In the following days, Boss Bian was unwaveringly dedicated to his romance strategy. He’d pick Young Master Ke up every night after work… ahem, though the whole “dropping him off in the morning” thing never materialized since Boss Bian couldn’t bear to part ways with his cozy bed. But no matter how late Ke Mingxuan worked overtime, the moment he stepped out of the He Sheng building, he’d always spot Bian Yiqiu waiting for him.

Then came the dates, the flowers, and the gifts in an endless variety. However, the flowers only lasted two days before Young Master Ke sternly forbade them. So instead, Boss Bian switched to delivering food to him every lunchtime.

Ke Mingxuan was often too busy with work to eat lunch on time, and that was when Boss Bian’s thoughtfulness truly shone. Every day, without fail, a different gourmet meal would be delivered to his office, all crafted to five-star hotel chef standards. Each meal came with a refreshing vegetable salad, fresh fruit, and a drink, leaving his assistant Xiao Xu and secretary Lisa drooling with envy.

One day, He Sheng’s General Manager, Pei Siyuan, came over with some documents to discuss a collaboration plan with Huarui Entertainment. He arrived just in time to see Young Master Ke grinning slyly at a card he’d pulled from a food delivery bag. Unable to hold back, Pei Siyuan rolled his eyes, knocked on Ke Mingxuan’s desk, and said sternly, “Young Master Ke, please be mindful of your conduct in the workplace.”

Ke Mingxuan closed the card, showing no intention of wiping the smile off his face. “You’re just blatantly jealous.”

“Jealous? Why would I be jealous of you? I have a wife, you know!”

“But your wife doesn’t send you flowers.”

“…” What kind of man even likes getting flowers?

“And your wife doesn’t deliver lunch to you either.”

“…” My wife has a job too, okay?

“And, of course, your wife doesn’t pick you up after work, does she?”

Ke Mingxuan lightly pushed off the floor with his toes, and his office chair rolled backward, causing Pei Siyuan to miss and nearly faceplant.

“Pei Siyuan, keep it together. This is an office,” Ke Mingxuan said calmly.

Pei Siyuan: “…”

Ke Mingxuan continued, “So, what do you need to discuss with me?”

Pei Siyuan adjusted his glasses, retrieved the fallen files, and cleared his throat. “It’s about the collaboration with Huarui…”

Two hours later, Pei Siyuan walked out of Ke Mingxuan’s office with the finalized proposal in hand, only to realize that an important question still hadn’t been answered.

After a few steps, he stopped in his tracks and muttered to himself, “Ke Mingxuan’s… wife? He actually has a wife? No, I must’ve heard wrong. Yeah, that’s it.” He even gave himself an encouraging nod, as if hypnotizing himself, before striding back to his own office.

Meanwhile, inside the office, Ke Mingxuan held the card with its hilariously terrible handwriting and chuckled. “Wife? Has a nice ring to it.”

Of course, Boss Bian would absolutely never accept being called that.

On the day of the Lantern Festival, Bian Yiqiu, as usual, had to return to Xuyuan to have dinner with Madam Mei. Coincidentally, the gathering Fang Rui and Li Ze had planned also fell on the same day, so the two decided to go their separate ways.

With the photos Bian Yiqiu had given him in hand, Ke Mingxuan’s “peace talks” with Ruan Chengjie went remarkably smoothly. Not only did he successfully retrieve Boss Bian’s compromising photos, but Ruan Chengjie also cheerfully promised not to cause trouble for Jiu’an in the future. He even threw in a few polite remarks, such as how, if he’d known earlier how devoted Young Master Ke was to Boss Bian, he wouldn’t have targeted him in the first place. As he spoke, he glanced deliberately at Lin Jiayan, who had been sitting silently on the side the entire time.

Ke Mingxuan’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s not too late to know now.”

Ruan Chengjie didn’t say anything further. He poured himself a glass of wine, downed it in one go, and closed the matter. Then, with a polite smile, he informed the others that he had another engagement to attend and would be leaving first.

Everyone understood the situation. Even if the two had made peace, their relationship could never return to the days when they could drink, eat, and have fun together at the same table. Since Ruan Chengjie said he had to go, no one insisted he stay.

After Ruan Chengjie left, Ke Mingxuan stood up, grabbed the bottle of wine, and poured himself a glass. His gaze swept over the others at the table one by one.

“Everyone here is a long-time friend of mine,” he began, his voice steady. “I appreciate the effort you’ve all put into this matter. However, to prevent any more misunderstandings from happening, let me make something clear today. Bian Yiqiu is mine. Whatever happened in the past, I won’t hold it against anyone, but if anyone still thinks about targeting him in the future, don’t blame me for not being sentimental anymore.”

With those few words, Lin Jiayan’s face turned as dark as possible.

Though Ke Mingxuan had addressed everyone, the only person who had ever done something to Bian Yiqiu was Lin Jiayan. So, to him, it felt like a direct slap to the face.

As if he hadn’t slapped him hard enough, Ke Mingxuan continued, “As for the Ke and Feng families, I’ll give them an explanation. But I don’t want them hearing about my relationship with Bian Yiqiu from anyone else. Am I clear?”

The last three words were directed squarely at Lin Jiayan, making it clear that he was warning him not to go back and report anything.

Lin Jiayan sprang to his feet, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at Ke Mingxuan’s cold, almost cruel face. He looked for a long time but couldn’t say a single word, the pain in his heart leaving him speechless. Without letting the tears fall, he turned and walked away.

What else was there to say? What more was there to add? It was too late for words—anything more would only be humiliating.

