Han Yue returned from Qingdao with remarkable speed. He had practically finished his business in the morning and boarded a flight back to Beijing that very afternoon, leaving the local hosts astonished.
These days, when someone from higher up arrived, it was practically like welcoming an ancestor. They had to be treated with utmost respect and hospitality. If the visitor happened to enjoy luxury and indulgence, the hosts would consider themselves lucky if they only lost a little money in the process.
Before Han Yue’s arrival, the Qingdao reception staff knew that he was a crown prince among the princelings, notorious for being difficult to deal with. They therefore prepared everything according to the highest possible standards. Food, lodging, transportation—every detail was arranged meticulously, with only one goal in mind:
High-class.
To their surprise, Han Yue was accustomed to military life. He went to bed on time, got up on time, demanded neither extravagant delicacies nor wild entertainment, nor did he require beautiful women by his side.
He lacked neither money nor power. At most, they could give him some local specialties as gifts.
They had even prepared beautiful women for him, but he refused them all. According to rumor, he had a deeply beloved lover back in Beijing. His feelings were supposedly so profound that Young Master Han had decided to remain faithful.
The hosts were so shocked their eyes nearly popped out.
They had heard that Young Master Han was bad-tempered and difficult.
They had never heard that he was a hopeless romantic.
The moment Han Yue finished his work, he rushed back to Beijing without waiting even a second longer.
No sooner had he stepped off the plane than he was sent directly to the Military Commission. Various reports, data reviews, and security verifications occupied him continuously for three days.
Only after emerging three days later did he learn that Zhao Ting had been attacked.
Pei Zhi was the one who informed him by phone.
Han Yue listened with occasional grunts of acknowledgment. But when he heard that Han Qiang had actually gone to the hospital to berate people over the incident, he exploded.
“Fuck! Isn’t Big Brother already causing enough trouble? Pressuring the Public Security Bureau over Zhao Ting? Why doesn’t he just put on a hat labeled ‘idiot rich second-generation heir’ and parade through the streets?”
“Are you heading back to the Han family home now?” Pei Zhi asked.
“I’d have to be insane.”
There was a brief silence.
“The old commander didn’t summon you?”
“He called me just now. Damn it. Which bootlicking bastard ran to report everything to the old man? Anyway, I’m pretending I never got the call.”
Pei Zhi laughed.
“Going to Engineer Chu’s place?”
Looking at the smooth road stretching ahead beyond the car window, Han Yue suddenly felt his mood brighten.
It was as if a warm current flowed through his heart, relaxing every pore and every cell in his body.
Even his voice carried traces of happiness.
“Already on the way. I’ll be there soon.”
“…Old Ren said Engineer Chu’s stomach ulcer is pretty serious,” Pei Zhi said after a pause. “He can’t overwork himself or get upset. He needs rest and quiet recovery.”
Before Han Yue could answer, Pei Zhi had already hung up.
It was around dinnertime when Han Yue arrived.
The sunset stained the sky crimson, and dusk was settling over the city.
Schoolchildren were returning home, office workers were getting off work, and appetizing smells drifted up from the small restaurants downstairs.
The sight alone made people feel warm inside.
Using his key, Han Yue opened the apartment door.
To his surprise, the living room was dark.
Not a single light was on.
At first he thought Chu Ci had dared to stay out after work instead of coming home.
He searched room after room before finally discovering him asleep in the study.
Wearing only a thick house robe, Chu Ci sat curled up in a large armchair.
His head rested on the desk, buried between his folded arms.
The loose collar of his robe had slipped from one shoulder, exposing pale, smooth skin that seemed to glow faintly in the dim light.
His eyes were closed.
In sleep, his face appeared peaceful and tranquil, entirely different from his usual cold and distant demeanor.
The lines of his neck and shoulders were slender and elegant.
Lean muscles wrapped tightly over fine bones.
Han Yue bent down and simply looked at him.
For a very long time.
Only then did he slowly reach out and touch Chu Ci’s long neck.
The skin was warm and smooth.
It felt almost as though his fingers might sink into it.
The sensation made him want to caress him harder.
To pull him into his arms.
To kiss him fiercely.
Chu Ci suddenly woke when he felt his body become weightless.
At first, he was still groggy.
He stared blankly at Han Yue for several seconds before abruptly beginning to struggle.
“What are you doing? Put me down!”
Han Yue carried him effortlessly in both arms.
At the same time, he kicked the bedroom door shut behind him and tossed Chu Ci onto the bed.
Then he immediately pinned him down.
With a low laugh, he said:
“I’m going to have you.”
Chu Ci stiffened.
Then he raised a hand to strike him.
Before the slap could land, however, Han Yue caught his wrist.
He seemed completely unconcerned that Chu Ci had tried to hit him.
