Chapter 45

When the sunlight came in through the square window, it just happened to fall on a finely carved back.

The back muscles sagged towards the tailbone. Fingerprints and bite marks covered the waist of this ascetic body, giving it an indescribable sense of debauchery. A thin blanket was draped over the waist, roughly covering the base of the legs.

The man's outward-turned waist was extremely erotic, as if it had been ravaged all night. Furthermore, an arm was aggressively draped over that waist, pulling him into a hug.

Pei Huai pulled his arm away and, as he lifted himself up from the crook of his arm, strands of his white hair fell onto his face. Xiang Mingqi, having regained consciousness, immediately grabbed hold of his waist and pulled him back.

"Brother, good morning." He kissed Pei Huai's abdomen and wanted to press him into his arms.

A hand slapped him in the face without a word, pushing him away. When Pei Huai made a move to step over him, a series of jingling chains suddenly tightened his consciousness.

He froze for a second, noticing the padded shackles around his ankles.

Xiang Mingqi also turned over, wrapped his palm around his calf and stroked it back and forth: "It seems that there was no mark from your struggle yesterday. It doesn't hurt, right? Can I use this to keep you locked up in the future?" Pei Huai gave him a backhanded blow, but his leg was pinched and twisted at will.

"We slept." Xiang Mingqi smiled contentedly, resting his chin on his abdomen, his eyes shining, "Brother, I did it inside. I'm different from others. I'm your boyfriend now."

"...Don't be so shameless." Pei Huai didn't even bother to give him a glance. He grabbed his head and pressed it to his feet, "Untie it."

"Okay, don't be so mean to me. I'll look for the key." The younger generation pouted his lips and stood up with a look of grievance. He put his arm around his ankle, inserted the small key into the keyhole, and turned it to open it.

However, the other hand touched Pei Huai's chest dishonestly and pinched it.

After being tossed around all night, his body was still very sensitive and it felt uncomfortable to be touched. Pei Huai slightly arched his back and bit his lips when he was tickled.

The chains and handcuffs came apart with a sound. Pei Huai didn't even look at him and elbowed him in the stomach.

Xiang Mingqi fell back on the bed in pain, spread his arms, covered his upper abdomen and pretended to be innocent: "Brother, why did you hit me so hard? What if you beat me to death, you bad brother--" But the former did not turn his head.

He finally fell silent, looking at the door that closed resolutely, his fingers tangling the sheets.

Xiang Mingqi could clearly feel that since that night, Pei Huai paid less and less attention to him.

He didn't know what went wrong.

Xiang Mingqi was quite cunning and cautious. When Pei Huai woke up in the morning, he anticipated that his phone would be taken away and his means of contacting the outside world would be restricted.

The facts were just as he expected.

Still wary of Pei Huai, Xiang Mingqi seemed to be holding a glass of juice close to his lips as soon as he emerged from the restroom. He put his arm around his waist, half-coaxing and half-begging him to drink it.

Every few hours, Xiang Mingqi personally delivered freshly squeezed juices to her. Sometimes it was peach juice, sometimes orange or lime juice. The juices were sweet, perhaps to mask the taste of the medicine.

Xiang Mingqi was very persistent about this matter. He had to see his senior swallow it in person before he would give up. Otherwise, he would definitely pinch Pei Huai's chin and examine it carefully.

For this, he was slapped in the face many times.

The drug's effectiveness isn't obvious. If I had to pinpoint a side effect, it's probably just fatigue. This feeling of drowsiness relaxes the muscles, acting like a properly formulated muscle relaxant, with no apparent issues with the dosage or ingredients.

When Pei Huai intentionally refused, tapped the bottom of the cup, and stared at his reflection in the cup without any emotion, Xiang Mingqi would come close like a tail, tracing his chin, kissing and feeding him. After feeding him, he would put on a smug face to show his goodwill.

But Pei Huai didn't respond at all.

It seemed as if he had been silent longer than ever since they'd had sex. He wasn't denying the emotion. But even more important than the emotional connection was his clarity of thought.

It is true that Xiang Mingqi likes him, but he also imprisons himself at the same time.

He knew that without medication, this junior's escape was only a matter of time. He didn't trust himself, and he certainly wouldn't ignore the risk. So, the juice was his last resort.

Indeed, he did a good job, so much so that he slowed down Pei Huai's progress. This house had no way to contact the outside world.

The windows are single-sided tempered glass, which is very restrictive. The walls are also made of sponge sound insulation, which prevents most accidents.

Furthermore, Xiang Mingqi was very cautious about this. He never brought his keys or cell phone into the room. Every time he entered, the only things on the table were food and gift boxes.

There is no doubt that if he were to kill him now, he would most likely never be able to leave this room again.

He didn't know whether Xiang Mingqi cared about death or cared more about her leaving him.

As the sun went down, it was time for Xiang Mingqi to sit on the sofa and change the bandages alone. Although the wound had been partially torn and cracked in the past few days, it had subsequently healed quite well.

