Hearing Lu Shian’s voice, the person on the other end of the line snapped awake instantly. “So you finally remembered how to contact me! Was that Meng Yu kissing you in the video? I called you hundreds of times last night and no one picked up. You have really outdone yourself, Lu Shian. My men could not even stop you; you just had to go with that pretty boy. What is so good about him that you have to hang yourself on his tree?”
Mu Yunzhou’s fury was palpable even through the phone. Lu Shian did not want to listen to such vitriol so early in the morning, so he said, “Talk to me when you are acting normal.”
He prepared to hang up.
“Shian” On the other end, Mu Yunzhou’s attitude shifted a full 180 degrees, his voice softening significantly.
Bringing the phone back to his ear, Lu Shian said, “Do not let that video leak. Have your people clean it up.”
“Hmph. Hugging and kissing in a place like that, I thought President Lu wanted to go public on purpose.” Within two sentences, Mu Yunzhou was back to his sarcastic self.
Lu Shian did not respond and hung up directly. In less than ten seconds, Mu Yunzhou called back. Lu Shian answered, “Can you speak civilly?”
“I really cannot be civil about this. Look at your status. Is someone like Meng Yu worthy of you? Besides, he is a scoundrel. Do you have to trip over the same stone twice before you wake up?”
Lu Shian remained silent but did not hang up. After a long pause, a voice came from the other side. “Did you sleep with him last night?”
“Yes,” Lu Shian did not deny it.
“You have always been someone who could not stand a grain of sand in your eye. I truly did not expect you to go back to an ex. How was it? Is day old spoiled rice tasty?”
Lu Shian, surprisingly, did not lose his temper. “It was delicious.”
“Lu Shian, can you have some backbone!”
Lu Shian could practically feel Mu Yunzhou jumping off his bed to smash things. Sure enough, the sound of items crashing and breaking soon echoed through the phone.
“Hanging up.” Lu Shian ended the call and refused to answer when Mu Yunzhou tried again. He opened WeChat, skipped over the hundreds of messages cursing him, and typed: [Stop meddling in a handsome guy’s business. Do not call or text to harass me, or I will block you.]
He arrived at the office, changed his clothes, finished a meeting, and returned to his desk to search Baidu for templates of Sugar Daddy and Plaything agreements. The content online was too long and excessively harsh; he could not get through half of it. Finally, he opened a document and drafted one himself based on the terms he had discussed with Meng Yu that morning. After printing it, signing it, and adding his thumbprint, he sealed it and had his secretary, Venus, deliver the agreement to Meng Yu’s home.
When Qi Lei knocked and entered, Lu Shian was smoking.
“President Lu, I have confirmed with the hospital. One of the caregivers looking after the Old Chairman is indeed named Zhuo Xun.”
Qi Lei watched Lu Shian’s expression carefully before continuing. “I personally checked with the nurses. They speak very highly of Zhuo Xun, saying he is well behaved, sensible, and very gentle. He is dedicated to taking care of the Old Chairman.”
The cigarette in Lu Shian’s hand was crushed out of shape. He let out a cold huff. “How dedicated?”
“Well” Qi Lei hesitated for a second. “If you want to know, President Lu, I can have someone bring the surveillance footage.”
“No need. You can leave.” Lu Shian did not want to see those two, not at all.
He leaned back against his chair and let out a long sigh. His heart was a turbulent sea of endless resentment and bitterness.
Zhuo Xun was Lu Shian’s college roommate. He was beautiful and had a soft personality; many boys in school liked him. He was somewhat shy and was not very close to the other two roommates, but he loved following Lu Shian around. Back then, the roommates joked that Zhuo Xun liked him. Lu Shian believed it and avoided him for a long time. Eventually, Zhuo Xun approached him to clear the air. He said he did have someone he liked, and it was a boy, but it was not Lu Shian; he only saw Lu Shian as an older brother.
Seeing his sincerity and the fact that he had even confessed his sexual orientation, Lu Shian stopped avoiding him. Zhuo Xun had good grades and a great personality. Although Lu Shian was six months older, Zhuo Xun took care of him more in their daily dormitory life.
Lu Shian enjoyed the company of diligent and gentle people. The Lu family was wealthy and powerful, so Lu Shian looked out for Zhuo Xun in other areas. They supported each other and were best friends in the dorm. When Lu Shian went abroad because of the situation with Meng Yu, Zhuo Xun was the person he contacted most. He thought their revolutionary friendship would last a lifetime until two years ago, when Lu Xuelan called and told him a fact he still found impossible to accept.
Lu Xuelan told him that Fang Ziming had been cheating throughout their marriage, kept a mistress on the side, and that the mistress had even given him a son. She also told him that the son was only six months younger than Lu Shian. When he learned that the son born to the mistress was Zhuo Xun, Lu Shian felt as though the sky had collapsed. After returning to the country, he investigated everything.
The truth was that Fang Ziming had cheated while Lu Xuelan was pregnant. Fang Ziming was a live in son in law. Although he was the Chairman of Fang Sheng, everything he owned had been given to him by the Lu family. He had a change of heart but could not let go of his wealth and glory. He had meticulously arranged everything, making Zhuo Xun and Lu Shian roommates and best friends, all so Zhuo Xun could later use Lu Shian’s connections to enter Fang Sheng and secretly transfer the Lu family’s assets to him.
These were the facts Fang Ziming himself admitted when Lu Shian confronted him after discovering the truth. From beginning to end, the only people being played for fools were Lu Xuelan and Lu Shian.
Zhuo Xun knew. He knew from the very beginning that he was Lu Shian’s younger brother. He followed Fang Ziming’s orders, designing a meticulous plan and approaching Lu Shian with a motive. Every kindness shown to Lu Shian was a deception; every act was a lie!
Fortunately, Lu Shian was ruthless enough. After learning the truth, he went to Fang Sheng and systematically hollowed out Fang Ziming’s power to take back control. On the day Fang Ziming suffered a stroke and became paralyzed, the two had a violent argument. Lu Shian watched him collapse before his eyes without a shred of guilt.
The father was no father, and the son was no longer a son. Since Fang Ziming was hospitalized, Lu Shian had never visited. Now that he knew the person caring for Fang Ziming in the hospital was his precious son, Zhuo Xun, Lu Shian really wanted to give a round of applause for their touching father son bond.