Sanqianwan had lied to Shen Yanzhou. In reality, Fu Sihan had left long ago, and even that useless younger brother, Shen Xiuming, had already vanished without a trace. But he just loved holding the person in his arms too much, forcing him to come up with all kinds of excuses to keep him there.

“When did you get hard?” Shen Yanzhou did not take the bait. In his eyes, Fu Sihan and Shen Xiuming were different. Even if Fu Sihan was his fiancé in name, he was still just an outsider. The only person he actually needed to hide from was Shen Xiuming. Yet sitting straddled on the man’s lap, he could clearly feel the heat of the mass pressing against him, incredibly hot.

“I’ve been hard for a long time,” the man replied honestly, lowering his head. The composure he had displayed just a moment ago instantly vanished. Being asked so directly by him, he was actually a bit damn shy. He nuzzled repeatedly against the crook of Shen Yanzhou’s neck, and it wasn’t just his face doing the rubbing. The unspoken understanding between adults was something they both fully grasped. He really wanted to do it with him. He wanted to hold him right here and do it. In the alley, in that cramped space, even before he held him to kiss him, he had already reacted just by leaning against him. The mere thought of the warmth inside his body tightening around him like countless little mouths wrapping him up was enough to drive him completely insane.

He took Shen Yanzhou’s hand, pressed it against his own burning cheek, turned his face, and deeply sniffed the delicate palm, breathing in his wonderful scent. “Master, can you… give it to me right here?” “Please, can we just do it in the car?” Inside the cramped vehicle, the man was radiating the kind of pheromones meant only for mating. Even though the man’s eyes were full of longing, and Shen Yanzhou himself had been stirred up with a trace of desire by his antics, there was no way he was going to mess around in the car with this dog. “Let go.” With a cold face, he forcefully yanked his hand back, gracefully climbed off the man’s lap, and sat back in the driver’s seat, as if the person with disheveled hair and flushed eyes just now hadn’t been him at all. “Go sit in the back. Don’t distract me from driving.” Seeing the man looking incredibly aggrieved and about to open his mouth to say something else, Shen Yanzhou cut him off first.

“The back is spacious, and no one can see.” “If it bothers you that much, rub it yourself. There are pillows in the back. If all else fails… find something yourself to get it out.” Hearing this, all of Sanqianwan’s fierce intensity from earlier, the vibe of wanting to swallow the man whole, completely vanished. He opened his mouth, but in the end could only emit a whimpering sigh. Drooping his furry head, he opened the passenger door and crawled into the back seat all by himself. Plunging from heaven to rock bottom took nothing more than a single sentence from Shen Yanzhou. This was already the second time. He pulled the cardboard box into his arms. The little stray dog inside was awake now, straining to prop itself up on its front paws. Its wet nose sniffed around as it tilted its head, which was stained with engine oil and muddy water, looking straight at Sanqianwan. Sanqianwan was also looking down at it. Two pairs of pitch-black eyes met just like that in the dim interior of the car.

The puppy’s eyes were full of the daze of surviving a disaster. Sanqianwan looked at its deformed, broken hind leg, and then thought back to Shen Yanzhou’s cold words just now. The tiny bit of joy that had just surfaced in his heart, the thought that he had become a special presence to Shen Yanzhou, instantly dissolved into nothing. He raised a fingertip and gently tapped the puppy’s mud-stained nose. “Lucky you,” the man ridiculed himself. “You’re crippled, so Master can feel sorry for you, carry you into the car, and let you sleep in the garden.” “What about me?” Sanqianwan pursed his lips. His eyes were on the puppy, but his words felt intentionally directed at Shen Yanzhou. “I’m nothing more than a sex toy.” Only when Shen Yanzhou’s heat cycle arrived and he wanted a release would he grant him a bit of warmth.

