The weather in Ronggang had been quite unpleasant these past few days. Even when it wasn’t raining, it was muggy and humid. After rushing back to the old Wei family estate, Su Xingyan took a quick hot shower to wash away the lingering chill. Letting out a soft sigh, he walked barefoot across the room to open the bedroom window.
The bedroom was lined with solid wood flooring, so walking barefoot didn’t feel cold at all. Su Xingyan pushed open the window to reveal an ink blue expanse outside. The sultry, oppressive air mingled with a few stray cat meows, making him feel restless and irritated. He knit his brows slightly as, for some unknown reason, that overly sharp face of Yan Chong flickered across his mind again.
“Since the cooperation has been finalized, adding each other on WeChat isn’t asking too much, right?”
Su Xingyan had looked up at him. Frankly, Yan Chong’s face could be considered handsome, but his features were simply too sharp and aggressive. The first thing people noticed wasn’t his good looks, but his commanding presence. An inexperienced kid would probably be terrified of him. But Su Xingyan wasn’t afraid.
Glancing over him indifferently, Su Xingyan had paused for a moment before pulling out his phone.
“Add me,” Su Xingyan had said.
“No.” Yan Chong had sat there casually, tilting his chin up slightly with a wildly unbridled grin. “I want you to add me.”
Su Xingyan: ?
What a bastard, Su Xingyan cursed in his heart. After a moment’s thought, he added. A childish, petty bastard who holds a grudge.
Splash!
The spring rain returned unexpectedly.
Shaken out of his thoughts by the sudden rush of humid air, Su Xingyan was just about to close the window when he felt a sudden warmth against his back. Wei Chengran embraced him from behind, bringing with him the sultry air from outside. “Wife.”
Wei Chengran nuzzled his cheek, calling out to him in a mumbled, hazy voice.
Hearing that word made Su Xingyan’s heart stir slightly. Having known Wei Chengran for so many years, the number of times he had been called “wife” could be counted on one hand. His heart softened completely. Reaching back to cup Wei Chengran’s face, he asked softly, “Why are you back so early today?”
“Because I missed you. Do you miss me, wife?” Wei Chengran coaxed him like a spoiled child, though his words were only half-true. He did miss him. Amidst the pattering of the spring rain outside, Wei Chengran closed his eyes and reassured himself once more, he truly did miss him.
“Yanyan, I missed you so much.”
“I miss you too… why are you being so clingy today?” Su Xingyan closed his eyes and sighed, though his tone was infinitely tender. “I saw the news. Is our President Wei about to show the world what he’s made of? How is it going? Is the test vehicle on the road yet?”
Hearing Su Xingyan mention the test car, Wei Chengran rubbed his nose, feeling an inexplicable wave of guilt. Combined with the pitter-patter of the spring rain outside, that pure yet alluring face of Tang Songzhi vividly flashed before his eyes.
“My foot is fine now, but I’m starving! If you hadn’t run into me, I would’ve finished my lunch by now. I don’t care, you have to treat me to a meal. I want, Western food!”
“At least you know what’s good for you. But how do I know if nothing else will go wrong later? What if you run away? Leave your number so I can find you for my follow-up checkup. …Me? My name is Tang Songzhi. ‘Tang’ as in begonia, ‘Song’ as in praise, and ‘Zhi’ as in spring branches. Got it?”
Tang Songzhi…
“…We’re already home, why are we still talking about work? Are you turning into a workaholic just like my dad?” Wei Chengran laughed and quickly changed the subject, wrapping his arms around Su Xingyan’s waist as he guided him toward the bed.
Su Xingyan chuckled softly and let himself be led along. “Is it okay not to talk about work? Your dad placed such a massive project in my hands. If I don’t become a workaholic, what am I supposed to become? I wish I could turn into Superman.” Looking at Wei Chengran’s distracted expression, Su Xingyan sighed softly and touched his face. “Do you know what happened today…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Su Xingyan felt a sudden weight on top of him. Wei Chengran wrapped his arms around his waist and pinned him down onto the bed. Wei Chengran’s warm, slightly calloused hands slipped beneath his pajamas, burning his skin inch by inch. The heat made Su Xingyan arch his slender neck, and following pure muscle memory, Wei Chengran leaned forward to press a kiss against his Adam’s apple.
Su Xingyan’s neck was slender and fair, as flawless as unpolished jade. Wei Chengran used to love kissing his neck or rather, he used to.
