Pei Guangji thought.
Whether it was the good morning kiss before he left for work, the sandalwood-scented embrace when he returned, or their intimate contact before and after his Rut, everything left him satisfied with the decision he had made.
He had spent just one million star coins to pay off the debts of the young man's gambler of a foster father and enter into a contract with him. It was the best deal he had made in his life so far.
By comparison, he had invested eighty million in the laboratory, yet the Rut suppressant had still made no waves.
There was just one thing Pei Guangji still couldn't explain.
He remembered almost nothing from his Rut.
It was as if he had blacked out.
He only remembered kissing and biting the back of the young man's neck before his consciousness sank completely, branding every part of his body as his own.
After replying to the messages, Pei Guangji found himself wanting to hear Xin Hexue's voice and considered stepping away to call him.
He clearly wasn't in Rut, yet he missed him terribly, even though they had only said goodbye at the door that morning.
Xi Zhengqing spoke up. "With messages coming so frequently, he must be head over heels in love with you, right?"
Love?
Something stirred in Pei Guangji's heart.
He scrolled up through the message history—
8:00
[Pei Guangji: I'm heading to the office. You went to bed too late last night. Remember to eat breakfast when you wake up.]
9:00
[Pei Guangji: I've set the smart butler to bring you milk. Remember to drink it.]
[Xin Hexue: cat nodding.gif]
12:00
[Pei Guangji: The head chef at the Drunken Immortal Tower is on leave this month, so they've brought in a temporary replacement. Even if the food doesn't taste good, make sure you eat lunch. I'll have Jiang Jing arrange for another chef to come over.]
[Xin Hexue: Okay.]
15:00
[Pei Guangji: Are you awake from your nap? Don't sleep too long, or you'll feel groggy.]
16:00
[Pei Guangji: I had the smart butler set up afternoon tea. You can have it in the garden on the first floor.]
Xin Hexue hadn't replied for the next four hours.
Five minutes ago.
Xin Hexue had sent a photo of his dinner.
[Pei Guangji: Did the new chef make this?]
[Pei Guangji: Does it suit your taste?]
[Pei Guangji: Do you need me to have Jiang Jing find another chef?]
[Xin Hexue: cat eating fish.jpg]
Pei Guangji's gaze softened.
The young man's replies were always very clear. He wanted Pei Guangji to understand how he felt right away, and he even picked out some cute reaction images.
He knew Xin Hexue's personality. He was usually very quiet.
But he must be clingy and afraid of being alone, which was why he messaged him all the time.
So whenever Pei Guangji was out, he made sure to check his communicator promptly and keep a signal.
Come to think of it, Xi Zhengqing was right. Xin Hexue must be head over heels in love with him.
Pei Guangji was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even realize he had stipulated in the contract that Party B must not develop unnecessary feelings for Party A.
A handsome, outgoing Alpha walked over. "Brother Xi, what are you talking about? Who's head over heels for whom?"
Zuo Yongyan was a childhood friend of both men.
The difference was that his family were Federation media magnates, but still fell short of the three major conglomerate families, the Pei family, the Xi Family, and the Qiu Family.
Zuo Yongyan probed curiously, "Brother Pei, I heard you've secretly been keeping someone. Is it true?"
Pei Guangji's gaze darkened, and he didn't answer.
Xi Zhengqing smiled gently. "Aren't you going to bring him over and introduce him to us?"
Pei Guangji said, "He has trouble recognizing people, has a mild social anxiety disorder, and is rather shy around strangers."
Trouble recognizing people?
Xi Zhengqing took a casual sip of wine. "What a pity."
As they left the dinner, Jiang Jing drove the hovercraft and briefed Pei Guangji on his schedule for the coming week.
There was a three-day business trip.
Pei Guangji's expression tightened. Some places in the Federation couldn't even guarantee a communications signal.
After finishing, Jiang Jing added, "Young master, a guard at the Federal First Prison contacted us. Xin Bao has been bullied by his cellmates, and the guard asked whether he should be moved to another cell."
The prison had sent the email ten days ago.
A new secretary had missed it and only remembered it today, when they reported it to Jiang Jing.
After all, Pei Guangji was the one who had sent the evidence to the procuratorate and instructed that Xin Bao be sent to the Federal First Prison.
Naturally, they would ask Pei Guangji for his opinion.
Pei Guangji said, "That's unnecessary. Ignore it."
Jiang Jing hesitated. "Shouldn't we discuss it with Mr. Xin Hexue?"
Pei Guangji asked, "Why should we?"
Jiang Jing said no more. "Understood."
Even so, he was still puzzled.
In a sense, Mr. Xin had signed the contract with the young master to pay off his foster father's gambling debts.
But the young master didn't seem to have even mentioned sending Xin Bao to prison to Mr. Xin, had he?
