In the evening of the first day after Fu Ge’s estrus ended, Qi Han was in his room by himself, catching up on his sleep.
He was half-awake when someone came in; he heard some rustling footsteps, and before he could open his eyes, a soft and warm little hand fell on his face. Ah Jue lay on the edge of the bed, touching him.
“Um… little guy, why are you here?…”
Qi Han glanced at him lazily and reached his long arms to pull the boy closer, “Are you sleepy? Xiao Ge is not here. Sleep with Dad.”
“Not sleepy…”
Before Ah Jue could react, he was forced to rest on Qi Han’s arm, and as soon as he was about to move, his non-existent waist was pressed down by the other hand.
Qi Han: “Don’t fall off.”
Ah Jue: “…”
He didn’t understand why he was hugged, but he didn’t struggle, just resting his fleshy cheeks and thinking helplessly: ok, I’m fine. (in English)
More or less a bit of a go-with-the-flow approach.
Fu Ge smiled when he entered the room; looking at the two people on the bed made his heart feel soft and hot.
On the not-so-large double bed, Qi Han was sleeping soundly on his side. He was topless, the thin blanket covered his chest, his wheat-coloured arms were solid and strong, with many scars on his powerful muscles; and a pouting child nestled in his arms, the man’s rough fingers being held by the child’s soft palm.
Although the tenderness of a tough man is cliche, it is always moving.
He kissed Ah Jue and Qi Han’s foreheads. The child blinked, found that it was him and immediately smiled: “Papa!”
“Hush, baby, keep your voice down.”
Ah Jue immediately covered his mouth exaggeratedly, and this time his voice was much lower, like a sigh: “Papa…”
Fu Ge smiled and nudged his nose, turned up the air conditioner and asked, “Why are you here?”
“Papa’s not here, came to find Big Daddy.”
“So smart.” Fu Ge looked at the child’s hair turned into a bird’s nest, “How come you’re so sleepy today?”
“Don’t sleep,” Ah Jue wiggled his feet and then his arms, indicating that he couldn’t get free from his dad on his own. His wilted face looked frustrated: “Held by Big Daddy.”
Fu Ge stifled a laugh, “I think you slept quite soundly, little piggy.”
The little piggy blushed, pursed his lips and stretched out his hands to him: “Papa, can you take me out?”
“It’s a bit difficult.” Fu Ge took Qi Han’s hand and tried to make him let go but couldn’t.
For some reason Qi Han was still very alert even when he was asleep; he didn’t hug tightly but his arms were impossible to unlock, and it took a lot of effort to get out of his arms every time.
“Why don’t we wake Big Daddy up?”
“No no no! No wake up, Big Daddy seems to be very tired.”
Fu Ge kissed Ah Jue’s cheeks with satisfaction, “That’s a good boy.”
He handed the child the balloon he had bought outside. There was a little fat bird printed on the yellow oblong balloon. There was a long rope tied to it. You had to be sure to hold on to the rope when playing, otherwise the balloon would fly to the ceiling.
“Wow!” Ah Jue stared in excitement: “It’s a birdie guy!”
“What, where did you learn to say that? This is a little bird.”
“Uncle taught me, said it’s more modern.”
Ah Jue was temporarily restrained from moving, so Fu Ge tied the rope of the balloon in a loop and put it around his little foot.
As soon as he lifted his foot, the balloon rose, and when he kicked, it would sway. He had never played like this before, so he felt fresh and happy, “Papa, the birdie guy is flying!”
Fu Ge took off his coat, gently lifted the quilt and lay on the other side of Ah Jue, also resting on Qi Han’s arm.
When he raised his eyes to look over, he could see the sleeping man breathing evenly. His nose was high, but there were heavy dark shadows under his eyes.
He was really tired this week, not sleeping much for seven days in a row, always ready to comfort Fu Ge. And when Fu Ge was asleep, Qi Han had to take time to give him a massage and a bath, afraid he would wake up with a sore back and legs.
To be honest, this intimate affair was not comfortable for Qi Han.
