WHV | Chapter 11

The bar looked like a den of spider spirits, with alluring, coquettish young men everywhere. Thanks to his last experience, Yu Wei stayed much calmer when the two bodyguards hauled him inside. Even when he saw men who looked like they had been reincarnated from snake demons, he did not show any surprise on his face.

They took him to a private room on the third floor and shut the door, cutting off the lively, flashy world outside. The lighting in the room was even dimmer than outside, and dark red wall sconces cast a layer of ambiguous haze over the whole space.

“Young Master Lin, the person has been brought.”

When Yu Wei was shoved in, there were only four people in the private room. Lin Zerui had a skinny young man in his arms and was teaching him pool hand in hand, while another person stood nearby just to keep the mood going. Only the lecher who had flirted with him last time, made dirty jokes, and then got rewarded with one of his kicks sat alone on the sofa, looking gloomy.

When Lin Zerui heard the movement at the door, he looked up at Yu Wei, then guided the young man in his arms to sink the last ball cleanly into the corner pocket. After that, he stood up and, in a light, frivolous manner, pinched the young man’s lower back. He leaned in and said something in his ear, making the little guy blush and lower his head against Lin Zerui’s chest.

“If you’re that short on money that you can’t even afford an hourly room, I can toss you a little charity,” Yu Wei said with a frown of disgust. “What do you want with me? Don’t tell me you dragged me here just to put on a live spring palace painting for me. I’m not interested.”

Lin Zerui ignored him. He set down the cue stick, walked over to the sofa, took a sip of the wine someone had handed him, and said, “Wei Yang’s been delivered to you. Do whatever you want with the rest.”

Wei Yang was like a venomous snake stalking prey in the wild, looking as if he might lunge at him and bite him at any second. “You don’t have anything you want to say to me?”

Yu Wei gave him a sidelong glance. “I was afraid I’d curse you so hard you’d get off on it. But you must’ve been pretty satisfied that day, so no need to thank me.”

“Yu Wei!” Wei Yang suddenly sprang to his feet and strode toward him, grabbing Yu Wei by the throat. Something clearly struck a nerve, because Wei Yang’s face twisted horribly.

The lighting had been too dim and the distance too far for Yu Wei to make out his face just now. Now that he had come close, Yu Wei was so shocked he nearly jumped. This lecher looked as if he had just crawled out of the morgue. There wasn’t a trace of blood in his face, white as if he had been dead for three days, and in the dark red light he looked even more sinister.

“Yu Wei, you did this to me… and you don’t have anything to say?”

“What did I do to you?” Yu Wei shook him off easily, gave him a head-to-toe glance, and his tone turned cold. “Take one more step forward, and my left foot will be waiting for you.”

The lecher’s face went livid. He stumbled back two steps, and the two bodyguards who had brought Yu Wei over reached out in time to steady him before he fell. Wei Yang gave Yu Wei a sinister look. “You still dare?”

“What’s there not to dare? Next time you pull that crap on me, it won’t just be one kick. Watch it, or I’ll cut off that useless lump of flesh of yours, chop it up, and feed it to the dogs.”

“Yu Wei!”

The lecher’s face turned green, then white, then green again, like a chameleon.

“Yu Wei, you turned me into this and you still want to play innocent.”

Yu Wei: “…” Turned him into what, exactly?

He always felt like he had a communication barrier with this lecher. The man talked like he was speaking in riddles, and he could not understand a word. Yu Wei turned to look at Lin Zerui, who was sitting there holding the little boy with complete ease, and asked in confusion, “Is he crazy?”

“Pretty much. He’s basically a eunuch now, how could he not be crazy?”

A string of question marks seemed to pop up over Yu Wei’s head. “A eunuch?”

He had put his full strength into that kick, but it still should not have been enough to turn someone into a eunuch.

“Just that one kick, and you really can’t take a beating. Wasn’t that what you wanted yourself that day? You can’t pin this on me.”

As soon as he said that, the private room fell silent.

“Not you?” Lin Zerui studied him. Seeing that he did not look like he was lying, he asked, “Then who was it?”

Lin Zerui had started speaking in riddles too. Yu Wei lost patience and rolled his eyes at him. “He harassed me first. Kicking him was self-defense.”

“It wasn’t because of your kick. That night, when he left the bar, someone…” Lin Zerui paused for two seconds. “Someone castrated him. Physical castration. If he hadn’t been treated in time, it could’ve been life-threatening. Yu Wei, you’re telling me you didn’t do it?”

Yu Wei blinked innocently, suddenly unsure what expression he should make. Should he laugh out loud, or keep it down and secretly laugh to spare the lecher some dignity?

No wonder the lecher looked so bad, swaying like a candle in the wind.

So he really had been cut?

But… deserved.

“What does it have to do with me that he got castrated? Is it possible he harassed a married woman and got castrated by her husband?” Yu Wei said with obvious glee. “Dogs like you, always in heat everywhere, should all be sterilized. Lin Zerui, you’d better work hard too. Sterilization can prolong your life, you know.”

