《The Heart of a Smith》 Chapter 1 - First Encounter Chapter 1: First Encounter Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations A SUV drove through the city streets at a steady speed. Lu Shang was distracted by the gasps from the person sitting next to him, he turned his head away from the night view of the city. Beside his seat was a person, curling his blood-stained body, hyperventting with his fists clenched, his expression showed he was in immense pain. Lu Shang noticed something and extended his arm to touch the boys forehead, but his hand was pushed away by the boy roughly. Dont touch. It was a very young voice. The one beside him was a teenager. Uncle Yuen in the driver seat turned his head slightly, Lu Lao Ban (i)? T/N: (i) Lu Lao Ban is referring to Lu Shang, Lao Ban means boss. I dont want to call him Boss Lu, because it sounds a bit weird and boss doesnt really suit his personality much in English. Its fine. Lu Shang retracted his hand with the same expression as before. As if he was holding something back in, the teenager sat far away from Lu Shang, clinging to the vehicle door, and curling up even tighter than before. The streetlights outside went passed them quickly. Lights shone on a few strands of the boys hair while his face was hidden. Lu Shang wasnt sure where the boy was hurt, but a fair amount of blood soaked into the seats and a thick smell of blood filled the air inside the vehicle. Where are you hurt? Lu Shang stared at him and asked. The only reply he received was the teenagers increasingly erratic breaths, as if a beast was hidden in his body, ready to burst out at any given moment. Are we going to bring him home? Like this? Uncle Yuen asked from the front. Lu Shang turned his head to Uncle Yuen, he was in deep thought, bncing the scales in his mind. At that moment, the vehicle went onto a bridge, turning abruptly, all of them tilted to the right, the boy didnt fasten his seat belt and fell over. Provoked by the sudden smell of Lu Shang, the boy opened his mouth and bit Lu Shangs arm. Whats wrong? Uncle Yuen turned his head back. Nothing. Lu Shang didnt even lift his head up and continued, Keep your eyes on the road. Maybe it was because he was tired, but he didnt feel much strength in the bite, nor did it hurt much. Except perhaps for the first bite, Lu Shang had a feeling that this boy here didnt really want to hurt anyone. Frowning slightly, he raised his idle hand to the boys forehead. Lu Shangs hand was cold, the boy seemed to have been woken up by it. He suddenly released his teeth and returned to the side in a hurry, curling up his body once again and muttering. It seemed like he was poisoned. Lu Shangs expression turned grave, holding his injured arm, he arched forward and instructed Uncle Yuen, Go to the hospital. Two hours ago, at the bar, Nan Cheng. The temperature dropped another two degrees. Sun Mao took a peek at his wristwatch, shifting ufortably on the sofa. A twenty million yuan loan? Yes. Sun Mao quickly nodded his head. Well, I guess thats not impossible, but an incident suddenly came to mind. The person talking was a youngster called Li Yan, barely over twenty years old. He had slicked back hair and was sitting on the armrest of the sofa,ughing with a cigarette in his mouth. Sun Maosplexion changed; he had a feeling what Li Yan was about to say might be a little ugly. As expected, Li Yan breathed out a puff of smoke, beginning to recount their old confrontations, Back in the day, my dad didnt have enough money to start his business. At the time, you were the banks head, right? What did you say to my dad again? Ah, yes, Even if God himself came to beg me, I still wont loan you any money. Tch, Mr. Sun, why would youe ask me for a loan? You also know my dad is not a fair-tempered person, you are making this very hard for me. Sun Mao, who was almost fifty years old, was like a primary school kid, listening to his teacher preach in fear. His eyes were on the ground, making a forced smile, That was just a misunderstanding Li Yan smiled and cut into Sun Maos sentence, But I guess whats in the past, stays in the past. You know, my dad might be harsh with his words, but he actually has a soft heart. See, he knew of your plights and immediately sent me here to help you. The expression on Sun Maos face wasplicated, he barely managed to reply after a few moments of thinking, No, its because boss Li is such an understanding person. Well, of course. Li Yan epted hispliments with zero qualms, However, we are still merchants. We have to consider the profits, unlike you who inherited everything from your parents. I can very well loan you the money, but what is it that you can do for us? If, unfortunately, you gave your lender our money and he still doesnt extend your loan period, then it would be a huge waste. I have two ts, also a plot ofnd, if boss Li is uncertain, I can pawn thosends to you. Li Yan waved his hand, Im not even going to talk about how much that stuff would be worth, but ording to my sources, you have already applied for the Others Rights Certificate (ii) for those two ts you speak of, right? I dont need those intangible things, I will only take things that I can immediately exchange to money. T/N: (ii) Others Rights Certificate: One can apply for them in China for the ts they own, once applied it will limit others rights to the ts, that includes pawning. Basically, when its there, pawning cant legally happen. Sun Mao opened his mouth, but no words came out. He had been working his ass off for decades now, getting to the position he was in now was anything but easy. If he didnt just happen to lose his way and gambled all the money away, he would never have to bow his head to this kid. Lu Lao Ban, what do you think? Breaking the silence, Li Yan turned his attention to the man sitting in the corner. Following Li Yans gaze, Sun Mao turned his head to a young man sitting at the bar, who was wearing a huge ck coat. He was slim and tall, propping his head up with his hand, and staring at the cup of alcohol in front of him. Coincidentally, someone carried in a pot of tea, and Li Yan said, Lu Lao Ban doesnt drink alcohol, give him a cup of tea. A waiter swiftly took the ss of alcohol away and filled a cup with Pu Er tea (iii), Sorry for the inconveniences. T/N: (iii) Pu Er is a kind of Chinese tea, its extremely dark in color, as in almost pitch ck, it tastes less flowery, and in my opinion old people tend to like it more. Lu Shang nodded his head slightly. This person was just too quiet. He had never spoken a word from beginning to end. If Li Yan didnt mention him, Sun Mao wouldnt even remember someone like that was in the private room with them. You have heard of the news of Lu Lao Ban investing in a few universities building projects, right? In the aspect of financial strength, they are definitelyparable to us, the Li family. Li Yan smiled as he hinted. Sun Mao immediately understood what Li Yan meant, he turned his gaze to Lu Shang, Are you saying that I have a lot of dealings with Lu boss, if he were to be your underwriter, then Im okay with loaning you money. Li Yan said. Sun Mao was familiar with the name Lu Shang, he became the director of Tong Yan at such a young age. One could see how much potential he had from that alone. It was alsomon knowledge that he was a modest person, living in quiet neighborhoods and never showing off when he had to go out. He also seldom got involved with such dirty things, but for some reason he was here today. Sun Mao felt that everything hadpletely gone out of his control. He was ying right into Li Yans hands, but at the same time, he couldnte up with a better solution. The plot ofnd I have in the countryside might not be worth much now, but once the bridge is finished, the price will surely inte. If Lu Lao Ban wants it, I can pawn it to you. Sun Mao said. Lu Shang rotated his head slightly to look at Sun Mao, without asking anything about thend, he said ndly, I can consider that. Sun Mao already prepared a lengthy speech to persuade him, but he never would have thought that Lu Shang didnt even want to hear it. Sun Mao spaced out from the shock. Li Yan, however, was d, I have no more uncertainties with Lu Lao Bans words. After that he called for a person to prepare the contract, that person delivered the paperwork shortly. The heavy burden on Sun Maos head for almost a month, finally had some progress, he should naturally be happy, but he did not feel relieved. Instead, he felt anxious, extremely anxious, so much so that he found it difficult to breathe. Sun Mao had seen a lot of proud rich kids like Li Yan. He needed the money, but he wasnt scared by Li Yan. This person here, however, was different. He had yet to show his hand He had zero ties with Lu Shang, so he just couldnt grasp why he would agree to this. Sun Mao peeked at Lu Shang only to see him standing up and picking up the contract. He felt guilty, no matter if he could pay the money back or not, he was indebted to Lu Shang. I know you are in a bind, so I wont charge you the interests, but there is a little thing that I want your help with. Li Yan stared straight at Sun Mao and said with a low voice, I have some merchandise to ship out, but it was confiscated by the customs department for over three months now. I heard that your cousin is overseeing that, could you just convenience us a bit? Sun Maos face turned grim, hearing that, he finally understood. All the things they discussed before were just pretexts. This was Li Yans goal from the beginning. When there was a first, the second time would soon follow, then the third. Li Yan obviously knew Sun Mao wouldnt borrow money from loan sharks, so he took advantage of it. This was indeed a huge profit. Mr. Li. A waiter knocked and entered, he bowed and whispered into Li Yans ear, The delivery is here. A smile surfaced on Li Yans face as he listened to the waiter, he tidied up his clothes and said, I still have some business to attend to, so please pardon me. This is the Li familys turf. Feel free to order anything ordy you fancy, I apologize for not being able to serve you all. Lets meet again in the near future. After finishing the sentence, Li Yan hurried out of the room in a seemingly good mood, not even waiting to hear Sun Maos goodbyes. His followers also left the room, leaving only Lu Shang and Sun Mao behind. Lu Lao Ban, have a cigarette. Sun Mao held out a cigarette. Lu Shang didnt refuse but just received it and put it aside. Seeing that Lu Shang didnt n on smoking, he returned the lighter into his pocket and yed with his own cigarette. Sorry for the trouble I caused you today, I will remember your kindness. Later on, I will go find the bank and hurry them for the money. Lu Shang responded, Ive seen a few of the constructions you did at the shore. They were done quite well. No, no, they are nothingpared to your work in Tong Yan. Lu Shang slowly poured tea for the both of them and said, There is really no need to worry about the bank not giving you the funds. The Li family is very careful. They wont let the bank ruin their profit. The indications of the sentence were quite obvious. Sun Mao understood what Lu Shang was trying to say. Li Yan must have contacted the bank already, making sure that this would work or else he wouldnt have agreed to this so easily. As for whether this contact would be a convenience or trouble, that Sun Mao really couldnt tell. Its fine as long as the results are good. Lu Shang said. Ah, yes, yes Sun Maos had aplicated expression as he nodded his head. The two sat in the room for a while, Li Yan didnt return once after leaving. A whileter, noises outside reached their ears, it sounded like a fight. Sun Mao wanted to see what themotion was about, but the guards stopped him. We are receiving some merchandises at the back, please leave through the front door. Lu Shang too decided to leave, the guards immediately bowed and escorted him out, Have a safe trip home. Lu Shang picked up his coat and slightly nodded his head at Sun Mao, then followed the guard out of the bar. This bar was the Li familys turf. The Lis began their fortune with the restaurant industry, then they turned to jewelries and housing estates. Li Yans father was a cunning person. After he earned enough money, he opened an underwritingpany. On the surface, thepany cooperated with banks and acted as underwriters for clients, but behind the scenes, Li Yans father withdrew clients funds and loaned them out with higher interests. Back in the days when the finance industry was booming, the Li family made a lot of money. But in recent years, the government started to strengthen regtions on the finance industry. Li JinYao caught wind of that, prior to when the new regtions were established, and he withdrew all the funds from thepany, shutting it down, and opening a moviepany instead. He handed thepany to his son and retired from business to avoid prosecution. Now Li JinYao only ran this little bar here. Some might think that old Li JinYao wanted peace in hisst days, but people who were more familiar with him knew that this ce wasnt your everyday simple bar. An old car repair factory was right behind the bar. It was at an oddly secluded location. Lu Shang was very familiar with this ce, he often visited whenever he had business meetings. Uncle Yuen, his personal driver, would wait in the car for him around here. Right after Lu Shang walked out of the front door, he heard the noises of a fight again. A few feet away, some blond haired gangsters with wine bottles in their hands were kicking and hitting a person who was on the ground. The crowd around them cheered the act on. The guard who was escorting Lu Shang out didnt stop them either, indicating that this was amon urrence. The guard simply stood a meter away from Lu Shang, blocking him from the fight. Lu Shang wasnt a person who liked to get involved in other peoples matters, nor was he especially empathetic to those who were suffering. So even as he saw that, he was only picking up his phone to call for his ride home, not really nning to inquire about the fight. But perhaps there was some sort of signal blocking device installed, the phone signal was quite poor ever since he arrived, so he had to re-dial a few times to get through. What the fuck is this useless drug? Its even weaker than thest one. Would anyone buy this at the fighting ring? The crowd began to jeer again, amongst the voices was the sound of shattering ss. It was quite noisy. Lu Shang was taken aback by the noise and raised his head to get a better look at them. All of them looked like gangsters. They were surrounding a waiter-like person on the floor, kicking and punching him. They seemed to be quite young, but quite hard on their punches and kicks, hitting the wine bottles straight on the persons head. The one being beaten was covered in blood. Lu Shang couldnt differentiate the persons gender, but could see the persons fingers trembling while clenching the ground in pain. It seemed like the person could no longer move, and at this rate he would most likely die. Someone working for me was corrupted, Im just giving him a bit of a warning. Lu Shangs thoughts were cut into, he followed the voice to a person seating on top of a stack of car tires. Li Yan was smoking in the dark, looking quite pleased. Lu Shang had yet to reply, Li Yan however suddenly hesitated and realized that he had misunderstood. Lu Shang wasnt trying to call the police. But of course, you cant really me Li Yan for overreacting. Lu Shang started doing business very early and he had a subtle personality. When Li Yan was skipping school and going out to y in bars, Lu Shang already had business deals with Li Yans father. Li Yan had the mindset that Lu Shang was his elder much like his father. So naturally, Li Yan had admirations and also fear towards Lu Shang, even though they werent far apart in their ages. Uncle Yuen drove the car to the bar, Lu Shang hadntmented on what Li Yan said, he just took onest peek at the person on the ground, then got in the car. Lu Lao Ban, my newpany, are you interested in investing? Li Yan said from behind, We did cooperate quite well today after all. Lu Shang stopped his movements for a second, then considered the proposal for a while, raising his head again. His gaze naturally went back towards the person on the ground. He gave an answerpletely unrted to the question, This kid looks quite nice. After saying that, he looked at Li Yan and said, Give me a price. Everyone there froze up at that. Li Yan was also quite shocked, though he didnt have much contact with Lu Shang, he knew Lu Shang led a very modest life, not smoking nor drinking alcohol. He also never cared much for sex, but for some reason, today he was suddenly interested in this kid. Being curious, Li Yan held the person up by his hair, forcing his head up to get a better look at his face. A manager beside Li Yan told him that this kid was left here by a client in debt, saying that he woulde buy him back once he had money. But the client never came back. As such, this kid was left here in the bar, not knowing his name, age, nor hometown. He didnt seem like he had received an education before, looked weak and frail, had no intelligence nor strength, so he could only do jobs that no one wanted to do. No one really cared about him. Until today, Li Yan, who had worked in the bar for half-a-year now, had no idea of his existence. Looking at the kid now, Li Yan couldnt help but admit that Lu Shang had sharp eyes. The persons overly long bangs hid half of his face, but under the lights, he did have really shiny ck eyes. Li Yan dropped his hand, looking at Lu Shang and contemted for a while. If Lu Lao Ban likes him, how about I give him to you? The crowd around them started to mumble amongst themselves, there were even some unfriendlyughter. Lu Shang remained his usual self, calm and nd, not showing any special expression on his face. He didnt refuse the offer either, just slightly nodded his head and raised his hand at the driver. Then you have my thanks. As he said that, the driver went directly into the crowd and picked up the kid, putting him onto the backseat of the car. The manager wanted to block the driver from leaving but was stopped by Li Yan instead. I will return the favorter. Lu Shang said ndly as he closed the car door, directing the driver to go. Well, he certainly has no qualms whatsoever. The manager said angrily as he looked at the car leaving from afar. Li Yan, however, seemed very happy. Boss Yan, how can we let him leave like that? Li Yanughed, Ha, what do you know? Chapter 2 - The Naming Chapter 2: The Naming Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantion It was a Friday, so Li Yan had to go home for a family dinner. He brought the incident with Lu Shang up at the dinner table and as expected his dad did not reprimand him for his actions. Instead, his father praised him. When you do business with him, you have to be extra careful. Li JinYao, Li Yans father reminded him. Yeah, yeah, I know. Always think before I act. Right, youve said that so many times already. Li Yan irritatedly grumbled. You damn kid. How dare you think Im annoying? Li JinYao said furiously, Lu Shangs fathers death had a lot to do with us. With how useless you are, I wont be surprised if you were sold by Lu Shang one day. Li Yan hated feeling inferior, but seeing that his father was in a bad mood, he just replied, Yes, I understand. Li JinYao had his son at an old age, so naturally he pampered him a lot. Li Yan was still very young and he was protected by everyone in the family. He never encountered any hardships in his career, neither had he ever lost to anyone. He was very proud and had no respect for others at all. Also, for that Sun Mao guy, watch him carefully, okay? Dont let him get in our way. Li Yan said yes to his fathers warning but then he suddenly thought of something and asked, Hey, wasnt Sun Mao pretty great back in the day? How did he be like this? Li JinYao flipped the newspaper open and gave a weird scoff, There are two things in this world that people should never do. One is drugs and the other one is gambling. Once you get into those things, even if you have a mountain of gold and silver, youd eventually lose all of them. Sun Mao used to be really rich, butst year someone took him to Macau. After that, he barely spent a day back home. Who knows how much money he actually lost. Who took him there? Meng XinYou. If the wise and beautiful noblewomen on television were to be a real-life person, then it would be someone like Meng XinYou. Even if her intelligence was ignored, her family background was stunning enough. Her family had high military achievements for three generations straight; so high achieving that they could be listed in history books. Others were all high officials, such as her grandfather who was the chief of a majorpany. This woman knew a lot of people; she had all kinds of friends. It was quite natural that she was able to get Sun Mao to Macau, but there was one thing that not many people knew she was Lu Shangs god sister. Li Yan didnt need a lot of brain cells to understand what role Lu Shang yed in this whole incident. He couldnt help but frustratingly curse in a low volume, Fuck. It was nine in the morning when the returned loans arrived on time in the books. Lu Shang listened to Uncle Yuens report and nodded, Send a letter to Mr. Sun, also pick up a present for Meng XinYou for me. Uncle Yuen replied yes and suddenly remembered something as he was about to leave. He turned back and said, The kid you brought back yesterday, the doctors found drugs that would drive a person insane in his system. They cleaned all of them up and there are none left in the boy now. It seems like the Li family is really doing deals with prohibited drugs in the dark. Also, as you ordered, the doctor did a full body check-up on the boy. Heres the report. Uncle Yuen handed the report to Lu Shang, The doctors think that he must have been abused for a long period of time. There were a lot of wounds and scars on the boy; some new, some old. He is also malnourished; he most likely needs to stay in the hospital for a while. Let him stay in the hospital. Lu Shang took the report and put it aside, not looking at it. Get a copy of the drug sample, then go find Dr. Ng in the west district to make an official record of his wounds. Remember to take pictures of all his wounds. Get the surveince tapes in the car repair factory, exchange it for something different, and save a copy of the fight. Uncle Yuen said, Do you want to Lu Shang gave uncle Yuen a look, hinting at him not to say anything. Lu Shang really wasnt a kind-hearted person. If he could get a hold of Li Yans weakness, he didnt mind getting himself involved in this little affair. If he hyped up the facts a bit, it would definitely work wonders in bringing him down. Li Yan was still too inexperienced, if it was Li JinYao who was handling this, he would definitely clean the kid up first and bring the boy to his door with as much publicity as possible. That would give himself face and, at the same time, not leave any traces of his wrong doings behind. Lu Shang rubbed the bandages on his arm and changed the subject, When will ZiRui be back? Eleven tonight, Ive already arranged people to get him from the airport. Uncle Yuen was always a meticulous person, Lu Shang was never worried about his working ability, but after Uncle Yuen replied, the two of them fell into silence, staring each other in the eyes. It was only after a long while had past did Lu Shang ask, Do you want to ask why I brought the boy back? Your father asked me to take care of you before he died. You know he was quite wary of these kind of things. Lu Shang imagined his fathers grave and showed a depressed expression. Then, he said to Uncle Yuen, smiling slightly, You dont have to worry about me. Uncle Yuen didnt push the subject further and asked, When Dr. Leung is back, do you want him to go to your home first? No. Put him in the hospital. I will go find him there when I have the time. Uncle Yuens face contorted at what Lu Shang said. Seeing his expression Lu Shang said helplessly, Ive waited for a long time already. Its fine, I dont really care anymore. While Uncle Yuen had been the Lu familys personal driver for almost thirty years, he was also Lu Shangs assistant. He understood Lu Shangs temper and habits pretty well. He knew that it was useless for him to say anything, so he forced himself to nod. Nine years ago, Lu Shangs father died from acute heart failure. Lu Shang, who was still in his teens, had to rush back to the country to handle the funeral preparations and other matters. He had to take care of thepany handed down to him from his father. That was when Uncle Yuen first met the Lu familys only hermit heir. Lu Shang was very young at the time, but he did things in an orderly fashion. He was able to get used to everything very quickly. With the help of Lu Shangs fathers friend, Lu Shang got full control of the situation promptly. At the beginning, Uncle Yuen couldnt grasp why Lu Shangs father kept him away in another country instead of letting him help in the family business That was until he read Lu Shangs health records. A humans life was nothing more than a trade. One exchange for another. If one wanted something, then theyd need something of equal value to trade for it. Lu Shangs father couldnt escape that, neither could Lu Shang. Uncle Yuen was an efficient person and the photos of the boys wounds arrived on Lu Shangs work desk at home that night. Lu Shang never really cared much for these things, so he just flipped it open and skimmed through it. Then something in the pictures caught his attention. Leung ZiRui rushed straight to Lu Shangs home after getting off the ne. He flung the door open and, as expected, the person he had been worrying about for his whole life, also the owner of this house, was overworking himself as per usual. Sick people should rest. Why is it that you never listen to what your doctor says? Leung ZiRui threw his luggage away and ran towards the fridge, Im in a hurry. Is there anything to eat? Im going to starve to death. Lu Shang stared at the sand and mud on Leung ZiRuis shoes and said, Cant you take your shoes off first? Forgot. Leung ZiRui kicked his shoes away, then opened the fridge. A message was left in the kitchen saying that a bowl of pasta was prepared already. Seeing that there was pasta, Leung ZiRui immediately stopped ruffling through the fridge. With a huge grin on his face, he said, You knew Ide here tonight, didnt you? Leung ZiRui saw the bandages on Lu Shangs arm, Oh, why is your arm hurt? He pulled Lu Shangs hand over, then muttered, shocked, This issomeone bit you? Lu Shang was busy with the files he was working on and ignored Leung ZiRui. Dont move your hand. Let me examine it. Leung ZiRui was Lu Shangs childhood friend. He studied for his Medical Doctorate in America, while his family opened a Chinese medicine clinic in Chinatown. He had contact with medicine at a very young age, interchanging between Chinese medicine and Western medicine with ease. This person was crazy about medicine and its rted knowledge. He especially liked to challenge hard medical cases. He was self-proimed to be a rare flower in the medical sector, while in truth, he was a weird mutated alien flower. Seeing people with odd diseases brought him more joy than seeing a beauty in a bikini. Others might feign a body check-up to grope ady, while he truly just wanted to go do a full-body check-up on the person. While Leung ZiRui was examining Lu Shang, pasta, roasted squid, and roasted Chinese toon (chun/toona) were served, making the whole house contain the aroma of food. Youve been overexerting yourself again these past six months. Tomorrow,e to my ce, Ill give you a more in-depth body check-up. Dont have breakfast tomorrow. Leung ZiRui let Lu Shangs hand go, hisplexion looking quite bad. I You can refuse toe, but the next time you have surgery, Ill reduce the amount of anesthesia I administer. Leung ZiRui continued to eat his food calmly as he said that. The wood in the firece cracked, giving a short sharp sound. Lu Shang avoided the subjectpletely and pulled out a picture from a folder, pushing it towards Leung ZiRui. What do you think this scar was caused by? Leung ZiRui gulped down some water and gave the picture a peek. Immediately, he concluded, A gunshot wound. Could you determine the caliber of the bullet? Thatd be hard. This must have been a wound from at least a decade ago. Moreover, the person was still a child when he got hurt. This person must have grown a reasonable amount already. After saying that he got curious and picked up the report to give it a more detailed look. China banned guns long ago. There arent many people with gunshot wounds left. Whose report is this? Lu Shang made an indescribable expression, ZiRui Do you believe in destiny? Leung ZiRui raised his head from the report in shock, Did you eat the wrong medicine or something? Lu Shang shook his head, I didnt believe that before either. Leung ZiRuis hand stopped. He tried to link the clues together and when he finally understood what Lu Shang was suggesting, he stood straight up from the chair and asked, Are you saying that this is the kid from ten years ago? Hes not dead yet? I dont know, so Im asking you. Lu Shang seemed to be quite calm, I left him at your ce. Go and have a look at him tomorrow morning for me, okay? Why didnt you say that earlier? Driver! Take me home immediately! After seeing Leung ZiRui off, Lu Shang worked for a while more before finally resting. It was nearing the end of the year and there were a lot ofplicated things to deal with, so he had to put in the extra effort to get them done. The next morning, when Lu Shang woke up, hisplexion was even more sickly than usual, making Uncle Yuen frown in worry. Maybe you shouldnt go today? No, Im fine. Lu Shang tidied up his clothes as he replied. There was some fog in the morning and it still lingered in the afternoon. Lu Shang drove all the way to RuiGe Hospitals inpatient department where Leung ZiRui was already waiting for him at the door. You sure look like you just crawled out from the grave. Lu Shang really didnt feel good today. His right hand couldnt help but press on his chest in a futile attempt to stop the pain. Lets go. Where do you think youre going? Leung ZiRui ced his arm on Lu Shangs shoulder, pushing Lu Shang to turn around with a perfect smile hanging on his face. You will get a body check-up first. RuiGe Hospital was funded by the Lu family. It was opened under Leung ZiRuis uncles name as a private hospital and was located next to one of the biggest public hospitals in the city. Between the two hospitals was a bridge so that the two hospitals could share the more expensive equipment. Lu Shang hated ces with a lot of people, so Leung ZiRui had to lure him there with sweet words, but mostly lies. Luckily, Lu Shangs medical file was already established, so getting the report didnt take a long time. You got worse AGAIN! Lu Shang didnt put much care in what Leung ZiRui was saying. At this rate, itd be a miracle if you could stay alive to next year. Leung ZiRui felt a wave of pain in his head, I got that kids sample, the results wille out next week. Theres no hurry. But Im in a hurry though! Leung ZiRui screamed, You dont have much time left. Lu Shang raised his head to look at Leung ZiRui, he shoved an echocardiogram result in Lu Shangs face. The blood vessel allografts I imnted two years ago werent very effective. An aneurysm was found in the constricted part of the aorta. This thing is extremely dangerous, if it bursts, then you can only go greet God. And the solution? Lu Shang said ndly. Leung ZiRui was helpless at how uninterested Lu Shang was about the entire situation. After thinking for a while he said, I am developing a new type of Cyclosporine. If it goes well, maybe it could help you. Youplease just hang in there. That night, they had dinner together. Lu Shang packed a bowl of thick egg soup and some sweets that kids would like back home. Oh, how caring. Thats such a rare sight, Lu Lao Ban. Leung ZiRui couldnt help but tease him. Lu Shang didnt mind and just asked, Which room? Try guessing. Leung ZiRui got scared and gave up, Sigh, room 503. The news was on, talking about aing cold current. Lu Shang walked into the hospital room; the teenager was daydreaming on the bed. In order to make addressing his wounds more convenient, the teenagers hair was cut short, showing a pair of shiny ck eyes. A piece of medical gauze was ced under his eye. Originay, his skin was really white, but after he had changed into a new, clean hospital robe, he looked quite energetic. Lu Shang put the packaged food on the bedside table, asking with a light voice, Do you remember me? The teenagers deep (i) ck gaze lingered on the bandages around Lu Shangs arm. Then their eyes met, and he said politely, Lu Lao Ban. Lu Shang nodded his head, sitting down on the chair beside the bed. He said, What should I call you? Xiao Li My surname is Li, so they call me Xiao Li. You dont have a name? I dont remember anymore. Lu Shang stared at him for a while and said, How about Li Sui (ii)? The teenager looked at Lu Shang with confused eyes. You will follow me from now on. Lu Shang didnt n on exining and continued to say, Can you read? Just a little. Lu Shang had a gest of Li Suis level of knowledge, so he didnt continue with the questions, he just made him eat the food. A few dayster, some clothes were delivered and all of them were high quality. It was only until Li Sui saw Uncle Yuen put them into the wardrobe did he realize that the clothes were for him. You will be discharged from the hospital after three weeks. Someone wille pick you up. Remember to change clothes prior to that. Uncle Yuen said with his usual working tone, This is your identification card. Li Sui received the card. He went into a trance for a while, seeing the words Li Sui (iii). This is a credit card. It is a card connected to Lu Lao Bans credit card. If you have something you want, just use this to buy it. However, it cant be turned into real cash. If you want to save money, you can create a bank ount once you get out of the hospital. I Li Sui stared at the credit card; he wasnt able to utter a word for half a day. Seeing that, Uncle Yuen didnt say anymore and just left the card on the table. Leung ZiRui was watching from the surveince cameras. He was absolutely enjoying himself, Look at how you are scaring the kid, Lu Shang Lu Shang opened a can of beer nonchntly as if this had nothing to do with him. So what exactly are you nning to do with him? Adopt him. Lu Shang was straight to the point, giving extremely short answers. Adopt him? Leung ZiRui clicked his tongue and gave him a white eye, What if you be his benefactor? Leung ZiRui didnt really think it through when he said that, but the suggestion actually lodged into Lu Shangs brain. If he adopted the boy, then there would be problem with inheritance in the future. More so, it would bring unnecessary danger to the boy. Those were also the things he was considering these past two days. But if he were to provide for him, then it would be perfect in almost every way. Lu Shang could also make sure Li Sui stayed near him. The old guys in yourpany are counting the days for you to die. They wont let him go if they catch wind of this, but if hes just your little lover, then there wont be a problem. Even if he stays near you, no one will bat an eye and get curious. Lu Shang considered his suggestion carefully. Bing a sugar daddy to an underaged teenager What a great sin That reminded Lu Shang, How old is he actually? From his bones, he should be around fifteen to sixteen years old. However, since he was malnourished for such a long time, he had a slow growth. That means he might be a little older than that. I would guess around seventeen. What about his wounds? How long will it take for those to heal? Leung ZiRui shot three fingers up and said, His bones and muscles were severely injured. They need at least three months. I personally suggest that he stays in the hospital till the end of the month, but youre his sugar daddy, so I cant really object. Still, I need to warn you. You know you dont have a great rap sheet. Hecks nutrients and his legs havent healed as much as it looks from the outside. Dont let him walk for long periods of time for a month. Chapter 3 - Living Together Chapter 3: Living Together Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantion The day Li Sui got discharged, Lu Shang wasnt there. Uncle Yuen told him Lu Shang wasnt feeling well, so he was resting in a care center. Li Sui couldnt grasp how bad this wasnt well was, so he just thought it was something like a fever. As such, when he arrived at the care center, he couldnt suppress his shock seeing Lu Shang being pushed out in a wheelchair. Lu Lao Ban. His head slumped as he greeted Lu Shang. Lu Shang didnt say much, he looked at Li Sui and said, Dont slouch. Li Sui immediately stood up straight with his hands ced on his sides, standing up as formally as possible. This kid was thin, but he wasnt short, he was at the transition period between a teenager to an adult. Lu Shang could vaguely identify that Li Sui had mature-looking shoulders. Lu Shang only saw him curling up into a tiny ball in the car, so he saw Li Sui as nothing more than a kid. Now that he was standing straight, Lu Shang had the feeling Li Sui might be even taller than him. Lu Shang looked away from Li Sui and gave him the paperwork that was on hisp, Ask me if there are things you dont understand. While the two were talking, Uncle Yuen had already left the room, leaving only Lu Shang and Li Sui behind. As Lu Shang rested his back on the wheelchair, he propped up his head with his hand, looking at the pond outside. He didnt talk orugh much, neither did he make a lot of movements. When he sat down, he looked like an old oil paint under the sun at dawn. As if everything around them was infected, even the birds had stopped chirping, only the sounds of flipping paper could be made out in the room. Li Sui finally flipped through the documents and signed his new name on thest page. Lu Shang turned his head to Li Sui, You understood all of it? Li Sui shook his head, I didnt understand most of it. This kid peeked Lu Shangs interest, Then why did you sign it? Li Sui raised his head up from the document, his eyes clear and sharp, but he said nothing. Lu Shang caught what he was trying to say from his eyes. You arent a merchandise I bought. You have the right to refuse. Lu Shangs voice was calm, I dont like to force people. The things I give you, they are all for a reason, and for that reason, you will have to pay dearly in the future. But, before that, I will do my best topensate you. I want you to be willing when that timees. This was the first time Li Sui heard Lu Shang speak for so long. In that instant, he felt his head was overloading. Yet, when he turned back to the document, the whole page of boxes and circles made him dizzy. Lu Shang knew he was approaching this wrong. Being in the business sector for so long, he was used to doing things by the books. Deals, paper contracts, signatures, and stamps But in front of him was a child. It was obvious that none of those would work. Let it be for now. Lu Shang took the contract back, his gaze fixed on Li Suis signature. He stared at it for a while and said, Your handwriting is quite good, who taught you? I just copied it from the identification card. Lu Shang thought for a while and said, Lets start by teaching you how to read. They had lunch at the pondside, eating freshly caught shrimp and fish. Li Sui was sitting face-to-face with Lu Shang, so naturally he felt a little tense. Lu Shangs fingers were long and slim, his nails were tidy. He didnt have any tattoos, nor any ornaments. Whenever he extended his arm to pick up food, a little bump, his carpal bone could be seen at the wrist. His movements were casual but, at the same time, elegant. Li Sui didnt dare to raise his head and look at Lu Shang. So he only stared at Lu Shangs hand which asionally reached over to get food, not noticing that a little mountain had formed in his bowl. Is the food not to your liking? Lu Shang saw that Li Sui hadnt moved his chopsticks much and asked in concern. Li Sui shook his head. You dont have to be so tense. Lu Shang nced at Li Sui. In the short time of half a month, Li Sui had already recovered a lot whenpared to thest time Lu Shang saw him. It was also evident that Li Sui was too thin, his prominent cor bone could be seen through the soft fabric. His hair was all tidy now, just a very normal hairstyle, making him look like your everyday high school student. Li Yan always hit people for fun in that bar? Lu Shang changed the subject. Li Sui didnt reply but his silence exined enough. Li Yan is a bad person, next time you see him, you dont have to hold anything back. Lu Shang said. Li Sui raised his head with doubt in his eyes. Lets eat. Lu Shang didnt say any further, he stood up from the table and said, Apany me to a banquet tonight. Go prepare yourself. After a while, Uncle Yuen arrived and Li Sui asked him, Lu Lao Bans legs are they healed? Theres nothing wrong with his legs, the problem is theck of blood supply. I saw him in a wheelchair, so I thought Uncle Yuen exined, He doesnt use the wheelchair very often. Its only when his condition is really bad. He only uses a wheelchair because he cant stand for long periods of time. Help him as much as you can when you are with him. Li Sui nodded his head with a serious face. That night, Li Sui wore his shoes and stood in front of the mirror for a long time. The person in the mirror was in a new formal suit, brand new shoes, and hadbed hair This was the first time he inspected himself so critically, but all he felt was the odd feeling of unfamiliarity. Uncle Yuen knocked on the door, snapping Li Sui back. He immediately folded up the clothes he just changed out of, putting them in the wardrobe. Then he totted down the stairs, but as he stomped his feet on the floor, he felt his ankle ache. The wounds had yet to healpletely and he had been walking around a lot today. Now, suddenly forcing all his weight on his feet, certainly made him feel ufortable. Where are you drifting off to? Lu Shang asked from inside the car. The rain was drizzling down, Li Sui forced his pain down and stepped over to the car, opening the door to the front passenger seat. Come sit in the back. Lu Shang stopped him. Li Sui obediently sat next to Lu Shang. Rainfall in the winter was scarce; they also tended to have a metallic odor. The car began to drive forward and Lu Shang handed him a piece of tissue. Later, you can just follow me. You dont need to say anything. If someone flirts with you, you dont have to care about them. Li Sui replied Hm, after that Lu Shang just closed his eyes and didnt say anything else. The car drove past an observatory, the neon lights flickered and connected under the rain. It was just like a long mysterious snake, overlooking the city from above, all alone. Li Sui had been living in this city for years now, but it was just as unknown to him as if today was his first day here. Li Sui got out of the car, he followed Lu Shang closely with his head angled towards on the ground. Walking through hordes of people, under their curious gazes, they were inspecting him. They then arrived at a grander hall after walking through the reception. A ball would be held here, but it was not the time yet, so the people there were just chatting andughing. The second Li Sui stepped into the room, he immediately attracted everyones gazes. What a pretty boy. A youngdy wearing a red dress was the first to walk up to Li Sui, she handed Lu Shang a cup of champagne. Long time no see, Lu Shang. Only a few people would call Lu Shang by his full name. Naturally, Li Sui couldnt stop himself from looking at this woman. But, to his dismay, their gazes just happened to meet each other, making Li Sui blush and look away awkwardly. Lu Shang took the ss and raised it up symbolically, XinYou, long time no see. I still havent thanked you forst time. No, who said that? I received your present, look. Meng XinYou waved her arm a bit, showing off the sparkling bracelet on her wrist, while her gaze went over to Li Sui, So this is Hmm. Lu Shang looked at everyone in the room and raised the ss of champagne again, We are in your care. Meng XinYou was shocked beyond words, everyone in the hall stood up and raised their cups as well while whispering to each other. Are you serious? Meng XinYou lowered her voice and said. Li Sui was really sensitive to peoples gazes, though he had his head down behind Lu Shang all the time, he knew this womans gaze had never left him even once. Lu Shang however waspletely rxed, he gave an unbridled answer, Hes really obedient. His words invited a lot of ill thoughts, even Meng XinYous face was flushed with redness. As Meng XinYou was in a trance, two people entered the hall,ughter racketed through the room, someone even started whistling, chatters filled the hall. The Li familys heir is a high note as usual. Isnt that the hot host from Apple Channel (i)? T/N: (i) There isnt really an Apple Channel, but theres an Apple Daily that reports news in the format of videos. Li Sui heard a familiar voice amongst the crowd, he felt cold sweat sliding down his back. His already aching feet felt scorched, as if he had just stepped into burning charcoal. Luckily, Lu Shang didnt n on continuing his chat with Meng XinYou, he found a rtively quiet ce to settle down. Li Sui didnt know if he was nervous or what, but ayer of sweat surfaced on his forehead. He followed Lu Shang until he was in front of the sofa, hesitating until Lu Shang started waving at him, Come. The second Li Sui sat down, Lu Shangs hand reached over to Li Suis ankle, rubbing it lightly. Across them was a guy with tiny eyes who was staring at them teasingly. Li Sui leaned on the sofa with his face red, half of which due to the pain and half due to embarrassment. Lu Lao Ban. Li Sui wanted to stop him. Lu Shangs head turned to him, under the yellowish lights, his eyes were sombre and full of depth. Looking at his irises, Li Sui saw a glint of blue. Lu Shang looked a bit like a foreigner, but the next second, the blueness was gone, and his eyes returned to being ck, perhaps Li Sui was mistaken. What is it? Li Sui snapped back from his thoughts, but he had forgotten what he was about to say. Hey there, Lu Lao Ban, even Xiao Li is here. Sorry, did I interrupt you guys? It was none other than Li Yan. He deliberately walked up to Lu Shang and Li Sui, following behind was a woman in sexy clothes. Li Suis back immediately straightened up, that tiny movement didnt escape Lu Shangs eyes. So how are you? Lu Lao Ban didnt mistreat you, did he? Li Yan said as he gazed down on Li Sui. Li Sui lowered his head, he had Lu Shangs words in his heart. Lu Shang told him not to care about anyone, so naturally Li Yan also belonged to this anyone Lu Shang spoke of. Thanks, hes just as you see. Lu Shang lightly patted Li Suis tensed shoulder. He really is good looking if you tidy him up a bit, Lu Lao Ban truly has sharp eyes. It seems like Ive been wasting him. Li Yan smiled and sat down across from them. What Li Yan said was actually the truth, he even felt a bit sour towards this turn of events. This was exactly what Li Sui was afraid of, if Li Yan wanted him back and asked Lu Shang to return Li Sui, would Lu Shang agree? Li Sui, raise a ss for your brother Yan. Lu Shang suddenly said. Li Sui froze up, his hands balled into fists. A new name? Li Yan looked at him with eyes smiling but also not. It felt contemptuous and, at the same time, felt like a warning. A wine ss was given to Li Sui. He took it and felt Lu Shangs breath on his ear, whispering, Thank you for brother Yans kind care. Li Sui suddenly understood, Lu Shang was trying to help him get out of the conversation. He took a big breath and copied what Lu Shang said, Thank you for brother Yans kind care. Before Li Yan could reply, Li Sui shoved himself to the contents of the cup, sipping it slowly and not talking. How unweing Not even leaving a shred of face for me. Li Yan smiled awkwardly, hugging the hot woman beside him and headed towards the dance floor. It was only after Li Sui loosened up could he taste the drink, what Lu Shang gave him was a ss of grape juice. Are you afraid of him? Li Sui stared at the ground emptily, trying to control his shaking legs. He knew his performance was below Lu Shangs expectations, I willwill try my best to ovee it. Daring to admit one was scared was a huge step forward. Moreover, being scared was natural, Li Yan was like a beast master to Li Sui. The tiny lion feared the tamer because it had suffered too much whipping when it was young. The lion just couldnt get past the psychological hurdle and not because itcked the physical strength to retaliate. The two of them sat there for a while longer. When the dance floor became more lively, Lu Shang brought Li Sui and walked out of the front door naturally. Everyone knew Lu Shang didnt fancy crowds, so the banquet holder let him go without a fuss, just sending two people to escort them out with umbres. The sky was already dark, drizzles became heavy rain. Uncle Yuen had been waiting for them all this time. Seeing theme out, he immediately walked up to them and asked, Are we going to assistant Xus home now? Lu Shang opened the car door and sat in the car, he said lightly, Go home. Uncle Yuen wanted to say something, but seeing Li Suisplexion, he swallowed his words. Li Suis face was a little pale, even though his endurance was higher than most people, he couldnt do anything if his physical limit was up. His injured feet began to swell, they were cramped in the tight shoes. He didnt feel right taking his shoes off in the car, so he could only hold it in. He looked at the streets and counted the seconds, hands clenched into fists for the whole journey home. Lu Shangs home was a small three story building. Uncle Yuen didnt live there, neither did the chefs and cleaners, they only came when needed. Therefore, Lu Shang used to live here alone, but now adding Li Sui to the picture, two people lived here. Heres apress. Do you know how to apply it? Lu Shang took a bag of ice out from the freezer, wrapping it in a towel and giving it to Li Sui. Li Sui took the bag quietly before sitting on the sofa and cing it on his ankle. There are pain-killers in the drawer. If the pain is too much, feel free to use them, but remember not to take too many. Lu Shang saw that Li Sui could handle himself, so he turned around to the living room and sat in front of the dinner table, opening hisptop to start working. There was an office in the house, but Lu Shang didnt like using it. As a rectangle table was in the living room, located right next to the window, so when the weather was good, the sun coulde in and shine on him. He liked going through boring documents there, as it made the words seem livelier. Unfortunately, it was night. So all Lu Shang could see from the window was a bit of green from the grass outside. There were absolutely nothing besides that. Lu Shang was always very concentrated when he was working, he would forget the time easily. When he finished and came back to earth, it was already way past dinner time. Li Sui was still keeping the position he was in before, eyes staring nkly at nothing, and the bag of ice melted. Are you hungry? Lu Shang closed hisptop and asked. Li Sui shook his head, but his stomach just wouldnt cooperate and growled. Lying Lu Shang sighed in his heart, then called the people working in the kitchen for two bowls of noodles. He pushed all of the noodles to Li Sui and poured himself a cup of warm rice wine, If you cant finish it, you can just leave it. Someone wille up to take it away. Lu Lao Ban, you are not having any? Li Suis gaze fixated on the two juicy sunny-side-up eggs sitting on the noodles. He was still growing, so naturally he needed a lot of food. Before, in the bar, he had to endure long periods of starvation. He was used to that, so it was nothing. But after living in the hospital for so long, having three whole meals a day, his appetite had grown exponentially. Lu Shang shook his head and pinched his own forehead, Does your leg still hurt? No, it doesnt hurt. Lu Shang looked at the way Li Sui was stuffing his face, it was screaming Ive been starving to death and he knew that this it doesnt hurt wasnt trustworthy either. Lu Shang felt like he was raising a cat or something, it also happened to be an extremely obedient one. Lu Shang pulled out a napkin, From now on, you dont have to be so tense. If youre hungry, call the kitchen down below; if youre feeling unwell, go find Dr. Leung, and if you need anything, just go find Uncle Yuen. But theres one thing that you must remember Li Sui raised his head from the bowl of noodles. Dont leave my sight. From the day they met, Lu Shang gave Li Sui the impression that he was cold and uncaring. It was as if nothing interested him, this was the first time he saw a hint of forcefulness and will in the tired persons eyes. Li Sui knew that this was the only rule; the one thing that would get to Lu Shang. Perhaps the noodles were too hot, his head was sweating. Sitting up formally, he said, I understand Lu Lao Ban. Eat to your hearts content. Lu Shang held up the napkin and rubbed the corner of Li Suis mouth. He stood up from the chair, and left a bomb behind calmly before walking away, Sleep in my room tonight. Li Sui was slurping noodles into his mouth when he heard that and, naturally, choked. Lu Shang frowned slightly, then he remembered something. A teasing smile surfaced on his face as he said, Do you know what a sugar daddy is? Li Suis face changed, he remembered those idols and pretty faces that frequented Li Yans bar. There were a lot of those around Li Yan. Even if he was stupid, being in that kind of environment, he could make out how the rtionship works. Well, if you know what that is, then its fine. After that Lu Shang went upstairs. Li Sui sat in the living room all alone, carefully remembering Lu Shangs words. Slowly, he realized, his words sounded like an owner announcing his possession over something. Li Sui wasnt sure how others see a person raised in the mud like him, most likely lowly or small, it definitely wouldnt be something good. But from what he knew of Lu Shang, he didnt think Lu Shang would look down on him like that. However, he couldnt grasp why Lu Shang would be interested in him in that way either. Though, when he thought with a clear mind, he realized that most of what Lu Shang said today sounded like teasing jokes. The door to the bedroom wasnt closed when Li Sui went in. Lu Shang was talking on the phone in English beside the window. He was wearing pajamas; the outline of his back could be seen clearly through the thin clothes. Hearing movement, Lu Shang turned around, he pointed at the bathroom, hinting for Li Sui to take a shower. The bathroom was very spacious; a few robes and towels were ced inside. Li Sui was injured, so he didnt bathe. He just brushed his teeth and used the shower nozzle to avoid the wounds on his ankle carefully. He finished showering pretty fast, when he finished, Lu Shang was still on the phone. Li Sui wondered what kind of fabric the robes were made off. They were just too smooth and made him shiver. It was feather light, as if he wasnt wearing anything at all. The moment he walked out of the shower room; he felt an indescribable embarrassment surface in his heart. Lu Shang kept staring at Li Sui, making him even more embarrassed, so much so that he could only keep his eyes on the floor. After a while, the call ended and Lu Shangs hand reached over to Li Sui, Help me get the medicine. What kind of medicine? Li Suis head went into a spiral, thinking, No it wouldnt be Then his gaze met with Lu Shangs, andhe knew he misunderstood. Which one? Li Sui followed Lu Shangs gaze to a drawer. Opening it, he found over ten bottles of different medicine inside. Lu Shang leaned on the beds headboard, Clopidogrel and Aspirin. Li Sui was dumbfounded. Realizing that Li Sui probably didnt know thoseplicated names, Lu Shang said, The second bottle in the first row and the one with the bluebel. Li Sui pulled out the medicine bottles frantically, Lu Shang took a nce at him. He poured out a few pieces of the medicine and swallowed them with cold water, What were you thinking just now? Nonothing. Hmm. Lu Shang lifted the nket up, Take your clothes off. You dont want to? Li Sui replied to Lu Shang with calm looking eyes; he didnt speak. After two seconds or so, he took his robe off sluggishly. The dim lights in the room shone on his body, making him look extra soft. Lu Shang turned him around, his hand grazed the scars on Li Suis back, movements as light as a feather. How did you get these scars? Some of those scars were old and some were new, even Li Sui himself couldnt remember most of them. The cigarette marks were from the manager. Cuts were most likely from ss bottles and the thing thats all wrinkled up was from boiled water. Here Lu Shangs fingers slid down to a scar in the shape of a circle, Theres a scar here. If Li Sui were to turn around now, he would see an expression that Lu Shang had never made in front of anyone before. Li Sui tried his best to remember, Its from when I was younger, I dont remember anymore. Lu Shangs hand lingered at that round scar for a while, then he said, Lets sleep. There werent any extra meanings in the sentence, neither was there any awkwardness. Everything was just so straightforward, so much so that Li Sui wondered if there something was wrong with his ears. Li Sui obediently snuggled into the bed, he watched as Lu Shang turned the lights off. Lu Shangs arm circled Li Suis shoulders and pulled him in slightly. Lu Shang closed his eyes and just slept, no unnecessary movements at all. Growing up in aplicated environment, Li Sui had hyped-up senses for danger. Lu Shangs thoughts and emotions were hidden a lot better than most of the people Li Sui met before, so he couldnt grasp what Lu Shang was thinking exactly. But his senses told him that this person here did not possess any malicious thoughts like he just imagined. Li Sui breathed a sigh of relief, he shifted his body inside the nket, cing his own head on Lu Shangs arm. Keeping enough distance while not seeming too weird. Everything quieted down, outside the window were the soft sounds of raindrops, all of it seemed so unreal. This was the first time Li Sui slept with someone in bed, so he wasnt used to it at all. It was as if he had forgotten how to sleep. Every time he wanted to move his body, he was afraid it would wake Lu Shang up, so he forced himself not to move an inch. Lu Shang had a light aroma of shampoo on him, it smelled nice. Immersing in the smell confused Li Suis brain, hey on the bed like a corpse, until he finally fell asleep in the middle of the night. He didnt have any dreams that night. The weather in this city was everything but nice. Cold, humid rainy days oftensted for a long time. The rain began to subside a little only after long queues of Rheumatoid Arthritis patients were forming in the hospitals. Finally today, the rain became snow that drifted softly down from the sky. When Li Sui first woke up, there was a few seconds of confusion, it took him a while to remember where he was. There was no one in the room, on the bed was the pajamas Lu Shang changed out of. Creak. The door opened. Though it was quitete, Li Sui was a bit nervous. The person who walked in however, wasnt Lu Shang, but a middle-ageddy. You are awake? She walked in with a lovely smile on her face, walking straight to the window to pull up the curtains and picking up the pajamas on the bed. Breakfast is prepared downstairs, go have some when youre done washing up. Thank you. Li Sui remembered, thisdy was the chef Lu Shang had hired. Lu Shang usually called her sister Lu (ii). Thisdy had a friendly face, she always had a huge smile on. Li Sui liked her a lot, so he dared to ask, Wheres Lu Lao Ban? T/N: (ii): This Lu has a different character then Lu Shangs, so they arent rted. Lu Shangs Lu is and sister Lus Lu is ¶. He went to thepany. Do you want to go find him? Li Sui was a little surprised, Can I? No, you cant. sister Lu said smiling. Im just toying with you. sister Lu happened to really like this kid too. Lu Lao Ban asked me to make sure you stay at home. He said that you need to let your legs heal. Dr. Leung wille over this afternoon to give you an acupuncture session. When Li Sui walked down the stairs, he realized that Lu Shang had other stuff prepared for him as well. Lu Shang had also arranged a private tutor for him. Li Sui had never been to school before, so he had no idea what normal education in the country was like. Luckily, the tutor Lu Shang found wasnt a follow-the-books kind of teacher, so he was able to adjust the curriculum after considering Li Suis level. Actually, Li Sui knew a certain amount of basics already, but when it came to less used words, Li Sui tended to forget the characters for it. When the teacher reminded him, he immediately remembered the whole thing. Is this your first time learning these? It seems like you know some of them already. The private tutors surname was Wong, he was wearing a pair of sses with a slim gold frame, his face was always serious. Li Sui thought for a few seconds and replied, When I dont have to work, I would learn some in secret. The teacher nodded his head, looking like he was in deep thoughts. When afternoon came, Leung ZiRui arrived as promised. Unlike his usual lively self, he seemed quite exhausted today. He was yawning the whole time he performed acupuncture. Did Dr. Leung not sleep wellst night? Leung ZiRui nodded his head, Unlike your Lu Lao Ban, Im just a little worker in a hospital. Last night I was writing a thesis, so I didnt get a wink of sleep, Im so tired. Li Sui always had admiration for people with high education qualifications and this admiration was expressed in the purest of form on his face. It made Leung ZiRuiugh loudly. Since they started talking, Leung ZiRui couldnt help but dote on him, trying to make Li Suiugh as well. Leung ZiRui picked some stories of him studying in America for Li Sui. As he continued to recount those stories, he himselfughed instead. On the other hand, Li Sui was way calmer, mainly because he didnt understand most of it, so Li Sui could only pretend tough while being absolutely confused. Some timeter, Leung ZiRui pulled out the needles in Li Suis legs, he couldnt help but nce at Li Sui a bit more. He heard Uncle Yuen describe Li Suis childhood. He said that Li Sui endured abuse throughout the period when ones personality began to take shape, yet he didnt have any violent tendencies or gangster traits about him. It was truly quite remarkable. Though Li Sui seemed tense from time to time, it was nothing psychological. He didnt show any signs of hatred towards society either, instead he possessed an unknown gracefulness, this part of him was quitepatible with Lu Shang. Destiny was again toying with people, if he were to be born in a better family, being nurtured with care, perhaps he could achieve greatness in the future. There are still some extravasated blood (iii) left in your legs. Dont run around the next two days. Apply heat to your legs every night. If there are any changes in your condition, contact me. T/N: (iii) Blood flowed out from ruptured blood vessels. Li Sui nodded his head and gave him a huge gratuitous smile. The sky darkened, the firece on the wall was burning a little too much, making the room warm and cozy. After Leung ZiRui left, Li Sui flipped open the book Mr. Wong left behind, he looked through it over and over again. He really liked the book, so much so that he didnt want to part with it. He finished the homework given to him, but found it insufficient, so he found the characters for Lu Shang in the dictionary. He copied the words in both traditional and simplified characters, copying for over two whole pages worth. Eventually, hey on the sofa and fell asleep, not even noticing when Lu Shang came back. Uncle Yuen wanted to wake him up, but Lu Shang stopped him, hinting for Uncle Yuen to go home himself. Li Suis sleeping face wasnt especially good looking, but he was quiet. His body curled up and his arms wrapped lightly around his own chest, with his head buried into the sofa, it was a guarded posture. Lu Shang sat beside him, he pulled out the book in Li Suis arms. The books inside was full of Li Suis handwriting, they had strong and clean strokes, his writing was tidy and graceful. Lu Shang found his name amongst the words as he flipped through the book, his gazended back on the teenager beside him. Li Suis skin were very white to begin with, not the kind of white kept from skincare, but the kind of lively white that one would see on an infant. There werent any unseemly scars or spots on his face, which was also weird, given that his body was covered with scars and cuts. Perhaps his face was just so perfect that even the abusers couldnt bring themselves to dent it. Li Sui stirred, he slowly opened his eyes and solidified immediately, he greeted Lu Lao Ban as he propped himself up. Next time, when you feel sleepy, sleep on the bed. Li Sui gave a light Hmm in reply, then he continued with a sleepy voice, I wanted to wait until you got home. Lu Shangs heart throbbed a little and proceeded to ask, Are you not used to being alone in the house? Li Sui was always alone, there was never another option and of course he was quite ustomed to it. But he knew Lu Shang was just showing his care for him, so it would be impolite for him to retort. He pushed his luck a little, Is this how Lu Lao Ban takes your day off too? Hmm. Lu Shang lowered his head and suggested after thinking for a while, How about I bring you to mypany to y tomorrow? Chapter 4 - Alcohol Intoxication Chapter 4: Alcohol Intoxication Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantion The next day, Li Sui didnt make go to thepany. Lu Shang left before the sky lit up and he didnt wake Li Sui up either. When Li Sui got up, he asked sister Lu and that was when he knew Lu Shang had an important opening ceremony in the countryside. Have some breakfast first, this is fresh milk that arrived this morning. Lu Lao Ban said your legs crampedst night, so he wanted you to drink more milk. My legs cramped? Li Sui had no idea. Sister Luughed obscurely, Boys who are getting taller always get cramps at night. If you dont take the chance and eat more, youd regret itter. Li Sui remembered in the midst of his slumber, there was a point when he felt a bit of pain in his legs. He wasnt very sensitive to pain, so that little bit of it didnt affect his sleep. He didnt wake up, but his legs probably moved around a lot, waking Lu Shang up from his shallow sleep. Thank you, sister Lu. Li Sui felt guilty. Lu Shangs state of health was bad already, yet he interrupted his sleep. If it was someone less kind, Li Sui would have been kicked off the bed long ago, lets not even talk about warm milk in the morning to treat him. You should call me Aunt Lu, Im this old already. I could barely ept Lu Lao Ban calling me sister. You are so young that you can literally be my son, dont call me sister. Have you known Lu Lao Ban for a long time already? Hum, about ten years or so. Li Sui thought for a bit and asked, So youve taken care of the ones Lu Lao Ban had prior to me too? Prior to you? Aunt Lu paused but immediately caught on to what Li Sui was insinuating. Sheughed, What prior to you? What kind of person do you think Lu Lao Ban is? It was Li Suis turn to freeze up. He tried pushing for more answers. Theres no way that he only has me, right? Like maybe not here but living elsewhere? As he was asking, Li Yan came across his mind. Li Yan was a traditional rich yboy, having moredies around him than the clouds. He had so many mistresses that they could fill up an ancient Chinese pce. Everyday he had to roll dice to decide where he would sleep. When Lu Shang first mentioned being his benefactor, he just thought he was one of many. Someone to be thrown away after Mr. Lao Ban got hisugh and had enough. Yet seeing Aunt Lus reaction, that didnt seem to be the case. This made Li Sui feel uneasy. Aunt Lu was humored up by Li Sui. What is in that little head of yours? Lu Lao Ban is a serious person, unlike those rich and wasteful men out there. Ive served the Lu family for so long and Lu Lao Ban has never gotten close to anyone. Not even bringing someone back home. Even after saying that, Li Sui was still in doubt, so she added, Dont tell anyone, okay? Ive never been through anything dramatic, but there is this one thing that I cant get out of my heart. I had a husband once, he happened to be one of those unfaithful men. So, we divorced and I brought my son to live with me here. If Lu Lao Ban is someone like that too, I certainly wouldnt serve him for so long. Li Sui was confused. He knew Lu Shang was different from others he had met before. Lu Shang didnt like lively ces with huge crowds and he didnt hold any interest in going to the red-light districts either. Most of his time was spent on work. However, Li Sui never knew Lu Shangs private life was so scarce. Just live here happily, okay? Aunt Lu gave Li Sui two pieces of turnip cake, then sheforted Li Sui. The only problem is his health and he really does need someone close to take care of him. I suggested maybe he should find ady, but Lu Shang saiddies have never fit him from the day he was born. And then I saw him bring you home Ha, I remember old man Yuen talking about it when he was drunkst year. Who knew that it was true. But then again, ady really might not be able to take care of Lu Shang. You seem nice though. Aunt Lu didnt specify what it was, she said it in a really vague way, but Li Sui could grasp what she meant. Lu Shang didnt just suddenly want a guy with him one day, he was always a homosexual. In Li Suis long andplicated years of growth, his own sexuality was always a mystery. He never thought of a male loving another male as weird, as he had seen many in his years working in the bar. In his mind, whether the partner was female or male didnt make much differences. Li Sui never fell in love with anyone before, nor was he loved by anyone. Lu Shang was the closest person to a lover he had. He felt fortunate but also insecure. Stop daydreaming, start eating already. Lu Lao Ban wille pick you upter. Aunt Lu hurried Li Sui. Lu Shang didnte himself, he asked someone to pick Li Sui up and drove him to thepany. The first thing that greeted Li Sui after he stepped in was a huge blue logo, beneath it was the words Tong Yan Corporation. The offices for the higher-ups were on the top floors and Uncle Yuen only escorted him to the elevator. Li Sui walked out of the lift alone and went to the center of the floor just as the meeting ended. Scores of people left the conference room and Li Sui walked past them to find Lu Shang surrounded by people. This was the first time Li Sui saw Lu Shang in the workce. He was wearing a dark suit, looking calm and influential among the crowd. Sometimes tilting his head to listen and sometimes raising his hand to stop them. An indisputable aura slipped out from his little gestures and words. Those sharp eyes caught onto Li Sui from afar. At that moment, they softened a few notches. He waved his hand for a female assistant, Xiao Yeung, bring him to my office and give him some fruit to eat. The assistant replied yes immediately. With the interruption, everyone started looking at Li Sui, scanning him. There are some urgent things I need to deal with, wait for me in the office, okay? Lu Shang tapped on Li Suis shoulder lightly after he turned around. Li Sui felt his heart clench, he immediately lowered his head and replied a light, Hmm. The female assistant brought out a te of strawberries and she even poured Li Sui a cup of coffee. Li Sui couldnt smell the nice aroma of coffee beans, instead he only found it bitter. Oh, you are not used to it. She said and left to get milk tea. When she returned, a few plushies appeared in Li Suis hands. The plushies were little turtles with green shells, there were five to six of them. They all looked the same but were in different sizes, as if they were a family. Those were one of the higher-ups seven-year-old daughters toys, he forgot about them when he left. Li Sui stared at the little turtles scattered on the table, for some reason he just couldnt stand them all messed up. So, after the assistant left, he sorted them, then stacked them up ording to their sizes. As an assistant, instead of tidying them up herself, she left her guest to do it, of course this was a miss on her part. She was going to clean them away, feeling dejected, but Lu Shang stopped her. Let him have them. The assistant was startled, she had no idea when Lu Shang arrived at the door. Theter didnt look at her though. Lu Shangs gaze went through her, reaching Li Sui, his expression was deep and focused. Gossip and stories surfaced in her mind, the situation was beyond her coping power so she left the room with a pale face. Whats wrong with her? Li Sui raised his head and asked. Lu Shang closed the office door indifferently, She is a new intern. Shes a little careless in her work. You dont have to mind her. Come to think of it, I havent asked yet. Do you mind if I tell everyone about our rtionship? He sat down across Li Sui. Li Sui heard Lu Shang call his name the first time, so his tongue twisted, Lu Lao Ban doesnt mind? I dont mind. Lu Shang said directly. Then I dont mind either. Why? Arent you afraid others would look down on you? You saved me, not anyone else. Lu Shang was shocked, he didnt know Li Sui would ssify people like that. Lu Shang picked him up without thinking much, but Li Sui had already ssified him as the most important person. This pure and simple sentence made what Lu Shang was about to say harder. Are you still afraid I will return you to Li Yan? Lu Shang tried asking. The hands that were holding the soft toys tightened subconsciously. Observing the slight change, Lu Shang sighed. He picked up a strawberry with a toothpick, delivering it to Li Suis mouth. Gently he said, Your life is in your own hands, to leave or stay, you have the right to decide. So, you dont have to worry. If, one day, you make up your mind to leave, Ill send you to a safe ce. After Lu Shang finished, he smiled lightly, This will take effect forever. Li Suis mouth was stuffed full of strawberries. Hearing what Lu Shang said, he felt hints of bitterness linger in his throat. Lu Shang was more sensitive than Li Sui had originally thought. The things Li Sui did to butter up to him or to try his intentions were all seen clearly. Lu Shang knew what Li Sui was doing, but he didnt voice them out. Instead, Lu Shang used this nd, vague way to tell Li Sui that its fine now, he is epted here. Li Sui felt like the little turtle in his hands, as if his shell was forced open and the insecurities hiding beneath were pulled out for the naked eye to see. At that moment, someone knocked on the door, cutting into their conversation. Executive Lu, Yan Ke returned the call, he agreed to use 6% of his stocks to The other person said half of the sentence and stopped abruptly. Lu Shang waved his hand, He is one of our people, please continue. The person who walked in hurriedly was a short man. He wore a pair of sses and his face was lively, giving of a intelligent aura. He had never seen Li Sui before, so he hesitated. He lowered his voice and whispered into Lu Shangs ears just to be safe. Li Sui couldnt hear what they were saying, neither was he interested. He only noticed the expression that appeared on Lu Shangs face, after he finished hearing what the man had to say, could only be described as somewhat happy. Agree to his demands. The man in sses replied with a worried face, Then your stock holdings would reach 40%, isnt that too eye-catching? Lu Shang contemted, Lets make a deal with him in secret for now, leave the real transfer till next year. The sses man nodded, I will go make the contract now. Before the man left the room, Lu Shang said, WeiLan, tell Yan Ke that Im borrowing his daughters toys. Xe WeiLan was baffled, What? Lu Shang picked up a turtle and waved it around, Xe WeiLanughed at his own stupidity and left. As the heavy snow showed no signs of subsiding, the two of them left thepany in the afternoon. Li Sui saw a couple of trucks taking out boxes of champagne, then it struck him, today was thest day of the year. There would be an employees dinner tonight. He finally realized that it was going to be the new year soon. Lu Shang brought Li Sui to a dojo at the foot of a mountain. Surrounding the building was a field of bamboo trees making it a serene ce. Li Sui walked in and found a lot of people sitting inside, mostly men. Their attire was casual and some didnt even wear tops. Inside the dojo was the strong smell of cigarettes and beer. Unlike the white-cor workers in thepany, it was evident that these people werent office workers. Thank you for the wait. The second Lu Shang walked in, everyone stood up to greet him. The one leading them was a huge, muscr man that went by the name, Zuo Chao. Zuo, let them set up the table. Lu Shang said, Lets talk while we eat. Arge round table that could amodate thirty people was set up. Lu Shang sat in the center seat while Li Sui sat on his right (iii). That was originally Zuo Chaos seat, but when he saw Lu Shang brought someone with him, he let Li Sui have the seat instead. It was meant to be a symbolical act only, Zuo Chao didnt expect Lu Shang to really give the seat to Li Sui, but he did. This act stated a few things, everyone including Zuo Chao had some unspoken thoughts. T/N: (iii) The center seat means the position of the round table thats facing the door, which is traditionally for the owner of the house, while the seat on the right (The right of the person sitting at the center seat) is for the most important guest, and the seat on the left for the second most important guest. From past to present, the highlight of a banquet was always the raising of a ss by the owner. But this ce was a little different, the guests drank ss after ss while the owner, Lu Shang, only drank tea. No one seemed to mind though, everyone was quite happy with the banquet. Li Sui could see that Lu Shang had a deep rtionship with these people, at least to the point where they could lose the formalities during their conversations. Come, little guy. Lu Shang cant drink alcohol, but big brother will pour you a ss. Zuo Chao was the kind of guy who would treat people he first met like old friends. Seeing Li Sui burying his head in food, he couldnt help but open a bottle of white wine to tease him. Li Sui naturally looked at Lu Shang, theter however just smiled and didnt say anything. I dont know how to drink alcohol Li Sui said with a tiny voice. Dont know how? No worries, big brother will teach you. You see, with alcohol, its overwhelming the first time, bute the second time, youll be used to it. Now,e on! He poured the wine out while he was still speaking. Li Sui stared at the wine that was about to spill out, he immediately extended his arm to stop him, screaming, No! Stop! I cant drink that much. Come,e. Zuo Chao clinked his ss to Li Suis and said, Big brother will drink first. He gulped all the contents down in one go, he even turned the cup upside down, mming it on the table. Everyone cheered him on. This ss of wine had at least 150 mL inside, Li Sui was astonished by his capacity for alcohol. He also knew he couldnt get away from this with everyone around him rubbing salt into his injuries, saying stuff like, Come on, drink it. Give Zuo Chao some face. Yeah, drink it. You were brought here by Lu Lao Ban, you cant let him down. Li Sui was lost, he turned to his side to look at Lu Shang once again, only to find the same smile on him, it didnt seem like Lu Shang was going to help him get out of this. He wasnt sure whether he should drink it or not, so he held the ss up, forcing himself to take a sip. The white wine was scorching, the second he drank it down, his eyebrows and nose wrinkled up, his whole face went red as he choked. Everyoneughed, even Lu Shangughed while shaking his head. Little bro, you cant drink wine like this. You need to gulp it down, GULP! Zuo Chao said in a hurry. Thats enough, dont you think? Lu Shang said softly. After the initial burn, Li Sui finally sensed some aftertaste, it was a sweet aroma. Lu Lao Ban, what are you so worried about? A little bit of wine wont kill him. Someone working under Zuo Chaoughed. Its New Years Eve after all. Wouldnt he be great in bed for Lu Lao Ban if we got him drunk? Once the horny topics started, the atmosphere of the whole banquet changed. There were just so many topics guys could talk about, and the only one who brought someone was Lu Shang. Hence, Li Sui became their focal point in teasing. While the focal point himself seemed to be oblivious, he was battling with the ss of wine in his hand. Li Sui didnt drink fast, but after the first sip, it was as if he was addicted. While everyone was chatting, the whole ss of wine went into his stomach. Oh! Youre pretty good. Zuo Chao pped his hands. Lu Shang patted Li Suis back as he smiled, Dont force yourself. Li Sui felt pretty nice, he didnt feel dizzy nor ufortable. Though he had stayed in a bar for years, this was the first time he had any, so curiosity won over his fear. As they say, alcohol boosts ones confidence, Li Sui poured another ss and said, Big brother Zuo, I challenge you. Oh, you little shrimp. Good, brave! Zuo Chaoughed loudly, he poured a ss for himself too and drank all of it down. As Li Sui opened the door to challenges, everyone came up to challenge him too. So Li Sui realized they werent uninterested in alcohol, it was just that no one poured them a ss. Lu Shang only warned Li Sui a few times in the beginning, but afterwards he just pretended to see nothing. He lowered his head and started discussing business with Zuo Chao. There were only a few days where they could celebrate like this, so no one cared about their respective social status. The banquet was conducted in a way in which everyone, guests and host alike, were having fun to their fullest. Not only was all the food disyed, some treasured bottles of wine were also syed out for the special asion. After Zuo Chao finished his business talk with Lu Shang, he held his stomach, Wherever did you find this treasure? He was able to drink so many. Even Im admitting defeat. Nope, Im going to take a leak. Watch him for me, dont let him get all my boys drunk. Hearing that, Lu Shang turned his head around. In his sights was a whole room of drunk men, lying around. The only one standing was Li Sui, he was shaking the wine bottle alone mncholically, looking around to see if anyone was still alive. Li Sui. Lu Shang called. The one being called turned his head around, he stared nkly at Lu Shang with clouded eyes. Lu Shang knew in his heart that this kid was actually drunk, it just didnt show much in his actions. Come here. Lu Shang waved his hand. Li Sui floated over to Lu Shang like a ghost, when he was one to two steps away from Lu Shang, his legs gave out. He fell down onto Lu Shangsp and hugged his legs, All of them lost. His actions were like a golden puppy waiting for his owners praise. Lu Shang hugged him back, rubbing his head andforting him, Hmm, was it hard? Li Sui shook his head, he said, No one challenged you? Lu Shang fell silent, he moved his hand to check Li Suis pupils, No one here dares challenge me. Please sleep with me. Li Sui grabbed a hold of Lu Shangs hand. Lu Shang was taken aback, he asked, Why do you want me to sleep with you? A pair of puppy dog eyes replied Lu Shang, Dont send me away This was probably about the conversation they had this morning. The boy misunderstood and he feared Lu Shang would shove him away. Lu Shang pondered for a while before he pulled him up and pat the dust on Li Suis knees away. He giggled, I wont send you away if I slept with you? Li Sui scrunched his eyes, his brain not following the conversation. Lu Shang gave up on discussing the subject with him, he raised his hand for the waiter to get him a wet towel. After cleaning Li Suis face, he asked for a room above, so that Li Sui could rest. The little turtles The little turtles are in the car. Lu Shang knew that you couldnt reason with someone who was drunk, so he just tried to please Li Sui as much as he could. Seeing Li Sui stare at the door and not moving, he had no choice but to call the driver for the turtles. Zuo Chao, who had finished taking his leak, leaned on the door frame, watching their whole exchange. Did you pick up a son on the streets or something? Lu Shang rubbed his own forehead and sighed, Lets talk about the important things, okay? Zuo Chao stopped his smiling, Officer Ng from the west district contacted me today, he said they caught a gun smuggling operation recently. Most of the guns were confiscated, but ording to the culprit, some went to the ck market already. I saw a familiar name among the rted personnel list, it was someone with Liu XinTian. Lu Shangs face turned grim, Are you sure? Im sure. That guys uncle stole one of my brosdies before, we were fighting over that back then. Isnt Liu XinTian one of Tong Yans stockholders? Why would he need guns? Anyway, the more I think about it, the more uneasy I feel. Beware of him, okay? Lu Shang thought for a while, Arrange a few guards around my house, especially when Im not home. After that, he peeked at where Li Sui was sleeping and said, Also whenever he goes out, find two guys to tail him. I understand. Zuo Chao said, What about you? Hes not going to do anything to me. Im sure he wants me to deal with his mess overseas first, probably in the name of expanding thepany. And Im only going to get Yan Kes share next year. Changing ownership of shares requires other shareholders to agree, right? Are they going to let you get that many? No, they wont want me to. But I temporarily cut off a few old guys money sources. They will want them back, so they will agree. Liu XinTian only has 20% of the stocks, so him alone rejecting wont do any good. I dont understand yourpanys workings, having more shares is good, but it could also attract unnecessary danger. Be careful, okay? After their talk, they went their separate ways. Tong Yan was holding an employee banquet that night, as the corporate director, Lu Shang had to attend. As of past years, the most important part was the lottery. This years prizes were prepared by the small fry workers in thepany, Lu Shang never cared about what they bought. He just gave them a budget and let them buy whatever they wanted. As such, he won himself a pack of Okamoto 001. Chapter 5 - Cell Phone Chapter 5: Cell Phone Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantion Lu Shangs employees were ditching their usual low-key selves and they started hassling Lu Shang to blow a condom up on stage. Some younger females covered their own faces in embarrassment. If thepany were to hold a Top Guys to Jack-off to Chart, Lu Shang would probably top that list. He was young and sessful, good-looking and also rich. Though there are some rumors about his sexuality, that didnt affect his charisma. Moreover, rumors were just rumors, no one really saw it happening. Thank you, but just me blowing it isnt fun. Lets find two people topete. Lu Shang remained his gentlemanly self and kicked the ball to Xe WeiLan. The still single legal department manager cursed Lu Shang hard in his heart, but he had no choice but to go on stage and receive the ball Lu Shang kicked over. Director Liu fought through mud and forest before, Im sure he has a good lung capacity. How about we let hime up to have a go too? Lu Shang smiled at Liu XinTian who was just enjoying the show. Liu XinTian was one of the co-founders of Tong Yan, he fought with Lu Shangs father in Vietnam before. They were something like sworn brothers, but sadly there were people who could shoulder hardships with you, but not share riches. There were times when money and power were more frightening than bullets and guns. After Lu Shangs father died, thest bit of Liu XinTianspassion died out as well. His ambitions were fully shown, him and Lu Shangs rtionship, in recent days, was like fire and water. Of course, all of the in-fighting was happening under the table. Except for Lu Shang and Liu XinTian themselves plus a few of their close employees, no one knew of their rocky rtionship. Liu XinTian had a scar on his face, going across his forehead down through his eye, it looked gruesome. He didnt smile much, his whole aura was gloomy like a raincloud. Everyone in thepany was a little scared of him, so when Lu Shang mentioned his name, everyone was taken aback. The hall went silent for two seconds or so. Since Lu Lao Ban is so passionate about it, then this inferior Liu will oblige. Liu XinTian stood up amongst the silence, he walked to the stage with soldier-like footsteps. Assistant Xiao Yeung immediately stepped up to open the pack of condoms for them, she took two out, giving one to each. The employees began to regain their curiosities, some whistled and many cheered, there were also people who jeered. Things got heated again, and everything was a fun mess. Lu Shang took this chance to get off the stage, turning around to leave the room. Zuo, do something for me. Lu Shang held his phone and turned to the staircase, Do a background check on the new assistant Yeung. Her? Why her? The scene of her handing the condom to Liu XinTian crossed Lu Shangs mind, Not sure, but I suspect she might be a mole. Tch, no way. How do you know? There werent walls that dont let a shred of air pass through in this world, you could try to cover facts up, but habits and details were hard to change. As someone from an average family and just started working, her taste in perfume and clothing brands were too expensive. Even though Liu XinTian was a traditional old guy, he loved western drinks, especially coffee and red tea, he was also quite peculiar in the methods of making them. The two drinks she handed Li Sui subconsciously made Lu Shang suspicious. However, the final nail was when she was handing the condoms to Liu XinTian and Xe WeiLan respectively. Both of them were supposedly males she wasnt familiar with, she was also handing them the same thing. Yet she seemed to be at ease when handing the package to Liu XinTian, but not when she was handing it to Xe WeiLan. That little interaction seemed odd to Lu Shang. Lu Shang listed so many points in his mind, but he spoke none of it, Nothing, just a hunch. But check her just in case. He hung up the phone, resting on the closed ss window, he leaned forward and pressed a hand against his chest. He breathed in the cold air that sipped through the gaps of the window, trying to relieve the difort from standing for so long. The snow continued for days, a thick nket of whiteness covered the ground. Looking out the window, everything seemed so distant. Lu Shang exhaled in the coldness, the mist quickly dissipated. These past two years, he felt clearly that life was leaving him. Even if Leung ZiRui didnt remind him, he knew he was a dead fish in a leaking pot. He couldnt hold on much longer. Two floors down, cars drove in and out near the entrance of thepany. In the range of the headlights was the shadow of a person. Lu Shangs blurred sight focused on that person, he observed the person for a while, immediately he went down the stairs. The snow was still falling, the moment Lu Shang stood at thepany door, the person from afar recognized him. The person ran over on the snow-covered ground, Lu Lao Ban. Why were you standing there? Lu Shang asked. I came here to find you, but the guards said that I need a working card to get in. Lu Shang had no idea how long Li Sui stood there. His head, the hat he was wearing, and his clothes, they were all covered with snow. Lu Shang was going to ask Li Sui why he didnt call him, but just as the words were hanging at the tips of his tongue, he remembered. Li Sui didnt own a cell phone, neither did he have Lu Shangs phone number. Lu Shang was really busy recently, he left all the little details for Uncle Yuen to deal with. Uncle Yuen was a careful person, without Lu Shangs permission, he wont give any means ofmunication to Li Sui on his own. This was all on Lu Shang. You are sober already? Look at you all covered in snow. Lu Shang batted away the snow on Li Suis down jacket, what fell off were pieces of ice. Im sober now. I drank too much and said some stupid things, dont take them seriously. Li Suis ears were all red, Lu Shang wondered if it was because of the cold or something else. Lu Shang didnt wear much, inside the building were heaters, so he didnt feel especially cold. But now in the snowy outdoors, what he was wearing wasnt quite enough. Hmn, lets go buy you a phone. Lu Shang continued, There should still be some shops open at this hour. Lu Shang walked into the snow after saying that, Li Sui followed immediately, Is it okay here? It seems like the employees dinner is still going on. The wind blew pieces of snow and ice around,nding onto the passersby, also melting quickly. A thickyer of smog was in the air, they saw scores of firecrackers on the streets. The Fire Trees, Silver Flowers (i) were especially beautiful. T/N: (i) A kind of fireworks. Traditionally its done by sshing molten iron to a tree, the iron would form pretty sparks when they get sshed together. In modern days they are sshed to a man made frame-like thing instead. Lu Shang didnt reply, his gazended sharply on two cars in the darkness instead. He apuded Zuo Chaos efficiency in his heart, as he walked towards one of the two cars. Lu Lao Ban. The car window rolled down, inside were the faces of two youngsters. Li Sui recognized them as people at lunch with them, they were Zuo Chaos people. Lend me the car, you guys can go home. Theres no need to follow me now. But brother Zuo said Lu Shang was handed the car keys, Liu XinTians people are here, so its fine. After saying that he called Li Sui into the car too. Li Sui had never seen Lu Shang drive a car himself, this was the first. Lu Shang took his zer off, he was only wearing a simple shirt, the sleeve of his shirt were hanging on Lu Shangs arm rather loosely. Sitting beside Lu Shang, Li Sui could see that he was a little too thin, his hands on the steering wheel had distinct blue veins. Often, when a persons aura was too strong, people would overlook tiny details. For example, the fact that Lu Shangs face was actually quite friendly and kind. As there was snow on the roads, Lu Shang didnt drive very fast, but he did drive very steadily. They were at a crossroad, the lights for the cars were already green, but there were still pedestrians on the road. Lu Shang didnt even press the horn, he just waited patiently for the people to cross. Among all daily activities, driving could show ones personality the best. The ones that always went full speed ahead were most likely short-tempered people. The ones that drove at a moderate speed and always let other cars go first were most likely timid people. While the ones that could keep calm during traffic jams, not cursing when other vehicles crossed the line were the most even tempered people. New Years was approaching, plus it was night already, so most shops on the streets were closed. They drove for a few streets and finally they saw one shop that still had the lights on. When they walked in, the owner was checking the books, he didnt even raise his head, The shops closed, wait for next year. Lu Shang sat on one of the tables in the shop, he never nned on negotiating with him, Just one phone, it wont take you long. That was when the owner decided to check them out, feeling their menacing ambience, he coughed, asking, What model do you want? Lu Shang looked a little weary, he pointed at the disy counters, Ask him for a tester if anything interests you. Li Sui waspletely lost. To him, choosing a phone was somewhat like a normal people choosing a private jet. He only looked at their appearances and sizes, he hadnt the faintest clue about their functions and brands. The owner tried selling him phones that no one liked, thinking that rich people were probably stupid. Sadly, Li Sui didnt buy it, he chose a so-called elderly phone instead. His reason for it was big words, easy to read. Hearing Li Suis answer, Lu Shangs mouth curved upwards, the tiredness that umted in him throughout the day halved immediately. Tong Yan corporation also had business in electronics, they were even cooperating with a major phone brand. This was something that could be done with just a phone call, yet he brought the person all the way here to pick one. Somehow Lu Shang even enjoyed doing something so unnecessary, this was so unlike him. Look at this one, you can use your fingers to slide it. You can also surf the inte with it The owner continued to try to sell Li Sui another phone, while Li Sui only looked at the one in his hands. After a while, Li Sui turned around to Lu Shang, with eyes of inquiry. Take whatever you like. Lu Shang agreed to it promptly, then he asked, Do you have the new tablet frompany A? Yes, yes, we have it here. Lu Shang handed the owner some cash, I will have one, plus that phone. His credit cards were all in the car Uncle Yuen drove, so these banknotes were from thepanys red packet. The red packets were actually thepanys welfare, even he would get one. This was the first time he spent one though, usually hed give it to Aunt Lu. Not asking the price, nor bargaining. Li Sui saw the owners expression turned from morose to ecstatic in an instant, less than a second had past for the change to happen. Li Sui couldnt stop admiring how flexible the human face was. At the same time, he was worrying, Is it too expensive? I brought the card. Is there a difference? Lu Shang smiled and propped his head up. That was indeed true, his card was Lu Shangs too, thinking about money was truly useless. However, having been alive for so long now, no one ever bought him anything before, especially not directly in front of him. He suddenly felt super embarrassed, seriously feeling like he was sugared by someone. The owner happened to hand the receipt over to Lu Shang, he took it and nced at Li Sui. Lu Shang was in a great mood, also a little mischievous, Huh, it might be a little too expensive. Li Sui straightened, but before he could react, Lu Shang said again, If its too expensive, what are you going to do? The owner picked up on the slightly lewd conversation, so something lewder slipped out of him mouth, Pay with your body (ii)? Li Sui. Lu Shangughed, a very mild one, but it was clear that he was truly happy. Chapter 6 - Greeting Guests Chapter 6: Greeting Guests Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantion When they finally left the shop, no one was on the streets anymore, they only saw a few cars. The workers and even the students went home. This city was quieter around the New Years. Their car was parked across the street, in between the car and them was a moderate width road, they could only get there by foot. The roads were encased in a thinyer of ice due to theck of management. Both of Li Suis hands were upied with merchandise they just bought. He didnt notice the ice on the road and slipped, dangerously almost hitting a limousine that drove by. Lu Shang heard sounds and turned back, he stopped and waited for Li Sui. When Li Sui was near him, he offered his hand to Li Sui. Li Sui froze in hesitation, then clumsily moved all the bags to one hand and held on to Lu Shangs hand. Lu Shangs fingers were really cold, there wasnt any warmth to them. Holding it in a snowy winter day shouldnt be somethingfortable. Yet Li Sui stared at their interlocked hands, and he felt streams of warmth flowing to his ears. When they returned home, Aunt Lu made them warm ginger pear juice. They each drank before going to bed. The juice kept them warm, it also helped Li Sui with the alcohol he consumed. You dont have work tomorrow? Li Sui had grasped Lu Shangs habits already. The second Lu Shang came out of the bathroom, Li Sui handed medicine and water to him. Hmm. Lu Shang dried his hair with a towel and took the medicine, You are not going to test out your new phone? Hearing that, Li Sui immediately pulled out the bag of merchandise, as if he was waiting for this moment all his life. Lu Shang sat on the bed, he opened the packaging and threw them away. He inserted the sim card and added his phone number to the new phone, handing it back to Li Sui, Try calling. Lu Shang set his name as Lu Shang, nothing more and nothing less, there were no other prefixes or suffixes. Li Sui stared at the contacts list, now there was a new contact. The emotions it aroused were much moreplicated than he thought they would be, though they might be harder for normal people to grasp. Li Suis past waspletely nk, just like this empty contacts list. But now, look, there was a person in that nk page, how amazing was that? Most people would say lets chat more when exchanging contacts. To leave this line of numbers behind, meant that you are epting the persons contact. In Li Suis little world, Lu Shang was the first such person. Li Sui dialed the number but there were no sounds in the room. Am I doing it right? There isnt any reaction. Lu Shang opened the drawer with one hand, something glowed inside the drawer, I turned it to silent mode, try again. Lu Shang also handed the tablet to Li Sui. This thing, however, was tooplicated for Li Sui, but he did have some contact with it before, as they used something like this to order food in the bar. Li Sui was never interested in these electronic things, as he found them overly hard to use; their screens were too bright and messy. If he had the choice to not use them, he definitely wouldnt. The tablet Lu Shang handed over had a clean interface. A pure ck background plusrge words, and there were only a few icons on it. These two teach you basic English, and this one teaches you four-characters idioms. Lu Shang taught him patiently, This one is for doing exercises, ask your tutor about it after lessons, okay? Okay. Li Sui said. Lu Shang touched the thing a few times, then asked, When is your birthday? Li Sui didnt reply; Lu Shang nced at him and knew immediately that he asked a useless question. He just pulled Li Suis finger over and ced it onto the tablet button. After Lu Shang registered the fingerprints into the tablet, he demonstrated opening the tablet to Li Sui, Here, it will open just like this. The productspany A made were very humanized and easy to use. Li Sui held the tablet on hisp and, in no time, he got the hang of it. He turned around, wanting to report to Lu Shang, but found thetters eyes shut; he was sound asleep already. Li Sui remembered hearing Leung ZiRui talk about Lu Shang. He said Lu Shang had a strong will. Lu Shang always looked healthy and strong when facing others, but, in fact, he would get tired really easily. Now that Li Sui thought about it, Lu Shang didnt get any rest at all for the whole day; he even drove Li Sui around in the snow at night. He must be exhausted. Li Sui put the tablet and phone into the drawer quietly, then he turned the lights off. The heaters in the bedroom were creating enough heat, but Lu Shang was still quite cold. Especially the lower parts of his body, his legs were always freezing; Li Sui couldnt feel any warmth from them. Li Sui scooted closer to Lu Shang, trying to give him some warmth. Li Sui was used to the cold since he was still very young, that however gave his body a trait no matter how little he was wearing, hed still be warm. It became too hot under the nket. Li Sui, who was still asleep, couldnt take it anymore, so he moved to the side and curled up there. This action stirred Lu Shang; peoples restraints were often low during sleep, that included Lu Shang. Lu Shang reached his hand out to Li Sui as he frowned, wanting to pull the heater back. Satisfied only when the warm Li Sui was at his chest. As they were hugging each other tightly, the situation when Li Sui woke up the next morning became awkward. Lu Shang was a normal human being, so he would have the physiological reactions a normal male would have in the morning too. Due to his health condition, he led a sexless life, but that didnt mean he had zero sexual drive. Li Sui didnt react to it at first, but when he realized what was urring, cold sweat slid down his forehead. He was petrified, Lu Shang didnt move, so he didnt dare move either. Amidst his confused thoughts were what the owner of the shop saidst night, Pay with your body? God! Of all the things I should be studying, why are these erotic words the only ones I remember? A bitter, Lu Shang woke up too, and his hands moved up to Li Suis forehead. Li Sui had no idea what Lu Shang was thinking. Lewd thoughts began to creep up in Li Suis mind again; he had stayed in that bar for years, of course he had seen a fair share of obscene scenes. Plus, Lu Shang joked about being his sugar daddy before, he began to feel like maybe he should prepare himself for the inevitable Li Sui mustered up all his strength to turn around, raising his head to see Lu Shang face-to-face. But as quickly as the courage came, it disintegrated. Li Sui awkwardly tried to avoid Lu Shangs eyes; he was like a swimming fish as he tried to slide down into the nket. The fish however was caught at the chin by Lu Shangs fast hand. Lu Shang stared at him with eyes that clearly spelled what are you doing. Li Suis slightly lifted up face was red,pletely red. His eyes were always big, he also just woke up, so his ck, shiny pearl eyes looked especially shaky. Seeing Li Sui like this, Lu Shang understood what was happening, heughed. He seldomughed with sound, same goes for crying; most of his smiles were out of politeness. This time Li Sui could sense Lu Shangs breath up close, he sensed that theughter was filled with true warmth and happiness. I will feel guilty. Lu Shang patted Li Suis head, giving him an easy way out. Guilty or not, Li Sui didnt care, but now he was sure. He believed what Aunt Lu said was true. Lu Shang wasnt a person who would just be with anyone, he had high requirements for his partner. If not, he certainly wont still be single with such great personal conditions. The sound of running water came out of the bathroom, Li Sui snugged his head into the covers of the nket like an ostrich. He cringed for his own abruptness, but at the same time, he was calm. It seemed like Lu Shang really wouldnt send him away. The two of them woke upter than usual. Aunt Lu prepared porridge with a porcin pot that morning, shrimp and mussels were added too. The porridge was served with some spring rolls, Li Sui could put the whole roll in his mouth in one go, making his mouth sticky with sweet sauce. Whenever Li Sui ate, he ate it like everything was sweet. It made everyone enjoy the meal more, bringing everyones appetite up. As the chef, Aunt Lu was of course always happy to have this kid around. Her skills were never wasted with Li Sui here. Lu Shang had to control the amount he consumed, so he just had half-a-bowl of porridge and gave the rest to Li Sui. Lu Lao Ban, wont you be hungry if you eat so little? Li Sui asked. Lu Shang wasnt about to exin how more food digestion would burden his heart to Li Sui, so he said, When I was at your age, I ate a lot too. Li Sui tried imagining Lu Shang stuff his face like him; he found it quite impossible. Aunt Lu asked their preferences for lunch, Lu Shang just ordered a few traditional dishes plus a pot of pear juice with syrup. In the past few days, Lu Shang always ate together with Li Sui, he realized that Li Suis taste buds were like that of a kid. Li Sui loved sweet things, he liked desserts and he especially loved pear juice (i), he could drink several cups of those in one meal. T/N: (i) Okay, the author is just ying with Li Suis name here. The pear juice here is written as pear water, which is pronounced as Li Shui, pretty simr in pronunciation. Lu Lao Ban is so considerate. Aunt Lu giggled. Li Sui didnt pick up on that, he just grabbed the spring roll Lu Shang handed him and naturally put it in his own mouth, Will I be a fatty? Lu Shang rubbed the sauce at Li Suis mouth away, Youd look more manly if youre fatter. Aunt Lu left the room knowingly. Today was a holiday, no work and no one interrupted them. They spent a satisfying day in each otherspany. Lu Shang basically spent his free time with books, also resting a little on the chair from time to time. Li Sui on the other hand, held his tablet on hisp to do exercises, he also asionally observed Lu Shang. It would be the Lunar New Years Eve two dayster, Lu Shang didnt care much for holidays, so the Lu family never had a sense of celebration. However, Uncle Yuen asked for a holiday recently, as he just got a grandson. The older a person got, the more dependent they became on family. Lu Shang let him take a few days off without asking anything, he even saw Uncle Yuen off at the station. For the past few days, Lu Shangspanys employee, Xiao Zhao drove him to work. As usual Aunt Lu only prepared lunch on the Lunar New Years Eve. She would still prepare dinner, but leave it in the fridge for Lu Shang to re-heat. She had to be home for a family dinner that day, of course no one could miss that (ii). T/N: (ii) The Lunar New Years Eve also known as the first 30th of the Lunar calendar is a day when all family members gather to have dinner. Its very important in Chinese culture, also why there tends to be traffic jams that day, since everyone have to rush back home. Usually Lu Shang wouldnt feel anything special on this day, it would pass with book reading and working. Yet one more person was in the house with him now, he was seriously pondering whether to go buy some celebration food as the sky began to turn dark. Around dinner time, this tranquility was broken. Lu Shang got a phone call from Yan Ke inviting him to dinner. Li Sui looked at Lu Shang going into his bedroom to change, Li Sui followed, Are you going out? If Yan Ke was inviting him, it must be to talk about the changing of stock ownership. Lu Shang wasnt going to bring Li Sui, but the matters with guns came across his mind; hed feel more at ease bringing Li Sui with him. Yan Ke and Lu Shang were simr in age, their experiences were also simr, but their personalities werepletely different. Yan Ke loved arts, he vowed to be an artist. Yan Ke was also uninterested in the trade; he didnt value the stocks his father left behind either. As such, Lu Shang was able to grasp the chance. The ce they were meeting at was a hot spring resort, it was located up on a mountain. When Lu Shang reached the resort, he found Sun Mao there too. Due to the incident with the 20 million yuan loan, Sun Mao did almost everything Lu Shang asked. Sun Mao helped a lot in persuading Yan Ke to give up the 6% stocks as well. What is Li Yan doing recently? Lu Shang asked while walking inside. Sun Mao nced at Li Sui who was behind Lu Shang, Hes pretty normal recently. I think he opened an international cosmeticspany; he even had a ship to transport merchandise. They began shipment immediately after they got the paperwork. Problems often arose during the period when they werent fully prepared. Lu Shang never approved the Li familys abrupt ways; they had their eyes glued to the sky when they werent ready, falling would just be a matter of time. When they got into the private room, more people were there than they had expected. Yan Ke was sitting in the middle, his hair was a little long and tied to the back in a short tail. You brought a friend? Yan Keughed. I brought him here to thank you. Lu Shang smiled and pushed Li Sui to take out the bag of turtles, Thank you for your daughters toys. Yan Ke paused to think, his gaze focused on Li Sui. Then it dawned on him, that day when Xu WeiLan said he needed to borrow the turtles, it was for Li Sui. Yan Ke always found Lu Shang to be too uptight, so he invited a bunch of his friends here to make it less boring. Yan Ke had too much romanticism in his cells. He also wanted to have his own family so badly, so he got married before the legal age. Yan Ke hated uptight people who didnt have a love life, especially if that person was as good-looking as Lu Shang. Yan Ke had never expected Lu Shang of all people to do something so out of the box. You you are really something when you put your mind to it. That was the only thing Yan Ke managed to say. Lu Shangughed, he said to Li Sui, This is Uncle Yan. Uncle!? No, no, no Yan Ke kept waving his hands. Li Sui smiled slightly and called him, Brother Yan. Oh dear! Yan Ke stood up, he ruffled through his pocket, finally pulling out a stack of US dors. He didnt even count them and just stuffed them to Li Sui, Here, here, red packets. Wha Li Sui was shocked, he never heard that he would get money by just saying Brother Yan. Li Sui turned to Lu Shang hoping to inquire about it. Yan Ke was a stubborn person, if he was giving someone money, then there was no way to return it. In the Yan familys tradition, when a rtive brought their first girlfriend home, theyd have to give that person money. Yan Ke was epting Li Sui as the heir to the Yan family, which had a longstanding rtionship with the Lu family. Lu Shang knew all of this, but he didnt tell Li Sui. He just smiled lightly and nodded, Keep it well. Chapter 7 - Tiger Nurturing Chapter 7: Tiger Nurturing Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantion Yan Ke and Lu Shang conversed while eating. Yan Ke was shocked that this child from the Lu family was a lot different from what he had imagined. Yan Ke waspared to Lu Shang throughout his childhood, but now that they had met, he found Lu Shang to be less boring. It seemed like Yan Ke was blinded by all the rumors, to know a person, youd have to converse with them yourself. Id be at ease if you are the one with Tong Yans stocks. At least Im sure it wont let my father down. Yan Ke poured Lu Shang and himself each a cup of wine, You dont have to say anything, ask and I shall assist you. Lu Shang raised his cup to show his gratitude; he drank the whole cup down. On the subject of letting someone down, we are just so alike. My father died too early, your father wasnt great either. At least I have a daughter, but you Yan Ke was a little drunk; he burped. Looking at Li Sui who was blocking wine for Lu Shang the whole time, he said, If your father knew, hed be furious to deathno, furious to live. His words were not appropriate, but they werent out of malice. Lu Shang seemed to be undisturbed, he just poured himself a cup of hot tea; not giving a reply. After dinner, some of the guests Yan Ke brought wanted a dip in the hot springs. Li Sui had too much alcohol, he was dizzy and stumbled around, almost going into the female hot springs. Yan Kes friends couldnt stop teasing him for it. Yan Ke was a good person, but his choice of friends was bad. Genuine talents came from hard work, but fake talents came from money. Sadly, Yan Kes friends belonged to thetter group. A lot of his friends looked down on the poor, they got their kicks out of looking down on people, someone like Li Sui was exactly right for that. This time around Lu Shang didnt smile, he crouched down to tidy up Li Suis clothes, Youve never been here before? Li Sui shook his head. Lu Shang patiently taught Li Sui. Telling him where the lockers were, and where the changing rooms were. He also told him the procedures in using them, and what he should be aware of. Lu Shang sounded like a parent warning his kid before a school field trip. When you are here, youre a customer. If you have any problems, you can ask the staff for help. If they refuse your reasonable requests or inquiries, you can make aint. Lu Shang continued, If any other customers are troubling you, you can also make aint. Lu Shang was too correct and serious, the others who were just enjoying the show all felt ashamed. At the end, all of them just turned tail and ran, no one daredugh at Li Sui anymore. Lu Shang was always a lowkey person, except for Yan Ke and Sun Mao, no one there knew him. Before Yan Kes friends came, they only heard that Yan Ke was inviting an old monk-like person for dinner, they had no idea who this person was either. After dinner, when they heard from Sun Mao who Lu Shang was, they all wanted to punch themselves in the face, self-loathing hard. But that was of course another separate tale that took ceter. Hot spring water would increase ones blood pressure, Lu Shang naturally didnt go in. Lu Shang sat at the side, looking at Li Sui having fun in the water. When Li Sui finally had enough, Lu Shang scooped him out of the water and brought him home. Before Lu Shang left, Yan Ke heard about the incident and went apologizing to Lu Shang. Lu Shang didntment. Li Sui however justughed and said its fine while waving his hand, his face red and puffed from immersing in hot water for too long. Lu Shang had his own stubbornness in this particr aspect, maybe it had something to do with his own experiences. He could tolerate a poor and depressed person, but he couldnt ept people whock the heart to do better. Just like how people who alwaysughed at others being stupid were usually quite stupid themselves. People who get self-esteem throughughing at others were usually weaker than the ones theyughed at, because only a weak heart required something fake to patch it up. This was also the reason why Lu Shang wanted to help Li Sui so much now, even if he knew his own time was running out. This kid was like a dried-up whale, Lu Shang wanted to know so badly how Li Sui would turn out if he were to give him water; what kind of waves would this whale create? They went past a supermarket on the way home. On its window was a notice, a shutting down notice. Lu Shang wanted to buy something from it before it closed down, so he let the driver go home on his own. This was the first time Li Sui visited a supermarket, he pushed the cart around and found everything so overwhelming. Lu Shang asked what he wanted twice, but he didnt even hear him. Choctes? Chips? Carbonated drinks? Li Sui had a familiar confused look on his face, so Lu Shang just gave up asking altogether. He loaded the cart with food a child would like, that wasnt nearly enough though. Lu Shang asked Li Sui to get a basket and he filled that up as well. When Lu Shang was paying at the counter, Li Sui was staring at the shelf near it. Which one do you want? Take it if you want. Lu Shang reminded him. Li Sui wavered, but picked up a small pack of milk biscuits at the end. This was the first time Li Sui acted for something he yearned toe true, so Lu Shang couldnt help but stare at Li Sui for a while. Lu Shang turned around and said to the cashier, I will have the whole box, thank you. Lu Shang put all the bags into the back of the car, before he closed the car door, he asked, Do you like this? Li Sui held the pack of biscuits in hand and nodded, then he shook his head again. At the end, even he himself was confused, as if he was reminiscing something. Lu Shang didnt ask further, he just focused on driving. When they almost arrived home however, Li Sui spoke. From when I can remember, I always lived in an orphanage. The orphanage was poor, it had a hard time giving all of us three meals a day. When we were really starving, some kids and I would go steal milk powder for food. We would grab a hand full of powder and eat it dry. We hadnt eaten snacks before, so we thought milk powder was the tastiest thing on earth. It was only veryter on did we find out that the milk powders was for the abandon babies left in the orphanage. Li Sui picked up a piece of milk biscuit and smiled, Today, when you brought me to the supermarket, I suddenly found out that there were so many types of snacks. Hearing that Lu Shang felt a bit touched, keeping his eyes on the road, he asked, How were you all these years? His tone didnt sound like he was asking Li Sui, instead it was as if he was asking a rtive whom he had separated from for years. Li Sui paused for a bit and asked, Are you asking me? Lu Shang stared at the road, Hm. Li Sui turned his head to Lu Shangs direction, it seemed like he had to chew over his words a bit, If I were topare it with my life now, then its bad, I guess. After I left the orphanage, I fell into the hands of human traffickers. Then some stuff happened, and I was left at Li Yans bar. I stayed in the bar for three years, then you brought me here. Do you remember anything before you were at the orphanage? Li Sui was taken aback by the question, Before the orphanage? Lu Shang quickly cut the conversation off, he said, Nothing, we are home. After the New Years, it was obvious that Lu Shang became busier, there were a lot of days when Li Sui couldnt see Lu Shang for the whole day. Li Sui took the chance to learn, his growth in all areas was huge. His tutors were changed to follow with his progress, so they were changed quite often too. Except for an educational tutor, Lu Shang also got Li Sui a fitness trainer. Li Sui didnt understand why he needed a fitness trainer, Why do I need fitness training? So that youre healthy. Dont be a sick duck like me. That was what Lu Shang replied. Li Sui looked at Lu Shangs intense gaze when Lu Shang stared at his body, he felt like something was not right about that answer. To Li Sui, Lu Shang looked more like a gardener looking at the blossoms, hoping for something to grow. After training for two months, Li Sui noticed that his regiment was quite different from others. One day he just couldnt stop himself from asking his trainer, Why am I different from them? They are all doing shoulder presses and chests presses already, yet Im still at curls and nks? You guys have different training objectives, so of course you will have different training methods. The trainer said. Different objective? Li Sui asked. Arent you training your abdominal muscles? Doing these will make the lines there more evident. What? Wasnt I training to be healthy? Eh, thats what Lu Lao Ban told you? The trainer had an awkward look as he replied. At the beginning, Lu Shang would still check out Li Sui training from time to time, but he just got too busy, so he couldnt. All the training was left in the hands of the trainer. Li Sui was hard-working too, even without Lu Shang checking up on him; he worked hard. He didnt fall behind others, and the result were manifesting clearly too. As Li Sui grew, Lu Shang realized something, this child actually knew a lot more than he expected. Though if he were to think about the reasons, it wasnt too hard to figure out. Li Sui struggled in the underss for so long, he knew how to hide his talents well. He looked a little stupid and clumsy, but his thoughts were extremely organized and detailed. This innate carefulness of his was forged from years of struggles, it was gradually trained as he tried to survive in all that dirt. Lu Shang focused on how he could unleash that potential, turning those traits into a sharp de in Li Suis hands. Autumn came after Spring; another year had passed in just an instant. Days became longer, another Lunar New Years passed. It was as if spring didnt exist in this city, it felt like the city jumped spring and went straight to summer. It was so freezing a few days earlier when the snow was melting, but now the sun was hanging high, making the weather scorching hot. The stores were also selling shorts, recing the spot that should be for autumn trousers. When Ching Ming Festival arrived, the girls on the street were already wearing stockings and skirts. Leung ZiRui returned from America on this lovely sunny day. The moment he got into the house, he startedmenting how the country was so passionate in weing him back, while hassling for fresh water. Leung ZiRui stayed abroad for a year; he got a lot fatter than before, his face also looked red. Lu Shang couldnt stop himself fromughing, asking if he ate some Jink (i). Leung ZiRui fought back and said that Li Suis change was more drastic, Li Sui looked like he was inted with air or something. T/N: (i) A Chinese fertilizer that made advertisements boasting its effects on nts, when they werepletely false. Comparing yourself to a kid, how bing of you. Lu Shang handed Leung ZiRui a ss of lemon water. Leung ZiRui immediately screamed, Kid? He turned to Lu Shang giving him the eye, which meant to ask if anything special happened in the past year. Lu Shang used a piece of durian to shut Leung ZiRui up, Eat your fruit. Leung ZiRui clicked his tongue as he grumbled how it wasnt fun. Thank you for your care, Dr. Leung. If the dayes when Lu Lao Ban and I have any physical development, you will be the first to know. Li Sui walked down the stairs with one headphone piece in his ear, leaving the other earpiece loose; he looked collected and calm. Leung ZiRui was baffled, he was screaming how bad this was. This kid had jumped ship while he was gone, he was on Lu Shangs side now. At the same time, Leung ZiRui couldnt stop admiring how much a kid could grow in the matter of a year. It was just a blink of the eye, but Li Suis whole aura, even the way he talked waspletely different. Sigh, it seems like I have fallen to the bottom of the food chain. Leung ZiRui said whileparing his own height to Li Suis, he was a bit disheartened. As he had a heavy emotional blow, he sulkily announced for the two of them to go to RuiGe hospital tomorrow morning. I have to go too? Li Sui was training listening skills recently, so he wore a headphone almost everywhere he went. He couldnt stop himself from raising his head as he heard what Leung ZiRui said. In the past year, Li Sui ate a lot and trained a lot, Lu Shang raised him to be healthy and strong. The malnourished skinniness on his face was gone. As Lu Shang forced Li Sui to apply lotion every night, his skin was very smooth and meaty, looking great for pinching. Leung ZiRui walked over to Li Sui and ruffled his hair into aplete mess, he smirked, Yeah you too, I will see how much you have matured. There were two things Chinese people could do way better than foreigners, one was to celebrate any festival like it was valentines day, and another was to celebrate anything with crazy shopping. During Ching Ming Festival, people didnt go to the graves anymore, they went shopping on the streets instead. No matter how much Uncle Yuen pushed the horn, they were still stuck in the same spot. Some shops were handing out lottery tickets for free, and Li Sui scrolled the window down to take one. Li Sui got a lot more nervous than before now, his sharpness was starting to show. Lu Shang was very lenient on him, he almost never limited him on anything. Lu Shang would teach Li Sui some principles in life, but he left the rest to Li Sui himself. After Leung ZiRui finished his examination on Lu Shang, he warned, Be careful, you are basically raising a tiger now, think of the consequences. Lu Shang smiled gently, asking Leung ZiRui not to worry. Lu Shang waspletely ready in raising a tiger, Li Sui was also a good sprout. However, Lu Shang was certain he knew what he brought up, as long as he held Li Suis hands along the way, Li Sui would never threaten him. Li Suis body check-up was simpler than Lu Shangs, after Leung ZiRui took a sample of his blood, Lu Shang let Li Sui go downstairs for breakfast. RuiGe hospital was connected to the biggest public hospital in the city, when Li Sui walked through the corridors, he met an unexpected person Li Yan. Li Yan was wearing all ck clothes, he has a pair of bold sunsses on, leaning on the walls and talking with someone. The one talking with him was a youngdy, she had a slim body. She didnt have makeup on, but she wore a face mask and a pair of sunsses. Actually, they were drawing attention exactly because of what they wore. Li Sui deliberately turned his head to avoid them, but they still saw him. If it isnt Lu Shangs little lover? Li Yan put his hands into his pockets, with a mean tone he said, Why are you running, are you afraid Id eat you up? Li Sui turned around to face Li Yan. Thetter scanned Li Sui, and said with malice, What? He hasnt got bored with you yet? Not seeing Li Sui for a while, his changes were drastic in Li Yans eyes. That made Li Yan extremely unhappy, but that was natural. When Li Sui was at his bar, he was a scared wimpy kid, now at Lu Shangs ce, he became someone so clever looking. It felt as if he gave a useless rock away, but when that person went home and polished it, it was actually a piece of jade. Li Sui learned a lot during his days with Lu Shang, he understood at least a bit of what Li Yan was feeling, that just made him find Li Yan childish though. Li Sui said politely but distantly, Do you need me for something? Tch, what a tone. I am still your ex-boss, you know. Li Yan took the number ticket on thedys hand, Help your bro a bit, get my womans test report for me. Li Sui nced at the woman Li Yan spoke of, thetter however did not look at him, she kept her head down. Li Sui thought Li Yan was selling drugs again or something, but he had no choice, so he took the paper and let the machine scan the barcode on it. Li Sui took the medicine list that came out, he peeked and froze for a bit. Walking back to Li Yan, he asked, What is this for? Abortion. Li Yan didnt even feel like he should hide it. After saying that Li Yanughed and said in a taunting tone, Why are you here? Dont tell me you brought someone here to have an abortion too? Chapter 8 - Assassination Attempt Chapter 8: Assassination Attempt Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantion Li Sui didnt let Li Yans taunt get to him, but when he remembered the poor abandoned babies in the orphanage, he just couldnt stop frowning. Disrespecting life was the thing he just couldnt tolerate. Cant you have some respect for life? Li Sui said bewildered by Li Yans words. Li Yan only found that funny, heughed while saying, Look at how Lu Shang pampered you, you dare talk back to me now? This have nothing to do with Lu Lao Ban, I I raised you for three years, you never thanked me. How many years has Lu Shang had you, and you are already talking for him now? Li Yan cut into Li Sui. Li Sui looked straight into Li Yan, his hands balled into fists. He was used topromising and being passive since childhood, for a long time in his life, he was a person who had no self-thoughts. Li Sui wouldnt deny that he used to be terrified of Li Yan, even now when they met, his first reaction was to run away. But now, standing here, Li Sui just couldnt grasp, he couldnt grasp why he was afraid of Li Yan before. Li Sui slowed his speech, speaking each word clearly, Brother Yan, you gave me food before, I will remember that for my entire life. But even without your food, I dont think I wouldve died either. The one I should be thanking for being alive now, isnt you; being able to stay alive at your ce, I have myself to thank. There was one more sentence which Li Sui didnt say, if he were to be grateful to someone, it would only be Lu Shang. Lu Shang didnt just provide him with food, Lu Shang taught Li Sui what self-respect was and what it was like to actually live. Li Sui suddenly noticed, regarding Lu Shangs care, his feelings had turned from insecurity to normal. It had naturally be his rock, Lu Shang was in Li Suis heart, he would subconsciously protect Lu Shang. Everyone says, to boil a frog, you need warm water (i), Li Sui felt like that frog right now. T/N: (i) Its a saying in Chinese. It basically means if you put a frog in boiling water, it will jump away. However, if you boil it by slowly raising the temperature, it will not jump away, and it will be toote when the water gets boiled. I couldnt find you anywhere, so I was worried youve left. Li Sui heard a familiar voice from behind him. He snapped back from his thoughts and saw Li Yan taking his sses off to greet Lu Shang. Lu Shang wasnt interested in talking, he spoke a few polite words and nned on leaving with Li Sui. Li Yan stepped up and blocked them, Lu Lao Ban, the stocks are still opened to you, Ive saved them up just for you. Li Yan said it like an invitation, but Lu Shang knew he was trying to get the return of his favor, the favor of letting Lu Shang take Li Sui. Li JinYao was a mobster by heart, he thought too much of words and promises, he also saw highly of human rtionships. Like father, like son, as they say. These things were truly useful years ago, everyone was poor back then, so there was less conflict of interest. The times had change now, this is business, personal favors alone couldnt do business. Lu Shang had a lot of feelings in this subject, as Liu XinTian taught him this firsthand. If Lu Shang didnt agree to his proposal, Li Yan really couldnt do anything about it. Sorry, but I dont want to talk about deals today. He was ying dumb, not even leaving any room for negotiating. On the way home, Lu Shang waited for Li Sui to speak first, but he didnt. Lu Shang found it strange, this child always had his thoughts written on his face when facing Lu Shang, but today something was different. Could what Li Yan had said cause this much damage? When it was bedtime, Lu Shang pulled Li Sui to the side of the bed. Ruffling Li Suis hair, he asked what Li Sui was thinking about. Li Sui wanted to speak but stopped, he spoke only after some time of thought, Lu Lao Ban, why are you so kind to me? Li Sui had asked this question before as well, Lu Shang didnt think much of it at the time, but now the question popped up again, and Lu Shang couldnt help but feel a little weird. Lu Shang tried thinking about how Li Sui seemed out of it the whole day, it didnt take him long toe up with the possible reason. What do you want to ask? Li Sui asked very carefully, Is it all because of the contract? Lu Shangs eyes darkened, he fell silent for a while, then he nodded his head. Sadness crossed Li Suis eyes, but it was quickly hidden by Li Sui turning off lights. The paperwork is in my office, you can read it now, I can ask Uncle Yuen to get it for you tomorrow. I dont want to look at it. Li Sui snugged into the nket as he replied. After that day, Li Sui wasnt as close to Lu Shang as before. Though he would still warm Lu Shangs legs when they slept together, and when Lu Shang couldnt finish the food, Li Sui would still eat it all, something was off. It was as if this kid had hidden his tail, crawling back into the protection of his shell in just one night. Lu Shang wanted to talk to Li Sui about it, but he just couldnt find the right time. Tong Yans shareholders meeting had gone on for around two months, finally it ended with a trail of chaos. Lu Shang got his stocks up to 40% with over half of the votes, the change would take effect within one month. Aspensation, he had to take over the housing project at the shore. That project was a double-edged sword. If he did well, it would boost his power over Tong Yan, but if he didnt do it well, it would put Tong Yan in hot water. The project at the shore was basically thest generations problem. Over ten years ago, Tong Yan chose a plot ofnd near the shore, hoping to develop it into a housing estate. Unfortunately, because of a storm and a tsunami, thend was soaked, ruining all the work done there. From that point on, it was as if thend was fighting with them, incidents happened from time to time. There were even rumors that everyone connected to this project would meet a horrific end, along the lines of divorce, if not death. As the rumor spread, no one dare take this project anymore. Lu Shang inspected the plot ofnd with his father before, there werent any problems with thend, the water quality was great too. The only thing possibly bad about this plot ofnd was Fung Shui. Lu Shang was a materialist, his father died of acute heart failure, it had nothing to do with this project. The only problem he had with thisnd was whether it could profit. Whether he believed in the rumors didnt matter, the problem was whether the buyers believed it, that was the most important thing he need to consider when developing housing estates. Regarding thends use, Lu Shang had a meeting with the other executives for the whole day, starting from sunrise to sundown, no suitable proposal was decided. Tong Yan as one of the first corporations in the country, was truly long-lived. However, this longevity caused a lot of problems as well, because of some rulesid down a long time ago, Tong Yan never had any evolutionary changes. Making thepany filled with freeloading corpses, but very little working higher-ups. They sprouted a bunch of rubbish, and at the end we are still the ones who have to deal with this mess. Say, why do we have to pay those rubbish? After the meeting ended, Xe WeiLan said angrily while tidying up the documents. Lu Shang also found this to be a huge headache, as the director, he was the clearest of the corporations frozen state. Every time Lu Shang wanted to push forward a new policy, there were always loads of obstacles that were extremely unfavorable to a corporation. Policies had to change along with the environment. If you couldnt keep up, you would be eliminated. It would be so great if we can change the policies Xe WeiLan muttered, the idea lodged itself into Lu Shangs mind. Lu Shang turned around, asking, What are the conditions? To change thepanys policies, youd need two thirds of all present shareholders voting rights. Xe WeiLan said, To transfer stocks, you only needed to get over half of the votes, to change policies, you will need 17 % more than that. Just getting the 6 % stocks was pushed to now, changing the policies is most likely impossible. Lu Shang fell into deep thought, the stocks he held now was far from two thirds of all shares. To change the policies equaled ripping control from other shareholders, that truly wasnt something he could aplish now. The shareholders wanted money and control; they could tolerate Lu Shang get 6 % more of the shares for money, but they would not let go of their control over Tong Yan for money. Lu Lao Ban, someone is here for you. Uncle Yuen knocked and entered. Lu Shang was in a meeting for the whole day, so he really didnt want to meet with people anymore; he wanted Uncle Yuen to send him away. Then he saw Xe WeiLan give him a weird look, a teasing look to be exact. Lu Shang turned his chair around to see Li Sui standing at the door, smiling at him. This kid was actually quite handsome, the thought creeped up on his mind unsuitably. Why did youe? Lu Shang waved his hand calling him in. Brother Zuo, asked me toe get you. Li Sui continued, Happy birthday. Lu Shang smiled, Thank you. Oh my, I was so busy that I forgot, today is Lu Lao Bans birthday. Xe WeiLan hit the back of his head, Where did Zuo Chao book? Lets go already. I need something to put my tiredness away. Hot spring resort. The hot spring resort was exactly the one they went with Yan Ke, there were a few dishes there that no other ces provide, so they required advanced booking. Plus it was located at a secluded location, the resorts owner also had rtionships with many people, so it was a bit famous amongst politicians and rich people. Are you tired? Li Sui saw Lu Shang rubbing his own forehead in the car. Lu Shang replied, Im okay. Li Sui reached his hand out to hold Lu Shangs, but Lu Shang was one step quicker, he held Li Suis hand and said, Im going to an ind tomorrow, do you want toe with me? Do you need me to go? I cant sleep without someone warming my bed. Lu Shang smiled lightly. The sky dimmed; streetlights shone on Lu Shangs face. Li Suis heart moved, his fingers tightened a bit. When they arrived, all the food was on the table already. Meng XinYou was there too, he handed Lu Shang an expensive wristwatch, saying that it was a present from her father; Lu Shang phoned back to say thank you. Leung ZiRui cried andined to Lu Shang, saying that he had a report to write, so he couldnte. He also said he would apany Lu Shang somedayter. With thepany of a beautifuldy, all the men were quieter than usual. They only booked one room, as they didnt even fill one table. Li Sui looked across the table, thinking how Lu Shang seemed to have a lot of friends and connections, but when it came down to it, he only had a handful of real friends. Lu Shang didnt fancy noisy ces, so all of them just quietly ate, they didnt even have alcohol. The squirrel fish (iii) here tastes pretty good, here try it. Lu Shang got a piece for Li Sui. T/N: (iii) Not a kind of fish, but a Chinese fish preparing method. The fish is cut, making the meat curl out into spikes-like things, then it is deep fried. It looks like a pinecone after its done, so its called squirrel fish. Squirrel fish? Li Sui asked, Then is this squirrel or fish? Try guessing. Zuo Chaoughed at Li Sui, If you guess right, big bro will have alcohol with you. Even if I got it right, theres no wine here. Lu Shang smiled slightly, If you guys want to drink, then drink. Ive been waiting for that all this time. Zuo Chao loved alcohol, he just didnt feel right without alcohol. Zuo Chao prepared red wine already, but since Lu Shang didnt say they could drink, they stayed hidden under the table. Wine from 88. Who wants some? Everyone cheered, Li Sui asked a waiter to open the wine, but no one replied. So Li Sui went out to find a bottle opener himself. You are so caring of him. Meng XinYou said after Li Sui left the room. Are you jealous? Lu Shang asked. Yeah, a little. Meng XinYou admitted willingly. Though they were god sister and god brother to each other, Lu Shang knew a little of Meng XinYous feelings towards him. But both of them knew it was impossible, so they only ever joked about it. Meng XinYou wasnt a person that put too much care in love either, she was from an important family, her role in the family was also important, she knew very well of what her goals in marriage would be. She would sometimes talk about falling in love and stuff, but this was just talk. She didnt really believe in it either. However, sometimes she would imagine, if she were to be born in a normal family, then her perfect husband would probably be someone like Lu Shang. Someone that was elegant and polite, someone caring, but she didnt have that luck, as Lu Shangs affections were all given to someone else. Eh, why is he still not back yet? Zuo Chao got impatient as he waited for the wine to be opened. Lu Shang remembered the time when Li Sui almost went into the female hot springs, he stood up and said, Ill go find him. Just when Lu Shang got to the door, his phone rang; it was from Li Sui. Dont move. Li Sui seemed to be running. Whats wrong? Someones chasing me, they have knives. I think they are after you and me. Li Sui was panting, Ill lead them away for now Lu Shangs nerves tightened, Where are you now? Im at the changing room where you tidied up my clothes before Lu