“Hot.”
Bai Jingzhuo blurted out the word instinctively.
He really was hot. His entire body was sweating, and his mouth was terribly dry. Carrying all those shopping bags earlier had also left his hands aching so badly that they had yet to recover.
More importantly, at that moment, it was the only excuse Bai Jingzhuo could come up with.
“Li Lang, turn the air conditioning up a little, and take all those things upstairs.”
As Bai Jiao’s clear, resonant voice rang out, Bai Jingzhuo could feel the vibration of it through his chest.
The hand pressing against the small of Bai Jingzhuo’s back was broad and strong, holding them so tightly together that there was practically no space left between their bodies.
Bai Jingzhuo could clearly feel the firm, well defined muscles beneath the thin fabric of Bai Jiao’s clothes. The elegant fragrance grew more intense as it mingled with the warmth of his body, and Bai Jingzhuo’s mind grew increasingly dizzy and muddled.
A low chuckle sounded beside his ear.
“Too hot? Have you gotten heatstroke?”
Bai Jiao released his hand and casually leaned back, supporting himself with his arms. Bai Jingzhuo consequently toppled forward as well.
Bai Jiao watched as Bai Jingzhuo hurriedly straightened himself up. His cheeks were so red that they looked as though someone had painted them with a generous layer of high altitude blush, and it almost seemed as if steam were rising from the top of his head.
Was it really that hot? He looked as though he were suffering from heatstroke.
“N No, I haven’t.”
Bai Jingzhuo touched his burning cheeks and shifted his gaze toward Li Lang, who was busy carrying the belongings nearby. “I’ll do it myself. There’s no need to trouble you any further.”
He picked up some of the belongings and hurried upstairs as though he were fleeing for his life, almost as if some terrifying beast were chasing him from behind.
“Young Master, Young Master Bai Jingzhuo has entered your room.” Li Lang stared in the direction Bai Jingzhuo had disappeared, his brows drawing together tightly. A trace of disgust flashed through his eyes. “I’ll go remind him immediately.”
“Who told you to remind him?”
A coldness settled over Bai Jiao’s eyes as he looked at the butler who had presumed to act on his own authority. “He’s supposed to stay in my room anyway. Just carry the remaining belongings upstairs and leave them by the door.”
Li Lang froze in astonishment. He opened his mouth, but for a moment, he could not find his voice.
Only after a long while did he finally clear his throat and prepare to speak, but Bai Jiao interrupted him before he could utter a single word.
“Why are you still standing there? Go on, Li Lang. You know very well…” Bai Jiao cast him a casual glance. “I hate having outsiders enter my room.”
The final words rose slightly in pitch, carrying an unmistakable note of disdain.
Li Lang felt as though his heart had been deeply wounded. He simply could not understand how everything had developed so far beyond his expectations after he had done nothing more than take a single day off to rest.
“Yes, Young Master.”
His voice was strained and hoarse. He picked up all the remaining belongings and made his way upstairs with heavy steps.
After rushing into Bai Jiao’s room and putting down all the belongings, Bai Jingzhuo collapsed onto the sofa and spent quite some time trying to recover.
The room seemed considerably cooler. The temperature of his face gradually subsided, although his heart was still beating a little too fast.
Only after he had finally relaxed completely did he realize that he had walked straight into Bai Jiao’s room without a second thought.
The dream from the previous night, the one that had left his face burning and his heart racing, resurfaced in his mind. He remembered Bai Jiao grabbing his ankle and pulling him closer…
He had spent the entire night staring at Bai Jiao, from the dead of night until dawn. His gaze had traveled from that impossibly handsome, flawless face to the perfect figure rising and falling beneath the silk quilt. He had not been able to sleep for even a moment.
He couldn’t keep thinking about it anymore.
Bai Jingzhuo patted his cheeks, trying to clear his head and bring himself back to his senses. He was just about to leave and look for an available guest room when Bai Jiao’s final words suddenly reached his ears without warning.
