Chapter 31: Jumping Off a Building

Chapter 31: Jumping Off the Building

He Yanxing casually tossed the pillow from the bed onto Father He’s head, blocking the view between him and Cai Gu.

With that weird stare gone, Cai Gu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He pulled up his slipping collar and obediently curled up in the corner.

He Yanxing took out a key and unlocked the chains binding him. The chains left clear marks on his wrists and ankles—he was frighteningly thin, skin stretched taut over bone.

“Jingle.”

A nurse entered from outside and whispered something in He Yanxing’s ear. The young man frowned deeply, gripping the chains tightly as he looked down at Father He.

Father He could tell from his expression that he was about to be locked up again. He immediately rolled around on the bed, throwing a tantrum: “No way! I want to go out and get some sun! I’m going to turn into a mushroom! He Yanxing, you ungrateful brat!”

He rolled so violently that he nearly tumbled off the other side of the bed. Fortunately, Cai Gu reacted quickly and grabbed his shoulder, hoisting him back up.

Cai Gu thought of his bony wrists and felt sorry for him: “A-Xing, if you have something to do, I can take… big brother out.”

Cai Gu hesitated over the title. Now that he was He Jing’s wife, calling Father He “big brother” should be fine.

He Yanxing’s face instantly darkened. Meeting Father He’s smug gaze, he sneered, “Auntie, you don’t need to call him big brother. With that face, he could be your dad.”

Cai Gu’s mind spun. His hand was still on Father He’s shoulder, and he asked in confusion, “Dad?”

At this “dad,” Father He’s breathing quickened noticeably. He was standing very close to Cai Gu, and the Beta gave off a faint, refreshing scent. Though older, his skin was still smooth—softer now, not as firm as when he was young.

Sensing the weird vibe in the room, Cai Gu looked up with his drooping eyes, helplessly looking at He Yanxing. The young man’s face was stern, his hands clenching tighter as he forced himself to stay calm to instruct Cai Gu: “Put him in the wheelchair and just wheel him around a few times, like you’re walking a dog.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Mm.” Cai Gu nodded, and a strand of hair slipped down, brushing against Father He’s nose.

When only the two of them remained in the room, Cai Gu looked around and finally spotted the wheelchair in the corner.

Cai Gu easily lifted Father He and set him in the wheelchair: “Let’s go downstairs.”

The weather outside was lovely, sunny and warm. Cai Gu sat on a bench, his eyes squinting in comfort.

Father He in the wheelchair rested his chin on his hand, studying Cai Gu intently. He chuckled softly: “Wheel me over there for a walk. I heard the nurse say there are a lot of flowers over there, and I haven’t seen them yet.”

Cai Gu followed his pointing finger to a secluded, quiet corner. He didn’t think much of it, only negotiating: “Let’s just take a quick look and come back, okay? There’s no sun over there, and that’s bad for you.”

Father He stared blankly at his profile and, after a long pause, let out a quiet “Mm.”

It had been a long time since someone had cared about his health.

There were indeed many flowers planted there, their fragrance overwhelming. Cai Gu sneezed a few times and rubbed his face like a cat would.

“Ahem.” Father He coughed lightly, his tone becoming serious: “My belt came undone. Can you help me fix it?”

Cai Gu looked at his hospital gown and tactfully reminded him: “You’re not even wearing a belt.”

Still, seeing his untucked shirt, Cai Gu thought he should care for the patient. He bent down slowly, his fake pregnant belly sticking out, and squatted in front of Father He.

He lowered his head, revealing a smooth, delicate nape of his neck, right in front of the Alpha.

Father He’s icy fingers touched his nape. Oblivious to any danger, the slow-witted Cai Gu was about to stand up after tidying Father He’s shirt when a sharp pain jabbed the back of his neck. His body went limp, and he collapsed onto Father He’s lap.

Father He pulled out the needle from his nape, stretched his limbs, and wrapped his arms around Cai Gu’s soft body.

