Chapter 79

Qi Jing looked up at him, his expression earnest. He had already learned to ask questions.

He wanted to know.

But before he could hear a reply, his wrist was gently tugged forward. He had barely reached the bedside when he was scooped up into an embrace.

Standing like this meant he didn’t have to crane his neck—it wasn’t so tiring.

Bo Chengyan had a straight nose bridge, with natural shadows beneath his brow bones as he lifted a hand to roll up the sleeve for him.

It was all so gentle.

“You’re still a bit skinny. You need more toning up.”

That was true enough.

Later, Lin Se had indeed said a few words along those lines—urging the boy to eat more meat, eggs, and dairy.

Qi Jing had picked out a cotton long-sleeved shirt, soft against the skin and comfortable, though the sleeves were a touch too long.

That was just the design.

Bo Chengyan rolled them up for him.

“It’s fine, isn’t it?”

His tone sounded a little weak.

Qi Jing pulled his wrist free and switched to the other arm, offering it over.

The motion was perfectly natural.

Bo Chengyan didn’t find it any trouble. He lifted a hand and rolled up the other sleeve.

“Then we’re going home tomorrow?” The boy’s tone was full of eager anticipation.

“Mm.”

The things on the bed hadn’t been packed away yet; they were still scattered about. Qi Jing glanced back at them, his hand unconsciously pressing against Bo Chengyan’s shoulder in what seemed like an instinctive push of refusal.

The thought to tidy up hadn’t even fully formed—

His waist was suddenly gripped and pulled toward the edge of the bed. The boy could only turn his head.

“Do you like it?”

Qi Jing’s gaze naturally shifted from the objects to the man.

Bo Chengyan looked up at him, his inquiry mild and warm.

“Mm-hm.”

His voice brimmed with happiness.

Bo Chengyan simply held the boy’s hand, listening as he chattered on about little things.

“That one’s pretty. I’ve never seen a pink diamond before.”

“The bracelet’s nice too—it’s engraved with my name.”

“The design is so beautiful.”

“But… isn’t it really expensive?”

The conversation circled back to that point in the end.

Qi Jing wasn’t sure if this was extravagant wastefulness. In past years, his New Year’s gifts had mostly been watches.

He hadn’t worn them much.

It seemed like only after returning from South Garden that Bo Chengyan had started giving him jewelry.

They really were sparkly and beautiful…

Qi Jing leaned his body against the other’s shoulder, his fingers resting on the man’s coat. The pads of his fingers were a healthy pink.

“It’s expensive, but didn’t I say? That money will be donated.”

Bo Chengyan spoke casually, his voice steady as he looked up and explained.

“That way, Little Jing’s done a good deed too.”

“Isn’t that nice?”

Qi Jing didn’t quite get it, but no sense of “undeserving” stirred in him.

Maybe it was because he’d always been raised like this.

There was no soil for negative emotions to take root in—they were weeded out before they could grow.

Clean and pure.

“Good.”

