Chapter 64
Pei Zhi always liked to say deliberately provocative things at moments like this, satisfying that dark, possessive streak in him. He especially loved seeing Xie Ning show that dazed, embarrassed look because of his words.
It really was adorable.
Just as Pei Zhi expected, Xie Ning wore an unusually innocent expression. Still half out of it, he seemed to have taken Pei Zhi’s words seriously, a faint trace of worry lingering in his damp lashes and brows.
He even snuck a glance toward the door and listened carefully. Only after confirming no one was there, and no one was coming, did he quietly relax.
Then he turned his face back as if nothing had happened.
Xie Ning had forgotten that this was the bathroom in his own room. To give him enough privacy, almost the entire second floor was basically his space. Even the staircase his parents used to go upstairs to the third floor was separate from his.
At this hour, the odds of a third person appearing here were tiny.
A rare trace of docility appeared on Xie Ning’s face, and Pei Zhi could not help whispering more strange things into his ear.
He watched Xie Ning go from that easily fooled, blank daze to gradually clearing up, the haze of ignorance in his brows fading as familiar alertness returned.
Pei Zhi noticed it immediately. He shut his mouth at once, as if the one who had just been rambling nonsense was not him at all. With great concern, he asked, “Awake now, baby? Is your head dizzy? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
Xie Ning frowned faintly and said nothing.
He only glanced at Pei Zhi with damp eyes.
Pei Zhi knew he had said the wrong thing and upset Xie Ning a little, so he held him and coaxed him.
Xie Ning’s skin hunger had been overindulged. At the moment, he had no strength and did not want to talk. After Pei Zhi held him for a while and sweet-talked him endlessly, he carried him off to bathe.
It was still that same way of holding him, like carrying a child to the bathroom.
The posture felt a little strange, especially with the bright light overhead, making Xie Ning feel as if he were exposed under broad daylight.
Luckily, Pei Zhi had long strides. In just a few steps, he carried him into the shower, and the light dimmed. The darker space gave Xie Ning a much greater sense of security.
“Is this water temperature okay? Too cold?” Pei Zhi tested it on himself first and, once it seemed about right, let a little run over Xie Ning’s skin. “Or is it too hot?”
Xie Ning gave a soft response, then, worried he had not been clear, added, “It’s fine.”
Not cold, not hot. Just right.
Xie Ning sank into that blank state again, not wanting to do anything, only wanting to lean against Pei Zhi and rest with his eyes closed.
Right now, he felt like he had just taken a sip of iced watermelon juice on a summer beach, completely refreshed and comfortable, every finger tingling pleasantly.
And with Pei Zhi there, he really did not need to do anything himself.
Pei Zhi helped Xie Ning bathe with almost excessive seriousness. He did not miss even the smallest fold of skin, checking carefully with his fingers before cleaning it.
What troubled Xie Ning a little was that when Pei Zhi applied body wash or washed his back, he would always seize the chance to hold him, kiss him, nuzzle him, brush his lips, and steal a little extra closeness.
Xie Ning seemed to have gotten used to all these little animal-like habits of Pei Zhi’s, and did not say much. The entire time, he simply let it happen.
He had no strength anyway. Even if he resisted, it would not do much, so he might as well accept it.
After washing him, Pei Zhi wrapped him in a large bath towel. Holding him in strong arms, he lowered his head and kissed Xie Ning’s forehead. “Cute.”
“What’s cute?” Xie Ning asked lazily. “Aren’t I supposed to be a bad kid?”
He still remembered that.
Then again, Xie Ning’s head had only been fuzzy. His memory was still very good. And precisely because of that, as his mind gradually cleared, recalling the nonsense he had said while half-conscious and coaxed along made layers of embarrassment pile up, making him even less willing to speak.
“So you remember.” Pei Zhi’s lips curved soundlessly, clearly in a good mood. He touched Xie Ning’s earlobe. “You’re not a bad kid. I’m the one who spoiled you.”
