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Lan Xi never deprived himself in the slightest. The moment he stepped outside, he took the card and went to buy himself food and drinks. Buying things wasn’t difficult for him at all—he had learned very well from television. When he came out of 7-Eleven, he handed Fang Nianqing a rice ball.
Fang Nianqing’s feelings were complicated. “What?”
Lan Xi said, “You… didn’t… eat.”
Fang Nianqing froze. So even while Young Master Wen had been fooling around with that bunch of good-for-nothing friends, he had actually been paying attention to Fang Nianqing the whole time.
Fang Nianqing didn’t take it. Instead, he mocked him coldly. “This is all Young Master Wen is treating me to?”
Lan Xi looked puzzled. “Then what… you eat?” His speech was becoming increasingly fluent.
But he still sounded a lot like a robot, Fang Nianqing thought.
“Anything I want?” Fang Nianqing asked coldly.
Lan Xi waved the card in his hand to indicate: yes, sure, he had money.
Fang Nianqing: “…” It was the first time he had ever seen someone spend another person’s money with such complete righteousness. Apparently he wasn’t afraid at all that the owner would come after him the next day.
Of course Fang Nianqing had no intention of touching that money. He refused. “No need. I’m going home now.”
Lan Xi: “Mm.”
Most of the time, Fang Nianqing lived in a campus apartment, which was free. But twice a month, he had to go home to make sure his relatives didn’t seize the place. It had happened before. While he was at school, his maternal uncle had quietly brought his son over, broken the lock, and moved in.
He had no intention of taking Lan Xi back to his campus apartment. That would be far too inconvenient. His home was different. Getting there from here meant crossing almost the entire city, and the surrounding neighborhood was made up almost entirely of dilapidated buildings that had already been mostly demolished.
They walked silently through the dim alleyways. Around them, there was nothing but the chirping of insects, the croaking of frogs, and the sounds of stray cats and dogs darting past.
After walking for a while, Fang Nianqing turned around.
The young man was still following him.
After everything today, he’s certainly persistent.
The corner of Fang Nianqing’s mouth tugged upward as he quickened his pace into the old apartment building.
The entrance light was broken. To prevent the young man behind him from losing track of him, Fang Nianqing even stopped to wait.
But Lan Xi was walking incredibly slowly.
Just as Fang Nianqing was beginning to lose patience, Lan Xi finally entered the building. Fang Nianqing turned and slammed the main door shut behind them, deliberately trying to frighten him.
Lan Xi didn’t so much as flinch. He simply followed Fang Nianqing upstairs. When they reached the second floor, there was finally light. Only then did Fang Nianqing realize that Lan Xi was eating a lollipop.
Crunch, crunch.
He was chewing it loudly. The coloring had stained his lips black, but somehow, it didn’t look ugly.
As they passed the cardboard boxes piled in the corridor, Lan Xi said frankly, “So… dirty.”
Of course. He really is a young master.
Fang Nianqing pulled out his key with a cold expression and opened the door. “If you think it’s dirty, then leave.” He had expected Wen Lan to keep acting to the bitter end and change his answer to say it wasn’t dirty.
Instead, the other man thought seriously for a moment and said, “We… stay… hotel.” Then he waved the card in his hand again.
“…”
“You want to get a room?”
Fang Nianqing genuinely didn’t know how to describe this young master’s stupidity. Just imagine it: tomorrow morning, they opened the hotel-room door, the owner of the card had already called the police, and a row of officers stood outside asking whether they had stolen someone else’s card to book the room…
Lan Xi had no idea what he was thinking and merely went, “Mm-hm, mm-hm.”
“Impossible.” Fang Nianqing rejected the idea coldly. “Either you go inside now or you leave.”
As long as I don’t have to go back and drink medicine. Mm. Fine.
Lan Xi went inside.
Fang Nianqing’s home wasn’t actually run-down. It was simply very old, with a typical 1980s interior. The windows were small, the paper covering them had gone dark with age, and the overhead bulb was low-wattage to save money, making the narrow space feel even more cramped and dim.
Lan Xi’s eyebrows knotted together. He didn’t like this place. Demons from Hell all liked bright, sparkling things.
Fang Nianqing took in his expression, shut the door behind them, and locked it from the inside. He ignored Lan Xi, put down his bag, then went to the bathroom to wash up while also preparing himself some dinner.
By the time Fang Nianqing came out carrying a bowl of plain noodles, Lan Xi was still standing exactly where he had been without moving.
Fang Nianqing immediately felt much better. “Are you planning to stand there like a tree stump all night?”
Lan Xi turned to look at him, then at the bowl of noodles in front of him.
“You…”
Fang Nianqing prepared to listen carefully to whatever he was about to say.
“You… so… pitiful.”
Those noodles looked terrible.
“…” Fang Nianqing’s perpetually cool expression twisted out of shape. Young Master Wen truly spared no effort when humiliating everyone around him.
He slapped his chopsticks down on the table and stared at Lan Xi. “Yes, I’m pitiful. So what? Planning to throw money at me again?”
