TAMW CH29

Zhou Xiao pressed his forehead lightly against Yuqing’s, their noses touching.

In the corner of his vision, the dancing flames seemed almost like the red wedding candles from the night they were wed.

Yuqing drew in a deep breath. The bewilderment in his eyes deepened—not with hazy mist, but with a glittering sheen of moisture reflecting in the dark.

All along, he had assumed that his endurance and calculating patience were the ultimate strategies.

At the harbor that day, Zhou Xiao had asked: ‘Are you always bullied like this?’

At the time, Yuqing had thought to himself that retribution would eventually find those who wronged him; it was merely a matter of time. He was accustomed to enduring, practically numb to pain. From the Ruan family to the Zhou mansion, he had lived with such agonizing caution for so long that only now did he realize he had never truly understood how to live.

Ruan Hongtian had threatened to ruin him with those photographs—to destroy the President of Qingming Bank. Yuqing’s initial thought had simply been: It doesn’t matter if I am ruined. He lived only for the Zhou family. In a blind spot he had never noticed, he had subconsciously reduced his own existence to that of an inanimate object.

Living peacefully and living like a corpse were two entirely different things…

His adoptive father had taught him to read, taught him the moral truths in books, and taught him how to do business. Yuqing was grateful to Zhou Yuzhang for keeping his flesh and blood alive, saving him from merely dragging out a wretched existence in this world.

Yet an existence of numbed stability and the suffocating etiquette of a grand estate had pickled him into a living ghost.

Zhou Xiao, however, seemed to be waking his soul.

He was teaching him how to truly live for once.

Not by enduring grievance, but by taking sweet satisfaction.

A sordid lineage, a willow lute, a male concubine—such malicious gossip was venomous enough to swallow a person whole. Not just in Baizhou, but across the entire Republic; to the public, it was merely entertaining chatter over tea. Truth and innocence never mattered; as long as people could trample him and curse him to vent their spleen, they were content.

Zhou Xiao had studied overseas; his worldview had long since broken free from the shackles of idle gossip and archaic rules.

Yuqing’s heart pounded violently. He slowly lifted his head, meeting Zhou Xiao’s blazing, sun-like gaze, a genuine yet helpless smile gracing his face.

Seeing him stare so blankly, Zhou Xiao cupped Yuqing’s face with both hands, pressing for an answer like an eager puppy begging for praise: “I’m asking you.”

Yuqing let out a soft breath from his nose. “It’s pretty.”

Zhou Xiao did not force another kiss. Instead, he gripped Yuqing’s hand tightly, tucking it warmly into the pocket of Yuqing’s fur cloak. Standing shoulder to shoulder beneath a parasol tree, they gazed toward the distant Ruan mansion.

A grand banquet had barely begun before it was utterly ruined.

Pandemonium reigned over the Ruan residence. Servants were scurrying frantically to fight the blaze, and the head butler screamed at the chauffeurs to bring the automobiles around—the Old Master had been shot.

The blood splatters on Zhou Yulin’s face had not yet dried; he was scared out of his wits.

He had just been discussing matters with several newspaper proprietors, dropping hints that a massive scoop would break in the coming days and urging them to print it aggressively.

Once finished, Zhou Yulin had gone upstairs to push Ruan Hongtian’s wheelchair.

Ruan Hongtian’s negotiations with Yuqing had naturally fallen through. He had put on the masquerade of a benevolent father, yet Yuqing had walked away without looking back. Even so, Ruan Hongtian had alternate plans. Could a crumbling, withered Zhou family truly turn heaven and earth upside down simply because of an outsider like Ruan Yuqing?

One second, Zhou Yulin was speaking to his brother-in-law, boasting that Zhou Xiao had already agreed to the partnership.

The next second, as he pushed Ruan Hongtian down the stairs, a muffled gunshot masked by the banquet orchestra rang out. A single round struck Ruan Hongtian square in the abdomen.