Once he wasn’t needed, he was ruthlessly thrown aside. Even though he was hurting like hell right now, Shen Yanzhou would only look on coldly, finding his aroused state too unsightly. The puppy tilted its head as if understanding half of it and licked his fingertip. As the man and the dog looked at each other, it was hard to tell who was more pitiful. The more he thought about it, the more wronged he felt. Curling up in the corner, his eyes red, he held the cardboard box, his gaze darting toward Shen Yanzhou from time to time. In the front, Shen Yanzhou, who was driving, glanced through the rearview mirror to watch the big dog holding the little dog.

The big dog’s eyes practically screamed, “Master is ignoring me, I’m about to break.” The pheromones from his unsatisfied desire drifted over intermittently, sticky and pathetic. Truly… he had picked up a handful of trouble and brought along another piece of trouble. Shen Yanzhou sighed. Taking advantage of a red light, he reached out, took off his coat, and draped it firmly over Sanqianwan’s head, covering his pitiful eyes. The man frantically pulled the coat down. It still carried his wonderful scent. He buried his face deeply into the clothes, taking a greedy, deep breath, his nostrils flaring and his chest heaving violently. When he raised his head again, his line of sight crashed right into Shen Yanzhou’s in the narrow rearview mirror. Sanqianwan felt his entire body go weak just from his look. The slight grievance and disappointment from earlier vanished. Right there in that tiny space, he used his eyes to do all the things that couldn’t be spoken out loud, over and over again.

The Number Eight Typhoon made landfall in the middle of the night. When Shen Yanzhou woke up, the first thing he heard was the sound of claws scratching against the carpet, along with the anxious breathing of a small animal. Somewhat dazed, he reached out to rub his dry eyes, his fingertips brushing past his slightly flushed eyelids and bringing away a faint hint of moisture. Then, he saw a pair, no, two pairs of eyes by the bedside. One large, one small, two pairs of pitch-black, wet eyes were resting uniformly against the edge of the bed, staring at him without blinking. The little stray dog that had been so filthy yesterday had already been washed completely clean by the man. Its fur was blown fluffy and soft, revealing its original light yellow coat.

It shrunk into Sanqianwan’s arms, looking incredibly small and pitiful. When Sanqianwan saw Shen Yanzhou wake up, his eyes lit up. He reached out with his large hand, gently pinched the puppy’s floppy front paw, and clumsily waved it toward Shen Yanzhou on the bed. “Good morning, Master. Do you still have to go to work today?” The puppy: “…” The puppy didn’t understand, but the puppy didn’t dare move. It could only open its large, innocent eyes and, following Sanqianwan’s movements, was forced to pay respects to the man with the highest status in the house. Looking at these two creatures with identical expressions that practically screamed “please keep me,” the morning grumpiness that was about to come out of Shen Yanzhou turned into a very soft sigh. He buried his face back into the pillow, giving a heavy, nasal “mm.”

“Then…” Seeing that he hadn’t flipped out, Sanqianwan grew a bit bolder. He squeezed the dog’s paw and shook it again, his eyes flickering with pleading. “Master, could we not take the Hung Hom Tunnel route? Could you take me and this guy to the pet hospital on the way?” “Its leg is broken, and it whimpered all night long. I want to take it to get its leg set.” Shen Yanzhou didn’t say anything, his gaze falling on the little thing curled in the man’s arms. The little thing looked much easier on the eyes now. It was no longer that filthy ball of mud, looking instead like a fluffy piece of mochi, so well-behaved that it made one’s heart soften.

