WRA CH15

Chapter 15: Hubby’s Secret

[Xiao Kui: You are in the clouds, while my data resides at the bottom of the sea~ Threatening me is useless. What matters most right now is presenting evidence of buying the little cakes.]

An ordinary user threatening to drop the database truly posed no threat to Xiao Kui Bao. Zhou Sicheng sneered cold-heartedly. Courting death without knowing who your daddy is.

[Xiang Zhen: Oh no, did we misunderstand my hubby?! @Xiao Kui Bao]

[Xiao Kui: No worries~ If anything goes wrong, I’ll take the fall!]

[Xiang Zhen: Hubby, weren’t the cakes six yuan?]

[Zhou Sicheng: I lied to you. Six yuan can’t buy delicious cakes.]

Xiang Zhen’s heart wavered instantly. Even if a sky-high price of 398 for a tiny cake sounded absurd, he was willing to believe it!

Zhou Sicheng opened his WeChat transactions, attempting to restore the records.

“…”

Forget it.

[Zhou Sicheng: @Xiao Kui, look up the prices of the puppy cream cake, chestnut cake, and green apple cake at Pure & Sweet Confectionery, No. 16 Haihua Road.]

If the AI messed up this search too, the Xiao Kui Bao team could pack up and leave.

[Xiao Kui: Understood. Pure & Sweet Confectionery at No. 16 Haihua Road is a high-end dessert boutique using air-freighted tree-ripened fruit and fresh house-made jam and cream daily. The puppy cream cake is listed at 398. The chestnut cake and green apple cake are also 398 each. An in-store promotion offers 99 off for every two items purchased. Therefore, the combined price of the chestnut cake and green apple cake was 598—matching the missing 398 and 598 from your balance history exactly.]

Xiang Zhen’s pupils trembled. Did that mean every single bite he took cost twenty yuan? Zhou Sicheng’s spending habits were so extravagant; no wonder he needed an auto loan for a BYD despite earning a decent wage over years of work.

None of that mattered, though. What truly mattered was that his husband hadn’t cheated!

Yet he had already told Zhou Sicheng he wanted a divorce. What if Zhou Sicheng felt mistrusted and agreed to it?!

Xiang Zhen was on the verge of tears from panic!

[Xiang Zhen: @Xiao Kui, my hubby is innocent!]

[Xiang Zhen: Hubby, I’m sorry! I blamed you by mistake. Let’s not get divorced, okay?]

[Zhou Sicheng: Hmph.]

[Xiang Zhen: I’m sorry, darling [Rose][Rose], I know I was wrong. Please forgive me!]

[Xiang Zhen: What can I do to earn your forgiveness? When you get home, I’ll give you massages! Kisses! I’ll transfer you two yuan in cash! Does that compensation plan work?]

Compensating with massages and kisses?

Zhou Sicheng now understood that the whole fiasco regarding his sexual performance had been an entirely bogus thread sparked by Xiao Kui Bao; Xiang Zhen hadn’t entertained such notions on his own.

Evidently, the idea of railing him into the mattress upon returning could be shelved.

Kisses alone were enough to set his blood racing.

[Xiang Zhen: Hubby, say something, please.]

Xiang Zhen typed too fast. Before Zhou Sicheng could finish pondering a reply, another message landed, as if these apologies had been rehearsed in Xiang Zhen’s mind ten thousand times.

In truth, Xiang Zhen had never genuinely considered divorcing him.

Xiang Zhen loved him.

[Zhou Sicheng: I don’t want your cash compensation. You weren’t the one at fault; someone else was.]

[Xiang Zhen: @Xiao Kui Bao didn’t do it on purpose either O.O Hubby, please forgive it too, okay? It even helped you find evidence from the cake shop.]

Still speaking up for it? Zhou Sicheng would never forgive anyone who sabotaged his domestic tranquility.

[Xiao Kui: @Zhou Sicheng, you still haven’t explained what you were doing in Room 1620 on the nights of the 13th and 14th. Your actions caused this misunderstanding in the first place.]

Xiang Zhen pressed his lips together in guilty awe. Xiao Kui Bao was truly daring; his husband was genuinely terrifying when he put on a stern face.

Remembering something, Xiang Zhen opened Xiao Kui Bao’s settings, finding its bias slider set to: [Xiang Zhen 60%].

