Xi Zhengqing watched him head into the kitchen.
The mechanical AI butler emerged from around another corner and began its programmed greeting. "Honored gue—"
Quick as a flash, Xi Zhengqing pressed its power button.
When Xin Hexue came out, he was still tapping the mechanical butler as if nothing had happened.
Xin Hexue asked, "What's wrong?"
Xi Zhengqing typed on his communicator. [It might be broken. It's been in use for years, so I'll replace it. I'll have someone come collect this one later.]
"I see..." Xin Hexue said regretfully.
Remembering something, Xin Hexue asked worriedly before Xi Zhengqing could voice any doubts, "Guangji, you suddenly passed out last night. You gave me quite a scare. I wanted to take you to the bedroom, but I wasn't strong enough to drag you, so I could only leave you to spend the night in the study. Are you all right?"
The young man looked particularly guilty.
Xi Zhengqing was speechless.
The last trace of suspicion in his heart faded away.
Perhaps his body had malfunctioned. Xi Zhengqing added a physical examination to his schedule.
A partially mechanized alpha didn't weigh the same as an ordinary adult man to begin with, and Xin Hexue was a pure-blooded human. It was only natural that he couldn't move him.
[Xi Zhengqing's Affection Points +5]
Xin Hexue said to K, [See? He even has to thank me.]
Xi Zhengqing used the excuse that his old communicator had broken to "re-add" Xin Hexue's contact information.
He also blacklisted the original "Pei Guangji" on Xin Hexue's communicator.
Work forced Xi Zhengqing to leave the villa that morning. Before leaving, he made sure his assistant came over to collect the mechanical AI butler.
It had been made by his own company, so it could go straight back to the factory.
Xi Zhengqing also planned to replace the villa's other, less intelligent robots.
A group chat suddenly jumped to the top of his messages with a new notification.
Xi Zhengqing opened it.
[Qiu Yuan 1: I'm back from the Thirteenth District. Want to get together?]
[Qiu Yuan 2: It's not ideal being one short, but if you don't mind, we could pop champagne in the ICU.]
[Qiu Yuan 1: You don't mind, right? @Pei Guangji]
[Zuo Yongyan: Seriously, man,]
[Xi Zhengqing: ...What a turnoff.]
[Xi Zhengqing: Let @Zuo Yongyan arrange it.]
[Zuo Yongyan: You got it, bro. Leave it to me.]
Xi Zhengqing sat in the back of a hovercraft, with his assistant driving in front. They were heading to the Core District first.
On the aerial route away from the Halfway-Up-the-Mountain Villa, two aircraft passed each other.
Xi Zhengqing saw the person sitting in the back of the other one.
It was Pei Ying.
Xi Zhengqing frowned.
Pei Ying was heading toward the Halfway-Up-the-Mountain Villa.
Xi Zhengqing immediately said, "Turn around."
Chapter 16: Face Blindness (16)
Snow had fallen in the villa's garden all night, and a cleaning robot had swept it into piles.
Inside the house, the temperature remained warm and cozy.
A housekeeping robot was laying out afternoon tea in the warm greenhouse. A bubbling sound filled the air, and hot steam poured from the teapot's spout like smoke.
When Pei Ying returned, Xin Hexue was playing with the cat on the living room sofa.
The mechanical cat looked just like a little tin cat from a cartoon. It had no artificial fur covering it, and it felt cold and hard to the touch.
Xin Hexue didn't pet it often in winter.
The room was at a comfortable temperature.
Xin Hexue wasn't even wearing a down jacket. He wore only a dark blue V-neck knitted vest over a white turtleneck, and he leaned against the back of the sofa in a half-reclining position.
He was slender to begin with, and curled up lazily on the sofa, he looked like a cat.
Xin Hexue had bought some rubber pet toys online. When his target wasn't around, he usually had nothing much to do at the villa, so he passed the time playing with the cat.
He threw a bone into the distance and gave a command. "Puppy, fetch."
The bone rolled along until it came to a stop at the feet of the alpha who had just entered.
Pei Ying paused. Silently, he picked up the bone, walked over to Xin Hexue, and held it out on his palm. "...I fetched it."
He looked as though he thought he would be rewarded for it.
Xin Hexue almost didn't recognize Pei Ying.
The alpha was dressed in a formal suit, impeccably groomed, with polished leather shoes on his feet.
But his Klein blue highlights and the two silver cone studs by his ears still gave him his own distinctive look.
A human had carried out the mechanical cat's command before it could. It pawed at Pei Ying's leg in displeasure, then sat down to one side.
"Thank you." Xin Hexue took the pet toy and tossed it to the mechanical cat, then made room for Pei Ying. "Sit down."
There were faint bluish shadows beneath the alpha's eyes.
Xin Hexue guessed that Pei Ying probably hadn't rested well lately. After all, the Pei family's original heir was unconscious, and without its mainstay, the family was presumably still embroiled in internal strife.
