MAPF Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Closing His Eyes, He Looks Like He’s Asking for a Kiss

In the Black Mountain Orphanage’s courtyard, there’s a two-story building, with teaching and office space on the first floor and accommodation for the children on the second.

Xiao Yue ran off to play with a group of children under the shade of a tree, while the others strolled around the inner courtyard, chatting.

Mrs. He said worriedly, “Bai An, if you’re studying art, it would be best to go to Haicheng. I’m afraid Jiangcheng doesn’t have much room for development.”

Old Mr. He retorted, “Not necessarily. Gold shines wherever it is.”

Mrs. He explained, “Dad, the creative environment has the biggest influence on people. Great painters need inspiration.”

Xie Shiwei looked at Bai An’s dejected face and said, “He grew up here, and his adoptive parents are also in Jiangcheng. It’s good for him to come back. His family and friends are here, so he has a sense of belonging.”

Bai An looked up in shock, a strange feeling in his heart.

Xie Shiwei was actually speaking up for him.

Did he really not care about He Qin, not care about him, his number one love rival?

After chatting for a while, Xie Shiwei and He Qin went to theDean’s office to discuss business, quickly finalizing the time, location, and form of participation for the public welfare activities.

Seeing that the Dean seemed to want to talk to He Qin more, Xie Shiwei left first, strolling along a row of plane trees under the two-story building in the courtyard.

The trees were lush, and the warm mountain sun cast dappled shadows.

At the end of the path, Xie Shiwei saw a calico cat chasing butterflies under a tree. He crouched down, clapped his hands, and the cat walked over, rubbing its head against his trouser leg and rolling over on its back. Xie Shiwei smiled, stroking the cat’s furry belly, scratching its chin, and stroking its ears.

He Qin came out after finishing the discussion and saw Xie Shiwei playing with the cat.

He was squatting with his knees bent, wearing a cream-colored hoodie, revealing a section of fair neck with a slightly protruding bone in the middle. As he approached, he heard Xie Shiwei asking the cat if it was full.

The cat meowed.

“Then I’ll take it that you’re full,” Xie Shiwei said. “I didn’t bring any bread today, otherwise I could have fed you some.”

“There’s no need. Teacher He feeds these cats every day,” He Qin said. “Besides, it’s too small to eat bread.”

Xie Shiwei turned his head. “Oh, sorry, I’ve never owned a cat, but I used to feed stray cats. Maybe I fed big cats, and they weren’t picky eaters.”

Xie Shiwei remembered the stray cat rescue plan he had made and got up to talk to He Qin, rubbing his hands together. “He Zong, do you want to donate some money? We’re also planning to fundraise publicly.”

He Qin nodded. “Send me the donation QR code when it’s ready.”

Xie Shiwei chuckled. “Thank you.”

The two were going to visit the next welfare home and said goodbye to Xiao Yue together. Xie Shiwei tied Xiao Yue’s hair into a high ponytail, which Xiao Yue liked very much, hugging Xie Shiwei and kissing him twice.

“Let’s go,” He Qin said, stroking the girl’s head. “It’s getting late.”

Xie Shiwei looked around and didn’t see Bai An. “Aren’t you going to say goodbye to Bai An? Tell him we’ll come pick him up tonight.”

“A WeChat message will do.”

Xie Shiwei: …

He thought the plan for a couple’s trip with He Qin was going to fall through. At the rate this man’s love brain was awakening, he and Bai An wouldn’t even be dating by the time the novel’s plot was over.

Was he really going to have to prepare aphrodisiacs for them?!

Xie Shiwei felt a chill. He crossed his arms and insisted that He Qin clarify things with Bai An in person. He himself wasn’t idle either, and stood on tiptoe to look for Bai An, seeing him through the window of a small classroom on the first floor.

“Let’s go, let’s go,” Xie Shiwei said, dragging He Qin over.

Bai An was teaching the children to draw in the classroom.

