Chapter 79

Pei Yu and Li Tianqing waited outside, watching as Li Yan walked out with a dark expression after changing back into his clothes.

He walked straight up to Pei Yu. “Great Aunt^[1], may I speak with you privately?”

Li Tianqing frowned at her son’s sour face and was about to speak when Pei Yu spoke first. “What do you want to say?”

Li Yan remained silent for a moment, glancing toward Li Tianqing.

Seeing this, Li Tianqing was immediately annoyed.

“Alright,” Pei Yu understood and turned to Li Tianqing. “Tianqing, go wait for us in the car.”

Li Tianqing left reluctantly.

Once she was gone, Pei Yu said, “Go ahead.”

“Great Aunt, you said that my little uncle is bringing his girlfriend home for the New Year. Did he personally tell you about his girlfriend?”

Pei Yu was an experienced businesswoman. No matter the time or place, she always carried a faint smile on her face—seemingly warm and approachable, but upon closer inspection, one could sense her detachment and reserve.

In the past, Li Yan had found this demeanor reassuring—certainly better than his cold-faced uncle. But now, for the first time, he felt uneasy. He couldn’t tell what Pei Yu was thinking.

“Why do you ask?” Pei Yu’s tone was mild. “Did he tell you something?”

Li Yan shook his head and spoke honestly. “Actually, my little uncle and I don’t communicate much. He’s always busy, and my matters are trivial, so I wouldn’t bother him. But lately, he’s been posting more frequently on his social media, and I’ve noticed something.”

“He’s been posting?” Pei Yu’s brows moved slightly in surprise, but it lasted only a moment before she seemed to realize something. “May I see his posts on your phone?”

This was exactly what Li Yan had been waiting for. He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart and handed over his phone, already prepared.

With practiced ease, he scrolled through his little uncle’s recent posts in just a few taps.

Pei Yu took the phone and began scrolling.

Li Yan stood stiffly, carefully observing her reaction. He had tattled before, but this was the first time he was doing something that could truly offend his uncle. Earlier, he had been driven by jealousy and frustration, but now, with his reason returning, a sense of unease crept in.

Before long, Pei Yu stopped scrolling and returned the phone to Li Yan. “What exactly did you notice?”

Li Yan glanced at the screen. His uncle’s latest post was still displayed. In the small preview image, Mi Zhao looked even more like a rabbit, nibbling on greens with an adorable expression that made one want to pinch his cheek.

He used to be the one sitting across from Mi Zhao, taking pictures like this…

A wave of sourness surged in Li Yan’s chest, making his stomach clench with pain. Jealousy burned like wild grass—impossible to extinguish and only growing stronger with time.

But he knew, from now on, he would never have the chance to sit across from Mi Zhao like that again. His resentment was swallowed by helplessness. He didn’t even have the courage to appear in front of Mi Zhao anymore.

His only hope was for Pei Yu to know the truth.

Pei Yu had always wanted his uncle to get married and have children. Given her personality, she would undoubtedly try to break them up.

If he couldn’t be happy, why should they be?

Drowning in these dark thoughts, Li Yan was unaware that his emotions were written all over his face. He wiped his face and forced himself to speak. “Great Aunt, if I’m not mistaken, my little uncle’s so-called girlfriend is actually this person in the picture.”

Pei Yu’s brows lifted slightly in appropriate surprise. “Isn’t he a boy?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted to say…” Li Yan lowered his head, hesitating, as if struggling to speak.

Of course, after appearing conflicted, he still chose the most provocative words.

“I know him. His name is Mi Zhao. He’s from our university, but we’re in different programs. We have mutual friends, so we used to see each other often,” Li Yan said, his expression composed yet hesitant. “He mentioned his preferences a long time ago—he likes men. Back then, he was even dating a guy, though I don’t know what happened later. I also don’t know how he and my uncle met, but I’m worried he’s influencing my little uncle.”

Pei Yu’s surprise gradually faded, and after a moment of silence, she summarized, “So, you think Sipei has been led astray by this Mi Zhao?”

Li Yan nodded gravely. “Maybe my uncle isn’t actually into men. He just hasn’t met the right woman yet. Besides, a relationship between two men—”

He trailed off and shook his head, sighing.

By now, Pei Yu should have shown a hint of displeasure.

