GBT Chapter 85

Jiao Bai’s nose was pressed against the Buddha Card, and he subconsciously sniffed. He was struck by lightning, performing a live show of burning all over, with smoke rising from his head.

Fuck.

Jiao Bai “whooshed” up from beside the bedpost and ran, sprinting to the elevator and quickly pressing the button to enter.

The elevator door reflected his extremely guilty appearance.

I’m screwed.

Jiao Bai rubbed his face hard, and a pain shot through his chin as the Buddha Card swung up.

The thin rope was still wrapped around his fingers, the few loops of agarwood grey-black in stark contrast to his paleness.

There was a hint of eroticism.

Jiao Bai looped the rope around his finger, pinching the Buddha Card suspended in mid-air.

The elevator reached the first floor, and Jiao Bai walked out, his face hot and wooden as he passed through one quiet and long corridor after another, heading straight for his room. He slammed the door shut.

When Zhang Zhen came to call Jiao Bai for dinner, he was copying Buddhist scriptures.

Yes, Buddhist scriptures.

A small stack was already piled up beside him.

“Bai Bai, why have you started copying scriptures?” Zhang Zhen exclaimed in surprise.

“To calm my mind.” Jiao Bai placed the brush on the edge of the inkstone, picked up the rice paper in front of him, and blew on the wet…chicken scratch.

Zhang Zhen’s face twitched. Was Bai Bai becoming so much like Third Brother, even using the same method to adjust his emotions?

In fact, Jiao Bai was just putting on an act.

“Brother, don’t mention to the one on the fifth floor that I’m copying scriptures.” Jiao Bai was afraid the old pervert would assign him homework.

“Okay, okay, I won’t mention it.” Zhang Zhen pulled Jiao Bai up. “Let’s go eat.”

Zhang Zhen pushed him out. “It’s just the two of us eating. Third Brother isn’t coming down. His cold has worsened, and I have to be on duty tonight…”

Jiao Bai stopped and turned back. “Didn’t he get an IV drip? How could it get worse?”

“I don’t know.” Zhang Zhen touched his hair and sighed. “Third Brother is delirious with fever.”

“Third Brother only had a slight cold to begin with, but he didn’t rest, insisting on working overtime for long hours, and he didn’t decline any social engagements. He even smoked and drank while sick, and coughed up blood at the company this afternoon.” Zhang Zhen felt helpless.

Jiao Bai frowned. “What’s the Shen family’s reaction? What’s the situation?”

“Several parties are competing for a major government project.” Zhang Zhen said vaguely.

Jiao Bai hooked the Buddha Card rope in his pocket. Businessmen, commercial giants, their battles were also on the marketplace.

Their respective means and resources were their swords.

Jiao Bai ate a little food without tasting it, threw down his bowl, wiped his mouth, and ran outside. He followed the swarms of fireflies in the woods, watching the stars and the moon.

Wandering around until eight or nine o’clock, Jiao Bai went upstairs with the scent of grass and trees he had picked up outside. He had sweated a lot, his body flushed and sticky. His pores were open, and the coolness of the surroundings wrapped around him, all the way to the fifth floor.

Jiao Bai approached the bedroom and shivered. Living in Lan Mo Mansion in the summer meant there was no need for air conditioning.

“Young Master Bai, are you here to see Master Qi?” Qi Twelve greeted him politely. “Please wait a moment while I announce your presence.”

Jiao Bai smelled the sweat on his clothes, thinking that Qi Yi Liao, with his obsession with cleanliness, would definitely find it disgusting.

Then he thought that the other man was burning with fever and wouldn’t be able to smell anything.

Unexpectedly, Qi Yi Liao’s hoarse but clear voice came from inside: “Don’t let him in.”

At the same time, the cat used its paw to cover its high and cold face.

Jiao Bai: “…”

Heh, if he didn’t want to see him, then he didn’t want to see him. Who cared?

Jiao Bai ignored Qi Twelve’s embarrassment and turned to leave.

Qi Twelve watched helplessly as his young master was angered away by Master Qi. He thought something was strange and sent a message to his Brother Zhang.

Zhang Zhen came directly from the gym, wearing a sports vest with a tracksuit jacket thrown over it, showing off his beautiful and hot muscles. He entered the bedroom, dripping with sweat. “Third Brother.”

