PTBLSI chapter 76

 

Because of the rain, there was a rear-end collision on the road ahead, causing a long traffic jam. By the time they arrived home, it was almost nine o’clock.

Qi Xi first went to greet the lazy orange cat. The cat let out a “meow” to show that it understood, then flicked its tail and buried its head to continue sleeping.

He complained, “Dasheng loves me less and less,” and then turned and pounced on Fu Yanchuan. He wrapped his limbs around Fu Yanchuan and demanded, “Fu Yanchuan, you can’t be like Dasheng and ignore me when you get old, got it?”

Fu Yanchuan casually held Qi Xi and walked toward the bathroom, assuring him, “Even if I live to be a hundred, I won’t be like Dasheng. If you ignore me, that’s one thing, but I’ll never ignore you.”

The more Qi Xi looked at Fu Yanchuan, the more handsome he seemed; his eyes brimmed with laughter. He held Fu Yanchuan’s face and gave him a loud kiss. “I won’t ignore you either. Brother Xi Xi will always love you.”

Before reaching the bathroom, Fu Yanchuan suddenly stopped and commanded, “Come here.”

Qi Xi moved closer; their breaths mingled. Then, he awkwardly kissed him. By the time they got to the bathroom, Qi Xi was already naked. He pressed Fu Yanchuan into the bathtub, held him tightly, and asked, “Xi Xi, do you know how much I love you?”

Qi Xi’s mind was fuzzy. Part of him wanted Fu Yanchuan to stay away; part of him wanted to hold him closer. The fragments of his consciousness seemed to understand what Fu Yanchuan meant.

He wrapped his arms around Fu Yanchuan’s neck, kissing his lips and answering, “Then you must only love me, no matter if I’m smart, capable, or tall. You must only love me. No one else can take you away.”

Finally, Fu Yanchuan pushed forward. Qi Xi pressed tightly against him, whimpering. He hugged Qi Xi’s waist tightly, kissed his ear, and said, “Xi Xi, I love you not because of anything external, but because you are you—the unique you. Understand?”

Qi Xi’s voice broke in his throat. Trembling, he hummed, “You are also unique, Fu Yanchuan.”

“Xi Xi!”

Fu Yanchuan called out, not giving Qi Xi a chance to speak again. Qi Xi sank into the sensations that Fu Yanchuan gave him as if everything were under his control. From the bathroom to the bedroom, he expressed his love for Qi Xi directly and intensely.

—Qi Xi, you will never know my love is filled with vile possessiveness and control.

—You will also never know, I love you even more than you think.

That night, Qi Xi didn’t know when he fell asleep. Fu Yanchuan seemed insane. The more Qi Xi cried and begged for mercy, the more Fu Yanchuan verbally coaxed him while doing it again and again.

The next morning, he woke up to Fu Yanchuan applying medicine. Thinking that Fu Yanchuan would continue, Qi Xi quickly got out of bed, wrapped himself in a blanket, and watched him warily.

Fu Yanchuan felt regret, heartache, and amusement all at once. Qi Xi’s careful, pouty expression was extremely cute. He held up the ointment and said, “Come here. It’s not finished yet.”

“I’ll do it myself.”

“You can’t see.”

Qi Xi still felt sensations, and he glared at Fu Yanchuan while refusing to go. He stretched one foot out from under the blanket and said, “I can apply it without looking. Give it here.”

Fu Yanchuan helplessly tucked the ointment between Qi Xi’s toes, and Qi Xi’s foot retreated into the blanket like a squirrel into its hole. Fu Yanchuan couldn’t see what Qi Xi was doing under the blanket; he could only see it bulge. After a while, Qi Xi finally stopped.

He pulled the blanket and leaned over, asking, “Let me see how you did it.”

Qi Xi quickly blocked him. He removed the hand blocking him and said, “I promise I’ll only look.”

But the young man, who had just tasted the sweetness and was staring straight at him, let out a light laugh—only to have Qi Xi step on his face. “It’s your fault for staring!”

