The atmosphere remained quiet for a second or two.
The smile on Shi Yuyang’s face froze, and the gazes cast by the others became intensely sharp in an instant. Being rejected so remorselessly, especially in front of so many people, was something Shi Yuyang had not expected. Even though he had prepared himself mentally, he never imagined it would unfold this way.
Yu Yanzhuo stood a few steps away, watching the dull, frozen smile on the other man’s face. Then, as if he had seen enough of that stiff expression, he spoke again to break the dead silence and stepped forward.
“If you want to add my contact information, just say so directly.”
Yu Yanzhuo smiled, pulled out his phone, tapped it a few times, and handed it to Shi Yuyang while tilting his chin up.
“Here.”
Shi Yuyang was momentarily dazed by the sudden shift, but he immediately took out his phone to add the contact, not forgetting to whisper a word of thanks.
Yu Yanzhuo, appearing completely unbothered by the awkwardness he had caused, turned back and signaled Young Master Li to continue.
In the slightly eerie atmosphere, everything returned to how it had been, except this time Shi Yuyang followed a bit closer behind Yu Yanzhuo. He occasionally chimed in when Young Master Li looked over.
Huan Lian stood a few paces away from Yu Yanzhuo, holding a glass of wine. He kept his eyes on Shi Yuyang’s back, his gaze full of scrutiny.
“Brother Lian, who is that?” someone whispered beside him.
Huan Lian took a sip of wine and lowered his voice. “Shi Yuyang, from the Shi family. Their brand is Huayuntang.”
Upon hearing this, the others showed expressions of realization. “Cosmetics, right? Their brand is quite famous domestically; I have heard of them before.”
Huan Lian nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed on Shi Yuyang. “I heard before that the son of the Shi family was serious and did not like to participate in gatherings for rich kids. He was supposedly more focused on his career. I did not expect him to show up here.”
“And it looks like he is here for Brother Yan,” someone added.
It was not hard to see the truth. Although these people were all playboys, they had spent enough time watching people’s expressions to notice such obvious intentions immediately. Ever since he had coincidentally joined them, Shi Yuyang had been following Yu Yanzhuo closely and proactively speaking whenever Yu Yanzhuo looked his way.
This was normal, however. In their circle, the majority of people were after Brother Yan.
“But Brother Yan does not seem interested in him at all,” one of them remarked.
Huan Lian glanced over. Yu Yanzhuo maintained a certain distance from Shi Yuyang. The amount of time his gaze lingered on him was no different from any other person who tried to get close to him. The smile on his face was his usual habitual one, devoid of any genuine emotion.
“He probably has not met anyone who can actually interest him yet,” Huan Lian concluded before taking another sip of wine.
The others nodded in deep agreement.
Yu Yanzhuo stared at a painting on the wall, but his thoughts had already drifted far away.
After Shi Jingyan had rejected his offer for a business partnership that day, he had gone home. In the following days, Yu Yanzhuo had flown to Italy for a wine tasting event. He had such a good time that he forgot about the matter and did not find the time to look for him.
He decided he would go find him to play for a while tonight.
Thinking of this, Yu Yanzhuo stole another glance at Shi Yuyang. This person had been standing to the side with a smile since they arrived. His gaze seemed to fall on the collection on the wall, but he would sneak glances at Yu Yanzhuo whenever others were not looking.
Yu Yanzhuo had known from the start that the man was interested in him. As a succubus, sensing human emotions and attraction was an incredibly simple task. Not only that, but Yu Yanzhuo also sensed a strong malice toward Shi Jingyan coming from him.
According to his story, Shi Jingyan was a child who had been mixed up at birth. He had chosen to leave the Shi family once Shi Yuyang, the true heir, was found. He no longer used their resources or competed with Shi Yuyang. It was an act that could be described as entirely indifferent to worldly struggle.
Why did Shi Yuyang still harbor such strong hostility toward him?
When he had taken Shi Jingyan away last time, he had clearly felt that resentful gaze from behind, even though it was not directed at him.
He decided he might as well ask Shi Jingyan about it.
Night fell, and the city lights were brilliant.
Shi Jingyan stood by the window, staring at the locked frame.
How long had it been since that succubus last visited? It seemed it had been several days.
He still locked the window as usual, even though he knew perfectly well that such a thing was useless against Yu Yanzhuo. Before this, Yu Yanzhuo had come by at least once every two or three days, if not every night. He almost always arrived exactly when Shi Jingyan had just finished showering, as if he did it on purpose.
Then, after they finished, Shi Jingyan would have to shower all over again, even if only his lower abdomen was messy. After this had happened a few times, he had begun pushing his shower time back.
But Yu Yanzhuo had not come for several days.
Shi Jingyan stared at the window for a moment, suddenly realizing what he was doing. He was actually feeling a trace of discomfort because that wicked succubus, that dangerous man, had stopped coming.
Habit was truly a terrifying thing.
Shi Jingyan reached out and pulled the curtains shut with a snap, hiding the view outside completely. He then turned and entered the bathroom.
The warm water slid gently over his skin, causing the strange feeling in his heart to subside slightly. Half an hour later, he turned off the faucet. It was only when he looked at the storage rack that he realized something.
He had entered in a bit of a hurry and had forgotten to bring his bathrobe.
It was not that Shi Jingyan lacked confidence in his body; he simply felt a slight sense of shame about exposing large amounts of skin. Even when he went to the gym, the most skin he showed was by wearing a loose T-shirt with sleeves reaching his elbows and shorts that only exposed his calves. He had once been teased about why he wrapped himself so tightly even at the gym.
Therefore, even when he was home alone, he was used to putting on a bathrobe before leaving the bathroom. But today, because of the agitated state of mind he was in when thinking about Yu Yanzhuo, he had forgotten it. There was no spare robe in the bathroom either. He usually washed his clothes every day, so it was impossible for him to put his dirty clothes back on.
Shi Jingyan looked at the towel in his hand, which he had just used to dry his hair. It was barely wide enough to cover the most critical areas.
Whatever, I will just make do with this and get a new towel later, he thought.
He wrapped the towel around his waist. It was just long enough to go around him once, but the width left something to be desired.
Looking in the mirror, his skin was slightly flushed from the steam. The narrow towel could barely cover anything. In fact, if he moved even slightly, the taut lines of his upper thighs would be clearly visible beneath the towel. His muscles were firm, and several water droplets slid down the lines of his abdomen, disappearing into the depths of the towel before trailing down his thighs, making his skin appear even more smooth and clean.
It did not matter anyway; he was the only one at home.
Thinking this, Shi Jingyan pushed open the bathroom door and walked out. He then locked eyes with the person in the bedroom.
Shi Jingyan stood frozen.
He watched the man with wine red hair standing at the bedroom door. The man raised his eyebrows, his gaze moving downward from Shi Jingyan’s chest without any attempt at concealment, finally landing on his thighs where the towel could not cover much.
Yu Yanzhuo’s eyes crinkled with a flirtatious smile.
“That is very sexy, baby.”