Chapter 31: Binding Part 1

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Ge, that wasn’t me!”

His mind was indeed unclear in the middle of the night.

Li Ran rushed into the bathroom, clumsily scooping up a handful of cold water from the faucet and splashing it on his face. The icy chill made his skin tighten as his pores contracted.

Yet his cerebral cortex still felt shrouded in a layer of fog, groggy and muddled. The intimate touch from a few minutes ago seemed to linger at the corner of his lips.

How embarrassing… He wanted to die.

Stealing a kiss from someone in the middle of the night, and the person woke up. With their eyes meeting, there was no way to explain it clearly. The gaze Chi Mo fixed on Li Ran’s face when he opened his eyes was even more piercing than a searchlight.

Li Ran, who had always followed the rules and never done anything out of line since childhood, had his first “affair” and it was a big one.

He was nearly scared out of his wits.

How could he do something like that!

It was just a casual promise—Chi Mo had probably forgotten it long ago. Why did he have to fulfill it?

Li Ran suspected he was sick, maybe even terminally ill.

Whether he could survive the night was another question.

Anyway, he really wanted to boil a bowl of noodles and strangle himself with them right there.

But dying for real? Nah, too painful.

At that moment, Li Ran’s mind was shaken and his body startled; his face flushed bright red in an instant.

Refusing to face reality, he flailed his limbs wildly, determined to break free from Chi Mo’s restraints.

It was just like when Chi Mo had caught the black and white cats with a fishing net—their struggles were about the same.

Finally wrenching himself free from Chi Mo’s arms, Li Ran didn’t even put on his shoes. He bolted into the bathroom in a panic.

He wanted a quiet, secluded spot where he could be alone to lick his wounds of embarrassment.

But he didn’t close the door.

“Put your shoes on.” Chi Mo followed, holding a pair of thin cotton slippers. He squatted down in front of Li Ran’s smaller frame, his tone condescending as he scolded, “The floor’s not cold?”

Li Ran’s slender ankles hadn’t even been grasped by the warm, dry hand yet, but the faint residual heat from the knuckles set off alarm bells in his head. He backed up half a step, gripping the sink.

“I can do it myself, Ge…” Li Ran said, utterly mortified.

Chi Mo frowned in displeasure, not withdrawing his hand. One knee nearly touched the ground as he looked up at Li Ran and said, “Come here.”

He was practically on his knees offering to put on the shoes, but this brat wasn’t willing? No way was Li Ran calling the shots. While Li Ran hesitated, Chi Mo grabbed his ankle and yanked him closer without mercy—deliberately so.

The floor was polished to a mirror shine, and no one had showered in the middle of the night, so it was dry.

Even so, it wasn’t guaranteed to be slip-proof.

That yank nearly toppled Li Ran. In his panic, he pressed one hand firmly on the sink and grabbed Chi Mo’s shoulder with the other.

Li Ran’s body leaned downward toward Chi Mo, his collar slipping to one side. As Chi Mo looked up, he saw the elegantly shaped collarbone and the bare half of his shoulder uncovered by clothing.

Chi Mo hadn’t slept at all that night. His mind had been preoccupied with how to remind Li Ran of the promise so he could rightfully claim what was his, specifically waiting for him to walk into the trap. Little did he know, Li Ran remembered on his own.

Of course, it had also startled him.

Water droplets from Li Ran’s face dripped down, landing on Chi Mo’s brow.

The same drop of water carried both their scents, sharing the ambiguity between them, leaving a blurred trail.

“Why so shy? I know why you kissed me,” Chi Mo said as he stood up, touching Li Ran’s flushed cheek, which hadn’t faded. “You were fulfilling your promise but worried that doing it while I was awake would cause a misunderstanding. I didn’t misunderstand.”

Chi Mo’s gaze deepened. He ruffled Li Ran’s hair and said, “You kept your word. You’re a very obedient good kid.”

“It wasn’t a kiss… Ge, that’s exactly what I meant!” Having a confidant like Chi Mo who understood him completely was truly a blessing. Obedient Li Ran replied without thinking.

