DASFAM_75

When he arrived at the Swiss ski resort hotel, Bai Xu was still feeling a little dazed.

It had simply started because he watched it snow in the capital for several consecutive days, and on a whim said he wanted to go skiing. As a result, Shang Yanxiao had instructed Xie Qi to arrange everything, booking the ski resort and accommodations here.

The hotel was a standalone duplex villa, with the ground floor leading directly to an outdoor hot spring pool, and the second floor's viewing terrace offering a distant view of the ski slopes and stargazing at night—already considered the finest in this ski town.

Click.

The villa's front door was gently shut.

Shang Yanxiao walked closer, "What are you thinking about? Are you tired?"

Bai Xu said jokingly, "I was thinking, it's great to be rich."

As long as all the proper documents were in order, going anywhere was just a matter of moments.

Shang Yanxiao gave a light laugh, without objecting, "Should we have the hotel send food up, or go out to eat?"

It was already getting late, and as for the true purpose of this trip, that would naturally have to wait until they had rested and recovered their energy.

Bai Xu had slept a little on the plane and was feeling fairly well at the moment, "Let's go to the hotel restaurant. After sitting on a plane for so long, it'd be good to walk around a bit before resting."

"Alright, give me a moment."

Shang Yanxiao responded and turned to open his own suitcase.

Bai Xu stood in place, staring at his back, "What are you looking for? Aren't we going directly?"

Before the words had even finished, Shang Yanxiao took a scarf out of the suitcase, then stood up and wrapped it around Bai Xu's neck.

"……"

Bai Xu felt the soft fuzz of the scarf brushing against the side of his neck and tilted his head to escape it, but couldn't, "It's itchy."

Shang Yanxiao had no choice but to loosen the scarf he had just fastened, laughing helplessly, "Young Master Bai, how can you be so sensitive?"

There was a trace of something indescribable in those words—an ambiguity that couldn't quite be named.

Bai Xu instinctively buried half of his face deeper into the scarf, "I'm not even cold. Why do I need to wear a scarf?"

"And who was it that started shivering the moment they stepped out of the hotel lobby?" Shang Yanxiao patted the scarf on his chest, "It's a two or three minute walk to the hotel restaurant, and I don't want you catching a chill."

"It's only two or three minutes. I'm not that delicate."

The corners of Bai Xu's lips, hidden behind the scarf, curved into a smile as he teased, "Besides, since when does a friends-with-benefits look after someone this much? Isn't it enough to just perform in bed?"

His voice, muffled by the scarf, carried a sly, soft edge to it.

"……"

Shang Yanxiao's eyes flickered.

The next second, he gave the scarf covering Bai Xu's mouth a light tug, cupped the back of the other man's head, and 'bit' down.

His teeth pressed against those soft lips, bearing down with a force that felt like punishment.

"Mm."

Bai Xu winced in pain and quickly pulled his head back, "That hurt."

Shang Yanxiao laughed despite his irritation, "Good that it hurts. If I ever hear the words friends-with-benefits from your mouth again, I'll…"

Bai Xu cut in fearlessly, "You'll what? Do me to death?"

A faint laugh escaped from Shang Yanxiao's throat, a dark gleam flickering in the depths of his eyes, "If that's what Young Master Bai is hoping for, we can cancel all three days of skiing."

"Don't."

True to form, Bai Xu pulled back just before the edge of the cliff and changed the subject, "I'm hungry. Let's go eat."

The moment the door opened, the cold of the falling snow rushed in, and Bai Xu instinctively drew a sharp breath.

Shang Yanxiao promptly stepped up beside him, "A' Xu, walk behind me. I'll block the wind for you."

"Okay."

...

The hotel restaurant was open twenty-four hours, with the heating turned up high, though it was already past nine o'clock and only a handful of diners remained.

Shang Yanxiao had stayed at this hotel before and knew it fairly well, "The view from the second floor looking out is much better. Head up first, after eight in the evening the buffet closes, so I'll go to the counter and order."

Having spent so much time together, the two of them naturally knew each other's tastes well.

Bai Xu answered and made his way up the spiral staircase, unwinding his scarf as he went.

