Ying Qiuman wanted to stuff the thing back in, but after fumbling around for ages he couldn’t find where the lid opened. He couldn’t work out how Xu Shuyuan had gotten it in there in the first place, so in the end he gritted his teeth, ripped the thing open, and threw it into the trash can.
After doing it, he felt guilty again, so he simply left the room to go somewhere else. The house had more than just this one bedroom, after all.
On his way out, he happened to catch Xu Shuyuan tossing clothes into the washing machine. He’d only glanced over in passing, but the panicked look on Xu Shuyuan’s face caught his attention and left him puzzled. Then he suddenly remembered his phone.
Ying Qiuman looked around for quite a while. The clothes on the floor had already been cleared away completely.
Seeing Ying Qiuman appear out of nowhere, Xu Shuyuan’s movements stiffened a little. He was caught between thinking that washing a phone was no big deal and worrying there might be something inside that could never be recovered but that Manman cared deeply about. The conflict left him hesitant.
“Where’s my phone?” Ying Qiuman came over to look for it. Xu Shuyuan froze for a moment, then pressed his lips together and signaled toward the washing machine with his eyes.
Xu Shuyuan: Just wash it and be done with future trouble!
Ying Qiuman: ?
“You forgot to take it out?”
Fortunately the machine hadn’t started yet. Ying Qiuman crouched down to dig through it and pulled out his phone.
In the end, Ying Qiuman hadn’t understood Xu Shuyuan’s hint at all. He took the phone out and looked through it.
There was a friend request on WeChat. Ying Qiuman’s right eyelid suddenly twitched. When he opened it, he saw it was from someone claiming to be Director Ying’s assistant.
【Young Master, I’m Director Ying’s assistant, Liao Dongqing. If there’s anything you need in future, you can tell me.】
Ying Qiuman frowned. Did they take him for an idiot?
More than twenty years without showing a shred of concern, and now, after a single trip to Lihe, they suddenly wanted to claim him as family?
He didn’t accept the request, but he didn’t block or reply to it either. His attitude the day before had already made it clear he wouldn’t go along with this. He’d wait and see what they planned to do next.
Xu Shuyuan’s scheme had failed, leaving him a little let down. He simply assumed Ying Qiuman hadn’t caught his hint.
Ying Qiuman, however, who had already walked off, suddenly turned back and blinked twice at him.
How the tables had turned. Xu Shuyuan rejoiced in secret, deliberately looking away as if he’d seen nothing.
Ying Qiuman had no idea what this person was scheming now, so he simply walked back, set his phone on the balcony behind Xu Shuyuan, then took Xu Shuyuan’s hand and made him hold him.
“Grandpa’s assistant suddenly added me.” Talking about this kind of topic with Xu Shuyuan probably wouldn’t alert whoever might be listening.
Xu Shuyuan glanced at the phone. His arms stiffened, refusing to hold him properly, only loosely circling Ying Qiuman’s waist because he’d been pulled into it. Ying Qiuman noticed, recalling how not long ago Xu Shuyuan had specifically told him not to use teasing him as a cover.
He pouted faintly and tilted his head against Xu Shuyuan. “Why couldn’t he add me himself? He probably still doesn’t like me.”
Ying Qiuman was practically speaking straight at the phone. Xu Shuyuan watched him with a smile lingering at the corners of his mouth, slowly tightening his arms around him. Bending down, he spoke toward the phone along with him: “But I like you, Manman.”
Ying Qiuman’s head shot up to look at him, his chest going tight with a rush of discomfort.
He… he was only testing how the other side conducted their surveillance. What was Xu Shuyuan doing?
His palms suddenly turned sweaty, the heat rubbing against Xu Shuyuan’s clothes. He hurriedly let go and stepped back, only to be pulled tightly into an even closer embrace.
Xu Shuyuan held his face, making him look at him, and mouthed silently, “Answer me.” Afraid he hadn’t understood, he leaned close to Ying Qiuman’s ear and repeated it in a breathy whisper. A tingle burst from that ear across Ying Qiuman’s scalp, sending a shiver through his whole body like a current.
His entire body stiffened, he didn’t know how to react. Guided by Xu Shuyuan, his hands climbed onto Xu Shuyuan’s shoulders. That breathy whisper sounded by his ear once more, teaching him to say, “Husband, I like you too.”
