Chapter 45: Don’t Need Him to be My Boyfriend

Translated by Eve

Edited by Kara

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The auction had started right at ten.

Inside their private room, no one in their party of five appeared to be particularly interested in the auction. Xiao Ranyun seemed to have taken an interest in Xiao Yuanmu for some unknown reason and had been conversing with him all this time. Xiao Yuanmu, who rarely spoke or paid any attention to others, was unexpectedly gentle towards Xiao Ranyun.

Of course, no one but Song Xuanhe could perceive his gentleness. Xiao Shenglin even thought that it was rather impolite for his cousin to be pestering Xiao Yuanmu like this. This was because, although Xiao Yuanmu would reply to her, his answers all sounded very indifferent. His responses were short and efficient.

Xiao Ranyun could also tell that Xiao Yuanmu wasn’t one to talk a lot and that she shouldn’t be trying to chat with him so much. However, she didn’t know why, but ever since she had first exchanged words with him, she felt like she really wanted to get closer to him. There was something compelling her to chat with him more.

“Yuanmu gege, did anything catch your eye while you were looking through the items pamphlet?”

Xiao Yuanmu’s answer was very short and simple. “No.”

“I think that McPhail’s 30th anniversary cufflinks would suit you really well.” Xiao Ranyun’s eyes twinkled. Although she had only known him for about an hour, she already felt close to Xiao Yuanmu. “They would look really good on that white shirt you just changed out of.”

After the bar manager had transferred the funds, Xiao Yuanmu had gone upstairs to change clothes. Originally, he had been wearing a white shirt, but he had switched it out for a black one. The black shirt gave him a bit of a noble, willful air to him, disrupting his usual indifferent aura. However, Xiao Ranyun still thought that white suited Yuanmu gege better.

“Ranran.” Xiao Shenglin called out her name. Although his tone was gentle, there was also a hint of warning. “The auction is about to start. Don’t bother Mr. Xiao the whole time.”

Xiao Ranyun pouted. After spending some time with them, she had grown closer to Zhou Nan and even Song Xuanhe. Now, she spoke to them with a much more intimate and childishly innocent tone.

At this moment, she turned to Song Xuanhe. “Xuanhe gege, Yuanmu gege, am I bothering you guys?”

Song Xuanhe had been conversing with the System in his mind. When he suddenly heard Xiao Ranyun’s voice cut in, without even thinking about it, he simply said, “No. What’s wrong?”

Xiao Ranyun flashed Xiao Shenglin a smile, a bit pleased with herself.

Xiao Shenglin shook his head and didn’t bother with her again. He continued to flip through the pamphlet in his hands, searching for something that would catch his interest.

After having been interrupted by Xiao Ranyun, Song Xuanhe’s eyes drifted to Xiao Yuanmu incidentally while recalling the System’s words. He just so happened to meet with Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes like this, and the two of them froze for a moment. Song Xuanhe then looked away.

Song Xuanhe continued discussing the previous topic with the System after taking back his gaze. 【You’re sure that it had been that waiter who had tricked the original host into selling himself in the original plot?】

【Yes. In the book, he had only been vaguely mentioned once. After searching through the database with his data, I was able to ascertain that it was him.】

Song Xuanhe didn’t think this had been a coincidence. Although he didn’t know exactly what the bar manager did, there was no escaping from someone who had been in shady business for a long time. Furthermore, the original host’s ex seemed to like to gamble too. Now that he was in that manager’s hands, he probably wouldn’t be able to stir up any trouble in the future.

When he thought like this, he felt like he had profited from Xiao Yuanmu’s misfortune.

【But, this waiter had been instigated,】The System said.【If you can’t avoid being forced to do drugs, things might still develop in the same direction except with other people coming to make up for it.】

Song Xuanhe naturally knew that. Furthermore, he had already made preparations. If he died, he died, but he would never let himself fall so low as to be addicted to drugs and then sell himself to support said addiction. The culprit behind the drugs had been Lu Chao and his family. With Song Xuanhe’s work behind the scenes, the Lu Family had already faced countless setbacks time and time again so far. Their company’s performance had been on a steady decline. As for Zhou Rong, who was also a member of that complicated love triangle, Song Xuanhe also had plans for him.

Now that those two couldn’t incite trouble, and Song Guochao’s reputation and authority had both been destroyed, he wasn’t afraid of Xiao Yuanmu’s revenge anymore.

