Chapter 2448: Another Me 17

Since just now, Li Chi hasn't uttered a sound; everything he has, everything he possesses, has had its wish fulfilled.

The past days when he curled up in a cramped room, listening to the scolding outside the door, day after day gloomy and hopeless, flashed through his mind like faded old photographs.

He secretly curled up under the blanket, and the freedom, warmth, and new future he had once imagined with his brother suddenly became within reach.

This feeling was too wonderful, so wonderful it made his heart tremble, even giving rise to an absurd doubt.

Could this just be a dream?

When the dream ended, he was still in that cold corner, without sunlight, without hope.

Nor did he have his brother.

No brother……

How could there be no brother?

As soon as this thought arose, his heart felt as if it were being ruthlessly clenched, harder to bear than any physical injury.

It was too cruel; for Li Chi, it was no less than having his heart torn out and his bones dug out.

Li Chi abruptly broke free from those dark fantasies, his voice somewhat choked: "Brother, will you always be with me, right?"

Jin Chen stood before the full-length mirror, raised his hand, and placed an extremely light kiss on his fingertip, returning control of the body to Li Chi.

"Yes." This voice echoed in his mind.

Li Chi regained control of his body; a warm, moist residue lingered on his fingertip, the spot his brother had just kissed.

A throb spread from his fingertip throughout his whole body.

He involuntarily lifted that hand, lightly pressing the pad of his finger against the corner of his lips, and gently took his fingertip into his mouth.

"Little Chi." Jin Chen called him.

In the mirror, the youth's fair cheeks flushed with a faint red, his eyes moist and hazy.

He sat down again before the mirror, his forehead lightly pressing against the cool glass.

Li Chi closed his eyes: "Brother, I like you."

——

That night, Li Chi sank into the soft new bedding and had a long, intimate dream.

In the dream, he returned again to the room from his memory.

Outside the window, moonlight poured down.

Jin Chen appeared at the bedside, lifted the corner of the blanket, and firmly encircled him in his embrace.

Each kiss that fell—on his forehead, the corners of his eyes, the tip of his nose, his lips—carried a scorching heat, making Li Chi tremble uncontrollably.

He had never experienced such intimacy; his body was unfamiliar yet sensitive, yet he followed his instinct, opening himself fully with dependence, giving and taking.

Jin Chen's lips lingered on the small mole on his ear, his scorching breath spraying onto his sensitive ear.

His low voice, filled with endless love, spoke the words Li Chi had never heard but had longed for in his heart countless times.

Li Chi loved hearing these words too much.

His soul could find no resting place; in the vast world, he could only cling to Jin Chen, wrapping all his feelings and dependence around him without reservation.

Even the moon outside the window seemed drenched by that thick night and rising heat, becoming hazy and indistinct.

The sky grew bright.

Li Chi startled awake from the dream, a flush still lingering on his face from the dream.

The nineteen-year-old him sat up dazedly; as his consciousness returned, a strange sensation made his whole body stiffen, his cheeks and ears burning intensely.

Li Chi scrambled out of the blanket in a hurry, his mind holding only one thought.

Taking advantage of his brother still resting deep in consciousness, he hurried to deal with the soiled pants.

He clutched the pants, slipped into the washroom, turned on the faucet, and cold water struck the fabric.

Li Chi was bent over scrubbing, trying to wash away those embarrassing traces together with the heat on his face, when suddenly a lazy, soft laugh echoed in his mind, carrying the hoarseness of just waking and a knowing teasing.

Li Chi's movements froze, and the heat shot straight up to his head.

He wished he could stuff his head under the faucet and rinse it as well.

Jin Chen chuckled slowly and said, "Little Chi, next time… you can let Brother help."

Li Chi's face reddened to the point of almost bleeding; he said nothing, scrubbing the pants hard, trying to hide his embarrassment with the motion.

After a long while, long enough for Jin Chen to think Li Chi would be embarrassed enough to sink into a crack in the ground, he finally heard an extremely soft reply.

"... Okay." Li Chi said.

He wanted his brother; he wanted to do, in any way, all the most intimate things in this world with his brother.

Jin Chen, early in the morning, was made obedient by his wife to an extreme degree, and he was extremely satisfied.

——

The following days were a stability that Li Chi had previously considered even fantasizing about to be luxurious.

He and his brother hired a professional team to thoroughly clean the villa, and together they began to restore it to its original state.

They would go out together to shop, picking new curtains, carpets, and cushions, adding bit by bit their own warm colors to this spacious, cold, big house.

That day, Jin Chen pushed a shopping cart, leisurely strolling through a large shopping mall.

Passing a delicately cute boutique, his gaze was drawn to the fluffy brown little deer hairpin on the shelf.

The two petite antlers stood up, showing a simple-minded charm.

Jin Chen lightly raised his brow, his gaze lingering on the hairpin for two more seconds.

Li Chi's voice, tinged with a bit of curiosity, echoed in his mind: "Brother, do you want to see me wear this?"

Jin Chen's mouth corner curled slightly; he frankly admitted, "Hmm, I do."

He paused, then added, "And you, Little Chi, do you like it?"

Jin Chen wanted to confirm Li Chi's own preference, rather than merely pleasing him.

Lai Chi thought seriously for a few seconds in his mind, then gave an answer so honest it made Jin Chen's heart go soft.

I only like older brother. If older brother wants to see, I like it.

He had long since placed all his affection on Jin Chen.

Jin Chen felt his heart steeped in those words, turning soft and full.

He took a soft breath, feeling the pain of reflection, "Xiao Chi, you spoil me like this; I'll only get worse from now on."

Jin Chen couldn't withstand it, could only give his wife a preemptive inoculation, hinting at a possibly concealed, even worse desire for control.

Lai Chi, however, said, "It doesn't matter; as long as it's older brother, nothing matters."

Jin Chen: "……"

A hiss.

Jin Chen hesitated no more, decisively reached out, picked up the small deer hairpin, and put it into the shopping cart.

Carrying full shopping bags back to the villa, Jin Chen signaled the driver to park at the villa gate, but his gaze caught sight of two figures standing at the entrance.

His motion paused, his brows unconsciously furrowed.

It was Zhou Shuo.

And… a woman whose eyebrows and eyes bore some resemblance to Lai Chi, was Lin Wan.

Jin Chen's heart sank a bit.

How could these two end up together here?

He said to Lai Chi, "Xiao Chi, come out a moment, your mother has arrived."

The shift of consciousness was completed in an instant.

Lai Chi pushed open the car door, got out, and walked toward the villa gate.

Zhou Shuo saw him, showed a complex expression, and voluntarily explained, "I just came back, and ran into Aunt Lin at the community gate."

"She got off the plane, returned home, and came straight here; the gatekeepers… didn't know her, so they didn't let her in."

Lin Wan's gaze fell on Lai Chi.

Guilt, unfamiliarity, and… investigation.

Lai Chi read these emotions from her eyes.

Lai Chi looked at this person… who left a silhouette in his childhood memories, yet was absent throughout his difficult growing years—his mother.

"Mother."