The fireworks dissipated, but the stars remained.

Bo Yueming looked at the person in front of him in disbelief, feeling that this person was more dazzling than everything he had seen just now.

He had imagined that Pei Yi would accept this relationship little by little under his warm water offensive, and at the same time, planned for the worst in case Pei Yi chose to leave.

But Bo Yueming didn’t expect—

Pei Yi had secretly prepared everything for him on his birthday, and then rushed to confess his affection before he could speak.

— Bo Yueming, I like you.

— Do you want to be my boyfriend?

Those warm, sincere words without a single trace of impurity pressed heavily on Bo Yueming’s heart.

For the first time, he understood that the two words “Happy Birthday” were not superficial in meaning, but one of the most indescribably wonderful existences in this world.

Pei Yi saw that Bo Yueming hadn’t answered for a long time, and the courage he had gathered receded a bit. “Er-ge?”

Because of the injuries and blows he had experienced since he was a child, no matter how successful Pei Yi was in his career, he was a blank sheet of paper emotionally.

Ever since he became clear about his feelings for Bo Yueming, Pei Yi thought that he must pierce that impenetrable window paper, and his birthday was the best option.

It was the first time Pei Yi had confessed to someone, and he had no experience at all. He took the other’s acceptance for granted, but why wasn’t Bo Yueming responding at all?

The knot of Pei Yi’s throat rolled a bit with uncertain tension. “Bo Yueming, don’t you want to?”

“I want to!”

Bo Yueming took a quick breath and repeated, “No matter whether it is boyfriend or lover, in the future, I’m willing to be called anything.”

It was rare for Pei Yi to hear such a sincere, urgent answer from the person in front of him. The tension retreated, and his smile persisted. “Er-ge, then this birthday gift will be regarded as your signature of acceptance? Are you satisfied?”

“I’m satisfied.”

Bo Yueming kissed him lightly on the forehead. “I’ll sign for receipt. Thank you, kitten.”

Although it wasn’t the first time he had heard this address from the other party’s mouth, Pei Yi’s heart still trembled and his whole body bubbled. Taking advantage of this uncontrollable happiness—

From careful exploration to bold advancement.

Pei Yi raised his head and kissed Bo Yueming’s thin lips gently, and murmured with red ears, “This is the only way to sign for receipt.”

“…….”

Bo Yueming’s breath fluttered for a moment, as if he had broken through some kind of imprisonment. “This is going to kill me.”

“Huh?”

Pei Yi heard this mumbled whisper through gritted teeth, but before he could understand, there was nothing under his feet—

Bo Yueming picked him up and walked quickly toward the “temporary parking lot” outside the woods.

“Wait, wait a minute!”

Pei Yi subconsciously tightened his arms around Bo Yueming, leaning on him like a koala as he moved. “Er-ge, are we not looking at the stars anymore?”

Bo Yueming replied, “It’s too late and too cold. We can still see them in the vehicle by opening the skylight.”

Within a minute, the two returned to the off-road vehicle.

Bo Yueming carried Pei Yi and walked straight to the rear door. He was unable to move his hands, so he said, “Open the door.”

There was a bit of urgency in his tone.

Pei Yi didn’t sense this for the moment, and complied obediently.

The door opened.

Bo Yueming didn’t know where such cunning tricks came from, but he sat in the back row properly, and then turned sideways flexibly to steadily bring Pei Yi into his arms.

Both of his knees touched the seat, and Pei Yi realized that he was straddling Bo Yueming’s lap.

This “excessive” posture had him at a loss for a moment, and he struggled to move to the side.

—Slam!

Bo Yueming had freed his hand to close the door abruptly, and then touched the neck of the man in his arms. “Don’t move around.”

Pei Yi stopped struggling, and shrank his neck sensitively. “Why do you always like to touch the back of my necK? It tickles.”

Bo Yueming answered honestly, “Because there’s a small mole.”

It was very cute and likable.

This was the first time Pei Yi had found out about such a thing, and he didn’t want to be outdone. “Then I also want to touch you.”

The topic was very standard, but there was a hint of ambiguous sentiment.

Bo Yueming indulged his curiosity. “Oh? Where?”

Pei Yi glanced down, and his fingers landed on that attractive Adam’s apple. He made circles, as if performing some experiment. “One second, two seconds, three seconds…..”

“Er-ge.”

Pei Yi gave the verdict with a chuckle, “In just three seconds, your Adam’s apple became very red. Is it ticklish?”

“…….”

Bo Yueming held together those mischievous fingers, and his back stiffened as he said breathlessly, “Pei Yi.”

This was not the first time. From the accidental touch when adjusting his suit and tie at the beginning, to being curious and playful when he was “asleep” — every time those fingertips brushed his Adam’s apple, his self-control would loosen and collapse. 

“What’s wrong?”

Pei Yi asked this casually, then raised his eyes to meet the other’s dark gaze and came to a realization. “I…..”

“The signature of acceptance just now doesn’t count.”

Bo Yueming interrupted him, rubbing the back of his neck with a little force. “I’m the star of my birthday tonight, so I must accept it personally.”

A kiss fell once again.

Dominating his breath, attacking the lips and teeth directly, stirring up feelings that were about to overflow from the heart. 

From Pei Yi’s initial shock and astonishment, to accepting and responding, to sobbing and begging for mercy, the entire back seat was occupied by the passion of their kisses.

After a long time, the windows on both sides were opened a small slit, and the surging air carried a slight chill that dissipated the unbridled heat in the car.

Although they were atop a mountain on a late winter night, both of them felt unbearably hot both physically and mentally.

Pei Yi removed the scarf from around his neck with Bo Yueming’s help, but no matter how hard he gasped, he still felt dizzy. “Er-ge.”

Bo Yueming’s breathing was still uneven. “En?”

Under the dim dome lights, Pei Yi’s skin was unbelievably fair, stained with redness as if brushed by the red pistil of a flower. A little pinch, rub, and touch, would coat it with a heart-warming sweetness.

 Bo Yueming couldn’t hold back, and kissed the red tip of his nose again. “What is it?”

Pei Yi’s mind was a mess, and he muttered incoherently, “I, I don’t have altitude sickness, do I?”

“…….”

Bo Yueming was startled, then laughed silently and fell on his kitten’s shoulder.

Pei Yi felt the shaking of his laughter, and slowly realized that he was talking nonsense.

With the height of Yanshan Mountain, how could he have altitude sickness?

He was not proficient in breathing while kissing, and was dizzy due to lack of oxygen.

“Don’t laugh at me.” Pei Yi’s face was still burning, but he didn’t feel embarrassed.

“I only kissed that deeply for the second time tonight, so it’s normal that I don’t have any experience. I’ll get better with more practice in the future.”

Kissing was like practicing your gaming skills, you’d get it after trying more.

Bo Yueming grasped the key words. “Second time?”

“En.”

Pei Yi nodded and told him, “The time you ‘pretended to be drugged’ counts as the first time, and the time I kissed you just now doesn’t count, so wouldn’t this be the second time?”

Listening to Pei Yi’s calculations, Bo Yueming rubbed his lover’s soft lips with his fingertips, feeling an indescribable sense of joy—

The wet, crimson luster of those lips was his masterpiece.

“Kitten, it’s not the second time,” Bo Yueming corrected, recalling something. “It’s the third.”

Pei Yi was puzzled. “What?”

Bo Yueming coughed, confessing to the man in his arms, “I also kissed you the night you were drunk in Wencheng.”

“…….”

Pei Yi blinked in bewilderment, realizing belatedly, “So it wasn’t a dream?”

Bo Yueming asked, “You remember?”

Pei Yi nodded, then shook his head. “I didn’t remember at first, but when I went to sleep later, there were vague images. I couldn’t recall it clearly, and thought it was a dream.”

He briefly explained before returning to the topic, “Tsk tsk, ah, you pretend to be so decent, but you actually kissed me secretly?”

For a moment, Bo Yueming felt he was in the wrong, but then he remembered the status of their relationship and teased him instead, “Who told you to drink behind my back? Besides…..”

Pei Yi took the bait. “Besides what?”

Bo Yueming said precisely and accurately, “Once in the villa in Wencheng, and once on the rooftop last week. You also wanted to kiss me secretly many times.”

Pei Yi raised his hand to cover his mouth. “Okay, okay, let’s leave it here.”

Let’s not mention the past where he wanted to steal a kiss but failed. It was too embarrassing.

Bo Yueming held his cool palms again. “Why are they so chilly? Are you cold?”

Pei Yi shook his head, but said, “Help me warm up.”

“Okay.”

It was still a little difficult for the two of them to embrace each other face to face in the car. Pei Yi moved away from Bo Yueming’s body to sit side by side with him.

The curtain of the overhead window was opened, and the twinkling stars in the sky could be seen through the glass.

Pei Yi tilted his head to lay it on Bo Yueming’s shoulder. “Er-ge, to be in love, you have to be honest with each other, right?”

Bo Yueming held his hands tightly, and understood but didn’t press him. “Don’t worry, just wait until you want to say it.”

Pei Yi tilted his head to meet the other’s gaze, organizing his words. “I have a secret, but I haven’t figured out how to say it yet.”

Everything he had been through was so complicated.

Whether it was the matter of transmigrating, or his own past, it could not be explained clearly in a few words.

Besides, Bo Yueming had lived in this world for twenty-six or seven years, so how could he use “fictional character” to summarize it in a way the other party could understand and accept?

Bo Yueming asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Pei Yi shook his head, but added earnestly, “Bo Yueming, give me a little more time. Sooner or later, I’ll tell you everything.”

Bo Yueming answered with great gentleness and patience, “All right, I’ll wait for you.”

Although there was no way to reveal everything, Pei Yi still took the initiative to reveal some of his inner thoughts. “Er-ge, didn’t you wonder why I had that attitude toward relationships before?”

He sighed, and answered his own question, “It’s because I witness the process of a pair of lovers who had been together for many years separating painfully, and since then I’ve felt—”

“No matter how beautiful it may be in the beginning, and how long two people are together, they can’t escape the word ‘change’ in the end.”

If his relationship was destined to end bleakly, then it was better not to start.

Bo Yueming had guessed Pei Yi’s view on feelings, and asked, “Then why did you change now?”

Pei Yi took out the hand that was being warmed by Bo Yueming and interlocked their fingers. “Because the person is you.”

“Last time, Sister Yang told me that if I don’t choose to start, there will never be an end.”

Pei Yi recalled the discussion with Lou Yang that day about feelings, and roughly expressed it to Bo Yueming.

“To be honest, even now, I’m not sure how long we can stay together, but what I’m sure of is—”

“I want to be with you, and I want to try to walk hand in hand.”

Bo Yueming’s emotions were overwhelmed by this truthful statement.

He straightened up and looked at Pei Yi, not knowing which of his thousands of words to start with.

“Er-ge?”

“Pei Yi, I know it sounds empty and unrealistic to promise that we’ll be together ‘forever.’”

Bo Yueming leaned over and rubbed the tip of his nose affectionately. “Then let’s live it day by day, month by month, and year by year, shall we?”

Only by grasping every day of being in love could they truly look forward to the rest of their lives.

Pei Yi smiled softly. “Okay.”

He didn’t know when it started, but every word of Bo Yueming’s gave him a strong sense of security, the thing he needed the most.

The two exchanged another gentle kiss.

Bo Yueming asked, “Are you tired? This seat can be turned backwards and put together to make a temporary bed. We should be able to sleep if we squeeze together.”

Rather than going back to a public place like the campsite, it was better to have the privacy of their vehicle.

Pei Yi didn’t nitpick “En.”

It was so late now, and it wasn’t safe for Bo Yueming to drive down the mountain.

Bo Yueming spoke again, “Then I’ll get the laundry in the trunk? Let’s tidy up briefly.”

Pei Yi nodded, then suddenly remembered an important matter and grabbed his wrist. “There’s one more thing you have to remember for me. Don’t forget.”

“Before we drive down the mountain tomorrow morning, I have to go and take the used firework tubes.” Pei Yi said solemnly, “It’s everyone’s responsibility to protect the environment.”

Bo Yueming’s usually indifferent expression was completely taken over by a smile.

His hand that had been resting on the car door withdrew, and he kissed those sweet lips again.

Pei Yi’s reasoning was defeated again, and he was lying on the car seat in a daze when he received a serious reply.

“Okay, I’ll remember for you. It’s cold outside, don’t come out yet.”

The door opened and closed.

The cold wind that came in brought Pei Yi some clarity, and he subconsciously pursed his lips. The residual heat and numbness from the intense kiss was still there, and there was also a bit of melancholy—

If this was both their first times dating, then why were Bo Yueming’s kissing skills so good? Sure enough, in order to be an excellent protagonist, even if you were a ‘villain,’ didn’t you have to fill up all skill points?

The trunk door opened.

Pei Yi turned around and looked at Bo Yueming, who was searching for supplies in an orderly manner. The sensation of the kiss surged up again, and he was even a little dissatisfied.

If only they could kiss again.

“…….”

Pei Yi realized what he was thinking and was so embarrassed that he pressed his head against the back of the chair—

God.

It turned out that kissing was addictive, more addictive than drinking!

. . . . . . .

The two left a gap for ventilation, and turned on the heat in the vehicle. Although they were on top of a mountain in the cold winter, they slept all night without feeling cold.

Through the drowsiness and haze, Pei Yi heard the sound of someone turning over at his side.

He raised his eyelids with difficulty. “Er-ge?”

Bo Yueming met his sleepy gaze and said guiltily, “Did I wake you up?”

“No.”

It was difficult for Pei Yi to fall asleep in a strange place. No matter how comfortable the interior of the vehicle was, it was still different from the bed he usually slept in.

Thanks to Bo Yueming being by his side last night, he managed to sleep peacefully for a while.

The light in the car was faint.

Pei Yi looked outside, where it was still pitch black, and asked in a daze, “What time is it?”

Bo Yueming only replied, “It will be sunrise soon.”

Pei Yi regained his spirits. “Sunrise?”

Bo Yueming saw the gleam in his eyes, and asked, “Do you want to see it?”

“Yes.”

Pei Yi’s voice was nasally and soft, but he responded clearly.

Ever since he started in the game architect industry, it was normal to stay up late writing manuscripts. Coupled with the fact that he loved to stay in bed, over the 365 days in a year, it may not be possible for him to get up one day to watch the sunrise.

It was rare to encounter this opportunity, and the person beside him was Bo Yueming, so it couldn’t be wasted.

. . . . . .

When the cold wind blew, the last of Pei Yi’s drowsiness was blown away.

The two washed and tidied up casually.

Bo Yueming the thermos and scarf from the vehicle. He unscrewed the lid of the thermos and handed it to Pei Yi. “Drink some warm water to warm your stomach. Don’t catch a cold from the wind.”

Having said this, he didn’t forget to wrap Pei Yi in the scarf.

Pei Yi particularly enjoyed the special care of his lover, and took two sips of warm water. He looked at the sky that was just brightening, and couldn’t wait.

“Okay, okay, let’s go.”

“There’s still time.”

Holding his hand firmly, Bo Yueming still quickened his pace in cooperation with his family’s kitten.

The two returned to the viewing platform, and were pleasantly surprised to find that there were large clouds and mist in the distance. Although it wasn’t a spectacular sea of clouds, compared to the previous night’s far-off star light, it had a different artistic conception.

“Er-ge, let ‘s go over there to watch.”

Pei Yi pulled Bo Yueming up to the rock pile.

The two of them found a relatively safe spot, and quietly waited for the sunrise to come—

The sun rose at last on the distant horizon. Golden light pierced through all obstacles and evenly scattered over the vast clouds and mist.

Not long after, the mist dissipated, and the human world beyond returned to their field of vision.

“So beautiful.”

Pei Yi gave a heartfelt exclamation. “This is my first time watching a sunrise on a mountain.”

Bo Yueming responded, “Me too.”

Pei Yi looked over, his heart filled with a sense of happiness that he had never felt before. “It seems we’ve unlocked another thing we have in common?”

Bo Yueming didn’t let go of his hand. “We’ll unlock more in the future.”

Together, they would forget all the unpleasantness of the past, heal each other, and create new memories.

When the sun completely passed through the clouds, banishing the cold air from their bodies, Bo Yueming mentioned the time. “It’s pretty much over. Do you want to go down the mountain?”

“En.”

Bo Yueming pulled him up, and remembered what he had been instructed to do last night. “Wait a minute, I’ll grab the fireworks.”

Pei Yi had almost forgotten. He chuckled. “Okay.”

Bo Yueming picked up the firework tubes. He could obviously wait for Pei Yi to go back, but he still chose to detour back to his family’s kitten.

Pei Yi watched Bo Yueming’s figure as he got closer and closer, and in a daze, recalled the hoarse and heart-wrenching confession of Father Rong.

Only this time, he didn’t have the confusion, anxiety, and fear of the past—

Perhaps one day in the future, he would lose everything in love.

But so what?

At least at this moment, he had won Bo Yueming.

Pei Yi’s heart moved, and he took the initiative to meet Bo Yueming and interlace their fingers. “Er-ge.”

“En?”

“Being with you,” Pei Yi approached and raised his head, kissing his Adam’s apple, “makes me very happy.”

The numbness transmitted from his Adam’s apple to his heart, completely capturing it.

Once again, Bo Yueming was caught off guard by his lover’s sudden straight ball. He smiled and kissed his hair, giving the same response, “I’m also very happy to be with you.”

“Let’s go down the mountain for breakfast, I’m really hungry.”

“All right.”

Fortunately, it was still Sunday, and the two of them didn’t have to rush back to work. After a leisurely breakfast, they played around in the charming town at the foot of the mountain.

Pei Yi took a fancy to several handmade straw-woven animals, and insisted on buying them as gifts for Inspector.

After lunch, Bo Yueming started the vehicle and drove toward the Imperial Capital.

He saw Pei Yi playing with the little straw butterfly he had bought, and noticed some clues. “Inspector won’t like these, you might as well prepare some more snacks for it.”

“Isn’t this cute? It’s the same as a cat teaser.”

Pei Yi couldn’t put it down. He continued to play with it, using his pet as an excuse. “You don’t understand, Inspector will definitely like it. Kittens love to play with these.”

Bo Yueming’s laughter overflowed. “Yes, ah, kittens love to play with these things.”

“…….”

Pei Yi could hear the teasing under his smile, and used someone else as an excuse, “Qiao Dong told me back in Wencheng that he used to play with these things when he was a child. They were all made for him by his older brother, who could make anything.”

Hearing this back then, Pei Yi was very envious, but what he didn’t say was—

When he was a child in the orphanage, he didn’t like to play with the other children. Instead, he liked to remain by the side gate in a daze.

One day, Pei Yi saw a craftsman passing by the courtyard fence, peddling his wares. The other party looked at him helplessly, and gave him a poorly-woven straw grasshopper.

It was Pei Yi’s first toy as a child. He never showed it off, but cherished it very much, fearing that someone else would snatch it. However, he was still unable to hide it—

Later, an older fat kid wanted to “borrow” it to play, but he knew that “borrow” was just a high-sounding excuse. 

Pei Yi stubbornly refused to hand it over, but the fat kid used his height and physical strength to snatch his straw grasshopper and trample it to pieces. 

It was because of this that Pei Yi got in a fight for the first time in his life.

Afterwards, both he and the fat boy were bruised and swollen, and were also scolded by the dean. In the end, he could only hold the crushed straw grasshopper and cry secretly under the covers.

“Pei Yi?”

“Ah?”

Bo Yueming sensed the absentmindedness of the person beside him. “Are you feeling motion sick?”

“No.”

Pei Yi stuck the straw butterfly on the side of the car stereo and watched its wings shake.

Bo Yueming continued the topic from just now, “Qiao Dong had an older brother to make those for him, so can’t you ask Mr. Qin to do this for you when you get back?”

Pei Yi imagined Qin Yishun’s solemn appearance as he held long grass leaves to weave, and burst out laughing. “My brother used to hold knives, guns, and bombs in his hands, so he probably didn’t learn how to do this.”

Bo Yueming answered logically, “Then I’ll learn how to do it for you.”

Pei Yi only took it as a joke. “Okay, ah.”

But having said that, Pei Yi really did have one thing to worry about. 

“Er-ge, New Year’s Day and the Spring Festival aren’t far away. If you’re free, accompany me to have a meal with my family, okay?”

Apart from wanting to officially introduce Bo Yueming to his close relatives as a “lover,” Pei Yi also wanted to find a suitable reason to explain his situation—

There was no way to be completely honest about his transmigration and the original owner, but he could at least let them know that “Pei Yi” was fine now, and there was no need to worry about him being bullied or hurt.

Bo Yueming was perceptive. “Okay, I’ll make time to accompany you.”

