Chapter 27: Not Killing Him to Feed the Dogs Was Already Good Enough
“I’m glad you like it.”
A faint smile hung on the corner of Yu Xiuqing’s mouth. After a moment, he remembered something. His brows furrowed in hesitation as he suddenly asked: “By the way, Xiaoyao, I’ve always had a question…”
Su Huaiyao was clutching the box tightly, his attention entirely on that expensive pink diamond necklace. He looked up at him absentmindedly and replied casually:
“What is it?”
“How did you happen to be at the dungeon fourteen years ago?”
Upon hearing this, Su Huaiyao’s hand froze. His movement of stroking the necklace stopped abruptly, and even the box almost fell to the floor.
He organized his thoughts in an instant.
After being stunned for a mere two seconds, he quickly composed himself. He placed the box on the table and turned his body, staring at the man with a melancholy expression as he said in a piteous tone:
“Xiuqing-gege, you might not know… back then, I had just finished my piano lesson and happened to pass by the gates of the Yu house. I saw you being held captive by a group of fierce-looking people and taken into a car.”
Yu Xiuqing frowned slightly. Following those words, he recalled the image of himself being at the mercy of others back then. His eyes filled with towering rage and hatred.
Even after gaining power and hacking the enemies who had cruelly murdered his father into a thousand pieces, the hatred in his heart remained unappeased.
He did his best to restrain his darkest, most violent emotions. He leisurely turned his thumb ring, though his tone turned cold:
“And then?”
Su Huaiyao seemed to sense the low pressure around the man. His hands resting on his knees couldn’t help but tremble, and a hint of fear entered his voice as he answered cautiously:
“Then I called the police, but they couldn’t come right away. I was too worried about you, so I secretly crawled into the trunk of the criminals’ car by myself…”
“So back then, you were hiding in that group of kidnappers’ lair for several days?”
Yu Xiuqing’s movement of toying with his ring suddenly stopped. He looked at the youth with dark, somewhat incredulous eyes:
“Xiaoyao, that was too risky.”
The man’s cold, temperatureless face revealed a bit of worry, which Su Huaiyao saw and couldn’t help but secretly gloat over.
However, his expression still appeared extremely sorrowful. He looked at the man with a gaze of utter sincerity, his tone urgent:
“At the time, seeing Xiuqing-gege being captured, I couldn’t care about anything else. I only thought about saving you…”
As he spoke, he pursed his red lips, and tears fell one after another, weeping like a pear blossom in the rain.
Yu Xiuqing was instantly moved. He pulled out a tissue and gently wiped away the tear tracks from the youth’s face, saying softly: “Silly boy, you aren’t allowed to take risks for me again.”
“For Xiuqing-gege, I’m willing to do anything!” Su Huaiyao’s eyes sparkled with determination. He spoke very seriously, giving one the illusion that it truly was the case.
Yu Xiuqing, standing before him, indeed believed it.
After all, this person was the only one who dared to break into a wolf’s den to save him, bringing him hope in that nightmare. To him, Su Huaiyao was like a deity sent by the heavens to save him, allowing him to be reborn.
Looking at Su Huaiyao who loved him so wholeheartedly, Yu Xiuqing couldn’t help but feel a sense of debt and guilt.
He took two steps forward, then pulled the alluring white moonlight into his arms, stroking his hair: “You don’t have to do anything. Just stay by my side obediently.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Su Huaiyao sat motionlessly and gave a soft reply. He buried his pink-haired head into the warm, sturdy embrace. Turning his head to look at the gifts on the table, a flicker of greed and malice suddenly flashed through his moist eyes.
At this moment, Qi Yunzhao entered through the archway. However, he didn’t approach immediately, looking expressionlessly at the two in their passionate display not far away. He stared directly at his boss.
Only after receiving the man’s silent permission did he give a slight nod and walk toward the stone table with almost silent steps.
Yu Xiuqing stroked the person acting spoiled in his arms every now and then. Without lifting his head, he asked: “What is it?”
He was on a date with his white moonlight tonight and had already ordered that no one was to disturb them and no matters were to be reported.
The bodyguard’s sudden appearance made him a bit irritable, but he couldn’t help but wonder if something had happened to that idiot Shen Yuan. After all, he had only ever granted Shen Yuan a special exception before.
Qi Yunzhao bowed slightly and looked at the youth in his superior’s arms, his expression appearing hesitant.
Su Huaiyao sensibly loosened his grip and looked up at the man. He made a move to stand up, saying considerately:
“Does Bodyguard Qi have something important to tell you? I’ll step away for a moment.”
“It’s fine, no need.”
Yu Xiuqing pressed down on his shoulder to prevent him from getting up. He carefully noticed the youth’s slightly trembling lips, took the hot milk from the table, and held it to his lips. With a doting gaze, he said to the bodyguard beside him: “Xiaoyao isn’t an outsider. If there’s something, say it.”
Qi Yunzhao lowered his head, pressing a fist to his mouth as he cleared his throat: “Sanye, Shen Yuan has developed a high fever.”
Upon hearing this, Yu Xiuqing was momentarily stunned. A ripple appeared in the depths of his dark, pond-like eyes, but it vanished in an instant.
He had almost forgotten. That fool was still thrown in the bathtub by him, soaking in cold water. He didn’t know how he was doing…
He frowned, not showing much of a reaction. Instead, he continued feeding his beloved milk, saying impatiently:
“Do you have to report such a small matter to me? He’s just a servant. Just feed him some fever-reducing medicine.”
