Appreciating Art

In the evening, when He Zhiwen came to pick up the child, he found a strange young man sitting on the sofa in the living room.

The young man looked at him, and their gazes met in a probing manner, making He Zhiwen feel alert.

At that moment, Jiang Yi suddenly spoke up, “Ye Qiao, you’re back?” Then he started introducing, “This is President He, He Zhiwen. President He, this is my younger brother, Ye Qiao.”

The two men nodded at each other in greeting, and then Jiang Yi said, “President He, come in for some water.”

He Zhiwen waved his hand. He had just come back after socializing with clients, and it was already quite late. “No need. Just bring Zhao Mingzhe out. I’ll take him home.”

At that moment, Su Ran came out carrying Zhao Mingzhe. He had heard the noise while in the bedroom, and now that Zhao Mingzhe was asleep, he had wrapped him in a blanket before coming out.

Su Ran lowered his voice, “He’s asleep.”

He wore soft cotton pajamas, looking gentle, as though he were the real mother of the child in his arms. He Zhiwen’s gaze softened as he looked at him, but when his eyes swept over his collar, he noticed that it was a bit too loose.

His eyes instinctively glanced at Jiang Yi and the young man sitting on the sofa, feeling a bit uneasy.

He Zhiwen took the child from Su Ran’s arms. “Thank you for your hard work.”

Su Ran casually replied, “It’s nothing.”

At that moment, Zhao Mingzhe woke up, and Su Ran quickly said, “Don’t let him see me. He’ll cry. Be careful on the road.”

Reluctantly, He Zhiwen turned to leave. Jiang Yi walked him out, and as they waited for the elevator, He Zhiwen suddenly asked, “Is there anyone living next door to you?”

Jiang Yi froze for a moment, unsure of He Zhiwen’s intentions. “Yes, why?”

“It’s nothing. I just thought it would be convenient if we became neighbors. That way, I wouldn’t have to keep running back and forth,” He Zhiwen said.

“That’s true,” Jiang Yi replied with a smile, though something felt odd in his heart. He Zhiwen had a personal driver—was it really that difficult for someone else to pick up the child? Or did he not trust anyone else?

Once in the elevator, as it descended, Zhao Mingzhe had fully woken up. “Uncle…”

He Zhiwen rubbed his head and stepped out of the building. The wind was strong, and he adjusted the child’s car seat in the front passenger seat before carefully placing Zhao Mingzhe inside.

The car started moving smoothly along the road, and the neon lights outside reflected in the car windows. However, He Zhiwen couldn’t help but feel a sense of melancholy. “Zhe Zhe, do you think Uncle should find a wife soon?”

Zhao Mingzhe chewed on his finger and mumbled, “Ran Ran… Ran Ran.”

He Zhiwen smiled, “You think he’d be a good wife for me, huh?”

“Ran Ran is Mommy,” Zhao Mingzhe said.

“Then I’m Daddy. Zhe Zhe, call me Daddy,” He Zhiwen teased.

“Not!” Zhao Mingzhe puffed out his cheeks.

He Zhiwen didn’t back down. “Then Ran Ran can only be your aunt.”

At that, Zhao Mingzhe started to cry, but He Zhiwen quickly changed the subject. “Zhe Zhe, did you have fun today? I see there’s a new ‘uncle’ at Ran Ran’s house. Did you play with him?”

“Hmph, I don’t like that uncle,” Zhao Mingzhe said. “He’s bad. He touched Ran Ran.”

Suddenly, the car screeched to a halt. He Zhiwen slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. “What did you say? That uncle touched Ran Ran?”

“Yeah… I don’t like him touching Ran Ran,” Zhao Mingzhe said.

He Zhiwen took a deep breath, his face turning pale. His instincts had been right! He had felt uncomfortable the moment he laid eyes on that young man!

“Where did he touch him?” He Zhiwen asked, his voice low and tense.

“Just here, everywhere,” Zhao Mingzhe said, gesturing to his own body.

He Zhiwen’s temples throbbed with anger. He couldn’t believe it! Su Ran was so innocent, he didn’t even realize when he was being taken advantage of!

“From now on, that uncle is never allowed to get close to Ran Ran, understand? You need to keep an eye on him. This is a mission I’m giving you, or you won’t have an aunt anymore,” He Zhiwen warned.

Zhao Mingzhe mumbled, “I want Ran Ran to be Mommy.”

“Then I’ll be Daddy. Your real dad can’t do it, so be good and listen to your new Daddy,” He Zhiwen said.

Zhao Mingzhe grumbled, “Hmph!”

Su Ran had a new task. This time, it was finally time for the main romantic plot.

System 555, “Wife passes out drunk at the dinner table, husband and brother flirt at the table.”

Su Ran, “…”

It wasn’t really a surprise.

His task was to organize the drinking session and then get drunk, providing space for the two to develop their relationship. This was the starting point for their romance, and from here, the two would start to entangle more deeply.

Su Ran walked over to the wine rack and started looking at the bottles. At that moment, Jiang Yi came out of the bathroom, having just finished a shower. Seeing Su Ran, he walked over. “What’s up? Want to drink?”

“Mm,” Su Ran replied, then looked at Jiang Yi. “Should we call Ye Qiao to drink with us?”

Jiang Yi paused, his gaze lingering on Su Ran. He didn’t look any different than usual, but his eyes moved from Su Ran’s eyes to his nose and then to his dry lips. Everything seemed as usual.

He had already been socializing earlier that evening, having had some drinks, and was feeling a bit tired, but he didn’t refuse. He thought that Su Ran had helped him a lot recently, and it was rare to see him in such a good mood.

