The cool beauty forcibly bids for top A: Chapter 53

Shen Yanzhou tossed and turned the entire night.

Because of that almost identical face, he couldn’t help but think of that person through Fu Sizhou. Half a year ago, when he had spent thirty million to acquire and keep that person in his villa, it had already stirred up quite a wave of gossip in Hong Kong’s tabloid newspapers, and even caused the group’s stock price to fluctuate for several days.

Now was the most critical period. He already held a firm grip on forty-five percent of the group’s shares, just a few crucial percentage points away from overwhelming all opposing voices and securing the absolute controlling stake of fifty-one percent on the board.

He had been lying low and enduring for so many years, even managing to deal with hypocrites like Fu Sihan who wore the skin of civilized men while acting like beasts. He was on the verge of firmly securing the chairman position and trampling those old foxes completely underfoot.

If at this crucial juncture, the paparazzi exposed that he had an unclear relationship with the co-president of the Fu Consortium, his nominal future brother-in-law, Shen Yanzhou could almost imagine how those bloodthirsty media would use unspeakably vulgar words to blow a small matter up into a shocking wealthy family sex scandal.

He didn’t know whether it was truly as Fu Sizhou himself claimed, that his pheromones were in disorder which caused him to overstep boundaries, or if he simply wanted to take revenge on Fu Sihan by doing this to him. But he had to make it clear to him that no one was going to mess up his plans.

Shen Yanzhou watched the clock on the wall pass seven in the morning. He sat up and sent Fu Sizhou a message.

[Shen Yanzhou]: No matter what your purpose was the night before last, I’m treating it as getting bitten a few times by a blind dog.

[Shen Yanzhou]: Stop this overstepping behavior. Don’t send me any more messages.

After sending the message, Shen Yanzhou stared at the screen, but his brow still didn’t relax. Yesterday Fu Sizhou had publicly declared on a live broadcast to all of Hong Kong that they weren’t familiar with each other. If today someone suddenly caught a glimpse of the Fu Consortium’s co-president’s WeChat on his phone screen, along with such a long string of entangled chat history…

Shen Yanzhou curled his fair fingers, the knuckles lightly pressing against his full lower lip, unconsciously pressing and lightly biting, then directly clicked: [Delete This Chat].

But that wasn’t enough.

He opened the contact info and cleared the original name. The image of that man holding his dog hostage and making him come pick it up personally surfaced in his mind, so he simply gave him a new nickname—

[Dog Thief].

Not long after he sent the message, after washing up and changing clothes, just as he was about to leave for the company, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang urgently. He had thought it was another call from Fu Sizhou, but when he pulled it out, he realized it was an unfamiliar number with no saved contact.

“Who is this?” He answered the call.

“Yanzhou.” An aged, hoarse voice came through the receiver.

This voice was not unfamiliar to him. It was precisely that powerful old master of the Fu family.

“Uncle, good morning.” Shen Yanzhou’s voice was gentle, his greeting perfectly mannered.

“Yes, there’s a family dinner at home tonight.” The old master’s tone was calm. “After you get off work, come straight to the Fu family ancestral mansion. Sizhou just returned to Hong Kong, and we’ll all be family from now on. For such an important occasion, you as the future sister-in-law should formally meet him.”

Shen Yanzhou’s long lashes lowered slightly. He took a deep breath: “Yes, Uncle. I’ll come over after work this evening.”

***

Shen Yanzhou spent the entire day inspecting the port, and it happened to be Hong Kong’s southerly wind humidity season. After a busy day, he first went home to take a shower and change clothes. When he went out, he saw under the street lamp just a few steps away, standing the man he didn’t want to see.

Fu Sizhou was wearing a dark night blue bespoke suit. Anyone who didn’t know better would think this man was heading to some red carpet event or business banquet.

Seeing Shen Yanzhou come out, Fu Sizhou’s fingers that had been casually holding a cigarette paused slightly. Then, he casually ground out the half cigarette and tossed it into the trash bin, put one hand in his pocket, and stared straight at Shen Yanzhou with his eyes.

