He sat down in front of the cake on the dining table.
Xi Zhengqing typed: [Thank you.]
Xin Hexue smiled gently.
You're welcome.
Bastard.
I prepared it especially for you.
It's been in the fridge for a week. The cream is guaranteed to have gone bad.
Of course, Xin Hexue hadn't made it himself, either. It was just the cheapest flash-sale internet-famous cake on a grocery delivery app.
Xi Zhengqing took a bite. His mild features immediately twisted, and his expression changed.
Xin Hexue asked nervously, "Guangji, doesn't it taste good? It's my first time making a cake, so it might not be quite to your taste..."
Xi Zhengqing met his eyes.
[No, I like it very much. It's delicious. Thank you.]
Xin Hexue rested his chin in his hands and watched him happily. "I'm glad you like it."
Xi Zhengqing typed apprehensively: [I forgot to bring your birthday present back. It's still on the aircraft.]
Xin Hexue replied, "It's all right."
While Xin Hexue wasn't looking, Xi Zhengqing sent his assistant a message, telling him to bring an appropriate birthday gift to this address.
Suddenly, the young man seemed to remember something. "Wait here. I bought you a present. You'll definitely like it."
Xi Zhengqing raised an eyebrow in surprise.
He watched Xin Hexue return to the second floor, then come back down and place a bow-topped gift box in front of him. "Go on, open it," Xin Hexue said expectantly.
A present for Pei Guangji...
Xi Zhengqing's gaze deepened, then quickly turned cheerful.
In that case, he would gladly accept it in place of his childhood friend, who lay unconscious and couldn't enjoy it.
After Xi Zhengqing opened the gift, the smile in his eyes froze—
It was a black collar with the word "Dog" engraved on its nameplate.
Xin Hexue asked softly and uneasily, "Don't you like it? Isn't this your favorite kind of game, Guangji?"
Xi Zhengqing had no idea his childhood friend and his canary played such wild games. Under the circumstances, he let Xin Hexue lead him by the nose and stepped into the trap with no way back.
He stiffly shook his head to indicate that he did like it.
Xin Hexue put it on him, and it turned out to be a perfect fit.
Out of Xi Zhengqing's sight, Xin Hexue thought with a casual expression.
I originally bought it for the "puppy," but I forgot to check the size. It didn't fit when it arrived, so putting it to use instead of wasting it is pretty good.
Anyway...
This cheap, shoddily made product is just right for this heir.
It's normal to use unconventional measures against a perverted opponent, right?
Chapter 14: Face Blindness (14)
Xi Zhengqing actually had a good reputation in the Federation. In both bearing and appearance, he seemed every bit a gentle, refined businessman: courteous, approachable, and considerate of his subordinates. He often attended charity galas, founded orphanages and various social welfare institutions in the Federation, and donated one percent of Nuwa Bionic Manufacturing's annual revenue to aid disadvantaged groups. He also made a regular practice of introducing bills in parliament to increase unemployment benefits and ensure equal pay for equal work across ABO categories.
Without a doubt, of all the conglomerate heirs, he was the one the general public regarded most favorably.
With the other families in the Core District as a contrast, no one would care whether he was a hypocrite. When the day finally came for the three great conglomerates to fight to mutual destruction, the public, faced with limited choices, would docilely accept a monopoly dominated by the Xi family alone, like lambs.
Xi Zhengqing was accustomed to maintaining a warm, courteous facade, standing high above everyone at the top of the Core District and looking down on all the city's people and things.
He raised his eyes and met Xin Hexue's gaze.
Xin Hexue tilted his head slightly. "What's wrong, Guangji? Is the cake not to your taste, or don't you like the gift?"
Xi Zhengqing shook his head.
He sat somewhat stiffly at the dining table in the living room, unable to ignore the restraint around his neck as he endured the coarse leather chafing his skin.
Especially when he swallowed the sour, mushy cake and his Adam's apple bobbed, the collar constricted him constantly.
Things were taking a strange turn. The sense of being placed beneath someone else that the collar brought, the dissonance of being tamed, gave him a faint premonition that his prey might slip out of his control.
He's only a Beta, and a frail pureblood human at that...
It's not as if I'll be like Pei Guangji, bewitched by a canary and led around in circles, even entrusting things to him as though on my deathbed when an accident happened.
He's just a Beta. I'll play with him, that's all.
Xi Zhengqing typed his answer: [They're both wonderful. I like them very much.]
Xin Hexue's lips curved upward, and he pushed the cake closer to Xi Zhengqing.
Scooping up a piece of cake with a fork, Xin Hexue held it to Xi Zhengqing's mouth and said with a smile, "If you like it, eat some more. If you want it again, I'll make it for you next time."
But next time will have to wait until it's on flash sale for 9.9 yuan, the lowest price on the whole internet.
Xin Hexue thought frugally.
