Bo Xiangzhou’s tone was light as he spoke, “Then I have to reason with you. Baby, you were the one who lied first.”

“It’s not the same!” An Xun argued righteously. “I was just adding a little fun to life.”

“So was I.”

An Xun retorted, “No, you weren’t! I got mad, but you didn’t.”

Bo Xiangzhou took off the tag from his new clothes. “Is that even a reason? Baby, don’t you feel a bit guilty saying that?”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, so why would I feel guilty?” An Xun confidently declared. “A little lie keeps things interesting.”

He was sprawled across most of the bed, with his feet resting on the pillow, his expression blank like a lifeless fish that had given up after being washed ashore.

Bo Xiangzhou manually flipped him over, pulling his ankle down and shaking out the blanket to cover him. “And what about a big lie?”

“A big lie…” An Xun felt like there was more to that statement. He turned over, resting his head on Bo Xiangzhou’s thigh, looking up at him. Their eyes met, but he couldn’t detect any unusual emotions in Bo Xiangzhou’s gaze.

… Maybe he was overthinking it. His secret identity was still intact, though recently there were cracks here and there. But it was still wearable!

An Xun made a face like he was making a solemn promise, his eyes firm as he declared, “I’ll explain if it’s a big lie!”

After waiting for a while, that was all he got. He should have known better than to expect too much from An Xun. Bo Xiangzhou flipped him over again with one hand on his upper body and one on his lower, laughing in frustration. “Go read your novels and stop making me mad.”

“You don’t seem angry at all.”

It was 11 p.m., and An Xun was playing on his phone in a strange kneeling position. His forehead was pressed against the pillow, his body arched like a bridge, with his hands inside the blanket sending messages.

[Heard Only Fools Would Call My Name]: Nian Nian, Bo Xiangzhou was so weird today. He called me ‘baby,’ even though I didn’t want him to, but he insisted.

[Nian Nian]: … Isn’t this exactly what you wanted?

A cold breeze suddenly hit from behind, colder than the wind outside. An Xun started typing faster.

[Heard Only Fools Would Call My Name]: Don’t expose me. Let’s talk about something serious. Today, my cover almost got blown. The way he looked at me almost scared me to death. I’ve been thinking, I can’t keep hiding this forever. I need to find the right time to confess. If I keep this up, I’ll start feeling guilty. That’s all for now. This old man only gave me three minutes, and they’re almost up. We can talk more tomorrow. My brain’s not working right now, so help me figure out the best time to come clean.

Tao Nian was speechless.

[Nian Nian]: I suggest you come clean when it’s time to come clean.

[Nian Nian]: At times like these, alphas aren’t exactly thinking clearly. When your cover gets blown, just say you already told him.

An Xun glanced up at Bo Xiangzhou, looking like a mouse caught sneaking food, terrified of being caught by a cat. “I’ll chat for one more minute. You go ahead and sleep. I promise I’ll be asleep before midnight. I never lie.”

“You said the same thing last time. Do you remember how you responded when I asked you about it?”

“What did I say?” An Xun had completely forgotten. Sometimes even he didn’t believe what he said.

Bo Xiangzhou, laughing in disbelief, replied, “You said you don’t go by ‘never.’”

Silence. Pure silence.

An Xun pretended to act wise. “What’s in the past should stay in the past. There’s no need to bring it up again. You’re only making yourself upset, and it won’t affect me at all.”

Bo Xiangzhou: “…”

This message was too important, so he had to avoid Bo Xiangzhou while sending it. He kissed Bo Xiangzhou on the face as a distraction and moved over to the sofa. He messaged: Give me some real advice. Didn’t I tell you about Bo Xiangzhou’s size? If he loses control, I might not survive. And oh, show me that treasure trove of yours. Let me learn something.

[Nian Nian]: You really are willing to go all out.

[Heard Only Fools Would Call My Name]: It’s worth it for happiness.

Tao Nian sensed some juicy gossip.

[Nian Nian]: Tell me more?

[Heard Only Fools Would Call My Name]: It’s midnight. I’ll tell you tomorrow. Don’t forget to think of a plan for me.

Less than thirty seconds after sending the message, it was already midnight. An Xun climbed into bed, grabbed his pillow, and found a spot in Bo Xiangzhou’s arms to sleep.

He had excellent sleep quality and was out within minutes. Bo Xiangzhou pinched both sides of his mouth, forming a cute pout. His lips were soft and pink. Bo Xiangzhou left a kiss and whispered, “How can this mouth be so good at making me angry?”

