Liu Zhenqing had just gone out and was looking around. He quickly recalled the topography of the island from his memory, following it to a place with few people and no firelight.

But not far away, there was suddenly the boom of artillery. 

Liu Zhenqing’s hope instantly ignited. It was Song Xingmu and the others. He calculated the time, and it was earlier than expected. Liu Zhenqing couldn’t manage much anymore, and staggered toward the place where war was breaking out.

There was noise around from time to time, and the sounds of people running. Liu Zhenqing had to carefully avoid the crowds and try his best to reach the shore, but as he walked, his vision blurred and his body began to shake continuously. With no strength remaining, Liu Zhenqing could only hide behind a tree, breathing hard. His left hand was numb from being pierced, and he was about to switch to his right hand when there were sudden footsteps in the grass.

A figure covered in blood rushed out, and he suddenly saw Liu Zhenqing sitting there. He was actually one of his captors from the ship.

“You’re trying to run away!” The man was furious. “Did you draw them here?!”

Liu Zhenqing no longer had the strength to flee, so he could only say: “I don’t know. I came out to find your boss.”

But at this juncture, the man had no rationality to speak of and naturally would not listen to the other’s deception. He only heard the man say angrily: “Laozi will take your head and send it to Song Xingmu!”

As he spoke, the blade in his hand was about to fall.

Liu Zhenqing’s pupils shrank. There was nothing he could do. In the past, it was difficult for Liu Zhenqing to panic when encountering danger, not only due to habit, but also because he felt that dying would not be a big deal.

But now, in this life, he panicked. He really didn’t want to die, ah.

Holding tight to the scroll, he blocked in front of himself.

His mouth instinctively called for help.

“Er-gou! Save me!”

Although he didn’t understand what Liu Zhenqing shouted, it made the person pause for a moment.

At this moment, a whistling sound could be heard in the forest.

A cold black shadow shuttled through like a sharp arrow. Before the man could react, a flying sword penetrated his head with such force that it pinned him directly to the trunk of the tree.

Liu Zhenqing saw clearly that it was the Chunjun Sword.

He was really about to cry with joy. Even though he couldn’t see clearly, he reflexively opened his arms. “Er-gou!”

The moment he shouted, a figure descended and a solid form picked him up, holding him tightly in his arms.

The force of the hug seemed to crush Liu Zhenqing.

“Qing-ge…..”

The hoarse voice sounded, and Liu Zhenqing was no longer flustered.

Liu Zhenqing hugged the person who had arrived tightly, nuzzled him, and called out almost coquettishly: “What are you doing here, ah. You almost missed seeing me.”

Huo Fenglie trembled all over. He held him tighter, and his voice almost began to shake. “Sorry, I’m late. I should…..should have guarded you every step of the way. I’m sorry, Qing-ge.”

Huo Fenglie slowly raised his eyes as he spoke. The dark red in them was like the deep sea. He was on the verge of losing control, but suppressed it with his internal force. This situation had begun when he learned from Yi Chuan that Liu Zhenqing had been kidnapped. Because he couldn’t afford to lose control, he did his utmost to suppress it.

Even now, holding Liu Zhenqing tightly could not relieve his pain.

Liu Zhenqing was unaware, and had no idea how dangerous Huo Fenglie currently was. He only tried to calm his emotions. Patting Huo Fenglie, he spoke again: “I’m fine, I’m fine. I haven’t encountered any danger, it’s just…..just that they drugged me, and now I’m…..”

Holding him so tightly, Liu Zhenqing believed that Huo Fenglie must feel it.

A cannon abruptly sounded nearby, and the shock cut off Liu Zhenqing’s words. In the next second, Huo Fenglie picked him up.

The fleet that followed Huo Fenlgie ashore had already begun to attack the island. Qin Yu and He Lan had gone to arrest the rebel leader. Song Xingmu stood on the bow of a ship and looked into the distance, taking control of the situation. Very soon, he saw Huo Fenglie leap over with Liu Zhenqing in his arms.

Song Xingmu was shocked. Even though he had seen Huo Fenglie before, now Liu Zhenqing was with him.

Before Song Xingmu could ask, he noticed the strange appearance of Liu Zhenqing in Huo Fenglie’s arms.

“This…..”

Liu Zhenqing said through gritted teeth: “Zhao Haicheng and his men are all on the island, and at least half the people there are rebels rather than islanders. I was kidnapped.”

Huo Fenglie also said: “Fifty thousand troops have also arrived in Ming’an Prefecture. The leader of the army was once my subordinate, and is trustworthy. They have been sent out to surround the area where the navy is located, and are waiting in hiding for us to return and make arrangements.”

Huo Fenglie had arranged everything so that he didn’t have to worry when going back for Liu Zhenqing.

Song Xingmu looked in astonishment at the two people who reported everything calmly in the face of such a situation. “Um, you……”

“Zhao Haicheng’s men drugged me.”

Song Xingmu was stunned. “Zhao Haicheng wanted you. Have you been…..”

He choked up mid-sentence. He saw that Liu Zhenqing’s collar had been ripped and became furious.

“No! Although I couldn’t fight him, I could still deceive him to stall for time. The effect of this drug will not cause someone to lose their mind.” Liu Zhenqing spoke quickly, not wanting Huo Fenglie to misunderstand. “I was not taken advantage of at all!”

Song Xingmu coughed. “It’s thanks to your strong willpower.” As he spoke, he also looked at Huo Fenglie. Inexplicably, he seemed to see that Huo Fenglie’s eyes…..were a little red.

Huo Fenglie asked at once: “He didn’t bring any antidote pills. Where are yours?”

Liu Zhenqing had given Song Xingmu a bottle and hadn’t taken it back.

Song Xingmu stared blankly at Huo Fenglie. Now…..it seemed that Huo Fenglie was no longer needed…..

He looked again at Liu Zhenqing, who was curled up in Huo Fenglie’s arms. Sure enough, Liu Zhenqing glanced over, and with this one look, his brother understood.

“I didn’t bring it with me either. I gave it to Yi Chuan. Is the drug deadly?” Song Xingmu said with a worried face, “But we can’t leave immediately, we have to arrest those people.”

Huo Fenglie froze, and Liu Zhenqing whispered: “I won’t die. Er-gou, carry me to a room.”

He lowered his head and responded in a low voice, then turned and walked into the cabin.

Song Xingmu looked back, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly. “Brother, I can only help you so far!”

It was practically pitch-black inside the cabin, and even though a candle was lit, the light was dim.

Liu Zhenqing was placed on the bed, and he immediately curled up in discomfort. He pulled his clothes off in front of Huo Fenglie without any scruples. It was too hot.

“Qing-ge, your hand…..” Huo Fenglie quickly grabbed his bleeding left hand.

However, Liu Zhenqing pulled Huo Fenglie onto the bed, hugging him and rubbing against him.

Huo Fenglie’s expression changed drastically, and the restless crimson in his eyes suddenly seemed to waver.

“Qing…..”

Before he could say a word, his mouth was blocked by Liu Zhenqing’s kiss.

This time, Liu Zhenqing was not going to let Huo Fenglie go, but the other raised his hands to push him away.

Liu Zhenqing looked at him with blank eyes, a hint of concealed anger on his face.

“Qing-ge, you’re not in your right mind now. Don’t do this…..”

Liu Zhenqing could clearly hear the instability in Huo Fenglie’s voice: “Er-gou…..I’m uncomfortable.”

He had to use gentleness to overcome strength. As expected, as soon as he said this, the strength in Huo Fenglie’s hands relaxed a bit.

Liu Zhenqing seized the opportunity to take advantage.

But in the next second, a familiar cold breeze hit.

Liu Zhenqing said quickly: “If you knock me out, you’re finished!”

Huo Fenglie’s raised hand froze. “Qing-ge…..”

Raising his head, Liu Zhenqing gave him a furious glare. This stupid dog!

But soon after, there were no superfluous emotions in Liu Zhenqing’s eyes. After all, this was Huo Fenglie, his Er-gou. The initial properties of the drug amplified almost tenfold when he was in front of this person.

Liu Zhenqing was in no mood to endure it any longer, so he grabbed Huo Fenglie’s hand and pulled it down…..

Huo Fenglie’s pupils shrank, and the red in his eyes turned into a storm.

Liu Zhenqing’s almost ethereal voice came to his ears: “Er-gou, help me.”

. . . . . . .

When Liu Zhenqing awoke, he was alone in the cabin. It was dark outside, and the ship was sailing quickly.

Liu Zhenqing was taken aback for a moment, then lowered his head to look. He saw clean underwear and sheets, a bandaged hand, and hot tea and food on the table next to him.

He tried to stand up, but his legs were extremely weak. He didn’t know how many rounds they went last night, but he was exhausted. His memory was actually a bit fuzzy due to the effects of the drug, but he still remembered the key points. Especially now that he recalled it over and over again, he wanted to engrave those beautiful moments deep into his memory.

He remembered that after finally easing the effects of the drug, they could have stopped there.

However, Liu Zhenqing was greedy, and did not let Er-gou stop. He pretended like the drug still had some potency, and tried to help Er-gou.

But this movement seemed to instantly wake Huo Fenglie up. The restraint he had lost was immediately restored, and he moved his body wordlessly, not allowing Liu Zhenqing to touch him.

Thinking about it now, Liu Zhenqing was really disappointed. What did it mean that he would rather endure discomfort rather than let him touch him? However, Liu Zhenqing definitely couldn’t mull it over carefully at the time, and in the end, he accepted the unilateral help.

Although it was not perfect, it was an authentic first contact. Liu Zhenqing was so happy that he almost started to regret not enjoying this treatment earlier, and that he had been a man for so many years in vain.

Huo Fenglie, on the other hand, endured it all night with no fear of damaging his body.

Liu Zhenqing griped in dissatisfaction while getting dressed, then went out with difficulty.

As soon as he went out, he saw several people conversing on the deck.

As soon as they heard movement, the group looked over. Liu Zhenqing just looked straight at Huo Fenglie. There was a reflexive sweetness in his heart, and he called out softly: “Fenglie.”

This sound was just like the night before when everything started. At first it was simply lending a hand, but then he called for him. Huo Fenglie had lowered his head. Liu Zhenqing caught him. This time, the kiss was more than a simple kiss. Even though he was unskilled, it caused Huo Fenglie’s complete suppression of himself to fail. He fought back like a provoked wolfhound. Liu Zhenqing almost couldn’t take a breath.

Now that he thought about it, Er-gou was rather talented.

Oh, right. It seemed like this was not his first lover.

Damn, he was so jealous, ah. Who was so lucky, ah? Er-gou was so good at kissing.

As he thought, Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but purse his lips.

Huo Fenglie looked at him first, and when he saw Liu Zhenqing purse his lips, his cheeks turned red. His eyes were averted, but he approached in a well-behaved manner and quickly found a cloak to put on Liu Zhenqing.

“The wind is cold at sea,” Huo Fenglie whispered.

Liu Zhenqing didn’t care that there were three people watching the show next to him. He just looked sideways at the one who got him the cloak, looked at the marks on his neck, and asked while feigning ignorance: “Did I do all that on your neck? Was I so cruel?”

Two sentences made Song Xingmu and He Lan let out their breath in a puff, and they gave him a thumbs up. The corners of Qin Yu’s lips twitched too as he tried to keep a hold of himself.

The pitiful Huo Fenglie froze. As if he didn’t dare pretend not to have heard, he just gave a low hum.

However, Liu Zhenqing drew closer and said: “I’m really sorry. I thought I would be the best at making love, but I didn’t expect that I would bite someone.”

In fact, it was after a certain person refused to touch or kiss him last night that he just buried his head in his neck to evade, telling him not to raise his head again. That just forced him to bite him.

Huo Fenglie seemed to remember this, and his expression froze. In the end, he couldn’t say a word.

Watching the excitement, Song Xingmu said: “Did the two of you spend last night in conjugal bliss? Should I wait for the wedding wine?”

Without waiting for Liu Zhenqing’s reply, Huo Fenglie said directly: “No, don’t talk nonsense.”

Song Xingmu choked and looked at Liu Zhenqing in disbelief. Nothing had happened?

Huo Fenglie turned to find Liu Zhenqing narrowing his eyes at him with an unhappy expression. He was momentarily at a loss.

Liu Zhenqing said directly, “Yes, ah. We’re all men here, and we don’t have to take responsibility if we touch. Right, General Huo?”

Not to mention the other two, even Yi Chuan started to cough.

A chill ran down Huo Fenglie’s spine, and he looked at Liu Zhenqing with childlike, panicked eyes.

Liu Zhenqing stopped paying attention to him and stepped forward to ask: “How is it going?”

When it came to business, he would naturally stop playing around.

Song Xingmu said with a frown: “We’re rushing back now.”

“That person wasn’t caught?”

“More than a hundred people died and more than three hundred were arrested, but Zhao Haicheng wasn’t there,” Song Xingmu said.

“The rebel leaders we know of weren’t there either. The moment we landed on the island, they gave up resisting and abandoned the island, leaving most of them behind to delay us.” He Lan said: “The weapons and black powder are gone. It’s clear they had planned to give up that place long ago, it’s just that our arrival caused them to act in advance. That’s why they were able to respond so quickly.”

“It stands to reason that we should return to shore and join the other thirty thousand navy troops,” Qin Yu said.

“So now we need to dock elsewhere to join the 50,000 strong army.” Song Xingmu looked at Huo Fenglie.

Liu Zhenqing also took the time to tell them everything he had learned.

Because they were sailing so fast, they could already see the coastline as they spoke.

While the others were busy, Liu Zhenqing had his head bowed, deep in thought. He felt that there was some hidden problem, and he was uneasy.

Suddenly, a figure blocked the rising sun.

Liu Zhenqing looked up to see Huo Fenglie’s face, full of suppressed uneasiness. “Qing-ge, will you come with me?”

Liu Zhenqing raised an eyebrow and said: “I won’t.”

Huo Fenglie panicked. “Qing-ge, are you…..are you angry with me?”

“Yo, you’ve noticed. Then can you guess what I’m angry about?”

Huo Fenglie’s expression froze. “Because when you were out of control…..I touched you.”

Liu Zhenqing instantly pulled Huo Fenglie’s ear in fury. “I asked for your help. I remember this.”

Huo Fenglie regarded him with an extremely confused expression, dumbfounding Liu Zhenqing.

“Okay, Huo Fenglie, don’t take him with you. His safety is guaranteed this time.” Song Xingmu came over at this moment and said: “Yi Chuan will also go back with him and stay behind the fifty-thousand-strong army. If someone wants to get close to him, they’ll have to get through all of us, so it will be very safe. His body is weak now, is it reasonable for you to drag him around with you?”

It was indeed unreasonable, but Huo Fenglie was very frightened and wished he could carry Liu Zhenqing around with him.

Liu Zhenqing patted Huo Fenglie and said: “Business first. I will wait for you to return in triumph.” As he spoke, he leaned in toward Huo Fenglie’s ear. “Er-gou, this is a problem left over from Qing-ge’s past. I can’t solve it, so it’s up to you.”

Huo Fenglie’s eyes flashed. He gave Liu Zhenqing a resolute look and said: “En, leave all of your problems to me.”

Liu Zhenqing smiled. Yes, ah, just leave it to Er-gou. There is no need to bear it alone.

After watching the army leave, He Lan and Qin Yu also took action alone. Liu Zhenqing and Yi Chuan remained in the command tent.

Liu Zhenqing apologized to Yi Chuan with a smile. The corners of Yi Chuan’s mouth twitched. “I didn’t protect you well. If I’m useless the next time something like that happens, just stab me to death.”

Liu Zhenqing regarded the restless Yi Chuan with a smile and said: “Want to go out?”

“En.” Yi Chuan looked down at the map on the desk and said, “I feel so uneasy……”

Liu Zhenqing also looked at the map. He smiled: “As long as they’re here, nothing will…..”

His expression suddenly changed. Looking at the map in front of him, he suddenly recalled the map in Zhao Haicheng’s room.

The black powder was gone. Those people had long intended to leave the island. Zhao Haicheng said they would be buried in a sea of fire.

The governor was also warned to move out, and the location of the governor’s manor was…..

A terrible suspicion gradually formed in Liu Zhenqing’s mind, and he suddenly gave a shout: “This is bad!”

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Chapter Ninety-Two << Table of Contents >> Chapter Ninety-Four

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On the dark sea, dozens of warships silently gathered behind the desert island not far away. There was no commotion, and they were completely guided by tug boats towing them by rope.

“I’m sure, it’s that island.” He Lan and Qin Yu identified islands one by one from the ship, sailing to the left and right, and finally settled on one of them.

Song Xingmu used a special telescope to observe the surroundings, and murmured: “What a coincidence. It turns out to be this island.”

“What is it?” He Lan asked curiously.

