Chapter 19: He Really Is a Pervert
Huo Dabao?
Bao meant treasure, and da meant the biggest.
So that made him his wife’s biggest treasure.
Based on his reading comprehension of the name, Huo Beixing arrived at this conclusion.
His wife loved him so much.
Huo Beixing’s peach-blossom eyes narrowed, clearly very satisfied with the name. Without another word, he pulled An Yi into his arms. “Then from now on, I’ll be called Huo Dabao.”
His magnetic laughter rumbled by An Yi’s ear, making it itch. An Yi had just come out of the bathroom, and after blow-drying it, his hair was now all fluffy and messy. He had long since learned how strong Huo Beixing was. At this moment, being held like this, both of An Yi’s feet were off the ground.
Every time Huo Beixing hugged him, he used a lot of force. Their bodies were pressed tightly together, so much so that An Yi could even feel the rise and fall of the other man’s chest.
Huo Beixing hated the hot weather and was always going shirtless. Even when he came back from outside, the first thing he did was yank off his clothes like a peacock spreading its tail. Around his neck, except when exercising, he always wore the silver chain from the first time they met.
The man’s sturdy arms held An Yi steadily, his waist locked in place as if bound by shackles. Huo Beixing had no idea how to restrain his strength. He never knew moderation in anything he did, always charging straight ahead recklessly. An Yi craned his neck out, head tilted back, panting with his mouth open like some fat-headed fish.
He could also feel how cheerful Huo Beixing was right now. Then again, at five to eight years old, it was exactly the age when little troublemakers had no worries.
An Yi’s face gradually turned red. He finally struggled one arm free and patted Huo Beixing’s firm back. “Put… put me down first.”
Huo Beixing asked, “Why?”
An Yi: 🙂
Because someone’s about to die.
If he didn’t let go soon, An Yi felt like he was about to ascend to heaven.
The next day, as usual, Huo Beixing carried An Yi downstairs for breakfast. After eating, An Yi went to the study to prepare for the fashion show in a few days.
When he came back down again, it was already two or three in the afternoon. He happened to run into Huo Beixing returning from outside with the Doberman. Judging by the look of it, they had just done a lot of exercise. Huo Beixing was panting heavily, and for some reason he didn’t seem to be in a very good mood either.
The difference between Huo Beixing smiling and not smiling was huge—almost like a complete change in the feeling he gave off as a person.
Maybe because of his mental state, when Huo Beixing smiled, his cheerfulness carried an unmistakable trace of silliness, making him look like a sunny big dog—happy every day, carefree and without worries. But when he wasn’t smiling, though he still gave off an easygoing, roguish air, there was also a very strong sense of distance and pressure.
As soon as their leashes were removed, Summer Sweetheart and Princess Lily rushed over to the water bowl and started drinking desperately. They were dying of thirst. Huo Beixing’s walk with them had truly embodied what it meant for a person to be walked by dogs.
Unlike usual, Huo Beixing didn’t squat beside them to watch them drink. Instead, he pushed his hair back with a hand and sat there in obvious irritation.
His expression was extremely ugly. His sharp brows were tightly furrowed, and his strikingly handsome features looked especially intense. His entire body radiated violence and impatience.
The index and middle fingers of his right hand rubbed lightly against each other. An Yi lowered his eyes to look. It was the habitual pose ordinary people used to hold a cigarette.
When An Yi had searched him online before, one of the most-viewed photo threads had been a set of pictures of Huo Beixing coldly smoking while staring at the paparazzi’s camera lens. It had been at night. He had been leaning against a car, seemingly waiting for someone. The firelight flickered faintly at his fingertips. Because the surroundings were dim, half his face was hidden in shadow, making him seem mysterious. Then after noticing the paparazzi, he lifted his eyes—full of warning.
The comments below had been full of screams.
In the photos, Huo Beixing’s way of holding a cigarette had looked very practiced. Even though, from the day An Yi arrived at the Huo residence, he had never once seen cigarettes in the house.
But right now, it was obvious that Huo Beixing’s nicotine craving had hit.
Huo Beixing felt terribly irritated, as if ants were crawling all over him. His teeth ground together, and he felt as though something was missing. He wanted to bite something.
He didn’t have much ability to cope with things. When he felt uncomfortable, his solution was always to directly find whatever he wanted at the moment. Simple and straightforward.
At present, he didn’t even have the concept of smoking in his mind, nor did he know this was nicotine withdrawal.
Before Huo Beixing became stupid, he had been heavily addicted to cigarettes. When Old Master Huo had been young, he had smoked too, and because of it, his lungs had never been very good in old age. Once he found out, he insisted that Huo Beixing quit no matter what. Huo Beixing had only felt that the old man was making a fuss for no reason now that he was old.
