Chapter 7: He’s a Fool
An Yi answered on reflex, “No.”
Huo Beixing looked at him and made a single sound. “Oh.”
Holding his clothes in his hands, An Yi glanced at Huo Beixing in surprise. He had not expected such a calm reaction from him.
It was like a great black bear had suddenly shrunk into a teddy bear.
He had assumed that if he refused to let him look, Huo Beixing, with his bratty child mentality, would throw a fit—just like during the sofa battle and the swimming pool ambush. Who would have thought that this time he would be so well-behaved.
An Yi looked at him with approval.
The child has grown up. He’s learned to—
Before the thought in his heart had even finished, Huo Beixing raised a hand, grabbed An Yi’s pants, and made to yank them down.
An Yi: …
Learned my ass.
He knew things would not be that simple.
In this house, no one ever refused Huo Beixing’s requests. It was practically the level of granting every wish. So whenever there was something people would not agree to, Huo Beixing simply did it himself—straightforward, crude, and efficient in achieving his goal.
And nobody even lectured him. He could do whatever made him happy.
But at the same time, Huo Beixing had also lost certain things. After all, some things were a trade-off.
For example, after reaching his goals, he had lost all his worries. 🙂
Fortunately, An Yi had only just come out of the pool not long ago, and his pants were still soaked. The fabric was clinging tightly to his skin, so they were not easy to pull off.
Before Huo Beixing could bring out that brute force of his, the kind that matched a black bear, An Yi spun aside with a little swan-like twirl.
Because the fabric was slippery with water, the pants slid right out of Huo Beixing’s grip. Seeing this, Huo Beixing looked a little displeased.
Keeping a safe distance from him, An Yi stood in a place inside the walk-in closet where Huo Beixing could not reach him just by stretching out a hand. The closet was large, so he began speaking to him reasonably.
“You can’t just casually show this kind of thing to other people, and other people can’t just casually look at yours either.”
This was something he absolutely had to teach Huo Beixing. Right now the man’s mind was immature. If one day he went outside and showed other people his little brother, that would be bad.
If somebody took him for a pervert and beat him up, An Yi was quite sure that person would end up miserably.
Twenty percent of this lecture was for Huo Beixing’s self-protection.
The other eighty percent was to protect other people.
After all, who could beat a great black bear?
Once he finished speaking, the little frog felt his reasoning was perfectly correct.
Huo Beixing said, “But you already saw mine.”
An Yi: …
Damn. Careless.
An Yi said, “I didn’t do it on purpose just now.”
“Oh.” Huo Beixing started walking toward him. “Then I’m not doing it on purpose either.”
Not much intelligence, but enough to learn and use on the spot.
An Yi grabbed the arm Huo Beixing reached out with. “Even so, still no.”
Huo Beixing frowned. “Why?”
An Yi: For the sake of his self-respect. 🙂
So he changed his tone, pulled the man closer, and asked, “You want to see mine because you want to compare whose is bigger, right?”
Huo Beixing could not lie. Even after being caught in the act, he did not blush. He nodded with complete honesty.
An Yi spoke earnestly right by his ear. “That kind of behavior is bad. As a person, you shouldn’t be too competitive.”
Huo Beixing did not understand.
An Yi got straight to the point. “It means good people don’t compare little brothers with others, or the police will come arrest them.”
Whose childhood had not included a few police uncles who came to catch naughty children?
An Yi: clever.jpg
Apparently, that move successfully scared Huo Beixing off as well.
He no longer tried to pull down An Yi’s pants.
Seeing that Huo Beixing had been fooled, An Yi let out a sigh of relief. “Hurry up and put your pants on. Let’s go downstairs and eat cake.”
The moment cake was mentioned, Huo Beixing immediately forgot all about what had just happened. He hurriedly pulled on his pants and rushed downstairs. Only after watching him leave the walk-in closet did An Yi finally feel a little more at ease. He changed clothes, then went to the bathroom to dry his hair, and only then went downstairs.
When Butler Zhong saw An Yi come down, he stepped forward and said, “Young Master An Yi, afternoon tea has already been set out in the living room. It just so happens you and young master can eat while watching TV together and also build your relationship a little.”
The two of them were going to spend more than two years together morning and night. But right now, forget “both sides”—in just two short days, An Yi and Huo Beixing had already had two fights, averaging one a day. If this kept up, it would be very difficult for them to get through married life hand in hand.
An Yi did not refuse. After all, if Huo Beixing decided to play rough, An Yi simply had no way to handle that kind of strength. Getting along peacefully was necessary.
The little frog loved peace.
When An Yi walked into the living room, Huo Beixing was eating cake and watching TV. The show playing was still that classic old drama, Runaway Bride, Where Are You Going?
She runs, he chases. Even with wings, she cannot escape.
Watching how engrossed Huo Beixing was, An Yi sat down not far from him and looked at the television in confusion.
What was even so good about this kind of show? Were they not all just the same formulaic plots?
She loves him, but he loves her. Then a round of emotional and physical torment, and finally a melodramatic happy ending.
