Chapter 4 – 004

Thud!

Li Yuqiu’s phone fell heavily to the ground.

Gu Xian’s eyes widened in shock, completely stunned. Xie Yunjing snorted, and pressed down even harder.

“Damn it—” Gu Xian suddenly pushed Xie Yunjing away, rolling off the bed and covering his mouth. “Are you a dog?!”

Xie Yunjing lay on his side, and a hint of crimson blood stained his lips. Meeting Gu Xian’s furious gaze, he suddenly licked the blood off his lips just as Gu Xian was about to curse again, then flashed a wickedly provocative smile.

“Heh.”

Gu Xian visibly trembled, his cursing turned into a sharp intake of breath. When he felt the sting on his lip, he realized he had tasted Xie Yunjing’s saliva.

“God… damn it!”

Gu Xian’s face turned ashen, but since Xie Yunjing had taken his blood first, it would seem like he was losing if he spat. Moreover, the saliva mixed with the salty, metallic taste of blood had already been swallowed, so spitting it out wouldn’t do any good.

Muttering a low curse, he stiffened his neck and walked over to Li Yuqiu.

“Did you take the photo?”

“I-I forgot…” Li Yuqiu hurriedly picked up the phone and turned on the screen, looking surprised and then relieved as he changed his tune. “I did, I did!”

Gu Xian stretched out his hand, and Li Yuqiu’s phone was immediately in his grasp.

There was only one photo, obviously taken by Li Yuqiu’s reflexive action after being startled. The background was a bit out of focus, but miraculously, the main subjects were clear.

The blurred background compensated for Li Yuqiu’s poor photography skills, adding a touch of ambiguity to the photo. Thanks to Xie Yunjing’s forceful actions, the photo actually conveyed a sense of intimacy. As far as Gu Xian was concerned, the photo perfectly captured the effect he wanted.

“…” Gu Xian’s eyes were dark as he stared at the photo for two seconds before silently opening the menu. His finger hovered over the delete option for a moment, but he ultimately sent the photo to his own phone.

“Untie him.”

Li Yuqiu caught the phone that Gu Xian handed back and asked in confusion, “Huh? Aren’t we taking more photos?”

“You take them?” Gu Xian’s lip was still bleeding, giving him a sinister look.

Xie Yunjing lay leisurely on his side, striking a pose reminiscent of a reclining beauty. “What, am I not cooperative enough for you?”

Li Yuqiu shivered, afraid of becoming collateral damage in Gu Xian’s wrath, and quickly pulled Zhang Hejie over. “Let’s go, let’s untie him.”

Zhang Hejie was even more clueless, insisting on asking Gu Xian first, “If we release Xie Yunjing now, won’t the photo be useless?”

As long as Xie Yunjing could rush back to explain, not only would the photo be ineffective, but the engagement party could still proceed.

Gu Xian gave Zhang Hejie a cold look. “Satisfied? How could I be satisfied with just one take? Besides, thanks to Young Master Xie’s cooperation, I don’t have to find a way to hide you overnight. After all—”

He roughly wiped his wounded lip, then pressed his bloodied thumb against Xie Yunjing’s lips, smearing the blood heavily. “We can’t exactly force Young Master Xie to bite himself, now can we?”

Xie Yunjing frowned in disgust while Gu Xian narrowed his eyes in pleasure, forcefully inserting his thumb between Xie Yunjing’s lips. “Didn’t you enjoy it just now, Young Master Xie?”

Xie Yunjing kept his lips tightly sealed, and Gu Xian didn’t force it, not wanting to risk another bite. Xie Yunjing quickly regained his composure, unfazed by Gu Xian’s aggression. Finding it dull, Gu Xian wiped his hands and taunted Zhang Hejie with a mocking tone, “Why are you panicking? Young Master Xie is still soft.”

Though they knew he referred to Xie Yunjing’s weakened state, Zhang Hejie and Li Yuqiu couldn’t help but glance at a particular area on Xie Yunjing’s body. Xie Yunjing’s mouth twitched, but with his lips smeared with blood, he didn’t speak and just closed his eyes to block it out.

“Untie Young Master Xie already,” Gu Xian said while getting dressed. “Or do you want to stay and keep him company overnight?”

The hotel wasn’t a hidden place. With the Xie family’s resources, they could find Xie Yunjing several times over in one night. Staying here was akin to walking into a trap, so Zhang Hejie and Li Yuqiu dared not delay any longer.

Gu Xian left with the two of them, swaggering out and even maliciously taking the tissues by the bed.

Xie Yunjing struggled to get up, and stumbled a bit before steadying himself against the wall. After washing the blood off his lips in the bathroom, he clenched the blood-stained tissue and glared at his reflection in the mirror, uttering a hateful whisper.

“Gu—Xian.”

*

Bang!

The expensive jade paperweight fell heavily, startling even the seasoned old butler, whose brow gave a sharp twitch.

“Do you know how many people were here last night? You’ve disgraced the entire Xie family!”

Xie Yunjing lowered his eyes, remaining silent as the shards of jade scattered around him. Some fragments flew up with such force that they cut his face.

An elderly man with neatly combed white hair glared furiously and threw a stack of papers at him. “What is the meaning of this!”

The papers fluttered to the floor, their writing illegible, but the printed images were clearly the photos Gu Xian had meticulously taken the previous night.

Although he and Gu Xian were not widely known, the guests at the engagement party were surely curious about his whereabouts. The news involving him and Gu Xian quickly caught their attention. Even though the Xie family acted swiftly to remove the trending news, those who needed to know already did.

The photos depicted him and Gu Xian intimately close, appearing warm, ambiguous, and even passionate.

Xie Yunjing’s lips curled into a sardonic smile before he looked up, meeting the stern-faced old man’s gaze with a calm expression.

