HR Chapter 8

Lu Qinyuan didn’t pay attention when Xiao Qi went out, knowing he went out to play and didn’t stop him. He had just left the bedroom when he saw Shu Xiu, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, leaning against the wall, looking at the air beside him, and said, “When the night was still nice, I saw Xiao Qi and Second Brother sneaking out on a date.”

“Mmm.” He knew that Shu Xiu had always disliked Xiao Qi, and he also knew that Shu Xiu was ready to take Xiao Qi’s life the moment he did something outrageous. He wasn’t acting now simply because he was still very interested in Xiao Qi and didn’t want to upset him. So, the things Shu Xiu said about Xiao Qi had to be halved. Dating was unlikely, but sneaking out together was believable.

Seeing that Lu Qinyuan was unmoved, Shu Xiu called out “Brother” unwillingly. Lu Qinyuan patted him on the shoulder: “I know you don’t like Xiao Qi, but you can’t talk nonsense. He’ll be back soon. If you don’t want to see him, just avoid him.”

Although he didn’t believe it, the word “date” still made Lu Qinyuan feel very uncomfortable. He stopped Shu Xiu, who was walking away, and under the guise of sparring, beat him up to feel better.

But seeing the two people walking into the courtyard hand in hand, Lu Qinyuan still felt a bit stifled.

Standing in front of the French window, watching the figures of the two turning around the screen wall together, Lu Qinyuan felt particularly dazzling. Mountain and water, strong and soft, a good combination.

Xiao Qi went straight into the dining room. Lu Qinyuan was already sitting at the head of the table, starting to eat. Seeing him enter, he raised his eyelids: “Where did you go?”

“Went to the mountain to see the sun.” His voice was unusually hoarse. Xiao Qi put the wild flowers he was holding on the table, sat down in his usual seat, and spread out his hand. His hand was stained with a lot of green sap, so he ran off to wash his hands again.

When he came back after washing his hands and just sat down, Lu Qinyuan pushed a glass of milk over and said, “Drink some to soothe your throat first. Your voice is so hoarse, anyone who didn’t know would think a tiger from some zoo ran up the mountain.” Shijian Mountain wasn’t high, and the roar came down from the top of the mountain. Lu Qinyuan could hear it clearly in the house, singing call-and-response mountain songs.

“You heard it? It was so fun.” Xiao Qi took a sip of milk, happily and still somewhat wanting more. He suddenly remembered the flower crown on his head, raised his hand to take it off, and put it on Lu Qinyuan’s head. He then saw an ant hidden in the flower’s core accidentally fall into Lu Qinyuan’s bowl of porridge, still desperately struggling.

Xiao Qi took a chopstick and rescued the ant, looking at it with pity: “Oh, you poor little thing, let me save you from the porridge bowl.”

The bit of stuffiness in Lu Qinyuan’s heart vanished. He had someone change the bowl of porridge, took off the flower crown from his head and gave it to the servant next to him, and also had the wild flowers on the table disposed of. He ate while waiting for Xiao Qi to come back and continue his meal. But instead, he waited for an uninvited guest. Qi Yue was busy telling Sha Tang to add a bowl and chopsticks for him as soon as he arrived. He plopped down at the dining table and devoured the food handed over by the servant.

Xiao Qi ate the porridge spoonful by spoonful, and noticed that this Dr. Qi was a bit disheveled at the moment. His suit was wrinkled, his hair was messy, and there was a bit of a bruise on the corner of his eye, as if he had just had a fight. But looking at his calm appearance, it didn’t seem like he had just had a simple fight with someone.

Lu Qinyuan glanced at Qi Yue and handed Xiao Qi a piece of bread with salad dressing. Xiao Qi took it, took a bite, chewed it a few times, swallowed it, and then took another big bite, asking with a smile: “Qi Yue, who beat you up?”

Qi Yue’s action of swallowing rice slowed down a lot. After swallowing the food in his mouth, he first sighed, glanced at Xiao Qi out of the corner of his eye: “What do you know? To hit is to show affection, to scold is to show love.” After saying that, he sighed again and bit into the bread hard.

