Guan Ciyan lowered his gaze and stared at Jian Yang’s collar. His slender fingers could only wrap around half of his hand, with nails neatly trimmed. His rounded fingers lacked any strength and weakly gripped Jian Yang’s hand.

“You’re the gift?” Guan Ciyan asked.

“Mhm.”

After replying, Jian Yang shook his head. “No, this is your gift.”

Jian Yang lifted the little frog up to Guan Ciyan’s face. To make sure Guan Ciyan could see it clearly, he even stood on tiptoe.

The distance between them closed. The alcohol on Jian Yang’s breath mixed with Guan Ciyan’s air, his lips, stained with wine, appeared red and soft, the rounded lip beads still glistening with moisture. Under the ceiling light, they looked like cherries on a white porcelain plate—dewy and tempting.

Guan Ciyan frowned.

Jian Yang, seeing his expression, also frowned, focusing on the little frog in his palm, looking troubled. “Isn’t it cute?”

Drunk, Jian Yang’s tiptoeing lasted only for a moment, his legs weakening and almost stumbling into Guan Ciyan.

Guan Ciyan suddenly applied force, grabbing Jian Yang’s wrist, inch by inch, pushing his arm upward, from his wrist to his forearm… until his sleeve was pushed up to his elbow, exposing a soft, pale arm. Where Guan Ciyan had gripped, red marks were left, clearly visible on his fair skin.

It seemed like the owner of the arm had been terribly bullied.

Jian Yang pulled back, his clear apricot eyes gazing at his arm. His lips curled upward. “It hurts.”

Ignoring his struggles, Guan Ciyan gripped even harder, his palm encircling Jian Yang’s forearm to prevent him from moving. “Who told you to come to the banquet?”

“It hurts!” Jian Yang lifted his head, his delicate brows furrowed with anger.

But it lacked any deterrent power.

Guan Ciyan stared into Jian Yang’s eyes for half a minute, then softened his voice, trying to coax him to speak. “Answer my question, and I’ll let you go.”

He didn’t increase the pressure but kept Jian Yang immobilized. “Who told you to come?”

Jian Yang relaxed his frown and stammered, “The… the Jian family told me to come.”

“You and Guan Jingyu, what’s your relationship?”

Jian Yang replied, forcefully, “I’m so annoyed by him.”

“Why?”

“He wants to use me to trick you!” Jian Yang shook his head as he spoke, clearly disgusted.

Guan Ciyan seemed a bit confused, pausing for two minutes before asking, “Why didn’t you agree?”

Jian Yang was also confused. “Why should I agree?”

Their gazes locked. Facing Jian Yang’s clear and naive eyes, Guan Ciyan stopped asking further. “Are you drunk?”

Jian Yang: “No! I’m not drunk.”

His eyes were wide open, proving his words.

Guan Ciyan raised a hand and pinched Jian Yang’s cheek. “Backtalk?”

Jian Yang slapped his hand away with a sharp sound. “It hurts!”

“You!” Guan Ciyan tightened his grip, as if pinching cotton.

Jian Yang opened his mouth to bite, and Guan Ciyan loosened his hold just enough to earn a pair of pretty teeth marks.

It was quite a new experience for Guan Ciyan—he had never seen such a crude method, and being bitten was a first for him. He immediately grabbed Jian Yang’s cheeks, preventing him from biting again, and with one hand, pinned both of Jian Yang’s wrists behind his back. “Try biting again!”

Jian Yang: 9? A/#Jc`7T:1!!!

As Jian Yang continued to argue, his lips brushed against Guan Ciyan’s thumb. Looking at Jian Yang’s neat, white teeth, Guan Ciyan regained some of his reason. What was he doing, arguing with a drunk person?

However, he found himself in a bit of a dilemma. If he loosened his grip, Jian Yang might bite again.

Guan Ciyan warned, “Don’t bite.”

Jian Yang’s apricot eyes were wide open. His wrists, still held tightly, struggled again. J-1%G/*”E^U.Y！！

There was a knock at the door. Guan Ciyan estimated the time—it was probably the butler delivering his clothes.

