Mei Xiaoran settled into Xuyuan, where Li Jiu treated her with great care, providing her with the finest food and clothing. Shi Anzhi was also very polite, calling her Miss Mei. She nervously declined, saying she didn’t deserve such formality, and asked him to call her Xiao Ran instead. She wasn’t sure how to address him in return.

Li Jiu then chimed in, “Just call him Shi ge like the rest of us.”

Shi Anzhi chuckled. Although he was more than two years older than Li Jiu, his life had been calm and steady over the years, making him appear much younger than his actual age. Still, he knew his own age well. Looking at the bright, delicate Mei Xiaoran, he smiled and said, “With more than a ten-year gap, I’m old enough to be called ‘uncle’!”

Li Jiu simply gave him a glance and a smile. The two of them often didn’t need words, that look alone spoke volumes.

Mei Xiaoran wasn’t a young, naïve girl, so she politely addressed them as “Master Jiu” and “Uncle Shi.” From then on, these titles stuck.

Not long after Mei Xiaoran subtly became the lady of Xuyuan, Li Jiu started bringing a few more people back. This time, it was a group of teenage boys, kept around as bodyguards. Among them was one named Bian Yiqiu.

Li Jiu found him on the side of the road when he was just fourteen. He had been living on the streets for years, barely getting enough to eat, which left him extremely skinny despite his large frame. But his appearance didn’t reflect his fierce nature. When he faced off against three or four older thugs armed with knives, he didn’t hesitate to fight back. Even with a knife lodged in his shoulder, he fought like a wild tiger, enduring fists and kicks without flinching. He grabbed one thug by the throat, biting down so hard he nearly tore out their windpipe.

Just as he was about to be beaten to death, a car pulled up. Bian Yiqiu heard someone ask, “What’s going on?!” The punches and kicks paused for a moment, but he never stopped biting—he bit down even harder. The thug he had pinned was already slipping into unconsciousness from the chokehold. The attackers around him frantically explained, saying that their people had been bitten by this crazy dog. “Look, he still won’t let go—”

Then, a strong force grabbed Bian Yiqiu from behind. With his teeth, he had torn off a chunk of skin from the unconscious thug’s neck. Spitting it out, he continued to struggle wildly, but before he could assess the situation, two sharp slaps hit him. One to each cheek, knocking him off balance. Only then did he begin to calm down.

Through the blurred vision of his dizzying mind, Bian Yiqiu saw the rear window of the car roll down, and someone leaned in, speaking something.

Then, he heard a cold, low voice from inside the car.

“An elderly man in his seventies sets up a stall, and they flip it? And they have the nerve to press down on a half-grown kid and beat him? This kind of trash, I, Li Jiu, don’t keep. One arm gone for each, and send them out of South China.”

After dealing with the thugs, the man grabbed Bian Yiqiu and tossed him back to the ground, then got into the passenger seat. The car drove off.

Bian Yiqiu coughed a few times in the rising dust, wiping the blood foam from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. When he looked up, he saw that the car had stopped just over ten meters away.

He squinted as he watched the car’s back door open, and a foot step onto the ground.

A tall figure loomed over Bian Yiqiu, and a voice came down from above.

“What’s your name? Are you willing to follow me?”

Bian Yiqiu was brought back to Xuyuan. The knife lodged in his shoulder had been pulled out by him before getting into the car. He shivered in pain but pressed his fingers tightly against the wound, still trying his best to sit up straight in the car. He was careful not to stain the car with his blood. This was Master Li Jiu’s car. He knew who Li Jiu was, but never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that one day he’d be sitting in the same car with this man, whose name alone could make people tremble in fear.

He lowered his gaze, not looking around. The car slowly came to a stop, and Li Jiu got out. Bian Yiqiu, struggling to get out, felt his knees give way from the pain and hunger. He almost fell but was caught by a hand just in time.

Bian Yiqiu looked up into a pair of gentle eyes, with a hint of brown. The gaze felt warm.

The person seemed surprised. “This kid…”

Li Jiu, standing nearby, let out a soft laugh. “A little wolf cub. He’s yours now.”

Bian Yiqiu glanced at the man, then at Li Jiu. Li Jiu casually said, “Go with Uncle Shi,” and walked away.

Uncle Shi took him to tend to his wounds. His hands were soft and gentle, which made Bian Yiqiu worry at first. Given the severity of his injuries, he feared the delicate man might react. But Uncle Shi remained unbothered, his expression steady as he cleaned the deep, bone-exposed knife wound on Bian Yiqiu’s shoulder. In a soft voice, he asked, “Does it hurt?”

Despite having endured beatings, wild dogs, and hunger without flinching, Bian Yiqiu felt his eyes suddenly burn with unshed tears.

But he didn’t cry. He fought to hold it in. Uncle Shi simply watched him, saying nothing more, and waited for him to calm down. Once he did, Uncle Shi spoke again, “Good boy, don’t be afraid. From now on, Master Jiu will protect you.”

Bian Yiqiu nodded, knowing that he had caught Li Jiu’s attention. But for some reason, he felt a stronger connection to the gentle man who had asked if he was in pain.

A few years after taking Bian Yiqiu in, Li Jiu began to clean up his businesses. He wanted to pull himself out of the violent world he had been a part of, but countless people still involved in it kept trying to drag him back, demanding money or even lives.

