Lin Yue Shu quietly observed the gardener’s face, then suddenly smiled and pointed at a patch of white flowers by the lake, innocently asking, “Uncle, what kind of flowers are those? Can you tell me about them?”
The old gardener’s small, beady eyes darted around, unabashedly licking his lips, “Sure, come with me.”
As they walked over, Lin Yue Shu sensed that this old guy was up to no good. The gardener’s rough old hands held onto his waist, supposedly to prevent him from falling.
“Uncle, why are you like this?” Lin Yue Shu acted as if he was resisting but not really, pushing away the gardener’s hands.
The gardener couldn’t hold back any longer. As Lin Yue Shu squatted down to look at the flowers, the gardener attempted a sneak attack from behind—!
Lin Yue Shu suddenly bent down, reaching out his hand, “Oh no, a pill bug.”
The old gardener flew over Lin Yue Shu’s head, drawing an ugly arc in the air, and plunged headfirst into the lake, splashing water everywhere. He struggled in the water for a while, gradually losing strength, his body slowly sinking, bubbles gurgling out.
Lin Yue Shu stood up, looking down at the desperately struggling gardener for a long time, then chuckled. “Help! Help! Someone fell into the water!” Lin Yue Shu cupped his hands around his mouth, calling out precisely towards the glass greenhouse not far away.
Huo Yi Sen heard the commotion and looked up. He saw a familiar figure pacing back and forth along the lakeside like a headless fly. Huo Yi Sen closed his book, leaned back, and quietly enjoyed the clumsy act.
Then, he saw Lin Yue Shu clench his fists, as if making some kind of decision, and pinch his nose before jumping into the lake. Huo Yi Sen raised an eyebrow and slowly stood up.
In the lake, Lin Yue Shu grabbed the old gardener to stop him from flailing around, cursing his ancestors under his breath. After swallowing a noseful of water, he finally managed to drag the man ashore, pulling and tugging.
Then, without caring about the gardener’s life or death, he began performing a pitiful act of surviving a near-drowning experience. “Cough, cough.” Lin Yue Shu lay on the ground, spitting out dirty water.
His sharp ears caught the sound of footsteps approaching, crushing the grass seeds. He quickly turned around, pressing his hands on the old gardener’s chest, anxiously saying, “Uncle, don’t be afraid. I know CPR. I’ll save you.”
The old gardener, hearing this, didn’t care about almost drowning and quickly puckered his lips. Lin Yue Shu, with a look of heroic sacrifice, also offered his moist, slightly red lips.
The gardener closed his eyes, his pig-like mouth puckered high, anxious beyond words. He could smell the rich fragrance of tuberose on the beauty, but everything was ruined by a cold voice that came out of nowhere: “Are you okay?”
Both people on the ground looked up simultaneously and responded at the same time, “Representative Huo, I’m fine.”
Huo Yi Sen glanced at Lin Yue Shu, as if to say, “I wasn’t asking you.”
Lin Yue Shu smiled.jpg
The old gardener quickly got up from the ground, hunched over, looking up at Huo Yi Sen’s face with a smile, “Sorry to trouble you. I’m old, and my legs aren’t as nimble. Fortunately, this young man helped me in time, so I’m fine.”
Huo Yi Sen acknowledged with a “Hmm,” “Go change into some clean clothes.”
With that, he turned and left. The old gardener seemed terrified of Huo Yi Sen, not daring to go west when told to go east, and quickly jumped up, heading straight for his simple little house.
Lin Yue Shu was still sitting on the ground, watching Huo Yi Sen’s indifferent back. He coughed hard, almost coughing up his heart and lungs.
Huo Yi Sen’s footsteps stopped. From his cold, unapproachable back, Lin Yue Shu heard a sentence: “Come here.”
*
In the glass greenhouse, the modern-style fireplace had flames dancing. Vertical blinds covered all the surrounding glass.
Lin Yue Shu sat in front of the fireplace, hugging his arms tightly. His wet, poor-quality sweater felt like prickly grass, wrapping around his cold, damp body.
Huo Yi Sen continued to sit behind him, reading a book, and said in a low voice, “Take it off, dry your clothes first.”