Because he minimised his needs and followed Fu Ge’s preferences exactly; even if he was in the middle of it, he would stop immediately without saying a word as soon as the little Beta said he was uncomfortable.
There was even one time when they had gone too far and Qi Han was so turned on that he almost went into rut, his crimson eyes staring at Fu Ge unblinkingly, as if he wanted to tear the prey beneath him to pieces.
But he forced himself to stop and rushed to the bathroom to suppress his manic passion.
That night, the little Beta opened his eyes, half-dreaming and half-awake, and saw Qi Han sitting at the head of the bed, trembling all over and injecting himself with a high-efficiency inhibitor.
This was the thing he was most afraid of in his life…
Qi Han almost went into shock when he watched the liquid being pushed into his blood vessels, and there was a fishy taste of blood in his throat, but he didn’t hesitate at all, and even took a second shot cleanly.
A violent love affair can cause Alpha to get out of control. Qi Han had just differentiated for the second time, and his body was already overexcited to the extreme. If he really entered the rut period, it would be all over.
He would no longer have the patience to comfort the little Beta, he would completely degenerate into a vulgar beast, using his mate as a tool to vent his own desires, doing it over and over again like a mad dog, not stopping no matter how much his mate cried for mercy.
Qi Han would never allow this to happen. Fortunately, he had thought of an emergency situation from the beginning and asked for two inhibitors.
He differentiated into Alpha at the age of fourteen, and now, nine years later, he took the initiative to use this medicine that he hated and feared from the bottom of his heart for the first time, just to accompany his lover to have a good estrus period.
Fu Ge was dumbstruck at the time, his tears sliding down and flowing onto the pillow. When Qi Han turned his head, the needle in his hand was misplaced. Even so, he was the first to coax Fu Ge: “Good baby, stop crying, what are you crying for? It’s okay.”
Biting his shoulder fiercely, Fu Ge said in a voice almost too hoarse to talk, “What are you doing, ah… you are most afraid of that…”
Qi Han smiled lightly, “Not the most afraid.”
“I used to be most afraid of needles and inhibitors, but now I am most afraid of you being wronged.”
Rubbing his fingers inch by inch over the corners of his eyes, Fu Ge looked at Qi Han’s sleeping face, slowly leaned over and kissed his forehead, “Thank you for your hard work.”
Suddenly he was hugged, and the sleeping man murmured, “Baby?”
“Yes, did I wake you up? I tried to be careful.”
The Alpha smiled and closed his eyes lazily: “I smelled you.”
“What?”
As soon as the words were spoken, the shirt was torn off his shoulders, and the lifetime mark that had just been planted was exposed to the air.
Qi Han leaned over and lay in the nook of his neck, took a deep breath and sighed contentedly: “It’s all my smell…”
His beloved was wrapped in layers of his bellflower fragrance.
“Big Daddy, look! There is a ball!”
The little boy who was caught in the middle raised his foot and shook it twice, showing off his balloon happily.
Qi Han didn’t hear him clearly. He opened his eyes and saw that his son’s foot was tied. He thought Xiao Jue was asking for help, raised his hand, yanked the rope and untied it. The balloon whizzed straight up to the ceiling.
The child was rendered speechless. He looked at such a big balloon that was gone. The little fat hand tried hard to grab it but still didn’t catch it. Instantly, he frowned, aggrieved, “My ball flew…”
Qi Han: “Okay, it’s okay, isn’t it fine? Don’t be afraid.”
Xiao Jue flattened his mouth, looked at the ball and looked at his dad. He couldn’t explain his pain, and finally muttered pitifully: “It’s the ball papa bought for me, it’s a little bird ball…”
Qi Han replied in a daze: “Ah, little bird.”
The child thought he liked it too, so he blinked his sad puppy eyes, endured his grievances and asked him, “Big Daddy thinks it’s cute too, right?”
Qi Han closed his eyes: “No, it’s far worse than your papa.”
Ah Jue: “⊙﹏⊙!!!”
The child who had been told that the ball was not cute had the sky fall down and plunged into Fu Ge’s arms, facing Qi Han with his butt.
