That sentence, I am willing to sign the arranged marriage agreement kept revolving continuously inside Wen Qi’s mind. He had originally assumed that Duan Linrang would directly make him sign the paper.
Recalling what Duan Linrang had said: “I don’t necessarily need you to sign. What I want is for you to accept my existence from the bottom of your heart, and allow me to accompany you openly and righteously by your side.”
Even though Wen Qi’s willingness to sign had triggered Duan Linrang’s emotional excitement, the remaining sentiments had not been completely washed away by that surge of excitement.
In a romance that was about to begin, there is always one party who exhibits astonishing rationality.
On the surface, their relationship did not appear to have unlocked any further progression, but in reality, Wen Qi had agreed to return and live at Duan Linrang’s home.
At this very moment, standing before the magnificent and extraordinary villa, Wen Qi’s pupils dilated as he drew in a sharp breath.
Without the slightest exaggeration, it was ten times larger than the house he lived in back at the Wen family’s estate!
And probably even more than that.
Closing the car door, Duan Linrang said:
“I don’t live with my parents, so you don’t need to feel constrained. There are usually few servants at home, more than enough for your needs. Ordinarily I don’t come home, but I will break this bad habit.”
Wen Qi hurriedly argued, his voice soft: “What bad habit, President Duan? It’s fine even if you don’t come home… you being busy is a normal phenomenon.”
Displeased, Duan Linrang retorted, “I don’t like you calling me President Duan just like the rest of them.”
“President Duan, Young Master Wen, you’re back,” Ding Tong greeted them a step behind. “Apologies, President Duan, it took some effort to arrange and place all the configurations in the gaming room, which delayed the time to pick the two of you up.”
Suppressing his fluctuating emotions, Duan Linrang acknowledged it with a hum: “It’s fine.”
Wen Qi looked toward Duan Linrang and asked:
“A gaming room?”
Duan Linrang offered a faint smile: “Fearing you might get bored when I’m not around, I simply had Ding Tong prepare a gaming room for you in the study partition.”
“Good grief—” Wen Qi blinked, silently marveling in his heart at this financial tycoon’s display of throwing money around like water.
Duan Linrang said, “Go on inside and take a look.”
“Alright!”
Wen Qi toured the gaming room; the host computer and all kinds of gaming peripherals were of top luxury specifications, the functional zones were clearly demarcated, and warm ambient lighting shone down upon the floor.
Unable to suppress the excitement surging in his heart, Wen Qi turned to say to Duan Linrang:
“If President Duan has any instructions in the future, just bring them up. As long as it’s something I can do, I’ll satisfy President Duan with everything I’ve got!”
Smiling, Duan Linrang raised a hand to signal Ding Tong to leave.
Wen Qi shuffled his body over to the computer desk. He hadn’t removed his chest-binding belt yet, meaning he had to keep his chest wall immobilized on all sides while waiting for his fractured ribs to heal.
Gently stroking the keyboard and mouse with a gleam shining in his eyes, he couldn’t even begin to imagine how awesome it would feel to play games using this setup!
The black computer screen reflected Duan Linrang walking toward him step by step.
The very next second, Duan Linrang’s gentle and cultivated voice drifted over: “Dr. Qi gave a specific injunction: during the recovery period, prolonged sitting is not advisable. Qiqi, the amount of time you spend entering this gaming room every day is limited, until your body truly recovers.”
Obediently, Wen Qi complied: “I know.”
Turning around, he asked with a stunned look, “What did you just call me?”
Duan Linrang felt nothing improper about it: “Qiqi?”
A faint flush crept onto Wen Qi’s face; addressing someone with a reduplicated syllable always carried a hint of ambiguity. Pressing both hands against the pristine tabletop with unprecedented earnestness, he said:
“I was just pondering a moment ago, what sort of form of address would make you feel that I see you differently from everyone else?”
Meeting his genuine sincerity face-to-face, Duan Linrang took it all in.
Deliberating for a moment, Duan Linrang replied, “I’d like to hear your thoughts.”
Wen Qi pressed his lips together, his lively eyes rolling in thought: “I can’t think of any.”
“Why?”
“Because… you’re Duan Linrang, after all.” Wen Qi made no attempt to conceal it. “No form of address can properly reflect your status, alright?”
Duan Linrang lowered his gaze. “We are discussing private emotions.”
Displaying a pitiful expression that evoked instant sympathy, Duan Linrang melted Wen Qi’s defenses on the spot, prompting him to ask with patient endurance: “Would you accept any form of address?”
“I accept.”