Lin Zerui’s face darkened several shades, and the lecher couldn’t sit still either.

“I only said two sentences to you that day. After that I drank by myself and never met anyone else. Yu Wei, stop pretending. It was definitely you who sent people to screw me over.” The lecher, face tight with anger, motioned toward the two bodyguards behind Yu Wei. The two of them immediately caught the signal and stepped forward to hold Yu Wei down, leaving him unable to move.

Yu Wei frowned. He struggled once, but the hand pressing on his shoulder did not budge. “What proof do you have?”

“No proof. If I had proof, you’d already be in there by now.” The lecher walked over holding a bottle of strong liquor. “But I know it was you, Yu Wei. Today I’m going to make you regret everything you did.”

Yu Wei suddenly felt danger. Not to mention the bodyguards restraining him, even as the lecher approached, he felt an unprecedented wave of panic. Especially from the faint smell of alcohol in the air. This smell was different from ordinary liquor, carrying a heavy, oppressive pressure. “Young Master Lin, didn’t you say his heat was coming in these next few days? You’re not going to feel sorry for your fiancée later, are you?”

“Last month it was the 29th, so this month it should be around these few days too.” Lin Zerui did not even lift his head. “Yu Wei, you said we were like dogs in heat, huh? Then tell me, at the end of last month, do you remember how you barged into my house during your heat, covered in pheromones, climbed onto my bed, and got thrown out by me in the end? At that time, you were like a stray dog begging me miserably. That day, you were more like a dog in heat than anyone else.”

“What did you say?”

Yu Wei clearly had not drunk a drop, but the strong smell of alcohol in the air made his head spin as if he were drunk, and he could not hear what Lin Zerui was saying clearly.

Lin Zerui shoved the person in his arms away and stood up, grabbing Yu Wei by the hair and forcing his head back. “Yu Wei, so what if you’re my fiancée? I never intended to marry you. It’s impossible now, and impossible in the future too. If you get played to death in here today, I won’t even blink.”

Fiancée? Marriage?

I’m Lin Zerui’s fiancée?

Yu Wei’s head buzzed, but he caught the key point with perfect accuracy. Looking at Lin Zerui’s blurry face, he suddenly thought of Shi Ciyan and Lin Yuchi in an ill-timed flash.

When his coworker had told him about the novel, he said the protagonists had overthrown society’s narrow-minded gaze, defied social rules, and overcome countless hardships to be together. So he had assumed that homosexuality in the book was something very niche, not accepted by the world.

But what was Lin Zerui saying?

Fiancée?

Could it be same-sex marriage was legal here?

If same-sex marriage was legal, then where did this talk of overthrowing society’s gaze even come from?

If same-sex marriage existed, then being gay would not be a niche sexual orientation anymore.

No, something was wrong, but what was wrong?

Yu Wei had not figured out anything yet when someone pinched his jaw. Pain shot through him, forcing his mouth open, and the neck of a glass bottle was shoved into it. Immediately after came a burning, spicy liquid that slid down his throat and into his stomach, igniting it at once. From the outside in, it scorched Yu Wei until his whole body felt hot and his legs went weak. Only the two bodyguards holding him up kept him from collapsing.

After downing a bottle of liquor, the world began to spin. Flowers seemed to rain down before his eyes, and through the haze he vaguely heard a fire alarm. His ears were filled with chaotic, noisy voices. The two people restraining him threw him onto the sofa. Yu Wei looked dazedly toward the door and saw two bodyguards helping the lecher, whose movements had become difficult, toward the exit. Behind them, Lin Zerui hurried out in a panic.

“Can you still get up?” Yu Wei looked blankly toward the sound. In front of him were two faces thickly made up, so heavily painted he could not make out their real features. They were the two coquettish little boys from Lin Zerui’s arms.

“He probably can’t get up anymore. Help him from this side.”

Yu Wei was hauled up again and slowly guided outside. They followed the crowd to the second floor.

The fire outside was growing bigger and had spread to the second floor. Both stairwells were blocked, and a group of people were coming down from upstairs one after another, running around like headless flies.

Suddenly, screams came from ahead. They looked over at the sound and saw Lin Zerui, who had just been embracing them so affectionately, now with flames all over his upper body, rolling on the ground.

Although it was autumn, the weather had not yet turned cold. Everyone was dressed lightly, especially indoors. Thin clothing did not burn well at all, and Lin Zerui’s back was red in just a few seconds. Nearby, the man in the loose light-colored tracksuit was now seated in a corner, his pale pants stained red with blood, and a miserable howl rising from his throat.

The scene fell into chaos.

The people around them scattered like frightened birds, screams rising one after another.

The two men holding Yu Wei up were bumped several times by panicked passersby and nearly fell. Suddenly, a figure blocked the way ahead.

The newcomer had a clear goal and wasted no words. He went straight for Yu Wei, who was being held between them, and without saying a thing, scooped him up and walked back against the crowd toward the inside.

The two exchanged a glance and ran after him to stop Shi Ciyan. “Where are you taking him? The stairs are this way.”

