Chapter 6: Sweet

Chapter 6: Sweet

Shen Ci's complexion was naturally cool and pale, and now with low blood sugar, even his lips lost their color, making him look as fragile as a paper doll.

Lin Yin felt a bit of sympathy: "Dinner is still a while away, it might be a bit rough. By the way, do you know Young Master Xie's rules for bringing people into the circle?"

The second-generation heirs don't eat on time; they usually play until eight or nine before casually heading back to the city. If it's someone's first time being brought along, they have to drink first. When Lin Yin first met Xie Yu and the others, she was forced to down three bottles, and that was because she was a girl, so they went easier on her.

Shen Ci asked: "What rules?"

"Drinking, a lot of drinking, at least eight taels of hard liquor," Lin Yin whispered: "On the way back, try to eat something to line your stomach, or you might end up with a perforated stomach."

But Shen Ci said: "I won't participate."

Lin Yin widened her eyes: "You won't participate?"

Shen Ci simply said: "I have a meeting tonight, it's outside the contract."

The original owner had agreed in the contract not to interfere with Shen Ci's academic activities. If Shen Ci had a meeting, he could leave at any time.

When Xie Yu saw this clause, he found it strange. Given the original owner's arrogant and domineering personality, this wasn't his style. He even went back to check the novel, where it was described:

"Young Master Xie had grown tired of keeping fragile canaries. Beautiful as they were, they were dull. Now he wanted a change of pace, to keep someone with a backbone who wouldn't easily yield, preferably someone who had achieved something. Someone cold and aloof in the lab, commanding on the podium, but who would beg with red eyes in his bed. That's what made it fun."

At the time, Xie Yu smacked his lips, thinking: "Quite the playboy."

"This... this, will Young Master Xie be okay with it?" Lin Yin hesitated for a moment. She had never seen someone like Shen Ci in their circle, and after some thought, she still advised: "You understand Young Master Xie better than I do. If you don't go this time, you'll have to go next time. And next time, Young Master Xie will make you drink even harder."

And it might not stop at just drinking.

Shen Ci shook his head, saying only: "I know what I'm getting into."

It wasn't that he didn't know the consequences, but ever since signing the contract, all his time was in Xie Yu's hands, like a puppet on strings. Only this sliver of freedom, granted by the young master, kept him going.

At that moment, a burst of cheers erupted from the track as the last few cars crossed the finish line. The main screen flickered a few times, and the names of the top three were bolded and highlighted in red. The host picked up the microphone to congratulate the champions.

Beside the main screen was a smaller one displaying the results of the other participants. Xie Yu glanced at it and saw that he, who had abandoned the race midway to take a beauty for a spin, had earned the last place. He Zhiyuan was a bit higher up, in seventh from the bottom.

Xie Yu didn't care, clapping half-heartedly. From afar, he saw He Zhiyuan storming off the track, his face dark, throwing his helmet to the ground, and sitting next to Zhou Yang, panting and cursing: "Damn it, a bunch of blind fools, they kept overtaking me, forcing me to the side!"

Zhou Yang patted He Zhiyuan: "It's just a matter of form, it's normal."

"Bullshit! I think the referee was blind too!"

He Zhiyuan couldn't swallow his anger, sitting there cursing. Zhou Yang comforted him: "How about this, we'll find a place to drink tonight, down a few bottles?"

He Zhiyuan brushed him off: "What's there to drink?"

Zhou Yang: "Not drinking? I just got my hands on a few bottles of Remy Martin, fifty-year-old premium stuff."

He Zhiyuan looked displeased, but he didn't have many hobbies, and he loved his drinks. Hearing about the good liquor, he nodded: "Alright, same old place, and we'll call a few fun people to join?"

He looked up at Xie Yu: "Young Master Xie, what do you say?"

When he said this, although He Zhiyuan was addressing Xie Yu, his eyes were on Shen Ci, scanning him from head to toe, his gaze quite blatant, as if he wanted to strip him of his clothes.

According to their table rules, the "boyfriends or girlfriends" brought by brothers shouldn't be taken all the way, but a little hands-on action was still acceptable.

Shen Ci remained expressionless, while Lin Yin shrank back, not daring to speak.

"Alright." Xie Yu, who had been sitting at the front lost in thought, was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. He casually plucked a few strands of grass from the cracks in the cement and said, "Let's go."

If he didn’t agree to the invitation from his so-called friends, he’d be breaking character.

He Zhiyuan said, "Let’s head back to town."

The three of them stood up. Xie Yu lingered behind, waiting for Shen Ci. After a while, he turned back and saw Shen Ci still standing straight in the same spot, his white shirt hugging his lean, tall frame.

Xie Yu raised an eyebrow, "Teaching Assistant Shen?"

Shen Ci met his gaze, "I'm not going tonight."

Xie Yu: "Hmm?"

Shen Ci's fingers curled into fists inside his sleeves. He looked directly at Xie Yu and repeated flatly, "I have a meeting tonight. I won't be attending the party."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone whipped their heads toward him.

Lin Yin was startled, "Are you out of your mind? You can't say that!"

