Chapter 113: P-A-O, Run
Ye Ran unhurriedly crossed his legs. “What kind of suffering could I possibly face? I’m your brother’s ‘Client Boss’ now. Whether it’s from a business partnership perspective or my status in the family, I can handle him in a heartbeat.”
“Mm.” Chi Youchu responded noncommittally, his fingertips still tapping on his phone screen. He seemed to be listening, but also didn’t seem to take it very seriously.
Ye Ran thought this was an acknowledgment of his words, until the younger man unhurriedly added the second half of his sentence.
“I’ll gift you a four-character idiom.” Chi Youchu looked at him. “Utterly shameless.”
Ye Ran let out a “tsk” and curled his lip. “Oh, look at you, pretending to be a man of culture.”
The night grew deeper. As the clock hands slid past eleven, a blue McLaren came to a steady stop in the underground parking lot of the Chi family villa. The light sound of tires rubbing against the floor was exceptionally clear in the garage.
Ye Ran pushed open the car door, got out nimbly, and hurried toward the villa.
He was dead meat. After eating at Chi Youchu’s place, they had played two more rounds of games; he hadn’t watched the time and had played way too long.
The Chi family had always had a curfew—you had to be home by nine in the evening.
This curfew worked on others, but it was useless against Ye Ran.
The core reason was simple: Chi Yuheng himself took the lead in breaking it.
It was fine back when Chi Yuheng was in school, but from the moment he graduated and formally entered the Chengyi Group, being able to get home before nine was considered “slacking off and leaving work early” for President Chi.
So, Ye Ran seized on one point: don’t demand from me what you don’t have yourself, and don’t ask me to do what you can’t do. Only then is it fair.
In truth, the occasional times Ye Ran came home late were usually because he was out playing with Xu Huiyang. As long as he didn’t go to bars or cause trouble outside, Chi Yuheng generally let him be.
However, Chi Yuheng had been exceptionally busy lately. Every day, he thought about finishing work as quickly as possible to go home early and hold Ye Ran while he slept. He didn’t want to come home every day to find a Ye Ran who was already asleep.
On the rare occasions he did make it home early, Ye Ran was never there.
Once or twice was fine, but after several consecutive times, Chi Yuheng finally “brought up old matters” and reinstated the nine o’clock curfew rule.
When Chi Yuheng had stated the nine o’clock curfew, Ye Ran had listened on the surface, but in reality, he hadn’t taken it to heart.
After all, he usually didn’t return too late. Even if it was past nine—say, half an hour or twenty minutes late—he could usually muddle through by saying a few sweet words or calling him “Husband” a couple of times.
Furthermore, it was currently the season of abundant fruit.
Not a single servant or bodyguard in the entire Chi household hadn’t received snacks or treats from Ye Ran.
Everyone’s friendship was so deep that no one would go to Chi Yuheng to tattle on the little young master. Not only that, they would even help cover for him.
Like right now, past eleven, as soon as Ye Ran reached the first floor, a bodyguard on duty immediately shot him a look and subtly pointed toward the second floor.
The meaning was clear: Chi Yuheng was home.
Ye Ran glanced at the light shining from the study, nodded to the bodyguard, and walked inside quickly.
Before he had gone two steps, he ran straight into Xin Yu, who was waiting for him at the entrance.
As soon as Xin Yu saw him, he immediately approached, his voice kept very low and his tone somewhat urgent. “Why are you only coming back now?”
Ye Ran felt a bit helpless. “I just played for too long.”
As he spoke, Ye Ran extended his index finger and pointed upstairs. “What time did he get back?”
Xin Yu’s lips pulled into a straight line as he spat out two words: “Seven o’clock.”
No matter how bad Ye Ran was at math, he knew Chi Yuheng had been waiting at home for four hours.
He quickly recalled his previous methods for passing the test with Chi Yuheng.
Calling him “Husband” to ask for a kiss worked once. Saying he was too sleepy and dragging him to bed worked once. And then there was one other time…
That time hadn’t been easy. He had cried for a long time—he had even forgotten exactly how long, but in short, a large patch of his pillow had been soaked with tears.
It had been over half a month since that last incident, and he had never made Chi Yuheng wait for as long as four hours.
By his calculations, he was two hours past the curfew.
Based on his previous methods, he’d have to call him “Husband” until his lips were swollen, sleep until he couldn’t get up, and if he had to cry, he might cry until he fainted.
Calculating it this way, Ye Ran felt he was going to lose too much. He turned around nimbly to head back out.
Watching this scene, Xin Yu felt a sense of déjà vu, as if it were the time Ye Ran had tried to run away from home right in front of him.
Dead memories attacked him. Xin Yu would not allow such a thing to happen a second time.
He immediately stepped forward to block the way. “Young Master Ye, aren’t you going the wrong way?”
Ye Ran: “I’m not going the wrong way. I’m going out for a bit.”
Xin Yu simply stood right in front of him and asked point-blank, “Are you going out, or are you running away?”
Ye Ran gave a dry laugh and let out a single syllable: “P-A-O…”
This bluntness left Xin Yu speechless.
He simply laid his cards on the table. “Do you think I’m waiting here for you just for the sake of waiting?”
Ye Ran was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening.
He looked up toward the stairs, narrowed his eyes, and summarized in one sentence: “How insidious.”
The summary was very accurate.
“You’re just finding out today?” Xin Yu echoed expressionlessly, his tone carrying the helplessness of someone who “should have been used to it long ago.”
With no other choice, Ye Ran could only dawdle his way upstairs, his footsteps kept extremely light.
The second-floor corridor was silent. Only the study door was slightly ajar, letting out a beam of warm yellow light, as if waiting for someone to push it open.
Of course, Ye Ran couldn’t possibly go straight to the study to offer up his backside. As if his soles were greased, he stealthily changed his route toward the bedroom.
He stood high on his tiptoes, his heels barely touching the ground. With every step, he paused for half a second. His ears were perked up like radar, carefully catching any movement from the study behind him.
He was terrified that the ajar door would suddenly swing open and Chi Yuheng would emerge with a cold face to catch him.
Every two steps, he couldn’t help but glance back at the study. The warm yellow light still fell on the floor. The door hadn’t moved, and no sound had come from within. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Because he was so focused on looking back, he didn’t look at the path ahead at all. His body slammed straight into someone.
His nose bumped into a firm chest. He instinctively tried to retreat, but his wrist was firmly grasped.
In the next second, a man’s deep and cold voice came from above him. It was exceptionally clear in the silent corridor, like a shard of ice striking his heart.
“So Young Master Ye is willing to return?”
Ye Ran’s body froze instantly. He slowly lifted his head and crashed into Chi Yuheng’s deep, bottomless eyes.
The man was wearing a set of black loungewear, the collar slightly open to reveal a bit of his collarbone, but his face held no expression.
The emotions in his eyes were unfathomable. One couldn’t tell if he was angry or something else, yet it made Ye Ran feel an instinctive dread.
Ye Ran swallowed. He instinctively tried to pull his wrist back, but the grip only tightened.
He gave two dry laughs, trying to muddle through. “Ha… haha. Are you hungry? I’ll go back to the study… no… I’ll go back to the room and cook you a late-night snack…”
Chi Yuheng raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling on the top of the boy’s head. His tone held no ripple. “Go back to the room to cook a late-night snack?”
Ye Ran: “…”
I’m nervous. My tongue slipped.
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