Shang ordered, Stay there, dont move, hide yourself well. Everyone in the room felt that the atmosphere was wrong, they turned to Lu Shang. Zuo Chao stood up, Whats wrong? Changing room, section B. They have knives. After that, Zuo Chao immediately brought some men and rushed out, Lu Shang and Xe WeiLan followed. When they reached the changing room, they heard someone fighting inside. Zuo Chao walked up to the door and kicked it down; he saw a waiter-like person dodging the chair Li Sui threw at him. Zuo Chao used to fight in underground boxing rings, he neutralized the assant with one over the shoulder throw. The man knew he had lost, so he screamed and threw the knife. The direction he threw happened to be towards Lu Shang. Lu Shang! Li Sui jumped out in an instant, he pushed Lu Shang down to the floor. The knife reflected lights of white, it scraped Li Suis arm, making a cut which quickly soaked his sleeve red. Fuck! Zuo Chao was mad, he kicked on the mans bottom, making the man curl up in pain, unable to stand up for a long time. Zuo Chao called for two of his men to pull the assant out, Hit him, Ille back after I get the name of whoever hired him out of his mouth. Are you okay? Lu Shang climbed up from the floor quickly, he pulled Li Suis arm out. The wound wasnt deep, but it was long, so he bled quite a lot. Luckily the knife just scraped past him, if it were to fly straight at him, arge part of the knife might go into Li Suis arm. Xiao Li Zi (iv), are you alright? T/N: (iv) A nickname of Li Sui, remember how pear water is Li Shui and sound like Li Sui. This here is written as little pear, which is calling Li Sui, and Im guessing its said by Zuo Chao, since I dont think Lu Shang would call him that. Im fine. Li Sui didnt feel pain, but he felt weak, though he did bleed a lot, it was most likely shock that caused his flimsy state. When the knife flew towards Lu Shang, he felt his brain fry, rushing towards Lu Shang was basically his instinct. Come in first. Meng XinYou finally reacted to the situation, she quickly tidied up a room for Li Sui and everyone to rest in. Then she found a real waiter to tidy up the mess. Lu Shang brought Li Sui into the room, and in less than two minutes, Zuo Chao returned. Li Suisplexion wasnt good, Lu Shang thought in silence, and asked two of Zuo Chaos men to bring Li Sui to tend to his wounds. After Li Sui left, everyones expression changed. You know who did this? Lu Shangs face went dark. Zuo Chao felt at fault, Li Suis safety was always his responsibility. Recently, there werent any problems, so he let his guard down, he didnt think something like this would happen here in the hot spring resort of all ces. He sneaked in when the guards changed shifts. Zuo Chao rubbed his face, that man was beaten half dead by him already. The name he got was a familiar but unexpected one. Its Li Yan. Blue veins could be seen on Li Yans forehead, he was furious, We were guarding Liu XinTian all this time, and forgot about Li Yan. Come to think of it, it seems like I have to buy Chan Zhaungs (v) stocks now. Lu Shang thought of something else. T/N: (v) Chan Zhaung is the name of Li Yans newpany that sells cosmetics, thepany that Li Yan has been pestering Lu Shang to buy stocks from day one. In Chinese the characters hinted female cosmetics. It might seem like the knife was pointing at Li Sui, but it was actually a warning to Lu Shang. Li Yan was still hung up on the favor he did for Lu Shang, he wont stop until he got the money. The only problem was if he just wanted money, or if he wanted to pull Lu Shang into hot water. Chan Zhaung is definitely a shadypany. Tong Yan finally got out of all the shady things a few years ago. If we stepped into it again, it doesnt only mean all our hard work before will go down the drain, but also means we would have a really hard time getting clean again. Xe WeiLan said. I have some information here; I was going to talk about it after dinner. Meng XinYou said and attracted everyones gazes. ording to my sources, the Li family is having financial problems. Last year, Li JinYao bought a ship for shipping merchandises, that ship sank at a river at the beginning of this year. They have a huge debt in their hands, their loaning period at the bank is alsoing to an end. I overheard the people working for my dad, they said the banks were preparing for debt consolidation. A ship sinking could cost them that much? The Li family should have enough money to handle that, right? Zuo Chao asked. Lu Shang scoffed lightly, his voice had zero temperature in it, Of course, thats because they were shipping something else. Meng XinYou nodded, I heard that after the ship sank, a bunch of dead fish floated up downstream. How many illegal drugs did that take? Is Li JinYao crazy? Zuo Chao said. The Li familys money will deplete, what they did will be discovered sooner orter. Plus the scandals with Li Yan ying with female actors and idols ising out recently, those will cost them a lot too. No matter what, you definitely cant have anything to do with Chan Zhuang. I think they must be quite desperate to try attacking us like this. Meng XinYou said. So, from current information, Id say the chances of themcking money is bigger. Xe WeiLan said. Lu Shang nodded, Problems that can be solved with money arent problems. We can just give them some money for now, calm them first, and let them slowly die out. The problem is Meng XinYou looked around the room, in whose name do we give them money? That meant if the scandal came out, this person may have to face the legal consequences as an aplice or buyer. Moreover, he must not have any legal rtionships with Tong Yan or Lu Shang, plus he had to not throw the me back at Tong Yan or Lu Shang. Everyone had one such person in mind, the second Meng XinYou finished speaking. Considering said person just saved Lu Shang and was injured, pushing said person out as a scapegoat was simply too heartless. Xe WeiLan chewed on his words, then pretended to analyze the situation, he said, First of all, we need to make sure this has absolutely nothing to do with Tong Yan. As such everyone here can be excluded. The next thing is, that person needs to be loyal, he cannot be bought by anyone, and wont stab back at us Lu Shang cut him off, You can stop speaking now. Everyone raised their heads to look at Lu Shang, he paused. With a low voice, he said, Ill consider it, Ill tell you my decision tomorrow. Chapter 9 - Their Stances Chapter 9: Their Stances Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantion When they finished dealing with everything and Lu Shang finally reached home, it was in the middle of the night. The second Lu Shang walked in; he saw Li Sui lying face down on the sofa, one of his arms was hanging out. He hadnt changed his clothes yet, under the bloodied shirt was Li Suis strong back. Li Sui had grown a lot; he was basically a grown man when looking at his body size. As Li Sui exercised a lot, one could see the muscles on his arms. Lu Shang examined Li Suis arm, it was bandaged and cleaned already. On the table were a few capsules of anti-inmmatory medicine and a cup of water, the water had turned cold already. Lu Shang lightly hit Li Suis shoulder a few times, he didnt wake up. When he checked Li Suis temperature, he found Li Suis forehead was hotter than usual; he had a fever. Lu Shang immediately called Leung ZiRui, asking him toe over. The person on the other side of the phone was probably asleep, he sounded tired, Are you sick? Not me, the little guys wound might be infected. He has a fever. Leung ZiRui gave a light Hm, he said like a ghost, I understanding Lu Shang hung up the phone, he looked down to find Li Sui awake. Li Sui was looking at him, his eyes clear and shiny, perhaps due to the fever, his face was a little red. The doctor ising, be patient. Lu Shang seldom used such a soft tone when speaking. Li Sui only smiled, and he fell asleep after closing his eyes again. Lu Shang was taken aback by the weird smile, he felt like Li Sui was teasing him somehow. But very quickly he realized, there was no way Li Sui had the guts to tease him, he probably wasnt conscious either, the fever must had fried his brain. He didnt want to bother Aunt Lu at this hour, so Lu Shang acted as a caretaker for once. He got Li Sui up to his shoulder, bringing him to the bedroom. Lu Shang cleaned Li Suis body gently, then helped him change and put him onto the bed. Li Sui had lost quite an amount of blood, so he might be a bit sensitive to the cold. The moment Li Sui touched the nket, he subconsciously snugged in, almost like a turtle. Lu Shang just suddenly found Li Sui funny like this, he himself found this thought odd as well. However, this happiness didnt reach his mouth, the forming smile quickly receded. The problem with Li Yan wasnt over yet, Xe WeiLan and the others were waiting for his answer. When the sun rose again, he would have to hide all his hesitation, and make the best decision in everyones eyes. The fucking most annoying thing in life was when the right choice went against the choice you wanted. Sounds came from downstairs, after a while Leung ZiRui climbed up the stairs with steps as heavy as a corpse. I left for how long? And so many things happened. Leung ZiRui had two huge eyebags under his eyes. Lu Shang moved away from the side of the bed, letting Leung ZiRui examine Li Sui, his face wore no expression. Hes fine, his wounds werent big either. Ill give him an injection. After some sweating and a good nights sleep, he will be alright tomorrow. After Leung ZiRui finished examining Li Sui, he took out a syringe and administered it to Li Sui. Feeling the pain, Li Sui muttered something in his sleep, but he didnt wake up. Will the wound leave a scar? Lu Shang asked out of the blue. Leung ZiRui had a face that said he didnt care. He then said, Whats so bad about a scar, hes a guy Oh, you feel guilty, dont you? Do you want me to get some medicine for removing scarster? Lu Shang nodded, he nced at Li Sui, then he sat down on a chair and leaned backwards. After a long while, he said tiredly, I think I might have done something wrong. Leung ZiRui said, Your heart is too soft, if you cant bring yourself to do it in the end, then you should never have gotten involved with him. My heart is soft? Lu Shang turned back to look at Leung ZiRui, he stopped for a while and said, no one has ever described me like that. Dont you think you are really hesitant now? You werent like this before. Lu Shang fell into silence. Never mind, go to bed. Do you know what time it is now? Leung ZiRui was too tired, he nced at his wristwatch and said, Your health deteriorates every time you dont sleep, you know? Lu Shang ignored him, he rubbed his forehead, as if he had a lot on his mind. Leung ZiRui put the tools away, he sighed. His friend was great at every aspect, but his moral principles were too high. In uglier words, he was too rigid. As someone working in business, that wasnt an advantage. When he first knew Lu Shang was going to take over Tong Yan, he worried if Lu Shang could handle it. Tonight, when Zuo brought people to me for treatment, I heard him say something about todays incident. He said you didnt want Li Sui to take the mess with Chan Zhuang, even he saw through you. This mess had nothing to do with Li Sui. Lu Shang, you think too highly of yourself. You arent a saint. Hearing that, Lu Shang raised his head, the arteries were visible in his eyes. You should have known this day woulde when you took him in. The two of you have opposing stances from the beginning, do you understand? Lu Shangs voice sank, I know. Leung ZiRui knew Lu Shang understood, so he stopped and changed the topic, Theres another thing, I noticed a lot of strangers roaming around in RuiGe hospitals office, its still unclear who they are. I will arrange more staff in each shifts, you should be more careful of your surroundings too. Im going to America to hand in a report the day after tomorrow, Ill be back at the end of the month. If you have any problems before that, go find my uncle. Lu Shang nodded, he stood up to see Leung ZiRui off, but the moment he stood up, he felt dizzy. He couldnt bnce himself, Leung ZiRui was quick, he held onto Lu Shang, saying seriously, Damn, whats wrong? Lu Shang shook his head, Nothing, Im just tired, Ill get better once I have some sleep. When Leung ZiRui left, he was still very worried, he kept nagging Lu Shang about what he should and should not do. Leung ZiRuis upational habits all came out at once, giving Lu Shang a headache. Lu Shang closed the car door for Leung ZiRui himself, hoping to get the nagging buddha away. Lu Shang was about to go to the ind for inspection soon, he couldnt fall ill at such a delicate time. Lu Shang went back into the house and got to his bedroom; he heard some movements inside the room. Pushing the door open, he saw Li Sui extending his hand to reach the cup of water on the bedside table. Because of the wound, it seemed like he didnt have enough strength to get it. Lu Shang walked over and pressed the person back to the bed. Seeing that the water was cold already, he poured it out and exchanged it with warm water. Li Sui was extremely thirsty; he drank two full sses of water. Lu Shang measured his temperature again, his fever was persisting, but he was awake now. Li Sui was still young, his body was very healthy to begin with, plus he seldom took medicine. His body had low resistant to medicines, so Leung ZiRuis injection had a strong effect on him. Does it still hurt? Li Sui shook his head; he patted the part of the bed beside him. The meaning was obvious, he was asking Lu Shang to rest too. Lu Shang hesitated for a while, then he took his coat off andy down. I overheard a little of what Dr. Leung said. The two of themy t on the bed, Li Sui turned to his side. Li Sui noticed, in this position, he could just reach his hand out and pull Lu Shangs head to his shoulder. What are you saying? Lu Shang didnt sound too happy. Im willing, if it can help you, Im willing to do it. Li Sui climbed up a bit, he looked at Lu Shang from above, seriousness could be seen in his eyes. Lu Shang scoffed lightly, What are you willing to do? You dont even know what it is. I Im tired, lets sleep. Lu Shang raised his hand to turn off the lights. Li Sui found Lu Shangs finger under the nket, he pinched it lightly. There were still things he wanted to say, things he wanted to confess. In this atmosphere, at this ce, perhaps it was a good chance, but those words turned to the back of his mind, just like a broken gramophone in a ball, not a single note yed. In the silence of the night, Li Sui felt a shred of hate in his heart, hate for his own uselessness. What Lu Shang said wasnt wrong, he knew nothing. The things Li Sui had, Lu Shang might not care for, and the things Lu Shang wanted, Li Sui couldnt get them to him. Even a Im willing just now, or even a Im willing to do anything, how much did those each Lu Shang? There were so many possible recements for Li Sui. Vows that sounded overly childish, they were like a nk check. There was so little Li Sui could give, while Lu Shang had given him so much inparison. Li Suis efforts were too meaningless in the big picture. Holding Lu Shangs credit card and saying he would foot the bill, Li Sui already made that foolish jokest year, he wont do that again. The sun came out, beside Li Sui were rhythmic breaths. Li Sui wasnt sleepy anymore, he was covered in sweat, his neck was especially ufortable. However, he didnt want to wake the person beside him, so he justy there, not budging. That was until Lu Shangs phone rang. Before Lu Shang went to bed, he would always turn his phone to silent mode, but he must had forgotten due to how hectic yesterday was. The time when Lu Shang slept was irregr, but he would always wake up at half past seven sharp, sometimes earlier but neverter. It was eight in the morning now, so naturally he should be at the dinner table already. Li Sui called out to Lu Shang with a light voice, but Lu Shang didnt wake up. Lu Shang was slightly frowning, his face pale. Li Sui remembered the things Dr. Leung reminded Lu Shangst night, so he turned Lu Shangs phone to silent mode. Li Sui sneaked out of bed to take a shower. The fever came in a hurry, but it was also gone quickly enough. After some intense sweating, the fever was all gone now. After he finished his shower, Li Sui saw Lu Shangs phone rang the third time. Li Sui heard an rm ring in his mind. Tong Yans employees were experienced, they knew to call Uncle Yuen as a backup, if it wasnt something extremely important, they would never bomb the phone with calls like this. Lu Shang seemed to have sensed that somehow, he slowly opened his eyes. Li Sui almost never saw Lu Shang droopy like this, it was as if ayer of fog was covering his eyes, making them look hazy. Li Suis heart shook. The next second those eyes fell onto Li Sui; he immediately retracted his thoughts and gaze. He picked the phone up and gave it to Lu Shang, It rang three times already. Lu Shang propped himself up, his elbow pulled on the sleeping robe he was wearing, revealing his slightly sharp shoulder. Li Sui paused and turned his head away ufortably. Lu Shang was staring at the screen of his phone, so he didnt notice Li Suis little reaction. He took the call while walking to the shower room, he said, Whats wrong? The one on the other side of the phone said something, it made Lu Shang stop his footsteps, I see, Iming. Li Sui had no idea what had happened, but Lu Shang left in a hurry, skipping his breakfast altogether. When Li Sui went to give the clothes Lu Shang changed out of to Aunt Lu, he noticed that Lu Shang had forgotten to bring his wallet and even his identification card, he even left his phone. Ever since Aunt Lu knew Lu Shang and Li Sui were sleeping in the same room, she had never entered the room while they were there. All the clothes that needed washing were brought to Aunt Lu by Li Sui, she also only cleaned their room when everyone was out, so she didnt notice Lu Shang left those things behind either. Li Sui stood at the door, he looked at the dark clouds covering the sky, he had a really bad feeling. Aunt Lu, do we have another car at home? I want to go find him. Chapter 10 - Causing Trouble Chapter 10: Causing Trouble Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantion The driver, Xiao Zhao, drove the car all the way to Tong Yan, Li Sui was shocked when he got there. This ce didnt have its normal orderliness anymore, in exchange there were a bunch of elderlies at the entrance. They had banners with words like, ck hearted merchants, return our hard-earned money, God will punish liars or Die, Tong Yan liars There were all sorts of banners, and around them were scores of reporters with cameras. Li Sui had never seen something like this before, in that instant he was mortified. When their car drove in, some elderly people surrounded them, some threw things, some hit their car. Some eveny prone on the ground, blocking their car from driving forward. They only managed to drive in after the guards pulled them away. During themotion, Li Sui wanted to get out of the car, but Xiao Zhao stopped him. Xiao Zhao said Lu Shang specifically told him not to let Li Sui out of the car, he also asked him to bring Li Sui safely to the parking lot on the second floor. Li Sui felt warmth and worry in his heart at the same time. On one hand, he felt warmth from the fact that Lu Shang worried about him even when he was so busy; on the other hand, he was worried about these people here, they seemed hard to deal with, but at the same time Li Sui couldnt help Lu Shang. On the way, Xiao Zhao exined what had happened to Li Sui. Tong Yan corporation had a subsidiarypany that did P2P finance, thatpany was under fire. Thatpanys investors heard news of its problems and came here protesting today. For people working in finance, just hearing P2P would exin everything, but Li Sui didnt know what that was. Xiao Zhao didnt really know how to exin it fully either, so he tried to give a basic exnation. P2P finance was something like a tform, people whocked money to start a business will put their cases up the tform, while those with money would invest. Because the turnout was quick and high, a lot of retired elderly people liked it. Amongst these people, many were unable to differentiate between good investments and bad ones. They heard someone got a lot of money after investing, so they put all of their savings in the tform, ignoring the fact that high turnouts always had high risks. At the beginning, when they invested, they might have gotten some money out of it, so even those who were skeptical jumped all in too. However, that didnt persist. Just recently this month, many who invested in P2Ppanies found that the interest wasnt paid back to their ount. The tform gave all sorts of exnations to calm the masses, but they couldnt stop the situation from deteriorating. In the end, some people who invested in other P2Ppanies didnt even get their principal value back. Tong Yans subsidiarypany was called Tong Xin, it was established by Liu XinTian. Lu Shang didnt see a future for this business, so he never took part in it. A subsidiarypany was different from a branchpany, they did business separately, their debts werent connected to each other either. Hence this should have nothing to do with Lu Shang, Tong Yan also didnt have the responsibility to deal with Tong Xins problems. However, all of these in the ears of the elderlies were like excuses. Actually, there was a lot of news saying the economy this year was bad. Plus, a lot of P2Ppanies bailed this year, so the elderlies were all very worried to begin with. Tong Xin was already one of the better P2Ppanies, even though the amount of bad debts were rising, thepany was still functioning smoothly. As long as they got through this period of time, and the economic slumps were over, everything should return normal. But justst night, someone spread the rumor that Tong Xin was going to shut down, the higher-ups were making preparations to take the money and flee. It was as if the rumor grew wings and spread across all the elderly people. At five this morning, the guards found the windows of a car broken in Tong Yans parking lot. Less than an hour after that, scores of elderly people went to thepany door, saying they wanted their money back. Xe WeiLan was quick to react, he greeted all the major newspanies out there, making sure that even if these reporters filmed anything, they wouldnt get out easily. When Lu Shang arrived, the people outside already protested for a long time. They were still old people, so there was a limit to their strength. Plus, the weather was bad, it was about to rain, so the atmospheric pressure was low. Everyone sat on their little stic chairs, looking like they wouldmit suicide if they didnt get their money back today. Lets not talk about howTong Xin is doing now, but even if thepany went bankrupt, it had nothing to do with director Lu. Why are they protesting here at Tong Yan? Xiao Zhao drove the car while saying, Also, let me tell you, these people gathering here, they have everything prepared, even huge banners and chairs. No matter how you look at it, they have been prepping this for a while already. Li Sui didnt know what Liu XinTian had nned, but Lu Shang knew very clearly. The only thing was, Lu Shang didnt expect Liu XinTian would rather side with an outsider to attack him. Is director Liu not here yet? Lu Shangs face was dark, everyone in the conference room fell silent. Things had escted to this point, even if no one said it, everyone knew who was behind this. Director Liu probably wonte, he asked Li JinYao to ship some stuff early on this year, I heard those sank with the ship as well. A newwyer they hired said. Xe WeiLan looked like he was about to explode, From what I see, Liu XinTian withheld the money himself to trip us! Only Xe WeiLan dared to say that, even though everyone knew so in their hearts. How did they know the rtionship between Tong Yan and Tong Xin? They even came here in the morning of all times; someone must be directing them. Liu XinTian knows Tong Yan is trying to get clean, our reputation is especially important now. He deliberately chose this time to cause trouble, the problem with the ship could be resolved so easily, but now Say, you dont think Liu XinTian really took the investors money away and ran, right? When Li Sui walked into the conference room, it was to the chaos of bickering. He brought a sandwich and yogurt, but seeing the atmosphere, he didnt take them out, he hid them behind his back. Outside the windows, a huge storm was brewing. The people downstairs began moving and rioting again. Lu Shang frowned, he knew things couldnt stay like this, he discussed with a few others to calm the protestors first. All of the protestors were elderlies, if any of them got hurt or worse, they would have a bigger problem in their hands. Li Sui sat quietly on a chair by the door, outside the conference room. He didnt say a word; he couldnt help either. However, staying here, guarding here, it made him feel better. After Li Sui visited thepany a few times, a lot of people knew him, some employees even greeted him. Li Sui tilted his head to look inside, he saw Lu Shang talking with some people, he was frowning and had a serious look on his face. After a while, it seemed like they had reached an agreement, they walked out of the room in a hurry separately, Li Sui naturally followed. Lu Shang assigned duties to four people, one of the higher-ups who was close to Lu Shang was assigned to control the situation inside thepany. Xe WeiLan and an executive director went to negotiate with the protestors. Thewyer who bravely pointed this incident as Liu XinTians doing was to talk with the police. Apart from them, Lu Shang called Zuo Chaos people to mix into the protestors just in case. The police dispatched people to the scene very early on, but they couldnt do anything to the protestors either, they were elderly people after all. So after they talked with the protestors and failed, they were just standing around, doing nothing. But you couldnt really me the police, after all if anything happened, they didnt want to be held responsible. Lu Shang left the conference room, that was when he saw Li Sui. The two of them werent far from each other, but not very close either, just about at half-an-arms length from each other. When the lift opened, Lu Shang waited for a while, after all the people were gone, Lu Shang turned around to face Li Sui. The seriousness on his face were gone, it was reced by a light smile, Were you scared? Li Sui shook his head, he took the sandwich and yogurt out, You should eat something. Lu Shangs gaze went to the food in Li Suis hands, he took them. Lu Shang wondered how long Li Sui had been waiting there, even the yogurt was a little warm. After working for the whole morning, he should be hungry, but for some reason looking at food right now just made him dizzy and nauseous. Seeing Li Sui look at him with wide eyes, he forced himself to take a sip of the yogurt. Im not hungry, you have that. But the sandwich, that he couldnt handle, so he just pushed that to Li Sui. Seeing that Lu Shang really couldnt eat it, he didnt force him. Li Sui quickly finished the sandwich. When they got out of the lift, Li Sui stood a few steps behind Lu Shang. His hands were in his pockets, arms were a little distance away from his body, defending with his arms in front. Of course, Lu Shang noticed that, but dealing with this was more pressing, so he didnt put much thought in Li Suis movements. Disrupting normal business, this is illegal, do you people know that? The moment they walked out, Xe WeiLans voice could be heard. Xe WeiLan had worked as a defender in court for years now, he had a very loud voice, plus he was great with his words. The female executive director was behind him, one ying the good cop, and one ying the bad cop. For the ones who were rash, they calmed them through being sympathetic; and for those who were calm, they reasoned with them. That was actually quite effective in the long run. The olddy in front was tired, after being reasoned with like that, she began to calm down too. She conversed with some of herrades, after all the only thing they wanted was money, it wasnt like they wanted to cause trouble. But at that moment, a bald old man stood up, screaming, Stop your stupid stalling tactics, they might work on those women, but it wont work on me. I checked on the inte, Tong Xins boss is yourpanys huge shareholder. Call yourpanys higher-ups out, if we dont get the money today, we will sleep here! Yeah! Were not scared of them! How could you guys scam us old folks money, do you people have a conscience? Xe WeiLan was furious how all his efforts seemed to be foiled, the fury was about to boil over. Lu Shang, who was on the sides, seemed to have saw something, he stopped Xe WeiLan, Allow me. Li Suis face changed, he rushed up to Lu Shang, following him closely. Lu Shang on the other hand was a lot calmer, he walked down the stairs slowly. His voice was deep, it was also maic, it sounded even deeper listening from afar, Everyone, please let me have a few words. The old bald man who jumped out early narrowed his eyes and looked at Lu Shang. When their gazes met, a speck of evasiveness were in his eyes. When all of you invested, you signed a contract, remember? It clearly stated when the contract will be over, when the interests will be given, and when the principal value will be returned. Yes? When Lu Shang began speaking, everyone quiet down subconsciously. Even the elderly sensed it, they sensed that this person was different; he sounded like a leader of sort. All of them stopped talking and listened attentively. What about the money? Where is our interest this month? The bald person screamed again, this time however, no one followed suit. Tong Xin is an upright and legalpany, even if it went bankrupt, it will still return all of your money and clear up all the debts. Moreover, its still properly functioning now. Lu Shang continued in a steady pace, Everyone came here today wanting your savings back. I understand your plights; that was the money you earned from an entire life of hard work. Just a few simple sentences, and one of the protesters began crying, maybe what Lu Shang said was dead on. How about this, actions are worth a lot more than words. Lu Shang continued, Everyonee in and register. Today Ill do right by all of you, Ill give all of you the outstanding interests first. Everyone paused at the sentence, even Xe WeiLan was shocked. Lu Shang was going to take money out of his own wallet to deal with Liu XinTians mess? They never talked about this during their conference. Perhaps it was too sudden, none of the protesters budged. A sharp ray of lightning came shing down across the sky, thunder roared, it was going to rain soon. All the protestors were discussing amongst themselves, Lu Shang signaled Xe WeiLan and the executive director secretively. Li Sui was tall; it didnt take him long to see that the bald man was gone. The female executive director walked up while everyone was in a panic, Everyone, please dont be in a rush. Even if you want to get the principal before the contracted date, you will need to do it ording to the system. You guys wont aplish anything by causing trouble. Now that director Lu had promised to give the money back, we wont leave anyone out. Since its going to rain soon, I invite all of you toe in. Lets sit down and talk, we will have a look at your contracts and register them. Lets see how much money Tong Xin owed you, we will go negotiate with director Liu. Everything will be done in ordance with thew, how about that? Everyone satisfied when they heard contracts and legal procedures. They looked around and found that the leaders were nowhere to be seen, so they were all like leaking balloons, they all looked disheartened. From what had gone down, Li Sui understood what happened, just vaguely, but he understood These people didnt have contracts, they probably werent even Tong Xins investors. Li Sui felt a fire like difort in his heart, the fire was raging in him. Lu Shang walked up the stairs and said something to his assistant. Thetter nodded and turned left the building. After a while, a few police cars drove to the building. They first asked all the reporters to leave, then they brought the old people to the police cars. When the people began to clear out, a ck Mercedes-Maybach drove slowly to thepany, it stopped outside. The timing was just so exact. Liu XinTian looked like he was in a hurry, he rushed up the stairs and said, I heard there was a problem here in Tong Yan, whats wrong? Life was truly like a drama, acting was everything. If Li Sui had fangs, hed be baring his fangs, readied to bite right now. Sadly, he could only channel all of his anger into his eyes, he stared at Liu XinTian furiously. Perhaps Liu XinTian sensed Li Suis unfriendly gaze, he looked back at Li Sui. Lu Shang butted in and said, Director Liu, you have two options. One, sell Tong Xin to me, and Ill invest in Chan Zhuang. Two, invest in Chan Zhuang in the name of Tong Xin. Liu XinTians face changed, the fake nervousness was gone, instead ayer of darkness surfaced. Liu XinTian had calcted this though, but he didnt think Lu Shang was even clearer in this n than he was. Liu XinTian wanted to threaten Lu Shang with Tong Xin, but instead Lu Shang used it to ckmail him. Liu XinTian wanted money and control over Tong Yan, but neither of those were easy to obtain. He cooperated with Li Yan and did this just so that he could milk money out of Lu Shang. Tong Xin had billions of investors money in it, selling thepany was like cutting Liu XinTians flesh, hed never agree to this. However, he knew what situation Chan Zhuang was in, so he also knew that he shouldnt get involved with it. What if I refuse both? He asked with a deep voice. Lu Shang made a regretful expression, Well, the merchandise on the ship will probably go on the newspaper. Liu XinTian didnt argue any longer, he smirked a little and scanned Lu Shang. His expression was dark but at the same time d, Grandson Lu (i), youve grown a lot in recent years. You even dare intervene with my business now. T/N: (i) They are not rted by blood, but Liu XinTian might see himself as Lu Shangs fathers god brother, hence Lu Shang could be considered his grandson. Lu Shang stared at Liu XinTian with an expressionless face; no emotions were in his eyes either. Very well, you are way stronger than your father. Lu Shangs eyes were dim, he didnt reply. Humph. Liu XinTian nced at him,ughing coldly, he turned around and left. Rain finally fell from the sky, it was weaker than expected, just loud thunder but light rain (ii). The protestors who were here just a while ago were all gone, only leaving behind a fewughable banners on the muddy, wet ground covered with shoe marks. T/N: (ii) It is a saying in Chinese, it usually means that something or someone sounded big and strong but in fact was weak and not threatening. Here, I believe its hinting that Lu Shang might put on a brave face in front of his enemies, but he was always weak and frail. Li Sui. Lu Shang suddenly called out to him. Li Sui raised his head, seeing Lu Shang standing in front of the stairway with his body leaning slightly forward. Lu Shang didnt budge from where he stood. Li Sui rushed towards Lu Shang when called, thetter abruptly turned around to Li Sui and quickly ced his head on Li Suis shoulder. Li Sui froze, he stood with his back straight, not daring to move. Li Sui was taller than Lu Shang by about a heads length, it was just the right height for Lu Shang to lean on. Yesterday, you said you were willing to do anything, was that true? Lu Shang said with a meek voice. Li Suis eyes widened in distress; he felt the weight on his shoulder increasing. Subconsciously he took a step back, but quickly, he stood back straight again. It was as if Lu Shang couldnt stand up, and he had to put all his weight on Li Suis shoulder. Li Sui reached out his hand to Lu Shangs, his brain shocked; Lu Shangs hands were trembling. Li Sui listened carefully; it didnt take him long to realize how erratic Lu Shangs breaths were. Li Sui calmed down as quickly as humanly possible, holding Lu Shangs ice-cold hands, he said, Yes? Are they all gone? Lu Shangs voice was shaky. Li Sui looked around, there were a few people looking at them, Lu Shangs female assistant wanted toe over too. Li Sui raised his head to look at those people, all of them pretended they saw nothing and disappeared with umbres in the rain. They are all gone now. Lu Shang was putting almost all of his weight on Li Sui, his tone had a hint ofughter in it, I cant walk, let me lean on you. You Whats wrong? Li Sui held him in his arms in a frenzy. Lu Shang closed his eyes, thest bit of blood left his face, it was pale. He only said two words, heart hurts. Chapter 11 - The Surgery Chapter 11: The Surgery Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations In the first half of Li Suis life, he had never heard someone talk about matters regarding life and death so lightly. Just like when people watched movies where people hung themselves, people would often feel something at their necks too. When Li Sui heard Lu Shang, he clearly felt something cut his heart open, it hurt so much. In his mind were all kinds of screaming, but he was exceptionally calm, using one hand to hold Lu Shang and the other to reach for the phone. Uncle Yuen was called, and Li Sui basically had to pick Lu Shang up to get him to the car. They drove to Rui Ge Hospital, the doctors didnt say anything and pushed Lu Shang straight into the operating room. Prepare for first aid treatment. Li Sui only heard that and was separated from Lu Shang by the closing door. Buzzing sounds echoed through the hallway, Li Sui was panting heavy breaths. He lowered his head and rubbed his face, not sure if it was his sweat or the rain. Li Sui was only wearing a shirt. He was in a rush, blood seeped out of the wound on his arm when he wasnt paying attention. It began to soak the sleeve of his shirt, mixing with the rain. Not many people passed the hallway, it was so quiet that Li Sui was positive he could hear his own roaring heart. Li Sui didnt feel like sitting down, nor liked the idea of standing still, so he walked in a circle outside the operating room. Just then, Uncle Yuen walked in with a receipt in hand, he saw Li Sui and paused for a moment. Uncle Yuen. Li Sui nodded his head politely. Why are you still here? Uncle Yuen walked over to Li Sui, We dont need you here, go home and get some rest, Ill call Xiao Zhao to drive you home. Li Sui stood still, Hishis disease, is it serious? Uncle Yuen looked like this was difficult for him to talk about, he said, You should ask Lu Lao Ban yourself when he wakes up. Im just worried. Li Sui said with a powerless voice. Uncle Yuen nced at the bleeding wound on Li Suis arm. Remembering the little things Li Sui did on the way to the hospital, the care Li Sui had given Lu Shang, Uncle Yuens voice softened, This is an old problem. It was terrifying and close every time, but he also bounced back every time. The moment Uncle Yuen began talking about Lu Shangs disease, he sighed, He himself had a lot of experiences in the disease, us worrying wont do him any good. Just believe in him, thats all we can do now. Li Sui stared at Uncle Yuen, feeling sourness in his heart. No wonder Lu Shang didnt sound like a person who was sick, it wasnt the first time already. Li Sui didnt know how Lu Shang managed to hang on all these years. The door of the operating room opened, out came a middle-aged man wearing a surgical gown. He took his surgical mask off, behind it was a face simr to that of Leung ZiRui. Uncle Yuen handed the man the receipt he was holding, they talked for a while, in the conversation were a bunch of professional words. Li Sui didnt understand a word, the only thing he could do was stare at the huge blood stain on the mans gown. Lu Shang was perfect in Li Suis heart, he was forever elegant and polite, he maintained a low profile and was reserved. If humans were stored artifacts, Lu Shang would belong in the most precious showcasing shelf. Li Sui couldnt handle the thought, how could things like surgery and bleeding happen to someone like that? Feeling the gazes that fell on him, Li Sui raised his head. The doctor nced at Li Sui, then he looked back at Uncle Yuen, it seemed like they had reached a consensus. The doctor went back into the operating room, while Uncle Yuen went over to Li Sui, bringing him to the emergency room. Re-bandaging the wound didnt take long. Li Sui was young, his body healed quickly. The nurse wanted to hook Li Sui up with a bag of saline, but Li Sui refused. At the end, Li Sui only received an anti-inmmation injection. Uncle Yuen was waiting at the door, after the treatment was finished, he walked Li Sui out of the hospital. Xiao Zhao was waiting in the car outside. Li Sui listened to the pattering of raindrops, he turned back and asked Uncle Yuen, When will he wake up? I think at least tomorrow. Li Sui asked, Will there be someone to take care of him? There will be nurses, caretakers, and all the doctors here know him. You can go home at ease. Li Sui was still worried, after thinking for a long while, he opened his mouth, Uncle Yuen. Can I stay here and wait for him to wake up? The difficult expression returned on Uncle Yuens face, this time Li Sui didnt wait for Uncle Yuen to speak, he said, I can apany him and talk with him. I also have the strength to carry him, he wont be mad if I was there. Li Sui lowered his head, then adding one more sentence, Also, I think, he might not want the nurses to touch him. Uncle Yuen didnt feel right making Li Sui leave after he said those words. He knew the kid wasnt wrong either. Lu Shang was always conflicted about going to the hospital, he also hated examinations that involved peopleing in direct contact with his body, he always bickered with Leung ZiRui on the topic. Li Sui could be counted as the rare few people who had physical contact with Lu Shang, so having him around might be convenient. Then you decide. Dont run out of the hospital, if Lu Lao Ban cant find anyone after he wakes up, itd be difficult for me too. Uncle Yuen agreed to Li Suis request. Li Sui found the nurse and got a charger from her, he charged his phone and sat outside the operating room. On usual days, Li Sui just studied and did exercises as he didnt have a hobby. Lu Shang would at least watch movies, while Li Sui would watch them half-way and fall asleep for the rest. Hence, he couldnt think of anything to do now besides meditating. This hospital didnt have a lot of staff, so the environment was a little ghostly. The staff that passed by also walked lightly, making the building feel extra empty. Li Sui had no idea how long he would have to wait, so he went down to the convenience store and bought bread, the store sold millet congee too. Li Sui bought and packed up a bowl of the congee for Lu Shang, even knowing Lu Shang wont be awake any time soon, and even if he did, chances were he wouldnt be able to consume anything. When Li Sui returned to the spot he was sitting on, the seat was already upied by an olddy. She was holding a walking stick, looking like she was waiting for someone. Li Sui sat beside her, he put the congee on another seat beside himself. Little guy, what time is it now? The olddy suddenly turned her head to ask Li Sui. Li Sui took his phone out, replying, Its five minutes past two now. It has past two already, why is he not out yet The olddy was very old, her face was covered in wrinkles, she seemed a bit obtuse. However, her face was clean and tidy, her clothes were clean and had traces of ironing, it seemed like she was well taken care of. Are you waiting for someone? Li Sui asked. Yes, Da Chuan is having surgery inside. The olddy seemed to be in a panic, Its already two, why isnt he out yet Li Sui began to find this weird, there was only one operating room here, and they wouldnt conduct two different surgeries in the same room. The first thing Li Sui considered was perhaps Lu Shang was pushed out just now when he was gone, and another person was having a surgery now. But of course, the time didnt match, so he went to ask the nurses. Just as Li Sui thought, that wasnt the case, Lu Shang was still in the operating room. Maybe you have gone to the wrong ce? Li Sui went back and asked the olddy, The one inside is most likely not your family member. Hes not in there? The olddy asked, Is this not the heart surgery operating room? Li Sui froze and replied, Yes Da Chuan, the doctor said his surgery will end at two, why is he still not out yet The olddy was really nervous right now, she also looked very agitated. Li Sui was going to ask her more questions, but a nurse came in, seeing the olddy, she gasped, Why are you here again? After saying that, she smiled at Li Sui apologetically, then picked up the olddys hand and led her away. Li Sui recognized her as the nurse who gave him the charger earlier, he heard her colleagues called her Xiao Min. Wait, is there a problem? Li Sui walked up to stop the nurse. No, everythings fine. Xiao Min blinked, she looked around and saw that no one was there, so she said to Li Suis ear, This olddy has Alzheimers. But she just said someone called Da Chuan was having a surgery in the operating room. Xiao Min nced at the muttering olddy, she said sympathetically, Da Chuan was her husband, he had a heart surgery here two years ago. Before the surgery, the doctor told her that the surgery willst to two oclock at most. But her husband was old, so he couldnt hang on after the surgery; he died on the operating table. Li Sui felt his body trembling, his pupils constricted. Xiao Min didnt notice that and continued, She was waiting here before too, but her husband never came out alive, the only thing that was pushed out of the room was a corpse. The olddy was too shocked, she couldnt handle it and The nurse shrugged, She became like this. From that day onwards, us nurses would sometimes find her waiting here. Seating here like how she did just now, as if his husband was still inside having the surgery. Its really quite tragic when you talk about it. Da Chuan. Hey, Da Chuan The olddy was still muttering. I will see her out, her family will be here searching for her soon. Xiao Min blinked her eyes at the stunned Li Sui. Li Sui stared nkly at air, as if he had still not finished processing the story. Seeing the olddy faltering as Xiao Min brought her out, seeing her sorrowful eyes when she turned around It was as if a huge hand was strangling Li Sui, it was suffocating. He suddenly had a thought; deep down in the olddys heart, she probably knew, she knew that her Da Chuan would nevere back. Dejectedly, Li Sui sat back on the chair, no matter what he tried, he couldnt calm his heart. A sense of helplessness spread from the sole of his feet to the back of his head, as if half of his soul was drained away. Li Sui looked at his palm, it was covered with cold sweat. Li Sui had never considered death, much less considered it happening to Lu Shang. However, that person was behind that door right now, suffering in ways unimaginable to Li Sui. Li Sui suddenly felt a huge wave of nervousness, it swept away all his efforts in trying to stay calm, the corners of his eyes were also sore. Luckily, the door to the operating room opened soon after that. Li Sui immediately stood up, he was so nervous and scared that he didnt even know what his hands should be doing. A few nurses pushed the medical bed out, on the clean white bed sheet was Lu Shang, his eyes were still closed, his face pale. Blood was stained under Lu Shangs chin; Li Sui saw the nurses wipe it away with medical cotton soaked with alcohol. Li Sui was going to follow them, but the chief surgeon caught him by the shoulder. You must be Li Sui. The doctor took his mask off, showing a light smile, Nice to meet you. Im ZiRuis uncle, Leung QiZai. Grandpa Leung. Li Sui said emptily, all his focus was on the bed that was being pushed away. Hes fine, hell be able to get out of the hospital in two weeks or so. Dr. Leung followed Li Suis gaze to the bed, It was a close call this time, but luckily you brought him to the hospital in time. That was when Li Sui finally snapped back, he gasped, Was it that close? Dr. Leung peered at Li Sui, Close but not there yet. Intensive work plus prolonged insufficient rest, even a normal person cant handle that, how could a heart disease patient? Li Suis shoulders slumped, he was ming himself while feeling depressed, He has never told me any of this. Is there anything I can do to help him? There are professionals who would deal with his medical needs, but maybe you can try to help him rx. Hes too stressed out, both mentally and physically. Continuing would be very bad for his health. Dr. Leung made an analogy, The human body is like a spring, if you kept pulling on it for too long, it will lose its springiness. Li Sui repeated what the doctor said in his heart a few times, he felt like he had an epiphany of sorts. Dr. Leung continued, The details of his disease are top secret. Im not sure if he told you or not, but dont tell anyone when you get out of here, okay? Lu Shang never mentioned this to Li Sui, but Li Sui was never a bbermouth. Remembering how Lu Shang avoided people when he had an episode, Li Sui could figure out Lu Shang didnt want anyone to know of his disease, so Li Sui nodded his head in agreement. Chapter 12 - Waking Up Chapter 12: Waking Up Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Lu Shang was observed in the intensive care unit for the whole night. The next morning, he was transferred to a private room. Li Sui sat beside the bed, he just stared at Lu Shang, not daring to move. Lu Shang was lying on the bed quietly, electrodes were stuck on his body, he was hooked to a venttor. Lu Shang looked so frail, as if he would crumble with just one gentle touch. Li Sui reached his hand out to Lu Shang. His hands were cold to the touch and Li Sui couldnt feel a shred of warmth from it. His chests movements were also very small. Li Sui was terrified. What if it just suddenly stopped moving? Li Sui would lean forward to check every so often. Now that all the sharpness and shine were stripped away, Li Sui noticed how Lu Shang was a lot thinner than the average person. Usually, Lu Shang would be wrapped in a thickyer of clothes in winter, so Li Sui didnt realize it. Now, wearing a loose hospital gown, his skinniness was as obvious as day; Lu Shangs whole body looked thinner than usual. The neck was so frail and tiny that it looked as if one hand could envelope half of it. Li Sui could see Lu Shangs neck shifting slightly along with his chest. Li Sui shifted his gaze to Lu Shangs wrist, because of the surgery, Lu Shangs white skin looked a little more sickly than usual, the blue veins were prominent as well. The EKG machine next to the bed showed rhythmic lines. Li Sui enveloped Lu Shangs hand, trying to warm it. But no matter how much he tried, the warmth just couldnt persist. Li Sui called out to Lu Shang lightly, but the person lying on the bed had no reaction to his voice, Lu Shangs eyes were still shut tightly. Li Suiid his head on the side of the bed, the smell of familiar shampoo flowed into Li Suis nose, the smell was able to calm him down a little. A constant temperature of 22 degree Celsius was kept inside the room. It was fine when the sun was out, but at night, it could get freezing cold. The nurses were kind and brought Li Sui a nket, reminding him to have something to eat. Li Sui didnt have an appetite, he just ate a bit of the bread, forcing it down with congee. Around that time, old Dr. Leung visited, he checked Lu Shangs temperature and added two new bottles of medicine. When will he wake up? Li Sui asked. Should be anytime now. Arent you going to get some rest? Li Sui shook his head in objection. Old Dr. Leung examined Li Suis arm, seeing that his wounds had healed a lot already, he let Li Sui be. The room was quiet to begin with and, when night came, only the sounds of nurses chatting could be heard. Li Sui leaned on the bed, listening to the vague chatter. He couldnt resist the drowsiness and fell asleep. He wasnt sure what time it was, but Li Sui felt someone brushing his hair in his dreams. Li Sui opened his eyes immediately. Raising his head, he met a pair of quiet eyes. Eyes like still water. Youre awake? Li Sui sat up promptly, he was so nervous that his voice was a little rusty. Does it still hurt? Lu Shangs face was extremely pale, hearing the voice, he closed his eyelids lightly and shook his head feebly. Lu Shang couldnt move much; he also couldnt speak with the breathing tube still in his trachea. The doctor on duty was called, removing the tube, the doctor made sure everything was normal. That was when Li Sui finally felt a bit relieved. It was dark outside. Li Sui moved the bed up ording to the doctors advice, he also got an extra pillow from the wardrobe. Gently, Li Sui lifted Lu Shangs head and ced the pillow behind him, he then pulled the nket up. Lu Shang didnt move an inch when Li Sui did all those actions, he waspletely at the mercy of Li Sui. The two of them looked directly at each other. Face-to-face, Li Sui only needed to lean forward a little and theyd be kissing. If Li Sui kissed Lu Shang now, with how weak Lu Shang was, he wouldnt be able to retaliate at all Li Sui was shocked by his own crazy idea and he immediately looked away from Lu Shang. When the sky began to brighten up, the doctor removed the electrodes on Lu Shang. Li Sui got some cotton swabs from the nurse, dipping it in warm water, he moistened Lu Shangs slightly cracked lips. Lu Shang couldnt stay conscious for a long time; his consciousness was sometimes hazy. Feeling the moisture on his lips, Lu Shangs lips twitched slightly. Li Sui continued moving the swab gently and, for some reason, his thoughts were uncontrobly attracted to what he was seeing. Slowly, without even realizing it, the distance between them shortened. Lu Shangs pale white face was right in front of Li Sui, so close that Li Sui could feel the warmth of Lu Shangs breath. It was as if Li Sui was hypnotized, he couldnt move his eyes away from the slowly fluttering, thin lips. One little kiss? Just one peck, he wont even notice it, right? Li Sui closed in on Lu Shang, he pecked Lu Shangs lips ever so gently. Quickly he drew away from Lu Shang, so fast that he didnt even get the chance to savor the sensation of touching those lips. It was but a simple action, yet, to Li Sui, it was as if he had stolen a world treasure. He was engulfed by satisfaction, it washed away the tiny shreds of guilt in his heart. Apart from sweetness, he felt atent sense of nervousness, his heart pounding non-stop, both of his ears red. Lu Shangs eyshes trembled slightly, Li Sui snapped back, his body froze, but he promptly regained hisposure and left the room. Li Sui got a jar of cold water; he drank three whole sses to calm himself down. It was as if a mixed tape was ying in Li Suis mind, the image of Lu Shang shed by, then what Dr. Leung said was reyed, followed by his inappropriate actions just now. His reasons and impulses were battling each other, just like a bee who had fallen into a closed bottle, bumping around randomly to get out. Li Sui? What are you doing here? Li Sui had yet to finish tidying up his thoughts, but hearing the voice, he turned around. Meng XinYou was standing at the door, looking at him curiously. Li Sui stood up immediately, he raised the cup in his hand, Im just drinking some water. What about Lu Shang, how is he? Li Sui put the cup down, He is sleeping, Ill bring you to him. The two of them walked in the hospital corridors, Meng XinYou continued staring at Li Sui. The subject of observation felt anxious, he felt as if his secrets were being seen through, so he turned to Meng XinYou and asked, Umm Is there something on my face? Meng XinYou smiled, You have breadcrumbs on your face. Li Sui was a little shocked, he awkwardly touched the corner of his mouth. As expected, there were breadcrumbs. The second Meng XinYou neared the bed, she pat the side of Lu Shangs face a few times, Wakey, wakey, stop sleeping already. Li Sui was startled by Meng XinYou, he couldnt stop himself from grabbing Meng XinYous arm, His surgery just ended. Its fine, it wont kill him. Meng XinYou said nonchntly while waving her hand. Li Sui wanted to say something but ncing at the person lying on the bed, he swallowed the words back. Lu Shang was awake. My father asked me toe visit you. Meng XinYou sat down on the bedside chair. She picked up an apple and started peeling it with a knife, Can you hear what I am saying now? Lu Shang seemed a little tired, he lowered his eyelids slightly. Im going to discuss some matters with him, do you mind leaving us alone for a bit? Meng XinYou smiled at Li Sui. Li Sui was conflicted. He looked at Lu Shang. Their eyes met, Lu Shangs eyes were calm, so Li Sui obediently left the room. Meng XinYou waited for the door to close, then she shrugged, Do you see that? Hes cautious of me. Lu Shang didnt speak, but his eyes were judging. Dont look at me like that, Im just ying with him, Ie in peace. Meng XinYou kept her head down, peeling the apple in her hand. She cut out a piece of the fruit and put it into her own mouth, So you have found someone to deal with the problem with Chan Zhuang? Meng XinYou stopped Lu Shang just when he was about to speak. Dont speak, you dont need to tell me why. I know you have thought it through already, Im only here to confirm that, Ill leave after confirming. Lu Shang stared at her and nodded his head. Okay then Eh. Dont move, theres something on your chin. Meng XinYou used her fingertip to brush it off, after confirming it as breadcrumbs, sheughed, Were you pretending to sleep? A hint ofughter showed in Lu Shangs eyes. Meng XinYou said teasingly, Say, I heard from Uncle Yuen, he stayed in the hospital the whole time you were in surgery. Lu Shangs gaze shifted to the door. Meng XinYou sighed, Lu Shang, Lu Lao Ban. Are you still capable of doing what you set out to in the beginning? Lu Shang closed his eyes, wearing an expression that screamed, I refuse to discuss this. Fine, fine. Youre the patient here, I wont mention that anymore. Happy? Meng XinYou continued peeling the apple, If you are going to protect him, no matter what the reasons are, we will respect you. However, its fine if you are just ying, dont get hooked, the consequences are too big. Hearing that, Lu Shang closed his eyes, not opening them for a while. The sky had just brightened, the food stalls under the hospital had opened already. Li Sui ate some random food to fill his stomach. He was going to bring some porridge to Lu Shang, but looking at the huge number of cars, he hesitated, worrying about food hygiene. When he got back to the room, Meng XinYou had left, leaving behind a bunch of apple skin on the bedside table. The doctor came in to take Lu Shangs blood, Li Sui immediately went up to hold the medical cotton for him. You can have some liquid food, but if you feel extremely ufortable, there is no need to force yourself. After telling Lu Shang, the doctor turned around to talk to Li Sui, If he has any signs of a fever, notify me immediately. Okay. After the doctor left, Li Sui helped Lu Shang pull the nket up, hoping Lu Shang could be morefortable lying down, Do you want to sleep a bit more? Lu Shang looked at him then he shook his head. For some reason, Li Sui felt guilty again. He turned his head to the side, hoping Lu Shang wouldnt see it on his face. You ate only this in the past two days? Lu Shangs gaze went to the unfinished bread, it wasnt even the fresh ones, but the packaged ones from convenience stores. I ate other things too. Li Suis eyes were big, his eye bags were very obvious after the past few days of insomnia. Lu Shang stared at him, suddenly he reached his hand out and squeezed Li Suis hand lightly, It must have been hard. Li Sui held onto Lu Shangs hand, the IV drip needle was still inserted in the back of Lu Shangs hand, the skin around the needle was slightly blue. Your disease, will it heal? Lu Shang didnt reply to his question straightforwardly, Death is inevitable for everyone. Li Suis eyes were watery, But, Dr. Leung is so good at treating illnesses, even he cant do anything? Lu Shangforted him with a soft voice, He isnt omnipotent either. Seeing that Li Sui was at the brink of tears, Lu Shang said after consideration, Dont be sad, Ive been like this since the day I was born. Sometimes it gets a little serious, but, look, Im fine now right? Li Sui wasnt convinced by Lu Shangs words, he begged, Please teach me. Teach me about the things rted to yourpany, the business with brother Zuo. I want to help you. Lu Shang was surprised, he continued listening to Li Sui. Didnt you say Im like a turtle? When you cant move anymore, I can support you from behind. Lu Shangs hand tightened, then he let go again. If this sentence was spoken by someone else, Lu Shang would think that person was just sucking up to him. However, as the words came from Li Suis mouth, it felt different. This child had nothing, there was nothing to gain from his actions either. When he said he wanted to help, he really meant it. Li Sui had given his pure, loyal heart in Lu Shang, trusting himpletely. As if knowing Lu Shang didnt want to reply, the nurse came in, interrupting them, Do your legs feel sore? Naturally, she was asking Lu Shang. Li Sui lifted up the corner of the nket slightly, he couldnt help but gasp. As the legs blood cirction were hindered by theck of movements, Lu Shangs legs were swollen, cold to the touch. Its fine. Luckily, the nurse was experienced. She looked at the patient information board tied on the back of the bed, knowing that Lu Shang hadid there for two days already, it was clear to her that Lu Shangs legs must be in bad condition. She actively pulled her own sleeves up and put on a pair of gloves, she walked up to the bed and began massaging Lu Shangs legs. Lu Shang naturally frowned; he didnt say anything. With how things were now, he didnt have any strength to retaliate. If it was Leung ZiRui, he could stillin a bit when he couldnt ept the treatment. But now facing a youngdy, he didnt feel right stopping her, especially knowing this was good for him. Allow me. Li Sui had been observing the nurses movements, he remembered the method and was quite adamant in trying himself. The nurse didnt object either, perhaps she felt ufortable being stared at, so she left the room willingly to get the medicine. Li Sui was a lot taller than the nurse, leaning forward would be too hard, so he decided on kneeling instead. Li Sui was afraid hed hurt Lu Shang, so he held his strength back, massaging Lu Shang with feather light strength. After a few moments, Lu Shang surrendered, his shoulder trembled slightly. Li Sui raised his head to look at Lu Shang, theter used his pale lips to force a smile and said, It tickles. As Lu Shang spoke, the protrusion at his throat rolled up and down. Due to his frail state, his soft skin seemed to be even softer than usual. Li Sui couldnt help but find the Lu Shang nowerotic. Chapter 13 - Hai Nan (i) Chapter 13: Hai Nan (i) Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations T/N: (i) Hai Nan is a tropical ind located in the southernmost part of China, it is famous for beaches and the warm weather. The character Hai () means ocean and Nan () means south. Eh, hmm Li Sui changed the direction of massaging; he also used a bit more force than before. Li Sui was meticulous, he massaged every inch of Lu Shangs legs. Meanwhile, Lu Shang didnt say a word but he didnt move either. It was rare for them to have such a peaceful moment together, so Li Sui took the gloves off and used his bare hands instead. Lu Shang only nced at Li Sui a bit, but he didnt stop Li Sui. The swelling wasnt too bad, especially since Lu Shang was skinny, it didnt show all that much. If it wasnt someone like Li Sui, who was always with Lu Shang, that person probably wouldnt notice. After massaging for a while, the stiff muscles loosened up. Li Sui changed his posture a bit, but that made Lu Shang cough instead. Does it hurt? Lu Shang waved his hand; he covered his mouth and shook his head. Li Sui retracted his hands, the parts between his thumb and index finger were sore, most likely due to prolonged strain. Li Sui rubbed his hands, when he returned to massaging Lu Shang, his strength was a lot lower than before. As Li Sui continued massaging the person lying in bed, thetter becamepletely quiet. Li Sui raised his head to find Lu Shang asleep once again, his face still looked pale and sickly, he looked just like a person made from paper. A doctorter entered to examine Lu Shang, he noticed slight bruises on Lu Shangs arms and legs. When the doctor asked Li Sui about the bruises, he froze. Li Sui didnt think he was using too much strength; he didnt see any signs when he was massaging Lu Shang either. However, bruises dont lie, if there were bruises on him, then Li Sui must had somehow hurt him. The bruises only showed after Lu Shang had fallen asleep. You used too much strength. The doctor wasnt ming Li Sui, but he did suggest letting the nurse do it next time. Li Sui stared at the purple patches on Lu Shang, self-hatred was written all over his face. Taking care of patients isnt as easy as it seems. The doctor patted Li Suis shoulder understandingly, he triedforting Li Sui, You have never experienced something like this, its natural that you couldnt do it perfectly. Li Sui nodded his head but couldnt stop himself from feeling sad. He med himself for not being sensitive enough, especially since Lu Shang didnt hide his expressions either. Li Sui felt like such a failure, he was the one that suggested staying to help, he was also adamant about massaging Lu Shang. But in truth, he wasnt able to help with anything, worse still he hurt Lu Shang. Li Sui had never taken care of someone, nor had anyone taken care off him before. Lu Shang was the one who taught him the little details of everyday life, like blowing his hair dry before sleep, using mouthwash and toothbrush or shaving his beard with foam. Li Sui slowly realized, he couldnt even take care of himself, why did he think he could take care of a recovering patient? Without even knowing, he had given out another worthless nk cheque. In the afternoon, Aunt Lu arrived, bringing a pot of porridge and soup. The first thing she did after walking into the room, was to give Li Sui a change of clothes. She let Li Sui take a shower and change into the clean clothes. The private room had a shower room inside, all the shampoo and other items were provided. When Li Sui left the shower room, he saw Lu Shang leaning off of the bed, dry heaving. Lu Shangs eye whites were a little red. Aunt Lu was trying tofort him by patting his back. Li Sui sat at the side of the bed, he lifted the upper part of Lu Shangs body, letting Lu Shang lean on his legs and embracing Lu Shang, while looking at Aunt Lus doubtful gaze. Aunt Lu mouthed the words, Side-effects of the surgery, to Li Sui. Lu Shang didnt have any food in the past days, so he wasnt able to throw anything up. After dry heaving for a while, Lu Shang was exhausted, his body sank into Li Suisp as he felt the warmth of the younger mans embrace. Li Sui gently rubbed Lu Shangs tense temples, seeing the tears hanging at the corner of Lu Shangs closed eyes, he felt obligated to wipe them away. I made two sets of food; you should have some too. Aunt Lu took out a few more lunchboxes. Li Sui thought in silence, then he asked, Is he like this every time he gets sick? Yeah. Hed start vomiting every time he eats something, same goes for drinking water. But I heard from the nurses that this is normal behavior, he will be fine after around two days, but this period is quite grueling. Hearing that, Li Sui lowered his head, with a soft voice he said, Lu Shang? His eyshes trembled a little, but he did not wake up. After Li Sui ate the food, Aunt Lu brought in a jar of hot water. Looking at Li Sui, she said, Xiao Li, help Lu Lao Ban change clothes, would you? I will bring the dirty ones home to wash. There was no awkwardness, it was as if that was the natural thing to do, perhaps it was because Aunt Lu truly believed they were a couple. Aunt Lu was very sensitive to the mood, this was evident from how she acted at home. When both Lu Shang and Li Sui were home, she would avoid entering their sights. Li Sui felt weird saying no, we are not in a rtionship, so he just nodded and locked the door after Aunt Lu left. Li Sui considered finding a nurse to do it instead, but the second he imagined a stranger touching Lu Shang, he felt disgruntled. He was only helping Lu Shang take a shower, heforted himself. The action by itself was easy, since Lu Shang was asleep, it was even more convenient. If he were to be conscious, Li Sui wasnt sure if he would have the courage to do this. When he was taking Lu Shangs clothes off, he began to feel like he was in way over his head, he couldnt stop ncing at Lu Shangs naked body. Lu Shang led a very healthy life, heid on the bed for a few days and the surgery scars were almostpletely healed. Every idental touch of Lu Shang was like lighting up a fire, the back of Li Suis shirt was soaked with sweat just from cleaning the upper half of Lu Shangs body. Before Li Sui took Lu Shangs pants off, he decided to close the curtains and turn the lights off. Li Sui wasnt being dramatic, he knew that they were both males, and there was nothing problematic about seeing a friends naked body. But the problem was he had never considered Lu Shang as his friend, knowing that he himself harbored such thoughts for Lu Shang made him feel guilty. After he helped Lu Shang change clothes, heid Lu Shang back on the bed and pulled the nket up. Li Sui washed and dried up with the towel, as he did that, he realized his whole back was wet. A certain body part of his was annoyingly honest as well, so Li Sui had no other choice but to go take another cold shower himself. Through the half-transparent ss separation, Li Sui could vaguely make out the person lying in bed. Li Sui leaned on the wall, taking in a big breath, he sped up the motion of his hands. His hands that just touched Lu Shangs bare skin, were now wrapping around his own member. That thought alone made Li Sui feel insanely good. He felt his senses growing bigger, in his hazy mind was a sense of lust like no other. It was as if a tuft of grass (ii) was growing in his heart, after the past year of living together, the nt was watered and fed. The nt grew along the cracks on the walls where his lusts were kept hidden, when he finally noticed the breach, it had already grown to a proportion impossible to get rid of. The walls in his heart werepletely smashed. T/N: (ii) The grass mentioned in the raws was Urticaetevirens, the author called them tickly grass, which is also what we usually call them in Chinese. Will you being tomorrow? Li Sui asked when Aunt Lu was about to leave. Of course I will. Lu Lao Ban needs nutrients more than anything now, Im afraid he wont be used to hospital food. Li Sui nodded, he threw away his pride and asked further, You will bring a change of clothes tomorrow too? The emotions in Li Sui eyes made Aunt Lu blush, she replied yes after a while. Li Sui on the other hand was happy with the answer, he felt a hint of anticipation rose in his heart. Lu Shang rested in the room for over a week, that was when he finally looked less sickly. His body was frail to begin with, so even if the wounds from the surgery healed, he stillcked strength. Li Sui felt his heart tighten as he saw Lu Shangck even the strength to stand up. In the afternoon, Uncle Yuen visited and he began reporting different matters to Lu Shang. Lu Shang leaned on the beds headboard, but he looked a lot better than before. When it came to work-rted things, Lu Shang always seemed to have unlimited strength. Li Sui buried his head into his drinking water, but his ears were actively listening. Before, he never cared about Lu Shangs work, one reason was that he didnt understand, another was because he believed Lu Shang was a sturdy wall that will never copse. However, after cohabiting for over a year, he knew better then to be deceived by Lu Shangs calm and collected appearance. No matter how great a person he was, and no matter how capable he seemed, he was still a normal human being. Every human being would be fatigue after working too hard, Lu Shang was no different. The project at the seaside is the most urgent, the first construction draft is done, they are waiting for you to confirm the building project. A lot of rumors surfaced in thest ten days of your absence; everyone says you must be involved in some sort of incident as you took the construction project. Lawyer Xe WeiLan was so annoyed that he said What did he say? Uncle Yuen nced at Li Sui and said, He said you went abroad with Li Sui to enjoy life. Puuuu Li Sui spurted all the water in his mouth out, attracting both of the other males gazes. Sorry. Li Sui waved his hand. Well done. Lu Shang said without any expression on his face, he continued, Greet old Dr. Leung for me, arrange for my discharge tomorrow. Tomorrow!? Uncle Yuen and Li Sui gasped in unison. Thats too reckless Uncle Yuen looked hesitant in following through with Lu Shangs request. Uncle Yuen was even older than Lu Shangs father, if he were to y the senior card, even Lu Shang had to respect him. The more we let this persist, the harder it will be to deal with. Lu Shang cleared his throat, Okay, then its decided. Uncle Yuen tried convincing Lu Shang in another way, You cant just go to the ind like this. You might still need the venttor, also what about the regr injections and examinations? Ill bring Li Sui. He is a child himself; how could he take care of you? Hearing that, Li Sui couldnt stop himself from looking at Uncle Yuen, feeling like he was scolding him. Then bring two caretakers along. Uncle Yuen was out of options, Lu Shang was stubborn, he knew that very well. If he tried to say more, it would just sound like he was crossing the line, as he was still just an employee. I will go arrange the car. Uncle Yuen left the sentence behind and exited the room. The atmosphere turned heavy quickly; Li Sui didnt approve of Lu Shang leaving the hospital either, but he knew he shouldnt express that. Li Sui looked at Uncle Yuens disappearing figure and whispered, Uncle Yuen seemed to be very angry. Lu Shang waved for Li Sui toe over, he waited patiently for Li Sui to get closer. Patting Li Suis head, Lu Shang said, He has my best interests in mind. However, there are things that are best kept under the rug and away from Uncle Yuen. Do you understand? Li Sui nodded his head, not sure if he hadprehended it fully himself. The next evening, they boarded a private jet. Uncle Yuen hired two caretakers to follow along the trip, he nagged Lu Shang the whole journey to the airport. The inds temperature was warmer than where Lu Shang lived, so all the clothes Aunt Lu put into the cardboard box were summer clothes; she even packed a pair of matching couple pajamas. Li Sui had never gotten on a ne before, so he extended his neck and poked around the ne. Lu Shang let Li Sui take the window seat, sadly the timing was unsatisfactory, so Li Sui couldnt see much out the window. Lets book a morning one for the return flight. Lu Shang swallowed the medicine, then he returned the ss of water to the caretakers. Li Sui turned his head to Lu Shang excitedly, When are weing back? Their jet hadnt evennded yet, and this child was already looking forward to the return trip. Lu Shangughed lightly, Depends, if things are done quickly, then around two weeks. The sky turned dark, so there was actually nothing to look at; Li Sui lost interest quickly after sticking his face up to the window for a while. Lights were dim inside the jet, the window reflected Lu Shangs face. Li Sui turned around and saw Lu Shang sleeping. The nket that was on Lu Shangs chest had slid down to the seat beside him. Lu Shang was always quiet; he was quiet during sleep, dining, and work. He would not make a shred of sound for the whole day as long as no one actively talked to him. Li Sui tucked the nket up, identally touching Lu Shangs hand; Li Sui noticed they were abnormally hot. Li Suis hand reached for Lu Shangs forehead, just as he suspected, Lu Shang was having signs of a fever. Li Sui remembered what old Dr. Leung said and an rm sounded off in his heart. Li Sui was about to call for the caretakers but a hand stopped him. Lu Shang opened his eyes; his somber eyes were dimmer than usual. Lu Shang didnt speak, but Li Sui understood what Lu Shang was trying to say. Dont worry. Li Sui replied, No, old Dr. Leung said its especially dangerous if you get a fever at this stage. Lu Shang seemed to be very tired, he looked as if he was holding something back. He spoke with a meek voice, Im fine, I can still handle this. If it gets any worse, Ill tell you. So, rest easy. How could Li Sui rest easy? Li Sui was so nervous that he put his hand on Lu Shangs forehead every so often, he also looked around as he worried the caretakers might notice. Li Sui knew Lu Shang wasnt really asleep, so he continued persuading Lu Shang with a small voice. Thetter sighed slightly, then he lifted his closed eyelids, looking at Li Sui with pleading eyes, Listen to me this time, please? When Lu Shang put it like that, could Li Sui still bring himself to object? Of course not. Li Sui settled down on the seat beside Lu Shang, he stopped talking. Li Sui held onto Lu Shangs arm, always alert of the slight changes in Lu Shangs body temperature. Li Sui knew what Lu Shang was thinking, if he told the caretakers about the fever now, they would definitely head back to the airport. The events that would follow werent hard to imagine either, their trip to the ind would definitely be curbed. No other strangers were on the jet, under the dim lights, Li Sui could see Lu Shangs frowning face. Lu Shangs face was always void of redness from blood, but now with a slight fever, his face looked flushed, emphasizing the whiteness of the rest of his skin. Seeing Lu Shang, Li Sui couldnt help feeling heartbroken. Is it worth it? Was this worth hurting yourself like this? Chapter 14 - The Seaside Chapter 14: The Seaside Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scation Three hourster, the jetnded at the airport where a car was already waiting for them. When they disembarked from the jet, Lu Shangs fever had gone down a bit, but he wasnt conscious, he seemed to be in deep sleep. One of the male caretakers was going to carry him off, but Li Sui stopped him. He leaned forward and bridal carried Lu Shang who was still wrapped in the nket off the ne. Li Sui visited the gym often, so his arms were strong, and to be frank he didnt find carrying Lu Shang the least bit difficult. The second they got off the jet, they were greeted with a gust of hot wind. Li Sui turned his body sideways, using his back to shelter Lu Shang from the wind, and nudging him closer to his own chest for protection. Li Sui only let go of him after they got into the car. The amodations Uncle Yuen arranged was for the top floor of a hotel that was conveniently located near a hospital; quiet and secluded. Li Sui wasnt sleepy, he guarded Lu Shangs bed as the caretakers gave Lu Shang an adequate amount of pure oxygen to inhale, then gave him a few injections. It was alreadyte at night when the caretakers left their room, leaving behind some medicine on the table. Li Sui gave Lu Shangs body a basic scrub, then he took a shower. He sneaked into the nket beside Lu Shang after his shower, seeing the person beside himpletely unguarded, he mustered up his courage and hugged Lu Shang by the waist. After all this time, he waspletely ustomed to sleeping with Lu Shang. Even though they used the same shampoo, Li Sui could always smell a different aroma from Lu Shang. It was his distinct smell and itforted Li Sui whenever he smelled it. That night, Li Sui had a dream. He dreamed about being in a conference room. Lu Shang stood tall in front of a room full of elites, he was giving a speech, and the audience looked up to him with anticipation. Yet, he stopped abruptly, turning his head to Li Sui, he smiled. Before Li Sui could react, Lu Shangs body shook and he fell to the ground. Everything became chaotic at once, someone called the ambnce, someughed and Li Sui stood still in shock. Li Sui wanted to go to Lu Shang, but as if he was frozen, he couldnt move an inch. He heard someone saying Lu Shang was dead, he heard squealing, he heardughter What unfolded were like the images in a zoetrope, they all passed by him so quickly. Li Suis eyes were filled with tears, he wanted to call out to Lu Shang, but for some reason he couldnt choke out a single syble. Li Sui woke up from his dream feeling unsettled, tears were overflowing from the corners of his eyes. It was already morning; Li Sui woke up alone in bed. Li Suis heart shuddered, he rushed out of bed and ran out of the room barefoot. He was in a hurry, almost shing into the mirror as he ran. Lu Shang sat on the sofa with a ss of water in hand, beside him was a rubbish bin. Hisplexion wasnt good, it seemed like he had just woken up as well. Whats wrong? Startled, Lu Shang stared at Li Sui. That was when Li Sui noticed how unseemly he was acting. He cleared his throat by coughing a few times and wiped away the tears that were still on his face, shaking his head, he said, Nothing. Lu Shang didnt say anything else, he just stared into the ss of water nkly. Li Sui couldnt bring himself to look at Lu Shang. The dream was too real, it was so real that it almost seemed like a premonition. Li Sui was so scared that he felt his heart twist, the sensation of losing a loved one was too real, Li Sui never wanted to experience that again. Li Sui walked towards Lu Shang with light steps, he stopped behind the sofa, leaning down, he slowly brought Lu Shang into a hug. He knew Lu Shang wouldnt reject him. Had a nightmare? Lu Shang patted his head. Hm. I dreamed that you were gone. Li Sui muttered, he wanted Lu Shang tofort him, to tell him that it would be fine and that dreams showed the opposite. Li Sui remembered that whenever he used to get nightmares, Lu Shang wouldfort him by saying that. However, Lu Shang didnt say that today. Li Sui lifted his head from Lu Shangs shoulder, forcing himself to back away from the negative emotions he was immersed in. He saw the ss of water Lu Shang was holding, Did it turn cold? I can go get a warm ss for you. Lu Shang shook his head, after a while he said helplessly, The medicine is too bitter. The omnipotent Lu Shang was afraid of bitterness, for some reason, Li Sui found that a little funny. But he didntugh, seeing the contents in the rubbish bin, Li Suis face stiffened. He suddenly remembered a story Leung ZiRui told him, he said when Lu Shang was young, he hated the bitterness and refused to take the medication, so the doctors had to hold him down and force the pills into his mouth. The experience made him psychologically reject bitter medicine. Is it too painful? I can go ask the caretakers for medicine with syrup coatings. Lu Shang rejected, This type is more effective. Looking at the reddened whites of Lu Shangs eyes, Li Sui felt his heart twist again. While Li Sui was staring at him hollowly, Lu Shang tried swallowing the medicine again. But every time the pill reached his esophagus, it came up again. Lu Shang coughed the pill fell onto the floor. Li Sui immediately gave Lu Shang a towel, patting his back he asked, Are you okay? Lu Shang took the towel and buried his face in the cloth, he pointed at a small medicine box and said with a husky voice, Help me get another cup of water. Li Sui couldnt take it anymore, he asked, If taking medicine is so painful, why do you take them? Lu Shang cleaned his own face, andughed a little, I will die if I dont take them. Seeing Li Suis hesitant expression, Lu Shang pushed his arm a bit, hurrying him to get the water. Li Sui did as he was told, bringing Lu Shang a ss of warm water and looking at Lu Shang while his heart clenched. After trying three times, Lu Shang finally swallowed all the medicine. Li Sui couldnt even put his feelings into words as he cleaned the floor. With Lu Shangs current health condition, it was impossible for him to examine the construction site. Uncle Yuen expected as much as well, so he had already prepared a model of the site and some video records. Lu Shang examined all of them in the hotel and decided on a general direction for the construction. The original n for this plot ofnd was a housing estate, it would be called the Golden Sands Shore. The proposal was scrappedter, but the name stayed. The person in charge of the project was called Liu XingMing. He had average height, dark skin and dark eyes, the tip of his nose was quite wide, he looked like someone from Thand. He was quite capable; he also did his job meticulously. The model Lu Shang just looked at was from his team as well, the details of the model were well made, and it was quite pleasing to look at. At night, Lu Shang invited Liu XingMing to his hotel. They had a huge feast in a private room as they conversed about their ns for the construction site over dinner. Lu Shang had admiration for this middle-aged man in front of him. Lu Shang remembered Liu XingMing from his teenage years working in thepany with his father. Liu XingMing was still a small-fry worker back then. Liu XingMing fought with his own ability for his position now. Whenpared to those entitled brats who sat in the office doing nothing all day long, Liu XingMing was truly much stronger. Luckily the project was in Liu XingMings hands all these years. Rted government departments had tried numerous times to get thend back but Liu XingMing was the one who blocked them. He was also the one who suggested restarting construction when Lu Shang got the extra six percent shares. I dont support using thend for a housing development. The real estate market isnt great in recent years. Moreover, the plot ofnd is near the seashore, so the height of the building will be limited. I did some research and tourists tend to like visiting tropical inds, so building a water park would be preferable. Liu XingMing said. Lu Shang had simr ideas. He leaned back on the chair and after consideration, he asked, So the problem now is the design process. Is the investigative report from the marketing department done yet? Its done, Ill ask someone to bring it to you tonight. Theres no rush. You can give it to me tomorrow, before afternoon. As long as Lu Shang made an appearance, there was really no rush. The news would quickly reach certain peoples ears, so he had enough time to deal with this project. Both were workaholics, once they began talking, they forgot about eating altogether. Almost all the food on the dining table went into Li Suis stomach, he had never eaten Hai Nan cuisine before, he ate more than half of the WengChang Chicken. Lu Shang didnt have an appetite, plus he couldnt eat the food. While Liu XingMing was too excited about work to care about food. After the meal, Li Sui still looked like he could eat more, the sight made Lu Shang chuckle. Lu Shang asked the driver to bring Li Sui out to the sea, then the night market. Perhaps they might even buy a bowl of Ching Bo Leung soup (i) to fill his stomach. T/N: (i)There are a lot of variations of the soup, but the type thats mostmon would be the sweet type that is usually considered a dessert. Its a kind of soup that contains no meat. On a side note, it was really quite tasty. I drink it in a monastery every year on Buddhas birthday. You are not going? Li Sui knew Lu Shang was probably tired, Lu Shang was still sick, and he knew Lu Shang only managed to sit through dinner with sheer will power. However, he still had a shred of hope, hoping that Lu Shang woulde with him. Yet, Lu Shang didnt give him that opportunity, he shook his head and turned back towards the hotel. Before disappointment surfaced on Li Suis face, Lu Shang turned around again, If there are things you want, buy them. You dont have to consider the price. I want you. Li Sui replied in his heart, he judged himself for thinking that, and quickly pped himself in his thoughts. The nightlife in Hai Nan was quite bustling, a lot of people roamed around the streets even at this hour. The streets were lined up with people gambling and selling mung bean soup, it was ten at night, but the streets were even livelier than during the day. Lu Shang wasnt here, so Li Sui wasnt all that interested. He leaned on the vehicle window, gazing at the night view in silence. It was Lu Shang who suggested this, so he would see it through nheless, as if it was an important mission. Xiao Zhao was driving the car, Li Sui saw a few familiar vehicles in the rearview mirror. He asked with suspicion, Are those cars following us? Xiao Zhao nced at the mirror and replied indifferently, They were following us from the beginning, and they are arranged by Lu Lao Ban. Li Sui asked, Arranged to do what? To ensure your safety I presume. Didnt you notice that they follow you every time you go out? Xiao Zhaoughed. Li Sui didnt notice at all, he was sensitive to gazes, but that was limited on humans, it didnt include cars. Now that Li Sui took a better look at the cars, he did have vague memories of seeing these cars before. Do you have anything you want to buy? Shall we go to the markets? Xiao Zhao asked. Ill pass, I dont like crowds. Li Sui said. On this point, he was just like Lu Shang. However, Li Sui avoided the crowd because he found it difficult to ovee the fear of socializing with people while Lu Shang simply liked the peace and quiet. Aww. What a waste, Lu Lao Ban handed me a card for the special asion too. Xiao Zhao waved Li Sui over, Look, there are a lot of shops here. They carry a lot of rare merchandise. Li Suis interest wasnt peeked by the bright stalls, instead he caught a lighthouse with the corner of his eyes, his somber eyes lit up in an instant, Is the sea nearby? Yes. If we turn left ahead and drive for around twenty minutes, we will be at the sea. I want to go to the seaside. Alright! It was dark, so the beach was basically empty. They only saw an olddy picking up stic bottles. Li Sui had never been to the beach before, his usual tense fa?ade melted quickly, revealing a childish expression. Li Sui took his shoes and socks off, jumping and running on the soft sand. The wind here was hot even at night, it felt like someone was tickling him when the wind blew on his face. Li Sui yed in the water for a while, then he got out and texted Lu Shang. After Li Sui had left, Lu Shang called Leung ZiRui while standing in front of the window. Whats the matter? Lu Shang got a text from Leung ZiRui in the afternoon, saying that he had important things to talk about, and he emphasized not letting Li Sui know. About your surgery, there is finally a breakthrough. Leung ZiRui continued, Do you remember that super smart, former professor of mine? Leon, was it? Yeah, him. Yesterday, a junior of mine told me that he saw Leon in Cuba. Im going to go check it out. When it came to this person, Lu Shang had quite the impression, he really was a renowned physician. Lu Shang, my uncle did an operation on you again, didnt he? But perhaps you can put the matter with Li Sui aside for now, a heart transntation isnt the only way. If I can reach Dr. Leon, then Im certain there will be better options. Lu Shang sat on the sofa, he felt relieved for some reason, That would be the best. But with your condition now, the next few years wont be easy. Lu Shang lowered his head, Li Suis ck eyes shed across his mind, he replied with a low voice, I know, Ill be fine. Lu Shang hung the phone up, ck clouds roamed the skies. It was about to rain. Lu Shang sat on the bed in a daze, which was interrupted by the ringing of his phone, Li Sui had texted him. [I saw the ocean, it was beautiful. But I cant buy it, so I cant bring it home.] The vivid image of Li Sui saying this rose in Lu Shangs mind. His mouth formed a slight curve as he typed back, [Its going to rain soon,e back home quickly.] Li Sui looked up to the sky. As expected, the pitch-ck sky was covered with thick clouds, the winds around him began to pick up as well. Li Sui made sure to reply [I will] and returned to the car. Xiao Zhao was waiting for him; he was nning to fetch Li Sui if he didnt return. Being near the sea during a rainstorm was no joke, if a wave came crashing towards the shore, they probably wouldnt even find the corpse. The engine started; Xiao Zhao calmed down only after driving far away from the beach. Li Suis foot had sand on it, but he didnt mind. He had a seashell in his hands, he looked at it from every angle, it was something he just dug up from the beach. Is that a gift for Lu Lao Ban? Xiao Zhaoughed. Li Sui only replied Hm, not even raising his head. Chapter 15 - The Kiss Chapter 15: The Kiss Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations The rain arrived rapidly and it left just as fast. When they arrived at the hotel, the rain had almost stoppedpletely, but the air wasced with the smell of soil and rainwater. Li Sui opened the hotel room door to find Lu Shang sleeping, the IV was still in the back of his hand. Li Sui didnt dare go straight to bed, he didnt turn the lights on either. He tiptoed into the shower in darkness, washing away the sand and rainwater. Li Sui tried to be quiet, but despite his best efforts, Lu Shang still woke up. What did you buy? Lu Shang beckoned Li Sui to his side. Li Sui climbed onto the bed; he was still a little wet from showering. Lying down beside Lu Shang, he pulled out a seashell. Lu Shang held the shell in his hand, tracing its shape. He smiled as warm breaths escaped from his nose, Did you dig it up yourself? Hm. Li Sui wrapped his hands around Lu Shangs, Its for you. Lu Shang must have just taken a bath, the smell of medicine was gone, only leaving the scent that was unique to Lu Shang. Li Sui nudged himself closer to Lu Shangs neck, trying his best to feign his innocence while greedily inhaling as much of Lu Shangs scent as possible. Lu Shang stroked Li Suis shoulder as he whispered softly, Good night. Li Sui stopped his movements, his ck pupils shimmered, awaiting in the darkness. He didnt care for money, nor did he want power. If someone were to ask about his hobby, then it would most likely be looking at Lu Shang sleep. It became a daily routine after Li Sui realized his feelings towards Lu Shang. Lu Shang was never wary of Li Sui, so he was alwayspletely rxed during sleep. His head tilted slightly sideways, revealing a part of his long, ivory white neck. Li Sui imagined how nice it would be to sink his teeth into that soft flesh. Discarding his fantasies, he pulled the nket down, gently covering up Lu Shangs exposed nape. If not, he might get a cold. As expected, the Golden Sands Shore project was progressing sluggishly. The department managers couldnt reach a consensus, whenever they had a meeting, they would bite each others heads off. Lu Shang didntment, sometimes he even skipped the conferences altogether. Liu XingMing was annoyed by all the in-fighting, but the managers represented a few of the corporate directors, so he couldnt really stop them. Seeing that another week passed with nothing but meaningless bickering, Liu XingMing became worried. Lu Shang continued ying with his phone, looking indifferent to the situation, Theres no rush, let them bicker. Yeah, but there is a cause to hurry. The rainy season is approaching, plus the bank has been asking for the instalment, and we need to send in the paperwork. If we dont hurry, then Im afraid we will have to wait till next year to begin construction. The government is changing heads recently, if they dish out some new policies, it might cost us more. Better now or never. Lu Shang skimmed the conference room and sighed, I guess, if you insist. Tonight, apany me to meet with a person. Okay Li Sui entered with some food in hand, Lu Shang was changing his clothes in front of the mirror. After the surgery, his backbones became more evident than before, Li Sui couldnt stop himself from peeking whilst feeling hurt for how skinny Lu Shang was. The subject of admiration caught Li Sui staring. What are you looking at? Li Sui averted his gaze, replying vaguely, I brought you some food. Are you going out again? Im meeting someone on a cruise ship. Lu Shang pulled out the drawer and picked out a tie, cing it near his chest to see if it matched. He was about to put it on, but he stopped as he came up with an idea. Turning around, Lu Shang invited Li Sui over. Li Sui put the food aside and walked up to Lu Shang, helping him put on the tie. You are not bringing me along? Li Sui pulled up the cor of Lu Shangs shirt smoothly, circling his neck with the fabric and tying the knot. Li Sui remembered Lu Shang demonstrating how to put on a tie for him, now Li Sui could do it all by himself. That ce doesnt suit you. How so? Lu Shangs current attire was different from his usual ck and white, he was wearing a wine-red colored shirt, it made his white skin look livelier. He looked less serious, making him look younger. It seemed like he was attending a banquet. Hearing Li Suis question, a flirtatious expression surfaced on Lu Shangs face. cing his hand on Li Suis shoulder, he said while squinting his eyes, Have you ever had any sexual fantasies before? What? Li Sui opened his eyes wide from shock. It was just too sudden and Li Sui wasnt ready for it. Lu Shang looked at Li Suis bbergasted expression andughed a little, releasing his grip on Li Suis shoulder, Im just messing with you. Li Suis face waspletely red, he watched as Lu Shang leaned down to pick out a pair of shoes and somehow, he realized what kind of a ce Lu Shang was going to. Words spilled out before they were processed, Im an adult already, bring me along. Lu Shang turned around to look at Li Sui, seeing how flushed his face was, he shook his head, It really doesnt suit you. Stay at home. Li Sui was really in a bind now. Lu Shang misunderstood the reason for his blushing, he thought Li Sui was embarrassed. That wasnt the case, he wasnt embarrassed by Lu Shangs teasing words. Instead, he was embarrassed by the indecent images that were elicited from the words sexual fantasies. The subject of his fantasies just happened to be in front of him, not to mention, wearing an alluring suit. He felt his breath thicken just looking at Lu Shang moving around in front of him. His fingers clenched inwards. Perhaps due to years of sexual suppression, he was hallucinating. In his mind, he always thought of Lu Shang as his possession. Just like the prey in the mouth of a wild wolf, even if he wasnt eating it yet, no one couldy a finger on it. If anyone were to go near, the wolf would quite literally bite their heads off. Exactly like how Li Sui found the notion of Lu Shang fondling with prostitutes absolutely revolting. An uncontroble sense of possessiveness swelled in his heart. He tried holding it in, but it didnt stay put. He edged forward and tugged on Lu Shangs clothes. Deliberately softening his tone, he said, You haventpletely healed yet, and you cant have alcohol. Please bring me along. The sentence sounded like he was pleading. As expected, the gaze Lu Shang threw at him wavered. Li Sui slumped his head a bit, his pleads turned into muttering, I have never seen a cruise ship before Lu Shang looked at him and gave in, go change. Originally, Li Sui picked out a simple T-shirt, but Lu Shang pointed at a white shirt and a British sweater, Wear that. Li Suis bangs hung in front of his forehead as opposed to beingbed-back, he wore close-fitting pants. Wearing this slightly innocent outfit reminded Li Sui of the time when he first followed Lu Shang to a banquet. The two walked out of the front door, Lu Shang in front and Li Sui followed close behind. Together, they looked like a scene from a movie. Liu XingMing looked at them in awe, Shouldshould I go change too Lu Shang nced at his formal suit and said, No, thats fine. Their car dropped them off at a pier where they got on a small boat. After around an hour, they arrived on the cruise ship. Lu Shang walked at the front; the guards let him through promptly. But when Li Sui passed through, the guards were a little hesitant. Lu Shang turned back and held Li Suis hand, pulling him along. The guards naturally let them through. It was as bright as day on the cruise ship, yellow lights glimmered. The silhouettes of long tables and crowds could be seen through the windows, judging from their cheers, Li Sui believed they were gambling. They walked on the deck, passing scores of beautiful women, most wore extremely revealing clothes. Two of thedies they passed were daring enough to get near Lu Shang and Li Sui, caressing their faces, Li Sui frowned and tilted his head away. Not long after they boarded the ship, Liu XingMing was nowhere to be found. Perhaps Lu Shang had other ns for him, but Li Sui didnt care, he had more pressing matters to deal with. All the guards on deck were armed, Li Sui wasnt a familiar face, so he attracted a lot of attention. Li Sui had never seen so many armed guards before, he was a little intimidated, so he rushed up to Lu Shang and held onto his arm tightly from behind. Lu Shang kept his gaze forward as the corner of his mouth curved upwards. He epted Li Suis cry for help. Lu Shang seemed to be ustomed to this ce, obviously this wasnt his first time here. On the way, they met a few of Lu Shangs acquittances, he even stopped to chat with some of them. Li Suis mood gradually soured, so when a blond in a rabbit outfit attempted to greet Lu Shang, Li Sui decided to re at her with a pair of very unfriendly eyes. Is that Lu Lao Ban? A familiar voice came from somewhere near the hatch door. The two of them turned around the same time to find a shocked Yan Ke (i). T/N: (i) Yan Ke is the person who transferred 6% of Tong Yans shares to Lu Shang. The toy turtles were his daughters. Oh Even Xiao Li is here. Yan Ke looked at the two for a while, trying to imagine what led to this scenario in front of him; he failed miserable. Brother Yan. Li Sui nodded his head politely. Wow, youve grown so much. Almost didnt recognize you. Yan Keughed, he turned to look at Lu Shang, How rare, are you here to find someone? Lu Shang nodded, Is Madam Anna here? Shes inside, Ill bring you to her. Yan Ke just had some alcohol; his sleeves were unbuttoned. Li Sui noticed the two lipstick marks on his neck, they were of different coloration, obviously they had different owners. Li Sui didntment, but he was definitely shocked as he remembered that Yan Ke was married, he even had a daughter. Oh, yeah, it might be a little inside Yan Ke turned around suddenly, he said awkwardly, Maybe you should stay here? Of course, that was directed at Li Sui. Lu Shang didnt even give it any thought and pushed Yan Kes shoulder a bit, hurrying him, Its fine. Lets go in. Almost immediately Li Sui understood what Yan Ke failed to say: indecent. Inside was a thick smell of cigarettes, but even that wasnt enough to conceal the smell of perfume. In the room was a long sofa, a man sat in the middle, beside him were two ck haired females. Li Sui immediately closed his eyes after just one nce, they werepletely naked. Lu Shang didnt look away, he walked straight past the sofa. Opening the curtains behind the sofa revealed a tea room. Comparatively, the tea room was a lot quieter than the room outside. The bamboo-made chairs were upied by four to five men, in the middle was a woman wearing a kimono. They were having something like a tea ceremony, the green-eyed, blonde woman in the middle had a strong aura. Li Sui skimmed through everyone in the room and deduced that this woman was most likely who Lu Shang was here for. Lu. The woman raised her head to see Lu Shang then she smiled at him. Lu Shang returned her a smile, they greeted each other by hugging. Lu Shang said something in anothernguage, Li Sui didnt know what it meant. The two of them began talking, Li Sui did learn a little English in recent days, but at this moment, he realized what he learned werepletely useless. They were talking so quickly that Li Sui couldnt catch a single word. Yan Ke found a ce to settle down, and in no time, some girls in rabbit outfits surrounded him, bringing wine. It seemed like Yan Ke would take anyone, his hands roamed around the girls exposed skin, he looked extremely satisfied. Li Sui was so embarrassed that he didnt know where he should be looking. While the two conversed, most of the men had left the room, the ones that stayed moved over to the sofa, fully enjoying the service of the ship. One of the men had a young boy on hisp, the boy was wearing a cor. His hand slid into the boys pants, making him tremble. Li Suis gaze unintentionally met the mans, in the mans eyes were a sh of lust. That got on Li Suis nerves, this person seemed to have mistaken him as a prostitute working on this ship. Every bit of attention Lu Shang had was focused on Madam Anna, so he didnt notice the tiny changes around him, that included Li Suis emotional state. Li Sui frowned and forced his difort down. With Lu Shangs experiences and capabilities, there were seldom people that required his full attention. This showed how special this woman was, Li Sui understood that, he shouldnt cause any trouble at times like this. As Li Suibed through his own thoughts and emotions, Lu Shangs and the womans gazesnded on him. The woman smiled a little, Li Sui felt like she was joking about him. He saw Lu Shang shrugging his shoulders, then replied something while smiling. Li Sui didnt say a word and sat through all of it loyally, almost like a knight. After they finished chatting about Li Sui, Madam Anna sipped some tea and then left. Lu Shangs expression looked normal; Li Sui couldnt make out what he was feeling. Lu Shang simplify sat on the same spot lost in his own thoughts. Was it sessful? Li Sui couldnt hold the question back. Lu Shang stared at Li Sui for a while, he didnt answer but shook his head. All the prostitutes here had the freedom to roam around the ship on their own, so whether they could fish the clientsid solely on their skills and how proactive they were. All the clients on this ship had to abide by its rules, the rules were simple, everyone was here to have fun. Bringing a partner on board like how Lu Shang did was almost unheard of. While Li Sui was processing Lu Shangs reply, a woman wearing veils and lingerie walked over to Lu Shang. Leaning on Lu Shangs shoulder, her fingers glided upwards along Lu Shangs chest, Lao Ban, do you want some alcohol? Lu Shang was holding a cup of tea, he frowned slightly. Li Sui seating beside him just felt his brain burning, he stood up without much thought. Grabbing the womans arm, Li Sui flung her away. Li Sui wasnt thinking when he acted, neither did he control the strength of his actions. It made a crisp sound, rather than being flung away, it sounded more like she was pped. The sound attracted everyones attention, Li Sui didnt really know what to do, all of that was basically instinct. From the audiences perspective, it looked like they were fighting over a client, even Lu Shang raised his head to look at Li Sui. Considering how deep he was in already, Li Sui decided to see it through, he said, Sorry, but hes mine. The female prostitute was going to make a scene, but she looked at Li Sui and backed down. Li Sui didnt look like one of the prostitutes on the ship, he looked more like a client. She was confused, not knowing how to deal with this, she left the room. Li Sui fell to one knee beside Lu Shang, he said worriedly, Are you okay? Did she do anything weird? No. Lu Shang put the teacup down, his eyes were smiling, But what did you just say? Li Sui was caught off guard, he replied slightly flustered, I wasnt thinking straight, please dont mind it. I dont mind, but I think the audience does. Lu Shang leaned down slightly with a light smile. The gazes around were still focused on them, everyone seemed to be expecting an exciting ending to a drama. Lu Shang pulled Li Sui in closer, he whispered into Li Suis ear, Everyones looking at you, arent you going to give them a good show? The tips of Li Suis ears turned red; he wasnt sure what he should do. You are missing a kiss. Lu Shang hinted wearing a bright smiling face. Li Sui froze. All of a sudden, he felt the gazes heating up. He had a vague feeling that Lu Shang knew, he wanted to explore that possibility, but at the same time, hecked the courage. The tea room was oddly quiet, Li Suis fingers curled inwards and loosened again repeatedly. The final shreds of hesitation didnt stay for long as curiosity and lust overwhelmed him. Li Sui leaned a bit forward, nudging himself closer to Lu Shang and eventually pressing his lips on Lu Shangs. Li Sui pulled away in less than a second. As if it was something forbidden, it was just a gentle, quick peck. Even so, Li Sui felt his heart jumping so fast that it was literally out of control. But just as their lips separated, Lu Shangs hand reached for his chin, he closed his eyes and pulled Li Sui in for another kiss. Li Suis eyes shot open, feeling a wave of heat seeping through his teeth. A slick, soft tongue entered his mouth, after a thorough exploration, it slowly backed out. Lu Shang squinted his eyes, his expression was the same as before, blowing hot breaths on Li Suis ear, he said, This is what you call a kiss. Li Sui didnt understand the meaning of his tone, it seemed like he was hinting at something, but he couldnt grasp it. The audience cheered as Li Sui froze, his thoughtspletely paralyzed. Chapter 16 - Dropped Formalities Chapter 16: Dropped Formalities Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Im going out for a bit. Li Sui left in a hurry. Yan Ke burst intoughter, How is your child so innocent? Lu Shang looked at Li Suis back. He was in a good mood, his lips curved upwards slightly. On the deck, a light breeze stroked Li Suis face, blowing away the sweat on his forehead. He leaned on the railing, his index finger tracing his own lips. It was like someone turned on the loop function in his brain, he was reminiscing in the refreshing sensation that spread along his teeth over and over again. Sweet and soft, mixed with refreshing iciness and aloofness, that was what Lu Shang tasted like. Li Suiughed uncontrobly in the wind, it was like a dreame true, he couldnt believe it. Lu Shang kissed him; they shared a kiss! As if a life-long dream hade true in an instant, he was so thrilled that he had no idea what to do. Li Sui turned back, facing the ship. The lights twinkled in the vast sea; they were like stars glowing in the night sky. All the difort and anxiousness he felt when he first boarded the ship were gone, all of it became sweetness. Even the prostitutes flirtatiousughter sounded pleasing now, all the memories he had of this ce were washed into pleasantness in an instant. Under the light breeze, he even began to dream. Maybe, just maybe Lu Shang liked him back. Even if it was just a little bit, maybe he was at least a teensy bit special in Lu Shangs heart. Perhaps it was the same for every soul in love. Always loathing their own overthinking self, all the while unable to refrain from searching for clues, clues that could affirm those same ridiculed guesses. Reluctant to part with that one in a million chance of hope, even knowing all too well that he was dreaming the impossible. This described Li Suis current emotional state perfectly. He couldnt stop recalling how Lu Shang always took great care of him, how he was always kind and meticulous. Always wearing a light smile, his gaze was gentle and considerate Li Sui paused there, he must be crazy to even think about that, why would something so delusional pop up in his mind? As it was, Lu Shang might have treated him too well, so well that Li Sui almost forgot Lu Shang was his benefactor; their rtionship stemmed from one thing: a contract. Lu Shang had no sexual desire for him, instead he had a sense ofpassion and care. It felt more like he was adopted by Lu Shang, and Lu Shang really did treat him like a kid. They slept in the same bed together every night, if Lu Shang really had any desire for him, would Lu Shang not have acted on it already? As his thoughts trailed to this point, his ecstatic mood began to die. Beginning to feel a little depressed even under the chilly wind. He felt a little tired as his emotions swung back and forth. Ive left for too long. Li Sui pinched the bridge of his nose. While turning back towards the railing, he stumbled. Lu Shang was leaning slothfully on the railing, swinging a ss of sparkling wine. He was staring at Li Sui smiling but also kind of not, from the looks of it, Lu Shang had been standing there for a while already. You, you came out here? Li Suis tongue twisted, just thinking about how Lu Shang might have seen all his foolish expressions made him blush again. Lu Shang handed the ss of wine to Li Sui, What are you thinking? Nothing much. Li Sui replied. He buried his head in the beverage, the smell of alcohol was mild, fruit juices were mixed in, making the drink quite refreshing. He finished half of the contents and through the body of the ss container, he saw Lu Shang. Lu Shang was facing against the sea, his elbows propped on the handrails. His eyes were looking up at the sky, arching his neck and emphasizing the attractive protrusion at his throat. The wind messed his bangs up, the soft strands fluttered in the air, gliding past his pointed nose. With a more detailed look, Li Sui realised that Lu Shangs appearance wasnt all that simr to a traditional Chinese person. His face was more angr than most Chinese, the coloration of his pupils was also lighter. Li Sui couldnt stop looking at him, it took him a while to finish the wine, he then asked, Are you mixed-raced? Lu Shang tilted his head and took a nce of him, Why do you think so? Because you are too good-looking. That was what he replied in his heart, but out loud, he said, I just feel like you mix in well with the foreigners on this ship. Maybe. Lu Shang smiled lightly, I dont know. The answer startled Li Sui a bit. If there were things Lu Shang didnt want to tell him, he just wouldnt say a word. However, just now, he answered he didnt know. Li Sui remembered that he seldom heard about Lu Shangs parents; no one mentioned anything. From that, Li Sui deduced that it would be best for him not to ask, as there might be a not soforting story behind it. By the way, I need to go back home next month. Lu Shang closed his eyes and thought for a bit, You shoulde with me. To do what? Paying respects to the dead. Lu Shang opened his eyes, Its my fathers death anniversary. Li Sui was a little stunned yet again, but he didnt answer. Seeing Lu Shang contemte in silence, he decided not to speak either. The atmosphere on the ship was vivacious, cheers andughter echoed through the hallways. The two of them enjoyed the breeze quietly, just when they were about to leave, Yan Ke rushed down from the second-floor deck. He saw the two and immediately dragged Lu Shang forward. Come,e,e. Help me. Li Sui pulled Yan Kes hand off, he stood between the two and said, If brother Yan need something, I will do my best in Lu Shangs ce. You cant. Yan Ke seemed anxious, he looked at Lu Shang and said, The son of the SiMa family lost some money gambling. He is saying he will kill himself and is hanging at the back of the ship right now. You are his senior too,e persuade him with me. Lu Shang didnt budge after hearing that, he just asked, Is it the older one or the younger one? Of course its the older one. The younger one is so favored, why would he care about losing a bit of money? Lu Shang hesitated but decided to follow him. Li Sui could sense that Lu Shang didnt really want to get involved, he only went after bncing the pros and cons. Thinking about it now, Lu Shang really wasnt a sympathetic person, saving Li Sui and bringing him back was truly out of the ordinary. Walking past the hallway, they arrived at the back deck. A crowd had formed around the deck already, a few lifeboats were also floating near the ship, the situation was chaotic and noisy. Everyones gazes were on the teenager standing outside the railings, his attire was all white, tears covered his face; age wise he looked simr to Li Sui. Donte any closer, I will jump off right now if anyone does! The teenager screamed as his hands that were grasping the handrail loosened a few millimetres. The crowd began to shout again, trying to stop him. The guards were scared too, they beganying out cushion mattresses on the deck below. SiMa JingRong climbed on the restricted floor with adder, saiddder was originally for hanging ornaments. The drop from the railing to the next deck was about three stories tall, and the deck below was made of hard steel. If he were to fall from there, hed be paralyzed, if not dead. SiMa JingRong! Yan Ke screamed, Look whos here, its your Uncle Lu. If you have any problems, tell him, he will help you. Dont be rash. Lu Shang looked like he was in a real pinch, that was rare for him. He considered his options for a bit and said, How much money did you lose? I can give you a loan. Li Sui would have burst intoughter already if it wasnt inappropriate, what kind of afort was that? Not only did it point his mishap aloud, it even hurt his pride. Li Sui was too used to invincible Lu Shang, he never thought this was his shoring. Hearing what Lu Shang said, SiMa JingRongs face turned pale. He shouted, I dont want your money, youre the same as my father, you guys are bad people. Deep in all of your hearts, you wish me dead! Li Suis face darkened; his gaze also turned cold. T/N: Li Sui was like How dare you say my Lu Shang isnt a good person. *Death stare* Lu Shangs expression, however, did not change. He asked, Why do you think that? SiMa JingRong was still a child at heart, he felt guilt for the mean words he had said. Crying even louder than before, he made incoherent sentences while sobbing, I the money my mum left for me, he took all of it. He wants me dead so that all the shares I have of thepany can go to that to SiMa Yan. He only sees that bitchs son as his. He has never thought of me as his son. Listening up to this point, everyone had full grasp of his family background. As they say, dont wash your dirty linen in public. This kid didnt just tell someone, he told everyone on the ship about something so private, he was truly na?ve. The SiMa family alwaysckedpassion, they treasured money and authority more than family, no wonder his father favored the younger son over the older one. This solves nothing. Come down and we can think of some solutions together. Yan Ke screamed. What solutions? My father doesnt love me. No matter what I do, I cant win over the little son. Theres no other satisfying solution except my death! Lu Shang was feeling helpless. He was never great atforting people, especially when their ideals were so different, he didnt like forcing his thoughts on others and he liked persuading people to change even less. If this person had nothing to do with him, and he decided to kill himself, Lu Shang would at best nod and say, Remember to prepare for the funeral first. Li Sui had a very unfriendly look on his face, but he had been observing quietly from the side all this time. It was only now that Lu Shang noticed, whenpared to teens the same age, Li Sui was a lot more obedient, smart and reliable. When given an important task, he would alsoplete it responsibly. Li Sui being like that had saved Lu Shang a lot of trouble. He also had to admit, with how much he hated noises, if Li Sui was anything like SiMa JingRong, hed kick him out in less than a day. Lu Shang looked at the weeping teen on the upper deck and thought, they are both around eighteen years old, how could they be so different? Then you should jump. The crowd froze, their gazes went to the youngster speaking. Li Sui stood beside Lu Shang, he had his arms crossed in front of his chest, looking like he was enjoying the show. Li Sui! Yan Ke immediately stopped him. Li Sui only nced at Lu Shang, seeing that Lu Shang didntment, he continued, There are people in this world whod do anything to stay alive. But you, you would die for something so stupid? Your life is so worthless. Yan Ke was startled, even Lu Shang was taken aback by this. But seeing Li Suis seemingly calm expression, and his clenched fists, it didnt take Lu Shang long to put two and two together. Li Sui was angry at the gibberish SiMa JingRong sprouted. For some reason, hearing what SiMa JingRong said made his brain rey a scene. That day he woke up from his nightmare, rushing out the bedroom only to find Lu Shang trying so hard to take his medicine. When he looked back at this person here, for the first time, Li Sui felt disgust over a persons actions. It was so difficult to hold back his frustrations, as if hundreds of worms were crawling behind his head. No reply came back from the upper deck. If you think dying is a better choice, then you can jump all you want. We definitely will not be catching you. We shall see what people will think of you then, will they mourn you? Or will they see you as a joke? Yan Ke finally caught the drift, Li Suis jab was a little too harsh, he should be giving SiMa JingRong some sweeteners now, JingRong, there arent unsolvable problems. Come down and we can talk it through. You dont live for your father alone, right? You are still so young; you will have your own family in the future. Think about your mother, she risked so much giving birth to you. Think of how she will feel in heaven if you do this. They took turns talking to him and it worked wonders, SiMa JingRong trembled but stopped crying. Seeing the change, Lu Shang asked the guards to climb up thedder to rescue him. The crowd began to disperse, Yan Ke was a kind-hearted person deep inside, so he continued directing the guards, bringing SiMa JingRong to the cabin safely. Seeing that SiMa JingRong no longer wished to die, Lu Shangs shoulders rxed, he turned back looking for Li Sui. Li Sui had already left the cabin. He was aimlessly squatting at the corner of the deck. Sensing Lu Shang, he asked, Did I cause you trouble? Lu Shang smiled, No, you didnt. Lu Shang was never a sentimental person, his emotions were like a rock by the sea, being grinded by the waves for years, the rock ttened. Any sort of emotion he experienced was wishy-washy like cotton. What Li Sui said was like a shard of ss, it easily stabbed a hole through that piece of cotton. The rescued SiMa JingRong continued crying. Ady brought him some desserts, he ate them while hupping, he couldnt stop sobbing for a long time. Li Sui followed behind Lu Shang, they passed scores of people to finally reach the exit of the ship. When they walked past SiMa JingRong, he and Li Sui gazed into each others eyes, both feelingplicated. The ocean breeze blew on their faces, the smell of alcohol lingered in the air. Li Sui stepped forward, following close behind Lu Shang, not looking back. When they got back home that night, Li Sui still looked gloomy. Lu Shang got out of the shower, seeing that Li Sui was still in a trance, with a face that looked like an ostrich, ready to bury his head straight into the floor. Lu Shang couldnt help but sigh, he pulled Li Sui up to face him. Are you still thinking about what happened earlier? Li Sui was in a depressed state; he shook his head but didnt reply. Lu Shang squeezed Li Suis hand lightly, he said to him, Li Sui, its fine. Eventually, I will Lets not talk about this. Li Sui cut into him mid-sentence, he leaned forward and hugged Lu Shang. The force Li Sui exerted was a bit too much, it hurt Lu Shangs chest, but he held the gasp in. His hand stroked Li Suis back gently. Li Sui buried his head in Lu Shangs clothes, saying sulkily, Im a little tired. Lu Shang, can I hug you for a while as we sleep? Lu Shang noticed that he had dropped the formalities, directly calling his name. Lu Shang never cared much for how people referred to him, he didnt really hate Li Sui hugging him either. He nodded and let Li Sui lead him back to the bed. Chapter 17 - Friend Making Chapter 17: Friend Making Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Lu Shang woke up the next morning to an empty bed. As usual, hey on the bed awake for a while before slowly getting up. Getting his clothes, he pushed the bedroom door open. The weather was nice, strokes of sunlight shone in through the window, making the room warm and cozy. He stood still and focused on listening; he was a little shocked as he turned the corner. A small kitchen was at the corner, inside Li Sui was cooking breakfast with a frying pan. He must have just added the oil, as the crisp sound was loud and clear. Youre awake? Li Sui turned back to look at Lu Shang, his eyes obviously brightened up a few notches, an odd shyness was also in his eyes. Lu Shang couldnt quite describe the weirdness of this scene, but he just felt like he was in a soap opera as a pair of newly-weds. He didnt like the smoke and oil, so he didnt go in, instead he leaned on the doorframe, What are you making? Omelet rolls. There were some basic ingredients in the fridge, so the guests could cook if they wanted to, but very few guests actually did that. Li Sui flipped the omelet and took it out smoothly, he ced the egg on a te and began spreading sauce on it. Lu Shang waited for the oil and smoke in the air to dissipate before he walked in. In a ss bowl were a pile of uniformly cut strips of cucumber, in another was baked bacon, the end of the strips curled up enticingly. Beside the ingredients sat a ceramic pot, pumpkin porridge was boiling inside, white steam rose continuously, an appetizing aroma of sweetness permeated the room. The proportion of meat and vegetables was just right; saltiness mixed well with the sweetness, the meal was carefully bnced. Naturally, there couldnt have been that many ingredients in the fridge, so Li Sui probably got up extra early to buy the ingredients from the market. Whats the asion? Nothing, I just suddenly want to cook. Li Sui lowered his head to roll up the omelet, cutting it into two halves and cing one half on another te. Then he went to scoop up two bowls of porridge. Lu Shang stared at him for a while in silence, he then went to the bathroom with a lot on his mind. When he finished washing up and got a change of clothes, breakfast was already served, waiting for him on the dining table. Li Sui was sitting at the dining table, removing shrimp shells. He had just finished processing a bowl of shrimp when Lu Shang came out. The shrimp shells were peeled clean, he had even deveined the shrimp, leaving only a bowl of puffy, tender shrimp meat. The weird feeling in his heart deepened, thinking that this kid must have taken the wrong medicine. Want to try some? Li Sui was looking at him with anticipation in his eyes, a bit of anxiousness could be seen as well. Pushing his thoughts away, Lu Shang sat down at the dining table. He picked up the chopsticks and paused a bit, You made all of this yourself? Yes. The outeryer of the omelet roll looked like golden crust and was moderate in thickness with a fluffy allure. When his teeth sank into the egg, he was greeted with crisp skin. Tearing the skin, creamy eggs overflowed into his mouth. The amount of sauce was just right, sipping out from between theyers, bringing out the refreshing fragrance of cucumbers and the scent of smoked bacon in just one bite. The taste was not only sublime but also familiar. How is it? Li Sui asked excitedly. Not bad. Lu Shang nodded. T/N: I am starving, thank you very much. Now I know why the CME trantors trante after eating. What Lu Shang said was the truth, this omelet roll was extremely well made, it was just like Aunt Lus. After leaving home for half-a-month, Lu Shang really did feel a little homesick. This child had never cooked for him before, Lu Shang had no idea he could cook, he also had no idea that Li Sui was so observative. Lu Shang loved omelet rolls, but he seldom had them. As a tasty omelet roll could only be made with oil and oil was bad for his health, Aunt Lu seldom made them. During Li Suis stay in the Lu family house, Aunt Lu only ever made omelet rolls three or four times. Lu Shang did raise his chopsticks a few more times whenever there were omelet rolls, but he never expected Li Sui to notice, much less expected Li Sui would learn how to make it. Li Sui looked overjoyed, he pushed the bowl of shrimp to Lu Shang, Try the shrimp, I already peeled them. He was stating his affections for Lu Shang so obviously, Lu Shang tried ignoring it, but failed. He raised his head with aplicated expression, You Li Suis expression changed a little, Whats wrong? Are you full already? You help me get my medicine. Truly a rarity, for a day toe when even Lu Shang didnt know how to ask a question. It was not that Lu Shang failed to understand Li Suis feelings, it was just that since he understood, he was having a hard time telling Li Sui straight to his face. This child had a pure and direct heart, he was doing all this for one thing only, he wanted to take care of Lu Shang. In the face of such pure intentions, all the words Lu Shang coulde up with sounded way too cold. The weather in Hai Nan Ind was rtively warm, perhaps due to that, Lu Shangs health condition was quite well ever since they arrived. Even after going out and about for two days, he didnt feel especially unwell. Li Sui was like a tail, he followed Uncle Yuens directionspletely, following Lu Shang everywhere he went. At the beginning, Lu Shang thought that was because Li Sui wasnt used to the new environment, so he thought he had to take extra care of Li Sui. But at the end, Lu Shang felt like he was the one being taken care of. Lu Shang had no idea where Li Sui learned to do this, but Li Sui just stuck to him everywhere he went, almost like how paint sticks to the wall permanently. Li Sui would remember every little detail of Lu Shang by heart, his gaze was on Lu Shang 24/7. Li Sui would even straighten his ears during his shower to listen to Lu Shangs movements outside. Even the usually calm and collected Lu Shang felt a little overwhelmed, thinking that they might need to have a chat about that. That night, Yan Ke called to invite Lu Shang to dinner. Yan Ke didnt talk about any of the specifics, he just sounded vague and awkward through the phone. Lu Shang presumed that he must have had some kind of hidden agenda, so he brought Li Sui with him to the restaurant. As expected, the moment they stepped foot into the restaurant, they saw the elder son of the SiMa family, sitting in the private room with red eyes. SiMa JingRong wore casual attire tonight, on his left earlobe was an eye-catching stud earring. His choice of clothes was a lot more normal than that day on the ship. Seeing the two enter, SiMa JingRong immediately stood up, awkwardly extending his hand and inviting them into the room. Lu Shang and Li Sui looked at each other for a second, then followed SiMa JingRong in. Uncle Lu, I would like to propose a toast to you. For your help on the ship the other day. Even if you round it down, SiMa JingRong was at least 180 centimeters tall, he also had arge build. Hearing him call Lu Shang uncle just didnt sit right with Li Sui. Lu Shangs expression didnt change, but he didnt take the ss of wine that was handed to him either. He picked up a cup of tea at the side, clicking the cup with SiMa JingRongs ss and drank all of it down. SiMa JingRong froze for a bit, with a slightly dejected expression, he gulped the wine down. Is everything fine at home? Lu Shang refilled his cup with tea. Nothing special. My father just said he is never going to care about me again. Annoyance rose on his face as SiMa JingRong began talking about the things at home, Uncle Yan said that I should go home and talk to my father face to face. But with his temper, knowing that incident on the ship, hed bite me to death if I go home. Theres no way Im going back home. Lu Shang avoidedmenting on his speech, but said lightly, He is still your father. Father? SiMa JingRong said with a disgusted face, If he still had a shred of love for me, then he wouldnt ask for thepanys shares my mother left me when she died. Lu Shang sharply caught something odd in his words. The SiMa family was a female-oriented family, they started their business as a clothing wholesaler, then they began doing electronics. SiMa JingRongs father, Yue PengFei, was married into the SiMa household, he married the familys eldest daughter. After the eldest daughter died duringbor, Yue PengFei married the second daughter of the SiMa household. Addis Note: Sooo.his little half brother is also his little cousin? Gross. Yue PengFei was a prodigy, with his own talents and SiMa familys funds, he opened his own subsidiarypany. Thepany was the first in the country, providing a single-tform service that included both logistics and online retail services (i). Thepany had grown and developed, by now, it had already monopolized the industry mid, North, and South-China. Thepany was even got listed on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) of the stock exchange (ii)st year. T/N: (i) I think you can imagine it as something like Amazon or TaoBao. (ii) This statement basically means thepany became a listedpany and will appear in the stock exchange. However, in China the stock exchange has two different boards, one is called the Main Board, the other is called GEM. The difference is that there are less requirements for getting listed on the GEM than in the main board. Really? Lu Shang rubbed the edge of his cup, trying to get more information out of him, he continued, From what I know of director Yue, he wouldnt do that. You guys are just deceived. SiMa JingRong said in a hurry, He even tried to trick me, saying that he was just borrowing it, and that he will return them. Im not stupid, if I gave him the money, he will definitely give them to SiMa Yan! SiMa JingRongs mother was the sole shareholder of the electronicspany, she left with eighty percent of the shares to SiMa JingRong and only twenty percent to her husband Yue PengFei. The shares at the time werent worth that much. But after so many years of development at Yue PengFeis hands, plus the growing of the electronics industries in recent years, thepany reached apletely different scale than before. SiMa JingRong didnt care about the business, he probably didnt even realize how rich he actually was. As for Yue PengFeis request for the shares, SiMa JingRong didnt understand the reasons. Lu Shang however, immediately knew what he wanted, Yue PengFei wanted to get listed via a shell (iii). T/N: (iii) The correct term is reverse takeover, but in Chinese the term means to get listed via a shell. It is when a privatepany takes control of a listed but weakerpany (also called a shellpany) through buying the majority of the shellpanys shares. Afterwards the privatepany will merge with the shellpany, allowing the privatepany to bypass checking and get into the stock exchange. So here it means that the SiMa familys electronicspany is already listed on the main board of the stock exchange, but as Yue PengFeispany is not and he wants it to, so he wants to do so through the electronicspany. Henceforth Yue PengFei needs SiMa JingRongs 80% shares of the electronicspany. After getting thepany listed, he could ce the shares out to the public, getting investors and money. With the funds, he could change the structure of thepany, giving thepany more possibilities and better prospects. In short, the pros outweighed the cons. After the analysis, his dad maybe overly ambitious, but he might have also considered SiMa JingRongs situation as well. Uncle Lu, what do you think I should do? SiMa JingRong begged for help. Lu Shang found something odd and asked, Your father didnt send you to business school? He did, but I didnt understand them. I have money, why do I need to learn that stuff? Moreover, if I leave home for that long, who knows what kind of change will happen in the family. No wonder Yue PengFei favored the younger son, if Lu Shang was his father, hed be furious too. Even Li Sui couldnt take it anymore, he said, So youre okay with the status quo? There will be a day when your fortune ends. Lu Shang tugged Li Suis sleeve under the table slightly, as it would be best not to be so direct. Lu Shang said vaguely, You should put your studies first at your age. Li Sui turned his head to take a nce of Lu Shang, he remembered something Uncle Yuen said before. After Lu Shangs father died, he promptly returned and stabilized Tong Yan Corporation all on his own, Lu Shang was just around SiMa JingRongs current age when he did that. Li Sui couldnt help but gasp at how different people could be. Yan Ke arrivedte, he walked in and Li Sui nodded his head, greeting him, Big brother Yan. Hehe, sorry Imte. There was a traffic jam. Yan Keughed, Dont just have wine, order some food. This ce is famous for their seafood. After finishing the sentence, he waved his hand to call for the waiters, asking for the menu. With theirst interaction, Li Sui had gotten more used to Yan Ke, he was less tense around him than before. Li Sui poured him a cup of tea and smiled, The stuff I saidst time were too rash, thank you for brother Yans help. Then he turned his head to SiMa JingRong, nodding his head, he said, Please dont take it to heart. When Li Sui spoke, he intentionally emphasized on the word brother, almost like he was trying to correct a certain someone. SiMa JingRong caught on to what Li Sui said, all kinds of emotions shing across his face. The corner of Lu Shangs mouth lifted slightly, he didnt say anything. Yan Ke was the first to react, he hit the back of his own head,ughing, My bad. JingRong, you should call him brother Lu from now on, he isnt that much older than you anyways. My bad, my bad, I got it wrong. I kept thinking you are still the small fat boy, haha. Seeing Li Sui now, I realized you guys arent that different in age. Hahaha SiMa JingRongs face was flushed, Lu Shang smiled at him and said, Hes joking, call me whatever you like. II will go get some sauce SiMa JingRong stood up in embarrassment. I will go too. Li Sui followed him out. Looking at the twos back, Yan Ke asked, You arent the least bit worried that theyd get into a fight? Lu Shang lowered his head to sip in tea, They are close in age, they should have more to talk about together. As an uncle, it would be unseemly of me to interfere. What? Are you still sour about that? Lu Shang took a nce of Yan Ke and changed the subject, Do you have any business ties with Yue PengFei? Help me arrange a meeting. Well, I have some, but what do you have in mind? He wants to get a shellpany, right? I just happen to have a great gift for him, I think he will like it. When it came to matters in business, Yan Ke valued integrity and manners more than anything, so hearing what Lu Shang said reassured him. He nodded promptly, Wait for me to get in contact then. The sauces were ced in a long row, there were a huge variety of them, customers were allowed to get whatever blend they want themselves. Li Sui avoided the spicy sauces and mustards; he made a sugary vinegar blend and one more that was mainly savory. SiMa JingRong couldnt ept the nd blends Li Sui was making, so he scooped a spoon full of spicy sauce and was about to dump them into Li Suis sauce dish, You must add some spice. Li Sui immediately covered his dishes and evaded, No. Whats there to eat if you dont add spicy stuff? If you like them, then you can eat it yourself. Why do you care about what I eat? SiMa JingRong rolled his eyes in disgust, Youck taste. Li Sui didnt like losing, so he threw a jab back, People who have a different taste than you are allcking? I see that you are still as self-centered as ever. SiMa JingRong choked a bit and stomped in front of Li Sui, Dont think that you will have my gratitude just because you said something that day! Your gratitude doesnt elevate my life. Li Sui stared back at him. The two red into each others eyes, they were simr in height, sparks of mes surrounded them. Li Sui said with a deep voice, Get out of my way. SiMa JingRong stared at Li Sui angrily, after a while he backed down, slowly walking aside. During dinner, only Yan Ke and Lu Shang talked over the table. SiMa JingRong was like a deted balloon, he ate with low spirits. Li Sui was busy getting the crab meat from the shell for Lu Shang, so he didnt look at SiMa JingRong. Mid-way through dinner, Yan Ke felt a need to butt in. Even as a father, Yan Ke felt embarrassed from how lovey-dovey Li Sui and Lu Shang were acting. He poured Li Sui a cup of coconut juice, Stop peeling the crab, eat something yourself. Lu Shang put his chopsticks down, taking up a piece of crab, Here, Ill help you. Li Sui was definitely not going to let Lu Shang dirty his hands, so he quickly pulled the crab away from Lu Shang, No, Ill do it myself. SiMa JingRongs gaze swam around the two, his expression was weird and awkward. He wasnt clear what rtionship Lu Shang and Li Sui had, but seeing their overly close interactions now, he couldnt help but wonder. He turned his head to Yan Ke, thetter understood his inquiry and smiled. Yan Ke scoped a spoon of ms in steamed eggs and emptied it into SiMa JingRongs bowl. pping his back, he said, Forgot to tell you, but they are together. With the confirmation, it was as if lightning shed down on him, his expression stiff. Li Sui unintentionally nced at him, then as if he was doing it intentionally, he moved closer to Lu Shang. Whispering into Lu Shangs ear, hearing what he said, the corner of Lu Shangs mouth lifted into a slight curve and he nodded. SiMa JingRongs face turned red again, imagining that the two must have said something indecent. In an instant, his imagination ran wild, flooding his entire brain, paralyzing his thoughts. He remained in the stupefied state until they finished dinner. When they were about to leave, Li Sui went to say his farewell with Yan Ke, that was when SiMa JingRong finally woke up from his dreams. SiMa hurriedly pulled out a business card and handed it to Li Sui, he didnt quite understand and hence did not take it. SiMa JingRong got annoyed and said, Take it already. Li Sui turned back to look at Lu Shang, thetter did not give him any directions, Lu Shang had an expression that read this is your own decision to make. Li Sui turned back and took the card, This is? My number. SiMa JingRong felt extremely awkward and weird, You can call me if you need something. Li Sui was a little shocked, but soon he felt a hint of joy in his heart. Before Li Sui replied, SiMa waved his hand and left, following behind Yan Ke. What