“So dumb?”

His words drifted away with the wind.

“Where is he?”

“Didn’t find him here?”

“Hurry! Young Master He is pissed!”

Cai Gu heard murmured voices around him. His lashes fluttered as he slowly opened his eyes, still groggy and out of it.

After the people outside left, Cai Gu finally came to his senses. A hand was covering his mouth, and he couldn’t make a sound.

“Awake so soon?”

Father He’s voice came from behind—his chest pressed against Cai Gu’s back, his chin on his shoulder.

Cai Gu looked around. They seemed to be in a cramped, abandoned warehouse filled with junk, with dust floating in the air.

Cai Gu’s heart jumped. He struggled, twisting to break free from Father He’s hold. He was strong, and Father He couldn’t hold the thrashing Cai Gu. With a slip, Cai Gu bounced off and landed on a dilapidated sofa.

A piece of sponge fell out of his skirt. Father He stared at his now-flat belly and raised an eyebrow: “Tsk, what a shame. A-Jing’s kid is gone.”

He put on a sad face and squeezed out two tears: “In that case, I’ll give him another child.”

Father He grabbed Cai Gu’s ankle and slowly pulled him closer, lifting his own shirt as he dragged him, like he was about to do something.

“But, but,” Cai Gu stammered, “Aren’t you, like, impotent?”

Father He froze, his face a picture of disbelief.

Seeing his reaction, Cai Gu knew he’d guessed right. He explained softly: “Because when I leaned against you earlier, you didn’t seem to react…”

The Alphas he’d been with always got hard easily, so Cai Gu was used to it.

But just now, he was so close to Father He and didn’t feel a thing…

Cai Gu snuck a glance at Father He’s crotch and kindly comforted him: “It’s okay. Maybe it’s curable.”

Father He’s expression twisted a little, and he was silent for a long time.

Cai Gu sat cross-legged on the sofa, his nose covered in dust, tilting his head: “You don’t want to go back, do you?”

Father He raised an eyebrow: “Hell no, who wants to go back to being chained to a bed all day, not able to move? What, you gonna drag me back?”

Cai Gu thought about the chains on the hospital bed and frowned, shaking his head. If he’s a patient, shouldn’t he be taken care of instead of being locked up?

“Then escape with me.” Father He curled his lips: “Let’s get out of this hospital.”

The Alpha in front of him was so pale he was almost see-through. Cai Gu’s lips parted, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.

Once the people outside the warehouse were all gone, the two of them snuck out. Cai Gu thought about what Father He did before he passed out and couldn’t help reaching back to touch his neck.

“They won’t be coming around here for a while.” Father He looked at the hospital wall, barely containing his excitement: “We can climb over from here.”

Cai Gu struggled to find footholds on the wall, stepping on a bump. His skirt rode up, revealing white shorts underneath that tightly hugged his plump, soft ass. The skin there was even lighter, swaying in front of Father He’s eyes.

Father He was so absorbed that he only snapped out of it when Cai Gu let out a little plea for help.

Cai Gu missed his step and wound up dangling from the wall, his legs kicking wildly in the air.

Father He grabbed his plump leg, his fingers sinking into the flesh. He only needed to give him a boost to get him onto the wall.

But Father He deliberately caressed his leg, reluctant to let go.

Cai Gu was afraid of falling, so he kicked his legs wildly, kicking Father He square in the chest and using the push to scramble up.

Cai Gu adjusted his position and sat on the wall, looking down at Father He, who lay motionless on the ground. He asked, concerned, "Are you... are you okay?"

Father He clutched his bruised chest and barely managed a thumbs-up.

Father He grabbed the wall and easily climbed over. As soon as he stood up, he met Cai Gu's bright, sparkling eyes.

Father He instantly felt confident.

"You're as agile as a monkey."

Father He hung his head, his pride deflated.

