Chapter 44: I Curse You to Get Dumped

In the hospital, Shen Zhao pushed open the door of his office and found a familiar woman sitting in his chair.

Shen Zhiwei's complexion was slightly pale, which made the red mark on her neck all the more prominent.

"Brother."

Shen Zhao's dark eyes narrowed slightly as he closed the door and turned the lock. "Why are you here?"

Shen Zhiwei went over to hug him with a wronged expression. "Can't I come?"

"You can."

"Don't worry, I won't let Xu Si'an off the hook."

Shen Zhao stroked the top of her hair. "I'll have someone handle the company matters. Be good during this time and stay out of trouble."

Shen Zhiwei looked up to kiss his jaw. "Brother, are you off work?"

"I want to go home with you."

Shen Zhao knew he should pull away, but he couldn't bear to.

"I am."

The two left the hospital one after the other, and subsequently entered Shen Zhao's home one after the other—all of which was captured on camera by someone following them in secret.

***

Lying face down on the bed half-dead, He Yanxun's hand trembled even as he answered the phone.

"President He, we managed to get photos of the Shen family's eldest Miss. Should we publish them?"

"Take them to Xu Si'an, and make sure to squeeze some money out of him."

"One million per photo," He Yanxun gritted his teeth. Damn that Xu Si'an—all he did was buy his precious little darling a drink, so why did he have to summon that beast of a beast-king over?

What did he ever do to deserve this?

He Yanxun tossed his phone aside, his gaze fixed piercingly on the bottle protruding from the trash can.

"Animal."

The bedroom door was pushed open by the "animal." "Still have the energy to curse? Looks like a bottle of oil wasn't your limit."

He Yanxun felt a strong urge to smash the trash can straight onto that face of his.

"Why are you still in my house?"

"Done screwing around, why aren't you getting lost?"

Si Shen sat on the edge of the bed, his fingertips tracing He Yanxun's Adam's apple. "Not feeling satisfied?"

He Yanxun gripped the hand pulling back the blanket in sheer panic. "Can't you act like a human for once, damn it? I can't even move my body and you're still going at it?"

"I'm just looking at you, what are your thoughts running to?"

"Besides, I'm an animal, not a human, so you shouldn't expect such fine things as human empathy."

Si Shen pulled him by the waist into his arms. "Still hurting?"

"Then I'll apply the ointment again."

"Get lost to hell, I don't need it."

He Yanxun wanted to castrate him.

He had no idea how things had come to this point. He was straight!

Even if he wasn't straight, he should at least have been the one on top.

None of this made any scientific sense.

"Stop bickering and get some rest."

Si Shen casually picked a pair of pajamas from the wardrobe and dressed him.

"Where are my boxers?"

Si Shen answered him with absolute seriousness: "Weren't you in pain?"

"Go commando."

"Wearing them hurts worse."

"I told you inside the car, but you just insisted on taking it all night long."

He Yanxun slapped him right across the face.

What kind of ungodly beast was this?

He had no strength left in him, so even his slap felt feeble and soft.

Si Shen simply let him hit him.

It didn't hurt or itch anyway.

He kept a mental tally of every single blow He Yanxun landed, ready to collect the debt in full later.

"I've cooked dinner. It's in the pot, kept warm."

"Eat when you wake up if you're hungry."

They had gone to sleep in the middle of the night, and in the morning he had been woken up by He Yanxun's restless sleeping posture teasing him.

One word led to another and a war broke out.

By the time He Yanxun collapsed from exhaustion again, it was already noon.

Eating was completely out of the question.

Even the cleanup was handled by Boss Si himself.

After Si Shen left, He Yanxun finally managed to get up and eat two bowls of porridge, then dragged his half-crippled body back to bed to play dead.

"Hiss—damn it, I really feel like I've split open."

His grievance was deafening.

His phone rang, and He Yanxun groped laboriously for the device on the bedside table.

"Speak."

"President He, President Xu says ten yuan per photo is already his friendly price."

"He also said that if you weren't brothers, he'd only accept one yuan per photo."

The assistant's words nearly made He Yanxun bite off his tongue.

He hung up and called that backstabbing "brother": "No wonder you get along so well with that animal Si. Our paparazzi risked their lives to dig up info for you, and look at you—you actually had the nerve to say ten yuan."

In his office, Xu Si'an raised a hand to signal the person in front of him to leave.

"If I hadn't done it for your sake, I'd consider even one yuan too much."

"A woman like that isn't worth my money."

"Every penny of mine is reserved for my Qiaoqiao and my cherry blossoms."

Xu Si'an tapped his fingers on the desk, the web of his left thumb bearing the mark of a deep bite.

He Yanxun unleashed an uninterrupted stream of curses on the other end of the line.

"I swear..."

"I'm selling these to your rivals."

Xu Si'an lazily lit a cigarette. "Go ahead, at least two million per photo."

"Though just pictures of you two entering a house together aren't convincing enough."

"You at least need to get someone to snap pictures of you rolling in the sheets. That would actually have some kick."

He Yanxun hissed.

Catching the unusual sound, Xu Si'an raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Is that your back hurting, or your hole hurting?"

"I hope you get dumped straight into the Pacific Ocean."

The phone was slammed down, and Xu Si'an laughed with exasperation.

Driven to anger by shame, absolutely.

Xu Si'an didn't forget to give Si Shen a quick call.

"Xiao An?"

"Senior Brother, what did you do to my childhood friend?"

"He said he wants to dump you into the Pacific Ocean."

He Yanxun, the victim of groundless rumors, was currently busy comforting his own poor puppy-waist, which felt like it was already halfway to the Pacific.

On the other end, Si Shen simply replied, "Take a ten-minute break."

"It was his own choice. I gave him a chance and he didn't cherish it."

Xu Si'an was someone who had known about their shady dynamic from the very beginning.

The first time Si Shen laid eyes on He Yanxun, he had subconsciously marked him as his personal territory.

After that came overt flirtation and covert pursuit.

On the very day he finally bedded him, Si Shen had even called Xu Si'an to ask if he was allowed to top him.

That had almost driven Xu Si'an into an existential crisis.

Who on earth calls in advance to file a report like that?

Si Shen chuckled softly. "Let's see if he can shake me off first."

"What about you and Miss Qiao? Made up yet?"

Xu Si'an's smile deepened. "No. I'm not as ruthless as Senior Brother; my darling is terribly delicate, and if I used force, I'd only end up dead."

Titles and official status were things one had to slowly earn.

The office door was knocked on—Xu Si'an's little darling had arrived.

"Senior Brother, let's catch up another day. My darling has come to find me."

Si Shen, who had just been forcefully fed a mouthful of dog food, was slightly speechless.

He pondered how he could secure a proper, legitimate title for himself.

Should he perhaps go work for him instead?

"Come in."

"President Xu, the Vice President of the Shen Corporation is here."

"He said he had an appointment with you."

Xu Si'an beckoned her over, and Qiao Qiao stopped a desk's length away.

"Qiaoqiao, planning to crawl across the desk?"

"Office play—I've been looking forward to it for a long time."

Qiao Qiao slammed her hand fiercely on the desk. "Work hours, please be professional, President Xu."

"Does that mean we can play once work is over?"

Xu Si'an's eyes were full of smiles, looking very much like a cherry blossom begging to be held.

"Stop trying to use your capitalist status to PUA me."

"I'm not falling for it."

"Hurry up, are you seeing him or not? If not, I'll send him away."

Xu Si-an lazily scratched the bite mark on the web of his thumb. "See him, why wouldn't I? He's delivering money right to our doorstep."