Compared to the scattered tourists on the first floor, the second floor had almost no diners at all—which was precisely why the sound of an argument carried so clearly.

"I said, I have no interest in getting to know you! Show some respect!"

"Look at that, he's even cuter when he loses his temper. Relax, we just want to introduce you to some friends~"

"……"

Bai Xu felt the voice speaking in German was somehow familiar, and instinctively looked toward it—

In a corner of the restaurant, two tall, broad-shouldered white men were crowding around a young boy who was notably shorter, with a small brown bear-eared hat on his head.

By comparison, he did indeed look small and delicate.

"Get away from me!"

The young boy turned around, revealing a face that was all too familiar.

In no time, the two white men blocked his path again, one of them even letting out a vulgar whistle, their intentions unmistakably clear.

A flash of disgust crossed Bai Xu's brow as he stepped forward quickly, "What do you think you're doing to my friend?"

The words came out in equally flawless German.

"……"

"……"

All three of them turned to look.

Zhang Changning, who had moments ago worn an expression of embarrassed indignation, broke into a look of surprise and delight the instant he saw his friend, "Bai Xu, what are you doing here?"

Bai Xu had no time for small talk, and instead seized the moment to pull Zhang Changning behind him, "Gentlemen, please leave."

The two white men exchanged a glance, their interest shifting into something more pointed.

"Just as I thought, you Chinese really are all this cute."

"Relax, young man, we mean no harm. We just want to make friends."

"You're here on a ski holiday too, right? Why not join us? We can all have a good time together."

Perhaps emboldened by Bai Xu's presence beside him, the restrained temper of Zhang Changning's pampered nature immediately flared up, "Who wants to have a good time with you? I'm warning you, stop bothering me and my friend!"

After saying that, he couldn't help letting out a quiet "peh" under his breath, "Disgusting creeps!"

One of the white men kept his gaze fixed on Zhang Changning, "My, Little Bear has quite a fiery temper, I like your spirit. But surely you Chinese aren't this timid?"

As he spoke, he extended a hand in a show of friendliness.

Bai Xu let out a cold laugh and, moving before Zhang Changning could react, swatted the ill-intentioned hand away sharply, "Get lost, scum."

"……"

"……"

The smiles on the two white men's faces stiffened. The one whose gesture had been rejected dropped all pretense and revealed his true colors.

Ignoring the sting in his wrist, he reached out and grabbed Bai Xu by the collar, "I gave you a chance, I'll…"

Bai Xu's eyes hardened, his knee already beginning to drive forward with force.

Shang Yanxiao, who had arrived just in time, seized the man's wrist, "Excuse me, show some respect to my partner!"

He turned to Zhang Changning, "Go call the others up."

"……"

Others?

Zhang Changning caught on immediately and played along, pulling out his phone, "Got it!"

Compared to Bai Xu and Zhang Changning, who stood at around 180 centimeters, Shang Yanxiao's build and height were clearly far more imposing.

Seeing Zhang Changning about to call for backup, and finding themselves at a numerical disadvantage, the two men quickly dropped their intentions, "Hey, no hard feelings. We were just joking around. Enjoy your meal~"

With that, they broke free of Shang Yanxiao's grip and made a swift exit.

Zhang Changning put away his phone—which he had only pretended to use—and let out a disdainful snort at their retreating figures, "What a pair of lowlifes! Don't let this young master run into you again!"

Shang Yanxiao immediately turned to Bai Xu, "Are you alright?"

Bai Xu shook his head, "I'm fine. If you hadn't stepped in just then, my knee would've already smashed that man's means of causing trouble."

Shang Yanxiao let out a breath of relief, "Next time something like this happens, don't go charging in alone."

Bai Xu gave a nod and looked over at Zhang Changning, who was still seething beside them, "Changning, are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Zhang Changning readjusted his little bear hat, not having expected to run into familiar faces in a foreign country, "Third Brother, Bai Xu, what are you two doing here?"

Bai Xu turned the question back on him, "I was going to ask you the same thing. Why are you here alone?"

Shang Yanxiao followed up, "Did Changxu come too?"

"……"

At the mention of that name, Zhang Changning's expression shifted slightly, "No, I came by myself."

