Chapter Text
Li Jianheng was the sole reason Xiao Chiye had ever stepped foot into a pleasure house, not that Xiao Chiye had the decency to show him any gratitude for it. During the day, Li Jianheng worked hard to slack off in his executive role. In the evenings, he doubled his efforts to fool around some more. If Xiao Chiye wasn’t working late, Li Jianheng attempted to drag him along in his schemes of debauchery. It was a thankless job that only Li Jianheng was up to task for, one that he took more seriously than his actual job.
“I had Shuanglu make arrangements in advance. This establishment is rumored to have the finest women in all of Qudu. Beauty beyond comparison! A-Ye, be grateful for what you are about to experience.” Li Jianheng said this with all the theatrics of a roadside magician.
“I’ve seen enough of your ‘finest in all of Qudu’ to know that they’re all just as fine as the next. If this isn’t as advertised, you’re picking up the tab.” Xiao Chiye was only here in the name of being a good friend.
“Xiao Chiye, if there isn’t a woman here tonight who stirs your heart, I will kowtow three times to you and call you ‘master.’” Li Jianheng was so sure of himself, the idiot.
“Fine.”
Xiao Chiye straightened his tie as he stepped out of a black BMW and into the throng of people on Donglong Street. A head taller than the rest in the crowd, his imposing figure easily carved a path to a windowless storefront which bore no signage. A small, inconspicuous fox-shaped hole was engraved into the wooden door.
Places like this did not advertise themselves to the public. It was a playground for the elite.
The unremarkable exterior belied the interior, a fusion of traditional architecture with modern, minimalist elements. Not a single yuan had been spared yet the details were tasteful and restrained in their elegance. The air was cool, scented faintly of plum blossoms.
“Welcome to The Fox Den. We are most honored to receive such esteemed guests tonight.” A beautiful hostess in a golden qipao was expecting their arrival and greeted them with a respectful bow. She had all the air of a gentle goddess. Li Jianheng turned to Xiao Chiye with a meaningful glance as if to say see, my friend? Enlightenment is at hand!!
Xiao Chiye was not paying the least bit of attention, instead finding great interest in the latticework. Li Jianheng could only grit his teeth and bite his tongue. The night had yet to begin. They were bound to encounter many ravishing beauties, and Xiao Chiye, smug as he was, was only mortal. Li Jianheng was determined to find Xiao Chiye’s weakness. His job was truly a thankless one.
They were led to a private booth and immediately flanked by a flurry of women in colorful qipaos that hugged their curves and showed off their tiny waists. They looked, smelled, and sounded wonderful, and their charms were intoxicating. Xiao Chiye drank freely and laughed with the women but did not miss the way they poured out the wine with practiced precision and a heavy hand. The women listened attentively and fawned over Li Jianheng as he bemoaned the stresses of work, flaunting his position at Li Empire Enterprises and vastly overstating his responsibilities and hardships.
“Jianheng,” Xiao Chiye casually cut in because the presence of these women had completely demolished the last of Li Jianheng’s brain cells. “Don’t discuss work after hours. You’re killing the mood.”
Li Jianheng failed to see what Xiao Chiye had already realized. These women followed up on his laments with innocuous questions designed to pry out morsels of information. For what purposes, Xiao Chiye did not know, but it was always better to say less. Fortunately, Li Jianheng was generally useless at work, passing off most of the decision-making to various advisors. Unfortunately, being a high level executive—thanks to nepotism—meant he was still privy to sensitive information and it fell to Xiao Chiye to shut him up. Li Jianheng’s incompetence was a double-edged sword.
The dark-haired beauty in blue next to Li Jianheng laughed sweetly, bumping her ample bosom into his arm. “Xiao-xiansheng said it best. Let mei mei take your mind off these troubling matters. You must enjoy yourselves to the fullest tonight.”
“I’ll drink to that!” Li Jianheng loosened his tie and raised his drink, and the women around him twittered in kind, clinking glasses. He moved on from complaining about work to whining about his best friend, a heartless scoundrel who paid him no respect.
