Chapter 47: Vixen
The moment Li Juwei heard that, she stood rooted to the spot as if someone had cast a spell on her.
What?
Stay away from who?
Was her target really that unclear?
The five words I like Huo Beixing were practically written all over her face.
Huo Beixing’s face looked awful. The instant he thought back to how red-faced An Yi had been in the water just now, anger surged up in him. And yet both of them kept circling around right in front of his eyes. Looking at Li Juwei, he couldn’t help thinking—was she some kind of vixen trying to seduce his wife?!
Otherwise why had she spent the whole day hovering around his wife?
She sat beside his wife at meals, chatted with his wife while getting swim rings, and had even been swimming right next to his wife just now!
This was obviously her trying to pry him off the wall and steal his corner!
Huo Beixing felt deeply unhappy inside and gave her a verbal warning. “Anyway, from now on, you are absolutely not allowed to go near my wife.”
Li Juwei screamed internally, clutching her head.
How had things turned out so completely differently from what she’d imagined?
The one she wanted to get close to was you, Brother Beixing!
Why did Brother Beixing think she liked that male wife of his?
That was absolutely not it!
The only thing she coveted was Brother Beixing himself.
Looking at Huo Beixing’s guarded expression, his entire face reading Don’t even think about ruining my family, Li Juwei’s breath caught.
!
This is bad. He seems like he’s about to hate me.
Her years of open admiration absolutely could not die because of this ridiculous misunderstanding. She was not the kind of male or female lead from a melodrama who let misunderstandings pile up to the heavens without ever opening their mouth. She had a mouth.
Calming herself down, Li Juwei opened her mouth to explain. “That’s not it, Brother Beixing. I’m not here to destroy this family…”
That line sounded strangely familiar. Since Comrade Huo Dabao watched too many soap operas on a regular basis, he smoothly picked up the next line. “You’re here to join this family?”
Li Juwei: ……
Destroying it was unacceptable, but joining it was even more unacceptable! He absolutely refused.
Huo Beixing kept his face cold, defending the rightful position of the original spouse. “No. I don’t agree.”
If she joined, wouldn’t that mean she’d end up sleeping between him and his wife!
Li Juwei’s arrival today had given him an enormous sense of crisis. Normally his wife hardly ever blushed around him, yet from the moment Li Juwei appeared today, An Yi had been like a tomato possessed—his face had stayed red the whole time, and every time he saw Li Juwei he looked embarrassed.
What if, after spending enough time together, his wife really did fall in love with her and divorced him? Wouldn’t that turn him into some rotten cabbage second-marriage man?!
The more Huo Beixing thought about it, the unhappier he became. He wished Li Juwei would never come looking for him again, never appear in front of his wife again—better yet, that they’d never meet again for the rest of their lives.
If anything came up, they could communicate by drifting bottle.
Li Juwei was anxious inside. She had liked him for years; she was not the sort of person who changed affections easily. She was very devoted.
“It’s not that, Brother Beixing. I don’t like your wife.”
Huo Beixing assumed she was only being stubborn after being exposed, refusing to admit it. Perfect—this gave him the opportunity to persuade her to give up and abandon that fantasy of his wife.
“Good. Because my wife doesn’t like your type either.”
Li Juwei asked curiously, “Then what kind does he like?”
Just now An Yi had looked very shy. He hadn’t dared look at her, and even in the water he’d been red from face to neck. He felt rather conservative.
Standing there tall and straight, Huo Beixing declared, “My wife likes my type.”
Li Juwei understood.
So the other man liked someone handsome like Huo Beixing.
The next second, Huo Beixing continued, “He likes my kind—someone with chest and butt.”
As he spoke, he confidently slapped his own chest.
Li Juwei: ……
Didn’t she also have chest and butt?! How exactly was she lacking?!
Li Juwei calmed herself down. She knew that Brother Beixing, with his current childlike mentality, liked to imagine all kinds of random nonsense. But her feelings for him would never fade. Even if he was a fool now, she still loved him!
Love meant tolerating the other person’s shortcomings!
Besides, she firmly believed she and Brother Beixing were fated for each other. Back when the Huo family had hired that blind fortune-teller to calculate birth charts, hers had matched his perfectly. She was Brother Beixing’s destined girl.
The only reason she hadn’t gotten him then was because she had lost to the An family.
But so what if the An family had gotten there first? It had already been almost a year since the two of them entered their arranged marriage, and there was still no sign whatsoever of Huo Beixing improving. That could only mean the An family’s adopted son was not the destined one at all.
She was.
Li Juwei gave a small cough. “Brother Beixing, listen to me. The truth isn’t what you think. I don’t like your wife. The one I actually like is you!”
Love had to be shouted out loud!
The moment those words fell, she flicked her hair aside and tilted her face to a perfect forty-five-degree angle, intending to lift her eyes and meet his gaze from that flawless posture, completely stunning him.
But the instant she looked up, she found Huo Beixing staring blankly at her.
Then he opened his mouth and said, “I refuse.”
Li Juwei’s voice rose in agitation. “Why?”
Huo Beixing answered, “Because if I divorced and got together with you, wouldn’t that make me a second-marriage man?”