Blood gushed like a broken tap.

At first, Ruan Hongtian merely stared down in disbelief at his robes. His black Chinese jacket masked the crimson stain, but when he looked up, a raging fire had already ignited in his second-floor study.

Black smoke billowed from the doorway. Someone, fleeing in blind panic, crashed into the champagne tower on the ground floor, shattering it into pieces.

Deng Yongquan had calmly struck a match and tossed it in. As expected, the flames surged even higher, setting both the first and second floors ablaze simultaneously.

Within minutes, thick, choking black fog replaced the opulent grandeur of the Ruan mansion.

Piercing shrieks tore the air. The massive crystal chandelier hanging from the ballroom ceiling swayed perilously over a floor littered with shattered glassware.

Zhou Yulin’s young boy stood frozen in the crowd, calling out blankly, “Father.”

He still clutched the pistol in his little hand. It had held only a single bullet—and it had found its mark straight in Ruan Hongtian’s gut.

No matter how many duplicate prints of those photographs existed, this conflagration would burn every last one to pure ash.

Yuqing quietly steadied his breathing, listening to Zhou Xiao speak: “I don’t know what that old man taught you back then. But since I am now the master of the Zhou family, and a wife takes her husband’s name, you must listen to my words as well.”

Yuqing smiled, replying softly, “Yes.”

“Don’t wrong yourself in the future,” Zhou Xiao said. “Look at yourself as a human being, not an object.”

Not an unwanted castoff of the Ruan family, nor an instrument cultivated by Old Master Zhou solely to support his son.

Ruan Yuqing was simply Ruan Yuqing.

Yuqing’s eyes shone with light. Lowering his head slightly, his long locks fluttered in the autumn wind, only to wind gently around Zhou Xiao’s fingertips when the gust settled. “All right.”

“Zhezhi, you are quite different from what I had imagined.” Yuqing tilted his face slightly, a sliver of remorse crossing his eyes.

Zhou Xiao instead raised a brow in smug satisfaction, one hand shoved in his trouser pocket. “How am I different?”

“Do you know what kind of dragon’s pool and tiger’s den this Ruan family once was?” Yuqing’s gaze turned distant, lost in reverie. “My mother was the only concubine without a prominent maternal family behind her.”

“With neither status nor background, living with your palms perpetually turned upward for scraps is truly agonizing.”

“Her life was far more bitter than mine. She didn’t even have a decent place to lay her bones in death. She suffered her entire life only to meet a horrific end—all because of her lowly birth and her beautiful skin. A tragedy from start to finish.”

As Yuqing looked down, the corners of his eyes glistened with unshed tears.

“Father saved me and took pity on me. I genuinely regarded him as my own flesh and blood. Whenever he longed for you, I would even feel jealous… thinking that you had everything yet threw it away so carelessly, while the things I strove with all my might to obtain were scraps you had discarded years ago.”

“I thought you were haughty, arrogant, and utterly insufferable. It seems my perspective was too narrow,” Yuqing’s pale skin looked achingly fragile. “I apologize.”

Though he was three years older than Zhou Xiao, at this very moment, Zhou Xiao seemed to see a much younger Yuqing.

He saw, beneath that composed, mature shell, a scarred, unhealed child’s soul.

Even with the Ruan mansion in flames and Ruan Hongtian gut-shot, true retribution could never undo the fact that the young Yuqing was still bleeding inside.

Zhou Xiao tilted his head. “No, you weren’t wrong.”

“I am haughty and arrogant, but that’s because I have the capital to back it up.” Zhou Xiao stared at him intently. “To the outside world, I am an overseas graduate holding lucrative economic projects, an ambitious young man with a brilliant future. At home, as your husband, I am handsome, well-endowed, devoted to my family, and know how to make money.”

“My formidable endowment is yours to take and use as you please. The so-called Zhou family assets are yours to squander however you like. Even without Qingming Bank, the Shencheng Bank is mine to take at any moment. Anyone standing by my side ought to look upon me with absolute awe.”

