Chapter 41: Indulgent Immersion
Jiang Yunian walked toward the library clutching his books, the afternoon sun making him feel lazy. Before he reached the entrance, he saw Zhou Shu blocking He Qing in the shade of the trees nearby, the two of them entangled.
“How long have you been hiding from me? Are you really this cruel?”
“I have no obligation to pay attention to you.” He Qing’s tone was as bland as water. “I’ve already moved out of the old residence.”
To even give up the old residence… he was determined to cut ties.
Zhou Shu reacted strongly. “What are you doing? I bought that house for you!”
He Qing’s emotions stirred slightly. He glanced up at him, then quickly looked away. “It’s not appropriate.”
“What’s inappropriate about buying a house for my wife?” Zhou Shu cupped his face, eager to prove his sincerity. “As long as you want it, there’s nothing this Young Master can’t afford.”
“Then transfer the deed to me.”
Zhou Shu’s eyes lit up. “Does that mean you agree to live a life with me?”
“Didn’t you insist on giving it?” He Qing frowned, using a book to block the face leaning toward him.
“A man buying a house for another man—don’t you know what that implies?”
“…”
He didn’t really want to know.
Zhou Shu leaned in close to his ear, feigning ambiguity. “If you move into the house I bought, it means you promise to live with me.”
“Then forget it. I’m not interested in monogamous men.”
“What monogamous?” It took Zhou Shu a moment to realize he was being sarcastic.
“I told you things aren’t what you think with her. Can’t you just listen to my explanation properly?”
“Explain what?” He Qing looked at him bafflingly. “Did you break off the engagement?”
“…”
“Your affairs have nothing to do with me, and I don’t have time to listen to your nonsense.”
“Move aside.”
He Qing dropped those words with a blank face, intending to bypass him to enter the library.
Who knew that before his foot even touched the steps, he would be hoisted up by the person behind him.
“Fine, then explain in bed.”
“What are you doing? This is a school!” He Qing’s calm mask collapsed instantly as he hammered indiscriminately on the other’s back. Luckily, at 2:00 PM there weren’t many people, otherwise he would have killed him.
Zhou Shu pinched his backside indifferently and warned, “Keep making a fuss and I’ll pin you to the ground and kiss you until you faint.”
“You hooligan!”
“There’ll be even more hooliganism later.”
“You…”
Zhou Shu carried the person and strode back the way he came. But after only a few steps, his path was blocked by a pair of scrubbed-clean white sneakers.
He lifted his eyelids, wanting to see who was bold enough to block this Young Master’s way. The moment he saw that pretty face, he raised his eyebrows in disdain.
Jiang Yunian had mentally prepared himself before daring to stop him. Zhou Shu’s family background was powerful, and no one dared to offend him, but He Qing was not only his “benefactor” but also his friend; he couldn’t sit idly by.
Jiang Yunian inhaled, trying to look confident. “If you have a fiancée, don’t pester him anymore. Can’t you see he’s unwilling?”
Lying on Zhou Shu’s shoulder, He Qing awkwardly punched his back, but it was useless. Being caught in such an embarrassing situation in public, he simply buried his head and played dead.
Zhou Shu laughed in anger, his young master temper rising. He asked which eye saw that he was unwilling? “Since when is it your turn to lecture me? Get out of my way.”
Jiang Yunian thought: I saw it with both eyes. Having a fiancée yet being so self-righteous—this is the first time I’ve seen such thick skin. He gathered his courage and said, “He doesn’t want to go with you. Stay away from my friend, and… stay away from Jiang Yan too.”
Jiang Yan following this playboy, frequently going out to mess around in the middle of the night—he was almost being led astray.
“Me lead him astray?” Zhou Shu laughed out loud hearing this, squinting as he sized him up, saying meaningfully, “You should worry about yourself first.”
“What do you mean?” Jiang Yunian detected something wrong. “What do I have to worry about?”
Zhou Shu sneered. Acting like a good person? That only fools a pure little virgin like him.
Facing that malicious smile, Jiang Yunian frowned, his heart inexplicably drumming.
Worry…?
Right now, he only had one thing to worry about. The “LG” matter these past few days had already tormented him enough; he had no time for anything else. What did he mean by saying that? Did he know something? Or did Jiang Yan do something behind his back?
