Ren Changdong rolled the USB drive between his fingers, tapping it against the stack of reports on his desk. The single sheet of paper detailing the resume of the person before him looked sharp enough in the corporate world to skin an ox. The man in the file was a red-circled star lawyer and the youngest partner at this massive firm.
Even in his identification photo, this man wore a face designed to be standard and unremarkable, yet a pair of eyes that were half-smiling and half-mocking managed to be deeply irritating.
Looking at this flawless file, Ren Changdong wore a dark expression.
Zhang Bin the name listed in the data column was as ordinary as they come.
The corporation where Ren Changdong worked occupied an entire skyscraper in the downtown core. Row after row of endless small windows lined the building, and behind those windows sat countless “Zhang Bins” that ordinary families took immense pride in raising.
Ren Changdong could not accept that the little nephew he had raised with his own hands had been seduced and played with by a man like this. That child was the legacy left behind by his eldest sister.
The day Zhang Bin lured the boy to a hotel coincided precisely with the child’s eighteenth birthday. The more impressive this man’s resume looked, the more Ren Changdong felt that his calculated veneer was utterly base.
An intensity of emotion he had never experienced before threatened to crush Ren Changdong’s habitual calm and self-control. At the height of his hatred, Ren Changdong had genuinely entertained the thought of killing this man.
He dragged his finger across the face in the photo.
Just destroying Zhang Bin’s career and reputation and driving him out of the country felt to Ren Changdong like he was still being far too soft-hearted.
Yet today, a man claiming to be Zhang Bin’s “uncle” had tracked him down. Armed with a USB drive, he forced Ren Changdong to face a reality: Li You was not actually led astray by Zhang Bin. It was hard to tell which of the two of them was more of a handful.
Ren Changdong’s surging hatred was shattered into a chaotic mess.
He shoved the USB drive into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, preparing to go home and see this good nephew of his. He was willing to listen to the child’s own explanation.
Around three or four in the afternoon, while it was still daylight, the city was soaked in a heavy, humid drizzle.
Ren Changdong sat in the back seat of the car, refusing to look out the window. He lowered his head slightly; within the dim interior of the vehicle, the contours of his face remained deep and starkly defined. His heavy-lidded, deep-set brow structure cast a complex layer of light and shadow across his eyes.
As the autumn rain drifted into his gaze, it dawned on him belatedly that this year’s autumn had been unusually rainy. He had heard on the news that it was due to the northward shift of the precipitation belt. Ren Changdong hated this dampness, and he hated variables.
Upon arriving home, he discarded his moisture-laden cashmere coat and leather shoes right outside the entryway, leaving them for the domestic staff to clear away. Stepping past the chill and entering the house, his stockinged feet clad only in formal dress socks pressed against the wooden floorboards. The icy sensation surged straight up from the soles of his feet, causing him to shiver slightly.
As Ren Changdong changed into his slippers, his gaze dropped to a pair of sneakers tossed haphazardly in front of the shoe cabinet. Stooping to straighten them, he confirmed that Li You was home.
Neither the first floor nor the basement yielded any sign of Li You, so Ren Changdong headed up to the second floor.
The bathroom at the very southern end of the second floor featured a large bathtub, an area Ren Changdong had never approached. Right now, he could hear the sound of rushing water coming from inside, masking the muffled, pained sobs of Li You.
The image of Li You’s father taking his life in a bathtub once again wrapped around Ren Changdong like a ghost.
Everyone at the funeral had praised the man’s deep devotion in following his eldest sister to the grave, leaving Ren Changdong alone to sit beside the crib and guard his sister’s child. He was even stripped of the right to hate his good brother-in-law.
Back then, Ren Changdong looked down at this tiny human left behind by his eldest sister, terrified that as he grew up his features wouldn’t resemble hers, and equally terrified that they would look too much like her.
A half-grown boy of sixteen had been forced to take responsibility for another infant who couldn’t even eat or drink on his own. For seventeen years and eleven months, Ren Changdong traded away the finest, once-in-a-lifetime years of his own youth just to raise this child to adulthood.
And then, on the child’s eighteenth coming-of-age ceremony, he received news that the boy had gone off to mess around with a man. It was impossible for Ren Changdong not to hate Zhang Bin.
