time, kissing his neck, his cheeks, savoring every inch. Only after brushing aside the stray hairs stuck to Mai Miao's face did he finally lower his head and capture his lips.

Mai Miao clenched his fists, weakly pounding Chen Li's back once before his fingers curled tightly into the man's clothes.

"Mm... ah..." Chen Li sucked on those lips, allowing only pitiful whimpers to escape, his tongue too distracted for any fancy tricks. All he wanted was Mai Miao—to take him completely, fiercely.

The summer night was alive with the fervent cries of cicadas.

This being Mai Miao's first time suffering from the affliction, the cravings came in waves. Now that he'd kissed Chen Li, some of the tension had eased.

Thick with the scent of gunpowder, the momentary satisfaction passed, and Mai Miao's instincts as a "companion"—those of self-preservation resurfaced.

Trembling, he shrank back, evading Chen Li, then hissed through his nose as he scrambled onto his elbows, panting wildly in his desperate attempt to flee.

But before he could crawl more than a few steps, a ruthless yank dragged him back.

Mai Miao let out a hoarse cry as he was thrown back onto the ground this time, truly with no escape.

Hearing Mai Miao's sobs, Chen Li felt not an ounce of pity. Instead, his scalp prickled, his teeth clenched painfully, and a wicked fire burned in his chest.

The next moment, before Mai Miao could even dodge, his pants were torn off in the chaotic struggle. When Chen Li tried to pry his legs apart, Mai Miao fought back violently, kicking and wailing in despair.

Yet what strength did he have to resist? Those tightly clenched legs were eventually forced open by Chen Li.

The moonlight that night was blindingly bright.

Just like the night he left his hometown, when Chen Li first sat in the empty metal train car, resting his head as he quietly watched the receding wheat stubble fields.

It was on a similar night that he first learned they had "companions."

Forget appearances or what their bodies were like—the army's schools didn't teach such things. It was all hearsay, wild imaginings.

Chen Li stared at Mai Miao.

Mai Miao's lower half was clean—he'd seen it before but never touched it.

Now, the root between his thighs was a different sight entirely. Blood seemed to rush there, forming a stiff little rod, with even his flesh-toned sac swollen tight.

Between Mai Miao's legs was slick, a mix of sweat and musk, blending sickly sweet with the wheat scent clinging to his body.

Chen Li spread those trembling legs wider. Mai Miao's body jerked, his cock arching slightly as a few thin drops of fluid spilled from the tip onto the wheat stubble below. Who would have thought that just beneath the perineum lay a narrow slit of flesh?

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