MFIMM Chapter 23

Kiss

Kiss

The banquet was filled with clinking glasses and lively conversations.

Lin Xi quickly grew bored. He stayed quietly in the corner, eating. He couldn’t even take photos here, wasting the makeup he’d put on.

Resting his head in his hand, he gazed around the venue and immediately spotted Pei Jiashu in the crowd, skillfully following Pei Yuebin.

A brooch was pinned to the chest of his dark, patterned suit, glinting slightly in the light.

Just like Pei Jiashu in his memory.

As if noticing Lin Xi’s gaze, Pei Jiashu looked over and met his eyes. As if seeing a beloved treasure, a smile blossomed on his lips, his eyes full of tenderness.

Caught in the act, Lin Xi hastily averted his eyes, suddenly feeling a burning sensation on his face.

It must be from drinking too much wine.

Thinking of Pei Jiashu’s expression just now, he couldn’t help but look up again, glancing at Pei Jiashu.

Liang Siqi had appeared by Pei Jiashu’s side at some point, chatting and laughing.

The warmth on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by a stinging pain.

He stood up and silently walked outside to get some air.

The autumn wind brushed against his face, the burning sensation gone, replaced by a slight coolness.

Standing by the door was too conspicuous, but he didn’t want to go back inside, so he found a secluded spot nearby and sat down quietly.

“What do you want to say?”

After a while, Lin Xi suddenly heard a familiar voice.

He didn’t want to eavesdrop, and was about to cough to make his presence known, but then he heard a familiar address.

“Jiashu-ge, you didn’t marry that person because you like him, did you?”

Hearing this name, he knew who the two were. The cough got stuck in his throat.

Pei Jiashu quickly replied, “That’s none of your business.”

With that, Pei Jiashu was about to leave, but Liang Siqi stubbornly grabbed his sleeve.

“Let me guess, what’s the term of your agreement? One or two years is too short; Uncle Pei definitely wouldn’t agree. Ten years is too long. I bet you signed a five-year contract.”

“I…” Lin Xi covered his mouth, almost crying out. Liang Siqi was too smart; he guessed so accurately.

Pei Jiashu pursed his lips and shook off Liang Siqi’s hand. “You’re overthinking it.”

“Then I guessed right.” Liang Siqi snorted softly, leaning even closer to Pei Jiashu. From Lin Xi’s perspective, they were practically touching.

“Jiashu-ge, you’d be better off choosing me than him. I’m the only son of the Liang family. If you married me, our two companies would be even closer. How much is the breach of contract fee with him? I can pay it for you.”

Liang Siqi’s hand seemed boneless, clutching Pei Jiashu’s tie.

Their noses were almost touching.

Lin Xi clenched his fist. Why didn’t Pei Jiashu push him away? Did he really plan to dump him and be with this young master Liang?

No, being dumped would be great. He could get a large sum of breach of contract money and just lie down and relax.

But… things seemed pretty good as they were.

In Lin Xi’s mind, two little people seemed to be tugging at each other. The guilt of eavesdropping made his heartbeat annoyingly fast. He pressed his chest, wanting it to be quieter.

He didn’t want to hear them anymore. Lin Xi turned around and quietly left from behind.

Pei Jiashu stared at Liang Siqi, taking a step back to distance himself from him. He straightened his tie, which had been messed up, and his voice was unusually cold when he spoke.

“If I needed a business marriage, I wouldn’t have started my own company.”

Liang Siqi was stunned, as if all the energy had been drained from him. His straight back slumped instantly. “But you clearly said since childhood that you would marry me.”

“I never said such a thing. You probably misremembered.” Pei Jiashu finally finished fixing his tie. He had originally wanted to come out to find Lin Xi, but he didn’t expect Liang Siqi to follow him out, delaying him for so long.

Liang Siqi still wanted to pester him, but Pei Jiashu coldly replied, “I won’t look for an omega for a business marriage.”

The words Liang Siqi wanted to say were blocked in his mouth. He could only watch Pei Jiashu’s back, reaching out in vain to try and hold him back.

—

“Excuse me, did you see a man in a white suit, quite handsome, come out just now?” Pei Jiashu asked the security guard.

The security guard shook his head. Too many people came and went; they didn’t notice.

Pei Jiashu searched all around the venue but couldn’t find him. His calls went unanswered. Urged to return inside, he had no choice but to go back.

Lin Xi was circling the back of the venue. Pei Jiashu and the others were blocking the entrance, so he had to go around the back.

His feet ached from walking in leather shoes. He attracted attention walking on the small path, but thankfully it wasn’t too far. He returned to the venue before it ended.

Pei Jiashu immediately rushed over when he saw him, bombarding him with questions: “Where did you go? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

Lin Xi’s gaze moved from Pei Jiashu’s tie upward. If it weren’t for the occasion, he really would have argued with Pei Jiashu.

“Never mind.” Pei Jiashu took Lin Xi’s hand and walked into the venue. Lin Xi’s fingertips were icy cold. “Why are your hands so cold?”

Pei Jiashu wrapped his own hand around Lin Xi’s, his warmth almost scalding.

Lin Xi looked at their clasped hands. So Pei Jiashu had chosen him over Liang Siqi. Should he thank Pei Jiashu?