He grabbed Qi Xi’s foot and kissed the top of it. “I’m sorry. I’ll take responsibility, okay?”

Before Qi Xi could react to the kiss, Fu Yanchuan bent down. Qi Xi hurriedly grabbed his hair but, instead of stopping him, he pressed him down further.

“Fu Yanchuan!”

After a moment, he lifted his head, leaned in, and kissed Qi Xi on the lips. Qi Xi bit him in rejection. He said, satisfied, “Xi Xi, I love you.”

Qi Xi softly hummed and used Fu Yanchuan’s hand to wipe the residue on his lips. He commanded, “Clean it off!”

“Okay.”

Fu Yanchuan lifted Qi Xi up and went to the bathroom.

“I don’t want to bathe, I just want to apply medicine.”

“If you don’t want to, I’ll wipe you with a towel.”

“Then you’re not allowed to—”

“Not allowed to what?”

“You’re so bad. You clearly know it, and you still ask me!”

…

Soon after, Qi Xi’s birthday was approaching. Cheng Shu agreed to Fu Yanchuan’s request to move the studio for investment reasons. The moving day happened to be the day before Qi Xi’s birthday.

The villa had been fully renovated and had four floors. One level was a basement, half of which served as a garage and the other half as an entertainment area, both preserved by Cheng Shu. The original furniture on the first floor had been cleared out to make room for the main office area. The rooms on the second floor were assigned to various departments, and Qi Xi’s workspace was also located there.

The third floor originally had three rooms, one of which was a suite. Cheng Shu changed it to four bedrooms: two for staff who lived far away and two for overnight work.

Cheng Shu hired movers. Although Qi Xi didn’t have to go, he and the other illustrators personally organized the artwork because sorting it incorrectly would cause major problems.

By the afternoon, most of the moving was finished. Qi Xi’s workspace had been almost exactly replicated. He lay on the sofa, marveling at his new workspace. Suddenly, someone shouted from downstairs, “President Fu, why are you here?”

Except for Cheng Shu, no one knew that this place was just a street away from Rongchuan Tower. Surprised like everyone else, Qi Xi immediately ran downstairs.

“Fu Yanchuan, why are you here?”

Fu Yanchuan surveyed his new place. This building was his private property. Originally, it was meant for living because it was close to the group. However, later, the other houses in the neighborhood became commercialized, which made it noisy, so he never lived here.

He had long felt that Qi Xi was too far away, but he had restrained himself from interfering. Moving here made it close not only to his workplace but also to their home. Qi Xi no longer had to spend so much time on the road, which was good.

Suppressing his controlling desire, he reached out to Qi Xi and asked, “You didn’t want me to come?”

The people in the studio were already immune to their antics and barely spared them a glance.

Qi Xi grabbed Fu Yanchuan’s hand and hugged it. “Aren’t you at work? Why did you come all the way here?”

Cheng Shu laughed. Qi Xi looked at him. He exposed Fu Yanchuan: “Don’t you know, President Fu? This place is only a few hundred meters from your place.”

“Really?”

Qi Xi saw Fu Yanchuan nod. Then he said to Cheng Shu, “Director Cheng, how do you always find such great places? The surroundings are nice, the building is nice, and it’s so close to President Fu! From now on, he won’t even have to make a detour to take me home.”

Cheng Shu looked at Fu Yanchuan and said, “See? That’s what I call knowing how to pick a place. Right, President Fu?”

Ignoring Cheng Shu, Fu Yanchuan asked Qi Xi, “Where’s your coat? We’re going home.”

Qi Xi ran back upstairs to get it. Fu Yanchuan helped him put it on and then casually told Cheng Shu, “Qi Xi is taking two days off.”

“Why are you taking leave again?!”

Cheng Shu shouted, but Fu Yanchuan had already taken Qi Xi away. Qi Xi asked in confusion, “Yeah, why am I taking leave?”

Fu Yanchuan didn’t answer. After they got home, they ate as usual and did nothing together. Then, they took a shower and went to sleep.

