Chapter 44 – Not Everyone Can Become a Gentle Seme!

The curtains drawn over the windows made the room somewhat dim. Fei Xiangnan sat on the leather sofa, his hands clasped under his chin, his sharp gaze fixed on Que Jiang.

Que Jiang, shedding the relaxed demeanor he had outside, stood in a standard posture that concealed immense power. After a long moment, Que Jiang respectfully lowered his head. “Boss, regarding the Daylight Plan…”

“We’re not talking about that,” Fei Xiangnan interrupted directly. “You just finished a mission, so let’s not bring this up. Why is it so dark?” Fei Xiangnan stood up and pulled the curtains open. A beam of warm sunlight shone in, dispelling the gloom in the room.

“I closed them after finishing work yesterday. No wonder I felt uncomfortable just now.” The Fei Xiangnan who spoke now had lost his earlier authoritative air. As someone who had been with the boss since childhood, Que Jiang knew immediately what his boss wanted to talk about, and his posture relaxed as well.

“Have a seat. When we’re not talking business, we’re friends. Is tea okay?” Fei Xiangnan picked up the teapot and personally poured two cups of tea. Que Jiang bowed to express his thanks and sat down opposite his boss.

“I never thought you’d like this type of person,” Fei Xiangnan remarked with a sigh.

Que Jiang drank a sip of tea without changing his expression. “Simple is good. It’s tiring to live with so many things on your mind.”

Fei Xiangnan knew at once who Que Jiang was alluding to, but he wouldn’t say it out loud. “Indeed, simple is better. Are you sure?”

Que Jiang nodded without hesitation, then immediately left himself some leeway. “Of course, this is on the premise of the other party’s willingness. If he doesn’t want to, I won’t force it.”

Fei Xiangnan disagreed with this sentiment. How could one find a spouse if they maintained such a high-and-mighty attitude while pursuing them? “You’re wrong to say that. With your kind of passive thinking, I’m sure he’ll be unwilling.”

“I don’t think he seems very unwilling,” Que Jiang said with some confidence.

Fei Xiangnan gave him a look that said, “You’re too naive.” “Whether he’s willing or not isn’t the key issue. The key is how you should pursue him. I heard from Xiao Fang that he’s been working constantly these days. Can you say he isn’t avoiding you? The key is to take the initiative.”

Que Jiang was, after all, a blank slate when it came to romance. Coupled with his respect for his boss, Que Jiang cast a trusting gaze at him. “Boss, how do you think I should pursue him?”

Fei Xiangnan, who was also in his first relationship, suddenly stood up, brimming with the great trust his subordinate had placed in him. He began to share his experience. “Ahem, first, you must be gentle. Bring out one hundred percent of your gentleness, make him feel that he’s different from everyone else in your heart.”

Que Jiang silently stroked his chin and nodded in agreement.

“Secondly, be a bit more domineering emotionally. As a number one who is what he says he is, you must let your partner find a sense of security in your dominance, so that in the end, he truly can’t leave you,” Fei Xiangnan said with great confidence.

Que Jiang continued to nod, the admiration in his eyes growing thicker. The boss was truly the boss; he could even give him such beneficial advice on matters of love.

After their separate chats, the two groups sat together on the sofa again. This time, Que Jiang was in charge of cooking. Xiao Fang pulled Xiao Ma to the sofa to eat fruit, happily eating cherries one by one. Fei Xiangnan was peeling grapes for him on the side. Poor President Fei had always been the one being served, never the one serving. After peeling a few grapes, there were barely any complete pieces of flesh to be seen.

Xiao Fang watched, speechless. Before Fei Xiangnan could finish peeling the third grape, Xiao Fang snatched them away. His fair fingers twisted a few times, and several translucent little grapes emerged.

“Eat up,” Xiao Fang offered them to Fei Xiangnan.

Fei Xiangnan, who had wanted to pamper his wife, was suddenly a bit embarrassed. These damn grapes, why were their skins so hard to peel!

