The interview with the girl was short and simple. Pei Xi didn’t reveal his identity as the developer. In fact, he didn’t say much at all.

After his joke in the opening remarks, He Chuzhou was the one answering:

“Yeah, I think it’s great.”

“The whole amusement park is amazing. Every detail is well-designed, and nothing is lacking.”

“To be able to construct such an excellent project, I believe the developer must be outstanding, wise and far-sighted, intelligent, and discerning.”

“Suggestions? I don’t have any.”

“My suggestion is that everyone should come and play. Adults, children, friends old and young, come and play at my wi…….at this excellent developer’s — hiss!”

Pei Xi couldn’t take it anymore, and secretly pinched his back.

He Chuzhou gave a surprised gasp, then tactfully shut up.

The girl was very satisfied with the interview, especially because of the enthusiasm and reactions of those in the live broadcast room. She even gave them a small gift before leaving.

They were two red marker pens with the amusement park’s logo printed on them. One could tell at a glance that they were purchased at the park’s souvenir shop.

Pei Xi put his in his pocket. He Chuzhou unscrewed the lid and neatly drew a heart on the back of Pei Xi’s hand near his wrist, filling in the whole interior.

Pei Xi let him do it, but pulled his hand back when He Chuzhou tried to add a watch band to the love heart.

When he looked up, he caught sight of a completely unexpected person a distance away — Pei Zhen.

It wasn’t just strange that Pei Zhen had appeared here. What was even stranger was that he had appeared alone.

But his doubts were soon dispelled.

Jiang Ting was chasing after him in high heels. She wanted to scold him but couldn’t bear it, so her reproach was very mild: “Xiao Zhen, didn’t Mom tell you not to walk around alone? The park is so big, what if you get lost?”

Pei Zhen ignored her, just like he had the last time at home. He stood there not far away and stubbornly fixed his eyes on Pei Xi. It was difficult to understand what he wanted to express, and Pei Xi didn’t want to understand.

Jiang Ting followed his line of sight and noticed Pei Xi.

She slowed her hurried steps and came to a stop beside Pei Zhen, nodding politely to Pei Xi in greeting.

Pei Zhen proceeded to walk forward. He Chuzhou immediately put his arms around Pei Xi’s shoulders and took half a step back, subconsciously revealing his protective stance.

Jiang Ting didn’t know what was going on in Pei Zhen’s head, and didn’t know when he had become so strange, his mind unpredictable. The mother and son almost never communicated, and she could never grasp what he was thinking.

Especially right now. She didn’t feel that he was about to have an attack, but she was even more uneasy than if that was the case.

It felt as if she was about to lose something she could never get back.

“Xiao Zhen, it’s time for us to go…..”

Pei Zhen dodged her grasping hand, but a larger, stronger hand pressed down on his shoulder.

Indeed, Pei Yansong was there too.

Pei Xi wasn’t surprised at all to see him. This was as it should be. Wherever Jiang Ting went, he would be there too.

Pei Yansong’s gaze swept over them. He Chuzhou stilled, then slowly loosened the arm he had around Pei Xi.

But just as he lowered it, Pei Xi grabbed his hand and held it openly in front of Pei Yansong.

Pei Yansong’s face darkened completely: “Pei Xi, do you know what you’re doing! I can ascribe everything else to you being young and hot-tempered, but you had best not learn from people of questionable character and do something indecent and unorthodox!”

Although his father’s words were very harsh, Pei Xi was surprised to find himself calm, as if he was facing someone he knew, but was insignificant to him.

No matter how harsh Pei Yansong’s words were or how angry he was, what he cared about more was He Chuzhou’s mood.

“Is this ‘people of questionable character’ referring to me?”

He Chuzhou kept his mouth as close to Pei Xi’s ear as possible, making the two appear more intimate. Pei Yansong’s expression grew visibly darker.

Pei Xi turned his head: “Are you angry?”

He Chuzhou shrugged: “Nah, there’s nothing to be angry about.”

Pei Xi: “Why?”

He Chuzhou: “He’s your father. What should I be angry about?”

Pei Xi said seriously: “You can pretend he’s not.”

He Chuzhou: “Then there’s still no need to be angry. I only have so many days to live, and only so many dates with my wife. It’s not worth it to waste time on an old man.”

His expression was so earnest that Pei Xi couldn’t help wanting to laugh.

Pei Yansong: “Pei Xi! Come here.”

Pei Xi ignored him: “We’re basically done here. Let’s go back, I’m a little hungry.”

He Chuzhou: “How about seafood?”

Pei Xi: “Will you cook? I want to eat at home.”

