Jiangcheng, Swan Bay Villa District.
Ear-splitting music filled every corner of the living room in Building 12-33. The intense, stifling air pressed down until it was hard to breathe, making people want to escape.
Shi Yi lounged sideways on the expensive leather sofa, his light tea-colored eyes tinged with drunkenness narrowed slightly, his face tilted up as he stared blankly into space.
The freshly opened bottle of liquor swayed back and forth with the movement of his hand, making a light clinking sound of droplets, which was somewhat pleasant to hear.
Suddenly, as if something occurred to him, his long lashes trembled. He turned his head to look at the man closest to him. “By the way, Xu Xing, what time is it now?”
The man called Xu Xing lowered his head to check the time and said, “It’s 8:52, Young Master Shi.”
8:52?
What time had Lu Huaiqian said he’d be home around?
9 o’clock? Or 9:10-something?
His brain numbed by alcohol, Shi Yi closed his eyes and thought carefully, but found he couldn’t remember at all.
He clicked his tongue impatiently and, very reluctantly, fished his phone out from under his thigh, then opened WeChat.
Messages from half an hour ago that he hadn’t replied to:
【Lu Huaiqian: Off work now, heading home. I’ll be back around 9.】
【Lu Huaiqian: What do you want to eat tonight? Is there anything you’re craving? I’ll bring it back.】
【Lu Huaiqian: I bought the coconut cheese buns you like. I saw they’ve got new pineapple croissants, so I got one for you to try, see if you like it. If you do, I’ll bring more tomorrow.】
So it was 9 o’clock, then. That was soon.
Shi Yi held the phone with one hand, exited WeChat, found the surveillance camera feed at the front door, and tapped it open.
Xu Xing beside him watched him fiddling with the phone, his handsome face full of hesitation, and said awkwardly, “Um, Young Master Shi, President Lu should be back soon, right? Why don’t I take the brothers and head out first?”
“Go? Go where?” Hearing this, Shi Yi withdrew his gaze from the quiet surveillance feed, raised his eyes, and looked at Xu Xing with a half-smile that carried a warning. “Did I tell you to leave?”
“No, Young Master Shi, that’s not what I meant, I’m just afraid…”
“Afraid of what? Afraid he’ll cause trouble for you?”
Shi Yi’s brows curved downward again, his reddened eye corners adding a touch of allure. “Don’t worry, he knows I’m the one who called you over, he won’t give you trouble. Besides, how many times has this happened already? Has he ever made things hard for you?”
Xu Xing laughed awkwardly. “This, President Lu really hasn’t, but…”
Under the dim yellow streetlight, a black Porsche suddenly appeared on Shi Yi’s phone screen. Shi Yi had no time to bother with what Xu Xing was thinking.
He put down his phone, picked up a wine glass he hadn’t even taken a sip from, and without hesitation poured half of it over himself.
A patch of wetness spread across the comfortable silk pajamas, sticky and uncomfortable.
Shi Yi lifted his collar in distaste and fanned it, deliberately pulling the pajama collar open to reveal a large stretch of skin soaked with red wine.
A strong smell of alcohol drifted through the air. The crystal chandelier overhead was switched off, leaving only a few neon light balls Shi Yi had bought specially, flickering, as an ambiguous atmosphere gradually rose.
Shi Yi kept track of the time, and when he felt it was about right, he yanked Xu Xing over, reached out to hold onto his back, and leaned in bit by bit to press close to him.
Xu Xing struggled to pull back, but since Shi Yi was their client and they couldn’t afford to offend him, he could only hold his position, straining to keep some distance from Shi Yi so as not to actually touch his face.
The next second, a faint sound of the front door opening came from the tightly shut entrance.
Right after, the crystal chandelier lit up again.
The glaring light plunged the whole living room into instant silence.
At the door, Lu Huaiqian, in a black suit after a whole day of work, stood holding two dessert bags in his right hand. Without a word, he quietly raised his eyes and looked at the two people on the sofa, holding each other, about to kiss.