Who knows whose personality it took after. Holding the blanket close, Shen Yanzhou’s long silver hair slid down his slender shoulders, covering half of his face that wasn’t fully awake yet. He slowly extended his hand, stopping in front of the puppy. He gently poked the puppy’s damp, cool, black nose. Once, and then again. The sensation from his fingertip was soft, wet, and carried the unique warmth of a small animal. The puppy didn’t hide. Probably sensing that this beautiful human meant no harm, it wrinkled its nose, tentatively stuck out its pink little tongue, and quickly licked the pad of Shen Yanzhou’s finger. “!” Shen Yanzhou’s finger twitched, and he quickly pulled it back. He pursed his lips, a trace of awkwardness flashing across his cold face, while a deep flush slowly crept up the tips of his ears. He probably didn’t know that his current appearance, clutching the blanket with messy silver hair, wanting to touch but acting a bit shy, was ten thousand times cuter in the man’s eyes than that puppy. “Mm.” Shen Yanzhou turned his face away, falling back onto the pillow, pulling the blanket over his head. His muffled voice came out from beneath the covers. “Bring it to the car.” This puppy was actually a bit cute.

After dropping that large and small pair of troublemakers off at the entrance of the pet hospital, Shen Yanzhou returned to the company. He originally intended to go look for Shen Xici, but to his surprise, Shen Xici had already arrived at the CEO’s office ahead of him. “Brother, you asked me to check into Shen Xiuming’s affairs.” Shen Xici’s voice was gentle, his hand holding a freshly printed, still-warm report. “Over the past two days, millions of US dollars have been hitting his account in consecutive batches. It’s routed through an offshore account in the Cayman Islands.” “This money came in far too easily. Brother, do you need me to trace the source of this cash, or have the risk management department freeze it for him?” “No need to freeze it for now, let him do as he pleases.” Shen Yanzhou poured himself a glass of ice water.

This money was most likely transferred into his account by Fu Sihan, but this was actually for the best. Doing it this way proved that Shen Xiuming and Fu Sihan were not in a physical relationship, but rather a transactional one. If it were a physical relationship, with Shen Xiuming’s useless brain, he would probably be completely used up, helping the scum count the money even after being dumped. A pure financial relationship was actually easier to handle. As long as their interests clashed and something went wrong, the two of them would just tear each other apart like dogs biting dogs. “Shen Xici, for the next two days, no matter what Shen Xiuming wants, let him have it.” “But brother,” Shen Xici frowned, speaking with concern, “this is a substantial amount of money. In case someone catches wind of it, or the board of directors…” “That’s exactly the effect I want. It’s best if it gets discovered.” A cold indifference filled the depths of Shen Yanzhou’s eyes. “A pig needs to be fattened up before slaughter to carry enough weight. Moving against him now wouldn’t even hurt.” “Rip the opening wider for him, make him think he’s doing it flawlessly. Send a few more people to keep an eye on him, twenty-four hours a day, keep him under full surveillance.” “Understood.”

With official business handled, Shen Xici closed the folder, yet he showed no intention of leaving. He stood in place, his gaze shifting toward a corner of the office. A large, beautifully wrapped bouquet of Ecuadorian white roses sat there, the petals still carrying water droplets, delicate and dripping, clearly having just been flown in. “By the way, brother.” Shen Xici’s tone carried a hint of disgust. “Fu Sihan had someone deliver that bouquet earlier, saying it was for you. I told them to leave it over there for now.” Shen Yanzhou followed his line of sight and looked over. “Heh.” Shen Yanzhou let out a very faint, cold chuckle, disgust flashing in his eyes. “It seems he’s done plenty of background research on me for the sake of this marriage, at least putting in some basic effort.” “However, I don’t care for things meant just for show.” “Xici, go tell the front desk that there’s no need to bring this kind of flower up anymore in the future, just throw them away.” “It carries the scent of someone it shouldn’t, and keeping it here gives me a headache.” “Alright, brother.” Shen Xici nodded obediently, a flash of satisfaction in his eyes.

