Chapter 41

Chapter 41

The hotel suite was spacious, but Qi Jing had always slept in the master bedroom. After some thought, he felt that several days had already passed.

*Guess it's okay to share a bed now.*

When Bo Chengyan stepped out, he saw Qi Jing staring at him unblinkingly, looking completely guileless.

He couldn’t help but recall the earlier years when strangers would often appear in his room, half-naked.

Some had even been dosed with strong aphrodisiacs.

To be honest, giving in to lust was essentially a loss of rationality—a pathetic spectacle.

Every time Bo Chengyan witnessed such scenes, it felt like reliving the moment in his youth when he caught his father in an affair at a hotel.

It made him sick.

Some men always treated sexual prowess as a point of pride, as if the number of women they’d slept with was some kind of achievement.

From the upper echelons to the lower, it was a widespread and vulgar habit.

Beneath the fancy suits lay rotten flesh and corrupted souls.

Bo Chengyan truly had no such desires. He only felt disgust, unable to comprehend why men—merely carrying an extra Y chromosome in their genes—seemed to skirt so close to being animals.

He had no interest in marriage or love.

Until he met Qi Jing.

“You’re done showering?”

The boy looked up at him, tilting his chin slightly, speaking pointless small talk.

Like a puppy, he scooted inward and patted the space beside him on the bed. “Bo Chengyan, it’s been so many days. Does this count as going slow?”

“Can you sleep with me?”

Qi Jing rarely called him “sir” anymore, just using his name now, which Bo Chengyan found adorable.

“Can you?”

“I don’t want to just hold hands.”

“I promise I won’t do anything.”

The boy didn’t really understand that “going slow” was meant to benefit him—it was a restraint for the older man. Qi Jing was unrestrained, following every whim.

“Who taught you this?”

Qi Jing’s neck was pulled forward with perfect pressure—controlled but not oppressive, leaving him pleasantly disoriented.

“You did.”

The night stretched on.

The next day.

*

Qi Jing slept deeply, dreaming he was rowing, leaving him pleasantly tired.

He barely woke when the tip of his chin brushed against Bo Chengyan’s shoulder.

“Awake?”

Bo Chengyan’s voice was slightly deeper in the morning. He seemed to have already showered, smelling faintly of sandalwood.

The person in his arms automatically nuzzled closer.

Lips grazing his Adam’s apple.

Then, still mostly asleep, Qi Jing drifted off again.

He liked the smell.

Bo Chengyan’s eyes lowered slightly, his forearm tendons standing out, but he merely lifted Qi Jing and carried him to the bathroom.

“Mm… too early…”

Seated on the bathroom counter, Qi Jing naturally leaned into Bo Chengyan’s hand without the slightest discomfort.

Only, he was getting more spoiled.

He couldn’t even sit upright, his body encircled as he melted into Bo Chengyan, face buried in the man’s shoulder.

Out cold.

As he grew older, he only became more adept at wrapping people around his finger.

He didn’t get this spoiled in one day.

When Bo Chengyan pinched his chin, Qi Jing’s eyes remained closed—until his mouth was pried open and something intruded.

“Mm…”

The corners of his eyes reddened instantly. Realizing it was a cleaning finger cot, Qi Jing snapped awake.

His ears went scarlet.

He pushed against Bo Chengyan’s shoulders.

“I can brush my own teeth.”

“Go away.”

Bo Chengyan ignored him, simply flicking the dental pad away with one hand and turning on the faucet to rinse.

His knuckles were elegant, long and straight.

The water was cold, turning his knuckles pink.

Qi Jing sulked. “My mouth’s fine. Why are you washing…”

He didn’t get to finish.

The boy’s head fell back helplessly, as if overwhelmed, clutching at Bo Chengyan’s collar. Cold… so cold.

His tongue was pushed and explored, as if mapping the contours of his mouth or checking his molars.

"Mmm... hah..."

Even Qi Jing, slow as he was, began to realize something. He had seen it in videos before, his foot arch tensing slightly.

Then he bit down.

His eyes were red.

Hard.

"Xiao Jing’s gonna bite me off," Bao Chengyan remarked lazily, glancing down.

He spat it out.

Qi Jing thought for a moment, feeling it wasn’t quite fair. In the videos, it looked terrifying—they all said it hurt.

...

The boy opened his mouth and leaned forward, aiming straight for the other’s throat, but the moment his teeth made contact—

A rough, muffled voice cut in.

"Baby, pick a different spot."

"I’ve got to be presentable."

The tone was indifferent, as if discussing something utterly mundane.

Qi Jing, ever reasonable, shifted to bite the neck instead, putting in earnest effort until he was satisfied with the bloody marks left behind.

Getting fucked in bed was way scarier.

He wanted fairness.

Make him hurt.

"Satisfied?"

"Yeah."

The rain in Z Province was on and off, a week-long disaster. Bao Chengyan already had foundation projects and ceremonies lined up, so outwardly, nothing seemed off.

He just hadn’t expected the instigator to be a distant relative from the Bao family.

No sense of boundaries.

Qi Jing pulled on a raincoat in the car, peeking out curiously. "What can I do to help?"

