Chapter 68: Miniature Camera: Mom, Don’t Have Kids, Okay?
Tang Xingye put away his phone expressionlessly, his eyes showing not a trace of panic. “Mn, don’t know who leaked my number. I often get spam messages.”
The other party was too calm. Lin Mo paused for a moment, naturally maintaining the posture of hands in pockets.
Did Tang Xingye not care that people knew he was being harassed by a perverted stalker?Or did he not care at all about those hideous, ugly photos?
Of course not. Tang Xingye knew that the more this kind of situation arose, the more he had to maintain a calm and indifferent attitude.
Showing a trace of panic would indicate he cared deeply about the matter, leaving room for others to gossip.
A breezy attitude was the best solution to the current situation. Tang Xingye turned his head. “You care about me so much?”
Lin Mo: “Mn.”
Tang Xingye waited for the follow-upâbecause they were roommates, or because of the projectâbut Lin Mo explained nothing, seeming to simply care.
Tang Xingye: “…?”
Tang Xingye: “Thanks, noted.”
Pei Lian heard their conversation and felt a surge of sourness. Tang Xingye hadn’t said much, but he just felt suffocated.
He could feel Tang Xingyeâs relationship with others improving, yet he was helpless. He followed Tang Xingye to the study room, sitting in the corner holding materials, but couldn’t absorb anything.
The wound on his arm throbbed faintly. It wasn’t actually serious, and he had no expectations of his father, but that subtle pain seemed to drill into his heart, making him exceptionally irritable.
He stole glances at Tang Xingye. The snowy face shed its coldness under the light, revealing a gentle temperament.
But he knew this was an illusion.
Tang Xingye was a ruthless Beta. Playing the victim didn’t work on Tang Xingyeâor rather, it only worked for Wen Ze.
Same face, why was the treatment so vastly different?
Sister-in-law, why won’t you look at me?
“Give me the materials on the table.” Tang Xingye was organizing files on the bookshelf and spoke without turning back.
Pei Lian approached from behind, as if enveloping him. He hugged Tang Xingye, resting his chin on his shoulder, greedily inhaling the reassuring cold fragrance. No smell of other dog Alphas. So good.
“Mom…” he murmured low, his voice carrying a few degrees of coquettish attachment. “Hug me, okay?”
Tang Xingye: “…”
Talking nonsense again. Pei Lian had been infected by Lu Zhi lately; his words were becoming more and more deserving of a beating.
“Injured?” Pei Lian leaned closer. Tang Xingye frowned; he smelled faint rust and iodine.
“Are you worried about me?” Pei Lian nuzzled his neck, unable to resist asking.
The other’s stiff hair tickled Tang Xingye a bit. He turned his head and pushed Pei Lianâs head. “Worried about what? Worried you’ll cry in a BMW?”
Pei Lian nuzzled even more vigorously, complaining, “You don’t care about me at all.”
Tang Xingye: “Yes.”
Pei Lian: “You are just a heartless Beta.”
Tang Xingye: “Correct.”
Pei Lian: “…”
Pei Lian wasn’t unaware of what Tang Xingyeâs cold handling of his confession meant. He just didn’t pop the bubble, keeping a sliver of fantasy that there was a possibility Tang Xingye might love him.
To walk into Tang Xingyeâs heart, what price had to be paid?
Life?
Death and blood could make Tang Xingye remember Wen Ze thoroughly, but Pei Lian felt that Wen Zeâs last emotion back then was overwhelming regret and self-blame.
Wen Ze wanted Tang Xingye to remember him, but didn’t want his death to become his nightmare.
Pei Lian closed his eyes, his skin feeling a burning pain again.
He stopped talking, angrily rubbing the tip of his nose against Tang Xingyeâs gland, pressing against that patch of pink in retaliation. If he was just a bit bolder, opening his thin lips…
He could wrap around it, grinding with his teeth.
“Can’t you be a little better to me? I…”
The dense itchiness made Tang Xingye unable to bear it anymore. He pushed his head away without mercy, his tone still calm as he interrupted: “Pei Lian, you are an adult. You should know what you are doing and take responsibility for it.”
“I didn’t cut it myself!” Pei Lian got a bit emotional for a moment, his voice rising, then realizing Tang Xingye was in front of him, his voice weakened again, carrying a few degrees of grievance.
“I haven’t made mistakes on purpose for a long time. I’ve been doing as you said, taking every matter seriously.”
He stared at Tang Xingye, waiting for his reaction.
But the other didn’t speak, just watching him quietly. Like a deity looking down with lowered eyes, or a torturer, granting him bliss yet punishing him with suffering, easily controlling his emotions.
Pei Lian didn’t understand the meaning of this gaze, but he suddenly felt a twinge of pain. No matter what he did, he couldn’t compare to Wen Ze.