I hate having outsiders enter my room.
Bai Jingzhuo’s mind went completely blank, a loud buzzing filling his head. When he saw Li Lang carrying the remaining belongings upstairs, he turned around in a panic and hurried back inside.
In the small sitting area of Bai Jiao’s room, the warm sunlight spilled across the entire space, bathing everything in a golden glow. Its warmth filled the room, counteracting the chill of the air conditioning.
Bai Jingzhuo began to feel hot again, accompanied by a faint sense of confusion and bewilderment.
To Bai Jiao, did someone he had known for only a single day really not count as an outsider?
“…”
Bai Jiao rubbed his own flushed cheeks.
He thought to himself that he really must have heatstroke. And a rather serious case of it, too.
Downstairs, the Bai couple called Bai Jiao on a video call to ask how he was doing at home. They did not mention their newly recovered biological son, Bai Jingzhuo, even once.
After responding with a few perfunctory “Mm”s and “Oh”s, Bai Jiao simply asked, “Have you forgotten that you have another son named Bai Jingzhuo?”
His expression remained unchanged. His delicate, gentle features were relaxed, making it seem as though he were merely asking a meaningless question out of idle curiosity. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Unfortunately, people always had their own ideas about things.
Zhang Huijun spoke cautiously. “Sweetheart, if you don’t like him, we’ll make him move out as soon as we come back. You mustn’t force yourself to put up with anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
Bai Yongchang nodded solemnly in agreement, his expression stern. “A child who grew up in the countryside won’t necessarily have a good temperament. You don’t need to tolerate him just for your father’s and mother’s sake.”
“I don’t dislike him. There’s no need to make him move out.”
Bai Jiao himself had never experienced parental love, so he did not particularly understand the emotions the Bai couple had felt toward the original owner. Naturally, he was unable to offer them an equivalent response.
However, he strongly disliked what Bai Yongchang had just said.
“Even if he grew up in the countryside, he’s still your biological son. You shouldn’t treat him like this.”
If they had been a little more careful in the first place, how could their own biological child have ended up lost and living outside their family for more than a decade?
“Bai Jingzhuo has a very good personality.”
He was simply a little too softhearted, the sort of person who could easily be bullied by others.
“And even if he didn’t, I still wouldn’t tolerate him just for your sake.”
How much were the Bai couple’s good graces worth? Why should he care about saving face for them?
Why did they all seem to think that Bai Jingzhuo’s arrival had somehow wronged him, the impostor young master? If anything, Bai Jingzhuo was the one who had suffered the most.
Someone else had occupied his rightful identity for more than a decade. After his adoptive parents died prematurely, he had been subjected to mistreatment and humiliation. He had finally managed to return to the side of his biological parents and become the young master of a wealthy family, only to discover that he was surrounded by people who watched him like hungry wolves, waiting for an opportunity to pounce. On top of everything else, he still had to endure everyone’s accusations and criticism.
And the fate that awaited Bai Jingzhuo in the original novel was even more tragic. He had been driven to his death in the bitter cold of the twelfth lunar month, left to die beneath the heavy winter snow. His body had not been discovered until the following morning, when a snowplow happened upon him.
Zhang Huijun seemed not to notice the sarcasm hidden in his tone. She simply smiled indulgently. “As long as Jiao Jiao likes him, that’s all that matters. If anything makes you unhappy, you must tell us, all right?”
Bai Yongchang maintained his usual expression, keeping his face stern as though he were trying to appear composed and dignified. He merely nodded in agreement with his wife.
“I’m hanging up.”
Bai Jiao ended the call directly, too lazy to continue talking to this pair of brainless parents.
Bai Jingzhuo’s tragic circumstances could not be changed overnight, and Bai Jiao had never intended to complete his mission immediately. Besides, there were more important matters that needed his attention right now.