“Liu Zhenqing and I were stationed on this island back then, and the navy was sent to purge the pirates in the area. As a deterrent, the corpses of pirates were hung up on the ships at that time, and the sea was practically dyed red. From then on, the pirates didn’t dare invade the waters of Great Zhou again, until I…..was injured and transferred by the emperor. I never heard of the pirates coming back.”

“Wa, you guys were pretty ruthless back then,” He Lan exclaimed.

“That’s because you don’t know what kind of lives those islanders lived.” Song Xingmu said, recalling the past: “Back then, these islands had developed a method of getting along with the pirates. If they wanted to go to sea safely, they had to make regular tributes to them. Not only that, but in some circumstances, young men and women would be offered to the pirates for their entertainment.”

“What!” He Lan was shocked.

Qin Yu also frowned and looked at Song Xingmu. “They didn’t report it?”

“They reported it in the past, but there weren’t enough troops. We patrolled at most, but that didn’t solve the problem at all, so the islanders eventually became numb.They probably felt that having to sacrifice a few unlucky young people and some money each year was still a small loss compared to the pirate attacks when going to sea. When Liu Zhenqing and I first went to the island to prepare for the eradication work, the young people were fine, but the older generation was eager to kneel down toward us.”

“In gratitude?”

“No! They knelt down and begged us not to offend the pirates. They were willing to maintain such a balance. In any case, they didn’t need much, and they could ensure the safety of most of the other kinsmen. They were willing to accept it, but worried that if we didn’t do it well, we would anger the pirates, and they might have to pay more the next time.” Song Xingmu said coldly: “Not only did they not support it, but they also cried and shouted, and tried to drive us away.”

“Their minds were confused!” He Lan said angrily.

Song Xingmu said with a smile: “But after we actually captured so many pirates, pirates could no longer be seen at sea. They gradually felt confident again, and started to look at us gratefully, as if we were gods. Liu Zhenqing was especially loved for his strategic style. At that time, there was a young boy who sent him flowers every day. Knowing that he liked to eat fish, he also sent him seafood every day. When we left, they were all reluctant to let us leave.”

“Zhanyuan can’t hear about this.” He Lan raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Song Xingmu smiled as well, saying: “Although we wiped out the pirates, the harm they caused was never-ending, because there was fear that the pirates would retaliate. Liu Zhenqing wanted to completely change the uneasy factors in the islanders’ future lives, and before he left, he discussed with me how to help the islanders relocate. Our plan was to turn this island into a place where troops were stationed.”

“What a great idea!” Qin Yu couldn’t help but agree.

“It’s a pity that some people are really…..” Song Xingmu shook his head.

“The islanders didn’t want to move, so they just procrastinated. After all, they were already safe.” He Lan seemed to have a deep understanding.

“Not only that, but some people even thought that we just wanted to take away their homes. Even though a small fishing village was already planned for them, it was no use. All we could do was slowly wear them down,” Song Xingmu said.

“When they hadn’t moved out yet, didn’t pirates appear from time to time? Weren’t they afraid?” He Lan asked with irritation.

Song Xingmu suddenly smiled and pointed at the tall towers found on every island.

“Look at that, and you’ll know what it means to strategize with people’s hearts.” Song Xingmu raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: “When he first landed on the island, Liu Zhenqing ordered people to build this thing. He determined the number according to the size of the islands. Some islands had two, and some had three. They were all built on the shore, facing different directions, and the villagers took turns manning them. Whenever someone spotted pirates, they would light it from the inside, flames at night and smoke during the day. The surrounding islands would see it and pass it on one by one until the water village on the mainland shore could see it. They could be rescued quickly, and when the towers all burned together in this way, the amazing momentum would also deter pirates. This was Liu Zhenqing’s last resort after the relocation difficulties delayed time.”

“He had already foreseen building them when he landed on the island?” He Lan and Qin Yu both looked at Song Xingmu in astonishment.

Song Xingmu said proudly: “That’s why it’s called ‘strategizing with people’s hearts.’”

“Ai, no matter how much he planned, they still haven’t left after so many years and are colluding with rebels. If Prime Minister Liu knew of this, he would be angry to death,” He Lan said speechlessly.

“It’s my fault too.” Song Xingmu sighed. “If I had stayed back then, the relocation would have been completed and this mess wouldn’t have happened. Who would have thought he would be accused of colluding with pirates?”

He Lan shook his head, saying: “Nobody mentions Prime Minister Liu’s great achievements, but instead say he colluded with pirates? Ridiculous!”

Qin Yu frowned slightly. He looked at Song Xingmu and asked: “I heard…..that wiping out pirates back then was an excuse? What was the actual situation?”

Song Xingmu sneered and didn’t answer. He just looked at the sea quietly and changed the subject.

“Security is tight, so we can only make a surprise attack. Are you ready to go out…..huh?”

“What’s wrong?” He Lan and Qin Yu thought something had happened.

Song Xingmu said in shock: “Why do I seem to see Huo Fenglie? He is using…..using his internal force to steer a wooden boat. What is he doing?”

. . . . . . . 

Looking at Zhao Haicheng, Liu Zhenqing hesitated: “He left, but wasn’t there still the navy? Thirty thousand soldiers couldn’t protect you?”

“Hmph, it was rumored that Liu Zhenqing died in the capital and that Song Xingmu left his post without authorization, so military power was handed over to his uncle. His uncle didn’t have the ability at all and insisted on feigning competence. As a result, the patrols were disrupted, and nobody noticed when pirates attacked our island.”

As Zhao Haicheng spoke, his expression gradually distorted. He seemed to be recalling an extremely profound and painful memory, and his eyes went bloodshot.

“That night, we were sleeping peacefully when a sudden scream disturbed everybody. Pirates suddenly attacked the island. They started killing secretly at first, and then began to kill the ones who discovered them. They were very clever, and didn’t use fire for fear of alerting the other islands. They raised their swords and didn’t stop. Because the stronger islanders resisted, they focused on killing them first. The young, the women, and the old men were tied up to be slaughtered. Their cries shook the earth, but couldn’t reach the other islands.”

Zhao Haicheng looked at Liu Zhenqing with wide eyes. Tears welled up in them but refused to fall.

He had seen his father be killed, and his mother, sister, and even his younger brother be played with to death in turn by those beasts. His grandparents were hung up, whipped, and beaten to death.

Before he died, his grandfather continuously whispered to him: Shouldn’t have obeyed, shouldn’t have listened to them, shouldn’t have offended the pirates, shouldn’t…..it’s all Prime Minister Liu’s fault, all his fault.

As for Zhao Haicheng and the others, they were waiting to be sold since they were in good health. People came to rescue them, but by that time, there were less than one hundred people on the island.

That tragic scene was a nightmare that Zhao Haicheng couldn’t forget to this day.

He looked at Liu Zhenqing, whose pupils were quivering, and thought that he was frightened. But he still wanted to talk. It was as if he wanted to tell this person who looked very similar to him what evils that person had committed.

“For three days and three nights, the blood of our kinsmen dyed the ground red. We saw everything with our own eyes. On an island with hundreds of people, bodies were piled up like mountains. It was all caused by Liu Zhenqing! He made us victims for his own selfish desires! Tell me, shouldn’t he be hated? Shouldn’t he have died?!”

Liu Zhenqing stared blankly at the mad and hateful Zhao Haicheng. He wanted to ask, were the communication towers useless? Why were there still people living on the island years after he was gone? Why didn’t they leave?

But looking at Zhao Haicheng’s expression, Liu Zhenqing gave up on arguing. There was no point.

It was indeed his actions that led to the pirates’ crazed revenge. Fighting against pirates and protecting the islanders was indeed not his main purpose in seeking military power in the first place. Strictly speaking, the people on this island were victims of a power struggle. Liu Zhenqing could not argue against this. The chain reaction could not be stopped. Even though he had thought his plans were foolproof, they still backfired in the end.

He could feel guilty and blame himself, but he didn’t have too many such emotions. He just felt a little sad. After all, he could not regret or second-guess every step he had taken in the past.

Liu Zhenqing’s eyes gradually went cold as he looked at Zhao Haicheng, and Zhao Haicheng was stunned for a moment, as if he was seeing an ice-cold superior.

“The ones who rescued you must have been the rebels.” Liu Zhenqing spoke the key point.

Zhao Haicheng’s infuriated mood gradually calmed. “Speaking of rebels, is there a bigger rebel in the world than Liu Zhenqing? He was the one who wanted to assassinate the emperor, and the group of people who fled the island were just Liu Zhenqing’s defeated followers. If he hadn’t wanted to choose a puppet emperor in order to control the royal family, then the government would belong to those among these rebels.”

Liu Zhenqing’s expression turned cold: “I don’t know about everything else, but there is currently no puppet emperor or powerful, treacherous minister in the world now. Even though there are problems, at least it is relatively peaceful. As a navy official, you still want to help the rebels create trouble. Lieutenant General Zhao, I really thought you were a good and upright person.”

Zhao Haicheng was stunned, as if a loophole in his logic had been attacked, and said with some shame and anger: “Although Liu Zhenqing is dead, Song Xingmu and the Song family are also our enemies. We will not let go of our blood feud. What’s more, if those people hadn’t saved us, we would have been wiped out long ago, so why should we not repay the favor? What does the rest of the world have to do with us? Why should we care? When Liu Zhenqing did all those things, he never cared about our lives.”

“Is that so? You joined the navy to serve as an informant for the rebels and help them control the port, and also for revenge against the Song family. What about the pirates who actually killed your people? I remember that your men are also colluding with pirates?”

The words ‘colluding with pirates’ were like hitting Zhao Haicheng’s weak point, making him extremely uncomfortable.

“This is nothing more than a stopgap measure. Bribing the pirates to prevent them from attacking the island is just to avoid Song Xingmu’s attention and keep the situation on the island from leaking out. Besides, all of the pirates who came to our island have long been killed.”

Liu Zhenqing didn’t speak, and just looked at this quibbling man silently.

As if humiliated, Zhao Haicheng rushed to the bed once again and grasped Liu Zhenqing’s throat, saying furiously: “What do you know! You’re just a plaything wandering between men! What do you know of important matters!”

Liu Zhenqing was forced to raise his neck. He had difficulty breathing for a moment, and such trouble along with the hot touch of someone’s skin stimulated the drug’s properties.

The initially suppressed impulse began to spread within his body, taking on momentum like a spark.

Liu Zhenqing bit his tongue hard and the taste of blood spread. Only then could he continue to remain calm. He needed more information.

“Lieutenant General Zhao, I didn’t mean to anger you, it’s just that I don’t understand. Your lives were saved in the end, so why do you need to rebel? Aren’t you afraid? Song Xingmu has 30,000 sailors under his command.”

“Hmph, what about them? Will they recognize the command talisman, or will they recognize me?”

“But there are still…..still millions of Zhou Dynasty troops outside. Even if you have the upper hand, how can you compete with them, Lieutenant General Zhao? It’s better not to take the risk. You only have one life, ah.” Liu Zhenqing donned a persuasive appearance.

“In the end, you’re just afraid that you will be implicated and die. Let me tell you, if it weren’t for my troublesome men who sent you to me, in a few days, you would have perished in a sea of fire. So what if there are millions of troops? They are spread all around Great Zhou, so can they all be transferred here?! We are not afraid,” Zhao Haicheng said coldly.

Liu Zhenqing was confused when he heard this, and wanted to inquire, but the way he frowned and lowered his eyes still fell into Zhao Haicheng’s heart.

At such a close distance, Zhao Haicheng smelled a faint fragrance. That was the unique scent of Liu Zhenqing, which he had smelled when they were riding in the carriage together. It was familiar to him, and strangely alluring.

And why was his skin so hot? It was as delicate as fine, warm jade.

Zhao Haicheng unconsciously caressed his neck where he had a grip on it. He didn’t know whether it was because he was emotionally agitated just now, or because he remembered the incident that caused him to fall in love for the first time, but he suddenly had a feeling of infatuation for the person he hated to the bone.

The person was currently in his bed, and since he could be with that guard and with the Sea King, why couldn’t he be with him? Why should he care when he was so dissolute? Thinking of the scene he witnessed in the alley, Zhao Haicheng felt that his genuine feelings had been betrayed, and he became even more impulsive.

Just before Liu Zhenqing returned to his senses, Zhao Haicheng suddenly pushed him down and pulled down his collar.

Liu Zhenqing was startled, and he heard a tearing sound as the collar was ripped.

“What are you doing!” Liu Zhenqing had thought that at the very least, Zhao Haicheng was not such a despicable person. He reached out quickly to shove him, but his body gradually went soft.

“Why are you pretending to be so noble and reserved? You should know who to throw your arms around now!” Zhao Haicheng sneered. As soon as he pressed against his body, he suddenly felt something and began to laugh. Seeing Liu Zhenqing blush in embarrassment, he didn’t know what he was pretending to be.

Liu Zhenqing was nauseous. He understood one thing very clearly – other than Er-gou, nobody could do this to him. He couldn’t bear even the simple pressure, and if not for the drug, he could have vomited on the spot. “Zhao Haicheng, are you crazy? I didn’t expect you to force someone. What is the difference between you and those pirates?”

Zhao Haicheng reached out and grabbed Liu Zhenqing’s struggling hands, pressing them down on both sides. He was about to kiss Liu Zhenqing, but suddenly froze when he heard these words.

“Are you playing hard-to-get with me?!”

“Bullshit!” Liu Zhenqing was furious. “You were the one who drugged me!”

Zhao Haicheng’s expression changed several times, and in the end, he scoffed. “Is that so? Perfect, I’ll give you the antidote!”

Liu Zhenqing’s face changed drastically. He saw the unstoppable desire in Zhao Haicheng’s eyes, and it was obvious that this man really intended to take action. The scent of another man completely enveloped his body, making his stomach churn, but he needed to calm down and save himself.

“In fact, they’re lying to you!” Liu Zhenqing’s words caused Zhao Haicheng to stop in doubt.

“What?”

“I was actually sent as a spy by He-daren to monitor you and Song Xingmu.”

At that time, He-daren was one of the princes’ subordinates. He was the fastest to make trouble, and also the fastest to run after failure. Liu Zhenqing had to take a gamble that He-daren was on the island.

Sure enough, when he said this, Zhao Haicheng’s expression changed. “You know He-daren!”

Liu Zhenqing was instantly energized. 

“Of course, He-daren has a large mole on his neck, doesn’t he? He-daren bribed me to follow Song Xingmu first, then to seduce you and keep an eye on you. I didn’t want to, and just wanted to run away with my lover. So…..in fact, they don’t trust you at all. After acquiring the 30,000 troops, they plan to kill you first and let their own general take your place. After all, you’re not as safe as one of their own, right? I was also the one who helped to hinder Song Xingmu and Yi Chuan in the beginning, so that those people could sneak into the water prison and kill the prisoners…..”

It was easy for Liu Zhenqing to deceive the civil and military officials in court, let alone Zhao Haicheng. Before he could finish his words, Zhao Haicheng directly sat up with a very ugly expression.

As expected, he was still suspicious.

“You deceived me…..” Zhao Haicheng tried his best to maintain a calm tone, but he couldn’t fool Liu Zhenqing.

“If you don’t believe it, you can have He-daren confront me. Or any of his confidants, they all know me. I was the one who deliberately delayed Song Xingmu that night so that you could have a chance to assassinate Yi Chuan, wasn’t I? My commitment was not voluntary, nor did I want to serve others. I just wanted to be with my lover. Lieutenant General Zhao, for the sake of me speaking the truth, please do not touch me.”

When Zhao Haicheng heard this, his face changed colors and he finally withdrew his hands and left in shame and anger.

Liu Zhenqing didn’t know how he would act, but he knew that he had to use the opportunity to get out. Fortunately, when Zhao Haicheng was about to attack him, he messed up the ropes first.

Liu Zhenqing untied himself at once and tried to leave the bed, but his legs were weak and he instantly fell. He had been kidnapped suddenly, without a blade or medicine, so he could only use a hairpin to cut his hand in order to stay sane.

When he just barely had a grip on his body and was preparing to escape, he saw the scroll on the table. Gritting his teeth, he rolled it up and took it away. Er-gou liked it, after all. Five thousand taels of gold, ah!

---

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Chapter Ninety-One << Table of Contents >> Chapter Ninety-Three

He Chuzhou’s first reaction was to think that Pei Xi had a nightmare.

But soon, those cold eyes and the completely different expression from when he was brain-addled caused him to guess more realistically: “You’ve recovered?”

The other person frowned so hard that his furrowed brow should be able to be tied into knots. It could be seen that he seemed to have a lot of opinions about everyone and everything around him: “Why were you in my bed?”

His tone was vastly different from last night when he begged him to sleep together.

It seemed he was indeed better.

He had originally thought it would take at least three to five days, but the speed of recovery was much faster than expected.

He Chuzhou silently digested this information and rubbed his temples, which felt swollen in the sun.

“President Pei, look closely, this is my room and my bed. You insisted on dragging me to sleep with you.”