Tang Xingye said faintly, “Let go.”
“Are you going to hit my palm again?” Pei Lian was dissatisfied. Tang Xingye truly had no heart.
He didn’t want to be Tang Xingyeâs dog.
He wouldn’t listen to Tang Xingye anymore.
Pei Lian kept a straight face, stood up straight, let go of Tang Xingye, and extended his hand like a child who had done wrong.
A soft, warm sensation came from the tips of his hair, but not the anticipated pain.
Tang Xingye was patting his head.
This simple action pressed the pause button on Pei Lianâs irritable emotions.
“Let me see.”
Four careless words, yet that illusion of tenderness swept over him again.
Even though reason was warning him, he inevitably fell into it.
Tang Xingye lowered his head, revealing a fragile, pale neck still marked with the red print he had rubbed there.
Tang Xingye rolled up Pei Lianâs sleeve, saw the gauze, and touched it gently.
Clearly unhealed, the wound itched as if scabbing over.
Tang Xingye rarely cared about him, yet Pei Lian couldn’t get happy. “Who are you looking at?”
He regretted asking as soon as he did. He didn’t want to know the answer to this obvious question. He said listlessly, “If you really hate me, you can treat me as him.”
They both knew who he was talking about.
Tang Xingye: “…”
Tang Xingye was silent for a moment, then looked up at him. “Only you are in front of my eyes right now. Who do you say I’m looking at?”
Pei Lianâs eyes trembled lightly, like a child persistently asking why, wanting an answer. “I look very like him, especially the eyes. Watching me get hurt, are you afraid of seeing him get hurt again?”
When Pei Lian especially hated someone, he would use “he” to refer to them, erasing their name. He didn’t hate Wen Ze, but right now, he found Wen Ze exceptionally annoying.
“If I saw him in your eyes, I wouldn’t be afraid.” Tang Xingyeâs gaze landed on his face. “Besides, you don’t look alike. Your eyes are darker than his, and your brow tips are higher.”
Pei Lianâs eyes lit up.
Tang Xingye had distinguished them from the very beginning.
He tilted his face up, letting Tang Xingye see his eyes more clearly. These eyes that were similar to Wen Ze’s yet not entirely the same.
Tang Xingyeâs fingers unconsciously stroked his hair, his finger pads carrying a reassuring warmth. Pei Lian couldn’t help nuzzling his cheek against that hand, like a cub craving affection.
So like Little Black.
For a moment, Tang Xingye thought of the dog from his childhood, staring at him with open eyes. A faint smile spilled from the corner of his lips.
In the beginning, he was very afraid of the dark. Walking at night, Little Black had to accompany him. Waking up in fright late at night, he could always see those eyes guarding quietly by the bed.
Once he had a fever of 39 degrees. He got up to boil water for himself but fainted halfway. Hazily, he saw Little Black gripping his school uniform sleeve, dragging him toward the door, whining until the neighbors came.
In winter, Little Black always pressed his cold nose against Tang Xingyeâs frozen red fingers, his breath forming small white clouds.
…
A warm happiness surfaced in Tang Xingyeâs heart.
This smile was faint and warm, like the morning sun, softening his cold, stunning face considerably.
When Pei Lian looked up, he crashed right into that rare tenderness. Tang Xingyeâs eyes appeared amber-translucent, and even the tear mole at the corner of his eye seemed vivid.
Sister-in-law.
Sister.
Mom.
Right, Tang Xingye is Mom.
The smile on his lips matched the fantasy of a mother smiling to coax him to sleepâvery gentle and warm.
Do well, and Tang Xingye would reward him.
Do wrong, teach him, punish him.
Tang Xingye is Mom!
He buried his head in Tang Xingyeâs soft abdomen and said muffedly, “Mom, don’t have kids, okay?”
The thought of new life being nurtured here made him crazy with jealousy. If that day really came, he might strangle that child with his own hands.
Hearing Pei Lianâs voice, the expression on Tang Xingyeâs face instantly retracted, the smile fading.
Tang Xingye: “…”
Pei Lian hurt his hand, not his brain, right?
Is this cursing him? He’s planning to go all the way to a PhD.
Tang Xingye said crisply: “Won’t give birth.”
Pei Lian was satisfied, tightening his arms to hug the person closer.
A knock sounded, the untimely noise breaking the warm atmosphere. “Tang Xingye, Professor Ye is looking for you.”
Tang Xingye patted Pei Lianâs head, signaling him to get up. Pei Lian obediently let go. The moment Tang Xingye turned around, his expression instantly turned gloomy, lips pressed into a cold, hard line.
Pei Lian met Lin Moâs gaze. The air seemed solidified by some invisible malice. For just a split second, both turned their faces away in disgust, as if contaminated by something dirty.
