Battling his icy stare, Jiang Luoluo stepped out of the car, trembling with fear. He had hoped to slip away unnoticed, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
But just as he took two steps, someone grabbed him by the back of his shirt.
“Where are you off to?”
Feeling a chill at the back of his neck, Jiang Luoluo stumbled over an excuse: “I need to use the restroom.”
Tycoon Fu Tingchuan sneered: “Sure.”
Five minutes later.
Jiang Luoluo stood there like a student caught in disciplinary detention, looking nervously at Fu Tingchuan.
Leaning against the bathroom door with a stony expression, Fu Tingchuan pointed his chin towards the toilet. “Well, aren’t you gonna use it?”
Jiang Luoluo noticed the hint of jealousy in his gaze. He glanced at the toilet, then tried negotiating. “How about… you step out for a moment…”
Fu Tingchuan’s smile was cold and sarcastic. “What, he can hold you while bathing you, seeing every inch of your body, but I can’t? It’s fine for him, but not for me?”
Jiang Luoluo’s hand barely reached his waist when he felt the gaze from behind burning more intensely as if a fire was starting in his spine.
He couldn’t even go to the toilet now, his small face growing red from restraint. Tugging at his t-shirt, he turned to leave. “I give up, I don’t want to go now.”
Just as he reached the door, an arm stretched out to brace against the other side of the frame. Fu Tingchuan blocked his way, “Do you think I’m going to eat a piece of you for a glance?”
Jiang Luoluo looked up at him, long eyelashes flickering. He softly complained, “How can I be comfortable with you staring at me like that?”
Fu Tingchuan dipped his head lower, closer to Jiang Luoluo, his breath puffing against the boy’s face. “Oh, so staring at you makes you feel shy, but him looking at you is okay?”
“How come he’s the one who’s closer to you now, even though I was the first one to meet you?”
“It’s not like he was watching me use the toilet…”
Jiang Luoluo mumbled in stubborn protest, “It’s not like he’s as twisted as you…”
Fu Tingchuan braced his other arm against the wall as well, trapping Jiang Luoluo within his embrace. His words dripped with jealousy:
“He may not watch you use the toilet, but he’s a perfect gentleman, not some creep like you…”
“He just undoes all your clothes, then carries you naked in his arms to the bath…”
The more Fu Tingchuan thought about it, the angrier he grew:
“How did he wash you? How did you hold each other? Were you both under the showerhead together? Or did he carry you to the bathtub for some playful water time?”
“I’ve never been treated like that before!”
“And here too…”
Cool fingers brushed against his neck, where the red marks near the tip of their touch had faded considerably. “And on your waist…”
Fu Tingchuan gritted his teeth, feeling like he’d been doused with a vinegar bath. His voice squeezed out from his throat: “How dare you claim nothing ever happened between you two? Where did these marks come from?”
After being bombarded with Fu Tingchuan’s accusations, Jiang Luoluo’s head was spinning. Even he began to doubt whether anything had truly occurred between himself and the second personality of Fu Tingchuan.
But that time when the second personality of Fu Tingchuan held me while bathing—it was only because this jerk in front of me hadn’t cleaned me up properly that I ended up with such a high fever…
And these marks on my body—whether they’re from Fu Tingchuan’s main personality or his second one, it all boils down to this body of Fu Tingchuan’s making them, and now he has the nerve to criticize me…
I came alone into this world, with no one to rely on, having to deal with two personalities of Fu Tingchuan day in and day out, and I’m the one constantly sore and in pain…
He was already pitiful enough, and now Fu Tingchuan was blaming him.
Jiang Luoluo bit his lip, feeling utterly wronged.
Bursts of anger flared up inside Fu Tingchuan. Imagining Jiang Luoluo being held intimately by his other self, his stomach churned with jealously.
After all these years, this was the first time he’d fallen for someone, only to get betrayed just as he was about to succeed! It was like getting stung right at the finish line!
Fu Tingchuan took a deep breath, just about to scare Jiang Luoluo and warn him not to get too involved with that personality when he saw the person in front of him slowly lower his head.
His eyelashes trembled and drooped on his fair face, and his eyes slowly turned red. Looking down from this angle, Jiang Luoluo looked particularly pitiful, wanting to cry but not crying. Such a small person was pushed against the wall by him and framed in his arms as if he could hold him up with one hand. Fragile and slender. It was like his heart was hit by a small hammer, and Fu Tingchuan felt soft-hearted for no reason. He reached out and touched his face, and subconsciously lowered his voice:
“Why are you still crying?”
Jiang Luoluo’s red eyes seemed to acknowledge the embarrassment of crying so easily at his lover’s words. He softly protested in a small voice, “I’m not crying.”
Fu Tingchuan touched his face, the soft, smooth sensation making him linger. Two fingers lifted Jiang Luoluo’s chin, and Fu Tingchuan bent down to kiss his lips.
A sigh echoed in the air. A deep, pleasant voice murmured by his ear, “Baby, what should I do with you?”
Jiang Luoluo’s eyelashes, like crow feathers, fluttered as he looked up. His glistening eyes appeared utterly innocent, yet also seemed full of hurt.
Fu Tingchuan kissed his face again.
“You’re not allowed to be with him or do those kinds of things with him. And you mustn’t fall for him either. You belong to me alone, do you hear me?”
Seeing Jiang Luoluo’s tears softened Fu Tingchuan’s heart. He placed the bowl of strawberry mousse on a small ceramic plate and carried it over to Jiang Luoluo, who perked up at the sight of it.
