“…”
Crap!
Ming Ying hastily threw that poster aside.
Damn this Old Rogue, he’d gone and tainted his sacred thing with yellow dye.
In the end, the poster’s final fate was being shoved to the bottom of a box.
A long time later, when Mr. Aston decided to renovate a game room in the house, this poster finally saw the light of day again.
…
The next morning, Ming Ying hazily felt someone stroking his face. He instinctively nuzzled into it, then amidst the blur, seemed to realize something and suddenly opened his eyes.
Sure enough, the person who had been lying beside him was now fully dressed—shirt, belt, watch, even his hair styled back into its meticulous state.
Ming Ying rubbed his eyes and sat up. “You’re leaving?”
Hearing the movement, Silas turned around. “Mm. Nine o’clock flight.”
Ming Ying just closed his eyes, scooted over from the bedside, wrapped his arms around the man’s waist, and started nuzzling his face against him.
He’d been nuzzling for a while when suddenly someone pressed a hand against his head and pushed him away.
Ming Ying was very displeased. “What are you doing?”
Silas frowned. “Ming, I need to leave at eight. It’s almost seven-thirty now. Thirty minutes isn’t quite enough.”
Ming Ying: “Not enough for what?”
Silas: “What do you think?”
“…”
Ming Ying shut his eyes, couldn’t help but laugh. “Just get out of here… you old pervert!”
Just like that, they were forced apart on the very first day of living together.
Silas went away on his business trip.
And the next day, Ming Ying smoothly passed the N-Cube preliminary campus round.
…
Three days later, Ming Ying boarded the school bus heading to the N-Cube Competition venue. Compared to the others, who seemed somewhat on edge and ready for battle, Ming Ying wasn’t particularly nervous.
He’d always been like this. Back when studying domestically, he was most accustomed to taking all sorts of exams and competitions. To him, this was routine.
Sign up, compete, win an award. The whole process was one he was very familiar with. If there was any difference, it was probably that he was abroad now, didn’t need to report to his parents, could be his own boss, and just have fun.
But while he didn’t want to report to his biological parents, he sure wanted to report to another “Dad.”
Right now, on the bus, Ming Ying sent Silas a message.
Mingo: Heading out!
Mingo: [Image]
Mingo: [Puppy spinning in circles.jpg]
After a while, the message remained unread and unanswered. This definitely meant he was busy.
Just as he expected, half an hour later, Silas replied.
XI: Tied up with work. Talk tonight.
Mingo: [Kiss kiss]
After flirting with his Boss, Ming Ying went to pester his buddies.
Lately, the childhood friends group chat had quieted down a lot. His two “sons”—one was applying for a government-sponsored study abroad program at a UK university, and the other was fighting day and night to secure a guaranteed postgraduate spot. Basically, each had their own troubles.
Mingo: Any news yet @SonNo1
Son No. 1: I’m leaving next semester. Come visit me to watch a match then @Mingo
Mingo: Is your geography bad? I’m in the US. Will you reimburse my plane ticket to fly to the UK? @Son No. 1
Son No. 1: Don’t you have your beloved rich little hottie?
Son No. 1: Get her to reimburse you, you gigolo @Mingo
Mingo: I’ve got a partner and you don’t, just be jealous and hate @Son No. 1
Son No. 1: Puke
…
Right as Ming Ying was deep in online trash-talking in the group chat, a WeChat message suddenly popped down from the top of the screen.
Comrade Jianguo: You went to participate in a competition and didn’t tell me or your mom?
Ming Ying froze. His first reaction was: How did his dad know?
Ming Ying hadn’t told Comrade Ming Jianguo and Ms. Chen Qinqin about the competition. More accurately, regarding everything about his life in the United States, he carefully picked and chose what he shared.
For example, things like getting involved with a School Leader—that must never be spoken of.
But not mentioning the competition was purely because he felt it would be annoying. No matter the outcome, they’d keep pestering him with follow-up questions. It had been like this since he was a kid, and Ming Ying didn’t want to deal with it.
Ming Ying was about to ask how he knew, but the next second, Comrade Ming Jianguo automatically laid his cards on the table.
Comrade Jianguo: Your grandpa told us.
