PTBLSI chapter 42

 

Fu Yanchuan didn’t sleep at all that night. First, he coaxed Qi Xi for a long time. Qi Xi shrank under the blanket, only showing one eye, and was deeply afraid of seeing him again.

He had never encountered anything this awkward in his whole life. Even more awkward was the fact that he couldn’t put his suit pants back on. Glancing at Qi Xi, he said somewhat unnaturally, “I—I’ll go change clothes first.”

There was no walk-in closet in the room. With his back to Qi Xi, he took his pajamas into the bathroom to change. While changing, he was speechless with himself. The image of Qi Xi being frightened to tears kept appearing in his mind. Not only did he not calm down, he became even more aroused.

Qi Xi waited a long time before Fu Yanchuan finished changing and came out. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him without speaking. Subconsciously glancing at Fu Yanchuan’s pajama pants, Qi Xi asked in a tentative, worried whisper, “Brother Yan, will we still sleep in the same bed in the future?”

Fu Yanchuan paused for a moment before answering, “If you don’t want to, then we don’t have to.”

“But, but—”

Qi Xi’s words circled in his mouth several times before he finally spoke. “—Aren’t I the stand-in you found? I was supposed to sleep in the same bed with you.”

“Qi Xi.”

Fu Yanchuan’s voice sank. “No, I’m not with you just to sleep in the same bed.”

Qi Xi didn’t understand the meaning of that sentence. Thinking of what he had seen, he became nervous again, clutching the blanket and saying, “But…but I like…I like you touching me, and when I kiss you, I…I’ll—”

As he spoke, he felt like crying again. He felt like a pervert for treating Fu Yanchuan like a tool. But it was pitiful enough that Brother Yan didn’t have the love of his white moonlight. How could he do this?

Seeing Qi Xi suddenly become sad again, Fu Yanchuan had no idea what was going on in his head. He leaned down and kissed him. After Qi Xi had calmed down, he said, “From now on, however you want me to do things, I’ll do them that way. I’ll listen to everything you say, okay?”

Qi Xi looked at him, confused. His gaze suddenly drifted downward again. Fu Yanchuan immediately blocked his view, took a deep breath, and said, “I won’t let you see it again, okay?”

“I—I—”

Qi Xi couldn’t answer. He knew he shouldn’t be like this. Clearly, he was the stand-in. No matter how Fu Yanchuan treated him, it was acceptable. But that thing was even bigger than his arm!

Fu Yanchuan watched as Qi Xi suddenly pulled the blanket up again, covering his flushed face. He turned over and curled into a ball with his back to Fu Yanchuan. He leaned over, hugged the person wrapped in the blanket, pulled the blanket down, and looked at Qi Xi’s face. He said helplessly, “All right, stop thinking about it. Sleep.”

Qi Xi nodded. After a while, he asked, “Can I sleep next to you?”

After a moment, Fu Yanchuan nodded. Qi Xi finally let out a breath of relief. “You sleep first. I’ll go shower.”

“Then hurry.”

Fu Yanchuan looked at Qi Xi, who had clearly been afraid of him just now, yet was suddenly being so obedient, urging him to hurry. He leaned down and kissed him again. Qi Xi responded obediently, which made Fu Yanchuan’s wicked thoughts rise while his heart softened unbearably.

In the end, he pulled away from Qi Xi’s lips, sucked at the moisture there lightly, and said, “Sleep.”

Qi Xi gave a soft, cooing sound that melted hearts. Finally, Fu Yanchuan tucked the blanket in properly and went to the bathroom.

He showered for a long time. When he returned, Qi Xi was already asleep. He carefully lay down beside him. The cool air that slipped into the blanket chilled Qi Xi, who subconsciously leaned toward Fu Yanchuan and hugged him with complete trust.

He hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around Qi Xi. His fingers brushed over Qi Xi’s lips, the tips slipping slightly into the space between them.

Qi Xi uncomfortably pushed against his fingertips. He finally withdrew his hand and lay there until dawn.

After daybreak, he released Qi Xi, quietly got out of bed, and sat by the living room fireplace. Although he would never be able to tell anyone about last night, he still called Qi Xi’s attending physician.

The doctor was Doctor Li. Early in the morning, he still hadn’t gotten up. He was startled by Fu Yanchuan’s call and carefully asked, “President Fu, did Mr. Qi Xi have another episode?”

“Yes.”

Doctor Li became nervous. “Is it very serious? Can you come to the hospital right now?”

“He’s already recovered. It lasted a bit longer than before. It might be because he was more nervous this time.”

“Does he have any other physical problems right now?”

“No.”

“Then you are…?”

Fu Yanchuan was silent for a long time before finally speaking. “If he becomes overly nervous very easily toward… certain kinds of contact, is there any solution?”

