Su Zhi’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat when he saw the word “familiar.”
He thought.
Of course it looked familiar. After all, you saw him without a mask that day.
He might even be your future boss. If your senior really joins the head office, you’ll see him from time to time.
“……”
Su Zhi was inexplicably embarrassed by the strange images that emerged in his mind.
His brain recently liked to think of some very strange things on its own.
Su Zhi stared at the phone screen for a while, not knowing how to respond to the teasing words from his senior. He really lacked experience in talking about his own romantic affairs and didn’t know what attitude to take.
After hesitating for a while, he sent a dry “okay” back.
Senior: [Haha, so shy.]
Senior: [But it’s okay to be photographed like this? If you feel troubled, you can contact the moderator to delete the post.]
Su Zhi thought for a moment.
He didn’t really mind these things himself.
He had a post with a photo taken in his freshman year, and it had been hanging there until now, with thousands of comments, but he never cared about it.
After all, it’s just students joking around, no need to take it too seriously.
No one really had any malice.
Most of the time, Su Zhi was a very gentle person. Even though he seemed a bit distant, as long as his bottom line wasn’t crossed, he was always easy to talk to and didn’t mind small matters.
It was just encountering someone as perverse as Xie Yi that made him explode in anger, like a stress reaction.
Su Zhi didn’t mind, but there was more than just him in the photo.
Xie Yi’s identity was special, and Su Zhi couldn’t make a decision for him.
So he said: [Thank you, senior. I’ll ask him.]
Senior: [Hehe, okay.]
For some reason, although Su Zhi’s attitude was very calm and reserved, she could always touch on some unusual fragments through his few words.
Or rather, being with someone like him was in itself something hard to imagine.
Su Zhi had graduated for two years and was still considered a “white moonlight” on the forum, not without reason.
It wasn’t just because of his outstanding appearance.
She had seen that photo with over ten thousand replies.
Every year, that post would be revived by new students, and she would see it repeatedly.
The photo should have been taken in Su Zhi’s first year at A University, when he was about sixteen or seventeen, with features still caught between youth and adolescence, looking so fresh it seemed he could drip juice.
The photo was taken on a winter night, with thick snow and bright moonlight making the snowy night as bright as day.
The photo seemed to be taken candidly from a distance, not very high in resolution, through a few people before landing on Su Zhi. The focus was on him wearing a light-colored short down jacket, holding a cup of milk tea, with his gaze slightly inclined towards a withered tree by the roadside.
Although it was very normal and ordinary attire and action, and his expression was calm and gentle, neither cold nor aloof, it inexplicably gave a feeling of being isolated from others, as if only he and the moonlight existed in the same dimension.
The moonlight passes over everyone equally, but it seems it will never be possessed by anyone alone.
……
That photo was taken with a great sense of atmosphere. A University had many handsome guys and beautiful girls, but in terms of facial features alone, Su Zhi wasn’t the most stunning.
His looks were delicate and refined, which was actually less eye-catching compared to those with more prominent features.
But he had a very unique aura, which could easily captivate even through a photo.
The person who took that photo wasn’t professionally trained in photography, just a student who happened to see a handsome guy on the street and impulsively took a picture with a phone.
But after taking that photo, she did switch to the photography industry, and after a few years of ups and downs, she had become somewhat well-known recently.
As for whether it was because of taking that photo that she switched careers, that was unknown.
The senior’s understanding of Su Zhi was neither too much nor too little.
Because she had helped Su Zhi find materials before, she had been treated to several meals by this polite junior, possibly interacting with him more than others at the school.
Su Zhi seemed like a good kid who was gentle to everyone, but she could feel that he was actually an incredibly aloof person inside. He appeared approachable, allowing anyone to quickly get close and receive a bit of warmth from him.
But that was the extent of it.
Wanting to go further and make him emotionally invested was exponentially difficult.
Some people seemed fierce and cold, but once they let someone into their heart, they would never turn away.
And some people seemed gentle and soft, but had an invisible high wall erected inside, even if someone forced their way in, it might take many years to leave a significant mark in that exclusive and remote territory.
Perhaps even the owner of that territory would only slowly realize it many years later.
……
Having nothing else to do, after chatting with his senior, Su Zhi looked at the forum for a while.
Most of the replies were screams, wails, and discussions about the relationship between the two. Occasionally, there were some bad comments, but they were quickly rebutted, with nothing particularly bad overall.
It was just that, towards the end, for some reason, the discussions turned to topics like “body type,” “physical differences,” and “would it be tiring.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He couldn’t think too deeply, it was too weird.