Bo Chengyan’s brows and eyes softened at the response. He simply grasped the boy’s wrist bone and pressed a kiss to the pulse point.

~~~

It was sometime in the afternoon.

Qi Jing learned about Shen Nanzhi’s wrist-slashing incident.

It was pure chance—he spotted it on his phone in some local gossip news, right there in the pictorial section under the headline.

But there weren’t many comments.

While Bo Chengyan was handling business in the study, the door was pushed open directly. Qi Jing walked in and waited politely until he finished his call.

“Mm, just go ahead with the backup plan.”

“No need for anything else.”

His tone was steady.

But the man had already lifted his eyes. He wasn’t wearing his coat anymore, just a shirt with the collar slightly open.

He reached out a hand quite naturally.

Qi Jing was a bit dazed, unsure what that meant.

So he placed his own hand in it.

Then he was pulled forward.

His waist was effortlessly lifted, and he found himself settled onto Bo Chengyan’s lap.

But the call was still going.

“Handle the specifics with Qin Yun from the project department.”

“That works.”

An adult man’s voice was deep.

Qi Jing still clutched his phone in his palm. After waiting a moment, he rested his cheek against the other’s shoulder.

So busy…

It seemed to be about some engineering project.

The boy looked up and watched the man’s Adam’s apple bob.

He watched, entranced.

One second, two seconds.

He leaned in and took it into his mouth.

His teeth hadn’t even grazed it yet.

“Fir—”

On the other end, the subordinate was still asking, “Boss, should we execute Plan A first?”

But there was no response from this side of the line.

A second or two passed.

“Yes.”

He hung up.

The people in the conference room exchanged baffled glances.

President Bo wasn’t usually so abrupt. He generally analyzed his decisions briefly afterward, at least outlining the logical steps.

But now…

Something must have come up?

Qi Jing had no idea what was happening when his nape was suddenly gripped. A deep, airtight kiss descended, the only sound in his ears the wet noises from their mouths.

“Mm… nn…”

He could only part his lips, clutching at the man’s shirt collar. His eyelids instantly reddened.

When he couldn’t take it anymore, he pushed in panic, his fingers slipping on the finely tailored fabric.

“N-no more kissing.”

“Hah…”

In the end, he was left with his face flushed and damp.

Qi Jing’s lips were thoroughly wet. He looped his arms around the man’s shoulders and, once his breathing evened out, looked up.

A touch guilty.

“Where’d you learn that?”

His fingers were pried apart one by one, leaving a tingling numbness.

[No way.]

Qi Jing tried to tug his fingers free but couldn’t manage it. A bit deflated, he tilted his head aside.

He pressed his lips together and said nothing.

Bo Chengyan took his own handiwork—the “temper” he’d personally fostered—in stride. He simply steadied the boy’s waist and lifted him a fraction higher.

The phone screen on the desk was lit up.

It was that piece of gossip news.

“Because of this?”

His voice carried a magnetic rasp.

Perhaps from the kiss they’d just shared, he sounded somewhat offhand.

Qi Jing had been a little annoyed at first, but then his chin was tilted up.

Their lips brushed.

There was nothing sensual about it—more like a reward.

“Good boy.”

“You knew to come find me.”

Qi Jing’s heart pounded. He had no idea why, but his ears reddened as he stammered,

“Y-you… explain.”

His slender fingers were gently separated from his palm, their ten digits interlocking.

“Shen Nanzhi?”

The man’s tone was utterly indifferent.

“Back in the day, she was in a hotel room with my father. I was the one who brought people to catch them in the act. That’s how it started.”

Qi Jing froze, almost at a loss.

Bo Chengyan seemed to frown slightly. “This isn’t something you should be learning about too soon.”

He spoke as if completely detached, not focused on the people involved but merely assessing the nature of the event.

The boy in his arms was still young.

Knowing about all this messy nonsense would do him no good.

His worldview wasn’t set yet.

Qi Jing let out a soft huff, sounding puzzled.

He immediately shook his head and said earnestly, “I’m an adult now. I-I can—”

Bo Chengyan’s face was expressionless. “Who taught you ‘Little Wife’?”

The boy bluescreened entirely.

He couldn’t remember when he’d said that.

Had he?

He’d only ever thought of himself as Little Bird.

Had he mumbled it aloud?

His mind was a total mess.

It wasn’t until Qi Jing felt his neck being gently rubbed that the calm voice returned to his ear.

“The Bo Family has far too many aunts and concubines. Back then, I figured if my father was going to pick them himself, better that I personally bring one through the door.”

“That way, there’d be someone of my own.”

The boy’s thoughts were led astray once more. His waist encircled, his hand resting on the man’s arm, he listened in perfect comfort.

“I did use her for a time. Shen Nanzhi had run in pleasure circles early on—very slick and versatile. She could probe for information in both the Main House and Second House, and safely pass phone calls to me through the butler.”

“She cast herself as someone who admired me, said it made things easier to maneuver. I allowed it.”

“Up until then, I’d always thought it was just an act.”

Qi Jing came back to himself a little. His voice was muffled as he said, “But she slit her wrists.”

“So?”

“One-sided deep infatuation?”

Bo Chengyan replied calmly, “Little Jing, a person’s life is only once. The choice is their own.”

“Using your life to threaten others, to gain their attention…”

“That’s not worthy of sympathy.”

Perhaps his tone was too cold.

The boy was stunned for quite a while.

It wasn’t what they’d taught in school.

That lost, bewildered mood was caught.

Bo Chengyan’s brows shifted faintly. Then he added, “But she’s been saved already, hasn’t she?”

Only then did the boy snap out of it, emerging from that daze.

He reached up and hugged him.

“Mm-hm.”

[The news said so. Good, good…]

Qi Jing was a student, after all. The talking points from his ideological and moral classes were too idealistic.

Their lessons on life and death were superficial too.

Bo Chengyan’s eyes were dark. He lowered his head to look at the boy in his arms and asked,

“Do you think I lack humanity?”

Qi Jing shook his head.

[No.]

The “topic” they’d discussed last year.

Brought up now.

It was like a perfect review exam.

Not a speck of negativity arose in the boy.

