“Should I have security escort him out?”
“Yes.”
Receiving the answer, the secretary turned to execute Fu Qianyu’s order.
“Wait.”
The secretary stopped and waited for further instructions.
“What does he look like?”
Fu Qianyu stared at the photo sent over from the front desk, finding the face somewhat familiar. Suddenly, a vision flashed through his mind—a young boy, face flushed, biting his lip and weeping.
Fu Qianyu narrowed his eyes. “Have him come up.”
Jing Jiaxi followed nervously yet pleasantly surprised behind the secretary.
He hadn’t expected to wait for only two hours, nor had he expected that Fu Qianyu—the president of a top-tier conglomerate—would actually be willing to see him.
This offered a glimmer of hope to his bewildered, desperate soul.
The door to the CEO’s office swung open.
Behind the desk, Fu Qianyu was twirling a fountain pen between his long fingers. Jing Jiaxi’s eyes drew toward his cold, aloof profile.
Hearing the movement, Fu Qianyu lifted his head toward the boy standing at the doorway. The sheer coldness in his eyes and the intimidating aura radiating from his body made Jing Jiaxi anxiously pinch the hem of his shirt.
The secretary stepped out, closing the door quietly behind them.
“What is it? Speak,” Fu Qianyu said, looking at him nonchalantly.
Jing Jiaxi’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He lowered his gaze, staring at the tips of the man’s custom-tailored leather shoes.
“I… I want a sum of money.”
He didn’t dare look into those deep eyes. A sentence he had rehearsed hundreds of times in his head still ended up faltering as it left his mouth.
He thought he heard the man let out a soft sneer.
Jing Jiaxi’s face burned. He knew exactly what his words sounded like to a man of his stature.
In the man’s eyes, he was probably just a shameless male who sold his own body.
He bit his lip, tears pooling in his eyes.
But because his head was bowed, the man couldn’t see them.
“How much?”
Fu Qianyu opened his checkbook, showing little interest in the seemingly pure and harmless boy before him.
He was busy and had no time to waste his energy on a past fling.
“Ten… Ten thousand.”[^1]
Jing Jiaxi clenched his fists, using every ounce of his strength to hold back his tears.
He was already humiliated enough; he couldn’t lose control of his emotions and make a bigger fool of himself.
Fu Qianyu lifted the boy’s fair, delicate face. “Ten million?[^1] You certainly have a big mouth.”
“Do you really think you’re worth that much?”
Fu Qianyu watched as the boy’s eyes widened, his rims turning red before a large tear cascaded down instantly, shattering upon the floor.
He looked as though he had been deeply insulted by the words. The boy’s pale-pink lips trembled slightly, resembling a shivering, red-eyed little white rabbit.
“No…” That’s not what I meant…
“Heh. I slept with you for just one night, and now that you know my identity, you’ve become insatiably greedy?”
Fu Qianyu tightened his grip on the boy’s jaw, forcing him to look into his eyes.
The boy’s eyes narrowed slightly from the movement. “It hurts…”
Jing Jiaxi’s throat tightened, his voice sounding like a cat whimpering for affection.
Fu Qianyu ground his back teeth. Knowing he’s in the wrong, so he acts weak to seduce me. A scheming male who doesn’t know his place.
He flung his hand away. “What audacity.”
Jing Jiaxi bit his lip, failing to understand what the man was talking about. He hurriedly explained, “I don’t want ten million.”
“I want…” Jing Jiaxi suddenly paused, his eyes falling upon the man’s bespoke suit.
Before coming here, his only thought had been to abort the baby, because he couldn’t afford its future.
But if the child’s father was the wealthiest man in the city, why couldn’t he ask for child support?
To raise a child who shared his closest bloodline—the very family member he yearned for the most.
“I want one million…”
Jing Jiaxi spoke with zero confidence. This was his first time asking someone else for money, and the person was a stranger he had only spent a single night with.
“I promise! Once I have the money, I will leave and never appear before you again!”
He would take their child and find a peaceful place to live out their lives.
Fu Qianyu spoke mockingly, “And what if I refuse?” Taking the money and just leaving? He thinks too highly of himself.
“Then… then one hundred thousand…” The man’s cruel mockery made Jing Jiaxi’s nose sting, his voice shaking unsteadily.
One hundred thousand would be enough to support the child while he was in university. After that, he could work and earn money himself.
“…” Fu Qianyu remained silent. He watched quietly, wanting to see just how low this male’s bottom line could drop.
“Ten thousand, ten thousand is fine too…” Jing Jiaxi choked out, his voice cracking. The money for childbirth—if it wasn’t enough, he could work a part-time job…
“…”
“One thousand, just one thousand… I—I don’t want it anymore!”
Jing Jiaxi couldn’t bear the man’s silent humiliation any longer. Splattering tears, he turned around, wanting nothing more than to escape this place that made him weep uncontrollably.
Fu Qianyu grabbed his wrist and pulled him straight into his chest. “Didn’t you want ten million at the start? You’ve depreciated far too quickly.”
The man toyed maliciously with the cat in his arms, using the back of his fingers to stroke his delicate cheek. “It’s not impossible if you want ten million. Become my lover.”
The cold ring on the man’s hand brushed against his cheek.
The boy’s smooth skin made it hard for him to let go. Even if the boy before him was greedy and fickle, he still found himself somewhat enticed.
Jing Jiaxi’s eyes went completely round, a watery light shimmering in his gaze. “You’re engaged!”
“So what?” People of the Fu family’s social stratum were never bound by political marriages.
“I will not be a dishonorable third party. Let me go, I don’t want your money anymore.”
At worst, he would raise the child on his own. After all, he had always supported himself.
From the very moment his mind shifted a second ago, he realized that from beginning to end, he wanted to keep this child.
An extreme craving for familial affection made it impossible for him to let the child go; he had only just figured it out.
If the child’s father was unwilling to pay, he could raise it alone.
Once Jing Jiaxi understood his own heart, he became steadfast. Since the man was unwilling to give anything, he would no longer force the issue.
Fu Qianyu released him. “You want dignity while selling your body? Learn to respect yourself before others will respect you.”
One moment he wanted ten million, the next he said he didn’t want any money—treating his own life like a ridiculous farce.
His sharp reprimand left Jing Jiaxi filled with grievance.
“What right do you have to lecture me! There is a reason why I need the money!”
Jing Jiaxi clenched his fists, his heart aching with a sour fullness as his eyes burned.
“What reason?”
“Even if I tell you, you won’t believe me.”
“That depends on the credibility of what you say.”
“I’m pregnant!”
“……Abort it.”