Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Xi Wenlun took the package and glanced at the label. "This was probably misdelivered. It’s likely meant for one of my cousins."

Upon hearing that it was a mistake, Fu Xie’s heart finally settled. At least he wasn’t responsible for paralyzing someone.

He patted his chest in relief and asked, "Really? But the name on it is..."

Xi Wenlun lowered his gaze and examined it again. "Hmm, it's pronounced the same."

"Ah?" Fu Xie hadn't thought of that.

Xi Wenlun continued explaining, "Our moms were close. They got pregnant around the same time, and since we’re relatives, they gave us names with the same pronunciation but different characters."

"That person’s name is Yunlun." Xi Wenlun patted the bed, signaling Fu Xie to come closer, then wrote the two characters in his palm.

The light touch of fingers made Fu Xie's skin tingle, causing his fingers to curl slightly.

He looked away, feeling awkward. "Oh, I see."

When Fu Xie turned back, he found Xi Wenlun smiling at him. He pouted. "What are you smiling at?"

Xi Wenlun's light touch became a firm grip, intertwining their fingers tightly.

"Don't worry, I'll be better soon."

Fu Xie looked up at those words, pressed his lips together, and muttered, "You promised."

Xi Wenlun nodded, then opened his arms. Fu Xie slowly leaned in and nestled against his chest.

*

Just as Xi Wenlun had said, he recovered quickly—after all, he was normally tough as nails.

The first thing he did after getting better was wear out the energetic Fu Xie, who had been bouncing around during his illness. Then, refreshed, he headed off to work.

After holding back for so long, of course, they had to have some fun.

Fu Xie rubbed his aching back and limped over to the gaming area, hoping to distract himself from the discomfort.

As he half-heartedly flipped through games, he reflected on how Xi Wenlun’s condition had improved significantly over the past few days—just not enough for... other things.

After trying forever, Fu Xie could only manage an awkward situation, unable to progress further.

His eyes watering, he looked pleadingly at Xi Wenlun, who sighed and comforted him with a pat on the head. "It’s alright."

Even so, Fu Xie couldn’t understand why, after all this time together and months of treatment, the illness still showed no signs of significant improvement. The progress was painfully slow.

No wonder the novel never fixed this.

Fu Xie sighed. Unlike when they'd started clueless, at least now they had a general direction.

Soon after, he received a message from Lin Yubin. Fu Xie's stomach dropped—was Lin coming to blame him about Sang Huo?

But he hadn’t even confronted Lin yet!

Angry, Fu Xie opened the chat window, ready to list all of Sang Huo’s wrongdoings in detail.

Lin Yubin: Fu Xie, how are things between you and Mr. Xi... going lately?

Fu Xie's stomach twisted instantly.

What did the Protagonist Bottom mean by that? Was the antagonist meddling in their relationship now?

He decided to play it cool for now and replied casually: "It's fine, what's up? How are things between you and Sang Huo?"

Fu Xie snarked sarcastically—Sang Huo really did a number on him!

Lin Yubin: "Sang Huo? Didn’t he go abroad? The company’s been busy lately. I’ve moved into the Yansheng employee dorm and haven’t messaged him either."

Abroad? What kind of 'abroad' is *that*?

Xi Wenlun clearly told me he was in prison!

Fu Xie wondered if Lin Yubin had moved to the dorms just to pursue the Protagonist Top.

He clicked on Sang Huo’s account and found everything scrubbed clean. After some searching around, he went back to social media and saw a post announcing that Sang Huo was "pursuing further studies."

Fu Xie: "..."

But he knew Sang Huo hadn’t vanished to study—it was because of the illegal things he’d done to Fu Xie.

After some analysis, the picture became clear: someone needed to cover up the fact that Sang Huo had been arrested.

But why?

Fu Xie thought for a moment. The matter had been left to the Xi family to handle—which meant the only ones who could sweep it under the rug without any consequences were the Xi family, or more specifically—Xi Wenlun.

He paused for a long moment.

Lin Yubin kept messaging: "Hello? You still there?"

Fu Xie quickly typed: "Just grabbing a bite."

A wild thought hit him—what if Xi Wenlun hadn’t turned Sang Huo in to spare Lin Yubin’s feelings?

It sounded crazy, but in the context of the original story’s world, it was weirdly believable!

Fu Xie decided to probe first: "Why are you asking me about Mr. Xi?"

After sending it, he realized he’d come on too strong—he should’ve been more cautious.

What if he spooked him and got no information?

Just as he was about to retract the message, Lin Yubin had already seen it and replied quickly: "Because he’s been reaching out to me a lot lately, but I’ve been really busy."

Fu Xie: "Is your group booked solid lately?"

He couldn’t even remember the name of the boy band his original self had been in.

Lin Yubin: "No, because I debuted."

The words hit Fu Xie like a gut punch.

Even without Fu Xie as a stepping stone, the Protagonist Bottom had still debuted right on script, falling for the Protagonist Top.

Would Xi Wenlun also, like the antagonist in the original story, fall head over heels for the Protagonist Bottom?

Fu Xie couldn’t bear to think about it.

Yeah, hadn’t he known from the start? He was just a background character.

He kept saying he was mentally prepared, yet when things actually happened, he felt genuinely sad anyway.

