Care Guide to Raising a Max Level Leaf in Apocalypse - 14
This scene was so familiar that Si Yin Yuan instinctively called out the name of the young man in front of him, who should have been a stranger: “Ji Jiu.”
Ji Jiu looked at him with round eyes, with white cream at the corner of his mouth, and most of the plates in front of him were empty.
He swallowed the cake in his mouth with a puzzled expression before speaking, “How do you know my name?”
Si Yin Yuan was taken aback for a moment, shaking his head slowly to indicate that he didn’t know either.
His instinct urged him to keep the young man in front of him, even though he had been a noble CEO for two years, the decisive side of Si Yin Yuan’s character still existed deep in his bones.
Under the numbness of alcohol, desire took control of his actions before reason. The man reached out his hand to the young man and said, “Although I don’t know how you managed to sneak in here, I have a way for you to enjoy the food at the banquet without hiding.”
He had just surveyed the area and successfully found the tool the young man used to transport food on the ground—a blue cart.
The young man was still wearing the uniform of the staff here, which was probably how he managed to infiltrate and successfully divert attention while obtaining food.
At every high-class banquet like this, there were always many people trying to sneak in. Si Yin Yuan didn’t care about their intentions; he was like a strategizing king, setting his sights on a clueless prey.
Ji Jiu blinked his eyes. He felt like he had forgotten many things, including his own origins.
All he knew was that he came to this banquet today to find someone, but he didn’t know the person’s name or appearance.
However, at the moment Si Yin Yuan reached out his hand, he realized that he had found the person he was looking for.
Ji Jiu’s eyes brightened, and he reached out his greasy claw after grabbing a chicken leg.
Si Yin Yuan didn’t have cleanliness OCD, but he had never experienced holding hands with a child who made himself dirty from sneaking food.
It was a feeling that required more adaptation than he had imagined. He calmly took out a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiped the slightly smaller hand.
Then he held Ji Jiu’s hand and walked out of the small balcony, waving to a waiter.
The waiter, upon seeing the mess on the balcony, instantly revealed a look of existential doubt. At that moment, all the professional etiquette training was thrown out of his mind. He couldn’t help but stare at Ji Jiu, the obvious troublemaker, and asked, “Excuse me, who is this?”
He didn’t believe that a CEO who frequently appeared in financial magazines would eat so much at this kind of event. Moreover… the evidence of the attractive youth’s sneak eating was too obvious!
The discovered Ji Jiu skillfully tried to run after being caught, but he didn’t forget to pull along the person he had just found.
However, as soon as he took the first step, he was pulled back into the man’s arms by the tall figure beside him.
Si Yin Yuan held Ji Jiu and said to the waiter, “He’s my male companion that I brought in.”
There was no emotion in his dark eyes, except for a few hints of tenderness that he himself hadn’t noticed when he looked down at the youth.
The waiter showed a shocked expression and repeatedly apologized upon seeing the chaos on the small balcony.
An intruder who sneaked in to eat and a high-ranking person’s male companion—the latter was not someone he could afford to offend.
After the waiter left, Ji Jiu immediately looked at Si Yin Yuan with admiration and exclaimed, “You’re amazing!”
Having heard many flattering words, this straightforward praise was still a first.
Si Yin Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly, teasing him intentionally, “How am I amazing?”
He thought the young man would be dumbfounded by this question and stumble with his answer, but Ji Jiu really pondered for a while.
Then he tilted his head and said seriously, “You’re so amazing that you can definitely eat anything you want.”
His eyes were clear, without a trace of coercion.
Influenced by his innocence, Si Yin Yuan realized that Ji Jiu was different from those who infiltrated the party to curry favor. He really just wanted to eat a little something.
With Ji Jiu, he returned to the grand hall of the party and happily fed him.
During that time, curious businessmen approached to probe Ji Jiu’s identity.
Si Yin Yuan gave a unified explanation, “He’s just a mischievous child from my family.”
The rest was left to their imagination.
This statement also stopped many people who wanted to approach Ji Jiu due to his cuteness.
After the party ended, Si Yin Yuan took Ji Jiu, who still clung to the last piece of cake and reluctantly left the party, back home.
Sounds of showering came from the guest bedroom, and the strange familiar feeling in Si Yin Yuan’s heart grew stronger.
He felt like he had experienced this scene before.
Ji Jiu, still wet in his bathrobe, ran out, and his damp black hair made him look even younger than his actual age.
Si Yin Yuan rubbed his forehead. If Ji Jiu hadn’t repeatedly assured him that he was already twenty years old, he would have thought he had accidentally taken an underage person home.
Or maybe he had been cursed.
Otherwise, how could he explain that he could call out the young man’s name at first sight and bring him home directly?
He didn’t remember ever bringing someone else home before.
As he recalled the past, a sense of confusion arose in his mind.
Sensing the man’s discomfort, Ji Jiu tilted his head softly and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Si Yin Yuan replied calmly.
He took out his own clothes for Ji Jiu, but the oversized white shirt made it a bit inconvenient for him to move. Ji Jiu shook his sleeves and frowned, “I don’t want to wear…”
Si Yin Yuan imagined Ji Jiu running around the house naked, and the sense of confusion in his mind inexplicably disappeared.
Si Yin Yuan: “…No.”
“Okay,” Ji Jiu’s voice sounded somewhat inexplicably low.
