Chapter 95: This Is the First Time, and Also the Last…

Achoo—

Jiang Shi let out a loud sneeze.

He had been coughing intermittently for the past few days, and the medicine didn’t seem to help. Being sick made him listless, and when he stepped on the scale, he found he had lost a few more pounds.

But he himself didn’t feel much of it and went about his business as usual. He had quit gaming for a while because of filming, but a new event was released during his two-day break, and he instantly got hooked.

Cheng Ye had been busy with something these past two days and wasn’t home much. Jiang Shi slept until high noon, waking up just as the auntie had finished preparing the meal.

The auntie didn’t come over often, only when Cheng Ye was too busy to cook. The moment Jiang Shi saw her, he knew Cheng Ye must be out.

He sat down and asked casually, “Where’s Cheng Ye?”

Because he had a cold, the auntie had made only light dishes. She placed the last dish on the table and wiped her hands on her apron. “He went out early this morning. He told me to knock and wake you up if you weren’t awake by mealtime. I didn’t expect Mr. Jiang to wake up right on time.”

Jiang Shi thought he had gone to work and ate the tasteless meal by himself.

Liu Heping sent him a message.
[My dear boy, you only caught a cold because your body is weak. Think of your big brother back in the day, swimming in winter in sub-ten-degree weather, my physical fitness was top-notch. Didn’t I sign you up for a fitness class before? You have time off now, so go work out.]

Jiang Shi read it and automatically ignored the message. But less than two minutes later, a call from Cheng Ye came in.

The auntie was washing dishes, and Jiang Shi was sprawled on the sofa.

Cheng Ye asked him, “Have you finished eating?”

“Just finished.”

It was as if the other person had eyes on him. “Get up and move around. Don’t just lie there.”

Jiang Shi didn’t move an inch. “I’m taking a stroll right now.”

Cheng Ye: “…”

He said, “I’m on my way back. I will check the step count on your phone. If it’s less than two thousand, what do you think will happen?”

What could happen? Could Cheng Ye eat him alive?

Jiang Shi lay there for another minute before finally getting up with his phone.

The auntie poked her head out of the kitchen. “Mr. Jiang, are you going upstairs to rest?”

Jiang Shi swung his phone. “No, I’m taking a stroll.”

The wind was cold outside, and he didn’t want to suffer, so he just walked in circles in the living room downstairs. After a while, he went up to the sunroom on the second-floor terrace.

Cheng Ye had planted the flowers. Many of them were seedlings he had dug up from who-knows-where in the wild. They were common varieties that no one would spare a glance at on the roadside, squeezed together with a bunch of other plants, living like weeds.

They didn’t require much effort to care for. With a little sunlight and water, they bloomed lushly.

In the afternoon, the wind stopped, and the rain began to fall, pattering against the glass roof of the sunroom.

Cheng Ye returned home, stepping through the raindrops.

His shoulders were damp with rain, carrying the chill of late winter. The cold scent dissipated as soon as it met the warmth of the house.

The auntie had just finished cleaning and was about to leave. She greeted him, “Mr. Cheng.”

Cheng Ye scanned the living room. “Where’s Jiang Shi?”

“Mr. Jiang walked around the living room for a few rounds and then went upstairs.”

He undid the cuffs on his wrists. “You can go home. No need to come tonight.”

The sound of the auntie closing the door echoed from the entrance. Cheng Ye went upstairs.

He didn’t find him in the bedroom, so he turned and went to the sunroom.

The rain was falling harder, the glass was covered in water, and the outside was a misty blur. The boundary between the mountains blurred into a spreading ink wash painting.

The young man was squatting in the sunroom. His loose pajamas hung on his somewhat thin frame, his shoulder blades protruding. His shoulders were slightly hunched, his arms wrapped around his legs, his body curled up, chest pressed against his knees, folding himself together.

Long hair slipped from his temples, his eyelashes drooped quietly, and the mole on the tip of his nose reflected the light like a flickering candle flame.

The dampness of the rain mixed with the fragrance of flowers filled Cheng Ye’s nose. He reached up and loosened the neatly tied tie around his neck.

A tall figure loomed behind Jiang Shi, followed by a low voice, “What are you looking at?”

Jiang Shi was startled. He looked up to see that Cheng Ye had returned.

He shifted his numb legs. “Watching the ants move house.”

In the small garden, there was its own ecosystem.

Cheng Ye pulled him up from the floor. His palm, through the pajamas, rested on his waist and gave it an improper squeeze. He didn’t feel much flesh, and his brows furrowed.

Jiang Shi leaned against his chest and didn’t smell the usual dry scent, but a whiff of cologne.