Only then did Shi Ciyan glance at the two heavily made-up people. “If you want to get out sooner, come with me.”

After saying that, he did not care whether they followed and carried Yu Wei upstairs against the crowd. This bar had seven floors in total, and the top floor had a very hidden emergency passage that led directly to the first floor.

Shi Ciyan first took Yu Wei upstairs, then went down through the emergency passage. Footsteps followed closely behind him. Even without looking back, Shi Ciyan knew it was those two people.

The emergency passage led out to a cramped little path. About a hundred meters across from the path, a black car was parked by the roadside. When they came out, the driver’s door was pushed open. A middle-aged man got out, walked around to the other side, and opened the door, letting Shi Ciyan and Yu Wei get in.

“Give them money.”

The driver responded and got out again, handing each of the two stunned men a check.

“For us?” The two looked at each other, then at the amount written on the checks. The zeros were so dense they had never even seen that many in a bar.

Just moments ago they had been relieved to survive the fire, but now they stood there holding the checks, staring after the departing car. Then they threw their heads back and laughed. “This insane windfall finally landed on us.”

…

The car was quiet.

“Take us to the hotel first, then buy a few Omega suppressants.”

Yu Wei was drenched in alcohol, mixed with a sweet banana scent. His white shirt had been soaked through by the liquor and clung wetly to his skin, faintly outlining the body beneath. Shi Ciyan looked at him twice, then pulled him into his arms.

He had already entered heat, and the pheromone-blocking patch was basically useless. In the cramped, enclosed space of the car, the pheromone concentration shot up sharply.

The driver was an Alpha too and could smell the pheromones. Shi Ciyan lifted his eyelids and gave the driver in the front seat a cold glance. “Open the window.”

Autumn wind slipped in through the car window and dispersed the pheromone scent in the air. Yu Wei’s soaked upper body shivered in the breeze, and he subconsciously pressed closer to the warm source beside him.

The car stopped steadily at the hotel entrance. Shi Ciyan carried Yu Wei out and rode the elevator upstairs without the slightest obstruction. Yu Wei curled obediently in his arms, his slender arms hooked around Shi Ciyan’s neck, his whole face buried in the crook of his neck, his breath scorching.

“You smell so good.”

An Omega in heat became far more sensitive to an Alpha’s pheromones. Right now, half-dazed, Yu Wei was rubbing against Shi Ciyan’s neck and had caught the fresh apple scent through the pheromone-blocking patch.

It was very faint. Yu Wei was not satisfied. Acting purely on instinct, he searched for the source of the scent along Shi Ciyan’s neck. When he failed to find it, he got annoyed and bit him several times, leaving bite marks of varying depth.

Shi Ciyan’s arm around his waist tightened slightly, and he stared at the slowly changing numbers on the elevator with a strange irritation rising deep inside him.

Ding. The elevator reached the top floor and opened slowly. Shi Ciyan strode forward. There was only one room on the top floor. He pushed open the door and put Yu Wei on the sofa.

“Change your clothes first.” The shirt was damp and the strong smell of alcohol was unpleasant.

Yu Wei nodded dazedly.

Shi Ciyan walked over to the side and called the front desk to send up a set of clothes. Just after he hung up, a shirt fluttered down at his feet. Shi Ciyan froze for a moment. Listening carefully, he heard rustling sounds from behind him, then another pair of pants hit the floor.

Shi Ciyan took a deep breath and suddenly turned around, grabbing Yu Wei’s hand just as he was about to remove the last piece of cloth on his body. “Don’t move.”

Yu Wei did not know why he was stopping him and blinked in confusion. “Changing clothes.”

Yu Wei was standing barefoot on the sofa. His fair skin made the pink at his chest look especially alluring.

Shi Ciyan stared at him fixedly, breathing quickening, and the pheromones he had been holding back all this time spilled out uncontrollably.

“So sweet~”

Yu Wei lowered his head, rubbed his nose lightly against the side of his ear, found the gland at the back of his neck, and lifted a hand to tear off the troublesome pheromone-blocking patch.

“Yu Wei…” Shi Ciyan came back to his senses sharply, but it was too late to stop him before Yu Wei bit down hard.

Whether Omega or Alpha, the gland was inherently fragile, and an Alpha did not even have the function of being marked. Yu Wei had not held back in that bite. Shi Ciyan hurt so badly he began to tremble, and the Alpha pheromones, provoked, surged out in a rush.

The dense Alpha pheromones made Yu Wei’s legs go soft. He soothed the gland he had bitten until it bled, gently licking and sucking at the back of Shi Ciyan’s neck.

Shi Ciyan closed his eyes and leaned against his shoulder, letting him toy with his gland. His voice was husky. “Do you like my pheromones?”

Yu Wei was like a kitten drunk on catnip, already utterly unhinged.

Shi Ciyan laid the person in his arms down, then slowly pushed aside the messy strands of hair falling over his forehead with his fingertips. Yu Wei’s pale face was covered in a flush, his eyes hazy with moisture like someone who had drowned, his lips parted as he panted in great gasps.

