Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Jiang Cheng's fingers suddenly went still.

His gut told him going would be dangerous, but he'd offered that day to grant any request as compensation if he didn't go.

What he'd imagined was being Shang Zenian's lackey, doing grunt work, getting bossed around—not this...

Probably seeing that he hadn't replied for a long time, Shang Zenian sent another message with just one word: "Hm?"

For some reason, that one character felt incredibly oppressive to Jiang Cheng.

After a moment, he steeled himself and replied, "Okay."

The first-year law school curriculum wasn't very tight; he had no classes for the last two periods in the afternoon. After class, Jiang Cheng first went back to the dorm to prep for tomorrow's tutoring gig.

His tutoring job was introduced by a senior female student. The first time he showed up, the parent, probably noticing his cheap clothes, grilled him about his family background like a background check.

When they found out he was from a small county, the parent was clearly disdainful, making him put on three layers of shoe covers, use hand sanitizer, and wear a mask before they'd let him in, claiming the kid had a weak immune system and was scared of germs.

Moreover, except for going to the bathroom, he wasn't allowed to walk around the house, like they thought he might steal something.

However, the hourly rate they offered was very high—500 per hour. For someone like Jiang Cheng from a small county, this was a very high number. When he used to tutor in Tingxi, 100 per hour was the maximum.

So Jiang Cheng endured it; he wouldn't say no to money.

Actually, although it was said to be 500 per hour, he spent nearly as much time prepping for each session. So that worked out to about 250 an hour.

Of course, that was still very high.

After preparing the lesson, Jiang Cheng also did his homework. Seeing it was still early—half an hour until afternoon classes ended—he was about to head to the cafeteria for dinner when he got a text from Shang Zenian.

Shang Zenian: "You have no class for the last two periods in the afternoon, aren't you ready yet?"

Jiang Cheng: "..."

He never told him he had no afternoon classes—how did this guy know?

Evil Big Orange: "I did some homework. On my way now."

Shang Zenian: "I'm at the South Playground. Come find me."

Jiang Cheng was still terrified of him and didn't dare stall. He replied "Okay" and got up to go to the playground. His roommate Lin Mo was scrolling on his phone and, seeing him get up, also put down his phone and said, "Going to eat? Let's go together."

"No, I have something to do and need to go out."

"Oh, alright, then I'll go downstairs with you."

"Okay."

The two went downstairs together and parted ways at the bottom. Lin Mo went to the cafeteria to eat, while Jiang Cheng walked alone towards the South Playground.

Yanshan University's School of Physical Education is a top-tier program in the country. The school has its own dedicated building as a training gym, and the South Playground is also specially provided for their training.

The weather had been less hot these days, so everyone was willing to come to the playground for training. The South Playground was full of PE students, all with healthy wheat-colored skin, tall and strong, looking like they could all fight well.

Jiang Cheng spotted Shang Zenian at a glance.

He was probably also just done with training, covered in sweat. As if by some unspoken understanding, he also looked up and glanced over. Seeing Jiang Cheng, he said something to Lu Xiyuan and the others, then headed his way.

As he passed a soccer field, a ball that hadn't gone wide grazed the goal and flew straight at his feet. The soccer player yelled, "Brother Shang, watch out!"

Shang Zenian, as if his feet had eyes, lifted his foot and snugly trapped the soccer ball under it. Then, he glanced at the soccer field and casually kicked the ball back—it spun and landed right at the feet of the kid who'd shot it.

The accuracy stunned the soccer players.

Meanwhile, Shang Zenian had already crossed the track, left the playground, and walked straight to Jiang Cheng's side.

Seeing him, Jiang Cheng thought of last night's heated kiss and felt awkward.

Shang Zenian, as always, kept his cold face unchanged and said flatly, "Let's go."

The two walked one after another towards his home. Jiang Cheng had been here before, so it wasn't totally new. After entering, he slipped on the slippers that had been bought for Chen Yin and heard Shang Zenian say, "I'm going to take a shower. You change your clothes."

Jiang Cheng asked without thinking, "Change into what?"

Shang Zenian glanced at the room prepared for Chen Yin and retorted, "What do you think?"

"..." Jiang Cheng hesitated, then muttered, "But I'm a guy."

Even if he put on a little dress, he'd never be the real Chen Yin—it was all just fooling himself.

Shang Zenian smirked. "Don't need reminding. I know what I'm doing."

With that, he turned and entered his room.

After a moment's hesitation, Jiang Cheng still opened the door to Chen Yin's room.

The moment he took off that dress after Grandpa died, he thought he'd never wear one again. Unexpectedly, less than a month had passed, and he had to wear one again.

