When Li Yu emerged, Jian Suiying was sitting at the bedside, flipping through Li Yu's notebook.
He glanced at the thin blanket still crumpled on the chair and raised his chin. "What's up?"
Jian Suiying patted the empty spot beside her with a mischievous grin: "Come on up. What, you think I'll eat you?"
Li Yu felt Jian Suiying's attitude toward him growing increasingly strange, but he still couldn't accept the idea that Jian Suiying might harbor improper intentions toward him.
He sat down beside Jian Suiying, who pointed to a news article on the computer screen. It was about an old city renovation project in a certain city
project had been awarded to a developer. Li Yu remarked with a touch of envy, "That guy's going to make a fortune."
Both men felt reasonably refreshed after their shower. Drawing on his experience, Jian Suiying analyzed the potential costs and profits of the project for Li Yu.
costs and profits. Li Yu listened intently, occasionally asking questions.
After finishing, Jian Suiying asked with a smug look, "You've been with me for over two weeks now. Have you learned a lot?"
Li Yu nodded in agreement, genuinely impressed.
Jian Suiying closed his laptop, placed it on the desk, and stretched out comfortably. "Sleep?" Li Yu nodded and reached to turn off the light.
"Hey, you're sleeping in my sweats? Aren't you afraid of getting hot?" "It's fine."
"Take it off. I guarantee you won't be able to sleep from the heat."
Jian Suiying wore only boxers, covering his stomach with just a corner of the blanket—looking almost naked.
Startled, Li Yu opened his eyes to find Jian Suiying's face mere inches away. He quickly took the cup and took a hasty sip.
Jian Suiying then diligently pulled a corner of the quilt over his stomach. "Even in this heat, you can leave it off anywhere else
You must cover your stomach or you'll catch a chill."
Neither spoke, yet in such silence, even the sound of each other's breathing was perfectly clear.
Jian Suying felt increasingly hot, for his heart simply refused to settle. The fresh meat he'd been dreaming of day and night lay beside him,
and lying there clean and fresh. Any man who could stay calm at a moment like this must have something seriously wrong with him.
Damn it, this was torture. Jian Suiying felt like his teeth were about to grind to dust.
While Young Master Jian's mind was in turmoil, Li Yu wasn't feeling much better either.
The more Li Yu thought about it, the more he felt like he was lying on a bed of thorns, every inch of his body aching. Hot and irritable, he couldn't bear to lie still any longer
He shot upright, wanting to get some air.
Startled by his sudden movement, Li Yu reflexively pushed him away.
This only made matters worse. Jian Suiying, now bristling like a startled animal, grabbed hold of his shoulders.
In the darkness, senses other than sight became abnormally acute. Both men's nerves were stretched to breaking point
, where any movement could provoke the other.
Driven by self-preservation, Li Yu pushed back harder. Jian Suying, fueled by his spoiled-brat attitude of "whoever defies me gets dealt with," yanked his arm even tighter and lunged forward.
Landing on top of him, Jian Da Shao's weight crushed him, the pain making him gasp for air. He managed a hoarse, choked-out "Fuck!" .
Li Yu's eyes blazed with fury. Gritting his teeth, he tried to rise, but Jian Suiying's stubborn temper flared, and he clung to him fiercely.
had always been like this—if someone upset him, he wouldn't let them rest easy either. As they wrestled and twisted, Jian Suiying found himself getting a little too excited.
When Li Yu felt something hard pressing against his thigh, his entire body froze. Jian Suiying also sensed the change in his own body and immediately stopped moving.
A sliver of moonlight streaming through the window allowed them to barely make out each other's bright eyes.
One pair blazed with furious rage, the other swirled with lingering desire. Both men regained a measure of clarity. Jian Suiying abruptly released his grip, and Li Yu sprang up with practiced agility.
The room fell into an absolute silence.
Li Yu stood with his back to Jian Suiying, frozen like a statue for several seconds before his voice emerged, utterly flat: "You're gay."
Jian Suiying swallowed hard, forcing himself to calm down. "I am."
Li Yu slowly turned his face. In the darkness, Jian Suiying could only see his eyes—exceptionally cold, so cold it sent a shiver down his spine.
shiver.
He heard Li Yu say, "Did you... to me?"
Jian Suiying was now fully sober. Having already thrown away everything worth losing, he felt a reckless abandonment, a kind of "what's the point" attitude.
and exhilaration. He admitted it openly, "Yes, I do like you."
Li Yu gritted his teeth. "I'm not gay."
"No one said you were. Can't I just like you? I've liked you since the first time I saw you."
Li Yu grabbed his clothes from the chair and strode toward the door.
"Li Yu!" Jian Suiying jumped up from the floor, her voice filled with sincerity. "Sleep here tonight. I'll crash in Sui Lin's room."
