Birthday Gift

For the next few days, Ye Qingpu finally got some peace and quiet. No sleazy alphas came visiting the company, and Pei Jiaqian, surprisingly, did not come looking for him either.

It was just that someone kept anonymously mailing razor blades to his company. Ye Qingpu did not need to think to know it was the work of Jiang Jifu's rabid fans.

He hired a private detective and quickly found the person who had mailed the blades. Then he invited him to sit for a while in the basement of his villa.

In the dim basement, Ye Qingpu sat in a chair, coldly watching the man kneeling and crawling before him.

He took the documents from his assistant, looked them over, and smiled with interest.

"An omega from Lake Bay Villa District. Oh, a rich one, are you? Let me guess, a second-generation rich kid or some little lover?"

"Ah..."

Ye Qingpu sighed with some distress.

"Wrong guess. You're an illegitimate child. No wonder you can't be seen in public."

"Let me think. You sent me razor blades and threatening letters. Tsk, tsk. If I made one call, it would be enough to lock you up for years. But—"

The gleaming tip of Ye Qingpu's shoe lifted the man's chin as he said disdainfully,

"I don't want to let you off so easily."

Then, right in front of the terrified omega, he had his assistant call the omega's father and arrange for him to be blacklisted from the industry. In a careless tone, he added,

"Sir on the other end of the line, your son has become a little annoying to me, so I've had your family go bankrupt. Also, I'll have to play with your son for a while before returning him to you. I thought I'd let you know so you won't worry."

As Ye Qingpu spoke, he looked at the omega before him, a contemptuous smile lingering at the corners of his lips.

The omega, whose hands were tied behind his back, had long since been frightened out of his wits. Pale-faced and trembling, he crawled to Ye Qingpu's feet and pleaded,

"Sir... Mr. Ye... I was wrong! Please, let me go! I... I promise, I'll never be this foolish again!"

"Sir! Please... please let me go... I just like Brother Jiang too much... I'll never threaten you again!"

Ye Qingpu smiled, bent down to pinch the omega's face, and sighed softly,

"You're not bad-looking."

As if he had grasped a lifeline, the omega ingratiatingly licked Ye Qingpu's spotless shoe.

"Sir... I can please you... As long as you let me go, I'll do anything..."

"Heh."

Ye Qingpu raised his leg and kicked the omega in the face, then covered his mouth and coughed twice. Sure enough, he should come to places like basements less often. There was too much dust.

The assistant caught on and gave a look. Two burly bodyguards hauled the omega up and forced his mouth open.

One bodyguard stuffed a funnel-shaped object into his mouth, while the other held a pile of suspicious fragments and poured every last piece into the funnel.

Heart-wrenching cries and curses spilled from the omega's throat, but they were quickly replaced by the gurgling of blood foam.

"Our boss is kind-hearted. He broke up the things you sent before making you swallow them. Stop crying. Apologize properly, and maybe if our boss is in a good mood, he'll let you go."

The assistant looked at the barely conscious person on the floor and nudged him with his foot to make sure he was still moving.

The omega trembled all over as he crawled to Ye Qingpu's feet. Wiping the bloody foam from his mouth, he knelt upright and apologized in an extremely hoarse voice. Every word he spoke drove the objects embedded in his throat another fraction deeper into his flesh.

Ye Qingpu raised a brow, and the assistant immediately understood. He took out a handkerchief and wiped the omega's saliva off Ye Qingpu's shoe.

"Not a bad attitude. Don't make mistakes again next time, okay?"

Ye Qingpu smiled kindly, reached out to pat the omega's head, then walked out of the basement in his custom-made leather shoes, coughing lightly.

The assistant looked at the omega whose chest was soaked in blood and shook his head helplessly. Using that handkerchief, he wiped the bloody foam from the omega's mouth and said earnestly,

"Why did you have to provoke him? Did you think his ruthless reputation was just for show? He may be sickly, but he isn't some kind-hearted living bodhisattva... You provoked the omega with the worst temper in the city—no, beta. You can only blame yourself."

"Ah... Don't cry. We'll send you to the hospital. You won't die."

By the time Ye Qingpu returned from another suburban villa to his river-view apartment, it was already past seven in the evening.

As he entered the code into the lock, his phone received a message from Jiang Jifu saying he had gone out to eat with several celebrity friends.

Ye Qingpu merely told him to come back early. Then, the instant he opened the door, he caught sight of the elevator doors opening. He froze instinctively, and his eyes immediately darkened.

"Where did you go so late, Brother?"

Pei Jiaqian stood there holding a pile of desserts, wearing a white sleeveless shirt. His injured leg looked much better.

Seeing someone he had not seen for several days, Ye Qingpu was first stunned, then asked,

"Why are you here?"

"Won't Brother invite me inside to sit for a while?" Pei Jiaqian held several large bags in his hands.

Ye Qingpu glanced at them, then stepped aside to let him in.