“Go and call Bai Jingzhuo downstairs,” Bai Jiao instructed the servant beside him. “And have lunch brought up as well.”
The tailor who would take his measurements should be arriving soon, too.
886 announced in his mind, 【The child raising game officially begins!】
…..
“What are you doing?”
“Why are you suddenly measuring me with a tape measure?”
“What are you doing this time?”
“Why is there even a hairdresser here to give me a haircut?!”
“Ah, this…”
“I’m not sick, so why do I need a doctor?”
…
For the entire afternoon, Bai Jingzhuo’s endless questions rang in Bai Jiao’s ears until he felt as though his ears were about to grow calluses from listening to them.
When he raised his eyes, he noticed the disdainful looks the servants were directing at Bai Jingzhuo. His movement toward the stairs, where he had intended to return to his room and rest, came to an abrupt halt.
“Brother, you’ve been talking so much. You must be thirsty by now, right? What would you like to drink?”
Even now, Bai Jingzhuo still found it strange whenever Bai Jiao called him Brother. He cast a suspicious glance at Bai Jiao, but when he saw the gentle smile on his face, he quickly looked away again.
“Plain water is fine.”
“All right. Auntie Li, please brew a pot of Dongting Biluochun tea for me.”
Bai Jiao gave the order. After the servant returned with the tea, he went on to announce that he wanted some freshly made pastries as well.
Bai Jingzhuo watched from the side, thinking that Bai Jiao really did know how to enjoy the luxurious life of a young master.
Bai Jiao reached over and gently pinched the hand resting beside him before asking, “Brother, what would you like to eat?”
“Nothing. I’m not hungry.”
“Auntie Liu, please bring some hawthorn slices and bananas,” Bai Jiao instructed without the slightest concern. “If you’re not hungry, then have something to help with digestion.”
Bai Jingzhuo: “…”
He couldn’t quite figure out what Bai Jiao was trying to accomplish with all this. Meanwhile, the servants who were being ordered around were all shrewd enough to understand the situation. Every one of them kept their eyes lowered, remaining silent and behaving like a group of frightened quails.
Following Bai Jiao’s instructions, Bai Jingzhuo ate a pile of hawthorn slices and bananas. In the end, he complained gloomily, “This isn’t helping with digestion at all. The more I eat, the fuller I feel.”
“Then have some yogurt as well,” Bai Jiao continued, issuing another instruction. “Li Lang, go to the supermarket outside and buy some. Make sure you get the freshest one with the latest production date.”
“Yes.”
“Is all this really necessary?” Bai Jingzhuo, who was rather slow to pick up on certain things, finally began to sense that something about the atmosphere was strange. Even his voice had grown noticeably quieter.
“It’s part of their job, and it’s not as though I’m asking them to do anything dangerous.” Bai Jiao pinched his soft, tender cheek and smiled. “They each have a guaranteed minimum monthly salary of one hundred thousand. Are you sure you want to feel sorry for them?”
One hundred thousand? As their guaranteed minimum salary?
Bai Jingzhuo fell silent.
Right now, he didn’t even have ten yuan in his trouser pocket!
…..
Tonight seemed to have taken far too long to arrive.
Bai Jingzhuo felt as though he had experienced too many things in a single day. He had met so many people and had even been made to sit down and study. By the time it was not even eight o’clock, he was already so sleepy that he could barely keep his eyes open.
The main reason, of course, was that he hadn’t slept at all the previous night. He had spent the entire time staring at Bai Jiao instead.
“Sleepy?”
Bai Jiao’s clear, cool voice sounded beside Bai Jingzhuo’s ear, like the gentle flow of a mountain spring. The sound washed away some of his drowsiness.
“Mm…” Bai Jingzhuo sat curled up on the sofa with his knees drawn to his chest, nodding off. He raised his bleary eyes with considerable effort. “I’m so sleepy.”
“Then go to sleep.”
