DABGBTF 6

The message was sent out, and the top of the chat box continuously displayed the words “The other party is typing…”, but no message ever came through.

If nothing unexpected happened, he might not even receive Lu Lu’s reply tonight. 

However, he would reply, because this stupid deer was sensitive and delicate, almost fawningly taking care of other people’s emotions. 

As for whether the content of the reply was an agreement or a rejection, Xie Zheng, on the contrary, didn’t really care. 

It’s gaining a little lover whose face perfectly suited his appetite, or never being able to speak to Song Qingyuan’s prized student again. 

In fact, either answer wouldn’t have much of an impact on Xie Zheng.

After such an interruption, the restlessness brought on by the susceptible period had actually calmed down quite a bit.

Xie Zheng got up, drank a glass of ice water, and opened his computer to process the files sent by his assistant for a while. 

When he sent them back, his assistant was surprisingly still online. After receiving the files, he even gave Xie Zheng a brief report on the company’s situation during this recent period.

Xie Zheng’s fingers rested on the keyboard, and he asked, “How are my parents?”

[Assistant No. 1 at the Leader’s Disposal]: The past few days, your parents thought you were sleeping at the company and came every day. The front desk followed your instructions and didn’t let them in. Yesterday and today, however, we haven’t seen them.

Everyone in Xie Zheng’s family had a dominant personality; Xie Zheng could tell that his parents found his current rebellious phase extremely troublesome to handle. 

He couldn’t help but let out a cold sneer, snapping his laptop shut with a smack.

—

Today was the weekend.

Y University normally had lights out at ten-thirty. On weekends and holidays, the lights-out time would be pushed back by half an hour.

11:00, the lights were still on.

Cui Songbai had a look of dreamy happiness on his face. “Did the dorm auntie forget? I see the other dorms have gone dark. Could it be that I can finally stay up late playing games today?”

The other two roommates successively mocked his naivety, but Lu Lu remained silent the whole time. 

Cui Songbai leaned back and glanced at Lu Lu. “What are you doing?”

Lu Lu: “Replying to a message.”

“Is it the boss from your part-time job again? Is he going to torture you again?”

Lu Lu gave a very vague hum of response, neither confirming nor denying it.

After Xie Zheng said he had a job to introduce to him, he hadn’t said anything else. Taking advantage of this time, Lu Lu clicked open Xie Zheng’s profile picture to look at it again.

Xie Zheng’s profile picture was a photo of himself with a very retro color tone. The person in the photo looked younger than he did now, his features not yet as sharp and fierce as they were today. He was expressionless, wearing a hoodie with the collar pulled up to cover half his mouth, giving off a surprisingly ascetic vibe. 

He was still smoking though. In the photo, Xie Zheng held a lit cigarette between the fingers of his right hand, his sleeve rolled up to expose a section of his wrist bone.

When was this taken? Five years ago? Ten years ago? Or even earlier?

Lu Lu never felt that attending the same middle school and high school as Xie Zheng, and applying to the same university, was something that could be called destiny. 

No matter how big Chen’an was, there were only so many excellent educational resources—a large portion of Chen’an’s residents lived their lives following this exact same trajectory.

Yet seeing what Xie Zheng looked like when he was young made Lu Lu happier than he had imagined. 

Actually, he should have paid attention to Xie Zheng earlier—the graduation group photos over the years, the champion photos on the wall of honor… if only he had noticed earlier.

Xie Zheng’s Moments simply displayed a gray horizontal bar. He didn’t know if Xie Zheng had blocked him, or if he had just never posted anything; Lu Lu leaned towards the latter.

At 11:03, the dorm auntie finally remembered she had forgotten to turn off the lights. 

The entire dormitory building instantly plunged into darkness. Lu Lu’s phone vibrated, receiving a message from Xie Zheng.

“Crash—!”

“Ow, ow, ow—”

Cui Songbai was startled and quickly switched on his desk lamp. The desk lamp hadn’t been charged for days; the light was dim and flickering. Cui Songbai looked in the direction the sound came from and saw Lu Lu had fallen to the floor, taking the chair down with him.

He jumped in fright. “Xiao Lu? Are you okay?”

Lu Lu used his hand to stand up. “…I’m fine.”

Cui Songbai laughed out loud. “Aren’t you usually pretty agile? How can you fall over just sitting in a chair? Should I take you to the hospital to get checked out?”

Lu Lu looked at Cui Songbai with a beaming, squinty-eyed smile. 