Li Juwei shook her head. So that was what he was worried about. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.”
“I mind,” Huo Beixing replied.
Li Juwei: ?
What did you mind?
Then Huo Beixing said with disgust, “Second-marriage men are all people who don’t respect themselves. I don’t want to become one.”
Li Juwei: ……
Don’t respect themselves?
Hearing those three words come out of Huo Beixing’s mouth gave her the feeling that the sky had collapsed.
If he ever found out about all his own previous romantic scandals, would he immediately fling himself into the sea in the name of preserving his chastity and innocence?
Hearing Li Juwei confess that she liked him, Huo Beixing felt much more relieved.
So she didn’t like his wife after all. That cut down Huo Dabao’s sense of crisis by quite a bit.
Then, as a side matter, he rejected her as well. “I love my wife very much. I have no thoughts about you, and I’m not going to get divorced. Go find someone else to like. I wish you happiness.”
Li Juwei was unwilling to accept it. Why was it that every confession she made always ended with Huo Beixing rejecting her? Couldn’t he at least look at her properly for once?
“But I can’t like anyone else. I only like you. I only like you.”
Huo Beixing placed a hand on his chin and thought for a while, then decided to come up with a solution for her. “How about this?”
Li Juwei’s eyes flickered. Had Brother Beixing changed his mind? She knew it—as long as she kept working hard and stayed persistent, there would definitely be a result one day. Even an iron tree could bloom.
With a completely serious face, Huo Beixing said, “Just pretend I’m not a person.”
That way, she wouldn’t need to like him anymore.
Li Juwei: ……
Was that really such a huge sacrifice?
The two had been talking for a while now when they heard noise from the men’s shower room not far away. Huo Beixing immediately ended the topic.
“Then it’s settled. Starting today, I’m not a person anymore, so you can’t keep liking me. Anyone who breaks that rule is a little dog. Goodbye.”
Once he finished speaking, Huo Beixing turned and walked away without another look back, leaving Li Juwei standing there in complete disarray.
When he had been normal, she got rejected.
Now that his brain had gone wrong, she was still getting rejected.
Li Juwei suffered a massive blow.
Seeing just how unwaveringly devoted Huo Beixing was to his spouse, Li Juwei blinked.
That adopted son from the An family definitely had some real skill.
His face looked so pure and innocent, yet unexpectedly he had such methods, keeping Huo Beixing wrapped around his finger.
Li Juwei suddenly understood.
Good heavens.
Could it be that he was the vixen?!
An Yi came out of the shower room, using a towel to rub vigorously at his hair and face. Being alone at last had relaxed him a lot. If Miss Li had still been by his side, then all he would’ve been able to do today was stare at the floor.
An Yi wasn’t stupid. In fact, he had already figured out why Li Juwei kept circling around them.
At first, he’d been a bit slow to catch on. But later, while talking with her, he realized that every topic she brought up revolved around Huo Beixing and never once left him.
On top of that, Miss Li had emphasized the “Li family” several times. Back when they’d selected candidates for the arranged marriage with Huo Beixing, one of the possible brides had been a Miss Li. That was probably Li Juwei herself.
Li Juwei liked Huo Beixing, and that was why she’d been declaring her territory in front of him.
An Yi let out a breath.
So this was one of Huo Beixing’s romantic debts after all.
He really had a lot of romantic debts.
What a vixen.
And so, with astonishingly strange trains of thought, the three of them all mutually concluded that the other person was the vixen.
But the more An Yi thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt inside.
If a year later the two of them divorced, then Huo Beixing would probably go back to another arranged marriage.
Huo Beixing treated him well. Though they had only spent a short year together, he was still the person who had treated him best in his entire life.
Huo Beixing would stand on his side unconditionally, support whatever he wanted to do, and let him live happily in the way he wanted. That was something An Yi had never been able to get no matter how hard he begged for it before.
Back in the mountains, he had studied desperately, only to have his fate wrongly rewritten by others just when he was about to go to college. Then he was reclaimed by the An family, only to be sent off into a marriage alliance for the sake of family interests.
It had always felt as if the gears of his life were turned by other people, leaving him no choice but to keep moving forward.
The two biggest things that changed his life had never been things he wanted.
But only Huo Beixing had said—
“Wife, as long as you like it, that’s enough.”
That was what he most often told him. As long as he liked it, then it was fine. As long as it made him happy, then it was fine.
That led An Yi to think—
If one day they really divorced, would Huo Beixing then give that same kindness to someone else too?
For the first time in his life, such selfish thoughts rose in An Yi’s heart.
If that kindness could belong only to him forever, how wonderful that would be.
Then he shook his head, returning to his senses.
After drying his hair, An Yi turned and saw Huo Beixing walking in. He lifted a hand and pointed at one of the empty shower stalls. “You can go wash up over there.”
But before he knew it, his wrist tightened. Huo Beixing grabbed him and dragged him into the stall instead, looking at him with displeasure all over his face.
That expression was one An Yi knew far too well. Even if he didn’t yet know what sort of dog temper the man was about to throw, he knew without question that drama was about to happen.