The weather had turned cold, especially at night when the temperature dropped sharply. Fearing that Qi Xi would catch a chill, Fu Yanchuan kept the heater on the whole time.

Qi Xi’s upper body arched out from the blanket. He lifted his feet and kicked off the rest of the blanket, touching Fu Yanchuan’s abs. His eyes were hazy as he said, “Fu Yanchuan, it’s so hot.”

Fu Yanchuan braced himself above Qi Xi and suddenly pressing down to kiss him. Then he asked, “Where is it hot?”

Qi Xi felt the already scorching place grow even more intense. He wrapped his limbs around Fu Yanchuan, answering in a broken voice, “E-everywhere… so… hot!”

“Do you want to get up?”

Before Qi Xi could figure out how to get up, Fu Yanchuan suddenly scooped him up. By the time he reacted and struggled upright, he was already pressed against Fu Yanchuan. He let out a soft gasp and instinctively braced his hands on Fu Yanchuan’s shoulders.

Mischievously, Fu Yanchuan held him down to prevent him from escaping. Suddenly, fireworks burst forth outside the floor-to-ceiling window, dazzling like a nebula and filling the entire window. It was as if they had been set out just for them to see; the angle was perfectly framed like a painting.

“Happy birthday, Xi Xi.”

Fu Yanchuan whispered in Qi Xi’s ear. Still looking out the window at the fireworks, Qi Xi asked in surprise, “Did you have someone set them off?”

“Do you like them?”

Qi Xi’s enjoyment was written all over his face. “Is it my birthday already? I completely forgot that it was my birthday.”

Fu Yanchuan hummed softly. “From now on, I’ll be the first to wish you a happy birthday every year.”

Qi Xi remembered how last year, on his birthday, he’d been kicked out of the house with nowhere to go. But it was also because of that that he met Fu Yanchuan. In an instant, all the sadness and hurt in his memories disappeared, leaving only his encounter with Fu Yanchuan.

He pushed at Fu Yanchuan, trying to get up. “Wait a bit. I want to look at the fireworks you set off for me.”

But he didn’t manage to get up. Instead, he was pressed back down hard by Fu Yanchuan halfway there, trembling uncontrollably until he lost all strength. He glared at Fu Yanchuan, who leaned in to kiss him again and coaxed, “I’ll take you to see them.”

He thought Fu Yanchuan was going to let him go, but instead, Fu Yanchuan picked him up. Afraid of falling, he hurriedly clung to him, saying unsteadily, “Don’t—don’t walk like this. This is way too… much!”

“Don’t like it?”

Qi Xi’s flushed face turned even redder. He rubbed his face forcefully against the hollow of Fu Yanchuan’s neck, panting meaninglessly. When they reached the window, Fu Yanchuan finally put him down. There was a single sofa there. Fu Yanchuan had him face away and brace himself against the back of the sofa. Then, he pressed in from behind and connected with him again.

Qi Xi instantly couldn’t bear it and collapsed forward, unable to see the fireworks. Dissatisfied, he complained to Fu Yanchuan: “If you do this, how am I supposed to watch?”

“I’ll hold you while you look.”

All of the controlling urges that Fu Yanchuan didn’t dare let Qi Xi discover were poured out here. Qi Xi suddenly lost his footing and instinctively reached for Fu Yanchuan, only to sink even deeper. Fu Yanchuan restrained the beast inside him, leaned close to Qi Xi’s ear, and coaxed, “Be good. Don’t move around. Otherwise, the one who can’t take it will be you.”

Qi Xi didn’t dare move anymore, letting Fu Yanchuan handle him. In the end, he ended up with both feet weakly stepping on the back of the sofa, while Fu Yanchuan supported most of his weight from behind. He was clearly bullying him yet still asked, “Xi Xi, are the fireworks pretty?”