The little Beta, who was watching the drama from the sidelines, laughed so hard that tears came out of his eyes. He hurriedly yanked the balloon down for his son before he could start crying, aggrieved. The little guy clutched the rope firmly and clenched his hand into a small fist.
“What if Big Daddy makes it fly again…”
“Papa will beat him up for you.”
Qi Han inexplicably felt a chill down his back, “What’s wrong?”
Fu Ge was still smiling, “Nothing, go to sleep, me and Ah Jue will stay with you.”
“Good.” He hugged his older and younger babies tighter in his arms, and asked casually, “Have you eaten yet?”
“I ate, beef tenderloin with peppers and grilled shrimp, and I also ate a lot of vegetables.”
“What about the soup?”
“I drank it too, two big bowls.”
“Good boy.” The warm palm touched Fu Ge’s neck to check his body temperature, and the voice that sounded over the top of his head was low and sexy: “Do you have a fever? Does it hurt there—”
“No, it’s okay!”
Fu Ge stretched out his hand to Qi Han’s lips and said very quietly: “There is no fever and no pain. You have taken good care of me. These days… were very comfortable… I liked it very much…”
Qi Han closed his eyes and raised the corners of his lips, rubbing Fu Ge’s hair with his big hands, “Awesome baby, when I wake up, I will give you ten stamps.”
He was talking in the coaxing-a-child tone. Fu Ge, harbouring evil designs, turned his head and kissed his palm: “Then I will stamp the bear for you too.”
…… ……
Before the gland hunters fell into the net, Qi Han told Xu Zhou all the clues he had and assisted him with all his strength. In exchange, he wanted to see the entire dossier of Fu Zhenying’s case.
“Why are you looking at that? Are there any doubts about the case back then?”
Qi Han pursed his lips: “I’m looking for something very important.”
After his body mostly recovered, he immediately began to reorganise the Chamber of Commerce. There was too much backlog of work, and with all forces taking the opportunity to get in, it took him a week to clean up the stinky fish and shrimp, not to mention doing other more important things.
On the third day of being discharged from the hospital, at two o’clock in the morning, Qi Han raised his head from the mountains of documents and photos on the table, leaned back on his chair and closed his eyes wearily.
The clues were intricate. He dug up the hints layer by layer to more than ten years ago, and finally located a small remote fishing village. Two days ago, all his subordinates had been sent out.
Ding ding—
The sudden ringing of the phone broke the silence. Qi Han pinched his brow and picked up the phone; the dark shadows under his eyes were growing deeper and deeper.
“Hello, what’s the matter?”
“President Qi, we found something! An old fisherman said that he did see Fu Zhenying here seventeen years ago!”
Qi Han stood up abruptly as if electrocuted. His eyes widened, and his dry lips twitched several times before he managed to say: “Stay put, wait for me to come.”
Fu Ge didn’t even see him and only received a phone call. Qi Han said that he would go on a temporary business trip for a few days and asked him and Ah Jue to take care of themselves.
At that time, the little Beta had just returned from the company, and he bought some fresh fish that he wanted to fry for Qi Han. He was stunned for a few seconds when he heard the words and looked down at his toes, “Got it, then you remember to eat on time.”
The phone hung up, and his heart seemed to have fallen like a lead ball, making him feel a dull ache that was almost physical.
Ah Jue took his hand and said, “Won’t Big Daddy eat together tonight?”
Fu Ge hummed, raised his foot and crushed a dead leaf, “He’s too busy…”
…… ……
On the barren mountains outside the fishing village, Qi Han, wearing a raincoat, stepped on a slippery stone. The pouring rain formed a water curtain in front of the brim of his hat.
Heavy rains that continued for days made the roads on the mountain muddy and difficult to walk. This was the fifth day of their search on the mountain, and they had almost run out of dry food and water. If they couldn’t find anything before tomorrow, they had to go back, otherwise their lives would be in danger.
“Brother Qi.” The leader of the expedition stopped him and said, “Is it the wrong location? We’ve searched inside and out three times. Is it possible that it’s not here at all?”