Having had everything he wanted handed to him on a silver platter for over twenty years, Young Master Lin, who was adored by everyone, found that the one thing he could never have in this life was Ke Mingxuan. Because of their identities, their parents’ long-standing friendship, and the responsibilities they both carried for their families, he struggled, swallowing down a mouthful of blood, only to convince himself to painfully let go.

He had thought that Ke Mingxuan would always walk the same path as him—no matter how many lovers or flings he had, they would eventually marry, have children, and grow old together. Even if they couldn’t be together, they would still be the closest of people.

But why did Bian Yiqiu come into the picture? Why did it have to be him, Bian Yiqiu? I met you over twenty years before him. I’ve always been by your side—why can’t you see me?

“Lin Xiaoyan!” Fatty called out to him, his voice tinged with sympathy.

Lin Jiayan could no longer hold back the tears in his eyes. He wished with all his heart that the one calling him would be Ke Mingxuan, but he knew—his Mingxuan ge would never again gently ruffle his hair and call him “Lin Xiaoyan” the way he used to.

His footsteps faltered for a moment, but instead of turning back at Fatty’s plea, he quickened his pace and walked out of the private room. As the intricately carved doors closed behind him, he collapsed in the hallway, sobbing uncontrollably, his heart breaking.

Chu Yi looked at Ke Mingxuan, his brow furrowing slightly. “Why did you have to say it so harshly?”

Ke Mingxuan sighed. “If I don’t say it harshly, how will he give up?”

On the way back from Xuyuan, Bian Yiqiu called Ke Mingxuan to ask if the issue was resolved. Ke Mingxuan confirmed it was and then asked when he would be back.

“I’m already in the city. Have you been drinking? Should I come pick you up?”

Ke Mingxuan gave him the hotel address, and when Bian Yiqiu arrived, he spotted him standing at the entrance with his hands casually in his pockets from a distance.

Bian Yiqiu was driving himself, likely having kicked Zuo Cheng out somewhere along the way. After Ke Mingxuan got into the passenger seat, Bian Yiqiu drove and casually asked, “What about the others?”

“Today’s a holiday, everyone has to go home and make an appearance,” so after dinner, they all left early.

“Aren’t you going back?”

Ke Mingxuan didn’t answer right away. Bian Yiqiu glanced at him, thinking he was upset, so he quickly tried to lighten the mood: “Well, if you don’t want to go back, don’t. How about we go to the celebrity club, there’s an event tonight…”

“Come back to my place,” Ke Mingxuan suddenly interrupted him.

Bian Yiqiu’s hand almost slipped off the steering wheel. After a screeching sound of brakes, the car abruptly stopped on the side of the road.

“What kind of joke is this?”

“I’m not joking,” Ke Mingxuan said, turning to pull him close. Without another word, he leaned in and gave him a kiss full of presence, one that left Bian Yiqiu dizzy. Then, in his irresistibly alluring voice, he whispered in his ear, “Not my parents’ place, my place.”

The breath in his ear sent a soft flutter through Bian Yiqiu’s heart. It took him a moment to realize Ke Mingxuan was referring to the Junlin Tianxia apartment.

Although their relationship had already been established, and Bian Yiqiu had been doing his best to keep the romance alive every day, ever since the last argument and leaving Ke Mingxuan’s place, he hadn’t actually set foot in the house again.

It’s hard to tell whether it was intentional or not, but the two men, whose combined age exceeded sixty, seemed to deliberately avoid the issue. Perhaps for them, defining their relationship was one thing, but actually living together under the same roof was another matter entirely.

Two men with distinctly different personalities and hardly any common interests could easily coexist in the same bed, but living together under the same roof was a completely different challenge. Especially for Bian Yiqiu.

He had always lived a rather carefree life, with no real concept of “home” in his mind. He barely remembered the dilapidated house in the farthest corner of the shared courtyard where he lived before the age of five, and the two years spent in the orphanage held no fond memories for him. Later, when he was living on the streets, as long as he had a shelter to protect him from the wind and rain for the night, it was already considered pretty good. To him, the idea of a “home” was something unattainable, and even when Old Master Jiu took him back to the Xuyuan, he never thought of it as a place he could call his home.

The house was too big, so big that when he stood in the blooming courtyard, watching the servants pass by and noticing the looks they gave him, he always felt out of place. Even a few years later, when his identity changed from being a mere thug to “Young Master Qiu,” that feeling never went away. So, shortly after Old Master Jiu passed away, he moved out.

The house at Yuelu Villa, in terms of scale, was undoubtedly a top-tier mansion, with his beloved Uncle Shi and the kind-hearted cook, and by all standards of an ordinary family, it had everything. Yet, he still didn’t feel like it was home. He preferred to sleep in a hotel at the club every night rather than return. His seemingly noble excuse was that celebrity club was close to Jiu’an, making it more convenient to go to the company. In reality, the number of times he actually stepped into the office in a month could be counted on one hand.

At the root of it all, Bian Yiqiu felt that he probably preferred livelier places. The life of endless parties and indulgence was the one that suited him. So when Ke Mingxuan said that their relationship was the type where they would only be with each other, his remark of “I might not get used to it” wasn’t just a casual comment.

The two of them not living together was something they could slowly get used to, but if they really lived together, would he still be able to hang out at the club every few days? Would Ke Mingxuan really break his legs? — He already had a psychological scar from being threatened every day.

Of course, this psychological barrier was eventually overcome by the temptation of Young Master Ke. Because twenty minutes later, Bian Yiqiu had already parked his car in the parking lot of Junlin Tianxia.

What broke down all his defenses was just one sentence.

Ke Mingxuan said, “If Boss Bian would grace us with his presence, it would be our home from now on.”

Bian Yiqiu thought to himself, life is short, enjoy it while you can. To hell with preferring lively places! It’s just cohabitation, has Boss Bian ever been afraid of anything?