are you smiling for? Lu Shang saw the weird grin on Li Suis face. Hes a really interesting person. Li Sui said while waving the card a little. He smiled towards Lu Shang, Say, does this count as me making my first friend? Lu Shang analyzed, The SiMa family is a huge force, if you could befriend him, he will definitely be helpful to you in the future. SiMa JingRongs actions shocked even Lu Shang, he began to find that he didnt understand the world young people lived in. These two kids personalities were so different that Lu Shang couldnt even imagine how they couldmunicate if they became friends. Li Sui was a low-key person with mature thoughts, while SiMa JingRong was outgoing and childish. However, Lu Shang coulde up with at least one simr point of the two, both of them were pure-hearted people. I thought he hated me, the things I said were really harsh after all. He just didnt want to admit it, but he actually agrees with what you said. In truth, SiMa JingRong had correct views of the world, life and others. He could differentiate between right and wrong, but he was just a little too childish. From how he referred to almost everyone as uncle showed hisck of self-awareness. He truly was a little toozy for his own good, but if a day came when he had an epiphany of sorts, he might be a decent, talented person. Im not trying to be mean to him. Li Sui said honestly, I just didnt like people calling you like youre old. Lu Shang jokingly rubbed his chin and slouched his back, Am I old? You are barely thirty years old. Of course youre not old. Li Sui paused a bit, then continued with a weaker voice, Even if you get old, Ill stay with you. The horn of a car whizzed by them, Lu Shang turned his head back, What did you just say? Li Sui averted his eyes, Nothing. Chapter 18 - Sudden Inspiration Chapter 18: Sudden Inspiration Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations As they were sleeping at night, Lu Shangs phone rang. He had set his phone on do-not-disturb mode, so only the people in a special list could get through. Lu Shang saw Uncle Yuens name on the iing caller ID, he frowned a bit and got up while putting his clothes on. Just got news that Li JingYao was captured by the police. Do we need to do anything? What about theirpany, Chan Zhuang? ording to Miss Meng, the police will temporarily shut thepany down and check the books. It will probably be shut down permanently afterwards. And wheres Li Yan? He ran. This incident is still on the down low, but he got news and fled. We didnt find records of him leaving the country so he should be hiding somewhere. Lu Shang contemted for a few moments, his fingers tapped the armrest subconsciously, Just get us as far away from the incident as possible for now, dont do anything else. Also ask Zuo Chao to increase watch over Liu XinTians movements. Uncle Yuen seemed a little shocked, he said, Understood. Hanging the phone up, the house returned to its usual silence. Lu Shang stood up from the sofa and walked slowly towards the French window. It was in the middle of the night, so outside the window was a vast view of darkness, only a lonely light tower was glowing. It was as if the city was asleep. On the horizon, shades of blue sparkled across the sea. Li JingYao was a poisonous snake; Lu Shangs fathers death had a lot to do with that snake. However, in business, the situation changed in an instant. When Lu Shang began working, he had no choice but to cooperate with him. On the surface, they were business partners, but in truth, Lu Shang had been trying to break Li JingYao for years. For that goal, he had a lot of dirty tricks done, he was also involved in making Chan Zhuangs ship sink. Now, Li JingYao was in jail, so technically Lu Shang got his wish. This was a one in a lifetime chance to get Li JingYao out of the picture for good. Uncle Yuen knew Lu Shang had been waiting for this, so he called to inform Lu Shang even in the middle of the night. Lu Shang closed his eyes and sighed, sadly his hands were tied, he couldnt risk making a wrong step. Li Yan was still out there somewhere, and he might still have something up his sleeves. Is something wrong? Li Sui took out a nket and put it over Lu Shang. Lu Shang pursed his lips together slightly, No. Seeing Li Suis worried face, he said, Get myptop. You are going to work? Now? Lu Shang nodded his head. One phone call affected both of their moods, each had a lot to think about and sleep was nowhere in those thoughts. Li Sui decided to grab a seat and look at Lu Shang signing and going through the paperwork. Uncle Yuen was a careful and efficient assistant, he did all his work in an orderly fashion, all the mail he sent were marked with their individual urgency for Lu Shangs convenience. The mail also had clear, simple titles, allowing Lu Shang to grasp the general content with just one nce. Lu Shang picked a few pieces of mail amongst the urgent ones to download. For some of the mail, he just skimmed through, but for some, he read very carefully and even made detailed annotations. A serious man was always the best looking. Lu Shangs personality was cid to begin with, when he began working, even thest shreds of weakness and sickliness were swept away. He gave off a sharp and intelligent aura, even a simple action like typing was enough to attract peoples full attention. The person in question didnt realize, but as the audience, Li Suis eyes were heavily attracted to Lu Shang. The two of them were in such a close proximity that Li Sui could hear Lu Shangs breaths loud and clear. After sitting beside Lu Shang for a while, he felt a wave of heat swarming his body. Feeling a bit guilty, he stood up and got a cup of warm milk from the kitchen. It was too quiet, they were also alone together in the house, so it was extremely hard for Li Sui to think of something else. Li Sui stood at the sink; it took him gods know how long to finally get his jumping heart in ce. He walked back out with the ss of milk, Lu Shang was still staring at the screen, he said, You should rest. Li Suis feet stopped, then he continued walking over with the same expression. Putting the cup down, he replied, Im not sleepy. Lu Shang nced at the cup of milk; he didnt say anything more. At the beginning, Li Suis gaze was solely on Lu Shang, but as time passed, he began to look at the contents on the screen as well. Li Sui stared at the screen for a while, then he couldnt help but ask while pointing at a few unread mails, Why wont you read these ones? They are marked as urgent as well. Its marked as urgent because they are in a hurry. Lu Shang continued typing, It has nothing to do with me. Li Sui didnt quite understand what he meant, Lu Shang stopped his hands and turned his head to Li Sui with a light smile, Have you heard of the saying, the emperor doesnt worry but his eunuch does? Li Suiughed, You are saying they are eunuchs? Lu Shang tilted his head a little in thought. The wording might not be right, but the rationale is the same. A leader cannot afford to be rash, or to be affected by employees emotions. Instead of judging from others words and moods, we need to think with only the job in mind. Act ording to the urgency of the case, not the person in question. We need to know how to arrange matters by their respective priorities. Seeing Li Suis confused expression, Lu Shang softened, he remembered how all these might be too much for him. Lu Shang smiled and said, You should go to bed. What about you? Li Sui didnt want to sleep yet. Lu Shang looked at him again as he came up with something, Do you want to try? Me? Li Suis eyes glowed. Lu Shang opened a document; he turned the screen to Li Sui. Exining, he said, This is apanys financial statement, thepanys usage of fundsst year are listed here. Have a look at it and tell me what conclusions you have. Li Sui had never learned ounting subjects before, so he just felt dizzy looking at the words and numbers. Lu Shang was staring at him, so it would be embarrassing for Li Sui to say he understood nothing. With no other options, he tried reading every single word and line in detail, trying to analyze whatever they meant. He read the statement all the way till the sun came up, finally he raised his head from the screen and he actually understood a bit. To be honest, the table wasnt difficult toprehend. It was made by humans after all, plus it was invented to make it more convenient for humans in calcting. Though there were some terms that he couldnt grasp, he did understand the simpler ounting terms. Seeing Li Suis rxed shoulders, Lu Shang asked, What conclusions did youe to? They used a lot of money. Lu Shang nodded, Where were the funds used in? Therere conferences, cars Theres also an operational expense here. Do you think they had a gain or loss? I think they had a gain? Why? Here. In the profit section, it states that they had six million yuan of profits. Li Sui pointed. Lu Shangughed lightly. Was I wrong? Li Sui was anxious. Lu Shang didnt reply, he closed theptop. Pulling Li Suis arm, he said, Go, lets go back to bed. Was I right or not? Li Sui asked again. But seeing Lu Shang take his coat off, Li Sui swallowed his words. Rays of light shot through the clouds near the horizon of the sea, forming a golden sheen atop the ocean. The golden sparks crawled into their room through the window, Li Sui wasnt sleepy, but he didnt want to affect Lu Shang rest either. Li Suiid on the bed with his clothes on, looking intently at Lu Shang sleeping. He waited till he was certain Lu Shang was deep asleep, then he quietly got out of bed to make breakfast. Li Sui was dexterous, his movements were light and swift, but at the same time serious. As he had been through a lot of turmoil, he found this kind of peaceful little things especially priceless, he treasured his time here. Perhaps Lu Shang couldnt grasp why, but Li Sui understood himself clearly. Lu Shangs unfinished sentence that day continued to linger at the surface of Li Suis mind. Li Sui, its fine. Eventually, I will Li Sui, its fine. Eventually, I will die. Li Sui never put that out into words, but from the day Lu Shang got discharged from the hospital, a sense of restlessness was in his heart. The days he was living now were too perfect, so perfect that Li Sui felt as if they were stolen. Li Sui always thought that, if he cked even a little, God will take this treasure away. The stew was done but Lu Shang showed no signs of waking up anytime soon. Li Sui pulled his tablet out, opening his reading list and cing it on hisp. He read each page carefully. It was almost afternoon when Lu Shang woke up, the two caretakers came to measure Lu Shangs pulse and blood pressure, they recorded a bunch of numbers. Before they left, Li Sui stopped one of the caretakers in secret. Are the numbers normal? The female caretaker shook her head, unsure if she meant she didnt know, or the numbers were bad. She said, Ive never seen a case like this before, it would be best if you ask Dr. Leung when you get back. Li Sui felt depressed. After breakfast, Lu Shang got a phone call, then he went out, bringing Li Sui along. They were going to the Golden Sands Shore construction site. ording to their original n, the moment Lu Shang arrived on HaiNan Ind, he would be inspecting the site first-hand. However, Lu Shangs health condition didnt agree with the n. Moreover, there were too many arguments among the board members, there were no final proposals yet and every time they had a meeting, theyd bicker. Lu Shang waited quietly for all of them to have their fair share of fighting, now when they were all tired of fighting, Lu Shang finally invited a few of the members to the construction site today. Tong Yan Corporation was the sole investor and the developer of the project, even though Lu Shang was the director of thepany, he couldnt just do whatever he wanted. As this was an investment that valued profit, if he just decided everything by himself and the results were not satisfactory, it would be a real pain to exin to the other shareholders. The construction site wasnt far from the city, they arrived by bus after around thirty minutes. On the way to the construction site, Lu Shang kept thinking how amazing it was that Liu XingMing could keep the plot ofnd for this long, especially with how scarcend was on the ind. If Liu XingMing didnt value being near home so much, Lu Shang really did want to transfer him to the city and make Liu XingMing work for him instead. The attendant on their journey was a prettydy, so the whole bus full of me heads got along extraordinary well, they even chatted and joked on the way there. However, the second they got off the bus, everyone was quiet like a vegetable. They had heard of the condition of the site already but seeing it first-hand was still shocking. Oxidized steel pipes and dumped bricks were everywhere, the plot ofnd was covered with pits filled with seawater. There were also scores of rubbish and some marine animals corpses, the air wasced with a rotten, oceanic smell. The weather within thest few days had been good, but no one was at the beach nearby. Green moss grew on the rocks on the beach, indicating that the beach had a very scarce amount of visitors. The soil at the construction site was below satisfactory as well, ignoring the pieces of rocks and stones, the soil consisted mainly ofterite. The ground was loose and dry, as if the soil would sink if anyone stepped on, the whole ce felt quite unsafe. Lu Shang nced at Liu XingMing beside him, thetter was a lot calmer. Liu XingMing even stomped a piece of steel pipe t, as he saw it was protruding upwards, it seemed like he was used to this ce. Most of the board members had visited the construction site before, but the fear of that rumor persisted, so having to step foot on thend again gave them a little scared. Plus, the weather was sunny and great when they began the trip, but somehow, ever since they stepped foot in the construction site, the sky turned grim and cloudy. The wind began to pick up, and ayer of fog rose from the ocean, making this ce seem even more ominous. The female attendant took out helmets and boots for the visitors, handing them to everyone. Li Sui took a set and wore them, then he opened Lu Shangs set and helped him put them on. I remember there were a lot of people at the beachst time I came here. Lu Shang looked at the beach afar. The female attendant turned her head around and replied, Yes, there were still a lot of visitorsst spring. Li Sui followed their gazes to see a beach, the ocean was beautiful, and the sand were fine and clean, there werent any rubbish on the beach either. Li Sui also found it weird, Then why arent there any visitors now? Last summer, a ship sank somewhere near here. That incident affected this beach, for half-a-year the ocean was covered with ayer of oily substances, so naturally no one swam here. This spring there was an algal bloom (i) in the sea, they were just cleaned away recently. The female attendant picked up a m on the construction site and said, These marine animals here on the site died from suffocation because of the algae growth. T/N: (i) Algal bloom often ur when there are rich amounts of nutrients in the sea, here it was most likely due to the sank ship. As therge amount of algae will consume all the dissolved oxygen in the water, the marine animals will die from suffocation. The ship did that much damage? Li Sui asked. No one replied, the female attendant thought for a while, then she said, There may be another reason. Last time, I heard an elderly say that this part of the ocean was haunted. The sea will sweep a person away every four years, and it was very exact. She paused for a bit and said, This year just happens to be the fourth year (ii). T/N: (ii) It was not mentioned, but if you are wondering why of all numbers four was used here, the reason is because in both Cantonese and Mandarin, the pronunciation of four were very close to the pronunciation of death. Just as the female attendant spoke, the wind picked up even more, making the ce even more chilly. The two were further apart at the beginning, but hearing what she said, Li Sui couldnt help but etched closer to Lu Shang. Are you scared? Lu Shang noticed and turned his head around to Li Sui,ughing a little. Li Sui wasnt scared, but in this kind of atmosphere, he would always subconsciously be aware of Lu Shang. Li Sui would only feel at ease if Lu Shang was in an area where he could reach and protect. Liu XingMing looked a lot like a farmer once he was on the construction site, his bronze skin matched the spat in his hand perfectly. Others didnt dare make unnecessary movements on the site, he however, dug up an incense burner from the ground. I ced it herest time, so its still here. Liu XingMingughed. He directed the female attendant to get the incense from the back of the bus, then he turned his head to the pale-looking board members, Come,e, why dont we pay our respects and burn some incense? These people fought and bickered so loudly in the office before, but here, none of them dare speak, as if it would anger the Gods. Initially, none of the board members epted Liu XingMings invitation. But then two of them went to burn an incense, so the rest followed suit, worried that the Gods would punish them if they didnt. Li Sui turned his head to Lu Shang, thetter didnt budge, it seemed like Lu Shang wasnt going to put up any incenses. So naturally, Li Sui wouldnt do so either. Looking at the backs of these people putting up incenses, Li Sui suddenly felt a sense of pity, thinking how these people had it hard. They needed money, but also needed to care about their faces, yet they were also afraid that what they did would bring wrath from the Gods. Perhaps this was human nature, when people reached a high ce, theyd always fear losing, even fearing gain. When you possess too much, youd began to get anxious of everything. It was always people like Lu Shang, whod die any day and cared for nothing, or people like Li Sui, whod have nothing to begin with, that could truly enjoy life. On the way back, Lu Shang didnt speak, he kept staring out the window, as if he was in deep thought. Li Sui didnt interrupt him; he took out his tablet and began reading his precious books in secret. After dinner, Lu Shang began working on hisputer. Not long afterwards, he began to daydream again. Li Sui prepared a bathtub of warm water for Lu Shang, Li Sui called him a few times, but Lu Shang didnt notice. Are you busy? Do you want to go have a bath first? Lu Shang turned back to nce at Li Sui, then he shook his head, Im thinking about the plot ofnd. Li Sui nudged up to Lu Shang and asked, Do you have any ideas yet? Li Sui wasnt sure when it began, but Lu Shang would discuss work with him recently. Lu Shang turned theputer screen to Li Sui, A hotel is out of the question, as the location is too secluded, so the profit would be too low. A vi is also unsatisfactory, as rich people are picky, so it would be hard to sell. The soil is too loose, so we cant build a tall apartment building. The only remaining possibilities are a holiday resort or a theme park. Li Sui stared at the screen, on it was a proposal for the Golden Sand Shore project, they had a construction proposal and a market report written out. Li Sui read it for a bit, then asked, This is what they wrote? Does it not give you any ideas? Lu Shang summarized the proposal with one word, Extravagant. Li Sui didnt know what to say to that, after the past few days, Li Sui realised something about Lu Shang. Lu Shang seemed easy-going, but in fact, he was quite stubborn. His stubbornness showed the most in his work, if he had decided on something, no one could change his mind. The mysterious ghost stories in the day crossed Li Suis mind, he said without much thought, If this ce is so ominous, then maybe we should just use that and build a haunted house or something. Li Suis sentence wasnt processed through his brain, the sentence just slipped out, he meant for it as a joke. Unexpectedly, Lu Shang suddenly stared at him, then he began thinking seriously, a glimmer of light returned to his eyes. Quickly, Lu Shang began typing on theputer. Li Sui knew that once Lu Shang gets into his working mode, he wont stop for quite a while, so Li Sui just turned to the kitchen to prepare some midnight snacks. Chapter 19 - The Prophecy Chapter 19: The Prophecy Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations The proposal Lu Shang made wasnt a haunted house, but a theme park with horror as the main theme. The areas near the ocean would be constructed as the leisure area, hotels and restaurants would be built there. While the entertainment area, which will be located farther away from the sea, would consist mainly of attractions for fun. He decided on a minimalist design, keeping most of the originalndscapes. There was even a portion of thend where they would keep as is. The part he decided to keep was where the waves broke the surrounding walls of the construction site ten years ago. The tattered ground and the broken bricks would serve the theme well, plus, it would save them construction costs. Mere infrastructure wasnt enough, Lu Shang also prepared a separate proposal. He nned on hiring a well-known inte novel writer to create a ghost story surrounding the shore. At the same time, their inte team would increase the hype around the authors ount, so that their theme park would have a backstory for advertising. With the novels existence, the authenticity of all the ghost stories would actually plummet, people would think of it as a simple tale. All the ominous rumors about this plot ofnd would turn into a means of advertising, Lu Shang had truly considered this thoroughly. But why emphasize on inte authors? Youngsters are the main audience in these ghostly topics, they also tend to go on the inte more than bookstores. Li Sui nodded his head without fullyprehending. Lu Shang sent the initial proposal to Liu XingMing, asking for a feasibility report. When Lu Shang had finished all his work and came to, it was alreadyte at night. A nice aroma of food drifted out from the kitchen, that was when Lu Shang realized that he was a little hungry. What are you making? Pigeon soup. Li Sui turned the stove off and opened the stone pot lid. A rich fragrance of meat and soup filled the kitchen, Li Sui skimmed theyer of oil atop away, and spooned out the soup into a bowl. He handed the bowl to Lu Shang, Have a taste. The soup was clear and had the color of caramel, there werent any remnants of meat floating on the soup surface, clearly, they had been filtered away carefully beforehand. There was a scarce amount of oil in the soup, white steamed rolled out continuously. Lu Shang took a tiny sip, the scent that spread across his lips and tongue were fresh and mild, the soup had little salt, making the scent especially clean. There werent any numbing spices and all the ingredients original taste could be felt from the soup. The fragrance of Chinese mushroom added to the sweetness of the red jujubes; the taste seeped into the softness of the tender slices of pigeon meat. It was an amazing ensemble of culinary sensations. Amongst the different taste, Lu Shang could sense an odd vor in the sweetness. He couldnt make sense of the strange taste, but it was a little bitter, like Chinese medicine. Lu Shang knew this soup was different from what he usually had, You put medicine in here? Hmn. I asked the caretakers; they are all medicinal herbs that you can eat. Li Sui was afraid that Lu Shang would worry, so he added, I only added a little. Lu Shang lowered his head and drank all the soup down. Li Sui fidgeted, Does it taste alright? Umm. It tastes great. Lu Shang handed the empty bowl to Li Sui, indicating that he wanted seconds. It was as if Li Sui was extremely satisfied, he wore a bright smile, even his eyes were smiling. His eyes were big, distinct wrinkles formed at the corners of his eyes when he smiled. The overhead lights in the kitchen shone on Li Suis eyes, making them glimmer. His eyes exemplified the name Li Sui well, deep but bright eyes. Lu Shang averted his gaze, then he remembered something. He extended his hand to pinch Li Suis arm a bit, Has the wound from before healed yet? Theyve healed already a long time ago. Alls that left is a tiny scar, once summeres, you wont even see it. After saying that, Li Sui nonchntly flexed his arm, exhibiting his bicep muscle. Li Sui really had grown up, Lu Shang still remembered when he first brought Li Sui home, he was so thin and scrawny like an African refugee. In the blink of an eye, he had already grown into an adult. It was as if this kid had held back for the past ten years, once he entered a better environment, he was like a foreign invading nt, immediately sucking up all the nutrients he could get, and did all the growing he missed out in the past ten years. Lu Shang suddenly found that he couldprehend Leung ZiRuis worry. After the proposal was sent, Liu XingMing called excitedly, saying his praises first, then vaguely hurried Lu Shang for the funds. Lu Shang asked him not to worry about the funds and let him do the rest. When the proposal went to the board members, they bickered for a period of time again and finally they gave an affirmative reply. This proposal was the most reasonable proposal to begin with, no one wanted to be responsible for this project either, so having Lu Shang to deal with this worked best for them. However, each of the board members represented a big shareholder of thepany, so they must dish out something to show their worth, each of them made a lot of pointless suggestions. In Lu Shangs eyes, all thements were reasonable but nothing more and nothing less, so he ignored them and let Liu XingMing handle it. As the weather in recent days was great, Lu Shang brought Li Sui out to y instead. They visited all the tourist attractions on the ind. Li Sui noticed that Lu Shang seemed to be great at enjoying life. He was serious at work, but, apart from that, he wouldnt let anything else worry him; he treated everything else the same. Later that day, he caught a glimpse of Lu Shang changing on the beach, seeing the vague scars, he was reminded of the reason behind that. Li Sui had never seen Lu Shangs naked body under the sun before. Under the bright sunlight, Li Sui could make out the small scars on his body; they were surgical scars. There were deeper scars and there were shallow ones, as if they were trying to express how much hardships the owner had been through. Li Sui couldnt imagine how much Lu Shang must had suffered from his disease to reach his age now. He remembered asking Leung ZiRui about the seriousness of Lu Shangs disease, he couldnt grasp what he meant at the time. Dr. Leung also couldnt disclose patient information, so he only said, Let me put it like this, if he wasnt born in the Lu family but an average household, hed be long dead by now. If a person had to walk at the rim of death for years, and his life was at threat every single second, even if it wasnt Lu Shang but someone else, no matter what their personalities were, it would be hard for that person to care for anything. What are you thinking? Lu Shang threw a beach volleyball at Li Suis face. Li Sui snapped back from his thoughts, and caught the ball firmly, cing it beside his feet. He said, Im thinking, when will we go back home? Homesick? Hmn. I havent seen Uncle Yuen and Aunt Lu for such a long time already. Lu Shang sat beside him and grabbed a bottle of soda, Then we can go back tomorrow. Is your work here done already? This isnt something that could be finished so soon. For the construction work to bepleted, it will take at least three to four years. Then, lets go back. I want to learn how to cook more dishes from Aunt Lu. Lu Shangughed, She probably wont let you learn more. The setting sun soaked the sky red, reflecting onto the surface of the sea, it was sparkling as if ayer of gold kes were floating. Youve helped with this proposal too, what reward do you want when we get back? Lu Shang asked. Li Sui turned his head to see Lu Shangs ck hair, lights of gold reflected off the soft strands, a thin halo of light framed his face. He looked like a buddha statue made of gold, someone capable of anything. At that moment, as if he was encouraged by the holy light, his vocal cords clenched, and he said seriously, I could ask for anything? In my capabilities. Lu Shang giggled, If you want me to fetch you a magicmp from the sea right now, then I cant help you. I really do want a magicmp. Li Sui stared at the sea, Then I can make a wish so that your disease will heal. Lu Shang raised his head at this statement, their gazes met unintentionally. In that one second, it was as if their hearts had connected, Lu Shang had an intuition that Li Sui was about to say something important. Hey. Be careful Someone screamed from afar. A shadow shed by; a volleyball flew right pass their faces. Sourry The person walked over to pick the ball up, speaking weird Mandarin (i). T/N: (i) Hai Nan Ind has a lot of weird dialects. A gust of wind picked up, Li Sui dug his fingers into the sand, pulling some soft sand up. Courage slipped through his grasp too fast, he had missed the opportunity, and now he couldnt bring himself to say what was in his throat anymore. Lets save it for another time. Lu Shang opened the soda in his hands, making a fizzy sound. Heughed a little and said with a small voice, Youve learned your lesson. Li Sui arched his eyebrow, You taught me well. Uncle Yuen booked a morning flight for the day after. The board members heard that Lu Shang was leaving, all of them begged him to stay, so Lu Shang couldnt straight up refuse. Moreover, Lu Shang still needed them to work for the project, so he had tofort them a little. Hence, Lu Shang allowed them to hold a farewell party for him, so they had to stay one more day. After sightseeing for the whole day, both Lu Shang and Li Sui were exhausted. So they just packed up their more personal items and left the rest to the hotel workers. Lu Shang only reminded the worker to pack up the shell in the cupboard, then he went to bed. The worker was a rookie, so when he tidied the room, he even packed up the charging phone and the charger. So, the next morning, Lu Shangs phone turned off on its own due to ack of battery. Liu XingMing was impatient, so when he failed to call Lu Shang, he dialed straight to Li Sui. That happened to be an elderly phones perk, it could hold out a whole week after charging it full. Li Sui handed his phone to Lu Shang and went to make breakfast. Once they got back home, the kitchen wont be his anymore. If he wanted to make a meal for Lu Shang, Aunt Lu might think he was trying to steal her job. A deserted ind? Lu Shang walked to the balcony, Is the news reliable? Reliable! My bro from the peoples procuratorate told me. Its up for auction right now, I checked out the price already, and its quite a bargain. The paperwork is all legit too, but more importantly the ind is located really close to the Golden Sand Shore construction site. If we could get it, it would be a great asset. How is the development on the ind? The person at the other end of the phone paused, then he replied, They say its half-developed, but I havent verified that yet. I called you as soon as I got the news. Lu Shang said after thinking for a while, Go arrange for a sighting, we can go have a look this afternoon. Remember to bring along people from the inspectionpany. Okay. Before Liu XingMing hung the phone up, he said, By the way,st time, on the cruise ship, you asked me to find a person. I found him and gave the contact details to Uncle Yuen already. Sorry for being nosy, but that person is in charge of the jails, right? What do you need him for? Lu Shang paused, Its personal. Liu XingMing understandingly stopped asking, he hung the phone up and went to rent a ship. A gust of wind blew onto the balcony, Lu Shang raised his head to look at the sky; the weather was really unstable recently. Lu Shang went inside and picked up his phone to check the weather forecast, he poked the power button a few times, then he remembered, it was out of battery. Lu Shang turned his head around and saw Li Suis tabletying on the table, walking over, he naturally picked it up. When Lu Shang first bought the tablet, he added his fingerprint just in case if Li Sui didnt know how to use it. As such, Lu Shang was able to unlock the tablet with ease, the screen turned on and showed the page Li Sui was browsing before, Lu Shangs fingers stiffened <>, <>, <> Lu Shang scrolled down to find a few books aboutpanyw and enforcement. It was obvious that Li Sui was trying to find a way to heal his disease. These books all had different reading frequency records, Li Sui made notes in a lot of these books, it showed how serious he was on the subject. Lu Shang also discovered a few healthcare recipes in the bookmarks, and they were exactly the food Li Sui made him in recent days. Lu Shang silently put the tablet back to its original ce, he stood still not knowing what to say. It was quiet in the house; Lu Shang could hear the slight racket from the kitchen. Lu Shangs eyelids lowered, feeling conflicted in his heart. If, in the future, this kid found out that the treatment he was so desperately searching for was Im going to make some soup dumplings; do you prefer sweet or salty ones? Li Suis smiling head poked out from the kitchen all of a sudden. Lu Shang tidied up his expression, raising his head, he replied to Li Sui with a light smile, Salty ones. Then Ill boil some with the soup from yesterday. The curtains drifted along with the wind, forming a pretty parab. Lu Shang recalled Li Sui asking to learn about hispany and healthcare. He was sick in bed at the time, so he didnt give it much thought. Lu Shang didnt give him a positive response the first time, so Li Sui didnt bring the subject up again. It wasnt that Lu Shang didnt want him to learn, it was just that he didnt have the time or heart to teach someone. Moreover, he found this meaningless, even Leung ZiRui couldnt do anything about his disease, what could a kid aplish? SiMa JingRong crossed his mind all of a sudden, then Lu Shang found his ideas a little too subjective. He shouldnt rip Li Sui of the choice, no matter what the future holds for the two of them, Li Sui should have the right to be educated. After lunch, the two took a little nap together. Lu Shang had a change of clothes and Li Sui asked seriously once again, Do you really not need me there? I dont. Lu Shang put his coat on, We are leaving tomorrow morning, so we will get home by afternoon. Make a call to Aunt Lu, ask her to prepare lunch, tell her what you want to eat. Okay Li Sui leaned on the doorframe, not leaving. Lu Shang had been the one following along recently, so he wasnt used to leaving Li Sui behind either. Lu Shang stepped on the carpet, Then, Im going out. Xiao Zhaos car was already waiting at the entrance, Li Sui stared at the leaving car, he went back in only after it disappeared from his sight. Xiao Li isnting? Xiao Zhao asked the moment Lu Shang got in the vehicle. Lets go. Lu Shang said. Lu Shang felt the familiar gaze sticking on him, but he didnt turn back. He didnt want to be too close to Li Sui right now, ever since he saw the book titles on his tablet, he felt a sense of guilt. He needed some space if he wanted to keep a sane mind. Li Sui did as Lu Shang directed, he ruffled through his treasured book gallery to find a few dishes. Then he called Aunt Lu to tell her about the dishes. All healthy food? Aunt Luughed once she heard Li Suis food request, Hows Lu Lao Ban recently? Hes a lot better now, the climate here seems to suit him. The two talked on the phone for a while more, then Li Sui hung up. He finally had the solid feeling of going home. After tidying up everything, Li Sui walked around the house. With nothing else to do, he decided to take out his tablet and do some more reading. These professional books were too difficult for Li Sui to read, whenever he came across new vocabries, he would have to go online to look them up, so progress was slow. However, studying was never a quick task. If he wanted to increase the pace, the only thing he could do was focus so that he could learn more efficiently. After going through half the book, Li Sui found that his throat was parched, and his lips were dry. He lifted his head from the tablet and noticed that the wind was blowing hard outside. Li Sui rushed to the balcony, he saw the somber sky, the ck clouds were rolling fast, a tempest wasing. Unrest swelled in Li Suis heart, he stomped around the room anxiously. A message popped up on his phone, it was from the observatory. They had issued a typhoon signal, reminding ships to quickly return to the port. It was barely noon, but the sky was already as dark as night. The wind blew over a few trees on the side of the roads, as if an invisible hand was plucking them out from the ground. Remembering that Lu Shang might still be at sea, Li Sui was even more worried, he immediately tried calling Lu Shang. No one picked up the phone, Li Sui froze. He dialed again, but it was the same as before, no one picked up. A dark hue covered his face as if he was wearing a ck mask, the prophecy spoken by the female attendant came back to haunt him. She said that a person would get swept away by the sea every four years, that made Li Sui even more distressed. Li Sui turned to call Xiao Zhao instead, but the reply Xiao Zhao gave was worrying, I didnt go with them. A person in the group was old and he felt unwell, so Lu Lao Ban asked me to bring him back first. I dont know when they headed out to sea either. Chapter 20 - To Learn Chapter 20: To Learn Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations What Xiao Zhao said was like a bucket of cold water, it soaked Li Suipletely. Where are you now? I will meet with you, bring me to the port to look for Lu Shang. I cant reach him. Xiao Zhao could hear the anxiousness in Li Suis voice, he said, Lu Lao Ban is a careful person, he will be fine. You should calm down. Li Sui knew very well he was overreacting, but no matter what, he just couldnt calm himself. The scene of Lu Shang leaving this morning reyed in slow motion in his mind. Li Sui suddenly remembered a saying, whenever people part ways, the tiny details of theirst seconds would be especially clear. That thought fueled his anxiousness, he really wanted a pair of wings, then he could fly to the port and find Lu Shang. The rain was pouring heavily outside, the whole city plunged into darkness. Li Sui couldnt idly sit around any longer, he took out a set of rain equipment and rushed out the door. There were no longer pedestrians on the streets, only a few soaked stray dogs dashed across the fields. Li Sui heard nothing but rain and wind. The rain had an oceanic scent, it was salty and bitter. Blown by the wind, raindrops shed onto Li Suis face. Li Sui was out here for less than five minutes and was already soaking wet, he never knew that typhoons on a tropical ind were so terrifying. Li Sui walked on the streets with difficulty, finally he was able to hire a taxi. Hearing where Li Sui wanted to go, the driver looked taken aback. Look, kid. Its not that I dont want to bring you there, but the ce you are going to is very close to the sea. Thats very dangerous. Li Sui took out a stack of cash, handing it to the driver, Is this enough? Taxi drivers that would work even in this weather, were either thrill seekers or people who are in real need for money. As expected, the driver hesitated, finally deciding to drive Li Sui there. The driver didnt dare go too fast since there were small pieces of rock and sand in the wind, they made terrifying sounds when they collided with the windshield. Both of them were tense, the driver didnt like the mood, so he turned on the music and began chatting with Li Sui, so that he could rx himself as well. With this weather, everyones hiding at home. Why do you want to go to the port? Finding someone. Oh my. Must be a family member, right? Li Sui paused, then he replied hm lightly. It will be fine, Im sure that person is safe. The driverforted Li Sui. The rain didnt show any signs of subsiding and they drove all the way to somewhere near the port, but before they got there, they were stopped by the traffic police. You cant enter. The traffic police said. Im just going to find a person. Li Sui replied. No ones in there, all the people evacuated. Turn back. What about at the sea? Today, no ships departed after three, all the ships that departed before that are ounted for. Whoever youre trying to find is not here. Turn back! Li Sui froze, the driver didnt know what to do either. At that moment, Li Suis phone rang, it was from Xiao Zhao. Xiao Liwhy is it so noisy at your end? Li Sui immediately closed the taxi door, Whats wrong? Liu XingMing just called, he asked me to pick them up from the International Hotel. Lu Lao Ban is there too, dont worry. Li Sui felt all four of his limbs go limp, He They didnt go out to sea at all, seeing that the weather wasnt good, they only went to the construction site. Where are you now? Why do I hear the rain? Dont tell me you actually went out to find him? Li Sui swallowed, I see. Thank you. Whats the matter? Did you find the person youre looking for? The driver asked. Li Sui nodded, he kept thinking that Lu Shang would definitely be here on the way. He wasnt thinking clearly, in his mind, he only wanted toe as soon as possible. Li Sui felt like an idiot, he was angry, but he was also relieved. The driver saw Li Suis expression, it was like he wanted to cry but alsough. The driver tried asking, So what now? Are we heading back? Go to the International Hotel. As if the weather was fighting with them, when they arrived at the hotel, the rain had mostly stopped. The wind was still strong, but it was a lot weaker than when Li Sui went out. However, the temperature seemed to have dropped, Li Sui shivered as he got out of the taxi. Li Suis hair was mostly dry because of the wind, but his clothes were still soaking wet, mud and water stuck to his trousers. He got out of the taxi in aplete mess. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lu Shang standing at the entrance of the hotel, holding a champagne ss. He was talking with some people, it seemed like he was bidding farewell to the guests. Li Sui suddenly recalled the farewell party; the board members were holding a farewell party for Lu Shang. As if he just got his brain back, he hesitated and didnt go over. The person standing at the entrance noticed him, seeing Li Sui, a rare, startled expression surfaced on Lu Shangs face. Lu Shang scanned Li Sui carefully and asked, Why did youe here? Li Sui stared at Lu Shang from afar, his eyes turned red. As if he was wronged but also d. In that second, Lu Shang could sense that this person staring at him, this person wanted to jump and hug him. Only that, due to the crowd, he couldnt. The wind was still blowing strong, a corner of his zer flew up as Lu Shang walked over to Li Sui. He rubbed Li Suis soaked clothes and asked with concern, Whats wrong? Li Sui shook his head, as if a ball of cotton was in his throat, he couldnt utter a sound. Lu Shang didnt ask anymore, he just held his hand and passed through the crowd, bringing him to a private room on the second floor. The hotel workers quickly brought a dry change of clothes to them. Li Sui changed into the clothes and sat on a chair, letting Lu Shang blow his hair dry with a drier. Wheres your phone? Why didnt you pick up? Lu Shang answered while fiddling with Li Suis hair, My phones out of battery, I didnt bring it with me. Did you forget? Li Sui choked a bit, then he said sulkily, Then you can at least bring a spare phone. The corners of Lu Shangs mouth lifted slightly, I was with manager Liu all that time, if you want to find me, you couldve called him. Finally, Lu Shang knew why this kid looked so spiritless. This was the first time Li Sui sulked in front of Lu Shang, it was also very likely thest time. While Lu Shang felt blissful, he was also a bit touched, he never knew Li Sui valued him so much that one unanswered phone call was able to wreck his mind. Lu Shang had a small hunch, it seemed like things were already developing into a direction he couldnt control. Director Lu, are you inside? Someone knocked on the door. Lu Shang turned the hair drier off, Yes? It will be your turn to speak on stage soon. Coming. Li Sui sneezed then he sniffed his nose. Did you catch a cold? Lu Shangbed his hair, tidying it. Li Sui shook his head, Im fine, it was cold outside, thats all. I will be great again after sleeping, you should go. Lu Shang could hear his stuffy nose. Running around in the storm and standing in the freezing wind, all the while worried and anxious, it must have been hard. Now that Li Sui finally saw Lu Shang and loosened up, all the little problems came out immediately. Remembering how Li Sui stood at the entrance with a pair of puppy dog eyes made Lu Shang feel guilty. He looked a lot like an abandoned German Shepard puppy who just found his owner again. Moreover, he was solely responsible for not picking up the call. A bunch of people were waiting outside, Lu Shang walked to the door, then stopped. He turned back and asked, Do you want to learn? Li Sui curled up in the coat and paused for a bit. To manage apany, do you want to learn how? Lu Shang asked. Li Sui finally came to his senses and realized, there might not be another chance. He sat straight and replied, I want to. Good. Lu Shang said with a deep voice, Starting tomorrow, I will teach you myself. When Lu Shang said he would teach Li Sui, it wasnt just talk. The next day, when they got off the ne, they headed to the bookstore. They brought a bunch of new books home, there were both Chinese and English ones. You already have some basic knowledge, so now focus on remembering the academic principles. Lu Shang flipped the books opened, he marked the content with a red pen. The chapters marked with the red circles are the ones you should focus on. I will teach you the details after you read through them. After saying that, he handed the books to Li Sui. To cram ten years of knowledge into a specialized, elite course, required an innate gift. But more than that, it required hard work, it would be a huge challenge to ones patience and perseverance. You are a clever person, but it is impossible to manage apany without the required knowledge. Lu Shang smiled, It takes time. Li Suis cold wasnt healedpletely yet, he swung his dizzy head away from the pile of books, asking, You have read all these books before? Lu Shang leaned on the back of his chair, he randomly flipped open a book with the title <>, When I was your age, I was already applying for my MBA. From that day onwards, Li Sui never took another afternoon nap. He would wake up at five thirty in the morning to memorize principles and equations, he would also read all kinds of business examples at night, practicing English even at the dining table. Lu Shang had work in the morning and in order to teach Li Sui personally, he had to go back home from thepany during his breaks. Li Sui was always afraid that Lu Shang would exhaust himself, so he would listen very attentively, sometimes even asking questions. Lu Shang had his own method in teaching, he seldom spoon-fed knowledge directly, he would try to lead Li Sui. Suggesting an idea, then guiding Li Sui through the deduction process. Li Sui would reach the conclusion on his own, so it was efficient and memorable. Normally, except for lessons, Lu Shang wouldnt intervene in Li Suis study. It was only when Li Sui was stuck at a dead end would Lu Shang give him some pointers. Today, there were some problems in thepany, so Lu Shang came homete. Li Sui had been reading for the whole day, so his questions piled up into a mountain. The second Lu Shang came home, Li Sui pounced at him. I understand the rtionship between supply and needs, but how do I link it to the real situation in life? Also, that number I calcted before seems a bit weird. And, and the Math problem this morning, I solved it, am I right? Did I do it correctly? After bombarding Lu Shang with the questions, he found Lu Shang sitting on the sofa, rubbing his forehead. Li Sui froze and asked concerningly, Are you tired? Lu Shang smiled lightly, the eyebags under his eyes were so evident, Im fine. I think we should rest. Lu Shang shook his head, Sit. After saying that, he took Li Suis book and began answering each of Li Suis questions in detail. It was alreadyte at night, the light bulb in the living room was just changed recently, it gave a soft yellow glow. When shone on Lu Shang, it made him look sluggish and soft at the same time. Li Sui stared at Lu Shangs slightly lowered eyshes, for the first time, he found himself lost in Lu Shangs deep and slightly exhausted voice. so, remember the equation you asked about before? You can use that to get your answer for this question whatever are you looking at? Uhh, I Li Sui froze, he saw Lu Shangs gloomy gaze. He lowered his head in shame, Sorry. Lu Shangughed lightly, Am I that nice on the eyes? Li Sui nced at Lu Shang, he wasnt sure which nerve in his brain snapped but his mouth just moved on its own, Yes, very Lu Shang didnt expect Li Sui to actually reply, Even better looking than the books? Li Sui didnt reply this time, he just affirmed it in his heart. In his heart, he screamed, You have no idea how good looking you are! Fine. I will exin it to you again, dont lose focus this time. Hmm. After Lu Shang exined everything, it was way past midnight. They practiced a bit of speaking, then it seemed like Lu Shang was even more exhausted. He still sat on the sofa, but leaned his head on Li Suis shoulder. Li Sui knew he must be feeling pain in his chest again, so he didnt dare move a muscle. Li Sui rxed his shoulders so that Lu Shang could lean on him morefortably. Li Sui. Lu Shang asked with his eyes closed, his tone was calm, Is studying hard? No, its not. Why? Li Sui smiled softly as he ced his hand under Lu Shangs chin, letting Lu Shang rest on it as a cushion, Living up till now was hard enough. What is there thats harder and more intolerable than that? Li Sui was describing his own experiences, but Lu Shang sounded like he had been through the same. He said lightly, Yes, thats right The two of them stayed in that position for a while, Lu Shang didnt say more, his breathing was also quiet. Li Sui thought he was asleep, so he bowed down to hook up Lu Shangs legs. Just when he lifted his whole body up, Lu Shang opened his eyes. Lets go to sleep? Seeing that he was awake, Li Sui nned on putting him back. But Lu Shang just tilted his head, shutting his eyes again. He murmurednguidly, Dont wanna walk. Li Sui froze as his fingers tightened. With huge, light strides, he headed to their bedroom. His mouth forming a bright smile, Hm. In the morning, Lu Shang finished a bunch of paperwork that was piled in the office. Uncle Yuen entered to find Lu Shang leaning on the chair and watching a TV broadcast. That piqued his interest. Lu Shang didnt normally surf the inte; he was never interested in TV shows either. There were only work-rted documents on Lu Shangsputer, he couldnt even find a single extra photo in it. For some reason, a person like that was suddenly interested in the TV. Assistant Xe wants to have a meeting with you this afternoon, are you going? Lu Shang lifted his head from the screen and replied, Going. Uncle nodded, when he left, he intentionally slowed his pace to look at what Lu Shang was watching. It was a parent support broadcast about teenage problems. With the intense studying in recent days, Li Suis appetite naturally went up, stuffing three bowls of rice for dinner. His mouth was stuffed full as he spoke, When can I graduate from my apprenticeship? Lu Shang picked up a piece of chicken and gave it to Li Sui, smiling, When you can spot the problem from that financial statement that day, then Ill let you off the hook. Before sleeping, Li Suiy on the bed to read. After waking up early in the morning for consecutive days, he was quite exhausted, so he kept dozing off as hey on the bed. Lu Shang walked over and lightly knocked on his head, Are you sleepy? Li Sui crawled up, rubbing his eyes. Seeing that Li Sui couldnt even keep his eyes open; Lu Shang pulled his book away and hurried him to bed. Im going to read a bit more. Li Sui refused. Theres no hurry. Dont make a habit of this inefficient practice. Lu Shang triedforting him while preparing the bed, Come, I will tell you a story. What story? Li Sui immediately regained some energy. Lu Shang took out the medicine from the bedside drawer, he swallowed it andid on the bed himself. Turning the lights off, he asked, If you want a dirty, messy employee to tidy himself up when on duty, what would you do? Li Sui thought for a while, I will order him to do so. What if he doesnt listen? Deduct his sry. Lu Shang smiled at the simple answer. Am I wrong? Li Sui asked. Correct. This is also how mostpanies in the maind operate. Lu Shang continued, Apart from that, do you have other ideas? Li Sui considered for a while, Make him get a girlfriend. Lu Shang was amused again, this time he directlyughed. They were too close; Li Sui could feel the slight vibrationsing out of his lungs. His heart trembled in the darkness. What are youughing at? Li Sui tried regting his tone and expression, he felt his acting had improved a lot recently. Exin your answer. Li Suis face turned serious, he justified his answer, No matter how useless a person is, if he were to meet someone who could motivate him to change for the better, then even he would improve. It was a sly answer with a hidden message, Lu Shang couldprehend what he was insinuating, but he decided to ignore that In other words, you would give him incentive to change. Li Sui affirmed while feeling a little dejected. Youre correct. In this world, if you want someone to act ording to your wishes, there are only two methods. One is punishment, another is award. No matter what kind of tactics stem from these two bases. Lu Shang continued, Just like with this messy employee. If you want him to be tidy every day, you could order him to do so, then punish him if he doesnt listen. Or, you could praise him. Praise? How do you praise someone like that? No matter how messy that person is, there will still be days when hes rtively tidy. You should praise him when that happens, praise him so much that, hed start feeling sorry for himself. Then he wont dare showing up messy again. Li Sui turned his little head, What if he is a thick-skinned person? Then that person might be a great talent in retail. Lu Shang smiled, This is the second thing I want to tell you. Do you know how many interns trip at the thickness of their skin? If you want to be a good businessman, you will have to strip yourself of hubris and emotions. Li Sui asked, So you are saying that I should have a thick skin? Lu Shangughed and continued to exin, What I mean is, dont let your face be an obstacle in making decisions. You need to know how to refuse people. Li Sui nodded, then Lu Shang continued, Back on the main subject. Teaching should be done ording to individual aptitudes, the same goes for using people. When do you use punishment, when do you reward them, and when to use both. All of these depend on the person you are using them on. So, Lu Shang said with a serious look, except for the knowledge written in books, theres one more thing that you must understand. What? The human heart. Li Sui faltered a bit. Lu Shang held onto his hands under the nket, he squeezed them softly, then signed, Li Sui. I will teach you how to discern the human heart, but thats in case if anyone wants to harm you. With that you wont be passive in the face of others malice, its not so that you can harm others. You must know the human heart but mustnt toy with them. You are an honorable man that deserves the world, you should engage in noble acts. Life is limited, utilize the short time you have for good. I want you to always bear these words in mind. Chapter 21 - An Outing Chapter 21: An Outing Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantions Li Sui didnt sleep well that night; he kept dreaming of people harming Lu Shang. Li Sui was powerless. Not only was he unable to protect Lu Shang, he dreamt that he cost Lu Shang his life. When he woke from his dreams, it was already bright outside and long past breakfast time. Li Sui immediately rolled up from the bed. Why didnt you wake me? Li Sui went down the stairs in a rush. Lu Shang was wearing a ck suit, he was sitting in front of the dining table, and there was a bouquet of cornflowers in his hands. Dont run. The floor is wet. Lu Shang stared at his slippers, We are not going to study today. Get changed, we are visiting the graveyard. Li Sui paused for a bit, then he saw Uncle Yuen wearing all ck as well. He immediately nodded. Their destination was a public graveyard in the countryside. Lu Shang didnt say a word on the way, and affected by the atmosphere, Li Sui was silent as well. They got out of the car, and there was a flight of bluestone stairs in front of them. It looked endless. Climbing the stairs was hard for even normal, healthy people. Worrying that Lu Shangs body couldnt hold up, Li Sui guarded close behind Lu Shang the entire time. The upper parts of the stairs were even steeper than before. Li Sui decided to directly hold Lu Shangs hand, worried that he would fall off the staircase. As they reached higher, there were less tombs and the view became broader. When Lu Shang stopped ascending, there was only a handful of graves around them. The grave had been cleaned recently, and in front of the gravestone, there was a bouquet of cornflowersmuch like the ones in Lu Shangs hands. It was obvious that someone was here before them. A monochromatic photograph of a man was on the gravestone; he looked a lot like Lu Shang. That must be Lu Shangs father. After Uncle Yuen put up incense, he moved aside, giving room to Lu Shang and Li Sui. Lu Shang was not wearing a sad expression; his demeanor was still as calm as ever. Bowing down, he ced the flowers on the step of the gravestone, Ivee to visit you again. As you see, Im still alive this year. His tone sounded as though he had not expected that. On the side, Li Sui trembled ever so slightly. Lu Shang turned his head to Li Sui, This is my fathers grave. Come and put up an incense. Li Sui walked over ordingly, lighting an incense and bowing in front of the grave. In the meantime, Lu Shang didnt say a word, he just stared silently at the gravestone. Li Sui had the feeling that Lu Shang must be talking to his father in his heart. You asked if Im of mixed raced before. Lu Shang pulled Li Sui up after he had ced the incense in, I cant answer that, because Im a test tube baby. Li Sui was shocked, but Lu Shang continued, My father was a soldier. He hid his coronary disease history to join the army, he had participated in a lot of top-secret missions. After the war ended, he returned to the city with his injuries and sickness, then he opened apany with a few of hisrades. He began his career in business, and that was the beginning of Tong Yan. I inherited two things from himone is my heart disease, another is my sexuality. Hm, my father was one too. Lu Shang smiled slightly. At that time, the techniques of in vitro fertilization were still not fully developed. That was also why my father felt indebted to me; he wanted me to be healthy. In truth, for the beginning years of my life, I was really healthy, but when I was around four to five years old, I showed signs of having coronary illnesses. Destiny is a funny thing. You just cant run away from it. Lu Shang paused briefly, then continued, We werent that close; after I went abroad to get medical treatments, we havent seen each other much. Lu Shang extended his hand to dust off the photo, He had a longstanding wish. He always wanted to find a cure, a cure that could rid me of my suffering from heart illnesses forever. He wanted me to live on healthily. He took a deep breath. When I wasnt in the country, he had many trials, some might even have been quite inhumane. Perhaps because his methods were wrong, his wish didnte true and he died with regrets. After speaking, Lu Shang turned to him, asking, Li Sui. Could youprehend his actions? Li Sui wasnt clear why Lu Shang decided to tell him this now, but he fell into silence for a while. Eventually, he answered, If I were him, I would have done the same. Lu Shang stared back at the grave; a slight smile with an unknown meaning appeared on his face. The trip down the stairs was easier than the way up, but even so, Lu Shang was feeling a bit ufortable. His chest hurt and his fingers were numb. Uncle Yuen was already waiting down at the car. He just got off the phone, and now he was looking at Lu Shang as if he had something to say. He did have something to say, but because Li Sui was there, he couldnt. Its fine, what is it? Lu Shang opened the vehicle door and got on. The person in jail, we have the connections now. They say his sentence could be shortened but will require some money. Lu Shang rubbed his forehead and ordered, Do as they say. Li Sui couldnt win over his own curiosity, so he asked, Who are you talking about? Their eyes met; Lu Shang stared at Li Sui with aplicated gaze. In the end, he didnt answer, he just asked Uncle Yuen to drive them home. If Lu Shang didnt want to answer, there was no point in Li Sui asking further, so he just stayed silent. Maybe because it was Lu Shangs fathers death anniversary, Li Sui could sense that Lu Shang was a bit unusual today. When they returned home in the afternoon, Lu Shang went directly to bed without having lunch. At first, Li Sui thought he must be in a bad mood, but after seeing his paleplexion, he realized Lu Shang was feeling unwell. Hence, Li Sui called Leung ZiRui immediately. Its fine. Insufficient blood supply, same old problem. After Leung ZiRui examined him, he said, There is a red medicine bottle in his drawer, give him two of those pills. Let him breathe in some oxygen, remember to keep his limbs warm. He should be fine with a good nights rest. Lu Shang was half conscious, and he wasnt cooperating with taking the medicine; the pills fell to the floor a few times. Li Sui didnt know what to do, who would have thought that the Lu Lao Ban, who could kill people with just his eyes, was hopelessly afraid of bitter medicine? Li Sui put in a lot of effort to finally get Lu Shang to take the pills, he then turned the lights off and warmed Lu Shangs legs under the nket. Around midnight, Lu Shang finally began to warm up. Li Sui was soaked in his own sweat. Li Suis legs had been nuzzling up to Lu Shangs for half-a-day already, his member had reacted long ago with the continued contact. Li Sui sat at the side of the bed for a while; he couldnt hold back and quietly kissed Lu Shang on the lips before he finally went to the shower room to clean himself up. The next day when Lu Shang woke up, he was, as expected, feeling a lot better. Li Sui was still insecure, so no matter what, he was going to follow Lu Shang, not letting him leave the house alone. Originally, Lu Shang wasnt going to bring Li Sui, but after some thought, he decided that it was for the best, so he lugged Li Sui along when he left the house. Where are we going? The shooting range. The location was very remote; they basically drove all the way to the outskirts of the city. They got out of the car in front of a golf course, an employee led them around, and finally they entered a ss room. There was a middle-aged man inside; he just took a shot at the target, but noticing them, he took his earmuffs off. Director Yue, its a pleasure meeting you. Lu Shang raised his hand for a handshake with the man. So, you are the one Xiao Ke (i) wants to introduce me to? The middle-aged manughed, then his gaze turned to Li Sui. T/N: (i) Xiao Ke is Yan Ke; remember after going on the cruise ship, Yan Ke had dinner with Lu Shang, Li Sui, and SiMa JingRong. Lu Shang asked him for a meeting with Yue PengFei, SiMa JingRongs father. This is Li Sui, Lu Shang replied. He only told him Li Suis name but didnt exin who he was. Li Sui only found this man familiar, but there was nothing else. Li Sui nodded his head and greeted, Director Yue. Yue PengFeis eyes shifted across the two, and there was something unknown hidden in his gaze. He turned his head around to an employee, asking for a revolver. Turning back to Lu Shang, he arched his eyebrows and said, I heard that you are quite skilled with a gun? Letspete. Lu Shang epted with a smile, It would be my pleasure. Each had ten rounds, the bullets were all sparkling clean. Li Sui was shocked to find that the bullets were all genuine ones. Yue PengFei was used to shooting, it was obvious that he had been warming up for a while already as well. He loaded the gun proficiently, then he took a stern stance. Lu Shang used a warm towel to rub his wrist, then he loaded his gun at a steady pace, neither hurried nor slow. Lu Shangs waist was slim, and his legs were long; when he raised his arm, a beautiful curve formed along his shoulder des and waist. Lu Shangs head tilted slightly to the side; his aura wasnt menacing, he was a little detached even, but standing beside Yue PengFei, his stance was not at all inferior. Li Suis eyes were glued to him, he stared at Lu Shangs fine waist. In his mind, he began imagining what it would feel like to wrap his arms around him. The two of them stood facing the target. It was just a simple shooting action, but they looked like two swordsmen preparing for battle. Everything around them was silent, two loud bangs rang across the room. The bullets left the barrels of the gun separately, but holes bloomed on the targets afar almost at the same time. Lu Shang took his earmuffs off, Director Yue is as good as the rumors are. Yue PengFei smiled as he shook his head, You are quite good yourself. The electronic scoreboard disyed their individual scores. Li Sui looked at the board, Yue PengFei got a 9 while Lu Shang got an 8. Then it was the next round, this time Li Sui was more focused on their marksmanship. Lu Shangs fingers were fine and long, his hand was steady, and his grasp was firm. His eyes werepletely focused on the target, not having a speck of hesitation. The two of them were evenly matched, their scores were always neck-to-neck. For the first few rounds, Lu Shang held the gun with one hand, but starting from the fifth round, he used his other hand to lightly support the gun. Li Sui had never touched a gun in his life, but he knew that guns would recoil after each shot. Though the barrel of Lu Shangs gun wasnt big, it would still shake and possibly harm his wrist. After they had finished their rounds, Lu Shang handed the gun back to the employee. He rubbed his sore wrist while saying, Director Yues marksmanship is admirable, I will have to admit my defeat. To Yue PengFei, the match was a satisfying one; he seldom met opponents near his level. Even if there were skilledpetitors, some would rather lose to him on purpose because of his status. Lu Shang had lost with two points behind him, but the thrill of a realpetition made Yue PengFei quite joyous. You are exaggerating. I have been warming-up for over half-an-hour before you arrived. Yue PengFei smiled; obviously he wasnt fed up with shooting yet. His eyes were on the sniper rifle on the wall; he called for an employee to get it down for him. A female assistant-like person walked in, she entered after knocking, The young master is here. Yue PengFei just said an Ah, and put the rifle down, looking a little disappointed. He patted Lu Shangs shoulder and said, I am going out a bit. You guys have fun. Li Sui took the chance, walking up to Lu Shang, he wrapped his wrist in a warm towel, massaging it lightly, Does it hurt? Lu Shang shook his head, smiling, Do you want to try? I dont know how. Here. Hold it. Ill teach you. The gun was heavier than Li Sui had imagined it to be. He loaded the gun ording to Lu Shangs directions and tried imitating Lu Shangs stance as he held the gun up. Put this finger here. Raise your arm up. Lu Shang stood beside Li Sui, one of his hands ced on Li Suis waist, the other holding Li Suis wrist. They were standing so close they could almost hear each others heartbeats. Rx. Focus. Dont move your body. Lu Shangs mouth was right beside Li Suis ear; it sounded like he was smiling. Hold tight. After saying that, he put the earmuffs on Li Sui and stepped back. Li Sui stared at the target, then he pulled the trigger. The target shook, and a 1 turned up on the scoreboard. Li Sui made a shocked expression. Not bad for your first shot. Lu Shang said behind him, Dont just stare at the target. You have to look at the direction of the barrel. Now, try again. Perhaps every man had an inborn passion for guns and weapons. After Li Sui took the first shot, he felt his blood boiling. Before Lu Shang finished talking, he had already loaded the gun again and raised it to aim. After his first try, he shifted his body a little. Separating his legs, one at the front and one at the back, he tried imaging Lu Shangs posture in his mind, his eyes sharpened. He held his breath as he aimed; when his whole body was sturdy and calm, he pulled the trigger decisively. Bang! The scoreboard indicated a 6. The sound of pping came from behind him; Li Sui took his earmuffs off and saw Lu Shang smiling. Not bad. You have talents. Being praised by Lu Shang, lets not even begin with how happy Li Sui was, he could almost feel a huge tail growing out of his back and wagging crazily. Outside the ss window, someone knocked lightly. Lu Shang saw that it was Yue PengFei and knew he had something to talk about, so he said, Keep practicing here. The ss walls had great sound-proof properties. Li Sui saw the two going out to the corridors to chat, trying to listen in from inside the room, he realized he could hear absolutely nothing, so he gave up and focused on practicing. Tong Yan is a goodpany, but yourpanys inner workings are tooplicated. I dont want to have anything to do with that, Yue PengFei said quite directly. Lu Shang expressed that he understood his worries, then said, What if a proxy holds the shares instead? A proxy? Not in my capacity, nor in Tong Yans capacity, but the funds I will invest in Mu Sheng will be the same. Yue PengFei wavered, he asked, And I wonder whom Lu Lao Ban might have in mind to be the proxy? Lu Shang looked at the person inside the ss room, That child. Yue PengFei was shocked, From what I know, he has no legal rtionship with you. Arent you afraid that he would take the money and flee? 80 million yuan is not a small amount. Lu Lao Ban, I think you should consider this more carefully. On this point, you can rest easy. Director Yue, Lu Shang said, Ive been in this business for 10 years and I never agree to unprofitable deals. Yue PengFei didnt push further, If you say so, then But I have a condition. Lu Shang said, He will only be holding yourpanys shares, he will not be a legal representative of yourpany, and he will not be a part of your board meetings, either. Any possible legal mishaps of yourpany will have nothing to do with him. Yue PengFeis expression shifted, So you dont trust me. Lu Shangughed, Thats too much. As a parent, I must think with my childs best interests in mind, I hope you could understand that. Yue PengFei considered in silent for a while, then he looked at Li Sui inside the room, Well. Im fine with that, but I have a condition as well. The scoreboard showed a 0. Li Sui took his earmuff off; his gaze went to the two outside uncontrobly. Outside the ss room, Lu Shang was chatting with another person, smiling andughing, that made Li Sui anxious. Sir, do you want more bullets? an employee asked. No, thanks. Li Sui handed the gun to the employee, then he pushed open the door and went out. Are you tired? Lu Shang asked while smiling as he saw Li Suie out. Hm. Li Sui rubbed his wrists pretending to be tired. What were you guys talking about? Lu Shang nced at Yue PengFei, he said, Your Uncle Yue just mentioned a training camp, he wanted to put his sons, big and small SiMa in the camp. He wants to train them, but hes afraid that they would fight at the campsite and do stupid things. So, he wants to find someone to tag along. After some thought, I think you can go with them. You guys are around the same age, so you should be able tomunicate with them better. What do you think? Li Sui asked, Training camp? This is one of Mu Shengs projects; its still in the trial period. It is basically a taste of being in the military camps, it will be held for a month. Yue PengFei continued to exin, My two sons are pampered too much, they couldnt stand any hardships. Those twock manlinessespecially the big one, he only knows how to throw tantrums. When he talked about his sons, a slight expression of anger surfaced on his face. Quickly, he realised his ill-manner, so he coughed a bit and changed the subject, If Xiao Li were to go as well, then I would be a lot more assured. I heard from JingRong that you saved him in Hai Nan before, I will have to thank you for that. Li Sui finally remembered; this director Yue was Yue PengFei. Also, the person whom SiMa JingRong imed to be his father, the father who wanted to take the inheritance his son got from his mother. Li Sui immediately replied, Youre exaggerating. I didnt do much. Just scolded him a bit, also with pretty harsh words. Lu Shang looked at the two, he smiled and said, Well then, its decided. Ill bring him over for the camp. Just like that, it was confirmed. On the way back, Li Sui didnt look very happy. He just sat in the backseat, seeming down, not saying a word. Lu Shang poked his hand a few times, asking, Are you mad? Li Sui turned his head to Lu Shang, asking a little listlessly, Are you fed up with me already? Lu Shang held his hand,forting him, You are just going to get some training, theres nothing wrong with that. There will be a trainer in the camp, he will teach you some simple fighting techniques. But I will have to leave home for a month. Also, it would interfere with my studies. Li Sui fought back. There was one more sentence he left unsaid in his heart I wont be able to see you for an entire month. Its fine. You can bring a few books. Lu Shang refuted. Training was not the real focus of the camp, Yue PengFei only wanted to examine Li Suis personality and abilities. Yue PengFei established Mu Sheng up from the ground with his own two hands, he will hand thepany down to big and small SiMa in the future. So, the investors of thepany now will be his sons future business partner. As a father, it was understandable for him to think ahead for his sons. If you canplete the training camp, then you will have a seat in Mu Sheng as a shareholder. When Yue PengFei first mentioned the training camp, Lu Shang had already decided to let Li Sui attend; it happened to be just the thing Lu Shang was looking for. A while back, Lu Shang watched a live broadcast, he heard a lot of other parents experiences. In the beginning, he just thought Li Sui was more mature than other children his age, but when Lu Shangpared Li Sui to the cases on the broadcast, he noticed Li Sui was too attached to him. Li Sui would follow Lu Shang anywhere, his eyes were always alert of anything that got near Lu Shang, he showed extreme possessiveness. Lu Shang did not find that annoying, but he was a homosexual, so even if he had very few desires, Li Suis relentless assaults were still too much. Li Sui didnt say anything, but his expression read I will miss you a lot. Lu Shang smiled lightly, You should go. We need someone who could fight in the family. Chapter 22 - Training Camp I Chapter 22: Training Camp I Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantions The date of the camp was confirmedit would be in the beginning of next month. After counting, one would notice that the trip was in less than four days. Lu Shang was going to ask Uncle Yuen to prepare food and other materials for Li Sui to bring to the camp, but then he heard from Yue PengFei that the camp was a closed-off one. They wouldnt even allow attendees to bring any electronic devices, let alone food and other materials. In other words, they only allowed you to bring yourself and nothing else. Since Lu Shang had already agreed to it, he couldnt refuse now. Luckily, it was in the mid-summer, so he didnt have to worry about Li Sui getting a cold during the training camp. As such, Lu Shang only prepared a small medicine box with some medications and mosquito sprays. The night before Li Sui had to leave, he quit studying. Instead, he took a shower very early on and just stuck to Lu Shang as much as possible afterwards. Lu Shang was holding a vocabry book with one hand, preaching Li Sui on the topic. Unexpectedly, Lu Shang didnt lecture Li Sui for not paying attention, not only that, he brought Li Sui up to the study on the second floor. Li Sui heard rumors that this was where Lu Shangs father passed away, so very few people woulde in here. Lu Shang pulled out the drawer of the desk in the middle of the room, he picked up a piece of ornament from the drawer. Batting away the dust, he handed it to Li Sui, Here. Take it. What is it? A foldable de. Li Sui held the piece in his hand, it was a little thing with an exquisite design. On a simple nce, it looked like nothing more than an ornament with a military emblem etched on top. However, there was a small hidden opening on the side, and when you pulled on an equally concealed lever on the badge, a sharp knife would pop out. Apart from being extremely sharp, the de was also pure ck in color. Li Sui wasnt sure what the de was made of, but it seemed to be able to absorb all light, giving it a somber luster. Even though Li Sui wasnt an expert on knives and weapons, he could tell that this de was no low-quality weapon. I thought they wont let us bring anything to the camp? Lu Shang pulled out a string, and after threading it through the ornament, he hung it on Li Suis neck, Wear it just in case, as protection. Li Sui was at least one head-space taller than Lu Shang, so when they stood face-to-face, Lu Shang had to tilt his head up to look at Li Sui. Are you giving this to me? Li Sui held the ornament in his hand, his lovely eyes closing into a beautiful curve. Lu Shang averted his gaze, Once the mission is over, it will be yours. The second Lu Shang mentioned about the camp, Li Suis headache returned. Yue PengFei was worriedhe left his two sons in his care, asking Li Sui to educate the two, and also not to let the two fight. However, Li Sui wasnt much older than the two of them to begin with, so if even their father couldnt handle them, what could Li Sui do? Honestly, is it a must for me to go with the two boat anchors? Li Sui said dejectedly. You only have to ensure that they survive. Lu Shang added, For the rest, just do what you can. If it is dangerous, then it is your first priority to ensure your own well-being. Lu Shangs reminders were a lot different from Yue PengFeis; he felt touched but also found it funny. Lu Shang was protecting his own pup so obviously that Li Sui wondered if Yue PengFei were to hear Lu Shang now, would he be furious to death. What are youughing at? As Lu Shang asked, he beganughing himself as well, Just have fun. Even if the sky copsed, I will be there for you. The campsite was located amongst the woods of a mountain which was hundreds of kilometers away from the city. Walking further into the woods from the campsite would lead to an area called the Protected Woonds. Because the campsite was in a very remote ce, they couldnt even get any bars on their phone, the only thing that could be used formunication were themunication satellites. Lu Shang didnt bring Li Sui there himselfhe only asked Uncle Yuen to drive Li Sui to the foot of the mountain. The moment Li Sui got out of the car, he was immensely reluctant to leave. The feeling was simr to that of a childs first day of school; even though he was feeling homesick already, he did his best to bottle these emotions up. Picking up the little medicine box, he walked up the mountain alone. As a man, since he promised Lu Shang, then no matter what he was going to fulfill his mission. The path leading up to the campsite was a nk road, forests were on both sides of the path, and the environment was quite serene. However, the mountaincked forestry managementthe trees were too dense, so the path was poorly lit. On the way up, Li Sui began thinking about the poor maintenance; it was hard enough for a person to get up here, so it would be even harder for vehicles to reach the campsite. If anyone took a wrong turn and wandered out of the Protected Woonds, it would be extremely hard tounch a rescue. The campsites main building is in front of you, that area is the forest area. There is a protective fence surrounding the whole training grounds; if there are no special reasons, dont wander around on your own. That blue building is where you will be having your meals. These will be provided at seven in the morning, at twelve, and at six. We serve food on the clockif you arete, then you will not be getting any food, the trainer exined as he led Li Sui around the campsite. Finally, they went up a dormitory building. This is the dormitory. Room 203, this is where youre going to sleep. The room Li Sui got allocated to was a four-person room, when Li Sui opened the door, the bed near the window was already upied. The person lying in bed was watching a movie on his tablet; seeing Li Sui, he raised his head and said a short hi. That face was a familiar one. Why are you here? Li Sui asked, then his gaze went to the tablet in his hands, I thought electronic appliances are not allowed. SiMa JingRong hit the side of his bed, signaling for Li Sui to sit down. Then he pulled out a can of coke from under the bed, handing the can to Li Sui, he said, They only said we cant bring any, but they didnt say others cant bring them to us. But its basically useless. SiMa JingRong waved his hand in the air, Theres no signal here, so at best I can watch a movie or y some single-yer games. Its such a buzzkill. T/N: I feel you SiMa JingRong, my limited game events, stupid training camps!!! As the two of them spoke, another duo entered the room, each holding a water bucket. The one walking in the front was a scrawny-looking teenager; he was about 16 or 17 years old, and his appearance was quite simr to SiMa JingRong, but his skin was paler, and he looked more intelligent. Li Sui guessed that this person must be SiMa Yan, the SiMa familys youngest son. The moment SiMa JingRong saw him, he turned his head to the side in dismay while clicking his tongue. The younger one, however, was politehe nced at SiMa JingRong, then nodded at Li Sui. The younger son was obviously more mature than the older one, it wasnt hard to imagine why Yue PengFei preferred him. Hi, Im Wang Wei. That was when Li Sui noticed that another person was at the door, he had a round face and a pair of thick sses. The person called Wang Wei was smiling at Li Sui. Im Li Sui. Wang Wei extended his neck in confusion, Ha? Li Sui exined, The Li for dawn, and Sui as in deep. Oh Wang Wei nodded, he pointed at the water bucket at the floor, You two have to go get some warm water, or else you wont have any to take a bath tonight. There are no shower valves here. Li Sui nodded, he put his luggage down and was going to get a water bucket. Sorry, I forgot again. Wang Wei stopped Li Sui, he pushed his sses embarrassingly, What is your name again? T/N: Haha, I gave the word Sui to all of my Chinese-speaking friends, and none of them knew the word. Before Li Sui arrived at the campsite, he made a n to smooth out the two SiMas rtionship, and to train seriously to please the trainers. He was going to hold out until Lu Shang came to pick him up again in one month, then get his praises from Lu Shang. However, the heavens seemed to be against his nhis ns were foiled on their first night at the campsite. At first, it was because Wang Wei spoke too loudly, and it annoyed SiMa JingRong. So, he scolded Wang Wei for being too loud. SiMa Yan couldnt ept SiMa JingRongs rudeness, so he spoke a few words in Wang Weis defense. The two SiMas then began fighting in the room. Clothes and pillows were thrown all around, they even threw SiMa JingRongs tablet. Wang Weis hearing seemed to be faulty, he didnt even think to stop the two, even when they were making so much noise. It took all of Li Suis strength to pull the two of them apart, he even got hit in the process, not knowing who hit him. Themotion notified the trainers in the lower floor, in no time, everyone in their room were kicked out for punishment. They were punished to stand outside in the woods. Nights in the old forest were nothing like the ones in the city; there were no lights, it was as if the air around them were soaked in ck inkthey couldnt even see their own fingers. The weather was not in their favor. They couldnt see the moon, and the only thing they could hear was the rustling of leaves. It always felt like someone was walking behind them, but when they turned back, nothing was there. The howling of wolves from afar reached their ears, all of them were petrified. They were just kids whod left home for the first time, none of them could handle being in a deserted ce like this. Everyone shivered in the darkness, not daring to move an inch, worried that the wolves mighte for them. SiMa JingRong was homesick from the second he entered this campsite, so now, standing in this chilly ce, he began sobbing. Youre crying? How old are you already? SiMa Yan scoffed. SiMa JingRong stopped crying immediately, he turned to scold SiMa Yan, You are doing this on purpose, arent you? You just want me to feel bad. Yeah, it is on purpose. Youre the one who started it. Oh, do you think I wont hit you here? Li Suis headache grew; he was already missing Lu Shang so much, and these twos screeching got him even more furious. Li Sui yelled, Shut up, the both of you! The two really went silent. Li Sui continued, From now on, resolve your affairs internally; everyone will suffer if the problems reach the trainers. Next time, whoever started it and joined in should take responsibility themselves. We are not going down with you. A gust of wind blew past them at the right moment. Li Sui finished his speech, and none of them said anything afterwards. In this pitch-ck environment, everyone thought of ghost stories to scare themselves, but that was just at the beginning. In no time, everyone was numb to the creepiness of the forest; instead, their upper and lower eyelids began fighting. None of them had any strength left to think of anything but sleep. An uncertain amount of time had passed; just when Li Sui felt that both of his legs were going to give out, the trainer blew the whistle from the dormitory. Li Sui breathed a sigh of relief; pping SiMa JingRongs back, he said, Lets go. We can finally get some sleep. All of them were out of it after having to stand for so long, they pulled themselves back to the dormitory, dragging their feet like zombies. After walking for a while, they noticed that Wang Wei wasnt with them. Turning back, they found Wang Wei still standing at the same position, his eyes were shut, and he was asleep. He just fell asleep standing there. At night, Lu Shang was sitting at the office desk, looking atpany documents. Uncle Yuen closed the door behind him, Theyve reduced his sentencehe will be released in six years. Lu Shang nodded, Thank you for your hard work. You are not telling him about it? Lu Shangs hand which was holding a pen trembled a bit, Its not the right time. After that, he remembered something and asked, How is it at his end? Is he used to the new environment? I heard from the person in the camp that they are getting along fine. Lu Shangs mouth curved up a bit, Thats good. At the same time, the four people who were getting along fine were rolling around on their beds. Their expressions were grim, as if they had nothing to live for anymore. There were too many mosquitoes, and they were also very big. When they were in the forest, their four limbs were numbed by the cold wind. After they returned to the dormitories, they began to feel itchy all over, their limbs were covered in mosquito bites. It was red, itchy, and swelling. Luckily, Lu Shang was meticulous and preparative, so all the crucial items were present in the little box Lu Shang prepared especially for Li Sui. He took out the soothing, antiseptic spray, he sprayed the thing all over his limbs, then handed it to Wang Wei. Wang Wei didnt take it, and he pulled up his long trousers to show that he was fine, so Li Sui gave it to SiMa Yan. SiMa Yan was the most mosquito attracting one among them, he was the youngest, so his skin was thinner and paler. The mosquito bites looked especially red and serious on his skin, him alone used up almost half the bottle of spray. After he finished treating the rashes, he threw the can to SiMa JingRong. Thetter didnt take the bottle though, he turned around and directly fell asleep. If it were under normal conditions, Li Sui would try to persuade him a bit, but he was exhausted, so he didnt have the strength to care about that. Climbing back onto the bed and lying down, Li Sui held the military de tight under the nket. He imagined that persons slightly lower body temperature; finally, his hanging heart found its footing, and he calmed down. The next morning, before the sun was up, the campsite was filled with the sounds of whistles. Each round was louder than thest, as if it was an emergency siren. Li Sui thought something was wrong, so he jumped up from the bed in a scare. Quick. Its the assembly whistle! Wang Wei turned on his sides quickly, then he jumped down directly from the upper bunk of the bed; he rushed to the bathroom immediately and upied the water basin for himself. Li Sui went to wake the big and small SiMas, then he took the water bucket and washed up in the bathroom. Li Sui nced at Wang Wei through the mirror; it was weirdhe originally thought Wang Weis sense of hearing was poor, but somehow he was so sensitive to the whistle. He was so alerted to them as if they were gunshots. Wang Wei was fast; he finished washing up and brushing his teeth in no time. His clothes were already changedst night. It was as if he already knew they needed to assemble this early today. The whistling outside strengthened, footsteps came from the rooms beside them, that made Li Sui hurry up as well. When he finished washing up and came out of the bathroom, he found that SiMa JingRong was still lying in bed sleeping. Wake up! Li Sui rushed over and pulled him up. SiMa JingRong swung his hand away in annoyance, then he nted his face back into the nket. Li Sui cursed how this iron couldnt be steel, then he raised his hand and pulled his nket out. What in the world are you doing? The suns not even up yet. We have to assemble! Hurry up! SiMa JingRong finally woke up. The whistling outside was consistent; finally, with onest especially sharp whistle, the racket stopped. Wang Wei rushed back into the room suddenly, then he pulled Li Suis arm and ran outside, Werete already, leave those two. Lets go. When they went down the building, Li Sui realized, there were more participants than he had imagined, around forty something people were already assembled on the ground floor. Among the crowd, there were even two females, they looked pretty young as well. From their appearances and behavior, they seemed to be from wealthy families. The sky was not lit uppletely, so everything looked grey. Li Sui and Wang Wei werete, so they could only stand on the sides. Late on the first day. The trainer looked displeased. He then walked around the hall with hands behind his back, inspecting everyone. When he walked past a short male attendee, he suddenly stopped, pulling up the ne on the males neck, What is this? A gold ne. What are you here for, a beauty pageant? The hall burst intoughter. Laugh? Did I say you lot couldugh? The trainer scolded again. The hall immediately returned to silence; the trainer scanned everyone in the hall, then he ordered, Take off all the stupid ornaments! If I see another one, I will throw them away. The sound of chatters swirled around Li Sui. Wang Wei even took his wristwatch off; Li Sui frowned slightly, his hand pressed on the de at his chest in secret. Everyone put the ornaments they took off into the basket, when the basket was handed to Li Sui, he didnt budge. He even prepared a speech if they wanted him to take the de off. The trainer just took a nce at Li Sui, then he asked, Where are the other two people in your room? As the trainer grilled Li Sui, SiMa Yan ran down the stairs in a hurry with mismatched socks, a lot of the other attendees began giggling. Vice-captain, mark their time. The trainer said coldly and turned away. Li Sui breathed a sigh of relief. The vice-captain was the one who guided Li Sui around the campsite when he first arrived. His surname was Lee, he was a person of only a few words, and he was very serious. After hearing the trainers directions, he started the stopwatch in his hand, the three of them immediately had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen. Howe everyone looks like theyvee prepared for the assembly? Li Sui scanned everyone in the hall, then asked Wang Wei. Wang Wei pushed his sses up his nose and said, Assemble at five-thirty everyday here, the ones who arete will be punished. They must have set an rm beforehand. Assemble at five-thirty? SiMa Yan said in confusion. The trainer informed me yesterday. Wang Wei paused, Did I not tell you guys? Li Sui, SiMa Yan, The greyness in the sky began to disperse, a few sips of light reached the hall through the trees. Others in the hall got less patient, and they began chit-chatting. When the trainers face turned almost as ck as a piece of coal, SiMa JingRong finally swung his legs down the stairs. When he got near, a rich smell of hair gel could be made out, this guy wasted his time putting on hair gel! Good. The trainers face turned pale from being angry for too long, How long was hete? Twenty-eight minutes, twenty-seven seconds. The trainer turned from being angry to giving out a lightugh, he ordered, Everyone, run tenps, then have breakfast. Everyone in the hall began wailing, the trainer turned to his back, You four, do you see that waterfall outside? Li Sui looked out following the direction the trainer was pointing to. Amongst the trees, there was a waterfall; it was around ten to fifteen meters tallit wasnt big, but it wasnt small either. There are watermelons growing up there, go get one. If you cant get any, then no food for today. After leaving his order, the trainer left, not caring about them anymore. Watermelon? SiMa JingRong said, hearing his voice, the other three looked at him like seeing their arch nemesis or something along those lines. SiMa Yan was especially annoyed, Can you be quicker next time? You arent going to a beauty pageant, dont put on hair gel. Who do you want to lure anyways? I SiMa JingRong was going to refute, but before he could speak, Li Sui pped his hand on his mouth and pushed him out, Lets go out and have a look. The waterfall didnt have much waterflow, beneath it was a huge collection of water, the color looked deep. Near the rocks were scores of green vines, the vines were around as thick as a thumb, not sure if it could bear any weight. I think we need to swim over and climb up the vines. Wang Wei said. They were all males, so they did not have any awkwardness when it came to taking off clothes for a dive. Wang Wei was the first to take off his shirt and pants, he only kept his underwear on. He dipped his feet into the water and said, Its not deep, my legs could reach the bottom. SiMa JingRong looked a little worried, There arent any weird things in the water, are there? Like snakes or dragons or something. Then you wait up here, when I found a dragon, I will give one to you. SiMa Yan scoffed, after warming up, he jumped into the water swiftly. His banters went straight into SiMa JingRongs heart, he wasnt going to lose to SiMa Yan, so he took his clothes off and jumped into the water with a much more extravagant pose, sshing water everywhere. Li Sui stood at the sides of the pond, his fingers tightened a bit. Li Sui? Wang Wei asked in oddness, the other two looked at him as well after Wang Wei mentioned Li Sui. Li Sui hesitated for a bit, but still decided to take off his T-shirt. Under the sun, the terrifying scars were shown in front of the others. Scars from being scalded, from cigarettes, and cut scars on his back, there was even something that looked like a gunshot wound. All three of them were spoiled and pampered from the day they were born; theyd cry for days after getting a tiny cut on the finger. None of them had seen such gruesome scars in their entire life before, it was especially shocking when the scars were on their teammate. SiMa JingRongs face turned the palest after seeing Li Suis wounds, the shock turned into anger, Did he abuse you? Li Sui got into the water; it took him a while before he understood who the he SiMa JingRong was referring to, the he was referring to Lu Shang. Li Sui looked back at SiMa JingRong with eyes that read, Do you have a screw loose? Sadly, that gaze in SiMa JingRongs interpretation became, Unspoken suffering. He balled his hands into fists, anger filled his face, I cant believe he is someone capable of such things! Li Sui didnt know SiMa JingRong had already fantasized a whole backstory of sexual abuse for him. Plots like the ravishing teenager who was subjected toshing and physical abuse but still refused to give in to the abusers will, finally bing a being to be revered at Just look at these scars, Lu Shang must be mistreating him. If Lu Shang were good to Li Sui, would he send Li Sui to this hellish ce to suffer, just like how his dad did. Who would have thought that Lu Shang who always seemed polite and elegant, was actually an abuser, a wolf in sheeps clothing? T/N: lol, Li Sui is dreaming about pinning Lu Shang to the bed and you think hes pure and noble. From now on, bro will support you. It was as if SiMa JingRong found a bestie; his eyes were red as he patted Li Suis shoulder. His face read, Your bro understands, your bro will protect you. Li Sui pulled his hand away, and he said in a cold voice, You should promptly get treatment for mental illnesses. Chapter 23 - Training Camp II Chapter 23: Training Camp II Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations The water in the mountains was clean, it was natural and unpolluted. As the location of the pond was surrounded by trees, very little sunlight could reach it, so the temperature of the water was just as low as the underground ones. The four of them submerged in the chilling water for a while, and soon their anger and hotheadedness were all gone; it wasforting and refreshing, in no time they felt like they had recovered most of their strength. Li Sui stared at the reflection of his scars on the rippling water. They were once his deepest, darkest secrets, but now, he had made his peace with those memories; they were now merely a part of his life experiences. Li Sui couldnt remember how long ago the nightmares had stopped, but ever since the familiar warmth of Lu Shang appeared, Li Suis dreams were never gued by anyone else again. In the ancient times, people would take a new name to purge illnesses and curses, some would also use it to flee from their fate. Li Sui always wondered if perhaps the one who bestowed him with a new name also blessed him with a new life. The water is so refreshing. Wang Wei, are the vines usable? Wang Wei swam over, he grabbed one and pulled on it, Should be fine, but there are spikes on it. Who is the lightest? Test the vines out first. After SiMa JingRong finished the sentence, SiMa Yan who was beside him paused a bit before realizing who he was referring to. He nced at SiMa JingRong with a not-so-pleased face, but he still swam to the waterfall understandingly. He grabbed a piece of vine, and encircling the vine on his arm, he swiftly pulled himself out of the water using the vine as support. SiMa Yan was thin and slim, and he was agileit was as if he were a veteran climber. Li Sui neared the small waterfall carefully, raising his head to examine it. Looking on drynd, the waterfall didnt seem tall. When Li Sui got closer, he noticed that the rocks were all covered in moss. If one wasnt capable enough, it would be impossible to even set foot on the rocks. Luckily, beneath the vines and rocks there was a pond, so even if they fell, it wouldnt cause any serious damage. Take it slowly. Wang Wei stared at SiMa Yan with a hanging heart, though he wasnt worried that SiMa Yan would fall. As these rocks were under constant stress from the flowing water, some of them might be loose, it looked like they could fall down anytime. SiMa Yan was quite steady on his feet, and his legs were strong as well; very quickly, he reached the top part of the rocks. The higher he got, the heavier the water became, so his vision was also hindered. The soaked shirt stuck to his skin, Li Sui looked up and noticed that his lower legs were trembling slightly. Whats wrong? Dont push yourself, if you cant, thene back down. Li Sui swam closer to where he was at, so he could help if anything happened. SiMa Yan rubbed the water on his face away; he said something, but it was covered up by the sound of the rushing water. He wrapped his arm in another thicker vine, then with one push from his right leg, he climbed up another meter or so, he was almost at the top. But just at that moment, SiMa JingRong who was quiet all this time suddenly screamed, his voice unexpectedly tinted with worry, Rocks! Quick! Let go! Right after the warning, a piece of loosened rock fell down along with the water, it was dropping directly towards SiMa Yans head. At the same time, SiMa Yan clicked his tongue. He loosened his grip on the vine, then ced his feet on a piece of rock, pushing himself outwards. Hended in the pond bellow on his back. A circle of water sshed up. Li Sui quickly swam over and dived in to pull SiMa Yan up. Cough SiMa Yan was choking on the water, his face red as he coughed, lying on Li Sui. Are you okay? Wang Wei went over as well. SiMa Yan was coughing so much that he couldnt even speak, so he just waved his hand to show he was fine. Lets get out of the water first. Li Sui said in concern. He was soaked in water; his T-shirt and shorts were all wet. Perhaps he was shocked, his face was pale, he was a bit like a wet baby bird, and it was quite gut-wrenching. That was when Li Sui noticed, SiMa Yan was seriously thin, perhaps even lighter than most girls his age. I was almost there SiMa Yan stepped out from his vigorous coughing, he said, feeling dejected. Safety first, Li Sui patted his shoulder. Dont try to steal the limelight, if you cant do it. SiMa JingRong said as he handed SiMa Yan a dry change of clothes. SiMa Yan didnt take the clothes, heughed coldly, You are quite disappointed that the rock didnt injure me, arent you? SiMa JingRong did not refute this time, on his face was something that looked a lot like guilt. That was unexpected; Li Sui and Wang Wei stared at each other, both had shock written all over their faces. It seemed like the siblings rtionship was not as rocky as they had originally thought. I took a peep before I jumped down. SiMa Yan dried his face, then he stood up. Pointing at the waterfall, he said, Up there is a pool, beside it are some trees. Im not sure if there are watermelons up there though. When SiMa Yan put it like that, it reminded Li Sui. If there was a pool up there, it means the ground above would collect water very easily. The soil would subsequently be sticky, could watermelons grow in soil like that? Fuck. That trainer is toying with us? Li Sui had a better grasp of the situation now, that calmed him, he said after sitting down, It makes sense that hed toy with us. Though he was never in the army, he knew how much they valued order and discipline. People who ignored the rules so tantly, then showed absolutely no remorse, would naturally be punished as an example for others. The trainers whistling reached them from afar; judging from the sounds, the other must had started their morning training. SiMa Yan sank his feet into the water, We can skip the trainings, thats even better. Who wants to be there? Losing Lu Shangs face the first day here, Li Sui didnt feel good about that, the only one who could possibly help him persuade them was Wang Wei. Yet, his only hope was sitting by the water, not budging, with eyes shuthe was asleep again. Since we cant find it anyway, maybe we should go back and report to the trainer. If he wants to punish us, then theres no escape. Li Sui tried persuading them. Just hearing the word punishment made SiMa JingRong quit. Back at home, he was the master of the house, everyone obeyed him. Not flipping out at the trainer was already the best he could do, now you want him to go receive punishment obediently? That was absolutely out of the question. Im not going to go back, see what hes going to do about it. SiMa Yan was quiet, but on his face, you could see that he was unwilling as well. Li Sui knew in his heart that these two were rich kids, his words wouldnt be enough to change them from their habits, so he gave up. Now, he was even more aware of how far apart he was from Lu Shang, no matter the situation, that persons words seemed to have an absolute effect on others, it was as if his leadership skills were innate and that no one will ever doubt his decisions. They yed with the water leisurely, looking at the shadows under the sun turn from long to short, then long again. At the beginning they fooled around, sshing water at each other, but as time passed by, they justid on the ground exhaustingly. They were out of options, they were on an empty stomach, without food, theycked strength. They were all growing males, just missing a single meal was unbearable, plus, a certain someone thought the meals in the cafeteria tasted horrible, so he didnt even move his chopsticksst night. Are we going to stay in the water for the whole day? If we dont go back, we wont make it to dinner, Wang Wei said. Due to his experiences in earlier years, Li Sui was already quite well-versed in the starving department, but even he felt weak on his limbs. It was imaginable what state pampered big and small SiMas were in. When they first arrived at the campsite, SiMa JingRong brought snacks, but his father somehow caught wind of it. The next day, he ordered the vice-captain to confiscate everything, he even reminded all the servants not to bring them anything again. At this critical moment, they were reminded how the whole drawer of cup noodles, choctes, and biscuits were forever out of their reach. SiMa JingRongs face turned grim, he said, But that trainer is obviously just ying us, we have toe up with something to get past him. Li Sui looked at the setting sun at a distant, he stood up and batted away the dust on his trousers, You guys go back to the dormitory, Ill go take the punishment myself. We cant have that. Wang Wei immediately stood up. With a piece of grass between his lips, SiMa JingRong sighed, Li Sui. Youre great in every aspect, but youre too obedient. Li Sui didnt know what to reply with. SiMa JingRong crawled up from the ground, arching down, he searched the ground for a while. Scratching up a small green germinating seed, his eyes glowed, I got it! What is that? Wang Wei asked. Watermelon sprout. Watermelon sprout? This thing is smaller than a bean, how do you know its a watermelon sprout? SiMa JingRong smiled proudly, Who say this isnt a watermelon sprout? You go scam people, dont pull us down. SiMa Yan didnt take him seriously. SiMa JingRong giggled in front of them, revering the little thing in his hands, Dont worry. Your brother will lead you to food and spice. Most of the attendees had left the training ground already, only two males were left, they were doing nks, it seemed like they were being punished as well. The trainer was standing straight beside the two, in his hand was a stopwatch. Trainer! We found it! SiMa JingRong ran over as if he was presenting a great treasure. The trainer looked grisly, he stared at them coldly. Here. Watermelon, SiMa JingRong took his hands out while smiling brightly. On his hands, there were some ck dirt and a sprout; the trainer stared at the thing as if he just saw an alien species. He couldnt formte a single sentence. With this, not only Li Sui, everyone was having cold sweats, they had a feeling the trainer was going to roundhouse kick SiMa JingRong out of the sr system. Watermelon? The trainers expression swung back and forth, like he wanted tough but was also mad, The watermelons at your house look like this? SiMa JingRong shifted from his usual chipper-self to a serious-looking face, Trainer! This might not be a full-grown watermelon, but it is a watermelon sprout. Its only too small now, so you couldnt differentiate its species. Once its all grown up, you will see the watermelon. The trainer was too angry that heughed, How do you prove that this is a watermelon sprout and not some random thing you found to trick me? SiMa JingRong said with a serious face, even though he was obviously pointing at a deer and calling it a horse (i), he said, Easy. We can nt it here now. When it grows up, we will know, wont we? T/N: (i) Theres a four characters idiom that says, pointing at a deer and calling it a horse, it means people who are tantly bending the truth, also used to express how a person is stupid orck independent thinking. When this sprout would be fully grown, theyd be long gone from the campsite. Hearing their conversation, Li Sui couldnt help but have a little bit of admiration for SiMa JingRong. Though this person seldom did anything useful, Li Sui had to admit that his thought process was extremely flexible, and it went in apletely different direction than anyone elses. Another point was that he was extremely thick-skinned. This was the biggest difference between them. SiMa JingRong was used to beingzy, and he had grown to think out of the box for that purpose. Others rules and customs were like garbage in his eyes, as long as he could reach his goals, anything was possible. For Li Sui it was different; before he learned how to enjoy his life, he learned how to follow orders and rules. If he did not obey, he would starve, get beaten or worse. He had the subconscious habit of locking himself up with others rules. This point included Lu Shang, so when Lu Shang asked him not to leave his sights, he never left. Lu Shang only asked him to warm his bed, so that was all he did, he never crossed the line. T/N: Ahem. Throwback to the numerous times when you kissed him while he was asleep. Standing here, Li Sui suddenly realized, for all this time, he was like a person who only knew how to walk inside set walls. What SiMa JingRong said reminded Li Sui to look at the scenery outside these walls. The gate in his heart, locked for 18 years, finally showed signs of opening, on a crimson dusk such as today. The trainers face was ck, it was obvious he was mad, but after a long hard brainstorming, he didnte up with anything to refute. Without any choice, he just made them run a fewps, then let them off to have dinner. Li Sui. Where are you drifting off to? After they got out from the cafeteria, SiMa JingRong asked him from behind. Nothing, Im just thinking, what if the sprout grew too fast. Before we left the campsite, it grew into something that was definitely not a watermelon. Ha. And I was wondering what you were thinking about. SiMa JingRong waved his hand, I can juste out to stomp the sprout tonight. Dead things dont talk, what can they do to us then? Oh my. Maybe I ate too much just now. SiMa JingRong pped his own stomach, then he leaned onto Li Sui, Good little brother, carry your bro back, would you? Li Sui swapped his hand away in disgust, Whats wrong with you? Im a bit dizzy and nauseous. Li Sui looked at SiMa JingRong; his face was slightly red, it didnt look like he was pretending. He reached out to test his temperature, then he said in shock, You have a fever?! As Li Sui gasped, both Wang Wei and SiMa Yan turned their heads over to them, Whats wrong? Did you get a cold from being in the water for too long? How long were we there? Its so hot today. Even SiMa Yan is fine, am I the kind of person that would get a cold that easily? SiMa Yan ignored him, he pulled down the cor of his T-shirt. His face turned pale, What is this on your neck? On his skin were rashes, there were insect bites after insect bites, all swelling. SiMa JingRong looked down, then he said nonchntly, These are just the mosquito bites fromst night, all of you were bitten too, right? SiMa Yan pulled up his own sleeve, the swelling from bites were mostly healed, only small red dots were left. Li Sui was even better; he couldnt even see the bites anymore. We have the same blood type; our health condition should be simr too. SiMa Yan frowned, The medicinal spray, did you use it? The second he mentioned it, everyone remembered. Last night after they got bitten, all of them except SiMa JingRong applied the spray, he didnt take the spray because he was tired. To the nurses office. SiMa Yan grabbed SiMa JingRongs arm and began pulling him there. How stupid? I just got bitten by mosquitoes, Im not going to the nurses office for something so tiny. SiMa JingRong swung his hand away in annoyance. As an outsider, Li Sui couldnt just butt into their affairs, Li Sui tried persuading SiMa JingRong, seeing that it didnt work, he stopped. Li Sui had some medicine for fevers in the little box Lu Shang prepared for him, so if anything, he could at least give SiMa JingRong those. At night, they still need to runps and take lectures, as Li Sui and the others cked off for the entire day, they still had a lot of strength left, so they managed to finish theps without much fuss. The others were less fortunate, their tortured muscles were protesting hard, they could barely walk much less run. The only two girls in the camp straight up cried, while the trainer ignored them. There was no water supply at night, Li Sui took the bucket of water he got earlier in the day and took a cold shower. The second he got out of the bathroom, he saw SiMa JingRong lying face down on the bed, not moving an inch. Wake up. Go take a shower already. Li Sui pushed him a few times, seeing that he still did not budge, he tried taking his temperature. SiMa JingRong didnt have a fever anymore, but his body temperature seemed lower than average now. SiMa Yan happened to finish his shower as well, he walked out and saw them, How is he? His body temperature is a bit low. Li Sui opened up his medicine box. There were pills for fever inside, but SiMa JingRong didnt have a fever anymore, so Li Sui wasnt sure if he could give him those pills. Theres something Im not sure whether I should say Wang Wei was sitting on his bed while reading a book, he pushed his sses and said, His fluctuating body temperature and mosquito bite made me wonder could he have gotten mria? The second he finished talking, SiMa Yans face turned pale. He pulled out SiMa JingRongs tablet from the bed, and he searched the book gallery for information; the more he read, the worse hisplexion became. The disease might not bemon in the city, but in the mountains like here, it wasnt umon. Plus, the more he looked at the symptoms, the more alike they sounded. SiMa Yan pushed SiMa JingRong again, thetter was either asleep or had fainted, because he still gave no reaction at all. He was scared now, he called out to him a few times, even Wang Wei and Li Sui got worried. If it was really mria, then they had to send him to the hospital immediately, the disease could be deadly if he didnt get treatment in time. Ill bring him to the nurses office. SiMa Yan lugged SiMa JingRong onto his shoulder, then he started running immediately. He looked scrawny and thin; Li Sui wasnt sure where that strength came from. The entire weight of a grown man was on SiMa Yans shoulders, just looking at the scene was hard enough, so it was imaginable how heavy it would be for SiMa Yan. Li Sui was going to help him, but Wang Wei stopped him, he also made a pose that meant be quiet, as he said, Shhh. Li Sui was confused, but Wang Wei just smiled, It will be fine. The nurses room was quite far away from the dormitory, the roads were harsh as well. SiMa Yan still pulled his brother all the way to the nurses room, when he finally put SiMa JingRong down, he felt like he was going to faint. Doctor. Its an emergency! The on-duty doctor was an old man, he looked like a veteran. After hearing SiMa Yans description, he firstforted SiMa Yan, then he pulled out the stethoscope, pressing it on SiMa JingRongs stomach and listening. Finally, he wrote a prescription, handing it to SiMa Yan, he asked him to go take the medicine at the Pharmacy room next door. This is it? SiMa Yan frowned as he looked at the paper, Mria could be treated with just some pills? What mria? the doctorughed. Its just heatstroke and indigestion. SiMa Yan was still worried, he asked again, Are you sure? You didnt examine him wrong, did you? Youre sure he doesnt have mria? Do you want me to have mria that badly? What are you plotting SiMa JingRong woke up, he sat on the sofa with droopy eyes. SiMa Yan turned his head back, he saw his brothersplexion was looking a lot better now. He also had a teasing kind of expression on his face; that made SiMa Yan boil up, he immediately felt like he was tricked, he said furiously, Are you sick? Ive called you so many times and you heard nothing?! Oh, you called me. Well, sorry. I was too tired and didnt hear you. SiMa JingRong rubbed his eyes, he looked around and finally realized where he was. Then he scanned the room, SiMa Yan was the only person in the room he was familiar with, Li Sui and Wang Wei were nowhere to be seen. Without much effort, SiMa JingRong deduced that the only person who couldve brought him here was the person in front of him, the person who had anger written all over his face. SiMa JingRong was a bit startled, on his face was a rare expression of awkwardness, Did you carry me here? A ghost carried you here! SiMa Yan threw a coat on his head, then stomped out of the room angrily. Chapter 24 - Training Camp III Chapter 24: Training Camp III Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantions From that day onward, Li Sui noticed the siblings rtionship had changed slightly. Though they would still bicker, itcked the former seriousness, they would even make jokes during meals. As their roommate, Li Sui was of course relieved, but that made him suspicious of Wang Wei, You knew from the beginning that he didnt have mria? Did you suggest that on purpose? Wang Wei was washing his socks, hearing Li Sui speak, he raised his head up. With a lost expression, he asked, What did you just say? Intense training began the next day; soon no-one had the strength left to think about anything else. Every day, they had to wake up at five thirty, then immediately run 10 kilometers around the mountain. The trainer did not specify a time limit, but breakfast was served at seven thirty sharp, so if they wanted to have breakfast, they had to finish running in one and a half hours. Usually, after running for so long, they would be so tired that they could barely hold a pair of chopsticks. So, when they had to do tire flips and squat jumps afterwards, they could barely move. After a whole day of training, Li Sui sank his face into the washing basin. Pain spread through his skin, he had been exposed to the sun for too long, so he got sunburns; parts of his skin were peeled off. He could no longer move his shoulders, it was as if his legs were amputated, he could no longer feel them. During dinner that night, after sitting down at the dining table, Li Sui felt all his organs had left him, he had zero appetite. Li Sui had a habit of going to the gym at least, but even he felt horrible, so SiMa JingRong and the rest were much worse off. After getting back to the dormitory, SiMa JingRongy straight on the bed, not even going to take a shower. Theres still a month left, will I still be alive after this month? Wang Wei brought in a few buckets of hot water, Stop sulking. At least go take a shower. SiMa JingRong wasnt the only one, others in the dormitory were just like him. They were all pampered rich kids whocked training, so suddenly being tortured like this, a lot of them began to feel like giving up. After repeating the same training regimen for four days, the attendees emotions boiled over. SiMa JingRong refused to go anywhere, he hugged the bed headboard tightly with a crying face, not willing to leave bed for training. As SiMa JingRong made a huge fuss, the people next door joined in the protest as well. With the expanding momentum, more and more people banded together, saying they wanted to go home. During themotion, the trainer walked up the dormitory, he held an amplifier, You are giving up already? Trainer, this is an impossible mission. Yeah. We only need to make money, why do we need such a good physique? Even my parents wont treat me like this, what gives you the right The trainer listened to all of their vents with an expressionless face, then he announced, All of you can go back home on one condition. I have a list here; it marks the goal you need to reach each day. If any of you could reach the goals written here on any one of these days, I will let you leave. If not, then theres no negotiations. He walked away after leaving the paper behind, after walking for a few steps, he turned back and said, When your parents sent you here, they signed a contract with me. I am responsible for all of you, if any of you have problems, I can report back to your parents. The sentence was neither heavy nor light, but the people with a little bit of brain would understand their own situation now. The parents who would send their kids here were usually not that soft-hearted. To give up halfway through would be a disgrace to the family. If word got out, not only would they fail to get empathy, their parents would most likely condemn them. SiMa Yan took the goal list back inside, he looked at the paper while frowning, soon a glimmer of hope was in his eyes, This doesnt look too hard. Wang Wei looked at the paper as well, he said after some thought, Run 10 kilometers around the mountain in 50 minutes. We ran for 60 minutes today, that means, we just have to run a bit quicker. It was nice in words, but when they actually tried acting it out, things werent as they had imagined. The goals listed on the paper seemed to be set ording to their body limit, every time they feel like they were close, they would find that they were a few minutes insufficient. The next day, they would try again only to find that their speed had increased, but the goal had also increased to a level they could not reach. At the beginning, all of them were hopeful, but after a few trials, they began to realize, the trainer did this on purpose to bait them. SiMa JingRong was extremely angry at the discovery, while he stomped his feet in anger. Li Sui noticed, the tiredness they felt at the beginning was now gone. It was reced by a better grasp of his limits, he knew when he should run faster, when he should go slowly, what kind of posture was the most effortless. After all these days of training, Li Sui felt like he had a better grasp of the trick behind. After being under the sun for so long, his skin got more used to it. Li Sui learned to use the trees and the natural environment to stay out of the sun. When he returned to his room, he found the burning sensations from before were slowly fading. Among venting and dissatisfaction, half a month had passed by. This morning, the trainer wasnt wearing his usual uptight clothes, instead he appeared in a light sports uniform. After all the training in recent days, I am sure you all have a better understanding of your own capabilities. So, starting today, I will teach all of you something more tangible. I will teach you how to use battle techniques to incapacitate enemies in the shortest amount of time. Li Sui froze at the sentence; he was reminded of the knife-wielding assant at the hot springs resort. That time, if it wasnt for his quick response, leading the assant away, Lu Shang would most likely be injured. If he could fight like Zuo Chao, then he wouldnt have gotten hurt himself afterwards. At this moment, he understood better why Lu Shang sent him here. Though the trainer was harsh towards them, he was serious in teaching. In their daily training, he had already remembered each of their specialties. Li Sui noticed that the techniques he taught to each person was slightly different. For instance, SiMa Yan was thin, so the techniques he taught him were mainly light maneuvers. The trainer even taught him a set of back jump kick; to aplish this move, one needed to have a certain amount of flexibility and agility, not everyone could do it. The move might sound simple, but it was extremely useful. If he were to encounter kidnappers in the future, escaping wouldnt be a problem when utilized well. It could be counted as one of the three most useful fighting techniques. Li Sui also noticed something else, most of the techniques the trainer taught focused on tactics, none of the moves require a high level of strength and bnce. After he considered it seriously, strength and bnce couldnt be trained up in just a month. Hence, even if the trainer taught them techniques that required both, it would be useless to them. On the other hand, tactics were just as important as pure strength, if they could use it well, tactics could have an even greater value than sheer force. When it was SiMa JingRongs turn, the trainer froze. Then he just asked him to go to the sides and move rocks. Move rocks? SiMa JingRong thought he must have heard wrong. You arent cut out for fighting, if you are faced with danger, just pick up a rock to throw at your opponents. Remember to pick the bigger ones, since yourezy, you wont want to pick rocks over and over again. The crowd beganughing, SiMa JingRongs face turned red for a while, then pale. The trainer was relentless, he even exined the art of rock throwing in detail. Talking about what kind of rocks worked the best, which parts of the body were the weakest, what distance was the best for throwing rocks. Even SiMa JingRong couldnt find a point to refute or fuss about with how serious the trainer was. SiMa Yan uncooperatively giggled at the sides as well, The trainer is correct. With how stupid my brother is, even if the trainer taught him clever tactics, the first thing he would do when facing an enemy would still be to run. Li Sui thought through his words, and he couldnt but agree, it was just too urate. What Li Sui learned was a set of freebat moves, it revolved mainly around kicking, punching, and throwing. All the maneuvers were in and simple, but they could be grouped together differently ording to the situation. If the opponents height was favorable, he could even attack their temple with his elbow. The trainer observed Li Sui practicing the moves, then he nodded, You are quite talented. I can only teach you this much now. You should take full-fledged training courses after you leave. Li Sui stood back straight, then he showed his gratitude to the trainer. By chance, the trainer saw the military badge on Li Suis chest. The trainer frowned slightly, asking, What is this? Li Sui moved too much when he was practicing, the badge slipped out from under his clothes. Li Suis face turned pale, he was afraid the trainer would confiscate it, so he immediately said, My family gave it to me before I came here. Its for protection. The trainer used the bamboo stick he was holding to hook the badge up, with a better look, his expression changed. He nced at Li Suiplicatedly, then he just said, You should take good care of something so important. Yes, Li Sui bowed. It was only a month, but Li Sui could clearly feel the changes in his physique. Not only did his endurance increase, his muscles were also toned up. At the beginning, when he ran on the mountain, he felt constant pain on his feet, it was so harsh. Now, he could regte his breathing and pace naturally. It was almost time for their final test, everyone wanted to leave when the camp started, but now that the end was near them, they felt like they would miss this ce. SiMa JingRong even felt bad for using the sprout to trick the trainer, so he discussed about buying something topensate him with SiMa Yan. Why are you guys discussing that now, it would be a godsend if any of us could graduate. Wang Wei hanged the washed towel on theundry rope. Its just a treasure hunt. Right? SiMa JingRong yed with his tablet on the bed, not feeling threatened. This isnt a kids game. Its not that simple. Wang Wei continued, Two days and one night of camping in the wild. I heard that less than 10% graduated for thest batch. Someone even broke their leg. Seriously? SiMa Yan turned around and asked in shock. Why would I lie? The trainer is going to talk about it tomorrow anyways, you will know then. No matter what, as long as you stay inside the campsite protective zones, people can rescue you when you sent out the re. Even with the reassurance, Li Sui couldnt help but feel unsure. It waste at night, but the lights in the Tong Yan building were still lit. Lu Shang lifted his head from the piles of paperwork, and he asked Uncle Yuen, Has the contract from Yue PengFei arrived yet? It has just arrived. I am still examining it; do you want to take a look now? Give it to me. Lu Shang took the contract from Uncle Yuen, he scanned the whole document, then fixed his eyes on that persons name. Half of Mu Shengs shares. With this, he will be one of Mu Shengs biggest shareholders. Uncle Yuen asked, Such a huge sum of money, all in his hands. Are you sure? Do you need to reconsider? Lu Shang wrote a few strokes on the contract, No one is more trustworthy than he is. I am sure. Change these lines, remove his duties in the supervisory board as well. Uncle Yuen seemed like he wanted to say something, but he just opened his mouth slightly and swallowed the words. He just said, The signing ceremony is the day after tomorrow, will you be attending? Lu Shang didnt answer, instead he asked, When will the training camp be over? In the afternoon of the day after tomorrow. Then I will attend. Lu Shang rubbed his temple. Thinking of Li Suis forever innocent eyes, he smiled, I can go pick him up after signing the contract. Before the sky was bright, Li Sui had already woken up. Wang Wei was tidying things on the bed, seeing Li Sui turned over, he asked lightly, Did I wake you? Its not even five yet, you can sleep for a while longer. Li Sui rested his head on his arm, asking, Its just an exam, why are you bringing so many things? Its better to bring more. Just in case, after all its still the wild. Li Sui stared at him, Did Lu Shang send you here? Wang Weis hands froze, he pushed up his sses awkwardly, You you realized all of it? Li Suiughed slyly, I know now. Li Sui tricked him, Wang Wei was speechless, he also felt glum. He had been careful the whole month, yet they all went down the drain in thest two days. What gave it away? He thought he had concealed it well, at least he thought it would be enough to deceive Li Sui. I just guessed. Li Sui said, You are always alert, and you seemed to be used to training, you dont look like a newbie at all. I noticed that you have callus between your thumb and index finger, your focus is also extremely high. I heard that a sniper could stay in the same position for days, just to ambush an enemy. Seeing that you could even fall asleep standing in the forest So, I had a hunch maybe you were a sniper before. Wang Wei was shocked, he began admiring this kids observation skills, he never knew Li Sui was so capable. Considering that the training camp was ending soon, revealing his identity would allow him to protect Li Sui more conveniently, so he said honestly, Yes. I have served in the military before, but then my vision was harmed, and I couldnt use a gun anymore. After that, Ive been following brother Zuo all this time, but I dont live in the dojo, so youve never seen me before. A month before, Lu Shang asked brother Zuo to arrange a person in here, and brother Zuo chose me. What did Lu Shang asked you to do? Li Sui asked. Wang Wei looked a little pensive, but he still spilled everything out, Nothing much really. Just report your situation to him every day and ensure your safety. When pushes to shove, deal with big and small SiMas problems too. This was so like Lu Shang. Li Sui felt like he was eating honey as he heard Wang Wei speak. He couldnt even stop himself from grinning, So everything I did here, he knows? He knows, Wang Wei nodded; he was dense, so he did not notice Li Suis love-drowned expression. He only said, We are going to separate into smaller teamster, each team will have two people, youll be with me. Li Sui savored the taste of the honey in secret for a while, then he finally reacted to Wang Wei, Hn? What about those two? Wang Wei pushed his sses up again, They should be fine together, they are siblings after all. My mission is to protect you. No. Both of them are half-baked, if they are in a team together, they wont make it. Li Sui rejected, You go with SiMa Yan, Ill go with JingRong. Wang Wei was about to refute, but SiMa Yan had a bit of movement, it seemed like he was going to wake up soon. Its decided. After Li Sui left that behind, he went to the bathroom, washing up. Wang Wei wasnt left with another option, so he had to take out half of the packed equipment and separate them into another backpack. While Li Sui was washing up, he remembered something. Li Sui grabbed Wang Wei to the sides and showed him the badge on his neck, he asked, Do you know where this badge came from? Why did the trainers expression change the moment he saw this? Only high-ranking officers who hadpleted special missions would have this badge, the rank of this badge is very high. There are less than 30 of these in the whole of China. Wang Wei looked at the badge with admiration, Li Sui felt like he was almost ready to salute to the badge. The symbolization behind it is extremely noble. For every military personnel, if they see this badge, they wont dare touch you. In other words, if you wear this, then its the same as saying, This person is protected, dont you dare touch him. Li Sui was startled; this waspletely different from what Lu Shang told him. Lu Shang only said that this was a de, he asked him to use it for protection. Li Sui also remembered how he asked Lu Shang to give the de to him as a gift, the important thing was, he actually agreed to it. Chapter 25 - Training Camp IV Chapter 25: Training Camp IV Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantions A person who hadpleted special missions and was a high-ranking officer in the army. After some thoughts, Li Sui concluded that the only person who could fulfill all the criteria was Lu Shangs father. This military badge belonged to Lu Shangs father, but Lu Shang just gave it to him, to someone who wasnt even a blood rtive. No matter how much Li Sui tried thinking, he couldnt grasp the reasoning behind it. Li Sui. Its time for the assembly! Coming. Li Sui ced the military badge back under his shirt carefully. His thoughts began to calm down as he felt the chill from the badge at his chest. Li Sui thought that once he returned home, he would ask Lu Shang and get to the bottom of this. Divide into teams of two people, each person will get a bag. Inside the bags are food, water, a tent, a lighter, a map, some emergency medicine, and a re signal. The trainer continued, Besides all that, you will each get to choose a weapon. The time limit is five pm tomorrow. Find the marked treasure chest, obtain the treasure inside, then bring it back here. You will pass the test once you bring it back. Remember not to wander out of the protected zone. If you encounter any situation you cannot handle, use the re to signal us, we will reach you within ten minutes. Just in case they injured others on ident, all the weapon options were small and easy to handle. Li Sui picked out a small dagger, he then put the dagger in the backpack. SiMa JingRong waszy and didnt want to carry extra weight, so he didnt choose one. The two of them walked into the woods for a while, then they ran into Wang Wei. Wang Wei knew that the trainer wasnt going to allow attendees to bring extra things to the exam, so he packed up everything early in the day and left it here. He was waiting for Li Sui and SiMa JingRong there to give them the equipment. Isnt it enough already? I think the trainer gave us a lot of supplies already, Li Sui said. No. You must bring more. The food supplied are only enough for one day, so if you dont want to starve, you have to bring these too. Lu Lao Ban said that its fine if you cannotplete the mission, but you must stay safe. The second Li Sui heard it was Lu Shang who prepared all this, he immediately cooperated, Then I will pack them into our bags. SiMa JingRong listened in to their conversation with nk eyes, his brain couldnt follow what they were talking about, What are you guys saying? What about Lu Lao Ban? Li Sui ignored him, he tidied up the bags, as he searched through the supplies, he found a gun. He gasped, Theres even a gun in here!? Wang Wei had an awkward expression, he scratched the back of his head and said, Im used to bringing it. Id feel unsafe without it, so I prepared one for you too. SiMa JingRong had shock written all over his face as well, he eximed, A real real gun!? Of course not, this is just an air gun. Ehh, be careful. Dont point this at people, youd might hurt someone. Do do you mean you had this thing with you for the whole month we are together? Wang Wei giggled grimly. SiMa JingRong pounded his own chest a few times, looking extremely shocked. Thanks. Li Sui packed up all the supplies, then nodded at Wang Wei to show his gratitude. Wang Wei looked at Li Sui, it seemed like he had something to say. However, with SiMa JingRong present, he kind of felt that the words would be too mean to him. Wang Wei just waved his hand and went into the woods himself. Lets go too. Wait. Exin to me whats happening first. Whats up with Wang Wei? Also, why is the sadist at your home giving you a gun? Li Sui took big strides forward as he said, Lu Shang is not a sadist, the scars on me have nothing to do with him. He has always treated me well, thats why he arranged Wang Wei into the camp. Do you understand when I put it like this? SiMa JingRong didnt reply with anything, after a while he just went up to rummage through Li Suis backpack. What are you trying to find? Hes prepared so much, so Im wondering if theres dog food in here. They did not discover anything worthwhile in the first day, all the teams were not dispersed yetthey ran into a few teams as they walked through the woods. SiMa JingRong found a treasure chest in an abandoned bird nest, unfortunately it was already opened. That meant this area had already been searched by others, so they had to go deeper in. In the afternoon, the two of them rested beside a river. They opened a few packs of biscuits and refilled their water bottles. The fruits of a month of intense training were showingpletely now, even after walking in the woods for the whole morning, they didnt feel tired, just a little too hot. They were searching while enjoying the scenery; if the roads didnt get rougher on the way and the woods thicker, they would be sure that they were just hiking for fun. We been searching for the whole day, but weve still found nothing. Seriously, where did they put those treasure chests? Li Sui had been observing the environment carefully all this time, after SiMa JingRong asked, he said, This area hasnt been searched by any teams yet, lets try searching this area more carefully, there should be a chest here. How do you know this area hasnt been searched yet? Footprints. Li Sui pointed to his feet, There are no human footprints in this area. I see. Sounds reasonable. SiMa JingRong held a pair of binocrs, the other hand held a broken tree branch, flicking the leaves on the ground around. Unfortunately, except for dried leaves and broken pieces of wood, he found nothing. After searching for a while, he began to lose his patience, he hummed while cking off. The wind is picking up. Li Sui said. It looks like its going to rain soon, we should find shelter. There was often a lot of rainfall in the summer season, but usually it would begin in a hurry and end just as quickly. SiMa JingRong chose a huge tree, then he pulled out a tarpaulin, hanging it up the branches. Li Sui raised his head to look at the cloudy sky, in the clouds were flickers of lightning, he stopped SiMa JingRong and said, Youd be a lightning rod here, we need to find a cave. Before they came to this area, they saw a cave along the way, so they immediately turned back. Not long after they located the cave and hid in it, lightning and thunder roared in the woods. Heavy rainfall poured from the sky. In an instant, it was as if the sounds of rain hitting trees and leaves had engulfed the mountain, as if scores of drums were yed, it was extremely ear-piercing. It wasnt night yet, but it was dark in the woods because of the clouds, along with the heavy rain, it was as if there were ayer of mist. Li Sui gathered some dry woods and leaves in the cave, with the lighter, he started a fire. There isnt enough wood, the fire wontst through the night. Li Sui controlled the fire into a smaller size, so that it was just enough for lighting. Li Sui continued, When the rain stops, we have to go get some more wood. We should just stay here tonight They did not check how deep the cave was, but it was pitch ck inside, as if things could jump out any second. SiMa JingRongs face was as pale as paper, he absolutely hated the idea of staying here. Instead of facing the unknown darkness, he would much rather go to sleep with the spiders up a tree. However, the rain outside was too heavy, so he couldnt think of any other ces to stay in. He stared into the depths of the cave, not being able to make out anything in the darkness, he tried averting his attention by chatting with Li Sui. Come on. Tell me. Li Sui took out the canned meat Wang Wei gave him; after opening the can, he added some water and cooked it on the fire, Tell you about what? SiMa JingRong squinted at Li Sui, About you and Lu Shang of course. Li Sui nced at him, then replied, Whats there to talk about, you know about our rtionship already. If Li Sui had been to school and talked with students his age, then he would have been familiar with the mixed expression of secretiveness, embarrassment, and excitement on