Jiang Yunian saw that Zhou Shu’s expression didn’t seem fake. That look was like watching a naive youth who didn’t know the dangers of the world, mirroring the unease in his own heart. He thought he shouldn’t let outsiders sway his trust in Jiang Yan, but the current Jiang Yan, for some reason, felt both familiar and strange to him.
With the Zhang Hao incident, the extreme methods and intense desire for revenge Jiang Yan displayed had already shocked him. Although it was for his own good, seeing the evidence exposed by the private investigator—including connections used for fraud and even the digging up of Zhang Hao’s relatives’ privacy along with a pile of shameful secrets—it inevitably exceeded the incident itself.
Private investigator…
Jiang Yunian froze. Why hadn’t he thought of that…
LG had mastered so much of his information. If it wasn’t someone close to him, this possibility couldn’t be ruled out.
Personal privacy, private investigator, homosexuality, and Zhou Shu’s ambiguous hint… Why did all these point to the same person?
The person he was least willing to suspect.
While he was dazed, Zhou Shu shoved him aside and walked off carrying He Qing. Jiang Yunian didn’t want to let him go and wanted to pursue the questioning, but Zhou Shu had no time to pay him any attention. The person in a difficult spot became He Qing. He held onto the shoulder of the person beneath him and made an awkward gesture to Jiang Yunian who was left behind, indicating he was fine and that Zhou Shu wouldn’t dare do anything to him, telling him not to worry.
Jiang Yunian was left behind just like that, inexplicably swept up by a brainstorm, a chaotic mess he couldn’t untangle.
In the car, He Qing couldn’t stay calm, struggling to get out. Zhou Shu locked the door without a word, buckled his seatbelt, and pressed him firmly into the passenger seat. “Be stubborn again and I’ll do you right here in the car.”
He Qing was furious but afraid he would actually do something; after all, Zhou Shu was someone who kept his word. So he turned his face to look out the window, sulking.
Arriving at the hotel’s presidential suite, Zhou Shu threw He Qing onto the bed and leisurely locked the door. He Qing scrambled up from the soft, fluffy mattress, fingertips sinking into the bedding, legs bent in defense, panicked like captured prey in unknown territory. “What do you want to do?”
Once in his own territory, Zhou Shu was clearly at ease, especially since the lamb he had coveted for so long had finally entered his wolf’s den. The pleasure in his chest rose uncontrollably.
He raised a hand to loosen his collar, unbuttoning two buttons, and leaned forward slightly, his voice carrying a bit of nonchalance. “Wrapped up so tight, aren’t you suffocating?”
The air conditioning was on in the room, making it very warm. He Qing covered his chest, retracting his feet and scooting back. “Don’t come over.”
Seeing him like this, Zhou Shu felt secretly delighted. The aggressive energy from earlier had vanished instantly, replaced by the look of a bullied little wife. “Making me look like a tyrant.”
He Qing didn’t speak, just remained vigilant until his back hit the headboard, with no room to retreat. Zhou Shu knelt before him, slowly reaching for his chin, moving so slowly He Qing thought he wouldn’t actually do anything. Unexpectedly, the hand changed course, and in the next second, his jacket was yanked off and ruthlessly thrown to the floor.
“I am a tyrant.”
Zhou Shu’s lips curled slightly. Seeing through the other’s frequent glances at the door, he simply stripped the person clean in a few moves, completely cutting off his thought of escape.
“Bastard!” Unable to resist, He Qing bit his lip and glared at him.
Zhou Shu swept over his jade-clear skin, tender enough to pinch water from. A cursory glance during the struggle revealed a looming secret place below that made his breath stop, his lower abdomen tightening unconsciously.
Seeing the look in his eyes wasn’t right, He Qing slapped his face away and grabbed the quilt to wrap himself tightly.
Zhou Shu swallowed and wrapped him, quilt and all, into his arms. “Shy? Where haven’t I seen? Not only seen, but touched too.”
He had the nerve to say that? Which time wasn’t it him relying on brute strength to abduct him into bed?
“Dilly-dallying isn’t enough,” Zhou Shu kissed his nose affectionately, biting it. “There’s something more comfortable, want to try?”
No, absolutely not necessary.
He Qing pressed down firmly on the hand trying to lift the quilt. To stabilize him, he forced himself to be calm. “You… didn’t you say you wanted to explain?”
Who explains in bed?!
Zhou Shu laughed unbridledly. “Only here will you listen obediently.”
He Qing gritted his teeth and endured it. “Whatever you have to say, get up and say it.”
