When He Chuzhou arrived, the door locks had pretty much been changed, but they were inconsistent with the door. If nothing unexpected happened, they would have to be changed again.

After telling property management that he was a friend of the owner and showing him the key he carried, he entered the door and began to help find Pei Xi’s cell phone.

The cupboards from last time were empty, as were the bedroom and living room. He had given up all hope, but unexpectedly dug it out of the bedside table in the guest room.

“This Pei-calico, why is he so polite to sleep in the guest room of his own home?”

He pressed the power button for a long while with no response, and guessed that the battery was out. Before leaving, he took the charger placed at the corner of the sofa with him, then locked the door and left.

It took nearly an hour to go back and forth. The sky was darker, and the stars hung high.

He parked the car in the garage, and when he got out of the vehicle, he suddenly thought of something. Turning around, he walked to the rear of the car and opened the trunk.

Inside was the sweet and spicy sausage his aunt had stuffed in on her own initiative that afternoon. He didn’t like sweet things very much, so it would be a waste to keep them. He had originally planned to send them back the next day, but now it seemed there was no need.

Pei-calico loved sweet foods. He would make it for him to try later. He’d probably like it.

He just didn’t expect that besides the spicy sausage, there was an additional surprise — that girl He Aiyue had stuffed in two endless university entrance mock papers at some unknown time.

He Chuzhou almost laughed out of anger.

He simply took out the test papers and sausages, closed the trunk, and left the garage. As he walked back, he wondered whether he should deal with that person himself or file a complaint and have Ms. Chu do it…..

Right, there was also something else that came to mind.

After going through this so many times, it was time to find an opportunity to have a good talk with the sober Pei-calico.

The probability of an accident happening with these uncertain factors was too great. He was able to lose his cell phone twice in a row. What if a situation like tonight happened a third time, and Wu Qing didn’t happen to be passing by?

But the key to the problem was whether Pei Xi was willing to sit down and talk to him calmly once he was in his right mind.

This point was really nerve-wracking.

Thinking about possible solutions, he was deliberately gentle when opening the door for fear of awakening the sleeping person inside.

Unexpectedly, the light in the living room was still on.

The person who was supposed to be sleeping in the bedroom was currently curled up alone at a corner of the sofa, motionless as he hugged his knees with his face buried in his arms.

There was also a silent companion lying on the carpet at his feet in the form of a puppy.

Hearing the noise, the bored He Xingxing immediately had a burst of energy. He quickly got up and rushed over with a fiercely wagging tail, rubbing back and forth against his legs enthusiastically.

He Chuzhou removed his shoes, rubbed the dog’s head a couple of times, and whispered helplessly: “Why didn’t you remind him to go to sleep? What if he catches a cold later?”

The puppy didn’t understand, and just stuck out his tongue happily.

“Go back to your bed and sleep, it’s really late.”

Then he patted He Xingxing on the head, put the things aside temporarily, and walked to the living room, planning to take this person back to the bedroom and settle in.

He leaned forward to touch the other’s arm, but his wrist was grabbed first.

Pei Xi raised his head under his surprised gaze. It appeared as if he had just cried. His eyes were red and swollen, and he looked sorrowful.

“What happened?!”

He Chuzhou was taken aback, and quickly crouched down to help wipe away the remaining moisture at the corners of his eyes: “Did you have a nightmare again?”

Pei Xi said nothing, staring at the person before him with empty wet eyes. When he was coaxed in a warm voice, tears quickly accumulated and fell from his eyes again.

He always cried silently, but the quieter he was, the more the emotions surged within his body, his bright eyes trying to convey all of his grievance and sadness without a word.

He Chuzhou’s heart clenched. He pressed his palms against the other’s cheeks, trying to transfer the dry warmth into them.

“Are you hurt somewhere? Is there any pain or discomfort? It’s okay, it’s okay. Be good, ah, let’s go to the hospital right now.”

He quickly moved to stand, but was held tightly by his sleeves.

“Why do you want to hide our marriage?”