After the banquet, Lin Xi sat silently in the passenger seat.

Pei Jiashu was used to Lin Xi’s retorts. Seeing such a silent Lin Xi, he didn’t know what to say, and the atmosphere in the car plummeted to freezing.

“Where did you go just now? You should stay by my side at these kinds of events.”

Lin Xi had just closed his eyes, his mind full of Liang Siqi’s voice. He couldn’t help but retort, “If you think I’m not presentable enough, go find that young master Liang. Anyway, you two are childhood sweethearts, and he’s very willing to marry you, isn’t he?”

“You… you heard?” A moment of blankness passed over Pei Jiashu’s face.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to listen, but the two of you started talking so obliviously, it was hard not to hear.”

After Lin Xi finished speaking, he closed his eyes, not wanting to communicate with Pei Jiashu.

Back home, Pei Jiashu opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but Lin Xi didn’t even glance at him, going straight into his own room.

Pei Jiashu could only awkwardly wave his hand and go upstairs himself.

Their relationship seemed to have returned to the first month of their marriage, with almost no communication each day. Lin Xi also stopped eating the food Pei Jiashu made, continuing to order takeout.

Every time Pei Jiashu wanted to nag him not to eat so much takeout, Lin Xi just pretended not to hear.

Pei Jiashu thought that Lin Xi would definitely come looking for him after having an allergic reaction, but since he spent a fortune buying almost full-coverage pheromone purifiers for the company, Lin Xi rarely had allergic reactions anymore.

Pei Jiashu often became distracted at work, thinking of ways to restore their previous relationship.

He said to Assistant Song, “Assistant Song, why don’t you secretly turn off the power switch to the pheromone purifiers?”

Assistant Song: Boss, are you okay?

Before Assistant Song could even answer, Pei Jiashu rejected the plan himself. Although Lin Xi was clingy after having an allergic reaction, it was also truly uncomfortable.

Thinking of the last time Lin Xi scratched his glands like that, he still felt lingering fear.

—

That evening, Pei Jiashu ate alone at the dining table. Lin Xi wasn’t even willing to eat in the living room anymore. After bringing takeout back from the door, he went straight back to his room.

Pei Jiashu had only eaten half his meal when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Usually, no one came here. Pei Jiashu opened the door with doubt, only to see two Civil Affairs Bureau staff members standing outside.

“Hello, Mr. Pei, congratulations on your two months of marriage.”

“Thank you.” Pei Jiashu’s face was calm, but in reality, his mind was already in overdrive.

When they got their marriage certificate, the Civil Affairs Bureau staff said that they would randomly visit after half a year of marriage. He had forgotten all about it.

But with his and Lin Xi’s current relationship, it would be obvious to anyone that there was a problem.

“Mr. Pei?” Pei Jiashu was blocking the doorway, preventing the staff from entering. They called out to Pei Jiashu.

Pei Jiashu immediately stepped aside, letting them in.

“Where is your wife?” the staff member asked.

Pei Jiashu said, “She’s in her room. I’ll go call her out.”

“Then you can show us your room.” The staff member replied. Pei Jiashu nodded with difficulty.

He walked to Lin Xi’s room door. He couldn’t hear any sound inside.

Pei Jiashu smiled awkwardly, choosing to speak instead of knocking, “Xiaoxi, the Civil Affairs Bureau staff are here.”

With that, he pushed the door open.

But he never expected that Lin Xi was wearing headphones, over-ear headphones, not even hearing them come in.

“Damn, why are you coming into my room?” When Lin Xi saw Pei Jiashu, Pei Jiashu was already almost in front of him, blocking the people behind him.

Pei Jiashu’s vision went black. He was done for.

The Civil Affairs Bureau staff exchanged glances. Pei Jiashu could only first walk over to them and say, “Sorry, my wife and I just had an argument recently, so she’s still angry with me. Please sit on the sofa for a while.”

Lin Xi finally realized what was happening. He didn’t even care about their cold war anymore, asking Pei Jiashu, “What should we do? Am I going to mess things up?”

Pei Jiashu massaged his forehead, pulling Lin Xi up from the chair.

He found a subtle position, just enough to let the two staff members in the living room see the side profiles of both of them.

“I was wrong. I really have nothing to do with that person. He’s just a childhood friend of mine. Later, he went abroad for high school, and we never contacted each other again.”

Pei Jiashu gazed at Lin Xi affectionately, using this opportunity to explain to Lin Xi.

Lin Xi looked towards the sofa, and the words from his mouth changed to: “But you still met him privately.”

“I was going to come out to find you, but he followed me.”

Lin Xi pouted. He knew it was time to end the performance, so he followed along and said, “Just this once. You can’t meet him alone anymore.”

“Okay.” Pei Jiashu agreed softly, intimately rubbing his nose against Lin Xi’s nose. Their bodies were almost touching.

Lin Xi stared at Pei Jiashu, mouthing, “Are you addicted to hugging? Let go of me.”

If Lin Xi was performing when he spoke to him just now, now he was really talking to him.

Pei Jiashu stared at Lin Xi, letting go of him slightly, but pressing his fingers on Lin Xi’s lips. Then his lips covered his fingers.

Lin Xi’s eyes widened. Although it couldn’t be considered a kiss, he was still red from head to toe.