“Oh.” Xiao Qi looked at Lu Qinyuan, who was spreading salad dressing on bread. He handed over the bread with salad dressing, and Xiao Qi took it and bit into it, listening to Lu Qinyuan say: “Not everyone has the fortune to be subjected to Min Jia’s keyboard. You should cherish it, so why did you run out?”

Qi Yue choked on what he was saying and argued: “I’m here to change Lu-ge’s dressing, how dare I delay.”

“So, it’s my fault? Then hurry back, I can’t bear your ‘not’.” Seeing that Xiao Qi had eaten almost enough, Lu Qinyuan handed him a napkin and said in a gentle tone: “Play in the yard, don’t go out. Go.”

Xiao Qi agreed, went out with a piece of bread in his hand.

Qi Yue’s gaze didn’t return until Xiao Qi had walked out: “How old is Xiao Qi? Why are you coaxing him like a child? He’s not underage, is he? Then wouldn’t you be a molester of a minor?”

“Eat yours, I think only Min Jia’s keyboard can control you.” Chewing the food in his mouth slowly, Lu Qinyuan said after a long time: “I’ll ask tonight.”

After eating, Qi Yue changed Lu Qinyuan’s dressing, gave a few simple instructions, and ran off like he was flying after receiving a phone call. No need to guess, the only person who could make him so proactive was Min Jia.

“Brother, someone’s looking for you.” Shu Xiu stood upstairs holding the phone and shouted, with no intention of bringing it down. Lu Qinyuan knew that Shu Xiu had been unhappy since Xiao Qi arrived, and let him throw a little tantrum. He got up, went upstairs, answered the phone, and went directly to the study.

Although he was feigning illness at home, many things were under Lu Qinyuan’s control. Only one thing was beyond his expectations, and that was about Xiao Qi. Mo Qiu said: “Can’t find anything. There’s no information about Jian Qilu. Perhaps Master Cheng knows something.”

It was as if such a person had appeared out of thin air, and then lived quietly somewhere until he was discovered.

Very magical, and also made people curious. The more unclear it was, the more Lu Qinyuan, as Xiao Qi’s owner, wanted to find out Xiao Qi’s identity, no matter what method he used, even if it harmed Xiao Qi. Sacrifices always existed in trade-offs, and that was inevitable.

Lu Qinyuan grabbed Xiao Qi’s hand, carefully kneading each finger, feeling the slenderness of each finger bone: “Xiao Qi, how old are you?”

“I’ll be twenty years old after my birthday.” Xiao Qi answered casually. In the next instant, his chin was pinched. Lu Qinyuan looked him over a few times and let go: “Doesn’t look like it. Your skin is unusually tender.”

Unlike Shu Xiu, who looked young because of his baby face, and unlike delayed growth due to malnutrition, it was as if it was originally the face of this age, and had never grown.

Although Xiao Qi had a youthful face, his behavior, thoughts, and methods of dealing with problems were different from ordinary people. Sometimes his thinking was mature, but not the maturity accumulated through experience. Sometimes he was very naive, but not because he was young. In terms of dealing with people and things, he simply did what he wanted. He wouldn’t lie. To be precise, he didn’t know how to lie, so when asked a question he didn’t want to answer, he chose to avoid answering or remain silent, which was precisely the reaction that made Lu Qinyuan suspicious.

Xiao Qi glanced at him without speaking. Lu Qinyuan knew that he had guessed correctly: “Why didn’t you grow? Are you sick?” To prevent Xiao Qi from lying, he specifically mentioned: “The medicinal fragrance on your body isn’t something you can get from drinking it for a year or two. Think carefully before you speak. You can’t play dumb.”

“When I was sixteen, my dad burned incense for me, and I haven’t grown since then.” No one would believe such words, but Xiao Qi said it seriously. He hesitated and continued, his voice also lowered: “I’ve been taking medicine since I can remember, and I’ve never stopped.”