“Then… Duan Linrang?”
“Unacceptable,” Duan Linrang countered.
Wen Qi: “…”
“Lin, Linrang?” Staring fixedly at Duan Linrang’s face, Wen Qi test-drove alternative addresses he could manage to think up: “Linyin? Rangrang?”
As expected, Duan Linrang showed zero emotional fluctuations.
Growing somewhat exasperated, Wen Qi realized a single name could be dismantled into all these variants, yet not a single one satisfied him. Was he seriously expecting him to come up with an even better form of address outside of his actual name?!
Duan Linrang leaned forward to close the distance.
Backing away to dodge, Wen Qi blurted out a reckless string of words: “Then I’ll call you Older Brother, this is my ultimate concession. If you’re still dissatisfied, I won’t call you anything at all!”
“That works.” Duan Linrang answered in a split second.
Wide-eyed and deflated, Wen Qi thought: Was he just waiting right here for me? Inwardly screaming bastard.
Duan Linrang chuckled, reaching out to ruffle the top of Wen Qi’s hair: “Qiqi.”
“What is it?” Wen Qi sounded weirdly constrained.
“I just wanted to call you that, I’ve spent countless nights thinking about it.”
Duan Linrang’s deep, husky voice resonated right beside Wen Qi’s ear, and the warm breath he exhaled acted like a stimulant injected straight into Wen Qi’s entire body, causing his face to flush even more brilliantly.
Reaching out with a hand, Wen Qi gently pushed Duan Linrang’s face away: “Are you a pervert?”
Indifferent to the teasing, Duan Linrang rubbed his cheek against Wen Qi’s palm: “I like you, Qiqi.”
“You,” Wen Qi murmured, “aren’t you afraid I don’t like you back?”
Laughter continued to echo beside his ear.
Uncomprehending, Wen Qi heard Duan Linrang say: “I have plenty of methods and strength at my disposal, I’ll just wait for the day Qiqi falls in love with me.”
With that, Duan Linrang left behind instructions for him to thoroughly enjoy gaming within his limited time frame, and headed over to the adjacent study.
In reality, Wen Qi’s mind was already flying far beyond the clouds.
When Duan Linrang spoke, it felt as though he were actively seducing him.
Left all alone inside the gaming room, even after powering on the computer, he remained utterly absent-minded. With Duan Linrang’s striking, handsome face lingering in his thoughts, how was he supposed to play games properly!
The moment he logged into the game, a flood of notifications popped up rapidly.
They were basically messages of concern from his group of bros regarding his absence over the past few days.
On the day of the incident, Wen Qi’s mobile phone had been lost.
Amidst the pile of messages, he unexpectedly fished out a notification sent by someone he hadn’t contacted in quite a long while.
[Tinglan: Aqi, it’s A-Lan. I’m returning to the country, and I accidentally saw news about you on the internet. I couldn’t get in touch with you, are you doing alright?]
Wen Qi snapped out of his trance. Tinglan?!
Tinglan had been a friend of his since childhood, who due to uncontrollable factors had been forced to travel abroad. During the periods when they couldn’t meet up, they had maintained intermittent contact.
Even if he wanted to forget the other person, it seemed an impossible feat.
He silently tapped across the keyboard.
[Wen Qi: I’m doing great, when are you returning to the country?]
Having sent his message, and knowing Tinglan wasn’t someone fond of gaming, naturally the other person wouldn’t receive the message and reply to it in real time.
Before long, he sent peace-reporting messages to his friends one by one, and then commenced his limited gaming experience.
In the adjacent study, several days’ worth of documents were waiting for Duan Linrang to review and sign.
Ding Tong knocked and walked into the study to report on recent developments:
“President Duan, Young Master Wen’s father has been frequently making appointments to see you at the company over the past few days. The receptionist said he expressed hope that the cooperation between our companies won’t be halted, and as for the arranged marriage matter, he stated that if you aren’t picky, he is willing to send Wen Heyan over instead.”
Calmly picking up his fountain pen, Duan Linrang signed his name in the bottom-right corner of the final page of the document.
“Who the hell is this?”
Just as Ding Tong was about to explain, Duan Linrang abruptly interrupted him: “Never mind, I don’t care.”
“Understood.”
“Tell Wen Jiangwu,” Duan Linrang paused briefly.
“Please go ahead.”
“If he wants to secure the cooperation rights, there is only one condition: deliver Wen Qi’s mother’s personal mementos and ashes back intact and undamaged. If any mishaps occur, the Wen family can forget about ever surviving in this industry again.”