Dai Linxuan raised a hand, hesitated in midair for a moment, then stroked the back of his neck: “It’s not your fault. I didn’t teach you properly before.”
“Then teach me from now on.” Lai Li latched on immediately. “Bro, I’ll be a good student.”
Dai Linxuan didn’t take the promise seriously—Lai Li might not even remember it. Betting on it would be a total loss.
Dai Linxuan softened his tone and touched his ear: “Still ringing?”
Lai Li paused; he hadn’t even noticed the plane taking off. No discomfort—maybe the medicine worked, or maybe his brother was too distracting.
“Doctor Ye said your frequent tinnitus is related to your illness.” Dai Linxuan said. “Take your meds properly when we get back. Don’t half-ass it, okay?”
Lai Li couldn’t promise. He stayed quiet for a bit, then thought of a solution: “You can watch me take them every day.”
“What if I’m on a business trip? Or busy? I…” Dai Linxuan sighed lightly. “You’re taking them for me?”
What else?
However, afraid of angering Dai Linxuan again, Lai Li wisely kept it to himself. He nuzzled his head against him coquettishly. “Bro, I like it when you take care of me.”
“…”
Lai Li was clearly a stubborn rock, yet he always managed to say things that made hearts race. Perhaps it was precisely because he was so clueless that he could flirt so fearlessly.
Dai Linxuan patted his shoulder. “I’m going to wash my hands, then I’ll come back and sleep with you.”
Lai Li released his arm, dissatisfied. “Didn’t you just wash them?”
“To take a quick piss.” Dai Linxuan lifted the blanket. “Lie down properly.”
Lai Li obediently lay down, his gaze following Dai Linxuan’s figure the whole time.
Dai Linxuan entered the bathroom and turned on the faucet. He had originally planned to sort through their upcoming itinerary, but his mind was filled with thoughts of Lai Li’s condition.
Leaving aside the memory issues for now, something as disruptive as auditory and visual hallucinations—Lai Li hadn’t breathed a word about it in twelve years, and he, as his older brother, hadn’t noticed a thing.
Didn’t he ever feel scared…? Little bastard.
Dai Linxuan washed his hands, changed into a set of pajamas, and returned to the bed. He tucked Lai Li in. “Sleep. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”
“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?” Lai Li questioned. “How many hours did you sleep last night?”
Dai Linxuan patted him. “…We’ll both sleep. Someone will knock when we land.”
Lai Li licked his lips, rolled over, and kissed his brother. “Bro…”
Dai Linxuan’s eyelid twitched. “Don’t mess around. Sleep.”
“I’ll stay still—you do it.” Lai Li’s hand slowly slid downward as he whispered, “A little release helps with sleep.”
For Dai Linxuan, doing this on a plane was still too much. “Cut it out. What if we hit turbulence…”
Lai Li leaned down and kissed his brother’s collarbone. “We’re not really doing it.”
His hair was very short at the moment, prickling Dai Linxuan’s chin and neck itchily.
Dai Linxuan tilted his head back, amused yet helpless. “Is coquetry all you know how to do?”
Lai Li didn’t think of it as coquetry, but Dai Linxuan clearly ate it up—had been for twelve years.
Dai Linxuan closed his eyes briefly and compromised. “Fine. If you want me to help you out, I will. But I don’t need it.”
Lai Li licked his Adam’s apple. “Bro…”
Dai Linxuan stopped his hand, his voice slightly hoarse. “Either sleep.”
Lai Li hesitated between pushing further and taking what he could get, then decisively chose the latter. Better not to piss off his brother and end up with nothing.
He lay back and guided his brother’s hand to touch the two plump, pitless chestnuts, with the thick Danshi stone branch in between.
Lai Li: “Bro, are they big?”
“…” Dai Linxuan’s first reaction was that he’d misheard. Once he realized, half his body went numb.