Lu Qinyuan patted Xiao Qi’s head soothingly, pulling him closer into his arms: “You’ll get better if you take medicine when you’re sick. Good medicine is bitter.”

“I’m not sick!” Xiao Qi suddenly straightened his back and sat up. His usually indifferent eyes stirred up huge waves because of a word, rippling slightly. But his tone contained a faint helplessness. He suddenly deflated, slowly hugged his knees and curled up, burying his face inside.

“If you’re not sick, why do you need to take medicine?” Lu Qinyuan’s voice was gentle and full of temptation. He reached out and stroked the long hair that hung behind him. Xiao Qi’s hair was very good, soft and smooth, and felt very comfortable to the touch. Xiao Qi’s muffled voice came: “Are you a good person? Am I worthy of your trust?”

“You’re asking a gangster if he’s a good person?” Lu Qinyuan sat up, brushed aside the obstructive hair, lowered his head and buried it between Xiao Qi’s neck, the faint medicinal fragrance seemed to be there or not. He rubbed comfortably and sighed, “Although I’m not a good person, I’ve never thought about being a bad person either. I should be trustworthy.”

“Oh.” Xiao Qi was still listless, as if this topic had a huge killing power in an invisible way.

Lu Qinyuan put a palm on top of Xiao Qi’s head, stroking it gently, but saying words that were completely the opposite: He asked, “There’s a program on TV called Animal World. When you see a leopard hunting a young deer, would you consider whether the leopard is a good leopard? It’s all for survival. It’s just that we humans have put on the veneer of civilization, but the filth underneath is no less tragic than the fighting between animals?” Lu Qinyuan pinched Xiao Qi’s chin and turned him around, licking and biting his pale lips: “Just like the animals fighting, it’s better to be direct, isn’t it?”

Lu Qinyuan suddenly changed his face without warning, in less than the blink of an eye, pinched Xiao Qi’s chin and twisted him hard towards himself, questioning him sentence by sentence: “How do you define good people and bad people? If killing people is a bad person, then not killing people is a good person? Is violating the law and discipline a bad person, and abiding by the law a good person? Now I neither kill you nor can I abide by the law, but I want to sleep with you, am I still a good person?”

“Jian Qilu, I’ll give you one chance to be honest.” As soon as Lu Qinyuan let go, Xiao Qi rolled to the side quickly. Lu Qinyuan quickly reached out and grabbed a handful of hair, pulling it hard towards himself. He then saw Xiao Qi stop his movement, and his brows furrowed slightly in pain.

Lu Qinyuan smiled and reminded: “There’s only one chance, cherish it.”

Xiao Qi grabbed his hair with his backhand, trying to snatch it back from Lu Qinyuan, but instead, Lu Qinyuan grabbed it even tighter. He gasped in pain, gritting his teeth, and refused to open his mouth.

Lu Qinyuan seemed to have no way to deal with Xiao Qi. He slowly relaxed the strength in his hand, letting the silky hair slip through his fingers, but suddenly tightened his strength at the end, tearing off a few strands of hair. The long strands fluttered and swayed in his fingers. Xiao Qi groaned in pain, and rolled to the other side of the bed, the amplitude was too large and rolled to the floor, making a loud bang. Lu Qinyuan’s heart jumped, and he looked at the opposite side of the bed with some daze. After reacting, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

The bed was more than two meters wide, and Xiao Qi could roll off it. How afraid of him must he be?

Xiao Qi’s eyes were filled with gold stars. He propped up his head and climbed up for a long time before sitting up, lying on the edge of the bed to relax for a while, and the dizziness in his head gradually dissipated. Suddenly, a warm greeting pressed down from above: “Didn’t fall badly, why such a big reaction? Are you afraid I’ll eat you?” He deliberately emphasized the tone of eating, and looked at Xiao Qi meaningfully, putting on a look of a gentleman.

Lu Qinyuan’s rapid change of attitude made Xiao Qi difficult to deal with. He was instinctively fearful and even confused, unable to distinguish which side of Lu Qinyuan was real and which was fake. Which side of him should he believe?