For over twenty years, every time he longed for physical touch, he had to suppress it the moment he looked at the faces of the people around him. The only way to reduce this longing was to minimize contact with everyone. Over time, he grew accustomed to being alone.
No one special had ever appeared in his life, he never confided in anyone, and playful shoulder-clapping between boys was non-existent. Wu Hui was the first person he had ever longed for with such intensity.
“Is it really that comfortable?” Wu Hui turned to face him. “Then I will accompany you to sleep without clothes from now on.”
Pei Huaiye asked, “Really?”
“But I am afraid,” Wu Hui replied. “If you cannot control yourself in other ways, will I not be a lamb offering itself to the tiger?”
Pei Huaiye promised, “I will not force you.”
Wu Hui smiled and hugged him. “Okay then.”
Wu Hui lived in the villa for a few days. As the holidays approached, Wu Hui’s father finally remembered he had a son abroad and called to ask if he had been scammed and trapped in Northern Myanmar.
“Yes,” Wu Hui replied.
“How much money do the kidnappers want?” his father asked.
“Five million.”
“Ask them to drop the zero, make it five hundred.”
His father was bold enough to bargain with kidnappers, seemingly unafraid of the consequences. But since the call had been made, Wu Hui felt a sense of professional duty to return home. Pei Huaiye was supposed to accompany him, but an urgent matter arose in the Pei family, so Wu Hui had to travel alone in first class.
Before parting, Pei Huaiye straightened Wu Hui’s scarf. “Wait for me.”
Wu Hui tucked his hands into his coat pockets. “Are you really coming to my house for the New Year?”
“Yes,” Pei Huaiye said without pressuring him. “You do not have to introduce me to them. You can just say I am a friend.”
“You will not feel wronged?” Wu Hui asked.
“I will, but I can endure it for you.”
Wu Hui smiled and pinched his finger. “I am leaving now.”
The flight took only an hour. The moment he turned his phone on after landing, Pei Huaiye called, his timing impeccable. Wu Hui got into the car sent by his family and reported his safe arrival to Pei Huaiye. Upon reaching home, Wu Hui acted like an emperor. “You were in such a hurry to call me back; I thought you were having a second child.”
His father slammed the table. “What kind of talk is that! This is your home; should you not come back? Are you afraid of us asking about your grades? Tell me honestly, how many subjects did you fail in your finals?”
Wu Hui looked at him strangely. “I did not fail any; I received top marks in everything.”
His father was confused.
“Including bonus points from various competition certificates, my applications for national awards have already been submitted.”
His father did not believe him at first, but after seeing the supporting documents, he was so delighted he gave Wu Hui fifty thousand yuan as pocket money on the spot. Wu Hui turned around and dumped it into a game. The studio behind the “Qiuqiu Farm” game never expected anyone to spend fifty thousand on an obsolete little farming game. It was a windfall.
“Ahem,” his father said after finishing his laughter. “There is a family gathering in two days. Remember to save some face for our family.”
The content of such gatherings was always the same. Uncles and aunts would gather to ask about grades, university applications, marriages, and children. Eventually, they reached Wu Hui.
“Xiao Yu is in his first year, right? We all forgot; which university did you get into?” an unknown relative asked.
They were in a very large private dining room, and Wu Hui did not hear the question because he was busy chatting with Pei Huaiye.
Wu Hui: When are you coming, Brother?
Wu Hui: You have not messaged me for days. Are you not coming?
The message was sent, but the other party did not reply for a long time. His father nudged him with his elbow and answered for him, “Alistair University.”
“Oh, that is incredible,” the person said. “I heard the Prince of the Pei family is also at that university. Has Xiao Yu met him?”
His father replied, “Sigh, he does not have the luck to meet the Prince.”
“If he wants to meet him, he can. If Xiao Yu can build a relationship with the Prince, our Chu family could rise in status. Xiao Yu, you must work hard.”
