When the car reached the villa district along the river, both of them started to regret it a little.
Cheng Yiran had only meant to coax Lan Xi into taking his mind off things. He had not expected Lan Xi to actually take him from house to house and kick down doors. All at once, it felt like making far too much of a small matter, and Cheng Yiran was embarrassed.
As for Lan Xi… he only felt tired. He would rather lie down.
The two of them silently looked at each other. Cheng Yiran was just wondering how to tactfully suggest, “How about we leave?”
Suddenly, someone knocked on the car parked outside the gate.
Lan Xi copied the way Fu Hui usually did it and opened the car door. A head immediately poked inside, full of surprise and delight. “Cousin?”
But the moment he saw Cheng Yiran clearly, the young man’s expression fell. He sneered. “Why are you here? You weren’t invited.”
The villa’s front doors stood wide open.
Noisy music and a roar of voices spilled out from inside. Someone shrieked before jumping into the swimming pool with a splash, followed by laughter…
So noisy.
“Who is he?” Lan Xi looked the young man outside the car up and down.
The other man had long hair too, with several blue-purple streaks dyed through it. A ring of rhinestones trimmed his shirt, making Lan Xi look twice.
“Technically, we’re cousins. He’s a relative on the Song family side,” Cheng Yiran had just finished saying.
And precisely because they were relatives, there were plenty of times when Cheng Yiran could only swallow the disgust and do nothing about it.
“Who’s your cousin? We only acknowledge Fu Hui.” The young man continued sneering, then his gaze landed on Lan Xi. “And who’s this?”
The moment he saw Lan Xi’s face, his tone unconsciously softened a little.
But he quickly sneered again. “Anyone who hangs around with you obviously isn’t anything good either.”
“Is it him?” Lan Xi asked again. “He bullies you?”
Cheng Yiran had only managed half a nod when Lan Xi’s long leg shot out of the car and kicked the young man to the ground.
Cheng Yiran stared, dumbfounded.
Before he could grab him, Lan Xi had already jumped out and stepped on this cousin from the Song family.
Lan Xi seemed to have received some kind of inspiration. He had genuinely fallen in love with stepping on people.
His brother insisting that Lan Xi change clothes before going out really had been excellent foresight.
“What the fuck are you? Who gave you the right to stick your nose into Cheng Yiran’s business?” The young man flew into a rage. He planted both hands on the ground, the muscles in his arms bulging.
Cheng Yiran’s expression changed. He was just about to shout for the bodyguards to help.
Lan Xi kicked the young man twice in a row, driving him flat against the ground. The young man screamed, and Lan Xi simply squatted down on his back.
Fu Hui usually carried Lan Xi around so easily only because Fu Hui himself was tall and powerfully built.
Lan Xi was, after all, a grown man. With his full weight pressing down, the young man hurt so badly he could only wheeze, “Hh… hh…”
Forget struggling. He could not even squeeze out another threat.
Lan Xi looked every inch the demon as he lightly patted the back of the young man’s neck. Not too hard, not too soft. Every pat made the young man tremble.
“Scared now?”
The young man opened his mouth like a fish stranded on shore. “Hah… hah…”
Lan Xi frowned slightly. “Is he expressing contempt for me?”
The young man suddenly struggled fiercely.
Lan Xi raised an eyebrow. “You still dare struggle?”
Cheng Yiran observed him carefully for three seconds. “H-he seems like he has something to say.”
Lan Xi reached out, running his hand from the young man’s chin to his neck.
Oh. His Adam’s apple was pressed firmly against the ground. So that was why he could not speak!
Only then did Lan Xi jump off his back.
The young man rolled over as if granted a pardon. The instant his back touched the ground again, he could not help letting out another two cries of pain.
But the party inside the villa was so loud that nobody had noticed what was happening outside.
The young man gritted his teeth and took off his shirt first.
Cheng Yiran looked closely and saw a huge patch of dark bruising rapidly spreading…
Cheng Yiran suddenly remembered the injuries on his brother’s leg last time… Had Lan Xi done that?
Cheng Yiran shuddered involuntarily.
