He’d thought he no longer even knew what it felt like to hurt.
But seeing Shi Yi pressed that close to someone else, there was still a moment where the ache in his chest took his breath away.
He didn’t know whether Shi Yi had actually kissed that bar escort called Xu Xing.
Shi Yi’s pajamas had also been wide open, he didn’t know what kind of movement would make the collar fall open that far.
He didn’t think Xu Xing had the nerve to actually touch Shi Yi, Shi Yi found gay men disgusting, so it was even less likely he’d do anything with another man.
Shi Yi was only putting on a show with Xu Xing to torment him.
Shi Yi knew exactly what would make him suffer.
But from where he’d been standing, it looked like Shi Yi was kissing Xu Xing.
It was his arrival that had interrupted the two of them in the middle of an intense kiss.
He would rather it be Shi Yi tormenting him.
He was willing to feel the ache, willing to have his breath taken away.
But he really didn’t want to watch Shi Yi kiss someone else.
After the glass shards left four cuts in his palm, Lu Huaiqian finally finished clearing away every wine bottle on the floor.
The trash bag holding the bottles was set outside the door.
The coffee table was pushed back into place, the throw pillows scattered on the sofa and the wine stains were wiped clean one by one and arranged neatly, the air purifier was also turned on, gradually dispersing the unpleasant smell of alcohol in the room.
Lu Huaiqian went back to the bathroom and rinsed his dirty hands clean, and only once no fresh blood was seeping out did he dry his hands and return to the living room to put the bread he’d brought back for Shi Yi into the refrigerator.
Then he took honey and tomatoes out of the fridge, brewed a small pot of honey water and set it to warm on the water heater, and juiced a few tomatoes, ready for when Shi Yi woke up to drink.
Shi Yi always got headaches and dizziness after drinking, honey water eased the dizziness, and tomato juice eased the headache.
He’d made Shi Yi many kinds of hangover tea, and only these two actually worked for him.
Once all this was done, Lu Huaiqian made himself a simple bowl of noodles, ate it, cleaned up, and went upstairs.
The door of the room at the far north end of the hallway was still shut tight.
He didn’t look at it, and didn’t dare to.
Shi Yi always got thirsty once the alcohol wore off, he’d know when Shi Yi came out for water.
There was still an online meeting to attend tonight, and by roughly the time it ended, Shi Yi should be awake too, he could make him dinner right then.
Lu Huaiqian didn’t linger, and walked straight into the study.
Shi Yi woke up from thirst.
He’d dreamed he was a camel, thirsty for three days and three nights in a vast, boundless desert.
At last he found a clear spring, and hurried over on eager hooves, only to find it was a mirage. Furious, he bucked and kicked, and finally woke himself up out of pure anger.
Only seconds after waking, a splitting headache and a spinning, dizzying sensation crashed over him, and for a moment he couldn’t get his bearings.
Alcohol, while drinking it and while drunk, really was a good thing, it could numb him completely and let him forget the unhappy things, but the aftermath of a hangover was truly miserable.
Shi Yi muttered a curse under his breath, leaned against the headboard for a while to recover, and only then managed to sit up with difficulty. He stumbled to the bathroom to splash water on his face, then headed out to look for water downstairs.
He’d just opened his bedroom door and taken a few steps when the study door across the hall opened too.
Lu Huaiqian was walking toward him carrying the honey water and tomato juice.
Shi Yi didn’t want to deal with him and pretended not to see him, continuing on his own way with a hand on the wall.
Lu Huaiqian’s stride was faster than his, and within moments he’d reached him, blocking his path.
Lu Huaiqian looked at him, his deep black eyes unable to hide the ache and worry in them.
“Headache and dizziness again? The honey water and tomato juice, you’ve had them before, they can ease the headache and dizziness. Will you drink a little? You’ll feel much better once it’s down. You’ve just been drinking, you can’t take medicine.”