Shen Yanzhou saw that he hadn’t replied to his message all day, and had thought he understood boundaries. He hadn’t expected him to be waiting here like a hunter waiting for prey.

He expressionlessly withdrew his gaze, treating this living person as if he were invisible, and walked toward his private car.

He took one step.

The man behind him followed at a leisurely pace.

Their footsteps overlapped together, neither fast nor slow.

Shen Yanzhou walked fast, and the footsteps behind him quickened; Shen Yanzhou deliberately slowed his pace, and the person behind followed suit.

Shen Yanzhou stopped at the car door, his cold, sharp phoenix eyes slightly raised, looking directly at the man who was almost pressed against him: “Fu Sizhou, why are you following me?” Shen Yanzhou’s tone was icy.

Fu Sizhou’s gaze slid over his sexy Adam’s apple, and he let out a low laugh: “Sister-in-law told me not to send messages to bother you.”

“So, I can only wait here for sister-in-law to get off work.”

Shen Yanzhou sneered and reached for the car door, but the man pressed his hand against it. “My car is being repaired. Tonight’s family dinner, can sister-in-law give me a ride?”

“No.” Shen Yanzhou spat out two cold words, not even giving him an extra glance. “Take a taxi yourself.”

But as soon as his words fell, not only did Fu Sizhou not leave, but he took a long step forward, pulled open the passenger door, nimbly sat himself inside, and with a “bang” shut the door.

Shen Yanzhou sat in the driver’s seat, turning to look at this man who had occupied the magpie’s nest: “Get out.”

“No.” Fu Sizhou lounged lazily against the leather seat, turning his head to look at him. “And sister-in-law, this is exactly rush hour. There’s no way to get a taxi here.”

Shen Yanzhou closed his eyes, quickly weighing the pros and cons in his mind.

Fu Sizhou was after all the nominal main character of tonight’s family dinner. If he really caused a standoff with him at this crucial juncture, or dumped him halfway, there was no telling what this unpredictable, impossible-to-read man might exaggerate in front of the old master. Less trouble was better than more trouble.

“First time, and last time.” Shen Yanzhou said coldly.

“Okay, last time.” Fu Sizhou nodded. “And I’m familiar with the Fu family ancestral mansion. With me along, sister-in-law won’t even need to turn on the navigation.”

The black Maybach smoothly drove through the gates of the Fu family estate and finally stopped before the brightly lit steps of the main building.

Fu Sihan had been waiting at the entrance early on. Seeing Shen Yanzhou’s car, he smiled and quickly came forward to greet him.

However, when the passenger door was pushed open and a straight, long leg stepped out, and Fu Sizhou’s face appeared in his line of sight, the smile on Fu Sihan’s face instantly froze.

His gaze suspiciously sized up the space between the two of them: “You two… how did you come together?”

Before Shen Yanzhou could open his mouth, Fu Sizhou smiled carelessly: “Happened to run into each other on the road. My car just happened to break down, so I shamelessly asked sister-in-law to give me a lift.”

Fu Sihan’s brows tightly knitted together, turning to look at Shen Yanzhou: “Is that really how it was?”

“Yes.” Shen Yanzhou responded expressionlessly.

In his heart, he actually secretly breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had some sense not to mention in front of Fu Sihan that the two of them lived across from each other, something that would easily give rise to wild speculation, saving him the trouble of having to explain.

Shen Yanzhou didn’t want to get too entangled with these two, but Fu Sizhou beside him suddenly pressed close.

“Sister-in-law, wait.” His deep gaze landed on Shen Yanzhou’s snow-white, vulnerable nape, and he spoke.

The skin there was far too fair. A poorly made necklace was tangled in his silver-gray hair, pressing against that tender, soft flesh, even pressing out a suggestive, alluring redness at the edges.

Fu Sizhou’s long fingers reached over with extreme naturalness: “Your necklace is tangled in your hair.”

Shen Yanzhou was burned by the temperature of his fingertips. Like an offended, noble cat, he coldly turned his head away, avoiding his touch.

