Chapter 16 – Stop Smoking It

After that, nothing else happened. After speaking, Xu Ji hung up the phone, and Li Ting didn’t look at him again.

Although Xu Ji didn’t expect to bump into Li Ting, he wasn’t very surprised to see him in places such as the club. At most, he was only a little surprised.

Li Ting on the other hand, his attention was drawn by Xu Ji as soon as he entered the door. First, he was stunned. Even though Xu Ji was in a tacky place full of makeup and perfume, everything from his walking posture, the way he looked at others, to his own temperament seemed like the clean and cold snow. People couldn’t help but stop and check him out.

The second emotion Li Ting felt was surprise, because in his impression, Xu Ji was an upright and traditional person who was honest, healthy, quiet, and disdainful of places like the club. Li Ting observed him for a long time, and Xu Ji indeed seemed out of place, always staying in the most remote corner.

Li Ting chuckled and said, “What kind of alpine flower¹used to describe someone who is exceptional and stands out from the rest, just like a beautiful and rare alpine flower that grows in high and harsh environments is this?”

Li Ting had a vague impression of the person next to Xu Ji, perhaps he was dragged along by that guy for some presence.

They were both adults, no one would take each other’s spur-of-the-moment provocation seriously.

When they were leaving, Xu Ji gave a stern warning to Chu Qi, saying, “If you mention me to those friends of yours again, you don’t need to come to work anymore.”

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Ubw Ck yzxspv pyzwvle kd alprsdpl.

Rd ydsvbla ollj, kv oswze cl Llo Zlya’p Ohl, yde Dw Kk clnyxl cwpkla yde cwpkla ewakdt vbkp rlakse. Gp vbl Llo Zlya yrrasynble, bl wpwyzzu oswzed’v vyjl sd ydu dlo rasflnvp, ps bl dllele vs qkdkpb yzz bkp osaj clqsal vbl lde sq vbl ulya.

Nk Mkdt nyzzle ewakdt vbkp cwpu rlakse, yde Dw Kk oyp y ckv ycpldv-xkdele. Mbl zypv vkxl vblu pyo lynb svbla pllxle vs cl yv vbl nzwc. Tl bye clld ps cwpu alnldvzu vbyv bl yzxspv qsatsv ycswv Nk Mkdt yde lhld qsatsv vbyv bl oyp yzalyeu xyaakle.

“Ps R dlle vs nsxl bsxl qsa ekddla okvb usw sd vbl 31pv?” Gqvla clkdt bsdlpv, Nk Mkdt’p hsknl clnyxl y ckv ellrla yde zlpp yavkqknkyz.

Dw Kk blze vbl rbsdl clvolld bkp lya yde pbswzela yde ypjle, “Zsw’al dsv tskdt cynj vs uswa ryaldvp’ rzynl?”

“Qs cynj?,” Nk Mkdt pdllale, “Ps vblu lhld byhl vbl xsse vs nlzlcayvl Llo Zlya?”

Dw Kk pyke, “Mbld xktbv yp olzz, ol’zz ts vs xu eye’p bswpl, R’zz plde usw vbl yeealpp zyvla.” Gduoyu, lhld kq bl eked’v zlv Nk Mkdt nsxl, bkp ryaldvp oswze qkde y oyu vs cakdt bkx shla. Rv’p clvvla vs fwpv yhske vbl vaswczl.

Gqvla Dw Kk kdqsaxle Ubld Nkyd sq vbkp dlop, pbl oyp hlau alzklhle yde pyke, “Rv pllxp vbyv uswa alzyvksdpbkr byp kxrashle.”

Xu Ji responded with a perfunctory “Mn.”

On New Year’s Eve, as a result of wrapping up his work, Xu Ji came home late. Xu Chengyue called him multiple times to urge him to come back, with a call every ten minutes or so, “The food is all ready! The whole family is waiting for you, do you have no conscience?”

Xu Ji didn’t retort and just let him say what he wanted.

Their family’s dinner time was around 7 pm, and it was still half past six. When the fourth phone call came, Xu Ji was annoyed and said, “Dad, you’re distracting me while I’m driving. Aren’t you afraid of me getting into an accident?”

Xu Chengyue had a strong reaction and scolded him before hanging up and didn’t call again.

G City people are especially superstitious, especially since it was New Year’s Eve. Xu Ji looked at the red traffic light in front of him, and after a moment, without any expression on his face, he spat out a “pah” sound²spitting is like knocking on wood.

Li Ting had already arrived and was preparing dinner in the kitchen with Chen Lian. When he heard the sound of the key opening the door, he turned around and met Xu Ji’s eyes, a smile immediately blossomed on his face.