Fifteen minutes later, Wei Chengran moved off Su Xingyan.
Before his breathing could completely even out, Su Xingyan took a soft breath and turned his head to look at Wei Chengran. Wei Chengran lay flat beside him, staring blankly at the ceiling, lost in unknown thoughts. Su Xingyan couldn’t help but reach down to touch him. Unsurprisingly, he felt a soft, somewhat lukewarm, limp mass.
Su Xingyan lowered his gaze. “…You’ve been very tired lately, haven’t you?”
Wei Chengran blinked, muttering vaguely, “…Yeah.” He wanted to say that the company was too busy and there were too many trivial things to deal with, but for some reason, he just couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Su Xingyan gently squeezed his hand and said softly, “Then you should get more rest. Go take a shower first and sleep early. Don’t overexert yourself.”
Listening to Su Xingyan’s gentle and considerate voice, Wei Chengran felt an inexplicable sourness in his chest. Ever since middle school, his classmates used to mock him, saying he was like Su Xingyan’s dog, following him wherever he went and doing whatever he commanded. Everyone thought he was the one clinging to Su Xingyan, but only he knew how good Su Xingyan had always been to him.
Su Xingyan was the one who did the homework he couldn’t finish. Su Xingyan was the one who stayed up all night cramming with him before exams. Even when it came to things like their first kiss and their first night together, Wei Chengran knew that even if Su Xingyan didn’t particularly want to, as long as he acted shamelessly and threw a tantrum, Su Xingyan would always give in to him.
Su Xingyan… had always been so, so good to him.
Feeling a pang of guilt, Wei Chengran suddenly rolled over and hugged Su Xingyan from behind. He loved hugging Su Xingyan from behind. To be precise, he loved holding him because Su Xingyan was warm and soft, like a giant pillow. Yet, at times, he didn’t quite want to look directly into Su Xingyan’s clear, all seeing eyes, so he had to settle for holding him from behind.
“Yanyan…” Wei Chengran murmured his name.
Su Xingyan gave a soft hum and reached back to touch his face. “Hmm? What’s wrong?”
“…It’s nothing.”
Wei Chengran actually wanted to say, Yanyan, I really love you so much, but somehow, the words stuck in his throat, even though they used to roll off his tongue so easily before. Closing his eyes, Wei Chengran finally let out a soft sigh, lightly rubbing his cheek against Su Xingyan’s. “Go to sleep, Yanyan. Goodnight.”
The night rain battered the entire city of Ronggang. Tang Songzhi lay barefoot on his stomach on the bed, tapping open Wei Chengran’s WeChat profile picture, it was a silly picture of Jerry the mouse. He heard that the idiot’s English name was actually Jerry?
Tang Songzhi’s eyes darted around as he suddenly burst into a chuckle. He clicked into his Moments feed. There wasn’t much to see, this foolish Jerry’s utterly dull feed was filled with nothing but racing cars and his wife. Even his background photo was a picture of him holding hands with his wife.
Letting out a long sigh, Tang Songzhi rolled over to lie flat on his back while gripping his phone. Does he really love his wife that much? If he loves him that much, then why would he…
Click!
The heavy wooden door was unlocked from the outside.
Tang Songzhi sat up instantly. Without even putting on shoes, he bolted out of the bedroom barefoot. He heard an elderly voice coming from the doorway. “…This lock has some years on it. If I hadn’t been a locksmith for over half my life, I might not have been able to pick it!”
“Oh, by the way, sir, please let me take a look at your ID.” The old man stuffed his lockpicking tools back into his toolbox while turning to smile politely at the tall gentleman beside him. “You know how strictly things are regulated now. In our line of work, we have to check IDs before opening doors.”
Tang Songzhi stood frozen on the bare wooden floor. The locksmith had already flipped on the living room lights, illuminating the space in a cold, stark white glow. Because of this, Tang Songzhi could clearly see Yan Chong standing there, dressed in a dark overcoat with both hands casually tucked into his pockets. Hearing Tang Songzhi come out, Yan Chong narrowed his phoenix eyes, looking at him with a half-smile.
“An ID… I don’t have one.” Yan Chong’s voice was very soft, almost like a sigh, yet it made Tang Songzhi tremble down to his bones with an inexplicable fear. “But that’s my fiancé. He is the owner of this apartment.”
