When Sheng Mingzhi got married, it wasn’t that he hadn’t considered what he would do if Lu Jiayan ever requested to share a bed after the wedding.
But when that moment actually arrived, his mind went blank. He had spent three years thinking about it, yet he still hadn’t figured out how to answer. Lu Jiayan’s hint was so direct that Sheng Mingzhi couldn’t even pretend to be oblivious.
The moment he realized what was happening, his heart began to pound violently, nearly leaping out of his chest from nervousness. It made sense. They were a married couple, in their shared home, in a dim and hazy atmosphere. They were both adult men; it wasn’t strange at all for things that happen between adults to take place. If the other party requested to sleep together, it seemed he really couldn’t find a proper reason to refuse.
Lu Jiayan’s patience had reached its limit, but after speaking, he remained gentlemanly and didn’t move, waiting for Sheng Mingzhi’s reply. Seeing that the silence had lasted quite a while, Lu Jiayan said nonchalantly, “Since you aren’t answering, can I take that as your tacit consent?”
Sheng Mingzhi: “…” Have you no shame?!
“You!” Sheng Mingzhi started forcefully, but his subsequent words were soft and incredibly awkward: “Can you please be a bit more reserved?”
“Do you think, given how I am now,” Lu Jiayan exhaled shallowly, “I can still be reserved?”
Sheng Mingzhi didn’t understand what he meant by that. The next second, Lu Jiayan gripped his wrist and used the leverage to pull him directly onto the bed. Sheng Mingzhi didn’t think he was that light, but the other man made it look so effortless that he tumbled right onto him.
Feeling a certain heat, Sheng Mingzhi’s body stiffened into a stone once again. Indeed, it was very much not reserved.
…
In the three years since their marriage, he had never been in such close proximity to Lu Jiayan. It felt as if his body was no longer under his control; he didn’t even know where to put his hands and feet.
Lu Jiayan asked again, “Is it okay?”
Sheng Mingzhi was dazed by the sound of his voice, feeling as though the alcohol in his system was rushing back to his head. Feeling lightheaded, he wasn’t sure how he answered Lu Jiayan—perhaps he had given a half-willing consent? After all, Lu Jiayan was quite handsome, and what he felt just now was quite… anyway, he wasn’t the one losing out. Besides, they had been married for three years, and considering the old man was nearing thirty and still a “senior virgin,” did he feel a spark of pity?
Furthermore, the drink from tonight was originally meant for him. Feeling both guilty and defensive, Sheng Mingzhi’s mental walls half-crumbled. By the time he snapped out of it, the other man’s kiss was already coming on strong. It was clear the drug in that drink was powerful.
Sheng Mingzhi’s waist was suddenly cinched tight by Lu Jiayan’s arm. He let out a subconscious muffled groan, which only made it easier for the other man to drive straight in. The previously quiet bedroom was now filled with the sound of hurried breathing.
This was the first time Sheng Mingzhi had seen Lu Jiayan moved by passion. He was completely different from his usual cold and detached self. Sheng Mingzhi had thought Lu Jiayan was a modern-day “cyber monk”—the type who would righteously push you away even if you sat on his lap naked. This was the first time he saw the man lose control; his strength was terrifying, making Sheng Mingzhi feel like a piece of white paper being crumpled up and then smoothed out again.
A tingling sting came from his lips; they were already plump, but the kissing made them even more red and swollen. Lu Jiayan’s demands were insatiable. But even though Sheng Mingzhi granted whatever was asked, he never truly responded. His gaze simply drifted from the high bridge of Lu Jiayan’s nose to his shimmering “peach blossom” eyes, which were filled with deep emotion and sharp, handsome contours. With eyes like those, the man could look at a dog and make it seem like he was deeply in love.
Just then, Lu Jiayan suddenly looked up, staring straight into Sheng Mingzhi’s slightly unfocused pupils.
Was this dog man really a thousand-year-old fox spirit? Being stared at with such a look, who could resist being moved? It was hard not to feel that their “plastic” relationship had been somewhat sublimated through their physical interaction.
Unfortunately, sublimated plastic is still plastic.
The night at the Xishan No. 1 Villa was long and peaceful. The birch trees outside swayed in the cold wind for several rounds until the light finally broke and dawn arrived silently. Only then did the activity in the second-floor bedroom gradually subside.
