But You're Terrible at It

The corner of Tong Zhao's eye twitched. "Who programmed all these lines for you?"

"Your husband did~" A smile appeared on the robot Xiaoguang's screen face. "Mr. Tong, would you like to call your husband?"

Unable to bear looking at it, Tong Zhao turned his head away. "No, thank you." Shu Sizhuo really was seriously crazy!

"Then Xiaoguang will bring out your third dish!"

Watching the seemingly cheerful robot glide out the door, he hurriedly called it back. "Xiaoguang!"

"What else can I do for you, Mr. Tong?"

"Do you know what date it is today?"

"Today is October 27, xx."

Tong Zhao froze.

October 27?

Had he been unconscious for three whole days after being locked up here?

Damn it, the dose of sedative Shu Sizhuo had given him was way too high! Wasn't he afraid Tong Zhao would never wake up?

After Xiaoguang brought out the third dish and was about to leave, Tong Zhao called it back again. "Xiaoguang, can you connect to the internet? Do you know what's happening outside? I want to ask how my friend Shi Ruohe is doing."

"Sorry, Mr. Tong, I can't~"

Tong Zhao nodded in disappointment and watched Xiaoguang go in and out several more times before it finally finished serving the food.

Tong Zhao looked at the table full of delicious dishes and smiled bitterly.

What was Shu Sizhuo doing? There were only two of them eating.

He walked over to the table and stared absently at the dishes, wondering whether anyone had found it suspicious that he had suddenly disappeared from the set.

But he also believed Shu Sizhuo could take care of everything concerning the production crew, his agent, Senior Sister Hua, and Shi Ruohe.

The main door slid open to either side with a soft sound, and Shu Sizhuo strode in on his long legs.

He wore a black shirt with the sleeves buttoned tight. Only then did Tong Zhao realize that Shu Sizhuo always kept his cuffs buttoned tight.

There were three scratches on Shu Sizhuo's pale left cheek. They were a little red and looked inflamed.

"Waiting for me? You could have started without me." Shu Sizhuo curved his lips, walked over to Tong Zhao, and bent down to kiss him.

Tong Zhao turned his head away, and the kiss landed at the corner of his lips.

Shu Sizhuo's eyes darkened, but he said nothing. He pulled out a chair for Tong Zhao, who sat down with a cold expression.

Shu Sizhuo sat beside him and put all kinds of chicken, duck, fish, and meat in his bowl. "Eat more. Build your strength back up."

Tong Zhao ate in silence.

Shu Sizhuo glanced at his profile and said, "Are you bored? You could read a book. There's a TV in the room too."

Tong Zhao finally showed a little reaction. "A TV? Where?"

Shu Sizhuo picked up a remote from the storage box beside him and lifted his chin. A projector screen descended over the white wall in front of the dining table.

Tong Zhao gave an almost imperceptible nod to show he knew.

Seeing that he had no intention of talking to him anymore, Shu Sizhuo stopped trying to make conversation, though his expression grew increasingly grim.

After dinner, Shu Sizhuo had people come in to carry away the dishes and clear the table.

Tong Zhao looked at them in puzzlement again.

A robot had served the food, but real people had come to collect the dishes.

Could it be that Shu Sizhuo didn't want him having contact with anyone else when Shu Sizhuo wasn't around?

Once the table was cleared, they were alone in the room again. Shu Sizhuo tugged at his tie. "Do you want to shower first, or should I?"

The moment he heard the word shower, Tong Zhao felt an ache in his butt. He immediately watched Shu Sizhuo warily and even took a step back.

Shu Sizhuo smiled. "Or we could shower together?"

"Y-you go first."

Shu Sizhuo chuckled, looking at him as though he were a lamb in a cage, mocking the lamb for thinking it could escape after falling into a wolf's den.

Tong Zhao knew he couldn't escape and stayed in the bathroom for ages without coming out.

