By the time Wen Yue received the voice message, his plan had already progressed to setting a fake fire, luring the tiger away from the mountain, sneaking inside while everyone was distracted, and then taking Lan Xi away.
Wen Ming raised a problem with a grave expression. “But there’s still one issue… We can get him out of Mr. Fu’s villa, but what happens afterward? Where could we hide him without being found?”
Wen Yue fell into thought.
That was right. This was the most troublesome part.
It would be extremely difficult to escape Fu Hui’s notice. To exaggerate only slightly, if Fu Hui truly wanted to find someone, digging three feet into the ground would practically be routine.
Wen Lan suddenly sidled over and offered them an idea. “That’s easy. I’ll smuggle him across the border again.”
Wen Lan’s self-proclaimed brilliant suggestion received no response whatsoever.
He cursed, grabbed his phone, and went out. He had no intention of going to school, but he still had to meet up with his worthless friends. He messaged everyone on his WeChat contact list, only for nobody to reply.
He called Young Master Cui, who had always been the quickest to respond.
Only then did he discover he had been blocked.
Just as Wen Lan was completely baffled, Luo Jin finally replied to him.
Half an hour later.
The two met outside a club.
Luo Jin acted furtively. “You still dare come here? Don’t let Mr. Fu find out. I’m afraid he’ll have my brother beat me to death.”
After saying that, Luo Jin turned his head. “What the fuck? Who are you?”
Once he learned the whole story from Wen Lan, Luo Jin didn’t even have time to be shocked.
“Fuck, I knew it! I was wondering why you suddenly switched back to your old account to contact me today.”
“Oh no, oh no. He must still be waiting for me…”
Luo Jin hurriedly pulled out his phone and messaged Lan Xi.
Lan Xi and Cheng Yiran were sitting on a bench at the amusement park when Wen Yue arrived in a hurry.
“Weren’t you meeting Luo Jin?” Cheng Yiran froze.
Lan Xi looked innocent. “Mm-hm. He didn’t come. I don’t know why.”
Cheng Yiran’s entire face seemed to ask, Is that really believable?
Wen Yue glanced around roughly and relaxed a little.
There were no bodyguards following them, and Cheng Yiran could practically be ignored.
But why?
Was Fu Hui really that confident?
What Fu Hui had said the previous day still echoed through Wen Yue’s mind, leaving some lingering unease.
“Lan Xi, you really don’t have any identification?” This was what Wen Yue cared about most.
Lan Xi himself didn’t care at all.
He stood from the bench, dusted off nonexistent dirt from his clothes, and said, “Let’s go.”
Wen Yue glanced at Cheng Yiran and replied, “Mm, all right. My car is parked outside…”
Lan Xi interrupted him. “Let’s go. Let’s play.”
“Play…?”
“Mm.” Lan Xi turned and headed toward the rides first.
Wen Yue inevitably froze.
Cheng Yiran let out a huge breath of relief and hurried after him. Maybe I really was overthinking it. I’m filthy-minded.
A little over ten minutes later, Wen Yue had three tickets tucked in his left hand and a Coke in his right as he accompanied Lan Xi to a wooden roller coaster.
Wen Yue was still somewhat dazed. How did things turn into this?
Meanwhile, Wen Ming sat in the car and anxiously checked his watch. Why has he been gone so long? Thirteen whole minutes—no, almost fourteen!
Wasn’t Lan Xi meeting Big Brother?
What was going on?
Wen Ming couldn’t resist calling Wen Yue.
Wen Yue’s phone rang incessantly in his pocket, but both of his hands were occupied. After ringing for a while, it naturally stopped.
Wen Ming wanted to call Lan Xi instead, but he was afraid Lan Xi wouldn’t answer.
He sat alone in his seat and sank into melancholy.
“Come here.” Lan Xi crooked a finger at Wen Yue. “Sit with me.”
Wen Yue had never ridden anything like this. With an unreliable father like Wen Zixiong, he had learned to value his life from an early age.
Now, he inevitably looked somewhat reluctant.
But Lan Xi had no intention of letting him off.
“Didn’t you mistake me for someone else? Aren’t you really sorry?” He looked at Wen Yue. “Then come over.”
The roller coaster seated two people per row. Lan Xi chose the left seat in the first row.
Seeing this, Cheng Yiran immediately took the right seat, instinctively refusing to give Wen Yue the opportunity. He even forgot to be afraid.
Wen Yue’s face darkened. After hesitating for a moment, he finally set down the Coke and sat in the row behind Lan Xi.
The starting signal sounded, and the machinery began moving.
