Gold-Devouring Bottom: A Guide to Pampering - Chapter 18

What started as just watching a race ended with owning the entire track.

After the finals, Shen Xinghuai invited Tian Yuanyuan and the others out for a small celebration. It was the same bar and the same crowd as the night before, but the atmosphere in the booth was starkly different. Everyone sat with their backs ramrod straight and hands on their knees, behaving with exaggerated decorum.

Tian Yuanyuan was the most restrained of the lot, not even daring to lift his head, constantly trying to shrink behind the person next to him.

Shen Xinghuai set down the drinks menu and scanned the room. “Are you all here for a lecture?”

As if! These troublemakers were never this obedient in a classroom. Everyone instinctively looked at the seat next to him.

Ye Xiuchen was leaning lazily against the sofa, his arm draped casually over the armrest. He looked relaxed, but sensing the collective gaze, he swept an indifferent look across the group.

Shen Xinghuai felt that the “Madman” was doing fine today—his expression was composed and his attitude seemed friendly enough. “Don’t just sit there. Drink up.”

It was a great suggestion. After a few rounds, the alcohol worked its magic, and the tension began to dissolve into liquid courage.

The night before, Shen Xinghuai had come alone and stayed sober thanks to Tian Yuanyuan’s interference. But tonight was different. He was the hero of the hour. When people raised their glasses to him, the “Madman Ye”—acting the part of the official boyfriend—simply watched from the side without intervening. Shen Xinghuai himself accepted the toasts graciously.

One drink led to another, and soon Shen Xinghuai’s cheeks were flushed. His breathing grew slightly heavy, and he leaned back, half-lying against the sofa. His eyes were hazy with intoxication, losing their usual bright spark; he would fix his gaze on a single spot and stare for a long time before blinking.

While the others continued to laugh and chatter, Shen Xinghuai found his reactions lagging. Watching them became exhausting, so he turned his head toward the silent Ye Xiuchen.

Since entering the bar, Ye Xiuchen hadn’t said a word, sitting there like a detached observer. Perhaps it was the alcohol raising his body temperature, but to Shen Xinghuai’s eyes, even Ye Xiuchen seemed to radiate warmth. Today, he didn’t feel cold.

“Haven’t you looked long enough?” Ye Xiuchen shifted his weight, changing his posture.

Shen Xinghuai didn’t realize how he looked under the anesthesia of alcohol. He was staring with a dazed, innocent expression, his eyes unconsciously welling with a lingering, hook-like tenderness that wouldn’t let go. It was enough to make anyone’s heart itch.

Even a block of ice like Ye Xiuchen eventually buckled under that gaze and had to speak up to break the spell.

Shen Xinghuai let out a long, airy sigh. His drunken voice was soft and honeyed, with a slight tremor at the end. “Brother, I’m sleepy.”

With that, his body tilted toward the man, his head coming to rest perfectly on Ye Xiuchen’s shoulder.

It was already 2:00 AM; it was indeed late. Ye Xiuchen sat stiffly for a moment, then realized the intruder had no intention of moving. “Get up. We’re going home.”

Too much had happened tonight. Shen Xinghuai’s nerves had been wound tight during the race, and now that he’d relaxed, bone-deep fatigue set in. “Don’t want to move.”

Ye Xiuchen glanced at the others who were still partying. “We’re heading out first.”

The group noted Shen Xinghuai’s state and nodded in unison. Ye Xiuchen gave Shen Xinghuai a nudge, signaling him to get up. It took a while of lingering before Shen Xinghuai finally rose, albeit reluctantly.

They had notified the driver in advance. By the time they settled the bill and walked out, the car was waiting right outside the bar. The streets in the small hours were much quieter than during the day, and the car interior was hushed.

Shen Xinghuai sat inside, lacking the energy to move or speak, resting his head against the glass and staring out the window.

“Shen Xinghuai.” Ye Xiuchen’s voice cut through the silence.

Shen Xinghuai withdrew his gaze and turned toward him. “Hmm?”

Ye Xiuchen’s gaze traveled slowly across his face before finally locking onto his eyes. “Who exactly are you?”

Shen Xinghuai froze. His eyes flickered, avoiding the man’s stare. “What do you mean, ‘who am I’? I’m just me.”

“Don’t look away. Look at me.” Ye Xiuchen turned his body toward him, pinching Shen Xinghuai’s chin and forcing him to look up.

To say he wasn’t panicking would be a lie. The moment Ye Xiuchen asked that question, Shen Xinghuai’s palms broke out in a fine, cold sweat. For so long, no one had expressed the slightest doubt—not even Tian Yuanyuan. He couldn’t fathom why Ye Xiuchen would ask this out of the blue.

Shen Xinghuai held his breath, forcing himself to stay calm as he looked into Ye Xiuchen’s ink-black pupils. “Are you drunk?”

“I don’t drink.” Ye Xiuchen never drank; he knew his emotions were prone to spiraling, so he never gave himself the chance to lose control.

