BF Chapter 31

Xu Shen didn’t return to the Xu family residence until after 10 A.M. the next day.

It was the weekend, so everyone in the family was home.

Xu Shen had stayed out all night. When he came in and ran into Qin Su and Huang Minli having tea, he was unsurprisingly teased by them again.

Xu Zikang was there as well and said with a smile, “Last time I heard Ah Shen mention his girlfriend, even his eyes were shining. You two must have a really good relationship, it’s really enviable.”

Xu Shen followed along and asked, “Really? Was it really that exaggerated?”

Qin Su laughed and said, “Don’t be shy. It’s always like this when you first start dating. The moment you think of the other person, you can’t hide the sweetness on your face, and you never want to be apart.”

Zhan Shili walked in at this moment, greeted the few of them, then prepared to head toward Xu Shiji’s study.

Just then, he heard Xu Shen say, “Nicky is a little clingy. I was planning to come back early last night, but she wouldn’t let me.”

Zhan Shili turned around and gave him a meaningful look. Xu Shen noticed and, from an angle the others couldn’t see, winked at him flirtatiously.

Zhan Shili calmly shifted his gaze and strode toward the study.

The one who had been clingy and refused to leave last night had clearly been Xu Shen himself.

His persistent, nagging nature in bed was probably something only Zhan Shili could handle.

He had deliberately guided Zhan Shili into leaving marks in conspicuous places, all to satisfy his perverse pleasure of teasing Xu Zikang.

Zhan Shili stayed in Xu Shiji’s study for more than an hour. He was now Xu Shiji’s eyes and ears inside the company, and everything that happened in the company, big or small, had to be reported to Xu Shiji in detail.

By the time he left, it was already past eleven o’clock. He had just started the car beneath the carport when Xu Shen appeared and knocked on his window.

Zhan Shili rolled down the window and looked at him: “Need something?”

“You’re leaving without even saying goodbye,” Xu Shen bent down and leaned against his car door, complaining. “I just saw you talking to that sickly guy.”

Zhan Shili asked, “What else did you want to hear me say?”

Xu Shen reached forward, hooking his fingers around his shirt collar, and pulled open the top button: “Why are you buttoned up so tightly? Did he see the mark here?”

Zhan Shili grabbed Xu Shen’s mischievous hand: “Don’t move.”

“Always putting on an act,” Xu Shen scoffed lightly, poking his skin with his fingertip. “Alright, I know you have a lot of quirks, I won’t touch you.”

Zhan Shili said, “See you next time.”

Xu Shen stared directly at him and, as usual, raised a finger and touched his lips: “Baby, see you next time.”

Zhan Shili turned his head and lightly brushed his lips against Xu Shen’s, his voice softening: “Go back, go coax your dad and be a good son.”

Xu Shen chuckled, “Okay.”

After watching Zhan Shili’s car leave, Xu Shen returned to the villa and was also summoned to Xu Shiji’s study.

Xu Shiji was reclining in a lounge chair, resting with his eyes closed. Xu Shen walked over, bent down, and tugged the blanket covering him a little higher.

Xu Shiji opened his eyes and lightly patted the back of his hand: “Sit.”

Xu Shen sat down beside him and said, “Father, you still don’t look very energetic.”

Xu Shiji said, “When others see me, they like to comfort me by saying things like I look much better or that my complexion looks healthier. You’re the only one who tells the truth; that personality of yours is actually quite like mine.”

Xu Shen said, “There’s nothing wrong with telling the truth.”

Xu Shiji sighed, “There isn’t. At my age, I do prefer people telling me the truth.”

“Mn.”

Xu Shiji patted his hand again, looking every bit like a loving father.

At first, he did look down on Xu Shen, this illegitimate son of his, especially since he had accumulated far too many romantic debts in his youth. A son secretly born to a prostitute was no different from a stain on his life, so naturally he had been unwilling to acknowledge him.

But now that he was older, among all his children and grandchildren, the only one with even some ability was Xu Ziren, yet even he still wasn’t capable of taking on such a great responsibility. His vision wasn’t farsighted enough and his thinking was narrow-minded. It was only after learning that this illegitimate son was quite promising that he made up his mind to bring him back. No matter what, he was still his flesh and blood, which was better than the family fortune falling into the hands of outsiders after his death.

