Chapter 75

On their first night together, Jiang Zhihuo and Yan Mu lay on the same bed and talked for a long time.

Jiang Zhihuo remembered how, in the past, he would often pick fights with Yan Mu. Every time they met, they ended up arguing; even Zong Bei and Xie Qiu, together, couldn’t stop them, and even after being pulled apart, they would continue arguing.

He also thought about how, for all sorts of reasons, they once chased the same girl, which only made things worse and deepened their dislike for each other.

Back then, their quarrels had been genuine and heated. They never would have imagined that one day, they’d be lying on the same bed, sharing a kiss, looking at each other, and talking like this.

“I’m not sure how to say it. It probably won’t make much sense, but can I speak freely?”

Before, Yan Mu had done most of the talking; this time, it was Jiang Zhihuo’s turn.

At a moment like this, there was no need to hold anything back. Jiang Zhihuo opened up his whole heart to Yan Mu. “I first started feeling something was off the day I moved out of your place. I couldn’t sleep, no matter what I did, I just kept tossing and turning. I’ve always thought I was a good sleeper, but after going back, the bed felt hard, and the blanket felt rough. Everything was uncomfortable. I thought maybe I was not used to the bed.”

“Back then, I wanted to be friends with you. Once the misunderstandings were cleared up, I realized you’re actually a good person, not the ‘nice guy’ kind people say when turning someone down, I mean a good person in the real sense.”

“But I was torn, because I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Also, the side effects from the inhibitors were acting up around that time. Don’t ask me what they were; it was seriously embarrassing. I couldn’t get over it myself.”

“Those few days were tough. I kept overthinking, wondering what you were thinking, how I should say things, and what I should do next.”

“Thinking about it now, it was so stupid, seriously. Your Huo-ge has never been the type to overthink. When I had an idea, I’d do it. All the hesitation I’ve avoided for eighteen years, I used it all up on you.”

As Jiang Zhihuo said this, he gave Yan Mu a gentle shake. The past was already hard enough to think about, and saying it out loud now felt even worse.

Yan Mu gently patted him in reassurance, quietly encouraging him to go on.

“What happened after that was something we went through together. Your confession on the forum caught me off guard. Back then, I still hadn’t sorted everything out—my tattoo, all the stuff from the past, everything happening now, and even my own thoughts—it was all a big mess in my head.”

Jiang Zhihuo spoke slowly, one sentence at a time, and Yan Mu listened just as patiently.

He talked about everything, from the past all the way to the present.

Hearing the person he liked to talk about him and break down everything that happened felt really good. Yan Mu loved listening to whatever Jiang Zhihuo said. Every sentence made his heart skip and sent a tingling feeling right to the tip.

In the end, Jiang Zhihuo said to Yan Mu, “Thank you, Yan-ge. Thank you for not forgetting me, thank you for getting to know me, and thank you for telling me everything.”

These words wouldn’t feel like much if they were written on paper or typed on a screen. But saying them out loud made them feel cheesy and awkward, like they burned on his tongue. Jiang Zhihuo ended up feeling shy, lowered his gaze, and didn’t dare look at Yan Mu. His right hand, out of habit, reached up to grab his left shoulder again.

He paused for a few seconds but chose to finish speaking, forcing himself to lift his head and meet Yan Mu’s gaze. His fingertips pressed firmly on his shoulder, right over the small tattoo.

“I’m glad I met you,” Jiang Zhihuo said. “I’m glad to meet you again.”

It was impossible not to feel something upon hearing those words. Yan Mu pulled Jiang Zhihuo closer, leaning in.

And so, they kissed on the bed.

The lights stayed on, and warmth filled the entire room. Their breaths tangled together, growing heavy and humid.

They embraced each other, softly kissing each other’s lips.

Later, Yan Mu cupped Jiang Zhihuo’s chin, trailing kisses down his jaw to his neck. He gently bit his Adam’s apple, his fingers lightly brushing the gland.

