It had rained all night, and the weather did not improve as nighttime departed.

The early morning sky was gray and blustery, the clouds passing by quickly. There was no telling if it would continue to rain.

Pei Xi came out of the study to the living room, holding a notebook. He Chuzhou was resting on the sofa, watching the weather forecast.

When he saw him approaching, he couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows and give him a questioning look.

Pei Xi sat down across from him without a change of expression. His notebook computer was placed firmly on his lap, his back straight and his temperament elegant: “The study is too stuffy. I came out to get some fresh air.”

He Chuzhou didn’t question him, and was so pleased that he turned down the volume of his phone.

Pei Xi: “Don’t mind me.”

He Chuzhou: “Huh?”

Pe Xi: “The noise won’t affect my concentration.”

As if in fear that He Chuzhou wouldn’t believe him, he added: “I don’t like working in an environment that’s excessively quiet.”

He Chuzhou didn’t know what to think when he heard this. His expression was a bit surprised.

Pei Xi calmly looked away, typing a sequence of keys on the keyboard.

A heap of gibberish was born.

Popular knowledge: when a person felt embarrassed or guilty, they would try to appear busy.

As expected, He Chuzhou believed what he said and adjusted his phone to a medium volume. He read the weather forecast and then started a game.

Pei Xi didn’t play games, nor did he understand them. He didn’t know what He Chuzhou was playing, but as it happened, if He Chuzhou’s focus was on the game, it wouldn’t be on him.

He silently raised his eyes, his gaze drifting across the computer screen to He Chuzhou again.

He had always known that He Chuzhou was good-looking, otherwise he wouldn’t have become famous in the circle as soon as he returned to China.

It was just that he was too indifferent before and too prejudiced against him, so he was dazzled when he saw his face now.

When had he started to become pleasing to the eye?

Asians had unique deep eye sockets and specific appearance advantages. They always looked lazy and gentle, with a clearly visible good temper, never angry and without a care for troubles.

He Chuzhou had once asked him before if he would take advantage of and responsibility for just anyone he mistook for his husband.

Now, he suddenly wanted to ask He Chuzhou if, no matter who had the memory disorder, no matter who was sitting here today, would he possess such inexhaustible thoughtfulness and patience, able to entertain that person all night long?

His wandering thoughts withdrew when his eyes lingered on the other person’s lips. His eyelashes immediately trembled.

He Chuzhou was halfway through the game when his teammate suddenly turned on the mic. In a very obnoxious voice, he scolded everyone except for the female players following him.

He Chuzhou clicked to take a look at his record. As it happened, among those few people, the one with the worst record was the one cursing others. All the female players around him had to be ranked second.

What was the point of this?

Forcefully trying to gain respect after failing to lead the girls?

Trash behavior.

He Chuzhou turned on his mic: “Brother, what did you just say? I didn’t hear clearly, you spoke too fast.”

After speaking, he clicked the built-in ‘record’ button.

The trash talker responded to the request by cursing again, exactly the same as the first time. It could be considered a sort of innate skill.

He Chuzhou sincerely praised him, then shut off the recording and filed a report.

This game was the latest one developed by a studio owned by He Group, and was dedicated to providing players with the most comfortable gaming environment.

The trash talker was unlucky enough to meet a big boss who was casually inspecting the game environment. Unsurprisingly, this account and all accounts under the same ID would no longer appear in the game for the next two weeks.

Trash Talker: “Who’s this fucking weirdo? This noob was lucky to kill a few fucking people. You must think you’re fucking awesome, right?”

Trash Talker: “Didn’t you fuckers join Laozi’s fucking party?”

Trash Talker: “You guys are all just horses and oxen. Didn’t you see I was fighting against four? How about using your fucking skills to grab some kills?”

Trash Talker: “Bunch of idiots with only morons in their household registration book!”

……

He Chuzhou’s teeth ached from the noise.

One of his teammates was so angry that he turned on his mic and started to argue with the guy. He Chuzhou happened to raise his eyes, and didn’t expect to meet Pei Xi’s.

“Am I disturbing you?” he asked.

“No.”