The long train was slowly pushed toward the highest point. Wen Yue’s heart tightened instinctively. It was the natural reaction of someone who had never ridden one before, faced with the unknown.
The unbearable wait stretched on. One second. Two seconds.
Screams pierced the sky.
Wen Yue’s heart seemed to fly straight out of his chest. Lan Xi’s hair whipped through the violent wind and brushed perfectly across his cheek.
Cheng Yiran: “Aaaaaah!”
Everyone else: “Aaaaaah!”
Only Lan Xi was laughing.
He even spread both arms wide, as though he were riding on the back of a seraph soaring into the clouds.
When will I finally get to see Fu Hui’s wings? Can I ride on them? I want to.
The roller coaster suddenly whipped around a sharp turn.
Lan Xi’s hair repeatedly swept across Wen Yue’s face.
The force of the turn made Cheng Yiran’s head tilt slightly to the side, and he happened to catch sight of Wen Yue.
What is he doing?!
Why does he look so intoxicated while smelling Lan Xi’s hair?!
Cheng Yiran became so shocked and furious that he forgot to be afraid.
The roller coaster moved incredibly fast. It seemed as though everything ended after only a few blinks.
Cheng Yiran forced himself to walk off and quickly grabbed Lan Xi before Wen Yue could reach out.
In truth, Wen Yue was somewhat weak-kneed at the moment. He hadn’t intended to help Lan Xi anyway, afraid he would only drag Lan Xi down with him if he fell.
Wen Yue followed them out with uneven steps, almost forgetting what he had originally come here to do.
He steadied himself and lifted his eyes, only to meet Lan Xi’s bright, interested gaze.
Lan Xi’s eyes were extraordinarily beautiful. The stronger the sunlight, the more clearly their jewel-like color appeared.
He heard Lan Xi ask, “Is your heart beating really fast?”
Wen Yue’s breathing paused.
Yes… very fast.
So fast it’s hard to calm down.
The longer he looked at Lan Xi, the dizzier he felt.
Cheng Yiran hurriedly said, “My heart’s beating really fast too! Whose heart isn’t racing after riding a roller coaster? If it isn’t, they’re dead!”
Wen Yue snapped out of his daze. “Mm.”
Lan Xi secretly pouted, but he wasn’t disappointed. His eyes rolled slightly as another bad idea came to him.
He smiled at Cheng Yiran. “Your heart is beating really fast too?”
Cheng Yiran hesitated. “Mm. Mm.”
Lan Xi obligingly reached out and poked him in the chest. “Want me to rub it for you?”
It was as though someone had installed a pacemaker directly into Cheng Yiran’s brain.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
His face flushed bright red. “N-no…”
But Lan Xi completely ignored his refusal and actually began rubbing his chest.
Wen Yue couldn’t control his gaze as he watched. If Cheng Yiran hadn’t interrupted earlier, was Lan Xi originally going to reach out and rub my chest?
Wen Yue’s breathing caught, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away.
Only two short minutes passed.
Wen Yue was no longer the only one feeling dizzy.
The sunlight gradually grew stronger. The more brightly Lan Xi was illuminated, the more conspicuous he became. Passing visitors couldn’t resist turning their heads for another look.
Cheng Yiran could clearly feel that he had somehow become an object of envy.
He was so dizzy he hurriedly grabbed Lan Xi’s wrist. “Don’t, don’t…” Then Cheng Yiran suddenly shouted, “Sister-in-law!”
Lan Xi: ?
After shouting it, Cheng Yiran immediately felt much better.
Face burning, he said, “Sister-in-law, are you hungry? Let’s go get something to eat.”
The gazes that had kept lingering on Lan Xi immediately decreased considerably.
Lan Xi said, “Yes.”
He looked at Wen Yue. “You buy.”
Wen Yue was also desperate for a chance to catch his breath, so he nodded and left.
Only after ordering and paying did Wen Yue finally have a free hand to check his phone. He called Wen Ming back.
“You still haven’t met Lan Xi?” Wen Ming asked anxiously.
“I have.”
“Then why…”
“We’re at the amusement park. Lan Xi wants to play.”
Wen Ming: ?
Wen Ming could hardly believe it. “Big Brother, have you lost sight of what’s important too? Shouldn’t we be taking Lan Xi away first right now…”
“Cheng Yiran is here too. He’s probably Fu Hui’s eyes and ears. We can’t act rashly.”
“Then what are you doing now?”
Wen Yue lowered his head and looked at the takeout bags in his hands. “Buying food.”
Wen Ming grew suspicious. He felt as though Wen Yue had left half the story unsaid.
Instead of asking over the phone, he simply got out of the car and walked into the amusement park himself. After about six hundred meters, he saw Wen Yue in the distance taking a fried chicken cutlet from a bag and handing it to Lan Xi.
