REDPEAFOWL, Chapter 13: The Plant Gift
The illegal organ trafficking case ended well, with the person receiving the most praise likely being Lu Yipeng, who himself is not particularly pleased with this outcome. Being deceived alone, the whole plan doesn’t seem very pleasing to him!
“Inspector Lu.” Duan Feng greeted immediately upon seeing Lu Yipeng walking into the office. After being called to make a report in order to be considered for a salary increase. As soon as he saw Duan Feng about to speak,
Lu Yipeng hurriedly interjected, “If it’s about the Li case, there’s no need to say anything.”
Duan Feng, caught off guard, stammered before shaking his head, “No, I was just going to say that someone brought a plant for you.” He pointed towards Lu
Yipeng’s desk, where a young police officer turned to see a potted plant placed there.
“Who sent it?” Lu Yipeng immediately asked, and the person asked shook their head, “There’s a card attached, but I’m too scared to open and read it.”
Lu Yipeng walked over. There was indeed a white card stabbed into the plant. Inside was a short and simple message.
“To Pengpeng.”
Without needing to be told, the sender was clear from the card. There was nothing else specified. Lu Yipeng wanted to throw the plant in the trash for real, but it was just a plant. It didn’t do anything wrong at all. Besides, its green pot with red patterns looked pretty and quirky. Round, cute, not bad at all. So… might as well keep it for now.
And so the young inspector reluctantly took the pot of rice and curry plant to stack it with evidence.
“What is it now, Inspector?” Chief Inspector Wen asked immediately upon seeing Lu Yipeng walk in with the plant before raising an eyebrow, “What’s this, is it the plant eating bugs from Southeast Asia now? Are you turning into a gardener?”
“No. Someone brought it to me. Can you please check if there’s anything suspicious about it?”
“Hmm… Hong Kongque’s stuff again.” The station staff said as Lu Yipeng raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Um, yeah. How did you know?”
The person who asked smiled, “It’s the stuff you bring in for inspection. Mostly stuff from Hong Kongque all this time. He seems to like you, he keeps sending you stuff often.”
Lu Yipeng’s face turned into stone before speaking in a calm voice, “Just go ahead and inspect it. He always has ulterior motives.”
The station staff chuckled, “Alright, alright… but I don’t see anything suspicious at all. You’re just overthinking it. I think.” After speaking, he used a stick to take some soil out of the pot, mixed it with water in a test tube. Then he separated it into two test tubes, and added some substance in each.
“There is no poison in the soil, the leaves are not coated with anything. Looks strong and sturdy, no need to talk about explosives, as there are detectors below.
The way the plants are nurtured is impressive.”
Lu Yipeng nodded. He didn’t want to mention how Hong Kongque fed insects to these plants as if feeding rice to children. It’s not surprising that they look beautiful and strong like this.
…
The young police officer brought the plant back to the table, with nothing else written on the card. The care instructions were not written either. Lu Yipeng looked at it for a while, and it didn’t surprise him that they looked so beautiful and sturdy.
Duan Feng shook his head, “I don’t know, sir. I’ve never planted something like this before. You can try searching on the internet, but… the pot looks cute, like a fake product.” He then bent down to take a closer look, “Can you hold it for me?”
“Let me try.” Lu Yipeng said, then gently touched the small, round pot at the tips of the leaves, “Oh, there is some water in here. No wonder it looks heavy.”
“Do you have to put water in it?” Lu Yipeng asked, puzzled. Duan Feng shook his head again, “I don’t know, sir. You can try finding a way on your own. I have to go, I just came to bring the Qin Mei case file to your office.”
“Um.” Lu Yipeng nodded and picked up the case file on the table to take a look. He looked at the plant in the cute little pot, but couldn’t understand what Hong Kongque had in mind when he sent it to him. Maybe he wanted to distract him or something… But there was nothing written on the card about that. Did someone like that guy ever plan to distract him?
He sat reading the case file, alternating with glancing at the plant, pondering about this and that until it was time for lunch break. Lu Yipeng stopped by to buy some bread and tea, then walked to the computer department to borrow a computer for internet access to learn how to care for the fly trap plant.
Upon opening it, Lu Yipeng learned that these plants had different strains, some exotic strains. He had seen them in Hong Kongque’s greenhouse before. The one Hong Kongque gave him seemed to be a mix of N. Viking x
Ampullaria, which was unique to Thailand. This made Lu Yipeng wonder if Hong Kongque was involved in any illegal activities, but he hoped that these plants were not imported illegally.