Every word seemed to hit his nerve points, yet he wasn’t mad—just filled with helplessness.

·

Over the next two days, they toured most of Lin City and tasted many local specialties. An Xun only remembered one or two flavors, and even those couldn’t compare to instant noodles. He wondered how these dishes had earned the title of “delicacy.”

Bo Xiangzhou had piled up vacation days over the past few years, and despite any complaints from the shareholders, nothing could change his mind about taking time off.

Problems that couldn’t be solved online were delegated to others. After a few days off, Bo Xiangzhou remembered the foreign movie An Xun had been watching aloud last night, which reminded him of a private island he owned abroad.

An Xun knew rich people had money to burn, but he hadn’t realized it was this easy to spend. He stared at the documents in his hands, counting the zeros on the price tag of the island.

There were a lot of zeros.

An Xun was distressed. “You don’t even live there. Why spend billions on an island? What, are you going to take private flights just to look at it?”

What kind of weird habit is this!

“How about we move there for a few days?” Bo Xiangzhou observed his reaction.

An Xun shoved the documents into Bo Xiangzhou’s arms, his eyes filled with disbelief and confusion. “Are you expecting me to be a housekeeper?”

“No, I’ll take you with me.”

An Xun found another reason. “You’re not afraid I’ll cheat on you, are you? Always keeping me close.”

Bo Xiangzhou replied, “Baby, your mouth can’t just be used for eating, talking, and gossiping. It also needs to make some sense.”

The bedroom’s air conditioner was on. An Xun, having spent the entire day at the office, hadn’t noticed the snag in his sweater. When he got home, he thought his zipper was broken and forced it up. Now back home, thanks to Bo Xiangzhou’s reminder, he realized the zipper had caught on the yarn.

After fiddling with it for a while, he was about to resort to brute force when Bo Xiangzhou stopped him and took over.

“People say that opposites in a relationship last longer. You’re reasonable, and I’ve become unreasonable just to make you be reasonable. After all my effort, you end up accusing me and blaming me from your perspective. I’ve spent decades with you, yet I don’t even have your basic trust.” An Xun leaned back, glancing down as Bo Xiangzhou’s distinct hands worked to free the stubborn zipper.

Bo Xiangzhou tried to pull out the caught thread. “Baby, we haven’t even been married for a year yet.”

“It feels like a lifetime.”

“I get it.” Bo Xiangzhou replied, completely at ease. “So, baby, are you coming with me?”

“I’ll go. Since you put it that way, it’d be rude of me not to.” An Xun kicked his foot, brushing against Bo Xiangzhou’s leg.

His slender ankle, wrapped in white socks, was small enough to be grasped with one hand. The position made it look like they were doing something indecent. Bo Xiangzhou, flustered, let go of him like he was holding a hot potato.

An Xun took it all in. As he suspected, Bo Xiangzhou had no experience. A simple action had rattled the old virgin.

It took ten minutes to deal with that stubborn zipper. Bo Xiangzhou was patient, but An Xun, sitting still, grew frustrated and pushed his hand away, yanking the zipper down in one go.

That was the closest he had come to revealing his secret identity.

Bo Xiangzhou didn’t say anything, and An Xun didn’t notice. He solemnly placed the pulled-off zipper head into Bo Xiangzhou’s palm. “I don’t have anything else to reward your patience, so I’ll give you this zipper head as a consolation prize. Although, to be honest, you didn’t accomplish much in those ten minutes.”

Each word hit like a dagger.

But Bo Xiangzhou was used to it.

Their trip abroad was going to last half a month. An Xun couldn’t come up with a good excuse to ask for leave, so he consulted his go-to advisor.

Ever since he had a breakthrough, his advisor had become less reliable.

[Nian Nian]: Take maternity leave. Say you’re going home to give birth. You can fake the prenatal check-up forms, and with how thickly you’re dressed now, no one will notice. The boss isn’t going to pull up your shirt to check.

An Xun was speechless and at a loss for words. He ended up paying an online photoshop expert to doctor an ankle injury diagnosis and took half a month off.

·

The island had a temperate climate, and arriving there felt like stepping into next spring. It was situated by the sea, and from a bird’s-eye view, the entire island looked like a green heart floating on the water.

But An Xun thought it looked more like a peach that had been pumped with hormones.

