Futile Devices Scans

Elio’s Notes: The current official Changpei edition skips directly from Extra Five to Extra Seven. Its internal chapter sequence remains continuous, and the other available catalogs and mirrors we checked show the same jump, with Extra Seven marked as the final extra. There is currently no evidence that any story content is missing, so we are preserving the official numbering. If an archived Extra Six ever surfaces, we’ll add it.

Ren Yu sat beside the desk, watching his direct supervisor make a phone call.

On the other side of the desk, Zhou Ruo An lounged in a leather chair, his long legs casually crossed. He held the phone in one hand while the other idly spun a fountain pen, his whole posture lazy and relaxed.

Ren Yu knew who was on the other end of the call. Lin Yi—the man who looked fierce and intimidating on the surface and was every bit as ruthless in practice.

Last weekend’s birthday banquet was still fresh in his mind. Not only had Zhou Ruo An invited him, he had actually brought Fu Chun Shen along too.

And so, the sight of Lin Yi in that snow-white veil, bending beside Zhou Ruo An’s ear and calling him “husband,” had not only stunned Ren Yu but made Fu Chun Shen’s eyes practically glow green.

That very night, Fu Chun Shen had gotten hold of a veil studded with pearls, beautiful beyond words. He tossed it over Ren Yu’s head, kissed him lightly through the gauze, and demanded in a low voice, “Call me husband.”

Ren Yu had already been brooding over their positions, and this only added fuel to the fire. How could he not get angry? He kicked the man away. “Don’t even think about it!”

Because he was annoyed, he set his cup down harder than usual. The crisp clink suddenly reminded Zhou Ruo An that someone else was still in the office. Zhou Ruo An lazily lifted his eyelids and glanced at Ren Yu, then finally took his sweet time saying goodbye to the person on the phone. He dragged out the simple word “goodbye” for a full half minute before hanging up.

“Something?” Zhou Ruo An tossed his phone onto the desk and looked up at his assistant. Sunlight cast a small shadow beneath his lashes, making his eyes appear even deeper.

Ren Yu cleared his throat awkwardly. “Are you free tonight? Let me buy you a drink.”

“My esteemed Assistant Ren is finally not working overtime?” Zhou Ruo An took a cigarette from his drawer and toyed with it between his fingers. Then his tone abruptly shifted as he asked, nosily, “How has Fu Chun Shen been doing at work lately?”

Zhou Ruo An lit the cigarette and said with a smile, “I still remember the way he used to hold an unqualified proposal over the shredder with that cold face of his, then casually let go. The project team that submitted it wouldn’t even dare let out a fart.”

Zhou Ruo An flicked his ash. “Now that he works under you, he hasn’t caused you any trouble, has he?”

“He’s out running errands and buying coffee for his coworkers right now,” Ren Yu said expressionlessly.

Zhou Ruo An choked on his cigarette and coughed softly. “What? Did you get everyone together to bully him?”

Ren Yu laughed in exasperation. “Who do you think could bully him?”

Zhou Ruo An considered that and decided he had a point. He looked at Ren Yu. “He’s pretending?”

“Playing pitiful. I don’t know what possessed me, but I helped him once a while back. Now he’s doubled down on selling misery. He’s completely addicted to the act.”

Zhou Ruo An laughed around his cigarette, leaned forward slightly, and lowered his voice. “I heard you two are always working overtime together and going home late. Don’t tell me…”

“Mr. Zhou, are you free tonight?” Ren Yu cut him off. “If you are, Airbus Bar. Let’s have a drink.”

“I’m free.” Zhou Ruo An smiled. “Can I bring someone?”

＊

At nine that evening, Airbus Bar was roaring with noise.

In the center of the booth area, Ren Yu opened a bottle of whiskey. After filling Zhou Ruo An’s glass, he glanced at the man sitting beside him. Tall and powerfully built, he did not look easy to deal with even when his expression was not cold.

Ren Yu was just about to pour himself a drink when someone stopped him. Fu Chun Shen took the bottle from his hand and naturally filled Lin Yi’s glass instead.