Finally, Lu Yipeng has found a way to raise the pot of curry monkey paw. It looks quite complicated, requiring watering at the same time every day and placing it in a sunny location. It seems like placing it on the work desk is not a viable option. Throughout the afternoon, the young police officer was busy thinking about where to place the plant.
In the end, Lu Yipeng brought the plant back home and decided to place it on the bedroom balcony, as it would be easy to see and remember to water it. The method of nurturing did not mention the need to feed insects, so he would not have to spend time hunting for insects to feed these plants.
The pot of curry monkey paw plant was proudly placed outside the window, looking fresh and vibrant, as if it were the owner. Lu Yipeng continued to study the care method until late at night before going to bed, determined to show off to Hong Kongque someday if it looked more beautiful.
I don’t need to feed it insects, it can grow just fine.
…
“Take a break, go back early.” Duan Feng greeted as he saw Lu Yipeng getting up from the work desk at dusk, smiling shyly.
“Going back to check on the plant?” The subordinate asked as Lu Yipeng hesitated. He nodded and said, “Yeah… it’s difficult to care for.”
Duan Feng looked relieved, “It’s good that the girl I’m pursuing doesn’t like anything like that. Otherwise, it would be really difficult.”
Lu Yipeng just chuckled lightly and left the department.
At the age of twenty-seven, Lu Yipeng never thought he would become obsessed with plants, like a child at this moment. Perhaps he wanted to prove to
Hong Kongque that he didn’t have to resort to aggressive behavior like catching insects to feed the plants. The plants can grow on their own for sure.
Lu Yipeng decided to water the plant in the morning because sometimes he couldn’t return on time in the evening. Today, he came back, turned on the light on the balcony, and noticed something dark inside one of the pots. Upon inspection, he saw a fly floating in the water inside. It must have flown in by mistake. Lu Yipeng was slightly surprised. Flies that usually can’t be caught ended up getting stuck on a quiet plant like this. Our world also has simple things like this.
After that, every time he came back, the young police officer would check to see if anything had fallen into the pot that day. In addition to flies today, there were ants added in the next two days.
Well, there’s no need to bother going out to catch anything to feed it, it can also find its own food just fine.
After seeing it standing alone for several days, Lu Yipeng thought about finding another tree to plant as a companion. However, after looking up the prices of these trees on the internet, he had to cancel his plan because they were too expensive. He decided to let Hong Kongque take care of the garden instead.
But then, he started to wonder if this guy was raising these trees for sale.
A few days later, Lu Yipeng had to stay at the police station for several days to close a robbery case. When he returned home, he saw that the tree was completely withered, and his heart sank. He had been so preoccupied with the case that he had forgotten about the tree. Seeing the leaves and the tree dry up like this made him feel sad. He tried to water it more, but after a few days, it did not look any better. Finally, Lu Yipeng decided to call Hong Kongque one evening.
“Hey, Pengpeng, what’s the matter this time? Is the robbery case closed?” Hong Kongque asked over the phone after making Lu Yipeng wait for a while.
The young officer on the phone replied, “No. It’s not the case. It’s just that…” He paused for a moment, because he thought that Hong Kongque seemed to love the trees like his own children. If he said that the tree he gave to him had died, would he be subjected to some other cruel act or not?!
“Hey… What’s wrong?” Hong Kongque urged when he noticed that the other person was silent. Lu Yipeng swallowed and made a decision – he had come this far, and he just wanted to know if there was a chance for it to revive. He didn’t want to hope in vain, but he also didn’t want to let it die without doing anything.
“I had to stay at the police station for several days, so I couldn’t water the tree you gave me… but I came back to water it now… will it revive?”
After hearing Hong Kongque sigh, he replied shortly, “I’ll come and see.” Then he hung up. Lu Yipeng stood still for a moment. He thought about whether Hong Kongque would come to settle the matter about the tree with him.
The young police officer pondered various plans in his mind on how to deal with different situations. He wondered how he would survive if Hong Kongque really came to settle the matter. Then, the sound of a motorcycle engine getting louder could be heard in front of the house, followed by the sound of Lu Yipeng opening the door and asking curiously, “Did you come by motorcycle?”
Hong Kongque nodded. Today he wore a jacket over his shirt. He looked like a real gangster. Lu Yipeng wanted to ask if he needed any help or if he looked awkward, but he had his own issues to deal with, so he didn’t want to disturb Hong Kongque at the moment. He might be even more annoyed than before. “Where’s the plant?” That side asked Lu Yipeng, so he had to take him to the bedroom to see that plant. When Hong Kongque saw it, he let out a sigh.
