In the late autumn twilight, scattered lights twinkled in the gray-black sky as people hurried home.
Contrary to its name, Changning Road in the south of the city was busiest at this time. Cars shuttled back and forth among the neon-lit signs, and smartly dressed doormen greeted people. The car door opened, and decadent music drifted into the ears, pulling people into this decadent and glamorous Shanghai.
There are also those who are out of place, such as the person sitting upright in the middle of the sofa in the Heting private room at this moment.
There are so many private clubs along Changning Road that you can't count them on two hands. Heting is not particularly special among them. At most, its decoration is modern and magnificent, not so old-fashioned, and most of the people who come to play are young people.
Therefore, the waiters here are full of youthful energy. When the head waiter led a group of young men in tonight and asked them to line up, the person sitting on the sofa only glanced at them twice.
Just now, when the foreman was called in, he didn't even give him a second glance.
"The people have all been called, Young Master Shi." The head waiter, who was used to big scenes, stepped aside and said with his smile unchanged, "Please see if the person you are looking for is here."
The young man, referred to as "Young Master Shi," didn't answer. He sat there silently, his gaze sweeping around before returning to his lowered eyes, his thick eyelashes casting two uneven gray shadows. Following the high, straight bridge of his nose were a pair of pale lips, the slightly full upper lip upturned, perfectly complementing the shape of his upturned chin.
He wore a poorly fitted shirt, the top button at the collar pressing against his Adam's apple. The wrinkled cuffs circled his wrists, a stark white against his skin, only turning slightly red at his knuckles. A domino was held between his fingertips, its rounded corner tapping lightly and rhythmically on the wooden table.
He seemed to be trying his best to suppress his impatience.
Everyone who makes it big in this place is a shrewd person. Before he could even speak, the foreman's eyes lit up and he said, "This is the deck of cards that President Fu played yesterday."
Perhaps pleased by those words, the knocking stopped, and the man sitting on the sofa looked up again. Several of the bolder waiters in the two rows in front of him met his gaze, but after a moment, they timidly lowered their heads again.
It wasn't that she was frighteningly beautiful; on the contrary, she was excessively beautiful. Her bright, almost painted features, set against her icy eyes, were like sharp blades piercing through, and few could withstand them.
"The hand of cards I drew..." His lips regained some color in the light, and he slowly opened and closed them. "Whom did you look at?"
The tone is also cold, like a water droplet that is about to freeze when the temperature drops to 0°C.
The standing waiters looked at each other, their eyes filled with either encouragement or hesitation. Finally, the head waiter stepped forward and pointed out the waiters who had served in this private room the night before.
The person sitting there had clearly run out of patience. He put down the dominoes, stood up, and stretched out his curled-up body, revealing a tall figure of nearly 1.8 meters.
He was just a bit thin and slender; the foreman standing to his side could even see the shape of his shoulder blades.
"She's like someone who uses her looks to please men"—thinking so frivolously, the head waiter still smiled professionally: "These were the only guests in this private room last night."
As the area narrowed, the target soon gave himself away. Startled by the approaching figure, he took two steps back and was blocked, forced into a corner.
Looking up slightly, a face that was far too beautiful for a man came into view. The waiter, who had been there for less than two months, shuddered at first, and then turned pale with shame.
"It's you?" The handsome man, his deep eyes remaining calm, commanded, "Look up."
After seeing the waiter's face clearly, the corners of his lips relaxed, finally revealing a hint of smugness in his favor.
However, they look similar in size from a distance, but up close they have nothing in common except for their round eyes.
The scene resembled a player who forfeited midway through a match because the opponent was too weak. The person arrived suddenly but left gracefully, even having the leisure to neatly arrange the dominoes that had been scattered on the table before leaving.
The footsteps faded away, and the whispers behind the door turned into a boisterous conversation.
"What's so great about him? He's just a stray dog that the Shi family picked up."
“When you call him Young Master Shi, he really acts like he’s the young master of the Shi family.”
"Stop being so sour. Even the wildest people have the blood of the Shi family flowing in their veins."
"Who's jealous? No matter how well he dresses, he can't hide his vulgarity. Otherwise, why would President Fu look down on him and specifically choose our Xiao Xu? Don't you think so, Brother Chen?"
The foreman, who was called Brother Chen, smiled but did not answer, and waved for everyone to disperse.
The waiter surnamed Xu was terrified and his back was covered in cold sweat. He was still leaning against the wall when he saw Brother Chen about to leave, so he hurriedly chased after him and said, "Manager Chen."
The supervisor stopped and turned his head. The young man, not yet twenty, had flushed cheeks: "If Mr. Fu comes looking for me again next time, should I...?"
She has clearly already considered herself the object of jealousy and has begun to think about self-preservation.
The foreman chuckled, as if laughing at his wishful thinking.
"It's uncertain whether President Fu will come again, do you really expect him to order you?" Supervisor Chen patted the boy's shoulder, "Hide your tip from last night, know when to quit while you're ahead, that guy is not someone to be trifled with."