Furthermore, after spending time with Xiao Yuanmu, combined with what he knew from the book, Song Xuanhe felt like he understood Xiao Yuanmu to a certain extent. Xiao Yuanmu was indeed the type to take revenge for even the smallest grievances, but his methods were not dirty. Even in the book, even though the people Xiao Yuanmu had taken revenge on had gone bankrupt, he had never tormented them with sinister and vicious means. Therefore, there wasn’t anything to fear.

【I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.】Song Xuanhe’s eyes fell on the cufflinks on the screen. His attention shifted, and his tone became a lot more perfunctory：【What’s going to happen will happen.】

The auctioneer was enthusiastically introducing the pair of cufflinks on the screen. He spoke of the designer, the designer’s inspiration for the piece, and the story behind it. Words kept spilling out of his mouth, and it took about two or three minutes for him to finish.

However, Song Xuanhe didn’t listen to any of that. His gaze was fixed on the cufflinks, his eyes gradually lighting up. The camera had captured every single detail very clearly.

Song Xuanhe was a fashion designer. He was very interested in everything beautiful, including and not limited to jewels, buildings, cars, furniture designs, etc. He was also interested in scenery, calligraphy, paintings, and even video game design.

Amongst these interests, he was most diligent in researching jewels. There was no reason apart from the fact that, when his parents had been alive, regardless of whether it had been the holidays or their anniversary, his father would always gift his mother some kind of jewel. Unfortunately, with his mother’s profession, it hadn’t been convenient to wear them. Regardless, that hadn’t meant she hadn’t liked them.

When he had been really young though, he had also been affected. It could be said that, on some level, this early appreciation of jewellery design had been a big source of inspiration for his fashion designs.

This pair of cufflinks took his breath away. At the same time, they made him realize what the series of drawings he had made recently have been missing.

Jewels!

He knew what his designs needed. His clothes didn’t need to be inlaid with jewels. What they needed was a set of accessories to go with them.

Actually, a lot of luxury fashion brands didn’t just have clothing; they also had corresponding jewellery and leather accessories that were meant to be paired with their outfits. In his previous world, Song Xuanhe’s studio had just managed to establish himself. Therefore, he hadn’t thought that far. As such, since he wasn’t used to using accessories, Song Xuanhe hadn’t thought in this direction until now.

When he saw this pair of cufflinks, he had a sudden realization. His dejection from being dissatisfied with his designs all this time because he had felt like they had been missing something disappeared in that instant.

He hadn’t planned on manufacturing ready-to-wear clothing here. It was just that fashion design was the one thing he was most proud of. After having suddenly transmigrated into a different world, the only way he could give himself peace of mind, reminding himself that he was still himself and would eventually get to go back to his world, was to look at his designs on paper as they were the only thing that set him apart from the original host. However, when he had suddenly reached a bottleneck, a faint panic had emerged in his heart.

Now that he had broken through his bottleneck, the restlessness hidden in his heart over Xiao Yuanmu’s change had lessened a lot.

“The starting price is a hundred thousand. The bid increment is ten thousand.”

The price appeared on the screen. Song Xuanhe had been lost in his thoughts for a second, and the price of the cufflinks had already reached two hundred thousand.

Song Xuanhe promptly pressed down on the bid machine and directly raised it to three hundred thousand.

The people inside the private room were all startled at Song Xuanhe’s sudden action. When he had been looking through the pamphlet, he hadn’t seemed particularly interested in these cufflinks, but now, all of a sudden, he seemed determined to win them.

Unlike the others in the room, Xiao Ranyun’s eyes lit up. She turned to look at Xiao Yuanmu and blinked her eyes mischievously, a blatant smile on her face.

Xiao Shenglin and Zhou Nan also exchanged glances. They had also heard what Xiao Ranyun had said earlier. They just hadn’t expected for Song Xuanhe to bid on the cufflinks because of what Xiao Ranyun had said.

Zhou Nan had previously thought that things had been weird. In the past, when he saw Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu, although they hadn’t been all lovey-dovey like typical couples, there had still been an aura between them that didn’t allow anyone else to come in between. But the last few days, the interactions between Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu had left him at a loss.

Now that Song Xuanhe was recklessly spending money on Xiao Yuanmu, he felt reassured. In any case, it seemed like this fellow hadn’t been seduced by Wei Chen.

The price kept going up. When it had reached five hundred thousand, the bids started slowing down. Except for Song Xuanhe, everyone else seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before increasing the bid. After all, no matter how limited edition a pair of cufflinks were or how deep of a meaning they had, to put it bluntly, the designer hadn’t died yet, so it wasn’t like there wouldn’t be any more.

With these kinds of thoughts, the last contender finally gave up. In the end, Song Xuanhe had won the cufflinks at six hundred and twenty thousand yuan.

