As soon as Xuan Chiyi finished speaking, the few men nearby hurriedly waved their hands and shook their heads, terrified that he wouldn’t believe them.
“No, no, really not, absolutely not!”
“I swear, if I ever bullied Gu Yansheng, I hope I get run over by a car the moment I step outside!”
“If I ever bullied Gu Yansheng, may my ancestral line be cut off!”
“I, if I ever bullied Gu Yansheng, I, I hope I get forcibly taken one hundred and eight times!”
To make Xuan Chiyi believe them, they were willing to swear the most vicious oaths possible, because Xuan Chiyi looked far too terrifying.
Just sitting there, uttering a few casual words and fixing them with a sharp, piercing gaze, was enough to make them shake with fear and tremble uncontrollably.
A person like this was definitely an elite member of society, powerful, influential, and wealthy, someone they could never afford to cross.
Fortunately, they really hadn’t bullied Gu Yansheng before.
With that thought, they cast looks of slight sympathy toward Lu Feng; yesterday’s incident had nothing to do with them whatsoever.
Xuan Chiyi asked again, “Were any of you involved in snatching things from Gu Yansheng yesterday?”
“No, no, no, really not!”
Those men were practically on the verge of tears, having no idea how this man intended to deal with them.
“Good.” Xuan Chiyi nodded with satisfaction and said to them, “You may leave. But there is one thing you’d better keep in mind: if anyone dares to show up in front of Gu Yansheng again, I will make you disappear from this world, and no one will ever find out.”
“Yes, yes, yes, we know. We wouldn’t dare.”
“Whenever we see Gu Yansheng, we’ll definitely stay far away!”
Scrambling in panic, the men bolted out of the private room, feeling as though they had just escaped a death sentence. They gulped down huge breaths of air; inside that room, they hadn’t even dared to breathe loudly.
They had never encountered such a terrifying person.
With everyone else gone, only Lu Feng remained, trembling in the corner of the room.
He still had no idea what was about to happen to him, but he knew for certain that he was completely finished.
Had he known that Gu Yansheng was backed by someone so powerful, he wouldn’t have dared to provoke Gu Yansheng even if it killed him; he had just wanted to squeeze a bit of quick cash out of him.
Lu Feng dropped to his knees with a heavy thud. “Sir, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was wrong. I’ll never dare do it again, I promise I won’t ever show up in front of Gu Yansheng again. Please spare me just this once, okay? I really won’t ever dare do it again.”
He had assumed Gu Yansheng was weak and easy to bully, never imagining that he had provoked a living king of hell.
Xuan Chiyi’s tone remained calm. “Just now in this room, what did you say?”
If Lu Feng had simply robbed Gu Yansheng yesterday, he might have spared his life, but Lu Feng had deliberately gone out of his way to court death.
Lu Feng had no idea where he had gone wrong. “I didn’t say anything, I…”
Lu Feng suddenly clamped his mouth shut. Was it because he had just bragged that he could get hard over Gu Yansheng and wanted to try it out another day?
Frantically, Lu Feng began knocking his head against the floor in rapid kowtows. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was just talking nonsense to run my mouth, I, I…”
Xuan Chiyi stared with utter disgust at the person before him. Based on the mere fact that he could utter such words, he had no intention of letting him off lightly.
Lu Feng had also spent years knocking around society, making him an expert at reading expressions and playing along with the wind. At that moment, he caught a whiff of extreme danger.
With a crisp slap, Lu Feng struck his own face. “I was wrong. You’re a big shot, please don’t lower yourself to my level. I’ll never talk nonsense again. I’m slapping myself to help you vent your anger, is that alright?”
Slap after slap, Lu Feng battered his own face as if his skin cost nothing, hoping to extinguish the man’s fury.
Xuan Chiyi simply watched Lu Feng, while Lu Feng kept his eyes glued to Xuan Chiyi’s expression.