The children surrounded him, watching him use his paintbrush to show the magic of painting, creating lifelike cartoon characters with a few strokes.

“Brother Bai An, I want to be a painter too,” a little boy raised his hand.

“Then you have to practice every day and remember the techniques I just taught you,” Bai An said, when he unexpectedly saw He Qin and Xie Shiwei outside the window.

Xie Shiwei waved for him to come out, then excused himself to go to the bathroom and walked away.

Bai An trotted out and stood in front of He Qin, miraculously seeing a smile on He Qin’s face, and said with emotion, “Xiao Qin gege, you’re finally willing to smile at me.”

“It’s good that you can take the initiative to teach them how to draw,” He Qin said with relief.

He had always worried that Bai An would go astray because of his obsessive feelings for him, but now it seemed that Bai An still had a loving heart.

“Xiao Qin gege, I can come and teach the children how to draw often when I return to Jiangcheng in the future.”

“Yes,” He Qin nodded. “But put yourself first in everything. Go wherever you can develop. Don’t be afraid of being alone, and don’t feel like you have to come back just because I’m here, your parents are here.”

“Okay,” Bai An nodded emphatically, hope rekindling in his heart.

So Xiao Qin gege didn’t want to see him, but wanted him to have a bright future.

“I’ll come pick you up with Xie Shiwei tonight. You can continue teaching.”

“…Okay.”

.

Xie Shiwei took this time to go to the bathroom and wash his face with the clear spring water. The spring water was icy cold, and a little sweet when he licked it.

He Qin was waiting for him outside. The two walked back along a small path, passing a dilapidated brick house.

The corner of the house was black, and one window was missing. Xie Shiwei curiously poked his head in. Inside, there were cooking utensils that looked like they had been there for a long time, as well as a set of furniture that looked a bit old.

The cooking utensils and furniture were in one room, which Xie Shiwei found a little strange. “What’s this?”

He Qin stood beside Xie Shiwei and looked inside. “This is where we used to live. The welfare home was very poor back then, and there weren’t enough bedrooms, so the older children would live in the kitchen.”

“The house is locked at night. One night, there was a gas leak, and Bai An saw it when he got up in the middle of the night and smashed the window to save me. Later, the room was abandoned and used to store odds and ends. The window wasn’t fixed, and every year we give the new children a safety education lesson.”

Xie Shiwei made an “oh” sound and pushed the door open to enter the room.

The light inside was very dim, and there was a choking smell of dust. There was almost nowhere to step, and the bed He Qin had slept on was moldy.

Xie Shiwei suddenly had the urge to tell He Qin the truth. He had also lived in a place like this and understood the feeling.

After watching for a while, He Qin called him from outside, and Xie Shiwei closed the door and left.

The Dean and Mrs. He said goodbye to them at the door, watching the commercial vehicle drive onto the winding mountain road.

“Xie Shiwei, that child, seems to have really changed,” Mrs. He said. “Before, Xiao Qin had a headache every time he came because of Xie Shiwei, but today these two were actually able to work together. It’s really amazing.”

“In this world, who doesn’t change?” The old Dean was not surprised, and went back with his crutch.

.

Xie Shiwei and He Qin visited welfare homes along the planned routes in the southwestern mountains of Jiangcheng, finalizing half of the list of participants, while the remaining half was undertaken by Qiao Mu and his two colleagues, who volunteered to help.

At seven o’clock in the evening, the car drove back to the entrance of Black Mountain Orphanage, where Bai An was already waiting.

Xie Shiwei called him to get in the car from the passenger seat.

Bai An reluctantly said thank you, opened the car door and got in, sitting in the last row with a small toy in his arms.

Xie Shiwei looked back. “Sit in the front.”

“No, this is fine,” Bai An said.

“Listen to me, come up a little,” Xie Shiwei put on the airs of an older brother.

Bai An was stunned. He only moved to the seat behind He Qin after He Qin nodded slightly, cautiously reminding He Qin to drive carefully and rest when he was tired.