The next morning, Sheng Mingzhi woke up from his sleep. The first thing he felt was a total bodily discomfort. He instinctively tried to roll over, but pain and soreness hit him simultaneously. He let out a sharp hiss, seemingly fully waking up from his drowsiness through the sheer pain of it.
Sheng Mingzhi sat up, his hair looking like a bird’s nest. His dazed brain finally pieced together some fragmented memories, and he froze.
He. Last night. With. Lu Jiayan. Slept.
Oh, wait. That’s wrong.
He was slept by Lu Jiayan. For the entire night.
…
It took Sheng Mingzhi a full ten minutes to slowly digest this fact. Then, he looked to the left. The king-size bed held only him; the other side was already empty. When he touched the sheets, they were ice cold. He didn’t know how long Lu Jiayan had been gone.
Sheng Mingzhi paused. He felt the spot three times, accepting the unbelievable truth. This dog man had disappeared first thing in the morning? Just went to work like that?
He had literally proven the definition of “heartless after sex” through his actions. To think that last night Sheng Mingzhi actually wondered if their plastic relationship might become a bit more harmonious. As it turned out, Sheng Mingzhi was dead wrong.
A dog man is a dog man because he is a dog, not a human. A human wouldn’t do something so insane and unscrupulous. He truly lived up to his reputation as a refined, self-interested capitalist vampire—discarding him after he was used! Should he have expected anything else from a workaholic like Lu Jiayan? Why even try to live a life with him? He should just go and marry his precious work.
The more Sheng Mingzhi thought about it in bed, the angrier he got. He simply took out his phone, blocked Lu Jiayan’s number and WeChat, and then, fueled by pure rage, got out of bed, packed a few clothes, and headed straight for his apartment in the Jinmao Tower. The place where he stayed most often before Lu Jiayan returned to the country.
Surprisingly, just as he finished packing, Shen Ling called to invite him out for a meal. Sheng Mingzhi had been tossed around all night and was already starving. Thinking of this made him feel even more that Lu Jiayan was a heartless bastard. He didn’t even prepare breakfast for him?!
Even after getting into the car, Sheng Mingzhi’s chaotic thoughts hadn’t settled. On one hand, he was angry enough to “run away from home,” but on the other, he truly didn’t know how to face Lu Jiayan. As soon as he closed his eyes, the scenes from last night played in his head like a movie. The more he tried to forget, the clearer the details became.
It was as if the dog man on the bed and the dog man off the bed were two different people. What a “refined scoundrel” and “beast in a suit.” Did he suddenly lose the ability to understand human speech on the bed? Sheng Mingzhi almost suspected he had been abstinent for too long; once he got a taste, he was relentless. Not only that, he even bit him.
And, it seemed he had even cried last night. Thinking of this, Sheng Mingzhi suddenly covered the lower half of his face, staring gloomily out the window, feeling like he had lost face big time. He rolled the car window down to the maximum, letting the cold winter wind blow in to cool the heat in his face. After a while, he fiddled with his phone again. Then, acting as if nothing happened, he switched to WeChat and, after a moment of hesitation, moved Lu Jiayan out of the blacklist.
By the time he finished lunch with Shen Ling, the Weibo hot searches had exploded again. Yesterday’s massive scandal with Qiao Yan and Huo Yuzhe was followed today by a scandal involving a producer drugging a minor artist. Before one wave could settle, another arose. Shen Ling jokingly mentioned the matter at the table.
Sheng Mingzhi thought the name sounded familiar—Gao Yubo? He suddenly remembered that this was the creep who had handed him the drink last night. Seeing Gao Yubo hit the hot searches today didn’t surprise Sheng Mingzhi much. It was expected; since he had offended Lu Jiayan, it would be a problem if he could still live a good life. He’d likely spend the rest of his days in prison.
He just didn’t expect Lu Jiayan to act so quickly. Did he go to the office this morning to handle this matter?
Shen Ling continued her endless chatter about her beauty routine, but Sheng Mingzhi, exhausted from the previous night, started to zone out listlessly. That was until the phone on the table began to vibrate at an inopportune time. Sheng Mingzhi glanced at it; the caller was Lu Jiayan.
His sleepiness vanished instantly. He stared at the call with a complicated look, unsure whether to answer. Finally, the call timed out and disconnected.
After taking a photo, Shen Ling asked casually, “Why aren’t you answering your husband’s call?”
