No one can resist such an invitation, let alone Xia Zhixu, who has been infatuated with the person in front of him for ten years. Except when drunk, Xu Qichen rarely took the initiative, and every time he took the initiative, it was almost always with a soothing nature.
He wanted to respond to Xia Zhixu with the most passionate emotions so that he could see that he was also equally infatuated with him.
Or perhaps even more so.
Xia Zhixu tilted his head to kiss Xu Qichen gently. However, Xu Qichen was much more eager, wrapping both arms around his neck, almost completely hanging from him. Xia Zhixu took him to the bathroom, which was not far away. The bathroom was filled with steam, and everything in his view was hazy. He held Xu Qichen to the tiled wall and pressed his back against it, while he kissed him with his head turned to his side, licking into his wet and hot mouth. Xu Qichen’s back met the cold wall, and he could only let Xia Zhixu go as deep as possible, plundering his breath.
“Mmm…” Whenever Xia Zhixu deeply kissed him, Xu Qichen’s knees would inexplicably go weak.
Xia Zhixu’s wet and soft lips left his and trailed along the beautiful jawline, licking the side of his neck. He tilted his neck back and breathed heavily, panting for oxygen. He leaned against the wet wall and slid to the ground, his legs soft and limp, collapsing on the wet bathroom floor.
Xia Zhixu also squatted down and straightened Xu Qichen’s face, half kneeling and kissing his eyes. His voice was low, “Didn’t you want to shower? Take off your clothes.”
Xu Qichen gave him a helpless glance and opened his lips, which had turned red from his kiss. “You’re helping me with the shower, so of course you’re the one who has to do it.”
Xu Qichen’s allure was unique. Although it was hidden deeply, it often leaked out unconsciously without any learning or guidance.
The temperature in the bathroom was getting higher and higher, and the humid and hypoxic environment was transforming into a vessel for surging emotions, constantly nourishing a stronger and more ambiguous atmosphere. Desire was like a mist that had evaporated, condensing on their warm skin along with the increasingly urgent and uneven breathing sounds.
The mirror shrouded in white mist could not capture the vivid scene, only the beautiful and intense silhouettes of light and shadow. The suppressed demands became clear in the damp and cramped small room and were released in the most primitive way.
After the heat had faded, Xu Qichen’s strength was drained away, lying on Xia Zhixu’s shoulder like a dying fish, desperately but futilely trying to get oxygen.
He suddenly laughed.
Xia Zhixu was confused. He pinched the back of his neck, “What are you laughing at?”
Xu Qichen shook his head. His slender fingers gently traced his ear. His voice was soft, “I was just thinking… you should record my breathing now… and listen to it every night…”
He put extra emphasis on the word ‘now’.
Just now, he was incredibly soft, but now he suddenly has the energy to tease. Xia Zhixu pinched his neck again.
“Let me tell you a secret.”
Xia Zhixu raised an eyebrow. “What secret?”
“In the past… during lunch break, I would watch you sleep.”
The amber-coloured pupils seemed to have been soaked in the hot water from the shower, dripping with watery light, gazing at his black eyes.
“You were really beautiful. I often dream about that.”
Xia Zhixu froze, and then hugged Xu Qichen, wrapping his arms around his cool back and patting it.
“We’re… really similar ah.”
Similarly silly.
Xia Zhixu, after his ‘no longer single’ leave, became very busy. He left early and returned late every day. Xu Qichen was occasionally invited out for dinner by the editors of the publishing house, but most of the time he stayed at home to write, and the two often didn’t see each other all day.
As time went by, Xu Qichen became distressed.
Even though they could go to bed and wake up together every day, it did not feel enough.
As adults, having a relationship was not easy.
After ending a phone call with his editor, Xu Qichen glanced at the clock in the study. 11:45 pm.
He sat on the chair and spun twice, put on dark blue home clothes, and walked barefoot to the living room. He asked 0901 to put on a science fiction movie he had always wanted to watch, and started eating a box of chocolates.
At five o’clock in the morning, Xia Zhixu finally returned from work. A previous project had problems, and he had to work with a few groups all night just to barely deal with it.
