“Brother Zong Xian?” Gui Wen clearly sensed the unusually strange aura radiating from Zong Xian. He carefully observed Zong Xian’s eyes, attempting to find any clues within them, but ultimately came up empty-handed. “What do you mean?”
Zong Xian did not answer his question directly, instead forcibly fastening the diamond necklace around Gui Wen’s neck. “Don’t let me catch you taking it off.”
Gui Wen didn’t entirely understand Zong Xian’s actions. Perhaps this was just another one of the man’s ways of humiliating a rival in love?
He didn’t touch the necklace resting against his neck, nor did he readily agree to Zong Xian’s demand.
“Speak.” Zong Xian pinched Gui Wen’s jaw, forcing him to keep his attention entirely focused on him.
“I…” Gui Wen had to appease the person right in front of him first. “I understand.”
Only then did Zong Xian reluctantly release his grip and instruct the driver to start the car. The street views along the way were entirely familiar; Gui Wen recognized that this was the route back to his home.
The sedan finally came to a halt right downstairs at his apartment building. Gui Wen naturally stepped out. Logically speaking, the car should have driven away shortly after, but Zong Xian in the back seat showed no intention of leaving anytime soon.
“Aren’t you going to invite me up for a sit-down?” The car door remained unclosed as Zong Xian sat in the back, locking eyes with Gui Wen, who had already taken a few steps away.
Gui Wen was momentarily stunned before quickly scurrying back to the side of the car to speak to the person inside. “Then come on up, Brother Zong Xian.”
It seemed Gui Wen didn’t even need to lead the way. Zong Xian walked side by side with him, and when they reached the elevator doors, Gui Wen punched in the passcode.
“Brother Zong Xian.” A short moment later, Gui Wen stepped out of the elevator, stopped in front of his apartment door, and fished out his keys from his pocket. “We’re here. Make yourself at home.”
Zong Xian took a seat on the sofa, while Gui Wen filled a disposable paper cup with warm water and placed it in front of the man.
Most of the original furniture that came with the apartment was still usable, and Gui Wen hadn’t really messed with the interior layout. Aside from the extra daily necessities and personal items he brought along, the interior space didn’t look much different from when he first moved in.
The white cat was wandering around the living room. Upon seeing Zong Xian arrive, it paused for several moments as if recognizing the man, then trotted right up to Zong Xian and let out a couple of soft meows.
Zong Xian scooped the cat up into his arms, stroked its fur, and let his gaze sweep across the room. “Is it comfortable living here?”
“Very comfortable. The place big brother picked out is great.”
“Is that so?” Zong Xian set the cat down, stood up from the sofa, and stepped right up to Gui Wen. “How great?”
Gui Wen was left completely baffled by the question. “Well, it’s very cozy, and I really like it here.”
Zong Xian let out a light chuckle, raising a hand to stroke the top of Gui Wen’s head. “Since it’s so comfortable, how about you let me stay the night?”
The driver was still waiting downstairs, and getting back to the villa would be effortless for Zong Xian. Gui Wen simply couldn’t fathom any reason why the man would want to spend the night here.
Perhaps it was too late and dark, making night driving unsafe. Gui Wen reasoned it out and managed to convince himself.
He didn’t have the heart to refuse Zong Xian’s request. Knowing the man had just finished working overtime and hadn’t yet had a chance to shower, Gui Wen even went ahead and drew a bath for Zong Xian, asking what scent of bath salts their guest preferred.
“What do you usually use?” Zong Xian undressed right in front of Gui Wen without the slightest bit of self-consciousness. His suit jacket was hung aside, and his shirt was stripped off, leaving his upper body completely exposed to the open air.
Gui Wen instinctively averted his gaze, refusing to look at the other man, and pointed vaguely toward an orange bottle.
Zong Xian added the orange-scented bath salts into the tub, stripped off his remaining clothing, and submerged himself into the water.
