TATLC Chapter 06 – Sugared Water

TLN: “糖水 (táng shuǐ)” literally means “sugar water,” but it refers to a simple sweet drink or syrup made by dissolving sugar in water. It also has the same characters as Tong sui or Tim tong, which are specific types of Cantonese sweet dessert soups.

“Da-ge.” Chen Xiaocai tugged at Chen Xiaomi’s sleeve when he returned home.

Chen Xiaomi glanced at Chen Xiaocai’s tense expression and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Xiaomai said that Lu Lin was secretly drinking sugared water,” Chen Xiaocai whispered mysteriously.

Knowing that Lu Lin was secretly drinking sugared water made Chen Xiaocai very curious. There was no sugar at home, so maybe Lu Lin secretly brought sugar and mixed it with water to drink.

However, no matter how much Chen Xiaocai asked, Chen Xiaomai couldn’t explain clearly. He just happily exclaimed that the sugared water was delicious. After asking repeatedly, Chen Xiaomai only kept saying excitedly that the sugared water was delicious, the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted.

Chen Xiaocai was still a young child and was very curious about this supposedly delicious drink his little brother mentioned, but he was too embarrassed to ask Lu Lin directly.

By the time Chen Xiaomi came back, Lu Lin had already recovered quite a bit.

Lu Lin sized up Chen Xiaomi and was somewhat surprised by his appearance.

The original owner of the body had been gloomy, always walking with his head down, and didn’t interact with many people.

The original owner had not seen Chen Xiaomi in years, so Lu Lin couldn’t learn what Chen Xiaomi looked like from the original’s memories.

Given Chen Xiaomi’s fierce reputation, in the original owner’s impression, Chen Xiaomi looked like a green-faced, fanged demon. However, the reality was that Chen Xiaomi looked quite energetic, appeared fairly young, and was somewhat cute. He had large eyes with clear, dark pupils, giving off the vibe of a feisty little brat. Lu Lin secretly felt a sense of gap moe¹.

Lu Lin thought to himself: The rumors were so exaggerated, but in the end, he’s just a kid who’s barely come of age.

Lu Lin had been carried over on a door panel. After bringing him in, Chen Xiaomi covered him with a tattered blanket and then left him alone.

By nightfall, Lu Lin’s thoughts began to wander. He had married into this family, and although the wedding had been crude, they could be considered newlyweds. Perhaps they should consummate the marriage.

In his previous life, Lu Lin was gay. Although society had become much more open-minded, many people still couldn’t accept homosexuality.

After joining his company, Lu Lin had always concealed his sexual orientation, planning to find someone like-minded when the time was right.

But as fate would have it, a girl took a liking to him and pursued him for a long time. Lu Lin rejected her several times, but she only grew more determined with each rejection.

Left with no choice, Lu Lin finally told her that he wasn’t interested in women. The girl left in disbelief, and the next day, Lu Lin received a termination letter from the company. They had fired him for his “immoral private life.” Lu Lin didn’t need to guess who had revealed his secret.

Sighing at how terrifyingly ruthless women could be, Lu Lin left the company and returned to the countryside to run the small convenience store his parents had left behind. The business was neither good nor bad, but enough to make a living.

Chen Xiaomi returned and prepared dinner, then sent Chen Xiaocai to deliver a bowl of thin porridge and a chicken leg to Lu Lin.

When Lu Lin saw the chicken leg, he was somewhat surprised. Before, his First Aunt told people that once he entered Chen Xiaomi’s household, he would have meat to eat. He didn’t expect it to be true.

Lu Lin gnawed on the chicken leg. Chen Xiaomi’s cooking skills weren’t great, and the chicken leg was bland, but considering salt was the only seasoning in the house, Lu Lin felt he couldn’t ask for more.

Chen Xiaocai watched as Lu Lin ate the chicken leg without any courtesy, feeling somewhat depressed, thinking they had brought a money-losing burden into the family.

After Chen Xiaomi and Chen Xiaocai finished cleaning up, they went to bed.

Lu Lin waited for a while until he heard the different pitches of snoring from the three brothers. He secretly complained that as the married-in husband, he was clearly just for show!

Lu Lin blinked, thinking to himself: This house is too shabby. The kitchen and living room were connected, and the small bedroom was barely enough for the three brothers, let alone adding me sleeping on the floor.

Chen Xiaomi’s appearance actually matched Lu Lin’s aesthetic preferences quite well, which secretly made him happy.

Having been a virgin for nearly thirty years in his previous life, Lu Lin had some expectations for a “happy life” in this one. However, given the current situation, it seemed unlikely in the short term. Chen Xiaomi only wanted to find a tool to avoid taxes.

Moreover, Chen Xiaomi had two little light bulbs² around him. That Chen Xiaocai seemed particularly difficult to deal with and clearly looked down on him.

Lu Lin also thought the original owner was somewhat stupid. Being married into a family with a Shuang’er wasn’t so bad that he needed to drown himself in the river. Even the smallest creatures cling to life, so why be so desperate? After all, his life in the Lu family had been miserable too. How much worse could it get?

Lu Lin thought for a while until he felt drowsy, then dozed off again.