Chapter 34: Missing You
After the suitcase was kicked, An Yi sat on the carpet, lifting his fair neck slightly as he tilted his head back to look at He Ting, who stood above him with a dark expression.
This person was a little rude.
That was An Yi’s first impression of He Ting.
Seeing the other man staring at him in that silly way, He Ting assumed he had frightened him, which was just as well. Over the next half month, he couldn’t be bothered to interact with this country bumpkin anyway.
He Ting had the kind of sharply striking features that looked especially aggressive when his face darkened, as though the next second he might send a fist straight at someone’s face. It naturally made people feel more afraid of him.
But Little Frog remained unmoved.
After all, he had one of those at home too—a strong-featured man whose face became highly aggressive whenever he didn’t smile. Compared with Huo Beixing’s overwhelming aura, though, this person was obviously much more immature.
Before going to the Huo family, An Shaofeng had also told him roughly what Huo Beixing actually did. An Yi didn’t understand the business world very well. He just knew Huo Beixing ran companies—a lot of companies, in all sorts of fields—and that he held high status and broad connections. So even though upper-class circles cared a great deal about public reputation, there were still people who rushed one after another to cooperate with this libertine whose body was covered in romantic scandals.
Comparing the two, the most obvious difference lay in the disparity revealed by life experience. Although Huo Beixing was stupid and gave off more of a reckless, flirtatious air, whenever he looked at someone seriously, even An Yi couldn’t help shivering. More than once, he had wondered whether the man had encountered some sort of medical miracle and suddenly stopped being stupid.
So when He Ting barked at him to move and give up the bed, An Yi felt not the slightest fear or timidity. His expression didn’t shift in the least.
He simply moved the suitcase off to one side so the other man wouldn’t kick it again.
That suitcase had cost a whole hundred yuan.
Seeing him stand up, He Ting assumed the other man was about to give up the spot and no longer bothered to look at him, lifting a foot to stride past.
Who would have thought that An Yi would stand there without moving, blocking the way and not letting him pass, without saying a word about giving up the bed either.
He Ting frowned and said impatiently, “Do you not understand what I’m saying?”
An Yi felt the man’s temper was terrible. It was their first meeting, yet he was already this unfriendly. “I understand. But I’m not giving it up.”
After hearing that, He Ting turned his head and looked at An Yi a few more times.
An Yi stood there, his gaze not dodging. “The beds go to whoever gets there first. I got here first, so I picked the bed I liked first.”
He Ting looked at him. “Who says first come gets first pick?”
An Yi patted his chest. “Me.”
He Ting said, “Why should anyone listen to your rule that first come gets first pick?”
After hearing that, An Yi suddenly became a bit full of himself. Lifting his little face, he declared, “My rules are the rules.”
He Ting: ……
After saying it, even An Yi felt a little embarrassed.
After spending too long around Lin Jiu, he’d been infected by middle-school syndrome too.
Normally, no one ever dared oppose He Ting. Now that someone had actually contradicted him, his mood dropped to rock bottom, especially since the other person was a country bumpkin he looked down on.
He glanced around the room. He had already been dissatisfied with the place he was staying in, and now even the bed had been picked by someone else first. His jaw tightened.
He Ting stepped forward with a cold face, closing in on An Yi. “Do you know what the consequences will be if you don’t give me this spot?”
An Yi looked at him, blinking those black-grape eyes. “I know.”
He Ting gave a cold laugh.
Then hurry up and move.
But before he could speak, he heard the other man continue, “If I don’t give it to you, then I’ll be the one sleeping on this bed.”
What consequences?
Obviously, the consequence was that he’d get to sleep soundly on the bed he had chosen.
He Ting had never expected such an answer. He gritted his teeth in anger. “You…”
The two men behind him hurried forward to stop him.
“Young Master Ting, forget it, forget it. Look, all his stuff is already on the bed. Who knows whether it’s clean or not? There’s no need.”
“Exactly, exactly.”
The brand had stipulated that during the competition, no fighting or physical altercations were allowed. If one occurred, the participant would automatically be disqualified. Getting into a conflict over a bed wasn’t worth it.
Besides, they were currently trying to ingratiate themselves with him. If He Ting really made a move, they obviously couldn’t just stand by. If they got dragged into it too, that would be a disaster.
Having been thwarted, He Ting gave An Yi a cold look, then chose the bed beside his. One reason was that it was closer to the window. The second was that over the next half month, the other man shouldn’t expect to have a good time.
Someone would bring up He Ting’s luggage later. His expression remained ugly. After taking off his coat, he sat on the edge of the bed with his arms folded, his gaze icy as he stared at An Yi, who was still sitting on the carpet tidying up his things.