He hadn’t seen any of the fireworks at all clearly. When the fireworks lit up, their figures were clearly reflected in the glass. All he could see was his and Fu Yanchuan’s shameful reflection. He turned his eyes away and pushed at Fu Yanchuan’s arm. “I don’t want to look anymore. Fu Yanchuan, put me down.”

“Don’t be afraid. No one can see.”

Qi Xi felt the problem was that he could see it himself. Fu Yanchuan bit his ear and said again, “If you don’t want to look, then kiss me.”

The fireworks bloomed again. Qi Xi forcefully twisted his head around to kiss Fu Yanchuan. Fu Yanchuan caught Qi Xi’s tongue between his lips, his eyes fixed on their reflection in the glass. For a moment, he felt like a monster about to swallow Qi Xi and merge with him.

By the time the fireworks ended, Qi Xi had completely forgotten about them. He didn’t know when they had stopped. His mind was filled only with what Fu Yanchuan had given him. He fell asleep halfway through his shower.

The next day, he slept until noon. When he woke up, he saw only the orange cat by his pillow. He pulled the increasingly lazy cat over, buried his face in its fur, and inhaled deeply before getting up.

Fu Yanchuan was in the kitchen, wearing an apron and cooking. Qi Xi searched the house before finding him. He looked him up and down several times before running over and hugging him from behind, asking, “Why are you cooking?”

“Your birthday.”

Qi Xi thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, “When is your birthday?”

Fu Yanchuan paused his chopping for a moment. His voice sank as he said, “You don’t know?”

Qi Xi rubbed against his back and replied, “You never told me, so it’s normal that I don’t know!”

“Next June.”

Qi Xi immediately pressed, “What day?”

“Go find out yourself.”

“Okay, Yanyan, don’t be mad. When it’s your birthday, Brother Xi will cook for you, too.”

Although he didn’t believe Qi Xi could cook well, Fu Yanchuan replied, “Alright. I’ll teach you.”

So, amid Qi Xi’s well-meaning interference, this meal was finished. It wasn’t as good as a chef’s cooking, but Qi Xi ate happily and told Fu Yanchuan, “After my mom passed away, no one ever cooked for me on my birthday. Fu Yanchuan, you’re as good as my mom!”

Fu Yanchuan didn’t mind being treated like a mother by Qi Xi. Anyway, it wasn’t the first time.

After the meal, Qi Xi received a video call from Xie Hui. Lying on the sofa and hugging the orange cat, he answered it.

“Last year, I messed up your birthday because of the time difference. This year, I set several alarms just in case. If there’s a gift you want, just say so.”

Qi Xi’s face was full of uncontrollable smiles. “I don’t want anything. Fu Yanchuan was the first to wish me a happy birthday. He cooked for me, set off fireworks, and we also—ha, ha, ha!”

From those few laughs, Xie Hui understood exactly what else they had done. He immediately said, “Is it enough for you to have just Fu Yanchuan? Then break off our friendship!”

“Sure!”

Qi Xi blurted out. He suddenly tightened his grip on the phone. The person on the screen laughed smugly and said, “But you wouldn’t dare break up with me. Xie Hui, do you love me that much too?”

Fu Yanchuan hadn’t planned to eavesdrop this time, but he happened to hear the conversation. His brows lifted abruptly as he reached out, scooped Qi Xi up, pulled him into his arms, and inserted himself forcefully into the camera frame.

Xie Hui felt a chill run down his spine at Fu Yanchuan’s domineering attitude. He glared at him angrily and said, “I love you, my ass! Don’t try to show off your relationship in front of me!”

Qi Xi didn’t care at all. In fact, he found a comfortable position in Fu Yanchuan’s arms and asked Xie Hui, “Do you want me to introduce you to a girlfriend? Our studio has lots of beautiful big sisters.”

Xie Hui glanced at Fu Yanchuan. “Give it a rest. I don’t trust your taste in people. Don’t forget to receive the birthday gift I sent you. That’s it. Happy birthday!”

He said ‘happy birthday’ as if it were a goodbye and hung up right after.