“Alright, we’ll have a little then,” Jiang Yi said.

Su Ran smiled and immediately chose a bottle with a higher alcohol content. He turned and went to Ye Qiao’s room, knocking on the door. “Come out and have a drink before bed.”

Ye Qiao was sitting with his sketchpad on his lap. At that moment, the pad was propped up by his drawings. He took the unfinished picture down and tucked it into a drawer where it couldn’t be seen.

“Give me ten minutes,” Ye Qiao said.

Upon hearing this, Su Ran went to prepare the drinks. He also set out some snacks on the table, creating a nice atmosphere. He had invested quite a bit of effort into this task…

Once everything was set, Ye Qiao came out. Su Ran sat across from Jiang Yi, waiting for Ye Qiao to sit next to Jiang Yi. This would make it easier for them to flirt with each other. However, to his surprise, Ye Qiao sat right next to him.

Su Ran didn’t mind. As long as they sat at the table, he could pretend to get drunk later and complete his task.

The evening unfolded smoothly. Su Ran often encouraged them to drink and drank a little himself.

“Ran Ran, is something good happening today?” Ye Qiao asked.

Jiang Yi also looked at Su Ran. He rarely saw him in such a high-spirited mood, and he was curious.

Su Ran paused for a moment, his thoughts wandering. Perhaps his excitement was simply because he was about to finish his task, but he couldn’t say that. He focused his gaze on Ye Qiao. “You’re back, so of course I’m happy. We haven’t had a drink together yet, so I thought we could drink a bit.”

“Ran Ran, so you really missed me, huh?” Ye Qiao said, smiling. His hand, which had been under the table, moved boldly to touch Su Ran’s hand.

Su Ran looked at him curiously, trying to pull his hand away, but unexpectedly, Ye Qiao’s hand clasped his.

What was this move? Shouldn’t he be flirting with Jiang Yi? Why was Ye Qiao holding his hand now? Was he playing a different game?

“You were gone for so long. I thought you’d be back in a week,” Su Ran said, gesturing for Ye Qiao to let go of his hand.

Ye Qiao’s smile deepened, and he loosened his grip. “You’re so nice, Ran Ran. You really missed me.”

Jiang Yi, who had been listening from across the table, frowned. Something about this felt off. He looked at Su Ran, “You should drink less. Aren’t you taking care of the child tomorrow?”

Su Ran mumbled, “I’m happy, that’s all.”

Aside from the little incident earlier, everything was still under control. Su Ran soon pretended to be drunk, swaying slightly before eventually leaning his head on the table.

The cold surface of the table made his face ache, but since he had chosen this position, he had to stay still. He just kept up the pretense.

Su Ran, a bit dazed, didn’t try to listen to their conversation, but from what he could hear, it didn’t seem too out of line.

Gradually, he became more half-asleep than drunk. Though he wasn’t entirely intoxicated, the alcohol had made his head a bit dizzy, and he felt sleepy.

Jiang Yi, clearly having drunk more than he should, swayed a bit as he stood up. He looked at Su Ran, who was still slumped over on the table, and realizing he couldn’t do much more, he turned to Ye Qiao. “Take him back to his room.”

Ye Qiao made an “OK” gesture, watching Jiang Yi return to his room before finally turning his attention to Su Ran. Su Ran only had half of his face visible, his cheek slightly red from being pressed, his ear still pale and smooth.

Ye Qiao’s hand reached up to gently stroke his face, before standing up. He reached around and lifted Su Ran under his arms and legs, lifting him up effortlessly.

At first, Su Ran was still in a dazed state, unsure of what was happening, but soon he woke up. Ye Qiao, the one who had just been flirting with Jiang Yi, was now carrying him—was this the end of the plot? Why wasn’t Ye Qiao taking him back to his room like he was supposed to?

This wasn’t how things were supposed to unfold…

Ye Qiao carefully walked into Su Ran’s room and gently placed him on the bed.

The room was lit by a soft yellow nightlight—dim, but enough to see everything clearly.

Su Ran kept his eyes closed, but he could feel Ye Qiao standing by the bed, his gaze on him. That feeling made his senses sharpen, and his eyelashes fluttered slightly, though he still pretended to sleep.

After a moment, Ye Qiao sat down beside the bed, his gaze becoming increasingly intense as he traced Su Ran’s outline with his fingers. “So cute. I don’t understand why you’re pretending to sleep.”

Ye Qiao moved closer to Su Ran’s face, his voice soft as he called, “Ran Ran, I want to appreciate this artwork.”

As he said this, he already started making his move. Su Ran’s heart skipped a beat, and the rapid pulse in his chest made it clear that he could no longer pretend.

He felt the heat of Ye Qiao’s hand, and it wasn’t long before he couldn’t take the sensation anymore…

Hadn’t they already “appreciated” this during the day? Why did Ye Qiao still want to?

Now, Su Ran felt like he was stuck in an awkward situation. Waking up now would be even more embarrassing…

And at that moment, what was supposed to be “art” was fully exposed to Ye Qiao’s eyes.

The cool air hit Su Ran’s skin, sending chills through his body. His muscles were tense, and his breathing quickened with the overwhelming sensation.

Ye Qiao was only becoming more fascinated, watching for the moment when Su Ran couldn’t hold on anymore…

Su Ran, pretending to sleep, was now at his breaking point. He couldn’t take the unbearable tension and finally pretended to wake up. Half-opening his eyes, he grabbed Ye Qiao’s hair and mumbled, “Sleep…”

Ye Qiao looked at him, his eyes sparkling with moisture, his eyelids red and his gaze both blurry and pitiful.

Ye Qiao paused, his breathing growing heavier.