Chapter 8: What Do You Want?

Yan Xinfeng tilted his head curiously.

He knew Lu Zhao spouted plenty of crooked logic. Eight out of ten sentences came straight from his mouth without passing through his brain, relying purely on his strong instincts, which didn’t align with normal logic.

To be fair, Yan Xinfeng didn’t approve of this way of thinking, but this time, as soon as Lu Zhao spoke, he found himself involuntarily considering that possibility.

‘You’re really thinking that,’ he confirmed.

Lu Zhao didn’t think there was anything wrong with his words and nodded. ‘Yeah.’

He gestured with his hand. ‘Look, what he wants is pretty clear. Just give him money, let him live comfortably, and sleep with him…’

His gaze purposefully landed on Yan Xinfeng’s neck, hinting as it circled around. Lu Zhao was completely oblivious to how lecherous he had just been and continued, ‘And you two can live happily ever after.’

‘……’

There were too many problems with those two sentences. Yan Xinfeng didn’t know how to correct or refute them for a moment and could only remain silent for the time being.

Then Lu Zhao reacted. ‘Hiss…’

‘No, wait,’ he scratched his head. ‘Why does it feel like you’re the one paying someone—’

‘—If you dare say the next word,’ Yan Xinfeng interrupted him, his gaze ominous, ‘I’ll knock your teeth out, and then you’ll have to get married wearing a mask.’

‘……’

Lu Zhao immediately made a zipping motion across his mouth and wisely shut up.

Okay, no more talking.

Unfortunately, someone with a cheap mouth couldn’t stay quiet for more than three seconds. Once he confirmed Yan Xinfeng’s urge to hit him had slightly subsided, Lu Zhao immediately said again, ‘The key is taking the initiative, bro, got it! A man’s initiative!’

Yan Xinfeng didn’t want to hear his muttering, nor did he want to hear him analyze the mess between him and Wei Tingxia right now. He stood up, silently placed the phone back in front of Lu Zhao, signaling him not to bother him anymore, and left the suite.

When he went out, Hu Yao was already standing at the door.

‘Boss.’

Yan Xinfeng glanced at him and noticed Hu Yao’s expression was a bit tense, his gaze obediently fixed on the floor.

Wei Tingxia hadn’t bitten that hard, but Yan Xinfeng hadn’t deliberately covered it up. The marks looked clearer under the light, like faint damp spots spreading after last night’s passion, open for outsiders to glimpse and fantasize about.

‘Is he still in there?’ Yan Xinfeng asked.

Hu Yao knew exactly who this ‘he’ referred to and nodded immediately.

Given Wei Tingxia’s personality, he would definitely leave after waking up. The fact that he was still in the suite probably meant he was too exhausted from last night to get up.

‘Go guard him,’ Yan Xinfeng rubbed his fingertip, as if he could still feel the temperature of that person’s skin. ‘Give him whatever he wants, but don’t leave that room.’

‘Yes.’

As Hu Yao turned around, he heard the sound of the call connecting behind him.

……

The second Wei Tingxia woke up and opened his eyes, a data table that had been deliberately enlarged blocked his entire view.

System 0188, which had waited all night, quickly spoke up: [Although I don’t understand the underlying logic of your actions last night, the result is very good.]

Wei Tingxia squinted and turned over to sleep more, but the data table followed his movement, adjusting its angle and not giving him a chance to escape.

‘Fine,’ Wei Tingxia sighed. ‘Tell me how it’s good.’

[The collapse index dropped again. Last night and just now, only a tiny bit, but I think it’s a good sign—like how a dike of a thousand miles collapses from an anthill.]

Wei Tingxia shifted to a more comfortable position and pondered upon hearing this. ‘Is that how you use that phrase?’

[That’s not the point.]

‘Fine,’ Wei Tingxia didn’t argue with the obsessive system. ‘I get last night, but what was that just now?’

[I don’t know.] System 0188 displayed more detailed data. [In fact, the drop in the collapse index just now was much higher than last night.]

On the data graph, the dangerous red line did indeed slope downward like a small hill. The most recent drop was fifteen minutes ago.

Wei Tingxia stared at the graph, unable to figure out what bizarre idea had popped into Yan Xinfeng’s head.

If he couldn’t figure it out, he wouldn’t think about it. Wei Tingxia struggled to sit up, draped a bathrobe over himself, and headed back to his room.

On the short path to the door, a few scattered clothes lay around, showing how eager both of them had been last night. The only restraint was that they hadn’t done it right there on the living room sofa, sparing Wei Tingxia’s waist.

As he opened the door and poked his head out, he was blocked by several towering figures.

Hu Yao was on duty. Hearing the door open, he looked over and met Wei Tingxia’s eyes.

How awkward—to seduce and abandon his boss’s son, come back after five years demanding money and sex, and get caught red-handed.

‘Mr. Wei,’ Hu Yao said calmly, looking elsewhere. ‘Clothes and breakfast will arrive soon. Is there anything else you need?’

Wei Tingxia hadn’t found any other clothes in the suite and only had a bathrobe on, which made him feel very insecure and robbed him of his confrontational momentum.

‘I could actually go back to my room to eat and change.’

He tried to struggle.

Hu Yao didn’t speak and showed no intention of moving aside.