He turned his head back and only then noticed that Cheng Ye was wearing a neat suit. The well-fitting fabric made him look even more handsome and upright. After a few years of refinement, the rustic air from his village days was long gone. His height of nearly 1.9 meters meant that he always looked down at people with his dark eyes, carrying a touch of a superior’s coldness and authority.

The superior figure shamelessly squeezed Jiang Shi’s butt. “Where’s your phone? Let me see if you’ve walked two thousand steps.”

Jiang Shi, who had been watching ants move house for a long time: “…”

Cheng Ye bent down and picked up the phone he had tossed aside. The step count was not only far from two thousand, it was barely a thousand.

“You’ve been lazy.”

Jiang Shi opened his mouth to argue, but Cheng Ye wouldn’t listen. He scooped him up and headed to the adjacent bedroom.

Outside the window, the rain and mist were hazy. The branches of the tallow tree stretched out in the air, the fruits hanging from them like stars in the sky, swaying with the wind and rain, silently watching the room.

The moment Jiang Shi’s butt touched the bed, he had a bad feeling. He dodged backward, using a pillow as a shield in front of him. “What are you doing, in broad daylight?”

Cheng Ye stood at the head of the bed, watching as his clothes fell half open, revealing a section of his chest.

He said, “Come here. I’ll show you something good.”

What good thing could Cheng Ye possibly have?

This time, it really was something good. In the video, a man’s voice was casual and indifferent, yet it made the two young actors go into the water again and again. Their clothes and hair clung to their bodies, their lips a bluish-purple that lipstick couldn’t hide, inexplicably overlapping with the image of him soaking in the bathtub that day.

Jiang Shi was stunned for a long while before he came back to his senses. When he spoke again, his voice was hoarse. “How did you…”

When clothes get wet, they reveal body curves. Cheng Ye turned off the phone, unwilling to let Jiang Shi see it after watching it once himself.

“Instead of me explaining to you, Jiang Shi, don’t you think you should be saying something to me?”

He was here to hold him accountable.

Jiang Shi shrank his feet. “What should I explain to you? What’s there to explain? Besides, do I have to tell you every little thing?”

“A little thing?” Cheng Ye said. “I’ve been taking care of you without even changing my clothes while you’re sick. I haven’t been to work for several days, and several major projects have piled up at the company. So how do you propose we calculate the losses?”

Hearing this, Jiang Shi was instantly unhappy and threw the pillow in his hands at him.

“What do you mean, Cheng Ye? Are you saying I’m getting in the way of you making money? Did I ask you to take care of me? If you’re so good at making money, then don’t come back at all. Go out and make your money.”

Cheng Ye raised a hand to catch the pillow, his face expressionless. “When I talk about feelings with you, you talk about facts. When I talk about facts with you, you talk about feelings. Jiang Shi, is this how you do the math?”

Agitated, Jiang Shi couldn’t help but cough several times. His hair fell messily across his face, the black a stark contrast to the white, his lips pale.

He felt very wronged. “I’m already like this, and you’re still treating me this way. Cheng Ye, do you even have a heart?”

Cheng Ye bent down, pinching his chin to examine him. “You do look pitiful. But what does this have to do with me? Did I cause it?”

This was the first time Jiang Shi had ever been treated like this by him. Those eyes looked cold, and even the hand pinching his face had lost its warmth.

“Cheng Ye, you…”

The hand hanging by Cheng Ye’s side was clenched so tightly that the bones made a cracking sound, but his face remained expressionless. “Can the little master only act tough at home? You swallow your pride when you’re bullied outside, then come home and take it out on me. Do I look like your punching bag?”

Jiang Shi trembled. Meeting his gaze, he suddenly didn’t know what to say. “I’m not…”

“Not what? Not bullied? Or not taking your anger out on me?”

Jiang Shi slapped away the hand pinching his face and turned his head away without a word.

Cheng Ye flicked his hand. He clearly hadn’t used much force, but two fingerprints were still imprinted on the young man’s fair chin.

He rubbed his fingertips together. “Speak, Jiang Shi.”

Jiang Shi didn’t say a word, keeping his head down, leaving Cheng Ye with only the sight of his stubborn nape.

Fine…

Cheng Ye completely ripped the loosened tie from his neck. He got on the bed, grabbed Jiang Shi’s hands, and brought them behind his back. The high-quality tie was bound around his pale wrists. With the friction, a light pink blush spread across his skin.

Jiang Shi finally looked at him. He moved his hands. The tie wasn’t tight, but he couldn’t struggle free at all.

“What are you doing?”

The fully dressed man knelt behind him. The snow-white flesh of his buttocks pressed against the crisp fabric, and he flinched from the cold.

