Chapter Six
If there was still anything lacking in this otherwise contented, desire-free life, it was Ren Ningyuan’s attitude.
By all logic, the two of them had already let go of past grievances. As Little Ke’s biological father and adoptive father, they might even become relatives-in-law several layers removed in the future—fathers always think far ahead for their daughters. Yet Ren Ningyuan remained distant. Whenever they were together, he always seemed lost in thought, or simply absent-minded.
Ren Ningyuan had always been hard for him to read, but after knowing each other for over a decade, with so many entanglements and shared experiences, and with decades of interaction still ahead of them, it felt wrong that he was still like a flower seen through mist—indistinct and elusive.
That day they gathered for another meal, with Qu Tongqiu cooking as usual. He had grit his teeth and spent money to rent a better place outside, convenient for Little Ke to stay over and for him to hone his cooking skills.
“Dad, today’s pickled radish is even better than last time!”
“Is that so?” Qu Tongqiu was quite pleased. “A-Mei said the same.”
“Oh…” Le Fei dragged out his tone suggestively. “So we weren’t the first to taste it. Someone’s playing favorites.”
“That’s not it,” Qu Tongqiu hurried to explain. “Yesterday I helped A-Mei pick up Bei Bei, and just brought some along for them to try.”
“Mmm… helping pick up kids too…”
Qu Tongqiu felt embarrassed by the implication. “Don’t overthink it. There’s nothing going on.”
“Uncle Fatty,” Le Fei said—though Qu Tongqiu no longer matched the nickname, Le Fei couldn’t break the habit. “Have you ever thought about getting remarried?”
Qu Ke had just taken a sip of soup and immediately spat it all over Le Fei’s face.
Seeing his daughter’s reaction, Qu Tongqiu hurriedly grabbed tissues to wipe Le Fei’s face while comforting her. “Little Ke, don’t worry. You’re already grown up. Dad won’t think about remarrying. I’m used to it like this…”
Qu Ke coughed for a long while, her face flushed. “That’s not it, Dad. Actually… I hope you can have someone with you. When it’s just the two of us, you also feel like something’s missing, right?”
“Ah…”
“It’s just that you have to choose the right person…”
“A-Mei’s pretty good,” Le Fei chimed in enthusiastically, biting his chopsticks. “She’s always liked you, hasn’t she? And she’s a good person.”
Qu Tongqiu grew flustered. “Don’t talk nonsense. She has a husband.”
“That husband of hers—divorce is only a matter of time. Besides, Bei Bei likes you so much. You two have basically been dating already, haven’t you?”
Qu Ke stared wide-eyed. “Dad, when did this happen?”
Qu Tongqiu was mortified. “Stop talking nonsense…”
The three of them bickered endlessly. Only Ren Ningyuan seemed unmoved, calmly picking the bones out of the fish in his bowl.
After dinner, Qu Ke and Le Fei noisily went off to do the dishes, leaving the two adults sitting in the living room. Qu Tongqiu watched his daughter’s back, then glanced at the man beside him flipping through a magazine. Unable to resist, he brought up the psychology of adolescent girls. “Little Ke says that, but does she really want me to remarry?”
Ren Ningyuan only lifted his eyelids slightly and smiled. “You’d have to ask her.”
“True. With one more person in the family, it would feel more like a home. But as for choosing the right one…”
Ren Ningyuan looked up at him and smiled again. “That’s something you need to ask yourself.”
Faced with such a detached response, Qu Tongqiu could only smile awkwardly.
That night, lying in bed, he somehow thought of the feeling of Ren Ningyuan pressing down on his lips back then. It was like an electric current ran down his spine, numbing even his toes.
He wanted to ask Ren Ningyuan what that had meant, but all he did was toss and turn, pondering on his own.
Even if he asked, Ren Ningyuan wouldn’t answer him—at most, he’d just smile again.
That was Ren Ningyuan: unfathomable.
