Chapter 42: “Be Hugged by Me or Kill Me.”
The two were very close. Xie Shibai felt the hand pressing on his waist with heavy force. The hand covering his lips was pressed tight, and his nose was filled with Lu Ciheng’s scent.
His heartbeat accelerated slightly. The emotion that would usually turn into anxiety due to physical contact transformed into something else.
Lu Ciheng’s eyes were dark and deep. His palm felt Xie Shibai’s slightly hot breath. The slightly parted lips pressed against his palm felt soft. The face obscured by the large hand left only a pair of beautiful eyes visible. When expressionless, they looked cold and sharp, but when angry, they became vivid. Especially in this situation, looking up directly—staring straight like a cat’s eyes—it struck one’s heart in an instant.
A dark thought echoed persistently in his mind.
I want to see him cry.
He was very dark; he only wished for all of Xie Shibai’s emotions to originate from him.
Xie Shibai’s hand rested on Lu Ciheng’s shoulder and tightened slightly. Because of Lu Ciheng’s hand, his breathing was not smooth.
Lu Ciheng pulled back a little distance, but his hand didn’t leave. The next second, he received a glaring look.
His breathing suddenly grew heavier, and he licked his dry lips.
The expanding desire in his heart had already cursed him countless times.
Xie Shibai switched to grabbing Lu Ciheng’s tie, his handsome eyebrows furrowed somewhat fiercely, signaling him to let go.
Lu Ciheng removed his hand and instead placed it against the side of Xie Shibai’s face. His calloused thumb caressed Xie Shibai’s earlobe. Lowering his eyes, he leaned in close, their lips inches apart, as if they would touch in the next second.
Xie Shibai instinctively pulled back, his hands suddenly tightening.
Lu Ciheng hovered deceptively close, his hot breath spraying onto Xie Shibai’s face. He leaned near his ear, his lowered voice slightly hoarse: “Teacher Xie, lick your lips.”
Xie Shibai froze for a few seconds, understanding Lu Ciheng’s meaning almost instantly.
He pursed his lips, then lightly licked them right in front of Lu Ciheng, creating the moist appearance of a post-kiss state.
Lu Ciheng’s gaze fell on the tongue sweeping across Xie Shibai’s lips. His eyes darkened, and his Adam’s apple rolled.
After creating the illusion of a kiss, Xie Shibai tightened his grip on Lu Ciheng’s tie and pushed the man back with force.
Messy footsteps stomped on the floor. Lu Ciheng went with the momentum, his arm firmly hooking around Xie Shibai’s waist. As their footsteps crossed, with a “thud,” they fell onto the large bed in the center of the room.
In this moment, their dominant positions swapped.
Xie Shibai straddled Lu Ciheng. The hand pressing down on Lu Ciheng exerted slight force. The uniform trousers clung to his body, outlining a perfect waistline.
Lu Ciheng’s hand rested on Xie Shibai’s waist. Through the thin shirt, he could touch the lumbar dimples. He ground his thumb against them a few times, raised his eyebrows, his eyes dark: “Officer Qin, so enthusiastic. Rolling in bed with a suspected murderer at a crime scene isn’t appropriate, is it?”
He spoke unhurriedly, “Perhaps we should change to a location where we won’t be disturbed to continue what comes next.”
Xie Shibai’s lips hooked into a mocking smile. “Change? Don’t you like it here?”
His finger hooked the gun Lu Ciheng had taken from him. With a soft click, the safety was off (metaphorically/sound effect). The next second, the pitch-black gun, held by slender white fingers, was pressed straight against the center of Lu Ciheng’s brow.
Xie Shibai’s eyes slanted upwards, the corner of his lips raised in provocation. “Any last words?”
Facing the black muzzle, Lu Ciheng’s posture was casual. His palm grasped the hand Xie Shibai used to hold the gun, guiding him to aim the muzzle at his own heart. His black eyes held the unique heat and madness of Rong Zhou. From the inside out, he showed a madness that cared not a whit about his life being in someone else’s hands; there was even a hidden excitement, as if he had been looking forward to this scene for a long time.