The embarrassment, shame, and faint hidden panic within Li Ran receded like the tide. The rolling white waves submerged into the calm sea surface, leaving only damp traces on the shore to mark their passage.

If it happened again…

It would be like sandbags bursting open, defenses collapsing in defeat.

Li Ran didn’t even think to ask Chi Mo why, after he’d fallen asleep writing test papers in the study, he hadn’t been woken up but instead carried back to Chi Mo’s room to sleep together.

He just negotiated with his ge: “Can we balance work and rest from now on? Please?”

“Ge, I’m begging you.”

“…” Chi Mo held back, and after a long pause, he replied, “Fine.”

That night, President Chi stayed in the bathroom for two hours.

From that day on, after evening self-study ended at nine, Li Ran returned home and was never forced by Chi Mo to do test papers again.

Eat until full, then sleep; wake up and get out of bed.

In the blink of an eye, deep autumn arrived. Li Ran pulled out a thin sweater to wear. It was coffee-colored with a white collar, matching his curly hair well. When he wasn’t smiling, he looked quiet and well-behaved; but when he smiled, that air of honest propriety vanished without a trace.

On weekends, if he didn’t go to Bai Qingqing’s house to eat and maintain their mother-son bond, he went to the company with Chi Mo.

Sometimes, after handling documents and with nothing else pressing, Chi Mo would sit behind his desk like a statue gazing at his wife, staring at Li Ran.

Li Ran was sensitive to gazes.

At first, he looked back at Chi Mo’s stare in confusion, silently. Later, he realized Chi Mo just liked looking at him—no words, no further actions.

He gradually got used to it.

During the summer vacation, to train Li Ran’s basic social skills, Chi Mo threw money at him as incentive. Talk to one person in the company daily for 100 yuan, two for 200, no upper limit.

Li Ran was as straightforward as they come—no schemes to be found even if you stripped him bare. He couldn’t learn that innate “smarts” others had. Despite the “no upper limit” perfect conditions, he only earned a little over 20,000 extra in a month on top of his base, only for his wages to be handed right back to Chi Mo for safekeeping once payday came.

He didn’t have that perk anymore.

Now, every time he ran downstairs to pass messages to Hua Xue Fan and the others, his chat time couldn’t exceed ten minutes, or his pay would be docked.

A full 100 yuan!

Once, Hua Xue Fan was slacking off at work and saw Li Ran coming downstairs. She immediately pulled him aside to tell jokes.

Teasing the little brother.

Li Ran laughed heartily.

Well, “heartily” for him—really just a shy, gentle parting of the lips. He hadn’t learned to throw his head back in big laughs.

Back on the top floor, Chi Mo’s face showed no emotion as he calmly told him, “Tomorrow’s payday—you’ll only get 600.”

Li Ran, juggling part-time work while studying, had his salary upped to 100 a day—a fortune. This month had four Saturdays and three weekends; Li Ran was quick with basic math: “I should have 700…”

Chi Mo said, “Yeah, docked 100 earlier.”

“Why?” Li Ran protested.

Chi Mo tapped the mock test book beside him with the end of his pen: “During work hours, I told you to do homework, but you ran downstairs to chat and hear jokes. Half a day gone—shouldn’t that be docked?”

Caught red-handed, Li Ran couldn’t argue: “…You even watched the surveillance.”

Chi Mo chuckled: “Shouldn’t I?”

“I was only a few minutes late coming back…”

“Hm, docked 100.” Chi Mo was ruthless. “Next time, 200.”

Another weekend, Li Ran didn’t go to the company with Chi Mo. Bai Qingqing finally relented, agreeing to let Li Ran go see Li Ang—after backing out last time.

Bai Qingqing wasn’t one to break promises; otherwise, she couldn’t have raised such an honest kid like Li Ran. Sure, he had some of Li Ang’s spineless genes—biology was unavoidable—but if she’d been a liar, the kid would’ve picked it up.

