Even though he detested it so deeply, he had been unable to keep himself from doing it.
Pei Guangji asked cautiously, "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"
He abruptly reached for Xin Hexue's blanket, intending to lift it and check his injuries to see whether he needed to contact the Pei family's medical team.
Xin Hexue frowned. The blanket rubbed against the wound on his leg, making it sting and itch.
He couldn't help hissing. Pressing down on the blanket, he propped himself up before Pei Guangji could lift it.
He understood what Pei Guangji had misunderstood.
Playing along, he lowered his lashes, his face pale, and pulled the blanket over himself as he lay back down. Acting resistant, he said in a muffled, hoarse voice, "Mr. Pei, I'd like to sleep a little longer."
Pei Guangji's rut had come on so suddenly that he hadn't had time to clear his work schedule. Now that it had been resolved overnight, he still had a host of work matters waiting for him.
He looked down at Xin Hexue. With the blanket covering him, only a few strands of dark hair were visible on the pillow.
While washing up that morning, Pei Guangji had found the clothes Xin Hexue had changed out of in the bathroom. Since he had washed himself, it probably wasn't that serious.
He put on his suit jacket, and as he left the bedroom, he reminded him, "Remember to come downstairs for breakfast when you wake up."
A soft, quiet reply came from the bed. "Mm."
When Pei Guangji went downstairs to eat, he ran into Pei Ying. He frowned. "Jiang Jing should have told you yesterday to spend the night at a friend's house."
Jiang Jing was Pei Guangji's special assistant.
With a piece of bread in his mouth, Pei Ying picked up his soy milk. His schoolbag hung loosely from one shoulder against his back as he smiled unconcernedly. "Brother, you know me. I don't have any friends."
"Besides, there was a huge storm last night. It would've been hard for me to find somewhere else to stay." Pei Ying paused. "Oh, you might not know that."
While the storm had raged, his muddleheaded older brother had been holding a Beta, trying to claim and mark him.
He shrugged. "I'm going to be late, so I'll get going."
Pei Guangji said coldly, "Stay away from the second floor from now on."
Pei Guangji intended to let Xin Hexue stay here for the time being. According to the information he had read, Xin Hexue had suffered a period of
school
bullying in high school because of his face blindness, and had a degree of social anxiety disorder.
The Halfway-Up-the-Mountain Villa was in a good location. Even the nearest gathering place was over half an hour away on foot, and the surrounding area was mostly mountains and water. It was quiet enough.
As for Pei Ying, Pei Guangji didn't think this Beta was important enough for him to go to the trouble of making his own brother move out.
Pei Ying thought of the young man from last night and felt, for no apparent reason, that the bone stud in his earlobe was burning. It was where Xin Hexue had touched him.
He walked out, replying to Pei Guangji, "Got it. I won't go up to the second floor."
Xin Hexue had simply slept his fill and was eating as usual.
[Pei Guangji's Affection Points +1]
[Pei Guangji's Affection Points +1]
[?] Xin Hexue couldn't help asking, [What's with him now?]
K checked. [He took the clothes you changed out of last night, host.]
Knock, knock.
After hearing Pei Guangji say "Come in" from inside the office, Jiang Jing entered with a cup of coffee. He pretended not to see his boss pull the shirt that had been on the desk beneath it.
But as he left, he looked back at his visibly distracted boss and asked worriedly, "Young master, should I call a doctor?"
Pei Guangji asked in return, "What for?"
Jiang Jing ventured, "Your withdrawal symptoms seem rather severe."
Alphas and Betas really weren't a good match.
No matter how hard an Alpha tried, he could never mark a Beta. Any marking-like behavior was futile.
Such frustration would cause an Alpha to experience severe withdrawal symptoms after his rut.
Generally, an Alpha would continue to stay close to his Beta partner for at least a few days to suppress those feelings.
Jiang Jing ventured, "Do you need to go home and rest? Or should I ask Mr. Xin to come over?"
Pei Guangji's face was cold and stern. "There's no need. Get back to work."
Jiang Jing withdrew in silence.
Pei Guangji's large hand gripped the thin white shirt tightly. A faint scent of green sandalwood still lingered on it.
A notification sounded, and Pei Guangji opened his communicator.
The chat window showed a contact he had only added the night before.
[Did you have someone send me the ointment? I used it and feel much better. Thank you.]
Pei Guangji thought for a moment, then tapped away at the input field.
After deleting and revising his message, he finally sent: [Mm.]
He had consulted the Pei family's medical team. For a Beta, accommodating an Alpha for the first time would be difficult. In particular, he probably hadn't been able to prepare Xin Hexue properly while out of his mind last night, so Xin Hexue was very likely injured.
Pei Guangji had someone send ointment to the villa by drone. He should feel better after using it.
[Pei Guangji's Affection Points +3]
Xin Hexue finished his cream of mushroom soup and said to K, [Isn't he a little too easy to fool?]