Li Yu didn't even pause, as if he hadn't heard a word.
Jian Suiying hurried over. Li Yu spun around as if electrocuted, glaring at him warily. Jian Suiying sighed helplessly. "Brother Jian acted impulsively today. I apologize."
Li Yu stared at him coldly.
"I don't know what got into me earlier... We're both men, so you should understand. I... I mean,
, I genuinely like you... Anyway, I was wrong earlier. Don't go out there—it's full of mosquitoes. You should sleep here
. I'll take another room."
With that, he grabbed his clothes and pushed open the door to leave. Li Yu watched his retreating figure, his gaze growing colder and colder.
Jian Suiying spent the night fully clothed on Jian Suilin's dusty bed.
When he first lay down, sleep was impossible. His mind kept replaying the events of the past hour, and the more he thought about it, the more regretful he felt.
regret.
Impulsive, so impulsive...
Now it was all ruined. The relationship they'd built over so long was probably destroyed.
Would Li Yu quit tomorrow? Maybe from now on, he'd have to sneak around the walls to avoid him, leaving Li Yu with nowhere to show his attentions.
no place to offer it.
Young Master Jian regretted it so much his guts turned green. They could have been laughing and joking together, but now he'd probably face nothing but cold stares from him.
Right.
It was remarkable that Young Master Jian agonized over the matter of the beautiful Li for several hours, yet in the end, his heartless self drifted off to sleep,
and slept soundly, dreamless all night.
Sure enough, upon entering, an old man and a young girl sat chatting in chairs, a steaming pot of tea on the coffee table.
Old Master Jian declared with full vigor, "You didn't get up until after nine! If it weren't for your cold these past few days, I wouldn't have let you sleep this late."
Jian Suiying glanced at Li Yu. Li Yu lifted her head and gave him a fleeting look, her expression utterly indifferent, as if nothing had happened yesterday.
had happened at all.
Jian Suiying's heart skipped a beat. He smiled and asked Li Yu, "What were you two talking about?" Li Yu replied, "Tea."
Li Yu didn't even lift an eyebrow, merely sipping his tea in silence.
Jian Suiying, having hit a minor snag, said no more and headed to the dining hall for breakfast.
While eating, he kept stealing glances at Li Yu, mentally calculating how he could keep Li Yu around if things turned sour between them.
After Xiao Zhao picked them up, Li Yu and Jian Suiying still sat one in front of the other across the two rows of seats in the minivan, traveling in silence.
As they neared the highway exit, Jian Suiying asked Xiao Zhao to pull over at a gas station.
Li Yu spoke up, "What's going on?" "Oh, I had Xiao Zhao take a taxi back." Li Yu said in a low voice, "What do you mean?"
" I thought the two of us should talk. It's awkward with others around." The young master Jian said this without a hint of embarrassment, even giving Li Yu a sly wink in the rearview mirror.
a sly glance at Li Yu through the rearview mirror.
Li Yu leaned back in his seat, arms crossed over his chest. He met Jian Suiying's gaze directly through the rearview mirror, neither flinching nor looking away.
Jian Suiying cleared his throat. "Well, first off, I need to apologize to you, Brother Jian. Yesterday's incident—I was acting out of turn.
. Just pretend I was drunk and acting crazy. Don't take it to heart."
Li Yu pursed his lips, saying nothing.
Li Yu's mouth twitched slightly, so furious he couldn't find words.
Li Yu sneered: "Brother Jian, I call you 'brother,' so act like one."
Jian Suilin's expression shifted slightly. If Li Yu had just told him to fuck off, he might have taken it more calmly. But this roundabout insult made him feel thoroughly uncomfortable.
He adjusted his expression, silently reminding himself that Li Yu was young and that he was the one pursuing him. As the bigger man, he wouldn't stoop to arguing with a child.
Li Yu froze at the question, genuinely hesitating for a moment.
Jian Suiying probably intended to provoke him. "If you want to quit, I won't stop you. I'll call your brother and explain it to him,
and make sure he doesn't say a word about you, okay?"
Li Yu's face twisted in frustration.
Jian Suiying pressed on, goading him, "Don't worry about it. I'll come up with a decent reason for you. Your brother won't say anything, considering my standing with him..."
Li Yu knew full well Jian Suiying was goading him, yet he was powerless to respond. He snapped stiffly: "No need. I have no intention of quitting."
Li Yu reluctantly accepted. Only then did Jian Suiying, satisfied, see him off to the taxi, smiling as she closed the door for him.
The moment the car started moving, Jian Suiying suddenly tapped on the window. Startled, Li Yu instinctively turned around. Jian Suiying blew him a kiss, then grinned mischievously at him.
Li Yu's face turned crimson with fury.