Xiao Chiye’s intimidating air made him less approachable and thus most of the women crowded around Li Jianheng. He could not find fault with any of the women, but neither did he feel excited by them. He looked over at Li Jianheng who was putty in the hands of a pretty girl. Xiao Chiye couldn’t lose himself in the illusion the way Li Jianheng did. He peered right through the smokescreen and saw actors among a set. Day in and day out, Xiao Chiye represented the Libei Group, negotiating deals, seeing past pleasantries and bullshit. The setting was different but the circumstances were the same. He found the transactional nature of this entire affair to be deeply unsatisfying.
“Is Xiao-xiansheng bored of us already?” A woman sidled up next to him, offering him more wine. Her hair was intricately braided and her assets certainly could not be called lacking.
He took the drink and downed it before willing himself to smile. “How could I possibly be bored?”
At the very least, he enjoyed the alcohol and drinking games.
Li Jianheng could barely stand by the end of the night. Xiao Chiye’s mind was hazy but he remained steady on his feet. His height and large stature gave him a natural tolerance for liquor.
Xiao Chiye led the way out. Behind him, Li Jianheng mumbled incoherently. He sounded horridly dejected over something.
“What? Speak up,” said Xiao Chiye, rounding a corner. He glanced backwards at the sorry sight of Li Jianheng.
“I SAID—,“ Li Jianheng raised his voice dramatically but before he could finish forming his sentence, something struck Xiao Chiye bodily in the chest.
“Oh—.”
Li Jianheng crashed into Xiao Chiye from behind, causing Xiao Chiye to stumble forward. He instinctively reached out to steady the woman who had bumped into him from the front, securing her against his chest with a hand on her back. He let loose a string of curses and shoved away a dazed Li Jianheng who had barely registered what just happened.
“My apologies,” the woman said in a voice that was distinctly male.
Xiao Chiye loosened his hold in surprise but did not let go. He pulled back to check on the person in his arm and found himself drawn down into a pair of expressive eyes, doe-like in their surprise.
It was in fact a man, but it took Xiao Chiye too long to process this. It wasn’t the alcohol; he still had his wits about him. It was the disbelief that this person, dressed ethereally in a white hanfu, just happened to be the...the loveliest—it was the first word that came to mind and he wasn’t wrong, Xiao Chiye stood by his word choice—man Xiao Chiye had ever set eyes on. Perhaps the wine had been stronger than he thought.
He noted, with interest, the flicker of emotion across the man’s delicate features. Xiao Chiye was seasoned enough in reading faces that he caught the split second of icy contempt that gave way to coyness, almost feline in its nature.
“Careful on your way out,” the man said, drawing out his words like a gentle caress, and backed out of Xiao Chiye’s hold without any hurry. A pearl earring danced from one ear, luring Xiao Chiye’s eyes to the movement and down the side of an elegant neck.
His hand was still on the man and with each passing millisecond, it was quickly crossing over to inappropriate. He withdrew his hand and watched as the man turned to the hostess, addressing her in a low, quiet voice. The hostess bowed her head in acknowledgement, her eyes respectfully cast down. With the man’s long, dark hair brushed to one side, Xiao Chiye could see the beginnings of a smooth nape that ended too soon behind a closed collar. The man spared Xiao Chiye one more sly look and Xiao Chiye did not shy away from it. Then the man was gone.
“A-Ye!” Li Jianheng hissed from beside him. “Was that a woman with a husky voice or am I more wasted than I thought?”
Xiao Chiye realized saliva had been pooling in his mouth. He swallowed. “That was a man.”
“Man? Man?? Are you sure? There’s no way. Really? What a shame, what a shame. If only he was a woman.”
“You are drunk out of your mind.”
“No, really, are you sure?” Without waiting for Xiao Chiye to respond, Li Jianheng called out to the hostess. “Miss!”
She cocked her head in their direction, looking regretful. “My sincere apologies, Li-xiansheng, but he does not entertain our regular clients.”
“Regular clients? You think we’re just reg—A-Ye, they’ve been holding back on us this entire time!”
Xiao Chiye sighed heavily and bullied Li Jianheng towards the exit. “Excuse my friend, he is extremely drunk and an embarrassment to himself.”
“A-Ye, you brute, stop shoving—don’t you know who I am?!” Li Jianheng retorted, unable to stand his ground in the face of Xiao Chiye’s sheer strength. “I am Associate Vice President of Li Empire Enterprises!”