Losing his pants wasn’t enough. Cheng Ye reached out with two long fingers and unbuttoned Jiang Shi’s pajamas. The clothes slid down, hanging around his bound elbows, the scenery half-hidden.

“Little master…” Cheng Ye’s voice was faint. “I helped you get your revenge. I should get some kind of reward, right?”

His tone and expression were both cold, completely different from how he usually was with Jiang Shi. Jiang Shi felt both wronged and a little scared.

“Who asked you to help me! Get lost, Cheng Ye!”

Soon, he couldn’t speak anymore.

Outside the window, the tallow tree remained silent. The fruits hanging from its branches swayed with the rain, showing white against the dim sky, like blooming plum blossoms.

Jiang Shi was pressed against the bay window, his hands bound, the upper half of his chest pressed against the glass. In front of him was the cold glass, behind him was the immaculately dressed Cheng Ye, and only within, he was being stirred into a flood.

Cheng Ye hadn’t even undone a single button of his clothes. His face was calm and self-possessed. Compared to him, Jiang Shi looked exceptionally disheveled.

The noble young master closed his eyes, unwilling to look back, his teeth biting his lip tightly, refusing to let out even a single sound.

Cheng Ye then reached out and turned on the light.

The light outside was dim. The lamp’s reflection showed Jiang Shi’s face.

Cheng Ye used his fingers to pry open his lips, forcing him to make a sound. “Cry out. I’m listening.”

The tear hanging at the corner of Jiang Shi’s eye finally fell. His voice was intermittent. “Cheng Ye… I hate you…”

Cheng Ye didn’t speak, just kept at it.

Jiang Shi was completely pressed against the glass. With a slight lift of his eyes, he could see the fully dressed Cheng Ye standing behind him.

The man was lofty, his face devoid of any emotion, and when he looked at him, he just lowered his eyes slightly.

Jiang Shi couldn’t stand his gaze and struggled even harder. “Go away! I don’t want to be with you anymore! What right do you have to treat me like this? You’re just a bastard!”

Cheng Ye reached out and covered his mouth. “You’re quite vocal in front of me. Why didn’t I see you say a single word when others bullied you? You don’t even know how to tattle when you get home. You just swallow your grievances. The young master truly has a big heart.”

Furious, Jiang Shi opened his mouth and bit his hand.

Cheng Ye didn’t move, a trace of gloom creeping into his expression. “You can’t take this? Why didn’t I see you unable to take it when you were being held down in the bathtub? Or is it that you only know how to act tough at home?”

The force of the bite on his hand grew stronger, gradually drawing blood.

The two were locked in a struggle, neither backing down.

The taste of iron filled Jiang Shi’s mouth. The grievances that had accumulated over the past few days finally erupted, and he let out a sob while biting Cheng Ye’s hand.

A soft sigh came from behind him. Cheng Ye finally bent down. He pulled his hand from Jiang Shi’s mouth and carefully wiped the bloodstains from the corner of his lips.

“If only you used the same energy you use against me against outsiders.”

The tie had come loose at some point. Jiang Shi reached out to push Cheng Ye away. “I didn’t tell you, did you have to treat me like this? Cheng Ye, you did it on purpose, you deliberately treated me like this…”

Cheng Ye’s brow was heavy. “Yes, I did it on purpose.”

“If I don’t make you feel the pain once, you’ll dare to keep your mouth shut again next time you’re bullied.”

Jiang Shi kicked at him. “What’s the point of telling you? I’m just a minor actor, and you’re so busy every day. Why should I bother you with these unhappy things and make you annoyed?”

Cheng Ye reached out and grabbed his ankle. The teeth marks on the web of his thumb were still bleeding, making the point of contact sticky.

“Since when has anything about you been a small matter? Jiang Shi, are you saying these things just to piss me off?”

Jiang Shi bit his lip and didn’t speak.

Cheng Ye then cupped his neck, forcing him to look up and meet his gaze.

“This isn’t the Song family. No one has ever asked you to be obedient and well-behaved. Young master, I work so hard to make money not so you can save me trouble. You think you don’t have a backer, then I’ll be your backer. You think you don’t have confidence, then I am your confidence.”

“I can’t always be by your side. I hope you can protect yourself. At the very least, you have to learn to come back and tattle to me.”

Instead of silently swallowing things down.

He found out and could retaliate, but the damage had already been done. What was the use of revenge then?

The person he held on the tip of his heart, he couldn’t even bear to say a harsh word to him. On what grounds should he let others bully him?

“Jiang Shi…”

Cheng Ye looked at him, not pleading, not negotiating, but informing.

“This is the first time, and also the last time.”