Chapter 17: Dog-Blood High Society
【Ninth Uncle, can I come back to the office now?】
He still had to keep up appearances. Gu Xiu sent a message, politely asking if he could return to the office, indirectly expressing his enthusiasm for work.
Good news arrived unexpectedly.
Lu Shichen: 【You can go home first.】
Gu Xiu was overjoyed and didn’t forget to poke 007 a few times in his mind: 【See what I told you!!】
007 adopted the fawning attitude of a treacherous court official: 【Jiujiu! I knew you were the best!】
The two of them basked in the warm winter sun, happily getting off work early. On the way home, they even bought a bag of freshly roasted salted peanuts.
Lu Shichen worked overtime until eight o’clock before coming home. He didn’t rest when he got back, instead calling the idle Gu Xiu to the living room.
“Gu Xiu.” The man’s face was serious. He sat on the sofa with his long legs crossed, his gaze sharp behind his glasses. “Do you know why I asked you to be my assistant?”
The words “to torture me” quickly rolled to the tip of his tongue, and Gu Xiu almost blurted them out. He swallowed and braked at the last second. “Why?”
Lu Shichen gave him a look of disappointment. “I’m your superior. I ask you a question, and you just throw it back at me?”
Gu Xiu grinned, still not serious. “At home, you’re Ninth Uncle.”
Lu Shichen’s eyelids trembled slightly. He picked up the water glass on the table and took a sip, brewing his words for a moment before saying, “You can’t live off your inheritance forever. Sooner or later, you’ll squander it all. If you master a skill, no matter what accident you encounter, you won’t starve to death…”
007 was the first to express its doubt: 【I thought the protagonist gong was just torturing you.】
Gu Xiu was also quite surprised. The novel didn’t mention that the protagonist gong had such intentions for the original owner. He was clearly just looking after his cousin-nephew out of respect for his maternal cousin, making sure he didn’t die on the streets.
The property left by the Gu family’s parents was substantial, enough to ensure Gu Xiu a lifetime of comfort. Even if that failed, there was still Ninth Uncle. A little bit of his generosity would be enough for Gu Xiu to live a comfortable and well-off life.
Taking everything into consideration.
Gu Xiu said to 007 with reason and evidence: 【Isn’t this just an excuse? So he’s still torturing me.】
When Lu Shichen saw his impatient expression, he knew he was spacing out again, not appreciating his elder’s deep meaning at all.
To be fair, Lu Shichen didn’t think he was completely selfless either. If he really wanted to teach and supervise Gu Xiu, he could have handed him over to a subordinate and let him start from the bottom. That way, he would learn more and build a more solid foundation.
It was really hard to deny that there were indeed some unspeakable little thoughts at play.
He wanted to keep Gu Xiu by his side.
“You just sit here and think about it. Tell me when you’ve figured it out,” Lu Shichen said, his gaze darkening as he picked up his phone. “I have to reply to a work message.”
“Oh…”
The next moment, the phone in Gu Xiu’s pocket actually vibrated.
He frowned, then his pupils constricted.
A7993344: 【You there? Let me see some photos.】
A7993344: 【Today I want to see a photo of you washing your face, with water on your Adam’s apple.】
A7993344: 【Within five minutes, I’ll give you fifty thousand.】
Gu Xiu: “!”
Five minutes, fifty thousand.
This message came at the perfect time.
He immediately glanced at the stern-faced Lu Shichen. Under the temptation of money, the little bit of reverence he had was instantly gone.
Lu Shichen noticed his unusual expression first and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Ninth Uncle, I’m going to the bathroom for a second!”
Gu Xiu threw out a clumsy excuse that sounded like it had been fished out of a trash can and ran.
Lu Shichen was silent.
The hand that was tightly gripping the phone, the back of it was taut with prominent blue veins.
Gu Xiu hid in the bathroom and cautiously locked the door.
A7993344: 【Four minutes.】
…Why is there a countdown!
Fortunately, the other party’s request was not excessive. Gu Xiu quickly turned on the faucet and randomly splashed water on his neck. The collar of his white T-shirt, which he wore at home, was also implicated and became soaked.
He then raised his phone, opened the camera, and took a few pictures of himself.