She had never seen Shen Ci be so defiant. She immediately whispered a warning, "If you humiliate Young Master Xie in front of his friends like this, it won't end well for you. If you don't want to get beaten tonight, go apologize right now!"

Shen Ci remained silent.

If he were the type to apologize, he wouldn't have been severely depressed by the end of the novel, yet still refused to beg for mercy from the main character.

Xie Yu didn't react much. He just glanced at Shen Ci, turned around, and said, "Come on down. We'll talk about this in the car."

He sauntered to the parking lot, opened the car door, and got in. Outside, Lin Yin gave Shen Ci a sympathetic look, shook her head, and sighed before getting into He Zhiyuan’s car. Zhou Yang shot 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 pale, a picture of misery.

Xie Yu unlocked the car door, "Get in."

Shen Ci lowered his gaze and got into the car.

The door locked with a click.

Xie Yu's car was a luxury Bentley sedan, with reinforced steel doors and bulletproof windows. Once the lock was engaged, the car felt like an isolated island.

Shen Ci buckled himself in with one hand. The four-inch-wide belt wrapped around his body, crossing his waist, like he was tying himself down.

Young Master Xie started the car and backed up. He didn't turn on the stereo, and the interior was eerily quiet, save for the soft sound of the steering wheel.

Breaking the silence, Shen Ci spoke again, "I'm not going tonight."

He stared at the car window, his hands hidden in his sleeves, his back rigid with tension.

Xie Yu shrugged lazily, "If you're not going, then I'm not going either."

Shen Ci was stunned.

He paused for a couple of seconds before turning to look at Xie Yu: Young Master Xie was backing up the car, his knuckles prominent as he held the steering wheel. He glanced back to check the road conditions, the dim yellow light of the parking lot casting a glow on his handsome features, creating a play of light and shadow on the contours of his face, as if sketched with a calligraphy brush.

He truly had an outstanding appearance.

Shen Ci hesitated for a moment, "You..."

Xie Yu: "Hmm?" Shen Ci turned his head, "...Never mind."

Xie Yu gave a half-smile: "I’ve got something going on tonight, and you do too, so let’s just drop it. But if you don’t come next time..."

He paused, dragging out his tone, "I can’t guarantee what’ll happen."

Shen Ci’s back stiffened instantly, then he forced himself to relax: "...Hmm."

Xie Yu nodded.

It wasn’t like he’d suddenly lost his mind; this was part of the script, and he had to say it.

In the original text, Shen Ci refused to attend the cocktail party, and the original host was very unhappy. He roughed Shen Ci up in the car, leaving behind a lot of blurred scenes.

The blurred scenes weren’t the problem; the issue was the scattered plot mixed within those blurred scenes, and these ridiculous scenes were what Xie Yu needed to act out.

During a lull in the competition, Xie Yu quickly skimmed through the acting content, his face skeptical and his brow twitching. He couldn’t help but ask the system: "Is this what it looks like?"

The system coolly replied: "It’s a sadomasochistic protagonist story, what else do you think it means?"

Xie Yu: "..."

He stayed silent for a long time, and the system leaned in: "Is it tough to pull off? The parts without blurring are just regular stuff."

Xie Yu raised an eyebrow: "Just regular stuff?"

He pointed to the system: "This 'Young Master Xie chuckled, reached over, and pulled Shen Ci into his arms'—is this regular stuff?"

The system: "Well, it’s... pretty standard."

Xie Yu: "And this one? 'Xie Yu grabbed Shen Ci's chin with one hand, forced him to open his mouth, and commanded, ‘Lick’? Normal?"

The system: "..."

It tactfully replied: "In a sadomasochistic protagonist story, this is par for the course."

In short, this ridiculous scene dragged on for over a chapter. It wasn’t until Xie Yuanshan called to ask his son to come home for dinner, saying there was something to discuss, that it finally stopped.

Xie Yu was still pondering how to act out this ridiculous scene when three honks sounded from outside.

He Zhiyuan rolled down the car window and leaned out: "Young Master Xie, what’s the hold-up? Why aren’t you moving?"

Xie Yu gestured that he was coming, closed the script window, and drove onto the mountain road.

By now, dusk was falling, approaching twilight. The robotic voice of the GPS echoed in the car, and the smell of the forest outside drifted in through the car window cracks, mixing with the scent of leather and cologne, along with a faint hint of soap.

The car's sound system was on, and Xie Yu casually selected a radio station playing a soothing concerto. The rich, warm tones of the cello, paired with the spacious seats of the luxury car, made it so comfortable that one could easily fall asleep.

Xie Yu, with his long limbs, lounged lazily, completely at ease, without affecting his ability to see the road or press the clutch. His posture was relaxed and unrestrained. Shen Ci, on the other hand, sat quietly, his neck forming a perfect arc, like a well-bred young master from a classical novel. Such a posture shouldn’t belong to someone sitting in Young Master Xie's luxury car as a pet, but rather in a laboratory, classroom, or 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, sitting in the back row as a troublemaker, while Shen Ci seemed like the serious class monitor or study committee member sitting in the front.

