The Little Succubus's Hypnosis Manual - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Seduction – “Gege should let me sit on your lap while reading…”

The hairstylist quickly turned off the massage chair. “That was my oversight, President Zhou.”

“It’s fine now,” Zhou Qiyue let out a sigh of relief and turned to Xie Nanxing. “Still scared?”

Xie Nanxing’s hair and face were still wet. As soon as Zhou Qiyue walked over, he threw his arms around his neck. “Scared of water.”

“Didn’t I wash you at home too? What’s there to be afraid of?” Zhou Qiyue coaxed him gently, patting his back like one would a child.

Still shaken, Xie Nanxing refused to let go and mumbled, “Want you.”

The hairstylist stood nearby, pretending not to notice anything, not daring to utter a word for fear of losing such an important client.

Yet he couldn’t help observing the interaction between Zhou Qiyue and Xie Nanxing.

Zhou Qiyue was a VIP customer at the salon. Every time there was an event, he personally came in for styling. Though young, he was already a rising star in the industry, the kind everyone called “promising and accomplished.”

By all logic, someone like him should have no shortage of companions, male or female.

But in all his years serving him, the hairstylist had found Zhou Qiyue cold and distant, like a robot running on a programmed schedule, showing up for haircuts at fixed intervals each month.

Yet here he was, bending down, using a voice so gentle and patient—like coaxing a little kid.

“How do you use this thing?” Zhou Qiyue asked, pointing at the controls.

Snapping out of his daze, the hairstylist hurried over and showed him how to operate the chair.

Once the massage chair was turned off, Zhou Qiyue took over washing Xie Nanxing’s hair himself. Finally calm, Xie Nanxing sat in the chair while the stylist trimmed his hair.

Zhou Qiyue sat on the couch behind them, waiting.

Instead of watching the falling hair, Xie Nanxing kept sneaking peeks at Zhou Qiyue in the mirror. Whenever their eyes met, he would smile.

Zhou Qiyue mouthed, “Dummy.”

Xie Nanxing pouted right away. Luckily, the haircut didn’t take long. Once it was done, the stylist gently blow-dried Xie Nanxing’s hair.

Compared to Zhou Qiyue, the stylist’s touch was much gentler. His fingers massaged the scalp, and the warm air never scalded him. Xie Nanxing relaxed and squinted his eyes in comfort.

The new cut looked much better than his usual choppy self-trims. His bangs were slightly parted to reveal a sliver of his forehead.

Zhou Qiyue nodded in approval, then reached out and messed up the carefully styled hair. “Not bad.”

Xie Nanxing covered his now-ruined hairstyle and leaned toward Zhou Qiyue affectionately again.

The hairstylist watched the two leave the salon, feeling like he’d just been force-fed a whole bucket of dog food.

But Xie Nanxing was hungry. Zhou Qiyue brought him to the restaurant upstairs. “What do you want to eat?”

Xie Nanxing scanned the storefronts, struggling to recognize the names. Being illiterate, he couldn’t even read Chinese, let alone the English names on some signs.

“No…”

“You don’t want to eat? Then we’ll just go home,” Zhou Qiyue said.

After a pause, Xie Nanxing finally finished his sentence, “…recognize.”

Zhou Qiyue felt a vein pop on his forehead. He had completely forgotten the kid was illiterate. So he brought Xie Nanxing to a familiar Western restaurant.

When the menu was placed in front of him, Xie Nanxing stared blankly—it was all in English, and he didn’t recognize a single letter.

Zhou Qiyue ordered for them. As the waiter placed the cutlery and plates on the table, Xie Nanxing curiously picked up the heavy fork and knife. They clanged against the plate with a metallic ring.

Juice was poured into a tall glass. Xie Nanxing looked at Zhou Qiyue first. Only when he nodded did Xie Nanxing dare take a sip.

He’d only ever had plain water at home—this kind of drink was completely new.

One gulp in, and it was sweet.

Gulp, gulp, gulp—he downed the entire glass, then nudged the empty cup toward the waiter, blinking expectantly.

The waiter nearly bled from cuteness overload and quickly refilled his glass.

Zhou Qiyue reminded him, “Don’t drink too much. You still need to eat.”

“Okay~” Xie Nanxing obediently set the glass down and sat up straight, waiting for the food.

Zhou Qiyue picked up his phone to handle some messages. But in just a few minutes, the boy across from him had already grown bored and started fiddling with the table decorations.

As soon as he saw Zhou Qiyue looking, he stopped immediately and stared back at him.

Zhou Qiyue considered for a moment whether he should buy Xie Nanxing a phone. But he remembered people often said kids could get addicted. Plus, without an ID, he couldn’t even register a phone number.

It wasn’t hard for Zhou Qiyue to get him an ID. He’d originally planned to let Xie Nanxing go once he was more independent. But the more arrangements he made, the more ties there’d be.

He pushed that thought aside—for now, it could wait.

Thankfully, the food arrived. Xie Nanxing stared wide-eyed at the whole steak in front of him. He only knew how to use chopsticks—specifically, the kiddie kind.

Gripping the fork, he tried to shovel the steak straight into his mouth.