Water droplets hung on his sharp jawline. Those that couldn’t hold on slid down to his neck and collar. The transparent water droplets refracted the warm light of the bathroom, meandering down his fair neck, over his collarbone, and condensed on the light brown mole, crystal clear and translucent.
Because he was in a hurry, he had jogged over to wash his face and take pictures. The white hot mist that came out of his mouth cast a hazy filter over the photos.
The wet white collar clung tightly to his chest, outlining the beautiful lines of his collarbone, revealing the faint curve underneath, a light flesh color.
The “boss” who was admiring the photos at night was the same “boss” Gu Xiu had at the company during the day. He was indifferent, cold, and self-restrained.
But at this moment, he was looking at the photos of his cousin-nephew, who was just a wall away, and his chest was heaving uncontrollably. It took all his rationality to barely control his breathing.
Gugujiu: 【Is this okay, boss?】
Lu Shichen came back to his senses and, without another word, transferred fifty thousand yuan.
Gugujiu: 【Thank you, boss!】
And then there was nothing.
…Why was there no extra bonus this time?
Lu Shichen waited and waited.
Until it was time to go to bed.
Gu Xiu belatedly remembered his unfinished conversation with Lu Shichen and went to knock on his door. He had already changed into dry and fresh pajamas, a shirt style, with the buttons properly done up to the top.
“Um, Ninth Uncle…”
Gu Xiu’s features were sharp and cold, but when he smiled, his temperament was the complete opposite. In the quiet night, he had a jade-like warmth. He was rarely so sincere, saying word by word,
“Ninth Uncle, I know you’re doing this for my own good. I’ll work hard. But you also know that I don’t know anything. If I do something wrong, please be magnanimous. If it really doesn’t work out, you can just find a more professional assistant…”
Then, as if relieved, he showed an even brighter smile before closing the door. “Good night, Ninth Uncle!”
“…”
Before Lu Shichen could even reply, he had already disappeared from the doorway.
With an easy fifty thousand yuan in his account, Gu Xiu was satisfied and ready to go to sleep.
Bzz—
His phone rang again.
A7993344: 【Take off your shirt and take a picture, I’ll give you a hundred thousand.】
At this moment, Gu Xiu had just taken off his shirt and was about to go to sleep. When this message popped up, it felt as if a pair of invisible eyes were spying on him. His scalp tingled, and a chill ran down his bare back.
He had always liked to let his body be close to nature, sleeping shirtless. It made him sleep better. Considering that he was living in someone else’s house and had a system watching him, his pants were spared.
He rubbed his smooth arms and picked up the phone that had fallen on the bed.
A new message just popped up.
【Are you taking it off?】
“…”
Gu Xiu was silent for a moment.
007 was playing dumb over there. He used his mental tentacles to pat the small ball of light hiding in the corner of his sea of consciousness and said, 【Why do I feel like he’s a bit of a pervert?】
【Uh…】 The small ball of light came out and floated slowly in the air. The data-brain 007 understood human relationships even less than Gu Xiu and could only analyze based on existing knowledge. 【Jiujiu, you’re a straight man. It’s no big deal to take off your shirt for a photo. Besides, the other party is just a netizen. He doesn’t know your real identity, and he’s never seen your face…】
Gu Xiu thought so too.
But his intuition had always been accurate. The more he thought about it, the weirder it felt. Every nerve ending was screaming in protest.
And 007, this treacherous minister, was really… he didn’t even know where to start complaining.
【Aren’t you a system from the Jinjiang world? Where’s your professional ethics? Where’s your male virtue?】 Gu Xiu said sternly, lecturing, 【Tsk, you really have no bottom line.】
【…Because I’m a crematorium scum gong system! You’re also a scum gong! Neither of us should look down on the other!】 007 was so angry that the small ball of light expanded to twice its size. These days, he had been browsing short videos with Gu Xiu, and his mouth had become much more glib. He retorted righteously, 【Where is male virtue, where is dignity, where is the address, and where is the contact information… you scum gong! Haven’t you already given out your contact information!?】
“…” Gu Xiu was speechless.
He hesitated again and again.
Gu Xiu lifted the covers and slipped in, deciding to go to sleep. “Forget it, I still think it’s not right.”
