Chapter 146
When Xiao Xiao said he was young and could stay up all night, Gu Qian took him at his word.
By six the next morning, Xiao Xiao was on the verge of passing out. In the end, he was carried onto the plane by a dizzy Gu Qian.
Xiao Xiao lay in Gu Qian’s arms. “How are you still so full of energy?” he asked, completely baffled.
Gu Qian just laughed. “You’re trying to compare your energy to an alpha’s? I could probably be thirty or forty years older and still have you begging for mercy.”
Xiao Xiao was speechless. He’d been so focused on their age difference yesterday that he’d completely forgotten the guy was an alpha. An alpha’s stamina was beyond imagination. No wonder the internet was full of people saying betas and alphas couldn’t be together. There was a reason for it.
Xiao Xiao pouted and said no more, burying his face in Gu Qian’s chest to catch up on sleep.
By the time he woke up, they were about to land. The air was getting warmer, and he’d been woken by the heat, still bundled in his thick down jacket. Gu Qian, on the other hand, had already taken his off and was just in a shirt.
He blinked his eyes open sleepily. “Why are you down to just one layer?” he mumbled.
A corner of Gu Qian’s mouth lifted. “Aren’t you hot?”
“I am.” Xiao Xiao started shedding his own layers. “The heat woke me up.”
“The air conditioning is on,” Gu Qian said with a smile.
Xiao Xiao nodded and leaned against the window to look outside. “Husband,” he said, “did I tell you this is my first time on a plane?”
He had been asleep the moment he boarded. How could he have had time to tell him anything?
Gu Qian wrapped his arms around him from behind. “No, you didn’t,” he said in a low voice. “Do you like it?”
“I love it. The white clouds and the sunset are so beautiful.” It was a kind of beauty he had never seen before. He loved it.
Gu Qian smiled. “From now on, I’ll take you out to play every once in a while, okay?”
Xiao Xiao nodded. “Okay.”
The place they had arrived was hot, the complete opposite of the snowy weather back home.
Xiao Xiao stood on the beach in shorts and a t-shirt, holding a surfboard and watching a blond alpha ride the waves. He looked so cool, and every so often, a group of omegas and betas would scream, making Xiao Xiao eager to try. But this was his first time even seeing the ocean, let alone surfing.
He could only grab Gu Qian’s arm. “Look, look! I want to try that!” he said excitedly.
Gu Qian smiled. “The waves are a little big right now. It’s not great for a beginner like you. Let’s wait a bit.”
As much as Xiao Xiao wanted to play, he knew his life was more important. He wasn’t about to get himself killed here. He held the surfboard and waited under a beach umbrella. After a while, the waves finally calmed down, and Gu Qian took him out to teach him, eventually just holding him as they surfed together.
They played for over an hour, until they were too tired to move.
Xiao Xiao lay on the sand. “I’m so tired,” he said quietly. Surfing looked so cool. Why was it so exhausting?
“Want to go for a ride on the sea?” Gu Qian asked with a smile.
Xiao Xiao nodded. “I do. How?”
Gu Qian didn’t tell him how. “Come with me,” he said with a grin.
Xiao Xiao scrambled up from the sand and followed him. A moment later, Gu Qian stopped in front of a boat. “I rented a boat,” he said, smiling. “I’ll take you out on the water.”
“Okay!”
Xiao Xiao had never been this happy in his life. It was great to have money!
They boarded, and Xiao Xiao noticed there was no captain. “There’s no one to drive the boat. How are we supposed to go anywhere?” he asked curiously.
“I’ll drive,” Gu Qian said with a smile.
“You know how to drive a boat?”
“Don’t underestimate me.”
Gu Qian really did know how to drive a boat. Xiao Xiao stood to the side and watched him; he was actually pretty good. There was water, food, and all the supplies they needed on board. They could stay out on the sea for two days. So, Gu Qian drove them far out.
Xiao Xiao was a little scared at first. And if it weren’t for the fact that Gu Qian’s illness was mostly better, he would have suspected he was taking him out to sea to die with him. It took him a long time to get used to the feeling and shake off the fear and dizziness. He stood by the railing, looking down.
Gu Qian set the boat to autopilot and wrapped his arms around him from behind. “Are you scared?” he asked in a low voice.
Xiao Xiao shook his head. “Not anymore.”
Hearing him say he wasn’t scared, Gu Qian leaned down and kissed the corner of his mouth, finally slipping his tongue inside…
They played at sea for two days before heading back.
After they returned, Xiao Xiao felt a little drained. He went to a seafood buffet and devoured three bowls of oysters.
Gu Qian laughed. “You should eat a little less. Don’t stuff yourself.”
Xiao Xiao shook his head. “I’m not full, not at all. Hiccup…“
How could this be? He was clearly younger than Gu Qian. Why couldn’t he keep up with him? Was this the true power of an alpha? Xiao Xiao couldn’t figure it out.
For the days that followed, Xiao Xiao found himself constantly questioning his own abilities, trying to “replenish” his energy while still “playing around” with a wild Gu Qian.
It wasn’t until half a month later, as he was sunbathing on the beach, that he suddenly remembered something. “Gu Qian!”
