The next moment, Lan Xingchen scooped him up and placed him gently on the bed.
Pei Qingjian: ??? What’s going on?
“Ahem.” Lan Xingchen cleared his throat. “You should go take a shower.”
Pei Qingjian: ??? Why the sudden rush?
“What about your hair?”
“I’ll dry it myself.”
Lan Xingchen said, taking the towel from him as he turned sideways.
Pei Qingjian, noticing his back was turned, felt a bit strange, but got off the bed and headed to the bathroom as requested.
Lan Xingchen listened to his footsteps, glanced back, then quickly checked his crucial area.
Lucky, lucky—almost got triggered.
No wonder he was rubbing against him. His golden eagle-pheasant wasn’t a dead bird—of course it wanted to flap its wings when provoked.
Sighing, Lan Xingchen sat on the bed.
Dragging this out wasn’t going to work. He was a normal man, full of vigor, now taking care of a restless little canary—and a spark could ignite at any moment.
But this little canary was already having problems.
Always igniting, never putting out the fire!
Not acceptable.
Better call a doctor.
This tendency to ignore problems was a disease—it needed treatment!
Lan Xingchen thought this and grabbed his phone to search for a reliable male physician for Pei Qingjian.
Pei Qingjian showered quickly, and soon came out in pajamas.
Lan Xingchen immediately exited the search page, glancing guiltily at him.
“Done already? That fast?”
Pei Qingjian nodded, stepping in front of him and lifting his arm to smell. “Smells like shower gel… but why do I feel it’s faint on me?”
He leaned closer to Lan Xingchen, offering his neck to the tip of his nose. “Smell it.”
Lan Xingchen froze, blinking, and then his eyes widened as he saw Pei Qingjian’s sleepwear offer no barrier—revealing everything.
White as snow, red as a bloom… Lan Xingchen immediately pulled back. Damn! How could he still be seducing him like this?!
So shameless, assuming he wouldn’t do anything!
“I smelled it, I smelled it,” he stammered hastily.
“Really?” Pei Qingjian sniffed again. The scent still seemed faint, but he figured that since Lan Xingchen hadn’t really noticed it before, smelling himself probably wouldn’t be obvious either.
It was his first time using this long-lasting fragrance body wash, and he found it quite interesting. Sitting on the bed, he couldn’t help sniffing his own arm repeatedly.
Lan Xingchen could only laugh and shake his head. “Like a little kid.”
Then he added, coaxing gently, “Hurry up and claim your red envelopes. Finish that first, then go to sleep.”
Hearing that, Pei Qingjian reluctantly picked up his phone and slowly tapped open the line of red envelopes.
Lan Xingchen leaned closer, watching as he opened them one by one, making sure each one went into his WeChat wallet.
Glancing sideways, he caught the joy in Pei Qingjian’s eyes.
Like a fish, darting back and forth, reluctant to leave.
Such a little kid, he thought. Just claiming some red envelopes and looking this happy—so naive.
Feeling a softening in his heart, Lan Xingchen reached out and ruffled his hair.
Pei Qingjian looked up.
“What are you staring at? Keep going, claim them all,” he said, lifting his chin.
Pei Qingjian turned back and continued opening the envelopes.
After a while, he finally finished collecting all of them—22 envelopes in total. The amounts varied, but the numbers were all similar.
Lan Xingchen clearly liked 6 and 8, sending 66, 88, 166, 188, 166.6, 188.8, and so on.
The last two weren’t default messages; he had edited them himself: “Smooth Sailing” and “Double Prosperity.”
Pei Qingjian felt that right now, everything was smooth and prosperous. Though he had somehow inexplicably crossed into this world, meeting Lan Xingchen was certainly a stroke of luck.
Thinking of this, he turned to Lan Xingchen. “When do you have some free time?”
Lan Xingchen: ???
“For what?”
“I want to go to the hospital. Come with me.” Pei Qingjian softened his voice.
He’d been thinking about this for two days. Though he didn’t know exactly why Lan Xingchen might die young next year, it would either be illness or accident.
If it were an accident, he’d remind Lan Xingchen to be more careful; if it were illness, early treatment could save him.
But asking Lan Xingchen to go for a checkup out of the blue might seem unnecessary, so Pei Qingjian decided to use himself as bait.
After all, he was Lan Xingchen’s little canary. If he went to the hospital, it made sense for his sugar daddy to accompany him!
Lan Xingchen: !!!
This was like striking gold effortlessly!
His little canary finally understood and decided to go to the hospital!
Perfect! Absolutely wonderful!