“Poor thing.” He then gently put his hand on the withered leaves. Lu Yipeng bit his bottom lip nervously and asked, “Is it going to die?”
Hong Kongque paused, then called for him to sit down beside him.
“There are still green leaves. If we water it properly, it won’t die. It just needs to be taken care of.” He said, pointing to the fresh leaves. Lu Yipeng smiled immediately upon hearing Hong Kongque speak again, “But these withered leaves need to be pruned. It won’t look good if we keep them. Do you have scissors or a knife?”
A young police officer walked in and handed a pair of scissors. Then he sat and looked at Hong Kongque taking the wilted leaves out of the pot.
“Yesterday there were some flying insects stuck to it.” Lu Yipeng explained. Hong Kongque nodded and then turned to smile, “You got attached to it.”
The young police officer shook his head quickly, “I don’t like anything cruel like you. It just feels strange, that’s all, rest assured I won’t harm it. I don’t need to feed it anything to make it happy.”
“I like my things.” Hong Kongque said so, so Lu Yipeng decided it would be best to keep quiet. Hong Kongque finished pruning the leaves and stood up,
“All done. Take good care of it from now on. If not, return it to me.”
Lu Yipeng hesitated for a moment, “I can take care of it. I’ll bring it to the department in the future.”
Hong Kongque smiled at him, “Then I’ll leave.” He said and walked into the bedroom. Lu Yipeng immediately spoke up, “Are you leaving already?” “Um…” He nodded, “Don’t you want me to stay at your house?”
The young police officer hesitated for a moment before asking, “Did you come just for the plant?”
Hong Kongque turned back, let out another sigh, “It’s been four years, are you still asking me that?”
Hong Kongque went silent for a moment before speaking, “I am a police officer.”
“Um… I know.” The other person replied shortly.
“You want to arrest me and take me to jail.” Hong Kongque said.
“Um.”
“I don’t want to go to jail.” Hong Kongque said, then raised his hand to touch the face of the young man, “But if it’s you, I might consider it.”
Lu Yipeng held the hand of the other side and said, “My work hours are over.”
The dark eyes of Hong Kongque widened before being enveloped by the other person’s embrace, “Stay with me tonight.”
Hong Kongque remained silent for a moment before chuckling, “Planning something already?”
Lu Yipeng didn’t respond immediately but lifted his face to kiss, “It’s a full moon tonight. You don’t like being alone tonight, do you?”
Hong Kongque remained silent for a while before sighing, “I have to call Li
Kong now, he’ll worry.”
Lu Yipeng unwrapped his arms waiting for Hong Kongque to finish the phone call to his butler. Then he spoke again, “Let’s take a shower.”
…
The bathroom at Lu Yipeng’s house was narrower than the one at Hong Kongque’s mansion, mentioning the Jacuzzi. The bathtub didn’t need to be discussed. The water didn’t leak or seep out, it was considered good fortune.
Hong Kongque stripped off his shirt and walked under the shower. With Lu Yipeng following behind.
“Don’t be afraid of being molested in the bathroom by me.” Hong Kongque said, shaking his finger to flick the chest of Lu Yipeng.
“If I were afraid, I wouldn’t have been here for four years.” Lu Yipeng replied shortly.
The chest panel was pushed firmly again with a sharp, jumpy sound.
“Are you like this every full moon night or not?” The other person asked as they opened the lotus flower, with a stream of cool water flowing gently, almost ready to mingle with the arms embracing.
“I don’t know.” Lu Yipeng answered, and continued asking, “Why are you afraid of full moon nights?”
“It’s lonely.” Hong Kongque replied, raising his hand to touch his face, “I prefer the darkness more.”
“You’re strange. I’ve only heard of people afraid of the dark.” Lu Yipeng said as Hong Kongque turned to him with a smile, “I’m afraid of the light, afraid of seeing things I don’t want to see.”
Lu Yipeng raised his eyebrows, “What do you fear seeing?”
“The truth.” Hong Kongque said, turning to face him, “Pengpeng, sometimes the hardest thing to accept in this world is the truth.”
“Um.” Lu Yipeng swallowed the words, and continued, “But if you don’t accept the truth, isn’t it more tormenting?”
Hong Kongque nodded before raising his hand to touch his face, “But sometimes I like this torment, if I accept the truth, my identity may collapse. I need to exist, I need to have a life. Even if it means using deceitful illusions and lies.”
“Kongque…” Lu Yipeng called, “I don’t understand what is your true self.”
