Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Around 2 a.m., Qi Jing finally relaxed his grip on Bo Chengyan’s arm, allowing him to pull it away.

Bo Chengyan’s expression remained unreadable.

Lin Se, who had been observing for a while, gestured for them to step outside. The old mansion, lacking an elevator, felt damp and chilly.

“You found him in Daliang Mountain?”

Bo Chengyan frowned slightly. “Yes. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, I was just wondering—are you certain Xiao Jing’s parents are truly deceased?”

Their footsteps halted.

Bo Chengyan looked at him silently. Lin Se, conceding, raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’m just reminding you. The authorities have already compiled a list of missing persons. What if his birth parents come looking for him?”

“They won’t.”

The man continued his descent, his voice flat.

Lin Se pressed from behind, “Is it that they won’t, or that you don’t want them to?”

This man was a master of pretense, yet his heart was dark.

For now, he maintained a human facade.

But what if he were to transform?

The child wouldn’t stand a chance.

Lin Se had never witnessed someone use their own hand to cool a fever—wasn’t a cold towel sufficient?

A mild fever of 37 degrees, and he’d stay up all night watching over him?

The rumors didn’t even begin to capture the truth.

“What are you trying to say?” Bo Chengyan turned back, his eyes cold as ice.

Lin Se was silent for a long moment before finally frowning and asking, “Are you sure you don’t like him?”

“What kind of ‘like’?”

The other’s tone was calm, betraying not the slightest ripple of emotion.

“Like” was an expansive term, encompassing objects, food, living environments… extending to people, events, philosophical concepts…

To confine it to mere carnal desire seemed too narrow.

“If I didn’t like him, I wouldn’t have brought him back,” Bo Chengyan stated, making no attempt to conceal his feelings.

Lin Se seemed to ponder this, then, after a moment, descended the stairs. “I just remembered something. That abnormally high pain threshold of yours… has it been treated?”

*

Due to frequent fevers, Qi Jing had to cut his May Day holiday short and fly back. As he left, a scarf was draped around his neck.

He claimed it was windy outside.

Bo Chengyan led him into the car. Just before closing the door, he glanced at his phone, his brow twitching slightly.

It was a look of disdain.

On the other side, Qi Jing leaned against the window, letting the cold draft hit him—a whooshing, icy sensation.

“Tsk.”

Bo Chengyan closed his own door firmly and walked around to the other side, frowning. “Close the window. You’ll catch a cold.”

Qi Jing was about to lift his head and say he wasn’t cold, but he couldn’t suppress a cough.

“…”

Flustered, he wanted to explain that it was just the wind tickling his throat, not illness.

But his forehead was gently nudged back.

“Close it for him,” Bo Chengyan’s voice was firm.

The driver immediately complied, leaving Qi Jing with not a wisp of cool air to enjoy.

The return journey was largely uneventful, mostly spent sleeping. But perhaps it was an illusion—Qi Jing felt the trip passed much faster than before.

By the time they returned to Jinjiang Villas, it was already dark. Hazily, Qi Jing sensed a shadow fall over him and let out a soft “Hmm?”

“Awake?”

“Then get down yourself.”

Qi Jing instinctively reached out and took the other’s hand, then scooped up his backpack before stepping out.

The hair behind his ears was slightly curled, and his eyelids were still heavy.

So he simply kept them shut.

Bo Chengyan: “…”

He said nothing, simply led him home hand-in-hand.

Chen Zhuo landed in Macau, only to receive news that Bo Chengyan had returned to Beijing—they had narrowly missed each other.

He let out a bitter laugh.

And right on cue, his mother’s side of the family began nagging him about marriage.

Chen Jiangqiao, however, was in high spirits, lounging at home without a care, even doing her own manicure with some gaudy gadget.

“You’re certainly enjoying yourself.”

Chen Zhuo picked up a small bottle, examining it curiously before his sister snatched it back.

“Hey, don’t touch my stuff!”

Chen Zhuo frowned. “Other than making it easier to scratch people, what’s the point of this?”

Chen Jiangqiao, never one to hold back, retorted, “Have I ever clawed you? Stop running your mouth.”

“…”

“Bo Chengyan is likely to die a bachelor.”

Chen Zhuo changed the subject, “Find someone else. This one’s out of your league.”

“Or just find some random guy to have a kid with? Have a kid with the Chen surname—why bother getting married?” Chen Zhuo suggested again.

“Huh?” Chen Jiangqiao was stunned.

Chen Zhuo crossed his arms. “Aren’t you just after the life of a trophy wife? You could have that right here at home. I can give you that. Just… find some highly educated, good-looking young man, or failing that, pick from an international sperm bank. Then you can just have the child and be done with the father. At least the Chen family line continues.”

The room fell silent for a moment.

She thought it over. “No.”

“I’m still young. Maybe have kids at 28 or 29.”

Chen Zhuo was baffled. “Then why are you in such a hurry to marry? It’s not like you can’t get any guy you want? It’s not like our family can’t support you as a rich wife.”

Chen Jiangqiao: “…Huh, I guess you’re right.”

But then the girl seemed to catch on, cocking her head at him, narrowing her eyes.

“Wait—do *you* not want to get married? So you’re pushing the ‘continue the bloodline’ duty onto me?”

Chen Zhuo replied flatly, “…We’re both still young. Why should you be the one to marry out?”

“Instead of lazing around, mooching off trust funds, why don’t you come to the company and do some work?”

Chen Jiangqiao squinted at her brother.