“It’s all my fault. I corrupted our good little baby.”
Xie Ning’s ears began to heat up.
What Pei Zhi said was far too sticky and intimate, and also… very strange.
It wasn’t really that Pei Zhi had corrupted him… but forget it. Whatever Pei Zhi wanted to say, he was too lazy to care.
Xie Ning said, “How much longer? I’m sleepy.”
Pei Zhi was drying his back. “Almost done.”
Resting against Pei Zhi’s shoulder with his eyes closed for a while, Xie Ning said, “I thought about it. The clothes in the walk-in closet probably won’t fit you, and I don’t know how long they’ve been sitting there. They’re probably dusty too.”
Pei Zhi said, “Then I just won’t wear anything? That works too.”
That depended on whether Xie Ning could accept it.
Of course Xie Ning could not. Not wearing anything in bed was one thing, but if Pei Zhi wandered around his room unclothed, it would be too much to look at.
Just imagining that scene made Xie Ning frown.
Things abroad were not as convenient as back home. You could not order anything in the middle of the night so easily, and many things were a hassle. After thinking for a moment, Xie Ning said, “Then just wear the bathrobe for now. My parents should go out tomorrow, and I’ll stay in. I can order some clothes. Once you put them on, it’ll look like you just got back from the airport.”
Perfect.
It was hard to get clothes right now, but tomorrow would be easy enough. Xie Ning did not know what plans his parents had for tomorrow, but surely they would go out.
When the time came, he could say he did not feel like going out and just wanted to rest at home. His parents had always indulged him and would not force him. Once they left, everything else would be easy.
When they came back, he would simply tell them he had just gone to pick Pei Zhi up from the airport and returned, and that Pei Zhi had only just arrived at the house. No one would suspect Pei Zhi had actually been here the whole time.
Pei Zhi carried Xie Ning to the bed. The large white towel draped over Xie Ning’s shoulders looked less like a towel than some expensive shawl.
One rounded, full shoulder peeked out, and Pei Zhi laid a large hand over it. In a low voice, he asked, “So I can’t let your parents find out?”
It wasn’t exactly that they couldn’t find out. It was more that Xie Ning felt a little guilty, as if if his parents knew Pei Zhi had arrived tonight and slept with him already, it would feel like doing something bad right under their noses.
Xie Ning said, “I told my parents you’d probably get here tomorrow. If they suddenly saw you now, they might ask questions, and I wouldn’t know how to answer.”
“Couldn’t you just say I’m pursuing you?” Pei Zhi said. “That I’m chasing you.”
“That would work,” Xie Ning said. “But then my parents wouldn’t treat you like a guest anymore. You’d better be mentally prepared.”
Pei Zhi instantly lost his nerve.
Their relationship was not even fully settled yet, and he would already be meeting Xie Ning’s parents as a suitor. That was a little too thrilling.
He had heard stories before about family elders making a huge show of testing their children’s partners. Meals, conversation—everything could turn into a trap.
A friend visiting the house could come empty-handed. A lover couldn’t. A suitor definitely couldn’t.
He had arrived too suddenly and had not had time to prepare any gifts. Coming empty-handed would definitely be seen as bad manners.
No. Their relationship could not be brought into the open that quickly.
“Fine,” Pei Zhi said. “Then for now I’ll just be a secret man.”
He sounded a little gloomy as he pinched Xie Ning’s shoulder and stressed each word, “A hidden one.”
Xie Ning dodged him pinching his earlobe, a little ticklish. “You could also go knock on my parents’ door right now and tell them you’re in their son’s room.”
Without hesitation, Pei Zhi said, “I don’t dare.”
He truly didn’t.
Talking big was one thing. Actually doing it was another. He wasn’t normally a cowardly person, but when it came to matters involving Xie Ning, he was always extremely careful.
What if he left a bad impression on Xie Ning’s parents? And what if that impression affected how Xie Ning saw him, and he failed to officially win his place?
