With the hand holding the cigarette, Shen Ji pressed against the flushed corner of one of Jiao Bai’s downturned eyes. “You broke three ribs to save my son. As his father, shouldn’t I express my gratitude to you?”

Jiao Bai adjusted his breathing, taking small breaths. Shen Ji had likely only instructed his assistant to check which school he attended and where he lived, and didn’t get him to investigate everything in detail. Otherwise, his conspiring with Qi Shuang would almost certainly have been exposed.

Shen Ji had a fatal flaw. He was overly confident, believing that everything was within his control and that nothing could escape his grasp.

Even if he learned that the person who shared his bed had been up to many dirty tricks behind his back, he wouldn’t pay it any mind.

This was the real reason he had that ending in the comic.

Jiao Bai’s scalp throbbed in pain. The surge in Shen Ji’s activity level at Fuyuan Restaurant that night foreshadowed that this day would come. It was just that Shen Ji came later than he had anticipated.

It appeared that Shen Ji had intended to ignore or suppress his interest in him, but was unsuccessful.

Jiao Bai saw the activity level begin to rise. He stared without blinking as the number hovering before him climbed to 45.7.

And the Pikachu in Shen Ji’s profile picture narrowed its round, chubby eyes, staring at Jiao Bai without blinking.

It was very domineering CEO-like.

“No need, Young Master Shen has already thanked me.” Jiao Bai turned his attention away from the Pikachu and turned his head towards its owner.

Shen Ji’s fingertip trailed down from the little dog’s warm, damp eye, brushing against his sickly, flushed cheek, before coming to rest on his split, bleeding lip[1]. “Still, I have to thank you.”

Jiao Bai was so weak that he didn’t even have the energy to struggle. He used all his willpower to hold himself up, put on a fake smile and said, his lips barely moving to prevent that finger from prying into his mouth, “You’re too polite. You really don’t have to[2].”

Shen Ji said coldly, “How should I thank you?” He tightened his grip on the little dog’s hair and lifted him so that he was right before his eyes. “If even just tossing you onto the bed makes you cry in pain, what can you still do?”

The smile faded from Jiao Bai’s lips. Etbj nee, vhkk xnt? Laozi can’t do anything—not even lhrrhnmzqx!

Shen Ji removed the fingers that were playing with Jiao Bai’s lips and smeared the blood that had gotten on his finger onto Jiao Bai’s wet and shiny eyes. “Let’s rdczsd you. Once you’re rdczsdc, it won’t hurt anymore.”

S-s-s-sedate? Jiao Bai’s entire body froze. Are these even words a etbjhmf human would say? No, the old azrszqc isn’t a human. He’s just a piece of rghs!

Stay calm, don’t panic, stay calm, Jiao Bai reassured himself while he recalled the plot of Broken Wings, and found that the comic never mentioned Shen Ji having any unusual preferences when he drank.

Furthermore, Shen Ji had always preferred strong and energetic bed partners who could keep up with him. If he was rdczsdc, wouldn’t he just be a piece of meat? Then would Shen Ji still be able showcase his vigour and prowess? The answer was clearly no.

Shen Ji noticed the person he was holding had gone through several mood swings. Not only was he not frightened, he also managed to calm down very quickly.

Fresh[3].

This feeling wasn’t new to Shen Ji—he had experienced it before, all in the latter half of the year, and always brought on by the same little okzxsghmf.

Shen Ji let out an ambiguous laugh, his breath thick with the smell of tobacco. “Jiao Bai, your new name sounds quite appetizing.”

He then pulled the person off the bed and dragged him towards the door of the room.

Jiao Bai didn’t use his meagre remaining strength to yell for help. He knew perfectly well that the current Shen Er'an couldn’t save him, and neither could the neighbours in this building.

The Shen family was the top among all the prominent families in South City, and Shen Ji held absolute authority.

Jiao Bai didn’t like to wear socks while sleeping, so now, his bare feet scraped against the cold floor as Shen Ji dragged him away. It was really uncomfortable.

What was most painful was still his back rib injury.

His whole body felt as if he was facing the pain of being torn apart by five horses[4] and there was an intense tearing sensation between his skin, flesh and bones.

At his last gasps, Jiao Bai mentally added yet another entry in his little notebook of his suffering at Shen Ji’s hands.

The living room was quiet. Shen Er'an lay collapsed on the sofa with his eyes closed.

Jiao Bai only had time to take a quick look at him before Shen Ji dragged him out of the living room.

Shen Ji strode towards the front door. The brat on the sofa was pretty vigilant, but unfortunately, he was just a piece of rubbish[5] that could only fold paper and draw.

Those good looks, which was so popular with his classmates, was inherited from his father.

“Shen Ji’s son” would be his highest achievement in life.

.

Shen Ji opened the front door.

The chilly wind swept wildly over Jiao Bai’s sweat-soaked body.

“Stop, stop for a moment...” Jiao Bai was in so much pain, his consciousness was starting to fade, “Chairman Shen, where are you taking me?”

Shen Ji looked down through the haze of smoke. His stern and mature eyebrows were tightly furrowed and his expression was dark and inscrutable, as if he hadn’t even considered that question.

At this moment, he finally showed a trace of tipsiness.

“Are you going to play with me?” Jiao Bai revealed his little canines. “You wouldn’t stoop that low, right? Didn’t you consider me beneath your standards? If you play with me, wouldn’t you be eating your own words[6]?”

“Sharp-tongued.” Shen Ji’s large palm brushed over the young man’s soft, slender waist and caressed upward to the chest brace, feeling the tension and trembling beneath his touch.

Shen Ji expressionlessly stroked his bony back, and then pressed down on the fractured rib area.

At the same time, Shen Ji felt pain in his right arm. He glanced coldly at the little dog that was biting into his flesh.

It really was too wild and completely untamed. Even on the brink of death, it still knew to how to counterattack so quickly.

Shen Ji had left his suit jacket in the car and had gone upstairs wearing only his shirt and vest. Blood quickly began to seep through the fabric of his shirt, but he didn’t care, and merely stared fixedly at that smear of red on the young man’s lips with a subtle and dangerous look in his eyes.

The young man’s face was too pale and his lips were too strikingly red. The strong contrast of colours was dizzying.

Shen Ji caught the scent of blood and the blood in his veins began to surge faster. His throat burned as he slowly lowered his head, closing the distance between him and the little dog, who despite trembling from pain and his eyes growing unfocussed, continued to relentlessly bite him, refusing to let go.

The smell of blood was mixed with the smell of medicine.

It was very strong.

Just as Shen Ji was about to touch the source of that smell, the teeth biting his arm loosened.

Shen Ji froze in the middle of bending towards the fainted person, caught in a rare mind blank.

What was he trying to do just now? He thought for a moment and realised he couldn’t find an answer and there were no clues to guide him.

So, he decided to not look for one. It wasn’t important.


[1] 咬破了的唇上- Split and bleeding because Jiao Bai bit through it

[2] 您 (nín) – uses the polite way to say ‘you’

[3] 新鲜 (xīn xiān) – means fresh, novel, uncommon

[4] 五马分尸 – Historical execution method where they dismember a body by having five horses pull the limbs and head.

[5] 小废物 (xiǎo fèiwù) – Literally ‘little rubbish.’ 小 means small/little. 废物 means rubbish, waste material, useless person.

[6] 您 (nín) – uses the polite ‘you’ again