Pei Guangji's expression tightened, and he instinctively protested, "That's not what I meant."
The warmth had vanished from Xin Hexue's eyes. His voice was faintly mocking. "Young Master, I'm not an extension of you."
[Pei Guangji Heartbreak Value +5]
For what Xin Bao had done, including the harm he had inflicted on Xin Hexue during his childhood, dying a hundred or a thousand times would not have been enough. Pei Guangji couldn't understand why that scum's death had caused a rift between him and Xin Hexue.
He had stood at the top of the pyramid for so long that he was used to doing as he pleased without anyone defying him. So he had never learned to explain his decisions to Xin Hexue or discuss them with him.
He had thought he possessed the young man. More than that, he believed Xin Hexue loved him, so his decisions ought to be understood.
Yet that condescending attitude had been wrong from the very beginning.
The young man could keenly detect the slightest trace of disrespect the Alpha showed.
The door slammed shut before him. Pei Guangji heard a sound from inside, as though Xin Hexue had lost his strength and sunk to the floor with his back against the door.
Pei Guangji knocked urgently. "The floor is cold. Don't sit there."
For the first time, he spoke to someone in a pleading tone. "Can we talk about the contract when I get back? The weather's bad these next few days, so stay in the villa. Someone will bring food every day. Tell them if you need anything."
"Or tell me, and I'll have them bring it."
There was no response from inside.
[Pei Guangji Heartbreak Value +3]
Pei Guangji went downstairs, his mind in turmoil. Jiang Jing had parked the hovercraft at the door and asked worriedly, "Young Master, how is Mr. Xin?"
In front of his subordinate, the Alpha resumed the calm demeanor of a man accustomed to giving orders.
"Lock down the villa's access permissions. Don't let him out for now." Pei Guangji's expression was grave. "Can the three-day business trip be cut down to a day and a half?"
Jiang Jing said, "It can, but the breaks along the way..."
Pei Guangji said, "We'll go and come back as quickly as possible. Don't worry about anything else."
In the bedroom, the young man sitting against the door stroked the carpet's pile. The robot cat came over and nuzzled his hand.
Xin Hexue's shoulders shook. From K's perspective, it looked as though he was crying.
Xin Hexue chuckled under his breath, his face full of delight. "That scum really died at just the right time."
Fortunately, he had told K to keep constant watch on whether Xin Bao was still alive in prison.
He really had been far too nice to Pei Guangji, letting the man fall completely under the illusion that they were in love.
Still, it was worth it.
Everything was to get Xin Hexue's plan moving.
A celestial dragon like Pei Guangji, who stood at the top of the Federation's warped pyramid system, was fundamentally incapable of loving someone. He was arrogant, conceited, and domineering. Paired with someone like "Xin Hexue," who was emotionally hypersensitive because of his childhood and physical condition, they were a perfect example of one of the scum-and-doormat templates the Great World liked to watch.
Xin Hexue wouldn't let the original ending come to pass.
Since the audience in the Great World loved melodrama, a crematorium was one kind of it too, wasn't it?
Xin Hexue asked K about Pei Guangji's affection points.
K said, "Ninety."
Xin Hexue said, "Not bad."
With a full progress bar at one hundred, that could already count as deep love. But without someone to give him a push, that favored son of heaven would remain forever unaware of his own love.
Xin Hexue waited for Pei Guangji to return from treatment. What would he be like when he discovered his childhood friends' outrageous behavior?
"Puppy," Xin Hexue said to the robot cat. "Come here."
The robot cat happily snuggled closer and nuzzled his hand.
The next target whose Affection Points and Heartbreak Value he needed to farm...
Was Xi Zhengqing.
Not one of them would get away.
Xin Hexue's eyes curved as he patted the robot cat named "Puppy" on the head.
After much hesitation, Jiang Jing finally asked, "Young Master, did you and Mr. Xin have an argument?"
The back seat remained silent for a long time.
Pei Guangji said, "Yes."
Jiang Jing said, "Young Master, as you know, I'm married. If you don't mind, perhaps I could offer some advice on making up. Of course, these are just my humble opinions."
Pei Guangji fell silent for a moment. Thinking of Xin Hexue, he said, "Go ahead."
Jiang Jing asked, "Do you love Mr. Xin?"
Pei Guangji froze slightly, his voice hoarse. "I..."
The word "love" shook him to his core.
As an outsider, Jiang Jing could see things clearly. He continued, "If you love him, I think the root of this argument is that you haven't shown your love in everyday life. Mr. Xin is a rather sensitive person. He may think you don't respect him enough and, of course, don't love him enough. If you intend to marry Mr. Xin someday, you'd best have an in-depth conversation about this when you get back and understand what he's thinking..."
Jiang Jing continued sharing the secret to married life: more communication and more understanding.
Pei Guangji felt as though he had been struck on the head.
Marriage...
Yes, they could get married.