Lan Xi: “No… money.”
“…” Fang Nianqing looked at him even more coldly. “Is Young Master playing with me?”
Lan Xi finally moved. He walked over to Fang Nianqing, carefully lowered himself onto a chair with obvious distaste, then searched through his plastic bag and pulled out a red bean paste bun and a bowl of instant noodles. He pushed them toward Fang Nianqing. “Eat… these.”
Lan Xi pointed at the bowl of noodles. “Eat that… pitiful.”
Fang Nianqing froze.
Lan Xi added, “Your… noodles… taste bad.”
So he wasn’t saying I was pitiful because I’m poor. He literally meant my noodles looked terrible… Fang Nianqing stopped that thought. No. As far as Wen Lan is concerned, is there really any difference between the two?
He couldn’t stop himself from looking even more mocking. “Then why don’t you cook for me yourself?”
Lan Xi answered instantly. “Can’t.”
Once again, he sincerely suggested to Fang Nianqing, “We… stay hotel. Hotel… has good food.”
Fang Nianqing stopped responding.
Now that you’ve come here, how could I possibly let you leave?
Fang Nianqing finished his noodles without touching any of the food Lan Xi had pushed toward him. Then he got up to make the bed. While he was at it, he pulled the security grille across the window, secured it, and locked it. Lan Xi ate snacks by himself. When Fang Nianqing finished and glanced over, even he had to admire how Lan Xi could still keep eating after consuming so much at the club.
Fang Nianqing hid one hand behind his back and slowly approached. “Do you rich people all enjoy playing exciting games?” he asked.
Lan Xi tilted his head in confusion.
Fang Nianqing didn’t care about his answer. In an ominous voice, he continued, “Let’s play a game.” As he spoke, he took Lan Xi’s left hand.
Lan Xi blinked and quietly looked at him. His gaze was so pure and clear that Fang Nianqing briefly lost focus. For a split second, he even felt guilty. But that guilt was quickly suppressed.
He moved behind Lan Xi and tied a strip of cloth over his eyes.
Lan Xi found it uncomfortable and was just about to raise a hand.
“Don’t take it off.” Fang Nianqing pressed down on his shoulder from behind.
Fine.
Lan Xi obediently waited. He had always been very tolerant of a seraph who took the initiative.
To lower Lan Xi’s guard, Fang Nianqing deliberately stroked his wrist several times. As he continued touching him, Fang Nianqing himself became briefly distracted again. But his gaze quickly turned cold once more.
He wound a strip of cloth around Lan Xi’s wrist and tied it to the armrest of the chair. Then, moving quickly, he tied down Lan Xi’s other wrist as well.
Lan Xi: “Mm?”
Being tied like this wasn’t particularly comfortable or uncomfortable. In any case, it was much better than the straitjacket.
“Stay here for a while,” Fang Nianqing said flatly. “How about five days to start with?”
Lan Xi said, “No. Don’t… like here.”
Fang Nianqing laughed. “Once you walked through that door, Young Master, it stopped being your decision. Hardly anyone comes around here. I could leave you here for ten days or half a month and no one would know.”
Lan Xi was more concerned about something else. “Then can you… change… brighter light?”
Fang Nianqing: “…”
“You think I’m joking with you?”
Lan Xi: “Will… you change it?” He continued, “I also want… good food. If that… then can stay… three months.”
Fang Nianqing: “…………”
“And… big window.”
“Mm. Bed… softer.”
Lan Xi began counting off his requirements, then suddenly remembered something else. “And… Grade 3 Chinese… Volume 1.”
Fang Nianqing nearly choked on his own breath. It felt absurd in the same way it would if you were in a horror movie, opened your mouth to reveal rows of razor-sharp fangs, and the other person calmly reached out to touch them and told you that you really ought to see a dentist.
“Why… aren’t you talking?” Lan Xi was actually quite pleased. Back at the Wen residence, he couldn’t even be bothered speaking to those two brothers. Now that he was talking with Fang Nianqing, his language skills were improving by leaps and bounds.
After waiting a long time without hearing Fang Nianqing speak again, Lan Xi sighed. “You… so poor.”
The muscles in Fang Nianqing’s face twitched.
Lan Xi said, “You don’t… have any of these? Then how… keep me… half a month?”
Fang Nianqing: “…”
“How do I keep you? Like this. By tying you up here.” As he spoke, he deliberately tightened the bindings around Lan Xi’s wrists.
“No food. No water.”
“You know, people can go without food for quite a while, but not without water. Leave you thirsty for one day and you’ll be crying and begging me for a mouthful.”
“Has Young Master ever begged anyone in his life?”
Fang Nianqing spoke slowly while observing Lan Xi’s reaction.
Lan Xi became unhappy.
No food. No water.
“Why are you… poor and stingy?”
“…” Fang Nianqing inhaled softly. “Yes. I’m stingy. So does Young Master understand what happens now that you’ve fallen into my hands?”
