Unexpected Incident : Chapter 6

Rong Liu did not say much more, his eyes on him, his feet obediently moving forward.

Xiao Teng said coldly: “Get in the car.”

“…”

Once seated in the car, Xiao Teng no longer spoke, and Rong Liu also stayed silent, asking no questions, only his gaze never leaving Xiao Teng’s face.

Xiao Teng sat steadily, calmly.

The remaining rainwater on his face was cold, the young man’s gaze was burning hot, with no suspicion, no probing, only pure persistence and fire, as if wanting to shine into the deepest part of his soul.

Returning home, the lights were full and overflowing, making the rain outside look like dust scattering in all directions. The bedroom was quite warm and quiet, the thick walls completely shutting out the torrential rain outside. Rong Liu changed out of his soaked clothes, his hair towel dried but still damp, somewhat disheveled, but the messy hair made him look very unguarded, or rather, open.

Xiao Teng sat down on the carved rosewood chair with its soft cushion, calmly examining him.

The young man stood before him, straight and accepting his scrutiny.

With that set of naive and playful cheekiness put away, the young man looked surprisingly solemn, mature, serious.

After a while, Xiao Teng spoke: “You said you were sincere.”

“Mm.”

When the young man’s expression was restrained, there was a strange, reassuring handsomeness to him, like some most loyal animal.

Xiao Teng said: “Then let me see how sincere you are.”

The young man watched him, then slowly knelt down before him, lifting up his bare foot.

The long formed biological clock made Xiao Teng wake up early as usual. He heard the birdsong outside the window, the morning air crisp and cool, but there was another person’s body warmth in the covers, so there was not a hint of cold.

This night he had actually slept quite well, no insomnia, no nightmares, no unexplained awakenings.

After the rare deep sleep, a strange laziness spread through his body, a warm and fuzzy sluggishness from head to toe, making him feel the urge to laze in bed for the first time in his life.

Xiao Teng closed his eyes wearily, indulging in this brief relaxation.

Then he heard someone say by his ear in a cheerful and gentle tone: “Good morning.”

Xiao Teng turned his head. The young man was smiling at him, his hair and skin seeming to glow, his eyes sparkling in the morning light filtering through the curtain gap.

The first thought that flashed through Xiao Teng’s mind was that Rong Liu was indeed very handsome.

He responded indifferently: “Morning.”

Rong Liu smiled: “Did you sleep well?”

Xiao Teng said: “Not bad.”

Then out of nowhere, his forehead was lightly touched by lips.

Xiao Teng’s heart jumped. The young man’s smile like spring flowers blooming made him instantly alert.

Xiao Teng sat up, looking down at the young man’s eyes from above.

“Rong Liu.”

The young man replied happily: “Mm?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea.”

The young man’s smile froze slightly.

Xiao Teng said: “I’m fairly satisfied with your service. There’s nothing else beyond that.”

“…”

“Last night doesn’t mean anything, do you understand?”

The young man was quiet for a moment, then smiled: “I know.”

Xiao Teng gave an “Mm.” This was also something he appreciated about Rong Liu.

Rong Liu knew very well when to advance and when to retreat, and how to read the situation. Facing Rong Liu, many times you did not need to spell things out or go to extremes to get results.

Xiao Teng got up and dressed meticulously, tidying his appearance. Rong Liu lay there watching him, then suddenly smiled and said: “So will there be a next time?”

“…”

Xiao Teng glanced at him: “Depends on the situation.”

Rong Liu smiled: “I’m looking forward to it.”

“…”

In a sense, Rong Liu was the only one who needed him.

And right now he wanted to be needed.

This could be considered a mutual benefit arrangement.

That day he went to work as usual. With a good night’s sleep, Xiao Teng’s mood was still not bright.

He did not think about that matter with Aunt Ling. It was like there was a dark, gaping hole in his heart that he could not bear to look back on or face directly. This affected his work and daily life. He needed to find something to fill it.

The office door was knocked, then Rong Liu poked his head in and said: “Dear.”

“…”

That knock had no meaning at all.

But he had come to accept Rong Liu’s occasional seeming carelessness. Now there was nothing he deliberately hid from Rong Liu, and Rong Liu did not make unnecessary disturbances to him either.

“That parking lot incident, we found out. Hired by Luo Hengyuan’s side.”

“Mm.” A business rival, not surprising at all.

Rong Liu asked: “Shall I handle it?”

“Go ahead.”

“And one more thing, last time someone threw filth at your car window.”

“Mm.” In full view of everyone, several packets of foul splattering stuff were thrown at the windshield. It was not just a loss of face, but for someone with a cleanliness obsession like him, it was a nightmare level memory.

