“Yu Sen!” Si Xuanyang quickly supported him, his expression showing panic and helplessness, his fingers slightly trembling.

Feeling an unusual sharp pain in his stomach, Yu Sen’s face turned frighteningly pale. He unconsciously opened his mouth to say something comforting, but all that came out was uncontrollable whimpering and groaning, and his vision darkened.

“Help him inside to lie down first!” Si Nan said anxiously.

“Don’t!” Yu Sen gripped Si Xuanyang’s clothes tightly, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. “… Don’t go in for now, the smell of alcohol is too strong… it makes me want to throw up…”

“Alright, stop talking,” Si Xuanyang said, holding him by the door and signaling to Si Nan and Luo Yu. “Go check if there’s a room with a better smell, size and location don’t matter.”

“Okay!”

Yu Sen leaned against the wall, his head resting on Si Xuanyang’s shoulder, patiently waiting for the pain to ease, or rather, for him to adapt to the stomach pain just like he did with dizziness last time.

Si Xuanyang’s arm was tightly wrapped around his waist, and although no one spoke, Yu Sen could feel Si Xuanyang’s tense body and emotions, and his anxious heart. He spoke in a hoarse voice, “Don’t worry. It’s just ordinary stomach pain. It’ll get better slowly.”

The room was silent for a long time before Si Xuanyang spoke softly, “You only ever tell me not to worry when you’re really suffering.”

Because he didn’t even have the strength to act spoiled or tease him.

Yu Sen forced a bitter smile. It seemed like he had conditioned Si Xuanyang to the teasing. When he pretended to be in pain or dizzy, Si Xuanyang would comfort him, but when he truly told him not to worry, he didn’t believe it at all.

After the intense pain passed, it gradually eased. He weakly rubbed against Si Xuanyang’s shoulder and said softly, “What can we do? There’s no medical facilities here. How about you help me rub it?”

Si Xuanyang didn’t say anything. Yu Sen was joking, but unexpectedly, Si Xuanyang really started rubbing him, with his hands touching Yu Sen’s stomach through his clothes.

“!!!”

The slightly warm palms on the delicate skin of his stomach made Yu Sen shiver. He buried his face deeper into Si Xuanyang’s neck, his lips touching the distinct collarbone, and he didn’t pull away.

Because it actually felt quite good.

Whether it was psychological or if the rubbing really worked, the pain gradually dissipated in the warmth of Si Xuanyang’s palms. A touch of embarrassment arose as Yu Sen’s fingertips trembled. With a mischievous thought, he bit down lightly on Si Xuanyang’s collarbone.

“Hiss—!”

The movement of the hand on his stomach stopped abruptly. Si Xuanyang also reacted, tilting his head to nibble on Yu Sen’s ear, “So you have the energy to bite now? Heartless thing…”

The tingling, damp heat on his ears sent an electric jolt down to his feet. Yu Sen pushed him away, staggered two steps to the side, his waist and abdomen escaping the scorching palm. His face, however, seemed slightly reddened from the heat, and he glared at him: “Not bad, Yang Yang, learning to flirt at such a young age!”

Si Xuanyang calmly supported his arm, lingeringly rubbing his fingertips, and raised an eyebrow, asking, “Still hurting?”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore…” Yu Sen quickly waved his hand, regretting a thousand times in his heart—where did Si Xuanyang learn this seasoned flirtation? Could it be from him?

Wasn’t that like teaching the apprentice to starve the master? 

Si Xuanyang, looking at Yu Sen’s still pale face, tightly pressed his lips in frustration and called out to Si Nan, “Found it yet?”

“This room over here, come!” Si Nan waved them over.

To ensure every private room could see the stage below clearly, the circular corridor was built very narrow, just wide enough for two people to pass side by side.

As Yu Sen was supported by Si Xuanyang, they passed by some rooms with their curtains not drawn, where people similar to them cast inquisitive glances through the glass.

The room they found this time was slightly smaller, with a bed barely large enough for two adults to lie down on, and it was difficult to turn around. However, there was no strong smell of alcohol. Si Xuanyang looked around and nodded, “Alright, this will do.”

“Fine, then we’ll stay next door and discuss it in the morning,” Si Nan ruffled Yu Sen’s hair, “Take care of your health.”

“Got it, son,” Yu Sen lazily lifted his eyelids, “My son has grown up and started caring about his dad.”

“Go to hell!”

…

There was nothing edible in the private room, only a few neatly placed bottles of whiskey and red wine for the guests to enjoy. Yu Sen felt nauseous just looking at them, let alone drinking.

Falling asleep, the bed was narrow, and Si Xuanyang lay on his side, draping an arm over Yu Sen’s waist to give him more space.