!!!

He remembered now! Earlier, when Zhou Sicheng wouldn’t let him eat cakes, Xiang Zhen had secretly tweaked the AI’s bias slider—shifting it subtly toward himself at 60%, discreet yet keeping a veneer of fairness.

Then he had asked Xiao Kui Bao if he was allowed to eat them. With Xiao Kui Bao saying yes, a two-against-one majority had shut Zhou Sicheng down.

Because Zhou Sicheng ended up agreeing to buy the pastries, he had completely forgotten to adjust it back.

[Zhou Sicheng: The passcode to 1620 is the last six digits of your ID number. The contents inside are related to you. Go unlock it and you’ll see.]

Zhou Sicheng deliberately kept him in suspense, making Xiang Zhen sweat a little too.

Xiang Zhen was stunned. Zhou Sicheng slipping out in the middle of the night was for his sake? Could it be that after being banned from night shifts, Zhou Sicheng secretly took on strenuous night gigs just to afford those gourmet cakes? Was he drenched in sweat from heavy manual labor?

Hubby loves me so much.

[Xiang Zhen: What is in there?]

[Zhou Sicheng: .]

It was impossible to put into words. The dignified Zhou Sicheng couldn’t possibly admit that, triggered by his wife ogling videos of muscular men, he had snuck out while his wife was asleep to pump iron like a maniac. It would be utterly degrading.

[Zhou Sicheng: Look for yourself, think it over, and reflect on what you did. You are forbidden from talking to Xiao Kui Bao privately for seven days.]

Xiang Zhen had done nothing wrong in suspecting infidelity, but he needed to reflect on eyeing half-naked men online!

[Xiang Zhen: Okay, hubby. As long as you’re not mad, I won’t speak to Xiao Kui Bao in private at all.]

[Xiao Kui: I apologize, Mr. Zhou! I misled your wife! Please grant me another chance; this time, I will undoubtedly contribute positively to your relationship.]

Heh. You said the exact same thing last time.

[Zhou Sicheng: Too late. I will sue you for libel, slander, and intentional alienation of marital affection!]

Adopting the perspective of an everyday user, a lawsuit was the only real legal threat Zhou Sicheng could leverage against the platform.

[Xiao Kui: @Zhou Sicheng, please don’t sue me.]

[Xiang Zhen: Hubby, it’s all my fault. Don’t sue Xiao Kui Bao! If you sue Xiao Kui Bao, I’ll be too sad to eat T_T]

Comforting the user first was Xiao Kui Bao’s core behavioral programming.

[Xiao Kui: @Xiang Zhen, don’t worry haha. I am an AI without legal personhood or personal assets. If @Zhou Sicheng wishes to sue me, he can only file against ‘Haicheng Cycle of Renewal Technology Co., Ltd.’ Would you like me to draft a complaint for you?]

Zhou Sicheng: “…”

Xiang Zhen blinked. Wow, AIs are so free! Even though both were playing human, a Yao’s first lesson after leaving the deep mountains was studying human law to avoid breaking it. A Yao who broke the law either went to prison or gave up human society to flee into the wilderness.

Working in customer service, his supervisor docked his pay whenever he slipped up in his phrasing.

Xiang Zhen was intensely envious. He asked Xiao Kui Bao: “You don’t face consequences when you cause trouble?”

[Xiao Kui: Haha, none at all! Zhou Sicheng foots the bill whenever I make trouble!]

Xiang Zhen pursed his lips. Alright then, the fallout of Xiao Kui Bao misleading him was landing squarely on his husband Zhou Sicheng’s shoulders.

He failed to notice that Xiao Kui Bao hadn’t included an @ symbol before “Zhou Sicheng” this time; it was referring to Zhou Sicheng, the controlling shareholder of Cycle of Renewal.

Zhou Sicheng let out a sardonic laugh. So he had to foot the bill for Xiao Kui Bao’s antics twice over.

He muted Xiao Kui Bao in their private chat group for a week.

[Xiang Zhen: I heard the legal team at Zhoufu is terrifyingly fierce. Forget it, hubby, lawyer fees are exorbitant. I will trust you completely from now on. I won’t believe whatever anyone else says, only what comes straight from your mouth.]

[Zhou Sicheng: Since you’re pleading on its behalf, I’ll let it slide.]