Some days later, Qu Tongqiu received a call from A-Mei, inviting him to dinner. Naturally, Le Fei teased him mercilessly about it, leaving him red-faced. When he went to meet her, Qu Tongqiu brought along some braised dishes he had made himself, since Bei Bei liked them.
The woman treated him at a Cantonese restaurant, ordering three or four dishes plus several baskets of dim sum—far more than two people could finish. Qu Tongqiu couldn’t help saying, “You should order less. This is a bit wasteful.”
The woman smiled, lowered her head, and brushed her hair aside. “Actually, this meal is to say goodbye. Tomorrow we’re moving away with A-Chao.”
Qu Tongqiu let out an involuntary “Ah.”
She looked a little embarrassed. “A-Chao’s been treating us quite well lately. He won some money and wants to move us somewhere else.”
Qu Tongqiu was slow to react. “Really? I thought you felt… I thought you resented him…”
She lowered her head again, brushing her hair by her ear. “We’ve been married so many years—at some point you just accept it. Sigh, I scold him because I can’t let go of him. Otherwise, there are plenty of heartless men in this world who’ve let me down. Why would I complain about just him?”
Qu Tongqiu was stunned. It felt as though something had occurred to him too, but it wasn’t quite clear. After a moment of silence, he handed over the braised dishes. “These are for Bei Bei. Where is she?”
“A-Chao took her to a friend’s place to play. We’re leaving tomorrow, after all—she needs to say goodbye. That man’s so careless; he even forgot to bring Bei Bei’s schoolbag,” she said, pointing to the large children’s backpack with cute patterns on the chair. “I wanted to take it to them at the station, but I couldn’t catch up. So I just let it be.”
After the meal, Qu Tongqiu walked her home. When they reached her door, they found it wide open. Panicking, they rushed inside to see the place turned upside down, as if burglars had ransacked it.
“What happened?” The woman turned deathly pale. Qu Tongqiu quickly grabbed a broom and held it in his hands, checking the place inside and out to make sure no one was hiding. He then tried to reassure her. “First, check what’s missing. We’ll go to the police station afterward.”
Nothing seemed to have been taken—there wasn’t anything valuable at home to begin with—but the whole thing still felt eerie. Qu Tongqiu accompanied her to file a police report and called A-Chao many times, but none of the calls went through.
The woman, alone at home, was frightened, shaken, and worried. Qu Tongqiu comforted her for a long time before she dared to go to sleep. He spent the night leaning against the sofa, dozing by the door, with a kitchen knife and a stick from the kitchen placed within reach, just in case.
Fortunately, nothing happened through the night. When dawn broke and the sun came out, he figured there wouldn’t be burglars in broad daylight, so Qu Tongqiu finally dared to leave.
By the time he got home, his head was spinning and his legs weak with exhaustion. When he walked in and saw someone sitting by the table, he remembered that Little Ke had no classes that day and had invited Ren Ningyuan and the others over for a home-cooked meal.
“Back so late?” Le Fei said with a grin. “Where did you spend the night?”
Qu Ke pricked up her ears, and even Ren Ningyuan looked at him.
Qu Tongqiu felt awkward. “A-Mei’s place was broken into. She was alone and very scared, so I stayed to keep her company…”
“Well done, Uncle Fatty! A hero saving the damsel!”
“No, really. She was genuinely frightened and didn’t dare sleep alone, so I just…”
“So you slept with her?”
“D-don’t talk nonsense!”
For some reason, the more he tried to explain, the worse it sounded.
Having not slept all night, his cooking inevitably suffered. He kept zoning out, and once the dishes were served, everyone complained nonstop.
“The fish is a bit burnt…”
“Dad, you put too much MSG in this soup.”
“Even if you stayed out all night, you shouldn’t be this out of it.”
Ren Ningyuan didn’t criticize, nor did he eat much. He set down his chopsticks, stayed silent for a moment, then said, “She’s a married woman. You’re being far too casual.”