“Take this: you wanted to preserve the Zhou family by martyring your own reputation, but I had a far better way to solve it. I am not a child who needs you to shield me anymore.”

“I can be used by you, aid you, accompany you, and give you everything your heart desires—children, money, the port, the railway. Whatever you ask for, I will grant it.” He paused, then added, “And all you need to do is stay in the Zhou house and be the proper Mrs. Zhou.”

“Can you really call that arrogant?”

He delivered the words with such effortless, matter-of-fact confidence.

Yuqing burst out laughing with a soft pfft.

Watching Zhou Xiao praise himself so vehemently and earnestly, he truly couldn’t find it in himself to call the man arrogant.

Instead, a corner of his heart softened, finding him rather endearing.

“Come here,” Yuqing crooked his finger.

“What for?” Zhou Xiao stepped forward.

Yuqing stepped forward as well, resting his hands upon the man’s shoulders.

Rising slightly onto the tips of his toes, Yuqing tilted his head and pressed a kiss against Zhou Xiao’s lips, his voice soft as spring water: “You are very adorable.”

Zhou Xiao felt completely electrified by this proactive kiss, a wave of sheer bliss washing from his toes to the crown of his head.

Though they had shared intimacy before, kisses given by Yuqing from the heart were exceedingly rare.

Zhou Xiao had not wanted to force him, but this was different—Yuqing had come forward of his own accord.

The man’s broad palm cradled the back of Yuqing’s head, pulling him in for a wild, predatory kiss, sucking and nipping at the faint fragrance of jasmine.

Yuqing’s swollen abdomen pressed lightly against his wool trousers, nudging Zhou Xiao’s sanity back into place for a brief moment.

“You don’t call a man ‘adorable.'”

Yuqing cupped his cheeks with a blooming smile, playfully tugging Zhou Xiao’s earlobes left and right. Zhou Xiao’s head swayed helplessly along with Yuqing’s hands like a marionette with severed strings.

“Very good boy,” Yuqing rewarded him with a gentle pat on the cheek.

Zhou Xiao swept him firmly into his embrace. “You don’t call a man a ‘good boy’ either.”

He saw that the corners of Yuqing’s lips were continuously curved, that faint melancholy having completely vanished.

Yuqing had proactively kissed him, proactively praised him.

Zhou Xiao shook his head inwardly, thinking to himself that Yuqing took the bait far too easily. He had merely done a few trivial things, and the man was already this moved.

What a pity… What an absolute pity. If only Yuqing had a few more fathers; with every one that died, Zhou Xiao could make him just that much happier.

The roaring fire at the Ruan residence drew reporters from numerous newspapers to snap photographs and take statements, while doctors and nurses hurried in to rescue the wounded.

Flames surged bright enough to illuminate the heavens.

Amid the inferno consuming the Ruan mansion, Zhou Xiao spirited his Yuqing away.

However, Zhou Xiao didn’t know the exact extent of Ruan Hongtian’s gunshot wound—whether the old bastard was dead or merely clinging to life.

Tonight hadn’t been entirely fruitless; at the very least, he had walked away with the contract.

Yuqing took it and inspected the pages—it was indeed an investment of eighty million American dollars.

The primary reason Zhou Xiao had secured the railway franchise was that his locomotive parts were irreplaceable, shipped directly from France, and accompanied by specialized engineers capable of surveying and designing the rail lines. In this Republican era, such engineers and imported materials were scarce; wartime regions took first priority. Zhou Xiao possessed both the men and the materials. With initial capital and permits, he could turn a massive profit. It was a venture that guaranteed a fortune to anyone who bought in.

On the carriage ride back, Zhou Xiao asked, “If you wanted me to partner with Ruan Hongtian from the beginning, why didn’t you have me approach him directly?”

“Ruan Hongtian isn’t that foolish. Besides, a deal pushed onto someone’s doorstep holds no value; only what is stolen from another brings a sense of triumph.”