But Jian Yang was still stubborn in his grip.

Guan Ciyan tried to release his hold.

Just a little.

Jian Yang: I’ll bite!

Once again, he was squeezed.

Guan Ciyan took a deep breath and spoke more gently. “I’ll let you go, but you’re not allowed to bite.”

Jian Yang froze, as if thinking about Guan Ciyan’s words.

“If you agree, blink.”

Jian Yang’s eyelashes fluttered like a little fan.

Guan Ciyan glanced at the door, then warned Jian Yang, “Don’t make a sound.”

He released his grip.

Jian Yang: I’m biting!

Guan Ciyan raised his hand and aimed for Jian Yang’s neck. Jian Yang quickly let go and hugged the pillow in front of his chest, protesting. “You pinched me first!”

“You…” Guan Ciyan’s hand still showed clear bite marks, with a little blood. Seeing Jian Yang tightly hugging the pillow, his face marked with fingerprints, Guan Ciyan raised his hand, pausing mid-air. “You’re something, Jian Yang.”

Guan Ciyan opened the door. The butler had already been waiting outside for ten minutes. He looked down at Guan Ciyan’s shoes and respectfully raised both hands. “Sir, your suit.”

Just as Guan Ciyan was about to close the door, a pair of hands reached through the gap. Guan Jingyu pushed the butler aside and stood in front of Guan Ciyan, pointing at his disheveled bathrobe. “Uncle, what have you done to Xiao Yang?!”

The butler bowed to apologize. Guan Ciyan looked past Guan Jingyu, speaking to the butler. “Wait for me outside.”

Guan Jingyu, the beloved young master of the Guan family, couldn’t be stopped if he wanted to follow the butler.

“Uncle, Jian Yang is innocent.”

Guan Ciyan closed the door.

“Ah—” Guan Jingyu’s hand was caught in the door, causing him to scream in pain, quickly pulling his hand back.

Guan Ciyan firmly closed the door. When he turned around, Jian Yang was already asleep on the bed, still clutching his pillow tightly. While changing his clothes, Guan Ciyan glanced at the bite marks on his hand. Walking to the bed, he pinched Jian Yang’s face again and objectively commented, “Quite soft.”

He tossed Jian Yang back onto the bed to continue sleeping. Guan Ciyan opened the door without a second thought. Guan Jingyu, holding his swollen hand, stood in his way.

“Uncle, Jian Yang… he… you…”

Guan Ciyan had never paid much attention to this only nephew, wanting to get benefits from the Jian family while playing the good guy. Greed for both fame and profit. Seeing the anxious look in his eyes, Guan Ciyan casually said, “He likes you, but he refuses to yield.”

Guan Jingyu froze, frantically knocking on the door. “Jian Yang! Jian Yang! It’s me!”

“Open the door.”

As Guan Ciyan reached the corner, detached from the matters that didn’t concern him, he turned to the butler who had been waiting there. “Book the room, make sure Guan Jingyu doesn’t enter, and keep an eye on Jian Yang. If I ask, you need to tell me his whereabouts immediately.”

“Understood, sir.”

Guan Jingyu was still banging on the door, shouting wildly. Jian Yang silently pulled the blanket up and covered his ears.

He wasn’t bad at drinking either; before entering the story, he would follow his manager to attend business drinking sessions. However, dealing with Guan Ciyan was mentally draining, and after getting drenched in the rain, he fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, sunlight hit his eyelids, waking him up.

Jian Yang quickly raised his hand to block the sunlight.

His eyes were problematic—he was born with an intolerance to bright light. Naturally, his golden eyes would turn red and itchy when exposed to the sun. He rubbed his eyes, feeling weak as he sat on the bed, his limbs sore and tired.

— He had a fever, as expected.

His frail constitution remained even after crossing over into this world.

But, he was unharmed!!

He truly was a clever little guy! When a man got drunk and couldn’t perform, even if he initiated things, Guan Ciyan wouldn’t be able to do anything.