Qi Yi Liao leaned against the headboard, with some documents that needed approval on the quilt. He was holding one and reading it. The IV tube swayed with his movements.

Zhang Zhen saw Third Brother handling official business while getting an IV, and the second half of his sentence got stuck in his throat.

“If you have something to say, say it.” Qi Yi Liao coughed a few times.

“I heard from Twelve that Bai Bai came to see you, but you didn’t let him in.” Zhang Zhen scratched his sweaty scalp. “Did he do something to make you angry?”

Qi Yi Liao signed the document. “Did he tell you to come and ask?”

Zhang Zhen shook his head. “No.”

“Then what are you asking?” Qi Yi Liao put the signed document aside, a look of illness and exhaustion on his handsome and refined face.

Zhang Zhen was speechless. If two of the most important people in his life had a relationship problem, he would be caught in the middle, worrying about both sides.

Qi Yi Liao processed the next document and suddenly said, “The admission notice from the medical university should be coming soon, right?”

Zhang Zhen was stunned. “It should be soon.”

“Hold a small banquet to celebrate.” Qi Yi Liao said, coughing.

Zhang Zhen hesitated. “At this time…”

“It won’t affect anything.” Qi Yi Liao interrupted.

“Then I’ll have someone arrange it.” Zhang Zhen responded. If Third Brother was holding a banquet for Bai Bai, then nothing serious must have happened.

So, why didn’t Third Brother allow Bai Bai into the bedroom?

“Third Brother, should I go and enlighten Bai Bai?” Zhang Zhen said half-jokingly, “Twelve said that Bai Bai’s face was green when he left. I don’t know where he’s feeling sad right now.”

As soon as he spoke, he realized that the surroundings were too quiet, so he glanced at Third Brother and met a gaze that was both smiling and not smiling.

“Sad? That little brother of yours would only be cursing me somewhere.” Qi Yi Liao chuckled to himself, the smile on his lips fading. “Send him some peaches. He’ll be happy after eating them.”

“He’s already finished the first batch, and the second batch isn’t ripe yet.” Zhang Zhen said.

“Then send him half a watermelon.” Qi Yi Liao lightly clicked his tongue. “A small one. So he doesn’t eat too much and his stomach gets bloated again.”

Zhang Zhen: “…”

He vaguely sensed something and stared at the neckline of Third Brother’s pajamas, wanting to find out more.

“What are you still standing there for?” Qi Yi Liao waved his hand. “Go out and coax him.”

Zhang Zhen accepted the major task and went downstairs. He went to the backyard to pick a round watermelon, cut it in half, and carried it to Jiao Bai’s room.

No one was there. Zhang Zhen went to the open study on the first floor.

“Bai Bai.” Zhang Zhen carried the half watermelon with a long, thin spoon stuck in it. “It’s so late, are you still studying?”

As he approached, Zhang Zhen was silent.

There was a piece of paper spread on the desk, with a picture of a…cat? Maybe, perhaps.

“Bai Bai, do you like cats?” Zhang Zhen gave him the watermelon.

“I don’t like them.” Jiao Bai added a few strokes to the cat. He threw down his pen and took a spoonful of watermelon, stuffing it into his mouth. “Where did it come from?”

“The fifth floor.” Zhang Zhen sat down on the small single sofa next to him, picking up his sportswear to wipe the sweat off his abs. “Third Brother told me to bring you the watermelon.”

Jiao Bai snorted.

“Third Brother didn’t want to see you, probably because he was afraid of infecting you.” Zhang Zhen said seriously. “Your constitution is weak.”

Jiao Bai rolled his eyes. Bullshit. There was definitely another reason.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. That old pervert was always a gentleman, his joys and sorrows hidden beneath that layer of skin. He rarely acted so directly.

It was as if…he was afraid of him coming in.

Afraid of what? He wasn’t going to eat him. Jiao Bai polished off a large piece of watermelon, his mouth full of watermelon flesh and sweet juice.

“Bai Bai, I suspect…” Zhang Zhen clasped his hands together on the desk, talking to himself. “Third Brother lost something very important.”

“It’s a Buddha Card, he always wears it around his neck. I’ve never seen him take it off. When I was talking to him just now, I noticed that his collar was empty. It’s so valuable, where could he have lost it…”

As Zhang Zhen spoke, he noticed the atmosphere was strange. He looked at the young man who had put down his spoon. “What’s wrong?”

