Because Yao Zhen was acting out of pure panic and guilt, the kiss was clumsy. Their lips collided harshly, teeth clashing in a messy, uncoordinated jumble. Voices and footsteps drifted past them, gradually fading as Mr. Li’s family walked further away.
The young master opened his dazed eyes, only to fall straight into the deep, dark gaze of the man he was currently kissing. He froze.
Liang Jiming hadn’t expected Yao Zhen to kiss him so suddenly. His eyes, staring back, were like a deep pool—cold, quiet, and hiding silent ripples beneath the surface. Yao Zhen felt his scalp go numb under that gaze, his heart thumping so hard he forgot how to move.
Liang Jiming moved first. He tilted his head slightly, giving Yao Zhen’s lip a soft, lingering suck—a kiss that felt oddly comforting—before pulling back.
Yao Zhen’s brain went vroom. His whole body felt paralyzed. “You… I…” He stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence.
Liang Jiming asked first, “Since you haven’t forgiven me, why are you kissing me?”
Yao Zhen swallowed his initial words and put on a fierce front despite his flaming red face. “I kissed you because I felt like it. You got a problem?”
“No.”
Liang Jiming took this reaction as embarrassment masking desire. He felt a slight urge to laugh and reached out to lightly pinch Yao Zhen’s burning earlobe. “As long as the Young Master is happy.”
Yao Zhen flinched and jerked his head away.
God, that was so humiliating.
Back in the room, the young master immediately bolted into the bathroom to scrub his lips until they were peeling—again. After pacing in circles, he called Xiao Wei and told him to check the front desk to see exactly how long Mr. Li was staying.
Ten minutes later, Xiao Wei reported: “They checked in today. Two rooms, booked for four nights.”
Yao Zhen: “…”
This won’t work. Absolutely not.
The next morning, just as Liang Jiming was preparing to head out, the young master—who rarely woke up early—emerged from the master bedroom, fully dressed.
Liang Jiming was surprised. “You didn’t sleep in today?”
Yao Zhen stretched. “Go get ready. You’re coming out with me in a bit.”
“Where to?”
“Wangcheng.”
Half an hour later, they appeared on the rooftop helipad where a scheduled helicopter was waiting. Yao Zhen had personally had his assistant arrange this the night before. It was only four days; he’d just go somewhere else to hide.
“Hand over the work to Manager Huang. You don’t need to supervise every little thing. He’s the actual manager; relax. You’re coming with me.”
Yao Zhen spoke with a grin as he pulled Liang Jiming onto the aircraft.
“What are we going to Wangcheng for?” Liang Jiming asked.
Yao Zhen only said, “You’ll know when we get there.”
Unable to argue, Liang Jiming gave him a light pat on the back. “Let’s go then.”
Amidst the roar of the engines, the helicopter took off. Yao Zhen put on his headset and mouthed a few words to Liang Jiming before turning excitedly to look out the window. It took Liang Jiming two seconds to process what he’d said:
“We’re going on a honeymoon.”
Wangcheng was a coastal city on the peninsula and the local capital. By helicopter from Feijing Island, it took only twenty minutes. Xiao Wei had booked a hotel the night before, so they went straight there to drop off their luggage.
As the elevator ascended, Liang Jiming suddenly asked, “Why are we in separate rooms if it’s a honeymoon?”
“…” Yao Zhen, who had only been teasing him earlier, hadn’t expected him to be so sharp. “What, do you actually want to sleep with me?”
Liang Jiming didn’t have any specific thoughts; he just felt the young master was incredibly awkward—clearly wanting something but refusing to admit it.
It was the usual setup: a large suite with two bedrooms. In truth, Yao Zhen had only come here to “honeymoon” so he could have a different place to sleep. He had stayed up until 3:00 AM gaming and woken up far too early; he could barely keep his eyes open.
“I’m going to take a nap. We’ll go out in the afternoon,” Yao Zhen instructed. He paused, then added uneasily, “Don’t you dare go out alone. Don’t get kidnapped by bad people.”
Liang Jiming laughed. “Where would these ‘bad people’ come from?”
Bad people might not be there, but they might run into some acquaintances again.
Yao Zhen emphasized: “Anyway, you can’t.”
Liang Jiming didn’t take it to heart: “Just go to sleep.”
Yao Zhen went into the bedroom and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. When he woke up again, it was already after 3 PM. He crawled into the bathroom to wash up, but didn’t see anyone when he came out. Just as he was standing there dazed, the door swiped open, and the person who was told not to run around came back from outside.
“You’re awake. If you hadn’t, it would be dark soon.” Liang Jiming walked in, looked at him, and pointed to the clock on the wall.
Yao Zhen was a bit unhappy: “I told you that you are not allowed to go out alone.”
“I didn’t leave the hotel,” Liang Jiming stepped forward and set down the afternoon tea he had packed for him on the dining table. They were all the snacks and sweet soups that Yao Zhen loved. “I went downstairs to the restaurant for lunch, walked around the hotel beach, asked the front desk about fun places nearby, and just now went to the restaurant to pack some food for you.”
Yao Zhen was indeed hungry, so he didn’t complain further. He sat down at the table and watched Liang Jiming unpack the food. He asked hesitantly: “Did you run into anyone?”
Liang Jiming asked: “What kind of ‘anyone’?”
Yao Zhen rambled: “People flirting with you, men or women, old or young…”
“Young master,” Liang Jiming interrupted him, “I am thirty years old, not three. I won’t just get kidnapped by anyone.”
