The early morning sun shone obliquely into the room.

Pei Xi woke up with his eyes still closed and subconsciously reached out to the side — but encountered nothing.

“ ? ”

He opened his eyes to find that the spot in front of him was empty. Not only was the bed empty, but he was the only one in the enormous room.

Why had he gotten up so early?

Had he gone to work?

There was no movement in the living room. He closed his eyes for a while, then threw back the blankets and sat on the edge of the bed.

He took the phone from the bedside table to check the time, but after unlocking it, what caught his eye was the memo screen.

There was a short sentence he had edited at 10:48 the night before:

[Does Chuzhou really like me?]

“…..?”

He read this sentence over and over again in confusion, unable to recall when he’d written it or what kind of mood he was in.

What had happened?

If he had doubts, why didn’t he just ask?

Unable to figure it out, he set the phone down and headed to the bathroom.

He looked up while squeezing out toothpaste, and upon seeing himself in the mirror, something flashed through his mind and he quickly caught it.

Suspecting that He Chuzhou didn’t like him……

Was it because……?

In the living room.

He Chuzhou was sitting on the sofa in his house clothes, with He Xingxing lying on his belly at his feet and Pei Yueliang sitting to the side with her eyes squinted and paws folded under her. On his knees was a laptop paused on the search page.

He had logged into the anonymous forum from last time and once again posted a request for help.

It was unknown whether the enthusiastic netizen brother hadn’t gotten up or didn’t have time, but he hadn’t replied and his avatar was grey.

What should he do?

Someone else might not be as reliable as this brother.

Why not directly post it in the public discussion area?

But according to his observations, most of the people there were just joking around, with few of them seriously answering questions…..

There was a light tap on the back of the computer.

He returned to his senses and looked up, only to find that he’d been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed Pei Xi coming over.

“You’re awake? I brought you some duck blood and vermicelli soup and pan-fried dumplings. It’s warming up in the kitchen, I’ll bring it out.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he closed the laptop and set it aside. Just as he was about to stand, a push to his chest forced him back down.

Then his thighs sank as Pei Xi sat directly on his legs, leaning forward slightly to hold his waist as he faced him.

“ ! ”

He Chuzhou instantly stopped breathing.

This position was foul play. His brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen, and his mouth gaped for a long time before he found his voice: “Xin…..Xinxin?”

Pei Xi gave a hum. With downcast eyes and a focused expression, he said: “Gege, I have something to ask you.”

Holding his arms, He Chuzhou coughed awkwardly. His eyes darted around: “Sure, what is it?”

Pei Xi: “Do you like me?”

“Of course,” He Chuzhou answered without hesitation. “Why are you suddenly asking this?”

Pei Xi pursed his lips and whispered: “Because you haven’t kissed me on your own initiative, not even once.”

He Chuzhou choked.

How could he not want to?

It was just that his conscience wouldn’t let him take advantage of the situation.

In desperation, he had to re-use his previous excuse: “You’re still unwell, I can’t—!”

The softness on his lips was fleeting.

His pupils constricted as he stared at Pei Xi.

After his surprise attack, the latter pulled away and looked him straight in the eyes: “Gege, why do you feel guilty? Do I have to do this for you to look me in the eyes?”

The lingering warmth on his lips was starting to dissipate. Pei Xi’s voice in his ears mixed with his own heartbeat, and He Chuzhou could feel himself barely breathing.

“That’s not…..” He Chuzhou gulped unconsciously. His own voice sounded like someone else speaking beside him: “I was just thinking that you’re probably hungry now…..”

“En, I’m hungry.”

Pei Xi nodded in agreement. Then he grasped He Chuzhou’s jaw and kissed him again. It still wasn’t deep, but it contained more force than a dragonfly skimming water and lasted longer.

Very soon, he felt the hands holding him fail to restrain their strength, and the breathing of the person he was kissing grew heavy and disordered.

So he gently bit the other’s lip. Sensing the other’s rigidness, he swept his tongue soothingly over the place he’d bitten.

Pulling away again, he saw that the evasion in the other’s eyes had been completely replaced by strong repressed emotions, along with a deep, surging darkness.

“See? You can do it.”

Their eyes met. The breath he exhaled as he spoke blew against He Chuzhou’s lips, and the friction in the air created unseen sparks.

His voice was cool, his eyes pure, but at this moment, it had the opposite effect and was extremely seductive.

“It’s just a kiss. It’s not that easy to shoot accidentally while polishing a gun.”

“Look, you could have done it, but you refused to kiss me for such a long time.”

“Chuzhou, do you really like me?”

The moment his words of censure fell, the back of his head was suddenly grabbed and pulled down with great force, and the pair of lips that had been scorched by his kisses closed in.