Lin Yue Shu hugged himself tighter, silently shaking his head. By October, the nights were no longer warm, and with the surrounding lake water, Lin Yue Shu was shivering from the cold. He rubbed his nose, forcing himself to sneeze.
Huo Yi Sen’s gaze remained on the words, ignoring his sneeze. Lin Yue Shu bit the collar of his sweater, as if he was too cold, and his lips loosened, blurting out, “Representative Huo, could you please turn around…”
Huo Yi Sen was too lazy to move, looking down at the book, “We’ve seen everything of each other.”
“That’s true…” Lin Yue Shu lowered his head, biting the collar of his sweater again, “But, but… could you still turn around first?”
His unsteady breath was due to his body being too cold and damp, making it hard for him to speak clearly. Huo Yi Sen turned a page of the book, “If you don’t want to take it off, don’t. I have no obligation to serve you.”
Lin Yue Shu bit the collar of his sweater more fiercely, accompanied by chaotic, broken breaths, as if he was holding back, or perhaps in despair. He still took it off, as if about to jump off a cliff, hesitating, cautiously, pulling up the collar of his clothes.
Huo Yi Sen slowly raised his eyes, then his gaze paused. On the slender, snow-white body, there was a green women’s undergarment, thin as a cicada’s wing, with a loose, ill-fitting thin cup hanging.
This was the underwear Lin Yue Shu bought with his last few dozen bucks. He tightly clamped his arms around his body, draping the sweater over his knees to dry by the fireplace.
“You have quite a few quirks.” Huo Yi Sen withdrew his gaze, turning another page of the book. After a while, he turned back, realizing he hadn’t finished the previous page.
Lin Yue Shu’s entire body curled up into a shivering ball. Hearing Huo Yi Sen’s comment, he instinctively grabbed the sweater and stuffed it into his mouth. Chewing it, he spat it out, and the freshly dried sweater was wet again.
“Sorry to make you laugh.” Lin Yue Shu’s voice was as soft as a mosquito’s hum. Whether it was the high temperature of the fireplace or the despair and shame growing in his heart, his face was very red, with two blushes embedded in his fair skin.
“I-I don’t want to wear it either, but General Manager Shao found my company boss…” He continued, starting to bite the sweater again.
Huo Yi Sen said indifferently, “That doesn’t seem logical. Is General Manager Shao that idle? Or do you have something on him?”
Lin Yue Shu, like a snail that retracts into its shell at the slightest touch, curled into a ball. Shivering, he said, “General Manager Shao told me to dress like this to see you. He said… if I serve you well, he would have a chance to get promoted, get a raise, become a CEO, marry a rich and beautiful woman, and reach the pinnacle of life.”
Huo Yi Sen looked at him, clearly not believing it. “It’s true. This way, I can also get some benefits, like… like buying some winter supplies for the kids at the welfare institute.” Lin Yue Shu almost believed his own words.
Seeing that Huo Yi Sen was unmoved, he covered his chest and crawled over, kneeling beside Huo Yi Sen’s legs, placing his hands on his knees, looking at him ingratiatingly, “I heard this winter is particularly cold, and many kids at the welfare institute have congenital illnesses. This extreme weather is hard for them to endure.”
Huo Yi Sen’s fingers twitched, lowering his eyes. The young man, speaking sweet words to please, looked like a well-behaved little animal waiting for its owner’s affection.
Huo Yi Sen casually tossed the book aside, leaned down, and stared straight into his bright black eyes. “But, it’s dinner time.”
Lin Yue Shu tightened his grip on Huo Yi Sen’s knees, his gaze shifting to the side as if guilty, “Then… I’ll use…”
His mouth puckered like a goldfish. Huo Yi Sen’s dark gaze showed no emotion. He didn’t say yes or no, quietly letting Lin Yue Shu ingratiatingly unzip his fly.
Suddenly, an Armstrong cannon hit Lin Yue Shu’s face, causing a fine, tingling pain on his cheeks, and his eyes squinted. What a magnificent weapon, as clean and precious as its owner, with a shape and scent that could be called perfect.
Lin Yue Shu had little experience with oral skills, making it feel like his mouth was tearing at the corners. This pain, mixed with pleasure, felt like being in a dreamy cloud, enjoying a gentle comfort not of this world, while constantly worrying about the risk of falling.