But Yu Sen, wanting Si Xuanyang to sleep well, didn’t move much. His sensitive stomach began to ache again in the middle of the night—dull, but continuous, like a blunt knife slowly cutting into him. He felt groggy and disoriented, breathing lightly.

Lying still was too uncomfortable. Half-asleep, he remembered that when his stomach hurt before, squatting for a while usually helped. He gently moved the arm draped over his waist, slowly sitting up.

With half-closed eyes, he bent his legs and moved them off the bed, about to instinctively slide his feet into his shoes. Suddenly, a sharp, intense pain struck his stomach, like a blunt knife turning into a spear, stabbing straight into his gut.

“Ah—!”

Yu Sen couldn’t help but moan, curling up with his feet raised, burying his head deeply, sweat beads dripping from his forehead.

His fingers pressing on his stomach were almost cramping, his eyes widening involuntarily, sweat even wetting his eyelashes. Through the blurred vision, as he gradually adjusted to the night light, his gaze suddenly fixed in shock.

—Less than half a meter from his feet, there was a pair of bright red shoes.

They weren’t his usual shoes, nor were they ordinary ones, more like dancing ballet shoes. Although they appeared to be women’s shoes, they were “thoughtfully” made to fit his foot size, with material so snug it seemed like they would fit perfectly as soon as he put them on.

The red dance shoes lay quietly by his bed, exquisitely crafted but sending a chill up Yu Sen’s spine.

His brows twitched, remembering the note, and he quickly pulled his feet back, almost getting a scare. His heart raced like a drum.

The noise of lying back down was slightly louder, waking Si Xuanyang. Si Xuanyang murmured and reached over to hold him, “What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”

Feeling the sweat-soaked palm, Si Xuanyang suddenly became alert and leaned closer, “Why are you sweating so much? Does your stomach hurt?”

Yu Sen’s expression was dazed, “Just go back to sleep. My stomach pain is not much now. I’ve decided to endure it. Let it hurt; it’s no big deal!”

Si Xuanyang felt his forehead, worried, thinking Yu Sen might be in serious pain, speaking incoherently.

The forehead was cool from the cold sweat. Si Xuanyang whispered, “I’ll get a cloth to wipe you off

He began to get out of bed.

Yu Sen was still in a daze, but when Si Xuanyang suddenly moved to get up, he quickly reacted, grabbing Si Xuanyang and pushing him back down with all his strength.

The sudden movement made his already sensitive stomach ache even more, and he let out a muffled groan.

“What are you doing!” Si Xuanyang growled, covering Yu Sen’s stomach with a frown, “What’s the fuss? Aren’t you in enough pain already?”

“I’m saving your life,” Yu Sen, enduring the pain, gave Si Xuanyang’s cheek a quick kiss and looked towards Si Xuanyang’s side of the bed. Sure enough, there was a pair of red dance shoes.

And his side was now empty.

“Really sinister. I hope Si Nan and Luo Yu are as alert as I am,” Yu Sen muttered.

“What?” Si XuanYang didn’t understand.

Yu Sen, lying on top of him and too lazy to move, tilted his head down to the floor and whispered, “Look, the glass slippers are here for you, my Cinderella.”

Si Xuanyang: “…”

“This sleepily caught off guard situation is really hard to defend against. What if I accidentally put them on?”

Yu Sen blinked innocently, “Why don’t you try?”

Si Xuanyang was silent for a while, then shook his head, “Forget it, I wouldn’t dare…”

Yu Sen’s smile hadn’t fully appeared when he heard the next line: “If something happens to me, you’d end up a widow.”

He looked as serious as if he were signing a contract in a conference room, pressing down hard on Si Xuanyang: “Make it clear, is it a widow or a widower?”

Si Xuanyang: “…” Is that really the point here?

…

Because he was both scared and in a confused state when he encountered the trap of the Red Dancing Shoes, and along with the intermittent torment of stomach pain, Yu Sen didn’t sleep well afterward either. It wasn’t until morning that he collapsed from exhaustion into Si Xuanyang’s neck and slept deeply for a little over an hour.

The soundproofing in the private room wasn’t great, and the growing noise outside woke him up.

He woke up feeling uncomfortable, with his stomach empty and churning with acid.

“I need food…” he irritably tugged at his hair.

“Then let’s get up,” Si Xuanyang rubbed Yu Sen’s face, finding the texture pleasing—soft and smooth like tofu—and couldn’t resist rubbing and pinching it a couple more times before remembering the important matter: “Just now, Si Nan was frantically signaling to me from the window, saying that something happened outside.”

“… It’s probably the Red Dancing Shoes causing trouble again.”