It was an eager kiss, but only lasted a moment.

In the next second, on the verge of reaching the limits of restraint, those lips turned away.

The subsequent touches were faint and accompanied by hot and unstable breathing, from his face, to his cheek, and then extending down to his delicate neck.

The other finally couldn’t bear it anymore and sucked hard, leaving behind a sudden mark.

Pei Xi’s breathing skipped, and his entire body trembled as if it had been electrified. The kiss exploded from the side of his throat and rapidly spread throughout his body, instantly softening his lower back.

His mind was a large swathe of blankness, all thought driven away.

He wanted to sit up and look at He Chuzhou’s expression, but he was being held too tightly and couldn’t break free.

Not only did the hand behind his head not loosen, but it also pressed him tighter into the other’s arms.

Pei Xi rested his chin on He Chuzhou’s shoulder, unable to tell whose heartbeat was pounding in his ears.

“See? I can’t.”

He Chuzhou’s trembling voice was extremely hoarse. Pei Xi only felt an electric current surge into his ears, a faint jolt of shock transmitted from every fine hair inside.

“Especially when you’re sitting on me like this, speaking to me like this, and biting me like this.”

“I can’t do it at all.”

Pei Xi breathed in his unique scent, and his thoughts moved. His initial purpose of seeking confirmation had inevitably deviated in the midst of such an explosive and ambiguous atmosphere.

His breathing also fell into disorder. He turned his head and slowly rubbed his nose across the tip, base, and lobe of He Chuzhou’s ear.

As if possessed, he opened his mouth and took a light nip.

The arms wrapped around his waist instantly constricted. He didn’t know if the low moan that fell into his ears was an illusion, but the close embrace allowed him to sense all of the changes in the other’s body simultaneously.

“If you can’t, then you can’t.”

Pei Xi’s Adam’s apple rolled. He tightly hooked He Chuzhou’s neck and whispered in his ear: “It’s been so long. I should have recovered long ago.”

“Having a bad memory isn’t a big problem. At most, I’ll wake up with amnesia.”

“That doesn’t matter. You can do the things I forgot again, and maybe I’ll remember.”

“Gege, you say you like me, but if you like me, you shouldn’t have held back up to now.”

He Chuzhou really couldn’t take any more.

He felt the blood in his body boiling because of this person in his arms, who was teasing him without realizing the severity of the situation. It practically seeped out from every narrow pore.

Not just once. He wanted to do it twice, thrice, unlimited times.

Just like in his dreams, until the energy rampaging through his body was dispersed and Pei Xi didn’t even have the strength to bite him, unable to do anything but let him kiss him and move him to and fro.

His brain was about to be swallowed up by mindless impulse. Tilting his head, he buried it deeply between Pei Xi’s shoulder and neck, greedily and vigorously absorbing his scent like a cat clinging to catnip.

Just when his last bit of sanity was about to snap, there was a loud knocking at the door, coupled with He Aiyue’s unscrupulous shouting:

“Boss He, Boss He, are you home?”

“I know you’re there. Yun Ji said you didn’t go to the company.”

“Open the door, open the door, I know you’re home.”

“Pei-ge, Pei-ge! Your sister is here!”

“Are you really not at home…..”

He Aiyue knocked for a long time before lowering her hand with a grumble. She took out her phone, and was about to make a call when the door opened from the inside.

Her brother stood in front of her, his expression very colorful and complicated.

“What were you doing in there? I’ve been calling you for half a day.”

He Aiyue put her phone away again and wrinkled her nose: “What’s with that expression on your face? Did I interrupt your sleep? Are you embarrassed that you slept so late?”

“Okay, okay, it’s getting noisy.”

He Chuzhou pressed his aching head: “Why did you run over here so early? You didn’t sleep in for once on a weekend?”

He Aiyue said with a grin: “I came to get the gifts and tell you that mom wants you home for dinner today. Dad caught a bunch of cold-water fish, including sea bass. Uncle Zhang’s sea bass is super tasty.”

He Chuzhou scoffed: “You’re full of it. Can cold-water fish and sea bass be raised in the same pond?”

He turned sideways and said: “Come in quick, the door’s closing.”

“It’s Dad who’s full of it. It’s got nothing to do with me.”

He Aiyue walked inside briskly and immediately saw Pei Xi standing nearby with a kitten in his arms.

“Wa, kitten!”

She approached excitedly and said: “Pei-ge, when did you get a cat? It’s so cute! Let me touch it, let me touch it!”

In the blind spot behind her, He Chuzhou shut the door and pressed his forehead hard with the base of his palm.

After calming down, he felt fortunate to have regained control.

Luckily, this girl had arrived just in time.

“We picked her up on our way home some time ago.”

