Ning Zhu went to work early in the morning, and Dou Changxiao wasn’t idle either. The moment Ning Zhu left, he headed straight back to the Dou family residence. He hailed a cab outside the hotel and sat in the back seat, clearing his head.

He cracked his knuckles, trying to figure out what Ning Zhu’s initiative meant.

But it was difficult. He found it hard to concentrate; just managing not to dwell on the scene from that morning was an achievement in itself.

Dou Changxiao hadn’t called ahead, so when he arrived at the Dou residence, he ran into a few elderly gentlemen practicing Tai Chi at the entrance. The one at the front of the group, with the most precise form, was Dou Linyuan.

After completing the “White Crane Spreads Its Wings” move, Dou Linyuan stepped forward and turned his head, catching sight of Dou Changxiao. His arm, raised halfway, dropped to wipe his eyes. After wiping them, he looked again. Only when Dou Changxiao called out “Grandpa” did he stand up straight, laugh in surprise, exchange a few words with the other old men, and walk over to him.

Grandfather and grandson spent the entire day together. Come evening, Dou Changxiao timed his departure from the Dou residence to coincide with Ning Zhu’s end of the workday.

Dou Linyuan found this timing quite baffling. His grandson had rushed back from North City on a weekday, only to leave just before the weekend. Coming and going in such a hurry—he had no idea what had gotten into him…

That evening, Dou Changxiao unpacked his luggage, some of which he intended to keep in the bedroom. Ning Zhu stood nearby, watching his movements.

Dou Changxiao couldn’t tell what was going through the other man’s mind, so he said, “I don’t have much stuff; it won’t take up much space.”

Ning Zhu: “…Just you alone takes up enough space.”

He watched Dou Changxiao bustle about and poured himself a glass of low-alcohol fruit wine, serving it in a tall glass. Sitting nearby, he idly twirled the glass in his right hand.

When Dou Changxiao turned around and saw his gesture, his gaze lingered on Ning Zhu’s right hand.

After being helped by him just once, it seemed like… I was done for. Dou Changxiao thought, even when someone simply holds a glass to drink water, I can’t help but think of that kind of place.

Ning Zhu’s slender fingers unconsciously brushed against the side of the glass; his nails glistened with a lustrous sheen under the light.

Dou Changxiao quickly averted his gaze.

After putting his things away, he took a shower in the bathroom, borrowed Ning Zhu’s hair dryer to dry his hair, and came out in his pajamas.

He’d been in there for quite a while; Ning Zhu didn’t know how many rounds of self-entertainment he’d already gone through. He was sitting at the small table looking at his tablet when he heard the bathroom door open. He turned his head and raised his hand to beckon Dou Changxiao over.

Dou Changxiao rarely saw the other person take such an initiative; his steps faltered for a moment before he quickly walked toward him.

As soon as he drew near, Ning Zhu felt himself enveloped by a warm, fragrant scent. He looked at Dou Changxiao’s freshly blow-dried hair, and his fingers began to itch.

Dou Changxiao didn’t notice. He picked up the necklace he’d placed on the table before his shower and put it on, wrapping both hands around his neck to fasten the clasp with practiced ease.

He was tall with long arms, and the muscles in his arms tensed slightly as he moved. The necklace was actually quite chunky, but it looked delicate in contrast to his physique. This contrast made Ning Zhu involuntarily glance at it a few more times.

Dou Changxiao pulled up a chair and sat down beside Ning Zhu, and the scent on his body became even more pronounced.

Ning Zhu got up to turn off the lights in the room, then played a horror movie on his tablet.

Normally, when he was alone, he didn’t have the nerve to watch this kind of movie, but this time he’d finally managed to drag someone along for moral support.

Dou Changxiao watched Ning Zhu’s eager demeanor, then glanced at the distinctly eerie color palette of the film on the tablet, and asked directly, “Are you really scared, Ning Zhu?”

Ning Zhu: “…”

He didn’t say a word, but turned up the volume a bit to show he wasn’t “scared in the least.”

Dou Changxiao leaned his shoulder against Ning Zhu’s. His chest rose and fell steadily. He felt as though this scene was somewhat familiar, yet he couldn’t quite place it.

After a moment, he felt the body pressed against his shoulder tremble slightly.

Dou Changxiao turned his head and saw Ning Zhu squinting in the darkness, a perfect illustration of the saying “the weaker the person, the greater the craving.” He reached over and turned down the volume on the tablet.

Just as Ning Zhu looked over at him, Dou Changxiao paused for a moment before saying, “…I’m a little scared.” Ning Zhu nodded understandingly, but snorted through his nose to express his disdain.

