Liao Ran noticed that some of the culture dishes displayed on the shelf were empty. With enough Gu worms replenished in his body, Bai Ji’s cloudy pupils had turned pitch black and bright, and his skin had returned to a normal human state.
“Are you interested?” Bai Ji lightly brushed his soft lips with his finger, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
The intention of aggression was obvious. If he wanted to know more about the secrets of the Gu worms, he would have to pay a corresponding price.
Liao Ran brushed his hand away, took a step back, and turned to walk out.
Bai Ji caught him by the wrist and suddenly exerted force, spinning him back into his arms: “You don’t have to kiss me. Just call me husband.”
Words that crossed the boundary were like a fireball scorching the cheeks. Liao Ran turned his head aside, pressed his lips together in silence for half a second, and said, “I know what you’re up to.”
“Huh?” His voice wasn’t loud, and Bai Ji didn’t catch it clearly.
“The Rosenthal effect. Through psychological suggestion, you’re making me subconsciously accept that I belong to you.”
He hadn’t even heard of this theory. Looking innocent, Bai Ji replied, “I’m simply expressing my love to you.”
If Liao Ran had previously hesitated about whether there was any true sincerity hidden in his feelings, once such a lightweight confession escaped his lips, there wasn’t a shred of doubt left. The prerequisite for love was respect.
“It hurts when you grab my hand.”
Reluctantly, Bai Ji let go of him, his fingertips brushing against the protruding veins on the back of Liao Ran’s hand: “So fierce, the way you treat me.”
Liao Ran didn’t much like to smile. His usual expression featured a slight frown between his brows and the corners of his mouth turned downward. His facial features were so exquisite they didn’t seem human, carrying an unspeakable, aloof temperament like an otherworldly elf imagined in another dimension. Cold as ice and devoid of color, the god of beauty didn’t need to spread affection; he only needed to stand there with noble grace, and that was pleasing enough to the eye.
This was the first time he had received a bad review.
Equivalent to being told he was ugly, Liao Ran dashed out of the room without hesitation.
Bai Ji scrutinized his own face through the reflection of a glass beaker, pinching his chin to repeatedly adjust the angle. His skin tone had already returned to normal. He hadn’t been frightened away, so had he said something wrong?
At dinnertime, after preparing the meals, Bai Ji pushed open the bedroom door by the handle, but it didn’t budge. It was locked from the inside.
He hadn’t been this angry even when nursing yesterday.
Bai Ji was indeed at a bit of a loss. He gently knocked on the door: “Doctor Liao?”
“A-Ran?” He suddenly recalled the nickname Fu Chong frequently used.
“Wife, don’t be angry anymore. Come out and eat.” The corners of Bai Ji’s mouth curled up as his hand rested against the doorframe.
Just as he thought about using his Gu worm ability to break the door down, Liao Ran slowly pulled it open by a crack. His long eyelashes, like banana fans in a tropical jungle, half-covered his pupils, and his vexation transformed into damp raindrops reflected in his exposed single eye.
With his nonchalant attitude, Liao Ran felt a fire flare up in his heart for no reason: “Can you please mind your words and actions?”
“You are my wife to begin with. Even if you don’t remember, we did sleep together.” At the mention of this, the snowy white earlobes of the person before him were coated with a layer of pink, looking like a ripe honey peach with fine fuzz along the edges, exuding an alluring and delicate fragrance. Bai Ji took a step forward, leaning against the doorframe, his dense and sharp eyebrows lifting: “Is Doctor Liao a very open-minded person? Doing it with you was my first time.”
Liao Ran pressed his lips together and forcefully shut the door, though that face filled with scheming and calculation was not entirely shut out.
His toe had already been wedged into the door gap ahead of time: “If you don’t like hearing that, let’s change the subject. The injury on my back hurts so much, and I can’t reach my arm to apply medicine.”
After all, he had suffered that on his behalf, and Liao Ran didn’t like being in debt to others. Besides, treating patients was his professional duty: “Where is it?”
“Go wait on the sofa, I’ll get the ointment.”
Bai Ji couldn’t help lightly pinching his delicate chin with his hand, but Liao Ran turned his head to dodge: “Don’t do unnecessary things.”
Bringing the wound ointment over and placing it in Liao Ran’s palm, Bai Ji sat sideways in front of him and pulled off his shirt.