Instead, he lowered his head and kissed the back of Chu Ci’s hand.
“Be good, baby,” he coaxed indistinctly. “Just once. I’ve been holding back for more than a month. It’s driving me crazy.”
“Go find somebody else!”
“No.”
Han Yue continued kissing his hand.
“I only like you.”
He laughed softly.
“Just you.”
The robe was a wraparound style. A simple tug at the belt was enough to loosen it completely.
Han Yue held Chu Ci firmly by the waist to stop him from struggling and began showering kisses across his body.
Chu Ci had just opened his mouth to curse at him when Han Yue looked up and asked teasingly:
“Did you miss me?”
His tone was shamelessly intimate.
Chu Ci’s face instantly flushed scarlet.
“…Disgusting.”
Han Yue merely shrugged.
“What’s disgusting about it? I like you. I want you. Physical desire is one of the most basic human instincts. There’s nothing to hide.”
Chu Ci was so infuriated by his brazen attitude that he momentarily lost the ability to respond.
Just as he was about to tell him to get out, Han Yue suddenly lowered his head.
The single word he intended to utter died in his throat.
“What are you doing?!”
“I’m making you feel good too.”
Han Yue’s answer was completely without shame.
The room soon filled with the sounds of argument, resistance, and Han Yue’s relentless teasing as the reunion between them rapidly escalated beyond words. After more than a month apart, Han Yue’s self-control had long since disappeared, and his eagerness was impossible to conceal.
As the evening deepened outside, the apartment that had remained quiet for so long was finally no longer silent.
When he entered, Chu Ci was still trembling from the aftershocks of climax. He had no strength left to resist, and even the usual sharp pain was absent. After Han Yue entered him, he immediately felt himself surrounded by a hot, wet, tightly constricting passage. The sensation was so pleasurable it made him want to sigh. It felt as if every cell in his body was submerged in pleasure and heightened arousal, so intense it was almost overwhelming.
Chu Ci had his face buried in the pillow, letting out a suppressed, trembling gasp. Maintaining their joined position, Han Yue leaned down and forcibly turned his face toward him. With a low chuckle, he kissed away the tears at the corner of Chu Ci’s eye and said, “What are you crying for? What’s there to be embarrassed about? You look good like this too…”
Chu Ci couldn’t respond. He felt ashamed, but he couldn’t control his reactions. He couldn’t resist the deep, burning desire and overstimulated pleasure inside his body. He had never experienced anything like this before. In his previous sexual experiences, most of what he felt was pain and humiliation. Even when there was occasional physical pleasure, it was accompanied by intense shame and psychological resistance, leaving him even more repulsed afterward. This was the first time the burning desire and stimulation had overwhelmed his shame, pulling him completely into a state of electric, inescapable sensation.
At first, Han Yue was still able to tease him casually, but soon his thrusts grew more and more intense, until he no longer had the leisure to speak. The unprecedented level of compatibility gave him a sense of seamless merging, and his pleasure flowed more smoothly than ever before. His climax arrived more violently than any previous time. When he ejaculated, he even felt an overwhelming surge of intensity, releasing deep within Chu Ci for a full ten seconds before finally finishing. The immense satisfaction left him momentarily dazed, and he remained buried inside Chu Ci for a long time, savoring the aftermath before pulling out.
Only when their breathing gradually calmed did Han Yue prop himself up, affectionately kissing Chu Ci’s face and asking, “Was that good, baby?”
Chu Ci had his eyes closed. The flush on his face had not yet faded, but his expression remained blank.
Han Yue didn’t mind. He kissed the sweat from Chu Ci’s forehead with a satisfied smile and sighed, “I missed you so much…”
At that moment, the phone Han Yue had thrown onto the bedside table rang. The caller ID showed it was from the Han family. Han Yue, still in a good mood after finishing, cursed lightly and picked it up lazily. “Hello? Who is it?”
Old Master Han’s authoritative voice came through: “Why didn’t you answer my calls?! Get back here immediately!”
“Old man, I’m not very convenient right now,” Han Yue said, turning slightly and pulling Chu Ci into his arms under the blanket. “People say absence makes the heart grow fonder. I just got back today—this is basically a honeymoon period…”
“Take care of that engineer of yours and come back at once!”
Han Yue paused, a little impatient. “What is it this time? First Hou Hongchang, then Zhao Ting—who’s in trouble now?”
“This time it’s you,” Old Master Han said coldly. “I don’t care if it’s your honeymoon or not. Get home within the hour.”
On the drive back to the Han residence, Han Yue kept cursing his father—from being ignored and left alone in Beijing for eight years as a child, to his father going abroad on official visits when he came home on leave from the military, to the years he struggled through service while his father pretended not to recognize him as his son. And now, just when he had finally managed to get into bed with his cold and distant lover, his father was again ruining things.
