Seeing that Xu Chenghao wasn’t saying anything, Li Nian thought he felt guilty. This made Li Nian even more excited as he immediately started acting dramatically: “Oh my God, before I went on my trip, you were still calling me ‘sweetie.’ I can’t believe that when I come back, you’re with someone else… Oh, I can’t even bring myself to say it.”
Xu Chenghao rolled his eyes at him: “Shut up!”
Li Nian immediately clutched his chest, pretending to be hurt: “You’re yelling at me! You’re actually yelling at me over someone who just gave you a cupping treatment? Oh, I can’t believe how heartless you’ve become. If I had known, I would never have let you call me ‘sweetie.’ I hereby announce that we are officially done! From now on, I will no longer be your ‘sweetie.'”
Xu Chenghao suddenly raised his hand, scaring Li Nian into taking two steps back cautiously: “What are you doing? After everything that happened last night, do you still have the energy to hit me?”
Xu Chenghao indeed didn’t have the energy to hit him, but he had something even more lethal. He shook the phone in his hand, signaling: “The person who gave me the cupping treatment was Jing Yicheng. If you really have a problem with it, how about I call him and you tell him yourself?”
Li Nian, who was already terrified of Jing Yicheng, had just come back from his trip and was still feeling weak. The mere thought of facing Jing Yicheng made him nervous, let alone voicing any complaints. This threat hit him right where it hurt, and he immediately caved: “No, no, no, I was wrong, I was wrong…”
Xu Chenghao, holding his phone up, asked: “Have you had enough of your act?”
Li Nian obediently lowered his head: “I’ve had enough.”
Xu Chenghao: “Will you dare to do it again?”
Li Nian: “No, I won’t.”
Xu Chenghao: “Will you say anything else?”
Li Nian: “No, I won’t.”
Xu Chenghao sneered, feeling a sense of triumph as if to say, “You think you can mess with me?” However, it wasn’t long before Li Nian’s curiosity got the better of him again. As he watched Xu Chenghao look through the gifts, he couldn’t resist gossiping: “So, you and Jing Yicheng have progressed this far already?”
Xu Chenghao absentmindedly replied, “Mm-hmm,” as he continued going through the gifts.
Li Nian cleared his throat and continued gossiping: “So, who’s on top?”
Xu Chenghao got annoyed just thinking about last night and impatiently responded: “What do you think?”
Li Nian immediately understood: “I know, I know.”
Xu Chenghao found it a bit strange: “What do you know?”
Li Nian: “Whoever stays home is the one on the bottom.”
Xu Chenghao: “…”
Xu Chenghao unhappily threw down the gift he was holding: “Yeah, you’re right.”
Li Nian wanted to laugh but held it in, clearing his throat as he tried to comfort him: “Being on the bottom isn’t so bad. The one on top has to do all the work—how exhausting!”
Xu Chenghao scoffed: “Do you think being on the bottom isn’t tiring? You single dog!”
Li Nian: “…”
After their exchange of hurtful remarks, neither of them felt very happy. Li Nian sighed and said, “Why are we doing this to each other? Instead of tearing each other down, we should be looking toward the future…”
As Li Nian spoke, he brought the conversation back to a more serious note: “You and Jing Yicheng are at this point now. Have you thought about what comes next?”
Xu Chenghao replied, “Of course I have. In a few days, it’s Ruan Chenxuan’s son’s one-month celebration. I’m planning to take Jing Yicheng to meet my parents and make things official.”
Li Nian: “???”
Li Nian was stunned: “Wait a minute, there’s a lot to unpack here… What do you mean, Ruan Chenxuan’s son? When did he mess up?”
Xu Chenghao calmly explained: “It was that time with An Rouyu. Didn’t I tell you she left the country because she was pregnant? Well, for some reason, Old Mr. Ruan found out a few days ago and had her forcibly brought back. Now An Rouyu is in the hospital, and there’s a 90% chance the child will end up with the Ruan family. The other 10% chance is just a fluke.”
Li Nian: “What shocks me the most is that Old Mr. Ruan actually accepted the child… You’d think that someone as old-fashioned as him would be strongly opposed to having a child out of wedlock, right?”