There weren't many dresses in the closet; all were short, tiny skirts. Jiang Cheng searched through them but couldn't find a longer one, which showed just how twisted Shang Zenian was when he set it all up.

If the real Chen Yin had come to Yanjing with him, Jiang Cheng didn't dare think about how Shang Zenian would treat her.

He had no choice but to pick one with layers of ruffles at the bottom—that way it was a bit safer.

Putting on a dress was second nature to Jiang Cheng by now. After changing, he stood in front of the mirror and found that the dress was really short on him; if he bent over just a little, his ass would show.

After changing, Jiang Cheng's gaze landed on the matching stockings. After struggling for a moment, he finally grabbed the white thigh-high socks and pulled them on.

Shang Zenian would make him wear them anyway, so better to just put them on than piss him off.

At least they weren't black stockings—less chance of him flipping out.

It took Jiang Cheng a good fifteen minutes to get dressed. Finally, he took a deep breath and opened the room door.

He saw Shang Zenian leaning against the door playing on his phone, fresh out of the shower. He was wearing a black sleeveless vest, tight-fitting, showing off a perfect V-shaped torso. With his deadpan cool-guy face, he looked both cold and wild—sexy tension cranked up to max.

This was the top fighter in Yanshan's PE department.

Jiang Cheng's eyes first landed on his bare shoulders, back, and arms, bulging with muscle lines, brimming with raw power, fierce and hard, intimidating as hell—like he could knock his head off with one punch.

He was nothing like the fiancé who showed up in shirts and slacks over summer vacation, all clean-cut but actually a beast.

Already scared, Jiang Cheng freaked himself out with his own imagination and instinctively tried to shut the door, but Shang Zenian was quick to block it with his hand. No matter how hard Jiang Cheng pushed, the door might as well have been bolted down.

On the contrary, Shang Zenian pushed and the door flew open easily. Jiang Cheng was so scared that he let go of the door and turned to run, but Shang Zenian grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

Shang Zenian spun Jiang Cheng around. He let out a panicked cry, and his back was pressed against the door that had been slammed shut.

Shang Zenian pressed one hand on his shoulder, pinning him firmly against the door so he couldn't move.

He looked down at Jiang Cheng from above, his voice cold and heavy: "What are you running from?"

Jiang Cheng didn’t dare to look at him: "I’m scared, Shang Zenian. Maybe... maybe you should just hit me instead."

Shang Zenian let out an angry laugh: "So you can feel at ease, owing me nothing, then we go our separate ways from now on?"

"..." Jiang Cheng's silence was an admission.

"That’s impossible," Shang Zenian leaned in slightly, his proximity suffocating, his pitch-black pupils reflecting Jiang Cheng’s figure, laced with undisguised obsession. "Jiang Cheng, I can’t let go of Chen Yin, and you can’t get rid of me either."

Jiang Cheng shuddered all over.

With one hand holding him down, Shang Zenian’s other hand slid down his waistline, brushing over the layered skirt hem to his thigh, his fingertips dangerously grazing the lace-trimmed edge.

"You were the one who insisted on compensating me."

But this isn’t the kind of compensation he had in mind!

Jiang Cheng almost burst into tears. Why did he have such a high moral standard? If he’d just promised to avoid him for life, none of this would have happened.

Shang Zenian caught the flicker of regret in his eyes and smiled faintly: "Regretting not leaving when I told you to? Don’t bother. I would have regretted it and broken my word anyway. You can’t get away."

"..." Terrified, he started crying!

Jiang Cheng's eyelashes trembled, his voice almost pleading: "Then what will it take for you to get over Chen Yin?"

"I don’t know. I wish I knew," Shang Zenian raised his hand, stroking his face, his voice tinged with sarcasm and self-mockery. "I fell for her at first sight. She's my first love, the only person I've ever truly cared about. Tell me, how am I supposed to let go?"

"..." Jiang Cheng hung his head in shame, feeling like absolute garbage.

Shang Zenian’s fingertip pressed against his chin, forcing his head up, his eyes burning with an emotion Jiang Cheng couldn’t decipher.

Just as the atmosphere seemed to freeze, a sudden "gurgle" sounded in the air, breaking the tension with a hint of awkwardness.

It was Jiang Cheng’s stomach growling.

He was a creature of habit, and it was time for his meal; his stomach naturally urged him to eat.

He wished he could crawl into a hole.

Shang Zenian paused, then released him, picking up the phone he’d thrown on the bed. "I’ll have someone bring dinner over."

Flustered, Jiang Cheng looked down to fix his clothes and asked softly, "Do you have any groceries? I can make us something."

Shang Zenian sent a message, then looked up at him. "You can cook?"

