WRA CH37

Chapter 37: Zhou Sicheng’s Cover is Blown

Ye Yun was about to climb the wall, but the fence had sharp vertical spikes, making it a bit dangerous. Shi Ting pulled him down: “I’ll give President Zhou a call.”

Ye Yun: “Right, right, right, call first.”

President Zhou was setting up a proposal ceremony at home today. If Xiang Zhen stumbled upon it early, the surprise would be greatly diminished. And he, in turn, would get his salary docked a second time.

Shi Ting dialed the number and waited, but no one answered. Zhou Sicheng was probably setting things up personally and didn’t have his phone on him.

He glanced at the high wall. Between walking five hundred meters to the main gate and climbing the wall, he chose climbing.

Only, once he climbed inside, even Shi Ting was a little dazed. President Zhou hadn’t told them which villa he lived in, and Xiang Zhen was nowhere to be seen.

There was quite a bit of distance between the individual villas. Shi Ting hurriedly called Zhou Sicheng’s emergency contact, Secretary Gao Ou, to ask.

…

The landscaping in Jiang Pavilion was an artificial scenery meticulously crafted by the developers. In summer, the vegetation was lush, with tall trees spreading their broadest green canopies.

Once Xiang Zhen entered the forest, he no longer hid his Yao strength. Without needing to consider the limits of human running speed, he followed the scent of sunflower pollen in the air, sprinting with a resolute gaze in one direction.

Various floral scents, untainted by car exhaust, floated in the air. Midsummer was truly wonderful.

The next moment, he appeared before a small building where golden sunflowers were in full bloom by the door. There were quite a few people at the entrance—Uncle Zhang, and others he didn’t recognize—all busy setting something up.

Xiang Zhen crouched behind a tree, staring fixedly at that patch of sunflowers.

Tears welled up and spilled from his eyes.

So many, so many… a massive patch, even more than the sunflowers in the hazelnut grove back then.

After that great fire, Xiang Zhen had run for a long time clutching a seed from a parent sunflower’s lineage, but the seed had already been roasted dead by the heat.

Thank goodness, thank goodness.

Life always finds a miraculous way to multiply.

Xiang Zhen thought, You younger generation of sunflowers have such great living conditions. Water and fertilizer serve you, you get to enjoy the sunlight all to yourselves, and you grow so tall and strong, every single one of you reaching two meters. Back in the day, we didn’t have these conditions; we had to fight the hazelnut trees for sunlight.

It was precisely because he hadn’t managed to snatch much sunlight back then that he grew so slowly. And because he grew slowly, he couldn’t grab much sunlight year after year. Only in winter, when the hazelnut grove shed all its leaves, did the faint sunlight pierce through the bare branches and fall upon Xiang Zhen.

The winter sun wasn’t warm enough to support vigorous growth. The sunflowers would all wither, their seeds falling into the soil, leaving the whole mountain in desolate cold.

Occasionally, a Siberian tiger would crunch over the snow layers to patrol the mountain. Xiang Zhen would shake the snow off his head and watch it flick its tail as it walked away.

The process of becoming a Yao was long and lonely, which was why Yao liked to enter the city.

Xiang Zhen was very lucky. The moment he entered the city, he met a sun that belonged exclusively to him, and he never had to worry about not having enough sunlight again.

In fact, it was almost a bit too much; the sun shone its rays on him and him alone.

Xiang Zhen felt a tickle in his collar. Reaching inside, he pulled out a wad of white fluff.

It was a mature seed from a floss silk tree that he had carried along while dashing through the woods just now.

The tiny, dark seed was hidden within a large puff of cotton. When the wind blew, the cotton would carry the seed off to brave the world.

Plants didn’t have legs; this was the plant mother’s solution.

So, who was the “cotton” that had wrapped around that lucky sunflower seed back then?

From his hazy childhood memories, Xiang Zhen dug up some human activities. A scientific expedition team had once passed through the hazelnut grove in late autumn.

A gentle voice had caressed his leaves.

He tried hard to recall those humans.

Was the person who took the sunflower seed among the few people standing before him now?

Xiang Zhen widened his eyes, looking closely.

Suddenly, a face appeared in his dark pupils without any warning.

Zhou Sicheng walked out of the villa, wearing black suit trousers, a pure white dress shirt, neat black hair, and deep, striking features.

Under the daylight, he was as handsome as a deity, even the shadow he cast on the ground was sharply defined and three-dimensional.

Frowning, Zhou Sicheng raised a hand to interrupt the playing band.

The symphony orchestra instantly fell silent.

The butler respectfully brought over a hand towel. “Is Young Master Zhou dissatisfied with the repertoire?”

Zhou Sicheng had just personally adjusted the sunflower arrangements, and his palms were covered in dust. He took it and wiped his hands.

Even though they were already married and were an old married couple, he still hadn’t put a ring on Xiang Zhen’s finger. He owed him a proposal.

