The Beautiful Wife I Picked Up Is A Little Mute - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Don’t Believe Anyone Else

It took quite a while before Nie Xi found his voice, though it still sounded somewhat stiff. “What do you mean by that?”

Nie Chongshi looked at his slightly trembling hand and met Nie Xi’s deliberately fierce expression with a gentle gaze. “That car accident truly cost me my hearing; there is no possibility of repair. I wonder if thinking about it that way makes you feel any better?”

Nie Xi gripped the wine bottle, tilted his head back, and downed a massive gulp. He drank so fast that quite a bit of the liquid spilled from the corners of his mouth, staining his collar with dark watermarks. Just then, shuffling footsteps came from the second floor. Nie Xi swallowed the last of the wine, turned his head to wipe his mouth, shot a glance at Nie Chongshi, and hissed, “Enough. Don’t say another word.”

At the corner of the stairs, Xie Mo’s cheeks were flushed, his messy hair half-covered his eyes, and his steps were unsteady as Ji Hanyue led him downstairs by the hand.

Nie Xi, as if catching a lifeline, stood up abruptly and regained his nonchalant air. “Yo, leaving already?”

Ji Hanyue squeezed the warmth enveloped in his palm and looked down at Xie Mo’s watery eyes. “Do you want to go back?”

Xie Mo’s eyes lacked focus; he kept his head down and didn’t reply. When Ji Hanyue had gone to find Xie Mo earlier, the boy had been hiding in the bathroom, refusing to come out. After waiting patiently for a long time, Ji Hanyue finally pushed the door open. At that time, Xie Mo had his back to the door, squatting against the wall, head down, making a phone call. The contact displayed was “Tang Yingrui,” and Xie Mo had already dialed that number a dozen times.

Seeing Ji Hanyue enter, Xie Mo scrambled to put the phone in his pocket. The Alpha’s face was extremely dark, but he didn’t ask who Xie Mo was calling—perhaps because he already knew the outcome. He roughly hoisted the boy onto the vanity, pinned his elegant neck, and gave him an aggressive, dominant kiss for a long time. Only when Xie Mo’s legs went weak did he let go.

Now, hearing Nie Xi’s voice, Xie Mo’s emotions finally flickered. He remembered Nie Xi but didn’t say it. He could feel that Nie Xi was very nervous right now—was he also being forced to stay here this time?

Suddenly, he collided with a pair of bottomless eyes. The man’s gaze had been fixed on Nie Xi’s back. Sensing the look, he gave Xie Mo a polite, dignified smile.

Nie Xi also noticed Xie Mo’s strange expression and assumed he was remembering the past incident. He coughed a few times and slapped Ren Wen, who was slumped on the sofa, awake. The man was hauled up by the arm in a daze. Before he could react, he heard Nie Xi’s exaggerated cry: “Wen-ge! It’s so late! It’s way too dangerous for a Beta like me to stay here!”

Ren Wen was startled into alertness. Before his brain was fully clear, Nie Xi was already using hidden strength to hustle him toward the door. In the blink of an eye, Nie Xi was gone.

The Alpha didn’t give Xie Mo a chance to use sign language to ask questions. Nie Xi’s occasional “episodes” were common knowledge to those present, so no one said anything. Nie Chongshi remained composed, nodding to Ji Hanyue and the boy. “Safe travels. I should get some rest too.”

Ji Hanyue nodded in farewell and walked out of the hall, his fingers interlaced with Xie Mo’s. Since it was so late, Ji Hanyue told Xia Yi to take the bodyguards’ car back to sleep and not wait for them.

Once in the car, Ji Hanyue leaned over to buckle Xie Mo’s seatbelt. Seeing Xie Mo sitting motionless—even more wooden than before—he patted his cold cheek, sounding a bit displeased. “I only kissed you a few times and didn’t even do anything. Why the long face?”

Suddenly, his hand was held by Xie Mo. This intimate gesture startled Ji Hanyue, and he immediately forgot his anger. “Wh-what is it now?”

Xie Mo seemed very nervous, having completely forgotten Ji Hanyue’s earlier instructions. He held Ji Hanyue’s hand in one of his and wrote quickly in the palm with the other: “Will you give me away to someone else?”

Ji Hanyue couldn’t understand why he would have such a thought. Xie Mo had been marked by him; from now on, he could only belong to him alone. As for giving him away—Ji Hanyue didn’t have a fetish for being cuckolded. Could it be that Xie Mo would rather be with those thugs than with him?

Recalling the scene of Xie Mo calling someone else, Ji Hanyue’s temper flared up instantly. “You want to leave that badly?”

Xie Mo bit his swollen lips and shook his head.