In just a day, the wound had already healed, leaving a few flesh-colored scars.
Liao Ran squeezed the ointment onto the back of his hand, rubbed it to dissolve it, and used his fingers to apply it in circular motions. Although the muscles and tendons were firm and robust, pressing on them felt like sinking into cotton, with a soft and yielding texture resembling decaying flesh.
“Is it fake?”
Liao Ran’s fingers were slender and his skin texture was like frost. His gentle touch swept across like dogtail grass, giving a light, tickling sensation.
Bai Ji stroked his earlobe and turned his head away awkwardly: “Robust and brawny. Don’t you like this kind of physique? I didn’t know your preference for men.”
“It’s real.”
Sure enough, his guess was right. Liao Ran’s subconscious likely preferred that muscular, dark-skinned type with strong fertility. With his long-suppressed personality, losing his sanity after being infected by the Gu worms, his weak willpower had plunged him into physical intimacy, spinning completely out of control.
He was a stunner sexy to the bone, enchanting like a thousand-year-old white fox, so seductive it made his toes curl, his expressive eyes sparkling with a mix of slyness and desire, an insatiable abyss of longing.
Bai Ji lowered his head to inspect himself. Because he had spent years buried in laboratories with little exercise, he was somewhat lean and scrawny. On the day he abducted Liao Ran, he had spent a few hours reshaping and sculpting his form before Liao Ran woke up, and this current body didn’t particularly match his original template.
Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, but it couldn’t fool Liao Ran, who could measure a corpse’s temperature with just his hands.
Hastily, Bai Ji put back on the shirt hanging from his arm: “Let’s eat. The food is getting cold.”
It turned out that even the grievance-bearing, deep-scheming old fox could have moments of being cornered. Unlike him, Liao Ran had grown up with a dedicated gym and physical therapist, and his body fat percentage could be called textbook standard.
“Is it a bit hot in this room?” He somewhat unnaturally lifted the hem of his shirt, revealing six-pack abs with a center line as deep as a canyon.
Bai Ji tilted his head to look at him, his Adam’s apple swallowing frantically: “You eat first. I’m going to the restroom.”
He was in the restroom for quite a while. Having controlled his portion size at dinner, Liao Ran had only eaten half a bowl before putting down his chopsticks by the time that person finally walked out.
Bai Ji sat opposite him, drooling with craving, his vision filled not with delicious food but with the person.
Liao Ran had always been sharp in observation and attentive to details, possessing strong intuition. He had thoroughly read relevant books on male physiological structures. Having no such personal needs himself, he couldn’t understand why this person seemed to be thinking about the matter anytime and anywhere.
“Next weekend is Qin Yi’s wedding ceremony. She came to the police station today to hand out invitations. Not knowing your address, she asked me to formally invite you. I’ve delivered the message.” Liao Ran lowered his gaze, evading him but not immediately returning to his room.
Bai Ji took a bite of rice, slowly chewing while pondering his intentions: “You don’t like me interacting with her?”
“That’s your business, not mine to manage. I’m waiting for you to finish so I can wash the dishes.”
In view of the previous flooding of the kitchen, letting him go in there again would only increase his own workload, so Bai Ji hatched a plan.
“Managing your husband’s affairs is only right and proper.”
“You wash them yourself.” Liao Ran strode away with brisk steps, turning back to urge: “Don’t forget to brush your mouth clean while you’re at it.”
“Yes, my lord wife.”
Liao Ran quickly closed the door, cutting off the vexing voice.
The wedding venue was chosen at the groom’s home, a secluded suburban villa surrounded by deep forests. Centered around a garden with a white stone fountain, a red carpet stretched all the way to the grand hall, where the ceremony would take place, accommodating about a dozen tables of guests.
Bai Ji wore a black high-collar undershirt layered with an aqua-blue shirt, finished with a long trench coat. The smooth, natural-hanging fabric fluttered in the breeze, looking dashing and stylish. Before walking through the front gate, he subconsciously straightened his cuffs, an action that felt vaguely familiar.
“The waiter who served me wine at the Boyue Hotel that day was you.”
“How was the taste?”
The transparent tall glass had been tainted with a drop of Bai Ji’s blood. In a sense, that was the beginning of the two of them.