Zhou Nan smiled and raised his glass. “Not bad, ah, Song Er. Cheers.”

Song Xuanhe was in a really good mood since he had won the item he wanted and had had a breakthrough. He didn’t conceal his happiness at all and clinked his glass with Zhou Nan. His eyes were curved, the smile on his face bright. “Thanks.”

It was rare for Song Xuanhe to look so bright and carefree as of late. Seeing him like this now, Xiao Shenglin’s worry over the other’s occasional gloomy moods vanished. He also raised his glass. “Congratulations.”

Song Xuanhe clinked glasses with Xiao Shenglin, beaming. When he saw Xiao Ranyun raise her glass of juice, he also clinked glasses with her. For once, he didn’t forget Xiao Yuanmu either. He blinked and said, “Let’s clink glasses.”

Xiao Yuanmu took in the other’s jubilant expression and recalled the words Xiao Ranyun had said just now. The expression in the depths of his eyes were complicated, and his heart felt even more messy because of it. But even so, he couldn’t ignore the fact that happiness had emerged in his heart when he had seen Song Xuanhe bid so earnestly for that pair of cufflinks.

He suppressed the corner of his lips that wanted to curl upwards. His long, slender, fair fingers wrapped around the stem of his glass. His voice was quiet and light. “Thank you.”

Song Xuanhe’s attention was divided, half of it on the cufflinks that were about to be sent over. He didn’t hear Xiao Yuanmu’s words clearly and simply clinked glasses with the other when he saw him lift it. He then downed his drink and smiled before placing all his attention on the next item to be auctioned.

Xiao Yuanmu had originally been going to say something else, but the back of Song Xuanhe’s head had appeared in his line of sight before the words could come out. He didn’t know why, but his feelings became even more complicated. This was because he realized that he really wanted to turn Song Xuanhe’s head around and make him listen to him earnestly. He didn’t want the other’s attention to be on anything else. He wanted to see the other smile at him, to see him give that pair of cufflinks to him.

But in the end, Xiao Yuanmu only cast his cool gaze to the floor.

An auction where bigwigs gathered naturally would not be simple. The cufflinks Song Xuanhe had won were nothing but an appetizer to whet everyone’s appetite and get things warmed up. The items that would appear later were the real treasures people would fight over.

Song Xuanhe knew that this world’s history was more-or-less similar to that of his own world. Therefore, he knew that this place was the same as his country in his original world—there were many national treasures and antiques that had been lost abroad. He hadn’t expected that he would get to see such things at this auction.

Of course, Song Xuanhe could only look at something like these items. Not even Song Guochao would necessarily have the funds to afford such things.

Now that he thought about this, Song Xuanhe suddenly realized that he hadn’t seen his family since boarding the cruise. Just now, Sun Jinren had said that it had been his brother who had revealed Xiao Yuanmu’s identity. Therefore, Song Xuanhe wondered where they were.

The auction lasted two hours. Except for the items that had appeared in the first ten minutes, Song Xuanhe couldn’t afford anything after. Therefore, he lost interest.

Even so, he really was in a good mood. Therefore, he had drunk a few glasses of wine. When he had gotten a call from Guan Zhi, he had even happily told him their room number when the other had said he was bored on his own and wanted to come find him.

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Guan Zhi arrived really quickly. As he had claimed, he was indeed alone.

After walking into the room, he sat next to Song Xuanhe forgoing any and all courtesy. He complained, “This auction is so boring.”

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“Why are you alone?” Song Xuanhe was in a good mood, so he didn’t roast him. When he said this, he had even sounded a bit concerned.

Guan Zhi said, “I came to China alone. My family had assigned a few people to follow me, but I thought it was senseless, so I didn’t let them come along.”

“What about Wei Chen?” Song Xuanhe asked casually.

“I’m not close with him.” Not holding himself back at all, Guan Zhi grabbed a glass of wine from a bottle that had just been opened and took a sip. He cast a sidelong glance at Song Xuanhe and asked, “Did you call me over thinking that Wei Chen would be with me?”

Song Xuanhe didn’t know why the other was asking this. However, because he was in a good mood, he replied, “You’re the one who wanted to come. Why would you think that I thought Wei Chen was with you?”

Guan Zhi snorted. His tone was that of indifference, but there was a smile on his face. “I wouldn’t be with him. He wouldn’t come to something like this. Elections are around the corner, so he wouldn’t come to such a conspicuous place.”

Song Xuanhe knew that Guan Zhi and Wei Chen’s relationship wasn’t very good. But, he didn’t really care about their relationship, so he didn’t pursue the matter.

