Part 4
Shi Ye’s heart stopped for a beat. He came back to his senses to find Wen Rong sitting pressed against his shoulder, holding the cone with both hands, sticking out his small tongue to lick the ice cream.
The car started, and streetlights skipped rhythmically across Shi Ye’s face.
Thump thump thump.
Shi Ye’s chest heaved violently; his heart almost leaped out.
I want to kiss him.
If only I could kiss him again.
Without training to help analyze the situation, the instinctual desire to kiss surged out entirely the moment it was seduced.
The way Wen Rong ate ice cream looked so much like kissing. His mouth opened wide, the tip of his tongue pointed and agile, covered in ice cream. It must taste very good.
He swallowed his saliva. “How does her ice cream taste?”
“It tastes pretty good.”
“Can I try a bit?”
Wen Rong skillfully rotated the ice cream and held the unlicked side up to him.
“I haven’t eaten from this side. You try it.”
He agreed!
Shi Ye’s brain exploded with a buzz. He lowered his head, imitating Wen Rong’s action, and extended his tongue to lick the spiral pattern of the ice cream.
So sweet.
So fragrant.
“How does it taste?”
“I want more.”
Shi Ye was impatient and unbearable. Like a tiger or wolf, he sucked onto the top of the ice cream that had already been licked round.
The hand holding the cone was pushed downward by the pressure.
Wen Rong was startled. His hand shook, and the ice cream poked Shi Ye’s face, leaving a distinct mark.
“Sorry.”
He hurriedly tried to retract his hand, but Shi Ye suddenly grabbed him.
Powerful fingers wrapped around his wrist bone like steel; the skin where they touched burned hot with sweat.
Wen Rong realized things were developing in an uncontrollable direction. Yet, in his line of sight, Shi Ye simply turned his hand a small half-circle. The tip of his overly long tongue acted like a brush, painting upward from the rim of the crispy cone all the way to the top. Even the part Wen Rong had just eaten was brushed into the shape Shi Ye wanted.
It’s just eating ice cream.
It’s just eating ice cream.
Wen Rong wanted to pinch his knee, but right now he couldn’t move a muscle. He was forced to watch, by the dim light, as the ice cream was painted over and over again.
Hiss, hiss, hiss.
Sounds like a snake spitting venom echoed continuously inside the car.
Too many similar elements caused Wen Rong’s excellent memory to retrieve the video the Senior had once sent him.
In those moments that made him want to close his eyes, there had been a scene like this.
Only, the hair wasn’t gold. Shi Ye was completely different from the person in the video. Shi Ye looked fiercer, making Wen Rong instinctively fearful and afraid to resist.
“You want some too?”
Wen Rong’s blank mind had no time to respond before Shi Ye’s sharp features vanished into the darkness—not disappearing, but the distance shortened abruptly, the back of his head blocking out all light.
Only hearing remained.
Breathing and wet sucking noises occupied his ears.
Taste. The flavor of vanilla unexpectedly spread on his lips, carrying a coolness like mint.
Shi Ye’s nose touched his nose. So close. They were eating the ice cream together.
amidst Shi Ye’s continuous licking, chin-lifting, and indulgence, Wen Rong realized: This isn’t eating ice cream. It feels more like—kissing.
He was startled and retreated in panic, but his shoulders were bound by muscles-taut arms.
The journey wasn’t smooth. The car speed was extremely fast, wind whistling into the windows. Passing over speed bumps—thump, thump, thump—people bounced in their seats.
The aftershocks of the bouncing seduced Wen Rong, his heart swaying.
The cold, thick vanilla flavor occupied every corner of his mouth. The parts he couldn’t swallow in time mixed with saliva and flowed down the corner of his lips, along the sensitive flesh of his chin, and into his yellow shirt.
Wen Rong began to be unable to refuse this sensation that made his body tremble.
His remaining reason said: You want to indulge.
Lights and shadows flowed; wet licking sounds filled his ears.
Wen Rong’s breathing became long and heavy. His forehead touched a feverishly hot brow, his neck forced back at one point.
In that instant, differing from the cold of the ice cream, something strange and warm swept across his palate, quietly approaching him.
Wen Rong froze, finally realizing things had developed to a terrifying degree. Fear and reason forced him to struggle.
The sounds of agitation and muffled groans of refusal were all contained within the mouth, transmitting through bone, surging and crashing heavily against the eardrums clearly.
