Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Li Wenguang: Song Nian, you'd better give me an explanation for what happened today, otherwise..."

"Li Wenguang: Ignoring me and not replying? Fine, you've got some nerve."

"Li Wenguang: Are you looking down on me now just because you married Li Yanchuan?"

"Li Wenguang: Nian Nian, why won't you reply to me? I'm really worried about you. Did that bastard Li Yanchuan do something to you?"

The records showed that from the day of the wedding, when Song Nian punched him, Li Wenguang had been sending messages nonstop, every word laced with threats.

After a while, he realized Song Nian wasn't biting, and mistakenly thought he was about to completely sever ties, so he started to panic.

He switched back to his original attitude, trying to soften his tone to coax him back.

If this were the old Song Nian, he would have been fooled by his familiar manipulation tactics and continued to work for him.

Unfortunately, Song Nian was no longer that naive young man.

While Li Wenguang was panicking like a cat on a hot tin roof, afraid that his only spy would abandon him, Song Nian had long since muted all his messages and was living the good life.

If it weren't for the need to trip him up, he probably wouldn't have discovered any of this.

Fingers slowly scrolling through the conversation history, Li Yanchuan looked down, examining the conversation.

He scrolled all the way back to the wedding date and saw no replies from Song Nian to the other party.

And from the content and flow of the messages, Song Nian had indeed not secretly deleted anything.

Otherwise, Li Wenguang wouldn't have been putting on a one-man show.

Continuing to scroll up, the earlier content appeared.

That was back when the old Song Nian was still in control, so a full conversation existed.

Seeing this, Song Nian's heart skipped a beat, like a student caught skipping class by the principal. He quickly confessed:

"At that time, I was still fooled. Please don't mind it."

He watched the other person's reaction nervously, swallowing hard, afraid of being misunderstood.

To his surprise, Li Yanchuan's expression remained calm, as if he hadn't seen anything, and he didn't say a word.

He simply averted his gaze, continued scrolling up through the conversation, and only returned the phone after he'd finished reading.

—Because he didn't care about the past—only that the current Song Nian by his side wouldn't betray him.

"So, should I try to slip him this USB drive now? But I need to calm him down first."

Seeing that he wasn't angry, Song Nian blinked quickly and tentatively spoke.

"Yeah."

Li Yanchuan gave a quiet "mm-hmm."

So Song Nian's eyes darted around as he thought, then he carefully chose his words, and finally replied to Li Wenguang for the first time in a while:

"Song Nian: ...I'm sorry."

After rattling off a long message, he turned to Li Yanchuan and warned him, albeit a bit late:

"But hubby, I might need to badmouth you a bit."

Then he handed over the phone, showing him what he had written.

"Song Nian: Sorry, my mind was really in a mess at the time, and with what you did... I overreacted in that moment and unintentionally hurt you."

"Song Nian: I wanted to contact you, but Li Yanchuan forcibly took my phone, so I couldn't reach you."

When Li Yanchuan lifted his gaze from the screen, Song Nian gave a sheepish smile, dutifully kneading his shoulders and arms.

"You're not mad, right, hubby?"

He was already maneuvering him onto the moral high ground.

"So, should I take your phone away now?"

To his surprise, Li Yanchuan wasn't angry at all; instead, he cracked a rare joke—almost unheard of.

Song Nian stopped short, thinking he'd misheard, then grinned and played along, eagerly handing over the phone:

"Take it, take it—just don't forget to buy me a new one."

"I'm not taking a broken phone."

But Li Yanchuan refused.

"What's broken? It's good as new!"

"Top left corner of the screen."

Song Nian looked down and saw a tiny crack in the top left corner of the screen, almost unnoticeable unless you stared.

If he remembered correctly, he'd accidentally dropped it when he ran away from the wedding.

Besides that, there were a few minor scuffs around the edges, but nothing that affected usage or appearance.

From that perspective, the phone did look a bit shabby, but it's just normal wear and tear.

"Is it even usable in this condition?"

Li Yanchuan raised an eyebrow.

For someone like him, who was rich, such damage probably meant it was a write-off.

But for us regular folks, you just patch it up and keep using it.

Song Nian pouted and sheepishly took his phone back.

"Why can't it still be used?"

He muttered under his breath, pretending to be in the right even though he wasn't.

Using it himself, he had never noticed anything wrong, but having it pointed out felt like being caught at airport security with holes in his socks—awkward.

As he turned away, muttering, he failed to notice the thoughtful look Li Yanchuan was giving to his cracked phone.

Since Li Wenguang on the other side hadn't replied yet, Song Nian left the study ahead of him and waited for the next move.

Lying in bed, he began browsing his phone for the first time in ages.

He'd been holed up at the villa this whole time, with countless entertainment options—swimming, watching movies, even working out—so much so that he hadn't even touched his phone for ages.

It was a little embarrassing to admit, but Song Nian actually had a secret hobby.

He loved checking out guys showing off their bodies online.

As a gay adult, his favorite thing was looking at men with great bodies, especially those with eight-pack abs and a wasp waist.