“Y-you…” The young man looked weakly at Lan Xi. He struggled for ages but still could not bring himself to ask, “Are you some thug Cheng Yiran hired?”
Who would hire a thug this beautiful?
“Fine, fine. I’m scared, okay?” the young man finally squeezed out.
Lan Xi nodded, then said to Cheng Yiran, “Next house.”
Cheng Yiran’s scalp tingled. “O-okay.”
The young man breathed a sigh of relief. So all I had to do was admit defeat?
Lan Xi had one foot inside the car when he turned back again. His gaze passed over the young man and went toward the wide-open doors.
The young man went cold all over beneath that look, thinking Lan Xi was about to beat him again.
Behind the doors, Liang Yuecheng was badly frightened too.
He had personally witnessed exactly how Lan Xi beat people just now.
Thinking back to that time Mr. Fu had come to his home, Lan Xi had kicked him without a word before leaving. So it turned out Lan Xi was not only bold. He was strong too!
Cold sweat streamed down Liang Yuecheng’s back. He did not even dare imagine what would have happened if Mr. Fu had not shown up back when he picked Lan Xi up. Wouldn’t the one getting beaten have been him?
He’s a goddamn man-eating flower!
Lan Xi’s gaze swept around once more.
Only after both men inside and outside had gone cold did Lan Xi say to the young man, “You’re coming with us.”
The young man had been planning to turn around and call his bodyguards. Worst case, he could call the police and have this person arrested… But the other side had not given him a chance. He came prepared!
The young man gritted his teeth and had no choice but to get into the car.
He was precious, thank you very much. He could not afford to get beaten again.
Once inside, the young man shrank into a corner. Only then did he notice that aside from the heavily muscled driver, there was another bodyguard in the car.
The young man could not help snapping, “Cheng Yiran! Don’t go too far. How dare you use Cousin’s car and bodyguards without permission?”
The moment he finished speaking, Lan Xi kicked him.
Even Cheng Yiran could not hold back anymore. “Could you please use your brain? Would my brother’s bodyguards listen to me?”
The young man froze. “Then…”
Cheng Yiran glanced at Lan Xi.
Lan Xi rested his tilted head against the car window. He was already bored again.
Once a succubus lost his goal, everything in the world seemed no longer worth spending any effort on.
The young man followed Cheng Yiran’s gaze to Lan Xi. “It’s… because of him?”
All at once, the young man remembered a rumor that had been raging through the capital’s social circles lately. His face turned livid. “Impossible! Impossible! How could Cousin possibly be gay?”
Cheng Yiran quietly sighed.
What do you know?
At this point, managing to fall in love smoothly would already be great.
Lan Xi heard the hostility in the young man’s tone. He asked Cheng Yiran, “Is he saying bad things about Fu Hui?”
The young man’s face darkened. He emphasized, “I’m saying bad things about you. What I mean is, you’re not good enough for…” He choked on the rest. Looking at Lan Xi’s face, he genuinely found it hard to say.
Cheng Yiran could not resist cutting in. “When did you go blind?”
The young man: “…”
Fine, the young man admitted it. This person was absurdly beautiful.
Beautiful enough to make people almost afraid to look directly at him.
But no matter how beautiful he was, he was still a man!
The resentment from getting beaten rose again. The young man mocked, “Cousin has a brilliant future. He’ll obviously marry a woman from a family of equal standing someday. Besides, what kind of lover couldn’t Cousin have? Why would he pick one who beats people this much?”
Cheng Yiran said, “Bullshit!”
The young man shot back, “Can you swear Cousin will absolutely never marry a woman?”
Lan Xi suddenly shot him a sidelong look and kicked him in the waist. “So noisy.”
The young man crashed heavily off the seat, furious but not daring to say a word.
…
Fu Hui sat behind his desk and picked up his phone for who knew how many times. It remained silent. No calls, no messages.
Was everything really going that smoothly?
Did Lan Xi not need him for anything at all?
At that very moment, Lan Xi had already brought Cheng Yiran to the fourth house.
At the first house, Cheng Yiran had still felt uncomfortable. At the second, he had still been faintly embarrassed. By the third, he was numb. By the fourth, he had even acquired a trace of composure…
That cousin from the Song family stood nearby, involuntarily closing his eyes, turning his face away, and giving a tiny shudder.