Splat—
The crispy cone fell lightly onto the carpet. The melted ice cream liquid pooled together, flattened again and again by the sole of a leather shoe.
Time slipped away until a bright light flashed across his eyes. Wen Rong caught a glimpse of the driver’s silhouette in the driver’s seat from the corner of his eye. He instantly sobered up, turned his head to dodge, and said shyly, “The driver is still here!”
Clang—
A partition curtain cut off the driver’s seat from the back. A crushing weight settled down. Wen Rong’s head pressed against a burning hot palm. His chest was bumped and ground against by hard muscle; a pleasure shooting straight to the top of his head occupied his body.
Before that sliver of reason dissipated again, Wen Rong bit down hard, sealing his lips tight. A wet, hot thing slid out, deforming like jelly.
A smear of cream-like silk connected him and Shi Ye, exceptionally obscene.
This time, he absolutely could not use “being drunk” as an excuse.
Wen Rong raised his hand to wipe away the stickiness at the corner of his lips, not knowing what to say, and unable to speak.
His throat burned dry; even the air felt compressed in his stomach.
“I received the compensation.”
The voice was practically pasted against Wen Rong’s ear.
Afraid Shi Ye would continue, Wen Rong hunched his shoulders inward, his whole body tense to the extreme.
A firm nose tip poked ambiguously against Wen Rong’s cheek.
“I love you.”
“Although you already knew that.”
“Just allow me to continue loving you; you don’t need to take responsibility for me.”
This confession, overly self-sacrificing, raised infinite confusion in Wen Rong’s heart.
“Why love me?”
“Because I look good?”
“Pfft.”
Shi Ye buried his head in Wen Rong’s shoulder and laughed. “Will you scam me out of my money?”
Wen Rong asked strangely, “What would I do with your money?”
“Will you harm me?”
“Of course I won’t.”
“Then isn’t liking you both a safe and happy thing?”
A crystal chandelier, ten meters long, hung from the ceiling. Zhou Xie climbed the stairs, fragmented light and shadow sweeping across his face, highlighting his prominent bone structure.
After the Open ended, he had returned home. His intention was to report the situation on the tennis court to his father, but his father stopped him midway.
“I can hear these work-related things from the secretary. I mainly want to know, what happened to you today that made you so happy?”
Zhou Xie froze, quickly saying, “Nothing.”
President Zhou laughed. “I wouldn’t fail to understand my own son.”
“…”
Zhou Xie was silent for a moment. “The wiki app’s download volume broke records again.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
To prevent his father from asking more, Zhou Xie continued his report. After finishing, just before President Zhou could speak, he hurriedly asked, “What do you want to eat tonight? I’ll cook.”
“Anything. Something light.”
Zhou Xie changed out of his suit, put on an apron, and cooked three dishes and a soup for his father. Unfortunately, it still couldn’t stop his father’s mouth.
“I heard from the secretary that you asked him to find four seats in the front row during today’s match?”
—The Wen Rong matter.
Zhou Xie’s lower lip pulled tight. “Yes, I needed to have a brief cooperation with a schoolmate.”
“Is it that boy named Wen Rong?”
“Mn…”
“Not bad. The video of the post-match interview is very popular online; everyone is saying he and Shi Ye are a couple.”
Zhou Xie paused. “How do you know?”
“Shi Changyuan called me, asking me to use connections to get that student expelled.”
“Isn’t he overstepping?”
“Can’t be helped. Even though he tries hard to push Shi Jing, 90% of the Shi family, out of personal interest, only recognizes Shi Ye as the heir. Wen Rong’s reputation among the masses is simply too good. If Wen Rong really dates Shi Ye, it would be a good thing for Shi Ye.”
“Wen Rong isn’t dating Shi Ye.”
President Zhou fell silent for a moment. “Rest assured, I won’t do Shi Changyuan’s bidding. He’s been very close to Wang Sichen recently. I think, before Shi Ye truly inherits the Shi family, our cooperation with the Shi family is going to break.”
“Then the next term—”
President Zhou interrupted him with a faint smile. “I have to step down eventually.”
“There’s no rush to step down now.”
“If I don’t step down, many people will start a revolution.”
“Can’t you wait until I’ve worked for two or three years?”
“You and I are the same to those people.” President Zhou served a bowl of soup, savoring it carefully. “Although it’s already too late, I still want to advise you not to enter government work. After graduation, you can play tennis or race cars like Shi Ye. I remember you used to like that.”
“That was when I was a child.”