“I have one here.” Jiao Bai licked the watermelon juice from the corner of his mouth. “Third Brother gave it to me.”

Zhang Zhen didn’t understand at first. “What?”

A few seconds later, he saw something suspended from a thin rope.

The air was very quiet.

Jiao Bai brought the Buddha Card closer to Zhang Zhen, actively probing. “The one you’re talking about, is it like the one in my hand…”

“That’s Third Brother’s Buddha Card.” Zhang Zhen said with astonishment.

Jiao Bai took a breath, his face unreadable. “Brother, take another look. Are you sure the one he wears is this one?”

“I’m sure.” Zhang Zhen pointed at the Buddha Card. “There are words engraved on the bottom edge, seven or six characters. Take a closer look.”

Jiao Bai only felt that the Buddha Card had a solemn and heavy feeling, and the carving was also very exquisite. He hadn’t looked at it carefully before.

At this moment, Jiao Bai brought the Buddha Card closer and, according to Zhang Zhen’s instructions, examined the bottom edging, stroking it inch by inch with his fingertip until he stopped at one spot.

There really were words there.

—Avoid greed, avoid anger, avoid delusion.

Jiao Bai’s gaze swept from the first word to the last, and he unconsciously read them out loud.

“That’s right, that’s the sentence!” Zhang Zhen’s heart was a little turbulent. Although he wasn’t clear about the full picture of the Qi family’s secrets, he had accidentally stumbled upon a small part. When he first came to the Qi family, Third Brother often wrote those six words, but later he never wrote them again.

Jiao Bai looked at the Buddha Card in his hand, speechless for a moment. He thought that the reason why this Buddha Card had the same scent as Qi Yi Liao was because Qi Yi Liao also wore one, and they both came from the same master craftsman.

Who knew it was the same one.

Jiao Bai put the Buddha Card on the table and leaned his body against the bookshelf. The sweetness of the watermelon spread wantonly, but he had no appetite at all.

“Does this Buddha Card have any meaning?” Jiao Bai met Zhang Zhen’s hesitant gaze.

“The Buddha Card was carved by Third Brother’s mother for him.” Zhang Zhen said with emotion. “The first time I met him, he was wearing it. It’s been decades. The rope has been changed countless times, but the Buddha Card has always been there.”

Third Brother even gave Bai Bai the relic his mother made for him. And he even added a translucent box on the outside, which should be a positioning tracker used in the political world.

Zhang Zhen was shocked by this turn of events. He never thought that this would happen.

Since Bai Bai returned from Bei City, he had been secretly observing him for a while, and Bai Bai’s reactions when he was with Third Brother were also…

My brother might really become my sister-in-law.

In the subtle atmosphere, Jiao Bai asked another question: “Have you ever seen Third Brother’s mother?”

“I haven’t seen her in person.” Zhang Zhen said.

Jiao Bai saw Zhang Zhen was still looking at him, and was speechless. He grabbed a book and covered his face.

“Bai Bai, you must keep this Buddha Card safe. Don’t lose it.” Zhang Zhen said seriously.

Jiao Bai didn’t move.

Zhang Zhen knew he was uncomfortable, so he didn’t say much, letting him calm down.

After Zhang Zhen left, Jiao Bai was still leaning against the bookshelf. He wasn’t uncomfortable, but he felt that the Buddha Card was too hot to handle.

Not to mention wearing it, it took courage just to look at it.

Jiao Bai suddenly stood up, his eyes staring at the Buddha Card. The Qi family had a small population, their Yang energy was weak, the house was connected to a graveyard, it was gloomy, and the head of the family even believed in ghosts and gods, believing that there were dirty things in the world and that evil spirits could possess people.

Could the Buddha Card have been enchanted by some master, used as a talisman for driving away evil spirits and warding off bad luck?

Wearing the Buddha Card was beneficial to Qi Yi Liao’s body and mind, and he got sick and caught something after taking it off?

Jiao Bai’s face darkened. He wasn’t superstitious before, so why was he thinking about those things now?

Then he thought that he was a ghost himself.

He had been brought back to life.

In the middle of the night, Jiao Bai climbed the stairs to the fifth floor, moving lightly and quietly like a night cat, without making much noise.

