In the unnaturally quiet night, the clock on the wall went tick-tock, tick-tock.
Lan Xi listened to it until he fell asleep. When he woke the next morning, he found himself wrapped snugly in the blanket from head to toe.
Maybe the seraph did something to me while I was asleep?
Lan Xi quickly threw off the blanket and carefully inspected his wrists, ankles, neck…
Not a single mark.
Lan Xi: “…”
Disappointed, he got out of bed.
Downstairs was completely quiet. When the bodyguard saw Lan Xi coming down, he raised a finger in a shh gesture before saying, “Sir is catching up on sleep.”
Then he took Lan Xi to the dining room for breakfast.
The bodyguard had no idea what Lan Xi liked to eat. Since Sir had gone to the trouble of bringing the girl back, he figured they ought to make an effort, so he told the kitchen to prepare a generous spread.
On the Chinese side there were pan-fried buns, rouyan dumplings, congee, and beef rice noodle soup. On the Western side there were egg tarts, hazelnut-chocolate toast, tuna sandwiches, churros…
Fruit and tea snacks filled the rest of the table.
Elio’s Notes: Rouyan is a specialty from Fujian, particularly Fuzhou. Unlike ordinary wontons, its thin wrappers are traditionally made from pounded pork mixed with starch.
The bodyguard’s intention was to give Lan Xi plenty of choices.
What he didn’t know was that Lan Xi wasn’t picky at all.
Lan Xi ate his way from one end of the table to the other, until the bodyguard actually started getting scared.
“You can’t eat anymore. If you stuff yourself too much, you could get pancreatitis and end up in the hospital.”
Lan Xi more or less understood you can’t eat anymore.
But since he didn’t like hearing that, he followed his usual practice and pretended not to understand.
By the time Fu Hui woke up, Lan Xi had moved on to the cherry tomatoes.
The tomatoes came in all different colors, and each one burst with juice when he popped it into his mouth. Before long, his lips were glistening with moisture.
Fu Hui walked over to the table while fastening his watch. Seeing the bodyguard standing there helplessly with a miserable expression, he asked, “What happened?”
The bodyguard pointed at the table. “I don’t think she knows when she’s full. She ate practically everything in one sitting.”
Fu Hui didn’t find that particularly troublesome.
He walked straight over to Lan Xi and pressed down on his hand.
Then he told the bodyguard, “Clear away everything that’s left.”
That worked?
The bodyguard looked at the “girl” in surprise.
Sure enough, the moment Sir held her hand down, she really did stop moving.
Having food snatched right out from under him, Lan Xi very much wanted to give this seraph a couple of kicks.
But then he remembered that he still hadn’t managed to seduce him.
So he let it go.
Fu Hui was indeed quite satisfied by how obedient she was.
He pulled out the chair beside Lan Xi and sat down.
“They’ve gone out to look for your family. Behave yourself and stay here for now.”
As he spoke, Fu Hui’s own breakfast was brought over.
His meal was much simpler: a sandwich, soft scrambled eggs, milk, and a few berries.
He picked up his knife and fork, only to discover that the girl was still staring fixedly at him.
“Still want to eat? You ate that much already. Where did you even put it all?”
Doesn’t this little fool feel stuffed?
Fu Hui started to reach toward her stomach, intending to see whether it had bulged from all that food, but halfway there, he realized the gesture would be inappropriate and stopped himself.
It was only her state of mind that made her seem like a child.
She herself was not a child.
She should already be a grown woman.
“Take her somewhere else to play,” Fu Hui instructed the bodyguard as he turned his attention back to breakfast.
The bodyguard stepped forward and tried to lead Lan Xi away.
He couldn’t move him.
The corner of the bodyguard’s mouth twitched. “She seems… determined to stay with you, Sir.”
“Imprinting?” Fu Hui raised an eyebrow, showing no particular disgust.
After all, there probably weren’t many people in this world who could truly dislike a beautiful fool with such innocent thoughts.
So Fu Hui simply stopped paying attention to her.
He didn’t speak to Lan Xi again either.
After breakfast, Fu Hui casually picked up a book and began reading.
Lan Xi desperately, desperately wanted to watch television.
But he looked at Fu Hui’s still-cool, indifferent face and forced himself to endure it.
Lan Xi felt that he had made an enormous sacrifice.
Fu Hui, meanwhile, was starting to find it unbearable being stared at for so long.
It wasn’t that he disliked it.
The “girl’s” gaze was simply far too focused and intense.
As though, at this moment, Fu Hui was the only thing left in her entire world.
“What time is it?” Fu Hui asked the bodyguard.
“Sir, it’s eleven thirty-nine.”