Only now did he realize that the beating he had gotten counted as light…
The people afterward had harder bones than he did, and took even more hits.
“Fine, fine, fine! I won’t do it again! I said I won’t, did you hear me? I’ll avoid him from now on, okay?” the man pinned beneath Lan Xi shouted hoarsely.
Lan Xi was still standing on his back. “Why are you so loud?”
The man resentfully lowered his voice. “I’ll avoid him from now on…”
Lan Xi jumped off him. Cheng Yiran immediately crowded over. “Thirsty? Hungry? Want something to eat?”
Lan Xi lazily withdrew his gaze. The pleasure he had felt while throwing his weight around vanished almost immediately. “No.”
He sank back into boredom and confusion.
Seeing him like this frightened Cheng Yiran even more than watching him beat people.
Cheng Yiran did not spare a single thought for the fact that after Lan Xi’s tour of beatings, his own social life was probably finished for good.
At that moment, all he could think about was Lan Xi’s strange condition. He racked his brains for a way to coax him. “Sis… Lan Xi, you’re really amazing. They’re all scared of you.”
Lan Xi instinctively felt a little pleased when he heard that. But the feeling quickly sank again.
What use was being powerful here?
No demon in Hell would ever know.
The Song-family cousin, whom Lan Xi now knew was called Song Fan, listened to them and finally could not resist interrupting. “Is he really Cousin’s lover?”
Nobody paid Song Fan any attention.
So Song Fan continued on his own. “Won’t acting this arrogantly damage Cousin’s reputation?”
No one in their entire social circle handled things like this.
Even if people did not get along, they schemed against each other in private. Who came beating down doors this crudely?
Even Cheng Yiran started to feel uneasy.
Just then, Fu Hui called. Cheng Yiran hurriedly answered. “Brother!”
Song Fan’s ears immediately perked up.
“Where are you?” Fu Hui asked.
Cheng Yiran quickly gave him the address.
“Does Lan Xi look happy right now?”
“Not very… happy.”
At that moment, Lan Xi suddenly leaned over to secretly listen and even raised a finger to his lips, forbidding Cheng Yiran from telling Fu Hui.
Song Fan was the only one who could not hear anything, so he simply leaned in on Cheng Yiran’s other side.
Pinned between them, Cheng Yiran breathed carefully and did not dare turn his face toward Lan Xi at all.
He gritted his teeth and turned slightly toward Song Fan instead.
Song Fan: “…?”
“Is there something you couldn’t handle?”
“No… it’s all handled. It’s just, there’s a small problem. I’m afraid…” it might affect your reputation.
Before Cheng Yiran could finish, Fu Hui said quickly, “All right. I’ll be there right away.”
By the time Cheng Yiran came back to himself, the call had already ended.
Cheng Yiran stood there blankly.
It was almost as though his brother had been waiting a very long time to hear the word “problem.”
Song Fan, on the other hand, had not heard any particular “favoritism” in that call.
In front of most people, Fu Hui’s tone was always calm, so calm it even carried a hint of cold indifference.
Song Fan was delighted and even started eagerly waiting for Fu Hui to arrive.
Song Fan was really only a distant relative on Fu Hui’s mother’s side, and rarely had a chance to see him.
The Song family was less interested in chasing wealth and influence than the Fu family. Most of the Song family’s younger generation had gone into academia or research and development. Song Fan was the odd one out. He had hated studying since childhood and did not want to follow the path his family arranged for him. He only wanted to become rich and powerful, but had no path of his own. So, like a monkey reaching for the moon, he worshipped Fu Hui like a god and hoped some of Fu Hui’s glory might rub off on him, as though that could somehow make him the same kind of person.
That was why he had rallied the people around him to isolate Cheng Yiran, believing Cheng Yiran was the source of the trouble that had driven Fu Hui away from the Song family.
And that was why he was now both afraid of Lan Xi and full of hatred for him.
Oh, and he still could not stop himself from sneaking extra looks.
Privately, he cursed, What a fox spirit! What is he trying to do, looking like that?