A flash of sorrow passed quickly through his deep black eyes, then vanished in an instant, leaving only a calm surface hiding turbulent waves beneath.
“P-President Lu.”
Xu Xing sprang up off Shi Yi as if launched, staggering back two steps, trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and Shi Yi.
His handsome face was stunned, filled with fear and shock. He glanced at Lu Huaiqian once, then hurriedly looked away, not daring to look at Lu Huaiqian’s expression again.
Going through this whole sequence, it looked as if he really did have something going on with Shi Yi, caught red-handed by Lu Huaiqian.
Shi Yi was very satisfied with Xu Xing’s reaction.
He withdrew the hand he’d raised in midair, which had been loosely around Xu Xing, and curled his lips up. He glanced first at Xu Xing, who was now keeping his distance to avoid suspicion, then turned to face Lu Huaiqian standing at the door and gave a soft laugh. “Why are you back so early today?”
Lu Huaiqian looked at him and said nothing.
In the living room, no one dared to speak, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The atmosphere was tense to the extreme.
Shi Yi turned his gaze back to Xu Xing, and to the other hostesses standing behind him not daring to breathe loudly, and said with a smile, “My husband’s back. Why don’t you all head off for now, sweethearts? I’ll invite you over to play again when I have time.”
Everyone had been waiting for Shi Yi to say exactly that.
Xu Xing gave a stiff, small nod, said, “Thank you for your hospitality, Young Master Shi,” and led the brothers he’d brought quickly toward the door.
Lu Huaiqian stepped aside to let them pass.
“President Lu, there’s really nothing between Young Master Shi and me. I can explain it to you afterward.”
“Mm.”
The front door closed, leaving only Shi Yi and Lu Huaiqian in the huge living room.
The mocking smile on Shi Yi’s lips vanished completely. His drunken eyes brimmed with disgust and loathing, nearly overflowing.
He didn’t even want to spare another glance at the man by the door. He put down his crossed legs and got up, ready to head upstairs.
But he really had drunk quite a bit today. Despite trying hard to stay steady, his steps were still unsteady, and as soon as he stood up, his strength gave out and he swayed as if about to topple to the floor.
“Shi Yi.”
The man who had seemed nailed to the doorway rushed toward him at once, catching him into his arms just as he was about to fall onto the wine bottles.
A hateful smell invaded his nose, making him want to vomit.
He raised his hand in disgust and shoved hard at the man holding him. “Get lost. Don’t touch me.”
Lu Huaiqian pretended not to hear what Shi Yi said.
Perhaps he had already grown used to it, nearly a thousand days now, not a single one without being pushed away. He kept holding him, his tone as gentle as always. “Are you hungry? Do you want to go upstairs and sleep a bit before eating, or eat after you wake up?”
Unable to break free, unable to curse him away, clinging to him like a dog-skin plaster [1]clinging to him like a dog-skin plaster (gou pi gao yao, 狗皮膏藥) Metaphor, stuck to someone like a hard-to-remove medicinal patch, i.e. an annoying clinginess you can’t shake off jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3196533_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3196533_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, it was truly disgusting.
Holding onto the thought that out of sight was out of mind, Shi Yi simply closed his eyes and played dead.
Shi Yi couldn’t hold his liquor well, after drinking, he usually needed to sleep first before he had the energy to get up and eat. Over these three years, Lu Huaiqian had already built up plenty of experience taking care of him.
“Then how about this, drink a glass of milk first and sleep a bit. When you wake up, I’ll make whatever you want to eat, okay?”
The coffee table was piled with all kinds of liquor, both drunk and untouched, without even a small space to set down the two boxes of dessert.
Lu Huaiqian had no choice but to hold him with one arm while carefully setting the desserts he’d brought back for Shi Yi on the sofa with the other hand.
Only then did he support him and head upstairs.
Lu Huaiqian was a head taller than Shi Yi, so supporting him was relatively easy.
But in truth, for someone who’d had too much to drink, carrying them in one’s arms or on one’s back was the most secure and effortless way, but Shi Yi normally wouldn’t even let him touch him once, let alone agree to such an intimate gesture.
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