Fleeing the bathroom as if escaping for his life, Gui Wen searched the apartment from top to bottom before finally locating a brand-new set of oversized loungewear, poking it through a cracked bathroom door.
Seeing how reserved the other person was, Zong Xian pulled the door wide open from the inside, standing there completely naked just as he had been in the bath, without even the slightest covering over his lower half, so much so that Gui Wen had to explicitly remind himself in his head not to look down.
His well-proportioned muscles radiated masculine hormones, and his physique possessed lines so flawless they were practically devoid of any imperfections.
Keeping his eyes lowered, Gui Wen handed over the clothes. “Try these and see if they fit.”
Instead of taking the garments from his hands, Zong Xian grabbed Gui Wen by the wrist and yanked him forward, forcing him close.
Gui Wen’s face nearly collided against Zong Xian’s chest muscles, where beads of water still rolled across the skin.
“Look up at me.” Zong Xian’s tone carried the weight of a command.
“Brother Zong Xian?”
“Look up.” Zong Xian repeated, his voice carrying even heavier emphasis than before. “If you refuse to look at me, don’t even think about looking at anyone else.”
Gui Wen lifted his gaze, his pretty peach-blossom eyes meeting Zong Xian’s through the lenses of his glasses.
“Wrong.”
Zong Xian curved the corners of his lips in a malicious smile.
“No matter what, you are forbidden from looking at anyone else. You know who I’m talking about.”
Gui Wen knew Zong Xian was still hung up on the matter involving Lu Yuteng. “He was the one who approached me. Are you jealous?”
The hand gripping Gui Wen’s wrist instantly tightened with force. “You disgust me.”
Without warning, Gui Wen was coldly shoved away.
“Flirting around with everyone.”
Gui Wen couldn’t help blinking in surprise. In order to farm disgust points, he had previously put so much effort into seducing Zong Xian, and due to a twist of fate at an auction, he had ended up becoming Zong Xian’s romantic rival. He supposed he certainly deserved such a description.
Since Zong Xian disliked unfaithfulness, Gui Wen chose to lean completely into the persona.
“Brother Zong Xian.” Gui Wen said, biting the bullet as he reached out to touch the man’s abs, “there’s no one else. My feelings for you are the only genuine ones.”
Zong Xian let out a cold sneer, pushed Gui Wen aside toward the edge, and wrapped himself in a bath towel as he walked out of the bathroom on his own accord.
Gui Wen wasn’t entirely sure when Zong Xian had left. The man had deliberately avoided him, and aside from the bathroom, not another half-word was exchanged.
He knew someone had dropped off a change of clothes, and Zong Xian had probably tidied himself up before heading downstairs.
That night, Gui Wen finally heard the system notification sound, indicating the target’s disgust value had risen to 40%.
His eyes instantly lit up. It seemed his persona-building had been a resounding success.
By morning, after packing his backpack, Gui Wen prepared to head to school for his first class of the day. Before even reaching the specialized classroom, he ran into Lu Yuteng halfway, who was busy picking up paint tubes that had spilled onto the floor.
He couldn’t help halting his steps. Standing right in front of Lu Yuteng were two tall male students who looked thoroughly menacing.
“What do you mean how are we going to settle this? Can you afford to pay for these shoes?” The male student asked, his tone dripping with hostility. “If you don’t have the money, sell your junk off. If all else fails, sell yourself.”
“I can’t do that.” Lu Yuteng clutched his painting supplies tightly to his chest.
The male students only found it laughable and reached out to snatch Lu Yuteng’s things away. Finding he couldn’t just stand by and watch, Gui Wen abruptly stepped right between the two sides. “What are you doing?”
“Hilarious.” The male student clearly didn’t think much of Gui Wen. “Look at this beanpole trying to play hero.”
“Are these even college students?” They lacked even more basic manners than elementary schoolers.
Raising his volume to force an authoritative aura, Gui Wen demanded, “What’s going on here?”
