Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Chapter 75 Originally Published on Jinjiang Literature City

An acquaintance was dressed in a suit, their wine-red curly hair messily draped over their shoulders. Combined with that face, it gave off a unique charm.

“Big Sister-in-law!”

Even someone as forgetful as Bai Li wouldn’t forget their own family. The person in front of him—he knew—was his sister-in-law!

Yu Yin recognized Lili. Although he had only seen Lili's milk kitten form, Bai Lin had introduced him before and even shown him pictures.

His expression was slightly unnatural. “Lili, you’re here too.”

Bai Li nodded and asked with concern, “Where’s my big brother?”

“He’s still at my place.”

Yu Yin replied vaguely, “You could call him and ask him to leave.”

Just as Bai Li was about to obediently agree, Xie Chen silently gave his palm a squeeze.

“Huh?”

Distracted by the squeeze, Bai Li tilted his head and looked up at Xie Chen in confusion.

“I’ll take Lili to greet some people. See you later.”

Xie Chen said as he led Bai Li away from Yu Yin.

Bai Li looked back every few steps, clearly reluctant. “I want to talk to Sister-in-law.”

Big Brother had finally found a sister-in-law. He wanted to know whether she’d return to Monster Mountain with them in the future.

“Be good. Your sister-in-law and your brother probably have some issues right now. At times like this, just behave, alright?”

Xie Chen was sharp. From Bai Lin's drunken behavior and Yu Yin’s reaction, he could pretty much tell that things between Bai Lin and Yu Yin weren’t settled yet.

Bai Li didn’t fully understand his brother’s emotional situation, but he was certain Yu Yin would definitely become his sister-in-law.

“Come here.”

Xie Chen held his hand and took him around to greet a few familiar faces from the business world.

No one who had a connection with Xie Chen was a fool.

Seeing Xie Chen formally introduce Bai Li, they immediately understood that this young man wasn’t some novelty Xie Chen was playing with, but someone who truly mattered to him.

The conversations went well, so Xie Chen stayed a little longer.

Bai Li didn’t know what to say to them, so he just clutched Xie Chen’s hand and fidgeted with the ring on his finger.The ring was shiny and quite eye-catching.

Someone joked with a laugh, “President Xie, that ring of yours is pretty unique.”

Everyone could tell how rough the “diamond” on the ring was.

What surprised them was that Xie Chen was actually willing to wear such a ring.

“I bought it.”

Just as they were teasing, a crisp voice suddenly chimed in.

Everyone was stunned.

Then they realized—it was Bai Li speaking to them.

“You bought the ring?” someone asked with a smile.

Bai Li nodded, admitting it.

“Oh~”

Now they finally understood why Xie Chen treasured such a low-quality ring and never took it off.

“This ring’s actually quite nicely chosen.” The group praised it one after another with smiles.

At their level, they no longer needed material things to show their status.

If someone else wore a ring like that, they might have found it laughable—but on Xie Chen, it was interesting.

Bai Li was delighted by the compliments, and his impression of these people improved a lot.

The group chatted for a while, deliberately including Bai Li so he could join the conversation too.

Bai Li held Xie Chen’s hand, no longer feeling shy at all.

After the conversation ended, Xie Chen, worried Bai Li might be hungry, simply took him to get some food.

Bai Li focused on choosing, and Xie Chen packed up everything he picked.

There were small sofas for resting at the venue. After selecting the food, Xie Chen led Bai Li over to sit and eat.

“How does it taste?” Xie Chen asked, feeding him a pastry.

“Delicious!”

Bai Li wasn’t picky—he’d eaten plenty of plain steamed buns before, and besides, the food here really was good.

While they were eating, not far away, Guan Liang was still watching them.

“Guanzi, what are you looking at?”

A friend patted Guan Liang on the shoulder and started chatting with him, “Yu Yin’s here today too. Don’t you hate him the most? Come on, let’s go find him.”

Guan Liang, who had always been at odds with Yu Yin, seemed like a different person today.“What are we looking for him for? If he’s here, he’s here, whatever.”

That person was surprised. “Didn’t you say he likes men and that it was disgusting?”

Guan Liang: “……”

Guan Liang glanced at the boy still eating, his face reddening. “What’s disgusting or not—don’t say things like that anymore. It’s disrespectful.”

That person: “?”

Wake up, I was quoting you!

“Anyway, don’t bother with Yu Yin anymore. Let him do whatever he wants.”

The more Guan Liang spoke, the more his companion felt something was off.

