“Master, does it… look completely hideous?” The man pulled the corners of his mouth into a self-deprecating smile, trying to hide his wrist in the shadows so he wouldn’t let him see such an ugly side of him. “People like me who have rolled around in the mud always end up with some dirty stains that can never be washed off.”

“I didn’t say whether it was hideous or not.” Shen Yanzhou did not let go. “I asked you how it happened.”

The man kept his head down and began to speak, “Before we were thrown into the Kowloon Walled City, my mom hadn’t ever lived a hard life. But to make a living, she had to take on every kind of job, which left her riddled with illnesses.”

“That day was also a typhoon day, and the water inside the walled city flooded up to the ankles.” Speaking up to this point, the man looked out the window. “She bought a fruit knife, held me tight, and said this world was just too bitter, that the days of the living weren’t even as good as the ghosts in the underworld.”

“But then again, she was terrified that after she died, she would leave me all alone in this world to survive.”

“So, she cut my wrist first.”

“Right here.” Sanqianwan pointed to his own scar. “The blade was very sharp, and the blood spurted out all at once, splashing all over my face. Strangely, I didn’t feel any pain at the time, I just felt that the blood was so scalding hot.”

“She watched me fall into the blood, and then, she turned the blade around and cut her own.” The man let out a bitter laugh, glancing at Shen Yanzhou, and then at the dog that was still rolling around on the floor.

“The two of us lay on a single bed, blood running all over the floor. But as fate would have it, I happen to be a tough curse who refuses to die.”

“I didn’t end up dying. The owner of an unlicensed clinic patched and stitched me back together to save me. But when I opened my eyes, she had already gone a step ahead and was stone cold.”

“When she died, her hand was still deathly gripping my wrist, almost as if she was afraid I would change my mind and refuse to go with her.”

At a time like this, should he offer him some comfort?

But as someone who had also lost his parents, comforting or emotional words were things Shen Yanzhou simply couldn’t voice, and they were utterly pointless anyway. He lit a cigarette, took a drag, and then handed it over to the man.

Sometimes, a cigarette works much better than a word.

The man submissively took the cigarette, opened his mouth, caught the smoke carrying his body heat, and took a fierce drag.

“Master, they all say that madmen only give birth to madmen.”

“Will you… be afraid of me?”

Through the haze of smoke, Shen Yanzhou stared at the man in front of him. When they were having sex earlier, he hadn’t noticed that the man was actually this tall. Sitting on the sofa, he was only just about eye level with him. The man’s gaze was incredibly complex: cautious, pleasing, intense, filled with direct seduction, and carrying a wolf-like possessiveness.

All of Hong Kong knew he was engaged to Fu Sihan, the man from the Fu family whose methods reached the heavens. Yet he left his legitimate fiancé unseen, opting instead to spend a massive amount of money to buy back a man like this on a turbulent typhoon night.

Sharing a single cigarette, raising a single dog together.

Looking at it this way, who knows who was actually crazier.

“What master would be afraid of the dog he raises?” Shen Yanzhou bent his waist, scooping up the puppy that was still foolishly biting its own tail on the carpet, holding it in his arms and smoothing its fur every now and then.

“Sanqianwan, I’m hungry now.” He shifted the subject.

“What do you want to eat?” The man raised his head and asked.

“Congee is too bland, no appetite. I want to eat something with a kick.”

“Curry fish balls, then.” Shen Yanzhou raised an eyebrow, then added: “I want the kind of flavor from the street stalls, the curry needs to be spicy enough, the coconut milk thick enough, and the daikon radish stewed until it’s translucent.”

Hearing this, the man stood up, rolled up his sleeves, and walked toward the kitchen with swift, efficient movements. “Alright, I’ll go make it right away.”

The kitchen quickly became the man’s domain.

Shen Yanzhou didn’t just sit there doing nothing either. Holding the little street mutt in his arms, he strolled over to the side of the kitchen island.

Propping his chin with one hand, he watched at his absolute leisure.