Qi Xi put down the phone and turned around to pick a fight with Fu Yanchuan, squeezing his face with both hands. “It’s all your fault! Xie Hui is angry now!”

Fu Yanchuan answered righteously, “I’m angry because of him, too!”

Qi Xi didn’t accept that. He pushed Fu Yanchuan down onto the sofa, sat on his chest, and asked, “What are you angry about?”

“Can you just ask anyone if they love you?”

“Xie Hui isn’t just anyone.”

Unsatisfied with Qi Xi’s answer, Fu Yanchuan asked sourly, “Who’s more important: your best friend or your husband?”

“Of course both are important.”

Qi Xi answered without thinking. Fu Yanchuan grabbed his hand and bit it, saying subbornly, “Xi Xi, I’m angry. You have to coax me.”

“That’s not being angry, that’s being jealous!”

Qi Xi didn’t believe that Fu Yanchuan would actually be angry. He lay on top of him, pinching his face and pointing at it. “Why are you so narrow-minded? I’ve never been jealous of you.”

Fu Yanchuan wrapped an arm around Qi Xi and pinched the soft flesh behind him. Still, he said seriously, “I didn’t casually ask other people if they love me.”

“But you’ve had Qiao Ye’s photo in your office for years!”

After seeing Qiao Ye that day and returning, it was the first time he had been mentioned between them—and Qi Xi was the one who brought him up.

He looked at Qi Xi, confirming that he was no longer sad or upset about that name. Only then did the worry he’d held for a long time finally subside. He carefully explained, “I only did it to piss off Fu Zhenrong. Now, the photo on my desk is yours. Want to go check?”

Qi Xi instantly skipped over Qiao Ye and asked, “When did you put it there? How come I didn’t know? Is it handsome? …Wait, when did you secretly take photos of me?”

Knowing Qi Xi was easily coaxed, he replied, “I have a lot on my phone. Want to see?”

“Yes.”

Qi Xi had completely forgotten about Qiao Ye. Nestled in Fu Yanchuan’s arms, Qi Xi looked at the photos that had been taken secretly—of him sleeping, drawing, and walking on the road. The earliest ones were from shortly after they first met. He had no idea any of them existed.

After looking through them, he stared straight at Fu Yanchuan and asked, “Why did you take photos of me?”

Fu Yanchuan didn’t answer. He leaned over and spoke softly in his ear. “You can take photos of me, too. Or I can be your model again. No need to thank me.”

“You still haven’t thanked me for what you owed me last time!”

Fu Yanchuan frowned slightly. Qi Xi said generously, “Then I won’t make you thank me either! Fu Yanchuan, you still haven’t given me a birthday gift!”

He stared back at Qi Xi’s calculating eyes. Suddenly, Qi Xi pulled open his clothes, his fingertips sliding along the lines of his abs. He said smugly, “I want to draw on you!”

He said it frankly and seriously, but Fu Yanchuan was tickled by his touch and grabbed his hand. “Is this your birthday gift?”

“Mm, is it okay?”

“You can draw however you want.”

Qi Xi chuckled and began right away. He didn’t have special paint for body painting, but Fu Yanchuan had someone deliver it right away.

They painted for the entire afternoon. Once they had finished, Qi Xi brought Fu Yanchuan to the large mirror in the walk-in closet.

Fu Yanchuan finally saw the full painting. From below his chest to the edge of his waistline, Qi Xi had drawn a tiger emerging from a mass of blooming flowers, evoking a “dying under the peonies” mood.[mfn]The phrase “Dying under the peonies” originates from the Chinese idiom 牡丹花下死 (mǔdān huā xià sǐ). In Chinese culture, the peony (牡丹) symbolizes beauty, wealth, sensual pleasure, and luxury, while 花下死 literally means “to die beneath the flowers.” Taken together, the idiom conveys not a literal death but rather the idea of pleasure so intense and overwhelming that it becomes destructive.[/mfn]

“Why a tiger?”

