Lin Yuan wasn’t angry.
He even praised mildly, “You’ve learned well.”
Little Deer’s eyes lit up with surprise, and he suddenly grew excited. “Then…”
“But,” Lin Yuan said leisurely, “I’m your father, and I have the right to discipline you—don’t you agree, Teacher Shen?”
The raging flames between father and son suddenly burned toward Shen Leyuan.
Little Deer tilted his head. “Teacher?”
The boss’s cold gaze and the boy’s expectant eyes both landed on him at once. Shen Leyuan felt half-frozen in ice and half-boiling in lava, like he was standing on a cliff ten thousand feet high where one misstep would shatter him to pieces.
It was actually an easy choice—only a fool wouldn’t prioritize self-preservation.
He had to ensure his own life first before he could teach and accompany Little Deer for the long haul.
“Mr. Lin is right; parents have the right to discipline their children.” Shen Leyuan took a deep breath, met Little Deer’s scorching gaze, and smiled at Lin Yuan, his mind racing with logical analysis.
But what came out of his mouth was, “Discipline must also be moderate and measured; you can’t punish a child arbitrarily.”
The atmosphere suddenly froze over with frost, and the whole world fell silent.
The man’s gaze shifted slightly, his icy stare covering Shen Leyuan completely for the first time, truly taking him in.
“You think I shouldn’t discipline Little Deer?” he asked.
How many was this now?
Self-righteous, short-sighted fools who fancied themselves dragon-slaying heroes, recklessly doling out fake, lust-driven “kindness” in hopes of winning the beauty…
He’d thought this one might be different, but no—reacting in the bathroom yesterday, now mindlessly opposing him for Little Deer. Not far from running off hand-in-hand with the boy and tumbling into bed halfway there, huh?
Lin Yuan suddenly felt a wave of weariness. He raised a hand, summoning the bodyguards to drag the man away.
The young man’s response continued earnestly. “I don’t know.”
“I don’t know if your discipline is excessive. I’ve only been here a short time and don’t know your history with the child. I can’t make snap judgments on right and wrong—that wouldn’t be fair to you.”
Lin Yuan paused slightly.
A bodyguard approached Shen Leyuan and twisted his arm behind his back.
Shen Leyuan’s face paled with pain, but he didn’t beg for mercy. He just spoke faster. “I believe your paternal love is deep enough, and I believe everything you do comes from the heart of ‘wanting what’s best for Little Deer.’ But that’s not enough. I need you and Little Deer to be honest with me, tell me what I need to know, so I can…”
His voice gradually faded, mixed with Little Deer’s sharp cries.
“Daddy, you can’t do this! You promised I could keep the teacher—you promised me! Teacher, Teacher—no bullying the teacher!!!”
Lin Yuan turned a deaf ear, his brows furrowed tightly.
“Fair?” he muttered to himself in confusion. “Do I need something like that?”
No.
The young man had made the wrong move. He wasn’t the type to be swayed by such trifles. He didn’t even care much about Little Deer; raising him was never about “what’s best for Little Deer.” He just…
He sat upright and still for a long time before suddenly saying, “Prepare a check for the one locked up.”
He paused, then added with a frown, “It’s a reward for Little Deer’s progress.”
Not because he admitted fault.
…
When Shen Leyuan was dragged out, he thought he’d end up in the dog cage.
He’d even planned how to howl back at the starving dogs—rush in and bite first anyway. If he was doomed to be bitten, might as well get a few bites in and die less unjustly.
But they only shut him in a small dark room—and it wasn’t even that dark.
It was the monitoring room in the basement… probably the monitoring room, anyway. It was full of powered-off screens, with nothing but a black ergonomic chair, empty in a way that sent chills down the spine.
Two bodyguards stood guard nearby, as if afraid he’d attack the electronics.
With the situation so dire, Shen Leyuan calmed down instead. A worthless life picked up for free—not a loss anyway.
His phone screen had shattered when it fell, leaving him nothing to do, so he sidled up to the bodyguards to chat. “Hey, that guy who went out with me last time—isn’t he around these days?”
The bodyguards ignored him.
Shen Leyuan tried again. “It’s so dark in here, and you’re still wearing sunglasses—can’t you see the road?”