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He clicked on a comment, intending to righteously report these indecent words, but just before clicking, he closed it.
Forget it, really getting people banned wouldn’t be good. A University’s private forum had many useful posts, and getting banned would be hard for heavy users.
Forget it, forget it.
He just wouldn’t look.
But when he was about to exit, Su Zhi accidentally clicked the wrong spot, returning to the first post.
He saw the photos posted at the beginning again.
Looking closely, these few photos were actually quite well taken.
Whoever took the photos, they found a great angle, capturing them clearly.
The two were sitting on dark recliners, with a large cluster of gardenia trees right behind them. Unlike the slender potted ones that struggled to reach a meter tall, the ground-planted gardenias at A University grew much taller.
They were well-maintained and seemed quite aged, with thick roots and stems, mostly between one and two meters tall, with the taller ones easily surpassing head height.
Not to mention that they were sitting there, making it look like they were surrounded by the flowering trees.
Even through the photo, Su Zhi seemed to be able to smell that faint, creamy sweet scent.
Su Zhi looked at the photo of himself for a while. Maybe it was because of the particularly bright and clear lighting, but his cheeks looked slightly red, and he seemed very soft, as if soaked in sunlight.
Not only was Xie Yi looking at him, but his gaze also subtly fell on Xie Yi.
Did he actually have that kind of expression at that time?
Su Zhi paused for a moment, then, driven by an inexplicable impulse, clicked on these photos, downloaded, and saved them.
Only then did he exit the forum.
A colleague passed by in the meantime, seeing him looking at his phone with his eyes slightly rippling, and teased, “Hey, those eyes. Are you having a paid romance during work hours?”
Su Zhi was so startled that he choked, “No, no…”
He said, “I was looking at landscape pictures.”
For some reason, Su Zhi suddenly wanted to plant a few gardenia trees.
Not the small, delicate ones in pots, but the kind that can grow lush branches and leaves when planted in the ground.
He thought for a moment and remembered that there were many empty spaces in the villa’s courtyard, so planting a few flowering trees shouldn’t be a problem.
The gardenia’s blooming season was already more than halfway over. The newly transplanted flowers this year would need some time to adapt to the soil, so they might not catch the best blooming period.
But it would be the same to enjoy them next year.
The typical survival length of gardenia trees is about ten years, but with proper care, they can easily grow for thirty years.
Missing a year’s flowers doesn’t matter; there is always the next year to look forward to.
–
At the Xie family.
Xie Xingzhou was on the phone with someone, speaking very gently and softly, in a consistently polite manner.
But his expression, unseen by the person on the other end, was very cold, with a hint of annoyance.
After a few minutes, he put down the now silent phone.
His brows furrowed even deeper.
It was clear that the phone call just now did not bring good news.
This negotiation had been on and off for two months, with various pushes and pulls in between. They had made many concessions repeatedly, almost to the point of no profit, just to secure the deal, showing great sincerity.
But still, it didn’t work out.
In the end, the other party was still wary of Xie Yi’s targeting of the Xie family, wavering between interests and risks for a long time, and at the last moment, backed out and left them hanging.
But they couldn’t blame them; business is like that. Until the contract is signed, there is always the possibility of it falling through.
This is a very common occurrence.
But it still felt very frustrating.
The Xie family had once been so glorious that even though Xie Xingzhou’s mentality was much stronger than his irritable father’s, he still couldn’t help but feel disgusted by the bleak reality.
But the weak’s disgust and frustration have no value; no one cares.
The business world is like a battlefield, a very realistic place, where the weak are preyed upon by the strong.
The Xie family had fallen to such a state that they no longer had the standing to criticize. Most of the time, the voice can only be made by the strong.
Father Xie walked in from outside, seeing his son’s displeased expression, and guessed something.
He couldn’t help but ask a couple of questions, “Xingzhou, that case…”
“Dad,” Xie Xingzhou interrupted, his mood already terrible and not wanting to bear his father’s emotions, directly said, “I want to rest for a while. You go upstairs first.”
“Oh, oh.” Father Xie hesitated for a moment, ultimately saying nothing, and turned to walk towards the stairs.
The last remaining industries of the Xie family were basically sustained by this son, and his influence in the family was waning, often having to act according to Xie Xingzhou’s mood.
Recently, with the failure of several negotiations, Xie Xingzhou’s temper had been bad, and his patience with respecting his elders had gradually worn thin, making this feeling even more apparent.
But to really go back and manage the business to regain influence in the family was something his pride couldn’t handle.
So he could only muddle through awkwardly.