He’d done everything when he was young, but when young people did the same, suddenly it wasn’t allowed.
Though he talked nonsense, behind the scenes Huo Beixing really had quit for a while. Later he found out—damn it, he simply couldn’t quit. After that, he stopped trying.
His addiction only got worse and worse. After becoming stupid, he’d been too busy exploring the world, finding everything fresh and new. But once he got used to being stupid, life gradually became regular again, and naturally, the cravings came back too.
He felt so miserable he didn’t even want to smile.
Those peach-blossom eyes of his swept around the room, searching for something he could bite. His gaze was dark, moving inch by inch across the space, until finally it landed on An Yi.
His pale, obedient-looking wife.
An Yi had just taken a lollipop out of Huo Beixing’s candy jar and was about to bring it over to him.
After he had been acknowledged by the An family, An Shaofeng had once tried quitting smoking too. One time, some people from the company had come over to discuss business with An Shaofeng. The project probably wasn’t going smoothly, and An Shaofeng got so annoyed he started cursing loudly, then lit a cigarette to calm down. At the time, An Yi had just come back from eating KFC outside. The moment he entered the living room, he got hit by a huge cloud of smoke and choked on it. When An Shaofeng saw him, he didn’t say anything, just lifted a hand and stubbed out the cigarette.
After that, he started his quitting journey, and every time he couldn’t hold back, he used candy as a substitute.
An Yi figured eating candy might help stave off the smoking urge, so he brought back a lollipop.
Who knew that the moment he stepped into the living room, he met Huo Beixing’s wolf-like gaze.
An Yi: ?
Had the silly dog evolved?
Huo Beixing normally never looked at him like this, so An Yi immediately categorized that gaze as being aimed at the lollipop in his hand. Then he walked over and sat down beside him.
But the moment his butt touched the sofa, he was suddenly lifted into the air and swept sideways onto Huo Beixing’s lap. Huo Beixing’s arms locked around his waist like iron.
As if afraid he might run away.
An Yi felt a little unaccustomed to such an intimate posture, but he wasn’t particularly repulsed by it. He simply assumed this was Huo Beixing’s way of expressing closeness—using physical contact to show affection. Usually, he was like this too.
It was just that An Yi had grown up in the mountains and had a very conservative understanding of everything. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have blushed bright red the first time he took a female model’s measurements, too embarrassed even to look at her properly. When it came to things like romance between men and women, An Yi had heard a little, but still didn’t really understand and couldn’t tell much. The only way he had ever learned anything about love was from that ridiculous Mary Sue drama of his-chasing-her, her-running-away: Where Does the Runaway Bride Run To.
Ridiculous as it was, it was still educational.
Huo Beixing had just finished exercising and was very hot. An Yi wanted to get out of his arms, but the moment Huo Beixing saw him trying to leave, he pulled An Yi’s legs together, making it impossible for him to move at all.
Little Frog’s legs were bound, and he became a mermaid.
An Yi asked, “What are you doing?”
Since he wanted to do something bad, Huo Beixing felt a little guilty and licked his lips. “Nothing.”
But his eyes remained fixed stubbornly on An Yi, unable to move away, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.
An Yi thought his nicotine craving was flaring up and that he was feeling awful and insecure, which was why he was holding him like this. He struggled both arms free and started unwrapping the lollipop in his hand.
Once it was unwrapped, he held it to Huo Beixing’s mouth.
“Eat.”
Huo Beixing glanced at the lollipop but didn’t open his mouth.
Seeing that, An Yi nudged it closer. Didn’t he usually love candy? If Uncle Zhong didn’t restrict him to one a day, that whole jar probably would’ve been gone in just a few days.
And yet now he didn’t want it.
An Yi blinked twice in slight surprise. “You really won’t eat it?”
Well, that was a first.
He ought to tell Kuafu to start chasing the sun westward.
Huo Beixing nodded. Then he took the lollipop from An Yi’s hand and, without any warning, shoved it straight into An Yi’s mouth.
The move came too suddenly. The candy pressed against An Yi’s lips, and the moment he opened his mouth to speak, it went straight in.
Watching An Yi eat it, Huo Beixing smiled. “Wife, is it good?”
An Yi tasted the candy. It actually was pretty good, so he nodded.
Huo Beixing said, “Wife, as long as you think it’s good, that’s enough.”
He had given his candy to his wife, which meant they had exchanged things. He had traded it for what he wanted.
And now that his wife had eaten the candy, that meant she had agreed.
Based on Huo Beixing’s masterful and utterly magical method of reverse logic, he arrived at this conclusion.
An Yi didn’t usually eat much candy—his number one favorite was still McDonald’s—but right now his mouth was sweet and his mood was pretty good too. He lifted his head and gave Huo Beixing a silly smile. Just as he was happily eating the candy, a sharp pain suddenly struck his face.