The other followed his gaze suspiciously. As soon as he looked and thought about it—he got it.

“Guanzi.”

He poked Guan Liang’s arm. “You’ve fallen for Xie-ge’s person? Are you out of your mind?”

Even after being found out, Guan Liang was still stubborn. “You’re the one out of your mind.” He glanced at Xie Chen sitting next to the boy and said with conviction, “They’re not in that kind of relationship. Xie Chen’s way older. Look at that kid—he’s still young.”

His companion was speechless at his reasoning and couldn’t be bothered to argue.

On the sofa.

Bai Li didn’t notice someone was still watching him. He ate while listening to Xie Chen say that the birthday host would be cutting that big cake soon.

“Will I get a piece?”

Bai Li asked eagerly. The big cake looked really nice—he wanted to try some.

“You will.”

Xie Chen answered without hesitation.

The two of them were eating there, and no one dared disturb them—but there was no shortage of eyes on them.

Bai Li had almost finished eating. Just as he was about to grab a napkin to wipe his mouth, he suddenly paused.

“Mister.”

Bai Li tilted his head, blinking as he looked at Xie Chen. “Wipe it for me.”

Xie Chen raised an eyebrow.

Li Li had always liked doing things himself. Unless he initiated it, he usually handled everything on his own.

This was a bit unusual.

But he didn’t question it. He just took a napkin and carefully wiped his hands and mouth for him.“All done.”

Xie Chen spoke as he helped him stand up, preparing to walk around and digest the food.

Bai Li casually glanced around as if nothing had happened. When he noticed many people were surprised, he squinted his eyes in satisfaction, hiding a trace of smugness.

“Hello, everyone.”

In the center of the hall, the host of the banquet stepped forward and smiled. “Thank you all for coming to my daughter’s birthday party…”

The one speaking was the father of the birthday girl.

Bai Li wasn’t interested in the father—but the girl standing beside him, he had been watching closely the whole time.

It was the mute jiejie.

On stage.

Duan Ningqi wore a custom-made gown, her makeup was exquisitely done, and she stood beside her father with an indifferent expression.

Bai Li frowned.

The black aura around this jiejie had grown again...

Even though he had already shattered a lot of it for her.

His empty hand unknowingly clenched. If the black mist continued to entangle her, she might start having suicidal thoughts, just like Zhou Zhi once did.

Such a wonderful jiejie—Bai Li couldn’t just stand by and watch her fall into trouble.

Who knows how long passed.

Father Duan finally stopped speaking and introduced Duan Ningqi, letting her cut the cake.

The crowd gathered around.

As Bai Li walked over, someone bumped into him.

He turned and saw Guan Liang smiling at him. Bai Li: “???”

He bumped into him and laughed? That’s bullying a cat!

If it weren’t for the people around—and the fact that his beloved Mister was here—Bai Li would’ve wanted to fight him right there!

You weren’t allowed to fight while delivering orders—that would get you complaints.

Right now there was no order to deliver, so he wasn’t worried about complaints, but it might disrupt the pretty jiejie’s party.

Grudgingly, Bai Li made a mental note to hold this grudge against Guan Liang, then trudged over to look at the big cake.

“Mr. Xie, hello.”

To his surprise, Guan Liang stuck around like a pesky plaster and couldn’t be shaken off. He walked over to Xie Chen and took the initiative to introduce himself.

Xie Chen thought for a few seconds before barely managing to recall which elder from the Guan family he belonged to.“Who’s the person you brought with you? He looks pretty young.”

Out of respect for the elder of the Guan family, Xie Chen replied indifferently to this younger one, “His name is Bai Li. He is a bit younger than you.”

“Bai Li.”

Guan Liang suddenly realized, “The one who’s been trending online lately? I’ve heard people mention him, but I haven’t watched anything.”

He then tried to strike up a conversation with Bai Li.

But Bai Li didn’t like him at all.

To Bai Li, Guan Liang’s friendly approach was nothing but suspicious.

Just then, Duan Ningqi finished cutting the cake.

She handed out slices. Guan Liang noticed Bai Li wanted one and quickly stepped forward to grab a piece ahead of time.

“Here.”

Guan Liang offered the cake to Bai Li flatteringly.

Bai Li, being a bit slow to catch on, didn’t sense anything off, but Xie Chen had already picked up on the situation.

His gaze darkened slightly as he shielded Bai Li behind him.

“No need. Li Li has one.”

As he spoke, Xie Chen took a smaller piece from Duan Ningqi, didn’t hand it directly to Bai Li, but instead tasted it himself first, then gave it to him.

