APCF – Chapter 133 Leadership

Because the case was complicated, involved many people, and the evidence collection was extensive, Tao Tao’s trial date had to be scheduled for another day.

Qi Xingchen had already ghosted the Red Sun production for over half a month, and his own company had a film eagerly awaiting its start. He couldn’t keep staying home any longer. After explaining the situation to his family, he left with Bo Ye.

Before they left, Dad Qi held Bo Ye’s hand, reluctant to let go. “Xiao Bo, if Xingxing ever bullies you, just tell Dad. I’ll set him straight for you.”

“Alright,” Bo Ye nodded seriously. “I’ll take good care of him. Please take care of yourself too.”

“Ai, make sure to come home and visit often!”

“I definitely will. Please don’t see us off any further.”

Just like every other time they left, the entire Qi family stood watching as the two of them entered the VIP departure gate. When they were finally out of sight, Bo Ye asked, “Do you always get such a grand send-off every time you leave?”

“Pretty much,” Qi Xingchen thought for a moment. “Jiaze used to come too, but since he has exams coming up, I didn’t tell him this time.”

Bo Ye gave an “oh” and finally asked a long-held question: “Then why does Uncle always think you’re the one bullying me? He’s said several times that he’ll back me up.”

Qi Xingchen: “…”

Was he supposed to tell Bo Ye that in his dad’s eyes, his son had always been the image of an alpha top?

Definitely not. He mumbled something vague and slipped off toward security.

The female staff at security were stunned:

“Oh my god, is that Bo Ye and Qi Xingchen?”

“Looks like… no, it really is! It’s them!!”

“Ahhh why wasn’t I assigned to checkpoint three! I wanted to check Bo Ye! Waaah!”

“They look so good together… wait, they’ve been public for about half a year now, right? Still look like they’re in the honeymoon phase, eyes glued to each other… so sweet, ughhh.”

Those who couldn’t interact up close were filled with envy and resentment. Those who could? Took every chance to chat. The security officer checking Bo Ye jokingly said, “Brother Ye, Xingxing is way too cute. Give him to me!”

Bo Ye glanced at her. “Keep dreaming.”

After a pause, he added with feigned concern, “The shoes Xingxing gave me have metal buckles. Might set off the scanner.”

Security officer: “……”

Savage!!

Qi Xingchen cleared security before Bo Ye and stood off to the side getting dressed. When Bo Ye walked over, before Xingchen could even ask why he was frowning, his hand was suddenly grabbed.

Qi Xingchen was startled. “Brother Ye, this is a public place. Let go.”

“Dating in public is illegal?”

“…No.”

“Then why can’t I hold your hand?” Bo Ye gave his palm a squeeze. “Stops people from trying to make a move on you.”

Qi Xingchen could only feel helpless. He couldn’t talk him down, and he definitely couldn’t beat him. So he let him hold on, even swinging their hands slightly from time to time.

Since they were headed to different destinations, their flights weren’t the same either. Qi Xingchen’s flight was earlier, and Bo Ye’s was about two hours later.

They sat in a quiet corner of the lounge together. After chatting about nothing in particular for a while, Qi Xingchen checked the time and said, “I’ve gotta go.”

Bo Ye replied, “You’re just going to leave like that?”

What other way was there to leave? Was he supposed to kneel and bow like he was leaving court?

Seeing he wasn’t getting it, Bo Ye reached out with a finger and tapped it against his lips.

Qi Xingchen: “!!!”

This is an airport, bro!!!

After being together for over half a year, Bo Ye certainly knew his lover was thin-skinned. He glanced around, then pulled out a magazine and opened it in front of them as a makeshift shield.

He raised an eyebrow at Qi Xingchen as if to say: Now it’s okay, right?

Determined to get through security smoothly, Qi Xingchen gritted his teeth and prepared to deal with it in a lightning-fast, sneaky fashion.

But the moment he leaned in, Bo Ye held him in place.

Ever since things happened at home, even though they’d been sharing a room every night, they hadn’t done anything intimate—not even kissed. So the instant their lips met, Qi Xingchen’s heart started pounding wildly, his body melting into jelly, arms instinctively wrapping around Bo Ye’s waist.

