The stairwell lights had been deliberately switched off. Only the door, still slightly ajar from when Song Liang had been pulled inside, admitted a sliver of light.
It fell across the other man’s profile, revealing a sharply defined jaw and a silver mask.
Song Liang immediately recognized him as the Mr. Yi who had openly offered double the fee to hire him in the hall.
Pretending otherwise, he warned, “Sir, this is Xinglong Society territory. If you’re planning to steal someone away, you should think carefully.”
“You knew whose territory this was, and you still came?”
Xiao Yi’s voice was low.
“I’m here to work. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Your idea of honest work is entertaining guests in private rooms?”
“…”
Song Liang considered the wording. Something sounded a little off, but he didn’t dwell on it.
“Yes.”
At his unconcerned tone, Xiao Yi’s grip tightened involuntarily.
Song Liang clicked his tongue.
“I’m a living person, not a slab of pork. Could you loosen your grip?”
“And…”
He abruptly tugged the man’s tie downward.
“Don’t you think this position looks rather indecent?”
His left hand was pinned above his head, his body pressed completely against the wall. With the difference in their height and build, Xiao Yi all but enveloped him.
One leg remained between Xiao Yi’s, his knee firmly held in the man’s hand.
And because Song Liang still had hold of his tie, Xiao Yi had to keep his head lowered.
Their faces were close enough for their breaths to mingle.
They looked like two men who had come to the casino for a clandestine affair.
Xiao Yi knew the position was hardly appropriate.
But the young man was too skilled a fighter. He feared that releasing him would invite an immediate counterattack, followed by another escape, just like the previous two times.
After a moment’s consideration, he drew Song Liang’s knee outward, away from his groin.
Song Liang, whose leg had been forced open: “?”
He gave an irritated laugh.
“Wonderful. Now I’m the only one who looks indecent, and you’re perfectly respectable.”
Xiao Yi: “…”
He still had some dignity to preserve.
Eventually, he released Song Liang’s right leg and used his own to pin it instead.
That brought their lower bodies into contact. Even through the fabric, each could feel the other’s warmth.
“Why did you stop just now?”
Xiao Yi had trained in close combat. He knew Song Liang’s reactions were faster than his own.
Had the young man not hesitated, that strike would certainly have injured him.
The hesitation was what had allowed Xiao Yi to regain control.
3085 wanted to know the answer too.
Given its host’s temperament, that blow could have left the main villain permanently incapacitated.
Especially in this darkness. He couldn’t even see the man properly, which should have made him less inclined to hold back.
【Why, Host?】
Song Liang answered lazily, 【For Xiao Ji, of course.】
He didn’t know what had happened in the Xiao family, but Xiao Ji’s attitude had clearly softened.
He was evidently desperate for the Emperor’s Tear.
And while Song Liang didn’t belong to a top-tier dynasty, he was still a wealthy heir.
Knowing his nominal father’s character, if the man discovered Song Liang held leverage over Xiao Ji and could marry into the family, he would certainly be willing to take a gamble.
If it failed, he could always make his son the scapegoat.
That meant Xiao Ji wouldn’t dare truly harm him.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so alarmed when Song Liang jumped from the yacht.
To Song Liang, getting engaged to Xiao Ji was part of the plan.
Now that his goal was within reach, it was best to avoid complications.
【If I’d actually driven that knee home, do you think Xiao Ji would still agree to get engaged?】
3085 understood at once.
Of course!
At this point, the top lead and the main villain hadn’t fallen out. They were still as close as father and son.
If Xiao Ji learned that the host had deprived his beloved uncle of the ability to father children with a single knee strike, he would never spare him.
An engagement would be out of the question.
3085 was astonished.
Its host really was making an effort to follow the plot!
Then it remembered something even more important.
【How did you recognize the main villain?】
Its curiosity was understandable.
The stairwell was practically pitch-black, and the main villain was wearing a mask.
Even a system hadn’t identified him.
How had Song Liang managed it?
“…”
Song Liang didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he breathed in the faint, cool scent of snow and greenery lingering around him.
His lips curved as he leaned toward Xiao Yi’s neck.
“Because I know your scent, Mr. Xiao.”
“…”
Warm, damp breath brushed Xiao Yi’s neck like a feather. Beside his ear, the young man’s pleasant voice was soft and casual, almost a whisper.
In the darkness, Xiao Yi’s pupils contracted.
He slowly placed a hand on Song Liang’s waist.
His voice was low and rough.
“When did you recognize me?”
“When you pressed against me. I smelled your cologne.”
“I don’t wear cologne.”
“…”
Song Liang paused.
Not quite believing him, he leaned in to take another sniff.
In the darkness, however, he misjudged the distance. His nose brushed Xiao Yi’s neck several times, leaving a warm, tickling sensation across the skin.
Xiao Yi swallowed twice.
His hand tightened sharply around Song Liang’s waist.
“Keep still.”
“…”
Song Liang was speechless.
Assuming the man’s aversion to being touched had resurfaced, he abandoned the subject and leaned back against the wall.
The hand on his waist eased, but did not leave.
Then Xiao Yi spoke again, his low voice carrying a different undertone.
“Are you trying to please me now?”
Song Liang considered it, then nodded.
“More or less.”
Once he married into the Xiaos, this man would be his elder too. They would see each other often enough.
He had no desire to make family life unpleasant.
【…How filial of you.】
Song Liang: 【All for the main mission.】
【Not the Land Rover?】
Song Liang: 【That’s a bonus.】
While host and system conversed, Xiao Yi fell silent.
He had interpreted Song Liang’s frank admission as an acknowledgment that the young man wanted to be kept.
As head of the Xiao family, this was hardly his first such encounter.
But he had never been particularly interested, nor felt any need for that sort of arrangement to satisfy his desires.
While others in his social circle maintained multiple lovers, he didn’t even have an official partner.
Naturally, the Xiaos didn’t want him to have one.
It would mean that the family might someday pass to the child of an outsider like him, rather than to any of the other Xiaos.
Remembering their constant vigilance and Xiao Musheng’s discreet investigations, he suddenly thought that keeping a lover might not be such a bad idea.
It would spare him considerable trouble and put an end to Xiao Musheng’s probing.
After all, no one would worry that a man might bear his child and inherit everything the Xiaos possessed.
Feeling the supple, lively body beneath his hand, he spoke evenly.
“Give me the Emperor’s Tear. I’ll give you everything you want.”
Song Liang was startled.
Was he proposing a negotiation?
He tested the offer.
“Anything?”
“Except the Xiao family.”
Thorough, at least.
Song Liang hadn’t expected one Emperor’s Tear to buy him the entire family anyway.
“I want a Land Rover.”
He waited.
No reply came.
Just as he was about to frown, the man above him asked, “That’s all?”
Song Liang: “…”
A top-tier dynasty certainly knew how to spend.
“It costs several million, you know,” he reminded him.
Xiao Yi stared at him, somewhat at a loss.
He didn’t know the going rates elsewhere. But even a deputy CEO under him would spend several million on a car for a lover.
He was the chairman.
Did this young man really think he would begrudge such a trivial sum?
Wasn’t he underestimating him a little too much?
Leave a Reply