It felt ticklish, but Jiang Zhihuo didn’t resist, nor did he have the thought to turn his head away. He clutched the bedsheet tightly, desperately holding back, not letting himself make even the slightest sound from his throat.

This was a kiss that was both serious and wild. After confirming their feelings for each other, they both let go completely. Kissing felt so good, and they began to enjoy the pleasure of their lips and teeth touching, no longer able to suppress their reactions.

After releasing each other, breathless, their reactions were plainly visible; they had held each other so tightly that everything could be felt.

“Let’s sleep.” Jiang Zhihuo said, turning away slightly and wiping his lips with the back of his hand, his tone satisfied. “Or else we won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

Jiang Zhihuo hadn’t planned on doing anything more so quickly. Although they had shared intimate moments before, that was in the past, not now. Different moments in time needed to be separated by a line; they shouldn’t be confused.

Yan Mu hummed softly, agreeing with the suggestion.

That night, Jiang Zhihuo slept soundly. Yan Mu was beside him when he fell asleep, and still there when he woke up.

When he woke up, Jiang Zhihuo didn’t immediately open his eyes. After all, staying in bed was one of the rare pleasures of the morning.

Moments later, the alarm rang, buzzing only once before a hand quickly emerged from under the blankets to turn it off. That could only be Yan Mu; he had long since woken up, the habit of early rising ingrained in him as a top student.

After silencing the alarm, Yan Mu reached out again to pull Jiang Zhihuo, still asleep in his arms, closer. He lowered his head and gently placed a kiss on Jiang Zhihuo’s forehead.

It was warm and cozy under the blankets. With Yan Mu holding him like this, Jiang Zhihuo couldn’t bring himself to get up. Besides, Yan Mu would wake him if anything came up, so he allowed himself to sleep a little longer.

When Jiang Zhihuo woke again, Yan Mu had already gotten out of bed. He had tucked the blankets around Jiang Zhihuo so tightly that not a single draft of air could get through.

He felt so sleepy.

Jiang Zhihuo lay in bed, staring blankly for a bit longer before getting up, yawning as he walked out of the room.

He wasn’t sure where Yan Mu was, and the living room was quiet. Anyway, someone his size wasn’t likely to disappear. Searching for him right after waking up would make him look like a child, so Jiang Zhihuo didn’t ask and went to wash up first.

He squeezed toothpaste onto his brush and started brushing his teeth, staring at himself in the mirror. Suddenly, he heard a noise from the living room. As he brushed, Jiang Zhihuo walked out and saw Yan Mu carrying a bucket of water in from the balcony. He was placing yesterday’s flowers on the floor and unwrapping them.

Hearing the footsteps, Yan Mu turned around. “Morning.”

With the toothbrush and foam still in his mouth, Jiang Zhihuo mumbled, “Morning.”

Then, he crouched down beside Yan Mu.

When Jiang Zhihuo bought the flowers, he hadn’t overthought it. Since their sense of ceremony had to wait, he figured he needed something to fill the gap, and flowers were the only thing that came to mind.

Actually, large bouquets like this couldn’t last long; they only looked their best in that brief moment when held in one’s hands. No matter how romantic they seemed afterward, most inevitably ended up being discarded.

Yet, Yan Mu’s expression as he arranged the flowers was extremely focused.

He tore open the wrapping, carefully picked out each flower, trimmed their stems, and placed them gently into the bucket of water.

After returning last night, they had mostly forgotten about the flowers, leaving them alone overnight. Some petals had begun to rot at the edges. Yan Mu carefully removed the darkened petals and placed the remaining flowers into the bucket, each movement slow and deliberate.

Jiang Zhihuo squatted by the side and watched for two full minutes before going back to rinse his mouth and wash his face, tidying himself up and feeling refreshed.

Yan Mu was still arranging the flowers; the focused expression of the cold, academic figure was pleasing to the eye. Wanting to capture a photo of Yan Mu working with the flowers, Jiang Zhihuo opened his camera.

At that exact moment, Jiang Zhihuo pressed the shutter as Yan Mu turned his head. The scene was perfectly frozen. Yan Mu was holding a flower with his sleeves rolled up slightly, and the flower petals made his hand look especially fair.