Wen Ming wanted to call it junk food, but after opening his mouth, he remembered he had no standing whatsoever to discipline Lan Xi and swallowed the words with complicated feelings.
Lan Xi’s palate truly had been spoiled. After two bites, he put it down.
Then he pointed into the distance. “Let’s play that.”
Visitors sat inside round rafts that shot down a high waterslide at great speed, throwing up enormous splashes and soaking everyone completely.
They would be wet from head to toe.
Wet.
Cheng Yiran: “No, no, no!”
Lan Xi nodded. “If you don’t want to, I’ll go.”
Cheng Yiran hugged his arm. “Why don’t you skip it too?” Then he shouted, “Sister-in-law!”
It was as though he hoped the form of address might awaken Lan Xi’s conscience.
But Lan Xi had no conscience whatsoever.
Like a slippery loach, he slid free of Cheng Yiran’s grip and enthusiastically invited Wen Yue instead.
Wen Yue’s throat tightened as he wavered between refusing and agreeing.
In a flash of inspiration, Cheng Yiran pointed toward the drop tower. “That one! That one’s fun!”
Lan Xi tilted his head and looked. “Fine.”
He intended to try every ride anyway.
Heaven was wonderful.
He liked being surrounded by terrified screams. They were the finest nourishment for a demon from Hell.
Wen Yue’s face began turning blue.
Cheng Yiran glanced at him. “Sister-in-law, I’ll go with you.”
Wen Yue said, “Together.”
Cheng Yiran’s face immediately turned blue too.
They were soon strapped into the drop tower. The restraints crossed tightly over them, making the seats beneath them look more like instruments of torture.
For once, Wen Yue and Cheng Yiran reached the same decision and placed Lan Xi between them.
That way, they could separate him from the other visitors.
The drop tower launched far more violently than the roller coaster, without the slightest warning.
Wen Ming raised his head and watched his big brother shoot happily toward the sky together with Lan Xi.
So he’s accompanying Lan Xi on the rides…
Wen Ming couldn’t describe what he felt at that moment.
After all, that used to be his role.
Several minutes later.
The visitors were finally released from the “instrument of torture.”
Cheng Yiran clenched his teeth and staggered over to support Lan Xi. “Lan—no, Sister-in-law… are you… ugh… okay?”
Wen Yue’s face had become completely blue-white.
But he refused to say anything and embarrass himself.
Aside from his slightly disheveled hair and collar, Lan Xi looked exactly as he had before getting on.
He smiled. “Fun.”
Then he turned, raised a hand, and patted Cheng Yiran’s head. Without a shred of sympathy, he said, “You’re so pitiful.”
Cheng Yiran froze beneath his touch.
Standing slightly behind them, Wen Yue happened to see several faint marks through Lan Xi’s completely disordered collar when Lan Xi raised his hand.
Wen Yue failed to catch his breath and stumbled.
“Lan Xi…” Wen Yue called hoarsely, his brain sinking into the painful fog of oxygen deprivation.
He couldn’t even tell which ride had caused this particular side effect.
Lan Xi turned back. “Mm?”
“You and Mr. Fu… you two…”
Lan Xi circled him once. “Why can’t you breathe?”
Wen Yue couldn’t breathe, while Cheng Yiran suddenly found breathing much easier.
Cheng Yiran immediately struck while the iron was hot and called loudly, “Sister-in-law, what do you want to ride next?”
Wen Yue grabbed Lan Xi’s shoulder and stopped him from circling. “Your shoulder…”
It wasn’t only his shoulder. There were faint marks beneath his Adam’s apple and along his collarbones too.
Lan Xi stopped and hesitated slightly.
Seraphs were terribly troublesome. Because they valued purity, they were conservative, so naturally they disliked a succubus’s uninhibited nature.
Should I pretend not to understand?
No.
I can’t play dumb.
Lan Xi remembered Wen Yue’s reaction on the phone… The more a seraph feared something, the more viciously Lan Xi had to smash it right in front of him. Only then would the disguise crack open.
Lan Xi was extremely satisfied with how well he had taught himself.
I’m so smart!
So Lan Xi reached back and touched the marks. “Fu Hui did it.”
The sound in Wen Yue’s throat immediately died.
No wonder Fu Hui had let him out so easily… He had already gotten a taste of Lan Xi, so naturally he wasn’t worried anymore.
Lan Xi waited expectantly for Wen Yue’s reaction for quite a while but got nothing.
Wen Yue seemed to have gone stupid.
Lan Xi frowned in disappointment and moved on to the next ride.