“Chen Yang.” Xiao Chiye did not need to say more. Chen Yang had been waiting and was already hauling a belligerent Li Jianheng into the car.
◆◆◆
Li Jianheng fell asleep in the car, leaving Xiao Chiye to his thoughts. What sort of clientele did the man from the pleasure house take on? Were he and Li Jianheng not among the elite circles of society? Did the man cater only to politicians or foreign powers?
He remembered the women with their cloying words and prying questions. Perhaps it was a scheme to draw them in deeper, because of course, one of the greatest insults to someone who already had boatloads of money was to insinuate that they lacked status. After a certain monetary figure, exclusivity was something that could not be bought. Xiao Chiye was admittedly intrigued.
“Chen Yang,” Xiao Chiye said, turning the ring on his thumb in thought. “There was a man at The Fox Den.”
Chen Yang’s eyes were fixed on the road. “I’ll see if a meeting can be arranged.” Chen Yang could always anticipate what Xiao Chiye wanted without him fully explaining himself. It was one of the things Xiao Chiye valued in him.
Xiao Chiye tapped his fingers impatiently on his thigh. “Tomorrow night, Chen Yang.”
At home, he dropped his clothes carelessly to the floor and stepped into a hot shower. He thought of the sensual beauty of those upturned eyes—exquisite in their shape, dangerous in their allure. If they were a trap, he wanted badly to fall for it.
◆◆◆
Yao Wenyu did not glance up from the business plan he was revising, yet he could sense that Shen Zechuan was mightily pleased. “Did a flower catch your eye?”
Lanzhou sat down and began organizing the disarray of papers on the table. The two shared a small office at The Fox Den.
“More like a golden goose. We received two honorable guests this evening.” Honorable was spoken with a sneer. “Take a guess.”
Yao Wenyu set down his pen and properly regarded him. “A golden goose from Li Empire.”
“And a bonus stray wolf pup from Libei Group.”
“Libei Group is a frequent business partner of Li Enterprises. I see what your intent is but pup or not, a wolf is still unpredictable.”
Yao Wenyu was not wrong. Xiao Chiye had looked at Shen Zechuan like he had caught the scent of blood, setting off all kinds of warning bells within him. Yet what Lanzhou had also seen in that spell of lust was opportunity—he could perhaps lead the wolf by the nose to where he wanted. An opening that spelled peril was an opening nonetheless.
He wondered how easy Xiao Chiye was.
◆◆◆
Xiao Chiye
Where are my kowtows
Li Jianheng
What
Xiao Chiye
Didn’t I win the bet last night
Li Jianheng
Um someone caught your eye
So I win
Xiao Chiye
You said woman
That person was not a woman
Li Jianheng
It’s not hip to be so hung up on gender these days you know
Bad PR and all
Xiao Chiye
What would you know about PR
Li Jianheng
A lot actually
Dodgy bastard. Xiao Chiye tossed his phone onto his desk.
He had waited all day for an update from Chen Yang. In the end, a meeting with the man from The Fox Den proved to be elusive.
“My apologies, director, but I could not get past the hostess to speak to the management. Once they open this evening, I will personally make the trip over and—.”
“No need,” Xiao Chiye interrupted, taking the setback in stride. “I’ll go there myself.” He grabbed his suit jacket and headed for Donglong Street.
A different hostess was present tonight.
“There’s a man here I want to see,” said Xiao Chiye briskly, offering no explanation. He tapped his ear. “Pearl earring.”
The hostess blinked, a look of confusion crossing her face. She answered hesitantly. “I...I’m afraid that will not be possible, sir.”
“How much for an hour of his time? I’ll pay double his rate.”
The hostess appeared to be at a loss, looking rather embarrassed as she struggled to clarify. “You see, sir, It’s not a question of money.”
“What’s the trouble here?”
“Fei-xiansheng!” The hostess turned at the voice and hurried to explain to the man who had just appeared. “This gentleman here...”
Fei Sheng looked Xiao Chiye up and down. “Shen Lanzhou is expecting our guest. Xiao-xiansheng, if you will follow me.” Though Fei Sheng said this, he did not seem happy with what he saw.
Shen Lanzhou. Xiao Chiye finally had a name to the face. Then, the second part of that statement hit him. Lanzhou had been expecting him.