“Don’t look at me like that. I can’t even be sure if my kid is really mine, but your kid would definitely be a Chen.”

“No clue what the old man’s playing at.”

*

The news of the arranged marriage didn’t last long. In fact, it was resolved before Qi Jing even knew about it.

Time flew by, and soon the joint entrance exams in the capital began.

Huang Ze and the others enthusiastically hung a banner outside the exam site—gold lettering on crimson, looking for all the world like overbearing parents.

Unfortunately, a staff member soon came over and told them to take it down, citing city beautification rules.

“Why? We’re just cheering him on!”

The boys lounged against a tree, chatting idly.

Jiang Yao took selfies on her phone. Since the whole cave fiasco, they’d all cooled their jets a bit, though they’d each learned something from their families.

“Xiao Jing, are you staying local for university?”

Huang Ze, perched on the curb, muttered, “Can’t you come to the UK with me?”

“…”

Lin Yuze reminded him, “He has his own choices.”

The sun dipped lower, and by 6 p.m., the exams were over.

An understated black Porsche was parked at a fixed spot not far away. Inside, the man watched as the boy was mobbed with hugs by his friends, his cheeks flushing pink.

—It’s over! It’s over!

—Let’s go to KTV! Somewhere legit!

—You did great!

A group of students in uniforms chatted under a large locust tree. Qi Jing was pulled into photos, a faint dimple forming at the corner of his lips.

Huang Ze even twirled him around like a doll.

Bo Chengyan frowned, his fingers drumming impatiently on the steering wheel.

The boy in the distance was dizzy from all the spinning, his eyes glazed over. When he was finally set down, he almost stumbled.

“I need to tell my family,” Qi Jing said seriously.

Huang Ze had already got a taste of his strict upbringing. Back during the cave incident, his eyes had been gritty with sand, but he vaguely remembered an icy voice in his ear.

—Why is Qi Jing’s wristband on you?

It gave him the creeps.

“Yeah, go check in,” Lin Yuze said calmly.

Qi Jing took out his phone from his bag and dialed a number, his eyes downcast, his lashes casting a delicate shadow on his cheeks.

Bo Chengyan answered the call in the car, hearing the familiar voice. “Um, I don’t see you…”

“You can go.”

“I’ll pick you up at 8 p.m.”

It was uncharacteristically permissive.

Originally, he’d planned to take him to dinner after the exam, but now that was canceled.

Bo Chengyan thought for a moment, then made another call. “Run another background check on his friend group…”

He couldn't shake his irritation.

The fun lasted till 9 p.m.

More classmates showed up later. Most of them weren’t taking the domestic exams, so they’d long since checked out.

They started playing Truth or Dare.

Living it up.

The music was too loud, and Qi Jing didn’t hear his phone ringing in his pocket. He was still locked into the game.

The bottle spun to him again.

“Truth or dare?” the girl opposite him teased.

Jiang Yao propped her chin in her palm. “Xiao Jing will definitely pick truth. Ask something simple—keep it PG, no NSFW stuff…”

Someone nearby egged them on: “Why? Is Jiang Yao being so protective? It’s just a game!”

“Don’t be a spoilsport.”

Qi Jing thought for a moment: “Then, I’ll take a dare.”

Jiang Yao frowned slightly, but Lin Yuze jumped in directly: “It’s fine. We’ll veto anything sketchy.”

The room went dead silent.

A card was drawn.

“Confess to the first person you meet outside the door.”

Pretty tame.

The crowd’s energy dipped, but since it was Qi Jing, they were still curious.

“Go for it! Haha!”

“I’m totally filming this!”

Lin Yuze shot a look over.

Here’s the thing—people are easily swayed. Though mob mentality carries no real malice toward any individual, sensitive people can still sense something not quite right.

Qi Jing was an impossibly good-natured person.

He unwittingly brought out others’ teasing instincts, though he himself was completely oblivious to it.

“It’s fine, I’ll go.”

Qi Jing had never played games like this before, nor had he ever had any friendships. He had entered this world through the identity of a “golden canary.”

But he was slowly slipping that gilded cage.

He had made good friends, started high school, and would eventually go to college.

Ordinary dreams were being fulfilled one by one, like a single candle in the darkness, giving people a glimmer of possibility.

It was just a confession—Qi Jing thought it was nothing really. He pushed the door open.

Even mouthed it to himself.

—I like…

His words died in his throat.

Because standing opposite him was Bo Chengyan.

His mind blanked.

“What time is it?” The man frowned.

The timing couldn't have been worse—Qi Jing had just pushed the door open, his face turned to the right, his deer-in-headlights look so obvious that the people inside immediately guessed he had encountered someone.

Almost everyone went statue-still.

Qi Jing fumbled with his watch—it was almost ten. He turned back to look at the people in the room.

—Go for it!

—Do it!

—Hurry up and say it!

All silently mouthed.

Qi Jing suddenly felt backed into a corner. He tilted his head slightly, as if warring with himself for a few seconds.

“I like you.”

For a moment, the world stopped.

The room exploded with whoops, as if witnessing history being made.

But in that very second—

The door was yanked closed by an outside force. The moment Lin Yuze turned around, he caught a glimpse of Qi Jing’s nape being grabbed and pulled.

Hold up—

He pushed through the crowd like an overprotective mom, but by the time he got outside, the hallway was empty.

His brain blue-screened for a second.

Until his phone buzzed with a message.

A voice message.

“I-I’m heading home first…could you grab my bag for me?”