Lin Moâs expression was deep as he stared at Tang Xingyeâs retreating back until that figure disappeared at the end of the corridor.
He couldn’t help wondering: Who is Tang Xingye meeting tonight? Ji Chen? Or someone else?
His fingertips unconsciously rubbed the listening device in his pocket, which transmitted only intermittent static noise. The positioning signal cut in and out, mocking his out-of-control voyeuristic desire.
I should have installed miniature cameras in all of Tang Xingyeâs things…
This thought grew wildly in his brain. Lin Mo lowered his eyes, Adam’s apple rolling, swallowing a kind of anxiety that bordered on violence.
Tang Xingye arrived at the office. Professor Ye handed him a new contract with a new Client A. Most of the terms favored them, the Client B.
Tang Xingye admired Professor Yeâs swindling skills once again. “It’s truly a pity Teacher didn’t go into sales with this negotiation level.”
“I actually did when I was young.” Professor Ye chuckled, tapping his finger lightly on the desk, then changed the subject. “I heard from Xiao Lin about what happened yesterday. I want to hear your reason for refusing.”
Tang Xingye closed the file, thinking the advisor was asking about acting. “Teacher, I refused him. No noble reason, I just simply felt that job wasn’t suitable.”
Professor Ye raised an eyebrow; this answer exceeded his expectations.
No grandiose rhetoric, no consideration of social evaluation, just treating acting as a job and judging calmly whether it fit him.
Professor Ye was silent for a moment, then looked at Tang Xingye. “You have many supporters in the school right now. I hesitated about whether to recommend you as a Department Guide Student.” He observed the student’s reaction, and seeing him remain calm, continued, “In the end, I didn’t submit your name.”
A trace of surprise flashed in Tang Xingyeâs eyes. A Department Guide Student was considered half a Student Council cadre, responsible for communication between the school and students, holding quite a few invisible resources. It had always been a hot cake everyone fought for.
“I believe that contacting the arena of fame and fortune too early makes it easy to get lost in it, especially after tasting the flavor of power. Desires will expand, making one float in the air, unable to keep feet on the ground.”
The professor, usually shrewd and cunning as a fox, had earnest eyes at this moment as he said:
“I hope you settle down for a while longer and think more. Sometimes when stuck in deep fog, unable to see the direction, the exit is actually not far away.”
Professor Ye could vaguely sense that Tang Xingye was hiding his negative emotions, which worried him. He guessed whether the impoverished family background caused Tang Xingye to deny negative emotions.
Professor Ye also came from Jing University. After cutting ties with his family, he was once destitute and almost went astray.
Since accepting Tang Xingye, he had witnessed a youth’s rapid growth just from the submitted papers.
He neither wanted this gifted fledgling to be trapped in rigid dogma nor wanted him to seek quick success and go astray.
Unexpectedly, there was not a trace of dissatisfaction in Tang Xingyeâs eyes.
Tang Xingye felt he had become smallâor accurately speaking, treated as a child whose mind wasn’t yet mature and needed protection.
He hadn’t thought Professor Ye would think so much for him. The gaze held the worry he was familiar with, but with an added pure elder’s care he had never received.
No need to be overly mature and bear everything. Slowly, bit by bit, be taught and learnâthis is the responsibility of adults.
“Do you have anything you want to say now?” Professor Ye looked calmly at Tang Xingye, ready to listen to his apprentice’s troubles.
“No,” Tang Xingye thought for a while, then said, “Thank you, Teacher.”
“…”
Rarely wanting to be a spiritual mentor for a student, saying so many enlightening words, only to be blocked back by the student with a soft deflection.
Professor Ye felt a bit subtle. His expression serious, he finally asked, “Do you see clearly the road you want to walk?”
Tang Xingye raised his eyes, which were bright and brilliant. “There has only ever been one road I want to walk.”
“Even if I get lost temporarily, I will continue to walk forward.”
…
“Bringing so much stuff just to find me for class?”
Ji Chen picked up Tang Xingyeâs heavy bag; it held quite a few books. He casually pushed open the zipper that wasn’t fully closed. A thick notebook slid halfway out, and just as he reached to stuff it back, a round object rolled out.
Ji Chen picked it up. His finger pad rubbed over the cold metal casing, and his eyes darkened abruptly.
He stared at the thing in his hand and asked in a serious tone, “Who touched your bag recently?”
Tang Xingye had been tossing and turning all night. He said casually, “Who would touch my bag? The most valuable thing inside is my notes.”
Ji Chen stepped forward, closed the book Tang Xingye was reading, and held the black object in front of him.
Tang Xingye frowned slightly, staring at the button-sized device, puzzled. “What is this?”
Ji Chenâs voice was slightly cold: “A miniature camera, still operating.”
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