He Qin didn’t say much, so Xie Shiwei tried his best to talk to Bai An, asking where he bought the toy in his arms. Bai An said it was a gift from the little children he had just taught, with a little pride on his face.

Xie Shiwei looked at his somewhat tender baby face and felt that Bai An’s nature didn’t seem particularly bad.

He had indeed played many tricks to get He Qin, whether he was scheming or being a green tea, but it was all because the cannon fodder Xie Shiwei was constantly interfering, forcing him to do so.

It was all the fault of the unscrupulous author.

Therefore, Xie Shiwei chatted with Bai An more enthusiastically, caring about his four years of study abroad, asking if he had made any friends, what he liked to do in his spare time, and what his ideas were for his graduation artwork.

At first, Bai An was very resistant to communicating with Xie Shiwei, as reticent as He Qin, but he didn’t expect Xie Shiwei to also like playing games. After they had a common topic, he spoke more, and he had even more to say about his graduation project.

Bai An looked at He Qin. “For my graduation artwork, I plan to paint Xiao Qin gege.”

He Qin frowned. “Don’t treat your graduation design like a child’s play.”

Bai An stopped speaking.

He looked at the receding lights outside the window and suddenly felt very tired.

It was really hard to like Xiao Qin gege.

He was obviously very special to him, obviously cared about him, but would never accept his feelings.

.

After the welfare homes participating in the event were determined, all three groups went to He Xin to hold a meeting to finalize the event plan. The two companies competed with each other and completed all the preliminary work arrangements for the project on schedule in just one week, and the implementation was also steadily advancing.

After observing several times, He Qin confirmed that Xie Shiwei maintained a friendly working relationship with Qiao Mu and no longer asked Xie Shiwei to work at He Xin on the grounds that he was immature.

At the end of the month, Bai An returned to school, and the public welfare activities that Xie Shiwei and He Qin had been busy with for a month also kicked off with great fanfare.

Xie Shi Group and He Xin joined hands, and the event attracted a lot of attention from the very beginning. The donation ceremonies for the first few welfare homes concluded smoothly amidst high heat.

On the last day, the recipient of the donation was Black Mountain Orphanage.

The event adopted a live broadcast format, announcing that Xie Shiwei and He Qin would personally attend the scene, and the certain-sound live broadcast room was very lively.

At the welfare home, staff unpacked the equipment one by one, and the children cheered, eagerly gathering around different equipment in groups of two or three.

Xie Shiwei told the children to operate according to the instructions and personally taught several children how to use the intelligent robot newly launched by Xie Shi Group. Xiao Yue cooperated with him, letting the robot show eighteen kinds of martial arts, attracting many people in the live broadcast room to ask for the link.

He Xin Technology’s blockbuster product, the miniature VR device, appeared amidst much anticipation.

It’s compatible with all mainstream brands of electronic terminals, thinner and lighter than all VR glasses currently on the market, and worn on the head like stylish sunglasses, fashionable and comfortable.

The glasses come in three sizes. The children at the scene took turns experiencing them, and Xie Shiwei was also curious, picking up a large size to put on.

He Qin stepped forward. “The large size is too big. Let me help you put on the medium size.”

Xie Shiwei glanced at the camera not far away, mistakenly thinking that He Qin intended to continue dispelling the rumors of their discord, so he deliberately stood very close to He Qin, cooperating and raising his face.

His bangs were brushed up, and Xie Shiwei was completely enveloped in the close proximity of He Qin’s cologne scent. When his eyes met He Qin’s extremely close eyes, his brain suddenly short-circuited and he inexplicably closed his eyes.

He Qin paused, his gaze shifting from Xie Shiwei’s lightly trembling, thick black eyelashes to his rosy lips.

His throat suddenly tightened.

The way this person raised his face, closed his eyes, and looked innocent and pure, looked very much like he was asking for a kiss.