It was hot at noon. Shen Duoyi, sitting in the passenger seat, felt drowsy - though to be precise, it wasn't physical drowsiness, but rather a mental desire to sleep.

Because he wanted to continue the dream he had this morning.

Just as he was leaning against the car door, about to close his eyes, Fei Yuan suddenly asked, "You and Xiao Qi get along well?"

Shen Duoyi immediately corrected him: "What do you mean 'Xiao Qi'? He's a year older than you."

"It's all about the same, he looks quite young." Fei Yuan gripped the steering wheel. "During lunch, he thanked me - did you tell him about your family situation?"

"Mm, he knows everything." Shen Duoyi hesitated before answering, "Actually, we..."

Suddenly a car cut in front of them, nearly sideswiping them. Fei Yuan honked and accelerated, overtaking and leaving that car behind. They reached an intersection just as the yellow light was flashing, so he slowed to a stop. Holding the steering wheel, he said, "Actually, you two are dating, aren't you?"

Shen Duoyi turned to look at Fei Yuan in surprise: "Are you bluffing, or were we that obvious?"

"Pretty obvious." Fei Yuan's expression was unreadable, so his emotions were unclear. After a while, he lit a cigarette. Restrained by the seatbelt, Shen Duoyi carefully chose his words: "Actually, I knew I liked men since high school, but I never told anyone. Only Lulu knows."

Fei Yuan finally reacted: "He knows? He kept it secret for ten years?"

Shen Duoyi said: "That's my private matter."

"Don't suffocate our kid anymore." Fei Yuan chuckled softly, probably finding it incredible. The traffic light turned from red to green, and the car drove onto the next street. He asked with the cigarette in his mouth, "Is he reliable? Feels like you're not the same type."

Shen Duoyi countered: "We all have one nose and two eyes, how are we not the same type?"

"Can't really explain it, maybe it's the temperament." Fei Yuan finished his cigarette in a few puffs. "He seems a bit reserved, but not in a pretentious way. Probably from a good family. Well-mannered, but when he gets angry, he might be fiercer than anyone."

Shen Duoyi didn't deny it, after all, he didn't know how fierce Qi Shi'an could be when angry - he was always gentle with him. Looking out the car window, he said, "We actually met long ago, then reunited after I changed jobs. We only recently made it official, but we're both very serious."

Fei Yuan nodded: "As long as you're happy. If things ever go wrong, let me know. I'll help you beat him up, or if that's not enough, Lulu can help curse him out."

Shen Duoyi lifted his chin slightly: "He practices martial arts. You think his fighting ability is like Qiu Luomin's?"

Qiu Luomin was someone who had caused trouble for Shen Duoyi in high school, and Fei Yuan had cracked his head open.

Finally arriving at Wenhu Apartments, Fei Yuan planned to check on Grandpa Shen before leaving. He couldn't help but ask: "What about Grandpa?"

The most difficult things to face are often the hardest to avoid. Shen Duoyi watched the changing numbers on the elevator and answered: "We're still keeping it from him for now. I don't dare take the risk. Grandpa is already eighty, I want him to spend his later years happily."

"That's true." Fei Yuan paused briefly. "What about his family? If his family finds out about you two, can he handle it?"

Shen Duoyi said: "Of course he can. You think you're the only one who can handle it?"

Fei Yuan surrendered: "Alright, alright, you're quite protective."

The elevator doors opened. Shen Duoyi took a deep breath, and during the walk to the door, he sent a text message. Then he opened the door and returned home with a smile: "Grandpa, look who's here."

The phone on the dashboard vibrated twice. Qi Shi'an parked and picked it up - it was Shen Duoyi telling him he had arrived home. Huo Xuechuan looked at the sunlight outside, fidgeting with the car door: "Brother, aren't you going home?"

"No, you can get out here." The car stopped at the military retirement community entrance, and Qi Shi'an wasn't planning to go in.

"Mom misses you. Why don't you stay for a while? It's the weekend and you have nothing to do." Huo Xuechuan unbuckled his seatbelt but lingered, not opening the door. "Then let me sit here a bit longer, chat with you."

Qi Shi'an said impatiently: "Hurry up and go in. You can't even score 600 points, what could we possibly chat about that you'd understand?"

Huo Xuechuan was extremely hurt: "Brother Duoyi would definitely understand! You two chatted so much you even changed clothes! The bedsheets were all messed up from your chatting! I may not score 600 points, but I have eagle eyes!"

Qi Shi'an turned to look at his brother, somewhat shocked and angry. But this shock and anger dissipated extremely quickly. He wore a slight smile, as if leisurely showing off: "You like Brother Duoyi?"

Huo Xuechuan pressed himself against the car door, thinking he was about to get beaten up, and nodded fearfully: "...Yes."

Qi Shi'an said: "Big brother likes him too. Very much."

"But..." Huo Xuechuan hesitated, "Do you really like men, or are you just attracted to his looks? There are many people like that in the entertainment industry. He might not even like men either, just be superficial, falling for anyone good-looking."

Before Huo Xuechuan could finish speaking, he let out a cry of pain. He had let his guard down and hadn't even seen how Qi Shi'an had thrown the punch. He opened the car door to escape, but while you can run from the monk, you can't run from the temple - his brother could beat him up once he got home. So he hung onto the car door, trying to apologize.

"Brother, I was wrong, I shouldn't have talked nonsense—"

Qi Shi'an suddenly interrupted calmly: "I love him."