"Yes! And I'm really good. Want to give it a shot?"

This was the compensation Jiang Cheng had imagined. He eagerly volunteered.

Shang Zenian glanced at what he was wearing—the short skirt, white stockings, paired with an apron—it would probably look pretty tempting... Shang Zenian closed his eyes, cutting off those thoughts.

He said flatly, "I already ordered. Next time."

Soon, food arrived—the standard four dishes and a soup. Jiang Cheng was hungry, so he didn't stand on ceremony and ate with Shang Zenian. Afterward, he immediately stood up to clear the table, eager to help.

They were all disposable containers, so cleaning up was simple. Shang Zenian didn’t stop him, sat at the table, watching Jiang Cheng bend over slightly to pour leftovers into one box. The skirt, already short, rode up every time he leaned down.

Beneath the hem, partially hidden, intimate glimpses appeared and disappeared, mysterious and provocative.

The white stockings outlined smooth, clean leg shapes, with the lace edge cinching a narrow band of pale, delicate skin, delicate and alluring.

Shang Zenian’s gaze was deep and dark, his eyes holding a barely noticeable, yet intense and restrained emotion.

After a moment, he spoke in a low, husky voice: "Senior dorm's nice, huh? No room inspections?"

Jiang Cheng thought he was just making small talk. "Yeah, all my classmates are jealous of us."

"Then don't go back tonight. Stay over."

"..." Jiang Cheng nearly dropped the bowl. This sneaky grown-up!

I mean, he's a guy. What did Shang Zenian mean? Wasn't he homophobic?

Or was it that failing to get with Chen Yin still haunted him, so he wanted to make up for it with Jiang Cheng, regardless of gender?

Was that even possible... between guys?

Shang Zenian seemed to sense his thoughts and snorted lightly: "Relax. I'm not sleeping with you."

"I can’t," Jiang Cheng refused, with a good reason. "I have a tutoring job early tomorrow morning, and my stuff is still in the dorm. I can't make it from here in time."

Tutoring?

Shang Zenian narrowed his eyes. "Didn’t Chen Pingzhou give you two million? Isn’t that enough?"

Jiang Cheng said in a tiny voice: "But... that’s not my money. I'd feel guilty spending it."

"You!" Shang Zenian was furious. "You earned it with your own work! You didn't feel guilty when you were tricking me!"

Jiang Cheng flinched, too scared to speak.

Seeing him like this, Shang Zenian couldn’t bring himself to say anything harsher. He could only comfort himself that at least the kid wasn't a greedy, shameless little liar.

After a moment, Shang Zenian had calmed himself down and asked, "How much do you get for tutoring each month?"

"By the hour. The high schooler I tutor only has limited hours—four to six a week, at five hundred bucks an hour."

Shang Zenian thought for a moment and asked, "You said you can cook?"

Jiang Cheng nodded. "Mm."

"How about this: come work for me as a housekeeper. Cook dinner every day and clean up on weekends. Based on my current cleaner’s rate, I’ll give you—"

Shang Zenian paused, holding back the ridiculous number he had in mind, and said, "Fifty thousand."

Jiang Cheng: "..."

Did he look that gullible?

"You don't have to feel sorry for me..."

"I don’t have that much pity. My housekeeper has a PhD in home economics, and that's the going rate," Master Shang lied without batting an eyelid. "If you don’t believe me, I can have someone send you the pay stubs."

Jiang Cheng was so naive that even after two months at the Chen house, he didn't get how rich people worked. He even thought that, given Shang Zenian's crazy spending, this young master probably did need a pricey housekeeper to match his status.

"But I don't have a PhD in home economics."

"As long as you can do the job, I'll send the current housekeeper back to my grandfather's place if you come."

"I could, but you don't need to pay me. I'll do it for free."

Shang Zenian: "..."

Shang Zenian was annoyed by this stubborn little fool. He said coldly, "So this is your idea of compensation—slaving away?"

Having his little scheme discovered, Jiang Cheng murmured, "It won't stop you from asking for other compensation from me."

"How very generous of you!"

Shang Zenian was furious with this little liar. His family wasn't short of money for a housekeeper; he had asked him to come over just to save him from running around outside to earn that little bit of money, possibly even being bullied. He was just looking for an excuse to give him money.

Who wanted him to do it for free!

Shang Zenian sneered, "Fine, since it's not work but compensation, then I demand that when you come to work, you must wear the dress I bought for you and dress up as Chen Yin. I might lose control and sexually harass you. You can't resist; you have to call me 'husband' in Chen Yin's voice. Since you want to compensate so much, go ahead and compensate to your heart's content."

Jiang Cheng: "..."