Zuo Ning leaned against Lu Chenghe. His head rested on Lu Chenghe’s stomach while holding a basket full of bright red, crisp cherries in his arms. Next to his hand was a small trash bin, already filled with a decent number of cherry pits. Sitting there comfortably with one leg crossed over the other, Zuo Ning was happily munching away when Lu Chenghe suddenly took away the basket in his arms.
Zuo Ning tilted his head up slightly to look at Lu Chenghe. “What are you doing?”
Lu Chenghe stretched out his long arm and placed the basket of cherries on the bedside table. “Don’t eat any more. These aren’t good if you eat too many. Be careful you don’t end up with an upset stomach.”
Zuo Ning licked the juice lingering on his lips, glanced at the distance between himself and the fruit basket, and gave his own stomach a pat. Before Lu Chenghe came back, he had already eaten half a watermelon. Then during dinner, he couldn’t help but have an extra bowl of beef bone soup. Now, after eating half a basket of cherries, he was indeed feeling a little full. Since Lu Chenghe was stopping him from eating more, he didn’t push it. Instead, he reached out and patted the little one beside him who was gnawing on a plush toy. As expected of his son, even their taste in biting plushies was the same.
Zuo Ning picked up Feifei and held him in his arms. While petting him, he could feel the fluffy, chubby body that had just been dry-cleaned. It carried a faint fragrance and sat obediently in his lap, letting him pet it to his heart’s content. It was so cute that it made your heart tremble. As he scrolled through his Moments feed, the first thing that popped up was a photo of Old Fourth and his girlfriend, Ren Shishi, abroad. Judging by the blue and white buildings in the background, it was clearly Mediterranean style. Zuo Ning held up his phone and showed it to Lu Chenghe. “Where are they? Looks like somewhere near Greece.”
Lu Chenghe, who was reading a document, gave it a quick glance. “Mhm, they’re at the Aegean Sea.”
Once he said that, there was no follow-up. Zuo Ning turned his head and saw that Lu Chenghe was already back to reading his documents again. He asked curiously, “Why have you been so busy lately? You rarely bring work home—at most, you just check emails. But now, you’re carrying documents in a briefcase every day. That briefcase is so tacky! You’re supposed to be a super handsome trendsetter, but now that you’re dragging that thing around, you’re starting to look more and more like a big boss. A few more years, and once you hit your thirties or forties and grow a boss belly… Ugh, just thinking about it is tragic.”
Lu Chenghe reached out and pinched Little Pudding’s cheek. “Why do you think I’m this busy in the first place?”
Zuo Ning rolled over and lay on top of Lu Chenghe, pointing at himself with a confused look. “Because of me?”
Lu Chenghe let out a cold snort. “What else? Just to go abroad with you, a pile of work got delayed. Then, after we got back, that accident happened. And now, staying home to keep you company, another pile of work backed up.”
Zuo Ning sat up in protest, clearly dissatisfied. Feifei, who had just managed to crawl onto his back, gave a plop and rolled off him again. Zuo Ning didn’t bother with the dog; the bed was all soft anyway, so he couldn’t get hurt from the fall. Instead, Zuo Ning pounced on Lu Chenghe and grabbed his neck. “You’re blaming me! Wuwuwu. I knew it, men are all the same. The ones they can’t get are always the best.” And with that, he dove into Lu Chenghe’s arms and fake-cried.
Lu Chenghe reached out, grabbed the puppy that was still trying to climb onto Little Pudding, and tossed him off the bed. Then he rolled over, pressing Little Pudding, who had just flopped into his arms, underneath him.
Zuo Ning stared at him with those bright, sparkling eyes, not blinking once. “What are you trying to do? I’ll have you know, I sell my skills, not my body!”
Lu Chenghe chuckled lightly. “Then tell me, what skills exactly do you have to sell?”
Zuo Ning grinned. “I can act! For example…” As he spoke, he grabbed the collar of Lu Chenghe’s shirt with one hand and reached for his own collar with the other—only to realize he was wearing a round-neck shirt and couldn’t get a good grip. So instead, he shielded his chest and looked at Lu Chenghe with an expression of fierce defiance, like a tragic heroine resisting a villain’s assault—completely unwilling to submit even in the face of death. His gaze said, Even if you break my proud bones, I will remain forever unattainable to you. “I’m telling you, Lu Chenghe, even if you get my body, you’ll never have my heart! Give it up. I’ll never give in to you!”
Lu Chenghe took the hand pressed to his chest and held it, leaning in close to Zuo Ning’s neck to inhale that addictive, faint fragrance. “Is that so? Then I guess I’ll just have to lock you in a little black room for the rest of your life. If I can’t have your heart, having your body will do.” As he finished, he gave that soft, pale earlobe a playful nibble.
Zuo Ning instinctively shivered slightly, then widened his eyes in shock and glared at Lu Chenghe. “Y-You—how could you?! You lecher! Let me go, or I’m going to scream!”
Lu Chenghe didn’t mind playing along, especially when those wide eyes reflected his image so clearly, moist and bright. He was clearly trying to act afraid, but couldn’t quite hide that sly glint in his eyes. Lu Chenghe loved seeing Little Pudding so full of life like this.