“Li You! Open the door!”
Ren Changdong pounded on the bathroom door, terrified that Li You would follow the exact path of his doomed biological father.
The door was bolted from the inside, making Ren Changdong panic even more. He slammed his body against the damned door with every ounce of strength he possessed. The custom renovation of this villa cost a fortune down to every square inch; the door didn’t even budge.
“Li You!”
With a soft click of the latch, the door was pulled open from within. Li You hurriedly fumbled to tie the belt of his bathrobe, his wet hair still dripping water.
Two faces faced each other across the threshold, vastly different in temperament, yet sharing identical brows and eyes.
Li You was far too slender; his uncle’s solid, sturdy build made him look paper-thin. The extent to which he could arouse a person’s protective instincts was matched only by the extent to which he could arouse a desire to break him.
“Uncle?”
Li You had no idea why his uncle had returned at this hour, let alone why he had suddenly barged into the bathroom. His uncle’s abnormal behavior gave him a vague, uneasy premonition that a major crisis was about to unfold today.
Ren Changdong grabbed Li You’s wrist to inspect it, and only after confirming there were no injuries did he storm into the bathroom to search for sharp objects. Panicking, Li You chased after him into the bathroom, blocking his uncle with a guilty conscience.
“What are you looking for?” Li You asked.
“What are you hiding?” Ren Changdong’s tone allowed no room for questioning. “Hand it out.”
Though consumed by shame and anger, Li You dared not defy his uncle. He retrieved what he had been hiding from behind a bottle of shower gel, and the sight dealt a direct shock to the chronically conservative Ren Changdong.
In Li You’s small hand was a heavy, deep-red novelty toy. With a furious motion, Li You hurled the item straight into the water. It smashed a massive hole in the surface, sending splashing droplets onto Ren Changdong and leaving water marks across his glasses.
If his vision hadn’t still been blurred, Ren Changdong would have suspected he was hallucinating just seconds ago.
Ren Changdong stared at Li You in disbelief, realizing at last that the man who had handed him the USB drive had not lied.
Not knowing the true cause of his father’s death, Li You assumed his uncle was simply hypersensitive about the subject. He couldn’t understand why his uncle a man who had been married reacted so intensely to this sort of thing, why he couldn’t understand him, or why he felt the need to police even this aspect of his life.
“Do you have to monitor this kind of thing too?”
Li You asked with a hint of self-abandoning defiance.
The toy cast a blood-red glow against the bottom of the tub, the crimson hue shifting with the currents of the massage jets. Years ago, the image of a bathtub filled entirely with blood had flashed once more across Ren Changdong’s eyes.
Back then, Ren Changdong had stood in that bathroom until the bloody water turned pink, then diluted into transparency.
He still couldn’t fathom how a single human body could hold so much blood, a stream of red that had continued to flow endlessly for over a decade.
At that moment, the steam from the bathroom condensed into a man’s tongue, licking against Ren Changdong’s earlobe and the back of his neck. Ren Changdong’s face turned pale.
Fearing he had pushed his uncle too far, Li You quickly softened his tone.
“What guy hasn’t messed around with those? Uncle, it’s not like you were never young.”
Li You didn’t yet realize that ordinary boys certainly didn’t use such items back there—or at least, his uncle hadn’t even conceived of such a possibility. To his uncle, it was simply shocking and entirely against the natural order of things.
“Such a private matter—why would you even record a video of it?” Ren Changdong’s voice was shaking. “Why would you let anyone else see it?”
Li You’s heart tightened. He had no idea who had leaked this to his uncle. He knew for a fact it wasn’t Zhang Bin; even after being put through the wringer by his uncle, Zhang Bin hadn’t sold him out.
Ren Changdong yanked Li You by the wrist, dragging him out of the bathroom. Seeing his uncle so frantic left Li You’s mind in absolute turmoil.
“If it wasn’t Zhang Bin, who on earth taught you these things?” Ren Changdong pressed.
“Uncle, it’s precisely because no one taught me these things,” Li You shot back. “Because nobody taught me, that’s why I’m so easy to trick and sweet-talk.”
Ren Changdong was certain he had taught him, warning him repeatedly with strict instructions.
“Ever since you were in kindergarten, I told you that strangers were not allowed to touch your private parts.”
