The car came to a slow stop.

The scenery outside the window stopped retreating and became fixed on a silver-gray building. The company logo embedded in the wall gleamed under the sunlight—

“Xie-ge, we’re here.”

Seeing the man hadn’t returned to his senses for a long time, Le Yan couldn’t help but remind him. She paused and asked again: “Xie-ge, are you… are you okay?”

Xie Jinghe retracted his unfocused gaze and nodded to show he was fine. He took a deep breath, and his expression instantly transformed, appearing extremely calm.

The rear car door opened.

Xie Jinghe got out alone and walked toward the glass doors of the building.

NO1 was an entertainment company that had risen to prominence in the last few years. He wasn’t a stranger to the name; in fact, the company had invested in two of the films he had acted in.

One could say they had a bit of fate.

As for Pei Yue extending an olive branch to him, Xie Jinghe was a bit surprised, but not too surprised.

It explained the excessive enthusiasm the other party had shown him when they first met.

Since the news of his contract termination dispute with Fu Guang Entertainment broke, Xie Jinghe had received invitations from several entertainment companies, but due to various considerations, he didn’t want to make a decision so quickly.

Mainly because—

Xie Jinghe really hadn’t had much drive these past few years.

Especially after he married Shi Linchuan, every time he had to be away for a long period, Xie Jinghe had to suppress his longing and desire for his husband with all his might.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like acting anymore, but rather…

Forget it.

He shouldn’t think about these things.

Xie Jinghe shook his head, casting aside the mess of tangled thoughts that emerged unbidden. He allowed the receptionist to lead him to the elevator, preparing to meet Pei Yue for a detailed chat.

The other party had taken the initiative to message him two days ago and issued the invitation. Some of the terms she had revealed in advance on WeChat had tempted Xie Jinghe, which was why he was here today.

The elevator ascended.

Xie Jinghe couldn’t help but recall their first meeting at that dinner party.

The woman sat beside him, and whenever she toasted the director, she would always tilt her face in his direction, her gaze and the scent of her perfume drifting over…

Perfume.

Thinking of this, Xie Jinghe unconsciously narrowed his eyes, his lips pressing together slightly, while a thought he couldn’t name flashed through his mind.

…It was like a dream forgotten upon waking, or an inspiration he hadn’t managed to grasp. At this very moment, he had an unusually strong feeling that [he seemed to have overlooked something important].

Just then—

Da. The duet of leather shoes and high heels striking the floor was silenced by a sudden halt.

This floor was very quiet. It didn’t look like there were many people here, only a few closed office doors, which suggested how vast the space inside must be.

The staff member led Xie Jinghe to the office door in the center of the hallway. An expression containing indescribable excitement swept across his face as he politely gestured: “Xie-laoshi, the Big Boss is waiting for you inside.”

“He gave instructions that you should just push the door and go in.”

Xie Jinghe didn’t think much of it, assuming the “Big Boss” the other party mentioned was just Pei Yue. After thanking him, he pushed open the unlocked door without any defenses…

The space behind the door was bright and vast.

The pre-noon sunlight jumped through an entire wall of glass, illuminating the marble floor until it was translucent, resembling a flipped, horizontal mirror, honestly reflecting the expression of the person who entered.

It was as if an unknown force had pressed a pause button on Xie Jinghe. He stood frozen in place, his expression almost describable as “blank.”

Bewilderment?

That was too mild.

Shock?

That didn’t seem quite right either.

He stood there dazed, until the office door behind him closed automatically with a dull thud. This sound was like a thunderclap in a clear sky, instantly splitting through his stagnant spirit.

He saw a black lacquered table in the center of the massive office. The man in the black suit sat behind it, one hand placed casually on the desk, his fingers slender, a fountain pen clamped between his index and middle fingers.

Whiz—

The fountain pen spun several times between the man’s fingers, turning into an obsidian blur that seemed capable of sucking away one’s soul.

Clack.

Shi Linchuan placed the fountain pen on the desk, then reached up to adjust his glasses, smiling as he asked the person standing dumbly at the door:

“Why don’t you come over and sit?”

Xie Jinghe was wearing a casual-style suit today, with a coat in the same color tone over it. Although the style was simple and low-key, there were small design details at the collar and cuffs.

Very eye-catching.

It was an outfit very suitable for having a conversation with someone.

Shi Linchuan looked him up and down. Seeing the man still standing motionless, he got up himself and paced over to the coffee machine on the side cabinet, even asking casually:

“Should I add two packets of sugar for you again?”

Without turning his head, Shi Linchuan knew Xie Jinghe’s gaze was following him.

So he waited patiently, and finally, he got a response from the other party.

Xie Jinghe opened his mouth, but couldn’t make a sound.

Another few seconds passed.

He spent quite an effort to find his voice. His tone was deeper and hoarser than usual, his volume kept very low, and every word was articulated with difficulty.

He asked,

“Why are you here?”

Shi Linchuan didn’t answer directly; instead, he asked back:

“Why can’t I appear here?”

While saying this, he paced slowly back, placed a cup of sugarless black coffee in front of himself, and pushed the other cup with double the sugar across the desk to the other side.

“Sit down and talk.”

Xie Jinghe seemed to have become a marionette in his hands. Under his unquestionable instruction, he walked over slowly.

…As if walking into a thick fog.

Shi Linchuan stared at his dazed expression, a cold and playful smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. He took the initiative to speak: “I was the one who had Pei Yue invite you over, so naturally, I am here.”