Watching him cook had much more flavor than watching him strip.

Watching him cook was just like watching a thug forcefully putting on the clothes of a civilized man. Watching him strip, however, exposed this thug’s true nature to the absolute limit.

Most of what Sanqianwan said just now was likely true, Shen Yanzhou thought to himself.

After all, who would make up a lie like that? But it wasn’t completely true either, because the dozens of scars on this man’s wrist were clearly cut again after they had healed, over and over, who knows how many times he had been through it.

The man’s expression was focused. He threw the minced onion and garlic into the hot oil pot first, then tossed the golden curry paste into the pot. A domineering and rich spicy aroma instantly exploded in the pot, bubbling with golden bubbles, its sweetness from the coconut milk aggressively forcing its way into the nose, making one’s mouth water instantly.

Shen Yanzhou took a deep breath. The incredibly grounded aroma of home cooking left his eyes slightly warm.

“Smells great.” He lowered his head, pinching the damp nose of the puppy in his arms.

How could the puppy understand? It only knew that this scent was incredibly delicious, whimpering anxiously in Shen Yanzhou’s arms, its two front paws scratching at Shen Yanzhou’s expensive silk shirt, its pink little tongue constantly licking the corners of its mouth.

The man who was chopping the radish glanced at him from time to time. He poured the white radish cut into diamond shapes into the pot, then added a large handful of golden, round deep-sea fish balls, along with a few pieces of fried pig skin that would become crystal clear once they absorbed enough broth.

He put the lid on, turning the heat to low for a slow simmer.

The waiting time was long and grueling, yet it was also the most ambiguous.

Sanqianwan turned around, leaning his back against the counter, his gaze crossing the thin water vapor to fall squarely on Shen Yanzhou without any reservations.

He watched his softened profile under the warm yellow light, watched the unguarded smile at the corners of his mouth when he lowered his head to play with the dog, and watched his long fingers thread through the puppy’s withered fur.

His gaze was burning hot, greedy.

Shen Yanzhou felt that look.

He slowly raised his eyes, crashing right into the man’s bottomless pupils.

There was no dodging, nor any scolding. The game between adults was often played out right within this silent exchange of looks.

“What are you looking at?” Shen Yanzhou asked, knowing the answer perfectly well.

“Looking at you.” The man answered completely openly.

“The… pot is boiling.” Shen Yanzhou turned his face away, his voice light. “If you boil it any longer, it’s going to turn to mush.”

The man let out a low laugh, turning around to lift the pot lid.

Using a long-handled spoon, he scooped out the roundest fish ball, picked out a piece of radish that had absorbed plenty of broth and was stewed until it was almost transparent, and served them in a small porcelain bowl.

But he didn’t hand the bowl over. Instead, he picked up a bamboo skewer, poked the fish ball that was still steaming hot, brought it to his own lips, and blew on it gently.

Whew… and whew again… the heat dispersed.

The man tested the temperature. Making sure it wouldn’t burn the mouth, he carried the bowl to stand in front of Shen Yanzhou, handing that fish ball right to the edge of Shen Yanzhou’s lips across the kitchen island.

His other hand was naturally placed underneath as a cushion, terrified that the thick curry sauce might ruin Shen Yanzhou’s clothes.

“Taste it?” His voice was right by the ear, coaxing in a low tone. “Specially picked for you, the springiest one.”

Shen Yanzhou looked at the food delivered to his mouth, then looked at the man’s expectant eyes. He opened his mouth slightly, taking in that fish ball.

The moment his teeth broke through the springy fish meat, the spicy curry flavor exploded in his mouth, the clear sweetness of the radish neutralizing the richness. A mouthful of absolute satisfaction instantly smoothed out all the restlessness.

“Mmh…” Because it was too delicious, Shen Yanzhou let out a satisfied nasal sound, his pink tongue licking away the sauce caught on the corner of his mouth.

Sanqianwan stared at his lips, which were slightly red and swollen from the spice. “Is it spicy?”