Qu Tongqiu froze. A sense of being looked down on flared into anger, stirring an old pain in his heart. He held it in, but still couldn’t help saying, “You did it too—what right do you have to lecture me?”
The atmosphere instantly stiffened. The two kids didn’t know the backstory; they fell silent, chopsticks paused, glancing back and forth between the adults.
Ren Ningyuan looked up at him. “So you really still can’t forget those things.”
“No. I want to forget them. I don’t want there to be a knot between us, and I don’t want your compensation either. I just can’t understand—why did you treat me that way?”
What started as a heated remark grew into something he could no longer control. “Why, Ren Ningyuan? Give me a reason. After all these years, you owe me a clear answer, don’t you?”
The two kids were completely quiet. Ren Ningyuan was silent as well. In the stillness of their gaze, it felt as though something was slowly surfacing, brewing bit by bit, ready to pierce a hole in the taut air.
A phone rang urgently. The sudden sound startled all four of them. Qu Tongqiu awkwardly fumbled out the phone he’d bought not long ago. “I’ll take this.”
The moment he answered, the woman’s panicked voice came through, trembling with tears. “Fatty… someone’s going to die…”
Qu Tongqiu was badly shaken. He turned and said to the others, “Something seems to have happened to A-Mei. I’ll go check on her.”
The carefully built tension vanished in an instant. Ren Ningyuan lowered his gaze again, picked up his chopsticks, and continued eating. Le Fei looked around awkwardly. Only Qu Ke spoke up.
“Dad, be careful.”
“Mm, I know.”
When Qu Tongqiu rushed to the woman’s place, she was already crying as if on the verge of fainting. The moment she saw him, she clung to him like a lifeline.
“Someone left this at the door today,” she sobbed, her legs seeming too weak to hold her up.
When the box was opened, there was a severed man’s hand inside. Qu Tongqiu broke out in goosebumps all over in an instant and blurted out, “Call the police, hurry!”
“No, we can’t,” the woman cried. “If we call the police, he won’t come back. Someone just called and told me I have to hand the thing over tonight. But I really don’t know what thing they’re talking about. It must be A-Chao gambling again outside, getting himself into trouble, owing loan sharks…”
Qu Tongqiu forced himself to calm down. “Don’t panic yet. Think carefully—did A-Chao bring anything valuable home?”
“No. He gave me some money for household expenses, but it wasn’t much…”
“Think again, carefully.”
They turned the whole place upside down, even tapping the floor tiles one by one in case something was hidden underneath. But the home was bare to the bones. Even if there really had been anything good, it would have been taken away long ago.
By the time night fell, both of them were exhausted. Qu Tongqiu dropped down onto the floor and happened to see the backpack from last night thrown there. He said casually, “What’s in that bag?”
The woman looked miserable. “All Beibei’s books. She likes reading.”
They didn’t hold out any hope, but Qu Tongqiu still opened it. There wasn’t a single book inside—just stacks of white packets, neatly arranged. Something felt wrong just looking at them. Both of them got goosebumps again. They looked at each other, and Qu Tongqiu reached out first, took one bag, hesitated, then tore it open. He pinched and felt it for a while, sweat gradually breaking out on his forehead. “Th-this… this is drugs, right?”
They were both stunned. Things suddenly made sense. A small-time punk like A-Chao—how could he possibly get his hands on so much of this stuff? He must have swallowed some big shot’s goods, trying to make a desperate fortune, which was why he dragged his wife and kid and ran.
Now that he’d been caught and had offended those people, even returning the goods would mean certain death. And when those people came knocking, the two of them wouldn’t escape either.
Fear pressed down on them. Qu Tongqiu suddenly stood up. “Call the police! That’s the only way!”
The woman could only cry, clutching him. “No, he’ll die…”
“Then what do we do?”
“I’ll give them the stuff back,” the woman reached for the backpack. “I’ll trade it for him!”
