Fearing Huo Tingfeng’s ripped muscles, the passerby kept his distance and yelled to Shen Leyuan, “Don’t believe a word from guys like him! One cheat means more—endless times. Don’t forgive him!”
Then he bolted, scared of trouble.
Huo Tingfeng: …
Shen Leyuan: …
Knowing he shouldn’t, Shen Leyuan still couldn’t help his lips twitching up. With unclear meaning, he said, “How was I to know you were impotent?”
Huo Tingfeng covered his face, sobbing. “Even a few months ago, I didn’t know I could get hard. The first day I saw you, I thought you were gentle and gorgeous, right up my alley. But I’m useless, didn’t dare get close.”
He slyly beautified his thoughts, skipping how Little Deer had aroused him and stolen his heart.
But this confession backfired.
Reminded of “love at first sight,” Shen Leyuan recalled Lin Yuan saying something similar. Lin Yao hated him, but on reflection, Lin Yao had vied for attention from the start.
What about Di Junya?
Is he one of the “monsters” too? Will he fall for me soon?
Seeing him zone out, Huo Tingfeng grew sadder.
Before, when he couldn’t see me, he focused on me. Now I’m right here, huge as life, and he ignores me.
It’s my fault.
Huo Tingfeng voiced the words in his heart. “It’s my fault.”
He stopped fake-crying and said with genuine sorrow, “I shouldn’t have hidden it from you. Shouldn’t have deceived you. Shouldn’t have planned to explain after coming back, wrong after wrong.”
“I knew ‘Mr. Chu’ vanishing would hurt you, but I still thought of pursuing you again with what I knew. I’m cowardly, shameless, a total mess—I, I…”
Huo Tingfeng drooped his head dejectedly. “Actually, I just came to apologize.”
Yeah, hadn’t he already thought it through?
Don’t push him, confess honestly and apologize, don’t demand forgiveness, don’t hope for his affection.
So why did he forget everything the moment he saw the guy?
Shen Leyuan said flatly, “We’ll talk about it after some time passes.”
He was a bit tired.
He was starting to understand the big shot’s exhaustion more and more.
“Then…” Huo Tingfeng couldn’t help struggling one more time. “Can we break up after some time?”
Shen Leyuan countered, “What do you think?”
Huo Tingfeng fell silent.
Shen Leyuan sighed again. “I really don’t have the mood to be with anyone right now. At this point, there’s no harm in telling you—one reason I wanted a three-day relationship was so you’d disappear after three days.”
He couldn’t handle a long-term relationship right now; three days of indulgence was just right.
“It’s not even been three days,” Huo Tingfeng’s eyes welled up again. “Only one day—no… not even a full 24 hours!”
He suddenly pulled Shen Leyuan into his arms. “Give me two more days. Give me a chance. Let’s do the things we planned, okay?”
If it had been before today, Shen Leyuan might have considered it.
After all, the guy had saved him, stayed by his side, and even gotten stabbed by him unexpectedly. Continuing the relationship was impossible, but making up those two days? That could work.
But not now.
Pushing Huo Tingfeng away, he said flatly, “Sorry, I don’t have the habit of keeping lingering ties with people.”
Huo Tingfeng started crying again.
Shen Leyuan walked ahead, and Huo Tingfeng chased after him, sobbing. The guy was so tall and looked so fierce, yet he didn’t care about his image at all, just shamelessly playing pitiful for his boyfriend.
As they neared the bus stop, Shen Leyuan suddenly spoke up. “Stop crying.”
Huo Tingfeng’s heart leaped with joy. He thought Shen Leyuan would gently coax him, staying calm even when angry, like he did with Lin Yuan and Lin Yao.
But the young man just spat out one word: “Annoying.”
Huo Tingfeng…
Wronged, sad, heart aching.
Why is he so gentle with others but harsh only with me?
But then he thought again, and Huo Tingfeng perked up: He’s harsh only with me—he treats me differently from others!
He popped a candy into his mouth to console himself and followed onto the bus, habitually sitting beside him. He placed his palm next to his boyfriend’s head to shield him from bumps during the ride.
The familiar illusion washed over him, and Shen Leyuan watched it masochistically.
But this time, it felt different. After who-knows-how-many jolts, amid the students’ screams, it seemed someone was calling his name, trying hard to tell him something.
“Shen Leyuan? Shen Leyuan? Shen Leyuan!”
No matter how much Huo Tingfeng called, he couldn’t wake his boyfriend. They’d already reached the school gate, so he simply slid one arm under his boyfriend’s knees and the other behind his back, hoisting him up in a princess carry.
It took a moment for Shen Leyuan to slowly come to, meeting the stunned gaze of Glasses Guy.
“Brother Shen…”
Glasses Guy asked stiffly, “And this is…?”
Before Huo Tingfeng could answer, Shen Leyuan struggled to his feet and cut in quickly. “Ex-boyfriend.”
He was afraid Huo Tingfeng would spout nonsense.
In reality, he’d overestimated Huo Tingfeng. The man never even considered “away from home, your status is what you claim.” Hearing “ex-boyfriend,” he was even flattered.
“Yes!” He reached out nervously. “Hello, I’m Shen Leyuan’s ex-boyfriend!”