Fu Chun Shen had not been invited in the first place; he had simply shamelessly tagged along. Ren Yu had not stopped him. After all, Zhou Ruo An had brought Lin Yi. With three people, someone would always be the third wheel, and Ren Yu clearly had no intention of playing that role.

After filling all four glasses, Fu Chun Shen set down the bottle and suddenly leaned close to Ren Yu’s ear. Warm breath carrying a faint trace of alcohol brushed his ear. “Do you dislike Lin Yi, or are you afraid of him?”

Ren Yu’s fingertips paused.

“I…” Ren Yu still remembered being chained up by Lin Yi in that abandoned warehouse, and the sentence Lin Yi had hammered into his ears word by word: “If you ever have second thoughts, I’ll see your family ruined and destroyed.”

The words were like a thorn lodged deep in his heart. Even now, every time he saw Lin Yi, Ren Yu instinctively tensed. In Zhou Ruo An’s words, there were only two characters for it: “Done for.”

Ren Yu froze slightly. He had not expected Fu Chun Shen to see through him, much less pinpoint the small measure of fear he still held toward Lin Yi.

He quickly schooled his expression. His fingertip traced lightly around the rim of his glass as he deliberately assumed his usual aloof composure and said evenly, “How could that be?”

Ren Yu’s purpose tonight was extremely simple: he wanted to ask Zhou Ruo An exactly how he had managed to make a tall, imposing, menacing man like Lin Yi willingly submit to him.

Only after Lin Yi and Fu Chun Shen went to the restroom one after the other did Ren Yu seize the chance to edge closer to Zhou Ruo An with his glass. Lowering his voice, he asked, “Mr. Zhou, are you really together with Lin Yi?”

Zhou Ruo An and Lin Yi had been sleeping together for more than two years. At first they had needed to hide it, but later anyone with eyes could tell that their relationship was anything but ordinary. Only an idiot like Bai Ban would think Lin Yi kissing Zhou Ruo An meant he was using his brother to “practice.”

But Ren Yu was different. He was a proper elite, and he had worked beside Zhou Ruo An for so long. Yet somehow he was still doubting Zhou Ruo An’s relationship with Lin Yi.

Zhou Ruo An leisurely took a sip of his drink and countered with a faint smile, “What do you think?”

“You locked him in a warehouse and starved him for three days. Then he got revenge by locking you up for three days too. You hired people to take turns beating him, and you even crushed his hand under your shoe. After all that, you two can still be together?”

Only after being reminded did Zhou Ruo An realize that he and Lin Yi really did have quite a lot of “bad blood” between them. He clicked his tongue. “Fu Chun Shen once spread sexual rumors about you. Aren’t the two of you together all the same?”

“I…” Ren Yu choked.

“Don’t deny it.” Zhou Ruo An cut him off coolly, glancing toward the restroom. “He can sit beside you now, pour you a drink, lean into your ear and whisper to you, and you neither recoil nor refuse him. Don’t tell me you two are still like fire and water.”

He tipped his head toward Ren Yu and tossed out with a grin, “Have you two kissed yet, or have you slept together?”

Ren Yu opened his mouth, momentarily speechless. Zhou Ruo An had finally found something juicy to pry into and had no intention of letting it go. His eyes gleamed as he pressed, “So, Mr. Elite Shou… how was it?”

Ren Yu’s knuckles tightened around the glass. The bar was dim, but not dim enough to hide the flush creeping over the roots of his ears. After hesitating for a moment, he finally seemed to make up his mind and asked quietly, “Mr. Zhou, how did you get Lin Yi to willingly… lie down?”

“Huh?” That one question made Zhou Ruo An instantly understand the problem Ren Yu was facing. He laughed openly, crossed one leg over the other, and said with smug confidence, “There’s no technique to it. It’s all personal charm. I tell him to lie down, and he lies down. Lin Yi? Very obedient.”

Ren Yu felt somewhat discouraged. Ever since Fu Chun Shen’s “step-by-step” approach to love had been ruined by Ren Yu himself, Fu Chun Shen had thrown away all those formulaic restraints, along with the dignity of a refined man, and started turning up at Ren Yu’s apartment every day.

