Don't You like Little Dogs? Now that I'm Taking Liberties, You're Suddenly Reluctant? - Chapter 36

Silence returned to the study once again. Jiang Si’s fingertips unconsciously brushed against the cold wall of his glass.

“I love you, Master.”

That sentence crashed into his mind again without warning. It brought with it the image of Pei Ye’s pale, despairing face and tear-streaked cheeks, along with that unreserved gaze that could almost burn someone.

Love.

A flash of deep mockery flickered in the depths of Jiang Si’s eyes. In a place like the Jiang family, love was the most useless and weak thing of all. His parents, Jiang Yuan and Lin Fu, were cold, precision instruments who raised their offspring as if they were crafting the finest tools.

His eldest brother, Jiang Yi, was the perfect heir. His second brother, Jiang Er, was a sophisticated socialite in the political sphere. His third sister, Jiang San, controlled the family media mouthpieces. Then there was he, Jiang Si, the failure who had deviated from the track and could not be programmed.

“Why is it like this? Why have you not shown the talent in research that we expected?” his parents had asked in the past.

“You failed to take first place in this test again. You only took second. Did you even try?” they demanded in the present.

“Xiao Si, please show some initiative. I am begging you. Put all your focus into mathematics and physics,” his mother pleaded.

“I am sorry, but I really cannot do it,” he had replied.

“You cannot? Your brothers can do it. Why can you not?”

“You fool! You fool! You fool! You are not worthy of calling yourself a member of the Jiang family!” they screamed. “Get out of this house!”

His parents were disappointed in him, and he felt the same toward them. Leaving at the age of fifteen was his first and final act of absolute control over his own life. He did not need love. He only needed absolute control and obedience.

To him, Pei Ye was his most perfect creation, his most useful weapon, and his most submissive possession. Yet now, this possession had developed an extremely unstable variable known as love. This caused him to feel an inexplicable sense of irritation. It was as if an unpredictable variable had been introduced into a meticulously designed program.

For a brief, absurd moment, he wondered how his parents would react if they knew that the son they were most disappointed in had cultivated such an existence. They would likely only offer a cold evaluation of it being a twisted relationship of dependency.

He took a deep breath of his cigarette and forcibly suppressed that strange emotion. Regardless, Pei Ye’s life belonged to him. That fact would never change. As for anything else, it was not important.

Pei Ye’s recovery speed was astonishing. This was perhaps due to his constitution, which had been tempered by brutal training, or perhaps due to the powerful willpower spawned by his deep-seated fear of being abandoned. He was already able to get out of his hospital bed to perform short sessions of walking rehabilitation.

“Brother Ye, take a rest,” almost all the nursing staff and organization members guarding him had said similar things to him.

The response was always a shake of Pei Ye’s head or a furrow of his brow. He seemed very dissatisfied with such suggestions.

During this period, Jiang Si visited twice. Each time was a brief glance and a few questions about the injuries. Occasionally, he brought news of external operations. His tone remained one of icy calm, as if the previous incident had never occurred.

Pei Ye gradually accepted this reality. He buried his forbidden feelings deeper and strove to play the role of the blade perfectly. However, every time he saw the silhouette of Jiang Si leaving, a part of his heart would ache with a dense, fine pain.

His Master had not changed at all from beginning to end. Pei Ye had been too self-important to think that his Master questioning him meant caring for him, or that bandaging his wounds meant feeling sorry for him. It was not like that. It was simply the maintenance of a weapon.

From start to finish, the only one who had changed was himself. He was the one who had overstepped. He was the one who had developed forbidden feelings for his Master. Everything was his fault.

In the afternoon, while Pei Ye was slowly performing walking rehabilitation with the help of a nurse, there was a knock on the door. The person who entered was the adjutant, Ji Churen. He held a document in his hand and nodded to the nurse, who tactfully exited the room.

“Pei Ye,” the adjutant’s voice was calm and professional as always. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better, Mr. Adjutant,” Pei Ye replied. He stopped his movements and bowed his head slightly. He maintained constant respect for this adjutant who was still ranked above him as number one on the overall list and was deeply trusted by his Master. Though in his view, that number one ranking was only temporary.

“Fourth Brother asked me to check on your recovery. Additionally, there is something you need to know.”

The adjutant handed him the document. “This is a partial summary of the follow-up investigation into the pier incident. The remnants of Obsidian have been mostly cleared, but the lines pulled from behind them are a bit troublesome.”

Pei Ye took the document and scanned it quickly. The content was more detailed than what Jiang Si had told him. It clearly pointed out the connection between the capital flow and Starry Bio, and even analyzed several possibilities.

“Starry Bio? The Jiang family?” Pei Ye looked up with inquiry in his eyes.

Ji Churen nodded, his tone flat. “Fourth Brother does not want those below him to speculate wildly, but you are different. You need to know the potential risks. The Jiang family,” he paused, seemingly choosing the right words, “has a very complex relationship with Fourth Brother. If someone over there really wants to do something through Obsidian, their purpose will not be simple.”

Pei Ye gripped the document until his knuckles turned white. He understood the adjutant’s meaning. He also felt the trouble and harm this matter could bring to his Master. Although his Master was so powerful he seemed omnipotent, things were always different when they involved the cold distortion of a biological family.

“What should I do?” Pei Ye asked directly. He had a premonition that the adjutant had not come to tell him these things just to inform him.

“Recover as quickly as possible,” Ji Churen said while looking at him. “Fourth Brother needs you by his side. Additionally, stay vigilant. If, and I mean if, you encounter anyone or anything related to the Jiang family in the future, do not act on your own. Report it immediately.”

“Yes, I understand,” Pei Ye responded in a deep voice.

A sense of being entrusted with a heavy responsibility, mixed with concern for his Master’s situation, made him even more desperate to get well. After finishing his instructions, the adjutant prepared to leave. When he reached the door, he stopped as if he had suddenly remembered something. He did not look back, and his voice remained steady, yet it seemed to hold a hint of undetectable depth.

“Pei Ye, some things are harder for Fourth Brother to deal with than swords and shadows. You are doing well. Keep it up.”

Pei Ye stood frozen in place, pondering the adjutant’s cryptic words. Was this an affirmation of his loyalty, or was it a reference to something else? He did not dare to think too deeply about it.