“No, that’s too dangerous!” Qu Tongqiu grabbed her. “Don’t go! You—wait, let me think of something.”
The feeling that they could be crushed to death at any moment left him completely at a loss. At a time like this, he could only think of one person. He called Ren Ningyuan, anxiously waiting for the call to connect—only to hear the voicemail prompt.
It felt like a nightmare. No matter how anxious he was, the other end never picked up.
Qu Tongqiu was drenched in sweat, calling over and over, leaving message after message. He was so nervous his words came out jumbled, slurred, even he didn’t know what he was saying.
Suddenly, the door was kicked open. The noise made the woman shrink back in terror. Qu Tongqiu tensed up too, his heart lodged in his throat.
One of the men who came in looked familiar—it was the one who had kicked him back when he worked as a cleaner.
The man glanced at the floor, saw the opened bag, and grinned. “As expected. Had to scare you a bit before it showed up. Why do you people have to be so cheap?” He then gestured for his men to pack the stuff away.
Trembling, the woman still forced herself to ask, “We gave you the things back. Th-then what about A-Chao?”
“That cheap man of yours? He made me lose one bag, almost ruined the whole shipment. You think cutting off just one hand was enough?”
The woman was about to wail, but the next exchange left her too scared to make a sound.
“Brother Gao, what about these two?”
“Hmm…” Brother Gao smacked his lips and looked outside. It was raining. “Looks like the water’s going to rise tonight. In this kind of weather, a couple of people drowning in the river is pretty normal, right?”
They were stuffed into the trunk. The cramped space made it impossible to move, even to breathe properly. The woman was so frightened she couldn’t make a sound. Qu Tongqiu slowly came back to his senses. He was afraid too, but with someone even weaker than him there, he could only force his nearly blank mind to keep working.
His heart was pounding, his hands and feet tied so tightly he could barely move. Feeling around with his feet, he tried to kick the taillight, hoping to smash it. The woman seemed to have fainted. He kept holding on. He was afraid of dying like this—Qu Ke was still waiting for him to come home, Ren Ningyuan still hadn’t answered him, there was so much he couldn’t let go of.
His legs went numb from struggling. Finally, he kicked the light broken, but it didn’t seem to help much.
He didn’t know if anyone would notice a car with one taillight out. Holding on to a sliver of hope, Qu Tongqiu waited through the long stretch of time, gradually sinking into suffocating fear.
This felt different from the fear he’d felt in the water that time. Ren Ningyuan wasn’t by his side.
He suddenly missed Ren Ningyuan terribly. He still had so many things he hadn’t said to him. He wanted to tell Ren Ningyuan that he couldn’t let go because Ren Ningyuan was different from everyone else.
Half his life, he had trusted him, admired him, thought of him. Ren Ningyuan and Qu Ke had once been his entire world—that was why he hadn’t been able to endure it back then.
Scenes from his life flashed before his eyes like a spinning lantern, all of them his daughter and Ren Ningyuan. Tears slowly welled up.
The car suddenly stopped. Hope jolted Qu Tongqiu awake. He vaguely heard someone say, “The taillight’s out. That’s a fine.”
It sounded like the car had been stopped by traffic police. Brother Gao was probably putting on a smile.
“Do you know how dangerous this is in the rain? Don’t grin at me. License. Didn’t bring your license?”
Qu Tongqiu didn’t know where the strength came from. He slammed the back of his head against the inside of the trunk. Chaos broke out outside. Someone tried to start the car again. It drove erratically for a bit, then finally crashed into something.
The impact made Qu Tongqiu’s head buzz, and he almost lost consciousness.
After what felt like endless noise and commotion, someone finally opened the trunk. They were pulled out, the ropes binding their hands and feet untied, the gags removed. Only then could Qu Tongqiu take deep breaths.
“Are you okay?”