The man’s serious, solemn demeanor left Glasses Guy dumbfounded. After dazedly shaking hands, he whispered to Cold Face, “Just an ex-boyfriend, but why does he act like the main wife?”
Huo Tingfeng’s ears were sharp; he heard every word.
Far from angry, he laughed heartily and said proudly, “I’m the only ex-boyfriend!”
Glasses Guy instinctively retorted, “Lin… ouch!”
A sharp pain in his waist—Cold Face had impassively pinched him.
Shen Leyuan’s face darkened too. Not wanting to watch this inexplicably thrilled man embarrass himself further, he grabbed his sleeve and dragged him away.
It wasn’t until they’d gone quite a distance that he realized: Why did I grab Huo Tingfeng?
Turning back, he saw the man grinning like a flower in bloom.
His face darkened even more. Shen Leyuan schooled his features into cool detachment bordering on indifference. “I’m planning to focus on my studies. I hope you won’t disturb me.”
“No disturbance, no disturbance. I’ll be your bodyguard and protect you.”
Shen Leyuan: “No need.”
“You do need it.” Huo Tingfeng frowned, full of grievance. “Those guys under Lin Yuan are all useless. Today, that Lin whoever wouldn’t let me wait at the gate. They ganged up on me with a rotation to drag me away.”
He sounded extremely aggrieved, pointing to the bruises on his face. “That Lin whoever had bad intentions—he deliberately told the bodyguards to aim for my face!”
Shen Leyuan blurted out, “The big shot isn’t that kind of person.”
Huo Tingfeng pressed his lips together; a flash of hurt crossed his bruised, purplish face.
Shen Leyuan hadn’t known what he looked like before, or what expressions he made while chatting. Now he did, but it didn’t improve his mood.
The irritability burned hotter, hard to suppress.
He said nothing more to Huo Tingfeng, just pulled up his schedule on his phone and got his life back on track.
But with the world so abnormal, how could he relax?
After a few days’ rest, hearing the big shot’s condition had improved a lot, Shen Leyuan returned to the hospital.
The father and son, who were like fire and water, had separate rooms now, so he didn’t see Lin Yao—only Lin Yuan, dressed in a suit and working from his hospital bed.
Working while sick was one thing, but dressing this formally? Being the boss wasn’t easy.
Shen Leyuan glanced a few more times, sighing inwardly with that sentiment.
Lin Yuan’s eyes were on his computer, his body tense despite the relaxed posture, using his peripheral vision to gauge his wife’s expression, hoping for a hint of fascination.
In his previous life, Shen Leyuan loved this look on him.
“Serious men are the most handsome.” The young man would lean in close, planting a soft kiss. “But don’t work nonstop—eat something first?”
Back then, his stomach was bad, so Shen Leyuan hunted down medicinal recipes, supervised his meals daily, even delivering them to the company sometimes.
Back then, everyone knew Shen Leyuan was his love.
Snapping out of the distant memory, Lin Yuan’s heart stirred. He suddenly set down his earphones and asked, “Want to show your face? Let them recognize you.”
Shen Leyuan: “Hm?”
Lin Yuan: “After discharge, I’ll be at the company a lot. If something comes up, you can come straight there.”
“No need,” Shen Leyuan declined politely. “I’ll notify you in advance.”
Lin Yuan nodded in disappointment.
Someone chuckled over the line. “Chatting with Mrs. Lin?”
He sneaked a glance at Shen Leyuan and nodded gravely. “Yes.”
Want to get married, go public, honeymoon—do everything we never got to.
But his wife wasn’t his wife anymore.
He’d gone to special lengths with his hair and outfit, but he hadn’t spared it a second glance, just fiddled with her phone. Who knew if she was chatting with some other man?
Sneakily switching the surveillance to his phone, the fiery red page filled his screen, and Lin Yuan fell silent.
It was the Youth Learning App.
He’ll watch the Youth Learning App but not me—what’s the point of pretending to work seriously?
Lin Yuan quickly ended the video meeting and asked his wife what brought her here this time.
He hoped it was just to visit, but no—Lin Yuan knew his wife too well. With their current relationship, Shen Leyuan wouldn’t drop by without good reason.
Hesitant, conflicted, brows furrowed, Shen Leyuan’s expression was complicated. “Besides Lin Yao, you, Little Deer, and Huo Tingfeng—is there someone else?”
Lin Yuan nodded slightly. He didn’t want to mention that “someone else,” only discussing it recently with Hao Mingrui while keeping Shen Leyuan in the dark.
He avoided it because, in his previous life at this time, that “someone” was already dead. There were only four in his bed total.
Their family couldn’t have one more!
But Shen Leyuan pressed. “Who is the last one?”
Lin Yuan lowered his gaze, looking uncooperative. Shen Leyuan’s head throbbed a bit. He wanted to coax but didn’t really—his patience was wearing thinner lately.
The man waited in vain for sweet words, so he made his own candy.
“If I tell you, will there be a reward?”
Lin Yuan’s expression was deadly serious, more so than during work—like he was asking for a title or something vital.
But what came out was soft: “I’m recovering, so can I have some sick-person food?”