“Then why are you thinking about all this nonsense every day?” Ji Hanyue sneered. Misunderstanding that he still wanted to find Tang Yingrui, he added, “Don’t worry, your Alpha won’t be coming back anytime soon. Even if he does, he won’t take you back. You…”

A small screen was shoved in front of him. Xie Mo’s eyes were behind the phone, looking at Ji Hanyue with trepidation. On the screen was a string of words: “You gave that Beta to someone else.”

He had seen it; that person (Nie Xi) had been taken away by someone else.

“…? What the hell?” It took Ji Hanyue a few seconds to realize what Xie Mo was trying to express. He took a breath and went straight to the point. “Did Nie Xi say something to you last time?”

He had originally thought Nie Xi knew sign language and could stay at the villa to keep Xie Mo company. Now, thinking about it, he decided against it. Back in middle school when they skipped class, the whole group would get caught by the headmaster. He and Ren Wen couldn’t come up with a reason and just had to take their punishment. But Nie Xi? With that silver tongue of his, he could spin a tearful lie so flawless that no one could find a hole in it. He had fooled the headmaster several times and was sent back to class.

He shouldn’t have trusted Nie Xi’s mouth, which loved to talk nonsense; eight out of ten sentences were just made up.

Seeing Ji Hanyue’s suspicious look, Xie Mo became unsure himself. He hesitated for a while and typed cautiously: “He said he was a Beta, that you took a liking to him and imprisoned him in the villa. I only opened the door so he could escape.”

As he typed, his confidence gradually faded. Ji Hanyue pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth and laughed in anger. “Do you know how many of those words you typed are actually true?”

He seriously doubted that if Xie Mo hadn’t met him, the boy would have been tricked away by other Alphas long ago. He believed whatever anyone said. Seeing Xie Mo still shaking his head, Ji Hanyue said firmly, “It was all a lie.”

“He’s an Alpha. I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole, and I certainly wouldn’t imprison a mental case in my villa.” He paused, then laughed in spite of himself. “Do you think you can even open my front door? Once the remote lock is on, you couldn’t pry it open even if you broke your hands.”

The sheltered Omega had never been conned like that before. The atmosphere remained cold for a long time. It wasn’t until they drove out of the suburbs that Xie Mo fully understood what Ji Hanyue meant. Nie Xi was handsome, and his “peach blossom” eyes looked sincere when he lied, giving an innocent illusion.

“So, you won’t give me to someone else.” Xie Mo found the key point. Currently, staying with Ji Hanyue was better than being sold to others.

Ji Hanyue glanced at the screen, gave a dry laugh, and tapped his hand on the steering wheel. In the half-shadows, only the Alpha’s thin lips could be seen moving: “Xie Mo, I am not Tang Yingrui.”

The words were full of mockery, but Xie Mo couldn’t argue. Calling Tang Yingrui was just a tiny, desperate hope. Xie Mo still remembered the way Tang Yingrui’s silhouette looked as he walked away that night, stretched long under the dim streetlights. If asked if he hated Tang Yingrui, Xie Mo didn’t think he could. At least during their time together, Tang Yingrui hadn’t caused him any physical harm. The whole casino kidnapping happened after Tang Yingrui left. Moreover, he had never heard Tang Yingrui say he was giving him to Ji Hanyue with his own ears.

He still didn’t entirely trust Ji Hanyue.

Ji Hanyue, of course, couldn’t guess what the person in the passenger seat was thinking. Xie Mo leaned against the seat, his profile toward the window. On his slender neck were several red marks Ji Hanyue had left—like red plum blossoms on snow-covered branches, very beautiful. He reached out and covered Xie Mo’s fingertips; the boy just stiffened and didn’t pull his hand away.

Suddenly, a chill wafted in through the half-open window. Xie Mo’s eyelashes trembled; it was snowing. Fine grains of snow fell, shimmering in the glow of the streetlights. This was the first snow of the winter, earlier than usual. The Omega’s mood seemed much better because of it; he rested his right hand on the edge of the window, watching the snow unblinkingly.

A perfect hexagonal ice crystal landed in his palm. Xie Mo watched blankly as the white fleck melted into a water droplet from his body heat. He reached out again to catch another, letting the new flakes land on his fingertips. Repeatedly doing this, his small hand turned red from the cold.

When he reached out again, the window rolled up. “I’ll take you to Finland to see the snow during winter break; this little bit of snow is nothing to look at.” Ji Hanyue turned up the heater and handed him a tissue. Xie Mo didn’t respond; he wiped his fingers and tucked his frozen hands into his sleeves. Then he pressed his cheek against the cool window and continued to watch.