Caught off guard, Pei Xi quickly withdrew his stunned gaze from the other’s lips and stared at the computer: “That kind of person…..don’t pay too much attention to him. He’s a waste of your time.”

The trash talker was still spewing passionately and indiscriminately: “Who do you think you are? Don’t you know how many people I’ve killed in this game? That you’re not even worthy to carry my shoes?”

Trash Talker: “Where was number 6 just now?! Lao Six, if you have the ability, come and fucking challenge me. You owe me for those kills!” 

The female character at the trash talker’s side was likely embarrassed, as she had quit the game early. The character showed as being offline.

A torrent of abuse was poured onto He Chuzhou for no apparent reason as he played, but he showed no sign of anger. Instead, his lips curved amiably and he sent a screenshot of the trash talker’s ID to the IT department.

“Forget it. My family member won’t let me waste time on you.”

“But Brother, I advise you to cherish your last game. Your account is about to be gone.”

“See you.”

Pei Xi was unaware that after He Chuzhou said this, the person on that account had been banned. The moment he heard the words ‘family member,’ he was immersed in the turmoil and chaos of war.

Pei Xi: [brus on djjdjc,….]

Xiao Gu: […..Ah?]

Xiao Gu: [President Pei, are you trying to say that a chicken pecking at a keyboard is better than the Media Department’s plan?]

Pei Xi: “……”

He Chuzhou didn’t have much work that day, and simply dealt with a few emails on his phone. His main task was to sit in the living room with his guest and work with President Pei for most of the day.

Of course, this was a task he had assigned to himself.

As expected, the sky didn’t clear up, and as soon as the rain ended, it started up again.

The weather forecast said that the cloudy, rainy weather would last about a week. As the temperature began to drop, there would be a slight improvement after this week.

Just as Pei Xi clicked on the last pending document, He Chuzhou’s phone rang.

He had switched games and was in a fight. It was inconvenient to exit and answer the call, so he turned on the speakerphone.

Wu Qing: “What are you doing?”

He Chuzhou: “Lying down.”

Wu Qing: “Not working, ah? So leisurely. Can I come over for a meal?”

He Chuzhou didn’t even think before refusing: “If you don’t have food, don’t come over.”

Wu Qing: “Too late, I’m almost at your door. Quick, open the door for me, I’m only in one layer of clothing and it’s really cold!”

He Chuzhou: “? ? ?”

He Chuzhou sat up with a whoosh. “Are you serious?”

Wu Qing: “What do you mean, am I serious? Doesn’t your family live on Tianshan? Quick, open the door.”

He Chuzhou looked up to find Pei Xi looking back at him. The two exchanged glances for an awkward moment.

Finally, Pei Xi broke the deadlock: “Let him in.”

He Chuzhou: “Are you sure?”

Pei Xi: “He’s your friend. There’s no need for you to delay your normal social interactions because of me.”

He Chuzhou got up from the sofa and ruffled his hair: “There’s something you should know. You met Wu Qing when you were confused before and now he thinks we’re in a relationship.”

He thought this would dissuade Pei Xi from letting Wu Qing in, but Pei Xi didn’t have much of a reaction. He just said with a nod: “Understood.”

Okay.

As long as Pei Xi didn’t mind, it didn’t matter.

Wu Qing hadn’t lied. He had indeed arrived.

As soon as He Chuzhou opened the door, he saw him leaping up to the doorstep, holding an umbrella as he muttered: “The weather’s so bad. The wind is so strong that the umbrella can’t keep the rain from hitting me, please let me in to warm up.”

He jumped into the house, letting out a long and cheerful sigh as the warm air enveloped him: “I’m alive — huh?”

He paused in the act of rubbing his hands, then looked at He Chuzhou, who was closing his umbrella as he came in: “You have a guest? Why didn’t you tell me?”

He Chuzhou considered this for a moment, then said straightforwardly: “Yeah, he doesn’t count as a guest.”

Wu Qing: “Ah?”

He Chuzhou: “He lives here.”

This was beyond Wu Qing’s expectations. Just as he started to ask which member of his family it was, the person on the sofa with his back to them turned around and nodded at him in greeting with an austere expression. 

Wu Qing: “…..?”