Shi Ciyan brushed away the tear clinging to Yu Wei’s thick black lashes with his thumb. “You look a hundred times better than the version in my dreams.”

After saying that, dense, eager kisses landed on Yu Wei’s chin and trailed down his pale, delicate neck, leaving light pink marks behind.

“Mm…” Yu Wei suddenly tipped his neck back, drawing a perfect curve. The veins there stood out faintly, so fragile that he looked like he would break with the lightest touch.

Shi Ciyan raised his head, pinched Yu Wei’s chin, and turned him to look at him. Staring at those wet, full lips, his throat went dry. “Can I kiss you? If you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as a yes.”

Shi Ciyan waited patiently for two seconds. Once he confirmed there was no objection, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to Yu Wei’s soft mouth. What began as restrained friction turned, after receiving Yu Wei’s passionate response, into greedily taking more and more.

If Yu Wei got pregnant, as Qiu Lei had said, could they then be together naturally?

It was only when he had kissed his mouth swollen red that Shi Ciyan finally stopped and changed targets, kissing downward instead. Yu Wei’s breathing was quick and heavy, and soft, beautiful little moans slipped from his mouth.

“Don’t kiss anymore, it hurts.”

Yu Wei collapsed bonelessly in Shi Ciyan’s arms, his whole body flushed a light pink.

Shi Ciyan held him close and gently kissed his swollen gland. “I’ll take you to the bedroom.”

Yu Wei obediently wrapped his long, slender legs around Shi Ciyan’s waist, buried himself in his arms in a red-faced, bear-hug posture, and gave a muffled “Mm.”

This was a presidential suite, with two floors. Upstairs there were two rooms, one of them the master bedroom. The master bedroom was spacious, with floor-to-ceiling windows. Shi Ciyan placed Yu Wei on the bed and turned to find the remote for the curtains.

After he closed the curtains and looked back, Yu Wei was sitting quietly on the bed. The white sheets made the warm marks Shi Ciyan had left on Yu Wei’s delicate skin look like roses blooming in snow, strikingly vivid.

Shi Ciyan did not slow down. In one or two motions, he took off his shirt and walked over in front of him, taking Yu Wei’s hand and placing it around his waist. “Help me take it off.”

Yu Wei obediently helped him remove it, then lifted his head to look at him as if seeking praise. His gaze was both pure and seductive.

Shi Ciyan could not help but curse under his breath. This time he kissed him even more urgently and heavily.

“Yu Wei, stay by my side, okay?”

He had not expected Yu Wei to answer, but to his surprise, the person beneath him looked at him with moist eyes and said in a voice mixed with sweet, soft moans, “I feel so bad. Don’t bully me.”

The moment Yu Wei finished speaking, Shi Ciyan stopped holding back. He lowered his head and bit through Yu Wei’s hot gland, injecting pheromones into him.

The instant Yu Wei was bitten through, his body tensed, his toes curled, and tears slid from the corners of his eyes before disappearing into his temples.

An Omega’s heat lasted at least three days. Those absurd three or four days passed quickly. Yu Wei did not know whether it had been three days or four, or how many times it had happened. He only remembered that, these past few days, what happened when he was conscious and when he was not was basically the same. He would wake up, pass out, then wake again. The extreme sensations made him sink deeper and deeper.

The first time Yu Wei woke up, the room was dim and his vision was obstructed. He could not make out the furnishings around him.

He was lying in bed, and waves of warmth came from beside him. His head was hazy. Dazedly, he propped himself up on the chest of the person next to him. His body was so sore and weak it felt as though he had been taken apart and put back together. Before he could even sit up fully or see that person’s face, he lost strength again and fell back down.

Even though he had not seen the person, he had successfully woken them up.

“Baby, don’t fuss.” Shi Ciyan, half asleep, gathered him into his arms and kissed the side of his face.

He did not know his own strength, and Yu Wei let out an instinctive whimper. The person beside him was fully awakened. His voice was hoarse as he nuzzled Yu Wei’s neck affectionately. “Baby, the second you wake up, you won’t let me sleep.”

Yu Wei had already adjusted to the darkness. Looking at Shi Ciyan’s familiar face, he almost cried out, but before he could, his mouth was covered.

The air around them gradually warmed. Yu Wei was kissed until his mind went fuzzy again. Looking at the swaying ceiling light, his consciousness slowly blurred.

It should not have been like this, but his body was far too honest. He could not run, could not hide, and could only let himself surrender while still awake.

The next time Yu Wei woke up, it was already daytime. Unlike the night before, he did not act impulsively this time. He lay quietly in Shi Ciyan’s arm, slowly removing the hand at his waist, afraid of waking him. His body was still weak, but at least he felt fairly refreshed. It took him half an hour before his feet finally touched the floor. He slowly stood up, only for his legs to go weak and for him to kneel to the ground again. A rug had been laid beside the bed. Last night, because he had complained that the floor was too hard and his feet hurt from standing too long, Shi Ciyan had put it there for him.

Yu Wei shook away the not-for-children images flashing through his mind and looked around twice, but could not find his clothes.

