After clocking out at noon, the boss stopped Shen Buqi as he was walking out. His emerald eyes gleamed with a swirling light. “Let’s chat before you leave.”
It just so happened that Shen Buqi wasn’t very keen on heading back to face Ji Weishi at the moment. He decisively pulled over a chair, sat down, and stared straight at his boss.
Casper pressed a hand to his forehead, speaking with a touch of helplessness, “Must you always look at me like that?”
His voice suddenly dropped slightly. “I’m not omnipotent, you know…”
Shen Buqi nodded but didn’t take the words to heart. He had known his boss for many years, his boss had been exactly like this back when he was a student, and nothing had changed now. He was always composed, always elegant, and his emerald eyes were always slightly crinkled with a smile.
Occasionally, Shen Buqi would fall under the illusion that his boss had appeared here specifically to solve all kinds of problems for him.
Casper raised his hand and gently ruffled his hair. “Why are you unhappy today?”
When faced with things he didn’t want to talk about, Shen Buqi usually chose silence, and today was no exception.
Despite his silence, Casper didn’t stop talking. “Let me guess. Going by those books, did you… uh, develop a curiosity about sex again?”
Was that it?
It probably was.
Seeing that Shen Buqi remained silent, Casper smiled faintly. “Do you know why I said before that you don’t understand love? Because true love is always linked with sex. There might be a few exceptions, but I don’t think you’re one of them.”
Shen Buqi couldn’t help but recall those unpleasant scenes. He asked, “Why is… sex so disgusting?”
Casper propped his chin on his hand, raising a finger to lightly tap Shen Buqi’s forehead. “That is only because you do not love enough. You’ll understand once you read the books.”
Shen Buqi wanted to say something more, perhaps a denial, or perhaps something else but he was interrupted.
A tall, slender Alpha appeared at the doorway. His black overcoat accentuated his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs. His black hair was slightly messy, but his narrow eyes were bright and full of spirit. The moment he spoke, his voice was incredibly tender:
“Hello, I’m here to pick Xiao Yi up from work.”
Even though the words were addressed to the boss, his gaze never left Shen Buqi. Those eyes, pitch-black as ink, were like a deep, secluded pool harboring a rare, priceless treasure, enticing one to plunge deeper.
Inevitably, Shen Buqi found himself captivated.
Casper smiled and shook his head. “Go on home then. I see Xiao Shen isn’t in a very good state today. Don’t bother coming in this afternoon, take a good rest.”
After saying this, he added a specific reminder: “Don’t forget what I told you, Xiao Shen.”
It wasn’t until he had been led a few meters away by the hand that Shen Buqi realized his boss was referring to the books. Turning his head, he saw the black bag sitting securely on the table. The boss nodded slightly to him, and catching the hint instantly, he obediently went back to sling the bag over his shoulder.
Ji Weishi glanced at his actions, an unreadable gloom flashing across his eyes, though he ultimately said nothing.
Shen Buqi wasn’t the only one who was in a bad state, he was, too.
Even though Shen Buqi had a miniature optical computer on him, Ji Weishi still hadn’t felt entirely at ease this morning. He had followed Shen Buqi all the way to the workshop and lingered for quite a while before leaving.
Naturally, Ji Weishi had also seen those Alphas. Just a little more, just a hair’s breadth more and he would have sent every single one of them to their deaths.
Fortunately, it hadn’t come to that.
His brief hesitation hadn’t stemmed from a sudden awakening of his conscience, but rather because Shen Buqi was present, and it would have been difficult to clean up the aftermath.
After returning home, he had spent the entire morning watching the real-time imaging feed. Everything had gone smoothly enough, until… Shen Buqi approached this boss.
The Alliance’s most advanced optical computer technology had actually had its signal jammed.
Ji Weishi had a premonition that this boss was definitely not as simple as he appeared on the surface.
Yet, he didn’t want to mention any of this to Shen Buqi.