By the time they reached the villa, the snow was falling heavily. The butler was already waiting at the entrance with a blanket. Seeing the Maybach, he hurried over with a black umbrella. Xie Mo went in first, while Ji Hanyue went to park.

Upon entering, he suddenly saw another Omega. The Omega looked timid, wrapped in a blanket the butler had given him, sitting on the sofa. Seeing someone enter, he stood up immediately. Xie Mo recognized him—it was the Omega who had been rescued from the casino along with him.

“Hello, my name is Song Xia.” Song Xia plucked up his courage and reached out his hand.

Xie Mo was still dazed. Just as he was about to reach out to shake it, he was suddenly pulled back. “Why are you in my house?”

Ji Hanyue dropped the snow-dusted umbrella, his coat dripping. He instinctively pulled Xie Mo to his side, looking at Song Xia with extreme displeasure. Song Xia awkwardly withdrew his hand. “The bodyguards brought me here.”

It seemed the subordinates had misunderstood. Ji Hanyue frowned. He was about to tell him to get out right now but remembered the snow outside. He turned away. “Leave on your own tomorrow morning.”

Song Xia glanced at Xie Mo, wanting to say something, but Ji Hanyue had already taken the boy upstairs. The butler had originally prepared a guest room for Song Xia, since he was brought back by Ji Hanyue’s men. But Song Xia clutched the blanket and said he wasn’t sleepy. The butler didn’t force him, leaving only a floor lamp on while he sat in an armchair reading a book.

Because he had slept a lot during the day, he wasn’t sleepy at this hour. Suddenly noticing the book the butler was reading, Song Xia couldn’t help but walk over to take a look—Sign Language for Absolute Beginners.

“Uncle, why are you learning sign language?”

The butler closed the book, cleared his throat, and walked toward his room. “Just a book for passing the time. Remember the Master’s orders: lock the door when you leave tomorrow morning.”

…

He had said he would let the boy go when he got bored, but Ji Hanyue found his interest in Xie Mo only grew as time passed. Previously, the boy would flush and cry when touched, but now he just lay there quietly. He remained motionless while Ji Hanyue had his way.

Despite this, Ji Hanyue didn’t feel as “satisfied” as before. The boy no longer struggled or resisted, but he didn’t respond either—he was like a cold doll. Ji Hanyue felt stifled and lost interest. He sat up, drank some cold water, and patted the Omega’s flushed cheek. “Want some water?”

Xie Mo shook his head. The wind from the window gap brought a chill. He instinctively shrank further into the covers. Hearing steady footsteps, the wind sound vanished after a few seconds. Ji Hanyue’s warm body pressed against his back. The Alpha massaged his own aching temples, unsure of what he truly wanted. Holding the boy in his arms, he said casually, “Xie Mo, you’re becoming quite dull.”

The person in his arms stiffened for a moment. Then, Ji Hanyue felt something soft touch his lips. The kiss was cautious, like a fearful plea, and vanished as soon as it landed.

He felt even more annoyed. He shoved the phone from the nightstand to the boy. A moment later, a line appeared on the screen: “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

Since he had been “given” to Ji Hanyue, Xie Mo followed the same obedience he had with Tang Yingrui. He lay there honestly, neither resisting nor struggling. He didn’t understand why the Alpha was still dissatisfied.

Ji Hanyue snatched the phone away and buried his face in Xie Mo’s neck. “Forget it. Go to sleep.”

…

Too much had happened the previous night, so when Xie Mo woke up, it was already 2 PM. The pillow beside him was cold, indicating the Alpha had been gone for a while. Xie Mo rubbed his messy hair and slowly got out of bed. Remembering Ji Hanyue’s words from last night, he felt anxious and planned to resume his “old trade” (saving money/planning) for his future departure.

The lunch prepared was a full table of exquisite dishes. Xie Mo had never seen anything like it and stared in shock. He ate two full bowls and rested for a bit before heading out. At the door, the butler called out to him.

The butler wrapped a wool scarf layer by layer around his neck and draped a thick camel hair coat over his shoulders. Only then did he let go. “Mr. Xie, it’s cold out. Don’t catch a chill.”

The butler was kind to Xie Mo partly because of Ji Hanyue, but mostly because the boy’s thin, fragile appearance evoked pity. Xie Mo had a good impression of the butler and bowed deeply in thanks.

Suddenly, the butler raised his hands and made a stiff gesture. Xie Mo’s pupils dilated with surprise. He signed back: “You know sign language too!”

After a flurry of signs from Xie Mo, the butler just scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed smile. “I haven’t learned that far yet.” He was old, and his memory wasn’t what it used to be. He had wanted to show off his skills, but his memory was a tangle of threads; he only remembered the most basic signs.