Qin Chu: "..."
After Qi Xuan's outburst, he lost even the urge to punch someone.
Completely bewildered, Qin Chu froze, finally managing to stammer, "I apologize to you."
As President Qi buried his head in his arms and acted coquettishly, a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips. What did it matter if he was embarrassed or not? Taking advantage of the situation was the most important thing. Normally, Qin Chu would definitely not let him hug her like this.
After rubbing contentedly against the person in his arms for a while, Qi Xuan finally looked up and asked, "Are you really going to apologize?"
Seeing Qin Chu nod, Qi Xuan reluctantly said, "Alright, give me a kiss, and I'll consider forgiving you."
Qin Chu's eyebrows twitched, and he raised his foot to kick the man down, but when he looked down, he met Qi Xuan's accusing gaze, "You really did lie to me, you big liar."
Qin Chu: "..."
It's impossible to agree; at most, I'll acquiesce.
Seeing this, Qi Xuan chuckled inwardly, then fluttered upwards, until he was right next to Qin Chu.
Knowing that things would get out of hand if he continued, he sighed and pointed to the scar on his left cheek: "Look, kiss this side."
Qin Chu didn't move. The room was quiet, with only the soft breathing of the two of them.
After a while, just when Qi Xuan thought there was no hope left, he suddenly felt the person under him lift up, and then a warm, soft touch brushed against the hideous scar on his left cheek.
The sensation was fleeting, yet it sent shivers down the spine of the unusually sensitive scar.
He kissed him in his most painful, most ugly places, and in that instant, even those painful memories tasted different.
Darkness, blood, the metal shard piercing his cheek, scattered glass, the rising smell of gasoline, and the lingering heat afterward—all these were shrouded in a hazy veil, fading away little by little from his mind, leaving only that moment of gentle yet cool touch.
Qi Xuan couldn't help but cover his cheek with his hand, as if trying to use the tiny space in his palm to resist the air's erosion of that slight touch.
The person who kissed him remained indifferent, their eyes as cool as spring water flowing down from a mountain peak, only their brows furrowed slightly, as if they were uncomfortable or puzzled.
Qi Xuan felt like a complete scumbag, that even such a light kiss was a lie. But then he thought, it's a good thing he's a scumbag, because that's why he can shamelessly chase after this person and not let go.
Could you be any more shameless?
Qi Xuan, having tasted the sweetness, leaned closer, looking at Qin Chu's slightly pursed lips, and pleaded, "Can I have another kiss?"
Qin Chu, who was already feeling uncomfortable because of what had just happened, finally couldn't hold back anymore and punched Qi Xuan, then kicked him.
President Qi is lying flat on the bed, no longer causing trouble.
Because Qin Chu had once again given President Qi a lesson in love, tonight they must bring back his deviated persona by sharing a bed.
He had prepared the rope, but it was of no use that night.
Qi Xuan was surprisingly honest, neither talking much nor doing anything strange. He just curled up and pressed against his back, warm and cozy like a stove.
Today's experience was so bizarre that Qin Chu was wide awake for a while before finally falling asleep.
His dreams were a jumbled mess that night.
It started on a junk planet, which gets incredibly cold at night and snows when the clouds are too thick, though the snowflakes are gray.
Qin Chu escaped from the abandoned shelter and hid in an underground pipe. But it was too cold in the pipe, and his body was thin and small, so even when he huddled up, he didn't get much warmth.
He ran out through the snowflakes, dodged the surveillance cameras, and slipped into the planet's largest melting furnace. The equipment had stopped operating, but it still retained a scorching heat.
He huddled there, his back against the furnace, surrounded by warmth, while snowflakes fell in front of him.
After a while, another dim yellow light shone down.
He stood under the lamplight, and the handsome yet unrestrained young man in front of him squinted and accused him: "Shouldn't you return the favor with a kiss?"
Then, his perspective shifted, and he looked down at the powerful man beneath him.
The man, having exhausted himself, lay on the ground and smiled at him: "I'm not fighting anymore, I can't beat you, I can't beat you."
There was another distant voice, half-teasing and half-serious: "Hey, what if I regret it and don't want to kill you anymore?"
Qin Chu thought to himself, "Bullshit."
He keeps saying things that are completely incomprehensible.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, falling on Qin Chu's dark eyelashes.
Qin Chu slowly opened his eyes and heard Noah say, "Good morning, sir. The monitoring data shows that you slept well last night."
Qin Chu felt as if he hadn't slept at all, and didn't experience anything particularly good about it.
Before he could even check the time, Qin Chu glanced to the side and frowned: "Where's Qi Xuan?"
Noah: "President Qi has already gotten up and gone to work. He was very careful when he left so as not to wake you."
Qin Chu then realized how soundly he had been sleeping.
He got out of bed, about to wash up, but paused slightly.
Normally, if the person sleeping next to Qin Chu left early, he would only regret not being more alert, and wouldn't have any other thoughts. But these past few days, after Qi Xuan's relentless antics every night, plus last night's persistent pestering before bed...
Qin Chu pursed her lips and asked Noah, "He just got up obediently like that?"
Noah: "..."
Hearing General Qin, who was usually a bit dim-witted, ask this question, Noah felt a strange, indescribable emotion welling up inside him.
It's like your own silly child has finally grown up.
"After getting up, President Qi received a phone call. It must have been an emergency, so he left quickly," Noah replied.
Of course, he didn't tell Qin Chu that although Qi Xuan didn't dare to do anything, he secretly took at least dozens of photos of Qin Chu's sleeping face with his phone.
Noah bets that, apart from his own database, no one in the real world has ever seen Qin Chu's sleeping face, and even Qin Chu's adoptive father, the old marshal, probably doesn't have any images of him.
