Chapter 142
“Xiao Xiao, Xiao Xiao…”
Gu Qian held Xiao Xiao by the waist, his forehead beaded with sweat as he called his name over and over again, completely obsessed.
Xiao Xiao’s mind was blank, filled with nothing but an overwhelming feeling of pleasure, unable to think of anything else…
A few days later, the scandal surrounding Gu Chen had died down. An Qiang had also been convicted, with no chance of ever turning his life around.
Xiao Xiao sat in his office, staring at the news on his phone. After thinking for a long time, he decided to call An Le. He was using Gu Qian’s phone, which didn’t have An Le’s new number, so after searching for a bit, he ended up calling Lu Heng.
The call was answered almost immediately. He had expected it to be Lu Heng, but surprisingly, it was An Le. And An Le didn’t seem too happy to hear from Gu Qian; his voice sounded a little down. “Hello?”
It had been so long since he’d heard Lele’s voice. Xiao Xiao froze for a second before calling out, “Lele…”
“Xiao Xiao!” Hearing his voice, An Le was overjoyed, his tone instantly becoming excited. “Xiao Xiao, how have you been? Why did you go back to Gu Qian’s? Did he… did he threaten you?”
After a moment, An Le decided this wasn’t something to discuss over the phone. “Xiao Xiao, can we meet? It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other.”
Meet? Xiao Xiao thought about it and nodded. “Okay.” He missed An Le a lot, too. And hearing how much An Le cared about him filled his heart with a strange warmth and joy. He couldn’t help but let out a few soft laughs before saying, “There are some things that are hard to explain over the phone. It’s better if we meet. I’ll send you the address tomorrow afternoon.”
An Le was thrilled and was just about to agree when he thought of something. “Really?” he asked. “You’re not lying to me?”
Xiao Xiao paused. An Le didn’t believe him. It was probably because he had been refusing to see him for so long, and An Le was afraid something else had happened.
“I’m not lying,” Xiao Xiao said with a sigh. “Tomorrow at three in the afternoon, we’ll meet on time.”
An Le hesitated before whispering, “Okay then.” He sounded a little disappointed. He sniffled and said quietly, “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
Xiao Xiao could hear the dejection in his voice, but he wanted to prepare himself before seeing An Le, so even if he was disappointed, he would have to wait until tomorrow. His heart ached for his little brother. “See you tomorrow,” he said gently.
The moment Xiao Xiao hung up, Gu Qian leaned in. He wrapped his arms around him and whispered, “Are you going out tomorrow, Xiao Xiao?”
Xiao Xiao nodded. “Yeah, I’m going to see Lele. It’s been a long time since we hung out.” So much had happened to An Le, and not only had he not been able to help, but he had also caused him trouble because of his own situation with Gu Qian. He felt both guilty and sad, so he wanted to treat An Le to a meal. And now that An Le’s situation was stable, and his own situation with Gu Qian was stable, they should be able to see each other more often, right?
Gu Qian: “Okay, I’ll take tomorrow off. I’ll go with you.”
Xiao Xiao frowned. “Why would you come with me? Lele and I are just getting dinner. What would you do?”
Gu Qian: “I… I can be your driver. I can drive you there. Is that not okay?”
“No.” Xiao Xiao shook his head. “I… it would be awkward for me and him to eat with you there. Just have someone else drive me.” After so long, he was finally getting to see An Le. The last thing he wanted was Gu Qian there to ruin the mood.
Being rejected, Gu Qian looked a little crestfallen, but on this matter, Xiao Xiao absolutely would not back down. His expression was firm as he looked at Gu Qian with a hint of anger.
In the end, Gu Qian chose to compromise. “Alright then, I’ll have someone else take you.”
Only then was Xiao Xiao satisfied. He smiled and gave Gu Qian a peck on the cheek. “Thanks, husband~”
The gesture immediately brought a smile to Gu Qian’s face, and he pulled Xiao Xiao in for a proper kiss.
The next day at noon, Xiao Xiao, who had been getting ready all morning, had just finished changing when his phone rang. He looked and saw it was An Le. Before he could answer, the phone was snatched from his hand by Gu Qian.
Gu Qian had been fussing all morning. “It’s still two hours away. Why are you leaving so early?”
Xiao Xiao was dying to see An Le, but even though their relationship was stable now, he didn’t want to provoke Gu Qian. “I just want to get there early,” he said.
Gu Qian couldn’t argue with that. He straightened Xiao Xiao’s clothes. “Fine, go early. But don’t wander off. There are a lot of bad people out there.”
Xiao Xiao: “Mm.”
Gu Qian: “Be safe, and come back early.”
Xiao Xiao: “I know.”
Gu Qian asked again, “Are you sure you don’t want me to take you?”
“I’m sure. I’ll be back. If you come with me, I…” Xiao Xiao trailed off, but his expression turned cold.
Gu Qian knew he would get angry. He knew, in his heart, that Xiao Xiao would come back, but he just wanted to be with him. But Xiao Xiao didn’t want him to, so he could only give up. “Fine, I won’t go.”
Xiao Xiao: “Give me my phone.”
