By the time they got back, a thick layer of clouds had accumulated in the sky, blocking out the sun. Howling wind mixed with a persistent cold, and it looked like it would rain heavily.

Sure enough, during dinnertime, there came the sound of rain beginning to fall. The wind drove heavy raindrops onto the windows, making the glass grow damp and blurry.

He Chuzhou got up halfway through to close a half-open floor-to-ceiling window on the balcony.

Pei Xi followed him with his eyes. When he opened the curtains, he saw that it was dark and cold outside.

He hated rainy days.

The waterlogged ground seemed to be a channel to another world, and the moment he stepped on it, countless hands would reach out to pull him in.

The sound of rain was mostly blocked by the walls and window panes, as were the sounds of branches swaying and rubbing together.

But it was still detected by Pei Xi’s sensitive hearing, putting him on edge and lowering his spirits.

“Do you not like the vegetables?”

He Chuzhou misunderstood, and replaced the plate of vegetables in front of him with a plate of different vegetables.

Pei Xi could only try his best to ignore his weather-induced restlessness, lower his head, and continue to eat.

After dinner, He Chuzhou continued his work in the study.

There were many overseas companies among He Group’s partners. There was a big time difference between them and China, so He Chuzhou had to compromise when it came to scheduling the time for such meetings and discussions.

It was all settled around seven or eight o’clock in the evening. He also had a meeting at two in the morning, which was five in the morning in the other location.

Pei Xi saw He Chuzhou coming out of the kitchen to the study and got up to follow him.

When he was discovered at the door, He Chuzhou turned sideways and looked at his face under the hallway lights.

Pei Xi raised his eyes to meet He Chuzhou’s. Their tips drooped slightly and his collarbones held two shadows, making him look thin and fragile.

He Chuzhou’s heart was given a blow. He said in a very soft tone: “Are you not going back to your room to rest?”

Pei Xi momentarily didn’t know how to answer.

He Chuzhou smiled, features handsome and eyes bright: “I’m almost finished handling your work for today. You look pretty tired. Go and rest first, don’t forget the doctor’s advice.”

This was pretty much pushing him away.

He Chuzhou asked him again to go back and rest. He couldn’t lose face by going in and insisting on staying with him, so he could only turn around and go to the bedroom.

There were no lights on in the guest room. The door was dark, in stark contrast to the bright study, which made him walk slowly.

“Hey, Pei Xi, wait,” said He Chuzhou.

Pei Xi stopped instantly and turned around, only to hear He Chuzhou say: “You go sleep in the master bedroom. I’ll take the guest bedroom so that I can handle business tomorrow.”

Pei Xi “……”

Taking a deep breath, he entered the master bedroom.

It was only separated from the study by a wall, which was somewhat better than the guest bedroom.

He had a feeling that he might have some bad dreams tonight. He locked the windows, drew the curtains tightly, and turned on the air conditioner. He left the lamp at his bedside on and tossed and turned, not wanting to go to sleep.

But he still couldn’t resist the onslaught of tiredness, and fell into an extremely unstable state of sleep.

Sure enough, as soon as he shut his eyes, he had returned to that rainy morning.

The vase smashed at his feet was the second one Pei Zhen had broken in two days.

Yesterday, he had come back from school with a competition trophy in his hand. He did nothing but stand in the entrance hall, and Pei Zhen went crazy.

Pei Zhen smashed the vase next to the projector, grabbed the fragments with his hands and threw them directly at him. After he was stopped by a panicked servant, Pei Yansong went downstairs to look. He comforted Pei Zhen and told him to quickly go back to his room.

Then, a little while later, he was called into Pei Yansong’s office and told that he was to be sent away.

The child who cried got the sweets, and the child who didn’t cry, even though he was sensible, was burdened with all kinds of grievances and humiliations just because of that sensibleness.

He realized that he was dreaming, but he couldn’t wake up and had no control over his body. The scene changed, and he was trapped in a cold, dark hallway.

There was a violent storm outside, and in front of him was the closed door to the study. He knelt on the floor alone in his own home, striving to gain a little sympathy from his biased father.

In the study.

He Chuzhou finished negotiating with his overseas partner and exited the online meeting. There was a window lingering in the center of the screen that showed that a compressed file was being received and was at 68%.

It should take another couple of minutes.

The rain was coming down harder outside. The night wind blew, accompanied by muffled thunder, and lightning split the sky in bright, intermittent flashes.

Summer was over, yet there were still thunderstorms.

After some thought, he got up and left the study. When he pushed the door open and entered the master bedroom, he stepped very softly to avoid waking Pei Xi, who was already soundly asleep.

The bedside lamp shone brightly, allowing him to see the thin, tightly pursed lips of the person sleeping. His eyebrows were furrowed too, and it was unknown if he was having a nightmare.

“Why aren’t you sleeping well, ah…..”

He Chuzhou frowned, considering whether or not to wake him up.

After hesitating for a long while, he finally just stretched out his hand to rub between Pei Xi’s eyebrows. Putting a palm against his cheek, he whispered in comfort: “It’s okay, it’s okay, nightmares go away.”

Seeing Pei Xi’s features gradually relax, he retracted his hand and tucked in the quilt for him, then left silently.

Thunder struck when he returned to the study, so loud that it sounded like it was rolling across the roof of the house.

He hissed and hurried over to check on the computer. When the download was complete, he shut the computer down and unhooked the network cable. It couldn’t break, or it would be troublesome to repair later.

Just as he was about to turn the lights off and leave, a figure rushed in unexpectedly. As if equipped with an automatic navigation system, he jumped straight into his arms.

He Chuzhou subconsciously caught him. Turning his head, he could only see one side of his head buried in his shoulder from this angle.