But the bathroom door in this room wasn't designed to be locked from the inside, so Shu Sizhuo simply turned the handle and carried the flailing, struggling Tong Zhao back to bed.

The moment Tong Zhao sank into the bedding, Shu Sizhuo came down over him, showering him with fierce kisses.

Although Tong Zhao thought Shu Sizhuo wasn't good in bed, his kissing skills were quite good.

When Shu Sizhuo had nearly kissed Tong Zhao into suffocation again, he pulled away and frowned at the bead of blood welling up on his lip. "It split open again."

Tong Zhao panted and sneered. "You kiss me several times a day, and you're this forceful every time. Either stop biting like a dog or stop kissing me. Don't keep it from ever healing."

Shu Sizhuo looked at him and pressed his thumb against his lips. "Since when did you get so good at insulting people?"

The moment Shu Sizhuo said "since when," Tong Zhao felt as though a thorn had lodged in his heart. Before he could say anything, Shu Sizhuo took his earlobe between his teeth.

Tong Zhao sucked in a breath and shuddered.

Shu Sizhuo kissed his earlobe, his eyebrows, his eyelids, and his cheeks before moving down to his neck.

It was all charged with an intimacy that sparked desire, but to Tong Zhao it felt increasingly like torture, and his body trembled even harder.

When he felt the cool air, Tong Zhao's eyes widened in terror. He pushed against Shu Sizhuo's shoulders, his face pale. "I think I'm still really sore. Can you stop?"

Shu Sizhuo tried rubbing him. "Does it still hurt? It doesn't look inflamed anymore."

"It hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts... it hurts!" Tong Zhao nodded frantically.

Shu Sizhuo gazed at him with eyes that saw through everything. "Isn't it psychological resistance? Tong Zhao, you have to get used to it. Locked up here with me, you belong to me."

Tong Zhao glared at Shu Sizhuo.

Shu Sizhuo knew he was trying to go back on his word. He lowered his head and kissed his eyelid. "You promised me during the day that as long as I let the people from the Wind House go, you'd be willing to stay here. Did you forget?"

Tong Zhao bit his lower lip in anger, catching the wound. He only let go when Shu Sizhuo squeezed his cheeks.

"Don't bite." Shu Sizhuo frowned.

Tong Zhao tried to turn his head away, but Shu Sizhuo held his jaw tightly. He tried to hold it in, but couldn't, and shouted, "But you're terrible at it! You hurt me so much! It's your fault I'm so resistant!"

Sure enough, Shu Sizhuo's expression changed slightly, as though he couldn't believe what Tong Zhao had said. "I'm... terrible... at it?"

"Yes! It didn't feel good at all. It hurt the whole time!"

Tong Zhao's words—"terrible at it," "hurt me so much," and "didn't feel good"—left Shu Sizhuo reeling.

That couldn't be.

He'd watched two videos, and he'd gotten the steps right, hadn't he? Where had he gone wrong?

For someone as clever and quick to learn as Shu Sizhuo, being unskilled in this area was a heavier blow than being told he couldn't do business!

He froze above Tong Zhao as if turned to stone, his expression shifting unpredictably.

Then he looked at the fear in Tong Zhao's eyes and felt as though a huge club had fallen from the sky and struck his mind blank.

After an unknown length of time, Shu Sizhuo finally gave in.

He got off Tong Zhao, then lay on his side and gathered him into his arms from behind. Burying his face in the crook of Tong Zhao's neck, he said somewhat glumly, "Is that so? All right, then I won't touch you tonight."

Shu Sizhuo used a voice command to turn off the lights, pulled the covers over them, and held Tong Zhao even closer, leaving no space between them.

Enclosed in Shu Sizhuo's arms, Tong Zhao stared blankly ahead, unable to believe that Shu Sizhuo had actually compromised.

And being held in this position reminded him of Shu Sizhuo at nineteen.

Tong Zhao slowly closed his eyes, and a single tear slipped gently down.