He couldn’t say it. Ying Qiuman truly couldn’t say it.
Gripping Xu Shuyuan’s collar, Ying Qiuman stared at the phone and replied in a very small voice, “I know.”
Because he hadn’t said it the way Xu Shuyuan had taught him, the result was that he was suddenly hoisted clean off the ground and thrown over a shoulder.
Xu Shuyuan was nearly 1.9 meters tall. With him up on his shoulder, Ying Qiuman’s head wasn’t far from the ceiling now, and looking down at the floor made him dizzier still from the height.
Only then did Ying Qiuman realize why Xu Shuyuan always carried him like this whenever he said the wrong thing. It was probably a kind of intimidation.
The intimidation of losing your balance and your contact with the ground. Novels always described it this way. The next step should be kicking him in protest.
But Xu Shuyuan held him securely, making him feel safe. His shoulders were broad, and lying against his stomach wasn’t uncomfortable at all, so Ying Qiuman obediently let himself be carried off just like that.
The phone, naturally, was left behind on the balcony. Ying Qiuman was carried away, and only when they reached the living room sofa did he finally raise his voice to ask, “What were you trying to say just now?”
Xu Shuyuan pouted. “I wanted you to say you like me.” His expression was sullen, as if he was angry again.
“Not that.” Ying Qiuman had in fact noticed Xu Shuyuan’s earlier hinting gestures, but he hadn’t really understood them. “When I picked up my phone what were you trying to say?”
Xu Shuyuan deflated completely. Whenever Ying Qiuman didn’t want to discuss something, he’d either go silent as a mute or change the subject outright.
Sulking, he pulled Ying Qiuman back into his arms. “That phone of yours already looks pretty old. Why not take the chance to wash it and get a new one? Then they won’t be able to monitor you anymore.”
Ying Qiuman neither agreed nor disagreed. But doing that would only tip off the enemy. Ying Kangcheng might just switch to some other method to keep watching him and besides… Qiu Yuan could only reach him through this phone. He couldn’t destroy it.
“No matter what method we use, breaking it now would look too deliberate, wouldn’t it?”
“They don’t know you’ve discovered it, do they?”
Ying Qiuman couldn’t argue him down, so he tried to compromise. As things stood, changing phones was definitely necessary but this phone couldn’t be wrecked.
As it happened, he’d already run a small test earlier.
If Ying Kangcheng truly thought him highly useful, then he would surely add him on WeChat soon. But if Ying Kangcheng didn’t think him all that useful or if the surveillance was only location tracking and last night’s call timing had been mere coincidence then there might be no further move from Ying Kangcheng’s side.
The latter outcome would be far easier to handle, but the former seemed likely to reveal more quickly what Ying Kangcheng was after.
He needed to gauge in advance how deep this trap ran, work out beforehand how to dismantle it without alarming the other side, and still pull out safely.
The original book’s plot had already drifted far off its original course. At the very least, he would no longer steal confidential information, Lanxi had other ways to save itself, and Xu Shuyuan… now genuinely liked him.
Ying Qiuman didn’t need to think too far ahead. The farther he could get from it all, the better. Given Xu Shuyuan’s current attitude toward him, even if they separated he wouldn’t be mistreated, and the money to keep the research project going could be raised before long.
“Let’s not make any move for now. We’ll see what he wants to do.”
As Ying Qiuman explained this, Xu Shuyuan suddenly thought again of that confusing dream. The memory of it was still vivid: was Ying Qiuman the one who liked Li Tian, and that was why he’d stolen Xu Corporation’s data to save Lanxi?
Xu Shuyuan didn’t know why he trusted a dream so deeply. Even though in reality he had already fallen completely, and the other man’s responses had satisfied him, the slightest abnormality would still put him on guard.
He grew irritable and pressed closer to Ying Qiuman, as if reproaching himself, and as if urgently demanding Ying Qiuman’s full response and reassurance.
Faced with Xu Shuyuan like this, Ying Qiuman actually didn’t sense much that was off. He was a rigid student who never considered the examiner’s mindset, always carefully weighing his words and actions, not wanting his psychological condition to be discovered, while also hoping to build trust so the other man might help heal him.