An Yi had meant to point out the stall so Huo Beixing could shower there, but instead he’d been dragged into it and confronted, as if he’d dug his own grave.
After nearly a year of living together, An Yi understood Huo Beixing all too well. If the man decided to make a scene now, then the most likely outcome would be either that his backside would suffer another pinching, or that Swallowing Little Frog Alive Part Three would premiere on the spot.
But this was still, technically, a public place. If any commotion broke out, then for the rest of his life Little Frog would have to live like an ostrich, head buried down in shame.
Heads could be chopped off, blood could be spilled, but face absolutely could not be lost!
So before Huo Beixing could speak, An Yi decided to strike first with concern.
He stepped forward with a caring expression and looked at Huo Beixing anxiously. “What’s wrong? Why are you unhappy? Did I do something badly and make you angry? If I did, then I absolutely didn’t mean to.”
At that moment, a faint white lotus fragrance seemed to rise from An Yi’s whole being. In just a few sentences, he’d taken over all the ground.
If I made you angry, then it definitely wasn’t on purpose.
But if you’re still angry after that, then you’re the one being unreasonable, okay?
For his flawlessly seamless wording, Little Frog smiled proudly to himself.
As expected of him.
Huo Beixing hadn’t expected An Yi to say that, and instantly softened like a large dog that had been soothed. But he still muttered unhappily, “I am unhappy.”
The two of them stood in the shower stall together. It was meant for a single person, so with two full-grown men inside, the space felt especially cramped.
An Yi tilted his face up to look at him. “Why are you unhappy?”
Huo Beixing pouted. “Because you keep blushing when you look at other people. Do you like her? Do you not like me anymore?”
The way An Yi blushed around Li Juwei had simply been because he was embarrassed, nothing more. After coming to the big city, aside from Gu Lingling, An Yi rarely interacted with girls. He felt awkward even looking directly at them. But Li Juwei had kept staying very close to him, and that was why he had turned red.
Seeing Huo Beixing’s slightly annoyed face, An Yi raised a hand and covered his own face. “No. I only like you.”
Then he looked up at Huo Beixing. “I didn’t expect you to think of me this way, assuming I’d like someone else and not believing me at all.”
As he spoke, his brows drooped and he lowered his head in hurt, looking pitiful beyond words.
Huo Beixing’s heart melted from just that one look. Seeing his wife’s wounded expression, he immediately panicked and started trying to coax him. He lowered his head and bent his back, circling around him like a big dog in distress.
“That’s not it. It’s because I like you that I’m like this. Don’t be sad, don’t be sad.”
“Wife, I said the wrong thing. I won’t say it again.”
“You can hit me. I’ll let you hit me.”
Looking at An Yi’s pitiful appearance, Huo Beixing felt as if his heart were breaking apart. His throat bobbed.
His wife had never treated him like this before.
Then he stretched out an arm and directly lifted An Yi up off the floor, his large hand gripping the man’s slender waist and pulling him tight against him, their bodies pressed close together.
“Wife, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you. Don’t be sad anymore.”
Pretending to still be angry, An Yi looked at him. “There can’t be a next time.”
Huo Beixing held him and yielded completely. “There won’t be. There can’t be a next time.”
An Yi wrapped his arms around him in return. “Mm.”
Comrade Huo Dabao had already completely forgotten that he was the one who had come here to question his wife. The moment he saw his wife forgive him, he immediately became delighted again and reconciled with him as if nothing had ever happened.
After coming out of the shower stall, the two returned to the room. An Yi was planning to take a nap, so he walked into the dressing room to change into sleepwear.
After pulling out the sleepwear, he realized he had forgotten to bring the undergarments he needed to change into.
When they came to South Island, he had packed only his underwear into his backpack. But at this moment the backpack was over on the chair in the room.
“Huo Beixing, are you there?”
The moment he heard his wife call him, Huo Beixing stood up from the sofa. “What is it, Wife?”
An Yi asked him for help. “Can you go to the room and bring my backpack over? I forgot to bring the clothes I need to change into.”
After hearing that, Huo Beixing walked into the room on his long legs. The first thing he saw was his wife’s yellow schoolbag. It was sitting open, and inside were several little easy-storage bags, all containing his wife’s white underwear.
Huo Beixing stared at the contents of the bag, and suddenly the tips of his ears felt a little warm.
So his wife had forgotten to bring his underwear.
Blushing, Huo Beixing picked up the bag and came to the dressing room door, only to hesitate.
His wife was changing clothes now. If he went in, wouldn’t he end up seeing everything?
He knew going in would scare the other person, but he still wanted to look.
Standing there in a tangle of indecision, Huo Beixing thought that the two of them were already married, and TV dramas had said that between husband and wife, anything could be seen.
Just as Huo Beixing finally made up his mind and prepared to step forward, the door suddenly opened from inside.
Because it had taken so long, An Yi had assumed Huo Beixing hadn’t found it. So he put on the spare bathrobe from the dressing room and opened the door, planning to go look himself.
The dressing room door was somewhat heavy. The moment An Yi pushed it open, there came a dull thump.
An Yi: !
Oh no.
It seemed like he had hit something.