“Officer Qin, aim here.”
Xie Shibai’s hand was wrapped in the large palm, even being guided to rest on the trigger. The dark side hidden in Qin Shang’s heart was instantly drawn out, his mind filled with voices of madness.
Lu Ciheng stared straight at Xie Shibai. His free hand covered the back of Xie Shibai’s neck, forcefully pressing the person towards himself. His voice, hiding a smile, carried a hint of seduction, like the serpent in Eden inducing one to pick the apple: “If you don’t shoot, I’m going to kiss you next.”
Xie Shibai’s breath hitched. His moist lips seemed to still hold the sensation from earlier.
Lu Ciheng’s husky tone was unhurried, pressing close to his ear: “And I will hug you.”
He let go of the hand pressing on the back of Xie Shibai’s neck, generously handing over the power of decision. He looked extremely generous, yet miserly in his possessiveness, leaving the person with two dead-end choices.
“Be hugged by me or kill me. Officer Qin, the choice is yours.”
Xie Shibai’s grip on the gun tightened. Under his heavy breathing, it seemed like a struggle where neither option could be easily discarded.
The aloof psychologist’s relaxed tone clashed with the gambler’s mentality: “Be honest. You know what to choose.”
Xie Shibai sneered. His cold brows were reckless and dangerous. His fair, slender fingers landed on Lu Ciheng’s face, looking like a lover’s tenderness, yet his tone was filled with danger. The serpent never seduced Eve.
For a moment, it was hard to distinguish if it was his own emotion or Qin Shang’s. He actually really liked this act of being able to control Lu Ciheng.
Stimulating, dangerous, making it hard to tell acting from reality.
This isn’t right.
Xie Shibai put the gun back into the holster according to the script.
Lu Ciheng’s eyes reflected scorching heat. Just when he thought Xie Shibai had made his choice, Xie Shibai, sitting on top of him, patted Lu Ciheng’s face.
The next second, Lu Ciheng felt coldness on his wrists. He raised his hands to find a pair of cold silver handcuffs. A muffled laugh escaped his throat, as if he had expected this.
Qin Shang couldn’t bear to kill him.
Xie Shibai sneered and said, “I’m not interested in carrying the trouble of a human life for killing you. And doing it with you is even more impossible. Get to the interrogation room, Mr. Suspect. You’d better explain properly why you appeared at the crime scene at this time.”
[I want to see them do it hard!] [Ahhh why cut it here! Where is the screenwriter!] [Brother Corpse is still lying on the floor.] [Their tension is so strong, feels like they really know how to ‘do’ it.] [Teacher Xie’s waist is amazing, slurp slurp. LCH, you brat, you really got the good end of the stick.] [Pure hate is still the most satisfying!]
After filming was completed, the production team thoughtfully marked in the livestream that the follow-up of the short drama would appear in the VIP Pure Enjoyment Version of the edited cut.
[Director Tan, you really know how to make money.] [When is the edited version coming out?! Ahhh I need to see it now!] [I dare not imagine how satisfying the Pure Enjoyment Version will be.]
The production team had extended the deadline for the swap task. Xie Shibai originally thought they would be the last group, considering the set issues.
After filming, Xie Shibai changed out of his clothes backstage. Upon leaving the changing room and casually asking a staff member, he learned that the last group was actually Su Xingran and Li You, who hadn’t finished their stage until now.
After Su Xingran and Li You’s group struggled to complete their task, the production team distributed the pre-saved image envelopes.
The team gathered everyone in the living room. At Xie Shibai’s feet was the Potato puppy, which had stayed in the villa after asking for the owner’s permission.
The production team handed out the envelopes one by one, asking everyone to reveal the images inside in a clockwise direction.
The first was Xie Shibai.
