HL 24

Xu Nanxiao didn’t have a car, so on the day of the trip, Ying Yusheng came to pick him up.

Xu Nanxiao walked out of the neighborhood and saw Ying Yusheng leaning against his car from a distance, head down, replying to messages.

He was driving a Genesis G90—not exactly a luxury car, but more than enough to show he was financially comfortable. His outfit that day was especially well put together: fashionable yet understated, with great drape, complemented by a few accessories to keep it from looking too plain.

Ying Yusheng’s proportions were already model-tier, and with his impeccable fashion sense, quite a few passersby couldn’t help stealing glances at him.

Xu Nanxiao immediately felt an inexplicable surge of irritation. I just threw on a jacket and came out, and you’re dressed to the nines—doesn’t that make me look like a backdrop? There aren’t even any women around, so who are you preening for?

Just then, Ying Yusheng noticed his arrival. A smile instantly spread across his lips as he straightened up. “Nanxiao…”

Xu Nanxiao: “You trying to pick a fight?”

Ying Yusheng: “?”

Later, when Ying Yusheng learned that his “peacocking” had been interpreted by Xu Nanxiao as “showing off,” he could only offer a wry smile.

He was still wallowing in the futility of having flashed his charms at a blind audience when he heard Xu Nanxiao in the passenger seat ask, “Where exactly is this hot spring resort?”

The resort was located in the distant suburbs of Beijing. Winter had already set in, and it even snowed during the drive.

By the time they arrived, the entire resort lay quietly nestled among the mountains. Thick layers of white had accumulated on the gray roof tiles and bamboo leaves. The red lanterns under the eaves had been lit, their warm glow reflecting off the snow in soft, hazy patches of rosy light.

As the car slowly pulled through the resort’s entrance, attendants holding black umbrellas were already waiting on both sides. The moment the door opened, a warm voice greeted them: “You must be tired from the journey—here, have a cup of hot tea.”

A bellhop took their luggage, while Xu Nanxiao looked around with curious wonder.

Ying Yusheng watched him, acting like a little kid, and couldn’t help but smile. “You’ve never been to a place like this?”

“No. Not all of us are born with a silver spoon like you, Mr. Ying, who knows how to enjoy life.”

“Back in your heyday, this kind of money probably wouldn’t have even registered for you.”

To be fair, during his most glorious years, Xu Nanxiao had bought sports cars, owned racehorses, and had an entire wall of Bearbricks that were being flipped for tens of thousands each (all of which were now dead weight in his hands). But he had never been to a football match, never seen an art exhibition, never attended a symphony, never soaked in a hot spring…

Now, however, he was starting to glimpse a fraction of the appeal.

“It’s too quiet—not my style,” Xu Nanxiao said. “None of my friends are into this stuff either. If it weren’t for keeping you company, I wouldn’t have come on my own.”

Ying Yusheng paused.

He looked at Xu Nanxiao, who didn’t seem to realize he’d said anything particularly significant—he was just stating what he saw as fact.

So Ying Yusheng’s eyes curved. “Your first time is with me—what an honor.”

Xu Nanxiao choked, lightly kicked Ying Yusheng with his knee, and laughed as he cursed, “Cut that out.”

While Ying Yusheng was checking in, Xu Nanxiao waited nearby.

Suddenly, he noticed a cleaning lady staring intently at him. She hadn’t stopped mopping the floor, but her gaze never left Xu Nanxiao for a second.

What was even stranger was that Xu Nanxiao also found her face familiar, yet he couldn’t for the life of him remember where he’d seen her before.

He was still spacing out when he heard Ying Yusheng, room key in hand, say to him, “Alright, let’s drop off our luggage and head to the hot springs.”

Xu Nanxiao acknowledged him, but when he looked back, the cleaning lady had vanished.

The luxury hotel had few guests to begin with, and since winter had just begun, the two were lucky enough to have the place entirely to themselves.

As they sank into the hot spring water, they both let out a simultaneous sigh of contentment.

There was something uniquely enjoyable about soaking in a hot spring on a snowy day. A thin layer of steam hovered over the water’s surface, like a freshly opened steamer basket. Their shoulders, exposed to the cold wind, felt chilly, while the water below was so hot it made them tingle—a lazy, languid sensation that made them not want to move at all.

The stones along the pool’s edge were piled with white snow; occasionally, snowflakes would land on them, only to melt and sag inward soon after. The distant mountains were hazy, reduced to dark gray outlines.

Xu Nanxiao was enjoying the hot spring when he felt a gaze lingering on him.

He couldn’t help turning to Ying Yusheng. “What are you staring at?”

“Nothing…” Caught red-handed, Ying Yusheng smiled apologetically. “I was just thinking—no wonder you’re a pro athlete. Your body is really beautiful.”

“Look…” He suddenly reached out, squeezing Xu Nanxiao’s shoulder, then traced his hand down along his spine. “No flab, but not bulky either—lean and well-defined.”