If Old Master Han hadn’t ordered him back within an hour, he could have done it again. Just thinking about Chu Ci—someone who normally wouldn’t even allow a touch of the hand—lying flushed and soft beneath him, gasping and trembling, made every cell in Han Yue’s body feel stimulated and swollen with excitement.
From the Third Ring Road all the way to the Han residence, Han Yue wore an indecently satisfied expression. Only when he parked did he cough once, straighten his collar, and step out briskly.
Something felt wrong the moment he entered.
Not a single servant was in the living room. His mother and sister-in-law were sitting on the sofa, both with red-rimmed eyes. Han Qiang sat nearby, quietly comforting them. The matriarch was holding her eldest son, occasionally dabbing her eyes with a silk handkerchief.
Han Yue was startled. “Even if something happened to me, there’s no need for this, right? I didn’t even die back when I nearly got blown up at the military R&D base…”
“Mom, what’s going on…?”
Only then did his mother notice him. She quickly wiped her eyes and interrupted him. “Go on. Your father is waiting for you in the study.”
Full of confusion, Han Yue went upstairs. When he opened the study door, Old Master Han was sitting upright in a high-backed chair, his expression severe.
The last time Han Yue had seen him like this was when Han Qiang had a car accident that killed two people. Even he was slightly taken aback. “Dad, what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” Old Master Han snapped. “This is what you’ve driven me to!”
Seeing Han Yue’s confused expression, his anger softened slightly. This son had never caused them any real trouble. Other families spoiled their children and still couldn’t bear to send them into the military, but he had enlisted himself at eighteen. Over more than a decade of service, he had suffered every hardship imaginable and never once brought trouble home. In fact, he had quickly become the backbone of the family.
Old Master Han sighed. “Han Yue, where were you just now?”
Han Yue spread his hands. “Do I even need to answer that? I was at my partner’s place. Dad, I know this is hard for you to accept, but it’s fine. I’ll wait until you slowly get used to it.”
“Bullshit!” Old Master Han slammed the desk. Then, forcing himself to calm down, he asked, “When did you go to Qingdao?”
“Last Monday or the one before.”
“I heard that before you went to Qingdao, Zhao Ting held a birthday banquet for you. Because your engineer spoke a couple of extra sentences to someone, you publicly warned Zhao Ting that you would kill him? And later you beat that engineer so badly he had gastric bleeding and had to be hospitalized?”
Han Yue’s expression turned awkward. “I was just a bit emotionally worked up…”
“Emotionally worked up means you can just decide to kill someone? Do you still recognize the law?” Old Master Han’s voice sharpened. He stared directly at Han Yue. “Answer me honestly. Was it you who had Zhao Ting’s arm cut off?”
Han Yue had just taken a sip of tea when he spat it out. “Dad, are you joking? When Zhao Ting was attacked, I was in Qingdao! I spent the whole night monitoring equipment readings! Do you think your son has a clone that runs to Beijing in the middle of the night to kill people?”
“You think I don’t know how many friends you have in Beijing? Hundreds of people could testify you wanted to kill Zhao Ting. That’s motive!”
“Motive without opportunity is useless,” Han Yue said quickly. After a glance at his father’s expression, he added, “Fine. Even if I had friends do it, I wouldn’t leave it at just cutting off an arm. Zhao Ting really pissed me off, but by my temperament, if I don’t touch him, I don’t touch him. And if I do, I’ll make sure everyone knows it was me. Like that time in the military when I beat up the grandson of the Zhang family—I announced it to the whole unit three days in advance. Dad, do you really think I’d do something and not admit it?”
Old Master Han stared at him coldly without speaking.
“Besides, if I were going to do something like that, I’d do it myself. Jealousy, anger—dealing with someone personally. I wouldn’t outsource it. If it were me, I’d drag Zhao Ting to the marketplace and beat him. Cutting off an arm? That’s meaningless. Either I beat him and let him go, or I finish it in one go. What’s the point of just an arm?”
Han Yue thought for a moment and continued, “I know you’re worried I’ll lose control because of relationships, but I’m not a child anymore. I know limits. The last time I sent someone to the hospital made me reflect a lot. While I was in Qingdao, I’ve been thinking—I shouldn’t keep doing things like that. I was actually planning to let Zhao Ting go. If I had really dealt with him, wouldn’t that just confirm I was truly being controlled by jealousy? That would be embarrassing for me—and also for my partner.”
Old Master Han stared at him for a long moment, then nodded slightly. “…I also didn’t think it was you.”
“Then why did you rush me back here?!”
“Because someone identified you as the culprit,” Old Master Han said slowly, then gave a cold laugh. “Do you know who it is?”
Han Yue shook his head. “Who?”
“Long Jiwei.”