Ming Ying clicked his tongue. Good lord, Grandpa had defected too.
Little Ming: I wanted to give you guys a surprise [Heart]
Comrade Jianguo: Send over the competition introduction. Let me take a look.
Little Ming: No need, right? You guys wouldn’t understand it anyway.
Comrade Jianguo: Your mom wants to see it.
Little Ming: Should’ve said so earlier.
Little Ming: [Link]
Comrade Jianguo: Looks pretty challenging. Feeling confident?
Little Ming: Totally totally totally!
Ming Ying wanted to end the conversation quickly, so his attitude was rather perfunctory.
Finally, not long after, they arrived at the hotel.
However, Ming Ying encountered an unexpected hiccup.
Everyone else went upstairs, but he got held up at the front desk for a while because of an issue with his ID documents. He had to wait.
“How could it expire?” Ming Ying sighed. “I even checked this morning. Is your machine malfunctioning?”
Marty, who was beside him, also added, “That’s right. Ming’s ID was checked long ago, no problems.”
The front desk asked them to please wait a moment.
This wait lasted an hour.
Ming Ying resigned himself to the situation. He plopped onto a sofa in the lobby and started playing a game.
Unexpectedly, his misfortune turned out to be a hidden blessing. He happened to be there right when the judging panel’s cars arrived at the hotel.
Cars continuously pulled up in front of the hotel, dropping people off before pulling away.
Ming Ying stood up from the sofa and saw a dozen or so men in suits entering from the entrance in a group. They seemed to be catching up with one another, laughter ringing out.
Ming Ying spotted Mr. Aston in the crowd almost instantly.
Today, he was wearing a very formal dark suit with a long coat of the same color over it. Even standing amongst a crowd of tall, long-legged foreigners, he was exceptionally outstanding.
As Ming Ying watched and watched, suddenly, the other party shifted his gaze and looked over too.
Ming Ying quickly averted his eyes.
Crap.
Kind of embarrassing, somehow.
Even though Comrade Ming Ying had been rubbing his face against this man’s waist just three days ago, and was flirting with him over the phone barely an hour ago, right now, he actually felt a bit shy.
Comrade Ming Ying’s sense of shame grew in very strange places.
The crowd entered.
Ming Ying cleared his throat, adjusted his bag, and then said to Marty, “Marty, let’s just—”
But before he finished his sentence, Marty suddenly said, “Catherine?”
Miss Catherine had somehow appeared behind them.
Ming Ying froze. It took him two seconds to react and realize this person was Silas’s secretary.
“Hi, Ming?” Catherine’s smile was very warm and kind. She extended her hand. “I’ve heard about you for a while, but this is the first time we’ve met. Very pleased to meet you, I’m Catherine.”
…God, heard about him for a while.
Ming Ying shook her hand, smiling slightly. “Hello.”
Catherine asked cheerfully, “Is there a problem?”
Marty explained the issue with Ming Ying’s ID document. Catherine raised an eyebrow. “Is that all? Don’t worry, Ming, just take the room key card and go right up. I’ll handle the rest.”
Ming Ying felt a little dazed.
After receiving the key card from Catherine, he immediately took a photo and sent it to XI.
Mingo: [Image]
Mingo: Boss, this isn’t your room key card, is it?
Five minutes later, it was marked read.
XI: I wish it were, but unfortunately, Ming, I’m not staying at this hotel.
Mingo: Oh.
Mingo: So what are you doing right now?
XI: About to head into a meeting.
Mingo: So busy, Boss.
Mingo: Such hard work [Palms together in respect]
Mingo: [Image]
The image was a straight-guy selfie focusing on his Adam’s apple.
In the photo, the person’s chin was slightly tilted up, revealing a fair, clean neck. Because the lighting was excellent, a red mark on it was even vaguely visible.
Mingo: It’s been three days, and it still hasn’t faded.
Two minutes later, a buzz.
XI: Ming?
Ming Ying laughed so hard he had to lean against the wall.
Very quickly, Ming Ying found out that the room key card was for one of the suite rooms allocated by N University.
Ming Ying was assigned to share a room with Alan. Therefore, he was forced to ride the same elevator as the Young Master.