“En.”

“It will take two hours to get home. When we get off the expressway later, I’ll hand it over to Lao Fu and the others. Do you want to sleep for a while?”

Pei Yi was really sleepy, and gave a nasal hum.

The two-hour drive ended.

As soon as they returned to the villa, Uncle Kai greeted them with a smile. “Second Young Master, Little Sir, you’re back? How was your trip yesterday?”

Bo Yueming met Uncle Kai’s concerned gaze. “Very good.”

Never in his life had he had a happier birthday than yesterday, and it was all brought to him by Pei Yi.

“Ah~”

Pei Yi yawned, still unable to shake off his drowsiness. “Uncle Kai, let’s eat later tonight. I’m going upstairs to catch up on my sleep.”

He went to bed late the night before, woke up early, and slept in the car. As soon as his excitement passed, the exhaustion wouldn’t stop surging up.

Pei Yi ran upstairs, feeling top-heavy, and was dumbfounded when he opened the door and saw his small room—

All the bedding was gone, and it was converted instead to a small study that was more convenient for coding and writing.

“…….”

Pei Yi blinked, almost thinking that he was too sleepy and having hallucinations.

Bo Yueming followed. “Pei Yi.”

Pei Yi turned around. “Er-ge, why has my room changed?”

Leading him back to the master bedroom, Bo Yueming said, “From today on, you and I will sleep together.”

“Meow-wu~”

Inspector leaped off the cat climbing frame. Even its litter box and climbing frame had been moved to the corner of the master bedroom, apparently the first step in resettlement.

Pei Yi nodded, then shook his head uncertainly. “We……is this cohabitation?”

Bo Yueming asked rhetorically, “Haven’t we already been cohabitating? It’s just that now that our relationship has been confirmed, we can be more intimate.”

No more sleeping in separate beds or making excuses to sleep together.

Although the progress of this “cohabitation” would be a bit fast for an ordinary couple, they had already been together for over half a year, and some tacit understandings and habits had been formed invisibly.

For example, Pei Yi loved to wrap his hands and feet around him while sleeping.

“…….”

When Pei Yi heard such words as cohabitation and intimacy, he first looked at Bo Yueming’s face, then swept his gaze down the other’s body and stopped at a certain place.

Still sleepy, Pei Yi’s thoughts accidentally veered in the wrong direction.

“Ah?”

A single syllable, not only a little flustered and shy, but also a little imaginative—

Did sleeping together as a couple mean they could do that kind of thing? But he hadn’t researched information on that aspect yet, so what if he didn’t succeed, ah?

---

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Chapter Sixty-Five <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Sixty-Seven

T/N: These chapters go out to Clairificus and Nephrite! Thank you so much for your generous donations, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

Pei Yi slept soundly and woke up naturally.

The sound of dripping water came from the bathroom. He turned around lazily while regaining his senses, and also remembered what happened the night before—

On a whim, he and Bo Yueming had gone to the terrace to drink and look at the stars.

The wine was not all drunk, and the stars were not seen, but the heart moved intensely.

He even tried to do bad things, but fortunately, he was inexperienced and lacked courage, so he gave up at the last moment.

Bo Yueming had carried him back to the master bedroom. After the two washed up briefly, Pei Yi unknowingly fell asleep.

As for what he said at the beginning, “I’m not used to sleeping with strangers,” this sentiment had long since disappeared with the deepening of their relationship.

“Meow-wu, meow~”

Inspector jumped onto the edge of the bed, lending close to Pei Yi to sniff him.

“Hey, Inspector, stop making trouble.”

Pei Yi’s cheek was tickled by his pet, and he retracted most of his head back into the quilt.

The fluffy quilt carried the scent he had been used to as a child, and was also mixed with the faint aroma of mint from Bo Yueming’s body, creating a subtle fragrance.

Pei Yi had read popular science magazines and books before—

Everyone had a specific and exclusive scent. As long as a pair of lovers lived together for a long time, each other’s scents would gradually permeate into everyday objects.

The most obvious was the quilt that the two of them slept under together.

Lovers?

Pei Yi thought of this strange and exciting word and couldn’t help but rub the quilt again, humming in satisfaction. “It seems to smell quite nice.”

The sound of water in the bathroom stopped.

Having gotten up early, Bo Yueming had already finished showering.

Pei Yi simply climbed up to a sitting position. While rubbing Inspector’s furry body, he glanced at the bathroom door and inwardly brainstormed—

There was a high probability that their two minds were the same.

But everything must go through a process, from awareness to pursuit, from confession to love, and from communication to the future. Everything should be done step by step in order to be logical.

Pei Yi was a person who would do practical things with a clear mind. He didn’t want to blur the boundaries of his relationship with Bo Yueming because of the current “marriage relationship,” causing them to be together in an unclear manner.

That being the case, a confession was definitely needed, but who was going to say it first?

The bathroom door opened.

As soon as Bo Yueming went out, he met Pei Yi’s eyes. “You’re awake so early?”

Pei Yi was full of energy, and didn’t feel uncomfortable after drinking. “It’s not early, I have to go to the studio.”

“Go with me? I’ll have Lao Fu drop you off first.” Bo Yueming remembered today’s temperature, and specially reminded him, “Wear more, it’s cold today.”

Pei Yi replied, “Okay. Then I’ll go wash up first.”

Under Bo Yueming’s gaze, he trotted to the bathroom of the master bedroom, and less than three seconds later, turned around abruptly. “I went the wrong way.”

After “losing face,” he rushed back to his small room in big strides.

“Ao-wu~”

Inspector stared at Pei Yi’s back with wide eyes.

Bo Yueming stepped forward and rubbed its little head, and couldn’t help but ask in a whisper, “You think he’s cute too, don’t you?”

Inspector seemed to understand something, and lay down on the spot with a meow.

. . . . . . .

Taking advantage of breakfast time, Pei Yi deliberately mentioned the fact that YWY Studios was going to be branching off.

As one of GM’s executives, Bo Yueming agreed very freely, and the reason was simple—

The Last Fog series originally belonged to YWY Studios, and GM’s investment only involved the game itself.

As long as there was no problem with the division of Dawn Games and YWY Studios themselves, then everything would be easy to handle.

Bo Yueming took a sip of coffee. “Won’t the game be released on New Year’s Day? It’s best to deal with it before then.”

Pei Yi nodded, in sync with his thoughts.

Lin Zhong on the side couldn’t help but say, “Little Sir, why is your studio called YWY? Does it stand for something?”

“…….”

Did it stand for something?

What meaning could there be from a naming waste?

Pei Yi took a bite of poached egg and didn’t have the confidence to talk about the naming process. He expressed, “The studio logo was designed by Sister Yang, what did she say……”

“I hope that the games produced by our studio will conquer the world just like cats conquer people’s hearts.”

Hearing this design idea, Bo Yueming laughed. “Compared to the two of you naming wastes, this concept can be regarded as turning the tide.”

“…….”

Pei Yi thought of Bo Yueming’s “cat slave” attribute that was hidden in the original text, and stuffed the remaining half of poached egg in his mouth. He muttered faintly, “Is being a naming waste so obvious?”

For him, the name of the studio was not important. The game itself was the most important thing!

. . . . . . .

Pei Yi hadn’t lived a nine-to-six life for a long time, but fortunately, “The Last Fog” was progressing smoothly—

Not only had the stand-alone game of the first series been fully formed, but even the mobile game of the second series had taken its basic shape.

The heat for the first launch of the stand-alone game started smoothly and attracted enough players and users, and they could launch the upgraded version 2.0 mobile game version within half a year.

In the blink of an eye, it was the agreed upon “Next Saturday.”

Having finished his review of the work at hand, Pei Yi left work early. He looked at the receding scenery outside the car window and asked uncertainly, “Lao Fu, aren’t we going to the group to meet Er-ge?”

Why were they getting farther and farther away? They were almost on the highway.

Lao Fu glanced at him through the rearview mirror. “Little Sir, don’t worry. Second Young Master asked me to bring you here.”

Not long after saying this, Lao Fu parked the car next to a temporary parking lot on the side of the road, and there was a heavy black off-road vehicle parked on their right.

The windows of the two vehicles rolled down one after another.

Not understanding, Pei Yi glanced sideways and suddenly realized—the person in the driver’s seat of the off-road vehicle opposite them was actually Bo Yueming!

“Er-ge?”

Bo Yueming met his shining eyes. “Come over here.”

Pei Yi got out of the car without a word and climbed into the passenger seat of the off-road vehicle.

He looked at the layout of the vehicle with surprise and delight, and finally turned to Bo Yueming. “You’re going to drive yourself today? What if Bo Guancheng and the others find out?”

“En.”

Bo Yueming responded, then tossed the question back, “I thought you didn’t want others to disturb tonight’s plans?”

No matter how conscientious driver Lao Fu was, he was still a third wheel.

As for whether it would be discovered by people they knew? This was not within Bo Yueming’s considerations for the time being. He wanted to drive Pei Yi and enjoy this rare “date.”

Pei Yi’s heart was slightly hot, and he agreed to this statement by default.

“Where did this vehicle come from? I don’t think I’ve seen it in the garage before.”

“I bought it not long ago. It’s been parked at the sale and service shop, and I haven’t driven it back.”

As Bo Yueming spoke, the sense of long-accumulated vinegar overflowed. “When Mr. Qin drove this kind of vehicle last time, I saw that you liked it very much.”

“Ah?”

Pei Yi was taken aback for a couple of seconds, and could barely recall what had happened.

When they first met Qin Yishun, the other party was driving a modified hardcore off-road vehicle.

It was handsome and stylish, a guy’s dream car!

He had admired it in front of Bo Yueming? Hadn’t it just been one short word?

This person couldn’t have had thoughts about him at that time, right?

Pei Yi raised his eyebrows. “Er-ge, you…..”

“We’re driving on a mountain road today. This vehicle can climb it easily.” Bo Yueming interrupted his unspoken teasing, then neatly started the car.

“It will take about three hours to get there. I bought afternoon tea for you in the back seat. If you get hungry later, you can fill your stomach first.”

He had clearly been jealous but wouldn’t admit it, and changed the subject quite obviously first.

Pei Yi’s eyes overflowed with delight. “Oh.”

Thinking of everything that could happen that night, he had never looked forward to the darkness so much.

. . . . . . .

When the two arrived at the campsite halfway up the mountain, the sun had completely set, and there was a wide-open scene in front of them—

The soft afterglow of the setting sun scattered across the sky, presenting clear and beautiful pink and blue colors. Looking down from the viewing platform of the campsite, there was a meandering river at the foot of the mountain and tall urban buildings standing in the distance.

“— Ah~”

Pei Yi jumped out of the vehicle at once and took a deep breath. “It feels so good.”

The wind was cool and penetrating, and the exhaustion from days of work was wiped away in one breath.

Bo Yueming glanced at the time. “Pei Yi, let’s go in and have something to eat first. Don’t stand outside all the time, be careful not to catch a cold in the wind.”

They would wait for the sky to darken later, when the stargazing would officially begin.

A trace of nervous expectation flickered in Pei Yi’s eyes. He turned around, restraining himself completely. “Okay!”

The two stepped into the service hall of the campsite.

The boss greeted them immediately, regarding them with polite eyes. “Welcome, both of you. Do you want to handle your camping business, or do you want to come in and eat?”

“Our ingredients are all shipped from the foot of the mountain on the same day, and are very fresh.”

Pei Yi met the boss’s gaze, and his eyes flickered slightly.

Then he heard Bo Yueming beside him answer calmly, “We’ll eat.”

Bo Yueming had planned to take Pei Yi to the top of the mountain to see the starry sky, so he had also brought a camping tent that was specially thick and windproof.

Of course, even if it was too cold to stay in the tent that night, the off-road vehicle could serve as their exclusive residence.

. . . . . . .

In less than ten minutes, a simple and delicious meal was delivered.

Pei Yi looked around the service hall where there were few people, and took the lead to ask the boss, “Boss, isn’t today Saturday? Why is there no one here?”

“It is cold here at night. There are usually a lot of people in summer, but in winter, it is basically only people who come to take pictures.”

The boss was originally one of those astrophotography enthusiasts.

In the early years, he discovered by accident that Yanshan Mountain was a rare place to observe the starry sky, so he invested with his friends and cooperated with the local tourism department to create this campsite.

The boss looked back and forth between Pei Yi and Bo Yueming. “Which side are you planning to go to later? There are viewing platforms on the west and north summits, and you can get there by driving slowly.”

“The west summit is the best for photography, and there are six or seven photographers going to shoot there tonight, but no one is going to the north summit.” When he said this, the boss even took a special look at Pei Yi.

The main peak of Yanshan Mountain was the west summit, and there was a large area of grass that opened up the field of view more. The driving conditions were also very good, so it was generally chosen by photographers and tourists.

The north summit was relatively remote, and the journey was far. Apart from the bare rocks, the destination had a small viewing platform.

Pei Yi shifted his gaze to the boss again and took a sip of hot soup. “Er-ge, why don’t we go to the north summit?”

Bo Yueming listened to him. “Alright.”

To be honest, neither of them had come here for photography. As long as they could look at the stars, the fewer people the better.

The boss chuckled as if he had expected this. “Okay, you two eat slowly, I won’t bother you~”

. . . . . . .

There was still some distance between the north summit and the campsite, and it was already nine o’clock in the evening when the two arrived at the end of the road.

Further on, it was blocked by a low grove of trees, but signs and lights could be seen.

Bo Yueming decisively parked the vehicle in the “open space” parking lot. “Shall we get out of the car and take a look?”

“En.”

Pei Yi opened the door and immediately shivered in the cold wind.

Sure enough, the night wind on the top of the mountain could not be underestimated. Even though he was already wearing a windbreaker to keep out the cold, he still felt his breathing freeze for a moment.

“Pei Yi, turn around.”

“Ah?”

Pei Yi complied obediently, and the second he turned around—

Bo Yueming wrapped a scarf prepared in advance around his neck and covered half his face.

Bo Yueming let out a breath of cold air and changed his plans, “The temperature difference on top of the mountain is greater than I imagined. We’ll either stay in the car later or go back to the campsite halfway down the mountain.”

The scarf blocked the cold wind, and his obstructed breathing was finally relieved.

Pei Yi let the person before him arrange their accommodations for the night and took the initiative to hold his hand. “Er-ge, let’s go take a look first.”

“Okay.”

The two walked through the small grove according to the signs.

In an instant, the scene before them suddenly became clear—

In the completely empty night, there was a well-built viewing platform on one side and uneven piles of rocks on the other.

The nearby mountains were unfathomably dark, while in the distance were condensed fragments of human life. The wind around them was lonely, coming and going who knew where.

When they raised their heads, the universe and galaxies were presented before their eyes.

“God.”

Pei Yi let out his heartfelt admiration.

The always calm Bo Yueming was astonished by the scene in front of him, and lost himself for a moment.

His tightly held arm was suddenly jostled as Pei Yi moved closer to him. “Er-ge, isn’t it beautiful?”

“En.”

Bo Yueming didn’t deny it.

The stars here were even more shocking and beautiful than the ones he saw at the seaside when he was young.

“Want to sit and look?”

The two walked to the bench at the viewing platform, sat down, and silently gazed up at the starry sky.

After a long time, Pei Yi broached the first sentence, “Er-ge, do you still think of her?”

No name was mentioned, but Bo Yueming knew who he was talking about.

The night breeze stopped for a moment.

Bo Yueming replied very lightly, “Occasionally. On my sixth birthday, she took me to the deserted seaside, and we sat on the rocks like this. The breeze was very cool, and smelled of salt.”

Several times, Bo Yueming felt that the surging waves in the distance would swallow them up, but because his “mother” was by his side, the fear in his heart was not enough to sustain itself.

“She taught me to identify many of the stars that night.”

Bo Yueming couldn’t quite remember the names and locations of those stars. Probably due to a mother-and-child connection, he felt at that time that the other person’s words revealed a sadness that she tried her best to hide.

“We went home after looking at the stars, and then she picked up her luggage and said she was going to work, but I refused to let her go.”

Bo Yueming remembered that it was the first time he had been willful when he was a child.

“She said she wouldn’t leave, but when I woke up, she was still gone.”

Bo Yueming paused for a moment, then continued, “She never came back again. It’s been so many years, and I don’t even know if she’s dead or alive.”

He had secretly tried to send some to look for her, but there was no news.

“……”

Pei Yi’s heart clenched in pain.

Compared with him, who from birth had never met his biological parents, Bo Yueming’s abrupt separation was more desperate and painful.

Bo Yueming, who was only six years old, took the remaining pocket money from his piggy bank and lived alone for a week with the little white cat he had picked up, and then an auntie friend came to the door—

The other party took him to China and to the Bo family.

Bo Yueming murmured uncertainly, “It was a long time later that I vaguely understood that she might have wanted to ‘leave’ with me that night, but left me behind in the end.”

Back then, Bo Lihong had used the ring he bought casually to deceive her feelings and delay her life. She gave birth before marriage and was likely to be pointed at wherever she went.

The other party persisted for six years, and finally could not go on.

Bo Yueming couldn’t blame her for being heartless—

He knew that the mother in his memories had exhausted her strength to accompany him as he grew.

“The main branch secretly detests me, and the second branch clearly doesn’t like me. In the first year I came back to the Bo residence, Grandma threw a big birthday party for me.”

“It was only that I didn’t have any friends. The children of the same age who came either spent time with Bo Guancheng or talked with the second branch son and daughter.”

After the banquet, the jealous and angry Bo Wang had ruined many of his presents.

That night, having seen Bo Yueming’s disappointment, Old Mrs. Bo secretly gave him another birthday.

“I knew that all of this had nothing to do with Grandma, but two years of unhappiness in a row made me resist spending more effort on this kind of day.”

Pei Yi unknowingly clenched Bo Yueming’s hand. “It’s okay, it’s over.”

“Yes, it’s all over.”

Bo Yueming was not someone who would wallow in the pain of the past. Compared with the unretainable past, he preferred to grasp the present and create the future.

Bo Yueming turned his eyes from the starry sky back to his side, as if searching for an answer in his eyes. “Pei Yi, you’re the one watching the stars with me now. Will you leave?”

There was less than a month before the New Year’s Day they had agreed upon.

“Er-ge.”

Pei Yi didn’t give a direct answer, but asked rhetorically, “You took me to see the stars, so I’ll give you a gift too, okay?”

Bo Yueming was taken aback. “A gift?”

Before he could fully react, Pei Yi suddenly let go of his hand and ran straight toward the uneven piles of rock to the right.

“Pei Yi?!”

Bo Yueming held his breath for a moment and stood up, chasing after him. “Come back!”

There was only a lone lamp lighting the viewing platform. The side with the rock piles was almost completely dark, and if you weren’t careful, you may stumble and fall.

“Er-ge, just stand still and wait for me!”

Pei Yi turned his head to stop Bo Yueming from chasing after him. He walked nimbly across the rocks looking for something, and crouched down again.

Bo Yueming was terrified at the sight. He couldn’t bear it anymore, and was seconds away from bringing back the disobedient kitten.

Before he could take a step, the crouching Pei Yi stood up and ran back. “Er-ge! Catch me!”

Taking the last step down, Pei Yi threw himself into familiar arms without a trace of fear.

“Careful!”

Bo Yueming opened his arms at once and caught him firmly, too scared to breathe. “What were you doing?”

As soon as he spoke, six beams of light shot into the sky behind the two of them.

Bo Yueming looked up subconsciously, and before the conjectures in his mind had time to emerge, colorful fireworks suddenly bloomed in the starry night sky.

“Er-ge, happy birthday.”

The fireworks rushed to the sky, and he was determined to rush to the person he liked.

“…….”

Bo Yueming’s heart contracted fiercely, and he looked down at the person in his arms in disbelief. “How did you prepare these?”

Pei Yi pushed Bo Yueming back a few steps to the viewing platform. “Are you surprised? I talked with the boss a long time in advance before he agreed to take care of it for me.”

The drop under the rock pile was not high, just a small slope. Pei Yi only dared to be so reckless because he knew the environment in advance.

As early as last week when he agreed to come to Yanshan, Pei Yi had begun his own plan.

He and the boss confirmed that there were no “anti-firework” regulations here, and Pei Yi immediately started to buy fireworks, asking the other party to help arrange them.

The most important thing was that he also “bought out” the boss, who invited all the tourists and photographers who were likely to come to the north summit to the west summit instead.

God knows how nervous Pei Yi was when he met the boss at the service hall halfway up the mountain and spoke in code. He feared that the clever Bo Yueming would notice everything.

Fortunately, he hadn’t revealed his secrets. All of his preparations were for this moment.

The fireworks all over the sky were all gifts from Pei Yi.