Sheng Mingzhi: “…”
As if to add salt to the wound, Shen Ling added in surprise, “Why are you only eating the clear soup pot today? Don’t you usually love spicy food?”
Sheng Mingzhi: “…”
Taking advantage of the fact that Lu Jiayan wasn’t harassing him further, he quickly called Xiao Wang. As soon as the call connected, Sheng Mingzhi said decisively, “Are there any suitable scripts for auditions lately? Ideally the kind that films in a remote forest and keeps you cut off from the world for two months.”
Hearing him finish in one breath, a mental question mark appeared over Xiao Wang’s head. This “little ancestor” never took the initiative to ask about work; he usually treated being in the industry like a 9-to-5 clock-in. Had the sun risen from the west today?
“Why are you suddenly so proactive about work? It makes me so uncomfortable. Did you lose a game of Truth or Dare?”
Sheng Mingzhi: “…”
“Do you feel like your workload isn’t saturated enough because it’s been a while since I’ve trended for an ‘accidental’ like on a post?”
Xiao Wang: “Alright, Teacher Sheng, I’ll contact the crews immediately.”
Right after he hung up on Xiao Wang, Lu Jiayan called five more times. Sheng Mingzhi turned his phone over to keep it out of sight. Seeing that he really wasn’t picking up, the other party moved to WeChat.
He sent a single: 【?】
Having experienced the previous “question mark incident,” Sheng Mingzhi finally understood that Lu Jiayan’s question mark literally meant “what’s wrong.” He didn’t quite understand the world of some “post-90s” people.
Lu Jiayan’s chat box showed “typing…” for a long time before a message came through: 【Where are you?】
How did he have the nerve to ask where he was? Who was the one who disappeared first thing in the morning? The next second, another message from Lu Jiayan arrived: 【I went downstairs to cook a bowl of porridge, but when I returned to the room, you were gone.】
Sheng Mingzhi had been waiting in a rage for Lu Jiayan to explain his morning disappearance, but upon seeing the message, he was suddenly the one in the wrong. So, he had gone to the kitchen to cook porridge? Sheng Mingzhi had his doubts because his mental state this morning was so chaotic that he didn’t remember if there was anyone by the kitchen island when he left.
By evening, Sheng Mingzhi still hadn’t responded to Lu Jiayan. The other man was likely busy as well; after contacting him in the morning, there was basically no word in the afternoon. And he said I wasn’t persistent enough. Doesn’t Lu Jiayan himself lack staying power?
Sheng Mingzhi’s original plan was to stay at the Jinmao Tower for a while. But halfway there, he realized the Jinmao Tower was too close to Shengjia’s headquarters. Lu Jiayan also had a habit of staying at the Jinmao Hotel; they might run into each other unexpectedly. So, the Bentley turned around and headed toward Sheng Xu’s apartment.
When Sheng Mingzhi arrived at his brother’s place, Sheng Xu had just finished work. His brother was dressed in a suit, looking quite professional. It was hard to imagine that this man had been a prime candidate for skipping school and fighting in high school.
Standing at the door, Sheng Mingzhi announced bluntly, “I’m staying here for a month.” He asked, “Did you hear me?”
“I heard you.” Sheng Xu raised an eyebrow, sizing him up with an expression that looked like he had finally been waiting for this day. He said, “Has Lu Jiayan finally had enough of your young master temper and kicked you out? Although I expected this, I didn’t think the day would come so soon.”
Sheng Mingzhi: “…” He knew it. Nothing good ever came out of his brother’s mouth.
Sheng Mingzhi gave a fake laugh and nodded. “You seem quite happy about it. That makes sense. After all, if I divorce Lu Jiayan, you’ll have a chance. It hasn’t been easy for you, having a crush on him for all these years. I respect true love.”
Sheng Xu: “…” Don’t make me vomit.
Seeing his brother’s defeat, Sheng Mingzhi felt triumphant. He sat on the sofa, opened Sheng Xu’s snacks, and started eating. Thinking his sarcasm wasn’t quite sharp enough, he added, “Don’t be too happy. High school ‘delinquents’ like you, who loved skipping class and fighting, are destined to be slept with by men.”
Sheng Xu laughed at the absurdity. “Is that so? You’ve certainly done your research.”
Sheng Mingzhi confessed honestly, “That’s how it’s written in the novels Shen Ling reads. You should be glad you’re so ugly; otherwise, you would have been slept with by men in high school. Specifically, by a cold, top-student type like Lu Jiayan. Did you guys really never date in high school?”