But Fu Sizhou had already smoothly lifted the strands of hair, his fingertips hooking the necklace, looking at Shen Yanzhou with a smile that was not quite a smile: “Sister-in-law, I wonder who bought you this necklace?”

“I bought it for him.” Fu Sihan, standing nearby, watched Fu Sizhou’s hand, his face ashen. “And I personally put it on him.”

“Oh? Bought personally by big brother?” Fu Sizhou released the necklace, mocking: “Brother, how could you pick such a cheap necklace for sister-in-law to wear? It’s already rubbed his neck red.”

Fu Sizhou’s gaze roamed unbridled over Fu Sihan’s gradually greening face, saying coldly: “Or is it that this is something one of your outside lovers didn’t want, and you casually brought it back to fob off on sister-in-law?”

“Fu Sizhou! Don’t talk nonsense!”

“Whether I’m talking nonsense or not, big brother knows best in his heart.” Fu Sizhou’s unfathomable dark eyes stared at him. “If I had a fiance as beautiful as sister-in-law, I would want to present the best in the world before him. I would never buy him such a disgusting, cheap piece of junk.”

Standing nearby, Shen Yanzhou listened to the two men’s conversation, yet showed not the slightest ripple on his face.

Something an outside lover didn’t want?

He didn’t know whether Fu Sizhou was speaking truth or lies, but right now he didn’t even have the desire to reach out and touch that necklace. He directly took it off and tossed it to Fu Sihan: “You two chat slowly. I’m going in first.”

Watching Shen Yanzhou’s departing figure, Fu Sihan’s face looked extremely ugly.

He turned his head, looking at this younger brother covered in thorns: “What exactly do you want to do?”

Fu Sizhou put his hand back into his suit pants pocket, his fingertips lightly rubbing the lingering warmth from having touched that snow-white nape. He lowered his head, leaning close to Fu Sihan, and let out a low laugh in a voice only the two of them could hear.

“Brother, you’re truly pathetic.”

“I’ve already said this much, hinting that you have outside lovers, yet he didn’t even furrow his brow, nor show the slightest sign of anger.”

He looked at Fu Sihan’s ashen face, saying coldly: “This shows that you don’t even have the qualification to make him jealous.”

***

Inside the magnificently splendid Fu family dining room, a black walnut dining table several meters long was covered with top-tier Hong Kong delicacies laid out like flowing water: premium fish maw stewed with sea snails, golden soup abalone, steamed coral grouper…

Old Master Fu sat at the head of the table. Though advanced in years, his cloudy eyes still shone with sharpness. To his left sat an extremely fresh-faced young Omega who looked even younger than Fu Sihan. That was the new lover the old master had recently brought into the household.

“Yanzhou, I heard you handled the deep water port project excellently. Those difficult old bones were all brought to heel by you.” The old master raised his tea cup, and when he looked at Shen Yanzhou, his tone was full of appreciation. “Sihan’s methods in the business world have been too soft these past few years. With you helping him, I can rest assured.”

“Uncle overpraises me.” Shen Yanzhou slightly nodded.

The young Omega sitting beside the old master cupped his face in both hands, his watery eyes practically glued to Shen Yanzhou.

“Brother Yanzhou, how exactly do you take care of yourself?” The little Omega was full of amazement, unable to resist sighing softly. “You have to stand in the sea breeze at the port every day, and stay up late looking at financial reports. How can your skin still be so fair? Under this crystal chandelier, your face doesn’t even have a visible pore. You’re so white you seem to glow…”

Shen Yanzhou was born with this extremely delicate constitution. His bones were light and fragile, his cool white skin so thin that faint blue veins could be seen at his wrists. A slight touch would leave red marks, yet they faded extremely quickly. So in certain people’s eyes, this became something that no matter how much you tormented him, it never seemed enough.

“Born this way.” Shen Yanzhou replied lightly, raising the red wine beside him and taking a sip.

Before the wine even went down, he felt a gaze that could not be ignored.

Fu Sizhou across from him hadn’t touched the chopsticks before him at all. He simply propped his chin on one hand, his pitch-black, deep eyes staring unblinkingly at Shen Yanzhou.