Bo Yueming pressed close to his ear. “Why did you prepare these? Did Grandma tell you?”

He had thought Pei Yi chose this Saturday just because he had the day off, but now it seemed—

The other party knew his birthday long ago, and planned all of this carefully.

The sound of the blooming fireworks was deafening, and Pei Yi had to speak loudly. “The Old Madam said that you don’t like to celebrate your birthday, so you’ve avoided it for the past twenty years.”

Pei Yi didn’t know the reason at first, and only now did he understand the deep entanglement in Bo Yueming’s heart—

The day of his birthday was also the day his mother chose to leave him.

Pei Yi understood the shadow and harm this day caused to Bo Yueming, but even so, he decided to celebrate his birthday in his own way.

He wanted to scrub away all the pain and sadness from this day for the other person, and create memories together.

The fireworks bloomed in the sky together with the stars, against the lights of the world.

Pei Yi looked up at Bo Yueming, and his eyes were more moving than the fireworks, stars, and lights. He gave him a long-prepared answer.

“Er-ge, I won’t leave.”

— Now you’re the one watching the stars with me. Will you leave?

—I won’t leave.

Bo Yueming’s pupils trembled uncertainly. He was afraid he might have misheard, so he tightened his arms around this person. “What did you say?”

Pei Yi had bought a total of twenty-six fireworks, magnificent and vast, one for each year, which lasted until Bo Yueming’s twenty-sixth year of life.

After the last bouquet of grand revelry, everything was silent.

Pei Yi met Bo Yueming’s soulful eyes, and repeated in a voice that both of them could hear clearly, “I said, I won’t leave.”

If possible, Pei Yi wanted Bo Yueming to have him in his future birthday memories. Every year, they could watch the stars, set off fireworks, and try many new things that only couples could do.

“……”

“Bo Yueming.”

“En?”

“I like you.”

Pei Yi smiled sincerely and with a hint of shyness. “Do you want to be my boyfriend, ah?”

---

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Chapter Sixty-Four <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Sixty-Six

This time around, Wan Yuan’s ghost appeared in the early morning, still floating in the air with a pale face, and frightened a couple who got up early to set up a stall.

Liu Xian’an asked: “Was it really the ghost screaming?”

“She didn’t scream, and only floated motionlessly in the air. The screaming you heard in your dreams was the proprietress selling rice cakes.” Liang Shu said, “It was already dawn at that time. After hearing the commotion, neighbors came out left and right with shovels and axes, but the female ghost didn’t continue to rush forward, and only fell headlong into an alley.”

“Fell?”

“Fell.”

According to witnesses, it looked like a kite with a broken string. Because of the strong sunlight and the crowds during the day, everyone gathered their courage to chase after it and see, but there was not even one hair of the ghost in the alley. There was only a bloodstained note on a wall full of sigils.

“This is it,” Liang Shu said, picking it up from the side.

Liu Xian’an was eating cake, and when he saw such a thing suddenly, he almost choked. Liang Shu patted his back for him and asked: “Do you understand it?”

“I don’t understand. I’ve never studied spells, and I’m also unable to study them.”

There may also be great masters in the world, but there were more charlatans like Yin Die. It was hard to tell whether this group of people could read or not, so there was really no need to waste time analyzing it. Liu Xian’an only glanced at it: “Dressing up as a ghost and leaving notes to scare people is not Yin Die’s work.”

“Why not?”

“Although Yin Die is a liar, he is also a professional liar. Since he has already made a name for himself in the Southwest, things like writing spells should come easy to him.” Liu Xian’an said, “But the brushwork in the prince’s hand is very amateurish. The circles are not even round, and there is such a big “double happiness” character with a cross through it. The curse is too obvious.”

Liang Shu put away the spell talisman: “Since it isn’t Yin Die, who do you think is pretending to be a ghost?”

Liu Xian’an thought for a moment: “It’s hard to say.”

“It’s hard to say, but you can tell me.” Liang Shu lifted the pot to help refill his tea. “Let’s see if we’re thinking the same thing.”

“The prince also has suspicions?”

“Yes.”

Liu Xian’an dipped his finger in the tea and sketched out a name on the table. This was a secret way of speaking in the jianghu that he had read of in idle books and stories, and he felt that it was very suitable for such a moment. And Second Young Master Liu’s calligraphy was very beautiful, flying like a lonely cloud, his fingers slender and jade-like. Liang Shu propped his head up on one hand to admire it. He wasn’t in the mood to discover who the ghost was — it could be seen that there was an element of losing one’s head over desire, and not doing one’s proper work.

Those hands were so white.

Liu Xian’an waved a hand in front of him: “Your Highness?”

Liang Shuo grabbed his fingertips and cleared his mind of obscene thoughts: “Let’s go find him.”

. . . . . .

Huaizhen City had been haunted again and again, but no one was killed. Like the story of “the wolf is coming,” it could still make people panic when it happened again and again, but the effect was greatly reduced after three times. Especially since the ghost couldn’t even fly well, falling straight down in full view of the public, and had no ability to eat people.

Even Aunt Mou Cuihua didn’t look too scared anymore. She was sitting under a tree at the corner, cracking melon seeds and conversing with her neighbors about the haunting. Liu Meng’s mother was also standing amongst the crowd. When Mou Cuihua saw her, she asked in a troubled voice: “Liu-jie, Master Yu is going to set up a banquet, why aren’t you helping today?”

“Yesterday, I served until midnight, and was frightened by Wan Yuan’s ghost in the morning and didn’t sleep well, so the Madam let me come back and rest.” Aunt Liu asked, “What does that spell talisman mean?”

“It means don’t let the river god get married. There is a bright “double happiness” symbol, and there have been no other happy events in our city recently,” someone said. “But I saw that the people in Yu Manor are already hanging colorful streamers by the river. They aren’t afraid, so that means everything will be business as usual tomorrow. After all, they spent a lot of money to hire a wizard. Madam Yu and Young Master Yu have both ordered that Master Yu’s health be the top priority in everything.”

“But this…..” Aunt Liu was still afraid. “What if that ghost comes out again?”

“It came out and came out, then came out a third time, and nothing happened. Aunt Liu, you didn’t see it yesterday. She was quite scary when she floated around in the dark at midnight, but this morning when the sky was bright, looking at that ghost again, it wasn’t frightening at all. With a pale, anxious face, it was kind of funny.”

Aunt Liu smacked him: “Nonsense, be careful not to be overheard by the ghost.”

Nobody took it seriously. They just laughed and discussed the next day’s Many-Color Festival and banquet, as well as when to get up early to reserve a seat and watch the show. Mou Cuihua’s voice was so loud that it could be heard across the street. Liu Meng felt agitated at the sound and dropped his work, and was about to get up and fetch his mother back so that she wouldn’t join in, but the courtyard door was pushed open.

There was a bang, and no small amount of commotion. Liu Meng was taken aback at first, but after seeing who had come, he said with dissatisfaction, “You fancy rich people, do you usually break into private homes like this? I still have things to do, and there’s no tea at home, so you should hurry up and leave.”

“What?” Liang Shu said, “If you’re in such a hurry to drive away guests, could it be that you heard about the ghost in town last night, and you want to catch it again?”

“I say, why are you two always pestering me?” Liu Meng wondered. “Yu Manor hired a great wizard to catch the ghost, why don’t you go find him?”

“If we looked for him, we couldn’t be sure about the haunting.” Liang Shu tossed something over to him. “It’s quicker to find you.”

Liu Meng caught the bundle in one hand. The knot was loose, and a worn dress spilled out of it. His face immediately paled, and he looked up at the two of them vigilantly. Liang Shu said: “This is from the box under your bed. If I’m not mistaken, you went to the old Wan family house that day to find more old things, so that the female ghost could be more like Wan Yuan.”

Liu Meng threw back the bundle: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The wardrobe in the Wan home was dilapidated, and the doors were all missing, but the backboard looked brand new. This bag of clothing should have been inside.” Liang Shu said, “You have a sideshow troupe under you, and there are so many doll kites piled up in the yard. It should be easy to make a female ghost.”

Liu Meng glanced at the courtyard warehouse. “There are many people who can make kites.”

“But there are not many people who know the content of the conversation between Yin Die and Yu Zhong last night.” Liang Shu closed the courtyard door behind him. “At that time, apart from Yu Zhong and his confidants, there were only three people in that room. And Aunt Liu was in charge of boiling water.”

Liu Meng frowned: “You also—”

Liang Shu continued: “The previous hauntings were all in the middle of the night, which means that you know these sideshow things can’t scare people, and you had to rely on the dark sky in the middle of the night to deceive people with tricks. But last night, Yin Die set a time with Yu Zhong to hold a Many-Color Festival tomorrow. You had no time to wait until the next midnight, so you could only take a risk.”

Liu Meng didn’t make a sound, still not wanting to admit it, and just stood there with his neck straight. Liang Shu warned: “If you continue to be stubborn, I can only ask the government to send people to search. At that time, if any incriminating things are found, you and your parents may no longer have a foothold in Huaizhen City.”

“If you can mobilize people from the government, then aren’t you also an official?” Liu Meng gave him a fierce look. “Since you’re an official, why don’t you arrest those big villains who are doing evil things instead of coming to make things difficult for me?”

“Who are the big villains doing evil things?”

“It’s—”

“A-Meng!” An anxious shout came from outside the door, and Aunt and Uncle Liu ran in together while pushing a cart. The two had apparently heard a few words of the conversation in the courtyard, and scolded their son, “What nonsense are you speaking of!”

“I’m not talking nonsense. Father, Mother, they already know.” Liu Meng said angrily, “I’m dead anyway, might as well be straightforward. Maybe I’ll be born as a hero in the next life.”

Aunt Liu turned pale when she heard this, and Liu Xian’an supported her, persuading gently: “Auntie, don’t worry. We just want to find out the truth, to give Wan Yuan a share of justice and Huaizhen city a share of peace.”

“Yes……yes.” Aunt Liu was at a loss. “We……I came up with this idea. I was confused, it was me who was confused. It has nothing to do with this father and son.”

“What do you mean it had nothing to do with me? I did everything and also painted the ghost, and the kite frame is still down in the cellar.” A-Meng said, “A man must bear the consequences of his own acts.”

“Good, a man should bear the consequences of his own acts.” Liang Shu nodded. “Sit, ba, sit down and tell us the whole story.”

At this time, firecrackers were exploding in the city, and some of the programs held for the Many-Color Festival were being staged in advance all the way from east to west. And amongst this bustle, Yu Zhong was accompanying Yin Die, pasting talismans on the treetops and under the eaves along the way. A Second Young Master Liu had said, his calligraphy was truly professional, his pen like a snake, and the prices were very expensive. Yu Zhong’s heart bled all the way, and he became more and more convinced that this liar was behind the haunting. He truly itched with hatred.

The steward repeatedly urged when there was no one around: “Young Master, don’t reveal your emotions on your face! Don’t reveal them, ah!”

“To hell with that.” Yu Zhong cursed his mother. “When will this grandson die?”

The steward comforted: “Soon, soon.”

Yu Zhong said again, bullshit, this fucking bottomless pit is just forty this year, in his prime to make money.

He was so angry that he inadvertently lost his temper: “Otherwise, I could poison him to death.”

The steward smacked his lips: “Killing him is possible, but Yin Die lives in a den of poisons, and ordinary drugs are probably useless. If he finds out and tells the Master, then this……just bear with it, ba.”

“If I bear it any longer, the family will go broke,” Yu Zhong said. “Of course I wish for my father to live, but to be honest, looking at him like that with his bone marrow sucked out by women and a skull on his thin neck, it isn’t a question of if I want him to live, but if he is able to live, right?”

The steward just laughed, hehe, and didn’t dare to answer. Yu Zhong’s mind was already whirling, and looking at the densely packed talismans on both sides of the streets, he muttered, post them, even if you post them all over the city, as long as you die, I won’t have to pay you a fart.

Thinking of this, he felt much more carefree, and even helped Yin Die post them for a while.

When night fell, the riverside was full of lights. Liu Xian’an bent down to pass under a string of multicolored ropes. He looked at the people singing and dancing nearby, and at the burning lights, and said to Liang Shu: “It would be nice if there were no strange talismans that bother the eyes, and if the common people were just celebrating the harvest and peace.”

“The harvest and peace.” Liang Shu held his hand and let him slowly move across the stepping stones in the water. “Don’t worry, they will, and it won’t be too far away.”

Liu Xian’an made a sound of acknowledgement. His foot slipped, and Liang Shu held him up by the waist: “The path here is uneven, be careful.”

“I’m already careful.”

“You’re careful, but you still can’t walk steadily.”

Liang Shu sighed pretentiously. Then I will suffer a small loss and spend the effort to carry you, ba.

---

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

As soon as Pei Yi arrived at the underground parking lot, he caught sight of a familiar license plate. He looked around to make sure no outsiders had noticed, and quickly got into the car.

“Er-ge!”

Pei Yi took off his hat and mask, smiling happily.

Seeing his inexplicable excitement, Bo Yueming couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows and glance at his watch. “It’s only a minute past six o’clock. So fast?”

“…….”

Pei Yi was in a jam. His eyes dodged a little.

As the general manager of Bo Group, Bo Yueming’s time was not strictly limited. 

At 5:30 this afternoon, he left the company and arrived at the parking lot of YWY Studios, and sent Pei Yi a WeChat message.

From that moment on, as Pei Yi sat in the office, his heart drifted with the wind.

He admitted that he examined the circumstances, and in front of many employees, was the first to slip out the office door. He really didn’t bear the image of a “core partner.”

Pei Yi was inwardly guilty, but flaunted his superiority on the surface, “You’re allowed to leave work early, but I’m now, ah? Besides, I didn’t miss one bit of work today.”

How could Bo Yueming dare say otherwise? Seeing that his kitten’s mood had improved, and his entire person was no longer crumbling and gloomy like last night, he also felt at ease. 

His mind was still on Pei Yi’s fingers. “Do they still hurt?”

“Only a tiny bit, but it’s completely tolerable.” Pei Yi had re-learned how to be honest, and reminded Bo Yueming, “Can you help me change my medicine tonight? I can’t do it myself.”

Bo Yueming laughed in spite of himself. “Okay.”

Seeing the corners of his mouth rise, Pei Yi felt that the “strategy” he had studied for half an our seemed quite reliable—

Learn to be honest, learn to show weakness, and learn to create opportunities to spend time together.

That’s right, he did them in order!

“Second Young Master, Little Sir, are you going directly home?”

Lao Fu, who had been peeking in the rearview mirror from the front seat, finally found the time to speak up without seeming like a third wheel.

“En.”

Just as Bo Yueming spoke, he heard Pei Yi next to him refute—

“Lao Fu, don’t go back, let’s go eat out today.”

As he spoke, he posted the address of a restaurant on Lao Fu’s WeChat account. “Let’s drive.”

Bo Yueming was a little surprised by Pei Yi’s decision. “Going out to eat?”

“Yes, ah, I’ve already notified Uncle Kai in advance.” Pei Yi nodded naturally.

How boring was it to eat at home every day, ah? Wasn’t a dinner date the most common form of pursuit?

Pei Yi was embarrassed to say that he ordered a bouquet of roses in advance, but in order for it to not look too deliberate, he quietly asked the owner of the private restaurant to find a vase to arrange the flowers in, pretending that it was arranged in-store.

Pei Yi hid his small considerations and pretended to be calm. “I found a suburban private kitchen with good ratings and reserved a private box. It shouldn’t be easy to meet people we know there. Do you want to go?”

“Certainly.”

This was exactly what Bo Yueming wanted, and he looked at Pei Yi with darker eyes—

Was it his illusion?

He just felt that the kitten’s attitude was much more proactive, and this “proactiveness” was an emotional closeness, which surprised and delighted him.

Pei Yi avoided looking at Bo Yueming for a long time, his heart warm. “What are you looking at me for?”

Bo Yueming teased him with a chuckle, “I didn’t expect our Little Sir to treat me to dinner one day. Did you make a lot of money?”

Pei snorted. “Something like that. Anyway, it’s no problem to invite you to dinner.”

He had completed the structure and transactions of five consecutive games, and the Bo family basically paid for his daily expenses, so his private coffers were quite sufficient.

Bo Yueming didn’t ask about Pei Yi’s account balance, and just told Lao Fu who was driving, “Lao Fu, drive a little faster, I’m hungry.”

His last two words were full of anticipation.

“Okay, Second Young Master!” 

Lao Fu set up the route navigation and had just driven out of the underground parking lot when a phone vibrated in the back seat.

When Bo Yueming saw the caller ID, his smile smoothed out—

It was Aunt Song calling, the person who stayed by Old Mrs. Bo’s side and looked after her.

Bo Yueming quickly picked up the phone, and there was a hint of worry and solemnness in his tone, “Hello, Aunt Song, is there something wrong with Grandma?”

Pei Yi stared silently at the side of Bo Yueming’s face.

In the next second, he saw the other person’s expression change suddenly, and the fingertips holding the phone tightened.

“Okay, I understand.”

Bo Yueming replied simply and ended the call, which had not lasted more than thirty seconds.

Pei Yi immediately asked, “What’s wrong with Old Mrs. Bo?”

Bo Yueming’s hand trembled slightly as it held the phone, and his voice was filled with a rare excitement. “Aunt Song said that Grandma is completely awake and wants me to come see her.”

Pei Yi asked, “Now?”

Bo Yueming thought of Pei Yi’s reserved private kitchen dinner, and hesitation flickered across his face, but before he could say anything, the other party promptly opened his mouth, “Lao Fu, go to Minxi Manor instead.”

Bo Yueming’s heartstrings loosened slightly. “Pei Yi, I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for? Of course Old Mrs. Bo is more important.”

Pei Yi knew that Bo Yueming had always been concerned about Old Mrs. Bo, so he said straightforwardly, “I’ll accompany you to see Grandma. We’ll go to that private kitchen later when we find time.”

In the original text, Old Mrs. Bo never got much written about her. 

Pei Yi had always been worried that she wouldn’t be able to survive this ordeal, but now that there was such good news, he was relieved for Bo Yueming.

They made eye contact.

Unspoken feelings flowed between them, and Bo Yueming smiled again. “Okay.”

. . . . . .

They arrived before seven o’clock.

Bo Yueming took Pei Yi into Mingxi Manor, and the second they stepped through the private door, the two of them clearly saw the situation inside the room.

Old Mrs. Bo, who had been asleep all day long, had woken up and was sitting comfortably in bed.

Six months of continuous illness had caused her to become emaciated, and the sides of her cheeks were sunken, but the eyes looking at them were very bright.

There was no gloom of chronic illness, no confusion from being away from society, only the resolution and tranquility that came after weathering a storm.

Old Mrs. Bo saw the person approaching, and opened her mouth to call faintly, “Yueming.”

She hadn’t spoken for a long time, and it was still a little difficult to speak at the moment.

Hearing this long-lost address, Bo Yueming quickly walked to the bedside. “Grandma, I’m here.”

With just three words, a rare trace of moisture filled his eyes.

Pei Yi stood by the door and watched, but didn’t choose to follow along inside. He left space for Bo Yueming, allowing him to breathe and relax in front of his family member.

Old Mrs. Bo raised her skinny hand with the IV needle and patted the corners of his eyes lightly, both comforting and concerned. “All……right?”

Her first sentence was to call his name, and her second sentence was to show concern for his eyes.

“……”

Bo Yueming held onto his emotions that were about to burst out, and just nodded quickly.

Aunt Song was moved at the sight. She put down the rest of the nutritional soup and took the initiative to explain the situation, “Second Young Master, Madam woke up some time ago, but her body hasn’t recovered yet, and she can’t speak much.”

Bo Peizhi didn’t ask the other party to notify Bo Yueming immediately, and carefully recovered for a week instead. It wasn’t until today, when she had recovered enough to speak a few words, that she let Aunt Song make the phone call just now.

“She was okay a few days ago?” Bo Yueming took a deep breath, blaming himself a little. “It’s my fault that I was busy during this time and didn’t come to see you.”

Old Mrs. Bo waved her hand, then pointed to her throat and mouth. Her meaning was obvious.

She had been awake for a few days, but her body’s various functions were recovering very slowly, and she couldn’t say much, so why make her grandson take time out of his busy schedule to just sit here and stare?

It was better for him to spend more time in his position with the company, so as not to let some people take advantage.

Old Mrs. Bo turned her gaze to the door again, regarding the relatively unfamiliar Pei Yi with a doubtful gaze.

Seeing Pei Yi standing considerately at the door, Bo Yueming recovered from his initial excitement. He quickly got up and returned, leading Pei Yi into the room.

“Grandma, let me formally introduce you. This is Pei Yi.”