Lan Xingchen looked at him, unable to hide the gleam in his eyes.
“Alright, I’ll go with you!”
It wasn’t often Pei Qingjian was willing to take this step, so of course he’d accompany him!
And if the doctor said anything unpleasant, he’d need to encourage his little canary.
“Don’t worry. No matter what the results are, I’ll be by your side,” Lan Xingchen said, holding his shoulder, his tone heavy with sincerity.
Pei Qingjian: ???
Pei Qingjian: …Wait, isn’t that backwards? Shouldn’t it be him who says that? No matter the results, he’d be by Lan Xingchen’s side, right?
While they were talking, Pei Qingjian’s phone suddenly rang.
Looking down, he saw a notification: his phone balance was low, about to incur fees.
Pei Qingjian: …So even someone with a little money can have insufficient balance—didn’t expect that.
He opened the recharge option and added funds.
The moment the recharge succeeded, the clock struck 12:01 AM.
One day had passed. He’d given Geng Wang a whole day to respond, but there was nothing. Sure enough, a man who freeloads has no sense of responsibility.
Pei Qingjian turned to Lan Xingchen. “I need to tell you something.”
“Go ahead,” Lan Xingchen replied cheerfully, his tone slightly lifted.
“About Geng Wang—the one who gave me an IOU—he deleted me on WeChat and blocked my number. I can’t reach him now.”
“Huh?” Lan Xingchen was genuinely surprised. “He ran?”
Pei Qingjian nodded, shaking his head, and carefully explained the situation.
At lunch, while working on editing photos, he had tried contacting Geng Wang.
Calling him, the line said “currently on another call.”
WeChat showed “no longer friends.”
Even texts went unanswered.
During this time, Pei Qingjian thought of contacting Geng Wang’s current partner—the friend he had been secretly seeing—but found no contact info on his phone.
He realized that in a fit of anger, the original Pei Qingjian had already deleted all of her contact info.
He asked others if they knew where Geng Wang or Li Xin were, but the original Pei Qingjian’s friends were all shallow, interested only in drinking together and having him treat them. No one cared about this matter.
Without being able to locate them, he couldn’t pursue the debt.
Having just crossed into this new life and unfamiliar with the surroundings, he figured it was best to discuss it with Lan Xingchen first.
“This is easy,” Lan Xingchen said with a light laugh. “Don’t worry. As long as they’re not dead and haven’t left the city, tomorrow I’ll have someone track them down for you.”
Still trying to skip out on paying back—truly asking to be dealt with.
“And when that time comes, old grudges and new, I’ll make sure you help me settle them.”
Pei Qingjian immediately responded sincerely, “Just the new grudges, that’s enough. The old ones don’t matter—I don’t care who he’s with, I just want the money back.”
“If he can even pay back a little extra, I could even wish them a happy marriage and everlasting love.”
Lan Xingchen couldn’t help but chuckle at that.
“Alright, go to sleep. When you see him, you can tell him that then.”
“Mm,” Pei Qingjian nodded and lay down.
Lan Xingchen went to sleep beside him, lights off.
After a while, when the room had gone completely dark, Lan Xingchen was almost asleep, and Pei Qingjian quietly turned to look at him.
In his old world, he had no attachments, completely alone. But now, after crossing over, he unexpectedly had someone sharing his bed.
Although they hadn’t known each other long… it didn’t seem so bad.
He was thinking this when Lan Xingchen shifted in his sleep, his hand landing on Pei Qingjian’s waist, naturally drawing him into an embrace.
The distance between them suddenly closed, clothes pressing against each other, body heat mingling.
Pei Qingjian instinctively held his breath, his body stiffening.
He blinked, heart pounding, looking at Lan Xingchen quietly, seriously.
But Lan Xingchen was asleep, giving no response.
After a while, Pei Qingjian relaxed, breathing slowly.
He cautiously brought his hand closer to the one holding him.
In the darkness, every touch felt magnified. He could feel the warmth of Lan Xingchen’s palm and the gentle pressure.
He tentatively brushed the hand holding him—nervous, careful.
The sensation was unlike any he’d felt before, even different from his grandmother’s hand—warm, dry, yet uniquely soft.
This was Lan Xingchen’s hand, resting on his waist.
The first hand to embrace him since he grew up.
Pei Qingjian stared at the blurred silhouette in the dark, feeling… he didn’t mind.
His eyelashes fluttered slightly, like a butterfly’s wings.
He closed his eyes, withdrew his right hand, and simply leaned against Lan Xingchen, slowly drifting off to sleep in his arms.