The Ling family villa had its central air conditioning running year-round, with temperature and humidity strictly controlled by specialists to achieve the most ideal standards for human habitation.
Shi Jiufeng sat on the bed, a soft mulberry silk quilt completely covering his lower half, preventing anyone from catching even a glimpse of skin. His upper body was the same; despite wearing silk pajamas, the buttons were fastened all the way up, leaving only the upper half of his fair collarbone exposed, unnecessarily inviting imagination.
Actually, when he first went in, Ling Xiao hadn’t intended to say those things to Shi Jiufeng. It was only upon seeing Shi Jiufeng sitting there on the bed that those words somehow spilled out from his mouth.
Ling Xiao felt he really must be somewhat drunk, so drunk that he had actually entertained the absurd idea of truly following through on his words.
Ling Xiao suddenly felt that he had simply been using the wrong methods all along.
Facing a proud and untamable high-altitude flower like Shi Jiufeng, using absolute coercion would only provoke an even stronger rebellious psychology.
Therefore, even though Shi Jiufeng had taken the initiative to marry him, he still could not let go of those unnecessary bits of self-esteem for his sake.
Oh right, he remembered now, Shi Jiufeng was also a writer.
Writers were probably all like this, carrying a bit of so-called literati pride. He must have listened too much to the story of not bowing for five bushels of grain back in school and taken it seriously, actually believing that ideals were above everything else.
Ling Xiao almost wanted to laugh.
He found Shi Jiufeng’s naive and adorable thoughts amusing.
However, Shi Jiufeng clearly did not possess complete character principles either, because if he truly had any, he shouldn’t have married him in the first place.
Since he had married him, accepting his education and training was precisely what Shi Jiufeng ought to do.
After a moment of deliberation, Ling Xiao easily chose to give up on turning over a new leaf. Why on earth should he give up enjoying the life he rightfully deserved just for an ungrateful person like Shi Jiufeng?
Everything Shi Jiufeng had was provided by him. Without him, Shi Jiufeng’s sickly younger brother and cowardly father would simply not be able to survive.
Therefore, Shi Jiufeng could never divorce him, and would undoubtedly be sculpted by him into the exact image he liked.
As for now, coaxing Shi Jiufeng by playing a little game of romance seemed like an option that would bring him great pleasure.
Ling Xiao’s mouth curved into a hypocritical smile, resembling a tycoon adorned in gold and silver making an appearance at a disaster relief site.
Honey knows you don’t trust me right now, but we’re already married. You should give me a chance, shouldn’t you?
As Ling Xiao spoke, his gaze uncontrollably lingered on Shi Jiufeng’s elegant neck.
Beneath the transparent white skin, the path of every single blood vessel was clearly visible. If one were to pinch and close their palm around it, they could admire the look of pain and suffocation on this face.
A splash of red would abruptly emerge upon the pristine white snow, carrying an irresistible sense of aggression that would instantly swallow the white completely. Yet the consumption wouldn’t stop there; this shade of red would then begin to move downward, penetrating layer by layer until it completely corrupted the pure white, turning it red as well, so red it bordered on black.
Once that happened, this artwork would be complete.
Ling Xiao’s unmasked gaze made Shi Jiufeng feel deeply uncomfortable, especially upon noticing the covetousness and lust hidden deep within those eyes.
Shi Jiufeng felt as though countless cockroaches were crawling all over his skin, their oil-slicked antennae continuously probing while their sharp legs crowded together; the moment one moved, all the others stirred in restless agitation.
Shivers arose from his spine, raising a dense layer of goosebumps across his delicate, fair skin. His stomach, having eaten nothing, suddenly contracted violently as stomach acid kept rising upward, the intense acidity burning his esophagus and making him feel as though he had plunged straight into hell.
Ling Xiao: Let’s have breakfast together tomorrow morning. Think it over carefully tonight.
I’m not in a hurry for your answer, because you will make the right choice.
With that, Ling Xiao stood up, walked out, and entered the bedroom next door.
In fact, the adjoining room was one of the master bedrooms.
The room Shi Jiufeng stayed in was a guest bedroom, nearly half the size of the neighboring one.
Hearing the door to the next room close, Shi Jiufeng immediately got up, shut his own door tight, and then tore the bedsheet Ling Xiao had sat on right off the bed, throwing it into the laundry basket along with that stinking piece of clothing.