Pei Xi handed Pei Yueliang over to He Aiyue. Looking up, he exchanged a wordless look with He Chuzhou and went back to the bedroom to change clothes.

The mark on the side of his neck was even more obvious once he’d cooled down.

His originally pale neck seemed to have been infected by that spot, the crimson hue spreading all the way to his ear.

*

*

He Chuzhou: [Question: How can I make the person I like fall in love with me ASAP? Very urgent, waiting online. But I can’t wait any longer.]

[You’re in such a hurry?]

[Why are you pursuing someone so impatiently?]

[The questioner is a man, right? I don’t even need to click into the data.]

[Is it the person you want or their body?]

[Men, tsk, tsk. So foul.]

He Chuzhou couldn’t refute.

Yes, yes, yes, he wanted the person’s body.

People who had never eaten meat were so ignorant that they couldn’t help but rush to eat the tiniest scraps.

He couldn’t take a progressive approach.

If he were to be asked again whether he could resist going to bed with the person when he finally caught them, the current answer would be no.

He couldn’t resist at all.

He was just impatient. So impatient that he was on fire, so impatient that he wanted to start a legitimate relationship with that person tomorrow.

He Chuzhou: [Thank you. I want everything.]

He Chuzhou: [I don’t know what kind of patience I’ll have tomorrow, but it’s definitely exhausted today.]

He Chuzhou: [He’s flirted with me more than once.]

He Chuzhou: [Also, our relationship is a little ambiguous now. I think he might like me a little bit.]

[Flirted with you? Could it be that he gave you a cup of milk tea when the office was distributing it?]

[Is it possible that he has to pass by your workstation to use the toilet?]

[You don’t mean to say that he likes you too, and you can win the beauty over by putting in just a little effort, right?]

[A good example of men being confident over nothing.]

[I can’t stand it!]

[You say your relationship is a little ambiguous. Could you describe in detail how ambiguous it is?]

He definitely couldn’t describe it in detail.

But He Chuzhou turned to glance at Pei Xi sleeping next to him, and his heart softened. He typed a reply with a smile:

He Chuzhou: [He’s sleeping next to me right now.]

[ ? ? ? ]

[Is OP dreaming?]

[Is this a scam post?]

[If he’s really sleeping next to you, why did you come here to ask us?]

[OP is dreaming. Scram!]

[OP, I’ll teach you a method. While he’s asleep, whisper in his ear 10,000 times that he likes you. People are easily brainwashed when they’re unguarded, believe me. Hahahaha!]

[I know the answer to the question above! My bestie and I talk about interior decoration during the day, and when we go home at night, all we look at on social media is interior decoration.]

[Are you being monitored by mobile phone big data?]

[It’s all the same, provided you’re actually papapa-ing together, ah.]

[Oh my god, stop providing this man material for his dreams!]

[Can’t you see that I’m just messing with him?]

People were easily brainwashed when they were unguarded?

He Chuzhou bit his cheek and pondered this sentence for a long time.

It seemed like a feasible solution. Why hadn’t he thought of it before?

But wouldn’t it be a little too despicable?

Yeah right!

He couldn’t wait to be a beast, so being a little despicable was just fine!

*

*

“YAre you going to the company on the weekend too?”

Pei Xi opened the door and came out of the room, sitting down elegantly at the dining table.

“There’s no need.”

He Chuzhou responded vaguely. His gaze swept across Pei Xi’s neck, then moved away unobtrusively. He picked up the soy milk and took a sip.

He probably hadn’t noticed.

“I noticed a red spot when I was washing my face just now.”

Pei Xi raised a hand and touched the hickie, asking casually: “Do you know how it happened?”

Thump.

The steamed dumpling He Chuzhou had just taken a bite of fell onto his plate.

Pei Xi looked over, and He Chuzhou calmly picked up the steamed dumpling again: “I have no idea. Is it a mosquito bite? Does it itch?”

Pei Xi: “……”

Pei Xi: “There shouldn’t be any mosquitos in this weather.”

He Chuzhou gave an ‘oh.’ “Really? I heard there’s a kind of large mosquito that lives a long time. The place it bites will be red and swollen for several days.”

Pei Xi: “……”

OK.

He Chuzhou didn’t have any plans to go to the company today, but…..he harbored wicked intentions and felt guilty when he saw Pei Xi.

He felt even guiltier when he saw Pei Xi walking around in front of him with a glaring hickie.

Not only guilty, but a little hot-headed.

Therefore, he ultimately found an excuse and left for the company in disgrace.

Pei Xi held Pei Yueliang and sat in the sun, watching He Chuzhou leave the house in dress clothes. His brow furrowed deeply, and he gradually stopped petting the kitten.

Why was he still avoiding him?

