CH 160

March 31, 2023Merchie

“Don’t ignore me…”

Qi Changyi could tell that it was Pei Zheng’s voice, and he trembled involuntarily. He retracted his arm and was about to extricate himself from the other’s embrace.

However, Pei Zheng suddenly hugged him even tighter, and stood upright, swaying as he took a few steps backward.

Behind them was a table. Pei Zheng leaned against it and steadied himself.

“You’re angry at me, aren’t you… I wasn’t really going to hurt Zhao Litang, I only said those things to make him mad, sweetheart… darling, don’t be angry, don’t push me away-“

Pei Zheng spoke extremely slowly, his tone deep. His voice was also a bit hoarse. With every sentence, he planted a kiss on the small man’s neck, his thin lips pressing and brushing against his skin, which made that patch of white grow soft and tender.

Qi Changyi’s eyes grew wet in an instant.

Earlier, when he saw Pei Zheng’s sword flying toward Zhao Litang, he noticed an unfamiliar, ruthless killing intent in Pei Zheng’s eyes. He truly had been terrified that Pei Zheng would stab Zhao Litang.

But he did not want anything to happen to either of them, so, without worrying about himself, he bravely ran over.

However, he still did not want to face Pei Zheng.

But now, the drunk Pei Zheng in front of him was so gentle, and seemed so fragile, hugging and him and telling him not to ignore him, not to be angry at him, and not to push him away.

The small man really could not bear to push him away.

What could he do? He had no control over this heart of his.

He could only begin to cry from sadness and misery.

Qi Changyi retracted his arm, and did not try to push Pei Zheng away again. Instead, he gripped the lapel over Pei Zheng’s chest and began to sob quietly.

These cries were faint and muffled; he resembled an injured little animal who had finally found its owner, licking his wounds in aggrievement, surrounded by his owner’s embrace.

Pei Zheng also heard the sobs of the person in his arms. Only then did his grip loosen slightly. The small man’s head had been lowered this whole time, and he could not see the little prince’s expression, so Pei Zheng tilted his chin up with his finger, forcing him to lift his head.

Even though he had raised his head, the small man who was still sobbing softly. In an instant, he felt even more aggrieved; the ends of his eyes were slightly drooped as he looked up, his long lashes dewy, his cheeks covered in tear tracks.

“Darling, don’t cry anymore, please? I was wrong, it was all my fault…”

Pei Zheng lowered his head and kissed the small man’s teary eyes. The tip of his tongue gently brushed over those tears, “Whenever you cry, it feels like my heart is about to break.”

The small man choked a few times, before he finally spoke.

“It’s all your fault, everything is your fault, I hate you, I hate you so much, I hate you-“

Pei Zheng wiped away his tears and he touched the tip of his nose to the small man’s, his fingers stroking his chin.

“That’s right, it’s all my fault. But you can’t hate me.”

“Wh… why can’t I? You’re always bullying me, Tang-gege… has never bullied me. He treats me very well-“

“Zhao Litang?”

Pei Zheng’s tone suddenly turned frigid. He really could not stand listening to the small man mention anything about Zhao Litang. The moment he heard something about him, he would become so jealous that he was about to go crazy.

He unconsciously lifted his finger, forcing the small man to raise his chin, his lips opening up slightly.

“He treats you well, so you like him now? Do you just start liking whoever treats you well? Is it that easy?”

Although Qi Changyi’s chin was being squeezed, he did not feel any pain. The only issue was that he was too close to Pei Zheng, and the smell of alcohol was extremely pungent.

“I-I…”

Qi Changyi’s vision blurred. He had never said that he liked Tang-gege. Pei Zheng had always been the only one that he had ever confessed to.

But the moment he had mentioned Zhao Litang, Pei Zheng’s aura froze.

“Do you like him? Do you love him?”

Pei Zheng’s eyes reddened.

The little prince in front of him merely lifted his teary eyes to look at him. He bit his lip and did not reply, a stubborn persistence in his gaze.

