Xin Hexue slept until dawn.
What came into view was a strange bedroom, mainly decorated in black, white, and gray tones.
He looked around, lifted the thin blanket, and let both feet hang down to the floor.
A breeze blew open the white gauze curtains, and through a layer of glass, the sunlight wasn’t as fierce as it was outdoors.
He was barefoot and his skin was very white. Even under the warm sunlight, it still had a kind of unhealthy cold whiteness, like top-grade mutton-fat jade.
Only his toenails were round and tinged with pink, as if a few strokes of bright color had been painted on snow, making it hard to look away.
Xin Hexue grabbed the middle of the curtains and pulled them wide open, and the morning sunlight completely enveloped him.
Cats like stretching lazily under warm sunlight.
K suddenly asked: [Are you okay?]
[?] Xin Hexue didn’t know why the system was suddenly concerned, and replied cheerfully, [I’m fine, just a bit hungry.]
The white suit he originally wore to the engagement banquet had already been changed into loose and comfortable pajamas, though the size seemed a bit too large.
“Awake?” Qiu Yuan’s voice came from the doorway not far behind.
“Mm.”
Xin Hexue responded lazily and turned to glance at Qiu Yuan.
The Alpha was still smiling at first, but when his gaze moved to the floor, his expression changed instantly.
The curve on his lips abruptly flattened into a straight line and before Xin Hexue could react, Qiu Yuan had already picked him up and placed him on the edge of the bed.
Qiu Yuan suddenly looked serious and Xin Hexue was a bit unaccustomed to it.
He felt like he was being treated like a porcelain doll, with the other person crouching in front of him and carefully helping him put on his socks and slippers.
The large hand was warm as it held the slender ankle. For an Alpha, it felt very delicate. The skin was even more so. Qiu Yuan had to lighten his grip as he supported Xin Hexue’s sole, guiding the front of the foot into the thin cotton slippers.
“Didn’t I leave slippers at the foot of the bed?” Qiu Yuan said in a low voice. “You stepped onto the floor barefoot. There’s a medical theory that says cold air rises from the ground and enters through the soles. Before long, you’ll be lying in bed again, your throat dry and hoarse, begging me to get you some warm water.”
He even started imitating a sick person in a strained voice, “Qiu Yuan, Qiu Yuan, I want some water…”
…Although he knew the other party was showing concern, why did it sound so annoying?
Xin Hexue half-closed his eyes and stepped on Qiu Yuan’s knee with his socked right foot.
“Don’t mess around.”
Qiu Yuan stuffed his foot into the cotton slipper again.
Xin Hexue slightly raised an eyebrow. He seemed to have figured out why K and Qiu Yuan were acting so strangely this morning. “How long did I sleep?”
He looked at the clock. It was ten in the morning.
He had never slept so well before. According to his usual biological clock, he’d usually wake up at around seven or eight.
Qiu Yuan paused and met Xin Hexue’s gaze through his sunglasses. Under the sunlight, you could see the outline of his eye sockets from this angle. “…A day and two nights.”
Xin Hexue was surprised. “That long?”
Qiu Yuan nodded. “I almost thought you got cursed for rejecting the prince’s confession at midnight and turned into a sleeping beauty.”
“…”
‘…What kind of messy nonsense was going on in Qiu Yuan’s head.’
Xin Hexue didn’t say anything.
Qiu Yuan added, “I called a doctor to check on you in the middle of the night. He only said that your chronic cough is due to congenital weakness, and that you need to take care of your body and rest well.”
Xin Hexue: “Mm.”
He looked away, gazing at the blazing sunlight outside the window. Midsummer had arrived, but his hands and feet were still ice-cold.
“I’m hungry.”
Xin Hexue turned his head. When he said this, there was no expression on his face.
Qiu Yuan, however, started laughing.
Cats are always highly alert, never casually accepting help from humans. Oh right, he wasn’t even human…he was an octopus. A cat wouldn’t easily accept help from an octopus waving eight tentacles.
But Xin Hexue could now express his needs to him naturally.
It showed that their relationship had silently drawn closer.
[Qiu Yuan love value+3]
Qiu Yuan asked, “Should I make you breakfast?”
Xin Hexue was suspicious, “You can?”
Qiu Yuan stood up from the bedside. “Why don’t you give it a try?”
………
Xin Hexue wouldn’t wrong himself to try food made by an octopus just for some love value.
But, the food Qiu Yuan made actually seemed edible.
Xin Hexue cautiously scooped up a spoonful of congee from the bowl.
The fresh fish fillet congee had milky white, tender and smooth meat. It was steaming hot, rich in fragrance, and looked quite good.
He blew on it to cool it down, then carefully sent it into his mouth.
It burned his tongue a little, but it was tasty.
The congee was soft and thick, and the fish fillets were boneless, making them easy to swallow and digest.
Qiu Yuan untied the apron, casually tossed it over the back of the dining chair and sat down across from Xin Hexue. “How is it? Does it suit your taste?”
Xin Hexue looked up at him. “Not bad.”
[Qiu Yuan love value +1]
Qiu Yuan also served himself a bowl. He broke the fried dough stick he bought from the nearby morning market and stuffed it tightly into the congee. The holographic projection in the living room was broadcasting the news.
“The Federation military has released a statement. The mutant species that attacked Xi Wenhua’s son, Xi Zhengqing, at the Xi residence was discovered in the outskirts of the Core Zone and has now been captured and detained…”
Then it played footage recorded live by a reporter at the scene. The camera shook, and behind the military vehicle, a blurry figure of the mutant species could be seen, restrained by shackles and various control devices.
Xin Hexue looked up and asked, “That mutant got caught?”
His instincts told him it wasn’t that simple.