“Tang Songzhi, why don’t you show him your ID?” Yan Chong commanded, enunciating every single syllable.
Boom!
With a sudden crash of thunder and a flash of lightning, a violent storm descended upon Ronggang.
Yan Chong had no intention of lingering. After the locksmith left, he kept one hand in his overcoat pocket and narrowed his eyes to survey the modestly sized apartment. According to the information Tang Chao had dug up, although Tang Songzhi had been brought back to Ronggang, the older generation of the Tang family refused to acknowledge this illegitimate child who had been raised away from home. Left with no choice, the elder Master Tang could only settle him out here temporarily.
Yet, perhaps fearing he would alienate Tang Songzhi, the old man had quietly transferred a portion of his shares to him. Furthermore, using a favor owed to the old Mrs. Yan from years ago, he had arranged a marriage between the two families.
The rain outside continued to pelt against the windows. Yan Chong withdrew his gaze and looked at Tang Songzhi with a mocking smile. Now that the boy had washed off his makeup, his face looked rather clean and delicate, a far cry from his previous heavily made-up appearance.
Yan Chong raised an eyebrow and asked with absolute composure, “Did you see me today?”
Tang Songzhi pressed his lips tight and remained silent, though his heart was already pounding like a war drum. He knew Yan Chong was referring to the restaurant. He had indeed seen Yan Chong, in fact, the moment he spotted him, he had hurriedly dragged Wei Chengran away.
…He hadn’t expected Yan Chong to see him anyway.
Feigning composure, Tang Songzhi lifted his chin, flashing an incredibly enchanting smile. He blinked innocently and countered, “You saw me? Where? How come I didn’t see you? Could it be…” Tang Songzhi dragged out his words, suddenly leaning his head forward to get closer to Yan Chong. “Could it be that you’re lovesick, and whenever you see a random person on the street, you mistake them for me?”
“Mr. Yan, I didn’t realize you loved me so deeply.”
Looking at the face that had suddenly lunged close to his, Yan Chong narrowed his eyes slightly and let out a dark, menacing chuckle. In the very next split second, his large hand shot out without warning, wrapping tightly around Tang Songzhi’s neck. Yan Chong leaned down, staring at Tang Songzhi with a frigid smirk. “If I remember correctly, our wedding is less than a month away.”
“Yet here you are, deliberately trying to hook up with that idiot from the Wei family. What exactly are you trying to achieve? Do you honestly think the Wei family can protect you?”
Yan Chong didn’t explicitly name Wei Chengran. After all, both of them knew full well that an idiot like Wei Chengran could barely protect himself, let alone anyone else.
Terrified by the sudden gesture, Tang Songzhi’s pupils contracted violently. Yan Chong hadn’t actually applied much force, he only intended to intimidate him, not genuinely take his life but under Yan Chong’s suffocating, closing gaze, Tang Songzhi still felt a wave of asphyxiation.
He was losing his breath.
“I… I didn’t!” Tang Songzhi’s voice trembled, coming out in ragged gasps.
“You didn’t what?” Yan Chong scoffed. “Don’t tell me it was just a coincidence, that you just happened to run into him and grabbed a meal together. Save that kind of nonsense for a fool like Wei Chengran. Tang Songzhi, you should know by now that I don’t buy your tricks.”
“Then what kind of tricks do you buy, Young Master Yan? The kind Su Xingyan uses?”
Since his only cards had been exposed by Yan Chong, Tang Songzhi decided to throw caution to the wind. He arched his neck high and broke into a seductive, mocking laugh right into Yan Chong’s face. “We’re both schemers here, so why play innocent? Let’s be honest, Mr. Yan. Have you also set your sights on the one in Wei Chengran’s house? Well, that’s hardly surprising. Word is he’s been a star figure since his school days. If he weren’t already taken…”
“Hey, how about this? I’ll help you seduce Wei Chengran, and you can reap the rewards when the time comes. I’ll leave Su Xingyan for you. How does that sound?”
“How does that sound…”
Yan Chong’s sharp phoenix eyes narrowed to slits. His thumb brushed against Tang Songzhi’s slender neck as if he were seriously considering the proposal. However, in the next second, a dull thud echoed through the room. Keeping his grip on Tang Songzhi’s neck, Yan Chong slammed him hard against the wall behind him.
“You aren’t even worthy of uttering his name.”
Yan Chong looked down at him with pure coldness. “Tang Songzhi, have I given you far too much face?”