CH 53

“…….”

Pei Yi had never understood the words “one’s blood turned to ice” more intuitively than at this exact moment. He looked at the suddenly appearing Bo Yueming in front of him, and was at a loss for a moment.

He subconsciously hid the suitcase in his hand, and the doubts in his mind had not yet turned the corner—

How could this be?

Shouldn’t Bo Yueming be asleep at this point? And how had he recognized him immediately on the first try?

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Bo Yueming said this again, staring at Pei Yi before him unblinkingly.

After saying goodnight to each other, he had been reflecting on the problem of last night and also thinking about how best to be honest with the other party, and lost sleep over it.

It just so happened that the mineral water in the small living room was out, so Bo Yueming went downstairs to slowly pour a glass of water, and just as he returned to the living room door, he came upon this scene in front of him.

At this moment, when Bo Yueming witnessed Pei Yi’s ineffectual attempt to hide the suitcase, he became angry.

With one stride, he picked up Pei Yi by the waist.

“Ah!”

The sudden weightlessness caused Pei Yi to subconsciously drop the suitcase, and he firmly gripped Bo Yueming’s shoulders and back, losing his disguise entirely in his panic. “Bo Yueming, what are you doing?”

— Pa!

Bo Yueming spanked Pei Yi hard on the butt. “Be quiet!”

There was no restraint in the strength of his strike. Pei Yi was so ashamed that his face blushed instantly, and he fell silent.

Bo Yueming sat Pei Yi in his arms on the water bar, face to face.

Pei Yi was still immersed in the shame brought about by that palm just now, and stammered angrily, “You, you hit me?”

“I told you a long time ago that if I found you sneaking away again, you would be punished.”

Bo Yueming put his hands to either side of him, directly blocking all escape routes. “Do you dare to try it again in front of me now? I will do even crazier things.”

“I!”

Pei Yi hesitated to speak, angry and embarrassed.

How was he to know it would be this kind of punishment? From childhood to adulthood, in two lifetimes, no one had ever hit this place!

The “night owl” Inspector, who was excited to sneak out and play, saw that Pei Yi had been taken away and quickly jumped onto the water bar. “Meow-ow!”

Bo Yueming grasped Inspector’s nape coldly and set him back on the ground. “Go back and stay in your nest, or your snacks will be gone.”

He took a deep breath, and said as if speaking to either Inspector or Pei Yi, “Learn from good influences, not bad ones!”

Inspector seemed to have understood its big master’s command, and abandoned Pei Yi, going back to the room without looking back.

Seeing Inspector’s little back leave without stopping, Pei Yi gave a speechless hum. “This little cat has no conscience.”

Bo Yueming took the opportunity to pinch the mole on the back of his neck again with a hint of anger. “What about you? You also have no conscience.”

Pei Yi seemed to have been grasped by some sensitive vital part and immediately shrank his neck, looking back.

Under the dim light, their eyes met again.

Bo Yueming’s weren’t gray and unfocused as in the past, but were clearly filled with his helplessness, puzzlement, anger, and his unrelentingly possessive temperament.

Pei Yi came to a sudden realization, and could no longer care about his previous disguise, astonished. “You, you aren’t blind? When did they heal?”

No wonder Bo Yueming was able to discover and stop him immediately!

He was so immersed in his emotions last night and today, that not only did he hide from Bo Yueming, but he also didn’t dare to look him in the eyes. In the end, he missed such an important and obvious thing!

Bo Yueming had originally come up with a lot of words to explain the condition of his eyes, but now he still admitted it in the most straightforward way, “I was faking it.”

Pei Yi blurted out, “You deceived me!”

Bo Yueming laughed angrily, and the force on the back of his neck increased a bit. “Then what about you? Didn’t you deceive me?”

“…….”

Pei Yi stammered uncontrollably, and his eyes began to dodge back and forth.

When Bo Yueming saw this appearance of his, his mood became even more intense. “Pei Yi, do you remember what you said?”

“Didn’t you promise to stay with me forever? Didn’t you say I’m the best in the world? You deliberately said nice things to coax me before going to bed tonight, but in the end, you wanted to leave immediately without telling me?”