Under the expectant gaze of the livestream fans, Xie Shibai opened the envelope handed by the team. He took out the hand-drawn postcard inside. Seeing the image on it, he was a bit surprised.
On the postcard was a white, long-haired, blue-eyed cat. It looked a bit arrogant, a very beautiful kitty.
[In LCH’s eyes, XSB is such a cute kitty.] [It fits so well! The cat’s expression is so arrogant, just like Teacher Xie!] [Tsundere never goes out of style!] [You can see LCH loves him a lot, even though he was slapped before.] [A big slap is just foreplay between a young couple, how can it be the same!] [Being hit by a kitty is the highest honor!] [Starting to get curious about what image LCH is in XSB’s eyes.]
Next was Lu Ciheng beside him.
Under everyone’s expectant gazes, Lu Ciheng opened the envelope. On the postcard was a young puppy.
Lu Ciheng’s lips hooked up, looking at Xie Shibai with a scorching gaze. “So in Teacher Xie’s heart, I am such a cute image.”
Xie Shibai was silent for a few seconds, then couldn’t help asking, “Did you see clearly what kind of puppy it is?”
Lu Ciheng made “mm-hmm” sounds, looking very satisfied with this image.
[It’s actually a Beagle.] [Letting out a loud laugh, such a vivid image of the weird-screaming big-eared donkey.] [To be honest, every time LCH simps and talks too much, he’s very like a Beagle.] [This just shows XSB dislikes LCH being noisy, right? Everyone knows what Beagles are like.] [No no no, savor it carefully! Usually, people who raise Beagles know they are noisy but still tolerate them. What does this show? Teacher Xie knows Brother Lu is noisy but indulges him! It’s totally ‘one willing to beat, one willing to suffer’. This young couple is too easy to ship!] [Even though the ‘Beagle Victim Alliance’ exists, he’s still willing to raise one. If this isn’t love, what is!] [Why is it a puppy state?] […Maybe because baby Beagles are very cute and deceptive. They have an anti-refund mechanism. By the time people realize what they are like, it’s too late. Like baby Huskies, relying on cuteness when small to randomly scam a victim.] [I noticed before that Teacher Xie sometimes likes to stare at Dog Lu’s face in a daze. Indeed, he really likes Dog Lu’s face.] [Leaving the face aside, Dog Lu’s double-standard personality, ummm…] [Teacher Xie: Can’t leave it aside.] [Shouldn’t my brother be a Doberman at least?] [Really? Do you believe that yourself?] […How could I not believe it?] [Laughing to death, solo fans, speak with confidence!]
Mu Zhenzhen asked curiously, “Why do you feel Teacher Xie is a cat?”
In their impression, Xie Shibai’s personality was always cold and distant. Only when Lu Ciheng was nearby would this feeling weaken a bit, but it didn’t affect the initial impression.
Lu Ciheng curved his lips and said seriously, “This is obvious, right? Because Teacher Xie is very cute, exactly the same as this cat.”
[Cat projection is great!] [Briefly finding Dog Lu pleasing to the eye for one minute.]
Xie Shibai looked at Lu Ciheng’s side profile. Vitality and passionate emotions transmitted through the air. His fingers curled involuntarily. He hadn’t had thoughts of resisting physical contact for a long time; instead, contrasting thoughts surfaced in his mind.
Whenever such thoughts appeared, they were always accompanied by an annoyance that couldn’t be ignored.
When the other groups revealed their images, Lu Ciheng keenly sensed Xie Shibai’s mood. Hooking Xie Shibai’s hand, he lowered his eyes and asked in a whisper.
Lu Ciheng could always notice Xie Shibai’s condition immediately.
The invisible anxiety disappeared upon physical contact.
Xie Shibai glanced at him, then shifted his gaze to the postcard in his hand.
He had almost forgotten the contract. Long-term variety show recording had confused his perception a bit. After a moment of silence, he hid a doubt in his heart.
But one thing was certain: his condition had undergone uncontrollable changes.