The two finally climbed down from the wall. In front of them was a road, with shops on both sides hawking their wares. Though only a wall separated it from the hospital, the atmosphere felt completely different.

Cai Gu didn't know this area. He moved closer to Father He, grabbed his arm, looking wary.

His chest was especially soft when relaxed, and he unknowingly rubbed against the Alpha's arm.

Father He felt embarrassed by the contact, his earlobes turning red. He cleared his throat but didn't stop him.

Cai Gu poked him in the waist with his finger. "Where are we going now?"

Father He looked just as lost. He shook his head. "I don't know."

He had never been out with a Beta before and didn't know how to interact with one.

Cai Gu, feeling the heat, sneaked over to squat under the shade of a tree, ducking his head to secretly count ants.

Father He stood with his arms crossed, watching Cai Gu from the side. He licked his lips and suddenly said, "I remember there's an amusement park nearby. Want to give it a try?"

The nurses who changed his dressings in the ward often talked about the newly opened amusement park.

Cai Gu was tempted. He had never been there before. In the past, Alphas had invited him, but Huo Qizhou always stopped him, making him work overtime at the office.

Cai Gu didn't agree immediately. He pretended to be casual: "Tickets are so expensive."

He hadn't even gotten paid yet.

Father He said "Oh" with a knowing tone. "Then I guess I'll have to go alone."

The honest Cai Gu didn't realize he was being teased. He pouted. He hadn't even gotten mad at him, and he had been nice enough to come along, yet now he wanted to go to the amusement park by himself.

He angrily buried his face in his arms, refusing to look up. The more he thought about it, the more upset he got, even the corners of his eyes turning red from holding back tears.

Father He silently cursed himself. He anxiously grabbed Cai Gu's hand. "I'm kidding. I'll take you with me."

Cai Gu said in a muffled voice, "Liar."

But he was easy to placate. He took Father He's hand and stood up. His expression was serious, his lips pressed into a straight line. "Then let's go right now."

His dark eyes were as clear as a lake, without a hint of guile. Father He hurriedly turned his face away, his earlobes red. "Fine."

They hailed a taxi and got in together.

As soon as Cai Gu sat down, he noticed a lock of blue hair tangled around his hand—Father He's untied hair, spilling messily down his back.

Cai Gu couldn't stand it. He pressed Father He's shoulder, gathered his long hair, and carefully tied it up.

The long hair was pulled into a high ponytail, revealing Father He's true features. Cai Gu frowned and couldn't help stealing a few more glances. "You really look exactly like He Yanxing."

Father He's smile faded. He leaned in close to Cai Gu, their faces almost touching. He pinched Cai Gu's cheek and said seriously, "To be precise, he looks like me, not the other way around. He's the copy."

Cai Gu held his cheek, nodding without really getting it.

The car finally arrived at the amusement park. The driver glanced at the fare. "That'll be 12 yuan. Scan or cash?"

"Cash."

Father He spoke up first, confidently reaching into his pocket. Everyone stared as he guiltily turned to Cai Gu. "I left in such a hurry, I forgot my card."

Cai Gu was scared the driver would beat them up, so he timidly took out his phone to scan. He didn't want to talk to Father He, so he stomped ahead with a pout and snapped, "You're too much. You're ripping me off."

"I'm almost out of money." Buying things for those kids was one thing, but now he had to pay for him too!

Looking at the amusement park ahead, Cai Gu couldn't bring himself to leave. He went ahead and bought tickets with his phone. When he turned around and saw Father He standing there, he puffed his cheeks out. "Hurry up and come in."

Though angry, Cai Gu still bought two tickets. Father He was a patient after all, and not exactly young. Leaving him out in the sun would definitely make him get heatstroke.

Father He didn't expect Cai Gu to still buy him a ticket. He blinked and followed behind Cai Gu.

The two people, who had never been to an amusement park, were stunned by what they saw. They exchanged glances and excitedly got in line.

Fortunately, it was a weekday, so there weren't many people. They played the most interesting rides and ended up sitting exhausted on the rooftop.