“So now’s the part where I say: ‘Scream all you want. Even if you scream your throat out, no one’s coming to save you,’ right?”
Zuo Ning complained disdainfully, “You’re not even keeping the act going. All the emotions I just built up have been ruined by you. How am I supposed to continue acting after this?”
Lu Chenghe gave a light tsk. “A good actor should have the professional skill to react quickly to unexpected situations. Clearly, you haven’t trained well enough. You might as well sell your body instead.”
As he spoke, he directly picked up the remote and turned off the lights, swallowing up the sound that Little Pudding was just about to cry out.
The Lu family’s daily life was harmonious. Other than bringing a few more people along when going out, they usually didn’t leave the house unless necessary, and they turned down any nonessential invitations. Apart from that, their lives weren’t affected in the slightest. While the two Lu brothers were battling it out with others in the outside world, not even a whisper of it reached the ears of those at home.
Of course, Mother Lu was aware of what was going on. Unlike Little Pudding, who obediently followed everything Lu Chenghe arranged and was too carefree to care how many people followed him around, he kept to a simple routine—either at home or on set. Worried that his mother might be invited out by some socialites for shopping or tea, Lu Chenghe made sure to explain to her the current state of affairs in the business circle. Even if she had to go out, she needed to stay alert.
Mother Lu responded decisively—she went straight back to her maiden home. It just so happened that the younger generation was on summer vacation, and a few who were still in kindergarten had been dropped off at the main residence. With so many people around, the place was lively.
Meanwhile, Zuo Ning, who hadn’t been informed of any of this, was still completely in the dark. Though he was a little puzzled by how busy Lu Chenghe had become lately—there were even a few times when he didn’t make it back for dinner—in the past, if he finished filming early, he’d go to Lu Chenghe’s company to wait and leave work together. But recently, Lu Chenghe wouldn’t even let him go to the office, always saying he was either in a meeting elsewhere or doing on-site inspections somewhere.
If it weren’t for the deep trust he had in Lu Chenghe, Zuo Ning would have started suspecting that Lu Chenghe had picked up some stray dog outside. Lu Chenghe had told him that the film city project was about to begin construction, so he’d be a bit busy for a while. Apparently, only the eldest Lu brother and Lu Chenghe were involved in the project, so the fourth brother Lu, who had no part in it, went off on a trip with his girlfriend to relax. Probably also because if he stayed in the country, the Tang family would find another excuse to stir up trouble.
However, it was said that the Tang family had already come to cause trouble. Tang Xin’s father had suffered a stroke over two years ago and was now paralyzed on one side, unable to speak clearly, and could only be kept at home and treated like an ancestor. After losing her daughter, Madam Tang had completely lost her mind. More than once, she had gone to Lu Chenghan’s[mfn]fourth brother[/mfn] home to make a scene. The house where Lu Chenghan had his accident was reportedly going to be sold, and since Madam Tang couldn’t find him, she went to his parents’ house to continue her outburst. But although there were housekeepers and servants at home, the master of the house was off traveling around the world and wasn’t there at all.
Now, aside from the side branches, the only elder in the Lu family who could still speak on behalf of the family was Mother Lu. Unfortunately, Mother Lu had returned to her maiden home—the Di family—a place even someone as unhinged as Madam Tang dared not provoke. She didn’t dare make a scene there, so she just cried. Her husband was already in that state, her only daughter was gone, and she couldn’t even find a reason to keep living. She didn’t dare stir up trouble at the Di family only because she didn’t want to implicate her own family. So if she couldn’t cause a scene, she’d cry instead—cried so much that some busybodies started spreading rumors everywhere.
When Lu Chenghe saw that Tang Yifeng couldn’t even keep his own mother in check, he took a hard stance and cut off several of Tang Yifeng’s illegal funding channels. At the same time, he helped his uncle, who had authority in related areas, earn several impressive achievements in his political record.
Some smaller companies that had originally planned to follow behind and fish for scraps all backed off one by one. Although Lu Chenghe didn’t mind others tagging along to eat meat, as long as they didn’t sabotage his plans, he couldn’t be bothered to interfere with the rest. Even so, others were still afraid. They’d only dare approach after his people had all left.
Those with elders at home were all warned to tell their juniors: if you can make friends with the Lu family in business, then don’t become enemies. At the very least, maintain a nodding acquaintance. The Lu family had always been known for being easy to get along with. As long as you didn’t cross the line, they were kind and reasonable. Working with honest and trustworthy businesspeople like them naturally came with many benefits. Some thought that was why their elders always told them to stay on good terms with the Lu family. But now, after witnessing the iron-fisted methods of the Lu brothers, they suddenly understood the real reason. Don’t mess with them. Good people, when ruthless, are also terrifying.
Even though Tang Yifeng wasn’t favored, he was indeed Tang Father’s only son. Tang Father had always treated him and Tang Xin equally, without any difference. In fact, to prepare him to inherit the Tang family, he had started teaching him personally, hand in hand, ever since Tang Yifeng came of age. Unfortunately, Tang Father had built his fortune from scratch, and what he could pass down was nothing more than his own experience. Compared to the Lu family, which had been passed down for generations, when it really came down to it, he just wasn’t on the same level.
