Inside the spacious bedroom, the sunlight was blocked out by thick curtains. On the double bed with its black four-piece bedding set, a man’s fair arm was exposed, forming a striking contrast with the sheets.
The man’s slender cheek was pressed against the pillow, with a plump little mound pressed out on the other side.
A wheat-colored finger poked into the soft flesh of his cheek. The owner of the finger clearly held back his strength, but the man’s skin was simply too tender, leaving a distinct red mark behind nonetheless.
Following that, the owner of that finger used his large, knuckle-defined hand to grasp the man’s fair arm, pulling him up from the warm bedding.
Although it was winter, the indoor floor heating was turned up very high, so it wasn’t cold at all even without being covered by a blanket.
“Slap.”
Having his sleep disturbed, the man furrowed his pretty brows slightly and slapped the person right across the face.
With a roll, he broke free from the person’s loosely grasping hand, buried himself back into the covers, and continued to sleep.
“Xingxing, stop messing around.” The man’s voice was deep and icy, like the wind and snow blowing from the Siberian forest—cold, pure, and carrying an innate sense of alienation.
His tone was affectionate while his demeanor remained aloof, and within his eyes lay an unyielding obsession and love that could never be melted away.
A long arm reached in, wrapped around Chu Lianxing’s waist, and hoisted him out.
Chu Lianxing was wearing a black pajama top that was clearly not his size.
Because of the sudden movement, the pajamas slipped just enough to barely cover his neck, exposing his fair chest marked with red traces.
Looking like a painting of red plum blossoms blanketed in snow.
Having gone through this ordeal, Chu Lianxing was also thoroughly jolted awake.
The man had an extremely delicate face with petal-like lips, peach-blossom eyes, and those tea-colored eyes that looked with deep affection even at a dog. Coupled with the fact that he wore his hair long, if one didn’t look closely, they wouldn’t be able to tell at all that he was a boy.
He naturally carried a fragile, indomitable vibe about him, looking like the tragic protagonist of a pitiful background from a novel. Unfortunately, the moment he opened his mouth with a string of foul curses, it instantly smashed that layer of filter into pieces: “Huo Ci, are you out of your mind? Do you not know what time I went to sleep yesterday? I’m sleepy, I want to sleep, you—get the hell out.”
As he spoke, he made to dive back into the warm bedding.
Huo Ci’s brows and eyes were gentle, showing no anger whatsoever at the scolding. Patiently, he helped him put his clothes on properly and carried him into the bathroom to wash up. “Take your medicine before sleeping.”
Chu Lianxing was placed on a stool in the bathroom to brush his teeth, while Huo Ci stood behind him to comb his hair.
This scene looked intensely like an overbearing boss from a melodramatic web novel and his ill-fated little lover.
This was indeed a novel world, and Huo Ci was indeed a big boss.
However, the ill-fated little lover didn’t match Chu Lianxing by even the slightest margin.
What a pity they weren’t the protagonists, and this wasn’t a melodramatic world either.
This was a counter-attack sweet romance novel. The protagonist Gong, Gu Jinyu, was the illegitimate son of the Gu family. His mother became pregnant with him for money, and after taking fifty million from the Gu family, she dumped him onto them and paid him no further heed.
The family relations of the Gu family were deeply intertwined; he had been bullied by others since childhood, grew up with a gloomy personality, and had poor grades.
He was redeemed by Su Zhili, the “little sun” Shou who manageded to test into Nanshan School.
Huo Ci, on the other hand, was the untouchable flower of the school peak. Initially looking down on Su Zhili, he was later moved by the protagonist Shou, fell in love with him, and ultimately became a lickspittle second male lead who sacrificed his own happiness for the protagonist Shou’s well-being, driving a car to crash the villain boss to death.
Chu Lianxing was the veritable crown prince of the Beijing circle. His parents had ventured into business in their early years and amassed a massive family fortune, but alas, heaven was jealous of brilliant talents, and a car accident took them away forever.
Leaving behind only Chu Lianxing, the sole remaining seedling, who was raised by his grandfather—a titan of the business world. He had been doted on like a thousand treasures since childhood, denied not a single star if he asked for the moon.
This cultivated Chu Lianxing’s unruly and rebellious temperament.
However, none of this mattered anymore, because the story had already ended five years ago.
Huo Ci had once fought against Chu Lianxing for the protagonist, driving a car to break one of his legs.
The result was that the Huo family was driven to bankruptcy, and he himself was stabbed once by Chu Lianxing, almost ascending straight to heaven.
It was also that incident that made Huo Ci awaken to the plot. By then, the story was already nearing its end: Gu Jinyu had become the new power-holder of the Gu family, married Su Zhili, and the two of them got married abroad, with the Gu family’s industries also shifting overseas.
His ultimate end was to perish together with Chu Lianxing, because he had killed the only grandson of Elder Chu.
Retaliated against by the Chu family, his father was driven to suicide, his straight older brother was bought and smuggled onto a black ship where he was tortured and killed, and his pregnant sister was beaten to death by an abusive husband.
To fight against the plot and save his family, he chose to climb into the crown prince’s bed, and then used the media to create public momentum, ultimately forcing Chu Lianxing to marry him under public pressure.
