His Body Temperature Was a Little Too Much

The night was thick as ink as the Rolls-Royce cruised steadily along the winding mountain road.

The car's sensor lights automatically shifted to a mellow warm yellow. After the dramatic spectacle of a wealthy family's true colors being exposed, the cabin was exceptionally quiet.

Jian Ning sat in the back seat with both hands properly placed on his knees, but his bright eyes kept sneaking glances to the side.

Huo Si was leaning against the seat with his eyes closed, resting.

Two buttons at his collar were undone, revealing the faint outline of his collarbones beneath his cool pale skin. In the flickering reflection of the window, his profile carried a loneliness that kept others at arm's length.

Jian Ning muttered quietly to himself:

[Tsk tsk, this old man really is a high-quality human male. Why does he look a little pitiful right now?]

[His biological father was poisoned, his stepmother tried to poison him, and his younger brother belongs to the neighbor... If this were an eight o'clock drama, he'd be the tragic male lead cursed to bring misfortune to family and friends.]

[Should I comfort him? What if he can't take it and curses me too?]

Huo Si opened his eyes.

He had not actually been asleep. He had merely been reviewing tonight's unexpected events, only to find his mind full of Jian Ning's words: "cursed to bring misfortune."

He turned his head and met Jian Ning's large eyes, still full of sympathy and not yet withdrawn.

"Seen enough?" Huo Si's voice was hoarse.

Jian Ning jolted, immediately putting on the expression of a loyal puppy. He even boldly scooted a little closer to Huo Si. "Mr. Huo, I was worried about you. You... don't be too sad. Even if you've lost your family, you still have money! And you have a little follower like me, always ready to serve you with everything I have!"

[That's right! The important thing is that he has money! As long as the money remains, fathers can be replaced, brothers can be made again, and life is still beautiful!]

Seeing how he practically wanted to carve the words "money grubber" onto his forehead, the heaviness in Huo Si's heart unexpectedly faded quite a bit.

He suddenly reached out, his long fingers precisely pinching the back of Jian Ning's neck.

Like lifting a cat trying to escape from prison.

"Ow!" Jian Ning shrank his neck. Warm fingertips against his smooth skin sent fine currents running through him.

"Jian Ning." Huo Si leaned closer, his breath carrying a faint, chilly mint scent—the flavor of the half piece of gum Jian Ning had shared with him earlier. "How did you know so much about what happened tonight?"

Huo Si's gaze was sharp as a blade, as though he intended to peel away Jian Ning's delicate little white flower exterior.

Regarding Liu Mei's poisoning and Huo Yu's identity, even with the private investigator he had hired, Huo Si had not yet obtained such conclusive evidence. How had this little thing seen through it all at a glance?

Jian Ning's heart skipped a beat.

[Fuck! I overdid it! The big boss is suspicious!]

[System, save me! How do I explain this? Should I say I have a Sharingan? Or that Conan possessed me just now?]

System: [...I suggest the host put your dramatic acting skills to use and blame it on "intuition."]

Jian Ning's mind raced. In less than a second, his eyes reddened, his nose stung, and huge tears fell at once.

"Mr. Huo... you suspect me?"

His voice trembled with the misery of someone betrayed by the entire world. "I wasn't actually certain either. I just... I grew up struggling at the bottom of the entertainment industry, so I'm good at reading people's expressions. When I entered, I saw that bracelet and felt something was wrong. Its smell was exactly like the chemical waste I'd seen before. As for Young Master Huo Yu... he doesn't look like you at all. Even his temperament has this weak, hollow feeling. I was only guessing..."

He grabbed Huo Si's sleeve instead, sniffing miserably. "I did it all for you! If I wanted to hurt you, why would I have warned you not to drink that tea? No matter how greedy I am, I know who puts food on my table..."

[Wuwuwu, I give this performance a 9.9 out of 10! I only left out 0.1 because I'm afraid of becoming too arrogant.]

[Huo Si, you heartless bastard! I ran out before I could even finish my lobster just to save your life, and now you're questioning me? Did that lobster claw pinch your conscience off?]

Huo Si watched him sob in little jerks, his small hand clutching Huo Si's sleeve so tightly that his knuckles had gone white.

In truth, Huo Si knew Jian Ning was acting.

But as he watched those glistening tears slide down Jian Ning's cheeks and into his collar, that restless heat crept back into Huo Si's heart.

He released him, then casually rubbed the soft back of Jian Ning's neck twice. His tone softened slightly. "Enough. Stop howling. You're giving me a headache."

"Then do you still suspect me?" Jian Ning asked with a sniffle.

"I don't." Huo Si leaned back against the seat and added quietly, "Suspecting your intelligence is more convincing than suspecting your intentions."

Jian Ning: "..."

[Damn it! You're the idiot! Your whole family is... Oh, right. Your whole family really is pretty idiotic. I forgive you.]

The cabin fell quiet again, but now there was a faint, ambiguous tension in that silence.

Jian Ning had cried too hard just now and was feeling a little tired, his head bobbing little by little.

After an unknown amount of time, the car entered a secluded private villa district.

This was one of Huo Si's most secret properties. Aside from the butler, no outsider knew of it.

