TL: Hua
Shen Ci’s complexion was already on the cooler, pale side, and now with low blood sugar, even his lips had lost their color, making him look like a paper doll.
Lin Yin felt a bit of sympathy: “It’s still a while until dinner, so it might be tough. Oh, by the way, do you know Young Master Xie’s rules for bringing people into the circle?”
These rich second-generation playboys wouldn’t eat on time. They’d usually play until eight or nine o’clock before leisurely heading back to the city. If it was someone brought for the first time, they would also have to drink first. Lin Yin was forced to down three bottles when she met Xie Yu and the others, and that was considered light because she was a girl.
Shen Ci said, “What rules?”
“Drinking, drinking a lot of alcohol. At least eight liang of baijiu[mfn]A standard bottle of baijiu is typically 500 ml, so 8 liang (400 ml) is slightly less than one full bottle.[/mfn].” Lin Yin whispered, “On the way back, try to eat something to line your stomach, or you’ll get a perforated stomach from all the drinking.”
Shen Ci, however, said, “I won’t be attending.”
Lin Yin’s eyes widened: “You won’t be attending?”
Shen Ci simply said, “I have a meeting tonight; it’s not within the scope of the contract.”
In the contract, the original owner had agreed not to interfere with Shen Ci’s academic activities. If Shen Ci had a meeting, he could leave at any time.
Xie Yu found this clause very strange when he first saw it. Given the original owner’s arrogant and overbearing personality, this wasn’t his style. He even specifically went back to the novel to check, and the original text described it as:
“Young Master Xie was tired of keeping frail canaries. Beautiful, yes, but meaningless. He wanted a change of taste now, to keep those with hard bones who wouldn’t yield, preferably those who had achieved something. Cold and detached in the laboratory, commanding respect on the podium, but on his bed, they would have to beg for mercy with red eyes. That’s how tormenting them becomes interesting.”
At the time, Xie Yu clicked his tongue, thinking, “He plays quite elaborately.”
“This… this, can Young Master Xie agree to this?” Lin Yin hesitated for a moment. She had never seen someone like Shen Ci in their circle. After much thought, she still advised, “You know Young Master Xie better than I do. If you don’t go this time, you’ll have to go next time, and Young Master Xie will make you drink even more then.”
It might even be more than just drinking; it was hard to say.
Shen Ci shook his head, simply saying, “I know what I’m doing.”
It wasn’t that he didn’t know the consequences; it was just that ever since signing the contract, all his time was in Xie Yu’s hands, like a puppet manipulated by others. Only this tiny bit of freedom, bestowed through the young master’s fingers, allowed him to barely survive.
At this moment, a cheer erupted on the track. The last few cars crossed the finish line. The large screen in the center flickered a few times, and the names of the top three were highlighted in bold red. The host raised the microphone, congratulating the champions, runners-up, and third-place finishers of the race.
Next to the big screen was a smaller screen showing the results of other racers. Xie Yu saw that he, who had abandoned the race midway to take a beauty for a ride, had earned last place. He Zhiyuan was a bit higher, in seventh to last place.
Xie Yu didn’t mind, applauding perfunctorily. He saw He Zhiyuan, with a dark expression, get off the track from afar, throw his helmet on the ground, and sit down next to Zhou Yang, panting and cursing, “Damn it, a bunch of blind idiots, trying to overtake me so hard, they squeezed me into the side lane!”
Zhou Yang patted He Zhiyuan. “Form issue, it’s normal.”
“Bullshit! I think the referee is blind too!”
He Zhiyuan couldn’t swallow his anger and sat on the side grumbling. Zhou Yang comforted him, “Let’s go find a place to drink tonight and down a few bottles?”
He Zhiyuan brushed him off: “What’s there to drink?”
Zhou Yang: “Not drinking? I just got a few bottles of Rémy Martin, fifty-year-old top-shelf stuff.”
He Zhiyuan’s expression was displeased, but he didn’t have many hobbies and was most fond of alcohol. Hearing about good wine, he nodded: “Fine, the usual spot. Should we call a few more people who are fun to hang out with?”
He looked up and asked Xie Yu, “Young Master Xie, what do you say?”