What had half killed him with anger at the time was that the perpetrator had actually slipped away in the crowd and chaos. What were those bodyguards and security even doing.

“We found that out too. It was a middle school student, named Zhao Jie, lives with his grandma on Ronglai Lane, that’s the land we’re demolishing to build the shopping mall on…”

Xiao Teng said: “Forget it.”

Rong Liu asked: “Hm? Not going to teach him a lesson?” The way Xiao Teng had been like a rampaging dinosaur breathing fire everywhere was witnessed by all.

Xiao Teng said: “Just a small fry. What’s the point of going after him?”

Rong Liu smiled: “Dear, sometimes, you’re quite magnanimous.”

“…”

He had a violent temper and ruthless methods, but he did not casually hate people.

Getting angry was because when emotions overflowed they needed venting, while hatred was precious, and holding grudges was even more of a luxury.

His hatred was just as expensive as his love.

In a sense, Ouyang Xiwen, who had received his hatred back then and been thoroughly dealt with, might have been lucky. After all, not every small character got such an honor.

Thinking of Ouyang Xiwen gave him a headache.

Probably because last Mid Autumn reunion dinner had gone too harmoniously, giving Xiao Xuan the illusion of a happy and joyful family. A couple days ago his precious younger brother had called excitedly, saying they had not had a family BBQ in a long time, and wanted to bring Ouyang Xiwen over for one.

He had zero interest in BBQ, and even less interest in Ouyang Xiwen.

But Xiao Xuan had not actively proposed coming home in a long time.

This buy one get one bundled pair was incredibly aggravating to him.

His brows furrowed tightly, and Rong Liu asked: “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Teng said with a deeply pained expression of utter loathing: “We have to do a BBQ at home tonight…”

Rong Liu smiled: “Oh, I’ve already told Mama Huang to prepare everything.”

Xiao Teng’s brows relaxed slightly: “Mm…”

With Rong Liu around, he truly had less to worry about.

That evening in the garden, a group of people noisily set up the grill. The hanging lamps on the trees and canopy, the wall lamps in the corridor, the lawn lamps on both sides of the path, the underwater lamps in the fountain, lit up every corner of this vast garden, making this long quiet space seem to come alive overnight.

Xiao Xuan brought Ouyang Xiwen right on time, and very tackily carried two bottles of wine and a box of dessert.

Xiao Teng thought, what the hell, this isn’t a visit to the wife’s family!

The four children were extremely happy, running up and down, busy here and there. They liked Uncle Xiao Xuan, and the family had not had such a spontaneous family gathering in a long time.

The charcoal fire glowed red, all kinds of food sizzling on the grill, giving off a delightful aroma. Four adults, four children, plus the helping servants, the garden was rarely so joyfully lively.

“The mushrooms are almost done, who wants some?”

“Brother, save me some bacon rolls!”

“Teacher, this needs to be flipped!”

“Pass me that BBQ sauce!”

“It’s burning!! It’s on fire, holy crap!”

“Ahaha.”

BBQ was indeed a cooking method that easily got lively.

But Xiao Teng did not join in the liveliness. He did not like smoke and fire, sitting off to one side alone, holding a glass of wine, watching them make noise.

The wisteria vines twined on the overhead trellis, lush with greenery. A cool breeze passed through, dappled light and shadow beneath the trellis, and he seemed to melt into the shadows.

Xiao Xuan came over and gave him a plate of grilled food.

“Big brother, aren’t you going to eat some?”

Xiao Teng reached out to take it, looking at the two plump, golden grilled saury fish inside.

“Teacher said these are really good.”

“Mm.”

The two sat under the trellis, watching Ouyang Xiwen busy with the children in the distance. Ouyang Xiwen was quiet and shy, but after all he was a teacher, and when leading a group of children, he had quite the commanding presence.

“You know, before Teacher came to Nan Gao, I saw him on the road,” Xiao Xuan rested his chin in his hand, “At the time I thought, ah, this is totally my type!”

“…”

“Didn’t expect that on the first day of school, I’d see him in the classroom.”

“…”

Xiao Xuan’s expression was blissfully bubbling: “This must be fate.”

“…”

“Actually the first time I spoke to him privately, I was still a bit nervous. Teacher is really so gentle, and such a good person…”

Like all shameless people with happy love lives, Xiao Xuan unknowingly started showing off his relationship in all kinds of ways, recounting various sweet details to torment single dogs.

Xiao Teng remained silent, not speaking, but trying his best to show the patience of a listener.

It was rare that Xiao Xuan would be willing to pour his heart out to him.

Only when he was alone himself, listening to these things, all the happy details.

There was a slight sense of bewilderment, as if they came from another world.

Actually he had never believed Xiao Xuan was happy, nor believed that love was real.

