Chapter 29
After that conversation, the relationship between Ye Xiyao and Xing Xu didn’t seem to change much on the surface.
They still joked around and sometimes entered the elevator together, but after stepping out, they would go their separate ways.
Ye Xiyao held back, unsure of Xing Xu’s ‘mood.’
Xing Xu held back too, unsure if he would again cross the boundary of his ‘true intentions.’
Because of this newfound distance, Ye Xiyao started saving things he didn’t get a chance to say to Xing Xu for the night. He would talk to Old Ye, Cute Ye, and the wobbling doll Ye Daping.
“This weekend, I want to go to the city museum, and I’m thinking about asking Xing Xu to come along. But would that be okay? He said I’m not special, so he probably has lots of other friends, maybe even better ones than me. If I keep inviting him out on the weekends, it might seem like I’m assuming too much, right?”
“What do you think? Am I being abnormal, wanting to monopolize all of Xing Xu’s time?”
“Maybe it’s because I don’t have friends. He’s probably not as free as I am.”
Sometimes, he’d suddenly ask them, “Do you think Xing Xu will be in a good mood tomorrow?”
Then he’d answer himself, “I hope he’s in a good mood tomorrow. He has no idea how many things I want to tell him.”
Strangely enough, after he made these little wishes, Xing Xu would end up talking to him more the next day.
But maybe because both of them were still thinking about that previous conversation, they could never interact as naturally as before.
This awkward atmosphere persisted for three days.
On September 5th, during lunch, Ye Xiyao received his first paycheck since starting at Qiaoshou Technology.
When he saw the payslip, he was stunned.
He had thought the salary he negotiated with HR was already pretty high, but the amount he actually received was far more than he expected.
If it had been just a hundred or two more, he could’ve written it off as a company bonus. But this difference was way too much.
Feeling uneasy, he went to find Qiao Linchuan and asked, “Brother Qiao, did they add an extra zero to my salary by mistake?”
Seeing Ye Xiyao’s honest, worried expression, Qiao Linchuan decided to tease him. “Wow, how did you end up with so much money? How about this—we don’t tell anyone, and you and I split it!”
Ye Xiyao pouted, “No way. If they made a mistake, I have to give the money back.”
“You’d give up money for the sake of morality?” Qiao Linchuan pretended to be shocked. “I even brought you my mom’s homemade sweet and sour pork today because you said last week you wanted some!”
“I do want some, but I can’t keep this money,” Ye Xiyao said.
Qiao Linchuan replied, “Alright, fine. I won’t split it with you. You take it all and spend it, and I won’t report you. See, I’m being nice, right?”
Ye Xiyao shook his head again. “A person has to have a clear conscience.”
Qiao Linchuan laughed, “That’s okay, I don’t have a conscience. I’ll help you spend it.”
“No, no,” Ye Xiyao retreated a step.
Seeing that Qiao Linchuan was about to chase after him, Ye Xiyao dashed into the office and pulled Xing Xu, who was napping on the couch, to his feet. “Xing Xu, wake up!”
Qiao Linchuan peeked into the office with a playful look in his eyes, teasing, “Xiao Ye, what are you doing? Reporting me to the boss?”
Confused, Xing Xu sat up and was immediately used as a human shield by Ye Xiyao. Grabbing him, Xing Xu pulled Ye Xiyao closer and asked, “What’s going on?”
Ye Xiyao didn’t want to betray Qiao Linchuan but was also afraid that Qiao Linchuan would encourage him to pocket the company’s money in front of Xing Xu—after all, this company belonged to Xing Xu’s aunt, and that made it practically Xing Xu’s.
If Xing Xu found out Qiao Linchuan was being so unethical and trying to take his family’s money, he’d surely be angry.
Caught between his conscience and his feelings, Ye Xiyao stammered for a long time without saying anything. Finally, he buried his face in Xing Xu’s arm and mumbled, “Nothing. I’ll tell you secretly after Brother Qiao leaves.”
Qiao Linchuan burst out laughing, unable to straighten up.
Xing Xu said, “Laugh outside.”
“Sure thing,” Qiao Linchuan obeyed and stepped out of the office, even closing the door for them. “Take your time talking! Let me know when it’s time to split the loot!”
Ye Xiyao’s face flushed instantly. “Hurry up and leave already!”
Once Qiao Linchuan had left, still laughing, Xing Xu sat back down on the couch, pulling Ye Xiyao into his arms. Still groggy, he wrapped an arm around Ye Xiyao’s waist from behind and said lazily, “Confess and you’ll be spared.”
“I swear I’m innocent!” Ye Xiyao declared immediately.