Fei Sheng led Xiao Chiye down a dimly lit hallway with private rooms on either side. He stopped at a door and leaned against the wall, indicating wordlessly for Xiao Chiye to step through.
The room was intentionally small, meant to be an intimate space. Lanzhou sat with an upright posture, tipping a pot of tea. Except for the pair of eyes giving Xiao Chiye a heavy onceover, Lanzhou was a picture of propriety with the collar of his hanfu modestly secured.
“I didn’t expect to see you again so soon, Xiao-xiansheng.” Lanzhou pushed a porcelain tea cup across the table, inviting him to sit.
“We’ve known each other for mere seconds and you know my name already, huh...Lanzhou.” Xiao Chiye sat down at the other end of the table, sinking into the plush seating. His legs were so long, his knees bumped against Lanzhou’s beneath the table. Xiao Chiye adjusted, spreading his thighs wide.
“We serve only the most distinguished of guests,” Lanzhou replied, unfazed by the contact. “I know the names of all of our clientele. I take it you and Li-xiansheng enjoyed yourselves last night.”
“Hmm.” Xiao Chiye made a show of thinking about it as he pinched the tea cup between two fingers and studied the hand-painted foxes around the cup. “The women were fine and the wine was plentiful. That’s all Li Jianheng requires for a good time. My tastes are a bit more discerning.”
“You found the experience lacking.” Lanzhou smiled politely. “So why are you back? It couldn’t be that the mere glimpse of my shadow last night has the wolf pup of Libei Group longing for my scent, could it?”
Lanzhou said this in light mockery but Xiao Chiye was unashamed. “That is one reason,” he said in all sincerity. He held up one finger and drank the tea in one gulp. It was fine tea, fragrant and delicate in its flavor. So this was Lanzhou’s taste, Xiao Chiye thought.
Lanzhou raised his brows in question; he did not seem displeased by Xiao Chiye’s directness. The silence indicated for him to continue.
Xiao Chiye held up a second finger. “This place is not what it seems. I know the game you are running.”
Lanzhou tilted his head. “What game exactly is that?”
“As you say, your clientele rule at the top of society. Ply them with alcohol and loosen their lips in the company of beautiful women. Maybe you get something useful out of it, maybe you don’t. There’s nothing to lose. Your choice of target is ideal, too. If you were dealing with men further down the societal ladder, you would need to sift the truths from the blusters—at that level, they always have something to prove. But because you deal with those who truly possess the world on a whim, they have few reasons to lie.”
Lanzhou leaned back in his seat and hid his smile behind his tea cup. The steam rising from the cup obscured his refined features. “You wouldn’t believe the things they’re willing to say in the presence of a beautiful woman...a woman who couldn’t possibly possess any power of her own to hurt him. When in truth, her perceived weakness is her power.”
“Then let me in on the fun, Lanzhou. I could be of service.” Xiao Chiye leaned in closer to watch the bob of Lanzhou’s throat as he sipped and swallowed his tea. “Why not come to an arrangement that benefits us both?”
Lanzhou raised his chin innocently, treating Xiao Chiye to a view of his neck. Xiao Chiye let out a huff of air, amused. He was being toyed with.
“You want to exchange information.”
“Not quite. Mainly, I want your company. Who are you, Lanzhou? That’s what I want to know. That is what I want from you.” Xiao Chiye reined in his greed and straightened up, folding his arms across his broad chest. “There must be something you want that I can give you. Something you’ve been looking for.”
Lanzhou said nothing, as if weighing his options. Though Xiao Chiye had a feeling Lanzhou would not be ready to reveal his cards, he had laid his all out on the table. Naturally Lanzhou didn’t trust him just yet, and Xiao Chiye did not take any affront from it. If the man thought him odd, he revealed nothing.
He continued, “Li Jianheng may seem like big fish but his talk is all smoke and no substance. You may as well give up on him.”
“Is that so?” Lanzhou said breezily, letting his words hang in the air as he set his empty teacup down on the table. His lips were slightly swollen and reddened from the hot tea. Xiao Chiye wanted to lean in and feel their pout beneath his finger. He reached across without thinking and swiped a thumb along the curve of Lanzhou’s bottom lip, leaving it to linger at the corner of his mouth.
