Pei Ruye hadn’t expected him to say something like that.
At that moment, it was as if a white wolf had crashed headlong into him, and the impact was so strong that it made him want to take a step back to regain his composure.
“Huo Ren,” he reached up to rub his temples, sounding somewhat helpless, “the way you say these things… it’s easy to be misunderstood.”
If it had been when he was fifteen, and the young boy had spoken with such affection, he would have accepted it with a smile.
But now, with his own private thoughts and desires, hearing those words made him want to kiss him right away.
Huo Ren simply responded with a low “mm.”
Teacher, you didn’t misunderstand me.
I miss you so much.
“But I’m really on vacation right now,” Pei Ruye continued, his tone gentle, “so however long you stay in Belgium, I’ll be there with you.”
“Really?”
“If the others agree, we can charter a plane and leave early to spend more time by the seaside.”
Huo Ren quickly agreed and began thinking about how to persuade his brothers to go along with it.
“Teacher,” before hanging up the phone, he gathered his courage to say something sincere, but after uttering the word “teacher,” he fell silent for a while.
Pei Ruye also waited patiently for a while and then whispered calmly.
“I haven’t seen you for a few days, I really miss you.”
Huo Ren’s breath went stagnant, and he felt a butterfly dancing in his heart.
Then he hung up the phone with a trembling hand.
When he reacted, he looked embarrassed, annoyed, and a little anxious.
He could have performed better just now, so why did he drop the ball?
Pei Ruye also heard the disconnect sound and stared at the phone for a few seconds.
…suppose he said it too late, the young master had already hung up the phone before he heard.
Turning around, he called Qin Lu.
“Old Pei, how’s the progress on your end?”
Pei Ruye replied coolly, “Business is business. It seems like I’m the only one thinking about him.”
Qin Lu sighed dramatically, “Indeed, they’re having a blast together. It’s not easy for them to take a vacation once every three years.”
Pei Ruye ground his teeth and said after a while, “Where did you buy that parrot?”
“Brother, parrots are not for plucking! You fed the one in my house to full size!!”
When Huo Ren tried to call again, it went straight to voicemail.
He sat alone for a while, then returned to the campfire, putting on a relaxed and cheerful expression. He seemed perfectly at ease.
Bo Jue handed him a chocolate-covered marshmallow on a stick and asked, “You’ve been on the phone for quite a while. What’s up?”
“Well, Boss Pei called and asked if we wanted to go on vacation in Belgium.”
Long Jia casually said, “I’m fine with it. Let’s see what you guys prefer.”
“How about staying here for a few more days?” Mei Shengyao leaned against Xie Lianyun, a bit disappointed. “The little pony hasn’t had a chance to know me well yet.”
“Let’s go earlier,” Xie Lianyun suddenly said, his tone determined. “I agree.”
Huo Ren blinked, relieved.
Bo Jue was a bit puzzled. “Since when did you become interested in traveling?”
Xie Lianyun replied without hesitation, “Don’t you want to help Long Jia apply sunscreen?”
“No… No!”
They quickly packed their luggage and boarded the plane to Belgium the next day.
Pei Ruye’s private plane was quite spacious, with a bathroom, a bedroom, and a small living room.
Huo Ren sat quietly beside him, feeling as if he was on a date.
Although their teammates were present, and flight attendants were occasionally walking around, he was sitting next to his teacher, and they could be together the entire night.
They sat side by side, listening to Mei Shengyao intermittently playing the flute in the distance, accompanied by light whistling from Chi Ji.
Wrapped in a blanket, Huo Ren remained silent for a while. He secretly glanced at Pei Ruye.
Today, his teacher didn’t tie his hair back. Loose strands hung down gracefully over his slender neck, giving him a soft and gentle look.
Pei Ruye was pretending to work on some documents, maintaining an almost cold and distant demeanor, carefully concealing his feelings.
