“Have you had enough of touching?”
Since peeping and prying were both sins, the driver wisely pressed the partition button, closed his eyes to everything, and automatically shielded himself from anything happening in the backseat.
Qu Yuheng regretted not catching Jian Zhixu before he collapsed, and even more so for letting him into the car instead of just leaving him on the main road to fend for himself.
Just a second ago, this guy was calling others old lechers, but what on earth was his behavior right now?
Clinging to him like a sloth bear, his restless hands were crawling and groping all over his upper body, touching this, grabbing that, as if exploring something.
“Not enough.” With a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity right in front of him, if he didn’t seize it properly, would he still be Jian Zhixu?
A few minutes ago, his faint half-truth dizziness had been real in the sense that he actually felt dizzy, but false in the sense that he hadn’t lost consciousness entirely. After all, he was a Best Actor playing a faint could look very convincing.
None of that mattered; what mattered was that he was currently leaning against the embrace of the person he liked.
Through his exploration, he discovered that Qu Yuheng had an amazing physique with eight-pack abs. He had touched every single one of them. The muscle lines were smooth and the real deal; even through his shirt, the texture was fantastic, making him green with envy.
The intertwining scents of sandalwood and cedar from the man drifted into his nose, deep, lingering, light, and soft. Jian Zhixu liked it very much and unconsciously leaned in closer.
“Do you believe I’ll throw you out?” Qu Yuheng thought that stopping the car right now wouldn’t be too late. This guy wasn’t just using his hands; he was even using his mouth, with his soft, cool lips brushing against his neck on and off, challenging his bottom line.
“I believe it,” Jian Zhixu answered quite readily, and before getting thrown out, he quickly pulled up a corner of his shirt to reveal his battered abdomen.
His skin was as white as snow, with a small residual scar from the healed knife wound, while right beside it was a huge, glaring purple-and-black bruise.
Yet Jian Zhixu’s frivolous attitude showed not a hint of pain. Qu Yuheng knew he was enduring it; the forehead resting against his chin was breaking out in a fine layer of cold sweat, just like when he took that knife last time.
Having raised him for over a month, even an ordinary cat or dog would evoke some emotional attachment, let alone a living person who greeted him warmly every single day. Qu Yuheng’s expression darkened.
“If you can’t beat them, run.” His tone carried an indescribable, unspeakable heartache, but one thing Qu Yuheng was certain of: the Jian Zhixu in front of him was different from the one described in the files.
“Okay,” Jian Zhixu agreed to every word, then suddenly apologized, “Sorry, I made you stand up your client.” While pretending to faint, he had overheard the conversation between Qu Yuheng and his assistant, learning that their appearance at the club was to meet an important client.
Minghua Hospital.
The doctor was very familiar with Jian Zhixu, conducting every checkup with extra thoroughness. Fortunately, the punch to his abdomen hadn’t affected the recovering knife wound, nor were there any internal injuries. Everything else was just surface bruises; applying some anti-swelling ointment and resting for a while would fix it.
The doctor also gave a special instruction: do not eat foods that strongly irritate the stomach, such as pungent, acidic, spicy foods, or liquor.
Refusing to stay in the hospital, Jian Zhixu returned home with Qu Yuheng.
Aunt Mei was frightened to death when she saw the injuries on his face. Jian Zhixu claimed he accidentally got them while filming, soothed her for a bit, and then used hunger to divert Aunt Mei’s attention.
After washing up and finishing dinner, Jian Zhixu took the tube of ointment and knocked on the study door.
Qu Yuheng’s desk was wide, and the items on it were arranged neatly and simply. There was both a desktop and a laptop, with the only decoration being a crystal pen holder, alongside a few documents he occasionally read.
Jian Zhixu unceremoniously sat down on the empty side and lifted his loose T-shirt.
With such a natural, thick-skinned attitude, who gave him permission to do this? Qu Yuheng didn’t take the ointment handed right to his face.
Jian Zhixu: “It’s the one on my back. My hands hurt, and I can’t reach.”
Why didn’t he mention pain when he was beating people up?