“…”

Ning Zhu hadn’t left his hotel room much at all for the entire two days of last weekend, and he’d planned to spend his entire month-long business trip in Haicheng that way. Unfortunately,

Dou Changxiao had completely thrown his plans into disarray.

He had given his weekend to Dou Changxiao. After pondering for a long time, the latter, wanting to accommodate Ning Zhu’s preferences, suggested, “Do you want to go to the card room?” 

Ning Zhu: “…”

Dou Changxiao observed his indescribable expression, then silently picked up his phone, booked two tickets for the amusement park, browsed the latest movie releases in theaters, selected seats, and finally made a reservation at a restaurant in Haicheng that he knew had the best food and atmosphere.

Dou Changxiao felt quite awkward doing all this. As far as he could recall, people had once criticized such plans as corny… but it seemed like Cheng Yang and Fang Huaixin always did exactly this when they went on dates.

A date… Dou Changxiao savored the word carefully.

The meaning of the word itself seemed to delight Dou Changxiao more than the activities it implied. After all, a sugar daddy and his sugar baby wouldn’t go on dates.

After buying the tickets, he glanced at Ning Zhu, who was staring down at his phone without offering any comment.

Dou Changxiao thought that if Ning Zhu knew he’d described their plans for tomorrow as a “date,” he probably wouldn’t be acting so docile right now.

However, the next day, these carefully laid plans fell through before they even began. A project at Qisheng had suddenly run into complications. After waking up and receiving the news, Ning Zhu joined a remote video conference with executives from headquarters who were working overtime over the weekend, followed by a flurry of phone calls to smooth things over.

Ning Zhu was forced to work overtime and didn’t finish until the afternoon.

Dou Changxiao didn’t show much emotion.

He was certainly a little disappointed, but since it happened so suddenly and wasn’t Ning Zhu’s fault, he didn’t make a big deal of it.

He calculated that, with all the projects, they’d probably only have time for a meal and half a movie. As Dou Changxiao was mentally calculating the time, he sensed a gaze on him. He looked up and found Ning Zhu staring at him.

Dou Changxiao said, “Are you done with work?”

Ning Zhu: “Yeah.” 

“Let’s go, then.”

Ning Zhu added, “Something came up at work. I didn’t mean to.”

Dou Changxiao glanced at him. “I know.”

Ning Zhu: “Ji Chi isn’t in Beicheng today either. His secretary said he’s on a flight and can’t be reached, so he had to come find me first.”

Dou Changxiao: “I know. You don’t need to explain so much.”

He stood up to put on his coat. As he was walking out, he heard Ning Zhu cough once and asked him, “Are you mad?”

Dou Changxiao: “……”

He wasn’t about to get upset over something so trivial.

Dou Changxiao turned his head, about to say “No,” but Ning Zhu grabbed his hand, gently massaging the knuckles of several fingers with the pads of his own.

Dou Changxiao looked down at his hand and said, “…Maybe a little.”

And so this mini-massage continued all the way from the room to the hotel lobby. It was simply too cold; Ning Zhu couldn’t take it anymore and finally let go, feeling that if the massage continued, both their hands would freeze to the point of disability.

He began to plan in his mind when he would make up for what they’d missed today. As he thought about it, he sighed, exasperated by these petty, nagging emotions.

Dou Changxiao had just hailed a cab when he heard the sigh. He turned to look at him, thinking the other might be getting impatient, and said, “I’m not angry anymore.”

His voice was a bit soft, and with the wind blowing outside, Ning Zhu had casually pulled the hood of his down jacket over his head after leaving the hotel. The thick goose down muffled Dou Changxiao’s faint voice so completely that Ning Zhu didn’t hear it.

The brim of the hood hid his brow, and Ning Zhu kept his head down, lost in thought.

A few minutes later, a taxi pulled up, slowing down as it pulled over to the curb.

Ning Zhu looked up to check the license plate, confirmed it was the car Dou Changxiao had called, and took a few steps forward. Then he turned back to look at Dou Changxiao’s face, trying to gauge whether his displeasure had subsided.

He studied him for a moment, but his mind seemed to have gone blank; he just couldn’t tell. So, he offered one last explanation for today’s unexpected turn of events: “Changxiao, I really can’t do it today…”

Dou Changxiao looked at him.

Ning Zhu: “The date—I’ll make it up to you another time.”

Just then, a taxi pulled up beside Ning Zhu.

Dou Changxiao said, “…A date.”

Ning Zhu gave him a puzzled look, then opened the back door and got in.

He waited in the car for a moment. Just as the driver began to think that the Alpha standing by the roadside wasn’t with Ning Zhu, Dou Changxiao finally caught up and got in, sitting down next to Ning Zhu.

A few seconds after the car started moving, he took Ning Zhu’s hand.