Speaking of not to be trifled with, even the homeless people in the slums of this vast Maple City, who are starving, can talk about the famous Shi family.
In the early days of the People's Republic of China, the Shi family leveraged their military background to build connections and gain a foothold in the Fengcheng business district. Then, at the beginning of the real estate boom, they decisively invested all their wealth and became the richest family in the area in less than ten years. They also ventured into other emerging fields. Today, the Shi family has developed into a family business that is connected to the economic lifeline of the entire Fengcheng.
Such a family should be deeply rooted and flourishing, with many descendants, and often witnessing the drama of succession disputes that are popular with the common people. However, the Shi family has few members and is excessively low-key among families that can be called wealthy families. To this day, the only thing known to the public is that the current head of the Shi family, Shi Huai, is in good health and has no intention of "passing on the throne".
"There's no one to gossip about. It's pitiful that the old master of the Shi family is like this. One of his two sons is gone, and the other one was born to some shady woman who can't be presented to the public." The waiters at Heting, who frequented the wealthy young men of Fengcheng, could always find some gossip that they couldn't tell outsiders. They would then pass it around as a joke after meals. "Look, he was just making a scene here, as if he was afraid that others wouldn't know about the dirty tricks he used to keep Young Master Fu by his side."
The night was dark, and rumors were rampant.
The people in the story may be completely unaware, or they may know but pretend not to care.
A black sedan drove along the road into the lush courtyard. The person who got out of the driver's seat stood in the cold wind for a moment, waiting for the scent of perfume brought back from Heting to dissipate, before walking towards the brightly lit mansion.
Aromatherapy was also burning inside, bergamot, a favorite of the Shi family's mistress. As I changed my shoes and entered, a young woman sitting in the main room called my name, causing my slightly hurried steps to halt abruptly.
"Shi Meng, why are you running?" a young woman with long, flowing hair called out. "Dinner is almost ready, come and sit down."
Shi Meng has a very clear understanding of her position in this family.
Therefore, he just sat there without saying a word, holding his teacup and staring intently at the blue and white porcelain pattern on the cup.
"You're acting like a good student now." Not content with just bringing him over, Shi Sihui couldn't help but tease, "It would be so nice if you were always this quiet."
Shi Meng blinked slowly, seemingly not understanding. Shi Sihui ignored him and turned to the middle-aged woman sitting on the single sofa, saying, "Mom, don't you think so?"
Li Bihan, who had been sitting idly and not saying much since she sat down, finally raised her eyelids and gave a very soft "hmm".
As the current mistress of the Shi family, Li Bihan watched Shi Meng grow up. Her attitude towards him was not bad, but it was far from treating him like her own son.
This is inevitable. Blood ties determine closeness, and besides, who would like a thorn stuck in their heart that they can't get rid of?
Shi Meng was aware of this, so he didn't mind. However, the moment Li Bihan looked over, he inappropriately recalled that more than ten years ago, when he first came to this family, an unsuspecting visitor praised him for looking like Li Bihan, saying that their every move was exactly the same.
This is one of the few jokes that Shi Meng has been able to remember over the years.
"By the way, is Fu Xuanliao coming over today?" Shi Sihui brought up another topic. "He seems to be quite busy lately?"
Shi Meng snapped out of his daze, realizing he was being asked a question, and mumbled a reply, "Here I am."
A cryptic laugh pulled Shi Meng back to reality.
Shi Sihui was the eldest daughter in her family and was pampered growing up. She never bothered to hide her emotions and summoned people over as she pleased, then teased them as she pleased: "That's right, you signed a contract, so he has to come."
She then leaned closer to Shi Meng and winked at him: "If he doesn't come, wouldn't that be considered a breach of contract?"
Four years is enough time for a written agreement to become commonplace.
A new cold wave quietly descended into the night. Before it got completely dark, Fu Xuanliao answered a phone call in his car and turned the temperature down a bit.
“I’m not going.” He refused the person on the phone. “That place was a complete mess yesterday. How could you possibly go there to do business?”
"You know what, those old fogies have been going there to sit lately... Besides, aren't you quite interested in that little boy, the one surnamed Xu?"
Fu Xuanliao was stunned for a moment, then tapped his long fingers on the steering wheel. After realizing what was happening, his expression turned fierce: "Don't even mention it. I don't know where he got my number, he's called five times today."
On the other end of the phone, his friend Gao Lecheng laughed so hard he almost fell over: "That just proves our Young Master Fu's charm hasn't diminished. Back then, wasn't the Second Young Master of the Shi family also bewitched by your looks..."
"Why bring him up?" Thinking about where the road ahead leads, Fu Xuanliao became even more annoyed. "I'd rather be an ugly monster myself."
Gao Lecheng, knowing when to stop, made a few more harmless jokes, and the two set a time for their next meeting.
After hanging up the phone, Fu Xuanliao's smile faded, and his profile, reflected in the glass window, appeared cold and hard, as if coated with a layer of chill by the wind.