However, Guan Zhi was unhappy that Song Xuanhe didn’t speak.

Glass in hand, he knocked against Song Xuanhe, seemingly not on purpose. He looked for something to talk about. “Did you bid on anything? I just won a bid for a bottle and plan on gifting it to my grandfather for his birthday.”

“I won a pair of cufflinks.”

Just then, Zhou Nan interrupted. “Guan shao, I heard that Old Mister Wei doesn’t plan on doing anything big for his birthday. Do you know anything about it?”

Guan Zhi nodded and said flatly, “With the current political situation, it’s not appropriate to hold a big event. He’ll likely just do something at home.”

Zhou Nan then switched topics and began talking about fun things to do on the cruise. Guan Zhi was also really interested in that. In no time at all, their conversation picked up.

Song Xuanhe felt happy and relaxed. The wine on the cruise was of good quality, especially the ones in their room. Zhou Nan had spent a lot on them, and Song Xuanhe happily leeched off him, drinking happily.

In contrast, the moment Xiao Yuanmu had seen Guan Zhi walk in, he had furrowed his brows unobtrusively.

There were a lot of differences between this life and his last life. For example, he had been reborn earlier in the timeline; Song Xuanhe was different, and the people in his life had appeared earlier as well.

Xiao Yuanmu remembered that he was supposed to meet Guan Zhi for the first time five years from now. Five years later, Guan Zhi would have already come back from his postsecondary studies abroad. He would be pressured to work at his family’s company, and they would bump into each other for the first time at an industry wine reception.

He hadn’t expected Guan Zhi’s appearance to have been shifted so early in advance. From what he knew, Song Xuanhe and Guan Zhi didn’t have anything to do with each other in his last life. But from what he was looking at now, their relationship seemed pretty good.

He understood Guan Zhi. Or rather, he knew everyone the other frequently spent time with.

Guan Zhi seemed laid-back, but he was actually difficult to deal with. It could even be said that it was really hard to get on his good side.

At least, he had never seen Guan Zhi be genuinely close to another person. On this front, he was the same as his cousin, Wei Chen. They were both cold-hearted. Xiao Yuanmu had no idea why he had seemed to take an interest in Song Xuanhe.

Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes darkened. His gaze fell on Song Xuanhe, who was enjoying himself quietly. The other seemed to be in a good mood— Xiao Yuanmu could read from the other’s face. It was just that he didn’t know if the other’s happiness was because of those cufflinks or because of Guan Zhi’s arrival.

If it was the latter...Xiao Yuanmu narrowed his eyes. Just thinking about it left him in a bad mood.

Regardless of what their true relationship was, at least right now, he and Song Xuanhe were lovers on the surface. For Song Xuanhe to show any goodwill towards someone else before they had broken up was an insult towards him.

Xiao Yuanmu had been thinking about this when he saw Song Xuanhe stick out his tongue and lick the wine stain on the corner of his mouth. The other didn’t seem to notice the gazes of the people around him. He drank glass after glass, eyes narrowing whenever he took a sip. It was obvious that he was really enjoying the wine.

A bottle of wine had very quickly been emptied. Right now, Song Xuanhe felt a bit tipsy. He opened another nearby bottle of wine and poured himself another glass when he heard Xiao Ranyun say, “Xuanhe gege, you’ve drank a lot, ah.”

Song Xuanhe blinked, his eyes regaining a bit of clarity. His lips curled into a smile. “Gege’s tolerance is high. Don’t worry.”

Who knew if it had been because he was already drunk, but the corners of his eyes were slightly red. Right now, with his curled lips, the smile in his slightly raised arched eyes, and his indolent expression, he looked really seductive.

Xiao Ranyun’s relaxed face flushed when the other looked at her like this. She leaned back a bit and said to Xiao Shenglin quietly, “Is Xuanhe gege drunk? I feel like he’s a bit different than usual.”

When Xiao Shenglin had heard this, he looked at Song Xuanhe. Although the other looked similar to how he usually was, Xiao Shenglin was still a bit concerned. “Xuanhe, don’t drink so much. Be careful not to get drunk.”

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“It’s fine even if he ends up drunk.” Zhou Nan smiled mischievously. “It’s not like there’s no one to take him back. Yuanmu’s here. It’s fine if he drinks.”

After saying this, Zhou Nan gave Xiao Yuanmu a look. “Right?”

Xiao Yuanmu’s gaze shifted away from Song Xuanhe. He had originally planned on taking the glass of wine from Song Xuanhe, so as to save himself some trouble later. But when he saw Zhou Nan’s expression, he didn’t know why, but his hand dropped back down. He then nodded coolly.

