Chapter 97: Ye Zeqian
Ye Zeqian knew Li Dong lived alone. He’d been to that apartment before—not too big, not too small, but not exactly homey either.
Still, it had its own kind of pull.
“Mm.” He said casually, “Now that I’m married, it doesn’t seem right to keep living with my parents.”
“Yeah?” Li Dong murmured. For him, living with family felt like a distant memory. He could hardly remember what it had been like to share space with his parents, those brief moments together, he wasn’t even sure if they were real or just an imagination.
Huh. Why was he suddenly questioning that?
“What kind of people are your parents?” Ye Zeqian asked softly, sneaking a look at the man beside him. His eyes were bright and dewy, uncharacteristically tender.
“Mm?” Li Dong was still half-dazed, then came back to himself after a while. “Oh, my parents? They were a power couple, both business elites.” He smiled faintly. “Their marriage started as a family alliance too, but they really loved each other.”
Since he’d already met Ye Zeqian’s parents, it was only fair to return the gesture. “I’ll make some arrangements this week and bring you to meet mine.”
At those words, warmth bloomed across Ye Zeqian’s chest.
Meeting each other’s parents, only then did the relationship feel solid.
“Then... do you think we have a good relationship?” he asked.
Li Dong’s earlier phrasing “also a marriage that began without love” had stuck in his head, making him uneasy.
Every time he saw how capable Li Dong was, that restlessness grew stronger.
Twenty-some years of pride, completely undone by one man.
“It’s... not bad,” Li Dong said honestly.
“…” Ye Zeqian’s lips twitched. That answer was somehow worse than no answer at all.
When they reached the apartment complex, Li Dong parked the car and nudged the sulking youth beside him with his foot. “Hey. Out.”
Ye Zeqian unbuckled, got out neatly, and stalked ahead, leaving Li Dong a view of his retreating back.
“You walking that fast, you got a key?” Li Dong called after him, blinking, then locked the car and jogged to catch up. “Wait up, General Manager Ye.”
In Li Dong’s mind, Ye Zeqian had plenty of good qualities, slender, soft, easy to coax, just with a hint of a young lady’s temper.
“F*ck—” Li Dong caught the elevator doors with one hand before they could close and slipped inside. The short sprint had left his hair mussed. “You’re just begging for a lesson,” he told him.
The youth rolled his eyes.
Li Dong ignored him, led the way to the door, and unlocked it.
“…” Ye Zeqian followed him in, his face sour. Was this how one treated their new spouse?
He hovered awkwardly in the entryway, debating whether to come in.
Leaving was impossible, he wasn’t going to be that childish again.
“Why’re you standing there?” Li Dong finally noticed or maybe he’d noticed long ago and just wanted to tease him.
“Nothing.” Ye Zeqian said stiffly, sitting down on the sofa and staying perfectly still.
“Tsk.” Li Dong leaned down, eyeing him up close. “Why do I feel like you’re mad all the time?”
Was every little shou this sensitive, this delicate, so easily swayed by every tiny mood shift?
Kind of pitiful, really.
“When have you ever seen me mad all the time?” Ye Zeqian said flatly.
“Then why does your face say ‘come coax me’ in big bold letters?” Li Dong grinned.
Flustered, Ye Zeqian grabbed a throw pillow and flung it at him. “Stop twisting my words! Who needs your coaxing?”
“You do,” Li Dong said.
He caught the pillow easily, then pulled Ye Zeqian up. When the latter resisted, he simply hoisted him onto his back.
“Xu Chaoyan, what are you doing?” Ye Zeqian’s cheeks burned. He was mortified, how had he ended up with someone who could read him this easily?
A bit useless, also a bit panicked.
He rubbed at his forehead. How had it come to this?
If he remembered right, Xu Chaoyan was a year younger than him.
Li Dong said, “You still asking what I’m doing? Honestly, General Manager Ye, you’re kind of putting on an act.” Then he pressed the “acting” general manager down and gave him a slow, reassuring kiss.
“…” Ye Zeqian didn’t know whether Li Dong’s shamelessness was a flaw or a calculated skill. All he knew was that when it came to action, Li Dong was always gentle.
Every kiss, every touch, all went through careful consideration. Not a bit would make him uncomfortable or averse.
Thinking that, his heart suddenly eased.
He leaned in closer, perfectly living up to his reputation as “soft-bodied, easy to push over.”
“Do you like me?” Li Dong murmured by his ear, teasing until his earlobe turned red.
Ye Zeqian shook his head. At this rate, his ear was going to get pregnant.
“You really are the definition of saying no but meaning yes.” Li Dong chuckled, and put every ounce of his practiced charm into this man, the lucky Ye Zeqian.
What kind of experience was this?
Ye Zeqian stared helplessly up at him, the only thought in his head: I’m doomed.
At 27, to only now know what it meant to die of pleasure, it was almost tragic. Recently he kept thinking, if this man had appeared earlier, how good that would be. Before he and Gao Zhen met.