A few minutes later, Lu Feng stopped his hands. Both cheeks were already red and swollen, a testament to how hard he had actually hit himself.
Yet seeing that the man merely watched him in silence, he had no choice but to stop.
“Sir, what do I have to do for you to let me go?” Lu Feng was truly on the verge of tears.
Xuan Chiyi stood up, walked toward Lu Feng, and looked down at him from above. “Wanting me to let you go is very simple.”
Lu Feng looked up at Xuan Chiyi with hopeful surprise.
It was currently two o’clock in the afternoon on a weekend, meaning private rooms should normally be fully booked. Yet the hallway was dead quiet because the rooms in this section were all empty. Even if there had been guests, the waiters wouldn’t have guided them this way, steering them toward a different area instead.
The soundproofing in the private rooms was exceptionally good.
A sudden, sharp scream broke the silence of the hallway. A passing waiter tried to crane his neck to see what was happening, but another waiter quickly pulled him away. “Don’t look at things you shouldn’t see.”
A minute later, Xuan Chiyi walked out of the private room, and the KTV owner stepped forward to meet him.
“You didn’t kill him, did you?”
He believed Xuan Chiyi had a sense of proportion, but seeing how angry Xuan Chiyi had been earlier, he worried he might have lost control of his blows.
Xuan Chiyi replied indifferently, “Don’t worry, he’s not dead.”
Peering into the room, the owner caught a glimpse of Lu Feng lying naked on the floor, seemingly having passed out entirely. “Then what about him?”
Xuan Chiyi sneered, “I just made sure he can never function as a man again for the rest of his life.”
The owner thought to himself that this was indeed the classic Xuan Chiyi.
Having caused such a scene on a friend’s turf, Xuan Chiyi naturally had to make a gesture. “Leave the rest to me. Whatever the damages are, I’ll pay.”
The owner glared at him. “Do we really need to draw such a clear line between us?”
Gu Yansheng had finished eating his lunch, but Xuan Chiyi still hadn’t returned.
Aunt Li was cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen. Xuan Chiyi hadn’t mentioned whether he would be back for dinner or not, but Gu Yansheng still asked Aunt Li to set aside a portion of food for him just in case.
Yesterday, Xuan Chiyi hadn’t gotten angry with him at all and had even spent the whole time coaxing him, which made Gu Yansheng gradually lose much of his initial fear.
Gu Yansheng was the type of person who reciprocated kindness; if someone treated him well, he would treat them well in return, whereas if someone treated him poorly, he would keep as far away from them as possible.
Gu Yansheng lay on the sofa, watching television while flipping through the comic books he had bought.
Aunt Li had gone out to buy groceries, leaving him all alone in the house. Leaving the TV on was his way of bringing some life into the place, because Xuan Chiyi’s home was simply too massive and felt overly quiet.
The comic books were titles he had desperately wanted to read before, so Gu Yansheng quickly became completely absorbed in them.
As he finished the final page, Gu Yansheng’s heavy eyelids finally lost their battle and drifted shut, causing the comic book to drop onto the floor with a soft thud.
One second Gu Yansheng was thinking about picking the book up before going to sleep, and the next he had already plunged into a deep slumber, lying flat on his back with a small patch of his fair tummy exposed.
When Xuan Chiyi returned home, that was precisely the sight that greeted him: Gu Yansheng fast asleep.
He tiptoed over and frowned slightly.
Gu Yansheng was asleep, yet he hadn’t covered his stomach with anything at all, leaving his belly bare.
He sighed softly, scooped Gu Yansheng up into his arms, and headed toward the bedroom.
Two months ago, he had carried Gu Yansheng like this as well, and back then, he had felt how slender and feather-light the youth was.
He hadn’t expected that after two months of pregnancy, holding him would still reveal the same slender frame; if anything, he felt even lighter than before.
It was hardly surprising, given that Gu Yansheng had been throwing up everything he ate lately. Aunt Li had mentioned that these symptoms wouldn’t start easing up until the third or fourth month.