Song Xuanhe wasn’t fully drunk yet. As he listened to their conversation, he smiled. “Ben shaoye has a good tolerance. There’s no way I’d get drunk that easily.”

Seeing that he looked sober, and his words sounded normal, the others stopped paying attention to him.

Only Xiao Yuanmu continued to watch him. As he saw Song Xuanhe’s flush deepen, his own eyes grew darker until they looked like a bottomless well.

At midnight, the auction had formally ended. The guests had left one after another. Song Xuanhe was also led back to their room by Xiao Yuanmu.

With the door shut, only moonlight filtered into their suite. Through the window, they could see the sea’s waves underneath the cruise’s lights.

Xiao Yuanmu didn’t go further into the suite. He simply stood at the door, his bottomless eyes fixed on Song Xuanhe.

Song Xuanhe quietly stood next to Xiao Yuanmu. When he saw the other looking at him, he rubbed his eyes and said, “I’m sleepy.”

However, the person in front of him didn’t speak. Xiao Yuanmu simply stared at him. It looked like there were clouds and mist spiralling within his eyes. He couldn’t tell what the other was feeling.

Song Xuanhe felt wronged, being ignored like this. He craned his neck to look at the bed inside. He really wanted to go over and sleep on it. But even if he wasn’t fully sober, his instincts told him that if he were to just do what he wanted and walk over there, something bad would happen.

“I want to sleep.” Song Xuanhe emphasized.

This time, the person who had been staring at him finally replied. The other’s voice was refreshing and quiet, a hint of a storm suppressed in his voice.

“Who am I?”

Song Xuanhe looked at the person in front of him, a bit puzzled. But, he still obediently replied, “Xiao Yuanmu.”

Xiao Yuanmu’s lips curved up. He chuckled. “I’m not ‘Daddy’ anymore?”

Song Xiao Shaoye, who was a little slow right now, furrowed his eyebrows slightly. He felt a bit angry, but he was also really, really tired. He couldn’t even be bothered to let out his temper. Therefore, although he wasn’t happy, he only frowned and glared at Xiao Yuanmu with a fierce expression.

But when Xiao Yuanmu was looked at by the other’s misty eyes like this, he felt his breath catch. Right then, a scene that had replayed countless times, regardless of whether he was awake or dreaming, suddenly appeared in his mind: Song Xuanhe sitting on his lap, trapped in his embrace. Meanwhile, Xiao Yuanmu was plundering his mouth without any scruples and listening to the other’s quiet pants and moans. And, Song Xuanhe was helpless and had no choice but to let the other deepen the kiss.

Song Xuanhe had drunk a lot of wine. He was sleepy and thirsty. Even so, being looked at by Xiao Yuanmu like this, he didn’t dare walk away. He could only gently lick his lower lip in an attempt to moisten his chapped lips.

But before he could retract his tongue, Xiao Yuanmu suddenly grabbed his chin and sucked it into his own mouth. The other man pried open Song Xuanhe’s lips and explored every bit of his mouth. He sucked on Song Xuanhe’s tongue until it hurt and made his breath unsteady.

Song Xuanhe subconsciously wanted to struggle. However, even if he hadn’t been drunk, he wasn’t a match for Xiao Yuanmu. Furthermore, as soon as he had raised his hands, Xiao Yuanmu’s free hand locked it behind his back. The other then turned him around and pushed him against the door, kissing him even more intensely and willfully.

Song Xuanhe tasted the same as Xiao Yuanmu had remembered. The kiss was even better than it had been in his dreams. No matter how much he kissed him, he still wanted more. He didn’t feel satisfied at all.

It was just that this wasn’t the time.

Xiao Yuanmu let go of Song Xuanhe slightly, but he still planted more soft kisses against the other’s lips, not allowing the other to escape. He saw the other’s reddened eyes as well as the other’s confused expression of complaint. The corner of his lips rose.

Even if he couldn’t figure out what Song Xuanhe’s motive was, Song Xuanhe having taken the initiative to chase after him first was a fact. Since that was the case, then Xiao Yuanmu had no reason to let go.

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The author has something to say:

Song Xuanhe: No, I didn’t, don’t spout nonsense, it wasn’t me!

Xiao Yuanmu: I caught you, so you’re mine.

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Eve: My sympathy fell a bit more for the waiter. Poor OG SXH, his ex was vile. And that kisssss

Kara: Ahhhhhh, this chapter was so cute!! SXH being so happy with his fashion design and Mumu wanting SXH to pay more attention to him has me flailing my arms like an octopus!! AND YES, THE KISSSSSSSS（๑✧∀✧๑）

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