Suddenly, his scalp hurt, and his hair was pulled, causing his head to jerk back. “Stick out your tongue,” Huo Yi Sen said coldly.
Lin Yue Shu was silent for a moment, his gaze guilty as he looked to the side, slowly sticking out his tongue. In the middle was a round silver ball, polished to a bright shine.
Huo Yi Sen said nothing more, holding his head. The smooth bead rolled around without any pattern. Huo Yi Sen’s sharp brows furrowed deeply, veins bulging on his temples.
“Your technique is poor.” His pitch-black eyes were filled with snow and frost. Just as Lin Yue Shu was about to say something, he was suddenly grabbed by the arm and lifted up, taking a few steps before being pressed heavily against the glass wall.
“Lift it higher,” the man’s voice behind him was deep. Lin Yue Shu obediently complied. The other person seemed to really be balancing dinner time, only scouting at the door, never entering.
Outside the glass greenhouse, Shao Cheng Yan stood behind a redwood tree, his trembling hands tightly gripping his phone, the screen showing it was recording. The melodious yet seemingly painful cries hammered his temples like a heavy blow, clearing all his meridians.
Shao Cheng Yan’s gaze was dark, fiercely displaying his weapon inventory to the redwood tree. Damn, this slut.
…
An hour or so later. Lin Yue Shu clung to the glass wall, falling to the ground like a withered leaf. Huo Yi Sen tidied his clothes, coldly turning to leave.
Lin Yue Shu rested for a while, picking up the dry sweater from the ground, his hands shaking, but he managed to put it on. It’s great because in this book world, there are no shackles. Compared to maintaining a facade in the original world, here, no one knows his true identity, allowing him to be unrestrained, like a paradise.
Unfortunately, time is tight, and he really felt a bit unsatisfied. Recalling how he lost his mind and went for a kiss earlier, only to be stunned by the other person’s “Behave yourself,” Lin Yue Shu made a mental note of this debt, planning to settle it all later.
Walking through the dense redwood forest, Lin Yue Shu rarely calmed down to appreciate the private garden landscape, comparable to a royal garden. The garden stretched endlessly, probably about three or four acres, and somehow, many plants that could only be planted in the south were forcibly revived.
Black fish shadows swam on the stones at the bottom of the water, appearing and disappearing repeatedly. Lin Yue Shu suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Under the clear moonlight, a tall, upright black figure stood quietly by the lake, shrouded in the night’s mist, somewhat indistinct. Lin Yue Shu raised an eyebrow, just as he expected, Huo Yi Sen would be waiting for him somewhere.
Yet he ignored it, walking past Huo Yi Sen as if he didn’t see him, heading straight for the villa. “Snap.” His wrist was suddenly caught.
“Representative Huo, is there something you need?” Lin Yue Shu lowered his head, not daring to look back. Huo Yi Sen released him, hands in his pockets, looking down at him, as if at a negotiation table, determined to fight to the death:
“A transaction of money and sex, once the money is received, it’s settled. The fifty thousand you donated in my name doesn’t count as a clean break.”
Lin Yue Shu looked up, unable to see Huo Yi Sen’s face in the darkness. Therefore, Huo Yi Sen couldn’t see the faint smile on his face either.
“It’s okay.” Lin Yue Shu spoke in an understanding tone, “Sleeping with you, I don’t…”
Before he could say “lose,” Huo Yi Sen interrupted mercilessly: “I can grant you one request, money, power, fame, you choose one.”
“I’m not worth Representative Huo going to such lengths for me…” Lin Yue Shu’s words were cut off again by Huo Yi Sen: “After fulfilling your request, we’re completely even, and we don’t need to meet again.”
Lin Yue Shu slowly raised his eyes, his dark pupils blending into the thin moonlight. From Huo Yi Sen’s words, it seemed he intended to settle the cost of this three-time escort service in one go.
Lin Yue Shu also believed that as long as he asked, whether it was billions, fame, or even a small local official position, Huo Yi Sen would have no complaints. But after that, he would completely disappear from Huo Yi Sen’s world.
Author’s Note: ———————-