“Don’t act too disappointed. There’s hope yet. Why don’t you try me? Treat me right and I’ll have plenty to spill to you.” He pressed his index finger beneath Lanzhou’s chin and could not help the wicked grin from forming on his face. “Or I could spill in you, if you’re into that sort of thing.”
That seemed to elicit a shadow of a reaction from Lanzhou, both unreadable and nearly imperceptible. Lanzhou lifted a finger and gingerly nudged Xiao Chiye’s hand aside. Neither of them withdrew, and their hands remained touching. Lanzhou’s finger was ice cold to the touch. Xiao Chiye instinctively shifted his hand around and gripped it, warming it with his own heat.
“I should warn you, my bodyguard is standing outside this door.” His cool words of caution were at odds with the challenge brewing in those saccharine eyes, daring him to act on his impulses. Xiao Chiye wanted so much to oblige and breach that porcelain-perfect composure. “With one yell, he will come running.”
The teacups clattered on the table as Xiao Chiye shoved the stone table between them aside and closed the distance between them in one motion. With a knee on the sofa and a hand on the back of it, he towered imposingly over Lanzhou in his seat, fixing him with a positively predatory stare.
“Then we’d better stay quiet, yeah?”
Even up close, Lanzhou’s impossibly fair face was flawless as if carved from jade. Lanzhou remained tense and motionless beneath his hungry gaze, neither resisting nor encouraging him. The surprise in those plump, parted lips, and slightly rounded eyes was the only tipoff. A revelation dawned on Xiao Chiye that Lanzhou did not understand the full effects of his own spell on Xiao Chiye. The goading in Lanzhou’s words, the seduction of his body language—all intentional—had not yielded Lanzhou the expected results. He had only meant to agitate him, but it was enough to tip Xiao Chiye over the edge and spur the wolf into action.
Xiao Chiye backed off abruptly with a chuckle and straightened his suit jacket with a sharp tug, readying to leave.
“Just kidding.”
“Xiao Chiye,” said Lanzhou with a breathless quality that Xiao Chiye liked a little too much and would later think about. “I wouldn't have guessed you had an appetite for men.”
“Man or woman—that is irrelevant,” he replied. “The only one I want a taste of is you.” The wickedness was back on his face. “I want to see you again, Lanzhou. Will you deny me?”
“I’m quite expensive,” Lanzhou teased, slowly getting to his feet to see him off. He brushed his arms out to smooth the sleeves of his hanfu. “Aren’t you afraid I might take you for a ride and leave you high and dry?”
“Worried for my feelings? I’m touched.” Xiao Chiye said happily. “Think about my offer.”
“Which one?” His eyes shone with innocence.
Xiao Chiye pointed at Lanzhou and dipped his head in farewell. “Both of them.”
The door closed behind Xiao Chiye.
Shen Zechuan looked at the displaced table, remembering that display of strength. He thought of the touch that felt more tender than it looked, leaving his skin to burn. Clutching the edges of his sleeves, his hands trembled with delight.
◆◆◆
“Bill the visit to my account,” Xiao Chiye said to the hostess on his way out.
The hostess called after him. “Xiao-xiansheng, your account is already settled.”
Chen Yang was sharing a silent smoke with Fei Sheng outside. He hastily put out his cigarette when he saw Xiao Chiye emerge from inside, and left to fetch the car, leaving Xiao Chiye waiting alone with Fei Sheng.
“Weren’t you supposed to be guarding the door?” Xiao Chiye asked suddenly. Fei Sheng blew out smoke and crushed the end of his cigarette into the ashtray.
“He said he was to be left alone,” Fei Sheng replied gruffly, like he didn’t agree with it. He hesitated for a moment as if he had something else to say, but then turned away with a scowl and retreated inside.
Xiao Chiye frowned to himself as the black BMW rolled up to the curb. You mean I could’ve made my move and had Lanzhou moaning my name this whole time? Loudly??
In the car, Xiao Chiye checked up on work emails and reviewed his schedule for the remainder of the week.
“Chen Yang, did you settle my account at The Fox Den?”
“Should I have? Apologies for the oversight. I’ll take care of it at once.”
“No, no. There was no charge.” Xiao Chiye rubbed his chin, feeling the faint stubble that was starting to emerge.
