When He Chuzhou woke up in the morning, he found someone in his arms.

He subconsciously pulled him tighter into his arms at first, and when he regained his senses and forced himself to open his eyes, he met Pei Xi’s bright, clear gaze.

“…..?”

His doubt was written on his face, and what slowly emerged from the tip of his thoughts was: “Darling, why are you here?”

Pei-calico manually helped him open his eyes more, and his question was 90% similar to He Chuzhou’s: “Chuzhou, where is this? Where are we?”

He Chuzhou stared at him for a moment. With a sleepy yawn, he closed his eyes and hugged him again: “The weather was nice, so I took you out to camp.”

Pei Xi placed an arm around his back and idly tapped the base of his neck with his fingertips: “Shouldn’t we sleep outdoors when camping?”

“Says who?”

He Chuzhou’s voice was hoarse due to sleepiness: “It’s not about experiencing primitive life. Camping is just during the day. There are so many insects and ants at night, and I can’t bear to see you suffer that.”

Pei Xi still had something to say, but he had only uttered a single syllable when someone pinched his cheeks and manually muted his microphone: “Honey, I won’t ask how you got into my room, so don’t question me either, okay?”

Pei Xi: “Okay?”

He Chuzhou: “I’m sleepy, stay with me for a while.”

Pei Xi: “But I’m not sleepy. I slept well.”

He Chuzhou: “Then hug me a little while longer……”

His voice became increasingly sticky, with the trailing sounds blending together. It was obvious that his brain was mostly unconscious.

Pei Xi could only smile. He put his hand on the back of the other’s soft hair and rubbed gently.

He looked like a big dog. A big dog even clingier than He Xingxing.

Alright, then I’ll lie with you for a while.

In the end, they got up early and went downstairs. Nearly everyone else in the villa was still asleep.

Xie Ling, however, had gotten up even earlier than them. He was dressed neatly, making an early-morning phone call in the courtyard. It was unclear if he was reporting his stay away from home to his girlfriend or was busy with work.

When he saw them coming down, he hung up the phone and waved: “Leaving so early?”

He Chuzhou replied: “En, going back to work.”

The two weren’t very familiar, so Xie Ling didn’t have much to say to him. He couldn’t exactly say, “Hey, Bro, guess what, I found out you’re a virgin last night,” could he?

But after saying goodbye, he specifically told Pei Xi in a cryptic manner: “Don’t forget what I told you last night. Give me a call if you have any questions.”

Pei Xi looked puzzled when he heard this: “What did you tell me last night — wu?”

He turned mutely to He Chuzhou, asking with his eyes: “Why did you cover my mouth?”

“What he means is that he’ll remember. You can rest at ease,” He Chuzhou finished with a smile, and without giving Pei Xi a chance to speak, he took this person directly to the car.

Pei Xi sat down in the passenger seat and regained his freedom of speech: “Why didn’t you let me ask? I don’t remember what Xie Ling told me last night.”

He Chuzhou had a good excuse: “He just told you last night, but you completely forgot after one night’s sleep. It would be too hurtful to say that out loud.”

Pei Xi: “What if it’s something important?”

He Chuzhou: “From his tone, it didn’t seem like an urgent matter. I’ll ask him indirectly for you later.”

Pei Xi had extreme trust in him, and nodded without any suspicion: “Okay, but why is Xie Ling here? Is he camping with us too?”

He Chuzhou drove the car out of the villa’s gate and cruised down the winding mountain road that was yet to dry. The wheels rolled over numerous dead leaves and branches that had shaken free during the rainstorm: “Pretty much.”

Pei Xi thought carefully: “I never thought he had the potential to be a third wheel.”

He Chuzhou: “Indeed.”

Pei Xi: “Was it just the three of us? Or were there others?”

He Chuzhou: “We followed a group. The people in the villa are…..”

This was why the saying existed that when you tell one lie, you must tell a hundred lies to cover it up.

He Chuzhou dealt with Pei Xi’s many questions by talking nonsense all the way. By the end, he didn’t even know what he was saying, and to his surprise, Pei Xi didn’t have any doubts at all.

