HIM Chapter 22: "I'm Beautiful All Over"
Bo Qin walked into the inner room, but suddenly paused. He turned his head, somewhat confused, and looked at He Xizhou, who asked him what was wrong. He Xizhou walked up to Bo Qin and then saw three men, all over 1.8 meters tall, standing straight in the room. He froze for a moment, sighed, and said, "What is this, trying to embarrass yourselves on purpose?"
Bo Qin smiled and extended his hand, saying, "Hello, I'm Bo Qin, He Xizhou's fiancée."
He Xizhou gave him a side glance.
Qiao Lei smiled and shook his hand, "Hello, I'm Qiao Lei, you can call me Lei Zi. The guy with the dark skin is Wang Yinyi, and the one with fair skin is Yue Li."
He Xizhou's friends were easygoing, knew how to set boundaries, and could hold a pleasant conversation. The atmosphere was comfortable. Bo Qin played a few rounds of Mahjong with them, and ended up losing terribly.
Qiao Lei, holding a cigarette, said, "If you're He Xizhou's fiancée, then we won't stand on ceremony. You haven’t seen how badly he beats us at this game."
Wang Yinyi threw a Mahjong tile down and said, "Don’t smoke above me, boss, it smells bad."
Yue Li added, "Bo Qin needs to protect his throat, does he understand?"
He Xizhou had just finished a phone call and walked in, directly snuffing out Qiao Lei’s cigarette.
Before Qiao Lei could say anything, Wang Yin Yi spread his cards out, saying, "I won, pay up."
He Xizhou walked over to Bo Qin, who sighed and said, "I’ve lost everything except my underwear."
He Xizhou gently pressed his hand on Bo Qin’s shoulder, saying, "I’ll take care of it."
Wang Yinyi exclaimed, "Oh, really?"
Qiao Lei teased, "You came to pick a fight."
Yue Li chimed in, "Weren’t you the one who said you didn’t want to play Mahjong?"
Bo Qin laughed uncontrollably.
Bo Qin was awakened on the couch by He Xizhou. He opened his eyes to see He Xizhou squatting in front of him, smiling gently and saying, "I didn’t want to wake you, but you seemed uncomfortable sleeping like that."
Bo Qin closed his eyes again, hoarsely asking, "Did they leave?"
He Xizhou replied affirmatively and handed Bo Qin his coat from the couch armrest. Bo Qin got up and realized he had been covered with a small blanket, his shoes off, and had a pillow under his head.
"Your assistant just called, I took the call for you," He Xizhou said. "I had Xu Zhi contact your studio. He’ll send you your schedule for tomorrow."
Bo Qin, still groggy, replied, "Xu assistant is so pitiful, doing everything."
He Xizhou emerged from the bathroom holding a warm, damp towel and walked over to cover Bo Qin’s face with it. "I asked your assistant when you needed to return to the studio tomorrow, and he was stammering, he couldn’t even complete a sentence."
The towel was warm, and Bo Qin smiled, wiping his face with it. "It’s because you scared him."
"He’s scared of me?" He Xizhou leaned down to look into Bo Qin’s eyes, staring at him and asking, "Why would I scare him?"
Bo Qin met his gaze, and as his eyes traced the graceful curve of He Xizhou’s eye, he said, "Maybe because you're too beautiful."
He Xizhou paused.
Bo Qin quickly added, "I meant your eyes are really beautiful."
He Xizhou laughed lightly and straightened up. "Thanks for the compliment."
When they returned to Fengjiang, He Xizhou was driving. Bo Qin, fastening his seatbelt, remarked, "Being with a rich guy is different. You change cars every day."
He Xizhou turned on the music and said, "Changing cars is just for safety."
When Bo Qin heard the song's intro, he immediately felt uneasy. As soon as the music played, he groaned, "Bro, is this really okay?"
He Xizhou glanced at him and replied, "Why not? I’m listening to my fiancée’s song."
Bo Qin’s heart skipped a beat. He looked at He Xizhou, but He Xizhou seemed unaware, glancing in the rearview mirror. "Is this experimental electronic music?"
Bo Qin answered, "Yes, it's called ‘Opposite Day,’ or ‘相反日’ (Xiangfan Ri), but it didn’t make a big splash when it was released. Experimental electronic is still a niche genre."
He Xizhou smiled. "You really enjoy playing with music."
"Music is meant to be played with. The best part about being famous is having the resources to do whatever you want," Bo Qin said.
He Xizhou asked, "What are you performing tomorrow night? A new song?"
"Yes, it has elements of Kunqu opera."
"You can sing Kunqu?"
"Just a little," Bo Qin yawned, not sure why he always felt sleepy when he was in He Xizhou’s car. "I learned it when I was younger."
He Xizhou turned off the music. "Adjust your seat and sleep a bit. I'll wake you up when we arrive."
Bo Qin wasn’t fully asleep, but when He Xizhou parked the car in the garage, Bo Qin woke up. He Xizhou asked, "Did I wake you?"
Bo Qin shook his head. "I wasn’t asleep."
They took the elevator up to the second floor. As they exited the elevator, Bo Qin suddenly realized that he and He Xizhou had reached a point where their relationship was so smooth.
It felt unbelievable to Bo Qin. Considering his picky nature, and especially He Xizhou’s status as his future husband, their relationship was surprisingly harmonious.
Bo Qin smiled silently to himself.
In the living room, there were two large boxes. As he took off his coat, Bo Qin casually asked, "What are those?"
He Xizhou, having changed his shoes, walked over to check, saying, "My books. Help me grab the scissors from the hidden compartment above the shoe cabinet."
