Chapter 43 Part 2

Adult interests were too entangled for whims.

Since meeting Chi Wei and Qi Shan, Li Ran had known they were desperate to mend things with Chi Mo—stooping so low they’d trample their parental dignity into the dirt.

Such self-abasing parents were rare across China. Before, Li Ran hadn’t gotten it. He’d thought they were patching the void of never being around for Chi Mo.

He’d heard upper-class families treated time as money—everyone too busy, kids lucky to glimpse their parents.

He hadn’t expected Chi Wei and Qi Shan to be so awful… Parents who’d shipped Chi Mo off to the conversion center for two years—awful!

Li Ran’s voice dropped sadly, almost a mumble: “Bro’s hurting. And it hurts me too.”

“Sigh…” Cheng Ai Mei sighed worriedly, patting his head with her well-maintained hand, barely wrinkled: “No worries. Your grandpa and I are the elders here. If they show, we’ve got it. You and Xiao Mo just ignore them and eat your fill.”

“Yeah, yeah—just two uninvited guests. We ain’t scared,” Ye Ze chimed in quickly, then clasped his hands behind his back and railed: “Some parents these days really suck at parenting. Wanna slap ’em!”

Chi Mo still hadn’t come down after ages.

Li Ran went up.

Mid-conversation with his grandparents downstairs, a thought zipped through Li Ran’s mind.

His bro had said two days ago: without Bodhi beads to ease his mood… kissing would do.

Night had deepened. With the house lights off, it would plunge into darkness. Li Ran headed to his own room—no need to knock. Even if his bro was inside right now, he wasn’t planning to. He twisted the handle and walked right in.

Not a single lamp on in the bedroom. The instant the door cracked open, Chi Mo—who’d sat on the bed’s edge after fruitlessly searching and concluding nothing was here—saw a beam of outside light slice through the gap. Like the sun ripping a massive hole in gloomy skies, slamming a pillar of light to earth.

Then a slender figure tiptoed in, shut the door. Darkness reclaimed the room, but the boy chose to stay, drawing closer step by step. Chi Mo’s gaze flickered.

“…Bro.” Li Ran’s voice was tiny, as if afraid to disturb some secret lurking in the dark. “I came to find you.”

Chi Mo’s throat tightened. After a moment, ensuring his voice would come out smooth, he rasped: “Why?”

“…Just wanted to find you.”

Chi Mo snorted a cold laugh. “Not afraid I’ll take advantage?”

Li Ran stayed silent. He sat quietly beside Chi Mo. His dark-adapted eyes fixed on his own toes, legs pressed together, hands gripping the bed’s edge at his sides. He didn’t turn to look at Chi Mo, but their clothes brushed—close, very close.

At 21, Chi Mo figured his morals were rock-bottom. Nobility had nothing to do with him.

He knew the world wasn’t black-and-white. People had good mixed with bad, bad with good; things wove truth and lies. But Chi Mo never bought it. He lacked the time or energy to parse them, then graciously accept. Extreme from childhood, he saw everyone and everything in stark black or white.

And he ranked black.

The blackest of all.

Li Ran coming to him on his own initiative? Chi Mo wasn’t an idiot—he knew what it meant.

The kid wanted to substitute himself for the Bodhi beads.

If Chi Mo still embraced his pitch-black self, he’d shove this clueless fool onto the bed, kiss him senseless, and teach him a lesson about gender and timing.

But—

Bodhi beads were Bodhi beads. Li Ran was Li Ran. Bodhi could be swapped for many things. Li Ran could not.

Bodhi beads weren’t worthy of Li Ran’s substitution.

Li Ran was just Li Ran. Only Li Ran.

The correction method could change—but only if Li Ran agreed. Said it aloud, himself.

It wasn’t the right time yet.

Chi Mo clenched his fists tightly at his sides, enduring the urge. At first, he was unhappy because Chi Wei and Qi Shan had no sense of boundaries or propriety—they stuck to him like dog-skin plasters. He had been pondering how to cut out these two pieces of rotten flesh when Li Ran arrived. Now, this heartless kid had left him utterly speechless, a stifling knot of frustration burning fiercely in his chest.

The innocent Li Ran had no idea how powerful his presence was. His good intentions had backfired, tormenting his brother’s heart even more. Perhaps in his previous life, Chi Mo owed him money—this life, he had come to collect the debt.

After waiting ages for Chi Mo to respond, Li Ran couldn’t bring himself to say something like “kiss me”—it would sound so weird coming from a straight guy. He just hoped his brother would cheer up soon and hinted subtly, “…Bro?”

