Chapter 13: Little Boyfriend
Li Xunyang was waiting outside the villa for the video doorbell to connect. He had already prepared himself to stand out in the cold wind, exchange a few words at the gate, forcibly arrange another batch of servants for the other party, and then leave.
But to his surprise, the door in front of him went click and opened.
Li Xunyang stared at the scene before him in disbelief, feeling the warm air rush toward his face. For a split second, he even thought he had run into a burglar and almost lashed out at the person in the doorway.
“I can’t believe it! You actually opened the door for me?” Li Xunyang exaggerated his expression, putting on a show as if he were so moved he was about to cry.
“I can really come in?”
He cautiously held onto the doorframe and asked again and again. Only when Fu Heqing’s patience was about to run out and he was preparing to close the door again did Li Xunyang hurriedly squeeze inside.
Behind him followed a petite girl. After greeting Fu Heqing with a “Brother Fu,” she shifted her gaze. Taking advantage of the fact that Fu Heqing couldn’t see, she craned her neck and peeked past him, looking around as if searching for someone.
Mu Mu quietly tilted his head, eyes wide, also sizing up the two people opposite him from head to toe.
Wow—so this is what the painter’s friends are like?
The girl who looked suspiciously like a little kitten was wearing a dress with a white mid-length coat over it. She looked cute and sweet, like a human girl who hadn’t quite grown up yet.
The man beside her was also wearing a coat—black, long, and styled to look very mature, the image of a workplace elite. But the moment he opened his mouth, that aura completely collapsed, leaving only the impression of a husky that had slipped its leash and gone charging off wildly.
Li Xunyang walked in and only noticed, when he sat down on the sofa facing Fu Heqing, that there was actually a doll placed beside him—a small skeleton.
“Huh? Where did this toy come from?”
Curious, Li Xunyang reached out, wanting to pick it up and take a closer look. After all, anything that appeared beside Fu Heqing was definitely not something ordinary.
Mu Mu was in the middle of curiously observing the two of them. When he saw Li Xunyang reach out, he instinctively raised his own hand as well, intending to shake it in a friendly gesture.
“Don’t move.”
Fu Heqing said coldly.
Mu Mu instantly froze, his little skeletal claw still held in the same position, not daring to move at all.
Li Xunyang was also stunned by that shout and froze on the spot as well, like a statue.
Earlier, Li Yiyi’s view had been blocked by her brother. Only after hearing that shout did she notice that there was such a toy beside Fu Heqing. She glanced over, turned pale in shock, and hurriedly dragged Li Xunyang—the husky—back.
“Are you out of your mind? That’s Mu Mu’s thing!” Li Yiyi whispered. “Mu Mu even used this toy as an avatar before.”
“You actually went and touched it—this is bad, this is really bad. With Brother Fu’s temperament, there’s no way your dog paw is going to survive.”
Li Xunyang’s face drained of color at once. “W-what?! I—I haven’t touched it yet!”
Mu Mu pulled his skeletal claw back, eyes wide, just as terrified.
It’s over, it’s over. He had broken the second rule he agreed on when becoming friends with the painter: respect humans—humans are afraid of non-human beings.
The two humans opposite him were jumping at every little thing, not as calm as the painter. They wouldn’t faint at a scare like the maid from before, would they?
Thinking of this, Mu Mu felt utterly miserable.
Damn it—why did he reach out for no reason? He thought the human on the other side was trying to shake hands and make friends with him!
Li Yiyi looked at the little skeleton toy again and said, “If you didn’t touch it, then why did the toy’s hand, which was stretched out before, get put back?”
Li Xunyang looked completely confused. “What do you mean, put back? Wasn’t it down from the start?”
“……”
The living room suddenly fell into an uncanny silence. What had been whispered conversation now seemed magnified countless times—everyone sitting at either end of the sofa could hear every word perfectly clearly.
And when those last two sentences fell, the entire living room was filled with nothing but silence.
Mu Mu glanced at the Li siblings sitting directly across from him, exchanging nervous looks, and tried to sneak a peek at the painter’s expression. But as he turned his head too far, it let out a loud click.
The siblings immediately snapped their gaze toward him, eyes sharp and piercing.
Mu Mu felt extremely guilty. Seeing Fu Heqing slowly lower his head, he blurted out a defensive excuse without thinking:
“…I didn’t say anything, okay.”
A clear, youthful voice came from the skeletal toy beside Fu Heqing.
“Whoa! Whoa! It’s alive!”
The husky yelped and leapt up, roaring, “I knew it! Brother Fu wouldn’t be this kind, inviting us in for warmth, letting us sit on the sofa! Could it be that Brother Fu was eaten by some mountain monster after all? The monster’s wearing Brother Fu’s face, tricked us two little fools, and plans to use us as… as snacks for dinner—”
“Shut up.”
Fu Heqing had reached the limit of his patience and finally spoke.
Li Xunyang immediately went as quiet as a chicken.
“What’s the matter?” Fu Heqing’s deep, slow voice filled the room, instantly calming the space, even though it was just Li Xunyang’s noise that had disturbed it.
“One at a time,” he said.
Li Xunyang stammered, “Mo—monster…”
“It’s not a monster. If you don’t believe me, you can leave right now.”
Fu Heqing looked at Li Xunyang. His eyes were dark and unfocused, yet his presence remained serious and commanding, impossible to ignore.
“Oh… oh, then… that’s nothing.”
Li Xunyang immediately wilted, cautiously glancing at Fu Heqing, then slowly turned his head to carefully look at the skeletal toy beside him.
“Next,” Fu Heqing said.
After his voice fell, the Li siblings didn’t quite understand what he meant. Li Yiyi thought it surely didn’t involve her. But before she could think further, the clear, crisp youthful voice from before sounded again:
“I didn’t make a sound.”