His senses were still dulled, his vision and hearing slightly out of sync. Everything felt unreal. That pale face in his field of vision seemed to drift closer and farther away—but when he realized it was Ren Ningyuan, his heart suddenly filled with joy. Ren Ningyuan wore an expression he’d never seen before, soaked through by rain. This man had never looked so disheveled.
“Qu Tongqiu.”
“…”
“Qu Tongqiu.”
Then he was pulled into a tight embrace.
They went to the police station to give statements, then to the hospital. Finally, they returned to Ren Ningyuan’s place. They decided not to tell Qu Ke for now, so she wouldn’t be scared, and stayed the night at Ren Ningyuan’s to steady themselves.
After a quick shower and changing out of their dirty, wet clothes, Qu Tongqiu went to sit in the living room. Having just escaped a cramped trunk, he wanted to be somewhere more open.
Ren Ningyuan came over holding a tray and handed him a bowl of hot soup. “Drink this. It’ll warm you up and calm you down.”
Being personally served by Ren Ningyuan still made Qu Tongqiu feel a little overwhelmed. The strong scent of dangshen in the soup made him feel much better, and after drinking it, he really did start to sweat.
Some of the medicine on his body had been washed off in the shower. Ren Ningyuan brought more and carefully applied it for him, making Qu Tongqiu even more flustered.
“Sleep well tonight,” Ren Ningyuan said after finishing, setting down the cotton swab and looking at him. Just those eyes alone were enough to make a person feel safe and calm. “You don’t need to worry about anything else. Even if the police don’t handle it cleanly, those people will disappear from T City. No one will trouble you. As for your friend, I’ve had people look after his family.”
“This time again, it’s all thanks to you…”
“No. I was too late. You did well. It was because you broke the light that they got stopped and we bought time. If it weren’t for that…” Ren Ningyuan paused, not finishing the possibility. “Qu Tongqiu, you don’t have to rely on me. You can save yourself.”
It was the first time he’d ever been praised by Ren Ningyuan. Qu Tongqiu suddenly felt shy, a strange heat rising in his body.
“I… at that time, I was actually confused too… I just thought of you. I thought, if it were you, you’d definitely have a way… there’s nothing you can’t do… if I just learned from you, then…”
Ren Ningyuan looked at him for a while, then said softly, “Qu Tongqiu, I was never the way you imagined me.”
“…”
“I’m just an ordinary person.”
“…”
“See me clearly.”
Qu Tongqiu had never seen Ren Ningyuan like this before. He was still calm and steady, but somehow different. His heart started pounding. His mouth felt dry. Something surged up in his chest, gathered at his throat, ready to burst out—but when he opened his mouth, all he said was, “I… I’m going to sleep.”
Ren Ningyuan looked at him. “Mm.”
“Good night…”
“Good night.”
They didn’t know what else to say. They looked at each other for a while, neither speaking nor moving, just gazing. Qu Tongqiu’s face burned. He said “good night” again, murmured it, then got up and went back to his room.
Lying on the bed, the surroundings quiet and peaceful, he couldn’t fall asleep. He didn’t know how long it had been when, in the darkness, he sensed someone pushing the door open—silent, not sneaky, just not wanting to startle him. The person came to his bedside. Qu Tongqiu couldn’t help turning his head. The man lowered his head and said softly, “You’re not asleep yet?”
Qu Tongqiu hurriedly propped himself up a bit. “Did something happen?”
Ren Ningyuan placed a hand on his shoulder and pressed him back down. “Nothing. I just wanted to check on you.”
The hand stayed there, not moving away. The warmth of the palm was unusually high, burning hot. For some reason, heat spread through Qu Tongqiu’s body as well. Neither of them spoke. In the dim moonlight, they looked at each other. Ren Ningyuan was backlit, his face unclear, but even that vague outline felt captivating to him.
As he kept looking, sweat broke out, inside and out, soaking him. He didn’t know why he was sweating so much.
“Qu Tongqiu.”
“Mm.”
“I never wanted to hurt you.”