Shi Anzhi was unaware of these events, but Bian Yiqiu was living them. At just seventeen or eighteen years old, he had already become an indispensable blade under Li Jiu’s command. He was neither greedy nor lazy, fearless and loyal, always charging forward on Li Jiu’s behalf, unafraid of death. While he was carving out territory for Li Jiu, he was also paving the way of his own legacy. To Li Jiu and Shi Anzhi, he was affectionately called Xiao Qiu, but on the streets, many had already begun to refer to him, openly or in whispers, as “Qiu ge.”

Outside of Li Jiu’s presence, Qiu ge could almost walk unchallenged across the South China region.

Young and ambitious, Qiu ge finally fell into a trap due to a moment of carelessness. Though, in truth, it wasn’t his fault—he took two bullets for Li Jiu. One grazed his femoral artery, while the other hit his abdomen. A slight shift in any direction, and he wouldn’t have lived past nineteen.

While drifting in and out of consciousness in the ICU, he faintly heard someone whispering angrily.

“Li Jiu! I forbid you to send Xiao Qiu on such dangerous missions again!”

There was actually someone who dared to call Li Jiu by name? If Bian Yiqiu weren’t too weak to open his eyes, he would’ve definitely turned his head to see who it was. The voice, though… it sounded so familiar.

Bian Yiqiu’s mind was foggy from the heavy doses of anesthesia during surgery. He couldn’t quite place it, but the voice struck him as very familiar, like Uncle Shi. But Uncle Shi had never sounded so exasperated before, let alone directed such words at none other than Li Jiu.

Just as the thought of Li Jiu crossed his mind, his voice followed. Much like the enraged Uncle Shi, Bian Yiqiu had never heard Li Jiu speak in such a soft, deferential manner. The man, who was as fearsome as a demon and perpetually cold and intimidating, was speaking gently.

“Alright, I’ll listen to you. Don’t be angry, whatever you say goes.”

Bian Yiqiu was convinced he must have been hallucinating in his unconscious state.

In his supposed hallucination, he heard the sound of footsteps gradually fading away. Uncle Shi’s voice softened, the ever-gentle man saying:

“You should stop as well… I’m worried about you.”

The Jiu’an Group was established at an astonishing speed. Names like Hongyuan Trading and Ruiyi Finance were titles Li Jiu had spent a fortune on, hiring masters from Hong Kong to come up with them. But the name “Jiu’an” had been set from the start. The character ‘玖’ (Jiu) was chosen by Shi Anzhi.

The word Jiu (玖) referred to a gem-like, faintly black stone. Now that Li Jiu was transitioning into the role of a legitimate corporate chairman, it was only fitting to leave behind the street alias. The name “黎九 (Li Jiu)” didn’t seem professional enough, so Shi Anzhi chose a new character for him and decided to use it for the newly established group as well.

Li Jiu was soaking in the open-air hot spring at Xuyuan, a towel draped over his head as he mimicked the leisurely style of the Japanese, enjoying the warmth of the winter spa. Amid the rising steam, he drawled lazily, “You’re just saying I’m dark, aren’t you?”

Shi Anzhi, with a bath towel wrapped loosely around his waist, was stepping into the hot spring, one foot already in. Hearing this, he splashed a kick of water in Li Jiu’s direction, laughing as he did. “Isn’t it the truth?”

Li Jiu squinted at him in response, his gaze trailing from Shi Anzhi’s ankle, up his waist, and back down the long, straight legs. Then, without warning, he reached out, grabbed Shi Anzhi’s ankle, and yanked him into the pool.

Water splashed everywhere as Shi Anzhi fell into Li Jiu’s arms with a loud plop. The towel around his waist came loose during the struggle, floating aimlessly in the water. His legs, which should have found footing at the bottom of the pool, somehow ended up wrapped around Li Jiu’s waist. In the warm, misty air, his pale skin turned a soft shade of pink.

Li Jiu kissed him. The hot spring water was slick, and Shi Anzhi’s wet waist and hips couldn’t stay steady against the strong hands holding him up. All he could do was cling tightly to Li Jiu’s shoulders, his long legs wrapping firmly around him.

Shi Anzhi bit down hard on Li Jiu, his breaths ragged as he urged him to go harder. But Li Jiu, teasing on purpose, refused to comply until Shi Anzhi begged him.

“Please… please… Xiao Jiu… there… ah!”

Shi Anzhi’s final moan came out hoarse, carrying a sob through his nose. The sound was utterly captivating to Li Jiu, sending a shiver straight to his core. The splashing water echoed as it hit the white stone edges of the pool. Shi Anzhi’s nails dug deep into Li Jiu’s skin, their wet bodies locked in a tangled kiss above the steaming water. The mist swirled around them, thick and dreamy, like an otherworldly paradise.

Beneath the surface, the heat of their desires burned hotter than the hot spring itself. They had been together long enough to know every inch of each other, every sensitive spot that could drive the other wild. Shi Anzhi’s legs locked tightly around Li Jiu’s lower back as the slick water flowed between them, heightening the sensation when Li Jiu thrust deep into him. Shi Anzhi whimpered and begged Xiao Jiu to devour him completely, while Li Jiu’s eyes reddened with intensity.

In the cruel yet sweet torment, Shi Anzhi’s smooth ankle gradually broke through the water’s surface, trembling as the cooler air brushed against it. His entire body quivered violently, toes curling tightly, as an overwhelming wave of pleasure overtook him.

In the moment of release, he cried out, his voice carrying every ounce of ecstacy.

“Xiao Jiu!”

Li Jiu pulled him close, holding him as if the rest of the world didn’t exist. In that moment, they were everything to each other.