TAMW CH16

Zhou Xiao narrowed his long, slender eyes. The itch at his Adam’s apple felt like ants crawling outward from the blood vessels of his heart—a maddening itch that could neither be scratched nor satisfied.

He lowered his face, the tip of his nose gently resting against Yuqing’s.

Yuqing still carried the scent of jasmine, but now with a faint lingering sweetness on his lips from the cream cake they just had.

Zhou Xiao said, “No, you don’t want to.”

Yuqing Qing let out a muffled laugh, lightly brushing his nose against the other man’s. “Can the Young Master read my mind? What makes you think I don’t want to?”

He fell into a memory. Though it was a man’s voice, it sounded incredibly soft, like water. “Back then, Father only taught me how to keep from being bullied and how to stand firm. He never taught me about these things…”

In Yuqing’s heart, that man was truly his own father.

Zhou Xiao sneered, “What good could a pedantic old man possibly teach you?”

The old dynasty had fallen. Trams and Ford cars roamed the streets, airplanes flew in the sky, and mansions were equipped with telephones. Yet, the Zhou residence still lit large red lanterns.

Zhou Xiao pitied Ruan Yuqing for being trapped in such a place. Confining himself there for a lifetime, all for the sake of some life-saving debt of gratitude.

Yuqing’s slender arms rested on his shoulders as he spoke slowly, “Father taught me that if someone shows me grace, I naturally must repay them with something.”

“You teach me reason, but what can Yuqing possibly give you?” He breathed softly against the tip of Zhou Xiao’s nose, a radiant smile on his face. “As your ‘wife’, I’ll just let you kiss me.”

“Between a married couple, what does willingness even matter?” When he tilted his head, he truly looked like a little kitten. “I want to kiss my own husband. How can you say I don’t want to?”

Zhou Xiao stared at that silver-tongued mouth of his for several dozen seconds, feeling a sudden, dull ache in his chest. “Because if you truly wanted to kiss me, this wouldn’t be your reaction at all.”

Yuqing asked, “Then what kind of reaction should it be?”

He thought about it carefully. Over the years doing business in Baizhou, many people had expressed their love for him, but he had never felt a thing.

Yuqing was used to seeing the concubines in those grand mansions fighting tooth and nail just for a shred of a man’s favor. Compared to survival, love was the most worthless thing to mention. Besides, there were far too many in this world who loved him merely for his skin. It was just a superficial shell; he had never been truly loved by anyone, nor had he ever truly liked anyone either.

Zhou Xiao pinched his chin, scrutinizing him closely. “What reaction…”

Yuqing, thinking the Young Master found him distasteful, let go and stopped teasing him. He just looked up earnestly, wanting to see what else the man had to say.

“Mmph—” But in the very next second, Zhou Xiao leaned in and forcefully pressed his lips against his.

“Someone who wants to kiss wouldn’t ask,” he murmured. “They’d just do it.”

“Mmph—”

Yuqing had initially kept his lips sealed tight. Feeling the resistance, Zhou Xiao bit down hard on his bottom lip. Surprised by the sting, Yuqing parted his lips. His white hands pressed against the man’s firm, powerful chest, feeling the beating heart through the fabric of his suit.

Zhou Xiao seemed incredibly thirsty; whenever Yuqing drew a sharp, soft breath of pain, he only sucked harder. He had never kissed anyone before, of course. He had only seen the famous French kiss in movies, so he had no real technique to speak of.

Yuqing felt as though he was going to be devoured.

Standing just outside the open car door, Zhou Xiao used his broad hands to hook Yuqing by the waist. His slender, graceful body felt like a water snake as his palms roamed over it. Even though Yuqing was wearing a suit, Zhou Xiao somehow still felt as if he were undressing him from a traditional long gown. The burning lust was practically setting him on fire.

How could someone who truly wanted to kiss possibly ask? It was an entirely uncontrollable instinct, a voice roaring from the bottom of his heart screaming, I want him.

“Young Master…” The man’s breathing grew heavier as he pressed closer. Yuqing could only retreat backwards, feeling as if his entire being was being melted down.

“Hmm?” Zhou Xiao’s voice was hoarse, clearly suppressing something, the tips of his ears bright red. “Call me… is ‘Young Master’ all you know how to say?”

Yuqing’s mouth, slightly painful and slick from being bitten, murmured, “Then what should I call you?” Cupping Zhou Xiao’s face in his hands, a glint of moisture welling in his eyes, he asked, “What do you want Yuqing to call you?”

Zhou Xiao lifted his eyelids, speaking with a lazy drawl. “Aren’t you the fondest of all those old-fashioned customs?”

