After Failing to Reverse the Plot, I Made My Escape - Chapter 17

“You are my wife; naturally, you must fulfill a wife’s obligations.”

“Hello, Brother Yu, where are you?” The secretary called. It was already six in the evening. The coffee in front of Yu Fuqiu had gone completely cold; he had only taken a tiny sip, his eyes downcast.

“I am downstairs,” Yu Fuqiu said, pressing his lips together.

“Wait, why have you not come up?” The secretary suddenly realized something, and the remaining words caught in his throat. “I am sorry. I forgot that President Chang revoked your access.”

The secretary hurried down to fetch Yu Fuqiu. He bowed slightly as he apologized. “I was very surprised when President Chang ordered me to delete your permissions. I spoke to him about it, but he…”

After all, Chang Tingzhi was the one who paid his salary. He did not dare to disobey Chang Tingzhi’s orders, so he had thoroughly deleted the access permissions that had been kept for five years.

“President Chang is waiting for you inside. I will get back to work now, Brother Yu.”

The secretary paused, then produced a thermal container from behind him. “Tan Ling gave this to me. It is the soup you brewed earlier. I do not know what has happened to President Chang these past few days, but he only eats one bite of anything. He has been sleeping at the office every night. I am afraid if this continues, his body will break down. You are his wife; please persuade him.”

Yu Fuqiu held the thermal container, his lips pressed thin.

How could he tell anyone that Chang Tingzhi was no longer the same person? That he was no longer his Chang Tingzhi?

This man occupied his lover’s body, yet he was a stranger.

To avoid leaking the truth, he accepted the container and smiled. “Alright, thank you for your help. You should get back to your work.”

He slowly pushed open the heavy, somber door.

The moment he saw the figure standing by the floor-to-ceiling window holding a file, he felt dazed. That face, which he had longed for and which was etched into the depths of his soul, was right there before him. They were alone in the quiet office.

The silhouette of the past and the figure before him began to overlap.

The door closed slowly.

Yu Fuqiu leaned against the cold door. The air was thick with the scent of Chang Tingzhi, and like a parched plant, he felt that if he could just have a little of this nourishment, he could desperately find the strength to take root again.

Just a little bit would be enough.

“Qiuqiu.”

“My Qiuqiu.”

“Happy birthday! I knew you would forget it was your birthday today, which is also the seven-hundredth day since we met!”

“Baby, baby, I love you so much. How can I love you this much?”

“You are my treasure. I want to brag to the whole world that I married the best Yu Fuqiu in the world. This is my wife!”

“Qiuqiu, no more children. We will not have any more, okay? It hurts so much. Why can I not take the pain for you?”

“Look! These are the paper cranes I folded for you! You like lake blue the best, so I searched so many places to find the most beautiful lake blue in the world!”

“Qiuqiu, let us name the child Qichun, okay? You are Autumn, so we will wait for Spring together.”

“Qiuqiu, when I get back this time, we will go to Germany for the Beer Festival, to Russia to see the Northern Lights, go kayaking in the Arctic glaciers, and then climb the highest mountains in Europe. Then we will stay the night, haha, and film a vlog to make everyone jealous.”

“Qiuqiu, I…”

The scene suddenly shifted. The eyes that once held tender love now contained only endless cold. Those inorganic black eyes stared straight at Yu Fuqiu.

“Who are you?”

“Are you another lover I am keeping?”

“Heh, you have quite the methods, trying to use this to move up.”

“You are not a woman; you cannot raise an heir for me. What benefit is there for me to cooperate with you?”

“My time is worth a million a minute. How many minutes can you afford?”

“How long are you going to keep up this ridiculous self-pity?”

“I am not gay. It is disgusting.”

Yu Fuqiu’s nose stung, and the thermal container in his hand hit the floor with a loud clang.

Their fifteen years, their child Chunchun—this beautiful time was like a flower in a mirror or the moon in the water, completely shattered.

Was he a thief?

Perhaps he was.

According to the plot’s timeline, Chang Tingzhi and Ke Qi’an should have met fifteen years ago on that rainy night. It was his greed that made him keep Chang Tingzhi by his side, craving his warmth and wanting to be the protagonist of Chang Tingzhi’s life.