Because of their clash just now, his displeasure toward this country bumpkin had reached its peak. From childhood until now, no one had ever embarrassed him like this.
Because of his family’s power and background, people flattered him wherever he went, which had nurtured in him an imperious, domineering temper.
Whatever he wanted, others had to give him. No one had ever refused.
He Ting sat there on the bed watching An Yi, and the more he looked, the angrier he got.
How dare he?!
Although An Yi could sense the other man’s stare, he paid it no real mind. Little Frog was an extremely well-mannered little frog. If the other person failed to show him friendliness, then he would immediately dislike him as well.
He had basically mastered the art of reciprocating courtesy.
The room was warm. After coming in, An Yi had already changed into a short-sleeved shirt in the bathroom, then started unpacking.
Sitting there watching, He Ting found the sight of the other man’s pale skin almost dazzling. Bathed in the sunset shining through the window, it looked especially translucent. More importantly, from that utterly ordinary gray suitcase, the man kept taking out one piece after another of luxury-branded clothing and accessories. There were quite a few extremely valuable items among them.
He Ting had grown up around such things and lived with them constantly. He could tell real from fake at a glance, and the clothes, shoes, watches, and accessories this country bumpkin was taking out of the suitcase were all genuine.
Though he still had his suspicions, he couldn’t deny that not a single item among them was fake.
Where had he gotten all of this?
An Yi dressed plainly. The white T-shirt on his body was obviously cheap, and he wore no extra embellishments.
In his circle, He Ting had never seen or even heard of this person before. Anyone with even a little status in their family could at least be named, but the other man was a completely unfamiliar face.
He Ting couldn’t help looking at him a few more times in puzzlement. But An Yi had already completely stopped caring about his gaze. Lowering his head, he took one of Huo Beixing’s coats out of the suitcase. It was a black leather one, and it looked incredibly handsome.
The first time Huo Beixing wore sportswear, it had amazed An Yi for quite a while. He had the best physique An Yi had ever seen, and with that face, the result was perfection.
After all, he was Nüwa’s graduation project—utterly flawless.
Looking at that leather jacket, An Yi felt a little tempted. It was really cool. He felt that a hunk ought to wear something like this. Carrying the coat, he walked over to the full-length mirror in the room and lifted his arms, slipping himself into it.
He looked cool as hell, okay?
But only a few seconds after admiring himself in it, An Yi’s expression fell slightly, and he pouted in confusion.
Huo Beixing was taller than him and had a bigger frame. Naturally, his clothes were larger too. The hem of the jacket hung low enough to cover An Yi’s butt.
It obviously didn’t suit him. His build couldn’t carry the jacket properly, while Huo Beixing’s wide Pacific-ocean shoulders—the standard of an inverted triangle physique—fit it perfectly.
Watching An Yi stand in front of the mirror, He Ting gave a faint laugh. The clothes the other man had brought weren’t even suitable for him. It was like a child stealing an adult’s clothes to wear.
After laughing, He Ting realized that the coats the man had taken out didn’t seem to be his size at all.
Why would he bring a pile of clothes that didn’t fit him?
He Ting frowned. The man looked like he had no background to speak of, yet these clothes were expensive, and some of the watches were high-end items you couldn’t even buy on the market anymore.
Could he have stolen them?
That black leather jacket really was cool. The design was simple, with no fussy or unnecessary embellishments, and An Yi genuinely liked both the cut and the overall style. Unfortunately, it was too large and didn’t suit him.
An Yi dejectedly walked back to the bed and took the coat off.
Sure enough, hunks were destined not to become cool-guy types.
When he took it off, the white T-shirt underneath naturally got tugged around a little, and a vivid purplish-red mark caught He Ting’s eye.
The moment he saw that mark on the man’s neck, He Ting was stunned for several seconds.
How could he not know what it was? On that fair skin, the purplish-red bruise was incredibly conspicuous. It wouldn’t fade in less than two or three days. God knew how long someone had sucked at it to make it look like that.
His eyes filled with shock as his gaze landed on An Yi’s fair, obedient-looking face.
This time, he examined him much more carefully, rather than only glancing once and then turning away like before.
An Yi was good-looking: straight nose, red lips, grape-like eyes, and when he smiled, bright eyes and white teeth, making him seem highly approachable. Even though He Ting disliked this country bumpkin, putting everything else aside and judging purely by looks, the man really was handsome.
No wonder he looked plain and rustic, yet had so many expensive things.
He Ting narrowed his eyes.
So he was being kept by someone.
