Chapter 112 – Give an Inch, Take a Yard
“What really happened with that incident last time?” Qi Yushuo asked, walking briskly towards the parking lot while on the phone.
“What incident?” his agent feigned ignorance.
“I’m not joking with you. That incident last time, did the company agree in the end?” He only knew that the online rumors and slanderous material about Lin Ganzhi had disappeared, and he had assumed the company had agreed to his request. But after hearing what Yan Shengping said, he was suddenly unsure, and his tone soured uncontrollably.
The agent on the other end of the line dropped his smile, his voice turning cold. “Since you already know, why are you asking? Qi Yushuo, I can allow you to date, because your talent speaks for itself. Find any single person in the industry, male or female, and I’ll cover for you. But are you trying to give up your future by putting all this effort into Lin Ganzhi? That day, I contacted Lin Ganzhi’s agent first. Of course he should be the one to solve this kind of thing. What was the point of you getting involved?”
Qi Yushuo’s face darkened, but he said nothing. The feeling of being deceived was incredibly unpleasant.
“I don’t want to say anything harsher, but I have high hopes for you, and my patience is limited. If this continues, even if the company doesn’t give up on you first, it would only take a single phone call for Mr. Yan to crush you. A starved camel is still bigger than a horse. What do you have to compete with capital right now?”
Qi Yushuo’s hand trembled slightly. He wanted to say that he wasn’t as pathetic as his agent imagined. He had a soft spot for Lin Ganzhi and wanted to use his limited abilities to help him, even if he got nothing in return. Being good friends for life would have been enough.
“A-Qi, what I said today was a bit direct, but you’re a smart person. If you put yourself in their shoes for just a moment, you’ll realize that what you’ve been doing has already crossed the line of a normal friendship in others’ eyes. Especially for Yan Shengping. The only reason he hasn’t personally dealt with you yet is out of respect for the company and the fact that you’re currently considered Lin Ganzhi’s friend.”
After saying this, the agent hung up, leaving Qi Yushuo to think things over.
Qi Yushuo sat in the dark car, watching the distant, flickering taillights. He took out a pack of cigarettes he had tossed in the glove compartment six months ago. A plume of white smoke rose, concealing the anger and confusion on his face.
***
It was already midnight when Yan Shengping drove home. Lin Ganzhi had been sleeping soundly in the passenger seat for a good hour. Yan Shengping first unbuckled his own seatbelt, then turned to look at Lin Ganzhi’s harmless little snores, a nameless fire slowly igniting within him.
Even though he knew Lin Ganzhi was dense when it came to feelings, he wasn’t going to just let this go.
Besides, from the show until now, he had held back far too many times. Before, he hadn’t officially broken through the barrier of their feelings, and sometimes an unconscious flirtatious move from Lin Ganzhi would extinguish any temper he had. But now, he couldn’t let him off so easily.
The more Yan Shengping thought about it, the more reasonable his idea seemed. Then, with a complete lack of humanity, he reached out and pinched Lin Ganzhi’s well-defined nose.
A few dozen seconds later, the sleeping Lin Ganzhi frowned uncomfortably. Then, Yan Shengping felt a long exhale on the back of his hand and almost laughed in exasperation. Even when drunk, he subconsciously found another way to breathe. In that case…
Yan Shengping bent down and sealed Lin Ganzhi’s soft lips, punishingly grinding against his delicate lower lip. He then swept in, conquering Lin Ganzhi’s entire mouth and depriving him of all oxygen.
Lin Ganzhi felt as if he were floating on a stormy sea. A wild wave had snatched away his last piece of driftwood, and being a poor swimmer, he was instantly enveloped by the ocean. He sank into the silent water, and the feeling of suffocation made him struggle until he helplessly opened his hazy, sleepy eyes.
“Mmph!” Lin Ganzhi let out an uncomfortable whimper.
Seeing this, Yan Shengping finally released his lips as if granting a pardon, and the hand pinching Lin Ganzhi’s nose also let go. However, the aggression in his eyes had not diminished in the slightest.
“Awake?” Yan Shengping asked hoarsely, his tone filled with a nameless sense of crisis.
Lin Ganzhi dazedly hummed in response, not immediately realizing where he was. He only knew that he had felt very uncomfortable just now, and when he opened his eyes, Yan Shengping was bullying him.
“You… you bullied me!” Lin Ganzhi accused angrily. To think he had been so eager to call Yan Shengping earlier. He wasn’t going to call him ever again!
Fueled by the alcohol, Lin Ganzhi became even more brazen and turned his body away, refusing to acknowledge Yan Shengping.
Yan Shengping couldn’t help but chuckle. Drunk Lin Ganzhi was certainly different, his courage having grown by more than just a little.
“I won’t bully you now. How about I take you home to sleep?” Yan Shengping coaxed.
The key point was now, he wouldn’t bully him.
The innocent Lin Ganzhi grunted. After a long while, his turned-away body slowly turned back, and he held out his hands coquettishly. “Hugs!”
Yan Shengping was soothed by Lin Ganzhi’s act of unconditional trust. He leaned over, unbuckled Lin Ganzhi’s seatbelt, then got out of the car and lifted him out. As his body recovered, Yan Shengping no longer felt dizzy carrying Lin Ganzhi. He held him securely in his arms, and their scents of coconut milk and cool wood intertwined in the air, creating a strange fragrance.
