Did Your Fish Farming Backfire?

Faced with Nan Pei’s ridiculous request, even the serious CEO Huo Yao hesitated for a few seconds. He was actually considering the possibility of playing the role of a thug and carrying Nan Pei into the car.

A moment later, Huo Yao suddenly reached out and opened the back door of the sports car. “Hold onto my neck,” Huo Yao’s voice came from above Nan Pei’s head.

Nan Pei didn’t know why Huo Yao wanted him to do this, but he obediently complied. The next second, before Nan Pei could react, he was suddenly lifted horizontally, the sensation of being airborne making his eyes widen.

But he was afraid of being discovered by the other two male leads, so he didn’t dare make a sound. He just tried to press his face against Huo Yao’s chest. His hands instinctively tightened, clutching Huo Yao’s neck.

Nan Pei couldn’t help but look up, only to see Huo Yao looking down at him. The position was so intimate that Nan Pei momentarily forgot to breathe, his heart pounding against his chest.

The system accurately quipped, “Host, you wanted to climb a tree to hide yourself earlier, and now your position is quite like hanging on a tree.”

Nan Pei’s mind went blank, his gaze fixed on Huo Yao’s sharp jawline and prominent Adam’s apple. At this moment, to Nan Pei, Huo Yao indeed seemed like a towering tree, his strong arms effortlessly supporting Nan Pei’s entire weight.

While they maintained this intimate posture, Nan Pei’s phone vibrated several times, bringing him back to reality. It was undoubtedly messages from Song Jingchen and Lu Bairan.

For some reason, Nan Pei felt a thrill of being on the verge of being discovered by the other two male leads, his palms sweating, breath quickening, and body temperature rising.

Huo Yao carried Nan Pei horizontally, attempting to place him in the car. Due to Huo Yao’s tall stature and Nan Pei’s height of about 1.8 meters, the process wasn’t very smooth. During this, Huo Yao almost bumped his head.

Then, Huo Yao bent down even more, and Nan Pei’s face was almost buried in Huo Yao’s chest. He could smell the pleasant woody fragrance of Huo Yao’s cologne and hear his heartbeat.

Nan Pei swallowed and whispered, “Thugs… aren’t supposed to be like this, right?”

Huo Yao finally got Nan Pei into the car, and in the cramped space, their breathing seemed particularly loud. Hearing Nan Pei’s words, Huo Yao paused for a moment, then suddenly changed his mind about gently placing Nan Pei down.

He curled his lips, applied a bit of force with his arms, and symbolically tossed Nan Pei onto the back seat. The force wasn’t strong, more of a playful gesture.

Nan Pei’s back lightly hit the soft cushion of the car’s back seat, making him slightly startled. He looked up to see Huo Yao’s narrow eyes, with a hint of mischief in them.

In the moment Nan Pei was dazed, Huo Yao suddenly propped one hand beside his ear, pressing Nan Pei’s legs with his knee, and lightly patted Nan Pei’s cheek with his other hand: “Behave.”

Even though all of Huo Yao’s actions were symbolic, with no real force, Nan Pei was more nervous than if he had encountered a real thug. The warm, calloused hand touching Nan Pei’s cheek made him swallow involuntarily, the touched area heating up.

Nan Pei’s space was further confined, trapped between the car seat and Huo Yao’s tall body, unable to move. A moment later, Huo Yao suddenly curled his lips and asked, “Is this how a thug acts?”

Nan Pei didn’t know how to respond. He looked at Huo Yao’s moving lips, the slightly stubbled jawline, the sexy Adam’s apple, and the clean collarbone lines faintly visible through the wide neckline due to his bending posture…

At this moment, he felt he could only hear the sound of his heartbeat. Nan Pei couldn’t help but think, if Huo Yao were a thug… the person being kidnapped would probably obediently follow him.

Huo Yao, seeing Nan Pei’s dazed expression, also got lost in thought, his Adam’s apple moving up and down. Initially, he just wanted to play a small prank, but now the atmosphere had turned inexplicably ambiguous.

Just then, Nan Pei’s phone vibrated again—Song Jingchen was calling him. Both of them snapped back to reality.