“This is exactly what happened.”

The old man’s hair and beard quivered. “What did you say…”

“I said this is exactly what happened.” Despite the old man’s rage, Xie Yunjing showed no fear. “I am gay. I like men.”

“…” The old man’s expression momentarily cracked, and in the next instant, his face turned red as he slammed the table. “You beast!—”

The pen rack on the table was knocked over, but the old butler ignored the valuable items rolling away and hurried after the old man. “Master! Master! Let’s talk this over calmly!”

“Calmly, my ass! This beast has picked up such filthy habits. Today, I’m going to teach him a lesson—cough, cough—” The old man’s rage was palpable, but his elderly body couldn’t handle such intense anger.

Even though the butler managed to stop him, the old man wasn’t willing to let it go. He grabbed an inkstone from the table and hurled it toward Xie Yunjing.

“Kneel down!”

Xie Yunjing silently complied, but his back remained straight, and his face showed no sign of remorse.

With the butler’s help, the old man caught his breath, then glared at Xie Yunjing, issuing a blunt command, “Change!”

The butler desperately tried to signal to Xie Yunjing, but Xie Yunjing ignored him. “I can’t change.”

“…” The old man nearly choked again, pointing a trembling finger at Xie Yunjing. “Fine! Very well!”

“Bring me the cane! I will beat him to death today!”

“Master, it’s not necessary. Young Master Jing is still young…”

The butler tried to intervene, but the old man wasn’t listening.

“Hurry up!” The old man had no patience left and unable to wait, he moved to get the cane himself. “If you won’t get it, I’ll do it myself!”

As a butler, persuading the master with words was the limit; forcibly taking the cane from the old man was absolutely out of the question. So, no matter how much it pained him, the old butler could only watch as the old man, holding the cane, walked up to Xie Yunjing and struck him hard.

“Will you change or not!”

The old man had been a soldier in his youth, and his strength was formidable. Coupled with his current rage, the blow made Xie Yunjing’s entire body tremble.

Yet, his response remained, “I can’t change.”

“…”

The sound of the cane hitting flesh was a dull, shocking noise. After striking him a dozen more times, the old man finally stopped, gasping for breath and leaning on the cane, he asked once more, “Will you change?”

Xie Yunjing’s hands were clenched into tight fists. Despite the trembling, he kept his back straight and gritted his teeth, “I can’t—change!”

The old man raised the cane again, but at that moment, the door to the study burst open.

“Xie Guodong! Hit Xiao Jing one more time and see what happens!”

An elderly woman, frail and connected to an oxygen tube with an IV in her hand, was pushed into the room in a wheelchair.

The old man’s hand froze in mid-air, and his furious expression now tinged with a hint of panic. “Why aren’t you resting in the hospital? What are you doing here?”

Despite her weak appearance and soft voice, the old woman carried an undeniable authority. She motioned for the person behind her to push her closer to Xie Yunjing. “If I didn’t come back, were you going to keep beating Xiao Jing?”

Seeing his rescuer, Xie Yunjing showed no joy. Instead, the anger flashed in his eyes, quickly replaced by guilt.

“Grandma…”

“Ah!” The old woman responded, raising her hand to help him from a distance. “Why are you still kneeling there? Get up, get up.”

As the wheelchair moved, a faint cracking sound was heard, and the old woman noticed the jade shards scattered on the ground. The warmth that had appeared on her face at Xie Yunjing’s call of “Grandma” vanished instantly. She slapped the armrest of her wheelchair in anger. “How could you let Xiao Jing kneel on such a place, you heartless old fool!”

The old man’s authority was challenged, and he grimaced. Though he put down the cane, his neck remained stiff. “This brat, this worthless boy, can’t I discipline him?”

“Xiao Jing, stop kneeling. Ignore your grandfather. Grandma will stand up for you.” The old woman, though weak, tugged at Xie Yunjing, forcing him to stand. “Look, your legs are bleeding…”

She muttered to herself before turning to scold the old man again. “So what if he likes men? Who is he hurting? How is that considered ‘not learning well’?”

“Men and women being together is natural and right. Liking men is abnormal and wrong!” The old man glared, his hand gripping the cane tightly, itching to strike. “Move aside, I’m disciplining him for his own good!”

“You dare claim it’s for his good! You said the same thing about Sanyan, and look what happened!” The old woman, seemingly frail, suddenly erupted with an astonishing roar, her voice growing increasingly shrill like a wounded beast. She forcefully pulled Xie Yunjing behind her. “As long as I, He Yinglian, am still breathing, you won’t lay a finger on Xiao Jing!”

A flash of sorrow crossed the old man’s face, making him look somewhat defeated, but he didn’t give up. “Didn’t that fortune-teller you consulted also say that yin and yang must balance? You said he needed to marry before 25 for his safety. If word gets out that he likes men, which girl would marry him? Aren’t you worried now?”

“Who says marriage has to be with a girl! The country allows same-sex marriage now, and I checked, that Gu Xian’s birth chart matches Xiao Jing’s even better than that girl Tao Ranran’s!”

Xie Yunjing’s brow furrowed. “Grandma!”

The old man shouted furiously, “Nonsense! How can a man’s birth chart be compatible with another man’s!”

“If you don’t believe me, go calculate it yourself!”

Xie Yunjing grabbed his grandmother’s hand, about to speak, but the old man cut him off.

“I’ll ask you one more time: will you change or not?”

“…” Xie Yunjing opened his mouth slightly, but ultimately insisted, “I can never change.”

“Fine, fine!” The old man threw the cane aside and looked at Xie Yunjing with a knowing expression. “Then you’ll marry that Gu Xian boy!”

He didn’t give Xie Yunjing a chance to argue and immediately turned to the old woman. “Are you satisfied now?”