Then he remembered. His clothes had been taken off in the living room and never brought into the bedroom. He tiptoed quietly, sneaking out of the bedroom and glancing back. Shi Ciyan was still sleeping soundly in the position he had been in when Yu Wei got out of bed, showing no sign of waking up at all.

Yu Wei let out a breath of relief and quietly closed the door as he left. The moment he closed it and looked back, he saw the whole two-story villa. Just one glance was enough. The hallway, the small balcony, the stairs, the living room, the sofa, the kitchen, the dining table, memories were everywhere.

And all of his memories were not-for-children scenes. Worse, he had been the active one, constantly taking and taking.

The chaotic memories made Yu Wei cover his face in embarrassment. He hurried downstairs, picked up the clothes scattered on the floor, and threw them on without even caring about front or back.

All of this was Lin Zerui and the lecher forcing him to drink fake liquor. Thinking back to what they had said that day, Yu Wei suspected that Lin Zerui and the lecher had put something in the alcohol they gave him. He would definitely settle that score.

After getting dressed, Yu Wei did not even dare turn back to look. He buried his head and strode toward the door, opened it, and left.

Yu Wei did not run into anyone along the way. In the downstairs lobby there were only a few guests and staff. Yu Wei stood by the roadside and called a car. Just as he got in, he suddenly remembered something. “Uncle, wait for me one minute.”

As soon as he said that, he got out of the car quickly. A discomfort came from somewhere behind him, making him feel a little embarrassed. Yu Wei went straight to the front desk. “Settle the bill for the top-floor presidential suite.”

Shi Ciyan probably had no money to pay the room fee. Yu Wei was afraid he would end up staying behind to work as a cleaner.

“You stayed for four days. How would you like to pay?”

Four days? These four days he had been like some kind of spirit-sucking demon, probably draining Shi Ciyan dry. “Add one more day. I’ll check out tomorrow.”

After paying for the room, Yu Wei went straight home. He had been too exhausted these past few days and needed a good rest.

When Yu Wei got home, only his mother, Bai Sijia, was there. The moment she saw him come back, tears filled her eyes. She hugged him and cried and laughed at the same time. Yu Wei had disappeared in that fire scene, and today was already the fourth day. No matter how they looked, they could not find even a trace of him.

The bar where Yu Wei had last appeared caught fire. The police determined it had been an accidental blaze, and because the fire was put out in time, no one died. But Lin Zerui, the only son of the Lin family, fell down the stairs in the chaos and into the fire. When he came out, half his upper body was burned, and he was still being treated in the hospital. In that fire, only Yu Wei had vanished without a trace. The Yu family worried so much they could not sleep at night, and they even spent a lot of money hiring detectives to find him, but there was no news at all. If he had been kidnapped, they would at least have received a phone call.

And now he had suddenly reappeared at home, leaving Bai Sijia with swollen, red eyes from crying. Yu Wei comforted her for half an hour with his tired body. Then Yu Cheng and his cheap little brother Yu Song arrived home one after another, crying so dramatically it sounded like they were mourning. For a moment, Yu Wei even had the urge to join them and cry along.

His family asked him questions left and right, and Yu Wei just brushed them off casually, refusing to say a word about what had happened these past few days.

Obviously. What was he supposed to say?

Was he supposed to say, “I slept with the protagonist of this world”? Or, “Your son was posed like a BJD doll these past few days and got fucked over and over for four days”?

Yu Wei went back to his room in utter exhaustion and flopped onto the bed, letting out a long sigh. These past few days, he had been conscious sometimes and dazed at other times. But the memories had stayed in his head the whole time. He could not forget them at all.

He had lived two lifetimes and never even held a girl’s hand. And now he had been…

The source of all this was that lecher and Lin Zerui. They had plied him with liquor, or maybe drugged him, all to get revenge. As for what revenge, Yu Wei still thought the lecher was baffling. He had been castrated, but instead of going after the person who did it, he insisted it was Yu Wei who had sent someone. Ridiculous to the extreme.

Thinking back to that day, he remembered being helped out by the two boys in Lin Zerui’s arms. He could not remember what happened in between. The next time he woke up, he was straddling Shi Ciyan’s lap, as if possessed, seducing him. After that it was the bedroom. The later events were too shameful, and Yu Wei did not want to recall them. But he clearly remembered that he had been the one to make the first move. Shi Ciyan, as the protagonist, already liked men. With his provocation, Shi Ciyan had lost control, and they ended up spending those absurd four days together.

Yu Wei forced back his tears, took a deep breath, and started finding excuses for Shi Ciyan, then comforting himself.

Being slept with once as a grown man was nothing. No, being slept with a few times was nothing. He would just treat it like being bitten by a dog.

Yu Wei covered his face and lay on the bed, regaining a little strength. He got up and went into the bathroom. The tub had already been filled, and the temperature was just right. Yu Wei stepped in. Warm water gradually covered his whole body, and he tilted his head back and slowly closed his eyes. The bathtub in the master bathroom of the presidential suite seemed much bigger than his.