On the way, Ming Ying also received a call from Ms. Chen Qinqin.
Ms. Chen Qinqin immediately launched into a barrage of “concern.” Fortunately, Ming Ying was long used to this style and handled it skillfully.
“Mom, seriously, this competition is super boring. That’s why I didn’t bother telling you guys.”
“Ah, I know, I know, hahaha, I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.”
“Who am I to you? Right? Hahaha, okay, okay, I truly understand. I’ll work hard. Mm-hmm hmm…”
…
After hanging up the phone, Ming Ying finally noticed Alan walking ahead of him. This rich kid was lugging two enormous suitcases. Ming Ying only carried one backpack. Compared to him, Ming Ying looked almost too carefree.
Right then, perhaps because the suitcase was too big, its wheel got stuck in the hallway carpet. Alan was frowning deeply, trying to yank his suitcase free. The Young Master looked genuinely disheveled.
Ming Ying walked over. Without a word, he bent down and helped free the suitcase wheel from the carpet.
Once standing up, Alan glanced at him and said, “Thanks.”
Ming Ying shook his head. “No problem. Remember to compensate for the carpet damage.”
Alan paused, then let out a cold laugh. Ditching English, he said in Chinese, “I have money.”
Ming Ying replied innocently, “Just a reminder.”
Heh heh. He’d finally caught an opportunity to be a bit mean.
He’d actually suspected long ago that when Alan informed him and the others about the dinner with Thomas, this guy had deliberately “forgotten” to tell him to wear formal attire.
Unexpectedly, Alan suddenly spoke again: “Don’t think you’ll beat me.”
Ming Ying: “…”
Ming Ying was speechless. “Alan, I don’t know how I offended you. I still remember, when I first added you as a contact, I thought you were a decent person.”
Alan: “I don’t need your approval.”
Saying this, he dragged his two suitcases and walked away.
After a few steps, Alan stopped and looked back. Speaking Chinese again, he said, “Ming Ying, stop being so smug.”
Damn.
Ming Ying watched his departing back and felt he must have been insane to help the bastard with his suitcase. His mood instantly plummeted.
…
Like this, after entering his room, Ming Ying unpacked his things and studied for a while. But he still couldn’t get that idiot Alan out of his head.
He was honestly quite angry inside. After all, as a person alone in a foreign country, he always wanted to make more friends. But the inability to become friends was one thing—what really baffled him was where this inexplicable hostility came from.
He kind of missed Silas…
Mingo: You there? You there?
Mingo: Baby.
Mingo: I’m a little nervous. Can I ask for some comfort?
Mingo: [Puppy cowering.jpg]
About five minutes later, the message was marked as read.
XI: Nervous?
Mingo: Mm-hmm mm-hmm.
XI: Weren’t you saying you were very confident?
Mingo: I’m feeling a bit bad right now, can I see you?
After five minutes.
XI: Ming, it’s not very convenient for me right now.
Ming Ying frowned.
Mingo: What’s inconvenient? Are you hiding someone behind my back?
Mingo: [Puppy baring teeth.jpg]
The next second, a video call request suddenly popped onto the screen.
Ming Ying froze, then tapped to accept.
What greeted his eyes was billowing hot steam and completely unobstructed abdominal muscles…
—The Old Man was showering!
Ming Ying was so startled he almost threw his phone away.
The sound of rushing water came through the phone speaker. Swearing inwardly, Ming Ying said, “Boss, what’s the meaning of this? Trying to seduce me?”
Silas’s phone camera wobbled unsteadily. Ming Ying added, in an imitation of his tone, “Could you pan down a bit more? Don’t just film your abs. I’ve seen enough of those. Show me something else.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure!”
But very quickly, he couldn’t take it anymore.
This was visible but untouchable. Too torturous.
So Comrade Ming Ying cleared his throat and started being a brat. “Why are you showering so early? Getting ready for bed already? What an old person’s schedule.”
The next second, he heard Silas say, “Looks like you want a beating.”
Ming Ying laughed himself silly on the sofa.
Then, after observing Mr. Aston shower and dress, the other man asked if he wanted to come out.