K thought the host's gaze was exactly like that of a feline that had locked onto its prey, waiting for the right moment to kill it in a single strike.
The snake across from him, however, had yet to realize it was a trap. Watching the kitten lick its paws, the big snake had fallen completely into a haven of tenderness.
K recorded the situation in Kitten Observation Log.docx.
After this world ended, he would compile an analysis report.
Seeing that Xin Hexue hadn't touched the food at all, Xi Zhengqing asked in puzzlement: [Aren't you eating?]
Xin Hexue lowered his eyes. Having spent some time outside the villa just now, he was still pale. "Did you forget? I have a bad stomach. This was in the fridge, and cold food gives me a stomachache."
Xi Zhengqing realized he had asked the wrong question. To keep Xin Hexue from noticing anything amiss and growing suspicious, he betrayed his taste buds again: [I just thought this cake was delicious. You did a great job, but since you have stomach trouble, you'd better not try it.]
Xin Hexue coaxed Xi Zhengqing along as he watched him finish the entire six-inch cake.
?
Why did he seem to be taking it so well?
Xin Hexue was certain he had left the cream cake in the fridge for a full seven days.
K reminded him: [His stomach has undergone mechanical modification. It can even digest the vast majority of toxic substances.]
He added: [His heart too.]
The Xi family members all basically had a hereditary heart condition, and their arrhythmia required the aid of a pacemaker. But thanks to the Xi family's in-house technological research and development, Xi Zhengqing also had a spare bionic heart in his chest.
Xin Hexue said silently: [Then he must be very hard to kill.]
Not only could he avoid being poisoned, but even if someone shot him or stabbed him in the chest, they would have to kill him twice.
Xin Hexue was rather envious, but given his physical condition, if he underwent mechanical modification surgery, the mortality rate would probably be as high as one hundred percent.
He propped up his chin and asked with feigned anticipation, "Guangji, are you staying tonight?"
Xi Zhengqing met Xin Hexue's eyes, his throat tightening involuntarily.
The study.
The hands of the clock on the wall moved to eight in the evening.
Xin Hexue sat in the office chair at the desk, looking through the contract he had just found.
Pei Guangji had locked the contract in a safe, but Xin Hexue had obtained the key from the smart housekeeper.
Hearing footsteps in the hallway, Xin Hexue stuffed the contract into a drawer, deliberately leaving it slightly open as a telltale flaw.
He leafed through a book on the desk, pretending to be absorbed in it.
The tall shadow of an Alpha fell over him from behind, blocking the ceiling light.
Xin Hexue heard a faint sound as the other man braced a hand against the leather back of the chair.
Xi Zhengqing had finished washing up later than Xin Hexue. As he leaned close, he brought with him the chill and dampness of water that had yet to dry, making Xin Hexue frown imperceptibly.
Fortunately, the temperature in the study was set just right, and the heating soon dispelled the chill.
Xi Zhengqing wanted to ask what body wash Xin Hexue used. After all, a Beta couldn't possibly have pheromones, yet Xin Hexue carried a pleasant, reassuring scent.
He lowered his gaze and saw the young man's smooth, black hair hanging loose after being blow-dried. Part of the skin at the back of his neck was exposed, snowy white and flawless, seemingly easy for an Alpha to mark.
The young man was like a beautiful swan, easily broken, readily stirring the restless, vicious impulse in his heart.
For instance, at this moment, Xi Zhengqing thought the collar he wore would be more fitting around the other man's neck.
He wanted to possess him, to bend his waist into a supple arc and have him passively endure an Alpha thrusting to the limit, preferably until the young man broke down and cried.
He would be even prettier in tears.
[What are you reading?]
Xi Zhengqing showed him the words he had typed in the notes app.
Xin Hexue flipped the book in his hands around, showing him the cover with its printed title.
Xi Zhengqing glanced at it. It was just a technical book on genetic modification. He had looked into the subject, but wasn't very interested in it. [Why are you reading this?]
Xin Hexue pressed his lips together lightly and said slowly, "I want to learn about the things you usually work with."
Genetic modification was indeed something Pei Guangji usually worked with.
Xi Zhengqing frowned slightly. He made no comment, instead taking something from his pocket and reaching around Xin Hexue's neck with both hands.
Xin Hexue felt something cool settle against his collarbone.
It was a necklace.
Xi Zhengqing fastened it for him and explained: [A birthday present.]
That afternoon, he had his secretary choose a gift and deliver it, but he wasn't satisfied with it.
So he had someone make the moonstone from his secret room into a necklace.
The gemstone shimmered with a blue iridescence, its translucent surface seeming to flow like moonlight, like a miniature moon.
It had originally been the finest item in Xi Zhengqing's secret collection.
But it was nowhere near as pleasing to him as the person before him. By comparison, it was just an ordinary stone.
Xin Hexue looked up at him, pretending to be pleasantly surprised. "Thank you. I love it..."