She just genuinely despised Li Ang, felt physically ill at the thought of him, got nauseous just mentioning him. She believed a father like that needed to be kept at arm’s length, lest he corrupt Li Ran.

“Your Uncle Zhao has a bit of a cold, seems like a viral infection. It’s been days and he’s not getting better. Good thing your sister’s fine, or I’d be worried sick. He only has one day off this week, so I’m going with him to the hospital to get medicine. No coming over for dinner or to play with your sister this week—don’t want you catching it.” Bai Qingqing said over the phone. “Xiao Ran, remember: today when you see your… your dad, eat and then come straight home. Don’t listen to him talk about his life—it’s nothing worth hearing. Just depressing.”

“And that whatever of his…” Bai Qingqing said irritably, “Is his male wife home? If he is, better not go. It makes me uncomfortable. Nauseating.”

“He’s not.” Li Ran said softly.

Hearing Uncle Zhao was sick gave Bai Qingqing a headache; her voice sounded exhausted. Li Ran immediately offered to care for the sisters, but she wouldn’t let him come.

High school seniors had “few days left”; health came first. With the weather cooling, if Li Ran really caught it, she’d lose her temper.

She said the two sisters were being cared for by her mother-in-law and hadn’t stayed with them these past couple days—told Li Ran to take care of himself.

Li Ran rarely saw Li Ang alone.

Since Bai Qingqing and Li Ang divorced—more precisely, since she exposed his scandal—despite custody going to Li Ang, Li Ran seldom met him one-on-one.

To everyone, Li Ang seemed weak and useless. But on the custody issue, he wouldn’t budge. After over a decade of marriage shattered into jokes, he stubbornly fought for it.

During the custody battle, Bai Qingqing hated him to the bone but kept his dignity intact, not outing his male orientation in court for the child’s sake. She had no job then, so she lost custody and hated him even more.

After the verdict, Bai Qingqing lived with Li Ran while Li Ang paid all support, not insisting on taking him.

If he could accept the child with his mom, even growing distant from him, why fight for custody? For a while, his ex-wife Bai Qingqing couldn’t understand, just calling him crazy.

Li Ran didn’t know what gift to bring to Li Ang’s house. The long absence of companionship blurred his knowledge of Li Ang’s hobbies, and he knew even less about Pei He Yu, whom he’d barely met.

In the end, Li Ran took two tins of premium tea, beautifully packaged. Chi Mo had given them to him, saying his little uncle and aunt both loved tea.

After half an hour on the subway, Li Ran arrived at a somewhat upscale neighborhood.

Li Ang lived on the first floor with a small garden out front, a perk from the property when they bought it. First-floor buyers got the garden.

There weren’t many flowers in the garden—just a few sparse, wilting roses.

Definitely planted by Pei He Yu.

If Li Ang had planted them, they’d bloom huge and vibrant.

Li Ran exhaled softly, checking his clothes to see if they looked appropriate, adult-like.

He rang the doorbell.

The door opened immediately from inside, as if Li Ang had been waiting ages.

“Dad.” Li Ran lowered the hand that hadn’t rung a second time, smiling childishly as he called out.

Li Ang was more nervous than Li Ran, his palm sweaty on the doorknob: “Xiao Ran.”

Seeing the high-end tea in Li Ran’s left hand, he hurriedly reached to take it.

Leaning forward with arm extended, his sleeve rode up involuntarily, exposing a small section of his wrist. Li Ran didn’t stand on ceremony, handing over the tea box. His gaze swept to the wrist.

A thick, ugly ring of bruises from binding.

Clearly from prolonged rope restraint, causing poor blood flow.

Li Ran’s smile slowly faded, his chest tightening densely with ache.

He couldn’t name the exact feeling—just heartache, wanting to cry.

“Dad… Did he hit you?” Li Ran asked softly, sadly.

Li Ang’s face paled instantly.

Li Ang’s home was quite spacious—not a single flat, but two stories.

When they bought it, Pei He Yu directly purchased the first and second floors. After signing, he hired pros to punch through and build stairs, turning the interior into something like a little Western villa.