“Mm.”
“I owe you. Give me time, and I’ll repay you. As long as you live well.”
“Mm…”
Ren Ningyuan looked at him again. “You asked me why today.”
“Mm…”
“Do you want to know the reason?”
“Mm…”
In the darkness, he felt Ren Ningyuan lean down. He himself couldn’t move.
Their lips met quickly, just a few seconds. He was still flustered, not yet understanding what was happening, when Ren Ningyuan pulled away. Qu Tongqiu let out a breath, feeling inexplicably disappointed—and before that breath was even finished, his lips were suddenly sealed again.
This kiss was long and forceful. It made his lower abdomen tighten, waves of numbness running down his back, his heart panicking as if it were about to leap out of his mouth. He didn’t know what to do. In the dark, Ren Ningyuan lifted his blanket and got onto the bed.
It didn’t take long to remove their clothes. Qu Tongqiu was like a frog on an operating table, stiff, not daring to move at all, feeling those hot, nimble fingers gradually strip him bare.
His underwear was pulled off too. When it slid down to his ankles, he even unconsciously lifted his foot to help Ren Ningyuan remove it cleanly.
Ren Ningyuan, naked, pressed down on him, their lower bodies overlapping.
The sensation of skin against skin was vivid and real, yet absurd. Just the contact of their sex made him shiver. Feeling the size of that swelling hardness, Qu Tongqiu was so startled he didn’t dare move, only closing his eyes.
In the pitch-black world behind his closed eyes, he felt Ren Ningyuan’s lips again—this time different from the earlier kisses.
Maybe this was what could truly be called a kiss: lingering, turning over and over, slightly forceful. A tongue slipped in; the tips touched, and in that instant Qu Tongqiu’s mind went completely blank. Heaven and earth vanished. There was nothing left but Ren Ningyuan. All other senses disappeared, leaving only the entangling, sucking heat in his mouth, his whole soul drawn out and taken away until there was nothing left.
In that soul-scattering haze, Ren Ningyuan kissed his body and prepared him. He lay there with his legs spread wide, tense, waiting for Ren Ningyuan like someone awaiting an emperor’s favor. At last that burning thing was about to enter him. Ren Ningyuan anticipated it and held his waist firmly, not giving him any chance to retreat.
Qu Tongqiu wasn’t inexperienced, but during that slow, deliberate entry, he felt several times that he couldn’t take it anymore. He could only grit his teeth, go numb with it, and force himself to accept it. When it finally went all the way in, the fullness was unbearable—he felt as if he were about to be split open, head tipped back, struggling just to breathe.
Ren Ningyuan moved only slightly, and he cried out, clutching the man’s back with all his strength.
In those restrained thrusts, the heat and wetness below built with every impact, his mind beginning to blur.
He truly, deeply admired Ren Ningyuan. And the gap between that reverent admiration and this raw physical intimacy—something his mind couldn’t process all at once—only made his heart race faster, his thoughts turning to mush.
Just the thought of Ren Ningyuan inside him made his whole body burn, even his toes curling.
His lower abdomen tightened in waves. He heard Ren Ningyuan’s low groan, felt the thrusts grow stronger. Spread open, taken again and again with heavy force, even his own body grew hot and hard in response.
Ren Ningyuan held his waist and moved with rhythm. At first it was controlled, almost gentle; gradually the range increased, driving him to cry out again and again, the bed creaking loudly.
“Ren Ningyuan… Ren Ningyuan…” His words broke apart under the fierce impact. Gasping, Qu Tongqiu could only stare at the man above him.
It was the first time he’d ever heard Ren Ningyuan’s breathing lose control. On that usually composed, steady face, there was finally a trace of distortion.
Just like always. This boss of his, who never showed emotion in anything, was in fact the sexiest man alive.
As their coupling slid further out of control, Ren Ningyuan worried he wouldn’t be able to endure it and had him turn over, entering him from behind. Pressed down, taken from the back, the wet entry made Qu Tongqiu cry out uncontrollably. Not being able to see Ren Ningyuan’s face made him panic a little.