The car started, the windows slowly rolled up, and Qi Shi'an turned around and drove away, quickly heading to the main road. He took out a pack of cigarettes from the drawer that hadn't been touched in a long time - the tobacco had become slightly damp. He lowered his head to light it, and as the smoke filled every corner of the car, he became increasingly calm, without any trace of anxiety.

Huo Xuechuan had probably reached home by now, but he didn't know if Huo Xuechuan would say anything to Huo Xin and Qi Jingtang.

He opened his phone and pressed the call button, and the other party answered quickly. Huo Xin's reproachful voice came through, nagging about how he reached the gate but didn't come home.

"Mom," Qi Shi'an called out solemnly, "I'll come home for dinner on Monday night. There's something I want to talk about."

After hanging up the phone, he felt relaxed in both body and mind. Upon returning home, he first watered the hydrangeas, then tidied up the room. The sheets were indeed messy, the pillows askew, lubricant had fallen onto the carpet, and the condom wrapper was nowhere to be found.

After finishing the bedroom, Qi Shi'an laid down a bath mat in the bathroom. He didn't like using it, but he was afraid Shen Duoyi might slip after showering, even though the probability was low, he remained cautious.

Living together would spark unpredictable conflicts. Different living habits were minor issues, but countless families went crazy over such trivial matters.

Even though the days of living together were still far away, Qi Shi'an was already prepared to welcome everything. Because he truly loved Shen Duoyi, and believed Shen Duoyi loved him too.

Qi Shi'an gave himself extra work - he needed to prepare his coming out defense before Monday night arrived.

Holidays are never long enough. Ming'an's employees returned to work reluctantly after the three-day break. During the morning, before work began, everyone chatted about what they did during their break while eating breakfast.

"Duoyi, save me a seat at the regular meeting later. I'm going to the Legal Department to chase up a contract."

Shen Duoyi had just arrived and was organizing his desk. He looked up and responded to Team Leader Qi: "Go ahead, but it's so early that Legal definitely hasn't started working yet. Why not wait until after the meeting?"

"Can't wait, the client's been waiting. We were supposed to sign on Friday, but then suddenly there was a holiday, delaying it by three days." Team Leader Qi walked into the office, saying, "Who knows what got into Mr. Qi's head, giving all departments a day off - who knows how much money we lost."

Shen Duoyi looked down at his desk, even blowing on the wet wipe marks left behind, quietly retorting: "Paid leave is great, isn't it? You're not grateful, and still complaining about others."

Team Leader Qi made a face: "Had to spend one day accompanying my wife back to her parents' home, making dumplings and washing the car - it killed me. You're so grateful, looks like you had a good time. Did you go out somewhere?"

"No, but I guess you could say I went out." Shen Duoyi pulled out another tissue to wipe his hands, saying concisely, "Had a date."

Team Leader Qi was both surprised and disappointed: "You're dating someone? That bridesmaid from last time is still thinking about you!"

Before he could finish speaking, it was time for the meeting. The administrative assistant came to notify them, so Team Leader Qi quickly got up and left. Shen Duoyi picked up his materials and prepared to go too, slightly regretting what he had just said.

He had been too carried away with pride.

But... how could he help it?

Qi Shi'an didn't know what Shen Duoyi had been bragging about to his colleagues, he only knew how much work had accumulated from that Friday off. From the moment he arrived at the office, Annie had been reporting from her little notebook for half the day - anyone who didn't know better would think she was reciting some new constitution with its hundred-plus articles.

"Mr. Qi, please take a look at the Foreign Exchange Department's quarterly report."

Annie came in again with documents. Qi Shi'an had rolled up his shirt sleeves, and by now had even loosened his tie. He took the report and opened it, asking: "Do I have any social obligations recently?"

"Let me check," Annie quickly looked through her notes. "Besides outbound meetings, there are several meals, the nearest one being tomorrow noon."

Qi Shi'an said: "Pass them all to Director Zhang's secretary. Tell them the market is sliding, and I'm too busy."

"Alright, then we won't need to prepare those materials, and your meeting tomorrow afternoon can be moved up. As for today, you should be able to leave by 10 PM."

"Wait a minute." Qi Shi'an thought he had misheard. "Leave at 10 PM?"

Annie nodded: "I've detailed the schedule for handling last Friday's accumulated work. According to your habit of not leaving work overnight, it would originally take until 1 AM to finish everything."

Qi Shi'an sighed: "When do you get off work?"

Annie answered: "Six o'clock."

For a moment, Qi Shi'an didn't want to do this anymore - he wanted to resign and find a job as a secretary at some random company on Central Street. King You of Zhou spent a thousand gold pieces to make Bao Si laugh, triggering the beacon fires to fool his lords, but at least others were doing the work.

He had lost quite a bit of money with one announcement, and in the end, he had to work hard to earn it back himself.

Qi Shi'an picked up his phone from the desk - when tired, he would look at photos. The backup album already had several pictures, the latest from Friday night showing Shen Duoyi sleeping peacefully.

"My Duoduo, exhausted by me."

So if time could flow backward, he would still choose to be an unwise ruler for once.

At six in the afternoon, traffic on Central Street had noticeably increased, and would soon become congested. As employees in the Ming'an Building were packing up to leave, Qi Shi'an timed it perfectly to press the internal line connecting to the Consulting Department.