“Yes.” Qi Yunzhao nodded.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, the man beside him suddenly added another instruction: “Fish him out of the water, find a random room for him to stay in, and bandage his head.”
“Understood.”
Bandage his head?
Fish him out of the water?
Su Huaiyao quickly captured these two keywords. His expression seemed puzzled as he bit the straw, a trace of undisguisable loathing in his lowered eyes.
It seemed Yu Xiuqing had definitely taught that bitch a harsh lesson! He might even be bleeding from the head!
But why did the other care if Shen Yuan lived or died?
Why even feed this fool cold medicine?
It was a pure waste!
It would be better to just throw him on the street to fend for himself!
The satisfaction on his face suddenly turned into dissatisfaction. He curled his lips, cursing Shen Yuan to death in his heart.
Seeing that the youth had suddenly stopped drinking and was hanging his head as if he had something on his mind, Yu Xiuqing pulled the milk away from his mouth and asked with concern: “What is it?”
“No… nothing.”
Su Huaiyao immediately came to his senses. His long, bony fingers gently tugged at the man’s hem as he put on an act:
“Xiuqing-gege, maybe you should go check on Shen Yuan. He needs you right now.”
“No need. Something that only knows how to seduce men and betrays its own kind is not worth grieving over even in death.”
Yu Xiuqing refused without hesitation, a sinister, cold light flashing in his dark, narrow eyes.
Then, with a “bang,” he threw the glass onto the table, a few drops of milk splashing beside his fingers.
He pulled out a tissue and slowly wiped his fingertips. He lazily lifted his eyelids and said in a cold tone: “Oh, right. Qi Yunzhao, I’ve suddenly changed my mind.”
Qi Yunzhao stopped in his tracks: “What?”
“It’s not appropriate for someone who eats from the inside out to stay in a room. There’s a storage room by the stairs; no need to tidy it up.”
Yu Xiuqing’s face was filled with his usual indifference and detachment. Holding the youth’s cold cheeks with both hands, he leaned down slightly. The corners of his mouth turned up, his tone carrying a trace of ruthlessness within its gentleness:
“He dared to push my Xiaoyao down the stairs; not killing him to feed the dogs was already good enough. What right does he have to sleep in a bed?”
“Shen Yuan deliberately pushed Su Xiansheng down the stairs; he indeed deserves to die,” Qi Yunzhao added coldly.
Upon hearing this, a look of ferocity flashed in Yu Xiuqing’s eyes.
Qi Yunzhao’s gaze suddenly shifted from the man’s profile to Su Huaiyao’s injured leg.
A look of contemplation appeared in his bottomless eyes, but he was suddenly interrupted by his superior’s indifferent voice:
“Whether he deserves to die isn’t for you to decide. Get lost and don’t come back to disturb me and Xiaoyao.”
Qi Yunzhao could only lower his head respectfully. He took a step back with his long legs, turned around directly, and left in a hurry.
Su Huaiyao, sitting in the chair, eyes brightened. Pressing against the man’s palm, he enjoyed the man’s favoritism to his heart’s content.
He knew that storage room. The space was narrow, filled with miscellaneous items. It was sweltering in the summer and freezing in the winter.
Wouldn’t Shen Yuan freeze to death inside?
Even his dog’s kennel was warmer than that storage room!
Even though Su Huaiyao was already overjoyed in his heart, he still had to put on a kind expression, saying gently:
“Ah… Xiuqing-gege, isn’t it a bit bad to let Shen Yuan sleep in the storage room? There’s no bed or blankets inside. And he has a fever; what if it gets serious?”
Yu Xiuqing let out a soft snort, his voice carrying an unspeakable coldness: “Xiaoyao doesn’t need to worry about him. He actually dared to flirt with others behind my back; he deserves some punishment.”
Looking at those eyes flashing with a pathological light, Su Huaiyao’s entire body trembled. He forced a smile in response.
For some reason, he felt a mysterious trace of fear.
…
The storage room.
There wasn’t a single ray of light in the narrow cubicle. Only a small, closed window allowed a bit of moonlight to shine through, making the dark and damp environment appear even more eerie.
A foul, decaying smell permeated the air.
In a dark corner, a small figure was curled up. Although he was covered by a blanket that wasn’t very thick, beneath him was only a cold straw mat.
The cold moonlight hit his face, making his already pale complexion look even more dismal.
Shen Yuan had a fever-reducing patch on his forehead. His head was buried tightly between his knees, and he was shaking incessantly. He seemed to have endured torture for too long; he appeared extremely lacking in security.
The clothes on his body had been changed, but the tips of his hair were still damp. Qi Yunzhao had casually wrapped a few layers of gauze around his forehead, barely stopping the bleeding.
“Don’t… don’t hit me anymore…”
Groans intermittently escaped from Shen Yuan’s thin lips, which had turned white from being ravaged. His eyes were tightly shut, his eyelashes trembling slightly, and a suspicious flush appeared on his cheeks.
At this moment, he was completely delirious from the fever. He spoke words that others couldn’t understand, and tears fell uncontrollably, soaking a large patch of the straw mat.
Through the glass window of the storage room, one could clearly see that in the spring-filled back garden, his beloved Mister Yu was embracing his white moonlight, promising forever under the starry sky.
The contrast with the youth in the window, painfully huddled on the floor and covered in wounds, was irony to the extreme.
The piteous little fool was already covered in injuries, his heart pierced through by that heartless man until it was riddled with holes.
No one would care for him anymore. He was just a lowly servant, not the “two billion” those people spoke of.
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