This was the highest point of the amusement park. Cai Gu was drenched in sweat, strands of hair sticking to his face, holding a large bucket of iced sour plum juice.

Cai Gu grinned at Father He and said, "That haunted house was really scary. That thing hanging from the ceiling just flew straight at us."

Slurp.

He took another big gulp of the sour plum juice before continuing, "And its mask was so realistic."

"Yeah," Father He couldn't help but sigh. "This is my first time too."

"Huh?" Cai Gu turned his head in confusion. Hesitating a moment, he asked, "Were you seriously ill?"

If he wasn't seriously ill, why was he always kept in the hospital?

Father He rested his chin on his hand. "No, my body used to be very healthy."

He continued unprompted, "It's because I was too healthy that I got confined to that ward. I had to take tons of medicine every day and get my pheromones extracted."

Father He's body trembled uncontrollably. He gestured to show Cai Gu the size of a needle. "Right into my gland."

Cai Gu looked shocked. At a loss, he handed over his sour plum juice. "Would you like some?"

Father He could see the reluctance in Cai Gu's eyes, but he still mischievously bent down, took the same straw in his mouth, and drank more than half of it.

Cai Gu stared at the remaining juice at the bottom. He was furious but could only suppress his anger, feeling sorry for the money he had spent.

He sighed, decided not to argue with Father He, and instead leaned in to touch the back of his neck. Though he knew it wouldn't help, he wanted to comfort him anyway.

"But why did they insert it into your gland?" Cai Gu's head was spinning; as a Beta, he didn't know much about pheromones or glands.

He also had no idea how important an S-level Alpha was to the family.

The fireworks show at the amusement park began, with colorful bursts lighting up the sky. Father He slowly stepped forward, reaching out his hand as if to touch the sky, but only felt the evening breeze. "So beautiful," he said.

Father He walked to the railing, which was old and worn—a light touch made it fall apart.

He turned around, his back to the fireworks: "I had a lot of fun today."

Cai Gu nodded along: "Me too."

Watching Father He's movements, he sensed something was wrong and whispered: "Let's go back now, okay?"

Father He shook his head. "If I go back, I'll just be locked in a hospital bed again, have my gland stabbed again, and get extracted again..."

He trailed off, then half-jokingly added: "I used to be pretty good, you know, wasn't impotent."

Cai Gu looked at him, disbelief written all over his face. He'd never tried, so how would he know?

Father He was about to argue when he heard a sound, frowned, looked down, and saw a familiar figure. He sighed. "They came so fast!"

With his back to the fireworks, he opened his arms to invite Cai Gu. Cai Gu put down the sour plum juice and hesitantly took his hand. "I don't know exactly what you've been through."

Cai Gu's eyes filled with sorrow. "But would jumping make you happy?"

Father He said firmly, "Yes!"

"And today was the happiest day of my life." Father He hugged Cai Gu, lowered his head, and kissed him, mumbling, "I finally gave away my first kiss."

"Cai Gu!"

He Yanxing's voice came from behind. Father He murmured the name, gave a relieved smile, and whispered in Cai Gu's ear: "My name is He Yanxing. Don't forget—he looks like me, he's my copy."

Father He leaned back and fell. Before Cai Gu could see clearly, He Yanxing pulled him into his arms. The fireworks drowned out the sound of the fall.

The young man in his arms was trembling. Cai Gu took a deep breath and slowly wrapped his arms around him. "Don't cry. I'm still here."

He Yanxing tried to stay calm. "Alphas are the best liars. What if, what if he took you with him to die?"

He Yanxing had been searching for Cai Gu all day. When he finally found him, he saw the two standing by the high railing, swaying—a strong gust could have blown them off.

Cai Gu gently held He Yanxing, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes. "I wouldn't have jumped."

The fireworks ended, and the amusement park fell silent. Cai Gu wanted to look down, but He Yanxing grabbed his wrist and said, "Don't look," his voice hoarse.