All because of Xie Yi, that little bastard, a white-eyed wolf just like his mother. The Xie family provided them with such good living conditions, but the mother and son were both ungrateful.
That woman from a small, poor place would never have entered their kind of household if not for being fancied by his brother.
Yet she always acted unsatisfied and pretentious!
A white-eyed wolf gave birth to another white-eyed wolf.
If the ungratefulness of Xie Yi’s mother had a reason, then Xie Yi’s betrayal was even more unforgivable. Although that woman gave birth to him, it was the Xie family that provided the money to support them. That woman was his mother, but his brother was also Xie Yi’s biological father! How could such a small child do such a thing?
Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but curse again.
These were words he had cursed countless times before.
Xie Xingzhou had heard them so many times he could recite them by heart, feeling no emotional fluctuation, even sneering with some helplessness.
It wasn’t that he had any moral standpoint to objectively view those past events. He didn’t care about things that had nothing to do with him; this was the cold-blooded nature of the Xie family.
If he truly had a sense of justice, he wouldn’t have deliberately targeted Xie Yi when he was staying at their house.
It’s not that he didn’t hate Xie Yi; no Xie family member could not hate this person.
But rather than cursing meaninglessly, he preferred to do something practical.
Coldly watching his father’s figure disappear at the stairway, he remembered something, picked up the phone on the coffee table, and dialed a number.
Since meeting Su Zhi last time, he had not heard the expected news of this little canary and Xie Yi having a big fallout.
He vaguely felt something was off, but maybe he had been too busy with work. The private detective couldn’t capture every detail, and some oversight was normal.
He didn’t doubt the effectiveness of this matter at all.
In some ways, the one who understands a pervert the most might be another pervert.
The private detective hadn’t given any feedback, so this time he called Su Zhi’s university classmate, whom he had specifically recruited as an informant. This person had been planted by Su Zhi’s side for a while, playing a major role in the bar incident last time.
It was just that perhaps Su Zhi’s reaction to being drunk was miscalculated, and there was no follow-up.
Although the Xie family was now in decline, in the eyes of ordinary people and even small wealthy families, they were still considered rich merchants. It wasn’t difficult to pay someone to do things.
Though a minor character, sometimes they were quite useful.
“Su Zhi, uh, he…”
On the other end of the line, hearing Xie Xingzhou’s inquiry, Xu Fu felt very troubled, not knowing how to begin.
He was an A University student, unlike Su Zhi, who, after graduating, almost never took the initiative to contact any classmates and kept a low profile. Xu Fu was still actively mingling in the A University alumni circle.
Among these alumni, some would occasionally go back to check the forum, and he quickly went to see that newly appeared post.
Innocent bystanders on the forum might not recognize them, but how could Xu Fu, who was paid to stir up trouble and knew about Su Zhi and Xie Yi’s relationship, not recognize them?
Given that boss’s possessiveness, it would be a miracle if Su Zhi could get so close to anyone else.
Thinking about the post he had just seen, Xu Fu felt conflicted.
How was he supposed to tactfully explain to his benefactor that not only did these two not fight as he had confidently predicted, but they were also photographed on a date at their university and posted on the forum as a couple?
Damn it, why did being an undercover agent make him feel like a corporate slave writing an error report to his boss?
—
After work, Su Zhi first had dinner with Xie Yi.
Today’s dinner was prepared by the housekeeper. It seemed that because she had unexpectedly gained so many days off, like pies falling from the sky, she felt a bit of job insecurity and wanted to perform well. So, today’s meal was particularly sumptuous.
With five dishes and a soup, it was way too much even for two adult men.
Su Zhi quickly felt full. He worked in an office every day, with light workloads. Without going out in the field, he burned less energy in an afternoon than he did in the evening activities with Xie Yi. So, he couldn’t eat much at dinner.
After eating his fill, he didn’t rush off but sat at the table watching Xie Yi eat.
Even without saying a word, his expression clearly asked, “Can you finish it all?”
Besides being a neat freak, Su Zhi probably had a slight obsessive-compulsive tendency.
It was hard to describe, a kind of slight fastidiousness that might not even count as a temper.
Even if you didn’t go along with him, he probably wouldn’t get very angry.
However, Xie Yi was willing to cater to this small quirk.
He wished Su Zhi would be more willful and indulgent in front of him.
Xie Yi: “…”
Under Su Zhi’s gaze, he calmly ate up all the remaining food.
He wasn’t someone who would waste food extravagantly in daily life. If he lived alone, he wouldn’t mind putting leftovers in the fridge for another meal.
The main reason was that he didn’t want to leave leftovers at home for Su Zhi to eat.
