Qi Xu lay on his side in Xie Huai’s arms, sleeping soundly, his bare shoulders covered with kiss marks, not a single one missing.
Xie Huai, having tasted the sweetness, kissed along the skin behind Qi Xu’s ear. The smooth curve of his back was intoxicating, and his warm palms massaged his lower back.
He hadn’t woken up yet, but the sensation from his lower body was impossible to ignore. Whether it was still night or already morning, he couldn’t tell.
It was too intense, too疯狂, last night the two of them had nearly lost control, unable to stop themselves.
Qi Xu’s eyelashes were covered in tears, which were kissed away one by one, over and over again, until he could no longer resist and tried to escape, only to be pulled back by his ankles.
The power imbalance made Qi Xu hate himself for being lazy, for only exercising sporadically, and for having a metabolism that prevented him from gaining weight no matter how much he ate.
Xie Huai held his hand against his abdomen, leaned down, and bit his ear, whispering, “Baby.”
Whether it was intentional or not, Xie Huai didn’t let him go.
Qi Xu’s body still carried a faint scent of roses. Xie Huai obediently stepped back, then embraced him again.
The medicinal tonics from earlier had been finished last night. Fortunately, Qi Xu was still in his prime at 18, so a little nourishment would bring him back.
The birthday gift returned to its rightful owner. As Qi Xu turned around, his palm accidentally brushed against Xie Huai’s chin, as if he had slapped him.
Xie Huai grabbed Qi Xu’s hand and placed it by his mouth, smiling, “Baby, hit me harder.”
Qi Xu: “…”
“Don’t let me hear those two words again.”
Saying that, Qi Xu sat up and slapped his face: “Starting tomorrow, you’ll sleep in your own room.”
Xie Huai paused, then lowered his eyes and accepted obediently: “For how long?”
Qi Xu snorted coldly: “It depends on your behavior. Carry me to the bathroom.”
Qi Xu silently allowed Xie Huai to put his own pajamas on him, as long as they covered the red marks on his body.
The washing up was done in Xie Huai’s bathroom, and he had also slept in his room last night.
Qi Xu’s master bedroom was in a mess after last night.
The bed, worth tens of thousands of dollars, was too embarrassing to look at. Everywhere on the sheets, rose petals had been crushed into juice, resembling tie-dye patterns, mixed with tiny rose petals and other blooming flowers.
So Xie Huai cleaned up the room. The young master removed the rose petals from the bedding and stuffed them into the washing machine.
Qixu watched from the sofa as Xie Huai walked to the entrance, picking up the clothes he had dropped along the way last night, then tidying up the dining table where red wine had been spilled last night. What a model husband!
The cat came out of its nest in the living room and jumped onto Qi Xu’s lap.
Last night, the two stumbled into the room, startling the timid cat, which stood on the sofa watching the two entangled figures. It had wanted to follow them into the room but was shut out by Xie Huai, who closed the door.
The cat had to sleep alone in the living room all night, and now, seeing that Xie Huai wasn’t by Qi Xu’s side, it once again claimed its spot.
As expected, the cat continued to occupy Xie Huai’s spot on the bed until the 29th day of the lunar month.
On New Year’s Eve, Qi Xu returned to the old house, and Xie Huai also returned to the Xie family’s old house, each going home to eat the New Year’s Eve dinner.
On the evening Shen Laoyezhi returned from his vacation, which was last night, he dined out with Shen Zhuohai’s family, treating it as a New Year’s Eve dinner with his second son’s family.
Qi Xu was aware of this matter, as Shen Laoyezhi had informed him in advance. He remained calm, even though he did not consider them family. Shen Zhuohai was Shen Laoyezhi’s son, which was a fact.
Mr. Shen always considered Qi Xu’s perspective and feared causing him any distress. The fact that Mr. Shen had personally exposed the scandal of the swap while standing on the opposite side of the Shen family was enough to shock him.
Li Shu followed him in, observing Qi Xu’s expression as he spoke: “These are the gifts that the master and mistress had delivered last night.”
Qi Xu didn’t bother to look at them and said directly, “Sell them and donate the proceeds to a children’s charity.”
Li Shu wasn’t surprised by Qi Xu’s decision and had them all removed.
The New Year’s Eve dinner was with the Shen Zhuohong family. Shen Ziyang had gone abroad with her mother to stay with her grandfather for a while before the New Year and had just returned, eagerly clinging to Qi Xu.
Shen Ziyang’s older sister, Qi Xu’s cousin, couldn’t stand it anymore and said, ” Shen Ziyang, you’ll be six years old after the New Year and will start elementary school. Can you please stop being so clingy? You’re so clingy that your brother can’t even eat his meal.”
Shen Ziyang had always wanted an older brother and had been pestering his mother to have a brother, but his mother told him that the baby would be a younger brother or sister, and he was defeated by reality.
Little did he know that upon returning to China, he suddenly had an older brother—a handsome one at that. He took the pocket money he had saved over the years and wanted to bring his brother home, but was inexplicably told that the money wasn’t enough.
As for who told him, it was, of course, his brother’s older brother. So this time, when he returned to his maternal grandfather’s house, he received quite a few red envelopes and planned to bring his brother home.
Shen Ziyang obediently pulled out a chair: “Brother, you eat first.”
Qi Xu found it strange that he had become so well-behaved after just a few days.
He ruffled Shen Ziyang’s hair: “After dinner, I’ll take you to set off fireworks.”