Pei Xi’s tone grew colder, and his words were a bit stiff: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“What nonsense are you—”

He Chuzhou voice suddenly paused and his hand movements stopped. Raising his head, he narrowed his eyes slightly and took a careful look at Pei Xi: “You don’t remember?”

Pei Xi asked back: “What does President He think I should remember?”

He Chuzhou had not expected this.

It turned out that the memories during periods of confusion and consciousness were not interchanged. This person was not going to commit suicide out of shame and anger. He had been worried for nothing.

“N-Nothing.”

He waved his hand and pulled back the blanket, standing up: “Let’s just say I drank too much and had nothing to do, so I treated you as a lucky charm and came back to try my luck.”

It turned out that going to sleep when you encountered trouble really worked. The problem was solved, and things went incredibly smoothly.

Even in the turmoil and chaos of war, he had pretty much gotten used to the docile and well-behaved Pei-calico, and the cold look on the original version was rather uncomfortable.

Pei Xi didn’t ask any questions about his random fabrication. He lifted the blanket and got out of bed, but as soon as his feet touched the floor and he took a step, he nearly tripped when he stepped on his trouser leg.

He Chuzhou was startled, and reflexively went to grab him.

But once he saw that this person was stable, he conscientiously stepped back. When he saw the other person glance over quickly, he turned to the side considerately and pretended not to have noticed.

Pei Xi: “……”

Pei Xi turned and began to look around. After getting no results, he asked coldly: “Where are my clothes?”

“I threw them in the washing machine last night.”

He Chuzhou yawned lazily: “They’re not dry. You can just pick something to wear from the closet.”

Pei Xi glanced at him, then took his phone and turned around to walk out.

He Chuzhou also didn’t stop him. A clear-headed adult man should have enough ability to identify the surrounding environment and his own situation, and make appropriate decisions.

Like Pei Xi’s decision to go home in the pajamas he was wearing. He had no objections at all, and just made a sincere suggestion: “I’ll give them to you?”

Pei Xi said without hesitation: “No need.”

He walked quickly to the door, but when he opened it, he suddenly thought of something and turned back abruptly.

He Chuzhou: “What, did you leave something behind?”

Pei Xi’s eyes were unclear beneath his strained brow, and he didn’t utter a word for a long moment.

He Chuzhou raised an eyebrow in puzzlement: “Is there something else?”

In a moment, Pei Xi closed his eyes and finally spoke in a deep voice: “No matter what went on last night, just pretend like it never happened. You had better not let a third person know that I was here.”

The open door was closed. There was one less person in the room, and one more dog that took advantage of the chaos to squeeze inside.

He Xingxing wagged his tail wildly and circled around He Chuzhou’s legs. Not seeing each other for a night felt like meeting again after a long absence, and he rubbed his head affectionately against his knees.

It was a pity that He Chuzhou was not in the mood to pay attention to him right now.

He stared in the direction Pei Xi had left and laughed angrily.

From the start, he had no intention of publicizing this incident everywhere. As a result, Pei Xi gave him a threat-like warning, which not only painted him as a man with a loose tongue, but also laid bare his dislike.

It was as if being in the same room as him and talking to him shamed him and made him lose face.

All of that laborious coaxing had been in vain.

Wu Qing’s call came at a very bad time. He Chuzhou was putting the leash on He Xingxing, and responded in a sour voice: “Spit it out.”

Wu Qing: “Did you swallow gunpowder so early in the morning? It’s nothing, I’ve just been wanting to ask you all night when you’re going to send me cat pictures, ah. Or I can just come and look at them.”

He Chuzhou: “If you like them so much, catch one yourself.”

Wu Qing: “That won’t work. I hear that raising a cat at home is a lot of trouble, and I don’t have the energy.”

He Chuzhou: “Since when do I have a cat?”

Wu Qing: “ ? ”

Wu Qing: “Haven’t you already taken it back?”

He Chuzhou: “It ran away.”

Wu Qing: “Ran away? The cat ran away???”

He Chuzhou was not in the mood to humor him: “En.”

Wu Qing: “Did you sleep with the doors and windows open?”

He Chuzhou: “No.”

Wu Qing: “Then how did it escape? Aren’t you looking for it?”

He Chuzhou: “I’m not looking.”

Wu Qing: “Why not?”

A “heh” tugged at the corners of his mouth: “Because it’s the wrong breed. It’s not a cat, just a purebred white-eyed wolf.”

*

*

Pei Xi’s expression changed as soon as he left the house, and the calmness and arrogance he had maintained crumbled in an instant.

He covered his face in immense vexation, unable to understand how his side effects had appeared again.

Forget coming here the first time, now he had come a second time!

The scenes of him getting drunk and losing his mind, then crying and making trouble last night were still vivid in his mind. Whenever he thought about it, he wished he could go back in time and strangle his “self” of that time and space.

He had put on all kinds of ludicrous performances, and there was no telling how that person would arrange to laugh at him behind his back.

He was sick to death, but he was helpless to do anything about what had already been done and could not be changed.

After he arrived home, he took a shower and changed clothes as quickly as he could. The pajamas were an eyesore, so he tossed them to the side somewhere.

When Xie Ling called, he was taking the keys and preparing to go out. He had been picked up by He Chuzhou when he left the party last night, so the car was still parked there.

Xie Ling: “You’re awake?”

The inner walls of the elevator reflected Pei Xi’s discontented expression. “Don’t speak such nonsense.”

Xie Ling: “OK. Where are you now?”

Pei Xi: “At home.”

Xie Ling: “At…..your own home?”

Pei Xi: “Where else?”

Xie Ling probed: “Not at He Chuzhou’s place?”

Pei Xi: “Why would I be at his place?”

Xie Ling: “Didn’t you follow him last night?”

Pei Xi: “……”

Pei Xi: “You’re remembering wrong, I took a taxi last night.”

Xia Ling gave a stunned ah: “You took a taxi? But I clearly saw—”

Pei Xi: “Isn’t it that you drank too much and saw it wrong?”

“Really?” Xie Ling fell into self-doubt, but quickly figured it out and laughed: “I say, you hate him so much, so how could you cuddle with him and act coquettishly?”

Pei Xi: “……”

Pei Xi: “Yeah.”

Pei Xi: “Drink less in the future.”

Xie Ling: “I also think it’s all a hallucination. Right, I also had a nightmare one night……”

The topic was changed, and Pei Xi breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

He took a taxi to where he had parked the night before and opened the door, sitting in the driver’s seat. Pinching his nose, he began to think about another important matter.

The signed letter of guarantee he gave to He Chuzhou. How could he make him give it back or destroy it outright?

Thinking of this, he was distraught. He didn’t leave any evidence the first time, but made up for it the second time.

He wanted to mention it when he left in the morning, but wasn’t sure whether He Chuzhou would be willing to hand it over easily. He worried repeatedly, but didn’t say anything.

A businessman wouldn’t get up early if there was no profit in it, not to mention that the other party was He Chuzhou.

Perhaps he should just think about what to exchange for it.

At ten o’clock, Xiao Gu called and carefully asked him if he was still coming to the company today.

Pei Xi initially wanted to say that he would be there at once, but suddenly thought of something and changed his words: “I’ll go a little later. Change all of my morning meetings to the afternoon.”

After hanging up with his assistant, he dialed another number and made an appointment in a few words. Then he turned the car around and headed for the new destination.

Ten minutes later, the black vehicle parked in the parking lot of a large private hospital.

After completing a series of brain-oriented exams, Pei Xi sat in the office and listened to the doctor explain the specific situation to him.

“It is definitely a side effect of the blow to the brain.”

“The general duration of these things can be long or short, but this is the first time I have seen such a repetitive situation like President Pei’s.”

“Based on all the current information, we cannot determine the pattern of the attacks or whether they will happen again in the future.”

“However, what is certain is that these attacks have no impact on your physical health. My recommendation is that you sleep more and rest your brain, which may speed up recovery.”

Pei Xi listened patiently, took the examination forms from the doctor, thanked him, and left.

Xiao Gu sent a message that the meeting time had been postponed until 3 o’clock in the afternoon. It wasn’t quite 1 o’clock. Pei Xi rubbed his temples and decided to follow the doctor’s orders and go back to rest.

He actually hadn’t slept well the previous night. He didn’t know if it was because of the alcohol, but he kept dreaming about being sent away by Pei Yansong in high school. It happened over and over again, and his sleep was exhausting.

He had something to eat when he got home, and when he was clearing the table, he inexplicably thought of the bowl of hangover soup he drank before going to bed the previous night.

He had never been a good drinker, and had severe hangovers. Even if he drank one cup, he would have a headache all morning the next day.

But not today.

Thanks to that bowl of hangover soup that had been cooled to a suitable temperature, he was fed well last night and felt almost no discomfort this morning.

The warm, comfortable sensation that flowed down his dry throat and into his stomach was still very clear now.

His long eyelashes lowered, and his speed slowed down as he was putting things away.

After wiping away the water stains, he threw the paper towel into the trash can and went to the bathroom before going to his room. With an expressionless face, he picked up the pajamas in the corner and threw them into the washing machine.

It was not a long drive from home to the company. He set the alarm for 2 o’clock, closed the bed curtains, and lay down in the dimly-lit room.

Due to the overwhelming sleepiness caused by his nightmares, he sunk half of his face into the soft pillow and quickly fell asleep.

The time displayed on the wall clock passed minute by second, and the sunlight that penetrated through the gap in the bed curtains slowly crawled across the floor and changed its angle.

When there were still two minutes before 2 o’clock, the person on the bed opened his eyes hazily.

He couldn’t seem to understand why he was here. He sat up in bed, glanced at the empty space beside him, and then began to look around blankly.

……Why was that person not here?

With a slight frown, he lifted the quilt and got out of bed, walking out of the room barefoot. From the guest room to the living room, and from the living room to the kitchen.

He still didn’t find the person he was looking for. He stood in the middle of the living room with his arms hanging down, light and shadow outlining his thin and fragile figure.

In the next second, he turned and hurried back to the bedroom. He picked up his cellphone and turned off the alarm that was reminding him of something. Then he crouched beside the bed and dialed a number that he knew by heart.

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Chapter 10 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 12

T/N: Thank you so much to Cocole for the Kofi donation! Here’s a double update!

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After many years, He Xingxing once again experienced what it meant to be ignored.

He was forced to poop right away when he went out, and went home immediately after pooping. Not only was he not given time to have fun, but even the time to look around was very tight.

Focusing on speed, time seemed to slip by.

He Xingxing was very disappointed. From the moment he came back, he squeezed listlessly through the door, slumped down listlessly, and tapped his tail listlessly on the floor. 

And he watched listlessly as his father repeatedly confirmed with the “good friend” he brought back whether it was okay for him to bathe alone.

Sure enough, humans could not communicate their joys and sorrows to one another, let alone humans and dogs.

He Chuzhou was unaware of the harm his unintentional actions had caused to the dog’s fragile heart.

After giving Pei Xi his pajamas, he went to the kitchen and began to prepare hangover soup in an orderly manner.

He was just not very efficient. As he worked, his gaze and attention would automatically drift to his hand.

After such a long time and coming back from walking the dog, why did it seem like the remaining sensation on his palm had not gone away?

He made a fist with his right hand and opened it, measuring by eye the length from the base of his palm to the fingertips, and the width from his thumb to his pinky finger.

He couldn’t help but give a heartfelt sigh. Such a small face.

It was so pitifully small that if he spread his fingers, he could cover Pei Xi’s entire face.

And what was even more lamentable was that he could voluntarily praise an adult of the same sex as cute.

If He Aiyue found out about this, she would organize three days and three nights of messy things for him with the stroke of a pen.

But he really was cute.

Especially when those bright eyes were wide open and staring at him seriously and intently, easily reminding him of the cat his grandma kept at home.

That long-haired, blue-eyed, extremely picky eater. The cat loved to act like a spoiled child, and was bought at an extremely expensive price.

The phone suddenly rang. He shook his hands and cleared his brain, turned down the heat, and picked up the phone. There was no name on the series of numbers displayed above, but they looked familiar. It was the number that he had dialed three or four times in the car with no answer.

“Hello, this is Pei Yansong.”

The voice on the other end of the line sounded elderly, with a habitual tone of superiority, and could not be considered kind: “Who are you?”

He Chuzhou reported his name.

“President He.” Pei Yansong knew of him, but didn’t say much: “Why are you looking for me?”

He Chuzhou: “Your son had a minor accident recently and is…..not feeling well. He’s at my place now.”

“Pei Xi?” Pei Yansong: “He didn’t call me.”

“It’s not serious, maybe he didn’t want to worry you.”

He Chuzhou: “But the situation is a bit special, and I won’t be able to explain it clearly over the phone. If it is convenient for you, I will send him to you now.”

Pei Yansong: “Apologies, but it is not convenient.”

He Chuzhou: “……What?”

Pei Yansong’s overly frank refusal made him frown.

“It’s not convenient now.”

There were no great waves in Pei Yansong’s voice, and it sounded like he didn’t care very much about his son’s accident: “I’m abroad, and there is no way I can get back in such a short time.”

Pei Yansong: “If Pei Xi causes you trouble, I apologize to you on his behalf. President He’s kindness is appreciated, but if there is a matter he can’t solve, he will call me himself.”

He Chuzhou’s frown deepened, and just as he was about to speak, he heard a young female voice call for Pei Yansong.

And Pei Yansong hung up the phone quickly after answering.

He Chuzhou really couldn’t understand Pei Yansong’s reaction.

As a father, was this a normal reaction to hearing that his son was unwell after an accident?

Forget it, he didn’t have the right to interfere in other people’s family affairs. It was just that the current matter had become more troublesome.

Pei Xi’s parents were out of the country, and his friends could not be told. The road ahead and the road behind were blocked. Was it possible that he would really have to keep this person here forever…..

Bang.

A familiar crashing sound came from the living room, where the dog had stepped over his food bowl.

He Chuzhou shouted “He Xingxing!” in warning and put down his phone, intending to go out and train the dog first. When he turned around, he saw Pei Xi not far behind him.

It was unknown how long he had been standing there, wearing ill-fitting pajamas with a head of half-wet hair.

He Chuzhou paused, and the first thing he noticed was his hair: “Why did you not blow dry your hair again—”

His words stopped abruptly.

Pei Xi’s suddenly reddened eyes took his voice away.

“What’s wrong?”

What bowl of dog food? It was instantly forgotten. He strode up to Pei Xi and raised a hand to touch his face: “Let me see, are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere — hiss!”

A dull pain spread from the side of his palm, and he gasped.

Along with the dull pain, tears fell one after another.

Pei Xi’s eyelashes trembled, and those tears that he couldn’t hold back fell onto his palm. They were naturally a slightly cool temperature, but the heat made him quiver.

He endured the pain and bent down closer, using his other hand to wipe away Pei Xi’s tears: “Ancestor, what’s going on, ah? How can you take a shower and feel sad? Was the water too hot? Or do you not like this set of pajamas?”

The clenched teeth loosened.

There was no bite wound, but there were two rows of obvious teeth marks.

Pei Xi: “I heard it, liar.”

He Chuzhou: “What?”

“You called my dad. You want to send me away.” Pei Xi said word by word: “You clearly said you would always stay with me.”

“Don’t you want me anymore?”

It was rare that he vented his emotions with no reservations, and his sadness was so immense that the tears wouldn’t stop rolling down.

His eyelashes were wet, his breathing rapid, and there was still an uncontrollable sob in his voice as he tried to remain calm.

“He Chuzhou, do you not want me anymore?”

He Chuzhou was so panicked that he couldn’t care less about the pain in his hand, hurriedly wiping away tears: “No, it’s not that I don’t want you. Don’t think random thoughts.”

“It’s just that I’ve been…..well, I’ve been busy with work lately and I may not be able to take care of you all the time, so I was thinking about sending you home to stay for a while. Right, just for a while.”

Pei Xi was crying so much that there seemed to be a faucet installed in his eyes, and He Chuzhou’s coaxing was not enough to stem the flow. 

It was just that he cried so quietly, biting his lips tightly without making a sound aside from the occasional slight trembling and choking breath when he inhaled.

He Chuzhou was at a loss, and even contemplated calling Madam Chu for help. When he had exhausted his abilities, he happened to see the piece of paper Pei Xi was holding in his hand.

It was from the stack of sticky notes in his study drawer.

The originally flat paper surface was clenched into many wrinkles, but the content written in fair and beautiful regular script could still be clearly read.

It was a guarantee.

It was what Pei Xi had promised him in the car, that he would never blacklist him.

A sudden wave of emotion passed through his heart, a little sour and a little soft. It was as if a small newborn animal had nudged its head against him, and his heart faintly swelled.

He stared at the letter of guarantee for a few seconds, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. While taking the paper away, he placed his hand on Pei Xi’s back. 

With a light collision, he pulled this person into his arms.

“Okay, if you don’t want to go back, then don’t go back.”