A proposal should be romantic, but Zhou Sicheng himself wasn’t particularly romantic, so he could only think of the most cliché methods.

He wanted to elevate the atmosphere of the proposal, but he wasn’t sure if Xiang Zhen could appreciate it.

After all, his wife was practically an AI who repeatedly watched the first episode of cartoons and listened to noisy, brain-dead short video dubs every day.

Was the band’s repertoire a bit too highbrow?

Should they actually play viral TikTok songs, looping each one for just fifteen seconds?

Zhou Sicheng: “Let me think about it a bit more.”

The weather was hot. If it weren’t for the fact that Xiang Zhen loved the outdoors and the sunshine, indoors would have been much more comfortable.

Zhou Sicheng waved his hand, signaling the band to go inside and rest. He walked over to the grand piano himself.

His slender ten fingers rested on the black and white keys, and the flowing sound of a piano rang out.

The piano could probably be raised a bit higher.

—Because the black piano bench had been roasted scorching hot by the sun, making it impossible to sit on and play.

The green grass was like a mat, the golden flowers like waves, the sky blue and the clouds white.

The Sun God at this moment, eyes lowered with deep affection, was incomparably noble and dazzling.

Was this still his hubby?!

His hubby’s hands were supposed to hold a steering wheel and wield a non-stick frying pan.

Was this the… flip side of the sun?

Without realizing it himself, Xiang Zhen had been holding his breath for a long time.

After intense running, sweating and shedding tears, reuniting with surviving kin, and witnessing his lover entirely transformed.

Xiang Zhen’s throat suddenly tightened as if it were being choked.

Drenched in sweat, Xiang Zhen’s fingers trembled as he held onto the tree trunk. His legs were so weak he could barely stand.

Having stared at Zhou Sicheng for so long, he started seeing stars, yet he stubbornly refused to turn his head away.

The longer he looked, the hotter his face felt, flushing a sickly red.

He saw someone run out of the villa and respectfully hand a phone to Zhou Sicheng.

Zhou Sicheng answered it, his expression changing. Almost the very next second, his sharp gaze swept toward him.

Xiang Zhen raised a hand to cover his mouth.

At a glance, Zhou Sicheng spotted his wife in the shade of the trees. That little face was flushed an unnatural red, and he was covering his mouth tightly, looking as if he were too frightened to make a sound lest he be discovered.

He threw the phone away and ran over in a panic.

“Wifey!”

Xiang Zhen let out a dry heave and was caught in Zhou Sicheng’s arms.

Nausea continuously surged up in his stomach. Xiang Zhen squeezed his eyes shut. What was wrong with him? He felt like there was a fire burning inside him.

In his fading consciousness, he thought he heard a doctor’s voice.

“Strenuous exercise, heatstroke, and dehydration, combined with emotional agitation, triggered a chain reaction in the stomach causing dry heaving.”

“Give him an IV of saline. It’s no major issue, you can take him home.”

Next, he felt like he was placed on a bed and pushed a long way.

When he woke up again, Xiang Zhen saw a very high ceiling.

Turning his eyes, he saw Zhou Sicheng’s face.

The familiar burning sensation in his abdomen returned, and his face felt hot as if having an allergic reaction.

Xiang Zhen desperately fought the urge to turn his head away, slightly closing his eyes. “Hubby.”

Zhou Sicheng’s voice was very soft: “I’m sorry, wifey, I scared you.”

He held Xiang Zhen’s hand tightly. He never expected Xiang Zhen to have that kind of reaction upon seeing him.

Clearly, when he saw him working at the Zhoufu headquarters, his eyes had still been full of stars. Bringing Xiang Zhen into Zhoufu had been an experiment by Zhou Sicheng, testing how well Xiang Zhen would adapt to an elite husband. He thought the outcome was what he wanted—

But before Xiang Zhen fainted, Zhou Sicheng had faintly seen a terrified urge to flee in his eyes.

He must have seen it wrong.

Xiang Zhen: “Did you… lie to me?”

Zhou Sicheng: “I’m sorry. Actually, I don’t lack money. I am the CEO of the Zhoufu Group. Zhoufu Bank is mine, and Xiao Kui Bao is mine too. I just wanted to find someone to live a simple life with, someone who wasn’t with me because of my status.”

This reason, spoken now, sounded utterly ridiculous.

Using this excuse, he had “tested” Xiang Zhen for a full month, doing everything a married couple could do.

He was despicable to the extreme.

Xiang Zhen blinked. His brain and body seemed to be at war.

Hubby is handsome and rich!

But he felt a little like vomiting.

He felt like he had broken his vow to his husband. He had sworn confidently, “From now on, I will only believe what Hubby says,” but as Zhou Sicheng spoke, his body was trembling.

Was it because Zhou Sicheng said he had money, and the contrast was too great, so deep down he hadn’t accepted this husband yet?

Could it be that having money or not having money could dictate a person’s character and soul?