“It’s a bit sweet. Don’t eat too much or you’ll get sick of it.”

“Okay!”

Bai Li’s eyes sparkled as he used the same little spoon Xie Chen had just used, scooped a bite, and put it in his mouth.

The cream was sweet, the sponge was soft—it tasted really good.

Though Bai Li loved sweets, he was obedient and didn’t eat too much. When there was just a little left, he passed it back to Xie Chen.

Xie Chen finished the few remaining bites and set the plate aside.

Their intimate interaction made Guan Liang feel a pang of sourness.

But he kept trying to brainwash himself: Xie Chen and Bai Li had such a big age gap—like the saying goes, a three-year difference is a generational gap. In their case, there might as well be a whole Pacific Ocean between them.

“Bai Li, we’re playing a game over there. Want to join?” Guan Liang persisted, trying again to invite him.

Bai Li coldly shook his head.

“No.”

He wanted to keep showing off his Mister—and he was also watching Duan Ningqi, looking for a chance to follow her.This annoying guy—Bai Li couldn’t be bothered with him right now.

“You really don’t want to come? The game is really fun, it’s a murder mystery script—super interesting.”

“No, no.”

Bai Li was getting irritated by his nagging and pulled Xie Chen away directly.

They didn’t go far, just stopped near Duan Ningqi.

Duan Ningqi was all by herself. Everyone knew she couldn’t speak.

Among the guests present, few understood sign language, so people tactfully didn’t go up to “chat” with her.

She didn’t stay in the hall long before turning to leave, heading toward the side garden.

Bai Li knew about this garden—Xie Chen had mentioned it to him before, but hadn’t let him go.

It was early winter now. Though there were some evergreens in the garden, it was colder outside—nowhere near as warm as inside.

Bai Li saw Duan Ningqi still wearing just a thin short skirt as she headed for the garden.

He was a little worried. If she caught cold dressed like that, she could end up with rheumatism.

“Mister.”

Bai Li tugged at Xie Chen’s hand and requested, “I want to go to the garden.”

Xie Chen frowned and refused, “No.”

Bai Li’s little suit was fine indoors, but he’d definitely be cold outside.

“No, I want to go.”

Usually mild-tempered, Bai Li rarely insisted like this. He pointed toward the departing Duan Ningqi and said, “I want to find her. She’s not doing so well right now.”

Guan Liang trying to chat up Bai Li earlier had already stirred up irritation in Xie Chen’s heart.

Now, Bai Li wanted to seek out a young girl of his own accord.

One after another, they were all close to Bai Li’s age. Even with all his restraint, the rising sense of danger in Xie Chen pushed his patience to its limit.

“You’re not allowed to go.”

He didn’t ask why—his voice turned cold. “Miss Duan is a rich young lady. Wherever she goes, someone will be watching over her. Li Li, she doesn’t need you.”

“She does!”

Bai Li anxiously tried to explain, but Xie Chen didn’t give him the chance.

The two of them started falling out. Bai Li, looking at Xie Chen’s sudden cold face, felt wronged beyond words.

Mister never used to be like this.

Xie Chen’s thin lips were tightly pressed together—the harshness in his eyes completely beyond his control.He had always had a strong possessiveness toward his little milk cat. Back when he was raising the milk cat, he could treat it as his personal possession, not allowing anyone else to compete for it.

Now, the milk cat had taken human form, become a living, breathing young boy. But what exactly were they now...

Xie Chen, who appeared to have control over everything and always got what he wanted, for the first time in his life, felt uneasy—only in front of this milk cat.

“Li Li.”

In the tense moment, Xie Chen looked at the boy’s aggrieved expression, his lips moved, and he still called out softly.

Bai Li looked at him, completely unwilling to be coaxed.

He shook off Xie Chen’s hand, turned around, and ran toward the garden with heavy steps.

Xie Chen stayed where he was, his arm was nudged by someone.

“Go after him. What are you hesitating for?”

It was Yu Yin, who had come over at some point. He had apparently been watching for quite a while—half the wine in his glass was already gone.

“Someone once told me Li Li was the little brother pampered by their entire family. If you let him suffer even a little... tsk, I will go tattle.”

Xie Chen: “……”

Xie Chen shot him a glance.

Yu Yin calmly added, “I’ll tattle to Bai Xiao Liu.”

Not to that other Bai.

Upon hearing that, Xie Chen immediately walked around him and headed straight for the garden.