Shi Yi didn’t want to waste breath on this human trafficker Lu Huaiqian, every extra second spent near him felt like bad luck.
Without even glancing at Lu Huaiqian, he stepped around him, meaning to walk down the other side of the hallway.
But the moment he took a step, Lu Huaiqian shifted over to block that side too.
A nameless fury shot up from the bottom of Shi Yi’s heart. “Get lost! If you’re sick, go see a doctor, don’t grovel in front of me.”
Lu Huaiqian stood still and let Shi Yi curse at him, and only once he’d finished did he continue, “Shi Yi, just drink a little, all right? You’ll stop having the headache once it’s down, really, I’m not lying to you.”
“The water downstairs won’t ease your headache, and you’d still have to keep walking, it’s too much trouble. The honey water is warm, it’s just right to drink now.”
He knew Shi Yi wasn’t the type to put himself through unnecessary suffering, as long as he was persistent and coaxed him well enough, Shi Yi would always drink it in the end.
His Shi Yi was rather delicate, and couldn’t stand hardship.
Not even the smallest bit of it.
Lu Huaiqian coaxed him gently, “Once you’ve had it, go back to your room and rest a bit more. I’ll go make you dinner, you didn’t eat, you must be hungry by now.”
“What do you feel like eating for dinner? How about matsutake noodle soup? Xiao Jing just bought some fresh black matsutake mushrooms today, they’re very fresh.”
Lu Huaiqian’s mouth ran on and on like a fly, buzzing away until it gave people a headache.
Shi Yi really wanted to slap him dead.
But he really was hungry.
Thirsty and hungry both, and his head was still spinning nonstop.
Since that was the case, there was no point turning down service delivered right to his door.
Besides, after living together for three years, he’d come to know Lu Huaiqian’s temperament well enough, once Lu Huaiqian decided to do something, no matter how he refused, Lu Huaiqian wouldn’t give up until he got his way.
A true dog-skin plaster.
Shi Yi’s head was pounding unbearably. He waited for a wave of sharp pain to pass, then reached out, snatched the half cup of honey water from Lu Huaiqian’s hand, and downed it in one go.
Once he’d finished, he shoved the empty cup back into Lu Huaiqian’s hand, grabbed the other cup of tomato juice, poured it into his own mouth, then wiped the moisture from the corner of his lips and shot Lu Huaiqian a contemptuous glance.
“Lu Huaiqian, I’ve realized you’re truly pathetic. I’m genuinely curious, what exactly do I have to do to make you stop groveling in front of me? Can you tell me?”
“Mm.” The two emptied cups turned once in Lu Huaiqian’s hands, and a bitter smile that didn’t suit his cold, stern face rose to the corner of his mouth. He said quietly, “I don’t know either. You’re welcome to keep trying.”
Perhaps until the day I die, you’ll still have the right and the freedom to drive a blade into me, to hurt me.
Shi Yi said, “I will.”
Of course he would.
Three years ago, when the Shi family’s cash flow suddenly collapsed and they went bankrupt, this old schoolmate of his, Lu Huaiqian, who had just been recognized back into a wealthy family, had suddenly stepped forward and said he’d help the Shi family through their difficulties, but the one condition was that he had to marry him.
Have him, a man, marry another man.
What an absolutely absurd joke.
And of all things, the two old fools in his own family treated this freak Lu Huaiqian like a savior come to rescue them from suffering, crying and making scenes and threatening to hang themselves until they forced him, a man, to marry.
Before the wedding, Lu Huaiqian had confessed to him, said he loved him, said he’d loved him even before then, that it had been love at first sight.
Truly laughable.
Every single one of them said they loved him, yet not one of them ever treated him as a person.
His parents said they loved him, yet they sold him off to this human trafficker Lu Huaiqian.
Lu Huaiqian said he loved him too.
He’d very much like to see just how much this Lu Huaiqian could actually love him.