Qi Xi didn’t know either. While drawing, this image appeared in his mind: a fierce beast full of aggression paired with Fu Yanchuan’s perfect abs, creating a wild, violent, yet seductive image.

He half-squatted in front of Fu Yanchuan, gently placed his palm on the painting, looked up at Fu Yanchuan, and asked, “Don’t you think it’s sexy?”

“Sexy in what way?”

Qi Xi looked again at the tiger’s face and blushed as he said, “Like you when you’re doing it.”

Fu Yanchuan lowered his eyes. Qi Xi was squatting so close to him that he could bite him with just a tilt of his head. He took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to roughly cover Qi Xi’s mouth. He pulled Qi Xi up and asked, “Is that how I look to you when I do it?”

“Don’t you like it?”

“It’s not about whether I like it. It’s about whether you like it.”

Fu Yanchuan loved Qi Xi’s combination of shyness and boldness. Pressing his thumb against the lips he’d wanted to treat roughly, he asked, “Xi Xi, do you remember what you said?”

“What?”

He didn’t tell Qi Xi. Instead, he picked him up and sat him on the spacious changing bench nearby. He placed Qi Xi on top of him, leaned back, grabbed Qi Xi’s hand, and pressed it onto the tiger’s face. “You said you wanted to touch my abs while doing it.”

Qi Xi didn’t remember ever saying that, but the thought made his face turn redder. Fu Yanchuan guided his hand downward. “Now do it.”

“I painted it so nicely, and I haven’t even taken a photo yet.”

Fu Yanchuan replied indifferently, “You can just record it.”

“Record what?!”

Qi Xi stared at Fu Yanchuan in shock. Fu Yanchuan smiled, pulled open the elastic waistband of his loungewear, and said, “Me and your tiger.”

At nine in the evening, Qi Xi finally got to eat his birthday cake. He didn’t record anything in the end, afraid someone might hack into his phone and see it.

But when Fu Yanchuan had him make a wish—the moment he closed his eyes, what appeared in his mind was the tiger painted on Fu Yanchuan’s abs. Because of Fu Yanchuan’s movements, he kept poking the tiger’s face as if it would bite him or as if he were doing something to the tiger. Fu Yanchuan insisted that he touch it. In the end, the tiger was a complete mess.

“Xi Xi, what did you wish for?”

Qi Xi didn’t want Fu Yanchuan to find out what he was thinking. He lazily said, “I’m so tired. You help me make it.”

“What’s your wish?”

The dining room lights were off, and only the candlelight was on. Staring at the light, Qi Xi thought of his childhood. Ever since his mom passed away, no one had celebrated his birthday with him. He thought he had many wishes, but after some thought, he realized that all of his wishes had already been fulfilled by Fu Yanchuan.

He suddenly said, “I also want to help you fulfill your wish.”

Fu Yanchuan stood behind Qi Xi’s chair, bent down, and whispered in his ear, “My wish is for you to always be this happy by my side.”

“Isn’t that still my wish?”

Fu Yanchuan didn’t remind Qi Xi that the premise was “by his side.” He only replied, “Can’t Xi Xi help me fulfill it?”

“Of course I can! I also hope you can always be happy!”

Then, they blew out the candles together. Taking advantage of the darkness, Qi Xi scraped a lump of cream with his finger and smeared it toward Fu Yanchuan’s face. However, in the dark, he smeared the wrong place and fed it directly into Fu Yanchuan’s mouth.

Fu Yanchuan bit down on his fingertip, tongue curling around it, smearing cream all over Qi Xi’s hand. An indescribable, numbing itch spread up from his fingers. Unable to dodge or pull away, he said, “Fu Yanchuan, I really don’t have any strength left. We can’t do it again. Don’t seduce me.”

Fu Yanchuan didn’t know who was seducing whom. He released Qi Xi’s finger and picked him up.

Qi Xi hurriedly said, “Fu Yanchuan, what are you going to do to me? The cake hasn’t been eaten yet!”

“I’m taking you to wash off the cream, you little pervert.”

 

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