Unclean.
These three words echoed in Shi Jiufeng’s mind. The nearly unbearable sense of filth made him almost lose his mind.
He could not even maintain basic composure; his delicate eyebrows were tightly knit, and the muscles on his thin cheeks could be seen twitching.
He didn’t know what kind of game Ling Xiao was playing, but regardless of what it was, Shi Jiufeng felt he had played enough. His threshold was reaching its limit, and enduring even one more day of this would be the most terrifying torture imaginable.
Shi Jiufeng looked around the room, spotted the water glass Ling Xiao had used, and threw it away.
Still not clean enough.
So filthy. How could there be such a filthy thing in this world, such a sordid and despicable person?
Turning around, Shi Jiufeng caught sight of the quilt and pillows on the bed and resolutely threw them onto the floor as well.
Finally, he turned his gaze toward himself.
This outfit, this person, having been looked at by Ling Xiao, was also dirty.
Shi Jiufeng bolted back into the bathroom, meticulously scrubbing himself from head to toe for over an hour. His fair skin turned an alarming shade of red, especially around his neck and collarbone where he had scratched himself raw. When hit with the scalding hot water, a needle-like stinging sensation washed over him.
It wasn’t until he was nearly dizzy from the steam and on the verge of fainting in the bathroom that he finally let himself off the hook and returned to the bedroom.
Shi Jiufeng lay flat on the bare bed, his eyes wide open, waiting until dawn broke.
Equally sleepless through the night was Jin Cixu.
He asked, What did you guys do yesterday?
At those words, Yu Yibai jolted awake. Having been forced to pull an all-nighter, the dark circles under his eyes rivaled those of a national treasure, and the bloodshot veins in his eyes looked swollen, a clear picture of someone on the verge of being dead tired if he didn’t sleep soon.
Yu Yibai blinked sleepily and pleaded, Big Brother, you’re my real big brother. How many hundreds of times have you asked this question?
Seeing Jin Cixu stare at him as if he wanted to commit murder, Yu Yibai sighed and repeated for the Nth time: We followed the plan and made an appointment with Ling Xiao to meet at the club. They arrived first and ordered a few companion hosts. When they saw you didn’t show up, they asked…
Where is Young Master Jin?
Sitting beside Ling Xiao was a boneless, tender young man who peeled a grape and fed it to him. Ling Xiao ate it, then affectionately pecked the boy’s fingertips, drawing a burst of coy laughter from him.
Yu Yibai immediately got goosebumps, feeling like he was watching an 80s prime-time soap opera, and turned his head away to suppress a laugh.
Wen Heyi found it filthy and couldn’t even be bothered to speak.
Only Zhou Jingzhi dutifully answered, Mm, he’s busy with something.
That wasn’t even a lie; being busy hiding in a car playing the role of a waiting husband, how could that not be considered busy?
Ling Xiao’s other friends also had companions of their own. Seeing them sitting alone and unattached, they offered some well-meaning suggestions that they should order companions too, even giving recommendations on which ones were pretty and which ones were sensible.
Wen Heyi couldn’t stomach that routine and coldly stated, Not needed.
His lips moved as if he wanted to say something more, but Yu Yibai slapped a hand over his mouth.
Yu Yibai knew nothing good would come out of that dog’s mouth, but their task was to stall Ling Xiao and give Jin Cixu a chance to approach Shi Jiufeng, at the very least, to secure the position of the other man.
Although they didn’t think framing being a homewrecker as equivalent to going public in three years was anything good, given that this was the only favor Jin Cixu had ever asked of them, the brothers naturally had no reason not to help out.
Of course, even if Jin Cixu hadn’t asked, they wouldn’t have stood by idly. Since Jin Cixu already had a plan, they would naturally stick to their brother’s scheme.
Wen Heyi’s words fell upon the ears of Ling Xiao and the others and were naturally interpreted as deep disgust.
Had it been anyone else, they certainly wouldn’t have let the matter rest, but this was someone associated with Jin Cixu’s circle.
Whatever they meant likely represented Jin Cixu’s own stance.
The hand Ling Xiao had draped around the young man immediately loosened as he asked, Does Brother Jin usually… not go out to play?
Zhou Jingzhi replied, Mm.
