Why don't you point that thing at the sky?

"Mianmian, how did the chat go with the girl Mom sent you this afternoon?"

After waiting ages without a reply from Lin Fengmian, Song Su went straight up to the third floor. The moment she pushed his door open, thunderous drumming poured out, every beat seeming to bounce on her nerves.

Song Su backed away without even going in. Only after shutting the door and sealing the drumming inside did she breathe a sigh of relief.

It seemed she had pushed him too hard lately and pissed him off.

But she could hardly be blamed. When he wanted to play music before, she had let him, but now he was nearly thirty and still wouldn't settle down. How could she not worry?

Lin Fengmian kept his ears pricked as he drummed.

Once he was sure his mother had left, he slowed the drumsticks in his hands from a frantic rhythm to gentle taps against the drumhead. Bored out of his mind, he yawned. He really wanted to go lie down.

His phone sounded a distinctive ringtone in his pocket. Without even looking, Lin Fengmian answered. "Xia Qinghe."

The young man's voice was warm and mellow, like clear spring water flowing through a mountain stream, and very distinctive.

It really was a shame he wasn't a lead singer.

Secretary Su couldn't help thinking this every time he heard that voice. "Fourth Young Master."

Recognizing Secretary Su's voice, Lin Fengmian asked, "Is Xia Qinghe going crazy drunk again?"

Secretary Su gave an awkward laugh on the other end. "Mr. Xia had a business engagement today. He drank a little too much..."

There was a consensus among Shengjing's upper crust: the only person who could keep the mad dog Xia Qinghe in check was Lin Fengmian. One was unhinged, the other was insane, and they were two of a kind.

The insane one could control the unhinged one. It sounded utterly fantastical, but it was true.

Lin Fengmian was the leash around the mad dog Xia Qinghe's neck.

Lin Fengmian raised an eyebrow. "Throw him off the building. I guarantee he won't dare act crazy again."

Secretary Su said, "..." Have you forgotten I'm a weakling? If I actually tried that, I wouldn't be throwing him. He'd be throwing me.

After falling 108 floors, I'd become Secretary Su the Human Puddle.

"Mr. Xia isn't in a very good mood today." Secretary Su had dealt with Lin Fengmian for ten years and knew what to say to sway him.

Sure enough, Lin Fengmian clicked his tongue. "Got it. I'll be right over."

Dusk had fallen. The glass facade of the tallest building in the city center reflected the splendor of the entire CBD, and a young man wearing a pink graffiti-print T-shirt appeared on its futuristic top floor.

He was tall and slender, his skin like fresh snow, his lashes long and curled, his lips naturally red. His features were so exquisitely beautiful that no brush could capture them.

The neon lights outside the building cast strange, shifting colors across his face, yet he was breathtakingly beautiful.

Secretary Su, standing outside the door, spotted him the moment he appeared and visibly breathed a sigh of relief. "Fourth Young Master, you're here."

"Where's Xia Qinghe?" Lin Fengmian stared at the tightly shut alloy doors. The moment he spoke, his impatience practically bowled Secretary Su over.

Oh no. The Fourth Young Master seemed to be in a bad mood today too.

These two would get into a fight.

What should I do?

Xia Qinghe and Lin Fengmian had been born at the very pinnacle of the pyramid, genuine favored sons of heaven, born to privilege and central figures in their circle.

There was no shortage of clever people among them, but Xia Qinghe was the cleverest of all. His intelligence could even be called uncanny.

From childhood, he had known how to read people's expressions, bending over backward to please Old Master Xia, who had still been alive then, and keeping himself humble and submissive.

At some unknown point, he had begun laying out an enormous chess game. At twenty-two, just days after the old master's death, he had dealt with those in power in the Xia family with lightning speed, reorganized the entire Xia Corporation, and taken it into his own hands.

From then on, he had shown his edge without restraint. Everyone respected him and feared him.

Perhaps because he had held himself back for too long as a child, his temperament had become both unhinged and insane. Once he truly held power, he deferred to no one, and not a single person who crossed him met a good end.

Secretary Su had worked for him for eight years and still lived in trepidation.

When Xia Qinghe was in a bad mood, practically no one dared make a nuisance of themselves in front of him.

Except Lin Fengmian.

"Inside." Secretary Su's heart trembled. Maybe I should call an ambulance now and have it wait outside.

As Lin Fengmian approached the alloy doors, a deep, teasing voice sounded overhead. "Mianmian, my darling Mianmian, you're here."