After a long and passionate kiss, Qi Xingchen’s ears were burning red. Even redder were his lips. He licked them, savoring the feeling, and then suddenly realized something:

—The magazine only blocked the front; it didn’t cover the back!

Clutching his chest, he slowly turned around.

Unsurprisingly, he met the resentful stares of Allen and An Ran.

And a nearby traveler’s phone camera, pointed right at them.

A few minutes later, “Bo Ye and Qi Xingchen share a tender airport farewell, sweet kiss caught on camera” hit the trending topics list.

It had been a long time since he’d trended. To reappear in the public eye via gossip news like this made Qi Xingchen want to bury his head in the sand.

But the CP fans were eating it up:

[I counted—they kissed for 3 minutes and 44.23 seconds. My god, didn’t their lips peel?!]

[Xiao Qi was even holding Brother Ye’s waist, tsk tsk, what a sweet little marshmallow.]

[LOL they even tried to block it with a magazine. That just made it more obvious!]

[Waaah why are they so sweet even just at the airport?! I’m shipping this so hard!]

The more Qi Xingchen read the comments, the more embarrassed he felt. So he made a firm decision: No internet surfing for a whole month!

Not that he really had time to surf the internet anyway. While he was on leave, all the solo scenes for Red Sun had already been filmed. The only ones left were his. It was one scene after another, with barely a moment to rest.

At the same time, scene construction for his movie officially began. It was relatively simple—one circus tent, one protagonist’s home, and one bar. Since Qi Xingchen couldn’t step away, An Ran took charge of the setup, with Allen occasionally helping out. The progress moved along much faster than expected.

In the later stages of Red Sun, the characters’ emotions grew more complex. Besides the escalating war, the female lead was sent on a secret mission. The couple, deep in love, were briefly separated.

In a wartime era without communication tools, even confirming whether a loved one was still alive was a luxury. During the day, Wu Jingtong calmly commanded and strategized; at night, his emotional side emerged through longing—often staring at the female lead’s photo over and over.

One long take captured the whole scene. Director Zheng was impressed: “Brilliant! Xiao Qi, that look in your eyes just now was perfect! That calm resilience mixed with tenderness… what’s the word… oh right—steel and gentleness! Everyone gets an extra drumstick in their lunch today!”

Qi Xingchen was deeply embarrassed when he heard that. Honestly, that scene hadn’t required much acting at all.

He had simply… thought of Bo Ye.

At the beginning of July, Qi Xingchen officially wrapped his role as Wu Jingtong in Red Sun. For both Director Zheng and Qi Xingchen, it had been a very enjoyable collaboration.

Naturally, the wrap party was a lively celebration. Qi Xingchen ended up drinking quite a bit. The revelry lasted until late at night before Director Zheng finally said:

“Alright, that’s enough. If we keep going, Xiao Qi’s gonna crawl under the table.”

“I… I won’t crawl under the table!” Qi Xingchen protested. “Even after eight hundred bottles, I’ll still be sitting upright!”

Director Zheng chuckled. “I’d keep drinking with you, but someone else might not approve.”

“That’s impossible! Who can stop me from drinking? Not even the Jade Emperor could!”

“The Jade Emperor maybe not,” Director Zheng gestured behind Qi Xingchen, “but what about him?”

Him? Who?

Qi Xingchen turned around in confusion—

And saw Bo Ye, arms crossed, long legs casually swinging.

But he’d had way too much to drink, and his pride was at its peak. Gritting his teeth, he waved dramatically, “He—he’s mine to boss around too!”

…Alright then.

Bo Ye snapped his fingers at Director Zheng. “Brother Zheng, I’ll take our ‘leader’ home now.”

Knowing Qi Xingchen would drink tonight, Bo Ye had never planned to fly out to the production team. Instead, he had Allen book a hotel near the airport and, with great effort, dragged his “leader” back.

Bo Ye carried him into the room and set him down on the sofa. “Sit here for two minutes,” he instructed.

