Xiao Dong, the hotel attendant, had already escorted a group of guests back to the hotel to shelter from the rain before he belatedly realized that Lan Xi was missing.
His mind went completely blank. Fear of being held responsible immediately overwhelmed everything else.
He didn’t tell anyone. He figured he would find Lan Xi first, so he hurriedly grabbed an umbrella and headed back outside.
…
When they first left the hotel, Lan Xi had stayed close beside Xiao Dong. But there happened to be a lot of tourists that afternoon. A crowd surged between them, and as Lan Xi kept following along, he eventually lost sight of Xiao Dong.
The hotel’s other guests were familiar with the route and had already scattered to wander around on their own.
Lan Xi, however, couldn’t read.
And he didn’t know the way.
But that was all right.
He was very good at taking things in stride.
Everything in “Heaven” was new and fascinating to Lan Xi. This was also the first time he had been allowed to wander around completely unsupervised.
He looked curiously from side to side.
He passed through tea fields, climbed over a small hill, and kept walking and walking. After a while, a thought occurred to him.
Why don’t I go farther away? Maybe I can find some other seraphs out there.
The sudden downpour promptly washed that idea away.
He couldn’t be bothered walking that far in the rain anymore. So he chose to stay where he was and rest while waiting for someone to come find him.
I want noodles.
And so Lan Xi, who had crouched there out of boredom and started watching ants, ended up waiting until Fu Hui appeared.
Fu Hui’s hair had been completely soaked as well, turning into a wet slicked-back style that made his handsome brows and eyes stand out even more sharply, lending him a strikingly bright and dangerous air.
Lan Xi stared appreciatively for two seconds before breaking into a delighted smile.
Just when things seemed hopeless, a new way opened up!
But this seraph was much more dangerous than the pair of brothers. He held a great deal of power.
Lan Xi thought seriously for a long time, but still couldn’t figure out exactly how he should seduce him.
Before he could decide, the seraph in front of him spoke first.
He called him “a mute.”
Lan Xi: o.O
He gave Fu Hui a sidelong look, trying to determine whether this angel was insulting him.
Then Lan Xi remembered the movie he had watched yesterday. The male lead had kept calling his partner “little stutterer, little stutterer.”
Mute, stutterer… what’s the difference between the two? I don’t know.
Then it probably isn’t an insult.
Elio’s Notes: In Chinese, 哑巴 (yǎba, “mute person”) and 结巴 (jiēba, “stutterer”) both end in the syllable ba. Because Lan Xi is still learning human speech, he assumes the two words must be similar and concludes that being called “mute” probably isn’t an insult.
Lan Xi pursed his lips and smiled at Fu Hui.
He looked even more foolish.
A flicker of pity crossed Fu Hui’s heart. He looked up at the sky and patiently asked, “Where are you staying? I’ll take you back.”
Lan Xi was somewhat puzzled by his attitude.
That day in the mansion, this man had been in a terrible mood. Lan Xi hadn’t even been allowed to touch him.
But today…
He seemed rather nice.
Did my charm already work on him?
“It’s pouring. You need to go home, or you’ll get sick,” Fu Hui tried again.
Lan Xi was entirely focused on sleeping with him. He had already worked out his little scheme and only wanted the man to take him home.
So he resolutely pretended not to understand and merely blinked at Fu Hui.
When he blinked, raindrops gathered along his lashes rolled down his cheeks and broke into scattered wet trails.
Fu Hui stared at “her” for several seconds before deciding not to waste any more words.
Instead, he took hold of Lan Xi’s arm through the soaked bathrobe and simply led her onward through the rain.
Fortunately, the little fool was very obedient and didn’t struggle at all.
Their lodging was still about three kilometers away.
Fu Hui took out his phone. His thumb brushed over his bodyguard’s number, but in the end, he put the phone away again.
The two of them continued quietly through the curtain of rain.
Fu Hui had actually worried that the girl might run out of strength halfway. Unexpectedly, she had plenty of stamina.
Sometimes, when Fu Hui lengthened his stride, she would hurriedly adjust her steps to keep up.
She seemed to like the rain very much.
The downpour left them both bedraggled, but she showed no irritation whatsoever. Her face remained filled with excitement and delight from beginning to end.
Fu Hui liked rain too.
As they continued along the seemingly endless trail, Fu Hui’s mood gradually grew calmer and more relaxed.
But after walking for so long, Lan Xi eventually began to lose patience.