That day, he had straddled Shi Ciyan’s waist and abdomen, both hands braced on the edge of the tub, taking the initiative…

Water overflowed from the bathtub and spilled all over the floor, the sound of flowing water rising and falling together with the two people’s panting.

Yu Wei suddenly opened his eyes, and the moment he looked at the calm water surface, tears burst out.

He took a full hour to bathe, but the bruises on his body were still there.

It was all Lin Zerui’s and the lecher’s fault.

Yu Wei stayed in his room all morning. At noon, Auntie called him up for lunch. Today, they had made a full table of dishes, with many kinds and a very rich spread.

At the dining table, Bai Sijia tried to strike up a conversation with Yu Wei, but he was listless, so she gave up.

“Lin Zerui is in the hospital?” Just as lunch was about to end, Yu Wei asked before leaving.

Bai Sijia looked annoyed. “Why are you still thinking about him? He was the one who called you to the bar and caused you to end up in danger, the one who didn’t care about your safety at all. Why are you still thinking about him?” Bai Sijia continued, “He’s at the city center hospital. I think he only got out of the ICU yesterday. Severe burns, probably disfigured.”

Yu Wei thought, Serves him right, but he still wanted to see the joke with his own eyes.

So that afternoon he drove to the city center hospital and called Lin Hao directly to ask for the ward number. Lin Hao froze when he heard his voice, then sounded heartbroken as he talked about how worried he had been these past few days, and then started talking about how serious Lin Zerui’s injuries were, trying to make Yu Wei feel sorry for him.

Yu Wei rolled his eyes and brushed him off with a few perfunctory words before heading to the ward.

There was only Lin Zerui in the ward. If Lin Hao had not told him it was this room, Yu Wei would not have dared to recognize him. Nothing else aside, just this face wrapped in gauze, only two eyes showing, made it impossible to see his full appearance.

“Weren’t you missing?” Lin Zerui asked as soon as Yu Wei entered.

“Yeah, but I’m back. Are you disappointed?”

He walked in and sat in the chair beside the bed, legs crossed, very relaxed.

“You’ve been marked?” Lin Zerui’s tone suddenly sharpened. “Who was it? Yu Wei, who marked you?”

Yu Wei did not want to hear his nonsense, but Lin Zerui would not let him off. “Yu Wei, last month you came looking for me. This time who did you go find? You’re my fiancée, our engagement is still in place, and you actually let someone else mark you. Yu Wei… you’ve got the nerve to cheat on me!”

Lin Zerui became more and more agitated as he spoke. If his whole body had not been wrapped in gauze and restricted from moving, Yu Wei felt he would have jumped up to strangle him by now.

Too bad he was sick now.

“Cheat on you, and what about it?” Yu Wei lifted his chin disdainfully. “I’ll cheat on you, and not just once.”

The exposed eye on Lin Zerui’s face turned bloodshot, raging with fury. “Yu Wei, you worn-out slut who’s been played by someone else, I’m not going to want you. I don’t want second-hand goods.”

“Heh, as if I want you.” Yu Wei sneered. “Of course I wouldn’t dare want you either. After all, you’re like a dog in heat and can hook up with strangers any time. I’m afraid you’ve got something wrong with you.”

After provoking him, Yu Wei’s own gloomy mood improved quite a bit.

He patted his butt and stood up. “I heard someone pushed you down the stairs in the crowd and tossed you into the fire. That’s your punishment too. You’ve done so many rotten things, and you even made me drink fake liquor that day. Did you put drugs in the alcohol? Lin Zerui, you really are despicable.”

Lin Zerui was stunned. “Did I even need to put drugs in it? That one bottle of liquor was enough.” After all, Yu Wei’s heat was almost here. With a bit of Alpha pheromone to induce him, Yu Wei would be in heat. “Maybe it was Wei Yang who did it. After all, you did him a lot of harm.”

“I harmed him? Could it really not have been him getting punished for harassing a married woman? And you might’ve been pushed on purpose too. Despicable people deserve it.”

Yu Wei cursed him out and left the ward. He had originally wanted revenge, but Lin Zerui’s condition was bad right now, so he would let him heal properly first. Once he was discharged, Yu Wei would have plenty of ways to deal with him. He absolutely would not let Lin Zerui off. Lin Zerui had made him lose his innocence, and he would pay the price. At the very least, Yu Wei would make sure he never had children or descendants.

Yu Wei rested at home for a week. After he adjusted, the marks on his body had mostly faded, but his mood was still low and his appetite poor. Bai Sijia often looked at him like she wanted to say something but held back.

A week later, Yu Wei received the first message Shi Ciyan had ever sent him on his own initiative. He had been lying in bed watching videos, enjoying himself, when a message suddenly popped up and nearly made him throw his phone away.

Yu Wei pressed the phone face-down on the bed. After a long time, once his racing heartbeat had calmed a little, he opened it again.

“Can we meet on the weekend?”

This time he really lost hold of the phone and flung it to the foot of the bed. Sitting cross-legged, he stared at the phone in terror and could not calm down for a long time.