“The truth is always in the lies.” Hong Kongque answered, “One day you will understand, and see for yourself, just like I do now. You also lie to preserve your identity, don’t you?”
Lu Yipeng pursed his lips. Then he took the hand of the other person to kiss it, “Is the person in front of me now the truth or not?”
Hong Kongque smiled, then replied briefly, “Are you the truth or not?”
Lu Yipeng didn’t answer. He pulled that face in for another kiss. Then he hugged that figure tightly, while the water from the lotus flower continued to flow over both of them. Finally, Hong Kongque spoke, “I’m cold, can we go to bed?”
Lu Yipeng looked at that face for a moment before reaching out to close the lotus flower. Then he lifted Hong Kongque up.
“Um… Hmm.” The person being hugged, with hands held and neck embraced, chuckled before pulling away. Then, they leaned down to kiss the still damp chest.
…
Lu Yipeng’s bed was neither narrow nor wide, comfortable for one person to sleep in. If two men were to sleep together, they might be a bit cramped. This was the first time Hong Kongque’s back touched the bedsheet.
“Kongque, tonight let me be on top.” Lu Yipeng said, shifting his body towards the person lying down, grabbing both legs to lift them up. Hong
Kongque looked at him and responded with a smile, “Turn off the lights first. I don’t like it bright.”
The young police officer walked to turn off the light switch. When he turned back around, he saw Hong Kongque wrapping himself in a blanket and about to ask something, but Lu Yipeng beat him to it, “I’m cold.”
Lu Yipeng smiled, “I think you’re just shy.”
Hong Kongque didn’t respond, but shifted away as Lu Yipeng approached to hold him, then leaned down to kiss the corner of the person’s mouth.
They kissed for a moment. The blanket slipped off Hong Kongque during this time. In the darkness, with only the moonlight shining through the window,
Hong Kongque’s face seemed to turn red as Lu Yipeng kissed him, from the tip of his nose to the corner of his mouth, neck, shoulders, down to the waist. When they reached a certain point, Hong Kongque covered it with his hand, “No touching here, Pengpeng.”
For four years, Lu Yipeng had sex with Hong Kongque countless times, but had never touched this area before. This time was different.
“Do you not trust me?” The young police officer asked, and the soft kiss on the leg felt the other person’s acceptance, “Um.”
“But tonight, can you trust me to be on top?”
“It remains to be seen how much you trust me.” The other person replied. Lu Yipeng moved closer, and their lips met once again.
“Both you and I must be dreaming.”
Hong Kongque chuckled, pushing that face away, “In dreams, you still need to wear a condom.”
Lu Yipeng reached out to grab the packet of condoms placed on the bedside table. He then tore it open, “Do you want to put it on me?”
Hong Kongque raised his hand to lightly slap his face, “You are really shameless.”
The young man pulled the other person’s hand closer and kissed it, then gently nibbled on their finger before putting on a condom for himself.
“Kongque.” Lu Yipeng whispered the name again before they both passionately embraced and heard Hong Kongque’s voice, “Pengpeng, calm down. It’s okay. Why rush into it in a dream.”
Lu Yipeng kissed the corner of that person’s lips again before speaking, “I can’t hold back anymore.”
The dark, piercing gaze caused Hong Kongque to shiver. Then Lu Yipeng raised his hand and caressed the body, both kissing and nibbling gently. The heavy sighs from the other side made Hong Kongque’s heart beat faster.
“Pengpeng.”
Their lips were pressed together again, both passionately embracing until they were hot and bothered. Then both of Hong Kongque’s legs were separated.
The warmth crept slowly in as Lu Yipeng let out a heavy sigh, not looking down. Even though the lights were not on, the moonlight shone in, reflecting on the full and trembling body below that was contorting with the emotions. Hong Kongque’s eyebrows furrowed, their lips barely touching, as if both were trying to endure it. Lu Yipeng couldn’t resist kissing that body again.
“Kongque.”
The response was a gasp followed by a stunned look, as the tip of the warmth sneakily entered Lu Yipeng’s mouth with tingling sensations. He looked down and saw Hong Kongque staring at him with those glossy black eyes shining in the darkness. It was uncertain what they were thinking.
Lu Yipeng pondered about what this man’s thoughts might be, facing Hong Kongque. He seemed like a person caught in a continuous loop of deception. As for Hong Kongque, he might be like a toy to play with, but…
The young man leaned down to kiss the lips of the figure below once more. If in the eyes of Hong Kongque, he was just a toy, then what did that make Kongque in his eyes?