Confused, Chen Yang blinked at Xiao Chiye through the rearview mirror.. “...Director?”
Xiao Chiye was thinking.
“I need some background on Shen Lanzhou.”
Chen Yang looked back at the road. “I’ll have Gu Jin look into him.”
Xiao Chiye slowly twirled the ring on his thumb. “I want to know everything. Leave nothing out.”
◆◆◆
Three days later, Chen Yang was stirring milk into his tea in the break room when Gu Jin flung a folder down before him. The older man sank in the seat next to him, setting down his oversized thermos on the table.
“He’s not just any Shen. His real name is Shen Zechuan.”
Chen Yang picked up the files that Gu Jin had compiled. He ventured a guess. “He has distant ties to the Shen family, then.”
“Shen Wei is his father.”
Chen Yang tried hard to recall. “I’ve never heard of Shen Wei having an eighth son. What’s he doing working in a high-end pleasure house?” He wondered aloud, as he began leafing through the papers.
“He’s a bastard son, raised by an adoptive family.” Gu Jin took a sip from his thermos and grimaced. “And that family died, under questionable circumstances, five years ago.”
“Five years ago is when Shen Wei was indicted. The collapse of Shen Corporation followed shortly.”
“A shadowy affair all around. The timing of the two events can’t be written off as coincidence.” He paused, then added, “Shen Zechuan owns The Fox Den, and a second establishment in Cizhou. He has a pending application for a third one.”
The pages of the folder fell open to a picture of Shen Zechuan. Chen Yang looked at it for a moment before glancing down at his milk tea as if hoping to divine some good news from the tea foam.
“I can already see that Director Xiao is very keen on this man. I imagine nothing in these files will deter him.”
Beside him, Gu Jin sighed, looking equally gloomy. “To be born a man with looks so stunning is a blessing and curse. The director is in the springtime of his youth and he has always been relentless in his pursuit of the unattainable. Have pity for Shen Zechuan.”
“Who are we pitying?” Ding Tao piped in. He had just entered the break room and was reaching into the snack pantry for a fistful of candy.
Chen Yang and Gu Jin glanced at one another. “Someone is...being targeted by Director Xiao,” said Chen Yang. He conveniently left out the word romantically.
Ding Tao sat down and unwrapped a candy. The wrapper crinkled noisily between his fingers as he peered over at the photo in Chen Yang’s possession. “Then that person is in danger, isn’t he?”
Chen Yang idly contemplated a ceiling tile. “You could say that.”
Gu Jin considered the circumstances further. “Alerting President Xiao of Director Xiao’s actions is premature as nothing has happened yet. But we can’t rule out the possibility of a scandal if the director is not careful. For now we ought to keep an eye on the situation.“
“I will urge the director to exercise discretion.” Chen Yang eyeballed Gu Jin’s thermos suspiciously. “Is there alcohol in that?”
“Black tea. I don’t drink on the job.” Then, after a moment of weary consideration, “though after this, I really should.”
◆◆◆
Cutting his break short, Chen Yang hurried to bring Gu Jin’s report to Xiao Chiye. Xiao Chiye was quick to absorb the contents of the report.
“If we were to conclude that the murder of Shen Zechuan’s adoptive family is linked to the fall of Shen Corporation, then it stands to reason that Shen Zechuan holds the Li family accountable for their deaths.”
Chen Yang shook his head. “Shen Corporation was a subsidiary company of Li Empire but...there aren’t many details behind the murder. How could their deaths be linked to either company?”
Xiao Chiye leaned back in his seat. “After Shen Wei, along with other members of the Shen family, was indicted and jailed, Shen Zechuan’s relation to Shen Wei, however distant, made him a target for those that were still seeking retribution from the Shen family. These grievances must have been personal. The tragedy is that Shen Zechuan had never been in contact with Shen Wei. He was living a separate existence from the Shens, and yet his blood ties were a burden he could not escape.”
Chen Yang slowly grasped the big picture. “If Shen Zechuan knows the rumors that Shen Corporation was the scapegoat for the Li family’s failings, then...”
“Then any dirt on the Li family may be valuable to him.”
“The gross mishandling of investor funds on the Li’s part has never been proven, otherwise it would be the Li family in jail and not the Shens.”
“Then you know what needs to be done. We need evidence.”