“Then you can cultivate some hobbies for the elderly. Go, brewing tea, fishing…”
Zhou Xie was finally amused by his father. “Wait until I retire.”
“I won’t be able to see that then.”
Zhou Xie knew the implication was that his father would have passed away by then. His brows knitted together. “If you take good care of your health, you can definitely live to 100. I remember you attended Senator Zhang’s 99th birthday just a few days ago.”
President Zhou laughed. “Forget it. I can’t do things that would harm you just to save my own life.”
“What?”
President Zhou smiled without speaking. The meal ended in a warm, quiet atmosphere.
President Zhou continued to go out for work, while Zhou Xie drove back to the Shi Family Estate.
It was almost a subconscious action.
Perhaps he didn’t want to stay home alone.
But as his steps moved upward, approaching Wen Rong’s room, Zhou Xie thought, maybe it was because he wanted to tell Wen Rong that the cooperation today was pleasant and they could continue to cooperate in the future.
The person who had always gone against him finally had a chance to cooperate. Perhaps this was the turning point to becoming allies.
For the first time, Zhou Xie wanted to use smoking to calm his feeling of joy.
Knock, knock, knock.
Zhou Xie knocked on Wen Rong’s door.
Knock, knock, knock.
No one answered. He continued to knock.
As he prepared to knock for the third time, a mocking smile spilled from Zhou Xie’s lips.
Not opening meant he hadn’t returned.
Shi Ye hadn’t returned either.
On such an important occasion today, was it hard to guess that Shi Ye had taken the opportunity to drag Wen Rong out to celebrate?
If he had thought about it slightly on the drive over, or asked earlier, he would have known.
Zhou Xie sensed his own faint loss of control. He walked to the window, took a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it.
The night looked the same everywhere. At school, here—as far as the eye could see, it was all darkness, with scattered lights shining like stars.
Cars speeding on the road became shooting stars, leaving a trail of shadows as they cut through the night.
This shooting star landed downstairs.
Click—
The rear car door opened. Wen Rong stepped out, followed by Shi Ye.
Zhou Xie’s hand couldn’t help but tremble; cigarette ash fell to the floor.
It was something expected, yet he felt somewhat unsettled.
The house was old; even with frequent maintenance, it couldn’t hide the groaning of wood joints under pressure. Thump, thump, thump—two sets of footsteps followed closely.
“You like eating ice cream; I’ll ask the chef to make some other flavors tomorrow.”
“No need. I’m going back to school tomorrow.”
“So soon?”
“My leave is over.”
“Stay and play a bit longer? I couldn’t go that day you guys went to Xian Zhuo. You don’t know how to drive, right? I’ll take you to try go-karting. No man doesn’t love cars. You try it; you’ll definitely like it.”
“Thank you, but I really have to go back. I haven’t attended class for a while, and I still have to make up the assignments Teacher Xu Qiu assigned me.”
“Alright.”
The conversation up to this point was normal. Shi Ye was like a playful child, constantly pestering Wen Rong to stay and play a while longer.
“Then… before sleeping, can I hug you? You promised me during the day.”
Zhou Xie’s hand shook, and the cigarette slipped from his fingertips.
He wasn’t wearing suit pants; the ordinary trousers were singed by the high heat.
Hiss—
He sucked in a breath of cold air in pain.
“Clearly, two gifts exchange for one hug. You just kissed me, which counts as 20 gifts. Calculating it now, you owe me 18 gifts.”
Pfft.
Zhou Xie’s silent laughter surged out along with the laughter from the staircase.
He wondered if the other party also keenly sensed Wen Rong’s embarrassment turning into anger.
“Then I’ll return 18 gifts to you, and give you another 20 gifts. Does that mean I can kiss you again?”
“This isn’t something gifts can exchange for!”
“Got it, got it. I’ll walk you back to your room.”
“No need, I can go back myself.”
“Fine, then I’ll go back to my room. I go this way too.”
Da da.
Two heavy footsteps sounded on the floor, proving Wen Rong’s unusual loss of composure.
Shi Ye’s heart was as sweet as honey; he had the illusion of flirting with Wen Rong.
However, when they finally finished climbing the stairs, he glanced over and saw Zhou Xie standing in front of Wen Rong’s door.
His smile froze.
Zhou Xie lowered his head, returning a gloomy smile.
Since both Leon and Shi Ye had chosen Wen Rong, then as an ally, considering all aspects, he should also put in some effort to bring the relationship between the four of them to a balance.
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