Xu Chenghao: “That’s not the case. Old Mr. Ruan’s old-fashioned views are more about favoring boys over girls, so that’s why he accepted the child.”
Li Nian was speechless: “I’m at a loss for words.”
Xu Chenghao: “Yeah, the whole situation leaves you at a loss for words.”
Li Nian asked, “So now that Ruan Chenxuan has suddenly become a father, is he still bothering you?”
Xu Chenghao: “At least a lot less than before.”
Li Nian clicked his tongue: “It’s true what they say, there’s always something that can deal with something else.”
Xu Chenghao wholeheartedly agreed. The two of them chatted for a while longer about the upcoming celebration. As the time approached eleven o’clock, Xu Chenghao asked Li Nian if he wanted to stay for lunch.
Li Nian was about to nod but hesitated and asked, “What about Jing Yicheng? Is he coming back for lunch?”
Xu Chenghao said, “He left a note saying he went to the office to handle some work for me but would be back to have lunch with me.”
Li Nian was so choked by this display of affection that he didn’t want to say anything more. He stood up and said, “I’ve delivered the gift, so I’ll go home and rest for a couple of days. I’ll get back to work as soon as I recover from the jet lag, but it’ll be within a week. Bye!”
Xu Chenghao called out to his retreating figure, “You’re not staying for lunch?”
Without turning back, Li Nian replied, “I’m afraid if I stay, I won’t be eating lunch but rather a bunch of dog food!”
Xu Chenghao watched helplessly as Li Nian left, finally having some time to freshen up and change out of his pajamas. While brushing his teeth, he glanced at himself in the mirror and noticed that there were only a few faint kiss marks on his chest and collarbone, which could easily be hidden by his clothes. However, when he turned slightly to check his back, he saw a large cluster of kiss marks spreading from behind his ear down into his collar, the marks so dense and reddish that it was no wonder Li Nian had called it a cupping treatment.
Why did he have to kiss the back? Xu Chenghao frowned as he went to his wardrobe to change clothes. But whether he switched from casual wear to a suit, he found that no matter what he wore, he couldn’t cover the kiss marks on the back of his neck. It suddenly dawned on him why Jing Yicheng had done it.
That guy definitely did it on purpose, so he wouldn’t be able to hide it!
Xu Chenghao was both annoyed and amused, unsure whether to attribute this to Jing Yicheng’s strong possessiveness or his childish desire to show off.
No, Xu Chenghao thought, I still haven’t settled last night’s account with him, and now he’s pulling this stunt. I have to make him suffer a little, or I won’t feel right.
With that in mind, Xu Chenghao took out his treasured stash of misshapen chili peppers, which he’d been saving for a while. He handed them to the housekeeper auntie and solemnly instructed her, “Make sure you stir-fry these plain!”
Auntie: “…Are you sure you don’t want to add anything?”
Xu Chenghao replied, “Yes! Just stir-fry these peppers. One plate per meal will do.”
Auntie hesitated, then agreed, “Alright… if you’re sure.”
By the time Jing Yicheng returned, the stir-fried red chili peppers had just been served. The pungent, spicy aroma wafted from the kitchen and hit Jing Yicheng’s nose, giving him an immediate sense of foreboding.
At this point, Xu Chenghao was already seated in the dining room, waiting. Since he hadn’t eaten breakfast, Auntie had warmed up some porridge for him to start with, to avoid upsetting his stomach with something too greasy later.
Jing Yicheng sat down right next to Xu Chenghao and asked gently, “Haohao, did you sleep well?”
Xu Chenghao, in a bad mood, replied, “What do you think?”
Jing Yicheng was about to say something when Auntie came over and placed a plate of bright red chili peppers in front of him, along with two steamed buns, smiling as she said, “All the dishes are ready. Please, start eating.”
Jing Yicheng: “…”
Alright, he got the message—Haohao was definitely upset.
Without needing Xu Chenghao to say a word, Jing Yicheng obediently picked up his chopsticks and began eating the chili peppers. He tried to find comfort in the situation, thinking—at least stir-frying the chili peppers brought out some flavor, and he had steamed buns to eat. It could have been worse. So Jing Yicheng ate willingly, even cleaning his plate in an effort to appease Xu Chenghao.