Gu Qian, lying next to him, asked, “What’s wrong?”
Xiao Xiao pushed his sunglasses up. “I think we’ve been out here for half a month.”
“We have. So?”
“What about your company?”
Gu Qian laughed. “I have so many people working there; I don’t pay them to do nothing. I’ve only been gone for half a month. If they can’t handle that, then the company might as well close.”
“Okay.” Xiao Xiao nodded. He thought Gu Qian had a point. “So when are we going back?”
“We’ll go back when the snow stops over there.”
Xiao Xiao froze at that, then climbed off his chair and onto Gu Qian’s lap. “Actually,” he said quietly, “I’m not that afraid of the cold.” He had gotten through so many years of it; what was there to be afraid of now? He wasn’t scared of the cold anymore. But Gu Qian was still…
Xiao Xiao felt like crying, but he didn’t want to. It would be too pathetic.
Gu Qian held him. “I know. I just wanted to take you out to play. Someone is handling things at the company. You don’t have to worry. Just have fun.”
Xiao Xiao nodded. “Mm.”
While Gu Qian was playing with Xiao Xiao, he had people back home preparing for their wedding. This time, when they went back, he was going to propose to Xiao Xiao. He was going to make Xiao Xiao marry him.
Back Home
An Le sat in a church, directing people to decorate it according to Xiao Xiao’s preferences. He worked all morning, and it wasn’t until Lu Heng came to pick him up for lunch that he happily threw himself into his arms. “The church is all decorated,” he said with a smile. “Now we just have to do the airport, but we have to wait until the day Lele comes back for that.”
Lu Heng held him and nodded gently. “Mm. Are you tired?”
An Le shook his head. “Not at all.” He wasn’t the one doing the decorating. He was just offering opinions and checking the placement. He hadn’t done anything else.
“Good,” Lu Heng said. “I’ll take you to lunch.”
“Mm.”
An Le, as happy as a child, obediently followed Lu Heng out.
Xiao Xiao and Gu Qian played for another half a month. That night, Xiao Xiao grabbed Gu Qian’s arm. “When are we going back?” he asked quietly. Gu Qian had said they’d go back when the snow stopped. He had checked on his phone; the snow had stopped a long time ago. And although it was fun here, he didn’t speak the language. After a while, it got boring. But Gu Qian showed no signs of wanting to go home. If it weren’t for the fact that Gu Qian wasn’t having an episode, he would have thought he was deliberately trapping him here.
“We’ll go back tomorrow,” Gu Qian said with a smile.
Xiao Xiao’s face instantly lit up. He leaned over and gave Gu Qian a peck on the cheek. “Husband is the best~”
Gu Qian savored the kiss and the praise. “One more,” he said with a smile.
Xiao Xiao gave him another, then quickly lay down. “Okay, okay, we’re going back tomorrow. Flying is tiring. We have to sleep tonight, no staying up late.”
Gu Qian’s smile grew wider. “Didn’t you say before that you were young and could stay up all night?”
Xiao Xiao pouted. “That was then, this is now. It’s different,” he said helplessly. He hadn’t known what Gu Qian was like at full throttle back then! He couldn’t handle it. Alphas were truly terrifying, in every sense of the word.
Gu Qian laughed and pulled him into his arms. “Alright,” he said, his voice full of affection. “I won’t tire you out tonight. Go to sleep.”
Xiao Xiao closed his eyes, a wide smile on his face, and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, they boarded the plane home. The flight was long, and by the time they arrived, it was already night.
After getting off the plane, Xiao Xiao was in a daze, sleepily following behind Gu Qian. It wasn’t until they were out of the airport that he saw the square was filled with fiery red roses, with a small path cleared through the middle.
He instinctively tugged on Gu Qian’s sleeve. “Gu Qian, look,” he said quietly. “Someone’s proposing.”
Gu Qian smiled. “If it were for you, would you like this kind of proposal?”
Xiao Xiao thought for a moment. “It depends on the person. If it was someone I liked, I’d accept any kind of proposal. If it was someone I didn’t like, a grand gesture like this would just be putting them on the spot.”
“Is that so?” Gu Qian said with a smile. “Then shall we go take a look?”
Xiao Xiao nodded. “Okay.”
And so, Gu Qian led Xiao Xiao down the path cleared through the roses. When they reached the center, they didn’t see anyone proposing. Xiao Xiao was looking around curiously when he suddenly saw a small child run over. The child stood in front of Gu Qian, handed him something, and then ran off.
In that moment, Xiao Xiao suddenly understood. He froze.
Then, he saw Gu Qian get down on one knee in front of him. He took his hand. “Xiao Xiao, I love you.”
Gu Qian opened a ring box. Inside, two gold wedding bands rested quietly. He held the box up to Xiao Xiao. “Xiao Xiao, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything I’ve ever done to you. I will seriously change, and I will never make those mistakes again. So, Xiao Xiao, will you marry me?”
Gu Qian’s eyes were full of hope. “I like Xiao Xiao. I love Xiao Xiao. I want to be responsible for the rest of Xiao Xiao’s life. My salary, my money, my company, my love—it’s all for Xiao Xiao. Please, will you marry me?”
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