The Little Succubus's Hypnosis Manual - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Checking Up – In Xie Nanxing’s Heart, He Must Be Number One!

In the morning, Xie Nanxing had to go to work on his own. Under Zhou Qiyue’s patient guidance, he had already learned how to use mobile map navigation.

The dress code at work wasn’t strict, so Xie Nanxing just wore whatever was comfortable.
However, the wardrobe at home was filled almost entirely with designer brands. Zhou Qiyue carefully picked out a set that wasn’t too flashy and had Xie Nanxing wear it to work.

Xie Nanxing started later than him, but Zhou Qiyue insisted on waiting for him to leave first and personally walked him to the subway station entrance before heading to his own office.

With the hands-on tutorial from yesterday, Xie Nanxing successfully arrived at the dessert shop and sent Zhou Qiyue a photo, finally putting Zhou Qiyue’s worries at ease.

Xie Nanxing’s tasks on the first day were simple—he shadowed the head chef to assist as an apprentice, learning the dessert-making process and occasionally watching the oven or doing some decorating.

It wasn’t difficult, but it required patience.
Luckily, if there was one thing Xie Nanxing excelled at, it was repeating boring tasks without complaint.

By noon, even the head chef changed his view of him.

“You look young, but I didn’t expect you to be so focused.”

It was the first time Xie Nanxing had ever been complimented by anyone besides Zhou Qiyue or Aunt Wu, and it left him feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

Other employees brought him along to have lunch on that street. Xie Nanxing followed behind them, mimicking how they used their phones to scan the QR code on the wall.

But there was no “payment successful” sound.

Everyone looked at him. “Why didn’t you pay?”

Xie Nanxing instinctively wanted to ask Zhou Qiyue for help, but one of the workers came over and said, “You opened your camera. You should be using WeChat.”

The colleague took Xie Nanxing’s phone and navigated through the app. With a quick scan of the QR code, the payment went through with facial recognition.

“Th-thank you.”
Xie Nanxing was so nervous he nearly bowed.

The employee was a little startled. “It’s just WeChat Pay—you don’t even know how to use that?”

Xie Nanxing pressed his lips together. Knowing that saying anything now would make it worse, he chose to stay silent.

To them, his behavior and demeanor screamed “country bumpkin.”

Meanwhile, during his own lunch break, Zhou Qiyue finally received a notification: the first charge on Xie Nanxing’s linked family account.

Seeing the WeChat message made him feel like something deep inside had suddenly been filled.

But usually, around this time, Xie Nanxing would video call him—since Zhou Qiyue couldn’t go home for lunch, they’d chat a bit.

He sat there holding his phone while eating, waiting for that video call.

Ten minutes passed—nothing.
Xie Nanxing was probably still eating and would call any moment now.

Thirty minutes passed—still no call.

Zhou Qiyue lay in his office’s lounge, trying to convince himself that it was normal—Xie Nanxing just started his job and needed to socialize with coworkers.

But screw “normal”!
How could coworkers even be compared to him?

In Xie Nanxing’s heart, he had to come first!

He immediately dialed a video call.
The WeChat interface popped up, showing only his own face, while the ringtone played over and over—but no answer.

First day on the job and he was already ignoring his calls? Was Xie Nanxing never planning to come home again?

Zhou Qiyue suddenly felt a wave of desolation wash over him.

Moments later, a voice message from Xie Nanxing popped up in their chat.

He put it on speaker.
Xie Nanxing’s soft voice echoed through the lounge:
“Gege… I can’t answer.”

Just one short sentence—and it broke Zhou Qiyue’s defenses.

He closed his eyes, the words echoing in his mind. He even wanted to rush over to the dessert shop and see what Xie Nanxing was doing that was so important he couldn’t even spare a moment for him.

That evening, Zhou Qiyue got off work as usual and casually asked if Xie Nanxing was off yet.

At that moment, Xie Nanxing was taking off his apron.
His coworkers suggested celebrating his official first day by going out for dinner. They chose a nearby crawfish restaurant.

Xie Nanxing tried to say he was going home, but his voice was quickly drowned out in the noise as they dragged him along.

There were only about six or seven people total, including the store manager—not a big group, but the vibe was lively.

Xie Nanxing found a quiet moment to send Zhou Qiyue a voice message:
“Gege, I’m eating out. I’ll be back later.”

Just as Zhou Qiyue stepped into the elevator, he received the message.

Normally, just thinking about coming home would wash away all his exhaustion—it was like pouring honey on his soul.

But now, the thought of an empty home made him not want to go back at all.

The smart lock recognized his presence, and the electronic voice announced, “Door unlocked.”

Normally, he couldn’t press the door handle fast enough, but today, that voice grated on his ears.