“If you’re not going to say it, I’ll say it for you. The one you like is me, the one you love is also me. It can only be me. If you ever dare to love anyone else-“

Pei Zheng leaned down toward the small man’s lips, placing a kiss upon them.

“I’ll kill him.”

Then, his thin lips completely covered the other’s mouth. Jostling with each other, biting and sucking. Only when the pair’s mouths were full of the taste of alcohol and blood did the kiss gradually calm down.

Pei Zheng let go of the person in his arms and wiped the blood away from the corners of the other’s lips, before he licked his own mouth.

This taste of blood was coming from his own mouth. This sharp-toothed little prince had learned a few skills; just now, he had actually bitten the tip of his tongue quite fiercely.

But Pei Zheng was not angry. After he was bitten, he sobered up quite a bit.

He smiled. In any event, right now, this little prince had still returned to his embrace.

Qi Changyi’s breathing had become disordered due to the fierce kiss. He gripped the robe over Pei Zheng’s waist, sucking in rushed, panting breaths.

Before he could calm his breathing, his body was suddenly lifted by the waist, his feet leaving the ground. His body was turned around, before he was placed upon a nearby table.

Pei Zheng saw his bare feet stepping on the freezing ground, fair and small and smooth as jade. He bent over, reached out, and gripped that pair of little feet.

Qi Changyi’s feet were ice-cold. After suddenly being grabbed by a pair of hands, he subconsciously tried to shrink away, but he was grabbed and pulled back.

“Are you cold?”

Qi Changyi was unable to struggle away, so he lowered his head and did not speak.

The sole of the foot was suddenly scratched lightly. The itchiness was unbearable, yet those fingers still refused to let him go, gripping his instep and tracing circles over it.

Qi Changyi’s face was so red that it was about to start dripping blood. He could only respond obediently, “I-I’m not cold.”

“You’re not cold?”

Pei Zheng pinched that cute, curled up toe. The corners of his lips hooked upward, “You’re not cold. Then why are your feet so cold? Huh?

Qi Changyi muttered softly, “I’m cold.”

Only then did Pei Zheng stand up. After he stood upright, he was quite a bit taller than the small man sitting on the table, and completely masked the other’s figure.

The moon shone over Pei Zheng’s face. At this moment, Qi Changyi happened to lift his head to look at him, and he noticed a small wound on his face.

It was probably from earlier.

Earlier, Qi Changyi had only been worried about helping Zhao Litang up, so he had not even noticed if Pei Zheng had been injured as well.

He reached up and gently touched that wound. Qi Changyi did not even realize how much heartache there was in his gaze.

Although the injury was on his face, Pei Zheng did not regard the little wound as a problem.

However, now that the small man had noticed it, it was a different story.

“D-does it still hurt?”

Pei Zheng gripped that small hand and pressed it against his own face, before he frowned, “It hurts, it hurts a lot, it hurts so much that I could die.”

“Liar. It’s such a small wound, it wouldn’t-“

Qi Changyi’s tone carried a note of reproach, “In the future, you can’t fight with anyone anymore. You can’t randomly hit people and kill people either.”

“He made the first move. If I didn’t fight back, you might have never been able to see me again-“

Qi Changyi covered his mouth, “Tsk, tsk, tsk, you can’t say things like that. It’s inauspicious.”

The corners of Pei Zheng’s eyes curved. The little prince was so worried about him, yet he still said that he hated him. It was clear that he liked him quite a lot.

He placed a peck on that little palm, and the small man suddenly jerked his hand away as if he had been scalded.

“Then… then this time, Tang-gege was in the wrong. He shouldn’t have tried to beat you up, it was his fault-“

Before he could finish speaking, the small man was lifted up bridal-style, and was carried toward the bed.

He immediately became alert, clutching his own collar, stuttering as he said, “Wh-what are you doing, why do we have to get on the bed-“

Pei Zheng had already carried him to the side of the bed. After placing him on the soft quilt, he reached up and began to untie his own robe as though it were only natural for him to do so.

“It’s the middle of the night, what else can we do?”