SiMa JingRongs face. This kind of expression is all toomon in the normal male school dormitories, his question was basically a derivative of What level are you at with your girlfriend?. Tch. Why are you such a mood killer? SiMa JingRong moved closer to Li Sui and asked awkwardly, You guys have you guys done it yet? How do two guys make love? Li Sui froze, the scene of Lu Shangs naked upper half on the beach shed across his mind. His face stiffened as he reminisced in the memory, then after two seconds he frowned while feeling guilty, The meat is cooked, are you eating or not? Im eating, Im eating. Dont throw it away. After walking for the whole day, both of them were starving, they cleaned out all the meat in the can, not even leaving the stew behind. After eating, SiMa JingRong felt a bit sleepy, but he didnt dare sleep. Facing the cave, he was afraid that something would jump out to eat him when he was asleep. You should sleep, Ill stay awake through the night. Li Sui took out the gun and the dagger from his backpack, he stored the weapon in the puttee at his lower leg. I cant let you do all the work. SiMa JingRong scratched his hair, Im really sleepy now, I will change ces with youter in the night. Though he was sleepy, when hey down on the floor, he found that he couldnt sleep at all. After all, he was lying on the ground, nothing like the mattresses in the camps dormitory. Say, do you think the other teams finished the mission yet? Li Sui added a few pieces of wood to the fire, Probably not. Why? Li Sui didnt reply, he just stared out at the heavy rain. Perhaps due to the dark environment, he had a bad feeling about all of this. If Wang Wei found the treasure chest, then he would bring the contents to him for sure, but he didnt, so that probably means he didnt find it either. Wang Wei used to be in the military, so he should have an edge over others here. If he couldnt find it either, then the chances of others finding it would be slim. Go to sleep already. The rain outside showed no signs of stopping; soft snoring soon echoed throughout the cave. Li Sui stood up and walked to the opening of the cave, hearing the mix of wind and rain in the forest. It was deep in the night now; he would miss Lu Shang the most every day at night, he missed his eyshes, his voice, and his warmth. Especially since he knew that he would be able to see Lu Shang again tomorrow. He could hardly control his heavily jumping heart, as if it would just leave his chest at any moment. He had stroked the military badge on his chest for thousands of times already. Li Sui felt like he was losing his mind, just a few questions about Lu Shang made Li Sui lose his restraint. As if a wall was suddenly cracked open, a wide shiny road appeared in front of him, luring him astray. In honesty, Li Sui had a vague idea of how two males make love. When he was working in the bar, he had identally walked in on a pair of male lovers making love. Ever since he noticed the little thoughts he had for Lu Shang, he had packed up all these obscene memories into a little box, throwing it into a locked room. He couldnt help but think that having such dirty thoughts would sully all of Lu Shangs teachings. However, now, he wanted nothing more but to open that door again, peering inside. He even began imagining, what would it be like if the two in the room were Lu Shang and him. The darkness provided Li Sui with limitless courage; it also heightened his desires. He allowed his brain to paint the lewd picture in his mind, while feeling the guilt of tainting a God. Li Sui never knew that just letting his imagination run wild could give him so much satisfaction and excitement. The rain outside was even heavier than before, it was almost frightening how heavy the rain was. Chilling wind blew into the cave, making the small me waver. Li Sui wasnt the only one that found this odd, even SiMa JingRong woke up from the noise. Why is the rain even heavier than before? SiMa JingRong woke up drowsily, What time is it now? Its two now. It rained for seven hours? Li Sui affirmed with a light Hmn, then he used his hands to protect the little bit of fire left. Seeing that the wood was almost burnedpletely, SiMa JingRong grabbed some more dry leaves to throw into the fire. Though they had torches in their bags, having the warmth of a fire was still moreforting, especially with the bad weather outside. As SiMa JingRong bowed down to pick up leaves, he suddenly froze. Quickly, he jumped backwards, petrified. Then he screamed, Ahhh! Li Sui looked over, even he felt numb seeing the thing that was buried under the leaves. It was a set of white bones. Dont scream. Li Sui walked over feeling scared himself, but he forced himself to calm down. Holding the dagger, he pushed the skeleton around. Its fine. It belongs to an animal. Li Sui was relieved, See. There are ws. SiMa JingRongs spirit had floated away, it took some time for his mind to return. Even so, the two were still anxious. Seeing a set of bones in a cave was definitely not a good sign, as they were now certain that some kind of danger lurked in the cave. What what is that sound? Did you hear that? SiMa JingRongs face was white, he asked Li Sui in a panic. Li Sui thought he was overreacting from the scare just now, but slowly he felt something odd as well. A weird sound surrounded them; the sound was like a crowd mumbling at the same time. More importantly, the sound seemed to be growing louder and nearer, as if they were right next to their ears. It itsing from inside the cave. SiMa JingRong backed away from the cave a bit instinctively. Li Sui suddenly reacted to the situation, he grabbed SiMa JingRongs arm and began running, Run! Bag! The bag! No time! Hurry! Why!? Landslide! The two of them rushed out the cave in a hurry, that unknown sound had already became a clear rumble. As if hundreds of trucks were dumping rocks and mud down at the same time. Theres a rock tform, jump! Li Sui had never run so quickly in his entire life before; his survival instincts must have pushed his body to the limit. After running out of the cave, they jumped to a rock tform on the other side. During the ordeal, Li Sui nced back for a second and he saw the cave they rested in were already buried under the rubble. If they were even a secondter, they would be dead under the rocks and sand. Being so close to death for the first time, SiMa JingRong was scared. The rock tform was not enough, he climbed up a tree just in case. The rolling mud and rocks slid pass their eyes, ttening the forest in an instant. The terrifying scene was far enough to make them admire the strength of nature. Luckily, they were at a safe zone, the protruding rock tform diverted the flow of mud and rocks. Ten meters away from them, the mud rolled down the mountain, clearing everything in its path. The two who survived out of shear luck stared at each other, both wore an expression as scared as the other. The rain was still going strong, raindrops fell on their faces, blurring their vision. After what they had just been through, this little bit of rain was nothing. Li Sui wiped his face dry, then he heard SiMa JingRong sobbing. What should we do now? Our bags are buried. I want to go home Li Sui was thinking about somethingpletely opposite though. When he first walked up the mountain, he noticed that the soil was loose, he knew that loose soil meant this ce was susceptible tondslides. It was night right now, if he wasnt alert enough, they would have been buried under all the mud already. The funny thing was, they were only alive now because they chose to rest in the cave. The skeletons they found in the cave heightened their alertness. Landslides ur in mere seconds, so normally human ears wont be able to keep up and still have time to flee. However, movements of the soil from above were especially detectable underground, as the tiny soundwaves would be amplified by the closed environment, transmitting through the cave and then detected by their ears, allowing them to hear something like mumbling. That was a warning, garnering a few seconds of precious escape time for them. Im worried about how SiMa Yan is doing right now Li Suis heart sank, he bowed down to pull the dagger out. He held the dagger tight in his hand, turning around to SiMa JingRong, he said, We shouldnt stay here, lets go. Chapter 26 - The Reunion Chapter 26: The Reunion Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantions They lost their backpacks, the only thing they had now were a dagger and an air gun. They didnt have a map nor a torch, so they could only try to find the way with the vague memory they had. It was still raining heavily; their clothes were so wet that they were dripping water. Even in such a poor state, they didnt dare rest. They couldnt reason with nature; danger could strike at any given moment. We should have kept the re with us. SiMa JingRong said with regret. Li Sui looked up at the rainy sky and said, In this weather, even if we used the smoke res, they probably wont see us. The roads were harsh, as andslide just took ce, thendscapes were very different from when they first arrived. The two of them discussed for a while but still couldnt reach a consensus. I remember its this way, theres a tree here. Theres a tree in the next crossroad, not this one. No, it is this one. This crooked tree, I remember this tree. SiMa JingRong fought back. Li Sui wasnt sure either, so he held up his dagger and made a mark on the tree. He said, Lets follow your memory first, if it doesnt feel right, we will immediately return here. That was what he said, but the woods all looked the same. It was extremely dark right now, they couldnt get their bearings at all, so they were just walking around basing on pure instinct. After walking for a while, the rain began to recede. The wild grass became thicker and taller. At a point, they found even advancing impossible. Li Sui stopped walking, We havent been here before. SiMa JingRong turned back and asked, Are you sure? Li Sui squatted down, he dug up some soil, then he frowned, The soil feels different, weve must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. SiMa JingRong looked at the surroundings, he sniffed his nose in the cold, We should go back when the sky lights up. There are quite a lot of trees here, sondslides probably wont happen here, right? They had been walking for the whole day, they didnt get much rest at night either. After going through that scary ordeal, both of them were exhausted. At least SiMa JingRong slept for a few hours, Li Sui didnt get a wink of sleep, so he was so tired that he began seeing stars. Without much thought, he agreed to SiMa JingRongs idea. They didnt have any tools to start a fire, their clothes were all wet and they couldnt dry them. The humidity in the woods were high, plus they sweated, so everything was sticky and ufortable. Not only that, there were insects everywhere. The heavy rain must have scared them out from the ground. Flies and mosquitoes were nothing, the problem was ticks and leeches. There were a lot of them, and their bites hurt a lot. They would crawl into their trousers once they werent alert, sucking on their skin and almost impossible to get rid of. Li Sui cut off some rtively dry grass under the tree, then he used the pieces of grass to dry the air gun. Luckily, the gun had a waterproof coating. Wang Wei probably sprayed it on beforehand, worrying that it would get humid in the woods. Now being in the wild, he finally understood what Wang Wei meant when he said, I didnt feel safe without a gun. When facing the unknown, there was nothing moreforting than a weapon in hand. After making sure the gun was still functional, Li Sui used the rest of the grass to knit a few pieces of ropes. He tied the ends of his trousers up tightly with the ropes, then he leaned on the trunk of the tree to rest. He was too tired. At first, he just nned on closing his eyes to meditate, but once he closed his eyes, he fell asleep. It was an extremely ufortable nap, half of him was in dreams, but half of him was awake. He kept seeing Lu Shanging to pick him up, he would prop himself up ecstatically, but once he moved, hed notice that it was nothing more than a dream. This repeated a few times, making his head dizzy and disoriented. The longer he slept, the more tired he became; Li Sui opened his eyes in pain. Originally, he thought he had been asleep for a long time already, but when he looked around, everything was still dark, only the rain had stopped. The bushes from afar had some movements, Li Sui immediately got alerted. He held the small dagger tight in his hand, then tried waking SiMa JingRong up, Wake up. Thetter obviously didnt sleep well either, he woke up the second Li Sui called him. Rubbing his eyes, he asked, Whats wrong? Before Li Sui replied, SiMa JingRong noticed the odd movements in the bushes himself. It was as if something was nearing them at high speed. What is that? SiMa JingRong mouthed the words to Li Sui. Li Sui stared at the bushes, not answering him. The thing in the bushes suddenly stopped moving, almost like it had felt Li Suis gaze. Is it a snake? SiMa JingRong asked anxiously. Most likely. Li Sui took in a cold breath, his grip on the dagger tightened. The sun was rising soon, and the forest was engulfed in the morning mist, making everything hazy. Li Sui fell back a few steps with his back up against the tree. Neither side moved, as if they were gauging each others ability. A gust of wind picked up in the woods, the grass rattled under the wind as an eerie sound came from the bushes. Siiii siiii At roughly the same time, the upper part of the snake straightened up, popping out from the bushes and sticking out its tongue. God! It really is a snake! SiMa JingRong basically screamed. Dont scream. Li Sui continued after some thought, Dont move around, either. The snake wasnt big, it was small but long, with ck and brown stripes on its scales. It didnt look especially strong. Li Sui didnt know much about snakes, he had no idea what species the snake was, but since it is a wild snake, he presumed that it would be quite vicious. If the snake wasnt poisonous, then Li Sui had the confidence he could take it on, but if it was a poisonous snake, then it would be a big problem. Being bitten by a poisonous snake here would mean a lot of trouble. Li Sui felt his palm sweating; hed stayed in the city for his entire life, so this was the first time he had to face a situation like this. He wasnt exactly frightened, but he was still anxious. His brain was in a state of confusion, he remembered hearing people saying when faced with danger, you would get hurt the more you ran. What are you doing? SiMa JingRongs face turned white as he saw Li Sui pulled out the gun. Instinctively, he moved to stop Li Sui. Striking first and gaining the upper hand. Li Sui tightened his own coat, then turned to ask SiMa JingRong, Do you know how to shoot a gun? No, no I dont. Good. Li Sui threw him the dagger, then said, Climb up the tree. You Before SiMa JingRong knew what to say, Li Sui had already picked up a wooden stick and ran towards the snake. At the same time, the snake seemed to have sensed the hostility. The snake suddenly jumped out from the bushespletely, baring its fangs. Li Sui calmed himself down, after taking a big breath, he picked up the courage to whip the snake with the stick. The hit threw the snake out a few meters, it curled up on the ground in agony. Their target was now as clear as day, seeing that they were at an advantage here, Li Sui clumsily raised the gun up. The snake just got whipped, so it was still cowering on the ground, Li Sui took the chance to shoot at the curled-up snake. The sound of the shot echoed through the forest, but the result of the shot wasnt satisfactory, it didnt hit any of the snakes vitals. The snake jumped at the sudden attack; it began retreating. Seeing that the snake was going to run away, Li Sui screamed at the person up on the tree in a rush, Go for the kill! Dont let it run away! T/N: No offense but why? Just let it run away Rich boy, SiMa JingRong had never seen snakes out of the zoo, his legs were numb, and he didnt dare jump off the tree. Seeing that the snake was running away, he just threw the dagger out, the dagger shot straight into the snakes tail. The snake struggled for a bit, then bringing the dagger with it, it sneaked back into the bushes and got away. They didnt catch the snake, worse still, they lost the only other weapon besides the gun they had. Li Sui couldnt hold back, he scolded SiMa JingRong, How does garbage like you survive for this long? SiMa JingRong sat on the tree branch; with an innocent face, he said, I have money. Li Sui choked. He couldnt refute. Will ite back again? SiMa JingRong jumped down from the tree; dusting off, he said, Will its family gange back for revenge or something? You watch too many movies. Li Sui tied the gun back to his legs and said, Snakes arent that united, even if they are, they wouldnt be that quick Before Li Sui finished speaking, the sounds of a few snakes reached their ears. The sound came from the bushes around them. The two of them stared at each other, both with terrified expressions. They could barely handle one snake, but now with a bunch of snakes, there was only one option left. Run! They didnt have the leisure to care about where they were going, they just ran like their lives depended on it. At the beginning, Li Sui still remembered to check the direction, but after a while he couldnt. The horde of snakes behind them werent giving up, they were fast and agile. If they identally tripped, then the snakes would most likely immediately swarm them. The two of them only had one goal right now, which was to get them off their tails. As Li Sui ran, he turned his head back and took a few shots, he wasnt sure if the snakes were hit or not, but at least it could scare them a bit. The snakes seemed to be taken aback by the shots, but quickly they regained their formation and continued the pursuit. Were we in a snakes den or something?! SiMa JingRong screamed. When Li Sui linked this back to thendslide before, he began to have an unsettling feeling, I think we might have already gotten out of the protected zone. Thendslide frightened them, they forgot about one thing. If thendslide could tten an entire forest in an instant, washing away the protective barrier would be more than easy. Before they embarked on the test, the trainer reminded them again not to go out of the protective barriers, as outside was an area of untouched, primitive woonds. Without the protection of the barriers, the chances of them running into wildlife animals would be high. Moreover, it would be very difficult to find them, if they ventured into the wild. I cant run anymore SiMa JingRongined. We cant stop, itd be troublesome if we get caught. I cant. I seriously cant They walked for the whole day, then they ran for their lives at night. Even Li Sui was feeling exhausted, of course SiMa JingRong would beining. Li Sui clicked his tongue and turned back, he grabbed SiMa JingRongs arm, pulling him forward, You cant stop. I promised your father and Lu Shang that Id get you through this. The snakes were getting closer, it was as if the cold-blooded animals wouldnt tire at all. The two of them ran around the forest, but just couldnt seem to get them off their tails. Just when the snakes almost caught up, the path in front of them ended. Neither of them noticed in time to hit the brakes, they screamed as they fell off along with the rocks and sand. The drop was disorientating, it was as if they were thrown into a washing machine, they felt like their organs were getting washed out from their bodies. Amongst the chaos, Li Sui tried to grab hold of the grass on the side, but he only got a handful of sand. The loose sand and soil on the slope tumbled down with them. At that moment, they could hear nothing but the wind and their screams. After the fall, they felt their bodies sank, the two of them fell into a ditch-like ce. They fell so hard that they almost spewed blood. Before they could get up and react to where they were, a bunch of rocks and sand followed after them, falling onto their heads. Li Sui raised his arm, barely managing to cover his own head up. As he moved his shoulder des, he felt a sharp pain in his back, soon losing his consciousness. It rained and thundered for the entire night, Lu Shang didnt sleep well, hisplexion was abnormally bad. After changing, he walked downstairs to find Uncle Yuen standing there waiting for him, his usually calm face was now buried in worriedness. Whats wrong? There was a huge rainstorm in the Protected Woonds. Uncle Yuen continued with a lower voice, Andslide. In Tong Yans conference room, assistant Yang waited a long time but still saw no signs of Lu Shang. She secretly phoned Uncle Yuen, getting the direction to cancel the meeting. She was going to ask if the signing ceremony in the afternoon was going to continue or not, but before she could ask, Uncle Yuen had already hung the phone up. Whats happening, whats so important anyways She mumbled at the now dark mobile phone screen. On the way to the mountain, Lu Shang for once didnt sit at the back, instead he sat in the co-drivers seat. Director Yue already informed the rescue squads; they have beenunching a rescue operation for the whole night. Currently, most of the attendees were ounted for and transported to a safe location. They have sniffer dogs, so finding people shouldnt be a problem. Where is Wang Wei? Hes with the younger son of the SiMa family, they are already in the shelter right now. Lu Shangs face was so grim that it was almost frightening, Tell Zuo Chao that theres no need to use him anymore. Uncle Yuen froze for a bit, Yes. The car drove into the countryside roads, Lu Shang scrolled the window down a bit, habitually he pressed on his chest. Uncle Yuen frowned, Did you bring your medicine? Lu Shang closed his eyes, his head leaning to the side, as if he was praying, Dont look at me, look at the roads. Uncle Yuen slowed the car down, hoping it would make Lu Shang feel better. He sighed, Yesterday, they got word from the observatory, they predicted that it was going to rain today. The trainer was nning on pushing the exam back, but director Yue was bent on training his sons. He said a bit of rain is even better, so they didnt stop the exam. No one would have thought that the rain was going to be so heavy. Lu Shang only leaned on the window with his eyes closed, not saying a word. They drove all the way to the foot of the mountain; the roads ahead were all ward off. Uncle Yuen got out of the car to negotiate with the worker there; thetter seemed to be unwilling to let them through, Its not that we want to stop you, but the roads are too dangerous, they might copse. Look. Even the rescuers vehicles are on standby here. If you guys really want to go up, then its best if you walk. Uncle Yuen turned back to look at Lu Shang, the two of them stared at each other, then they decided to go up the mountain on foot. The two of them walked quite slowly. On the way, they could see the terrifying scenes as a result of thendslides. Sand and mud covered the grasnds, everything was chaotic, they couldnt even begin to imagine what it was like being here at the time. It would have taken a car around fifth-teen minutes to get up the mountain, but it took the two of them two hours on foot. The second they got into the temporary shelter on the mountain, they saw Yue PengFei walking in circles anxiously, in his hand was a radio transceiver. What did you say? You didnt find them? Keep searching, keep searching. I dont care what method you use, even if you have to tten the whole mountain, find them! He turned back and saw Lu Shang, immediately his head slumped. He walked over in a hurry, Im so sorry Lets not talk about this now. Lu Shang held his palm up, stopping him, Whats the situation? All the people were already ounted for, except for my son and Xiao Li. It was raining heavily at the time, so most of the attendees gave up and returned to the campsite. They were the only team that went to the west side of the mountain, thendslides were especially serious there. A sniffer dog found their traces at a buried cave, I sent people to excavate the ce, but they only dug out two bags. Lu Shang felt a chill in his heart, Are the bags theirs? Yue PengFei didnt get a wink of sleep that night, so his eye bags were showing, From preliminary analysis, yes, the bags are theirs They only found their bags but didnt find them. With the evidence they have now, either their bodies were washed off somewhere or they somehow survived. The rescuers were still searching, so even Lu Shang couldnte to any definitive conclusion at this point. Lu Shangs face was extremely pale, even a stranger like Yue PengFei noticed, he asked someone to get Lu Shang some glucose tablets. Giving him the tablets, he said, Dear, dont worry. They are together, so they will be fine. This was tofort Lu Shang but at the same timefort himself. Lu Shangs eyes were bleak; after a long time, he just gave a faint Hm as reply. In the afternoon, the bags arrived at the shelter. Lu Shang was the first to search the bags, his expression softened a bit after the search, Everything is here but the weapons. At the very least, it meant that they were alerted before thendslide. Based on Li Suis observation skills and how they didnt find their bodies for so long, the chances of them surviving was higher. However, they were in the forest, and the protective barriers had long copsed. They didnt have food or water with them, so the longer they stay out there, the more danger they would be in. Uncle Yuen, Lu Shang turned around after some thought, contact XinYou to dispatch helicopters. The sky began turning dark when Li Sui finally woke up in the darkness. When he opened his eyes, he immediately felt dizzy, it was as if he was buried in kilograms of rocks and sand. He shifted his legs, realizing that half of his body was buried in mud. He coughed on the ground, spitting out the sand that got into his mouth. After that, he slowly propped himself up from the ground. Darkness was around him, with only a few strands of light seeping in through the gaps above. It was almostpletely dark outside, so this little bit of light was severely insufficient. Li Sui took in his surroundings, he was in a ditch-like ce, it was around five to six meters deep, the bottom of the ditch was rough and uneven. Some parts of the ground had caved in, forming a small puddle. SiMa JingRong was lying next to the collection of water, his body curled up. Li Sui immediately went over to check SiMa JingRongs vitals. Luckily, he was fine and breathing steadily. Though the rocks had cut his forehead, the injury had already formed a scab. When Li Sui checked his temperature, he found it a little higher than normal, he might have gotten a fever. Li Sui called out to SiMa JingRong, who replied drowsily. Quickly after SiMa JingRong replied, he turned to his side and continued sleeping. Well, being able to sleep at such harsh times could be counted as a blessing. It worked out for Li Sui as well, if he woke up, he would most likelyin about being hungry. Li Sui stopped trying to wake him, turning his attention to finding an exit. Only rocks and some twigs had fallen down with them; those snakes were truly cunning, once they caught wind of the danger, they immediately dispersed. Li Sui circled the area; there were no exits in the ditch, it was a closed circr loop. Above them, there were the two holes through which they fell in, but they were too high, so without tools, it would be impossible to climb up. Li Sui still tried climbing, but after a meter or so of climbing, he fell back down, injuring his fingers in the process. It seemed like the only way out was if someone came for them. After raising his head up and climbing recklessly, Li Sui felt dizzy again. He leaned on the muddy wall and slid down to the ground. His back must have been hit by the rocks; whenever he tried moving, pain came from his back. He had been through a lot of beating when he was young, so his body was ustomed to injuriesthis little bit of pain was nothing. From past experiences, he knew that at most he had some broken bones, but definitely not anything too serious. The symptoms of hypoglycemia were evident, but Li Sui didnt feel especially hungry, he was probably overly starving that he couldnt even feel it anymore. When he tried counting, he found that he hadnt eaten for a whole day and night. He would never had thought that the canned meat in the cave was going to be his final meal. The humidity inside the ditch was too high, it was very ufortable. Around them where they couldnt see, there were the sounds of frogs and insects. The noises were continuous and extremely annoying. Li Sui looked at SiMa JingRong, thetter was still sound asleep, Li Sui couldnt help but envy him. This person was so carefree, he was born and raised in a wealthy family after all, being pampered for his entire life, he never had the need for alertness. Soon, he didnt even have the pleasure of considering these stupid thoughts, as he was extremely thirsty. There was a puddle in the ditch, but Li Sui had no idea if he could drink the water there. At first, Li Sui didnt dare consume the water in the puddle, butter on, he was just too thirsty. He scooped up a handful of water, sticking his tongue out for a taste, except for mud and sand, he didnt taste anything weird in the water, so he just arched down to drink his fill. After drinking some water, Li Sui found himself with nothing to do, so he decided to lie down and sleep as well. Though they couldnt get out of this ditch, the things outside wouldnt enter either. It was like a natural protective barrier, making this ce a lot safer than the forest. Perhaps because he had enough water in his system, his body was finally content, plus he was exhausted, so it didnt take him long to fall into a deep sleep. In the morning, both of them woke up due to hunger. SiMa JingRong still had a fever, he was feeling even more dizzy than Li Sui. Once he woke up, he almost wanted to grab a handful of mud to eat. Li Sui began to realize how this couldnt continue. If they were healthy and unharmed, then perhaps they could hold out longer in here. However, both of them were in such bad conditions, if they didnt get out and call help, then sooner orter, they were going to die here. Weve already passed the test time limit, yet we have not returned. People are bound toe looking for us. SiMa JingRongy on the ground, he was so hungry that he could feel his eyeballs rolling down along with gravity. Hard to say, Li Sui said. This ce is too remote. If we are lucky and they find us soon, then maybe we would be saved. However, they might not be able to find us in time. We cant just wait for them to dig out our corpses. What do you want to do then? For the first time, Li Sui took the military badge on his neck off. The de rotated out from the slit, Dig our way out. Using that thing? Also using my hands. It was simple in words, but when he actually tried, it wasnt as easy as he had imagined. In the mud and sand were loads of rocks, every so often, Li Sui would be confronted with obstacles that he couldnt just dig through. Every time he came across rocks, he would use the de to pry the rock out, his hands would assist by removing the mud and sand surrounding the rock. His progress was slow, but at least after a day, he was half a meter closer to the ground. With your speed, I estimate that we will be able to get out of here in two weeks. SiMa JingRong said feeling forsaken. Li Sui had been digging for the entire day, hungry and tired. His body had long reached its limit, he leaned back on the wall and panted. Both of his hands were covered in injuries, all of his fingernails were worn down by the sand and rocks. On his hands were bleeding wounds, almost every spot was covered in blood. The military badge was truly a work of art, after a whole day of digging, the de was still sparkling, not dented anywhere. Li Sui held onto the knife, he etched a one on the ground, then he turned back to sleep without saying a word. SiMa JingRong was ignored, he thought maybe Li Sui was mad, so he knowingly stopped speaking. The next day, before the sun was even up, SiMa JingRong was woken up by movements in the ditch. SiMa JingRong opened his eyes to see Li Sui repeating what he was doing yesterday, as if he was hypnotized. Dont you need to rest? SiMa JingRong said worriedly, You will use up all your strength like this, you wont hold out if you continue. Li Sui ignored him again, he just buried his head into the task at hand. SiMa JingRongs fever was persisting, so he had basically zero strength. Even so, seeing Li Sui work so hard in digging, he didnt feel right doing nothing, so he joined in. The progress in the second day was slightly faster than thest, but they were still too far from getting out. SiMa JingRong copsed, he waszy to begin with, plus he was sick now and didnt want to budge at all. He justy on the ground, his consciousness fading in and out, finally he sank into a deep unconscious state. In the beginning, Li Sui was still quite active, but even he couldnt hold out anymore. He hadnt had any food for a few days, he was so hungry that he began seeing double. Findig frogs and insects, he couldnt help but grab them and stuff them into his mouth. He didnt even care about hygiene and potential poisons anymore. Li Sui ate every insect he could find in the ditch, then finally when all the insects were gone, he began getting ideas about the cotton shirt he was wearing. He wasnt sure what day it was, but the carvings on the ground showed five. On that days morning, Li Sui heard some movements outside. It was as if his body was electrocuted, he immediately rolled up to wake SiMa JingRong, Wake up! Look. Helicopters, its helicopters, your dad hase for you. SiMa JingRong wasnt conscious, he had a high fever and he was starving. His face was swollen, and hearing Li Suis scream, he just murmured something, not waking up. Li Sui clicked his tongue, he climbed onto the pile of rocks and mud he dug out, trying to scream for help up there. Without food for a few days, his throat was long rusty. The propellers were too loud, Li Suis cry for help couldnt possibly be heard. Li Sui could only stare at the helicopters fly across them, circling the area a few times, then leaving. This ce was too secluded. This ditch was hidden in the trees and leaves, the rescuers couldnt possibly spot them from the helicopters. So, Li Sui muste up with a way to get out of here. Li Sui was exhausted and gloomy before, but all of a sudden, he felt strength surge through his veins. If helicopters were dispatched to search for them, that meant Lu Shang hadnt given up on him yet. If so, no matter what, he had to get out of here alive. He had no idea where his strength came from, but he just started digging again. Li Sui kneeled on the little mud slope, then he dug as if his life depended on it, he used his hands, his legs, the de, everything he could use to dig. Perhaps his will had been acknowledged by the gods. Around the evening, Li Sui stabbed the de hard into the sand, and the rubble beyond that was loose. With just a simple nudge, the rubble copsed, forming a path that led outside. At that moment, Li Sui felt he could cry. He turned back to call SiMa JingRong, Wake up, we can go out now. SiMa JingRong didnt respond, his fever was even worse than before. Li Sui stopped calling him, he propped SiMa JingRong up his shoulder, climbing up the little slope with difficulty. When he finally saw the setting sun again, Li Suis body trembled, almost losing his bnce and falling to the ground. Li Sui took in the forest again, as expected, they had gone out of the protected zone already. This was the natural forest, no wonder the rescuers had yet toe for them. They were surrounded by trees and thick grass; lets not even begin with average citizens, even rescuers couldnt get in here without knives to cut the long grass with. Li Sui knew that there was a long way ahead, he didnt have any time to rest. He took his coat off, tying SiMa JingRong to his back, then began walking up the mountain. As the protected zone should be above the primitive forest, ascending was his best bet. On the way, he pushed his mind to the limit, eyeing his surroundings for traces of hints, like animal footprints. He needed to avoid running into wildlife animals, so if not needed, he would avoid the rivers where animals would frequent. He would pick fruits on the way to fill his stomach and to replenish liquids. SiMa JingRongs condition was really bad, his body temperature would fluctuate, sometimes too low and sometimes too high, he would also mumble some words in his sleep. Li Sui grabbed some dooryard weed (i) on the way, stuffing them into SiMa JingRongs mouth. He also used water to lower SiMa JingRongs temperature. Luckily, his condition didnt worsen, but he didnt wake up either. T/N: (i) Dooryard weeds are basically grown everywhere, they are easy enough to find. It is a kind of well-known Chinese medicinal herb with pain killing effects. When Li Sui finally saw the copsed protective barrier, it was already the next days noon. Not very far from them, someone screamed, the sound of the transceiver, footsteps, and people talking soon followed Li Sui couldnt hear anymore, all of his senses seemed to have gone on strike at the same time. His eyes stared forward, looking at the person who got off the helicopter in a hurry. SiMa JingRong was taken off Li Suis back while he stood still at the same spot. Li Sui saw Lu Shang closing in, and he wanted to walk towards him so much, but his body just wouldnt budge. When he tried raising his foot, he felt nothing but dizziness. The person closing in held onto Li Suis copsing body. Smelling the familiar scent, Li Sui felt the warmth of tears filling his eyes. He held Lu Shangs hands tightly, his voice so raspy that it was barely audible, I did it right? After saying that, all the strength he had left him. His head leaned to the side, lying on Lu Shangs shoulder,pletely unconscious. Chapter 27 - Courtship Behavior Chapter 27: Courtship Behavior Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations The sound of propellers were too loud, hurting their ears. Uncle Yuen asked from the cockpit, Are we going to the temporary shelter now? Lu Shang came back from his thoughts, he said, To the city. Uncle Yuen was a bit startled, Directly flying back to the city? Wouldnt that draw too much attention? Lu Shang nced at Uncle Yuen; thetter knowingly stopped asking, and he turned to negotiate with the pilot. The two nurses at Lu Shangs side were muttering something to each other, Lu Shang turned to ask, Whats wrong? We cant get the needle in. The older nurse replied, His muscles are too tense, and we cant get him to rx. Can we use sedatives? Lu Shang stared at Li Sui, his eyes filled withplicated and deep emotions. After a bit, he stood up walking over to the stretcher, he held Li Suis hand for a bit and called his name. Li Suis eyes were still tightly shut, but hearing Lu Shangs voice, his body made slight movements in response. Obviously, even though he was asleep, he could still react to Lu Shangs voice. Lu Shang felt a hint of strength from Li Suis hand, it seemed like he wanted to hold Lu Shangs hand back. Yet, Li Suis fingers were swelling too much, so he was unable to grab anything. Good boy. Lu Shang tightened his grip, then bent down to kiss Li Suis eye, thenforted him with a soft voice, Rest, we are almost home. The one lying on the stretcher seemed to have understood, his muscles began rxing, even his breathing steadied. The helicopter flew steadily in the sky; after the nurses finished injecting the medicines, one of them couldnt help but giggle, Lu Lao Ban, your words are even stronger than sedatives. Lu Shangs gaze was fixed on Li Suis face, and he didnt say a word. Leung ZiRui was called without getting the chance to have dinner, after finishing his examination of Li Sui, he picked up Li Suis hand and fiddled around. After further observations, he made a startled expression, Wow. This kid really took a lot of damage this time. Seeing that Lu Shang was staring at him, he immediately added, Hell be fine. Hes a healthy person unlike you. All of the wounds are superficial ones, give him some good food, some medicines and he will be back in two days. After pushing himself to the limit in the past days, he must be extremely exhausted right now. The nurses applied medicine and bandaged the wounds, but even with the movements, Li Sui didnt wake up at all. Lu Shang of course let him sleep; he left the room with Leung ZiRui, closing the door on the way. Did you find Dr. Leon yet? The second Lu Shang mentioned that, Leung ZiRuis face copsed, I almost got him, but I was one step toote. I heard that hes doing some pharmaceutics research, he went to the mountains and totally fell off the grid. If that path didnt work, Im going to consider a heart transnt, prepare yourself. Lu Shang had an uncertain expression. Leung ZiRui suddenly remembered something else, he said whileughing, Oh yeah, I noticed something in the patient information assess records in RuiGe Hospital. Do you know? Noticed what? Your kid tried essing your patient file, of course I stopped him though. Leung ZiRuiughed, Dont you think you should impose a ban on him? If this keeps up, sooner orter, he will know why you took him in. Lu Shang lowered his eyes, I never nned on hiding it from him. Okay, whatever. Its your decision, Leung ZiRui clicked his tongue a little. Li Sui slept for a whole day and night, replenishing all the lost sleep, finally he woke up from hunger. The moment he woke up, the lovely aroma of food filled his nostrils. Aunt Lu was tidying up the bowls; seeing that Li Sui was awake, she smiled, Finally. I thought you were going to miss dinner, too. After a good rest, his organs felt a lot lighter. His four limbs were still a bit sore, but because of the intense training, he was already used to the soreness in his muscles. Wheres Lu Shang? He went to thepany for some matters, he wille back soon. Are you hungry, do you want something to eat? After tasting bugs and grass and now seeing a whole table of delicacies, Li Sui could almost begin wailing on the table. Aunt Lu prepared all of Li Suis favourites, Li Sui couldnt care less about his bandaged fingers, he immediately picked up a spoon and began stuffing his face. Aunt Lu found this funny but also worrying, she kept reminding Li Sui to take it slowly, concerned that hed choke. The kid always had the biggest appetite, there were never any food left on the table with him around. In the past days, he only had glucose water, those were severely insufficient. Aunt Lu originally wanted to warn him not to eat too much, afraid that his digestion might not be able to keep up. Yet, seeing Li Sui eat like he wanted to swallow the container, she decided to let him be. At least he could eat now, having a good appetite meant his recovery was going well. When Lu Shang came in, Li Sui had already finished dinner, he was now slurping down the soup Aunt Lu brewed. Oh. Youre awake. For some reason, Li Sui suddenly felt anxious seeing Lu Shang, he randomly picked a topic, How how are big and small SiMa doing? They are fine, director Yue took them back home. Thats good Li Sui was relieved. Their eyes met, and Li Sui made a slightly wronged expression, I almost couldnt see you again Lu Shang touched his hand infort, not really knowing what to reply. Oh, right. This. I will return it to you. Li Sui said as he took the military badge off. Lu Shang didnt take it, he said, You keep it. I promised you. But this is very important to you. I cant just take it. You are important to me too. Li Sui froze, he hadnt reacted to what Lu Shang just said yet, I arranged an intern position in Tong Yan for you. Rest for a few days and then go try it out. Intern? Lu Shang nodded, Try. It would give you a better idea what the workce is like. Li Sui had his suspicions, but hed do whatever Lu Shang asked, so he agreed without much fuss. The two of them discussed a bit about when Li Sui should start, then Lu Shang picked up a phone call and had to leave again. Li Sui wasnt sleepy, he rolled around on the bed, feeling like he had forgotten to ask something very important. Lu Shang got out of the building, he opened the car door, but didnt step foot in the car. Instead, he leaned on the car door, holding his chest. Lu Shang was used to the feeling of pain in his chest, but somehow the pain felt different this time. Whats wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Uncle Yuen asked immediately. Lu Shang looked at the scenery afar, and the emotions quickly dissipated from his eyes, Lets go. Li Sui was young, so his recovery was fast. Li Sui was discharged the next afternoon, finally returning home. Aunt Lu prepared a whole table of food, making Li Suis stomach swell. Lu Shang seemed to be very busy in recent days, he didnt evene back home for dinner. Li Sui tried getting some information; apparently, Lu Shang stayed at the campsite for days during the time when Li Sui went missing. Due to that, there was a backlog of work, no wonder he didnt see Uncle Yuen at all after he returned. You dont know, but when the second Lu Shang heard you were in trouble, he immediately drove over. Aunt Lu said while washing the dishes, Ive never seen him care so much for someone else. Li Sui pursed his lips together; unable to stop smiling, he asked, How has he been in the past month? Aunt Lu thought for a while, then signed, Well Even if he were feeling unwell, he wouldnt tell me about it. Li Sui slumped his shoulders a bit, but in his heart, he also knew that was the case. At night, he went to shower as usual; it was only after he took his clothes off that he remembered his hands couldnt touch water yet. Although the swelling was gone and scabs had formed, new skin had yet to growpletely; it would be a pain if water came in contact with the wounds. Just as he was picking up a towel to wrap his hand, the door to the shower room opened. Lu Shang raised his head, both froze. Sorry. Lu Shang reacted shortly after, closing the door and turning back. Li Sui smelled a hint of alcohol in the air, he immediately put his pajama pants on. Rushing out, You drank wine? Lu Shang was light on his feet, he used the wall as support as he turned his head back. His face was a little red, the top two buttons on his shirt open. It seemed like he didnt only have wine, he had quite a lot of it, to the point that he was now drunk. You This Li Sui was worried and angry; he was so reckless. Uncle Yuen werent with you? Li Sui basically dragged Lu Shang to the bed, Why would he let you drink alcohol? Lu Shang didnt answer, his arm clung onto Li Suis shoulder, pulling Li Sui down to the bed. His breath was mixed with alcohol as he said, Be with me. Drunk Lu Shang was like a child, it was as if he had returned to his kindergarten days. While he didnt cry or fuss, he just wouldnt let go of Li Sui no matter what. Li Sui didnt have another choice, he didnt even had time to put his underwear back on, neither could he take a shower. Lu Shang wasnt strong, but he was relentless; Li Sui suspected if he didnt do as Lu Shang asked, Lu Shang would just cling to him for the whole night. Li Sui went to call Leung ZiRui with Lu Shang still clinging to him. On the other side of the phone, Leung ZiRui exploded the second he heard Lu Shang had alcohol. Leung ZiRui cursed for a while, then carefully gave Li Sui reminders on what to do. After hanging the phone up, Li Sui nned on getting Lu Shang a cup of warm water. Turning his head to look at Lu Shang, he found thetter sound asleep already, but his hands remained sped together, still clinging onto Li Sui. Li Sui had never seen Lu Shang so out of it before, his usual calmness and elegance were gone. As if Lu Shang was insecure, he hung onto Li Sui tightly with his eyebrows frowning. Lu Shang Li Sui felt his heart softened, he led Lu Shang back to the bed, hugging him tightly, Whats wrong? Naturally, no-one answered him. Looking at Lu Shangs white face, a phrase popped up in his mind: Drowning sorrow with alcohol. However, if Lu Shang wanted money, he got loads; if he wanted respect, he had it. Except for his health condition, his life was technically perfect. What kind of sorrow would he need nulling? Li Sui just couldnt grasp the reason. Li Sui didnt have any dreams that night. When he woke up the next morning, Lu Shang had already gotten up before him, washing up in the shower room. Li Sui didnt have time to put on clothesst night, so he was only wearing a pair of thin pants. After a night of sleep, it was all wrinkled up as well, so he might as well just take it off too. After his little fieldtrip, his skin was tanned a bit by the sun; along with the terrifying scars on him, he looked more manly than before. Li Sui observed himself in front of the mirror, then his gaze went to the closed shower room, some weird thoughts growing in his mind. Normally, a man would react to females with a beautiful bodyline. Since Lu Shang was a homosexual, then to him, a grown mans body must be luring. Li Sui took in a few breaths of air; he pinched his own abdomen. The lines there were quite evident already, but it was still miles away from the muscly guys on television. Li Suis shoulders slumped; he was feeling a little morose. During breakfast, Li Sui was the first to speak, Dr. Leung was very angryst night. Lu Shang said, Ignore him. Im angry too. Lu Shang put his chopsticks down, Why are you angry? Coronary disease patients should not drink alcohol, its very dangerous. Where did you read that from? From books. Li Sui only realized that he had just let the cats out of the bag, after the words slipped out. He immediately diverted the others attention, This ismon sense. Next time you must go to a banquet or something, bring me along. I can drink a lot. Lu Shangughed lightly, not sure what he meant. In the afternoon, a car drove into the yard of the house. It was brand-new, and bright red in color. Li Sui recognized it as a car showing off wealth immediately; no matter how Li Sui looked at the car, it didnt look like Lu Shangs style. Lu Shang, did you get a new car? Li Sui asked Lu Shang. Lu Shang hadnt even replied yet when the driver got out of the car. It was SiMa JingRong; he threw the car keys to Li Sui right after he got out. What? Li Sui was confused, I dont know how to drive. Its from my father. SiMa JingRong said. Are you still sick? No, SiMa JingRong waved his hand in denial, All the paperwork is in the car, the license te will be mailed to you in a few days. Get it on the car yourself. After saying that, he walked away like nothing happened. Wait, wait. Li Sui ran over, Why is your father giving me a car? I cant, its too expensive. SiMa JingRong was going to reply, but Lu Shang cut into him, he said to Li Sui, Take it. You deserve it. Ah? Li Sui didnt expect Lu Shang to say that, he was truthfully very shocked. SiMa JingRong squinted his eyes at them, and with a teasing smile on his face, he left. You are going to work soon, itd be perfect, you can drive yourself to work. Lu Shang scanned Li Suis startled face, feeling very satisfied as he said, You should go get a driving license when you are free. Only a person and a car were left in the yard, Li Sui was still shocked, this was too out of the ordinary. Li Sui would begin working in two days, so he took these few days to do some preparations. Lu Shang saw that Li Sui was still reading books at night, so he pulled him over to sleep. Are you worried? Lu Shang asked. Li Sui shook his head, Im just afraid that Id be a nuisance to you. You wont be a nuisance to me, but some people might be a nuisance to you. Lu Shang took out a pen and a piece of paper, he wrote down a few names and some lines. When you run into trouble, dont panic. These people are the ones you could ask for help; if you have any problems, you could go find them. Li Sui nodded, seeing that on the paper were some familiar names. For example, Xe WeiLan from the legal department, Mr. Gu from the executive department, and ountant Zhu from the finance department. The following people are the ones you need to be careful of, you have to be extra cautious of whatever goes pass their hands. Lu Shang drew another red line on the paper. Li Sui etched the names into his heart. Quickly, Lu Shang changed the topic, However, the workce is different from any other ce. Everyones stance could change at any time, no matter what, dont trust peoplepletely with all your heart. Or else that trust wille around to hurt you. I can trust no one? You must be wary of people. Li Suiughed after some thought, I can give my heart to you at least, right? Lu Shangs expression stiffened after hearing give my heart to you, he only said, Lets sleep. It was a weekend the next day. Lu Shang brought Li Sui to Zuo Chaos bamboo dojo; they went there driving the red BMW Li Sui had just gotten. Why did director Yue give me a car? Hes showing his gratitude. Because I saved SiMa JingRong? Thats what I promised him from the start. Not only that. Hm? Director Yue said, Lu Shang turned the steering wheel and continued, that ever since big and small SiMa returned, their rtionship is a lot better than it used to be. You solved a headache of a problem which he couldnt solve for a decade, so giving you a car was nothing. Li Sui bit his own tongue, he really couldnt grasp rich people. The bamboo dojo was true to its name; the whole mountain was packed with bambooit felt like a hermits residence. In the middle, there was Zuo Chaos dojo. A small water mill was outside the dojo, making crisp sounds of water and bamboo hitting each other. This ce was good for hiding from the scorching summer. Lu Shang would sometimes stay a few nights here to rest, but today, he was here for business. They parked the car; walking towards the front door, they saw a few blue peacocks roaming around in the yard. Peacocks? Li Sui gasped. Zuo Chao was cutting some bamboo in the yard. Seeing that they had arrived, he raised his head with a bright smile, A friend gave them to mest month, pretty, right? Pretty! Seeing peacocks for the first time, Li Sui couldnt but circle around them curiously, Can they unt their feathers? Zuo Chaoughed, They would when they have someone to court. Lu Shang went into the dojo for his business talk, Li Sui saw that Zuo Chao wasnt following him, finding that odd, he asked, Brother Zuo isnt going in? Theyd talk about their business stuff, has nothing to do with me. Zuo Chao continued cutting the bamboos, What do you want for lunch, bamboo rice (i) perhaps? T/N: (i) A kind of Chinese cuisine, just rice cooked in a piece of bamboo. I have never had any, is it tasty? Of course it is tasty. How about a hotpot to go along with it? Which peacock do you want? I will cook it for you. Apparently, the peacocks here are raised like chickens. Li Sui walked over to help him with cutting the bamboo, he asked, Hows Wang Wei? I havent seen him for so long. Hearing the name, Zuo Chao had an awkward expression on his face. He knew in his heart that Lu Shang didnt tell Li Sui what happened to Wang Wei after the camp. Zuo Chao was a simple person, after all; he knew martial arts, but that was it, he wasnt used to hiding his emotions. Zuo Chao replied after hesitating, Should be fine, I havent seen him for a while too Luckily, Li Sui didnt pay much attention. After they finished cutting the bamboos, while resting, Li Sui asked Zuo Chao to teach him how to make his muscles look more appealing. Arent they pretty good now? Your BMI should be good too, I think you can probably fight three on one. Zuo Chao replied. Li Sui looked evasive as he said, Its not for fighting. I just want to know how to make my physique more manly. Zuo Chao still didnt get it, he asked, Why do you need to look more manly? A male peacock happened to walk towards them, spreading its feathers wide. Li Sui, Zuo Chao, Of course its for courtship as well. Chapter 28 - Beginning Work Chapter 28: Beginning Work Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantions The water in the pond outside pattered, the bamboo wheel was spinning. Liu XinTian is too quiet recently. Ever since Tong Xin was investigated by the police, he hasnt made any moves. Lu Shang nced through the curtains at the bamboo watermill below, he let the curtains down, What about Li Yan? We havent received any word on him yet, but we have ced people near the ces he might go to; once he surfaces, we will immediately take him into custody. Dont let him get away. Understood. After the meeting ended, Lu Shang and Meng XinYou stayed behind to talk. You went way overboard this time, flying military helicopters to the city directly. I was scolded by my grandpa because of that, you know. Meng XinYou continued, I didnt even dare tell him it was you, so I had to take the me for you. Lu Shang poured her a cup of tea, smiling, Yeah, its my fault. Meng XinYou took the cup, which was handed to her, then with a regretful expression, she said, This will be thest time I help you, Lu Shang. Im getting married soon. Is that so? Congrattions. Meng XinYou giggled, Cant you at least give me some kind of reaction? I dont know, maybe show some sadness? My little sister is getting married. Its a cause for celebration. Lu Shangs phone rang after replying; he picked up the call. The room was quiet, so Meng XinYou could hear everything on the other side of the phone. After she heard Lu Shang scrupulously going through the details with the person on the other side of the phone, she couldnt help but ask after Lu Shang hung up, Arent you used to doing stuff under the table already? Why are you going through the trouble to registering him for a job interview? I dont want him to think that everything is easy. Lu Shang smiled lightly as he replied. Being a leader for such a long time, seeing Tong Yans development and all the people that came and passed, Lu Shang understood better than anyone how a talented individual was nurtured. At the same time, he knew what would break a person. The internship isnt just so that he could get a certificate out of it, I want him to get some field experience. Meng XinYou stared at Lu Shang, feeling a little jealous, If only you cared about me half as much as you cared for Li Sui, then I definitely wouldnt get married. Lu Shang pursed his lips together slightly, but he just said, If you are getting married, then I wish you the best. You can let Aunt Lu stay at my ce, I wont ill-treat her. Meng XinYous expression stiffened, then quickly returned to normal, When did you notice? The first year she began working in the Lu family. Meng XinYou said feeling a little depressed, You ignored it for so long? Arent you even a bit wary since Im observing you through her? Lu Shang didnt reply. Though Lu Shang had announced his rtionship with Li Sui was that of a benefactor, if Aunt Lu wasnt there, he and Li Sui would definitely sleep in separate rooms. Onlyter on, it sort of became a habit for Lu Shang, so it continued. But she wasnt sent to you by me, Meng XinYou continued. It was my father who did it. He is always wary of people; he is also used to being in control. So, when it came to my generation, a lot of things are out of our hands. I can only promise you that I wont stand against you, but as for the rest, Im afraid I cant help you. Lu Shang replied, I understand. Emotions yed no part in business, that held even more truth in politics. Moreover, clearing all the obstacles for ones child was understandable. Lu Shang had had this serious disease looming over him since he was a child; he had also considered that if one day he really died, what would happen to Tong Yan. Uncle Yuen might be able to keep some of his estate properties, but without the Lu familys name, all the rtions his family had built would be gone. No matter how much money there was, with those rtions, the riches would just be a target. Thinking about it, being resourceful was still the most reliable. No matter where one went, even if they threw everything away, theyd still have means to survive quite merrily. Once a person reached a higher level in society, there would be new restraints, but if someone wanted to harm another, theyd still have to consider if they were on par. That was why Lu Shang was in such a hurry to arrange all these for Li Sui, he wanted to nurture Li Sui into a truly independent person, independent from Lu Shang himself, and independent from Tong Yan. Meng XinYou found that she was unfamiliar with the Lu Shang now. Everything that had happened, Lu Shangs actions, they were all out of Meng XinYous predictions. It was as if Lu Shang had already made a decision, but as for what that decision was, even Meng XinYou couldnt tell. Your actions in recent days are so abnormal, even I dont understand anymore. Worry surfaced on Meng XinYous face; she asked, Dont tell me that you have given up on the heart transnt? Screeching of peacocks came from outside; the sound was not pleasant at all. Their conversation was interrupted as Lu Shang lifted up the bamboo curtain. Lu Shang saw Li Sui and Zuo Chao arguing around a peacock, so he raised his voice from the upper floor and asked, Whats wrong? Lu Shang. Li Sui raised his head quickly, Brother Zuo wants to kill the peacock for hotpot. Lu Shang nced at the beautiful blue feathers on the ground, and he said, Its a shame to kill it, just let it go. Do you hear? He said to let it go. Li Sui took the knife in Zuo Chaos hand. The two of them fought for a bit, both with swift, eye-pleasing moves. Im going back now, Meng XinYou lifted the bamboo curtains at the door. She looked at Lu Shang one more time, then turned around and left. During lunch, the peacock was lucky to have survived, as they had a pot of bamboo shoots and chicken stew instead. After the meal, they Lu Shang and Li Sui had no more ns, with nothing to do, Lu Shang brought Li Sui to get two tailor-made suits. To be honest, there was really no need to wear something so formal for an intern position. However, once Lu Shang saw Li Sui put the suit on, Lu Shang decided that he wont let Li Sui change out of them so soon. Lu Shangs instincts werent wrong, no matter how Lu Shang looked at Li Sui now, he was sure that Li Sui belonged in the workce. Li Sui was used to wearing casual clothes; suits were a lot more uptight than his usual clothes, so he couldnt stop fiddling with his tie. Li Sui asked, Do I look weird in a suit? After the field trip, Li Suis skin was tanned a bit, he also built more muscle. The childishness in his angr face had faded, making his aura collected yet fierce. It suits you, Lu Shang smiled and left a shortment. Though Lu Shang and Li Sui were working in the samepany now, to avoid any rumours, Lu Shang didnt go in with Li Sui. Uncle Yuen drove them to a street nearby where Li Sui got off, then he walked to work on his own. Li Sui noticed that he wasnt the only intern, when he went to get the work pass, there were seven to eight other graduates starting as interns like him. All of them were under a female manager called Zhaos management. Your job today is to understand thepanys working, grasp thepanys rules and system. You will also have to remember the names and faces of all the managers of different departments. When I ask you to deliver documents to the managers for signing, I dont want any of you to be unable to remember who they are. Understand? Everyone nodded, then manager Zhao spoke again, Also, read through the documents I gave you, each of you will have to hand in a report to me after reading the documents. Next week, thepany is going to have a cultural week, you will have to team up to make a video, which will be yed in the cultural week. None of them replied when they heard that they have to make a video except one. Li Sui nced at his work pass; his name was Li Bai. Though Li Sui had been to Tong Yan numerous times before, he mostly went straight up to the top floors housing the directors offices; the people here had never seen him before, which prevented a lot of unwanted trouble. After walking up and down the floors, Li Sui finally managed to familiarise with all the departments. Five oclock had just passed, everyone in the office was already gone. Li Sui tidied up his documents and things; he wanted to wait for Lu Shang, but after some thought, he gave up on the idea, as he didnt want anyone thinking that he colluded to get the position. Li Sui left through the back door. The train station was just a five minutes walk away from Tong Yan. Not long after Li Sui turned at a corner, he saw a ck private car parked at the road. The car window rolled down, showing half of a familiar face. Li Sui didnt expect Lu Shang to wait for him here, his heart skipped a few beats. Promptly, he got in the car. You are getting off work so early today? Lu Shang smiled lightly, Even if I leave early, they cant do anything about it. So, how is it? Its fine, Li Sui replied. Its also more challenging than I thought. After some thought, he asked, The manager overseeing us, do you know her? Lu Shang knew what Li Sui was trying to ask, Dont worry, she doesnt know you. That really make Li Sui feel more relieved. He wasnt worried that the manager would do anything to him if she knew. However, as a newbie in the workce, Li Sui wanted a fair challenge, thest thing he wanted was to get praises or promotions due to his rtionship with Lu Shang. Lu Shang could clearly understand Li Suis thoughts of testing his own strength. Li Sui began getting more and more busy, even busier than Lu Shang. During the day, Li Sui had to go to Tong Yan for work. After work, he had to rush to driving lessons. Then at night, he had to study for the exam Lu Shang had signed him up for. Usually, after going through the whole day, Li Sui would be so tired that he couldnt even speak. Every time it came to that, Li Sui would begin to wonder how Lu Shang endured through all of these for so long. Li Sui was still stuck in front of hisputer even though it was way past his usual bedtime. It pained Lu Shang to see him wrecking his body like that, so he knocked on the door to the study, Are you still not going to bed? Li Sui turned his head around, and with a sorry expression, he replied, I am making a video, but Im not familiar with this software. I tried a few times but still couldnt get it to work properly. Lu Shang walked over to have a look at Li Suisputer. He was making a promotional video for thepanys cultural week. In past years, theyd hire someone specially to make the video, but it seemed that this time, it was given to the interns as their first challenge. Lu Shang thought for a bit, then said after yawning a little, Well then, Im going to bed now. Li Sui stared at Lu Shang leaving in a trance; it seemed like Lu Shang was not nning to help him. Li Sui was quick in learning new things, but the technology was still a huge barrier. At the age when others were ying withputers, he was still homeless on the streets. Though Li Sui had worked hard, he had ten years less of experiences onputersjust his typing speed alone was a lot slower than everyone elses. It waste at night and autumn was approaching, so the weather was turning colder bit by bit. There were sometimes gusts of strong wind, blowing leaves around. Li Sui went to pour himself a ss of warm water, then he opened some online forums to read on others experience with the software. Lu Shang read through half of a book on the bed, but there was still no sign of Li Sui. Lu Shang picked up a coat to keep himself warm, then opened the door to the study again. Li Suis head was leaning on the back of the chair, he was asleep. The monitor showed that the video had justpleted processing and was currently loading. Lu Shang waited for it to load and had a peek at the product; the graphics might not be exquisite, but the video was still well-made, the effort could be seen clearly, it was at a good enough level to be yed on the big screen. For a newbie to be able to make this was quite extraordinary; it showed how much heart Li Sui had in his work. After two weeks of consecutive intensive work, Li Sui was exhausted, and the eyebags under his eyes were evident. Lu Shang didnt like seeing Li Sui suffer, but he didnt interrupt him, either. Lu Shang left his coat behind, cing it on Li Sui, then he quietly left the study. The cultural week had soon arrived after that, and an exhibition was set up in thepany. Usually, Lu Shang wouldnt attend something like that, but this time, he broke his usual habits and walked around the exhibition. Lu Shangs appearance in the audience shocked the event host; he was very scared that hed get his lines wrong. After the end of the video, a long round of apuse was given by the audience. Lu Shang stared at the name at the end of the video and frowned. During dinner, Li Sui didnt say a word while eating. Lu Shang knew that he was thinking about something, so he tried asking Li Sui about it. Im fine, Li Sui replied. Are you thinking about the video? Li Sui said, You know already? Lu Shang nodded and said, Yeah, I heard it from someone else. Li Sui straightened out his face and said, Li Bai is the group leader. After I made the video, I gave it to Li Bai. He would organise the materials and give them to manager Zhao. I didnt think he would just put his name in the video like that. Well, he wasnt entirely wrong for doing that. Dont let that get you down. Lu Shang said ndly, This is what you have to learn, too. There are times when simple effort is not enough. When you have to work hard, then you should work hard. When you have to sell yourself, you should do everything you can to do that. And when you have to please people to get what you want, you have to do so as well. Li Sui nodded his head lightly. Lu Shangs teaching was heard by Leung ZiRui who was there to deliver additional medicines. After Li Sui went for a shower, he asked Lu Shang, Whod teach their kid stuff like that? Arent you afraid that hed grow up to be an evil demon lord? Lu Shang tidied his pills into his medicine box as he said, Im more afraid that hed be a frail white flower. I dont want him to only stomp his feet in regret after being tricked by someone. How protective, where is your conscience? Leung ZiRui pounded his own chest after hearing Lu Shangs teaching principles. Lu Shang onlyughed. If this incident happened to someone else, of course he wouldnt have said that. However, with Li Sui, it was different. Lu Shang dared teaching him with such gloomy topics because Lu Shang knew that the kids moralpass had matured. Even if Lu Shang didnt say what was right and what was wrong, Li Sui would never do anything unjust. In the blink of an eye, it was payday. Li Sui got money from the financial department; he could feel his hands tingling as this was the first time he got money for his work. It was Friday, so as usual, Li Sui went to the roadside to wait for Uncle Yuens car. Not long after waiting there, he got a phone call from Lu Shang. Have you gotten off of work yet? Hm! You sound pretty happy today. Lets go out for dinner. I will pay for it. Lu Shang was looking at the script for the meeting that night, after hearing Li Suis reply, he nced at the date on his wristwatch. Lu Shang smiled, Did you get your sry today? Yes. What do you want for dinner? Hmn Lu Shang felt like teasing him, How about the western restaurant on top of Tong Yan? Li Sui choked a bit, he asked carefully, can we go to a cheaper restaurant? Lu Shang couldnt stop himself fromughing this time. Uncle Yuen just happened to enter, hurrying Lu Shang to the meeting. Lu Shang lowered his head from Uncle Yuen, then he said, I still have a meeting, Uncle Yuen can drive you home. We can talk about dinnerter. Okay. Uncle Yuen doesnt have to drive me home, though; I will practice driving on the way back. After Li Sui hung up, he felt ayer of honey coating his heart. Li Sui thought, he must work hard to get money, or else he wouldnt even be able to provide for the person he likedLu Lao Ban was very expensive, after all. After Li Sui finished practising driving, Lu Shang was still stuck in the meeting. After some consideration, he decided to go to the supermarket to buy some ingredients for a western-style dinner. Li Sui had been to the restaurant on top of Tong Yan with Lu Shang before; it was extremely expensive, but the food tasted really good. Theyd eaten there a few times before, so Li Sui still remembered the food served there. Around ten at night, Lu Shang finally returned home in a hurry. He said, You must be starving now. Li Sui shook his head, I made dinner. Lu Shang took off his zer as he saw the tes on the dining table; the beef steaks on the tes looked really good. This is Li Sui scratched the back of his head, I tried making them through my memories. I tasted them already, should be okay. Want to have some? Lu Shang smiled lightly, he sat down after washing his hands, cutting out a small piece of steak. Lu Shang immediately knew which restaurant Li Sui was trying to imitate, the quality of the meat was on par, but the taste was almost the same. It tastes lovely. You like it? Li Sui immediately smiled, Try the prawns next. Hm. Lu Shang looked at Li Sui, he couldnt help feeling bliss in his heart. He had a sudden thought, if one day he went bankrupt and had to wander the streets, homeless, he was sure that he wouldnt starve as long as Li Sui was there. Here. Cream of mushroom soup. Li Sui ced a bowl of soup on the table for Lu Shang. Some of the ck pepper sauce was on the corner of Lu Shangs mouth. Li Sui stared at it, wanting to wipe it away with his hands. Luckily, he stopped before he acted on the thought; instead, he picked up a piece of tissue and handed it to Lu Shang. Both of them were hungry after a long day, for the first time, Lu Shang actually finished the whole steak, while the rest went into Li Suis stomach. When it was time to wash the dishes, Lu Shang wanted to help, but Li Sui drove him out the kitchen. After all, who knew what Lu Shang would think if he saw the failed steaks in the rubbish bin. At night, before going to bed, Li Sui gave his wallet to Lu Shang. This is? Lu Shang looked confused. For you. From now on, all the money I earn will be yours. It had always been Lu Shang providing for the kid; he had never dreamed of the day when his child would give him money. Lu Shang had a slight smile on his face, he didnt reject the money, I will help you do some investments with it, then. The internshipsted three months; as Li Sui didnt have official education, he couldnt keep up with others at the beginning, so his performance was always thest amongst all the interns. After Li Sui got used to everything, his ability began to show. When the internship was nearing its end, he was already one of the top performers. At the very end, there was a selection section. A total of three projects sent invitations to Li Sui, offering him a permanent position, making him the most wanted intern among the batch. The interns were actually below thepanys working requirements; Tong Yan took them in only because the government was calling for higher undergraduates employment. Tong Yan decided to invite interns, nurturing them and trying to find new talents. Though Li Sui might becking in education, when it came to life experiences, Li Sui was a lot more knowledgeable. Workce was different from the school; at work, their integrated strengths were testednot just knowledge from books, but both their EQ and IQ would be put to the test. Li Sui was good at observing people, and he would react ording to his observations; just this ability was a lot better than the undergraduates whod just left their shells. Moreover, Li Sui was good-looking to begin with, he was humble and hard-working, so a few of the seniors took quite a liking to him. When Uncle Yuen gave Lu Shang the internship report, Lu Shang was quite shocked to see the score. Lu Shang was never worried that Li Sui would fall behind others, but he never thought he would be so good at it. This kid was like a hunter in the woods, if given enough time, his talents would eventually show. No-one was born with knowledge; if a person didnt give his heart in anything, they would fail even a simple task. For people who were quick in learning, as long as they worked hard, they could learn numerous things from just one simple job. People like that could grow at an extremely fast pace. His results are pretty good. Do you want to save a position for him to work in? Uncle Yuen asked. No, Lu Shang shook his head. Uncle Yuen wasnt expecting that, Lu Shang just said, Thats above him. It meant that this wasnt the right time. Uncle Yuen understood the second Lu Shang rejectedLu Shang never nned on letting Li Sui work from the bottom. Ask him to run errands for you for a while, and after the end of the year, register for a ce in an overseas university for him. Its time for him to have a look at the world now. Lu Shang smiled, looking at the internship report. The internship was approaching its end; Li Sui only had a road test left for his driving license. Li Sui was busy every day, and running back and forth, he didnt have much time to care about others. When he finally got a breather, he noticed that Li Bai hadnt been around. Li Sui happened to bring the topic up with his colleagues at the lounge area. The others looked shocked, as if it was a huge incident. He was fired. Fired? When did that happen? Its been half a month already, I think. I heard its because of his conduct. Li Sui had a lot on his mind, he went silent after hearing that. T/N: lol Lu Shang fired Wang Wei and Li Bai because of Li Sui. More importantly, the two names! Wang Wei and Li Bai are both super famous Chinese poets, to be honest, no one would call themselves those names. I wonder if the author hated them too much for having to recite their poems or something. After Autumn ended, Li Sui got his driving licence. The red race car was too eye-catching, so Li Sui traded the car with Lu Shang, receiving a normal ck car. Trading a 2 million Yuan car for a 200 thousand Yuan one. Dont you find that a loss? Li Sui nced at Lu Shang sitting in the co-driver seat; for some reason, he remembered the phrase, a lovely car with a beauty in it, what more did he want? Li Sui squealed in his heart, definitely not a loss. When winter came, Lu Shangs health obviously deteriorated; he was never seen without his medicine nearby. The firece began burning early in the day, making the whole room warm and almost hot. To Li Sui the temperature was too high, so he only wore shorts and short-sleeved clothes at home. At night, when neither of them were busy, Lu Shang would sometimes talk about work with Li Sui. Lu Shangs health was bad, so he shouldnt overwork himself. Li Sui would help him type up documents as Lu Shang read out what he needed done; this was also typing practice for Li Sui. After typing an important line, Li Sui waited for Lu Shang to tell him the next line, but nothing came. Li Sui turned to his side to see Lu Shang sleeping in his wheelchair. His heart wasnt pumping blood efficiently enough, so Lu Shang got tired really easily; it also made his skin look pale. Lu Shang was sleeping next to him, so unguarded, his chest moving slightly as he breathed, his robe was disheveled, lying loosely on his skin, even the knot on his waist was loose. The scene was simply too alluring, Li Sui stopped breathing for a second. Unable to stop his urges, he moved closer to Lu Shang, then leaned down to Lu Shangs neck, taking in his scent. Illicit memories broke out from their cages; Li Sui tried holding himself back, but his sane mind was too weak under the growing lust. Li Sui soon gave in to his desires, moving to kiss Lu Shangs earlobes. The cold scent was like a poison prating straight into his mind; it spread through his brain in mere seconds. Li Sui knew he was nulling thirst with additive poison, but he couldnt shake this off. Li Sui took a little bite on the tender skinwhat wouldnt he give to just swallow it whole? The person whom he fantasized about day and night was right in front of him, and that made Li Sui feel an immense eagerness. Letting the earlobe go, Li Sui moved to Lu Shangs neck, leaving breathes of hotness as he moved down to Lu Shangs naked cor bones,nding a kiss there softly. Li Suis hand went for the band on Lu Shangs waist, he was nning on tying the knot back, but as his fingers entangled with the piece of cloth, it just became looser and looser. Following through the gap of the robe, Li Suis hand reached Lu Shangs thin waist, caressing it lightly. All the while, Li Sui could hear the pumping blood in his ear; he felt like his brain had drowned, but in the depths of his consciousness, there was an immense satisfaction that made him go crazy. Li Sui used every bit of his might, but he was only able to stop his hand from moving further down. The person under him seemed to have felt something, his eyshes trembled a bit. Li Sui pulled his hand out from the robe, returning to the band on Lu Shangs waist. Li Sui didnt back away, he stayed at the same position, observing Lu Shang, looking at his slowly opened eyes. Li Sui was too close to Lu Shang, he could feel the movements in Lu Shangs vocal cords. Whats wrong? Li Sui kept staring at him, looking unfazed, he said, The knot is loose. After saying that, Li Sui tied it for him with one hand, tying a little bow. Lu Shang seemed to be very tired, he didnt mind and just fell asleep again. Li Sui stared at him for a long while, rxing his tensed fingers. He went to pick Lu Shang up from the wheelchair, bringing him to bed and carefully pulling up the nket on Lu Shang. After finishing all the above actions, the beast that was roaring in his heart finally began to quiet down. Li Sui stood beside the bed, he sighed as he pinched his forehead. T/N: We are almost there, Li Suis restraints are almost at their limit. Chapter 29 - Losing Control Chapter 29: Losing Control Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Trantions After the internship, Li Sui began focusingpletely on preparing for his exams. Li Sui was a quick learner, plus he had learned a lot from the intern period. Being able tobine field experiences and knowledge allowed Li Sui to improve exponentially. Lu Shang was also serious in training him; he would specifically ask Uncle Yuen to give certain simple tasks to Li Sui, training his skills in the field. The tasks were all simple ones, they ranged from checking for typos to replying work emails. During the process, Li Sui would find that all the tasks only seemed easy, but in truth, had many tiny details that required attention. After he had finished writing the reply, the contents of the received email would still be in Li Suis mind. After repeated exposure, hed find that he could begin using simr tones in his writing. In the morning, the sky was dark, and it looked like it was going to snow soon. Have you finished correcting the cooperation agreement document I gave youst night? Yes, Ive changed it. I stamped it with your name and sent it to assistant Yang already. Lu Shang said a light Hm, then he continued, I have to set a meeting to discuss next years budget. Li Sui followed him out of the room, Uncle Yuen mentioned that already, so Ive made a temte ording tost years budget. You can see if there are any problems when you have time. Lu Shangughed, Youre bing more thorough in your job. Li Sui didnt reply; his thoughts had already gone off the rails seeing Lu Shangs smile. Its eight already, dont you have tutorial sses? Lu Shang stood at the door looking back at Li Sui. Li Sui replied, Im having an exam today. Lu Shang remembered, Do you need me to bring you there? No thanks. I will drive myself to the venue. Li Sui picked up the car keys, cing them into his pocket. Before Li Sui left, he reminded Lu Shang in a worried tone, Its cold outside, and it might also rain today, so please dont go out. Inside the house, Lu Shang replied vaguely. Li Sui wasnt sure if he actually listened. Before Li Sui got to the examination venue, snow began drifting down. Snowkes fluttered as the wind picked up. Most of the examination attendees were graduates from local universities; amongst the people with a simr age to Li Sui, none had their own car. Li Sui instantly stole the limelight. Along with his naturally good looks, everyone thought he was one of those rich second-generation kids. Li Sui had three exams today, two in the morning and one in the afternoon. As they were packed together, Li Sui didnt go home for lunch, he just bought a boxed lunch near the examination venue. Li Sui had been studying and preparing very hard, so he wasnt too worried about the results. During the lunch break, he just sat on the side listening to some English recordings. Opposite of him, there were a few other examinees; they seemed tock confidence, as they were still holding onto the textbooks. Seeing Li Sui passing by, the two females hid behind the books they were holding and began mumbling to each other. T/N: On a side note, I think if Lu Shang were to record the English listening audios himself, Li Sui would be very motivated. Li Sui didnt look at them, he was staring at his mobile phone as one of the girls walked over. With a blushing face, she asked, Hello handsome, may I have your number? Li Sui had never been approached by girls before, so in the heat of the moment he just stared at her. Li Suis gaze then went to the girl behind her, after grasping their intents, he gave a polite smile, Im sorry, but I have someone I like already. The girl froze a bit, then she just waved her hand and returned to her group. Sounds of disappointment came from the group, Li Sui put his headphones back on, looking at the snow outside. Li Sui suddenly had a thought, and picking up his phone, he began writing a text to Lu Shang. Lu Lao Ban, someone asked me for my contact info, do you think I should? No reply came from the other endLu Shang was probably having a nap or something. Li Sui turned his phone off, then he calmed himself for the uing test. Though Li Sui was confident in his preparation and results, he still felt relieved after all the exams were over. Li Sui wasnt the only one, the atmosphere around him was obviously lighter than it was prior to the exams. When the doors were opened, all the examinees rushed out ecstatically. Li Sui didnt have to catch the bus, so he just stayed at the seat, waiting for the crowd to disperse. After the crowds were gone, Li Sui walked towards the parking lot leisurely. It was still snowing outside; the chilly air filled his lungs the second Li Sui left the building. As he walked down the stairs, he saw a person standing by a leafless tree. The person was wearing a long ck coat, he had a wool scarf loosely hung on his neck. Seeing Li Sui walking down the stairs, he immediately smiled. Li Sui basically ran over to him, Why are you here? I thought I said not to go out today? Lu Shang smiled, I had nothing to do, so I came to pick you up. Li Sui sensed the coldness from Lu Shangs hands, and that made Li Sui worried sick. He immediately led Lu Shang to the car, How long have you been waiting? Did Uncle Yuen drive you here? Its cold outside, you know Im fine. I have just arrived. Lu Shang continued, Youre here, so I sent Uncle Yuen back. Li Sui opened the car door, only feeling reassured after Lu Shang had got on safely. After Lu Shang got on, he turned the air-conditioning to warm mode. How did the exam go? Its fine. Most of the questions were quite simple. Li Sui kept rubbing his hand against Lu Shangs, hoping to give him some more warmth, Next time dont go out when its snowing. Your health isnt good, what if something happened to you? Lu Shang only smiled, I heard someone asked for your contact info. Was it a male or female? Li Sui didnt know if he shouldugh or cry, he said, Dont tease me. After a bit, he added with a softer voice, I dont differentiate between their genders. In my book there are just two types of peopleyou and all the others. Lu Shang stared at Li Sui trying to ascertain what Li Sui was insinuating, then he startedughing as if he couldnt hold it back, even his shoulders trembled. What are youughing at? Lu Shang looked really happy, his mouth formed a smile as he said, I never said you cant make friends. Getting new friends is a good thing. Li Sui had to back down with how much Lu Shang wasughing, so he forcibly changed the topic, From today onwards, I have no more lessons, so I can go help you out. Theres no rush. Lu Shang stoppedughing, after coughing a few times, he said, Lets head back. There were a lot of students, so many walked on the car roads with umbres. With so many people on the roads, their car was driving at a snail pace. Li Sui didnt press the horn; he just drove slowly through the crowd. Looking at the gleeful faces of the students outside, as if Lu Shang remembered something from the past, he said, When I was studying in America, I always saw others parents picking their kids up from the exams. Ive always hoped that my family coulde too back then, but that was never once fulfilled. Li Sui seldom heard Lu Shang talk about the past, so he turned his head around to ask, Were you living by yourself back then? There were servants and doctors too. Li Sui thought, Lu Shang had to be still very young back then. Having to leave home alone at such a young age, with only servants to talk to, that must be how Lu Shang became so deste. As they were talking, Lu Shangs phone rang, it was from Xiao Zhao. Director Lu, the document you wantedcan I deliver it to you tonight instead? Why? Xiao Zhao sounded awkward and evasive, I I promised my girlfriend Id go out on a date with her on the holiday. Lu Shang looked at the time and date on his phone, that was when he realized that today was Christmas Eve. Its fine. You can deliver it tonight. Thank you. Director Lu! Days passed by so fast; Lu Shang was never sensitive towards holidays, and neither was Li Sui. No wonder there were so many people on the streets todaya lot of shops were having sales. Whats wrong? Li Sui asked after seeing Lu Shang in deep thoughts. Lu Shang put his phone back, then he smiled and said, Lets go, Im bringing you somewhere. That somewhere was a restaurant atop a skyscraper, a revolving restaurant to be specific. Li Sui didnt expect Lu Shang to bring him somewhere so grand; instead, he would expect Lu Shang to bring him to a quiet, little restaurant. This restaurant has been here for over ten years. Lu Shang added inmb meat into the rock hotpot, Try it, it tastes quite good. The hotpot had hot and sour soup in it, the soup was bubbling and giving out steam as it was heated. After themb meat had been cooked for a while, it was dipped into a mix of sesame sauce and soy sauce while still steaming hot. The sensation of all the lovely vors mixed together was simply amazing. Li Sui never had such tendermb meat before, it was as if the meat melted in his mouth the second it touched his tongue. The sourness and spiciness were bnced well, bringing both vors out perfectly. Even without chewing, the rich vor of the meat and soup would seep out. The spiciness was especially strong; swallowing the meat and broth together was quite exciting. This is so much different from Aunt Lus cooking. Li Sui continued, They are really tasty. When Aunt Lu prepared their meals, her number one concern was the foods impact on health, taste was a secondary concern, so her food was mostly nd and had less seasoning. Li Sui was never fed up with Aunt Lus cooking, but it did sometimesck excitement. The two of them added more and more meat as they ate; in no time, all themb meat was gone. Li Sui also realized that Lu Shang actually liked spicy food, only due to his own health condition, he had been limiting himself in the consumption of them. Onlymb meat wasnt enough, so they also ordered some tofu and mushrooms. Half-way through the meal, Lu Shang put his chopsticks down and began being inseparable from his ss of milk. Li Sui lifted his head from his food, and through the white steam, he noticed that the corners of Lu Shangs eyes were a little red from all the spicy food. Li Sui found that funny and at the same time endearing. Compared to the cold and quiet Lu Shang sitting in the office, Li Sui preferred the Lu Shang now. Lively, ordinary, having normal senses and interests. Director Yue called me today. You might have to attend a banquet at Mu Sheng this month. Lu Shang said nonchntly like it was nothing big. Li Sui asked, Mu Sheng? Isnt that the SiMa familyspany? I used the money you gave me for investments. Lu Shang smiled, Xiao Zhao will get the documents to you tonight. Li Sui was confused, obviously Lu Shang had to be joking. With that little bit of money he gave Lu Shang, stocks aside, he couldnt even buy a table in Mu Sheng. Li Sui suddenly remembered the camp he went with SiMa JingRong half-a-year ago, and he suspected that the stocks must have been bought then. However, Lu Shang had never once mentioned it to Li Sui, so Li Sui had no idea that he was already Mu Shengs stockholder. Lu Shangs actions were a little resemnt of how ancient people would use money to get a government official position for their sons; Lu Shang basically gave him half apany. Do you trust me that much? Arent you afraid that Id run away? Li Sui asked. Lu Shangughed softly, You wont. Li Sui felt something click in his heart. He still had things to ask, but Lu Shangs short reply batted all that away. Mu Sheng is a goodpany. You should manage it well, be more wary of others and your own choices. Running a business is like ying with dominos, one wrong move and everything follows and falls apart. Dont only focus on the profit at hand, Lu Shang said. Especially when you are facing choices that you could only make once, be rational and dont let your emotions cloud your judgement. Li Sui however thought of something else from Lu Shangs reminders, Is that so? For some reason, Lu Shang went silent for a while as well, before he finally gave a light hm in reply. After two rounds of snow, the day of the banquet came. There was no doubt that Mu Sheng was the SiMa familyspany, the scale of the banquet was on a whole new level, to sum it up in one word, the banquet was extravagant. Li Sui wore a full dinner suit; he made an entrance together with Lu Shang. Technically, they had different rolesone was a stockholder, while the other was a business partner, so normally they wouldnt be arranged to sit together. Someone must have paid attention to their rtionship and arranged this intentionally. Lu Shang had a cold recently, so he wasnt in good spirits. After Lu Shang was seated, he didnt budge at all. Whenever anyone made a toast to Lu Shang, Li Sui would drink the wine in Lu Shangs stead. SiMa JingRong was the same as beforehe still had the expression of a yboy who had no respect for anyone. Even with the suit, SiMa JingRong didnt look the least bit serious, though having a tidy attire showed his improvements. His younger brother had already be the familys new backbone, following Yue PengFei around to greet everyone. Even so, there was no more dissatisfaction on SiMa JingRongs face. Instead, SiMa JingRong looked quite gleeful, he enjoyed not having to do anything, as if he were a bigndlord. The banquet began with a few speeches, the directors speeches came first, then it was the shareholders turn. Li Sui sat in his seat, seeing the huge cameras and recorders directed at the stage, he couldnt help but swallow a gulp of saliva anxiously. His script was prepared beforehand, so Li Sui just had to walk onto the stage and recite it. However, looking at so many people and speaking on stage was still quite overwhelming, and it made Li Sui a little nervous. When the host invited him to the stage, Li Sui felt his heart tighten; he instinctively looked at Lu Shang. A smile surfaced on Lu Shangs pale face, What are you looking at me for? Youre Mu Shengs shareholder, not me. Li Suis shoulders rxed, he stood up and walked towards the stage. Li Sui was tall and his legs were long, when he walked up the stage, he gave off an aura of assuredness. Looking at Li Suis figure from behind, Lu Shang started sighing how time passed by so fast. It had been years since they first met, and looking at Li Sui now, Lu Shang couldnt pick out any glimpses of Li Suis past self. When Lu Shang first brought Li Sui home, no one would even think that he would turn out like this. Not only was Li Sui a new face, he was also young, so many proposed toasts to Li Sui. Moreover, Li Sui drank a lot earlier in Lu Shangs stead already, so even Li Sui felt a little light on his feet. This was the first time Li Sui had to attend a banquet in the capacity of a shareholder, but Lu Shang didnt limit him in doing anything. Lu Shang just sat at the sides, looking at Li Sui trying his best to stay awake as he talked to the other guests. Lu Lao Ban, are you not going to stop him? If he continues, he will definitely get drunk. SiMa JingRong sat down next to Lu Shang with a te of peeled peanuts, eating as he asked Lu Shang. There will be many more banquets for him to attend in the future, he must get drunk once to understand the need to reject alcohol, Lu Shang said without any rush. SiMa JingRong was shocked by Lu Shangs direct and brutal education method, but after some thought, he found it true. Though our familyspany is my little brothers, all the money is given to me. So, if you guys are in need of money someday, you can always depend on me. SiMa JingRong said with a dependable-like expression. Lu Shangughed on the inside; he raised his cup and touched SiMa JingRongs ss lightly. In his heart, he also thought that this kid was born to be lucky, he was born to have a free and leisure life. Others didnt even know where to begin getting jealous. The banquet continued throughout the night. When it was finally over, Li Sui was basically unconscious, he flopped down on the table near the door. Lu Shang had no other choice but to go over and wake him up. Li Sui was just great, instead of flopping down dead, he woke up and clung to Lu Shangs waist. Li Sui was also muttering something, but Lu Shang couldnt make out what the incoherent sounds were. Uncle Yuens car couldnt drive straight in, so it was parked outside in the garden. Lu Shang tried pulling Li Sui up but failed, so he then squatted down, ruffling Li Suis head, How about I carry you, is that okay? Li Sui reacted to the sentence and let go of Lu Shangs waist, instead flopping down on Lu Shangs back. The snow had not yet melted; the two of their weights went against theyer of snow on the ground, making squishy sounds. Li Sui wasnt light, to be honest; having to carry Li Suis weight on his back was a little difficult for Lu Shang. Even so, Lu Shang just bit his teeth and went through with it, ignoring the difort in his chest. When they got back home, Aunt Lu rushed out, she asked, How much did he drink to get like this? Do I need to call for the doctor? Hes fine, I checked. Just make him some honey water. Lu Shang ced Li Sui on the bed, then rubbed his own sore wrists a little. Okay,ing right up. Lu Shang wasnt experienced in taking care of a drunk person. However, being a chronic patient himself, he did learn a lot about healthcare, so giving basic care wasnt a challenge. Li Sui was quite peaceful even when drunk, that was proven when Lu Shang brought him to the bamboo dojo for the first time. Though Li Suis mind was clouded, if asked to do something, hed really do it. Lu Shang wiped Li Suis face clean, then fed him the honey water. Lu Shang asked him to lie back on the bed, and Li Sui really did take his dirty clothes off and quietlyy down. Lu Shang finished his own shower, after taking his medicines, heid down on the bed beside Li Sui. Just after Lu Shangid down, Li Sui turned on his sides and got up, staring at Lu Shang with vacant eyes. What are you doing? Lu Shang found it a little amusing. Li Sui didnt reply, he leaned down to Lu Shangs neck, sniffing like a hound would with its prey. Li Sui buried himself at Lu Shangs neck, breathing out hot breathes, ready to make a move. Lu Shang put his hand on Li Suis forehead, pushing him back a little, Lu Shang squinted his eyes to check if Li Sui was conscious. The lights in the bedroom were all turned off, so Lu Shang could barely even see Li Suis ck eyes; he failed to see them brimming with lust. The one who was pushed back seemed to be unsatisfied; he suddenly grabbed Lu Shangs wrist, pushing it onto the bed, and he began licking Lu Shangs neck. Hot breaths and the smell of alcohol surrounded them. Lu Shang panted slightly, but still didnt push Li Sui away forcefully. After licking for a while, Li Suis movements slowed down, his eager kisses were reced by paced, intermittent ones with an intent to tease. The atmosphere in the room changed drastically, the air was filled with desire, brewing and inting. Catalyzed by the warmth in the room, their brains became a chaotic mess. Li Sui threw himselfpletely into sucking and licking Lu Shangs skin, his tongue lithely slid across Lu Shang, moving up along the neck towards his pursed, delicate lips. Lu Shang frowned slightly; he tried pushing Li Sui back, but the drunk Li Sui was stronger than Lu Shang thought hed be. Lu Shang couldnt push him back, so he could only submissively let Li Sui kiss him, rampaging in his mouth. Though the kisscked technique, it was gentle and serious. It was quiet in the house, leaving only the sounds of rustling fabrics and the two of them panting. The duration of the kiss was extremely long, as if Li Sui had been holding it back for centuries and was now making up for lost time. Li Sui went after his lips as if his life depended on it. Their tongues and lips stirred, giving lewd wet sounds. At the beginning, Lu Shang did try to push Li Sui away, but as it progressed, he found his strength slipping away, his hands could just loosely hold onto Li Suis shoulders. Feeling that Lu Shang had given in, Li Sui went further ahead, prying open Lu Shangs teeth. The two were swapping saliva above, and below, their bodies were rubbing against each other; they felt like they might just catch on fire like this. Noticing that Lu Shangs breaths were bing too irregr, Li Sui let the kiss go and instead, he turned to kissing the nape of Lu Shangs neck. Lu Shang continued panting. He shifted his body; trying to avoid Li Sui, he turned on his sides and curled up. Li Sui, however, wasnt giving uphe stubbornly extended his hand to hug Lu Shang by the waist. As he reached over, his hands identally came into contact with something else, there was an obvious second of hesitation. It was too dark in the room, so neither of them could see each others expression clearly, but it was as if time had stopped for two whole seconds. Lu Shang trembled, then began struggling to get away from Li Sui, trying to get off the bed. Dont move. Li Sui grabbed him back, suddenly talking with a slightly hoarse voice. It was so quiet in the room that if a needle were to drop on the floor, they would still hear it loud and clear. They were panting a lot, as if both of them were holding something back. Li Sui froze for a bit, then his right hand explored into Lu Shangs clothes, quickly reaching the important parts, Ill help you. Li Suis hot breaths ran across Lu Shangs ear, making his body stiff. Lu Shang tried to break free again but was still held by Li Sui. With no other choice, he shut his eyes tight, throwing half of his face into the pillow as he frowned. Li Sui leaned down to kiss Lu Shangs eye, his hand reaching the tip of Lu Shangs erection. He slowly caressed it, beginning to move his hands rhythmically. Lust in the room was as thick as ck ink stained on a piece of white paper; it was mixed with alcohol as it spread across the cozy room quickly. Everything quieted down, only a few muffled moans were audible. The craziness was covered up by the darkness, and it ended as quickly as it began. The two of them sweated a lot, it was as if both of them were just fished out of the sea. Li Suis breathes were heavy, he let go of the thing that had just spilled but didnt let Lu Shang go. As if Li Sui had lost it, he pulled down Lu Shangs clothes to bite his shoulder. His actions were aggressive, he was getting more and more out of hand. Li Sui. Lu Shang finally said something, his voice was trembling, but it had an indisputable warning tone. Li Sui stopped, as if he had just woken up from a dream. The haze over his eyes receded like the tide, his eyes turned somber. Li Sui let go of Lu Shang; his Adams apple bobbed, and with a hoarse voice, he said, I Im going to sleep in the living room. The bedroom door closed with a light sound. Lu Shang opened his eyes in the darkness, they were unfocused for a long time. Wind picked up outside the house. The two of them were separated by a thin wall and neither of them got any sleep that night. Chapter 30 - The Truth Chapter 30: The Truth Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Having serious hangovers and insomnia took a toll on Li Sui. The next morning, he felt as if his head was going to explode. Lu Shang wasnt feeling any better than Li Sui; his face was as white as paper. After Aunt Lu served breakfast, she noticed that the two of them were especially quiet todaythey didnt have a shred ofmunication. When their fingers touched as they reached for seconds, they backed away from each other at lightning speed. Aunt Lu could sense the awkwardness in the air, but she had no idea what had urred, so she just thought it was a tiny lovers squabble. Couples often ran into obstacles, this was nothing special in Aunt Lus eyes. Plus, the two were always close, so Aunt Lu wasnt worry about them. After finishing her duties, she knowingly left the room promptly, hoping the two would clear things up soon. The outside temperature lowered day by day; the previousyer of snow had yet to meltpletely, but a new round of snow already began falling down from the sky. Li Sui wasnt at his best, so he made a lot of mistakes during work. When he finally finished all his work and returned home, it was alreadyte at night. No-one was home, only the firece was still burning, making crackling sounds. Dinner was on the dining table, the tes still steaming hot, but it seemed like no one had touched them. It was sote already, but Lu Shang was still not home. Li Sui had no idea where Lu Shang was, nor did he know what Lu Shang was doing. Li Sui was seldom apart from Lu Shang, so this made him feel extremely ufortableas if he had just lost a keepsake which hed always kept by his side. Li Sui wanted to call Lu Shang, so he pulled out his phone from his pocket. Then, he thought about how Lu Shang might feel if he actually called. He fidgeted with the phone for a while, feeling depressed, and eventually he decided to call Uncle Yuen instead. He went to HaiNan Ind for work. Uncle Yuen was a little shocked, he asked, Did he not bring you along? Not only did Lu Shang not bring Li Sui along, Lu Shang didnt even tell Li Sui he was going to the ind. Lu Shang was obviously avoiding him. I see. After hanging the phone up, Li Sui stood in the empty house, his heart was just as empty as the house was. It was alreadyte at night, but the lights were still lit at the Golden Sands Shore project conference room. In the room were a few project leaders, all of them were calm on the surface, but in truth, they were all extremely worried. None of them thought that such a tiny construction ident would bring Lu Shang here. Not only that, Lu Shang called all the project ountants and managers for questioning, in the middle of the night nheless. Even if you looked at all the construction projects in the maind, none would bepletely clean, especially when it came to this kind of huge projects with so many parties involved. Tong Yan was no exception, the most important thing was to bnce profit with the quality. As long as the final results were okay, every side would benefit, so everyone would be happy. Usually the higher ups wont be too harsh either, theyd tend to let these little things slide. T/N: I just know that a part of Lu Shang came since hes in a bad mood and hes here to blow off some steam. Great example of not letting personal emotions interfere with your work, Lu Shang. It wasnt like Lu Shang didnt understand that, but he still decided to review everything out of the blue. Lu Shang made a huge move, his demeanor seemed unforgiving, and that made everyone scared. Everyone in charge knew that Lu Shang was cracking down on them. Putting aside the worst-case scenario of Lu Shang catching every culprit out for now, even considering the best, Lu Shang would find one to two to punish as a warning. In this freezing winter night, the people in charge were in the huge conference room, sweating in fear that the unfortunate punishment would be on their heads. Liu XingMing felt like continuing wasnt going to do any good, so he smiled as he said, Director Lu, the task of checking the books wont be finished anytime soon. You just got off the ne, and you must be really tired, too. How about we finish the checking tomorrow and rest for now? What? Lu Shang turned to him, staring at him coldly, then he said, The injured workers are still in critical condition now, but we still have no idea what caused it. Rest? Maybe we should just go home for a feast and a massage first, then we can check what had happened, is that what youre suggesting? After Lu Shang said that, even Liu XingMing didnt dare to smile anymore. Xiao Ye, go order dinner. Lu Shang said. Yes. Lu Shang continued, Call your family and tell them that until this problem is investigatedpletely, no-one is going home. For a long time, Lu Shang managed thepany in an extremely humanitarian way. He seldom got mad, and he also seldom held anyone responsible directly. Though he seemed distant and hard to approach, he treated all his employees kindly. After getting used to that for a long time, everyone had the misconception that he was a person of zero fury and was easy to talk to. It was only today that they remembered this man was able to stabilize and manage Tong Yan all on his ownand that was ten years ago when he was still very young. A person with that kind of leadership skills was definitely not someone easy-going. Most of the time, people thought Lu Shang was easy-going only because he didnt have the leisure to deal with every little problem. If Lu Shang were to put his mind to it though, no one would stand a chance against him. When the investigation reached the materials purchasing records, the picture became clear. It was alreadyte at night, everyone in the conference room turned from initial nervousness to giving up and preparing for the worst. Finally, everyone only had tiredness and sleepiness left. At longst, the ountant made a final conclusion, and that was when everyone woke up. Lu Shang picked up the report, flipping through the pages, then he scoffed, throwing the stack of paper on the desk towards Liu XingMing. Using such petty tricks. Liu XingMing picked up the report; after seeing the contents, his face turned pale. I will immediately contact the material suppliers, he said. Theres no need to contact them anymore, cancel our contract with them and ask them to get the hell out. After finishing the order, Lu Shang scanned everyone in the room, I dont know who took the money. The price doesnt matter, but the materials must be reced. After the construction is done, each and every one of you will have to sign for itspletion. If anything happens, everyone here will be responsibleno one can run away from that. Im making an amusement park here, not a killing machine. If I cant ensure the safety of the users, why build an amusement park? I should have just built a graveyard. Lu Shangs words were sharp, and everyone seated in the room was drenched in cold sweat. The conference room was terrifyingly quiet; at that exact moment, Lu Shangs phone vibrated, cutting into his speech. Lu Shang frowned; he picked up the phone and looked at the callers ID. For a split second, he froze. Director Lu. So, what suppliers are we changing to? someone in the room asked. Lu Shang secretly turned his phone off, then he said, Send out a notice, we are opening a public bid. Li Sui waited for the whole night, yet he didnt get a reply to his call. Li Sui had a hard-to-describe feelinghe was anxious, and at the same time, he was worried. It was as if he was a child who had done something wrong, wanting to apologize but just couldnt through to the other. Li Sui didnt want to stop contacting Lu Shang, but he wouldnt dare contact him relentlessly, afraid that Lu Shang would find him annoying. For the next couple of days, Li Sui chose the time slots when Lu Shang was off work to message him, most of the contents were just reporting daily stuff or nuisances with work as a pretext. Unfortunately, the messages he sent were like rocks thrown into the ocean, they sank and never returned. It was as if Lu Shang was intentionally ignoring himno matter what Li Sui tried, he didnt seed. Li Sui couldnt but feel glum. On a certain day, SiMa JingRong called Li Sui; he was inviting Li Sui over for dinner at the SiMa family for the New Years. Having dinner or not didnt matter to Li Sui, but he was finally able to find someone whom he could talk to, and that mattered a lot to him. Li Sui changed the subject, coating the facts a little. He told SiMa JingRong what had urred through the phone, hoping for some advice. After hearing what Li Sui had to say, SiMa JingRongughed, Isnt it normal that hes angry? I mean, think about it. If he didnt get angry at all, and didnt care about it one bit as if nothing had happened, would you be happy with that? What SiMa JingRong said enlightened him, and Li Sui immediately stood up. If hes hiding from you, that means he cares about you. If he really just sees you as a kid he had just picked up, would he let you do that to him? With his resources, you would have been long thrown into ake as fish bait if he wanted to. Li Suis breathing sped up, he said in a hurry, Do, do you mean Go apologize, little bro! SiMa JingRong said. Li Sui deted, he said, He hasnt replied to a single message I sent him. Then go in person, give him flowers, presents, money Give him whatever he likes, make him happy, cheer him up. There arent problems that money cant solve in this world Li Sui found what he said reasonable at the beginning, but the more SiMa JingRong talked, the crazier it seemed. Knowing that SiMa JingRong had no intention of stopping, Li Sui cut him off and turned around to find Aunt Lu. Things he likes? Aunt Lu was cutting mushrooms in the kitchen as she was shocked by Li Suis sudden question. Li Sui nodded his head, asking with a little shyness, Youve taken care of him for so many years, have you noticed if he was particrly interested in anything? Well Aunt Lu went into a deep thought, then she said, Ah! Yes, I remember that he used to like fishing. When his health was a bit better a few years back, he often went to QingMingke to fish. This was the first time Li Sui ever heard of that before, so he was a little shocked. Lu Shang seldom talked about his past, and he seldom showed interest in anything. Lu Shang always gave off a distant atmosphere, Li Sui never knew Lu Shang had a hobby. Li Sui smiled, and he said, Thank you, Aunt Lu. Opening a bid wasnt an easy task; the construction was in progress, so time was everything, the bidding couldnt be pushed back, not even a day. Normally, people would just give up, but for some reason, Lu Shang was especially stubborn on the subject, torturing them for two entire weeks. Finally he tortured himself to sickness. Affected by the seasonal winds, temperature fluctuated a lot on the ind. Lu Shangs immune system was weak to begin with, plus he had been going back and forth from the construction site and thepany for weeks. He didnt get enough rest, so he caught a heavy cold; his heart naturally began protesting as well. HaiNan Ind was different from Lu Shangs home; the hospital here had never treated such aplicated patient before, so they didnt dare make a diagnosis right away. The hospital just prescribed him some anti-inmmatory medicines and some painkillers. Lu Shang had taken so much medicine before even when he was still a kid. Taking medicine was like eating rice to him, normal medicine basically had no effect on him, so every night, he would still suffer from a fever, but when he had woken up every morning, his fever would have subsided. Overworking in the day and having poor rest at night, Lu Shang was so tired and exhausted that he got even skinnier than before. His face was pale to begin with, but now it just turned even whiter. The New Years was approaching. Most of the workers on the site were hired from another city, so each day they were counting when they could finally go home. In the entire year, this period was when the workers would ck off the most. Lu Shang knew in his heart that this matter should be dealt with quickly, so even with his health at stake, he forced himself to work. Lu Shang personally directed personnel from different departments, finalizing a supplier who could immediately provide them with the required raw materials. Although the price was higher than their expectation, the materials were high quality ones, and they would make it here just on time. After pping people in the face, giving them some candies would patch things upLu Shang understood that tactic clearly. Before the holidays, Lu Shang especially asked Liu XingMing to hand out New Years supplies to all the employees. For the construction workers, Lu Shang arranged to give them red packets (i) directly. A lot of the construction site workers are from other cities, so they had to rush back home for New Years. Even if Lu Shang gave them New Years supplies, they wouldnt be able to bring them home; giving them money directly would be a lot more convenient. T/N: (i) Chinese people give red packets to family and friends on New Years; inside the red packets there are money, so basically the workers are given money in a red envelope. Except for Lu Shang, not many people would have put that much thought into these matters. After Lu Shang finished all his work, he was utterly exhausted, and his heart began protesting as well. He didnt even have the strength to attend the years end party, he just half-fainted away on the hotel sofa. Uncle Yuen was worried, so he went to the hotel to check up on him. Are we heading back tomorrow? Lu Shangy on the sofa, pinching his own forehead, he replied, Hm. Uncle Yuen swallowed saliva and said while gauging Lu Shangs reaction, The kid said he wasing here, but I stopped him. Lu Shang didnt show any expression on his face, he just gave a light umm distantly. Before Uncle Yuen left, Lu Shang said, Tomorrow, ask Liu XingMing toe here, I need to talk with him. The weather was poor; it was dry and cold, and when the wind blew on peoples faces, it felt like des shing past their skin. Li Sui walked through the streets amongst the flying leaves, and he couldnt help but think it was a good thing that Lu Shang was at HaiNan Ind. With this weather, if Lu Shang were here, he would be very cold, and his limbs would be like ice again. Li Sui was really happy today. For the past two weeks, he visited numerous fishing supplies stores. Finally, he found a high-quality fishing pole, the pole was made of carbon steelposite, strengthened by boron nanofibers. The handle was covered in ayer of jade clear in color. Warm when held, it wouldnt be hot during the summer or cold during the winter. The most important thing was, the shop owner told Li Sui that he could help carve words on the side of the handle. After some thought, Li Sui asked the owner to carve the initials LS on the handle. That stood for both Lu Shang and him. The fishing supply shop was quite remote, so it would be a long trip back home. Li Sui carefully loaded the fishing pole into the cars trunk. When he closed the trunk door, he sensed something odd. Someone was following him. His enemies were at fault, while Li Sui was justified by self-defense. Li Sui turned the car lights off, then reached for the ss hammer in the car. This part of town didnt have streetlights, the second Li Sui turned the car lights off, everything was plunged into darkness. Right after Li Sui picked up the hammer, he heard someones unfriendlyughter from the forest. How sensitive. I didnt think youd notice so soon. Li Sui was shocked; he immediately turned around to see a person walking out from the trees. The person was wearing a hat andyers of clothing. Li Sui couldnt see his face. However, there was no need to see it; that voice, Li Sui was extremely familiar with it. Its you, Li Sui instinctively stiffened hearing the voice. Li Yan snapped his fingers as he walked out from the shadows, that was when Li Sui saw a motorcycle a little further from Li Yan. Two against one and the two didnt seem difficult to take on. Dont be scared, Li Yan said. Im not here for trouble. Li Sui stared at Li Yan in silence. Lu Shang taught him to refrain from speaking before knowing the enemys true intentions so that he wouldnt identally expose his own weaknesses. T/N: I almost typed Lu Shang taught him not to follow strangers Youve grown so much, but the more youve grown, the more boring youve be. Li Yan sighed, You dont have to be so tense, I cant do much to you now. Lets just say youve followed the right personfor now, anyways. What exactly are you trying to say? Nothing special. I had nothing else to do and just happened to run into you here. So, as your former boss, I just want to talk about your reflections on jumping ships. Li Yan continued after a short pause, Do you know why I said, for now? Seeing that Li Sui wasnt speaking, Li Yanughed and said, Thats because he isnt a good guy either. Youll know sooner orter. Li Sui red at him, then turned around to leave. Arent you curious as to why Lu Shang took you in back then? Li Yan said from behind Li Sui. Chapter 31 - The Questioning Chapter 31: The Questioning Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Li Suis foot froze for a bit, Knowing or not wont change anything. Li Yanughed as if he just heard a funny joke, How foolish. Dont tell me you are seriously in love with him, that would be the funniest thing Ive heard in my life. Li Sui turned around, his voice deeper, I love him, so what? What does that have to do with you? It has nothing to do with meIm just nice enough to warn you in case you find that your heart has been gouged out and you dont even know whom you should be haunting. Li Suis eyes turned grim, What nonsense are you spouting? Im talking about why Lu Shang took you in. Li Yan said each word slowly and clearly, Its because youre the heart donor he prepared for himself. Li Suis fingers trembled unconsciously. Li Yan obviously was very satisfied with Li Suis expression, as he continued, For such a long time, had you not sensed any of it? Dont you find Lu Shang very forting with his rtionship with you? Why would a loner like Lu Shang have you by his side? Li Sui red at Li Yan. Li Yan sighed, and he said, You dont understand. To people like us, a lover isnt a threat, but his heart disease, that is a big threat. That is the only reason why Lu Shang would let you stay by his side. Do you know how many people in Tong Yan want to take over his job? If they knew you are the key to Lu Shangs survival, you would have been dead within a month. Your rtionship with him is just a cover, a cover to ensure your heart is safe. You think that he has your best interest in mind? Dont be an idiot. Li Sui rubbed his fists together, staring straight into Li Yan, he said, Unless he admits it himself, I wont believe you. Stop your meddling. Admit it himself? Li Yanughed, Admit what? Admit that hes going to take your heart out, admit that hes a human-eating demon? Li Suis pupils constricted. Xiao Li, idiot child. He has inborn heart defects, he needs a healthy heart. You, you are the most suitable donor for him. Seeing that Li Sui went silent, Li Yan took out a folder of documents, You dont believe me? This is a document brought straight out from RuiGe hospital. Look at whats written on it. Li Sui didnt take the paper, he just looked at Li Yan quietly with a cold face, Are you done? Li Yan froze, he retracted his smile. Li Sui turned the screen of his phone on, showing it towards Li Yan, I called the police around ten minutes ago. Now, I think you have about five minutes of escape time. Li Yan never thought Li Sui would have the courage to trick him; the veins on his head popped up in anger. He said with a grim face, You will regret this. The person at the motorcycle seemed to have noticed some movements, and they shed the motorcycle headlights as a warning. Li Yan cursed then ran towards the motorcycle and got on after throwing the document on the ground. The roaring of the engine became distant, darkness returned to the street. Li Sui had to stand in the cold wind for a long time, before he could finally muster enough courage to pick up the documents. The documents were apatibility report, it was one of RuiGe hospitals top-secret documents. It was apatibility report of Lu Shang and Li Sui, Li Sui himself had no memory of when that was done already. On that piece of white paper, there were clear ck words. The two of them had the same blood type, and their individual HLA matched each others (i); Li Suis heart was the perfect match for Lu Shang. All the data pointed towards one thingLi Sui was truly the very rare and perfect heart donor for Lu Shang. T/N: Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA), antigens are things on human cells that allow other cells to detect if that cell was foreign or not. Li Sui remembered that when Lu Shang first took him, Lu Shang gave him a contract to sign. At the time, Li Sui couldnt read the contents. Later, Li Sui refused to have a look at it. Now that Li Sui thought back, he could surmise that the contract was most likely about this. To Li Suis dismay, he couldnt run away from it forever. He still had to face the truth in due time, this was fate and he couldnt flee from that. The wind picked up; a few pieces of leaves twirled in the wind, passing beneath the car, and the car window was covered in drops of rain. Li Suis fingers tightened on the paper, and his breathing was erratic. As though in immense pain, he frowned as he shut his eyes tight. In the room, there were the sounds of intense coughing. Liu XinMing poured a cup of hot tea, giving it to Lu Shang. He asked worriedly, Director Lu, are you okay? Lu Shang shook his head, swallowing his difort, I just have a cold, its not serious. I didnt invite anyone else today, just you and me, lets have a talk. Liu XingMing straightened his back; he knew what Lu Shang wanted to talk about. As one of the main managers in this project, he had to be held responsible for the incident. It was impossible that Liu XingMing didnt know about the material swap, Lu Shang wouldnt believe that even if Liu XingMing were to lie. I saw you getting this position on your own two feet. Back when my father was still alive, he praised you a lot. All these years, I havent put much effort in this project. That may have cost you a lot of chances, it was my fault. Liu XingMing quickly cut in, No, please dont say that. Im the one who refused to work at the main headquarters, I Lu Shang gave a shortugh, I always thought that even if others would change, at the very least, you wouldnt. It seems like Ive underestimated the allure of money. Liu XingMing knew he was in the wrong, so he gave up ying innocent, he said with a tiny voice, I have a family to support. My mother has severe cerebral palsy, I have to pay 8000 yuan every month for her treatments alone. The kids are still young, they have to go to school, and my wife is weak, so she cant work. Director Lu, I swear, if it werent for all that, I would rather beg for food on the streets than corrupt with them. You know I am not the kind of person that would do anything for money, I was really in a bind, thats why I cant get myself a bad name and make my wife and kids suffer But the things you did, they were enough to send you to jail. Do you know that? Liu XingMings face turned pale, Yes. This whole incident is my fault, I admit that. I will ept punishment for it, anything, no matter if its my resignation or fines. Please, just dont spread what I did around. Please, as a favor for working here for so many years. My mother is still in the hospital, I really just Lu Shang stared at the cup of tea in his hand, but he didnt reply. The longer Lu Shang held this position in thepany, the more he understood why his father said that he was fed up with the job. His father had experienced too many changes of heart, heard too much gossip and too many problems. He always knew that the human heart wasnt trustworthy, but even so, he wanted to hope, hope that there were pure people who wont change. However, his hopes were always brutally shattered, leaving only weariness behind. Lu Shang thought that not everyone was like Li Sui. Li Sui always had his best interest in mind, Li Sui would always carry out what he asked. A person who didnt ask for anything in return, a person whom Lu Shang could trust wholeheartedly. Lu Shang was quite certain that even if he searched the entire globe, he wouldnt find another person like that. I will ask Uncle Yuen to give you the transfer papers. This project, you shouldnt manage it anymore. Lu Shang put the cup down, but he didnt look at Liu XingMing. Liu XingMing looked at Lu Shang. His mouth opened, as if he still had something to say. However, he also knew that this was already the result of Lu Shangpromising, so he gave up. Liu XingMing replied in a glum voice, I understand. After he left, Uncle Yuen opened the door and walked inside. The two of them looked each other in the eyes, both hadplicated expressions. After a period of silence, Lu Shang finally spoke, Get me the new phone from brand A. Im going back home this afternoon. On the ne, Lu Shang had nothing to do, so he opened the packaging to the new phone. He did the basic configuration processes, then did some basic settings. After he had finished doing all that, Lu Shang remembered, Li Sui wasnt the kid who knew nothing anymore. Smart phone was no longer a foreign thing to Li Sui, so what he was doing just now seemed extra unnecessary. After Lu Shang got off the ne, the car which was supposed to bring him home hadnt arrived yet, so Lu Shang waited a bit in the airport. Suddenly, he got a call from Leung ZiRui, who sounded like he was in a rush. A few days ago, there was a burry case, something is missing. Lu Shang thought it was an expensive machine or something, If its gone, then let it go. Just buy another one. No, all the machines are here. Only the report on Li Suispatibility with you is gone. Lu Shang froze, his eyes dimmed, Do you know who is responsible yet? Still investigating. The culprit is used to stealing, he evaded all the surveince cameras, he didnt leave any fingerprints behind either. It might be hard to find the culprit, especially in such a short time. Leung ZiRui seemed to be very annoyed, I already noticed that a lot of strangers were roaming around in RuiGe hospital before, and Ive increased the security, but even with that, something like this happened Before Leung ZiRui finished what he had to say, another iing call from Zuo Chao reached Lu Shang. Lu Shang frowned and picked up. I found Li Yan, can you guess where he is? No wonder we couldnt find him, he was under Liu XinTians wings all this time, thats why. Lu Shang had a very bad feeling. He asked, How did you find him? Zuo Chao sounded chipper, It was by ident actually. Remember how you asked me to send people to follow Li Sui 24/7? That day, the person following Li Sui came to report that someone went to see Li Sui; the two of them talked for a bit, they even began arguing. It was unfortunate that he was too far from them, so he couldnt hear what they were talking about. I saw the footage and immediately knew it was Li Yan, Id never forget that guys face. So, I asked my men to track the surveince cameras along the road, finally leading back to one of Liu XinTians old factories. So where is he now? Hes still there, we didnt spook him. We are waiting for you toe back. Zuo Chao said, That ce is Liu XinTians territory, so we cant exactly charge in directly. Just keep an eye on him for now, wait for my orders. After hanging up the phone, Lu Shang was going to stand up. He felt dizzy, his body trembled. Somehow, he couldnt stand up straight. Uncle Yuen walked up to held Lu Shangs arm, that was when he sensed Lu Shangs skin burning up. Uncle Yuen asked in shock, How did you get such a high fever? Lu Shangs face was paper-white, his thoughts were far away from here. Lu Shang lifted his head to look at the crowded waiting area, and in his eyes, there was a rare hint of confusion. Could there be so many coincidences? A burry happened in RuiGe, of all things, the report happened to be stolen and then Li Sui got a visitor. With these three things happening together, linking them and organizing them, Lu Shang already knew most of what happened. He knows Lu Shang lowered his head again, his long fingers rubbing the phone he just unpackaged a while ago. A wry smile surfaced on his face. What did you say? Uncle Yuen asked. Uncle Yuen, Lu Shang snapped back, and he said, Do something for me. Caught in the holiday traffic jams, they were stuck on the highway for a long time. When they finally got back to the city, it was already veryte at night. Uncle Yuen was worried; he wanted Lu Shang to go to the hospital first. Not sure if it was due to the fever or because Lu Shang was going through a lot, Lu Shang seemed to be very out of it, he only replied, Go home first after a long period of time. The city was different from HaiNan, the outdoor temperature was just intolerably cold. The second they got out of the car, the bone-chilling wind and air hit on them, even breathing took courage in this weather. Lu Shang walked onto the terrace to see Li Sui sitting on the steps to the house, scraping a piece of bamboo. Li Sui was wearing only one shirt in this freezing weather. Lu Shang froze for a bit, then he walked over slowly, What are you doing? Li Sui raised his head; they stared at each other for a while, then Li Sui gave Lu Shang a light smile, I am making a fishing rod stand. Lu Shangs gaze was glued to Li Suis face; he was trying to find any hints of awkwardness from Li Suis expression, Why are you making a fishing rod stand? To give it to you as a present. Li Sui continued scraping the piece of bamboo, then he stopped and put the knife down. It seemed like he had been thinking over which words to use, It was my faultst time, I was drunk, and I wasnt thinking straight. I apologize, so please dont be angry anymore. Is that okay? I wasnt angry. Lu Shang was shivering in the cold wind, he opened the door, Lets go inside, its cold out here. Li Sui froze, then he followed Lu Shang into the house. The living room was so much warmer than being outside, and in the air, there was the lovely smell of food. Aunt Lu knew Lu Shang wasing back today, so she prepared a whole table of delicacies. Lu Shang didnt have an appetite, and when he smelled the odor of food, he couldnt help feeling nauseous. Suffering from a high fever for the past few days, his appetite had basically fallen to the pits of hell, and he probably needed to get a nutrient injection soon. Li Sui handed Lu Shang an opened box, I bought a fishing rod, I think it suits you. When you have free time, we can go try it out together? Lu Shang was still staring at Li Suis face, he only looked at the contents of the box after a while. The merchandise was a high quality one; Lu Shang knew with one simple look that Li Sui put in a lot of effort in choosing the gift. Put it there. Li Sui didnt lower his arm, he was looking at Lu Shang with begging eyes. Lu Shang averted his eyes, but he still ended up taking the gift. After receiving the box, Lu Shang put it on the side. Dinner was gloomy; Lu Shang only had a small bowl of white congee, he didnt even touch his pair of chopsticks. You dont have an appetite? You look thinner than before. Li Sui asked. Lu Shang was tired, and he didnt have the strength to exin, so he just said, I ate on the way back. At the end of their dinner, Lu Shang looked at Li Sui a few more times, and after hesitating over and over again, Lu Shang finally decided to speak, Ive prepared a student visa for you, one of the best schools in California. Uncle Yuen will give you some money, it should be enough until you could support yourself financially. Li Suis movements stopped, as if he suddenly didnt understand Chinese anymore, he processed the sentence for a long time. When he spoke, his voice was trembling, You are you sending me away? Are you still not forgiving me? Its not about that. Lu Shang thought for a bit, he had something to say, but found that difficult, so he just gave up and let it be. Is it because I know about thepatibility report? Li Sui finally asked, he looked at Lu Shang with heavy eyes. Ive never nned on hiding it from you. Lu Shang frowned, he couldnt look at Li Sui anymore, Li Yan could find you, he could also find others to catch you. If you stay here, you will be their hostage against me. The Li family was in ruins, so Li Yan hated Lu Shang to his core. Li Yan wanted nothing more than for Lu Shang to drop dead from his heart disease as soon as possible. Naturally, he wouldnt want Lu Shang to get a heart transnt. Li JinYao was still in jail, so Li Yan was afraid to make huge moves. However, when Li Yan found that trying to wreck Lu Shang and Li Suis rtionship was useless, he would definitely go after Li Sui. The most important thing now was to send Li Sui away to a safe ce. If thats the case, why dont you immediately arrange for the surgery now? You need a healthy heart, right? Li Suis eyes were filled with emotions as he stared at Lu Shang, All you need is a simple lethal injection. Lu Shang, you know already, Im willing to do anything. For some reason, Lu Shang was extremely sickened by what Li Sui had just said, A heart transnt isnt the only treatment there is for me, I dont need you anymore, so you can go. If what you say is true, that you dont need me anymore, why would I be a hostage against you? Why do you need to waste resources to send me abroad? Li Sui refuted. Lu Shang didnt know what to say, though he had worked in business for over ten years, and he was well-versed in debates. He wasnt scared of people injuring him, nor was he scared of his health condition, but for some reason, he was scared that this person here would get hurt. Why was that? An answer was bouncing up and down in his mind, but he just didnt dare admit it. Li Sui, please be good. You dont make me worry. Having rushed back from the ind, Lu Shang was already exhausted. Now that Lu Shang was sitting at the dining table, he only felt dizzy; it was also difficult for him to breathe. Lu Shang didnt want Li Sui to notice, so he ced his arms on the table, using his hands to support his own body. Lu Shang. Li Sui lifted his head, the corners of his eyes were slightly red, Do you love me? Chapter 32 - The Breakout Chapter 32: The Breakout Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Li Suis deep ck eyes were now filled with sadness. This was the first time Lu Shang clearly felt that the person sitting across from him was a manLi Sui wasnt the little boy who could be easily deceived anymore. Not even a little? Li Sui asked, trying his best to hold his tears. Li Sui was pleading with his eyes, he said with a trembling voice, From beginning to end, did you treat me nicely only because of thatpatibility report? Lu Shang answered Li Sui with silence. Li Suis questions were like broken pieces of ss, piercing straight into his heart, it was suffocating. Lu Shang couldnt give a reply, he also didnt know what to answer. I see. Li Sui nodded his head whileughing at himself. Lu Shang seemed to be really tired, he only stared at Li Sui, he opened his mouth a bit but ended up not saying a thing. Over the past year, Ive been searching, searching for a way to heal you. I considered many options, asked many people, read many books. The only thing Ive never thought of was that the cure for you was in me all along. Li Sui smiled, Lu Shang, I am actually really happy. At least at least you could be saved. From the second Li Sui saw Lu Shang entering the front gate, he had given up, he was going to give in to fate. There was a part of Li Sui which even he himself didnt want to admitthat even if he knew Lu Shang was going to gouge his heart out, hed willingly let him. Stop talking. Lu Shang cut him off, his voice was repressive, I wont be having a heart transnt, so just stop talking. Why? Li Sui stared at Lu Shang with sharp, interrogating eyes. His gaze was piercing, Lu Shang didnt want to look at him, he averted his eyes. Lu Shang was heating up, his ears were ringing, and his chest hurt, he really didnt have the strength to talk. Why? Li Sui repeated the question, his eyes were still as sharp and relentless, as if he had to see through Lu Shang or else. Lu Shang was in so much pain that his back was covered in sweat, he couldnt take it anymore. He did his best to stand up, heading upstairs. When Lu Shang walked past Li Sui, Li Sui grabbed hold of his arm, Li Sui asked, Are you going to run away? The two of them stared into each others eyes, then Lu Shang said in a small voice, I have nothing to tell you. Youre barely 20 years old, what do you know. Li Sui looked at Lu Shang, and his expression changed slightly, Do you really think that I know nothing? Li Sui closed in on Lu Shang, his eyes drooped a little as he said, When something happened to me in the training camp, why did you put so much effort in finding me? You even used your connections to get the military involved. On the surface, you seemed indifferent to my problems at work in Tong Yan, but then you helped me sweep all the obstacles away, why? When I kissed you while I was drunk, why didnt you refuse? Why did you react to me? Li Suis eyes darkened, he slowly pulled Lu Shang into his embrace. He said right beside Lu Shangs ear, Lu Shang, do you know how sad I was when I saw you lying on the surgery table? Do you know how much I want to kick away all the people who annoy you when I see how much youre suffering? Do you know how much willpower I have to use just to stop myself from assaulting you every night? I dont just love you, I also want to Li Sui didnt finish his sentence, but just the unfinished version was enough of a shock to Lu Shang. Lu Shang never knew that this kid had already reached this stage when it came to their rtionship. Please dont kick me away. Li Suinded a light kiss on the nape of Lu Shangs neck, his voice was filled