If you want to stay, then stay.

He hugged Pei Xi and let him lay his head on his shoulder: “It’s my fault. I should have discussed this with you in advance.”

Another person in the house didn’t take up much space. Anyway, Pei Xi was so good now, just as if he had actually taken a cat home.

“Don’t cry, your eyes will be swollen before too long.”

Pei Xi was coaxed patiently for a long time before he slowly calmed down. He hugged He Chuzhou back, silently wiping all of his tears on his shoulder.

He Chuzhou breathed a sigh of relief and put a big palm on the back of his neck, rubbing it a couple of times: “You’re not sad anymore?”

It took Pei Xi a long while before he let out a muffled hum.

He Chuzhou: “Then go back to the room and blow dry your hair? Come out after and drink some hangover soup before going to sleep.”

There was once more no answer from Pei Xi.

After a while, he asked in a muffled voice: “Do you really want a cat?”

“No, ah.” He Chuzhou said helplessly: “Where could I raise a cat?”

Pei Xi: “Didn’t you tell your friend that you wanted to pick up a pretty calico?”

“Didn’t I already get one?”

He Chuzhou patted his back: “Okay, Pei-calico, go and blow dry your hair.”

“ ? ”

Pei Xi raised his head: “Pei-calico?”

His tears had dried, but not his eyelashes. The redness on his eye sockets and the tip of his nose had not faded, in sharp contrast to the surrounding skin.

He Chuzhou recalled hearing someone say that calicos were the great beauties of the cat world, and felt that this title was a perfect fit for Pei Xi.

“Yes, ah.” He deceived this person half-jokingly: “Old people say that you can’t have too many cats or dogs. It’s enough for me to raise you and He Xingxing.”

Pei Xi let out a stunned “Oh.”

After a moment, he thought of something and supplemented: “Don’t worry, I won’t beat the dog.”

*

*

Pei Xi dried his hair under He Chuzhou’s supervision, drank the sobering soup, and went back to the bedroom.

But when He Chuzhou came in after taking a shower, he found that he had not lain down, but was sitting on the bedside to wait. Seeing him enter, he motioned with his fingers for him to come over.

As soon as He Chuzhou approached, he was handed a letter of guarantee with a red pen.

“I already signed it.”

Pei Xi tapped on the one on the cabinet, which He Chuzhou had written the night before. There was an additional red signature on it – Pei Xi’s name.

“It’s rather ceremonial.”

He Chuzhou took Pei Xi’s letter and signed his own name next to Pei Xi’s.

Pei Xi put away the two letters of guarantee and pulled He Chuzhou to lay down next to him. He burrowed into his arms and silently placed his hands on his waist.

His posture was very insecure, with hope that He Chuzhou would sleep with him in his arms.

As for He Chuzhou, he was inexperienced the first time, but skillful the second time. He planned to repeat his old trick and wait for Pei Xi to fall asleep before leaving, like he had done the night before.

However, the plan couldn’t withstand the changes that happened. Pei Xi was not so easily fooled tonight. Whenever He Chuzhou felt that he was asleep and prepared to retreat, he would immediately open his eyes at the slightest movement.

He had the vigilance of a deer, or perhaps it was the aftermath of the phone call He Chuzhou had made to Pei Yansong.

In the end, after several attempts, He Chuzhou gave up. He embraced Pei Xi with his long arms and patted his back gently: “I won’t leave. Go to sleep.”

As the night progressed, their breaths gradually became long and steady as they embraced each other.

He Chuzhou dreamed that he really had a long-haired calico cat. It was troublesome and clingy, and always liked to burrow into someone’s arms while sleeping. If it wasn’t petted enough, it would meow at the top of its lungs.

He Chuzhou couldn’t get angry when he was rubbed against. He vaguely felt the brightly shining sun, so he subconsciously covered the “little cat’s” eyes and coaxed him in a low, faint voice.

As a result, he was kicked out of the bed in the next second.

He sat on the floor half-wrapped in the blanket, his mind blank. Raising his head in confusion, he unexpectedly met a pair of furious eyes.

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Chapter 9 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 11

T/N: I got a bad performance evaluation at work the other day, so I’ve been translating like a madwoman as a form of therapy. Expect frequent updates this week!

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In a private room of a high-end restaurant in the southern part of the city, half a dozen people were seated at a round table.

He Chuzhou was sitting by the window. Among the group of people talking, he rarely spoke. Most of the time, he just sat in his chair and played with his phone, listening to their nonsense.

Compared to him, Wu Qing beside him seemed much busier.

He had to drink, to chip in, and also pick up food with chopsticks for the boy next to him.

He said that this boy was his new favorite, a film school student. He had a handsome appearance and a well-behaved attitude, which pleased him very much.

As for whether he was actually that good, He Chuzhou didn’t know. He only knew that he was indeed new.

After all, the person holding hands with Wu Qing for an intimate beachside photoshoot the previous week was a fairy-like man with long, flowing hair.

It was only that a great Buddha like him sitting here was really eye-catching, and even though he didn’t say a word, the topic still inevitably came back around to him.

“Right, speaking of the land by the river, did you finally get it, Lao He?”

He Chuzhou moved his lips: “No.”

“Why not? Was it stolen by Pei Group?”

He Chuzhou: “The ownership rights are still in the hands of Mr. Zhang. He has been out of the country recently, and any business negotiations will have to wait until he comes back.”

“So that’s what it is. I’m just saying, you’re so full of twists and turns when it comes to business. How could you not beat Pei Xi?”

“You can say that again. They say that if you know yourself and know your enemy, you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. Lao He, you have won so many battles. You probably found out all the details about that person early on.”

The corners of He Chuzhou’s mouth rose: “You flatter me, but I’m a businessman, not a spy.”

“Precisely. What does he know.”

Wu Qing had always enjoyed demolishing his good friends: “That person is unwilling to acknowledge him, and always keeps a distance of ten meters when they are in the same frame. With this sort of treatment, could he discover if there was a mole on his face or whether he has a cutesy nickname?”

Wu Qing didn’t speak after laughing at him, and adding insult to injury, he wanted to ask the involved party for verification. But he saw the involved party suddenly raise an eyebrow, his eyes full of consideration as he looked over.

Wu Qing: “What’s that look in your eyes?”

He Chuzhou: “Confusion.”

Wu Qing: “What are you so confused about?”

He Chuzhou: “Did you take a fortune-telling class behind my back in university?”

Wu Qing: “?”

Wu Qing: “What are you talking about??”

He Chuzhou’s words made his brain fog over, but he wasn’t offered an explanation.

Wu Qing wanted to probe further, but the little lover next to him was peevish and he didn’t have the free time to spare.

The drinking conversation topics came and went quickly, and after more than ten minutes, someone suggested that the night should continue.

He Chuzhou planned to retire early, but Wu Qing pulled him over and wouldn’t let him go.

Wu Qing’s other hand was still holding his little lover: “It’s so early, why are you in a hurry? He Xingxing is a big, mature dog. He can hold his bowels for an extra couple of minutes with no problem.”

That being said, He Chuzhou really had no interest in drinking and singing. On such a nice evening, he would rather go back and walk the dog, soak his feet, and watch a movie.

Just as he was about to come up with another reason to refuse, the phone in his pocket rang.

Waiting to the side, Wu Qing noticed his expression become strange when he answered the phone.

Like confusion, incomprehension, and helplessness.

“I understand. Stay where you are and don’t run around. I’ll be there right away.”

He Chuzhou hung up and nearly bumped into Wu Qing, who was craning his neck to see the phone.

“What are you doing?” He Chuzhou locked the phone.

“Seeing who you’re talking to, ah.” Wu Qing said: “What’s going on with you? Which family’s child are you coaxing so late at night?”

“He’s not a child.”

He Chuzhou now had a ready excuse: “I can’t go to the next place, someone is waiting for me. I’ll head out first.”

“Who? Who is it?” 

Wu Qing’s thirst for knowledge erupted: “Who is waiting so late at night for you, an old iron tree that doesn’t bloom?”

He Chuzhou disliked the smell of alcohol on his body. He leaned back to distance himself and began to spout nonsense: “Just…..a stray cat. It doesn’t have the ability to take care of itself, and is waiting for me to pick it up and take it home.”

*

*

The two people’s coordinates were not far apart. He Chuzhou didn’t drink, which saved time calling a driver, and he arrived at Pei Xi’s location in less than twenty minutes.

The streets at this point were unlike during the day, with parking spots everywhere.

He Chuzhou randomly picked a parking spot that suited his eyes and got out of the car. He turned into an alley, and had walked forward a short distance when he saw a person crouched under a street light not far away.

It was not a popular and bustling street. The night sky was empty, with only the autumn wind blowing from the street to the end of the alley at a temperature that was neither warm nor cool.

Pei Xi crouched there with the street light shining down on him, compressing his shadow until it was under his feet. His whole person looked like a small ball.

He really looked like a stray cat, alone and helpless.

He Chuzhou quickened his pace and walked over.

Pei Xi heard the footsteps and lifted his head from his arms. He watched as the person he had called imitated his example and crouched down in front of him. There was a small threshold between them, with him higher and He Chuzhou lower.

“What are you doing here?” He Chuzhou asked.

Pei Xi: “Waiting for you.”

As he got closer, He Chuzhou could smell the scent of alcohol on his body with a minty aroma mixed in: “Did you drink?”

Pei Xi tilted his face onto one arm and nodded his head.

Pei Xi, who was suffering from alcohol and amnesia, was stacked with double buffs and looked even more incredibly well-behaved at the moment.

He Chuzhou’s voice went softer again: “Is it just you?”

Pei Xi shook his head.

He Chuzhou: “Who else is there?”

Pei Xi didn’t answer, and only looked at the place he had just come out of.

He Chuzhou could see that he didn’t want to talk. Perhaps he was dizzy and uncomfortable after drinking.

“You, ah, I thought you were okay.”

He Chuzhou held his face with one hand and sighed: “That’s not good. What are you doing running around so early in the morning?”

Pei Xi was not on the same page as him.

“I’m okay,” he said. “There’s no fever anymore.”

He Chuzhou didn’t correct him, and went along with his words: “Really?”

Pei Xi lowered his head and motioned for him to touch it himself.

When He Chuzhou’s palm made contact, he took the opportunity to tilt his head and bury his face in He Chuzhou’s shoulder.

He Chuzhou’s outstretched hand paused in the air, and he looked sideways at the back of his dark head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: “You kid, are you still using this trick on me?”

Pei Xi’s voice was muffled: “Chuzhou, I’m so sleepy. I want to go home and sleep.”

Go home.

It was indeed time to go home.

He Chuzhou helped him stand up, and was thinking about which home to send him to when a man ran outside nearby. He slowed down when he saw him, looking stunned and confused.

Seeing the man’s eyes cycle between him and Pei Xi, He Chuzhou raised a reasonable question: “Are you a friend of Pei Xi?”

Xie Ling nodded mechanically and gave a dry hum of affirmation, unable to recover from the shock of the scene in front of him for a long moment.

What was this situation? 

Was the seawater flowing backward or was the sun rising in the west?

He was actually seeing Pei Xi lean on He Chuzhou.

Were these two people cuddling?!

He Chuzhou thought this would be rather easy, and gestured to the person in his arms: “You take him back. I—”

“I won’t go.”

Pei Xi raised his head with a frown and once again emphasized what he meant: “Chuzhou, I’m sleepy. I want to go home. I don’t want to go back and keep drinking.”

Xie Ling had come closer, and heard Pei Xi’s words clearly. His expression changed again and again, and could no longer be defined as pure shock.

It was like seeing a ghost in the daytime, or rather, when always walking at night, you would eventually see a ghost.

“You…..you…..”

He didn’t know if he had drank too much and wasn’t clear-headed, causing hallucinations: “What’s going on? You two have such a good relationship in private? Or am I dreaming?”

He Chuzhou looked at Pei Xi, who was sullen with drooping eyelids, and then at Xie Ling, who was deep in self-doubt, and was silent for a moment: “You don’t know?”

Xie Ling was shocked: “I don’t know, ah!”

He Chuzhou: “……”

It seemed the other party really didn’t know that there was something wrong with Pei Xi’s head.

He wasn’t sure if Pei Xi wanted to keep it a secret, so He Chuzhou decided to err on the side of caution.

He simply said farewell to the man and took Pei Xi away under the other party’s confused eyes.

Pei Xi could handle the rest when he was better. He himself couldn’t manage too much.

Pei Xi truly was sleepy. Once he got in the car and fastened his seatbelt, he immediately leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes.

Seeing that he looked uncomfortable with his head down, He Chuzhou leaned over and helped him lower the back of the chair. Then he pulled a chibi monster pillow from the back seat and turned it into a blanket to cover him.

He Aiyue had drawn it in a lottery before, but had left it in the car and forgot to take it away.

“You’re rather capable.”

He looked at this person sleeping peacefully and praised him with no lack of admiration: “You followed someone to drink, but nobody discovered that there is actually a missing string in your brain.”

The person with a missing string in his brain had already fallen asleep under the influence of alcohol, and was unable to acknowledge him.

“Next time, don’t wait under a streetlight. The weather might be bad, and flying insects could get all over you.”

Straightening up, he sat back in the driver’s seat and turned on the air, but didn’t rush to start the car. Instead, he took out his phone and found the number that Yun Ji had sent him before. After confirming that it was correct, he dialed it.

He called three or four times, but nobody answered.

“They must be asleep this late.”

He Chuzhou put down the phone. Between the options of going directly to the door and waking the family up in the middle of the night or taking Ancestor Pei back to spend the night together, he chose the latter.

There was no difference between giving him shelter for one night or two.

On the way back, he received a call from Wu Qing. The background on the other side was noisy, with somebody singing to the point of wailing and howling.

He Chuzhou glanced at Pei Xi, who was still sleeping soundly, and turned down the volume of the call: “Can you go to the restroom?”

Wu Qing: “Ah?”

Wu Qing: “Oh, it’s noisy, right? Give me a second.”

He seemed to have covered the receiver, and the noise soon faded away. When the environment of the call became quiet, He Chuzhou turned up the volume again.

He Chuzhou: “What’s wrong?”

Wu Qing: “Nothing’s wrong, I just thought I should check on you. Did you get your cat?”

He Chuzhou: “I got it. What’s up?”

Wu Qing: “What cat, ah? A big orange one? A cow-spotted one? A lion cat or a calico?”

“Calico.” He Chuzhou was perfunctory with him. “You’re having so much fun with yours, so why are you thinking so much about my cat?”

“Ai, it’s just curiosity.”

Wu Qing chuckled: “Big boss He drove a luxury car to pick someone up late at night. I also want to see which stray cat is so lucky. Is it well-behaved? Cute? Pretty?”

He Chuzhou: “Well-behaved, cute, and pretty. I’ll send a photo back and hang up.”

Wu Qing did not let him off easy: “But you already have a dog, why are you bringing it back to fight with He Xingxing? I heard that cats don’t even like dogs, and they beat them really hard.”

“You worry too much. They won’t fight—”

He Chuzhou halted his perfunctory words. Thinking of something, he couldn’t help but glance in the rearview mirror at Pei Xi.

It seemed that Pei Xi indeed did not like dogs.

But it shouldn’t be possible for him to beat a dog. At most, he would be disgusted at the shedding or something…..

“Don’t worry so much. I’m hanging up.”

They soon arrived at their destination, and the car was parked smoothly in the garage. He Chuzhou got out of the car and walked around to the passenger seat, planning to carry this person back directly.

The car door opened and he met a pair of eyes, cool, gentle, and bright.

He Chuzhou was surprised: “You’re awake? Just in time, we’re home. Come out.”

Pei Xi raised his head and said: “Chuzhou, you forgot to apologize to me.”

He Chuzhou: “……?”

History was repeating itself.

One night had passed, and He Chuzhou was standing outside the passenger door again, once again wondering where he had gone wrong with this person.

“I was late to pick you up?”

“I didn’t call you for a day?”

“I chose a bad tie color today?”

He was confused, and still couldn’t figure it out: “Instructor, can you give me a hint?”

Pei Xi clutched the plushie blanket: “When I called you just now, I looked for your number for a long time and found it on the blacklist.”

He Chuzhou was even more mystified: “Why did you block me?”

Pei Xi: “Yes, ah, why did I block you?”

He Chuzhou: “So—”

Pei Xi: “You must have done something wrong and made me angry.”

He Chuzhou: “……?”

He Chuzhou: “? ? ?”

He Chuzhou was truly wronged: “So I can also be convicted like this. Fine, then tell me what I did wrong?”

Pei Xi frowned and fell into thought. After a moment, he shook his head: “I can’t remember.”

He Chuzhou spread his hands.

Pei Xi: “But don’t delay your apology to me.”

He Chuzhou: “……”

Pei Xi pulled back the blanket and reached out to him with familiar and natural movements. 

He Chuzhou worked hard and bent down to pick this person up, feeling that an injustice had been done to him.