At 5 am in April, it was still very cold and the sky was not yet bright. Xia Zhixu opened the door and found the TV on. The flickering light illuminated the long sofa, revealing a fair foot on one end of the armrest and half of the smooth calf protruding from the pants. Xia Zhixu placed his things on the floor and walked lightly to the sofa, touching Xu Qichen’s feet.
Cold as ice.
At a glance, he could tell that he didn’t even cover himself with a blanket before falling asleep on the sofa. He was so cold that he had curled into himself and was still holding an unopened chocolate ball in his hand.
Xia Zhixu half knelt in front of Xu Qichen, with one hand passing under his neck, hugging his shoulder, and the other through his knees. He felt a bit tired from staying up late and struggled to pick him up. Half asleep, Xu Qichen snorted twice, and Xia Zhixu quickly spoke out to comfort him, “Let’s go back to bed and sleep, be good.”
Upon hearing Xia Zhixu’s voice, Xu Qichen seemed to calm down and instinctively turned his face to his chest. His fingers relaxed, and the chocolate fell to the ground, rolling away.
Xia Zhixu put Xu Qichen to bed and covered him with a blanket. He then quickly took a shower, changed into pajamas, and returned to the room, carefully lying down next to him. Xu Qichen slept very lightly, and he was afraid of waking him up.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Xu Qichen slept soundly, but strangely, as soon as Xia Zhixu lay down, Xu Qichen seemed to sense it. With his eyes closed, he turned over to him, hugging Xia Zhixu’s arm.
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Xu Qichen leaned back onto him, causing Xia Zhixu to snort, “So heavy…”
“Heavy? Am I still heavy like this?” Xu Qichen deliberately pressed down again, then smiled and kissed Xia Zhixu’s frowned brow. He knelt up on his knees, “I have a book signing today, at 10 o’clock. I have to go out now.”
Xia Zhixu rubbed his eyes. “Why is it on a weekend?”
“Many readers are only available on weekends,” Xu Qichen got up from the bed and ran barefoot to the restroom.
Just as Xu Qichen was brushing his teeth in front of the mirror, he saw Xia Zhixu also walk in. He spat out the foam in his mouth and said, “Why are you up too?”
Xia Zhixu tiredly squeezed some toothpaste for himself. “I’ll drive you.”
“No need.” Xu Qichen rinsed his mouth. “I can go by myself.”
Xia Zhixu stubbornly brushed his teeth and remained silent. Xu Qichen washed his face and stood before Xia Zhixu, his face slightly wrinkled as if waiting for something. Just as Xia Zhixu turned to face him, Xu Qichen sneezed in his face.
Then he laughed and grabbed Xia Zhixu’s shoulder, laughing non-stop.
“You must have caught a cold.” Xia Zhixu rubbed the back of Xu Qichen’s neck.
“So cold…” Xu Qichen shivered and sneezed twice more.
Xia Zhixu led him out of the bathroom and said, “I’ll drive you there. When you’re done, we’ll go see a doctor together.”
The two of them changed clothes together. Xu Qichen wore the simplest combination of a white shirt with black pants. Xia Zhixu was afraid that he would be cold, so he took out a dark gray knitted sweater he often wore and said, “Lift your arms.”
Xu Qichen knew that even if he struggled, he would still have to listen to him in the end, so he gave up resistance and extended his arms, allowing Xia Zhixu to put the sweater on him.
“Would it take very long?” Xia Zhixu asked as he helped him adjust the collar of his shirt.
“It seems like it’ll be about two hours.” Xu Qichen also helped Xia Zhixu arrange his black hoodie.
“Alright.”
They stood in front of the mirror in the wardrobe, and Xu Qichen smiled and said, “Our outfits match.” He pointed to Xia Zhixu’s dark gray straight-leg pants.
One wore black on top and gray on the bottom, and the other wore gray on top and black on the bottom.
Xia Zhixu grabbed Xu Qichen’s shoulder and said, “It’s not our clothes that match, it’s just us.”
“Narcissist.” Xu Qichen pushed his arm away.
Xia Zhixu laughed and said, “That’s not it! When we did military training in our freshman year, that’s what all the girls said.”
“Stop dreaming.”
“Really! I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
While standing at the entrance changing shoes, Xu Qichen saw Xia Zhixu take out a new pair of sneakers and squat to change them. Suddenly, he thought of a joke he saw online and laughed.