As he said this, although He Zhiyuan addressed Xie Yu, his gaze was directed at Shen Ci, looking him up and down with quite a revealing stare, as if he wanted to strip him bare of his clothes.
According to their table rules, “boyfriends/girlfriends” brought by brothers couldn’t necessarily go all the way, but a little physical contact was acceptable.
Shen Ci remained expressionless, while Lin Yin flinched, not daring to speak.
“Alright,” Xie Yu, who had been spacing out in the front, lost in thought, was suddenly called upon. He casually pulled two blades of grass from a crack in the cement and said, “Let’s go then.”
If his friends invited him and he didn’t agree, his persona would collapse.
He Zhiyuan said, “Okay, then we’ll head back to the city.”
The three of them stood up. He Zhiyuan and Zhou Yang went down first, while Xie Yu lagged a step behind, strolling leisurely, intending to wait for Shen Ci to come up with him. However, after a long time, he didn’t see anyone. Turning around, he saw Shen Ci still standing rigidly in place, his white shirt clinging to his slender body, looking lean and upright.
Xie Yu raised an eyebrow: “Assistant Shen?”
Shen Ci looked at him: “I’m not going tonight.”
Xie Yu: “Hmm?”
Shen Ci’s fingers curled into fists inside his sleeves. He looked Xie Yu directly in the eye and stiffly repeated, “I have a meeting tonight. I’m not going to the party.”
As soon as he spoke, everyone looked at him.
Lin Yin was startled: “Are you crazy? You can’t say that!”
She had never seen someone as reckless as Shen Ci. She immediately whispered a warning: “If you’re making Young Master Xie lose face in front of his friends like this, you won’t get off easy. If you don’t want to get beaten tonight, apologize immediately!”
Shen Ci remained silent.
He would never apologize; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been tormented by severe depression later in the novel, yet still refused to utter a soft word to the original owner.
Xie Yu, however, showed no reaction. He simply glanced at him, then turned downwards and said, “Come down. We’ll talk about this in the car.”
He slowly made his way to the parking lot, pulled open the car door, and sat inside. Outside the car, Lin Yin looked at Shen Ci with a sympathetic expression, shaking her head and sighing before getting into He Zhiyuan’s car. Zhou Yang buckled his helmet, also giving Shen Ci a glance, seemingly saying, “Good luck.”
Shen Ci gripped the handle. In the reflection of the glass window, his face was pale, his lips also white, his appearance indeed quite bleak.
Xie Yu unlocked the car door: “Come in.”
Shen Ci lowered his eyes and got into the car.
Click. The car door locked.
Xie Yu’s car was a business-class Bentley, with reinforced steel doors and bulletproof glass windows. Once the lock engaged, the car became like an isolated island, cut off from the world.
Shen Ci pulled the seatbelt over with one hand. The four-finger-wide strap fastened around his body, wrapping around his waist and abdomen, as if he had put himself in chains, tying himself up.
Xie Yu started the car and reversed. He didn’t turn on the stereo; the interior was eerily quiet, with only the faint sound of the steering wheel turning. In this deathly silence, Shen Ci spoke again: “I’m not going tonight.”
He looked at the car window, his hand hidden in his sleeve, his back as taut as a bow.
Xie Yu hummed, saying lazily, “If you’re not going, then don’t go. I’m not going either.”
Shen Ci froze.
He paused for two seconds before turning to look at Xie Yu. The young master was reversing the car, his hands on the steering wheel clearly articulated. He tilted his head to observe the road conditions behind him. The dim yellow lights of the parking lot accumulated on his handsome brows and eyes, casting fragmented specks of light at the turns of his brow ridge and nose bone, sparse and rugged like the abrupt strokes of standard script calligraphy.
Truly an outstanding appearance.
Shen Ci hesitated for a moment: “You…”
Xie Yu: “Hmm?”
Shen Ci tilted his head: “…Nothing.”
Xie Yu smiled faintly and said, “I happen to have something to do tonight, and so do you, so never mind. But if you don’t come next time…”
He paused, drawing out his words, “…I don’t know what the consequences will be.”
Shen Ci’s back instantly tensed, then he forced himself to relax: “…Okay.”
Xie Yu nodded.