But after three days of living together, Ying Qiuman slowly and belatedly came to realize that the one suffering from skin hunger didn’t seem to be him.
The kiss gradually deepened. Ying Qiuman was forced to tilt his head back to endure it. Being robbed of control didn’t feel pleasant, but remembering that he had in fact opened the gates first, he had no objection to the chaos that followed.
His mouth felt like it was being thoroughly examined by a brutal dentist, every corner turned over and checked. Even a faint foreign sensation lingered at his throat, leaving him more and more parched.
The dampness at his lips mingled with pheromones under normal circumstances both alphas and omegas would react strongly to it but Ying Qiuman noticed nothing and had no time to care. Only when the “robber” greedily plundered the city bare and withdrew fully laden did he realize that this city couldn’t actually be marked or claimed at all.
His fingers brushed across Ying Qiuman’s lips, the force behind it like a final warning, yet more like reluctance.
Compared with the overwhelming sensation of physical union, kissing felt more like a contest. And in the end, he was always the one who struggled with all his might, only to be utterly defeated.
“What do you want to eat tonight?”
At the sound of it, Ying Qiuman lifted his head from Xu Shuyuan’s embrace. Outside the window the sky had already gone fully dark. Scattered lights dotted the riverbank, forming a quiet, lovely night view.
“Anything’s fine.” His heart was still racing, and even his breathing hadn’t yet settled.
Xu Shuyuan straightened his clothes for him, his fingertips teasing him on purpose, as if absentmindedly. Ying Qiuman couldn’t hold up under such teasing, but he didn’t know how to resist either, so he could only bury his face deeper.
This seemed to be exactly what Xu Shuyuan wanted, so he stopped and held him quietly in his arms for a long while.
“Shall I make you fried rice?”
“Mm.”
Too well-behaved. Xu Shuyuan felt an itch in his heart and couldn’t bear to let go. Only when he heard Ying Qiuman’s stomach growl did he finally laugh and get up to cook.
Ying Qiuman didn’t understand why Xu Shuyuan knew how to cook. In his view, wealthy people who had everything done for them had no need for such skills. He himself was used to being on his own buying food was always more time-efficient than cooking.
Anything quick, just to get by, and then save the time for earning money and studying: that, in his mind, was the most efficient way to live.
Because of this, he couldn’t cook. The habit carried over into this world as well. Now that he had money to eat better, he had even less reason to ever think about cooking for himself.
“Why… why do you know how to cook?”
He’d followed Xu Shuyuan into the kitchen, still uneasy about only receiving care and giving nothing in return, wondering whether there was something he could help with.
Xu Shuyuan pushed him aside, tied on an apron, and got to work. He found the question strange.
“If a person lives in this world, they have to eat. Isn’t it normal to know how to cook?”
“Besides, what alpha doesn’t know how to cook?” He said it as if it were self-evident. Only after finishing did he notice Ying Qiuman frowning in thought. He hastily added, “I only learned after I started working. You don’t need to learn you’ve got me.”
You’ve got me.
Those words left Ying Qiuman feeling warm inside, and he didn’t quite know how to respond.
Was “having him” enough? But going by what Xu Shuyuan had just said, if they ever separated down the road, Ying Qiuman would still have to learn anyway.
“I’ll help you wash the vegetables.”
He reached out to grab a carrot, but Xu Shuyuan quickly stopped him. Then a hand pressed down on his head, firm and faintly commanding, turning him around and steering him out of the kitchen.
“Let me show off a little!”
For some reason, whenever he heard that kind of excuse, Ying Qiuman stopped thinking. And Xu Shuyuan never failed to take advantage of it.
Because Ying Qiuman would obediently go wait outside whenever he was told to, the kitchen eventually became Xu Shuyuan’s exclusive territory.
After being pushed out, Ying Qiuman checked his phone for the results of his test, but there was still no message from Ying Kangcheng.
It seemed the situation matched the latter possibility.
On the screen was a message from Ye Li, sent an hour ago, followed by a missed call.
“Hello, what’s wrong?”
“Xiao Man, you’re working at Lanxi, right?”
For some reason, Ying Qiuman’s heart skipped a beat. He went on asking, “Just going over to help out what about it?”
“I see… then… could you ask Li Tian for me, and get me a shot at an interview?”