TMWTGD CH14

The little assistant, whose heart beat solely for President Xie, was ruthlessly and coldly dispatched just like that.

To prevent him from blabbering too much, Xie Jianwei cleverly reminded the guards, “Gag his mouth so he doesn’t shout and disturb the neighbors.”

This seaside villa had no damn neighbors to speak of, but Xie Jianwei had always treated the seabirds as neighbors, so the guards did not think twice about it. In any case, both canaries and seabirds belonged to the avian family, so being neighbors was completely reasonable.

At Xie Jianwei’s reminder, the guards clamped their hands over the assistant’s mouth at once.

The little assistant’s eyes brimmed with red. His expression was identical to a loyal courtier whose admonishments to a bewitched tyrant had ended in failure. Had the guards released him, he would likely have dashed his head against the doorpost to seal his remonstrance in death.

For the sake of his life, Xie Jianwei kindly instructed the guards, “Tie him up tightly. Don’t let him slip away.”

The guards nodded repeatedly, thumping their chests to guarantee that several burly men subduing one young lad was child’s play.

With such a loud commotion, Lu Li rushed back almost immediately.

The moment he saw the little assistant bundled up like a rice dumpling, his heart gave a violent jolt.

He recognized the young man. He was one of Xie Jianwei’s trusted confidants, normally responsible for managing President Xie’s assorted side lovers, earning him the unofficial title of Chief Steward of the Internal Affairs Bureau.

Even Lu Li had received his fair share of “care” from him back in the day.

Now that their eyes met, the assistant-turned-steward exploded on the spot. This male vixen had not only bewitched President Xie out of his senses, but his insatiable greed was like a snake trying to swallow an elephant, plotting to swallow the entire Xie Corporation whole!

The assistant glared at Lu Li, whimpering and muffled shouts buzzing behind the gag.

Lu Li stood in silence.

Xie Jianwei chimed in, “I thought it was some petty thief, but seeing him like this, is he a rival of yours? Did you offend him?”

Lu Li turned toward him, his expression intensely complicated.

Yet Xie Jianwei only worried for him, saying, “You don’t need to go into details. I understand. In business, one inevitably crosses petty people, so our home security measures seriously need a proper upgrade.”

Lu Li froze at his words.

Dedicated to digging his own pit, Xie Jianwei said earnestly, “Make the perimeter wall higher, install access control at the main gate, and ideally mount a row of cameras. Also…” He cast a rather disdainful glance at the guards beside them, “Hire more gatekeepers, preferably equipping all of them with stun batons.”

As he spoke at a leisurely pace, the heart Lu Li had held in his throat gradually sank back into place.

Listening on the sidelines, the little assistant burst into muffled wails. President Xie, this beast wanted to imprison you in the first place! Aren’t you throwing yourself into the net, clipping your own wings, and locking yourself in this damn mansion with your own hands?!

Looking at the collapsing assistant, Xie Jianwei remarked, “Look at him. Hearing that we are tightening security, he is crying from sheer sorrow. He must be despairing over having no hope of breaking in to take revenge on you in the future.”

Lu Li remained speechless.

Hearing this deduction, the little assistant choked on a breath, nearly passing out cold.

The assistant had originally arrived to advance the plot, presumably to sow discord and make Xie Jianwei distrust Lu Li, kicking off the requisite angst.

Instead, Military Advisor Xie was far too clever, turning a floor of shattered glass into sweet rock candy that nearly melted the Lord Marshal’s heart.

That night, Big Li buried himself inside Xie Jianwei, refusing to pull out.

Teased until the small of his back went numb, Xie Jianwei gasped, “M-Move a little.”

Licking the tip of his ear, Lu Li murmured in a deep, sultry voice that made Xie Jianwei’s heart tingle in unison, “A-Wei, I love you.”

Lu Li was extraordinarily tender throughout the night, pampering Xie Jianwei into sheer bliss. Toward the end, Xie Jianwei didn’t even feel fatigued, lingering with him through the night in wild abandon.

The next day, getting out of bed was an impossible dream.

Lu Li stayed home the entire day, remaining by his side to look after him with meticulous care.

Although Xie Jianwei had known for a long time that Lu Li loved him deeply, with reality always packed with trivial burdens, they had never shared such brazen, shameless days together.

Nor had Lu Li ever treated him like delicate porcelain before.

The fault did not lie with Lu Li, but rather with Xie Jianwei being too strong. Day in and day out for a decade, aside from the time Lu Li had been imprisoned, Xie Jianwei had never shown a single hint of vulnerability.

Faced with a man who handled everything with effortless poise, even if Lu Li longed to hold him in the palm of his hand and pamper him to the heavens, he had never found the opportunity.

Basking in his lover’s doting care, Xie the Canary pondered whether his self-sufficiency in reality had caused Lu Li’s insecurity.

With the assistant’s intrusion and Xie Jianwei’s explicit requests, Lu Li possessed an aboveboard excuse to turn this house into an impregnable fortress.

Xie Jianwei also had an aboveboard reason to help him patch every tactical blind spot.