Back then, Shang Yanxiao and Zhang Changxu had brought their two younger brothers along, and ever since, whenever they had time to come skiing, they would almost always stay at this hotel. What was surprising was that this time, they had all ended up choosing the same dates without any prior arrangement.

Bai Xu and Shang Yanxiao exchanged a glance, "Shall we sit and talk?"

"Sure."

The three of them settled back at the corner table.

Zhang Changning's steak was only half eaten, and he had little appetite left now. He picked up his fork and listlessly stirred the garnishing vegetables around his plate.

Bai Xu picked up on something, "Changning, does your brother know you're here?"

"……"

Zhang Changning's hand stilled, "I didn't tell my family. I just got bored staying in the capital, so I decided on a whim to come and have some fun."

Shang Yanxiao's brow furrowed slightly, "Don't be reckless, you should at least let your family know you're safe."

"They don't have time to worry about me right now anyway."

Zhang Changning jabbed at the steak on his plate with increasing force and muttered, "They finally managed to get my second brother on a break, and now they're busy arranging blind dates for him."

Bai Xu caught every word of that quietly murmured remark, tinged with unmistakable dejection, and a flicker of curiosity crossed his eyes.

Before he could make sense of it, Zhang Changning seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to Shang Yanxiao in a rush, "Third Brother, please don't tell my family I'm here!"

He had deliberately turned off his domestic phone number before leaving, precisely so that no one from his family could reach him.

Afraid that Shang Yanxiao might not go along with it, Zhang Changning specifically directed a pleading look toward Bai Xu as well, "And now that you two are here, at least I'll have some company!"

Bai Xu smiled and looked across at Shang Yanxiao. Just then, the restaurant server arrived with the dishes they had ordered.

Shang Yanxiao used the moment to change the subject, "Let's eat first. Changning, have a bit more too."

"Oh, alright."

Zhang Changning's standalone villa was two rows away from theirs. After dinner, Shang Yanxiao and Bai Xu walked him back to his place first before making their way to their own.

Bai Xu glanced over at Shang Yanxiao beside him, "When are you planning to tell the Zhang family that Changning is here?"

Shang Yanxiao replied without missing a beat, "The moment we're inside, I'll send a message."

Bai Xu laughed, "Knew you were in cahoots with Dr. Zhang."

Shang Yanxiao unlocked the villa's electronic door, "Changning has been raised as the apple of the Zhang family's eye since he was little. Even when he went abroad to study, the Zhang family hired him a dedicated personal assistant and a close-protection bodyguard, to ensure his daily life and travels were safe every day."

Bai Xu was taken aback, "They keep that close a watch on him?"

Something seemed to cross Shang Yanxiao's mind, though he didn't pursue it further, "It's not my place to say much about the Zhang family's affairs. Either way, he's clearly thrown a little tantrum this time. Since I've run into him, I should at least let the Zhang family know he's safe."

"Fair enough."

Bai Xu thought for a moment, "Should we bring him along tomorrow when we go out? Looking at Changning, he seems like the type who draws unwanted attention pretty easily when he's out on his own."

Shang Yanxiao had no objection, though he couldn't help feeling a little resigned, "Didn't expect to come all the way out here and still end up with a third wheel."

Bai Xu curved his lips into a smile, "It's getting late. I'll go freshen up first. I'll take the second bedroom, you take the master?"

The hotel villa had a fairly standard two-bedroom layout across two floors.

Shang Yanxiao's brow lifted slightly, and he pulled Bai Xu back into his arms before he could walk away, "Young Master Bai, what are you thinking? You're sleeping with me these few days. I wouldn't want you lying awake because you're not used to a new bed."

Bai Xu let out an amused snort, "Third Young Master, I think you've got that backwards."

Shang Yanxiao had long since picked up his habit of deflecting with a scoff, "Either way, we're sleeping together."

...

The weather the next day exceeded both Bai Xu and Shang Yanxiao's expectations—a near-blizzard brought their plans to go out to a complete halt.

With no other choice, the two of them ended up cooped up in the room for the entire day. Fortunately, the hotel's food and drink offerings were generous, and soaking in the outdoor hot spring was pleasant enough.

