Chapter Thirty-Six

The fact that Ye Ci was lagging behind in Tiancheng Private School had been widely circulated within the Huo family. This sort of famous and noble family that had existed for hundreds of years looked down on ignorant and uneducated playboys. Mediocre offspring implied a drop in social class and opened the door to family decline. Therefore, “the family head’s little gentleman is naturally dull” had become a topic of conversation for those side relatives who coveted the family estate.

Knowing that Ye Ci’s ranking at the end of the term had improved by more than 150 in one go, Lin Yao couldn’t hold back. She was anxious to show off to others and let loose her belly full of anger at this small matter. It just so happened that Huo Changyu had his birthday in July, so she happily held another family banquet, using Lao Huo as her tool. Half the focus of the banquet was on birthday celebrations, and the other half was to celebrate Ye Ci’s academic progress.

“……Xiao Ci, you are too modest, what mid-to-low rank? Besides, can the middle and lower ranks for Tiancheng and those of ordinary schools really be considered the same concept?” Beside the dining table, Lin Yao affectionately held Ye Ci’s arm and eloquently refuted his ‘mid-to-low rank’ theory. “Furthermore, you took a break from school for more than a year to take care of your mother, and in the past six months, you’ve managed to make up over a year of progress.  Your subsequent improvement will only be faster, and you’ll work even harder. It goes without saying that you’ll get into the top 30 or 50 in your grade with no problem at all. Don’t you think so, Tinglan?”

Huo Tinglan was using serving chopsticks to fill Ye Ci’s plate. Hearing this, he first affirmed Ye Ci’s learning ability: “En, there would be no problem, in theory.” After saying so, he glanced at Ye Ci and gently comforted him, “But Xiao Ci doesn’t need to stress too much over rankings……”

There was no need to set rigid requirements for himself.

He had originally wanted to reduce the pressure on Ye Ci, but Ye Ci had been exaggeratedly praised by his elders and entrusted with high hopes, thoroughly flattered. Before Huo Tinglan finished speaking, that little head had already nodded toward Lin Yao several times, and issued a military order: “I will try, try harder. In the second semester of, of the third year of high school……I will definitely be able to enter the top 30 in my grade!”

His path couldn’t be blocked.

Huo Tinglan smiled.

“Is that right?” Lin Yao’s maternal love overflowed, and she smiled gently. It was rare for her to lower herself to serve someone, but she raised her hand to lift the lid of the small cup of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall[1] and called, “Xiao Ci, taste the stew first, it won’t be fresh once it cools down……”

This child was so obedient, and had a rare innocence that made people everywhere fond of him. It was no wonder that her son’s temperament had changed drastically in the past few months, and he protected this person like the flesh of his heart.

There was only one point where he was lacking.

When this child talked……it wasn’t very eloquent.

It shouldn’t be difficult to correct stuttering these days, right?

Lin Yao took a sip of the soup, slightly worried, and wanted to wait until the banquet was over to find a chance to bring it up. But after thinking about it, she was afraid that hearing such a thing would hurt the child, so she had to suppress her thoughts for the time being.

The family dinner lasted nearly three hours.

During the banquet, Huo Changyu was urged by Lin Yao as the birthday star to invite the guests present to toast Ye Ci’s academic progress. Ye Ci was afraid that not drinking would be disrespectful, so he urgently asked the nearest waiter to pour him a small half glass of some kind of wine, and then got up and drank it all in one gulp.

The wine tasted fine and bitingly cold, and the alcohol content seemed to be quite high. Ye Ci had a hunch that it would get worse.

After drinking and sitting down to see Huo Tinglan looking at his wine glass with narrowed eyes, Ye Ci was sure that something was going to go wrong.

Sure enough, the wine was served extremely fast.

When Lin Yao took out the jadeite bracelet passed down to her by Huo Changyu’s mother in front of the Huo family members, and handed it over to the husband of the current family head according to family custom, Ye Ci was already drunk.

Fortunately, he was a well-behaved drunk, not prone to wild drunken behavior. If it weren’t for the dull eyes, one wouldn’t be able to tell that he was inebriated. When Lin Yao spoke to him, he let out a soft sound from his throat.

Lin Yao also hadn’t imagined that he would be that far gone. The corners of her mouth lifted up and she couldn’t press them back down. With men on the left and women on the right, she took Ye Ci’s left hand and put the jade bracelet on him.

Taking advantage of the rare vacation time, Ye Ci had promised Lin Yao before the family banquet that he would stay for a few days and talk with her.

After the banquet, Huo Tinglan took him out of the banquet hall with the intention of letting him take in the night breeze and walk for a bit to sober up, and walked back to the main house through the garden.

The gardeners had retired for the night, and the garden was quiet. Ye Ci was simulated by the alcohol, and his gait became more lively as he walked in front of him in a provocative and tempting manner. Lin Yao liked flower art, and there were many exotic flowers and plants in the garden. Ye Ci patted this and touched that, like a curious kitten. Huo Tinglan wore his formal coat on his forearm, following unhurriedly with a smile on his face.

When the two passed by a flower wall, Huo Tinglan casually glanced at the top of the wall and raised his hand, calling to Ye Ci: “Xiao Ci, look – –”

It was late and the garden lights were all on, shining brightly to illuminate the good things on the flower wall – – 

A rare variety of rose.

The petals transitioned from bright golden red to cream, and didn’t look like a real flower. If it was photographed and posted on the internet, there was a high probability that it would be called a photoshopped image.

The current temperature was no longer suitable for the cultivation of this delicate and expensive flower variety. For some reason, this one bloomed exceptionally tenaciously.

Ye Ci raised his head, opened his watery apricot core eyes, and looked over.