Usually, Lu Lu’s smile was sweet and well-behaved, but that didn’t mean he had no temper. 

Cui Songbai was most terrified of this kind of smile from Lu Lu that suppressed a wicked intent. He shrank his neck in fear, stopped talking, and slipped into the bathroom hugging his toiletries.

When it was Lu Lu’s turn to take a shower, there wasn’t much hot water left. Lu Lu used the lukewarm water to rinse off the body wash, and without even putting on his clothes, his wet fingers swiped open the screen to continue looking at the message Xie Zheng had sent him.

Be kept by me, twenty thousand a month.

Be kept by me, twenty thousand a month.

Be kept by me—

Lu Lu felt that it would be great if he were ten years older, or even five years—that way, at least it wouldn’t only be his face that could catch Xie Zheng’s eye. 

He could pursue Xie Zheng openly and honestly, and date him. 

Not like how it was now, where the only thing he and Xie Zheng knew about each other was that the other party had a face perfectly suited to their appetite.

However, Lu Lu also knew that if he replied with the word no to this message, Xie Zheng would never look for him again in the future. 

Just based on this point alone, it was impossible for him not to agree. 

He intentionally touched Xie Zheng’s shoulders, treated him to pomelo juice, and deliberately let him see his bank card balance, not so that the two of them would stop interacting.

Lu Lu finally pulled up the keyboard in the chat box. 

In the mirror, the young man’s face was expressionless, but the words his fingers typed out appeared hesitant.

[Deer¹Earlier it’s stupid deer because it’s from Xie Zheng’s POV. This is from Lu Lu’s POV.]: …Uncle Xie…

[Deer]: I want to chat with you for a bit… is that okay?

The time he sent the message was already 2:00 AM in the middle of the night. At that time, Xie Zheng was already asleep. 

By the time he saw the message, it was already noon the next day.

He had to discuss projects with a few newly acquainted bosses today, so he left the house bright and early dressed in a suit and leather shoes; it wasn’t until noon that he had time to look at his phone. When he saw Lu Lu’s message, Xie Zheng’s head was still full of the data his assistant had reported to him. 

Granted, he had talent and acted ruthlessly, but having started from scratch, he was considered a latecomer to the industry. Dealing with these old foxes²Slang for cunning, experienced, and sly people, typically used in business or politics to describe veterans who know all the tricks of the trade. who had already deeply rooted themselves in the industry inevitably required expending a lot of energy.

He didn’t have time to chat about anything with Lu Lu right now, so he merely said: I’ll give you a call tonight.

Lu Lu replied very quickly: Okay.

By the time today’s session ended, it was already dusk, right at dinnertime, so the few of them had dinner together again. For this project, Xie Zheng could be considered their Party A³In Chinese business contracts, Party A (甲方) usually refers to the buyer, investor, or client (the one providing the money and holding the power). Party B (乙方 – Yǐfāng) is the contractor, seller, or service provider., so the bosses flattered him immensely, preparing the cigarettes and alcohol with exceptional care. 

By the time he sat in the backseat of the car, getting ready to head back, it was already 1:00 AM.

Xie Zheng had drunk quite a bit and was feeling a bit sleepy. He tilted his head to the side and dozed off for a while before remembering that he had agreed to contact Lu Lu by phone. 

Therefore, he sent Lu Lu a message: Are you asleep?

A minute later, Lu Lu replied to the message: Uncle Xie.

It was as if he knew what Xie Zheng was going to ask: It’s convenient for me to chat right now.

Xie Zheng directly popped a voice call over to him.

The other side was very quiet. Lu Lu’s voice came through the receiver. “Hello, Uncle Xie.”

His voice sounded different from usual; after being deliberately lowered, it carried a slightly husky feel. 

A single shot of suppressants only lasted for twenty-four hours, and right now was exactly the time when yesterday’s shot wore off. 

Xie Zheng was currently only showing symptoms of his susceptible period and hadn’t reached his true susceptible period yet, but this sound from Lu Lu made Xie Zheng suddenly feel hot and restless—a burst of fire darted to Xie Zheng’s lower abdomen, both itchy and painful.

Lu Lu waited a moment. Seeing that Xie Zheng wasn’t speaking, he went on talking to himself. “Uncle Xie, I think we can sign a contract. For example, the time for salary distribution, whether or not it includes accommodation fees, and…”

Xie Zheng: “…”

What the hell? Should he also stamp an official seal and issue an internship certificate for Lu Lu while he’s at it? Might as well pay his five social insurances and one housing fund too, right?⁴A mandatory benefits package in China that employers must provide to full-time employees (pension, medical, unemployment, work injury, and maternity insurance, plus a housing provident fund).