It took Doctor Li about a minute to understand Fu Yanchuan and guess what kind of contact he meant. After considering his wording, Doctor Li said, “Most nervous reactions are caused by stimulation beyond one’s habits. What you mentioned can be addressed with gradual progression to help him develop familiarity. As long as he no longer feels overly stimulated, he shouldn’t have episodes anymore.”

Fu Yanchuan felt that the doctor didn’t truly understand his problem. He knew that the words he used to coax Qi Xi were just that—coaxing. He wasn’t a gentleman. He didn’t know how long he could restrain himself. He was certain that he could no longer let Qi Xi go.

The only possible outcomes were that he would either suffocate himself to death or force Qi Xi to accept him. After being forced, Qi Xi would probably cry and say that he was useless.

Most importantly, there was Qi Xi’s illness. If something happened to Qi Xi because of this, he wouldn’t have time to regret it when it was too late.

Fu Yanchuan hung up the call, tossed the phone aside, and lay half-asleep on the sofa, doubting himself for the first time.

Compared to Qi Xi, he was indeed frightening, but he had never paid attention to what someone of his size looked like.

“Brother Yan?”

Qi Xi rubbed his head and came out of the bedroom. He had slept in too late and wasn’t fully awake yet. When he woke up, he found that Fu Yanchuan wasn’t there, so he came out to look for him.

Seeing him sitting on the sofa, Qi Xi went over and climbed straight into his arms, asking, “Why are you here?”

The fire in the fireplace had gone out after burning all night. Qi Xi was only wearing a thin pajama top. Fu Yanchuan took off the coat draped over him and wrapped it around Qi Xi. He hugged Qi Xi again and asked, “Why did you get up?”

Qi Xi only smiled at him. With both arms wrapped around his waist, he fell asleep almost instantly again. Fu Yanchuan sat there for a while longer. He carried Qi Xi back to the bedroom and abandoned the morning run he had kept up for twenty years. He held Qi Xi and fell asleep.

When they woke up again, it was already afternoon. After eating, Fu Yanchuan took Qi Xi out. He drove himself. Once Qi Xi got into the car, he asked, “Brother Yan, where are we going?”

“To see snow and the sea.”

Qi Xi leaned against the passenger-side window and looked outside. Last night’s snow had seemingly used up all the clouds in the sky. Today, the sky was clear and vast. Sunlight swept across the car window, warm and bright.

He thought what they saw where they lived was enough, so he turned back to ask, “Is there something different about where we’re going?”

“There are swans that migrated from farther north.”

“Swans?”

Qi Xi had never really traveled anywhere. When he was little, his mom was afraid he would get sick if she took him out because his health was poor. Later, after his mom passed away, Qi Feng still wouldn’t consider taking him traveling either.

Before meeting Fu Yanchuan, the farthest place he had been was when Qi Feng went on a business trip. It happened to be a tourist city during summer vacation. Cui Tingting wanted to take Qi Zhounan along, and in the end, they brought him along as well.

However, after they arrived, the family went everywhere to play and forgot him at the hotel. He was 14 that year. From then on, he never wanted to travel again.

He froze for a moment before happily asking Fu Yanchuan, “Brother Yan, are you actually taking me on a trip?”

Fu Yanchuan glanced at him and realized that he had only just figured it out now. What did he think he was brought along for before—a CEO on a business trip bringing a stand-in to warm the bed?

In reality, Fu Yanchuan himself had never really traveled. He was more familiar with hotel operations and commercial development in tourist cities than traveling. Just to bring Qi Xi along this time, he spent two nights making an itinerary, but oversleeping on the first day messed up his plans.

He withdrew his gaze and gave a light “Mm” in answer.

“Brother Yan! You’re too good! This is the first time someone has really taken me traveling!”

That single “Mm” from Fu Yanchuan was enough to make Qi Xi extremely happy. He jumped up and bumped his head on the roof of the car, but it did not ruin his mood. He turned back around and continued looking out the window at the streets along the way, thinking that everything was so beautiful.

Fu Yanchuan didn’t take Qi Xi to a paid tourist attraction but rather to a coastline. After parking the car, they had to walk quite a distance to reach the beach. It was unusually crowded with tourists today due to the sunshine.

Fu Yanchuan didn’t like noisy, disorderly places like this, but Qi Xi was excited. As soon as he got out of the car, he dragged Fu Yanchuan along and ran as if the swans would fly away if they were late.

There were even more people at the beach. Because the waves had melted part of the snow, the entire beach displayed three layers of color.

Qi Xi ran excitedly to the very front. The swans were only two or three meters away and weren’t afraid of people. He waved and greeted them: “Hi! Hello! My name is Qi Xi. Nice to meet you all!”