Of course, the most important thing was having a nice, full chest—the kind of "daddy" with big pecs.

Whenever he came across generous guys who showed off their bodies online, Song Nian had a crush on every single one.

He would even secretly save their photos to admire.

Come to think of it, Li Yanchuan also had a pretty impressive physique.

Although the original novel didn't go into detail, it only mentioned that before he ended up in a wheelchair, he was tall, broad-shouldered, and narrow-waisted.

If I remember correctly, Li Yanchuan must be about 1.9 meters tall, and since he worked out year-round, his body was in excellent shape. Even as a CEO stuck behind a desk all day, he still had an impressive physique.

When Song Nian lifted him off the ground last time, he could feel the firm muscles beneath Li Yanchuan's clothes.

Thinking about this, Song Nian, who was only 1.75 meters tall, poked his own barely-muscled arms with envy.

If Li Yanchuan were to actually stand up, it would be an incredibly intimidating presence.

What a shame...

He couldn't help but sigh inwardly but quickly cheered up.

But it's okay—now that I'm here, I'll definitely find a way to turn the plot around and help Li Yanchuan stand up again!

After all, the original novel mentioned that there was a chance for him to recover through rehabilitation, but after he went dark and focused only on revenge, he completely gave up on himself and dropped that idea.

Later, I'll find an opportunity to casually bring up rehab.

With that decision made, Song Nian continued browsing the trending male chest idols online.

Just as he was indulging in a sea of bare skin and digital delights, a message from Li Wenguang suddenly popped up.

"Li Wenguang: Nian Nian, you finally replied to me!!"

So annoying, interrupting my fun.

He grumbled discontentedly but dutifully played the role of the original host to complete the mission.

"Li Wenguang: I knew that dark, gloomy Li Yanchuan would bully you. How are you now?"

"Song Nian: I'm okay. It took me days to finally earn his trust, so I could contact you."

"Li Wenguang: If it were me, I wouldn't have the heart to treat you like this."

Pfft, classic gaslighter, still playing innocent.

Song Nian rolled his eyes silently.

"Song Nian: Mm... I did what you said, got a chance to slip into the study. I'll try to get the USB to you in a couple of days."

"Li Wenguang: Nian Nian, I knew you could do it! Once this is over, I'll find a way to take you away from Li Yanchuan."

Not falling for the empty promises, he flatly repeated a few words and quickly ended the conversation.

"Song Nian: Alright, I have to go now, or I might get caught. I'll contact you again later."

"Li Wenguang: Okay."

Completely fooled, Li Wenguang believed he was about to get the dirt on Li Yanchuan. He closed his phone smugly, already dreaming up fantasies.

After successfully fooling him, Song Nian immediately ran to Li Yanchuan to brag about it.

"Hubby! He took the bait!"

Saying this, he shoved his phone at him, like a dog wagging its tail, begging for approval.

Hearing this, Li Yanchuan looked up and scanned the chat history.

"I didn't delete anything. You can check my phone if you don't believe me."

Afraid that the content of the chat might be misunderstood, Song Nian offered proactively, stuffing the phone into his arms.

"Go ahead, check whatever you want?"

Li Yanchuan raised an eyebrow at this, his eyes scanning the chat log as if searching for clues.

"Yeah, I promise I didn't contact him in private. You gotta believe I didn't lie."

Song Nian patted his chest as a guarantee.

So Li Yanchuan really did exit the interface, ready to examine the content and his reaction.

When his finger hovered over the contacts, Song Nian was unruffled;

When his finger moved to click on the messages, Song Nian stayed calm;

Seeing his relaxed expression, Li Yanchuan lowered his gaze, almost ready to believe what Song Nian said.

But when his finger unconsciously brushed over the album section, he caught a flash of panic on Song Nian's face.

Especially when his finger moved downward, as if to click on it, Song Nian nervously bit his lip.

Clearly guilty.

Ha, something's off.

Li Yanchuan sneered and didn't hesitate and tapped into the album.

Sure enough, there was a locked album sitting quietly inside, looking very mysterious.

"Open it."

He tossed the phone onto the table and ordered coldly.

"This... isn't really appropriate, is it?"

Song Nian swallowed nervously, a few beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.

"Song Nian, what else are you hiding from me? Do you really think I'm that easy to fool?"

"Li Yanchuan's voice grew colder, cutting like a freezing wind that made you shiver, then suddenly sharpened, making your heart skip a beat."

"Unlock it!"

"Fine, I'll unlock it! What's with all the yelling?!"

"Song Nian's throat tightened, and he shouted back, typed in the password and tossed him the phone—screw it."

"Li Yanchuan looked down and saw the album filled with images of pale, bulging chests, practically bursting out of the screen."

"And they were countless; the entire album of hundreds of pictures was nothing but muscular men."

"Let's just say, uh, it was pretty raunchy."

"You cold-hearted bastard! Are you satisfied now?! I'll never forgive you!"

"The guy who just died of embarrassment yelled out."