Chen Yang paled. “You want to poke the tiger? This is no small matter.”
“Li Empire has been in slow decline even before Li Jianyun stepped into the role of CEO,” Xiao Chiye mused. “We should seize this opportunity before others get a whiff of their weakness. I want Gu Jin and Ding Tao working overtime on this. We need to prove that Li Empire tampered with accounts to implicate the Shens, resulting in their ruin.”
“And...President Xiao?” Chen Yang asked delicately.
Xiao Chiye jabbed a finger at Chen Yang. “Say nothing to him. Tell Gu Jin this, too. I’ll inform dage when the time is right.”
Chen Yang left with his instructions. Xiao Chiye swiveled in his seat and flipped the pages of the files until he came across an old photo of a younger Shen Zechuan, still unaware of his fate to come.
His smile was devastatingly beautiful.
◆◆◆
Shen Zechuan sneezed softly and his earring swung from the sudden jolt.
Across the table from him, Yao Wenyu glanced up from his copy of the account ledgers. Hunu the cat, curled in Yao Wenyu’s lap, fixated on the swinging earring. “This autumn has been unusually chilly. Lanzhou, you must take better care of your body,” he chided lightly. “The last time you fell sick, you were racked with a cough that lasted two months.”
Lanzhou knew Yao Wenyu was right. He was prone to sickness and needed to take more precautions than the average person when it came to his health.
“Much has weighed on my mind since the inception of the second pleasure house,” he admitted. “And soon there will be a third.” Hunu climbed onto the table and leisurely arched his back, stepping on important records and legal documents as he strolled over without a care.
“Huo Lingyun is more than capable of managing the new establishment and Songyue is there to support him. A single tree does not make a forest; a single string can not make music. Put your trust in them and be at ease.”
“It’s not only that.” Lanzhou flicked the small bell on Hunu’s collar as Hunu brushed by. “I have been considering Xiao Chiye. Libei Group has close ties to the Li conglomerate. With his position within Libei Group, he naturally has access to information that can be leveraged. So why,” he wondered. “Why am I weighed with doubt?”
Yao Wenyu regarded Lanzhou with gentle understanding, though the latter avoided his eyes.
“The matter of Xiao Chiye is two-fold. As your business advisor, there is nothing more expensive than a missed opportunity. As your friend, I say: guard your heart, but do not lock it away.”
Hunu leapt off the table, scattering a heap of papers.
Lanzhou bent over in his seat to pick them up, hiding his expression. Yao Wenyu was a good friend. A very good and very perceptive friend. He wrinkled his nose childishly to that last point.
Xiao Chiye had yet to make an appearance in the past week, though just as well, for Lanzhou had yet to completely make up his mind about Xiao Chiye. Xiao Chiye’s straightforward manner intrigued him, but it also aroused suspicion within him. He had laid his desires bare since their very first meeting—all hunger and heat in the way Xiao Chiye looked at him—but then followed up with a restraint that Lanzhou did not anticipate. He had never met someone who operated the way Xiao Chiye did.
Shen Zechuan was no stranger to the lecherous stares of men who wanted too much for too little. He could brush off their vulgar intentions without even sparing a thought of disgust for them. If there was something that could be gained, he turned on the charm and indulged them to an extent just short of compromising himself. If anyone became too handsy, Lanzhou only had to breathe in Fei Sheng’s direction and Fei Sheng would be upon them.
But Xiao Chiye’s eyes made him burn. There was something behind them, beyond simple desire, that Shen Zechuan could not decipher. His intentions, spelled out, confused him. Hovering over Lanzhou that night, Xiao Chiye did not grasp what was well within his reach—what Lanzhou was willing to give. Lanzhou only understood this about himself in hindsight, and the realization had unsettled him to his core.
From the thick of endless nightmares and fitful sleep emerged a dream he’d never had before.
He dreamed of himself pinned like prey beneath scorching eyes that saw through all of his pain. He watched himself writhing under a kiss so relentless his past ceased to matter—saw himself coming undone in large, firm hands that bruised the hollow of his throat and the softness of his inner thighs. He dreamed of his slow and absolute submission to a beast in man’s shape.
He awoke with his heart pounding, feeling the remnants of Xiao Chiye’s touch on his body.