Xu Nanxiao’s body tensed almost imperceptibly.

When Ying Yusheng’s warm fingertips landed on the side of his neck, it felt as if the skin there had been awakened by the touch. Every spot his fingers brushed over grew hot, clearly delineating the path they took.

Before Xu Nanxiao could speak, Ying Yusheng continued, “Can I touch your chest and abs?”

Xu Nanxiao: “…Don’t you have your own?”

“I want to see if they’re any different from mine.” Ying Yusheng’s eyes sparkled with amusement and innocence.

At the boxing club, it was perfectly normal for teammates to check each other’s training progress. The touch carried no ulterior meaning—just a hint of admiration and envy, which Xu Nanxiao actually quite enjoyed.

So after a moment’s hesitation, Xu Nanxiao said, “Go ahead.”

But the moment Ying Yusheng’s hands made contact, Xu Nanxiao felt that his touch was different from how his students and colleagues usually handled him.

Xu Nanxiao couldn’t quite put his finger on it. If he had to describe it, it felt a little… clingy?

“Your chest is huge—soft when you’re not flexing.”

“Were you born this big? Like a girl’s.”

Xu Nanxiao frowned. “You looking for a beating?”

“Haha, just joking. Your V-line is gorgeous too—how do you train for that? I’m so jealous.”

“Your waist is so slim—it looks like I could almost encircle it with both hands.”

The air gradually grew thick and sticky, carrying a silent tension that coiled in the space less than a fist’s width between them.

Ying Yusheng’s hands suddenly locked around the base of Xu Nanxiao’s chest, pushing upward little by little. It was too big; his fingers sank into the flesh.

The skin of Ying Yusheng’s hands was slightly darker than that of Xu Nanxiao’s chest, creating an oddly striking visual effect.

“Uh…”

It was strange. Even though this was Ying Yusheng’s first time touching him, Xu Nanxiao felt that the heat and pressure of those hands were strangely familiar. His body, having once known such pleasures, responded reflexively with craving—almost wanting to press itself against them, his mind going fuzzy and numb as if electrified.

His body, conditioned by years of boxing, was used to injury and pain, but it could hardly bear this soft, almost tracing caress.

Before Xu Nanxiao could even think, he had already shoved Ying Yusheng’s face away.

“That’s enough.”

Damn it. It’s been too long. How is it that just being touched makes my lower belly ache like this? Have I been so pent up that my brain’s gone haywire?

While Xu Nanxiao was still in a muddle, Ying Yusheng suddenly leaned close to his ear and whispered, “What’s wrong, Nanxiao? You scared me—don’t tell me I got you worked up just from touching you?”

Seeing Ying Yusheng’s mischievous expression, Xu Nanxiao finally realized the other was deliberately messing with him. He swung a punch, but Ying Yusheng dodged.

“Messing with me? No wonder it felt so off!”

“My technique was perfectly innocent—you’re just too sensitive because you’re used to being touched by that hooded man.”

“Fuck! Say that again and see what happens?!”

They wrestled and bickered for a good while before it suddenly dawned on them that someone else was nearby. They turned to see a little boy.

Xu Nanxiao’s face flushed crimson—he couldn’t tell if the kid had seen any of what just happened. He started stammering. Ying Yusheng, by contrast, was completely unruffled. He reached out and gently patted the child’s head. “Little one, where’s your dad?”

“My dad’s still eating. He’s too slow, so I came by myself first,” the boy said in a sweet, childish voice.

The child was clearly a pampered young master, about four or five years old, with a round, rosy-cheeked face that jiggled when he talked.

“Big brother, look—I brought my little duck.” The boy held up a rubber duck. “His name is Jimmy.”

Ying Yusheng asked, “Why is he named Jimmy?”

“Because my favorite cartoon’s main character is named Jimmy. Big brother, have you seen Jimmy’s Adventures?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“It’s so good! It’s about Jimmy getting sucked into a weird world while doing his homework. That world has talking dinosaurs, moving toys, and his friend Tom…”

The little boy was a chatterbox. Seeing that Ying Yusheng was patient with him, he stuck close and chattered on endlessly—from cartoons to school, from his family to his best friends.

There was no way to quietly soak like this, so Ying Yusheng and Xu Nanxiao decided to return the boy to his parents.

Along the way, the child kept firing off questions.

“Big brother, why does the hot spring smoke? Is the water boiling?”

“It’s not boiling. The hot spring water comes up from deep underground—it’s much warmer than the air, kind of like how you can see your breath in winter.”

“Then… why does the hot spring never run out? Is there a big ocean underground?”

“There’s heated rainwater and snowmelt down there. It’s like a giant kettle slowly boiling water underground, and new water keeps coming up.”

“Why does the hot spring water taste a little salty? Did someone secretly put salt in it?”

“When the water flows through rocks, it dissolves some minerals, so it tastes a bit salty—and it’s actually good for you.”