It wasn’t that he was suddenly going crazy; this was a plotline that he had to say.
In the original novel, Shen Ci refused to attend the party, and the original protagonist was very unhappy, torturing him in the car, leaving large areas of mosaic.
The mosaic wasn’t the problem; the problem was that the mosaic contained scattered plot points, and these nonsensical plot points all needed Xie Yu to act out.
During a break in the race, Xie Yu quickly skimmed through the acting content, which made his expression suspicious and his brows twitch. He couldn’t help but ask the system, “Does this part in the car mean what I think it means?”
The system said coolly, “It’s a novel about abusing the protagonist. What else do you think it could mean?”
Xie Yu: “…”
His silence was stretched long. The system leaned in: “Is it hard to act? The parts that aren’t mosaiced are all normal plotlines.”
Xie Yu raised an eyebrow: “All normal plotlines?”
He pointed to the system: “This ‘Young Master Xie merely smiled, reached out, and pressed Shen Ci fully into his embrace’— Is this a normal plotline?”
System: “It, it’s alright.”
Xie Yu: “What about this one? ‘Xie Yu used one hand to pinch Shen Ci’s jaw, forcing him to open his mouth, and commanded, “Lick.” Is that normal?”
System: “…”
It said in a roundabout way, “Host, in a novel about abusing the protagonist, this couldn’t be more normal.”
All in all, this nonsensical plot lasted for over a chapter. It was only when Xie Yuanshan called his son home for dinner, saying there was something to discuss, that it finally stopped.
Xie Yu was still pondering how to act out the ridiculous plot when three horn honks sounded from the entrance.
He Zhiyuan rolled down his car window and leaned out: “Young Master Xie, what are you doing? Why aren’t you leaving?”
Xie Yu gestured that he was coming, closed the script interface, and drove onto the mountain road.
At this time, dusk was setting in, nearing twilight. The cold, mechanical voice of the navigation echoed in the car, and the scent of the mountain forest outside the window wafted in through the car’s crevices, mixing with the smell of leather and cologne and a faint hint of soapberry.
The car’s stereo was on. Xie Yu casually selected a radio station broadcasting a soothing concerto. The deep, gentle tone of the cello, combined with the spacious, comfortable seats of the luxury car, made one want to sleep.
Xie Yu, with his long arms and legs, lounged in the seat without it affecting his ability to see the road or press the clutch. His posture was loose and unrestrained, lacking any formality. Shen Ci, in contrast, sat quietly and upright, his neck gracefully curved, like a well-bred young master from a classical novel. In such a posture, he should not be sitting in Young Master Xie’s luxury car as a pet but rather in a laboratory, a teaching building, or a library study room.
Xie Yu drove while observing him.
Xie Yu was never a good student. In high school, he happened to hit a long rebellious phase, a problem student who sat in the back row. Shen Ci, on the other hand, was like the stern class monitor or academic representative in the front row.
A bad student facing a good student always has a strange mindset, disdain mixed with envy, and jealousy stemming from wounded pride. If Xie Yu had met Shen Ci in high school, he would have undoubtedly snatched his eraser and copied his homework, mildly bullying him.
But now, Shen Ci had truly become his contractual partner, bullied to the point of just sitting there, allowing himself to be manipulated. He felt a little guilty and didn’t dare to look too much.
No one spoke the entire way.
The car traveled more than 20 kilometers and arrived at the fork of the high-speed road outside the city. Further ahead was the main urban area. Xie Yu had told Li Yang and He Zhiyuan in the group chat that he wouldn’t be coming that night due to some matters. Amidst the pleas and laments of his dubious friends, he turned the steering wheel and exited the highway.
He adjusted the navigation: “Assistant Shen, should I drop you off at the lab entrance? …Assistant Shen?”
“Okay.” Shen Ci was a beat slow, then lowered his eyelashes. “Sorry, I was a bit distracted.”
After a brief hesitation, he added, “Thank you.”
Xie Yu looked at him through the rearview mirror: “You’re not feeling well?”
Shen Ci had closed his eyes since getting in the car and had been practically dozing the whole way.
Shen Ci shook his head: “No.”
Just low blood sugar.