The look in He Ting’s eyes became even more disgusted. He despised this type of person the most. Turning away, he stopped looking at him.
An Yi finished putting everything in place and also received a message from Lin Jiu. The contents concerned the top priority hanging over Pink Crystal Maiden Heart’s heads.
Food!
Now that it was already late autumn, An Yi changed into long sleeves and threw on a somewhat thicker jacket before going downstairs to meet up with Lin Jiu so they could go find Gu Lingling together.
But the moment he reached the ground floor, he saw Lin Jiu fully armed. Looking at him, one might have thought he had smuggled himself in illegally.
Lin Jiu wore sunglasses and a mask, but even so, he remained conspicuous because atop his head was a whole patch of rainbow-colored auspicious clouds.
Walking over, An Yi stared at him curiously. “Why did you make yourself look like this?”
Lin Jiu replied, “Don’t artists all maintain a sense of mystery? I’m just following the trend.”
The main reason, though, was that he had just been recognized. Lin Jiu himself didn’t have much of a career to speak of—otherwise, he wouldn’t only now be founding a studio with his partners. But his older brother, his father, and his father’s father were all very capable. He had no standing in the business world, but his family certainly did. He often ran to his older brother asking for things, and quite a few people knew who he was.
Then his gaze landed on An Yi, who stood there looking completely open and unconcerned. Just how did this guy manage it—how did no one recognize him?
Although he didn’t know exactly whose family An Yi came from or what status he had, ever since seeing the watch An Yi had worn last time—the one even Lin Jiu’s older brother had failed to win at auction—Lin Jiu had known he was no simple person.
Still, they were friends. If he didn’t know, then he didn’t know. One made friends with An Yi the person, not with his family.
After meeting up with Gu Lingling, the two of them went to the dining hall. Most of the food there was self-service—quick and convenient. If one wanted to order dishes, it took much longer.
It was exactly dinner time, and the restaurant was crowded. An Yi also spotted his rude roommate.
While eating her pasta, Gu Lingling said, “I heard that at eight tonight, they’re collecting everyone’s phones. After that, they’ll hand them back for half an hour every day at eight.”
During the competition, the venue was completely enclosed. Originally they hadn’t even intended to return the phones at all, but considering contestants might have special circumstances, they gave them half an hour each day to use them.
An Yi listened carefully.
After dinner, the three of them wandered around outside for a while to digest, only to discover that there was actually a little convenience store there too.
How thoughtful.
The three of them immediately went in to browse around, and a little later, each of them came back out holding a grilled sausage.
Lin Jiu suddenly felt a bit guilty. “Weren’t we supposed to be taking a walk to digest?”
An Yi thought he meant he was already too full. “You don’t want yours? Then I can help you.”
Lin Jiu: “…I’ll eat.”
By the time An Yi returned to the dorm room, it was already seven-thirty in the evening.
Only one of his roommates had come back before him—the bad-tempered one.
But the bad-tempered roommate who had shouted at him earlier was now lying on the bed, his complexion looking rather poor.
He Ting had never in his life lived somewhere so uncomfortable. Right after dinner, his body instantly revolted. Even though they had only come to the outskirts of the city, he felt as though he had somehow developed a violent case of not adjusting to the environment. With a dark expression, he lay on the bed, wondering why exactly he had come to suffer like this.
An Yi glanced at him a few times but didn’t speak. Instead, remembering that everyone had to turn in their phones at eight, he went into the bathroom planning to video call Huo Beixing.
He propped the phone in front of the sink. Before the other man picked up, he hurried back to grab one of his own short-sleeved shirts, intending to change into it.
He crossed his hands and gripped the hem of his top, then lifted his arms and started pulling it up over his head.
After being brought back to the An family, An Yi had been well cared for by Chen Lin for an entire year. His skin had become so fair it was almost as though it had never seen the sun. And because of the years of constant labor before that, his skin was firm and had a healthy sheen.
It was just that his frame was small, and he had never really been the type to put on flesh. No matter how much one fed him, he stayed skinny, so he looked thin and somewhat delicate.
The bodyguards had thought the same thing when they first saw An Yi’s slender build.
Wouldn’t it be easy to crush him with one hand?
But later they paid a romantic price, chasing him all over the mountains.
Exhausted to death, yet romance itself never died.
As An Yi pulled off his shirt, his back arched upward along with the movement, his waist stretching out. His lower abdomen was firm but didn’t have much in the way of visible exercise lines, and above that was his fair chest.
The moment Huo Beixing connected the video call, he happened to see exactly that.
At a glance, he saw the skin his wife had exposed and those two soft rosy points.
How had he ever seen such things before?