Because he had never experienced it, and could not imagine it. Like asking him to imagine a color he had never seen.

He thought of Aunt Ling again, and his heart suddenly tightened, his grip involuntarily clenching.

“Ouch!”

Seeing Ouyang Xiwen about to lift a heavy cooler of drinks by himself, Xiao Xuan hurriedly said: “Teacher, leave it to me!” Then he ran off in a flash.

Xiao Teng set the plate in his hand on the counter, continuing to sit alone under the trellis.

Two steaming hot plates were handed before his eyes. Xiao Teng turned his head, meeting the young man’s curved smiling eyes: “Come eat some grilled lamb chops?”

“…”

“These aren’t greasy at all, I picked your favorite cut.”

“Mm.”

Rong Liu glanced at the plate of saury on the marble counter: “Hey, don’t you not like fish? The prawns are pretty good though, I got some and shelled them for you.”

“…Mm.”

The freshly grilled little lamb chops were seasoned with rosemary, black pepper, and sea salt, with a penetrating, unique aroma. Biting down, they were tender and juicy, the delicious flavor melting instantly in the mouth, making Xiao Teng realize he was absolutely starving.

Rong Liu watched him eat: “Is my cooking alright?”

“Mm.”

Rong Liu smiled: “Then shall I get more? Let me pour you some wine too.”

Wine and meat mixed together, and Xiao Teng accidentally drank too much. Of course he was not drunk, just a bit tipsy.

Alcohol numbed the nerves, yet emotions were all magnified. He watched their liveliness and joy, feeling that hole in his heart grow a bit larger.

When the gathering ended, the servants took care of cleaning up, and Rong Liu accompanied him back to the bedroom.

He only admitted it was “accompanying,” not “supporting,” because he felt he was sober enough and strong enough to walk on his own.

Xiao Teng sat in his chair, resting with eyes closed. The young man crouched before him, carefully wiping his face with a hot towel.

The soft wet fibers, their faint scent and warmth, were so comfortable that he involuntarily let out a low moan of relaxation.

Then he felt a soft touch on his lips.

Xiao Teng immediately opened his eyes and pushed the young man before him away.

Rong Liu looked at him with pitch black eyes, like those of a canine animal.

Xiao Teng looked down from above, his palm pressed against the young man’s forehead, in a sober, untouchable posture.

“What I want to give, you can take. What I don’t want to give, you cannot ask for.”

Rong Liu looked at him, and after a while smiled: “Alright.”

Xiao Teng added: “Of course, you have the right to refuse.” He was very fair.

Rong Liu smiled: “I know.”

“Do you understand?”

Rong Liu smiled, his mood completely unharmed by the rejection: “Understood.”

This was the agreement they reached.

Actually for Rong Liu, the benefits to be gained from this agreement were truly very limited. He did not even know why Rong Liu was willing to accept it.

Rong Liu said: “Then I want to sleep here tonight!” He meant the sofa.

Xiao Teng said: “Up to you.”

It was not the first time anyway.

Rong Liu once again wrapped himself in a blanket on the sofa and fell asleep obediently.

Xiao Teng thought, was he being too heartless?

He immediately dismissed this wavering.

At least last time Rong Liu earned the qualification to sleep on the sofa because he had saved his life.

Now he could sleep there just by asking, which was clearly a significant improvement in treatment, a leap forward. Right.

Since reaching this “peaceful and friendly” agreement with Rong Liu, Xiao Teng felt that chaotic, quarrelsome atmosphere between them had invisibly dissipated. The problem was lack of rules; once rules were set, everything became easy to handle. Xiao Teng was fairly satisfied with the current state.

As for what Rong Liu thought, that was unknown and unimportant. Anyway, Rong Liu smiled every day.

That day when Shen Yi came by on business, he was gossiping again: “You and Rong Liu have been getting along pretty well lately.”

Xiao Teng did not answer, only using his eyes to silently tell him: “None of your damn business.”

Shen Yi said: “Good sign, Rong Liu is such a good person. I told you, you must have misunderstood him before. Otherwise how could anyone not like him…”

“…”

“Happy being with him, right? Rong Liu, this person…”

“…”

“Alright, I won’t say anymore, I’ll leave now…”

Using a coldness that could freeze three feet of ice to drive out the gossip enthusiastic Young Master Shen, Xiao Teng continued focusing on his work, completely unbothered by that nonsense.

That very unpleasant first meeting with Rong Liu, if it had happened to someone else, might have been an unsolvable knot. For him it was not.

For him, none of that had anything to do with feelings. Regarding Rong Liu’s offense, he also did not have a victim mentality of the weak.

His poor impression of Rong Liu was only because Rong Liu had challenged his authority, violated his dignity; disobedient, uncontrollable, not playing by the rules.