The blood that had cooled in his body boiled and flowed again. Pei Guangji felt as though the clouds before his eyes had parted, and his chest opened with each breath.
Somewhat excited, he thought that he would prove to Xin Hexue that he loved him.
If Xin Hexue didn't believe him, they could get engaged the following week, although it would be a little rushed.
No, he could start preparing for the wedding right away. He would fulfill his responsibilities as a husband, always willing to love, comfort, respect, and protect him. They would build a perfect, real family.
At that thought, Pei Guangji called his personal assistant. He was a little flustered. Xin Hexue's birthday was in three days, and he realized it was the perfect opportunity to propose. At the very least, he needed an engagement ring now...
With the rushed preparations, the ring might not be to the young man's taste, but afterward they could invite a jewelry designer to their home to design one for them, according to the young man's wishes.
Pei Guangji felt excitement and nervousness unlike anything he had ever known.
But Jiang Jing suddenly shouted, "Young Master! The back of the hovercraft caught fire on its own! The brakes aren't working?!"
Someone had tampered with the hovercraft.
That was Pei Guangji's first thought.
On that snowy night, dazzling lights shone toward them on the aerial track—
A cargo craft loaded with building materials crashed into the hovercraft!
The noise was deafening. The world spun around them as flames from the explosion roared, their heat melting the windblown snow.
In the wreckage, Pei Guangji's self-healing couldn't keep pace with his blood loss. His mind was foggy from losing too much blood, and a damaged section of the hovercraft had fallen onto his back, pinning him down.
He wiped away the blood flowing from his forehead into his eyes.
He felt around until he found his communicator and forced his eyes open.
In Xin Hexue's chat window, the last messages were from the previous evening. He had told Pei Guangji that a squirrel had stored a large amount of food in a pine tree in the back garden.
He had also sent him a photo and a location pin.
Apparently unfamiliar with the app, Xin Hexue had eventually discovered, to his regret, that the location pin couldn't be precise enough to show the garden, much less a particular tree.
Pei Guangji held down the location pin, blood dripping onto the screen.
Acrid black smoke choked his throat, leaving him able to make only a hoarse, breathy sound.
He painstakingly typed a message in the forwarding box.
But as he selected a recipient, his head grew drowsy, and the communicator slipped from his powerless hand.
It landed with a clatter.
The message wasn't forwarded to his personal assistant as intended.
Instead, it appeared in a group chat, pushing it to the top of the list.
[Qiu Yuan 1: [Forwarded link to an official account's promotional article]]
[Qiu Yuan 2: A film I just directed. Show me some support.]
[Xi Zhengqing: smiling emoji]
[Zuo Yongyan: @Qiu Yuan 1 Brother Qiu, could you kick your other eight alternate accounts out of the group?]
[Qiu Yuan 3: Leave it alone.]
[Pei Guangji: [Location information: No. 13, Halfway-Up-the-Mountain Villa, Yuanbei Road, Guangyang District, South City, District One]]
[Pei Guangji: Please take good care of him $%*#^*&]
[Qiu Yuan 4: Who?]
[Qiu Yuan 6: @Pei Guangji Say something.]
[Qiu Yuan 5: Are you dead?]
[Xi Zhengqing: @Pei Guangji Next time, it would be better to entrust me with a message like that in private. [Smile]]
Chapter 13: Face Blindness (13)
The moment the hovercraft registered under Pei Guangji's name collided, its automatic alarm system was triggered.
The driver of the other craft had been flying the cargo craft under the influence, speeding across the designated aerial track and crashing straight into the side of the hovercraft whose brakes had failed. The driver bore full responsibility for the accident.
The Federation's environmental problems had grown increasingly severe in recent years, and even District One was no exception. Media drones circled the scene in the sleet, while drizzling acid rain fell without pause through the night. The scene was a mess, the fine lines of rain reflecting the red glow of the flames and the black smoke.
The wails of ambulances and police vehicles rang through the night.
It was a sufficiently horrific traffic accident, and one of the people involved was the heir to the Shennong Pharmaceutical Company. As a result, the accident made news headlines as soon as it happened.
The commotion online, however, didn't affect the Halfway-Up-the-Mountain Villa in South City.
Once winter arrived, Xin Hexue was prone to sleepiness and fatigue. For his health, he went to sleep at ten o'clock sharp every night.
Moreover, aside from a messaging app, he had no entertainment apps installed on his communicator. He rarely even went out, so his access to outside news was very limited. Naturally, he was "completely unaware" of the accident.
In any case, Pei Guangji wasn't going to die, so Xin Hexue slept soundly.
The next day, however, Pei Ying seemed odd and was distracted at breakfast.
Xin Hexue took a sip of milk from his cup and asked him with concern, "What's wrong?"
Pei Ying grabbed two pieces of sandwich toast, slung his schoolbag onto his back, and hurriedly said, "Nothing. I'm going to school."