with aggrievement, I love you. Please dont rob me of the right to stay by your side. Lu Shang subconsciously pulled his neck away a bit. Li Sui was hugging Lu Shang really tightly, as if Li Sui was afraid that Lu Shang would get away. Li Sui was holding him so tightly that Lu Shang felt his arm went numb, he couldnt help but wiggled his body for a bit, Can you let go with your hand first Im not letting go. Li Sui forcefully pulled Lu Shangs head back, raining kisses from Lu Shangs chin down. Li Suis hand delved into Lu Shangs coat, unbuttoning the buttons on his shirt one by one, I know that you sent Uncle Yuen and Aunt Lu away so that you could talk with me alone. Lu Shang only felt numbness in his brain, his fever made him slow and his head was spinning, at that moment he couldnt really grasp what Li Sui was saying. What are you doing? Lu Shang frowned, You umm. Li Sui bit Lu Shangs lips, that stuffed all the words Lu Shang was going to say back down his throat. It was definitely not a gentle kiss, both of their lips had a bit of blood when Li Sui moved away. Li Sui intentionally breathed out hot air into Lu Shangs ear, Lu Shang, I cant hold it back anymore. I want to take you for myself. You Lu Shang trembled uncontrobly, his breathing became unstable as well, his limbs were weak. Lu Shang only felt his body burning up, he only saw the world spinning as he opened his eyes. Li Sui was enchanted, he sucked hard on Lu Shangs neck, a red mark immediately formed on the others pale skin. The feeling of pain from the bite was evident, Lu Shang wailed a little. The hickey was like a mark; seeing his own masterpiece, Li Sui got more excited, he lifted Lu Shang up horizontally, bringing him to the sofa. The coat and Lu Shangs belt fell to the ground, Li Sui pulled open Lu Shangs shirt and prisoned his hands, suppressing the tiny struggling Lu Shang was making was just so easy. Li Sui kissed him again down from the neck, kissing his cor bones, his chest, his navel As if all his shackles were gone, Li Sui ran rampant on the tender skin which he had been dreaming about for an entire year, leaving behind scores of marks that belonged to no one else but him. The lights on the ceiling were blinding, Lu Shangs lips fluttered open and close meekly. Lu Shang began seeing double, the suffocating feeling from theck of air was like ink, spreading in his brain quickly, his consciousness turned blurry. Li Sui licked and bit, exhaling burning hot breaths onto Lu Shangs white skin. His hands greedily slid down along the others flesh, caressing every spot gently until it reached Lu Shangs behind. Li Sui hesitated for a second, his expression darkened, then he forcibly pushed his index finger inside. The sudden pain was like an arrow flying straight towards Lu Shangs brain. Lu Shangs breath stopped at the pain, thest bit of consciousness left him and flew into the air. Lu Shang Li Sui got what he wanted, he mumbled softly beside Lu Shangs ear, in his voice was impatience, Your insides are so hot. The one being assaulted didnt reply. Li Sui froze, finally realizing that the slight struggling from the person beneath him was gone. Immediately Li Sui moved to Lu Shangs face, Lu Shang? Lu Shang was lying on the sofa quietly, his pale bloodless face was limply tilting to the side, his breathing wasnt stable, and his body was slightly trembling. Li Suis brain began ringing in rm, could it be that painful? As Li Sui thought that, he immediately pulled his finger out, lifting up Lu Shangs head not knowing what to do. Im sorry. I did I hurt you? Lu Shangs skin was burning, Li Sui didnt realize that before, as he was too engrossed. Now that Li Sui ced the back of his hand on Lu Shangs skin, Li Sui realized not only was his skin burning up, his shoulders were also shivering as if his chest was in pain. Li Sui looked at the person beneath him, his clothes were all messed up. Li Suis expression changed drastically as it suddenly dawned on him, the color on Li Suis face was gone, as he said with a trembling voice, Lu Shang you have a fever? The continuous pressing force on Lu Shangs hands was finally lifted. Lu Shang frowned as he wore a painful expression. He subconsciously curled himself up, and with how collected Lu Shang usually was, this action made him look as if he was scared. Dont be scared, its fine. Li Sui was nervous, he immediately hugged Lu Shang tightly, I sorry, sorry However, the person in Li Suis embrace still had his lips tightened, Lu Shang didnt open his eyes either, hisplexion was nothing like that of a healthy person. Li Sui was almost going to cry, as he didnt get any replies even after calling out to Lu Shang repeatedly. Li Sui clumsily put Lu Shangs clothes back on, then lifted him up from the sofa, bringing him down to the car garage, Lets go to the hospital. Im sorry. I didnt really want to hurt you, I only want to force the truth out of you. Im so sorry I didnt know you were sick Li Sui brought Lu Shang straight to the hospital, Leung ZiRui happened to be on duty because of the burry case earlier in the day. Leung ZiRui saw Li Sui bringing Lu Shang in, the corners of Li Suis eyes were all red, and he was also mumbling something the entire time. Leung ZiRui froze in worry, he thought something big had happened. Leung ZiRui brought Lu Shang into the emergency room, he was only reassured after doing a preliminary examination. Leung ZiRui found it odd, Lu Shangs health condition was poor in recent days, so having a fever or two wasnt such a big deal, he was wondering why the kid was overreacting so much. That doubt onlysted for a while, as he understood everything when the nurses came to hook Lu Shang up to the medical instruments. Leung ZiRui opened Lu Shangs shirt to find the terrifying hickeys on his neck and chest, Leung ZiRui was so shocked that he almost fell to the ground. He didnt say a thing and directly rushed out to give Li Sui a punch. Leung ZiRui was so angry that the words were lodged in his throat, after a long time of silence, he said, Dont you know he has coronary diseases? Li Sui didnt dodge the punch, he took it head on. After Li Sui steadied himself, he apologized with his head slumping, his eyes had self-hatred written all over them. Seeing Li Suis expression, Leung ZiRui felt his headache intensified, he pointed at him, Good job, brat, you you dare use brute force on him. Li Suis hands were balled into fists, his fingertips were whitened from the strength. Li Sui didnt give a reply, he was biting on his own lips, his head lowered. The sadness on his face angered Leung ZiRui but at the same time shocked him. With how things escted, Li Sui was out of options. If only he was less intelligent and trusted Lu Shangs nonsense, obediently going abroad to study as Lu Shang asked. Either that, or he shouldve never fallen in love with him. Of course, Li Sui would be devastated, having to suffer from unrequited love. Worse still, even when he was actually loved, it was still somehow unattainable. After the injection, Lu Shangs condition stabilized. Lu Shangs fever finally went down when morning came, but Leung ZiRui quickly found a small problem with Lu Shangs heart, so after discussing with Uncle Yuen, Leung ZiRui decided to do a small operation. The nurses and the assistant surgeon were busily preparing for the operation instruments. After checking the anaesthetic, Leung ZiRui nced at Li Sui who was sitting in the corner of the room, Are you going to stay here? Li Sui looked at the unconscious Lu Shang on the operation table, Can I? You can. Leung ZiRui wore a pair of gloves, then froze for a bit, But I suggest that you refrain from looking. Seeing that Li Sui was staring at him, Leung ZiRui exined, The image of an ongoing operation is intense, people who havent gone through professional training wont be able to handle it. I dont want to see you vomiting in here. Li Sui slightly trembled, then he asked, Am I affecting you? You are not affecting me. Leung ZiRui continued working on the things in his hands, You are affecting my assistant. Li Suis gaze moved to the female surgeon standing beside Leung ZiRui, with a surgical mask covering her face, she turned her head to the side shyly. Li Sui stood up and walked to Lu Shangs side, he held Lu Shangs hand for a while, I will wait for you outside. The hand had zero warmth, and it did not reacted to Li Sui. Li Sui held Lu Shangs hand tighter, only feeling pain in his heart. It was only a small operation, so it didnt take long, Lu Shang was pushed out of the room before noon. Compared tost time, Li Sui was more ustomed to the protocols of the hospital. Li Sui wore the sterilized gown and waited patiently in the care unit Lu Shang was in. When he saw Lu Shangs eyes moving meekly, he called the doctors to remove the tubes. Lu Shang was too weak, he was still unconscious when he was transferred to the normal hospital rooms. Li Sui used a straw to feed Lu Shang some water. Lu Shangs eyes opened a little while Li Sui was doing that. Quickly, his eyelids fell down againbut Lu Shang was half-conscious the entire time. At night, Leung ZiRui went to Lu Shangs room to check up on him, he saw that Li Sui was still sitting beside the bed wide awake with empty eyes, that made his heart soften, You should go get some food, he should be awake soon. Li Suis gaze was stuck on Lu Shang, hearing what Leung ZiRui said, Li Sui gently ced Lu Shangs hand back under the nket, the action was filled with affection and reluctance to leave. Lu Shang woke up after about two hours, only Leung ZiRui was beside him. Stop searching, hes not here. Leung ZiRui saw that Lu Shang was looking around the room, so he stopped him. Lu Shang raised his hand to pull the respiration mask off his face. It took him some time to get used to it, then he turned his head to look at Leung ZiRui. Theter had a weird look on his face, and there was anger in is voice, Didnt I warn you before about the dangers of raising a tiger? You like him, right? His tone was pretty sure. Lu Shang turned his head away. Dont try to lie. I know very well how serious your disease is, I know that you arent so weak that you couldnt even handle a brat. You might be able to fool the kid, but you cant fool me. If you didnt have any feelings towards him, you definitely wouldnt let him do that to you. Shockingly, Lu Shang didnt deny. Do you know that you are basically ying with your life here? Leung ZiRui wore a pained expression. Lu Shang lowered his eyelids. He was prepared to endure through Leung ZiRuis anger. Unexpectedly, Leung ZiRui just gave a long sigh, he sounded pleased, Lu Shang, I never thought thered be a day when youd be in love. Before, I used to say that youcked personality and your life was too in. When I tried to put myself in your shoes, though, I imagine that I couldnt do any better than you. Endless checkups, endless number of surgeries. Every night when you close your eyes, you arent even sure if you could wake up the other day. Just thinking about that kind of a grey, colorless life makes me feel gloomy. Lu Shang stared at him, there was shock in his eyes. This is pretty good, really. You got to try out all sorts of emotions and experiences, makes being alive and all the suffering worth it. Lu Shang couldnt help but ask, You dont object? Why would I object? Im your friend, but Im also a doctor, saving people is my job. Leung ZiRui continued after a short pause, I was actually pretty torn myself as well, I was always trying to find a way to save you but also not hurt him. I have to admit, there was one thing that I lied to you about. I asked you to wait, but it wasnt so that you could wait for a new type of rejection suppressant (i), its so that I could find another way. I dont want you to lose hope in living, but I didnt want to take his life, either. T/N: (i) In chapter 2, Leung ZiRui talked about a new type of cyclosporine he was developing. That thing was a kind of immunity suppressant, usually administered after organ transnt to reduce the chance of rejection of the foreign cells. The two of them rarely got time to talk and clear things up, Lu Shang fell into silence for a while; his gaze moved to the window on his side, at the beginning I really only wanted his heart, but I didnt want to feel too guilty about it, so I selfishly wanted him to be willing himself. When it actuallyes to it now, Im somehow really reluctant. Leung ZiRui said hopelessly, Talk about pathetic, you didnt get his heart, instead your own heart caved in; Lu Lao Ban, that doesnt seem like a bargain. Lu Shang wiggled his stiff legs a little, then asked, Where is he now? Leung ZiRui scratched the back of his head, and he said in embarrassment, Well, about that. I was a little too angry just now, so I gave him a hard punch. I guess hes still depressed about it. Yeah, my bad. Help me apologize and smooth things over with him, would you? Chapter 33 - A Decision Chapter 33: A Decision Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations The sky was as dark as ink, and the air pressure was low. It was almost New Years; the people who got off work were already back home, so the streets were quiet. It snowed a few days ago, and there were the remnants of snowmen built by kids in the corners of the streets. Li Sui took his luggage out from the car, and he froze reminiscing while standing on the street. At around this time the year beforest, it was just as cold as it was now, and Lu Shang drove him all over town just to find an open store for a mobile phone. The two of them were still very close back then; two years had passed now and their rtionship turned to this. Li Sui wrecked it with his own two hands. Uncle Yuen got out of the car, handing Li Sui his passport and flight ticket, Are you just going to go like this? Are you not going to tell him first? Li Sui had a pained smile on his face, I dont think hed want to see me again. Hes sick now, and I dont want to make him angry. Uncle Yuen didnt know how tofort him or what kind of advice to give, so he only said, Ive arranged people to pick you up at the airport overseas; you can call me if you have any problems when you get there. Thank you, uncle Yuen, Li Sui said. As if Uncle Yuen had figured out what Li Sui wanted to say, he said, If you want to know how hes doing, you can call me as well, just dont call too much. Li Sui gave Uncle Yuen a grateful look, after nodding his head, Li Sui picked up his things and got on the esctor. As the esctor ascended, the familiar streets slowly disappeared from his vision. Li Sui turned his head back to look at the city, and a strong sense of reluctance rose in his heart; he just had this feeling that if he really took this step, he would never see Lu Shang again. Lu Shang woke up in the middle of the night. He was still alone in the room; the room had dim lights, and he could vaguely see that it was snowing outside. He was used to having a little puppy following around him everywhere, so he just couldnt adjust to lying in the hospital room alone. He wondered where Li Sui was; ording to his usual habits, he shouldnt be too far away. Lu Shang had been awake for such a long time already, but there were still no signs of himthat was truly quite rare. His chest was still fixed to the bed, so there was a limit to his mobility; Lu Shang extended his arm, trying his best to reach his phone on the table. Uncle Yuen happened to knock and enter as Lu Shang was doing that. Why is it you? Lu Shang said subconsciously before he reacted and said, Whats the matter? Ive sent him off. Uncle Yuen said directly. Lu Shang was slightly shocked, he only replied after a long while, I see I guess thats good, too. Lu Shangy back down, his eyes darkened. Lu Shang did arrange for that, getting Li Sui away from all this. But now, hearing from Uncle Yuen that Li Sui was gone, Lu Shang felt as if a huge gaping hole was in his recently operated heart, it was as if everything suddenly became empty. Lu Shang always thought that after peoplee of age, it became harder to have strong feelings for someone, be it liking or hate. Sometimes, people would show affection towards each other for a second, andpletely got rid of it in the next, as if all emotions were mere illusions. However, it was just because you had yet to meet the right person. One day, when you actually found the right one, all the calmness and open-mindedness you thought you had could all be turned upside-down in an instant. The snowfall continued for the entire day, there werent any signs of it stopping soon. Lu Shang had severe postoperative responses, his consciousness was hazy for a long time. Leung ZiRui felt like this had to stop, so he forcibly woke Lu Shang up, trying to chat with him so that Lu Shang would feel better. Not only didnt Lu Shang get better, he threw up on Leung ZiRui. The next afternoon, Uncle Yuen rushed into the hospital room Lu Shang was in. Uncle Yuen saw that Lu Shang was resting, so he didnt know if he should wake him up. Just as Uncle Yuen was hesitating, Lu Shang suddenly opened his eyes as if he had sensed something, Whats wrong? The person who was picking up Li Sui from the airport contacted me, they didnt pick him up. Ive checked the flight passengers records he didnt even board the ne. Lu Shang pondered for a bit, then asked, Did you try calling him? T/N: lol postoperative response my ass, hes all better the second he heard Li Sui didnt go abroad. His cell was turned off, and he wasnt in the house, either. Should I send people to search for him? Lu Shang dropped his eyes as he thought, Li Sui most likely didnt want to leave but was afraid of getting kicked away, so he decided to hide somewhere. The kid was smart, so he probably wouldnt go out of the Lu familys turf, right? Ask Zuo tounch a search, and tell him to call me if he finds Li Sui. Uncle Yuen immediately did as he was told. Unexpectedly, after Uncle Yuen got through to Zuo Chao and exined what happened, Zuo Chao was obviously startled and asked, Xiao Li Zi? He was here about ten minutes ago. After Lu Shang heard, he frowned and asked for the phone, he said, What did he ask of you? Arent you the one who arranged it? He came to ask for Li Yans address; he wanted to ask him some questions. After finishing, Zuo Chao began to realize something was up as well, so he asked, Wait, you didnt ask him to do it? Lu Shang sighed, then directly hung the phone up. Why would he go find Li Yan? Uncle Yuen asked in confusion. What other reason would there be except to trouble Li Yan? Lu Shang feltplicated; he thought that though the kid was still young, the amount of courage he had was definitely not small. Li Sui probably wanted to deal with the liability, Li Yan for him. Lu Shang would never ask him to kill a person though, that was not something Lu Shang would want to see. Moreover, that ce was in Liu XinTians turf; no matter how strong Li Sui was, he was still no match for people with knives or even guns. As Lu Shang was thinking, he called Zuo Chao again, Does Liu XinTian know yet? I dont think so, he doesnt really care for Li Yan either, he just provided him with a ce to live in and a few bodyguards, he didnt care about the rest. Xiao Li Zi didnt drive his car, so Im guessing that he hired a taxi. If I go after him now, I should be able to catch up. The only problem is that if I just bring my men over there, we will definitely get into a fight with Liu XinTians men. Lu Shang held his own forehead; his body had not fully recovered, so hed feel dizzy whenever he used his brain too much. He only felt better after picking up the oxygen inhaler and taking a few breaths. Uncle Yuen ced a pillow behind Lu Shang, letting him rest morefortably on it; Lu Shang contemted for a while before he picked up his mobile phone again. Lu Shang scrolled through the contacts list in search of a persons name, he was trying to find the number of a person whom he never thought he would call. After hesitating for a bit, he decided to dial the number. Director Liu, how about we make a deal? Lu Shang didnt talk much, he cut straight to the point, The port trading area, you always wanted it, didnt you? Hearing that, Uncle Yuen was shocked. As Lu Shang expected, the person on the other end was tempted. What do you want in return? Liu XinTian asked. Li Yan. It was still snowing outside, and everything was blurry outside the window. After hanging the phone up, Lu Shang stared at the screen and asked, Today is New Years Eve? Yes. Lu Shang removed the needle in his wrist, then pushed the nket away, he was going to get out of bed. Before Uncle Yuen could stop him, Leung ZiRui who came over at an unknown time spoke up; he was leaning on the door frame, both of his hands inside theb coat pockets. What are you doing? Im worried. Lu Shang said. Its the middle of the night now, its still snowing outside. Are you crazy? Li Sui wont listen to Zuo Chao, so I must be there. Leung ZiRui was so angry that he almost choked to death, Youre my patient, cant you just listen to your doctors advice for once? Lu Shang looked at Leung ZiRui with pleading eyes, Rui, let me go, I cant live without him. Lu Shang seldom showed weakness towards anyone; Leung ZiRui knew that Lu Shang was poking at his soft spots, but at the same time he felt pleased that Lu Shang was telling him the truth. After cursing and scolding for a bit, Leung ZiRui said, Only this one time, and you better stick your ass to bed when youe back! They drove very fast on the way, they were terrified of Li Sui doing anything before they got there. When Lu Shang got to the factory, Zuo Chao and his men had already surrounded the ce. Where is he? They are both inside. Pushing the door open, they were met with messy boxes, there was used amenities on the floor, the odoring out from inside stank. Near the door, there were a few people kneeling on the ground, and their hands were tied up. Under the dim lights, Lu Shang could vaguely make out the bruises on their faces; those were probably Li Suis handywork, as Zuo Chaos people seldom leave bruises at visible ces. Li Sui was obviously nervous, seeing that the one who entered was Lu Shang, he didnt even know where to put his hands anymore. Lu Shang only nced at Li Sui, he made sure that he was fine and quickly moved his eyes to Li Yan who was sitting on the ground. Such a hugemotion and I thought someone great came. Li Yan obviously didnt get any special treatment from Li Sui. One of his eyes was swelling to the point that he couldnt even open it; even his legs were hurt, so much so that he couldnt stand up anymore. No one would ever think that this proud rich kid who had enjoyed riches for most of his life would be in such a humiliating state. Stop retaliating and go turn yourself in, youd get a lighter sentence if you do. Lu Shang said. Turn myself in? Li Yanughed, Lu Shang, dont forget that I still have a huge gift in store. If my people send the documents to Liu XinTian, what do you think hed do? Lu Shangs expression was cold, Im afraid you lost that chance. Li Yan stared at Lu Shang in silence; Lu Shang continued, This is Liu XinTians turf, how do you think I got in? Veins popped up on Li Yans head, he said with a freezing voice, he betrayed me. You guys are the same after all, are you really that surprised? Lu Shang continued, If I were you, the second I found Liu XinTian, Id give him that information instead of keeping it as ast resort. Just one wrong move and the whole match was set. Li Yans face was grim, his face lost all color. At the end of the day, Li Yan was just an inexperienced brat with an attitude. He was miles away from experienced snakes like Liu XinTian; without his father, the only thing Li Yan had left was his bad personality. He might have put a lot of thought into things, but his thoughts always remained superficial; he wanted to get the wolf but didnt want to go all in, so he lost everything. Liu XinTian, unlike Li Yan, was experienced. He only cared about profit, hed only hurt people if it could benefit him. Li Yans actions were like erratic swings in Liu XinTians eyes. Li Yan seeking protection from Liu XinTian was truly a problem for Lu Shang, but finding profit, Liu XinTian sold Li Yan out without batting an eye, just as Lu Shang had expected. You deal with this. Lu Shang didnt want to talk with him anymore; he turned to give Zuo Chao orders, Wait for his wounds to heal first, then send him to the police station, dont get yourself into trouble for it. After giving his orders, Lu Shang gave Li Sui a look and walked outside the factory. It waste at night plus it was snowing, so no-one was on the streets. As they walked on the granite ground, they could hear intermittentughter from the surrounding houses. Lu Shang wasnt walking quickly, his body had yet to recover; aftering out and breathing in the cold air, he was shivering all over, his breaths were unstable as well. Li Sui followed behind him, keeping himself at around two arms length from Lu Shang. Guilt was written all over Li Suis face, but as he was scared that Lu Shang would hate him more, Li Sui didnt dare apologize. The two of them just walked, and neither of them took the initiative to speak. When did it begin? Even Lu Shang himself didnt remember; he knew he was a pessimist at heart, and because of his health condition, he always thought the world was filled with dullness. After meeting Li Sui, he slowly felt that living was pretty fun, he even wanted to live a few more days. Lu Shang sometimes thought that Leung ZiRui must have jinxed him or something, since everything he said came true. Leung ZiRui warned him about the dangers of raising a tiger. Lu Shang didnt raise him into a tiger, instead he turned into a loyal dog, who even after being sent away came running back. Great doctor Leung also warned Lu Shang not to cave in; well, he didnt cave inhe jumped head-first into it, he was also extremely willing to jump in, not even wanting to climb back out. Lu Shang had lived for 26 years, he always thought his fate would be the same as his father, protecting his own fortune, leading a nd life, then passed away all alone on a quiet night. And now, Lu Shang looked at their long shadows under the streetlights, and he couldnt but feel curious; if hed tried leading a different life, would his destiny be slightly different as well? The two of them walked to the side of the car; Lu Shang stopped, then he turned back to look at Li Sui and said, Im asking youdo you want us to be together? Li Sui froze, then answered, Yes. I have heart defects, I might die any second, arent you scared? Li Sui stared at Lu Shang, and his eyes were unwavering, I am not scared. I might not be able to go on trips, have sex, enjoy fine cuisines with you like a normal person. I dont mind. I might not even be able to stay with you for long, I might be dead in like a few years, and you will have to live in that shadow I leave behind for the rest of your life I want to. Lu Shang closed his eyes for a bit, then said, Come over here. Li Sui walked two steps forward, then Lu Shang said, You asked if I love you? I will give you my answer now. Li Suis body shook; before he realized it, his shoulders dropped, his lips were in contact with something soft and warm. Li Suis eyes widened, less than a centimeter away from him was the person he was dreaming about day and night, Li Sui even forgot to wink his eyes as he was in shock. The soft tongue was like honey flowing out of a honeb, flowing through Li Suis mouth instantly. Li Suis shock turned to disbelief, then he began feeling overjoyed. Atst, he felt like he had melted into a puddle of slightly bitter honey water as their tongues intertwined. It was still snowing; the snow fluttered elegantly onto the vastnd as New Year res exploded in the sky. The two of them kissed without a care in the world, as if there were no one but them. After the kiss ended, Lu Shang let him go while panting a bit, he tilted his head and said, The crazy biting you did before is not kissingthis is. Got it? It was as if Li Sui had forgotten how to breathe, the words were all stuck in his throat, his lips trembled as he felt so happy that all the cells inside of him were ready to run away. After a bit, Li Sui nodded his head gleefully, walking forward to hug Lu Shang, pushing him gently onto the side of the car. Li Sui put a hand on the back of Lu Shangs head, then dly tried out what he had just learned, continuing the kiss that had just ended. Chapter 34 - Hospital Discharge Chapter 34: Hospital Discharge Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Even after returning to the hospital, Li Sui still felt very unreal, as if he were dreaming. Lu Shang was finally at ease, so he fell asleep on the way back, faintly leaning on Li Suis shoulder on the way; he had zero strength left. Li Sui could sense Lu Shang was still burning up, and that made him worry. It was snowing so much, and he still ran all the way out here; even a healthy person wouldnt be able to take it, much less a patient who just had an operation. When they got back, Li Sui helped Lu Shang change back to the hospital gown. After taking off Lu Shangs clothes, he saw the hickeys he made were still there, he bit too hard on some ces, some bruises had hints of purple on the edges. Looking at the bruises, Li Sui felt terribly depressed. Lu Shang seemed to be sleeping very well; he didnt even move a little. Li Sui pulled the nket up, then walked out of the room to find Leung ZiRui. The whole building was mostly empty, no one was in the management office, there were only a few doctors on duty in the emergency room. It was only then that Li Sui rememberedit was New Years Eve, so most people were already home celebrating with their families. Li Sui didnt feel right calling other doctors, so after thinking for a while, he decided to call Leung ZiRui anyways. Firecrackers were burning on the other end of the phone, so it was extremely noisy. After listening to Li Suis description, Leung ZiRui sighed, Its fine, just let him sleep. In the past two days of your absence, he thought you were gone, and he was really depressed, so he couldnt recover well. Now that youre back, hes at ease and dares to sleep. Li Suis gaze moved to the person lying on the bed, and his hands clenched subconsciously. Li Sui, its rare for him to fall for someone, hes basically risking his life for this. So, treasure your time together and live happily, dont fight Leung ZiRui said something else as well, but Li Sui wasnt listening anymoreonly Lu Shang was in his mind. Li Sui sat on the side of the bed, and he held Lu Shangs hand tightly, his heart clenching. Li Sui thought he understood the things Lu Shang did for him clearly, but now that he looked back, Li Sui noticed that this person here did a lot more than he thought. On the surface, Lu Shang never said anything, but behind his back, Lu Shang had prepared almost everything for him. More importantly, Lu Shang always put Li Suis safety first. Perhaps Lu Shang was feeling hot; his lips twitched a little, his mouth sometimes opened up, and the skin around his neck was slightly red. The protrusion at his throat was moving up and down slightly, as his cor bones, evident due to his skinniness, moved along with his breathing. Li Sui pulled down the nket a little, then picked up the wet towel on the bedside table to wipe away Lu Shangs sweat. Lu Shang was in a deep sleep, but even so, he still seemed to have a shred of consciousness remaining. When Li Sui was wiping the sweat from Lu Shangs head, he held onto Li Suis wrist, not really willing to let go. The feeling of being needed made Li Sui feel warm; since Lu Shang wasnt letting go of his wrist anyway, he decided to turn the lights off, removing his own jacket, then snuggling into bed with Lu Shang just like all the nights before. Li Sui fell asleep as he hugged Lu Shang while only wearing a simple shirt. Having Li Sui here had at least one benefit, which was that the patient, Lu Shang, would be more willing to listen to his doctors orders. Lu Shang thought of bitter medicine as monsters and cmities, he was naturally avoiding even medicines that were not going to make him throw up. If he could avoid taking medicine, hed avoid as much as possible. Li Sui finally understood why Leung ZiRui was always so angry with Lu Shangeven Li Sui needed to use lies and sweet talks to get Lu Shang to take his medicine. Is it really not bitter? Lu Shang picked up the medicine while frowning. Li Sui said with a straight and serious face, Its really not bitter, its sweet. As if Lu Shang had just taken out all the courage he had, he put the medicine into his mouth. The second it came into contact with his tongue, though, Lu Shang knew he was tricked. He was just about to spit the medicine out when Li Sui moved over to cover his mouth. Li Sui kissed him, forcing him to swallow the medicine; when Li Sui let backed away, heughed, Its not bitter, right? Lu Shang was amused, he didnt even care about the bitterness in his gullet anymore, Hmn. Its sweet. After the Chinese Valentines, Lu Shang was finally discharged from the hospital and returned to their house. Li Sui found time to buy some New Years supplies, asking Aunt Lu to prepare a whole table full of delicacies, hoping Lu Shang would get better and stronger. Though at the end, most of the food went into Li Suis stomach. Maybe it was because they cleared all their problems up, but after getting discharged, Lu Shang was in much better spirits than before, and color returned to his face. Whenever he had free time, hed go look at the fishing pole Li Sui gave him, and he didnt even want to put it back for bed. Do you want to go fishing? Li Sui walked out of the shower room to see the anticipation on Lu Shangs face, he just couldnt help but ask. Hmn, but its not the right season now. Lu Shang put the fishing pole back into the box, then waved his hand at Li Sui, Come and have a chat with me. Li Sui climbed onto the bed, cing his hands on Lu Shangs waist loosely, pulling Lu Shang to his chest. The two of them looked at each other; Li Sui knew that Lu Shang was about to set some dating rules, but the second he began thinking about how Lu Shang was his lover, he just couldnt help feeling giddy inside. Promise me two things, Lu Shang looked straight into Li Suis eyes. Number one, no matter what happens in the future, dont even think about a heart transnt. If one day, I woke up and found that your heart is inside me, the first thing I will do is to rip it out with a knife, do you understand? Li Sui had aplicated expression, but even with the mixed feelings, he nodded his head, I understand, but you have to take good care of yourself too, dont stay upte and no drinking. If you encounter any problems, tell me, we can deal with them together. What Li Sui said sounded pretty reasonable, Lu Shang nuzzled up to him and rested for a bit, then continued, The second thing, you still have to study. Ive already applied for a ce for you; it willst for two years. Choose a time to go there for registration. Li Sui froze the second he heard they would be separated again, and he immediately showed reluctance on his face. Lu Shangughed a little at the sight, then he continued, But you cane back once a monthif you dont find that troublesome, that is. Not troublesome, definitely not troublesome. Li Sui asked again, Can Ie back twice a month? The two-way trip will take at least two days. If you do that, when will you get any rest? Lu Shang had a pretty smile on his face, his eyelids were half-closed, his Adams apple was sliding slightly, giving off a slothful aura. The color of the lights in the room was warm, making Lu Shang especially alluring as the lights shone onto the side of his face. Li Suis heart twitched, he couldnt stop himself from kissing him. Lu Shang saw the slight changes in Li Suis eyes, he had a light smile as he asked, Do you want to do it? Li Sui froze, his ears turned red, and with a tiny voice, he asked, Is that okay? Lu Shang climbed up from the bed; his hand reached for the drawer, and taking out a pack of condoms and lubricant, he said, Well, since were together, this kind of stuff is unavoidable. Li Sui felt extremely guilty, he moved forward to hug Lu Shang, Im sorry about thest time. Lu Shang patted Li Suis back, Dont overthink it. Uncle Yuen hadnt gone far yet, so if I was really against it, I couldve just screamed and hed havee back in. You The corners of Li Suis eyes turned red. Lu Shang held Li Suis hand as he said simply, Li Sui, I seldom say the word love out loud, and the time I have left might be scarce, but Im going to ce all the emotions Im capable of in your hands. Hints of sourness and bitterness rushed into Li Suis heart. Li Sui had been trying to hold his tears in for all this time, but still he failed. He was prepared to hide his feelings for Lu Shang for his entire life, but one day, he realized that he was inside of Lu Shangs heart as well. His long-empty heart was suddenly stuffed full by the confession, it was stuffed so full that Li Sui didnt know what to say. He only managed to hug Lu Shang tightly and called out his name, Lu Shang Lu Shang let him hug his fill, thenughed a bit, Okay, how long are you going to keep me waiting? Li Sui finally snapped out of the hugging; he wiped his face clean, then moved back a little to take in the sight of Lu Shang clearly. After getting Lu Shangs permission, he moved in tond soft kisses onto Lu Shangs eyes, nose, mouth One of Li Suis hands snuck into Lu Shangs clothes; just as Li Sui expected, Lu Shang was already hard. It was as if a warm nket was covering Li Suis heart; his breaths turned heavy as he followed his instincts and lingered on Lu Shangs skin. Since Lu Shang had been using painkillers and anesthetics for years, his sensory receptors were actually not all that sensitive. Perhaps due to the atmosphere, the interactions at his nerve terminals had been magnified, and just gentle little kisses were able to lit sparks of fire in Lu Shang. Li Sui didnt know anything about skill, he was just gently caressing Lu Shangs skin. Yet, that alone made Lu Shangs breathing chaotic; his body trembled, he was so sensitive that he could almost sense the lines on Li Suis fingertips. The more retained Lu Shangs expression was, the more fueled Li Sui got. Li Sui could almost feel something destructive growing in him, he even felt the urge to just go wild. Li Sui raised his hand to undo Lu Shangs clothes, trailing kisses down towards Lu Shangs abdomen, followed by licking and sucking around the abdominal area. Dont Lu Shang had a hunch what Li Sui was about to do, so he reached his hand down in an attempt to stop him. Let me try, Li Sui said seriously as he moved Lu Shangs hand away. Intentionally, Li Sui raised his head, staring at the blushing Lu Shang, as he put Lu Shangs member into his mouth. Hmm! Lu Shang was frowning hard; his mouth was opened slightly, letting out soft moans that he failed to hold in as his body trembled uncontrobly. Obviously, this was too big of a stimulus to Lu Shang, both physically and mentally. Li Sui was used to seeing Lu Shangs serious and calm expression; the expression Lu Shang had now, being tormented by lust, almost made Li Sui lose his mind. Li Sui really wanted to fuck him as hard as he could, to rip Lu Shangs cold mask clean off, to see Lu Shang sink deep into desire and ask for more from him, to see Lu Shangs face colored in redness and his clothes all messy, asking for his forgiveness. Cheered on by the moans, Li Sui licked and sucked with more force. Li Sui really didnt have much skill, but he did sincerely want Lu Shang to feel good, giving all he had into every movement, and making Lu Shang lose it time and time again. As if Lu Shang was thrown into the clouds, he felt everything blurring as Li Sui bobbed his head. The temperature in the room continued to ascend as watery sounds mixed with thick moans scattered around the room. Lu Shang quickly reached his limits under the ever-growing pleasure; he felt his senses giving out when the numbing excitement filled him to the brim, something he had never experienced before reached his brain, his nerves went haywire for several seconds. When Lu Shangs scattered soul finally returned to his own body, he realized that he waspletely out of breath, feeling ack of strength all over. Li Sui pulled out a piece of paper towel from the bedside drawer. After cleaning up his mouth, he turned around and nuzzled his head up to Lu Shangs face. With a tone that sounded like he was asking for praise, he asked, Did it feel good? This was the first time Lu Shang had sex with someone; he only leaned against the pillow and gasped, staring at Li Sui and didnt manage to say a word. Li Suis eyes met with Lu Shangs gaze, he leaned down to hold Lu Shang in his arms. Lu Shang buried his face in Li Suis neck; he had a slight smile on his face, and his expression seemed a bit overwhelmed. Li Sui smiled as he thought that he was most likely the only one who had seen this expression on Lu Lao Bans face. Are you still fine? Li Sui touched him on the chest, trying to feel his heart. Hmn. Lu Shang said. After resting for a while, he moved his legs a little and said, Go ahead. Li Sui kissed him on the forehead, Tell me anytime if you feel ufortable. Reaching for the lubricant on the side, Li Sui pushed the nervousness in his heart back. He picked a bit of the lubricant up with his fingertips, then quickly reached to Lu Shangs behind, gently pressing the edge of the opening first. Lu Shangs body was really soft and his inside was no exception. Especially since Lu Shang had just released once, his body waspletely unguarded, so entering was quite easy. Li Sui slowly slid his finger in as he observed Lu Shangs reaction. Does it hurt? Li Sui asked; he was still scarred by hisst attempt, hesitant in his heart for fear of hurting Lu Shang again. Lu Shang closed his eyes and shook his head, his expression looked like he was actually enjoying it. Li Sui could also sense that Lu Shangs insides were soft and warm this time, nothing like the stiffness and feverishness he felt when he forcibly enteredst time. Perhaps Lu Shang was rxed now; Li Sui could feel Lu Shangs insides tightening around his finger, getting ustomed to the foreign object, and that made pushing in much easier. Li Sui slowly added up to three fingers, making Lu Shang rx with his words and carefully massaging and expanding his insides at the same time. Li Suis member was long swollen, he was holding back really hard and that made him sweat all over. Even so, his hands werent showing any impatience at all, he continued scissoring his fingers, opening Lu Shangs insides, pressing rhythmically on the soft wall. Lu Shang was tormented so much by Li Suis fingers that his breathing was aplete mess, his Adams apple bobbed a few times, then he impatiently gave Li Sui a look that read OK. Atst, Li Sui stopped the movements on his fingers. He tore out a condom and put it on, bending over to kiss the other; their hot breaths intertwined, and the desire in the room reached its peak. Lu Shang, Li Sui muttered into his ear. One of his hands held Lu Shangs weak waist, while the other grabbed ahold of Lu Shangs finger. Semi-forcibly moving Lu Shangs hand to hold Li Suis hard member, aiming it at Lu Shangs entrance and slowly pushing it in. Can you feel that? You are Hmm mine alone Ah Having to feel the process of being filled in such a detailed way was too much for Lu Shang, in that instant he actually had the impulse to flee. With his own hand, Lu Shang sent the bulging hot object into his body little by little, feeling the hot mass being integrated into himself, merging into one. He opened his mouth without making any sounds as he felt goose bumps forming all over him at the sudden intrusion. At the same time, a painful and indescribable sensation of pration spread through his brain, as if his intestinal wall were melting, enveloping the slowly invading foreign object tightly, trying to make it his own. The entry was slow, but it didnt have any intention of stopping, it thrusted straight to the end at the first go. Fuh Nothing went wrong, so both of them were relieved. Li Sui saw the expression Lu Shang had as he tried to cooperate with him despite the difort, it made him feel indescribably touched, he pulled Lu Shang into his embrace as he kissed him. That action moved their lower bodies along, causing the heat and softness to rub against each other, as if they were electrified. This was a first for both of them, their sensitivities were at their highest, and that sudden stimtion elicited soft moans from them. Li Sui moved his head that was covered in sweat to see Lu Shang lying on the bed beneath him, his neck arching up slightly as Li Sui moved, his eyes were foggy and his hole was stretched open to the limit, enveloping Li Suis member tightly. This scene was at least a hundred times more exciting than the images Li Sui had pictured in his dreams. Even so, he hadnt had his fill just yet. He held Lu Shangs legs up at the underside of his thighs and moved a few times, Lu Shang was defeated by the small thrusts. He tried to retreat backwards by moving his waist a little, but his waist was without strength, so he could basically do nothing but open his legs wide and let Li Sui do whatever he wanted. After several rounds of withdrawing and ramming, Lu Shang waspletely overwhelmed by the pleasure, and his eyes were gradually covered by ayer of watery mist. The room was hot, it was filled with their desires. Li Sui moved gently, leaning down for kisses from time to time, the bed squeaked under their weights, and the shameful sounds of wetness and moans filled the room. Li Sui still had his shirt on, and at that moment, it was a huge hindrance to him, so he took all of it off. Lu Shangy on the bed with his head up a little, staring at him attentively; he found the body in front of him so dazzling that he couldnt even move his eyes away. Li Sui was no longer a teenager; his chest had grown stronger when Lu Shang wasnt looking, and his build was obviously much stronger than Lu Shangs own. His abdominal muscles formed evident lines. In Lu Shangs eyes, Li Sui was just as beautiful as the male models on advertisement posters. Lu Shang panted heavily as he reached his hand out to touch it. Li Sui understood his intentions and caught his hand, putting it directly on his sturdy muscles, he even deliberately flexed a little. While giving a few gentle pushes at his lower body, Li Sui pressed Lu Shangs hand beside the pillow. He then leaned over and intentionally let his hot breaths ghost into Lu Shangs ear, Do they look good? You like those a lot, right? Li Sui was afraid of hurting Lu Shang, so his movements were always gentle, as if he were trying to tickle someone. Lu Shang was teased by the slow thrusts so much that he was in a daze and he nodded without much thought. Getting Lu Shangs affirmation was just so exhrating to Li Sui; he quickly sealed Lu Shangs lips up, as if he could never get enough of kissing. Sensing that Lu Shangs breath was bing more and more ragged, Li Sui decided to just pull him up by the waist, gently holding the whole of Lu Shang up with his hands, making Lu Shang sit on hisp. Lu Shang didnt have enough physical strength, his weak waist couldnt handle all of Li Suis persistence. Afraid that he would just fall over, Lu Shang clung onto Li Suis shoulders tightly, as if he would turn into a puddle of water if he were to be apart from Li Sui. Li Suis desire expanded instantly. He hugged Lu Shang and made a powerful thrust, ramming a lot deeper than he did before, and both of them squinted their eyes under the sensation. Their position made Li Suis member bury deeper into Lu Shang; after embracing each other for a while, both of them were sweaty but satisfied at the same time. Lu Shang began to feel dizzy from the repeated thrusting, tears were hanging off the corners of his eyes and his toes were unconsciously curling up. Looking at the person who was being thoroughly done by him, Li Sui found himself feeling strongly satisfied, both body and mind. This was the first time Li Sui saw Lu Shang in such a statehis eyes were filled with affection and tenderness while clouded by lust. Li Sui rhythmically thrusted into him, the feeling of umting pleasure was unfamiliar to him, and that drove him crazy. Right before they reached the climax, Li Sui couldnt restrain himself anymore, he gritted his teeth and rammed into Lu Shang fiercely a few times, releasing amidst Lu Shangs low whimpers. Li Sui was covered in sweat, and Lu Shang was not any better than Li Sui was, even his bangs were wet. Li Sui kissed him on the forehead, he noticed that Lu Shang was still breathing quite smoothly, only that he was too tired. Lu Shang couldnt even open his eyes anymore and his lips were fluttering open and close to take in air. Li Sui gently pulled himself out of Lu Shang, then ced the man back onto the bed. Li Sui checked Lu Shangs entrance to see that it was not injured, he was only relieved after ensuring that. Lu Shang got out of bed and got a wet towel to clean Lu Shangs body, then he got a new bedsheet for recement. It was dark outside the house, but Li Sui wasnt sleepy; he leaned his head down to kiss his ce of belonging. Happily nuzzling his head up the nape of Lu Shangs neck, he was feeling so blissful that his eyes were puffy. Li Sui used to wonder why he was different from others, why couldnt he sit in a ssroom to study, why couldnt he have aplete and loving family, why couldnt he lead a normal life like everyone else. On this day, he finally got an answerperhaps the heavens were trying to prepare him for this moment. The past was like a cloud of smoke, the times when he was angry, happy, sad none of that mattered anymore. His heart was like an ancient well filled with water, where after many years ofplete silence, the moonlight finally came by, allowing the water to sparkle. Lu Shang took some time off from work, they spent the time as if it was their honeymoon. They both stayed at home, did some cooking and reading, they spent the days enjoying a real sense of domestic life. They seldom had such peaceful and leisurely times. Li Sui didnt want to leave at all; only now did he understand why the ancient emperors would rather indulge themselves in sex then going to the pce for work. If Li Sui didnt have to take Lu Shangs health into consideration, he would also love to just stick to Lu Shang day and night. Despite all that, Li Sui knew in his heart that no matter how lovely these peaceful, loving days were, it was too early for that, or at least it was not the right time to indulge himself in it. Lu Shangs disease was a ticking time-bomb, he had no idea when Lu Shangs disease would rpse. If he didnt get stronger soon and didnt find a perfect solution, no matter how great things were now, it would alle to naught in the futureand that was something Li Sui would never want to see. Every time he thought about that, hed feel the weight of the huge responsibilities that were on his shoulders. It was a new beginning after the New Year, Tong Yan and Mu Sheng were functioning as usual, and the project in HaiNan Ind was also progressing steadily, there wasnt much that required Lu Shangs attention. Lu Shang found time to meet up with some friends, and he brought Li Sui with him to dinner. Neither of them said anything, but the others could see the clues. Xe WeiLan pulled Lu Shang aside after the dinner and asked, Are you guys together now? Lu Shang looked at Li Suis back and smiled, Hmn. Xe WeiLan gasped at the sudden confession, but he was not surprised at all, heughed and asked Lu Shang to invite them over for a meal. Lu Shang promised to do so, and just as he expected, no one would object to him dating someonefor better or for worse. When they returned home in the evening, Li Sui gave Lu Shang the fishing pole rack, which was madepletely by handa gesture filled with sincerity. Lu Shang looked at the letters carved on it and smiled softly, Is this you or me? Li Sui kissed him and said, Its us. The older you get, the less youd react to the world around you. When youre a kid, a tiny joke could roll you off the bed, but when you had grown up, its hard to even move your lips a little. After you grow up, many might find people who are easily touched too emotional. In fact, that wasnt always the case. Some people could still retain those original feelings towards the world, reacting to things with pure love or hate, even after experiencing the pains, joys and sorrows of life, and going through the ups and downs life had to offer. No matter how much waves time would bring, they could still retain his own rity. The world never had a set track, children might not always be naive, and adults might not be all sensible and correct. Some people used time to polish their hearts, while others used their hearts to polish time. Drifting with the crowd is easy but having a determined heart like that of a child is difficult. Lu Shang sat in his vine chair and watched Li Sui concentrate on packing his luggage in the living room. He thought that perhaps because of this, the person in front of him was especially precious, because he had a genuine, pure and bright heart (i). T/N: (i) This is actually referring to the title The Heart of a Smith which is a term in Chinese that means people who have a genuine heart. Chapter 35 - Two Years Chapter 35: Two Years Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Two yearster, at the International Airport. Li Sui strode out of the airport, his eyes locked onto a ck limousine by the roadside, he smiled lightly and walked over leisurely. Lu Shang. As soon as Li Sui pulled the car door open and saw the man whom he thought of day and night, he just couldnt wait to pull him into an embrace. Are you hungry? Lu Shang smiled as he felt up Li Suis shoulders, It seems like youve grown more muscles. Im not hungry, I just had food on the ne. Li Sui let go of him, tilting his head to the front seat and said hello to the person there, Uncle Yuen. Uncle Yuen nodded in return and asked, Are we going home now? Lets go home, Li Sui said while holding Lu Shangs hand, staring at him attentively, as if he had to get the missed shares of not being able to see Lu Shang for the past few months back at once. Lu Shang was still as gentle and elegant as ever. Even a simple windbreaker jacket looked ssy when Lu Shang was the one wearing it. His usual furrowed eyebrows seemed to have loosened up a lot. A pair of thin-rimmed sses sat on Lu Shangs tall nose, giving him a more bookish look. Why are you wearing sses? Li Suiughed. A friend gave it to me for protection against UV rays. Lu Shang pushed the sses on his nose, Does it look good on me? Li Sui couldnt move his eyes away, It suits you very well. It wasnt the sses that looked good, but the person wearing them. Every time Li Sui looked at him, he felt a little more drawn to it. If Uncle Yuen werent in the front, he would have jumped to kiss Lu Shang already. The air-conditioner in the car was running at its maximum, Li Sui was blown by the hot wind and got really sweaty, so he just took his coat off, Why did youe in person? Next time Ill take a taxi, its going to turn cold again, so dont go out. Lu Shangughed at him, There is still a next time? Only then did Li Sui remember that all his sses at the school were over, and he had all received his degree certificate. He should have been back earlier three months ago, but he just happened to get a rare internship opportunity, so he stayed there for a while longer, and even made a deal with thepany on an Export Trading Project. I forgot about that Li Suiughed. When Uncle Yuen saw them talking andughing on the rear-view mirror, he couldnt help thinking about the thing that happened when Lu Shang was going out, he still had doubts about that. In the afternoon, Lu Shang nned on driving to pick Li Sui up from the airport. As soon as the car drove out of the yard, the sound of a sudden brake came from outside the door. Uncle Yuen rushed out to see that the car engine was already off, and Lu Shang seemed to be a little frightenedhis hands were clenched tightly on the steering wheel, and his eyes had no focus. What happened?, Uncle Yuen immediately asked, as the vehicle had clearly veered off course, almost hitting on a tree. Lu Shang steadied his breathing, when he raised his head up again, the rity and focus in his eyes were back, I forgot my sses. Uncle Yuen brought Lu Shangs sses out from the house for him, he saw that Lu Shang still seemed out of it. The condition he was in didnt favor driving, so Uncle Yuen proposed to drive him to the airport instead. Originally, he thought Lu Shang would refuse, but to his surprise, Lu Shang actually agreed and sat in the backseat. Li Sui answered a phone call in the car, he spoke fluent English and seemed to be bargaining with the person on the other end of the call. Li Suis businessman traits were clearly shown from his temperament. When he finished the call, Lu Shang asked, A border project? Yes, its a US-Sino cooperation project, Li Sui said; when it came to professional matters, his tone sounded a lot more serious. Establishing a tightwork ofmercial transport points at different ports, then using point-to-point intermodtion to greatly improve transport speed, saving time and resources. Lu Shang was listening with quite a lot of interest, Not bad, tell me more when we get home. Uncle Yuen saw them off up to the door, then turned around to leave, saying that he needed to refuel the car. Li Sui led Lu Shang out of the car, and as soon as they stepped foot inside the house, Li Sui pressed Lu Shang against the door for an intimate kiss. After being apart for more than three months, both of them were excited to see each other, simply exchanging saliva was nowhere near enough, they almost started doing it at the doorway. Li Sui forced the brakes quickly, instead of continuing at the doorway, he carried Lu Shang upstairs and the two of them had lots of fun in the bedroom,ing out only when the sky had turned dark. Li Sui might have tormented Lu Shang a little too much; he watched as Lu Shang fell into a deep sleep in his arms, unable to stop the rising sense of guilt. Li Sui had always shown restraint in their sexual affairs. Only when Lu Shang was in great health would he try to bring his desires to life, but this time they were separated for too long. He couldnt stop himself froming onto him a little too strongly. By the end, Lu Shangs physical strength was obviously failing to keep up with him. Not only did Lu Shang said nothing about that, he even teased Li Sui with his words, making Li Sui more fired up. After releasing their desires, Lu Shangy in Li Suis arms and fell asleep, naked. Li Sui bowed his head to kiss Lu Shang on the forehead, then massaged Lu Shangs waist while staring at the way Lu Shang was sleeping. Over the past two years, the two of them were apart more than they were together. Although they did that for studies and career respectively, Li Sui still found that regrettable. Now that he could finally be with him, he really hoped that time would pass slower. At nine in the evening, Li Sui knew that if Lu Shang kept on sleeping, he would miss dinner, so he woke him up gently. Aunt Lu had already warmed up their meal, she was now sorting out the dirty clothes from Li Suis luggage for cleaning. After going abroad for his studies, Li Sui had missed Aunt Lus home cooked meals a lot. He had three huge bowls of rice, followed by drinking two bowls of soup, and he was so satisfied that it almost brought him to tears. Lu Shang watched as Li Sui stuffed his face with food, he was amused and worried at the same time, Did you not eat anything over there? Li Sui shook his head and said, You werent there, so the food did not taste as good. Theres pear water too, do you want me to get you some? Lu Shang asked. Li Suis eyes glowed the second he heard Lu Shangs words, he looked like a huge Shepherd dog who found a bone to chew on. Lu Shang gave a light smile and picked up an empty bowl to get the soup from the kitchen. Just when Li Sui finished the food in his bowl, Li Sui heard the sound of a porcin bowl breaking, the sound came from the kitchen. Li Sui immediately got up and went to the kitchen, Whats wrong? On the kitchen floor, there was a pile of porcin shards. Lu Shang stood behind the pile, looking rather innocent, and he said, It was too hot, I didnt hold it steady enough. Did you get hurt? Li Sui immediately checked Lu Shangs hand and saw redness around his fingertips, he pulled Lu Shangs hand to the tap, washing it under cold water. Aunt Lu heard the noise and came in as well, she saw the broken bowl on the ground and turned to get the broom. Luckily, the pear water wasnt too hot as it was cooked a lot earlier, so Lu Shangs hand wasnt seriously scalded. Li Sui saw Lu Shang blinking his eyes a few times, his eyebrows furrowed as he shook his head, he seemed to be really tired. Li Suis heart sank, Did you stay uptest night again? No, Lu Shang said, then he looked up at Li Sui solemnly, I went to bed at ten oclock. Really?, Li Sui obviously did not believe him. He turned around to ask, Aunt Lu, when did he sleepst night? Aunt Luughed, I think Lu Lao Ban went to bed at threest night. Lu Shang, Over the past two years, Li Sui had been very strict with him. Lu Shang must not skip meals, and should have three meals a day on time, he should go to bed at or before 11pm, guaranteeing eight hours of sleep every day. When Li Sui was home, Lu Shang usually kept his promise, but when Li Sui wasnt home, he could only remind Lu Shang through the phone or ask Aunt Lu to help persuade him. Lu Shang was generally obedient, and he hadnt been seriously ill in the past two years. However, when Lu Shang must choose between work and rest, he would not hesitate to choose the former. Li Sui wasnt happy with that, but he couldnt do anything about it, either. Lu Shang stopped talking. Li Sui looked at Lu Shangs slightly pale face and he felt his heart softening instantly. This way, it was as if Aunt Lu and him had joined forces to bully Lu Shang. Li Sui walked forward and held onto his hand, with a soft voice, he said, Okay, you are tired too, right? Shall we go upstairs to sleep? Lu Shang nodded and allowed Li Sui to lead him upstairs. The next morning, Lu Shang and Li Sui arrived at thepany together; it was truly a refreshing sight, having two handsome guysing in for work together. They attracted a lot of discussion, but Lu Shang didnt give them the chance to guess. He announced at the morning meeting straight away that Li Sui would be appointed as the Assistant General Manager. Then, he quickly finished the admission procedure on the same day. At noon, Li Sui packed up his things and went to find Lu Shang at the office next-door. Lu Shang was still busy writing something, Li Sui knew that he would not stop any time soon. So, he went downstairs to buy takeout and brought it up for Lu Shang. Have something to eat first, you can continue writingter. Li Sui transferred the food to a bowl, then asked, Is there anything I can help you with? I am writing a to-do-list for the hand-over of the Golden Sands Shores Project, Lu Shang said. Leaning back on his swivel chair, he looked at Li Sui with a rather amused look, his eyes were smiling as he said, Are you afraid? Li Sui raised his eyebrows. You must have heard the rumors, anyone connected to this project would be met with a horrible death. Lu continued, Im going to hand this project over to you now. Are you scared? A horrible death? Li Sui repeated, then asked, Werent you overseeing the project before too? Lu Shang nodded. Li Sui smiled and handed the bowl of food to Lu Shang, If I could die a horrible death together with you, thatd be great. Li Sui agreed to the task pretty quickly, only realizing after he had agreed, Lu Shang was going to make him leave home again. At night, Li Sui finished packing his bags, he sat on the side of the bed as he gave a long sigh. There is still room for debate now, Lu Shang said while leaning on the bed headboard, he was reading a book. He Li Suis sulky expression a little amusing. Li Sui stared back at him for a while, taking his book away, then pulling his sses off and jumping the man, Are you doing this on purpose? Doing what on purpose? Lu Shangughed. Sending me away on purpose. Li Sui kissed him on the neck. Lu Shang stopped smiling, Hmn Yes. Li Sui moved back a little and looked straight into him from above, Lu Shangughed and said, Im afraid Id die of sexual exhaustion if you dont go away (i). T/N: (i) What Lu Shang said in raws was actually amon four characters idiom that means die of exhaustion, M. The joke is that means spirits or strength originally in the idiom, but it also happens to mean sperm, making the idiom sounds like die from using all the sperms up. ( means spirits or strength, M means use up, means the person, means to die.) mes lit up in Li Suis eyes, he leaned down to kiss him, Lets try that. After two consecutive nights of excessive indulgence in sex, Lu Shang was obviously tired, so much so that he had to take his bath with Li Suis help. Before going to bed, Li Sui thought, he had been running around for the past two years. Now that he was finally home, he had to leave again, as if they were swallow and goose (ii). He felt a little sorry and could not help falling asleep for half a day. T/N: (ii) Another idiom: , its used to describe people who are separated right after they meet each other, the words are basically referring to the swallow and the goose. Swallows and geese are migratory birds, but they migrate to an opposite direction. Lu Shang, whatever you ask of me, I will aplish it whether its climbing up a mountain of spears or jumping into a sea of fire. Moving to Lu Shangs ear, Li Sui continued, But please, dont hide anything from me. Li Sui wasnt even sure if Lu Shang heard that or not, as he just vaguely mumbled, Hmm. The next day at noon, Lu Shang was going to take Li Sui to the airport, but Li Sui objected, Go take a nap. Wait for me to go fishing with you when I return. Since Li Sui mentioned fishing, Lu Shang remembered, There is a special kind of fishing bait sold in the fishing vige near the golden sand coast. Its very useful in fishing for turtles. Can you buy some back for me? Why do you need to fish for turtles? Li Sui put his shoes on, then pointed to himself, Didnt you caught one already? Lu Shang smiled a little, It mutated during growth, I cant control it anymore. Sometimes Lu Shang wondered himself too, Li Sui was such a timid and careful little turtle when he picked him up, how did he grow into the huge Shepherd dog he was now. Li Sui was also very sensitive and smart, he could sense the slightest movements in the grasses. If Lu Shang wanted to do stuff behind his back, he really had to put a lot of effort into it. Li Sui lifted his luggage up to the door, looking back at the people inside, he felt mncholic. Lu Shang pushed the strong feeling of reluctance back, deliberately moving his face away to not look at Li Sui. Even if Lu Shang tried dying it, Li Sui still had to go, Lu Shang was afraid that hed give in if he looked at Li Sui. Even with his changed shoes, Li Sui walked back in suddenly like a gust of wind, cing his hand on the back of Lu Shangs head and giving him a deep French kiss. Then just like the wind, he left the house, getting in the car and drove away. The room was inplete silence. Lu Shangs shoulders seemed to have rxed a bit as he pinched the bridge of his nose. As soon as Li Sui got off the ne, he received a phone call from abroad. Im sorry, sir. We havepared the data of all registered donors in our database to your registered information in our donation center. We regret to inform you that there are no matching heart donors for you at the moment. We will expand the scope of our search. If we find any donors who meet the requirements, we will inform you immediately. Li Suis eyes darkened, Thank you. Its our pleasure to help. A beeping sound came from the phone. Li Sui looked down at all the peopleing and going in the airport, his shoulders slouched lifelessly. Chapter 36 - Island Purchasing Chapter 36: Ind Purchasing Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Two years ago, when Li Sui first went to America, he learned about the charity organization through his school, the organization specialized in matching patients in need of an organ transnt with suitable donors. Although Li Sui knew that Lu Shang had already been searching for years and that most likely included from foreign countries, he still decided to hand in a request form. Even if it had but a one in a millionth chance, Li Sui didnt want to let it go. Unfortunately, it had been three years already, and the miracle Li Sui was hoping for had yet to make an appearance. Li Sui pulled his luggage out, he saw thepany car parked outside right after he stepped foot out of the airport. Li Sui opened the car door to find a familiar face at the drivers seat. I arrived justst week. Xiao Zhaos attitude didnt change at all even with Li Suis new status in thepany, he was still treating Li Sui like he was his friend, Li Sui was quite d about that. Xiao Zhao said, Lu Lao Ban was going toe here himself, but things got really busy at his end, so he said he was going to send someone over, and I was worrying whod that be. I might have to rely on you for the uing weeks. Xiao Zhao waved his hand, Dont sweat it. After two years, the ind had new changes. Li Sui didnt go straight to the hotel, instead, he went to the construction site first. He walked once around the site, inspecting it, everything was familiar as he had been here before with Lu Shang. The Golden Sands Coasts neighboring regions were developing as well, it was slowly developing into a tourist shopping district. The empty beach they visited before were now packed with tourists, anyone could make out that this plot ofnd was getting more and more valuable. Li Sui couldnt even imagine how bustling this ce would get when the construction of the theme park was over. All of these had a lot to do with Lu Shangs ns, he dealt with the rted policies, then ced profit as bait. With both policies and profits working side by side, even the fishermen there followed in on the action, turning their vige into something like a cultural vige for the tourists to visit, Li Sui could see a few seafood wet markets there from afar. The news of Li Sui arriving for an inspection reached every workers ear in no time, most of them had seen Li Sui before, but Li Sui was just a normal teenager following behind Lu Shang back then. Now that two years had passed, Li Sui suddenly became their boss. Though Lu Shang didnt clearly announce their rtionship, the fact that Lu Shang and Li Sui were living together, sleeping together, and basically doing everything together did reach most of their ears. Even without confirmation, rumors did spread amongst the workers like wildfire, so almost every worker knew about them. At the beginning, everyone thought nothing of Li Sui. The workers thought that Li Sui would at most just stroll around the site, just to show that he did something to the other board members and managers. As such, none of the workers cared much about the inspection at first, but soon, all of them realized, Li Sui wasnt just here for a stroll, he was taking over the projectpletely. From the finance team to the construction team, Li Sui didnt let anyone rted to the project go, he did everything on the to-do-list Lu Shang gave him, finishing the takeover efficiently. Lu Shang had made a great start for Li Sui, the incident two years ago was still affecting the construction. Most of the workers were afraid of cking off because of that reordering, there were also less corruption, so it was easier for Li Sui to takeover the project. Obviously, Lu Shang had set a sturdy foundation for Li Sui, as for how the project will turn out, that depended solely on Li Sui. Once Li Sui began working, he found himself so engrossed in it that he forgot the time. At night, Li Sui finally snapped out of working, he then noticed a missed call on his mobile phone, it was from Lu Shang, so he immediately dialed back. The call was picked up after just two beeps. Lu Shang sounded like he was sleeping, in his voice was slothfulness from someone who hadnt woken up fully yet, Are you still busy working? I just got off work. Li Sui turned hisputer off, packing his things and getting ready to leave thepany, Were you sleeping? Hmn. I got nothing else to do. Lu Shang must had made a turn on the other end of the phone, Li Sui could hear the fabrics rustling through the speaker. He felt itchiness in his heart as he heard the sound, he could almost feel the warmthing out from under the nket when Lu Shang turned, as if he could just pull Lu Shang into his embrace right now. Lu Shang. Li Sui walked out of the building. On the roads were cars passing by at high speed, and on the streets were pedestrians, some were chatting happily. Li Sui stopped walking as he looked up at the sky, giving a softugh, Im beginning to miss you. The person on the other end of the callughed a little as well, a lovely voice reached Li Suis ear, How are you missing me, can you be more specific? I want to pull you into my arms, hugging you by the waist. Li Sui whispered close to his phone, Kissing your eyes, nose, and mouth And then? Then, delving my hands into your clothes. Li Sui continued with a smile, Caressing your skin from your shoulders to your chest, inch by inch, then to your abdomen Lu Shangs lowughter came from the other end of the phone, Hmn. Then, holding it stroking it back and forth gently The voice on the other end of the phone changed, hisughter wasnt steady either, Li Sui could hear soft moans mixed in it. Press on the tip, then let go again. Li Sui said with a slightly hoarse voice. Li Sui lifted his head to see a caf, he went in without any hesitation. Did that feel good? Hmn Lu Shang was panting a lot now, Can go a little faster. Then with two hands Li Sui pushed open the Caf door and went straight to the restroom, Rx your body Dont stop The moans became a little more distant from the phone, Lu Shang must had put the phone down. Li Sui closed the bathroom door, he nced at his lower body, feeling his disordered breaths. Lu Shang, give me your hand. Li Sui said, Shall we go together? Here you go. Lu Shang said with difficulty. Li Sui closed his eyes, trying to paint the image of Lu Shang in his mind as his hands began moving as well. Some Jazz music was ying through the speaker above, today just happened to be in the middle of the month, so the moonlight outside the window was bright and round, there were no clouds. The moonlight sprinkled onto the floor without any hindrances, as if ayer of frost was covering the floor. Li Sui was gasping as well. It turned silent on the other end of the phone after a light whimper. Li Sui asked, Lu Shang, have you fallen asleep? There was only regr breathing at that end, the sound was really faint. Li Sui kissed the speaker on his phone and said softly, Good night. Li Sui hung up the phone, then looked below at his still hard bulge, he sighed a little. After washing his hands, he walked out of the toilet, passing the bar. A waiter nced at him, most likely thinking Li Sui was just here to use the toilet. Feeling a little bad for that, Li Sui walked over and bought a cup of American coffee. Li Sui packed the coffee away and headed back for OT. Li Sui was pretty sure he couldnt hold on for an entire month, so he must hurry, quickly finishing all his work here and head back as soon as possible. Benefitted from his experiences of helping Lu Shang with his work documents before, Li Sui got on track with his work very quickly. Li Sui knew Lu Shangs working habits very well, when people bring him documents Lu Shang wrote, it only took him a few nces and hed understand them fully. That saved Li Sui a lot of trouble and time. It was only after beginning work, did Li Sui understood the importance of going to school for education. A lot of problems could be hidden in the little details, it was only because he had learned about these already that he could discern the problems and avoid getting deceived. No wonder Lu Shang was so adamant about making him attend school, it was only after people learn could their eyes broaden. When a person had a broader view, hed see things more clearly and see ahead more urately. Apart from that, it was more convincing to manage his employees when Li Sui had a higher education qualification. After two weeks, Li Sui was already ustomed to the environment on the ind. Today, he went to inspect the construction site with other managers. On the way, Li Sui chatted with a designer of the park. The scenery here at the Golden Sands Shore is really good, but Im thinking, how great would it be, if we could get that TaoYuan Ind (i) too. I mean just the notion of going out to sea for a treasure hunt would attract so many tourists. T/N: (i) TaoYuan Ind (Դu). Literally, it means an ind with peach blossoms everywhere. In tales, it refers to somewhat of a hidden paradise, kind of the western equivalent of utopia or Antis. TaoYuan usually refers to a more modest kind of paradise though, it was described in the literature as a ce hidden amongst peach trees with friendly farmers who lead a simple life. On a side note, remember poor Wong Wai? The poet, Wong Wai wrote a pretty famous poem about TaoYuan as well. TaoYuan Ind? Li Sui asked. Oh, Im talking about the deserted ind 30 km away from here, the inds contract and management rights are up for sale. Some rich people bought it before, nning to build an experimentboratory there, but before they finished everything, thepany went bankrupt. After that the ind went to a few other peoples hands but didnt stay. So in short, its still up for grabs right now. Li Sui went silent, he remembered hearing Liu XingMing talk about the ind with Lu Shang a few years back. Li Sui remembered that they were going to inspect the ind, but at the end they didnt go due to the storm. Now that the designer mentioned it, Li Sui found himself a little curious about the ind, Can we go there and have a look? Sure. There will be ships going there tomorrow morning, I can go with you. The next day, Li Sui arrived on the ind with a few examiners from thepany. The ind wasnt big, but the environment was really good. In the middle of the ind, there was a manmade river, and the riverbanks had rows of tropical trees nted. Beside those were the basic structures of two buildings, they were most likely the remains of theboratory and a vi. They looked around the ind on their own for a bit before thend broker ran towards them, Sorry, sorry, I waste. There was another client here to see the ind earlier today, I am really sorry for the dy. So, this ce is a really heated item? Li Sui said. The broker wiped the sweat off his head, I wish. There are a lot of visitors, but the people who can actually afford it The broker made a zero with his fingers, This many. Is it very expensive? Li Sui asked. The broker giggled a little, then he told Li Sui a price, Li Suis expression shifted a little, Wow, this price is a little ludicrous, dont you think? No, no, no. This price isnt just for the ind, it includes the surrounding marine resources, the contract period is also very long, so its actually worth it. However, normal people really cant afford it, while those who could afford it didnt want to face the risks. Li Sui found it a shame, this ce was really beautiful. The temperature on the ind was nice too, there was no winter here, that would be perfect for Lu Shang who was bad with winter, Lu Shang also liked fishing. If Li Sui could buy the ind, hed build a vi here, maybe nt some flowers too. Then every day, Lu Shang and him could just take naps and go fishing together, when they had nothing to do, they could also go stroll beside the river and go out to look at the sea, how lovely would that be? As Li Sui was dreaming about that, the broker got a phone call. The broker jumped up ecstatically after hearing something from the phone, he screamed, What? Hes going to buy it!? Everyone was confused, the broker ended the call, then held Li Suis hand, You are my lucky charm, sir! This ind has been wasting here for more than two years already. Today, its finally sold. Li Sui asked, Who is buying the ind? The broker said, Its the Big Lao Ban who came on the ind earlier. Come,e, I will bring you to him. Under the influence of curiosity, Li Sui followed the broker to the vi. The door opened, and Li Sui saw the Big Lao Ban the broker spoke of. The two stared at each other, then they basically said at the same time, You again? SiMa JingRongs brain froze a bit, then smiled, putting his hand on Li Suis shoulder. Introducing Li Sui to the broker, he said, This is my bro, weve gone through life and death together! What are you doing here? Li Sui asked. To buy an ind of course. My dad gave me some money, I didnt know where to spend it, but I just want to buy something. So, I was here to do some snorkeling and I saw that theres an ind on sale here, so I thought, why not buy it? Seriously though, why were some people born with a silver spoon in their mouth? Li Sui sighed, then asked, You are just spending money like this? Does your father know? He doesnt care about me, he only care about my little brother. Li Sui noticed, SiMa JingRong didnt call SiMa Yan by his name anymore, he called him as his little brother. So, what are you going to use the ind for? Li Sui asked. SiMa JingRong rubbed his hands together in thought, he said, I dont know, havent thought about it yet. Maybe renting it to someone? SiMa JingRong saw Li Suisplicated face, he asked, What? Do you have any suggestions? Yes. Li Sui said, I suggest you renting it to me. After hearing that, SiMa JingRong pped Li Suis shoulders and said, Great idea! I will pay for it, you will do all the work. If you get a profit, we can share them, awesome! The more SiMa JingRong thought about it, the better he felt about this whole idea, I dont have to worry about anything, and you dont have to worry about money, this is two birds with one stone! Li Sui was just joking at first, he never thought SiMa JingRong would get so serious about it, he didnt really know what to reply at that moment. SiMa JingRong stood beside Li Sui, then basically made a decision for him, not letting him off the hook. SiMa JingRong called the broker over, So, its decided. Mr. broker, lets sign the contract, itd be easier for me to pay. SiMa JingRongs excitedness still hadnt gone down after they got off the ind, he kept rambling on. The price was truly high, but to the SiMa family it wasnt really all that much, but Li Sui just couldnt shake off the feeling that SiMa JingRong bought the ind because of his words. He felt a little guilty about that, so he said seriously, I will rent it from you for now, paying you the rent annually. After two years, when the constructions are done, you can evaluate the price of the ind again and I will buy it from you. Dont be a stranger. SiMa JingRong said being confused, You are Mu Shengs shareholder too, just your annual dividendst year should be more than this little bit of money. If it wasnt for what SiMa JingRong said, he would havepletely forgotten about the shares he had in Mu Sheng. Lu Shang bought those shares in Li Suis name two years ago, Lu Shang never told Li Sui about the dividend, but if that was what Lu Shang decided, then Li Sui wont question it. Well, then thank you. Li Sui said. Since the two of them happened to run into each other, they went for hot pot together at the afternoon. SiMa JingRong orderedmb meat, when the pot and the meat were brought in, Li Sui froze, he remembered that Lu Shang liked eating this a lot too. Ive had too much seafood these days, Im so fed up with them. SiMa JingRong reached for the sauce te, then said, What are you spacing out for, how could you space out even when theres food? Li Sui snapped back, he stared at the sauce te SiMa JingRong was holding and asked, How do you eat that? Its all chili peppers. What do you mean how. Food is only tasty with chili peppers, Im not eating anything without chili peppers. SiMa JingRong poured themb meat into the hotpot, thenughed, Say, wasnt our first fight about sauces too? Talking about the past, Li Sui sighed a little, Back then, I thought Lu Shang didnt like spicy food, but now I know that he just cant eat them. Oh? Speaking of Lu Shang, SiMa JingRong remembered, What happened to you guys after that? Did you do as I said? A smile surfaced on Li Suis face, he nodded, I gave him a fishing rod, he likes it a lot, couldnt even get him to let go of it. Hehe, see, Im right. SiMa JingRong hit his own chest, boasting himself, How about that. Your bro is great, right? Li Sui only smiled, only he knew that Lu Shang didnt forgive him for a fishing rod, Lu Shang had never been angry at him in the first ce. While the two were eating, Li Sui got a call, it was from Uncle Yuen. Seeing the callers ID, Li Sui immediately had a very bad feeling. Uncle Yuen? Li Sui walked to a quieter area, then asked, Did something happen to Lu Shang? No, not him. Uncle Yuen continued, Its Zuo Chao. Brother Zuo? Yes, today, Zuo Chao brought some men over to the port trading area to get a fixed car back. They happened to meet Liu XinTians people and they got into a fight. That side called the police, Zuo Chao was too angry and he refused to go peacefully into police custody. So, the police had to forcefully bring him in, hes in holding right now. Uncle Yuen continued after a short pause, Mr. Lu should be taking a nap right now, Ive just called him but he didnt pick up. You are familiar with Zuo Chao as well, so I wanted to ask for your opinion first. What didwyer Xe said? Li Sui asked. He went to negotiate immediately, but as they say, even a strong dragon cant deal with a snake thats in its own turf. This might be really hard to deal with, Liu XinTian is waiting for a chance like this for a long time already, theres no way hes going to let this go easily. Uncle Yuen said. Wait, isnt the port trading area one of the Lu familys turf? Uncle Yuen froze for a bit, then said, Emm, yes It was our turf before, but Mr. Lu gave it to Liu XinTian. Li Sui could hear the changes in Uncle Yuens tone, what happened two years ago came to mind, it was the day when Li Sui went to find Li Yan. Li Sui remembered Lu Shang saying something about that, his heart shook, It is because of what I did. Li Sui didnt use a questioning tone, and Uncle Yuen didnt deny it either, he just said, Zuo Chao was used to being the boss there, he naturally didnt like the idea of it suddenly bing someone elses turf. The most important thing now is that he has a history of offenses, though he never did anything too serious, he did hurt a lot of people in his underground boxing days. If he goes under trial, then he will probably have to stay in jail for a long time. This problem was truly hard to deal with, Liu XinTian wouldnt justsh out on Zuo Chao for no reason at all. This was obviously nned, as everyone knew that Zuo Chao was working for Lu Shang, Liu XinTian did this hoping to cut off Lu Shangs ws. Liu XinTian was a powerhouse, not someone Li Sui could easily take on. Moreover, just like Lu Shang, Liu XinTian was Tong Yans shareholder, his family history was quite simr to the Lu familys, so a lot of their acquaintances ovepped. In short, this whole incident was a tug-of-war between the two families strength. Li Sui contemted for a while, then said, I will handle the loose ends here, then Ill immediately fly back. Ill be back at around nine tonight. Do I need to tell Mr. Lu about this first? Li Sui thought for a bit, he probably couldnt keep this under the rugs anyways. Moreover, with the human resources Li Sui had now, he just couldnt win against Liu XinTian, at least not yet. At the end of the day, he needed the Lu familys name if he wanted to deal with this. Tell him, but also tell him not to worry and that Im dealing with it. Li Sui said Chapter 37 - Zuo Chao Chapter 37: Zuo Chao Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations After Li Sui hung the phone up, he immediately began booking a flight home. SiMa JingRong saw the change in Li Suis mood, so he went over to see what he was doing, What happened? Youre going back now? Hmn. Its an urgent matter. Li Sui said as he checked on his phone, he wasnt in luck, the usual flights were either full or cancelled. You dont have to book a flight. If you take my family jet, you can get home right now. After saying that, SiMa JingRong called for the waiter to pay the tab. Are your matters over here done already? Li Sui asked. What matters? Im only here to have fun. SiMa JingRong hurried him, Youre in a hurry, right? That matters more. Fortunately, most of the things Li Sui needed to do here were doneall thats left were small matters which didnt really require Li Suis supervision. Li Sui asked a few trustworthy workers in the hotel to pack up his things for him while he rushed to the fishing vige to get the turtle bait Lu Shang asked for. When Li Sui returned to the house, the sky was still bright, and he was home earlier by at least three hours. No-one was in the house; Lu Shang must have gone out. Li Sui returned without much notice, so Aunt Lu wasnt notified, and naturally she wouldnt be here so early. Li Sui pulled his luggage up, then phoned the people in the bamboo dojo to get a better grasp of the situation. After he had a basic understanding of everything, he knew that this wasnt a problem that could be dealt with anytime soon, so he went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Right after Li Sui finished preparing the bean sprouts, the door moved, and Lu Shang walked inside. Li Sui had a big smile on his face as he turned around to look at Lu Shang, but before he said anything, Lu Shang spoke, Aunt Lu. Make some sweet soup, Li Sui ising back tonight. Li Sui stared at Lu Shang changing his shoes, he asked in confusion, Lu Shang? The person at the doorway was obviously fazed by the others voice, and he raised his head to look at Li Sui, then smiled and said, Youre back. Li Sui was about to say something, but then he saw a purple bruise on Lu Shangs head, and his expression changed immediately, Whats wrong with your head? Did you get hit by something? Its fine. I just bumped into something. Li Sui walked over, holding Lu Shangs face up for a careful inspection of the bruise, then he said with worry, If you got hit a little further down, then it might have hurt your eye. Does it hurt? Did you apply medicine on it yet? No, its just a small wound. Lu Shang didnt put much thought into it; he picked up his sses from the drawer, then asked, Youre so early today, have you finished everything already? More or less. Today, I came back with JingRong. Li Sui went for the first-aid kit in search for cotton swabs and medicine, Uncle Yuen told me about the problem with brother Zuo, so I came back to help you. Thats exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. Lu Shang took his zer off, he sat down on the sofa and said, I have already sent people to look after him at the holding center. However, getting him out on bail might not be easy, that would definitely take a while. Did he fight them? Li Sui squatted down in front of Lu Shang, then picked up some of the medicine using a cotton swab, carefully applying it onto Lu Shangs forehead, Hold still. Lu Shang closed his eyes and let Li Sui apply the medicine on him, No, he didnt, but one of his men did. That person even had weapons, the police found it on him. Zuo Chao was their leader, so he would be held ountable either way. So, it could be said that he did fight, theres no getting out of that. Yes. What we have to be clear about is that he really did something wrong. We dont have to think of ways to cover that up, what we need to focus on right now is how to get him Lu Shang opened his eyes to see Li Sui staring at him with heavy eyes, so he asked, Whats wrong? Li Sui said, Give me a hug. Lu Shangughed, he opened his arms, and the second he did that, Li Sui jumped him, hugging Lu Shang tightly. Li Suis chin was rubbing on Lu Shangs neck, his eyes smiling happily, Ive missed you a lot. How are you getting more childish the older you get? Lu Shang smiled as he patted the back of Li Suis head. Dont care. Li Sui tightened the hug then said, This minute is mine, even big brother Zuo has to stand aside. Somewhere in the holding center, Zuo Chao sneezed in the dark, cursing, Damn, this ce is cold! After some time, the sound of a lock turning came from the door, then the door opened. Someone obviously walked in, then froze, then that person closed the door and went back out. That was when the two finally let go of the hug, they stared at each other in a second of confusion, then bothughed. Ask Aunt Lu toe in, its cold out there. Lu Shang hurried Li Sui. Neither of them ate much for dinner. During the meal, Li Sui reported what he did in HaiNan briefly, and what he got was a simplepliment from Lu Shang, Quite good, youre no doubt my student. So this time, let me deal with this. Li Sui said. Lu Shang thought for a while, then said, You cant do it alone. Tomorrow, Ill ask Xe WeiLan to tell you the details about the situation, you should discuss with him. Theres actually one more problemZuo Chao has a car factory which buys stolen cars off and revitalizes them, then sells them again. Now that Zuo Chao is in the holding center, the illegal parts of this factory will be a problem, so we need to deal with that as well. Li Sui nodded his head seriously. At night, both of them had a lot on their minds. Lu Shang and Li Sui took a simple bath together. Li Sui noticed that Lu Shang was tired during their bath, so he massaged the spot on Lu Shang where he read was beneficial to the heart. After that, they fell asleep on the bed embracing each other. The next morning, Li Sui went out very early. When he was studying abroad, he did study a little aboutw; though it might be different from the maind, this knowledge was still applicable in some cases. After discussing with Xe WeiLan, they decided to start with the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate. As for the holding center, they didnt even think about going there. Since the head of the holding center was one of Liu XinTians uncles, so they knew that going would be useless. Luckily, a warden there was indebted to the Lu family, so he guaranteed that Zuo Chao wont be mistreated there. Xe WeiLan basically broke his legs running around in the past days, he asked everyone he knew for favors. Perhaps because both Liu XinTian and Lu Shang were involved, most people didnt want to be a part of this, because no matter which side theyd offend, it would be bad for them. Among the people Xe WeiLan found, they either hid from him by taking the day off or pretended to be useless. In short, they all had the same stance, remained neutral and did things by thew. Doing things by thew sounded good and all, but in fact, that was against in Zuo Chao. After all, he really did illegal deeds, so how serious would his sentence be? They did not have a say in that. A decision has arrived about the congressional hearing, it will be held next week at the earliest. This week, we need to go meet with everyone who will be a part of the congressional hearingmittee, Xe WeiLan said; he hadnt slept for days, so his eyes were swelling. Li Sui sighed; it had been three weeks already, but there was zero progression on the case. If this incident happened in the Lu familys turf, then hed definitely be out already. Yeah, its basically just fighting on the streets. The one who got injured just has a little scratch, hes still staying in the hospital just to put the heat on Zuo Chao. Ive never seen someone so thick-faced. Xe WeiLan shook his head, then asked, Oh, what did you do with the car factory? I shut it down for renovation. What!? Li Sui turned his head back, then asked, What? You shut his factory down? Xe WeiLan asked in disbelief. Li Sui frowned, The factory was illegal to begin with; if it keeps on running, then itd be bashing material for the prosecutors. Moreover, Ive visited the factory, and the employees there arent good people, either. Brother Zuo just got arrested and they were already thinking about ways to profit from his absence. Besides, their leader is gone, what if they go out and pick a fight again, then it would be even harder for us to get Zuo Chao out. Xe WeiLan slowly realized that Li Sui and Lu Shang seemed to do things in simr ways, but in fact they were very different from each other. Lu Shang was gentler, hed give people warnings first, then use force afterwards. Li Sui was still young, so he didnt hide his sharpness, he valued the results more than the process, also, he didnt mind pissing people off. Okay then, if you say so. Xe WeiLan said as he didnt feel right questioning him. It went smoothly at the congressional hearing, reaching the conclusion that the defense posed no threat to society and could be released. Li Sui was really happy, and the second he got home, he reported it to Lu Shang, A decision has been reached at the congressional hearing (i); the Ministry of Public Security (ii) will have to release him in ten days. We can prepare to get brother Zuo back. T/N: (i) The Supreme Peoples Procuratorate is in charge of the congressional hearing. (ii) The Ministry of Public Security controls the holding centre. After hearing what Li Sui said, Lu Shang didnt look as calm as usual, instead he looked worried. The Peoples Procuratorate was in charge of supervising the Ministry of Public Security, and they had bypassed the Ministry of Public Security to force it into submission; that was basically pping the Ministry of Public Security in the face. They were against Liu XinTian, and Lu Shang doubted it would be this easy. Being forceful might show quick results, but there was also another idiomwhen one is too forceful, breaking is inevitable. Then again, this was nothing more than Lu Shangs spections, so he raised his head and smiled, Thats good. Reality proved Lu Shangs spections correct. Ten days had passed since then; Li Sui even arranged a car to get Zuo Chao. Suddenly, he got a call from Xe WeiLan, he sounded furious, What the hell is happening here? Public security just said they are relinquishing their control on the case, so now they are throwing back the case to the Peoples Procuratorate. They couldnt have said it earlier, they had to inform us about this on thest day. So what should we do now? Li Suis voice deepened. Now, we prepare the supporting documents again, and we apply for bail, then wait for the sentence Xe WeiLan sighed, This means that all of the work weve done before had just gone down the gutter. I have no idea when we can get him out with how things are now. Li Sui felt his heart freeze. Li Sui wanted to visit Zuo Chao, but except forwyers, no one was allowed to visit him at the moment. Li Sui had heard from Xe WeiLan about Zuo Chaos living conditions in the holding center. The weather was so cold recently, yet they could only use cold water to take a showerand to shower waspulsory; the food there was also in and nd. Just the sound of it was horrifying enough; moreover, Zuo Chao had been the boss for a long time already, this treatment was definitely not something he was used to. Besides, this whole incident had a lot to do with Li Sui. If it werent for Li Suis rash actions, Lu Shang would have never given the port trading area to Liu XinTian, and Zuo Chao would never fall into Liu XinTians trap. Although Zuo Chao was a mobster, he had a strong sense of justice and he was very loyal. Zuo Chao had served the Lu family for years, and he was also very nice to Li Sui. When Li Suis thoughts trailed to this point, he felt even more anxious. After consecutive days of running around, searching for connections and favors, Li Sui was tired, but he didnt even have the time to have dinner at home. When Li Sui got out of the car, he saw the round moon hanging in the sky, and that was when he realized it had been two months since Zuo Chao was arrested. If Lu Shang were the one dealing with this, the three of them might already be having tea together right now. Are you moon-gazing? A lovely voice reached Li Suis ears. Li Sui turned his head around to see Lu Shang standing at the door, smiling at him. Why are you standing at the door, arent you cold? Li Sui walked over and gently touched Lu Shangs arm; as he thought, Lu Shangs skin was freezing. Just curious about what youre staring at. Lu Shang said as he massaged the corners of Li Suis eyes a little, You have huge eye bags. Li Sui pulled Lu Shang into his arms, cing his head near Lu Shangs, Lu Shang, I feel so useless, I cant even protect one of your people. This was destined to happen, its not your fault, dont punish yourself for the mistakes of others. Lu Shang added in a caring voice, Moreover, he was a little too reckless in recent days. Being arrested is a warning to him, and thats not a bad thingbetter than him growing more reckless and making a worse mistake in the future. Lu Shangs words were very on point; Li Suis mood which had been covered in ck smog for a month was suddenly clearedmuch like the sky with the bright, round moon hanging on it. Li Suiughed, Why are you so good with words? Im not good with words. Lu Shang pulled Li Suis hand to his own mouth,nding a soft kiss on the back of Li Suis hand, I just know what youre thinking. Li Sui stared straight into Lu Shangs eyes, then said, Then guess what Im thinking right now. Lu Shang couldnt hold hisughter back, Indescribable. There were new developments on the next Monday, Xe WeiLan brought news with him in the morning. Zuo Chao caught acute pneumonia in the holding center, so Xe WeiLan applied for medical parole for him. Due to the seriousness of the disease, the holding center was afraid of being held responsible if anything happened to him, so they quickly allowed it. Zuo Chao was promptly transferred to a hospital in the city for treatment. Is it serious? Li Sui asked. Xe WeiLan made a secretive look, then whispered, Whether its serious or not isnt important, whats important is the hospital says that its serious. Li Sui immediately got what he was trying to insinuate, Oh, someone Shhhh Xe WeiLan then said, This is a great chance, as long as we got him out, everything will be easier to deal with. After Zuo Chao was admitted to the hospital, the tides were turned. The hospital refused to let Zuo Chao go on the basis that the illness was severe and contagious. People from the holding center went to the hospital everyday to get him back, but the hospital refused again and again. Neither side waspromising, and the situation escted. Finally, the higher-ups were fed up with all the conflicts and stepped inNo one was to be allowed to interfere anymore, and everything was to be done ording to normal procedures. After around ten days, Zuo Chao was finally released. Li Sui brought some people with him to pick Zuo Chao up; despite his mood swings in the past two months, Li Sui was somehow feeling very calm when he went to pick Zuo Chao up. Lets go back to the bamboo dojo, your wife must be worried sick, Xe WeiLan said after he finished the paperwork for Zuo Chaos release. In just two months, Zuo Chao had lost at least 20 kg in Li Suis eyes, even his face looked skinnier. Luckily, Zuo Chao seemed to be in high spirits, he waved his hand and said, Nah. She will only cry, I dont want to deal with that yet. Bring me to the car factory, I will meet with my brothers there first. The second Zuo Chao mentioned that, both Li Sui and Xe WeiLan fell into silence. Li Sui immediately felt like he had done something wrong, Ive shut the factory down. Hearing that, Zuo Chao turned his head to stare at Li Sui, his gaze made Li Sui feel guilty. Zuo Chao just mumbled Hmn and then stopped talking. Li Sui brought Zuo Chao to the bamboo dojo, he felt nervous and he wanted to exin why he did that to Zuo Chao, so he waited outside for a while. However, seeing him finally reunited with his wife, Li Sui didnt feel right interrupting them, so he returned home mncholically. Li Sui finally solved the problem at hand after months, but he wasnt feeling any better than before. Over the past days, Li Sui had phoned Zuo Chao numerous times, but Zuo Chao didnt pick up. At the beginning, Li Sui thought Zuo Chao was just busy, so he didnt pick up the phone, after all he just got out. However, he identally overheard a phone call Xe WeiLan had and he realized, Zuo Chao wasnt not picking up because he was busy, Zuo Chao was specifically not picking up Li Suis calls. Knowing that Zuo Chao was intentionally avoiding him made Li Sui feel more depressed. Li Sui really didnt handle the problem well, but he still did it hoping that Zuo Chao could be released. Admittedly, it was quite heartbreakingseeing the factory employees all gone and the front gate trashed by opposing gangsters, especially since the factory was still fine when Zuo Chao was arrested. To put it bluntly, Li Sui wasnt sensitive enough. He thought everything was simple like his rtionship with Lu Shang, he thought that it would be fine as long as his actions were for a just reason. Li Sui thought he was good at dealing with rtionships, but when it came to those close to him, he seemed to tumble a lot. After getting the cold shoulder from Zuo Chao for days, Li Sui finally felt as though he was going to copse. At night, when he returned home, he saw the firece giving out warm orange glow, it was a huge contrast from the cold air outside where Li Sui was standing. The warm and cozy atmosphere inside made Li Sui feel even more glum. Youre back? I caught a turtle this afternoon, will you go shop for a tank with me this weekend? I want to keep it in the house. Lu Shang stood beside the small pond in the living room, ying with a turtle inside. He didnt get any reply from Li Sui, so he turned around to look at him, only to see him all gloomy and exhausted. Lu Shangs expression shifted a little, and he asked, Whats wrong? Nothing, Im just a little tired. Li Sui walked up to Lu Shang and hugged him; he didnt say a thing after that, just quietly ced his head on Lu Shangs shoulder, even Li Suis ears seemed to be drooping down. Lu Shang knew that Li Sui was depressed about something, so he rxed his shoulders and reached his hands out, hugging Li Sui back. Lu Shang patted his back a little with the intention tofort him, then he smiled as he said, Did something bad happen? Li Sui didnt answer, he just hugged Lu Shang, hoping to just stay like this for as long as possible. After staying like that for a while, Li Sui just sighed, and closing his eyes, he said, Lu Shang, why are human rtionships so difficult Lu Shang did not ask him further on what had happened, nor did he refute. He let Li Sui hug him as much as he wanted, then rubbed Li Suis head gently, Are you fed up with it? Li Sui was much taller than Lu Shang, so Lu Shang had to raise his arms to reach Li Suis head, but Li Sui was really cooperative, and he willingly nestled his head on Lu Shangs palms. Lu Shangs hands were tickled by Li Suis hair, heughed as he said, Close your eyes, I will give you some energy. Li Sui obediently moved back a little and closed his eyes. Lu Shang turned the lights off, leaving the living room with only lights from the firece, their shadows were cast onto the living room walls. Lu Shang gently moved closer to Li Sui, arching his neck slightly to kiss him. Lu Shang slid his tongue inside Li Suis mouth, tenderly attaching to Li Suis own. Li Sui was moved by the kiss, his eyshes batted a bit, then he returned Lu Shangs kiss with the same softness. The wood crackled, echoing in the house; it sounded peaceful. The two of them were enjoying the kiss so much that they were basically inseparable, their breaths mingled with each others, neither of them wanted to cut the kiss off, especially with how nice the atmosphere was. Lu Shangs legs were a little sore after standing for too long, so he clung onto Li Suis shoulders. Feeling the others weight, Li Sui circled his arms around Lu Shangs waist, leading him to the sofa. After a light thud, Li Sui stared down at the person beneath him, his eyes like two deep wells. Lu Shang looked up at Li Sui, also showing off his lovely, slim neck with the action; it was unclear if it was intentional or not. Then, he smiled as he raised his hand up, sliding a finger down Li Suis abdomen, almost as if he was hinting at something. That immediately got Li Sui fired up, he decided to just forget about all his problems and focus on what was in front of him. In the corner of the living room, the little turtle seemed to be startled, and it shyly hid back into its shell. T/N: Apparently, they have a small pond in the house I want to be rich too. Chapter 38 - His Eyes Chapter 38: His Eyes Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations On a holiday at the end of the month, Li Sui nned on going fishing with Lu Shang, but he got ast-minute notificationa conference about the future development of the economy was going to be held in the city, and they specifically invited Tong Yan to participate. So, without any other choice, Li Sui changed back to his formal attire and drove himself to the conference. Lu Shang mentioned transferring Xiao Zhao to be Li Suis personal driver twice, but Li Sui refused on both asions. Letting someone else drive the car felt weird to Li Sui. Plus, he wasnt such an important person that he had to have a personal driver. Staying modest was a good thing; Li Sui didnt want the extra attention. After that, Lu Shang didnt bring the subject up again. Lu Shang woke up earlier than usual today, so hey on the bed, looking at Li Sui putting his necktie on in front of the mirror. Lu Shang couldnt but smile; even his eyes were smiling. What are youughing at? Li Sui asked as he looked at Lu Shang through the mirror. Last night, they exercised a bit too much, so naturally Lu Shang would stay in bed longer the next morning. Lu Shang had one of his arms under his head as he waved at Li Sui with the other hand, Come over here, give me a kiss. Li Sui smiled too, his eyes curving along with his smile. Over the past years, Li Sui was changing almost every dayall except his eyes; those eyes were still as deep and clear as when they first met. Li Sui leaned down and nibbled at Lu Shangs lips gently for a while, then let go just before he got too engrossed in it. The tips of their noses touched as Li Sui said, Okay, Im going out now. Get some rest at home. Hmn, Lu Shang nodded; he watched through the window as Li Sui walked out of the house in huge strides, then got in his car to drive. His movements were rather captivating in Lu Shangs eyes. Being young was nice, he thought. Lu Shang sat up straight, then rubbed his waist a little. Then he thought of something andughed slightly. Lu Shang liked the kids pureness, but what made him really fall in love with Li Sui was still his charisma as a full-grown man. After eating breakfast, Lu Shang searched through his wardrobe for a long time. Ever since Li Sui took over his work in Tong Yan, Lu Shang became more and more free and it had already been a while before he needed to pull an all-nighter. Actually, Lu Shang hadnt even been to thepany once for the past week. Before, Aunt Lu would always put his clothes in the front after ironing them, but before Lu Shang knew it, that ce was long upied by Li Suis clothes. Lu Shang searched for quite a while before he finally found his own shirt from all the shirts that looked basically the same. After Lu Shang finished changing, Uncle Yuen had already driven the car out front, waiting for him. Lu Shang closed the car door and said, Go to the bamboo dojo. It rained for a bitst night, so there were fresh bamboo shoots all over the mountain. The air was cold, so much so that Lu Shang breaths turned white. Lu Shang got out of the car in front of the bamboo dojo, then walked past it to a tearoom behind the dojo, stepping on dried bamboo leaves that were covering the ground on the way. In front of the tearoom, a skinny woman was starting a fire. She saw Lu Shang walking over, so she wiped the dirt on her hands away and smiled, Lu Lao Ban, what brings you here? Lu Shang smiled back at her, then asked, Is Zuo here? Hes here, hes here. Ill go call him out for you. No, theres no need. Ill just go in to have a talk with him. Then I will go make some tea for you two. Lu Shang nodded his head slightly, Thank you. Lu Shang changed his shoes at the doorway, then lifted the wooden curtain to enter. Zuo Chao seemed to have heard them outside, so he had already tidied himself up, crossing his legs and sitting behind the table. Lu Shang had yet to walk inpletely, but Zuo Chao already lifted his hand up, cutting him off, Dont try to persuade me. Who said Im here to persuade you? Lu Shang sat down beside the table and continued, Im here to congratte you on bing a dad. Zuo Chao froze up, What did you say? Wasnt your wife feeling unwell a few days back? Lu Shang continued after a short pause, ZiRui examined her yesterday; she has been pregnant for a month already. Zuo Chaos face turned from red to white, then red again. After a long while, he hit the table with his hands as if he had only just heard what Lu Shang said moments ago, Are you for real!? Just then, a person walked into the tearoom, Zuo Chao raised his head and ran over. He held his wifes hands and was so excited that he couldnt even formte a full sentence, Dear, I I a father?! The womans face immediately turned red, her expression that of a teenage girl going on her first date. She dodged Zuo Chao, then ced the tray of teapot and teacups on the table and quickly left the room. Zuo Chao was so happy that he didnt even know what to do, he just walked around inside the room. He wanted to go out to find his wife, but he also worried if it would seem like he was too immature. Sit down first. Lu Shangughed at the sight. Shes a little weak, so tomorrow you should bring her to the hospital to let Leung ZiRui do a more in-depth examination. You should fix the things that need fixing and get rid of the things that you should get rid of. Yes, yes Zuo Chao kept on nodding his head; he was still so excited that he didnt even know where to ce his hands, so he reached for the cigarette on his ear by habit. Then he remembered Lu Shang just said to fix the things he should fix, so he took the cigarette off his ear and threw it in the bin, Im quitting! Im going to stop smoking. Yes, starting today, no cigarettes! Lu Shang picked up the teapot off the tray, then he poured himself a cup of tea, You are going to be a father soon, so think before you do anything, and set a good example for your child. Zuo Chao rubbed his hand on his legs, then said, Yes, youre right I was always too rash. I swear, this will be the end of that. Also, you need toe up with a legal upation. When your child grows up and ask what you do for a living, you have to be able to answer that, Lu Shang said. Though Zuo Chao wasnt the brightest crayon in the box, he still understood what Lu Shang was hinting at; he sighed as he scratched his head, then he said honestly, I dont actually hate Xiao Li Zi, its just that this is just too hurtful. I mean, the factory wasnt veryrge, but it was still a factory I built, and he just shut it down like that. I didnt see a single one of my brothers and employees after I got released, and thats thats just too much. Hes just a kid, so dont be too harsh on him. Lu Shang poured him a cup of tea as well, Moreover, he did it for your sake. Though Lu Shang didnt say it out loud, he actually agreed with how Li Sui handled the problem. Doing illegal things might seem easier to some, but when the winds change, the consequences might be huge, and this incident proved as much. Societies would naturally get more advanced, and almost everything would turn from disorderly to orderly, this was a general trend. People who profited from legal holes would eventually get into trouble. This was an era that valuedw and order after all, everything that didnt conform to thew would eventually be wiped out and reced. If anyone or group wanted to gain prosperity, following the legal procedure would be the only route. Though Li Suis actions might seem too heartless, it wasnt wrong. It was only too direct, so with Zuo Chaos personality, it was but normal that he found it a little offensive. Hes already over 20 years old, youre still calling him a kid Zuo Chaoughed. Lu Shang didnt find what he said odd, In my book, he will always be a kid. Zuo Chao stared at him for a while and asked cautiously, So, thats it? Youve decided on him? Youre not going to think about getting someone to have a child with you? Me? Lu Shangughed a bit, then he shook his head; he sounded like he wasughing at himself as he said, If the child were to be born like me, then theyd just be suffering their whole life. Zuo Chao froze a bit and tried to persuade him, Thats not right. I mean, old man Lu had you. I guess it takes bing a father to finally understand what responsibility is. Look, this morning I was still mad at Xiao Li Zi shutting my factory down, but now Im already over it. Now that I think about it, he really wasnt wrong, perhaps the gods have something big for me to do. Lu Shang was amused, Youve been a father how many minutes? Yet you are already lecturing me. After a short pause, he added, Its enough that I have him. Zuo Chao saw that Lu Shang was resolute on the subject, so he stopped, and he only sighed, When you first brought him to me, I never thought this would happen, you know If youre over it, then the next time he calls, dont ignore him. Lu Shang put the teacup down, It breaks my heart seeing him like that. Zuo Chao felt a bit guilty, he waved his hand and said, Well, sorry, its my bad, okay? I will invite him over for a drink tonight. The two of them chatted for a while; Lu Shang knew that Zuo Chaos mind had flown over to his wife already, so he didnt prolong the conversation. Lu Shang stood up and was going to leave. I dug up some bamboo shoots earlier, do you want some? Zuo Chao asked as he followed Lu Shang out. Maybe next time. Lu Shang saw the blue peacocks outside and pointed at them, Are those tasty? Zuo Chao immediately nodded, With some carrots and spices theyre perfect for making soup; their meat is full of vor, too. Lu Shang took a deep breath and said, Save one for me, and kill it next time Ie here with Li Sui. After a bit, he turned back and emphasized, Dont let Li Sui see you do it. Okay. Zuo Chao saw Lu Shang off to the front yard, The car factory is gone, so I have less manpower now. I wont loosen up on the guards at important locations, but you guys need to be careful as well. Hmn. After two months, when your wifes health condition is more stabilized, you should open a car repair factory; I will ask Uncle Yuen to help you deal with the registrations. After a short pause Lu Shang said, As for He suddenly stopped. His body shook, and he took in two gasps of air. He leaned down and supported himself with one hand on the floor, while his other hand pressed on the bridge of his nose, his eyebrows furrowing. Zuo Chao was terrified by that, Whats wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Lu Shang raised his hand up to stop him, he closed his eyes and shook his head. When the whiteness on his face subsided, he finally stood up, holding onto a bamboo growing on the side for support. Zuo Chao was worried that Lu Shang would faint, so he said, Are you really okay? Dont try to put on a tough face. After Lu Shang calmed his breathing down, he said meekly, Ask Uncle Yuen to drive the car in here, I cant walk over. When Uncle Yuen got out of the car and saw Lu Shangs paper-white face, he was just as shocked as Zuo Chao was. The two of them barely managed to get Lu Shang in the car. Be careful. Before Lu Shang left, Zuo Chao asked with worry, Does Xiao Li Zi know? Lu Shang leaned on the seat, his lips were turning purple and his eyescked focus. Lu Shang said in a soft but stern voice, Dont tell him. If anyone is going to tell him, it has to be me. Zuo Chao had something else he wanted to say, but he hesitated; this was still Lu Shangs personal matters after all. During the brief hesitation, Lu Shang already rolled the window up and asked Uncle Yuen to drive away. Should I call Dr. Leung? Uncle Yuen asked from the front seat. Lu Shang looked at the view outside the car, and he was in an extremely depressed mood; he seldom showed such a helpless expression in front of anyone. After a bit, as if giving up, he muttered softly, Hmn. That night, Li Sui was invited to have dinner at Zuo Chaos. When Li Sui phoned Lu Shang that he wasnt going to be home for dinner, he seemed ecstatic, as if the clouds which were guing his mind were suddenly gonehe was obviously very happy. Dont drink too much. Lu Shang was infected by his enthusiasm and heughed a bit as well. After he hung up, the house returned to its former silence. Lu Shang sat on the sofa, feeling cold all over; he didnt dare move around, so he just wrapped himself tighter in the nket. Who knew how much time had passed, but around the time when Lu Shang almost fell asleep, he heard the sound of a car engine stopping at the front yard. Soon, the door opened, and Leung ZiRui walked inside in a hurry, Whats wrong? Lu Shang shrugged a little and said, Nothing, Im just inviting you for dinner. Quit the nonsense. Ive known you for years, and you always avoid me as much as you can. When have you ever invited me for dinner? Leung ZiRui was probably hungry, though, so he picked up an apple from the basket on the dining table and stuffed it in his mouth, So tell me, where are you feeling unwell? Lu Shang seemed hesitant, but it also appeared that he didnt know what to say. My eyes, Lu Shang chewed on his words a bit and continued, seemed to have some problems Leung ZiRui froze, his expression changed, What do you mean? I cant see where you are now, everything around me is blurry. Lu Shang raised his hand and pointed around the air, I could just deduce which direction you are at from your voice. Leung ZiRuis expression turned serious; he took out a torch from his pocket, then waved it around Lu Shangs eyes, Can you see it? Lu Shang nodded, Theres light. Leung ZiRui opened Lu Shangs eyelids and had carefully examined his eyes, he turned the torch off, after taking in a deep breath, he asked, When did this first begin? Two years ago, right after Li Sui went abroad, I felt my vision deterioratingbut it was fine if I wore sses, so I didnt put much thought into it. Around six months ago, when I was driving, I started seeing double. Lu Shang tried to remember everything, trying to describe it as best as he could, That happened a few times after that as well, but mostly at night and it usually continued for 5 to 20 seconds. This is the first time it has continued for so long and during the day. After finishing, Lu Shang waited for a long time but still didnt get any reply from Leung ZiRui. That was a bit unsettling, as he was still not used to his loss of vision, so he asked, Are you listening? Im here. Leung ZiRui put his hand on Lu Shangs shoulders to calm Lu Shang down, Im thinking about your past conditions This shouldnt happen. Is it because of my heart again? Lu Shang asked. Leung ZiRui sighed, Yes, most likely. Your eyes are fine, the only possible reason is that your heart isnt pumping blood to your eyes efficiently enough. Is there any treatment? Leung ZiRuis expression turned grim, he didnt answer Lu Shangs question, Lu Shang, two years ago when you decided that you are giving up on a heart transnt, I have already told you this. There will be manyplications during the final stages of your disease. Even if I heal your eyes now, you could lose your hearing the next day. This is the consequence of giving up, you do understand that, right? Is that so? Lu Shang closed his eyes butughed, That sounds horrible. Leung ZiRui took another deep breath; he sounded depressed, The process of heart failure would be very painful. The two of them fell into silence, in the corner of the room, the wood crackled. Lu Shang rubbed his eyes and said, I chose this path myself and Im willing to carry the consequences. Now, just find a way for me to get my vision back for now. Li Sui will be home soon. I can prescribe you some medicine, but these will not solve the root of the problem; they can only ease your symptoms but cannot cure them. The problem is still your heart. Leung ZiRui then added, Also, dont always think of hiding your problems. You cant hide this from him. Lu Shangs gaze seemed lost; he raised his head, and his eyes drooped as he said, Rui, to be honest, Im really disappointed in myself. I thought I could stay by his side healthily for much longer than this. Stop that, Leung ZiRui cut him off. The one thing he was scared of the most was Lu Shang showing weakness. As Lu Shangs personal doctor, Leung ZiRui witnessed Lu Shang stumbling his way to reach this point in his life. In this world, besides Lu Shang himself, there was probably no-one who understood how hard it was for Lu Shang to be alive and sitting here right now more clearly than Leung ZiRui. Lu Shang had huge mental strength; what kind of a situation must he be in for him to ask for Leung ZiRuis help Im not giving up, so you cant give up, either. Leung ZiRui tightened his grip on Lu Shangs shoulder a bit, There will be a way, Im sure of it. I predicted that you would die in a year if you dont get a heart transnt before, but you are still here, living and kicking. Hmn. You also predicted that I wont live to see my twentieth birthday, Lu Shangughed. Yeah. So what could a bit of lost vision do, Leung ZiRui triedforting Lu Shang, but then he added, Theres one thing you should remember, though. Dont hide it from Li Sui; as your family, he has the right to know and he will have to know eventually. Im only afraid that he would Leung ZiRui cut him off again as he warned, Listen. This isnt a small problem, and anything could happen; you need someone to take care of you. Dont tell him yet, Lu Shang sighed and said with extreme difficulty, I will find a time to tell him. Chapter 39 - Relapse Chapter 39: Rpse Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations When Li Sui got home, no one was in the living room. Only the bedsidemp was still turned on in their bedroom, Lu Shang had already fallen asleep. Li Sui walked inside quietly, he sat on the side of the bed. When Lu Shang slept, he always tended to curl himself up, whichever made Li Sui want to hug him from behind. The lights inside the room were dim, half of the sleeping persons face was buried in the pillow, his bangs were randomlyid on his forehead, his lips were slightly pursed together, and they were a bit white. Li Sui had already seen Lu Shangs sleeping face for a million times, yet he still managed to get enchanted by it every time. After immersing himself at the moment for a bit, Li Sui couldnt help but reach his hand out to brush Lu Shangs scattered bangs away, then leaned intond a soft kiss on Lu Shangs forehead. After that, Li Sui carefully pulled the nket up before he went to the bathroom to wash himself up. Sometimes Li Sui found it odd, he always heard people say that love was something that fades. The longer two people were together, the nder their rtionship would be. However, even over years of staying by Lu Shangs side, he only found himself bing more affectionate as he learned more about him. Lu Shangs every move, the way he spoke, the angle of his smile, and everything about him enchanted Li Sui. Li Sui wouldnt be fed up nor bored, even if he were to sit here all-day watching Lu Shang. Li Sui kept the showering noise to the bare minimum, but when he finished, Lu Shang was still awake, Lu Shang was squinting his eyes and looking at Li Sui. Did I wake you up? Li Sui sounded apologetic, he climbed onto the bed and hugged Lu Shang from behind. A wave of hot air spread towards Lu Shang, he leaned on Li Suis arm and took a little sniff, Theres less alcoholic smell on you than I thought thered be. I only had a little, brother Zuo said he was going to drink less alcohol. Li Sui kissed Lu Shangs ear, then said, I bought a tank for your turtle, its downstairs. Lu Shang just gave a soft hand, Lu Shangs voice was a little stuffy, Li Sui noticed and raised his head a little, asking, Do you have a cold? No, Im just sleepy. Lu Shang turned around to face Li Sui. Li Sui saw that Lu Shangs eyelids were drooping, his eyshes seemed to be batting slightly as well. That got Li Sui cautious, he said with certainty, Theres something on your mind. Lu Shang was a bit shocked, then he sped onto Li Suis hand, he said in a soft voice, Li Sui. We cant have kids, do you find that unfortunate. Li Sui didnt expect hed say this, so he froze. If you want a child, you can go find a surrogate. Lu Shang added, I dont mind. Lu Shang was speaking with sincerity, but Li Sui didnt like what he was hearing. Li Sui knew that Lu Shang must be thinking about this all of a sudden because of Zuo Chao, though Lu Shang never seemed to be scared of dying, in truth, he did think about it a lot. Lu Shang was most likely scared that when he died one day, Li Sui will be all alone. If they had a child though, at least Li Sui would still have a family left, that could at least be afort. What nonsense are you talking about? Li Sui felt soreness in his nose, the second he imagined Lu Shang thinking about things like this made his heartache. Li Sui extended his arms to pull Lu Shang into a tight embrace, You know how much I love you, no one can rece that, not even my offspring. I dont want to share the love I have for you with anyone, no matter if its now or in the future, my love is all yours. Lu Shang seemed to want to say something else. Li Sui tightened his arms and cut him off, he said, Okay, dont mention this again from now on. If you like children, lets be Zuo Chaos kids godfathers. You can be the godfather, and I will be god dad. What do you say about that? I think the child will have a financial crisis when we get old, Lu Shang said with a smile. Li Sui rxed his arm and stroked Lu Shangs head, There is me, I will take care of you. The two of them cuddled each other for a while, chatting a bit aboutpany things. Neither of them was sleepy; Lu Shang slept too much during the day, and Li Sui was too excited from all the talking, his stomach growled so he got up to make them both ate-night snack. Itste. Red meat is hard to digest, so Ill fry you a fish steak, Li Sui said as he rummaged through the refrigerator. Hmm, Lu Shang answered while sitting on the sofa, wrapped in a nket. He was looking at Li Sui, almost like a little bird waiting to be fed. Why didnt you touch dinner? Were you feeling sick? Li Sui was only wearing a thin shirt and an apron, his sharp shoulder des were showing. I forgot. Li Sui took a bit of time to nce back at Lu Shang, he found Lu Shang staring at him. Li Sui smiled as he said, Why are you looking at me? Youre good to look at, said Lu Shang with a faint smile. After a short pause, he added, I want to look at you some more. Li Sui had an odd feeling, Lu Shang rarely use this tone to speak, but maybe people got more emotionalte at night, so he didnt put much thought into it. Seeing Lu Shang wrapped himself tighter in the nket, Li Sui asked, Are you cold? Ill get you a coat. Lu Shang shook his head, but Li Sui was still worried. After turning the stove off, he quickly went upstairs to get a thick, goose feather coat. Li Sui covered him up with the jacket, leaving only his head to be shown. Wait. Ill feed you soon. Li Suibed Lu Shangs hair tidy with his hand andughed. The fish steak was delivered here only this evening, so it was very fresh. The bones were shaved clean, and the fishy smell was removed with Brandy, it was seasoned with a bit of lemon juice and pepper. The fragrance sipped out almost immediately after the met was put on the frying pan. Li Sui didnt add much seasoning, the amount of oil and salt added were not hefty either. The meat was tender and easy to digest, perfect for ate-night snake. Li Sui propped his head up with his hand, his elbow on the table. He was sitting on the opposite side of Lu Shang, watching him eating the food slowly and elegantly, and he felt content in his heart. In his mind, enjoying life was nothing grand. The simple act of cooking a meal with all his heart and feeding his lover was more than enough. Have you eaten enough? Li Sui waited for Lu Shang to finish eating, then smiled as he pulled out a piece of paper towel for Lu Shang to clean his mouth. Lu Shang nodded and looked at the ss tank on the coffee table. Its for the little turtle, do you want to move it now? Lu Shang shook his head, Tomorrow. After replying, he went for Li Suis hand and said, Im sleepy now, apany me to bed? Youve just eaten, so you should do some exercise. Though Li Sui lectured him about that, he still let Lu Shang lead him to the bedroom passively. Lu Shang seemed to have thought of something and turned around with a faint smile, Then lets exercise. At the end of the day, they didnt exercise. Though Lu Shang suggested it, Li Sui knew that hisplexion was not good, his lips were white, and his legs were swelling a bit as well. So after washing up, Li Sui massaged Lu Shangs acupoints, and they hugged each other to sleep afterward. Soon after, their leisure days came to an end, as the most troublesome annual thing arrivedShareholder Dividend Meetings. Li Sui was so busy that his feet rarely got the chance to rest; running around back and forth from the construction site, thepany, and home. Lu Shang wasnt any better off, his schedule from 8:00 in the morning to 12:00 in the evening was packed with listening to work reports from various branches or meetings on financial affairs. Neither could spare even a second for a little breather. When Li Sui got home in the evening, Lu Shang was still looking at the financial statements in the living room. Li Sui saw that Lu Shangs eyes were almost glued to the paper, he walked forward to straightened Lu Shangs back, How many do you have left? Leave it for tomorrow. Almost. I need to remember a few numbers for the meeting tomorrow. Lu Shang read the report as he marked something in a notebook. Ill heat the bathwater for you. Li Sui didnt want to disturb him, so he fed the little turtle two pieces of meat himself. Before he went up to the stairs, he leaned on the railings and stared at the sight of an entirely focused Lu Shang, he did not take his eyes away for a long time. The more Li Sui looked, the more he felt a sense of oddness. Li Sui frowned and began to have an idea of what was odd exactly Was the period Lu Shang wear sses getting longer and longer? Once he noticed, Li Sui could no longer let it out of his mind. After several more days of observation, he finally discovered the patterns. During the day, if the weather was good, Lu Shang would not wear sses, if it was snowing or raining, he would sometimes wear the sses. At night, however, Lu Shang would wear the sses through the whole night until they go to bed together. In the evening, while Lu Shang was taking a bath, Li Sui took Lu Shangs sses out and tried them on. It was an ordinary pair of sses with correctional properties, but Li Sui didnt suffer from long sight or short sight, he only felt dizzy wearing it and could not tell what exactly the sses were for. Did Lu Shangs vision deteriorate? But getting short sight was but a small matter, why would he hide that from him? Unless Over the past years, he had been diligently learning all kinds of medical-rted knowledge. He knew that peoples eyeballs would already be stabilized in adulthood, and the possibility of developing short sight would be reduced. So, either the sudden deterioration had to do with overusing his eyes, or with the internal changes of his body. For example, virus infection, cancer, high blood pressure Anyone of those ideas was enough to make Li Suis heart jump. The next day, when they were having breakfast, Lu Shang felt Li Sui ncing back and forth at him, he could not help but wonder, so he asked, Whats the matter? Nothing, Li Sui said, then turning his eyes away, Is the shareholders meeting today? Yes, said Lu Shang while nodding, There will be a prize-giving ceremony at themerce building today. Can you go there? Li Sui did not want to be separated from Lu Shang, especially during such an important event, but if he didnt go, then Uncle Yuen would have to attend. Uncle Yuen had worked as an assistant in Tong Yan for many years, and he knew the other shareholders well, so he was much more of a help than Li Sui would be at the meeting. As such, Li Sui nodded and agreed to it. As soon as one entered the Tong Yan building, the tense atmosphere shrouding thepany was more than evident. Most of the veteran workers were prepared, they knew better than to piss the higher-ups on this day, so everyone was exceptionally diligent in their duties. Xiao Tang, go check if the technician had fixed the air-conditioner yet? Someone asked outside the office. I called him. The technician said some parts were broken, and he was going to buy the parts, so at best it would be fixed in the afternoon. It could break down any day, why does it have to be today? Xiao Tang was a young new female employee in the finance department, she was usually interested in gossip and other useless facts. Unfortunately for her, she was assigned by the finance department manager to attend the meeting along with several veterans in her department. It was a difficult job, as soon as she walked into the ice-cold conference room, she felt her face breaking down. Mainly the Shareholders Dividend Meeting was just a battle between shareholders and the ones in charge of thepany. The annual profit of thepany was just so much, the people in charge wanted to keep the money forpany operations and to expand the size of thepany. As for the shareholders, they invested cash in thepany, so every year, they depended on how the meeting went to get money into their pockets. Both sides had legitimate reasons to argue, but the amount of money avable was limited. For each of their own interests, an argument was unavoidable. In previous years, Lu Shang had strictly followed the usual distribution n of thepany, but this year was different. Tong Yan was in the middle of transitioning, thepany needed to branch out into more industries and establish the image of a conglomerate, all of which cost money. Lu Shang had to increasepany reserves and that as expected, led to the dissatisfaction of many shareholders. I am not even going to start on the 10% that are listed aspany reserves every year, now you want to raise it to 40% after deducting the tax. Are you kidding me, director Lu? The first to object was a fat man called Fang Miao. 10% is the established amount that should be listed aspany reserves, that is in thepany rules, which has nothing to do with my wishes, said Lu Shang. After a short pause, he continued, The funds will not be wasted. The usages are all listed clearly here, on white paper with ck words. The ountants are here as well, if you dont understand them, we can explore them one by one. Then I really do have something to explore. Fang Miao pulled out a stack of paper and flung it across the meeting table to Lu Shang. That was obviously very impolite, Uncle Yuen frowned and wanted to say something, but was stopped by Lu Shang. Here,st year, only 50 million Yuan was nned for purchasing materials in the first phase construction of the Golden Sands Shore project, how did you spend 80 million Yuan instead? Id like to ask, where have you used this excess 30 million Yuan on? There was no air-conditioning in the conference room. After half an hour of sitting still in the freezing room, Lu Shangs hands and feet were cold, and his heart rate began to spike. Lu Shang changed his sitting posture a bit while secretly pressing on his chest a little. There are special exnations for the additional 30 million yuan used, all of which have been approved by the board of directors. Xiao Tang, get the documents for him, Lu Shang said. Xiao Tang hurriedly went to look for the file, only to have Fang Miao interrupt her, Dont use the board of directors to trick me, the directors are all your people anyways. Let me ask you again, how did you reach this value? Lu Shang nced at him, then putting up with the aching in his chest, he reached for the papers on the table. Lu Shang only just flipped the documents open, and suddenly he felt severe dizziness, everything in front of him was fuzzy. It was as if he had been pushed into the water, and everything was covered up by a gray veil in an instant. This was the worst timing for a rpse. Lu Shangs hand, which was holding the document shock, cold sweat dripped down. Li Sui had just finished his business in themerce building when his mobile phone rang. In the day when Li Sui left home in a hurry, he packed in a bottle of Lu Shangs DanShen tablets into his own bag. When Li Sui was pulling out his phone now, the bottle rolled out, the lid was loose, and the tablets sprinkled all over the ground. Li Sui looked down at the medicine on the ground, he felt his heart shook, this were not DanShen tablets asbeled on the bottle. Fearing that he misunderstood, Li Sui picked up the bottle and did a detailed observation. The medicinebeled was one of Lu Shangs usual prescriptions, Li Sui was sure of it. However, they were not the tablets Li Sui was familiar with. The color, shape, and smell were all different. Obviously, the contents of the bottle were deliberately reced, but when did Lu Shang rece it? Why didnt Li Sui know? A gust of cold wind blew past him, making the g above him flutter. Li Sui stood in the wind, he had an epiphany, his brain finally connected the series of events that had been happening, wearing sses, the broken bowl in the kitchen, bruises on his forehead, and mistaking him as Aunt Lu. All of these seemed to be pointing at a single conclusion The mobile phone rang hurriedly, and after a finally exhausted howl, it stopped. Li Sui returned from his thoughts, but instead of returning the call, he called Leung ZiRui worryingly, as if he wanted more proof to be convinced, he felt his heart jumping, as if it could reach his throat, Doctor Leung, please tell me, Lu Shangs eyesare they having problems? Leung ZiRui froze for a moment, he did not answer directly, but asked, What do you mean? Li Sui directly voiced out all his guesses in a hurry, Is it caused by his heart? Is his short-sightedness severe? Why did he have to switch medicines? After Leung ZiRui heard what Li Sui had to say, he sighed painfully. Knowing that he could no longer hide it for Lu Shang, he spits everything out, He doesnt have short-sight, hes almost going blind. Chapter 40 - The Save Chapter 40: The Save Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Deteriorating vision, eye pain, temporary blindness, if it goes on further, the end result will be a total loss of