Chapter 51: I Can Hide Under the Bed: Won’t You Love Me, Sister-in-law? Part 1
Tang Xingye lay in the bathtub, trying to confirm he wasn’t dreaming. Otherwise, how could he have heard something so absurd?
He regarded Pei Lian as a younger brother; he had never considered that sort of thing.
Perhaps due to the lack of pheromone soothing, or maybe stimulated by Pei Lian’s words, his gland was faintly heating up. It wasn’t a scorching pain, but a thirsty craving—like the lingering desire after a brief taste of satisfaction.
His fiancé had died, and people called him a widower. Did they ask if he was lonely?
Many people came and went in his life. Tang Xingye had no regrets; he had experienced plenty of warmth and kindness.
He pressed his fingertips against his gland. Could he really ask Pei Lian for pheromones?
Tang Xingye wasn’t someone who engaged in self-flagellation. If he accepted pheromone therapy, he wouldn’t stubbornly resist. But the current situation was just too ridiculous and bizarre.
Lying in bed, the desire for pheromones grew exceptionally strong. A bad feeling rose in his chest—was he getting sick?
He planned to ignore Pei Lian for a week to let them both calm down and avoid any awkwardness.
His phone vibrated. A message from Pei Lian arrived.
Pei Lian: [Are we still going to pick privet berries next weekend?]
Tang Xingye felt this was the right time to make things clear.
Tang Xingye: [I treat you as a younger brother. You need to calm down about what happened today.]
Pei Lian: [Do you still want my pheromones?]
Pei Lian: [For the experiment.]
“……”
Tang Xingye’s urge to go find Pei Lian was stronger now—not for pheromones, but to beat him up.
He prepared to turn off his phone and ignore him, but a voice message came through. “Is it because of what I said today? Do you feel ashamed?”
Tang Xingye wanted to play dead and pretend he hadn’t heard anything. A knock sounded on the door, and a faint lemon-scented pheromone drifted in.
Tang Xingye didn’t want to deal with him. He feigned sleep, leaving only the patch of moonlight from the window as company.
However, the uninvited guest at the door didn’t leave. Taking advantage of the silence, he walked in. Tang Xingye kept his eyes closed, wanting to see what this little brat intended to do.
He heard a soft rustling sound and smelled a floral fragrance—a very comfortable scent.
Then, the dark silhouette paused and slowly walked toward him, stopping a few steps away.
Tang Xingye couldn’t help but speak up. “What do you want?”
“To look at you.” Pei Lian stepped forward and leaned over the side of the bed, his eyes bright in the dim room.
Pei Lian stared obsessively at Tang Xingye’s face, softened by the moonlight. That green, gentle, maternal quality felt even richer now.
“Do you think this is immoral?”
“You don’t need to carry any moral burden. If anyone gossips, I’ll say I seduced you, that I shamelessly fell for my sister-in-law. Just save a spot for me, that’s all I ask.”
Tang Xingye turned his head to look at Pei Lian. “If I start dating someone, if I have someone I like, are you going to pester me then too?”
“I can hide under the bed.”
A sour bitterness welled up in Pei Lian’s heart, but he quickly suppressed it.
Whatever. Turn off the lights, and Tang Xingye won’t see who’s licking him anyway. I’ll knock the guy out and kick him under the bed. I’ll just keep eating, bite by bite.
Tang Xingye was almost laughed into anger by Pei Lian’s shamelessness. If he was capable of secretly swapping people out, was hiding under the bed really beneath him?
“Get out.”
Pei Lian didn’t want to get out. He wanted to kiss Tang Xingye.
He was jealous of how Wen Ze could hold Tang Xingye so intimately and act spoiled, how he could comb through Tang Xingye’s hair with his fingers and play with his hands.
He shared a sensory connection with Wen Ze. When Wen Ze suffered heart palpitations, he suffered too. When Wen Ze secretly kissed Tang Xingye’s hair, he had tasted that soft touch as well.
To be honest, Pei Lian didn’t hate Wen Ze, nor did he want him to die in a car accident. Because of his congenital heart disease, Wen Ze stole all the attention. Everyone demanded Pei Lian yield to Wen Ze.