“It’s fine.” Shen Yanzhou swallowed the food in his mouth. “Tastes good, wild enough.”

“But it’s not enough, I want instant noodles too.”

“Alright.” The man responded, turning around to tear open the instant noodle bag.

About ten minutes later, two bowls of steaming hot instant noodles with spam and eggs were placed on the bar counter.

The noodles were firm, smooth, and springy. The luncheon meat was fried until fragrant, topped perfectly with a flawless soft-boiled egg. With a poke of the chopsticks, the golden yolk flowed out, wrapping around every single strand of noodle, making one’s mouth water just looking at it.

Outside the window, the typhoon raged wildly, the waves of Victoria Harbour likely already crashing onto the shore.

Inside the house, the two sat shoulder to shoulder, in front of them two bowls of steaming hot, cheap instant noodles.

Just as Shen Yanzhou took a bite of the noodles, he felt the man’s knee press over beneath the table, the burning heat transferring through their touching skin.

Shen Yanzhou glanced at the man beside him out of the corner of his eye. He was holding his chopsticks, his head down eating his noodles, as if what just happened was merely an accident.

Yet that leg under the table didn’t have the slightest intention of moving away. Instead, it grew bolder, gently rubbing against his calf back and forth, slowly moving from the outside of the calf to the inside of the thigh, sometimes light, sometimes heavy.

As the man rubbed harder and harder, Shen Yanzhou turned his head, wanting to glare at the man.

Right at this moment, the man happened to lean closer as well.

The distance between the two was originally right within arm’s reach. With this turn of the head and leaning close, Shen Yanzhou’s warm, soft lips, without any warning, gently brushed past the man’s cheek.

Their breathing became tangled together.

The puppy caught right in the middle of the two: “…”

It was looking forward anxiously to any dropped meat scraps, but these two suddenly stopped moving entirely, not even eating their noodles, just staying face to face, staring at each other.

The puppy blinked its two tiny eyes in total confusion. It looked left at Shen Yanzhou, then right at Sanqianwan, and finally shrunk its furry head, staring at the golden, round fish balls, swallowing its saliva.

“I’m full.” It was still Shen Yanzhou who spoke first, kicking the man’s shin bone, placing the puppy that was drooling over the fish balls into the man’s arms.

“Clean this place up, then come up to my room.”

“My legs are a bit sore today. Come up and help me rub them.”

The night grew deep. After Shen Yanzhou finished his bath, he lay on the bed. Before long, the man pushed open the door, lifting a corner of the blanket, pressing right against his back.

The man had just finished his bath and was wearing very little. When his hand reached inside, he realized his hand slid straight in, and beneath his palm was incredibly silky skin. Aside from the loosely fitting bathrobe, it turned out he wasn’t wearing anything at all.

The man’s chin rested on his shoulder, his hand rubbing up without any barrier. His breathing gradually grew heavy, lightly biting his sensitive ear: “Thigh, calf, or knee?”

Shen Yanzhou turned around, raising his knee, his long, pale legs rubbing past the man’s rough palm. “Rub from the thigh down to the calf.”

“Alright.”

Though called a massage, the man really was giving him a massage.

Shen Yanzhou originally thought that a rough guy like him who only knew how to use brute force would definitely massage in a stiff, painful way. Just like that morning on the bed, when he clumsily wanted to please him but only knew how to bump against him with his teeth.

Yet to his surprise, when this rough, large hand covered his knee, the strength turned out to be incredibly exquisite.

“Hiss…” Shen Yanzhou drew in a breath of cold air, not from pain, but from the ultimate relief after the soreness.

The man’s hand locked around his kneecap, the pad of his thumb pressing precisely onto the Hedian acupuncture point. His hand was very hot, a steady stream of heat seeping through the skin into the gaps of the bone.

It felt too comfortable.

“Did you learn this before?” Shen Yanzhou couldn’t help but ask.

“Back in the walled city, I learned a couple of moves from a blind man at a bone-setting clinic,” he replied.

“Sanqianwan.”