vision. Leung ZiRuis words were like a hammer that was flung straight onto Li Suis head. For a moment, Li Sui froze, he suddenly remembered, when he asked Lu Shang why he was staring at him that night. Lu Shang smiled as he said, Youre good to look at, so I want to see some more. At that time, Li Sui thought he sounded abnormal, that was because Lu Shang was afraid that he would never see him again. Li Sui felt sourness ran up his throat slowly, he stood in ce for a long time. Looking at the tablets scattered on the ground, he crouched down to pick up the pills in a daze, putting them back into the bottle. When he finally returned all the pills into the container, his hand gave out, and the capsules were sprinkled all over the ground yet again. Li Sui gave up and asked with his eyes stuck to the ground, Is is there no solution? For now, I can only try my best to ease the symptoms, but to get rid of it, the only way is to fix the heart. Leung ZiRui said truthfully. I Li Suis grasp on his phone tightened, and he could no longer speak. Leung ZiRui heard the sound of Li Suis depressed breaths through the phone that somehow made sweat came out on his palms. Leung ZiRui finally understood why Lu Shang didnt dare tell Li Sui his condition. The brat cared for Lu Shang a lot, if he knew of the truth, even Leung ZiRui couldnt imagine what he would do. Lu Shang couldnt deal with it himself, so he threw the troubles to me, Leung ZiRui thought bitterly. Li Sui is a chronic disease patient. In the future, many otherplications might develop, not just his vision. I believe you had already prepared yourself mentally when you decided to be with him. Leung ZiRui said. I understand, Li Sui replied, ignoring the pain in his throat, he continued, But why didnt he tell me, I had no idea that something like this was happening Love counseling was not one of Dr. Leungs many strengths. So, he was left with no other choice but to grieve about his unfortunate acquaintance with Lu Shang. Atst, he decided on using themonest of solutions; Leung ZiRui hangs the phone up. After sighing, Leung ZiRui thought, deal with the simple problem you sewed yourself, Lu Shang. Li Sui leaned against the car door and finally managed to stabilize his own emotions. He had not yet been able toe up with a way to get Lu Shang to tell the truth when his phone rang again, the callers ID was an unfamiliar one. Is this Assistant Li? Im Xiao Tang from the finance department. The voice of a young woman came from the other end, she sounded like she was in a hurry. I am. As soon as he knew it had to do with thepany, Li Sui regained his sharpness. Lu Shang and the shareholders are fighting. I think he might not be able to handle it. Could youe over? Xiao Tang said. Once Li Sui heard what she said, his voice turned cold, Whats happening, can you give me more details? As Li Sui spoke, he got in his car and stepped on the gas pedal, heading back to Tong Yan as soon as possible. Mr. Fang and Mr. Liu are using director Lus expenditure on a projectst year to question him, trying to make him deduct the number ofpany profits that will be listed aspany reserves. Hisplexion today seemed poor, Uncle Yuen gave him lots of signals, but he didnt respond to any of them. I cant take it anymore, so I snuck out to call you. Lu Shang treated us, employees, pretty well, so could youe to help him. Although he and Lu Shang had never shown off their rtionship in thepany before, they did not deliberately try to conceal it either. Anyone who cares even a little about gossip would have known about their rtionship. Xiao Tang must be in a real bind to have resorted to calling him out of the blue like this. Ille right away. Li Suis voice sounded horribly cold. Xiao Tang,e back quickly. Manager Tan is asking for you. Someone cried outside the washroom. Xiao Tang put her phone back, then howled miserably, after washing her hands, he went out. The conference room was quiet. The air conditioner was broken, so the room was cold. Manager Tan, who was in charge of regting the meeting, had his head covered in sweat, however. After waiting for a long time, Liu XinTian still didnt get a reply from Lu Shang, so he impatiently broke off the silence, Director Lu, what do you mean by your silence? Are we shareholders unworthy of an exnation in your eyes now? Lu Shang closed his eyes in an attempt to reign in his headache, his back was almostpletely soaked in cold sweat, his body was cold, and his fingers were shaking. Seeing that Lu Shang looked pale, Uncle Yuen poured him a cup of hot tea. However, Lu Shang didnt take the cup, his gaze stayed on the table, The final profits of the project were still above expectation. How can you get profits if you dont put in the cost? We didnt say anything about not putting in the cost, but the cost is too high. As far as I know, there is a simr project in anotherpany, their cost is only 90 million yuan. After listening to him, Lu Shang pursed his pale lips, holding back his unstable breathing as best he could, he said with a steady voice, Quality depends on the cost, if director Liu wants to build a tofu building, then I have nothing to say. Oh, thats a lot you are using, so you are saying that they constructed a tofu building. Do you dare say that in front of them? Lu Shang lifted his eyelids to nce at them, he clenched his hands under the table. Right now, in his field of view, there was only fogginess, he could not see clearly. He only managed to not show his illness by silently cing his elbows on the armrest. Fang Miao noticed that Lu Shang hadnt said a word, so he took advantage of that, adding more chaos, Director Lu, we arent trying to make it difficult for you. Look, all the expensesst year could obviously be reduced. Last time, you took 10%, and now suddenly you want 40%. That is way too much. We have a family to feed as well. Lets meet each other halfway and make it 20%. We cant ept any more than this. 20%? Lu Shang scoffed a bit, his heart rate spiked, and he couldnt help covering his mouth to cough. Fang Miao said hurriedly, Oh my if you disagree, we can discuss it. You are still young, dont wreck your health. If you feel that you cant handle this job, there are a few far more capable candidates for your job. You can let them share the burden with you, how about that? Mr. Fang, you have overstepped. Personnel matters are for the board of directors to handle. Uncle Yuen could not stop himself from reminding him. Assistant Yuen, this is the shareholders meeting. As an assistant, just do your job in keeping records. Liu XinTian waded in. Ayer of sweat formed on Lu Shangs head, there was no color on his face. When Lu Shang heard Liu XinTians voice, he raised his eyebrows, following the direction of the sound, he turned his head and asked, What exactly do you want? 15%, Liu XinTian said. Besides, I propose re-electing the board of directors. As soon as that came out, everyone there froze, even Fang Miao was shocked. To re-elect the board of directors basically means Liu XinTian wanted to strip Lu Shang of his control of thepany. Or in other words, he wanted to bring Lu Shang down. This time, there were no cheers of support in the conference room. Everyone except Liu XinTian understood, despite the conflicts between Lu Shang and the shareholders, there was no doubt that Lu Shang was a good leader, the annual profits attested to that. It was not likely that any other person could do as good a job as Lu Shang. These people were not idiots, they wanted money and fame, but to kick Lu Shang, who was basically a money-dropping tree in their eyes away, that called for careful considerations. The meeting fell into a stalemate, manager Tans face was red. He could not afford to offend either side, so he anxiously scratched his ears. Lu Shangs headache grew harsher, he leaned back on the back of the chair. His face was white, his chest undting meekly, no one knew that he was clenching his hands so hard that his fingernails were almost piercing into his skin. Is director Liu trying to stage a coup? Just as the two sides were having a standoff, the door to the conference room suddenly opened. In strode a tall young man, Xiao Tang was the first to notice him, her eyes sparkled with relieve. For a second, all the shareholders were stunned, they all nced at the person at the door. Li Sui didnt hesitate at all, he walked to the end of the conference room in no time. Finally stopping when he reached where Lu Shang was. He turned Lu Shangs chair around a bit, then ce one hand on Lu Shangs shoulder naturally. Li Suis other hand mmed on the table, his face hung an inexplicable smile, it was definitely not a warm smile though, Say, isnt this a bit much, bullying him like this when theres so many of you? Lu Shang heard the familiar voice through the intense ringing in his ears and was about to turn his head. The gentle force on his shoulder increased a bit, in the fogginess, that simple action was afort to Lu Shang, his tense shoulders finally rxed. The chair was turned away from the conference room table, so the shareholders could only see half of Lu Shangs face. Li Sui was standing beside him, the positioning seemed calcted, giving off a sense of protection. This is the shareholders meeting. What makes you think a mere assistant such as yourself have the rights to stand there and speak? Liu XinTian wasnt giving in. Im sorry that you dont know, Im not here as an assistant today, but as Mu Shengs shareholder. Li Sui stared at Liu XinTian sharply, as if his eyes had knives in it. Mu Sheng? Does he mean SiMa familys Mu Sheng? Small chatters came from the rest of the shareholders. As soon as Li Sui said that, the atmosphere was different. Even Liu XinTian couldntpletely hide his shock. When did Lu Shang buy shares in Mu Sheng? Moreover, he bought them with Li Suis name? Liu XinTian had also considered about the juicy meat that was Mu Sheng, but Yue PengFei was very picky about his partners. Merely having money wasnt enough, Liu XinTian tried twice and gave up since he got ultimately rejected on both tries. He never expected Lu Shang to seed. Liu XinTian couldnt stop himself from reappraising the young man in front of him, what qualities on him could have swayed Yue PengFei? If I am not mistaken, Tong Yan and Mu Sheng will have three cooperating projects next year. As allies, it isnt too much for me to listen in on thispanys future investment ns, is it? Li Sui turned his head around, scanning the conference room. Fang Miao was the first to get impatient, he said, It isnt absurd, but Tong Yans shareholders meeting still has little relevance with Mu Sheng Mr. Fang, I remember that your shares in Tong Yan are less than 8%, Li Sui cut him off directly, on his face was disgust and abandonment, No matter how much get listed aspany reserves, it doesnt really affect how much money you will be getting. Director Lu owns five times more shares than you, and he isntining. What makes you think you have the right toin? You Fang Miao was so angry that he stood up and pointed his index finger at him. Li Sui shrugged his shoulders indifferently, not looking anyone at the eye. Li Sui was tall when faced with Fang Miao, the advantage of his height was fully disyed. Moreover, one was handsome and tall, while the other was round and fat, his opponents momentum immediately weakened. Lets discuss basing on facts. Seeing that tension was escting, a person said to change the topic, ording tost years financial report, the operating cost seemed too high. At least forty percent of the cost seemed unnecessary. Take the construction project next to ours as an example, I think the cost could be reduced by seventy percent. Seventy percent? Li Sui said, then he asked, That buildings load-bearing wall copsed halfway through construction. Many exposed rted pictures and proof on the inte, which directly led to a sharp fall in the sales price of the building. Some buyers hung banners asking for a refund. Have you followed up on all these developments? The room was filled with nothing but silence after Li Sui replied. Director Tan saw that the scene will get more chaotic if the quarrel continued, so he jumped out to smooth things out, Everyone, lets calm down. Its time for lunch anyway, shall we go for a meal first? Plus, the air conditioner broke today, so its frigid here. Why dont we find another day, when the air conditioner is functional to sit down and discuss calmly? Liu XinTian did not speak. The ountants in the conference room were waiting for this chance long ago, so they were the first to slip out through the back door. The rest of the older shareholders could not take the cold temperature. Seeing that the quarreling will most likely continue for a while before any real progress could happen, they didnt feel the need to stay either. They got up and went to the restaurant one after another under the advice of director Tan. Soon, only Liu XinTian remained in the room, Li Sui stared at him coldly without flinching back in the slightest. As if he was saying that he would support Lu Shang to the end. The dog Lu Shang raised was finally beginning to bare its fangs at outsiders. Liu XinTian stared at him and smiled with a hint of curiosity, Interesting. After that, he marched out the room along with the rest with disciplined steps. Uncle Yuan nced at Li Sui, the two of them exchanged some signals with their eyes. Then, Uncle Yuen tidied up the papers on the table and left, closing the door along the way. Only two people remained in the huge conference room. The ringing in Lu Shangs ears finally subsided. He heard movements and turned slowly towards Li Sui ording to the sound. Though Lu Shang couldnt see, at that moment, he felt a burning gaze on him, one that made him feel somewhat guilty. Li Sui was staring at him, he was distressed, angry, regretful, worried Numerous emotions swirling in his eyes like a tornado, there was no more restraints, all of it poured out instantly. Lu Shang froze, his fingers trembled unconsciously as he realized how bad this is. His child is irate now. Li Sui didnt say a word, he just stared at Lu Shang. Even the always tactful Lu Shang couldnt help but feel nervous. Not only did he lied to Li Sui, but he also hid it for such a long time, so in truth, he did feel very guilty for his actions. Lu Shang waited for a moment, but still, he did not hear anything from Li Sui, he was getting very anxious now. Lu Shang stood up from the chair by leaning on the armrests meekly. Just when he was about to take a step forward, a hand was suddenly ced on his waist. Li Sui held onto him tightly fearing that Lu Shang might fall, he raised his foot and kicked the nearby chairs away roughly. Li Suis voice was a little hoarse, perhaps due to the intense emotions he was feeling right now, Can you stand it? Lu Shang nodded. Lu Shangsplexion was poor today, to begin with. Right now, his face was even paler due to nervousness. Lu Shang ced his hand on Li Suis that was on his waist, he said with unease, Li Sui, I I dont want to talk to you right now. Li Sui cut him off with an unsteady voice, then began to lead Lu Shang out of the room. Lu Shang felt a sense of helplessness and severe anxiety, he let Li Sui lead him along slowly. Li Suis steps werenguid, he was obviously still taking care of Lu Shang. Even though Li Sui said he didnt want to talk to Lu Shang, he never failed to give subtle reminders whenever they came across obstacles or stairs. However, the reminders were brief, Lu Shang knew that it was because Li Sui was angry and didnt want to speak. Li Sui drove Lu Shang all the way back to their house. No outsiders were there, so when they got out of the car, Li Sui didnt give Lu Shang a chance to refuse, he directly picked Lu Shang up bridal style and brought him straight into the house. Which medicine did Dr. Leung prescribe for you? Lu Shang heard the sound of Li Sui rummaging through the drawer. He knew that Li Sui was furious, so he most likely wont listen to what Lu Shang wanted to say. Lu Shang only whispered the two names of medicine. Li Sui prepared the exact prescribed amount of medicine for Lu Shang, and the water was warm. After Lu Shang took medicine, Li Sui sensed the back of Lu Shangs neck was cold. After further observation, Li Sui noticed that Lu Shangs clothes were soaked with sweat. Li Suis movements stopped, his breath stalled a bit. Only after resisting against something in his heart did Li Sui went to the bathroom to prepare warm water. Li Sui helped him take a bath then changed him out of his work clothes. During the whole time, Li Suis movements had been very light. He was also very considerate of Lu Shangsck of vision. Li Sui did everything he had to, but hepletely ignored Lu Shang. Lu Shang took the initiative to speak twice, but Li Sui acted as if he didnt hear him at all. Aunt Lu saw that something was wrong between them, she seemed to have thought about asking but was stopped by Li Sui. Li Sui only asked her to prepare a bowl of nd porridge for Lu Shang. During the whole time, Lu Shang was somewhat depressed. He could not see a thing now, so he was at the mercy of others. If even what he said were ignored, he was no different from being isted from the world. Li Sui fed Lu Shang the porridge spoon by spoon, then put him onto the bed, and ordered, Sleep, rest. How could Lu Shang possibly fall asleep? Just when he was going to say something, Li Sui closed the door and left the room. In the darkness, Lu Shang closed his eyes and sighed with conflicted emotions. Lu Shang leaned on the bed headboard for a while, atst, he couldnt keep the tiredness that was sweeping towards him at bay, especially after what went down in the morning. Lu Shang eventually fell asleep. In the fogginess of his mind, he felt someone entering the room quietly, the person sat by his bed and watched him for a long time. He also felt a gentle hand massaging his eyes, that person didnt leave evente at night. Chapter 41 - To Guard Chapter 41: To Guard Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Under the influence of drugs, Lu Shang slept straight through the night, only waking up the next morning. When he woke up and opened his eyes, he saw morning rays slipping in through the window. Atst, his view was no longer limited toplete darkness; he was a little relieved by that. Habitually, he reached for the side of the bed, and no one was there. Li Sui was absent, there was no temperature in the nket. It seemed like he didnte to bed at all for the whole night. Lu Shang sat up and found that the furniture beside his bed was gone. For a moment, he thought that his house got a visit from burrs. After some thought, though, he found that unlikely. If it was the handiwork of burrs, they would pry open his safe, but not steal his furniture. So he concluded that his furniture was most likely moved. Lu Shang changed clothes and went downstairs, he was stunned as soon as he entered the living room. Overnight, all the tables, chairs, cabs, walls, and all things slightly sharp were carefully wrapped up in foam paper. While fragile objects, like the turtle tank and ss-made decorations were taken away or ced in high, unreachable ces. If someone entered their house at this time, not knowing anything beforehand, that person would probably think that there were toddlers in the house. Lu Shang stood still, he looked around and felt a slight tremor in his heart. Li Sui stayed up all night yesterday, and this was most likely what he was busy with. Breakfast was already on the dining table, the food was packed into heat-insting boxes. Inside was Lu Shangs favorites: pancakes, boiled eggs, and shrimp porridge. Aunt Lu usually wont be so detailed in preparation as to peel the eggshells for him, so todays breakfast must have been prepared by Li Sui. Lu Shang stood in the living room, his fingers touching the corner of the foam wrapped table. In that instant, his emotions boiled up, he couldnt even put into words what he was feeling. Sometimes Lu Shang wondered, whether he was the one treating Li Sui like a child or if it was Li Sui who was treating him like a child. There was a loud noise at the door, Li Sui returned from his morning jog with a towel ced around his neck. When Li Sui saw Lu Shang, he obviously faltered slightly. Li Sui stared straight into Lu Shangs eyes as if he was trying to confirm something. Lu Shang looked at him with a faint smile, Morning. Li Suis face twitched slightly, perhaps because he stayed upte, his eyes looked red and swollen. Lu Shang continued smiling as Li Sui walked right past him, taking medicine out from the drawer. Li Sui ced the medication in front of Lu Shang in silence and went upstairs to take a shower. The meaning was obvious; Li Sui wanted him to take medicine, but didnt say a word from beginning to end. Lu Shang looked at Li Suis back, his smile faded, and he felt his head ached. Initially, Lu Shang thought Li Suis anger would, at most,st through the night. But to persist overnight? Lu Shang didnt even consider the possibility of that, he never thought he would miscalcte. Li Sui was furious this time. Their rtionship had always been smooth, but now that one side was deliberately ignoring the other, Lu Shang found it a little overwhelming. He probably used up all his talents on his work, because when it came to coaxing his child, he was nothing but clumsy. After enduring Li Suis cold shoulder for the whole day, it was finally Lu Shangs bedtime. Lu Shang was disappointed when he didnt see Li Suie into bed with him. Li Sui was deliberately avoiding him by not sleeping with him. Lu Shang didnt know what to do, so he decided to get out of bed and look for him. However, his body had not fully recovered yet, whenever night came, he could not see clearly. He spent a long time searching for his spectacles which should be on the bedside cab. Instead of getting his sses, he knocked them off the cab by ident, now he was indeed blind. Lu Shang stood by the bed and dared not make any bold movements. He feared crushing his spectacles, so he could only crouch down and wave his palms on the ground feebly. Before Lu Shangs palm even made contact with the carpet though, his hand was held by someone elses. The person tucked at Lu Shangs hand, bringing his body close to him and hugged him tightly in his arms. What are you doing The one holding him seemed emotional, his chest trembled violently. As if the person was stimted by the sight of Lu Shang trying to pick up his spectacles. What are you doing The person asked again. Lu Shang was being hugged so tightly that his arms were in pain. He froze in confusion until he felt the heat and wetness on his shoulder. Then he realized, Li Sui was crying. As if a giant whale was tossing and turning, creating huge waves and causing painful tremors in Lu Shangs heart. Lu Shang raised his hand and touched Li Suis head, he opened his mouth and felt that any words were useless. He did not forget, his little turtle never cried. Even when he was viciously beaten by Li Yan, even when he was at deaths door in the protected woonds, he never shed a single drop of tear. Im sorry. Lu Shang closed his eyes, patting Li Suis head as he apologized sincerely. Li Sui only tightened his arms, as if he could no longer hold it back after enduring through the whole day. Tears tumbled down from Li Suis eye sockets non-stop as he rubbed his head against Lu Shangs shoulder. Lu Shangs heart ached hearing Li Sui sob in grieve. He stretched out his hand and patted Li Sui on the back. He triedforting him, Im sorry, I have done you wrong. I was wrong. I promise Ill let you know immediately if anything happens in the future. Dont be angry with me anymore, please? Im not angry with you, Li Sui said while almost choking. He swallowed down the painfulness stuck in his throat, then grabbing Lu Shangs hand and cing it on his chest, he said, Im heartbroken. Li Suis heart under his hand was beating strongly, the sound transmitted to Lu Shang through the skin. Lu Shang felt sourness in his nose, he tried to move Li Sui off his shoulder to touch his face. Li Sui firmly lodged himself on Lu Shangs shoulder and said: Dont look. Lu Shang slowed down, he understood Li Suis wishes of keeping his dignity, so he rxed and let Li Sui hug him as much as he wanted. Late at night, the wind blew outside, making the evergreen trees in the front yard shake. Li Suis sobbing voice which had been burying in Lu Shangs shoulder for quite a while gradually stabilized. Li Sui retreated a little as he remembered that Lu Shang could not stand long. Hence, he carefully ced Lu Shang back on the bed. Then Li Sui took off his clothes and turned the lights off, embracing Lu Shang from behind. After being anxious for the entire day, Lu Shang was actually very tired, but he did not want to fall asleep just yet. Lu Shang sped his own hand onto Li Suis, he continued to hold it, refusing to let go. Li Sui bent over and kissed Lu Shangs eye, heid back down, then whispered beside Lu Shangs ear, Lu Shang, I hope you could understand. No matter if you are sick, blind, or even unable to walk. I love all of you, I dont just love you when you are healthy. I will apany you for the rest of your life, through aging, sickness, and death. Please dont block me from your problems, will you? In the darkness, Lu Shangs breathing stopped for a second, he turned over and hugged him, Silly Ancient people used to say that all gains and losses were long determined by heavens, while sorrow and joy were always a part of life, one must understand heavens and life and be gracious of whats in front of you. Lu Shang thought that maybe the Gods were right. They took away his healthy heart but blessed him with such a good lover. Perhaps this is what fate was. He never believed in it before, but now he was thankful to the heavens for his life and how lucky he was. The short two-day break ended soon, Lu Shangs health was still unstable. Li Sui was not confident in letting Lu Shang go to thepany, fearing something like before would happen again. Li Sui decided to move all his work back home instead. The shareholders meeting came to an end, no conclusion was reachedst time. Li Sui refused to let Lu Shang attend the meeting alone again. He personally worked out a series of meeting procedures and invited the supervisorymittee to oversee the meeting. Perhaps it was because everyone knew that Lu Shang invested in Mu Sheng. When the meeting was held again, the shareholders stance changed. Several old shareholders who had been unwilling to sign before sensed the potential profits, so they mostly caved in. Signing one after another on the proposal. Liu XinTian did not show his dissatisfaction on the surface, but the popped up blue veins on his forehead betrayed him. Knowing that the shares he owned could not change the result of the vote, he too signed the papers in agreement. Just like that, the shareholders meeting ended with listing 40% of profits aspany reserves. After most of his work was done, Li Sui pushed all his agenda away, concentrating entirely on taking care of Lu Shang at home. Maybe due to Lu Shangs good mood and adequate rest, ever since thest time, Lu Shangs eyes did not turn temporarily blind. Only asionally, Lu Shang would fail to see clearly at night, but wearing sses eased the symptoms. However, when the light outdoors was weak, it was still difficult for Lu Shang to see. Li Sui hardly interfered with what Lu Shang did, but his watchful eyes never left Lu Shang. Whenever Lu Shang encountered uneven grounds or obstacles, Li Sui would never fail to give him warnings. Sometimes, Li Sui would silently follow behind him when necessary. After the New Year, the weather became warmer and warmer. Li Sui was relieved, winter was a trial for Lu Shang, the cold weather always hindered the blood flow to his limbs. When it got warmer, however, the situation would be much better. On the eve of the Qing Ming festival, Li Sui took Lu Shang to the hospital for a check-up. After going through the report, Dr. Leung did not jump up in anger like he usually would; instead he showed a little satisfaction. Not bad. If this keeps up. The dosage of medicine next year could be reduced. He flipped through the report again as he touched his chin, This is amazing. I thought he wouldnt even be alive this year. It seems that the connection between dopamine and the heart is bigger than I imagined. Dopamine? Leung ZiRuiughed mysteriously and exined, The human brain secretes a magical substance when people engage in sexual thoughts, its secretion will increase. In the medical field, it is considered to facilitate myocardial contractions, dtion of blood vessels, and is a cardiac tonic. Li Sui listened in amazement, So, you are saying that by engaging in with him Well, I mean, are you saying me being with him is a good thing for Lu Shangs health? Of course, Leung ZiRui joked, The body wont lie. From the results, Im guessing that his brain had secreted a lot of dopamine for you in recent years. Li Sui was for some reason embarrassed, he continued listening to Leung ZiRui mutter, Such a waste, this is a fascinating case study. If only my teacher was there. Your teacher is studying this? Leung ZiRui gave a soft Hmn as a reply. He didnt even raise his head and continued on, His name is Leon, hes a Swiss. Hes one of the worlds top cardiologists. All of the heart operations he took up wereplicated cases. Unfortunately, he has a bad habit, he likes smoking marijuana, even when he was at school. Eventually, when he got reported, the school dismissed him. After that, he ran all over the world, and no one knew what he was doing during that time. I had found and asked him to help analyze Lu Shangs case once, but he refused and went to the mountains for some research. I had not seen him after that for a long time. After listening to Leung ZiRui, Li Sui found it regrettable, that such a person existed but could not help Lu Shangs case, Is he difficult to find? Hes aplete addict with a strange temper, do you think he sounds difficult to find? Leung ZiRui sorted out the report and pulled out Lu Shangs medical records from the desk drawer beside him, Tell me about his usual diet and rest hours. Li Sui was all too familiar with these questions, so without even trying to think back, he answered Leung ZiRuis questions one by one. Leung ZiRui lowered his head and recorded everything in Lu Shangs medical record, And the frequency of bedroom affairs. Once a week. Leung ZiRui looked up and said, False reports will hinder my diagnosis and treatment. Li Sui said after a bit, Four times a week. Leung ZiRui snapped the binder shut loudly, I remember telling you twice a week at most. Lu Shang just happened to open the door in and walked in as Leung ZiRui was scolding Li Sui. Lu Shang interrupted, When did you start meddling in even this sort of thing? Its for your own good, Leung ZiRui barked. If you insist on being reckless, then be prepared to just die in bed one day, dont say I didnt warn you! Oh? Lu Shangs eyes lit up, Dying in bed? That sounds good. Its much cooler than dying in a hospital bed. After that, Lu Shang took Li Suis hand and smiled tilting his head, Lets go back and try, shall we? You Leung ZiRui knew he couldnt do anything about Lu Shang, so he turned his head to Li Sui and vent his anger on him instead. Hes a reckless fool, but you should know better, dont you think? Li Suis expression wasplicated. Looking at Lu Shang, who was pretending to be an asshole. Li Sui thought in agony, of course, he wanted to restrain himself, but he couldnt really help it. In the evening, the two of them took a bath together in the bathtub. Li Sui gave Lu Shangs hair a gentle and careful rub with shampoo. Lu Shang noticed that Li Sui had something on his mind and asked, Whats wrong? Li Sui spread the shampoo evenly on his hair and said slowly, I was thinking, Dr. Leung was right. Lu Shang disagreed, You dont have to care about what he said. My father still died at the hands of his father. Li Sui froze, Lu Shang probably realized that his remark was demeaning as well, so he added, Well, I mean as a heart patient, my father was able to live past 50 years old. That was already a lot longer than expectations, I probably wont be that lucky though. When Li Sui heard that the motion of his hands slowed down as he said earnestly, Do you remember after you finalized the Golden Sands Shore project proposal, you said you would reward me? You still owe me a request, right? Lu Shang looked at him and signaled him to continue with his eyes. Now, I ask you to promise me. Promise me that you will live healthily. Im not going to say lets reach a hundred years old together, but at least hold out until neither of us can walk. Then we can leave this world together. Lu Shang smiled softly, Its too boring and long if neither of us can walk. I will try to live until we cant have sex, okay? Li Sui was amused, he washed the bubbles off his hands and put body wash on Lu Shang. The two of them were in very close proximity to each other, so it was easy for them to feel the slight changes in their bodies. As they bathed, Li Sui couldnt stop himself from lifting Lu Shangs chin, leaning in and gave his lips a few light pecks. After their lips parted, they stared into each others eyes, both seemed a lit up by the kissing. Lu Shang separated his legs and sat on Li Suisp, embracing each other as they shared numerous kisses, it took them a while to part. Li Sui reached his hand out for the lubricant, sliding his fingers in and expanding Lu Shangs behind. The atmosphere was pleasant, and Li Sui just couldnt help himself. After entering smoothly, Li Sui bent his legs up slightly and pushed a few times upwards. The two men got into the mood quickly. Being caressed in front and on the back at the same time, Lu Shang seemed to be enjoying it so much that his toes were curling up. Li Sui increased the strength of his hand on Lu Shangs hard erection, making him cum. After that, Lu Shang leaned onto Li Suis chest and breathed lightly in exhaustion. Li Sui kissed him one more time, then pulled his manhood out and dealt with the bulging mass by himself. Li Sui washed both of them clean with the shower nozzle, then got to the bed to blow their hair, neither of them could get their hands off of each other on the way to the bed. On the day of Lu Shangs birthday, they flew to HaiNan ind together. Li Sui just couldnt wait to show him what he had built. Ever since Lu Shang got temporarily blind at the beginning of the year, there was a sense of urgency in Li Suis heart. He must hurry up, the same for his growth rate and thepletion of this gift. You nted all of these? The two of them had justnded on the ind, and even Lu Shang couldnt hide the surprised look on his face. Lu Shang was staring at the neat and orderly rows of tropical trees along the riverbank. Hmn. Li Sui nodded, But not all of them have grown out yet. This row here should grow into flowers. The gardener said that the flowers will be white, the petals will turn almost transparent after the rain. When the flowers bloom, I can go get a carpenter to make a canoe. Then, we can look at the flowers while boating, we can also do some fishing on the canoe. Lu Shangs gaze shifted from the trees, looking up at the buildings by the river. Li Sui followed Lu Shangs eyes and exined, This ind used to house an experimentalboratory. After consulting with several experts, Ive decided to rebuild it into a sanatorium, it will also be equipped with sophisticated medical equipment. Most of the facilities and equipment were already there, remnants of theboratory, so it will not cost a lot of money. Also Li Sui nced at Lu Shang and seemed to be a bit embarrassed, If you like, we can live here when we retire. Hearing that Lu Shang just stared at Li Sui in silence, as if he was looking for something on Li Suis face. Li Sui was feeling anxious and asked, What is it, if you dont like it, I can change it. Who says I dont like it? Lu Shang smiled, and it was obvious that he was delighted, his mouth formed a beautiful curve. Lu Shang pulled Li Suis hand forward, leading him closer to the sea, Apany for a walk at the shore. In the far distance, the sky was so blue that it was as if it had been washed, the seabirds soar through the air, and the waves rushed ashore rhythmically, making loud but pleasant sounds. A hot wind blew on their hair, bringing the smell of seawater to their noses. Li Sui let the person sping hands with him lead him forward. As soon as he looked up to the sky, the suns red light shone through the clouds,nding on the sands beneath his feet, the fine sand shimmered as it reflected the light. At that moment, he unconsciously firmed his grasp on Lu Shangs hand, as if what he was holding in his hand was the whole world. Chapter 42 - Three Years Chapter 42: Three Years Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Three yearster. The second Li Sui and Lu Shang got to the door, they smelled the fragrance of rice dumpling leaves. On the porch of the front door sat a little girl, dressed in a little goose-yellow colored skirt. The little girl was roughly two to three years old, in her hands was a small bowl. When she saw them walking up, she said, Dad. Li Suiughed as he gave her the box of toys in his hand. Li Sui scraped the little girls nose gently and corrected, Its Godfather. You guys are here? Come in,e in. Zuo Chao heard the voices outside and hurried to greet and invite them into the house. When Zuo Chao saw his daughter about to throw the bowl away to grab the box of toys, he hurried over to catch the bowl and said, Dear, you cant drop this. If you drop this, mummy will be angry. Nice smell. Li Sui sniffed the air in the house, concluding that the smell came from the kitchen. Of course it smells nice, you guys are lucky today, Zuo Chao lifted his daughter and brought her inside. He then poured them tea, Yesterday, I went to the pond to scoop up lobsters. YouYous (i) mother cooked a huge pot of it. Oh, theres also rice dumplings (ii). T/N: (i) YouYou is most likely a nickname, her name should be Zuo SomethingYou or Zuo you something. (ii) Chinese rice dumplings are triangr cones of rice wrapped in loquat leaves. There are many types, the mostmon kind have green beans in them and are eaten with soy sauce. It seems like we came just in time, Li Sui helped Lu Shang take his coat off and folded it, he then asked, By the way, howe I didnt see the peacocks in the bamboo dojo yard? As soon as the question came out, Lu Shang and Zuo Chao froze, they looked at each other briefly. Hmn, said Zuo Chao, scratching his head with aplicated expression, I took them to the temple as sacrifices Temple? Is there a temple around here? Zuo Chao nced at Lu Shang, as he was not ustomed to lying. He whispered, Yes, there is a temple of WuZang temple (iii). T/N: (iii) Wu (Five/), Zang (Organ/K), its a Chinese saying, referring to the five main human organs, the heart, the liver, the spleen, the lungs, and the kidney. Basically means the human body. Zuo Chao couldnte up with a lie, so he made a joke about it, the peacocks were sacrifices to their body XD. Li Sui didnt understand what kind of a temple that was, so Lu Shang put his teacup down and said sincerely, He is talking about the temple of WuZang, you know the Monkey King Sun WuKong and Tang SanZang (iv). T/N: (iv) Characters from a novel called Journey to the West ([ӛ). Tang SanZang () is a monk that was going to the west to get Buddhist books. As a punishment of being naughty in heaven, the Monkey King called Sun WuKong (O) had to apany the monk on his quest. Talk about quick thinking on Lu Shangs part. Wu stands for Sun WuKong, and Zang stands for Tang SanZang. Oh, I see. Li Sui nodded, I didnt know there was such a temple. Unexpectedly, YouYou seemed to have heard something and suddenly turned around and said, Peacock, eat. Li Sui pinched her little face and teased, Eat what? Zuo Chao facepalmed as he heard their conversation, coincidentally a female voice came from the kitchen, The meal is ready, are you guys going to eat here or in the living room? Eat here. Zuo, Chao answered immediately. Arge pot of spicy lobsters was soon served, the lovely fragrant came crashing into their noses like waves, just the smell of it was enough to make saliva drip from their mouths. It immediately attracted everyones attention. Try the wine my wife brewed. Zuo Chao poured a full ss for Li Sui. They clinked their sses together and drank all of it down. Lu Shang couldnt drink alcohol, so he peeled a cooked shrimp instead. Seeing that the little girl opened her mouth enthusiastically as Lu Shang fed her the shrimp. She blinked a few times and suddenly cried loudly after eating. Lu Shang was shocked, he pulled out some paper to wipe the tears off her. Whats wrong? Li Sui asked. Zuo Chaoughed, Gluttonous little thing, it burns. When YouYous mother heard the crying, she came in to pick the kid up. She said whileughing, Shes too young to eat spicy food. Sorry. Lu Shang said apologetically. The little girl twitched her mouth a bit and was crying hard. Even so, the little girl was still chewing the food, refusing to spit the food out. Her greedy and stubborn look charmed all the adults there. When she finished crying, YouYous mother held her up to feed her milk. Unexpectedly, the little girl refused to obey and tried with all her strength to crawl back to Lu Shang instead. How dare youpete against me for your Godfather. Li Sui ruffled her hair with a smile. YouYou was not admitting defeat as she pushed Li Suis hand away, she snuggled into Lu Shangsp skillfully, upying the mostfortable position. YouYou said, godfather in a childish voice. Earning augh from Lu Shang as he reached out his hands to guard the little things head. Lu Shang usually wore formal suits and leather shoes, and his personality was somewhat too cid. He seemed a bit unapproachable, sometimes it was almost like he had a barrier around him. But right now, he was getting all tangled up with the kid, not to mention looking like he didnt know what to handle her. It was a huge contrast from his usual serious image. Li Sui watched them both, the big one hugging the tiny one, and he felt his heart turning into a fluff of cotton. The little girl seemed to be particrly close to Lu Shang, no matter who approaches her, she would only let Lu Shang hold her. Zuo Chao chirped in, Look, even I have to stand aside. This child is terrible. She just took one nce and immediately knew who the richest amongst us. Lu Shang helped YouYou wipe her mouth and said with a smile, I am the poorest now. I have lost all my control over financial matters. Zuo Chao froze and asked, Did you really transfer all the shares of Tong Yan you have to Xiao Li Zi? So, you are just not going to care about thepany anymore? Speaking of that, Lu Shangs face showed a touch of fatigue, I want to, but there are the other shareholders Now, its more like I want to leave but cant. Transferring shares requires the approval of the other shareholders. They wont let me go so easily. Li Sui held Lu Shangs hand under the table andforted him by saying, Dont worry. Zuo Chao frowned deeply. Liu XinTian was not a fool. Although Lu Shang and Li Sui were on the same front, who owned the shares meant a huge difference. Tong Yan was originally founded by the Lu family, so it could be used to threaten Lu Shang, but it could not threaten Li Sui. Li Sui was young, capable, and uncontroble. If the shareholders try to force Li Suis hand, he could just sell thepany off directly. Although he was obeying Lu Shang now, who could tell about the future? This was a time bomb for them. There was another point of headache about Li Sui for Liu XinTian. In the past few years of Li Sui working in Tong Yan, he obviously noticed that Li Sui did not care about Tong Yan, he only cared about Lu Shang. The reason why he was willing to work for Tong Yan was entirely because of Lu Shang. There seemed to be only one extrayer, but it was in truth miles apart. If Li Sui took over Lu Shangs shares, Liu XinTian wouldpletely lose control of Tong Yan, something he would never allow. Well, anyway, you take good care of yourself. There will be a lot ahead of us, were not afraid of them, lets see whod live longer. Right, Xiao Li Zi? Zuo Chao said. Li Sui smiled, and they clinked their sses together again. The pot of spicy lobsters and shrimps were cleared out clean in no time by them. Li Sui wanted to stop Lu Shang from eating spicy food but considering that he seldom had the chance to eat the things he liked throughout the whole year, Li Suis heart softened. Since Li Sui drank alcohol, it was not convenient for him to drive. In the evening, the two of them simply decided to stay in the bamboo dojo. YouYous mother tidied up the traditional-styled guest room for them. She also prepared a big wooden barrel for them to have a Chinese Mugwort bath. Fortunately, it was early summer, so it was neither cold nor hot. At night, there were light breezes in the bamboo forest, making the environment cool andfortable. When Li Sui entered the room with a te of rice dumplings and milk, Lu Shang was leaning against the window, taking in the scenery and enjoying the light wind. Li Sui walked over, cing his hand on Lu Shangs stomach with a smile, then handed Lu Shang the ss of milk, Is your stomach all right. Here, have a drink. His action was mainly teasing instead of meaningful. Lu Shang held Li Suis hand back and let it stay in his palm for a while before asking, Where did you go? Whenever night came, Lu Shang wont be able to see, so he gave up on wearing sses altogether. Whenever he needed something, he would just call for Li Sui, since he was never far away. I went to get something from the car, Li Sui led Lu Shang to the wooden barrel and tested the water temperature, Shall we take a bath together? Lu Shang nodded, Li Sui waited for him to finish drinking the milk, then took the ss away. Li Sui carefully undressed him and helped him get into the herb water. The barrel wasrge enough to amodate two people at the same time, Li Sui looked at Lu Shangs fair skin and swallowed. He got undressed and soaked in as well. The water was boiled with Chinese Mugwort leaves, and most likely with some other medicinal herbs as well. It had the smell of Chinese medicine, but it did not smell bad. In the beginning, Li Sui was seriously just massaging Lu Shangs acupoints, but as things progressed, the atmosphere changed, and his fingers circled on Lu Shangs ankles teasingly. Lu Shang could not see. He could only locate people by following their breaths. As a result, as soon as he turned his head, his chin was lifted up and his lips sealed. Unlike the gentleness Li Sui usually exhibited, the kisses today were very aggressive. Li Sui pressed him up against the barrel wall with one hand, while the other hand wrapped around Lu Shangs waist to keep him from moving. Lu Shang couldnt stand it, he was feeling dizzy from the kisses alone. During the brief dizziness, he didnt even notice that a finger was already buried into his lower body. Is it all right today? Li Sui bit Lu Shangs ear and asked softly. His eyes were filled with desire, and his manhood was already stiff. Li Sui rubbed the bulging mass between Lu Shangs legs as he asked. Lu Shang couldnt possibly have the heart to say no with how Li Sui was now. Lu Shang also didnt find it strange that Li Sui got like this. For a long time, Li Sui was busy with work. Whenever Li Sui returned home, Lu Shang had already fallen asleep. Now that Lu Shang was counting, he did realize that the two of them hadnt been having sex for quite a while. Li Sui was still at a hot-headed age, after all, having to sleep with him every day, only looking but not able to eat, he was bound to be extremely hungry. Fortunately, he was in good health recently. Lu Shang gasped slightly and nodded. The water in the bucket stirred as Li Sui turned Lu Shang around, cing him on hisp. Li Sui stroked the rigid tip of Lu Shangs erection for a while, then lifted his hand out of the water, getting a bottle of lubricant from the pile of clothes beside him. Li Sui squeezed a bit on his fingers, then continued to expand Lu Shangs insides further. Lu Shang felt the familiar sense of coolness and just understood what Li Sui got from the car just now. So this was what he had to retrieve from the car, Lu Shang found that a little funny. What do youugh at? Li Sui raised his head up tond a kiss on the corner of Lu Shangs mouth. His eyes were also soaked with a smile by Lu Shangsughing. Do you carry that with you wherever you go? Lu Shangughed. Li Sui felt a little embarrassed as he rubbed his head against Lu Shangs neck in a coquettish manner. Li Sui answered truthfully, Whenever Im with you, Ill always bring it with me. Seeing that Lu Shang was going tough again, Li Sui said in a low voice, Im afraid of hurting you. Lu Shang reached his hand out to touch Li Suis face in the darkness, he found the location of Li Suis lips and went in for a kiss. Lu Shang said as he gasped slightly, Come in. The temperature of the water was rather hot at the beginning, after soaking in it for a while though, the temperature was just right. It was the first time for Li Sui to enter the water. Li Sui raised Lu Shangs body up a little to avoid choking Lu Shang by ident. He then circled his arm around Lu Shangs waist while the other hand positioned Lu Shang at his own erection, he entered Lu Shang slowly. After soaking in hot water for so long, their skin was flushed, and their bodies were getting more sensitive. Lu Shang arched his neck up and closed his eyes, feeling the sense of intrusion in detail. During the whole process, he firmly grasped onto Li Suis shoulders. In the darkness, that was the only thing he could feel, and he refused to let go of him no matter what. Li Sui embraced him back, patting his back lightly asfort, then reaching the deepest point at one go. Their burning breaths entangled, and both of them were very engrossed in it. Li Sui waited for Lu Shang to adapt then moved his lower body slightly. Because of the presence of buoyancy, stronger movements were needed to get pleasure when they were in the water, so he gradually increased the strength of his thrusting. Lu Shang couldnt see, and he didnt have any strength, plus they were in the water, so even moving was difficult. Lu Shangpletely gave up resisting, he rxed his body and let Li Sui prate him from different angles. The herb boiled water flooded out the barrel to the ground along with the rhythm of the thrusts. In the room, the lustful atmosphere gradually ascended. Li Sui was preparing to ram into him even harder when, there was some movements outside the door, it sounded like something was scratching the door. They were in the mountains, after all, so Li Sui ignored it at first, thinking that it was some small animals. After a while though, the sound grew louder, and it didnt sound like wild animals anymore, so Li Sui stopped and held Lu Shang in his arms. He gasped and asked, Who is it? Godgodfather A soft, sleepy voice said. Both of them froze dead in their tracks, Lu Shang leaned on Li Suis shoulder andughed softly, even the shaking transmitted to Li Suis chest. Li Sui was embarrassed but also helpless, he could only try sweet-talking to the little girl, Is that YouYou? Your Godfathers asleep. Go back to sleep with your mom. The little girl obviously ignored him and continued to relentlessly scratch the door. Li Sui waspletely lit up by their previous activities already, he was desperate. After waiting for a while, seeing that the little girl was not leaving, he moved impatiently in the water. Lu Shang was sticking to him, he wasfortably stimted and cooperatively gave a light hum. Li Suis possessiveness was dragged out thoroughly, and he was not letting go, no matter what. As Li Sui pulled out and thrust back in, he thought selfishly, you wont be able to snatch your Godfather from me, even though you are my Goddaughter. You are going to lose tonight. Your Goddads manhood is still buried in your Godfathers body after all. Lu Shang was blushing all over and tingling from Li Suis touch, but he was still slightly worried. It would be bad to let the little girl listen to them having sex after all. Besides, it was not safe to be out sote in the evening. Lu Shang had to speak up and advise her to go back through the door, YouYou, go back to sleep Ah I will y with you tomorrow Hmm The sound of scratching outside stopped. The little girl recognized Lu Shangs voice, and obediently ran away with her little feet. With a sigh of relief, Li Sui hugged Lu Shang fiercely and made onest violent thrust. When Li Sui reached the end, he took the back of Lu Shangs neck in his mouth. The two men embraced each other and released at the same time. This prolonged sex was a bit too long, so both of them were tired. Li Sui brushed away Lu Shangs sweat-soaked bangs and kissed his eyes. After letting Lu Shang rest for a while, Li Sui slowly withdrew from him, pulling out silky white strands of fluid along the way. Although Lu Shang could not see, he could imagine that the situation of his lower half must be extremely erotic. He could feel Li Suis breath tremble when he saw the white liquid spilling out of his hole, and he almost got hard again. Before now, Li Sui always wore a condom or released outside of Lu Shang, as he was worried about Lu Shangs health, he refused to release it inside. If he did that, cleaning would be too troublesome, and Lu Shang might get sick, so this was the first time. Lu Shang Li Sui held him tightly, then kissed him again and again behind his ears, seemingly apologetic, with a trace of excitement. Perhaps, in their bones, every man had the desire to make a ritualistic mark, and Li Sui was no exception. Lu Shang was so tired that he waspletely out of breath, he buried his face on Li Suis shoulder, letting his fingers slide in and out his back for cleaning. Being in the water had an advantage, it was easier to clean. When the two of them finished cleaning up and came out of the bath, the water was already cold. Li Sui worried about Lu Shang getting a cold. After wiping him clean and dry, Li Sui put him on the bed. He then turned to the kitchen and poured a ss of hot water. On the way, he went to YouYous room and checked her out, making sure that the little girl had climbed into bed and sleeping. After that, he went back to feed Lu Shang the warm water. That night, they fell asleep while hugging each other under the nket. When YouYou got up for breakfast the next day, she kept pping and mumbling. Li Sui found it strange and turned to Zuo Chao to ask, What is she talking about? I dont know either. She probably heard somethingst night, she was pping her hands like that ever since she got up this morning. Zuo Chao didnt take it to heart and said, She likes to imitate everything she sees and hears. Its all right. Dont worry about it. Li Sui was shocked, and his face showed a sh of embarrassment. He looked at Lu Shang, and the other obviously felt the same thing as Li Sui, as Lu Shang was covering his mouth by raising the cup up. Come here, lets eat rice dumplings, Zuo Chao invited them. This is the rice dumplings with meat fillings we made justst night. Its delicious. Li Sui unwrapped the leaves and handed it to Lu Shang. Then he took another and ate it himself. Is it delicious? Zuo Chao asked. Li Sui nodded his head. When nobody was looking, he leaned to Lu Shangs ear and whispered with a smallugh, Not as delicious as youre. Chapter 43 - The Insecurities Chapter 43: The Insecurities Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Times of calm past by quickly, summer soon turned into autumn, and it was getting dark earlier in the day. Li Sui came home from work, the moment he walked through the door, he saw Lu Shang sitting in a wheelchair, reaching out for the book on the floor. Li Sui quickly walked over and crouched down to pick it up for him. Youre so early today. Lu Shang heard the sounds and touched Li Suis hand. Li Sui immediately held his hand back, he perceived that Lu Shang was a little cold, so he pulled his nket up and said softly, Aunt Lu is going back home, so I am afraid you might be bored at home alone. Lu Shang replied, Hmn, then added, Dont postpone your work. Li Sui couldnt care less, he got up and walked towards the wheelchair. Li Sui put his hands on Lu Shangs temples, pressing them gently, he asked: Are you feeling better today? Lu Shang wasfortable with Li Sui massaging him, even his eyes squinted as he answered, Hmn, much better. Last month was windy, Lu Shang went to a river to fish. It rained a little, and when hees back, he caught a cold, and he had a high fever for a few nights. Li Sui was naturally angry and anxious, he was afraid that Lu Shang wont take his medicine on time, so he especially took work off. Li Sui stayed at home to take care of him for a few days, only returning to work after Lu Shangs fever had gone down. The past years were too smooth and peaceful, Lu Shang would sometimes forget that he was a chronically ill patient. It was as if this fever suddenly startled and woke all his diseases up, his immune system was obviously more fragile after the cold. Lu Shang wasnt in good spirits, and the weight he just managed to put on were gone again in no time. Uncle Yuen mentioned several times to hire a few caretakers to Li Sui, in case if anything happened to Lu Shang at home, someone would know immediately. Who knew that Lu Shang would be disgusted by the idea, he just said, I have not reached that state yet. With that, Li Sui mmed up, and he never mentioned it again. People always said that people with long-term illnesses tend to have odd tempers, on this point, though, Lu Shang was different. He was only extremely stubborn on this particr matter. Li Sui couldnt change his mind on this, but it also didnt feel right to force it against his will, he was too afraid that it would make him angry, so all he could do was to pay more attention. When Dr. Leung came to check up on Lu Shang, his expression didnt look good, but he did not say much either. He only told Lu Shang to reduce the number of movements, he advised controlling salt intake strictly. Li Sui couldnt help but worry, although, in recent years, there werent any significant problems with Lu Shangs heart, he was always concerned. Li Sui knew that no matter how carefully he took care of Lu Shang, whenever Lu Shang got sick, it would be much more serious than when ordinary people got sick. The main problem was his weak heart function, care alone wouldnt cure it. Li Sui massaged Lu Shangs head for a bit more, then pushed him to the side of the firece, What you want to eat tonight, Ill make it for you. Lu Shang was about to open his mouth when Li Sui added, Only light and blend food, though. So Lu Shang did not speak anymore, looking like he hadpletely lost interest in dinner. Li Sui thought about how Lu Shang only had in porridge for almost the entire month, and he felt terrible, so he softened up, I will make you a roasted fish. Lu Shang never objected to what Li Sui decided to make. Li Sui cleaned the fish, then with slices of ginger, the pickled the fish. After soaking the fish in sauce and spices, he put it into the oven. While Li Sui was busy with all that, Lu Shang turned to ask him, What is Liu XinTian doing recently? Hes been busytely. He was working with a couple of old shareholders, I guess he cant wait anymore. Li Suis hands skillfully moved then abruptly stopped, Oh yeah, he also visited Miss Mengs residence a few days ago. Lu Shang froze slightly in surprise, XinYou? Meng XinYou got married some years back, her husband was a young and talented politician, his surname was Xu. Of course, Liu XinTian wasnt there to find Meng XinYou, but Mr. Xu, who was notorious for being sly. The Meng family had nearly 20% of Tong Yan shares, although those were premarital properties, with Meng XinYous rational personality, even Lu Shang was not sure which side she will be stand on. This was indeed difficult, if Meng XinYou changed to support her husband, then they would lose a reliable ally. It could be said that Liu XinTian had caught onto their weakness this time. Stop thinking about it, eat something first. Li Sui moved Lu Shangs wheelchair to the dining table. The roasted fish did not have hot sauce or salt in it, but the taste was delicious, the sauce had soaked well into the tender meat. Lu Shang could not see clearly, so Li Sui was afraid he would be choked by fishbones, he separated the fish into small pieces and fed him with a pair of chopsticks. Is it delicious? Li Sui especially liked seeing Lu Shang eat the food he made, he always felt bliss when Lu Shang eats them. Lu Shang nodded, though his thoughts were apparently not focused on the food. Lu Shang asked, Hows your border project going? Speaking of that, a bit of regret shed past Li Suis heart, Small SiMa discussed it with me and decided to give up on foreign trade, were only taking in-country trade. Lu Shang was slightly surprised, Why, once the project is done, you can immediately get a firmer stance in Tong Yan. Li Sui pulled out a piece of paper to wipe Lu Shangs mouth, Everything else was going fine, but we cant bypass the customs, this needs the governments approval. Liu XinTian is stopping that from happening, so it isplicated. Lu Shang went silent after listening. It doesnt matter, we have other projects, its fine even if we dont have this one, Li Sui said with a smile. He then changed the subject, The Golden Sands Shore has finished construction and is almost ready for business. I am afraid at the end of this month, Ill have to travel there, do you want to go with me? Lu Shang turned his head over from the silence, with a slight smile, he said, Yes. In the evening, when Lu Shang had already fallen asleep, Li Sui walked to the balcony and dialed an unknown phone number. In recent years, he expanded the search, even more, leaving contact information to almost all the ces that helped people find a match for heart donors. Li Sui would ask once every few months, waiting for a miracle with his most pious of hearts. Sadly, his wish was never granted. After dialing, Li Suimunicated with the person on the other end for a while, still only to get a depressing reply. I see, thank you. Li Sui hung the phone up and sighed with his head down. A door apart, the person in the bed was already deep in sleep, his pale cheek sank deep into the pillow. Li Sui looked through the ss balcony door, his eyes fell onto Lu Shang, softening his expression a little. At the same time, he could not help but feel a burst of sourness in his nasal cavity. Li Sui always thought that no matter how bad a persons luck was, as long as that person kept repeating the same task, a hundred times, a thousand times Then eventually, that person should seed at least once, but no. The heavens seemed to have used up all his luck just for him to meet the man in front of him. Sometimes he couldnt help but think, if he could reverse time, he would rather not be with Lu Shang. Even if it was at the expense of his own life, he would want Lu Shang to have a healthy body. At least not like now, having to endure sickness all day, every day. People who had never been ill would never know how difficult it was sick. There were a lot of things that Lu Shang would never say, nor reveal. However, Li Sui understood in his heart that Lu Shang had fears too, fear of pain, fear of bitterness, and fear of one day falling asleep and never wake up again. Whenever night falls, Lu Shang wouldnt be able to see clearly with his eyes. At times like that, he tended to just sit quietly in his wheelchair. Sometimes when Li Sui look at him like that, he just couldnt help but wonder, what was he thinking? People often said that reasonable people would have good rewards. Li Sui found that to be sadly false, Lu Shang was the kindest person he had ever met after all. Due to his body condition, Lu Shang wouldnt go to thepany anymore, allpany matters were dealt with by Li Sui. Only asionally when there were important decisions to make, would Li Sui take the work home, the two of them would discuss it together. This day, after working-hours ended, Li Sui still hadnt left the building. Li Sui was in the archives with Uncle Yuen, trying to find some old documents. Three years ago, when Li Sui took over handling Tong Yan, Lu Shang sent Uncle Yuen to Li Suis side, leaving only Xiao Zhao to help him drive. The two of them were sorting through the documents when Uncle Yuens mobile phone suddenly rang. The archives room was tranquil, and the two of them were not far apart, so it was easy to hear the voice from the other end of the phone. Li Sui heard a slightly familiar voice, so after Uncle Yuen hung up, Li Sui cast him a questioning look. A touch of awkwardness appeared on Uncle Yuens face, he said apologetically, Sorry, but I have to leave. Li Sui nodded, If you have something to do, then go, I can find it myself. When Uncle Yuen put down the well-organized documents and was about to leave, Li Sui suddenly remembered something, he called out and asked, Was that Xiao Tang who called just now? Hmm, yes Uncle Yuen answered hesitantly. Xiao Tang was the youngdy who called Li Sui for help during that shareholders meeting a few years ago. She had quite an impression in Li Suis mind, seeing that Uncle Yuen looked odd, Li Sui couldnt help but ask, Whats wrong? Uncle Yuens awkward expression intensified, after hesitating for a moment, he said truthfully, Its Mr. Lu. Li Suis hand holding the document shook unconsciously. In the afternoon, Mr. Lu brought three people with him to meet with some government officials. All of them are drunk now, they didnt even let the driver off the hook. Only Xiao Tang had a little bit of consciousness left, so she just called me to pick them up. If even the driver was drunk, then how drunk would the others be? Li Suis face darkened terribly, he immediately got up and walked past Uncle Yuen, leaving only two words behind, Im going. On the way, Li Sui tried his best to control his emotions. He shouldnt get angry, he shouldnt lose his temper, he shouldnt use violence. Even though Lu Shang went out without saying a word to him, even though as a heart patient, Lu Shang hid from him had alcohol, he even got drunk, even though Li Sui closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but he still couldnt hold it back. Li Sui hit his fist hard on the steering wheel, so angry that he gritted his teeth to the point that they might break. Gritting his teeth and being angry all the way, Li Sui even thought of words to question Lu Shang. The second he opened the door to the private room though, he saw the person curling up on the sofa, and all the previous emotions were gone, only leaving worry. Lu Shang? Li Sui walked over and gently patted him, Lu Shang was unresponsive. The room was heavily soaked in the smell of wine, most of the guests were gone, only a few were still in the room lying on their sides. Li Sui shook Xiao Tang a bit, she was still awake but was also so drunk that she couldnt walk straight, her eyes were confused, but she finally found her bnce after some work. Can you walk? Where do you live? Xiao Tang hit the back of her head with her hand, luckily she was still quite conscious, she waved her hand and said, No, Ill be fine. Just help me get a few rooms upstairs to put the rest in. You should get Lu Shang home quickly though, he drank too much Li Sui turned to look at Lu Shang, seeing his furrowed eyebrows and his hand that was tightly pressing on his chest. Li Suis heart jumped up to his throat, How much did he drink? At least four sses of white wine. Li Suis eyes fell onto the sses on the table, his fists clenched. Fortunately, the guest rooms were just upstairs. Li Sui got three single-person bedrooms, and sent the drunk people there one by one, he even called room service to take care of them. As soon as that was done, Li Sui quickly brought Li Sui out of the hotel. Lu Shang could hold his liquor, but because of health reasons, he almost never drank alcohol. In Tong Yan no one dared make Lu Shang drink alcohol, so being drunk to the extent of having zero consciousness was a first. Leaving the hotel, Li Sui ced Lu Shang in the back seat of the car. He climbed over to carefully open Lu Shangs eyelids for examination. Li Sui was still not assured, he intended to take him to the hospital. Just as Li Sui reached for the handle of the door, he was suddenly pulled. Li Sui turned his head back to see a pair of foggy eyes looking at him. As Lu Shang was drunk, his eyes were covered with ayer of watery mist. The parking lot was dimly lit, the wind was pouring in from the exits. It was so quiet that there seemed to be distinct echoes around them. Dont go. Lu Shang moved his lips, and his voice was hoarse. Two simple words dredged all the emotions swelling in Li Suis heart up. Li Suis throat was sore, he tried swallowing, leaning down, he looked at Lu Shang, Do you think I wont be angry at you, no matter what you do? Lu Shang stared at Li Sui, Lu Shangs face gradually revealed a nervous expression. Lu Shang rubbed his face on the back of Li Suis hand, trying to tter him, Please dont be angry Li Sui only felt pain in his eyes, he pulled his hand away, not meeting Lu Shangs gaze. Not being able to feel Li Suis hand, Lu Shang appeared to be a little depressed. Lu Shangs teary eyes chased after him, Your border project, I helped you make it happen. Arent you d about that? Who asked you to? Li Suis eyes were bloodshot, tears were welling in his eyes. You want to, Lu Shang reached out to him, but he really had no strength left, so his hand fell back down, helpless, I know you want to. Li Sui closed his eyes, then opened them again to see Lu Shang looking at him with pleading eyes. Finally, Li Sui gave up, he leaned over to put his arms around Lu Shang, I just want you to be healthy and well, how do you not understand that Li Sui had to admit, Lu Shang had gambled correctly yet again. He really couldnt get angry with him. This persons every move, every smile, had firmly touched Li Suis heart, even if he knew that Lu Shang was intentional, he couldnt be angry with him. Half was punishment, and a half was worry, Li Sui brought Lu Shang to the hospital despite his objections. Being drunk like this, naturally, Li Sui would not be able to avoid being scolded by Dr. Leung. Li Sui knew that he hadnt fulfilled his duties as a good guardian, so he listened to Dr. Leungs scolding silently. The results of the examination were not satisfactory, alcohol did a lot of damage to his heart. Lu Shang had a severe cold just a while ago, his body had not recovered yet, this action was no different than added hail to a snowstorm. Li Suis heart sank after listening to Leung ZiRui. After Li Sui fed Lu Shang the prescribed medicine, Lu Shang couldnt resist the drowsiness caused by medication and wine. Lu Shang fell asleep, curling up near the head of the bed, as soon as Li Sui finished pouring another ss of water. Li Sui covered him with a nket, he stared at the man for a moment, then turned to Leung ZiRuis office. Dr. Leung. Li Sui knocked on the door. Leung ZiRui was writing a report in front of theputer, he turned his head to look at him. Please tell me honestly, is Lu Shang hiding something from me again? Leung ZiRui was surprised, Why do you ask? I dont know, I just have a bad feeling. Li Sui sighed wearily. Leung ZiRui said, From the results of the examination, no. That I can assure you, but Li Sui looked up, Leung ZiRui was frowning as he continued, He is very aware of his own physical condition, most of the time, even more than me, his doctor. When is it that he doesnt need treatment, and when he needs it, he has a clear idea in his head. That is why when I prescribe him medicine if he doesnt eat it, I wont force him to. When he needs treatment, though, even if I say nothing, he will stille to me. In other words, if even he starts to focus on his illness, then you really should be extra mindful. Leung ZiRui then asked, What? Did you notice something abnormal? Li Sui shook his head, No, Im just feeling very uneasy. Dont overthink things. Leung ZiRuiforted him. Li Sui nodded and did not speak further. The border project was indeed a good way to help Li Sui get a firmer stand in thepany. Once it was done, it was basically equivalent to being backed by the government. It would be a strong defense for Li Sui, even if in the future Liu XinTian managed to get all of Tong Yans shareholders on his side, Li Sui would still have enough capital topete with him. But at present, Liu XinTian had not gone that far yet. This project wasnt the only solution, Li Sui honestly felt a little scared having Lu Shang in a rush to pave the way for him. Chapter 44 - Sleepless Nights Chapter 44: Sleepless Nights Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations The rain continued till early in the morning, Lu Shang woke up slowly. Lu Shang found himself being held in someones arms, his back stuck closely to a warm chest, strong heartbeats transmitted into his body, it was reassuring. Li Yu sensed that Lu Shang was awake, his arms loosened slightly, and he moved back a little. With the warmth moving away, Lu Shang frowned. Lu Shang reflectively reached out his hand to pull Li Sui back. This subconscious movement startled both men a little. The sky was barely bright, and the room was still dark. The two of them stared into each others eyes in silence for a long time. Li Sui didnt know how much Lu Shang remembered aboutst night, but he submissively snuggled back under the nket, hugging Lu Shang from behind, he said with aforting voice, Sleep, I wont go anywhere. Hangover plus the effect of drugs mixed together made Lu Shangs headache unbearable. Lu Shang leaned his head on Li Suis arm, he gasped slightly in pain. Li Suis heart ached, what he wouldnt give to share the pain for Lu Shang. Li Sui leaned down to kiss Lu Shangs head while carefully giving him a massage for relief. At dawn, Lu Shang finally fell asleep again, his face was pale white. Lu Shang rarely showed insecurity, Li Sui definitely would not leave him at such a time. He called Uncle Yuen on somepany matters, then directly turned the phone off, he then stayed in the ward peacefully with him. The corridor outside the ward sounded busy all day, but fortunately, no one bothered them. Lu Shang slept until noon, then he gradually woke up. His eyes opened, and closed, he repeated the actions several times, then turn to look at the head above him. Li Sui found that a little fun, he had never seen Lu Shang waking up from being drunk before, he was like a small animal, being alerted of everything, Li Sui couldnt see the slightest hint of Lu Shangs usual calmness. Are you awake? Does your head still hurt? Li Sui asked while pressing on Lu Shangs temples. Lu Shang nced around the room, Why am I here? Youve drunk too much, and your hearts not beating smoothly, Li Sui reminded him, Have you forgotten? Lu Shang gave a vague Hmm, then said, Thirsty. Li Sui got out of the bed to pour him some water, he took the time to sneak a glimpse of Lu Shang. Seeing that Lu Shang was rubbing the bridge of his nose, Li Sui couldnt help but ask, Is it very bad? Its fine. The room still had a trace of the undispersed smell of wine left, Li Sui waited for Lu Shang to finish drinking the water, then called the doctor for a checkup. Lu Shang was cooperative when the doctor asked him to extend his arms, he did, when the doctor asked him to undress, he also did. It was as if Lu Shang was anxiously avoiding trouble. Li Sui found that both funny and worrying, but seeing Lu Shang feign amnesia so seriously, Li Sui felt like cooperating as well. Lu Shang was obviously afraid of being preached to again, Li Sui thought, since he couldnt get angry with him anyways, it would be better to just let this thing slide. After finishing the discharging procedures, Li Sui drove the car out. Li Sui waited for Lu Shang to get seated, then buckled Lu Shangs seat belt as he said, Dr. Leung said that next time you get into a situation like this, he will throw a gas canister at me. So, whenever you need to go to a business meeting, remember to bring me along, okay? Lu Shang said, Its all right, he cant beat you. Li Sui brought Lu Shangs hand into his own palm while the other hand controlled the steering wheel, But if he beats me because of you, I wont fight back. Then your boyfriend would get beaten harshly. Lu Shang was amused, Like he dares. Li Sui saw that Lu Shang finally smiled and that calmed him down a little. Soon, the day of the opening of the Golden Sands Shore theme park had arrived. Li Sui packed their luggage and flew to the ind with Lu Shang. The hardware facilities there had finished construction about six months ago, but for safety reasons, they conducted a six-month operation trial, it was only opened for business after they had tested for the safety coefficients of the facilities. On an opening day, the atmosphere was unusually explosive. The advertisement from a web novel and the parks advanced and unique equipment were the two main selling points. It attracted horror topic lovers from many different ces to the ind, the surrounding hotel were all fully booked on the day. The manager responsible for the reception was all sweaty, he had to order a bunch of tents all of a sudden for renting so that the visitors could stay overnight on the beach. In the evening, the project workers held a celebratory banquet at the hotel, and representatives from all departments involved were asked to attend to receivemendations. Li Sui was the one doing the prize-giving, he changed into a suit earlier in the day, his eyes were not as round as when he was younger, because of his height, Li Sui had to lower his eyes to look at people, that made him appear calm. Time had sunk into the youth well, his aura was polished by time, his sharpness and strength was emphasized by the ck suit. Lu Shang did not attend the banquet, he came purely as a family member. Lu Shang only took up a seat on the second floor, he leaned on the chair quietly, watching Li Sui from above as he presented the awards to the employees. A smile was hung on Lu Shangs face, pride overflowed in his expression. Li Sui waspletely ustomed to such asions, self-confidence and personal charm showed perfectly in his temperament. During the gap of his speech, he even found the time to wink at Lu Shang. The corner of Lu Shangs mouth picked up, propping his head up at the chin, Lu Shang epted it dly. After Li Suis speech, he and the host together invited the project partners on stage to take a photo in turn. Lu Shang reached for the teacup on the table, his body slowed down, suddenly feeling something in his heart, it was as if the blood in his veins were flowing backward. Lu Lao Ban, are you alright? The waiter saw Lu Shang leaning forward all of a sudden, so he asked. Lu Shang frowned and nced downstairs, seeing that Li Sui had his back against him, he was talking to the other guests and did not notice. Lu Shang waved the waiter and said, Help me down. The waiter panicked, he reached for the walkie-talkie on his waist, Lu Shang promptly said with difficulty, Dont call people. Li Sui finished taking pictures with a few partners, then he habitually looked up to the location where Lu Shang was sitting on the second floor only to find that it was empty, his heart sank. Someone happened toe for a toast, he touched his ss with the other then quickly drank it all down. Li Sui politely bowed and said, Sorry, but Im going out for a bit. He walked to the backstage and grabbed a passing waiter, Wheres director Lu? Umm, he said it was a bit noisy, so he went back to the room to rest. Li Sui was worried, he handed the waiter the empty ss he was holding and said, Ill go have a look at him. Li Sui walked into the room, the room was a sharp contrast to the noisiness outside, he found it odd, as he was not used to the sudden quietness. Lu Shang was lying on the sofa with his eyes closed, next to him was a ss of water. Sensing someone was nearby, Lu Shang gently opened his eyes, revealing a light smile, Its over already? No, not yet. Are you not feeling well? Li Sui sat down beside him. Its too noisy, and it makes my head hurt, thats all, Lu Shang said. Li Sui noticed that hisplexion was not quite right, he ced his hand on Lu Shangs forehead. Though Lu Shang didnt have a fever, his breaths were not stable, Whats the matter, did you take todays medicine. Lu Shang held Li Suis hand and pulled him closer, leaning his whole head up against Li Sui, and pretended to be depressed, Low battery. Li Suis heart was tickled, he pushed Lu Shangs hand back, held his chin up, and kissed him. Li Sui smiled as he asked, Is it better now? Hmn, Lu Shangughed, Much better. A group of people was waiting outside, so Li Sui couldnt leave for too long. After staying with each other for a while, Li Sui returned to the awarding ceremony. Only that this time, without a certain person looking at him, his mind was obviously no longer at the ceremony. Having finished several important events, he didnt even attend the banquet afterward. The hall outside was crisscrossed with lights, it was extremely lively. Despite that, Li Sui took off his zer and put on an apron, he borrowed the hotels kitchen and made a pot of porridge and some easy to digest noodles. When he brought the food back to their room though, he found Lu Shang was already asleep. Li Sui gently called out to him, but Lu Shang did not wake up, and he did not forcefully wake him up of course. After taking a bath, he hugged Lu Shang as he fell asleep. At midnight, the sound of someone vomiting came from the bathroom. The movements awakened Li Sui, he got up to have a look. In the bathroom, Lu Shang was up against the edge of the water basin, his chest was throbbing. Li Sui immediately went to pat him on the back, he also poured him a cup of water to rinse his mouth. Whats going on? Are you not used to the climate here? Li Sui had a serious look on his face as he said. After Lu Shang finished vomiting, he took a sigh of relief. Lu Shang fell back onto Li Suis chest, he gently embraced Lu Shang, letting him lean entirely on his body. Li Sui let him rest at that position for a while,forting him by patting his back, then he brought him back to bed. After he got Lu Shang to fall asleep, Li Sui found that he was unable to sleep anymore. It was as if a drop of dark ink was added to a pond of clear water, the ink of anxiety gradually spread in his heart. There wasnt much more time, Li Sui caressed Lu Shangs eyebrows gently. TaoYuan Ind had basically finished construction, Li Sui would love to bring Lu Shang there for a stroll after the things here were finished, but he noticed that Lu Shangs physical condition was not well. As such, Li Sui did not mention it at all. Instead, after the theme parks opening ceremony had ended, the two of them flew back home almost immediately. Once theynded, Li Sui immediately contacted Leung ZiRui, wanting the doctor to do a full-body examination on Lu Shang. However, his calls could not get through, so he turned to ask the employees of the hospital, only to be told that Leung ZiRui went out of the country, and they didnt know when he will be back. Did he say anything before he left? Li Sui asked. No, Dr. Leung left in a hurry and didnt give any details, but ording to his usual habits, he wont be gone for too long. Maybe you can wait for a few days and call us again? Okay Li Sui hung the phone up, he turned to look at the sleeping Lu Shang leaning on his shoulder. Li Sui reached his hand out to poke his face and sighed. Leung ZiRui was a reliable person; usually he wont do something like leaving out of the blue without any warning, so presumably, he must have encountered an extremely urgent matter. Although Li Sui was anxious, there was nothing he could do except waiting patiently. Lu Shangs illness wasplex, so Li Sui could not just let someone else treat Lu Shang. Soon, Li Sui didnt even have the time to worry about that, the border trading project Lu Shang helped him set up was beginning. The news of Tong Yan and Mu Sheng co-founding a new mode of trade reached everyone in no time. The move crushed most of the inefficient logisticspanies, coupled with the fact that they had the governments support, theirpetitiveness could easily be seen. As soon as the news got out, even Liu XinTian couldnt sit still. What magic did Lu Shang use? I cant believe he actually aplished it. Didnt Secretary Yang say he wouldnt approve it? T/N: I dont know why, but my brain keeps thinking sexual appeal (shut up idiots brain). I heard that Sun Mao pulled some connections, I wonder what benefits Lu Shang gave him, Fang Miao was annoyed, What should we do now? Do you think we should put some obstacles in their project? Liu Xingtian shook his head, Not now if we do that, it is equivalent to picking a fight with the government. It doesnt benefit us. Then Tonight, Ill go visit the Meng family again, said Liu XinTian, Im sure I can get that 20 percent of shares on my side. It was getting colder, the road would asionally get frozen at night. It was the beginning of a new logistic model, the higher-ups were all young people, so everyone was full of energy. The entire project team was driven, and the work atmosphere was good. They were supported by the government, so there was no one in their way, so the project went smoothly. After Li Sui finished his work, he noticed that it was alreadyte at night. He hurriedly packed his things and was ready to leave, but when he opened the office door, he found that SiMa Yan was even more hard-working than he was. SiMa Yan brought a sleeping bag with him when he got tired, he would justy down in it, he didnt even return home. Hearing the sound of the door, SiMa Yan woke up. He poked his head out from the sleeping bag, Its already thiste, youre still going back? Li Sui smiled gently as he closed the door, his face was overflowing with softness as he exined, Theres someone home. SiMa Yan remembered and nodded, I will look after things, you go back. Li Sui thanked him and went downstairs to his car. When Li Sui got back home, Lu Shang was naturally asleep already. Li Sui was so busy these days, he didnt have any time to apany Lu Shang, so he could only treasure the little time he had before falling asleep himself, Li Sui hugged Lu Shang from behind before he fell asleep as well. Lu Shang was in a deep sleep, he was frowning slightly. Li Sui hugged him for a while, then found that something was not quite right. Lu Shangs breaths were too heavy as if it was very difficult for him to breathe. He hurriedly turned Lu Shang over to face him and saw his reddened face, his lips were also pursed together, he was clearly oxygen-deprived. Li Sui was rmed, he got out of bed to set the oxygen machine up, then unbuttoned the cor of Lu Shangs clothes, cing the oxygen pipe at his nose. Even after finishing all of that, he was still not assured. Li Sui got a stool and sat by the bed to massage his wrist. Around dawn, Lu Shangs breath gradually smoothened, his eyebrows were finally rxed. Li Sui was so tired that even his eyes were dry, but he didnt feel sleepy, it was as if his heart was hung up high by a string. Li Sui just watched over him quietly until the sky lighted up outside the house. Lu Shang felt someone watching him in his sleep, so he gradually opened his eyes. Lu Shang stretched out his hand from under the nket to gently hold Li Suis hand, he said, e into sleep. Li Sui ced his hand on Lu Shangs face, his voice was hoarse because of ack of sleep, Im not sleepy. Lu Shang didnt buy it, he pulled Li Sui towards the bed. Li Sui obediently climbed into the bed. The two of themid in bed face to face, Lu Shang reached out his hand to touch the ck pouches under Li Suis eyes, sadness flowed out of Lu Shangs eyes, You have eyebags Im fine, Li Sui brought Lu Shangs hand back into the nket. What is going on? Do you remember having difficulty breathingst night? Lu Shang recalled for a moment, I only remember having a nightmare, I was chased by monsters, I was running and was very tired. When Dr. Leunges back, should we stay in the hospital? Li Sui was worried, his tone was almost begging when he asked. He then said, Ill apany you. Lu Shang did not answer immediately, but he looked at the eyebags under Li Suis eyes and the mustache stubs on his chin. After a long time, he nodded. Although Lu Shang agreed, Li Sui felt that he was still hesitant. Li Sui didnt know why, but these days, he always found himself recalling what Leung ZiRui said: Lu Shang knew best of his own condition. When he thought about Lu Shangs resistance to going to the hospital, Li Sui always felt anxious. It felt somewhat simr to a cancer patient resisting to face the examination results. In order to prevent not noticing the signs of sickness and dying treatment, Li Sui moved all his work back home. For the things that he could not move back home, he would save them up, then deal with them together in one go. However, that put a lot of burden on his business partner, SiMa Yan, Li Yong felt sorry for it. SiMa Yan did notin though; instead, he patted Li Sui on the shoulder to show his support. On the grounds of insufficient manpower, SiMa Yan did kidnap his useless brother, SiMa JingRong to thepany for several days, making him do some manualbor. Lu Shang had no responsibilities now, so he waspletely free. His days gone by with him collecting jades or shiny rocks, appreciating antique paintings and calligraphy scrolls or raising turtles and fishing. His lifestyle was basically the same as that of an elderly retiree. The two of them were like on the opposite sides of a scale, their awake time almost never mesh. Li Sui was busy every day, running back and forth from thepany and home, he also had to consider about Lu Shangs well-being. Fortunately, he was young, so his energy could still keep up. Recently, a small problem happened at the harbor, so Li Sui had to add that to the ces he needed to run back and forth to. Every day, Li Sui returned home exhausted, and he didnt even want to talk, he could fall asleep the second hey down. Lu Shang sometimes slept during the day since he had nothing to do, so at night, he would not be able to fall asleep. He watched as Li Sui rushed in and out of the room, bargaining with someone through the phone. Lu Shang was too bored, and he couldnt help but poke Li Sui on the face, trying to tease him. Li Sui gave him a profound look, then turned around and walked away while holding the phone, directly ignoring it. Lu Shang was ignored for the first time, he did not know how to react. Lu Shang justid back in the bed with his book, he idly flipped the pages. The effects of the medicine were stepping in, he gradually fell asleep, using the opened book as a pillow. Lu Shang slept through half of the night and was awakened by the sound of rain outside. He could not see anything, even with his eyes opened. There were no lights, and everything was ck, so he dared not move. Lu Shang slept a bit too much during the daytime, so without the help of drugs, it was hard for him to fall asleep again now that he was awake. There was a light breathing sound near his ear, it was stable and regr. Lu Shang couldnt bear waking Li Sui up, so he quietly leaned on the bed headboard and listened to the rain. As Lu Shang was immersed in his thoughts, suddenly hot breaths wereing from the back of his neck in the darkness, it was as if a wolf was sniffing behind him, it gave him goosebumps. The slowly approaching person was deliberately not making any sound. Lu Shang stiffened, but he soon rxed, allowing the familiar hands to pull his pajamas off from his shoulders, touching his chest and kissing the thinnest part of the skin on the nape of his neck. With theck of vision and sounds, the only sense he had was touch, which was put to the maximum. Lu Shangid on his back in bed, his legs were lifted up, and his breathing was disordered with the thrusting. It was apparent that the person on him was determined to punish him, he was neither making a sound nor touching him. Only the violent thrusting persisted, the person was like a hungry wolf that had been waiting for a long time. Lu Shang wasnt adapting to the movements, Li Sui had always been gentle and slow with him, he was not used to this side of Li Sui. Perhaps it was because of his blindness, he suddenly felt uncertain and reached his hand out to touch Li Suis face. The hand that he reached out was not held back. Lu Shangs body got stiff again, and he moved his waist back, trying to escape. Li Sui was silent the whole time, but his eyes never left Lu Shangs blurred eyes. He noticed that Lu Shang showed reluctance on his face, he froze and cursed himself in his heart; he might had gone overboard. Quickly, he grabbed Lu Shangs hand and bent over to hold the man in his arms. His movements turned gentle. Li Sui kissed Lu Shang on the cheek and said softly, Dont be afraid, its me. Lu Shang was panting hard, but after hearing Li Suis voice, he brought his head up and exchanged a kiss with Li Sui eagerly. At the end of the kiss, Li Sui gasped and patted Lu Shangs sweaty back, Can you sleep now? The man in his arms did not respond, Li Sui withdrew a little, Lu Shang? He turned Lu Shangs head and saw that he had fallen asleep already. Outside the house, the rain was falling gently. This kind of weather was best suited for sleeping at home while hugging the person you love. However, Li Sui was the least bit sleepy. He traced Lu Shangs outline with his fingers, time after time, he was reluctant to let go. They were very close, so closed that Li Sui could feel each others heartbeats. Li Sui listened, he couldnt help putting his hand on his own heart. He closed his eyes, carefully feeling its rhythm. This thing was something that everyone had, but not everyone could appreciate its value. Li Sui wanted Lu Shang to live, it wasnt just talking, he was willing to exchange his life for that. As long as Lu Shang agreed to the operation Li Sui knew the surgery would be a great sess because his hearts love for the man in front of him even surpassed that towards its original owner. Chapter 45 - Conditions Chapter 45: Conditions Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations (Unedited C Editor on Vacation) The rainsted for three days, making the temperature drop sharply. The air was cold and humid. The trees on the street were bare. Every corner looked bleak. Whenever the weather was bad, Lu Shangs condition would aggravate, and his usual medications were no good in just a few days. Li Sui would often rush back from work to remind Lu Shang to take his medicine, but it still had no effect. Recently, too many things were happening in thepany. The mess at the harbor had just been resolved, but Liu XinTian was already close behind, giving them new problems, they couldnt t rx for even a moment. Li Sui was sometimes too busy, and he would wait for Lu Shang to fall asleep, then secretly go back to thepany for overtime. Near evening on a certain day, Lu Shang stayed at home boringly, he did not want Li Sui to rush back and forth thepany, so he asked Xiao Zhao to drive him to the new office building Li Sui was working in. Li Sui was discussing transport rules with his coworkers, when he saw Lu Shanging in. Li Sui did not show anything on his face, but the joy was clearly in his eyes, those couldnt possibly be hidden, Why did youe? Have you had dinner yet? Just here for a small sightseeing trip. Lu Shang did not wear a formal suit today, he was wrapped up in a thick goose feather coat. Seeing them discussing, Lu Shang found an unupied seat in the corner of the room. Li Sui asked his assistant to go downstairs to buy a meal. Li Sui stopped him when he was about to go out. Li Sui ran out with an umbre, Never mind, Ill go myself. You dont know what hes going to eat. Many people here only heard of Lu Shang and had never seen him in person. The director of a conglomerate who lived in a modest house, suddenly appearing here. It was unavoidable that everyone was somewhat exhrated, trying to take a peek at him. Lu Shang noticed, he lifted his head up and smiled gently, There are a few boxes of snacks in my car trunk. Please, feel free to take them and share them. The youngdies seemed to be very pleased and went out cheerfully, the office was empty in no time. SiMa Yan got a cup of hot tea from the pantry and handed it to Lu Shang, Director Lu, have a drink. Lu Shang thanked him and asked, Are you doing okay here? Do you need my help? We dont need help yet, our family used to do logistics in before, so a lot of resources were avable. My father also helped us find a lot of connections. Lu Shang nodded, Remember toe to me when you need something. Youve helped us a lot already, SiMa Yan continued, Youve helped us smooth out the problems at the harbor recently, didnt you? Lu Shang smiled lightly and did not deny it. He only said, You guys are starting apany for the first time, so I want you guys to have things as smooth as possible. Sima Yan nodded with strength, I was just saying how I always feel like someone is helping us behind our backs. Li Sui also said he felt the same way, but he always thought it was my father. Lu Shang lowered his head and rubbed the rim of the teacup, he said, If Im no longer here in the future, please help him. A strange feeling shed across SiMa Yans heart when he heard Lu Shang speak, but he did not put too much thought on the subject. He nodded and said, Of course. Li Sui walked up the stairs with some food. He saw the boxes of chocte and beef jerky on the office table. He then nced at the packaging and asked, Whos so generous? A female employee next to him joked, Guess who? Li Suis eyes fell onto Lu Shang, who was sitting at the side of the office, reading a report. Li Sui knew immediately, there was no need to guess. He walked over and put the food in front of Lu Shang, Have some food first. Lu Shang raised his head up from the report and pushed his sses up, Too much budget is ced on taxes, you should ask the ountant to adjust it. Understood, Li Sui felt bad seeing Lu Shang worrying about these trivial matters, he handed the chopsticks to Lu Shang as heughed, I wanted to y safe, especially in the early stages, but Ill find a way. In truth, Lu Shang had no appetite, but he still picked up some vegetables and ate them. His hand paused after the food entered his mouth, Did you make this? Li Sui looked back at him with a smile, Is it delicious? The spices were of different brands from those at home. I begged for super long before the boss of the restaurant let me in the kitchen. Lu Shang nodded and reached out his hand to touch Li Suis hair, which was wet from the rain, Take care of yourself, dont get sick from overworking yourself. Thats what I should say to you, Li Sui took Lu Shangs hand off his head and held it, You have to be fine, youre my battery after all. After they finished their meal, Li Sui stood up and saw that the office was mostly empty. The employees were either in the pantry or the conference room, almost like they were fleeing from something. Whats wrong? Lu Shang asked him. Li Sui turned back and smiled, I have to work overtime since we must finalize a proposal today. Can you wait for me for a little? We can go home together in the evening. Lu Shang naturally had no objection, but whenever it got dark, Lu Shangs eyes would be an inconvenience, so Li Sui brought him to the sofa in his office and let him settle down. After that, Li Sui went out to call the staff back to continue the meeting. After filling their stomachs, they were also force-fed some sweet fluff. None of the employees dared dy their bosses happy couple time. All of them brought their A game and finished the work in the faster time in history, work that usually took three hours werepleted in less than an hour. Thank you for everyones hard work, lets cut off here. Li Sui did not say anything extra. He just had his assistant stay behind to sort out the minutes of the meeting and let everyone else leave. Li Sui pushed open the door of his office, Lu Shang was leaning on the back of the sofa, his eyes were closed. When Li Sui approached, he realized that Lu Shang was sleeping as his breaths were shallow. He didnt have the heart to wake Lu Shang up, so took off his zer and covered Lu Shang up with it. Someone outside the door came in and was going to open his mouth, Li Sui immediately turned around and made a shush gesture. The one poking his head in was Li Suis assistant, he saw the scene in front of him and swallowed back what he wanted to say. The assistant pulled out Li Suis phone and pointed at it with his fingers. Li Sui understood, he carefully covered Lu Shang with the zer, he got up and walked out the office. Li Sui took the phone from his assistant, and there came Leung ZiRuis excited voice, I, I found Leon! Li Suis chest tightened, Where is he? Its a long story, said Leung ZiRui, the signal from where he was at was apparently not good, the sound was intermittent. I was going to bring him back, but now Im stuck. What happened? Someone is following us, and we dont know who those people are working for, Leung Zirui said without borating, Ask Lu Shang if he can do something about it, I cant get through to his phone. Li Sui looked back at the sleeping Lu Shang and said after some thought, Hes resting. Where are you? Ill arrange someone to pick you up. Okay, Ill send you my exact coordinates via email in five minutes, said Leung ZiRui. Leon has promised to help me examine Lu Shang. You should also do some preparations for that. Li Sui paused, he hesitated for a moment, and said, Ill tell him after I get more details. Leon was willing to help, that, of course, was something Li Sui was dreaming for, but Li Sui had to be careful. If Leon had a way of treating Lu Shang, naturally everyone would be happy, but in case Leon could not do anything, he would only hurt Lu Shang by giving him false hope. With Lu Shangs current physical condition, Li Sui couldnt risk letting Lu Shang go through that additional emotional rollercoaster. Xe WeiLan and the others often praised Li Sui for being thorough in his work. Nobody knew that most of that ability came to be, because of Lu Shangs illness. If anyone had a lover that was dealing with the God of death every day, and a word or a single action could lead to his death; growing up in such an environment, anyone would be thorough and careful. Lu Shang had to go out of the house, so he was tired and did not wake up. Li Sui was afraid that Lu Shang would catch a cold if he stayed in the office any long, so he carried the man to the parking lot. The movements were too much, so Lu Shang woke up. Heughed on Li Suis back, This is pathetic, let me down. No. So your wings had hardened? My wings arent hard, but Li Sui whispered something at Lu Shangs ear, then both of themughed. I cant really satisfy you now. Lu Shangughed, his face was still pale. Li Sui touched Lu Shangs forehead and said, So, you must get better quickly. When they got home, it was alreadyte at night. Before going to bed, Li Sui said to Lu Shang, I will be a little busy in recent days. If its toote, you should go to sleep first. Dont wait for me. Lu Shang didnt even ask Li Sui what he was busy about and only said, Its going to be windy these two days. Remember to wear thick clothes when you go outside. Hmn. Li Sui replied, he seldom lied to Lu Shang, so his expression was not quite natural. Lu Shang couldnt see that, he just thought Li Sui was being careless and ignoring his reminders. Lu Shangughed and said, Im still having a cold, dont let my disease infect you. Let it infect me. Li Sui hugged Lu Shang tightly, Other couples wear matching clothes, but we can get matching diseases. How great is that. The next day, as expected the wind picked up and it was cold outside, cold enough to make people shiver to their cores. Leung ZiRuis nended after dark, Li Sui went directly to RuiGe Hospital after getting off work. At first, hearing Leung ZiRui say that he was being followed, Li Sui thought someone might had found out that they had a way to cure Lu Shang, so they were trying to stop them. This was why Lu Shang seldom let anyone else treat his illnesses, he had always been on guard when it came to keeping his disease a secret. After walking up the stairs, Li Sui opened the door, and in front of him stood a tall, energetic man. He looked nothing like the drug addict Leung ZiRui described him as. Did you find the wrong person? Li Sui questioned. Leung ZiRui pointed to his own face and said, I swear hes real, even if Im a fake, he isnt. The two men were looking at Lu Shangs past surgical recordings. Li Sui greeted Leon in English, but thetter just vaguely responded. How did you find him? Li Sui asked. On the topic, Leung ZiRui was amused, He owed a lot of credit card debts, so he was restricted from leaving the country and was caught at the airport. A friend of mine was working there, he knew I was looking for him, and informed me. Who followed you? Rest assured, it has nothing to do with Lu Shang. They were just looking for Leon for his debt. Li Sui looked back at Leon with a sigh of relief and asked, Didnt he refuse to help Lu Shang with his illness before? I helped him pay off all his credit card debts, Leung ZiRui said. I heard that the institution that provided him with research funds went bankrupt. With his debt records and marijuana smoking habits, Im afraid it would be very difficult for him to apply for new funds in the future, so Li Sui found that a little unexpected, but he said almost immediately, Money is not a problem. Leung ZiRui nodded, Remember to deal with the credit card debts for me then. Li Sui turned to Leon and said in English, Professor, please. As long as you can help Lu Shang cure his illness, we will provide all of your future research funds. Leon turned around and made an OK sign with his hand. They studied the medical data for a long time, stopping finally when it was around midnight. After reading all the data and watching all the films, Leon proposed a surgery n for Lu Shangs condition. There were too many medical terms, so Li Sui had to turn to Leung ZiRui for help. After listening to Leons proposal, Dr. Leungpared his proposal to the data at hand, hemented, Its bold, but thorough. If this operation is sessful, as long as Lu Shang stop being crazy and take care of himself, he should have a long life. Li Sui looked slightly agitated and asked, Is it risky? Very, Dr. Leung breathed in air and said, Its not just very risky, I could almost describe it as juggling scalpels on a thin rope. This was also one of the most difficult point of doing surgeries, even with Leon, the top expert in doing heart surgeries, risks were unavoidable. On the operating table, medical skills and experiences were the supporting elements. Doing an operation wasnt magic, no matter how good the surgeons skills were, that could only increase the probability of sess, a single scalpel could never get pry open the gates out of hell with 100%. The room fell into silent, each with their own thoughts and concerns. Li Sui watched Leung ZiRui pacing back and forth the room and asked, Is there no other way? Leung ZiRui stopped and sighed softly, The procedure is flexible, but this aneurysm cant be avoided, and its location is too dangerous. With a case like this, no matter which hospital you go to around the world, the doctor will rmend a direct heart recement, only Dr. Leon would suggest removing the aneurysm through surgery. Leon expressed a different concern, Rather than the aneurysm, Im more worried about whether his heart could recover beating after removing the ECMO machine (i). T/N: (i) Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, provide temporary heart or lungs functions for patients undergoing heart or lungs surgery. On the subject, Leung ZiRui found his head getting more painful. He was only thinking about how to get the aneurysm off, he had forgotten that the thing had almostpletely merged with Lu Shangs heart. If they cut it rashly, Leung ZiRui had no idea what adverse reactions it might cause. Leon thought for a while and said tryingly, We can try using Digitalis. Leung ZiRui frowned slightly, I have never used Digitalis type medicine on him except for Digoxin. Digitalis? A controversial heart stimnt, it is poisonous but very effective. Using it is not impossible, but the dosage varies greatly among individuals. The suitable dosage for treatment is very close to the dosage that causes poisoning. Insufficient dosage affects the treatment ability, and excessive amount leads to poisoning, the medicine dosage is not easy to control. Leon shook his head after a bit, Theres too little clinical data at the moment. If his physical condition permits its, we can test the poisoning threshold beforehand though. I can test it for him, Li Sui suddenly said. Try it on me. Both of them looked at him. Leung ZiRui was amused and was going to ask him to stop joking. Li Sui was dead serious though, he added, I have the same blood type as Lu Shang, PRA negative (ii), and our HLA (iii) are almost aplete match. I am the closest person in the world to him. T/N: (ii) Panel Reactive Antibodies, if the percentage is lower than 10%, it is counted as negative. The lower the percentage, the less chance that the persons donated organs will cause rejection in the recipients body. (iii) Human Leukocyte Antigens Leung ZiRui and Leon looked at each other. Let him try. Leon said. Leung ZiRui hesitated and considered for a long time, then he said, Lu Shang will kill me. Dont tell him then, Li Sui said. Seeing that Leung ZiRui was not talking, he asked again, Time is of the essence, we cant afford to wait anymore. What do I need to prepare? Brat, youre just Leung ZiRui sighed, You know how serious Lu Shangs illness is. Even Leon might not be able to cure him. Your efforts could very well go to waste, even so, youre going to try? Doctor Leung, Li Sui looked at him, his eyes were full of certainty, You know, hes all I have. Leung ZiRui stared at Li Sui for a long time, but eventually Leung ZiRui was defeated, Okay, Ill write the application form. It took only three days for the experiment to be approved, Li Sui had no idea how Leung ZiRui did that. Even so, Li Sui was still in a rush, when he received the notification, he ran straight to the hospital. After consulting each other, Leon and Leung ZiRui finally decided it was the best tomence the test in the morning. Sign your name here. Leung ZiRui handed the consent form to Li Sui, Heres the duplicate, sign and save one for yourself. Li Sui read through the documents roughly and signed his name, Will the test be finished quickly? The Digitalis made medicine we are testing today work very fast, it is quickly metabolized in the body. If things go smoothly, it should take around eight hours. Li Sui nodded, then looked up to asked, What will happen when I got poisoned? The symptoms of poisoning will mainly manifest in the heart, digestive system, nervous system, and vision. We will closely monitor your ECG and blood pressure, once the threshold is measured, we will end the test immediately. Li Sui handed back the two signed consent forms to Leung ZiRui. You dont want to keep one? No. Li Sui shook his head. Leung ZiRui knew that he was afraid of taking it back and risking Lu Shang finding out, so he put it back into his own drawer. In order to ensure Li Suis safety, Leung ZiRui set the operating room as the test site, various medicine could be easily reached on the room. In case of poisoning, Li Sui could be given potassium supplements as soon as possible. If you feel difort, you must say it immediately, dont hide it. Leung ZiRui put electrodes on Li Suis body and reminded him again. Li Sui lowered his head and nced at his own chest. These things were often ced on Lu Shang before, he reached his hand out to touch them, an idea shed across his mind. Leon came in with the medicine and began to disinfect Li Suis skin. Leung ZiRui stopped him and asked one more time, Are you really not telling Lu Shang? Li Sui shook his head and gave Leon a look, Lets begin. The calmest person in the whole operating room was probably Li Sui. Leung ZiRui had done countlessrge and small scale operations, he had seen life passing across his eyes. Naturally, this should not be anything out of the ordinary to him, but watching Leon inject the medicine into Li Suis vein caused his palm to sweat. He felt something simr to stealing someone elses treasure. If Lu Shang knew that he used Li Sui to test poisoning dosage, their friendship would likely be over. How much? 0.25 mg. The medicine worked very fast. Upon the introduction of the medicine, Li Suis heart rate spiked, he gradually felt dizzy with the world spinning in front of his eyes. How are you? Leung ZiRui asked. Li Suis head ached, and his consciousness was scattered. He opened his mouth but said nothing. In the chaotic state, he felt like he saw scores of people, familiar ones and unfamiliar ones, all mixed together, as if he was on a train passing through time itself, countless faces moved past him. How much now? 0.32 mg. Li Sui was in so much pain that he was sweating all over, his eyescked focus, even the blue veins on his head popped up. Li Suis hands were clenched tight into fists and his fingertips were white from the force, his body was also tense and stiff. This reaction was somewhat frightening to Leung ZiRui, he called out to Li Sui a few times in assurance, Li Sui? Xiao Li? Remember to record the numbers. Leon noticed that Leung ZiRui was a little nervous and gave him a warning. The machines near his ear kept making dripping sounds, and the rhythm was getting faster and faster. The sound was torturing Li Sui, he felt like his head was being torn apart. It felt as if someone was smashing his brain with a stone. Li Sui closed his eyes in the dizziness, but suddenly heard a familiar voice in his mind Mom. The voice was just so familiar, he searched through his brain but still could not remember who it belonged to. Who is it? Mom. Li Sui opened his eyes abruptly. Everything Li Sui was familiar with receded around him like tides. He turned around in a circle and found himself standing in a garden amongst grand wooden buildings. A tall and thin woman was looking at him coldly, her facial features were quite simr to his. Mom. He heard himself calling her that. Authors Notes: I. Digitalis: A kind of heart stimnt, has beenmonly used for treating heart failure, clinical trials had varying results on the type of medicine. Digitalis could be categorised as high speed types (e.g. Strophantin K, Cednid) and medium speed types (e.g. Digoxin). II. Digoxin: A kind of medium speed heart stimnt. Effects show quickly after ingesting, the medicine are also removed quickly, very little remains in the body, and the duration of effects are short. Hence, it is regarded as a safer type of Digitalis. It is also the only type of Digitalis made medicine that has been tested in clinical trials and proven to be useful in treating heart failure. Excerpt fromKBocKΡܳ磬W־ T/N: Remember Li Suis book gallery in his tablet in Chapter 19, the book KBocK (Treatment and Care for Coronary Disease Patient) is in it, so apparently its a real Chinese book. Chapter 46 - Gunshot Wound Chapter 46: Gunshot Wound Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations (Unedited) Mom. He shouted again. Go away! The woman was agitated by the word and shouted suddenly as she shook the boys hand off. Little Li Sui was shocked, he reached out his hand again in a hurry to grab the rim of the womans skirt, Mom, dont leave me behind. How many times have I told you? Dont call me mom. Call me Aunt Li! The woman red angrily. Little Li Sui was very scared, he didnt understand why. She was his mother, so he called her mom. Everyone else had a mother, so why couldnt he call his mother mum? But even if he was reluctant, he changed his words shyly, Aunt Li. The woman seemed to be in good spirits after that and turned to the house. Little Li Sui trotted closely behind her. This ce was a huge traditional styleplex with interconnected wooden buildings, it was arge ce. A pond was in front theplex and a garden was behind it, in the middle was a tree with a trunk that had a circumference of three human arm-spans. The outermost part of theplex was surrounded by a tall wall, a dense and coldwork of iron thorns atop the wall, making the housepletely isted from the outside world. Li Sui had lived in theplex from the earliest moments of his memories, he remembered going outside was rare. asionally, he would go outside, but he was in a car and it was always with Mr. Xu. Mr. Xu was a tall man in his fifties, he was a little fat, but always wore a suit that didnt fit well, he looked like a man in an airtight bag. When little Li Sui was still very young, Mr. Xu often came to see him. The man taught Li Sui how to read and write, bought him candies, gave him toys, and even took him out to see thenterns. Those were Li Suis happiest childhood memory. Whenever the sun went down, little Li Sui would sit on the doorstep and wait for Mr. Xu toe pick him up. In his eyes, although Mr. Xu was not as good-looking as other peoples father, he was more easygoing, he never forced Li Sui to do his homework, nor scolded him, he even took him on car rides. One time, when Mr. Xu came to pick him up, little Li Sui asked him in a tiny voice, Are you my father? Im your father. Then can I call you my father then? Mr. Xu smiled and said, Yes. Little Li Sui slipped away from him and ran quickly in the front, he said, I have a father! When he returned home that day, little Li Sui just couldnt wait to tell his mother about it. Unexpectedly, when she heard it, she was furious. His mother threw all of his candies and toys into the lotus pond, even his favorite Monkey King action figure. If I hear that from you again, Ill throw you in there too. Do you hear me? little Li Sui did not cry, but his tears were rolling in his eye sockets. From that day onwards, he seldom saw Mr. Xu. He didnt evene over for the New Years. Later, when he grew older and became more sensible. Li Sui heard fragments from the cooks working in theplex, he gradually pieced everything together to get the whole story. His mother was a beauty in a remote town, and his father, Mr. Xu was a high-ranking official. When Mr. Xu apanied another official on a visit to the town, he took a fancy to his mother. Mr. Xu already had a family at that time, but he was lonely and wanted to seek some excitement. He repeatedly hinted at thedy but had no results. So, at the end, he simply kidnapped his mother and locked her up in thisplex, that continued for eight years. Although his mother was not from a big city, she had a distinguished appearance and had dignity. Her family was neither powerful nor influential, so she could get angry and swallow her breath, she dared not voice out her anger. At first, she triedmitting suicide, but she was always saved. Only to get more humiliation after retaliating. Later on, she gradually became tired, she just sat in the house in silence every day. After around two years, Li Sui was born. He was born good-looking, with eyes like that of his mothers. He had an adorable face, but for some reason was never loved by anyone working in theplex. In this walledplex, besides Mr. Xu giving him a little warmth asionally, no one wanted to be close to him, even his own mother thought of Li Sui as the proof of her humiliation. Little Li Sui grew up to be six years old, growing in such aplicated environment. One day, the iron gate was smashed open. Arge group of men in uniform rushed in, kicking down each and every door inside the house. At that time, Little Li Sui and his mother were in the backyard garden. Amidst the chaos, they heard some people outside shouting that official Xu had fallen, they were here to liquidate his assets and confiscate his dirty money. All of a sudden, scores of people were in the backyard garden, everyone was hurryingly taking and moving things. Little Li Sui had never seen so many barbaric strangers running around before, so he was frightened. He did not even remember when his mother began to drag him out of theplex with her in themotion. When Little Li Sui finally came to, they were already in a forest in the countryside. It was getting dark, and little Li Sui ran for so long already, he was exhausted. little Li Sui tripped over the roots of a tree on the ground and fell down, feeling the sudden emptiness in her hands, his mother stopped and looked down at him. It was around the time when people haventern shows, the cold moonlight sipped through the gaps in the leaves, shining on both of their eyes. little Li Sui raised his head up from the ground with difficulty. When their eyes met, little Li Sui could see the intentions in his mothers eyes, she didnt want him anymore. The next second, sounds of rapid footsteps echoed the forest. Looking at the person who fled alone in front of his eyes, an unspeakable fear rose in his heart. Almost instinctively, little Li Sui climbed up from the ground and chased her, he cried and ran. little Li Sui was still so small, there was no way he could catch up with an adult so easily, he fell to the ground again. little Li Sui cried till he was out of breath, he screamed with a hoarse voice, Mom! He had no rtives, he only had his mother left, even if his mother didnt treat him well, she was still his mother. His voice echoed in the woods, when the woman in the distant heard the voice, she stopped suddenly and red back at Li Sui fiercely. little Li Sui was frightened and helpless, he couldnt stop trembling. He lowered his head to wipe his tears, which was when he was knocked on the head. He was shocked, raising his head up, he saw his mother standing in front of him angrily. Her teeth were grinding so hard that little Li Sui could hear them. His head was beaten hard again, What did you call me? What did I say you should call me? little Li Sui was in a trance for a moment, he stammered and said, Li Aunt Li Hey, whats going on over there? Are you kidnapping children?! Two patrolling officers appeared on the side of the woods, they were probably attracted by the crying, and swung the shlight over to them. Both of them were shocked, thinking that someone was going to catch them. They escaped in confusion and dared not stay there any longer, so they left in a hurry. They left bringing nothing, they had no money, no phone, and no ID card. Having been imprisoned for many years, Li Suis mother had long been out of touch with the world. She did not know how the world was now and whether she could turn to the police for help. When the gate was broken, her first reaction was to flee, but after escaping, she realized that being imprisoned for eight years didnt only apply physically, a wall was also gradually built around her heart. To be safe, she decided not to go to the police but bring little Li Sui home with her. Without money, she had to beg door to door to pay for the journey, for fear of being discovered by Xus family, she dared not go to crowded ces. She only went to nearby viges and towns to seek food and travelling expenses. The people living there were mostly uneducated, they were traditional and conservative. Some men noticed her beauty and had evil ideas, they wanted to catch her to sell for money. Fortunately, several passing vigers rescued her. Li Suis mother was frightened, she fled with little Li Sui overnight, not even daring to beg for money anymore. They walked along the route in her memories. When they passed through another vige, all of their money was used up and they didnt have food anymore. Li Suis mother was severely ill, she coughed all the time and could no longer walk. Little Li Sui was scared and anxious, he went around the vige asking for help. The barefoot doctor in the vige was a nice person, he sympathized with little Li Sui and his mother. The doctor did a simple check-up on little Li Suis mother, upon checking, the doctor was shocked. This isnt a simple cold, I think she might have something wrong in her lungs. I suggest you go get an X-ray from major cities, The doctor said. After hearing that Li Suis mother only shook her head, while little Li Sui said in a childish voice, But we dont have money. The doctor seemed to find this difficult as well, he pointed in a direction and said, There are some people in the vige buying blood, they buy blood with quite a high price. Maybe you can ask them about it? After hesitating a bit, Li Suis mother brought Li Sui to the selling booth with her. There was quite a line at the selling booth, mostly vigers from nearby ces. This ce was obviously unauthorised, theycked even the most basic of hygienic precautions, the needles were often reused. Even though she was isted from the world for years, she still had basic public health knowledge. She was afraid of getting infected, but after asking around, everyone said there was no contagious disease outbreaks nearby. She only dared selling her blood after obtaining that information. Technically, a patient like herself should not be selling blood here, but she couldnt care about that now. If she waited any longer, they might just die here before they could ever reach home. She got 400 Yuan for selling 600mL of blood, that bit of money was barely enough for road fares. Her gaze fell onto little Li Sui, he seemed to have sensed something and raised his arm up willingly. The fake doctor doing the aspiration looked at little Li Sui in shock and said, Arent this kid too young, are you sure you want me to take his blood? She hardened his heart and said, Yes. Another person who was responsible for aspirating blood looked their way and said, You need money that badly? Well do an examination on him first, if anything happens, we arent responsible. After that little Li Sui was brought into a dark room, there were a few people inside, both male and female. Throughout the whole process little Li Sui was in a trance, he only knew that the people hooked him up to some kind of machines, he also heard some weird dripping sounds for his whole duration in the room. After the examinations, the fake doctor aspirated 100mL of blood from little Li Sui. He began feeling dizzy after that, his mother took the money and picked little Li Sui up, bringing him to have some food. After resting for a night, they were nning on hiring a motorcycle near the entrance of the vige. Just when they got to the vige entrance, they were stopped by a pair of masked couple, they were clearly not good people. Will you sell your kid? The man asked directly. His mother instinctively pulled little Li Sui closer to herself and asked, Who are you people? You dont have to care who we are, we are just here to ask if you will sell your son to us. Well give you a million Yuan. Li Suis mother was in shock, her hand loosened. little Li Sui immediately grabbed his mothers hand back, afraid that she would sell him off. He opened his innocent eyes wide and said in a meek voice, Mum. Li Suis mother nced at the boy, though she didnt love the child all that much, she even thought of him as an obstacle in her life, when it came down to this, she still hesitated. Not selling. She pushed the two people away, picked up little Li Sui and ran. Hiding and fleeing the whole trip, they finally arrived at their home. When they opened the door to the house though, they found that the people inside were gone, they had moved away. She only knew after asking an olddy in the house, the vige got flooded three years ago, the house and the farnd were all soaked. In order to survive, her family moved away to the city for work, as for where they were right now, even the olddy didnt know. She was in despair, she had hope the entire way of her journey. The only hope she had was to reunite with her family, now that her only wish was scattered, she just couldnt hold on, she fell to the ground. Aunt Li, Li Sui said as he immediately went to support her. She looked at Li Sui with empty eyes, then the despair in her eyes turned into anger, her hands were shaking. Li Sui was instinctively scared, he moved backwards a few steps. Her disease was never healed, after getting this emotional bomb, she just got worse. She spitted out some blood and fainted. little Li Sui was extremely frightened, he had no idea what to do. Luckily, an old man who was carrying wood on his back passed by, little Li Sui and the man carried her to the aid centre nearby. The doctor stationed there was a volunteer doctor from the city, he was experienced. After examining her condition, he said with a grim expression, Its lung cancer. After hearing that, all the adults gasped, little Li Sui was young, he had no idea what that was, but he knew how to observe peoples expression. He felt something rang in his heart, he asked the doctor in a hurry, Is my mum going to die? The doctor didnt answer his question directly, he said, Prepare some money and go to a major city to get treatment, maybe she can live for a few years more. The adults there looked at each other, they were more than willingly to help move thedy here, helping people with just some hard work was fine. When it came to money though, all of them were not willing. No one could really me them for being like that, this disease was basically an infinitely deep hole, it was also the one-way trip kind. The vige flooded in recent years, the rich ones would have moved away already, the ones who remained were all poor themselves, no one had the extra money to help them. Li Suis mother lived in the aid centre for two days, she really could not pay her stay, so she moved out after that. Luckily the olddy in her old house was kind, she tidied up two rooms for them to live in. From that day onwards, little Li Sui learned to cook and take care of his mother. Before the sun rises, little Li Sui would already be up the mountain picking up wood for burning. Then at night, little Li Sui would go to the farnds to help the farmers pick up the fallen paddies to earn some rice. Those days onlysted for a short while, his mother couldnt hold out anymore, without the help of medicines, the disease bare its fangs. In just two months, she lost 30 kg of weight, even her face caved in. little Li Sui watched as her turned thinner and thinner, he knew that this couldnt go on. Just as he was thinking about that, someone came to him. Li Sui stared at the man who had his face covered in scars, he remembered that this person was the man who stopped his mother and him at the vige entrance before. little Li Sui instinctively got cautious, he said, You are a bad person. Kid, you are correct, The man said with an odd ent, he continued after a short pause, Im a bad person, but I have money. Do you want toe with me, if you do, your mother can get treatment. little Li Sui was tempted, he hesitated for a bit, then asked, Other people have kids too, why do you want me? The man with scars and holding a cigaretteughed, thinking how this kid was smart in his heart, then he said, I definitely am not interested in following you all the way here, so Ill tell you the truth. Theres someone rich who wants your heart, if you follow me, youll be dead, but I can promise you that your mother will get treatment in the best hospital in the city. little Li Sui was suspicious of him, he wasnt stupid. Who knew whether this person would treat his mothers illness once he was gone. The man seemed to have noticed his concern, he said, Dont worry, Ill do what I promised, its not my money anyways. Everything is paid by the boss, he said that its your choice, you must want to yourself and hes not doing anything to harm people. little Li Sui hesitated, he didnt answer right away. The man was not in a hurry either, he just sat aside with his cigarette and waited for him. Around the time when the sky turned dark, little Li Sui finally made a decision, Ill go with you. That night, little Li Sui got on the mans car, he saw people moving his mother into the hospital with his own two eyes as his hands clenched into fists. Can we go yet? Hmn. The car bumped, shaking sideways as it moved on the road, giving out sharp exhaust noises. little Li Sui was anxious and homesick, he turned his head back again and again, but the car did not stop. He saw his homnd slowly disappearing from his view. After that was days of travelling, the man drove him all the way to a city hospital. After getting out of the car, a doctor did a detailed body check-up on him, he arranged for him to living in the hospital for a few days. One day, little Li Sui woke up from his nap, he heard people talking outside. little Li Sui listened to their conversation carefully, he could vaguely hear something like hes a match and hes too young, so we suggest raising him in a good facility first. little Li Sui felt like they were talking about him, just as he thought, the next day, a bunch of people came to the hospital. They finished the papers for his discharge and sent him to an orphanage. There were a lot of children in the orphanage, most of them there were deaf or mute. At the beginning, little Li Sui tried conversing with them, but slowly, he realized that they had no idea what he was talking about, it was as if he was isted. From the oddness at the beginning to gettingpletely ustomed. Perhaps it was because hecked love growing up, now that he was with all these deaf and mute children, he found life simpler. Except for not being able to go out freely, his day to day life was quite good, he could basically get whatever he asked for, his food and clothes were all prepared. Half-a-year had past, little Li Sui learned a lot in the orphanage, he was also a lot healthier than before. Even so, little Li Sui had still never seen the boss the scarred man spoke of, no one was here to take his heart. He was just left in the orphanage, it was as if he had been forgottenpletely. However, the peaceful days finally came to an end on a rainy night with lightning covering the sky. That night, little Li Sui was about to go to bed. All of a sudden, the door was opened and in came a ck shadow. The shadow grabbed him and covered his mouth, it pulled him out the room and ran after that. little Li Sui was scared, he was about to struggle, then his nose began taking in the familiar smell of the person, he froze, Mum? Mum? Is that you, mum? He asked as he ran with the person. The person pulling Li Sui didnt answer, the person just continued pulling him out to the rain. little Li Sui instinctively trusted the person, he followed close behind the shadow. They ran towards the exit under the roaring thunders and the bright lightning. The usually packed security room was empty, they just walked out the door smoothly without any obstacles. When they reached the side of the river, the person in front turned back to p little Li Suis face, she shouted, You ran out somewhere for half-a-year and you still dare call me you mother? little Li Sui was pped hard and fell into a trance, rainwater slid down his hair, he felt a burning sensation on his face. He even forgot to cry, when he looked up at his mother, he just felt wronged. Above their heads, there were lightnings and thunders. Li Suis mother was panting, she panted and panted, then she cried. She hugged Li Sui tightly and said, I searched for you for half-a-year Sobs went into Li Suis ears, he was shocked, he thought his mother would never look for him. After all, in all their years living together, she had shown nothing but hate towards him. After the two of them tidied up their emotions, a round-faced man appeared beside the river with them, he was holding something. The something was wrapped in a piece of cloth, from the shape, it looked like a weapon. Li Suis mother realised that something was wrong, What are you doing? Didnt you say youd help me find my son? The manughed creepily, he said, Yes, I helped you find your son, without you, why would he ever get out of the orphanage, and he would never have left the Lu familys turf, and would never just happen to fall into my hands. What are you going to do, you Before she finished her sentence, the man unwrapped the thing in his hand. A lightning shed down, shining on the object in his hand, it was a gun. Idiot woman, I said Id help you and you really believed me. The round-faced man pulled the safety off, then aimed the gun at Li Sui, Kid, sorry. Its not that I want to kill you, but your heart is a threat to us. I guess we will have to take out our hate for the Lu family on you. After he finished, the man was going to pull the trigger. Li Suis mothers eyes widened, suddenly she was filled with strength and she went over to the man, pushing him away and fighting with him. She said as she pushed the man, Quickly, run away. Theres a wooden boat, run! little Li Suis brain was chaotic, his little head couldnt process so many information at once. He only managed to follow his mothers instructions, he ran towards the river like his life depended on it. Li Sui just got to the river and untied the string tying the wooden boat to the shore, that was when he heard a sharp gunshot. little Li Sui turned his head around slowly to see his mother falling to the ground, she didnt budge anymore, blood trickled out of her body, then got washed off by the rainwater. Seeing that, little Li Sui didnt even know how to close his eyelids anymore. He seemed to have forgotten how to feel sad, his limbs were stiff as he climbed onto the wooden boat, he pushed himself out to the river with his legs. The rain was heavy, so the water level of the river was high. After the rope was untied, the boat flowed out almost immediately. The round-faced man ran to the river with a scary expression, he stood at the riverside, aiming his gun at Li Suis head and was about to shoot. Just then, a car drove to the shore at high speed, an armed man got out of the car. He shot the round-faced mans leg almost exactly when he was shooting at Li Sui. The round-faced man shook, he lost his aim and the stray bullet hit Li Sui. Li Sui was shot at his waist, his whole body shook, then he fell face down onto the boat. The rain was still falling, heartlessly hitting Li Suis head. The boat floated across the river, Li Sui could hear themotion at the riverside. little Li Sui opened his mouth, he used all the strength he had left to turn his face around. Before his consciousness faded, Li Sui looked at the riverside onest time, in the leading car, he saw a face, a young and extremely familiar face that face was with no doubt belonged to Lu Shang, who was in his teens. Stimted by the scene, Li Sui was shocked, he suddenly woke up from his dreams and his eyes flung open. The voice in his ear became clearer, Li Sui was panting and he was covered in sweat. He heard Dr. Leung asking him something, he was also patting his forehead. Li Sui lifted his hand up to his own face, only to find it covered in tears. He didnt have the leisure to deal with that, he grabbed Leung ZiRuis whiteb coat and asked in a shaky voice, He knows, doesnt he? Lu Shang, he knew all along who I was, didnt he? Chapter 47 - Chance Chapter 47: Chance Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations (Unedited) Something clicked in Leung ZiRuis heart, though Li Suis question was out of the blue and disorganized, he actually understood what Li Sui was asking about. Leung ZiRuiforted him, Your nervous system was stimted by the medicine, its just illusions, dont take it seriously. Li Sui ced the back of his hand on his eyes, he shook his head. He was certain that what he saw was a part of his forgotten memories. He could even remember what happened afterward, he was picked up by some passing fishermen and sent to an aid center. After he woke up, he didnt remember anything, he just knew his surname was Li. Someone from the aid center checked for his background but found nothing. They didnt even find his birth record, so they could only send him to an orphanage. Later, he was adopted, then got lost and trafficked, he drifted to many ces until he finally met Lu Shang again. Leung ZiRui poured him a ss of water, he waited patiently for him to calm down. In case of any residue medicine left, Leung ZiRui also checked Li Suis blood pressure along with doing other tests. We already know the safe dosage. Do feel unwell now? Li Sui only shook his head, he was in a bad mood and clearly still immersed in his memories. Dont think so much, eat something good and get some rest, everything will be fine after that. Leung ZiRui patted his back. How much do you know about what happened 17 years ago? Li Sui raised his head. Leung ZiRui looked at him in silent, he stared at him for a while, then knew he couldnt hide it anymore, so he sighed and said, What do you want to know? My mother is she still alive? When she found you, the cancerous tumor in her lungs had already spread, the bullet went into her lungs. The doctors did all they could have done but Where is she buried at? At her homnd, as for the exact location, you will have to ask Lu Shang. Li Sui lowered his head, he was depressed, He knew everything but why didnt he tell me? Li Sui, think about it. Now you know everything, but isnt that just opening up new injuries? If your brain had chosen to forget all of this, why would Lu Shang actively re-open those wounds? Moreover, youre different from before, you have him with you now. Li Sui didnt speak, so Leung ZiRui continued, Back then, I wasnt in the country, so I only heard of these from my seniors. After you were washed away, they went down shore to search for you. Unfortunately, the rain was too heavy, so they couldnt find you, they thought you were dead. Lu Shangs father always felt guilty for not giving Lu Shang a healthy body, so when he knew he was nearing the end of his life, he wanted to use you as a final gift. He didnt think things would end up like this. Lu Shangs father also regretted interfering with the course of your life, he gravely affected two lives after all. He was always mindful of what he had done, even at his end, he felt guilty for that. I cant really say how Lu Shang felt about this but seeing how carefully he treated you seven years ago, Im guessing that he felt just as guilty as his father, though he never actually said it. Li Sui, you should be very clear what kind of person Lu Shang is. He might be tough on outsiders, but he was always soft on you. Im sure that he never intended to hurt you, otherwise things wont be like this now. Leung ZiRui sighed, Maybe this is fate Li Sui quieted down, he never believed in something as intangible as fate. However, he also never thought that his life was already so entangled with Lu Shangs from that long ago. Not to mention how their reunion seven years ago felt so much like something destined to happen. Do you need some rest? I can bring you some food. Let me be alone for a while. Leung ZiRui looked at him, he knew that nothing more he said was going to be useful. Naturally, Li Sui needed time to process things as he was fed so much information at once. As a doctor, he knew how to deal with diseases, but not with emotional diseases. Even so, Leung ZiRui was not worried. Li Sui was already a full-grown person, he had independent thoughts, and Lu Shang had taught him well. Leung ZiRui was certain that no matter what happened, Li Sui would always remember what he truly wants. Leung ZiRui left the room to Li Sui, he walked out the door. Outside, Dr. Leon was taking notes, his index finger was tabbing on the notebook. How is he? The medicine seemed to have stimted his memories, he remembered something from his childhood. Really? Leon was excited, he said, This is an unexpected turn of events, I must take notes of this. Leung ZiRui didnt answer him, he was taught by Leon, so he knew clearly that a crazy researcher like Leon had apletely different thought process with normal people. Leon probably didnt understand peoples delicate feelings, he always felt like he only knew how to do scientific investigations. Professor, Leung ZiRui looked lost, he continued, Medically speaking, are physical conditions really more important than emotional conditions? That depends on how you define them, my child. Three years ago, when I examined Lu Shangs health condition, I found that almost all of his health parameters were normal. Before that, I really thought that he could at most live for one more year. Though I suspected that it might be due to dopamine, now I do wonder, can a persons emotions affect ones illness to a certain degree? Interesting topic. That is just like the cebo effect that we often hear about, in fact, we often see simr cases in clinical trials. People who had end stage cancer miraculously recover or people who were near death had their heartbeat recovered after hearing the calls of loved ones. You need to understand one thing, my dear. Leung ZiRui moved his gaze towards him. If a person wished with all his might to live, even heavens would eventually give way. Li Sui went up to the top floor and let the wind blow on him for a long time, when he emerged in the room again, everything already seemed normal. Lu Shang called him while he was cooling down up on the top floor, after seeing the missed call, his expression didnt change even a little. He just casually called back with a voice that sounded like nothing happened. Leung ZiRui was eating his lunchbox as he stared at Li Sui, he was sighing how this persons acting was almost worthy of going on the Oscars. Leon rushed out of the medicalboratory in a hurry, he went into the mens washroom. Leung ZiRui suspected that he was in a hurry for smoking or something. As he guessed, after around 15 minutes, Leon walked out looking rejuvenated, even his eyes seemed to be sparkling. Professor, you wont be like that during the surgery, would you? Leung ZiRui asked with worry. Do I look that unreliable? Leon touched his own beard and said, You should be worrying about your friend, you guys should prepare yourself mentally. The chance of sess of the surgery might be very low. Hearing that, Li Sui turned his head over, What? I tried calcting the sess rate. We need to get a part of the vein from the legs for a graft, then find the two healthy end of the coronary artery and rece the diseased section with the vein from the leg. That alone is fine, but we also need to remove an aneurysm, the chance of the aneurysm not bursting during the above procedure is very slim. When the aneurysm burst, the heart will sustain a lot of damage, even I cant guarantee how the surgery would turn out. Li Suis hand shook slightly, though he already expected that this surgery wouldnt be simple, or else Leung ZiRui would have done it already, hearing Leon say it out loud was different, what is the sess rate of the surgery. Leon shook his head, From simr surgeries done recently, the sess rate of aneurysm removal is less than 10%. The room went silent for a few seconds, Li Sui leaned onto the armrest and slowly sat down, his face was pale white. Are you going to take that chance? Li Sui didnt reply, his shaking hands clenched together and loosened again. It was obvious that he was hesitating. 