But the hundred thousand yuan that had been offered and then taken back kept him awake. He tossed and turned, sighing.
…
“Gugujiu” had not sold his integrity for a hundred thousand yuan. This should have been a good thing that would have made an elder proud.
But Lu Shichen, staring at his silent phone, no matter how many times he refreshed, no new messages appeared. He was so anxious that he couldn’t sit still. Finally, he was pulled up by an invisible force and stood up.
When he came to his senses, he was already at his nephew’s bedroom door.
Although he had held the last line, Gu Xiu’s actions were lawless, self-deprecating, and had no bottom line. If he condoned and tolerated it, he might go further and further down the wrong path until it was irreversible.
Only by being taught a lesson can a person learn.
So, Lu Shichen decided to teach him a lesson.
Even though it was already late at night.
The door was not locked. Gu Xiu always lazed in bed, and almost every morning, Butler Tong had to personally come and “invite” him to get up.
This was the first time Lu Shichen had visited his room in a while.
Gently pushing the door open, the man’s long legs stepped into the quiet and dark bedroom.
The lights were off, and the moonlight shone through the thin gauze, casting a gentle mist on the soft and warm king-sized bed, and on the sleeping young man.
The man’s cold gray pupils darkened in the night, landing on the same spot as the moonlight.
The heating in the room was on high, probably over twenty degrees. The quilt was large and thick. Perhaps it was because he was hot, Gu Xiu, who was sleeping on his stomach hugging a pillow, had exposed both his arms and his entire bare back.
The edge of the quilt fell on the hollow of his waist, just covering the pants he may or may not be wearing underneath.
Lu Shichen was stunned for a moment.
Then he furrowed his brow again.
Gu Xiu sleeps without a shirt?
And in the morning, Butler Tong has to come and wake him up?
So many days have passed, and he knew nothing about this…
“Why are you sleeping on your stomach?”
Gu Xiu had just fallen asleep. In his light sleep, he heard the devilish whisper of his top boss. He immediately jolted up, his black hair a messy mess of curls, his eyes still misty with sleep as he looked blankly at the person who had come in.
Because of his movement, the quilt slid directly to the side, revealing most of his legs.
It was hard to say whether it was good or bad, but those legs were properly covered by pajama pants.
It was just that the waistband of the pants had slipped down to his hip bones, hanging loosely.
Lu Shichen’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
After a long while, he let out a low, magnetic, and hoarse, “Don’t sleep on your stomach.”
“…?”
Gu Xiu nodded silently.
At the same time, he roared in his mind: 【Ahhhhhh I hate daddy-type gongs!】
007, a system, also had a bad temper when woken up: 【Ahhhhhh… so this is your reason for waking me up!?】
Gu Xiu: “…” I’m speechless. I’ve never seen a data-brain that needs to sleep.
Lu Shichen came over in the middle of the night, only to leave such a sentence.
He came and went inexplicably.
Gu Xiu frowned, then quickly relaxed. He muttered a few words, covered himself with the quilt, and lay down again, obediently facing the ceiling.
While Gu Xiu was sound asleep, Lu Shichen, who had fled the room with the last shred of his rationality, was in a turmoil.
When he got to the corridor and looked down, the overhead light happened to be shining on his hips. The loose, thin home pants couldn’t hide the change.
He took a deep breath and walked back to his room with a calm pace, as if nothing had happened.
Leaning his back against the closed door, he realized his back was covered in hot sweat.
Even though the image of the young man lying on the bed was still lingering on his retina, his body was not listening to him.
“…Damn it.”
He couldn’t help but curse himself in a low voice.
But the person who thought he was strictly self-disciplined and had a strong willpower soon gave up his rationality in that comfortable feeling.
He even took out his phone, opened the photos he had just received tonight, and his hazy, unfocused gray eyes were glued to them, unblinking.
In his 28 years of life, it was the first time he had felt that immoral, forbidden, and almost destructive pleasure.
Finally, all the sensual fantasies dissipated in an instant, and a layer of mist covered the lenses of his glasses.
He took off his glasses and pushed back his damp bangs.
Looking at the untouchable person in the photo, then at his own lonely hand, he felt a wave of emptiness.
