When Bo Yan was eight, a group of children his age cornered him in a restroom and stomped on his right pinky until it broke.
When he got home, his stepfather didn't take him to the hospital right away. Instead, he was very "curious"-what would it look like if that finger really was stomped off?
Would he die?
Or would he be better off dead?
An adult was far more vicious than a group of eight-year-olds.
And so the middle-aged man, nearly forty, stepped on the eight-year-old child's pinky again.
He watched the child struggle in agony, watched him hold back his sobs as tears fell.
Only when the child passed out did the man flash a vicious smile and leave to play cards, thoroughly satisfied.
By the time Bo Yan's birth mother returned, that hand was a mangled mess of flesh and blood, too horrible to look at.
Yet his birth mother only gave it a simple bandaging, then handed Bo Yan a tin of candy and told him to eat a piece whenever it hurt. After that, she paid him no more attention.
An eight-year-old couldn't understand overly complicated emotions, but he could still sense whether his parents liked or hated him.
When had Bo Yan realized that his birth mother didn't like him?
Was it when she abandoned him on the street at three?
Or when his uncle nearly sold him to human traffickers at four?
Or perhaps one day when he was six, when his birth mother had an episode in the pouring rain and called him a monster?
Wen Ning had no way of knowing.
Before she came here, Bo Yan's past had been nothing more than a brief passage of text. In fact, she had only learned about that text from her best friend.
Just as she hadn't understood when she heard her best friend recount this part of the plot through tears, Wen Ning still couldn't understand now why a mother would loathe her own child to such an extent.
Although she hadn't had an intact family, her divorced parents still sent their care on holidays.
Perhaps that was also why eight-year-old Bo Yan had seen that tin of candy as his mother's care.
Children starved of love were like that. Even the most insignificant scrap of concern was something they would treasure dearly.
Bo Yan slept with that tin of candy in his arms every night. Only when the pain became truly unbearable would he bring himself to secretly eat a piece.
Before long, however, the children who bullied Bo Yan dumped that tin of candy into the toilet.
They forced Bo Yan to pick the candies out one by one, then forced him to eat every piece he retrieved, one by one.
And from then on, those hateful children acquired a new "hobby": stomping on fingers.
Whenever Bo Yan's finger recovered a little, they would stomp it into a bloody mess again...
Wen Ning's heart had ached when she heard this part, too.
But however much it had ached then, ultimately, it had only been a passage of text. It couldn't compare to the immediate shock of seeing that twisted pinky with her own eyes now.
How much must it have hurt...
Wen Ning stared at that finger, lost in thought for a moment.
Just then, she suddenly heard a scoff.
"What, want to call me a monster again?"
His breathing sounded heavy beside her ear. It was only a simple taunt, yet it cost Bo Yan a great deal of effort.
First came the original owner's lash wounds, then the severe injuries Bo Xubai had inflicted without mercy.
Right now, even breathing was difficult for Bo Yan.
That breathless taunt brought Wen Ning back to herself, and she refuted it almost reflexively. "I didn't!"
At most, she had silently complained about him being a cold-blooded, heartless, crazy big villain. She had never called him a monster, even in her head!
Meeting Wen Ning's dark, fathomless eyes, Bo Yan instinctively knitted his brows.
There it was again.
That look again.
When she had talked back to that man on his behalf just now, she had looked at him with that same unwavering, unclouded gaze.
In the past, she had never spoken up for him, much less looked him in the eye.
What the hell was wrong with her tonight...
Bo Yan instinctively felt "uncomfortable" under Wen Ning's current gaze. He looked away and sneered, "You didn't? Weren't you always calling me a monster before?"
Wen Ning: "..."
That was the original owner! What the hell did it have to do with her?
Forget it. Since she was here, she might as well make peace with it and dutifully pay off the original owner's debts.
Cursing inwardly, Wen Ning plastered on a smile. "Wasn't that just because of a little personal fetish of mine?"
Wen Ning pushed the door open and switched on the room's light as she went.
The instant the light came on, she saw Bo Yan watching her with a faint, ambiguous smile, as though saying, Let's see what act you put on this time.
Wen Ning really did launch straight into an act.
An idea flashed through her mind, and she immediately tossed him onto the bed!
Of course, "tossed" really meant pressing him down to sit on the bed. Afraid of tugging at his wounds, Wen Ning hadn't used much force.
Then Wen Ning's lips curved into a Nike-swoosh grin. Pinching Bo Yan's chin, she chuckled. "My darling husband, have I never told you? Monsters are my absolute favorite~"
With that, she puckered up and moved in to kiss him.
Bo Yan clearly hadn't expected her to pull this trick again. Only when she nearly succeeded did he just manage to turn his head and dodge the kiss.
Whether from anger or something else, Bo Yan's ears turned red in an instant.
He panted heavily, about to lose his temper, before something else occurred to him. Suppressing his anger, he said hoarsely, with a half-smile, "You like monsters?"
Wen Ning nodded vigorously and puckered up to kiss him again, playing a pervert lusting after beauty to perfection.
Bo Yan dodged again, not letting her succeed.
Enduring the disgust inside him, Bo Yan pinned down Wen Ning's right hand, which rested on his shoulder.
Still puckering her lips and playing the pervert, Wen Ning froze.
She saw the man sitting on the bed tilt his head up to look at her.
Bo Yan's face was truly bewitching. Even now, with half his face covered in blood and looking utterly battered, he was still as beautiful as an oil painting.
In that brief moment of distraction, Wen Ning heard Bo Yan ask softly, like a devil whispering, "Then would you like to become a monster with me?"
As he spoke, Bo Yan's left hand had already slipped between Wen Ning's fingers. Then, little by little, he closed his grip around her right pinky...
Goosebumps instantly rose all over Wen Ning.
It felt as though countless little snakes were crawling along her hand.
Sinister and terrifying.
Clearly, if she said the wrong thing, Bo Yan would snap that pinky immediately!
Once again, Wen Ning experienced the big villain's madness firsthand!
What the hell was wrong with him, breaking people's fingers at the slightest disagreement?!!
Cold sweat broke out over her back in waves. Wen Ning fought the urge to yank her hand away immediately. After swallowing and steadying herself, she narrowed her eyes and imitated Bo Yan's devilish whisper. "Sure."
Bo Yan faltered, clearly not expecting that answer.
Then Wen Ning continued, "But Bo Yan, I like monsters. Do you like me?"
At those words, a brief crack appeared in Bo Yan's smiling mask.
His brows drew together, undisguised revulsion filling his eyes.
Now Wen Ning knew where she stood, and she threw herself into the act even harder.
With utter obsession, she said, "Bo Yan, could you like me? If you're willing to like me, then I'm willing to become a monster with you."
She was betting this guy wouldn't say he liked her!
The air abruptly fell silent.
Wen Ning stared nervously at Bo Yan.
Bo Yan was also staring at her, his expression calm.
After an unknown stretch of time, Wen Ning suddenly saw the corners of his lips lift.
"Sure," he said.
Wen Ning was dumbfounded!
Then she heard a clang.
Who knew where he had produced another combat knife from?
The combat knife was tossed at her feet.
Wen Ning's heart jolted!
She watched Bo Yan's pitch-dark, peach-blossom eyes suddenly curve into lovely crescents. The two tear moles at the outer corner of his left eye looked like stars guarding the crescent moon.
His breathing was labored, yet his voice carried a smile. "Break a finger, and I'll try to like you."