Yan Chong didn’t call Tang Chao. Still dressed in his tuxedo, he placed Su Xingyan into the passenger seat and sped straight toward the Yan family estate. Su Xingyan was dazed with fever, resting heavily against the seat as Yan Chong drove. Fuddled and limp from the burning heat, he couldn’t keep his balance, following a sudden bump in the road, his head slouched and thudded heavily onto Yan Chong’s shoulder.
Yan Chong: His breathing turned heavy as he subconsciously tightened his grip on the steering wheel. At a red light, Yan Chong turned his head to gaze down at Su Xingyan. Su Xingyan’s delicate face was still deathly pale, his faint brows tightly knitted in unconscious pain.
The afternoon sunlight quietly flowed across Su Xingyan’s face. Yan Chong stared at him in silence, then reached out to cup the side of Su Xingyan’s face in his palm.
Su Xingyan rested in his palm, breathing evenly like a sleeping cat.
Su Xingyan was burning up. By the time Zheng Tianming arrived with the family doctor to take his temperature, his fever had spiked close to 40°C (104°F).
Zheng Tianming stood to the side with one hand in his pocket. While marveling at the situation, he looked Yan Chong up and down in shock, the news of Yan Chong carrying off another man’s wife on the day of his own wedding feast had already spread across Rong Port. A few fearless tabloids had even dubbed Yan Chong a wife stealing villain.
Zheng Tianming, who had personally watched Yan Chong brazenly carry Su Xingyan out of the banquet hall, completely agreed with that tabloid title. Hearing the doctor’s update, he stared at Yan Chong, deliberated for a long time, and finally blurted out in awe, “Yan Chong, you… you really are a beast!”
Yan Chong was standing by the bed, waiting for the doctor to hook up Su Xingyan’s IV drip. Hearing this, he glanced up at Zheng Tianming and clicked his tongue in disdain. “How am I a beast?”
Zheng Tianming’s eyes widened, and he held up his fingers to count it out for him. “How are you not? You not only dared to touch another man’s wife, but you also carried him away right in front of everyone, and you turned him into, into this state! Are you trying to play him to death?!”
Zheng Tianming glanced again at Su Xingyan’s red, swollen lips from being kissed and awkwardly covered his eyes with a hand, though it was mostly for show. Who in Rong Port didn’t know that the Second Master of the Zheng family played hard? From young masters of prestigious families to top male celebrities in the entertainment industry, he never refused anyone. What kind of scene hadn’t he witnessed?
“…Now I finally understand why you rejected partnering up with me last time.” Zheng Tianming curled his lip and commented, “I thought you were just a playboy, but who knew you were actually a devoted lover?” Zheng Tianming added, “What are you doing? Have you really fallen for him?”
Yan Chong crossed his arms, narrowing his long, slender phoenix eyes as he watched the doctor insert the thin needle into Su Xingyan’s vein. Su Xingyan had a delicate body and seemed a bit afraid of pain, frowning slightly even in his sleep. Yan Chong answered with a question of his own: “Is that not allowed?”
“Su Xingyan is another man’s wife!” After bellowing, Zheng Tianming cursed him again in his mind. Is that not allowed? “Go ask Wei Chengran, go ask the Wei family and the Su family if it’s allowed!”
Yan Chong lowered his gaze to look at Su Xingyan sleeping. Su Xingyan lay quietly on his bed, the knot between his brows still unrelaxed, looking entirely helpless to resist. So obedient. Lethally obedient, Yan Chong thought.
After watching him silently for a long moment, Yan Chong suddenly let out a cold sneer. “Wei Chengran has already run off with Tang Songzhi. Another man? There is no such person.” As for the Su and Wei families, Yan Chong had never cared about them in the first place.
Even though the doors and windows were tightly shut, Zheng Tianming inexplicably shivered. Yan Chong had been this arrogant and self-assured since childhood. If he set his sights on a person or a thing, he had never failed to snatch it. Although Zheng Tianming had grown up with Yan Chong and was considered a close friend among elite circles by the media, he didn’t dare provoke him.
Zheng Tianming could never read Yan Chong. The man was cold-hearted, held everyone in contempt, and was determined to get whatever he wanted.
Once the family doctor confirmed that Su Xingyan’s fever had mostly broken, he prescribed some medication, instructed Yan Chong to make sure Su Xingyan took it, and took his leave. Zheng Tianming originally wanted to stay behind to watch the drama, but after Yan Chong shot him a cold glance, he laughed awkwardly, tucked his briefcase under his arm, and hurriedly beat a retreat.