When it came to defensive design, the Military Advisor was far more adept than the vanguard-charging Marshal.

The sturdiest star prison in the Milky Way had been designed by Xie Jianwei himself. To this day, the alien warlords locked within had abandoned escape entirely after a thousand failed attempts, resigning themselves to spending their remaining years behind bars with peaceful smiles.

With these upgrades, any troublemakers dropping from the sky were firmly shut outside the cage.

Midway through, Xie Jianwei made a brief return to reality.

Though time flowed differently in the dream, he had lingered inside for so long that business had inevitably piled up outside.

Because this personality had yet to be resolved, Xie Jianwei had no intention of waking Lu Li. Instead, he connected directly to the optical computer, dusting off his long-abandoned administrative clearance account.

With the war concluded, the Milky Way was rebuilding. Because initial planning had been thorough, matters were proceeding methodically along established tracks.

Having left these affairs untouched for years, he did not feel rusty in the slightest.

He was born with an innate genius for processing data and information. Across millennia, his mental throughput was the only mind in the galaxy capable of rivaling the speed of light. Tasks that took others days to conclude were resolved by him in a matter of minutes with staggering efficiency.

After handling the broad strokes, Xie Jianwei returned to the laboratory.

Yan Ke asked him, “My Lord, how is the treatment progressing?”

Xie Jianwei replied, “Nearly there. I’ve grasped the pattern.”

Curious, Yan Ke asked, “Just what needs to be done to…”

Xie Jianwei said, “For now, we can only stabilize them.”

“Huh?” Yan Ke didn’t understand.

Xie Jianwei explained, “Every personality is Lu Li. Erasing them is out of the question, as that would inflict permanent damage on his psyche. Our only route is integration, but integration is a reciprocal process that can only occur once every personality has stabilized.”

Yan Ke understood now. Xie Jianwei was right. Previously, they had sought the root cause of the split, but identifying the cause was only a prelude. The ultimate objective was the Lord Marshal’s recovery, and the prerequisite for recovery was personality integration.

Still, Yan Ke frowned and said, “The Lord Marshal’s personalities have already begun slaughtering each other. How can they be stabilized?”

Xie Jianwei smiled faintly. “By letting him have his heart’s desire.”

Yan Ke blinked. “He won’t let you love him…”

Xie Jianwei said, “Then I will prove it to him continuously.”

Take this dream’s Lu Li, who wanted nothing more than to lock Xie Jianwei away in a dark room. Then let him lock him up. If one year wasn’t enough, then ten; if ten wasn’t enough, then twenty; and if twenty fell short, there was still an entire lifetime.

He would always grant him his wish.

An abrupt confession provoked disbelief and fractures, but what about a natural, inevitable confession? He would make Lu Li believe that he loved him.

Besides, he truly did love him with all his heart.

Returning to the dream world, Xie Jianwei found an opportunity to secretly manage an errand.

He reached out to Grandma Xie, who was supposed to be recuperating overseas.

When Grandma Xie answered the call, her first words were, “Who is Lu Li?”

Xie Jianwei was rendered momentarily speechless.

Grandma Xie’s tone was exceedingly stern: “Jianwei, you have always been brilliant, and Grandmother trusts you, but some lines must not be crossed.”

“Grandmother,” Xie Jianwei confessed straightforwardly, “Lu Li is my lover.”

Grandma Xie went silent.

Xie Jianwei hid nothing from her. Grandma Xie’s archetype was Lu Li’s own grandmother, whose reverence for her was etched into his very bones, idealized further in such a dream. Xie Jianwei understood her character clearly.

She was sensible and wise, prioritizing her grandson’s happiness far above worldly wealth.

As long as Xie Jianwei laid things bare, even if she found it difficult to swallow at first, she would never act rashly.

Xie Jianwei added with genuine warmth, “Grandmother, I love him. Meeting him in this lifetime is my greatest fulfillment.”

Grandma Xie was ultimately persuaded by him.

Having eliminated virtually all hidden hazards, Xie Jianwei wanted only to enjoy his days in the gilded cage in peace.

Yet while he could guard against the entire world, he could not guard against the man sharing his pillow.

His bedmate happened to house an excess of personalities.

The incident occurred during Xie Jianwei’s third year as a pampered canary.

Everything had been proceeding normally. Lu Li took him out to watch a movie.

The theater had been cleared of patrons, the restaurant staff had all been replaced by Lu Li’s trusted operatives, and when they strolled along the street afterward, even several pedestrians looked familiar, likely extras hired by Lu Li.

This was hardly the first time, and Xie Jianwei was thoroughly accustomed to it. The entire dream was Lu Li’s script anyway, so adding a few staged scenes within the play did no harm.

Yet this play within a play handed him a massive surprise.

Xie Jianwei froze in his tracks. He looked at the Lu Li standing beside him, and then at the Lu Li standing in the middle of the road, his eyes wide with astonishment.

What on earth was going on?

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Author’s Note:

Number Two Drama King: “Damn it, this cursed Number One has enjoyed more than enough perks. It’s time for this dream to wake up!”