He reached out an index finger to tap the desktop and continued: “Besides, this is my territory to begin with.”

The fog cleared away a corner, revealing a glimpse of the truth beneath.

Xie Jinghe also stared at Shi Linchuan, locking eyes with him.

Subsequently, Xie Jinghe nodded half a beat late and said something that sounded incredulous even to his own ears.

“…Do you have a cigarette?”

Shi Linchuan’s response was simple.

He fished a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his drawer, shook one out, and bit the filter to light it. After exhaling the first cloud of gray-white smoke, he turned toward Xie Jinghe, holding the lit cigarette between his fingertips and extending it toward him, asking in a malicious tone:

“You don’t mind, do you?”

Xie Jinghe took the cigarette directly and took a deep drag. The smoke then drifted from his lips, blurring his features.

So it turned out that when people don’t know how to react, they really can laugh.

Xie Jinghe suddenly gave a small laugh and said calmly:

“I don’t mind. It’s not like I haven’t swallowed your saliva before; I don’t even know how many times I’ve swallowed your [semen]. What is there to mind about this?”

Shi Linchuan thought about it and nodded in agreement: “That’s true.”

Immediately after, Xie Jinghe asked again: “So… you’ve been lying to me from the very beginning? Working at the securities firm these past three years was a lie, being laid off was a lie, and what happened at the dinner party that day was also a trap you specifically set for me?”

Hearing this, Shi Linchuan opened up the floodgates.

His tone was incredibly light and nonchalant, as if he were discussing how nice the weather was, admitting to everything with a nonchalant flick of his wrist.

“—Yes.”

Xie Jinghe asked habitually: “Why?”

He had been thinking about these three words for days—why?

But the answer Shi Linchuan gave was too generalized; he still couldn’t figure it out—why, exactly?

Is this what it’s like to hate someone?

Xie Jinghe couldn’t understand it at all.

Not waiting for Shi Linchuan to answer, he continued to speak for himself.

“You are the boss of NO1, a higher rank than Pei Yue… so it’s not for money. Is it for the body?”

Speaking to this point, Xie Jinghe self-rebutted: “That doesn’t seem right. I’m not that good-looking, am I?”

While he was speaking, Shi Linchuan had already left his seat.

He strolled leisurely to Xie Jinghe’s front-side, then half-leaned and sat on the edge of the desk, his long legs swinging back and forth.

Shi Linchuan had one hand in his pocket. Hearing this, his other hand gently touched Xie Jinghe’s chin, lifting his face up. He scrutinized him from above for two seconds and commented:

“No need to be so self-deprecating.”

He hadn’t cried.

Up to now, he still hadn’t cried.

So Shi Linchuan leaned down and bowed his waist, leaning close to Xie Jinghe’s ear and whispering: “The way you writhe in bed is particularly good-looking, particularly exciting. Your moaning sounds better than singing…”

His vocabulary was vulgar and base to the extreme. Every word sounded like it was coated in sludge, wantonly smearing itself over every night of intimacy or madness they had shared over the past three years.

After he finished, Shi Linchuan turned his head to inspect Xie Jinghe’s expression at close range, only to find him letting himself be pinched by the chin, eyelids lowered, gazing at the empty ground, and then…

He silently exhaled a smoke ring.

This reaction was truly too flat.

Shi Linchuan wasn’t very satisfied.

So he let go of Xie Jinghe’s chin, but his fingertips didn’t leave his skin; instead, they gradually moved upward, then higher.

Shi Linchuan pressed his thumb into the center of his soft, dry lower lip, rubbing and pressing for a long while until he had ground his lips into a slightly vivid color.

Then, he said slowly,

“But I think I’m a bit bored of it now.”

Xie Jinghe’s expression still hadn’t changed.

But Shi Linchuan caught a sharp glimpse of his fingers curling, accidentally crushing the cigarette butt into a flat, round shape, and a large chunk of ash falling off.

Seeing this, he finally smiled with satisfaction.

However, just as Shi Linchuan wanted to say something else, Xie Jinghe suddenly raised his hand and dropped the half-finished cigarette in his hand into a cup of coffee that hadn’t been touched.

His aim was excellent.

Hiss.

The flame of the cigarette butt was instantly extinguished by the coffee liquid.

Shi Linchuan had considered several possibilities—Xie Jinghe might have gotten so angry like last time and attacked him, he might have been so devastated he burst into tears, or he might have even turned around and left…

But he never, ever expected that—

Xie Jinghe lifted his eyes to look at him, the corners of his eyes slightly red, but his tone was as calm as a flat line: “You said I don’t understand you at all, but why do I feel…”

“Shi Linchuan, you just don’t want me to understand you.”

The air instantly turned cold.

The smell of burnt tobacco mixed with the scent of coffee, forming a very complex aroma, a bit like the smell of gunpowder.

Shi Linchuan instantly transformed into a mask of a forced, sinister smile, the force with which he pressed the other party’s lower lip increasing, his fingertips almost probing into Xie Jinghe’s mouth.

It seemed he wanted to prevent him from continuing to speak.

But Xie Jinghe continued to say,

“…Are you afraid of something?”

He lifted his neck, staring fixedly at the man in front of him.

Shi Linchuan met his gaze, as if seeing a fire drop from Xie Jinghe’s eyes; the moment it landed on him, the fire flared up, scorching his flesh and spirit.

He glared at Xie Jinghe, gritting his teeth.