A rainbow-colored light flashed, and the alloy doors opened soundlessly.

"Welcome, Mianmian. You're still so beautiful today that you make my heart tremble." It sounded like a whisper in a lover's ear, so outrageously flirtatious that Lin Fengmian stumbled.

A vein throbbed at Lin Fengmian's temple. "Xia Qinghe, one of us is dying today."

Secretary Su said, "...!!!"

Oh no. He hadn't summoned reinforcements. He'd summoned the king of hell to claim a life.

"Fourth Young Master! Fourth Young Master!" Secretary Su tried to call Lin Fengmian back out, but the alloy doors mercilessly snapped shut in his face.

They nearly hit his nose.

Secretary Su stared at the closed doors, wanting to cry but unable to. He had better hurry up and call an ambulance to wait outside.

If anything happened to either of those two precious tyrants inside, eight lifetimes wouldn't be enough for him to make up for it.

Lin Fengmian climbed the steps inside, and something came hurtling toward him. He turned slightly, and a pillow carrying the scent of sandalwood skimmed past him, struck the alloy wall behind him, and slid to the floor.

It had died an innocent death.

A deep, impatient voice came from inside. "Get lost."

It was a fine voice, rich and intoxicating as a well-aged wine, the same voice as the teasing one at the entrance. But now there was no flirtation in it, only more of an irritation on the verge of erupting.

The footsteps continued.

"Get out." The voice sounded again.

Lin Fengmian stopped in front of the man and bent down to look at him.

The man's tall frame was sunk into the sofa, the back of his hand resting over his face. The flickering neon outside cast his profile in a light that was regal yet deeply impatient.

A few stray locks had fallen over his forehead. Lin Fengmian reached out and smoothed them back for him. "Got bitten by a dog?"

Xia Qinghe froze, all the agitation in him vanishing without a trace.

"Mianmian?"

Lin Fengmian addressed the air. "Please turn on the lights."

The room remained dark.

Lin Fengmian grabbed Xia Qinghe's tie, his lips curving like the calm before a storm. "Your darling Mianmian wants the lights on."

With a click, the room flooded with light.

The corners of Xia Qinghe's mouth rose higher and higher, until Lin Fengmian punched the sofa with a dull thud. He hurriedly pressed his lips into a straight line.

He was already trying very hard, but the corners of his mouth simply wouldn't obey, rising uncontrollably.

"Heh. Didn't I tell you to change it? Have your ears grown fur? Can't you hear me?" The Xia family's businesses spanned all sorts of industries, but after Xia Qinghe took over, he had focused on artificial intelligence and achieved outstanding success.

The company's top floor was Xia Qinghe's private domain. Everything here was under his control, and he had installed plenty of things that got on Lin Fengmian's nerves, such as those voice messages.

Lin Fengmian reached out to tickle the armpits of Xia Qinghe, who was impeccably dressed in a three-piece suit.

Xia Qinghe leaned aside, but Lin Fengmian had anticipated his move and was already waiting right where he would dodge.

"Hahahaha! Have mercy, Mianmian! Hahahaha! My dear Mianmian, I was wrong!"

A dozen or so minutes later, Lin Fengmian frowned and hauled the disheveled Xia Qinghe off the sofa. "Come on, we're going to the hospital. You're practically cooked."

Xia Qinghe's scorching breath hit Lin Fengmian's neck. He let Lin Fengmian support him, his legs dragging across the floor, not caring in the slightest whether his custom-made leather shoes worth hundreds of thousands got scuffed. "Fuck. I've hunted geese for years, only to have one peck my eyes out."

"If you weren't always such a flirt, you wouldn't have fallen for it."

Both had grown up in wealthy families. What sordid tricks hadn't they seen? Xia Qinghe's temperature was hot enough to fry an egg, clearly abnormal. Lin Fengmian asked, "You noticed early on and thought hiding here would keep you safe? Weren't you afraid that thing would stop working?"

Xia Qinghe gave a soft scoff. "Without you here, I couldn't trust anyone."

Lin Fengmian clicked his tongue. Those words were certainly pleasing to hear. He was happy, but his tongue remained sharp. "Are you a solid iron weight? Hold yourself up a little. You're crushing me."

Before they left, Lin Fengmian stripped off Xia Qinghe's suit jacket and wrapped it around his waist. "Why don't you point that thing at the sky? It looks hideous."