Ji Boting looked coldly at the sweet couple standing in front of him, lowering the hand that had just finished hanging up Sang Li’s rabbit-fur hat.
“If Mr. Sang only wants to use this kind of behavior to gain your husband’s attention, there is really no need to come and disturb people in the middle of the night.”
Ji Boting’s tone carried mockery. “I am an adult with a normal orientation and normal values, and I don’t have the time to play this kind of game with you two.”
Sang Li clung to Jiang Xiucheng like a koala, immediately speaking in a spoiled, whining tone to complain upon hearing this: “Husband, I really just came to learn! Look at what kind of attitude he has!”
Jiang Xiucheng’s gloomy gaze swept unnoticeably over all the decorations inside Ji Boting’s apartment, finally landing on the entryway coat rack that was covered with Sang Li’s clothes.
He withdrew his gaze and said to Ji Boting, “Liuliu is ignorant and has caused Professor Ji trouble. I will contact the most expensive housekeeping company in the city and have them thoroughly clean this apartment after dawn tomorrow. I will cover the expenses.”
“No need.”
Ji Boting pointed toward the front door. “I’m not lacking that bit of money. President Jiang just needs to take your people and leave this place immediately.”
Ji Boting continued: “At the same time, I also hope President Jiang keeps a tight leash on your person and doesn’t let him come and cause trouble for me again. Any problem with that?”
The gazes of the two men locked in the glaring white light of the hallway, a fleeting flash of blades.
Only Sang Li, being held securely in someone’s arms, saw none of it. He tried with all his might to rotate his head a full hundred and eighty degrees to loudly refute Ji Boting, but before he could succeed, Jiang Xiucheng’s well-articulated, large hand pressed his head back down against his shoulder.
“Professor Ji, rest assured.”
Jiang Xiucheng possessed an incomparable wealth of experience in holding Sang Li: carrying him with one arm while his other hand grabbed his own coat, wrapping Sang Li up completely from head to toe.
He supported Sang Li from the waist and bounced him upward slightly, bouncing the person in his arms into making a soft, cat-like hum and coquettishly kicking his legs: “I don’t want to wear shoes.”
“I’ll take them off for you once we’re outside.” Jiang Xiucheng rubbed Sang Li’s head through the fabric. “Alright, let’s go home. It was wrong of you to come and disturb someone so late today. Say goodbye to Professor Ji.”
“Oh.”
Sang Li was hidden beneath Jiang Xiucheng’s coat so that only a pair of bright, wide eyes remained exposed. His arms weren’t long enough, so he only poked out a few delicate, soft white fingertips, saying obediently, “Professor Ji, bye-bye.”
Ji Boting wore a stern, expressionless look as he watched Sang Li being carried all the way out by Jiang Xiucheng, before the door clicked shut.
Truth be told, he didn’t want to look at all.
Yet the floor-to-ceiling windows of this old Western-style house were simply too large, forcing Ji Boting to watch as Jiang Xiucheng’s black Bentley parked by the roadside. He watched as Jiang Xiucheng placed Sang Li in the passenger seat first, then leaned down without a shred of hesitation, shame, or boundaries to kiss him over and over again. He watched as Sang Li’s hands, which were pampered to the point of never touching spring water, initially managed to grip Jiang Xiucheng’s neck before struggling to scratch at the car window, and finally clawing into the genuine leather seat until even his knuckles turned pink.
Damn these floor-to-ceiling windows.
Forcing himself to look away, Ji Boting’s gaze fell upon the clothes Sang Li had spread out on the coat rack: the soft, snowy-white rabbit-fur scarf and hat, and the matching little fur outer jacket.
There was also the pen Sang Li had left on the bar counter, having already chewed the cap down to a stub, along with a test paper covered in little sketches of turtles drawn in the margins.
They stood as glaring evidence of the uninvited guest’s absurdity and audacity.
Downstairs, the black Bentley had already driven away at some point.
Only Ji Boting lived in this detached old house, making it feel excessively quiet in the dead of night.
A lingering trace of sweet fruity fragrance drifted lightly from the spot on the coat rack where Sang Li’s clothes hung, drifting past Ji Boting’s nose. It felt unusually distinct and specific, impossible to shake off.
Ji Boting had always believed that men had no need for such sweet, fruity, cloying perfumes.
Yet this scent was so annoying. Just how much perfume did that shameless Sang Li spray anyway?
Unable to bear it any longer, Ji Boting walked over in a few strides, picking up all of Sang Li’s clothes from the rack with the intent of tossing them outside.
But it was late at night, and the temperature outside had probably dropped. It would be easy to catch a cold.
There was no need to punish himself using trash like Sang Li.
Pausing for a moment, Ji Boting frowned, let go of the clothes, and decided to go to sleep, enduring the irritability.
Sang Li couldn’t care less about Ji Boting’s annoyance.