Talking about it casually was one thing. Actually doing it was another. Pei Zhi thought that being a secret lover for a little while might not be so bad.
At the very least, he could still hold Xie Ning and sleep tonight.
Pei Zhi held him, and the two of them got under the blankets together. Pei Zhi’s body temperature was high, and the covers quickly became like a furnace.
Xie Ning was still tightly trapped in his arms. Pei Zhi was strong, and whenever he hugged someone, it was as if he wanted to knead them into himself. Before long, Xie Ning started feeling overheated.
His pale hand pressed lightly against Pei Zhi’s chest. He frowned. “You’re too hot. Move farther away.”
“No.” Pei Zhi answered very decisively. “I can turn the temperature down a little?”
“That works.”
Then Xie Ning added, “But you’re holding me too tightly. Loosen up a little. I can’t breathe.”
Pei Zhi said yes, lowering the air-conditioning temperature a bit while also easing the pressure of his arms.
He watched Xie Ning’s expression and breathing carefully. Once he was sure Xie Ning was in that half-awake, almost-asleep state, he quietly tightened his arms again, pulling him firmly into his chest.
That same overwhelming embrace returned, the kind that felt as if it might crush him into someone else’s flesh and blood. Xie Ning frowned faintly. In truth, he wasn’t fully asleep yet, but this time he was too lazy to say anything, so he just let Pei Zhi hold him like that.
The warm, lean body in his arms made Pei Zhi feel immeasurably content as he listened to Xie Ning’s steady breathing.
At the same time, he began planning.
Xie Ning was right. Tomorrow would be best for his official appearance, pretending he had just arrived from the airport. Once Xie Ning’s parents went out, he would have someone deliver gifts. Under no circumstances could he let them think he was rude.
But gifts required thought. They couldn’t be too extravagant. For elders, sincerity mattered more than price.
Pei Zhi decided on seafood and fish maw. Those were safe choices for older people and would also show thoughtfulness.
His plan was solid.
What he had not expected was that Xie Ning’s parents didn’t go out the next day.
And they got up early, too.
In the morning, Xie Ning did not wake naturally. He was woken by Pei Zhi rubbing against him.
Such a tall man, clingily rubbing at him from behind, not even fully awake yet—and in any case, something else had clearly woken first. While nuzzling him, he was mumbling, “wife.”
His neck was being kissed and rubbed against, and Xie Ning finally could not take it anymore. He pushed Pei Zhi away and got up first.
Even after being pushed away, Pei Zhi still looked half-asleep. He instinctively reached across the bed, feeling around for Xie Ning’s body.
He didn’t find him. Even in sleep, his expression turned irritable before he slowly opened his eyes.
That?? was exactly like what Pei Zhi had described before. He had not intentionally woken early. He had simply reached for Xie Ning in his sleep, found nothing there to hold, and woken up naturally.
“Morning, baby.” Sitting up, Pei Zhi stretched out one arm and pulled Xie Ning at the bedside back into his lap. His voice carried that uniquely hoarse morning roughness. “It’s still early. Aren’t you going back to sleep?”
His neck was being nuzzled again. Xie Ning tilted his head, and Pei Zhi chased after him. Helpless, he pushed Pei Zhi’s head away. “Stop rubbing against me. It tickles.”
“It’s past seven already. That’s not early. And soon my parents will be up too. The clothes I ordered should arrive around seven-thirty. I need to wash up and go get—”
Suddenly, his phone screen lit up.
He opened it and saw a message from his father.
[Xie: Breakfast is ready. If you’re awake, come downstairs to eat. If not, sleep a little longer. We’re hosting a Christmas party at home today, and Qi Ran’s family is coming too.]
Xie Ning froze.
How had he forgotten that… Today was Christmas. Their family wasn’t going out. They always chose to spend the day at home.
He turned his head toward Pei Zhi, who also looked at a loss. “Then what do I do?”