He walked inside and saw no one waiting at the door—no Xie Nanxing with his sweet smile, round eyes curved into crescents, taking his briefcase with a cheery, “Gege, you’re home!”

“Mm.” He’d usually reply softly, expressionless.

But now the illusion vanished. He sighed, took off his jacket, and hung it up neatly.

He pulled off his tie and opened the cabinet. All his ties were folded meticulously—Xie Nanxing’s handiwork.

With another sigh, he folded the tie and put it away.

Then he sent Xie Nanxing a voice message:
“When will you be home?”

Zhou Qiyue sat at the dining table.
Xie Nanxing’s outing was so sudden that even Aunt Wu hadn’t been notified—she had prepared dinner for two as usual.

Two bowls of rice sat on the table. Aunt Wu glanced behind him, “Star’s not back yet?”

“I didn’t know what time he’d be home, so I made dinner based on your schedule,” she added.

“He’s eating out tonight,” Zhou Qiyue said.

Aunt Wu didn’t notice the disappointment on his face. “That’s how it should be! First day at work—good to socialize a little.”

“Mm.”

His phone lay on the table—still no messages.

Zhou Qiyue sent another one:
“If it’s getting late, just send me your location. I’ll pick you up.”

Still no reply.

Finally, he opened the phone’s location-sharing feature.
Their phones shared the same Apple ID, so he could always see where Xie Nanxing was.

He had even considered installing a tracker on Xie Nanxing’s phone, but decided this mutual tracking was a good compromise. After all, even Nanxing’s old tablet was under his account.

Using the map, he immediately pinpointed Xie Nanxing’s location.

The dot hadn’t moved for a while. After waiting another half hour, Zhou Qiyue decided to drive over.

He parked about a hundred meters away and walked to the location.

There, under a canopy, Xie Nanxing and his coworkers sat at a long outdoor table covered with beer and crawfish.

Seeing the beer made Zhou Qiyue panic—he quickened his pace.

He immediately spotted Xie Nanxing—his face was flushed, holding up his glass with the others.

“Xie Nanxing!” Zhou Qiyue called from a not-so-distant spot.

Upon hearing the voice, Xie Nanxing stood up and waved. “Gege!”

Everyone turned to look. Zhou Qiyue greeted them politely, “Hello, I’m Xie Nanxing’s older brother.”

Since family had come to pick him up, no one stopped Xie Nanxing from leaving.
Zhou Qiyue went to the cashier, paid, and took him away.

He caught the faint smell of alcohol on Xie Nanxing and frowned, “You drank?”

“Alcohol?” Xie Nanxing tilted his head in confusion.

“You’re already dumb, and now even dumber—idiot,” Zhou Qiyue muttered as he stuffed Xie Nanxing into the car.

Xie Nanxing, already familiar with the routine, opened the car’s mini fridge and chugged half a bottle of cold water.

Then he quietly protested, “I’m not an idiot.”

“Why didn’t you reply to my messages?” Zhou Qiyue asked while driving home, ready to interrogate him.

The restaurant was small, yet Xie Nanxing had been crammed in there with coworkers, arms brushing together—it made Zhou Qiyue a bit jealous.

But he also knew he was being unreasonable.

Xie Nanxing checked his phone—black screen. It was dead.

Zhou Qiyue sighed, “Fine. Next time, bring a power bank. No matter how busy, reply to me.”

Then, realizing how it sounded, he added,
“Don’t let Gege worry, okay?”

“Okay~” Xie Nanxing obediently agreed.

“How was work?” Zhou Qiyue asked.
Xie Nanxing leaned against the seat. “A little tiring.”

That instantly made Zhou Qiyue happy. He had worried that Xie Nanxing would get too into work.

“If it’s too tiring, you don’t have to go anymore.”

“But I want to… make money for you to spend,” Xie Nanxing murmured.

Zhou Qiyue swallowed his enthusiastic “Good!” and settled for a slightly stifled, “Okay.”

That night, Xie Nanxing was so tired he collapsed onto bed and fell asleep—he didn’t even have time to do his usual bedtime hypnosis for Zhou Qiyue.

When Zhou Qiyue came out of the shower, he saw Xie Nanxing already asleep, lying flat on the bed.

Since moving back to the master bedroom, Xie Nanxing always snuggled into his arms at night. But tonight, he didn’t move at all—he was sleeping too soundly.

Zhou Qiyue scooted over and wrapped his arms around Xie Nanxing. Finally, he could sleep in peace.

But soon, Xie Nanxing started kicking him in his sleep, mumbling, “Hot…”

After a few soft kicks to the leg, Zhou Qiyue caught the restless feet and grumbled,
“You’re always so clingy, never heard you complain about being hot. I hug you once and suddenly you’re too hot?”

As if hearing his complaint, Xie Nanxing stopped moving, leaned into Zhou Qiyue’s shoulder, and peacefully sleep.