“What are you laughing at?” Xia Zhixu straightened up and pinched his cheek.
Xu Qichen looked at him with a suppressed smile and asked seriously, “Can I step on your AJ and kiss you?”
Xia Zhixu chuckled and opened the huge shoe cabinet at the entrance, pointing to the rows of sneakers inside. “Our little ancestors can step on any pair you want, just remember to kiss me after stepping.”
“Then let’s skip the stepping and just kiss.” Xu Qichen held Xia Zhixu’s face in both hands and kissed him against the shoe cabinet. Suddenly, the phone in his pocket rang. He was about to step back when Xia Zhixu held his face and stopped him. “Wait, wait…”
“No.”
Xu Qichen had to reach out and take out his phone while pushing Xia Zhixu. Not only did he fail to push Xia Zhixu away, but he even picked up the call.
The voice from the other side said, “Xiya! Are you on the way?”
“Yes… wu…” Xu Qichen pushed Xia Zhixu’s chest hard with his hand, finally creating some distance before quickly speaking to the editor on the phone, “I’m on the way, be there in half an hour, see you!”
After hanging up the phone, Xia Zhixu once again caught him, and the two of them kissed a while more before leaving.
“Drive faster,” Xu Qichen lowered his head and fastened his seat belt. “I’m almost late.”
Xia Zhixu turned the steering wheel with one hand and said, “And whose fault is that?”
Xu Qichen glared at him, “Whose fault do you think it is?”
“Mine, mine, it’s all my fault for being too easy.”
The designated location was a commercial district square. Fortunately, there was no rush hour on weekends, and the drive only took about ten minutes. Xu Qichen put on a black mask and prepared to get off. “Go back to bed.”
“No need, I’ll look around and see if I can find a cafe or something.”
Under the mask, only Xu Qichen’s eyes could be seen. His face was very thin, so a small mask was enough to cover most of it.
“Do you have another mask?”
Xu Qichen fished out another mask while asking, “What for?”
“I feel like the air is not very good today…” Xia Zhixu casually found a reason and took the mask and put it on.
Xu Qichen stood outside the car and watched him with a smile, his eyes curved. “You look like a spy.”
“Is that so?”
“En, a particularly handsome one,” Xu Qichen said earnestly.
Xia Zhixu proudly raised an eyebrow and bid him farewell before driving the car to the parking lot.
Xu Qichen was taken to the preparation room by the editor and various matters were explained. This time, the signing was for a science fiction-themed danmei. The gong was a cyborg and the shou was a scientist. Like most of his other novels, the romantic plot was not very deep.
As he prepared to take the stage, Xu Qichen realized that there were far more readers and fans present than he had imagined. At this point, he was somewhat grateful to Xia Zhixu for deceiving him into the system, after all, he had experienced the scene of Ji Mengze, and all of this was a piece of cake.
The host held the microphone and asked with a smile, “Xiya, can you share with us readers the creative inspiration for this book Raw Data, such as whether the characters in it have real-life prototypes or not?”
Xu Qichen took the microphone and thought for a moment, “Hmm… there are prototypes, but I can’t reveal too much. The inspiration comes from a… friend, who loves science…”
After just a few simple sentences, the readers below have already started screaming. The host quickly smiled and said, “Don’t get too excited, this is just the beginning. There will be a special Q&A session later.”
After giving a general introduction to his book on sale, Xu Qichen followed the editor’s instructions to promote his currently serialising novel and future new books. The Q&A session arrived quickly, and all the readers below raised their arms and were extremely enthusiastic.
Xu Qichen said, “Then… that girl in the red clothes?”
The girl who was chosen excitedly took the microphone. “Thank you Xiya Dada! Uhm, I want to ask, can you spoil the ending for the new book?”
“En…” Xu Qichen thought for a moment. “Of course, I can’t tell you how the plot goes, but this time, the two protagonists will get together successfully.”
At that, the audience screamed, and there was a lot of discussion.
“It’s actually a HE!!”
“Oh my God, I can’t believe it! Pinch me!”
“So… is this his first HE book!!?”
“Will they get married!? Get married! Get married!”