He started secretly studying Fu Hui’s waist and back.
Fu Hui was extremely sensitive to being watched. He turned his head almost immediately.
“What are you looking at?”
Lan Xi blinked.
I’m wondering how so many wings could possibly grow out of your back.
Seeing that she only knew how to blink at him, Fu Hui chuckled softly and tossed his suit jacket over her head, completely blocking her view.
Lan Xi wrinkled his nose.
After hesitating for a moment, he decided not to pull the jacket off.
The temperature in the mountains had dropped sharply, and being soaked made the cold especially noticeable.
The colder Lan Xi’s body became, the more intensely he could feel the heat from the man’s large hand passing through the wet bathrobe.
The energy inside him must be incredibly powerful.
Lan Xi began looking forward to it.
“Mr. Fu!”
The bodyguards waiting at the end of the trail stood beneath large black umbrellas and had long since become frantic with worry. But since Sir hadn’t contacted them, they hadn’t dared act without instructions.
The moment they finally saw Fu Hui return, they breathed enormous sighs of relief.
Except…
“Sir, she is…?”
The bodyguard stared at the bedraggled stranger wearing Sir’s coat. Her face was hidden beneath the jacket, making it impossible to see clearly.
“Picked her up along the way. Prepare some clothes for her, take her to have a hot shower, and get her something to eat.”
“Yes.”
After answering, the bodyguard suddenly remembered something and immediately reported, “Brother Wang just went down the mountain. He said he was going to the hospital to have his arm checked.”
Brother Wang was the bodyguard whose arm had been injured that day.
“Mm. It’s about time he had it looked at,” Fu Hui replied mildly as he released Lan Xi’s arm.
Lan Xi didn’t care. His objective had already been achieved.
Like a little tail, he followed closely behind Fu Hui into the villa.
Not a single person they passed recognized his face.
At seven thirty that evening, Lan Xi had changed into clean, warm clothes.
Although it was a dress.
But angels often liked dressing this way, so Lan Xi didn’t find it strange.
Fu Hui had also showered and changed. He was now sitting on the downstairs sofa drinking tea.
The fragrance of the tea slowly drifted toward Lan Xi. Unable to resist, he hurried down the stairs.
With all that noise, of course Fu Hui heard him.
He looked up and saw a young girl in a blue dress running toward him.
One of the bodyguards had bought the dress from the woman who owned a nearby guesthouse.
Large irises were printed across the fabric.
It suited her surprisingly well. The dress and the girl seemed to blend together like a Monet painting.
The “painting” floated over in a few quick steps.
Lan Xi sat down right beside Fu Hui.
Fu Hui frowned almost imperceptibly and shifted a little farther away.
Then again, he knew better than to argue with a little girl who was both foolish and mute.
When he turned and saw Lan Xi staring intently at the teacup in his hand, a slow smile appeared on his face.
“Want some?”
He knew a mute girl couldn’t answer, so after asking, he waved for a bodyguard to bring another cup.
Lan Xi had been waiting eagerly.
He took the cup and drained it in one gulp.
Then he chewed up the tea leaves too.
The bodyguard beside him nearly had a heart attack.
“Hey—hey! Careful, you’ll burn your esophagus!”
But she drank far too quickly.
It was already too late to stop her.
Fu Hui: “…”
He immediately pried open Lan Xi’s mouth and inspected it carefully.
All he could see was a glimpse of pink tongue and the equally pink inside of the mouth.
“No burns.”
Fu Hui withdrew his gaze.
The bodyguard stared in astonishment.
What was her mouth made of, iron?!
Even so, Fu Hui still had someone bring over some ice.
Afraid that the foolish girl wouldn’t know what to do with it, Fu Hui personally used a small pair of tongs to pick up a square ice cube. Then he pinched Lan Xi’s cheeks and pushed it into her mouth.
“Keep it in there. Can you understand me?”
Lan Xi nodded and sucked hard on the ice cube resting on his tongue.
He liked the icy-cold sensation very much.
Stupid, but obedient.
Fu Hui flexed the fingers that had just pinched her cheek.
His fingertips felt faintly warm.
He wasn’t quite accustomed to that particular sensation.
His gaze shifted away slightly.
Lan Xi still had a hair-drying cap wrapped around his head, his long hair stuffed inside until it bulged out, making his face look even smaller.
Fu Hui stared at him like that for three seconds.
“Take her to dry her hair.”
“Yes.”
The bodyguard led Lan Xi into the washroom.