The swan flapped its wings, turned its long neck, and walked away without looking at him.

Qi Xi ran back to Fu Yanchuan to show off. “Brother Yan, the swan lifted its wing to greet me just now!”

Fu Yanchuan had seen the whole thing and nodded without correcting him. “Mm.”

Suddenly, Qi Xi ran to another spot and saw two swans leaning together, forming a heart shape with their necks. He immediately turned back and shouted, “Brother Yan, look! A heart! Their necks can really form a heart!”

Fu Yanchuan stood in the crowd and replied, “Watch your shoes. Don’t step in the water.”

Qi Xi answered him and ran off again. Fu Yanchuan’s gaze followed him across the beach. His life had rarely been this leisurely, and he realized that wasting time like this wasn’t such a bad thing.

After watching the swans for a while, Qi Xi returned and showed Fu Yanchuan the photos he had taken of the swans catching fish. In amazement, he said, “They’re so amazing! They can even catch fish!”

“What do you think they eat otherwise?”

“Oh, right.”

Qi Xi suddenly understood and immediately switched from praising the swans to praising Fu Yanchuan. “Brother Yan is the best! You even know that.”

Fu Yanchuan realized that Qi Xi praised people very casually. After praising him, Qi Xi tried to run off again, but Fu Yanchuan pulled him back and held his hand. As expected, his hand was ice-cold.

He covered Qi Xi’s hand and tucked it into his coat. “Go later. Your hands are already cold.”

Qi Xi subconsciously looked around. There were quite a few people nearby, and someone glanced their way. He hurriedly hid his face against Fu Yanchuan’s chest and said, “Someone’s looking.”

“What are you afraid of?”

Fu Yanchuan didn’t mind being seen. In fact, he was happy that Qi Xi leaned against him instead of running around. He pulled Qi Xi into his arms and wrapped his coat around them. “This place is the prettiest at sunset. The weather is good today, so we’ll be able to see it.”

“Sunset?”

Qi Xi peeked out with one eye and looked toward the sea. It got dark early in winter, and the sun was already in the west.

He immediately said, “Then let’s find a good spot first!”

Most of the people on the beach were waiting for the sunset. Qi Xi didn’t have time to be shy anymore, so he pulled Fu Yanchuan along and weaved through the crowd.

He was very good at picking places. He brought Fu Yanchuan to an area with hardly anyone, where the sandy beach turned into rocks.

They climbed up, and Qi Xi realized that the spot was indeed great. He took out his phone to take photos. After taking photos of the scenery, he turned around and saw Fu Yanchuan. He blurted out, “Brother Yan, can I take a picture of you?”

Fu Yanchuan didn’t like having his picture taken, but he agreed. However, Qi Xi didn’t just casually take one. One moment he wanted Fu Yanchuan to stand over there; the next, he wanted him to pose a certain way.

After being busy for a long time, Qi Xi finally finished taking pictures. He hurriedly jumped back from the opposite rock, but his foot slipped, and he almost fell.

“Careful!”

Fu Yanchuan rushed over and caught him. “Are you hurt?”

Qi Xi thought he was amazing and didn’t care at all about almost falling. He was eager to show Fu Yanchuan the photos he had taken.

Fu Yanchuan had no choice but to check on him first. Only after confirming that Qi Xi wasn’t hurt did he look at the photos.

“Brother Yan, didn’t I make you look really handsome?”

Although a phone camera isn’t as professional as a real camera, the photos Qi Xi took still carried emotion. Through Qi Xi’s lens, Fu Yanchuan saw how he looked at Qi Xi, surprising even himself.

Qi Xi pointed to a photo of Fu Yanchuan and said, “Brother Yan, you look really good when you smile.”

The sun was finally about to set. Light passed through the thin clouds and over the sea, reflecting back and turning the entire bay red. Even the pure white swans seemed to be dyed with color. Surrounded by snow, everything blended together—bright and clean.

Qi Xi turned to look and was instantly stunned. Unconsciously, he said, “Brother Yan, how did you find such a beautiful place?”

Hearing that, Fu Yanchuan realized that the two nights he had spent planning hadn’t been wasted. Qi Xi was looking at the sunset while Fu Yanchuan was looking at him. He asked, “Do you like it?”

“I like it.”

“Then will you reward me?”

The word “reward” sounded strange. Qi Xi turned toward Fu Yanchuan, confused. Facing his expectant gaze, he blurted out, “What reward?”

“Kiss me.”

“But—there are people.”

Fu Yanchuan reached out and pulled him into his arms. “Don’t be afraid. Everyone’s watching the sunset. No one has time to look at us.”

As he spoke, he turned so that Qi Xi was facing the sunset. Then he leaned close to Qi Xi’s lips. “You can look at the sunset and kiss me.”

 

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