Lan Xi curled his fingers into fists and began struggling violently. The cloth strips dug deeply into his skin, quickly leaving it red.
Fang Nianqing glanced down only once before immediately looking away.
And during that brief instant when his gaze shifted, Lan Xi snapped the cloth strips, abruptly stood up, and tore the blindfold from his eyes as well.
Fang Nianqing: ?
“I… not following… you anymore.” Lan Xi turned and walked away.
But when he reached the door, he discovered it was locked.
The stunned Fang Nianqing slowly recovered and calmly said, “You can’t get out. I told you.”
Lan Xi clenched his fists and punched the door twice.
All right.
He couldn’t smash it open.
“Open door.”
“You think I’m going to open it?” Fang Nianqing asked leisurely.
Lan Xi silently walked back over to him, looking extremely displeased, raised one hand, and—
Smack.
He slapped Fang Nianqing across the face.
The hand he had used to punch the door was lightly scraped, and a little blood smeared across Fang Nianqing’s cheek. Fang Nianqing was stunned for an instant before slowly turning his face back. A faint taste of blood spread through his mouth.
Young Master Wen hits pretty hard.
Countless emotions surged through Fang Nianqing’s heart. At first, he had only wanted to lock Wen Lan up here. But now that no longer felt like enough. He genuinely wanted to do something to him, as though only that could suppress the pent-up fury in his chest.
“Open door,” Lan Xi repeated.
If you can’t afford to keep a succubus, then don’t keep one!
“Give it up.”
Fang Nianqing sneered, walked over, hoisted Lan Xi onto his shoulder, and threw him onto the bed in the bedroom.
Lan Xi looked at him in confusion.
Is he finally going to sleep with me?
One slap and now he wants sex?
Lan Xi was satisfied now and no longer in such a hurry to leave. Looking at Fang Nianqing’s face as it gradually twisted with rage, Lan Xi pulled a tissue from the bedside table and wiped away the blood on his face.
Then he gave Fang Nianqing a radiant smile.
Fang Nianqing abruptly froze.
Anger and something else tangled together, battering violently against his chest. He felt that his impression back at the club hadn’t been wrong after all… The young man really did look like an enchanting spirit straight out of an old supernatural tale.
And that intense thought of revenge that had just filled his head had actually been…
Actually been something too shameful to say aloud.
His stiff fingers gradually relaxed again. He walked over and opened the door.
“You can go.”
Lan Xi was furious. Even his little pointed fangs emerged. “You! Tricked! Me!”
He wanted to slap him again.
Fang Nianqing refused to look at him anymore, as though even one more glance would burn. He wrapped an arm around Lan Xi’s waist, picked him up, and deposited him directly outside the door.
Then he hurriedly slammed the door shut, lowered his head unnaturally to look at his own hand, and spent a long time trying to calm his breathing.
Lan Xi was still furious and kicked the door twice.
Do I really have to go back to the Wen family? I really don’t want to drink medicine!
Oh.
A hotel!
Lan Xi went downstairs and hurried out of the alley.
Following what he had seen on television, he walked into a random hotel.
“I want a room,” he declared with tremendous conviction.
“Hello, sir. Please present a valid form of identification.”
Lan Xi froze.
Oh. Right. I don’t have that.
Lan Xi frowned. Now he had two choices: go back to Fang Nianqing, or go back to the Wen family.
Fang Nianqing’s home was terrible…
At 10:37 that night, Lan Xi stepped through the Wen family’s front door.
“So you still know how to come back?” Wen Yue stood on the second floor, looking down at him as his shadow fell across the room.
Wen Ming also got up from the living-room sofa.
Lan Xi walked forward and handed Wen Ming a plastic bag.
Wen Ming: “What are you up to?”
Lan Xi: “For… you… eat.”
Wen Yue slowly descended the stairs. Lan Xi handed him a plastic bag too. “You… eat too.”
Wen Ming’s expression became complicated. “Hah. You even remembered to bring food home?”
Lan Xi: “Mm-hm.” He paused for a moment. “No medicine… tomorrow.”
The corner of Wen Ming’s mouth twitched. “Oh. So all this sucking up was for that.”
Lan Xi felt that his objective had been achieved. He couldn’t be bothered wasting any more words on them and headed straight upstairs toward the soft bed.
Sigh.
Another day of missing the villa.
Where can I find another rich, high-ranking seraph? How is someone that poor supposed to support me?
Lan Xi rolled over on the bed.
Wen Ming remained sitting in the living room. In the end, he still took the food out of the plastic bag. Triangular rice balls, potato chips…
“What kind of junk food is all this?”
Even as Wen Ming complained, he still opened one and tried it. But after taking his first bite, something suddenly occurred to him.
“Where did he get the money?”
The next day, Wen Ming found out exactly where Lan Xi’s money had come from.
Young Master Cui arrived at the Wen residence with the police, furiously accusing him while his face turned green. “He used my card! He spent more than two hundred thousand yuan!”
Wen Ming felt as though his head was about to explode.
“WEN LAN! GET DOWN HERE!!!”
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