Once the car stopped, Jian Ning groggily felt someone patting his face.

"We're here. Get out."

Jian Ning rubbed his eyes and followed behind Huo Si.

The villa before him had a minimalist style, all black, white, and gray. It was cold and lifeless, without a trace of human warmth.

The moment they entered, Huo Si began taking off his coat.

"The guest room is on the second floor, turn left. Go take a shower yourself. Come down afterward, and I'll... cook for you."

Jian Ning stood in the entryway, staring in stunned disbelief at Huo Si rolling up his sleeves and heading into the kitchen.

[He's really going to cook himself?]

[It's over, it's over. He's definitely going to poison the food and silence me! After all, I know so many of his family's scandals!]

[Huo Si, if you want to kill me, just say so. Don't waste food, okay?]

In the kitchen, Huo Si was holding an egg.

Hearing that thought, his hand jerked, and he nearly cracked the egg.

That little bastard—was he really that sinister in Jian Ning's eyes?

"Jian Ning." Without turning around, Huo Si said coolly, "If you don't go shower right now, I'll throw you into the backyard pool and make you wash there."

"Right away! I'm going!" Jian Ning bolted toward the second floor.

The guest room was huge, and the bed looked soft enough to swallow someone whole. Jian Ning quickly took a hot shower and changed into the silk pajamas the butler had prepared.

The pajamas were slightly too large, the collar hanging loose and exposing a broad patch of fair, delicate skin.

By the time he slowly made his way downstairs, a rich aroma was already drifting from the dining room.

Jian Ning sniffed.

[Huh? This smell... doesn't seem like poison?]

[It smells pretty good. Tomatoes and eggs?]

He entered the dining room and saw two steaming bowls of noodles on the table.

The noodles were springy, topped with a golden, crispy fried egg and several slices of bright green bok choy. The colors were enticing.

Huo Si sat at the table reading a financial report. Hearing him approach, he looked up.

His gaze paused for two seconds at the loose collar of Jian Ning's pajamas, and his Adam's apple bobbed unconsciously.

"Sit down and eat." Huo Si withdrew his gaze, his voice calm.

Jian Ning sat down and cautiously picked up a strand of noodles.

[Not only did he not poison it, it actually looks pretty good?]

[Wait, the shape of this fried egg... Why does it look a little like a heart?]

[Could this old man Huo Si be secretly in love with me? Oh my god, is he planning to trick me into giving him my first kiss with this bowl of noodles?]

Huo Si had just taken a sip of water and nearly sprayed it out.

A heart shape?

He had simply failed to hold the egg steady when cracking it, and the heat had been a little too high, causing it to burn and shrink into that shape!

"Eat your noodles." Huo Si said coldly. "If you imagine one more thing, you'll report to the film set tomorrow."

Jian Ning's eyes lit up. He slurped down a big mouthful of noodles. "The noodles are so good! Mr. Huo, you really are an all-purpose genius! But... when you said I'd report to the set, did you mean Azure Cloud Legend?"

Azure Cloud Legend was a historical political drama the original owner had accepted before. He played a minor villain who would not survive past three episodes. He was supposed to join the production and begin filming tomorrow, but because he had failed to climb into President Wang's bed, his agent was planning to give the role to Lin Zixuan.

Huo Si gave a faint hum. "That role is yours. I already had someone speak to Lin Zixuan. Recently... he probably won't have time to film."

Jian Ning was overjoyed.

[Hahahaha! Lin Zixuan is probably busy dealing with loan sharks and the counterfeit goods scandal right now. Of course he has no time!]

[President Huo is amazing! Is this the joy of having a powerful thigh to cling to?]

After finishing the noodles, Jian Ning patted his stomach in satisfaction.

Looking at Huo Si, he suddenly found the man far more pleasing to the eye.

"Mr. Huo, thank you for the noodles." Jian Ning leaned closer, smiling with crescent eyes like a clever little fox. "To repay you, tonight... do you need me to warm your bed?"

[Pah pah pah! What am I saying?! How did a line like that just slip out so naturally?!]

[Reject me! Reject me now!]

Huo Si set down the financial report in his hand and leaned forward slightly. His long fingers hooked the tie of Jian Ning's pajamas and gently pulled it back.

The distance between them instantly narrowed to less than five centimeters.

Huo Si stared into his eyes. After a long while, he finally spoke a single word in a low voice:

"Fine."

Jian Ning: "???"

[Fuck?! I was joking! How did you take it seriously?!]

Jian Ning had only been teasing out of habit. In his eyes, a workaholic big shot like Huo Si would surely tell him to get lost in disgust.

But now, Huo Si had not only agreed, he had even grabbed Jian Ning's wrist with a grip too firm to refuse.

Was it really warming the bed, or "really" warming the bed?

Looking into Huo Si's eyes as they gradually deepened, Jian Ning realized for the first time that he might truly have gotten himself burned.

What made him despair even more was the system's voice drifting into his ears at that moment:

[ Ding! The target's favorability has increased. New function unlocked: Favorability Exchange Store. Current favorability: 10. I suggest the host work harder tonight and strive to exchange for a "heavy-duty waist support." ]

Jian Ning: [...Comrade, I think I may need a bottle of medicated oil more.]