After changing his shoes, Pei Jiaqian placed the things in his arms on the coffee table, then put another pile of items into the refrigerator in the kitchen.

Ye Qingpu leaned back on the sofa and quietly watched him bustle around. If he remembered correctly, this was his home?

"Tell me, what are you doing here?"

Only after Pei Jiaqian finished fussing around did Ye Qingpu speak.

Pei Jiaqian sat crouched on the carpet across from Ye Qingpu. Separated by the coffee table, he took things out of a bag and arranged them one by one before Ye Qingpu.

"I hadn't seen Brother in too long, so I came to find you." As he spoke, Pei Jiaqian took out a pair of disposable gloves.

"...You missed me, so you came to my home to eat crayfish?" Ye Qingpu looked at him in amusement.

"I happened to see it by the roadside on my way here."

Pei Jiaqian grinned, peeled a crayfish, stood up, and held it to Ye Qingpu's lips.

Ye Qingpu paused, then opened his mouth.

"Brother smells like another omega."

"...I'm an omega too now. Are you afraid I ate them or something?" Ye Qingpu laughed softly.

"I'm afraid Brother got eaten."

Pei Jiaqian sat cross-legged on the carpet by Ye Qingpu's feet. His hands worked over the food on the coffee table, but his gaze remained on Ye Qingpu.

"Did Brother miss me?"

Looking somewhat unnatural, Ye Qingpu shifted his eyes away.

"If Brother doesn't say anything, that means you did. I missed Brother so much too." Pei Jiaqian peeled another one and handed it backward to Ye Qingpu's mouth.

Ye Qingpu shook his head.

"You eat it yourself. I already had dinner."

Only then did Pei Jiaqian feed it into his own mouth.

Ye Qingpu noticed a small box beside his hand and picked it up out of curiosity.

XL... ultra-thin, barely there...

"Hey..." Ye Qingpu looked at the person smiling innocently, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Brother found it." Pei Jiaqian blinked playfully.

"Am I blind? Or just oblivious?"

Ye Qingpu irritably nudged him with the tip of his foot.

"Brother~ Today is my birthday."

Pei Jiaqian took off his gloves, leaned back against the sofa, and looked up at Ye Qingpu.

His puppy-like wet eyes seemed to say that he had not done anything bad and was asking his master for a reward.

Ye Qingpu fell silent for a moment before saying,

"Sorry. I only just found out."

"I'm already very happy just to see Brother."

Pei Jiaqian reached out, wrapped an arm around Ye Qingpu's neck from behind, pulled him down, and lightly pecked his delectable lips.

"Hey... You haven't even finished eating yet."

To Pei Jiaqian, Ye Qingpu's tone sounded entirely like a coquettish complaint.

"Can I eat something else?"

"Don't mess around... How old are you after this birthday?" Ye Qingpu suddenly thought of it. This question was rather serious.

"Twenty-four."

Ye Qingpu was surprised. Ye Qingpu fell silent. Ye Qingpu blushed.

The same age as Jiang Jifu... Had he really been so desperate that he let some little brat sleep with him...

Why did he suddenly feel so guilty?

Taking advantage of his distraction, Pei Jiaqian kissed him on the lips again, then sighed in satisfaction.

"I'm alive again. I was worked to death these past few days and had no time to see Brother. Now I finally feel alive again."

"But I didn't prepare a gift." Ye Qingpu's gaze held a trace of guilt.

"Who says you didn't?"

Pei Jiaqian's fingertips gently caressed Ye Qingpu's slender neck, his eyes burning.

"I've been very good these past few days, and I worked very hard. Brother, reward me."

Ye Qingpu's face flushed red. He gritted his teeth and looked away.

"Tw... twice."

"But I bought a whole box..."

"Then... three times..."

Pei Jiaqian pouted in dissatisfaction. But thinking it over carefully, three times would do. Since he could endure three times, four or five would naturally be no problem either.

"Go take a shower..." Ye Qingpu urged him, embarrassed.

Pei Jiaqian looked up at Ye Qingpu and suddenly sighed softly.

"What, you don't want to?" Ye Qingpu raised a brow.

"I can always do everything well. Even among enigmas, I'm one of the best. But when it comes to liking Brother, I always seem so clumsy... This isn't what I wanted Brother to see..."

Pei Jiaqian's fingers traced Ye Qingpu's pronounced jawline. His eyes shimmered, and his voice was impossibly gentle.

Ye Qingpu looked at him silently before finally speaking leisurely.

"...Are you sure you have to say this in that position? My neck is starting to ache."

"...Brother really has no sense of romance." Pei Jiaqian released him and sat up straight.

"Go take a shower." Rubbing his neck, Ye Qingpu kicked him with an amused smile.

"Old-fashioned fossil."

Pei Jiaqian stood up and instinctively dodged aside.

"Keep calling me an old-fashioned fossil, and this old-fashioned fossil won't let you sleep with him."

"Sorry~~"

Watching him dash into the bathroom in a flash, Ye Qingpu smiled helplessly.