The little frog sat there idly watching the male and female leads on the screen.
Half an hour later, the episode ended.
An Yi snapped out of it like waking from a dream, then lowered his head a little shyly.
Not gonna lie, it was actually kind of addictive.
But then he remembered that he had already gone almost two days without drawing any design drafts. He had only recently opened a studio with a few business partners, and the progress could not be delayed. So after finishing his cake, An Yi went upstairs and returned to his room.
Huo Beixing remained on the sofa to watch the next episode.
On screen, the male lead was crying in the pouring rain with red-rimmed eyes. Even though there was an awning right beside him where he could shelter from the rain, he stubbornly stood in the downpour, completely ignoring it, and cried hoarsely, “What exactly do I have to do for you to give me a child?”
Huo Beixing: !
Have a child.
His eyes widened like copper bells.
The heroine, smarter than the hero, stood inside an attic and did not let so much as a corner of her clothing get wet. “You have to treat me well and make me fall in love with you. Only then will I willingly give you a child.”
The hero gave a wicked, charming smile. “Then you’re finished. Just wait—I’ll definitely raise you nice and plump.”
Treat his wife well and make his wife fall in love with him?
Then his wife would give him a child?!
Huo Beixing sat ramrod straight on the sofa like a primary school student in class, carefully writing the lesson into the little notebook in his heart.
In Huo Beixing’s eyes, a ridiculous over-the-top romance drama had been turned forcefully into an educational film.
Truly, what a good drama.
At six o’clock the next morning, An Yi felt an itch by his ear, as if a feather were brushing lightly against it. His sweet sleep had been disturbed, and he unconsciously frowned and waved a hand, but the itch did not go away. Instead, it got worse.
An Yi: This is getting a little excessive.
Yesterday he had fought with someone and then spent time drawing sketches. He was so tired he could not even lift a finger. Right now he did not want to do anything except sleep.
When the itch became too unbearable, he finally opened his eyes groggily and found himself face-to-face with Huo Beixing’s handsome face.
He checked the time. Six in the morning.
An Yi: 🙂
You had better have something important to say to me.
Seeing that he was awake, Huo Beixing whispered by his ear, “Wife, get up and eat.”
After hearing this, An Yi buried his head right back into the pillow. “You go eat. I’m not eating.”
As he said it, he closed his eyes and prepared to fall asleep again.
An Yi: peaceful.jpg
How could that do?
Huo Beixing remembered every word from yesterday’s TV drama. If he did not raise his wife to be nice and plump, how could she have children?!
Skipping breakfast was absolutely not allowed.
Besides, making his wife eat breakfast was for his wife’s own good. That way she could fall in love with him.
So he stretched out his long arm and hoisted An Yi straight up in one move.
“Then let’s go downstairs and eat together.”
An Yi: ???
Wait, had he not just said I’m not eating?
Wasn’t it allowed to save some grain for the family???
But Huo Beixing acted as though he had not heard him at all. Smiling, he carried him downstairs and pressed him into a dining chair.
An Yi: As long as you’re happy.
After breakfast, Huo Beixing had to go to swimming class, and An Yi was granted some rare peace and quiet.
After all, since he had to go to a swimming center downtown for class, Huo Beixing had to put on a shirt before going out.
When An Yi walked into the room, he saw Huo Beixing coming out behind Butler Zhong.
At the moment, he was dressed in black athletic wear, the jacket zipped all the way to the top so that when he lowered his head, his chin was half-hidden in the collar. With shoulders broad as the Pacific, he could make any clothes look sharp. Narrow waist, long legs, and a big sports bag on his back.
When he spotted An Yi, he smiled and said, “Wife, I’m going to swimming class.”
Four-word description: energetic big dog.
An Yi’s gaze drifted over Huo Beixing involuntarily. The man’s looks and physique were heaven-given. He was extremely suitable as a model, a standard human clothes rack.
Even better than the ones An Yi had seen in magazines before. Most importantly, this one was real.
Looking at his figure, inspiration exploded instantly in An Yi’s mind.
As Huo Beixing brushed past him, he suddenly leaned in. His tall frame bent down, instantly boxing An Yi into a small space. His hands stayed in his pockets, but his upper body angled forward, and the tip of his nose nearly bumped right into An Yi’s face.
The sun-like smile on Huo Beixing’s face was still there, as though he never had any worries at all—no sorrow, carefree and untroubled.
Looking at An Yi with those peach blossom eyes, brows and eyes carrying a kind of natural boldness, he asked, “I’m going out. Is there anything you want?”
“I can buy it and bring it back for you.”
Such easy confidence, as if even if An Yi asked for the sun in the sky, the man in front of him could somehow bring it back to him.
The expression on An Yi’s face froze for a moment when he heard those words. Though he had lived for more than twenty years, it was still the first time anyone had ever said something like that to him.
The mountains were not like a bustling big city. There were no clean streets or lively shopping centers just outside the door. In the mountains, there was nothing. Even getting to a tiny convenience shop meant walking a long way.