Three more rides later.
Lan Xi was refreshed and invigorated, while Wen Yue and Cheng Yiran were each down to their last breath.
Wen Ming had already stopped watching and returned to the car long ago. If he had stayed a little longer, he would have discovered that his big brother wasn’t enjoying himself much either. He looked more like Lan Xi was about to play him to death.
Four in the afternoon.
Wen Yue and Cheng Yiran exchanged a glance, both stubbornly clinging to their last breath and refusing to surrender.
But Lan Xi was thirsty now. He said, “I want ice cream.”
Wen Yue didn’t speak.
Cheng Yiran forced himself upright and, unusually, volunteered. “I’ll buy it.”
Lan Xi: “Mm-hm.”
Once Cheng Yiran finally left, Wen Yue at last found an opportunity. There was no need for a long speech; time was already tight.
In the end, he condensed everything into one sentence. “Do you want to come with me?”
“And then?” Lan Xi asked.
Wen Yue froze.
“If I go with you, will you support me?” Lan Xi tilted his head.
“I can. Of course I can afford to support you…” Wen Yue ignored the question of what kind of relationship that would make them.
Lan Xi shook his head. “I’m not your younger brother.”
“That doesn’t matter…”
“Then if you decide to throw me out, you’ll just throw me out.”
“I won’t!”
“You even throw out your younger brother. I’m nothing to you… Why wouldn’t you?”
Wen Yue stopped, his brows drawing tightly together.
Lan Xi looked at him with great anticipation.
Wen Yue said, “I feel guilty toward you. It’s different.”
Lan Xi immediately looked terribly disappointed, then turned away and ignored him.
Wen Yue interpreted his silence differently. “Are you afraid of Fu Hui?”
Cheng Yiran hadn’t actually hurried to buy the ice cream at all. First, he called Fu Hui. “Bro, something’s wrong with that Wen Yue!”
“Come quickly!” After saying those two words, Cheng Yiran felt as though he had completed some monumental undertaking. Satisfied, he hung up and went to buy Lan Xi’s ice cream.
When Cheng Yiran returned carrying an entire bag of frozen treats, Wen Yue naturally had no choice but to stop talking.
Lan Xi chose a milk ice pop, tore open the wrapper, and sucked on it.
Cheng Yiran suddenly snatched it from him and shoved an ice-cream cone into his hand instead. “Eat this one. Haha. Eat this…”
Lan Xi gave him a baffled sidelong look, but the milk ice pop hadn’t tasted particularly good anyway, so he simply switched.
Cheng Yiran keenly sensed that the atmosphere had been very wrong when he returned.
What should I do?
After thinking for ages, Cheng Yiran began chatting with Lan Xi as casually as he could. “Sister-in-law, thank you for coming here to play with me today…”
Even though Lan Xi seemed to be the only one who had actually enjoyed himself.
Cheng Yiran continued, “This is the first time I’ve ever been somewhere like this.”
Wen Yue wanted to say, Me too.
Cheng Yiran quickly added, “My family was pretty poor when I was little.”
Wen Yue was utterly defeated.
Just as having one extra living father had never helped Wen Yue in any way.
Lan Xi actually didn’t understand why Cheng Yiran was telling him this. He only tilted his head and watched him.
Cheng Yiran had no choice but to say more and more. “You’re probably surprised, right? Fu Hui is my brother, so how could I have been poor growing up?”
Lan Xi remembered what Chairman Qiu had speculated about at the Song family banquet.
He asked bluntly, “You’re an illegitimate child?”
Cheng Yiran’s face stiffened, then he nodded lightly.
Wen Yue no longer particularly wanted to listen.
This was probably a private matter of the Fu family. Knowing too much was rarely a good thing.
Cheng Yiran, however, seemed to have unlocked something inside himself and spoke even more freely. “Sigh, nobody outside knows about this… My brother and I have the same mother but different fathers. I was born from an affair while she was married. What kind of family are the Fus? They could tolerate my mother, but they couldn’t tolerate me, so they sent me far away.”
“The family who adopted me couldn’t have children. Their finances were pretty average, and they couldn’t afford IVF either.”
The illiterate succubus abruptly interrupted. “IVF. What is that?”
Cheng Yiran’s emotions were interrupted, but he still explained simply, “It’s a medical procedure that tries to help people who have difficulty becoming pregnant have children.”
Lan Xi became interested. “Men too?”
Cheng Yiran: “…No.”
Lan Xi: “Oh.”
Cheng Yiran scratched his hair. His brother probably still needed some time to arrive, and Cheng Yiran genuinely had only half a breath left and couldn’t endure more rides.