Huo Yao released Nan Pei, a hint of awkwardness flashing across his face, and slowly exited the car. Nan Pei’s ears were slightly hot.

Huo Yao opened the front door and returned to the driver’s seat. Nan Pei sat up, answered Song Jingchen’s call, and cleared his throat: “Jingchen Gege?”

Hearing the words “Jingchen Gege,” Huo Yao couldn’t help but glance at Nan Pei through the rearview mirror.

Song Jingchen’s tone was somewhat annoyed: “Hey, why did you leave through the back door? Where are you now? Why didn’t you follow me?”

The tone was full of questioning.

“A business partner suddenly asked me to join a dinner,” Nan Pei explained, nervously swallowing, “Jingchen Gege, you should go back first.”

“Business partner?” Song Jingchen frowned, “Are you telling the truth?”

Nan Pei couldn’t help but think of the scene just now, subconsciously glancing at the man in the driver’s seat, then quickly looking away, saying, “It’s true. Jingchen Gege, why would I lie to you? I’ll talk to you later, see you!”

After Song Jingchen hung up, he frowned but didn’t doubt Nan Pei’s words too much. After all, Nan Pei loved him so much; what else could make him willing to leave except for such an unexpected event?

Not long after, Lu Bairan also called. Nan Pei’s explanation was the same as before. And Lu Bairan’s thoughts were clearly the same as Song Jingchen’s; after a moment of silence, he hung up the phone.

After hanging up, Nan Pei cautiously opened the car window, glanced towards the back door, and saw that both had already left, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

Unbeknownst to him, the two male leads had already met at the back door earlier. Fortunately, these two male leads always had a sense of superiority over Nan Pei, addressing him directly with “hey” on the phone, too disdainful to call his name. Otherwise, they would have realized they were looking for the same person.

Nan Pei felt a sense of relief after narrowly escaping disaster. He slumped in the seat, letting out a long breath.

Huo Yao looked at him through the rearview mirror and suddenly asked calmly, “So you called me to pick you up because your fish farming backfired?”

He deliberately emphasized the words “fish farming,” with a hint of mockery.

Nan Pei awkwardly chuckled, “How can you call it ‘fish farming’ when it’s charity… A philanthropist’s work can’t be considered ‘fish farming.'”

What followed was a string of incomprehensible words, something about “philanthropists caring for the world” and “dividing one donation into three,” which left Huo Yao silent, filling the car with an awkward atmosphere.

“So, when you left me to make scrambled eggs and cake, you were also doing charity.” After a moment, Huo Yao said meaningfully, “Only after doing charity did you think of me, asking me to pick you up. Am I your driver?”

Nan Pei: “…”

Why does the tone sound so sour?

Nan Pei tried to change the subject to ease the awkwardness, “Because you didn’t reply to my messages, I thought you weren’t coming…”

“I drove over as soon as I got the message,” Huo Yao said while starting the sports car, “Late at night, seeing your string of ‘help me,’ I thought you were being abducted by aliens.”

Only then did Nan Pei have the chance to carefully observe Huo Yao’s attire. Huo Yao was wearing casual clothes, but they were obviously just taken out of the closet, with many wrinkles on them. Considering Huo Yao’s OCD, being able to tolerate wearing such clothes out meant he was indeed in a hurry.

Nan Pei felt a bit touched and said, “I’m sorry, I misunderstood you.”

Huo Yao glanced at the rearview mirror and casually asked, “Have you had dinner?”

“Not yet,” Nan Pei replied.

“What do you want to eat?” Huo Yao asked again.

Nan Pei said, “Let’s go home first. I’ll just cook some noodles in the kitchen.” He didn’t want to trouble Huo Yao any further.

Huo Yao nodded, calmly saying, “You’re quite frugal.”

Nan Pei scratched his head, “I’ve always been frugal…”

“Really,” Huo Yao raised an eyebrow, suddenly changing the topic, “Did you spend all your money on charity?”