After a moment, Xie Ning said, “Maybe… tell my parents you arrived in the middle of the night? That I opened the door for you then.”
“And my luggage?” Pei Zhi said. “I don’t have any. Won’t that be too fake?”
Not bringing luggage wasn’t that strange. Some people flew long-haul without any. But both of them were flustered, and they had just woken up, so neither of them could think straight.
In the end, Xie Ning could only say, “Then stay in the room for now. We’ll see how things look later.”
When Xie Ning went downstairs, his father was reading the newspaper and Xie Yan was doing yoga nearby. Both looked surprised to see him.
“Why didn’t you sleep a little longer?”
Keeping his expression calm, Xie Ning sat down and picked up two portions of breakfast. “I got hungry and woke up, so I came down to eat.”
His father noticed that he had taken two sandwiches, several slices of toast, fried eggs, and soup dumplings. Their breakfasts were always a mixture of everything.
“Looks like you really were hungry,” he said. “Your appetite is good today.”
Normally, Xie Ning had little appetite in the mornings. He would eat perfunctorily, drink some soy milk or milk, and call it done. He had been told many times that breakfast should be substantial, and he always agreed—then ignored it the next time.
He genuinely couldn’t eat much in the mornings.
After finishing yoga, Xie Yan came over, damp with sweat. “Right, is Xiao Pei arriving this afternoon? Then I can pick him up—”
“Don’t.” Xie Ning said it immediately. He rarely spoke that sharply, and both parents looked over. Feeling guilty, his expression gave him away a little. “He… he’s already in Los Angeles.”
“Oh! He’s here already?” Xie Yan looked regretful. “Why didn’t he tell us? We invited him; of course we should pick him up. It’s bad manners to let a guest come by himself. But it’s alright—what hotel is he staying at? I can go get him later.”
“You can’t let a guest come on his own.”
Especially not when it was their first meeting.
His father added, “By the way, nothing strange happened last night, right? I noticed a branch on one of the trees in the yard is broken. It doesn’t look frost-damaged. It looks snapped off.”
“Who would go around breaking your precious tree?” Xie Yan said.
Could it have been broken when Pei Zhi climbed the tree last night…?
Xie Ning: “……”
He had no idea how to explain that the guest was already in his room and had also spent the night with him.
And now, reviewing everything, Xie Ning realized he had said the wrong thing earlier.
Why had he said Pei Zhi was already in Los Angeles? Why, when Xie Yan assumed he was in a hotel, had he not just said that Pei Zhi was already in the house?
But it was too late for hindsight now.
Xie Ning brought breakfast upstairs and told Pei Zhi what had happened. After thinking it through carefully, he said, “Maybe we should just tell my parents the truth.”
Pei Zhi was drinking water and promptly choked. “Absolutely not. What if your parents think I lied? I can’t let them think I’m someone without integrity.”
“It’s fine. I’ll find a chance to go downstairs. Worst case, I’ll climb out over the balcony again. This height is nothing.”
Xie Ning was silent for a moment, then asked, “Did you break that branch when you climbed the tree yesterday?”
Pei Zhi froze, thinking back carefully. “I don’t think so? I don’t really remember. I was too focused on wanting to see you.”
Xie Ning sighed. “That’s my dad’s favorite tree. It’s missing a whole piece this morning, and he thinks someone snapped it on purpose. He’s treating it like the apple of his eye right now. And later they’ll be decorating the party area outside, so there’s no way you can climb out from the balcony.”
Pei Zhi: “……”
He hugged Xie Ning miserably. “Then what do I do? If I apologize to your parents, will they forgive me?”
“They won’t fuss over something so minor,” Xie Ning said. “Don’t worry.”
That was what he said, but when it came to actually letting Pei Zhi go downstairs, Pei Zhi still lost his nerve.
Just the thought of going downstairs empty-handed to meet Xie Ning’s parents made him deeply resistant. Even though Xie Ning had said gifts weren’t necessary, some things still had to be done out of basic sense.