As the two moved downstairs, Li You poured out all his grievances.
“You only taught me how to avoid being bullied, but what if it’s what I want? Did you teach me how to handle that?”
“I’m young, and I look just like you. Sitting in your position, where everyone respects you and fears you, of course you have no idea how dangerous this face is. If you don’t teach me, plenty of other people will.”
“It’s only Zhang Bin—”
Li You’s words cut off abruptly.
“What did he do?” Ren Changdong demanded.
“He bought me ice cream.”
Ren Changdong let out a cold laugh that made Li You jump. He knew it—his uncle couldn’t bear to hear that man’s name.
“Was the ice cream Zhang Bin bought you inlaid with gold or diamonds? Was it sprinkled with an elixir of immortality? In this city, you practically own a landmark building. As for snacks, I haven’t exactly been tight-fisted with you, have I?”
Li You refused to back down when it came to Zhang Bin: “A good man is even scarcer than a landmark building. If I don’t fight for him, he’ll slip through my fingers.”
Ren Changdong countered, “If he were a good man, would he lure a kid so much younger than him?”
“I’m of legal age,” Li You emphasized. “I was the one who went after him.”
Seeing Li You still trying to gloss it over, Ren Changdong said, “He planned to take it to that step on your very birthday—do you expect me to believe the two of you only met that day?”
“I didn’t, but he did,” Li You muttered in soft rebellion.
“Then that makes him even more of a scumbag. Far too casual.”
Ren Changdong made it crystal clear to Li You.
“The more someone understands societal rules, the more capable they are of stepping precisely on the red lines of this world without yielding an inch. A person like this could kill you without drawing blood and never have to bear any responsibility.”
“When a person does evil things while still making everyone think they’re a good guy, that’s far more dangerous than pure malice.”
Of course Li You knew he and Zhang Bin weren’t playing in the same league.
“You haven’t even met him, so why do you judge him like that? The people I care about most in this world are you and him. When you talk about him like this, you completely disregard my feelings. I want him!”
Ren Changdong had simply seen too many men of Zhang Bin’s type: “Aim higher and want someone decent.”
Li You stubbornly kept quiet.
On the night of Li You’s eighteenth birthday, the small, treasured family Ren Changdong cared about most had exposed its hidden, rotting core, while Zhang Bin’s impregnable life had also been churned into utter chaos.
That day, Ren Changdong had endured fourteen hours of flight time to return home, hoping to surprise the child. Instead, he ended up bailing Li You out of the police station.
Ren Changdong felt no blame toward Li You, only self-blame. He thought: Li You was so young, so innocent, what could he possibly understand? The more Li You pleaded on Zhang Bin’s behalf, the more convinced Ren Changdong became that Li You had been brainwashed.
Yet today, that USB drive had dragged Ren Changdong back to a brutal reality.
Only then did Ren Changdong half-believe Li You’s explanation. According to Li You, he had checked into a hotel room with someone only to get rejected halfway through; when he clung stubbornly to the guy out on the main street, the man had simply shipped him off to the police station.
Lowering his gaze, Ren Changdong caught sight of Li You’s bare feet. Even though he knew his boy had messed up, he still couldn’t bear to watch him catch a chill.
When Li You ran a high fever as a child, he would suffer while shedding tears yet lie to his uncle that it didn’t hurt. Ren Changdong thought it was all his own fault for failing to take proper care of him. Li You’s obsession with Zhang Bin was probably because his brain had been fried by a fever that year.
Ren Changdong went to fetch a towel and slippers, squatting down to wipe Li You’s feet for him.
“Uncle, why don’t you arrange for Zhang Bin and me to get married? Consider it my birthday present,” Li You negotiated with Ren Changdong. “If someone’s keeping me company, I won’t go looking for trouble.”
“Shut up. Have some shame.”
Ren Changdong’s voice turned icy, though his hands continued their task.
“Is it because we’re both men?” Li You asked.
The moment Ren Changdong remembered this extra layer of complication, his chest grew as heavy and clogged as if it were stuffed with sludge. He couldn’t wrap his head around how two men were supposed to be together.
“If you were a little girl with the risk of pregnancy, guess what I’d do to him? If he dared to risk a life, I’d make sure he paid with his life.”