Chi Mo: “…”

He really wanted to throw caution to the wind and take him right there.

Take him until he was done for.

After a long silence, Chi Mo sighed helplessly. He pulled Li Ran’s hand over and gripped it tightly, saying in a low voice, “I’m fine. Don’t force yourself.”

“Be good. Don’t be sad, okay?”

Li Ran didn’t understand how it had flipped—he had gone upstairs to comfort his brother, but now his brother was comforting him.

His ears grew hot, and he rubbed them.

That phrase “don’t be sad” seemed magical. Li Ran’s depressed mood dispersed instantly. He gripped Chi Mo’s hand back and leaned in to nuzzle him. “Then you don’t be sad either, Bro.”

Chi Mo chuckled lightly. “Mm.”

This cold-hearted bastard wouldn’t be sad, but since the kid thought so, let him keep the misunderstanding.

It wasn’t the first time his parents had harassed him. When Chi Wei and Qi Shan couldn’t see him, they called daily from different numbers. When they could, they practically flew over and glued themselves to him.

They were his biological parents, after all. No matter what, their despicable blood flowed through his veins—blood is thicker than water.

But feeling sad for such people wasn’t among the seven emotions and six desires that Chi Mo knew like the back of his hand. All his affection went to Li Ran—no one else got any.

He was just annoyed, like dealing with flies or maggots. He wanted to get rid of them once and for all.

If outsiders didn’t know what had happened between Chi Mo and his parents, no one could tell he was unhappy during their interactions. They would just think it was his nature—not as enthusiastic as his peers.

That’s how he appeared to outsiders.

But Li Ran was perceptive and could see it.

About twenty minutes later, the sound of the door opening came from downstairs. Cheng Ai Mei called out loudly, “Oh my, Mr. Chi and Mrs. Chi are here! And little Qi Zhi, you’re here too? Great, great, the more the merrier. Chengwan, go pour some hot tea for your big brother and sister-in-law.”

“It’s been so long, I almost forgot what you two look like, Chi Wei and Qi Shan. Still so handsome and beautiful. Your arranged marriage really suits you—perfect match.”

“I heard it was a family decision back then. You two were young and hot-headed, didn’t like each other at first, and each had your own boyfriend or girlfriend, right? Haha, these rumors sound so detailed. If I didn’t see how well you get along now, I’d believe them.”

“Look at me, old lady rambling on. Sorry, I got sidetracked…”

“Huh? Looking for who? Little Mo? He’s upstairs… Hey, no, this isn’t your house—it’s my son’s home. Don’t just barge upstairs. Little Mo and Little Ran will come down when they’re ready. Kids need their private space. Our family never disturbs them. Do you? No? Good, that’s settled~”

Chi Wei always wore a coffin-like icy face outside, but at home, he smiled sometimes. Today, his smile was particularly bright. “Mom, say more.”

With outsiders around, how could she be so rude? Cheng Ai Mei shot him a glare. “Go cool off somewhere!”

Chi Wei rarely obeyed. “Mm-hmm.”

Chi Wei and Qi Shan hadn’t expected Ye Chengwan’s family to be there. Their faces turned ashen.

When they weren’t close to Chi Mo, there was no interaction. Later, Chi Mo grew closer to his little uncle Chi Wei than to his own parents. Through Ye Chengwan, he naturally got to know the two elders.

At first, Cheng Ai Mei was polite to Chi Wei and Qi Shan. Then, who knows what she heard—now she was full of passive-aggressive sarcasm, every word laced with barbs. Now she was even bolder, lecturing them at length until anyone’s face would turn green. But she always smiled with squinted eyes, as if harmless. Her age let her get away with it—no one could do a thing.

Ye Ze didn’t say much, but for every line Cheng Ai Mei uttered, he nodded vigorously beside her. “Yeah, exactly! Right! Spot on!”

He specialized in backing her up, leaving no room for others to interject.

Chi Mo wasn’t their real grandson—who knew what shortcoming they were protecting.

Nosy busybodies.

Li Ran heard the commotion downstairs and felt a wicked thrill inside. Then he remembered they were elders after all and felt guilty. He told his brother, “I’ve turned bad.”

Chi Mo’s expression was indifferent, but he perked up with interest. “Mm? How so?”

“Grandma talking about them like that… I felt a little happy.” Li Ran confessed carefully. “…Isn’t that bad?”