This was Qi Xu’s first New Year’s Eve dinner back at the Shen family home. The dishes were all his favorites, but if it weren’t for the stewed dish in front of him, everything would have been perfect.
Qi Xu already knew that Xie Huai was a tattletale in front of the old man. Why didn’t he mention what he had done to him that caused him to catch a cold?
He had been lying on the windowsill several times, exposed to alternating cold and heat. It would be abnormal not to catch a cold.
Qi Xu thought for a moment and decided to stick to his guns: “He caught a cold too. Uncle Li, send him a bowl of medicinal soup.”
Old Master Shen glared at him and said, “How did he catch a cold? Don’t make excuses to avoid drinking the medicinal soup.”
Qi Xu replied, “We slept in the same bed. How could he not catch a cold?”
“…”
The room fell silent. After speaking, Qi Xu realized he hadn’t covered the ears of the minors.
At the same time, the Xie family mansion was also having their New Year’s Eve dinner.
When the Shen family’s servant brought in a bowl of stewed soup, Xie Huai seemed to have already guessed what it was.
“Young Master Xie has a cold. The young master asked me to bring you some medicinal soup.”
Qin Huan Si asked in confusion, “Ah Hui, do you have a cold?”
Xie Huai turned his head and coughed politely, “Yes, I have a cold.”
After the New Year’s Eve dinner, the two families prepared fireworks for the children and adults.
Qi Xu, not wanting to spoil the fun, buried half his face in his scarf, holding the sparkler with his hands tucked in.
When he saw Xie Huai approaching, he quickly handed the sparkler to him.
Xie Huai handed him a hand warmer and felt his hands were ice-cold: “How long have you been out here?”
Qi Xu said, “I came out after dinner. How do kids have so much energy?”
Only Shen Ziyang had finished setting off fireworks and was now having someone accompany him to build a snowman.
Shen Ziyang walked over and took Qi Xu’s hand: “Brother, let’s build a snowman.”
The temperature was below freezing at night, but Shen Ziyang’s mother practiced a hands-off approach to parenting, dressing him in waterproof gear and sending him outside to play.
The child didn’t seem to feel the cold.
Before Qi Xu could speak, Xie Huai said, “I’ll go with you.”
Qi Xu tugged at him: “Why? Don’t you want me to play?”
Xie Huai looked at him calmly: “Do you want to catch a cold? Or do you want to keep drinking medicinal soup?”
In the end, Qi Xu didn’t touch the snow much, just squeezing a small clump with his gloved hands.
It was Xie Huai who had specially made it for him, barely recognizable as a heart shape, resembling a piece of dough that parents might casually tear off for their child when making dumplings.
Shen Zhiwei couldn’t withstand the cold anymore and shivered her way back inside.
Shen Ziyang said mysteriously to Xie Huai, “Brother, I got a red envelope from my grandfather’s house. I have enough money to take you home.”
Xie Huai pushed the snowball and glanced at him, “How much money?”
Shen Ziyang said, “A lot of money.”
“Do you think money can bring him home?” Xie Huai took off his gloves and scooped up a handful of snow with his bare hands. “He’s priceless. No amount of money can take him away.”
Shen Ziyang pouted, feeling a bit like crying. “But I want him to live with me as my real brother, read me bedtime stories, and sleep with me.”
It was a bit of a pipe dream. Xie Huai wasn’t good at comforting children, so he just said, “That’s not possible. He can only live with me. You’re a big boy. Can’t you sleep alone?”
Qi Xu was unaware of the conversation between the two about him. He simply stared at the snowman, whose body was as large as its head, and fell into deep thought, gazing at the white sugar-coated hawthorn berries.
Xie Shao’s practical skills were limited to himself; he had no practical skills when it came to other things.
Shen Ziyang was a nearly six-year-old child who hadn’t yet developed the ability to appreciate things; he could only close his eyes and praise.
Until Xie Huai took a piece of cucumber to use as the snowman’s nose, Qi Xu fell silent.
Xie Huai asked him, “Is it nice?”
Qi Xu didn’t want to crush his boyfriend’s confidence, but he knew he had to do it at the right time to prevent it from becoming too inflated.
He said, “It’s not nice. It looks like a monster invading Earth.”
“…”
Xie Huai removed the cucumber from the snowman’s nose and replaced it with a carrot he had managed to find, looking at him expectantly, trying to salvage the situation: “How about this?”
Qi Xu hesitated and said, “Forget it, Hui Ge. This field isn’t suitable for us. Let’s just focus on making money.”
Xie Huai held the cucumber without speaking, as if he had been struck.
Lying against his conscience was truly difficult for Qi Xu, so he stared at Xie Huai and said, “I like it.”
Xie Huai hadn’t shared a bed with Qi Xu for two nights, and the cat at home had taken his spot. Every morning, the cat would emerge from Qi Xu’s room with its tail held high, which annoyed him.
He could only sneak into the room during Qi Xu’s afternoon nap every day, throw the cat out, and hold Qi Xu for a while.
When he finally woke up, he used the excuse of sleepwalking to get away with it. Qi Xu didn’t say anything, but locked the room during his afternoon nap.
The dissatisfaction of the past two days erupted again, and Xie Huai dragged Qi Xu toward the garage, with a hint of impatience.
Halfway there, Qi Xu jumped onto his back, and Xie Huai carried him steadily.
After finishing building the snowman, Shen Ziyang turned around to look for his brother, only to see a piece of cucumber on the ground, with both brothers nowhere to be found.