Pei Xi hugged his neck and leaned against him sleepily: “Chuzhou, don’t feel wronged. I wouldn’t have blocked you for no reason. You must have made a mistake.”

He Chuzhou closed the car door with his elbow, wanting to laugh when he heard this.

You blocked me for no reason, charged me with a crime you can’t say, inexplicably told me to apologize, and finally told me not to feel wronged.

But what could be done?

How could it be possible to make things clear to a person who was missing a string?

“Understood. I don’t feel wronged, not at all.”

He locked the garage and walked inside with Pei Xi in his arms: “It was my fault. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made you get angry and block me. I won’t do it again in the future, all right?”

Pei Xi was satisfied, and also apologized softly for his mistake: “I was wrong too. I probably didn’t give you a chance to explain, and blocked you in anger. I won’t do it again.”

The two people went back and forth, apologizing for something that might not even exist. This time, He Chuzhou really did laugh.

Why was the brain-addled Pei Xi so interesting?

“Is that true, ah?”

He asked Pei Xi: “You won’t block me in the future?”

He feared that the first thing he would do when he returned to his senses was give him a one-stop trip to the blacklist.

“It’s true, I absolutely won’t.” Pei Xi raised his face with an earnest expression: “I can also write a letter of guarantee.”

He Chuzhou took it all as a joke, and didn’t take it to heart.

When they got in the house, He Chuzhou helped Pei Xi take out his slippers. He himself was not in a hurry to change his shoes, because he would be going out to greet the stars soon.

Pei Xi changed his footwear but did not go in. He just stood with his back against the low cabinet, watching quietly as He Chuzhou crouched to change the water and feed He Xingxing.

He Chuzhou raised his head to look at him: “What’s wrong?”

Pei Xi said: “I heard it.”

He Chuzhou was unclear: “Heard what?”

Pei Xi also crouched down, bringing the perspectives of the two people to the same level. “In the car, I heard you say you want to get a cat.”

He Chuzhou realized he had heard the erratic conversation he’d had with Wu Qing in the car.

“So?”

He Chuzhou put down the food bucket and responded to him patiently: “Do you want to raise one too? Or do you not like them?”

Pei Xi didn’t answer, but said: “I heard you say it’s a calico, and that it’s very cute and well-behaved and you want to take it home to raise it.”

He Chuzhou couldn’t grasp his meaning. His fingertips tapped on his knees a few times, and he was about to speak, when both of his wrists were suddenly held.

Pei Xi took his hand and pressed it against his cheek, opening his eyes slightly in the warm yellow light of the entranceway. The pitch-black drunken pupils reflected the other person’s appearance: “Which is cuter, that cat or me?”

The cool, delicate touch against his palm stunned He Chuzhou for a moment.

His fingertips accidentally touched the other’s earlobe, and for a second, a tiny electric current seemed to take the opportunity to penetrate into those fingertips, making his entire palm feel numb.

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Chapter 8 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 10

Seeing as they were making so much noise, it was obvious that the guards outside had been completely wiped out.

Liu Zhenqing reacted calmly, calculating that the most likely option was that they had come here to deal Yi Chuan a finishing blow. He had initially thought that with notices posted all over the city asking for medical treatment, those people would not kill Yi Chuan since there was no need to do so.

Then the sounds came inside, and Liu Zhenqing looked through the gap in the closet door to see that they were rummaging around carefully, but not looking for anyone.

If they hadn’t come to deal with Yi Chuan, what were they there for?

But no matter what they were doing, with them in a state of digging three feet into the ground, it was only a matter of time before they were found.

Liu Zhenqing looked at Yi Chuan. He was holding the long sword tightly, but seeing the unnatural tremor in his hands, he knew his body was not strong enough to deal with the current situation.

Taking his hand, Liu Zhenqing wrote: Trust me.

Yi Chuan was taken aback, and looked at him in puzzlement.

Liu Zhenqing was holding a silver needle. When someone approached the door, he instantly took action before the other could pull away and stabbed one of Yi Chuan’s acupuncture points.

Yi Chuan was caught by surprise, and a mouthful of blood spurted out. Pulling Yi Chuan, Liu Zhenqing rolled through the cabinet door and onto the floor. Yi Chuan directly entered a death-like state, unable to move, but he could still faintly see and hear.

The people who had come to search were also shocked to see this situation.

Liu Zhenqing shouted: “What do you intend to do? Yi Chuan, help me, help me…..”

“Shut up!” Someone shouted, then looked at the gray-faced Yi Chuan. “He’s practically on his final breath, why are you counting on him?”

Having said this, he stopped looking at Yi Chuan, and Liu Zhenqing breathed a sigh of relief.

Liu Zhenqing said hurriedly: “Who exactly are you? Enemies of Captain Song? Don’t kill me, I’m just Captain Song’s lover.”

Those people looked at Liu Zhenqing and exchanged glances. There seemed to be some disdain, but one person still came forward and said: “If the boss hadn’t taken a liking to you, I would really want to put a knife in a slut like you.”

It was novel for Liu Zhenqing to be insulted in such a way for the first time.

The hell? Slut?

The only person who would say this about him was Zhao Haicheng. The man pulled Liu Zhenqing up to a standing position and said: “Tell us, where is the portrait that Song Xingmu bought?”

Liu Zhenqing was puzzled for a moment. They were here for the portrait?

He felt suffocated. Looking at the beauty Er-gou was addicted to in the past, something was wrong.

“Don’t kill me, I know where it is. It’s on the study table in the courtyard next door,” Liu Zhenqing said decisively.

He thought that with luck, these people would leave after obtaining the portrait. However, his luck was not good.

Soon, the group that left to get the portrait returned with it, grabbed Liu Zhenqing, and carried him away.

“Wait, where are you taking me?” 

“It is not your place to ask.”

“No, if you intend to kill me, then let me die here. I don’t want to have an incomplete corpse.” Liu Zhenqing was getting the other party to talk. How could these petty thieves be Liu Zhenqing’s opponents? They immediately spoke.

“Shut up, we’re not going to kill you. We’re going to give you to our boss to cool his temper.”

The corners of Liu Zhenqing’s mouth twitched. Yi Chuan could hear, so he had to leave more news. He ventured: “Are you talking about…..Lieutenant General Zhao?!”

“It seems the boss wasn’t exaggerating when he praised you for being clever. Our boss is so great, but you actually disappointed him. After a few days, you will understand what an amazing person we follow.”

Having said this, he was about to drag Liu Zhenqing away.

Liu Zhenqing said while struggling: “Are you going to take me to the water village?! Aren’t you afraid that Captain Song’s people will find out?”

“The boss is not in the water village. He’s on the island. When we send you there, if the boss doesn’t want you, you’ll be thrown into the sea!” With that said, he no longer gave Liu Zhenqing any opportunities. He just picked him up and left.

Liu Zhenqing was calm and collected. He had finally left enough information.

Moreover, if they were to take him to the island, Song Xingmu’s fleet must flank them from the outside, and might even meet them halfway.

When he was thrown onto the boat, Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but say: “What are you doing? Going against Captain Song, aren’t you afraid of dying?”

“Hmph, let’s see if he has any chance of surviving,” the man guarding Liu Zhenqing said.

“Captain Song has gone to sea. Aren’t you afraid you’ll encounter him?”

“He foolishly went off to fight pirates, how could he know……”

Liu Zhenqing: I think you are quite foolish.

“But you…..he will move heaven and earth for Yi Chuan, but you are just a plaything. Our boss showed you kindness, but you were too ignorant.”

Liu Zhenqing narrowed his eyes and said: “He is only a lieutenant general. I…..”

“Bullshit. When we succeed, our boss will be the hero of the country, his status equivalent to the current general who guards the country. You’re being given a chance now, but you still don’t know how to cherish it. I warn you, when we get to the island, you had better take the initiative to make the boss happy, or…..” The man gave him a look of warning.

Liu Zhenqing critiqued internally, He is nothing compared to the general who guards the country. The general is mine. But Liu Zhenqing’s expression was shocked and uneasy. “What do you mean? You want to…..to…..”

“That’s right, rebel! Now that I’ve told you so much, you should understand, right? If you don’t become the boss’s person, you will die!”

Liu Zhenqing wanted to say more, but the guard was already annoyed and knocked him out directly. When he awoke, he was on a bed inside a room.

He quickly got up, but because he was still tied with rope, he could only sit up with difficulty. He looked up and saw that the portrait scroll on the table had not been opened, which meant nobody had come yet. Looking around again, he saw that the layout of the room was not simple. There was a desk for handling official business nearby, and a huge map hung on the wall behind the desk, including the sea region and the city on the shore. This was a customary decoration common among military officials. He was definitely in Zhao Haicheng’s rooms on the island.

Liu Zhenqing naturally knew this map by heart from when he and Song Xingmu fought together.

What was strange was that there was an area painted with vermillion on it. That area basically surrounded half the city with the coastline as one side, and seemed to follow the water veins of the underground river.

Liu Zhenqing was looking at it curiously when the door opened, and the sound of rapid footsteps could be heard along with an argument.

“Who told you to do this!” It was clearly Zhao Haicheng’s furious voice.

“But Boss, you were out of your mind a few days ago. Wasn’t it because you couldn’t buy the painting, and something about Young Master Huo? We were afraid that something big would happen and the painting would be destroyed, so we took it in advance. It just so happened that Young Master Huo was there, so it was convenient…..doesn’t the boss like him? Then keep him by your side, lest he die. Anyway, Song Xingmu is still at sea. Nobody will find him.”

They obviously looked down on Liu Zhenqing, but wanted their boss to be happy, so they did this.

Zhao Haicheng didn’t know that this matter was beneficial to Liu Zhenqing. As long as he didn’t go berserk, his safety was still guaranteed.

Sure enough, when Zhao Haicheng walked in, he saw Liu Zhenqing curled up and trembling on the bed, and was dumbstruck. He turned around and said impatiently: “Get out.”

When the group of subordinates saw this situation, they promptly concluded that the boss had accepted their kind gesture. They ran out happily and were considerate enough to close the door.

Liu Zhenqing shook when he heard the movement.

The room was quiet for a while. Finally, Zhao Haicheng said: “Don’t be so afraid, you won’t be killed.”

Zhao Haicheng’s tone was very bad, not as gentle and soft as in the past.

When Liu Zhenqing looked up, his eyes were red. Zhao Haicheng was stunned, and stood up as if he had been stimulated. “Who are you showing this look to!”

Liu Zhenqing was taken aback. Shouldn’t he pretend to be afraid? How did he turn out to be so crazy?

He didn’t know, so he could only look at him blankly.

Facing this appearance of his, Zhao Haicheng became even angrier. He walked directly to the bed, grabbed his chin, and scoffed coldly: “You really know how to arouse a man’s interest. That night in the alley, was it because of that expression that you hooked two men?”

Liu Zhenqing: ……

It seemed that after his many dramas, his image in Zhao Haicheng’s heart had changed completely, and now he was a coquettish slut.

Liu Zhenqing revealed a look of disbelief.

Zhao Haicheng scoffed: “Unfortunately, I respected you so much in the beginning and tried to help you.”

Wearing a frightened expression, Liu Zhenqing said, “I don’t need it. You kidnapped me here when I was about to leave.”

“Oh? Leave with that guard gege of yours?!” Zhao Haicheng gritted his teeth. “It’s a pity that you can’t leave. Now that you’re on the island, you must continue to follow us unless you no longer want to live.”

Liu Zhenqing looked at Zhao Haicheng with despair: “Are you unable to let go of me?”

Zhao Haicheng was stunned and let go of Liu Zhenqing, taking a step back. He murmured at once: “Where does it look like that?”

Liu Zhenqing thought he heard wrong and glanced at Zhao Haicheng.

Zhao Haicheng seemed to suddenly come to his senses. He took a big step back, but bumped into the table.

As the scroll rolled, it was already a little loose. It unfolded instantly, and a painting of a bride appeared before Liu Zhenqing.

Zhao Haicheng seemed to freeze for a moment, staring blankly. Then he gingerly placed the painting flat on the table, looking at it carefully. Finally, he rubbed the cheek of the person in the painting, landing on the two moles.

This gesture gave Liu Zhenqing goosebumps all over his body.

Wait, Zhao Haicheng…..liked him in the past?

But before Liu Zhenqing could be amazed, he saw Zhao Haicheng’s expression abruptly change as he hit the person in the painting with his fist. The hatred carried in that force was very obvious.

Liu Zhenqing was confused. This…..this was hate.

“Do you know the person in the painting?” Liu Zhenqing was curious to death, and couldn’t help moving to the side of the bed. His body was getting a little hot, likely because of his impatience.

Zhao Haicheng suddenly came to his senses, his face changing colors. Then he scoffed coldly and said, “I know them.”

“Oh? Who is it?”

Zhao Haicheng scoffed again: “You’ll be scared to death if I tell you.”

Liu Zhenqing: ……

“He is…..Liu Zhenqing, who brought disaster to the world nine years ago!”

Liu Zhenqing: This person knew him even in women’s clothing. How familiar was he with him, ah? Why didn’t he have any impression at all?

“This painting is clearly…..” Liu Zhenqing spoke cooperatively.

“It’s just that the artist painted on women’s clothing. Never in my life will I forget his appearance,” Zhao Haicheng said with gritted teeth.

Since he was unaware that he had dressed up, Zhao Haicheng just assumed it was painted on the artist’s whim. It seemed that this had nothing to do with the first trip south, but the second.

“Isn’t he dead? Why do you still hate him so much?” Liu Zhenqing feigned confusion and said, “Is it related to your rebellion?”

Zhao Haicheng abruptly looked at Liu Zhenqing, who hastily said: “Your brother told me on the boat.”

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Haicheng said: “Of course I hate him. If not for what he did back then, how…..how could so many people have died on our island, and how could we embark on the path of rebellion?”

Liu Zhenqing skewed his eyes and said: “You’re lying. Even though I never knew that person, I also heard that he summoned 30,000 troops to root out the pirates and protect the islands. Even though others curse him, why do you, the ones he protected, curse him? And where did so many people die on an island? Captain Song said that during his command, few people died unless they privately went out to sea.”

When it came to this, Liu Zhenqing was dumbfounded.

Wrong, wrong!

The statistics of the island residents were available every year, and there was no difference from year to year. There were clearly a lot of rebels on this island. Could it be that they were all in hiding during the inspections?

Although, it wasn’t impossible.

Could it be that so many of the original inhabitants died, and the rebels just filled in the gaps? The people who came for the inspection may not have known the island residents. They just counted the number of people — according to the statistics, once the original inhabitants of the island joined forces with the rebels, the inspectors would not have noticed at all.

Then the rebels could believably live on this island as the dead islanders, so no matter how they tracked the rebels, they could never be found.

In other words, the residents of this island really did die long ago, and according to Zhao Haicheng, it was because of him?!

Thinking of this, Liu Zhenqing should have felt a chill, but his body was becoming hotter and hotter. He knew medicine. Even though he was concentrating on other things at the moment, he could still feel that something was wrong with his body.

Liu Zhenqing forced himself to calm down, and made his first judgment. Those men must have done something when he was unconscious! Truly vile! When it came to drugs, this particular one needed a partner, ah!

It seemed that the person in front of him was unaware, so there was still room to maneuver. After all, Zhao Haicheng’s attention was elsewhere now. Liu Zhenqing could only covertly inflict pain on himself to delay the effects of the drug.

Liu Zhenqing’s question was reasonable, but it infuriated Zhao Haicheng.

Zhao Haicheng suddenly hit the portrait with his fist again, as if wishing he could kill the person in it.

“You have no idea what things a villain like him could do. Had he not been deliberately using the excuse of eradicating pirates in order to seek military power from the emperor, we wouldn’t have suffered this misfortune! Before, we occasionally encountered pirates when we went out to sea, but as long as we had enough supplies, everyone could still live. But he had to make a show out of getting rid of the pirates. It was he who gave us hope and then destroyed us all. Once he was gone, we were met with brutal reprisals. You guess what kind of hell this island went through eight years ago.”

The sorrowful look on Zhao Haicheng’s face and the hatred in his eyes stunned Liu Zhenqing at once, and even the heat in his body seemed to freeze over.

---

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Chapter Ninety << Table of Contents >> Chapter Ninety-Two

He likes darkness and doesn’t like lights, but at this time, he insists on turning on the lights so that I can see.

I no longer care about face, and call for help regardless. 

There are many doctors living downstairs, and several people are on duty every night, but no matter how much I shout, nobody comes to save me.

It’s as if we are trapped in a separate space, where it is just him and me.

“What do you think? Where is he?” He speaks in my ear, breathing against the skin behind my ear and on my neck.

I’ve given up struggling, or am unable to struggle. The portrait of my lover is less than five centimeters from my face. My upper body lays on the table and I cover my face with my hands, kneeling on the tatami mat. 