Jian Zhixu explained further: “Men and women are different, and I’d feel embarrassed looking for Aunt Mei late at night, so you can only help out.” He shook the tube of ointment in his hand, gesturing for him to hurry up.
Qu Yuheng helplessly took the ointment and stood up, unscrewing the cap to squeeze out a bit, gently applying it to the bruises on his shoulder blades.
The young man was rather lean, and those symmetrical, thin shoulder blades looked just like a pair of small wings. They looked bony yet not frail, quite beautiful.
After a moment, Jian Zhixu spoke up: “Qu Yuheng, will they cause you trouble?” He had seen the assistant leave a business card.
“You’d better worry about yourself instead.” Having finished applying the ointment to his back, Qu Yuheng told him to turn around.
True enough, as the rival of the main gong, the big villain’s capability was definitely second to none.
Jian Zhixu let out a breath of relief, turned around, bit the edge of his shirt with his teeth, and propped his hands backward, laying his entire chest bare while his charming, watery peach-blossom eyes beamed with smiles.
Qu Yuheng suspected he was doing it on purpose, but he had no proof.
Jian Zhixu’s gaze never left Qu Yuheng’s handsome face, staring straight at him with the intensity of a hungry wolf pouncing on its prey.
Even though Qu Yuheng was fully focused on helping him apply the medicine, he couldn’t ignore that scorching gaze and could only speed up his movements.
“Alright, put your clothes down.”
Jian Zhixu spat out his shirt and complained, “I’m worth 50 million at least, and you don’t even want to look twice?”
“Since you’re worth 50 million, why didn’t you accept?” Qu Yuheng knew Jian Zhixu had debts and no real gigs. With his looks, finding a sugar daddy to rely on wouldn’t be hard, unless…
“Because of Qin Zi’an?”
Jian Zhixu didn’t rush to deny it, instead sitting up straight in a leisurely manner. “I said you’re my person; in other words, I’m your person too.” He provocatively played with Qu Yuheng’s tie using his slender fingertips, raised his eyes, and asked languidly, “Do you accept?”
His gaze was incomparably affectionate, seemingly intoxicated yet genuine, sending ripples through one’s heart—this was the evidence.
Qu Yuheng choked back a lump in his throat and gave a light cough. “What’s this ‘my person, your person’ nonsense? I have no such relationship with you.”
Jian Zhixu chuckled craftily. “We’ll have that relationship tonight once we consummate our marriage.” As he spoke, he reached out to untie Qu Yuheng’s tie.
Qu Yuheng grabbed his hooligan hands and commanded, “Get out.”
Jian Zhixu pouted, released his hands, picked up the ointment, and left. When he reached the door, he looked back and asked in an extremely regretful tone, “You’ll miss out on this village once you pass it are you sure you don’t want it?”
Receiving no reply, Jian Zhixu slipped away while he could. Qu Yuheng snatched up the pen holder, ready to throw it at him.
Once the door closed, Qu Yuheng put down the pen holder and let out a secret sigh of relief, his messy tie mirroring his disrupted heartbeat.
After waiting for a few days, the company didn’t contact him, nor did he wait for President Chen’s revenge; instead, he unexpectedly waited for a surge in mattress advertisement orders.
This anti-mite and antibacterial mattress primarily targeted young people. As soon as the commercial aired, viewers were captivated by his fresh and pure temperament. Some even bought the mattress to film themselves, editing short videos of two people sleeping on the same bed together and uploading them to the platform with the title: Sleeping companion, fight me for him and I’ll cut you.
This move was quickly imitated, and the hype continued to rise. Non-fandom onlookers asked: Who is he? Give me his info on screen within a minute.
Zhao Bin only found out about this when he received a call from the advertiser, who wanted to ride this wave of traffic and collaborate on another project.
Regarding the club incident, he didn’t know what happened to Jian Zhixu, and hesitated over whether to contact him.
Over there, Jian Zhixu was unboxing a package. Hearing the door open, he shouted excitedly, “Come over here quickly, I have a gift for you.”
A large cardboard box stood in the living room, taller than Jian Zhixu himself.
Jian Zhixu pulled Qu Yuheng over and forced him to turn around, facing away. “You need to have a sense of surprise.”