10% meant that only one will survive in ten, Li Sui didnt even want to think about that. If Lu Shang couldnt hang on through the surgery, how would he be able to face that result. Li Sui was willing to do anything for Lu Shang but he would never be willing to wager on Lu Shangs life. Please wait I need more time to think about it. Li Sui rubbed the bridge of his nose. It waste at night, the lights in the hallway were dimmed, making the hospital seemed extra quiet. Li Sui wandered outside the door for a while, but finally decided to enter theboratory. Professor. Leon was writing something, but when he saw Li Sui came in, he didnt seem at all surprised, Youre finally here. You knew Im going toe here? Li Sui asked. Leonughed a little and said, So, what do you want to ask me about? Li Sui stared at Leon for a while, then he knew that Leon had already guessed what Li Suis intentions were, so he decided to ask directly, I want to know, as a heart donor, what do I need to do in preparation? Is it really necessary for you tomit suicide, kid? Li Sui lowered his head, he looked sad, I cant let him take the 10%, I want him to live, even if Im not there. Leon didnt say anything, he stood up after a while and patted Li Suis shoulder. When Li Sui got home, the lights in the bedroom was still on, Lu Shang was rummaging through the bedside drawer. Li Sui nced at Lu Shangs slightly swollen eyes and he knew immediately that Lu Shang just vomited. Li Sui asked in a soft voice, Are you feeling unwell? No, Im fine. Im feeling a lot better today. Lu Shang had his head down, he took out the medicine and put them in his own mouth. Seeing Lu Shangs actions made Li Sui feel uneasy, he asked, Is it bitter? Lu Shang shook his head up, he had a light smile on his face. The medicine Leung ZiRui had been prescribing Lu Shang recently had all been bitter medicine, it was torture to something like Lu Shang who hated bitterness so much. Li Sui walked up and held his hands, he said with a slightly deep voice, Just wait after winter, then you dont need to take bitter medicine anymore. The next morning, Li Sui went to the hospital for a check-up. Leung ZiRui only felt at ease after reading through the report which showed Li Sui was fine with his own two eyes. He gave Li Sui a bottle of supplements and said, Here, keep this. If you feel unwell when you get back, you should take one. Li Sui was silent, he looked out of it. He just took the bottle and stuffed it in his bag. Leung ZiRui saw that Li Sui seemed to have a lot on his mind, after thinking for a bit, he asked, You didnt tell himst night, did you? Li Sui didnt reply, he just hung his head low and shook his head a bit after a while. Leung ZiRui was a little shocked, So you are not going to him at all? For the things in the past, those are in the past. If he doesnt mention them, I wont either. You were right, hes my lover right now and I choose to believe in him. Also about the surgery, dont tell him. His health condition is poor recently, I dont want him to have to overthink things. Leung ZiRui didnt answer his request, Li Sui proceeded to asking, What ns do professor Leon have? If he doesnt, I want him to stay in the country. His visa is going to end soon, so he has to go back to extend it. He said if you have a decision, he coulde back anytime. Li Sui nodded his head, tomorrow Ill bring Lu Shang over for a regr check-up. Leung ZiRui put his heads in theb coat pockets and asked, What? Is his condition that bad? Its still the same old problems, only that this time it seemed more severe, the duration is longer too. Im a little worried Seven years, Leung ZiRui said with his eyes closed, it seemed like he wasnt surprised. Leung ZiRui sighed and said, From when he brought you home, he had postponed the surgery for seven years, thats already a miracle in his case. His time is reducing with every passing day, you should hurry in making a decision. Li Sui lowered his eyes and left. Chapter 48 - Getting Separated Chapter 48: Getting Separated Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations (Unedited) Before Li Sui got back home, he found a rubbish bin on the streets and dumped all the medicine he got in the bin. Then he tried smelling his own clothes to ensure that there wasnt the smell of disinfectants from the hospital remaining on him. Then he opened the door. Only Aunt Lu was inside, she was making food. Wheres Lu Shang? Aunt Lu found that odd too, she said, He told me that he was going to buy something from the pet supplies store nearby. Is he still not back yet? Lu Shang seldom went out now, except for asionally strolling in the park with Li Sui in the morning, he basically stayed home all the time. Li Sui looked out to the darkening sky, he was beginning to get worried. He attempted calling Lu Shang on the phone, but just after he had dialed the call, rings came from the living room. How long has he been out? For two hours. Li Suis heart sank, Ill go look for him. In a hurry, he rushed to the pet store, fearing of being told that no such person was there. Just after he turned at a corner, he saw Lu Shang sitting on a bench at the entrance of the pet shop, holding a small fishbowl in his hands. Across from the other side of the street, Li Sui took a deep breath, even from so far away, he could tell that Lu Shangs eyes were not normal. The pet store was closing, but the owner of the store didnt feel right just forcing Lu Shang to leave. Li Sui ran over and turned Lu Shang to face him, Whats wrong? Why are you sitting here? Lu Shang was slightly shocked, but he smelled the familiar scent, and his shoulders were loosened. Im fine, Lu Shang reached for Li Suis hands and shoved the small fishbowl to him. My eyes suddenly went dark when I came out to buy something from the shop. Being out in a cold winter day like this, there wasnt any walls nearby to block the wind either. Li Sui felt how cold Lu Shangs hands and feet were. Obviously, Lu Shang had been in the cold wind for a long time, that made Li Suis heart ache. Li Sui pondered over and over again these past two days, he had prepared some questions to coax the truth out of Lu Shang about his past. Yet, when it came down to it, he couldnt bring himself to say anything. Its okay as long as you are fine. He hugged Lu Shang tightly. Li Sui carefully lifted Lu Shang up and led him slowly towards home. Fortunately, the pet shop was not far from their house, many passers-by gave them curious looks along the way. If Li Sui hadnt taken Lu Shangs face into ount, he would have just picked Lu Shang up and carried him back home. Why did you buy another tortoise? Isnt there already one at home? Lu Shangs voice sounded like he had a stuffy nose, It always sleeps, so I thought maybe I should get two. Maybe itd be better with two. Li Sui looked back at him and asked, If I didnte for you, would you have just waited there for the whole night? Lu Shang opened his nk eyes wide and did not answer. Li Sui looked at him, he felt his own heart being filled up with acid. The thought of Lu Shang waiting for him helplessly in an unfamiliar ce made Li Sui feel ufortable. Dont go out alone again. Tell me what you want, and Ill buy it for you. If thats no good. Tell Uncle Yuen or Aunt Lu, they will go buy it for you. Its just lucky this time. There werent much people on the streets in the cold weather. What if something happened while you were outside and you ran into your enemies? If something happened to you, I Halfway through his remarks, Li Sui suddenly stopped. Lu Shang was silent for the whole time, he had a lonely look on his face. Li Sui reacted, he leaned over and hugged him, Im sorry, I didnt mean that. Lu Shang smiled indifferently, Its fine, I understand. Youll be fine, youll, Li Sui said bitterly. Trying to sound soothing, he said, You can do whatever you want and go wherever you want to go. If you got lost, its fine, Ill turn the whole city over to find you. Lu Shang did not say anything, he only had a faint smile. After being tense for too long, Lu Shang was extremely tired. Just before they got home, Lu Shang couldnt even stand up straight anymore., he almost fainted as they walked. Aunt Lu came out and saw Li Suiing into the house with Lu Shang in his arms. She thought something must had happened and asked, Whats wrong? Hes all right. Just tired. Li Sui whispered the answer to her, then he changed his shoes and carried the man upstairs. Lu Shang was sleeping soundly, Li Sui didnt want to wake him up, so he changed Lu Shang into his pajamas for him. As he was helping Lu Shang change, a strand of white hair shed across his sight. Li Sui was stunned for a moment, thinking that he had seen wrong. Lu Shangs hair was thin and soft to touch, Li Sui brushed aside some of the hair with his fingers. It really was white hair that greeted Li Suis eyes, there were more than one, when Li Sui counted carefully, he noticed there was several strands of white in his view. The tiny discovery set off a storm in Li Suis heart. He held his breath and stared at him for a long time, then he covered Lu Shang with the nket and went downstairs silently. Aunt Lu was cooking dinner, when she saw that Li Sui looked a little odd, she asked, What happened? Li Sui looked at her as he said, Aunt Lu, is there any way for me to slow time down? As Aunt Lu listened, she could vaguely feel the same thing, that was something all of them had been evading but getting increasingly urgent. She did not know what advice to give, she only sighed and said, Life and death are always together, Lu Lao Ban is an open-minded people, you shoulde to terms with that Li Suiughed at himself and shook his head, I cant, I can never. I want him to live. Seeing Lu Shang fight with his illness for a long time, she knew how difficult this seemingly simple wish was. Looking at Li Sui losing his spirits like this made her felt sad herself. She just left with a sigh and went to the kitchen to get her things. In the evening, Lu Shang didnt wake up. Li Sui looked at the meals on the table. He didnt even pick up his chopsticks and drank only a small bowl of soup. You had enough? Aunt Lu asked. Li Sui seemed shock at his ownck of appetite as well, he stood up and went to change into his running shoes, walking out, he said, Im going out for a run. When Lu Shang got up the next day, his eyes were still unable to see, his sight was pitch ck. This situation had happened several times before, but this time it was the most severe. Lu Shangs were basically a signalling device for Lu Shangs health. When he was in good health, his eyes would be good, if his eyes couldnt see, then his body must be in bad condition as well. Li Sui usually forbid Lu Shang to do this or touching certain things, all he wanted to aplish was for him to get better. However, he also knew in his heart that everything had a limit. Beyond that point and it was impossible for any human intervention to work. Although Li Sui had been prepared for it, he still felt extremely heartbroken when this day came. Li Sui applied for a vacation from work, he devoted himself in taking care of Lu Shang at home. Phone calls from thepany came one after another but Li Sui ignored all of them, he continued happily feeding Lu Shang instead. He was afraid that Lu Shang might get bored, so he dug out an old gramophone to y some discs for Lu Shang. Do you want to dance? Li Sui asked after adjusting his voice. Lu Shang turned his head around from his wheelchair and smiled, Yes. In the past, Dr. Leung suggested that he could dance with Lu Shang, dancing was a good way to promote blood cirction and improve cardiopulmonary function. Li Sui moved the sofa away, then helped Lu Shang up. Li Sui put one hand on Lu Shangs shoulder, and another held Lu Shangs hand. He began moving slowly with the old music. Li Sui had attended dance etiquette sses while studying abroad. When he was learning how to dance, he always fantasized that the person dancing with him was Lu Shang. He didnt expect the situation to be like this when the fantasy came true. Female steps? Lu Shangughed as soon as he stepped his foot out along with the rhythm. Hmn, Li Sui kissed him on the eyebrow, When I was learning, I directly asked my teacher to teach me the female dance steps. I was waiting for this day, you know? Although Lu Shangs eyes couldnt see, he was not afraid of hitting something at all. He let Li Sui guide him along and set the rhythm, rxing himself in the music and immersing in his lovers consideration. The cell phone at the corner of the desk was still vibrating, as if it were adding music to their dance. Dancing gently to the middle of the living room, the light from the ssmp shone on Lu Shangs nose. Li Sui looked at his closed eyes and found that the man in front of him was just so beautiful, he couldnt help bending over and kissing him. Suddenly having something warm on his lips startled Lu Shang a bit, he moved back on reflex. After moving away, he smiled gently and came up to return kiss. Their tongues touched and soon became entangled together. Li Sui was extremely happy, his huge invisible tail was wagging. Li Sui held Lu Shang close as they circled the room along with the music, he was reluctant to let go. Li Sui heartily liked this kind of tender kisses which didnt involve lust or desire, they always make him feel the strong love and dependence Lu Shang had for him. It was truly odd, even after being together for years, he would still get excited for a single kiss, as if he was still having his first crush every day. In the evening, Li Sui filled a wooden container with hot water and massaged Lu Shangs legs and feet. Lu Shang listened to the sound of the water and touched Li Suis hair with his hands, he said softly, Go back to thepany tomorrow, you dont have to stay with me. Li Sui refused without even thinking, If Im not here, then nobody will be staying with you. Youre super valuable, if you got dented somewhere, then Im going to lose a whole lot. Lu Shang was amused, Im just a burden now. Im not worth anything. As soon as Lu Shang finished speaking, the sole of his foot was badly tickled twice. Lu Shang twitched from the itching. Li Sui held on to his thin ankle and pretended to be vicious, Who said you are a burden? I will broke his leg. Lu Shang reached for Li Suis chin and pinched it. He said sadly, I dont like seeing you worry about me every day, so much so that youve gotten thinner. Li Sui moved his face away quietly. Besides, if I cant see all the time, are you going to stay at home forever? Lu Shang rubbed Li Suis hair with a smile, Someone must go out to make us a living. I can only depend on you now. Li Sui looked up at him but swallowed what he wanted to say. Even though he was reluctant to part with him, Li Sui also understood that it was far from the situation was far from reassuring at Tong Yan, the internal affairs in thepany was still very messy, all of those problems were waiting for him deal with. Several cooperation projects with Mu Sheng had reached the settlement phase, not to mention his border n There were so much work that he couldnt really afford to leave thepany for another moment. The next morning, Li Sui returned to work and Uncle Yuen told him an explosive news. In the days of his absence, Liu Xin Tian had sessfully got the Meng familys support. In addition to the elder shareholders who had clearly stood on Liu XinTians side before, his influence in the shareholders meeting had already surpassed Lu Shangs. They might hold a shareholders meeting to change the board of directors at any given moment. Li Sui frowned when he heard about it. The reason why he didnt hold the shareholders meeting, I guess is Hes afraid of my projects with Mu Sheng, Li Sui said while sneering. Hes afraid that if I was pushed too hard, he wouldnt be able to get a penny out of those projects. Uncle Yuen nodded, Also your border trading project, he doesnt dare to confront the government. From the start, Lu Shang had gone to great lengths to secure the border project for him, it must had been a move after deep, long considerations. The results of that move were finally shown today. In the world of business, everything seems important but the country is still the most powerful force. What should we do now? Everyone in thepany is filled with anxiety. Li Sui also found it difficult. The best way to stabilize everyones hearts was to get Lu Shang toe out. Most of the employees of thepany were recruited and nurtured by Lu Shang, they grew along with Tong Yan. Even if thepany had drastic changes, most of them still had an instinctive trust in Lu Shang. However, Li Sui knew that it was impossible. With Lu Shangs current physical condition, his appearance would only make people more anxious. Slow the progress of Mu Shengs projects down, push them back to at least after the New Years, Li Sui said. Ill talk to Director Yue about it myself. Li Sui was soon proved correct. As soon as he slowed down the projects with Mu Sheng, Liu XinTian rushed into his office early in the morning. Liu XinTian always saw himself as a senior, so he did sounded at least partially decent with Lu Shang, but he waspletely impolite when it came to Li Sui. Can you bear the responsibility of dying thepanys workings? Li Sui responded calmly, Something had gone wrong with the project, Im not dying it. Its also reported on the news, it was raining heavily recently. Are you telling me with your conscience to risk the workers lives? Dont give me that, Liu XinTian said. Do you think no one knows what youre thinking? Dragging the projects out and holding the profits back until after the end of his year. You must think youre smart but I ask you, can Lu Shang bear the responsibility of deliberately slowing downpany progress? T/N: I hate this guy, as if there would be said progress if Lu Shang wasnt there. Director Liu, I have my own way of doing things. Since thepanys management was handed over to me by Lu Shang himself, it means that I have the right to manage it wholly. I have Lu Shangs support and his letter ofmission in my hands. Thepany is in capable hands, the management decisions made arent something that any odd person can alter. The remark was rather rude, secretary Yeung at the door kept looking in as if she wanted to probe in. She used to be Lu Shangs secretary, she was nted there by Liu XinTian. After Li Sui took over, he directly gave her the cold treatment, he sent her to the archives to manage the paperwork. Secretary Yeung, if you want to know something, go home and ask director Liu himself. Li Sui was quite angry, thinking about how long this woman had been watching Lu Shang, he could not help but sounded rough with his words. Liu XinTian was a little embarrassed when he mentioned that, his momentum immediately weakened. He turned to sneering and said, Young and vicious, huh? Didnt Lu Shang teach you that being young and vicious have its price? Lu Shang suffered a lot due to Liu XinTian when he was young. At that time, they were still supposedly uncle and nephew. Although Li Sui didnt know the specifics, he could almost imagine Lu Shang trusting Liu XinTian, or else he wouldnt have had so much power in the shareholders meeting. Unfortunately, this trust was meant with nothing but disappointment. When Li Sui thought about those things, the veins on his hands popped up. He stared at him with sharp eyes, trying to hold himself back. You just wait, youll regret it. Liu XinTian walked out after leaving that behind. After he left, Li Sui loosened his clenched teeth and gradually calmed down. He began thinking about what Liu XinTians next move and countermeasures might be. Li Sui hated people who badmouth about Lu Shang. In his eyes, neither Tong Yan or Liu XinTian meant anything. However, if someone dared threaten him with Lu Shang, he would surely respond in the meanest way possible. After work in the evening, Xe WeiLan who was equally upset, asked Li Sui out for a drink. They ordered two hotpots and sat down in front of the stove, scolding Liu XinTian while the food was cooked. That man is really something, how can there be someone like that in this world, when did the Lu family ever do him wrong, how can he be so unsatisfied? Li Sui didnt drink alcohol, he asked for a soda instead, When I was still interning in Tong Yan, Lu Shang told me that the most unpredictable thing in the world is the human heart. If everyone treats people withpassion, there will be no more wars in the world. Fuck all of this! Xe WeiLan stuffed the pancakes into his mouth and gently hit Li Sui with the wine bottle. Seeing Li Suis beverage, he shouted, Hey, why arent you drinking? He was going to pour Li Sui some wine just as he asked. Li Sui immediately moved the cup away from him, Im not drinking today. Why? Li Sui touched his cup of sparkling water with Xe WeiLans wine bottle and said, Nothing. Im driving today. Maybe next time. Chapter 49 - Letting Go Chapter 49: Letting Go Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations (Unedited) Due to Li Suis influence, the progress of the projects with Mu Sheng slowed down. The weather seemed to be helping them, as it had been cold and windy recently. The snow this year came early. To ensure safety, the government had also issued orders to suspend all constructions up high. With that, even Liu XinTian couldnt do anything about it, he only attempted some painless little tricks in secret. ording to Tong Yans usual practice, before holding the shareholders meeting, the board of directors had to hold a self-reflection meeting, which required Lu Shang to attend. Li Sui was hesitant, he was going to find a way to avoid that. On the day of the meeting, Lu Shang woke up and changed into his work clothes, Li Sui did not expect that at all. It seemed like Lu Shang was prepared to go to work with him. Are your eyes okay? Before going out, Li Sui was still worried about his health. Its fine. I must go to thepany at least one a year, Lu Shang put on his sses and smiled gently, Otherwise, people might suspect if youve done something to me. Li Sui circled Lu Shangs waist with his arm teasingly, he asked at Lu Shangs ear, Eh, what have I done to you? Uncle Yuen coughed ufortably twice, Its time. The two of them looked at each other andughed, then they averted their eyes in embarrassment. Ever since Tong Yan was handed over to Li Sui, Lu Shang gradually loosened his hold on thepany. Especially in recent years, he hardly participated in Tong Yans affairs. When he walked out of the elevator, he could clearly sense order in thepany, nothing was worse than when he was in charge. The board of directors were all on their side, so the meeting went smoothly. Although Lu Shang was present, he was basically on the side lines and only asionally made remarks. Li Suis attention had never been away from the Lu Shang for the entire meeting, he was afraid that Lu Shang would put on a tough face even when he wasnt feeling well, so he arranged for the important reports to be done in the morning. When the morning part of the meeting was over, he asked Uncle Yuen to bring Lu Shang home first. You dont need me for the afternoon part? No, its all trivial things. Go back and have a good rest. Dont forget to take the medicine. Li Sui reminded. It was around lunch hours now, they shed with the rush hour. The road was badly congested. They moved less than ten meters per minute. When they got to the city centre, the car basically stopped moving. Uncle Yuen got out of the car to have a look. He came back into the car and said that there was a traffic ident, so they probably wont be moving any time soon. They were very close to RuiGe Hospital. Lu Shang thought about it and got out of the car. Are you going to Dr. Leungs ce? We havent gotten your medical check-up report yet. Hmn, Ill get it while Im there, so Li Sui doesnt have to take time to go there. Uncle Yuen led Lu Shang out of the elevator. Leung ZiRui was reading something, the door was open. Lu Shang suddenly came to visit, so he was unprepared. He was shocked for a second, then asked, Why are you here, what a rare guest? Im just here to show care for single people, Lu Shangs gaze went towards what was in Leung ZiRuis hand. Leung ZiRui closed the binder quietly, Single people have human rights too. Why did Li Sui let youe today? He never restricted my freedom to go around, Lu Shang smiled. I was passing by, so I came to pick up the check-up report. Whats the hurry? Leung ZiRui looked down at his wristwatch, he got up and took off his whiteb coat. Its time for lunch already. You rarelye in standing upright. I must invite you to lunch at least. Lu Shang did not refuse, he gave Uncle Yuen a signal with his hand before leaving with Leung ZiRui. He knew Leung ZiRui very well, when Leung ZiRui was still a child, his father would treat Lu Shangs father, and they yed together while the grow-ups were doing their things. At that time, Lu Shang had very few friends. Leung ZiRui was the only one who dared drag him around all day long, even when Lu Shang seldom spoke. Exactly because they were familiar with each other, only a small change or movement and Lu Shang would know that something was up. Just when Lu Shang entered the door, Leung ZiRuis voice shook, that was his typical reaction to being nervous about something. The thing in Leung ZiRuis hand must had something to do with him, and he didnt want him to know about it. After an absent-minded meal, Lu Shang was somewhat confused. Somehow, he thought the time when they were both still young. When Lu Shang was four or five years old, old Doctor Leung would pick little ZiRui up with his arm every time Lu Shangs father visited for a check-up. While the adults were checking pulses, Leung ZiRui would cause trouble on the side, he would also check Lu Shangs pulse for him. Oh, you got a terminal illness. You will die soon. Stop talking nonsense, Rui! old Dr. Leung threw a slipper at him. As children, they said whatever they feel like, but no one would expect that to actuallye true. At the age of five, Lu Shang was diagnosed with inborn coronary disease. Leung ZiRui was deeply sorry for that, he always thought that Lu Shangs illness was his own fault. So, he devoted himself to coronary illness research for many years, even after he grew up and understood that Lu Shangs illness was something inborn and had nothing to do with him. In recent years, Lu Shangs health condition had gotten worse and worse. However, Leung ZiRui was always confident about his eptability on his own health conditions. Lu Shang really couldnt imagine how bad his examination result must be to make his childhood friend attempt hiding them from him. Lu Shang was not afraid of death, nor of pain. The only thing in the world that made him afraid was to make Li Sui sad. What are you thinking about? How can you look so serious when you are just eating a meal, Leung ZiRui knocked on Lu Shangs bowl with chicken bones. Hey, dont tell me you guys had a fight? No wonder you came by yourself today We wont be separated even if we quarrel, Lu Shang was deliberately angering him. Have you heard of fighting in bed? You When Lu Shang got back in the car, Uncle Yuens expression looked bad. Lu Shang closed the car door and asked, What is it? Uncle Yuen seemed hesitant, but he still handed Lu Shang his mobile phone. Lu Shang nced at him, he froze for a second and did not take the phone, I cant see, are the results very bad? No, Uncle Yuen said, Its not the result of your physical examination, its an experimental record. Lu Shang frowned, Read it to me. Uncle Yuen opened up the photo and started reading the contents as requested. Lu Shang listened and slowly leaned back on the chair. It was as if his heart was stimted by something, it was throbbing violently. He covered his chest in pain, his hand trembled as he reached for the medicine bottle. Uncle Yuen hurriedly handed him the first-aid spray. The isosorbide dinitrate (i) worked fast, after the unbearable chest pain passed, Lu Shang opened his eyes weakly, Uncle Yuen T/N: (i) Relieve medicine for chest pain. Uncle Yuens eyes were heavy, I dont think it was Dr. Leungs idea. Lu Shang closed his eyes again, his chest was still moving up and down violently, and his face was pale. I know, he doesnt have the courage, it was Li Sui Uncle Yuen asked, Shall we call Xiao Li? Lu Shang brought the back of his hand to his forehead and looked sad, he did not say a word for a long time. When the meeting was over, it was already dark. There were also fog on the streets, so the visibility was poor. There were not many people on the street, the vendors also closed up their stalls. Li Sui slowed down his car and made a phone call to Lu Shang. No one picked up at that end, after waiting for a while, Li Sui guessed that Lu Shang must had fallen asleep and was about to hang up. That was when the call was answered. Were you asleep? He could not helpughing a little. Hmn. Lu Shangs voice was dull. After the processing by the microphones and speakers, just a single syble sounded special to Li Sui, he could hear a trace ofziness through the phone. He really liked that feeling from the bottom of his heart, when Lu Shang soundedzy like that, Li Sui felt like they were long married couples. He went to work and earned money to support his family, while Lu Shang would wait for him to return at home. Is the meeting over yet? When will you be back? Lu Shangs tone was blend. Im on the way home, Li Sui turned a corner. Have you had dinner yet? A soup restaurant opened up on East Street recently. I heard the soup there taste great. Do you want me to bring you some? Just bring yourself home, said Lu Shang. Did the meeting go well? It was fine, Liu XinTian came by in the afternoon, but he was always like that, it was nothing special, I As he was talking on the phone, a child suddenly came into his vision, his hands tightened, he immediately stepped on the brakes. Luckily, Li Sui responded quickly. The car stopped half an arm length away from the child. The child on the ground was apparently frightened, he sat there with a pale face. Li Sui unbuckled his seat belt hurriedly, he opened the door and got out. Are you okay? The child was so frightened that he just stared at Li Sui nkly with big eyes, the child even forgot to cry. Li Sui looked at him, and the childs familiar expression shocked him. Not far away, a young woman came running on high-heeled shoes. She must be the childs mother. Instead of looking at Li Sui, she pulled the child up in a rage and pped the childs face, she shouted, Are you blind or silly? When you see a caring, you run out on the road? Do you have a death wish? You are just like your deadbeat father, you should just die in a car crash or something! The child was hurt, then he came back to his senses. He bit on his lower lip silently with eyes full of tears, but he didnt cry. The child is still young, Li Sui gently blocked her back a little. The woman took in two hard breaths, she nced at Li Sui and turned away. The child froze for two seconds, then quickly got up to follow her, he was afraid of being left behind, Mom Dont leave me behind Dont leave me behind Li Sui stood still and watched them gradually leaving his sight and disappeared into the fog. A faint sense of bitterness slowly surged in his heart, a feeling that he should have felt years ago suddenly rose up. The feeling was neither strong nor turbulent, but it made gouged a hole in his heart. In the past days, he had been deliberately avoiding this matter, trying to make himself behave like he normally would. However, once something that was hidden was dug out, it would be engraved deeply in his soul, it was definitely not something that could be wipe away easily. Back in the car, Li Sui recollected himself, then started driving again. After driving for a while, he noticed that the phone was still connected, but there was no voice from the other end. Lu Shang was probably asleep again, so he simply hung up the call. He finally got home, Li Sui parked his car outside. As soon as he walked onto the front yard, he saw the orangemp on top of the front door lit up. Lu Shang was sitting under themp in his pyjamas. He was afraid of the cold, so he wrapped himself in a thick nket. Hearing movements, he looked up at Li Sui. What are you doing sitting here? Li Sui was shocked. Waiting for you. Li Sui was stunned. I heard a sudden brake through the phone. Lu Shang added. Li Sui looked at him. The light on top of the door was not strong, it barely brightened up Lu Shangs head, his hair looked extra fluffy under the orange light. Lu Shang couldnt see, so naturally themp was turned on for Li Sui. Seeing the light gave Li Sui a strong sense of sourness and guilt. God took something from him, but never failed to give something else back. His childhood memories were once injuries he couldnt even bear to face. Especially after years of fermentation, the depression in him grew, often it was like spider silk wrapping around his heart, the feeling would wander out in his nightmares. Now he was standing in a quiet yard, looking at the person in front of him. He felt as if all the pain he once suffered had beenpensated and the hole in his heart had been filled. Im all right. Li Sui walked forward and took Lu Shang hand. Lu Shangs palm was very cold, Li Sui tightened his grip a little. He knew that Lu Shang wanted to go out and find him, but his eyes were not working, so he could only wait at the front door. Lu Shang was apparently not reassured with just Li Suis words alone. He pulled Li Sui closer to himself and detailly checked every inch of Li Sui with his hands. He was only reassured after doing that and knew that nothing had happened. All the while, Li Sui was especially obedient and still, allowing Lu Shang to check his state. Once Lu Shang eased up, Li Sui moved forward to hug Lu Shang in his arms. Lu Shang, Li Sui said after a long period of emotional prepping, he made up his mind and said, Theres something I want to confess. Lu Shang turned his ears to him, showing that he was listening. Actually, I Ive remembered about my past. It was quiet, Li Sui waited for a few seconds, but he did not get a response from Lu Shang. Li Sui moved back slightly to see that Lu Shangs eye whites were a little red, Lu Shang had his eyes fixed on him. Li Suis heart shook, You You know already? Lu Shangs hold on Li Suis hand gradually tightened, after being silent for a while, he closed his eyes. Lu Shang hugged Li Sui gently, he touched the nape of Li Suis neck and asked, Did testing the medicine hurt? Li Sui was dumbfounded, a storm broke out in his mind, he almost instinctively answered, No it didnt. There is no way that it didnt hurt. Lu Shang was so distressed that he hugged him even tighter, as if he was scared. Did you even think about what to do in case of an ident? Theyre all crazy, those doctors. Why did you listen to them? Li Sui felt ufortable and uneasy. He did not speak at all and just buried his head in Lu Shangs shoulder. Were there any side-effects? Did Dr. Leung give you a thorough body check-up? Lu Shang touched him again feeling very uncertain. Everythings all right. Im fine. Li Sui pulled Lu Shangs frantically moving hands into his embrace and said, Lu Shang, I am in fact very happy that we met as kids before. Lu Shang listened, emotions were swelling in his eyes, after a while he whispered, Im sorry. Its not your fault. Dont apologize. Li Sui was afraid of hearing him apologize. Lu Shang shook his head, If it werent for my father, maybe you are now Maybe I cant hold you like this now, Li Sui tightened his arms. Your father and my mother, thats thest generations business. I only have one question right now, did you decide to be with me because you felt sorry for me? Of course not. Li Sui knew the answer already for a long time, but he could not help smiling warmly, having heard Lu Shang saying it himself, Then thats more than enough. The two of them hugged each other for a moment, then Li Sui let him go and asked hesitantly, My father, is he still alive? Hes alive, do you want to see him? Where is he? Hes in prison. Li Sui was slightly surprised, How long will he have to stay in prison? After some thought, Lu Shang said, Around a year more. When hees out, he will be nearly seventy years old. Will you go pick him up? Yes, Li Sui said, Ill make arrangements for him to live out his remaining days, but I probably wont see him after that. For his father, he could only fulfil his responsibilities as a son, but not fulfil filial piety. Although he had given him some warmth in his childhood, his mothers tragic life, and the pain he felt throughout his childhood were also single-handedly caused by the man. Between them were painfulness that could never be resolved. Just forgiving the man would sully his mothers sacrifice for him, so Li Sui couldnt let that go. You should do what you want. Lu Shang expressed his understanding. In the middle of the night, Lu Shang woke up. Ever since he saw the report, he found that he couldnt contain his emotions. Li Sui had to work in the day, so Lu Shang didnt want to disturb him. Lu Shangid still in bed, behind his neck were warm breaths, blowing on his neck regrly. In the darkness, their hands still stayed sp together tightly even during sleep, that made Lu Shang feel at ease. Lu Shang touched Li Suis arm gently, he reached the normal position for intravenous injection on Li Suis arm, he couldnt feel anything abnormal there. Lu Shang gently rubbed the spot repeatedly, he felt only a burst of bitterness in his throat. After a long silence, a soft sigh came out in the dark night. The next day, as soon as Li Sui left home, he called Leung ZiRui, only to find out that he was just as confused as he was. What? Are you sure? Leung ZiRui asked. Li Sui was about to ask further when he caught a glimpse of Uncle Yuen turning his head back. The full story was basically there in his mind, Nothing, lets talk next time. The car moved on the road steadily, neither of them spoke. Uncle Yuen broke the silence first, ording to the schedule, its time to draw up the guidelines for the uing shareholders meeting this week. Li Sui looked out of the window and said, Its going to snow again. It was cloudy, the clouds were low, and the sky seemed to be covered up with ayer of grey dust, it looked cold and humid. Yes, the news said that this year is going to be a cold winter, one thats the coldest in fifty years. Im afraid it will be a tough one. Li Sui slid his finger on the mist-covered ss window, then quickly smudged what he was writing away. He looked up and said, Uncle Yuen, open up two weeks in my schedule, I want to take Lu Shang on a trip. Uncle Yuen looked back at him. Although he was a little surprised by his decision, he did not oppose it. This year, Tong Yans management personnel had drastic changes. People in thepany were afraid that they would lose their jobs if they stood on the wrong side. Even Li Sui felt the pressure piling up, if it wasnt for the several projects under his management, he would be in even bigger trouble. Li Sui knew that this could not continue, he had to do everything he could to get back the shares Liu XinTian had taken. Only with enough shares in his hands would he have a say in changing the state of things. After the morning meeting, Li Sui left Xe WeiLan behind and discussed the transfer of shares. The idea is good, but its too difficult. They wont agree to transfer Lu Shangs shares to you. If you want to get the shares, you need to change thepany rules first. To change the rules, you need to go through the shareholders meeting. Maybe I can try to convince them. Xe WeiLan shook his head, You are too naive, moreover itd be humiliating. Those people are all in collusion with Liu XinTian. They only look at profits. I have to at least try. If Liu XinTian could go to beg the Meng family three times, why cant I? Xe WeiLan was in a bind. He was unwilling to have Li Sui begging people, he also believed that Lu Shang would not wish for that either, Theres no need. You dont have to do that, kid. We appreciate your kindness, but its too mean to make you beg, Lu Shang wont agree to that either. Li Sui refused to give up on the idea, Maybe not the bigger shareholders, but the smaller ones, at least let me try. Xe WeiLan didnt know what to do, Li Suis stubbornness was nothing less than Lu Shangs. If he did not let him try, Li Sui would never let the subject go. Xe WeiLan thought things through, then finally pulled out the list of shareholders and began analysing them one by one. These three, you can try. They are some old shareholders that Lu Shangs father persuade to invest in thepany. They dont usually care much about thepanys affairs, so they are quite neutral. If you visit them in the name of Lu Shang, they might help you. Li Sui got the list, he nodded and went into deep thoughts. Li Sui decided not to rush head on to those shareholders. Instead, he inquired about the shareholders interests and family conditions first. Then he went to shops and bought gifts with his assistants. Only then did he drove to their homes in amonpany car. There was one thing that Xe WeiLan didnt think of: Li Sui was very different from Lu Shang. Lu Shang looked cold on the outside, but was actually quite easy-going, while Li Sui was theplete opposite. His friendly face was quite popr with the elderlies, he was intelligent and lively, his ability in guessing peoples thoughts was very useful. After a week, he had taken down all three shareholders, they all agreed to stand on their side when the shareholders meeting was held. 6%, although thats not a lot, at least it has proven that this method is effective. I think we can take the initiative to approach the other shareholders some more, Li Sui said. Now that he had seeded, Xe WeiLan stopped refuting him, but he did told Li Sui to be careful of Liu XinTian. Whats more, you won those three shareholders over because they were neutral to begin with. For the rest of them, Im afraid it wont be as easy. I understand. Li Sui nodded. Li Sui ran around outside for several consecutive days, in the winter no less, even he began to feel the toll of it. Just as Xe WeiLan warned, the bigger shareholders were not so easy to convince. One of Liu XinTians undergroundrades shut him outside, only leaving a short message saying that he was not free today after an hour. Xiao Zhao was so angry that he was ready to smash the door with a brick. Li Sui triedforting Xiao Zhao. They were at a sensitive time after all, everyone in thepany was choosing sides right now, the people who followed him will definitely be affected. At times like this, any support was valuable. When Li Sui got home after dealing with all thepany matters, it was already dark. Li Sui stopped in front of the door before entering the house, he rubbed his face and took a deep breath, after making himself look more energetic, he finally opened the door. Inside, Lu Shang was sitting at the dining table, waiting for him toe home while reading something on the tablet, he was wearing a pair of sses. Li Sui was shocked, You can see? Lu Shang seemed to be cherishing this a lot, he stared at the data on the tablet, not even wanting to waste a second, A little bit. What are you looking at? Li Sui walked over. Looking at the financial report you did this year, and the information of the potential customers you are going to sign contracts with. Li Sui rubbed Lu Shangs shoulders and asked, Are you tired? Get some rest first? Lu Shang shook his head, he turned the tablet and drew crosses on several customers, he said, Here, his bank deposits are toorge, check if he has a margin. If he does, that indicates they have loans. Such customers should be ssified into the B category. This one here, he seemed to have inted his assets, but the debts he had are real, the debt ratio he reported were obviously false. For thikind of customers, you can forget them. Also, this one T/N: The raws didnt specify their genders, so I typed his by default. Li Sui quickly entered work mode, he wrote everything down carefully. He dared not lose focus, fearing that he might miss something. Lu Shang seldommented on his work, unless it was a very important decision, he hardly interfered with Li Suis choices. This group of customers were Li Suis first batch, it wasnt like heck confidence, but with thepanys current state, a single mistake could be his opponents fuel. Having countless eyes on him, watching closely, exerted a lot of pressure on Li Sui. For the rest of the customers, I have looked over them for you, you can rest assured and sign their contract. In addition, this years financial report you did was good, I wasnt able to pick out any faults. Li Sui was praised by Lu Shang, he breathed a sigh of relief and felt immense joy at the same time. Lu Shang smiled gently, he ced the tablet aside and reached his hand out to Li Sui, Come here, let me have a closer look at you. Li Sui walked closer and picked him up directly. He ced Lu Shang on hisp, he raised his head up and moved his face up to Lu Shangs. Li Suiughed and asked, Am I still handsome? Lu Shang looked at him carefully, he touched Li Suis face, and in his eyes were nostalgia. Before getting a reply, Li Sui moved his lower body up a bit in dissatisfaction, Hmm? Lu Shang flicked his forehead and said with augh, Its fine, your handsomeness hasnt faded yet. Although Li Sui wanted to have sex quite badly, he was worried of Lu Shangs health, so he didnt dare. He hugged Lu Shang for a while and went to the bathroom to deal with it himself. Lu Shang felt sorry for that and wanted to go in to help. In less than a second, he was thrown back out of the bathroom by Li Sui. He pulled up a long face and his voice was hoarse, Donte in. Im afraid Id cant help taking all your clothes off. Once youre better, Im not going to let you go so easy. Before going to bed, Lu Shang was reluctant to close his eyes, he feared that his world would return to darkness again once he closed them. Heid face to face with Li Sui, staring at him without even blinking, as if he just couldnt get enough of looking at him. Li Sui looked back at him and he felt that there was something else in Lu Shangs mind, but Li Sui wasnt sure either. He pulled Lu Shangs fingertips to his own lips and kissed them, Do you have something to say? Lu Shang caressed his face and sighed softly, If one day Tong Yan gets out of control, you should give up on it. Li Sui frowned. This is thest thing I need to teach you. You have to learn to let go, Lu Shang said. Chapter 50 - New Year’s Eve Chapter 50: New Years Eve Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Li Sui stared at him for a long time, his eyes sank, Are you talking about Tong Yan or yourself? Lu Shang froze. Whichever you meant, dont even think about it. Li Sui interrupted him before Lu Shang could say more. I dont know anything about letting go. I just know that if its something important, then I must fight for it. Dont you like that about me the most? Seeing that Lu Shang was silent, Li Sui said, Besides, is Tong Yan not the most important thing to you? Looking at Li Suis unswerving eyes, even Lu Shang felt a little moved. He said bluntly, Before meeting you, it was. But now, the most important thing is you, so I dont want to see you suffer because of Tong Yan. Li Sui smiled gently and said, Rest assured, your boyfriend is not that ipetent. Its normal to y dirty in business, Im not suffering. After finishing what he had to say, Li Sui reached out his hand to the back of Lu Shangs head, pressing it on his own shoulder, Okay, now close your eyes and sleep. Dont worry about your eyes, tomorrow whether you can see or not, Ill still be by your side. A familiar and reassuring scent filled his nostrils, Lu Shang buried himself in Li Suis neck and took the initiative to hug him. The chest he touched was warm and sturdy, full of liveliness. Before falling asleep, Lu Shang thought, Li Sui was no longer a small heater, he had be a hot and bright sun. In this world, no one was truly perfect, even the most powerful of people had times of confusion and vulnerability. What matters was whether someone was there to understand your problems and stand by you when things got tough. To gently hold your hand and lead you out of the haze. As a child, Lu Shangs father taught him how to be ambitious, how to be proficient in business and how to be invincible. He had always followed his fathers instructions and aplished his duties. However, he realizedter that what he wanted in his life was not to carry on the family business, he only wished to protect a persons heart and his family. He was doomed to not be a good businessman, being so short-minded. But, Lu Shang thought, perhaps he could strive to be a good lover, at least the kind that could stay by his lovers side. Li Sui kept his promise and insisted on leaving only after Lu Shang was awake up. Unfortunately, Lu Shang would be more tired during winter, and he often went to bed before Li Sui came back. At the weekend, Li Sui took some time off to return home before dark. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Aunt Lu looking up the stairs, looking anxious and helpless. Aunt Lu, whats wrong? Li Sui put down his things and asked. When Aunt Lu saw Li Suiing in, it was as if she had just seen her Savior, she said, Mr. Lu hasnt eaten for a day, he wonte down when I call him either. After a moment of confusion, Li Sui hurried up the stairs. Li Sui opened the door to the dark room, Lu Shang curled himself up into a ball on the bed, hiding in the nket. Li Sui hurried over, Lu Shang? Whats the matter? Are you feeling unwell? Lu Shangs forehead was covered by ayer of cold sweat. He heard Li Suis voice and slightly opened his eyes, then he closed them again. Lu Shang pulled one hand out from under the nket and held Li Suis hand weakly. Li Sui quickly grasped back, he pulled up the nket, and found that hisplexion was poor. He checked for Lu Shangs temperature, it was a little too hot, but he didnt have a high fever. Li Suis heart sank, he quickly got two coats from the cab, wrapping Lu Shang tightly, he picked him up from the bed. Then, he asked Aunt Lu to help him open the car door. Should I prepare supper? Aunt Lu was uncertain. Make some porridge and keep it warm. Thanks. After that, Li Sui fastened Lu Shangs seat belt and drove the car out of the yard. Lu Shang suffered from the fever for about the whole day, so was not very conscious and leaned powerlessly on the back of the seat. Li Sui was anxious and worried. While he was driving, he would never forget to hold Lu Shangs hand whenever they were waiting for the lights to turn, Can you hear me? Lu Shang tucked Li Suis hand slightly but did not answer. When the light was green again, Li Sui could not bear pulling his hand away anymore. He simply grasped his hand for the entire trip. Fortunately, Dr. Leung happened to be on duty in the hospital. Li Sui brought Lu Shang to Leung ZiRui exactly when he was being lectured by his uncle for something trivial. Does he have a fever again? Leung ZiRui looked like he had just seen his savior when he saw Li Sui, he walked towards Li Sui quickly. He has a low fever, his heart rate is high, and he hasnt gotten anything to eat or drink in a day. Li Sui skillfully carried Lu Shang into the ward. Although his face was anxious, his movements were steady and careful, He was fine when I left in the morning. Leung ZiRui listened to Lu Shangs breaths with the stethoscope, he frowned and turned to call the nurse, the nurse brought a needle to draw blood from Lu Shang. Halfway through, Lu Shang woke up. He seemingly recognized their voices and looked at the direction of Leung ZiRui. Leung ZiRui caught a glimpse of Lu Shangs gaze and said to Li Sui, Go down and help me get his medication records from the archives. Li Sui did not put too much thought in it, he opened the door and went out to do as Leung ZiRui asked. After the room got quiet, Leung ZiRui sat down beside the bed Lu Shang was lying on. He grabbed Lu Shangs wrist and began to take his pulse. He had a solemn look, if it wasnt for Leung ZiRuis familiarity in taking his pulse, Lu Shang would havepletely forgotten that Leung ZiRuis family had a long history with traditional Chinese medicine. How are you feeling? A momentter, Leung ZiRui asked him calmly. Lu Shang answered him truthfully, Not very well. It hurts all over. Leung ZiRui pulled his hand back from Lu Shang and pinched the bridge of his own nose, he had a headache, The dosage of medication youre taking are toorge, the side effects will be more and more evident in the future. How long do I still have? Lu Shangs eyes were empty and his voice could be described as a piece of silk floating in the air, it was weak and unsteady. If were in ancient times, I would ask you to choose your coffin right now. However, you know already, right? Your kid garnered a 10% winning chance for you, dont want to try gambling on that at least? Lu Shang smiled lightly, I would like to but he doesnt want me to. After that, he gave Leung ZiRui an empty gaze, Do you still have any painkillers that works on me? What do you want to do? Leung ZiRui was immediately alerted. Do you know why Li Sui couldnt make up his mind to have Leon operate on me? Lu Shang had sadness in his eyes, Because hes considering another way. Hes secretly losing weight and quitting drinking He wants to prepare for giving me his heart, that kid Hes silly Leung ZiRui was shocked, he didnt expect that. The sess rate of heart transntation was indeed much higher, especially since they were the best match for each other. Lu Shang could surely live for ten or twenty years more easily if he were to receive the transntation. Compared to the measely 10%, it was truly much more reliable, but that would take Li Suis life. Leung ZiRui never thought that the reason for Li Sui to hesitate on agreeing to Leons surgical n was this. Rui, give me the painkillers. I cant let him see me in this pathetic state, I wont give him fuel to second-guess the surgery. Im going to bet on this 10%. It was winter, but after running up and down the stairs, Li Sui was sweaty. He stood silently beside Leung ZiRui, waiting patiently for Dr. Leung to finish reading and marking in Lu Shangs medical records. After a while, Li Sui asked, How is he? Leung ZiRui looked grim, he said nothing, that was quite rare for him. Li Suis heart dropped, but Lu Shang reached out his hand, trying to sit up. Li Sui was afraid that he would bump into the cup of hot water, so he hurriedly moved over to support him. When will we be going back? Lu Shang was still weak, his voice was also weak. Just wait for a minute, well go home right away. Li Sui coaxed kindly. After Lu Shang fell asleep, Li Sui closed the door gently and asked Leung ZiRui, Is his condition really bad? Leung ZiRui looked uncertain and asked, Have you decided yet? When should Leone for the surgery? Li Suis fists tightened, I Leung ZiRui saw the way he dodged the question and he knew that Lu Shang had guessed correctly. Leung ZiRui sighed and pushed Li Sui aside, then he walked straight away. Lu Shang did not want to spend the night in the hospital, so Li Sui waited after Lu Shang got an injection to treat the fever, then he brought him back home. They were almost home when snow suddenly scattered onto their cars front window. At the time, not many pedestrians were on the streets, the snow fell so suddenly, and most people did not have an umbre. Not far away, a yful child ran out gleefully, shouting and ying in the snow. Is it snowing? Lu Shang suddenly asked. Li Sui thought that maybe Lu Shang had regained his sight, but turning his head to Lu Shangs direction, he was met with eyes that had no focus. Lu Shangs eyes did not look back at him, and his heart sank again, Hmn, how did you know? Lu Shang coughed, I heard. Li Sui looked at Lu Shangs pale cheeks and his thin neck, the veins under his skin were barely visible, he looked fragile, as if he would just disappear any time, that made Li Sui panic. Lu Shang, said Li Sui, their ten fingers intertwined, I asked Uncle Yuan to open up two weeks for me. After New Years, lets go traveling, lets go to somewhere warm. Lu Shang smiled faintly, Okay. After taking the injection, Lu Shangs body temperature dropped slightly. When they returned home, Li Sui warmed up the porridge and gave him with a small bowl, Eat a little. Lu Shang had no appetite and did not swallow the food. When he saw Li Sui looking at him with worried eyes, his heart softened and forced himself to finish the bowl of food. As a result, Lu Shang felt nauseous in the middle of the night. It was as if his stomach had strong alkali in it, a strong difort surged. Li Sui felt him trembling and hence helped him up. Before getting to the bathroom, Lu Shang vomited on the floor, he was sweating all over. Li Sui watched him vomiting until his eyes were blood-shot, his heart-ached as if his chest was hit by a big stone. He patted Li Suis back, after he calmed down, Li Sui lifted him up and put him back on the bed. Li Sui hardly slept that night, he took care of Lu Shang and helped him inhale some oxygen from the machine. He watched as Li Sui gradually fell asleep. Li Sui himself was not sleepy at all, he squatted on the ground to clean the rug up. He soaked a towel with disinfectant, then he wiped the rug again and again with the towel, as he wiped, his tears began to roll out of his eyes. Why is this happening so soon? Lu Shangs illnesssted for half a month. When the snow outside the house began to melt, his condition finally improved. Yet, Li Sui clearly knew that his health condition had worsen after the illness. Do you want to check the list of senior staffs that will be attending the annual banquet this year? Li Sui was almost inseparable from Lu Shang recently, he even moved the fax machine home from his office. Lu Shang who was wrapped tight in a nket, leaned back on the back of his wheelchair and took a nap, You can decide it for me. The government invited you and me to promote an Environmental Protection Donation Project. How much do you think is appropriate for us to donate? Environmental Protection? Hmn. Li Sui waited for a moment but did not get an answer. Turning his head around, he found Lu Shang was sound asleep already. He gave a gentle sigh, in order to avoid Lu Shang catching a cold, he got up and brought him to bed. As soon as he lifted Lu Shang up and took one step, his arms tensed up. He was a lot lighter than before. Only half a month had past, Lu Shang seemed to have lost a whole lot of weight. He was like a rapidly withering nt, the weak branches and leaves just drifted down overnight. No matter how sick and unwell Lu Shang was before, Li Sui had never been so afraid. Although Lu Shang was almost never in good health, his mental strength was always strong enough to make people believe that he could get better. But now, Li Sui was not as certain. Every night, he worried if Lu Shang would fall asleep, then just not wake up the next morning. I wont let anything happen to you Li Sui held him tightly, trying to hide all his insecurities in the depths of the night. At the end of the year, Li Sui deliberately raised the employees year-end bonus, seeing as everyone was bing increasingly insecure. This measure could be described as bribing, but even Li Sui had to admit, the charm of money was remarkable. The leaders in charge were all reluctant to be in the limelight at such an important time for everyone, so the year-end banquet went smoothly. The two major shareholders of thepany did not attend this years annual banquet. It was not surprising that Lu Shang did note, he never liked crowded and noisy ces. However, for Liu XinTian to be absent as well, that was truly odd, he always liked going to big events like this, as he needed to show his face in thepany, since he seldom did. T/N: Why is Liu XinTian so trashy, so apparently he does nothing for thepany. He recently opened a training school, so he seems to be busy recently, Uncle Yuen said. Training school? Li Sui doubted. Both were puzzled, Liu XinTian himself was not highly educated. He had never set foot in the education sector before. For some reason, he suddenly decided to go into that. Li Sui found that an anomaly worth investigating. Liu XinTian tried going into other businesses before. In the past few years, online financial investments were gaining poprity, so he went and registered his own online investmentpany. Unfortunately, he was not well-versed in the relevance knowledge and lost a lot of money. Everyone involved in the financial industry knew that the game was essentially a giant roller coaster. It was nothing odd to gain or lose millions in mere seconds. That brings a huge emotional toll to a person, it was generally quite difficult for people to ept having to start with nothing again, after being used to having so much money. That was why people who owned a bankruptedpany could still do everything all over again, but people who got bankrupt working in finance seldom returns. Li Sui did not believe Liu XinTian had the fortitude to return. The two of them walked out of the elevator to the parking lot, they were on the floor below ground. A drunk female employee came out of the bathroom on that floor, she stumbled over. Be careful. Li Sui was quick, he gave her a hand as she almost fell down. The two of them looked at each other, then the woman immediately pulled her arm away. She snorted and left, but she was too drunk, so not much longer, she copsed onto a cars door. Isnt that Secretary Yeung? Uncle Yuen asked. Li Sui sighed and walked over, You cant stay here like this. Ill get someone to send you home. Dont pretend to be nice! Secretary Yeung swiped Li Suis hand away. She must had drunk a lot, her makeup was aplete mess and there was a lot of grease stains on her clothes. Li Sui ignored her refusal and asked Uncle Yuen to call Xiao Zhao. Li Sui said, Im only showing care to an ordinary employee. You shouldnt overthink it. Secretary Yeung red at Li Sui with her head down, but she didnt refuse anymore. Xiao Zhao arrived very soon. Li Sui and Uncle Yuen waited for Secretary Yeung to be sent away, then they looked at each other without saying anything. Liu XinTian seemed to be preparing for a huge move. Li Sui rubbed his own hands together and frowned deeply. Back home, Lu Shang who was rarely awake sat near the stove in the living room. He had a pile of cloths on his knee and was rubbing his hands together. Why havent you slept yet? Li Sui walked over and pulled his wheelchair away from the fire a little worrying that Lu Shang might burnt himself. Lu Shang smiled and handed Li Sui the book of cloths on his knees, The custom suits shop sent over samples of their new fabrics, I chose a few for texture that I liked,e see which pattern looks good. Do you want to order some suits? Li Suiughed as he took the samples, they were all high quality cloths, the texture was great. Li Sui picked out a cloth with a in color, he ced it near Lu Shangs neck and said, This light blue one matches you. Lu Shang smiled and pushed his hand back, his face was still very pale, Its for you. The clothes you picked out for me before couldst until Im sixty. As long as I dont get fat that is, Li Sui sat across from Lu Shang, he took off Lu Shangs shoes and touched his feet. Li Sui frowned again and said, Why is it still so cold. Are you feeling cold? Lu Shang shook his head silently. Li Sui stood up and took the rest of the things in Lu Shangs hands. He bent down and hugged him, Dont worry about that anymore. Come and sleep with me. Theres perfume on you. Lu Shang said suddenly. Li Sui was embarrassed. He sniffed his own clothes and noticed that the smell of perfume was really there around his wrist, but it was very faint. The smell most likely cam from when he gave a hand to Secretary Yeung. He didnt pay attention to that and he never thought Lu Shangs nose was so keen. T/N: I want that perfume, how does itst so long? Were you messing around withdies outside? Lu Shangughed at him. Li Sui was amused, he chirped back, Are you jealous? Lu Shang pretended to be angry and nodded. Let me guess my rival is a woman under 30 years old. She is probably beautiful and pays attention to what she dresses, but her financial situation isnt all that good. Li Sui thought he was just making things up randomly at first, but the more he heard, the more he found the deductions amazing, Are you Sherlock Holmes? Lu Shang shook his head andughed, This is L brands most expensive perfumest spring, for a period of time, I could smell it everywhere even on the streets. But why do you think shes in a bad financial situation? This brand has rtively cheaper perfumes. If its just for showing off, buying a cheaper one is enough. If she is willing to buy this perfume at such a high price, then she must be very particr about perfumes. Normally, people like that wont use products that are out of date for two years. So, I guess either this person got the perfume as a gift or her financial situation isnt great. Li Sui was suddenly alerted by his remarks, he just couldnt help thinking of Liu XinTians training school. Lu Shang couldnt see the startled expression on Li Suis face and he just hurried him to take a bath, It smells bad. Go wash it off. Li Sui never knew that Lu Shang was so possessive about his smell. He could not help but feel a little happy while finding it funny. It was New Years Eve in no time, in order to clear up two weeks in his schedule, Li Sui pushed all of his work up and he spent the whole day at thepany. The sky turned dark earlier than usual on snowy days, some impatient people were already setting off fireworks and firecrackers in the distance. Lu Shang asked Aunt Lu to heat up the food and to get the roses and the cake. Do you want to light up candles? Aunt Lu asked with a smile. Lu Shang thought about it and nodded. How many? Five. New Years Eve was not only a celebration for a new year approaching, it was also their dating anniversary. Lu Shang did not used to calcte such days, but this year was special, so he thought he had to at least celebrate it once. Moreover, he had been reminiscing in the time when he first brought Li Sui home a lot recently, even Lu Shang himself didnt know why. He wondered how a thin child could turn into such a tall young man in the blink of an eye? Xiao Li will be very happy when hees back. Aunt Luughed. Lu Shang thought of Li Sui and a smile surfaced on his face. He took out a thick red packet from the pocket on his wheelchair and handed it to her, Ive been a trouble for the whole year. Sorry and thanks. Aunt Lu refused slightly (i), but still took it. T/N: (i) Culturally, red packets are given by seniors to their younger rtives. As Aunt Lu is older than Lu Shang by a lot, it would be rude and demeaning to just take the red packet without at least trying to refuse. Go home to celebrate the New Years. Lu Shang knew that she had kids to take care of herself. But Lu Shang smiled, Its all right. He will be back soon. Chapter 51 - Reminders Chapter 51: Reminders Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Before she left, she was worried that Lu Shang would be bored while waiting, so she turned on the TV. It was broadcasting the news, as it was the New Years, it was a festive scene everywhere. In the corner of the living room, a gentle tapping sound came from the ss tank. Lu Shang smiled softly, he turned his wheelchair around and tried reaching for the food dispense button. The two little turtles were smart. Whenever they were hungry, they would scratch the cylinder wall. Lu Shang would know that they were starving whenever he heard the noises. The turtles were quite blessed, they ate all day long. When they were full, they would hide their limbs and head into their shells. They would sleep soundly without a care in the world. After having them for such a long time, they did not grow much, they just ate a lot, sometimes feeding them once per day was not enough. Lu Shang found that he was really unsuitable for raising animals. He raised his big turtle into a hungry wolf, while the small turtles were raised intozy pigs. After feeding the turtles, Lu Shang pressed on his temple, he was wondering if he had stayed in the warm room for too long time. He felt dizzy and was going to open the windows, but all of a sudden, his heart contracted hard. He stagnated for a second, he only had time to think of the words this is bad, before the previous sensation was reced by sharp pain. It was as if his blood was boiling and his heartrate was like a runaway train, one that was struggling to break free of his bodys control. Lu Shang was in a lot of pain, he bent down uncontrobly and whimpered. He lost all of his strength and fell down, huddling in pain on the carpet. He was surrounded by a thickyer of haze, in the dizziness, countless voices intertwined together, ringing in his ears at the same time. Lu Shangs eyes lost focus, he felt as if he was being buried alive, the overwhelming suffocating sensation hit him hard, his mouth opened up, struggling to get oxygen in the darkness. Countless scenes spinned through his mind as if he was watching a zoetrope. At that moment, Lu Shang was in a state of chaos. He could almost feel a person standing in a corner not far away from him, staring at him expressionlessly holding a scythe of death. No Not yet He sped his hands together and struggled to climb to the drawer. He followed his memory and opened the drawer up, pulling out a needle free injector. The action of getting the injector alone consumed almost all of his remaining strength. He gasped heavily, trembling and pointing the injector at his vein and quickly pressed the injector. The crazy pilot of the runaway train seemed to have been shot dead at the same time Lu Shang injected the medicine. The drug worked fast, Lu Shang dropped the injector and curled up on the ground, allowing the medicine to spread through his body. The whole passed by quickly. Lu Shang didnt know how long it took, but the roaring in his ears finally faded away. The painful sounds were reced by the voice of the news reporter. Lu Shang opened his eyes, a loud song was ying from the TV and he saw people dancing. There was a dim glow in front of him, it seemed like that he had recovered a little bit of his vision. The song was apanied by the sound of drums, everything was full of joy. Everyone in this city seemed to be celebrating the New Year. Listening to the joyous sounds, Lu Shang somehow felt slight bitterness in his eyes. There was once a dark road, he had been walking that road alone for many years. He was not afraid of the dark, nor of falling. At that time, he had no concerns. Later on, a little boy appeared, he tried to help him however clumsy he may be. At first, he was just curious, he wondered what the child would grow into. He never nned on reaching out to the child. Little did he know, the child quickly became someone he depended on heavily. The seven years ofpanionship was as if someone had held amp up behind him, pushing him forward along the dark road. If he hadnt just been in agony from immense pain, he would havepletely forgotten that no matter how long the road seemed to be, there was always an end. The news broadcast was not over yet, Lu Shangid on the ground for a while, waiting for the pain to subside, then he sat up covered in sweat. He leaned on one of the table legs to rest. In barely 20 minutes, his clothes were all soaked with sweat, and the ground was messy. Cotton balls and gauze were everywhere since he had to go through the medicine box blinded in a hurry. It was quiet outside, the snow was still falling. Pieces of it were blown onto the ss window, they melted quickly and gathered at the bottom of the window frame. The food sat quietly on the table, and the mini hot pot was still bubbling. In the corner, the two turtles were still happily eating their meat. Lu Shang looked around to see all the familiar things, and his heart gradually calmed down. His legs recovered a little strength, he slowly got up and cleaned everything up. He went back to his bedroom and changed his clothes. Then he called Li Sui. When will you be back? He tried to keep his voice normal. Were you waiting for me? Sorry for making you wait, I just got off the highway and should be home in half an hour. Lu Shang pinched his hand and there were sweat on it too, I just knocked over a bottle of medicine. Whats wrong? Did it hurt? Li Sui asked urgently. No, Im fine, but the medicine got dirty. Thats all right. Im can go buy some now. You will have to wait for me a little longer though, Li Yong said. As Lu Shang listened, he felt his heart was boiling over restlessly, Li Sui, I Whats wrong? Its nothing. Come home soon. Lu Shang hung up the phone and felt a strong sense of acid in his nose. He endured it and finally called Uncle Yuen. Uncle Yuen was supposed to go back to his hometown today. When Lu Shang called him, he was already waiting for the ne at the airport. After receiving the call, he immediately came to Lu Shangs house without even saying a word. When he entered the house, Lu Shang was writing at his desk. Lu Shang would stop writing for a while then start, his face looked pale and his eye whites were a little red. He had been working with Lu Shang for many years already, but he had never seen him like this, an ominous feeling rose in his heart. When Lu Shang saw Uncle Yuen, he tidied up the expression on his face and folded up the paper he had written on. Lu Shang handed the stack of paper over to Uncle Yuen, Contact the notary office to prepare a copy. Uncle Yuen took the paper, This is Lu Shang did not answer. He rubbed his chest and turned sideways, avoiding Uncle Yuens eyes, Do it. Uncle Yuen could vaguely guess what was written on the paper. Suddenly, he felt immense weight in his hands, he almost dropped the paper. His hand trembled as he lifted the corner of the paper. He looked inside and waspletely stunned. Uncle Yuen, thank you for your hard work over the years. Lu Shang whispered but still did not look at him. Uncle Yuen slowly turned his head slightly, only onemp was turned on in the room. The whole of Lu Shang was hidden in the darkness, faintly showing his small figure, it seemed like he would disappear any time. Li Sui came backter than expected. It was New Years after all, only on duty doctors were still in the hospital. There was a huge backlog of patients in the hospital. Lu Shangs medicine could only be bought from the hospital, so he was dyed. T/N: I cant believe the hospital doesnt give him special treatment. When he got home, Lu Shang was lighting up candles at the dining table. Li Sui was ecstatic to see him having clear eyes. Li Sui held his hands and refused to put them down. You can see? Lu Shang smiled and nodded, his expression was just like how it normally was. After a days work, Li Sui was hungry and devoured the whole meal in no time. Lu Shang had no appetite, he sat down beside Li Sui and watched him eat, he also asionally added more food to Li Suis te. The two of them seldom got the chance to have a nice meal together. Li Sui picked a few of the most brilliant roses up from the vase and held them in front of Lu Shang. He hinted by joking, These flowers are really suitable for a proposal. Lu Shang froze, then he reached for the flowers. Li Sui was a little shy, he rubbed Lu Shangs hand and asked, Will will you marry me? Lu Shang felt a little difort from his question, he held it in and tried to squeeze out a smile, Are you proposing to me? Of course not, a proposal is important, it cant be this casual, Li Sui held Lu Shangs hand up, he lowered his head and kissed the back of Lu Shangs hand. I just want you to give me a brief idea first. Weve been together for five years, Im wondering if youd like it if we make it official. Lu Shang looked into Li Suis pious eyes that were filled with anticipation. At that moment, Lu Shangs heart softened, he almost felt like confessing everything to Li Sui, despite that he tried his best to stop the urge. Although doing the operation was his own decision, in truth, he was not certain himself, there was only a 10% chance. If he really had the luck to survive, even if Li Sui wanted the stars in the sky, he was seriously ready to buy a spaceship for him, let alone marriage, but if he didnt had that luck Lu Shang tidied up his own thoughts, he raised his head and smiled, Let me examine your performance for another year. As Li Sui listened, his eyes brightened up, he was so happy that his hands were swinging around. He only remembered to jump over and hug Lu Shang after his mind froze, he kissed the back of his neck again and again, he said with excitement, You said it yourself, so you cant regret itter on. Lu Shang closed his eyes, his Adams apple moved slightly, and he answered, No regrets. After dinner, the two men discussed about thepanys business again. Li Sui mentioned his gains from his hard work in recent days to Lu Shang, he got a lot of suggestions from him. You should be more willing to spend more money in the future, Lu Shang cut out a piece of the cake and handed it to Li Sui. I asked Yan Ke to find a few good cooperation partners in Japan. Everything is already agreed upon, you can bring someone with you tomorrow morning and sign the contract. Tomorrow? Li Sui held up his fork. He didnt refuse, but reluctance was written all over his face. Lu Shang looked at him and said after getting his emotions out of the way, You are a grown man. You should think about your career. Dont always stick to me. The remark was slightly too heavy. As expected, Li Suis head drooped down and did not speak. He had a hurt expression on his face. Looking at him, Lu Shang felt pain in his liver, he grabbed Li Suis hand from under the table, rubbing it gently, heforted, Just for a week. In the evening, the two of them took a bath together, and waited for the next day to arrive. After a days work, Li Sui was obviously tired and he kept dozing off. Lu Shang, however was not sleepy because of the medicine. After Li Sui fell asleep, Lu Shang sat up andbed his hair for him over and over again. His eyes were full of affection and grief. Even when Li Sui was asleep, he would always keep on hugging Lu Shang, as if he feared Lu Shang would run away. Lu Shang used to think that he was insecure, butter on, he gradually found that Li Sui was actually using this method to judge whether his heartbeat and body temperature were normal. Lu Shang was quite certain he would not meet another person in this world that had so much care for him. Just a little longer, just a little bit longer, Lu Shang thought. The next day, Li Sui got up early and counted the pills Lu Shang had to take every day. He put them into small bottles with different shapes, then put them in Lu Shangs pocket. This bigger square bottle contains medicine that should be eaten at noon, the smaller square bottle has the ones for night, while the round bottle and spray are to be used in emergencies, Li Sui reminded him, he had hundreds of millions of worries and concerns, Do not take off your wristwatch, if you press the first key, the watch will immediately phone me, do not worry about the time, I will pick up whenever As Li Sui reminded, it suddenly urred to him, years ago when he first arrived at the Lu household, he did the same as Li Sui was doing now. Lu Shang told him what to do when he was thirsty, hungry or injured. The time had not turned back, but their positions had changed. Ive booked a flight already, when I get back, we can go to a tropical ind for vacation, Li Sui said. Lu Shang didnt respond much, he only coughed and hurried him in a low voice, Come on, youll miss the ne. Li Sui never thought leaving home was so difficult. He changed his shoes at the door and turned back a few times. Overnight, Lu Shangs eyesight had gotten weaker again, he vaguely saw Li Sui standing in the lighting through the opened door, he said reluctantly, Then Im going out now. The light was dazzling. Lu Shang looked at him and lost his mind in it for two seconds, Hmn. After Li Sui walked out the door, Lu Shang suddenly reacted, he lost control of his mouth and called, Li Sui. Li Sui immediately turned around and waited for him to speak. The frantic expression on Lu Shangs face faded quickly, it was reced with his usual calm and gentle smile, Take care of yourself. Li Sui nodded, he stared at Lu Shang and left hesitatingly. When Li Suis car finally left their houses yard, Lu Shang breathed a sigh of relief. As if he could no longer hold on, he fell to the ground. He crashed into a chair nearby and made a racket in the empty living room. Later on, he heard Uncle Yuen rushing in from the yard and Aunt Lu running out of the kitchen, someone screamed for the ambnce. There was a lot of noises all around. Lu Shang was sometimes awake and sometimes asleep. His consciousness was drifting away, he sensed that he was being lifted onto a stretcher bed and pushed away. He suddenly remembered, there was something important he had not done yet. He weakly opened his eyes, stretching out his hand to grab Uncle Yuens sleeve, he moved his lips powerlessly, Uncle Yuen That kid Please take care of him After finishing the sentence, he seemed to have aplished what he wanted, and his bony wrist fell down limply. It was snowing again. Uncle Yuen stood in the yard and watched as Lu Shang was lifted onto the ambnce by a group of paramedics. Uncle Yuen had mixed feelings in his heart. He remembered that many years ago, a somewhat simr scene unfolded in his eyes in this exact yard, it also happened to the Lu family. Lu Shangs father said to Uncle Yuen, My son, please take care of him. After saying that, he never returned to the house. To simplify things, Li Sui brought along only an ountant, Xiao Tang, and a male salesman, Xiao Lin. The three of themnded at the airport in Japan, they waited for the car to pick them up. Xiao Tang called the carpany, that end kept apologizing, saying that the car that was supposed to pick them up had broken down on the way. The person on the other end asked them to wait a little longer. Li Sui listened, he wondered why a burst of anxiety grew in him, he walked around restless in the airport lounge. Director Li, whats wrong? Asked Xiao Lin. Li Sui frowned, he also noticed the oddness of his own behavior, he shoke his head, I dont know, I just feel uneasy. Xiao Lin was a little superstitious. Listening to him, he was immediately affected and became suspicious of things. Xiao Tang, suddenly gasped loudly, which frightened them both. Whats wrong with you? Why are you so noisy? Xiao Lin asked. Xiao Tang turned over her bag, and his face turned white, I I forgot to bring the contract document Xiao Lin stared at her in disbelieve, Are you serious? Were here to sign the contract and you didnt bring the contract. What are we even here for then? Xiao Tang was about to burst into tears, I when we left thepany, I remembered putting it in my bag! I dont know The anxiety in Li Suis heart was getting worse, he kept feeling as if an invisible force was pushing him to go back home. Announcements for boarding were constantly broadcasted on the radio, giving people a sense of tension. While waiting in the lounge, Li Sui remembered the fragments of Lu Shangs words and actionsst night, he also remembered something he heard from when he was asleep. Those made him feel more and more uneasy. What should we do now? Xiao Tang stomped his feet in a hurry. Book a return flight ticket. Li Sui stood up and murmured. We are going back? Xiao Lin was shocked. It might be dangerous 1 for her to go alone. Shall I go back and get it instead? Li Sui turned to them and his voice was cold, he said, Book the earliest flight. Im going back. You two stay here. Ah? Both of them made a surprised sound at the same time. T/N: Before you all cry, dont worry, Lu Shang isnt dead and wont be. Chapter 52 - Demons of the Heart Chapter 52: Demons of the Heart Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations Li Sui didnt know what to do. Ever since he left home, his heart was like a fish that was pulled out of the water, he was anxious. All the cells in his body were screaming and hurrying him to go back. It had a feeling, if he didnt go back immediately, he would miss something, he would regret it for his entire life. Li Sui had always been a rational person, but this time, he had no idea where the impulse came from, he decided to go against Lu Shangs wishes. That night he bought a ticket and flew back home. It was alreadyte at night when hended and left the airport. He didnt know what he was so worried about, but he couldnt even wait to go through the paper works of getting his car back, he directly called for a taxi and went straight home. On the way, the taxi driver saw Li Sui being all anxious and fidgety, he became curious, Dude, why are you going to the Lu familys house? I heard something happened there this morning. Li Sui heard and immediately felt his heart stop, What happened there? Im not sure of the details. I think someone was sick and two ambnces went to the house. Li Sui hesitated for a moment, his fingers reached his mobile phone while trembling, because of the intense trembling, his phone slipped away from him twice. He finally picked up the phone and got through, but no one answered. Then he switched to calling thendline at home, yet again, no one answered. No How could this Li Suis breathing was stagnant, cold sweat dripped from his back. He was so nervous that even his speech was hindered, Dridriver, can you go faster, go faster please. The driver was frightened by his reaction, he dared not say more and stepped hard on the pedal. Li Sui got out of the Taxi, he threw out money in a hurry and ran onto the yard. It was in aplete mess, the soil at the door had two rows of wheel prints. The marks were obviously not made by their car. His brain was buzzing and he ran upstairs like he went crazy. The insides of the house were the same as usual, but there was no one inside the dark ce. The wheelchair used by Lu Shang was lying down crooked on the living room floor, no one was sitting on the wheelchair. Lu Shang Li Sui shivered, he threw away the luggage he was carrying and ran to the backyard to get the car, he drove straight to RuiGe hospital. On the way, he stared nkly at the road with his eyes wide open. He did not remember how many red lights he drove past or whether he was on the wrongne. All the signals to his brain were blocked by the news of Lu Shang getting into an ident. The corridor in the hospital was silent, silent enough for people to hear even the ticking of the clock. There were many people standing outside of the operating room. Uncle Yuen, Aunt Lu, some familiar nurses Even Zuo Chao and Xe WeiLan were there, wearing serious expressions. When the elevator door opened, all the people present turned to see Li Sui. Subconsciously, they all held their breaths. Aunt Lu avoided the sight of Li Sui entirely, she couldnt bear seeing what was about to happen. Hows Lu Shang? He asked, scanning everyone there. They are doing their best to save him. After a while, someone broke the silence. He Li Sui choked and his voice trembled, Whats wrong with him His heart suddenly stopped and they are trying to save him now. The situation is worse than expected. He might That person did not go on any further. Li Sui looked at him, he digested the sentence for a long time. Then, he turned his head all the people in the corridor, unexpectedly he burst intoughter, his eye whites were reddened as heughed, So All of you know Im the only one who didnt Heughed andughed, standing alone in the middle of the corridor, tears slid down his face. Xe WeiLan couldnt just watch anymore, he went over tofort him, Calm down, he just doesnt want you to worry. Why did he drive me away at such a time? I was a fool Li Sui shook his head and Xe WeiLans words didnt get through to him at all. He had been suppressing his emotions on the way here, all those feelings were boiling over right now, his eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead were bulging out. Xiao Li Zi, dont be like that. Zuo Chao also triedforting him. Why did I not notice Li Sui was submerged in self-hatred, he squatted down and hit his own temple. Howe I didnt notice? He recalled the unusual look Lu Shang hadst night, the grief and nostalgia in his eyes. There were obvious signs even right before he left home, Lu Shang lost control and called out to him, he should have paid more attention to it. The thing that was in Lu Shangs eyes were not grief or nostalgia, but the look of saying farewell. The door to the operating room was suddenly opened and Leung ZiRui came out wearing a frosty face, his hands were still bloody. When Li Sui saw him, he regained some of his senses and hurried up to stand in front of him, How is he Leung ZiRui was surprised to see Li Sui there, he was just as surprised as he was annoyed. He remembered Lu Shang saying that he had got Li Sui away, so why did the brat came back again? His heart is no longer functioning properly, and were thinking of ways to deal with it. Leung ZiRui was also anxious. Li Sui listened attentively to Leung ZiRui, then he fixed his gaze on his own body and pointed to his chest, Here. Seeing that Leung ZiRui was ignoring him, Li Sui pulled his arm and ced it firmly on his own chest. He was basically begging, Use my heart, use my heart for transntation Youre toote. Leung ZiRui pulled his hand back and showedpassion on his face. Li Sui wasnt able toprehend. He stared at Leung ZiRui for a long time with sharp, questioning eyes. He has signed and consented to Leons proposed operation, said Leung ZiRui, he also made a statement in his will, if I used your heart, all the research funds provided to RuiGe hospital will be withdrawn. A will? Li Sui heard the key words, his lips trembled. Li Sui repeated the words, word by word he said while staring at Leung ZiRui, A will? A will Leung ZiRuis eyebrows furrowed and his headache worsened. He cursed himself for saying too much. When did he write a will Li Sui was hit hard. Li Sui Leung ZiRui was also upset, he called his name twice. However, Li Suis eyes were dull, as if he was totally immersed in his own world and had lost his touch with the outside world. I Li Sui pulled his own hair and leaned forward, he was clutching his own hair roughly, and his teeth were grinding, as if he was suffering from a great deal of pain. It was a frightening reaction. Uncle Yuen was about toe forward tofort him when Li Sui walked a few steps forward. He supported himself by cing his hand on the wall as he vomited violently at a corner. Oh my Aunt Lu went to fetch some water. Leung ZiRui looked grim. After Li Sui finished vomiting, he had just stood up and a gust of strong wind shed by him. He felt only pain at the back of his neck, then he fainted, falling into darkness as his eyes closed. Li Sui fell to the floor after a muffled gasp. Everyone looked at Leung ZiRui in astonishment, the person in question pulled his own hand back, he shook it in pain. Then he murmured to the nurse beside him, Give him tranquilizers. Uncle Yuen was not assured, he stopped him, Doctor Leung. Leung ZiRui frowned and exined patiently, He is over-stimted, and it has caused severe physiological reactions. So, he must be injected with tranquilizers. There were a lot of noises around, people wereing in and out all the time, he also vaguely heard people arguing. Li Sui felt like he had just climbed up from under the deep sea, he had a terrible headache, even his eyelids were heavy. Over the past years, he had been repeatedly dreaming about Lu Shang leaving or the death of Lu Shang on the operating table. It was often said that dreams were reflections of a persons most feared things. He had been repeatedly tormented by nightmares, in Li Suis heart, Lu Shangs disease had already be his overshadow, something that was constantly clouding his heart and mind, like a demon that was controlling him. He hid that demon carefully, but every day he was afraid to rx even in his sleep. He concealed it with perfect smiles, he hid it so much that he forgot to prepare himself for it. When the nightmares be reality, he just could not bear the shock it delivered, and his spirit was almostpletely shattered. Li Sui opened his eyes from his chaotic thoughts. There was a dazzling light outside, he squinted and thought he was just having another nightmare. He closed his eyes as usual and turned over on his sides. One after another, memories flooded in, constantly breaking through the cage he had locked himself in, the water poured violently into his head. Li Sui gradually felt a throbbing pain in his heart, his hands trembled as he held his head in an attempt to get back to sleep. Just like the countless nightmares he had before, if he fell asleep and wake up again, all the bad things will disappear. Nothing can be aplished from running away. Suddenly there was a voice in his ears. Li Sui was shocked, his eyes flung open and looked at the person beside him without focus. Leung ZiRui leaned over to look at him and said, Listen, Lu Shang is in a critical stage, his heart is very weak now. Were using all the resources we have to rescue him. I cant take care of two people at the same time. If you want me to put all my energy on saving Lu Shang, then you should control yourself. Li Sui listened and blinked, he sat up and shook his head around a few times. He was trying to adjust his mood. Leung ZiRui was actually a little sympathetic towards him, Li Sui was essentially a child in Leung ZiRuis eyes. After apanying Lu Shang for all these years, even as a trained doctor, he too found it somewhat depressing. Leung ZiRui couldnt even begin to imagine what it would be like to sleep right next to Lu Shang every night and staying together day in and day out. Now that so many things had happened all at once, it was naturally difficult for him to ept them. He softened his tone, The good news is that Lu Shang has a strong sense to live. My uncle and I are trying to stabilize him. Leon is also on the way to China as we speak. He isnt fighting this alone, we will all help him. Li Sui listened and his eyes began to overflow with emotions, What can I do? Take care of yourself and the Lu household. Li Sui pushed the difort down and nodded his head. He asked, Did Lu Shang know that the sess rate of the operation was only 10%? Leung ZiRui said, He knows. Seeing Li Sui staring at him, he added, Lu Shang signed the consent form to the operation after fully understanding the risks. The reason why he sent you away was because he didnt want you to hurt yourself for him. Can you understand his reasoning? Li Sui listened as his eyes were bloodshot again, this time, he was forcing back his tears, he nodded. Leung ZiRui was relieved and gave him a hug, Good kid. Lu Shang wants to live and spend the rest of his life with you, thats why he gambled on the 10%. Even he is trying this hard to fight for a future where both of you could be happy together. For his sake, you should stop thinking about heart transntation, OK? Li Sui sobbed and nodded, Hmn. A nurse knocked on the door, Doctor Leung, the hospital head (i) is asking for you to alternate with him. T/N: (i) Basically Leung ZiRuis uncle, in raws the nurse called him hospital head Leung. Coming. Before leaving, Li Sui stopped Leung ZiRui and asked, You will do your best, right? Leung ZiRuiughed and straightened out hisb coat, Of course, that is our duty. Although it was easy to say, in the face of Lu Shangs serious illness, Leung ZiRui still found it to be very difficult to deal with. He gathered several experts and after some discussion, they decided to use an artificial lung to maintain Lu Shangs life for now. However, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) could only buy them a few days, if the surgery is not performed in time, his life will end. The n was finalized, the doctors took turns operating on the patient. It took a whole day of hard work to finally stabilize Lu Shangs condition. After the operation, Lu Shang had to be ced in the CCU (ii) for 24/7 observation. As Lu Shang was in a deepa, he could notmunicate with people. T/N: (ii) Cardiac Care Unit, a kind of Intensive Care Unit specifically for coronary illnesses patients. Is Leon here yet? Hes already on a ne. Hell arrive here tomorrow. Leung ZiRui was relieved. Turning his head around, he saw Li Sui standing outside the CCU, looking through the ss window nkly, his heart was filled with a mix of different not-so-pleasant emotions. Different objects were blocking Li Suis view, from the window, he could only see the monitor screens and the machines, but not the person. Li Sui asked the nurses, they told him that all the ICUs only allow for family members to enter, and even medical staffs had to swipe their identity card to gain ess. Li Sui dared not bother Leung ZiRui again, so he stayed outside the door. When he got tired, he would lean on the door for a while and rest. He was probably severely frightened this time, Li Sui could not bring himself to leave, he feared what would happen if he left again. After nightfall, the corridor was even quieter, the sounds of the heart monitor in the room were magnified. In Li Suis ear, the sound was at the same time frightening but also reassuring. In the middle of the night, Leung ZiRui came by. He found Li Sui waiting outside the CCU faithfully, he sat on the ground and fell asleep leaning on the CCUs outer door (iii). Leung ZiRuis heart softened, he froze in thoughts, then went to get a thick coat and a sterile gown. After that, he woke Li Sui up. T/N: (iii) To keep the CCU as pathogen-free as possible, theres one more room before the actual CCU, the room is for visitors to disinfect themselves and wear clean sterile gown, gloves, and face masks. Hence, outer door. Leung Shh. Leung ZiRui interrupted him, he looked back at the nurse on duty. After confirming that she had gone on her rounds to inspect the rooms, he handed the sterile gown to Li Sui and said, Wear them. You have an hour, I cant give you more. Dont make any noises, and dont let my uncle know about this. After that, he secretly opened the door to the CCU using his identification card for Li Sui. Li Sui thanked him gratefully, he wrapped himself tightly in the clothes Leung ZiRui gave him and slipped in. Even inyers of clothing and a face mask, when Li Sui entered the room, he was still able to smell a familiar scent. He slowed down his steps, as if he was afraid of waking up the sleeping person. Lu Shangid on a special hospital bed, he was covered with various medical instruments, his face was covered with an oxygen mask. Lu Shangs eyes were closed, his face was white, he seemed lifeless. If it wasnt for the flickering light at the head of the bed, Li Sui wouldnt be able to tell if he was looking at a living person or a corpse,. Li Sui did not dare to hold Lu Shangs hand, he only touched Lu Shangs fingertips through the nitrile gloves he was wearing. A delicate sensation transmitted from neurone end to neurone end, finally reaching his brain. His brain gave him the conclusion that what he touched was not some illusion, but real. At that moment, Li Sui did not know why, but he wanted to cry. He curled himself up while sitting on the floor, he calmed himself down while listening to the sound of the instruments. It took him a long time before he could suppress the bitterness and sourness in his throat. He sat beside the bed, as he looked at Lu Shangs pale cheeks, all kinds of emotions rolled through his heart. He only had one mouth but there seemed to be a million things he wished to say. Despite that, all the words were stuck at his throat, the only words that came out as audible sound were simple, but it represented what Li Sui most desired, Please dont leave me behind Chapter 53 - Resolve Chapter 53: Resolve Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations (Unedited) You promised, you promised to stay with me till were old. I only have you, so please dont leave me Li Sui knew that Lu Shang couldnt hear him right now, but he could not help but beg in a soft voice. The person lying in bed did not respond, beside Lu Shang, in a corner invisible to Li Sui, there was a heart monitor, unbeknownst to Li Sui it drew a slightly different signal. The temperature in CCU was very low, Li Sui only stayed inside for a while, but his hands and feet were all freezing. Luckily, Dr. Leung gave him a thick coat. Li Sui curled himself up while wrapped in the coat, he moved slightly over, and leaned on a rack next to the hospital bed. Li Sui fell asleep while looking at Lu Shang. It waste at night. There was no one outside the corridor. The lights in the room were not turned on, there were only shes of lights from the monitoring equipment. Li Sui leaned back being half asleep and half awake, he noticed the sound of a door opening and heard someone swiping his card on the sensor. Li Sui woke up immediately, the first thing that came across his mind was that, maybe it was Leung ZiRui, but when he looked up, he found that the persons figure was different. The person was a little fat, so obviously not Leung ZiRui, it wasnt Leung ZiRuis uncle either. In order to avoid getting Leung ZiRui in trouble, Li Sui hid and avoided being notice. As the person might turn the lights on, Li Sui quickly hid under the bed and kept his eyes out to look at the person outside. However, the person who came in didnt turn the lights on. Instead, he quietly locked the door behind him. Li Sui was alerted, he could not see the persons face because he was under the bed, but he caught glimpses of the whiteb coat. Li Suis intuition towards people had always been urate, he noticed that this person walked in a very unnatural way, as if he was a thief, so Li Sui could not help but be on guard. The visitor stood in front of Lu Shangs bed for a long time. He had be standing there doing absolutely nothing for so long that Li Sui was ready to crawl out to question the man. That was when the unknown visitor pulled out a bottle of liquid from hisb coat pocket, then he began recing it with the medicine connected to Lu Shangs IV drip carefully. Witnessing that, Li Suis brain buzzed. He immediately crawled out from under the bed and knocked the bottle in his hand over, subsequently restraining the man, Who are you? As Li Sui asked, he did not forget to check on Lu Shangs condition, seeing that he was not affected, he continued to address the subdued man. The person was a middle-aged man, and his attire made him look like a doctor. Obviously, the man didnt expect someone to be inside the CCU, so he seemed frightened, he was so shocked that he forgot to resist. As Li Sui subdued the man, the movements triggered the rm. There was a loud noise outside. In no time, Leung ZiRui brought others into the room while cursing andining. Li Sui took off the mans mask and he frowned. He had seen this man before, he was an anesthesiologist in this hospital. The CCU door was opened, Leung ZiRui stepped in. Just before he opened his mouth and cursed, he turned on the lights to see Li Sui restraining a middle-aged man with a serious expression. Even Leung ZiRui was shocked for a moment, he asked, Whats the situation? Soon, all the irrelevant people were cleared out of the room. Leung ZiRui locked the door to his office, his expression was dark, The analysis isplete, there was high concentrations of potassium chloride in the liquid. If it was injected into the body, the patient would die within a few minutes. Moreover, the symptoms would be very simr to a heart attack. Someone tried to hurt Lu Shang right in front of his eyes, Li Suis breath trembled as he tried to suppress his own emotions, Where is he now? For the time being, I asked someone to keep watch on him. Li Sui got up and was going to go out, Leung ZiRui pulled him back, This man has been working in RuiGe for more than ten years, he is a mediocre person. He was always timid, I dont think he has the courage tomit homicide, so I think someone else must have been behind it. Will he lead us back to who he got the orders from? Li Sui asked. Leung ZiRui nodded, He did, but its useless. He only knows the one who contacted him, he doesnt know who the mastermind was either. Moreover, he only ever gets unteral contact from the other party. So, the chances of us being able to track the mastermind down is low. On the subject, Leung ZiRui said, But its not hard to guess who the mastermind was with how meticulous everything was. Li Suis fist was clenching so hard that his bones were making scary sounds, Liu XinTian The mastermind should be someone who would directly profit from Lu Shangs death. Plus, said culprit must possess enough power to infiltrate RuiGe Hospital. The mastermind was also someone extremely careful, everything was prepared so that even if caught, the deed would never trace back to him. Besides Liu XinTian, there was no other cunning person that could have satisfied all these three conditions. If I was not here today Li Sui thought and then he was so afraid that he began sweating excessively. Li Sui looked up at Leung ZiRui and said with a serious look, The surgery cant be done here. Its too dangerous. Leung ZiRui thought about it and nodded slowly, I really didnt think Liu XinTian would resort to such a thing. Im going to inform Dr. Leon immediately. Besides that, what are you going to do with that person, are you going to hand him to the police? Li Sui contemted for a moment and his eyes were sharp, Dont call the police yet, we should not frighten the snake by beating the grass (i). T/N: (i) A Chinese four character idiom, meaning to give the enemy warning. Leung ZiRui nodded. As soon as he left, Uncle Yuen knocked on the door and entered. He said quietly, Something happened in thepany. It was winter, and cold everywhere. As the New Years had just past, there were very few people on the streets. Inside the car, both of them had a cold expression, as if they were infected by the temperature. As of today, there are already more than half of the shareholders who support holding a shareholders meeting, so they could rece the board of directors anytime now. With Mr. Lus absent, we have no way of stopping them, Uncle Yuen said seriously. But dont we have 40% at least? Plus, the amount Ive won, its impossible that we stand zero chance. Uncle Yuen shook his head, Company rules stipted that only the legal holder of the shares could exercise the rights given by the shares. Mr. Lu is now in aa, so his shares are temporarily frozen. Lu Shang has just entered the hospital, and Liu XinTian is already staging a coup? Li Suis voice was so cold, as he thought of the anesthesiologist who tried to rece Lu Shangs IV drip at night. It seemed like Liu XinTian was nning to kill off the Lu household entirely. Hows thepanys employees? Uncle Yuen shook his head, After the news of Mr. Lus critical state spread around, everything became chaotic. When Li Sui arrived at Tong Yan, he understood that Uncle Yuens descriptions were not exaggerated. The reception was aplete mess, there were wastepaper and garbage everywhere. Several employees gloomily walked to the garage bin, carrying big cardboard boxes in their arms. Li Sui walked across a familiar face, she was one of the workers in the administration, Li Sui stopped her and asked, Where are you going? When the girl saw Li Sui, she became furious and dumped the cardboard box on the ground. Director Li, I have been working in thepany for five years. I might not have any special merits, but I did a lot of hard, solid work. Its the New Years, director Lu had only just left and youre here to dismiss all of his employees? Li Sui was being scolded by her so hard that his brain didnt even had the time to process what was happening. Another passing employee saw them and rushed to persuade the girl to leave. Before leaving, she gave Li Sui a re, the re was obviously disdainful. Li Sui was puzzled, as he turned his head around, he caught a glimpse of Xiao Tang standing on the stairs. Logically, she should still be in Japan on business. When did shee back? Did they finished signing the contract so early? He wanted to call her over, but Xiao Tang noticed his intentions. She turned around and went upstairs before Li Sui had the time to call her over, deliberately avoiding him. Then she asked aloud, Is the tea for director Liu ready? Li Sui stopped and clenched his hands, he said nothing. After getting out of the elevator, Li Sui found that the office was also in aplete mess. A few of the employees who followed him had moved their office tables away. When they saw Li Suiing in, they lowered their heads and dared not look at him. Li Sui stood in the middle of the desks for a while, the gloomy atmosphere around him was suffocating. At that exact moment, a text message arrived on his mobile phone, it was sent by Xiao Tang: The lounge on the 34th floor. Li Sui put his cell phone away and went around to the stairs at the back. Xiao Tang had been waiting there for a long time already. When Li Sui came down, she immediately pulled him inside, she looked around and closed the door. Turning her head to Li Sui, she took a long breath and whispered, This morning, Mr. Liu issued ayoff announcement. He cleaned up all of Mr. Lus employees. Those who did not choose a side in time were all dismissed as well. Since the announcement came through the normal channels and everything, they all thought it was you who fired them. A good move, two birds with one stone, Li Sui sneered. Actually, how sick is Lu Shang? When will hee back? Xiao Tang seemed to be in a hurry. Lets just say he wont be back anytime soon. Ah? Is it that serious? Without answering her, Li Sui lowered his head in silenced for a while, then he asked, What aboutwyer Xe and the others? Lawyer Xe has been assigned a lot of difficult cases by Mr. Liu, and I assume he is also in a lot of trouble right now. Everyone in thepany are scared for themselves, nobody dares to help Mr. Lu. Li Sui felt a burst of exhaustion. He was to me for all of these, after Lu Shang got hospitalized, Li Sui did not put Tong Yan in his priorities. Li Suis carelessness gave Liu XinTian the chance to do all these. Whats worse is that several of our projects have been called to a halt, they are saying that there will be redistribution of staff after the Shareholders Meeting. Li Sui clenched his fist subconsciously, When is the Shareholders Meeting going to be held? The day after tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, Li Fu repeated. They kept hearing footsteps outside the lounge, it was not safe for Xiao Tang to stay with Li Sui for too long, so she made herself a cup of coffee and left before Li Sui. Thank you. Before she left, Li Sui said solemnly. The door closed and the lounge became quiet, only leaving the bubbling sounds of the water dispenser. After being bombarded by numerous negative news at once, Li Sui was exhausted. He sat back down on the chair while supporting himself by cing his hand on the edge of the table, then he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Ever since Li Sui took over Tong Yan, nothing was exactly smooth, but in general he was sessful in dealing with it. Sometimes minor problems arise, but with some effort, he could always solve them. For the first time, he felt like he was stuck in an unprecedented crisis. Lu Shang was absent, and he lost to Liu XinTian over and over again. Li Sui found himself in a situation where he had energy to work but had no idea where to begin. It was only now that Li Sui realized, he had always been protected by Lu Shang. No, Li Sui thought, he couldnt afford to be so passive at such a time. He wont let Liu XinTian take away the fruits of the Lu familys hard work over the years. Real power, what he needed was genuine, legal power. Thinking of this, Li Sui got up and knocked on Uncle Yuens office door, Uncle Yuen, give me Lu Shangs will. After being busy for his entire life, when it came to the time to leave, his thoughts and feelings couldnt even fill a single piece of paper. Li Sui got the piece of paper from Uncle Yuen and he felt that his heart got heavier. Uncle Yuen quietly back out the door and gave Li Sui some space. Li Sui sat alone on the sofa, he only flipped open the thin piece of paper after a long period of mental preparation. Lu Shang wrote very concisely, but everything was clearly written. Li Sui tried to be calm and kept on reading line by line. When he saw the line, The Lu family house and the 40% of Tong Yan Conglomerate shares will all be given to Li Sui Li Sui just couldnt hold the tears back anymore, he wept as he held on to thin piece of paper Lu Shang left for him. Li Sui was met with obstacles after obstacles in thepany, he basically stayed up all night before today. So, on the way back, Li Sui didnt say a word, he stared nkly outside while leaning on the car window. When they passed by a street, Li Sui looked out at the snow-covered streets and suddenly moved up, he called Stop the car. Uncle Yuen thought Li Sui spotted an acquaintance or something, so he hurriedly stepped on the brake. Li Sui opened the car door, he did not even take an umbre, and directly walked across the road. He arrived at a humble little electronics store, the sign was old, one could even say it was a run-down shop. The shopkeeper seemed to be closing up shop, half of the metal gate was already pulled down. Li Sui stood by the shop, he did not enter, he only looked at it from a distance. Do you want to buy something? Uncle Yuen came for him, bringing an umbre. Li Sui shook his head, he watched the shopkeeper busily going in and out of the shop to pack things up. Li Suis eyes got more and more emotional. There was once a winter with heavy snowfall, said Li Sui, looking at the shop, he continued, The snow was piling up, it was thick and slippery. He took me out to buy a mobile phone. When I was crossing the street, I slipped. He suddenly turned around and gave me a hand. His hand was cold, but it was the warmest thing Ive ever touched in my life. Uncle Yuen listened to him quietly. Li Sui lowered his head and took in a deep breath. Uncle Yuen, I have made a decision. I hope you wont me me for it. In the evening, instead of returning home, Li Sui went straight to the hospital. He stayed with Lu Shang for a while in the CCU, he whispered something into his ear for a while. When he came out, the gentleness in his eyes were immediately gone and his expression hardened. He asked Leung ZiRui, Is the anesthesiologist still there? Yes, are you going to hand him over to the police? No, let him go. Leung ZiRui was shocked. Li Sui then said, Let him go and make him report to Liu XinTian, tell him that the assassination is a sess. You want to Li Sui looked at him and said, Forge a death certificate for Lu Shang. This decision didnt only surprise Leung ZiRui, it also surprised old Dr. Leung, he asked, Are you sure? Its easy to bribe a coroner, but once the record is cancelled, it would be impossible to get it back. Li Sui clenched his fist and asked, Please. The two doctors looked at each other with a helpless sigh. Tomorrow evening, I will secretly arrange for a ne to take you to TaoYuan ind, there will beplete equipment, and it will be safer there. Li Sui and Leung ZiRui walked along the corridor as Li Sui told him about the arrangements. Outside, the snow had stopped, looking at the vastndscape of whiteness, Leung ZiRui nodded and sighed, Leon will bring a surgical team as well, but he will be arriving before them tomorrow morning. Although the arrangement was made by Li Sui, there were still a lot of worry in his eyes, If I guessed correctly, once the death of Lu Shang was announced tomorrow, Liu XinTian will monitor me closely. In order to ensure that the surgery is not disturbed, I will not contact you anymore after you have gone there. Leung ZiRui was so cold that he kept rubbing his hands together, he asked jokingly, What will be of you if you do that? Can you resist the urge to ask about his condition? Li Sui hesitated, I How about this, after the operation, I will send you an advertisement with an unknown number. If the ending part is to unsubscribe, please press Y, then the surgery is a sess, if it is to unsubscribe please press N, then the surgery had failed. Is that okay? Dr. Leung asked. Thank you Li Sui said. Dr. Leung waved his hand, Even if the surgery is a sess, dont be too happy. The surgery is only the first obstacle after all. After the operation, he still need to go through a critical 24 hours period. If he can survive the 24 hours, then he can truly be out of deaths grasp. Li Sui lowered and was silent for a moment. He asked, Do you need to take some blood? Leung ZiRui turned to look at him and Li Sui asked again, Does the operation require some blood? The blood bank has sufficient blood to use. I know, Li Sui said in a low voice, Im just I want to give him some strength in my own way. Leung ZiRui stared at him for a while, Li Suis expression looked like hed be very depress if Leung ZiRui decided not to take his blood. After some thought, Leung ZiRui found that to be a good idea, just so that Li Sui would not have too much energy and do crazy things. Are you alright? The nurse was concerned as she drew blood from Li Sui. Li Sui nodded, Im fine. Li Sui looked at the red blood that was flowing out of his own body, then drained to a container bag through the stic tube. Somehow, when he thought about the blood eventually flowing into Lu Shangs body, Li Sui suddenly felt an odd feeling. He and Lu Shang were not blood rtives, but they are still connected, they were in each others blood. After the nurse finished drawing blood, she put the utensils away. It was customary to give Li Sui milk tablets to replenish his blood glucose content. Leung ZiRui said to the nurse before she left, This is a pack of designated use blood. Please store andbel it separately. Okay. When Leung ZiRui came out, he found that Li Sui was staring at the piece of milk candy. Are you feeling dizzy? Why are you daydreaming? Li Sui shook his head and exined, Lu Shang often bought this kind of candies for me before, and I almost never not see any around at home. Leung ZiRuiughed and said, He hasnt left yet and youre already reminiscing? Im just curious, Li Sui put the candy into his mouth and said, Its clear that Im not a clueless kid anymore. Why does he still keep all these habits? No matter if its food or just in general. Leung ZiRui looked at him and said in an obvious tone, I think its because, no matter how old and strong you get. In his heart, you will always be his dear child. Chapter 54 - Before the Storm Chapter 54: Before the Storm Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations In the evening, Li Sui decided to stay in the hospital. He got some bedsheets and nkets, then he directly slept in the CCU. That was not in line with hospital rules, but when they thought about how he would be separated from Lu Shang very soon, and that this might be thest chance for Li Sui to be by Lu Shangs side, even the hospital head did not object. He asked the nurse to get Li Sui some hand warmers to avoid freezing. Perhaps Li Sui was overly tired, when heid down t on the floor, he just couldnt sleep. Li Sui turned over to look at Lu Shang, in between them were the distance of just one arm, Li Sui could sense the breathing under the oxygen mask, they were weak and slow. Lu Shang had electrodes on his chest, and there were various instruments hooked to his body. Just looking at them made Li Sui sad, he wanted to hold Lu Shangs cold hands and slowly warm them up or cuddle him to sleep from his back, just like how he usually would. However, Lu Shangs current state did not allow that. The IV drip next to the bed made constant dripping sounds, Li Sui looked at him for a long time. After a while, he spoke softly, Good night. The next day, before dawn, two people entered the CCU in secret. Following that, a stretcher bed was pushed out of the CCU discreetly. Almost immediately afterwards, another stretcher bed that looked exactly the same was pushed in and ced on the empty spot. At 9 a.m. that day, the hospital formally issued a death certificate. Because of Lu Shangs special status, a special coroner arrived at RuiGe. After a seemingly careful examination, the coroner issued a definitive report on the cause of death, which was heart failure. As soon as the report came out, the news was like a runaway person. It spread all over the business sector in less than a whole day, there were great uproar amongst Tong Yans higher-ups and even the smaller employees. A newspaper even did a special report on it. After all, Lu Shang had done a lot of charity work in recent years. Although he was a low-key person, his name was not unfamiliar amongst those who worked in the sector. For the entire time, Li Sui remained silent, he spoke nothing, no matter who the person might be. Li Suis mind waspletely preupied by Lu Shang, he didnt get much sleep for the past few days, plus he had a few hundred milliliters of blood drawn from himst night. Hisplexion was poor, and he didnt even attempted to hide that. Xiao Tang called Li Sui immediately once she heard about the news, she called to ask if it was true. After receiving an affirmative answer, she began crying. Li Sui could not say anyforting words and just silently hung up the phone. In the wholepany, the calmest person was most likely Liu XinTian, he looked like he had expected this from the very beginning. He was full of spirit, as if Tong Yan was already in his bag right now, he also had an extremely contemptuous look on him, especially towards Li Sui. Li Sui had a lot on his mind, so he did not talk to Liu XinTian at all. Li Sui used handling Lu Shangspany documents as a pretext to meet withwyer Xe. I see, even I thought After listening to Li Sui,wyer Xe was shocked and found the n to be extremely bold. Tomorrows shareholders meeting, I need your help, Li Sui said. Xe WeiLan quickly closed the door, then he whispered nervously, You have 40%, plus the 8% that were originally on our side, and the 6% that you fought for, you have a total of 54%. What are you going to do next? Will you just fight him head-on like this at tomorrows meeting? Li Sui grinded his chin on his hands that were sped together, he asked, You said before that, two-thirds of the total voting rights attending the meeting are needed to change thepanys constitution? Xe WeiLan was slightly surprised, Yes, but we stillck a lot before we can get two-thirds. Does that mean, if a shareholder does not attend the meeting, said persons share will not be counted, is that so? Li Sui asked. Xe WeiLan hesitated for a second, then he gradually understood what Li Sui meant, he couldnt suppress his shock, Do you mean, you want to Xe WeiLan was only nning to stabilize Tong Yan at the shareholders meeting, with the current resources they had, that goal should be barely attainable. He did not expect Li Sui to be so ambitious, he was not only aiming to win against Liu XinTian at the meeting, but to break Tong Yan out of its current binds altogether. Changing thepany constitutions and the nature of thepany were always things that Lu Shang wanted to do. Lu Shang had tried doing so in the past but had never seeded. If Li Sui was sessful this time, the benefits would be more than obvious for both for thepany and for the Lu family as a whole. Previously, because of Liu XinTian and the others interference, Lu Shangs n of reform had been repeatedly blocked. Lu Shang was still worrying about it up until he got seriously ill, showing that this was somewhat of an unfulfilled wish of his. When Xe WeiLan looked over to Li Sui, the youngster across the desk from him was contemting and concocting a n. The sophisticated look on his face was somewhat simr to that of Lu Shangs. There must be something wrong with Liu XinTians funds. Li Sui interrupted Xe WeiLans thoughts. Why do you say that? He is just an investor of Tong Yan like all everyone else. He has no otherpanies or jobs. He lost a huge sum of moneyst year because of Tong Xin, so where did he get all so much money to bribe the rest of the shareholders to his side? Xe WeiLan did more or less suspected about that, but guessing was useless, But how are we going to get evidences on such short notice? Li Sui frowned and thought, Let me think about it. Before leaving, Li Sui went to Lu Shangs office. Most of the things inside were already cleared out. Uncle Yuen was packing Lu Shangs personal belongings into boxes. Li Sui rummaged through the box randomly, there wasnt many things inside, just some bottles of medicine, some work diaries, some old photos, books and letters, plus a few pots of green nts Lu Shang kept. Although Lu Shang wasnt always in thepany, but he did hire people to help clean the office and water the nts, so all the nts were growing prosperously. Li Sui fiddled with the leaves for a bit and looked around the empty office. Suddenly, an intense emotion came into being. Lu Shangs life was so simple, so much that his world seemed to have nothing beside Li Sui. Shall we go now? Uncle Yuen picked up the box and asked. Li Sui looked back at the office one final time and said, Lets go. When they walked out of the office, they ran into Secretary Yeung. Their eyes collided, and thetter quickly avoided Li Sui. Li Sui stagnated and asked Uncle Yuen to go downstairs first. Li Sui then followed after her. Just after a turn, Secretary Yeung stopped and asked, What do you want? I want to help you, Li Sui said. Help me? Secretary Yeung seemed to have heard something funny. She turned back around but was stopped by Li Sui. I know you need money. Li Sui lowered his head to look at her, he was a lot taller than her, when he stretched out his arms, there were basically no room for her to dodge. Secretary Yeung raised her head up and gave up hiding the wound at the corner of her mouth. Why do you want to help me? she asked coldly. Li Sui smiled softly, For the sake of the coffee that you once made for me. I havent fallen to the point that I need your help. Fallen? Li Sui disagreed with her statement. You are Liu XinTians lover, I am Lu Shangs lover. There shouldnt be any difference in status between you and me, and theres absolutely no reason for you to despise me. Look at yourself now, look at the injury on your face, Liu XinTian did that, right? Now, look at me, I am one of the biggest shareholders in Mu Sheng. Which side is more dependable? Isnt that obvious? Secretary Yeung flinched slightly. Li Sui looked at her and continued, Im trying to get on your good side, it is me thats asking. Im asking for your help. Its just one simple question, do you want the money or not? Secretary Yeung stood still for a while. She was discouraged and she gave in, What do you want me to do? In his heart, Li Sui secretly rxed, he looked around and whispered to her, Where did Liu XinTians moneye from? I think you should know better than I do what Im referring at. I need proof of it. After Li Sui got in the car, Uncle Yuen nced at the rearview mirror and asked, Are we going back to the Lu family house? Somebodys following us. Li Sui was so tired that he felt dizzy, and he just blurted out going to the hospital. Then he realized, now that Lu Shang was deceased, if he ran to the hospital and stayed there all night, it would just arouse unnecessary suspicion and increase the risk of discovery. Tomorrow will be the shareholders meeting. With Tong Yan on the line, Liu XinTian would naturally spend all his effort in monitoring Li Sui, so as to avoid any unexpected incidents in the uing meeting. Li Sui thought about it and said, Find a hotel, the busier the area is, the better. Uncle Yuen brought him to the city center, below the hotel was a night market, it was as bustling as ever even after midnight. Li Sui went inside the hotel, he booked a room, then he took a shower and a nap. After it was quitete in the night, he looked at the clock and went out in disguise. Fortunately, he had not forgotten the anti-tracking skills he learned in the training camp. Li Sui slipped out of the back door and mixed into the crowd. Then he quickly got onto an old pickup truck and drove to the suburbs, he was still not rest assured. The ce they would be picking up Lu Shang had long been arranged. It would happen in a small airport in the suburbs, the private jet had alreadynded there by the time Li Sui arrived. Li Sui sat in the car and waited for a while, then he saw two Iveco vans driving into the airport one after another. A stretcher bed was pushed out from the back of one of the vans. At the same time, several people got out of the other vans, they helped pull the stretcher bed towards the jet. A short distance away, Li Sui was still inside the car, he could see a glimpse of Lu Shang lying on the bed amongst the people, and his heart tightened. Watching people push the bed farther and farther away from him, Li Sui had been suppressing his worries of the entire day and couldnt stop himself from rushing out of the car. He tried stopping himself again, but it was useless, he opened the door and ran over. Leung ZiRui who was wearing a mask, was directing everyone seriously. When he saw Li Sui appear out of nowhere, he was so stunned that he had forgotten to stop him. Li Sui walked past him directly, he pushed through the rest of the people and held Lu Shangs hand that was on the stretcher bed. You must live until Ie to find you Li Sui said earnestly, leaning down to Lu Shangs closed eyes, he printed a light kiss on his eyelid, I love you. The people around him soon pushed him back out, the stretcher bed was pushed onto the jet. There werent enough time, Leung ZiRui didnt have time to reprimand Li Sui, so he only waved to him, thenmanded the pilot to close the hatch. Li Sui stood still at the same spot, he could still feel the cold temperature of Lu Shangs hand linger on his own. He watched as the jet slowly lifted off the ground, he felt his heart being taken away along with the jet. He didnt even know when the vans left, when he finally came to, his eyes were already filled with tears. Snow began to fall again, cold wind blew through the airport, it was as if the was whimpering in the cold. Li Sui stood alone in the snow and stayed there quietly for a long time before returning to the car. Before he could rx, Li Sui grabbed the steering wheel and drove the car out of the airport. This time, he did not only wish to protect Lu Shang, but also Tong Yan, the Lu household and Lu Shangs unfinished wishes. In the snow, a jet and a car moved in the opposite direction quickly. They were like two soldiers heading to the front lines. Right after a brief meet and farewell, they had to rush to their individual battlefields. In the middle of the night, Li Sui returned to the hotel, unable to sleep, he began organizing the documents he had in hand in preparation of tomorrows meeting. Just when he had gone through half of his things, someone suddenly knocked on the door. Who is it? Li Sui asked. Room service. Li Sui recognized the familiar female voice and opened the door. Secretary Yeung was wrapped up in thick clothes and stuffed him a bag of documents. After they exchanged a look, she left without saying a word. Li Sui returned to the room and opened the bag. There were several documents, including Liu XinTians departure records, the bank statement of the training school he had, and his tax payment records. The materials were obviously taken in a hurry with the mobile phone camera. Li Sui read them carefully andpared them, soon he noticed a strange pattern: Liu XinTian would go to Macau once a month, and every time he returned, a group of new students would enroll in his training school. Could there be such coincidences, it wasnt like he went to Macau to get students. Li Sui frowned and looked over the tax records of the training school again. It was not difficult to notice that the monthly tax amount was obviously not in line with the schools ie. Gradually, he had an idea in his head. He couldnt afford to hesitate anymore, so he immediately called Uncle Yuen and drove to the Mengs house. Miss Meng? Uncle Yuen was puzzled. Yes, shes the only one who can help us now. Uncle Yuen disagreed, But Miss Mengs husband is standing with Liu XinTian. Yes, but Tong Yans shareholder is Miss Meng herself, right? Only she herself has the right to exercise her rights as Tong Yans shareholder. Li Sui argued back with reasons. Although Uncle Yuen wanted to say something, but seeing that Li Sui was so persistence, he refrained himself from doing so. The two of them drove out of the hotel with zero discretion. Liu XinTians people were puzzled, they drove behind them the entire way. They wanted to follow them but were also afraid of being discovered. Finally, they saw their car driving into the Mengs house, so they gave up following. Li Sui moved his gaze away from the rearview mirror and scoffed coldly. Li Sui didnt even need to think to know that Liu XinTian was most likely not worried. In his eyes, Li Suis current actions were just no different from begging in the face of thirst, it was something not even worth thinking about for Liu XinTian. Meng XinYou did not look pleased when she walked out, given that she was disturbed in the middle of the night. She yawned until she saw Li Sui. She paused and said, Its you? Needless to say, she immediately knew what Li Sui was here for. She asked a servant to make two cups of coffee. Sit down. Li Sui sat opposite to her and apologized, Im sorry for disturbing you thiste at night. Meng XinYou waved her hand and sighed, Im sorry with what happened to Lu Shang. Li Suis eyes drooped at her words, Even if hes gone, thepany cant disappear too. Im here today to talk to you in private. I think its necessary for you to know something. Do you want to y the affection card? Meng XinYou asked. Li Sui did not speak. Xiao Li, I dont want to bully you. Even if its Lu Shang himself whos sitting here today, I wont wreck the decisions made by my family because of personal reasons, sighed Meng XinYou. You may not understand, but to people like us, the interests of the whole family are above anything else. Even though I liked Lu Shang, but you know that those arepletely different things. I understand. Li Sui nodded. If you can understand, Meng XinYou said with regret, she loosened her shoulders and continued, Then you also know that I cant stand on your side at tomorrows meeting. You misunderstood. Im not here to ask you to stand with us, Li Sui said. Im asking you not to attend tomorrows meeting. Meng XinYou was stunned, Not to attend? Yes, said Li Sui, his temperament was neither overly humble nor arrogant. Ill handle the rest on my own. I only ask for you not to involve yourself in this matter. The request aroused Meng XinYous interest, Why? Tell me the reasoning behind it. The reason is that if you and Liu XinTian are on the same front, your family will inevitably be implicated. As he spoke, Li Sui took out the documents in the bag and pushed them over to Meng XinYou. These are some information about Liu XinTian. I think you will be very interested in knowing what he has been up to recently and whether it is beneficial or harmful to your family. Meng XinYou looked at him doubtfully, she picked up the documents and began reading them He colluded with some people in opening illegal, underground casinos in Macau. Each month, he would get arge sum of money, but as they were from illegal means, those funds could not enter the maind market directly. As such, he opened a training school to make the funds clean, he forged student records, and listed the ie as tuition fees. Li Sui said, The Meng family is held in high esteem, your position is sensitive. To speak frankly, once this matter is exposed, it would be very difficult for your family to be unscathed. Meng XinYou looked down at the documents again, her expression turned serious, Where did you get this information? Of course, I have my ways. Meng XinYou heard him and looked up at the young man in front of her. She didnt meet Li Sui much, her only exchanges with him were when he was around with Lu Shang. So, in her impression, Li Sui was just a pretty boy who was well taken care of. Now, after careful observations, she found that every part of this person was unfamiliar to her, not only in appearance, but also in his temperament and the way he spoke. Thats all I have to say. Li Sui stood up to say goodbye after looking at the clock, No matter what happens tomorrow, thank you very much. Thank you for all the care the Meng family had shown for Lu Shang over the past years. Meng XinYou looked uncertain, and as he walked out, she called out, Wait a minute! When Li Sui turned around, Meng XinYous lonely and long face, which had remained unchanged for years, finally loosened a little, Lu Shang Before he left, there was no Did he left behind any words? Li Sui looked at her and whispered, He said if one day Tong Yan went out of control, he want me to let go. After saying that, Li Sui did not look back at Meng XinYou again and left. When the car left the Mengs house, the sky began to glow, and Li Sui leaned back on the back of the seat. Looking out of the window silently, he watched the morning rays seep through the leaves of rows and rows of trees. Uncle Yuen thought that he must had met a wall and wanted tofort him. Unexpectedly, before he spoke, Li Sui suddenly asked, What time is it now? Half past five. Half past five Li Sui muttered, Lu Shang should have arrived already. Uncle Yuen nced at him through the rearview mirror and asked, Are you going back to the hotel now? No, Im going to get breakfast and pick upwyer Xe. Li Sui sat up and loosened his tie. One can only fight with a full stomach. Chapter 55 - Crisis Chapter 55: Crisis Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations (Unedited) Early in the morning, it rained cats and dogs on the usually warm tropical ind. The strong wind made the trees bow their heads. Leung ZiRui turned around from the window and saw Dr. Leon walking out of the CCU. How is he doing? Leon made an OK gesture with his hand and pped Leung ZiRui on the shoulder as they passed each other, Rx, my child. Leung ZiRui also knew that he might overly nervous. His shoulders were loosened, and heughed, I havent done such a challenging operation for a long time already, to be honest, Im a little worried. Dont you Chinese people often say that life and death are long scripted in ones destiny? All we can do is try our best to fulfill our duties, the rest depends on Gods will. Dont put excessive pressure on yourself, we are just doctors. At times like these, the patients rely on us to be confident in ourselves and to do our best. Leung ZiRui pursed his lips together and nodded, I understand. At nine oclock in the morning, Lu Shang was pushed into the operating room. Leon was the leading physician, Leung ZiRui and the hospital head was the lead assistant and second assistant respectively. All the physicians, anesthesiologists and even the nurses who delivered the instruments were carefully selected. They had already been cooperating with each other for many times in the past, the operation team was basically impable. How long has morphine injection to the muscles continued? 