His lips had been kissed swollen by Jiang Xiucheng in the passenger seat. He had originally been fussing about wanting to secretly grab some barbecue while Jiang Yun was asleep, but since his husband refused to take him, his lips were still aching.
Sang Li was annoyed.
And a little scared.
Sitting in the passenger seat, he used the light of the streetlamps outside to steal many glances at Jiang Xiucheng. Aside from thinking his husband looked more handsome the more he looked at him, he couldn’t tell at all whether Jiang Xiucheng was actually angry.
Still, her husband was really so handsome.
Sigh.
Sang Li propped his chin on the window frame and let out a stealthy sigh, feeling that he was just too easily tempted by good looks. Though to be fair, Jiang Zhi looked pretty good too.
Despite being married for many years, Sang Li’s aesthetic preferences had always remained remarkably fixed.
Because of lacking proper nutrition during childhood, which prevented him from growing very tall and robust, Sang Li deeply admired the type with abs, waist muscles, tall stature, double-door wide shoulders, and narrow waists.
He licked his lips unconsciously, a slender tip of his bright red tongue leaving a few watery streaks along his lower lip line.
Like a thief, Sang Li peeked once more toward the area below Jiang Xiucheng’s waist.
It was very warm inside the car. After taking off his coat, Jiang Xiucheng had also casually tossed his inner suit vest into the back seat. His seatbelt happened to slice across the rolling contours of his waist muscles, making him look sturdy and powerful all the way down as it extended into his unspeakable suit trousers.
His gaze landed on the suit trousers.
Sang Li’s smile froze, and he averted his gaze in a single second, as if he had just looked at some kind of terribly bad, dirty thing.
The car’s music player was tuned by Sang Li. Recently, he had fallen in love with the theme song of the cartoon Boonie Bears, reportedly because its rhythm matched the dynamic light waves he shot out when playing Angela in the game.
The childish music stopped at some unknown point.
In the quietly settled space inside the car, Jiang Xiucheng’s hoarse and magnetic voice rang out: “Why aren’t you looking anymore?”
This man’s voice sounded remarkably like a classical European cello, especially capable of bewitching people when they were in bed.
Sang Li was often tricked miserably and failed to react in time: “Looking at what? When was I looking!”
Growing indignant from embarrassment: “That place of yours isn’t good-looking at all, I wasn’t looking at all!”
Jiang Xiucheng let out a low chuckle: “Was my baby thinking about it?”
Sang Li: “No.”
Jiang Xiucheng: “We’re almost home.”
Sang Li: “Oh.”
A large hand of Jiang Xiucheng’s covered Sang Li’s hand: “I’ll be able to feed my baby right away.”
Sang Li: “Sigh.” You simply cannot reason with a stinky man!
By this hour, Jiang Yun had already gone upstairs to sleep. His bedroom was on the east side of the second floor, while the west side housed the music room and reception parlor.
The entire third floor belonged exclusively to the master bedroom shared by Sang Li and Jiang Xiucheng.
The Bentley parked smoothly in the private parking space. Jiang Xiucheng carried Sang Li straight back to the bedroom via the master suite’s private elevator, stripped off the clothes wrapped around Sang Li, and dumped him onto the enormous bed in the bedroom.
The lighting was dim.
Jiang Xiucheng immediately climbed onto the bed, wrapped his arms around Sang Li from behind, and grabbed a tie from goodness knows where with one hand, covering Sang Li’s eyes: “Good baby, husband is giving you a gift.”
The sudden darkness made Sang Li a bit uneasy. Subconsciously, he reached back to grab the Jiang Xiucheng beside him, but the next second, both of his wrists were caught in a single grasp by Jiang Xiucheng’s large hand, and they were tied behind his back using another tie.
Sang Li froze for a second, then began to struggle fiercely: “No, no, Jiang Xiucheng, what are you doing?”
“Isn’t my baby fond of the largest royal blue sapphire?”
Jiang Xiucheng dragged Sang Li into his embrace, seating him on his lap, and leaned down to nuzzle his ear. “Husband is giving it to you. Do you want it?”
Sang Li was stunned.
He knew there seemed to be something wrong with the current scenario. But the gemstone Jiang Xiucheng was using to tempt him was something he really, really wanted.
Money, gemstones, jade, luxury goods, high-fashion, runway items. Sang Li’s ingrained vanity had led him onto Jiang Xiucheng’s pirate ship back then, and it could still dangle like a delicious carrot in front of him now.
Swallowing hard, Sang Li shrank a bit closer into Jiang Xiucheng’s embrace, feeling a mix of nervousness and fear, and asked in a small, soft voice: “Husband, I want it. Where is it?”
In the night.
Only a crisp, metallic “clack” rang out. Sang Li instantly felt a gentle coolness around his left ankle, as if some cold ring-shaped jewelry had been fastened onto it.
“So sparkly.”