Qu Yuheng stood unmoving, hearing rustling sounds behind him, wondering why he was even cooperating with his sense of surprise.
A moment later, hearing Jian Zhixu say “Turn around,” he spun back.
“Ta-da!” Jian Zhixu beamed with joy. “Isn’t it a big surprise?”
There was no surprise; the fright was quite substantial.
A life-sized human standee stood before him, the person printed on it grinning widely with a row of neat, pearly-white teeth. If not for the high-end looks, he’d look like an absolute dork.
Jian Zhixu raised an eyebrow, acting all mysterious. “There’s an even bigger surprise,” as he swiftly spun the standee around to the back. “Ta-da…”
No grinning teeth, just a pose asking for a hug—fairly normal.
Wait, where are the pants?
The photo on the standee was taken on the day of the commercial shoot when Jian Zhixu had Wang Bo take an extra set: a shirt with one mismatched button, the shortest corner tucked between his legs, just barely covering the upper thighs, looking sexy and alluring. He had placed an online order to replicate it based on his height, with photos printed on both front and back.
Jian Zhixu shoved the standee into Qu Yuheng’s arms, completely ignoring whether the other person was willing to accept it, and said of his own accord, “When I’m out working, he’ll keep you company. Hug him when you miss me.”
Buzz-buzz,
His phone received a notification, and the transfer text on the page successfully caught his attention. Jian Zhixu picked it up and opened it: WeChat transfer of 10,000 yuan, remarks: Advertising income, after deducting 40,000, still owing the company 620,000.
Ha! To actually be willing to give him 10,000, Jian Zhixu clicked to accept.
The moment he finished accepting the payment, Zhao Bin’s call came through. He wouldn’t go back on it, would he?
Jian Zhixu answered and put it on speaker. “I’m not refunding the money now that I’ve accepted it.”
Zhao Bin chuckled dryly: “I’m not asking for a refund, I have something to discuss with you.”
He hadn’t settled the account from the club yet; Jian Zhixu said coldly, “Speak.”
“Didn’t your commercial blow up? The client just called me, saying they want to collaborate again, using your photos to make standees buy a mattress, get a standee.”
Jian Zhixu: “Not doing it.”
Zhao Bin paused for a few seconds before adding, “The other party says the price is negotiable!”
“The standee has an exclusive owner, can’t make it.”
After hanging up the phone, Jian Zhixu said to Qu Yuheng with curved eyes and a smiling expression, “Exclusively yours.”
Clearly nothing had happened between the two of them, but coming out of his mouth, it felt as though a little feather was tickling back and forth across his heart, itching persistently.
Qu Yuheng put on a cold face. “Why aren’t you wearing pants?”
Jian Zhixu looked down at his pants he was wearing them. He realized a second later, “The shirt covers it, and there are safety shorts underneath. Don’t worry, no exposure.”
“Do you like it? It’s the first time I’ve given a gift to someone I like.” Excluding the original owner’s past actions, this counted as his first.
Qu Yuheng hadn’t received a gift in many years. He glanced at the standee and awkwardly replied, “I don’t like it.”
Jian Zhixu wasn’t saddened either, instead saying, “Then I’ll buy you what you like next time. Just make do with this one for now.”
He turned back to pack his box. When he finished throwing away the trash and came back, the human standee was already upstairs.
The next day, Zhao Bin called again.
A web variety show had taken a fancy to the traffic brought by his mattress commercial and extended an invitation. Fearing he would raise objections, Zhao Bin simply laid out the company’s promise: if he took it on, his remaining debts would be completely written off.
The conditions were acceptable, but Jian Zhixu wasn’t going to take jobs blindly without checking first. He looked at the content description: a poverty-alleviation agricultural program with a great underlying concept. There was no reason for such a program to invite him, so he asked an extra question.
Zhao Bin didn’t hide it either, saying Xie Lan would be there too.
Fine, since he was already here, was he going to back out now?
The recording location was in Yicheng, over a thousand kilometers away from Bincheng, split into two shooting phases expected to last a month.
After going to the company to sign the contract in the afternoon, Jian Zhixu rushed back excitedly to share the news with Qu Yuheng, seizing the chance to ask for his contact information.