However, after staring at her for a long time, Li Yan noticed that not only was there no trace of disgust on her face, but her tone remained completely neutral.

“Xiao Yan,” Pei Yu said, “do you dislike gay people?”

Li Yan froze. He wanted to say no, but he also wanted to say yes. He felt lost and stammered, “It’s not that I dislike them. It’s just… this isn’t exactly a proper relationship. If they continue down this path, they’ll face a lot of judgment.”

“So, you don’t dislike it?” Pei Yu smiled faintly and patted his shoulder. “That makes sense. After all, you’ve dated men yourself. Why would you dislike it?”

Li Yan stiffened as if struck by lightning. A chilling numbness spread through him from head to toe.

Then came the cold.

His great aunt knew he liked men?

Had she investigated him?

No, that wasn’t the real issue.

The real issue was—she had known about his uncle and Mi Zhao all along?

Right… The clothes he had tried on earlier—when she later gave the sizes, they weren’t for his little uncle at all. They were much closer to… Mi Zhao’s size.

Li Yan’s face twisted in shock. For a moment, his hands, hanging by his sides, trembled uncontrollably. He stared as the faint smile vanished from Pei Yu’s lips, leaving behind an utterly expressionless gaze.

“Xiao Yan, the little schemes in your heart—adults can see right through them,” Pei Yu said calmly. “Your uncle may dislike you, but because you’re younger, he won’t do anything to you. I, on the other hand, am different.”

Li Yan sucked in a sharp breath, his voice trembling. “Great Aunt…”

“Stay out of things that don’t concern you. Do you understand?”

Li Yan’s face turned deathly pale. He nodded rapidly, like a pecking chick.

Pei Yu gave him a look before turning around and leaving.

In front of the car, Li Tianqing was anxiously looking around. When she saw Pei Yu approaching, she quickly opened the car door for her. However, as soon as Pei Yu got in, she said, “I have something to take care of. You and Xiao Yan go back by yourselves.”

With that, she shut the door.

The car sped away, leaving Li Tianqing sensing that something was wrong. She turned to see Li Yan staring blankly and immediately frowned. “What did you say to your great-aunt?”

Li Yan’s mouth opened slightly, but no words came out.

He thought to himself—he was doomed.

Offending his great-aunt meant trouble for their entire family in the future.

—

After dinner, Mi Zhao and Li Sipei took a walk by the beach under the moonlight. With nothing else to do afterward, they decided to go for a swim downstairs.

By coincidence, they ran into the two girls they had met in the elevator the day before.

The two girls had already changed into their swimsuits and were about to get into the water. One of them noticed their arrival and quickly nudged the other’s arm.

Mi Zhao had long forgotten about pretending not to understand Chinese in the elevator. He chattered on, “Your whole family will be together for the New Year, right? So that means I’ll have to see Li Yan’s unlucky face the entire time?”

Li Sipei said, “If you don’t want to see him, I’ll have him spend the New Year elsewhere.”

“That’s not necessary.” Mi Zhao scratched his head. “Even though he’s unlucky, seeing him unhappy makes me happy.”

He laughed gleefully at that thought.

Halfway through his laughter, he turned his head and met the stunned expressions of the two girls.

In a flash, he suddenly remembered—

His smile froze.

The two girls reacted faster than he did. Pointing at him, one of them asked, “You guys can speak Chinese? So you’re actually Chinese?”

“…” Mi Zhao quickly put on an innocent expression, blinking as he said, “Yep, we’re Chinese.”

The two girls immediately felt deceived. They had been speaking loudly in the elevator yesterday, and these two guys had clearly heard them yet pretended not to understand.

But then again, the guys weren’t obligated to interact with them.

Seeing their puffed-up cheeks, Mi Zhao found it amusing. He tugged on Li Sipei’s arm to stop him and asked, “Are you two from City A?”

The girls were still a bit annoyed, but faced with Mi Zhao’s bright smile, they couldn’t bring themselves to ignore him. “Yeah, how did you know?”

“I study in City A,” Mi Zhao explained. “Your accents sound very similar to the locals.”

“You can tell just from that?” one of the girls exclaimed. “I studied abroad until high school and thought my accent wasn’t that strong.”

Mi Zhao smiled and glanced at Li Sipei.

He had a perfect example right beside him, didn’t he?