He had not even contacted Yu Song recently. He had deliberately avoided Shi Ciyan, and yet Shi Ciyan had taken the initiative to message him.

Being slept with, or sleeping with someone, he had treated it all like getting bitten by a dog. But the problem was Shi Ciyan’s identity. He was the protagonist, and his CP was Lin Yuchi. Yu Wei had no idea how to face him now.

If Lin Yuchi found out his CP had been slept with by him, would he flatten the whole Yu family in one go?

Yu Wei thought he would.

So the best way to deal with this was cold treatment. He did not know how to face Shi Ciyan.

Yu Wei pretended not to see it and did not reply to the message.

Shi Ciyan sent him a message every few days after that. At first he would get startled, but after it happened enough times, he got used to it.

After resting at home for a month, Yu Wei finally went back to work normally. Recently he had been sleepy, lacked appetite, and lost quite a bit of weight.

On Thursday afternoon, after Yu Wei got off work, Wang Youguang had something to do and went home first, so Yu Wei drove back by himself. He took his keys and went to the underground parking garage. Just as he opened the car door, a warm hand grabbed his wrist.

A slightly resentful voice came from behind him. “Brother Yu Wei, I sent you a lot of messages. You didn’t reply to any of them.”

“Ah, really? My WeChat got hacked and I can’t get it back.” Yu Wei did not dare turn around. He shut his eyes hard and started making things up as soon as he opened his mouth. “I don’t use that WeChat anymore.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll add your new WeChat. It’ll be convenient for finding you later.” Shi Ciyan pressed the issue, not giving him any chance to run.

“I haven’t opened a new WeChat yet.”

The person behind him fell silent for a long time, then sighed. “Let’s talk.”

Yu Wei did not want to talk to him, but the person was already standing right in front of him, so he had no choice but to agree.

Shi Ciyan got into his passenger seat, his gaze fixed on Yu Wei the whole time. Yu Wei felt like a cat on hot bricks and kept his eyes forward.

He parked in front of a coffee shop and led Shi Ciyan inside, choosing a seat by the window.

“What do you need from me?”

“Brother Yu Wei, what happened at the end of last month?” Shi Ciyan said while lowering his head to stir his coffee. “Last month I took a job at the bar. Then that day the fire broke out. While I was running for my life, I ran into Yu Wei being taken out of a private room by two people. I thought I knew you, so I took you out of the fire. I didn’t know your address, and I didn’t have Yu Song’s contact information, so I had no choice but to take you to a hotel. That day I drank a little with the guests. When I woke up again, it was several days later, and I had completely forgotten what happened. But I remember taking Brother Yu Wei back, and when I woke up you were gone, so I was worried about you.”

Shi Ciyan spoke slowly, then looked up carefully at Yu Wei. “Brother, I didn’t do anything out of line, did I? You haven’t been talking to me these past few days, and I kept worrying whether I had done something to make you unhappy.”

Yu Wei: “………………”

So he had been hiding for nothing these past few days?

Yu Wei had never experienced anything like this before, so he did not know whether the top had any feelings afterward. But looking at Shi Ciyan’s innocent face now, he guessed everything he said was true. Shi Ciyan had blacked out and completely forgotten it.

“Actually, nothing happened. I drank that day, sobered up, and went home.”

“I see.” Shi Ciyan nodded, looking sad. “Brother Yu Wei, you’ve been avoiding me these past few days.”

Yu Wei: “… I wasn’t avoiding you. My WeChat got hacked.”

Shi Ciyan: “Oh, okay. Then when Brother Yu Wei gets his WeChat back, or opens a new one, I’ll add you again.”

Yu Wei could only brace himself and agree.

After that, there was a brief silence between Yu Wei and Shi Ciyan. Yu Wei awkwardly lifted the coffee cup to his mouth, just about to take a couple of sips when his stomach suddenly turned over and a wave of nausea surged up.

“I’m going to the restroom.” Yu Wei covered his mouth and ran toward the bathroom. The moment he entered, he bent over the sink and dry-heaved for a while. “Brother Yu Wei, are you okay?”

Shi Ciyan followed him and patted his back considerately.

Counting the days, it had been almost a month since the last time.

Could he be pregnant?

Shi Ciyan looked at Yu Wei’s pale face and carefully supported his waist, helping him stand upright against himself. “Brother Yu Wei, you don’t look well.”

Yu Wei was weak all over. Leaning against Shi Ciyan, he somehow felt completely safe. The fresh apple scent on him also settled his stomach a little, making the nausea ease off.

Shi Ciyan wrapped an arm around Yu Wei from behind and put his hands at his waist, gently rubbing his stomach as if comforting a child. His voice was soft. “If I rub it, it won’t feel so bad.”

It really did not feel so bad anymore, but then a memory flashed through Yu Wei’s mind of those days when Shi Ciyan had held his hand and rubbed his stomach just like this, feeling him. Yu Wei immediately stood up and put some distance between them. “Sorry.”

His reaction was too strong, and Shi Ciyan could tell something was off too.