Yao Zhen picked up a spoon and muttered: “Who knows.”
Seeing him like this, Liang Jiming thought he felt insecure and was worried about being left behind, so he felt a bit helpless. A hand reached out and covered the top of Yao Zhen’s head. Yao Zhen felt it was strange and looked up.
Liang Jiming looked at him with a comforting gaze: “Don’t overthink. I promised I wouldn’t leave.”
Yao Zhen: “…Oh.” I told you not to be so mushy, why aren’t you listening?
It wasn’t until evening that they went out together to browse the nearby shopping area. There was a fragrance exhibition here, and Yao Zhen was very interested in checking it out. The exhibition was located inside a modern art museum. The space wasn’t large, but the design was clever. Inside the dimly lit room, glowing display stands were arranged like petals, showing perfume bottles of various shapes. Fragrances filled the air, both hidden and tempting.
Yao Zhen was very excited, pulling Liang Jiming through the displays and sniffing the scent strips one by one like he was hunting for treasure.
“You smell this too?” He held a scent strip under Liang Jiming’s nose, tilted his chin up, and looked at him with a smile.
Liang Jiming sniffed it as told. The top note was a rich herbal scent and a fresh, moist smell of rain. it was quite pleasant. He looked at the name of this perfume, “Greenery After Rain,” and nodded: “Very realistic.”
“Realistic?” Yao Zhen made a sound and picked up another strip. “How about this one? What a weird smell. There’s actually a fragrance that smells like ink.”
He looked disgusted, but couldn’t help wrinkling his nose to sniff it a few more times. Liang Jiming watched his childish actions, his gaze staying on his lively face for a moment longer. The fragrance lingered at the tip of the nose, but in the end, it was just a shallow sensory trick. It wasn’t as real as the fresh breath and warmth of the person beside him.
“Try this one too…” Yao Zhen brought the scent strip in his hand closer to Liang Jiming.
Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind: “Mr. Yao?”
The two turned around. A young man with a warm smile came up to greet Yao Zhen: “It really is Mr. Yao. I thought I saw wrong just now.”
Yao Zhen was stunned for a moment. He remembered that this was the assistant of the master perfumer he had contacted when he was customizing a birthday gift for Shen Jinghe before. At that time, in order to explain his request clearly, he had video called them several times. It seemed he only just realized that the name of the organizer he saw when entering was that very master.
“…” What a coincidence.
The young man smiled and asked, “Are you here specifically to support the Professor’s exhibition?”
Yao Zhen couldn’t exactly say no, so he exchanged a few polite pleasantries.
The young man, being quite blunt, casually added, “By the way, regarding that ‘Silent Realm’ fragrance the Professor mixed personally—the one you said was a gift—did the lady like it?”
The air froze instantly.
Liang Jiming glanced at Yao Then but remained silent.
Yao Zhen reacted fast, grabbing Liang Jiming’s arm and answering, “Liked it. Of course he liked it. I gave it to him, and he loved it~”
The assistant was visibly stunned. Although that scent was somewhat neutral, he distinctly remembered Yao Zhen confirming it was for a woman. However, no one would dig deeper into such matters. Being a smart person, he quickly recovered and apologized with a smile: “Ah, I see. My apologies for making assumptions. I’m glad the gentleman likes it.”
The assistant had other guests to attend to, so after a bit more small talk, he excused himself.
Yao Zhen was deathly embarrassed and lost all interest in continuing the tour. As they walked out of the exhibition hall, Liang Jiming asked him, “You commission a custom gift and don’t even tell them clearly if it’s for a man or a woman?”
“I was too embarrassed to say,” Yao Zhen blinked. “I’m shy.”
Liang Jiming countered, “You weren’t shy when you were grabbing my arm just now.”
Yao Zhen ignored him and opened the small fragrance sample that everyone received upon leaving.
Liang Jiming also changed the subject: “This exhibition is quite interesting. Could our hotel host similar events? We could set up an art gallery in the hotel and invite people for rotating exhibitions—all kinds of shows.”
Yao Zhen asked, “Where would we find people to invite?”
“Don’t you have a wide network?” Liang Jiming asked. “Your friends… they can’t all just be good at drinking and partying, can they? Listening to them talk last time, they all seem to know how to enjoy life. Knowing how to play is a skill; they might have connections in this field.”
Yao Zhen said with surprise, “I thought you looked down on them.”
Liang Jiming didn’t bother to elaborate. Disagreeing with their lifestyle was one thing, but these people were born into privilege; resources that ordinary people couldn’t touch were often just a phone call away for them.
Yao Zhen, somewhat annoyed by the unintentional arrogance Liang Jiming displayed, popped open the fragrance sample and sprayed it directly onto Liang Jiming’s collar, leaning in to sniff it.
The fresh scent of seawater tangled with citrus—it was unexpectedly pleasant. So, he stayed pressed against Liang Jiming to sniff a few more times.
Liang Jiming stood still, looking down at the fluffy head nuzzling against his neck. After a moment, he spoke softly, “Is the Young Master seducing me?”
“??” Yao Zhen recoiled and stomped on his foot. “Not at all, don’t even think about it.” He turned and marched away.
Liang Jiming didn’t mind, following at a leisurely pace.
Tough on the outside but soft inside, a total hypocrite, and a feisty little puppy.
Liang Jiming thought to himself, perhaps he should add one more thing—
A little bit cute.