So he gathered his emotions and continued. “Anyway, I was always pretty poor, but my adoptive parents loved me very much. Whenever there was anything good, they always saved it for me first.”
Then Cheng Yiran abruptly changed direction. “My brother was different…”
Wen Yue couldn’t help himself. “Mr. Fu was born with wealth, power, and status. He could have anything he wanted. If you’re going to say that although his material needs were met, he lacked spiritual fulfillment, that would be rather ridiculous.”
Cheng Yiran faltered, but continued. “When I was in my senior year of high school, my brother personally came to bring me to Jing City. My mother was dying and wanted to see me once before she passed. That was how I learned where I came from.”
“My mother wanted me to remain in Jing City. She wanted me to live well. My brother promised her. The other elders of the Fu family were all still alive, so of course some of them objected, but my brother dealt with all of them…”
“I feel very guilty toward my brother.”
Cheng Yiran lowered his head. This time he truly looked somewhat sad and sighed deeply. “When I finally saw my mother, she had already been ill for four years. When it was bad, she couldn’t speak and barely recognized anyone. However long she was ill, my brother stayed beside her and cared for her. But when she was dying, all she did was entrust me to him. I feel ashamed…”
All the words Wen Yue had left became stuck in his throat.
Cheng Yiran tightly grabbed Lan Xi’s hand. “Sister-in-law.”
He shook it twice and stared directly into Lan Xi’s eyes. “You’ll be good to my brother, right?”
Lan Xi didn’t quite understand how the two things were connected.
He blinked his clear eyes and said nothing.
Cheng Yiran could only make his attempt at selling misery more obvious. “It isn’t easy for my brother to like someone…”
Lan Xi vaguely understood. “You think he’s pitiful?”
Cheng Yiran: “No…” That word simply did not seem to belong beside his brother. But if he wanted to sell his brother’s misery, was he supposed to nod?
Lan Xi reached out, lifted Cheng Yiran’s face, and said, “You look more pitiful.”
Cheng Yiran’s heart fluttered.
The impact was so great that he flushed and hurriedly pulled away from Lan Xi’s hand.
Lan Xi genuinely thought so.
The intensely golden aura surrounding Fu Hui meant that not only did he possess great power, his will was also extraordinarily strong and unwavering.
He wasn’t fragile.
Cheng Yiran, on the other hand, looked as though he might be crushed.
“Anyway, anyway, I’m really grateful Sister-in-law played with me today. When I first came to Jing City, I really couldn’t adjust…” Cheng Yiran had indeed vented a great deal of the pressure bottled up inside him today.
“Oh.” Lan Xi clapped his hands. “Then let’s go ride that.”
Cheng Yiran: “…”
He raised his head dazedly and met Lan Xi’s face. For an instant, he felt both that Lan Xi could strike straight into someone’s heart and effortlessly pry open its locks, yet at the same time, Lan Xi himself seemed like a beautiful creature without a heart.
Cheng Yiran stood in a daze.
“Still haven’t played enough?” A man’s cold voice suddenly sounded behind them.
Lan Xi turned around.
Only then did he realize the entire amusement park had somehow grown quiet. All the visitors were gone. Only the sound of the rides continuing to operate remained, accompanied by the noisy music.
Fu Hui stood there in a perfectly tailored suit.
Even Wen Yue’s breathing paused.
Behind Fu Hui, bodyguards stood in orderly rows, their expressions cold and stern.
“Bro!” Cheng Yiran nearly burst into tears of joy.
He had truly been afraid that if he failed to watch Lan Xi properly, Lan Xi would run off with someone else.
Fu Hui looked at Wen Yue.
The two men’s gazes briefly met.
Fu Hui’s expression remained calm, without the slightest visible trace of jealousy.
Wen Yue, however, noticed similar marks along Fu Hui’s neck—ones that seemed even darker than those on Lan Xi.
Of course Wen Yue had no way of knowing that Lan Xi had made those marks by grabbing Fu Hui when he couldn’t catch his breath in bed.
They had been squeezed into the skin, not kissed there.
Fu Hui spoke first. “Thank you, Young Master Wen, for keeping him company.”
He took the checkbook a bodyguard handed him, tore out a check, and slowly tucked it against Wen Yue’s chest. “Your payment.”
Wen Yue’s face darkened. He was just about to speak.
At the sharpest point in the atmosphere, Lan Xi clapped his hands. “Everyone’s gone! Now we can play as much as we want!”
He hooked a finger around Fu Hui’s tie, brimming with excitement. “You came at the perfect time. Come with me.”
Cheng Yiran almost fainted.
Can’t he read the room at all? Is Sister-in-law naturally this oblivious?
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