The Little Succubus's Hypnosis Manual - Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Surveillance
One in the living room, one in the study, one in the kitchen too…
Xie Nanxing hadn’t even gotten up from the floor when Zhou Qiyue’s aura pressed down on him like a storm. As he tried to inch his hand behind himself, Zhou Qiyue crouched halfway down, eyes locked on him with such intensity that it felt like they’d stay frozen like this unless Xie Nanxing gave an answer.
“N-nothing…” Xie Nanxing avoided Zhou Qiyue’s gaze.
“Really?” Zhou Qiyue suddenly leaned in, almost forcing Xie Nanxing to look him straight in the eyes.
Xie Nanxing kept backing away, inch by inch, until his back hit the bed.
“Really,” he said, nearly in tears. There was no way he could admit, I forced you—and then ended up getting shy myself.
Just as Zhou Qiyue was about to close the last bit of distance, Xie Nanxing, terrified, stretched out his hand and pushed against Zhou Qiyue’s chest.
As soon as his hand touched it, he jolted back like he’d been burned, hands awkwardly folded in front of his own chest.
Zhou Qiyue’s body jolted too. A strange impulse surged up in him—he actually wanted to grab Xie Nanxing’s hand and press it back onto his chest.
A flash of imagery ran through his mind too fast to catch.
Xie Nanxing knew exactly how to handle Zhou Qiyue. He forced out a couple of tears, which clung to his lashes as he looked up at Zhou Qiyue and whispered, “Gege, I’m scared…”
Hearing that Xie Nanxing was afraid of him, Zhou Qiyue couldn’t quite explain the feeling that stabbed through his chest at that moment. He realized he’d gone too far. He stood up and pulled Xie Nanxing to his feet.
“Sorry, my mind’s a little messy today,” Zhou said, maintaining a safe arm’s-length distance. Then, remembering Xie Nanxing had hit the bed earlier, he asked with concern, “Did you hurt your back?”
Xie Nanxing shook his head. The two tears slid down his cheeks, and no more would come.
Seeing that Zhou Qiyue had finally returned to normal, Xie Nanxing breathed a quiet sigh of relief and shook his head again. “I’m fine.”
“…Alright,” Zhou Qiyue responded stiffly. “I’m going to wash up.”
“Okay.”
The tension between them hung thick in the air. Xie Nanxing walked into the bathroom as well, standing side by side with Zhou.
Everything Xie Nanxing used at home had been bought together with Zhou Qiyue—they even used matching sets.
Looking at their toothbrush cups side by side, Xie Nanxing didn’t say anything, but Zhou Qiyue quietly squeezed toothpaste onto his brush and placed it neatly in the cup.
Xie Nanxing picked up the toothbrush, standing shoulder to shoulder with Zhou Qiyue, catching his reflection in the mirror. “Thanks, Gege.”
Zhou Qiyue gave a stiff nod.
After washing up, Xie Nanxing headed to the kitchen to help. Zhou Qiyue sat in the living room, glancing toward the kitchen from time to time, worried that Xie Nanxing might hurt himself again.
But everything in the kitchen was peaceful.
Soon, the dishes were brought to the table. Xie Nanxing’s chopstick skills were getting better and better—he didn’t even need those child-assist training chopsticks anymore.
Zhou Qiyue also no longer had an excuse to feed him by hand.
When it was time to leave the house, Zhou Qiyue lingered at the door, stalling. Fortunately, Xie Nanxing knew enough to walk him out.
“Gege,” Xie Nanxing suddenly called out to him. Zhou Qiyue finally let go of the tie he’d been deliberately messing up multiple times and turned to look at Xie Nanxing, his gaze dark, with a hint of unknown tenderness. “What is it?”
“…I want a hug.” Xie Nanxing bit his tongue as soon as the words slipped out.
As an incubus, absorbing human energy was his natural instinct. Forget hugs—one-night stands were common at first meeting. But for a rookie incubus fresh out of the village like Xie Nanxing, this was already pushing the limit.
“So clingy,” Zhou muttered.
Xie Nanxing’s eyes dimmed. He lowered his head and mumbled, “…sor…sowwy.”
But Zhou Qiyue suddenly stretched out his long arms and pulled him into a hug—only for a moment—before letting go.
The hug was so brief that Xie Nanxing didn’t even catch the scent of their shared body wash.
Frozen in place, Xie Nanxing stared blankly at Zhou Qiyue. Zhou reached out and ruffled his hair. “I’ll be home tonight. Study well while I’m out—I’ll bring you a little cake when I get back.”
Xie Nanxing nodded. But truth be told, he’d rather Zhou Qiyue come home early than bring a cake.
After Zhou Qiyue left, Xie Nanxing continued standing there in a daze.
A while later, he finally snapped out of it and went to study like Zhou told him. But without Zhou Qiyue at home, he lay sprawled over the desk, surrounded by the comforting scent of Zhou Qiyue’s warm sandalwood in the study.
Aunt Wu came in with fruit and, noticing he wasn’t in a good mood, asked if he wanted to walk around the living room.
But Xie Nanxing couldn’t sit still. He picked up a rag, hunched over, and started scrubbing the floor barefoot. Pressing down with both hands, he kicked off with his feet, making the rag glide in a streak of water across the floor.
