13: Disdain

“Xie Hou… Why haven’t we arrived yet? No elevator? Why are we walking? I’m feeling dizzy.”

It was already too late, and Shen Cizhu, who was used to going to bed early, was now drunk and lightheaded. He was being carried by Xie Hou in a manner similar to carrying a bag of rice, climbing six flights of stairs.

“I told you that you’re not suited for this place, Young Master,” Xie Hou said indifferently. “It was you who insisted on coming here just to annoy my brother, right? Did the twenty million make it worth your while?”

His words were sharp, turning into a verbal battle, and Xie Hou was poking holes in his heart. Shen Cizhu admitted that he had come to this rundown place with Xie Hou to upset Xie Yan. He knew at the club that Xie Yan would be coming, so he deliberately flirted with Xie Hou and asked him to take him home.

Little did he know that things would take this turn, and he was really brought to this dilapidated place by Xie Hou.

“You…” Shen Cizhu had no energy to swear on the way up, and he instinctively clung to Xie Hou’s back, fearing that he would fall.

His cheek was pressed against Xie Hou’s neck, his long hair sliding down Xie Hou’s forearm, creating a strong contrast in color.

While climbing the stairs, he was bouncing on Xie Hou’s shoulder, shaking and trembling, and even his waist was quivering.

At the entrance to the rented apartment, Xie Hou remained composed, showing no signs of fatigue after such intense physical activity. He held onto Shen Cizhu’s waist from a distance, placing him gently on the ground. He then inserted the key into the keyhole and turned to Shen Cizhu.

“We’re here.”

Creak.

The door opened, and Shen Cizhu gazed inside with a hint of curiosity and exploration. Hmmm… it wasn’t very clear.

“Is this… your home?” Shen Cizhu’s emerald pupils were unfocused, and the red wine had filled his eyes, making even the blood vessels appear blurry. Shadows were swaying in front of his eyes.

The room was pitch dark with no sound-activated lights or intelligent chandeliers controlled by body heat recognition, like an antique dilapidated house from the past century.

“Such a run-down home. Did your brother prepare this for you? Even if he’s short of money, he wouldn’t make his own brother live in a place like this, would he? Being so stingy… is he really your real brother? Or is it because he doesn’t like you, so he’s unwilling to associate with you?” Shen Cizhu asked curiously.

He had never seen a place this run-down in his life. He had been raised with a high-level upbringing from birth, where everything had to be expensive and prestigious, symbolizing the family’s exalted power and status.

“I don’t need to rely on my brother, and I don’t need others to like me,” Xie Hou said, slightly tugging at his collar, and some heat dissipated from the spot on his neck where Shen Cizhu’s breath had brushed.

After he entered the room, Shen Cizhu rolled his eyes.

He couldn’t stand Xie Hou’s pretentious high-mindedness. Even in such a shabby state, he still acted aloof like a deity. Who was he trying to impress?

Shen Cizhu couldn’t comprehend the thoughts of the poor; he could only find fault in everything.

Even if it was just stepping on the doormat with his shoes, he was reluctant. Instead, he used his black leather gloves to hold the door frame, isolating himself from the age-old and dusty environment. He took a step into the room.

Shen Cizhu casually removed his gloves, dropping them to the floor, and stifled a yawn in the palm of his hand.

There was a black sofa in the room that was only suitable for one person. Shen Cizhu sat down, kicked off his shoes, and curled his long legs on the sofa, turning on his side. He placed his ten fingers on the edge of the sofa, feeling the texture.

He found the sofa to be comfortable and was satisfied. He even leaned over to smell it, just like Xie Hou, it was both cold and fragrant, and it smelled good.

His actions resembled those of a small animal exploring a new place.

He looked around the room’s furnishings, but there wasn’t even wallpaper on the walls. There was a long bookshelf filled with books in various languages, and many models and figurines.

Shen Cizhu found it boring. He closed his eyes, feeling drowsiness creeping over him in this position, and then his eyelids gradually fell, and he actually fell asleep.

In this place that he had criticized and rejected, in dangerously close proximity to Xie Hou, he slept.

He had come here to irritate Xie Yan. He thought Xie Yan, his personal bodyguard, would bring him back, even if he was shouting at him, scolding him, and bullying him. Why was everything different after they broke up?