“Mm?” The movement of the man’s hand didn’t stop, giving a low response.

“Back in the walled city… did you use to massage others like this often?”

“No, the blind man only taught me to recognize the pressure points.”

“Master is the only one I’ve ever actually worked on.” He answered earnestly.

“A place like the Kowloon Walled City… is it really like the rumors outside say, that aside from evil, nothing else can grow out of it?”

The man raised his head, his pitch-black, deep eyes reflecting Shen Yanzhou’s completely unguarded appearance.

“Yes and no.”

“It really is awful there, buildings pressing against buildings, dark without a ray of sun, the smell of gutter oil can float for blocks. But…”

The corners of his mouth tilted up slightly, “Out of a muddy swamp, a flower can occasionally bloom.”

“For example?” Shen Yanzhou pressed further.

“For example, before Kai Tak Airport relocated.” The man rolled back into his memories while gently pressing the pressure points. “That was when we were closest to the sky.”

“Back then, whenever we heard the roar, the other kids and I would run up to the rooftop. Those massive Boeing 747s flew incredibly low, low enough to clearly see the rivets on the belly of the plane and the warm yellow lights shining through the cabin windows.”

“The massive airflow would whip up the bedsheets drying on the rooftop, the colorful cloths dancing wildly in the wind, looking just like they were seeing the plane off.”

The man’s gaze grew very soft, as if seeing that wild child who used to run under the sunset. “Back then I thought, the people inside the plane are drinking champagne and looking at the sea of clouds; we are down below smelling the mold and fighting over expired bread.”

“Were you envious?” Shen Yanzhou asked.

“I used to be.” The man lowered his head, continuing to massage his calf. “I felt that as long as I could get on that plane, I could escape that darkness.”

“But later on, I felt I wasn’t that envious anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because there was also a lame old woman on the rooftop who sold beef offal.” The man smiled. “Every time after watching the planes, she would save the leftover radish and beef offal for me. That radish was stewed soft and full of flavor. Swallowing it down hot, even the chest felt burning.”

“A plane can take a person very far away, but that bowl of radish could keep a person alive through that winter.”

“Though the walled city was dark, as long as people huddled together for warmth, it didn’t feel cold anymore.”

If that was the case, why did you still have the thought of wanting to die after your mother passed away?

“Sounds like…” Shen Yanzhou drew a bit closer, “…not too bad.”

“Then if there’s a chance, would you like me to take you to see it?” the man asked.

However, as these words fell, the pressure beneath his palm shifted.

Different from the strokes meant to clear the meridians, it turned instead into a suggestive rubbing. The slightly calloused pads of his fingers climbed upward along Shen Yanzhou’s incredibly smooth calf, invading silently.

Just as Shen Yanzhou was about to respond, the man’s solid, powerful thigh beat him to it, forcefully squeezing right between his legs.

The man’s body temperature was very high, his knee slowly rubbing against his most delicate, sheltered soft flesh, grinding with a distinct rhythm.

The silk bathrobe had long since become a mere decoration, bunched up around his waist under his rough rubbing, the coarse fabric frictioning against his delicate skin.

In the darkness, the man’s breathing became burning hot and hurried. He was in no rush to take things further, his hand alternating between light and heavy squeezing around the edge, his fingertips teasing as if about to enter but stopping maliciously at the crucial moment.

“Your legs are shaking.” He lowered his head, his lips pressed against Shen Yanzhou’s already flushed ear, his wet, hot tongue continuing to kiss his sensitive earlobe.

The corners of Shen Yanzhou’s eyes were forced into a flush from his reckless rubbing. “You… crazy…”

The scolding words reached his lips, yet they came out completely soft, sounding just like a pout.

The man let out a low laugh, lowering his waist so his knee could lock in even deeper. That misbehaving large hand clamped around Shen Yanzhou’s kicking ankle, forcing his legs much wider apart to both sides.

His warm breath poured entirely into the crook of Shen Yanzhou’s neck, his voice deep as he said, “Rest this leg on my shoulder, alright?”