Futile Devices Scans

Xue Bao Tian was so exhausted he couldn’t even be bothered to throw a tantrum anymore. He let Zhang Chi clean him up without resistance, ignoring the soft coaxing murmured beside his ear.

“Cigarette.” He crooked his fingers.

Zhang Chi fastened the last button beneath his throat. “Didn’t you quit?” Faced with Xue Bao Tian’s vicious glare, he immediately corrected himself. “Forget quitting. You look good when you smoke.”

Once they were properly dressed again, cigarette in hand, Xue Bao Tian pushed open the car door.

Zhang Chi grabbed him lightly. “It’s cold outside.”

Xue Bao Tian sneered over his shoulder. “Going out to get some air. The car reeks of human trash.”

Pulling his clothes tighter around himself, Xue Bao Tian leaned against the hood of the car. The wind had died down after nightfall. Bare tree branches only swayed faintly, while fallen leaves occasionally skittered across the ground around their feet with soft rustling sounds.

Warmth suddenly settled over his shoulders. Zhang Chi had draped his coat over him.

Xue Bao Tian lowered his head and sniffed it. “Smells like pig feed.” Still, he accepted it anyway, treating it as filial piety from an unworthy grandson.

The hood shifted slightly as Zhang Chi leaned beside him. Flicking on the lighter, he cupped the flame in his palm, illuminating Xue Bao Tian’s features.

In terms of appearance, Xue Bao Tian could easily be considered top-tier. Tall and slender, with pale cool-toned skin and refined features untouched by softness, his eyes always looked heavy when he wasn’t speaking—as if his soul and body had become separated, leaving behind a faint trace of confusion.

But he was usually lazy and unruly, which added a chill to his demeanor. Coupled with his arrogance and poisonous mouth, even the clarity of his handsome face was overshadowed.

Those cold eyes slid toward Zhang Chi for a moment before Xue Bao Tian bent down slightly to light his cigarette.

Beyond them stretched the dark pine forest descending with the mountain slope. Farther away lay the entirety of Yan City.

Nighttime was when the city shone brightest. Endless ribbons of lights intertwined and spiraled through the darkness. Countless points of light glowed in dazzling prosperity, tracing the pulse and veins of the city. Though only an hour’s drive away, from this distance it looked like a gorgeous dream—too unreal to touch.

The smoke he exhaled drifted across that “dream,” making the distant lights flicker and blur.

“How’d you get that thing?” Xue Bao Tian suddenly asked after a long silence.

“Hm?” Zhang Chi answered with a questioning sound.

Xue Bao Tian considered his wording. “That thing that detects hidden cameras.”

“Oh.” Zhang Chi looked away. “Bought it secondhand.”

“You can buy something like that?” Xue Bao Tian clicked his tongue. “Tell me how much it cost and I’ll reimburse you.”

Zhang Chi looked back at him, thinking even the faint crease of his double eyelids was attractive. “I used the money you left in the drawer.” There was a faint note of seeking praise in his voice. “I snuck into Huang Song’s villa beforehand. Used the device to check and found a lot of hidden cameras installed there.”

Interest finally appeared in Xue Bao Tian’s gaze. “How’d you sneak in?”

“Huang Song doesn’t normally stay there. Just one housekeeper cleans the place. Cutting the TV signal and pretending to be a repairman wasn’t difficult.”

“Damn.” A trace of amusement surfaced in Xue Bao Tian’s eyes. “If you weren’t such a bastard, I’d almost compliment you.”

Zhang Chi had an excellent sense of timing. Only after seeing that smile did he dare move closer. “Master Xue, can I redeem myself with merit?”

“If I kill you but buy you a nicer coffin afterward, does that count as redemption too?” Xue Bao Tian scoffed. “No wonder your parents failed to educate you properly.”

“I never met my father.” Zhang Chi’s tone remained gently calm, without sadness. “And my mother died when I was six. So… there really wasn’t anyone to teach me.”

Xue Bao Tian, who had just removed the cigarette from his lips, glanced sideways at Zhang Chi for a long moment before exhaling smoke into the vast night. His cold voice blended into the darkness.

“Life’s already hard enough. Don’t be fucking melodramatic.”

Zhang Chi tightened the coat slipping from Xue Bao Tian’s shoulders and answered softly, “Okay.”

“And then?” Xue Bao Tian asked again, sounding as though he didn’t really care.

“After that, I followed my master. My mom had been with him for two years before that—without any status. After she died, he saw I had no one around me…”

“It’s your own fault.”

“I know.” Zhang Chi’s gaze rested on Xue Bao Tian’s lowered eyes for a moment before drifting to his tightly pressed lips. After a brief silence, he asked quietly, “Is it really that hard to accept?”

Xue Bao Tian paused mid-motion while adjusting his coat. He looked up to meet Zhang Chi’s eyes.

Zhang Chi had never asked something like this before. Even when he crossed the line, he would either endure scolding quietly or drag Xue Bao Tian to bed until he no longer had the energy to stay angry. This sudden display of empathy didn’t feel like him at all.

Xue Bao Tian nudged the flattened cigarette butt on the ground with the tip of his shoe. “I’m straight. What do you think?”

Suddenly, his hand was seized and pressed against warm muscle and a solid abdomen.

“You don’t feel anything touching here?”

Xue Bao Tian clicked his tongue. Suddenly he wanted another cigarette. Through the windshield he stared at the scattered cigarettes on the passenger seat and replied carelessly, “No feeling.”

His wrist remained trapped in Zhang Chi’s grip. Xue Bao Tian knew the man’s scorching gaze was fixed on him, but he deliberately kept looking toward the cigarettes in the car, pretending not to notice anything.

After several moments, Zhang Chi’s voice drifted through the thin night air.

“Then from now on, I won’t force you anymore.” He lifted a hand and played with Xue Bao Tian’s hair, his tone still gentle. “Huang Song’s problem has already been resolved. As long as you stop provoking him, he probably won’t cause trouble again. In that case, there’s no longer any value in me staying.”

At last Xue Bao Tian looked directly at him and nodded. “I think so too.”

“Then I’ll leave tonight.”

“Going back to the construction site?”

Zhang Chi hesitated before giving a shallow “Mm.”

He stepped closer and pulled Xue Bao Tian into his arms, lowering his voice as he asked, “Can I kiss you one more time? After all…”

The two of them stood extremely close. Their breaths mingled, carving out a warm, ambiguous pocket of intimacy in the cold night.

Xue Bao Tian slowly lifted his eyes. “After all what?”

“After all, you’re very nice to kiss.”

Xue Bao Tian ground his jaw. Suddenly he leaned upward, stopping just an inch away from Zhang Chi’s lips. A vicious smile spread across his face.

“Zhang Chi, considering Grandpa raised you this long, I really can’t bear to reduce you to ashes.”

Zhang Chi understood immediately. Laughing softly, he rubbed Xue Bao Tian’s hair before lowering his head to inhale the scent at his neck.

“Okay. Then I won’t kiss you.”

He loosened the distance between them. “There aren’t any buses up here. I’ll have to trouble Master Xue to give me a ride.”

With that, Zhang Chi turned toward the car door.

“Hold it.” Xue Bao Tian’s voice sounded weary and lazy. “Did you learn what I taught you at Huang Song’s villa earlier?” His gaze drifted toward the ground at his feet. “Come here. Let’s have a test before class ends.”

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