He didn’t want Su Zhi to take any risks, no matter how small.
Seeing that he finished, Su Zhi finally let out a sigh of relief.
Satisfied, he went off to do his own thing.
But he didn’t have anything serious to do, just wandering around.
…
Dinner was indeed too much, even for someone with Xie Yi’s build.
After handling about two hours of work in the study, Xie Yi went to the gym. He needed to burn off the excess calories.
Su Zhi, on the other hand, lay like a couch potato watching game videos for two hours before remembering he had forgotten to tell Xie Yi something.
The matter of the forum photos.
He had to ask Xie Yi, the other person in the photos, whether to contact the admin to get the post removed.
But after searching for a while, he didn’t see Xie Yi, neither in the bedroom nor the study.
He even wondered if the man had gone out without telling him.
It wasn’t until he heard some noise while passing the first floor that he remembered there was a gym in the house.
The main reason was that Su Zhi rarely went there. Xie Yi went often, but Su Zhi used to deliberately ignore Xie Yi’s whereabouts, so he didn’t have much of an impression and subconsciously overlooked it.
When he opened the door, sure enough, Xie Yi was working out.
His upper body was shirtless, probably just finished a set of exercises. His muscles were swollen and filled with blood, his pale skin slightly red, his well-defined chest and abs glistening with a thin layer of sweat, his chest rising and falling slightly.
Hearing the door open, Xie Yi turned to look at him. Maybe because his nerves were still excited from the workout, his dark eyes looked deep.
Like a beast ready to pounce, seemingly about to devour someone, very fierce.
Su Zhi: “…”
He stood there for a few seconds, his face flushed with hormones.
But it was nothing new; he had seen it yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that too.
Su Zhi closed the door, walked over, and wanted to ask him about the photos on the forum and whether they needed to be dealt with.
But he didn’t know how to start.
Because of what happened with the roses yesterday, now every time he saw Xie Yi, his mind would be filled with dirty thoughts. How could this man come up with all sorts of ways to break human limits?
So weird!
When he came home today, he didn’t dare to look up at the rose bush in the yard, feeling very guilty towards them.
He probably wouldn’t be able to look at such beautiful flowers for a long time.
Su Zhi was embarrassed and angry, not enough to get mad, but still a bit flustered, so he hadn’t talked much with Xie Yi during dinner.
He had realized that Xie Yi was getting more brazen.
In their previous life, they were always arguing. Xie Yi was strange, but he had never done anything so perverted.
Now that he had softened, this man had become increasingly shameless.
He didn’t have much face to begin with, but now he seemed to find more to lose from the corners.
Too much.
No, the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
He pulled up the post on his phone and handed it to Xie Yi.
Xie Yi looked down at it for a few seconds, “Hmm?”
Su Zhi simply said, “This is from our school’s forum…”
Xie Yi watched him for a while, his voice slightly low, probably from the exercise, with some suppressed breaths, “Okay, I’ll get someone to handle it.”
He looked at Su Zhi, who seemed to have some anger, and didn’t know what he was thinking or wanted to say. Finally, he said in a nearly apologetic low voice, “Sorry, I didn’t notice someone taking photos, it wasn’t intentional.”
What was he talking about?
Su Zhi took a moment to realize Xie Yi was apologizing and explaining that the post wasn’t his doing.
But he didn’t think so.
Xie Yi was indeed twisted, his numerous crimes against him were countless, and Su Zhi wasn’t a goldfish brain; he wouldn’t forget.
But he knew Xie Yi wouldn’t do something like secretly posting on the forum to come out.
Xie Yi was bad, but when he wanted to show his possessiveness, he would directly leave bite marks on him, rather than doing sneaky little things like this.
Not that he was defending him.
It was just that Xie Yi’s perversion was more straightforward.
“…”
Su Zhi knew he was still angry about Xie Yi using the roses on him yesterday.
And he needed to be cautious, he couldn’t be too nice to this man.
Otherwise, this bad man might do something even more bizarre next time.
But realizing that Xie Yi misunderstood and thought he was accusing him, seeing the restrained and dark look in those black eyes.
Even if he thought he was wrongly accused, he still bowed his head to apologize first.
Su Zhi looked at the sweat sliding down his neck, feeling somewhat stifled. After a few seconds, his mouth disobediently explained, “No, I know it wasn’t you. I wasn’t asking about that.”
Thank you for the chapter 😍 ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
I’m really curious as to where those roses went hm hm 🤨👁️👁️
Same 😅
💖🌸💖🌸
Thank you for update 😊
Thanks for the update 🥰
Omg. I’m so scared of my imagination 🥹