“You guys are getting carried away! If they even manage to survive, we will have to celebrate quietly…”
…
Xu Qichen cleared his throat. “Please calm down… First of all, I am truly, very grateful for everyone’s support all along. I am also aware of my shortcomings in writing, so I hope that starting from this one, I can break through my bottleneck and enrich the emotional lines between the protagonists. I hope you will like the modified version of me.”
The audience began screaming again.
“Xiya Dada is too cool!”
“His voice is so nice! So gentle but firm!”
“Well said!”
“I’ll read whatever you write! I’ll support you forever!”
…
After the promotional activity ended, Xu Qichen began signing the books. He sat in front of the signing platform, with a long queue of readers in front of him, all holding books.
“Xiya Dada, can you help me sign a happy birthday? Today is my birthday.”
Xu Qichen looked up with a surprised expression in his eyes and said, “Oh really? Happy birthday to you.”
“Thank you, Dada! I love you, Xiya Dada!” The girl took a selfie with him before reluctantly leaving.
“Xiya Dada! I bought 10 of this!”
“So many?” Xu Qichen laughed gently.
“Yes, I’ll give it to all my friends. Xiya Dada, please take care of yourself, I bought these supplements for you.”
Xu Qichen took various health supplements from her hand and thanked her profusely.
The readers were so passionate.
Xu Qichen quickly signed, and as he lowered his head, another book appeared in front of him.
Without lifting his head, he opened the book’s cover page, and then asked, “Hello, do you want me to sign anything special?”
“Just… Wish us forever, ba.”
This voice…
Xu Qichen looked up sharply to see Xia Zhixu wearing a black hoodie and the same mask as himself. His eyes were lit with a smile and he said, “Oh by the way, please sign off as, little ancestor.”
Xu Qichen glared at him, tugged at Xia Zhixu’s wrist with his hand, glanced at the readers lined up behind him, and whispered, “Why are you here?”
“I’m also your fan ah,” Xia Zhixu smiled. “I even queued up to buy the book. Please sign it.”
He had no other choice. Xu Qichen lowered his head and signed, ready to send him away. Unexpectedly, Xia Zhixu asked loudly again, “Xiya Dada, I didn’t get a chance to ask during the session earlier. Can I ask, are you currently single?”
The fans in the back row also shouted and whistled when they heard the question. Xu Qichen stared at Xia Zhixu, feeling as if his gaze could penetrate through the mask and see the proud tiger teeth hidden below.
Then, Xia Zhixu said gentlemanly, “Of course, you don’t have to answer.”
Xu Qichen blinked slowly at him, showing a friendly smile.
Slowly, pronouncing every syllable clearly, he replied seriously, “I. Am. Currently. Single.”
Xia Zhixu, pretending to be a fan, nodded thoughtfully and said, “In that case…”
He reached out a hand and leaned down slightly on the desk of the signing platform, saying, “That’s great! I’ve liked you for many years. May I ask if I can pursue you?”
The voice of this sentence was neither loud nor small, but full of teasing, and the female readers in the back row were so excited that they screamed.
“Oh, oh, what kind of plot is this!!!”
“So exciting!”
“Oh my gosh, look, he’s so tall! They’ll look so good together!”
“I didn’t expect to see such an exciting scene here!”
“I can already imagine a 400k-word novel!”
“Imagine? Just insert them into Xiya Dada’s novel!”
… Chaos had erupted.
Before the staff rushed over because of the noise, Xu Qichen stood up and forcefully patted the signed book onto Xia Zhixu’s chest, trying to maintain his composure on the face. He smiled kindly and said, “Dear reader, please take your book and turn left when going out. Walk slowly, I won’t be seeing you off.”
Xia Zhixu raised an eyebrow at him. “Thank you.”
Turning around, after only a few steps, he extended his arm and waved towards Xu Qichen behind him, shouting without looking back, “I’m serious.”
Mental…
The next reader had not yet calmed down his excitement when Xu Qichen took the book from her trembling hand and gently said, “Do you want me to sign anything special?”
After finishing the prank, Xia Zhixu returned to his car, took off his mask, and couldn’t help but laugh at the way Xu Qichen looked just now.
He casually flipped through the book he had signed and was taken aback for a moment.
The title page of the book was signed with Xu Qichen’s beautiful handwriting, but the contents were slightly different from what he requested.
[To know Xu and understand Xia, forever.]
—by Little Ancestor