The voice sounded a little aggrieved, almost like a small complaint:
“It’s him! He reached out… I thought he wanted to shake hands and be friends.”
“And then…?”
Mu Mu finished his earnest little accusation, then turned his head to see the Li siblings’ eyes sparkling as they looked at him.
“Found out, then found out,” Fu Heqing said casually, yet he reached out and picked up the little skeleton, holding it in his arms.
“I’ll give them three questions.”
“Okay!” Mu Mu obediently cooperated.
“This is…” Li Xunyang asked tentatively.
“Mu Mu’s skeleton toy.”
“The one that just spoke… was that Mu Mu?” Li Yiyi immediately caught the point. When she got the affirmative answer, her eyes lit up.
“Mu Mu?!” Li Yiyi looked at the little skeleton excitedly and waved her hand. “I’m Li Yiyi, also known as Five Cats. How about that—didn’t expect it, huh!”
Mu Mu immediately mimicked Li Yiyi’s gesture, waving his little skeletal hand. “Hello, Li Yiyi! I’m Mu Mu!”
He was so excited he waved with a lot of force, making his skeletal body go click click with each motion.
Hearing the sound, Fu Heqing quickly pressed the skeleton back into his arms.
“Last question.”
“I’ll go, I’ll go!” Li Xunyang hurried forward, carefully thinking of several questions before finally asking, “Where can this be bought? Are there other styles?”
“They’re not sold anywhere,” Mu Mu answered earnestly. “I’m one of a kind.”
Li Xunyang immediately looked very disappointed. “Then I’ll just make one myself. Doesn’t look too hard… I just don’t know how you make it wave so lightly. Did you put wheels under your feet?”
“No.” Mu Mu, still confused, answered honestly. “I actually wanted one when I saw Little E had one too.”
Li Xunyang glanced at the AI “Little E” housekeeping robot charging not far away and immediately understood.
Ah, so it turns out he’s a guy who works in AI!
“Ah, no wonder… you scared me half to death.”
Without anyone guiding him, Li Xunyang immediately came up with the most reasonable explanation for Mu Mu and Fu Heqing.
“Nowadays couples have all kinds of weird ways to chit-chat on the phone. They even make little humanoid companions—no mute button, of course that’s inconvenient.”
As soon as Li Xunyang said this, everything that had happened suddenly made perfect sense in a neat logical loop.
This little skeleton was a simple robot, designed for couples to chat with. The one speaking was the beautiful human boy named Mu Mu.
Earlier, he had reached out to shake hands because the AI’s recognition system was too dumb—just one movement triggered the handshake protocol.
Mu Mu still didn’t fully understand what Li Xunyang was talking about, but it was clear that Fu Heqing did—and he was quite pleased that Li Xunyang had managed to come up with a reasonable explanation on his own.
Fu Heqing lightly tapped the surface of the coffee table, bringing the conversation back to the main topic.
“What brings you here this time?”
Now that it was time to get serious, Li Xunyang stayed quietly off to the side, leaving it all to Li Yiyi.
“Ah, well, I’m Mu Mu’s friend. Mu Mu was probably worried because he knew you were sick and couldn’t come himself, so he sent me a message.”
Li Yiyi quickly summarized the backstory in one breath, even using Mu Mu to strengthen her point. Then, cautiously, she tested the waters:
“Brother Fu, your eyes… are they okay? Should we call Doctor Chang over?”
“No need.” Fu Heqing refused immediately, without a second thought.
“Then what happened to your eyes…”
Li Yiyi carefully continued, “Did something… trigger them?”
As Li Yiyi asked, Li Xunyang stood nervously beside her, holding his breath, worried that Fu Heqing might suddenly get annoyed and toss them out.
“I went out.”
“Hiss…”
A sharp intake of breath echoed through the living room.
“You really went out? For your little boyfriend?”
Li Xunyang was so shocked that he lost control of his words and blurted it out loudly. But the moment he spoke, he noticed the skeletal toy in Fu Heqing’s arms and realized it was “on a call.” He quickly clamped his hand over his mouth.
Fu Heqing, however, remained as calm and indifferent as ever.
Mu Mu immediately caught the key words and tried to make himself as unobtrusive as possible, afraid that Fu Heqing would stop talking if he realized Mu Mu was listening.
He had a strange intuition that he might hear things from that loud, brash boy that the painter himself would never reveal.
Sure enough, Mu Mu listened as the boy continued:
“You went out, so why didn’t you see Doctor Chang for your somatization issues? You can’t go on a date with your little boyfriend once and go blind every time.”
Fu Heqing: “……”
“Besides, you can’t just stay in the villa for another four years, taking him along too—”
Before Li Xunyang could finish, Fu Heqing raised a hand to interrupt him.
Li Xunyang thought this piece of advice was about to fail again, but then Fu Heqing said bluntly:
“This matter doesn’t need to be discussed further. I’ve already made arrangements with Doctor Chang.”
Li Xunyang’s eyes went wide in disbelief.
“Really? Whoa, amazing… nothing like the power of love!”
“Who’s Doctor Chang?” Mu Mu quietly asked Li Yiyi, turning his head.
But because Mu Mu was sitting right beside Fu Heqing, and Li Yiyi was across a coffee table, even whispering was loud enough for Fu Heqing to hear.
Li Yiyi glanced at him, saw that Fu Heqing didn’t react, and whispered back:
“He’s Brother Fu’s psychologist. He has been treating Brother Fu all along and knows his condition better than anyone.”
“What kind of illness is it?” Mu Mu asked again.
Fu Heqing heard Mu Mu’s question and immediately turned his head back, his expression unreadable.
<< _ >>