Even when he burrowed into his wife’s clothes, the fabric always pulled too tightly for him to lift his head and really look.
Huo Beixing’s Adam’s apple rolled, and even the breath he exhaled turned heavier. Blushing, he stared unblinkingly with his peach blossom eyes, almost transfixed by his wife’s little chest.
Then, realizing he was still in the living room and unwilling to let anyone else see his wife, he quickly covered the phone and rushed back to his room.
Even while going upstairs and turning corners, he couldn’t bear to take his eyes off his wife for even a moment.
Once back in the room, he kicked off his shoes and climbed straight onto the bed, propping the phone against the bedside table. For no apparent reason, he licked his lips.
He stared at the person on the screen, not understanding why his whole body felt hot and restless.
He missed his wife.
He had started missing An Yi the very moment he left, and now that An Yi had called him on video, he missed him even more.
Less than an hour after An Yi left that day, Huo Beixing had already been clamoring to call him. He didn’t want his wife to go anymore. He simply couldn’t bear it.
Only after Uncle Zhong repeatedly reasoned with him—saying that if he stopped An Yi, An Yi would be unhappy and might stop liking him—did Huo Beixing give up the idea.
But after returning home, he had looked as if he’d lost his soul.
Uncle Zhong found it rather surprising.
Although An Yi had only been here for less than five months, Huo Beixing treasured him fiercely, as though he were his own eyeball. He thought of him wherever he went, and the moment anyone looked at him, he began throwing a fit, as if terrified someone might snatch him away.
It was completely unlike the past.
Before he went stupid, Huo Beixing used to change the people around him one after another. He even brought plenty of them to the company, letting them stay around him every day. But whenever people thought he had finally settled on someone, he’d turn around and switch again. It happened over and over. Uncle Zhong had only heard this from others, but apparently even the little stars under the entertainment company Huo Beixing controlled had all spent some time with him. Once he grew tired of one, he moved on.
There had never once been a time when he became this anxious. In the past, he discarded those people as easily as throwing something away.
The old master had tried to correct him, yet the next day he still went off to the seaside with several young models for fun.
The rumors about what he got up to were even more unspeakable.
Huo Beixing himself had said that he was lustful and couldn’t change—that he would never change in this lifetime.
He had infuriated the old master so much that the man had beaten him with a stick more than once.
And now?
Now he really had changed, and moreover, he was being held firmly in check. If the other person ignored him for a single day, he looked like some resentful wife locked away in the inner chambers. He had become so possessive that even letting other people glance at him was unbearable. After turning stupid, his temper had improved a great deal, but once it concerned his wife, no one could manage him.
Taking everything together, one could only say:
this was Huo Beixing’s retribution.
Blushing, Huo Beixing kept staring at the person in the video. After becoming stupid, the awkward innocence in his face made him look like he was watching porn. His gaze fixed tightly on An Yi, as though he wanted to examine every inch of exposed skin. Again and again, his line of sight returned to his wife’s chest.
His Adam’s apple rolled up and down. Growing impatient, he said, “Wife, come closer to me.”
An Yi had just taken off his shirt and was holding it in front of his chest. His hair was a mess from passing through the collar. Hearing Huo Beixing’s voice, he turned toward the phone and saw that the call had already connected.
Warm light from the bathroom fell over him. Looking at Huo Beixing, a smile rose into his brows and eyes. “You picked up.”
The sight of him made Huo Beixing’s heart pound wildly. He missed him to the extreme. Looking at the chest An Yi was covering with his shirt, he thought that he had never touched that part of his wife before. He had only ever touched his wife’s waist.
“Wife, I miss you. When are you coming back? If you don’t come back, who’s going to sleep with me?”
“Come back. I won’t bite you. I can’t bear to bite.”
“Wife…”
Huo Beixing was practically dizzy from looking at him. Every thought in his head spilled straight out of his mouth as he tried every possible way to coax him into coming back.
He never should have let his wife leave.
He should have locked his wife up at home, where he couldn’t go anywhere. Then he wouldn’t need to worry about someone else linking arms with him, nor about his wife liking someone else.
With a child’s innocence, Huo Beixing’s words were far too blunt. Listening to him, An Yi felt his ears grow hot. “I’ll be back in a few days. It’ll be soon.”
The two of them talked a while longer. When An Yi wanted to hang up, Huo Beixing flatly refused to let him, so An Yi had no choice but to say, “I’ll definitely be thinking of you. The moment I open my eyes every day, I’ll think of you.”
Originally, He Ting had been feeling so uncomfortable that he wanted to shower and then go straight to bed. But the moment he reached the bathroom door, he heard the soft, sweet words coming from inside.