Because he was afraid An Yi would struggle, Huo Beixing tightened his hold on him. Being big and strong, he had no idea how to hold back, squeezing so hard An Yi let out a muffled whimper. Then Huo Beixing lowered his head and bit straight into An Yi’s cheek.
That bite directly stunned An Yi with pain. Huo Beixing clamped down on his cheek and wouldn’t let go, hurting him so much that tears sprang from An Yi’s eyes on the spot.
He was swallowing the frog whole!
An Yi struggled one arm free and pushed at Huo Beixing, but the difference in their size was too great. They weren’t even in the same weight class. An arm couldn’t twist against a thigh—he simply couldn’t push him away. The more he pushed, the tighter Huo Beixing hugged him.
An Yi tilted his head back, trying to dodge, but Huo Beixing had his cheek firmly in his teeth. Every time An Yi moved, Huo Beixing moved with him, pinning him down and refusing to let him go.
With the candy still in his mouth, An Yi cried out, “It hurts! Don’t bite!”
Huo Beixing kept his head next to him. “Wife, it’ll be fine in a bit.”
Who’d be fine?
He definitely was not fine!
And then Huo Beixing said, full of confidence, “But I already gave you candy.”
Little Frog turned his head and spat the candy out with a puh.
“I don’t want it anymore! I don’t want it anymore!”
He was so anxious his accent came out.
But Huo Beixing didn’t listen at all. Then, when he noticed the tears of pain gathering at An Yi’s reddened eyes, he froze for a moment. Why were his eyes red too? Since the face couldn’t be bitten, he’d just switch to somewhere else.
He liked the smell on An Yi’s body—the faint scent of soap. Seeing An Yi’s face flushed red with anger, and worried that his wife might really get mad at him, he hurriedly coaxed, “I won’t bite your face anymore.”
Since he’d done it, he at least ought to apologize a little.
Looking at the clear teeth marks on those flushed cheeks, Huo Beixing even reached up and rubbed them once. Then he discovered the bite marks were still there.
He had learned this before.
Existence is reasonable.
Huo Beixing did not feel even the slightest bit guilty.
An Yi turned his head away and ignored him. Seeing that, Huo Beixing grew a little anxious, though his body still felt awful. “I won’t bite your face anymore.”
Then why was he still mad at him?
An Yi was indignant. He’d already bitten him, and now he was saying he wouldn’t bite again. For a moment, An Yi had really thought the flesh on his cheek was about to be bitten off. He hadn’t even had time to speak when Huo Beixing suddenly lifted his shirt and buried his head underneath it.
Wh-what?!
An Yi was wearing a loose white T-shirt. Once Huo Beixing pushed his head inside, his entire head disappeared under the shirt. At a glance, it looked like An Yi was pregnant.
An Yi felt his face burn. A child from the mountain gullies had never seen anything like this before. In village terms, this was improper—like a hooligan taking liberties. He started flailing wildly with both hands and feet, his bare legs in shorts kicking Huo Beixing’s calves.
“Huo… Huo Beixing, let me go! I’m not a girl, I’m not a girl!”
Flustered and red-faced, An Yi tried desperately to lift the shirt and make him come out, but sensing him push, Huo Beixing simply pinned An Yi’s arms above his head.
An Yi suddenly felt a numbing sensation across his chest, so intense even his toes curled up.
So furious he started cursing, “Huo Beixing, where the hell are you biting?!”
Half an hour later, Uncle Zhong came back from his walk outside and saw Huo Beixing sitting on the sofa shirtless, with a huge red bump on his forehead.
His mind instantly started wildly imagining all the possible ways Huo Beixing could have gotten hurt. Because the man was stupid now, any absurd reason somehow sounded perfectly plausible on him.
Uncle Zhong was alarmed. “Young Master, what happened to you?”
Huo Beixing replied, “Wife hit me.”
Uncle Zhong: !
They fought again?
Hadn’t they been getting along pretty well these past few days? Why were they using violence again?
Back when An Yi had first arrived, the two of them still needed time to adjust, so fighting had happened. But these past days had been calm and peaceful. Who would have thought they’d start up again today?
Uncle Zhong asked, “Why did Young Master An Yi hit you?”
The moment the words left his mouth, he heard footsteps. An Yi appeared carrying a glass of water, and on his face was a whole neat row of huge teeth marks.
Uncle Zhong: …
No need to guess who had done that.
This fight between the two of them didn’t get resolved until dinner that evening.
Huo Beixing obediently lowered his head and admitted his mistake. He had only done it because he liked the smell on his wife. And besides, he had even given his wife candy beforehand—he hadn’t expected him to get angry.
“Wife, I’m sorry.”
The bite marks on An Yi’s face had already faded, and he didn’t hold it against him. “It’s okay, but there can’t be a next time, understand?”