~~~

The temperature in the study was just right.

Bo Chengyan held the boy steady with one hand while picking up his phone with the other to glance at the news again.

Aside from the “hospital” and “wrist-slashing” in the headline—which were true—the rest was all fabricated nonsense.

Drawn out in vivid, exaggerated detail.

“Little Jing, this is worthless news.”

“Ling Yue wouldn’t bother clearing up some fake news full of overblown exaggeration and nitpicky details.”

Bo Chengyan spoke mildly, not seeing any reason to pay it much mind.

He didn’t have the time or energy to waste on groundless rumors.

Qi Jing nodded.

But a second or two later, he seemed puzzled.

“What if the media is writing the truth?”

The study fell quiet.

After a moment passed.

Bo Chengyan merely rubbed the pad of the finger of the person nestled in his arms, calmly instructing him.

“Then become a shareholder in that media company.”

They had already weathered one purge half a year ago.

The youth remained blissfully oblivious.

~~~

996 slunk in at night, a small bundle strapped to its back.

Qi Jing had still been feeling a bit down, but then his gaze shifted.

The Blue Slime carefully untied the bundle, revealing two jellies inside.

【……】

【One for Little Jing, one for me.】

Qi Jing asked in confusion: 【Can’t you eat them?】

996’s beady eyes darted guiltily, so it confessed its situation honestly.

It had gone straight into free retirement.

And had upgraded its system along the way.

Or more precisely, its tolerance threshold.

【I know it’s not great, but it’s fine.】

【I can just smell them…】

The slime pushed the two jellies forward meekly, though its beady eyes brimmed with expectation.

Qi Jing fell silent for a moment. He thought it over, then fetched an aroma candle from the drawer.

It came in purple packaging.

It looked like grape flavor.

He lit it for the system.

【Come smell this.】

996 floated over and hovered beside the container, brimming with curiosity.

【Fragrant.】

【Smells good, smells good.】

Qi Jing considered for a moment, then tucked the two jellies into a box and stored it with the Soul-Soothing Jewelry Set.

He treated it with great care.

Until 996 spoke up.

【Little Jing, is your body okay?】

The youth looked puzzled. 【It’s fine.】

996 seemed surprised and repeated the bit about the threshold.

Qi Jing froze.

【Why didn’t you tell me sooner?】

One person and one system began settling accounts.

【I did tell you. I told you.】

Qi Jing had no memory of it, not until 996 stubbornly pulled up the historical playback footage.

It was from that class reunion.

The clamor of everyone dispersing had been too loud at the time—Qi Jing hadn’t heard.

By now, night had deepened.

The youth pursed his lips.

“He said it was no big deal.”

“No need to worry about it.”

996’s beady eyes blinked. 【You believed him?】

Qi Jing had forgotten to use telepathy and spoke aloud.

“He’ll take his medicine.”