Bo Yueming’s breathing was unsteady as he said that last part.

He was extraordinarily grateful that his eyes had recovered and he was able to see everything clearly in time to stop Pei Yi from leaving.

He was also very glad that he didn’t tell Pei Yi about this too early, otherwise the other party would not dare to swagger out like tonight, and would definitely choose a time when he was not at home to leave.

Bo Yueming took a deep breath. “Why did you leave?”

Pei Yi was speechless, and inwardly recalled—

Didn’t he just praise Bo Yueming and say that he believed in everything he did? When did he promise the other party that he would ‘stay with him?’

Bo Yueming repeated himself, “I’m asking you! Why did you leave?”

“……..”

Pei Yi was in a tangle, and kept his silence.

If he could figure it out, he wouldn’t have needed to cut through this mess in such a way.

Seeing Pei Yi avoiding the topic and not speaking, Bo Yueming had no choice but to ask and answer by himself. “I offended you and made you feel uncomfortable last night, didn’t I?”

He seemed to affirm this answer, and there was a rare gloomy look on his face.

It turned out that Pei Yi rejected him?

“Pei Yi, if it’s because of this, then I apologize to you.”

Pei Yi didn’t like to see Bo Yueming frown, so he blocked the rest of the apology, “It isn’t that, you don’t have to apologize.”

He lowered his eyes, as if explaining to the person in front of him as well as persuading himself, “I know you were drugged, and it wasn’t on purpose. We’re both men, and it’s okay to help each other out.”

What’s more, Bo Yueming gave him a choice last night, and he impulsively took a step closer.

Bo Yueming’s hand on the back of his neck slipped, and his voice softened. “Pei Yi, many things happened last night, and I wanted to talk to you today, but couldn’t find the right time.”

“Bo Guancheng used Lin Na from the resort that time to drug me, but they didn’t know that my eyes were healed.”

“Lin Na’s dirty tricks didn’t work, but I was afraid that Bo Guancheng would still have a backup plan, so I thought about making up the time difference.”

Pei Yi thought about the quick response to this incident.

He immediately understood Bo Guancheng’s malicious intentions, and cursed inwardly.

Bo Yueming continued to confess, “Do you remember that before I went out last night, I said I had something to speak with you about?”

Pei Yi nodded slightly, and guessed, “It was about your eyes?”

“En.”

The thing that happened at the banquet temporarily changed Bo Yueming’s mind. He sighed. “I didn’t drink the drugged water at all, so I naturally wasn’t under the control of the drug’s effects.”

What he did was drink half a bottle of whiskey to achieve the body heat he wanted.

“Pei Yi, I was sober last night, and I was very clear about everything I did. From beginning to end, I deliberately ‘forced’ you to recognize the relationship between us.”

Bo Yueming resolutely admitted what he had done, “I have never been like this with others, and never thought of looking for others. My mind has long been on you. Do you understand?”

“I……”

Pei Yi’s heart swelled terribly, and he was also gripped with discomfort. “I don’t want to understand.”

Before he had to think about it, he only felt that he was very comfortable by Bo Yueming’s side, and he could do whatever he wanted.

But after a careful series of connections, behind everything was Bo Yueming’s unconditional tolerance for him. Even when he played the fool with poor acting skills and revealed his secrets, Bo Yueming never once called him out after regaining his eyesight.

Bo Yueming got to the bottom of it: “You don’t understand what I feel for you, or you don’t understand what you feel for me?”

“Then have you thought about it?”

“Why did you follow me to Wencheng? Why do you come to me when you can’t sleep? Why did you refuse when I said I would find someone else to solve the problem last night?”

Facing this series of questions, Pei Yi’s entire body grew hot.

He was at a loss for a long moment, but still answered stiffly, “I was afraid that the Bo family would do something to me, so I followed you to Wencheng. When I couldn’t sleep, I asked for water. Anyway…….anyway, you’re thinking too much.”

Bo Yueming smiled helplessly. “Is that right? That’s it? You don’t have any extra thoughts about me?”