At first glance, it looks like I am kneeling to pay respects to my dead husband, but in fact, the hands and arms covering my face are shaking like chaff. The towel I’m wearing is now under my knees.

After a long moment, he sighs almost inaudibly: “Be good, stop crying.”

He lifts my upper body and makes me sit on his lap, then bends down to wipe my eyes with his fingers: “I haven’t done anything to you, why are you crying so pitifully?”

I don’t know if I cried so hard that he lost his mood, but after I give up fighting and hide my face to evade, he actually lets me off.

I’m forced to sit in his arms, my body exposed to the cool air.

He puts an arm around my shoulders, and I strive to bend down and reach for the towel that has fallen on the floor. 

As if deliberately teasing me, he holds me loosely at first and waits for me to reach out each time, then grabs my shoulders and drags me back. My fingers are always two centimeters short of reaching the piece of cloth.

This action also exposes my back to the light. A cold hand travels across my back, nails scratching my skin like the scales of a venomous snake. My hair stands on end wherever it touches.

I really don’t want to cry, but the anger and shame make my eyes well up with tears that hit the arm trapping me.

He sighs again and turns me over.

I lay on the floor, and his arms support me as he looks down at me from the side. That pair of bottomless eyes are like an exquisite and meticulous painting, but the painter didn’t add any finishing touches. They are a simple combination of deep black and pure white, and the black is like an endless night, the dark storm inside chilling and daunting.

His eyes curve as he smiles at me, and then he leans down and kisses me.

He seems addicted to this kind of skin-to-skin contact. During the first few days where I didn’t notice that anything was wrong, he kept me up late every night.

He is not a human being, but he has the qualities of a human man.

I stare at the ceiling with my eyes open and let it happen. After a long while, he raises his head contentedly, and I close my eyes, gasping for breath.

My body is finally covered with clothes. I immediately grasp hold of the thing I have lost and found and try to cover every inch of exposed skin. 

“Won’t you look at me?” He wipes the corners of my eyes with his thumbs and strokes my eyelashes. “I won’t force you if you don’t want it, but you won’t even give me a kiss?”

He picks me up, takes the bathrobe from my hands and dresses me neatly, and leans over to kiss my cheek.

“I only blame you for thinking he is good. Don’t be angry. I’ll be better than him.”

He cannot empathize with me, and fundamentally can’t understand that I’m not angry at all. Or it could be said that too many emotions have accumulated in my heart, making me numb to anger.

I was humiliated over and over again in front of my dead husband’s portrait. Even though nothing happened, it already exceeded my moral bottom line.

I regret wanting to take back the portrait. I don’t have the face to let Mingcheng’s portrait stay at home anymore.

“I will send Mincheng’s portrait back tomorrow.” My heart pounds as I say this.

I have lost him again.

I hope Mingcheng’s spirit in heaven won’t blame me.

But the “person” in front of me is very happy. When he hears what I said, his eyes light up. He drags me by my thighs and picks me up, his squinted eyes filled with light: “Why tomorrow? That woman doesn’t want him to stay here either, so why not let her take him back tonight?”

He says this, but suddenly refutes himself. “That won’t work, don’t let her come. Both siblings annoy me. I’ll go send him away.”

I turn him down: “You will scare the elders.”

When he hears this, he looks at me silently for a moment. His lips curl. “The deceased is gone, and it is always bad to reappear. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It would be better to burn it and send it back to the cemetery.”

With that said, he puts me down and actually tries to touch Mingcheng’s portrait.

“Stop!” I quickly stop him and stand in front of the portrait.

He raises an eyebrow at me, still smiling, but his eyes are dark and deep. “What’s wrong? You won’t give it away, and you won’t throw it away. Do you love him so much? That’s fine, I won’t force you.”

He says this, but I can’t relax at all. There is absolutely nothing I can do against him, so I don’t dare offend him. I can only endure my anger and try to coax him: “I will try to send him back as soon as possible.”

He caresses my neck with the backs of his fingers. “Okay, ah, it’s all up to you. Let’s go rest now.”

I am extremely resistant to sleeping with him. Even if he doesn’t touch me, it is still a nightmare.

“What’s wrong? With him here, you don’t want to sleep? In that case, I also feel awkward…..” He sighs. “Then take him with you. You can look at him tonight.”

I’m stunned for a moment, and raise my head to look at him.

He smiles at me. His eyelashes are thick and long, and the corners of his lips curve beautifully, but the smile on his face scares me. “Who made him your true love? I can only bear it, A-Zhen. Let’s get married too, we’ll have a wedding at home, just the two of us. Oh, no, let’s add him too.”

“On the wedding night, you hold him close to your chest.” He lowers his head and presses his lips to the corner of mine as he speaks dirty words.

I push him away forcefully and grit my teeth, uttering one word: “Beast.”

He scoffs: “I’m a beast? Good. Anyway, in your eyes, I’m a nuisance that you can’t get rid of, so that’s fine. It doesn’t matter. After all, I can’t compare to him, so let me carry out this evildoing to the end.”

I don’t know what he’s going to do, but it definitely won’t be a good thing, so when he turns around, I quickly step forward and hug him from behind.

He pauses abruptly.

“I’ll rest with you. I’ll send him away too. Don’t do anything…..please.”

. . . . . . . .

At night, he embraces me from behind and coaxes me to sleep as usual. 

A hand passes under my arm and lands on my chest. Although he doesn’t fiddle around, his other arm goes around my waist. His fingers press and rub my belly.

I don’t know what life is like between other couples, but Mingcheng also liked to touch my belly, so I know what this means.

He doesn’t show anything on his face, and his warm voice also tells me to go to bed early.

But I know he is not at all what he appears to be.

He is bottling it up, and enduring it very hard.

“Good boy, why won’t you sleep?”

I’m on tenterhooks, but I also know that if I stay awake, it will only be more dangerous. However, I’m so anxious that it is difficult to sleep.

“Don’t be afraid of me.” I don’t know how many times he has sighed tonight. The hand he placed on my chest moves to my eyes, and the other hand goes outside the quilt to gently rub my body. “Have a good sleep.”

I fall asleep without knowing it, and have a dream that is neither short nor long.

In the dream, I actually go back to the day I got married.

There were many people at home that day, and the house was full of guests. Everyone wished us a happy marriage and a long life together.

I was very happy, and smiled until my face was stiff with fatigue.

Getting married was very tiring. Mingcheng and I toasted to many elders and were toasted by many people. It was so busy that I didn’t know what time it was, and I was so tired that I couldn’t endure it anymore. So I left Mingcheng and sneaked back to the room.

Although we were both men and couldn’t have children, for the sake of good fortune, our elders still covered our bed with longan and peanuts, which symbolized the early birth of a child.

I pushed them aside to make room for me to lie down. I intended to wait for Mingcheng to come back, but lying down was so comfortable that I actually fell asleep.

Later, I was woken up by a crunching sound. This was the sound of teeth breaking through a solid object. I almost thought it was a rat making trouble. When I opened my eyes in a daze, I realized that it was Mingcheng.

He was wearing the white wedding suit of the groom, with a jeweled rose brooch on his chest. The smell of alcohol on his body was very strong, and as he chewed, his long, dense eyelashes fluttered and his cheeks moved slightly.

His cold, jade-white hands held a handful of longan and peanuts.

“Mingcheng.”

I called out to him and he was stunned for a moment. He raised his eyes to look at me, and they were red with drunkenness.

I laughed at him with no trace of politeness. “You’re so funny, why are you eating the peanut shell too?”

He paused and took a closer look at the half peanut he held in his hand. His thick eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if he was studying some important document.

It took him a long time to reveal an astonished expression, and he finally figured out that he had bitten the peanut in half.

I couldn’t stop laughing. I complimented him on how cute he was, and took the initiative to kiss him.

When I kissed him, his face instantly turned red, and the soft light in his beautiful eyes shined with hope.

But in an instant, these eyes lost their pupils, and the kiss turned from sweet to forced. My gentle lover became a black and white portrait and was thrown to the ground, the ashes from the incense burner spilling out.

I was overwhelmed by shock and horror. Regardless of the evil ghost beside me, I cried and protected the portrait of my lover.

But the “person” at my side tried to stop me.

I was so angry that I raised my hand to hit him and told him to get out.

But his face was dripping with blood just like Mingcheng. There was a fatal wound on his neck that was left when he saved me, and his airway flowed open and closed as he spoke, blood pouring out.

“It’s me, A-Zhen.”

Two lines of bloody tears flowed from his eyes, dark red and black blood dripping from the corners.

I open my eyes suddenly and shout out loud: “Mingcheng—”

The room is already bright. The alarm clock on the table shows 8:30 a.m, and there is no one next to me.

My chest heaves violently, and the excessive breathing causes a golden light to appear before my eyes.

I stay in bed for a long while until a nurse knocks on my door at nine o’clock and tells me to take my medicine. After I take it, she tells me that this is the last day the doctor will stay in my home. I am in good condition, and the doctor can leave.

I take the medicine mechanically and nod in acquiescence.

My mind is still recalling the previous night’s dream.

I dreamt about him.

In the six months since he left, I have never dreamed about him.

Did he give me this dream?

His remains are not yet cold, and I am living with his imposter. Does he blame me?

I enter the room again where he is enshrined. His portrait is still on the table, and his smile remains the same.

But we are already separated from one another.

I pick up the portrait and hug it tightly to my chest. My tears have dried up and my soul has vanished.

But I can only send his portrait back.

I don’t send it back to the Wen house. I send it back to my mother.

For a long time after that, I obey that “person” because I know there is nothing I can do against him.

The fact that he is able to enter my old home means that the Black Nanjia was brought in by means unknown to me and hidden there. As long as he doesn’t want me to find it, I never will.

The Divine Attendant told me a long while ago that I wouldn’t be able to send him away. I think my heart is already dead like ashes. Fortunately he can’t get close to me during the day, so I can go to my mother’s house and pay respects to Mingcheng’s portrait.

In the next few days, I dream about Mingcheng several times. In the dreams, he is either smiling or sad, but maybe it is the forced guise when facing that other “person” that makes me so exhausted and grieving that I long for dreams of him. 

“You seem to sleep much better these days. You always used to go to bed very late. I’m very happy, A-Zhen.” He turns me over and embraces me face to face.

I raise my eyes and smile at him.

The two of us embrace sweetly like lovers.

Life has become very peaceful, but as each day passes, I can bear it less and less.

It is like the smile on one’s face when entertaining guests. If you smile for too long, it becomes stiff and painful.

I don’t know if he has noticed anything wrong with me, but I don’t care anymore. I start going to my mother’s house to offer incense to Mingcheng,

It is my only comfort, but gradually, I am no longer satisfied with this.

I find that after my life becomes calmer, I rarely dream of him.

I sleep with a ghost, but I can’t see him in my dreams.

Maybe he thinks I’ve betrayed him, and is disappointed in me.

The pain accumulates day by day, and finally, I make a very bold and foolish decision on my mother’s advice.

I seek out a shaman.

I intend to recall his soul.

---

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Chapter 26 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 28

Leaving the villa area, Pei Xi took a taxi home as quickly as he could. Upon entering the door, he went straight to the bathroom.

Less than half an hour passed before he opened the door and emerged with half-dried hair.

He didn’t have time to grab clothes before he went in, so he only had a bath towel around his waist. His upper body was dazzlingly white, and still looked slender with the thin layer of muscle covering it. 

In his hand, he held the ice seed jadeite bracelet he had just taken off his wrist in the bathroom, and he threw it on the bed like trash as soon as he entered the room.

Then he turned around and found a clean set of clothes in the closet. The white shirt was gathered up and buttoned to the top, completely covering the cold white of his chest.

The mirror against the wall to the side dutifully reflected the young man’s entire body.

He wore a suit, a neat tie, and was meticulously groomed from head to ankles, the aura of a superior wrapped within his unique cool calmness.

His cellphone, which was running low on battery, was still able to hold on for an incoming call.

There was just a number without a title. It was Xiao Gu, the temporary assistant assigned to him by the company.

Pei Xi picked up the car keys and walked out.

“No need, I will be at the company right away.”

“You should have finished the handover of Dong Han’s recent work. Print out the documents needed for today’s meeting and put them in my office.”

“Complete the information on the results of last week’s discussion as soon as possible. If there are any mistakes, go to the HR department yourself. I don’t need a troublesome assistant by my side.”

“Also, contact a local courier and tell him to go directly to the front desk when he arrives.”

Once he was done giving systematic instructions, Pei Xi hung up and stepped into the elevator.

Pei Group Headquarters.

Xiao Gu, who from beginning to end had only asked “Do I need to send the files to your email,” stared for a long time at the phone that had returned to its normal interface, then slowly turned his head.

“Isn’t it said that President Pei is easy to get along with and never puts excessive pressure on the employees around him?”

He held his cellphone with a look of despair: “Doesn’t your conscience hurt at all, deceiving my feelings like this?”

The two supervisors in front of him exchanged confused glances.

They were people who often dealt with Pei Xi at work, and although Pei Xi had a cold and unsmiling temperament, he was actually not difficult to get along with.

Why was he suddenly so confrontational today?

Who had provoked him?

“Maybe…..he wants to help you grow?”

“He just had an accident, which delayed his work, and Assistant Dong is taking a long vacation, so it’s normal for him to be a little emotional.”

“Relax, it will get better after a while.”

“Your work ability will definitely satisfy President Pei. I am optimistic about you.”

Xiao Gu lowered his head to look at his phone. Thinking of the phone call just now, he felt that the faces of these two people were full of deception. 

Would it really go smoothly?

Why did President Pei sound so…..fierce……ah……

*

*

Pei Xi arrived at the company before eleven o’clock.

The express courier had arrived one step ahead of him and was receiving other deliveries at the front desk.

Xiao Gu had estimated the time and was already waiting at the door, fully armed. When he saw him enter, he immediately went to greet him: “Hello, President Pei. I am Xiao Gu.”

Xiao Gu: “All of the meeting documents have been printed, bound, and placed in your office. The other information is still being prepared and will be handed over to you before 3pm at the latest.”

“Understood.”

Pei Xi handed him the ice seed jadeite bracelet that didn’t even have a packaging bag and said in a cold voice: “Send this to the He Group headquarters building.”

Xiao Gu quickly took it with both hands: “Okay, who is the recipient?”

“He Chuzhou.”

Pei Xi threw these two words down stiffly, then turned around and headed to the conference room with an expressionless face.

Oh, He Chuzhou.

……Ah? He Chuzhou?

Xiao Gu twisted his neck, as confused as the two front desk sisters who had listened from beginning to end with their ears perked up. 

“President Pei is sending something to President He?”

“Isn’t it said that these two people are incompatible?”

“No way, isn’t this the bracelet that was auctioned at a high price a couple days ago???”

One of the sisters spotted the hidden details with sharp eyes. She quickly tapped the phone twice and then raised it to show the other: “Look, here’s the industry news feed from the past two days. It was taken by President He.”

“It seems to be the item, ah.”

“Ninety-five million??!”

“Oh my god……”

Amidst the gasps, the young express delivery brother’s expression was stunned. He slowly looked at the bracelet, and the hand that was writing down the order shook.

This thing was just handed to him?

Didn’t his household have a safe?

“But why is it in President Pei’s hands?”

“A gift from President He?”

“??? What are you saying?”

“I. Under. Stand.”

The sister suddenly skewed her eyes, her face glowing red as she put away her phone: “The incompatibility between fire and water is just a cover-up. In fact, this is about spending a lot of money to win a beauty’s smile, but the beauty didn’t appreciate it in the end. Competing fiercely and unwilling to lag behind, the wife-chasing road is long~”

“…….”

The corners of her companion’s mouth twitched: “Jiejie, how did you come to this conclusion?”

“I’m speaking from experience.”

The sister smiled and said: “I’m just an ordinary scholar, don’t admire me too much.”

*

*

At the end of the meeting, all of the executives who left the high-level conference room were sweating profusely.

They hadn’t had such a speechless meeting in a long time.

They hadn’t had such great work pressure in a long time either.

Had their company lost a huge project recently?

It shouldn’t have?

Then why did it feel like the low pressure surrounding their immediate boss was about to blow up the conference room?

Small mistakes that were usually easily forgiven were now infinitely magnified, and serious warnings were given. Just one glance from him would send shivers down one’s spine.

Was the company going to lay off employees?

Was he preparing to take action against them???

There was a moment of panic among senior management, but Pei Xi knew nothing of how the meeting left their small minds in disarray.

After returning to his office, he first made a few internal calls to make follow-up work arrangements, then opened his mailbox and marked the newly received emails as read. Finally, he took the well bound documents on the side and began to process them.

It was only that the stack of documents was not very thick, and he hadn’t turned a page for over ten minutes.

No, he wasn’t reading them at all.

He covered his eyes irritably in the sunshine that filled the room.

As soon as there was silence, his mind was flooded by all of the stupid things he said and did to He Chuzhou the previous night when he was out of his mind. He couldn’t concentrate on his work at all.

