Chapter 39: Warmth

Sitting in the living room and eating hot pot while watching TV was something Cheng Che hadn't thought about for a long time. In that house before, he never entered the living room. He would only stay in his room to study, and even ate at different times from Cheng Lijia.

His mother came home very late from work every day, and his dinner time gradually became later. He would prepare dinner for his mother and wait for her to come back, but he rarely ate at the same table with her.

"What are you thinking about?"

Li Zimai reached out and pinched his face, "Tell me about it."

Cheng Che came back to his senses, lowered his head, and said softly, "Nothing."

Li Zimai suddenly hugged him and rested his head on his shoulder, "Cheche, can we eat together from now on?"

He could keenly sense Cheng Che's emotions. Although the other party was still on guard, like a hedgehog, Li Zimai had plenty of time and energy to disintegrate his Che Che.

"But you don't wash the dishes." Cheng Che said in a dull tone.

Li Zimai raised his eyes to look at him, "Shouldn't you say yes at this moment and be moved to tears?"

Cheng Che replied expressionlessly: "I cut the vegetables, I prepared the ingredients, and I cleared the table. You didn't do anything."

"I plugged in the pot, and I can do the dishes."

"oh."

Li Zimai suddenly put down the dishes in his hands, then pinched his chin, turned his face around, leaned over and kissed him.

The taste of hot pot is clear.

Cheng Che tilted his head back and frowned, "What are you doing... doesn't it stink?"

"My boyfriend smells good."

Li Zimai moved closer to Cheng Che, looking straight at him, "Give me a kiss?"

Cheng Che pushed him away a little, "I dislike you... well..."

Before the word "stinky" even came out of his mouth, Cheng Che's mouth was blocked tightly by the other party. Li Zimai's tongue stretched out and stirred around. The kiss with the spicy taste of hot pot choked Cheng Che so much that the corners of his eyes immediately turned red.

The pot was still steaming, and the kiss became hot as well.

"You...centi...um..."

Cheng Che pressed his small arm against the man's chest, and with great effort, he pushed him back a palm's length. Li Zimai was anxious to get closer, but Cheng Che quickly covered his mouth, panting slightly as he said, "...Don't be in heat, eat first."

Li Zimai grabbed his wrist, put his face close to Cheng Che's nose and accused him, "It's only been a short time, and you've already lost interest. You don't even want to kiss me. What a scumbag."

Cheng Che was indeed over the passion. During the first week of their relationship, kissing Li Zimai was like learning new knowledge. He was very interested in it. No matter where they were, as long as Li Zimai put her mouth on him, he would become soft and they would be obsessed with each other.

"We're eating." Cheng Che tried to comfort him, "Kiss after we finish eating."

Li Zi couldn't move and stared at him, meaning that if he didn't kiss her, neither of them would eat.

Cheng Che compromised and said, "Then turn off the fire first."

Then the kiss began.

Cheng Che wanted to say something, but the sudden doorbell woke up the two people who were in full swing. Li Zimai paused, pretending not to hear, and continued to pull down Cheng Che's pants, half of Cheng Che's butt was exposed.

“Someone…someone is coming!”

Cheng Che grabbed his restless arm and said in a trembling voice, "Someone is coming..."

Li Zimai held his face and kissed him hard, then cursed loudly and looked with a gloomy face to see which idiot came to disturb his fun.

Judging from the surveillance footage, Shabi is his elder brother, Li Zimai, who is too busy to be seen all day, and the eldest son and grandson of the Jiang family.

Li Zimai's first reaction was to run back, pick up Cheng Che and run to the bedroom, put him on the bed, and randomly took out a pair of pants and put them around his ankles.

"...Who's coming?"

Cheng Che held his hand and changed into clean pants. After Cheng Che finished cleaning up, Li Zimai calmed down and even wiped the corner of Cheng Che's red and swollen mouth with his thumb. Cheng Che turned his face away and said, "You didn't wash your hands."

Li Zimai: "Isn't this yours?"

“.......”

Li Zimai was afraid of embarrassing his Cheche to death, so he grabbed a tissue and wiped his hands, straightened his collar, and then replied, "My brother is here."

"Should I hide then?"

Li Zimai said dissatisfiedly, "Why are you hiding? He came uninvited, so he's the one who should be hiding. He chose this moment to upset me."