Gu Qian quickly handed it over. Xiao Xiao looked at it and saw the call had been connected for a while. He felt bad that An Le had been waiting for so long.
“Lele,” he said quickly, “I’m about to leave. Let’s go to that dessert shop we used to go to. My treat.”
An Le: “Okay.”
With the place decided, Xiao Xiao immediately headed out the door. Gu Qian stood at the entrance, his eyes full of reluctance, looking like a wife from ancient times waiting for her husband to return from war.
Xiao Xiao ignored his pitiful act and left.
In the car, he instinctively touched the inhibitor patch on his gland. As a beta, he had never needed one before, but he and Gu Qian had had a wild night, and Gu Qian had strengthened the mark, leaving an even stronger scent of his pheromones on him. If he didn’t cover it up, he was afraid it would make An Le uncomfortable.
The place they were meeting was a bit far from his house. Xiao Xiao was lost in thought for the entire ride, and by the time he snapped out of it, they were already at the dessert shop. He stared at the familiar sign for a moment, then took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
“Xiao Xiao!”
The moment he walked in, he saw An Le running toward him. “Xiao Xiao,” he cried out, “you’ve gotten so thin!”
Seeing An Le, Xiao Xiao immediately smiled. He took his arm and led him to a table. “Is being thin a bad thing? You can just buy me more food to fatten me up.”
“Okay.”
They sat down at a table, and An Le was bubbling with excitement. “You can have whatever you want.”
As soon as they sat down, Xiao Xiao noticed something was off. An Le seemed incredibly happy, but for some reason, he kept frowning. “Why are you frowning?” he asked, confused. “Are you not happy?”
“No.” An Le shook his head, a little embarrassed. “You… the alpha pheromone scent on you is too strong. It’s making me a little uncomfortable.”
Xiao Xiao paused, then said, “Really? But I’m already wearing an inhibitor patch.”
Inhibitor patch? An Le asked curiously, “But Xiao Xiao, aren’t you a beta? Why would you need an inhibitor patch?”
Xiao Xiao smiled helplessly. “I didn’t used to, but I do now. It’s because Gu Qian, he…” Xiao Xiao trailed off. There were some things he didn’t know how to say.
Seeing him go quiet, An Le pressed, “Xiao Xiao, did Gu Qian threaten you?”
Threaten? Xiao Xiao thought about everything that had happened between them and just shook his head slightly without a word.
An Le: “Then what’s going on? Xiao Xiao, why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you contact me for so long? If I hadn’t called Gu Qian, were you just never going to contact me again?” As he spoke, his expression grew a little hurt.
Xiao Xiao’s heart instantly ached. “It’s not what you think,” he said quickly. “I didn’t contact you before because I was afraid Gu Qian would retaliate against you because of me. Later… later it was because I didn’t know how to tell you.”
From the beginning until now, a lot had happened between him and Gu Qian, but he had never told An Le any of it. He could be completely selfless with An Le his entire life, sharing all his happy moments with him. But when it came to things that were sad, painful, or frustrating, he didn’t want to mention them. He didn’t want An Le to be sad for him.
He lowered his head, but An Le suddenly grabbed his hand. He looked up instinctively and saw An Le’s large, watery eyes. He looked like he was about to cry but was holding it back, tears welling in his eyes.
“Why didn’t you know how to tell me?” he asked, confused. “You could have just told me the truth. Why do we need to be so careful with each other? Or is it that you’re afraid I’ll be unhappy, and you don’t want me to be unhappy?”
An Le pursed his lips. “But if you don’t tell me, I’ll worry. My mind will run wild. I’ll think you’re not doing well, and that will make me unhappy, too. So, just tell me what happened, okay? We can still figure out a way to solve it together.”
Every word An Le said struck a chord in Xiao Xiao’s heart. In his moments of despair, he had felt that no one in the world truly cared about him. His colleagues at the company were only tolerant of him because of Gu Qian. Everyone else was a stranger, and An Le… An Le wasn’t by his side. He felt completely alone in the world. Until An Le had sent Li Jie to find him, until now…
He sniffled. “Lele, don’t cry. I’ll tell you everything…”
With that, he took a deep breath and told An Le everything that had happened with Gu Qian. He didn’t know how he managed to get through it all, but in An Le’s eyes, he saw surprise, heartache, and anger. Even someone as mild-tempered as An Le was angry. He was so worried Gu Qian had hurt him that he pulled him in for a thorough inspection, his face flushing red by the end of it.
That reaction instantly lifted his spirits. Finally, he pushed Gu Qian’s matters to the back of his mind and said with a smile, “It’s a done deal now, so let’s not think about it. Let’s go shopping.”
An Le: “Okay.”
An Le was simple and easy to coax. Xiao Xiao paid for the desserts, and then they went shopping. Because the scent of pheromones on him made An Le uncomfortable, the first shop they went to was one that sold pheromone-related products.
An Le rarely went shopping and felt a little out of place, hiding behind him. “What do you want to buy, Xiao Xiao?” he asked in a small voice.
Xiao Xiao said, “I’m going to buy a bottle of pheromone neutralizer. Do you need anything?”
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