Why?

Why could this time not have been longer?

He had clearly occupied the best years of Chang Tingzhi’s life. How many fifteen-year periods does a person get?

Why could this time not continue?

Hearing the noise, Chang Tingzhi slowly turned around and approached Yu Fuqiu.

Yu Fuqiu could no longer hold it back. He threw himself into Chang Tingzhi’s embrace and wailed. He curled himself into Chang Tingzhi’s chest, and all his restraint, all his strength, and all the pretenses he tried to maintain collapsed in that instant.

Yes, in this world, he was just an orphan. He did not even have a junior high school education. He was just a student with a registered name at a school.

Yes, he was a mental patient. In his original world, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital by his closest relatives. Every day, he was subjected to electric shocks in a very dark room, forced to swallow many pills, and injected with countless needles.

Yes, he was just a thief, a thief who greedily wanted to stay by Chang Tingzhi’s side.

But he had done well, too.

When he first traveled to this world, he had no money, only the clothes of a mental patient. He had no legal identity, but even during days when he did not have enough to eat, he had picked Chang Tingzhi up from the rain and brought him home.

He had worked so hard to earn money. He worked as an extra on film sets during the day and in restaurants at night. Through this, he saved money and sent Chang Tingzhi to school. They moved out of a shared twenty-person bunk room and bought a tiny, broken-down hut that was just enough to provide shelter.

He had worked so hard to climb upward.

He clung to Chang Tingzhi, desperately absorbing the warmth that belonged only to him.

“Hold me, Tingzhi.”

“I miss you so much. I have really… tried my best.”

“I really miss you.”

“Tingzhi!”

He leaned against Chang Tingzhi’s shoulder, his tears soaking the man’s clothes. Chang Tingzhi’s body was stiff. The file folder had fallen to the ground, and the papers scattering out were labeled “Divorce Agreement.”

His voice was hoarse and broken, filled with endless grievance. With tearful eyes, he looked up and sought a kiss. This was his subconscious reaction when he was distressed to the extreme.

He waited for a long time without a response, tears continuing to slide from the corners of his eyes.

“Why will you not kiss me? Why?”

“Tingzhi, are even you going to abandon me?”

He cried so recklessly, as if he were crying out his very soul. He held onto this body that had once given him infinite security and love like a traveler in a desert searching for an oasis.

Chang Tingzhi could clearly feel the collapse and the desperate trembling of the person in his arms. The hot tears soaked through his clothes, burning his skin.

Reason told him he should push this person away, make him sign the agreement, and give him money. That would be the right thing to do.

He, Chang Tingzhi, was a man who was never led by emotion. To him, love was just garbage compared to profit.

But why?

Despite having no memories, the pain in his heart was like a tide threatening to drown him.

His muscles acted faster than his brain, catching the person who had thrown themselves into his arms.

His heart ached. A voice in his soul told him not to make this person sad, that he could not let him suffer. He is my faith; he is my life.

It is impossible.

The president of the Changqiu Group cannot be a useless person who acts on emotion.

Even though reason told him this, Chang Tingzhi could not control himself. He moved his stiff arms, pulling the person in his embrace tightly against him. He lowered his head and kissed those red lips he seemed to have craved for a long time.

Yu Fuqiu recklessly tilted his head back, his hands tightly gripping Chang Tingzhi’s neck. He stood on his tiptoes and offered his lips.

A tongue pried open his slightly parted lips. Their warm lips and tongues entwined, and the sticky sound of water filled the air.

Yu Fuqiu’s mind went blank. He closed his eyes, his long, curled eyelashes trembling slightly as tears fell. He did not want to think; he only wanted to melt into this embrace that he loved so much.

The tongue was like a skillful serpent, sucking at Yu Fuqiu’s tongue and licking every part of his mouth. Hot breath fanned across his skin, making his whole body shiver.

Chang Tingzhi’s fingers unfastened the tie holding Yu Fuqiu’s long hair, letting it fall. His fingers stroked the back of Yu Fuqiu’s neck while his other hand held the back of Yu Fuqiu’s head, closing every gap between them.