“What kind of messy novels are you reading?” Sheng Xu gave his head a hard knock, making Sheng Mingzhi cry out in pain.
Sheng Xu said coldly, “I’m telling you. Someone like Lu Jiayan isn’t good enough for me.”
After he spoke, the room fell silent. After a long time, Sheng Mingzhi spoke up: “Brother. I think it’s better for you to have some self-awareness.”
…
When Sheng Mingzhi went to sleep that night, he opened his WeChat history with Lu Jiayan again. The conversation was still stuck on Lu Jiayan’s last sentence. After staring at it for a long time, Sheng Mingzhi turned off his phone and tucked it under his pillow.
The next morning, Yunjing had its first snowfall of winter. Sheng Mingzhi finally found material for a Weibo post and went downstairs excitedly to take a few photos of the snow. He spent about half an hour downstairs before going back up.
Upon opening the door, he sensed something was slightly off. There was an extra pair of men’s shoes in the entryway, and they looked strangely familiar. They didn’t look like his brother’s poor taste at all. Sheng Mingzhi’s right eye twitched. Before he could retreat out the door, he saw a familiar back sitting in the living room—so familiar that Sheng Mingzhi could guess there were still a few unhealed scratch marks on that back.
Just then, Lu Jiayan heard the noise and looked over nonchalantly.
Sheng Mingzhi: “…”
Sheng Xu came out of the study and, seeing the situation, gave a cold laugh. The schadenfreude was written all over his face as he tilted his chin toward Lu Jiayan. “You’ve found your person, now take him away. He’s been eating and drinking for free at my place for a day; remember to transfer two million to my account.”
Hearing this, Sheng Mingzhi immediately protested, “How are you calculating that? I only had one dinner; is it worth two million?”
Sheng Xu pointed to his head. “Two million for mental distress. Do you want me to relay your exact words about the high school delinquent and the top student’s romance novel to Lu Jiayan?”
Lu Jiayan’s gaze shifted over. Sheng Mingzhi shut his mouth instantly.
Since there were matters at the Mingchen Group, Sheng Xu threw Sheng Mingzhi to Lu Jiayan and considered the handover complete. After he left, only Sheng Mingzhi and Lu Jiayan remained in the room. An awkward silence spread through the air.
After a while, Sheng Mingzhi couldn’t bear the atmosphere anymore and broke the silence. “How did you end up at my brother’s place?”
Lu Jiayan looked at him idly. “If I didn’t come looking for you, would you even remember you have a home?”
“Oh.” Sheng Mingzhi had already prepared an excuse and babbled slowly, “Of course I remember. I just saw you’ve been busy with work lately, and I was afraid of disturbing you at home—”
Unexpectedly, Lu Jiayan didn’t care to hear his nonsense and interrupted him flatly, “Mingzhi.”
Sheng Mingzhi suddenly had a bad feeling. Sure enough, Lu Jiayan gave a smirk and questioned him slightly, “You aren’t planning to… refuse to take responsibility after sleeping with me, are you?”
Sheng Mingzhi: “…” He had never considered such a tricky question. For a moment, he couldn’t answer.
The next second, he couldn’t help but argue, “Who’s not taking responsibility?”
“I didn’t return your calls because Xiao Wang just got me a script. I’ll be joining the crew for about two months of filming…”
Sheng Mingzhi started out sounding very righteous, but under Lu Jiayan’s half-smiling gaze, he felt more and more guilty as he spoke. Why did this excuse sound exactly like a heartless scumbag?
“Then what should I do?” Lu Jiayan’s lips curled as he let out a deliberate sigh. “You’ve seen my body and slept with me. I’m no longer a complete man. Even if we divorce in the future, nobody will want me.”
He made it sound as if Sheng Mingzhi were some sort of heinous player. Lu Jiayan’s tone was full of grievance, and he had a bit of an acting talent, mimicking it perfectly.
Sheng Mingzhi: “…” He told himself to stay calm, took a deep breath, and muttered peacefully, “We’re both men; what does it matter if I saw you? How about I let you see me back to make it even?”
Surprisingly, Lu Jiayan paused. Then, he said unhurriedly, “In your dreams.”
Sheng Mingzhi: “?”
The man’s lips curled as he raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t that just be letting you take advantage of me again?”