“Speaking of which, Sizhou.” The old master set down his tea cup, breaking this strange silence. “Have you and Yanzhou met before?”

Fu Sihan also stopped his chopsticks, his suspicious gaze sweeping between the two of them.

“We met. Accidentally… bumped into each other’s cars once.” Fu Sizhou replied.

“Bumped cars?” The little Omega exclaimed in surprise. “Was it serious?”

“For me, it was quite fatal.” Fu Sizhou lowered his long lashes, as if savoring some extremely precious scene, murmuring softly, “At the time I didn’t control my speed well, and made a mistake. When he got out of the car, he was wearing a khaki windbreaker. He clearly looked like a very cold and proud person, yet he took full responsibility.”

“At that moment I thought, how could there be someone so good-looking. Not just good-looking, but so gentle too.”

“Cough—” Shen Yanzhou turned his head to suppress a low cough, glaring at Fu Sizhou across the dining table. Why did he have to say such misleading things.

“Yanzhou, did you choke on something?” Fu Sihan patted Shen Yanzhou’s back, then used serving chopsticks to place a piece of rich fish maw sea cucumber into Shen Yanzhou’s bone china dish. “Don’t drink wine anymore. You’ve been too tired lately. Eat this, and properly nourish your body.”

The strong fishy odor and greasy heaviness shot straight into his nasal cavity. Shen Yanzhou’s stomach was inherently fragile, and with the nonstop work these past few days he had little appetite. Looking at that greasy sea cucumber, his brows immediately knitted together, his face turning slightly pale.

“Big brother, take it away.” Fu Sizhou said coldly.

Fu Sihan was stunned: “What did you say?”

“I said, take this thing away from in front of him.” Fu Sizhou stared coldly at Fu Sihan. “He can’t stand this kind of greasy, fishy stuff. Can’t you see he’s already uncomfortable just from smelling it?”

“I’m doing it for his own good!” Fu Sihan’s fingers tightened abruptly under the table, but on the surface he forced out a watertight smile. His gaze locked darkly onto Fu Sizhou, his tone carrying a condescending warning: “Sizhou, you just returned to the country. There are some things you don’t understand yet. Yanzhou and I are about to hold our engagement banquet. His habits, I naturally understand better than anyone. As his younger brother, you’re overstepping your concern.”

“Concern isn’t forcing.” Fu Sizhou didn’t back down an inch. “If he doesn’t want to eat something, no one can make him swallow it. Big brother, if you don’t even understand his real preferences and physical condition, then don’t use the banner of ‘doing it for his own good’ to make him suffer.”

Fu Sihan wanted to continue arguing, but was stopped by Shen Yanzhou waving his hand: “I’m fine.”

Shen Yanzhou only wanted to finish eating quickly and leave early, completely unwilling to participate in this family’s open and hidden struggles.

He hadn’t expected that his ankle would be lightly hooked by someone…

When he raised his face, he saw Fu Sizhou giving him a gentle smile.

The atmosphere at the dining table had become somewhat stiff due to the earlier argument. The little Omega quickly came out to smooth things over, shifting the topic: “Oh, okay okay. Speaking of which, Sizhou is so protective and considerate, and so handsome too. I wonder what kind of person he’ll like in the future?”

With this question, the atmosphere at the table immediately became subtle.

Fu Sizhou didn’t answer immediately. Under the table, his leg pressed against Shen Yanzhou’s calf with extreme attachment, gently rubbing.

Then, his gaze locked onto Shen Yanzhou’s cold, sharp phoenix eyes that were faintly rippling.

“The person I like…”

“Is someone like sister-in-law.”

As soon as these words came out, Fu Sihan’s face went from ashen to charcoal black. The old master’s hand holding the tea cup also paused in midair, his brows tightly knitting together, those sharp eyes sweeping back and forth between his two sons.

Even that little Omega covered his mouth, his round eyes widening into saucers.

Shen Yanzhou, his face unchanged, gave the person under the table who kept bumping against him and rubbing against him from time to time, a vicious kick.