After a moment, he turned his face away woodenly. “Big, Young Master. Hurry up—do I have to praise them too?”
Lai Li successfully spotted his brother’s slightly red ears and smugly curled his lips.
He didn’t know why, but he just liked seeing it.
Maybe because no one else could.
Dai Linxuan raised his left arm across his forehead, trying to clear his mind and close his eyes, pretending his right hand was on a work trip… But the heat from the friction was impossible to ignore, growing hotter.
He wondered if this ancestor’s abundant energy had anything to do with his condition.
He really should hold back.
*
They spent the night on the plane as they headed toward Sea Island, and after disembarking, it was already night in Danshi.
Lai Li’s face was full of satisfaction.
Doctor Ye’s team got into another car in the darkness. Dai Linxuan had arranged a discreet place for them to stay to prevent any leaks.
The driver who came to pick them up was Uncle Ren. Although Liu Zeng’s injuries weren’t serious, he’d been through a car accident, so he was understandably shaken. Dai Linxuan had given him extended leave.
Danshi in November was very cold, with strong winds. Dai Linxuan pulled out a prepared leather jacket and wrapped it around Lai Li. “Behave when we get home, okay?”
Lai Li drawled lazily, “As long as they don’t mess with you, I’ll behave.”
Dai Linxuan said, “Xiao Yi was worried sick about you while you were on Sea Island. She was afraid something had happened to you—called at least seven or eight times a day.”
Lai Li: “How come I never saw you answer?”
“After you woke up, I temporarily blocked her.” Dai Linxuan tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I wanted these few days with you all to myself, no interruptions from anyone.”
Lai Li corrected him. “I’ve always been yours alone.”
He didn’t care whether Dai Yi was genuinely concerned or had ulterior motives.
Dai Linxuan zipped up his jacket and suddenly asked, “Why did you borrow that fifty thousand from Xiao Yi back then?”
Lai Li said matter-of-factly, “I despise Song Zichu. I didn’t want to lend him my own money or yours—it would be tainted even if he paid it back.”
He didn’t like Dai Yi, this overly prominent “enemy,” either. Since he couldn’t do much about her openly, screwing her over discreetly felt good.
Dai Linxuan got into the car and pulled him along. “Then don’t lend it in the first place.”
Lai Li followed into the back seat. “I wanted to know who arranged for Song Zichu to get close to me, so I had to give him a little ‘hope.'”
Dai Linxuan didn’t reply. He leaned in to buckle Lai Li’s seatbelt.
Lai Li suddenly realized something. “Bro, were you really jealous back then?”
Dai Linxuan glanced at him. “Jealous of what?”
Lai Li’s eyes flickered. “In the auction house bathroom that time…”
Dai Linxuan neither confirmed nor denied. “Why do you remember that?”
Lai Li wasn’t entirely sure. He had an image of being pinned against the stall divider, but he couldn’t distinguish if it was imagination or a dream. Now that Dai Linxuan knew about his memory issues, he could probe directly—no need to dodge talks of “the past” like before.
“Maybe because I was afraid of getting caught, it stuck.” Lai Li said casually. “Bro, in the future…”
Dai Linxuan looked out the window. “No future. Relax.”
That day, he’d truly lost his mind like never before in thirty years.
Logically, he knew Lai Li couldn’t like Song Zichu, but he still minded the rare “special treatment.” Whether it stemmed from liking or hatred didn’t matter.
Lai Li’s expression darkened. “I mean, if you’re jealous in the future, tell me.”
Dai Linxuan agreed easily. “Okay.”
Lai Li asked, “Bro, what are your plans next…”
“Bzzz—”
Lai Li’s question and the incoming call rang at the same time. The screen showed “Jin Ming.” Dai Linxuan’s head immediately started to ache—”answer Lai Li’s question” and “take this call in front of Lai Li” were equally torturous.
Lai Li said darkly, “So intimate.”