Caught secretly photographing, Jiang Zhihuo not only didn’t feel embarrassed but instead waved the phone screen at Yan Mu and said, “Yan-ge, you’re so handsome.”

Yan Mu didn’t reply to that, instead saying, “I bought breakfast.”

On the table were soy milk and other foods. Recently, Yan Mu had been the one buying breakfast. Different foods every day.

There were two portions, and Yan Mu hadn’t eaten yet, either.

“Come eat with me?” Jiang Zhihuo said.

“In a bit.” Yan Mu spread his hands; his fingers bore some reddish stains, likely from the juice of the flower petals.

“Then I’ll eat first. I’m hungry.”

Jiang Zhihuo didn’t stand on ceremony. Why be polite at home? He just dug in and ate while playing on his phone.

Just as he finished scrolling through his Moments, a subscription post popped up. Yesterday’s newly posted article by the provincial library caused the comments section to explode.

The production crew of Pick U visited the provincial library to film. Later, local fans from Lincheng posted leaked photos, prompting fans from across the country to flood the library’s official account to check in.

Since he had been there himself the previous day, Jiang Zhihuo joined in the excitement and checked in as well. Immediately afterward, Yan Mu’s phone screen lit up. Yan Mu had placed his phone on the dining table, set to silent, and someone was calling him.

With one glance, Jiang Zhihuo noticed the caller was someone noted as ‘Qin Nian.’

“Yan-ge, someone’s looking for you,” Jiang Zhihuo said.

“Coming.” Yan Mu replied. He didn’t ask who it was, as if already aware that such a call would come. He stood up to wash his hands, and by the time he picked up the phone again, the call had ended. Yan Mu walked into the room to call back.

After only a few brief words, barely more than a minute total, Yan Mu returned to find Jiang Zhihuo squatting beside the dining table, clutching his stomach.

“Yan-ge, help me, quick.” Jiang Zhihuo said with a frown.

The abdominal pain struck unexpectedly. Most times, it was manageable, but occasionally, it grew too intense and needed careful easing. Luckily, Yan Mu was usually around during these moments.

Yan Mu embraced him, and the alpha’s pheromones pressed down, easing the pain in his lower abdomen. At the same time, Jiang Zhihuo felt a faint heat spreading to the back of his neck, his vision suddenly blurred, as if an invisible force was pressing heavily on his chest.

It was somewhat similar to the symptoms of estrus.

It shouldn’t be; he had taken inhibitors the day before.

Yan Mu noticed Jiang Zhihuo’s brief abnormality and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Those strange symptoms only lasted a moment, very brief and quick, and now he’s already back to normal.

“It’s nothing.” Jiang Zhihuo said.

The fresh scent of rain surrounded him. Right after saying it was nothing, the moment he lifted his gaze, his mind abruptly went blank.

As if his body had moved without his control, Jiang Zhihuo raised his hands, embraced Yan Mu, and kissed him.

The action was too sudden. Yan Mu gently held his shoulders and asked, “Xiao Zhou?”

Only then did Jiang Zhihuo regain his senses.

He didn’t understand why things had suddenly turned out like this either. What was there to think about? Since it was already like this, he might as well keep kissing.

They naturally embraced each other. Jiang Zhihuo propped one hand on the dining table, his fingers gripping the edge so tightly that his fingertips turned white.

When they parted, neither could calm their breathing.

This was too stimulating early in the morning.

Apart from that incident in the morning, the last day of the New Year’s holiday passed very peacefully.

The way they interacted didn’t seem much different from before they got together. After all, their ambiguous phase earlier had already smoothed over any adjustments they might have needed.

They didn’t go to the library, choosing instead to stay home and work through practice questions.

When Zong Bei got tired of studying, he would come over to bother Jiang Zhihuo, asking if he wanted to play games. Jiang Zhihuo immediately took a picture of his practice paper in reply, accompanied by a meme.