Pei Xi’s curled fingertips were hooked into his clothes, his knuckles turning white. He said in a hoarse voice: “Why don’t your friends know about our relationship?”

He Chuzhou’s movements paused: “What?”

“Chuzhou, I don’t want to make trouble for you.”

“You said you’re very tired tonight. I want you to rest well and not upset you again.”

Pei Xi tried his utmost to keep calm, but still couldn’t suppress his tears and slight trembling: “But I really can’t help it. You’re obviously already married. You have me, yet there are still people sending you messages like that in the middle of the night.”

“I’m not a very shameful person, and I won’t embarrass you. Why can’t you let other people know I exist and make those with wicked intentions stay away from you?”

He Chuzhou quickly sorted out the information revealed by his words and held his cold hands: “What messages? Xinxin, did you see something?”

Pei Xi didn’t answer, and just tilted his head to look at the cell phone beside him.

He Chuzhou understood, and immediately took the phone and opened WeChat.

The extra unfamiliar friend was sandwiched between a row of familiar avatars, with an eye-catching sense of presence.

Opening it a little further—

“Tsk!” The photos on the chat interface came into view. At once, he reflexively took the phone away, unable to bear looking at it. “What is this?”

……Wait.

Why did this look familiar?

He thought of something and enlarged the picture to identify the face carefully.

Wasn’t this the new lover Wu Qing took to the bar the night before yesterday?

Reading the explicit texts at the bottom, He Chuzhou ground his sore back molars, his mood so complicated that it was difficult to put into words.

This crap was what had scared Pei-calico.

He had to admit that it was normal for someone to be alarmed when they received something like this at home in the middle of the night.

“I’m not familiar with him. I’ve only met him once, and I know he’s Wu Qing’s latest boyfriend. Right, you were there at the bar that night, don’t you remember?”

As he spoke, He Chuzhou took a screenshot of the chat history and sent it to Wu Qing, then blocked and deleted the WeChat number in front of Pei Xi.

“Okay, it’s done.”

He turned over his phone and showed it to Pei Xi: “It was an accident. He probably used Wu Qing’s phone to push this WeChat account to me. No matter what, I would definitely not accept it if I encountered this, I guarantee it.”

Pei Xi’s lips were still pursed, and he said nothing. The tears stopped falling, but his wet reddened eyes showed no signs of improvement. 

He Chuzhou immediately called Wu Qing.

“What are you doing?”

Wu Qing obviously hadn’t seen the screenshot yet, and his voice was loud and brisk: “A spring night is worth a thousand gold. There’s no need to call and thank me now, Brother, I understand.”

He Chuzhou: “Were you talking nonsense in the car earlier?”

Wu Qing: “Nonsense? What nonsense? I wouldn’t talk nonsense. If you don’t believe me, ask your boyfriend. I put in a good word for you.”

He Chuzhou: “Who told you Pei Xi is my boyfriend?”

Wu Qing: “Does it need to be said? This isn’t—”

Wu Qing: “Huh?”

Wu Qing sat up straight: “No way, what do you mean? What are you if not boyfriends? Friends with benefits? ? ? ? ?”

He Chuzhou: “What the hell, he’s my wife!”

Wu Qing: “ ? ”

Wu Qing: “Is there any difference?”

Wu Qing: “…..Wait a minute! Have you already?!”

He Chuzhou: “Also, I sent you screenshots of your partner cheating. You can deal with it yourself. I have something else to do, so I’ll hang up now.”

Wu Qing: “Really? What kind of cheating? ? ? ? !”

Wu Qing: “Damn! What the hell are you doing so late at night? Speak clearly before you hang up—”

After this fierce, indiscriminate bombing, He Chuzhou hung up the phone neatly without any after-sale services.

“Okay.” Looking at Pei Xi again, he softened his voice and coaxed him as much as he could: “Now they know.”

“I didn’t hide it on purpose before. I just wanted to wait until the wedding to tell them and give them a surprise. If you don’t want to wait, there’s no problem telling them in advance. It’s all up to you.”