Tang Yifeng thought he wasn’t lacking in ability. At the very least, he could handle both legal and illegal affairs. After fully taking over the Tang Group, the company’s capital had multiplied in a short time, which made him somewhat overconfident. Add to that the Lu family’s low-key style over the years, which had made some people believe their old-fashioned ways were out of step with the times, nothing but an empty name. Many century-old family businesses had collapsed simply because they refused to reform with the changing times.
But once the Lu brothers made their move, Tang Yifeng finally realized just how naive he had been. All the tricks he once prided himself on suddenly seemed stupid and amateurish by comparison. And while he was already overwhelmed, his lovely mother was still busy causing even more trouble for him.
Since his wife was off filming and probably wouldn’t be back anytime soon, Lu Chenghan[mfn]eldest brother[/mfn] had no choice but to channel all his pent-up energy into punishing the Tang family for their stupidity. Though he was merely a restaurateur, food is the lifeblood of the people. Don’t be fooled by the fact that he only sold food. In terms of connections, he far outstripped his second brother, and in terms of capital, he had even more. Even the national banquets were catered by his chefs. Those high-ranking figures who frequently appeared on the evening news were regular guests in his restaurants.
Crushing that brat from the Tang family was a piece of cake for the Lu family’s eldest. But unfortunately, his second brother wasn’t willing to end it so quickly. He insisted on playing the cat-and-mouse game, slowly wearing the boy down. Well, with his wife away, he might as well join in the game, too. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do. After glancing through the report sent by his people, Lu Chenghan gave a light tsk. “Truly deranged.”
Lu Chenghe, who was sitting beside him, cast a glance at the report. He had already read it that afternoon, and upon hearing his elder brother’s comment, simply replied blandly, “It’s not like she’s his real daughter. Now that he holds all the power, he’s killed off his sister, locked up his mother, what’s the big deal?”
Lu Chenghan looked at him. “You mean to say?”
“He had contact with Tang Xin’s psychiatrist,” Lu Chenghe replied, “but there’s no evidence. So, not much to say.”
Lu Chenghan frowned. “What would he gain from that?”
Lu Chenghe shot him a glance. “If you can figure out what a lunatic is thinking, then you’re not far from being one yourself.”
Lu Chenghan rolled his eyes at him in disdain, took a sip of his now-lukewarm tea, and was just about to call someone to replace it with a hot cup—but oddly, no servants were in sight. In such a huge estate, in broad daylight, the butler and all the staff had vanished without a trace. Not even a shadow in sight. Who knew what they were up to.
Just then, Zuo Ning walked into the house and immediately spotted Lu Chenghe sitting in the living room. His eyes lit up, and he dashed straight over. “Chenghe! You’re home so early today!” He flung himself onto Lu Chenghe without hesitation, plopped right onto his lap, wrapped his arms around Lu Chenghe’s neck, and said cheerfully, “Let’s go out to eat! The butler said tonight’s ingredients are all seafood, but I want beef. The kind that’s absurdly expensive!”
Lu Chenghe held him steady to keep him from flailing around and falling: “Then just have the butler change the menu.”
Zuo Ning hugged Lu Chenghe tightly, nuzzling against his neck. “But I want to go out to eat with you. We haven’t gone out for a meal in so long, especially since you’ve been so busy lately.” After saying that, he paused, gazed at Lu Chenghe for a moment, then changed his mind. “Forget it, next time. You’ve been so busy lately, and you actually got off work early today. Let’s just eat at home. After dinner, you can get some rest earlier, too.”
Lu Chenghe chuckled softly. “So thoughtful?”
Zuo Ning huffed proudly, “Of course!” As he spoke, he leaned in and planted a kiss on Lu Chenghe’s lips, then laughed mischievously.
Lu Chenghan, who had been standing off to the side with a cup of tea, who knew for how long, gave a light cough. “Now I understand why the butler and all the servants disappeared.”
Seeing Lu Chenghan, Zuo Ning quickly scrambled off Lu Chenghe and sat properly next to him. “Hello, big brother.”
Lu Chenghan gave him a nod. “It’s getting late, I’ll head off now. You two go ahead and keep being lovey-dovey.” He had originally planned to stay and have dinner with them, but after drinking so much tea, he already felt half full. Might as well head home. He wasn’t sure if his wife was free, but he certainly wouldn’t mind watching him go over a script on video chat.
Watching his big brother just walk off like that, Zuo Ning couldn’t help but stick out his tongue at Lu Chenghe. “Why didn’t you tell me big brother was here?”
Lu Chenghe said calmly, “What difference does it make whether he’s here or not? Come on, let’s go out to eat.”
Zuo Ning looked up at him, and Lu Chenghe smiled, reaching out to rub his head. “Let’s go. If I don’t feed you, you’ll be so hungry later you’ll end up chewing on my hand in the middle of the night.”
Zuo Ning immediately burst into laughter and jumped onto Lu Chenghe’s back. Waving his hand grandly, he declared, “Let’s go eat meat!”