Every day, An Yi had farm work to do, and his family had never been well-off. When he had free time, he wove bamboo baskets and sold them on market days. Even when he wanted something, he would not get it. And even if he desperately wanted it, money would not allow it.
Every time he went down the mountain to market, aside from buying necessary farm tools, seeds, and clothes for the village girls, he almost always walked with his head down.
He did not dare look, nor did he dare really see.
Because if he looked, he would envy.
If he looked, desire would grow in his heart.
And later, lying under the covers at night, he would sigh in regret, itching and aching to have it.
But he had to live. The money from selling crops had to go to tuition fees and grain. There was no extra money to satisfy what he liked.
And no one had ever asked him what he wanted.
In that mountain, everyone had desires.
And everyone kept them pressed down. No one was exempt.
Huo Beixing was the first person who, just because he was heading out, said he could bring something back for him.
An Yi opened his mouth, but no words came out.
He had seen little of the world. Though he had now encountered some new and interesting things in the big city, he still did not know what many of them were even called. Besides, there was nothing he especially needed right now.
As for the supplies he needed for fashion design, when Chen Lin learned that he wanted to become a designer, she had already bought him everything.
Not wanting to waste the other man’s time—and also because he really could not think of anything he wanted, his desires having been suppressed so long they had gradually faded—An Yi said, “There’s nothing I want. Go to class. Be careful on the way.”
Seeing him say no, Huo Beixing did not ask again. His way of thinking was very simple right now. If the other person said no, then that meant no. So he went straight out the door and got in the car to the swimming center.
Class lasted a full three hours. When Huo Beixing came out of the swimming center with his large sports bag on his back, he saw the driver waiting by the roadside to pick him up, with the family’s two Dobermans on leashes.
Huo Beixing’s energy was endless. Even after three hours of swimming class, he was not tired. Normally, he would walk home and take the dogs out at the same time.
The driver handed the dog leashes to Huo Beixing, then followed several meters behind in the car.
As for basic common-sense things like waiting for the traffic light before crossing the road, the Huo family had already hired someone to teach him not long after Huo Beixing became foolish.
After all, if he really was going to stay like this forever, they could not let him become unable to take care of himself.
Even if he was foolish, he still had to possess normal life skills.
The once successful, dashing, elegant Second Young Master Huo had to continue living with dignity even after becoming foolish, because there were no shortage of people waiting to laugh at Huo Beixing.
Soon Huo Beixing crossed the road and, holding the Dobermans, reached a park. There were quite a few children there. Many of them also took lessons at the same swimming center as him, and now that class was over, a lot of parents had brought their children here to play.
The moment Huo Beixing entered the park, he saw an old man selling helium balloons not far away.
Dozens of balloons floated in the air on strings, colorful and bright, forming a small, eye-catching cloud of balloons. The old man gripped the strings in his hand, and a number of children were crowding around his legs, money in hand, wanting to buy balloons.
Huo Beixing’s gaze locked tightly onto the balloons in the sky. His eyes contained only two words.
Want them.
And if he wanted something, then he definitely had to get it.
Huo Beixing walked over with the dogs and obediently stood in line. When he noticed that some of the children were afraid of his dogs, he hurriedly lifted open his jacket and stuffed the dogs’ heads inside.
With their vision suddenly plunged into darkness, the Dobermans: 3Q
Only when it was finally his turn did the Dobermans get to see daylight again.
Huo Beixing smiled innocently. “I want one panda.”
The old man did not ask why a grown man was buying a helium balloon. He simply handed him the panda balloon.
Huo Beixing took it in his hand, then suddenly thought of An Yi.
If he had one, then his wife had to have one too.
He had to treat his wife well.
But all the other children bought only one balloon and left. If he bought two, would that be too greedy? Would the old man refuse to sell to him?
Seeing the conflicted look on his face, the old man asked, “Sir, is something wrong?”
Huo Beixing asked, “Can I buy one more?”
The old man chuckled a few times. “Of course you can.”
Wasn’t more always better?
The moment Huo Beixing heard that he could, his mood brightened at once. “I want to buy one more for my wife.”
The old man said, “Then pick one for your wife.”
Looking at the big cluster of balloons, Huo Beixing said, “My wife is fair and clean-looking, and a lot smaller than me. I’ll take this one.”
He raised a hand and pointed.
The old man said, “This little white rabbit?”
Huo Beixing said, “No. That big frog.”
Old man: …
Then why did you insist on emphasizing that she’s fair and clean-looking?!
What exactly did a big green frog have to do with your fair and clean-looking wife?!
After paying, Huo Beixing happily gripped the balloons in his hand. He was already imagining how delighted and excited his wife would be when he saw them.
An Yi would circle around him saying, “Oh my god, you bought this for me?”
“I’m so touched. I’m going to give you ten children!”
Huo Beixing gave a few silly chuckles.
Actually, nine would be fine too.
Just as he was about to leave, there was suddenly a sharp pain in his back. Huo Beixing turned around blankly and saw several children throwing pebbles at him.
“That’s him! He’s the fool my dad was talking about.”