“It’s my fault. I didn’t think it through well. I promise it won’t happen again, or else I’ll kneel on a keyboard all night.”

“Be good, don’t cry. If you cry again, your eyes will hurt in the morning.”

He took out a tissue and moved to help wipe Pei Xi’s eyes. The person who had remained silent spoke softly at this time: “I’m still your wife?”

“Of course.”

Without even thinking about it, he wiped away the tears on his eyelashes: “Who else could it be if not you?”

Unexpectedly, Pei Xi’s next words caught him off guard: “Then why haven’t you touched me in so many days?”

He Chuzhou: “……? ? ?”

Before his mind could blank out, the distance between the two suddenly shortened, and a fragile, beautiful face was suddenly enlarged in front of his eyes.

“Chuzhou, do you also think I’m too serious and boring?”

The distance was so close that their breaths intertwined, and He Chuzhou heard his own heart skip a beat.

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and he subconsciously slowed his breathing. However, his back hit the edge of the table, causing him to sit unsteadily down on the carpet.

Sitting down, the weight of the other in his arms was even more overwhelming, and immediately made his entire scalp feel numb.

After his heart stopped for a brief moment, it began to beat wildly and deafeningly.

But the person who started it all was unaware.

In this position, Pei Xi held the other’s face with his knees on the carpet, leaning close.

With their foreheads and noses touching, he said the most innocent, lost words in the most intimate and flirtatious manner: “You like that kind of person in the photos, so you’re not interested in me anymore, are you?”

He Chuzhou’s breathing was in chaos, an obscure and floundering light constantly drifting through his eyes.

Every word that came from Pei Xi’s mouth seemed to hook him softly, causing the hands on his waist to tighten uncontrollably until the bulging veins on the backs of his hands became distinct.

“That’s not it…..”

He heard the shaky hoarseness in his own voice and tried to maintain his poise: “Xinxin, don’t think nonsense.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that you’ve been sick recently, and the doctor said you need to rest well. That kind of thing……counts as overexertion for you.”

Hearing this, Pei Xi pulled away from him slightly and confirmed in a low voice: “Really?”

With this distance, He Chuzhou felt the thin oxygen around him thicken and rush into his lungs.

He closed his eyes hard and attempted a relaxed smile: “Of course. Your recovery period is very important now. Haven’t you noticed that your memory has become worse recently?”

Pei Xi lowered his eyes in thought.

Indeed, he felt like he was forgetting a lot of things these days, with fragments of memories that couldn’t be connected together. He had even forgotten his poor memory for a long time.

It turned out to be because of illness.

“But why don’t you even want to kiss me?”

He asked again with a frown: “Kissing only involves hugging the other person and moving the tongue. Can it count as overexertion—”

“Xinxin!”

He Chuzhou interrupted him at once.

The suddenly aggravated tone startled Pei Xi: “What’s wrong?”

“…..Nothing.”

He Chuzhou took a deep breath. Ignoring the dryness of his throat, he once again moderated his tone: “Of course kissing doesn’t count, but if my composure is lacking, it’s really easy…..to be unable to stop.”

“Xinxin, you don’t want to light a fire without extinguishing it and make me suffer, do you?”

Pei Xi didn’t expect this to be the reason. He gave two slow blinks, his gaze confused, as if he was digesting this.

He had barely managed to bullshit his way through again.

He Chuzhou breathed a sigh of relief, waiting stiffly for his unspeakable impulse to subside. He began to think hard about how to coax this person off him, or to simply carry him down manually.

If he continued to sit on him and rub against him like this, he really wouldn’t be able to endure it.

“Xinxin, it’s already really late. You need to—”

However, mid-sentence, the warmth of his embrace choked all of the words he had not yet spoken back into his throat.

Pei Xi abruptly leaned forward and hugged him, wrapping his arms around his waist and burying his head deeply in his neck.

A whisper full of dependence fell into his ears. Like the heavy beating of a drum, his already unstable heart tremored, suffering to the fullest.

“Chuzhou.”

He heard Pei Xi say: “I really, really like you.”

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Chapter 22 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 24