Hearing the seemingly familiar call, Su Duan blinked his eyes that were slightly sore from being open too long, and the uneasiness in his heart unknowingly dissipated mostly.

When Qin Zhi was still at the Su family, he often called him in this tone. Hearing it again easily evoked Su Duan's memories. However, there was still a slight difference. Qin Zhi's voice had become a bit lower and deeper now, sounding more mature.

Seeing that he was just standing there blankly without responding, Qin Zhi called him young master again in that tone that made Su Duan feel relaxed.

Only then did Su Duan come back to his senses from his thoughts. He lowered his eyes to look at Qin Zhi who was separated from him by a flight of stairs, and called out to him very softly: "...Qin Zhi."

The next second after his voice fell, he saw Qin Zhi's eyes soften in an instant. Qin Zhi looked up and called to him tirelessly: "Young Master, come down."

Su Duan nodded, held the stair railing, stepped on the stairs covered with a thick non-slip fleece carpet, and slowly walked down along the edge. He had long been able to walk smoothly, but he himself didn't know why he suddenly wanted to hold the railing.

Qin Zhi patiently stood at the bottom of the stairs, like a predator good at waiting and lurking, waiting for his prey that was like a little snail, tentatively and slowly delivering itself to him.

Su Duan, who had delivered himself, looked at Qin Zhi who was more than a head taller than him. The urge to bury himself that had just subsided surged up again.

When he was standing on the stairs just now, it wasn't obvious. Now that he and Qin Zhi were standing on the same level, the pressure he felt was real and tangible.

After two and a half years of transformation, Qin Zhi's body proportions had become even more perfect with intentional exercise. His broad shoulders and lean waist fit the straight black-gray suit just right, vaguely allowing people to feel the strong and powerful physique inside the clothes.

Su Duan moved his gaze from Qin Zhi's shoulders that were at the same eye level as him and looked up at Qin Zhi's face.

Compared to his memory, Qin Zhi's complexion seemed to have tanned a little. Perhaps it was because he had grown up, his facial features had also become sharper and more profound. The lines of his jaw were neat and sharp, making it easy for people to feel uneasy when he wasn't smiling.

—Just like what he saw in the system's screen projection.

But Qin Zhi's eyes looking at him now were very gentle. The obsidian-like dark eyes were also filled with a soft glow. Seeing him raise his head to look at himself, Qin Zhi even lowered his head slightly, allowing Su Duan to not have to look up so strenuously.

Feeling Qin Zhi's intention to be close, Su Duan suddenly wasn't that afraid anymore. He straightened his non-existent little leaves and swept away the trace of gloom in his heart. He had observed Qin Zhi for so many years. Even without the information provided by the system, he knew that Qin Zhi would not harm him.

The reason he felt threatened was probably because Qin Zhi had grown too much, making him a little unaccustomed.

Thinking that Qin Zhi was a visiting guest, Su Duan imitated the etiquette of entertaining guests in the information given by the system, put on the demeanor of the host, and said very politely, "Mr. Qin, let's sit on the sofa."

Hearing how Su Duan addressed him, the light in Qin Zhi's eyes condensed for a moment, but quickly returned to normal. He said in a low voice, "Young Master, you don't need to call me that."

Being so close, the slight hoarseness in Qin Zhi's low voice became even more apparent. Falling beside Su Duan's ears, it made his earlobes itch with an indescribable feeling.

Su Duan secretly moved his head to distance his ears from Qin Zhi's direction a little.

Before he could seriously refute that they were no longer in a master-servant relationship, according to human etiquette, Qin Zhi didn't need to address him with a special title anymore, and he shouldn't be so rude as to call Qin Zhi by his full name either, Qin Zhi continued slowly, "Young Master, calling me that sounds very distant. Why not continue to call me Qin Zhi, okay?"

Su Duan hesitated for a moment and lightly nodded. He respected Qin Zhi's opinion, but he didn't forget to emphasize, "You are no longer a servant of the Qin family. You don't need to call me 'Young Master' anymore."

Qin Zhi's expression seemed to darken, but he still readily agreed, "Okay."

He lowered his eyes and got even closer to Su Duan, asking in an enticing low voice, "Then can I call Young Master Duan Duan instead?"

Qin Zhi was really getting a bit too close, close enough that Su Duan could smell the faint tobacco scent on him.

Su Duan hesitated for a moment. This form of address seemed a little too intimate...

It's just that this body was still so delicate. The not-so-heavy tobacco smell had just passed through his throat. Before Su Duan could decide whether to agree to Qin Zhi's suggestion, he was irritated into a coughing fit, "Cough cough—wu, cough..."

Qin Zhi instantly became flustered. He reached out to support Su Duan, who had suddenly started coughing for some unknown reason, "Duan Duan, what's wrong?"