Xie Zheng was almost angered into laughing by this stupid deer, and he spoke up to interrupt Lu Lu, “Just tell me directly if it’s a yes or a no. If yes, then yes; if no, I absolutely will not pester you.”

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

After five seconds of silence had passed, Lu Lu’s obedient voice came through the receiver. “It’s a yes, Uncle Xie.”

His suit pants constricted Xie Zheng so much it hurt a little, but he hooked the corners of his lips and smiled very heartily, completely lacking any guilt over corrupting a good student. “I’ll be at your school in a bit. Wait for me at the school gate.”

Thirteen minutes later, Lao Tian steadily parked the car at the school gate. 

Lu Lu was already standing at the gate, in a yellow jacket and jeans, surprisingly even wearing a backpack.

Xie Zheng was almost amused into laughing by him. 

He rolled down the car window and waved at Lu Lu. “Get in.”

Therefore, Lu Lu pulled open the car door and sat next to Xie Zheng. 

Xie Zheng raised the privacy partition for the backseat, propped his chin with his cigarette-holding fingers, and observed Lu Lu by the light of the streetlamps outside. “Just took a shower?”

Lu Lu’s hair was still wet. Although it wasn’t dripping water, the slightly long, damp hair hung very softly beside his cheeks, making Lu Lu’s whole person appear very gentle.

Lu Lu nodded and asked Xie Zheng, “Where are we going?”

This time, Xie Zheng was truly amused into laughing. “To a hotel. Don’t tell me you want to be f*cked by me on the street?”

As the sound of the last word fell, Lu Lu suddenly raised his head, and cast a somewhat astonished look at Xie Zheng. 

Xie Zheng didn’t notice Lu Lu’s gaze. He looked at the scenery sliding quickly past the window, excitement hidden beneath his faint smile.

Halfway there, the car stopped for a moment at the entrance of a pharmacy, and Lao Tian went to buy condoms and lubricant. After another fifteen minutes had passed, Lao Tian parked the car at the hotel entrance. 

Lu Lu knew this hotel. It was a new five-star hotel, where even the cheapest room cost several thousand a night.

Without saying much, the Lu Lu of them got on the elevator and entered the room.

Xie Zheng took off his jacket, then tossed off his shirt, revealing his solid, lean build. As Lu Lu looked at his tattoos, he heard Xie Zheng ask, “Together? I can help stretch you out while we’re at it.”⁵Short for 扩张 (kuòzhāng), which refers to the physical preparation (stretching/lubrication) of the receiving partner before the deed.

Lu Lu: “…”

He cast that strange look at Xie Zheng again, and this time Xie Zheng noticed. “Mm?”

Lu Lu averted his gaze. 

Xie Zheng approached him. He reached out to pinch his cheek and raised the corners of his mouth. “Embarrassed?”

Lu Lu turned back to look at Xie Zheng again. 

As the two locked eyes, Xie Zheng finally realized that Lu Lu’s eye color was actually also very light—amber, like a gemstone soaked in honey.

Xie Zheng’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and the room was suddenly permeated by a rich scent of tobacco and pepper.

Lu Lu pursed his lips and lowered his head. 

With quick eyes and swift hands, Xie Zheng pressed his fingers against Lu Lu’s lips, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “What? Kissing? Let’s skip that.”

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s unnecessary.”

Lu Lu let out an “oh”, and obediently replied, “Got it.”

Therefore, Xie Zheng took his hand away. 

Who knew that in the very next second, Lu Lu would lower his head again, his two lips still flawlessly covering Xie Zheng’s.

• 1
  Earlier it’s stupid deer because it’s from Xie Zheng’s POV. This is from Lu Lu’s POV.
• 2
  Slang for cunning, experienced, and sly people, typically used in business or politics to describe veterans who know all the tricks of the trade.
• 3
  In Chinese business contracts, Party A (甲方) usually refers to the buyer, investor, or client (the one providing the money and holding the power). Party B (乙方 – Yǐfāng) is the contractor, seller, or service provider.
• 4
  A mandatory benefits package in China that employers must provide to full-time employees (pension, medical, unemployment, work injury, and maternity insurance, plus a housing provident fund).
• 5
  Short for 扩张 (kuòzhāng), which refers to the physical preparation (stretching/lubrication) of the receiving partner before the deed.