The tingling sensation from their lips touching made Shang Jingwu’s heart race, and it also gave him a strong sense of pleasure, a feeling he had never experienced before.
He felt his reaction was strange. Although he had just said he liked He Yi, it was only because he couldn’t bear to see He Yi sad and was just saying it casually. Why did He Yi’s kiss make him react so strongly?
Was it because of that extra memory? Shang Jingwu lowered his eyes and pondered.
He Yi hugged Shang Jingwu’s arm contentedly and quickly fell asleep.
Shang Jingwu caught a glimpse of his peaceful sleeping face and couldn’t help but reach out and gently touch the tip of his nose.
He Yi frowned as he was bothered, and Shang Jingwu couldn’t help but pinch his soft cheeks. The sensation from his fingertips immediately captivated Shang Jingwu.
Unable to bear the disturbance any longer, He Yi let out a wronged groan and reached out to slap away the thing that was disturbing his peaceful sleep.
Shang Jingwu thought he had woken up, so he quickly withdrew his hand, his heart also tightening slightly, worried that He Yi would ask him what he had just been doing.
Because he didn’t know why he did it, he couldn’t explain it to He Yi.
After a while, seeing that He Yi had no other reaction, Shang Jingwu realized that He Yi was not awake at all, so he couldn’t help but pinch He Yi’s other cheek.
He Yi didn’t sleep all night, and he was constantly worried about Shang Jingwu, which made him very tired. After relaxing, he fell into a deep sleep. He didn’t wake up when Shang Jingwu bothered him again, but his brows furrowed even more, his two rows of long eyelashes trembled slightly, his mouth pouted unhappily, and his cheeks puffed out like a little frog.
Upon seeing this, Shang Jingwu chuckled softly, then paused, taken aback by his own reaction.
He Yi’s sleeping posture was still not very good. As he slept, he started to wrap himself around Shang Jingwu like an octopus. Shang Jingwu subconsciously wanted to push him away, but when he saw the faint dark circles under his eyes, he couldn’t bear to do so.
A similar scene occurred when he first married He Yi in this life. Shang Jingwu knew that the previous him also wanted to throw He Yi, who liked to cling to people while sleeping, out. Strangely, he quickly accepted the existence of He Yi as his bedmate. Not only was his sleep not affected, but he seemed to enjoy it. Otherwise, he would not have let He Yi use him as a pillow. However, he always put on a disgusted look on the surface, which was extremely awkward.
Observing himself in a parallel world from another perspective is a novel and strange experience. Shang Jingwu can’t help but start to wonder if he is really so two-faced.
Seeing He Yi habitually snuggle into his arms, Shang Jingwu’s mind flashed with many familiar images, all of which were scenes of him and He Yi being intimate in this life.
That memory was very clear, but he couldn’t feel what he was feeling back then. He only vaguely felt that in this life, he seemed to really like He Yi.
In the past, he could never have imagined falling in love with another person, especially a silly little guy. But now, he suddenly understands himself in this life.
Being with He Yi seemed to make him relax unconsciously, and his mood would inexplicably become pleasant.
He Yi slept until noon. He hadn’t eaten anything all day yesterday, and he was too sleepy to have much of an appetite in the morning. After sleeping for a while, he started to feel hungry and even dreamed of eating a big meal. A table full of delicious food made him very excited, and then he mistook Shang Jingwu’s hand for a delicious chicken leg and started gnawing on it.
Shang Jingwu didn’t remember when he fell asleep. The pain in his hand woke him up instantly. When he opened his eyes, he saw He Yi holding his hand and nibbling on it, drooling a lot.
Shang Jingwu tried to pull his hand back with a look of disgust, but the more he moved, the tighter He Yi bit him. This kid was acting strangely, completely oblivious to the force he was using, and almost drew blood.
Enraged, Shang Jingwu pushed He Yi with his other hand and said with a dark face, “He Yi! Wake up! Let go of my hand.”
He Yi opened his eyes groggily and saw that all the delicious food had disappeared. He was instantly unhappy and angrily took another bite of the last chicken leg in his mouth.
Shang Jingwu hissed as he was bitten, and asked sharply, “What’s wrong with you?”
He Yi wasn’t fully awake yet, and he burst into tears when he was scolded by him.
Shang Jingwu took the opportunity to pull his hand back, and when he saw a string of bloody teeth marks left on it, he became even more irritated. To make matters worse, He Yi was still crying loudly with his mouth wide open, which gave him a headache. He couldn’t help but lose his temper and growled at He Yi, “Shut up!”
He was even fiercer than before, and He Yi was so frightened that he immediately shut his mouth, but tears kept flowing down his face. Large teardrops pattered onto the bed sheet, and his eyes were red, making him look both aggrieved and pitiful.
Upon seeing this, Shang Jingwu’s heart softened immediately, and he even felt a little sorry for him.
He attributed this reaction to his past self, and asked in a helplessly softened tone, “Why are you crying? You bit me, and now you’re acting all wronged?”
“I didn’t mean to. I just dreamt about lots of delicious food, and I was munching on a fragrant chicken leg. I didn’t mean to bite my husband,” He Yi explained, sounding aggrieved.