Wei Tingxia wisely closed the door and lay back down on the bed.

With progress on the mission, System 0188 was in a good mood: [He’s different from before.]

‘Of course he’s different,’ Wei Tingxia scoffed. ‘Look at the state I’m in now.’

Five years ago, Hu Yao believed he and Yan Xinfeng were truly in love. Five years later, Hu Yao realized Wei Tingxia had no real feelings.

System 0188 commented: [He holds clear distinctions between love and hate.]

‘Right,’ Wei Tingxia nodded, his gaze mocking. ‘As if it’s all my fault.’

A bunch of bastards.

He flipped them all off in his mind.

Five minutes later, the servant indeed delivered breakfast and fresh clothes, placing them by the bed. Wei Tingxia tossed the clothes aside, turned on the TV, and killed time idly, waiting for a certain young master with a sudden inspiration to return.

By the time breakfast turned into lunch and Wei Tingxia had taken another nap, he finally sensed someone stopping by his bedside.

He glanced toward the person and closed his eyes lazily. ‘……I thought you weren’t coming back today.’

Yan Xinfeng said, ‘I thought about some things.’

‘What things?’

Yan Xinfeng didn’t answer immediately, but the quiet interlude seemed to foreshadow some unspoken development between them. Wei Tingxia finally shook off his sleepiness and looked clearly at the man by the bed.

He repeated the question. ‘Yan Xinfeng, what did you think about?’

‘……’

That morning when he woke up, most of Wei Tingxia’s body had been hidden under the duvet, like a layer of white gauze barely covering last night’s chaos, giving them a brief buffer.

Now, in the bright daylight, Wei Tingxia wasn’t covered by the blanket. The bathrobe hid nothing, exposing almost all the red marks on his fair skin, warmed by the sunlight.

Yan Xinfeng gazed at it all for a long time, Lu Zhao’s words echoing in his mind again.

His parents had an arranged marriage, but they were harmonious and loving their whole lives. Yan Xinfeng had never personally seen those mocked form marriages filled with material or physical satisfaction.

He hadn’t thought he would stoop to that before, but now he was seriously considering if such a marriage could last until his dying breath.

If shallow desires formed the skeleton of the marriage, could he and Wei Tingxia really make it to the end?

Yan Xinfeng struggled to find solid proof convincing enough to believe in.

But Wei Tingxia lay there, his eyes full of him.

Yan Xinfeng had no reason to refuse.

‘What do you want?’

He asked the question once more.

And this time, Wei Tingxia gave an answer.

……

The white ball shot out fiercely, scattering the red balls. One red ball went straight into the top pocket, rolled back along the long table after hitting the cushion, and precisely dropped into the corner pocket. The cue ball kissed two cushions, curved around the black ball, and steadily stopped below the blue ball.

The blue ball went cleanly into the middle pocket. The last red ball, using the momentum, slid toward the side pocket, wobbled twice at the mouth, and finally hung precariously at the most dangerous edge.

It was a stunning Snooker opening break. Once the red ball stopped, the table fell quiet.

Wei Tingxia straightened up, propped the cue stick with one hand, and flashed a provocative smile at his opponent.

The opponent stared at the table for a long time before directly tossing the cue to the waiter behind him.

‘You’ve already won two of my watches,’ he said. ‘Stop, I’m done.’

Wei Tingxia smiled even more happily. After putting down his cue, he patted his opponent’s shoulder twice as he passed by, then bounced over to the nearby round pool-shaped sofa.

Yan Xinfeng heard the noise and looked up. ‘Done playing?’

‘Mm-hmm,’ Wei Tingxia sat beside him. ‘Not much fun.’

‘Lu Zhao swore last night he wouldn’t join any more bets,’ Yan Xinfeng said calmly. ‘And that guy just now was the last one willing to gamble with you.’

Wei Tingxia said, ‘That just proves I’m unbeatable.’

‘Yes,’ Yan Xinfeng didn’t refute at all. ‘You’re amazing.’

Hearing this, Wei Tingxia sat a bit farther away, eyeing Yan Xinfeng’s expression from a distance.

Yan Xinfeng had become so agreeable lately it was downright creepy.

Since that morning conversation, their relationship was close to getting back together, but neither had made it public nor truly clarified things. They just entangled unclearly like this.

Wei Tingxia looked at the world collapse index, which had dropped by a tiny margin, and decided to leave it like this for now, planning something else in a few days.

The half-suspended screen opposite the round pool sofa played international news. Yan Xinfeng was busy with work, so Wei Tingxia watched casually to pass the time.

But soon, his gaze was drawn to a broadcast clip.

The footage showed streets in Country Y, probably just to display local preparations as the event approached. But an unintentional camera pan framed a person hurrying away from a corner.

The man wore a brown beret and a gray jacket, with an ordinary face. He strode across the street and vanished into the crowd.

His appearance lasted only two seconds, but Wei Tingxia saw it.

‘Am I seeing things?’ Wei Tingxia asked hoarsely.

System 0188 flickered twice. [I don’t think so.]

The naked eye couldn’t compare to advanced tech. If it were just Wei Tingxia thinking it looked like him, it might be an illusion, but if System 0188 agreed, it basically was.