His ear tips flushed red at once. “I’m not wearing it! It’s too… too revealing…”
The woman burst out laughing. “You’ve come straight out of a brothel, and you’re still dressing like a nun? Who are you trying to impress?”
Luo Li blinked in bewilderment.
Brothel?
“That Huo guy loves this sort of thing—pretty boys dressed like this.”
The woman’s smile turned suggestive. “Big Brother Chu, you’re a man yourself. You must get it, right?”
Chu Jing paused, frowning as he nodded.
Truth be told, he didn’t really get it.
What was the appeal of a guy baring his chest and ass?
Yet as he glanced up, his gaze happened to land on Luo Li’s slender fingertips, clenched tight.
Even the tips of his fingers were so pink.
Who knew? Maybe some people really did like looking at that.
Sudden realization dawned on Luo Li. He flung the clothes to the ground, on the verge of tears from sheer anger.
Chu Jing hurried after him. He pinned the teenager against the door, the boy bristling all over like an angry cat. “You’re lying to me! I don’t want to go to any brothel!”
“Hey, I’m not sending you to a brothel. Don’t cry—listen to me…”
A floppy little thing like him was a handful even when mad. Chu Jing was utterly at a loss.
With the whole alley starting to stare at them, he hardened his tone. “Aren’t you afraid Old Ghost Huo will come sniffing around for real?”
Luo Li went rigid. Of course he was afraid.
“I’ve done some digging,” Chu Jing continued. “This room used to belong to a male prostitute—Huo Jieqi’s old flame, his little side-wife in this outer residence. Old Ghost Huo’s the persistent type. He’ll come after you sooner or later.”
Luo Li was still reluctant. “I don’t wanna wear that thing…”
“That hustler died of leprosy. Who knows what filthy diseases are lurking on his other clothes? You dare put them on?” Chu Jing cajoled him patiently. “Come on, good little brother. You’re a boy—showing a bit of skin won’t hurt.”
It felt like Chu Jing was messing with his head.
Still, he had a point. Luo Li was just a boy—no one would take advantage. What did it matter what he wore?
Pouting, Luo Li snatched up the garment.
The teenager slipped into another room to change. Chu Jing sat at the table, sipping tea.
The woman watched his expression, utterly baffled.
She’d assumed he was here to sell the pretty boy to her establishment. Clearly not.
Chu Jing was a big shot around these parts, yet she’d never seen him so meek and mild.
“Got a room for the night?” he asked abruptly.
She hesitated. “We do… but it’s rowdy here after dark. You sure?”
Chu Jing slammed his teacup down with an awkward thud. “Quit yapping. That kid’s green as they come. If I don’t toughen him up a bit, he’ll fumble everything once we hit the mansion.”
How else could he pass as Huo Jieqi’s little wife if he couldn’t even handle the basics? They’d see right through him in a heartbeat.
The woman gave a knowing chuckle. “Just make sure you don’t fumble first.”
Chu Jing shot her a glare.
As if he would.
Before long, the door to the next room creaked open.
“What’s the holdup?” Chu Jing called. “Come on out.”
Luo Li’s voice floated over, soft and whiny. “I-I’m not coming out. You just said try it on, not wear it outside…”
Chu Jing wasn’t about to argue. He yanked the door open.
Luo Li let out a little yelp, clutching his bare, milky-white arms to his chest. His snowy cheeks burned red as he tried to cover the sheer cutout over his chest.
He stood with his back to Chu Jing. The white tassels swaying from the small of his back slipped free with a twitch, dangling like a little tail between his legs.
Chu Jing’s head spun. “Drop your hands.”
“No way!” Luo Li refused.
He didn’t dare move an inch, terrified he’d accidentally flash something even more mortifying.
The qipao hugged his plump thighs tight, a sliver of pink flesh spilling over. Under Chu Jing’s stare, he clamped his legs together in timid shame.
His gorgeous face was etched with humiliation, his damp eyes peeking back at Chu Jing with a hint of accusation.
It really was short.
And… so very pink.
The peach-pink fabric made the boy’s skin look impossibly white and tender, like it might drip water at a squeeze. Blushes dusted his shoulders and knees from the sheer embarrassment, while his long hair draped down his back, veiling most of his spine.
He was always in ragged beggar rags—nothing like this. Chu Jing had thought his face was girlish before, but now, every inch of him screamed pampered young miss.
How could anyone be this stunning…
Thank goodness he was just a little beggar.
If he’d truly been some eldest miss, a roughneck like Chu Jing wouldn’t get to nibble the hem of her skirt in a lifetime.
For some reason, that word “mongrel dog” popped back into his head.
Damn it…
He really might be turning into one.
“Alright, alright—that’ll do,” Chu Jing said, his gut tightening as he stood stiffly. “I’ll step out for a bit. Be back soon.”
Luo Li blinked at the woman in confusion. “Where’d Big Brother Chu go? He won’t just ditch me in a huff, will he?”
The woman nearly choked.
“No, he won’t.”
“I’ll go find him, then…”
“Don’t!” She stopped him. “He’ll come back once he… handles it.”
Handles what?
Luo Li was lost.
…
The woman cleared out a side room for them—spotless, complete with platters of fruit and sweet pastries.
Luo Li’s eyes lit up. He plopped at the table and tore into the candied fruit, Chu Jing’s threadbare gray rat-fur jacket draped over him, the hem pooling at his ankles.