Although somewhat dizzy, it wasn’t unbearable. Shen Ci raised his hand to check his watch. There was still an hour before the meeting started, enough time for him to grab a bowl of plain noodles at the cafeteria.
A University was located in the outskirts of Jiangcheng, not far from here. The car drove for less than ten minutes and pulled up to the experimental building.
Xie Yu braked smoothly: “Assistant Shen, you’re good to go. I won’t see you off.”
He looked at Shen Ci, propping one hand on the headrest, and smiled teasingly, then recited a line from the novel: “This time it’s fine, but next time we gather, Assistant Shen will have to have a good time with me.”
The system quietly popped up: “You’re letting him go just like that?”
Xie Yu: “What else?”
The system reminded him, “You still have several lines left to say.”
A fluorescent blue screen hovered in mid-air. The novel was open to the corresponding page, and several lines were highlighted in red, glaringly bright.
Xie Yu said languidly, “I can’t bring myself to say them. I won’t. Anyway, as long as the plot matches 60%, it’s enough, right?”
With that, Xie Yu pressed the unlock button. The car door unlocked. Shen Ci gripped the handle and pushed it open. The damp, cold air instantly flooded into the car. The noisy sounds of men and women on the campus entered his ears. Girls walked along the path holding milk tea. The boys made plans to go to an internet cafe. As he unbuckled his seatbelt, he suddenly felt a sense of disorientation, as if he had been transported through time.
He could just leave like that?
Shen Ci turned back, wanting to say thank you. The moment he straightened up, his face went pale, and then he felt dizzy and lightheaded. The combination of low blood sugar and the after-effects of prolonged sitting made his legs weak. Before he could react, he braced himself on the headrest and collapsed back into the seat.
“Hey, you?!”
Xie Yu was already planning to close the car door and leave, but Shen Ci unexpectedly fell towards him. He quickly reached out to support him. Shen Ci’s consciousness was hazy, and when Xie Yu reached out and scooped him up, he fell straight into Xie Yu’s arms.
Xie Yu: “…”
Although from a poor family, Shen Ci was very particular about his appearance. His head rested on Xie Yu’s shoulder, his hair brushing against his neck, and his cheek brushing against his nose. Xie Yu smelled the scent of old-fashioned soap and detergent. It wasn’t some special fragrance but rather the kind of old domestic brand favored by grandmothers, carrying a bitter note of traditional Chinese medicine. It’s not high-end, but it’s very clean.
The system stated flatly, “Congratulations, Host. The main plotline, ‘Xie Yu reached out and pressed Shen Ci fully into his embrace,’ has been completed.”
Xie Yu yelled furiously, “Is this the time for that! Navigate me to the campus hospital!”
The system said coolly, “Don’t worry, Host. The protagonist of an abuse novel isn’t that prone to encounter accidents. He just has low blood sugar. If you leave him alone, he’ll be fine in ten minutes.”
…Low blood sugar?
Xie Yu was deep in thought. He put one arm around Shen Ci, pulled out a handful of lollipops he used to quit smoking from his pocket, quickly tore off the wrappers, placed a lollipop against Shen Ci’s lips, and then paused. Thinking that saving him was more important, he pinched Shen Ci’s jaw with one hand and put the candy in.
The system’s monotone voice read, “Congratulations, Host. ‘Xie Yu used one hand to pinch Shen Ci’s jaw, forcing him to open his mouth’ has been completed.”
The veins on Xie Yu’s forehead throbbed: “Shut up!”
Shen Ci wasn’t completely unconscious. After a spell of dizziness, his senses gradually returned. He understood the feeling of low blood sugar well and didn’t panic. After a brief moment of recovery, he propped himself up and tried to sit upright.
Immediately, something was inserted into his mouth.
The system thoughtfully highlighted the completed parts in green. Now, only one last red section remained in the entire chapter.
Xie Yu glanced at the screen, feeling guilty, and said, “Uh, to supplement your blood sugar, you can lick… lick it. It’s sweet.”
Shen Ci wasn’t fully awake yet. In a daze, he rolled his tongue and, indeed, as told, licked it, then held the candy in his mouth.
In his confusion, only the thought of his body’s instinct remained.
—It was truly very sweet.
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Hmm… well alright lol.
I already like this novel