Yuqing felt the grip on him tighten, still unsure if he had accurately grasped Zhou Xiao’s desires. “Call you… Xianggong (Husband)? That’s a term from the old dynasty.”

Zhou Xiao parted his legs, and Yuqing cooperated, hooking his calves around his waist, practically melting back in surrender. “I don’t have that much of a desire to hear a man call me that.”

The man’s knobby, distinct fingers reached downward, and Yuqing wrapped around him like a supple snake.

“Are you going to f*ck Yuqing?”

Zhou Xiao replied, “This isn’t f*cking. In the West, they call it making love.”

“There is no love between us.” Yuqing stared at him with dark, deep eyes. “This is called taking what we both need.”

Yuqing’s endowment was actually quite average in size, neither too big nor too small. But because of his exceptionally pale skin, Zhou Xiao surprisingly found himself wanting to use the word ‘beautiful’ to describe it.

“Young Master, I…” Yuqing blushed this time. With their bodies pressed so intimately together, he felt a strange awkwardness. “I don’t use this. My constitution is weak; it’s very easy… for me to get sick.”

Zhou Xiao raised an eyebrow, clearly suppressing the urge to let the corners of his mouth hook up into a smirk. “Did you not use it before, either?”

Yuqing nodded.

In truth, that night with Zhou Xiao had been the first time for both of them. His legs had lost all strength and cramped several times that night, he just hadn’t mentioned it. He wasn’t shy about these matters; it was purely out of consideration for his own health. If he fell ill, the Zhou household would be in an uproar. The Second Master and the Ruan family were practically itching to skin him alive and swallow him whole—how could he dare to fall sick?

The man’s voice dropped incredibly low. “No wonder you’ve been wanting to cling to me. So this is the reason.”

Yuqing stared at him, feeling as though he had just been bitten back by a dog. It was true that he was clinging to Zhou Xiao, but that certainly wasn’t the reason, was it?

While he was deep in thought, Zhou Xiao had already reached his limit with that soft, fragile look of his. The glossy shine on his lips was gorgeously vivid. The more he thought about it, the more the urge threatened to drive him mad. That tight sensation, the scorching heat—it was an absolute addiction.

Zhou Xiao climbed directly into the car, embracing him and murmuring right against his ear, “It’s because I make you feel too good, isn’t it?”

Yuqing draped a forearm over his eyes, his reddened earlobes looking rather endearing.

In Zhou Xiao’s eyes, Yuqing was like a little kitten completely ignorant of the world, clearly having his life delayed and ruined by that great aristocratic household. He was clearly three years older than Zhou Xiao, yet he seemed so hopelessly naive, his ears flushing so easily… or was it just because he was so pale?

Yuqing’s calves rested over his shoulders. It was truly cramped inside the car; the space was far, far too small.

Furthermore… Yuqing thought to himself, between the two of us, who is actually the more desperate one?

His suit trousers had been completely ripped open by Zhou Xiao. It was a good quality suit, yet in his hands, it tore like fragile silk, as if the man abhorred even the slightest bit of distance between them.

He gripped Zhou Xiao’s shoulders tightly, whispering softly, “Give it to me…”

“You like it this much?” Zhou Xiao bit into his neck somewhat vindictively, issuing a warning threat. “If you ever want me again in the future, you are not allowed to smile at anyone else. Do you hear me?”

Just as Yuqing was about to answer, Zhou Xiao suddenly thrust so forcefully that it robbed him of his voice. His mind instantly buzzed. “Nnh…”

After the vindictive bite, Zhou Xiao couldn’t bear the harshness and warmly, wetly licked the mark on his neck. “Be a bit more obedient. And I might just love you a little.”

“What?” Yuqing didn’t quite hear him, whimpering softly like a kitten.

The car really didn’t provide enough room to maneuver, so Zhou Xiao only took him twice. Right as they were finishing, he even complained that it was Yuqing who was too reluctant to let him go, continuously… pretending as if he had only kept going to satisfy Yuqing’s insatiable desires.

Yuqing was carried to the back seat, drenched in sweat. His hairpin had fallen out, and since Zhou Xiao didn’t know how to fix it, he just let his long hair fall wildly over his body.

“Young Master, would it be convenient for you to find me an article of clothing?” Yuqing asked, panting lightly.

Zhou Xiao was driving in the front. “At this hour, the shops are all closed, and there’s no one at the hotel. Just cover up for now. You didn’t stop me earlier, and now you’re complaining that your pants are ruined?”

Yuqing: “…”

You have to actually give me a chance to stop you!

He tossed a suit jacket over from the front, allowing Yuqing to barely cover up his messy state. He preferred to be clean, but Zhou Xiao’s stamina was undeniably vigorous—it had only been a few days.