A troublemaker’s attitude towards a straight-A student is always a bit off—a mix of disdain, envy, and jealousy driven by pride. If Xie Yu had met Shen Ci in high school, he would have inevitably stolen his eraser, copied his homework, and bullied him a bit.

But now, Shen Ci had truly become his contractual partner, bullied to the point of sitting here, being shaped and reshaped at will. Xie Yu felt a bit guilty and didn’t dare to look too much.

No one spoke along the way.

The car traveled more than twenty kilometers, reaching the fork in the ring expressway. Ahead was the main city area. Xie Yu told Li Yang and He Zhiyuan in the group chat that he had something to do in the evening and wouldn’t be joining. Amidst the pleas and wails of his friends, he turned the steering wheel and exited the highway.

He adjusted the GPS: "Teaching Assistant Shen, want me to drop you at the lab?" ... "Teaching Assistant Shen?"

"Okay," Shen Ci replied a moment late, lowering his eyelashes. "Sorry, I zoned out."

After a pause, he added, "Thanks."

Xie Yu glanced at him through the rearview mirror: "You okay? You don’t look so hot."

Shen Ci had closed his eyes since getting in the car, pretty much out the whole ride.

Shen Ci shook his head: "No."

Just a sugar crash.

He felt a little dizzy, but it wasn’t too bad. Shen Ci glanced at his watch; there was plenty of time to grab some plain noodles at the cafeteria before the meeting started.

University A was out in the Jiangcheng suburbs, and it was less than a ten-minute drive from here to the lab building.

Xie Yu braked to a stop: "Teaching Assistant Shen, take it easy, see you around."

He looked at Shen Ci, leaning on the armrest with one hand, and chuckled mischievously, reciting a line from a novel: "We’ll call it a day for now. Next gathering, you better hang out with me."

The system silently popped up: "You’re just gonna let him go like that?"

Xie Yu: "What do you expect?"

The system reminded: "You’ve still got some lines to deliver."

A fluorescent blue screen hovered in mid-air, the novel flipped to the corresponding page, with a few lines highlighted in red, glaringly bright.

Xie Yu lazily said: "I can’t bring myself to say that. Let’s skip it. As long as we hit 60% on the plot, right?"

With that, Xie Yu pressed the door unlock button. The door unlocked, and Shen Ci grabbed the handle, pushing it open. The chilly damp air flooded the car. Campus noises reached his ears—girls walked by with milk tea, boys were heading to the internet café—and as he unbuckled his seatbelt, he felt a weird sense of disorientation, as if he'd been transported to another world.

Just like that, he was free?

Shen Ci turned back, wanting to say thanks. As he half-straightened up, he went pale and felt dizzy. The combination of low blood sugar and the aftereffects of sitting for too long made his legs give way. Before he could react, he slumped back against the armrest.

"Hey, you okay?!"

Xie Yu was about to close the car door and leave when Shen Ci unexpectedly leaned towards him. He quickly grabbed him to steady him, and Shen Ci, out of it, was pulled straight into Xie Yu's arms.

Xie Yu: "..."

Though from a poor family, Shen Ci paid great attention to his appearance. His head rested on Xie Yu's shoulder, his hair brushing against Xie Yu's neck, and his cheek skin grazing Xie Yu's nose. Xie Yu caught the scent of old-fashioned soap and detergent. It wasn’t some fancy perfume, but the kind of traditional domestic brand favored by the older generation, with a bitter herbal aroma. Not fancy, but fresh.

The system flatly announced: "Congratulations, host. The main plot 'Xie Yu reached out and pulled Shen Ci into his arms' has been completed."

Xie Yu angrily retorted: "Is this the fucking time to talk about that? Navigate me to the campus hospital!"

The system coolly replied: "Don’t worry, host. The protagonist of a tragic story doesn't get into trouble so easily. He just has low blood sugar. Leave him alone, and he'll be fine in ten minutes."

...Low blood sugar?

Xie Yu pondered, holding Shen Ci with one hand, he fished out a lollipop from his pocket, used for quitting smoking. He quickly unwrapped it, pressed the candy against Shen Ci's lips, then paused, thinking saving him was more important, and with one hand, he pinched Shen Ci's chin, pushing the candy in.

The system monotonously read: "Congratulations, host. 'Xie Yu pinched Shen Ci's chin with one hand, forcing him to open his mouth' has been completed."

Xie Yu's forehead veins throbbed: "Just shut up already!"

Shen Ci wasn't completely unconscious. After a wave of dizziness, his senses gradually returned. He was very familiar with the feeling of low blood sugar and didn't panic. After a moment, he steadied himself and attempted to sit up.

Then, something was placed into his mouth.

The system helpfully highlighted the completed sections in green. Now, only one last red section remained in the entire chapter.

Xie Yu glanced at the screen, sheepishly saying, "Um, to boost your blood sugar, just... lick it. It's sweet."

Still groggy, Shen Ci instinctively licked it as told, keeping the candy in his mouth.

In his haze, only instinct guided him.

—It was really sweet.

Author's Note:

Xie Yu: "Do I really have to go through with this?"