They had both already taken their baths and were now sitting together on the small sofa in Bai Jiao’s room. Bai Jingzhuo had been watching Bai Jiao play a game with a controller.
Bai Jiao’s movements were smooth and fluid, his control so precise that he made even the game’s hellish difficulty setting look like a seasoned expert casually storming a beginner’s village. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of danger or excitement in the way he played.
Unfortunately, even though Bai Jiao was showing off his impressive skills, Bai Jingzhuo couldn’t understand what he was doing at all.
After clearing the final level, Bai Jiao tossed aside the controller and turned to look at Bai Jingzhuo. “By the way, you have to go to school tomorrow. The enrollment procedures have already been taken care of.”
Bai Jingzhuo was curled up on the sofa, having practically folded himself into a little ball. His entire body was limp with sleepiness, and he barely understood what Bai Jiao was saying.
“Oh.”
“The driver will take you to school tomorrow.”
“Mm… Then what about you?”
“What about me?”
Bai Jiao leaned back against the sofa, allowing his body to relax as he reclined in a casual, unrestrained posture.
“If the driver takes me to school, what will you do?” Bai Jingzhuo forced himself to become a little more alert, but his gaze remained fixed on Bai Jiao’s Adam’s apple, which he stared at absentmindedly.
The long, slender neck was so fair and flawless that there wasn’t a single imperfection to be found. The slight prominence of his Adam’s apple wasn’t particularly conspicuous, yet it made Bai Jingzhuo feel an inexplicable urge to reach out and touch it, just to find out whether it was really as it appeared…
“I’m not going to school, so I don’t need a driver.”
The Bai couple had even tried to persuade Bai Jiao to join the company and take up a leadership position, but he had refused them outright. He had finally arrived in a vacation world where there were no dangers to worry about, so naturally, he ought to take the opportunity to rest properly.
He wasn’t the original owner, after all. He didn’t need to cultivate connections, nor did he need to compete with Bai Jingzhuo for control of the Bai family’s assets. He wasn’t out of his mind enough to deliberately make trouble for himself by going to school for no good reason. Why would he waste his time attending such a boring place?
“Why aren’t you going to school? Aren’t we both in our third year of high school?”
“If I don’t want to go, then I don’t have to.”
“How can that be right? If you don’t study, are you just going to stay home and play every day?”
“Mm. I suppose I could spend every evening watching you do your homework.” Bai Jiao quite enjoyed watching other people suffer.
“That’s not the right attitude to have! Students are supposed to study hard. You should come to school with me tomorrow, and I’ll tutor you in the evenings.”
Under the influence of the broader culture of exam oriented education, combined with the fact that Bai Jiao kept calling him Brother, Bai Jingzhuo had been successfully brainwashed into taking on responsibilities that had never belonged to him in the first place.
He was no longer sleepy. Instead, he began lecturing Bai Jiao about the importance of studying hard, getting a high score on the college entrance examination, and working toward a bright future. If Bai Jiao studied properly, the two of them might even be able to attend the same university someday, where they could both look forward to promising futures.
At first, Bai Jiao had been patient enough to listen to him. But as time went on, he could only think about shutting that incessantly chattering mouth.
The Bai Jingzhuo in the original novel had clearly never been this talkative.
When Bai Jingzhuo noticed that Bai Jiao was no longer paying attention to him, he leaned closer and peered at him, intending to continue persuading him to take his studies seriously.
“Enough. Shut up.”
Unable to bear it any longer, Bai Jiao took advantage of the reduced distance between them and finally pinched Bai Jingzhuo’s incessantly moving lips, successfully achieving his goal of manually muting him.
“Stay quietly with me tonight while we sleep, and I’ll go to school with you tomorrow.”
His fingers accidentally brushed against Bai Jingzhuo’s soft lips, and the faintest trace of moisture clung to his fingertips.
He discovered that Bai Jingzhuo’s lips seemed even softer than his cheeks.
He wasn’t sure.
He wanted to pinch them one more time.