“Ren Ningyuan…”
“Mm…”
His fingers, braced on the bed, were clasped tightly. His back pressed against that solid chest; in the rocking friction, he finally felt safe.
“Ren Ningyuan…” He didn’t know why, but in that mind-melting pleasure, he only wanted to keep calling this man’s name—yet didn’t know how else to address him. He was long past the age where he could call him Boss without hesitation.
The deep thrusts left him completely out of control. He ground back against Ren Ningyuan without any sense, murmuring, “Boss…” Ren Ningyuan pressed him down harder, driving even deeper into him amid his moans.
Qu Tongqiu’s face burned red as he cried out in a mess, “Boss…” He had never felt anything like this in his life. His body couldn’t take it anymore, yet he still wanted to meet him actively. He wanted more—closer, deeper—no matter what, it never felt like enough.
As he neared the peak, on the verge of collapse, Ren Ningyuan leaned in and kissed him.
There were no murmured love words, no loss-of-control shouting. Apart from heavy breathing, Ren Ningyuan made no sound at all—he only gave him that kiss.
A kiss like this, unimaginable at any other time, made him feel as if he exploded on the spot.
After that, Qu Tongqiu remembered very little. Lying on the bed after waking, he thought about it for a long time but still couldn’t recall much—only the sensations. The positions, the details, were all a blur, as if an overload of current had burned that part of his memory clean out.
He could barely get out of bed, but lying there limp only made him feel more ashamed. He forced himself up, legs weak, and dressed himself.
Supporting himself against the wall, he shuffled out of the room. When he finally reached the living room, he ran straight into Ren Ningyuan carrying a tray. The moment their eyes met, his face flared red from neck to hairline with a loud rush.
Ren Ningyuan looked down at him. “You’re up?”
“Mm…”
“Then eat something.”
Ren Ningyuan set the tray on the table. It was breakfast for two.
Just thinking that Ren Ningyuan was going to eat breakfast with him made even his toes go numb.
Ren Ningyuan wasn’t much of a talker. They sat facing each other, eating quietly. Yet as they ate, Qu Tongqiu kept catching Ren Ningyuan looking at him.
It felt a bit like the shy awkwardness of newlyweds, and a bit like the quiet understanding of an old married couple. The absurdity of his own thoughts made Qu Tongqiu feel heat rising off his scalp. Embarrassed, he met Ren Ningyuan’s gaze and, flustered, blurted out something to cover his nerves: “Boss—uh—you’re… really impressive in that department too.”
Ren Ningyuan choked with a soft laugh, set down his cup, pressed his lips together, and said, “Thank you.”
Qu Tongqiu’s face went even redder.
Qu Ke had already called several times. If he didn’t go back today, his daughter would start worrying. After breakfast, Qu Tongqiu took his leave, and Ren Ningyuan walked him to the door.
“I’ll take you home.”
“Ah—no need… I’ll take a taxi…”
For once, he’d splurge a little. If Ren Ningyuan personally took him home, he was afraid he’d give himself away in front of his daughter the moment he saw her. How was a father supposed to live with that?
Ren Ningyuan seemed to understand and nodded. “Then be careful on the way.”
“Mm.”
“When you get home, call me.”
“Mm.”
He’d taken only a few steps when he heard Ren Ningyuan call from behind, “Qu Tongqiu.”
He turned back—and was caught completely off guard by a kiss.
There was no embrace, just a light, simple kiss, yet the heat started at his lips and shot like lightning straight into his heart.
“Move in with me.”
Qu Tongqiu felt dizzy. “…Mm…”
He walked forward in a daze. In that muddled, inexplicable happiness, worry suddenly crept in again. Facing his daughter back home, how was he supposed to explain what had already happened—and what was about to happen?
—Sequel “Fairy Tale” End—