Zhou Xiao chewed on the thought, realizing that although Yuqing had never received formal Western schooling, his mind was exceptionally sharp. If Yuqing had been sent to study in France or Great Britain back then, what kind of formidable figure would he be today?

“Now that the Ruan mansion has burned, take the money and seize the chance to build the railway in Shencheng. He won’t have time to bother you. Otherwise…”

“Ruan Hongtian would have targeted the people around you. Once he mapped out your supply lines and connections, he would have found an excuse to get rid of you and take everything over…”

Yuqing kept his head lowered over the contract, his lips flush red, their color shifting between vivid clarity and soft shadow under the passing streetlamps outside.

Because he had bound his abdomen today, the robes beneath his cloak accentuated his narrow, slender shoulders. His pointed chin and downcast gaze held the tender, sorrowful mercy of a bodhisattva; his pale, slender neck made him look like an elegant, striking white crane.

Zhou Xiao stared until he was lost in a trance, forgetting every word that had just left the man’s mouth.

Midway through his thought, Yuqing helplessly reached over, patted Zhou Xiao’s cheek, and gave it two gentle strokes. “Did you hear a word I said?”

Zhou Xiao: “Of course.”

“Liar,” Yuqing pinched his ear with a bit more force. “You never learn your lesson. It is terribly impolite to ignore someone when they speak to you, do you hear me?”

“I hear you.”

Zhou Xiao loved being scolded by him like this.

The scene reminded him of his boyhood, watching through the carriage window as a mother on the roadside twisted her son’s ear in affectionate reprimand. Back then, he had felt only bitter envy—longing to be kept in line by someone who loved him.

Now, he was finally the one being kept in line.

Yuqing was disciplining him with love.

Even with his ear being pinched, Zhou Xiao felt utterly, wonderfully warm inside.

When they returned to the Zhou mansion, the butler had long been waiting at the courtyard gate with the servants.

Because his abdomen had been tightly bound all evening, Yuqing had no appetite. He dismissed the prepared dinner, having it rewarded to the servants, intending only to drink his prenatal brew before sleeping.

Zhou Xiao frowned slightly. “With your current condition, how can you skip meals?”

He immediately dispatched a runner to the pastry shops.

Yuqing had no idea what he intended to buy; his palate had shifted drastically and he no longer cared for sweets.

“Do you need help?” Zhou Xiao sat outside the mother-of-pearl screen, anxiously rubbing his knees, his ears pricked for any sound from within.

Yuqing was untying the bindings around his waist. “Could you pour a cup of tea?”

Zhou Xiao quickly poured the tea and carried it inside.

The inner and outer chambers were separated by the folding screen. Rounding it, his eyes immediately found Yuqing’s bed.

For some inexplicable reason, whenever Zhou Xiao laid eyes on that bed, his heart raced uncontrollably—as though… as though that very spot had been made specifically for them to lie together.

He had long forgotten his earlier demands for a grand Western spring bed.

An antique wooden bed like this was far superior—complete with bed curtains and sheer netting. Once closed off, the interior remained dim and private; when shifting vigorously, the aged timber would even creak rhythmically…

Yuqing had already changed into comfortable inner garments.

His undergarments were custom-tailored, fashioned after the robes worn by expectant women. Yuqing was not accustomed to modern Western attire; traditional cuts suited his current body far better. The chest was split into two overlapping panels that could be opened independently, while the hem flared broadly to conceal the swell of his belly. The trousers were loose, yet because the silk was so sheer, the movement of his long, shapely legs remained faintly visible beneath…

Because his stomach was empty, Yuqing was suffering from uncomfortable bouts of acid reflux.

He sat languidly upon a wooden armchair, leaning back against the rest, reaching out to take the tea from Zhou Xiao’s hand. “Thank you for the trouble.”

Zhou Xiao remarked, “I’m the only one in the room. Who else would you dare order about?”