Thinking about it this way, Qi Xuan, this data entity, is incredibly lucky.
However, Noah then thought that he wasn't exactly lucky.
As an ordinary data entity, Qi Xuan could only capture the appearance of "Lu Wan", not Qin Chu.
Just as Qin Chu finished washing up and was about to have breakfast, Noah suddenly heard a jarring notification sound: "Sir, the Qi family has made another move!"
Qin Chu immediately perked up, the gentleness brought on by sleep fading away, and a blinding sharpness once again enveloped him from head to toe: "What move? Qi Xuan's sweeping reforms have finally made them restless?"
"This danger comes from Qi Xuan's uncle."
Upon hearing this, Qin Chu frowned: "Isn't he being investigated and about to be taken in?"
"So this time he went all out and installed a dart on Qi Xuan's private jet."
On the way to the airport, the seats were finally switched. Li Hui reluctantly returned to the driver's seat to drive, while Qi Xuan leaned back comfortably in the back seat.
The modified vehicle drove very smoothly, without any bumps even when driving on the patched-up roads in the suburbs.
"Boss, you missed the nearest flight, but our own flight route is still under approval, so you'll probably have to wait a while longer..." Li Hui answered a phone call and then reported the situation to Qi Xuan.
But the person in the back seat clearly didn't notice what he was saying. He was engrossed in his phone, sometimes zooming in with his thumb, sometimes scribbling on it with his finger.
Qi Xuan looked at the magnified sleeping face on his phone screen. The young man had smooth black hair, fair skin with a delicate porcelain-like texture, and raven-feather-like eyelashes that obediently pressed down, clearly indicating that he was sleeping soundly.
He wouldn't dare do anything to a real person, but when looking at pictures, Qi Xuan couldn't resist his urge to draw and doodle, adding a pair of furry ears to the person's image.
Admiring his own masterpiece, Qi Xuan finally replied to Li Hui's words: "Why didn't you say so earlier if you were going to wait?"
Li Hui: "..."
He glanced at the time his last phone call ended; ten minutes had passed. Trying to settle a score after ten minutes? That's ridiculous.
It didn't take long. When we arrived at the airport, the airway approval had already been granted, but we still had to go through a few minutes of procedures.
This trip abroad was somewhat impromptu and urgent; otherwise, Qi Xuan would definitely have taken Qin Chu with him.
Judging that it was about time, Qi Xuan took out the phone he used when he was a driver, intending to make a call to wake up his sleeping wife at home. However, when he scrolled to the dial pad, he saw several missed calls from someone whose contact was saved as "Gift".
He was so engrossed in editing the photos that he didn't even notice the incoming call on his phone.
Just as I was about to call back, a commotion broke out at the entrance of the waiting hall.
Qi Xuan turned his head and saw the black-haired youth hidden in his phone's photo album already appearing at the entrance of the waiting hall.
"Sir, this is a private entrance; you cannot go in!"
Security guards tried to stop him, but the sharp-looking young man dodged them twice without making a move, and quickly slipped into the passageway.
Qi Xuan immediately stood up and went to greet him.
As I got closer, I noticed that the usually aloof young man was slightly out of breath, his chest heaving, and a few beads of sweat on his forehead. He was wearing a black V-neck sweater, his neck and collarbone exposed to the air, their shape curving gracefully with the rise and fall of his chest.
Qi Xuan stared blankly for two seconds, then immediately took off his coat and handed it to Qin Chu.
This was the first time Qi Xuan had seen Qin Chu in such a hurry. Ignoring the other people watching, President Qi sidled up to Qin Chu like a golden retriever and asked with a smile, "Why are you in such a rush? Were you worried because you didn't see me this morning?"
Qin Chu was worried about the progress bar.
Seeing that the person hadn't boarded the plane yet, he finally felt relieved. Qin Chu didn't reply to Qi Xuan's question. The intimidating sharpness in his eyes hadn't faded. He raised an eyebrow and stared at Qi Xuan, demanding, "Why didn't you answer my calls?"
As soon as the question left his mouth, Qin Chu suddenly felt something was amiss.
He barged in, drawing everyone's attention.
Although there were no outsiders present, their gazes gradually became ambiguous, and they exchanged knowing glances.
These words, spoken as if a partner were checking up on someone, came out of Qin Chu's cold mouth...
Qi Xuan blinked, then blinked again, and Li Hui, who was next to him, heard the sound of his heart breaking with joy once more.
Then, facing his icy mistress, a canary who would peck someone blind at the slightest provocation, President Qi gave a standard answer: "I was wrong, don't be angry."
Qin Chu tried to turn the atmosphere around by emphasizing, "I'm not angry."
"Yes, yes, yes." Qi Xuan nodded repeatedly, pressed the person down to sit, and handed him a cup of hot coffee.
Qin Chu was worried about the progress of the mission, his mind was on edge, and seeing his ridiculous appearance made me want to throw coffee at him.
He put on the coat that Qi Xuan had forcibly draped over him, sat down in Qi Xuan's seat with an air of superiority, a warm cup of coffee in his hand, and said succinctly, "No one is allowed to leave the country today. Have someone check the plane; there's a problem."
Upon hearing this, the subordinates who had come with Qi Xuan became tense, fearing that something serious might happen if they were not careful.
Only the one who nearly died seemed to have only heard the first half of the sentence, and looked at Qin Chu with a bright smile: "So reluctant to let me go? Are you worried that I'm in danger, which is why you rushed over so quickly?"
Qin Chu, unable to bear it any longer, kicked him directly: "Send someone to investigate!"
Qi Xuan then reluctantly got down to business.
Qin Chu also reported it to the police. The Qi family had really messed things up this time, and he had sent them a big gift. Noah had recorded a lot of things while listening to the Qi family members' electronic devices for so long, which could be used as evidence.