Still ignored.
Bored, Shen Leyuan stared at one of them for a bit, then clasped his hands together and praised sincerely, “Bro, you’re so handsome!”
Even through the sunglasses, he could tell the bodyguard’s face flushed red.
A few minutes later, he tried the same on the other one, with even more exaggerated sweetness, leaning in closer.
The man met his gaze through the shades and squeezed out, “I’m straight.”
Shen Leyuan: “Just complimenting you, not trying to hook up. Why the big reaction? Feeling guilty?”
“Straight guy” turned away and stopped acknowledging him.
Shen Leyuan smiled at him, but inside, he was worried. No wonder it’s the Flower Market—gay guys everywhere. Every quality man I’ve seen so far is gay, including this ‘straight’ bro here.
Little Deer is peak gay bait.
When they drag me off to feed the dogs, who’s gonna change his “the bigger the better” fate?
Luckily, the plot hadn’t reached that point yet.
Less than ten minutes later, the bodyguards respectfully escorted Shen Leyuan out, and he had an extra check in hand.
The amount was staggering—a full million. It made him wonder if the Flower Market had inflation like some place, where the tops all had to be billionaires minimum.
Holding that thin piece of paper, Shen Leyuan hesitated, then went upstairs to find the boss.
It wasn’t that he had to poke the bear right after surviving disaster; he really had serious business. The bodyguards, pissed from his teasing, wouldn’t pass a message, and his phone was totally dead, screen black.
Lin Yuan was a bit surprised but didn’t show it. He only asked coolly, “Here to return the check?”
Would he draw the line like last time and refuse?
Every word and action screamed he wanted out, yet he stuck to Little Deer like glue, willing to risk his life for the kid—were teachers these days so dumb and dutiful?
Shen Leyuan shook his head awkwardly. “No.”
Suppressing the shame that made him want to dig a hole and crawl in, he asked softly, “Can you replace the check I didn’t take last time?”
Lin Yuan’s brows furrowed slightly, his face darkening further. Just this?
Asking only about money felt off…
Shen Leyuan thought it over and tried a suggestion. “The gay ratio among your bodyguards is too high—not good for a kid’s healthy growth. Little Deer’s at that age where he’s starting to develop feelings; he could use some contact with—”
He’d meant the opposite sex, but remembering the Flower Market wasn’t big on straight pairings, dragging girls into it felt wrong, so he changed it to, “peers his age.”
Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes. “I’m too old, is that what you mean?”
Know thyself.
Shen Leyuan desperately wanted to smash that line into the boss’s face, but he didn’t dare.
Luckily, the boss had no intention of punishing him.
The anger sparked by age seemed illusory. Before Shen Leyuan could figure out a response, the emotion faded from the man’s brow, leaving only deep weariness and restraint.
“Get out,” Lin Yuan said in a low voice.
Shen Leyuan pressed his lips together, then suddenly said, “Parents could trust teachers a bit more, actually.”
Lin Yuan looked up at him. “Out. Now.“
Shen Leyuan didn’t push it. He scampered out, leaving Lin Yuan alone to chew on those two words.
Trust?
What breed of stray ghost was this guy, bold enough to demand that from him?
Faint footsteps echoed outside—maybe back to curse him, maybe to kill him. Lin Yuan had never guessed the young man’s thoughts right and had no energy for it now. He just waited for him to show his hand.
Shen Leyuan poked his head in, coughed lightly to signal he was still there.
The boss had his eyes closed, seemingly asleep.
He took the initiative. “Um, just to confirm—the last check, you can replace it, right?”
Lin Yuan: …
Shen Leyuan wheedled pitifully, “You will, right?”
Lin Yuan spat out one calm word: “Scram.”
“Got it, bye!”
Shen Leyuan finally got his due reward.
With a twinge of subtle guilt, he took time off, had a bodyguard escort him to cash the check into a bank card number, fixed his busted phone screen, and contacted the relative who’d cursed him most.
‘Uncle, what’s your bank account number?’
The reply came fast: ‘Uncle my ass! No trash relative as heartless as you! What, trying to scam me again?’
‘Heartless shitstain worm from a cesspool! Meeting you was eight lifetimes of bad luck!’