When they got home, Pei Xi asked if he was going to the company.

He Chuzhou gave it some thought. When he looked at today’s work schedule, he ultimately decided to work from home.

He not only had to deal with his own work today, but also had to help Pei Xi deal with some of the company’s inconvenient backlog.

After a meal, he worked in the study while Pei Xi played a game opposite him.

It was the same game as last time, but it had entered the official launch phase from public beta, and there were even more active users.

His character was still online at the entrance to the Heavenly Gates. The title [Humanoid Player NPC No. 002] above his head had disappeared due to being outdated, and he was no different from ordinary players.

He controlled the character to walk around in a circle. Without He Chuzhou leading him, the entire game seemed particularly boring.

He couldn’t find anything fun, so he simply took out the white dragon mount He Chuzhou had given him and sat on it to look at the scenery.

Travelling past Wutong Mountain, he recalled the Jin Ling that looked like a dog and quacked like a duck. He was preparing to land to see if there were any changes to its appearance, when he heard a slightly annoyed sound from the person opposite him.

He looked up and asked: “What’s wrong?”

He Chuzhou was sluggish, but typed harder as he replied: “I have to go on another business trip.”

Pei Xi asked him: “Do you not want to go?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to.” He Chuzhou tilted his head to look at him from behind the computer. “Since I’m going on a business trip, what are you going to do?”

Pei Xi said as a matter of course: “Stay at home, ah.”

…..That was indeed the case.

He Chuzhou silently retracted his head and sighed.

Ai, how upsetting.

Even Pei-calico didn’t cling to him as much as before.

The game character landed in front of the Jin Ling, but Pei Xi had forgotten his original purpose for coming here. His attention shifted.

He thought for a moment, then set down his phone, stood up and walked to He Chuzhou, and then sat in his lap. This face-to-face position made it easy for him to hold the other’s face, eyebrows raised slightly: “Is someone reluctant to leave me?”

He Chuzhou let go of the mouse and hugged him: “Ah, I can’t bear to leave.”

Pei Xi: “How many days will the business trip last?”

He Chuzhou said it would be four or five days. An idea suddenly flashed through his mind, and he hinted: “Xinxin, let me ask you – if you suddenly woke up and found that I had taken you to a foreign country, would you be angry?”

Pei Xi narrowed his eyes: “You want to secretly take me away when I’m sleeping?”

He Chuzhou hummed: “Yeah? Is it really obvious?”

Pei Xi: “Tell me.”

“Okay.” He Chuzhou stopped being torn and said in a low voice: “In fact, I don’t just want to steal you away. I wish I could shrink you down and put you in my pocket so that I can carry you wherever I go.”

As he spoke, the study door was pushed open by He Xingxing.

The big dog walked in with a swagger, followed by a carefree kitten. The two sat side by side on the carpet and stared at them curiously.

Pei Xi was helpless: “Chuzhou, you’re so clingy.”

“The scope is too large. I don’t cling to everyone, only to you.” He Chuzhou raised his head with an expectant face. “So do you want to come with me?”

Pei Xi gestured around and said: “With both of us gone, what should be done with these two?”

He Chuzhou: “Don’t worry, when the auntie comes to clean, she’ll pour them food and shovel their poop.”

Pei Xi: “But the auntie will leave after cleaning. Four or five days is such a long time. Can they stay at home by themselves?”

He Chuzhou: “They can keep each other company.”

Pei Xi: “They aren’t familiar with each other yet. Didn’t you say that Pei Yueliang has only been here a few days? It would be better for me to stay at home and watch them in case a fight breaks out.”

He Chuzhou: “……”

Times had changed. The cat and dog were really more important than him.

*

*

“Pei Xin…..Xi, your express delivery.”

Holding his cell phone in one hand, He Chuzhou used the other to offer the express delivery he’d just picked up at the door to Pei Xi.

He had just changed clothes, and hadn’t even had time to button his shirt to the top when a call came in from work.

Pei Xi took the delivery and watched him go to the balcony to answer the phone, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

It seemed he had been neglected before.