Facing Old Mrs. Bo’s silent scrutiny, Pei Yi felt a nervousness he had never experienced before.

The other party was not only a once all-powerful strong woman, but she was also the only close relative that Bo Yueming recognized in his heart. The two of them hadn’t officially fallen in love yet, and now he was meeting the parents?

Pei Yi thought about this relationship, and bowed very earnestly and politely. “Hello, Old Mrs. Bo, I’m Pei Yi.”

Seeing the kitten’s cuteness, Bo Yueming’s lips curved up unconsciously.

Old Mrs. Bo sensed the special relationship between the two and beckoned for them to come closer.

Aunt Song next to her took the initiative to move chairs near the bed, allowing Pei Yi and Bo Yueming to sit down and accompany the old lady properly, and quietly sat by herself on the small bench in the corner.

Bo Yueming took Pei Yi to sit down, and hesitated for a couple of seconds before speaking the truth, “Grandma, Pei Yi and I are in a marriage relationship. Back then, my eyes were inconvenient, so Grandpa and Uncle decided for me……”

In the past few days since Old Mrs. Bo woke up, she had learned many things here and there from Aunt Song. 

Hearing Bo Yueming’s story just now, she still felt an unstoppable nausea and disgust.

“Don’t be angry.”

Bo Yueming immediately comforted her, “There is nothing wrong with me now, but I must ‘thank’ them.”

Even if this marriage was originally intended to humiliate him and block his room to maneuver, who would have thought it? He had met such a good Pei Yi.

The person gave him the highest recognition and encouragement when he needed comfort and companionship the most. If not for Pei Yi’s existence, Bo Yueming felt that his life would have gone to an extreme.

Old Mrs. Bo took another deep look at Pei Yi, but said nothing.

A few seconds later, Bo Yueming said, “Grandma, I want to ask you something.”

These words not only diverted Old Mrs. Bo’s attention, but also eased the silent tension of the person next to her.

Old Mrs. Bo met his expression and understood before he could speak. She nodded slowly, and spoke hoarsely but firmly, “It was……him……it was……Cheng……Yangsheng.”

Bo Yueming and Pei Yi exchanged glances, and immediately understood the information in this sentence!

Even though they had guessed that Old Mrs. Pei’s “illness” was man-made, when the truth came from the other party’s mouth, it still made them feel anger, disgust, and even a bit of hidden fear!

To be able to do such a thing to someone who had been with him for half his life!

Cheng Yangsheng was simply terrible!

“Second Young Master, it isn’t convenient for the Old Madam to talk. She has spoken to me little by little over the past few days.”

Aunt Song in the back corner looked at the closed door, and then said to Bo Yueming and the others, “On the day of the accident, the old man wanted Bo to invest in the establishment of a foreign trade company, but the Old Madam disagreed.”

Bo Peizhi nodded slightly, feeling a chill in her heart.

The Bo family was directly related to her generation, and there was only one girl, Bo Peizhi. She took charge of the Bo family business against all odds, and made it bigger and stronger.

Bo Peizhi was a natural strong woman. She was unwilling to hand over the family business that her grandparents, father, and herself had built. Either she would not get married, or the man would have to marry in.

Back then, Bo Peizhi and Cheng Yangshan met at the university’s inauguration ceremony. Her father was the investor and builder of the Teikyo Business School, and Cheng Yangshan was a young teaching assistant there.

Bo Peizhi accidentally twisted her ankle behind the scenes, and it was Cheng Yangshan who happened to pass by and help her.

Love and marriage in that era were simple, and the two got to know each other deeply over a period of time—

Bo Peizhi appreciated the other party’s scholarly aura, and Cheng Yangshan appreciated her straightforwardness and ability. Although the latter hesitated for a long time about marrying in, he finally agreed.

Over the years, Bo Peizhi gave birth to two sons with the surname Bo, and the subsequent grandchildren also followed her surname.

The relationship between the two transformed into familial love over the years, and then the feelings unknowingly faded away. Perhaps it was lack of communication, or because her business was getting bigger and bigger, but Bo Peizhi, who had a good sense for people, didn’t notice at all—

That the person on the pillow next to her had changed completely.

Over the years, Cheng Yangshan took advantage of the Bo family’s convenience to continuously provide assistance to members of the Cheng family, so that very distant relatives could reap some benefits.

The Bo family had a large business, and as long as it didn’t impact the foundation, Bo Peizhi was willing to save face for her husband who had been with her for decades.

But she didn’t expect Cheng Yangshan to get worse—

Half a year ago, he actually attempted to embezzle Bo Group finances using Bo Peizhi’s own seal. He wanted to use that capital to create an electronic technology group, and the shares were in the name of him, his nephew Cheng Xingde, and others.

Bo Peizhi discovered and prevented this early, and then closed the door and confronted her husband face to face!

One thing came to another, and two two got into an ugly fight.

Bo Peizhi only remembered that her husband picked up his cane and swung it toward her fiercely. She managed to dodge, but was pushed hard by the other party and lost consciousness.

It had been a long while since she fell into a coma, and many things had happened.

Bo Peizhi came back to her senses, and lightly patted the back of Bo Yueming’s hand. “Don’t…..alert the enemy. You guys…..be good.”

As long as she still had a sliver of strength left, there would be a day when she would personally deal with Cheng Yangshan!

Bo Yueming gave a slight nod. “Grandma, take care of yourself first. I’ll take care of the group. Don’t worry, there won’t be any serious problems for the time being.”

Old Mrs. Bo nodded, and gave Aunt Song another look.

The latter had been by her side for twenty or thirty years, and immediately understood, “Second Young Master, Little Sir hasn’t had dinner yet, right? Why don’t you go out with me to get him something to eat?”

Pei Yi and Bo Yueming exchanged glances, clearly understanding the implication.

“……..”

Wasn’t this meant to get the kitten alone for a chat?

Bo Yueming feared that Pei Yi would be uncomfortable, and was about to say something more when he heard the person beside him answer easily, “Er-ge, I’m a little hungry.”

If she wanted to talk alone, he would talk alone, ba. He was not guilty or afraid, and was at most a little nervous.

Bo Yueming gave Pei Yi a smile and didn’t stop him in the end, getting up to follow Aunt Song out.

The door closed softly.

Pei Yi suppressed the tension overflowing from the bottom of his heart and said with well-behaved calmness, “Old Madam, is there anything you want to ask me?”

Seeing Pei Yi’s attitude, Old Mrs. Bo chuckled.

She was old, and her body was failing, but her judgment was quite accurate—

Pei Yi was a young man who looked cute and innocent on the outside, but his eyes revealed cunning and cleverness. He should be a person who knew how to advance and retreat.

Bo Yueming was the child she had raised, and wouldn’t make mistakes in any aspect. Since this person could be highly recognized by her grandson, Pei Yi must be a good boy with a firm mind.

Old Mrs. Bo didn’t care to beat around the bush. Even when seriously ill, she didn’t use those tricks. “You…..like…..Yueming?”

“I like him,” Pei Yi replied quickly and firmly, with a hint of innocent shyness. “I like him very much.”

Old Mrs. Bo didn’t detect the faintest falsehood in his eyes, and nodded, reassured. “Then…..that’s good.”

Although she had once hoped to watch Bo Yueming marry and have children, as the saying went, children and grandchildren were their own blessings. Since the hearts of the two were interlinked, they must support each other to live.

After such an encounter, Bo Peizhi understood—

What did it matter if there were no descendants, or whether they were related by blood? The point was to meet the right person!

Old Mrs. Bo took Pei Yi’s hand and spread his palm flat on her own.

Pei Yi was puzzled, but didn’t retreat. “Old Madam?”

Old Mrs. Bo wrote a string of numbers on his hand. “Don’t……forget.”

Pei Yi nodded seriously. “En, I’ll remember. I’ll stay by his side.”

. . . . . .

The two had a simple dinner at Minxi Manor, and returned to the Bo residence after Old Mrs. Bo fell asleep.

After washing up, Pei Yi walked to the living room and stared at the wine wall. He searched for a long time, but before he could find his target, Bo Yueming’s voice sounded from nearby.

“You want to drink again?”

“Can’t I?”

Pei Yi felt that he had justice on his side. “Since I can’t get back the booking fee for the private chef dinner, don’t you have to compensate me with a bottle of wine?”

Bo Yueming replied with another condition, “En, I’ll accompany you to drink, but come here first and let me change the dressing on your fingers.”

“Okay.”

Pei Yi walked over and sat on the small sofa to let Bo Yueming change the dressing. The deep wounds still tingled a little, but he was in a relaxed mood.

“Er-ge, are you happy? The Old Madam is fine.”

“Of course I’m happy.” Bo Yueming moved his hands lightly, and diverted his attention, “What did Grandma say to you alone before dinner?”

Pei Yi kept the secret. “I can’ say for the time being.”

Bo Yueming looked up at him. “You can’t say?”

Pei Yi avoided his gaze, and conspicuously changed the subject. “Er-ge, do you think we can see the stars at night?”

“Now that it’s deep in the season, the visibility may not be as good as in summer.” Bo Yuemign went along with him unconditionally. “We can go upstairs to the terrace later if you want to see them.”

“Okay, ah.”

Pei Yi readily agreed, and pointed to the upper right corner of the wine wall. “Then I want that one.”

Petrus Winery, a small but exquisite rare wine brand.

Bo Yueming’s eyes shifted slightly, and he gave a helpless and indulgent sigh. “”You, ah, you can’t handle your alcohol, but you have a good eye for picking wine.”

. . . . . . .

Ten minutes later.

As soon as Pei Yi opened the door to the roof, the chill in the air rushed over him, making him shiver a little.

Following behind, Bo Yueming saw this and frowned slightly. “Cold? How about we go back inside and have a drink.”

“No, ah, it’s comfortable here.”

Pei Yi wrapped his sweater snugly and raised his head, stepping out. “It looks like we can see a star or two. I’ll heat up after drinking some wine.”

Bo Yueming went out with him and set the wine they had brought on the nearby table. Because few people stopped by regularly, there was only a simple long chair placed here.

Sitting down, Bo Yueming poured half a glass of wine to air out for Pei Yi. “This alcohol content is lower, but you can only drink this much.”

“…….”

Compared to the thin layer he started with, the current half cup was an absolute improvement.

Pei Yi sat down next to Bo Yueming and took the wine glass. He couldn’t help but probe, “Actually, it’s okay if I drink a little more. If I get drunk, don’t I have you?”

Bo Yueming was pleased by the dependence hidden in these words. “If you’re not afraid of waking up with a headache, you can drink half a glass more tonight.”

Pei Yi laughed. “En, we’ll talk about it later.”

When it came to drinking, it was not about the quantity, but about the taste, and the most important thing was the person who accompanied you to taste the wine.

The wine glasses clinked lightly, creating a beautiful melody in the night.

Pei Yi took a sip of wine and looked up at the starry night sky again. “Sure enough, the older you get, the less you can see the stars.”

It was the first time Bo Yueming heard that Pei Yi had such a hobby. “Do you like looking at the stars?”

“Not really, I just used to look at them every day when I was a kid.”

Back in the orphanage, there were not many things to play with.

The children admitted to the orphanage were either abandoned at birth, or had an accident at home and no longer had someone to attend to them.

Perhaps “missing parents” and “missing relatives” were the growth path that every child must go through, and the dean used the most cliched formula—

The stars in the sky were their relatives.

Pei Yi had never met his biological parents. When he was a child, he would look at the starry sky and fantasize about his parents. They were probably like the parents of the original owner, responsible and understanding, gentle and loving.

Bo Yueming gazed at Pei Yi’s upturned and focused profile, then lowered his head again and took a sip of his wine. “I looked at them seriously once when I was at the beach as a child.”

“The beach?”

Pei Yi was slightly taken aback, and asked cautiously, “When?”

“When I was six years old. I had nearly forgotten.” Bo Yueming said very lightly, “I just remember that she disappeared the day after we looked at the stars.”

“…….”

Pei Yi’s heart sank, and he immediately blamed himself for bringing up a bad topic.

The original strategy may not be able to be used at all, so what should they talk about?

Bo Yueming met his eyes again, sensing his subtle guilt. “It was a long time ago. If you want to look at them, shall I take you somewhere else to see them in a few days?”

“Huh?”

“The top of Yanshan Mountain. When the project team was established before, Lin Zhong was responsible for leading them to go there once, and he told me it was pretty nice when he came back.”

Bo Yueming asked Pei Yi for his opinion. “If you’re interested, I’ll take you there sometime.”

Pei Yi took the lead to decide, “How about next Saturday?”

Bo Yueming didn’t refuse. “All right.”

The glasses clinked again and again.

Pei Yi continuously restrained himself, but his inebriation still ticked up fairly quickly.

Bo Yueming spied the liquid remaining at the bottom of his glass, and asked, “Do you still want to drink more?”

“Huh?”

Pei Yi gave a hum. He turned to look at Bo Yueming’s face, and his drunken eyes began to sweep over his wantonly—

From Bo Yueming’s eyes, down the bridge of his nose, and finally to his thin red lips.

The entanglement of that night inexplicably appeared in Pei Yi’s mind.

At that time, he was overly stunned and nervous. He only remembered that his head was dizzy, and his breathing and even his soul was controlled by the other party.

It seemed that kissing Bo Yueming was quite comfortable?

Hm, he didn’t remember exactly.

Perhaps he should try again?

This idea uncontrollably occurred to Pei Yi, and the knot of his throat rolled slightly. He shifted his body like a snail, and the moment he was about to touch those thin lips—

The night wind blew.

The befuddled fever of inebriation was blown away in exchange for a short moment of sobriety.

Pei Yi suddenly realized that his thoughts were not so simple, and “reined himself in,” leaning his head on Bo Yueming’s shoulder.

“…….”

Seeing the kitten that was nearly hooked in suddenly change direction, Bo Yueming suppressed his slight disappointment and teased him again, “Pei Yi, what did you want to do just now?”

Pei Yi’s ears turned red, and he pretended to be confused. “I, I’m drunk.”

This little cat never admitted to being drunk before, but it happened for the first time tonight.

Bo Yueming saw through him but didn’t call him out. “Shall I take you back? You’ll catch a cold if you stay out here any longer.”

Pei Yi whined, three points drunk, but trying to make it seem realistic.

Bo Yueming put down the wine glass and picked him up. “Then do you want to sleep in my room tonight, or go back to your room and sleep by yourself?”

He was teasing, but also tempting.

“…….”

Pei Yi had his face buried in his shoulder without looking up, and it took him a moment to answer while feigning drunkenness, “S-sleep with you.”

---

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Chapter Sixty-Three <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Sixty-Five

T/N: Thank you to VC3 again for the Kofi! I appreciate it so much! Here’s a double update.

The dome light cast a dim yellow glow, covering the entire inside of the car in a hazy gloom.

Pei Yi, who was wrapped up in a blanket, was quietly leaning back in the seat. There was still a red tint that didn’t fade away with time, and he looked well-behaved and pitiful.

Because of gripping the utility knife too hard, Pei Yi’s ring and middle fingers both had slanted cuts. After the previous blind rinsing, the edges of the wounds were white.

Bo Yueming was upset and anxious, but couldn’t bear to say one harsh word. “Your wounds need to be debrided before they can be medicated and bandaged. Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?”

Pei Yi shook his head and attempted to withdraw his hand. “I said there’s no need.”

It was caused by his loss of control. The wounds looked a little deep, but didn’t hurt too badly. Going to the hospital in the middle of the night would bother others and cause trouble for himself.

Bo Yueming squeezed his wrist tightly. “Don’t move.”

He looked at the medicine bought by driver Lao Fu, and had no choice but to help with it first. “Then I’ll help you deal with it before going home.”

The bleeding from the wounds had not yet stopped, so there was no time to delay.

He could see that Pei Yi’s emotions were still on edge, and he was reluctant to force him, so he would have to find another private doctor tomorrow to check on the injury.

Pei Yi nodded slightly, the remaining panic fighting against his reasoning.

Bo Yueming carefully wiped the half-dried bloodstains on him with a medicated cotton swab, and only made a few movements—

“Hiss!” Pei Yi suddenly withdrew his hand in pain, and there was a trace of grievance in the pained sound that came from his mouth.

Bo Yueming’s breathing grew tight. “Hold on, I’ll try to be as light as possible.”

Pei Yi suppressed his pain in time, and pretended to be calm. “It’s fine, it’s not very painful.”

“……”

The more Pei Yi insisted on putting on a brave face, the more Bo Yueming dared not breathe.

While handling the cotton swabs, he didn’t forget to rub and pat Pei Yi’s wrist, so as to distract him and reduce the pain of applying medicine.

Time stretched along minute by minute.

After just a few minutes of treating the wounds, Bo Yueming’s back was covered in a thin layer of sweat. He just felt that in the past, commercial projects costing hundreds of millions were not as frightening as giving medicine to the kitten.

“It’s done.”

“En.”

Pei Yi’s forehead was also covered in sweat. “Er-ge, I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Bo Yueming heard him trying to be brave, and handed over a thermos of water. “Thirsty? Try some.”

The warm water in this thermos was prepared by Lou Yang.

Pei Yi obediently drank a few sips of warm water. The warmth of the water slowly lingered in his stomach, and his pain-torn spirit finally revived a little bit.

“I, I must have caused trouble for Sister Yang and Li Yuan just now.”

It was obviously kind of her to give him a gift, and also a kindness to hand him a utility knife. Pei Yi had originally wanted to hold it, but really couldn’t—

Bo Yueming took the small gift from the back seat of the car, comforting him, “Look, Director Lou sent it with us.”

The incident had happened suddenly, and after Bo Yueming clearly confirmed that Pei Yi’s mood had eased, he took him to the car to rest temporarily.

Lou Yang and the other two had Pei Yi in their hearts, so they asked Lao Fu to bring the thermos of water and this unopened gift.

Bo Yueming didn’t want Pei Yi to use his fingers, but also wanted to divert his attention, so after a look of agreement, the exquisite small black box—

It was a pin in the shape of a big-headed cat with a sleek and cute YWY in the middle.

A burst of warmth filled Pei Yi’s bleak eyes. “Does our studio’s logo look good?”

Bo Yueming’s heartstrings loosened slightly. “It looks good. Who designed it?”

Pei Yi touched the pin with his uninjured left finger. “Sister Yang personally designed it. I……”

Words of confession came to his lips, but were blocked by another, more important matter. “Er-ge, who opened the door for you just now?”

Only a very small number of people knew about Bo Yueming’s recovered eyesight. If he rushed in directly to find him, wouldn’t he have revealed himself?

“It doesn’t matter. If the secret is revealed, then it’s revealed. I didn’t intend to hide it.”

Bo Yueming answered easily, without giving Pei Yi any additional psychological burden. “They are all people you trust, so I can trust them because of you.”

Half an hour ago, Bo Yueming had gone upstairs to pick him up after receiving Pei Yi’s message.

He quickly reached the fifth floor and got out of the elevator, but there was no reply to the next WeChat message he sent, only a few faint noises from inside calling Pei Yi’s name.

Bo Yueming felt that something was wrong, so he simply pressed the doorbell. He got the jist of the situation from Li Yuan, and then took long strides to find Pei Yi hiding in the bathroom.

“Is it better?” Bo Yueming checked the time. It was eleven o’clock. “I’ll have Lao Fu drive. Let’s go home.”

Pei Yi’s temples were still throbbing. “En.”

. . . . . .

The night was deep and dark.

Hearing the sound of the door being opened, Inspector poked out of its cat nest, saw that it was its two masters, and lazily shrank back inside.

Pei Yi didn’t disturb the sweet dreams of his beloved pet. His eyes were unspeakably tired. “Er-ge, I want to take a shower before sleeping.”

Bo Yueming replied, “Okay. You have to pay attention to your right hand, don’t bump it and hurt it.”

“Don’t worry, ba. I’m not a child anymore, I’ll be careful.”

Pei Yi didn’t waste too much time showering. When he came out after changing into his pajamas, Bo Yueming entered his small room again. 

“Er-ge?”

After washing up, Bo Yueming had also changed into pajamas, and was holding a small mahogany utensil in his hand. “It’s incense for sleeping. Will you try it?”

He was afraid that Pei Yi wouldn’t sleep well tonight after such mood swings.

This sleeping fragrance was formulated by a perfume maker who was invited by Old Mrs. Bo after she got old, so the effect should be pretty good.

Bo Yueming could easily see through Pei Yi’s exhaustion. “Lie down first. I’ll leave after I fix it up for you.”

“En.”

The throbbing pain in his head had not yet dissipated.

Physically and mentally exhausted, Pei Yi no longer tried to hold on, but lay down quietly under the quilt.