Thinking of the email that had been delayed for ten days, Jiang Jing felt uneasy.
Chapter 12: Face Blindness (12)
It took less than two days for Jiang Jing's vague unease to prove justified.
Before he was due to accompany his boss to discuss a cooperation plan against the alien species with the Federal Security Bureau.
District One had seen its first snowfall at the start of November. Dense white snow covered the mountaintops and weighed down the green branches of the pines and cypresses.
Though snowflakes drifted through the air outside, the smart home system in the Halfway-Up-the-Mountain Villa kept the temperature inside as warm as spring.
A layer of white mist had condensed on the floor-to-ceiling windows.
It wasn't the weekend, and classes at South City No. 1 High School were running as usual. The villa was unusually quiet.
Pei Guangji had been traveling back and forth between the core district and the villa for the past two days. This time, he had originally planned to let Xin Hexue know before leaving on his business trip.
"Check his location." With the snow falling so heavily outside, Pei Guangji's expression darkened. "See where he's gone."
After Xin Hexue came here, Pei Guangji had provided all his daily necessities, including replacing his outdated communicator with the latest model and system on the market.
Pei Guangji had someone install a tracking chip in the communicator.
Jiang Jing said, "That's strange. It shows that Mr. Xin is right near the villa..."
How could he have disappeared?
Pei Guangji said, "Check the villa's entry and exit records again."
Jiang Jing turned his head, his voice rising in surprise. "Mr. Xin?! What happened to you?"
The young man stood quietly in the doorway.
He seemed to have just returned from a long trip. The white padded down jacket he wore didn't make him look bulky, but snowflakes clung to the jacket, his scarf, his hair, and even his eyelashes.
Xin Hexue's body temperature was already on the low side, so the fresh snowflakes that had fallen on him along the way hadn't melted.
His skin was frost-white, but his cheeks and the corners of his eyes had turned pink from the cold.
Pei Guangji took off his coat and draped it over his shoulders. "Come in, quickly. It's too cold outside."
Xin Hexue silently stepped inside. The snowflakes melted into droplets on his eyelashes.
Pei Guangji saw how red his face was from the cold and wanted to sound more concerned, but when he spoke, his voice still came out somewhat cold and stiff. "Why did you go out in the snow?"
Xin Hexue's silence made his heart panic for an instant.
The young man's voice was very soft. "Pei Guangji, let's terminate our contract."
Pei Guangji felt as though his heart had been clenched in a tight grip. His breathing faltered. "According to the contract, there are still seven months left. If you breach it..."
Even as he spoke, it was as though another voice inside him was trying to stop him.
No, it shouldn't be like this! What he wanted to say had nothing to do with businesslike compensation for breach of contract. What he really wanted to ask was why Xin Hexue had gone out. What had he run into? Had he gotten cold? Did his throat feel itchy or uncomfortable? Did the temperature inside need to be turned up?
Pei Guangji parted his lips, his throat dry, but the words he wanted to say stuck there.
He could only watch as Xin Hexue took out two sets of documents wrapped in manila envelopes.
One was a written judgment; the other was a death notice for the family.
Both had been intercepted and never delivered.
Pei Guangji stood rooted to the spot.
Xin Hexue coughed softly and paused before saying, "I picked these up at the post office."
His eyes reddened as he confronted Pei Guangji. "Don't you have anything to explain to me?"
Pei Guangji's throat was dry and his voice hoarse. "I found evidence in your old apartment. I can explain everything to you..."
Only then did Jiang Jing realize his premonition had come true. Shocked, he came to his senses and prepared to smooth things over.
But Xin Hexue said, "Forget it. You don't need to explain."
The light fell on the young man, making him look utterly alone. "What should someone from the upper class in the core district have to explain to me?"
There was a faint weariness on his face, and his eyes showed his disappointment in the Alpha before him. "I'll find a way to pay you back the one million star coins. So let's terminate our contract."
Xin Hexue coughed for a while longer. Too tired to bargain and argue with Pei Guangji, he headed for the room on the second floor. As he went upstairs, Pei Guangji followed close beside him, trying to explain. "I only reported Xin Bao to the public security system. With all the evidence of his crimes, he deserved his twenty-year sentence, but I truly didn't foresee that he would die, and I didn't deliberately arrange it..."
Pei Guangji defended himself, even though he knew that Jiang Jing had reported what the prison guard had said and asked whether Xin Bao should be moved to another cell.
Though he hadn't deliberately arranged it, it had happened with his tacit consent.
The young man's back looked thin. As he opened the bedroom door, he turned and said, "Xin Bao got what he deserved."
"What about you? From beginning to end, did you explain even the slightest thing to me?" Xin Hexue looked at him in disappointment. "What were you trying to do? Sever my relationship with my father for me, erase every connection I had to my past, install a tracker in my communicator..."