Xiang Zhen suppressed this instinctual trembling; he didn’t want Zhou Sicheng to notice.

He didn’t want to hear Zhou Sicheng say it; he wanted to hear Xiao Kui Bao say it.

He rolled over slightly, unlocked his phone, and asked Xiao Kui Bao: “Xiao Kui, who is Zhou Sicheng?”

[Xiao Kui: @Zhou Sicheng is your penniless husband!]

Xiang Zhen: “Who else is he?”

[Xiao Kui: Zhou Sicheng is also my handsome and wealthy master, my strictest father! He is the CEO of Zhoufu Group, the largest shareholder of Zhoufu, primarily investing in internet technology, with wholly-owned subsidiaries including Zhoufu Bank, Xiao Kui Bao AI, Feichi Ride-Hailing… His investment fields also involve…]

Listening to these unfamiliar yet familiar titles, Xiang Zhen gripped the bedsheets tightly.

Hubby manages so many companies by himself, his brain must be so powerful… no, wait, he felt like throwing up again.

It turned out Xiao Kui Bao had told him long ago that it was a real-name romance, but he just hadn’t taken it seriously.

Listening to Xiao Kui Bao’s bright, cheerful tone felt like a profound irony to Zhou Sicheng.

Why wasn’t Xiang Zhen looking at him?

Why wasn’t his wife looking at him anymore?

Was being this wealthy still a mistake?

Without money, how could he give Xiang Zhen the best life? Without money, how could he shoot dead the vicious dogs coveting Xiang Zhen?

Zhou Sicheng: “Wifey, this is our new home. I moved everything from the rental apartment—the range hood, the sunflowers from the rooftop—over here. We’ll live here from now on.”

Xiang Zhen was taken aback, staring at the high ceiling. It was no longer the ceiling in the rental apartment that he would almost hit his head on when Zhou Sicheng picked him up.

The new home is so big! Zhou Sicheng is the ceiling of all husbands!

No, wait, sleeping in this bed felt a little uncomfortable. It was as if he couldn’t acclimate to the new environment.

Xiang Zhen: “I think the rental apartment was better.”

Zhou Sicheng: “A detached villa is better, wifey. There are no mosquito bites here.”

He still hadn’t forgotten that look in Xiang Zhen’s eyes that wanted to flee, which was why he had decisively moved all of Xiang Zhen’s belongings over.

Perhaps doing all this was wrong, but he had no other choice.

Xiang Zhen and Zhou Sicheng locked eyes.

He felt like he understood Zhou Sicheng a little bit now, because he actually saw fear in Zhou Sicheng’s eyes.

Zhou Sicheng was afraid of the consequences caused by his lies.

How could his omnipotent husband show such an expression?

Zhou Sicheng: “Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere? Do you want to chat with a professional doctor?”

Xiang Zhen: “No.”

“Hubby, I want to rest alone for a while.”

Zhou Sicheng’s body stiffened. The old Xiang Zhen would never make such a request, nor would he have a dodging gaze.

He took a deep breath: “Alright. I’ll be right outside.”

Zhou Sicheng wheeled out the robotic Xiao Kui Bao and placed it by the bed: “Wifey, this is the physical Xiao Kui Bao. You can chat with it.”

Xiang Zhen gave a faint response, lacking enthusiasm.

Zhou Sicheng’s heart sank.

He walked out of the door. The room was large enough for an adult man like him to take ten paces, unlike the rental apartment. Yet every time he looked back, he failed to meet Xiang Zhen’s gaze.

In the past, every time he turned his head, he would be met with his wife’s focused stare.

Zhou Sicheng closed the door and said to Ye Yun and Shi Ting at the entrance: “Let’s talk.”

He already knew what kind of agility Xiang Zhen had used to vault into the villa district.

However he got in, he could get out the same way.

The latter was a scenario Zhou Sicheng could not bear.

Zhou Sicheng discussed with Shi Ting how to beef up the security team, employing the latest and highest-tech AI patrols and infrared sensors.

Ye Yun sat to the side, hesitant to speak. How did it come to this?

…

Once his husband left, Xiang Zhen let out a long breath.

He had tried very hard just now not to show his fear toward Zhou Sicheng; in fact, his calves had almost cramped up.

He didn’t want to treat his hubby like this.

A tear leaked from the corner of Xiang Zhen’s eye. He obviously still loved his husband very much.

Xiang Zhen picked up his phone and contacted the other Yao.

[Xiang Zhen: Manning, I feel a little sick and want to throw up when I see my hubby right now.]

[Manning: What’s wrong? Did he hit you?]

[Xiang Zhen: I don’t know, no. Please bring the Guide to Adulthood over for me.]

[Manning: Right! We might be able to find the reason in there!]

Xiang Zhen pulled up the covers. His fear was inexplicable and impossible to voice.

He could only bury it in his heart.

Only when a sunflower had secrets weighing on its heart was it truly considered an adult.