Zhou Xiao pulled a cigarette from his breast pocket. “Do you smoke?”

Yuqing shook his head, leaning lazily in the back, wanting to simply close his eyes.

Zhou Xiao had already placed the cigarette between his lips, but after glancing back several times and seeing him still trying to catch his breath, he irritably threw the cigarette away.

“So delicate,” he clicked his tongue, his thick, sharp eyebrows drawing into a frown.

It took over half an hour to drive from the Jiang Mansion back to the Peace Hotel. The streets outside had long since emptied of people. Still, Zhou Xiao pulled the car over to the side of the road. “Wait for me a minute.”

He got out to smoke a cigarette, while Yuqing rested for a bit before slowly sitting up. The Shenzhen night only featured a few rickshaws pulling drunks who had just stumbled out of the nightclubs.

Yuqing loosely covered his thighs with the suit jacket. His trousers were truly beyond wearing; a perfectly good pair of pants, utterly ruined just like that.

A breeze blew in, cooling his flushed cheeks. Yuqing’s long hair fluttered out the car window, as his hands unconsciously drifted to gently stroke his own abdomen. He then couldn’t help but pinch his own cheek. Many people had called him beautiful, but no one had ever told him his smiles were fake.

Zhou Xiao was the first.

Thinking of Zhou Xiao’s incredibly awkward demeanor, Yuqing couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. He was a bit cute.

His proud, slick maneuverability and smooth-talking business skills—were they really not even worth mentioning in Zhou Xiao’s eyes? Yuqing recalled what his Father had told him all those years ago: ‘You can only stand firm if you have your own means and schemes. The process isn’t important, as long as the outcome is what you desire.’

He had followed this principle for many years. Enduring grievances had always been a stepping stone to success. Countless people swallowed their grievances, and such behavior was even hailed as a synonym for having courage and drive. Out of all the living souls in the world, who didn’t live like this?

So how on earth did Zhou Xiao manage to see through to his grievances? A grievance that he didn’t even care about himself anymore. A grievance that he had to chew over repeatedly himself before finally tasting the bitterness.

As Yuqing was staring blankly at the street corner, a large hand suddenly descended from above, pressing down on his head, ruffling his hair, and finally giving his cheek a pinch. “If you catch a cold later you’ll just have to drink more of that pitch-black, bitter medicine. Get back inside.”

“I was just enjoying the breeze.” Yuqing giggled. “Did you go get pants?”

“Nonsense. Did you really think I’d let you go back naked? Standing next to you, I, Vice President Zhou, would end up on the front page.”

Zhou Xiao tossed a bag in through the car window. In the distance came the sound of a storefront closing its doors once again. Zhou Xiao had actually pounded on the door of a closed shop just to buy him clothes.

A traditional long gown. Lotus-blue.

Zhou Xiao didn’t rush to get into the car. Instead, he stood outside the window and reached in to feel his forehead, whispering, “You’ve stopped sweating.”

“Mn.” Yuqing began unbuttoning his shirt. “But after today… will you be able to explain things to Section Chief Jiang? Otherwise, I can accompany you to apologize. We can just say we were drunk…”

“Can I not even handle a trivial matter like that?” Zhou Xiao scoffed, even letting out a cold snort. “In your eyes, am I really that useless?”

“That’s not what I meant…”

Zhou Xiao was being purposely difficult: “Then what should we do? You’ve already annoyed me. Ruan Yuqing, this mouth of yours is truly obnoxious, do you know that? I hate listening to everything that comes out of it.”

Yuqing froze for a moment, pressing his lips together in mild self-reproach. “Then I am very sorry… What should I do to make you less angry?”

As he spoke, Yuqing prepared to sit up and kiss him again. Unexpectedly, his cheeks were pinched mid-air by Zhou Xiao. “Mmph…”

“Just eat this. I bought too much.” Zhou Xiao shoved a paper bag, which he had been hiding behind his back, into Yuqing’s hands. “Idle hands. I like to buy things when I see them, but I don’t like to eat them.”

Yuqing opened the paper bag. It was a cream cake.

__

Author’s Note:

Brother Date-pit: Did you hear me [Angry] Eat it all [Angry] I don’t like eating it! [Angry] Bought too much [Angry]

Yuqing: I heard you.

Brother Date-pit: [Angry] What did you hear! Did you not hear that I bought it! I bought it!

Yuqing: I heard you.

Brother Date-pit: [Angry] Why aren’t you praising me!

Yuqing: You’ve just been yelling at me.

Brother Date-pit: I’ve just been crying.