Zhang Zhen, who was on duty, pretended not to notice him and even called the other two brothers away.

So when Jiao Bai came up, the entire fifth floor was eerily quiet. He heard his own heartbeat and breathing, cursing under his breath. Why did it feel like he was meeting a lover, acting so secretive? There was no need for that.

When Jiao Bai was within five meters of the bedroom, his account automatically logged in, and the friend’s avatar at the top lit up.

The cat looked at him with a frown, looking troubled.

Jiao Bai ignored it and walked step by step to the door of the bedroom, discovering that the door wasn’t closed. He gently pushed it open.

The bedroom wasn’t pitch black; one of the bedside lamps was on, casting a warm white light, but the halo of light wasn’t wide, and the rest of the place was dark.

Jiao Bai took out the Buddha Card from his pocket and squeezed it. He walked lightly to the bed, wanting to put the Buddha Card beside the pillow.

Just then, his phone rang. It was the alarm.

Jiao Bai was afraid he would oversleep, so he had set the time specifically to come here, but he had come early, and he forgot to turn off the alarm.

Now it was ringing.

Jiao Bai frantically turned off the alarm and unexpectedly sensed a gaze. He swallowed his saliva and turned to meet it.

Qi Yi Liao had woken up at some point and was looking at him. “Sleepwalking?”

Jiao Bai’s eyes flashed. This was a good way out.

But damn it, even if he was sleepwalking, Lan Mo Mansion was so big, where couldn’t he go? Why did he have to come to the fifth floor?

Never mind, this excuse was too lame and could easily backfire.

So Jiao Bai waved away the step offered by the old pervert, or some kind of bait, and chose to be honest: “No, Third Brother, I’m awake.”

“Awake?” Qi Yi Liao’s slightly pale lips curved into a smile. “Then in the middle of the night,”

He took the phone from behind the headboard, swiped it open and looked at it, “at two forty-five in the morning, what are you doing in my room?”

Jiao Bai said, “Returning something.”

Saying that, he held up the Buddha Card. “I didn’t know you wore it yourself.”

“So what?” Qi Yi Liao said calmly.

Jiao Bai said, “It’s your mother’s relic.”

Qi Yi Liao still said those same few words, his tone unchanged: “So what?”

Jiao Bai pursed his lips. “It’s too valuable. I can’t accept it.”

“I didn’t say I was giving it to you.” Qi Yi Liao said.

Jiao Bai: “…” Seriously, could this uncle slow down his pace a little and consider this junior who was more than a decade younger than him?

Qi Yi Liao put his phone back behind the headboard. “The situation is unstable. You gave the ‘Sky Star’ A attachment back to your friend. Without protection, this Buddha Card with a tracking device will replace it. Once things are stable…”

Jiao Bai interjected, “Give it back to you then?”

Qi Yi Liao lifted his eyelids, looking at the young man who seemed to be scratched by something, uncomfortable all over. After a long while, he moved his Adam’s apple: “Mm.”

Just such a simple syllable made Jiao Bai feel that the Buddha Card wasn’t hot anymore and he could hold it.

If he knew that the tracking device on the Buddha Card wasn’t there from the beginning but had only been installed recently, he would definitely throw it into Qi Yi Liao’s arms.

“Third Brother, is this Buddha Card related to your illness? Did you get sick because you took it off?” Jiao Bai said seriously. “I was possessed before, so I’m afraid of this.”

“It’s not related.” Qi Yi Liao said. “It’s just a fever, I haven’t been contaminated by anything dirty.”

Speaking the second half of the sentence, he vaguely seemed to smile a little. It was hard to tell if it was sarcasm or something else.

“What if I lose the Buddha Card?” Jiao Bai asked again.

“Are you a three-year-old?” Qi Yi Liao retorted.

Jiao Bai was unable to refute. I’m not three years old, but I’m a tool person who eats dog blood. All the unexpected things can happen to me.

“We’ll talk about it when you lose it.” Qi Yi Liao’s eyelids were half-open and half-closed, and he looked sleepy. But when he saw the young man turn around, he frowned. “Are you leaving?”

Jiao Bai was stunned by the question. If he didn’t leave, what would he be doing here?

“Little Bai,” Qi Yi Liao’s face was trapped in the dim light, and he sighed helplessly, “It’s so late, you woke up your uncle, don’t you need to take responsibility?”