Bo Yueming lit the sleeping incense and placed the incense device beside the bed. He leaned down and took the initiative to tuck in the quilt around Pei Yi’s body. He wanted to ask something, but didn’t dare speak—

He actually wanted to sleep with Pei Yi, but was afraid of touching the bottom line in the other’s heart.

Bo Yueming restrained his selfishness. “Go to sleep. Good night.”

Pei Yi didn’t speak, but silently met the eyes of the person beside him—

Those dark blue eyes were no longer like ice-cold seawater until the moonlight, but instead revealed a cherishment and affection that was unique to him.

In that instant, the already loose defenses around Pei Yi’s heart completely disintegrated, allowing the sense of security brought by Bo Yueming to continue to drill deep into his heart.

“Bo Yueming.”

Pei Yi grabbed the sleeve of the person in front of him and asked in a whisper, “Can you stay with me?”

It was an active invitation, but also a fragile plea.

Bo Yueming grasped his slightly cold fingertips, replying with extreme gentleness, “I can, that’s exactly what I wanted.”

Under the low light of the desk lamp, the fragrance of the sleeping incense released wispy smoke that spread to the surroundings, injecting a faint scent into the air.

Pei Yi turned his gaze back from the smoke to Bo Yueming’s face and asked, “Er-ge, don’t you want to know why I did that tonight?”

Bo Yueming placed his hand lightly on the quilt. “I want to, and also don’t.”

Pei YI didn’t understand for a moment. “Huh?”

“I want to know, but I don’t want to force you to answer.”

“I want to know, but I don’t want you to be forced to relive that pain.”

Pei Yi heard Bo Yueming’s answer, and his eyes became sore. “I, I don’t know what to say.”

He knew that his behavior tonight was strange and abnormal in the eyes of outsiders, but this could not be explained clearly in just a few words.

Pei Yi had been adopted by a couple when he was a child, and after a period of happy and carefree days, his two nominal adoptive fathers experienced relationship problems, and the trouble was near hopeless.

Finally, when Pei Yi came home one day, he found Father Rong in the art room—

The painter who was once so good and gentle tore up his works one by one in front of him and condemned his former lover with fanatical desperation.

Pei Yi was strangled by that mad Father Rong and almost suffocated, and then, in front of him, the other party picked up a utility knife and stabbed himself in the heart and cut his wrists.

Everything happened so suddenly that Pei Yi, who was still in “survival mode,” had no time to react.

He had never seen so much blood, and couldn’t stop it.

Every time he dreamed late at night, he felt that he could hear the sound of the utility knife piercing through skin, and he could see patches of blood—

Since then, Pei Yi had developed an inexplicable repulsion toward such things.

He had originally thought that as he grew older and time passed, all of this would heal by itself, but today, he realized that some scars had already become entrenched in his heart.

It had not become old and faded, and was not something that could be erased through extreme suppression.

Seeing Pei Yi’s brow furrow again, Bo Yueming made the choice for him. “Then don’t say it.”

Pei Yi thought for a moment, then said in a whisper, “Give me a little more time.”

“Okay.” Bo Yueming could only coax him into his arms. “Sleep early, I know you’re really tired.”

Pei Yi didn’t show the slightest aversion, and unconsciously pressed himself closer.

He tried closing his eyes, and in his mind was Xu Rong’s bloody hand holding the utility knife. Before the fear had time to occupy his body and mind, the sound of Bo Yueming coaxing him to sleep met his ears.

“I’m with you tonight, don’t be afraid.”

“Good night.”

Pei Yi didn’t open his eyes, but took the initiative to touch Bo Yueming’s fingers, holding them lightly as if searching for a sense of security.

Xu Rong’s heart-wrenching and desperate exhortations still lingered in the back of his mind. In the past, Pei Yi didn’t dare to face it, didn’t dare to think too much about it, but this time he suddenly had a burst of courage, and heeded his own voice—

Father Rong, I’m sorry.

I seem to really like Bo Yueming, and I don’t want to be obedient anymore.

. . . . . . 

The breathing of the person in his arms gradually smoothed out.

Bo Yueming clearly confirmed that Pei Yi was in a deep sleep, then silently got out of bed and left the room.

He picked up the cell phone that had been left in the living room and thought for a moment before finally making a call.

Ring—Ring—

Within two seconds, the call was picked up by the other party. “Hello?”

Afraid of waking Pei Yi up, Bo Yueming lowered his voice. “Professor, I’m sorry to keep you up by calling at such a late hour.”

Tong Xing on the other end of the line was a professor of psychiatry, and was well-known in the industry.

“Mr. Bo, not at all. What is the other party’s situation, can you tell me carefully?”

Bo Yueming had already firmly imprinted everything that happened tonight in his mind. When he explained it to Professor Tong, he recounted it in great detail, and not even a single element that might affect her judgment was spared.

“According to what you’ve said, there is a high probability that it is post-traumatic stress disorder.” This was Professor Tong’s preliminary judgment.

He explained the symptoms in detail to Bo Yueming, and then said, “Psychological reactions like this basically have a point of origin.” 

Bo Yueming’s brow was tightly furrowed. “A utility knife?”

According to what Lou Yang said, Pei Yi saw her handing over a utility knife, and his mood changed suddenly.

“Yes, post-traumatic stress disorder is basically caused by a patient experiencing or witnessing a serious life-threatening event, such as……”

Bo Yueming guarded Pei Yi very well, and Professor Tong didn’t know Pei Yi’s real identity. “In the case of this patient, either someone once threatened his life with a utility knife…..”

“……or a person with a utility knife may have hurt someone else in front of him.”

“It is possible that this person was very important to the patient.”

“…….”

Bo Yueming’s gaze re-locked on Pei Yi, who was sleeping peacefully in bed, and his mind was a storm of thoughts—

Did Pei Ruzhang and his wife threaten Pei Yi with a utility knife? Or did Shu Wan do something in front of Pei Yi?

No.

He had long suspected that Pei Yi was not the original “Little Young Master Pei,” so his psychological trauma would most likely not have been caused by these people.

Bo Yueming thought of something and asked uncertainly, “Professor Tong, if he has been holding pessimistic thoughts about relationships, could it be related to this matter?”

“If the patient has been hurt emotionally, or if a former lover threatened him with a utility knife, they could possibly be linked, but this is just speculation, after all—”

And doctors could never just rely on guesswork for patients.

Professor Tong gave his own suggestion, “Mr. Bo, it is best to take the patient to the hospital for a formal examination, and then apply medication or physiological treatment after the situation is determined.”

After all, there was still a certain difference between the situation as reported by others and the patient’s own account.

Bo Yueming replied calmly, “I understand. Thank you, Professor Tong. I will contact you another time, excuse me.”

“You’re welcome.”

Bo Yueming hung up the phone. He returned to the room, lay down on the bed, and wrapped Pei Yi in his arms, still emotionally entangled by the conversation just now—

Post-traumatic stress disorder.

Most likely by a former lover? Or someone important to him was hurt?

Bo Yueming’s heart overflowed with a sharp, uncontrollable pain. He tilted his head and kissed Pei Yi’s hair, his head full of thoughts.

. . . . . . 

Dawn came quietly.

When Pei Yi awoke, Bo Yueming was still lying in bed with him.

“Good morning, did you sleep well?”

Realizing their posture of embracing each other, Pei Yi’s sleepy face became red again, but there was no uncomfortable aversion.

The other party’s embrace was very warm and steady, as if extending an indestructible barrier to prevent his dreams from being disturbed.

Pei Yi chuckled and regained his former spirit. “Good morning, Er-ge.”

Bo Yueming pulled over his injured fingers. “Does it still hurt? Shall I have a private doctor come to the house today and take a look?”

Pei Yi shook his head. “No need, I have to go to the studio today.”

Bo Yueming frowned. “You’re still going?”

“En, how can anyone give themself a holiday after working for one day?”

Pei Yi sat up, trying to dispel his drowsiness. “Besides, if I don’t go today, I’m afraid it will make Li Yuan and the others even more worried.”

Bo Yueming asked back, “You’re not afraid of me worrying?”

Pei Yi was taken aback, and turned to look at him.

Bo Yueming’s gaze was still focused on his fingers, his worry palpable.

“It’s just fine, look!” Pei Yi bent his knuckles slightly. “I’ll just come back at night and apply medicine regularly. Will you help me?”

The last four words were obviously a bit coquettish and flattering.

Bo Yueming had no choice but to say, “You still have to pay attention, don’t bump it and don’t get it wet. I’ll pick you up tonight.”

Pei Yi smiled back. “Okay.”

. . . . . . .

Pei Yi had just arrived at the studio’s office when Li Yuan, Lou Yang, and Xiang Nansheng crowded in behind him, hesitating to speak or probe.

Pei Yi answered before they could say anything, “Li Yuan, Sister Yang, and Brother Xiang, I’m okay now.”

“When I was a child, I was a bit leery about utility knives. I’m really sorry for making you worry about me last night.”

Lou Yang asked, “You’re really okay?”

“If I wasn’t, how could I come to work at the studio on time?” Pei Yi nodded and pointed to the pin on his clothes. “I like this gift. Thank you, Sister Yang.”

Li Yuan was the first to breathe a sigh of relief. “It’s great that you’re fine.”

Pei Yi glanced over the three of them one by one with a hint of guilt. “Then I have one more thing I want to ask you to keep secret. Bo Yueming’s eyes……”

Lou Yang was the first to react. “Done. The three of us are not loose-tongued people, so we won’t talk about it.”

Li Yuan and Xiang Nansheng nodded.

If Bo Yueming hadn’t arrived in time yesterday to comfort Pei Yi when he was about to collapse emotionally, the three of them still didn’t know what they would have done.

“Thank you.”

“Since you’re fine, me and Nansheng will go back to work first.”

The closer the time to launch, the more intense the work was in each department, and as the people charge, they must not take it lightly.

Lou Yang and Xiang Nansheng left together, and the office door closed again.

Only then did Pei Yi and Li Yuan meet each other’s eyes again. “Pear Garden, too many things happened at once yesterday, and there is one thing I haven’t had time to ask for your thoughts on.”

Li Yuan was curious. “What do you need to ask me? Teacher Will.”

“Speak seriously.”

Pei Yi leaned against his temporarily arranged desk, considering his words. “Have you ever thought about completely separating YWY from Dawn Games before the launch of The Last Fog?”

“…….”

The look in Li Yuan’s eyes changed slightly.

Seeing his reaction, Pei Yi sighed. “You should know what I mean.”

He had checked the public shareholding data of Dawn Games. An Yang and Li Yuan were the major shareholders, and the proportion of the former was slightly greater than the latter.

As for other investment shareholders, they accounted for a small percentage.

If it were three days ago, Pei Yi might not have asked this question, but it was different now—

Four years ago, An Yang was able to “gift” Li Yuan’s competitive investment plan to Pei Huan.

What about now, four years later? What about in the future? Would she transfer the Dawn Games shares to Pei Huan?

If this was the case, what about YWY Studios, which was affiliated with Dawn Games?

Pei Yi dared not say that he completely understood An Yang, but he was really worried about Pei Huan—

He was willing to work with Li Yuan, but he didn’t want Pei Huan to interfere in his career, not if there was even the slightest possibility.

Li Yuan looked directly at Pei Yi. “Of course I understand what you mean.”

Pei Yi was afraid that it would weigh on his mind, so he explained, “According to what we discussed before, I don’t really have the right to meddle in decisions about the commercial operations of The Last Fog 1.0.”

“Where can you meddle? The Last Fog was originally your idea and your hard work. I was lucky to meet a partner like you.”

Li Yuan felt that his friend’s consideration was not unreasonable. 

He had already put in enough energy for Dawn Games, and now it was time for him to plan for himself.

YWY and The Last Fog were the starting points for his new career, and at the same time, he had gathered the hard work and painstaking efforts of many people. He could not and should not work hard for other people in vain.

Li Yuan considered further, “It still involves the investment with GM, which I’m afraid will be difficult to deal with.”

“The subject of GM’s investment has always been The Last Fog, and the connected account also belongs to the studio. We only need to separate the studio, explain the situation to their senior management, and make an additional agreement.”

Overall, it was not difficult to do, and just needed someone to make contact.

Li Yuan was thoughtful. “The senior management of GM?”

Pei Yi raised his eyebrows and suggested, “How about this, each of us will persuade one person. I’ll talk to Bo Yueming, and you go to Yan Cen. As long as we can convince the two of them, the rest of GM should not be difficult.”

“……”

When Li Yuan heard the name “Yan Cen,” there was a trace of nervousness in his eyes, and he used teasing to cover it up, “You found yourself the easiest person to connect with.”

“Really? Is it difficult for you and Mr. Yan to discuss this?” Pei Yi snorted with a smile. What was he thinking, was Yan Cen not easy to deal with?

Li Yuan stabilized his expression, and said in a businesslike tone, “I’ll try.”

. . . . . . .

In no time at all, it was three o’clock in the afternoon.

Seeing the egg tarts and other desserts that were suddenly brought to the office, Pei Yi couldn’t help but send a WeChat message with a photo to Bo Yueming: “Er-ge, you ordered these?”

Bo Yueming on the other end replied: “It’s time to feed the kitten.”

Pei Yi took a bite of crispy egg tart and muttered to himself, “How am I like a kitten?”

In the blink of an eye, Bo Yueming sent another WeChat message: “I have a project meeting. I’ll pick you up later, wait for me.”

“Okay.”

Pei Yi didn’t want to disturb him, so he answered briefly.

He distributed the afternoon snacks delivered by Bo Yueming to Li Yuan, who also had a sweet tooth, and then huddled at his desk to enjoy them.

While eating, Pei Yi suddenly thought about the decision he made when he was half awake and half asleep the night before. But one small question mark after another popped up in his mind—

He had never been in a relationship before, so how should he respond to Bo Yueming? The other party didn’t seem to have said words like “I like you” or “together” exactly.

He couldn’t acquiesce to the marriage relationship by default, right?

No good! That was too casual. There must be some actions and verbal promises. He had to find a strategy!

Pei Yi quickly stuffed the remaining half of the egg tart into his mouth, picked up his cell phone, and clicked on the search bar.

He quickly glanced at the opposite side, and after confirming that his friend was enjoying his afternoon snacks, poked with his uninjured left hand to type in—

“How to confess to the person you like.”

As he typed this line, Pei Yi thought of Bo Yueming’s appearance and figure, and couldn’t help but add conditions, “Tall and handsome, that kind of person!”

---

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

In fact, even Zhong Yuehong didn’t know the true origins of this woman.

About fourteen years ago, Yu Dali suddenly brought her to settle at the border, claiming that she was his cousin named Mu Mu. 

He and Zhong Yuehong were old acquaintances, and she had never heard of a cousin who was such a beautiful woman. Under her repeated questioning, Yu Dali whispered: “My lord entrusted me to tell you just to take care of her and don’t inquire about other things.”

Only then did Zhong Yuehong realize that this was Zhao Yelan’s arrangement. She didn’t ask any more questions, and only regarded her as Yu Dali’s cousin and took good care of her.

When she first arrived, this cousin seemed as if she had lost her soul. She didn’t eat or sleep, and just stared at the sky all day long like the walking dead. Occasionally, she would silently stare at the knife in the kitchen. Fortunately, Yu Dali followed her at all times, and she was not allowed to touch sharp objects, let alone run around.

Later, the situation gradually improved. This person became more cognizant, but her brain didn’t work well, and it was often said that she had forgotten a lot of things. 

Zhong Yuehong persuaded her that since she couldn’t remember things, then not to think about them, and just live a good life.

“Cousin.” Standing by the desk, Gu Niaoniao called Yu Dali first, then looked at Zhao Yelan and Yan Mingting. “There are guests?”

“Yes, ah.” Yu Dali smiled, and then whispered to Zhao Yelan, “She may not remember you.”

Zhao Yelan nodded. His expression darkened for a moment, but then he thought that it would be good to forget. Those past events would have disappeared due to the side effects of the fake death medicine.

“I’ll go and pour tea for them.” Gu Niaoniao put down her brush, and Zhao Yelan said: “No need to take the trouble, you can continue to write. Aren’t you in a hurry to sell it?”

Gu Niaoniao hesitated, and looked at them with some embarrassment.

Yu Dali saw that his lord had spoken, and said: “Yes, you are busy with your work. I will entertain them.”

“All right. I hope everyone will forgive me for my lack of hospitality.” Gu Niaoniao nodded, picked up the brush again, and buried her head in serious writing.

The group retreated to the main room, and Yu Dali said in a low voice: “Her situation has improved in the past few years, and she makes a living by selling calligraphy paintings. There are also fruits and vegetables that she grows in the backyard. The children in the neighborhood like to come to her to study, so I plan to open a private school for her and let her be a teacher.”

“Very well, I will pay for the cost of running the private school,” Zhao Yelan said.

Yu Dali: “My Lord need not be bothered with this. The two of us have saved some money over the years. We’ll start with a simple one, so that the children can read and study, and she can have something to do.”

“This cannot be done. It is a matter of enlightenment and wisdom, and you cannot act carelessly.” 

Zhao Yelan glanced at Yan Mingting, who took out a money bag and tossed it on the table. The sound made it clear that it was not a small amount. “This is it. I hope you can teach an Imperial Examination champion in this small town here.”

Yu Dali couldn’t refuse, so he could only promise that he would handle this matter well.

After a while, Zhao Yelan entered the study alone. He came to the desk and looked down at Gu Niaoniao’s writing, discussing it with her from time to time.

Turning his head, he glanced at Gu Niaoniao’s serious profile. The scar on her face was no longer ferocious. Just like her handwriting, it was a swipe of a brush on clean rice paper.

He sometimes thought that when Gu Niaoniao woke up and found that she was still alive, perhaps she would blame him for using the fake death medicine on her without authorization.

But now, seeing that the other party was living a simple life, he was very relieved. Perhaps she resented him, but Zhao Yelan didn’t regret it. Even if it happened again, he would still choose to save her.

He asked casually: “Are there many people who buy your calligraphy paintings?”

“En.” Gu Niaoniao nodded and turned to look at him. Her smile was not as teasing as before, but a sincere, childlike smile. “In the beginning, no one came to buy them, but a young master took a fancy to them, and kept coming to buy more. Since then, I have to write and write.”

“Is that young master good-looking? Does he like you?”

Gu Niaoniao shook her head: “He said he bought them for someone else. He has a friend who likes my handwriting very much, and will buy as much as I write. But when I asked him who his friend was, he never told me.”

The corners of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched, and he asked again: “How is the weather here?”

“There is often blowing sand, and water is commonly scarce. The sun is so hot that people get tanned.”

“Have you considered moving away with your cousin? How about living in the South?”

“I won’t go. I’m familiar with this place. The neighbors are very kind to us, and my friends from my cousin’s military camp often come to help with the work. Although it is a bit difficult, such days are good.”

“That’s great.”

“It’s time for me to pick vegetables. Do you want to go together?” Gu Niaoniao asked.

“Yes, ah.”

When the two came to the backyard, Gu Niaoniao crouched on the ground with a basket to pick some tomatoes. She handed him the reddest, largest one and asked him if he wanted to eat one to quench his thirst.

Zhao Yelan had just stretched out his hand, but the other party suddenly withdrew her hand and turned around to walk to the side: “This one is too dirty. I’ll wash it for you first.”

Zhao Yelan’s eyes dimmed slightly. Looking at her cheerful back, he suddenly called out: “Gu Niaoniao.”

Gu Niaoniao stopped and turned her head: “Are you calling for me? Have you mistaken me for someone?”

Zhao Yelan asked: “We’ve been getting along for a while, why haven’t you asked my name?”

“Look at me, I was so busy that I forgot to ask. What is your name?”

“Zhao Mengting. My name is Zhao Menting.”

“It is an honor to meet you, Zhao Mengting.” Gu Niaoniao smiled. “My name is Mu Mu.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Zhao Yelan smiled slightly.

Dinner was eaten with Yu Dali’s family. Yu Dali was busy alone in the kitchen, and Zhong Yuehong went to help.

Gu Niaoniao washed the tomatoes and handed them to Zhao Yelan, asking Yan Mingting: “Hello, what should I call you?”

Yan Mingting said: “You can just call me Chivalrous Hero Yan.”

“Cough, cough.” Zhao Yelan was biting into a tomato, and suddenly coughed twice. Juice flowed out from the corner of his mouth. Yan Mingting wiped it with his fingertips and asked: “What, do you have an opinion?”

Zhao Yelan rolled his eyes and walked aside to eat the tomato.

“Okay, Chivalrous Hero Yan.” Gu Niaoniao smiled lightly. “I heard from my cousin that the two of you have been married for more than ten years?”

“Yes, ah.”

“Is it going well?”