“Huh?” Nan Pei was taken aback, hesitating, “Well, you can’t really say that…”

At the traffic light, Huo Yao casually turned on the radio, and the female host’s voice came through: “Recently, a philanthropist in Lujin City was scammed while doing charity, losing a fortune overnight…”

Nan Pei: “…”

Why does it feel like Huo Yao has some opinions about him being a philanthropist?

After arriving home, Nan Pei went straight to the kitchen to cook noodles. Huo Yao stood at the door as usual, watching him, raising an eyebrow and asking, “Philanthropist, can you be kind enough to cook a bowl of noodles for your driver too?”

Nan Pei: “…Is this joke never going to end?”

“What joke?” Huo Yao said innocently, “I just want a bowl of noodles.”

“Sure, I’m happy to cook for you.” Nan Pei thought for a moment and said seriously, “President Huo, thank you for helping me during this time. I won’t stand you up again, and also…”

He turned to look at Huo Yao, “If you ever need my help in the future, I’ll definitely be your ‘philanthropist.’ Is that okay?”

A hint of surprise flashed in Huo Yao’s eyes, “I never said that.”

Nan Pei: “If you don’t want to, then forget it. After all, I can’t really help you with anything…”

“But since you said so,” Huo Yao suddenly interrupted, curling his lips, “If I ever have a wish that needs your help, I’ll definitely come to you first.”

Nan Pei: “…You look like you’ve just succeeded in a scheme.”

“Do I?” Huo Yao looked at Nan Pei, seemingly in a good mood, “You should continue cooking the noodles. Don’t run off halfway again.”

Just as he finished speaking, Nan Pei’s phone suddenly received a message. Nan Pei took out his phone and saw it was a voice message from Duan Heng.

Nan Pei played it directly, and Duan Heng’s youthful and magnetic voice came through, speaking very briefly: “You left your watch here. Come and get it. Also…”

At this point, Duan Heng paused noticeably before continuing, “I’m hungry, bring me a bowl of noodles.”

After the voice message ended, Nan Pei was stunned for a moment. Then he looked at Huo Yao, his expression a bit at a loss.

Huo Yao stared at Nan Pei, his face expressionless, showing no signs of anger. He just stared straight at Nan Pei.

Nan Pei swallowed, ready to say something, when Huo Yao suddenly walked over, took his phone, and said calmly, “You’re busy cooking noodles, didn’t receive the message.”

Nan Pei was startled. “Uh, this…”

He had to seek help from the system: “System! If I ignore Duan Heng’s message, will it cause serious consequences?”

“This isn’t a main storyline, not that important,” the system replied, “As long as you have a reasonable excuse, you can temporarily not reply to Duan Heng’s message.”

At this point, seeing Nan Pei’s hesitation, Huo Yao spoke again, “Or, if there’s something you want to reply, you can tell me, and I’ll reply for you.”

Only then did Nan Pei feel relieved. He thought for a moment and said, “You can reply to Xiao Duan, saying I’m really busy right now, and ask if he can cook noodles himself, just to tide over…”

“Xiao Duan?” Huo Yao thought for a moment and suddenly asked, “The one we met at the hospital last time?”

When Nan Pei still thought of Huo Yao as a college student, he and Duan Heng had run into Huo Yao at the hospital. Recalling this past event, Nan Pei couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward, nodding, “Yes.”

“Alright, I got it.” Huo Yao picked up the phone to type and said to Nan Pei, “You continue cooking the noodles.”

Only then did Nan Pei feel at ease.

At this moment, Duan Heng had just finished showering, his hair half-dry, sitting on the bed in pajamas, legs crossed, staring at his phone, waiting for Nan Pei’s reply. This was the first time he had sent a voice message to Nan Pei. He had even rehearsed it a few times before sending it.

After sending it, Duan Heng listened to the voice message again, feeling there was no problem, and only then felt at ease. The one-minute wait felt incredibly long to Duan Heng.

Then, Nan Pei’s message arrived. Duan Heng couldn’t help but sit up straight. However, the moment he saw the message, Duan Heng’s expression froze.

Nan Pei: [Can’t you cook it yourself?]

Author’s Note:

Implying: Don’t you have a wife to cook for you?

Huo Yao: I sent it exactly as my wife said, no problem, right? (Innocent look)