Elio’s Notes: “Fox spirit” (狐狸精) is a common Chinese insult for someone seen as dangerously seductive or as a homewrecker. Song Fan is insulting Lan Xi, not identifying him as a literal fox demon.
When Fu Hui said he would be there right away, he truly arrived very quickly.
So quickly that Cheng Yiran started wondering whether his brother had secretly been following them the whole time…
The black sedan stopped smoothly.
A bodyguard got out first and opened the door.
Lan Xi lifted his foot and nudged Song Fan. “Bend over.”
Song Fan thought this would be his final act of enduring humiliation. He walked over and bent at the waist. “What?”
Lan Xi immediately climbed onto his back.
Cheng Yiran’s eyelid twitched.
Inwardly, he silently lit a candle for Song Fan.
Song Fan was furious, but then another thought occurred to him. Perfect. This way, Cousin could see exactly how arrogant this person was!
This person was only a lover. Song Fan was Cousin’s actual family!
Fu Hui stepped out of the car and was greeted by exactly this scene.
“…Get down.” Fu Hui’s face darkened.
Song Fan breathed a sigh of relief. This humiliating day is finally over.
Immediately afterward, he heard the person on his back say, “No.” Lan Xi pronounced the single word clearly and forcefully, almost as if he were deliberately provoking Fu Hui.
Song Fan could not hold back anymore. “Cousin…”
His tone was aggrieved. He wanted to complain, but held himself back. Complaining directly was beneath him. He trusted that Cousin could tell whose fault this was…
Fu Hui stared at Lan Xi for a long moment. His brow twitched too. He suppressed his temper and asked quietly, “Then are you planning to grow on his back?”
Lan Xi pursed his lips and finally jumped down from Song Fan.
Song Fan let out another enormous breath of relief.
Then he heard Lan Xi say to Fu Hui, “Take him back with us.”
Fu Hui asked, “Why?”
Lan Xi said, “To keep around and play with.”
Fu Hui nearly choked on his breath.
Before, Lan Xi had wanted to keep a little shark, and Fu Hui had refused. Later, Fu Hui agreed, and Lan Xi stopped wanting one.
Now look at this. Lan Xi wanted to keep a person.
A little shark would have been better.
Fu Hui had been indulging Lan Xi a great deal lately. He did not want to refuse outright and make him angry again.
But…
Fu Hui looked at Song Fan, hoping he would have enough sense to take the hint.
Song Fan excitedly called, “Cousin!” again.
Fu Hui: “…”
An idiot who only knew how to say “Cousin.”
Fu Hui turned to Cheng Yiran and changed the subject. “You said there was a small problem…”
Cheng Yiran hurriedly explained, “Lan Xi beat up a few people. Of course! It was all for me…” Cheng Yiran had meant to take the blame onto himself, but halfway through speaking, he suddenly realized the words “for me” sounded wrong.
Sure enough, Fu Hui’s expression sank.
Song Fan seized another chance to interject. “Cousin, this is terrible for your reputation.”
Fu Hui stopped looking at him and said coldly, “If anyone has a problem, tell them to come directly to me.”
Then he asked Cheng Yiran, “Have you eaten?”
This time, Cheng Yiran was much smarter. He knew Fu Hui was asking about Lan Xi. He quickly shook his head. “He hasn’t even had water.”
Fu Hui frowned. “What about the food prepared in the car?”
Cheng Yiran said dryly, “He didn’t touch any of it.”
These days, Fu Hui’s heart rose and sank countless times every day.
Nobody knew what to do with Lan Xi.
Fu Hui was already preparing to give in. “All right, Lan Xi. If you really insist on taking him back…”
Fu Hui suddenly looked at Song Fan. “What’s your name?”
Song Fan had not expected Fu Hui to not even know who he was. He froze before coming back to himself and hurriedly giving his name.
Then he named his parents too, trying to stir some familiarity in Fu Hui.
To his disappointment, Fu Hui’s expression did not change at all.
At that moment, Lan Xi turned toward the car. “Forget it.”
Fu Hui followed almost immediately.
His expression did not improve just because Lan Xi had given up.
