“Young Master, let me explain! It is not what you think!”
“Young Master, I, I really did not mean that!”
“Long Yin, I was wrong!”
The indoor forest was absurdly large, with rugged and uneven paths. It took a long time just to walk a circle along the edge.
Yue Mingcang wanted to apologize and explain everything clearly, but he could not find Long Yin. After wandering around like a headless fly for a few turns, he eventually walked back to the starting point in disappointment.
At this moment, he truly hated himself.
He hated that he was stupid, hated that he was dim-witted, and hated that out of everyone he could have doubted, he chose to doubt Long Yin.
He hated why he would rather believe “Young Lord’s Extravagance: Spending a Billion to Pamper a Toy Boy!” instead of believing “Exclusive Scoop! Male Star Claims Giant Python Attack After Braving the Birdcage!”
He could not forgive himself for making such an erroneous judgment. He had already stumbled once over the grapes, and yet, not long after, he had stumbled a second time over the toy boy.
Long Yin had given him a chance, but he had failed to grasp it. If he had trusted Long Yin regarding the toy boy matter, he could now be rightfully brought into the Birdcage as a male concubine.
Instead, he was one step short, and all was lost.
Perhaps this was punishment from the heavens. The heavens wanted him to fall just before the dawn of victory, using the harshest and most painful method to tell him that a mundane and worldly person like him was simply not worthy of the pure-as-snow Long Yin.
“I am sorry. I should not have doubted you.”
Yue Mingcang squatted down dejectedly against the glass wall, clutching his hair helplessly and shrinking into a ball of frustration and despair.
He knew that with him speaking like this, Long Yin, hidden in the forest, could not possibly hear him. Yet, almost masochistically, like a deathbed prayer, he poured out all his unsightly thoughts at once.
“I thought ‘toy boy’ referred to someone you were keeping. I thought you had regretted your decision and did not want me, so you intentionally released such news to make me back off.”
“I know I am not worthy of you. The world is an open playground for you, and you have too many choices. As long as you wish, anyone would fall for you. I firmly believe you will eventually meet someone better than me, so even the slightest disturbance made me doubt that your affections had shifted.”
“It was my own insecurity and ingratitude that made me doubt you. I am sorry, Long Yin. Even if I can never stand by your side again, I will pray day and night for your happiness.”
“Whimper.”
A soft dog bark rang out.
Yue Mingcang froze for a moment, then turned toward the source of the sound. Xiao Bai had run out from behind the glass wall at some point and was now only a step away from him.
Yue Mingcang stared at Xiao Bai for a long while before speaking mournfully, “Xiao Bai?”
Xiao Bai: “Woof!”
“I am sorry, Xiao Bai. That ‘ugly thing’ comment was meant for the imaginary toy boy rival, not you. I am sorry, truly sorry, I am sorry!”
Yue Mingcang apologized desperately to Xiao Bai. At this moment, whether Xiao Bai could understand human speech no longer mattered. He could not find Long Yin to apologize in person, so he could only settle for the next best thing and apologize to Xiao Bai to alleviate the heavy guilt that was nearly crushing him.
“Woof woof!”
Xiao Bai whimpered twice, wagging its tail and happily pouncing toward Yue Mingcang. Yue Mingcang, flattered and surprised, opened his arms to welcome the dog.
However, before he could feel the fluffy touch, a pair of hands reached over him and picked up Xiao Bai first. Yue Mingcang caught nothing but air, his face filled with astonishment.
A moment later, he stood up as if receiving a divine pardon, turning in disbelief to look at Long Yin, who had appeared behind him at some point.
“Stupid Xiao Bai, you are too easy to coax. You believe whatever he says!”
Long Yin held Xiao Bai in one arm and poked the dog’s nose with his other hand, saying crossly, “He is lying to you! He really does think you are ugly!”
Xiao Bai let out a confused and sad whimper, as if asking, “Really? Is he truly lying to me?”
Long Yin said decisively, “Of course! He thinks you are deathly ugly! The ugliest puppy in the world!”
“Wait, no, I did not! I did not say that!”
Yue Mingcang had not yet recovered from the brain freeze caused by Long Yin’s sudden appearance, but hearing Long Yin slander him with such embellishment, he instinctively responded.
Long Yin said coldly, “Did you not? You might not have said it out loud, but that is exactly what you were thinking.”
“No, I did not say it, and I do not think Xiao Bai is ugly.”
Yue Mingcang glanced at Xiao Bai and carefully chose his words. “Xiao Bai does not have a single stray color on its body, and the shape of its face and eyes are very beautiful. It must be a show-quality dog raised by a famous kennel, right?”
Long Yin gave a cold snort, acting tough. “Of course it is.”
Yue Mingcang blinked. Somehow, he seemed to detect a hint of forced bravado in Long Yin’s tone.
He had seen dogs that looked like Xiao Bai in pet blogger videos; it was a Pekingese, a breed rarely kept by people in reality. Xiao Bai was even more beautiful than the ones in the videos, almost certainly a show-quality dog.