Seeing that he was angry, Fu Sizhou turned his head and unceremoniously nudged with his elbow the second brother Fu Siqi who had been keeping his head down looking at a tablet, wishing he could shrink himself into a transparent person.

“Second brother, don’t you also like someone like sister-in-law?”

Suddenly named, Fu Siqi’s whole body trembled, his black-rimmed glasses nearly sliding off his nose bridge.

He looked at his big brother’s face full of murderous intent, then looked at the scheming younger brother beside him, and finally cast a pleading gaze toward Shen Yanzhou sitting across from him. He was indeed so beautiful that people couldn’t look away. He had thought so at first sight, and he still thought so now.

“I… I, I also like someone like sister-in-law…” Fu Siqi stammered out, following Fu Sizhou’s lead.

“Cough cough, seeing you all getting along so happily puts my mind at ease.” The old master smiled. “Since that’s the case, there have been many matters at the group lately, and you’ve been working nonstop and are tired. After dinner, just stay here. Don’t bother going back. Tomorrow morning let Sihan drive you to the company.”

Shen Yanzhou’s heart tightened. He wanted to refuse: “Uncle, I…”

“It’s settled.” The old master interrupted him. “Moreover, there have been some unpleasant rumors online lately. Since you and Sihan are about to hold your engagement banquet, you should spend more time with your elders. Living together can also make those groundless rumors collapse on their own.”

“If it’s inconvenient, there are plenty of guest rooms here. Just pick a good one and stay.”

With the elder having spoken to this extent, even bringing up the group’s reputation and the engagement matter, he could disregard Fu Sihan’s face, but he couldn’t disregard Old Master Fu’s face.

“Yes, Uncle.” He replied.

***

After the family dinner ended, that fresh-faced young Omega proactively walked ahead, leading Shen Yanzhou upstairs.

“Brother Yanzhou, this is your room.” The little Omega smiled and pushed open the door, pointing to the side. “I live right next door. If you need anything at night, you can call me anytime.”

Shen Yanzhou had just wanted to politely say thank you, his “sorry for the trouble” not yet out of his mouth, when a figure reeking heavily of alcohol strode over from the other end of the hallway.

“No need to trouble you.” Fu Sihan approached with a dark face, pressing his hand against Shen Yanzhou’s door, his eyes carrying the greed of someone emboldened by alcohol. “My own fiance, I can take care of myself.”

The little Omega sensed the atmosphere was off and tactfully turned around to go back to his own room next door.

Only the two of them remained in the hallway.

Shen Yanzhou smelled that mixture of alcohol and top-tier Alpha pheromones on Fu Sihan’s body, and his brows immediately furrowed. It was that disgusting smell again. He felt a physiological wave of nausea, and coldly wanted to close the door: “I want to rest.”

“Tonight we’re sleeping together.” But Fu Sihan, relying on his greater strength, forcibly squeezed into the room, his hands closing the door behind him, his gaze burning as he looked at Shen Yanzhou’s breathtakingly cold and gorgeous face under the wall lamp.

Shen Yanzhou didn’t hide the disgust in his eyes, stepping back to create distance.

Fu Sihan looked at this manner of keeping him at a thousand miles away, and the nameless fire and frustration in his heart completely erupted: “What are you avoiding? Were you bothered by what Fu Sizhou said at the dinner table tonight? Yanzhou, I don’t have any outside lovers at all. Don’t listen to that madman talking nonsense!”

“Fu Sihan.” Shen Yanzhou looked coldly at this hypocritical man before him. “Whether you have outside lovers or not has nothing to do with me, and I don’t care. Don’t forget our original agreement. This is just a business marriage.”

Fu Sihan was stung in his pride. He had worked so hard for so long, yet still couldn’t touch a single corner of this beauty’s clothing. His eyes reddened, and he lunged forward, grabbing Shen Yanzhou’s slender waist that could be encircled in one hand, directly lifting his soft body up, pressing him against the cold wall, and lowering his head to force a kiss on those red lips he had long coveted.

“Slap—!” A crisp, loud sound of a slap rang out.