“Xinxin?” He Chuzhou probed.

Pei Xi gave a low hum, hugging him tightly as he responded in a hoarse voice: “Why haven’t you gone to bed after working so late?”

“I just finished speaking with a foreigner,” He Chuzhou responded, wondering whether he had been woken up by the thunder or a lightning strike.

But one thing was certain – he wouldn’t be sleeping in the guest room tonight.

“Come on, let’s go back and go to sleep.”

He raised his lips and rubbed Pei Xi’s back. Muffled thunder sounded, and Pei Xi subconsciously trembled against him.

He Chuzhou seemed to have received his answer, and grasped the back of his neck in amusement: “Our Xinxin really is a child at heart, ah, still afraid of thunder.”

He directly picked this person up and took him back to the bedroom, then placed him in bed and got in after him: “Okay, okay, I’m here to stay with you. Go to sleep.”

Pei Xi nestled into his arms without responding.

He Chuzhou rubbed his back over and over again, thinking that he had coaxed him to sleep. He yawned and was about to turn off the lights and go to sleep, when a pair of dark, alert eyes looked up from his arms.

He Chuzhou stifled his yawn midway: “Why aren’t you asleep?”

Pei Xi said: “I can’t sleep.”

He Chuzhou: “Can’t sleep?”

Pei Xi nodded and asked: “Are you going to sleep?”

Lightning flashed, followed by thunder a second later. Pei Xi shrank into his arms slightly, his clear eyes staring straight at him with a pitiful look.

He Chuzhou: “……”

Three minutes later, he returned from the living room and got back in bed, holding a tablet with Pei Xi’s head and shoulder resting on his chest.

He put two bluetooth earbuds on Pei Xi, and yawned where the other party couldn’t see him: “Okay, choose whatever you want to see.”

Pei Xi took off an earbud and offered it to him.

He Chuzhou: “I don’t need it. If you wear them, you won’t hear the thunder outside.”

Pei Xi: “But aren’t you going to watch it with me?”

It didn’t matter to He Chuzhou: “I can just read the subtitles.”

Pei Xi lowered his voice as he held the earbud: “Do you want to sleep?”

“I don’t, how could that be possible? I have enough energy to run ten laps on the Second Ring Road.”

Thunder cracked above their heads, and He Chuzhou quickly put the earbud in and covered Pei Xi’s ears.

There was a strong sense of security in those broad, dry palms. The warm sensation made Pei Xi blink.

He picked a very new movie, an art house film. The plot wasn’t very good, but the production was. The scene of the empty town was beautiful, and the sound of the wind blowing through the grass allowed Pei Xi to endure the protracted plot.

It was unknown how long the storm went on, but it seemed that Pei Xi hadn’t heard thunder in a long time.

He Chuzhou kept covering his ears with both hands to block out the noise. He could only hear the dialogue in his left earbud, the characters’ speech deliberately slowed down.

— I want to be with you, but I want you to be with the person you love the most. I wish you a lifetime of happiness.

— So my giving up isn’t because I quit.

— I’m also very selfish, just fulfilling my own wishes.

Pei Xi frowned upon hearing this.

Were they crazy? What was this nonsense?

If you couldn’t be with the person you liked, it was because you weren’t good enough or didn’t work hard enough. This was just searching for some weird excuse.

He wanted to complain to He Chuzhou, but when he looked up, he saw that the person beside him had already fallen asleep. His eyes were closed, his breaths long.

Even though he was so tired, he’d still helped to cover his ears.

Pei Xi smiled silently, reaching out to gently remove He Chuzhou’s earbud and turn off the tablet. The room was only illuminated by a dim desk lamp.

There was no more thunder outside, but rain was still falling. The dense atmosphere at last contained the scent of autumn.

He pulled down He Chuzhou’s hand and tugged up the blanket. Lying on He Chuzhou, he leaned closer and secretly kissed the corner of his mouth.

It was rare for him to like someone.

So he wanted to be together with the person he liked.

He felt they must be together no matter what.

*

*

He Chuzhou went to sleep late and woke up late. When he opened his eyes in the dim room, he was alone in bed.

Hadn’t he watched the movie until very late last night? Why had he gotten up so early?

Rubbing his temples, he glanced at the time and got out of bed. As soon as he left the room, he heard the sound of a door opening in the hallway downstairs.

The first to come in was He Xingxing, whose paws had been wiped clean. When he saw He Chuzhou on the second floor, he rushed up in excitement, tail wagging.

Then Pei Xi came in, raising his eyes to follow He Xingxing. The moment their eyes met, he looked away.

He walked to the kitchen and set a plastic bag on the table, containing the breakfast he had picked up while walking He Chuzhou’s dog.

He Chuzhou leaned against the railing, looking down with a lazy smile. Having just woken up, his voice was hoarse, but had a certain charm: “It’s such an honor to eat the breakfast President Pei personally brought for me.”

Pei Xi ignored his poor mouth and took the food out of the bag, placing it on the table.

He Chuzhou rubbed He Xingxing’s doggy head and went downstairs: “He Xingxing just frolics around when he goes out, and isn’t easy to walk. You should leave it to me in the future.”

“It’s fine,” Pei Xi replied calmly.

Their eyes met inadvertently when He Chuzhou took a seat, and Pei Xi was the first to look away in the next second.

He Chuzhou, holding a spoon: “ ? ”

Was he still not in his right mind? 

If not, then why did he feel like Pei-calico’s eyes were so…..shy and guilty?

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T/N: I haven’t forgotten about this story! But the next time I’m tempted to pick up three ongoing translations at once, someone please smack me on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.

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Chapter 35 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 37