Xing Xu asked him, “You and Qiao Linchuan?”
Ye Xiyao: “Me and my paycheck.”
Xing Xu: “?”
Ye Xiyao quickly pulled out his paycheck and explained each item to Xing Xu: “Everything else is correct, but this extra bonus, I feel like maybe the finance department accidentally added an extra zero. How could anyone get a 30,000 bonus in their first month? Even 300 would be confusing to me. Of course, I definitely don’t mean to pocket this money. Brother Qiao was just joking when he talked about splitting the loot. Don’t worry, Xing Xu, I wouldn’t take a penny from your family.”
Xing Xu remained silent for a long time after reading it, then pressed his forehead against the back of Ye Xiyao’s neck, suppressing his laughter.
Ye Xiyao, confused by his laughter, asked, “What’s so funny?”
“The bonus is part of a share from ‘Keda.’ They believe your livestream promotion was a great help to them, and they’ve been using your video screenshots for several marketing campaigns. So, they wanted to thank you several times. Qiao Linchuan, that idiot…”
After a few words swirled on the tip of his tongue, Xing Xu simplified his response, “Qiao Linchuan reminded them during a collaboration meeting that you’ve been in high demand lately, and they couldn’t possibly meet you all. He suggested they show their gratitude in a practical way instead of just talking.”
“…” Ye Xiyao’s eyes widened in shock as he listened. “So this bonus is…”
“Yes, Qiao Linchuan got it for you,” Xing Xu admitted, even though he found Qiao Linchuan’s thought process odd at times, “He’s really good at this.”
Ye Xiyao was still in shock, “Good at what?”
Xing Xu: “Exploiting opportunities.”
Ye Xiyao finally pieced everything together from Xing Xu’s explanation, becoming instantly excited. He clenched his fists and gripped the paycheck tightly, his eyes determined, “That’s amazing! I need to learn from Brother Qiao.”
“Learn my foot,” Xing Xu lightly flicked his forehead, “You’d be lucky if others don’t exploit you first.”
Now that he knew the bonus was legitimate and not a financial mistake, Ye Xiyao felt so pleased he was almost wagging his tail. After all, it was the most money he had ever received.
He pushed himself up from Xing Xu’s arms, excitedly saying, “I should treat Brother Qiao to dinner then, right?”
Xing Xu yawned, “Do as you like.”
“Why are you so tired?” Ye Xiyao noticed that Xing Xu had been sleepy all day. While he worked, Xing Xu slept, and when he rested, Xing Xu was still asleep. “What did you do last night?”
Xing Xu’s explanation: “… Played on my phone.”
Without much thought, Ye Xiyao believed him, “You bosses and your relatives never work. You might as well play on your phones during the day. How nice, getting paid while slacking off.”
Xing Xu: “Are you mocking me?”
Ye Xiyao: “Yep.”
Xing Xu’s eyebrows knitted together as he feigned anger, “Ye Xiyao, I’m going to hit you.”
“How can you not tell when someone’s giving you good advice? Hey!” Ye Xiyao darted to the side, but he was a step too slow. Xing Xu caught him and pinned him to the sofa. Knowing when to surrender, Ye Xiyao quickly pleaded, “I was wrong, Boss Xing. Let bygones be bygones.”
Xing Xu hovered over him, unmoving.
Shadows enveloped Ye Xiyao.
Xing Xu couldn’t tell Ye Xiyao that he’d been feeling frustrated for the past few days. The reason was that every time he tried to get close to Ye Xiyao, he had to stop and ask himself: Is this part of the plan?
Since the answer was always “no,” he had to face the next question: If it’s not part of the plan, why are you doing it?
Enduring the physical frustration was one thing, but what made it worse was that Ye Xiyao would go back every night and talk to his stuffed toy, and nine times out of ten, the conversation was about Xing Xu.
Xing Xu was starting to seriously suspect that Ye Xiyao already knew about the hidden camera.
Otherwise, why would Ye Xiyao always say to his roly-poly toy, “What’s Xing Xu doing right now? Can I text him?”
And then, just when Xing Xu had prepared himself to receive a message, he’d hear Ye Xiyao say, “Forget it. To him, I’m no different from Brother Qiao. He definitely wouldn’t want to receive a text from Brother Qiao in the middle of the night. I better not send it.”
Xing Xu nearly knocked his head into the wall in frustration.
He had never felt so acutely the meaning of ‘hoisted by your own petard.’
Luo Yiji was also useless. A few days ago, he had been told to prepare for extracting demonic energy, and all he ever said was, “It’s being arranged,” with no progress in sight up until now.