That single Mm was once again interpreted in a thousand different ways.
Jin Cixu was so young yet capable of controlling such a massive conglomerate; he must be a man deeply dedicated to his career.
While they woke up every day thinking only about how to play and have fun, Jin Cixu was thinking about how to expand his business and firmly secure the leading position in the industry.
Ling Xiao felt a trace of unease. In the circle of Beijing, neither too big nor too small, he wasn’t the only one who loved and understood cars. Jin Cixu choosing him might have just been a casual point of the finger, holding no intention of befriending him whatsoever.
If Jin Cixu dropped them because they lacked a proper work ethic and chose to abandon cooperation with them, a swarm of alternative candidates capable of providing the exact same value would flood in.
For them, however, losing this opportunity meant much more.
Later on, when they returned to their families and officially took over the corporations, if potential partners remembered they were the ones once rejected by Jin Cixu, how many would dare maintain business dealings with them?
A family flourishing for decades, or even a hundred years, could face ruin the moment it was handed over to them, and no one could afford to bear that responsibility.
Therefore, he could no longer afford to play around.
At least, not for this period of time.
Although it was a pity, having the carrot of cooperating with Jin Cixu hanging right in front of him meant he couldn’t afford to worry about anything else for now.
Unaware of the complex web of thoughts running through Ling Xiao’s head, Yu Yibai and the others poured all their effort into discussing a fabricated project. To make the dry conversation seem convincing, they even ordered some drinks.
When Jin Cixu received the call last night, Yu Yibai had just been dropped off by the driver at the Jin Mansion.
Yu Yibai had a low alcohol tolerance and was feeling dizzy after just two glasses of imported liquor, but keeping the night’s events on his mind, he immediately reported back to Jin Cixu.
Who would have thought that upon listening, Jin Cixu would become completely obsessed, repeatedly asking that exact same question.
At this moment, Yu Yibai felt just like the Monkey King tortured by the tightening headband spell, with only one sentence echoing in his head:
Stop chanting, Master, please stop chanting!
Yu Yibai continued: We came right back after finishing our drinks. Zhou Jingzhi and Wen Heyi had things to do, so I came over to give you the inside scoop.
The agents Jin Cixu had stationed in the perimeter of the Ling family villa had informed him that after Ling Xiao entered Shi Jiufeng’s room, the two of them spent about fifteen minutes together inside. Even though Ling Xiao went to the adjoining room afterward, what if Ling Xiao’s stamina just happened to be that short?
Jin Cixu’s eyes were bloodshot. Even hearing Yu Yibai say that Ling Xiao had drunk a lot of alcohol couldn’t entirely set his mind at ease.
Between lovers, spending intimate time together wasn’t limited to just physical penetration. What if Ling Xiao genuinely tried to pull something, and Shi Jiufeng, out of deep love for Ling Xiao, didn’t mind at all?
He could not bear to imagine Shi Jiufeng carrying that gentle, breathtaking face and submitting entirely to Ling Xiao’s every whim, even if he only imagined the trembling arc of a single hair, jealousy drove him to the brink of screaming madly.
Why not him?!
Why wasn’t it him?!
He was much more capable than Ling Xiao, and he possessed countless ways to make Shi Jiufeng happy. Why wouldn’t Shi Jiufeng trust him?
Ling Xiao was a thoroughly despicable scumbag, a sewer rat, and a gutter cockroach who dared to covet his wife and even had the audacity to step into his wife’s bedroom. Could he really not just call the police and have this lunatic arrested?!
At the same time, an overwhelming wave of remorse and self-blame washed over him. Because Ling Xiao’s motive for returning home wasn’t hard to deduce at all; it was simply because he saw Jin Cixu’s friends conducting themselves with dignity, prompting him to stage this performance merely to pander to their tastes.
This plan deserved to be remembered in infamy for ages, and the person who came up with it even more so.
The mere thought that it was his own actions that prompted Ling Xiao to choose to return home made Jin Cixu feel as though his entire heart had been tossed into a sizzling frying pan. Anger, resentment, jealousy, and pain intertwined, tearing his heart into a pitch-black abyss.
The seven o’clock chime rang precisely on the grandfather clock. Jin Cixu sprang to his feet, he could no longer waste a single second here; he had to go see Shi Jiufeng!