Grapes: Is it my fault?!

Even though Fei Xiangnan felt a little awkward inside, he still obediently reached out, picked one up, and tasted it.

“Is it good?”

Fei Xiangnan nodded honestly.

“If it’s good, then eat more.” Xiao Fang, whose feeding instincts had been aroused, picked one up and brought it to Fei Xiangnan’s lips. Fei Xiangnan subconsciously took a bite, his tongue accidentally brushing against Xiao Fang’s finger. Xiao Fang shivered and almost jerked his hand away.

Fei Xiangnan smiled triumphantly. “It’s sweet.”

Xiao Fang blushed and put the unpeeled grapes back in his hand. “Help yourself!”

“Mhm!” President Fei, having gotten his little treat, was no longer angry at all.

Xiao Ma, eating cherries on the side: … Aren’t cherries good? You only have to spit out the pit. Honestly, they’re finding new ways to show off their affection!!!

The single Xiao Ma finally made it to lunch, thinking he was liberated, but he didn’t expect this to be the beginning of the nightmare.

There was a dish of boiled fish on the table. Xiao Fang quite liked fish. Fei Xiangnan picked up a large piece and began to remove the bones. Finally, a complete, boneless piece of fish was placed in Xiao Fang’s bowl for feeding. Then, he gave Que Jiang a look.

Que Jiang immediately understood. His gaze shifted to another dish, scallion-flavored pork ribs. He used the serving chopsticks to remove the scallions from one of the pieces, bit by bit. Xiao Ma watched, stunned. Was he an idiot? If he didn’t like them, he could just put them in his own bowl and remove them. Why was he fiddling with the serving chopsticks here? It was so boring.

Things went just as Fei Xiangnan had imagined. Que Jiang picked up the scallion-free version and placed it accurately in Xiao Ma’s bowl.

“Eat up, there are no more scallions.” Que Jiang used a non-mainstream phrase he had just learned online while cooking. Fei Xiangnan remained expressionless.

The ones who were truly struck dumb were the other two. Xiao Fang couldn’t help but shiver. This move was a bit awkward!

Xiao Ma’s face was even more covered in dark lines, but he couldn’t throw away what was in his bowl. Basic table manners prevented him from flipping the table. He picked up his chopsticks and took a mouthful of scallions from the scallion-flavored pork rib bowl.

Que Jiang immediately stopped him, saying in an incredibly domineering tone, “You don’t need to force yourself. Just tell me what else you want to eat.”

Xiao Ma endured it for a round but finally couldn’t take it anymore. He recklessly put the scallions into his bowl, mixed them with the pork ribs, and then chewed them with relish. “You can eat it yourself. Who doesn’t eat the scallions in scallion-flavored pork ribs? If you don’t want to eat them, you can take your time dealing with them yourself. Don’t drag me into it. I’m not a picky eater.” As he spoke, he picked up another large piece of pork rib.

“Pfft!” Xiao Fang turned his head away, unable to hold it in.

Fei Xiangnan coughed lightly, pretending not to see Xiao Fang’s gaze, and kindly handed his wife a glass of water.

As for Xiao Ma, he gave Que Jiang a look as if he were caring for a mentally challenged child, showing absolutely no courtesy.

The picky-eater-slay, a complete failure!

After the four finished their meal, they went up to the rooftop to sunbathe. The wind on the rooftop was relatively cool, and Xiao Fang loved to sunbathe and sleep here.

Among the four of them, Xiao Fang was the one with the most topics of conversation, especially since he had another one in his belly.

Xiao Ma looked at Xiao Fang’s belly with great interest. “Brother Xiao, have you thought of a name for the baby?”

Xiao Fang sighed in frustration. “Not yet. This isn’t like picking a name for a drama. It’s for a child’s entire life, so the name should be chosen with caution. I’ve been looking through the dictionary lately. By the way, if you see any characters you like, you must send them to me!” Xiao Fang kept trying to form alliances.

Xiao Ma nodded excitedly, very willing to participate.