Wu Ayi watched his antics, half-laughing, and took two pictures to send to Zhou Qiyue.
In the photos, Xie Nanxing had his butt stuck up in the air. His pants had ridden up just a bit, exposing the slender curve of his ankle bones. He was barefoot, and the pink soles of his feet could be faintly seen.
Zhou Qiyue frowned and gestured for his assistant to stop talking. He typed a message asking Wu Ayi to make sure Xie Nanxing wore shoes.
The assistant stood silently, watching his boss space out during work—a rare sight. Normally Zhou Qiyue was all business, even working until 8 p.m. without complaint.
People used to gossip behind his back that a workaholic like him clearly had no love life—no nightlife, no partner. But maybe now… someone had quietly moved into his golden cage.
Still, it wasn’t his place to ask.
A while later, Zhou Qiyue motioned for the assistant to continue.
At lunch, Zhou Qiyue ate in his office when Xia Wenyan suddenly plopped into the seat across from him. “Senior, that cat you dropped off last time? Super feisty.”
“What happened?” Zhou Qiyue asked, thinking back to when he’d found Xie Nanxing. If he hadn’t taken him in that rainy night… who knew what would’ve happened?
Xia Wenyan held out his hand—three long scratch marks ran across the back.
He then showed a surveillance video on his phone—his home camera feed. The kitten was curled on the couch. When the camera light blinked red, the cat sprang up and began meowing directly at the lens.
“You said to leave it at the pet shop, but I pitied it meowing all day in the cage. Took it home and gave it a bath—it scratched me up right after.”
Xia sighed. Zhou, however, recalled bathing Xie Nanxing—his “stray” had been well-behaved.
“If it doesn’t like it, just return it to the pet store,” Zhou Qiyue said blandly.
But Xia Wenyan wasn’t keen on that. “I’ve already brought it home—it’ll be heartbroken if I send it back. It only gets scratchy during baths. Otherwise, it’s cute.”
In the video, the kitten meowed again.
Zhou Qiyue’s eyes were drawn to the screen. A new idea quietly sprouted in his mind.
Seeing Zhou so captivated, Xia assumed he wanted the cat. “You like it, Senior? If you want, I can give it to you…”
He said it with pained reluctance.
Zhou Qiyue chuckled. “I’m not interested in other people’s kids.”
His own raised ones were better.
He tapped his phone and asked, “Is your surveillance system any good?”
Xia, prepared to give up his cat, blinked—turned out Zhou was just curious about the camera. He launched into a full pitch, explaining all the features and specs.
Only after did he realize something. “Wait, Senior, are you installing a camera at home?”
He almost asked aloud: But you live alone… why would you need one?
Zhou Qiyue nodded regally. Any further questions were met with silence.
“Alright then, I’ll reimburse your vaccine shot,” Zhou said, having gotten the info he wanted. Xia took the hint and happily left.
If he was going to install cameras at home, Zhou figured—one in the living room, one in the study so he could monitor if Xie Nanxing was studying, and one in the kitchen in case of accidents.
But the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to install cameras in every corner of the house.
After work, he stopped by a popular dessert shop. Just getting the cake took 30 minutes of waiting in line.
Little did he know, Xie Nanxing had already been waiting at the door for half an hour.
As soon as the clock struck 6:00, Xie Nanxing rushed to the door. Now that they had the whole weekend together, waiting alone for Zhou Qiyue after work felt unbearable.
Thirty minutes passed. No sound outside.
Zhou usually came home by this time. Xie Nanxing paced restlessly. He even considered running out to look for him.
But he didn’t know the way—and didn’t know where Zhou was.
The feeling of helplessness crept in and wrapped tightly around him.
Aunt Wu had already finished cooking and told him to sit on the couch to wait, but when it came to Zhou Qiyue, Xie Nanxing was stubborn as a mule. No amount of coaxing worked.
So she brought over a small stool for him to sit at the door.
When the smart lock beeped, Zhou hadn’t even opened the door before it was pulled open from the inside.
Xie Nanxing stood there, beaming as he greeted him sweetly: “Gege.”
In that moment, Zhou Qiyue understood Xia Wenyan—faced with something this adorable, who could bear to let go?
He held out the cake. “Sorry, I didn’t expect the line for this cake to take half an hour. That’s why I’m late.”
Xie Nanxing took it, but his expression still looked gloomy.
Aunt Wu spilled the beans from the side: “Mr. Zhou, you have no idea—he’s been waiting since 6:00. I couldn’t even get him to move. He insisted on staying right there for you.”
Zhou’s pupils trembled. No wonder Xie Nanxing looked upset—he’d waited an hour.
He patted his head. Normally Xie Nanxing would lightly swat him away. But today, he held onto Zhou’s hand instead, gently nuzzling against it. “Cake… don’t need it. Just wanted you to come home.”
“I’ll pick a quieter time to buy it next time. The girls in our office love this place—you should try it too.”
Xie Nanxing took the cake and tugged Zhou Qiyue toward the dining table.
At dinner, Zhou cleared his throat and called Aunt Wu over. “I want to install some cameras at home.”
“Cameras?”