Under the gaze of a dozen pairs of eyes, Wu Hui said, “What are you talking about? Wait a moment, let me put on my glasses.”
Once he put them on, Jian Qiu repeated the conversation to him: “They want you to seduce Pei Huaiye to add bricks and mortar to the Chu family.”
The relative asked, “What is that thing? Why are you talking nonsense!”
Wu Hui explained, “It is a conversation translator. It helps me easily understand the hidden meaning in people’s words. Do you want the link?”
The relative’s lips trembled. “What kind of translator? You spend your money on such useless things!”
“Well, human relationships are harder to handle than a corpse,” Wu Hui said. “You want me to go seduce Pei Huaiye?”
Alistair University possessed the world’s top learning resources and was not accessible just by having money; grades and luck were both required, and admissions were based on mood. The Chu family only had Wu Hui admitted.
With his motives exposed, the relative’s face darkened. “It is just about getting to know each other; it is not seduction. It depends on whether the Prince likes you or not.”
They thought it unlikely that a nerdy, talentless homebody could catch the eye of the Pei family’s heir. With this thought, the relative’s expression softened. “There are so many noble, handsome men and beautiful women at Alistair; the Prince must be bored of them. It is normal that Xiao Yu cannot meet him.”
Just as he finished speaking, he noticed Wu Hui staring at him with a strange, mocking smile. The man felt a jolt of anxiety.
His father was unhappy, but before he could speak, he heard Wu Hui agree. “You are right. It is just a matter of seeing him around.”
The relative grew even more smug and started lecturing him. “If I were you, Xiao Yu, I would take off those glasses. Everyone wears contact lenses now; who wears those tacky black-rimmed glasses? People might think you are from the countryside.”
Wu Hui replied, “What if the Prince just happens to like this look?”
“Pfft.” The relative acted as if he had heard a joke. “Who would like—”
The private room door opened at that moment.
A waiter respectfully invited the newcomer in. “Mr. Pei, the Chu family dinner is right here.”
Hearing the name “Pei,” everyone thought of that massive family and turned to look in unison.
A man in a black overcoat walked in. He looked travel-worn but possessed a cold, aloof temperament, carrying an air of innate nobility and a stature far more imposing than those around him.
The oblivious relative barked, “Do you not see we are having a family dinner? What is wrong with this hotel? Letting just anyone in!”
Someone next to him grabbed him. “Shut up!”
His father cautiously asked, “May I ask who you are?”
Pei Huaiye found Wu Hui’s seat at a glance. He had already seen the background information on the Chu family and recognized who they were. He nodded and said, “Pei Huaiye.”
The room fell into a dead silence.
Pei Huaiye. The person they had been discussing, whose name members of a small family like theirs people who could not even break into the elite circle—did not even dare to speak aloud. These three words were already symbols of absolute wealth and status.
Everyone stood up. The relative who had spoken out of turn felt cold sweat soaking his back, terrified of being held accountable. “Uh, why, why are you here?”
Why would Pei Huaiye be here? It seemed the only person in the room who could be connected to him was one specific individual. Every gaze shifted back to Wu Hui.
“Hmm?” Wu Hui was the only one still sitting, looking quite confused. “Senior?”
Pei Huaiye walked toward him as if no one else were there and patted his head. “Sorry, Baby. My phone ran out of battery after I got off the plane, so I could not reply to your message in time.”
Everyone in the room widened their eyes. What did the Prince call him? Baby?!!!
Wu Hui was also hearing this nickname from him for the first time and paused. “Did you not say we are friends, Brother?”
“After I arrived, I realized your family would not reject me,” Pei Huaiye was quite smart. “I promised to spend the holiday with you, and I will not break my word.”
The unknown relative next to Wu Hui stood up to offer his seat, and the waiter brought a new set of tableware. His father was in a daze. “This, you… what is your relationship?”
Wu Hui held Pei Huaiye’s hand, displaying it openly to everyone. “Do not misunderstand. We are simply a couple; we are truly not friends.”