Seeing Xiao Ma’s interest in children, Que Jiang immediately learned to interject. “If you like children, we can adopt one later.”

Xiao Ma looked at him warily and dragged his chair several centimeters further away. “I’m a rather conventional person. I only like my own flesh and blood.”

Xiao Ma was definitely not a third gender. This statement was clearly aimed at Que Jiang. Que Jiang’s face stiffened; he’d been shot down twice. The gentle seme persona was nothing to Xiao Ma!

Fei Xiangnan covered his forehead with a helpless expression. He didn’t want this either.

The baby-slay, another utter failure!

In the end, a beaming Xiao Ma and a gloomy-faced Que Jiang bid farewell to the Fei family.

***

“Did you come by taxi? Do you want me to give you a ride back?” Que Jiang suggested after they got out of the elevator.

Xiao Ma knew that avoidance wasn’t a solution. He stopped outside the building. “I apologize for my previous actions, but I don’t want to be with you,” Xiao Ma said very seriously, with no hint of a joke.

Que Jiang’s expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he was constantly cursing his boss for the advice he’d given.

“What’s the reason?” This was the first time Que Jiang had ever backed down like this.

Xiao Ma immediately took out his phone from his pocket and showed it to him. The photo on the phone was of a pretty girl.

“Cute, right? She’s a Chinese teacher at a middle school in my hometown. My mom is planning to arrange a blind date for me when I go back this year. If it works out, we could get married next year.” Seeing Que Jiang’s expression gradually darken, Xiao Ma felt a little guilty. This wasn’t his girlfriend at all, but his cousin. However, to shatter Que Jiang’s hopes, he had to do it!

“I’m not suitable for you. Look at how capable you are. You can totally find a more outstanding partner, right? Uh, that’s all I have to say. I’m leaving now.” Seeing a taxi marked ‘available’ in his peripheral vision, Xiao Ma immediately hailed it, nimbly got in, and left Que Jiang with the emotionless rear of the car.

Que Jiang looked at the darkening sky, slowly took out his phone, and composed a sad message.

At this time, Fei Xiangnan was watching a parenting channel with Xiao Fang. Their idea was to learn the knowledge first, so they wouldn’t be left without time to learn after the baby was born.

“By the way, I still have to tell my maternal grandparents about the baby,” Xiao Fang said, counting on his fingers the relatives who were still willing to have contact with him. The original owner’s grandparents had cut off ties with Father Xiao after their daughter’s death. They would only allow Xiao Fang to visit during holidays. Later, when the original owner went through a rebellious phase, he never visited his grandparents again. The two elderly people couldn’t say much, but they still remembered to send their only grandson a red envelope every holiday.

“It’s up to you. Do you want to go see them?” Fei Xiangnan asked, skillfully massaging Xiao Fang’s lower back.

“Mmm, I haven’t been there since my rebellious phase. I need to find an excuse,” Xiao Fang thought, troubled. Just as Fei Xiangnan was about to help Xiao Fang think, a message notification came from his phone.

Que Jiang: Boss, the reason you managed to get Young Master Xiao is entirely because he pitied you…

“Hmph!” Fei Xiangnan snorted angrily. What utter nonsense! Xiao Fang’s willingness had everything to do with his efforts!

Xiao Fang curiously leaned over and happened to see it just as Fei Xiangnan was putting his phone away.

Since he saw it, he saw it. Fei Xiangnan’s thick skin made him not only not shy, but he even said righteously, “Que Jiang doesn’t understand our relationship at all. How could you have agreed just out of pity?”

Xiao Fang smiled. A free smile, a fake smile, a smile with dead eyes.

Fei Xiangnan grew anxious and grabbed Xiao Fang’s shoulders. “What do you mean? Are you really with me out of pity???”

Xiao Fang smiled. “Not at all.”

Credibility: zero!

Fei Xiangnan, exasperated, kissed Xiao Fang, the kind of kiss that wouldn’t stop until the credibility reached one hundred percent!!!