“Hmm, you’re getting married soon and you’re still so shy…”
“Beep, beep, beep!”
Fu Hanzhang punched in the passcode for the villa’s main gate. Seeing Chi Xiang staring intently out of the corner of his eye, he asked in a flat tone, “Did you memorize it?”
Chi Xiang nodded, then shook his head. “Husband, why don’t you use my birthday as the passcode?”
Fu Hanzhang: “…”
With a poker face, he pushed the door open and said, “Do you want to use your birthday as a passcode to invite thieves over as guests?”
“Oh…” Chi Xiang suddenly understood. “So that’s how it is. Husband, you’re so smart!”
Fu Hanzhang took two pairs of slippers from the shoe cabinet and tossed one pair right in front of Chi Xiang’s feet.
“Sir, you’re back? I saw on the news that you were in a car accident, and it worried me to death.” A woman of about fifty walked over and, upon seeing Chi Xiang behind Fu Hanzhang, looked surprised. “Sir, who is this?”
Fu Hanzhang didn’t answer. He was waiting for Chi Xiang to introduce himself.
To his surprise, Chi Xiang hid behind him, grabbed his sleeve, and stayed silent.
Shy?
How rare.
“His name is Chi Xiang. He’ll be staying here for a while.” Fu Hanzhang pulled his sleeve out of Chi Xiang’s grip. “This is Aunt Guan. If you need anything, you can look for her.”
Chi Xiang murmured a soft acknowledgment without raising his head.
Fu Hanzhang had no intention of guessing what was on Chi Xiang’s mind right now. It was almost five o’clock, and he needed sleep.
“Aunt Guan, take him to the room at the very end of the second floor.”
With that, Fu Hanzhang went upstairs.
Only Chi Xiang and Aunt Guan were left in the spacious living room.
Chi Xiang secretly glanced up at Aunt Guan. Seeing the kind smile on her face, for some reason, a trace of fear welled up in his heart. Clearly, Aunt Guan looked very amiable, yet it made him hesitant to get close.
Aunt Guan didn’t notice Chi Xiang’s fear. She had been taking care of Fu Hanzhang for quite a few years and was overjoyed to see him bring someone back to stay overnight for the very first time.
“Mr. Chi, let me take you to your room. Don’t be nervous. Since you’re someone the master brought back, just come to me if you need anything.”
Chi Xiang softly muttered an “uh-huh.” “Thank you.”
Aunt Guan was indeed attentive. Not only did she tidy up the room for Chi Xiang, but seeing the scrape marks on his body, she also thoughtfully brought over a first-aid kit. If Chi Xiang hadn’t repeatedly refused, she would have almost applied the medicine for him herself.
After sending Aunt Guan off, Chi Xiang closed the door, but that lingering trace of fear still clung to his heart.
Looking at the spacious room, he stood there in a daze for a moment, feeling a bit lost.
Why… didn’t his husband sleep in the same room as him?
A moment later, the door to the room at the far end of the second floor was pushed open, and Chi Xiang tiptoed his way up to the third floor.
There were three rooms on the third floor. Chi Xiang opened two of them and didn’t see anyone. When he pushed open the final one, he finally heard the pattering sound of water coming from the bathroom.
Fu Hanzhang was taking a shower.
Chi Xiang’s eyes lit up.
Even though Fu Hanzhang had proposed to him, they weren’t married yet, nor had they been intimate…
Chi Xiang pondered for a moment, then, completely devoid of psychological burden, grabbed the bathroom door handle and twisted it,
The sound of water instantly swelled, and the misty steam from the bathroom rushed out to greet him.
Amidst the water vapor, a slender, athletic, and fiercely masculine physique stood facing him sideways. Not far away, Chi Xiang could clearly see droplets of water rolling down Fu Hanzhang’s skin. His eyes widened, and with a clear target, his gaze shifted downward…
“Get out.” Fu Hanzhang spoke.
His tone carried a heavy displeasure.
