The Little Succubus's Hypnosis Manual - Chapter 17
Chapter 17: The Love Rival
Wei Shuyun clenched his fists—so it wasn’t that he didn’t want to date, he just didn’t want him.
Hearing the voice on the phone, Zhou Qiyue looked again at the caller ID. As expected, it wasn’t Xie Nanxing.
Xia Wenyan watched Zhou Qiyue’s expression turn cold, as if there was some sort of monster on the other end of the line.
“Senior?”
But unexpectedly, the voice on the phone perked up when they heard Xia Wenyan, “Wenyan’s with you too? I haven’t seen him in ages either. Why don’t the three of us have a meal together?”
Zhou Qiyue turned to look at Xia Wenyan, making his skin crawl.
“What is it, senior?”
“Wei Shuyun’s back. He wants to have dinner with you,” Zhou Qiyue said flatly.
Xia Wenyan immediately realized he was just being used as a decoy and declined, “The lab’s working on new equipment right now. I’m practically living there—no time for dinner.”
Zhou Qiyue nodded and relayed it back to Wei Shuyun, “He’s busy. I’m busy too.”
Wei Shuyun nearly ground his teeth to dust, but still forced a smile, “Not even one meal, Qiyue?”
“There’s someone waiting for me to eat at home,” Zhou Qiyue said, then hung up.
As soon as the call ended, Xia Wenyan couldn’t help but sidle over, full of curiosity. “Senior, Wei-shixiong really is devoted to you. But who exactly are you hiding at home?”
“You clearly don’t have enough work,” Zhou Qiyue shot back. “That batch of equipment still needs testing—”
Before he could finish, Xia Wenyan had already leapt away.
“I’ve followed you since sophomore year,” Xia Wenyan grumbled. “Now you’ve got a ‘wife,’ and you’ve forgotten your brothers. That testing job is so boring—you know I can’t sit still.”
“Stop saying disgusting things like that,” Zhou Qiyue cut him off. “He’s just a stray I picked up, not some ‘wife.’”
Xia Wenyan didn’t dare keep asking.
“Oh,” he muttered, tagging behind Zhou Qiyue. “Didn’t Wei-shixiong go abroad right after you rejected him at graduation? Why’s he suddenly back now?”
Zhou Qiyue held his phone, a creeping unease tightening in his chest.
“I’ve had no contact with people from over there.”
Xia Wenyan shut up—why was everything coming out of his mouth hitting landmines today?
After getting hung up on, Wei Shuyun called Shen Anchen. Shen quickly sent a chauffeur to pick him up.
In the car, Wei Shuyun asked, “Are you sure he’s Zhou Qiyue’s boyfriend?”
“I saw them buying couple’s pajamas together at a loungewear store,” Shen said. “And Zhou Qiyue was carrying bag after bag of designer stuff—all for that guy.”
Wei Shuyun’s fists tightened again. So it wasn’t that Zhou Qiyue didn’t want to date—he just didn’t like him.
Shen Anchen, having not seen Wei Shuyun in a while, cuddled up to him. “Shuyun-ge, what do you even like about Zhou Qiyue? Sure, I call him ‘ge’ out of courtesy, but everyone knows he’s just a bastard son kicked out by Sheng Yan-ge. He doesn’t even have inheritance rights.”
Wei Shuyun pushed Shen Anchen away. Hearing him badmouth Zhou Qiyue immediately soured his mood. “He wasn’t kicked out. He chose to rely on his own ability instead of the Zhou family’s influence.”
“His own ability?” Shen sneered. “That company of his doesn’t even make a tenth of Zhou Corp’s revenue. Sheng Yan-ge could crush it with a snap of his fingers.”
“I say—” Shen suddenly got an idea and leaned in to whisper.
“Help me find out that guy’s identity first,” Wei Shuyun said, twisting his fingers. He wasn’t ready to tear things apart with Zhou Qiyue—yet.
Shen nodded. “Leave this kind of thing to me.”
…
At lunchtime, Zhou Qiyue kept his promise and called Xie Nanxing. “Gege, what are you eating?”
Xie Nanxing looked curiously at Zhou Qiyue on the screen but could only see his face.
Zhou Qiyue tilted the phone downward so he could see the dishes on the table—nothing fancy, just some plain home-style fare. Compared to the meals Xie Nanxing had at home, it looked pretty spartan.
Aunt Wu made elaborate meals with multiple dishes to help Xie Nanxing regain his strength, all in small portions to stimulate his appetite.
Xie Nanxing didn’t eat—he just watched Zhou Qiyue eat, heart suddenly filling with a fuzzy kind of ache.
So this was how hard Gege worked outside? Even his meals were so plain…
Zhou Qiyue, of course, had no idea what Xie Nanxing was feeling. In fact, the meal was from a popular local Chinese restaurant—simple looking, but pricey.
Xie Nanxing made a silent vow: he had to study hard with Aunt Wu and learn to cook. Then he could bring lunch to Gege and also sneak in some cuddle time.