It had been over a week since he last saw Huo Ren, and he had managed to regain control of his emotions.
Huo Ren kept stealing glances at him while he pretended not to notice.
His teacher’s eyelashes were so long.
“Do you want to watch a movie?”
Huo Ren, wrapped in a blanket, asked softly, “Watch together?”
“Of course, let’s watch together,” Pei Ruye pushed his laptop between them and casually said, “Can you share the blanket?”
“Sure… alright.”
They picked a random foreign-language film, an adventure story.
They leaned in close to each other while watching the screen, while the others were eating sandwiches and moving around.
Huo Ren felt a feverish blush on his face sitting next to his teacher in front of their teammates.
Mei Shengyao even approached him and fed him a slice of orange.
Huo Ren instinctively opened his mouth to take a bite and then turned his head to glance at Pei Ruye.
The latter seemed to be focused on the movie and hadn’t noticed the intimate interaction between teammates.
Xie Lianyun was sitting with a game console in hand in the opposite corner, sipping his apple orange juice with a complicated expression.
Why is it that I’m the only one who sees these things every time??
How come the other four don’t seem to notice at all??
The vacation activities had been arranged and reported by Pei Ruye’s side to the SPF team.
He owned a private beach and villa in Ostend, with tight security nearby, making it difficult for anyone to sneak in with a long lens to take photos.
The city was peaceful and modern, with a mix of Dutch, French, and German languages, and plenty of specialty restaurants and shops.
The six big boys quickly divided rooms and stowed their luggage. The driver was ready to pick them up and take them shopping and sightseeing.
Before leaving, Huo Ren turned back and looked at Pei Ruye, who was rolling up the curtains.
“Teacher, are you staying here too?”
“Yes, right across the hall from your room.”
“You’ll be here the whole time?”
“I’m not going to suddenly disappear,” Pei Ruye replied with a wry smile. “Go have fun, and I’ll make apple-roasted beef ribs for you all tonight.”
Most of the paparazzi were concentrated in their home country, and there were very few in this small European city.
The six of them were a bit reserved at first, but after half an hour, they began to relax and got into full shopping mode, taking off their masks and buying various items.
Xie Lianyun and Long Jia couldn’t speak German, so they followed closely, helping carry bags and packages.
Huo Ren kept an eye on Chi Ji and Yao Yao most of the time. The two of them were active and loved exploring, disappearing in the blink of an eye and then coming back with a bag full of pastries, chocolates, and pendant dolls.
Bo Jue acted more like a contractor. When he saw something he liked, he pointed at it directly.
“This one, this one, and this one. Exclude these three.”
“Wrap up all the other colors and varieties and take them with us.”
The assistant, wiping sweat from his brow, helped fill out the order form and quietly explained to the shop assistant that these were gifts for friends.
Xie Lianyun looked a bit puzzled. “You buy so many things usually, but I haven’t seen your dorm room overflowing with stuff. Where do all these things go afterward?”
“They go to my home,” Bo Jue replied casually, still examining the crystal strawberries in the display window. He added, “I have six houses back home, so I can stash things wherever I want.”
“???”
Huo Ren found Mei Shengyao, who had gotten lost about ten meters away and brought him back to the group. As they entered the store, he casually spotted a pair of silver enamel brooches.
They happened to be in the style of medieval classical white and red roses.
Huo Ren took out his wallet and bought the brooches, putting the white rose brooch into the photo frame.
“Just one set of gift wrapping, thanks.”
The author has a message to share:
It might take at least ten days, but I’m not sure if it will be fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five days. You don’t need to count down.
I’ve suddenly caught a cold and have to make an unexpected trip out of town. I’ll continue writing once I’ve had a good rest on the high-speed train. Please don’t blame me for any brevity!
Luckily, Long-ge is ultra rich and he can afford to build a castle for Bo-ge to hoard all his little things!
this truly motivates me to work hard and sped up my process of becoming rich AHAHAHAHAH