Chi Xiang’s reflexes told him to turn around, but on second thought, they were going to get married anyway, so what harm was there in taking a look! If you don’t inspect the goods before marriage, how can you guarantee post-marital happiness?!
Therefore, Chi Xiang widened his eyes and meticulously looked at everything he wanted to see from top to bottom. His eyes shone brightly, staring at Fu Hanzhang like a puppy staring at a meaty bone, and he praised, “Husband, you’re so big.”
Fu Hanzhang: “…”
Chi Xiang, still looking at the naked Fu Hanzhang, was picked up by the collar and tossed right out.
“Hmph, you’re getting married soon and you’re still so shy.” Chi Xiang pouted and rubbed his gradually heating cheeks.
Little Duck always said big is good, big is good. His husband must be bigger than Little Duck’s partners… Wait, who is Little Duck?
His head hurt a little. Chi Xiang rubbed his temples, feeling like he might be tired, so he found a sofa and lay down.
Not long after, Fu Hanzhang came out of the bathroom.
He only had a bath towel wrapped around his lower body. Seeing Chi Xiang on the sofa, he paused, turned back to the bathroom, and grabbed a bathrobe to drape over himself.
Chi Xiang watched eagerly as he covered up his upper body. “Husband, can you fire Aunt Guan?”
Fu Hanzhang paused while tying his belt. “Why?”
“I… I don’t like her…”
“No.”
Chi Xiang bit his lower lip. “But every time I see Aunt Guan, I feel so scared. Maybe this is my sixth sense, but I feel like Aunt Guan isn’t a good person. I’m afraid she’ll bully me when you’re not home, lock me in a dark room, stuff me into a wardrobe, and not give me food…” As he spoke, he imagined that scene, curled up his body, and shivered. “I’ll be so pitiful if she does that. Husband, I’m begging you, okay?”
Fu Hanzhang didn’t believe in the sixth sense of a mentally ill person.
“No,” the man said coldly. “If one of you has to go, it can only be you.”
Chi Xiang: “!”
Chi Xiang was dumbfounded.
“Husband… Husband, you’re going to kick me out for a woman?” Chi Xiang said in disbelief.
Fu Hanzhang never would have thought he’d hear such a line one day.
He took a bottle of ice water from the refrigerator, chugged half of it in one breath, then curved the corners of his mouth at Chi Xiang and said, “Yes.”
Chi Xiang blankly watched him drink water. The water droplets slid past his husband’s Adam’s apple, so sexy… No wait, my husband is going to kick me out… But my husband is so sexy… No, no, no…
Leaning against the refrigerator, Fu Hanzhang watched Chi Xiang shift from righteous indignation to starry-eyed in a flash. His initial slight irritation weirdly morphed into amusement.
Well, why bother arguing with a child.
“Aunt Guan is a good person. Your sixth sense is wrong,” Fu Hanzhang patiently explained. “I’m not kicking you out, as long as you behave yourself.”
“Um… Alright then.”
Chi Xiang sighed and began taking off his clothes.
“What are you doing?”
Chi Xiang asked in confusion, “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Go take a shower in your own room.”
“Why? Shouldn’t we live in the same room?” Chi Xiang looked at the bed in the room. “The bed is huge, we can sleep together.”
Looking at Chi Xiang’s utterly natural expression, Fu Hanzhang felt it necessary to shatter Chi Xiang’s delusions.
“Chi Xiang, I am not Han Zhang, I am not your husband, and you are not Xiang Chi.”
“So, sleeping together is out of the question.”
“Ah?”
Chi Xiang blinked. “Husband, are you too tired? Why are you starting to talk nonsense?”
Fu Hanzhang: “…”
Chi Xiang was tossed out once more.
“Why is it like this…” Chi Xiang grievance-strickenly patted the door. “Husband, Husband, open the door.”
No response.
Chi Xiang stood in the hallway for a while, hung his head in dejection, and returned to his room.
He slowly took a shower and lay down on bed.
His body still ached a bit, and his head hurt too. Chi Xiang missed his dad a little.