As soon as the two left, the spacious bedroom fell dead silent. Yan Chong walked over to the side of the bed and sat down. Just as he reached out to feel Su Xingyan’s forehead, he saw the man’s brows furrow in hesitation, his bloodless lips parting slightly as if trying to say something.
Yan Chong leaned down, bringing his ear close to Su Xingyan’s lips to listen to his muttering, only to hear Su Xingyan say in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz. “Chengran… Wei Chengran…”
Yan Chong’s eyes darkened ominously, and his hand instinctively grabbed Su Xingyan’s exposed wrist. Staring at Su Xingyan’s peaceful sleeping face, Yan Chong asked in a deep voice, “Who are you calling?”
Su Xingyan naturally wouldn’t answer him. After a moment of silence, Yan Chong began to teach him word by word: “Say Yan Chong.” Yan Chong rubbed his thumb against the smooth skin of his wrist and repeated in a lowered voice, “Yan. Chong.”
Still frowning, Su Xingyan babbled blankly in his sleep, “Yan… Chong…”
Word by word, like an infant learning to talk.
Yan Chong taught him a few more times. Hearing him finally start to murmur his name unconsciously, the corners of Yan Chong’s lips curved up in satisfaction. He brought Su Xingyan’s hand to his lips, kissed it, and then gently tucked it back under the blanket.
Su Xingyan continued to sleep peacefully. Outside the window, the sky was clear for miles, a picture perfect day.
Su Xingyan slept so soundly that he lost all sense of time. In his dazed state, he seemed to dream of himself and Wei Chengran boarding a cruise ship on a day off, unsure of where they were heading. He only saw Wei Chengran standing on the deck, dancing with joy, repeating to him over and over: “Yanyan! Are you happy? Are you happy! We’re about to arrive at…”
Arrive where? Wei Chengran never said.
A wave crashed over, drenching Wei Chengran completely. Wei Chengran wiped the ocean water from his face and just beamed at Su Xingyan.
Su Xingyan smiled back at him, then turned his head to look at the distant sunset, the drifting cruise ship, and the city of Rong Port, where he had lived for nearly thirty years, fading behind them. Su Xingyan’s eyes suddenly trembled. In a trance, he saw Yan Chong standing on the shore with his hands in his pockets, quietly watching him sail away…
Yan, Chong.
Yan, Chong.
Su Xingyan suddenly snapped his eyes open, the bright chandelier above striking his vision. He sat up slowly after a long, dazed pause. The decor here was somber and minimalist, the heavy, light proof curtains made it impossible to tell day from night. This wasn’t his Italian style home, nor was it the grand Wei family mansion. This place… this place was…
“Madam, I warned you before. If my fiancée doesn’t show up as promised on the wedding day, then I’ll just have to… use you to fill the spot.”
Su Xingyan’s heart pounded violently, and the suffocating memory of being pressed against the wall in the dressing room and kissed came rushing back like a tidal wave. Feeling an inexplicable sense of unease, Su Xingyan clutched the blanket tightly and looked around, only to catch a glimpse of a grey taupe figure out of the corner of his eye. Yan Chong, dressed in loungewear, walked into the bedroom holding a cup of warm milk. “You’re awake?”
Yan Chong raised his eyes to look at the panic stricken Su Xingyan, a half-smile curling his thin lips. “Calling my name just now? What, did you dream about me?”
Su Xingyan: He stared at Yan Chong warily, having no desire to respond.
Yan Chong didn’t force him either. Holding the warm milk, he stepped forward step by step. “How about a cup of warm milk to warm up?” Su Xingyan had just woken up and wasn’t entirely coherent yet. Hearing this, he instinctively reached out to take it, only to hear Yan Chong add lazily, “I originally heated it for myself. But since I heard you getting up, I’ll give it to you instead.”
Su Xingyan: ?
The hand about to touch the cup froze in mid-air. Su Xingyan glared at Yan Chong, then silently pulled his hand back.
Yan Chong had mostly anticipated this reaction, but he simply enjoyed teasing him. He burst out laughing, placing the milk cup on the nightstand. “Remember to drink it in a bit.”
Su Xingyan ignored him, staring at him silently before asking after a long pause, “Is this your house?” He frowned, displeased. “Why did you bring me to your house?”
“Did you forget? We are already married.”