Chapter 9

"Brother."

Fu Yuhe asked, "Why didn't you answer your phone?"

Fu Cheng said, "I didn't hear it just now."

Fu Yuhe sensed something. "You're not home?"

"No, I was just playing basketball," Fu Cheng said.

"With Shen Yi?" Fu Yuhe guessed at once.

"That's right," Fu Cheng said. "Did you need something, brother?"

"No," Fu Yuhe said. He had originally wanted Fu Cheng to deliver a document to the company, but there was no need now.

Before hanging up, Fu Yuhe faintly heard someone call "Fu Cheng" on the other end. It was Shen Yi's voice.

He sat in his high-rise office, the city spread out beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows. After hanging up, he looked at his phone for a long moment, then pinched the bridge of his nose.

There was no need to be so nervous. It was just young people playing basketball together.

But he had to admit that Shen Yi's presence bothered him a great deal.

At the basketball court, Shen Yi sat on the steps drinking water, his long, straight legs stretched out in front of him and his upper body leaning back slightly.

He had done it on purpose just now.

There was a good chance Fu Cheng had been talking to Fu Yuhe. Even if he wasn't, it didn't matter, though it would be best if he was. Shen Yi had wanted Fu Yuhe to hear his voice.

Though Fu Yuhe didn't show his emotions much, he was very protective of Fu Cheng. Shen Yi simply wanted, out of malice, to make Fu Yuhe nervous.

"I'm done playing. I have to go back and do practice problems this afternoon," Fu Cheng said.

"Sure." Shen Yi tilted his head back, his hair bouncing lightly twice in the sunlight and tracing an arc behind him. He turned his head. "By the way, your brother's birthday is coming up, isn't it?"

"Soon," Fu Cheng said. "I still haven't decided what to get him."

He had only mentioned it casually to Shen Yi last time, but Shen Yi had a good memory.

"Do you have time tomorrow?" Fu Cheng asked.

Shen Yi turned his head. "Yeah, I'll help you pick something out."

"Thanks, Shen Yi." A smile appeared on Fu Cheng's lips.

"No need to thank me. Treat me to a meal instead," Shen Yi said with a smile.

"No problem," Fu Cheng said.

Shen Yi smiled like a sly fox. "Oh, and it'd be best to surprise your brother, so don't let him know where you're going tomorrow."

Fu Cheng said innocently, "It's fine. My brother usually isn't home, and he doesn't ask where I'm going."

"Where are you going?"

At the front door, Fu Cheng was bending over to change his shoes when a question came from behind him, making his heart tremble.

He didn't know what was going on with his brother today. He was sitting on the living room sofa like a guardian at the gate, when he would usually have left home long before this time.

Fu Cheng had dawdled for more than ten minutes before deciding to leave, only to be questioned anyway.

"N-nowhere." Whenever Fu Cheng lied to Fu Yuhe, it was obvious, and even the end of his sentence trembled.

Fu Yuhe stared at him for a moment. His gaze was calm, but that very calmness made Fu Cheng terribly nervous.

"I'm going to the library to buy something," Fu Cheng added to patch up his story.

It was hard to tell whether Fu Yuhe believed him. "Mm."

Before Fu Cheng could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard him say, "I'll drive you."

"No need, brother. Go do your own thing, don't worry about me," Fu Cheng said. He had finished changing his shoes, and before Fu Yuhe could say another word, he hurried out the door.

Fu Yuhe's deep-set eyes were unreadable, like an old mother seeing her child go astray.

His dear little brother had learned to lie for Shen Yi's sake.

Fu Yuhe had a banquet to attend that evening, and his assistant had delivered his custom-made suit to the villa that morning.

The black suit had a few delicate design details and fit Fu Yuhe perfectly, showing off his long legs and narrow waist to their best advantage. The dark fabric set off his cool, pale skin, giving him an unapproachable air, and when he narrowed his eyes slightly, his presence was intimidating enough to put people on edge.

At that inopportune moment, he thought of Shen Yi.

He was very bold, even though he was only an eighteen-year-old high school senior.

After trying on the suit, he changed out of it. He had a meeting at two that afternoon. He glanced at his watch, left the bedroom, and said to the assistant in the living room, "Let's go to the office."

The assistant picked up the car keys and followed him.

After the two got into the car, the assistant adjusted the rearview mirror and saw Fu Cheng in the back seat. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "I saw your younger brother at the shop today, Mr. Fu. I was going to say hello, but he hid when he saw me, so I didn't go over."

Fu Yuhe was a VIP customer at that shop, and many of his suits were custom-made there.

Fu Yuhe looked down and adjusted his sleeves. "Was he alone?" he asked casually.

"That student Shen was with him too," the assistant said.

Fu Yuhe's fingertips paused. "What were they doing there?"

"They seemed to be buying a tie," the assistant said.

Fu Yuhe had asked him to look into Shen Yi before, so he knew Fu Yuhe was paying attention to Shen Yi, which was why he had brought it up. He took out his phone and handed it to Fu Yuhe, who saw the photo on the screen.

In the photo, the two boys stood facing each other. The taller boy was bending over, a bright smile on his face, while the other boy held up a tie against his collar...

Fu Yuhe placed the phone face down beside him with a sound that was neither loud nor soft. The assistant, who had followed him for several years, sensed the subtle shift in the atmosphere and glanced at the rearview mirror.

The man in the back seat had his eyes lowered and his thumb pressed against his index finger, an air of an impending storm about him.

Fu Cheng's innocence seemed to attract perverts all too easily.

Back in middle school, when boys were just beginning to learn about sex, Fu Cheng had also had a friend. All Fu Yuhe remembered now was that the boy had been tall, sturdy, and dark-skinned. Fu Cheng had brought him home to play, too.

The boy's thoughts had not escaped Fu Yuhe's notice. He often made moves to take advantage of Fu Cheng, and later Fu Yuhe dealt with him.