They were both grown men in their late twenties who had never had sex before. Once that taboo was broken, things became a little difficult to rein in. At some point, Fu Chun Shen had also built himself a body full of hard muscle. Every time, he would take Ren Yu’s hand and press it against his abs. “I’m not thin. Check.”

Ren Yu enjoyed himself, yet still felt awkward inside and remained hung up on their positions. He had thought about turning the tables, but every attempt had been futile. To this day, he had not succeeded once.

Meanwhile, Zhou Ruo An started giving reckless advice. “Getting him to lie down is easy enough.” He pushed the bottle forward. “Get him drunk and drag him home. Then you can do whatever you want with him.”

Ren Yu thought that made sense, but then he remembered that Fu Chun Shen was half a head taller than he was, and that his own apartment had no elevator and could only be reached by climbing the stairs.

Dragging him home suddenly seemed a little difficult…

＊

In the restroom, water rushed from the faucets. Fu Chun Shen stood before the mirror washing his hands when the faucet beside him was suddenly turned on and Lin Yi’s long fingers slid beneath the stream.

“Still haven’t won Assistant Ren over?” Lin Yi’s voice carried clearly through the empty restroom.

Fu Chun Shen lifted his eyes and looked at the man beside him through the mirror before slowly answering, “He likes me very much.”

“Doesn’t look like it.” Lin Yi turned off the faucet, pulled out a paper towel, and wiped his hands. Then his tone suddenly shifted. “Want me to repay the favor I owe you?”

Fu Chun Shen gave him an assessing look and said calmly, “If Mr. Lin hadn’t brought it up, I really would have forgotten that you still owe me one.”

“Mm.” Lin Yi tossed the crumpled paper towel neatly into the trash. “Last time, it was thanks to Secretary Fu that Old Master Jin got the fake medical record saying he was in a deep coma and managed to fool Zhou Ran Ming.”

“How do you plan to repay it?” Fu Chun Shen turned around and leaned back against the sink.

Lin Yi walked slowly toward the corner, picked up an empty decorative wine bottle, and weighed it in his palm. “Ren Yu and I have some old grievances. You can vent some anger for him.”

＊

A sudden commotion erupted in the middle of the bar. Zhou Ruo An and Ren Yu, who had been talking quietly, looked up at the same time and saw Fu Chun Shen in the center of the crowd, raising a wine bottle high and smashing it toward Lin Yi’s head.

“Fuck!” Zhou Ruo An shot to his feet, snatched up the bottle on the table, planted a foot on the table, and vaulted over it. His eyes were bloodshot, the veins at his temples standing out as he roughly shoved through the crowd. The bottle in his hand cut through the air toward Fu Chun Shen.

“Mr. Zhou!” Ren Yu, right behind him, lunged forward and threw both arms wide to shield Fu Chun Shen. Zhou Ruo An’s bottle stopped less than ten centimeters from his face, his wrist trembling faintly from the abrupt halt.

“Move.” Zhou Ruo An forced the word through clenched teeth.

Ren Yu did not budge. “Mr. Zhou, there has to be some misunderstanding.”

At that moment, Lin Yi gently wrapped his arms around Zhou Ruo An from behind, his warm lips brushing his ear. “How could I possibly let him actually hit me?” He slowly pried Zhou Ruo An’s fingers from the bottle, took it from him, and tossed it aside. “Let’s go home.”

Only then did Zhou Ruo An notice the blood seeping from Lin Yi’s temple. He hurriedly pulled out a tissue and pressed it to the wound, the fury in his eyes gradually giving way to confusion.

Zhou Ruo An glanced back at Ren Yu and Fu Chun Shen, lowered his eyes, and let Lin Yi hold him as they walked out of the bar beneath everyone’s astonished stares.

＊

“What happened?” Ren Yu turned toward Fu Chun Shen.

The broken bottle landed in the trash with a dull clatter. Fu Chun Shen brushed the glass fragments from his hands, and when he raised his eyes, his gaze was terrifyingly calm.