Bo Qin hung up his coat on the stand, took the scissors from the hidden compartment—it was made of silver, cold and heavy. He handed it to He Xizhou by the sharp end and said, "Is there really that much?"
He Xizhou received the scissors, cut the packing tape, and said, "This isn’t too much, it’s fine."
Bo Qin looked at He Xizhou opening the boxes. "Can I take a look?"
"Why not?" He Xizhou opened another box.
The boxes were big, at least containing thirty to forty hardcover books. Bo Qin flipped through them; they were all high-quality, and each one had been read with He Xizhou’s annotations. Bo Qin touched the handwriting and said, "Your handwriting is too beautiful."
The strokes were smooth and elegant.
He Xizhou picked up a box, saying, "I practiced." Then he told Bo Qin, "Help me carry the other box, I’ll put these in the study."
Bo Qin returned the books to the box and was about to bend down when he heard He Xizhou’s voice, smiling, "Can you lift it?"
Bo Qin grabbed the box, kicked He Xizhou’s leg, and said, "Who do you think you're looking down on?"
He Xizhou’s study was at the end of the second-floor hallway. Bo Qin followed him as he asked, "Isn't there just one wall here? The study is—"
Bo Qin’s words faded when a silver-gray wall slowly opened, revealing a spacious study that Bo Qin had seen in a video before but was still amazed when it fully opened.
The study was two stories high, nearly seven meters tall, with two large spiral staircases on the left and right walls. The central area was open, designed with both a leisure zone and an office area. Looking up, Bo Qin saw the vast night sky through the open glass ceiling, filled with stars and a cold moon. Standing there, he felt a sense of insignificance.
"This is a study?" Bo Qin said, "This is more like a library, did you just open the third floor?"
He Xizhou walked over to the office area, tapped a few spots on the wall, and a screen appeared. He turned off the glass ceiling and switched on the wall lights. "Yes, put the box down."
He turned to Bo Qin with a smile. "Aren’t you tired?"
Bo Qin put the box down, took a spin around the room, and said, "Can I go upstairs and take a look?"
"Of course, it’s all yours. You don’t have to ask my opinion," He Xizhou said seriously.
Bo Qin smiled, went upstairs, and found that the second floor was even more spacious. One whole wall was covered with photos, and He Xizhou followed him up. Bo Qin asked, "Did you take all these photos?"
He Xizhou nodded. "Do you think they look good?"
"They’re beautiful," Bo Qin said, looking through the photos, most of them landscape shots that each held an intense beauty. As he reached the railing at the stairs and looked down, he asked, "Did you organize all these books yourself?"
He Xizhou stood next to him. "Yes, if I do it myself, I know exactly where everything is."
"Where did you find the time for this?"
"It's not urgent, I take my time. Whenever I have time, I come in to organize. Eventually, I’ll finish."
He Xizhou looked at Bo Qin. "If you’re not tired, you can help me organize now."
"Hey," Bo Qin laughed, "You really want me to help? Didn’t you say you were doing this to stay organized?"
"Try it, it’s quite relaxing," He Xizhou said, walking down the stairs. He tapped a few more spots on the wall, and a transportation device activated in the corner. He Xizhou smiled and looked up at Bo Qin. "Help me out?"
Bo Qin hadn’t cleaned up books this often, but when he was younger, he had to clean his grandfather’s study every month on a secluded island. On the island, it was always spring, and he was in charge of sunning the books. He would sit on the roof in the bright sun, making sure the wind didn’t blow them away. More than once, Bo Qin would fall asleep in the shade and wake up to find the books scattered by the wind.
He Xizhou lit incense, filling the air with a familiar cold fragrance. Bo Qin had just taken a shower, and under He Xizhou’s insistence, his hair had been dried with a blow dryer. His hair was now a fluffy mess. He said, "So that cold scent on you is from incense, I thought you just sprayed perfume every day."
"Do you like it?" He Xizhou, wearing silver-rimmed glasses, looked down at the book in his hands. He lowered his head slightly, the wall light casting shadows across his sharp features.
Bo Qin whistled silently. Beautiful man.
The man turned around and looked at him. "It’s my sister who blends it. She’s a perfumer. If you like it, she can make some for you."
"Maybe later," Bo Qin said, thinking He Xizhou was just talking casually. He sat cross-legged on the carpet, wearing a loose linen shirt and pants, clothes that He Xizhou had given him. It was meant to be comfortable, but on Bo Qin, it looked like a child wearing an adult’s clothes.
He Xizhou came over and set the book in front of Bo Qin. He sat cross-legged too, his gaze falling on Bo Qin’s ankles. Bo Qin was barefoot, with a beautifully curved arch and thin, delicate legs. His toenails were clear and well-trimmed, with a contrast between his white skin and the dark pants.
Bo Qin, still sorting the books according to He Xizhou’s instructions, hadn’t heard him for a while. When he looked up, he found He Xizhou staring at his feet. "What are you looking at? I’m organizing the books, and you're daydreaming."
He Xizhou raised his head, meeting Bo Qin’s gaze. Bo Qin was wearing his clothes, smelling of his own signature incense, and still damp from the shower. His neck was flushed lightly, giving off a fresh scent. The air around him felt moist and dewy. He Xizhou smiled and said, "Your feet are beautiful."
Bo Qin thought He Xizhou was just responding to his earlier compliment about his eyes. He waved his foot and said, "I’m beautiful all over."
He kicked He Xizhou’s thigh. "Stop getting distracted, hurry up and organize the books!"
He Xizhou moved his hand slightly, smiled, and stood up to fetch the books.
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