“Very well. He listens to me a lot and takes care of me all the time. Not long ago, he even brought me water to wash my feet,” Yan Mingting said proudly.

Zhao Yelan glanced back at him and took a vicious bite of tomato: “What are you daydreaming about, why don’t you hurry and help out in the kitchen?”

Yan Mingting: “Aren’t the two of them cooking?”

“I want to eat steamed buns.”

“It has to be my buns. See? He relies on me every day.” After Yan Mingting finished bragging to Gu Niaoniao, he walked into the kitchen with pride.

Gu Niaoniao laughed: “He’s really interesting. You must be very happy every day when you’re with him.”

Zhao Yelan gave a hum and laughed as well.

After dinner, Zhong Yuehong’s husband and children also came over, and everyone sat in the courtyard, gazing at the stars and chatting about daily trivialities.

The next day, Yan Mingting took Zhao Yelan to the military camp.

The moment the soldiers saw Yan Mingting, they immediately rushed up. Some of them knew Zhao Yelan, but there were many others who had heard him mentioned but never seen him.

“Is this Zhao-daren?” After greeting Yan Mingting, everyone looked at the person next to him eagerly. They couldn’t tell his age at all. Wearing reddish-purple robes, he had his hair half tied up, and there was a jade pendant at his slender waist. His appearance was impeccable, his skin very white, which really made their group of tanned people a little ashamed. It was hard to imagine that such a gentle and good-looking person had been the regent for ten years.

“We’ve heard Lieutenant General Zhong say that Zhao-daren was good-looking. I thought it was a joke, but didn’t expect him to really look that good!”

“Of course.” Yan Mingting felt honored by extension, and put his arm around Zhao Yelan’s shoulders, introducing him ceremonially to everyone. “Come, recognize him. This is the general’s wife, so be polite when you see him, do you hear me?”

“We hear you!!”

Zhao Yelan suddenly smiled, which gave rise to the amazement of others. In less than a stick of incense time, the entire military camp heard that the General was coming with his wife, who was good-looking.

Others rushed over one after another, and the big tent was crowded with people.

Yan Mingting knew that he didn’t like noise, so he finished visiting the big tent, he squeezed through the crowd and led him out, jumped on a horse, and took him away first.

Although the border conditions were a bit difficult, there was also good scenery. Yan Mingting took him to the desert, and Zhao Yelan was shocked by the sight before him.

Looking around, it seemed as if the whole world had turned brownish-yellow. The entire ground was full of yellow sand, with layers of ups and downs. A troop of camels was being led by people to walk slowly, and the setting sun sank between the vast desert and the lonely sky.

The two walked aimlessly in the desert for a while, and Zhao Yelan became a little tired. When he discovered that he couldn’t find his way, he inexplicably felt a trace of despair. If he were to go out from here alone, he would probably become lost.

“Did you come here often before?” He asked.

“En.” Yan Mingting held up a pinch of yellow sand, which was blown away by the wind. He led Zhao Yelan back and spoke of the past. “When I first came here, I walked here with soldiers for several days and nights before going out.”

Zhao Yelan listened to him talk about these things, silent and focused, until after he finished speaking. He murmured after a while: “Fortunately, the world is peaceful now.”

If Yan Mingting were to go to war again, he couldn’t guarantee that he would let him go.

Thinking of this, at the last moment when the sun was setting, he raised his head and kissed Yan Mingting. The silhouettes of the two were covered with warm yellow light, and it was as if they were the only ones left in the world.

Yan Mingting took him to walk all the nearby places, talking about customs and memories of the past, and they unknowingly stayed at the border for more than a month.

The two had to prepare to leave and go on to the next place.

Before they left, Zhong Yuehong’s family, along with Yu Dali and Gu Niaoniao, all came to see them off. Yan Mingting talked to Zhong Yuehong about the military camp, and Zhao Yelan called Yu Dali to the side to ask: “You’ve worked hard these years, and you are almost forty years old. Have you ever considered getting married? I can arrange someone else to take care of her.”

“I won’t marry or like anyone.” Yu Dali turned to look at Gu Niaoniao and smiled a bit simply and honestly. “I still want to continue to take care of her and be her cousin for the rest of my life. I’m entirely willing.”

Zhao Yelan was silent for a moment, then patted his shoulder with a sigh: “Since that is the case, you can take care of her.”

“Don’t worry, My Lord. I definitely will.”

After the two got into the carriage, everyone stuffed the prepared ointments and dried food into it. Gu Niaoniao walked to the side of the carriage and handed Zhao Yelan a small bundle, saying: “Thank you for talking with me these days. It was nice to meet you.”

“It is the same for me. Go back, ba, we will come again in the future.” Zhao Yelan took the bundle and waved goodbye to them. From afar, he saw this group of people standing in place to watch them off.

When they finally disappeared from sight, Yan Mingting started to sort out the things they had received. Then he saw that Zhao Yelan was holding a small bundle without moving, and asked: “Aren’t you going to see what she gave you?”

“I’m wondering what’s in it.”

“I think it’s probably a calligraphy painting, or maybe the tomatoes she grew herself?” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan smiled meaningfully: “I don’t think so.”

“Then what could it be?”

“Fragrances.”

Yan Mingting was taken aback: “Fragrances?”

Zhao Yelan slowly opened the bag, and there were indeed several sachets inside. He picked them up and smelled them. One of them was the special smell that the Orchid dancer wore, which he had never smelled before, but liked, so it was given to him.

“Why would she give you these?” Yan Mingting was slightly surprised, and a sudden idea popped up in his mind.

Zhao Yelan smiled and said nothing. After checking several sachets one after another, he found that there was a sound like beans colliding in one of them, and it was not filled with fragrant herbs.

He opened it curiously and poured out a bunch of dried fruits.

“Red dates, peanuts, longans, and melon seeds. Why did she give you these? Yan Mingting peeled a few peanuts, and suddenly realized, “Don’t these mean to have a precious son early?”

“She gave me these when I got married.” Zhao Yelan smiled. “Still so lawless.”

Yan Mingting laughed and put away all the things in front of them, then pulled the man onto his lap. He raised his head and kissed him, and his hands also started to be dishonest. 

“Since she wishes for us to have a baby early, we must work hard,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan poked him on the forehead: “You haven’t woken up yet. I’m a man.”

“So what if you’re a man, what if a miracle happens and your stomach tries to make a good showing?” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

---

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Extra 4 <<Table of Contents >> Extra 6

The two would leave at the appointed time, and it was still early, so Liu Xian’an lay back on the bed again in his night clothes. A-Ning deftly rearranged the wardrobe, then turned around to find that his eyes were still open, and asked worriedly: “The young master seems to have been suffering from insomnia recently. Do you really not want to take medicine and recuperate?”

Liu Xian’an explained: “I’m not suffering from insomnia, I’m just thinking about the prince.”

“But the prince is next door to us,” A-Ning said. “And he will take the young master out with him later.”

Liu Xian’an felt that he couldn’t elaborate on this matter, because he was thinking about the one in his dreams. As he thought, it was as if he had returned to that hot spring, where his whole body was soaked and weak, and he had no strength to lift his eyelids. A-Ning had become accustomed to the problem of his young master falling asleep suddenly mid-word, so he quickly rolled up the quilt to cover him. With the weight on his body, Second Young Master Liu met His Royal Highness Xiao Wang once more, but perhaps due to having a doctor’s instincts, he felt that it was not good. Too often would result in an imbalance of qi and blood, so he thought hard, no more sleep, no more sleep, wake up.

He ran all the way in that illusory realm, looking for the world’s exit, but there were hot springs and peach blossom forests everywhere. There were slippery petals beneath his feet, and the sky was raining fallen petals so that he was about to be buried in them. Liang Shu sat by the bed and called him: “Wake up.”

Liu Xian’an opened his eyes, finally breaking free from the Three Thousand Worlds, but he didn’t expect the first thing he saw to be the person from his dreams. He sat up in bed and tried his best to calm his frantic heartbeat: “Why is the prince here? Where is A-Ning?”

“I told him to go back and rest.” Liang Shu said, “It’s almost zishi, do you still want to go to Yu Manor?”

I definitely want to go, but I had to wait for a while. Liu Xian’an threw off the quilt and got out of bed, a little disheveled from sleep. Liang Shu looked away from that smooth neck, following behind him without incident.

“You seem to have nightmares all the time. Do you want to take some tonic? What do you dream about?”

Liu Xian’an was perfunctory: I didn’t dream of anything.

Liang Shu grabbed a strand of his hair: “Is there another old man bothering you?”

Liu Xian’an replied, yes, yes, yes.

Liang Shu didn’t let go, and continued to order, next time don’t dream about the old men, dream about me.

Liu Xian’an had a guilty conscience and couldn’t listen to these words, so he changed the subject: “Why don’t we hurry to Yu Manor.”

Because A-Ning was not around, there was no need to wear the extremely long cloak. The two left the inn together. The night wind in the southwest was very cool, so Liang Shu naturally pulled him over by the waist, leaping up like a giant hawk. Both of them vanished into the dense shadows.

The lights were on in Yu Cong’s courtyard, and there were many maidservants and courtyard guards. The air was filled with a strong scent of medicine. Liu Xian’an removed the mask covering his face and took a small sniff, saying: “Green shucao can cure chest and heart pain, which is common for the elderly. However, green shucao is a strong medicine, and is generally only used when the disease is in the later stages. Only when other medicines are useless will one take the risk of trying it.”

“The shopkeeper also said that Master Yu hadn’t played shuttlecock in the streets for a long time.” Liang Shu said, “Let’s go and look elsewhere.”

Liu Xian’an put on the face mask again. Although there were guards all around, he was not nervous at all, and it was almost like he was “coming for a visit.” And Liang Shu’s mentality was similar. They naturally must investigate the cult, but he also could not delay holding hands with his sweetheart. Not far from Yu Cong’s residence, there was a courtyard full of colorful objects. Liu Xian’an spotted it and asked what it was, so Liang Shu took him there to have a look.

It appeared to be a warehouse, all piled up with useless things such as colored paper and colored cloth, cups, plates, bowls, several large black pots, and many tables, chairs, and benches. Liang Shu said: “They’re things for holding a banquet.”

They all looked brand new, and some of them hadn’t even been taken out of their bundled straw ropes, so they should all have been prepared for the banquet and the Many-Color Festival.

Liang Shu pushed open the door, and Liu Xian’an walked in with him. The lighting in the room was much darker than outside, and many things could only be seen as blurred outlines. After a moment, the eyes of the two gradually adapted to the darkness. At this time, a full moon happened to rise from the dark clouds, and the surroundings became brighter. As soon as it became brighter, the fine hair stood up on the back of Liu Xian’an’s neck, and he vaguely felt that someone was staring at him.

He took a deep breath and slowly turned his head. Looking at it, even though he was prepared, he nearly cried out. Liang Shu covered his mouth and said in a low voice, “Don’t be afraid, it’s a mannequin.”

Liu Xian’an nodded. He knew it was a mannequin, but knowing such did not prevent him from being frightened. Who could stand to run into such a pair of stiff white eyeballs in the dark? Liang Shu held his hand: “I’ll go look, you close your eyes.”

Liu Xian’an turned his eyes away as he said, but was curious, so he turned them back again. The master who crafted the mannequin seemed to have used all his ability, trying to make it develop in the direction of a beautiful girl. But it was also due to this that the mannequin looked extremely close to the appearance of a real person, but with a stiff look that was completely different from one. Wearing a bright red outfit and grinning, it might cause one more timid to wet their pants on the spot.

Liang Shu knocked on the mannequin, and there was a dong dong. He said: “It’s a human-shaped stone covered in a layer of paper.”

“For sacrificial offerings,” Liu Xian’an explained. “I’ve seen this sort of folk legend in books. If someone in the family is sick, one will throw a stone bride into the river so that the sick person will be blessed by the river god.”

“That rubbish makes no sense.” Liang Shu shook his head. “Fishers and bridge builders all beg the river god to come down, and curing diseases and preserving lives also requires the intervention of the river god. Moreover, the long river winds tens of thousands of feet, and there are sick people in all the villages along its banks. How many people does the river god have to marry?”

“If it was reasonable, it wouldn’t be called a ‘folk rumor’,” Liu Xian’an said. “Everyone loves to hear folk rumors where one must get married.”

Liang Shu asked: “You like to hear them too?”

Liu Xian’an replied: “Well enough.”

It was better to hear about a pair of lovers overcoming obstacles and finally getting married than to hear about an old monster going down the mountain to eat people. Liu Xian’an mused to himself, just like the current Huaizhen city, if what they caught up with was not a ghost, but two people getting married, the whole city could set up a feast. Wouldn’t that be very pleasant?

Liang Shu vowed: “Then whichever city we pass by in the future, if there is a wedding banquet, I will take you there to eat.”

As for the gloomy stone bride in front of them, it looked like she wouldn’t be able to marry the river god anytime soon. Liang Shu took Liu Xian’an out of the courtyard and went east, where the Young Master Yu, Yu Zhong, resided.

The lights in the hall were also on at this time, and there were servants coming and going to bring tea and snacks, obviously entertaining a guest.

This “guest” was the wizard who was said to be extremely effective in catching ghosts, named Yin Die.

In his forties, with a thin body and high cheekbones, he wore a dark-colored cloak. He had a deep complexion, and did indeed look like a master from a foreign land.

Liang Shu poked a small hole in the window paper, and asked Liu Xian’an to come over to watch the liveliness.

Young Master Yu probed: “What about the haunting?”

“I’ll need to catch the ghost myself.” Yin Die half-closed his eyes, “But the river god’s marriage cannot be delayed. The whole city will be notified tomorrow, and it will be done the day after tomorrow. Young Master Yu doesn’t want his father to have any troubles, does he?”

Yu Zhong continued: “Of course not, of course not, but—”

Before he could say “but,” Yin Die had already got up, flung his sleeves, and walked out the door. The tea set on the table with the cloak was overturned, and the old lady who was waiting to the side hurriedly went to clean up, but he didn’t even turn his head. He only left a sentence: “I’ll go to see Master Yu again, if Young Master Yu wants to hold the Many-Color Festival, he should prepare things quickly.”

Yu Zhong made a sound of affirmation, but the expression on his face was not very good. After Yin Die walked away, he grew even more angry, and seeing that no one was pleasing to the eye, he kicked out the maid and the old lady, cursing: “That deceptive dog, it’s just the old man who believes him. What should be prepared is already prepared. After all, isn’t it all just silver and gold?”

His trusted steward reminded him to keep his voice down, and that the walls had ears. However, Yu Zhong still wanted to curse. Not to mention Wan Yuan crawling out of her grave, Yin Die had probably planned it himself. Now the old man had been deceived to the point that he believed whatever he said, and his mind was confused due to his illness, but it was easy for him to open his mouth wide.

Liang Shu and Liu Xian’an listened outside for a while, and could roughly figure it out. This was the young master of the Yu family. He didn’t believe in ghosts at all, but could do nothing about Master Yu’s deep belief in Yin Die. Thus, he could only allow the wizard to run rampant in Yu Manor, and Yu Zhong only dared to to feel distressed about the money behind his back, even cursing his father.

Liu Xian’an pinched his nose and forced a sneeze back.

It was the first time Liang Shu had seen this sort of technique. He touched the other’s cold hand, leading him away from Yu Manor and back to the inn.

Liu Xian’an: “Achoo!”

A-Ning: “I told you to wear a cloak when you went out!”

Liu Xian’an heard but did not listen, entering the room lightly. He said: “I’m not cold. Why aren’t you asleep?”

A-Ning replied: “I’ve already woken up. Seeing that the young master had not come back, I was a little worried, so I came here and waited.”

“With the prince here, what are you worried about?” Liu Xian’an cupped his own face in his hands. “Warm.”

A-Ning commented: “The way the young master talks and does things now, he looks more and more like the prince.”

Liu Xian’an thought for a moment: “Intimidating without being angry?”

“Not quite like that.”

Liu Xian’an simply kept his face unchanged and put his hand into A-Ning’s neckline. A-Ning was so cold that he screamed and hid to the side, saying: “This is what you call not cold?”

Liu Xian’an explained: “When we were spying, the prince was holding me, so I naturally wasn’t cold.”

A-Ning didn’t realize that there was something wrong with this, because his young master looked weak and not very frost-resistant, so he needed to be held. He asked the shopkeeper to bring hot water for washing, and asked: “Did you find anything out?”

“According to Yu Zhong and the wizard, the Many-Color Festival will be reopened the day after tomorrow.” Liu Xian’an said, “If the female ghost’s true purpose is to put a stop to the Many-Color Festival, then when the news spreads tomorrow, she will probably take action.”

A-Ning was not very interested in the Many-Color Festival and ghost hunting. He only thought, if the female ghost makes trouble tomorrow night, wouldn’t his young master want to follow His Royal Highness Xiao Wang to watch the excitement again and not be able to sleep?

He speedily helped him wash up, then stuffed him under the quilt with great force and said: “Sleep!”

Liu Xian’an had not yet reacted, and didn’t know why he was lying down. He said: “But I still want to talk with the prince for a while.”

“It’s yinshi. The prince is going to sleep too.” A-Ning was unmoved. He had never thought before that his young master would someday refuse to sleep honestly. If this were to be written in a family letter, neither the Master or First Young Master would believe it.

Liu Xian’an was forced to lie on the bed, thinking about things and flipping pancakes,^[1] and only felt faintly sleepy when the pancakes were fully baked. This time, he did not dream of the hot springs and His Royal Highness Xiao Wang, but of the stone bride from Yu Manor following behind him, screaming at the top of her lungs.

The screaming was so shrill that Second Young Master Liu was almost at the point of death, so he could only say to her calmly: “You sit down, let’s talk about the Heavenly Dao.”

But the stone bride didn’t listen or speak, and only stared at him with her two eyeballs. Second Young Master Liu also looked at her for a while and felt that it was really boring, so he called a white crane and ignored her. He broke through the clouds ninety thousand li away toward the red sun in the sky, and returned to the present world, swaying and at ease.

And the first person he saw when he opened his eyes was still Liang Shu, who was sitting by the bed. He said: “It seems that this dream is pretty good. You’re smiling.”

Liu Xian’an was rather puzzled, and wondered if it was the other way around. Dreaming about His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was obviously very good, but nine times out of ten, he felt the panic and confusion of a nightmare, but dreaming about ghosts was very peaceful and quiet.

Liang Shu didn’t know what was going on in his mind at the moment. He frowned thoughtfully, thinking that it was the old white-bearded men who were causing trouble, so he stretched out his hand and lifted him up to a sitting position. His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was already familiar with this process of taking advantage of beauties, and would return to this soft fragrance and warmth from time to time. Of course, this was mainly due to the fact that the Sleeping Immortal often failed to distinguish between dreams and reality upon waking up, his mind confused and muddled, and could be manipulated at will.

Grab him and move him.

It was good that A-Ning couldn’t see this, or perhaps he would drive the prince out in a rebellious manner.

Liu Xian’an leaned back on his waist pillow, still unwilling to move. He originally had not slept for long.

Liang Shu said: “Eat something first, then go to sleep.”

Liu Xian’an still didn’t move, so His Royal Highness Xiao Wang picked him up as a matter of course and made it appear that he had suffered a loss: “This lord has never served others in such a way before.”

The service was not good, far worse than A-Ning’s. No matter how precious this lazy fellow was, he could only rally his spirit and do everything himself. He dodged the hot towel thrown at him: “The prince has been staying in my room?”

Liang Shu nodded, handing him the towel: “I saw that A-Ning was a little sleepy, so I asked him to go back to his room and rest for a while.”

But the actual conversation that morning went like this—

A-Ning: “I’m not sleepy.”

Gao Lin: “You’re sleepy.”

A-Ning: “I’m really not sleepy.”

Gao Lin: “You really are sleepy.”

The two recited their mantras back and forth several times, and the guards next to them were all dazed. They wondered if Lieutenant General Gao had learned some medical skills himself, in order to forcibly make a diagnosis and arrange for others to sleep more.

Of course, Second Young Master Liu didn’t know all of this for the time being. After washing up, he sat at the table and took a piece of pastry to eat. Liang Shu opened the window to let in some air, but the breeze brought in the voices of the common people talking on the street. Liu Xian’an’s ears were very handy, and could pick up even a casual sentence. He immediately asked: “There was another haunting last night?”

Liang Shu nodded: “Yes, the screaming woke up half the city.”

“No wonder I heard it in my dreams,” Liu Xian’an said. “There was really a ghost screaming.”

“I originally wanted to let you sleep a bit longer.” Liang Shu opened the window all the way. “Have breakfast first, and after that, I’ll take you out to have a look.”