“I heard,” he said very softly, yet the words made Ren Yu’s heart jolt, “that he once chained you up.”

Ren Yu’s breath caught, and his fingertips curled involuntarily. Beneath the dim lights, he saw a dark flame flickering in Fu Chun Shen’s eyes—a ruthlessness he had never before seen in this refined man.

“So you…” Ren Yu’s voice was almost inaudible.

“Got it back for you.” Fu Chun Shen said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world. He stepped closer, his shadow enveloping Ren Yu. “I’ll protect you.”

“That was too… reckless.” Ren Yu scolded him aloud, yet the corners of his lips rose uncontrollably. He suddenly shoved Fu Chun Shen into a more secluded corner, their bodies pressed tightly together without a sliver of space between them. “Do you know who you hit? That was Lin Yi! He hung Zhou Ruo An up in a warehouse, chained me to a rusty radiator, took down the village bully in just a few moves, fought more than a dozen thugs by himself, and never lost the upper hand even when people attacked him in waves. Fu Chun Shen, and today you actually… hit him?”

Fu Chun Shen suddenly tightened his arms, and Ren Yu stumbled into his embrace before he could react.

“I hit him.” The man’s two simple words carried unquestionable force.

Ren Yu felt the blood in his entire body boiling. He pressed his forehead against Fu Chun Shen’s, his voice lighter than it had ever been before. “So from now on… I don’t have to be afraid of him anymore?”

“You don’t have to be afraid of him. I’m here.”

Ren Yu suddenly hugged him tightly, hard enough to nearly squeeze the breath from him. “Fu Chun Shen, I… how am I supposed to thank you?”

“I don’t have enough money to renew my lease. Can I live at your place?”

“You can.”

“Then…” Fu Chun Shen leaned close to Ren Yu’s ear, his breath brushing his earlobe. “Can you wear the veil and call me husband?”

Ren Yu kissed him directly and murmured through their heated breaths, “I’ll even put on a wedding dress and call you that.”

＊

More than ten minutes earlier, beneath the restroom’s cold lights, Lin Yi had held the empty wine bottle out to Fu Chun Shen. “Ren Yu admires strength. Secretary Fu, want to try smashing this right here?” He pointed to his own temple. “I promise I won’t fight back.”

＊

Late that night, Lin Yi received a text message: Can I hit you once every three months from now on? In return, Fu Group can cooperate with your company on projects.

Smack!

The phone was slammed onto the gaudy floral bedsheet. Zhou Ruo An violently shoved away the man on top of him, his silk nightgown slipping down to expose half a shoulder. “Does Fu Chun Shen think I’m dead? I have just as much money as he does!” His eyes brimmed with malice. “If I don’t turn him into an elite shou, my surname isn’t Zhou.”

Lin Yi dragged him back into his arms and held a strawberry candy against Zhou Ruo An’s lips. “One beating every three months in exchange for cooperation with Fu Group. That’s a profitable deal. Doesn’t Mr. Zhou plan to make good use of me?”

Zhou Ruo An narrowed his eyes. As his tongue curled around the candy, it left a damp trace across Lin Yi’s fingertip. “True. This deal is guaranteed profit.” Then he suddenly reached for the ashtray on the bedside table. “If we want General Manager Lin to take a few more hits, we should practice in advance.”

Lin Yi smiled and gave one upward push, and the ashtray abruptly slipped from Zhou Ruo An’s hand.

The kiss came down, gently twining around the piece of candy. “An An, every piece of candy you gave me, I kept because I couldn’t bear to eat it. Only now do I know that you and candy are both this sweet.”

Clinging to Lin Yi’s strong shoulders, Zhou Ruo An slowly opened his eyes.

Lin Yi, every piece of candy I casually handed you was carefully treasured by you. But only now do I realize that you are the only piece of candy in this rotten life of mine.

So sweet, like a sweet dream.

The End

Elio’s Notes: Glad this is done and it’s HE! We had difficulties completing this due to the supposedly missing chapters. Thank you for staying to read until the end! Feel free to leave a review for the story itself at Novel Updates here.