“Meow.”

The cat meowed at him very softly. Still with a cold face.

Jiao Bai twitched his mouth. What was it, one big and one small, did he have to coax them to sleep?

The bedroom was spacious and somewhat empty, with all the curtains drawn, and the chandelier and wall lamps were not turned on, only one bedside lamp was still lit.

Jiao Bai sat on the carpet on the side where Qi Yi Liao was lying…

He was just about to find a topic to talk about when a gust of hot air rushed over him, mixed with the smell of medicine.

Qi Yi Liao lifted the quilt and stretched out an arm: “Give it to me.”

Jiao Bai frowned. “What?”

“The Buddha Card.” Qi Yi Liao chuckled. “Help you put it on.”

“No, no, no.” Jiao Bai refused three times in a row, his attitude very firm.

Qi Yi Liao wasn’t angered by the rejection. His tone was gentle: “Then wear it here, I’ll watch.”

Jiao Bai loosened the rope, put it over his head, and pulled it down. At that moment, his heart sank.

The Buddha Card swayed and stuck to him.

Jiao Bai looked at the Buddha Card, was silent for a moment, and stuffed it into his collar.

“Third Brother, do you have any scriptures or foreign language handwritten copies? I’ll read you a passage.” Jiao Bai glanced at the activity, which had increased by 0.03, and said with a smile to the person on the bed.

“Read them tomorrow.” Qi Yi Liao said.

Jiao Bai couldn’t smile anymore. Then what was he doing here, just staying here like an idiot?

In the quiet and dull bedroom, there was an extra young scent, vigorous and intense. Qi Yi Liao lay flat for a while, then turned sideways, facing the young man sitting on the carpet in front of his bed: “Where did you go to digest your food after dinner?”

Jiao Bai met his guiding gaze, and his eyelids jumped.

This old pervert really was something, even though he was sick and delirious with fever, he still watched the surveillance cameras.

Jiao Bai looked at the walls of the bedroom. He seriously suspected that one of the walls was multi-functional and could bring up all the surveillance footage here.

“I walked around in the mountains.” Jiao Bai truthfully confessed as he wished. “There were a lot of fireflies. I took a few videos. Do you want to see them?”

Qi Yi Liao nodded.

Jiao Bai first deleted the trashy ones he had taken, cleaned up the album, and then clicked on a video, turning the phone towards Qi Yi Liao.

The video showed a small patch of fireflies, stopping on the branches of shrubs and flying over the grass.

In the background, there were the sounds of Jiao Bai’s shoes stepping on branches, weeds, gravel, and the sound of him using small branches to move the swarm of fireflies.

“Now fireflies are just starting to appear, and they’re fresh, and they’re trending on social media.” Jiao Bai rested his chin on the edge of the bed covered with bedding, saying lazily.

Qi Yi Liao’s arm pressed behind his head: “Is that so?”

“There was a livestream,” Jiao Bai covered his mouth and yawned, swiping the screen to change to the next video. “He used a small net to catch the fireflies and put them in a bottle, turning them into a lamp. Many netizens said it was beautiful and followed suit.”

“Locking them up is a kind of killing.” Qi Yi Liao closed his eyes and said softly, “Flying freely is the most beautiful.”

Jiao Bai agreed: “Yes, that’s right.”

Realizing that Qi Yi Liao was looking over, Jiao Bai couldn’t help but look back.

Their eyes met, and neither of them spoke.

The light from the phone screen enveloped the people on and off the bed, isolating them from this complex and ever-changing world. In their small space, the smell of medicine and the scent of sinking wood flowed.

Vigorous vitality and declining vitality were intertwined.

The light dimmed.

The intertwined lifeline broke, and then seemed to become tighter.

The big white cat’s golden eyes became particularly bright, shining with a bright light.

The activity increased by a few decimal points.

Jiao Bai suddenly came back to his senses and immediately got up. His leg was numb, and his movements were fast and large, so he didn’t stand firmly and fell directly towards the bed, about to fall on Qi Yi Liao.

If he really fell on top of him like this, both of them would be in pain.

Jiao Bai frantically searched for a support point.

His hand touched something warm, which was the outline of Qi Yi Liao’s face, mostly covered by him.

At this time, Qi Yi Liao’s pursed lips moved slightly.

As if,

He kissed the young man’s moist palm.