Dai Linxuan didn’t catch on at first, until he followed Lai Li’s gaze to the screen name. “…”
He double-checked that he’d saved the full name. How was that intimate?
Dai Linxuan said calmly, “Change it to Officer Jin, okay?”
“No.” Lai Li refused bluntly, a hint of barely concealed irritation in his voice. “Bro, I forbid you from contacting him.”
Dai Linxuan was speechless for a moment. “Isn’t that too domineering?”
Lai Li reminded him, “I’m not just your brother now—I’m your boyfriend. I have the right to demand that.”
“…” Dai Linxuan was so exasperated he wanted to laugh. “Jin Ming’s a cop. He’s handling several cases connected to us, including the car accident. It’s normal for me to contact him—he has no interest in me, and I only have eyes for you, okay?”
Lai Li still frowned. “Can’t the police contact Li Jue instead? Is he just taking a salary for nothing? Can’t the cops handle it?”
Dai Linxuan: “Li Zhu already has a ton of work…”
Lai Li countered, “You only have one assistant?”
Dai Linxuan, worn down, conceded. “Fine, whatever you say. I’ll delete him right now.”
“Wait.” Lai Li stopped his hand. “Answer the call first.”
Dai Linxuan: “…”
Lai Li always had sharp instincts in the weirdest places.
It had rung too long and hung up automatically. Before Dai Linxuan could catch his breath, Jin Ming called again.
His Imperial Majesty ordered, “Answer—on speaker.”
The subject had no choice but to obey.
Jin Ming’s excited voice came through. “Linxuan, you were right. Even if the fingerprints are gone, we can do DNA through family. We found relatives of the criminals from the old fire death list, and one matched the repairman—confirmed he’s the fugitive Meng Tianqing from back then.”
“We’ve recorded DNA from all the relatives we could find. Next time we get an unidentified suspect like this, we can match directly.”
Jin Ming paused, puzzled. “Linxuan, why aren’t you saying anything?”
Dai Linxuan: “…”
Lai Li stared coldly at the “Jin Ming” on the screen, trying to glare a hole through the phone line to kill him.
“Just use my full name.” Dai Linxuan said politely. “Thanks for updating me right away.”
“I thought we were friends by now.” Jin Ming chuckled. “Fine, Mr. Dai. Thanks anyway for the tip.”
“Beep beep.” The call ended.
The car fell deathly silent.
Dai Linxuan sighed, not wanting to hear that sarcastic “so intimate” again. He spoke first. “I’m really not close with Jin Ming… The tip was what you speculated on the plane. I thought the same—the repairman seemed like Song Zichu’s type, but the age didn’t match, so I told Jin Ming to check the criminals from the old fire list directly.”
Lai Li stared at him, snatched his phone, and sent Jin Ming a message: Contact this number in the future. Don’t harass my brother.
Then he blocked and deleted in one go.
Dai Linxuan pressed his lips together and looked away, pretending not to see.
Lai Li: “Bro, you…”
Uncle Ren in the driver’s seat suddenly slammed on the brakes.
Lai Li hadn’t been sitting straight, and even with the seatbelt, his body lurched forward.
He heard a “click,” and by the time he reacted, everything went black—
Dai Linxuan had unbuckled and shielded him firmly with his body, all in an instant.
Lai Li’s throat itched. “Bro…”
Dai Linxuan pressed his shoulder, turning back with rare displeasure. “What happened?”
Uncle Ren said uncertainly, “Seems like Xiao Yi.”
Dai Linxuan: “…”
Someone had cut them off.
Dai Linxuan rolled down the window and saw a silver sports car parked sideways in front of them. Dai Yi got out, tossed the keys to the passenger seat, and walked toward them.
“Knock knock—” Dai Yi knocked on the window affectedly, smiling sweetly. “I lent my car to a friend. Brothers, can you give me a ride home?”
With that, she pulled open the door politely. “Thanks.”
“…”