For a perfectionist, that kind of thought was only natural.
In the original book’s storyline, love had never come willingly, only as a compromise.
Once something perfect is ruined, what’s left to hold on to?
Li Dong disliked that kind of resignation. From what he’d read, he hadn’t liked Ye Zeqian much at all.
Yet for some reason, even knowing he could’ve kept his distance in this world, he hadn’t.
“What’re you thinking about?” Ye Zeqian asked, leaning against him.
“Nothing big,” Li Dong said. “Just daily stuff. Like who’s cooking, who’s washing dishes, who’s doing laundry, who’s changing the sheets.”
Ye Zeqian blinked, caught off guard. That was not what he’d expected. “I thought you were a romantic.”
He reached for Li Dong’s hand, the one wearing their ring. The matching bands of white gold gleamed faintly in the dim light.
Li Dong thought, my kind of romance is cooking oil and clean sheets.
And honestly, every little shou who’d ever been with him had eaten it up.
“What’re you doing now?” Ye Zeqian asked.
“Work stuff.” Li Dong scrambled for his laptop, sitting cross-legged on the bed. “You think I can just skip work because I spent all afternoon with you?”
“Then log into my email too, help me check if there’s anything that needs replying.”
“Sure.” Li Dong took his password and opened it. As expected, there were plenty of unread messages. “You don’t mind if I look, right?”
The company logo Ye Real Estate, flashed across the screen, reminding him that this man was, after all, the heir to A City’s biggest real estate firm.
And yet he lived so simply. That was a good thing.
Ye Zeqian didn’t respond, just kicked him under the blanket.
“I’m working, don’t distract me.” Li Dong didn’t look up.
That image, bare-chested, typing in concentration, was sinfully good-looking. Ye Zeqian, sleepy as he was, couldn’t bring himself to close his eyes.
Twenty minutes later.
“Baby, you asleep?”
Only the sound of typing and soft breathing answered him.
Li Dong worked a bit longer, then shut his laptop, turned off the lights, and slipped under the covers.
That Friday night was the first night Ye Zeqian stayed over.
The next morning, over breakfast with his parents, he said, “Dad, Mom, I—”
“What’s wrong? Stammering?” Bai Xuan asked. “What’s going on with your wedding? It’s been ages and there’s still no news. When’s Chaoyan planning to bring you to meet his parents?”
Married this long and still no family meeting, how serious could the man really be?
“We’re arranging it,” Ye Zeqian sighed, a little annoyed at Li Dong himself.
Just then, his phone buzzed on the table.
“Zeqian, I’m downstairs,” Li Dong’s smooth voice came through. “It’s moving day. Did you tell your parents yet?”
At the sound of his voice, all Ye Zeqian’s irritation melted.
He answered sweetly, “I was just about to. Come up for breakfast, I’ll get the door.”
“Alright,” Li Dong said.
After hanging up, Ye Zeqian turned to his parents without hesitation. “Chaoyan’s here. I’m moving in with him today.”
Bai Xuan’s face didn’t change. “I suggest you wait until after the wedding.”
Father Ye nodded. “Marriage certificate or not, the other family’s of high status. Don’t make it look like you’re chasing him. People are watching.”
If it were an ordinary family, fine but the Xu and Ye families both had reputations to uphold.
Ye Zeqian knew they were right. He frowned. “I’ll go open the door.”
“Morning,” Li Dong greeted warmly, his gaze gentle as ever. “Having breakfast?”
Still in the doorway, Ye Zeqian said quietly, “About moving—”
“Your parents don’t agree?” Li Dong asked, already guessing.
“I think it’s better to wait till after the wedding,” Ye Zeqian said, taking the blame himself instead of shifting it.
“Oh, I see.” Li Dong nodded. “No rush then. I’ll come in and say hello first.”
When he wanted to, he could charm anyone.
He chatted easily with Ye Zeqian’s parents, polite but unpretentious.
And though he never mentioned moving, he naturally explained why the wedding preparations hadn’t started yet and made clear how seriously he took them.
By the time he left, both parents had realized they’d been completely won over.
After he was gone, the house felt empty. Ye Zeqian sat staring blankly, mind elsewhere.
Ye: You left me here.
Li: That’s your home.
He tossed his phone aside, his thoughts a blur.
Li Dong hadn’t meant anything by it, just his usual sharp tongue.
Didn’t you say you’d spend the weekend with your parents?
No reply.
Want me to make up an excuse and take you out?
Still no reply.
Li Dong called directly. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“I just don’t want to be stuck in-between anymore,” Ye Zeqian said.
“Hey,” Li Dong sighed softly. “Just hang in there a bit longer, alright? I’m right here with you.”
Still, he thought to himself, maybe that wedding date he’d chosen for next month should be moved up.
That might make things easier.
Author’s Note:
【Good morning, treasures. Manager Ye has one more chapter. New arc, brewing more.】
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