Qiu Yuan flipped through the newspaper beside him. “It’s to fool kids. Empty show of power is the military’s specialty. They only found the shell shed by the Cutter in the wild during their search.”
Xin Hexue repeated, “Cutter?”
It was probably a codename used within the organization.
Xin Hexue hadn’t known this before. He only knew that in order to stop Xi Zhengqing’s engagement, the Gong family had hired assassins through the Black Snake organization, which outsourced the task to the Huozhong organization. The mutant species dispatched by Huozhong obeyed Qiu Yuan.
Xin Hexue had never contacted that mutant species. All the arrangements for the engagement banquet had been coordinated in advance through the intermediary Qiu Yuan.
He hadn’t even seen this so-called Cutter in person.
Aside from the blurry shadow that flashed by when the other party shot Xi Zhengqing and left the scene.
But for some reason, Xin Hexue felt that the shadow’s outline looked somewhat familiar.
After skimming through today’s news reports, Qiu Yuan folded the newspaper in half and tossed it into the trash. Then he said to Xin Hexue, “You must’ve seen him before…the Cutter.”
A sense of foreboding rose in Xin Hexue’s heart.
“Ding dong,” the doorbell rang.
“He’s here.” Qiu Yuan said as he walked over to open the door. “He was also the one who tried to assassinate Gerald at the Pei manor. You two must have crossed paths, right?”
Xin Hexue’s mind instantly flashed back to the scene in the bathroom at that time…
That pitch-black, disgusting, terrifying, evil, creepy, vicious monster.
His body reacted before his mind could stop it and he dry-heaved twice, causing Qiu Yuan to glance back. “A fish bone is stuck? That morning market vendor lied to me? He said the fish was boneless.”
Xin Hexue wiped his lips with a napkin, and a bit of congee oil stained the corner.
He’d eaten most of it already, but recalling the Cutter’s features, Xin Hexue had no appetite to finish the rest.
His eyes were locked on the door Qiu Yuan was about to open, his expression alert like a cat with its back arched and fur standing on end in the face of danger. The usually soft and smooth white fur stood on end, transforming him into a majestic dandelion. In this way, the cat could intimidate the enemy.
Qiu Yuan pulled the door open.
The pitch-black, disgusting, terrifying, evil, creepy, vicious monster revealed its full form.
It looked extremely familiar.
A silver-haired butler-type bionic man, holding Xin Hexue’s luggage in one hand, and a mechanical cat tucked under the other arm, stood silently outside the door.
His eyes bypassed Qiu Yuan on the side and looked straight at his master.
Qiu Yuan turned and walked back inside. “Come in and close the door.”
The bionic man obediently followed the order.
After entering, he immediately resumed his original role and began to clean up the dining table like the robot butler of the new home.
Xin Hexue frowned. When the door opened just now, he had seen a familiar hallway and door number.
He suddenly realized something he had previously overlooked.
Xin Hexue asked, “You bought the apartment across from Xi Zhengqing’s?”
Qiu Yuan grinned. “Yeah. Don’t you think this makes things more exciting?”
He really seemed to enjoy being shameless.
Qiu Yuan then took the mechanical cat Xin Hexue raised from the bionic man’s arms, and smiled at it, saying, “Alright, from now on, forget Pei Guangji and Xi Zhengqing. I’m your real daddy now. Come on, greet me.”
Xin Hexue: “…”
The mechanical cat scratched Qiu Yuan, then twisted and broke free, leaping to the floor.
It darted over to Xin Hexue and affectionately rubbed against its master’s leg.
“It’s okay.” Qiu Yuan expressed his understanding, even though no one here cared about his feelings. He still comforted himself, “The child is probably just shy.”
Qiu Yuan noticed Xin Hexue had put back on an aquamarine necklace.
The Heart Of Eternity.
At that time, it hadn’t been placed on the so-called bedside table in the bedroom at all, it had always been on Xin Hexue.
Qiu Yuan had found it in the pocket of the white suit Xin Hexue had changed out of.
He had accidentally tossed it into the pulsator washing machine, and then it had accidentally flowed away through the drain, but he still took it out and placed it back beside Xin Hexue’s pillow.
Qiu Yuan pinched the gem on the necklace and asked directly, “Can you throw this away?”
Xin Hexue: “No.”
Qiu Yuan: “What about the ring? Can you throw away the ring?”
Xin Hexue: “No.”
Qiu Yuan: “When can you throw them away?”
He looked just like a current boyfriend being unreasonably jealous.
Xin Hexue sat still and crooked his finger at him.
Qiu Yuan obediently leaned closer, and when he was supporting himself on the edge of the dining table with his hands, Xin Hexue grabbed his collar and yanked him closer.
At such close range, if given enough time, Qiu Yuan could’ve counted every one of Xin Hexue’s long, distinct eyelashes.
His heart suddenly began to beat violently.
Their lips touched with a soft “pop” sound.
It was like a gust of hot wind suddenly blew up from the flat ground on a sultry summer day, billowing up an empty tank top, while solar showers that were enough to produce white smoke fell vertically from the sky.
Their breaths were warm and moist, entangled together.
Qiu Yuan caught a cool fragrance that made him intoxicated.
“All done,” Xin Hexue pushed him away and rearranged the necklace. As he tucked it back under his collar, there was a flash of the white collarbone, “These things are still useful to me for now.”
Xi Zhengqing’s heartbreak value still had a long way to go.
Qiu Yuan licked his lips as if his mouth was dry, “Oh.”
His eyes were filled with unspeakable aggression, and his gaze lingered on Xin Hexue’s light pink lips for a long time.
If he kissed and pressed hard enough, the color would probably turn even brighter.
[Qiu Yuan’s love value +3]
No one paid attention when the bionic butler broke a bowl!