Upon entering the Shi family mansion, we arrived just in time for dinner.
The Shi family has many rules, and it is customary not to talk while eating. Fu Xuanliao followed the etiquette and sat down in silence. Only when he glanced at a section of wrist covered by the shirt cuffs did his eyebrows rise slightly, as if he was surprised.
Perhaps the head of the family, Shi Huai, was also present. The people around him had been unusually quiet since the start of the meal. They picked up a couple of dishes with their chopsticks and added a bowl of soup, but surprisingly, they didn't point fingers at Fu Xuanliao or try to control him.
After the meal, Shi Huai also asked Fu Xuanliao to come to his study with him, presumably to discuss business matters.
It's a sad story. The Shi family had been a powerful force in Fengcheng for decades, but in the end, none of them could inherit their mantle. Shi Huai was also nearing retirement and could only mentor the younger generation of his friends to make the most of their remaining talents.
Fu Xuanliao maintained a proper attitude towards this and accepted Shi Huaiyi's advice with respect. Therefore, after leaving the study, he went to the backyard on the first floor to enjoy the cold wind for a while, reviewed the content of the conversation, and then went upstairs.
In truth, Fu Xuanliao knew perfectly well what Shi Huaiyi's favor towards him was related to besides their past relationship. Regarding the cooperation proposed by Shi Huaiyi… Fu Xuanliao pressed his temple with one hand and gripped the doorknob with the other, pressing down.
The Fu family is a rising star in the business world, still establishing itself. Climbing onto the coattails of the Shi family would certainly be beneficial. However, as the saying goes, "He who eats another's food is bound to him." In the past, he was open and honest, able to act without restraint, but now he's entangled in another muddled transaction…
The door opened with a click, revealing a completely dark room. Fu Xuanliao was so focused on his thoughts that he had no time to observe. Just as he reached out to touch the light switch, his shoulder was suddenly grabbed from behind, followed by a drag, leaving him completely unprepared and forced to retreat backward.
Fu Xuanliao hissed as his back slammed against the wall, nearly hitting the back of his head as well. He frowned in the darkness.
The instigator seemed to realize that he had gone too far, and took a half step back, but his hand remained stubbornly on Fu Xuanliao's shoulder.
"What did you post now..."
Before he could utter the last word, Fu Xuanliao's lips were sealed shut.
The person was cold, even their lips were devoid of warmth. When they pressed against me, they did so without restraint, like a small animal eagerly seeking warmth in the freezing cold.
It's hard to say whether it was the inability to resist or the laziness to struggle, but the kiss that wasn't really a kiss continued, even when both of them bared their sharp teeth and almost bit each other, completely lacking any decorum.
After the kiss ended, before his rapid breathing had even stopped, Fu Xuanliao stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, tasting a faint metallic flavor of blood. He scoffed, "Shi Meng, are you a dog?"
He saw the person in front of him, who was half a head shorter than him, tremble.
Shi Meng didn't answer, but asked instead, "Where did you go yesterday?"
Faced with his self-deception, Fu Xuanliao felt both amused and sorry for him: "Didn't you already know?"
Fu Xuanliao was not unsurprised to receive Gao Lecheng's tip-off downstairs. After all, Shi Meng was a proud and arrogant man who cared a lot about his image. Even if he was unhappy, he would only dare to act tough at home. Going out to assert his dominance was not like him.
However, Shi Meng never denied or regretted what he had already done. He held his head high and said frankly, "You are not allowed to go to that kind of place."
Fu Xuanliao laughed again: "What, are you going to add new clauses to the contract again?"
When faced with a question he didn't want to answer, Shi Meng simply ignored it. He felt for Fu Xuanliao's arm in the darkness and gripped his wrist tightly: "This hand?"
"Huh? What happened to this hand?"
"Touch that boy."
Fu Xuanliao was stunned for a long time before he realized that the "boy" Shi Meng mentioned was the waiter who had been placed next to him to keep him company yesterday.
“Yes.” There was nothing to hide anyway, Fu Xuanliao said, “Why wouldn’t we take advantage of something that’s offered to us?”
It must be admitted that the intention behind those words was to make Shi Meng appear both exasperated and helpless.
In any relationship, no male creature is willing to be at a disadvantage.
At that moment, Meng's dark eyes widened, turning into round, jet-black eyes, as if she were both angry and incredulous. Fu Xuanliao could not hide his joy.
"What's wrong? Are you furious?" He bent down, tilted his head, and looked closely at Shi Meng, lowering his voice as he did so, "Trying to bite me?"
At this moment, Fu Xuanliao clearly did not expect the possible consequences of the provocation, and forgot that Shi Meng, once he went crazy, never cared about the consequences.
Before I could analyze the meaning behind those dark, deep eyes, my left hand was suddenly raised high.
Along with the burst of hot air came a piercing pain, as two rows of white teeth embedded themselves between the skin and flesh covering the metacarpal bone, stabbing fiercely.
Shi Meng actually bit him.
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