Pei Yi didn’t dare to look directly at the disappointment in Bo Yueming’s eyes, and faltered, “I never thought about falling in love.”

In his relatively short life, he had already witnessed two unsuccessful love affairs—

His biological parents he had no memory of had probably abandoned him because of a broken relationship, otherwise it would be impossible for them to not look for him for so many years.

In his memory, Father Yan and Father Rong were so in love with each other. They had no lack of material things, no lack of status, and no lack of love at first, but in the end, as the years went by and they grew older, they made such shameful and tragic scenes.

Pei Yi had a pessimistic view of relationships even when he was a minor. He dared not and was unwilling to start an impulsive relationship, even if the person before him was Bo Yueming, whom he admired.

That Bo Yueming clearly liked him put Pei Yi at a loss, and he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t and wouldn’t dare to agree, so he should keep his distance.

If possible, he would rather be an associate, friend, or family member to the other party, but he could not and should not be a lover.

Bo Yueming caught the negativity and entanglement in Pei Yi’s eyes, and understood something. “Have you never thought about discussing it with me, or have you never thought about discussing it with anyone?”

Pei Yi didn’t hesitate this time. “Anyone.”

He took a deep breath, and deliberately shelved the relationship issue. “I didn’t mean to lie to you. At the time, I really wanted to leave the Pei family, and there was no better way than to agree to the marriage.”

In any case, Bo Yueming knew that he was “playing the fool,” so he might as well take the opportunity to clarify.

“I thought about leaving the Bo family before you recovered your eyesight. Just, just……” Pei Yi’s voice became a little guilty. “It was so sudden last night, and I didn’t know how to face you.”

“You couldn’t figure it out, so you wanted to run?”

Bo Yueming ground his molars. He was also reluctant to be too angry with the person in front of him, and continued to ask, “Tell me, where did you plan to go after leaving the Bo residence?”

Pei Yi got stuck.

Bo Yueming was frustrated. “You hadn’t made any preparations, and you wanted to leave with Inspector?”

Pei Yi was unconvinced. “I’m a person with a sound mind and body, where can’t I go?”

Bo Yueming easily turned the topic back, “Since you can go anywhere, why not stay here?”

“Ah?”

Pei Yi was stunned. Why did this circle back again?

“Pei Yi, I don’t know what you experienced before that caused you to have such a negative view toward relationships. If you don’t want to say it, then I won’t force you to be honest.”

Bo Yueming bent down slightly and looked into Pei Yi’s eyes from below, his tone unbelievably gentle.

“But, can you try to give me a chance?”

Pe Yi still didn’t understand: “Huh?”

“We’ll have to turn over the previous relationship. From now until New Year’s Day, we will get along in a normal way for two months, in order to have time to truly understand each other.”

There was no need to pretend to be foolish or obedient, or pretend to be blind.

Bo Yueming obviously believed that Pei Yi treated him differently, but just didn’t want to admit to his feelings.

“I will pursue you without touching your bottom line. If by that time, your attitude toward me and our relationship hasn’t changed at all, I will certainly not stop you from leaving.”

Bo Yueming retreated slightly, taking the initiative to give Pei Yi more distance, lest the other party get too nervous.

He seemed to think of something, and added more bargaining chips, “But I want to make it clear—”

“Inspector is a cat born at the manor. In the beginning, it depended on me and all pet expenses were paid by me.”

“Strictly speaking, it is my cat and you can’t take it without permission.”

Pei Yi immediately grew anxious, and then heard Bo Yueming say further: “If you insist on taking it away, then in exchange, you must stay here until New Year’s Day.”

“In the next two months, your status here will remain the same, and Uncle Kai and the servants can cook for you whatever you want to eat.”

“You don’t have to hide from me to drink in secret. I can accompany you to practice drinking. As long as you want, you can make use of the wine wall behind you.”

“…….”

Ah?

Could there be such a good thing?

Pei Yi’s eyes lit up immediately, but he suppressed it and pretended to be reserved.

Bo Yumeing grasped the kitten’s thoughts. “Have you considered it?”

“…….”

Pei Yi thought silently.