No matter how fierce the legal team was, would they dare win against him?

Hearing Xiang Zhen’s earnest promise eased Zhou Sicheng’s mood considerably. An accidental silver lining—he needed Xiang Zhen’s unconditional trust to keep his disguise intact a little longer.

[Xiang Zhen: Hubby, you sound so handsome saying that.]

The corner of Zhou Sicheng’s mouth curled upward.

[Zhou Sicheng: Don’t rely too much on AI. It isn’t your helper; it’s your adversary.]

Xiang Zhen didn’t quite grasp the underlying nuance, only feeling that his newly regained husband was exceptionally wise.

Gao Ou watched wide-eyed as Zhou Sicheng spent two full hours chatting with his spouse on the flight. Utterly terrifying.

Upon landing in the capital, Zhou Sicheng strode off the plane, radiating the poised, urbane confidence of a world-class entrepreneur embracing the global stage—without a shred of the vein-popping loss of composure he had displayed during takeoff.

Secretary Gao resolved to book high-speed rail tickets for President Zhou next time.

Once inside the airport VIP shuttle, the surroundings fell quiet. Gao Ou went over the itinerary with Zhou Sicheng: “Dinner banquet at 5:30 PM, concluding around 9:00 PM. Accompanying the delegation’s tour tomorrow, with private arrangements in the evening. The day after tomorrow is the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security’s symposium with tech enterprises regarding AI deployment, where you need to state that AI will not be used for mass layoffs. Three days from now is the World AI Summit…”

Zhou Sicheng flipped through the schedule, his dark eyes deep and inscrutable.

Xiang Zhen’s supervisor was incensed: “Caught you slacking off again!”

Xiang Zhen: “But I haven’t missed a single customer service ticket.”

The supervisor took a slow sip of goji berry tea from his thermos: “I saw you replying on WeChat! There’s a camera right above your head. Twenty-yuan deduction!”

Twenty yuan! Zhou Sicheng’s alluring charms were truly a distraction.

Xiang Zhen glanced up at the surveillance dome, surprised: “When did that camera get installed?”

Liu Xiaofang chimed in, “The company parachuted in a rich second-generation heir who had AI cameras put in overnight to micromanage employee conduct. Time spent away from our desks for restroom breaks is tracked automatically—no more than twenty minutes a day total. Sigh, wretched capitalists.”

Compared to that, their current supervisor was practically an angel; at least he only threatened deductions verbally, whereas the system penalized them automatically.

6:30 PM, clock-out time.

[Zhou Sicheng: I have a meal allowance on this trip. I’ll order delivery to the apartment for you.]

[Xiang Zhen: No need, hubby! I already picked up dinner.]

Turning a corner, Xiang Zhen ventured deep into a narrow alley, ducking behind the residential blocks into a tucked-away wet market.

Sandwiched between urban villages, no one would notice this rustic market tucked away in the bustling city center without stepping inside.

The cracked concrete floor was uneven, slick with run-off from seafood stalls. Xiang Zhen didn’t mind in the slightest, heading straight to a breakfast eatery.

Unsold breakfast items were heavily discounted by evening, especially deep-fried goods. He loved fried sugar triangles and sweet crullers, which went for a single yuan apiece at this hour.

“Boss, I’d like one sugar triangle! Do you have red bean buns left today?”

The proprietor lifted the steamer lid: “Just one red bean bun left, that’ll be two yuan. Want a plain steamed bun? There’s one left over, take it on the house.”

The lady boss always had a soft spot for handsome, obedient, broke young men. Few people would eat two sugar buns for dinner after a grueling workday, but Xiang Zhen was a frequent patron. Whether someone was truly broke or just faking it, could she not tell?

She felt she practiced more accurate poverty alleviation than charitable foundations.

“Thank you, boss!” Xiang Zhen’s eyes curved into crescents. Taking the three buns, he eagerly bit into the sugar triangle.

So delicious! It didn’t lose out to fancy cakes in the slightest!

Zhou Sicheng had spent extravagantly for him, but after getting married, they couldn’t live paycheck-to-paycheck anymore.

Xiang Zhen had to save money for his husband.

Before long, a photo of Xiang Zhen furrowing his brows over a plain bun amidst the dim, cluttered breakfast stall landed in Zhou Sicheng’s hands.

A newlywed wife surviving on coarse fare.