“Brother Yu Wei, you’re still avoiding me. You have some kind of issue with me.” Shi Ciyan looked hurt. “What’s the big deal about leaning on me when you feel bad?”

Yu Wei gave a strained smile.

How was it not a big deal?

Shi Ciyan did not remember those days, but Yu Wei remembered those broad hands of his very vividly. He remembered those hands leaving clear, visible handprints on his thighs and lower back again and again.

Those marks had only just disappeared. Forget leaning on Shi Ciyan while he rubbed his stomach. Just seeing him now made Yu Wei feel embarrassed.

But Shi Ciyan had forgotten, and could not share Yu Wei’s feelings.

Yu Wei could only helplessly shake his head. “I just don’t usually like other people touching me. Sorry.”

Since Yu Wei was uncomfortable, Shi Ciyan took the initiative to offer to drive him home first. Yu Wei wanted to refuse, but he kept feeling nauseous from time to time, and he was afraid something would happen on the road. After all, he had died once, so he valued his life more than other people did.

Shi Ciyan drove steadily, and Yu Wei did not feel any discomfort along the way. It seemed that as long as Shi Ciyan was beside him, he did not feel so bad.

They parked in front of a suburban villa. Recently, Yu Wei had not been in good shape, so he had discussed with his family moving out to live somewhere quiet for a while. That was why he had moved to the suburbs. When he had nothing to do, he would water flowers and grow vegetables in the yard. Aside from being a bit far from the company, it had no real flaws.

Shi Ciyan dropped him off at the door, parked the car, and said goodbye to him. “Brother Yu Wei, get plenty of rest.”

Yu Wei nodded. “Okay. Go back.”

Shi Ciyan said, “You go in first. I’ll leave after I see you inside.”

Yu Wei: “…”

At this point, they looked like a newly dating couple unwilling to part, both urging the other to leave first and neither willing to be the one watching the other’s back disappear.

But they weren’t a couple. Yu Wei turned away decisively, took two steps, then suddenly reacted and turned back. “How are you getting home?”

Shi Ciyan smiled warmly. “I’ll call a car.”

Only then did Yu Wei say “oh” and turn back into the house. His bedroom was on the second floor, and from the second-floor window he could see Shi Ciyan standing there waiting for the car.

It was already autumn. Outside, the autumn wind was bleak, the sky cloudy, and without the sun it looked somewhat oppressive, as if rain could fall at any moment.

Sure enough, just as Yu Wei was thinking about whether it would rain, the sound of drizzling rain began outside. Yu Wei looked toward where Shi Ciyan was standing. He was still there, crossing his hands over his head in an attempt to shield himself from the sudden rain.

Yu Wei turned and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Shi Ciyan had been waiting by the roadside for a while. Getting rained on for a bit was no big deal, and it had almost been ten minutes, so the car he called should have arrived by now.

After Yu Wei finished his comfortable shower and came out, drying his hair as he glanced out the window, he suddenly froze.

There was no one by the road anymore, but under a large tree nearby stood someone else, apparently using the leaves as a rain cover to get as little wet as possible. In truth, it was almost useless, and he still looked like a drowned rat.

Yu Wei frowned slightly. Didn’t he call a car? Why was he still there?

Yu Wei stood by the window for a while, then sighed in resignation, put down the towel he was using to dry his hair, draped a coat over his pajamas, took an umbrella from the entryway, put on his slippers, and opened the door to head outside.

The distance from Yu Wei’s front door to the road was thirty meters. The weather, which had been fairly mild just a moment ago, now carried a chill wind mixed with rainwater, making Yu Wei shiver uncontrollably.

Shi Ciyan was under the tree. Hearing the movement, he turned back and saw Yu Wei inside wearing only thin pajamas with a coat thrown over them. He frowned and said, “Why did you come out? Go back in. It’s a little cold today. Don’t catch a cold later.”

Shi Ciyan had expected Yu Wei might come out, but he had not expected him to come out wearing so little.

Yu Wei ignored him and asked back, “Didn’t you call a car?” He looked around, and not to mention a car, there wasn’t even a shadow of one nearby. “Where’s the car you called?”

Shi Ciyan sighed and tried to send him back. “Go back quickly. The car I called said this place was too far, and since it was raining, they canceled the order. I’ll just place another one.”

“I’ll go back after you get a car. You call it first.” Yu Wei took one step to Shi Ciyan’s side and pulled him into the umbrella’s coverage. “Call it.”

Shi Ciyan was momentarily at a loss for words. He had deliberately not called a car earlier, just to test whether Yu Wei would soften. Now that Yu Wei had truly softened and come out to keep him company, Shi Ciyan was instead somewhat unhappy.

What was more, in this kind of heavy rain, he really could not get a car right now.

But he also could not keep Yu Wei standing here with him.

“It’s hard to get a car in the rain. Go back. I’ve already been rained on, it’s fine. You just showered, and getting hit by cold wind now makes it even easier to catch a cold.”

Yu Wei stubbornly stayed with him for a few more minutes. The cold was so bad he was trembling. “Forget it, come back with me. We’ll wait inside.”