As soon as Qi Xingchen heard “sit by yourself,” he immediately looked pitiful and wronged. “Where are you going? Are you mad at me?”

“I’m not mad,” Bo Ye coaxed him gently. “I’m just going to run the bathwater. I’ll be right back—be good and wait for me.”

But in his current drunken state, Qi Xingchen wasn’t thinking clearly. He was convinced Bo Ye was leaving because he was angry. Like a koala clinging to a tree, he latched onto Bo Ye’s arm and refused to let go.

Bo Ye had no choice but to bring his little koala with him to the bathroom.

While running the bath and testing the water temperature, Bo Ye was focused—too focused, which only deepened Qi Xingchen’s belief that he was upset.

Qi Xingchen wrapped his arms around Bo Ye’s neck and kissed his cheek. Thinking that wasn’t enough, he started kissing randomly and without any order. As he rubbed against Bo Ye, the friction quickly sparked a fire.

And when his lips brushed Bo Ye’s Adam’s apple, that fire became uncontrollable.

Bo Ye squeezed Qi Xingchen’s waist, his eyes darkening. “Leader,” he said lowly, “since you’re in charge of me, are you going to manage everything?”

“Of course,” Qi Xingchen replied generously. “Tell me what I need to manage.”

Bo Ye took his hand and guided it downward. “Manage this.”

The heat of him made Qi Xingchen tremble deep in his core. He followed the motion, sliding down Bo Ye’s body and ended up kneeling between his legs.

Drunk and unfocused, Qi Xingchen had no real rhythm or technique. Rather than relieve anything, Bo Ye was only left more tense, especially when Qi Xingchen would glance up at him after a few motions—those damp, pleading eyes and glistening lips throwing Bo Ye completely off balance.

Eventually, Bo Ye couldn’t take it anymore. He picked Qi Xingchen up and pushed him into the bathtub.

Qi Xingchen woke up in bed. The first thing he felt was soreness—his inner thighs ached like they no longer belonged to him.

The second was stickiness. As he shifted slightly, he felt something trickle down from behind.

He had some vague fragments of memory from the night before, but they were too broken to piece together. After thinking for a while and getting nowhere, he pushed himself up—

Only to be pulled back down by the waist.

A lazy voice murmured, “Where are you going?”

“…To the bathroom to clean up,” Qi Xingchen muttered.

“Sleep with me for another half hour,” Bo Ye said. “Then we can shower together.”

“I can’t…” Qi Xingchen whispered. “It’s… too much. My stomach feels weird.”

Bo Ye didn’t immediately understand what “too much” meant. A few seconds later, he reached down to check—and realized, to his surprise, that it hadn’t been fully cleaned.

He frowned. “I cleaned you up last night. How is there still some left?”

“How would I know?” Qi Xingchen’s face flushed.

“You mean you can… hold that much?”

…What does that mean?! Qi Xingchen flared up. “Don’t talk nonsense! You’re the one who—don’t blame it on me!”

In truth, Bo Ye was completely innocent. At one point last night, he realized the hotel didn’t have any supplies. He intended to stop right then, but someone wouldn’t let him leave—insisting that, as the “leader,” he had to take full responsibility.

So Bo Ye had no choice but to stay.

And stay. And stay.

Several times.

But seeing Qi Xingchen’s pale face now, Bo Ye didn’t dare explain—it would only make things worse. Instead, he switched tactics, coaxing and flattering him with soft words until the gloomy expression finally disappeared.

Tactic successful, Bo Ye carried his lover to the bathroom. After they both cleaned up, he was drying his hair when he asked, “Should we book flights for this afternoon or tomorrow?”

The movie was fully prepped; once they arrived, filming could start immediately. Qi Xingchen thought for a moment. “Tomorrow is Tao Tao’s sentencing, right?”

“Mm.”

“Let’s not head to the set just yet. Come with me back to H City.”

“Alright,” Bo Ye nodded. “You want to attend the trial?”

“No,” Qi Xingchen paused, “I want to confirm something with her. If it’s possible… maybe Tao Xuan doesn’t have to die.”