The villain had to find evidence to catch or…
“Kongque.” Lu Yipeng whispered dryly, still moving his hips in harmony with the desires of the body. Hong Kongque turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow slightly, “Hm?”
“What are we to each other…”
Hong Kongque did not answer, just letting out a moan. Lu Yipeng exhaled heavily in his throat, unable to ask anymore, as the lower part was pulled tight and harnessed.
“Kongque, be ready tonight.” Lu Yipeng whispered, reaching out to touch the hand of Hong Kongque holding that part. Then he started moving, the strong impact from below made the body of Hong Kongque tremble entirely. Just as he was about to speak, Lu Yipeng quickly used his mouth to cover it.
Soon he began to be afraid of the words coming out of Hong Kongque’s mouth.
He was not good enough to distinguish the truth from the lies of this man.
Or maybe… he didn’t want to know the truth from this man’s mouth…
!!
The moans and heavy sighs got louder almost at the same time. Lu Yipeng buried his face in the damp neck corner of the trembling body below, moving his shaky hand to caress that body gently before planting a kiss on that neck corner, and then hugging tightly.
…
Lu Yipeng woke up in the morning feeling dizzy and confused, like a hungover person. As he regained some sense, he shook himself off and found nothing but sheets and pillows beside him. The young police officer tried to call back his consciousness before looking around the room.
No one was on the bed. No one was in the room…
When he looked at himself, he was still dressed neatly. So, what happened last night… Was it just a dream?
Lu Yipeng got up from bed, still feeling a bit dizzy, but when he looked out the window, he saw the rice cooker and saucepan tree with nothing but young leaves left. The young man smiled.
“Kongque, phone call from Inspector Lu.”
Hong Kongque was drinking herbal tea on the bed when Lai brought him the phone. He picked up and answered, “What else, Inspector-Lu?”
“Oh, nothing.” Lu Yipeng heard Hong Kongque’s response, “Why call, are you thinking of imitating the behavior of mental patients who like to make prank calls?”
“No.” The young officer replied, then chuckled, “Last night I dreamt of you.”
“Oh…” Hong Kongque dragged his voice as Lai walked out and closed the door gently, “Last night, I also dreamt of Inspector-Lu.”
“Oh!” Lu Yipeng exclaimed excitedly, “What did you dream about?”
“Not a very good dream.” Hong Kongque said, and lowered to drink tea again, “Dreamt of Little Pengpeng turning into a big-mouthed kid, asking questions left and right until it got chaotic. Woke up feeling hot, and had to get Li to make more tea, because Little Pengpeng’s disturbance in the dream really rattled my nerves.”
Lu Yipeng chuckled sheepishly, “Sorry. Just been too preoccupied with thoughts.” He paused for a moment and then continued, “But I had a good dream last night.”
“Oh… congratulations.” Hong Kongque said, pausing to drink tea again, then continued, “Inspection on trees. If you’re not home for many days, you can soak water for it so it won’t wither.”
“Oh, okay.” Lu Yipeng replied, then spoke up after a while, “What are you doing?”
“Drinking tea.” Hong Kongque replied, then asked back, “Are you not going to work yet, or are you still off work that you called me to chat?”
“Oh, I’m about to go.” Lu Yipeng replied, then fell silent for a moment, “I think one day I’ll catch you for sure.”
Hong Kongque chuckled silently, “Hope so, Inspector. I’ll raise my hand and wait for you to catch me, just afraid that when it’s time for you to catch me, you won’t come down.”
“Why don’t I just catch you?” Other-person quizzically asked as Hong
Kongque chuckled once again in response, “Because you’re starting to fall for my charm.”
Other-person let out a snort, “It’s time for work. I have to go. Prepare yourself to surrender someday. I will catch you.”
“I have to catch you during office hours. You know, being a police officer.” Hong Kongque teased Lu Yipeng with a smirk and immediately hung up the phone.
…
In the previous chapter, only Pengpeng seemed to have any sympathy for
Hong Kongque, who is actually infatuated with him to the point of obsession.
That’s why no one seems to notice (or care) that Kongque is actually falling for Pengpeng. As Hong Kongque is our older teacher in this story (no need to cut off my fingers, Kongque!!). We agreed to give the devious Kongque a break (even though we secretly wish for Hong Kongque to finally catch Pengpeng in the end).
Pengpeng has the reader’s support now (secretly feeling sorry for the socially awkward Kongque?). In this chapter, it seems to be getting a bit dramatic (Oh… this novel is an SM story, after all). (Fleeing from the readers now)
It’s like a sneakily dramatic moment (Oops… this novel is SM after all). Thank you for following and reading it.
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