In essence, he was a person who didn’t like to change his place of residence. One reason was a fear of the unfamiliar, and another was the fear of delaying his work. After all, from now to New Years Day happened to be the final preparation period for “The Last Fog 1.0.”

Besides, there was nothing dissatisfying about having desserts, drinking alcohol, and petting a cat after work.

The only thing that made him not dare to try was what Bo Yueming called his “pursuit.”

Father Rong’s warnings seemed to still be echoing in his ears. Pei Yi once again met Bo Yueming’s deep eyes. “I’m not as good as you think, and I’m not worth it. Even if there are two more months, you will still be disappointed.”

“That’s my business.” Bo Yueming remained calm. “You just need to tell me, do you agree or not?”

The balance in Pei Yi’s heart shifted back and forth, and he muttered uncertainly, “Just stay for another two months?”

“En, just two months,” Bo Yueming affirmed, with tension deep in his heart. “Little Sir, this arrangement isn’t bad. Do you agree?”

The balance in his heart grew heavier on one side.

Pei Yi responded in a low voice, “En.”

Instead of being a person who ran from emotions, it was better to clarify his thoughts thoroughly, and then come to a conclusion.

When Bo Yueming received the answer he wanted, his heartstrings relaxed slightly, but he still asked for an additional guarantee, “And you’re not going to sneak away like you did tonight?”

Pei Yi nodded, then something suddenly came to mind, “Then you have to promise me something.”

Bo Yueming indulged him, “Okay, what is it?”

Pei Yi took a deep breath, then several more, but was vague, “Next time, you’re not allowed to um, um……”

Bo Yueming didn’t hear clearly. “What did you say?”

“You’re not allowed to spank my ass!” Pei Yi mustered up his courage. There were still some small grievances that could not be explained. “No one has dared to spank me before, you’re too fierce.”

“Who told you to be disobedient?” Bo Yueming laughed, but agreed, coaxing him, “Little Sir, I will remember.”

The next time he was not well-behaved, he would change his method.

Heat flared up all over Pei Yi at Bo Yueming’s pampering address, so he changed the subject. “When did your eyes heal? In Wencheng? Or after you returned from Wencheng?”

Why was it so much earlier than in the original text?

Bo Yueming didn’t lie to him now. “The car accident caused a blood clot to accumulate in my head. When I went to the convalescent resort before, I hired a medical team without letting Bo Guancheng and the others know, and planned to have an operation.”

Pei Yi knew this from the original text, but still felt strange. “Did you have the operation?”

It shouldn’t be, ah.

He was there the whole time, and they only stayed less than three days. How could it be possible to complete an operation?

“No, the doctor said that the clot in my head could be absorbed by itself.” Bo Yueming made a long story short, “When we met the Chen Yuyin mother and son last time, do you remember that I blocked a broomstick for you?”

“It wasn’t a blessing in disguise for you to take the hit, right?” Pei Yi suddenly realized. He added with a fake cough, “I mean the blood clot is gone?”

Bo Yueming chuckled and continued, “That’s not far off. From that day forward, my eyesight got better by the day, until—”

Pei Yi was curious. “When did it heal entirely?”

“It was the night you snuck away to see Qin Yishun without telling me, and I told you not to run around behind my back in the future.” Bo Yueming brought up an old incident again, raising his eyebrows. “You were so perfunctory at that time, I should have guessed you wouldn’t have a long memory.”

“…….”

Pei Yi calculated the time in reverse, and nearly muttered the phrase, “Marvel at this essence of Chinese culture.”

It was so much earlier than the original! Was Bo Yueming’s ability to fake it so good, or was it because he was playing the fool? How had he never found out?

Bo Yueming seemed to see the exclamation mark above his head. “You’ve always trusted me and not guarded against me, but in order to watch you play the fool, I deliberately hid it from you, so it was natural for you not to find out. In the end, it’s still my fault.”

Pei Yi felt an inexplicable heat flow through his heart, and asked, “Don’t you wonder why I acted and deceived you?”

Bo Yueming picked him up from the water bar. “I’m curious, but I won’t force you to say it. When you want to speak of it, you’ll naturally tell me.”

“Ai!”