‘Scram scram scram, go die!’
The guy wasn’t a fast typer, but he had stamina.
Like he could curse till the end of time.
Shen Leyuan knew words were pointless now. He opened WeChat, tried transferring a million at once—failed—then sent it in small chunks, totaling two hundred thousand.
Silence on the other end.
The transfers were accepted. Shen Leyuan sent the prepared message:
‘Uncle, I had an accident recently and can’t remember much from before. I didn’t know about the debts then, but now that I do, I’ll pay them back. You’re at the top of the ledger. I trust you’re the closest to me. Most of my cards are frozen; could you pass the word?’
No response.
That evening, while watching cartoons with Little Deer, a video call came in.
A white-haired old lady cried as she looked at him. “What did you trade for that money? Did you sell a kidney? You can’t do that, Lele! How am I supposed to face your grandma?”
Shen Leyuan floundered, stiffly saying, “Owe money, pay money—it’s only right.”
“Don’t listen to your uncle’s nonsense,” the old lady scolded fiercely. “My money’s mine to spend as I like. It was a gift, not a loan. He’s the heartless one—only has eyes for cash!”
A aggrieved “Mom!” came from the background.
The old lady ignored her son, trembling as she cried again. “Hurry and get that kidney back in. I’ll transfer the money to you. Listen to grandma—don’t make me ashamed to face my old friends after I die.”
Shen Leyuan laughed helplessly. “I didn’t sell a kidney. I’m fine, just got a good job lately with high pay.”
The old lady glared. “What job pays that much!”
Shen Leyuan: “Really, no issue. Want me to lift my shirt and show you?”
He handed the phone to Little Deer, lifted his shirt hem to show his waist. She directed him higher—to check liver, spleen, stomach—exposing his pale, smooth, unscathed skin. Unwittingly, he’d bared his upper body, spinning for the video.
“See? Not a scratch. Rest easy.”
The old lady still hesitated, suspicious.
Shen Leyuan grinned to coax her. “I’m not a kid anymore—can’t let myself get screwed over.”
The uncle chimed in from the side. “Yeah, Mom, Lele’s doing great.”
“Shut your mouth!” The old lady glared at her son, wiped her tears, and chatted with Shen Leyuan—urging a stable job, to visit home—finally pleading pitifully, “Add grandma back; don’t block me again.”
The original owner had blocked a grandma too?
Puzzled, Shen Leyuan saw the uncle signaling behind her, looking guilty as hell.
He didn’t call it out, instead coaxing the old lady to rest in her ward.
With the ball-and-chain mom gone, the uncle hid in the bathroom, mumbling to ask for money. “Still owe forty grand on everyone’s debts.”
He kept his eyes down, avoiding Shen Leyuan’s gaze. “Don’t blame Uncle. I vouched for you back then. You ran, they all came after me, and Mom got sick…”
Money in, old feelings returned.
Shen Leyuan transferred the debt, pretending not to notice the uncle’s reddened eyes.
He didn’t know the original owner’s beef with these folks and had no bandwidth to dig. The photo album did have locked handwritten ledgers. He’d taken the body; he’d pay it off bit by bit.
Felt like the debts went beyond these tens of thousands…
Shen Leyuan recalled the original owner’s million transfers and suddenly asked, “Uncle, what did I do before?”
The uncle thought, uncertain. “Started a company with some guys. Something-something-man, didn’t memorize it.”
“Legal representative?”
“Yeah, yeah—that!”
Shen Leyuan: …
With shaking hands, he opened Qichacha, input the original owner’s info. A bankrupt company in liquidation popped up, his name boldly in the “Legal Representative” field.
Sitting at home, debts come from the sky.
Shen Leyuan sat dejectedly on the edge of the bed, lost in gloomy thoughts. Could I respawn by killing myself?
Little Deer huddled in the corner, his beautiful eyes locked intently on him.
The young man’s waist was slender and pale, his chest layered with a thin sheen of muscle. That elegant line of his spine curved gently as he bowed his head over his phone, vanishing along with the dimples at the base of his back into the waistband of his pants—tempting the eye to follow deeper.
Drawn in like a moth to flame, Little Deer crept closer, his delicate fingertips inching forward.