He knew Lan Xi’s personality very well. Normally, Lan Xi would never stop until he got what he wanted. The only reason he was so easy to talk to now was because lately, he no longer cared much about anything.
That was not a good thing.
Fu Hui got into the car after him. “Lan Xi.”
Song Fan called from behind them too. “Cousin!”
He was obviously reluctant to let Fu Hui leave just like that.
Lan Xi lowered the window, leaned over it, and copied Song Fan’s earlier sneer, returning an identical cold laugh.
Song Fan froze beneath the look.
Then he watched Fu Hui reach out and raise the car window again.
The glass slowly slid upward.
The last thing Song Fan managed to see was Fu Hui pulling Lan Xi into his arms…
Song Fan stood stunned.
Cheng Yiran looked at him.
He thought, Song Fan probably shouldn’t expect to set foot in the Fu residence again…
Inside the car, Fu Hui asked Lan Xi as if it were nothing, “What’s so fun about Song Fan?”
Lan Xi did not answer the question. Instead, he said just as casually, “I saw Liang Yuecheng at his place earlier.”
Fu Hui’s hands paused while fastening Lan Xi’s seat belt.
In an even tone, he said, “Liang Yuecheng is no good. If Song Fan hangs around with him, then Song Fan is no good either.”
Lan Xi said nothing and turned to look at the scenery outside.
But at that moment, Fu Hui suddenly understood: Lan Xi had done it deliberately.
There was nothing fun about Song Fan at all.
Nor had Lan Xi sincerely wanted to take him home.
Lan Xi had simply been making Fu Hui dislike Song Fan.
Why? For Cheng Yiran?
Fu Hui genuinely could not understand it. Cheng Yiran had shamelessly hugged Lan Xi’s thigh. How had that somehow earned him special treatment?
“Lan Xi,” Fu Hui called softly.
Lan Xi immediately closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, making it obvious he did not want to deal with him.
Fu Hui actually relaxed a little.
No matter what… at least Lan Xi was in the mood to scheme against someone.
Once they returned home, Fu Hui immediately called Song Fan’s parents. “Why is Liang Yuecheng associating with Song Fan?”
Song Fan’s parents did not know what their son had been doing either, so naturally they had no answer.
When Fu Hui demanded that they discipline Song Fan properly, they agreed again and again.
After hanging up, Fu Hui returned to the bedroom and once again failed to find Lan Xi there.
The bodyguard had been watching the surveillance feed. “He went into the courtyard.”
Did he hide in the rockery cave again?
Fu Hui raised a hand and pressed his brow. He decided he would have that cave filled in another day.
The courtyard lights mingled with the moonlight, leaving everything somewhat dim.
“Lan Xi, can we eat something?” Fu Hui said. Then he caught sight of Lan Xi.
Lan Xi was not hiding in the rockery cave. He was sitting at the edge of the pond, both legs dangling in the water, his body bent forward as though he could fall in at any moment.
Fu Hui’s heart skipped hard.
His body moved faster than his mind. He rushed forward, scooped Lan Xi into his arms, and demanded, “What are you doing?”
Lan Xi lazily lifted his eyelids and said nothing.
Fu Hui’s heartbeat slowly settled again, but the breath lodged in his throat did not immediately ease.
He held Lan Xi tightly, the veins standing out along his forearms.
Fu Hui carried Lan Xi back inside, bathed him, and changed his clothes.
That evening, Lan Xi only ate a few perfunctory bites before curling up on the bed, unwilling to move.
Fu Hui badly wanted to take Lan Xi to a psychologist, but remembering the lesson left by how Wen Yue and Wen Ming had constantly brought doctors to Lan Xi before, he did not dare act rashly.
Lan Xi did not chase Fu Hui off the bed. Curled in Fu Hui’s arms, he actually looked much more docile than before at first glance.
His eyes wide open, he suddenly asked, “What is homosexuality?”
Fu Hui paused for a moment before answering quietly, “It’s when a man likes another man.”
Lan Xi asked him, “Are you gay?”
Fu Hui said, “No.”
Lan Xi: “…Oh.”
Fu Hui lowered his head and naturally did something without thinking. He kissed Lan Xi’s hair.
Then Fu Hui clarified, “I don’t like men. I just… like you.”