He kept feeling like He Chuzhou was coaxing him, as if giving special attention to a patient.

But most of the time, he didn’t need to be coaxed anymore.

He’d talked about him being sticky the day before, when he was worrying about him and wanted to take him along wherever he went. It seemed this really was He Chuzhou’s wish.

Could it be as Xie Ling said, that He Chuzhou…..liked him back?

“Print out the documents the other party sent you earlier, stamp them, and bring them over here today.” 

“The brochure information should also be as complete as possible.”

“Just follow the driver and come right here. No need for a translation assistant.”

It was almost nine o’clock when he hung up the phone. His flight was booked at ten o’clock, so he had to rush to the airport soon and was in a hurry.

When he returned to the room, he saw Pei Xi unboxing the package. He asked him what he’d bought as he walked straight to the closet to find a tie to wear.

Just as he took out a black one, it was snatched away from him. He turned his head in confusion to see Pei Xi put the black one back in its place, then hold up a dark blue tie he had never seen before: “Try this.”

He Chuzhou was taken aback: “Is this the delivery you just received?”

Pei Xi nodded. He wrapped the tie around his hand and helped him button the top two buttons on his shirt.

As he approached, He Chuzhou almost subconsciously slowed his breathing, and he could barely move his eyes.

After struggling for a long moment, he finally found his voice: “Why…..would you suddenly buy this for me…..”

“I saw it and thought it suited you, so I bought it,” Pei Xi said. He placed the tie under his shirt collar and started to tie it for him.

He had never helped someone put on a tie before, aso it took him a while to adapt to the unfamiliar angle. And the person in front of him was He Chuzhou, so he was inevitably a little nervous and uneasy.

However, when he noticed that He Chuzhou was even more nervous and uneasy than him, he blinked softly and felt that everything had become easier.

He could see that this person was doing his best to control himself, but still couldn’t bring his disordered breathing back to normal. His shoulders were unusually stiff, and even his Adam’s Apple was moving subtly.

There was no doubt that if he put his palm on the other person’s chest at this moment, he would feel a strong and rapid heartbeat.

He Chuzhou was indeed in a confused state of mind.

Pei Xi had bought him a tie…..

Pei Xi had helped him button his shirt…..

Pei Xi was helping him tie his tie……

He didn’t even have a chance to think about why. His head was dizzy from this overly intimate behavior, and his eyes lowered to fix on Pei Xi’s cold, porcelain-white face.

Seeing how he was staring at He Chuzhou’s collar intently, his mouth went dry. Colorful bubbles poured continuously into his stomach, flooding him uncontrollably…..

Then his Adam’s Apple was gently brushed.

His breathing immediately became heavy, and an electric current immediately flowed throughout his body, mixing with his blood as it rushed south.

Pei Xi moved away after the touch and looked up: “He Chuzhou, are you thirsty?”

Almost at the same time he met a pair of deep, dark eyes, his hand was forcibly enveloped by a larger, warmer palm.

Pei Xi’s heart moved slightly. He quickly suppressed the gleam that flashed through his eyes, leaving only calmness: “What’s wrong?”

He Chuzhou stared at him in bewilderment and suspicion, almost urgently trying to decipher the emotions in his eyes. As they gazed at each other at such a close distance, the waves in their eyes kept surging before being forcibly suppressed.

Perhaps because the results of his search weren’t satisfactory, his Adam’s Apple rolled up and down several times before he finally closed his eyes and said in a low voice: “Nothing. I was just going to remind you to close the windows before you go to sleep.”

After saying this, he released his hand and retracted his gaze. He quickly put on his jacket and picked up the suitcase beside the bed: “I’m leaving now. Call me if you need anything.”

He left in a great hurry, both his footsteps and his back revealing a sense of fleeing after being unable to hold his own.

The door opened and closed with a crisp sound.

Pei Xi followed him out of the room and gazed in the direction He Chuzhou had left. Then he looked down at his index finger where he still felt a phantom touch.

He couldn’t control the slight curve of his lips.

---

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Chapter 55 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 57