Chapter 54

Afraid that Pei Huai would feel uncomfortable, Xiang Mingqi stepped on the gas and drove to the most remote and comfortable apartment outside the city.

He had never been here before, but he would send someone to clean the place regularly. This was property that was not exchanged for inheritance rights, and it was not recorded in the name of an individual, just to deal with some unexpected needs.

But this house could not be hidden from Shan Li for too long.

Thinking of this, he quickly walked around to the passenger seat, diligently opened the door, put one hand on the upper edge, and wanted to put the other hand around his waist, waiting to get close before kissing him. Just as his right elbow succeeded, Pei Huai suddenly broke free.

The white-haired young man glanced at him from bottom to top, with a warning look in his eyes.

I don’t know why. Even after spending so much time making out in the back seat, once we got out of the car, my senior still had that old attitude of keeping strangers away and letting acquaintances fend for themselves.

Xiang Mingqi was used to it. After all, with a temperament like his, the closer he got, the more indescribable the excitement.

"Brother Pei Huai, handsome Brother Pei Huai, why don't you kiss me?" He deliberately clung to him under the pretext of asking a question, walking side by side with him. He tried to touch his pinky finger several times but was dodged. "Why? Didn't we hold hands before...even if we didn't succeed."

No one paid any attention.

"Uh, you were so passionate towards me in the car just now, hitting me, kissing me, and riding me on my legs. Why are you like this again now?" He was dissatisfied with the cold treatment, curled his lips, and wrapped his arms around Pei Huai's waist, burying his hands in his back and rubbing it.

"Your lips are chapped."

"Ah?" The crossed wrists were stunned for a moment.

Pei Huai grabbed his hand and pried it apart, then added carefully, "I don't like it."

"Wait, wait, don't push me, don't push me. I'll leave after I ask you." He knew he couldn't gain the upper hand in a power struggle. So when he was pushed away, he hugged her without hesitation. "So why do you always not want to hold my hand?"

“…you bite your nails.”

"Brother, what's wrong with you?" Xiang Mingqi held his chin high and sulked for a long time before finally grumbling, "You're acting like a spoiled young lady."

Of course, the price of speaking without restraint is painful.

Before entering, Xiang Mingqi hopped twice on one foot. Feeling his toes weren't as painful as before, he made a special trip to check if the floor was clean, the bookshelves were in order, and if there was any dirt in the seams of the sofa or under the cabinets. He knew very well that Pei Huai's standards for both personal and household hygiene were frighteningly high.

After confirming that there were no flaws, he breathed a sigh of relief, handed over a pair of plush slippers, and led the person into the living room.

"By the way, brother, were you sincere about what you said in the car?" Xiang Mingqi stared at his back in a trance and couldn't help but ask, "You don't blame me like you did last time about Yu Mingrui?"

Pei Huai sat down on the sofa, ignoring him. His left hand, resting on the coffee table, flipped through his cigarette pack, but he didn't smoke a single cigarette. He wasn't a heavy smoker, smoking one every three or four days, and occasionally going a week without nicotine.

I don’t know if it’s because of anxiety or something else, but I’ve been smoking more than usual lately.

Xiang Mingqi, however, pretended to be tactless and approached him shamelessly: "Come on, come on, I want to savor what you said to me in the back seat again."

Pei Huai raised half of his shoulder, pressed the throbbing veins on his temples, frowned and sighed.

"What? Please, brother, speak louder. I can't hear you clearly."

As if genuinely finding him annoying, Pei Huai reached out, casually grabbed his collar and brought it in front of him, bringing his lips closer and staring at him from a very close distance: "Do you want me to teach you how to shut up?"

"Sure, brother, please teach me step by step. You're so handsome and your eyelashes are so long, they're scratching my face. That's why I get cross-eyed when I'm so close to you..."

Who can bear it?

Who could resist Pei Huai's lips, so close at hand, with their slightly cool, chin groove and lip arch? Furthermore, they were plump yet had a refreshing coolness. Especially when kissing, their lips felt like a piece of jelly candy, making one want to hold his soft lower lip in their mouths and suck hard.

After the kiss, Pei Huai raised his elbow to push him away, completely ignoring the other party's reluctant licking of his lips, hugged one knee and turned on the TV.

Xiang Mingqi half-knelt on the right side of the sofa, licking his lips carefully.

The image of that perfect French kiss was still replaying in his head.

In other words, I still want to cause trouble and be taught a lesson by him with his lips...

Before dinner, Xiang Mingqi rushed downstairs, returning from the seafood market as quickly as possible. He still insisted on not letting Pei Huai out, and the combination lock remained unchanged.

The first thing I did when I got back was to show off my purchases: fish, crab, and beef tendon, with the vegetables packed separately.

While using a brush to clean the dirt on the shell, Pei Huai thought he was clumsy and went to the gas stove to cook a pot of fish soup.

He has a light palate. He can't stand fishy or salty food, so he didn't simplify the process at all. He added some shredded radish, covered it, and simmered until the broth started to turn white. Naturally, the broth almost melted the fish bones.

When Pei Huai was focused on something, he always had a unique charm. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing a section of his forearm where veins bulged, and with every movement, the lines of thin muscle stretching and relaxing could be seen.