“What’s going on? See for yourself, the paint from his palette spilled all over my shoes. How are we supposed to settle this?” The male student barked aggressively.
“I already said I could pay for them, but they claim the shoes cost over three thousand.” Lu Yuteng whispered softly into Gui Wen’s ear.
Gui Wen carefully examined the sneakers on the male student’s feet. They were clearly knockoffs, yet they were trying to force Lu Yuteng to pay the price of authentic brand-name gear. “You need to present a receipt or purchase record for the shoes. This isn’t a small amount, you can’t just demand whatever price you feel like.”
“Whatever price I say it is, that’s what it is. Are you going to pay or not?” The male student rolled up his sleeves, looking ready to resort to physical force to collect payment. Without missing a beat, Gui Wen hurled his book bag stuffed with heavy textbooks straight at him.
Caught completely off guard by the flying bag, the student was stunned for a moment. Seizing the opportunity, Gui Wen grabbed Lu Yuteng by the wrist and bolted at full speed, running until their pursuers were completely out of sight before finally stopping to catch his breath.
Gui Wen patted his textbook-filled backpack. Sure enough, old tricks worked best.
“Are you alright?” Lu Yuteng finally caught his breath and leaned over to ask.
“I am fine.” Gui Wen waved a hand dismissively. “Come on, let’s head to class.”
After taking just a few steps, Gui Wen felt a strange, unshakeable intuition.
He whipped his head around, only to discover no one around except himself and Lu Yuteng.
“What is it?” Lu Yuteng clearly noticed his odd behavior.
“Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Gui Wen patted Lu Yuteng on the shoulder.
The original instructor had taken an extended leave of absence, and the professor teaching the professional course today was a newcomer, none other than the very same person who had treated them at the bar.
The lecturer introduced himself as Professor Yu.
This was Gui Wen’s first time properly observing Professor Yu. Wearing glasses with a gentle and rather handsome appearance, his speaking tone made it remarkably easy for people to get drawn in, giving him a stellar initial impression in the classroom.
During the break, some students whispered among themselves, mentioning how they had accidentally run into the professor elsewhere and how he had even carefully wiped down a dropped item before returning it to its owner, showing extremely polite and meticulous behavior.
Once the professional class ended, Gui Wen held a very favorable impression of Professor Yu. Overall, he struck them as an amiable lecturer.
Due to unstable campus network signals, the system had experienced a temporary outage, leaving Gui Wen’s homework unfinished and forcing him to stay behind to continue painting.
Noticing him, Professor Yu didn’t rush off; instead, he walked down from the podium to inspect Gui Wen’s artwork.
With the system’s assistance, Gui Wen possessed virtually flawless technical execution. Professor Yu was far more interested in the deeper inspiration and emotional expression behind Gui Wen’s creation.
Gui Wen stumbled and stammered, unable to give a coherent answer, but Professor Yu patiently explained the core concepts of creative inspiration and emotional delivery to him.
In truth, Gui Wen had very little genuine interest in art, but listening to Professor Yu explain things this way made almost everything clear and understandable.
Just as Gui Wen put the finishing touches on his artwork and prepared to leave, Professor Yu smiled, nodded at him, and asked, “The person sitting in the very back row, is that a friend waiting for you?”
Instinctively turning around, Gui Wen discovered Zong Xian sitting in a vacant seat in the very last row, dressed in casual wear.
Leaving only the two of them inside the classroom, Zong Xian marched right up without a shred of politeness, abruptly ripping open the top two buttons of Gui Wen’s short-sleeved collared shirt and exposing a small patch of skin on his chest.
“The necklace.” Zong Xian said, his voice carrying a heavy, low pressure, “where is it?”
“I’m not wearing it.” Gui Wen replied, knowing he had no way to conjure a necklace out of thin air and thus opting for the truth. “It’s too expensive, I was afraid of losing it.”
Zong Xian clearly wasn’t buying his excuse.
“Didn’t I tell you never to let me catch you taking it off?”