He knew his brother wouldn’t think much of that guy named Fu Sihan. Even though Shen Xici was done speaking, he still didn’t leave, showing no desire to go. “Why haven’t you left yet?” Shen Yanzhou raised an eyebrow. “Is there something else?” Shen Xici pursed his lips, hesitated for a long moment, then took half a step forward, resting both hands on the edge of the desk, looking at Shen Yanzhou with wet eyes. “Brother.” “Mm?” “That dog brother is keeping…” Shen Xici kept his voice very low, testing the waters. “How long do you plan to play with him?” How long? He really hadn’t thought about that question. Initially, it was just a spur-of-the-moment purchase to handle the marriage alliance. Later, he found out the guy was great at cooking and that stepping on his abs felt very comfortable, and then later… The image of those two pairs of wet eyes, one large and one small, flashed through Shen Yanzhou’s mind.

Now the house didn’t just have a big dog, but a little one too. He wondered how that little thing was doing at the pet hospital. Did the doctor give it anesthesia? The bone was broken so badly, would it cry out in pain when it was set? That big one looked so clumsy, who knows if he could take good care of the little one? Shen Yanzhou shook his head, his expression faint. “I haven’t decided.” Shen Xici assumed his brother hadn’t had his fill of that man yet, and the light in his eyes instantly dimmed quite a bit. Shen Yanzhou snapped out of it, pushing those chaotic thoughts down. He glanced at the darkening sky outside the floor-to-ceiling window. A storm was brewing, and the waves in Victoria Harbour were probably already starting to churn. “Xici, by the way.” “The Number Eight Typhoon is passing through these next two days.” “Notify the administration department. Starting at two this afternoon, the entire company gets off early for the holiday.” Speaking up to this point, that face which was always as cold as frost softened up. “Let the employees head home early. For those who live far, arrange vehicles to drop them off. Try to tell them not to go out, safety first.” “Come back to work once the typhoon passes.” “Alright, brother.” Shen Xici nodded.

At two in the afternoon, the stream of people in the Shen Corporation building began to grow bustled. The employees’ faces bore uncontrollable joy from the unexpected time off as they packed up their things to rush home before the heavy rain hit. After finishing his paperwork, Shen Yanzhou also headed downstairs, spotting two figures, one large and one small, crouching by the Maybach from a distance. Sanqianwan was just holding the dog, shrinking aggrievedly right next to the car tire as he squatted. Hearing footsteps, the man raised his head and stood up. Perhaps because he had been squatting for too long, his legs were a bit numb, causing his frame to stagger slightly. The puppy in his arms was also woken up by the movement, poking a small furry head out from his arm, its black eyes staring tearfully at Shen Yanzhou. “Sanqianwan? Why are you here?” Shen Yanzhou walked over and asked. Because I was afraid you’d be in danger.

Because after being apart for just a little while, I missed you terribly. But the words reached his lips and were swallowed right back down. He hoisted the puppy in his arms a bit higher, using this little guy who was still yawning as a shield. “Master, this little guy…” Sanqianwan squeezed the puppy’s uninjured paw. “Its leg was just set, and the doctor said to keep it warm, it can’t catch a chill.” “Should we take a trip to the pet store?” He looked tentatively at Shen Yanzhou, then pointed at the bare patches of fur on the puppy. “Buy it some clothes to wear? And while we’re at it… buy it some dog food? It seems hungry.” The puppy: “?” It had literally just been fed a can of premium dog food at the hospital, and its belly was still completely round. But feeling the man holding it frantically scratching its belly with his fingers as a hint, the puppy cooperated perfectly, letting out an “awoo” and even taking the opportunity to nuzzle into Sanqianwan’s chest. Shen Yanzhou lowered his eyelashes, his gaze falling on the puppy’s hind leg, which was wrapped tightly in white bandages. It was wrapped up like a tamale. Looking at these two dogs with perfectly synchronized expressions, the corner of Shen Yanzhou’s mouth twitched in an unnoticeable smile. “Get in the car.”