“Is it pretty?” Huo Tinglan asked, looking at him with great interest.

He pointed at the flower to show him, just to tease out his innocent and surprised expression.

“Pretty.” Ye Ci blinked. “Huo-shushu, do you like it?”

“I like it.” Huo Tinglan answered casually, solely admiring the face against the wall of flowers.

As a result, with such a distraction, Ye Ci tugged his sleeves smartly and suddenly rushed a few steps toward the flower wall. Stepping on the red and white bricks exposed between the vines, he jumped up in a parkour style. His right hand firmly grasped the top of the 3.5-meter-high wall, and taking advantage of the brief pause, he grabbed the rose with his left hand and flew down.

He still wore the jade bracelet on his left wrist.

This bracelet could fetch tens of millions at the auction house, but due to his ignorance and drunkenness, he just jumped up and down like this while wearing it.

Anyone who hadn’t met him would think he was some family’s young master who had been spoiled by lack of discipline.

Huo Tinglan couldn’t tell what state of mind he was in, but he suddenly smiled.

Ye Ci stood firm on the ground. He was so drunk that his mind was muddled, but he also vaguely understood that he had acted cool just now. However, he didn’t know what effect being cool would have, and whether it would move the heart of the person he liked. Seeing Huo Tinglan looking at him and smiling, he revealed a hint of pride amidst his shyness and handed the rose to Huo Tinglan, saying in a small voice: “If you like it, I’ll give, give it to you.”

He was a boy ingratiating himself to his sweetheart.

And his sweetheart was his favorite person.

All of this was hazy like a dream.

Huo Tinglan’s heart was a mess, and he reached out, intending to pick up the rose, but touched Ye Ci’s hand by chance.

He couldn’t help caressing the back of his hand, rubbing it almost lustfully and then moving up to caress the strong, thin wrist – – as white as the moon, surrounded by the thin, delicate green color of something that only the orthodox “daughter-in-law” of the Huo family could have.

A wife.

Ye Ci was afraid of hearing such gender-reversed titles.

He had differentiated into an Omega, which was the “female” sex at gland level, so the “male” nature of his body structure had become his bottom line. He was so sensitive to these things that he couldn’t even crack a joke about them.

If it really happened, he wouldn’t be angry with Huo Tinglan, but he would be listless for a long time and lose his energy, with the downtrodden look of a man whose masculinity had been damaged. So Huo Tinglan only made this kind of joke once, and after he said it, he regretted it so much that he hugged the little gentleman for a long time and couldn’t bear to do it again even on pain of death.

But this kind of address was indeed thought provoking, and when he mouthed it silently, it made him burn.

“Huo-shushu……” That sort of touch was too strange. It wasn’t normal. Ye Ci was so embarrassed that he wanted to withdraw his hand, but he was looking forward to Huo Tinglan picking up his rose, so he had no choice but to let it hover there in a dilemma and allow the other to be frivolous.

“Let’s go back to the room.” Huo Tinglan finally took the rose, wrapped Ye Ci’s hand completely in his palm, and dragged him toward the main house quickly.

The room they were staying in had already been prepared, and Ye Ci was tossed down by him. Their red faces and hot ears rubbed together, and Huo Tinglan repeated what he did to Ye Ci’s left hand a few moments ago from his head to his toes.

Ye Ci was rubbed by him until he couldn’t see straight. With some drunkenness and reddened eyes, he couldn’t even struggle to resist, and gave a weak groan.

At present, this was as far as they could go.

“Here……” Huo Tinglan stood up and covered Ye Ci’s abdomen. The cool linen was warmed by the palm of his hand, looking soft and smooth. His Adam’s apple rolled and he asked in a low voice, “Has it grown?”

Ye Ci asked in confusion: “What, what’s grown?”

Inside that flat belly……

He didn’t know how far that secret cavity had grown, or if it was mature enough to bear a permanent mark.

This was different from the glands. He had no way to judge with his sense of touch and naked eyes, so he could only rely on Ye Ci’s own perception or go directly to the hospital for a test.

And before confirming this, he couldn’t do anything.

Besides, taking advantage of the moment when Ye Ci was drunk and hazy to take this step was just……inexcusable.

He believed that every major breakthrough in a relationship happened when both partners were at least sober and lucid.

Fearing that Ye Ci would have a hangover and a headache, Huo Tinglan asked someone to bring over sobering soup and a small vase.

He put the rose in a vase and fed Ye Ci the sobering soup all at once, then coaxed the little drunken cat to change clothes and wash, falling asleep with his arms around him. He hadn’t given deliberate instructions, so when a servant cleaned the guest room, they only spread out one blanket, and he was happy to cover up under the same blanket as Ye Ci.

Soothing tequila pheromones and the sweet scent of roses permeated the quiet night.

Perhaps because of so much physical contact that day, and because they slept with their arms around each other intimately in the same bed……

At three o’clock in the morning, Ye Ci woke up from a beautiful dream.

He dreamed of Huo Tinglan again like last time.

The back of his neck felt hot, the sweet and sticky scent of vanilla filled the room, and his heart was beating wildly.

He had already sobered up from the wine.

If there was even a remnant of drunkenness, it was scared off when he realized that something was wrong……

And when Ye Ci became more conscious and realized that they were not even at home, but at Huo Tinglan’s parents’ house, this bad turn of events became doubly unfortunate.

Ye Ci bit his lips until they turned white, then sneakily lifted the quilt.

He was drenched in sweat, and……there were traces of dampness on the sheets.

“……”

He was finished.

He would rather die.

[1] Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, 佛跳墙, is a high-protein delicacy named for its rumored ability to entice vegetarian Buddhist monks away from their temples to sample the meat-based dish. ⮐