Not quite sweet dreams…
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Ch. 9.2
Dandan pondered for a while, chin in hand. ‘He was unpredictable¹. He seemed to care for nothing and yet also cared about everything, so it made it impossible to guess what he was thinking. He led a simple life and didn’t really take us spirit beasts seriously. Sometimes I felt that even if we all ran away from home at the same time, he wouldn’t even notice. Then one day, maybe Heaven felt that he had lived long enough and he was killed in a fire.’
‘Judging from your tone, you still seem to resent your former owner.’
‘Can’t be helped. Something about that fellow just made you want to mock him.’ Recalling Yu Huan’s dark green changshan and that perpetually beaming face which was so punchable, Dandan’s expression clouded over.
Song Lin was observing him calmly and after a pause, said, ‘I take it back. It looks like you had a deep affection for your former owner.’
‘Eh?’ Dandan was suddenly taken aback. ‘No, no, no, that’s too strong a word. It’s just that he quit life so abruptly, he was just too irresponsible towards me.’ His eyelids lowered as he mumbled, ‘That’s all.’
¹ 捉摸不定. If you’re not reading this chapter at hiding in plain sight, it has been stolen and reproduced by novelscraping sites.
Song Lin, scrutinising Dandan’s expression, noticed that his eyelashes were blinking rapidly but the next instant, his expression was normal again and he said casually, ‘It’s your turn now. Tell me about your former spirit beast.’
My goodness, what a good little actor he is.
Song Lin’s eyes darkened for an instant but he soon answered. ‘My former beast? … Umm… it was a very ordinary ferret. It had soft, very white fur. It was the prettiest coat I ever saw on any animal.’
When Dandan heard this, he was suddenly reminded of how Yu Huan had once praised him for having the most beautiful fur.
Come to think of it, Song Lin and Yu Huan had startlingly similar tastes when it came to spirit beasts…
‘You… were very fond of that ferret?’
‘To me, nothing in this world is irreplaceable². A substitute can always be found.’
‘Then, am I a substitute for that ferret?’
Song Lin paused for a moment before saying, ‘I did not like it to the extent that I seek a replacement for it.’
Dandan’s ears flopped as he turned these words over in his mind. That probably means — I’m not important enough to become a substitute… I guess?
A feeling of disappointment flitted across his heart. Song Lin, if you are Yu Huan, how should I face such an unfamiliar you now?
² 獨一無二 dúyī-wú’èr. Translation belongs to theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com.
Although the stated aim was to look after Dandan and ensure that nobody would try to snatch him away, Second Master Song could never have imagined that this decision to put Dandan next to him would require him to pay such a heavy price.
The first thing was that Dandan had the habit of sleeping on the shoulder of the person beside him. Second Master Song, who had never shared a pillow with anyone before, suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder and the sound of a stranger’s breathing by his ear, thus he shifted slightly away uncomfortably.
Dandan was currently sleeping soundly and smacked his lips twice. He laid his arm directly on Song Lin’s chest and through the clothes, squeezed twice…
Uuuwaahh, those solid muscles feel so good…
At finding himself molested for the first time in his life, Song Lin’s expression could be described as relatively rigid.
The dreaming Dandan was quiet for a while but soon added a leg after that, his small calf resting on Song Lin’s groin which he recklessly rubbed a couple of times with his leg…
Song Lin: ‘…’
Consequently, after a few seconds of silence, Dandan was unceremoniously booted off the bed.
‘Ooowwwwwwww!!!!!’ Dandan gave an anguished shriek and woke up, rubbing his waist and protesting, ‘Why did you kick me?!’
Naturally, the haughty Second Master could not say it was because his little brother had been rubbed against so he merely answered with frigid reserve, ‘Sorry, I was having a nightmare.’
Dandan: ‘…’
With a most aggrieved look, Dandan climbed back into bed and having swiftly drifted into dreamland, repeated his mistake³ of twining himself like an octopus around Song Lin…
If he had a mirror then, Song Lin would have discovered that his eyebrows had knitted together in a dead knot.
Soon after that, there was another loud thump as Dandan was booted off the bed again.
‘Are you crazy, Song Lin!!! I have my pride, you know!!’
³ 雜草叢生 zácǎocóngshēng. Please consider reading from theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com rather than from novelscraping sites.
The next day, both of them walked out of the bedroom looking exhausted.
The little rabbit was leaning on the door with one hand supporting his waist while there were faint dark circles under Song Lin’s eyes…
Styx, who was well-rested, looked at them doubtfully. ‘What’s wrong?’
The servant girls who were passing by all lowered their heads and tittered behind their hands. ‘Your Excellency Styx, some things are better left unsaid.’
Styx: … Oi… what do you mean by that…
Servant girl A: ‘When we passed by Second Master’s room last night, there was quite a lot of activity inside.’
Servant girl B: ‘I even heard someone crying out in pain ~’
Servant Girl C: ‘I heard it too. So intense, so intense, tsk tsk tsk…’
Styx: ‘…’
He looked with complex feelings at the two exhausted people leaning separately against the door.
… What on earth is going on here? How am I going to account for it to Eldest Master… The back of his neck prickled and he couldn’t refrain from shuddering.
He walked over to Song Lin and asked in a low voice, ‘Second Master, did you sleep all right last night?’
Song Lin’s expression was far from friendly as he motioned to Styx not to ask any more questions.
Styx felt the veins in his temple throbbing as he turned to accost Dandan. ‘What did you do to Second Master last night?’
Dandan looked extremely upset as he pointed at his own waist and said, ‘Don’t touch me, it hurts…’
Styx inhaled sharply, feeling as though his blood vessels were in imminent danger of bursting…
(Approx. 1014 words)
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Translated and edited by 12
hiding in plain sight 
Why is Dandan in so much denial about Yu Huan, he clearly cares about him so much. If Song Lin is Yu Huan, was that ferret subconsciously a substitute for Dandan? I like this author’s take on the only one bed trope. Thanks for the translation!
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