He squatted beside the bed and looked at Cheng Che aggrievedly, "You agreed just now, right? Let's send him away and move on, okay?"

Cheng Che thought, luckily Li Zimai's elder brother came, otherwise he would have died from eating hot pot, and the hot pot was not even finished yet.

Cheng Che said calmly, "Go open the door first."

Li Zimai observed his expression, as if to confirm his answer, "You tell me first if it's okay."

"You just said something bad."

Cheng Che tried to change the subject. It was the first time he heard Li Zimai swear, and he was quite surprised.

"I was in a hurry, wasn't I talking to you? I admit my mistake."

Seeing his expression as if he had made a terrible mistake, Cheng Che couldn't help but laugh. He bent down and kissed him, mumbling, "He's quite handsome."

Li Zimai wanted to kill his Che Che right there and then, but the doorbell outside kept ringing. He suppressed his anger and went to open the door, but Cheng Che held him back. He caught a glimpse of his pants and the corner of his clothes, and pretended to be calm and said, "You change your clothes, I'll go open the door."

Li Zimai hugged him tightly, put the corner of his mouth on his forehead, and kissed him vaguely, his movements were gentle but his tone was unreasonable: "I don't care, I'm going to continue to fuck you after I send him away."

Cheng Che always blushed and felt hot at Li Zimai's dirty talk.

Li Zimai's elder brother Jiang Xun is in his early thirties, nearly 190cm tall, with regular features. He wears a well-fitting suit, looks mature and steady, a typical elite.

"Is Li Zimai home?"

He was not at all surprised to see a stranger in his brother's house, nor did he show any inappropriate behavior.

Cheng Che subconsciously lowered his head towards him, "Here."

Jiang Xun asked again: "Is it convenient to go in?"

Cheng Che stiffly made way for him, then belatedly opened the shoe cabinet and handed two pairs of disposable slippers to him and the assistant who had followed him in. The assistant paused, wanting to say something, but Jiang Xun raised his hand to interrupt, "I'm Li Zimai's brother, Jiang Xun."

"Hello, ...Jiang...Xun, my name is Cheng Che."

Cheng Che was unsure whether to call him Brother Jiang, Brother Xun, or something else. He knew that Li Zimai took his mother's surname and his family name was Jiang.

Jiang Xun didn't ask any more questions. He slowly walked to the sofa, took a look at the messy arrangement of the hot pot on the coffee table, and frowned slightly. Seeing this, the assistant immediately walked to the entrance to make a phone call, probably to call the cleaning service.

Cheng Che was quite embarrassed. It was a rare occasion for him to have a hotpot meal, and it was rare for him not to clean up the coffee table. Then he met Li Zimai's eldest brother who came to check on the dormitory. He didn't explain much and cleaned up the dishes neatly.

As Cheng Che bent over, the collar of his T-shirt revealed two protruding vertebrae in a small space. In the thin and white neck, there was a light red ambiguous mark, sliding along the joints.

Jiang Xun's brows sank a little, and that creepy scrutinizing look made Cheng Che's back chilled, making him feel indescribably uncomfortable.

After the assistant finished the call, he replied to Jiang Xun, "Uncle Wang will arrange for someone to come."

Jiang Xun nodded, looked around, found a sofa with a little space for his feet, and sat down upright. His assistant took his coat and waited by the side.

Li Zimai changed his clothes and came out of the room. Seeing Cheng Che cleaning up the dishes by himself, he hurried over to help and explained, "We just had hot pot and didn't have time to clean up yet."

The assistant then stepped forward to help, "Just leave it there, I'll do it."

Li Zimai said thank you, pulled Cheng Che to sit down together, introduced Cheng Che to Jiang Xun, and said bluntly: "This is my boyfriend, Cheng Che."

"New friend?"

"It's not new. I've been chasing Cheche for a long time."

Cheng Che: “…”

Jiang Xun didn't seem interested in this and went straight to the point: "When are you going back? Grandma was angry for a long time because you weren't at home on New Year's Eve."

Li Zimai subconsciously looked at Cheng Che and replied, "I went back a while ago, and she wasn't at home. I'll go back to see her next week."

"Um."

"Is there anything else?"