“Give the result sooner so Xing Xu can decide how to treat Ye Xiyao. If Ye Xiyao deserves to die, he’ll kill him immediately. But if Ye Xiyao doesn’t deserve to die…
If he doesn’t deserve to die, Xing Xu will smash that roly-poly toy and make Ye Xiyao repeat everything he says to it at night in front of him!
“Xing Xu?” Ye Xiyao looked at Xing Xu, who still hadn’t let go of him, and cautiously gave him a little push. “Can you get up for a bit? I’m a bit hungry.”
Before Ye Xiyao said that, Xing Xu had already intended to get up. But after hearing those words, he suddenly pressed down on him even more, his expression shifting as he locked his gaze on Ye Xiyao’s lips. “Hungry? Now?”
Ye Xiyao had been hungry for a while, but because of the paycheck conversation, he had stayed chatting with Xing Xu for a bit longer.
He and Xing Xu hadn’t been eating together much recently, so Ye Xiyao had been having meals with Qiao Linchuan and the others.
Especially today, they had all agreed to each bring a dish—five people from the department, five dishes in total—it sounded like a feast. Ye Xiyao, always a foodie, had been looking forward to it since the morning, and his stomach was now quietly growling.
Ye Xiyao said, “Yeah, I’m really hungry now.”
Xing Xu didn’t know why, but his attitude suddenly became strange: “You, so, do you need me…”
“I’ll just go find Brother Qiao,” Ye Xiyao tried to prop himself up on his elbows, “Can you let me up?”
Xing Xu’s gaze darkened, “Why go to him if you’re hungry?”
Ye Xiyao didn’t realize why Xing Xu was upset. “Huh? Because I already made plans with Brother Qiao—”
“—Plans for what?” Xing Xu’s voice rose a bit, “Shouldn’t you come to me? Like you used to?”
Ye Xiyao thought for a moment, assuming Xing Xu was referring to the time he brought him lunch, but that was a while ago.
They hadn’t been eating together lately, and Ye Xiyao had been trying to maintain some distance from Xing Xu, not wanting to seem too clingy. So he said, “I didn’t want to keep bothering you. I feel bad.”
“You? Feel bad? Aren’t you always so straightforward? You eat and forget about it—what’s there to feel bad about?” Xing Xu let out a frustrated laugh, “You’re really hungry if you’re going to Qiao Linchuan.”
Ye Xiyao was utterly confused. “…I ‘am’ hungry. Why are you so mad?”
“Do you always do this? Just find someone when you’re hungry, no matter who it is?” Xing Xu asked, almost accusingly.
Ye Xiyao answered honestly, “No, I used to just handle it myself.”
Xing Xu’s expression softened a bit, but then he quickly asked, “Why Qiao Linchuan today? What about me? Are you tired of eating with me?”
“…Xing Xu.” Ye Xiyao suddenly reached out, placing his hand on Xing Xu’s forehead, and awkwardly mumbled, “Are you sick? You’re talking nonsense.”
“Answer me,” Xing Xu bent his knee against Ye Xiyao’s leg, his hands braced on either side of Ye Xiyao’s neck, his head lowering until their foreheads nearly touched. “Why didn’t you come to me?”
“What would I come to you for? You don’t have anything!” Ye Xiyao snapped, frustrated. “Unless you actually prepared something to eat?”
Does that even need preparation?
Suddenly, Xing Xu grabbed the back of Ye Xiyao’s neck and pulled, causing Ye Xiyao to tilt his head back. Before he realized what was happening, Xing Xu forcefully kissed him.
In that moment, Ye Xiyao’s mind exploded.
Instinctively, he tried to push Xing Xu away, and the moment their lips separated, he felt an overwhelming emptiness.
But Xing Xu didn’t leave him empty for long. In a husky voice, he asked, “Why don’t you want me? Qiao Linchuan is nothing. Can he really satisfy you?”
Before he could finish speaking, Xing Xu had already bitten down on Ye Xiyao’s lips again. The heavy, rapid thudding of his heartbeat filled the air.
Everything was happening so suddenly that Ye Xiyao didn’t even have time to feel surprised.
His nature quickly took over, and he began to enjoy it.
Ye Xiyao had no idea what was going on, but he was soon led by Xing Xu, his mouth opening, and the abundant, overwhelming energy from Xing Xu poured into him. He instinctively stretched out his tongue, initially hesitant, but Xing Xu responded so fiercely that their breaths intertwined, nearly suffocating him in this unexpected intimacy.
In a daze, Ye Xiyao heard Xing Xu say, “…Try going to someone else.”
He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but Xing Xu’s voice seemed a little… hurt.”