15 minutes. Continue for a bit longer, Leon said, turning to the anesthesiologist, he directed, Later, during the surgery, we will intubate the aorta first, hook it up for blood rewarming cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)1. Increase anesthesia dosage when closing up the chest with wires. Also, after intubating the trachea, inject him with Aprotinin2 or Ulinastatin continuously, then do blood salvage3. Understood. And perfusionist. Yes. Remember the CPB should be set at mild to moderate temperature, the average arterial pressure should be maintained between 50 to 70, set it to dilute blood flow moderately Understood. How long has the intramuscr injection continued for? 29 minutes. Are the ECG monitor and venous transfusion all set up? They are all ready. Leon nced at everyone in the room and said, Then lets get started. Under the brightmp, Leung ZiRui looked at Lu Shangs face, Bro, please stay strong. Whether I can rest in peace depends on you, okay? Lu Shangid quietly on the operating table with his eyes closed, his breathing was still as weak as ever. Thousands of miles away, Li Sui suddenly raised his head from the sink, he looked at his wet face in the mirror, and used his hand to wipe it. How are you? Xe WeiLan turned the water tap of the sink next to Li Sui, he washed his hands as he asked. Li Sui hung his head down and let the drops of water run down his cheeks. There was a muffled Hmn in his throat. Although it was his idea to send Lu Shang off to the ind for the surgery, he was still worrying from the bottom of his heart. His hands and feet kept sweating. His mind was all over the ce, it was only through the cold water did he manage to calm himself down a little. Li Sui knew that he couldnt afford to be distracted right now, but with the pressure of the meeting and the operation weighing down on his shoulders at the same time, Li Sui really couldnt feel rx at all. Xe WeiLan stood in front of the mirror and adjusted his tie, he said with awe in his voice, I never thought that I would have the pleasure to see this milestone of Tong Yan in the ten years I have been working here. Li Sui looked at him and Xe WeiLan said, Did Lu Shang ever tell you about how Tong Yan developed? Li Sui shook his head. Lu Shang seldom talked about the past. Tong Yan was originally founded by Lu Shangs father and hisrades who fought with him together in the war, amongst those people included Liu XinTian. At that time, they built thepany purely on their friendship. For quite a long time, it was one of the best local enterprises. However, peoples desires had no limits. As time passed, they had more money and soon there was a gap between everyones hearts. It was especially evident when the next generation were born, the confrontations expanded. Later, they realized that the divide was bing a problem. In order to avoid thepanys shareholders from just taking the money and fleeing, they made an arrangement. If anyone wanted to sell or transfer shares, it must be approved in the shareholders meetings first. Whoever wants to amend this rule will have to reach 2/3 of consensus in the meeting. This agreement prevented the split of leadership in Tong Yan, but at the same time, it hindered the development of thepany. In the world today, the rule has be a major obstacle to thepanys development. Our battle today could be described as a milestone on reforming thepany. On the topic, Xe WeiLan sighed, Every time I think about the bloody history of Tong Yan, I just cant help but shudder at the power of money and the waves time brings. How could the once intimate brothers, be sworn enemies so easily. Maybe there really is nothing in this world that could fight against the torrent of time. Li Sui thought for a moment, then said, I think there are. Xe WeiLan smiled and said, So, are you getting yourself back together now? When Li Sui came back from his thoughts, Xe WeiLan snapped his fingers and said, Lets go then. The atmosphere in the conference room had almost dropped to absolute zero. At the end of the long conference room table, the ce which had always been upied by Lu Shang, Liu XinTian was there as if he owned the ce. He seemed to be enjoying the moment very much. His eyes swept down at everyone below him satisfyingly, when he saw Li Suiing in, the corner of his mouth twitched. This is the shareholders meeting. Did you get lost? Li Sui ignored him and sat down in a less crowded cefortably. Liu XinTian wanted to say something but seeing Xe WeiLane in behind him, he just snorted coldly. He turned to Fang Miao and asked, Who else hasnt arrived yet? Fang Miao looked around, The Meng family. Call Meng XinYou No, call official Xu. Fang Miao nodded his head and walked out the room. Li Sui exchanged a look withwyer Xe. A momentter, Fang Miao came back in, his face full of joy, He said shes on her way, she will be here soon. Liu XinTian waved his big hand around and said, Humph, woman just loves dilly dallying. We dont have to wait for her, we can start first. There are two main reasons for me to call all of you here today. First, it is to re-elect the members of the board of directors. Second, we all know the matters with director Lu. I found that to be a most unfortunate thing, he had died after working diligently for thepany. Sadly, dead people cante back to life, so I hope all of you can deal with the sorrow. Although director Lu is not here with us anymore, but he left Tong Yan behind for us. We shall inherit his good will and make thepany grow During Liu XinTians speech, Xe WeiLan had continuously nced over at Li Sui, fearing that Li Sui might throw the chair at Liu XinTian in the next second. However, unexpectedly Li Sui had a calm expression, it was as if he did not hear a word he said. So first of all, ording to thepanys charter, we have to talk about the issue of the division of shares, because as you all know, Lu Shang has been busy working for thepany and has not gotten married yet. He neither have any children, nor spouses or siblings, so on the subject of his legal predecessor There seemed to be an understanding amongst everyones hearts on the subject. When he said that, most people in the conference room moved their gazes onto Li Sui. Liu XinTians speech was interrupted and he showed immense dissatisfaction, Director Li, I have already allowed you to partake in the meeting. How are you not satisfied, do you have anything you wish to raise? Li Sui slowly turned his head up and said lightly, Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Isnt it inappropriate to talk about dividing Lu Shangs shares right after the announcement of his death? No one in the conference room answered, Liu XinTian smiled, This is argepany, were talking about tens of millions of capital flow every day. If we ignore it for a day, do you know how much profit would be lost, we are also thinking for thepanys future. Li Sui listened and looked across the room, No one object? The conference room was once again silent, Liu XinTian directlyughed and said, Li Sui, this is not a school. I suggest if you want to stop us from dividing Lu Shangs shares, you should study onpanyws for a few years first. At your age, you should be reading some more, dont interfere with adults business. Since no one object. Li Sui ignored his provocation and faintly nodded to Lawyer Xe. Xe WeiLan took out a document and walked straight to the middle of the conference table. He raised the document up and cleared his throat, he said, This is the will written by director Lu before he died. Now, I shall read the part about Tong Yan on the will. Everyone was stunned. No one thought that something like this would appear out of the blue like this, even Liu XinTian changed his expression. Only Li Sui remained silent, he sat quietly in the sides and listened to Xe WeiLan recite the words that had already long been imprinted in Li Suis heart. Impossible! Before Xe WeiLan finished, Liu XinTian stood up and interrupted him, looking very angry. How could Lu Shang possibly give the Lu familys long years of efforts to an outsider? This will must have been forged. Xe WeiLan said slowly, He knew there will be doubts, so director Lu especially sent the will to the notary office. This is the notarial certificate, everything is written in ck and white, theres a stamp and a case number. Anyone who has doubts can go to the notary office and search for the files at any time. As soon as Xe WeiLan uttered the words, the whole conference room was in an uproar. Li Sui stood up and said, You said I was an outsider, director Liu? Lu Shang might have called you Uncle Liu, but dont tell me you really think of yourself as an insider? You Li Sui stood up opposite to him and asked, Since youre also an outsider, why wouldnt he give his shares to a person he nurtured instead of giving it to you? Are you simply blinded by the profit or are you just too optimistic about your rtionship with him? Someone saw the atmosphere going sour and immediately suggested a different topic, Even if the notary office approved, it is not necessarily the wishes of director Lu himself. I mean, isnt it strange that director Lu had just got admitted into the hospital and he almost immediately died? He was almost immediately cremated, there wasnt even a memorial service. What on earth are you trying to hide? Besides, what exactly happened before Lu Shangs death? Only you know, Director Li. This will may have been written by you. In my opinion, maybe even the death of director Lu Zhang Meng! Unexpectedly, Li Sui wasnt the one who stopped him, it was Liu XinTian who interrupted him. Li Sui sneered from the bottom of his heart, If you have doubts, lets call the police and find the people from the hospital to investigate. They can definitely find clues. I also wondered why it just happened that the surveince camera broke down that night. He seemed to be recovering, so how is it that they suddenly said he died of heart failure? This is a meeting, not a criminal investigation. Liu XinTian drew the topic back. Even if you inherited Lu Shangs shares, so what? Are you qualified? Can you carry the huge burden that is Tong Yan? Whether someone could carry that weight is not something you or I can say. Even if you say so, or if I say so, theres no point, said Li Sui, he nced around the conference room, Please begin voting. In order to prevent cheating, the voting was conducted without anonymity, the voting papers were handed out, and the meeting room went silent. Li Sui nced at the old shareholders who were on good terms with the Lu family. They seemed to be talking about something. Li Sui thought of Zhang Mengs malicious spections just now, that made him slightly nervous and he lowered his head to sip tea. It was not unreasonable for people to say that rumors are made by just one mouth, but to sh a rumor, even breaking a leg might not be enough. Theres also the very irresponsible saying Since everyone says so, then more or less, it should hold some truth. No one actually bothered to search for the truth, the truth wasnt worth much when everyone just leaned toward believing in what they hear. Li Sui caught a glimpse of Liu XinTians calm expression. He took a moment to think about it, then he shivered, this was bad, he was tricked. Liu XinTian deliberately shook the matter out through another persons mouth, he nted the idea of Li Sui forcing Lu Shang to write the will in everyones mind. It seemed like Liu XinTian did not only knew that Lu Shang would transfer the shares to Li Sui, he even prepared for that to happen and suggested that Lu Shang was forced. No matter how intimate and close he was with Lu Shang, Li Sui was not his legal spouse, that was his greatest weakness. It was difficult for outsiders to identify with the feelings he had for Lu Shang. However, Liu XinTian was different. No matter what he did or say, he had been one of Tong Yans directors for many years. From the perspective of the old shareholders, Li Sui was truly notpetitive whenpared with Liu XinTian. After all, in the eyes of the old shareholders, he was the real outsider, and now, he was also suspected of murdering Lu Shang. Li Sui had lostpletely in the first round. He sweated a little, he was not worried about losing his rights in the board of directors, but if he failed at reforming thepany this time, if Tong Yan were to fall into the same predicament again, it would mean that all of Lu Shangs efforts would have been wasted. What Li Sui feared for came, the first three ballots were handed up from the group of old shareholders Li Sui reached out to before. Li Sui stretched his neck and saw that the ballot had three words written on it, Liu XinTian. Li Sui felt his blood froze instantly. Xe WeiLan frowned and looked at him. Both of them looked at each other with immense seriousness. Liu XinTian seemed quite satisfied, Thank you for your trust. I cant thank you enough. With the first three votes casted, Li Sui had now lost 6%, and his original anticipated support percentage of 54%had shrunk. What should we do? Asked Xe WeiLan. Li Sui clenched his hands together, he raised his head up and gritted his teeth without answering. The rain on the ind was still going on, and beside the operating table, Leon moved quickly and urately, The right internal thoracic artery has been sessfully moved out of the way, now we need to begin removing the pericardium4. Control your breathing. Right. The harmonic scalpel. Here. As their vision of view widened with the incision, they had full view of the aneurysm. Even the hospital head who had been doing heart surgeries for years was shocked, This position Leung ZiRui frowned and looked at Leon, Be careful. Leon nodded and said to the nurse, Forceps. The light from themp reflected onto their faces, everyone in the operating room looked serious. Leung ZiRui had just mped the blood-stained cotton ball away, and the blood pressure monitor suddenly rang, breaking everyones already tense nerves. Blood pressure has dropped, the monitor rang. Leon focused on the surgery, The suture. Leung ZiRui looked at Lu Shang, his face was extremely pale. He was clearly in a deepa, but his breathing gave Leung ZiRui the impression that he was in pain. Low blood pressure, 50, 48 the monitor continued to rang. Leung ZiRui quickly turned his head around and said, Phenylephrine5. Yes. Hurry up, . The nurse wiped the sweat off Leons head, while thetter was extremely focused. Oh no, the blood pressure is spiking too much. How much? 200 210! Leung ZiRui felt cold sweat dripping down his own head and subconsciously looked at Leon. Leon was also sweating heavily, he had a serious look as his hands continued moving, The Aneurysm ruptured. Quickly, ready the pump. Anesthetist, inject anesthetics to stabilize blood pressure. Notify the support team and prepare for blood transfusion. All of a sudden, the whole operating room got busier, the blood pressure monitor continued to ring, the sound was like a call for them to hurry up. Leung ZiRui clicked his tongue and turned his head back to the nurse who was obviously anxious, The blood pressure isnt stabilizing. At this time, the hospital head, who had not spoken at all, said, Blood, transfuse that bag of blood. The nurse immediately understood, she quickly interchanged the pack of transfusing blood with the pack that was especially marked. After changing it, she began the blood transfusion again. Leung ZiRui fixed his eyes on Lu Shang. In a few moments, the nurse said happily, Its beginning to stabilize. The rm rang a few more times, but like a crying child that was just offered candy, the rm gradually subsided. Leung ZiRui sighed with relief, Well, thats amazing. They are the mostpatible. The hospital head pointed out. At present, there was no medical research showing that the source of blood transfusion could directly affect the results of a surgery. Leung ZiRui thought, when this operation was over, maybe he should open a research on the topic. He recalled Li Suis words when he asked to provide blood for the surgery. Perhaps amidst thea, Lu Shang really did feel something. They were not just lovers, they truly were bounded by blood even from the beginning. The position of hemorrhage are all sutured up, Leon took a deep breath as he said. Is the ECMO6 ready? Its ready. Okay. Now were going to repair the ruptured coronary arteries. Assist 1, help with intubating it. Leung ZiRui stabilized his mind and said, Yes. Chapter 56 - Curtains Closing Chapter 56: Curtains Closing (Unedited) On the other end, the voting in the conference room had also reached the climax. The number of votes on both sides continued to increase neck-and-neck. The tense atmosphere enveloped the conference room. Fortunately, except for the initial three shareholders who changed sides, everyone else voted as Li Sui had anticipated. In the end, Li Sui only had 6% less than expected. Although they had done their best, they still made a wrong move and fell short. Li Sui felt disappointment surging in his heart. The feeling of disappointment had yet reach its height when Fang Miao walked up to cast the final vote, with trembling hands, he raised his note, Li Sui. As soon as the two words were uttered, everyone, including Li Sui himself were in a daze. Liu XinTian gave him a dark look, Fang Miao smiled and shrugged his shoulders. He retreated half a step and said sping his hands together, Im sorry, Mr. Liu. The dramatic reversal of events disorientated Li Sui, at that moment, he did not realize what had happened. Xe WeiLan was the first to react, We won. In the chaotic room, Li Sui slowly recovered, he was still puzzled and whispered, Why did he vote for me? Isnt he a close friend of Liu XinTian? Xe WeiLan shook his head and analyzed the situation for him, Fang Miao is not anyones confidant, he is a loyal confidant of money. In the wholepany, he has the clearest purpose, he follows whoever that could give him money. He doesnt think about thepanys prospects, nor does he care about his face. He definitely knows about all the dirty things Liu XinTian did behind peoples back. He originally wanted to leech off of Mr. Lu, but he didnt pay any attention to his sweet talks, that was why he went to Liu XinTian in the first ce. Now, seeing that you actually got the 40% of shares from Lu Shang, its quite normal that hed rather side with you instead. Apuse rang out in the meeting room. Li Sui stood up, he had sweat all over his palms. He nced at Fang Miao, thetter was looking back at Li Sui as if he was a huge piece of gold. Li Suis gaze wandered between Fang Miao and Liu XinTian for a moment. Then he took his gaze back. Sure enough, the world was always like this. The people who would side with you immediately when the situation called for it, would also be the people who would abandon you the quickest. Liu XinTian was well versed in this basic principle and he had benefited from it for most of his life, but he never expected to one day fall on that as well. Our new chairman is born! Everyone, apuds! Fang Miao made a fuss. This person truly didnt care one bit for his face, he was just so thick skinned that even Li Sui felt a bit embarrassed. Who said that this is the new chairman, Liu XinTian interrupted their apuse, the veins on his forehead popped up, The Mengs have not arrived yet, what are you all celebrating about? The people present discussed and someone said, Quick, someone call the Mengs. Fang Miao took the lead and pulled out his mobile phone, he dialed Meng XinYou and turned the speaker on. Director Fang, whats the matter? The phone was picked up quickly. Miss Meng, our shareholders meeting is almost over. Are youing or not? Im still stuck in traffic. I cant get through. Traffic jam? Liu XinTian understood now, he nced over at Li Sui. He was so angry that he pulled the phone from Fang Miao and said, You Mengs have helicopters, right? You cane here by helicopter. Ill pay you the cost. Oh, is that Mr. Liu. Didnt you read the news? There are air defense drills today, no flights for the entire city, unless you want me dead that is. Liu XinTians tone froze, Does official Xu have no opinion on your current actions? Meng XinYou was obviously unhappy, Director Liu, please get things straight. Tong Yans shareholder is me and only I can exercise the rights as a shareholder, this is rted to the Mengs family interests. If he supports you, then thats just something that allow. If I had decided on something, even he have to stand aside. So, are you trying to interfere with my decisions? Meng XinYou was not holding back at all, she sounded quite rude. Li Sui almost wanted to bow in admiration for the woman. She was strong and her family was also powerful, so naturally the weight of her words was different from the rest. No wonder even Lu Shang used to be weary of her. Then the shareholders meeting Fang Miao asked in a rush. I dont think I can make it today. I abstain. Anyway, as long as 80% of the shareholders are present, the meeting will still be effective. I have other things to do here. Im hanging up. After that, she hung up without hesitation. There was a few seconds of silence in the conference room, Li Sui didnt know that Xe WeiLan had already prepared the follow up after they had won. Thewyer quickly took the opportunity to step onto the stage and said, Everyone, Mr. Li Sui currently owns 40% of the shares, he has 14% of votes on his side, so it is a total of 54%. Due to Miss Mengs abstention, the total percentage of votes he obtained is 67.5% of the total voting power present. It has exceeded two-thirds of the total, as such he has the right to change thepany constitution. Liu XinTian stood still for a long time, his eyes fixated on Li Sui, So this is your goal? Li Sui looked back at him with zing eyes, What else? There were warm apuse in the conference room. Li Sui walked past him and up the stage, he looked at all the different faces below and said, Thank you for your trust in me. From today onwards, I will be temporarily dealing with all of Tong Yans affairs. First of all, I propose abolishing Article 48 in thepany constitution. I also suggest changing thepanys nature to a stock corporation at the end of this year, we will strive for listing within five years. Hmn, its good to go public. Fang Miao took the lead in apuding. Other shareholders looked at each other and apuded sparsely as well after some hesitation. Li Sui had solid power in his hands now after the voting. Liu XinTians people also knew that their upper hand was no more. Even if they hinder Li Sui today, he could just hold another shareholders meeting tomorrow. After the papers were passed down, almost everyone signed them. Liu XinTian was still sitting at the main spot of the conference room, but in the present situation, that position seemed quite ironic. Li Sui noticed that his always straight back seemed to be slouching as the people apuded. Everything was set now, Liu XinTian fought with the Lu family for half his life, he had exhausted every trick he had up his sleeve, only to final lose to a young boy. Lis Sui tried putting himself in his shoes, surely it was normal for Liu XinTian to feel somewhat depressed. When the papers were handed to Liu XinTian, heughed, How could I have lost to you You didnt lose to me, Li Sui corrected him. The road leading to todays result was paved by Lu Shang over years of preparation. I just happened to be the one who picked up his work. So are you happy? Liu XinTian asked him. Li Sui did not answer. Are you happy, now that you got Tong Yan and lost Lu Shang? He asked again. Li Sui sped his hands together and Xe WeiLan patted him on the back. At that moment, Li Suis cell phone vibrated, he stagnated. He got up and slowly walked to the window. The screen disyed that an advertisement message had arrived. His eyes moved across the screen and his heart shock. The content was not long. Li Sui moved his hands and opened the advertisement. He stared at the sentence to unsubscribe, please press Y. He looked at it again and again, repeatedly saying it in his heart for three or four times. After confirming that he had indeed read it correctly, he felt his legs go numb and almost fell to his knees. Xe WeiLan was puzzled and walked up to him nervously, he asked, Whats wrong? Whats the situation? Li Sui shook his head, he pursed his lips together and tried his best to hide his feelings. He turned back to Liu XinTian and said with his usual expression, You should sign it. Your provocation wont work on me anymore. His heart had long been with Lu Shang, not even a little bit remained here with him. Everyone was exhausted at the end of the day. Li Sui walked out of Tong Yans front door. He heard curses and scorns, some more obvious than others, some had his name in them, but he did not care. Those had nothing to do with him. On snowy days, the sky got dark earlier, Li Sui could barely see the dim streetlights that were in the distance. The cold wind made the snow dance like feathers floating in air, merrilynding on his feet and melting instantly. Director Li, please, may I take up some of your time? Someone called him from behind. Li Sui turned his head back and saw Fang Miao walking to him quickly. He smiled and rubbed his hands together, Hmn I was blinded before. I apologize for the nuisance I caused director Lu. Fang Miao was truly a thick-skinned person, but he was smart, Li Sui could admit that at least. Instead of apologizing to him directly, Fang Miao apologized for what he did to Lu Shang. Li Sui was worrying about Lu Shang, so he was not in the mood to go back and forth with him, If you have something to say, just say it. Fang Miao looked around and pulled Li Sui to a corner, then he whispered, Ivee to beg you for something. You know, Liu XinTian has done a lot of bad stuff. Ive followed him for two years and know a lot of his secrets. Now that Im up against him, Im afraid he wont let me go Looking into the distance, Li Sui sighed softly, If you know hes bad news, then why did you follow him in the first ce? Fang Miao rubbed his hands together again, Yes, you are right, its my own fault, but can please help me this once, for the favor I did for you today? Li Sui nced at him and thought, I can, but there is one condition. Yes? I want you to be a witness in court to testify against Liu XinTian. But Yes or no, decide yourself. But, I can promise you, as long as you testify against him, I will guarantee that he will never get the chance to harm you again. After hearing that, Fang Miao almost immediately nodded his head with zero thinking, Yes, Ill testify. That evening, Xe WeiLan went to the police station with Fang Miao and all the evidences he had collected. Li Sui waited anxiously and kept circling outside the door until they came out. He rushed up immediately and asked, How is it? Xe WeiLan said, The case has been submitted, the arrest is expected to be approved within three days. Three more days? Li Suis voice copsed. I cant wait for three days. Xe WeiLan got Fang Miao away and pulled Li Sui into the car, heforted him by saying, I know you are in a hurry, I am too, but this is a sensitive period, you must not make any mistakes. Or else all the work that youve done will go down the drain, endure it. How can I endure it? Li Sui rubbed his temples in pain. Lu Shang is struggling between life and death and I couldnt even stay by his side? Xe WeiLan sighed, If he can get through the operation, Im sure he will pull through this period as well. There are many things waiting for you in Tong Yan. You are the new director of thepany, you cant disappear as soon as you got the position, at least not the first few days. The shareholders are just barely standing on our side, you cant fall short of their expectations. Liu XinTian will be trying everything to fight back. If he isnt gone, you cant rx either. Li Sui buried his head deep in his own arms. Xe WeiLan was not assured, so he brought Li Sui all the way home before leaving. In recent days, Li Sui had been either intentionally or subconsciously avoiding the Lu family house. He felt that as long as Lu Shang was not there, then something was missing, and that this was no longer his home. Although in Lu Shangs will, the house was given to him and Li Sui could pretty much guess why Lu Shang decided that. Lu Shang must have thought that as they lived together in this ce for seven years, even if Lu Shang was not there, it could still be a ce for Li Sui to return to. However, Li Sui knew for sure that his ce of belonging was never this house, but the owner of the house. Li Sui hasnt been here for a few days, but thewn in the yard had been repaired, and the snow on the pavement had been cleaned up. Even in Lu Shangs absence, Uncle Yuen continued working. When Li Sui entered the house, two dim wallmps were still turned on in the living room, the fire in the firece had gone out, leaving only burnt wood. The pair of turtles in the corner of the living room had been scratching the ss container for two days to no avail, so they just gave up and hid themselves into their shells and hibernated. Everything was horribly quiet. Li Sui went back out and slowly sat down on the steps leading to the door, he watched the snow drift down and pile upyer byyer onto the yard. He had already forgotten which winter it was, but he had a small fight with Lu Shang. Li Sui sat at this exact spot and made a bamboo fishing stand. When Lu Shang came back from the airport, he saw Li Sui sitting at the door, Lu Shang was still angry, but he didnt have the heart to let him freeze outside, he opened the door and hurried Li Sui in the house. The memories came back as if they happened yesterday, it was so clear that he felt as if he could just reach out his hand and grasp those slightly cold hands. Time flies like a shuttle bus. In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed by. Lu Shang once said to him with guilt, if Li Sui hadnt met him when he was young, maybe he would have a normal childhood and perhaps a better life. But Li Sui thought, he could never have a better life, as the one he had now was already the best one in the world. God is fair, all the pain you have suffered will one day be repaid in a different way, telling you that all is not in vain. And at the end of his misery, after all the hardships and wandering, standing at the end was the gentle and kind man he knew, wearing a kind and warm smile. The snow weighed on a tree branch in the yard, it cracked being unable to bear with the weight. After a gust of strong wind, it finally turned from dangling to falling. Li Sui snapped out of his thoughts, he looked at the yard for a long time. Then he got up and went over to pick the tree branch up. The size and shape was right and the wood texture was good as well. Li Sui brushed the snow off, he took out a small knife and sat back on the doorstep, he began to shave the wood. A few years ago, the fishing rack he made for Lu Shang got washed into theke. He didnt have the time to make a new one for him. As Lu Shangs hands were always too weak because of the illness, holding a fishing rod for a long time would hurt, so he needed a rack to help. Li Sui shaved the branch inch by inch seriously, all the slightly sharp parts must be polished in detail, he didnt want Lu Shang to get hurt after all. He was attentive in his work, he was also plotting and nning. When Lu Shang got better, he would make someone deal with thepany, then he could take Lu Shang on a world tour and go to see all the beautiful rivers and mountains the world had to offer. After that, they could taste all kinds of food together. It snowed for the whole night and he sat on the doorstep for the whole night. When the first glimmer of light appeared in the sky, Li Sui raised up his head, that was when felt a light vibration from his cell phone. Li Sui was petrified, he dropped the knife to the ground and heard it tter. He pulled through, even Dr. Leung couldnt restrain his excitement, against his original n, he directly messaged Li Sui the three words. Li Sui stared at the words for a long time, the three simple words only barely registered in his brain, I was sure he had forgotten how to read. After a period of nkness, he jumped up and ran around in the snow-covered yard. He ran several times, then just plunged into the fluffy snow and buried his face in it. The cold snow woke his body up, and Li Sui gasped violently. He turned over with augh andid on his back, tears were covering his entire face. This is not a dream, its real. Lu Shang, thank you, thank you He covered his eyes and cried out horribly. Chapter 57 - Proposing Chapter 57: Proposing (Unedited) When Li Sui heard that Lu Shang pulled through, he just couldnt wait to go to his side. It was as if he just had an energy boost, he removed Liu XinTian and his people in just two days with unprecedented efficiency. In the meantime, there were huge changes to thepanys staffs, all the freeloaders were dismissed, and the employees that got fired in the turmoil were called back, for those who had already found a new job and werent interested in returning. Li Sui also allocated some funds topensate all those affected. Xe WeiLan seized this opportunity to attack Liu XinTian, who was caught unprepared. He had so much on his te that he couldnt cause trouble for Li Sui. Not only did his illegal investments hit the news, the police also went to arrest him for allegiantly attempt murder. As the incident came to light, Tong Yan, as apany closely rted to Liu XinTian was also more or less affected. Thepany had to make some changes and cooperate with the investigation. Li Sui was already prepared for that, there wasnt much to worry about. To remove pests, hurting the trunk a little was inevitable, but as long as they had strong roots, Li Sui knew everything would be fine after some getting some warm sunshine and rain. Thepanys original legal representative was Lu Shang, naturally he would be implicated, but because he was legally dead, and Li Sui was a new director. Public security didnt even bother to call Li Sui in for questioning. Four dayster, Li Sui finally finished everything and handed thepany over to Uncle Yuen to handle. Then he hurriedly flew to the ind himself. Li Sui already applied for a two-week vacationst year, most people knew that the vacation got pushed back. So, this time when Li Sui left, it did not attract much attention. Most people just thought he wanted to get away from everything for a while. When Li Sui got off the boat and stepped foot on the ind, Li Sui felt a brief moment of homesickness, the feeling was soon overwhelmed by the strong sense of yearning though. Leung ZiRui and Leon were lying on the beach, each holding a coconut in their hands, they were talking andughing under the sun. When they saw Li Sui walking towards them, they raised their hands and said hello. Unexpectedly, Li Suipletely ignored them, he just left his luggage and ran straight to the ward. Damn, that brat. Leung ZiRuiughed as he scolded. Li Sui was breathing heavily, he stood at the door for two seconds, he forced shoulders to rx, then gently pushed open the door. The lighting in the room was good. The curtains were slightly waving along with the wind. Lu Shang was sleeping quietly on the bed, the oxygen mask had already been removed and his thin lips were in full view. Sunshine came in through the window andnded on Li Suis face, making it look both serene and warm. The scene was as beautiful as an oil painting, Li Sui didnt dare speak, fearing that he would disturb the beautiful painting. He walked in silently and held Lu Shangs hand. Li Sui felt the warmth transmitting from Lu Shangs skin into his body, and it was as if a plot of crackednd that suffered through a long drought was suddenly flooded with water. Leung ZiRui noticed that Li Sui stayed in there for like half a day. He wondered what the brat was doing, so he walked in with the coconut and stared at him while leaning against the doorframe. Why hasnt he woken up yet? He just had a surgery, of course he wont be awake so soon. Leung ZiRuiughed. He woke up once a while back, he will have to stay in hospital for observation for the next three months. Li Sui settled down, Lu Shangs hands were warm, his face was not pale white for a change, the swelling at his legs also disappeared. There were a lot of good signs. Thank you, Dr. Leung, Li Sui said sincerely. Leung ZiRui waved his hand, No, hes just strong. What Leon said was true, if a person tried his best to survive, even God will make way. It wasnt Leung ZiRui or Leon who made the miracle possible, but Lu Shang himself. Li Sui almost never left Lu Shangs side since he got on the ind. He stayed by Lu Shangs bed, sometimes moistening his lips for him or checking his temperature. Most of the time, he just sat there quietly and held Lu Shangs hand while mumbling about trivial things. Li Suis face was always seen with a smile as he stayed in the room, one can tell very easily that he was truly happy. In the middle of the night, Li Sui was covered in sweat because of the heat on the ind, so he had to take a bath. As soon as he returned, he saw Lu Shangs head moving slightly, soon followed by his batting eyshes, Lu Shang opened his eyes. At that moment, Li Sui was a little nervous. He stared at Lu Shang closely and noticed that Lu Shangs eyes seemed tock focus and that made Li Suis heart crackle. He was afraid that Lu Shang would just wake up and lose his memories or something like the plots often seen in TV series. Fortunately, that moment of nkness shed by quickly, and light returned to his eyes very soon. Lu Shang noticed that someone was nearby, so he turned his head, and the two mens gaze met, it was as if they were not looking at each others face but hearts and thoughts. Li Sui imagined many scenarios of Lu Shang waking up. Li Sui thought that he might be ecstatic, he might cry, or he might throw a small tantrum. But when this man finally opened his eyes, Li Sui only felt that something strangling his throat, his mouth was nothing more than a decoration, and there was nothing he could say. Lu Shang looked at him with emotions-filled eyes. After a few moments, Lu Shang stretched out his arms slowly, making a Give me a hug gesture. Li Suis eye whites turned red, he bent down, just like countless nights before, he reached out to hold Lu Shang in his arms. He was afraid of hugging him too tightly though, fearing that it would tear the surgery wounds open, but the trembling in his arms showed how excited he was. Are you alright? Im fine. Thats good Li Sui embraced him for a while, then let Lu Shang go and reached for his eyes, Can you see, are there any side effects? Lu Shang looked at Li Sui and said, I can see your eyebags. After hearing Lu Shangsment, Li Sui was overjoyed. He was so happy that he wasnt even thinking straight anymore, it took him a while before realizing that he should call for a doctor, Ill call Dr. Leung. Leung ZiRui examined Lu Shang and he looked pleased. Not bad, hes not healing very fast, but hes stably healing. Let him slowly recuperate and he will get better. Theres one thing in particr that I have to emphasize, do not let him do any strenuous exercises within six months, that includes Leung ZiRui ced one of his hand on Li Suis hair and ruffled them, You know what I mean. The two of them looked at each other andughed. When Leung ZiRui left, Li Sui locked the door and asked softly, Do you want to drink some water? Lu Shang nodded. Li Sui got a cup of warm water and fed it to him with a spoon. He was still recovering, so Li Sui didnt dare give him a lot to drink. He put down the cup and asked, Can I kiss you? Lu Shang smiled lightly. Li Sui moved over and held his chin, they exchanged a brief kiss. Their breaths spread across each others lips and teeth, leaving the taste of sweetnessparable to that of ripe honey. Li Sui let him go reluctantly, then pulled up the nket for him. Li Sui rested his head on his own palm and smiled lightly, the satisfaction in his eyes were almost overflowing, You should sleep, Ill stay here by your side. Under Li Suis meticulous care, Lu Shangs recovery was much quicker than expected. Leon got off the ind a monthter and returned home to do research. RuiGe Hospitals head couldnt be gone for too long, so old Dr. Leung couldnt stay here. Finally, after checking up on Lu Shang, he returned to home as well. What are you going to do next? What about Lu Shangs identity? Leung ZiRui asked as he packed his luggage. Im going to register a new identity for him in the United States and bring him back home after things settled down. Back home? Arent you afraid someone might recognize him? Li Sui smiled and looked back at Lu Shang who was justing out of the bathroom on a wheelchair, Im afraid they wont be able to recognize me. Leung ZiRui looked at Lu Shangs chestnut-colored hair. He was so surprised that he took two steps backwards, You you dyed your hair?! Is it that strange? I dyed it this morning, Lu Shang was puzzled. Leung ZiRui hit his own chest and said, I have never seen you torture your hair like this. Lu Lao Ban, are you going through some kind of rebellious phase? Lu Shang chuckled, Its good to try new things. But even Leung ZiRui had to admit, this color unexpectedly suited Lu Shang very well, it made him look younger. Although Li Sui didnt know who Lu Shangs birth mother was, Li Sui guessed that she must be a Caucasian. Lu Shangs skin was quite white and his nose was straight, now adding the chestnut-colored hair in the mix, he looked even more western. Leung ZiRui looked at Li Suis entranced eyes, he knew immediately what was in Li Suis mind. Leung ZiRui waved his hand and said, Argh, I dont care about you guys anymore. Im still single, what right do I have to butt into your love lives? Shall I introduce someone to you? Theres a youngdy named Xiao Tang in ourpany. Shes very nice. I can bring her over someday. Im leaving! As soon as Leung ZiRui heard the words youngdy, he hurried fled with his luggage. When Lu Shang could finally move freely, he was just in time to see the flowers blooming on the ind. As Li Sui was leading him on a walk on the beach, he received a call from Uncle Yuen, calling him to go back, Theres a little trouble. What? Liu XinTian pleaded not guilty and imed that he had evidences for appeal. Li Sui and Lu Shang shared a look, then Li Sui replied, I see. Are you going back? Lu Shang asked. In truth, Li Sui was reluctant to part with him. If it wasnt for the fact that Lu Shang hadnt recoveredpletely yet, Li Sui would really consider taking him home and just hide him there. Im just going back to solve some small problems, Ille back soon. Li Sui leaned down and kissed him. Lu Shang said, Ill go with you. Its that okay though? Li Sui asked. Its cold back home. Can you stand it? Lu Shang held Li Suis hand and smiled softly, I have you, dont I? But We should face it together, said Lu Shang as their fingers inteced. Lu Shang was finally able to convince Li Sui and they flew back home together. Li Sui was still afraid that Lu Shang would freeze, so he wrapped Lu Shang in a thick jacket and covered his face with a big scarf. With the help ofwyer Xe, Lu Shang disguised himself as awyer and meet with Liu XinTian in the holding center with Li Sui. He wore a facemask, a thick scarf, and had chestnut-colored hair, so no one recognized him. The meeting was set inside an interrogation room, public security closed the door. They used their connections and got the surveince off to ensure that their conversation was private. In less than three months, Liu XinTian seemed to have gotten older, his hair was cut short, almost all of them turned white, and his figure was not as stern as before, his eyes were still as sharp as ever though. What do you want? Li Sui asked right away. Bail me out, Liu XinTian said. Otherwise, Ill spread what youve done and well go to jail together. Li Sui asked, And what did I do? Dont think that I know nothing. I have evidence. You murdered Lu Shang. You only wanted to inherit his shares. After hearing that, Li Sui looked back at the wyer behind him and thought for a moment, Dont tell me the so-called evidence of yours is from Secretary Yang? Liu XinTian stagnated, and Li Sui immediately knew what happened, he said, Did you think the illegal casino business you did was leaked by Fang Miao? Li Sui sighed, Uncle Liu, things didnt have to end like this. Yang Yin Liu XinTians teeth were grinding, even his lover betrayed him, one could say that he had lost everything now. Money and power, some people do find that very attractive, Li Sui just couldnt sympathize with him, he got up and turned around. The room had poor venttion, he was afraid that staying here too long would make Lu Shang ufortable, so he didnt want to stay any longer than he had to, We will arrange for someone to take care of your wife and children. Li Sui! Dont speak as if you are some saint. Dont tell me that you have never coveted Lu Shangs fortune! You really are wrong. The only thing I have ever coveted was Lu Shang. After saying that, Li Sui looked up and exchanged a look with the person standing next to him. Liu XinTians eyes fell onto the person beside Li Sui. Their gazes collided, Lu Shang only showed his eyes, but seeing them shocked Liu XinTian, he screamed as if he had just seen a ghost. He said incoherently, Lu Youre not dead? Lets go. Li Sui stood up and left with Lu Shang. Lu Shang! Nephew! Liu XinTian shouted behind them, Your father and I were sworn brothers. The scar on my face was from when I blocked a knife for your father! A cold gust of wind came towards them from the door, Lu Shang coughed softly. Li Sui nervously held his hand and asked, Are you okay? Someone continuously shouted behind them. Lu Shang shook his head to show he was fine and held Li Suis hand. They walked out together without looking back at all. A monthter, Liu XinTians verdict came down, he was handed the life imprisonment sentence, it was based on several charges, namely, smuggling illegal drugs, setting up overseas illegal casinos and homicide. He will be staying in prison for the rest of his life. Li Sui didnt pay much attention to the follow-up of the case, since Xe WeiLan was handling it. He only knew that when Liu XinTian was imprisoned, he kept saying that Lu Shang was not dead, but no one believed him. Most thought that he just couldnt handle the emotional impact and developed a mental problem. Ancient people used to say that good deeds had its reward, and evil deeds had its consequence. That was probably how things were, doing evil deeds will eventually lead to bad consequences. It was a fine autumn day. After finishing his work, Li Sui brought Lu Shang to the tropical inds for a trip, the vacation was nearly a yearte. Finally, the curtains to their long awaited trip lifted at night. Lu Lao Ban Lu Lao Ban, are you satisfied with this pace? Will you send me away again next time, hmn? Do you know how upset I was, when I came back only to the news that you are in critical condition? Lu Shangid on the huge bed, he was so thoroughly fucked that he couldnt even speak coherently, the pleasure he felt forced him to tears. This kid was getting more and more bold, as Lu Shang was enraptured by Li Suis movements, he had a passing thought, did Li Sui intentionally notin about it before? Li Sui didntin about it at the time, but now that Lu Shang was feeling better, Li Sui just wouldnt let this go. Moreover, his tone sounded like he wantedpensation. Previously, for Lu Shang, sexual love was more like a kind of spiritualfort. Thinking about doing intimate things with his lover, possessing each other and belonging to no one else, that always made him feel satisfied from the bottom of his heart. Ever since Lu Shang recovered, Li Sui waspletely let loose. That was also the first time Lu Shang knew what it was like to have physiological pleasure overshadowing his mindpletely. At the climax, Lu Shang could not think, he only felt his mind going nk. When his soul returned, Li Sui was panting and holding him, he leaned down a little to kiss the tears off of Lu Shangs eyes. I was so afraid that I feel like I was going to die, Li Sui buried his head in Lu Shangs neck and said. Lu Shang didnt know what to do, he said, Im sorry. If you didnt pull through, what should I do? But everything is fine now, isnt it? Li Sui slowly thrusted into him deeper, then he bit his ear, You are so disobedient, I really wish I could just lock you up and do this to you every day. Lu Shangughed as his chest trembled slightly from the thrusting. What are youughing at? Laughing at how tiny your dream is? Li Sui kissed his lips again and again, Thats the only thing I want though. When Li Suis hard member reached a certain spot, both of them moaned softly at the same time. Li Sui caught on the moment and began pulling out and thrusting back in vigorously, as Li Sui was gasping for air, he asked, Dont you want me to do that? Lu Shang looked up, beads of sweat slid down his neck as he replied, yes. In the past two days, they went nowhere, except for sleeping and eating, they did nothing but make love, in the bathroom, in the study, on the table, on the balcony and even on the floor. Poor Lu Shangs hole was almost never left alone, for thest few rounds, Li Sui didnt even need to finger Lu Shang, and just went straight in with some lubrication. It was as if Li Sui could not bear seeing Lu Shang dressed, he would strip him of his clothes almost as soon as he put them on, then just brought him to bed to cuddle, stimting him with words. Whats more, after having fun in the evening, Li Sui would sometimes just leave his member inside Lu Shang and slept, as if he was showing ownership or something. Lu Shang protested by moving around weakly, but his protesting waspletely ignored, instead Li Suis member just slid further into him. Lu Shang didnt do any exercises for years due to his health condition, his physical strength was nothingpared to Li Suis, so when it came to sex, he waspletely in Li Suis mercy. Only recently did Lu Shang realize how much restrain Li Sui had been showing before, it must had been hard for him. When the initial craze was gone and they finally took a break, Lu Shang found that he could not even stand up anymore, it was as if his bones got dislocated, he just copsed onto the bed andid there for two days, he was even more exhausted now than right after the operation. In the evening, Li Sui pushed open the bedroom door in high spirits. He saw that Lu Shang was awake already, so he extended his arm reaching for Lu Shangs hand. Lu Shang was frightened by his excessive amount of energy and passion, so he flinched back. Li Sui couldnt help butugh and pulled him up from the bed, We are not having sex, promise. Come with me, I have something to show you. Outside the house was a white beach, a little boat was tied to the shore. Li Sui took the lead and hopped on, then he stretched out his hand to Lu Shang. Moonlight sprinkled onto the sea gently, it was as if they were surrounded by a then, white veil. There was no wind tonight, so the sea was very calm, they could only hear the faint sound of waves from afar from time to time. As their boat got further away from the shore, the coastline faded out of their views. The sea and the sky looked as if they were one, in the quietness, it was almost like they were the only people in the world Pretty? Li Sui put down the paddles and asked Lu Shang under the moonlight. Lu Shang smiled lightly, The people here is prettier than the scenery. Is the scenery and people pretty enough for a proposal then? Li Sui asked again. Lu Shang was slightly shocked andughed, The scenery is pretty enough, the people is pretty enough, the only thing still missing is a ring. Wait for me a bit. Li Sui leaned forward and kissed him. He moved to the head of the boat, then took off his shirt to reveal his muscles, he jumped into the sea leaving a pop sound. Lu Shang was a little confused, he got up and moved to the position where Li Sui had jumped off. The only thing he saw was water bubbles and the slight movements of the sea, he couldnt see the things beneath. The sea was very quiet, almost like a sparkling mirror. In the distance, there were some unknown sea birds chirping. Lu Shang waited for a while but didnt see Li Suiing back up, so he began to worry, Li Sui? The water was still calm, there werent even bubbles on the surface anymore, Lu Shang increased the volume of his voice and called again, Li Sui! A sudden burst of water along with a head sshed out of the calm sea, the water sshed onto Lu Shang. Li Sui wiped his face, then leaned onto the boat and smiled at Lu Shang. That was when Lu Shang noticed the white, heart-shaped shell Li Sui was holding with his mouth. Egg cockle shell. Li Sui nodded, he stretched his neck out, hinting for Lu Shang to take it. Lu Shang took the shell with a light smile and raised his voice, Did you pick it yourself? Is there a pearl in it? Open it. Lu Shang was intrigued, he opened the shell and his smile faded, his smile turned into shock. There was a pair of rings inside. The design was simple but delicate, with the help of the moonlight, Lu Shang could see two letters inscribed on the inside of the rings C Lu Shang. The shell was well sealed, there werent any sign of waster sipping in, it was obvious that the rings were prepared in advance. Would you marry me1. Li Sui looked up and smiled at him. Lu Shang looked into Li Suis pure and bright eyes, Lu Shang couldnt control his face and he felt his heart trembling, even the words he spoke were incoherent, Youyoue up first. I wonte up until you reply, Li Sui swam a few meters backward so Lu Shang couldnt catch him. Lu Shang, I dont want to wait for another year. I want to marry you now, Li Sui said earnestly at a position not too far away but not too close either, I want to have mutual property with you, I want to shoulder responsibilities with you, we advance and retreat together, and we can stay together till even out hairs turn white. Lu Shang looked at him for a long time, his eyes gradually moistened. Suddenly, he stood up and jumped into the water. Lu Shang wasnt very adept at swimming. Li Sui hurried over and held him, heughed, Im the one proposing to you. Why did you jump in too? Lu Shang caught Lu Shangs hand in the water and put a metal object on his finger, To help you wear your ring. Li Sui asked, So, is that a yes? Lu Shangughed, What do you think? No regrets? Li Sui was super happy. No regrets. Lu Shang smiled and kissed him, they embraced each other in the water under the moonlight. He used to have nothing but barren rocks in his heart. Later, someone came in and carved out a heart for him. Chapter 58 - Cornflower Chapter 58: Cornflower Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations (Unedited) Neither of them was interested in holding a wedding, so after getting the marriage documents, they flew back to China and began Lu Shangs recovery training. Lu Shangs rehabilitation periodsted for one and a half years. Apart from indoor training which were guided by a coach. Li Sui apanied him as Lu Shang trained by climbing the hill every day. There was a country park around five kilometers away from the Lu house. There was a healthy hiking trail in the country park and it was a good ce to train. At first, Lu Shang could only climb half a kilometer of the trail, it was obvious that at the end of the trail, he found it difficult to even raise his feet. Whenever Lu Shang reached the steeper part of the trail, Li Sui would keep close behind him. Li Sui was afraid that Lu Shang might identally fall. Fortunately, Lu Shang had strong willpower, he seemed to be fine except for some panting after a long hike. How do you feel? If you feel any difort, dont hide it. Lu Shang stared at his own palm and gasped, Im just a little hot and somewhat itchy Li Suiughed and said, Itchy? Maybe because your body hasnt exercised for a long time. Just take it slowly. Is this what strength feels like? Li Sui clenched his hand into a fist, he seemed to be surprised. Yes Li Sui looked at Lu Shangs face, he felt happy but at the same time a bit sad. Lu Shang had been suffering from illness for so many years. For him, feeling ufortable was the norm. Now, his body was slowly recovering, he could feel the strength in his hands and feet again, and he was suddenly full of energy almost every day. It was natural for him to find that incredible. Li Sui stared at the ring on Lu Shangs ring finger, he reached for it and said, Come with me for a walk in the woods. It was dusk, so many elders were ying chess in the park, the two of them strolled through the hiking trail while holding hands, that attracted a lot of peoples attention. A little girl carrying a basket past by them, Lu Shang saw a bouquet of cornflower in the basket and stopped, What day is today? The 7th of June. After Li Sui replied Lu Shang, he himself immediately remembered as well, We should go pay our respects to the ancestors? Lu Shang smiled lightly, Hmn. This year, I need to take you to meet my parents. Since Lu Shang said meet his parents, Li Sui naturally dared not bete. He got up very early and changed into a formal suit, they drove to the flower market together. The flowers were carefully selected by Lu Shang himself every year, this year was no different, Lu Shang bought a bouquet of blue cornflowers that were all blooming beautifully. Why Cornflowers? Li Sui helped Lu Shang get the bouquet into the car. Do you want to know? Its a little long. T/N, Yes, this chapter is so long ToT Li Sui nodded. As you have heard, my father was a soldier and went on missions while hiding his heart condition. Lu Shang said slowly, In one of those missions, besides him and several other military personnel, there was also a German army doctor from Red Cross. A German army doctor? Hmn. My fathers physical fitness was quite good, he was much better than me. Most of the time, he was no different from a healthy person, and he hid his condition very well. But during one of the missions, the army doctor found out about his condition. Instead of reporting it, the doctor gave him a lot of support and treatment. The original n of that mission was to go across a mountain, then ambush the enemy at night. Unfortunately, there were heavy rains, so the only bridge leading to the other side copsed. They changed their route, but that new route involved going through a minefield. Originally, the n was feasible, since they had a map listing out where thendmines were, but unexpected there was a mole and the map got swapped out. Thats dangerous. Li Sui asked. Yes, since the map was swapped out, it means that the marked points were inurate, it would be very dangerous for them to cross. They were all soldiers andmands were everything. They didnt want to miss this opportunity to attack the enemy, so they decided to send a person to demine the ce1. Li Sui said, They wanted to send your father? Lu Shang nodded, My father was often alone since he wanted to hide his condition, so he was suspected of being the mole. After their superiors gave the order, he decided to obey and took on the task. He also knew that there was a very slim chance of survival, so before leaving, he went to bid farewell to the doctor, he also gave the doctor a Cornflower as a token of thanks, which was Germanys national flower. Lu Shang paused for a while before continuing, But unexpectedly, before leaving, the doctor injected him with some anesthesia. He changed into my fathers military uniform, and went for him. Li Sui was slightly shocked. When my father woke up and hurried to find the doctor, it was toote. His lower half was blown to bits, leaving only a charred body behind. It was said that inside the doctors burnt palm, the small Cornflower was still in good condition. After the mission was sessfullypleted, the mole was found. They came back and was met with high praises. My father was awarded the position of senior officer by his superiors for his outstanding contribution, but he refused. He left the army and started apany with some of hisrades2. After hearing the full story, Li Sui didnt know what he was feeling in his heart, That army doctor Lu Shang smiled lightly, You want to ask, did they have a thing? Li Sui turned his head away a little as Lu Shang looked out of the window, Hes probably the only one who knows the answer to that question Weve arrived. Lu Shang walked up the stairs and turned back to see Li Sui wearing a sad face. It seemed that Li Sui had not yet recovered from the sadness of the story, Lu Shang asked, Whats wrong? Li Sui held Lu Shangs hand tightly and said with a smile, Fortunately, we were born in a time of peace. I dont think we shouldpare ourselves with them. Im different from him. Hes healthier than me. Lu Shang looked at Li Sui andughed, But Im luckier than him. Li Sui smiled back. The two of them climbed up the stairs hand in hand. When they reached the top, they ran into Meng XinYou. Its you? Her gaze went past Li Sui and fixed on Lu Shang. She was a little confused. After a while, the shine in her eyes turned dim. She turned back to Li Sui and said, Have you alsoe to visit old Lus grave? Li Sui nodded. Meng XinYou did not shy away and said directly, He looks just like Lu Shang. Youve been looking for someone like this for a long time, havent you? Both Lu Shang and Li Sui were stunned. Li Sui understood, Meng XinYou did not recognize Lu Shang at all. That wasnt too surprising, given that Lu Shang had been doing a lot of rehabilitation exercises for months. Compared with the past him, he was looking much healthier. Plus, he was wearing his leisure clothes, so it was a little hard to tell that they were the same person. Li Sui did not argued and nodded a bit. Meng XinYou sighed, You really did love him a lot. He has been gone for so long, but you still cant forget him. How have you beentely? I havent thanked you for what happened in the shareholders meeting before, Li Sui said. Meng XinYou looked blissful as she said, Thats nothing. And Im a mother now. Really? Congrattions, Li Sui felt happy for her from the bottom of his heart. The two of them had brief exchanges, while Lu Shang went to the grave first on his own. Maybe it was just Li Suis imagination, but he found the smile of the man in the picture much kinder than before. You dont have to worry about my heart condition anymore, Lu Shang ced the flowers on the tombstone and sat down on the ground. Im married. Ive brought him here to meet you. Whether you like it or not, Im with him for life. Dad, you used to say that people like us should keep to ourselves and not drag others down with us. I didnt do as you said, but Im still doing pretty good now, arent I? There were footsteps behind Lu Shang. Li Sui knelt down beside Lu Shang and held his hand, their rings touched, Li Sui turned to the man in the photo and said, I will take good care of Lu Shang. You can rest assured, as long as I breathe, he will never starve. If I wronged him in anyway, you cane to haunt me anytime. It was a pious and solemn speech, at least Li Sui thought it was, but Lu Shangughed all of a sudden instead. What are youughing at? Lu Shang didnt ceaseughing, he said to the tombstone, Did you hear that just now? You can haunt him anytime. Up on the mountain, a timely light breeze blew past them. Lu Shang stood up and patted the dust off his clothes, Lets go. So soon? Li Sui quickly followed behind him, Say, when will you go to my hometown to see my mother? The shadows of the two men faded away from the graveyard. In front of the tombstone, the blue cornflowers swayed gently in the wind, as if someone was smiling and nodding at them3. Half a yearter, at the front gate of the prison. A skinny old man walked out with a bag. Li Sui looked at him twice, he exchanged a look with Lu Shang, who was in the car. After getting an affirmative response, Li Sui took a deep breath and walked forward to carry the mans bag for him. You are The old mans turbid eyes stared at Li Sui, and after a moment, the mans expression changed, You are Li Sui did not answer his question, he only said, Get in the car, we should get something to eat first, then you should get a hot bath. Son? The old man looked at Li Sui with tears in his eyes, his hands were trembling violently. Li Sui didnt hurry him, he just stood beside the car door and let the man look at him all he wanted. Li Sui was tall and handsome, and he had a strong temperament. Whenpared to the old man in front of Li Sui, no one could see a trace of their father and son rtionship. Nearly twenty years had passed, while Li Sui didnt have any deep memories about this man, he didnt enjoy seeing the destion in his eyes. When the car started moving, the old man finally calmed down and asked, Were you the one who helped reduce my sentence? Li Sui nced at Lu Shang, Its not me, its my spouse. The old man was shocked, Your spouse? Why didnt shee with you? Before Li Sui answered, the old man responded and said, Oh Its better that she doesnt. Lu Shang who was driving turned his head back and asked Li Sui, Should we go to the school first or eat first? Go to the school first, we should deal with the paper works first. The old man didnt understand, Where are we going? I have arranged a job for you, you will be topping up the students electricity usage cards. You only need to work three days per week, they will provide you with food and a ce to live in. You will have winter and summer holidays as well, the welfare provided are the same as teachers. As the old man listened, a little bit of loneliness showed in his eyes. When he started thinking a little bit more though, he also found this treatment natural. Li Sui had already overdone it by helping him get out of prison, he even prepared a life for him. With how the man treated him and his mother before, it was a real wonder that Li Sui was willing to help him. Naturally, Li Sui had no obligations to apany him, plus he had his own family now. The ce they were dining at was near the school. Li Sui ordered a few dishes and an extra bowl of winter melon and shrimp porridge, he also ordered some omelet egg rolls. Dont add any seasoning in the porridge. Spread the omelet thinly, After ordering, Li Sui handed the menu back to the waiter. The old man looked at Li Suis polite temperament and he was full of doubts. Lu Shang parked his car and walked into the restaurant. He sat down beside Li Sui and said with a smile, Nice to meet you, I am Lu Shang. Nice to meet you too The old man squinted at the two men across the table and he sensed that something was odd. After the food was served, the man finally realized what exactly was odd. His son was too concerned about this man called, Lu Shang. The shrimps intestines were not cleaned out, so Li Sui just naturally took the porridge. Then he picked out all the shrimp one by one, cleaned them and gave them back to Lu Shang. He was so meticulous that it was obvious that they werent just ordinary friends. The man then looked at Lu Shang, he was eating with a somewhat familiar, polite temperament. He also epted Li Suis care very naturally, as if they did this every day. During their meal, Li Suis mobile phone rang once. Li Sui took the mobile phone out of his own pocket then naturally handed it to Lu Shang. The old man caught a glimpse of the pair of matching rings they were wearing, and he was shocked. After seeing that, he had a lot of mixed feelings and he didnt even remember the taste of the food anymore. After lunch, the two men brought him to the schools dormitory. Li Sui helped him clean the room while Lu Shang went to get some daily necessities for the man. When everything was done, it was alreadyte in the evening. Im not going to have dinner with you then. This is from Lu Shang. You can take it, Li Sui handed him a card. I wille and visit someday. Son, The old man stopped him. Turning back, the old mans eyes were full ofplex emotions, You Is he your spouse? Yes, we are married. The old man seemed to have something to say, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he knew he was not qualified to question him. What kind of life Li Sui had in the past years? What kind of experiences did he encounter? What did he liked? As a father, he did not know the answers to even a single of those questions. Father, be a good person in the future, Li Sui moved his eyes away, his gaze lowered to the ground, When you have time, go to Moms grave and burn some incense. The old man looked at him and nodded slowly, Okay Then Im going, Li Sui finally looked at him and turned to shut the car door. On the way back, Lu Shang was still the one driving. Li Sui sat beside him, and he was a little lost. He didnt know what to think. As they were waiting for the green light, Lu Shang reached out his hand to squeeze Li Suis palm, and heughed softly, Are you sad? Li Sui came back from his thoughts, he held Lu Shangs hand back and brought it to his lips, then he said with the back of Lu Shangs hand at his mouth, Lu Shang, you are the best. Dont overthink things too much. The past is the past, Lu Shangforted him. Your family is my family. No matter what your attitude towards them is, I am always on your side. As Li Sui listened, he reached out his arm and grabbed the steering wheel, he drove the car to a quiet street, then pulled the handbrake. He just suddenly pounced on Lu Shang and said, Lets have sex. It was so sudden that Lu Shangs forehead hit Li Suis chin. Sorry, did that hurt? Li Sui hurriedly look at Lu Shangs forehead, but before Li Suis hand reached it, Lu Shang took the lead and rubbed Li Suis chin. He said, whileughing at him of course, You are all grown up already, but you still have zero tact. You just pounce on people like a little puppy. Li Sui took Lu Shangs hand away from his chin and looked at Lu Shangs forehead carefully for a bit. Fortunately, the hit was nothing serious. He did not see any unusual scratches or swelling. After confirming that, he went in and kissed Lu Shang, I only pounce when I see you. You are my spouse, after all. After that, Li Sui hintingly pointed at himself and asked, Besides, which part of me is small? Lu Lao Ban looked at him and silently swallowed saliva. Li Sui quickly adjusted the back of the seat, then moved over to Lu Shangs seat, and he held Lu Shang up face to face on hisp. Then, he encircled Lu Shang in his arms with both arms tightly until he felt content, I wanted to hug you even when we were eating with my father. Im afraid the shock would have been too much, Lu Shangughed lightly. Li Sui withdrew a little and said earnestly, Lu Shang, thank you for all the things that you have done for my father. At first, when he learned that Lu Shang used his connections to reduce his fathers sentence, Li Sui was very shocked. He did count his fathers original sentence and wondered if someone had intervened. He didnt know that it was really Lu Shang who intervened, plus he did it so early on that they werent even together when Lu Shang did that. Lu Shang did not speak, he only rubbed his forehead on Li Suis. Say, did you already like me back then? Li Sui asked in a soft voice. Lu Shang narrowed his eyes and resolutely diverted from the topic, What about you? From what point onwards did you have such impure thoughts towards your benefactor? Li Sui tightened his arms, When I was working in the bar, there was a man who believed in God. Every day hed mumble something like Dear lord, dear lord. When I saw you for the first time, I thought you were the lord he was talking about. At that time, your every move radiated with holy light in my eyes. As Lu Shang listened to his words, his mood soured a little, I should have gone looking for you earlier. Li Sui shook his head, Im good now. There are so many lovers who are separated from each other in this world. Im so happy that I can hold you in your sleep every night. You dont know. Sometimes Iugh in my dreams, because dreaming is a waste of my time when you are my one and only dream. But when ites to cherishing what I have, I dont really know how to either. All I know is that I must hold on to you all the time, just like now. Lu Shangs operation two years ago traumatized Li Sui so much that he dared not cken even now. Every time Lu Shang thought about that, hed feel extremely guilty. Lu Shang was the one who made the decision, but it was Li Sui who had to bear the consequences. He could not imagine what Li Sui must have felt when he sent him away on the ne; he was under so much pressure while Lu Shang was unconscious. Fortunately, the result was good. If Li Sui was left behind, Lu Shang would most likely hate himself even as a ghost. When Lu Shang met Li Suis affectionate eyes though, he felt nothing but softness in his heart, he took the initiative to kiss Li Sui on the lips. Lu Shang tried soothing him by saying, Its all right now. Whether you hold me tightly or not, Im still yours, the only task left for us is to grow old together. Lu Shang had always been a passive person. That active kiss of his was like a signal that spread at lighting speed, Lu Shang could almost immediately see Li Suis big, invisible tail wagging. Li Sui bit Lu Shang around the neck delightedly, and his teeth pinched on the most sensitive part of Lu Shangs skin gently. As Lu Shang got bitten by him, he subconsciously shrank his neck back a bit, and heughed as he backed away, And you say youre not a puppy. Youre so bitey. When Li Sui heard the tease, he left a hickey on Lu Shang, then he said while intentionally blowing hot air into Lu Shangs ear, I am a puppy, a huge German Shepherd that only eats you. Woof! You dont look like a German Shepherd, more like What? Lu Shangughed and said, A poodle. Well, if so, Im a poodle that only goes to rut when with you. After that, Li Sui held Lu Shangs head still and joined their lips in kisses after kisses. There was limited space in the front seat; they were holding each other tightly, and their breaths were blending together, as their skin continued to rub against each other. The atmosphere quickly turned lustful. Lu Shang was affected by his affectionate kisses, the desires in him rose, and he reached out to pull on Li Suis shirt cor. Li Sui was shocked, he moved back a little to look at Lu Shang. Lu Shangs eyes were filled with thirst as his slender fingers unbuttoned Li Suis shirt, Let me try. Li Sui was both stunned and excited. He went along with it and let Lu Shang take his clothes off, showing his good-looking chest. After years of careful maintenance, the scars on his body were less evident, leaving only clear creases formed by muscles. Lu Shang put his palm on Li Suis abdomen with envious eyes. Li Sui knew that Lu Shang liked it, so he deliberately flexed his muscles a few times, You like it? Lu Shang nodded without hiding it. He had to admit the body of a young, strong man was very attractive. Especially someone like Li Sui who was always full of energy. In this aspect, Lu Shang was rather superficial. After all, with Lu Shangs physical condition, even though the surgery seeded, muscles were something hed never gain. My everything is yours,4 Li Sui held Lu Shangs hand and said. Lu Shang leaned down with a smile and kissed him. At the same time, he took off his own clothes and untied his belt. After taking off all his clothes, he adjusted his position on Li Suisp carefully. You! Li Sui waspletely stupefied by his actions. The first thing he did was to look for something to cover Lu Shang up, fearing someone else might see him. From time to time, cars drove past them. The distant, setting sun shone golden light through the ss windows, sprinkling gently onto Lu Shang, making him glow. Doing something so exciting in broad daylight Li Suis intellect was intoxicated with excitement, he was getting dizzy and his breaths quickened. It took a long time for him to remember that the car window was tinted. People couldnt see the inside clearly through the ss, as long as they didnte too close. Are you cold? Li Sui hugged Lu Shangs waist and carefully adjusted the direction of the air conditioning in the car away from Lu Shang. Lu Shang shook his head; he almost never took the initiative in sexual stuff. His face was flushed now, so clearly, he was a little embarrassed. Li Sui looked at him and swallowed a gulp of saliva. Lu Shang pretending to be calm but failing was just too cute; Li Sui knew that his brain was going to overload from the cuteness. Lubricants and condoms were always stocked in the carthey were put in thepartment under the seat, though they were rarely used. In fact, just in case, those things were always around whenever the two of them were alone together. Lu Shang got the lube out and squeezed some on his own fingers. He then knelt down on Li Suisp and began expanding himself. This was always done by Li Sui, so Lu Shang wasnt really used to it and frowned slightly. He was taking this so seriously as though he were taking some sort of an important lesson. As his lover, Li Sui naturally would not pass up on Lu Shang showing his affection to him so actively. In truth, Li Sui was hard since much earlier; just seeing the usually chaste Lu Lao Ban stripping in front of him was impactful enough that his member was stiff. Although Lu Shang liked to joke and tease, he was in fact very sensitive. Especially in this respect, Li Sui always put him first, so he usually wouldnt make Lu Shang take the initiative, and hed always top. Now, Lu Shang was willing to break out of hisfort zone for Li Sui. While Li Sui was touched, he also had a tiny devilish thought. He sincerely hoped that this would leave a good impression on Lu Shang, and it would be even better if he liked doing it this way, as that meant he could unlock more ways of having fun in the future. The temperature in the car steadily increased, as their breaths mingled with each other. When Lu Shang inserted his third finger in himself, he was already sweating a little on his forehead, and his movements became difficult. Li Sui knew that he was too nervous to rx, so having to force his fingers in was painful. If it hurts, then dont, its fine, Li Sui kissed him and triedforting him with words. Lu Shang panted, and there was moisture in his eyes. He shook his head stubbornly after hearing what Li Sui said. That made Li Suis heart clench in a way that he had never encountered before. It took a lot of Li Suis restraint to not interrupt him; he only stroked his lovers waist and teasingly rubbed the sensitive spots on his chest, which caused Lu Shang to tremble. Under Li Suis purposeful guidance, Lu Shang gradually rxed; the two of them looked at each other, and they exchanged a deep kiss. Lu Shang unbuckled Li Suis belt as their tongues intertwined, letting Li Suis bulging member out. In the distance, the light from the setting sun gradually weakened; the weak light went into the car. Lu Shang looked down and subconsciously retreated. He didnt know whether it was because there were light, or because Li Sui was especially excited today. The size of it was slightly mind-blowing, and Lu Shangs face twitched a little. He didnt realize that he had been taking in something this big before. Are you scared? Li Suiughed. Lu Shang swallowed andughed, only theugh seemed a little forced, Of course not, its not the first time. After that, he tore a condom open and put it on him. He squeezed some more lubricant out and smeared it at his entrance. Then he positioned himself and ground his butt at the tip of Li Suis erection. He moved downwards slowly. Li Sui hurriedly held his waist, fearing that Lu Shang would hurt himself from being too forceful. It was quiet inside the car, and the lewd watery sounds from their movements were loud and clear. Lu Shang frowned; he closed his eyes, and his breathing grew ragged. Fortunately, they had sex quite frequently, so although there wasnt sufficient expansion, the entry was still quite smooth. Seeing his beloved endure difort just to please him turned Li Suis heart into mush. Do you feel okay? Li Sui asked while affectionately kissing the sweat off Lu Shangs head and patting his back. Lu Shang did not reply, he only hung onto Li Suis shoulders and gasped. Li Sui looked down and took a nce at Lu Shangs soft member. He was definitely in pain. Li Sui didnt dare move, he suppressed the impulse to just ruthlessly prate this man until he passed out.Instead, he waited for Lu Shang to adapt and helped him sit all the way down until his whole erection was swallowed. They seldom had sex in this position. Thus, the both of them were new to this. The sensation of Li Suis hard member rubbing against Lu Shang was extra clear with this posture. Even just a small movement sent shivers through their entire body. Li Sui knew Lu Shangs body very well, so he knew that with this position, he could easily reach Lu Shangs most sensitive spots. Sure enough, Li Sui only moved a little, and Lu Shangs toes curled up immediately. Li Sui mischievously poked at that spot a few times; Lu Shang couldnt hold it in and a few muffled moans spilled out. Lu Shangs member also began to harden, leaking a few drops of transparent liquid. Is thisfortable? Li Sui asked in his ears with a smile. Lu Shang was overwhelmed and in his confused state, he only gave a vague hmn sound as reply. Move on your own, if you want more, Li Sui said. Lu Shang was panting badly. He raised his head from Li Suis shoulder and looked at him. Lu Shangs eyes looked innocent and a little helpless. Yet, Li Sui was especially fond of seeing Lu Shang conflicted between reason and desire, so he deliberately stopped moving, and instead he waited for Lu Shang to grab his arms in a frenzy and move slowly on his own. Lu Shang moved his body up and let most of Li Suis member out carefully, then quickly thrusted it back in on his own. Lu Shangs neck was red as he repeated while muffling his moans. Li Sui almost went crazy seeing Lu Shang fucking himself in front of his eyes. He never thought the stimtion from this would be so great. Lu Shang, dont hold your voice back. I want to hear it, Li Sui licked his neck and encouraged him. Lu Shang was older than Li Sui, and his personality was quite timid. Unless he just couldnt hold back anymore, he would always try his best to not make any sounds when they make love, lest he be embarrassed afterwards. It was quite rare for Lu Shang to be so enthusiastic in sex. Li Sui would never let the chance go. He protected Lu Shangs head with one hand, so that it wouldnt hit the front car window, and teased his private spot with the other hand. The cars suspension system was well made, every thrust was apanied by the cars rebounding. Lu Shang didnt know how to control his strength; with the added motion from the car, Li Suis member repeatedly scraped against his insides, making his mouth open to let out a slightly hoarse moan. At the same time, Lu Shang felt the hard object inside him growing in size. Li Sui seemed to have run out of restraint, and contrary to his earlier words, he began actively thrusting in and out of Lu Shang with force. The thrusts suddenly became more frequent, and after some weak struggling, Lu Shang gave uppletely. He threw his head back and let drops of sweat slide down his neck as Li Sui turned his breathing into aplete mess. Does Lu Lao Ban like me fucking you? Li Sui embraced Lu Shang and repeatedly caressed his naked back. It felt so nice that he was reluctant to stop. Lu Shang was raised in a rich family, so his skin was so good that it didnt feel like it belonged to someone of his age. It was tender and delicate to the touch, and Li Sui liked it a lot. Seeing that Lu Shang did not reply, Li Sui added, I wont continue if you dont answer me. Every thrust urately assaulted Lu Shangs most vulnerable spot, he was swept away by waves and waves of pleasure. Lu Shang felt a burst of dizziness in his brain; he hadpletely sumbed to his desires long ago. His brain wasnt functioning, and he had no idea what Li Sui was saying, so he just mechanically replied, Like What do you like? Like you fucking me. Who am I? Li Sui. And who is Li Sui? I my lover Hmn! Li Sui was still not satisfied; he lifted Lu Shangs legs up, and pressed him against the steering wheel, exposing his butthole to the greatest extent. He began ramming in and out of him mercilessly, pulling his member out entirely and going in again, not stopping until the rim of Lu Shangs hole was a little flushed. Seeing the usually chaste and elegant Lu Shang stretch his legs open and actively cooperating with him fueled Li Suis lust at an unprecedented rate. Lu Shang had his legs on Li Suis shoulders, his toes were all curling up and his eyes were murky, there was no sign of his usual elegance left anywhere. Ah Hmm Lu Shang was obviously feeling extremely good. He waspletely out of it and gave up on muffling his voice. He gasped and groaned along with Li Suis assaults. The car was filled with lewd moans and wet sounds. During the whole time, Li Sui stared closely at Lu Shangs face; he didnt want to miss seeing even a second of his lovers expressions, especially when he was being fucked by none other than him, feeling so good that he couldnt even finish aplete sentence. They didnt know when the sun had set outside. Lu Shangs throat was getting numb from moaning, but Li Sui still had no intention of stopping at all. Lu Shangs member was so hard that he couldnt take it anymore, he reached his hand out, trying to touch the tip of his own erection. Li Sui noticed this quickly, and he forcefully imprisoned both of Lu Shangs hands behind his back. In less than two minutes, Lu Shang gave up, and he begged, Let me cum Nope. Li Sui didnt even raise his head, and he kept going. Li Sui, be a good boy. Please Instead of being moved by Lu Shangs begging, Li Sui intentionally rammed into him again, making even the corners of Lu Shangs eyes red. Dont bully me Lu Shang choked a little as he protested. Usually, if Lu Shang begged him like this, Li Sui would definitely, immediately do what he asked. However, partnered with Lu Shangs lewd expression, the effect of his begging waspletely nullified. Li Sui also had ayer of sweat covering his forehead. He took a bite on Lu Shangs neck and pretended to be mean, Im going to bully you. Today, you can only cum from my thrusting alone. Lu Shang felt his brain go numb. Pleasure was umting in his brain, but he could not find a vent for it. He gasped for air as tears began to overflow his eye sockets, dripping down from the corners of his eyes. Looking at Lu Shangs expression of being driven mad by desire, Li Sui felt as if he was going mad as well. A voice inside him was shouting maniacally, urging Li Sui to run rampant and make him cry some more. Li Sui took a deep breath, then dragged the already exhausted along Lu Shang to the back seat. There, Li Sui lifted Lu Shangs legs up and started a new round of assault in the slightly more spacious environment. Continuous wet sounds echoed through that narrow space, and the car was full of their hormones. Under Li Suis elerating pace, Lu Shang arched his neck and opened his mouth; he didnt make any sounds, only his tears overflowed. Li Sui was extremely sensitive to his lovers state. He knew that Lu Shang was feeling extremelyfortable and that encouraged him to move harder. Li Sui kept plunging at full force, until he felt wetness at his own stomach, and there was the smell of semen in the car. Lu Shang really did cum from Li Suis thrusting alone. The white, milky liquid stained both of their bodies. After releasing, there were some intense contractions at Lu Shangs rear. Li Sui had to stop the thrusting, he leaned down to kiss him, and turned to gentle grinding instead. The contractionssted for a while, and when Lu Shang recovered from his dizziness, his eyes were already filled with tears. When Lu Shang finally looked up at Li Sui, both of them had the same thought, they couldnt live without each other anymore. That was how their love was. Seeing himself inside Lu Shangs murky eyes, Li Sui felt as though Lu Shang could only have him in his mind. Did that feel good? Li Sui teased. Not only did it feel good, it was amazing. Lu Shang thought that maybe they could do this more often. Seeing that his lover was satisfied, Li Sui felt extremely aplished. He held Lu Shang in his arms and quickly thrusted into him for a few more times, then released inside of him. When the two of them were all sweaty and resting in each others embrace, the sky had already turned dark. Li Sui didnt want to move, he wanted to just sleep here till the next day with him, he kissed Lu Shang again and again as he said, I like you so much Lu Shang was too tired to open his eyes, but hearing the words, he turned his head around to Li Sui. The two men looked each other in the eyes and smiled. Lu Shang quickly moved his eyes away, though. I will settle it with you when we get back, Lu Shang smiled as he pulled Li Suis face. But you liked it, didnt you? Li Sui took Lu Shangs hand away and looked at him with puppy dog eyes. That move affected his lower body and Li Suis soft member slipped out from Lu Shang. Li Sui hesitated for a moment and mumbled something. Lu Shang did not hear him clearly and asked, What is it? Li Sui raised his head andughed a little, The condom broke. There wasnt any immediate change to Lu Shangs expression, he slightly moved his limbs. Really, he felt an odd warm liquid leaking out of his behind down to his legs. With a realization, his face turned red; he was embarrassed, but he did not have much energy left to deal with Li Sui. He was so tired, and with the air conditioning on, he just felt extremely sleepy. Li Sui, however, was full of spirit. He got some paper towels and tidied up the two of them as Lu Shang fell asleep. They were going to have to clean up properly when they got back home. Li Sui didnt dare neglect tidying Lu Shang up properly, fearing that Lu Shang might get a stomachache from it. However, looking at Lu Shang sleeping peacefully on his side, naked, showing his tender skin and pretty bodyline, Li Sui just found it too irresistible. He could not help but hold him in his arms for a few minutes first before driving them home. Coincidentally, a police officer came by and saw their car. He thought someone must have parked their car here illegally, so he took some pictures of the license te and issued a ticket. When he stuck the ticket on the car window, he noticed that the lights were still on, which made him wonder if someone was in the car. The ss was tinted, so he couldnt see clearly from outside, but when he stuck his head to the window, he could still see a little of the cars insides. Li Sui already noticed the policeman walking towards them a lot earlier, so he got a coat to cover both Lu Shang and him. He pressed Lu Shangs head onto his own neck to hide his face. The policeman circled the car two times before finally looking inside, only to be met with a very unfriendly re. The policeman was red at sharply by Li Sui, and he was shocked. Instantly, he backed away and retreated; then, he quickly got on his motorcycle and drove away. As there was noise, Lu Shang woke up, his voice was still a bit hoarse, Whats wrong? Li Sui rolled down the window a little, he reached his hand out and took the ticket off the ss. Li Sui the ticket in front of Lu Shang. Lu Shang took it and after a nce, he stuck it on Li Suis forehead and said, Here, your overnight fee. That was only worth two hundred yuan? Li Sui asked. Lu Shang rolled over and went back to sleep. Li Suiughed and asked, Lao Ban, Im not satisfied with my stay. Im still hungry, so can I buy another round? When Lu Shang heard that, his eyes snapped wide open, he stared at Li Sui. He was trying to confirm whether Li Sui was joking. Li Sui looked like this was natural and said, Look, you are still awake. Chapter 59 - The King of Poisonous Dishes19 min read Chapter 59: The King of Poisonous Dishes Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations In the middle of the night, there was strong wind, thunder and lightning outside the house. Lu Shang usually slept shallowly, and he was woken up by the thunder. He had been very idle recently, he wasnt tired at all during the day, so if he woke up at night, it would be impossible for him to fall asleep again. So, he habitually stared out the window. Perhaps due to the El Ni?o effect, the weather in recent years had been quite extreme. It was either so hot that it was aplete pain to be outside or it was raining cats and dogs with serious flooding. Seeing the huge rain tonight, Lu Shang wondered how many people was going to suffer again from the flooding. As Lu Shang was thinking, warmth along with a hairy head suddenly crept up near the nape of Lu Shangs neck. Once again, several thunders echoed the sky. They were terribly loud, as if the sounds were right in their ears, even the vehicles rm system were triggered by the loud thunders. In the darkness, Li Sui circled his arms around Lu Shangs waist and whispered, Are you scared? Lu Shang leaned back to him, he paused for a moment, then his mouth made a light smile, A little. Dont be, I will be holding onto you. Li Sui hurried over and closed the distance, he held Lu Shang tightly, they were sticking close together. The thunder continued, and they seemed to be getting stronger. In the darkness, Lu Shangughed without making any sound. He rxed his body and let Li Sui hold him tightly, he did not point out the abnormally racing heartbeatsing from behind him. It rained all night and only stopped when daybreak came. When they opened the door in the morning, it gave them a slight jump scare. Lower-lying streets were filled with sewage water, there were floating branches and garbage everywhere. The water was at the level of an adults lower leg. Its not safe outside, stay at home today, Lu Shang said, stopping Li Sui who was about to go out for work, his tone soundedmanding. Originally, Li Sui nned a few meetings with cooperation partners in the morning. Judging from the current flood, the traffic today must be bad. He called and as expected, among the four cooperation partners, three were stuck in traffic, so they decided to cancel the meeting for now. He also called Aunt Lu to let her know that she didnt have toe in for work today. Li Sui rolled up his own sleeves and prepared breakfast for Lu Shang. Did you take your medicine yet? Li Sui asked. Lu Shang was watching the news and said without paying much attention to Li Sui, I will eatter. Li Sui ced the fried eggs on a te and saw that Lu Shang wasnt budging. He went upstairs and got the medicine, then he poured out a ss of water for Lu Shang. Li Sui handed the ss to Lu Shang and asked, What are you watching? Whats making you so infatuated? The TV was ying the local morning news. Last night, some nearby viges were seriously flooded, several schools were flooded as well. The relevant departments were organizing the rescue work, but it was not optimistic. Lu Shang frowned and swallowed the medicine, then he shook his head. During the meal, the two of them chatted for a while. Then, Li Sui noticed that Lu Shang was a little absent-minded today. He reached out his hand and touched Lu Shangs forehead, Are you feeling unwell? No. Lu Shang took his hand away and saw that Li Sui was still staring at him. Lu Shang exined after some thought, Im just thinking about an old matter. When the loaning industry was rising a few years ago, a small loanpany came to me in hope of cooperation with Tong Yan. They wanted to offer some poverty alleviation loans to the vigers. I dont see potential in the industry at the time, plus the profits were not high, so I put the matter aside. Looking back now, I should have paid more attention to it. Li Sui smiled with understanding, That wasnt something you could decide on your own anyways. Besides, isnt someone doing it now? Its too poorly done. Lu Shang shook his head. Li Sui stared at him then began going into his own thoughts as well. After several rounds of rain, the wind blew and in an instant, it was autumn. The weather abided to the seasons strictly, it really began to cool down. At night, it was still a little cold when they pulled up the covers. Li Sui had been very busytely. He went out for work very early and returned homete. Lu Shang almost couldnt see Li Sui at all unless it was at night. He was bored, so he began practicing Chinese calligraphy at home, the copies of his handwriting piled up thicker and thicker in their house. At about 4 p.m., Li Sui called Lu Shang to tell him that he would be meeting a few bank executives in the evening, so he wont be home for dinner. Lu Shang replied and stared at the turned-off screen for a long time. Now that Tong Yan was getting on the right track, Li Sui shouldnt be this busy. SiMa Yan was dealing with Mu Sheng, so there shouldnt be any problems there. Recently, even if Li Sui didnt go in for work for a few days, Lu Shang didnt see his phone ringing even once. Before he had more time to think about that, Zuo Chao called and invited Lu Shang over to the bamboo dojo for tea. YouYou was already in elementary school, the little girl was very smart. She smiled with clear, bright eyes. When she saw Lu Shang, she ran over and asked, Godfather, wheres Goddaddy? Lu Shang brought her a set of drawing tools. He patted the little girls hair with a smile and said, Hes busy. When Zuo Chao heard Lu Shangs voice, he shouted, Oh, Lu Lao Ban, youre finally here. Come in quickly. Weve already started eating. The first meal this year is juicy crabs. Only when he entered the room did he knew that Xe WeiLan and Yan Ke were invited too. Lu Shang was surprised that Yan Ke was there, since he wasnt close with Zuo Chao, and Lu Shang was surprised by the fact that he did not look as chipper as he used to be. His clothes were disordered, and his face was rather sad. Stop stare at me already, Yan Ke said with a depressed look and forced augh, Ive had some private affairs to deal with these two days. I came towyer Xe for help. It just so happened that he was invited for tea by brother Zuo, so I tagged along. They talked while eating, that was when Lu Shang heard the full story from Xe WeiLan: Apparently, Yan Ke who was messing around outside was found out by his wife. Mrs. Yan was a strong and tactfuldy, she didnt directly brought a divorce up nor did she made trouble for him. She just kept quiet but yed the strongest card possible, even Yan Ke had his hands tied. His wife basically kicked him out of the house, If we are not a family then we dont stay under one roof. So, you want a divorce now? Lu Shang asked. Yan Ke sighed, I dont want to, but she persuaded our daughter to ask me for a divorce. Ill say this, neither of you are a small fry in the society. Resolve this peacefully and dont pull others down with you, Xe WeiLan wasnt holding back at all as hemented. Yan Ke was not upset by it though, he justughed bitterly, Okay, stop rubbing salt in my injuries already. I know this whole thing was my fault, I was wrong. But can you please help me think of something? I really cant give up on my daughter. You shouldve known from the beginning, Zuo Chao said. You guys already have kids, why didnt you think about that when you did it? I was just acting and talking business, and besides, were all men. Who can really ignore those urges? Zuo Chaoughed, The person who could is sitting in front of you. Lu Shang turned a deaf ear to Zuo Chaos obvious teasing and continued to drink his ginger tea. Yan Ke staggered. All of them were suddenly silent, they turned to peeling the crab shells off. Yes, I know. Ick restraint. Yan Ke finally admitted. The atmosphere turned gloomy for a while until Zuo Chao asked Lu Shang, By the way, why didnt Xiao Lie with you today? Talking business, Lu Shang murmured. When the two words left Lu Shangs mouth,bined with their previous conversation, it became somewhat sensitive. Lu Shang raised his head up from his tea, it was obvious that everyone was thinking about the same thing, Zuo Chao broke the silence by saying, Ha, if Xiao Li ever got a mistress, even crabs could fly. Lu Shang, Yan Ke, Xe WeiLan scolded, Think before you talk! When Lu Shang left, Zuo Chao packed a bag of fat crabs and gave it to Lu Shang, Take some back for Xiao Li Zi. Dont let them stay overnight though, throw them away if you cant eat them all tonight. Lu Shang took it home, but still no one was home yet. He tried calling Li Sui, but the phone showed that Li Suis phone was off, probably because it was out of battery. Lu Shang sighed and remembered what Zuo Chao said today. He knew Li Suis personality well, so he was not worried. Yet, whenever he thought about Li Sui leaving home for work, he always felt somewhat unhappy, almost as if the time that should had been his was taken away by someone. Lu Shang took a bath, then read a bit in bed, as he turn the pages, he began dozing off. The clock pointed to 12, that was when Li Sui finally came home, bringing with him a strong smell of alcohol. Why havent you slept yet? Li Sui reached out his hand and wanted to hold Lu Shang. Then he realized that he stunk of alcohol and was afraid that Lu Shang wouldnt like it, so he quickly withdrew back a little. He took off his coat and took his clothes off to take a shower. What are you busy with these two days? Lu Shang closed his book and asked. Nothing, just a tiny thing. Theres supper on the table. Li Sui smiled and said, I cant eat any more. Hmm, then throw it away. Li Sui instinctively knew that Lu Shang was not happy. He hurriedly cleaned himself up, then climbed into bed and asked, Whats the matter? Are you angry? Lu Shang met with Li Suis concerning eyes and he gradually calmed down, I havent seen you for the whole day, so I feel like something was missing. Li Sui smiled and went over for a kiss, Sorry, that was on me, I should have been more sensitive. Ill be back home on time tomorrow. As Li Sui said that, his right hand was already very impatiently sneaking into Lu Shangs pajamas, the two men looked at each other. They began burning up, as if they were two lit fuses, and soon they began entangling with each other. Li Sui kept his promise and went home on time every day after that. He even drove around the city with Lu Shang on the weekends. Lu Shang, on the other hand, found himself getting weirder and weirder, especially after he began paying attention to Li Suis time allocation. In this regard, Lu Lao Ban couldnt help but wonder, maybe he needed more contact with the outside world, get some distractions. If he always stayed in a close environment, it would be inevitably to be sensitive and suspicious of everything. In the past, when he was busy, he always looked forward to the time when he could finally retire and live the simple life, but when he really did not need to worry about anything anymore, he found it extremely boring, he always had a feeling that his lifecked a bit of challenge. This evening, when Li Sui was inside their bedroom, he received a phone call and they were discussing some business stuff. Lu Shang nced at him, then he walked into the room and turned to the bathroom. He took a hot bath. After he finished the bath, he left the drops of water on his upper body be, then wrapped his lower half up with a towel. He walked out of the shower room while drying his wet hair with a towel, with just the towel hanging on his waist, he opened the drawer in the bedroom and rummage through it. Li Sui was on the phone, recording some data on a piece of paper. Li Sui startedgging from the very moment Lu Shang entered the room, his eyes were glued to him. The other party on the phone called out to Li Sui several times before Li Sui finally managed to respond. Oh, Im sorry. Do you mind saying that again, I didnt quite catch you just now Lu Shang walked past Li Sui as if nothing was happening, when he moved around, the towel loosened slightly, and his stomach showed. The warm light in the room showered on him, making his skin look even more tender than usual. His skin was slightly flushed after soaking in warm water. That sessfully made Li Suig once again. This time, he couldnt help but pull his phone down and covered the speaker to ask, What are you looking for? Lu Shang continued to turn through the drawer, The charger. Ill find it for youter, go and put some clothes on, be careful or you might catch a cold. After that, Li Sui fled to the balcony with the mobile phone, as if he had to escape from something. Lu Shang stood in the same ce for a while, looking at his back, a smile crept up on his lips. That weekend, Li Sui went out to look at a plot ofnd. On the way ofing back home, he passed by the seafood market and bought some fresh shrimps. He wanted to make some shrimp porridge for Lu Shang. As soon as he opened the door though, he was surprised with several dishes on the dining table. Li Sui stared nkly at Lu Shang who came out of the kitchen wearing an apron. Li Suis face was as pale as a ghosts, he asked incoherently, You Are you cooking? Lu Shang took off the apron and said, I tried. Seeing Li Sui standing there all frozen up, Lu Shang hurried him, Sit down and have a taste. Li Sui had never seen Lu Shang cooking in his entire life before, the shock from this wasparable to hearing the two old turtles at home cursing people with humannguage. Li Sui held the pair of chopsticks for a long time while in a trance, not knowing what how to react. Is today a special day? Li Sui asked with a smile. Lu Shangughed, No, its just out of a whim. Li Sui swallowed then looked down at the dishes on the table, and then he stoppedughing. They were all simple home-cooked dishes. There wasnt anything wrong with the matching of the ingredients, one dish was tomatoes and scrambled eggs, another was celeries with shrimps. Although Lu Shang hadnt cooked any of them before, he had eaten them. Its just these dishes even horrendous was apliment. Lu Shang was obviously a little embarrassed by them, he said, Well, they dont look very good Its all right, all that matters are the taste, Li Sui quickly picked up a shrimp and threw it into his mouth, he chewed it, swallowed it, and nodded, Hmn Not bad. Really? Lu Shang pushed the dishes over to him and said, Then have some more. Li Sui did not refuse but he did not pick up anymore of the shrimps, Ill try this scrambled eggs then. It might be a little salty. My hands shook too much when I sprinkled the salt, Lu Shang warned. Li Sui picked up a piece, he only chewed once, then he proceeded to swallowing it down very slowly, Um Its slightly too salty. After that, Li Sui pointed the pair of chopsticks to the te with some paste-like substances beside the scrambled eggs, Is this mashed potatoes? Lu Shangs expression changed slightly and scratched his own nose in embarrassment, Potato chips, I dont know why but after I stir-fried them, they be a ball of mush. If one looked carefully enough, theyd still be able to see the shape of the potato chips, but it was obvious that some were cut thicker and some were thinner. So, when he stir-fried them, probably also with insufficient oil and too strong a fire, the results were that the thicker pieces werent cookedpletely, while the thinner one turned into pasty. Li Sui found the dishes amusing but then he caught a glimpse of Lu Shangs fingers, he quickly caught his hand and said while frowning, Did you get those from cutting the vegetables? Hmm, its nothing, Lu Shang took his hand back and didnt seem to mind. Li Sui looked at him, and he felt moved. Lu Shang had never picked up a kitchen knife in the entirety of his life before. He only ever had to deal with work things, but now Lu Shang was willing to do housework for his sake. It was impossible to voice out how moved he was. You should cut the potatoes in half first, then it wont slip so easily. Li Sui grabbed his finger and ced it on his own lips. Hmn, Ill do that next time, Lu Shang smiled lightly. After barely finishing the meal, Li Sui helped clean the dining table and went into the kitchen. Inside, he saw the kitchen knife thrown aside and two table knives were lying on the chopping board. You cut the potatoes with the table knives? Li Sui spected. Lu Shang nodded, Its easier to handle. Li Sui didnt know if he shouldugh or cry, he said, Dont go into the kitchen anymore. This ce is not suitable for you. Then what ce is suitable for me? Li Sui leaned his head down and smiled. He put one hand behind Lu Shangs ear and the other pulled him into his embrace, he said, In my arms. After doing intimate things in the evening, Li Sui massaged Lu Shangs waist and asked softly, Lu Shang, do you want to go back to Tong Yan? Lu Shang was almost asleep but when he heard that, he abruptly turned his head. His eyes were dark in the night. Recently, Ive been thinking over many things. I thought about your illness, youve just healed for a few years, and I dont want you to be bothered by your work anymore, Li Sui said slowly, holding Lu Shangs hand. But in the past few years, after I took over thepanypletely, I often felt that something was missing. Last time, when you mentioned the issue of loans, I slowly realized: Tong Yan is only Tong Yan when you are in it. You belong there, and I shouldnt be so selfish, binding you here by my side like this. Li Suis remarks were obviously well-nned. Lu Shang did not expect he would suddenly say these things. For a moment, even he did not know how to reply. He thought for a while and asked, Do you have any ns on how? Li Sui nodded, Its certainly cant be in the maind, but if its abroad, then its fine. Right now, I just so happened to have a suitable project in my hand. I want to set up a branch abroad and I think you can lead it. Lu Shang was shocked, So, thats what youve been busy with recently? Hmn. Ive finished the basic preparations. So, the only thing now is whether you want to. Li Sui smiled and continued after a short pause, Would you like to join? Li Sui prepared everything in secret behind his back, even Lu Shang had to admit, Li Sui was truly taught by him, that was exactly how Lu Shang did things, prepare everything meticulously in secret. Lu Shangs heart was full of mixed feelings. On one hand, he felt that his child had be a really promising person and was able to surprise even him. On the other hand, he found his own actions recently extremely childish, one could say that he was just to bored. Ill consider it. Li Sui nodded, he knew that it meant Lu Shang had agreed to it. Before he could immerse himself in joy though, his stomach rumbled, and his expression changed instantly. He climbed out of bed in a hurry. Whats wrong? My stomach is feeling a bit ufortable Li Sui ran to the toilet. Laughing and crying at the same time, he said, If Aunt Lu isnt here, Ill make food. Please dont go into the kitchen again. Lu Shang, Okay Chapter 60 (End) - Mysterious Lover (END) Chapter 60: Mysterious Lover (END) Tranted by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scations It waste and the corridor was quiet. The door to the office was pushed open. Inside, Lu Shang was writing on some documents. Without even raising his head, he asked, Are the results in? How did they reply? After a few seconds of waiting, the person at the door still didnt answer. That was when Lu Shang raised his head to see Li Sui leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed, he was grinning at him. Lu Shang was surprised, Youre back! Lu Shang immediately stopped writing, he waved Li Sui over andughed, Come here, I want to hug you. Li Sui walked over and ced the takeout porridge on the table, Whenever I leave, you work overtime. Next time, Ill have to find someone to watch over you. Its just today, Lu Shang said as he reached for Li Suis hand, wanting to hug him but Li Sui stooped down and picked him up instead, he then ced Lu Shang on his own legs. Did you eat all of your meals? Howe I think you got thinner? Li Sui nudged Lu Shang gently on the waist. That tickled Lu Shang so he giggled as he said, It has just been a few days, how much thinner could I be. However, you do look like you got a bit tanned. Hmn. The sun there was too strong, and there were a lot of wind and sand. I think I still have some sand in my hair. They enjoyed each others embrace and stared at each other for a while, the only thing Li Sui didnt do was kiss him, as if he wanted to save the most delicious thing till the end, the tip of their noses touched as Li Sui asked, How long have I been away? Ten days. The two men were really close, Lu Shang noticed the redness in Li Suis eye whites, and he knew that Li Sui must had been tired on the way of rushing back home. He asked with concern, Are you tired? I was tired on the way, but Im not tired now that Im with you. Li Sui lowered his head and rubbed his chin against the nape of Lu Shangs neck. In an instant, his nostrils were filled with Lu Shangs scent. Li Sui was like a soothed wild wolf, his fur softened, and his eyes narrowed with satisfaction. After hearing that, Lu Shang patted Li Sui on the back. Lu Shang felt so sad that he swore to himself not to let Li Sui leave the country alone ever again. Even if Li Sui was fine with it, Lu Shang wasnt. In order to open up a foreign branch, they had to make new connections, re-establish a market, and re-establish a new capital flow. Even though they had Tong Yan to back them up, starting a new branch was no simple matter. Not long ago, Lu Shang took over a project and needed to go to Gobi1 for an inspection for half a month. However, this branch just started and there was no way he could leave for half-a-month, he was not assured to send others to the job either given the importance of it. When Li Sui saw Lu Shang struggling to make a decision, he nominated himself to go in Lu Shangs stead. At first, Lu Shang was reluctant. They had never been apart for that long a time ever since they got married. But the reality was there in front of him, he had topromise. A day before Li Sui left, Lu Shang kept mumbling and reminding him all sorts of stuff, he never knew that he had the potential to be a chatterbox until then. When Li Sui really got on the ne and flew away, Lu Shang stood alone in the airport, feeling overwhelming regret, as if he had lost something precious, he was anxious. Maybe he was getting old, Lu Shang thought. The second he turned around, he began counting the days. It waste at night, it was almost as if the air went silent as well. Lu Shang felt Li Suis exhaustion, he patted him on the back, and said softly, Lets go home. But you have work? Lu Shang smiled, Sleeping with you is more important. On the way back, Lu Shang drove the car as Li Sui continued to rub his own eyes in the co-drivers seat. It was obvious that he was sleepy. They intermittently chatted about the business trip. When they were waiting for the red light to turn green, Li Sui rubbed his head on Lu Shangs shoulder while mumbling that he was tired. Lu Shang was lit up by that, and they almost made love in the car. When they got home, they quickly took a bath together then climbed to bed. Lu Shang wanted to finish sex quickly so they could all have a good night of rest together. As soon as he took off his clothes though, he knew he was fooled. Li Sui was nowhere near tired, his eyes were glowing as brightly as a wolfs after seeing its prey. The whole bedroom was filled with lust. Lu Shang was already extremely tired after doing it once, but there was also the second round. Lu Shangs physical strength was not good enough, seeing Li Suis energetic appearance just made his legs feel numb, he had an intuition that he wont be walking tomorrow, Didnt you say you were tired on the way? Li Suiughed, obvious wrinkles formed at the corner of his eyes as heughed. Li Sui stooped down and bit his neck while skillfully pushing forward, grinding Lu Shangs insides slowly, Thats why Im charging now. After hugging and more thrusting, Li Sui keenly noticed that Lu Shangs legs were trembling unconsciously, so he gradually stopped. Li Sui slowly pulled his member out and turned to kissing him instead. Lu Shang exchanged a long, lingering kiss with him. After a while, he understood that Li Sui had no intention of continuing. He opened his eyes and asked softly, Whats wrong? We should sleep. Li Sui pulled out a wet towel and gave Lu Shang a simple wipe as he asked, Do you want to take another bath? Lu Shang had a little sweat on him, but most was Li Suis. He thought about it and shook his head. Li Sui pulled up the quilt nket then covered themselves with it. He reached out to pull Lu Shang into his arms. Only then did he feel like sleeping, All right, lets sleep! Lu Shang has been so busy these days, he didnt take a single rest ever since he sat in his office this morning. Now that Li Sui was home, Lu Shang could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Having a sense of security in his heart, Lu Shang inevitably began to feel sleepy. He was sleepy, but how could he possibly sleep sensing the hard object pointing against his behind. The two men stayed in that awkward posture and neither moved. The room was quiet. Lu Shang remained silent for a while, but still could not resist, You Its all right. Ill be fine in a moment, Li Sui hugged him tightly again and kissed his hair. Lu Shang was amused, You dont have to hold back. I know, Li Suiughed, he covered Lu Shangs eyes with his hand and said, Have a good nights rest. We have plenty of time tomorrow. Lu Shang still had something he wanted to say, but Li Sui blocked all that back, so he kept quiet. Lu Shang was really tired, his waist was sore, and his legs were numb, his eyelids began sinking well before the thing at his back softened. Before falling asleep, Lu Shang ahd a passing thought, Li Sui had been around him for several years now, having watched him all this time, he didnt notice, but the fact was that Li Sui had undergone a lot of changes. No matter how delicious the food was, he wouldnt just gobble it all up in his mouth as soon as he saw it. Instead, he learned to eat slowly and cherish it. From a certain point of view, that was a sign of security. He didnt have to fight for those things anymore. This was his, its in his arms and it couldnt run away. The next day, both of them slept in. Li Sui did not wake up at all, Lu Shang was afraid of waking Li Sui, so he climbed up before dawn to turn off the rm clock. The long-missed embrace was soforting that neither of them wanted to spoil this beautiful morning. Around noon a phone call came, Lu Shang picked it up first thing, but Li Sui still woke up. Li Sui crawled up half-conscious and rubbed his bedhead against Lu Shang, Lu Shang tucked him back into the nket. What did you say? Lu Shang got up and went to the bathroom, Sorry, but I think you made a mistake. The person in the phone said something and made Lu Shang froze for a moment, he rubbed his aching back and said, That form is for a marriage conference? Thank you for your kindness, but you may have misunderstood Li Sui woke uppletely now, he stretched his neck out to look at the bathroom. Then he resolutely climbed up from the bed and followed Lu Shang to the bathroom, Who is that? Its Mrs. Jane, Lu Shang hung up and did not take the call seriously. Themunity was organizing a matchmaking event for the single Chinese people here and she submitted a form for me. After hearing that, Li Sui immediately became confused, Single? Hmn, Lu Shang washed his own face with water. She may have made a mistake. She came to me the other day and asked me to fill out a form. I thought it was a survey, but I didnt think it was for matchmaking. Mrs. Jane was theirndlord, she was a white olddy. Perhaps matchmaking was somethingmon everywhere, they were still subjected to that in a foreign country. The olddy was extremely enthusiastic, Lu Shang had only moved here for like half a month and she was already dead set on introducing someone to Lu Shang. Doesnt she know Li Suis expression wasplex, halfway through his sentence, he stopped. Of course, Li Sui was away for half a month. The olddy saw Lu Shang living alone and naturally thought he was single. After washing his face, Lu Shang walked out the bathroom to see Li Suis forehead stuck against the door frame, he looked almost as if he was going to scratch the wall with his fingers. Lu Shangughed, What are you thinking about? Li Sui stared back at him, then he moved his eyes to the ring on Lu Shangs hand. The jealousy in his eyes was too intense to not see, I am your husband, we are a couple, its legally-binding. When Lu Shang saw that he was this depressed, he stoppedughing and said, Lets invite her to lunch and make things clear. With that said, Lu Shang was already nning on making the call. Li Sui stopped him though, he scratched his head and said, Never mind, its such a trivial matter, if we go find here like that, it would just show that Im too childish. Lu Shangughed. Li Sui didnt know why but he felt that there was a trace of satisfaction in thatugh. In fact, Li Sui had another concern. Though it might sound selfish, they just moved here after all. Zuo Chaos people werent around, so many things werent as convenient as it used to be. At such a time, having good rtionships with their neighbors was important. First off, the olddy did it out of kindness. If he brought Lu Shang with him to talk with her in a hurry like that, it might sour their rtionship. Secondly, the olddy was religious, and Li Sui didnt know her attitude towards homosexuality. If they could keep it a low profile, then Li Sui would do that as much as possible. Lu Shang was his, that wont change, whether others know or not makes no different. Although Lu Shang had a pretty strong psychological endurance, he still didnt wish for him to suffer from peoples judgment. In the afternoon, the two of them went to thepany together. Li Sui had to make a report about his inspection at the meeting. Half way through reporting, he noticed that he had left an important data file at home, so he had to vaguely tiptoe around it. Li Sui may be able to fool the others, but he couldnt fool Lu Lao Ban. Lu Shang knew that he screwed up, but he did not say a thing. He just nodded his head and asked him to sit down, he was so obviously favoring him. After the meeting, Li Sui drove back to get the files. Lu Shangughed and knocked on his head, What is that little head of yours thinking about? Li Sui shrugged apologetically, I cant help it, youre always the only thing in my head. Lu Shang shut the car door for him, Drive slowly, theres no hurry. After Li Sui left, Lu Shang turned around to go upstairs. He passed by some employees who nodded their heads at him. This scene was somewhat familiar. In the past few years, during Lu Shangs retirement period, Li Sui managed thepany well. Although there were no major revolutions, it was not easy just to stabilize thepany during the economic downturn. Li Sui always said that Tong Yan bounced back because of Lu Shang paved the way with years of hard work. In fact, Lu Shang knew that that wasnt the case. The kid was a qualified entrepreneur, he had visionary ideas, butcked ambition. Now that everything was back to normal, he preferred to be a tiny project manager than a leader. Lu Shang knew that Li Sui did not like to stand at the position of a leader, he only took the role years ago for Lu Shangs sake. That weekend, they had two days off, which was something rare for them to have. Before they could discuss what to do with the two days off, Mrs. Jane came and knocked on their apartment door, she asked outside, Mr. necktie, are you home? The olddy gave Lu Shang a nickname, Mr. necktie, since Lu Shang always wore suits and a necktie. Li Sui opened the door and answered, Hes taking a bath. You cane in and wait for him. Since Mrs. Jane saw that Lu Shang hadpany, she decided to talk a little with Li Sui outside the door and handed him the invitation, Tell him not to bete tomorrow evening at 7:30. Ok, Ill pass that to him, Li Sui smiled. Lu Shang wiped his hair and walked out of the bathroom, Whats the matter? Someone took a liking to you and asked you out for a French meal, Li Sui was ying with his tablet on the sofa as he replied. He pointed at the invitation card on the table, which also had a personal introduction form of an anonymous person included. Lu Shang picked it up and was going to throw it away. He was quickly stopped by Li Sui though, Dont you want to look at it at least? Lu Shang asked strangely, Why do you want me to look at it? Just look at it, said Li Sui, he seemed more interested about it than Lu Shang was. The guy who asked you out had good taste. Seeing Li Sui get so enthusiastic about his potential love rival amused Lu Shang, so he did as he was asked and opened the letter. The invitation was well written, and there was little useless information except for the time and ce. However, the information form included was quite interesting. Lu Shang also filled in an information form somewhat simr to this one, after a quick scan, Lu Shang noticed something interesting, This person is a bit simr to you? Really? Li Suis spirits rose, he went and snatched the paper for a nce. Wow, really. His height, weight and even hobbies are simr to mine. Huh Even the type of person we like are the same. No wonder Mrs. Jane matched you up with him. Throw it away, Lu Shang said as he opened the refrigerator. What should we have for lunch, Chinese food or Western food? Are you really not going? Li Sui said, You should go. That person went out of the way to invite you after all. Lu Shang thought that maybe Li Sui was jealous. He stared back at Li Sui for a while and found that he was serious. Lu Shang tried teasing him, But if I go on a date with someone else, wont you worry about me getting close to someone else? Impossible, said Li Sui, he waved his hand. Youll only know how great I am inparison if you go. Lu Shang was amused again, he pretended to be mean and said, Okay then, Ill go tomorrow. In the blink of an eye, it was the next day. Early in the morning, Li Sui took out the wine-red shirt that Lu Shang seldom wore from his wardrobe, You should wear this tonight, you look good in this color. Having overindulged on sex in the previous night, Lu Lao Ban was not fully awake yet, he only vaguely responded. At noon, Li Sui who was taking a nap with Lu Shang got up, he said that he had to go to thepany for something about the project. Lu Shang did not think much about it and let him go, he only asked Li Sui toe home early and safe. Dont bete for your evening appointment, Li Sui said to Lu Shang before he left home. Lu Shang justughed, he had never seen anyone as epting as Li Sui. How was he so okay with his lover going on a date with someone else? Heck, he was even more excited than the one who was going on the date. Yes, yes. You should get going. It was gettingte. Looking down from atop the high-rise building, one could get a full view of the bright night scenery below. Li Sui straightened out his bangs as he stood in front of the mirror, he pulled his tie up straight and walked out. A waiter handed him the menu to confirm the dishes that was going to be servedter on, he also confirmed the music track that was going to be yed during the meal. He had a heart surgery before, so he cant drink alcohol. Rece the wine with sparkling water, Li Sui said and politely handed the menu back. There werent many people around, after a quick scan, Li Sui knew that most were couples, giving the restaurant a lovely atmosphere. In the corner, a person was ying the violin, the music was gentle and smooth. Li Sui rubbed his fingers on his ring for a while, then took in a deep breath. He subconsciously straightened his back. That day, he did deliberately give Lu Shang the invitation letter. A day before that, when Lu Shang was away from home, Li Sui knocked on Mrs. Janes door. I heard that you are organizing a single Chinese people matchmaking event. May I join? After filling out his own information form, he handed it back to Mrs. Jane and asked, When you pair up the participants, do you only base on each persons personalities? Of course. So, is it possible for people of the same gender to get matched up? Mrs. Janeughed and said, If the two are perfect for each others request, they will get matched up. I mean, its not like you have to go out with said person, if the two are that good for each other, meeting a new friend is nice too. Li Sui took a sigh of relief and nodded, Then, Id like to join, thank you. It was not easy to get a bit pf romance these days, Li Sui had to disguise himself as a stranger to arrange a dinner with Lu Shang just for the sake of romance. When he tried to imagine Lu Shangs reaction when he saw Li Sui there, he got somewhat nervous, so he kept on tidying his own hair and fidgeting with his necktie. It was as if he was really going to meet an unknown date for the first time today. Logically speaking, they had been together for so long already, so the excitement and shyness should had been long gone, but Li Sui guessed maybe he was an exception. Sir, should I serve the dishes now? Li Sui looked at the time, it was 7:25, Wait for a few more minutes. Outside the window, one could see the endless stream of traffic. Not far away, there was a bridge with magnificent lights. Unfortunately, Li Sui had no mood to enjoy the scenery. His palms were sweating and his eyes were ncing uncontrobly towards the door. Perhaps his movements were too obvious, a pair of young couple sitting at the next table noticed and requested for the waiter to send over a rose to his table. Wish you sess in proposing, man. The guy at the table gave Li Sui an exaggerated thumbs up. Li Sui nodded to thank him and did not care to exin the misunderstanding. To be honest, this was just as tense as when he was proposing to Lu Shang. Lu Shang had no idea that on the night before he proposed, he tied the heart-shaped m to the bottom of the boat with a strong fishing line. The boat was dragging the ring with it as it went out to the sea. Li Sui stayed in the water for a few minutes purely to make Lu Shang nervous, Li Sui thought that would increase the chances of him getting a positive response. Leung ZiRui also asked Li Sui why he didnt choose to directly swim to the seabed and get the shell. Li Sui wanted to do that too, but he didnt dare to. At that time, he was so nervous that he could explode any second. He even secretly practiced the whole proposal several times in advance. Moreover, he was afraid that a wave would wash the shell away or some other things. At the end, he was not reassured, so after thinking for a long time, he came up with the idea of tying the shell to the boat itself instead. Sometimes even Li Sui himself wondered, he wasnt a young boy anymore, he could stand on his own in the outside world, but why was it that when it came to facing Lu Shang, all his childishness, the feeling of anxiousness and blissfulness were all the same as before, as if he had never grown up at all. Fortunately, his lover was willing to tolerate him and give him warmth and guidance. For him, Lu Shang was not only his lover, but also his family and teacher. The longer the time they spent together, the more Li Sui realized that love was not just a piece of paper, a ring or a house, but a life-longmitment ofpanionship. The clock pointed to the number eight, yet no one arrived. The waiters gaze towards Li Sui changed from envious to sympathetic, what a poor young man, he was going to propose but instead, he got stood up. Li Sui sighed and was about to call Lu Shang, but before that, his phone rang. Are youing back for dinner? Im going to make some dumplings. Lu Shang seemed to be searching for something at that end. Li Sui was shocked and did not respond for a moment, What? Why is someone ying music at your end? You arent in thepany anymore? Are you on the way back? Lu Shang asked. You are you at home? Where would I be if not at home? Lu Shang asked feeling a bit weirded out. Didnt you go on a date? What date,ughed Lu Shang, no matter how much hes like you, hes still not you. I Li Sui sat in the restaurant, wondering whether he should cry orugh. After a while, he stood up and almost tripped over his chair, I Ill be right back Im eating at home. Put more vinegar in my portion. After that, he was about to leave. He walked to the door and remembered that he had not changed out of his clothes yet, so he went to the dressing room to change. The waiter watched Li Sui as he walked in and out of the restroom while wiping the ss cups, he sighed thinking that this was the first time in more than ten years of working here, that he saw someone so happy even after being stood up. It was already dark, the roads were packed with traffic, and there were some people walking their dogs on the streets. Li Sui passed through them, smiling while greeting his neighbors. He ran up to their apartment door and knocked. The door opened and the fragrance of dumplings sipped out2. The light in the living room was so warm that Li Sui almost couldnt open his eyes. Li Sui had a dream before, he was searching for a door in the dream, but somehow after finding it, he just couldnt open it. He wandered outside the door, wondering where to go. Then one day when he raised his hand to knock on the door, he found that the door had opened from the inside. Inside stood a man smiling at him, just as always, the person had a gentle voice, as if everything was going to be fine, Youre finally home. Go wash your hands and eat. He was dazed by the light for a while, then he walked in carefully. The door closed behind him, and atst he could see what it looked like inside. It might be a little different from his dreams, but it felt strangely simr. What are you daydreaming about? Lu Shang was holding a bowl, he frowned slightly as he said, It got stuck to the pot again. Still its edible, I guess. Ill add more water in next time. Hmn. Theres a ce where romance is not needed and that was his home, the ce where he belonged. ~ The End ~ Well, technically thats the end, but I was reading another one of the authors works and there was one extra chapter in that one that was about this novel. That novel is called ľ. Therefore, I tranted an excerpt of that chapter as well. The seme in that series is called Yang YiZun and the uke is called Yue Mu, basically this extra is about the seme bringing the uke to visit apany he founded with a friend, also so that the uke could meet said friend. That friend of his is a somewhat special person, you will know who he is in a moment, enjoy: The two of them walked into the office hand in hand, and soon after, they ran into a young man who was squatting on the ground with his back to them. The young man was packing up his suitcase. LiAn. Yang YiZun called out to the young man. Lu LiAn turned around and replied, Oh, you are here? I was just about to call you. As he spoke, his gaze fell onto Yue Mu, then he stood up and smiled, Hello, nice to meet you. Yue Mu was in a daze for a while and said after some thought, Ah, hello. This young man was tall, he had very distinct facial features, and his skin was white enough that he did not look Asian. His temperament was clean and elegant, Yue Mu could tell from a mere handshake that this young man must be from a well-mannered family. Yang YiZun gave a brief introduction for both of them. Yang YiZun didnt say much when it came to who Yue Mu was, but Lu LiAn seemed to know who Yue Mu was quite well. He just looked at Yue Mu and smiled. This is a ssmate of mine I met when I was studying abroad, Yang YiZun introduced Lu LiAn to Yue Mu. When I first founded JunYue3, he helped me a lot. But I wasnt the one who came up with the idea, Lu LiAn smiled. It was my father who came up with it. Here you go, Yang YiZun said as he handed Lu LiAn the boxes of cream cheese pear pastries. Oh, great timing, Lu LiAn said being a little surprise. I was just about to go buy some. Are you going home today? Yes, Im taking the 7:10 p.m. flight. Lu LiAn said as he put the dessert in his suitcase, but then he was afraid of crushing them, so he took them back out and put it aside separately. Did something happen at home? Nothing special, when Lu LiAn spoke of his family, he showed that he was both proud and also a bit helpless towards it. He continued, My father is going to the hospital, my Dad was originally going to apany him, but he had an urgent business trip to attend to. He had no other choice, so he called me back. Yang YiZuns face changed slightly, Your father is sick? No, hes in good health. He can totally go fishing for a week and still be fine, Lu LiAn said. Its just a routine check-up. You know, he had a major heart operation before, so my Dad is always worried. Its an annual thing, no storm or natural disasters could stop it. Yue Mu listened to Lu LiAn speak, he was getting confused from all the father and dad titles. Lu LiAn noticed Yue Mus silence, he was afraid that he would not be able to follow their conversation, so he said with understanding, Can I directly call you Yue Mu? Yang YiZun told me everything about you and him. Yue Mu nodded and said, No wonder, ordinary people would be surprised seeing us together. No surprise at all, none, Lu LiAn waved his hands. My family has simr people like you two. Seeing Yue Mu shocked, Yang YiZun touched the ring on Yue Mus hand and said with a smile, He has two fathers4. Yue Mus expression showed that he was startled. Dont look at me like that. Im adopted, Lu LiAnughed. Im sorry. Yue Mu apologized. Someone entered to find Yang YiZun, so Yue Mu let him go to attend to his work. In fact, Yue Mu was not familiar with Lu LiAn, but the atmosphere was not at all embarrassing, somehow being with Lu LiAn wasforting. You dont have to be embarrassed, Lu LiAnughed. I was around 13 years old when I was adopted. All of my friends know but no one cares about that. Yue Mu smiled lightly, They must have a good rtionship, if they could raise a kid together as well-mannered as you. Speaking of that, Lu LiAns face twitched, You have no idea what its like to see them being all lovey-dovey every day at home Yue Muughed. Seriously. Ive never seen them quarrel, not even talk loudly to each other, Lu LiAn said. Even when I was still a student, they always stand on the same front. Oh? Do they punish you on the doubles? Well, no, Lu LiAn seemed to be trying to recall the fear of living with his two fathers. I remember that there was a time when I failed on an exam. However, the teacher said that we must ask for the parents to sign the report. I wanted to ask my father to sign it, since he never scolded me before, but on the way to his study, I ran into my Dad whose name is Li Sui. Ill just say his name, so that you wont get confused. Anyway, my rtionship with him was more natural and close, so I thought Li Sui would lose his temper with me, but he didnt. He only frowned and signed it for me, then he said, dont let your father know, hes not in good health. Remember to do better next time. I was so moved at the time. And then? Then in the evening, I took a bath. I forgot to hide the paper and my father saw it. Oh my! My father didnt say anything but Drink the milk and go to bed early. At the time, I thought that was the end of it, but to my surprise As he spoke of that, Lu LiAn sighed, The next day, when I got home, I found five private tutors sitting in the living room. Did your dad hired them? Lu LiAn shook his head and said, Li Sui was never strict with me. My father was the one who hired them. Thats just how he is. He wont say anything, but he would prepare everything for you in secret. Somehow I got the feeling that your father treats both you and your Dad as his children. Lu LiAn thought and scratched the back of his head, You dont say, that really sums it up, but its a bit different. My father is not strict with Li Sui. He says okay to everything Li Sui does. Seeing Lu LiAns angered face made Yue Muugh, Maybe you are just not there to see him strict with your Dad? Maybe, Lu LiAn thought and nodded. My father doesnt care much about me now. He let me go out to make my own living. Yue Mu found the kid amusing and he just couldnt stopughing, It must be really fun to live in such a happy family. Lu LiAn scratched his own head, Well, thats true. In fact, at the beginning, I never expected for them to adopt me. Maybe they are just too soft hearted. Yue Mu intuitively smelled a story there, Hmm? My father used to have a heart condition, Lu LiAn exined. After he was cured, he set up a foundation for children with heart diseases. I was one of the beneficiaries. Yue Mu was surprised: Then, are you Lu LiAn nodded and looked calm, I was born with a heart disease and was abandoned by my parents. Later, I encountered the foundation and got a surgery. There was one time, my father came to visit us. At that time, I was still in the recovery period, because of the pain from the operation, I kept crying. My father stayed with me for the whole night just to calm me down. As a result, I stuck myself to him. Haha, I was too small back then and had no sense of security. I just had a feeling that he was good, so I clung to him. After discussing with Li Sui, they decided to take me in as his adoptive son. I guess thats also a kind of Enishi5. Yes. Lu LiAn nodded. The mobile phone on the table suddenly rang, Lu LiAn looked at the caller ID and smiled warmly. He didnt feel the need to keep it a secret, so he just turned it on speaker mode, he answered the call without holding the phone, Father! When will you be arriving? Ill go pick you up at the airport, The voice on the phone was polite and pleasant. Theres no need. I have a car parked near the airport. The person at the other end of the phone didnt push on further, he just said, If its okay for you, buy some cream cheese pear pastries at SiHuan street on the way to the airport. Your Dad likes those. I have already bought some. Well, my friend bought it for me. Are three boxes enough? Yes, thats enough, Yue Mu could hear a smile in the voice. The father and son talked something about business after that. Yue Mu was listening in the whole time, although he had never met his father, he could imagine what a gentle person he must be. After hanging up the phone, Lu LiAn looked at the time, then he quickly closed his suitcase, I have to go now. Yang YiZun just happened to walk in with a stack of documents, Youre going now? Yep. I dont want to disturb you two in doing your things, Lu LiAn said with a teasing smile, So, Im leaving the office to you guys, do what you have to do, okay? Yue Mu, Are young people nowadays so open!? Yue Mu, you dont have to be so shy with me, Lu LiAn put on his coat and continued, When I was at home Trailing to that point, he seemed to have thought of something and resolutely covered his own mouth. Yang YiZun held onto Yue Mus shoulder and waved Lu LiAn goodbye, Give my greetings to Lu Lao Ban for me. Kay! Lu LiAn nodded and waved back while dragging his suitcase away. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!