Xu Ji’s steps hesitated for a moment because of the smile.

Li Ting, wearing a white apron, approached Xu Ji quickly after wiping his hands clean. He said gently, “You’re back.”

Putting up an act again? Xu Ji answered, “Mn.”

He thought Li Ting would go back after the greeting, but the next second, Li Ting reached out his hand to him. Those slender and fair fingers accurately touched his collar, as if he wanted to help him take off his coat.

Xu Ji furrowed his brows and without thinking, he grabbed the other’s wrist, “Don’t touch…”

The movement of leaning in by Li Ting made him stop his words abruptly, and the distance between them was so close that only Li Ting’s hand was in the way. His long hair flowed over the back of his hand, and Xu Ji could smell the floral scent of shampoo on him.

Li Ting tilted his head, getting close to Xu Ji’s ear and whispered, “Your parents are watching. Help me out, will you? I haven’t completely taken over the company yet. It’ll be bad if they sense something wrong and mention it to my parents, it’ll lead to suspicion.”

Which made a lot of sense. Xu Ji pushed away Li Ting’s hand and took a step back. “If I obediently let you help me, then my parents will actually become suspicious.”

Li Ting raised his hand, still smiling, “Ah, really.”

Xu Ji passed him and went inside.

Chen Lian said, “Go wash your hands first, just two more dishes and we can start the meal.”

Xu Ji let out an “Mn.”, he knew his father too well. His father is the type that would often say he’s already getting off the highway, but hadn’t even left the house yet.

After washing his hands, Xu Ji thought for a moment and chose to sit on the sofa in the living room.

Xu Chengyue was sitting on the other side, reading the newspaper, he asked, “When will you come to the company?”

Xu Ji replied, “I don’t have the plans to do so yet. I’ve been very busy recently.”

Xu Chengyue put down the newspaper and said, “You think I don’t know? From Chinese New Year to February, your little company couldn’t get any projects at all.”

“It’s not that I couldn’t get a project,” Xu Ji said lightly. “It’s that I didn’t accept any.”

Xu Chengyue, “So you are free for two months.”

Xu Ji, “…”

Xu Ji said seriously, “Dad, I told you before, I have no intention of going to the company, and I know nothing about that field.”

Xu Chengyue was furious, “Then why did you choose to study that media major in the first place?”

The conversation went back to the topic they argued about since the very beginning, and Xu Ji fell silent, not wanting to answer anymore.

“Then you tell me, who should I give my hard-earned industry to?!” Xu Chengyue roared at him.

The house was very quiet, so quiet that the two in the kitchen could hear the argument. Li Ting turned his head to the side, his face showing a worried expression.

Chen Lian said, “It’s okay, those two always argue, it’ll be fine later.”

Xu Ji raised his eyelids and said, “You‘re only 51.”

“What’s wrong with 51?” Xu Chengyue glared at him. “You think I’m immortal?”

“He actually remembers his dad’s age,” Chen Lian expressed her surprise. Seeing the tense and oppressive atmosphere in the living room, she quickly intervened to mediate, “Alright, alright, let’s eat! It’s New Year’s Eve, let’s stay positive. We can discuss this stuff later.”

When Xu Ji heard this, he stood up and went to the kitchen to help serve the rice.

After the little episode earlier, the atmosphere at the dining table remained a bit tense. Chen Lian took out a bottle of Remy Martin from the liquor cabinet and said, “Alright, it’s a special night, I’ll allow you guys to drink.”

Xu Chengyue’s eyes were fierce, but he still reached for the cognac. He first poured some for Chen Lian, then filled Li Ting’s glass, and finally placed it heavily on the table.

The only one he did not pour a drink for was his own son.

The XO-level Remy Martin cognac wasn’t something someone like Xu Ji would miss out on, he calmly filled up his own glass.

Li Tin glanced at the expression on Xu Chengyue’s face and said cautiously, “Um… Uncle, I don’t know how to drink.”

Xu Ji wouldn’t care about the etiquette of letting the elders drink first. He glanced at Li Ting and thought to himself, let’s see you keep pretending.

Xu Chengyue said, “How can a man not know how to drink? You’ll learn after trying!”

Li Ting’s face showed a look of difficulty. He picked up the cup and imitated Xu Ji’s appearance, taking a sip. The next second, a shocking cough erupted, “Cough cough! Cough cough! Cough cough cough!”

Xu Chengyue and Chen Lian were both startled by the sudden outburst. On the other hand, Xu Ji was sure that Li Ting would do something unexpected, so he was mentally prepared.