His father almost slid off his chair. Everyone present was shocked. The Chu family’s wayward son had gone to Alistair and managed to hook a Prince? Who would believe that!
“Xiao Yu…” The relative who had been lecturing him started wiping his cold sweat. “Since you have this relationship with the Prince, why did you not say so earlier?”
Wu Hui was already eating the food Pei Huaiye had picked for him. “Oh, I was afraid I would bring someone else next time.”
How dare you talk nonsense in front of the Prince!! Everyone was terrified of Pei Huaiye getting angry.
But Pei Huaiye showed no signs of anger, skillfully helping him pick through his food. “Is the taste okay? If you do not like it, we can change to another restaurant.”
“It is passable.” Wu Hui’s appetite was always poor. “That plate of fish—”
Pei Huaiye asked, “Do you want to eat it?”
“It has bones.”
“I will pick them out for you.”
“No need.” Wu Hui glared at the talkative relative and pointed his chopsticks across the table. “We have someone here who is good at picking out bones. Second Uncle, is it Second Uncle? What do you think? Why do you not help pick the bones out of this fish?”
The Second Uncle gave a dry laugh. “I…”
Pei Huaiye looked over calmly.
“…Okay.” The relative swallowed his remaining words, and the fish was placed in front of him.
With Pei Huaiye present, everyone became much more constrained, eating their meals and picking bones. When the bones were finally picked out, the Second Uncle put on a smiling face and brought the fish over. “Xiao Yu, the bones are picked out.”
Wu Hui put down his cutlery and elegantly wiped his mouth. “I am done. Please, everyone, enjoy the rest of your meal.”
The Second Uncle’s smile froze. Wu Hui glanced at him. “I forgot to tell you, I do not like fish. You can eat this plate yourself.”
The annoying relatives’ ugly expressions were no longer visible to Wu Hui. After eating, he said his goodbyes and left with Pei Huaiye.
Outside, light snow was falling. The nighttime streets were covered in a thin layer of pristine white snow, illuminated by the warm glow of street lamps reflecting off the asphalt. The two walked down the quiet street.
Wu Hui caught a few snowflakes. “Where are you staying tonight, Brother? Did you book a hotel?”
“I did.” Pei Huaiye, worried about him catching a cold, held up a black umbrella. “It is not far from your home; it will be convenient to send you back.”
“Why go back?” It was not his real home anyway. Wu Hui’s phone was ringing nonstop with messages from his father. “It is still early. Take me to your hotel to sit for a while?”
The hotel was not far, a ten-minute taxi ride. In the car, Wu Hui replied to his father: My boyfriend is picking me up; I am not coming home tonight.
His father: ??? Why are you not coming back!
Wu Hui: Because of love.
That response completely stunned his father, who did not reply for a long time. Wu Hui enjoyed the peace, entered the hotel with Pei Huaiye, checked in, and took the elevator up. The hotel air conditioning was on, and the snow that had fallen on their clothes had melted.
“It is a little cold.” Once they entered the room and the lights went on, Wu Hui tugged at the man’s sleeve. “Brother, warm me up.”
Pei Huaiye lowered his gaze. “How do you want me to warm you up?”
Wu Hui reached out for a hug. “Why did you stop calling me Baby?”
Pei Huaiye hugged the “baby” who wanted to be held. Wu Hui hopped into his arms, and the man carried him from the living room into the bedroom.
“You are the baby. The baby who likes to be held by Brother.”
Wu Hui admitted it. “I want more than just to be held.”
The bedroom light remained on. Pei Huaiye placed him on the bed, and the bright light made Wu Hui squint. Pei Huaiye turned off the two main lights, leaving only the bedside decorative lamp. He took off his coat, walked toward the bed, and removed Wu Hui’s glasses.
“What else do you want?”
Wu Hui’s long eyelashes drooped, his voice dripping with sweetness. “I want you, Brother.”
As the words fell, Pei Huaiye kissed him.