“Then why are you talking nonsense? Calling my name and then asking who I am?” Shen Xinghuai looked at him with a reproachful pout, though a hint of testing remained hidden in his eyes.

Ye Xiuchen’s grip on his chin tightened slightly as he leaned in closer. “Today, besides telling me that Han Xu was behind the hotel incident, my assistant sent me a file.” He spoke very slowly, stopping after that single sentence to observe Shen Xinghuai’s reaction.

Shen Xinghuai’s drunkenness had mostly vanished. He waited with bated breath for the next words, but the silence stretched on. “And? Was the file about me?”

“Yes.” Ye Xiuchen had always suspected Shen Xinghuai had a motive for approaching him, but after reading the file, he realized the discrepancy wasn’t as simple as he’d thought.

The old Shen Xinghuai had hated him and avoided him at every turn; Ye Xiuchen hadn’t truly known him. But the file stated that Shen Xinghuai had a severe fear of heights—yet today, he had stood on a ten-meter-high platform without batting an eye. Furthermore, he supposedly hated social gatherings, didn’t drink, and essentially never visited entertainment venues like bars.

Yet, after the race, he was the one who suggested celebrating at a bar. Not only that, he seemed perfectly at home there, familiar with the environment and accepting every toast offered—even initiating some himself.

The person in the file and the person in front of him were two completely unrelated individuals.

Originally, Ye Xiuchen intended to observe him for a while longer. But recalling the scenes at the racetrack, he couldn’t suppress the urgency in his heart. He didn’t know why he was so desperate, but he wanted to know now who this person was and where the real Shen Xinghuai went. He feared that one day, without him knowing, the person beside him would simply be swapped back.

The two sat eye to eye, each harboring their own secrets.

Shen Xinghuai silently coached himself: Stay cool. Don’t panic. Even if Ye Xiuchen suspected something, as long as he refused to speak, the man would never know the truth. He only needed to survive the current situation; let him investigate all he wanted later.

Shen Xinghuai’s eyes were growing dry from the staring contest, but Ye Xiuchen clearly had no intention of letting it go. “You are nothing like the person in that report. You aren’t him.”

Shen Xinghuai swallowed hard. “I am who I am. I’ve never been anyone else.” It was a clever answer—essentially saying everything and nothing at the same time.

Ye Xiuchen clearly agreed. “If you won’t talk, we aren’t going back tonight. Lao Zhang, stop the car.”

Lao Zhang caught Ye Xiuchen’s eye in the rearview mirror and quickly pulled into a curbside parking spot, tactfully making an excuse: “Young Master, please take your time talking with Mr. Shen. I’ll step out for a cigarette.”

Ye Xiuchen nodded, and Lao Zhang exited the car.

As soon as the door closed, Ye Xiuchen turned his focus back to Shen Xinghuai, his thumb grazing Shen Xinghuai’s chin. “Are you going to tell me, or not?” The threat was palpable.

Shen Xinghuai was just glad the original owner’s chin was natural. If it had been surgically enhanced, it probably would have deformed under this kind of pressure. “What exactly do you want me to say?”

“Tell me what you’re hiding in your heart!”

If he had already decided to hide it, he certainly wasn’t going to say it! Shen Xinghuai could only pivot to something he could say: “Do you really want to hear it?”

Ye Xiuchen needed confirmation. “Speak.”

Under the man’s intense scrutiny, Shen Xinghuai lowered his gaze.

From this distance, his lashes looked exceptionally thick, their tips slightly curled, trembling faintly as he spoke: “Can I kiss you?”

“What?” His voice was so soft that Ye Xiuchen thought he had misheard.

Shen Xinghuai plucked up his courage and raised his eyes to meet the other’s gaze. “We’re both adults; you should understand. Alcohol makes people excitable and leads to certain impulses. I wanted to kiss you just now, but I was too embarrassed to say it, so I kept it from you.”

Silence fell for a few seconds. The hand pinching his chin suddenly retracted as Ye Xiuchen’s expression became utterly indescribable. “Shen Xinghuai!”

“What’s wrong?” Shen Xinghuai looked both bashful and innocent. “Didn’t you want me to tell you? You even threatened not to take me home if I didn’t speak. Now that I’ve told you, you’re being mean to me again.”

Ye Xiuchen pressed his fingers to his brow, feeling a sudden lack of oxygen. “I was telling you to explain your real identity, I was telling you to—”

“To let me kiss you?” This time, Shen Xinghuai was the one who leaned in.

For every inch he moved forward, Ye Xiuchen backed away an inch, eventually grabbing Shen Xinghuai’s shoulders to hold him in place. “Enough! We’re going home.”

Terrified that Shen Xinghuai might do something even more outrageous, Ye Xiuchen rolled down the car window with a speed that left an afterimage, as if a man-eating beast were lurking right behind him. “Lao Zhang, let’s go.”

It was rare to see Ye Xiuchen show even a hint of panic. Shen Xinghuai found it rather amusing and felt a surge of mischief. While Lao Zhang was still making his way back to the car, he decided to tease him a bit more. He grabbed the man’s collar and lunged forward.