While he was taking out the alcohol cotton to disinfect, Pei Huai leaned half of his body against the soft pillow behind his shoulder, crossed his legs, lit a cigarette, and shifted his gaze nonchalantly.

Smoke drifted between the mezzanine and the ceiling in wisps.

Sometimes, Pei Huai really wanted to ask why he had caused Yu Mingrui's death. But the answer was only vaguely revealed in the repeated cycles of sleep and wakefulness.

He pinched the cigarette butt between two fingers and shook it off from the nicotine that was rolling into his lungs.

Four million in debt, from an unexpected debtor. He wasn't stupid enough to fail to see through Xiang Mingqi's true motives. But the truth of the matter couldn't be so hastily defined.

He felt that the reason should at least be asked from the person involved.

But he wasn't going to speak first.

"Brother, you are looking at me." A cry of surprise suddenly exploded beside his ear. Xiang Mingqi held his cheek and looked at him, blinking desperately, "What's wrong? What's wrong? Tell me what you are looking at."

Pei Huai glanced at him indifferently, not affected by his emotions at all, and expressed his attitude with a puff of smoke.

"tell me about yourself."

"Wow." Hearing this, Xiang Mingqi tilted his head, his pupils dilated with excitement. "Brother, are you interested in me now? Really? Wow, is this true?"

"...It's up to you." He withdrew his gaze that was fixed on the junior indifferently.

Perhaps it was because he had spent a lot of effort to gain the initiative that Xiang Mingqi confessed a lot. For example, he and Shan Li were born in the same family, but the former was a nephew, while the latter was a direct blood relative.

Jingshan Real Estate is a family-owned enterprise that values ​​tradition. For someone like Xiang Mingqi, a collateral branch member who took his father's surname, it was harder for him to gain recognition than other relatives. For example, the inheritance he received at his maternal grandfather's funeral was nothing more than bones pecked by vultures.

Of course, his parents didn't care. They were killed just weeks after their son was born. It was a carefully planned poisoning.

It was his uncles who did it.

As one of the heirs, his future shares became the culprit of everything and were transferred to the home of his second-born uncle, Shan Li's father. To avoid gossip, his uncle pretended that he would receive the same education as his cousin, so that he could live under their control.

He remembers that initially, moving to the countryside was just a delaying tactic, designed to avoid "accidental murder." It wasn't until his eldest uncle died that they were able to move out of the coal valley. Before that, the cousins ​​could have been killed at any time.

Xiang Mingqi was adopted to provide a shield for Shan Li and his son. He was like a disposable soap bar, meaningless to no one.

After hearing this story, Pei Huai didn't comment at all. He just asked, "The father you mentioned in the hotel before, is he actually your uncle?"

"Aha, brother, you still remember. He was very partial to my cousin and would take away many of my things to pamper his son. For example, my mother's relics, such as things given by my friends, and then he asked me to be sensible and not allow me to be more tolerant than my cousin."

"...Why did you join Bangkok Hotel?"

He didn't believe Shan Li's words completely. A person's character couldn't be determined by what others said. He felt that he should understand it for himself.

"To see you," he said.

After a thin puff of smoke, silence still lingered.

"I'll trade all my inheritance rights for it." Realizing that Pei Huai didn't want this answer, he immediately smiled and changed his words, "So my cousin is willing to let me leave the sanatorium and let me be with you. As long as I help him get you."

He earned a meaningful look.

Pei Huai pinched the cigarette butt between his fingers, looked at him, and rubbed it slowly.

"Brother, I have a doctor's note. I can't leave the sanatorium. Because a long time ago." Xiang Mingqi made a gun shape with his index finger, pressed it against his temple, and smiled so hard that his eyelids bulged slightly. "Here, mine just snapped and broke off."

The cigarette butt was pressed heavily to the bottom of the glass jar, but neither of them mentioned a word about Mingrui's death.

Seeing that the senior had his eyes lowered and was half lying down thoughtfully, Xiang Mingqi approached him in this position.

Her knees crossed the armrest of the sofa and pressed against her waist, her hands cautiously resting on his shoulders, like a bear sniffing its prey. The leather cushion sank, and as she sank, her breath was pressed against the side of her senior's neck.

He swallowed and used his index finger to lift a strand of long hair in front of him and curl it.

With each stroke of his fingertips, the sensation, similar to that of an eagle's neck feathers, was broken and then gathered again. These tiny, neat feathers were not the kind that could be caressed.

But he just felt his heart speeding up crazily and uncontrollably, and a coquettish murmur escaped from his throat: "Brother, it's a bit long, do you want me to help you tie it up?"

"You may have chosen Yu Mingrui's death for some reason that could convince me." Ignoring his request, Pei Huai stared at him from below and said, "But this cannot be shaken by love."

The hand holding the silver-white hair froze in mid-air.

"Xiang Mingqi, I'm very clear-headed and won't be swept away by any emotions." He said, "I know your feelings. But I can't accept it."

"elder brother……"

"Your liking is so wrong."