Xie Ning could say he didn’t want anything, but Pei Zhi still had to be mindful enough to bring something.
The Pei Zhi who usually looked domineering and untouchable was now like a schoolboy who’d done something wrong and didn’t dare face the adults. He insisted on staying in the room a while longer to collect himself and mentally prepare.
Xie Ning was speechless. “Then take your time preparing. I’m going downstairs to help my parents decorate the garden.”
“Then I should help too.” Pei Zhi got halfway to his feet, suddenly remembered he was still in a bathrobe, and sat right back down. “When are my clothes getting here? Not bringing gifts is already rude enough. I can’t go downstairs dressed like this too.”
Xie Ning checked his phone. “Enough. Don’t go downstairs yet. Your clothes have arrived. I’ll go get them. Once you’re dressed, we’ll go down together.”
Just as Xie Ning was about to leave, he was suddenly hugged from behind. Turning his head in confusion, he felt hot breath at his ear.
“I’m kind of nervous,” Pei Zhi whispered.
Nervous? Nervous by himself? Nervous about meeting his parents? Probably all of it at once.
After a moment, Xie Ning said, “Then let’s stay on a call. You can listen to what’s happening down there. Maybe that’ll make you less nervous.”
They started the call, and Pei Zhi muted his own side. Through his earbud, he listened to the sound of Xie Ning’s footsteps heading down the stairs.
No sooner had Xie Ning reached the bottom than Qi Ran’s whole family rushed in through the door.
“Wow, Ningning’s this tall already! We wanted to come eat with you two days ago, but we were too busy and couldn’t make the time…”
Xie Ning was immediately surrounded, with several small children running circles around him and making noisy little sounds. Most kids liked to scream, especially when excited or very happy.
Just as one was about to shriek, Qi Ran said, “Brother Xie Ning likes quiet. If you all behave and don’t make noise, maybe he’ll hold you.”
The group of excitable children instantly went silent and sat up ramrod straight, looking at Xie Ning with huge, hopeful eyes.
Xie Ning: “……”
In truth, even if they were well behaved, he probably still wouldn’t want to hold them.
He genuinely wasn’t fond of children, except perhaps particularly obedient ones. Partly because he preferred quiet, and partly because he didn’t like people getting too close.
Qi Ran’s mother laughed. “Qi Ran was exactly like this when he was little. As soon as he heard that Ningning didn’t like messy children, he suddenly became obsessed with hygiene. He even brushed his teeth twice in the morning. After all these years, Ningning is still so popular with little kids.”
Then again, it wasn’t just children who liked Xie Ning. Adults liked him too.
He really did appeal to everyone. Anyone who met him found themselves liking him a little.
Xie Ning picked up a large bag from the doorway. No one asked what it was. Judging from the logo, it was probably clothes, so they assumed he had either bought something new or received it from a sponsor.
“Oh right,” Qi Ran’s mother said, “have you met anyone you like in university? You really should try dating while you’re in school. After you start working, dating feels different. Campus romance and adult romance aren’t the same. Since you’re planning on graduate school, you should date earlier—love feels different at different ages.”
“Mom, why don’t you ask me?” Qi Ran complained.
“You’ve definitely already dated. I don’t need to worry about that. Just don’t lie to people or be a jerk, and I’ll thank heaven.”
Elders always liked to ask the younger generation about love, especially someone like Xie Ning, who looked completely unawakened in that area. They were truly afraid that after graduation he would still only throw himself into work.
Love might not be a necessity, but sometimes it did add something to life.
“I know,” Xie Ning said. “Thank you, Auntie. I’ve already met—”
At that moment, a Western man walked in carrying a? of things. Qi Ran looked delighted. “David? You’re here too?”
David was the son of Xie Ning’s neighbors. They had played together for a while when they were young, mostly during holidays.
David set down the box, flashed Qi Ran a bright smile, then let his gaze land on Xie Ning’s face. “I saw you all were busy, so I came to help. Are you throwing a party? A Christmas party?”