It wasn't until eight in the evening that the snowfall showed any sign of letting up.

Bai Xu, thoroughly bored, finished watching another film. Then the hotel phone on the coffee table suddenly rang.

He picked it up without a second thought, "Hello?"

"Bai Xu! It's me!"

Zhang Changning's voice came through from the other end, and mixed in with it was the clinking of glasses in the background.

Bai Xu's brow furrowed slightly, "Changning, where are you?"

Zhang Changning answered honestly, "I'm at the bar on the fifth floor of the hotel's main building. Come– come have a drink with me! I'm so bored on my own!"

"……"

Zhang Changning's last words trailed off a little, and he sounded somewhat drunk.

"Oh, and don't bring Third Brother! I, I…" Zhang Changning stumbled over his words, "We're not letting him join us!"

Bai Xu gave a helpless sigh, "Alright, got it."

After hanging up, Shang Yanxiao happened to walk out of the bathroom at that very moment. Seeing Bai Xu getting up, he asked, "What's going on?"

Bai Xu told him straight, "Changning just called me through the hotel's internal line. He's at the bar inside the hotel right now, and I think he might be a bit drunk. I'm not comfortable leaving him on his own, so I'm going to check on him."

Shang Yanxiao followed up, "I'll come with you then."

"You'd better sit this one out."

Bai Xu recalled what Zhang Changning had told him, "I get the feeling his mood isn't great. Let me go check on things first, and if I can't handle it, I'll call you?"

The bar was inside the hotel, so getting there was easy enough.

Shang Yanxiao thought it over, "Alright, contact me the moment anything comes up."

"Will do."

Bai Xu threw on a jacket and headed out the door.

Being inside the hotel, the fifth-floor bar was a quiet establishment meant purely for drinking—the atmosphere was entirely unhurried, and at this hour, quite a number of people had come to drink.

Following his instincts, Bai Xu scanned toward the corners of the room, and sure enough, spotted Zhang Changning drinking alone in a booth tucked in one of them.

Tonight he was wearing a small cat-eared hat, and from behind, the little ears on top trembled gently with his movements, drawing more than a few glances.

Bai Xu walked over quickly and reached out to give his little ears a pinch, "Young Master Ning, how did you end up drinking alone again?"

Zhang Changning looked up, his gaze hazy with intoxication and landing on his friend. He smiled and patted the empty seat beside him, "You made it, sit down!"

Bai Xu sat, "How much have you had?"

Zhang Changning smiled brightly and held up the very tip of his little finger, "Just a tiny bit."

"Nonsense."

Bai Xu glanced at the nearly empty whisky cocktail on the table, and picked up on the bitterness hiding beneath Zhang Changning's smile, "Changning, what's really going on?"

"Nothing's wrong," Zhang Changning slid the glass he'd saved over to Bai Xu, "I'm fine. Have a drink with me?"

Bai Xu didn't refuse, "I remember the very first time we met, we ended up at a bar drinking too. And then Dr. Zhang came and dragged us away."

"……"

The smile in Zhang Changning's eyes faded a little, and he turned his head away from Bai Xu's gaze.

Bai Xu took a sip of his drink, "Changning, did you sneak away because you had an argument with your family?"

"No, I really didn't."

"Then did you have a falling out with Dr. Zhang?"

"…That's not it either."

Bai Xu's eyes deepened, and he simply changed his approach, "At Shang Qishun's engagement banquet last time, were you about to say something to me by the bathroom sink?"

"……"

Zhang Changning had a vague recollection that something like that had happened, only he had just been about to open up when Shang Qishun had walked into the restroom and cut him off.

Bai Xu set his glass down gently on the table, "Changning, have I ever told you– I'm very good at reading people."

Zhang Changning didn't respond, only staring fixedly at the liquid in his glass.

The seconds ticked by, long enough for the ache of unspoken emotion to keep rising in his throat and blocking it shut.

"Changning?"

"Bai Xu."

Both of them spoke at once, and both stopped at the same moment.

Zhang Changning finally let himself break free of the restraints he had kept around his heart, reaching for somewhere to let it all out, "Bai Xu, the truth is– I'm an adopted child of the Zhang family."

–

TL: Muji

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