---

[1] “Flipping pancakes” is to toss and turn. ⮐

---

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

Tong Ou said: “Yu Manor has behaved too cleanly and innocently these years. It stands to reason that this sort of big, local family should be the first target of the Baifu Sect, so we have not relaxed our attitude toward the Yu Cong father and son, but nothing has been discovered, and it seems that no cult disciples have come to lobby the Yu family.”

Liu Xian’an understood what he meant. There was nothing wrong with being clean and innocent, but that would have to be the cleanliness after the Baifu Sect failed to win them over, not like now. It was obviously a fat sheep, but the cult seemed to ignore it entirely.

Liang Shu asked: “So you haven’t found any flaws in them?”

“None existed at first,” Tong Ou said, “but then I found Uncle Wan and heard from him that Master Yu had donated the coffin and hired a wizard to urge an early burial. I felt that this was unreasonable, and reported it to the commander again. A new round of investigations was launched toward the Yu family, and this time we finally found a secret account, which revealed a little bit of the relationship between the Yu family and the Baifu Sect.”

“Only a little bit?”

Tong Ou was ashamed when asked: “Yes, only a little bit, not enough to be used as evidence.”

This time, it was also because of the story of the haunting and Wan Yuan’s tomb being struck by lightning that Tong Ou led his troops here ahead of schedule. Otherwise, according to the original plan, the “bait” and spies that lured in the Yu father and son would have to search for evidence for several more months.

But then “Wan Yuan” crawled out of the grave. When Tong Ou heard about it, he was in a daze, and even thought a little extravagantly. Perhaps his lover from back then was not dead, just persecuted so that she had nowhere to go, so she feigned death and fled to another place. According to her character, she would definitely come back for revenge, which was why the “haunting” was causing trouble all over the city.

“But as soon as I came, I saw that skeleton.” He looked forward to a miracle all the way, but didn’t receive it. Tong Ou said in a hoarse voice, “I killed her.”

“It was the murderer who killed her,” Liu Xian’an corrected. “Commander Tong has investigated the cult for more than ten years, so he naturally knows that they are either extremely self-interested and clever people, or extremely ignorant devotees. When the latter is manipulated by the former, the only ones who suffer are the normal people who only want to live in peace.” Wan-guniang, for example, and the girls who disappeared mysteriously and couldn’t crawl out of their graves, along with thousands of others.

Tong Ou hesitated: “I really don’t understand. Who would pretend to be a ghost and cause this mess?”

Liang Shu said: “That depends on what the other party’s purpose is.”

“Purpose, ah.” Liu Xian’an analyzed, “There used to be a Many-Color Festival in Huaizhen City, but because of the haunting, it has not been held so far. Could it be that the purpose of the ghost is to prevent this Many-Color Festival?”

Liang Shu sent someone down to inquire, and after a while, a guard went upstairs to report that the Many-Color Festival was really proposed by the Yu family. The purpose was to drive away illness. That Old Master Yu was not in good health recently, and hadn’t played shuttlecock on the streets for a long time.

Liu Xian’an turned and asked, can the Many-Color Festival also drive away evil spirits?

Tong Ou was a native of the Southwest. He explained that a Many-Color Festival could be big or small. As long as someone in a village or town proposed it, and was willing to set up the wine and banquet, then even if it was just to celebrate their good mood, they could also have a party.

“So perhaps the ghost doesn’t want Master Yu to successfully exorcize a demon.” Liu Xian’an stood by the table. “Could it be that Yu Cong’s enemy wants to curse him to die quickly, so they created this farce?”

There were many absurd reasons, because of course there were indeed all kinds of people in the world, but the evidence must be found before it could be counted. Liang Shu asked Tong Ou to return to the government office first, and Liu Xian’an asked: “What is your plan?”

Liang Shu originally wanted to say that first, people would be ordered to Yu Manor to investigate, but when the words came to his lips, he changed them calmly and said: “I’ll go to Yu Manor first tonight.”

“The prince intends to go in person?”

“Yes.”

Liu Xian’an made an affirmative sound and walked slowly down the street with him. After walking for a while, Liang Shu asked, “Do you want to go?”

Liu Xian’an didn’t have to think about it. I want to.

“Then let’s go together tonight.”

“Okay, ah.”

The question-and-answer was smooth and natural, as if Yu Manor was a famous tourist attraction that foreigners must visit when they come.

There were a few more shops on both of the streets than there were yesterday. Everyone still had to make a living. Liu Xian’an didn’t wake up until noon today, and hadn’t eaten anything after waking up. At this time, he was surrounded by the aroma of cooking and frying, and his stomach growled immediately. Liang Shu bought him a piece of sweet and salty pastry on the side of the street: “Save some room, and we’ll go eat at Bi Yinglou later.”

Bi Yinglou was the largest restaurant in the city, and had not been open for a few days. Liu Xian’an held the pastry in his hand and took two bites, then didn’t eat the rest. Liang Shu naturally took it from his hand and ate two or three bites himself.

Liu Xian’an looked at his big hand holding the pastry and couldn’t help but think of that dream this morning.

Although His Royal Highness Xiao Wang often ran to his Three Thousand Worlds without saying hello, and didn’t wear clothing eight out of ten times, he soaked in the hot springs in order to wash away the bloody slaughter and exhaustion from his body. It was not ambiguous, but even a little desolate and tragic.

But to touch him unclothed clearly had nothing to do with war. Liu Xian’an was engrossed in his thoughts. Even though he had already lived forty-eight thousand years, there was a strange realm that he had never experienced before, and he seemed to be floating amongst a thousand waves.

After surfing for a while, Liu Xian’an exhaled a bit and turned his head to glance at Liang Shu.

Liang Shu was still holding the last bite of pastry in his hand, and when he noticed his gaze, he asked, “Do you want to eat it?”

Liu Xian’an replied: “No.”

Liang Shu said: “You resent me.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You just resent me.”

Liu Xian’an was so quarreled with that he had no choice but to open his mouth and eat the pastry, wanting some peace and quiet. But Liang Shu looked at his soft, moist lips and thought of something else. It was often said in poems and books that a beautiful woman’s lips were like red clouds and her face was like snow. Liang Shu had thought at first, white and red, this is like a ghost, what is good about it? In the end, he realized that he had never seen the world before. They looked really good together, like snow and cherry blossoms. The ancients were sincere and did not deceive him.

Liu Xian’an asked: “What is the prince looking at?”

Liang Shu reached out and used his thumb to wipe off some pastry crumbs from his face.

There was a thin callous on his thumb. Liu Xian’an had already experienced such a rough yet tender touch in his dreams. He didn’t say a word, and continued to walk and think, why did he dream of the prince? Although anyone seemed to be able to, this was rather too much.

Liang Shu asked: “Are you thinking about Yu Manor?”

Liu Xian’an replied: “I’m thinking about my dream.”

“A dream again.” Liang Shu put his arm around his shoulders. “What did those old white-bearded men surrounding you say now?”

Liu Xian’an answered silently, they weren’t surrounding me, this time I ignored them.

As the two walked close together, the aroma of sandalwood naturally became stronger. Liu Xian’an thought, if this continues, I will probably have another dream tonight. The doctor knew that too many of this sort of dream would hurt his health, so he dodged a little to the side, only a step away. But for His Royal Highness Xiao Wang, who was just beginning to fall in love and wished he could spend twelve hours with his sweetheart, this step was comparable to stepping from the royal city to the Northwest. He retracted his hand with dissatisfaction and injury: “Speak, why are you ignoring me?”

Liu Xian’an said “Wu.” Don’t want to talk about it, I’m lazy.

And Liang Shu loved his laziness very much. When he saw him, he wanted to tease him and poke at him, so that even if the Sleeping Immortal was very capable, he couldn’t continue to float on the clouds anymore. Liu Xian’an had no choice but to pull his thoughts back and sigh. This was too different from His Royal Highness Xiao Wang in the dream, he had best continue to sleep.

Liang Shu asked again: “Why are you sighing?”

Liu Xian’an covered his ears with his hands.

Liang Shu smiled and hugged him, admitting defeat: “Okay, okay, I won’t say anything.”

Liu Xian’an thought: He is a little like the one in the dream.

The two had a meal together, and both thought that this sort of time alone at sunset was splendid, so they didn’t mention the case or the Yu family father and son. The waiter who served the food recognized them and whispered while they paid the bill: “The two of you are going to Yu Manor after dinner, right?”

The content of the question, the pinched off breath, and the atmosphere created by the two was clearly related to the haunting. Liu Xian’an looked at him sideways, and Liang Shu also set down the teacup in his hand: “Yu Manor?”

“Yes, ah, aren’t you two here to catch the ghost?” The waiter swiftly settled the accounts. “The wizard invited by Master Yu has also arrived, why don’t you all sit together and discuss it?”

Liu Xian’an said: “No, we will do it alone.”

“Do it alone, ah? Doing it alone is good, talented people can do it alone.” 

The waiter was good at talking, so Liang Shu gave him some extra money. “I hear that the wizard is also very powerful?”

“Yes, subduing demons and praying for rain, he is very effective,” the waiter said. “I heard that the ceremony is scheduled to be in three days.”

The news had spread all over the city, and everyone was discussing it. When the time came, they would go see it together. Even A-Ning had heard about it. After his young master came back, he said to him: “It is more lively than an opera, and you must bring a bench to get a seat in the front row. This time, there is no fear of ghosts.”

“All the people of the city will be gathered together, and the so-called ‘very powerful’ wizard residing in town will naturally be bold.” 

Liu Xian’an set the bundle in his hand on the table, and A-Ning asked, “What is this?”

“Clothes, a gift from the prince.”

“The prince has started to send clothes to the young master again?” A-Ning didn’t think it was strange, since there was a quilt in the front and a pillow in the back, but Liu Xian’an explained, “They are disguising clothes. I am going to visit Yu Manor with the prince tonight.”

A-Ning was puzzled: “Young Master doesn’t know martial arts.”

“It’s fine, I’ve made a night visit before.”

“That time in Chixia City, the young master went to investigate the plague since he’s a doctor, but there is no plague in Yu Manor.”

“Then I will still go.”

Liu Xian’an picked up his night clothes, went behind the screen, and changed by himself. The guards of Xiao Wang Palace all had night clothes, so Gao Lin had found this suitable new set for him. 

A-Ning sighed deeply and belatedly helped him. Of course, the night clothes wouldn’t be very good-looking, but Second Young Master Liu would look good in a sack. His whole person was covered in black, but he was even more white. A-Ning squeezed a few times and felt that the clothes were too thin, so he took another cloak out of the cabinet and brainwashed his family’s young master, saying, “This is also a gift from the prince, and happens to match the night clothes.”

Liu Xian’an commented: “Unless all the guards in Yu Manor are suffering from an eye disease, it will be difficult for them not to see it.”

“They won’t.” A-Ning tried to forcefully wrap him up. “The prince is so capable, even if the young master goes there with a set of drums and firecrackers, no one will notice. Does the young master not believe in the prince’s abilities?”

Liu Xian’an was so wrapped up that it was difficult to breathe, and thought, I believe in them too much.

---

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Chapter Fifty-Nine << Table of Contents >> Chapter Sixty-One

Perhaps because Liang Shu’s body was still a bit feverish, in his dreams, Liu Xian’an also fell into a bottomless hot spring.

He closed his eyes and slowly sank into the water, his outer robe fluttering in all directions like a huge, flirtatious flower. And in this moist and sticky world, he seemed to have completely fallen into the palms of another person. The rough, light callouses fit to his waist, bringing a strange and indescribable trembling, and his thin white toes were slightly raised as he stepped through the rippling water.

When his body reached the highest crest of the waves, Liu Xian’an clenched the pillow tightly with his fingers and sat up suddenly. A-Ning was also laying on the bedside to sleep, but at this moment, he also awoke. When he opened his eyes and saw Liu Xian’an sweating profusely, he quickly grabbed his arm and shook it. “Young Master, wake up, are you having a nightmare?”

The room was very dim, and there was noise outside the window. Liu Xian’an was sluggish for a long time until he realized where he was and heaved a sigh of relief, leaning back on the bed. He asked drowsily: “What time is it?”

“Chen shi,” A-Ning said. “Before leaving, the prince said that the young master worked hard last night, so he can rest at the inn today without going to the government office.”

While he was talking, he went to lift the quilt, but Liu Xian’an held on tight and would not let go. A-Ning didn’t react at first, thinking that he wanted to continue sleeping, so he said: “Then I’ll go get clean night clothes first. Young Master, please change out of the ones you’re wearing, they’re all soaked through.”

Liu Xian’an sat cross-legged on the bed, wrapped in the quilt. He said faintly: “You fetch them, I’ll change myself.”

The lazy young master wanted to change clothes by himself. A-Ning stopped in his tracks and looked at him suspiciously for a moment, then asked: “Did you just……dream about something?”

Liu Xian’an let out a muddled “En.”

A-Ning immediately sat back on the bed and grabbed his shoulders, very pleasantly surprised: “Really, then I will write a letter to the Master and the the First Young Master!”

Although Liu Xian’an was usually comparable to Buddha, where life and death were both fine, he was also shocked at this time. Why tell Father and Da-ge about this sort of thing?

A-Ning thought that of course he had to tell, ah! Because the entire family thought that the young master was desireless, but it seemed that wasn’t the case — anyway, Second Young Master Liu was mentally abnormal, and people all over the country knew it. Master Liu and First Young Master Liu were mainly concerned about whether his body would also have some disease in that certain area, and were anxious and distressed.

Liu Xian’an: “…….”

No desire to speak.

He changed the subject and asked: “When did the prince leave?”

“At Mao Shi. He left in a hurry, as if something had happened over at the government office,” A-Ning said. “It seemed that he didn’t have a fever any more, just a little cough.”

Liu Xian’an didn’t ask further questions. He lay back on the bed and slowly changed his clothes, still thinking in bewilderment about the erotic dream from last night. After thinking about it for a while, he simply covered his head with the quilt and fell asleep again. It was never too early or too late. He slept until his head ached and his muscles and bones were soft. In the afternoon, he got up in a daze and sat on the edge of the bed, closing his eyes as he searched for his shoes with his feet, and a chuckle sounded in his ear.

“…….”

Liang Shu crouched beside the bed and held his ankle, putting on the soft shoe: “Are you awake?”

He was awake, but still seemed to be in a dream. Liu Xian’an’s body froze, and he swallowed: “Your Highness.”

“A-Ning said you weren’t feeling well.” Liang Shu rose and sat by the bed. “Did you get too cold last night?”

Their arms touched, and body heat transferred to one another. Liu Xian’an’s heart thumped. Where was he cold, he was obviously scalded to death. Then he reached out and checked the other’s temperature: “No more fever. What about your heartbeat?”

Liang Shu opened his arms: “I don’t know, come and listen?”

At a normal time, he would have listened to it. It wasn’t that he hadn’t heard it before, but he had that wild dream last night and now couldn’t look directly at this embrace, so he just stretched out his hand to perfunctorily take his pulse: “En, it’s good.”

While speaking, he got up and walked quickly to the table, wanting to drink some overnight water to cool down. He poured it into the cup, but it was warm scented tea with some milk mixed in. Liang Shu said behind him: “Seeing that you asked A-Ning to buy this a few days ago, I simply invited the shopkeeper over.”

With him being so considerate and attentive, Liu Xian’an felt that this dream didn’t seem to come completely out of nowhere. Milk tea couldn’t calm down and clear the fire, it would only nourish it more as he drank, so he asked: “I heard from A-Ning that the prince went in a hurry to the government office this morning. What did the Imperial guards discover?”

Liang Shu said: “Tong Ou went to Yu Cong’s residence.”

Yu Cong was the renowned Master Yu in Huaizhen City, who had been assisting the government in promoting the ghost hunt. It was not surprising that Tong Ou went to look for him, but the strange thing was that he didn’t go to the door in the daytime, but spied on him at night.

Liu Xian’an was also surprised: “Spying?”

Liang Shu nodded: “Yes.”

In the middle of the night, Tong Ou dressed in dark clothing and sneaked into the heavily guarded Yu Manor, heading in the direction of the main house. His martial arts were actually fairly good, but no matter how good they were, they couldn’t compare to the Yu family’s guard troops. The patrols were so numerous that torches were lit almost everywhere, and ordinary people would have nowhere to hide. He was about to be discovered, but at the critical moment, an Imperial guard flew over and lifted him up, hiding in the dark.

“W-who’s there!” There were sparse footsteps and shouts.

“There’s no movement, ah. Could it be that we saw wrong?”

“Go, go. Go to the other side.”

The patrols dispersed, and Tong Ou was brought to Liang Shu by the Imperial guards.

Liu Xian’an continued to ask: “What did he say, why did he rush to Yu Cong’s house?”

Liang Shu put a robe on him: “That’s why I came to you, Tong Ou’s confession is related to that corpse. Wash your face first, I will wait for you outside.”

Liu Xian’an nodded. There was no time to think about the dream, so after washing up, he went out to find Tong Ou with Liang Shu. The other party was temporarily imprisoned in an empty room at the end of the corridor. He already knew Liang Shu’s identity at this point, so when he saw the two come in, he knelt down and saluted: “Royal Highness Xiao Wang.”

“Rise.” Liang Shu said, “Repeat everything you said this morning, including your identity and that of the corpse.”

“Yes.” Tong Ou got up and said, “Young Master Liu, I am the hunter in the rumors, and the owner of those bones is indeed Wan Yuan.”

Liu Xian’an’s heart tightened slightly.

Heresy was rampant in the Southwest, but the Imperial court was constrained by the Northwest in the past few years, and was unable to send troops to suppress it on a large scale. However, a lot of money was still allocated to the area, and there were orders to find ways to contain it so that it couldn’t develop too rapidly. At that time, Tong Ou was just a new recruit in the barracks, but because of his courage and skill, he was still entrusted with important tasks. He pretended to be an ordinary hunter and wandered around collecting information about the Baifu Sect.

“Once, when I was following some believers of the Baifu Sect, I was accidentally discovered by them. While avoiding pursuit, I stumbled and fell off a cliff. It was Wan-guniang who rescued me.” Tong Ou said, “She was chivalrous and upright, straightforward and lovely. I fell in love with her and we later made a private decision to stay together. But I still had important work to do at that time, so after the leg injury healed, I said goodbye to her and agreed to come and propose marriage in two months.” 

Liu Xian’an said: “But you didn’t come.”

“The Baifu Sect had too many disciples.” Recalling the past, Tong Ou felt great regret. “It was also my carelessness. Not long after leaving the mountain, I was ambushed by them and seriously injured once more. This time, a garrison heard the commotion and rescued me, sending me back to the camp. I lay in bed for three whole months and couldn’t remember anything clearly. Later, I met a miracle doctor from Baihe Mountain Village, who cleaned up the blood in my brain.”

But when he went to Huaizhen City again, he heard the news of Wan Yuan’s death. Tong Ou said: “I didn’t believe that she would commit suicide, so I always suspected that it was the disciples of the Baifu Sect who knew of our relationship and secretly killed her.”

Liu Xian’an asked: “Was Wan-guniang ever pregnant?”

Tong Ou hesitated for a second and said, “Maybe.”

During those three months on the mountain, the two had already crossed the line between men and women. Wan Yuan did not menstruate that last month, but she also said that she was never on time, so Tong Ou didn’t take it to heart.

It wasn’t until the day before in the autopsy room when Liu Xian’an said that the skeleton had been pregnant that he suddenly remembered this matter.

“Wan-guniang lived in the mountains since she was a child and had many old wounds on her body. The skeleton is indeed hers.” Tong Ou’s eyes were red, and he had to calm down for a moment before continuing. “But the child……can you tell if she had only been pregnant for two or three months?”

“It was more than two or three months,” Liu Xian’an said. “The child was born full-term.”

As soon as these words were spoken, even Liang Shu frowned, and Tong Ou was even more shocked: “This……is it true?”

Liu Xian’an nodded: “It is true.”

According to Tong Ou’s confession, when Wan Yuan went down the mountain, the child in her stomach was at most two months along, and her two months spent in the city were far from enough time to give birth at full term. Thus, the only explanation was that Wan Yuan didn’t commit suicide immediately by bashing her skull on the wall when she was taken to prison. Instead, she was quietly transferred to another place, and after she gave birth, she was……

Tong Ou murmured: “When she gave birth to a child, those people killed her and put her body back into the empty coffin.”

In this way, all doubts about the case were explained clearly, including why the coffin was empty and why it was later filled with bones. The truth was far more bloody and cruel than people had thought. Tong Ou put his head in his hands, not daring to think about what had happened to her in the time she lived. Liu Xian’an sighed and reached out to pat his shoulder: “Do you want to take a rest for a while?”

“No……no need.” Tong Ou lowered his head and reached up to wipe away his tears, gritting his teeth. “I want to avenge her.”