Even if someone like him were cured, Xin Hexue would still be able to trick him into buying a health supplement production line in his old age.
Chapter 7: Face Blindness (7)
Xin Hexue didn't know what kind of role-playing game Pei Guangji was playing.
In any case, after the night his rut was resolved, Pei Guangji might have developed some deeper misconception. He had suddenly begun treating Xin Hexue as though they were a couple living together.
On several nights, as Xin Hexue slept in a daze, the bedding beside him suddenly sank.
The person hesitated for a moment, then wrapped an arm around him from behind. A warm chest pressed against Xin Hexue's back, drawing him fully into an embrace.
Xin Hexue was in poor health, and his body temperature stayed slightly lower than normal year-round. Even in midsummer, holding him was like holding a handful of snow.
The air conditioning in his room was set to thirty degrees.
Xin Hexue really didn't understand why this man was putting himself through such discomfort.
For an Alpha, thirty degrees indoors was actually somewhat unbearably hot. Every night, Pei Guangji returned without a sound and held him to sleep.
Then, unfailingly, he rose at six in the morning according to his body clock and left without a word before Xin Hexue woke up.
Xin Hexue was a light sleeper, so every time Pei Guangji returned late at night and opened the door, he noticed immediately.
Then, for no apparent reason, he heard—
[Pei Guangji's Affection Points +1]
He hadn't done anything.
For a whole week, Pei Guangji came back every night to give him affection points.
Was his bed some kind of daily check-in spot?
During this time, Xin Hexue hadn't interacted with Pei Guangji face-to-face, so he didn't quite understand his thought process.
Every day, he stayed in the villa and had K play the currently popular melodramatic hit shows of the Great World, full of love and hate, as he studied the Great World's film and television market.
Most were film and television productions based on stories about scumbags and their devoted victims, and they made him frown deeply.
Xin Hexue complained to K, [You people in the Great World have really poor taste.]
In the scene playing in his mind, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed again. One fled, the other chased, and there was no escape.
Xin Hexue thought it made for truly poor viewing over a meal. The scene of the two leads struggling with each other in a downpour was also lacking in beauty. He said to K, [Stop playing it.]
He quietly put down his knife and fork.
Across the dining table, Pei Guangji suddenly spoke. "No appetite?"
The young man gently wiped his mouth with a napkin. Even that movement looked like a painting.
Seemingly unused to meeting Pei Guangji's eyes, he lowered his lashes and curved his lips in a faint smile. "The food the housekeeper makes all seems to taste the same."
After all, the smart housekeeper was a mechanical creation. Although it was equipped to prepare dishes, it was so fixated on the precise numbers in the recipes that it had lost the true essence of cooking.
Pei Guangji had never paid attention to such things.
He didn't ask much of food. As long as it was enough to sustain his vital signs and provide the body's required daily intake, that was sufficient.
Based on this philosophy, Shennong Company had already begun developing nutritional supplements and was preparing to market them as the next step. In the increasingly harsh environment, inexpensive nutritional supplements would be the first choice for ordinary people.
Pei Guangji had the day off and didn't need to go to the core district for work.
But his thoughts had still turned to work by instinct.
According to what the books said, this was unacceptable.
At some point, his special assistant had added several books on managing a household to the shelves in Pei Guangji's office.
For some inexplicable reason, he had read them.
The books said to communicate more, spend more time together, and be more understanding.
Letting his mind wander during a conversation was obviously unacceptable.
Pei Guangji finished his coffee and sent Jiang Jing a message. Only after a swift acknowledgment came back did he say to Xin Hexue, "I'll have a chef from the Drunken Immortal Tower come over for dinner. You can see if the food is to your liking."
Xin Hexue said hesitantly, "Mr. Pei, won't that be too much trouble?"
Pei Guangji frowned. "No. Pei Corporation hasn't fallen so far that we can't afford a chef."
Seeing how firm he was, Xin Hexue took a sip of warm water and said no more.
He was slightly surprised by Pei Guangji's attitude. After all, this was the man who had previously told him, "You have no right to refuse."
After Pei Guangji went upstairs to the study to deal with some matters, Xin Hexue said, [Check his current Affection Points.]
K: [Pei Guangji's current Affection Points are 67.]
That high?
Xin Hexue had originally thought Pei Guangji's Affection Points would be the hardest to raise, but now it seemed that wasn't necessarily the case.
His long lashes concealed the emotions in his eyes as he considered his next plan.
K silently observed the kitten's thoughtful expression, using the image capture function to record it frame by frame from every angle.
This would help him understand his host's personality and keep their work progressing smoothly.
K filed the photos in a private folder.
Pei Ying was surprised to find that dinner tasted different.
The Drunken Immortal Tower's dishes were famous throughout District One and the core district. When the great families held banquets, they usually entrusted all the catering to the Drunken Immortal Tower.