Jiang Zhihuo: I’ve figured it out.jpg

Zong Bei sent three shocked reactions in a row. He had no idea what exactly had changed Huo-ge. After puzzling it out for a while, he reached the conclusion that it must be the power of love.

Jiang Zhihuo: ?

Yan Mu’s competition group chat also kept popping up messages. Every hour, their teacher posted a new problem. The one posted after two o’clock was from a postgraduate exam. The group struggled with it for ages, discussing it frantically in the chat without finding a solution.

The short three-day holiday came to a swift end. When they returned to school, the top students were still not quite satisfied.

Yet only a few days after the holiday ended, the internet exploded.

Major news broke right at the start of the new year.

—There was new progress regarding the incident of senior-year students running away from home. All missing students had been found.

It was a video that lasted three minutes and fifty-eight seconds.

The parents wept bitterly in front of the reporter’s camera.

“My child was deceived! They didn’t leave voluntarily. They were abducted!”

A boy whose face was obscured recounted his experience at the clubhouse to the camera. “First, they made us watch videos, all kinds of weird stuff, then they taught us and brainwashed us.”

“The lesson involved whipping us, tying us up, and dripping candle wax on us. It was so hot. I couldn’t stand it. But they wouldn’t let us cry. If we cried, they’d handcuff us and stuff things into our mouths…”

“When we no longer dared to cry and got used to it, they, they…”

The boy was clearly still stuck in those memories. His words became more and more disjointed until he couldn’t remember anything else. Unable to speak further, he covered his face and cried.

The footage then switched to the clubhouse, captured by the police body cameras from that day.

The scene was chaotic. Shards of glass covered the floor, dozens of people crouched in the hallway with their hands over their heads, and one young person after another was helped out.

Under the flashing red and blue lights and with police sirens blaring, Fu Xiuwang was escorted into the police car by two criminal police officers.

“The suspect, Fu Xiuwang, faked his identity as an entertainment company agent and deceived students by promising them ‘debuts’ and ‘fame,’ abducting them to a clubhouse for illegal transactions.”

Li Hao publicly revealed the entire case at a press conference.

It was not just about the recent incident involving students running away from home.

Among those rescued, five missing trainees were also discovered.

“I hope everyone views this as a warning. Be careful and thoughtful. Don’t fall into a criminal’s trap out of a moment of impulse.”

The moment the human trafficking incident was exposed, it quickly spread across the internet.

It trended on Weibo’s hot search and Zhihu’s top topics, with people discussing it for several days.

[Holy sh*t, isn’t this too terrifying?!]

[Are they even human? Abducting people to a clubhouse for that kind of transaction? Damn, if I type those words, they’ll get censored!]

[No wonder those who ran away from home before were all so good-looking.]

[Hell is empty, and the devils are on earth!]

[Ahhhhhh, it’s Officer Li Hao again!]

[Every major case has Officer Li Hao involved! Officer Li is just too incredible!]

[This whole situation is terrifying, the more you think about it. The report states Fu Xiuwang was arrested on December 26, but why is everything only coming out now? It can’t just be because the evidence was solid and the follow-up investigation moved quickly, right? Look at a place like this clubhouse. Once you’re inside, they cover your license plate. No one can tell who you are. Privacy is airtight. Think about it—what kind of people would go to a place like that?]

[That does seem to be the case. The ones going there must be big shots from all kinds of circles. For it to be made public so quickly, the big shots probably found a way to shut things down and pushed Fu Xiuwang out to take the fall.]

[Take the fall? He didn’t take the fall for anyone. He did all that stuff. Totally deserved to get arrested. If you ask me, it’s all thanks to Officer Li’s efficiency. He’s amazing.]

When Jiang Zhihuo saw the news, he was attending evening self-study.

He scrolled through the posts one by one. The human trafficking incident had been thoroughly exposed; digging any deeper wasn’t something casual netizens should do. As far as Jiang Zhihuo was concerned, the whole matter was completely over.

Jiang Zhihuo tossed his phone into the desk drawer and continued working through practice questions.

The author has something to say:

Happy Lantern Festival, everyone!!