His big round eyes widened like a kitten’s at the sight of catnip.
Fu Tingchuan couldn’t help but smile at the thought, then held the plate out to Jiang Luoluo. “Want some?”
Jiang Luoluo nodded eagerly, gazing at Fu Tingchuan.
Fu Tingchuan sat down beside him and patted his leg. “Come sit.”
As he watched Jiang Luoluo settle into his arms, Fu Tingchuan picked up a small brass fork, took a bite of the mousse, and lifted it to Jiang Luoluo’s mouth. “You can’t be mad at me after eating my food, right?”
Jiang Luoluo took the fork from him and scooped up a bite for himself.
The refreshing sweetness of the strawberries, the smooth creaminess of the mousse, and the soft, fragrant cake all burst in his mouth at once, with a hint of coolness from the chill. He happily kicked his legs a bit. “I’m not mad at all.”
A smudge of cream lingered by his red lips. When he tilted his head to look at Fu Tingchuan while speaking, his expression was innocent yet alluring.
As if under a spell, Fu Tingchuan leaned in and kissed the corner of Jiang Luoluo’s mouth. His tongue flicked across Jiang Luoluo’s lips, stealing a bit of cream.
Caught off guard, Jiang Luoluo curiously turned to look at him. Their eyes met, noses almost touching, their breaths mingling together.
Noticing the other’s hand inching under his clothes again, Jiang Luoluo quickly pushed a forkful of cake toward Fu Tingchuan. “Here you go.”
Fu Tingchuan raised an eyebrow. His handsome face, with its noble features, curved into a slight smile as he glanced at the cake held up to his lips.
Jiang Luoluo made a small sound of realization. “Oh right! You don’t like sweets.”
The smile on Fu Tingchuan’s face widened. “You still remember that I don’t like sweets?” He wrapped an arm around Jiang Luoluo’s waist and affectionately pinched the soft cheeks before him. “Seems like your husband hasn’t spoiled you for nothing.”
As he spoke, he opened his mouth and ate the piece of cake, using the same fork Jiang Luoluo had used.
Looking at the empty fork, Jiang Luoluo suddenly remembered the day he’d refused Bai Tang’s sweets. Bai Tang had offered him a big box of treats, which he’d refused. But here he was, grabbing eagerly at a small piece of strawberry cake…
Jiang Luoluo’s young brain quickly figured out what was going on.
He gave Fu Tingchuan a complicated look: ‘This jerk is really a bad apple! Always taking advantage of me! Even stealing my cake!’ [footnote] T/N: Facepalm (>ლ) [/footnote]
Seeing the delicate gaze of the beauty in his arms, Fu Tingchuan felt a ticklish sensation, like tiny ants crawling over his heart.
He suddenly stood up, holding Jiang Luoluo, and said with a mysterious look in his eyes:
“Let me show you something even tastier!”
Jiang Luoluo had a bad feeling about this and struggled to get out of Fu Tingchuan’s arms.
At that moment, the phone on the table rang loudly. Jiang Luoluo grabbed the phone, directly pressed the answer button, and then announced in a loud voice:
“Mr. Fu, someone’s looking for you!”
He then put the phone to Fu Tingchuan’s ear.
The smoothness with which Jiang Luoluo moved around like he was facing a dangerous enemy almost made Fu Tingchuan laugh. He sat back down with Jiang Luoluo and listened to the voice on the phone.
“Mr. Fu, we found Bai Tang’s whereabouts.”
Curious, Jiang Luoluo sneaked up to listen, his soft hair brushing against Fu Tingchuan’s face.
Fu Tingchuan stroked his hair. “Where is he?”
The person on the other end of the call hesitated briefly as if debating whether to tell the truth. “At Nightshade.”
After saying this, they added one more line:
“He was sent there last night and immediately put on the menu.”
Jiang Luoluo was about to ask what Nightshade was, but he obediently closed his mouth.
He didn’t know what Nightshade was, but he knew what being “put on the menu” meant.
It was probably one of those places that offered intimate services.
Jiang Luoluo sighed to himself:
Poor Bai Tang, I wonder what he did to end up in a place like this.
Fu Tingchuan made a slight sound of acknowledgment, his face expressionless as usual.
“Now that we know, let’s inform the Bai family.”
The person on the other end of the call continued. “Mr. Fu, there’s one more thing. We found a bounty on the dark web. Two days ago, someone posted a bounty order to send a specific person to Nightshade. The reward was so rich that someone took the job right away, but the bounty notice from that time said—”
Absently twirling Jiang Luoluo’s hair, Fu Tingchuan asked, “Who is it?”
The person on the other end of the line answered, “Jiang Luoluo.”
At this, Fu Tingchuan froze. His chiseled features darkened, and a cold, ominous aura enveloped him. Without thinking, he tightened his arms around the man in his embrace.
The voice on the phone continued, “When the little young master Bai Tang was brought to Nightshade, his legs had already been broken…”
“Jiang Luoluo, you’re truly something… First, you stole my cake, then my heart, and now, someone wants to steal you? Do I need to start locking you up with my valuables?”
— Fu Tingchuan, contemplating whether to add “high-risk treasure” to Jiang Luoluo’s identity card.
☕ If you’d like to fuel the translator’s sleepless nights (and possibly prevent them from being auctioned off like Jiang Luoluo), consider treating them to a coffee!
This bitch is really crazy, his heart is really black! I can’t believe he slandered the MC like that! Like the mc is too rich to do it! I hope his legs are really broken, I don’t care about that White Lotus bitch!