Zhou Qiyue took the plate from his hands and, using the fork to hold the steak steady and the knife to slice it into small pieces, prepared it for him.

Xie Nanxing rested his chin in his hand, watching admiringly. “Wow, gege… amazing!”

Zhou Qiyue handed the plate back. “What’s so amazing about that?”

Still, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl up slightly.

Xie Nanxing ate the steak, then started stabbing at the spaghetti with his fork. But it was too thin—he couldn’t get it on the fork. Nor could he pinch it like he would with chopsticks.

“Dummy.” Zhou Qiyue expertly twirled the pasta for him. Xie Nanxing wanted to argue back, but the pasta was already at his lips, and he gulped it down.

“I just… don’t know how,” Xie Nanxing muttered pitifully. Zhou Qiyue fed him another bite, making his cheeks puff out like a little hamster.

“Eat slower. After this, we’re going back to study,” Zhou Qiyue said mercilessly.

Xie Nanxing covered his mouth, refusing to eat another bite—he didn’t want to study!

“Not eating? Then we’ll go home now.”

“No…” Xie Nanxing bit the fork and swallowed the pasta. Seeing the smirk on Zhou Qiyue’s face, he grumbled in protest. Humans were so annoying—they loved teasing him.

Just as they were finishing up, the waiter brought over a plate of matcha cake.

Xie Nanxing’s eyes lit up. He scooped a bite with his fork—the cream was soft, the matcha flavor rich, and it was sweet on the tongue.

“So good!” Noticing there was only one piece, he scooped a bit and offered it to Zhou Qiyue. “Gege, eat.”

Zhou Qiyue didn’t care for sweets, but since he knew Xie Nanxing liked them, he had ordered dessert. Seeing those eager eyes, he still took a bite.

Surprisingly, it was sweet but not cloying—really quite good.

“If you like it, eat more.” Zhou Qiyue paid the bill and took him home. The driver carried in bags upon bags.

Aunt Wu came over to help. Zhou Qiyue pointed to Xie Nanxing’s room. “Aunt Wu, please bring those to his room.”

“Of course.” She glanced at all the bags. Xie Nanxing, not wanting to study, offered to help her organize the clothes.

While cutting off the tags, Aunt Wu couldn’t help but gasp at the prices.

“Hmm?” Xie Nanxing tilted his head.

Aunt Wu lowered her voice. “Mr. Zhou treats you very well.”

Xie Nanxing nodded. Zhou Qiyue really did treat him well. He took out a bag of shiny gemstones and showed her. “Gege… gave me.”

“Wow, just one of these is worth a month of my salary,” Aunt Wu said, looking at the box of gems.

“Expensive?” Xie Nanxing had no concept of money. But from her tone, it seemed they weren’t as “ordinary” as Zhou Qiyue made them sound.

“Of course! One piece is twenty or thirty thousand yuan. Altogether, you’ve probably got two hundred thousand worth here. That’s a whole year of my wages!”

Xie Nanxing was stunned. He quickly packed the gems back up and went to the study.

Zhou Qiyue was wearing glasses, hunched over the desk doing something. When he saw Xie Nanxing enter, he quickly slammed the drawer shut and stuffed whatever he was holding inside.

“Finished organizing? Then let’s get to studying.”

Xie Nanxing shuffled over, placing the bag of jewelry on the desk. “Too expensive… don’t want.”

“It’s not expensive. As long as you like it.” Zhou Qiyue didn’t want to argue. He pulled Xie Nanxing over, sat him down, and opened the phonetic chart.

Distracted, Xie Nanxing pursed his lips. He didn’t have money to repay Zhou Qiyue, but he could clean his room like Aunt Wu—repay him with chores!

Feeling a little better, his mind began to drift.

“Gege,” he called suddenly. Zhou Qiyue looked into his eyes—those eyes held a whirlpool, pulling him in.

A clear voice echoed in Zhou Qiyue’s head: “Physical contact brings happiness. It helps with memory. So Gege should let me sit on your lap while studying.”

“I should let you sit on my lap.”

Xie Nanxing bit his lip, eyes sparkling as he looked at Zhou Qiyue. Sure enough, Zhou Qiyue took his hand and pulled him over.

Spreading his legs, he patted the space between them. “Sit here. I’ll teach you.”

Even though he knew Zhou Qiyue was hypnotized, Xie Nanxing still felt a bit nervous watching his movements.

He lifted one leg to climb onto Zhou Qiyue’s lap, but moved too slowly. Impatient, Zhou Qiyue pulled him directly into his arms.

Sitting on his lap, Xie Nanxing steadied himself with one hand on Zhou Qiyue’s abs. His breath fanned against Zhou Qiyue’s neck—their bodies nearly pressed together.

“Gege.” Xie Nanxing glanced at the thermometer—it ticked up another notch. Though this posture was embarrassing, for the sake of boosting affection, he mustered his courage, leaned in, and blew lightly into Zhou Qiyue’s ear.

Something felt off in Zhou Qiyue’s mind, but a voice kept telling him: this is normal. He’s just teaching Xie Nanxing how to study.

But in that moment, something inside him finally snapped—

Zhou Qiyue broke free from the hypnosis.