As soon as the hair-drying cap came off, his long hair spilled over his shoulders like a waterfall.
The bodyguard froze briefly, instinctively struck by how beautiful it was.
But he quickly shook himself out of it, picked up the hair dryer, and dutifully completed the task Sir had given him.
After drying Lan Xi’s hair, the bodyguard clumsily tied it into two crooked pigtails.
As luck would have it, dinner was brought in at that moment.
With so much food suddenly competing for his attention, Lan Xi forgot about his hair.
He also forgot about sleeping with Fu Hui.
Ever since arriving in “Heaven,” Lan Xi had always been extremely focused when eating.
Fu Hui watched her eat with her head lowered, ridiculous crooked pigtails bouncing slightly, and found that his own appetite improved a little too.
Good.
A mute girl ate quietly.
No fuss, no noise.
Both sides were very satisfied.
Late that night, a bodyguard took Lan Xi to the room temporarily assigned to him.
“You’ll sleep here tonight.”
Lan Xi pretended not to hear.
After dinner, Fu Hui had remained in the downstairs study handling business.
By the time he finished, it was nearly midnight.
He rubbed his temple, walked outside, and instructed the bodyguard, “Once it gets light tomorrow, ask around nearby and find out whether anyone recognizes her or knows where she lives. If you still can’t find anything, call the police.”
The bodyguard nodded.
Fu Hui took two steps away, then suddenly noticed something wriggling on the sofa.
He stopped and looked more carefully.
It wasn’t a thing.
It was a person.
The girl was hugging a pillow and sitting crookedly on the sofa, looking as though she desperately wanted to sleep but was stubbornly refusing to let herself drift off.
Fu Hui walked over and patted Lan Xi.
“Why aren’t you sleeping upstairs?”
Lan Xi had long since gotten tired of waiting.
He opened his eyes, couldn’t even be bothered speaking, got up, and immediately tried to hug Fu Hui.
Fu Hui pinned him firmly against the sofa.
“You can’t throw yourself into the arms of everyone you meet. Didn’t your parents ever teach you that?”
His voice was slightly cold.
Lan Xi understood that.
But his parents had only ever taught him to embrace everyone he met.
Was there something wrong with that?
Fu Hui had no intention of continuing to struggle with her. After speaking, he straightened up and withdrew his hand.
But the girl in front of him immediately reached for his shoulders again.
Even the bodyguard could see that there was simply no communicating with this person.
He hurriedly offered a guess. “Maybe she’s frightened because this place is unfamiliar?”
Fu Hui lowered his eyes.
A faint wash of light caught between his lashes, making him appear far more detached than he had during the day.
“Even if she’s scared, she still can’t sleep with me.”
The bodyguard answered awkwardly, “Right. Of course.”
“If you like the sofa, then sleep on the sofa.”
After saying that to Lan Xi, Fu Hui turned and went upstairs.
At the same time, he gestured for the bodyguard to keep an eye on her.
Lan Xi frowned.
This seraph is ridiculously hard to seduce.
But that’s fine.
Hugging his pillow, he flopped backward onto the sofa and pretended to fall asleep.
The bodyguard breathed a sigh of relief.
He brought down a blanket, covered her with it, and only then left.
At one thirty in the morning, Lan Xi quietly slipped out from under the blanket.
At 1:43 a.m., he found Fu Hui’s door.
It wasn’t locked.
Lan Xi pushed the door open and walked inside.
He immediately found himself staring straight at Fu Hui, who was leaning by the window smoking.
Fu Hui is still awake!
Lan Xi’s plan to secretly sneak into his bed was officially ruined.
He stood there motionless, seriously considering what he should do next.
Fu Hui, however, crushed the cigarette into the ashtray and suddenly relented.
“Come in.”
Lan Xi immediately brightened and rushed toward him.
Fu Hui said nothing else.
He took Lan Xi by the arm and led him to the bed.
“Sleep.”
Lan Xi excitedly lay down.
Fu Hui, however, returned to the window.
He raised a hand, removed his suit jacket, and casually hung it on the standing coat rack beside him.
Then he stopped moving.
He simply leaned there and looked at the moonlight, his figure stretched long by the pale shadows.
Lan Xi: “…”
This seraph is so strange.
I’m already lying here, and he still won’t sleep with me!
My charm doesn’t seem to work on him at all!
Furious, Lan Xi kicked the blanket away and deliberately exposed a stretch of smooth, pale calf.
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