Translated by Eve

Song Xuanhe rolled his eyes, his expression that of disdain. However, his body was much more honest as it shrunk back towards the other side of the bed. He then raised his chin and said, “The law says that only married partners have an obligation to one another. Boyfriends don't. Besides, the things you mentioned you were losing out on—how is it just my fault? It takes two to tango. How about you reflect on yourself a bit more?”

He then calmly burrowed back into the sheets, only revealing his smooth forehead and a pair of eyes. Because his mouth was underneath the blanket, it sounded m.u.f.fled. “I'm tired. Go shower.”

Xiao Yuanmu stared at him for two seconds and then abruptly came forward. Song Xuanhe was startled into pulling the blanket over his head. He inwardly prepared himself to get beaten up beyond recognition.

However, Xiao Yuanmu only rubbed his head before letting him go. “The hairdryer is in the desk's drawer. Dry your hair before sleeping.”

Song Xuanhe was slightly taken aback. For a moment, he felt guilty for having thought Xiao Yuanmu was going to do something to him.

But just as he started to feel a bit guilty over suspecting the other's good intentions, he heard Xiao Yuanmu say, “Don't make my pillow wet.”

When he heard this, not only was Song Xuanhe not mad, he even felt relieved. If Xiao Yuanmu's personality were to suddenly change, he wouldn't have been able to sleep tonight.

Xiao Yuanmu watched as the other went to pull open the drawer. His gaze fell on the other's clothes that were slightly raised, revealing a pale, tight waist. His eyes darkened slightly and he grabbed a change of clothes before leaving the room.

Song Xuanhe turned on the hairdryer and dried his hair upon hearing Xiao Yuanmu leave. His hair was really short and had already been mostly dry so he was done in a short amount of time.

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When he placed the hairdryer back in the drawer, Song Xuanhe noticed a jade pendant in the corner of the drawer. The jade pendant was translucent and exquisite. He was able to tell that it was an extraordinary object with one glance. He stopped himself just as he was about to close the drawer. Because of his good sight, he was able to make out the engraved character despite the shadows:

Xiao

.

As expected.

Song Xuanhe only paused for a second before he calmly closed the drawer.

The System wasn't willing to let him sleep in peace. It said：【That was the jade pendant given to every scion of the Xiao Family when they're born as a token of their ident.i.ty! Xiao Yuanmu obviously knew about this pendant. Why did he say that he was named after a tree when Xiao Nan asked about his last name last time?!】

Song Xuanhe shut his eyes and his eyelashes didn't even flutter upon hearing this. He had no intention of responding.

The System continued：【It can't be that the big shot already knows about his family background and just doesn't want to be found by the Xiao Family?! 】

【That's probably not the case.】The System answered its own question：【You humans love glory and wealth. Moreover, it's his biological parents. If he had found out about his own ident.i.ty, even if he didn't go looking for them, he'd at least investigate it. There is no way he would just stay here in the orphanage and do nothing. He probably doesn't know who he is.】

【You're so noisy.】Song Xuanhe flipped over, back against the door：【Shut up. I want to sleep.】

【Are you really not curious? Not even a little bit?】The System asked：【If Xiao Yuanmu knows about his family, no matter what you do, as long as he's unwilling to return, you'll fail your mission.】

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When Song Xuanhe heard this, he opened his eyes and coldly thought：【So what if Xiao Yuanmu doesn't want to acknowledge them as family? As long as the Xiao Family wants him to, he has neither the right nor power to refuse.】

【You….】The System hadn't expected for Song Xuanhe to say such a thing. It didn't know what to say for a moment. A while later, it said：【So what you're saying is that it's possible that Xiao Yuanmu already knows who he is?】

Song Xuanhe closed his eyes again and remained silent.

【Tell me!】The System's boorish voice made Song Xuanhe's eyelid twitch：【Brother….】

【I don't know.】Song Xuanhe was afraid that the System would keep talking so he cut it off before it could speak：【I'm not a mind reader. How can I know what he's thinking? Moreover, even if he knew about this pendant's meaning, he wouldn't connect it to the Xiao Family. After all, a poor kid from an orphanage probably wouldn't know about the Xiao Family.】

The System a.n.a.lyzed Song Xuanhe's words and thought that he was right. Every world had its own rules, and every level within each world had their own set as well. What the beings at each level knew differed. The eight major families were legendary existences even to the average rich family in this world, to the point where there was a lot of debate over which eight families const.i.tuted the eight. Even business magazines found it difficult to differentiate between fact and fiction in their reports, let alone Xiao Yuanmu.

When Song Xuanhe saw that he had managed to dupe the System with his words, his lips that were hidden beneath the blanket curled into a smile. He didn't know if Xiao Yuanmu knew that he was a member of the Xiao Family, one of the major eight families before. However, Song Xuanhe was pretty certain Xiao Yuanmu had figured out the truth about his family after having met Xiao Nan.

In his last life, or rather, the Xiao Yuanmu in the book, had never encountered Xiao Nan prior to going back to the Xiao Family. But this didn't mean that he had never met anyone else from the Xiao Family or that he hadn't incidentally come into contact with Xiao Family people. It was very possible that he had already figured out his ident.i.ty even before the Xiao couple had recognized him.

There were three possible reasons that would explain why he didn't go looking for the Xiao Family after having figured out his ident.i.ty. The first possibility was that Xiao Yuanmu didn't want to go back to the Xiao Family. The second possibility was that he had a bigger plan in mind. For example, he may be building up his power so that he'll be in a more advantageous position upon returning to the Xiao Family. As for the third possibility, Xiao Yuanmu's emotions were hard to read. His thoughts were even more obscure. Maybe he was just in a bad mood and was too lazy to go search for them.