“Mm.”

Yu Fuqiu’s meager oxygen was snatched away. He found it difficult to breathe and tried to pull back. Chang Tingzhi noticed this movement and narrowed his eyes. Seizing the moment as Yu Fuqiu gasped for air, he kissed those lips again.

His fingers slid slowly down the slender spine, stopping at the shallow dimples of his lower back. He instinctively rubbed the soft, white flesh. He felt the person in his arms shudder violently, seemingly losing all strength, leaving them to cling frantically to Chang Tingzhi’s strong arms.

This made it easier for Chang Tingzhi to deepen the kiss further, as if he wanted to take all the air from Yu Fuqiu’s lungs. It brought a subtle, dizzying sensation of suffocation, yet miraculously, it made Yu Fuqiu sink further into it.

He suddenly picked Yu Fuqiu up and frowned slightly. Why was he so light? Was the Chang family not letting him eat?

Yu Fuqiu was startled awake by the rush of cold air. By the time he reacted, he had been pressed onto the sofa by Chang Tingzhi. His hands were tied above his head with a long, thin necktie. Chang Tingzhi’s fingers slowly unbuttoned his shirt as he gripped his chin, seeking another kiss.

“No, do not.”

Yu Fuqiu’s voice was as soft as a pool of spring water. His eyes were tearful, and his expression was dazed. He had not yet recovered from the overly intense kiss. His chest rose and fell as he gasped for breath.

“Do not, Tingzhi.”

The corners of the beauty’s eyes were red, and his gaze held a subtle allure that drifted through Chang Tingzhi’s heart like a feather. Chang Tingzhi looked at those swollen, moist lips with an unreadable expression. His throat moved up and down as a strange thirst flowed through his veins and into his limbs.

He let out a cold smirk. “What? You were the one who seduced me first.”

“Are you trying to act virtuous now? For whom are you keeping your chastity?”

“That Chang Tingzhi?”

His tone dropped, and his expression turned icy. His long legs forced Yu Fuqiu’s knees apart as he hovered over him. He spoke mockingly, “He died long ago. Now, the one standing before you, the one who is your husband, is me.”

Seeing the beauty’s eyes widen as sorrow filled them, the man bit his lip. Tears moistened his eyes like mountain mist, making him look like fragile glass that would shatter at a touch.

His long hair was spread out behind him, making his skin look as white as snow. It especially emphasized his vivid red lips, which were like red plum blossoms blooming on a snow-capped mountain. He was stunningly beautiful, and Chang Tingzhi could not look away.

Chang Tingzhi’s eyes darkened, as if a storm were brewing.

He lowered his head and bit directly into Yu Fuqiu’s neck.

Yu Fuqiu was forced to arch his neck like a dying swan.

“Ah!”

A fragmented low moan escaped Yu Fuqiu’s throat. His body instinctively tried to shrink away, but he was pinned beneath Chang Tingzhi, unable to move.

After leaving several deep tooth marks, Chang Tingzhi smiled with pleasure, his pupils slowly dilating. He placed his hot lips over the circle of reddened bite marks and extended his tongue, licking them deeply and forcefully. His canines even sank into the snow-white skin, causing tiny beads of blood to appear.

“So fragrant, so fragrant.”

Chang Tingzhi bit down hard with his canines, the taste of blood filling his mouth.

“Ugh, ah!”

Yu Fuqiu instinctively curled his legs. A shivering sensation climbed from the nerve endings at the base of his spine all the way up. He was forced to tilt his head back, enduring the pain and the mark of desire. His mind was blank, and he unconsciously parted his lips slightly, revealing his pink tongue.

“You are mine, you are mine.”

Chang Tingzhi buried his head in the crook of the neck, his warm breath fanning across it, causing Yu Fuqiu to tremble.

Before Yu Fuqiu could react, his protruding tongue was taken into Chang Tingzhi’s mouth, sucked and bitten gently.

Chang Tingzhi spoke with a voice raspy with desire.

“You are my wife.”

“Naturally, you must fulfill a wife’s obligations.”