However, Xu Chenghao was not impressed. When Jing Yicheng returned in the afternoon, he was again served chili peppers and steamed buns. Even worse, after dinner, Xu Chenghao wouldn’t let him into the bedroom!
Everything else was tolerable, but not being able to sleep with Haohao was absolutely unacceptable. Jing Yicheng, who believed that in bed he had the final say but outside of it, Haohao did, waited until Xu Chenghao was washing up. He then picked the lock and sneaked in, joining Xu Chenghao for a shared bath, and happily cuddled with him to sleep.
But the next day, lunch turned into cornbread and raw chili peppers… That’s right, the stir-fried chili peppers were gone, replaced by plain, raw peppers on a plate. Simple and to the point.
After eating that for a day, Jing Yicheng once again picked the lock that night!
Xu Chenghao, fully prepared this time, grabbed a pillow and started hitting him as soon as he entered: “Will you stop already? Enough is enough!”
Jing Yicheng closed the door, leaning against it and letting Xu Chenghao hit him as much as he wanted, while stealthily locking the door behind him. When Xu Chenghao was finally tired from hitting him, Jing Yicheng gently embraced him and whispered, “How could it ever be enough? I wish I could die in your arms.”
Xu Chenghao rolled his eyes at him: “Are you just thinking with your lower half?”
Jing Yicheng didn’t reply, just continued kissing Xu Chenghao’s earlobe, following his usual habit of kissing from behind his ear down his neck.
Xu Chenghao shrank his neck back and frowned, saying, “I’m going to the office tomorrow, so don’t leave any marks.”
Upon hearing this, Jing Yicheng immediately intensified his efforts, giving a hard suck to leave a clear, distinct kiss mark. Only then did he flash a satisfied smile and continue kissing him. As he left more marks, his hands grew more mischievous, slipping under Xu Chenghao’s clothes and sliding up along his spine. Occasionally, when he touched the front and made Xu Chenghao’s legs go weak, he would take full advantage of it.
Sometimes, people are like this: if they’ve never tried something, they won’t have any expectations. Even if everyone tells them it’s great, they might not be interested. But once they break the taboo and taste it, it’s as if a door to a new world has been opened, and there’s no going back—they wish they could live in that moment forever.
Jing Yicheng was exactly like that.
Especially since he already had a deep affection for Xu Chenghao, he was completely powerless against Xu Chenghao’s unintentional allure and temptation, as well as his moans and shyness. Even if the next day greeted him with chili peppers and cornbread again, he still wanted to possess Xu Chenghao, to see that different side of him revealed just for him, driven mad with desire.
This is why Jing Yicheng’s approach to intimacy always started gently and tenderly but escalated into something wild and intense. The moment Xu Chenghao got emotional, Jing Yicheng would lose control.
Sometimes Xu Chenghao would beg for mercy, but after realizing that pleading only excited Jing Yicheng even more, he quickly gave up. At times, he would bite Jing Yicheng’s shoulder—the most vicious time, he drew blood, and the wound still hadn’t fully healed. But… Jing Yicheng was a madman. Being bitten only made him more, more, more excited!
Xu Chenghao was at a loss for words, even considering giving up on the situation entirely. Although he agreed that this kind of thing was normal and beneficial for a romantic relationship, and he did enjoy the process… his butt hurt!
The consequences of someone’s lack of restraint weren’t just the two of them being utterly exhausted; it also left his butt in serious pain!
So, Xu Chenghao was quite unhappy, and the chili pepper campaign at home continued uninterrupted, because Xu Chenghao’s thinking was—if you make my butt hurt, I’ll make yours hurt too.
The author has something to say:
Xu Chenghao: “Come on, let’s keep hurting each other!”
I actually saw someone say that Li Nian, as an experienced driver, didn’t get on the train. How could he not understand? Of course, he pointed it out loudly just to gossip more conveniently, hahaha!
T/N: Haohao I don’t think you’re hurting each other lol. In the end, you’ll get used to papapa every day and Chen-ge spice tolerance will increase lol. In fact, you’re helping each other pfft!