“If there’s still no news by two this afternoon, call the police.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Fu Hui opened his book again.
Xiao Dong was having a terrible time.
He still hadn’t found Young Master Wen, but he didn’t dare tell the hotel.
He had barely managed to fob off the caretaker hired by the Wen family, then immediately gone back out to keep searching.
Fortunately, the weather was clear today.
He took out a photo he had secretly snapped and asked people along the way.
No one had seen him.
Xiao Dong was close to despair.
Then he noticed someone else nearby who also seemed to be asking passersby about something.
“Has anyone around here reported a missing girl?”
“Haven’t heard anything.” The passerby waved him off.
Fu Hui’s bodyguard spotted Xiao Dong’s hotel uniform and figured that someone who worked there probably knew the area well.
So he approached him.
“Hello. Have you heard of anyone nearby losing a girl? She can’t speak and seems a little… simple-minded.”
A girl?
That didn’t match.
But if you said someone who couldn’t speak and seemed a little simple-minded…
Xiao Dong’s heart started thump-thumping.
He pulled out his phone and showed the bodyguard a picture.
“Does she look like this?”
The bodyguard’s eyes lit up. “Yes! Finally! Are you her family?”
The denial had already reached Xiao Dong’s lips when he swallowed it back down.
Xiao Dong had no idea that Wen Lan had essentially been exiled by his family.
All he knew was that he couldn’t afford to offend rich people.
Under absolutely no circumstances could he let Young Master Wen’s family find out that he had lost him.
So Xiao Dong nodded.
“Yes.”
He thought back to how Young Master Wen had been dressed yesterday.
With that long head of curly hair and such delicate, almost androgynous features, it really wasn’t strange that someone had mistaken him for a girl.
That meant no one would ever connect this “missing girl” with Young Master Wen.
Heaven itself was helping him!
“She’s my little sister,” Xiao Dong said.
Creak.
The villa door opened, setting the wind chime in the entryway tinkling.
“Sir, I found her family.”
Xiao Dong nervously followed the bodyguard inside.
He hadn’t expected Young Master Wen to have been picked up by someone.
And judging from the place, the person who had picked him up seemed pretty rich too.
Was that a good thing?
At least nothing had happened to Young Master Wen.
Xiao Dong was led before Fu Hui. Before he had even properly come to a stop, he felt an instinctive trace of fear.
The young man in front of him was holding a book and sitting in a relaxed posture, yet there was still an indescribable sense of pressure about him.
Perhaps it was because his good looks were simply too sharp.
Xiao Dong hurriedly looked toward Young Master Wen first.
He was perfectly fine.
Not a scratch on him.
Except…
He was wearing a dress.
The corner of Xiao Dong’s eye twitched.
He hurried over and threw his arms around Lan Xi.
“You’re okay! Thank God! You scared me to death!”
Lan Xi was expressionless.
What terrible timing.
Xiao Dong didn’t see his expression.
Fu Hui did.
Fu Hui raised his book, pressed it against Xiao Dong’s shoulder, and forcibly pushed him back a little.
“You’re her brother? Prove it.”
As before, Xiao Dong produced the photo on his phone.
Fu Hui glanced at it, then asked, “What’s her name?”
“…A-Lan.”
“What was she wearing when she went missing?”
“A bathrobe. She likes wearing bathrobes! She also had a corner of a square scarf tied over her head. She pulled it right off a table!”
Fu Hui still didn’t let them leave so easily.
“You don’t have any photos together?”
“No. She doesn’t like taking photos with people…”
Xiao Dong lied while cold sweat quietly gathered on his skin.
Good thing there’s something wrong with Young Master Wen’s head. He probably won’t contradict me.
Lying in front of this man was unbelievably stressful.
Xiao Dong lowered his voice and coaxed Lan Xi, “It’s getting late. We’re having grilled sea bass for lunch. If we go back early, we’ll still make it in time.”
Lan Xi very much wanted to pretend he didn’t know him.
But grilled sea bass was innocent.
While Lan Xi was still wrestling with this dilemma, Fu Hui finally relented.
“Mm. Take her back, then.”
Xiao Dong was overjoyed and immediately launched into a long string of thanks.
Fu Hui merely found him noisy.
He waved at the bodyguard, who immediately understood and began escorting the two “siblings” outside.
Once they had disappeared from sight, Fu Hui thought for a moment and added another instruction.
“Have him leave a phone number.”
Something still felt slightly strange.
But Xiao Dong clearly knew her well enough to coax her with food.
And she had, indeed, been coaxed away.
Forget it.
He had only picked someone up on a whim.
It had nothing to do with him.