Yuqing said, “You were so agreeable and sweet outside. Why do you turn around and bite the moment you come home?”

“When have I ever bitten you?” Zhou Xiao’s ears flushed red in protest.

Yuqing laughed softly, thinking to himself that Zhou Xiao truly was unruly. Previously, he had considered the boy arrogant and conceited to the extreme, looking down on him; had it not been for the Zhou bloodline, someone like that wouldn’t have been worthy to carry his shoes, no matter how wealthy.

Now, Yuqing found him rather intriguing. At the very least, he had made him laugh aloud on several occasions.

Keeping him around for entertainment didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Yuqing said, “Father taught me that laying everything out on the table is always best. Weighing gains and losses, achieving mutual benefit—that is how things are done properly.”

Zhou Xiao had no idea why he was suddenly bringing this up. He had intended to pull up a chair to sit beside him, but thought the bed looked more inviting, so he sat down casually upon the mattress. “And so?”

“The Young Master harbors grand ambitions that Yuqing cannot match. When the child is born, it will bear the surname Zhou. As for you and me…”

“Does the Young Master have anything he wishes to say?”

Zhou Xiao said, “Say what?”

“In the Zhou household, I will still be the one calling the shots. Do you object?” he asked.

Zhou Xiao thought to himself: We are going to spend our lives together anyway. Husband and wife are of one flesh; if Yuqing calls the shots, it’s the same as me calling the shots. That suits me just fine.

At the thought, Zhou Xiao felt thoroughly pleased with himself, breaking into a grin. “No objections.”

“I will not surrender authority over the Zhou estate. But freedom—that, I can grant you. Whether the Young Master maintains an interest in me in the future or loses it entirely, you may come and go as you please. That is my promise to you. How does that sound?”

Zhou Xiao sprang to his feet in an instant. “What kind of freedom?!”

Yuqing was startled by his sudden movement. “Pardon?”

“Right now… I am pregnant. Yuqing cannot help resolve the Young Master’s morning… urges. If you wish to keep a mistress outside, take care of someone, and set up an apartment for them, that is your freedom. I will not interfere.”

“What?!”

Yuqing blinked. “This is what principal wives in prominent households have always done.”

“I cannot allow my condition to inconvenience your needs. Besides… the Young Master treated me with such tender care today. I felt I ought to set a proper example. Yuqing is merely a male wife, after all, and cannot be presented proudly in public. Taking a proper concubine into the household in the future would be good for you; it would help uphold your social standing.”

Zhou Xiao hung his head, shadows creeping across his face, practically swallowing his eyes in darkness.

He was so utterly incensed by Ruan Yuqing that he let out a furious laugh, spitting out several biting “Goods” in a row.

All these days! He had bent over backward trying to please him, worrying himself sick over him!

And this man actually wanted to push him into someone else’s bed!

“Splendid, Ruan Yuqing! What a remarkably generous, unjealous principal wife you are!” Zhou Xiao sneered, so livid he shattered the teacup on the table. “How dare you treat me like this! You’ve used me, you’ve played with me, and you were clearly touched by what happened today—how can you turn your back on me the moment we step through the door?!”

Yuqing thought to himself: Where is this coming from?

Seeing that Zhou Xiao had no intention of leaving, they couldn’t possibly carry on with such breathless intimacy every single day…

Besides, what man in this world didn’t rejoice when his primary wife offered to take in concubines for him? In the old days, such an act was universally lauded as generous and noble-minded. Having grown up witnessing this, Yuqing saw nothing wrong with it.

Moreover, this morning, Zhou Xiao had pressed against his thighs… nipping with his teeth in that breathless way, over and over. Even on the carriage ride back just now, Yuqing had caught sight of the prominent swell tenting his trousers.

From the moment he stepped in with the tea until now, the heavy wool of his trousers couldn’t hide it; he was completely unrestrained, having clearly held it in for far too long.