“Your second brother doesn’t want you sitting in the position of general manager of the Real Estate Development Department. What do you think about it?” Xu Shiji asked.

“I’ll do my best,” Xu Shen said. “If all the directors trust me, I’m sure Second Brother won’t have anything to say either.”

Xu Shiji laughed: “You’re not very modest. Once you become general manager, if everything goes smoothly, you’ll have to enter the board of directors afterward. Can you handle it?”

Xu Shen answered calmly, “If Father is willing to give me the opportunity, then naturally I’d like to try.”

Xu Shiji then asked, “I asked Nic to help you. What do you think of him?”

“He’s very capable,” Xu Shen said calmly. “And he has plenty of ideas of his own, but Second Brother doesn’t seem very satisfied with him. He lectures and curses at him in front of everyone without the slightest concern that he’s your assistant, Father.”

“Your second brother has always been like that, just be more tolerant of him,” although Xu Shiji had plenty of complaints about Xu Ziren, he also didn’t seem to think it was any big deal for him to lecture his own assistant. “As for Nic, he really is capable—he’s also low-key, and his background is clean. He joined Zhaoqi right after graduating, which is why I keep him by my side. There’s no need to treat someone like him too well. Give him a little sweetness every now and then to keep him hanging on, and he’ll keep working himself to the bone for you. Don’t feed his appetite too much, or he’ll become difficult to control instead. You should learn more about this.”

Xu Shen said that he understood on the outside, but inside, he couldn’t stop laughing.

Xu Shiji was shrewd his whole life, but in his old age he still misjudged people. He had raised a jackal by his side while thinking it was a loyal dog, planning to keep the other man hanging, completely unaware that the other party actually wanted to devour him alive.

But as for where exactly Zhan Shili’s ambitions lay, Xu Shen couldn’t really figure that out either. Intuition told him it wasn’t that simple, and what he had seen so far might only be the tip of the iceberg.

In the end, Xu Shiji also reminded Xu Shen to seriously think about whether he had any good project ideas. As long as he could gain the support of the other directors, even if Xu Ziren was unwilling, he wouldn’t be able to stop Xu Shen from rising to the position.

In truth, the position of general manager of the Real Estate Development Department was nothing more than a matter of a single word from Xu Shiji, the chairman of the board. He clearly could have spoken up, yet deliberately chose not to, which was itself another way of keeping Xu Shen hanging. He treated outsiders this way, and he treated his own son the same way, always standing by and watching, wanting to be the one manipulating everything from behind the scenes.

Xu Shen was disdainful, but he obediently agreed: “I’ve been thinking about it. Once I finish putting together a proposal, I’ll submit it to the board.”

A few days later, he went to Zhan Shili’s place to spend the night again.

They were both busy with work during the day, and even when they occasionally ran into each other at the company, they might not be able to find the time to speak.

The frequency of their dates now plateaued at once or twice a week, either at Zhan Shili’s place or over at the yacht club.

Xu Shen sat cross-legged on the sofa, accepted the coffee Zhan Shili had just brewed and handed to him, then turned on the television: “Ten o’clock sharp. Watch the news.”

The television station was airing a breaking news report. Half an hour earlier, the police had received a tip-off and carried out a surprise raid at a bar in Tai Kok Tsui, arresting a large number of drug users gathered there doing ketamine, most of them teenagers between the ages of sixteen and twenty. Xu Tianlang was among them.

The brat was escorted out of the bar by the police and taken toward a police van, raising both hands to cover his face as he tried to avoid the media cameras. The news station’s on-site reporters recognized him as the city’s notorious rich playboy and pointed out his name directly.

“Disgraceful.” Xu Shen scoffed.

“Anyway, it’s not you who’s losing face,” Zhan Shili said. “Your godbrother’s men are pretty efficient; it only took them a few days to catch him.”

Xu Shen’s tone was laced with disgust: “He behaved himself for a while after what happened last time, but how could someone like him ever truly get over an addiction? Whether it’s gambling or drugs, how hard could it be to lure him in with a little bait?”

So they hadn’t waited for him to walk into the trap, they had lured him into it.

Zhan Shili wasn’t surprised; this was the typical Fourth Young Master Xu’s style of doing things.

Xu Shen couldn’t be bothered to say more and took a sip of his coffee, only realizing something was wrong when it entered his mouth. It wasn’t coffee at all, what Zhan Shili had handed him was a cup of hot milk.