As a seasoned fan of romance novels, Jian Yang clearly overlooked the fact that only one of the two needed to be able to perform. He automatically put himself in the dominant position.

Jian Yang had no strength to get out of bed. He sat there for a while, thinking about his sister. He wondered how heartbroken she would be once she heard the news of his death. His sister had married late, at thirty-five, and her husband was one of his fans. For her sake, he had remained upright in the entertainment industry, no matter how difficult it was. Everything had been going well until now. Jian Yang’s eyes began to water, and he almost cried. But his eyes couldn’t handle tears, and it was best not to cry at all.

With everything that had happened, he had to survive well, or else it would be a betrayal to his sister.

He forced himself to get out of bed, found half a bottle of eye drops among his clothes, and relieved the burning sensation in his eyes. He went to the bathroom and washed his face. With no medicine left, he drank most of a bottle of water. While drinking, he accidentally glanced at the label on the bottle of wine he had drunk last night.

Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand!

Jian Yang immediately jumped back three meters. He hoped the cost wouldn’t be charged to him.

What terrible luck! He had grabbed a ten-thousand-dollar bottle of wine. All because of that damn Guan Ciyan! He was so desperate that he forgot to check the price.

At this point, Jian Yang decided to take it with him.

He found a wine bag and put the little frog bottle inside.

When he opened the door, Guan Jingyu sprang up.

He was scared out of his mind!

Jian Yang shot back again, five meters away from Guan Jingyu.

“What are you doing in broad daylight?”

“Xiao Yang, I’m so sorry.” Guan Jingyu was devastated. “If only I had realized your feelings for me earlier, my uncle wouldn’t have been so jealous of me and treated you this way.”

Jian Yang slowly recalled the events of last night. He hadn’t lost, either… Though Guan Ciyan had pinched his face, Jian Yang had bitten him back. It was more like a draw!

“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have agreed to you coming to last night’s banquet. It’s my fault.”

Jian Yang had always hated Guan Jingyu in the novels he read—he was always using others for his own gain, acting like he was forced into doing it, as if he were some kind of hero. Jian Yang opened his phone and showed the payment QR code. “Since you’re so sorry, how about compensating me with a huge sum of money?”

Guan Jingyu held Jian Yang by the shoulders. “I know, you’re testing me! You’re not someone who craves money! Xiao Yang, since things have come to this, why don’t you stay by my uncle’s side? If there’s news about Director Wen Ye, you can look into it. As long as I get to Director Wen Ye before my uncle, I can enter the Entertainment Hall, and my grandfather will support me. Then, I’ll make my uncle apologize to you!”

Jian Yang looked at Guan Jingyu indifferently. “Team up with me?”

Guan Jingyu replied, “Yes!”

Jian Yang asked, “You enter the Entertainment Hall and take shares, and I get an apology from Guan Ciyan?”

Guan Jingyu nodded, “Yes! I’ll make sure you get justice!”

Jian Yang thought to himself: Justice, my foot!

Guan Jingyu touched his bruised cheek and froze, like a statue.

“I did get the apology, but all the money went into your pockets!” Jian Yang, too weak to be mad because of his illness, was still irritated. “Stay away from me.”

Guan Jingyu was incredulous. “Why?”

“Your calculations just hit me in the face.” Jian Yang hated that he was sick at such a time. Guan Jingyu deserved a serious slap, “You have good taste in choosing me to team up with. But my standards are higher. Compared to Guan Ciyan, you… tsk, tsk, tsk.”

The sound of “tsk, tsk, tsk” left room for endless imagination.

Guan Jingyu, clearly displeased, retorted, “Why? What makes me worse than my uncle?”

Jian Yang intentionally ignored the question, raising the wine in his hand. “If this wine weren’t so expensive, I would pour it on you again.”

At the end of the corridor, someone witnessed the entire exchange and made sure to emphasize the “tsk, tsk, tsk” when reporting to Guan Ciyan.