“I don’t want to comment.” Liao Ran was rigorous and proper, never speaking dirty words and disdaining to use language to reproach others, but maintaining his composure in front of this person was slightly strenuous.
A premeditated abduction, what on earth was Bai Ji’s ultimate goal?
Amidst his thoughts, Qin Yi walked over gracefully, dressed in a black minidress and stepping on seven-centimeter wine-red high heels. Her brown wool curls were fluffy and voluminous, simply gathered at the back with an amber claw clip, while the ends of her hair fell casually beside her ears, elegant yet flirtatious.
Some guests had already arrived, gathering in small groups of two or three with a strong social atmosphere.
Liao Ran offered a wedding gift: “Congratulations.”
To cope with other guests, she usually offered hugs and gratitude, but everyone knew about the eccentric cleanliness of the Northern Forensic Doctor. The girl clutched the precious flowers close to her chest and gave a brilliant smile: “Thank you. How did you know I’ve been looking for king proteas? Their blooming season is very short and they’re hard to survive, so you simply can’t buy them on the market.”
The moment she asked, she already had the answer in her heart. Rare varieties on the market were all researched and cultivated by the Academy of Sciences, and as the only son of the institute director, his resources were naturally beyond what ordinary people could compare to.
“You two can sit at my brother’s table; consider yourselves my family from the bride’s side.” The girl familiarly hugged Bai Ji’s arm: “Arranging for the two of you to arrive a day early was precisely because I wanted you, professional experts, to help me check whether the decoration of the hall is okay.”
Being led away warmly to the side, the towering main staircase came into view. On the handrails, every few steps featured circular display racks with clusters of blooming flowers exuding a refreshing fragrance. Naturally grown plants had no plots or schemes; their clean, light pink petals were elegant and otherworldly, looking startlingly like that person’s face.
“Nieshang roses are very suitable. Your beauty will move all the guests present.”
The man’s seductive voice was like aged wine. Qin Yi’s cheeks flushed red, her heart pounding wildly. There was no denying that Bai Ji was simply her ideal type, though unfortunately they had met much too late. Fortunately, her fiancé was also a one-in-a-million talent.
Glancing past the girl, a stranger approached Liao Ran.
“Professor Bai?” Qin Yi’s voice trembled.
Following her flickering gaze, the rose in Bai Ji’s hand was crushed to pieces by his thumb. Rather than detachment, it was more like resolution. He plucked it directly and squeezed it in his palm: “This petal was eaten by bugs and is no longer clean. It will only rot deeper.”
“Oh.” She didn’t understand, but nodded in agreement. Qin Yi pulled two magnetic cards out of her bag: “These are the rooms for you and Doctor Liao. You’ve had a hard journey. There will be a rehearsal tonight, and you can come out then.”
Bai Ji looked around: “Guests coming from afar inevitably need rest. Why waste room space? In novels, this kind of situation usually leaves only one room.”
Qin Yi covered her mouth to suppress a laugh: “Are all men so scheming when dealing with the person they like?”
“Who is he?” Bai Ji asked in absent-minded tone.
Qin Yi pulled someone over: “I’ll introduce you.”
Gold-framed glasses without lenses, bright eyes unaccustomed to making direct eye contact, neatly ironed collars and cuffs, there was a clear boundary line on the extended palm and wrist from long-term use of professional cleansing tools like disinfectant, showing peeling from over-cleaning.
Liao Ran’s eyes were a ruler, automatically analyzing the moment the man appeared.
Rubbing his hands, the man even lost his step in synchronization as he approached.
“Doctor Liao, is it really you? I can’t quite believe it.” The man covered his mouth, mumbling incoherently before logic kicked in and he remembered to introduce himself: “Hello, I am…”
“He Tianlang, my fiancé, and also a graduate of the Medical University.” Qin Yi stepped forward to loop her arm through his.
The girl turned her profile, and the man lowered his head to imprint a kiss.
Bai Ji took a step forward, wrapping an arm around Liao Ran’s waist. His tall figure carried an oppressive presence. He tilted his head slightly, puckering his lips to exhale a warm breath, clearly intending to imitate that couple.
“You dare!”
Liao Ran warned through gritted teeth.
Bai Ji looked disappointed for a moment, then reached out to greet the man opposite him.
“Pleased to meet you. So, you’re a doctor, no wonder there’s a smell of blood on you.”