His eagerness to get rid of him was too obvious. Cheng Che tugged at his shirt and silently poured some water for Jiang Xun. Jiang Xun thanked him but didn't drink Cheng Che's water. He just said, "You have to attend the company's shareholders' meeting next month. I'll have Bo Qin send you some information. Please read it carefully before you come."

"Why would I go? You have full authority over me. I don't have time to draw."

"Lizimai."

"Okay, I'll be there."

After informing them of the matter, Jiang Xun said to Li Zimai with a hint of meaning, "Don't make mother angry again."

Cheng Che noticed that when he left, he covered his disposable slippers with a garbage bag and handed them to his assistant. The assistant followed behind him and seemed to be saying something. Jiang Xun had a blank expression on his face, but he looked back at Cheng Che, and his eyes seemed to be evaluating Cheng Che's value.

Li Zimai let go of his thoughts and immediately picked up Cheng Che and ran to the bedroom, trying to continue his merry life. However, Cheng Che completely calmed down, pushed his shoulders and said, "I don't want to come."

"You promised me."

He kept kissing Cheng Che, but Cheng Che was not in the mood at all. He said coldly, "If you do this again, I'll be angry."

"Okay, okay, don't be angry."

Li Zimai pulled him up listlessly, sighed, and the Che Che that was about to reach his mouth flew away again.

"Lizimai."

"Um?"

"Your brother doesn't like me."

Cheng Che is not a fool. He is even more sensitive than ordinary people. He can sense the indifference beneath Li Xun's politeness. He looks at Cheng Che as if he is looking at a cat or a dog.

Li Zimai touched his head and said, "My brother is like this. He's always been the boss and not friendly at all. I don't want to play with him anymore."

Jiang Xun looked about 50% like Li Zimai, and they were about the same height. Wherever he went, he had the air of a superior, which was inexplicably intimidating. This feeling was exactly the same as when Li Zimai was angry. Cheng Che suddenly pinched Li Zimai's face and muttered, "Smile."

Li Zimai smiled and kissed his palm, "What's wrong? Are you scared by my brother?"

"...No."

Li Zimai leaned forward and kissed Cheng Che between the eyebrows, saying as if to comfort and apologize: "Cheche, I'm sorry, I didn't handle this matter well, and I made you feel wronged."

Cheng Che turned his head away, his eyes evasive as he said, "I...I'll go wash the dishes...I haven't washed them yet."

Cheng Che quickly hid in the kitchen, not wanting to admit his discomfort. He had always been indifferent to other people's opinions, not even when the villagers in the town pointed at the back of his head and called him an unfilial son. Cheng Che didn't understand why he would feel uncomfortable just because someone he had just met for the first time was dissatisfied with him.

Jiang Xun was on his way to a banquet when he received a call. He interrupted his assistant who was reporting the arrangements and asked the person on the other end of the line, "What's going on?"

The assistant immediately understood who was calling. After hearing a long conversation from the other end, Jiang Xun replied without giving any comment: "Really?"

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Xun asked his assistant, "Was my behavior unfriendly just now?"

The assistant was silent for a moment, then finally nodded.

Jiang Xun frowned slightly, loosened his tie a little, and said, "Zimai said I was unkind to his boyfriend. He also said that this boyfriend is different from the previous one and asked me to correct my attitude."

The assistant asked, "Is this what Master Zimai said?"

"Well, probably. The words used were quite harsh," Jiang Xun smiled. "It pissed him off."

The assistant explained, "The young master has been pursuing this boy for a long time. He was able to live in the dormitory before because of him. The young master is probably serious this time."

Jiang Xun nodded, "Yes, that's where he is from."

The assistant pulled out the information she had prepared earlier. "He comes from an ordinary family, from the city of Beibei. His mother has passed away, and he doesn't have a good relationship with his father. However, he's quite smart and hardworking, and does very well in school."

The assistant paused, "On New Year's Eve, the young master went to Lubei City immediately after getting off the plane, and he drove there himself."

Jiang Xun pondered for a moment, then returned his gaze to the photo in the folder. The boy in a high school uniform stared coldly at the camera, a blood clot hanging from the corner of his mouth, like an untrained leopard cub. "Is the boy surnamed Yang still in the United States?"

"Yes, I sent a gift to you during the Chinese New Year, but you didn't sign for it, so I need to go..."

"No."

Jiang Xun handed the document back to his assistant and said, "Let him handle this as well."