Chapter 49 Foster Brother [VIP]

...

After dropping off the company employees outside the residential area, Pei Xu sat quietly in the car for a long time, holding the steering wheel.

Taking Linxi home was an accident.

After getting off work, he drove out of the parking lot and noticed Lin Xi, whose electric scooter was out of power, because of that familiar face.

Then, upon seeing the employee badge hanging around the other person's neck, he realized that this person was actually an employee of his company, and it was as if by some strange twist of fate that the subsequent events occurred.

He learned some things about Qingran's university days from Lin Xi, and based on these fragments, he gradually pieced together what Qingran was like during the ten years he was away.

It made him feel both familiar and unfamiliar.

The man's expression was somber; it was unclear whether he should regret asking those questions.

It was already 10 p.m. when the car arrived at the villa. All was quiet, and the moon and stars were bright.

"You're home very late today."

Pei Xuhui heard the sound as he came out of the garage after parking his car.

The man frowned, took long strides, turned around, and walked to the edge of the pool. The scene before him made him frown even more.

Under the moonlight, the young man by the pool, his back to him, had his legs immersed in the water, wearing only a thin bath towel.

The early autumn night was chilly, and people with weaker constitutions put on coats early, but Qingran was playing in the water here.

Judging from his attire, he had obviously gone swimming not long ago.

The man frowned, his handsome brows furrowing. "Are you cold?"

"It's not cold," Qingran turned around and tilted her head back. "Touch it if you don't believe me."

Pei Xu reached out and touched his forehead; it was slightly cool to the touch, indicating no fever.

But this person has always been very willful, so we still need to advise him.

"The temperature gets lower and lower at night after autumn, so don't swim too late in the future."

"Okay, brother," Qingran replied obediently, drawing out her words, like a disobedient child pretending to be good to appease a parent's nagging.

Pei Xu shook his head.

He agrees quickly but doesn't remember what he said afterwards. It seems he just needs to pay more attention to things in the future.

It's just unknown how long he can hold down this job.

"I came back late today because I had to finalize a project. I won't be this busy after that."

Qingran nodded: "That's good. Working overtime every day looks tough. But shouldn't we be happy that the project is finalized? Why does my brother seem to be in a bad mood?"

Pei Xuhui was somewhat lost in thought when he heard his older brother speaking naturally to him.

In the past, he always complained that Qingran rarely called him that, but now he felt that it was better if she didn't.

Pei Xuhui did not answer directly, but changed the subject by mentioning another matter.

"I ran into your friend on the way back."

"Is it Lin Xi?" Qing Ran asked knowingly.

The man was slightly surprised: "He told you?" They even share such small things in their lives...

"He said his electric scooter ran out of power today, and the kind boss offered to take him home, but he didn't know what he said wrong, and it seems he upset the boss."

Qingran stopped paddling and leaned back to support her body.

The moon once again solidified into a bright silver disc on the water's surface, and his gaze followed the man's long legs upwards.

"What did he say that upset his brother?"

His eyes were clear and bright, reflecting the bright moonlight and starlight of the night. The towel on his chest fell naturally to the sides with his movements, revealing his jade-like breasts in a beautiful color that made people afraid to look closely.

The man gazed at the calm water in the distance and remained silent for a while.

"...You want to speak up for him?"

Qingran blinked. Had Pei Xuhui misunderstood something? He was clearly asking Pei Xuhui why he was unhappy.

"I was asking my brother why he was unhappy."

Pei Xu didn't want to lie to him, but he didn't know how to answer.

What did he say? That he was upset because he thought Qingran would eventually have someone she liked and would eventually fall in love with someone else?

Qingran hadn't expected to hear an answer; he was just trying to get the answer out of Pei Xuhui, who remained silent.

"Then I told him that the boss he was talking about was actually my brother, and he didn't believe me."

He curled his lips and narrowed his eyes, deliberately obscuring his words with a mischievous grin.

"His expression will be priceless when he sees us together one day, won't it?"

Pei Xuhui was slightly lost in thought.

"You two have a good relationship?"

"Among my friends, he's one of the better ones."

The man unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, that's good."

Qingran frowned.

Even after all this, he still hasn't shown any affection. How long is Pei Xuhui going to hold back? It seems we need to give this man a strong dose of medicine.

"It's getting late, aren't you going back to rest?" Pei Xu asked him back.

Qingran: "Swim around once before going up."

As he spoke, he got up, took off his bath towel, and jumped into the pool.

The swimming pool is beautiful at night. The surrounding area is dark, but the lights at the bottom of the pool illuminate the water, making it look like a clear blue sapphire.

The man stood quietly by the pool, his figure, not illuminated by the light, appearing tall and lonely.

A patch of white, smooth substance caught the eye in the clear water.

The man lowered his eyelashes even further, staring intently at the shimmering water before him. Larger ripples meant the young man was close, while smaller ripples meant he was far away.

Judging the distance of Qingran based on these subtle changes is like a perverted person who can't stand the light of day.

When Pei Xuhui came to his senses from his self-loathing, he suddenly noticed that the undulating water was gradually returning to calm. Realizing what had happened, he looked up abruptly.

The sight of the young man suspended motionless in the middle of the pool made his heart pound.

"Smack!"

The sound of a body breaking through the water.

Under the water, Qingran waited quietly with his eyes closed. He heard the sound of water getting closer and closer, and then his wrist was grabbed and his other hand was wrapped around his waist, pulling him to the surface.