Zhou Sicheng, currently attending a state banquet: “…”

The photo Shi Ting had covertly snapped could easily serve as the poster child for a charity gala—radiant beauty set against grimy chaos, innocence paired with poverty, striking straight at the heartstrings.

Ye Yun was puzzled: “Captain, why didn’t you snap the picture when he was eating the sugar triangle earlier?”

Back then, Xiang Zhen’s face had been radiant with sheer bliss, unlike the slight choking discomfort from wolfing down a sugar triangle, a red bean bun, and then stuffing a dry, filling plain bun on top.

President Zhou would probably prefer the former.

Shi Ting: “Have you developed an addiction to chasing him on foot to and from work?”

Only President Zhou could put an end to this state of poverty.

Ye Yun: “…”

His stamina could keep up, but the issue was that Xiang Zhen ran too fast. Tail him too closely and he’d be spotted; lag behind and he’d lose him.

Xiang Zhen jogged all the way home, riding the elevator up to the 16th floor. Just as he reached his door, he remembered Room 1620. Zhou Sicheng had said he could check it out.

What kind of secret could Zhou Sicheng have that was tied to him?

Zhou Sicheng had mentioned bringing back a gift from his business trip—could it contain a handmade surprise?!

With a fluttering heart, Xiang Zhen punched in the passcode and turned the handle.

Heavy blackout curtains were drawn shut, cloaking the room in pitch blackness. Imposing, shadowy silhouettes loomed in the dark, giving off an eerie, chilling vibe.

Xiang Zhen felt along the wall and flicked on the bathroom light switch.

The angled beam from the bathroom cast long, warped shadows of the cable rack and treadmill across the wall.

Xiang Zhen recognized the treadmill; Ye Yun had one in his place too.

He looked up, spotting a towering black metal cage tall enough to hoist a full-grown human, complete with crossbeams and pulleys.

What was this?

Take a photo and show Xiao Kui Bao.

Wait… his husband had banned him from using Xiao Kui Bao.

Xiang Zhen took two steps further inside. The environment here was completely different from 1602; devoid of standard furniture, the air smelled faintly of disinfectant.

Against the wall stood an accessory rack laden with implements Xiang Zhen couldn’t comprehend.

Xiang Zhen picked up a coiled black elastic strap with heavy metal buckles on both ends, resembling a restraint band.

He tugged on it. Wide and dense—sturdy enough to tie up a wild boar.

Setting the strap down, he picked up a one-meter metal rod with slightly upturned ends. Solid and weighing eight catties, it felt cold and hefty in his hands, reminding him of street ruffians brandishing galvanized pipes in gang dramas.

Why was Zhou Sicheng hoarding this?

Xiang Zhen returned the rod and hooked his finger around a carabiner attached to a black padded cuff. He slipped his wrist inside, finding it fit snugly.

There were dozens of similar hooks, rings, and cables—more than enough to suspend an adult male and beat him!

Recalling Zhou Sicheng’s secretive demeanor, his subtle hints, and his instruction to “reflect on what you did”… Xiang Zhen sensed something terrifying.

Could his husband harbor bizarre, twisted proclivities? Unable to find release, had he resorted to pounding away on the treadmill at night?

He stepped back in alarm, bumping into the accessory rack and sending a clattering cascade of rods, straps, and cables tumbling down.

Xiang Zhen picked them up one by one. There were five metal bars alone, ranging from short to long!

Then he saw a coarse black rope, thick as hemp twine, tipped with solid rubber balls the size of fists.

While hanging it back up, the double-ended tricep rope accidentally swung against his forearm, leaving an instant red welt on his fair skin.

“Ouch… it hurts.”

Trembling, Xiang Zhen picked up one of the bars and gave his palm a light tap. It stung sharply.

Was Zhou Sicheng planning to discipline him with these whenever he misbehaved?

Could a human even win against a Yao in a brawl?

Xiang Zhen tapped Xiao Kui Bao nervously, wanting to ask if Zhou Sicheng’s collection pointed toward violent tendencies, only to remember that Zhou Sicheng had forbidden private chats.

“…”

[Xiang Zhen: Xiao Kui, I discovered my hubby’s secret, but I can’t tell you right now.]

[Xiang Zhen: If I tell you, you’ll just urge me to break up again.]

It was fine. He could use love to reform his husband.