Before doing anything, he always tied his hair up high, which made the contours of his ears, jaw, and neck more distinct.

Xiang Mingqi liked to watch him tie his hair, like a cheetah grooming its own fur.

They hadn't sat down to eat together for a while. In the first few days, he thought of many ways to ensure that Pei Huai ate every bite of his food.

No matter how he tried to please her, he would either put down his chopsticks or remain silent with a sullen face, making it impossible to fathom his thoughts. He would only take a few small bites of food, not knowing whether he was hungry or full. Xiang Mingqi looked at him, his chin in his hand, curious about what the senior would pick up with his first chopsticks.

Sure enough, I tasted the soup first.

He was still the same as before. He chewed slowly and his manners were gentle. He made no noise while eating, scooping a small bowl of soup and sitting calmly to eat.

No matter what, no matter what was said before. At such moments, Pei Huai always remained quiet and didn't argue with others.

It didn't matter how pampered this body was. He thought, as long as his brother was willing to stay here, willing to stay by his side, he would be happy to pamper him however he felt comfortable.

The premise is... Xiang Mingqi immediately gripped the chopsticks in his hand tightly.

After dinner, Xiang Mingqi offered him juice as usual, but it was snatched away before he even got to it. Pei Huai stared at him coldly, swallowing mouthful after mouthful without blinking.

After finishing his drink, he put down his cup and asked, "Are you satisfied?"

Xiang Mingqi was stared at so hard that he could not utter a word. He could only whisper in defense, "There's nothing added to it. It's just pure juice."

Even though he heard it, he didn't reply. Pei Huai turned his head and adjusted his sitting position in the flickering light of the LCD TV without saying anything else.

Xiang Mingqi leaned over with a slight uneasiness: "Brother?"

No one paid any attention to him.

"If you keep sulking like this, you'll get a cerebral thrombosis when you get old." Seeing no reaction, he shifted halfway to sit closer, examining his senior from every angle. As the movie's prologue began, Xiang Mingqi leaned forward, resting his weight on his shoulder.

Pei Huai didn't respond, but just brushed away his hand on his waist.

It didn't matter how far the movie had progressed. After all, from behind the sofa, no one else could be discerned.

The interlocked fingers move forward and backward, arching the back muscles excessively when moving forward and relaxing when moving backward.

Finally, there are the rolling arms and the coats thrown on the sofa.

-

"The license plate has been locked. It is indeed a car model he purchased with a fake identity. Following this fake name, I found three properties he owns in the outer city. The car is parked here." Xie Jingzhou bent down and handed the tablet to the man on the leather seat.

He took a few steps back and frowned as he looked at the middle-aged man pinned to the ground by Cink.

The other party was a man of his time. From the moment he was kidnapped until now, he hadn't said a word of rebuttal, simply cooperating with the questioning with a smug look on his face. The reward he demanded was, of course, money.

Cink twisted the man's arm with a click, folded it behind his waist, and asked his master in the chair, "Send someone over now?"

He placed his index finger on the table, silencing all the noise in the room. The man was still dressed in a suit, and the parallel scars on his face didn't destroy the elegant demeanor, but instead added a depth to it.

A rose was tucked into his suit pocket, caressed by his hand. Shan Li caressed its delicate, bright red petals with exceptional tenderness, as if he were tending to a rare treasure.

The pen spun several times on his fingertips, and finally, it pointed to the flashing red dot in the center of the screen.

"Of course." Gujie knocked on the screen, then stood up and said with a smile, "My princess must be terrified after being locked up by that brat for so many days."

***

Perhaps because he hadn't taken his medicine, Pei Huai woke up just after a quarter of an hour in the morning. He couldn't get over his sleepiness even after lying on his back for a long time. He looked around the bedroom, stepped over Xiang Mingqi on the outside, and stood up and walked towards the living room.

After swallowing a glass of water, he unknowingly arrived at the entrance.

Sensing his approach, the display lit up. This smart door lock had a common structure: a password area, a doorbell, and a handle with fingerprint functionality.

He had no use for the last one. The system only had Xiang Mingqi's data recorded, so extracting fingerprints was difficult. Every hour, the house was cleaned up, even the refrigerator and the underside of the table were polished to a shine, leaving no evidence behind.

He reached for the digital panel and pressed the two known digits. At this point, the four-digit password had been narrowed down to a level where a blind guess was possible.

He wants to try it.

Just as he randomly moved to the third position, a hand gripped him from behind, tightly grasping him. A felt blanket was gently draped over his shoulders. The man pulled his waist into his arms, resting his chin on his shoulder.

"Brother, it's cold at night, don't run out without wearing anything."

His words were warm and inviting, but Pei Huai could see clearly through the glare from the metal on the door. His brown eyes were wide open, bloodshot from the cornea, forming a thread between the pupil and sclera. They were dilated, revealing the terrifying gaze of a scavenger.

That gaze was fixed firmly, unblinkingly, on the senior in the reflection.

"The bedroom is not here." He bit Pei Huai's earlobe and said coquettishly, "I'll take you there, okay, brother."