Wu Qing: “? ? ? ? ?”

*

*

“No way, you’re living together?”

“Brat, you’ve kept this a secret. It’s been so long, and you never said anything.”

“When did it happen?”

“Wait, it seems the two of you are married, so it makes sense that you live together.”

“I still haven’t settled accounts with you for having a flash marriage without telling me!”

He Chuzhou was cutting a fruit plate as Wu Qing hovered around him, talking non-stop.

He Chuzhou simply interrupted him: “Why did you come here all of a sudden?”

Wu Qing: “All of a sudden? Mainly because my dad chased me out very suddenly. I couldn’t help it.”

He Chuzhou: “Why did your dad chase you out?”

Wu Qing: “He told me to go work at the company. I didn’t want to go, so he kicked me out and stopped my card.”

He Chuzhou: “You came to my place for asylum, thinking I’d help you?”

Wu Qing waved his hand: “I’m already here. I’m going to Hawaii on vacation, and I’ll come back when the old man calms down. I fly out tomorrow morning.”

He Chuzhou grasped the key point: “So you want to sleep here for one night?”

Wu Qing: “Yes, ah. What kind of tone is that? I don’t wanna listen to you, I’ll just wear earplugs all night!”

“Don’t overthink it, I’m just asking.”

He Chuzhou placed the last of the cantaloupe onto the fruit plate and picked it up: “Get out. I’ll cook for you later. Don’t get in the way.” 

Wu Qing: “Got it.”

He Chuzhou set the fruit plate on the coffee table and Wu Qing next to him said jokingly: “Thank you, President He.”

He Chuzhou sneered at him as he placed a few toothpicks into the fruit. Then he gave a piece to the still busily working Pei Xi, who said: “Thank you.”

Wu Qing’s ears instantly perked up. He pulled He Chuzhou aside and whispered: “Damn, don’t tell me you married for business!”

He Chuzhou said he was crazy and went to the kitchen to cook.

Pei Xi’s hands slowed where they were typing on the keyboard.

Wu Qing shrugged and walked around the sofa to sit down. He popped a piece of fruit into his mouth and chewed a couple of times as he prepared to address Pei Xi.

But when he opened his mouth, the other party immediately closed his computer and stood up, going to the kitchen.

He Chuzhou saw Pei Xi coming over as he was washing vegetables. Thinking he had come to get something, he stepped aside and asked him: “What are you looking for?”

Pei Xi took a light-hued apron out of the top cabinet and looked up at He Chuzhou: “Turn around.”

He Chuzhou obeyed and turned to face him. 

Pei Xi raised his hands to put the apron around his neck, then wrapped the laces around his waist and tied them. The action looked akin to a hug.

Full of warmth, He Chuzhou’s heart moved slightly as he whispered: “What’s wrong.”

Pei Xi’s voice came from within his arms: “Won’t your friend think we’re too distant?”

He Chuzhou understood, and couldn’t keep the corners of his mouth from rising.

The open kitchen allowed those in the living room a panoramic view of the kitchen. Wu Qing sat there blankly, foolishly holding a toothpick in his hand.

Pei Xi fastened the strings and stepped away. Not looking up at He Chuzhou, he said simply: “Give me something to keep me busy.”

He Chuzhou gave him the easiest job — soaking dried mushrooms in a pot.

Of course, he had learned from his previous mistake and used a precise quantity this time.

When Pei Xi went aside with the dried mushrooms, he lowered his head and admired the floral apron he was wearing for a moment, then took out his phone and typed with one hand: 

He Chuzhou: [Hey, you have good eyes. Help me see if the bow is tied at the back.]

Wu Qing: […..? Damn you!]

Wu Qing: [Are you two just playing with me for fun? Fuck!]

Wu Qing: [I can’t stay here any longer! I want to change my ticket! I’m flying out at midnight tonight!]

He Chuzhou: [Ah, my friend, don’t. Stay for two more days. I’ll provide accommodations and a seafood dinner for you.]

In a corner where no one was paying attention, Pei Xi soaked a precise amount of mushrooms in a pot and touched the tips of his ears with wet fingers to physically cool himself down.

---

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Chapter 36 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 38