But soon he became energetic again. He happily shook his sleeves and looked at Si Yin Yuan, asking, “Are you going to take care of me?”
Si Yin Yuan’s expression blanked for a moment, suspecting that he had misheard, “What did you just say?”
Ji Jiu innocently replied, “Are you going to take care of me?”
His enunciation was clear, and his mind was clear.
Si Yin Yuan squinted slightly, “Have you said something like this to someone else?”
Ji Jiu shook his head, “You’re the only one who gave me so much delicious food, so I only said this to you.”
A subtle restlessness was aroused by a sentence and then easily suppressed by another. Si Yin Yuan coughed softly, “You shouldn’t say things like this to anyone else in the future.”
Ji Jiu blinked, “Okay.”
Humans are really strange.
He suddenly froze; he vaguely remembered that he shouldn’t be human.
Then what exactly was he…
Before he had time to think deeply, a loud noise came from outside.
Ji Jiu’s attention was instantly diverted, and he curiously pulled Si Yin Yuan downstairs to see what was happening. A group of people had already gathered downstairs, residents of this community.
They stood in front of a building, their expressions hidden behind a cold smile.
“Poor thing, so young.”
“There’s nothing worth being so distraught about.”
“Really terrifying.”
The scent of blood permeated the air. Curious, Ji Jiu wanted to push through the crowd to see what had happened. But before he could see what the girl looked like, her twisted body on the ground, Si Yin Yuan covered his eyes.
A man’s serious voice came, “Don’t look, you’ll have nightmares.”
…
The suicide incident from last night left no trace in this neighborhood. By the time people left their homes in the morning, there was no sign of it.
Many residents came and went, no longer mentioning what happened last night, as if it were an insignificant matter that dispersed with the evening breeze.
Ji Jiu followed Si Yin Yuan closely like a little tail, using his round watery eyes and a pitiful expression to successfully negotiate the reward of going to the company together in the morning.
He happily ate the buns and soy milk bought from a breakfast stall, sitting in the passenger seat and bobbing his head along with the car’s movements.
Si Yin Yuan couldn’t help but say, “You’ve eaten the tenth bun already…”
His expression gradually turned helpless, but no matter what, he couldn’t suppress the smile in his eyes.
Strangely, he had been taking this route to work for over two years, but it had never felt so vivid before. The presence of the young man was like a colorful ink dot dropped onto a black and white photo.
“It’s the eleventh!” Ji Jiu corrected loudly.
Ji Jiu ate the last bite of the bun reluctantly, and his little nose suddenly wrinkled.
He smelled the same scent of blood as yesterday.
The car in front suddenly slammed on the brakes, and Si Yin Yuan was forced to do the same.
He rolled down the window and asked the driver in front, “What happened?”
The driver and passenger in the front seat both revealed a cold smile in an angle that couldn’t be seen by either of them. The passenger’s mouth opened, but a panicked voice came out, “There’s been an accident up ahead! So much blood!”
Immediately, a passerby chimed in, “The ground is covered in blood!”
“A young girl was killed in the accident, such a pity.”
“Look at her body, it’s all mangled, and her brains are crushed.”
The horror of the accident and the fragility of life were vividly displayed through fragmented words.
Within less than twenty-four hours, two young girls had died around them.
Ji Jiu blinked, feeling somewhat puzzled.
Si Yin Yuan mistakenly thought that the young man was scared and comforted him, “It’s okay, we’ll take a detour.”
Because they took an unfamiliar route, they arrived at the office half an hour later than usual. Just as they arrived, the secretary hurriedly approached, “CEO Si, there’s an important meeting with foreign investors today.”
“I know.” Si Yin Yuan adjusted his cuffs and patted Ji Jiu’s head, instructing, “Behave and stay in the company. I’ll take you to a famous seafood buffet near the office later.”
“Okay,” Ji Jiu obediently agreed.
However, as soon as the man left after closing the door, Ji Jiu immediately slipped out from the other side of the office.
He had the money left from buying buns in his pocket.
It would be enough to buy a small cake for himself.
But before he reached the elevator, he was stopped. An employee recognized him as the person the CEO had brought in the morning and hurriedly explained, “Sorry, you can’t take the elevator right now.”
“Is it broken?” Ji Jiu asked, confused.
The employee’s voice sounded fearful, “Someone… someone hanged themselves in the elevator!”
Ji Jiu tilted his head, “Did you kill the person?”
The employee’s voice sounded even more terrified, mixed with some confusion, “Why would I?!”
“Then you…” Ji Jiu’s voice suddenly turned cold, “Why have you been smiling all this time?”
The employee’s mouth curled into a strange arc, though his voice carried a sense of helplessness, “No, I haven’t.”
From the moment Ji Jiu saw him, his expression had maintained a cold smile, while his voice sounded normally fearful.
It was like a bug stuck in a game, and the person was completely unaware.
Ji Jiu pushed aside the employee’s hand that tried to stop him and walked briskly to the front of the elevator, pressing the button.
The elevator descended from the top floor, floor by floor, until it reached his level and the doors opened slowly.
A heavy and unpleasant stench of blood hit him.
Inside, a girl in black combat attire was already dead, with horrifying bruise marks around her neck. Her beautiful eyes remained open even in death.
On the glass of the elevator door facing him, the girl had written a few words with her own blood:
“Wake up quickly, this is…”