Huo Beixing nodded like a good young man who had successfully undergone reform. “Mm. Next time I definitely won’t do this again.”
An Yi nodded.
The child could indeed be taught.
Huo Beixing added, “I’ll do it the time after next.”
An Yi: …
Because the biting had hurt so much, An Yi stood in front of the mirror for a long time after his shower, inspecting himself. By the time they went to bed that night, he was already on guard against Huo Beixing.
The bed was huge, more than roomy enough for the two of them. There was almost enough space between them for two whole people. In order not to be chewed on again, An Yi wrapped himself up tightly in the blanket before finally going to sleep.
When he woke again, it was already six in the morning. His phone, on silent, was vibrating at the bedside.
An Yi picked up the phone and got out of bed to answer it.
Gu Lingling’s hoarse, exhausted voice came from the other end. “An Yi… An Yi… I… bleh—”
Before she could say more than a few words, there came a bout of dry heaving, and the call ended there.
Gu Lingling had always given the impression of being glamorous, generous, strong, and career-driven—a woman who would never easily show a vulnerable side. But from that call just now, she was clearly not in good shape. It even sounded like she’d been drinking.
An Yi’s heart lurched. He quickly called back, afraid something had happened to her, but no one answered.
Since he couldn’t reach her, An Yi thought of contacting Lin Jiu to see if he knew where Gu Lingling was.
Before An Yi could even find his number, Lin Jiu’s call came in first.
Lin Jiu’s voice came through the receiver. “What happened to Gu Lingling at the hotel?”
An Yi said, “I don’t know either. Do you know where she is? She didn’t sound too good.”
Lin Jiu had also just received a call from Gu Lingling. She had rambled a bunch of incoherent nonsense, and he hadn’t understood a single word. But her tone and voice were obviously different from usual, so afraid something might happen to her, Lin Jiu had someone check her location. It turned out she was at a five-star hotel.
He then sent the address to An Yi.
As soon as An Yi got the address, he rushed to change clothes, grabbed his phone, and ran downstairs.
Uncle Zhong saw him charging down from upstairs and tried to stop him. “Young Master An Yi.”
An Yi waved a hand at him. “Uncle Zhong, no need to save breakfast for me!”
Uncle Zhong: …No, I just wanted to remind you that you hadn’t changed out of your pajama pants.
After getting off the phone with Lin Jiu, An Yi hurried to the five-star hotel where Gu Lingling was staying. When he reached the hotel lobby, Lin Jiu spotted a strange sight—a man in a white T-shirt on top and duck-print pajama pants on the bottom.
That’s right, it was him—the lovely and charming righteous hero, An Yi!
Why had he come out wearing pajama pants?
Lin Jiu walked up. “Why are you dressed like that?”
An Yi looked at the SpongeBob slippers on Lin Jiu’s feet. “Like what?”
“……”
He had wanted to laugh at the other man one-sidedly, but somehow it turned into mutual mockery instead.
Both of them had left in too much of a rush to check whether their outfits were remotely appropriate.
After asking for Gu Lingling’s room number, An Yi and Lin Jiu took the elevator up to her floor. When they reached the door, they found it half-open.
Damn! Why wasn’t it locked?!
The two of them rushed inside at once.
Fuck, let me see which bastard dared bully her.
The moment they entered, they were hit by a sky-high stench of alcohol. Gu Lingling was slumped halfway against the sofa. An Yi checked for outsiders, while Lin Jiu hurried over to see whether Gu Lingling had been robbed or injured. After seeing she was fine, both of them let out a sigh of relief.
Gu Lingling was holding a bottle of champagne, looking utterly dejected. Her makeup had been ruined by crying, her eyeliner smudged by tears and dragged down across her cheeks.
How had she ended up drinking herself into this state? She looked miserable. No one knew what sad thing had upset her like this.
Seeing her like that, An Yi didn’t mind her messy face at all. He reached out and rubbed her once. The result was that her face looked even more smeared than before—adding frost on top of snow.
An Yi: …
He silently withdrew his hand, then shook her a little. “What’s wrong with you?”
Gu Lingling opened her eyes. When she saw that it was An Yi, tears immediately started pouring down again. Her voice was so hoarse it sounded like a broken gong. “An Yi… An Yi… do you know? I… I… wumunuangru…”
An Yi listened carefully.
Lin Jiu asked curiously, “What did she say?”
An Yi said, “She said the spicy-and-sour noodles downstairs wouldn’t give her extra soup?”
Lin Jiu: …
How could that be possible!
“Move, let me listen.”
An Yi gave up his spot.
Gu Lingling mumbled, “Wode ka%@#……”
“I see,” Lin Jiu said, turning to An Yi. “The takeout forgot to bring vinegar.”
An Yi: …