Pei Yi was startled, and his ears went slightly red. “What are you doing? I can get down by myself.”

The height and body shape difference between them was very obvious, and such a thing as picking him up was very easy for Bo Yueming. “I’m afraid that a night owl such as you will slip away again, so I’ll take you back.”

Pei Yi subconsciously put his arms around Bo Yueming’s shoulders, and still spoke stiffly, “Then I can walk by myself.”

Bo Yueming hugged him tightly, and entered Pei Yi’s room. “Turn on the light.”

“Oh.”

Pei Yi was still honest and well-behaved in action.

As soon as the overhead light in the room was turned on, Bo Yueming placed the kitten in his arms down on the bed, and didn’t forget to add, “I’ll confiscate the suitcase outside first.”

In the cat nest, Inspector leaned half of its body out to check on the situation of its two owners. In the end, it shrank back smartly, leaving only a “meow” to show its presence.

Bo Yueming turned his head to look under the table, and suddenly discovered a bottle of wine hidden next to the cat nest.

“When did you open the wine?”

“…….”

Pei Yi cursed to himself.

The incident happened so suddenly last night, and today he was so nervous that he forgot to dispose of the bottle of red wine!

But on second thought, he became unyielding again. “You said it yourself, we’re moving on from the past, and I’m allowed to drink red wine.”

Bo Yueming raised his eyebrows. “Then do you want to drink now?”

Pei Yi wrapped the quilt around his body. “No, I’m a little tired.”

Emotionally tired.

If he had known this would be the end result, why would he have worried about it all day long?

He ran away, but didn’t even get past the living room door, and was “punished” with a spanking. He would be ashamed if word got out!

Bo Yueming set the red wine back on the desk, turned off the overhead light for Pei Yi, and switched on the dim bedside lamp. “If you’re tired, go to sleep early.”

Pei Yi made a sound of acknowledgement, and was just about to let Bo Yueming go back, when the other party bent down again—

The light scattered across Bo Yueming’s profile, and light and shadow fell across his features, making his eyes more mysterious and affectionate.

“Pei Yi.”

“En?”

“Tonight, we’re officially meeting.” Bo Yueming patted the edge of the quilt twice, restrained and fond. “Good night, sweet dreams.”

In a word, they had officially let go of the unnecessary pretenses between them and were being honest.

Pei Yi was momentarily bewitched by the deep meaning in those words.

He automatically shrunk his face under the quilt to hide his blush. “Good night.”

When Bo Yueming shouldn’t let it go, he watched it closely, and when he should let it go, he very simply walked away.

The door closed again.

Pei Yi’s gaze shifted from the door panel to the ceiling. He recalled all that had happened in just one day, thinking about the deeply buried memories that had not been dredged up for a long time—

After a long silence, he finally closed his eyes.

Be it in the past or in the future, life should always be lived day by day.

. . . . . .

Pei Yi didn’t know when he fell asleep, but when he awoke, it was already dawn.

He stayed in bed for a while, and then slowly got up to wash himself, planning to go downstairs to find something to eat.

The moment the door opened, the playful Inspector ran out first.

Pei Yi didn’t have time to chase after it, so he took a closer look and found that Bo Yueming was sitting on the sofa in the living room.

The gazes of the two people collided in mid-air.

Pei Yi subconsciously prepared to play the fool, but promptly remembered the current situation and covered his lips, letting out a muffled cough. “Er-ge, good morning.”

He had addressed him this way for a long time, and was used to saying it. If he suddenly changed the address to something else, it would feel weird.

“Morning.”

Bo Yueming put down the tablet in his hand and walked up to him. “Did you sleep well? Let’s go downstairs and have breakfast.”

“It was pretty good.”

Talking to Bo Yueming in a normal tone, he asked casually, “When did you wake up? Why didn’t you go down?”

In the past, Bo Yueming would always sit and wait in the kitchen.

“I just woke up not long ago.”

Bo Yuemings words were very brief, and what he didn’t dare to tell Pei Yi was—

The day before his biological mother “disappeared,” she held a suitcase in the same way and coaxed him that she wasn’t leaving, but when he fell asleep, she left without a word.