He smiled, “Take a guess, darling.”

Qi Changyi immediately shrank beneath the quilt and wrapped himself up tightly; it was as though he thought that this way, no one would be able to enter his blanket cocoon.

“I-I don’t know, no, I-I just woke up, so I’m weak, I can’t do anything, I-I’ll faint-“

Pei Zheng had already taken off his outer robe. After he heard these words, he could not help but begin to chuckle.

This small man, trembling underneath a quilt, resembled a little rabbit that was about to be eaten right up; he really was too adorable.

Pei Zheng also got on the bed, and easily pulled the quilt aside, before he reached out and hugged that slender waist, encircling the small man in his embrace.

“What were you thinking? Hm? You really know a lot.”

Qi Changyi’s cheeks were so red that they were about to drip blood. His limbs were restrained, so he had no way to escape; he was so anxious that his eyes had reddened.

“I-I don’t want to-“

Seeing that the tears he had tried to hard to control were now about to fall again, Pei Zheng’s heart ached, and he quickly let go of him.

“We won’t do anything. Darling, don’t be scared, don’t cry.”

The moment Qi Changyi regained his freedom, he shrank back in fear, and was clutching his stomach as well; it seemed like he was afraid of someone injuring that area.

Pei Zheng saw what he was doing, and a piercing pain suddenly stabbed his heart.

“M-my stomach hurts…”

Qi Changyi held his stomach and curled up beneath the quilt, “It hurts so much…”

Pei Zheng leaned over and tucked the quilt in, before he hugged the small man, their bodies separated by the blanket.

“I’ll hug you and it won’t hurt anymore, okay? Darling-“

“No, no, my baby is gone, it’s not okay, I’ll never be okay again-“

“That won’t happen.”

Pei Zheng reached into the blanket. After he made sure that the small man would not resist, he gently placed his hand on his stomach, and said in a tone filled with tenderness:

“You’ll be okay. The baby isn’t gone either. He just… turned into a star. He’s up in the sky looking at you, looking at us. Once he’s done playing, he’ll come back, you understand?”

“Really?” The small man beneath the quilt popped out his little head. He wiped his tears, half in disbelief, “Just like Mother, he’s turned into a star?”

“That’s right. Do you want to see him?”

The small man thought hard, “Can I see him? W-will he like me? What if he doesn’t like me, and he doesn’t want to come back…”

Pei Zheng kissed his hair, “He’ll like you. He’ll like you a lot, just like I do.”

Then, Pei Zheng lifted the small man off the bed and draped his outer robe over his own shoulders, before he tightly wrapped the small man in the thick quilt again.

He carried him to the window of the tent and lifted the thick curtain. The silvery moonlight and a sky full of stars appeared in front of them.

“There are so many stars, which one is my baby?”

The small man pouted in aggrievement.

“He’s that one, do you see it?” Pei Zheng pointed at the biggest, brightest star.

“That’s our baby. He said he likes us, and says that he will return to us very soon.”

The small man stared fixedly at that star, “Then tell him… I miss him, and that I want him to come back quickly.”

Pei Zheng gazed at the small man’s bright, clear face, “All right, I will.”

Notes

I’m just, I’M LITERALLY SPEECHLESS HOW WAS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE A SWEET MOMENT YOU JUST PULLED THE SCUMMY POSSESSIVE GONG MOVE ARGHHHHHHH

ALSO, I have an issue with how quickly he accepted the fact that he was once pregnant. I just… surely… he doesn’t know he’s in an ABO novel? AND THIS MAKES IT SOUND LIKE PEI ZHENG IS GOING TO GET COMPLETELY FORGIVEN JUST BECAUSE HE SAID “OUR BABY IS A STAR IN THE SKY”, COME ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER SHIT

WHAT ABOUT THE FACT THAT HE’S A COMPLETE ASSHOLEEEEEEE

CAN WE JUST HAVE SOME CHENGBAI ACTION AROUND HERE UGHHHHHHHH

Thank you for reading~