So Cute

Xie Li looked worried.

"Did Shen Yan offend someone? But why would they send these photos to me? That's so strange."

Pei Heng looked through all the photos on Xie Li's phone.

Then he used Xie Li's phone to add himself on WeChat.

Standing beside him, Xie Li's heart sped up as he watched Pei Heng's contact appear in his WeChat list.

He watched Pei Heng send those photos to himself.

He watched Pei Heng delete those photos from Xie Li's phone.

Then—

Huh?

He watched Pei Heng delete his contact from his own phone?

Xie Li muttered, hurt, "President Pei only added me on WeChat to transfer some photos?"

Pei Heng ignored that and merely asked, "Why didn't you go straight to Shen Yan?"

Xie Li had prepared his answer before coming. Looking aggrieved, he said, "Shen Yan has some misunderstandings about me. No matter how I explain, he won't believe me. I was afraid he'd think I wanted to hurt him, so I didn't dare go to him. It's the same coming to you. I can see that you and Shen Yan have a pretty good relationship."

Pei Heng nodded. "You can leave now."

Xie Li had not expected that reaction from Pei Heng. Aggrieved, he said, "Does President Pei have some misunderstanding about me? I can explain everything. I don't have any other intentions. It just hurts to be hated by President Pei for no reason."

He looked up at Pei Heng with tear-filled eyes.

Pei Heng did indeed look at him.

Then he spoke.

"Glycerin enemas aren't meant to be squeezed into your mouth."

Xie Li froze. Before he could understand what that meant, Pei Heng shoved him out the door.

The door slammed shut. Xie Li staggered and caught himself against the wall. Only then did he understand Pei Heng's words, and rage immediately darkened his eyes as he punched the wall.

You like Shen Yan that much, huh!

Then I'll show you Shen Yan's true face.

Inside the room.

The moment Xie Li left, Shen Yan came out of the bathroom.

Pei Heng looked over at him.

Shen Yan was soaked from head to toe, toweling off his hair. "What photos? Let me see."

Pei Heng's gaze fell on his crimson lips. He casually tossed the phone aside and strode toward Shen Yan. "Why did you come out? I haven't even washed my hair yet!"

As he spoke, he dragged him toward the bathroom.

Shen Yan reacted quickly, throwing the towel over Pei Heng's head before jumping up and landing a critical hit on him.

"You've got some nerve!"

"Attempted murder of your husband!" Pei Heng was suddenly struck and bent over beneath the towel.

Yet the instant he bent at the waist, he grabbed Shen Yan and hoisted him over his shoulder.

Shen Yan was so stunned he nearly laughed in anger. "Were you really raised on cement?"

Why were you so ridiculously strong?

Pei Heng carried him to the bed and tossed him down, then immediately pressed himself over him. "I told you I was raised on Orange-Petal Candy. Don't believe me? Want to inspect me?"

Shen Yan's clothes were still wet, while Pei Heng simply was not wearing a shirt.

They were pressed so close together.

The faint cool dampness on their bodies quickly heated into humid warmth.

Pei Heng stared at him eagerly. "Want to inspect me?"

Shen Yan looked at him in utter disbelief. "Do you have some kind of serious illness? Shouldn't you go get that checked out? What respectable CEO is this horny all the time?"

A hint of amusement lingered in Pei Heng's eyes. "Then will you let me be horny?"

Shen Yan was speechless. Rolling his eyes, he wanted to give him a hard slap.

Unfortunately—

Pei Heng had anticipated it. The instant Shen Yan raised his hand, Pei Heng seized both his wrists and pinned them over his head.

His legs were pinned down too, leaving him unable to move.

"You weren't raised on cement. You were raised on tanks!" Shen Yan declared, then added, very much for his own safety, "But you know this is a society governed by law, right? There are people from the production crew outside, and other artists too."

"Did I break the law? I only wanted to offer you some candy." Though desire churned thickly in Pei Heng's eyes, he restrained himself and did not touch the person beneath him. He merely took a piece of candy from the jar beside them.

Orange-Petal Candy.

"Want some, little brother?"

"Want some, little brother?"

The beautiful little boy opened his palm, revealing a piece of Orange-Petal Candy inside.

Across from him.

A little boy a full head shorter than him stood there, filthy and dressed in rags. His pitch-black eyes looked from the Orange-Petal Candy to the beautiful, noble boy, but he did not dare move.

Yet inside his hole-ridden shoes, his toes could be seen curling against the ground.

"This candy is called Orange-Petal Candy. It's really sweet, and it tastes like oranges. Try some."

The beautiful boy held his hand out farther.

The filthy little boy raised his grimy hand to take it.

Shen Yan jolted back to himself. His hands, which Pei Heng had pinned above his head, had already been released.

At some point, he had taken the candy from Pei Heng's hand and put it into his mouth.

Sweet.

With the taste of oranges.

Exactly like the kind he had eaten as a child.

This was a world inside a novel.

Did this world have Orange-Petal Candy too?

Exactly the same Orange-Petal Candy?

Shen Yan only felt that his mind was in chaos. So many jumbled memories crashed through his head, but they were all brief fragments. He could not piece anything together.

His reason gradually returned as he met Pei Heng's eyes.

Yet those eyes seemed to hold such deep sorrow.

What did a rich man like him have to be sad about?

With the Orange-Petal Candy in his mouth, Shen Yan asked what he did not understand. "Do you have too much money and nowhere to spend it?"

Pei Heng pinched his lips with his fingers. "Yeah. I'm inviting you to spend it with me. Want to?"

Shen Yan thought for one brief second.

"Forget it. There's no such thing as a free lunch."

There had been one before, though.

A beautiful older boy had fallen from the sky and become his neighbor.

He played with him, gave him clothes, fed him, and gave him Orange-Petal Candy...

But perhaps heaven had discovered the bug in time and taken that older boy back.

Shen Yan suddenly lost interest. "What photos did Xie Li show you just now?"

He changed the subject, and Pei Heng did not press further. He only said, "Let me kiss you, and I'll tell you."

Shen Yan was speechless. Just as he was about to refuse, Pei Heng's lips landed on his.

Soft.

They had to be nice to bite.

Shen Yan immediately opened his mouth and bit him.

Pei Heng, being a complete bastard, retreated at once. Then he got up and shoved the phone in front of Shen Yan. "Look. This is what Xie Li showed me."

Shen Yan sat up in bed, cursing under his breath.

He wiped at his violated lips.

Before he could speak, Pei Heng rubbed the top of his head. "So cute."

Unable to endure it any longer, Shen Yan swung around to slap him. But the moment he clearly saw the photo before him, his whole body froze.

In the photo, he lay on a bed in tattered clothes, covered in wounds. Some of them were even still bleeding.

But Shen Yan carefully recalled the original novel's plot and could not remember the original owner ever having gone through something like this.