After leaving Pei Yi’s bedroom the night before, Bo Yueming sat on the sofa the entire night, and only returned to the master bedroom bathroom at six or seven o’clock to wash up briefly.

The two went downstairs together. 

Uncle Kai brought out the cooked noodles. “Second Young Master, Little Sir, good morning.”

Pei Yi took the initiative to greet, “Good morning, Uncle Kai. It smells so good, ah.”

Uncle Kai was stunned for a moment, and looked at Pei Yi with a disbelieving expression.

Bo Yueming sat face to face with Pei Yi, and asked with seeming casualness, “Where is Lin Zhong?”

Speak of the devil and he will arrive.

Lin Zhong emerged from his room, nodded at Bo Yueming, and sat down.

Pei Yi took a sip of soup to warm his stomach, and after confirming that the people around him were all his own, he asked curiously, “Er-ge, what are you going to do about Bo Guancheng? What about the woman? You can’t just let it go, ba.”

“……”

“……”

As soon as these words were spoken, Lin Zhong and Uncle Kai both wore stupefied expressions.

Lin Zhong, who was about to suck up some noodles, almost bit his own tongue. “Little Sir, you, you, what?”

Bo Yueming explained briefly for him, “Pei Yi’s mind is very sound. He had to pretend for certain reasons before. You are the only ones who know about it, so don’t reveal it to the outside world for now.”

Lin Zhong took a deep breath at this calm explanation.

God!

Mr. Bo pretended to be blind before, and Little Sir pretended to be a fool later?

You two are so good at “role-playing?” You should both win Oscars! 

Probably because Uncle Kai had seen more of the world, he was a little calmer than Lin Zhong. “All right.”

He had thought Little Sir was “clever” before and that he was a sort of “autistic genius,” but it was all a disguise? 

He had to say, to a certain extent, the marriage between the Second Young Master and Little Sir was really a match made in heaven!

Two peas in a pod!

Facing Uncle Kai and Lin Zhong, who had taken true care of him, Pei Yi still expressed his gratitude, along with an apology, “Uncle Kai, Lin Zhong, I’m sorry. Before……I didn’t mean to hide it from you.”

Uncle Kai smiled back at him. “Little Sir, it’s okay. You couldn’t have been better.”

Lin Zhong nodded.

At least in the past few months of getting along, the other party had never done anything to endanger them. On the contrary, he had “pretended to be a pig to eat the tiger” in order to defend Mr. Bo several times!

Bo Yueming didn’t linger too much on the topic, and asked: “Is Lin Na locked up?”

Lin Zhong’s expression turned serious. “En, I sent someone to watch her.”

Bo Yueming instructed, “Have Lao Fu prepare the car. I’ll come over later to take a look.”

As he spoke, he unconsciously looked across the dining table. As expected, he heard Pei Yi say, “I’ll go and take a look too.”

Bo Yueming was as indulgent as ever, “Okay, finish your noodles first.”

“En!”

. . . . . .

Half an hour later, everyone finished breakfast.

Pei Yi saw the car parked at the entrance of the villa and was about to go out first, when he was stopped by Bo Yueming, who had gone upstairs to get his things. “Pei Yi, wait a moment.”

Turning around, Pei Yi found that Bo Yueming had put on a pair of guide glasses again. “En?”

Bo Yueming noticed his question and explained in a low voice: “Not many people in the Bo family can be trusted. The better I pretend, the more I can force them to show their hand.”

What happened at the celebration banquet two days ago was the best proof.

If Bo Yueming publicized the recovery of his vision too early, perhaps he would have been caught another way that night.

Pei Yi nodded in understanding, and spoke again, “Then I’ll also pretend again outside, ba. Anyway, I’m used to it, and it works pretty well occasionally.”

Bo Yueming raised his eyebrows: “Are you sure?”

Pei Yi was puzzled. “What could be uncertain about this?”

As soon as he spoke, Bo Yueming accurately grasped his hand. “Since it’s business as usual, let’s go.”

“…….”

Pei Yi looked down at his right hand that had been caught while his guard was down, and blinked uncertainly.

Ah?

Pretending also included this?