Arranging a concubine for him was purely out of consideration for his well-being.

“Besides, my condition during pregnancy… is quite inconvenient. The Young Master felt it yesterday as well; I am genuinely difficult to attend to. Sleeping together every night will only…”

Zhou Xiao exploded: “Bullshit!”

His chest heaved with indignant fury. Why didn’t Yuqing want to claim him entirely?

Those words back at the Ruan mansion, all that lavish praise he had heaped on him—had Yuqing not absorbed a single word?

Why on earth didn’t he want to possess him exclusively?!

“Did I not hold you properly yesterday? Did I not hold you when you needed to relieve yourself? Where exactly is the inconvenience? You haven’t even let me serve you properly—what right do you have to say I’m no good?!”

Zhou Xiao’s chest ached with fury. Sitting back on the bed, he felt drowning in countless grievances. “And to think I worried over you—in the end, I’m the only laughingstock here!”

“You were the one who insisted on taking me in the beginning! Now that you have your child, you turn your back on me and push me away! Aside from business, you refuse to speak a single heartfelt word to me!”

As he spoke, he sat by the edge of the mattress and sniffled.

Seeing him sitting alone on the bed, his broad frame taking up nearly half the mattress, Yuqing—too exhausted and weak from hunger to stand—could only wave him over helplessly: “Why are you getting tearful now? Come here.”

“You! You’re ordering me around again!”

Zhou Xiao hurried over regardless, positioning his face so Yuqing could clearly see the tear tracks on his cheeks. “Keep treating me like this! Look up at the heavens and see if that old man can rest in peace knowing how you treat me!”

Yuqing: “…What nonsense are you spouting now?”

“I was only worried about you…” Yuqing said awkwardly. “I…”

Terrified that raising his arms would strain Yuqing, Zhou Xiao dropped almost entirely to his knees, burying his face against Yuqing’s thighs, weeping softly: “You took me, you ruined me, and now you push me away! You’ve ruined me so thoroughly that I can only feel anything for a man, and now you tell me to go find a woman? Ruan Yuqing, are you even human?!”

Listening to his muffled sobs, Yuqing—who had never encountered such a display in his life—tried to help him up.

Yet the man’s shoulders were broad and heavily muscled; he couldn’t budge him in the slightest.

Zhou Xiao choked out again: “All my care for you today was completely wasted! My whole heart was fed to a dog!”

Battered by his barrage of accusations, Yuqing felt dizzy. He confessed, “It isn’t just that my chest aches. When you sleep beside me, I… I feel urges too…”

“What?” Zhou Xiao lifted his face. “Urges for what?”

Seeing two distinctly damp tear stains soaking into the fabric of his trousers over his thighs, Yuqing felt a throbbing headache coming on.

Zhou Xiao was clearly only three years younger than him; why did he act like a petulant child…?

Of course—it was because Zhou Yuzhang had never taught him properly, and Zhou Xiao had left home at such a tender age. At his core, he desperately craved a family. It was only natural that he would refuse to let an outsider encroach upon their home.

“It’s because of the child…” Yuqing didn’t find it particularly shameful to admit.

Whenever the child shifted and pressed against certain places inside him, he would feel a slight… craving.

Months ago, when the baby was still small, he hadn’t experienced such sensations. Now that the child had grown and begun to kick, it hadn’t been unbearable on his own. But ever since Zhou Xiao returned and shared his bed, the man was constantly… pressing against his legs from behind.

Yuqing was not one to indulge his physical desires, yet it left him terribly restless.

He explained in a gentle, melodic voice: “Rather than both of us suffering in discomfort, I thought of finding someone for you. If you are unwilling, then we shall speak of it no more… It was precisely because you treated me so well today that I wished to repay you somehow. I thought you would be pleased by my generosity…”

Zhou Xiao breathed a massive sigh of relief, his tears drying up instantly.

So that was it.