After all, how could a well-behaved child like him know how to drink? He had to maintain his good image in front of his elders after all.

Xu Ji drank while enjoying the good play, but it seemed that Li Ting was really choked. He bowed his head and coughed heavily.

Sitting across from them, the Xu parents may not be able to see it, but Xu Ji sitting next to him saw it clearly. With tightly closed eyes, glistening tears formed at the corner as his lips quivered with a crystal-clear shine. Not only were the corners of his eyes reddened, but even his face and neck were flushed, looking fragile yet uncomfortable.

The coughing continued for a while. Xu Ji knew that this was a strong cognac, pungent in the throat, but he didn’t expect such a reaction from Li Ting. What does he do at the club then? Drink juice?

Chen Lian stood up and went to pat Li Ting on the back.

Xu Ji suddenly remembered the liquor spill from last time, Li Ting said on the phone that he didn’t know what Louis XIII was, and he indeed never saw him drinking at the club.

He really doesn’t know how to drink…?

In the end, the coughing even turned into dry heaves, Li Ting’s face turned lobster pink in comparison to Xu Ji right beside him.

He wiped his face and cleared his throat, “…I’m sorry.”

Xu Chengyue and Chen Lian didn’t dare to let him drink anymore, and instead replaced the liquor with coconut juice.

After dinner, Chen Lian crouched in front of the TV to watch the New Year’s Eve gala.

Xu Chengyue and Xu Ji never cared for such things. The latter was summoned to the garden by the former, and it seemed that they were going to continue their conversation from before dinner.

Meanwhile, Li Ting thoughtfully sliced up some fruit and Chen Lian asked him to take it to the garden.

Not hearing the expected arguments, Li Ting saw Xu Ji relaxing his body, propping his elbows on the railing, and holding a cigarette between his fingertips. The white smoke slowly rose and drifted into the black night.

He took off his jacket, and his shirt was tucked into his black pants, revealing his tall and slender figure as well as his firm and smooth body lines.

The father and son were actually talking calmly, although only a few words were exchanged occasionally.

With a slight tilt of his head, Xu Ji exhaled a puff of smoke, his handsome face shrouded in a soft mist. He was the first to notice Li Ting, and the moment he turned to look, Li Ting unconsciously tightened his lips.

Xu Ji slowly stood up. Seeing that Li Ting was holding a fruit platter, he walked over and took it from him.

Li Ting caught a whiff of the faint tobacco smell on Xu Ji and revealed a gentle smile, “Then I’ll go back first.”

But Xu Chengyue called out to him, “Li Ting, we’re discussing whether to have a wedding ceremony or not. What do you think?”

Xu Ji, “I rejected it.”

Li Ting naturally didn’t want one either, but he glanced at his husband and smiled lightly, “I’m fine with anything.”

Xu Ji definitely won’t agree to it anyway.

Of course Xu Ji knew what he was thinking and immediately snorted.

Xu Chengyue handed over a cigarette and said, “Come, let the three of us chat.”

Li Ting looked at the cigarette, hesitating, “Uncle, actually, I don’t really know how to smoke…”

Xu Chengyue remembers clearly the miserable sight of Li Ting drinking, and was about to take back the cigarette, but two slender and powerful fingers had already taken it away.

Xu Ji raised an eyebrow, “Can’t you learn?”

Since his husband had already spoken up, how could Li Ting refuse? He glanced at Xu Chengyue, then at the well-defined fingers in front of him, feeling awkward as he took the cigarette and said, “Then I’ll give it a try.”

Xu Ji watched as Li Ting pinched the cigarette between his thumb and index finger of his left hand, and held a lighter in his right, lighting the end of the cigarette like he was lighting a mosquito repellent coil before hesitantly putting it in his mouth.

Xu Ji calmly and leisurely watched him.

Li Ting tried to take a puff. Then Xu Ji saw the smoke coming out of his nostrils, like a dragon breathing fire.

“Wu- cough cough! Cough… cough cough cough!” Li Ting covered his mouth in pain and bent down.

Xu Ji has no expression. This really does look like someone’s first time smoking?

Since it’s hard for someone who already knows how to smoke to simulate the dumb look of trying it for the first time. After all, their brain and body have already learned.

Unlike drinking, smoking does not cause severe coughing, so after coughing for a while, Li Ting recovered to normal. He held the cigarette in a comical way and seemed to want to try again.

The next second, Xu Ji’s hand suddenly enlarged in his vision. He took the cigarette away and pressed it accurately into the ashtray, saying, “Stop smoking it.”