After breakfast, the two curled up on the living room sofa.
Baldur Morgan was doodling on Cohen Phillips's tablet, while Cohen Phillips lay with his head on Baldur's lap, looking back and forth at the ring on his finger, feeling leisurely and cozy.
Buzz...
A slight vibration, and a private message popped up on the tablet logged into the WeChat account.
[AAA African Miner: Wife! Wife! Urgent! Reply ASAP!!!]
Seeing the form of address, Baldur Morgan's eyes darkened slightly.
He looked down at the drowsy Cohen Phillips.
"Baby, someone's looking for you."
Cohen Phillips yawned and nuzzled against his leg.
"Who? What do they want?"
"A miner."
Cohen Phillips perked up a bit, sat up, took the tablet, and typed a reply.
Baldur Morgan held him by the waist, casually glancing at the screen.
[Cohen Phillips: What's up?]
The next second, AAA African Miner called via voice chat.
Cohen Phillips accepted.
A heart-wrenching scream came through, a very penetrating female voice.
"Wife!!! Save me, save me!!!"
Baldur Morgan's expression darkened.
Cohen Phillips always automatically filtered out this person's form of address.
"What's wrong?"
The person on the other end, Ou Jie, launched into a frantic explanation.
"Recently, an African tribal chief has been pursuing me! My dad is actually quite pleased! Help! Who would like that? Wah wah... Wife, come marry me right now, cut off that African chief's and my dad's ideas!"
???
Baldur Morgan's face turned black.
Cohen Phillips met his gaze and blinked innocently.
"Uh..."
"Wah!!! Wife, you hesitated!"
Ou Jie wailed.
"Was the pigeon-egg pink diamond I sent not big enough? Wah wah... Then I'll go dig for more! I'll get out of bed right now, grab a flashlight, and go down the mine! Wife, see how much I love you!"
Watching the man's increasingly dangerous expression, Cohen Phillips hurriedly said, "I have a boyfriend now!"
Silence on the other end for two seconds, followed by a sharp shriek.
"Oh my god?You have a boyfriend? Who stole my person? Ah! I'm going to bite someone! Chomp on his butt!"
Cohen Phillips directly hung up the call and shrank back.
"Uh... She's my friend. Her mental state hasn't been very stable lately..."
Baldur Morgan pressed forward assertively, trapping him against the sofa.
"Whose wife are you? Hmm?"
The tablet was still vibrating, probably Ou Jie bombarding him with messages.
Cohen Phillips didn't have time to deal with it.
"I..."
Ahem, ahem, ahem...
A fit of violent coughing sounded from behind.
Anthony Ferguson spoke up, enunciating clearly, "Baldur."
Baldur Morgan straightened up and sat properly, turning his head to give him a faint glance.
Anthony Ferguson, who had indulged recklessly all night, felt somewhat awkward.
He cleared his throat, his voice still hoarse.
"Baldur, when did you get here?"
Baldur Morgan listlessly lowered his eyes.
"Early morning."
"Oh..."
He didn't want to speak with this voice either and fell silent, walking over to sit at the dining table and eat breakfast.
Cohen Phillips moved closer to Baldur Morgan, poked his arm, and explained, "She's a friend from my time in Y City. Two years ago, her father dragged her to Africa for 'training'. After being cooped up there for so long, she tends to go crazy with her friends. She calls all the guys 'wife' and all the girls 'husband'. It's not just me."
Baldur Morgan held his hand, stroking the ring.
"You accepted a large pink diamond from someone else?"
"Mhm... It's just temporary safekeeping. A way to maintain the friendship."
Back when Kerry Phillips first arrived in Y City, he took over a struggling small company where everyone from top to bottom just wanted to muddle along.
It was extremely difficult.
In just six years, YS Pharmaceuticals grew from nothing to its current significant position, it couldn't have been done without the help of some family businesses in Y City.
Moreover, that circle of people in Y City who were around Cohen Phillips's age were quite protective of him.
There, even if Cohen Phillips said and did nothing, he wouldn't be ignored and treated as invisible like he was back in B City.
Whether due to considerations of interest or something else, at least they showed Cohen Phillips kindness and affection.
Cohen Phillips was also willing to maintain the friendship with these "riffraff friends" who had scattered around the world after graduation through this method of gift exchange.
Also, although gifts like pink diamonds, yellow diamonds, and luxury cars seem extremely valuable, it's actually these rich kids' perfunctory way of doing things; they send them out in bulk.
Take Ou Jie, for example. Her family owns several mines.
Pink diamonds, blue diamonds – she could practically pick them up by bending over.
Never mind one or two, she'd give them away by the pound, treating it like clearing out the family warehouse.
It really isn't special treatment just for Cohen Phillips.
Among the 21 people in the 'Riffraff Friends' group, including him, there were 21 identical sets of the gifts he opened last night.
Valuable but perfunctory.
The most sincere gift was probably the hand-drawn character designs he did for each of them, one by one.
Kerry Phillips knew about their bizarre way of maintaining friendships among this bunch of crazies, so he didn't interfere with what gifts Cohen received or gave.
He just remembered the hidden lines of interest beneath the gifts and reciprocated in relevant collaborations with their family businesses, creating mutual benefit and win-win situations.
But Anthony Ferguson wasn't aware of this level, hence his reaction last night.
Baldur Morgan had also never seen this method of maintaining friendships.
Given his family background, wealth, and capabilities, he didn't need to consider such aspects.
All Baldur Morgan knew was that his baby had received a large pink diamond, which made the simple band ring he gave seem rather paltry!
And the gift-giver kept calling him 'wife'!
Even if it was a woman, it was still very annoying, extremely!
He's my wife!
Cohen Phillips didn't know what he was thinking, making his face so dark.
He scratched Baldur's palm, softening his voice with a hint of coaxing.
"Baby, I like the gift you gave me the most."
He humphed lightly, being serious in a somewhat childish way.
"Wait until I find you the most beautiful, most expensive diamond in the world."
Cohen Phillips laughed and nudged Baldur Morgan's arm.
"Sure, you go find it then."
Baldur Morgan pulled him into his embrace and pinched his cheeks.
"Don't let anyone else call you 'wife'."
His face was squished into a goldfish pout.
"Got it."
Baldur Morgan broke into a smile, leaned down, and kissed him.
Not far away, sitting at the dining table, Anthony Ferguson watched their playful flirting with amusement.
He glanced at Kerry Phillips, who had emerged from the room and had been standing there silently for a while, and chuckled.
Hearing the laugh, Cohen Phillips noticed his brother and sat up properly, somewhat sheepishly.
"Bro..."
Baldur Morgan turned his head, met Kerry Phillips's stifled gaze, curled his lips, and followed suit, "Bro."
"......"
Kerry Phillips was speechless, his face green.
Who's your bro?
Anthony Ferguson was even more delighted, not daring to laugh too openly, lowering his head and holding in his laughter until his stomach hurt.
Incredible.
The undisputed top figure in B City actually called someone 'bro'.
Hahahaha, Kerry Phillips, sweating bullets now, aren't you!
Kerry Phillips twitched the corner of his mouth and addressed him very distantly, "Baldur, aren't you busy?"
Baldur Morgan didn't mind.
He played with his significant other's fingers, subtly showing off their matching rings.
"I'm off today. Came to bring Cohen his gift."