Relying on the Chu family’s influence, Huo Ci led the Huo family to a resurgence.
“Cough, cough, cough.”
A fit of coughing pulled Huo Ci back to reality.
Chu Lianxing’s hands were braced against the sink, his chest and back curving from the coughing fits, moisture welling up in his eyes while a flush stained his pale skin. Even so, his waist never bowed.
His lifelong pride prevented him from showing weakness to outsiders, no matter how disheveled he became.
That’s right, he was that outsider.
Thinking of this, Huo Ci felt as though his heart was being devoured by a fierce beast, feeling both hollow and aching.
With one hand, Huo Ci stroked his back to soothe him, while with the other, he picked up the water cup forgotten on the sink last night.
The water was from 3:00 AM, kept in a thermos, so drinking it now wasn’t considered too cold.
The blow Huo Ci dealt him had cost him half his life. Fortunately, the Chu family had extensive connections and found Elder Zhang, a master of traditional Chinese medicine.
Over the past few years, drinking medicinal decoctions, doing rehabilitation, and being pampered like fine gold and jade—even so, every time the seasons changed or during the rainy plum season, his legs would ache so much he couldn’t walk.
Especially in weather like winter.
Huo Ci carried Chu Lianxing downstairs. On the dining table was a four-course set of clear soups and light dishes put together by the nutritionist, which Chu Lianxing referred to as the “clear broth and plain water quad”.
The overly long sleeves covered the back of Chu Lianxing’s hands. Huo Ci pulled out the chair next to him, sat down, and rolled up his sleeves for him.
Until his slender, fair wrists bearing red marks were exposed.
Chu Lianxing had a poor appetite in the morning. He used to dislike eating breakfast, and no one dared to control this little tyrant.
Stomach trouble naturally found its way to him. When they were studying, the two of them were sworn enemies; Huo Ci wasn’t afraid of him and was quite willing to keep him in check.
After marriage, no matter how wildly they tossed and turned the night before, Huo Ci would definitely pull him out of bed in the morning, coaxing and tricking him into eating breakfast.
Chu Lianxing barely managed to finish breakfast, but since he still had to take medicine afterward, he usually left some behind.
Whatever was left was usually finished off by Huo Ci.
“Xiao Wang said you’re going out today,” Huo Ci asked, putting down his bowl.
Xiao Wang, Wang You was Chu Lianxing’s private assistant.
Chu Lianxing gave Huo Ci a side-eye. “Do I need you to care? Why does Wang You report everything to you? I don’t even know whether it’s me or you paying his salary.”
Huo Ci looked at Chu Lianxing across from him, whose face had wrinkled into a steamed bun after finishing his medicine.
He raised a hand to wipe away the residual liquid at the corner of his mouth. “It’s cold outside. Your leg isn’t good, so go out less.”
Huo Ci’s eyes lowered slightly. A person at the bottom seeking the love of someone at the top could only lower their stance, act pitiful, and pray for the person at the top to soften their heart.
Chu Lianxing actually fell for this routine, uttering an unenthusiastic “Got it,” before heading upstairs.
Song Yushun was a good friend of Chu Lianxing’s back in their school days, and also the second person on the front lines of bullying Gu Jinyu.
Why not the first? Because the first was Chu Lianxing.
After Gu Jinyu came to power, he crazily suppressed the Song family. To save the company, Song Yushun’s parents sent him abroad, which managed to preserve the business.
Chu Lianxing sometimes truly doubted the reality of this world.
An illegitimate son who had just inherited a company, with internal stability within the firm still unsettled, dared to suppress an industry titan, and the crucial point was that he actually succeeded.
What was even more baffling was that after going abroad, Song Yushun was lured into a drug addiction and almost sold into an underground casino.
It was Chu Lianxing who flew over, locked him in a villa to force him to quit drugs, and also wiped out the underground casino. The people who lured him into drugs were beaten until they spilled everything.
It was orchestrated by Gu Jinyu. The Song family started out making chips, was once nationalized for state integration, later transitioned to civilian use, and was still an industry leader with influence both domestically and internationally. How did Gu Jinyu dare, and how did those people dare?
The Chu family dealt the Gu family a warning blow. Because of his health, Chu Lianxing handed the company over to professional managers, and he hadn’t paid attention to matters in the business world for a long time.
He didn’t know why Song Yushun had come to find him.
Chu Lianxing looked out the car window. Today happened to have good weather, and Chu Lianxing exceptionally loved winter. The winter sunshine was warm without being scorching, like suddenly getting a cup of ice water in the desert, sending a refreshing sensation coursing from his scalp down to his toes upon drinking it.
Moreover, winter allowed for ice skating and skiing; these were the only extreme sports his grandfather allowed him to do.
It was a pity he couldn’t do even that anymore.
The car window glass reflected his current appearance. He tried to find a trace of his former self within it.
His once healthy, wheat-colored skin had turned snowy white, and his refreshing short hair had grown down to his waist. No matter how he looked, there wasn’t a trace of his past self left.
The place Song Yushun had chosen to meet was a private teahouse, specifically the Tingxue private room on the second floor.
Chu Lianxing was a regular here; ever since his leg injury, this was one of the few places his grandfather allowed him to visit.
He pushed open the door and abruptly collided head-on with a girl.