Jiang Xiucheng’s voice was completely hoarse as he kissed the corner of Sang Li’s lips. “So suited for my baby.”
Sang Li couldn’t see it, and with his hands bound, he couldn’t touch it either. Overwhelmed with anxiety and panic: “What kind is it? Jiang Xiucheng, I want to see too.”
Jiang Xiucheng held him close: “Husband made an anklet for Liuliu. Aside from that royal blue sapphire as the main stone, there are thirty-five additional auxiliary cornflower blue sapphires. It will make a jingle-jangle sound when you run around. Does my baby like it?”
Jingle-jangle sound? Wouldn’t that mean wherever he went, people would hear him?
Subconsciously, Sang Li used his other unconstrained foot on the bed to brush against that ring: “But this is so strange.”
“It’s not strange.”
Jiang Xiucheng coaxed him while holding him. “No one dares to secretly look at my baby. But if you run around randomly next time, this anklet will generate an electric current, making sure Liuliu can’t run away ever again.”
Sang Li was completely dumbfounded: “Electric current?”
“I’m tricking the baby.”
Jiang Xiucheng chuckled as he untied the two ties binding Sang Li, kissing the butterfly blades on Sang Li’s back while all his attention was captivated by the chain around his ankle. “How could your husband bear to do that?”
Although Sang Li still had some doubts, the gemstone on his foot, which emitted a shimmering glow even in the night, was simply too gorgeous, carrying the unique warmth and extravagance of raw gems, instantly diverting all his attention.
“Wow.” Sang Li reached out to touch it, letting out a small gasp of wonder.
Jiang Xiucheng looked at him intently: “Do you like it?”
“I like it.”
Jiang Xiucheng: “Then was it fun going out with Jiang Zhi?”
Sang Li: “It was fun.”
Sang Li abruptly clamped his mouth shut, shaking his head righteously and firmly: “I only went out with Jiang Zhi. Jiang Zhi just brought me out of the banquet and then I went straight to Ji Boting’s place, I didn’t play around.”
“Good.”
Jiang Xiucheng reached out to stroke Sang Li’s hair. “Then let’s not go to Professor Ji’s place anymore in the future, alright? Look, he doesn’t seem to welcome you at all.”
“Oh right.” Sang Li turned his head back while using his fingers to spin the blue sapphire on his anklet. “I was clearly very cute and very polite, yet he didn’t like me at all. How outrageous.”
Jiang Xiucheng: “Mhm.”
Hearing Jiang Xiucheng stop talking behind him, Sang Li grew a little worried.
Pulling his hand away from the anklet, he turned around, lifted himself up on his knees, and crawled forward to check on Jiang Xiucheng. His husband’s face was half-submerged in the shadows of the bedside spotlight, making it unclear.
Finally crawling right onto his husband’s lap, Sang Li took the initiative to kiss Jiang Xiucheng’s lips: “Husband isn’t angry, right?”
Jiang Xiucheng’s gaze locked onto Sang Li without answering immediately.
Sang Li shrank his neck: “Husband?”
Jiang Xiucheng: “A little.”
Sang Li: “Mhm?”
Jiang Xiucheng: “A little angry.”
Sang Li straightened his waist and wrapped his arms around Jiang Xiucheng’s neck: “Husband, don’t be angry.”
Jiang Xiucheng: “Then the baby can coax husband.”
Sang Li: “Sigh.”
Sang Li had always been the one being coaxed. He rarely coaxed others, and his experience was severely lacking. As a result, he looked hesitant, his eyes blinking as he didn’t know how to begin.
Jiang Xiucheng said: “If Liuliu doesn’t coax husband properly, there won’t be any more big diamonds from now on.”
No way.
“No, no.”
Sang Li pressed his lips tightly together, shook his head vigorously, and rubbed against Jiang Xiucheng in a spoiled, whining manner: “Husband, fuck me hard.”
Jiang Xiucheng froze for a second, and his tone instantly shifted: “Say that again.”
With a blushing face and eyes brimming with moisture as he tried to plead for mercy, though Jiang Xiucheng showed not the slightest intention of letting him off, Sang Li had no choice but to bite the bullet and repeat it again in a tiny, quiet voice.
That night, the lights in the master bedroom stayed on all the way until the following morning.
Fresh and full of vigor, Jiang Xiucheng got dressed and went downstairs. As usual, he reviewed Jiang Yun’s academic progress from the previous night, turned on the morning news to briefly discuss a few matters with his son, and nodded: “Your Daddy isn’t awake yet. The driver will take you to school in a bit.”
Jiang Yun looked a little disappointed: “Then can I go upstairs to see Daddy?”
“Wait until you finish school in the evening.”
Jiang Xiucheng put down his coffee cup and said casually, “Didn’t you mention before that you wanted to meet the Jiang family’s youngest son? Let’s invite him over for dinner tonight.”