His territory could not allow such a person to exist.

Once Rong Liu was willing to be used by him, showing a submissive posture, then he basically had no issue with Rong Liu.

Past matters were just minor details.

And he did not fuss over minor details.

In his life, everything was based on interests; there were no eternal enemies.

After finishing the day’s work, Xiao Teng said to the young man waiting to leave with him: “Right, there was a problem with the last bidding project. Tomorrow I’m going to Los Angeles myself.”

The matter was rather sudden, and he had no time to make detailed arrangements. There was still a pile of unfinished business at the company. Fortunately Rong Liu was here.

Rong Liu immediately looked at him: “What time is the flight? Should I come too?”

“No need, you stay here. A lot of things need you to handle for me.”

Rong Liu looked at him, hesitating to speak.

Xiao Teng said: “What?”

“…”

Xiao Teng added: “I need you to help me.”

To put it in a self flattering way, this could be considered a great show of trust in Rong Liu. After all, from following around as a helper to shouldering major responsibility alone.

Of course, as the only son of the Rong family, Rong Liu did not need this sense of achievement at all.

So to put it bluntly, he was openly, brazenly using Rong Liu.

Xiao Teng watched the young man’s eyes: “Can you do it?”

Rong Liu smiled: “Of course.”

“Mm.”

Xiao Teng was not surprised. He was counting on Rong Liu obeying his every word.

Rong Liu asked: “Then, how long will you be gone?”

“Not long,” Xiao Teng said, “About a week and a half round trip.”

The originally calm and composed Rong Liu immediately went pale with shock: “What? That long!”

Xiao Teng got a bit of a headache.

Because before he boarded the plane, Rong Liu sent him off at the airport with a deeply sorrowful parting look, and with that already eye catching face of his, for a moment it seemed the entire airport was watching them.

So much so that even after Xiao Teng got on the plane, entered first class, and put on his sleep mask, the shadow of being the center of attention still lingered.

Anyway, once he reached the other side of the earth, he would finally have peace and quiet, a temporary patch of pure land.

However, upon landing and turning on his phone, Xiao Teng received a bunch of messages from Rong Liu, ding ding ding ding ding ding.

“Did you arrive?”

“Flying for so long, are you tired?”

“The temperature difference there is quite big, be careful not to catch cold…”

“I have an uncle in Los Angeles too, if you need any help…”

Xiao Teng’s eyes showed murderous intent, veins popping. Did Rong Liu think he was an ignorant young girl on her first trip out?

He hastily typed two words to report his safe arrival, and Rong Liu’s messages came ding ding ding whining over again.

“When are you coming back?”

…He had just arrived!

Xiao Teng replied: “Not chatting, I’m working, you sleep.” It was quite late back home.

Rong Liu was still reluctant: “Xiao Zi says she misses you a lot.”

Xiao Teng softened his tone: “Tell her I’ll be back soon.”

“Xiao Lin misses you a lot too.”

“Does she need something?”

“Xiao Yin and Xiao Pu both miss you a lot.”

“…”

“Wang Jing misses you a lot too.”

“…”

Xiao Teng put him on the blacklist.

Although Xiao Teng usually adopted a cold blooded policy of ignoring, every day Rong Liu persisted, sighing and acting spoiled with him, and he was a bit overwhelmed.

What was this, so cloyingly sweet. It was like after he left for a few days, Rong Liu became unable to take care of himself, unable to live happily.

“I really can’t live!” Released from the blacklist again, Rong Liu wailed in a voice message.

“…”

“Speaking of which, dear, what do you look like today?”

“…The same.” Could he possibly look different every day?

“Take a photo for me.”

“…Why?”

“Just take one, okay, it doesn’t take much effort.”

“No.”

“Just one, let me see what you look like now. I haven’t seen you in so many days…”

So Xiao Teng took his first ever mirror selfie in his life. The moment he pressed the phone shutter he felt incredibly stupid.

He did not care how the photo turned out, sent it off as soon as the task was done, not looking at it for another second, quickly getting it over with so Rong Liu would stop pestering him.

Receiving the photo, Rong Liu was overjoyed on the other end, flooding the screen: “So handsome so handsome so handsome so handsome so handsome so handsome…”

“…”

“Take one for me tomorrow too, okay?”

“…Go to sleep.” What time was it.

Rong Liu was blissful: “I can’t sleep.”

“Because dear, you’re too handsome ahhhhh…”

“…”

After that, no matter what photo he sent, Rong Liu was never stingy with praise, praising him like a flower, and quite sincerely.

“…”

Xiao Teng knew he did not look bad, but being treated like a heavenly being and praised from every angle, he still found it quite novel. And inexplicable.