On the table lay a few photographs—Chu Jing’s cheat sheet for the Huo household faces, so he wouldn’t draw blanks at the mansion.
Huo Cheng, the eldest son: steady, upright, and incorruptible.
Huo Lan, the second: sickly in his youth, now reportedly a gibbering lunatic.
Huo Yin, the third: a haughty prodigy fresh from abroad, worldly and sharp.
Master Huo also had a sister, Huo Xing’er—a devout, wealthy Buddhist lady. That was all they knew.
Luo Li pored over the family portraits until drowsiness overtook him, and soon he crawled into bed.
…
When Chu Jing returned, he found the little figure curled up asleep on the kang.
Two slender legs like jade lotus stems poked from beneath the coarse gray jacket, delicate ankles crossed and rubbing slowly in his dreams.
He barely took up a corner of the bed—plenty of room even if Chu Jing stretched out full-length behind him.
He’d scarcely settled when that alluring sweet scent wafted from Luo Li again.
The little beggar was clean and loved his baths, but without fancy soap, where was this fragrance from?
As if possessed, Chu Jing leaned in for a sniff.
He parted the long hair at the boy’s nape, revealing skin white and soft as fresh tofu. Shoulders so narrow and fragile, waist so slim—it’d snap like a twig under a rough bump…
No.
Who’d ever bump him like that?
This was just to make him pass as that male hustler. No one was handing him over to the Huos for real.
If those prissy bastards tried anything, Chu Jing wouldn’t hesitate to throw down.
Though the young masters probably wouldn’t stoop to a beggar anyway…
The boy rolled over, his face now squarely in Chu Jing’s view.
The jacket had fallen open a bit. He still wore the peach-pink qipao underneath.
Side-lying as he was, the cutout at his chest squeezed out a faint… crease of milky skin.
Barely there, really—but impossible to ignore.
Chu Jing’s mind went blank, the world tilting off its axis.
【Oh oh, Baby’s got cleavage if he squeezes!】
【Wuwu, Baby eat more papaya, drink more soy milk, okay? Hubby wants to see the jiggle~】
【What?】
【Such a bold mutt!!】
【Boob window perfection—thanks Little Rabbit Bodhisattva! Boob window revived my manhood】
【Sneak in a grope amid the chaos】
The barrage streaked by in a frenzy. Chu Jing’s vision swam.
He yanked the quilt up, swaddling the boy tight.
Luo Li must’ve felt too warm. Soon his little head poked out again, cheeks rosy, tongue flicking over his lips as if savoring the candied fruit from before.
Chu Jing sat up. He itched for a smoke but held back.
His belt felt tight around the waist again—though he’d just relieved himself not long ago.
For a burly guy, he wasn’t overly lustful, or he’d have a wife by now.
He swore he wasn’t thinking of Luo Li on purpose. It was just… that qipao had hit like a thunderbolt.
Enough to make him lose a whole month’s worth in one go.
Fuming, Chu Jing pinched the bridge of his nose and headed for the door—only to catch strange noises from next door. Johns at it.
He’d talked big about grinding down Luo Li’s edges, but the boy slept like a log while Chu Jing tossed and turned.
He paced the room as the racket drilled into his ears. He half-wanted to gun down the bastard next door.
In the end, he just gritted it out until the place fell quiet again, his foul mood finally easing.
Back at the bed, he saw Luo Li had kicked half the quilt off. His snowy little feet dangled out, toes curling against the sheet.
Chu Jing reached out to pull the blanket back over him, but the moment his fingers brushed Luo Li’s ankle, he sensed something was off.
The blanket was wedged tightly between the boy’s legs, his knees pressed together so firmly that the soft flesh of his thighs bulged out in two alluring curves against the fabric.
Luo Li was sleeping soundly, lost in some dream, clutching the edge of the blanket without conscious thought as his legs coiled around it, holding it in a gentle squeeze.
A rough surge rose in Chu Jing’s throat. With grim resolve, he yanked the blanket free.
Luo Li’s cheek pressed into the pillow, his eyelashes fluttering as he slowly opened his eyes.
He saw Chu Jing standing beside the bed, face dark with gloom, and fear instantly gripped him. “B-Boss…”
Chu Jing had no idea where this surge of inexplicable anger had come from. He wanted to snap at the boy, but he couldn’t find any real justification for it.
Damn it. He could hardly come right out and tell him to stop clamping his legs like that, could he?
What the hell kind of thing was that to say?
Luo Li was still dwelling on the slap Chu Jing had given him earlier that day, his heart uneasy as he meekly shoved the blanket over a bit. “Boss, here—cover yourself. I didn’t mean to steal your blanket.”
Chu Jing drew in a deep breath and pushed him flat onto the bed.
His gaze fixed on those two fair, tender legs, and he felt like he might actually explode.
Was he really going to send him off to Zhaohua Mansion?
He knew full well that he’d already spoken to the man in question; backing out now would probably be too late.
But what if he just flat-out refused to hand him over? So what if he reneged on the deal?
Luo Li had never seen this look on his face before. Part of him quailed in fear while another part pleaded softly in a small voice.
“I-I’ll be a good… outer chamber.”
“I’ll learn how to serve a man properly.”
“Boss…”
Sob sob, don’t look at him like that—with such scary intensity.