He Chuzhou: Of course. Your husband’s cooking skills, which were forced upon him by all those years of Western food, are not to be underestimated.”

The two disregarded Pei Yansong and, chatting back and forth about their itinerary, walked toward the exit side by side.

“Xiao Zhen!” Jian Ting’s voice suddenly rose.

He Chuzhou turned his head and immediately stepped forward to block him from Pei Xi: “What are you trying to do, little bro?”

Pei Zhen was forced to stop. He stared at Pei Xi with dark, stubborn eyes, and stammered for a long time before finally squeezing a word out from between his lips: “Ge.”

Pei Xi regarded him expressionlessly.

Pei Zhen paused, as if trying to digest Pei Xi’s indifference. Then he uttered the rest of the words with difficulty: “I’m sorry…..”

Jian Ting was stunned, as well as Pei Yansong.

Pei Xi raised his eyes, but there was no trace of emotion in them.

On the contrary, the corners of He Chuzhou’s mouth formed an amused arc: “Have you ever been to school, Didi? Didn’t your teachers tell you that the most insincere apology is a simple ‘I’m sorry?’”

Having received no response from Pei Xi, Pei Zhen appeared to be at somewhat of a loss, and could only look toward He Chuzhou.

He Chuzhou immediately found it even funnier: “What, does this young master who grew up in an ivory tower really think he’ll be forgiven as long as he apologizes?”

Pei Zhen was silent for a long while.

He Chuzhou: “It’s okay, we’ll wait. Look, your brother was able to wait so many years for an apology. Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll also be able to wait until he forgives you.”

“I’m sor—”

He Chuzhou glanced at the couple not far behind Pei Zhen and leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice: “Until your brother forgives you, I’ll continue to have fun causing trouble for you.”

“Prepare yourself, Didi.”

*

*

“I can’t forgive him.”

Pei Xi was curled up on the sofa, watching Avatar on the projection screen. It was completely dark outside, and flickering light and shadow played across his face.

“I know, ah.” He Chuzhou cleaned up the kitchen, then cut up a fruit plate and brought it out, feeding a bite of cantaloupe to Pei Xi. “I was teasing him.”

Pei Xi frowned: “Isn’t it enough for you to tease the cat and dog? It’s cuter than you teasing him.”

“Toying.” He Chuzhou quickly changed his phrasing. “I was toying with him, not teasing him.”

Pei Xi turned his gaze away from his face. Looking at the Avatar onscreen, who was sitting on the back of a flying steed and imitating the indigenous people’s shouting, he felt a little depressed: “You and him really look alike.”

“Okay, we look alike.” He Chuzhou went along with it: “I’m the Avatar. In a few days, I’ll take you to the primeval forest to swing on the vines.”

Pei Xi might not care about Pei Yansong, but he couldn’t avoid his mood being affected by him.

He didn’t want to talk, and He Chuzhou didn’t bother him. He sat down next to him and quietly watched the movie with him.

It was a cold night. He Chuzhou got up to close the window halfway through the movie, then turned on the heat and went back to the bedroom to find a small blanket to put over Pei Xi’s knees.

He took a blanket from the small compartment beneath the wardrobe and unexpectedly found a white shopping bag underneath.

He couldn’t remember buying something and forgetting to take it out. When he grabbed the bag and took out the clothes inside, his expression became even more fantastical.

. . . . . .

The temperature in the living room quickly warmed up once the heat was turned on. Pei Xi wanted to stop He Chuzhou from grabbing a blanket, but just as he was about to turn his head, he saw a jacket fall across his knees.

He didn’t react immediately upon seeing the school uniform jacket on his knees, until he met He Chuzhou’s leisurely gaze — it was over.

“When I first found it, I thought it was Pei-calico’s doing,” He Chuzhou said.

Pei Xi thought this was a good excuse to pass the buck, and intended to go along with it.

Then He Chuzhou said: “But I remembered that you didn’t lose your memory those two days when you received the package, and even hid it under the sofa so I wouldn’t see it.”

Pei Xi: “……”

He Chuzhou: “If Pei-calico had prepared it, you would have wondered what it was for rather than trying to hide it from me.”

Pei Xi: “…..I didn’t.”

He Chuzhou: “Unless you knew what was going on, but didn’t want to let me know that you knew.”

Pei Xi: “That’s not…..”

He Chuzhou: “Xinxin, you actually remember what happens during your amnesia, don’t you?”

Pei Xi: “I don’t remember. You’re overthinking it.”

He Chuzhou: “Did you start remembering recently, or have you been pretending not to remember from the beginning?”