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It was just that, regardless of which possibility was true, it further reinforced the idea that Xiao Yuanmu's thoughts were deep and unfathomable. He was very good at scheming and waiting patiently.

The type of person Song Xuanhe was least willing to interact with was precisely this kind of person.

Song Xuanhe tugged the blanket down a bit and was planning on ridding his mind of thoughts so he could sleep. However, he didn't know why, but the image of Xiao Yuanmu's terrified expression in front of the snake tonight emerged in his brain.

It wasn't just that. Xiao Yuanmu cooking for him, buying him congee—the way he had stood up tall even when he was in unbearable pain…all sorts of images appeared before his eyes. Before he fell asleep, one thought emerged in his mind:

He has a huge mental scar and he had to grow up in a place that gave him no sense of security. Even if his thoughts are unfathomable, I get why.

When Xiao Yuanmu walked in, he saw Song Xuanhe already asleep. He shut the door very quietly and then made a 'sit' gesture to the puppy that was wagging its tail frantically and attempting to run towards him. When he saw the puppy cleverly sit down, he quietly walked further into the room.

He didn't sit down. Instead, he crouched down next to the bed and stared at Song Xuanhe's face that looked younger when he was asleep. His eyes slowly grew darker. He gently touched the other's curled lashes with his index fingers. When he saw those eyelashes tremble, he s.h.i.+fted his finger to the other's bridge in an unhurried fas.h.i.+on before tracing it down to his lips. He caressed Song Xuanhe's soft lips and watched as they reddened under his ministrations.

It was only when Song Xuanhe, who was deep asleep, withdrew uncomfortably that he came back to himself. Xiao Yuanmu's eyes regained their clarity but he didn't take his hand away. He could still feel the softness against his fingers and couldn't help but rub them two more times. Only then did he take his hand away.

The image of Song Xuanhe acting tough just now appeared in his mind. He chuckled quickly, voice hoa.r.s.e. “Looks like I really….”

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Xiao Yuanmu didn't finish his sentence and stood up. He deftly lifted the covers and then sat on top of the bed. After turning off the light, he reached into the covers and warmed up his own hands. He then reached over to grab Song Xuanhe's hands, entwining each of his fingers in the cracks between his own. When he felt that same warmth he had felt earlier this evening while they had been on that path, he smiled.

He only had two secrets. In his last life, no one had known about either of them. But right now, both had been exposed to Song Xuanhe. There had been two times where he hadn't wanted anyone to see him in his sorriest state. And both times, Song Xuanhe had barged into the darkness that held him.

In the beginning, he had only felt embarra.s.sed and angry. He hadn't wanted to let the other see his weak side. But today, when the other had grabbed his hand and said those words, Xiao Yuanmu had suddenly thought that maybe this was Heaven's Will.

Heaven's Will had allowed him to be reborn once again. Heaven's Will had let Song Xuanhe see him in such miserable states. Heaven's Will had allowed light to crash into his darkness-filled world. If he didn't grab hold of Song Xuanhe, then he'd be betraying Heaven's favour.

As he thought this, an unprecedented feeling of peace and content filled Xiao Yuanmu's chest. This was something he had never sought before. However, now that he had it, he would hold it tightly in the palms of his hand and would never let go.

Song Xuanhe seemed to be uncomfortable in his sleep. He tried to pull his hand out of Xiao Yuanmu's. When he failed, he let out a groan. Giving up, he simply turned over, his back now facing Xiao Yuanmu. He only left that one hand behind him and simply let Xiao Yuanmu hold it.

Xiao Yuanmu didn't let go of Song Xuanhe's hand. He placed their entwined hands in front of Song Xuanhe so that his arm was now slung over the other's waist. He then pulled the other backwards so that Song Xuanhe laid nestled in his embrace.

The familiar scent of body wash wafted over. Xiao Yuanmu's eyes darkened. His gaze fell on the nape of Song Xuanhe's neck.

The rainstorm still raged outside. Very little moonlight managed to make its way through the room's window so the room was very dark. But Xiao Yuanmu could clearly make out the back of Song Xuanhe's neck. His skin was fair and smooth.

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His Adam's apple bobbed and he pressed his lips against the other's nape. But just touching like this didn't feel enough. He couldn't help but want a taste. He continued to pepper Song Xuanhe's neck with kisses until the other s.h.i.+fted his head forward in discomfort. Only then did he stop and pull the other back against him. He murmured, “One day….”

His voice was so quiet it sounded inaudible. It was covered up by the sound of the rain outside and disappeared into the air.

Xiao Yuanmu inhaled the scent of the person in his arms. It was the same light scent as his own. He then tightened his arms, satisfied. Before he shut his eyes, for some reason, the image of their second meeting suddenly appeared in his mind. It had also taken place in the orphanage. Song Xuanhe had suddenly jumped onto him and kissed him in front of the Director. He had then quickly jumped off of him, a guilty look on his face..

Back then, it had felt like his brain had exploded. All he had felt was disbelief. He hadn't been able to say anything back then because of the shame and shock. His heart had been racing in his chest and his entire back and neck had heated up. At that time, he had thought that it had been because he had been angry over someone sneak-attacking him like that so he had ignored how his heart had throbbed.

Their beginning in this life was completely different from that of his last life. A different beginning led to a different ending. Since Song Xuanhe had been responsible for affecting him like that at the start, then it was only logical that he had to take responsibility for it.

It was just that the current Xiao Family was not a suitable place for him.

The author has something to say:

After the big shot acknowledges his feelings, he'll follow the book's plot. But it looks like you guys won't miss him because my son Xuan also won't miss him. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Eve: Mumu has fully accepted his feelings. And Mumu won't give us (or Xuanhe) a chance to miss him hahahaha.

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