TC Extra 8

When the child held out the ice cream in his hand, Ye Xingzhou’s gaze paused slightly.

Standing in front of him was the 10 year-old Qi Xing, grinning from ear to ear as he called him “big brother” and insisted on treating him to ice cream. It was an incredibly… surreal experience.

Ye Xingzhou slipped his phone back into the pocket of his school uniform, then reached out and accepted the ice cream: “Are you here by yourself? This is the high school area, isn’t it?”

Qi Xing beamed even brighter, becoming even more convinced that this handsome Big Brother was easy to talk to: “I came to buy some snacks. Big brother, what’s your name?”

Ye Xingzhou wasn’t particularly eager to answer. For his 37 year-old self to have returned to the body of his 17 year-old self, only to come face-to-face with his future lover as a 10 year-old child… “surreal” wasn’t nearly enough to describe how it felt.

“Where’s your family? Why are you here by yourself?”

Qi Xing shook his head and looked around. “They haven’t come to pick me up yet.”

Ye Xingzhou finished the ice cream in a few bites and casually tossed the wrapper into a nearby trash can: “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

The little boy, barely ten, had absolutely no sense of caution and let himself be whisked away by Ye Xingzhou without a second thought. Sitting on the back seat of Ye Xingzhou’s bicycle, he licked his ice cream, swung his legs back and forth, and asked once again for his name.

Ye Xingzhou chuckled, “You don’t even know who I am, and you’re willing to come with me? Aren’t you afraid I’ll sell you?”

Ye Xingzhou’s tone was light, almost teasing. Qi Xing felt that this big brother was not quite the way he expected him to be: “I don’t think you’re a bad person, big brother.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because big brother is handsome.”

“So you judge people by their looks?” Ye Xingzhou laughed under his breath, finding it oddly amusing. So it seemed that Qi Xing had been like this ever since he was little.

The little boy wasn’t embarrassed at the slightest: “I said you’re not a bad person, so you’re not.”

Too lazy to argue, Ye Xingzhou asked for his address and took him to his doorstep.

After stopping in front of the house, he rested one hand on the handlebars, one long leg casually planted on the ground, and looked at the little boy who had hopped off the bicycle, advising him: “Don’t just strike up conversations with every good-looking person you see and follow them around.”

The little boy tilted his head and grinned, “Then I won’t talk to anyone who isn’t as good-looking as the older brother.”

Ye Xingzhou reached over and lightly flicked his nose. “You’ve had such a silver tongue since you were little.”

Qi Xing looked up at Ye Xingzhou: “Big brother, you still haven’t told me your name. Will I ever see you again? Are you going to be my friend or not?”

Raising an eyebrow, Ye Xingzhou asked, “You really want to be friends with me that badly?”

Qi Xing nodded vigorously: “I do.”

“Why?”

“I already told you,” Qi Xing answered with complete confidence, “Because you’re handsome. I like being friends with good-looking people.”

Ye Xingzhou teased him on purpose: “No high school student would want to be friends with an elementary school student.”

Qi Xing thought for a moment, and since he, a primary school student, was willing, he asked, “Then, big brother, are you willing?”

“Well, it’s not impossible…”

“Then that’s a yes!” the little boy said, seizing the opportunity.

“We’ll see how you behave in the future. If you’re a good boy, I’ll agree.”

Qi Xing immediately held out his little finger: “Pinky promise!”

Smiling, Ye Xingzhou hooked his finger around the boy’s. Finally, he raised his hand and ruffled the child’s hair: “Go home now, I’ll come to play with you in a couple of days.”

Qi Xing waved enthusiastically before skipping into the house. Watching the little figure disappear into the distance, Ye Xingzhou lowered his eyes and smiled softly.

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The young man sitting on his lap had a face so beautiful it was almost unfair, his flamboyant peach blossom eyes sparkling with laughter, every glance naturally carrying a hint of flirtation.

Ye Xingzhou silently studied him. Although he had no idea what had happened and did not know who the man sitting in his lap was, he remained remarkably composed, and apart from an unconscious furrow of his brows, he didn’t speak immediately.

Qi Xing idly hooked a finger around one of the buttons on Ye Xingzhou’s shirt and tapped it lightly. Looking up, he met Ye Xingzhou’s gaze and paused for a moment before leaning closer to meet his eyes: “Ye Xingzhou… aren’t you acting a little strange today?”

In Ye Xingzhou’s clear, dark eyes, Qi Xing could see his own reflection, and hidden beneath the calm surface, he caught a trace of hesitation, despite Ye Xingzhou’s best efforts to conceal it.

Ye Xingzhou did not answer; he would not reveal himself before he understood the situation.

Wrapping an arm around Qi Xing’s waist, he lifted him off his lap and set him down on the sofa beside him. He then stood up and said, “I’m going to the bathroom.”

Without showing the slightest sign of confusion, he quietly observed his unfamiliar surroundings as he headed upstairs, instinctively pushing open the door to the master bedroom.

Ten minutes later, staring at the reflection of a face twenty years older than the one he remembered, Ye Xingzhou had a rough idea of what had happened.

He was now twenty years in the future.

The handsome man downstairs was his live-in boyfriend, and perhaps more. He glanced down at the ring on his left ring finger; the man from before had one too.

His eyes lingered there as Qi Xing’s smiling face flitted through his mind as he fiddled with the ring around his finger, slowly turning it.

“You’re acting really strange today,” Qi Xing’s lazy voice sounded from behind. “You weren’t possessed or something, were you?”

Ye Xingzhou looked at him through the full-length mirror. Hands tucked casually into his pockets, Qi Xing leaned against the doorway with the posture of an idle young master, handsome and effortlessly flirtatious.

Ye Xingzhou let his gaze linger on him a moment longer, somewhat unconvinced by his own taste twenty years later.

Qi Xing had only meant it as a joke. Walking over, he took the chance as Ye Xingzhou was turning around to pin him against the mirror, tilting his head and leaning in close. His gaze wandered across Ye Xingzhou’s face before his lips curled into a seductive whisper, “Ye Xingzhou…”

“Want a kiss?”

Leaning back against the mirror, Ye Xingzhou calmly met his eyes, openly studying him.

He might be a little frivolous, but his face was truly good-looking, even more striking up close, better than any that he had ever seen. Feeling the warmth of Qi Xing’s breath, he realized he should probably feel uncomfortable, but he made no move to push him away. He wasn’t exactly a morally upright person, and since this was his current partner, there was even less reason for him to have reservations.

When Qi Xing leaned in to kiss him, Ye Xingzhou’s eyes briefly traced the shape of his lips, neither initiating nor rejecting.

The sensation was a little unfamiliar, but perhaps because this body had memories, Ye Xingzhou didn’t find it unpleasant. On the contrary, he found Qi Xing’s affection to be unexpectedly enjoyable.

His own movements were rather clumsy, but Qi Xing, who completely absorbed in the kiss, didn’t notice. He simply assumed this bastard was playing some new romantic game with him, and kissed him with even greater enthusiasm, his hands roaming freely over Ye Xingzhou’s waist, teasing him repeatedly.

“Ye Xingzhou, help me take off my clothes.” Qi Xing’s panting voice entered his ears, and Ye Xingzhou felt a tingling sensation rising from his spine. Suddenly, he felt that he could relate to his future self twenty years later.

He held Qi Xing’s waist with both hands, picked him up like a child, and threw him onto the bed.

Kneeling down and looking down at the man pinned beneath him, Ye Xingzhou, still inexperienced, felt a surge of heat in his chest and lowered his head to kiss him again.

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