“Yep,” Qi Ran said. “Want to stay and have a couple drinks later?”
“If David has time, that would be lovely,” Xie Yan said. “We really ought to thank you properly.”
David hesitated a moment, then said, “I’m free. My parents went to Hawaii and left me all alone, so I can help decorate too. I can’t just eat and drink for free.”
Everyone chatted and laughed. Xie Ning saw his chance to go upstairs.
Then David called after him, “Xie Ning. It’s been a long time since you were back.”
He switched suddenly into Chinese. His Chinese was very fluent now—far better than when Xie Ning had heard it as a child.
“Your Chinese has improved a lot,” Xie Ning said.
“Of course,” David replied seriously. “I’ve been taking classes. You always used to say you couldn’t understand me.”
When Xie Ning came to Los Angeles on vacation with his parents, David had always tried to speak Chinese with him. But David’s Chinese back then had been clumsy, and Xie Ning truly hadn’t understood him.
It wasn’t that Xie Ning had wanted to socialize with David in the first place. He simply hadn’t been interested in becoming especially close.
So he had often used that as an excuse: his English wasn’t good, he could only speak Chinese, and David’s Chinese wasn’t good enough, so they couldn’t really communicate.
“Now my Chinese is very good,” David said earnestly.
“Yes,” Xie Ning replied. “Very good. But I need to go upstairs first. Thanks for helping move things.”
Xie Yan looked at the bag in his hand. “When did you buy new clothes? This brand is pretty—”
“They’re not for me. They’re for Pei Zhi,” Xie Ning said. “He’s upstairs.”
“Ah?” Xie Yan froze. “Xiao Pei’s here already? When did he arrive? When did he go upstairs? Why didn’t I see him? Hurry and bring him the clothes then. Was Los Angeles too cold for him…”
As Xie Ning had predicted, Xie Yan didn’t overthink it at all.
Observers rarely questioned such things. Only the guilty party overthought every detail, terrified of being asked something or of an unexpected slip.
As Xie Ning went upstairs, one thought suddenly struck him.
He had still been on the call with Pei Zhi the whole time. Hadn’t Pei Zhi heard everything just now? His aunt, David, all of it?
Pei Zhi was a very jealous man.
Still, after thinking it over, Xie Ning decided he probably wasn’t jealous to that extent. Their conversation hadn’t contained anything improper. It had all been perfectly normal.
He took his earbuds out of his pocket, put them on, and pushed the bedroom door open.
The door had only opened a crack when a large hand shot out from inside, yanked him in, and pressed him back against the door.
That tall body and its shadow dropped over him like a net. Xie Ning’s vision darkened as Pei Zhi lowered his eyes to look at him, his handsome face clouded with dark, unreadable emotion.
“I hate him,” Pei Zhi said. “I hate the way he looks at you.”
“What?”
“Who?”
After a moment, Xie Ning asked, “You mean David? He’s the neighbors’ younger son. He’s around Qi Ran’s age. We used to play together sometimes. He comes to visit his parents occasionally.”
Pei Zhi hugged him tightly from the front, his low voice thick with restrained feeling. “I hate him.”
“Don’t talk to him,” he said. “Don’t even look at him. I hate the way he looks at you. I hate the way he talks to you.”
When Pei Zhi had cracked the door open and secretly looked down from the second floor, he had recognized it at a glance: that Western man had feelings for Xie Ning.
Only Xie Ning, foolishly, still thought he was just a neighbor.
“So I’m not even allowed to talk to him now?” Xie Ning said.
“You’re too??,” he added.
“Then I’m??,” Pei Zhi said flatly.
No one knew how much self-control it had taken him just now not to go downstairs and drag them apart.
That Western guy had stood far too close to Xie Ning and had even said his name in that overly intimate tone.