After more than a dozen questions in a row, the little boy finally fell quiet. He blinked his big eyes and suddenly said, “Big brother, are you a teacher?”

“How did you know?”

“You know so much—just like my dad. He’s a university professor too.”

“Smart kid.” Ying Yusheng smiled. “Big brother is a teacher.”

They arrived at the buffet restaurant and spotted the young couple who were clearly looking for their child. Ying Yusheng handed the boy over to his parents, who bowed in grateful thanks.

“Bye-bye, big brother! See you next time!” The boy made sure to get a promise from Ying Yusheng.

Ying Yusheng waved with a smile. “Yeah, let’s play again sometime.”

“Ready to head back for another soak?”

After the family of three walked away, Ying Yusheng turned to Xu Nanxiao—and found him still staring in the direction the boy had left. It wasn’t a casual glance, but something more like a physical grasping.

His pupils had contracted slightly, as if adjusting focus, trying to push the image further away or pull it closer.

Finally, Xu Nanxiao looked away. After a long silence, he suddenly said, “You’ll probably make a good father someday.”

“Won’t you?”

“No.” Xu Nanxiao turned his head aside. “I don’t like kids, and I won’t have any.”

But your eyes tell a different story.

Don’t you know what kind of look you had just now?

Unlike Ying Yusheng, who had no real feelings but pretended to have them, Xu Nanxiao seemed to constantly refuse to show his own emotions.

In psychology, this was called “intimacy shame syndrome”—usually because, as children, people’s emotional expressions were often ignored or even harshly punished, so they learned to suppress their feelings.

But Xu Nanxiao never talked about his past, so Ying Yusheng knew very little about him.

If only I could touch his vulnerable spots, he thought.

By offering targeted comfort, he could easily strengthen Xu Nanxiao’s trust in him, creating an irreplaceable dependence.

Fortunately, an opportunity soon presented itself.

On the second day of their retreat, Xu Nanxiao went skiing, played outdoor go-karts, and watched a circus performance. By the time evening rolled around, he was in a good mood, looking forward to dinner after the previous night’s lavish buffet.

He and Ying Yusheng were chatting casually as they walked toward the restaurant when they spotted a figure standing at the end of the corridor.

It was the cleaning lady from check-in.

Familiar, Xu Nanxiao thought. Really familiar. Where exactly have I seen her before?

Before he could figure it out, the woman suddenly charged at him, grabbing his arm. “Xu Nanxiao! Xu Nanxiao, is that you?!”

Xu Nanxiao flinched. “Who are you?!”

“I’m your Aunt Jiang! I lived next door when you were little—I used to chat with your mom all the time!”

Xu Nanxiao froze for a moment, his scalp prickling. He struggled violently. “What Aunt Jiang? You’ve got the wrong person—I don’t know you!”

Women who did manual labor were deceptively strong. Xu Nanxiao yanked his arm a few times but couldn’t break free.

“You don’t recognize me, but I sure recognize you!” Seeing Xu Nanxiao try to play dumb, Aunt Jiang’s temper flared. “You little brat, why haven’t you gone back to see your mother?! You’re here eating and drinking like a king, staying in a five-star hotel, while your mother’s back home eating scraps!”

“I told you, I don’t know you! Are you deaf?!”

“Why won’t you answer her calls?! Why haven’t you gone home in all these years?! She’s got no one but you! She cries every day!”

“I know your no-good father beat you when you were little! But did your mother ever hit you? She’s a poor soul too! Now that your father’s locked up, she’s all alone—why won’t you see her?!”

Ying Yusheng hadn’t expected to run into someone Xu Nanxiao knew here. By the time he snapped out of it, he quickly stepped between them, trying to mediate. “Auntie, let’s talk calmly—there must be some misunderstanding.”

Xu Nanxiao, unable to escape, decided to throw caution to the wind. “I’m just not going. What are you gonna do about it?”

Aunt Jiang had almost calmed down after Ying Yusheng’s intervention, but those words sent her into a raging tirade: “Bastard! Scum! Ungrateful wretch! Everyone, come see this! A man who abandoned his own mother to live it up! Come see!”

Fortunately, it was off-season, so there weren’t many people around. Her shouting didn’t attract passersby—it only brought the resort manager.

After hearing the whole story, the manager immediately reprimanded Aunt Jiang and ordered her not to appear before Xu Nanxiao again. Then the manager bowed repeatedly and apologized profusely. As a gesture of goodwill, he upgraded their meal to a private room with high-end course cuisine valued at 2,099 yuan.

Aunt Jiang stood to the side, forced to apologize, but her expression remained indignant as she glared venomously at Xu Nanxiao.

Xu Nanxiao had never been one to take any mistreatment lying down—he was fiercely retaliatory. But now, his lips trembled so violently he couldn’t speak.

Unwilling to engage further, he turned and walked away.