Their call didn’t last long. The company was preparing new R&D equipment and needed a large amount of patient data from hospitals. Because of Zhou Qiyue’s complicated relationship with his family, this part of the project had stalled.
He instructed his assistant to contact hospital directors, and visited them personally one by one.
The entire afternoon passed in a blur of negotiations. Finally, he landed one partnership.
Slumped in the back seat of his car, Zhou Qiyue loosened his tie and checked his phone. He opened the chat with Xie Nanxing and, once his breathing steadied, began typing:
“I’ve got a business dinner tonight. Tell Aunt Wu not to cook much. Eat by yourself, then study. If I’m not home by ten, go to bed first.”
His instructions were meticulous. Even the driver sitting up front couldn’t help but marvel—who knew Zhou always had this gentle side?
He quickly received a reply. Because he’d accidentally picked up the wrong call that morning, Zhou Qiyue had changed Xie Nanxing’s message alert to a water droplet sound so he’d never miss it.
Nanxing still didn’t know many characters, so he sent a voice message instead.
“Gege, come home… early.”
“Okay.”
Zhou Qiyue turned off his phone. The exhaustion of the entire afternoon suddenly melted away.
But a second later, his phone rang again. It was a call from the police station—the same officer who’d filed Xie Nanxing’s information.
“Mr. Zhou, has that vagrant recovered yet? He’s registered here, and if you don’t return him soon, I’ll be in trouble.”
Zhou Qiyue’s fingers pressed into his temples at the sound of those jarring words.
“If he has an ID, he doesn’t need to go to a shelter, right?” Zhou asked.
“In theory, yeah. But you still need to get one for him. You’ve got ten days, or I can’t cover for you anymore.”
“Okay.” Zhou hung up, his sense of unease growing.
Still, for the sake of the partnership, he forced himself to attend the dinner meeting. Xia Wenyan tagged along.
The businesspeople they met were all seasoned sharks—quick to push drinks but evasive when it came to deals.
Yet Zhou Qiyue drank with them anyway, knocking back half a bottle of baijiu.
Xia Wenyan, watching from the side, grew distressed. He grabbed Zhou Qiyue’s glass and forced a smile at the clients. “President Zhou can’t hold his liquor. I’ll drink for him.”
By the end of the night, both of them were practically wasted—and the deal still hadn’t gone through.
In the car, Xia fumed. “If they weren’t planning to work with us, why force us to drink? I bet it’s because of your half-brother—they’re just trying to cozy up to him and mess with you.”
He was livid. If it weren’t for Zhou Qiyue holding him back, he’d have smashed a bottle over someone’s head.
Zhou checked the time. It was already past eleven. He wondered if Nanxing had gone to bed yet.
“Stop talking. Otherwise, next time you’re not coming to these dinners.”
Xia Wenyan muttered, “If it gets worse, just go bow your head to your dad. You’re his biological son too. Why do you have to take all the hits?”
“He’s not my dad.” Zhou yanked his tie off and rolled down the window, letting the cold March wind whip through the car.
The chill sobered Xia Wenyan instantly. “Sorry, senior. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“It’s fine. I’ll find a hospital that’ll work with us. You guys just focus on the R&D.” Zhou Qiyue’s voice was light, almost lost in the wind.
But it was enough to reassure Xia. He knew that Zhou Qiyue would succeed—just like always, whether in university or now.
After dropping Xia off, Zhou had the driver take him home.
He carefully opened the front door, afraid of waking anyone up. The entryway light was on, and there was a soft yellow glow from the living room.
He took off his shoes and stepped inside—only to see someone asleep on the couch.
Xie Nanxing had fallen asleep half-sitting on the armrest, probably trying to wait for him and dozing off without meaning to.
Something soft in Zhou Qiyue’s heart was suddenly struck.
He quietly walked over, lifted Xie Nanxing into his arms, and carried him to the bedroom.
Nanxing blinked open groggy eyes and wrapped his arms around Zhou Qiyue’s neck. “Gege… you’re home…”
“Mm, I’m home. Go to sleep. I’m going to shower first,” Zhou said, gently unwrapping Nanxing’s arms and closing the door.
But the moment he got into bed, Nanxing latched onto him like an octopus, holding him so tightly he could barely breathe.
Still, his heart felt like it had been dipped in honey.
He gently tapped Nanxing’s nose. “Didn’t I tell you to go to bed early? Why’d you fall asleep on the couch? You’re so disobedient.”
Nanxing sleepily snuggled against his chest with a soft whimper.
Zhou added, “Tomorrow I’ll take you to get your ID card.”
As Nanxing felt Zhou’s hand messing with his face, he grabbed it grumpily and held it in place.
“You just hummed again. I’ll take that as a yes.” Zhou smiled and didn’t mind how wild Nanxing’s sleeping posture was anymore.
“You sleep like a little pig,” he teased softly, pulling Nanxing closer.
Compared to the family that had cut him off at eighteen, this… this felt more like home.
A home where someone waited for him at night, fed him sweets, cooked him meals, and always waited by the door when he came home from work.