Fu Hui reopened the page of his book that he had been stuck on for ages.
Outside, even though Xiao Dong knew Lan Xi might not understand him, he still couldn’t help carefully instructing him not to tell anyone that he had gotten lost.
“What do you want to eat tomorrow? I’ll get it for you.”
“Want… go,” Lan Xi said haltingly while carefully memorizing the route.
“Go where?”
“Go… out.”
“No, absolutely not, you little menace! What if you get lost again?” Xiao Dong practically wanted to kneel before him.
Lan Xi turned and pointed behind them at the villa, now gradually disappearing beneath the sunlight.
Xiao Dong understood.
“You still want to come back here?”
Lan Xi nodded.
Xiao Dong shook his head. “No, no way! Didn’t you think that man just now was… kind of sinister?”
Lan Xi didn’t understand the word and looked confused.
Then Xiao Dong suddenly noticed Lan Xi’s pigtails.
“Wait. Who did your hair? That man?”
Lan Xi understood about half the sentence and nodded.
Xiao Dong froze.
That man really had that much patience?
Well…
He probably just felt sorry for the little fool.
Back at the hotel, Xiao Dong spent another long while trying to persuade Lan Xi not to wander off again.
Lan Xi couldn’t be bothered responding.
He simply shut the door in Xiao Dong’s face.
Then he happily turned on the television and began binge-watching to make up for the half day he had sacrificed sitting around doing nothing.
Of course, this time he didn’t stay up too late.
The next morning, he got up bright and early.
Nine in the morning.
A bodyguard was heading outside to change shifts.
“Sir! Sir!”
He had barely glanced toward the gate before immediately turning and hurrying back inside.
Fu Hui had only just gotten up.
Without the little mute girl around, he was wearing only a loose blue lounge outfit.
“What happened?” Fu Hui frowned slightly.
“Could you come outside, Sir?”
Fu Hui said nothing.
He walked out at an unhurried pace and immediately spotted Lan Xi draped over the wooden courtyard gate.
The villa’s gate had a Mediterranean-style rounded arch. It wasn’t even as tall as a person and was covered in climbing flowers.
Lan Xi had rested his chin on top of the arch and sprawled over it, his folded arms squishing a little of the soft flesh on his cheeks out of shape.
He gazed at Fu Hui.
Utterly innocent.
Even the bodyguard was astonished. “How did she find this place?”
“She memorized the way,” Fu Hui said.
The bodyguard looked puzzled.
A fool can remember the route?
Fu Hui spoke again. “Perhaps the simpler someone’s mind is, the more gifted they are in certain ways.”
By then, Fu Hui had already walked over to Lan Xi.
“Where’s your brother?”
Lan Xi played dumb and blinked.
He had noticed that whenever he blinked, Fu Hui would pay particular attention to his eyes and stare at them for a few extra seconds.
“Why did you come back?” Fu Hui asked.
Lan Xi stretched out an arm toward Fu Hui’s clothes.
Fu Hui didn’t dodge.
He watched as she gently placed a hand against his chest and stroked it twice.
Fu Hui’s eyes narrowed at once.
“You came back for me?”
Lan Xi didn’t answer.
He just smiled at him.
And while smiling, Lan Xi suddenly came up with an absolutely brilliant idea.
He plucked a flower from the gate and held it out to Fu Hui.
Fu Hui: “…”
He didn’t take it.
Lan Xi stubbornly refused to withdraw his hand.
The two remained locked in a stalemate for two full minutes.
By the time sweat was about to start running down the bodyguard’s neck, Fu Hui finally accepted the flower and opened the gate at the same time.
Lan Xi immediately lost his balance.
With extremely obvious intent, he toppled straight toward Fu Hui.
But Fu Hui moved even faster.
He shifted half a step aside while sweeping out one arm, catching Lan Xi with only his forearm and immediately steadying him on his feet.
Lan Xi: “…”
A stomachful of curses instantly surged through him, and he secretly ground his teeth.
But from the side, all anyone else could see was the “girl” adorably puffing out her cheeks.
“Come in.”
The phone number they had asked for yesterday was already proving useful.
Fu Hui glanced at the bodyguard.
“Call Xiao Dong.”
When Xiao Dong received the call, he finally discovered that Young Master Wen was missing again.
His entire world nearly collapsed.
“I’ll come pick him up right now. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”
Fu Hui sat on the sofa and glanced at the “girl” staring fixedly at him.
“Come at two this afternoon.”
Fu Hui tossed Lan Xi a brightly colored magazine. “She can stay here and look through this.”
After saying that, Fu Hui studied Lan Xi again.
His gaze deepened.
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