Without a cell phone, he couldn’t make a call… What was his dad’s phone number again?
Chi Xiang froze. After racking his brain for a long time, he had to admit his memory was terrible, he couldn’t even remember his own dad’s phone number.
His husband’s attitude toward him had taken a sharp turn for the worse, and he had even argued with him over a woman. Chi Xiang felt a bit unhappy. After much thought, he decided to stay up all night to give himself dark circles under his eyes as a warning, showing Fu Hanzhang how heartbroken and sleepless he was because of him.
After fantasizing for a bit about Fu Hanzhang feeling intensely guilty and begging for forgiveness on his knees, Chi Xiang chuckled gloomily to himself. Smiling as he did, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier until they finally closed.
The next day, at 3:00 PM, Chi Xiang woke up with a start!
He sat straight up from the bed, stunned for a few seconds, and finally had to admit that his dark-circles plan had failed miserably.
After washing up, Chi Xiang rubbed his flat stomach and went downstairs.
The dining table was completely empty. Fu Hanzhang was lounging on the sofa playing with his phone, a cup of coffee resting on the coffee table in front of him. The TV was on, broadcasting a TV series filled with people in black suits.
Chi Xiang looked left and right, failing to find Aunt Guan, and happily exclaimed, “Husband, did you fire Aunt Guan?”
Beaming with joy, he said, “I knew you still loved me.”
Fu Hanzhang took a sip of his coffee without sparing him a single glance.
As the words fell, the nanny’s room door was pushed open, and Aunt Guan walked out. “Mr. Chi is awake? The master said you were hurt, so I stewed some medicinal broth for you. It’s still warming on the stove, I’ll go get it for you.”
Seeing Aunt Guan walk out, Chi Xiang felt a bit disappointed. So Fu Hanzhang hadn’t kicked Aunt Guan out after all, what a false alarm. But hearing that Aunt Guan had specially stewed food for him, Chi Xiang felt a tiny pang of guilt.
Perhaps suspecting Aunt Guan was just his own subjective feeling, but Aunt Guan was actually quite nice to him…
After drinking a bowl of soup and gnawing on a pork rib, the guilt in Chi Xiang’s heart grew even stronger.
To be able to make medicinal broth taste this delicious, Aunt Guan must be a good person.
After eating, seeing Aunt Guan return to her room, Chi Xiang sidled up next to Fu Hanzhang and awkwardly said, “Husband, I regret it. Please don’t fire Aunt Guan, okay?”
Fu Hanzhang raised an eyebrow. “What? Weren’t you just scared of Aunt Guan?”
“Well, I was a little bit, but I thought about it, Aunt Guan is older now, and finding a job outside would definitely be hard. She’s so pitiful, so let’s not kick her out.” Chi Xiang made up a high-sounding excuse for himself, refusing to admit he had simply gotten hooked on Aunt Guan’s cooking.
Fu Hanzhang watched Chi Xiang’s shifty, darting eyes and found it quite amusing in his heart. “Well aren’t you just so kind-hearted.”
“Of course, I’m very kind.”
Chi Xiang missed the sarcastic undertone in Fu Hanzhang’s voice, he only felt that his husband finally recognized his shining qualities, and felt quite proud inside.
“Oh right, Husband, I forgot Dad’s number. Do you remember it? I want to call him. I got into a car accident, he must be so worried.”
Fu Hanzhang glanced at Chi Xiang, then back at the TV, and said, “Your dad is dead.”
Chi Xiang was struck dumb with horror.
“What did you say?!”
Within seconds, large, heavy tears welled up and spilled from his eye sockets. Chi Xiang sobbed, “What happened? How could Dad die?!”
Fu Hanzhang sat there with an unruffled expression and tilted his chin toward the TV.
Chi Xiang looked over.
On the screen, Yu Kunpeng, playing Xiang Xingteng in Among the Pond, was dressed in a suit with a gun pointed right at him. The next second, a gunshot rang out.
“Bang!”
Chi Xiang froze.
Followed by a heart-wrenching, “Dad!!”