He leaned his cheek comfortably against Yuqing’s thigh, forgiving him with immediate grace: “It’s those feudal, archaic customs that made you think that way. I don’t blame you.”

Yuqing: “…Then you…”

“I haven’t even properly serviced you yet, so why would you send me away?” Zhou Xiao added hurriedly. “I can endure it. There’s no rush for my sake; your comfort comes first.”

“Madam, the refreshments have arrived,” Zhao Fu knocked from outside.

Yuqing pinched his cheek, signaling him to get up.

Zhou Xiao: “Have Deng Yongquan bring them in.”

Hearing the order outside, Deng Yongquan kept his head lowered, pushed the door open, and skirted past the mother-of-pearl screen. Pretending to be blind was an essential survival skill for servants. Before he could set the tray down, Zhou Xiao said, “Leave it.”

Before his hands could touch the tabletop, Deng Yongquan’s peripheral vision caught sight of his master kneeling prostrate in the Madam’s lap. His hands shook violently.

The fresh cream cake slipped from the tray and crashed to the floor—landing, by pure misfortune, right beside Yuqing’s bare feet.

Having just changed into his nightclothes, Yuqing’s shoes and stockings were off, and a dollop of white cream splattered across his toes.

“Tsk…” Zhou Xiao scowled. “Can’t even manage a simple task. Hurry up and buy another one!”

Deng Yongquan nodded frantically, backing out of the room and ordering the rest of the servants to retreat from the courtyard.

Zhao Fu hesitated: “The Madam might call for me.”

Deng Yongquan scoffed coldly: “Open your dog eyes—that is Mrs. Zhou in there!”

Mrs. Zhou’s toes were currently soiled.

While Yuqing no longer had a taste for sweets, catching the sweet aroma of cream at this moment, he felt it was rather a shame to waste it.

Still resting in his lap, Zhou Xiao shifted slightly, his broad thigh nudging Yuqing’s foot aside, causing it to step deeper into the fallen cream.

Zhou Xiao looked up and asked, “If I service you until you’re completely comfortable, you won’t drive me away, will you?”

The overlapping panels of Yuqing’s inner robe were loosely tied, leaving the collar gaping wide, revealing glimpses of tender pink flesh. “Hmm?”

“Toss me around however you like, do whatever you want with me—anything goes.” Zhou Xiao’s broad, warm palm wrapped firmly around his ankle. With a single fluid motion, he swept Yuqing up entirely into his arms, carrying him straight onto the bed.

Yuqing’s vision spun, and he instinctively threw his arms around the man’s neck.

His ankles were stunning—the slender, delicate lines of a true beauty, his toes carved like polished jade. Because of the cold, the tips blushed a pale pink, now coated with sweet cream.

Yuqing’s mindset was indeed rather traditional. While feet were not strictly private, having them cradled in Zhou Xiao’s palms and lifted like this…

His lower abdomen was slightly swollen, partially obstructing his view. Before he could push himself up on his elbows, he suddenly felt a scorching heat against his foot.

The man’s mouth pressed close; lifting Yuqing’s calf, he lightly licked away the cream. “Let me truly service you for once.”

He simply refused to believe it. Once he serviced this person until he was melting in bliss, breathless and wanting more, would Mrs. Zhou still have the heart to drive him away?

He would be weeping and crying out, desperate to have him every single day!

He was determined to make Yuqing hopelessly addicted to him, utterly unable to live without him…

Even Yuqing’s shoes carried a fragrance—the crisp scent of jasmine mingled with the clean warmth of his skin. His quilts and stockings were frequently aired in the sun, lending this very foot its unique, intoxicating scent…

The sweet richness of the cream had even been pressed into the spaces between his toes…

“Zhou Xiao…!” Before Yuqing could pull his other foot back, it was caught in Zhou Xiao’s grip, pulled forward, and pressed directly against the upper half of his face.

Zhou Xiao remained on his knees, his eyes glistening wetly—and his lips slick with cream.