Shen Yanzhou ruthlessly slapped Fu Sihan across the face. Because he had used too much force, his own fair, fragile palm was shaken numb and red.

Fu Sihan’s head was knocked to the side, red finger marks rapidly appearing on his cheek. He turned back in disbelief, his eyes surging with violent rage, like a wild boar gone mad, panting heavily as he wanted to continue using force: “You dare hit me? Shen Yanzhou, today you must give me…”

“Slap!” Another extremely fierce slap heavily struck the other half of his face.

Shen Yanzhou’s chest heaved violently, his phoenix eyes looking down on him with disdain: “Don’t touch me with hands that have touched others. It’s disgusting.”

“You!” Fu Sihan was completely enraged. However, the half-closed door was kicked open from outside, and the newcomer caught Fu Sihan’s wrist midair with a grip so strong that the sound of bones cracking rang out.

“Hiss—!” Fu Sihan’s face twisted in pain from the agony.

The smile on Fu Sizhou’s face had completely vanished. His pitch-black eyes surged with terrifying killing intent and violence, and he directly threw the man out, not forgetting to close the door when he left.

“Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear him say he wasn’t willing?”

Shen Yanzhou only heard these words. As for what Fu Sizhou did to Fu Sihan outside afterward, he didn’t want to know.

***

In the middle of the night.

Shen Yanzhou washed away the exhaustion of the day and the filthy aura he had just picked up, lying on the soft big bed in the guest room.

But he couldn’t fall asleep no matter what.

The soundproofing of the old mansion wasn’t as good as imagined. Especially when everything was quiet in the deep of night, from the room next door came faint sounds of the old master and that young Omega in extremely absurd, cloying intimacy.

Each sound entering his ears made Shen Yanzhou feel waves of discomfort in his stomach, and along with it, his body felt an inexplicable heat and emptiness due to the changes that had been gradually occurring.

He bit his lower lip in irritation, abruptly turning over in the quilt, wanting to use the pillow to cover his ears.

However, just as he turned around, the tip of his nose suddenly bumped into an extremely hot, hard chest, followed by a faint scent of mint.

By the weak moonlight filtering through the window, he saw that man who should have left, somehow having slipped into his room at an unknown time, lying silently in his quilt, his eyes staring unblinkingly at him.

“Fu Sizhou?”

“Shh—” Fu Sizhou lightly pressed his index finger against Shen Yanzhou’s lips, his dark gaze sweeping over his watery phoenix eyes, lowering his voice: “Sister-in-law, keep your voice down… the soundproofing in this old mansion isn’t very good.”

Shen Yanzhou trembled with anger, yet that coldly gorgeous face was tinted with an abnormal flush. He bit his lower lip fiercely, trying to suppress that tingling softness shooting straight up from his tailbone. But Fu Sizhou’s deliberately released top-tier Alpha calming pheromones wrapped him up tightly.

“Get… get out.”

Before his words even fell, his knees went slightly weak. His cold phoenix eyes were misty with water, his lashes trembling like butterfly wings. Clearly he was desperately shaking his head, yet his neck unconsciously tilted back slightly, revealing that blindingly white nape gland.

“How did you get in?! You were still talking about morality with your brother at the door just now… where is your morality?”

But as he spoke, his trailing voice took on a nasal tone. His struggles were completely without strength. Every push and refusal became a half-push, half-yield tug. His fingertips dug into Fu Sizhou’s chest, but it was like scratching an itch, instead making the person want to press him into his arms and make him cry hard.

Fu Sizhou’s Adam’s apple rolled. He lowered his head, his scorching breath spraying onto Shen Yanzhou’s snow-white, fragrant neck hollow: “My brother is a beast in human clothing. Though he’s a beast, at least he still cares about that layer of clothing on the outside…”

“How are you any different from him?”

In the darkness, Fu Sizhou let out a low laugh.

He raised his head, his warm, rough fingertips obsessively rubbing Shen Yanzhou’s reddened eye corners:

“I’m different from him. I’ve lost all my morals.”

“In front of sister-in-law… I’ve never had any morals.”