There was a villa on the island, though it had gathered dust from disuse. Bo Xiangzhou had anticipated this and had hired people to clean it continuously for a week before they arrived.

The villa’s design wasn’t much different from Jia He Estate’s. Upon entering, An Xun briefly thought he hadn’t even left the country and was still lounging at the estate.

The villa had a temporary housekeeper, though this one wasn’t as dedicated as Uncle Lin. The housekeeper wasn’t as detail-oriented and had a habit of making snarky comments. An Xun often used Chinese to mock him sarcastically. Not only that, but they had also hired twelve private chefs. Bo Xiangzhou had notified them about the preferred taste of the meals in advance, so they did their best to cater to An Xun’s palate.

Foreigners found it difficult to capture the essence of Chinese cuisine. After three meals, An Xun had gotten used to it.

After a few days on the island, An Xun thought the only benefit was the fresh air and the escape from the noise of the city. Without the internet, it felt like living in primitive times.

Tao Nian had sent over his treasured collection, securely packed in an encrypted file. An Xun downloaded it to a USB drive and pulled it out whenever Bo Xiangzhou had important work and had to retreat to the study.

He didn’t care about the plot or the ending—only the parts he found useful.

But he hadn’t learned much, since none of the main characters in the videos were to his liking.

Tao Nian was dissatisfied with how An Xun had criticized his treasure trove.

[Nian Nian]: Baby, at this rate, you’re not going to find many good-looking ones. The handsome alphas don’t act in this stuff. Baby, take some advice from your big brother—you’re here to learn, not to pick actors. Got it, baby?

The constant “baby” in every sentence was giving An Xun a headache.

[Heard Only Fools Would Call My Name]: Can you stop calling me baby?

[Nian Nian]: If Bo Xiangzhou can call you that, why can’t I? So what if I’m not as tall, handsome, or rich as him? Baby, you can’t be this biased.

An Xun replied with an emoji and picked another video.

The visuals were passable, but… the alpha in it was so rough that it made him want to slap them.

The content touched on some of An Xun’s blind spots. His eyes widened, and he replayed a few minutes over and over.

Just when he was getting into it, the door opened. An Xun reacted quickly, slamming the laptop shut in a hurry, barely stopping short of smashing it to the ground.

The indescribable few seconds of audio felt like a hallucination. The embarrassment on An Xun’s face was impossible to hide. Seeing this, Bo Xiangzhou offered him an out. “Did you accidentally click on an ad?”

“Yeah!” An Xun breathed a sigh of relief. Pretending to be innocent still worked—Bo Xiangzhou didn’t even need an explanation to believe that he was pure and harmless.

He set the laptop aside and nestled into Bo Xiangzhou’s arms, tilting his head for a kiss.

In the past few days, they had kissed countless times. An Xun’s desire for more had been growing, and a brief peck wasn’t enough for him anymore. He knelt on Bo Xiangzhou’s lap, wrapping his arms around his neck, and loosened his grip.

It was embarrassing to admit, but as a thirty-year-old alpha, during his first deep kiss, he had no experience at all. He clumsily fumbled through half a minute. But by the following attempts, he had picked it up naturally.

An Xun was clearly overwhelmed, his whole body going weak. He was only able to maintain his position because Bo Xiangzhou was holding him up by the waist.

Bo Xiangzhou’s kisses were gentle, the type An Xun liked, but they didn’t lack the dominating possessiveness of an alpha. He kissed as if he was laying claim to what was his, taking his time to enjoy it.

An Xun pushed him lightly, and only then did Bo Xiangzhou ease up.

Leaning against the alpha, An Xun’s ears were filled with the sound of his uneven breathing. The rhythm was infectious, and soon, An Xun’s own breathing fell in sync.

“Bad guy,” An Xun muttered. “All alphas are bad guys. There’s not a single good one.”

“Mhm, baby is right.” Bo Xiangzhou kissed his earlobe.

The slight touch on his sensitive spot made An Xun’s slender waist tremble for a brief moment in Bo Xiangzhou’s grasp.

An Xun covered his ears with both hands. “Just kissing is enough. With our current relationship, we can’t be moving on to ear kisses yet.”

The tips of An Xun’s fingers were pink, and after Bo Xiangzhou kissed his earlobe, his whole body flushed a delicate pink that made it hard to resist. Bo Xiangzhou planted a kiss on his hair and asked, “What exactly is our relationship right now?”

“We’re not at the ‘marriage talk’ stage yet.”