And the only requirement for Pei Lian was simply to be alive.
To be noticed, to be treated with caution, to be enshrined like fragile glass—while his own efforts meant nothing. Perfect scores didn’t matter, his talent for painting didn’t matter. As long as he was alive, that was enough.
It was fair, in a twisted way.
Wen Yuyan thought he resented the favoritism shown to Wen Ze and warned him, but Pei Lian only felt that Wen Ze was pitiful.
They were both pitiful wretches ignored in this home.
When did the jealousy, the anxiety, and the desire to replace him begin to breed?
It was during that time when he secretly came back and saw the smile on Wen Ze’s face, the overflowing happiness—that was what truly stabbed Pei Lian.
Curious, confused, and unable to understand, he spied on Tang Xingye’s every move like a gloomy rat, wondering why Wen Ze liked him.
After observing Tang Xingye’s routine, he found the answer.
This was a small moon above a deep pool, one that would embrace everything about you.
And then he fell into hell. His chest felt tight and painful, yet Wen Ze, in his ignorance and cruelty, insisted on sharing everything with him, sharing his joy, praising Tang Xingye.
He smiled and played along, while inside, venomous water bubbled up, constantly crashing against the glass lid of his composure.
Why do you get to be seen? Why? Why? Why?!
He wanted to replace him. When Wen Ze sneaked out and needed to deal with others, asking Pei Lian to lie in bed and impersonate him, the thought took root.
Wen Ze’s body wouldn’t last past nineteen. To Tang Xingye, he was just a passerby, destined to leave.
Then one day, by chance, Wen Ze’s illness shattered the glass lid, and the tide of malice surged in.
He acted his part well. That night, Tang Xingye didn’t recognize him.
That night was as beautiful as a dream; he had won the moon’s favor.
The moon was so wonderful and gentle. His hollow, rotting heart had long been moved by it, even birthing the desire to swallow it whole.
…
There were so many cheap dogs around Tang Xingye. One disappeared, and new ones popped up. He didn’t want to be confined to the identity of a younger brother; the paper window had to be pierced sooner or later.
He knew Tang Xingye’s character. He looked cold, but if you treated him well, Tang Xingye would return the favor.
At worst, he would grovel and play the submissive role for a lifetime. It was still better than being a brother who could only look but not touch.
He could imitate anyone, as long as Tang Xingye liked it.
Did it make a difference which Alpha put their fingers in Tang Xingye’s mouth?
He could change his voice, steady his tone, and satisfy Tang Xingye.
He would lick away the tears seeping from the corners of Tang Xingye’s eyes, lovingly kiss his swollen belly, and eat him up completely.
He would slowly and methodically kiss a pregnant Tang Xingye, from the inside out, covering every spot with slow, meticulous kisses.
Pressing his face against that soft belly, fantasizing that he was being born from there.
Perhaps Tang Xingye would never love him in this life, but surely he would pity the person who shared Wen Ze’s blood?
He would love a child that looked like Wen Ze.
But just the thought of a nonexistent child coming out of Tang Xingye made him jealous enough to want to kill it.
Wen Ze had always spoken of his brother Pei Lian with pride and heartache. Tang Xingye had assumed Pei Lian was just a simple, stubborn kid who became a bit obstinate due to lack of family attention. He hadn’t expected him to be this twisted.
Tang Xingye asked, “Who taught you these things?”
Pei Lian lowered his eyes, the rims reddening. “These are my true feelings. No one treats me as well as you do.”
Lian (Pity). To be pitiful, to beg for pity. Pei Lian had been mocked for this character in his name. But as long as it worked, Pei Lian didn’t mind using these methods.
Pei Lian knelt by the bed, holding Tang Xingye’s hand and rubbing against it. “Sister-in-law, won’t you love me? I don’t want to hide under the bed like a pervert.”
He knew he was being a pervert.
Tang Xingye laughed out of sheer anger. “Treat you well? If someone dates you in the future, are you going to imprison them too?”
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