Li Sipei, with his handsome face, met his gaze calmly.

Feeling a bit mischievous, Mi Zhao lightly squeezed Li Sipei’s fingers.

After chatting a bit more, the girls’ mood improved. Mi Zhao was too lazy to find another spot, and since fate had brought them together, he decided to stay and share the space with them.

The hotel’s pool wasn’t big, but it had multiple sections of varying shapes, all connected.

Tonight, there were more swimmers than the night before. Aside from them, the rest were mostly Caucasians. Everyone tacitly stuck to their own little areas, respecting each other’s space.

Even though Mi Zhao made an effort to keep some distance from Li Sipei in public, the two girls had already noticed their relationship. Still, it was none of their business, so they didn’t pry. However, when they accidentally caught sight of the tattoo on Mi Zhao’s lower back, their faces filled with surprise.

“Is that a tattoo?”

Mi Zhao pushed himself up from the edge of the pool with both hands, effortlessly getting out of the water. Water streamed down his body.

He wiped his face and slicked back his wet hair before reaching for the towel Li Sipei handed him.

“Tattoo?” He dried himself as he turned back and asked, “What tattoo?”

One of the girls pointed at his lower back. “The one on your waist—isn’t that a tattoo?”

Unfortunately, Mi Zhao couldn’t see his own back. Realization dawned on him, and he said, “Oh, yeah, that’s a tattoo.”

The two girls stared at the tattoo on his lower back, feeling inexplicably warm in the face. It wasn’t that the tattoo itself was unusual—if anything, it was larger and more intricate than most they had seen.

But they couldn’t shake the feeling that it was… incredibly seductive.

Especially as water droplets trailed down his back, over his lower waist, and disappeared into the loose waistband of his swim trunks. The vines in the tattoo seemed to come alive.

One end twisted wildly, blooming with vibrant flowers, while the other end silently extended into the depths of his swim trunks—its destination unknown.

Their gazes subconsciously drifted downward, almost sneaking a glance between his legs—

But they stopped themselves just in time.

Don’t look, don’t look.

That was not something they should be looking at.

Suddenly, a figure stepped in front of them, blocking the tantalizing sight.

Both girls let out a breath of relief at the same time.

Mi Zhao, oblivious to the attention he had attracted, was just discussing going back to shower and rest when Li Sipei abruptly stood up from his lounge chair, grabbed a bathrobe, and wrapped it tightly around him.

Dressed again, he turned to bid the two girls farewell.

Back in their room, Mi Zhao couldn’t help but feel that Li Sipei seemed a bit sulky. His expression only eased after they stepped into the bathroom together.

The energy they hadn’t exhausted in the pool ended up being spent in bed.

Tonight, Li Sipei was rougher than usual, almost obsessed as he caressed and nipped at the tattoo on Mi Zhao’s lower back.

Lying on his stomach, completely defenseless, Mi Zhao reached back to grab Li Sipei’s wrist, his breaths uneven. “Stop… stop touching it… you’re gonna rub it raw…”

Li Sipei caught his wrist instead, bringing his fingertips to his lips and giving them a playful bite.

Mi Zhao hissed in pain, squinting his eyes.

That hurt!

“You’re not born in the year of the dog—but you are born.”

Li Sipei pressed a kiss to his ear and murmured, “We’ll move when we get back.”

“Move…? Move where?”

“You like swimming, don’t you? We’ll move somewhere with a pool.”

“…” Mi Zhao immediately realized what this was about. “Seriously? You’re jealous over this?”

Li Sipei gazed at his flushed earlobes and couldn’t resist taking another bite. Then, as if to soothe him, he licked the spot he had just nipped. “I don’t want anyone else to see it.”

“You really…”

Mi Zhao thought that if he had known, he would’ve gotten the tattoo on his butt instead—then at least Li Sipei wouldn’t get jealous over nothing.

That said—

Ever since he got the tattoo, he found himself lying on beds or against walls a lot more often.

Li Sipei never admitted it, but he probably loved it.

Seemed like he had picked the right gift.

Though it was at his own expense.

Burying his face into the blankets, Mi Zhao let out a long sigh. Then, he suddenly called out, “Hey, take a picture of it for me. You keep looking at it, but I haven’t even seen it properly myself.”

Thinking about it made him feel so wronged.