Ren Changdong reasoned with Li You.
“Besides, with our family’s wealth, and him being an expert in law, who can guarantee what his motives are for approaching you?”
Li You remained unconvinced: “It would be best if he’s after my money. If he can be bought, it saves me the effort—just buy him for me directly.”
“How are you supposed to buy a living, breathing adult?” Ren Changdong flashed with anger.
Grievances made Li You speak recklessly:
“Why can’t people be bought? If you hadn’t been sold out yourself, would you be a divorcee now? If he plays me to death, then I deserve it. If I die in his hands, I’ll be happy.”
Snap—
A heavy slap landed squarely across Li You’s still-flushed face.
Ren Changdong had always believed his tolerance for Li You had no bottom line. Only then did he realize there was one thing: Li You could do whatever he wanted, but he was not allowed to go throwing his life away on a whim like his doomed father.
It was the first time Li You had ever been hit in his life; knowing his uncle was genuinely furious, he lowered his gaze and refused to look at him. He assumed his uncle was angry because he had brought up his divorced status, and felt a pang of guilt for hurting his uncle’s feelings.
Ren Changdong pinched Li You’s chin, forcing his face back around, and saw a glaring, angry red mark across his palm-sized cheek.
“Your ears—can you hear clearly what your uncle is saying?” Ren Changdong began to feel a lingering wave of terror.
“Uncle, you can’t hit me in the face.”
Before Ren Changdong could even figure out how to apologize since apologizing to people wasn’t something he knew how to do—Li You dropped another mind-boggling statement that derailed his thoughts entirely.
“I happen to like mature men who wear suits anyway, and I’m a little bit into pain play. You need to avoid suspicion.”
A wave of nausea swept through Ren Changdong’s chest, a gag reflex he couldn’t suppress.
“I wasn’t talking about you, I meant Zhang Bin.”
Terrified that his uncle would loathe him, Li You rushed to clarify; he had no intention of destroying their little family.
“Uncle, I was the one who used a fake ID to trick Zhang Bin into getting a hotel room with me. If he really was the one tricking me, would he have dared to dump me at a police station?”
To this day, Ren Changdong still didn’t believe Li You was capable of pulling one over on Zhang Bin.
“No matter which of you took the initiative, taking you to a hotel in the first place was wrong of him. He didn’t even know who you were was he planning to take responsibility?”
Someone like Ren Changdong, who had only ever held hands before marriage, simply could not accept this kind of messy relationship.
“That’s his private life. You have no standing to police Zhang Bin’s private affairs.” Li You looked up at his uncle. “Uncle, I am an independent individual, Zhang Bin is, and so are you.”
“When people go out to play, it’s strictly mutual consent. Not asking who the other person is and not talking about responsibility that’s the rule.”
Ren Changdong froze in place.
“Uncle, if Zhang Bin dies, I won’t be able to live. If you think he did something wrong, the price he’s already paid is more than enough.”
Ren Changdong felt that genetics must really be a thing. Two extreme romantics had left behind one thoroughly addle-pated little romantic. Ren Changdong didn’t give a damn whether Zhang Bin lived or died, but he didn’t dare gamble with Li You’s life a second time.
“I can let Zhang Bin off,” Ren Changdong relented.
“Then when are Zhang Bin and I getting married?” the little romantic pressed, fighting hard for his own future. “I genuinely think he’s a fantastic fit for our family.”
Ren Changdong said coldly: “In this lifetime, the next lifetime, and for all eternity, Zhang Bin’s name will never appear on our household registry.”
“Li You, if you keep acting up, he won’t even be appearing on his own family’s registry anymore.”
Li You snapped his mouth shut immediately; he fully believed his uncle possessed the capability to wipe someone clean off the census.
Ren Changdong couldn’t fathom how a dime-a-dozen man like Zhang Bin had managed to bamboozle Li You into this ghost of an obsession. Growing up, whenever Li You encountered upper-middle-class elite men like that, he usually just dismissed them as poor, pretentious, and thoroughly pathetic.
“The only place you should have taken after your dad, you took after your mom,” Ren Changdong remarked.
“Where?” It was the first time Li You had ever heard his uncle proactively bring up his father.
“Your taste in a partner,” Ren Changdong said.