Yes, he remembered it all.

From the phone call he made to He Chuzhou when he woke up at night to insisting that He Chuzhou hug him to sleep, he remembered everything clearly.

He had never expected that the so-called confused memory would actually lead him to think that scumbag was his husband.

Perhaps he should be grateful to He Chuzhou for not leaving him alone in the hospital, but he was too affected by subjective psychological factors and only felt sick.

Sick because of He Chuzhou’s skillfully coaxing words, because of his arms that had held countless men and women, and even more because of his bed that had been rocked by countless others.

Even after taking a thorough shower and changing clothes, he still felt as if he had that person’s scent on him, making him extremely disgusted.

Letting out a deep breath, he simply closed the documents and took the cell phone beside him. He found He Chuzhou’s phone number in his contacts and blocked it with one click.

This was purely an accident. He needed to treat it as if it had never happened. The same was true for He Chuzhou. He would not give He Chuzhou any chance to use this matter to threaten him or laugh at him.

Yes, threaten him.

He rubbed his forehead and began to recall whether he had left anything behind with He Chuzhou last night.

Call records proved nothing.

He had also sent back the bracelet.

He hadn’t signed the letter of guarantee. It was written solely by He Chuzhou, so he couldn’t use it as evidence…..

The phone rang suddenly, and his thoughts were interrupted. He answered with a frown: “What is it?”

The male voice on the other end contained a familiar smile. It was his schoolmate Xie Ling, who was now a well-known lawyer in the industry. They had kept in contact for many years after graduation. 

Xie Ling: “Some old classmates have come to Wancheng recently and invited us to get together tonight. Will you go?”

Pei Xi: “I won’t go, I’m busy.”

Xie Ling: “I guessed that would be the case. But your tone…..”

Xie Ling knew him well, and could tell that there was something wrong from just a few words: “Are you in a bad mood? Who messed with you?”

Pei Xi didn’t respond: “It’s nothing. I still have work to do, so I’ll hang up first.”

“Okay, if you don’t want to go, then don’t go.”

Xie Ling didn’t force him: “Actually, I told them a while ago that you would probably be too busy with work to spare the time, and wouldn’t accompany these drunkards—”

Pei Xi suddenly changed his words and interrupted: “Time and place.”

Xie Ling said reflexively: “Eight pm, Wanxiang Town, Xinjie street.”

Xie Ling: “Wait, why are you asking this? Do you plan to pick me up then? Are you so considerate?”

Pei Xi: “Understood. I will be there on time.”

Xie Ling: “?”

“Didn’t you just say you weren’t going?”

Xie Ling was delighted by his capriciousness: “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, those few are reincarnations of drunkards, and they won’t stop until they get drunk one by one.”

Pei Xi: “Understood.”

*

*

At 8 o’clock in the evening, Pei Xi arrived at Wanxiang Town on time.

He rarely attended gatherings with classmates, and was a rare visitor today. As soon as he entered the door, he was surrounded by enthusiastic old classmates and drank a whole cup.

Fortunately, it was just a cocktail and the alcohol content wasn’t high.

“That’s enough, ah. It’s not like you don’t know our top student can’t drink much, so don’t overwhelm him as soon as he comes in.”

Xie Ling raised his voice in a shout to rescue him, then led him away from the crowd to sit down on a corner sofa: “You’re actually here, ah. Do you need me to help block a few drinks later?”

Pei Xi: “No need.”

Xie Ling: “You really don’t want me to?”

Pei Xi nodded. Just then, the happily laughing class leader wandered over and insisted on honoring Pei Xi with a cup.

Pei Xi didn’t evade it, and drank at once.

Xie Ling felt that it was a rarity. He touched his chin while looking at him, and waited until the class leader left before speaking: “What sort of trouble could cause you to come out and get drunk?”

Pei Xi set down his cup: “There’s no trouble.”

Xie Ling: “Did He Chuzhou steal another project from you?”

When he heard that name, Pei Xi paused slightly and his face became colder: “No.”

Xie Ling felt that it should really be related to He Chuzhou: “Say, you guys are fighting too hard against each other. Why don’t you just discuss a win-win solution?”

“If your two leading companies cooperate, it would be easy to dominate the business district. Remember to hand over the contract to my agency, and I’ll give you a 9.2% discount on the agency fee.”

“We can’t cooperate.”

Pei Xi left no room to maneuver, breaking his fantasy: “The Pei and He groups will never cooperate.”

Okay, then.

Xie Ling smiled helplessly and didn’t dig deeper.

Pei Xi’s drinking capacity was indeed not very good, but he had a third round.

His nerves were numbed and his thoughts were so blurry that he didn’t have time to think about messy things, so he was just barely able to calm down.

Xie Ling helped stop a few drunk people who still wanted to come over and drink with him: “It’s too early to go. If you’re really dizzy, just close your eyes for a while and we’ll leave together later.”

Pei Xi nodded. Amidst the drunkenness, he reclined on the corner sofa and closed his eyes.

The noise in his ears never stopped.

There was constant laughter and quarreling. Pei Xi slept uneasily, and his mind was thrown into chaos. For a brief moment, his consciousness went blank, then the hustle and bustle returned in the next second. 

His shoulder was hit neither hard nor lightly. His eyelashes fluttered and his eyes opened. When he saw the lively scene in front of him, he was stunned for a moment, and his eyes flashed with confusion.

Xie Ling had just persuaded a drunkard who was already walking unsteadily, and turned around to find that his eyes were open: “You woke up? It will probably take them more than ten minutes. How about you sleep a little longer? Or I can just call a driver for you first.”

Pei Xi shook his head, and it was unknown what was on his mind.

Xie Ling felt that he seemed a little different after waking up, but couldn’t tell what it was. He reached out and waved a hand in front of him: “Are you still asleep?”

Pei Xi shook his head again.

Xie Ling thought he was just drowsy.

After looking at the situation in their box, he was about to call a driver over first when he suddenly heard Pei Xi ask: “Where is Chuzhou?”

Xie Ling abruptly stopped typing.

“What?”

He felt like he was hallucinating: “Who?”

But Pei Xi stopped talking.

Immediately afterwards, Xie Ling watched as Pei Xi opened the phone in front of him. After a moment of fiddling, he dragged the number marked “He Chuzhou” from the blacklist, then looked up: “I’m going out to make a phone call.”

Xie Ling: “? ? ?”

---

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Chapter 7 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 9

He Chuzhou accepted his fate the moment he opened his mouth.

In early autumn, the nighttime temperature was not very high. This person had just come from the hospital, and looked so fragile running around like this. His head wasn’t healed yet, and he could catch a cold due to the wind.

It was just a 500-word letter of guarantee. He would just write it. There should be a lot of templates online, so he would just copy one and be done.

“He Xingxing knocked over the trash can. I was cleaning it up.”

He threw the blame on the dog without any burden of conscience, then put away his phone and walked over to casually touch Pei Xi’s half-dried hair: “Why did you come out without blow drying it?”

Pei Xi’s voice also seemed to be soaked in water vapor, with a moist, soft tone: “I couldn’t find the hair dryer.”

This straightforward and obedient attitude suddenly made He Chuzhou’s hands itch, so he simply patted him again: “I think I put it in the bedroom. Come on, I’ll find it for you.”

The soft hair felt surprisingly good.

Pei Xi followed him into the bedroom and watched him take out a white hair dryer from the bedside table. He asked: “Chuzhou, have you finished writing your letter of guarantee?”

He Chuzhou had known he wouldn’t forget. He bent down and inserted the plug into the socket, handing the hair dryer to him: “I was just discussing work with someone. I’ll write it right away, you blow dry your hair first.”

“Okay,” Pei Xi said.

He Chuzhou planned to go to the study and find a piece of paper first, but as soon as he reached the door, he was stopped by Pei Xi.

He turned around: “Can’t find the switch?”

“No.” Pei Xi put his free hand on his stomach, as if feeling something. “I haven’t eaten in a long time.”

“Chuzhou, I’m so hungry.”

*

*
In the open kitchen connected to the living room, He Chuzhou stood in front of the refrigerator, selecting ingredients.

A person who had just been discharged from the hospital would be weak and shouldn’t eat heavy food. It was best to eat something light. Cooking seafood noodles should do it.

He Chuzhou boiled some water and put in a handful of noodles. The faint sound of the wind could be heard in the room, and he found that this night was truly fantastical.

He had taken Pei Xi home, was cooking noodles for Pei Xi, and would soon write a letter of guarantee for Pei Xi.

Heh, the level of novelty was no less than that of Ultraman proposing to Captain America. Who would believe it if he told them?

His cell phone suddenly vibrated. Looking at the caller ID, he clicked to answer: “What?”

A crisp “Ge” came from the receiver. There was no telling what He Aiyue was excited about in the middle of the night: “What are you busy with?”

He Chuzhou said casually: “Who told you I was busy?”

He Aiyue: “Aren’t you ‘bosses’ busy all day long?”

He Chuzhou: “I’m going to hang up.”

“Ai, don’t, don’t!” He Aiyue quickly stopped him with a laugh, then said in a flattering tone: “Something’s going on, ah. Your dear little sister has a small favor she needs your help with.”

He Chuzhou turned down the heat: “What small favor? You want me to help you with a test paper again?”

He Aiyue spoke with a sense of righteousness: “How could that be? I’ve finished all my test papers this week!”

He Chuzhou raised an eyebrow and glanced at the call interface. Was she sensible?

He Aiyue: “Actually, it’s a mathematics olympiad exercise book. There are still two units and I really can’t write anymore. Ge, there is more merit in saving a life than in building—”^[1]

He Chuzhou: “I messaged Mom.”

He Aiyue: “…..a pagoda…..”

He Aiyue: “Ah?”

He Aiyue: “Ahhhhhhh!”

He Aiyue: “Boss He! How could you stab me in the back without regard for martial ethics!”

He Chuzhou: “Second child, you flatter me.”

“Okay, we’re playing for keeps, right?”

He Aiyue’s attitude changed instantly: “Believe it or not, I’m going to tell Mom that you’re hiding a beauty at home. When she comes to the house and finds out that you’re still a single dog, she will bombard you for three days and three nights!”

He Chuzhou had long been immune to these petty fights, and after saying “do what you want,” he neatly hung up the phone.

Once the noodles were out of the pot, he set the bowl on the table. Pei Xi also opened the door and walked out slowly in slippers that didn’t fit his feet.

His blow-dried hair was soft and covered his forehead, making him look years younger than his actual age. He looked tall and straight, with fair skin and a beautiful appearance.

He Chuzhou turned his head and saw him. At the thought of He Aiyue’s threat just now, the corners of his mouth silently twitched.

Keeping a beauty hidden at home. From a rather strange perspective, He Aiyue indeed got it right this once.

“Come and eat.” He placed chopsticks on the bowl.

Pei Xi walked over and sat down, looking at the fragrant bowl of seafood noodles in front of him. Then he looked up at He Chuzhou, a little confused.

Could it be that he was allergic to seafood?

He Chuzhou: “If you can’t eat it, I’ll make you a —”

Pei Xi: “Chuzhou, when did you learn to cook?”

The two spoke almost simultaneously, and He Chuzhou paused for a few seconds after being interrupted: “What?”

Pei Xi repeated: “When did you learn to cook?”

He Chuzhou, who had always been a good cook, was silent for a moment, unsure how to answer: “Should…..should I not be able to?”

Pei Xi shook his head: “No, I’ve always been the one to cook for you.”

Okay, got it.

He Chuzhou’s expression didn’t change: “Did you forget that you spent a month teaching me?”

Pei Xi stared blankly: “Me?”

He Chuzhou: “Yes, you.”

Pei Xi’s eyes widened slightly, and after a moment, he let out a semi-comprehending “oh.”

He really didn’t remember much, but this was very reasonable, and not unacceptable.

Having rationalized it in his mind, he lowered his head and concentrated on eating noodles. And having muddled his way through again, He Chuzhou was considering whether to go to the study and copy a letter of guarantee now.

During this period, he took the time to reply to a few work messages. By the time he noticed that something was wrong, Pei Xi had practically his entire face buried in the bowl.

“Tsk, what are you doing?”

He swiftly reached out to grasp the back of this person’s neck, lifting him up: “How unpalatable must it be that you want to die eating it?”

Pei Xi had eaten most of it, but couldn’t finish the rest. When he was picked up, he put down his chopsticks and lowered his eyes, rubbing his temples: “I don’t want to die.”

That voice was also weaker than before.

He Chuzhou was really afraid that if he let go, he would fall and wash his hair in the bowl, so he used his other hand to move the bowl away: “Then what is your explanation?”

Pei Xi: “Dizzy.”

His voice was very low, almost like a mumble, and He Chuzhou didn’t hear clearly: “What sound?”^[2]

Pei Xi must have felt uncomfortable being grasped by him. He tilted his head to avoid his hand, then reached over and grabbed it, pulling it in front of him to press his forehead against it.

The broad palm was warm and dry, which put Pei Xi greatly at ease. He just held it and pressed the entire weight of his head on it, closing his eyes: “Dizzy. Feels bad.”

This time, He Chuzhou heard him clearly.

But what was more intuitive than the verbal explanation was that the temperature against his hand was significantly higher than a normal body temperature.

“What’s wrong with you?”

His brow furrowed: “When did you get a fever? Why didn’t you tell me until now?”

Pei Xi’s words were sticky: “I thought I was hungry, and I would be fine if I ate something.”

He Chuzhou: “Can not eating give a person a fever from hunger? What is with your roundabout way of thinking?”

“I’m just dizzy, I didn’t know I had a fever.”

Pei Xi turned his face around in his palm and whispered to him: “Chuzhou, I feel really uncomfortable. Please stop being fierce to me.”

He Chuzhou: “……”

This was considered fierce?

Forget it, what could he say?

He could only let out a long sigh and say, “I won’t be fierce to you.” Then he took him back to the room and placed him on the bed.

The bed in the master bedroom.

After all, there was no telling what the “man of the house” would do if he found out he wasn’t sleeping in the master bedroom.

After taking his temperature and confirming that it was a low fever, he found a fever reducer in the medicine box. He went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water and came back to watch this person take the pills.

“What’s wrong with that hospital, do they only care about serious illnesses and ignore the minor ones? You were discharged so easily without any trouble.”

Mentally exhausted, he helped Pei Xi pull up the quilt: “Go to sleep. It’s a low-grade fever, nothing serious. You should be fine when you get up in the morning.”

Half of Pei Xi’s face was sunken into a dark pillow. He was even more pale and bloodless, and exhaustion could be faintly seen on his features, but a pair of eyes continued to stare at him.

He Chuzhou: “What, don’t want to sleep?”

Pei Xi pressed his elbows on the quilt, holding down the corners of it: “The medicine hasn’t taken effect yet, and I still haven’t seen your letter of guarantee.”

He Chuzhou: “……”

He Chuzhou could kowtow in admiration for him: “Okay, I’ll write it now. Just wait.”

He clapped his hands and was about to stand up, but Pei Xi grabbed him by the corner of his clothes: “Where are you going?”

He Chuzhou: “To the study, ah.”

Pei Xi: “You’re going to the study to write it?”

He Chuzhou raised an eyebrow: “Where else?”

“Can you not go to the study?”

Pei Xi moved his fingertips inward, drawing more fabric into his hands: “Just write it here, I don’t want to be alone.”

How could he copy it if he wrote it here? 

He Chuzhou made an excuse: “The pens and paper are in the study. There aren’t any here.”

“You can take them from the study.”

Pei Xi looked at him with misty eyes. His voice was slightly hoarse: “Chuzhou, I’m sick. I don’t want to be alone. Please stay with me for a while.”

“……”

He Chuzhou closed his eyes and slapped a palm to his forehead: “I’ll get the things and be back in half a minute.”

A minute later, He Chuzhou was sitting on the sofa, thinking hard about the contents of the letter of guarantee.

Guarantee that there would be no divorce.

Guarantee that he would not forget to pick him up in the future.

Guarantee not to call him President Pei again.

Guarantee……

What else needed to be guaranteed?

A guarantee that he would never bring anyone home again to bring trouble upon himself?

He really didn’t expect that after so many years, there would be a time when he would consume brain cells just to reach the word count for a composition.

“Is it very difficult to write?”

The voice came from the bed. Pei Xi lay on his side in bed, watching him. One of his hands came out of the blanket and was pressed under his cheek in a cute posture: “It’s okay if you write less.”

He Chuzhou felt as if he had received amnesty.

Pei Xi: “It doesn’t have to be 500. 480 is enough.”

He Chuzhou: “……”

Thank you very much.

He rambled on and rounded the word count up to 482, rubbing his brow tiredly as he prepared to hand in the paper. He saw that the examiner had sat up at some point and was leaning on the bedside, playing with a bracelet.