Xie Yan was avoiding him.

Xie Yan had handed him over to Xie Hou.

Even if he had caught him seducing Xie Hou, the only real brother he had, Xie Yan’s only trace of anger was directed at Xie Hou, not at Shen Cizhu.

Shen Cizhu didn’t understand what he had done wrong. He didn’t think he had made a mistake, but why had everything changed? The man who had been with him through thick and thin for ten years, was he betraying him as well?

Shen Cizhu remembered the expression on Xie Yan’s face when he asked for a breakup. He could still clearly recall Xie Yan’s eyebrows, eyes, and lips trembling back then.

Did Xie Yan love him? If not, why did he confess to him when he was nineteen?

Shen Cizhu wasn’t gay, and he had accepted Xie Yan’s shy and awkward confession as pure malice. He was just playing around, but Xie Yan took it seriously. Later, he faced the consequences and was dumped by Xie Yan.

Was he sad? No, he was just unwilling, given his status, it was embarrassing and intolerable.

If… if he could take revenge on Xie Yan, turning his brother, Xie Hou, into a homosexual… would that be the best revenge? Dragging that seemingly untouchable guy into the waves of desire as if he were plunging into hell.

What would Xie Hou look like when he was emotional? What emotions would be in his eyes? What positions would he favor in bed to reach climax—

Huh?!!

Shen Cizhu suddenly woke up, sitting up abruptly, breathing heavily and sweating, as if he had had a nightmare.

What the hell was he just thinking?!

He clutched the blanket tightly in his hands, feeling agitated and restless. The floor-to-ceiling curtains swayed as the breeze flowed in, carrying the moonlight into the bedroom.

Glass window, bedroom?

The bedsheets smelled freshly changed, soft and clean, contrasting with the scent of daylight that had just passed, and there was a hint of toothpaste on his lips. His socks had been removed, and there was even a dim nightlight on the bedside table.

Shen Cizhu felt a bit slow, and he was unsure why his head was pounding even though he had a bit too much to drink. His face felt feverish, and he was still pondering things slowly.

It wasn’t until after he realized that he had been sleeping on the sofa in the living room, but now he was in the bedroom, which he assumed was the only bedroom in this little shabby house.

Where did Xie Hou sleep?

He didn’t want to think about it.

He just felt thirsty, and he looked around this narrow bedroom but couldn’t find any bottled water. There was no water dispenser either. The only thing he found on the table was a cylindrical container, much larger than a thermos. He found a paper cup and tried to pour the water into it.

However, the paper cup was too thin, and the water was too hot. He subconsciously let go, causing hot water to spill all over the floor.

After a long silence, Shen Cizhu muttered to himself, “Why is this water so hot?”

He had never seen this before.

He was so thirsty; his throat was dry, and his heart felt parched. It was as if his entire nervous system had become limp and listless, and his head was throbbing, not like a hangover but more like a fever.

He wanted to check if there was anything to drink in the living room. When he opened the door, he found a clean paper cup on the living room coffee table, filled with just the right amount of warm water for him to drink.

Shen Cizhu drank it groggily, and at the end, he was reluctant to part with the last sip, even licking the moist rim of the cup to swallow the water droplets.

Only then did he become a little more awake.

At this moment, for some reason, he turned his head slightly to look outside and saw a man standing not far away on the open balcony connected to the living room.

Calling him a man, he was more of an individual with a slender body, still in his youthful prime. His skin was as pale as porcelain, and he was half-naked, with a loose towel wrapped around his lower body. The moonlight behind him outlined the fine lines of the calf muscles, creating an exquisite ink painting.

His neck was slightly tilted as he wore silver-framed glasses. He was lightly twisting a pyramid Rubik’s Cube with one hand. This Rubik’s Cube had an extremely high level of difficulty with a pyramidal shape and rotation mechanism that challenged even the most skilled players.

Not to mention doing it single-handedly.

…But in the next moment, Shen Cizhu saw Xie Hou easily solving the entire puzzle with just one hand.

What was even more fascinating to Shen Cizhu was the object that Xie Hou had between his fingers.

It was something even more incredible than a condom.