In that instant, all of Pei Zhi’s blood had boiled. Jealousy blazed through him. Like a dragon about to lose its treasure, he had been hidden in the dark, sharpening his claws, ready at any moment to snatch back what was his.
Burying his face in Xie Ning’s neck, he inhaled deeply. “I really want to… hide you away.”
“So only I can look at you.”
What he wanted even more, though, was to gouge out the eyes of anyone who dared covet him.
Xie Ning let him nuzzle there and said, “Before you think about any of that, try on the clothes. I just went out to get them…”
“Baby, do you know what I was thinking just now, when I saw you standing in the garden?”
Actually, Xie Ning didn’t really want to know.
But those thoughts came anyway, abruptly, one after another. Even though Pei Zhi hadn’t said a word out loud, Xie Ning could hear them perfectly clearly.
The pool is just the right size—not too big, not too small. Plenty of room for the two of us.
Just the two of us.
Do you know how to swim? We could swim together. If you don’t, I can hold you while we do.
And more kept coming.
The earbud cord slipped from Xie Ning’s hand. His fingers trembled, and he instantly covered Pei Zhi’s mouth.
But he forgot that the voice wasn’t coming from Pei Zhi’s lips at all. It was coming from inside his head. His face flushed red with shame, his eyes turning wet too, his voice shaking at the end. “Stop talking.”
With his lips covered, Pei Zhi looked down at him, puzzled.
Xie Ning was telling him not to speak.
But he hadn’t spoken just then.
“Baby?” Pei Zhi called through his hand, a little muffled. He noticed the redness at Xie Ning’s eyes and reached up to check.
Then he froze.
His fingertips came away faintly damp.
It wasn’t much, but it was enough to startle him.
He knew Xie Ning’s skin hunger made him unusually sensitive, but… to this extent too?
Suddenly, Pei Zhi found himself genuinely worried. If they ever really went further, would Xie Ning faint from it, with that condition amplifying everything?
Xie Ning looked at Pei Zhi’s fingertips, lips pressing together slightly, shame building in waves.
Pei Zhi didn’t know that Xie Ning could hear everything, so he carried on without any burden at all. But Xie Ning had heard every word, every explicit detail—the way Pei Zhi had imagined starting, coaxing, leading, and eventually feeding him full.
The language had been crude, the imagery blunt. Xie Ning hadn’t wanted to hear any of it, but he had been forced to listen to the whole thing.
His cheeks were still hot as he said, “Try the clothes first. I told my mom you were in the room. She didn’t ask much.”
Pei Zhi said, “Alright. First, let me kiss you.”
He lifted Xie Ning into his lap and lowered his head—
Just then, footsteps approached the door.
They stopped. Then came a knock.
“Ge, you’ve been in your room a long time. Are you not feeling well? Everything’s decorated downstairs, and Uncle and Auntie just finished roasting a lamb leg, you—”
David.
Pei Zhi’s expression turned instantly cold.
He stared toward the door and repeated, in a flat voice, “Ge?”
That foreign bastard was calling Xie Ning “ge”? Just because he was younger? Being younger gave him the right to call him that?
Even Pei Zhi had never called him that.
He tightened his arms around Xie Ning’s waist. The moment Xie Ning parted his lips as if to answer, Pei Zhi kissed him right at the opening.
His hand slipped beneath the hem of the sweater, thumb catching perfectly at the hollow of his waist, while his mouth latched onto Xie Ning’s lips like a hungry dog, drinking in every trace of warmth.
Both of them swallowed and swallowed, and Pei Zhi gave Xie Ning no chance to speak.
The fierce depth of the kiss nearly dazed him.
His soft tongue was coaxed out and sucked on over and over, the wet, shameless sounds loud in the quiet room.
David kept receiving no answer. He knocked a few more times and called out twice. At last, his footsteps slowly retreated.
Not long after, another set of footsteps approached.
“Baby Ning? David said you don’t seem well. You’ve been in your room and haven’t made a sound. Are you really okay?”
This time, it was Xie Ning’s father.
