"No, seriously, what do you do sitting at home all day?" Hu Kailan sounded brisk and bustling on the phone. Car horns blared in the background; he was clearly outside. "Anyway, a luxury brand is opening in Jinning Tower, and they want you to drop by. It won't take long. Make an appearance, cut the ribbon with the people in charge. The pay's pretty good. Interested?"
"Yes." Shen Lian was reclining in a lounge chair, basking in the sun. The light fell across the corners of his eyes, suffusing them with a soft, careless tenderness.
These days, that face had few rivals in the entertainment industry.
"Great." Hu Kailan sounded pleased. "Then it's settled."
"Mm. Sorry for the trouble, Brother Hu."
After hanging up, Shen Lian braced both hands against the lounge chair and grimaced a little as he laboriously shifted positions. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought someone had beaten him up. But a moment later, once he found a comfortable position, that lazy, leisurely expression returned.
He had thought Chu Yilan had such impressive self-control. In the end, he had only behaved himself for that one night.
After dinner the next day, Shen Lian had been flipped back and forth like a fish in a frying pan. It had certainly felt good, but it had certainly been exhausting, too.
Even as his breathing grew heavy, Chu Yilan hadn't forgotten to ask Shen Lian, "Have you learned your lesson?"
Shen Lian's voice was hoarse, but he was smiling. "Master Chu, you've heard me beg for mercy so many times, only for me to turn around and do it again. Haven't you gotten used to it yet?"
That had set Chu Yilan off. Shen Lian had inflicted a thousand points of damage on himself for a mere twenty