Subconsciously, he could sense that under the current circumstances, if Shen Buqi were truly forced to make a choice, he might very well be the one cast aside.
This stifling, suffocating feeling filled him with a mix of rage and grievance. His susceptibility period had already passed, yet he was experiencing a long-lost sense of longing for something he could not possess.
How laughable.
Ji Weishi didn’t want to leave himself in such a passive position, yet he was at a total loss for what to do. It felt as though he had captured a butterfly.
This butterfly didn’t like the dark, suffocating glass bottle, even if the bottle was exquisitely decorated. Meanwhile, he was utterly determined to keep the butterfly flying safely within his palm, yet he couldn’t help but soften his heart uncontrollably whenever he brushed against its trembling wings.
How tragic.
For the time being, he wanted to try using love to trap this butterfly.
Seeing that Ji Weishi remained completely silent, Shen Buqi also chose to stay quiet.
It wasn’t until they reached home that he realized with a jolt that he had forgotten to bring back food, sending him into a hurried rush to cook in the kitchen.
He picked out a few dishes that Ji Weishi usually ate a bit more of dishes he guessed Ji Weishi liked.
Then, following the instructions on his optical computer, he learned how to make them step by step.
When the meal was finally ready and he carried it out, he still didn’t dare to look Ji Weishi in the eye, praying silently in his heart that A-Shi wouldn’t notice anything amiss.
“A-Shi, time to eat.”
Ji Weishi had originally been sitting with one leg crossed, reading the newspaper. The afternoon sunlight was slightly better now, enveloping him in a hazy, misty glow. His black hair had grown a bit longer, adding a touch of casual laziness to his demeanor.
As he looked up, his dark eyes softened beautifully.
Shen Buqi abruptly lowered his head and set the plate down.
“Alright.” Ji Weishi acted as though he hadn’t noticed any abnormality. He stood up and took off his coat, his knitted sweater accentuated his slender neck, which looked like the stem of a rose.
Shen Buqi felt his heart, which had been stagnant for so long, begin to throb once more.
During the meal, Ji Weishi kept putting food into his bowl.
Confused, Shen Buqi looked over, only to meet that incredibly tender smile.
At that, Shen Buqi found himself unable to say a word. He silently finished every bit of the food piled high in his bowl.
The atmosphere felt bizarre, but he didn’t know why it felt so strange.
After cleaning up and taking an afternoon nap, Shen Buqi finally managed to carve out some time to pull the books out of his bag to read.
There were many books, forming a thick stack on the floor that reached nearly to his waist.
Shen Buqi read them one by one. He read very quickly. Without exception, these books were all about romance and dating. Many of the things described within were things he and A-Shi had done before, hugging, kissing, giving gifts, going out together…
A secret, subtle joy rose from the depths of his heart, and Shen Buqi felt his previous discomfort fade a little.
This lasted until the fifth book, when he realized it was quite different from the others. Images suddenly multiplied across the pages, and the colors in these drawings were incredibly bold. From this point on, Shen Buqi found himself struggling to comprehend what he was seeing.
It was still about romance, meeting someone, and establishing a relationship, but this process happened incredibly fast. Furthermore, after the two characters kissed, the story didn’t skip to the next day. Instead, things appeared that Shen Buqi could not understand at all.
He saved these images using his optical computer, deciding to look them up later or ask his boss about them tomorrow.
But it wasn’t just that one book. In the subsequent volumes, more and more of the text and illustrations became incomprehensible to Shen Buqi. In some stories, the characters didn’t even know each other before they began doing those things.
They skipped the romance entirely.
The more he read, the more uncomfortable those images made him feel.
He had a concept of sex, but that concept was strictly limited to what he had learned in school anatomy and physiology classes. Those classes had never displayed such vivid images, they had used relatively professional language to explain things instead.
Shen Buqi couldn’t yet bridge the gap between these images and the word “sex.”
Yet, he faintly understood something.
