At that moment.
Jiang Chiyan's mind went blank.
He climbed into the car and asked Xiao Cheng, phone in hand, "Do you know what you're saying?"
Jiang Chiyan heard the sound of a lighter on the other end.
Xiao Cheng seemed to have lit a cigarette. He slowly said, "I do, but..."
"But what?" Jiang Chiyan asked.
Xiao Cheng said exactly what Jiang Chiyan had said. "Anyone can be wronged, but not Jiang Chiyan."
Jiang Chiyan fell silent for a moment, then asked him, "Do you know what the consequences are?"
Having finished reading Baidu Encyclopedia, Xiao Cheng answered, "Intentional injury resulting in serious bodily harm carries a prison sentence of three to ten years. If it causes disability... it could mean the death penalty."
Jiang Chiyan's Adam's apple bobbed. "Then why would you still..."
"I'm not afraid of dying," Xiao Cheng said frankly. "Chiyan, I'm afraid of you dying."
Jiang Chiyan leaned over the steering wheel and laughed, his eyes reddening too. "Idiot. Did you really think I left my brains at home, hmm?"
The mood abruptly changed.
Caught off guard, Xiao Cheng let out a puzzled, "Huh?"
Jiang Chiyan said, "I didn't beat Chu Luo badly enough to seriously injure him."
Xiao Cheng's heart sank further. "Then he... didn't go straight to the morgue, did he?"
Jiang Chiyan had a very hard time holding back his laughter.
In the darkness, his black, foxlike eyes were especially alluring.
Jiang Chiyan made a video call to Xiao Cheng.
Xiao Cheng answered instantly.
On the video, Jiang Chiyan saw Xiao Cheng sitting on the edge of his bed.
Xiao Cheng's sheets were covered with photos of Jiang Chiyan that he hadn't had time to put away.
The smile on Jiang Chiyan's lips deepened. "Miss me that much?"
With his feelings exposed, Xiao Cheng's ears reddened. "I have insomnia. With you beside me, I can sleep more soundly."
Jiang Chiyan gazed intently at Xiao Cheng. "Baby, I like you depending on me like this."
As he spoke, Jiang Chiyan even brushed his fingertip over Xiao Cheng's lips on the screen.
Xiao Cheng awkwardly averted his eyes and drew back a little. "Don't change the subject. Chu Luo... you didn't beat him to death, did you?"
Jiang Chiyan said, "He's not dead. He just got bitten by mosquitoes."
Xiao Cheng didn't believe him. "Mosquito bites landed him in the ICU?"
Jiang Chiyan shrugged, looking utterly innocent. "Just a little over two thousand bites."
Xiao Cheng: "..."
A little over two thousand bites, just??
Still, Xiao Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. Then something occurred to him, and he asked, "Wasn't he going to accuse you of murder?"
Jiang Chiyan leaned toward the screen and lightly kissed Xiao Cheng's face on it. "He smashed up your office. I accused him of intentionally destroying someone else's property and robbery. The police will formally open a case in a few days."
Xiao Cheng: "..."
He had seen shameless people before, but never anyone as shameless as Jiang Chiyan.
Xiao Cheng inwardly cheered, but deliberately kept a stern face. "Next time, could you tell me everything in one go..."
Jiang Chiyan nodded. "Sure."
After a pause, he added, "How could I bear to refuse you? I couldn't bear to, and I wouldn't dare."
Xiao Cheng's lashes fluttered. His face flushed, and he said nothing.
Jiang Chiyan tilted his head. "Since you've secretly stashed away so many photos of me, Best Actor Xiao, shouldn't you send me one of yourself too?"
Xiao Cheng didn't refuse. He obediently undid the top two buttons of his pajamas, revealing a beautiful stretch of collarbone.
On his collarbone was a cluster of dark purple Louis XIV Roses.
Exactly like the ones on Jiang Chiyan's body.
Except the letters Xiao Cheng had tattooed on his body were JCY.
Xiao Cheng pointed at himself. "You can take a screenshot."
Jiang Chiyan's gaze slowly traveled down along Xiao Cheng's neckline.
The light in his eyes gradually deepened.
In a husky voice, he coaxed Xiao Cheng, "Baby, undo two more buttons. Be good."
Baby...
Xiao Cheng's fingertips curled.
This was the first time Jiang Chiyan had called him that.
But.
Xiao Cheng clutched his pajama collar like a little white rabbit coveted by a hungry wolf and shook his head. "No."
Jiang Chiyan hadn't expected him to refuse. "I've already touched you. You're still afraid to let me look?"
Xiao Cheng shook his head. "That's not it. I'm afraid you'll... lose control in the car."
With that, Xiao Cheng decisively ended the video call.
After hanging up.
Xiao Cheng undid two more buttons, revealing his wheat-colored chest.
Seemingly still not satisfied, he undid all the buttons on his pajama top.
Xiao Cheng took a photo of his chest.
He tried several angles, but none felt perfect.
Filters, retouching-he put more care into it than the photos he posted on Weibo.
Xiao Cheng opened Jiang Chiyan's WeChat chat and sent him two photos.
Sitting in the driver's seat, Jiang Chiyan: "..."
Jiang Chiyan drove home as fast as he could.
Once home, he went straight into the bedroom.
With one hand, he undid his shirt buttons from top to bottom.
Narrowing his eyes, Jiang Chiyan looked at the photos Xiao Cheng had sent. After saving them, he added a password to the album.
Then he walked into the bathroom and stood beneath the showerhead.
He switched the water from hot to cold.
Over half an hour later, Jiang Chiyan lay down beneath the covers, his entire body icy cold.
At two thirty in the morning.
Jiang Chiyan posted on Weibo, with just one word and a picture.
Jiang Chiyan V: "Mine."
The attached picture showed a collarbone.
No face was visible, only a stretch of collarbone.
The bone structure was stunningly beautiful, with a cluster of bewitching, wickedly alluring roses tattooed on the cool, pale skin.
The dark purple petals captivated the senses, temptation at its utmost.
Beneath the roses were three letters: JCY.
JCY... Jiang Chiyan...
Netizens who saw the letters mistakenly thought it was a photo of Jiang Chiyan's collarbone.
But.
The sharp-eyed Oranges still spotted a clue.
Someone sent Xiao Cheng private messages.
_: "Have you seen the collarbone photo Jiang Chiyan posted?"
_: "There's a beauty mark in the hollow of that collarbone. I remember you have one too, Brother Cheng."
_: "So the photo Jiang Chiyan posted is...?"
_: "Brother Cheng, Brother Cheng, did you get Jiang Chiyan's name tattooed on your body?"
Xiao Cheng didn't reply.
But at three ten that morning.
Using his main Weibo account, Xiao Cheng liked Jiang Chiyan's post.
After liking it, he even left a comment underneath: "Go to sleep."
As though he had a guilty conscience, Xiao Cheng deleted it almost immediately, less than a minute after posting.
But an Oranges fan still took a screenshot and posted it in the Super Topic.
_: "Don't nag Lawyer Jiang to go to sleep. Just sleep together! @Xiao Cheng V"
_: "That collarbone and beauty mark-yes, please!"
_: "Am I the only one who noticed that the two Super Topics Lawyer Jiang recently participated in are the Xiao Cheng Super Topic and the Gunpowder Smoke Couple Super Topic? @Jiang Chiyan V"
_: "Aaaah, what kind of heavenly romance is this!"
_: "Gunpowder Smoke CP is real!!!"
After browsing Weibo, Jiang Chiyan answered another dozen or so work emails and went to sleep.
What he hadn't expected was.
The next day, just as he arrived at the law firm, something major happened again.