Chapter Fourteen

Li Zekun seems to have just come from the airport, he hasn't even changed out of his suit yet and is currently resting with his eyes closed. He only opens them upon hearing the sound of the car door.

"Young master Li..." Tao Ran's voice was a bit weak. After saying hello, he closed the car door firmly.

Li Zekun glanced at him and even smiled: "Don't call me brother anymore?"

Tao Ran remained silent.

"You guys have self-study sessions pretty late. If you feel tired in the future, tell me and I'll give you a leave of absence.", Li Zekun lightly patted Tao Ran's shoulder. "I'm not expecting to cultivate any college students either."

"I think it's quite good..." Tao Ran's interest was piqued, and he couldn't resist telling Li Zekun about his talent in literature and comprehensive studies.

However, Li Zekun completely disregarded it, thinking that it was just a child trying to use some tricks to get what they want. He casually interrupted and said, "Are you hungry? We had dinner early in high school."

Tao Ran lowered his gaze and tightly held onto his backpack, saying, "No, I can't go. I haven't finished my homework yet."

Li Zekun carefully examined Tao Ran from head to toe, his eyes dimming imperceptibly. With a low chuckle, he commented, "You look quite the studious student with your school uniform and backpack."

Tao Ran tilted his head and looked at him with a fuzzy expression in his eyes. Tao Ran felt a bit dizzy from motion sickness, and right now he was feeling even more confused and disoriented. The spark that ignited in Li Zekun's heart upon seeing Tao Ran for the first time today seemed to burn even more fiercely in an instant. His impulse and desire, which had seemingly disappeared, slowly rekindled.

Li Zekun reached out and pulled Tao Ran into his arms, letting the child lean on his shoulder. "You feel carsick? Just sleep for a little while. I'll take you to my apartment on the second ring road. It's closer to school tomorrow."

Tao Ran gently sighed and placed the bracelet on Li Zekun's forearm with a gesture of intimacy and trust. Li Zekun's body stiffened but his expression remained soft.

When getting off the car, Li Zekun carried Tao Ran's bookbag because Tao Ran didn't borrow any books and the bag wasn't heavy. Tao Ran followed behind Li Zekun, yawning and the long fringe in front of her eyes swayed back and forth.

Li Zekun turned to look at him and smiled, "Your school uniform is too big. Tomorrow, I'll find someone to help you adjust the length of your pants. As for the jacket, you'll have to make do with what you have."

Tao Ran looked up at him, his eyes moist with a hint of tears, and after a moment's hesitation, he nodded slowly.

The house is on the second floor. Li Zekun used his fingerprint to unlock the door and said, "I don't come here often, so you can just live here for the time being. The color of the wallpaper in your apartment was not very pleasing to the eye, so I had the workers replace it."

"Thank you, brother."

Li Zekun placed Tao Ran's schoolbag on the sofa and said, "Why don't you go take a shower?"

Tao Ran was taken aback for a moment, then quickly said, "Let me finish my homework first before I go."

"Go now, do the homework later." Li Zekun sat on the sofa and unbuttoned his shirt with one hand, starting from the bottom.

Since the last time Li Zekun slapped him, Tao Ran hadn't thought of doing anything extra. Now he was forced to put his homework aside, thinking it was a rule to take a shower first when entering the house.

He quickly took a shower. It was quite refreshing to take a slightly cool shower in the summer. Li Zekun had gone into the master bedroom and hadn't come out yet; there was the faint sound of water coming from within, indicating that he hadn't finished showering yet. Tao Ran tightly tied his coral fleece bathrobe around his neck. He didn't dare to run around looking for the study, so he sat on the sofa and did his homework on the coffee table.

Probably too focused, when Li Zekun came out, Tao ran was frowning and biting the tip of a signature pen while looking at a math problem.

Even the slightest ailments resemble those of Cheng Xia. Li Zekun furrowed his eyebrows slightly.

"Alright, stop pretending. I already said that I don't expect you to study well for me." Li Zekun sat down on the short sofa across from Taoran and called out in a low voice, "Tao ran, come over here."

Taoran put down his pen hesitantly. He didn't move and carefully lifted his eyelids to look at him: "Mr. Li?"

Li Zekun touched Tao Ran's soft hair and had him kneel in front of his face to face, saying, "Be a good boy, let's do homework later."

Tao Ran felt a bit wrong in his heart, but he did not dare to resist. Li Zekun was too strong and made him cry until his throat hurt.

Don't know how long it took for Li Zekun to feel better. He soothingly massaged Tao Ran's neck and said, "Good boy, swallow it down."

Tao Ran remained silent and ran to the bathroom to rinse his mouth. Li Zekun didn't argue with him and had no intention of following through to the end.

To his surprise, Tao Ran came out of the restroom with a sniffle, but still sat back down on the sofa and cried while working on math problems.

"Little crybaby?" Li Zekun laughed and pulled out a tissue, squatting down beside Tao Ran. "Here, let me wipe your face. I only made your mouth, it's not like I made you cry. Is it worth crying over?"

"Stop writing. It's already late, and you won't be able to finish it. If the teacher scolds you tomorrow, you can call your older brother, Yang. Let me hug you to sleep.", Li Zekun said as he touched Tao Ran's small face.