Having received enough of a sense of security, Lin Ganzhi nestled into Yan Shengping’s arms, ready to go back to sleep. But Yan Shengping bent down and kissed him, warning, “Don’t sleep.”
Lin Ganzhi helplessly opened his eyes, looking at Yan Shengping with a teary, accusing gaze. Yan Shengping paid it no mind and strode quickly, carrying Lin Ganzhi up to the second-floor bedroom.
One second, Lin Ganzhi was in Yan Shengping’s arms; the next, he was sinking into a soft, comfortable bed. Following Lin Ganzhi’s preference, Yan Shengping had replaced the slightly hard mattress with the same model from Lin Ganzhi’s own bedroom. With the new mattress, Lin Ganzhi’s tendency to sleep in had increased. He comfortably rubbed against his beloved mattress, his lips slightly red, having been kissed awake by Yan Shengping all the way here.
When he looked at Yan Shengping standing by the bed, he saw him slowly unbuttoning the cuffs of his sleeves. The unhurried movements carried the oppressive air of a superior, though his expression didn’t look very pleasant.
However, it didn’t affect Yan Shengping’s stunning good looks in the slightest. As a face-con, Lin Ganzhi couldn’t help but gulp and then blurted out, “Let the Great Beauty hug me!”
Yan Shengping gave a cold laugh, leaned over, and pressed himself directly onto Lin Ganzhi, pinning his hands above his head. Then, he began to list his transgressions, one by one. “So you’ve learned to go drinking behind my back?”
The drunken Lin Ganzhi giggled, thinking Yan Shengping was praising him. He said with great pride, “This is a testament to every man’s growth!”
“Oh? And after drinking, you have to lean on another man’s shoulder to get out?” Yan Shengping sneered.
Lean on another man? Lin Ganzhi frowned, trying to think. Who did he lean on? Wasn’t it Wenren Yi?
Drunk people often have intermittent memory loss, and Yan Shengping didn’t mind recapping for Lin Ganzhi. “Zhizhi, how did it feel to lean on Qi Yushuo’s shoulder? How did you feel when he spoke up for you before? And during the variety show, all that mutual help looked so loving!” Yan Shengping said through gritted teeth. He was done with pretending. He might as well get it all out while Lin Ganzhi was still a bit muddled.
Hmm? Lin Ganzhi’s mind was a bit muddled. He was half-sober now and could understand every word Yan Shengping was saying, but when put together, it sounded strange. When had he and Qi Yushuo ever been “loving”?
Lin Ganzhi thought hard for a while. Just as Yan Shengping was losing his patience, he looked into his eyes and asked, “Brother Shengping, are you jealous?”
The name “Brother Shengping” made Yan Shengping’s heart soften by half, like a kitten rolling around in his arms. Yan Shengping’s gaze couldn’t help but deepen, the desire in his eyes becoming clear. Aside from the initial panic of being found out, Yan Shengping just wanted to thoroughly bully the little foolish fox beneath him.
“Yes, I’m jealous. How are you going to comfort me?” Yan Shengping said, going along with the drunkard’s words.
Lin Ganzhi frowned, and his wrists, held by Yan Shengping, squirmed restlessly. Yan Shengping thought he was uncomfortable being held like that and subconsciously released his hands. The next second, Lin Ganzhi’s hands were around Yan Shengping’s neck, and he gave a rare kiss to Yan Shengping’s pale lips.
“Don’t be jealous, don’t be jealous, I only like you~” Lin Ganzhi’s tone was like he was coaxing a child, but his misty eyes looked at Yan Shengping with unusual sincerity.
Yan Shengping propped himself up and stared blankly for three seconds before saying in a hoarse voice, “Not enough.”
Even if he wasn’t angry anymore, he didn’t want to just let it go. He wanted to find a reason to bully this person, to make him completely accustomed to his presence, to make himself an unbreakable habit for him.
Receiving the feedback, Lin Ganzhi was about to kiss Yan Shengping again, but Yan Shengping beat him to it, lowering his head and biting his collarbone. Lin Ganzhi cried out in pain, and just before tears could fall, Yan Shengping mercifully released his collarbone. A bright red bite mark stood out against his snow-white skin, a stark contrast to the surrounding flesh. Yan Shengping squinted his eyes in pleasure at the sight of this mark.
Then, he continued to conquer his territory, not ceasing his campaign until the early hours of the morning.
***
The next day, Lin Ganzhi woke up in bed, sore all over and filled with regret. To his dismay, he remembered everything that had happened yesterday. He remembered how Yan Shengping had brought up old scores to vent the dissatisfaction bottled up in his heart. It turned out Yan Shengping hadn’t stopped being a hopeless tsundere; he had just learned to endure. Last night, he felt like he had seen the Yan Shengping he first met again—a hopeless tsundere, and an unreasonable one at that.
While washing up, Lin Ganzhi looked at the marks all over his body and didn’t even want to be seen. The discomfort from behind wasn’t as bad as the first time, and for the first time, Lin Ganzhi hated his own adaptability.
After some thought, Lin Ganzhi decided that even if he had to fake it, he would put on an act in front of Yan Shengping for a while. He couldn’t let him give an inch and take a yard!
But before that, Lin Ganzhi had something very important to do.