He placed his palm on Su Duan's shoulder. Feeling the obvious bones, his movement paused for a moment. Then, an overwhelming heartache surged in his heart. Qin Zhi stretched out his other hand and gently patted Su Duan's back, trying to soothe him.

But as Qin Zhi got closer, the tobacco smell became even more apparent. Su Duan was also irritated into coughing more severely, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. He forcefully tilted his head back, wanting to distance himself from the culprit making him uncomfortable, intermittently explaining, "You, cough, there's—cough cough, cigarette smell on you..."

Hearing such an explanation, Qin Zhi's soothing movement on his back paused. A complex look of surprise mixed with guilt appeared in his eyes.

He loosened the force of his hands, preparing to take a step back—

At this time, the butler came out from the pantry with tea. Seeing his family's thin and small young master pitifully coughing, while that "Mr. Qin" who needed to be guarded against was very improperly putting his hands and feet on the young master, a trace of shock and anger instantly appeared in his cloudy eyes.

With no time to reprimand the security guards at the door for not doing their job, the butler placed the tea on the coffee table at the fastest speed. Then he strode to the bottom of the stairs and forcefully pulled Qin Zhi's hands away.

Qin Zhi had originally wanted to let go on his own initiative. Seeing this, he cooperatively took a few steps back and silently watched the butler comfort Su Duan from the side.

The butler used the professional technique he had practiced since Su Duan was young to help Su Duan regulate his breathing. As soon as he couldn't smell the cigarette odor anymore, Su Duan's coughing quickly stopped.

The butler quietly asked what had happened. Su Duan, for once, was quite clever. In order to prevent the butler, who already didn't like Qin Zhi very much, from having an even worse impression of him, he said, "My throat is a little uncomfortable, it's nothing."

The butler sighed, helped him straighten his clothes that had just been wrinkled, and said, "Then I'll make you a bowl of pear soup later. Drink it before you go to bed."

The end of September was the transition period from summer to autumn. Su Duan's throat had always been not very good, and it was easy to experience discomfort during this sensitive time. This excuse was quite reasonable.

Su Duan nodded and said, "Okay, thank you."

Then he tilted his head slightly and said to the tall figure waiting on the side, "Qin Zhi, go sit on the sofa."

The boy's voice still carried a bit of nasalness caused by the violent coughing. Seeing Su Duan intentionally covering for him in front of the butler, Qin Zhi was very grateful and did not mention what had just happened, quietly agreeing.

After a small episode, the two finally entered the correct posture of receiving guests and visiting.

Neither of them spoke for the time being, quietly drinking the brewed tea.

Having learned his lesson just now, Qin Zhi didn't dare to get too close again. He sat on the sofa opposite Su Duan, drinking a large cup of tea with a mixture of fragrance and bitterness, trying to suppress the smoky smell in his mouth.

Because he knew that Su Duan might not be able to smell anything irritating, although he was very nervous, he only took two small puffs in the car to restrain himself, and didn't touch it again. When he got out of the car, he blew the cold wind on the road for a while, thinking that there would be no impact anyway.

As a result, he didn't expect that Su Duan was much more sensitive than he had imagined. Just that little bit of almost negligible smell was enough to make the tip of his nose turn red from choking.

The butler looked at his appearance of drinking tea like wine, trying to drown his sorrows in one go, and couldn't help but cast a strange look at him.

Of course, he couldn't criticize the guest for anything. After Qin Zhi had drunk the small teapot of tea dry, he took the empty purple clay teapot away, ready to pour a pot of new tea, and by the way, change to a larger pot to let Qin Zhi drink his fill.

Taking advantage of the butler going to get tea, Qin Zhi leaned his body forward a little, his face showing unmistakable guilt, and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, Duan Duan, I..." He pursed his lips and promised, "I won't smoke anymore in the future."

Hearing Qin Zhi's words, Su Duan, holding a cup of tea that was only half-drunk, frowned in confusion.

He hadn't agreed to let Qin Zhi call him that, so why did Qin Zhi act as if he had already agreed?

However, looking at Qin Zhi's sincere and guilty eyes, the words Su Duan wanted to use to reason with him couldn't be said. After holding back for a long time, he said, "It's okay, I don't mind."

After saying that, he felt that something was still a bit wrong. Why should Qin Zhi make promises to him about whether he smokes or not? Obviously, Qin Zhi was no longer his servant and didn't need to go along with him in everything anymore.

It always felt like—uh, there seemed to be something that didn't make sense.

However, Qin Zhi didn't give him enough time to think, and easily pulled his thoughts back with one sentence.

"Duan Duan, do you want President Su to come back earlier?"

Author has something to say:

Qin Zhi: Extending his paw, striving to take the cabbage home and raise little cabbages before the brother-in-law comes out.

Su Duan: ?_?

Su Zheng: ............... Diligently practicing knife sharpening skills.jpg