He frowned and looked at Zhan Shili reproachfully and said sternly, “Didn’t I ask you to make me coffee?”

Zhan Shili said without any room for negotiation, “No coffee at night.”

Under his watchful gaze, Xu Shen reluctantly finished the entire cup of milk.

Zhan Shili took the empty cup back and brought it into the kitchen to wash it.

Xu Shen got up and followed him: “What do you think things are like at my house right now? My dad must be furious. If he can’t curse at his grandson, he’ll curse at his son. Xu Ziren must be feeling terribly aggrieved, then he’ll argue with his wife again and blame her for spoiling their son. As for that second sister-in-law of mine, she definitely won’t accept it and will go crazy too, then add in my stepmother fanning the flames and my eldest sister-in-law watching the show, tsk, it’s going to be exciting.”

Zhan Shili put the washed cup back on the rack and wiped his hands with a paper towel: “If you want to know that badly, why don’t you go back and watch?”

Xu Shen raised an eyebrow: “You want me to go back and watch? Are you trying to kick me out?”

Zhan Shili said, “I’m afraid you won’t be able to concentrate when we get to bed later and will keep thinking about these pointless things.”

Xu Shen laughed, his eyes bright and alluring: “Then that’ll depend on your skills. How would I have any attention left to spare if you just put in a little more effort?”

Zhan Shili stared at the lively, cunning eyes in front of him and suddenly thought of what the others had said about Xu Shen’s eyes lighting up whenever he mentioned him. He reached out and pulled the person towards him: “You’ll see for yourself in a moment.”

Xu Shen smiled and hugged him.

When they fell onto the bed, Xu Shen hooked both arms around Zhan Shili’s shoulders and suddenly asked, “Nic, what is sweetness to you?”

Zhan Shili raised a hand and brushed aside his slightly overgrown bangs. Fourth Young Master Xu’s casually tousled, naturally wavy, medium-length hair really did give him a special kind of androgynous beauty at times like this.

Zhan Shili’s gaze slowly traced over Xu Shen’s face, the pad of his finger brushing across his rosy lips as he asked softly, “Why are you asking?”

Xu Shen stuck out his tongue and lightly licked his fingertip, saying, “My father said that with someone like you, you have to give them a little sweetness every now and then to keep them hanging on. What has he ever given you?”

“This apartment,” Zhan Shili said indifferently. “He gave it to me after I was promoted to his chief assistant, along with some other small favors.”

Xu Shen asked, “That counts as sweetness?”

“No.”

“Then what does?”

Zhan Shili looked at him, lowered his head, and moved closer until their breaths mingled: “Fourth Young Master Xu.”

Xu Shen turned his head to the side and muffled a laugh against Zhan Shili as a kiss descended upon him.

Their heated breaths intertwined, and Xu Shen willingly parted his lips to reciprocate Zhan Shili’s kiss.

He had always been passionate, especially at times like this. As they kissed, he helped undo the other man’s buttons, both of them impatiently stripping away each other’s clothes before embracing each other naked.

His body was spread open as far as it could go, and Xu Shen made no attempt to conceal his instinctive reactions. As he was pushed to the peak, sweat covered his face, his beautiful eyes narrowing slightly as his lashes trembled, completely saturated with desire. A flush of red appeared at the corners of his eyes, as if he were bathed in spring tide.

Zhan Shili stopped, breathing heavily and eyes dark. He reached up with his fingers, trying unsuccessfully to wipe away that touch of red.

Xu Shen was barely able to contain himself, his voice hoarse: “Why did you stop?”

Zhan Shili said, “I wanted to see whether your eyes really were shining.”

Xu Shen frowned and said with displeasure, “You’re still thinking about something someone else said while we’re in bed? You actually believe him?”

“You just love to act,” Zhan Shili whispered. “Was the way you looked when you came just now an act too?”

Xu Shen said, “Don’t you know if it’s an act or not? Do you really have so little confidence in your skills?”

Zhan Shili ended the conversation with his actions: biting down hard on his lips, lifting one of Xu Shen’s legs onto his shoulder, and thrusting into him even more fiercely.

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t/n: So many papapa scenes! They’re all short and not that explicit, though. I’d say just read all the chapters with it anyways, because they also talk about somethings that are referenced/plot points during and before & after the deed. Also, it kinda develops their relationship lol.

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