What could he do to help Gu Yansheng put on some weight?
Xuan Chiyi laid Gu Yansheng gently onto the bed and tucked the blanket over him.
Then, he crouched down halfway beside the bedside, watching over him.
His eyes were filled with deep heartache and boundless tenderness.
He looked like an entirely different person compared to how he had been back at the KTV; if Gu Yansheng had witnessed that scene, he surely would have fled overnight.
The sleeping Gu Yansheng was as pretty as a picture.
A fair complexion, long eyelashes, a straight and delicate nose, and soft, pink lips.
Reminded of the madness of that single night, Xuan Chiyi forced his gaze away.
His eyes drifted down toward the region of the lower abdomen, filled with an indescribable gentleness, knowing that nestled inside was his and Gu Yansheng’s baby.
Xuan Chiyi leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Gu Yansheng’s lips.
When Aunt Li returned, she ran into Xuan Chiyi.
“Mr. Xuan, have you eaten yet?”
Xuan Chiyi shook his head.
Aunt Li smiled. “Sheng Sheng was worried you wouldn’t have time to eat, so he specifically told me to save some food for you. Should I go heat it up?”
Xuan Chiyi wasn’t actually hungry at all, but hearing that Gu Yansheng had intentionally saved food for him made him want to eat right away.
Sheng Sheng might be afraid of him at times, but deep down, he still cared about him.
Otherwise, why would he have left food for him?
While Aunt Li went to heat up the meal, Xuan Chiyi tidied up the living room.
A comic book bought by Gu Yansheng lay on the floor.
A few tiny snack crumbs were scattered nearby.
Xuan Chiyi could easily picture the scene: Gu Yansheng lounging on the sofa, nibbling on dried fruit while engrossed in his comics.
When Aunt Li brought out the warmed dishes, she saw Xuan Chiyi cleaning the living room and hurriedly said, “Mr. Xuan, please go eat, I’ll clean this right up.”
Xuan Chiyi waved a hand, finishing up the last bits. “No need.”
He was more than happy to tidy up any mess left behind by Gu Yansheng.
When Gu Yansheng woke up, he found himself tucked comfortably into bed.
He figured Xuan Chiyi must have returned.
Coming out into the living room, he spotted Xuan Chiyi.
Hearing the commotion, Xuan Chiyi looked up. Just waking up from sleep, Gu Yansheng had a few tufts of hair sticking up wildly on his head, wearing a dazed, sleepy expression.
“You’re back?”
Xuan Chiyi pressed his lips into a smile. “Mm, I’m back, and I’ve eaten.”
Gu Yansheng let out an oh.
Sitting down on the sofa, he noticed that the book Xuan Chiyi was holding happened to be a guide on pregnancy.
For some reason, his face flushed red.
Xuan Chiyi caught his reaction out of the corner of his eye.
Simply adorable.
That entire afternoon, the two of them stayed together in the living room. Gu Yansheng watched television while Xuan Chiyi pretended to read his book, though his eyes kept wandering back to Gu Yansheng.
Aunt Li left after finishing dinner, as she didn’t stay overnight at the villa.
Over dinner, Gu Yansheng pondered for a moment before asking Xuan Chiyi, “Brother Chiyi, shouldn’t we go to the hospital for a checkup?”
Gu Yansheng had only remembered it upon seeing those books earlier.
Previously, he had only learned about his pregnancy from the traditional Chinese medicine doctor, but he hadn’t yet been to a hospital for a formal confirmation.
Even though all his symptoms pointed toward pregnancy, getting checked out would give him peace of mind; what if he wasn’t actually pregnant after all? If that happened, the consequences would be severe, as he wondered if Xuan Chiyi would think he was lying to him.
Meanwhile, Xuan Chiyi was thinking: the fact that Gu Yansheng took the initiative to bring it up meant Sheng Sheng genuinely liked the baby and cared deeply about it.
Both of them harbored entirely different thoughts of their own.