Zhou Shu was reluctant to let go, but afraid of provoking the person too much, he restrained himself and kissed the corner of his mouth, pulling him up to sit face to face.
“I didn’t get engaged to her.”
“…”
“Really.” Zhou Shu looked at his unmoved expression, feeling uncertain. He leaned in to kiss again, speaking between kisses, “It was just acting, a front to fool the family. It was a misunderstanding to begin with.”
He held his wrist and squeezed. “Anyway, there’s nothing between me and her.”
“Oh, really?” He Qing swatted his hand away, speaking coldly. “Didn’t hear you say that beforehand.”
“That day she came with her mom to visit my grandpa. My grandpa insisted she was… the future granddaughter-in-law of the Zhou family… It happened suddenly, you know my grandpa is hospitalized…”
Zhou Shu paused suddenly, his expression becoming somewhat desolate. “At this critical juncture, I can’t make the old man angry.”
“So you agreed to get engaged to her?”
“How could I! The two of us were forced onto the shelf like ducks. If it weren’t for the old man’s poor health, would I do this?” Zhou Shu denied it flatly. “How Hubby treats you, you still don’t know?”
He Qing clenched his fist, then released it. “En, I know now.”
“That’s it?” Zhou Shu said cautiously. “Then are you still angry with me?”
He Qing turned his face away.
“Do you care?”
“…”
Zhou Shu’s mentality snapped. He grabbed his shoulders with both hands, eyes surging with hot and aggrieved emotions. “You won’t be with me, yet you can’t stand me finding someone else. What do you want me to think?”
“Watching me chase after your ass all the time, you’re very proud, aren’t you?”
“Have you never thought that I get tired too?”
He Qing lowered his eyes to stare at the wrinkled corner of the quilt, his shoulders trembling imperceptibly. Zhou Shu keenly caught his loosening resolve. He suddenly pinched his chin, forcing their eyes to meet. “I said I only want you in this life, and I will definitely do it. What exactly are you still worried about? Dare you say you don’t have feelings for me at all?”
He Qing panicked under the scorching heat in his eyes, instinctively closing his eyes and shrinking back, but was forcefully pried open, leaving him nowhere to escape. Zhou Shu’s voice was wrapped in suppressed desire: “Tell me, you like me.”
“…”
“Say it.”
“Say you like me, that it has to be me.”
He Qing’s eyes rolled slightly. Meeting those eyes full of expectation, he tried hard to retrieve a shred of calm, his lips moving. “I…”
Zhou Shu instantly straightened his back, pupils lighting up with fragmented light, even his breathing lightening.
“I…”
A series of ‘I’s tortured Zhou Shu to madness. I I I, I what? Is liking me that hard to say?
Zhou Shu’s patience was ground down to almost nothing. He said, “Let’s change it. I’ll kiss you. If you don’t resist, it proves you like me.”
He leaned down slowly, watching his reaction. “I’m going to kiss you.”
He Qing’s fingernails almost dug into his palms, closing his eyes uncontrollably.
“I’m really going to kiss you.”
The shadow overhead descended inch by inch. He Qing’s eyelashes couldn’t help trembling. Reason told him he should push him away, but his limbs seemed to be under a binding spell, refusing to obey. When the shadow completely enveloped him, he could only press his lips tight and hold his breath.
Seeing his reddened ear tips and shy reaction, Zhou Shu couldn’t help laughing low. And you say you don’t like me.
This appearance of wanting to hide but being reluctant to do so surpassed any words of love spoken aloud.
This laugh completely ignited He Qing’s embarrassment and annoyance. Just as he was about to open his eyes to question him, the face in front of him instantly magnified, and an aggressive kiss sealed his lips.
“Mmph…”
The warm sensation carried an undeniable force, prying open his teeth and muddling his brain. Then the kiss deepened, becoming completely delirious. Only when He Qing collapsed on the pillow with disordered breathing did Zhou Shu let him breathe, still unsatisfied. His face looked like he had won a battle, full of delight.
“Didn’t refuse means you agreed. Don’t think about denying it this time!”
He Qing’s cheeks were crimson, his wet eyes half-open, panting softly. Seeing him lower his face again, he suddenly gave up resistance, hardened his heart, closed his eyes, and let himself fall into this gentle abyss.
Forget it. I have nothing anyway, so there’s nothing to lose.
Whatever happens later, we’ll talk about it later.
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