The bright white ice seed jadeite had a clear and delicate color under the light. Only after being put on, compared to the cold, thin, white wrist, it also became second-rate.

Not long ago, the two of them were competing for this bracelet at the auction house, money flying everywhere.

The memory-addled Pei Xi liked this bracelet very much. He wanted to say something to He Chuzhou, but when he looked up, he found that the other person’s expression was indescribably strange.

“Chuzhou, what’s wrong?”

After speaking, he thought of something and held his wrist with some anxiety: “Is it because I can’t wear this?

“No.” He Chuzhou waved his hand and stood up to walk over. “It’s not something you can’t wear. If you like it, just wear it for fun first.”

In any case, his mother had bought a lot of new jewelry recently, so there was no rush to give her this. He could just send it in a couple of days.

Pei Xi caught the key word and wondered: “First?”

“No, you heard wrong.”

He Chuzhou calmly deceived him and handed him the letter of guarantee: “Here is the guarantee. Can you go to sleep now?”

Pei Xi took it and read it carefully: “En, it’s good overall, but the details are lacking. Chuzhou, it’s been so many years. How are your essay writing skills still so poor?”

This, He Chuzhou really couldn’t refute.

His poor composition was not a matter of a day or two. Ever since he was a child, his teachers commented that his connotations and meaning were forced.

“I’ve already performed above average. Teacher Pei, don’t be too picky.”

He took the letter of guarantee from Pei Xi’s hand and set it aside: “Okay, it’s very late. Go to sleep quickly.”

Pei Xi lay down and pulled up the quilt.

But two seconds later, under He Chuzhou’s puzzled gaze, he rose again with his upper body propped up and carefully put the guarantee in the cabinet drawer.

He Chuzhou was speechless: “Would you like to find a picture frame so you can hang it on the wall?”

Pei Xi blinked: “Can I?”

“No.” He Chuzhou heartlessly refused, covering his eyes: “Hurry and go to sleep.”

After a night of hard work and great effort, he was already very tired and sleepy, and just wanted him to go to sleep quickly so that he could rest.

In the middle of the night, He Xingxing would probably bite the tail of the cow cat several times in his dreams.

Pei Xi took his hand and said seriously: “Chuzhou, my fever seems to have gone away.”

“It’s gone? So soon?”

He Chengzhu was dubious and tried to touch his forehead, but his hand continued to be grabbed: “Let go and let me see if it’s really gone.”

But Pei Xi said: “You can’t touch with your hands. Lower your head.”

He Chuzhou didn’t doubt him. He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned down to touch his forehead to his, feeling heat from the other person’s skin: “How can you say it’s gone—”

A pair of arms wrapped around the back of his neck, interrupting his next words.

Pei Xi didn’t let him retreat. Their foreheads were pressed together, and the tips of their noses were almost touching. They were so close that he could clearly see his own reflection in the other’s eyes.

“I have a cold, you can’t kiss me.”

Pei Xi whispered: “But you can sleep behind me, so I won’t breathe on you and won’t infect you.”

Inexplicably, he went from sitting to lying down with someone in his arms.

The slight numbness at the base of his ears passed. He Chuzhou didn’t know where Pei Xi had learned this trick.

The sensation of the breath that had gusted against his lips moments ago lingered for a long time, and the warmth that filled his arms at this moment continued to spread.

He couldn’t quite adapt.

He could only be happy for Pei Xi that the person he was “married” to was not someone else.

Moving the arm that was being pressed down, he thought with complicated emotions.

If he were to be replaced by someone with bad intentions, there was no telling if there would be any bones left by morning.

This person usually had ten thousand eyes on the back of his head, but didn’t inherit any of them due to his amnesia.

……After being held in his arms for a night, would Pei Xi really not want to commit suicide when he woke up?

The anti-fever medication finally began to take effect and Pei Xi calmed, his breaths gradually becoming light and long.

He Chuzhou was also tired.

Pei Xi had a small frame, a good sleeping appearance, and a fluffy head. Holding him in his arms could also help him sleep. A wave of drowsiness flooded over him.

But he didn’t dare sleep. He feared that if he slept, Pei Xi would wake up and be so furious that he performed hara-kiri.

After making sure Pei Xi was asleep, he climbed up and rolled onto the sofa by the window, putting a blanket over his head.

The night had been full of turmoil and the chaos of war. He could finally sleep, and would be completely liberated when he sent this person away in the morning.

From the darkness of night to the dawn of daylight. He Chuzhou heard the everyday sound of the dog scratching at the door.

Lifting his eyelids, he vaguely saw in his sleepy state a figure sitting up in bed. The figure quickly changed clothes, opened the door, and left the room without stopping.

The dog took the opportunity to rush in and jumped on the sofa, starting to rub against He Chuzhou’s face and neck.

He Chuzhou pushed the dog’s head away in a daze, wondering, did he intend to go back by himself?

That was good. It saved him a trip. 

It was still early, so he planned to close his eyes for a while.

Just a couple seconds after closing his eyes, he opened them again. He looked at the empty bed, then at the door.

No way, Pei Xi was……okay?

---

[1] This is the full saying: “Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda.” (救人一命，胜造七级浮屠) ⮐

[2] He Chuzhou didn’t hear clearly and confused the ‘yun’ (晕) in dizzy with ‘yin’ for sound (音). ⮐

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Chapter 6 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 8

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Pei Xi’s eyes flickered slightly: “You rarely call me that.”

Apparently that wasn’t it. His entire being was screaming that it wasn’t right.

He Chuzhou continued to think. When Pei Xi called him ‘Chuzhou’ on the phone, he directly used his surname and first name, so the corresponding answer should be: “Xixi?”

Pei Xi was still in a low mood: “You’ve only called me that once.”

He Chuzhou: “……”

In the next few short seconds, countless addresses he had heard between couples flashed through He Chuzhou’s mind.

Honey, baby, cutie, beloved, stinky pig, dummy, darling……

Just as he was about to select a few reliable ones, his examiner caught him off guard by handing him the answer: “You don’t like to call me Xinxin^[1] anymore?”

He Chuzhou’s “Baby” dissipated in his mouth.

“Xinxin?” He asked with some puzzlement.

The slightly intimate word felt very strange in his mouth, and was also very contradictory to Pei Xi. 

Wasn’t this a bit excessive?

Pei Xi thought he was being called, and hummed softly.

He Chuzhou had missed twice in a row, and made up for himself: “I don’t dislike it, I just think that what you want is more important. It doesn’t matter to me. En…..it’s all up to you.”

“I like it when you call me Xinxin.”

Pei Xi’s voice was soft and low, his expression unclear when he lowered his eyes: “It’s a nickname that only my family knows. If you don’t call me that, nobody will call me that.”

A…..a nickname?

He Chuzhou was overwhelmingly flattered, and muttered to himself: “Should I actually know this? No, do I deserve to call him this?”

Pei Xi didn’t hear clearly, and raised his head: “What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

He Chuzhou smiled as if nothing had happened and went along with his words: “Xinxin is pretty good. I like it too. Then let’s just…..get out of the car and go inside now?”

Pei Xi finally nodded, only when he had just turned sideways and stepped out with one foot, he immediately retracted it.

He Chuzhou sucked in a breath: “What’s wrong now?”

He even subconsciously looked down at the ground. His feet weren’t burned, were they?

Pei Xi: “I’m so tired.”

He Chuzhou: “Tired?”

Pei Xi, weakly: “I feel like I don’t have the strength to walk anymore.”

He Chuzhou: “……”

Fine, fine.

You are an ancestor. If you don’t want to walk, then you don’t want to walk. It’s not a big problem.

He Chuzhou bent down and picked him up.

Pei Xi hugged his neck extremely cooperatively. Tilting his head, he rested it comfortably on his shoulder with a clear conscience.

Closing the car door with his elbow, He Chuzhou locked it and walked out of the garage. Very quickly, he noticed that something was wrong with the feel of the weight in his arms.

“Why are a grown man’s waist and legs so thin?”

He hefted him and said disapprovingly: “You’re so light, and boney to the touch. Don’t you eat at home?”

Pei Xi replied: “Don’t we eat every meal together?”

He Chuzhou: ……Okay, just pretend he didn’t say anything.

Once he entered the door and put the person down, he crouched and took out a pair of brand new slippers from the bottom of the shoe cabinet, placing them in front of Pei Xi: “Wear these.”

Pei Xi regarded them carefully for a moment and came to a conclusion: “Chuzhou, the size is too large. These should be your slippers, where are mine?”

Naturally, yours are in your shoe cabinet.

Of course, he could only think this. He Chuzhou randomly found an excuse to deceive him: “I washed them during the day and they’re not dry. Put mine on first.”

Fortunately, Pei Xi was not suspicious and bent down to put on the new slippers.

When he looked up again after changing them, He Chuzhou had vanished from the huge living room and there was only a black and white border collie sitting next to him, staring curiously.

Pei Xi frowned slightly, a hint of caution in his eyes: “Who are you?”

He Chuzhou grabbed a clean set of pajamas and came out of the room. Pei Xi was still standing there without moving a step, staring intently at He Xingxing.

What was he doing?

Pei Xi quickly noticed him and looked over: “Chuzhou, did you forget to close a window when you went out?”

He pointed at He Xingxing: “A puppy came to visit.”

Pei Xi’s expression was very calm, but he was a little childish when he spoke of the puppy. The combination of the two created an inexplicable cuteness.

The “visiting” He Xingxing couldn’t really understand, but it didn’t matter. He just wagged his tail when faced with the guest brought back by his father.

He Chuzhou looked at He Xingxing, whose tail was wagging wildly, and then at Pei Xi, who seemed to be facing a formidable enemy, and suddenly wanted to laugh.

It was unclear who the visitor was. And the guilty one blamed the other party preemtively, bullying a puppy that couldn’t speak.

“My great-uncle’s family moved.”

He walked over while bullshiting: “They can’t keep a dog at the new house, so they sent him here.”

Pei Xi took the pajamas from him and asked: “So we have to keep it until death by old age?”

He Chuzhou withdrew his hand and said: “Whose death from old age?”

Pei Xi pointed at He Xingxing again.

He Chuzhou: “……”

He Chuzhou: “If nothing unexpected happens, then this is the case.”

Pei Xi: “Can’t you send it back to your great-uncle?”

“I can’t.”

He Chuzhou noticed that his furrowed brow had not relaxed, and asked casually: “What, you don’t like dogs?”

Pei Xi shook his head: “That’s not it.”

He Chuzhou: “Then why do you want to send him away?”

“Because I don’t like raising dogs.”

Pei Xi said: “Dogs need to go out every day. I heard that dog owners have to get up early to walk them during the coldest part of winter.”

He raised his head and shifted his gaze from He Xingxing to He Chuzhou’s face, looking unhappy: “I don’t want to get up early.”

For a moment, He Chuzhou thought there might be something wrong with his ears.

Had he actually heard Pei Xi say that he didn’t want to get up early?

A person who valued work more than anything else and wished he could devote all of his energy to his career, a model worker who was as involved in life as a robot, said he didn’t want to get up early?

This made He Chuzhou a little more interested: “So why did you get up early before?”

Pei Xi was puzzled: “Before? But I haven’t gotten up early in a long time.”

He Chuzhou choked, and could only change the question: “I mean, how did you get up earlier when you were in school?”

Pei Xi considered for a moment: “I set a lot of alarm clocks and set them far away from the bed.”

He Chuzhou: “Why did you set them far away from the bed?”

Pei Xi didn’t hide anything: “Because if they were too close, I might turn them off and fall asleep.”

Unexpectedly, President Pei, who was serious and meticulous in front of others, engaged in a battle of wits and valor while lying in bed.

He Chuzhou imagined this scene in his mind. The corners of his mouth rose and he was about to say something, when he heard Pei Xi say: “But no matter how many alarm clocks there are, they aren’t as useful as you.”

He Chuzhou: “?”

He Chuzhou: “What does this have to do with me?”

Pei Xi: “You call me sometimes. No matter how early it is, as long as I hear your voice, I won’t feel sleepy.”

He Chuzhou was speechless.

He hadn’t expected that the timeline of Pei Xi’s memory would be so long. It should be known that they didn’t even know each other existed before university.

Seeing that he hadn’t responded, Pei Xi wrinkled his nose inconspicuously and said in a disappointed voice: “You don’t remember?”

Damned if I can remember.

“You stayed in the hospital all night. You must not be feeling well.”

He Chuzhou coughed and avoided the topic: “Go shower first. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of the dog and won’t make you get up early.”

Fortunately, Pei Xi did not dwell overly much on this issue since he had received a satisfactory answer, and obediently walked to the bathroom with the pajamas and slippers in his arms.

He Chuzhou breathed a sigh of relief. Pressing his temples, he glanced to the side at He Xingxing and gave him an extra treat. Pei Xi, who had already reached the bathroom door, turned around: “Chuzhou?”

“En?” He Chuzhou subconsciously raised his head.

“Remember to write a letter of guarantee.”

Holding his pajamas, Pei Xi stood at the door and said word by word: “The word count doesn’t need to be too high, just around 500. You can read it to me when I come out of the shower.”

“……”

The hand He Chuzhou was about to pet the dog with froze mid-air, neither moving nor retracting.

He Xingxing waited a long moment with the food in his mouth and couldn’t wait for this person touch his head. He had no choice but to swallow this treat, then took the initiative to jump high and nuzzle him.

It couldn’t be helped. His father was the only one who would spoil him.

*

*

Yun Ji: [The address of Pei Xi’s parents’ house?]

Yun Ji: [You want it now?]

Yun Ji: [To do what? Propose marriage?]

He Chuzhou: [Are you sick?]

He Chuzhou: [Don’t worry about it, just give it to me]

Yun Ji: [No, I don’t have it, ah. How would I know where his parents live?]

He Chuzhou: [What about their contact info?]

Yun Ji: [Not that either, ah. Do you think I’m some bigshot? But I do have his assistant’s info. Do you want it?]

He Chuzhou: [His assistant is still lying in the hospital. How could I contact him?]

He Chuzhou: [See if you can find someone who knows his parents’ contact info and address]

Yun Ji: [It’s possible, but it will take some time. It probably won’t happen for a while]

He Chuzhou: [Is 10 minutes enough?]

Yun Ji: [ ? ]

He Chuzhou: [I’ll give you 5 more minutes at the most]

Yun Ji: [Are you listening to what you’re saying?]

Yun Ji: [Cousin, I’m just your assistant, not your cow or horse, or your wishing well]

Yun Ji: [Why are you in such a hurry?]

It was difficult for He Chuzhou to explain.

He couldn’t just say that if he didn’t send this person away, he would have to write a 500-word letter of guarantee. He hadn’t written that sort of thing since he graduated from junior high school.

He Chuzhou: [There is a project to discuss]

Yun Ji: [Wow! How big is the project that it requires you to go in person?]

Yun Ji: [Besides, Old Mr. Pei has long stopped working on these things. If you have a project, it’s useless to go to him. You need to go to Pei Xi]

Yun Ji: [But Pei Xi also might not respond to you]

He Chuzhou: [Just do it]

Yun Ji: [You’re too much]

Yun Ji: [Just do it. Fine, fine, I’ll go and ask for you. Just wait]

Yun Ji: [By the way, remember to calculate overtime pay for me]

Yun Ji moved very quickly, at least faster than what he had said.

It took less than 10 minutes for the contact information to be sent over. It came with an address, down to the house number.

He Chuzhou: [ ? ]

He Chuzhou: [Didn’t you say it would take a while?]

Yun Ji: [ I suddenly remembered that I played ball with a distant cousin of Pei Xi. I just scrolled around and found that the WeChat account was still there]

He Chuzhou: [Excellent. Thanks]

He tossed a big red envelope to Yun Ji. Scrolling up to the contact information, he clicked on the phone and was about to make a call when there was the sound of a door opening and footsteps behind him. Pei Xi had come out after showering.

He Chuzhou was 188cm tall. Pei Xi was half a head shorter than him, and his body was more than a little smaller. The pajamas he wore were baggy, the collar was loose, and the fabric on the shoulders fell down his arms.

The cuffs covered the backs of his hands and the trouser legs covered his feet. That pale, clean body was wrapped in soft fabric as if he had stolen an adult’s clothes.

The redness of his skin caused by the heat had not faded, and there seemed to be a layer of moisture in his eyes, inexplicably reminding He Chuzou of when he had first gotten He Xingxing.

Weak and small, with pure, limpid eyes. Looking at He Chuzhou with trust and dependence, and so well-behaved that it made a person want to get their hands on him and pet him.

Except there was no tail to wag.

When he saw Pei Xi like this, He Chuzhou’s fingertips froze less than a centimeter away from the dial key and couldn’t continue.

And Pei Xi, completely unaware that he might be sent away soon, looked at him in confusion: “Chuzhou, what are you doing standing on the balcony?”

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[1] Xinxin (心心) is a cutesy name that approximately mean’s “my heart.” ⮐

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Chapter 5 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 7