And it was even worse now. He wouldn’t even look him in the eyes.

What did this mean?

He couldn’t help but think it over carefully again. He had to admit that Pei-calico’s method of following instructions yesterday was indeed too impulsive and aggressive.

And nothing had come of it.

He tutted in annoyance.

It seemed that all unorthodox methods were unreliable. He would have to do it himself.

He Chuzhou returned very late.

Pei Xi said nothing about this. He came out of the bathroom after blow drying his hair, grabbed his phone and charging cable, and walked out.

He Chuzhou followed him with his eyes: “Not going to sleep yet?”

Pei Xi: “I’m going next door.”

He Chuzhou: “Ah?”

Pei Xi: “Sleeping with you at night is too hot, so I’ll go to the guest room.”

He Chuzhou: “? ? ?”

Hot ? ? ?

Sitting on the bed, he watched as Pei Xi left and closed the door. He was the only one left in the bedroom that normally contained two people.

Hot ? ? ? ? ? 

He raised his hand and touched his neck in disbelief.

Was he hot?

Could it be because he secretly hugged Pei Xi too tightly when he was asleep?

Would he be alone in this empty room forever?!

Was there still hope that he could take a cold shower at night??

. . . . . . 

Pei Xi had already entered the next room, completely ignorant of the trauma his casual excuse had caused He Chuzhou.

Before going to bed, he set an alarm for much earlier than his biological clock.

Fast forward to the next morning – he was awoken by the alarm clock and, as expected, did not lose his memory.

He was somewhat tense.

He splashed a handful of cold water on his face to calm down.

Taking a deep breath, he stared at himself in the mirror for a long moment and ultimately recited the words he had prepared in his mind.

Pei Xi, this isn’t the first time you’ve pretended to have amnesia.

You have experience.

This time, you definitely won’t be found out.

After completing his preparations, he exited the room.

Surprisingly, although he’d gotten up early enough, He Chuzhou had gotten up even earlier and had even walked the dog and bought breakfast.

When he saw him come out, He Chuzhou didn’t neglect to confirm: “Xinxin?”

Pei Xi gave a hum, calmly acknowledging his identity.

From the moment he sat down, He Chuzhou’s eyes were fixed on him.

He didn’t understand why at first, and was afraid of being discovered, so he ate his meal with an abundance of caution.

The moment he set down his chopsticks, he suddenly realized that as Pei-calico, he hadn’t asked why he was sleeping in the guest bedroom.

His heart immediately constricted. Thinking that He Chuzhou had discovered him, he began to brainstorm solutions.

Before he could come up with anything, he heard He Chuzhou ask: “Is Xinxin done eating?”

…..It didn’t seem like he’d discovered him.

He was uncertain, so he nodded cautiously: “En, I’m done.”

He Chuzhou: “You don’t have anything to do for a while, right?”

Pei Xi shook his head: “No.”

He Chuzhou: “Then can you come help me in the study?”

Pei Xi: “ ? ”

With a heart full of doubt, he followed He Chuzhou to the study. As soon as he sat down, a pen and a stack of stationary were placed in front of him.

Pei Xi: “This is…..?”

He Chuzhou pulled up a seat and sat next to him. Resting his arms on the desk, he looked at him with curved eyes.

Unlike the President He who had always opposed him in the past, he was more like a young university student who had just started a relationship.

He said: “Xinxin, please write me a love letter.”

He had originally planned to wait until evening.

But after the abrupt separation last night, he was even more impatient.

Pei Xi: “ ? ? ? ”

Pei Xi: “A love letter? Why?”

He Chuzhou: “I’ve never received one. Wu Qing said he’s gotten a lot, and I’m jealous. Can you write one for me?”

Never received one?

But Pei Xi clearly remembered Wu Qing saying that He Chuzhou had received numerous love letters since high school, from both girls and boys.

And now he hadn’t received any?

He picked up the pen in bafflement—

And didn’t write for a long time.

He could only turn and ask He Chuzhou: “I don’t know how to write one?”

To be honest, He Chuzhou didn’t either.

He had indeed received a lot of them, but never opened a single one.

He regretted it. He should have read one earlier.

“You can just write…..” He thought hard, and an idea suddenly came to him. “You can just write that you like He Chuzhou very much.”

Pei Xi: “You like He Chuzhou very much?”

He Chuzhou: “You, not me. Just write this sentence. Write it a hundred times until you have 800 words.”

Under Pei Xi’s stunned gaze, he paused for a few seconds before revising his words: “It’s better to do it 200 times, otherwise the impression won’t be deep enough. The suggestion won’t take root and when you wake up again, you’ll have forgotten all about it.”

Pei Xi: “ ? ? ? ? ? ”

---

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Chapter 60 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 62