The scene was all too familiar. Shang Jingwu recalled that when he and He Yi had just gotten married, there seemed to be a similar farce. However, that time, He Yi was afraid of being abandoned and had a clear stress reaction, so he bit him much harder than this time. But back then, he inexplicably calmed down quickly.
It seems this child is his natural nemesis.
Shang Jingwu sighed softly and looked at He Yi, asking, “Are you hungry?”
He Yi nodded frantically and said, “I’m so, so, so hungry. It feels like my stomach is on fire. It’s so uncomfortable.”
Shang Jingwu remembered that he had gone to sleep without eating anything that morning, and then he thought about He Yi’s previous obsession with food, and he immediately understood why He Yi was holding his hand and nibbling on it.
He was about to ask someone to buy food for He Yi when he saw Du Yuwei come in carrying a large bag of food.
He Yi smelled the aroma, jumped off the bed barefoot, and rushed to Du Yuwei with eyes gleaming, saying, “Pretty sister, what did you buy? It smells so good! Can I have some?”
“I bought these for you guys,” Du Yuwei said with a smile.
Knowing that He Yi hadn’t eaten yesterday, she was worried that He Yi would go hungry, so she packed some food and brought it over. Considering He Yi’s appetite, she ordered a four-person set meal, otherwise she was afraid that He Yi wouldn’t have enough to eat.
He Yi excitedly took the bag and carried it to Shang Jingwu, saying with a grin, “Honey, honey, come and eat!”
Shang Jingwu was infected by his joy and his mood improved as well, but he still reminded He Yi, “Don’t address people indiscriminately. From now on, call her Assistant Du.”
He Yi was in a hurry to eat, so he responded casually. After a while, he habitually called Du Yuwei “pretty sister”.
Seeing this, Shang Jingwu coldly moved the food in front of He Yi and reminded him again, “Call Assistant Du.”
He Yi hurriedly reached out to grab the food that Shang Jingwu had moved aside, while hastily swallowing the pizza in his mouth and saying, “I remember! I remember! Honey, I’m not full yet, please give me some more.”
“If you call it wrong again, I’ll deduct your snacks for a day,” Shang Jingwu said.
He Yi nodded hurriedly, thinking that as long as there was food to eat, he wouldn’t panic. However, he still carefully remembered that he should call the pretty sister “Assistant Du” in the future, because even after eating a full meal, he would still get hungry, and without snacks, he would have to wait until the next meal to eat something.
Du Yuwei watched the two of them interact and felt that something was off, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
After Shang Jingwu finished eating, she gave a full account of the arson incident from beginning to end.
Based on the evidence collected so far, Xiao Wen likely put sleeping pills in the drinks that night, and the ignition devices in Shang Jingwu’s room were probably placed there by him in the afternoon when no one was in the room, which also disabled the smoke alarm.
Moreover, after putting Shang Jingwu to bed, he tampered with the door lock, so that even if the people in the room discovered the fire and wanted to escape, they would not be able to open the door from the inside, and swiping the room card from the outside would also be useless; the door lock had to be completely destroyed.
Another point worth noting is that many of the regular rooms upstairs that had been booked were empty, and no one checked in that night.
Du Yuwei checked the hotel’s records and found that the reservation was made under the name of a domestic tour group. She contacted the tour group and, unsurprisingly, found that they were completely unaware of the matter. It was clear that someone had stolen the tour group’s information, presumably to prevent them from staying on the same floor as Shang Jingwu.
Because the smoke detector in the room was broken, the hotel staff did not notice the abnormality until the fire triggered an automatic power outage.
It was a little after 3 a.m. There weren’t many staff members on duty. The ones who went up to check were a few interns. After discovering the fire, the young woman immediately called the police and an ambulance, but she forgot to report to the manager. She frantically went around knocking on doors on that floor, reminding guests to go downstairs to take shelter.
However, the rooms booked that night were not full, and she couldn’t immediately tell which rooms were empty. Shang Jingwu was sleeping soundly because of the sleeping pills, and He Yi was also sleeping soundly. She knocked on the door but didn’t hear a response, so she continued to call the guests in the other rooms.
If He Yi hadn’t carried Shang Jingwu out of the bedroom where the fire was most severe, and if Du Yuwei hadn’t broken open the door in time, Shang Jingwu might have really perished in the flames.
After listening to Du Yuwei’s report, Shang Jingwu asked, “Hasn’t Xiaowen been found yet?”
“No, Ah Hu and the others have been searching for him, and they even asked the local police for help, but they just can’t find him,” Du Yuwei said, puzzled.
“Go and have someone investigate his family members and other people close to him. Investigate in detail,” Shang Jingwu instructed.
Du Yuwei responded with a “yes,” and then heard Shang Jingwu say, “Keep the good news to yourself. Don’t let anyone else know about this, especially people in the company and the Shangs.”
Du Yuwei was taken aback for a moment, then couldn’t help but ask, “You suspect…?”
Shang Jingwu glanced at her, offered no further explanation, and simply said, “Do as I say.”