Pei Xi: “………”

“Case solved, case solved.”

He Chuzhou lamented out of the blue: “It turns out that thinking you were inexplicably shy wasn’t an illusion. You remembered to go to the supermarket across the street to get a spoon, and you suddenly called Mrs. Chu Mom…..”

“Why did you hide from me that you secretly took me to the aquarium? You liked me but didn’t dare confess, so you snuck into the employee group to learn how to pursue a love interest like a domineering CEO. And I don’t know where you learned that stupid method to make me copy love words three hundred times!”

“……”

After his counterattack, Pei Xi noticed the bright smile in the other party’s eyes and knew he’d been tricked. He was silent for a second, then turned his face away and ignored him.

He Chuzhou was overjoyed: “So you really remember, ah. You were quite good at hiding it, Classmate Pei Xinxin.”

Pei Xi: “…..It’s for the best that I hid it. You’re as dumb as an ox and couldn’t take any hints.”

He Chuzhou: “What hints? Let me see, helping me tie my tie? Telling me over the phone that you missed me? Implying that you like me whether you’re in your right mind or not? Or all the trouble you went through to get me a Golden Feather to make a wish on?”

Pei Xi’s expression grew increasingly dumbfounded as he spoke: “You…..you knew everything?”

He Chuzhou: “Roughly?”

Pei Xi was furious: “And you still played dumb even though you knew all that?”

He Chuzhou protested this injustice: “How could I do anything? What if it was a misunderstanding and I was overthinking things? You said you only liked my face, but Wu Qing thought that was too superficial. What about when I become old and ugly, will you not want me anymore?”

Pei Xi frowned upon hearing this: “How could you believe such lies?”

He Chuzhou: “What lies? Did you not mean what you said about liking my face? So you actually don’t even like it? Aiyo, it’s over, my mental state has crumbled.”

“……”

“…..Idiot.” Pei Xi gritted his teeth: “I like more than just your face!”

“Yes, I remember. I remembered from the very beginning. You took me in, took care of me, showed concern for me and indulged me. You responded to every request I made. I remember it all.”

“I don’t have a mother, and I have a father in name only. You taught me not to care about other people’s opinions, that it’s no use exhausting myself for someone’s praise, and that relatives don’t have to share blood. You said I deserve the best in the world.”

“I’m not as good as you think I am. It’s easy for me to trap myself in limited logic outside of work. You don’t know how many times your habitual thinking saved me.”

“Aren’t you confident about everything? You’re such a confident person, but no matter how you tried to verify it, you still refused to believe that I liked you.”

Pei Xi finished speaking in one breath, and was no longer able to tell whether he was angry or embarrassed.

Eyes flickering, he didn’t dare to look at He Chuzhou’s expression. He simply took the school uniform and stood up: “Don’t you want to see? I’ll go change into it.”

Pei Xi was a very reserved person who didn’t like to show off. He was used to keeping everything in his heart, whether it was liking, hating, or loving.

The number of times he had spoken his mind could be counted on one finger.

And such a person was telling him at such length that he liked him. He Chuzhou was so happy that he couldn’t tell north from south.

Based just on these words, He Chuzhou covered his heart and thought blankly that he’d be willing to not eat meat for the rest of his life and discuss Plato with Pei Xi instead.

But in the next second, Pei Xi slowly came out of the bedroom in the school uniform. His brain buzzed, and he had no thoughts at all.

“It’s over…..”

“It’s over, it’s over, it’s over…..”

Pei Xi felt uncomfortable in these clothes that didn’t suit his age. He was reaching to tug at the hem of his shirt when his attention was diverted by He Chuzhou’s mumbling: “What?”

He Chuzhou strode over and picked him up.

Caught off guard, Pei Xi subconsciously hooked his legs around his waist. The sudden height difference had him looking down at He Chuzhou: “ ? ! ”

“Xinxin, I’m finished.”

He Chuzhou was breathing rapidly: “You look so good in a school uniform. You’re clean and pretty like a seventeen-year-old minor, but all I can think of is doing terrible things to you.”

“I’m finished. I’ve turned into a beast.”

What Plato, fuck Plato, he wanted to be a beast right now!

Pei Xi was speechless for a long moment. His heartbeat was thrown into chaos by such overly blunt words: “You…..just do what you want, I’m not against it…..”

He Chuzhou gently grasped the back of his neck: “But aren’t you afraid?”

“Then you should coax me more and not just think about yourself.”

Pei Xi hugged him tightly and hid his face against his neck: “Let’s go to the bedroom. I know you have everything ready.”

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Chapter 67 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 69