But he stayed in character and pretended to know nothing. He simply raised a hand to cup the young alpha's face, gently brushing his eyelid with the pad of his thumb. "Has studying been too stressful? Have you not been sleeping well lately?"
At such close range, Pei Ying could smell the reassuring, cool scent of green sandalwood on Xin Hexue.
It eased the gloom and irritation he had felt for days on end.
Almost like a docile dog, Pei Ying rubbed against Xin Hexue's palm. "I'm all right."
Suddenly, Pei Ying's brows drew together in a stern frown, and his sharp gaze caught a red mark on the young man's neck.
The mark had escaped the cover of his turtleneck and showed above its edge.
Pei Ying pointed at it. "What's that?"
Xin Hexue was puzzled. "What?"
Pei Ying leaned closer and rubbed the mark with his fingertip as though trying to scrub it away. "The red mark."
Xin Hexue brushed his hand away and felt it himself. "Red... Maybe it's an allergy," he said thoughtfully.
Xin Hexue silently cursed Xi Zhengqing a couple of times.
No.
Pei Ying pressed his lips tightly together.
None of this is right.
He noticed a faint trace of an unfamiliar alpha's pheromones lingering in the room.
Even Xin Hexue carried that musky scent.
But because he was a beta, an alpha's pheromones wouldn't linger on him for long.
Young alphas were combative by nature, and this sort of behavior, akin to encroaching on someone's territory, was unquestionably a swaggering provocation.
Who was it?
He grew increasingly irritated.
Especially after he noticed that Xin Hexue wasn't wearing socks.
Pei Ying asked, "Why aren't you wearing socks?"
Pei Ying said, "You'll catch a chill. Don't you know that?"
He hurried to Xin Hexue's bedroom to find a pair of socks, then rushed to put them on his feet.
"...Ow."
The sharp pain made Xin Hexue narrow his eyes slightly and pull his feet back.
Pei Ying's expression grew grave. He gripped Xin Hexue's right ankle tightly and stared at it, his voice dropping unconsciously. "What's this?"
Xin Hexue's skin was thin, and he had never done much hard labor. The skin all over his body was as white as jade, delicate from being well cared for.
Now, however, a small patch on the sole of his foot showed a deep red beneath the cool white skin, as though it might drip blood.
"Does it hurt?"
Pei Ying frowned and touched it gently.
Sure enough, Xin Hexue sucked in a breath.
Pei Ying asked, "How did this happen?"
A little embarrassed, Xin Hexue made an excuse. "I don't know. Maybe I stepped on something without noticing."
He reassured Pei Ying, "It's all right. It'll be better in a few days. I often bump into things by accident. A bruise will suddenly appear on my knee, then fade after a while."
Pei Ying lowered his brows and glanced at him, seeming especially displeased with Xin Hexue's careless attitude toward his own body.
He said coldly, "I'll get some ointment."
While looking for the ointment, Pei Ying conducted a near-comprehensive search for any sign that another alpha had been there.
There was an extra set of clothes in the laundry hamper.
They were clearly not Xin Hexue's size.
But given Xin Hexue's relationship with his brother, Pei Ying didn't believe the former would willingly betray him.
He returned to Xin Hexue's side as though nothing were amiss and rubbed a layer of greasy ointment onto the sole of his foot. Seemingly offhandedly, he asked, "Did anyone else come by before me?"
The moment he finished speaking, the doorbell rang abruptly.
A visitor had arrived.
Pei Ying stared at the newcomer with a hostile expression. "Why are you here?"
Xi Zhengqing had deliberately changed clothes so that his outfit would be different from what he had worn when he left that morning.
His gray prosthetic eye shifted slightly behind his gold-rimmed glasses, looking toward the young man on the sofa.
Smiling, Xi Zhengqing said, "Your brother asked me to look after him when I have time."
He walked over to Xin Hexue and introduced himself unhurriedly. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Xi Zhengqing, Pei Guangji's childhood friend. He may not have mentioned me, but he's been rather busy lately, so he asked me to look after you as much as I can."
Xin Hexue said to K, [Looks like he's pretty good at acting too.]
K agreed with everything his host said. [Mm.]
Outwardly, Xin Hexue hesitated for a moment before politely shaking Xi Zhengqing's hand. "Hello, I'm Xin Hexue."
"I know. Pei Guangji told me about you," Xi Zhengqing said without a change in expression. "We can exchange contact information. If you need anything, you can message me."
Pei Ying watched in bewilderment as the two exchanged contact information.
Suddenly, Pei Ying remembered an alpha he knew who had musk-scented pheromones. He pieced together the unusual things about Xin Hexue that day as clues, and his gaze instantly turned especially frightening.
From an angle Xin Hexue couldn't see, Xi Zhengqing merely mouthed a few words to Pei Ying.
Let's talk outside.
Almost the moment they stepped out of Xin Hexue's sight, Pei Ying's fist flew toward Xi Zhengqing's face.
This was probably the first time Xi Zhengqing had dealt with such an ill-mannered young alpha. Although he reacted in time to block the punch and keep his face from being damaged, his glasses were still knocked askew.