It was perfectly normal for wealthy people to keep show dogs. Given Long Yin’s status, owning a dog like Xiao Bai was the most normal thing in the world. What was abnormal was that people who kept show dogs were usually full of confidence in their pets, yet Long Yin seemed to be the exact opposite.
Yue Mingcang temporarily suppressed his confusion, steadied his mind, and continued.
“For a dog to become a show-quality animal, it means its lineage, health, and appearance have been professionally certified. It might look different from ordinary dogs, but it can never be called ugly. Anyone who calls it ugly can only be an arrogant fool with insufficient knowledge.”
Although Long Yin had just said Xiao Bai was easy to coax, in reality, he was quite easy to coax himself. The moment those words left Yue Mingcang’s mouth, the sharp thorns on Long Yin’s body retreated.
Before Long Yin could react further, Yue Mingcang’s voice rang out again.
“I am not trying to make excuses for myself. I am a fool. I not only mistook the toy boy in the media reports for a human, but I also treated that toy boy as my imaginary rival. But even so, I am not so stupid as to call Xiao Bai ugly. That simply does not align with objective facts. Xiao Bai is the most beautiful puppy I have ever seen.”
The focus of Yue Mingcang’s speech was not actually on the dog, but Long Yin only heard the part about Xiao Bai. The sentence “Xiao Bai is the most beautiful puppy” was like stroking Long Yin’s fur in the right direction.
Seeing that Long Yin’s expression seemed to have softened, Yue Mingcang immediately struck while the iron was hot.
“I did something stupid, but it was not intentional. Can you give me another chance? I am willing to do anything. I can use…”
The first bargaining chip that appeared in Yue Mingcang’s mind was Dragon Port. Both he and Long Yin were businesspeople, and in the eyes of businesspeople, nothing showed more sincerity than yielding profits.
But at this moment, as if the heavens were compensating him for his long run of bad luck, a flash of inspiration hit him. It was stronger than any intuition he had ever felt when seizing a business opportunity, making him feel as though he had grasped the key to making Long Yin yield.
Yue Mingcang’s mind raced, his heart thumping like a drum. Looking at Long Yin’s absurdly beautiful face, he took a gamble and made the move his past self had always wanted to do but never did.
He knelt.
He was already standing not far from Long Yin, and by kneeling forward like this, he could reach out and touch Long Yin’s belt. He could also look up.
Xiao Bai, who had been whimpering in Long Yin’s arms just a moment ago, suddenly went still. That was the system detecting a suggestive scene and automatically shutting down.
Long Yin let out a short cry of surprise, pushing against Yue Mingcang in a fluster, muttering incessantly.
“What, what are you doing? You, you, you! How can you!”
“Let me compensate you, Young Master. Tonight was originally the time for us to fulfill our gambling contract.”
As Yue Mingcang spoke, he bit open Long Yin’s belt. This was something they had already agreed upon, something that was supposed to happen tonight, but he had messed it up.
The current him knew better than anyone in the world that a worldly person like him could never be worthy of Long Yin. But why did Long Yin appear?
If Long Yin had not appeared, he would have given up the beautiful delusions in his heart, left the Birdcage, and spent the rest of his life in memory and guilt. But Long Yin had appeared.
In that case, do not blame him for going all the way.
Yue Mingcang’s hands moved continuously, and he soon pulled the entire belt away. Long Yin’s face was flushed red. He pushed for a long time but did not actually push the man away; to Yue Mingcang, that movement was no different from a no that meant yes.
In fact, Long Yin was indeed giving in. No dragon would refuse such a wonderful thing as deep communication with the Child of Destiny, let alone the naturally flawed Long Yin.
The only problem was:
“Not here! At least, at least!” Long Yin looked away, his handsome cheeks fully flushed. “We have to go to the bed!”
Yue Mingcang’s movements stopped. He looked up at the canopy above and asked a bit uncertainly, “Is there a bed here?”
Long Yin glared at him. “Of course there is a bed! Otherwise where would I sleep at night?”
Yue Mingcang nodded as if realization had dawned on him. That made sense; even if Long Yin’s hobbies and aesthetics regarding home decor were a bit strange, his basic living requirements were the same as an ordinary person’s.
Among the ancient trees, there were stairs that allowed one to move upward, built so discreetly that one could never find them without a guide. Long Yin led Yue Mingcang along and soon reached the place where he usually slept:
A hammock built between two trees. A hammock twenty meters above the ground, situated at the highest point of the canopy.
Yue Mingcang looked up and saw the unique glass dome of the Birdcage directly above his head. The bright moon hung high, like a natural lamp, and the Milky Way filled the sky, adding color to the night with tiny sparks of light. Looking down, the large and wide hammock trembled slightly in the breeze.
Under the romantic moonlight and the brilliant starlight, Yue Mingcang looked at the eager Long Yin. He felt no stray thoughts in his heart, only one question he wanted to ask but dared not.
If they rolled around in this hammock, they would not fall off halfway through, would they?