He was reading so intently that he failed to notice the moon rising in the sky, casting its glow over the roses in the courtyard. The vibrant red was steeped in a chilly hue, night had already fallen.
“Xiao Yi, time for dinner.”
A sudden voice snapped him out of his thoughts. In a flurry of motion, Shen Buqi hurriedly packed away the books. He didn’t entirely know why he was hiding them; he simply felt that these deeply uncomfortable books shouldn’t be seen by A-Shi.
He let out an “Oh,” blindly following Ji Weishi to the sink. Ji Weishi didn’t even let him move his own hands, gently taking hold of Shen Buqi’s wrists and rinsing his long, beautiful fingers one by one under the running water.
Shen Buqi found it ticklish, but he suppressed the urge and didn’t pull his hands back.
After dinner and washing up, there wasn’t much else to do. He saw Ji Weishi still talking into his optical computer, presumably handling work.
Suddenly, an idea sprouted in his mind, perhaps he shouldn’t be sleeping in the same room as A-Shi.
In those books, some people who were dating didn’t sleep in the same room as their partners. Meanwhile, others shared a bed but did those strange things and Shen Buqi didn’t want to do those strange things.
So, he nudged Ji Weishi during a brief lull in his work. Ji Weishi looked up at him, blinking. “What is it, Xiao Yi?”
Shen Buqi suddenly found himself unable to speak. After freezing for a moment, he finally said, “I want to sleep in the other room.”
He noticed a fleeting flash of moisture in the depths of Ji Weishi’s eyes. His own fingers couldn’t help but hook together, twisting anxiously as he stood there, unsure of what to do.
Ji Weishi lowered his eyes and softly murmured, “Alright.”
Only then did Shen Buqi slowly turn around, carrying his thin bedding as he walked toward the guest bedroom.
Naturally, he didn’t see the profound depth that returned to Ji Weishi’s gaze, a darkness that carried the predatory aura of a wild beast hunting its prey, bloodthirsty and craving to tear open the target’s throat.
Ji Weishi withdrew his gaze and reopened his optical computer connection. On the screen were Qi Qiushui and Chen Shengxiu, both looking rather grim. Picking up right where their interrupted conversation had left off, Ji Weishi said, “In short, Zhou Qingran is absolutely not as amiable as he appears.”
Chen Shengxiu added, “I went to look into the designer of the Alliance Amusement Park. His information is classified as top-secret. Strangely, though, his records aren’t in District 6, they’re in District 2.”
Qi Qiushui sighed. “A person from District 2 working for District 6… I have reasonable grounds to suspect that this Zhou Qingran might also be Qin Miao’s dog.”
Ji Weishi, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke up. He tapped the desk lightly, his voice icy cold. “If we can’t win him over, then do the same thing we did to District 5, turn off the limiters.”
A look of deep distress appeared on Qi Qiushui’s newly recovered face. “But turning off the limiters means entering open confrontation…”
Chen Shengxiu cut him off. “Regardless, the most pressing matter right now is for you to return. After all, the issue isn’t just with the other districts; some dissatisfied voices are beginning to emerge within our own District 4 as well.”
Outside, it started to rain again, mixed with hail that rattled noisily against the windows. Ji Weishi glanced out at the rose garden, catching sight of Shen Buqi, who had braved the rain to activate the garden’s weather protection mode.
That silhouette looked heavily washed out by the downpour, resembling a faded painting.
Thinking back on this person’s erratic behavior since yesterday, a surge of irritation welled up in Ji Weishi’s chest.
He reached out to shut off the optical computer, replying coldly:
“I can’t come back. The roses are dying. Furthermore,”
His eyes filled with a lethal intent, and a chilling smile spread across his face:
“Send that compatibility agent to District 1. Tell Qin Che that District 6 is also researching pheromones. I’m highly looking forward to seeing the Alliance Amusement Park blown to pieces, it’s bound to be a spectacular sight.”