“Why did you go to Yu Cong’s residence last night?”

“Because it was Yu Cong’s son who went to persuade Uncle Wan, saying that he had cleaned up Wan-guniang’s remains and there was no need to look at them. He also said that the coffin was the best one, and was nailed shut in case the soul of the deceased should become uneasy. Every word was urging for a burial as fast as possible.” Tong Ou said, “I have been looking for Uncle Wan since I learned of Wan-guniang’s death. Later, he was found in a dilapidated charity hall that was soon to be abandoned. He was already unconscious, and was brought back to the military camp for recuperation for more than half a year before he could speak.”

Liu Xian’an said: “So you think there is a problem with Yu Cong’s son?”

Tong Ou said: “Not just for this reason. I have been investigating the Baifu Sect for so many years. Although the Yu family claims to be kind and generous people to outsiders, the source of the family’s money is unknown. We placed a lot of bait around this father and son. In fact, I should have waited for a while before going to look, but after learning yesterday that Wan-guniang was pregnant, I really felt…..I lost my head for a while, but fortunately the prince rescued me.”

“No need to thank me. After the matter is settled, you will go back to the military camp to ask for punishment yourself,” Liang Shu said. “First, let’s talk about the clues you discovered about the Baifu Sect and Huaizhen City over the years.”

---

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Chapter Fifty-Eight << Table of Contents >> Chapter Sixty

Five minutes later.

Pei Yi knocked on the passenger door. The window rolled down, and a puff of smoke drifted out from inside.

Through the thin haze, Pei Yi could clearly see the despondency in Li Yuan’s eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Li Yuan was afraid that his friend wouldn’t like the smoke, so he extinguished the lit cigarette in his hand. He rolled down the car windows and sunroof, turning on the ventilation. “Are you coming in? It might still be a little stuffy.”

Pei Yi didn’t care about the smokiness. He opened the door and sat inside. “Sorry I butted in just now.”

Li Yuan sighed. “No, if not for you, I might not have been able to ask questions or make a decision.”

Pei Yi understood the undiminished pain in his friend’s heart, and explained the circumstances, “I’ll go in your car. I just asked Lao Fu to keep an eye on Madam An’s situation covertly and make sure she gets home safely before going back.”

After all, An Yang’s condition had not been completely cured.

If she took things too hard and was stimulated by those words to the point of doing something stupid, if something happened on the way home, Li Yuan would suffer even more.

Li Yuan acknowledged his friend’s kindness. “Thank you.”

“I told you, there’s no need for such politeness between friends.”

Pei Yi took out two plastic-sealed mini bags of snowball cakes from his coat pocket and handed one over. “Do you want one? They’re really tasty.”

Li Yuan took it slowly. “Why are you carrying this with you?”

Pei Yi blurted out, “Er-ge had someone buy them for me.”

After realizing his baffling sense of pleasure, he quickly changed his words, “So what, it takes a lot of brainpower to design games, so I like to eat something sweet.”

“Although it’s a bit childish, sweets do make people feel better, don’t they?”

“En.”

This time, Li Yuan didn’t deny it.

He opened the plastic bag and stuffed the mini snowball cake into his mouth, playing with the edge of the bag with his head down.

“……..”

Feeling the pain in the depths of this silence, Pei Yi sighed softly. “Pear Garden, don’t hold back when you’re not feeling good.”

From beginning to now, Li Yuan was not the party at fault in this incident, but the biggest victim of all.

After all, he was also a misplaced child, and Pei Huan’s situation over the years had been much better than Li Yuan’s.

Li Yuan ate without tasting it, and choked up a little. “Pei Yi, do you think all of this is true? Could there be a mistake?”

After all, the current “authenticated truth” was one-sided on An Yang’s part.

Pei Yi knew of the established results in the book and in reality, so he asked, “What do you think? Do you want to do the paternity test?”

Li Yuan shook his head. “I don’t know.”

The only child of Li Xiang and An Yang, Li Yuan bore his father’s surname and his mother’s first name, which also carried the love between the couple in the beginning. He had lived with this external identity for twenty-five years.

From childhood to adulthood, Li Yuan felt that he was never short of material and spiritual abundance, and was grateful for his parents’ upbringing and love. Before the misfortune at home, he had been living very proudly and confidently.

“Later, the business situation of the company went from bad to worse. In order to keep me from worrying, never informed me of the real economic situation, and even tried his best to support me in everything I wanted.”

There was not much written about Li Xiao in the original book, but Pei Yi could glean from Li Yuan’s description that he was a caring and responsible father.

“It was only about two months from the onset of my dad’s illness to his death. The time was too short, so it was even more difficult to accept. I saw he was depressed all day long, but he decided that he should stand up and support the company and the family.”

And Li Yuan also did the same—

He gave up the major he liked, and shoulders his studies, career, and his small family with An Yang alone.

Li Yuan learned to socialize, to drink, and to be a little shrewd amongst the smoke and mirrors. He set aside his self-esteem and pride, endured contempt and ridicule, and worked hard to support Dawn Games.

The reason Li Yuan endured all of this willingly was because of his parents’ love for him, but what happened now subverted the way he looked at things—

As a “mother,” An Yang knew everything a long time ago, but didn’t report it, and this mother’s love and support went to someone else.

“A paternity test can produce results, but it can’t be exchanged for real feelings.” Li Yuan looked at Pei Yi as if searching for an answer. “They should love Pei Huan very much, right?”

“…….”

Pei Yi knew what his friend meant.

Just giving up on more than twenty years of companionship and love?

If not for the successive news of her husband’s death and her son’s misplacement, how many parents in the world could really be so cruel?

Presently, An Yang may be able to give up her affection for Li Yuan because of her biological son, but the Pei couple might not be able to achieve such a smooth emotional transfer.

Pei Yi still remembered this plot in the original text—

Even though the two returned to their real identities, Pei Ruzhang and Deng Xiuya did not abandon “Pei Huan” and shun him, which to some extent caused Li Yuan to be resentful.

Li Yuan was willing to be honest to his friend about his thoughts. “I want to know the exact result, but I don’t want to have any interaction with them.”

He wanted to ask for his own piece of mind, but didn’t want to have unnecessary entanglements with the Pei family.

Pei Yi hesitated for a couple of seconds before giving his opinion, “If you really want to know, I could ask my older brother to do a blood test with you?”

Li Yuan didn’t react for a moment. “Older brother?”

Pei Yi said, “Grandpa Pei’s grandson, my cousin, Qin Yishun.”

If he remembered correctly, it seemed that cousins could do a kinship test? It was just that the accuracy rate was not as high as a paternity test.

“…….”

Li Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled unexpectedly. 

So many things had happened in succession that he had nearly forgotten that Pei Yi was also a member of the Pei family!

Pei Yi was helpless. “What are you smiling at, I’m trying to find a way for you!”

Li Yuan realized belatedly, “If Pei Huan and I were switched at birth, doesn’t that make me your cousin?”

Pei Yi smothered a cough. “We are, nominally. If you want to talk, you can tell me anytime.”

Li Yuan raised his eyebrows, suddenly feeling that things weren’t too bad. “I suddenly have a little brother. That seems pretty good”

“…….”

Pei Yi threw his unopened snowball cake into his hands. “I worried for you in vain. Drive quickly if you have nothing to do, let’s not keep Lou Yang waiting for too long.”

Li Yuan finally revealed a light, sincere smile. “Pei Yi, thank you.”

If Pei Yi hadn’t firmly chosen to cooperate with him at the beginning, perhaps the current Dawn Games would have ceased to exist long ago, let alone the YWY Studios representing the new generation.

If there was no support for his business, and if there was no encouragement from Pei Yi as a friend, he would only have a worse life than now, right? 

“You’re welcome.”

Pei Yi’s lips curved slightly, and he snatched the snowball cake back from him again. “I’m starving to death, I need to pad my stomach.”

Li Yuan cheered up and started the car. “Fasten your seatbelt. Let’s go get dinner at Sister Yang’s.”

. . . . . . .

Lou Yang didn’t live with her parents, but rented a well-decorated suite for herself, and only went back to her parents’ house for a short stay on weekends.

When Pei Yi and Li Yuan arrived at their destination, Lou Yang was busy in the kitchen.

Xiang Nansheng, who was unpacking bags, saw the two of them and took the rare initiative to urge, “Just in time, you two come help me.”

Xiang Nansheng was a little older than them, but it wasn’t polite to call him by his job title in private.

Pei Yi was curious. “What is it?”

Lou Yang came out of the kitchen and explained, “The main lights in the living room and cloakroom aren’t working. I bought new lights online and was going to change them myself over the weekend, but now—”

Her eyes wandered between the three of them, and she used them with peace of mind. “I’ll leave it to you boys.”

Xiang Nansheng took out a new light. “I just need one more person to help.”

Li Yuan volunteered. “Let me do it, I’ve changed them at home before.”

When Lou Yang heard this, she immediately accepted the lone Pei Yi as her younger brother. “Then Pei Yi will come to the kitchen and help me?”

Pei Yi was completely new to cooking, and gave a confused, “Ah?”

“Ah, what ah? Food isn’t free here.” Lou Yang smiled and grabbed his wrist, ordering like a sister, “Come in, choose a dish for me first.”

Pei Yi entered the kitchen, only to find that Lou Yang had bought a lot of ingredients, and many of them were for difficult dishes that required cooking skills.

“Sister Yang, why did you buy so much?”

“With the three of you together, how can your appetites be small?” Lou Yang handed some vegetables to Pei Yi and demonstrated for him. “Can you do it?”

Pei Yi nodded. “I can.”

Lou Yang entrusted him with this simple task, and picked up shrimp non-stop, skillfully cleaning them. 

Pei Yi asked curiously as he helped, “Sister Yang, who did you learn to cook from, an uncle or aunt?”

“No.”

Lou Yang shook her head, and a flash of recollection passed through her eyes. “I was studying abroad at the time. I ate fried food and fast food every day, and was admitted to the hospital.”

“My……ex-boyfriend blamed himself and thought he didn’t take good care of me, so he started to study recipes from then on, and made many kinds of delicious food for me every day after class.” 

Love was mutual, and it should never be a one-sided effort.

“I was afraid that it would be hard on him to cook alone for a long time, so I followed suit and learned to cook. Later, the two of us turned from complete novices into chefs who could cook a table of dishes.”

Lou Yang returned to reality, and said with confidence, “You will understand when you try my cooking skills tonight.”

Hearing Lou Yang’s story, Pei Yi turned his head unconsciously to look.

He remembered the other party saying that the reason she was willing to resign from a high-paying foreign job and return to China was firstly to accompany her parents, and secondly because she needed a change of environment after breaking up with her ex.

“Sister Yang, you and your ex……” Pei Yi swallowed his words.

“If you want to ask, just ask. I have nothing to say.” Lou Yang chuckled and took the lead to share.

Lou Yang met her ex when she was studying abroad. The two walked from campus to work, learning together and progressing together.

“He and I were together almost nine years, from our early twenties to our early thirties.” Lou Yang stopped what she was doing and sighed. “Looking back now, it was really a long period of youth.”

“…….”

Pei Yi nodded, but his mind inevitably made a subtle connection—

Almost nine years?

That was longer than his fathers had been together.

Pei Yi asked cautiously, “Sister Yang, why did you break up?”

Lou Yang didn’t reveal any great sadness. “Because we had known each other for so long, not only in life, but also in work, and we had almost no time apart all year round.”

Pei Yi was not very clear. “Love turned into familial affection?”

“Maybe it wasn’t love from the start,” Lou Yang said bluntly, and began to deal with the fresh shrimp in her hands again.

“I discussed this issue with him. Back then, we were the only two foreign students from China in our school major.”

It was like two people huddling for warmth in an unfamiliar environment, and they felt it suitable to become partners.

It happened that both of them had mature and rational personalities, and the usual quarrels between lovers rarely happened between them.

Pei Yi thought of his Father Yan and Father Rong again, and lamented, “Sister Yang, will all feelings disappear in the end, and either disappear or turn into reluctance?”

Lou Yang heard the pessimism in Pei Yi’s tone and frowned slightly. “Why do you think so?”

Pei Yi dodged the question. “I don’t, I’m just asking.”

Lou Yang soaked the processed shrimp in water and answered seriously, “You, ah, don’t think that love is impossible just because I broke up after being in my past relationship for so long.”

“You have to know that everyone has different needs when it comes to love. Some people prefer it to be dynamic, while some like to go little by little. Some people lower their standards for money, while others become excellent for love.”

“I needed stable companionship at the beginning when I was studying abroad, but now I want to take care of my career and my parents. My ex had a different life plan than me, so it was normal for us to go our separate ways.”

Being unsuitable and separating was better than wasting time.

Lou Yang and her ex broke up peacefully. Of course, the withdrawal after breaking up was painful and unavoidable.

“Whether a relationship is good or bad depends on what you need, and whether your partner can give it to you and keep pace with you. You have to believe that there is love that truly fits without compromise in this world.”

Pei Yi nodded thoughtfully, understanding the general idea.

Seeing his cute confused appearance, Lou Yang couldn’t help but ask, “Xiao Yi, I don’t understand the rules of wealthy families like you do, but have you and Bo Yueming always been lovers?”

Pei Yi’s hand stopped picking vegetables. “N-no.”

Lou Yang had an intuition. “That means he’s pursuing you, but you haven’t agreed. Right?”

“…….”

Pei Yi got stuck. He had truly underestimated the accuracy of Lou Yang’s sixth sense.

Lou Yang saw through his embarrassment, and continued easily, “I think Mr. Bo is pretty good. Why don’t you agree to try it, because his eyes are bad?”

Pei Yi heard the second half of the sentence, and immediately retorted, “Of course not.”

He would never think of staying away because of Bo Yueming’s physical inconvenience. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have agreed to the marriage in the first place, not to mention that his eyes were always going to be fine.

Seeing Pei Yi’s reaction, Lou Yang remembered his argument about love just now, and suddenly understood something. “Xiao Yi, in fact, very few lovers can predict their entire lives from the beginning. Only by grasping the present can they create their future step by step.”

“If you don’t choose to start, if you don’t try, then how can you know the result?”

“You won’t know the result unless you start?”

Pei Yi’s mind shifted slightly, and Bo Yueming’s figure appeared uncontrollably in his mind.

Lou Yang affirmed, “Of course, love is not a pre-set game program. It is more interesting to break through the level without knowing the ending. My last relationship was at worst a failure to break through the level, but I am still willing to learn from experience and make persistent efforts.”

“Maybe the next person to accompany me through the level will be a little wolf dog.”

Pei Yi laughed when he heard the expectation in that last part. “Little wolf dog? Sister, you also like this type?”

Lou Yang glanced at him and teased jokingly, “What, mature sisters aren’t allowed to like younger people, ah?”

Pei Yi handed over the chosen cabbage. “Not allowed, ah? With our Sister Yang’s charm, she can find anyone.”

“Okay, stop talking!” Lou Yang looked at the time and urged, “We need to hurry up, otherwise dinner will become supper.”

“Okay.”

. . . . . . .

After Xiang Nansheng and Li Yuan installed the new lights, they also hastened to the kitchen to help. The four of them worked together for a while, and finally made six dishes and one soup before seven o’clock. They ate to their heart’s content.

Faced with Lou Yang and Li Yuan’s repeated invitations, Pei Yi, who knew his own drinking capacity, only dared to take a couple of sips.

It was strange.

When Pei Yi stayed at home, even if he knew there was a risk of being discovered by Bo Yueming, he dared to drink a glass and half a bottle. But tonight, when he had a legitimate reason to drink, he learned to restrain and limit himself.

The four of them chatted about everything from game projects to life, and dinner ended at nearly ten o’clock.

Pei Yi was enjoying himself, and picked up the phone after not looking at it for a long time, only to find that Bo Yueming had sent him a WeChat message an hour ago—

“Are you done eating? Drink less alcohol.”

Pei Yi hurriedly typed a reply. “I just finished eating, and didn’t drink. I’m coming home.”

Not long after the message was sent, Bo Yueming returned a message—

“Okay, I’m waiting for you downstairs.”

After he got off work, Pei Yi had told Lao Fu to secretly send An Yang home, and only later did he send Lou Yang’s home address. It wasn’t surprising that Bo Yueming knew the address.

Pei Yi took a tight breath. He didn’t expect that Bo Yueming would rush over in person. “When did you come? Have you been waiting long?”

Wouldn’t it have been when he sent the first message? Had he been waiting for an hour?

Bo Yueming sent back again, “Not long, don’t worry.”

Pei Yi stared at this line of text, and suddenly remembered Lou Yang’s “family” remark that evening. His fingertips moved faster than his rational thinking: “I’m in the second room on the fifth floor. Do you want to come up?”

Almost simultaneously, Bo Yueming on the other side asked tacitly, “Do you want me to come pick you up?”

Two WeChat messages with the same intention collided, and the replies came at the same time again—

“En.”

“Okay.”

Pei Yi couldn’t shift his eyes away from the phone screen for a moment, as if he could taste the honey on it.

“Little Mister Li, who are you chatting with? The corners of your mouth are almost reaching the sky.”

Lou Yang’s teasing sounded.

Pei Yi was caught, and quickly put away his phone in a panic. “Ah? What did you just say?”

Li Yuan smiled and tossed an unopened courier box over. “Take it, it’s a pin gift designed by Sister Yang herself, one for each of us.”

Lou Yang changed her topic of speech to the gift. “I designed it when the studio was first established, but I haven’t been able to give it to you until now. I haven’t even opened the express box.”

“Although it seems casual, the intention is serious.”

“Thank you, Sister Yang.” Pei Yi hadn’t received an earnest gift for a long time, and was looking forward to it. He asked, “Can I open it now?”

Lou Yang nodded. “Of course.”

The sealing tape on the package was attached so firmly that it was difficult for Pei Yi to tear it off with his bare hands.

Witnessing his clumsy appearance, Lou Yang casually took out a utility knife from a drawer. “Here, use this.”

—Shing.

The blade extended from the metal handle.

The common, soft sound fell into Pei Yi’s ears, but it sounded particularly sharp!

He caught a glimpse of the slanted blade that was handed over, and the memory buried deep in his heart was brutally sliced open by the keen edge. The layered sound of a blade piercing through clothing and skin echoed in his ears.

“…….”

Pei Yi’s expression froze, and the package in his hands fell to the floor.

Unseen fear clenched his heart tightly.

Pei Yi’s breathing suddenly became rapid, and he subconsciously grabbed the sharp utility knife. “I, I don’t need it.”

A bloody slit was cut into his fingertip.

The three present witnessed this scene and simultaneously realized that something was wrong.

“Pei Yi?”

“What’s wrong?”

Pei Yi tossed away the utility knife in his hand, picked up the package, and did everything he could not to tremble. “Sorry, I’m going to go to the bathroom first.”

The doorbell rang just then, but Pei Yi paid it no mind.

He cast about the room aimlessly, and ran into the bathroom next to the living room with the last sliver of reasoning he had left.

—Shaaa.

The water rushed out suddenly.

Pei Yi couldn’t seem to feel the pain, constantly rinsing the bleeding wound. The blood smeared in large swaths through the water, almost staining his eyes red as his face paled.

Fragmented images emerged in his mind, and hoarse commands echoed in his ears—

“Xiao Yi, remember my lesson!”

“It’s all fake! It’s all a lie!”

“I want to make him regret, I want to make him regret for a lifetime!”

—Bang!

The bathroom door was forcefully opened. “Pei Yi?!”

The familiar, urgent voice broke through the layers of images, bringing back Pei Yi’s sense of reason. He raised his head cautiously and looked at the person behind him through the mirror.

As if unsure, he said, “Er-ge?”

This simple sentence was enough to make Bo Yueming, who had rushed over, extremely distressed.

At this moment, Pei Yi’s face was pale, his forehead was covered in sweat, and his reddened eyes revealed fragility, tension, and fear that had never been seen before.

Bo Yueming strode up and took Pei Yi into his arms.

He carefully avoided the other party’s injured and bleeding ring finger, and comforted him in a low voice, “I’m here, it’s okay.”

“…….”

The familiar scent brought with it the sense of stability that Pei Yi needed most, and the emotions that he held back in front of outsiders burst out. He buried himself in Bo Yueming’s arms with all his strength and did his best to hold back, but still let out a sob.

“Bo, Bo Yueming.”

“I’m here, I’m right here.”

Bo Yueming stroked the back of Pei Yi’s neck again and again, and gave him the firmest promise with the gentlest force, “It’s okay. With me here, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Only under such reassurance did Pei Yi’s rapid and shaky breathing finally ease.

“Er-ge, I want to go home.”

“Okay, I’ll take you home.”

---

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