As a stroke of luck in their misfortune, they managed to make it back home before the downpour started. The puppy didn’t get wet. Sanqianwan acted like a tireless mover, kneeling on the edge of the carpet, responsible for opening the bags one by one. Shen Yanzhou sat cross-legged in the middle of the carpet, studying the ingredients on the dog food labels with a serious face. “This one only has forty-five percent meat content, too much starch.” Shen Yanzhou’s brows knit tight, throwing the dog food with a Golden Retriever printed on the packaging to the side in disgust. “Junk food.” “This one has added deep-sea fish oil, says it’s good for the coat…” He picked up another bag, his eyes earnest. “But it doesn’t state the purity of the fish oil. What if it’s low-grade oil?” Because he was looking so intently, his lips were slightly pursed, a few stray strands of hair falling over his forehead, radiating a soft, domestic warmth absolutely unseen on normal days. The movement of Sanqianwan’s hands, which were holding a freshly unwrapped chew stick, had stopped long ago.

He knelt there, his eyes fixed squarely on Shen Yanzhou. Watching him surrounded by a pile of colorful dog toys, his eyes lowered, looking incredibly gentle. He had never imagined that on a rainy night during a typhoon, he could be together with the person he had missed for many, many years, watching over a dog. “Hand me that box,” Shen Yanzhou suddenly spoke up, pointing to the ribbon-tied gift box nearby. Sanqianwan snapped out of it and hurried to hand it over. It was packed full of pet clothes. Back at the store, Shen Yanzhou hadn’t even picked out styles, basically just buying every single style available. “Come here.” Shen Yanzhou waved at the bewildered puppy shrinking in the corner of the sofa.

Although the puppy had a broken leg, under the temptation of the beautiful master, it resiliently hopped over on three legs, burying its head straight into Shen Yanzhou’s lap. Shen Yanzhou held it on his knees, his movements gentle to avoid its injured leg as he picked out a hoodie with a yellow duck bill hat from the box, clumsily slipping it over its head. “Don’t move.” The puppy’s head got stuck, and it let out a couple of whimpers. Shen Yanzhou frowned, softly coaxing it with “be good, it’ll be done in a second” while carefully straightening out its floppy ears. It was on. The originally gray little street mutt instantly transformed into a round little yellow duck. Seeming to feel that its outfit was a bit strange, it raised its head blankly, blinking at Shen Yanzhou, looking both silly and dense. “Pfft.” Shen Yanzhou couldn’t help but let out a very soft laugh.

He extended his long index finger, tapping the wobbling duck bill on the puppy’s head. “Too dense.” Shen Yanzhou voiced his distaste, yet his hand honestly rubbed its head, smoothly pulling the hoodie’s cap over it as well. To the side, Sanqianwan was still deathly gripping that chew stick that nobody wanted. Watching Shen Yanzhou smile so beautifully, smile so completely without guard at a dog. The more Sanqianwan thought about it, the more sour his heart felt, like he had swallowed a whole unripened lemon. He was clearly right here, such a massive person kneeling right on the side, yet in Shen Yanzhou’s eyes, it seemed only this puppy dressed as a little yellow duck remained. He felt that this chew stick he was squeezing in his hand was completely extra.

He lowered his eyelids, gently placing the unwanted chew stick on the edge of the carpet. “What are you thinking about?” Noticing Sanqianwan’s disappointment, Shen Yanzhou set the puppy in his arms aside, letting the little thing dressed in the yellow duck hoodie roll around clumsily on the carpet. Instead, he gripped the man’s wrist, using a bit of force with his fingertips to slowly push the man’s sleeve upward. On the wrist were rows of sharp knife scars. Curiosity grew wildly like untamed vines. He had observed this man for a very long time. He had also seen the dark side hidden beneath the man’s obedient exterior, though it wasn’t easily noticed. But then again, who didn’t have a past. Knowing full well that asking would bring danger, knowing full well that asking would cross the line, Shen Yanzhou still couldn’t hold back from opening his mouth to ask, “Sanqianwan, what exactly did you go through before?” “Why did you want to commit suicide?”