He broke free from the man's grasp on the back of his neck, his body dangling and refusing to surface, while instinctively kissing him in a certain direction.

"..."

A few minutes later, two bodies emerged from the pool.

As their bodies became increasingly cold upon contact with the air after entering the water, Pei Xu picked up a bath towel and draped it over Qing Ran's body.

Qingran tilted her head to look at him.

He's hinted so obviously, he's practically made it explicit, so why is Pei Xuhui's reaction so calm?

"Are you alright? Did you choke on water?" the man asked in a hoarse voice, avoiding his gaze.

Qingran: "No."

Pei Xu replied, "Let's go back to the room, it's too cold outside."

Qingran: "Just now..."

Pei Xu replied, "It's normal to feel scared when drowning; I just forgot the correct rescue methods."

He attributed Qingran's earlier spontaneous kiss to her panic while drowning.

Or perhaps he was afraid of being disappointed after gaining hope, so he could only tell himself not to overthink it.

Qingran understood the meaning behind the man's words and raised an eyebrow slightly: "Why would you forget?"

Pei Xu replied: "...concern leads to confusion."

Qingran: "Then isn't brother happy now?"

The man was stunned.

Before he could answer, Qingran turned around with a cheerful smile: "It seems a bit cold, I'm going back to take a shower~"

After taking a shower back in his room, he sat on the sofa, drying his hair while chatting with the system.

The system was also puzzled by Pei Xuhui's reaction.

[Host, why hasn't Pei Xuhui made any response? Is he planning to take advantage of me and then deny everything?]

In the previous world, Yan Chen learned that the host was his boyfriend, and even though he had amnesia, he decided to take good care of him.

Qingran: [No, he's just struggling~]

System: [The host seems quite pleased?]

Qingran: [Just a little bit~]

It saw there were many dots, mimicking its host's tone: [Pei Xu is back, at the door~]

Sure enough, shortly after the system finished speaking, there was a knock on the door.

Qingran found the speed quite strange, since given Pei Xuhui's struggling state, he had thought the other party would be standing at the door for a while.

However, he was curious about what Pei Xuhui would say to him, so he put down the hairdryer and went to open the door.

Outside the door, a man who had just showered, still damp from his shower, asked him, "Did you have a cramp just now?"

Qingran nodded hesitantly.

Pei Xu pushed him into the house: "Would you not tell me if I didn't ask? Go find a place to sit down, I'll give you a hot compress and massage."

Qingran returned to the sofa and sat down. The man went to the bathroom, wrung out a hot towel, and squatted down in front of her.

Which location?

Qingran stretched her left leg out in front of him: "Calf."

The towel was slightly warmer than my body temperature, and it felt so comfortable wrapped around my calves that it made every pore on my body feel open and relaxed.

The man lowered his eyes and massaged his calf muscles through a towel. His expression was hidden behind his wispy bangs, and only his high nose and tightly pursed lips could be seen.

Then he began to ramble on and on, his thin lips moving as he spoke.

"Did you not warm up before swimming? Suddenly getting chilled can easily cause muscle cramps, so don't ignore the importance of warming up just because it's a hassle..."

"Also, since you're not in good health, you should try to swim less when the weather gets cooler. If you want to exercise, there are other ways to do so..."

Even when his emotions were in turmoil and his feelings were complicated, he could still calmly massage Qingran's legs.

Something deep inside my body seemed to have been touched.

Qingran: "I'm fully recovered now, why are you still remembering things from over ten years ago?"

Pei Xu replied, "It's always better to be more careful than to be sick and suffer."

Qingran stretched out her free foot and gently kicked him: "You don't look like the domineering CEO that everyone talks about at all."

Pei Xuhui smiled and said, "I was never that way to begin with." Of those words, only the word "always" seemed to fit his identity.

“But people are still very curious about your relationship status,” the man said, casually lifting his ankle-length trouser leg as he kicked the man. “I’m curious too.”

Qingran lowered her voice: "Brother, do you have someone you like?"

"Don't stay silent, and don't lie to me."

Pei Xu replied, "When have I ever lied to you?"

After a while.

"have."

"Then why hasn't brother taken any action yet?"

That's an interesting question. How did Qingran determine that Pei Xuhui hadn't taken any action?

Either he knew every detail of Pei Xuhui's romantic history.

However, the two had never discussed this topic before, and Pei Xuhui had never revealed it to anyone other than He Anzhou.

He Anzhou would never tell anyone that he would talk to Qingran, so that possibility naturally doesn't exist.

Either Qingran knows he is that person, or no one understands better than him whether Pei Xuhui has taken any action.

The man stopped massaging.

The teasing around his ankles didn't stop; sometimes they'd pull up his trouser leg, sometimes they'd sneak in and rub against his skin, making it impossible for him to calm down.

Reach out and grab the wiggling foot.

Pei Xu replied, "Stop fooling around."

What if I insist on making a scene?

The man sighed, "...What can I do with you?" He had never known what to do with Qingran.

Let go.

As expected, the teasing stopped abruptly, just as it had come. Pei Xuhui breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help feeling disappointed.

He noticed the towel was getting cold, so he got up and went to the bathroom to re-soak it in water.

Qingran called out to him as soon as she took two steps: "Brother."

Pei Xuhui stopped.

Turn around and look at me.

When the man turned around, Qingran smiled and mouthed a few words.

I did not drown.

A note from the author:

Thanks for watering! *kissing*

Reader "绾清w" watered the plants with 10 nutrient solutions.