This was an evacuation site, with white tents set up inside a large factory building.

The rural areas had been hit the hardest—older houses collapsed outright, while the sturdier ones were severely flooded. Forget germs—just getting decent sleep was impossible.

The government needed temporary shelters. The countryside wasn’t close to the city, but vast stretches of farmland had been leased to factories, making the buildings a perfect temporary solution.

"You can help comfort the children or distribute supplies."

Bao Chengyan needed to meet with government officials to discuss post-disaster reconstruction, just a few miles away.

Qi Jing was still just a kid. Stuck in a hotel, he’d just get restless.

"I can do it."

"Mhm."

Their eyes locked for a second.

Maybe a goodbye kiss?

When Bao Chengyan saw the boy lean in, his palm buzzed with anticipation.

"My phone... mmm—"

Qi Jing grabbed it in a flash, then nimbly jumped out of the car like a hyper fawn.

"Go on!"

No looking back.

No kiss.

Bao Chengyan frowned slightly before reasoning with himself—he never showed him how.

That must be why.

*

Jiang Xiuyuan waited by the factory doors in his raincoat, watching the boy wave, his lips quirking slightly.

This was Lingyue’s sponsored site. Everyone here worked for Lingyue’s foundation—even the tents bore Lingyue’s logo.

Safe.

Qi Jing was safe here—free to roam.

"Jiang Xiuyuan!"

Qi Jing turned and spotted him, lighting up and trotting over. "You’re here too!"

"Mhm. That village over there? That’s home."

"Mr. Bao’s the reason folks got evacuated."

Empty small talk.

But the kid missed the subtext, simply grinning up at him. "You look really good today."

Jiang Xiuyuan stiffened, snapped out of his daze. His expression turned awkward. "No, I don’t."

He’d always caked on makeup for clubbing. Ever since falling ill, he’d avoided mirrors—he knew he must look hideous.

White as a sheet.

High school flashbacks hit him—being pinned in the bathroom, jeered at.

Barefaced? A wreck.

Totally gross.

"Seriously!"

A bright voice.

Qi Jing held his hand, Jiang Xiuyuan's mind went blank, and he was even thinking bitter thoughts.

What does he want from me?

To mock me?

They reached the bathroom area, where there was a fire hydrant with a mirror on the cabinet door.

Inside, two young figures were reflected.

One dark and brooding, the other turning his head to speak.

"Yesterday, I kept thinking I was too thin and not good-looking, but there's more than one standard of beauty."

Qi Jing thought for a moment, "Look in the mirror—you're really good-looking."

Jiang Xiuyuan looked up and met his own reflection. His expression was cold, his lips pressed into a straight line. Was this really how he looked...?

"I'm sorry."

Qi Jing was taken aback. Why?

"I was just bitterly jealous of you again."

Handing out supplies at the factory was actually quite simple. Breakfast had already been handed out, and now they only needed to distribute lunch.

Instant noodles, ham sausages, and tea-leaf eggs.

Basic emergency rations.

Qi Jing worked diligently, and after about thirty minutes, the two had some free time to chat by the entrance.

"How's your family? I mean, the difficult situation."

Jiang Xiuyuan laughed at that—so naive, hadn't even learned to swear. Leaning against the door, he said softly:

"Chen Zhuo helped me get the money back. Their house was mortgaged—without my continued payments, they couldn't pay it off."

"They'll end up on the credit default list."

Qi Jing said bluntly, "Then he did at least one good thing."

His tone carried a hint of indignation.

Jiang Xiuyuan was momentarily stunned. "Are you talking about Chen Zhuo? I should be thanking him. On my own, I wouldn't have gotten it back."

"I owe him."

Qi Jing completely disagreed. "He screwed you over to begin with. This is the only thing he's done to help—why should you repay him?"

"He kept me. I ran away several times—I broke the agreement. It doesn't seem like he wronged me."

The young man's tone was indifferent as he glanced at the gloomy sky outside.

"I saw the bruises on your arm."

Jiang Xiuyuan frowned at that and instinctively tugged at his sleeve. Qi Jing was still very young, after all.

He didn't understand that messed-up stuff.

"He abused you."

"..."

Qi Jing stood his ground. "I'm not ignorant. We live in an equal society now. Bo Chengyan told me that those kinds of 'sugar daddy' contracts are usually just ways for married people to cover their asses."

"Legally, they only protect them. It's inherently unequal."

Jiang Xiuyuan was stunned. Just half a year ago, the person in front of him had innocently asked him how to be a kept lover.

He had been brought up right.

With the ability to tell right from wrong.

"But Chen Zhuo is—"

Qi Jing said seriously, "I know. Isn't keeping a lover just fancy prostitution?"

"Those agreements offer some benefits but completely violate basic rights."

"They're unequal and aren't legally binding."

Jiang Xiuyuan looked shocked, his eyes brightening as he asked softly, "Really?"

It doesn't count?

After everything he's put me through, could he finally be free?

Qi Jing said firmly, "Of course."

But just then, a man's cold voice suddenly came from behind.

"Of course not."