Seeing him still scared, Cai Gu coaxed, "Alright, alright, I won't look."

Cai Gu didn't feel sad or afraid. If death was a relief for "He Yanxing," then he would actually bless him.

Wish him a new life.

He Yanxing's emotions stabilized. He adjusted his glasses, took Cai Gu's hand, and led him away from the railing.

"Let's go down first. Someone will handle it." He Yanxing didn't want to say more; he just wanted to take Cai Gu away quickly.

But Cai Gu stood still. He Yanxing's heart skipped a beat, thinking he was traumatized, and frantically searched his mind for ways to comfort a Beta.

But none of the words seemed good enough, so he fell back on recalling a hundred ways to soothe an elder.

"My sour plum juice." Cai Gu had one hand held by He Yanxing, so he struggled to reach for the cup with the other.

He shook the cup and finished the rest of the juice.

"Let's go." Cai Gu saw the cold sweat on He Yanxing's forehead, took out a handkerchief, and gently wiped it away: "Are you hot? Let's hurry back to rest."

The building had two exits. He Yanxing deliberately took him the long way around. The amusement park was about to close, with few visitors left. They walked along a path, the evening breeze stirring Cai Gu's hair.

He Yanxing beside him remained silent. Cai Gu then remembered that the one who had just jumped was He Yanxing's father. Watching his own father fall to his death must have been a huge shock for a newly adult.

As Cai Gu was pondering how to speak, He Yanxing stopped. His blue eyes behind the lenses were full of fear: "What if he had taken you with him?"

"What if you got hurt?"

Though He Yanxing's voice wasn't loud, it was terrifyingly clear in the silent path.

A gurgling sound came from He Yanxing's throat, like some kind of beast. He finally couldn't hold back and pounced on Cai Gu, pulling him into the grass.

He licked Cai Gu's face and lips with his wet tongue, almost wanting to devour him whole, as if that was the only way to keep him from leaving.

Cai Gu was frozen by the familiar action. Before he could snap out of it, footsteps and voices came from the path.

Cai Gu felt uncomfortable being licked and whimpered. He Yanxing's kisses were too intense, suffocating him. He knelt on the grass, desperately trying to crawl forward.

But this position made it easier for He Yanxing, who grabbed his ankles and dragged him back, then bit the back of his neck.

The noise in the grass attracted two passersby. They exchanged glances and looked toward Cai Gu.

It was too dark, with no streetlights here. They could only vaguely see a shadow. The kneeling posture made his chest even more conspicuous.

In this place, with these sounds, they could guess what was happening.

Feeling a stir of heat, the two passersby tacitly pulled out their phones, intending to record the scene and later use it as leverage to threaten He Yanxing, forcing him to let them join in playing with the beautiful man kneeling on the ground.

They had just approached the grass when, before they could see Cai Gu's face clearly, a sudden roar made them shudder. Then, an overwhelming wave of S-level pheromones—sea salt scent—attacked their brains, and the intense pain made them flee.

With his only lifeline gone, Cai Gu was helplessly pinned on the grass, the blades brushing against his exposed wheat-colored muscles.

Cai Gu couldn't move. He resigned himself to letting He Yanxing lick him, but he also feared that He Yanxing might be having an episode and could hurt him.

Cai Gu's eyes darted around, finally spotting a stick. He remembered He Yanxing once telling him that the fiercer he was, the more obedient he'd be.

Struggling, Cai Gu grabbed the stick, raised it, and hit He Yanxing's leg.

While He Yanxing was stunned, Cai Gu kicked him away.

He Yanxing bared his teeth and was about to charge again.

Cai Gu, with a stern face, slammed the stick on the ground and said, like commanding a dog: "Sit!"

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Author's note: Father He is clean.

I want to read a story where Little He thinks Mom has fallen for Dad, takes himself as... gradually twists, turning into a male ghost.