Throwing out a casual "Is that so? Haha, congratulations" to end the conversation, Fu Xie suddenly found his gaming mood had vanished.

The controller was tossed aside as he buried his entire face into the soft lounge chair.

It was an overcast day, with continuous gloom pressing against the windows. Raindrops streaked the glass, blurring the scenery outside, while sparse sunlight dulled the leaves to a dull green.

The room was silent, except for the sound of rainwater collecting and dripping.

Fu Xie felt like he was suffocating. He quickly lifted his head and took a deep breath.

Enough of this!

He thought he must have been caught up in romantic fantasies for too long, forgetting his real position.

Maybe he should do something to snap himself out of it.

After all, he had already decided to live a carefree, retired life all by himself!

Fu Xie pondered for a moment before casually opening a housing app.

Though the money hadn’t arrived yet, he might as well browse for houses.

He searched online for places suitable for getting away from it all.

He found a blogger with the same question posting for advice.

Suggestions were all over the place—some recommended living in the mountains, only to be countered by complaints about bugs and inconvenient deliveries.

Others proposed small towns, but then came rebuttals about gossip, exclusion, and lack of entertainment.

Finally, the blogger gave up and said they’d just “get away from it all” in a big city, which immediately drew mockery—"What’s the point of seclusion if you’re in a metropolis?"

The comments were a warzone.

Fu Xie was getting a headache—apparently, finding the right place wasn’t easy.

Still, some users posted photos of their homes or nearby scenery, which caught his eye.

The locations spanned both domestic and international, making Fu Xie indecisive.

He’d soon have more money than he could spend in a lifetime, but as a homebody, he had no interest in world travel—just a beautiful, livable place would do.

After browsing for so long, he actually grew drowsy and drifted off without realizing it, falling asleep on the lounge chair.

By the time Xi Wenlun returned from work, he found Fu Xie sprawled out, dead to the world.

Fu Xie slept like a child, constantly shifting and changing positions.

When they shared a bed, Xi Wenlun often had to straighten out the crumpled blankets for him.

Today, he was still in his comfy pajamas—perhaps due to the cooling weather, his clothes had grown thicker.

He wore an all-white kitten-themed hooded fleece pajama set, making his pale skin glow.

His stomach was covered by pink fabric, the loose fit hiding his slender waist, but the fabric around his hips stretched taut, with a half-length tail drooping behind.

Despite being a shut-in for so long, Fu Xie’s figure remained impeccable—unremarkable up front but definitely plump in the back.

The hat, designed to match the look, had two fluffy cat ears on top.

Perhaps due to his sleeping posture, the hat had ended up on Fu Xie's head, the furry edges covering most of his pink hair.

He looked adorably soft and snug.

Xi Wenlun’s slanted, fox-like eyes curved slightly.

He reached out to wipe away a suspicious drop of drool at the corner of Fu Xie's lips and murmured, "What are you dreaming about, little glutton?"

In his peripheral vision, he noticed Fu Xie's phone screen lighting up—an app notification.

"Your followed travelogue on X country has been updated..."

Xi Wenlun paused, then scooped up the fast asleep Fu Xie and carried him back to bed.

After tucking him in, he quietly gazed at Fu Xie's peaceful sleeping face.

He couldn’t help himself—he pressed a kiss to the sleeping beauty's eyelids.

Was he bored at home? Wanting to go out and play?

Xi Wenlun rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

*

When Fu Xie woke up, he first rubbed his sleepy eyes, then stretched with a yawn.

Strange, how did he end up in bed?

Probably Xi Wenlun had carried him there—servants rarely came in.

Previously, because Xi Wenlun kept knocking on the door, forcing him to pause his games to answer, Fu Xie had grown so annoyed that he eventually granted Xi Wenlun free access to his room.

Fu Xie padded downstairs in slippers, intending to find something to eat.

To his surprise, he spotted Xi Wenlun, who should have been at work, sitting elegantly at the dining table, holding his knife and fork with impeccable table manners.

Of course, someone as casual as Fu Xie couldn't tell—he yawned and slumped into the seat across from him. "Morning, Mr. Xi. No work today?"

He knew how much Xi Wenlun loved work, so this was unusual.

Fu Xie didn’t understand why he loved it so much, so he simply summed it up as “he’s obsessed.”

Xi Wenlun gestured with his eyes toward the fancy antique clock on the wall and said gently, "It's already noon."

"Oh, good afternoon then." Fu Xie, unfazed like a pig in boiling water, mused that he must have slept for ages—proof of how exhausted he'd been.

He gave Xi Wenlun a pointed look.

The moment Fu Xie sat down, servants promptly served him a delicious-smelling breakfast.

He didn’t care about manners—he ate however he pleased.

Xi Wenlun glanced at him and answered his earlier question, "I’m planning a business trip soon."

Fu Xie, mouth stuffed, mumbled, "Business trip? How long?"

"About two weeks, maybe?"

That long? Fu Xie thought to himself.

A sinking feeling hit him—was Xi Wenlun going to see Lin Yubin?

Xi Wenlun, however, didn’t let him overthink it. "The company is sending a team to M country on a business trip. You…"

"Want to tag along?"