Qi Han frowned, raised his head and drank the last bit of water in the bottle.
He was not sure if it was here, but this fishing village was the only clue he could find. If he couldn’t find it here, then he could do nothing else.
“Let’s search again for the last time, and if we don’t find it, return the same way.”
“Huh? Still searching?” The leader was reluctant, “It’s raining so hard. It takes a lot of effort to walk, let alone search the mountain.”
Qi Han didn’t force him either: “Search again, and the reward will be doubled. If you can find it, I will pay ten times more. Come if you are willing, and leave if you are unwilling.”
After he finished speaking, he turned and left. The people behind hesitated for two seconds, slapped their thighs and got up to follow.
The deeper they went into the mountain, the harder it was to walk. There was no road and the grass was overgrown. The people could only be tied to a rope and scrabble slowly.
Qi Han took the lead. A young boy behind him asked him for water but as soon as Qi Han turned around, his eyes caught something.
He was stunned for two seconds, and the boy was also stunned, “…President Qi?”
Then he saw Qi Han suddenly untie the rope and rush down towards a nook covered by weeds. His feet slipped, and he rolled straight down the dirty slope.
“Damn, President Qi has fallen! Quickly save him!”
The rest of the people were in a mess, picked up the shovels and quickly went down.
The first person to get to the bottom was the boy who asked for water. When he heard that there was no movement below, his heart hung in the air as he thought that Qi Han had had an accident.
But, as soon as he pushed the grass away, he saw Qi Han kneeling in the heavy rain, his hand raised to shield his eyes. In front of him, a yellowish-brown stone tablet was deeply sunk in the soil, buried in this unknown corner for many years, accompanied by weeds and beasts all day long.
Qi Han’s shoulders trembled, and suppressed choking sounds broke through the curtain of rain. The boy didn’t know if he was crying or laughing; he just saw Qi Han wipe the sludge on the stone tablet with his sleeve.
The moment a few mottled words were revealed in full, Qi Han lowered his eyes and kowtowed.
“I’m sorry I’m coming so late…”
As if the heavens had mercy, the torrential rain soon stopped and a rainbow rose from the brown clouds, hanging far above the mountain nook.
Qi Han organised people to start the repairs. Weeding, clearing the road and draining water, everything was done by him personally. After cleaning up and changing his clothes, he sat in the car and made the first call to Fu Ge in the past few days.
“Baby, I’ll send someone to pick up you and Ah Jue, okay?”
The person on the opposite side was puzzled: “What’s the matter?”
Qi Han looked at the sky, “I miss you.”
It was already evening when Fu Ge arrived with the child, but the rainbow had not yet dissipated.
The setting sun dispelled the clouds, the twilight glowed over the mountain, and the setting sun was like molten gold, like a good sign for the clouds to disappear and the rain to clear.
Qi Han led them slowly to the mountain nook, but kept his head down and didn’t say a word. The young Beta’s heart was like a drum, beating harder and harder the closer they got.
“Ah Han, what’s going on, is there something here?”
The man in front of him turned his head and looked at him for a long time, only to smile abruptly even though his reddened eyes were filled with watery mist.
“I don’t know… if you would like me to accompany you. So the last part of the road, gege must go by himself.”
Fu Ge froze, “What?”
Qi Han gently pushed him a step to the south, and the mountain nook hidden by the grass came into his view. With just one glance, Fu Ge felt as if all his blood was drained.
Between two hills illuminated by the setting sun, there was tall grass growing wildly to the sky, and a very small and simple tomb lay in the dense low fog.
The white stone tablet was polished brightly. It stood alone in front of the mound. The rainbow behind it retreated with the setting sun, and only three large, gnarled characters were engraved on the tombstone: Fu Qingnian.
The weeds were plucked out, the stagnant water was drained, the rain finally cleared, and the disaster stepped away.
The mountain nook that no one cared about finally had seen the light of the day. Fu Ge’s father had been waiting here alone for many, many years.
The little Beta trembled and knelt on the ground, calling out over the seventeen years of missed time: “Daddy…”
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