Fu Hui had always been good at facing himself.
If he did not understand something, he would figure it out. Once he had, there was no need to hesitate.
Someone born holding power and status, someone who had already obtained so much, would hardly be stingy about saying that he liked someone.
But Lan Xi gave no response to those words.
He closed his eyes.
The next day, Lan Xi went out with Cheng Yiran to play tyrant again.
After a full day of playing tyrant, Fu Hui went to bring him home.
This was probably the only thing Lan Xi currently had even a little interest in, so naturally Fu Hui did not stop him.
Maybe one day Lan Xi’s mood would improve?
It did not.
Fu Hui woke in the middle of the night.
He found that his chest was wet.
In his sleep, Lan Xi would unconsciously shed tears without making a sound.
Fu Hui’s fingertips clenched until they turned white.
His heart felt as though it had been seized just as tightly in that instant.
This truly was a kind of torment that worked both ways…
Fu Hui wiped Lan Xi’s eyes.
Soon, the small patch of skin beneath them had been rubbed red.
Fu Hui exhaled heavily. He did not bother going back to sleep. Instead, he got up and had someone book tickets to the Vatican.
He decided he would first take Lan Xi there to search for the “angels” he wanted.
Whether or not such things existed in this world, the search itself might at least ease some of Lan Xi’s despair.
Morning.
Lan Xi got up.
Before they could leave, Song Fan arrived with both his parents.
The bodyguards stopped them outside.
Wen Yue, who had come to visit Lan Xi, walked straight past them and went in.
Watching other people enter while they, the supposed “family,” were kept out only made Song Fan feel worse.
“We…” Song Fan gritted his teeth. “We came to see Mr. Lan Xi.” He had no choice but to address him that politely.
The bodyguard remained unmoved.
Song Fan’s parents hurriedly said, “He came to apologize to Mr. Lan Xi. He said things before that he shouldn’t have said.”
Only then did the bodyguard hesitate and turn inside to ask.
Half a minute later.
“Come in,” the bodyguard said.
Song Fan and his parents were finally allowed through the door.
Song Fan’s father immediately spotted Lan Xi sitting on the sofa. There was no helping it. The man was far too dazzling.
“Apologize!” Song Fan’s father kicked his son toward Lan Xi.
Lan Xi abruptly remembered how, long ago, Wen Zixiong had taken him to see Fu Hui.
Fu Hui had obviously remembered too and quickly glanced at Lan Xi. Fu Hui was never someone who felt guilty easily, but at that moment, a rare trace of discomfort surfaced.
With a thump, Song Fan dropped to his knees.
There were still bruises on his cheekbones, and his face looked ashen. It was as though in just a few days, he had already been taught quite a lesson.
The room fell completely silent.
Song Fan hesitated. In the end, he steeled himself, hugged Lan Xi’s leg, and begged, “I’m sorry. I said a lot of things that day that I shouldn’t have said. I was far too rude to you…”
Song Fan had no choice.
When his parents told him Fu Hui never wanted to see him again, Song Fan had been terrified out of his mind.
His parents had been badly frightened too, repeatedly demanding to know what on earth he had done wrong.
Song Fan had not expected this either.
Fu Hui doesn’t even interfere in Cheng Yiran’s affairs, yet Lan Xi, just his lover, is sticking his nose in. Does he really think he’s the sister-in-law…?
“I’m sorry…” With malice in his voice, Song Fan forced two words through clenched teeth. “Cousin-in-law.”
He wished the entire Song family would find out about this.
Then surely someone would come talk Fu Hui out of being so impulsive.
Lan Xi looked at Song Fan in utter confusion, pulled his leg free, and kicked him over. “What the hell?”
Standing nearby, Wen Yue silently shifted his stance.
Apparently, hugging someone’s leg did not work for just anybody.
Lan Xi found the whole thing deeply revolting and turned around to leave.
Watching him, even Cheng Yiran could not help sighing. Sister-in-law had really been far too gentle with him.
“Go home,” Fu Hui said.
Song Fan froze.
Clearly, the apology had failed…
Song Fan’s parents still wanted to say something, but the bodyguards quickly stopped them.
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