Gold-Devouring Bottom: A Guide to Pampering - Chapter 3

The secretary’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull. He had never seen Ye Xiuchen lose his composure like this. Scrambling to help, he thrust a handful of tissues forward. “President Ye, here!”

Back in the hotel room, Tian Yuanyuan felt the air snag in his throat. He sat there, petrified. “You, you have a crush on him? You? Didn’t you absolutely loathe the guy?”

At the mention of this, Shen Xinghuai managed a shy look. “When I said I hated him before, it was only to get his attention.” A flimsy excuse is better than no excuse, he thought. He couldn’t come up with anything better on the fly.

Even before Tian Yuanyuan arrived, Shen Xinghuai had sensed something was off about the room. Since this was Ye Xiuchen’s private suite, it was bound to have a surveillance system. There was a very high probability that the madman was watching them right this second!

“And that’s why you always avoided him?” Tian Yuanyuan’s face was a map of pure disbelief.

“I wasn’t avoiding him. I was shy. Every time I saw him, my heart raced and I got so nervous.”

Tian Yuanyuan scrutinized him from top to bottom, left to right. “So, you really like him?”

“Of course.” Shen Xinghuai’s answer was crisp and immediate, delivered with a conviction that made it sound like the absolute truth.

Tian Yuanyuan’s face crumpled as he hesitated, clearly struggling to voice his next thought. “But, isn’t he ‘incapable’? You’re okay with that?”

“To love someone wholeheartedly is to accept everything about them.” Shen Xinghuai spoke with such feigned devotion he almost moved himself to tears. “Besides, he isn’t incapable. We tested things out last night.”

Tian Yuanyuan: “…”

Since things had already progressed to the bedroom, Tian Yuanyuan could only heave a long sigh toward the ceiling. After a moment, he asked, “So, how was he?”

Shen Xinghuai: “He was quite impressive.”

Tian Yuanyuan was startled. “In what way?”

Shen Xinghuai was equally startled. Do I really have to get into specifics? His eyes darted around shiftily. “We were busy all night. All sorts of positions.” Having zero actual experience in this department, Shen Xinghuai just started making things up. Busy all night sounds impressive enough, right?

Behind the surveillance screen, the veins on the hand Ye Xiuchen used to grip his coffee cup bulged!

Tian Yuanyuan looked at him with an expression of pained constipation. “Xinghuai, I meant, how is he treating you?”

The atmosphere on both sides of the screen dissolved into a delicate, agonizing silence.

Suddenly, Shen Xinghuai’s phone rang, shattering the awkwardness. The screen displayed the name: Shen Hong.

Shen Xinghuai’s brow gave an involuntary twitch. Shen Hong was the original owner’s father.

The relationship between the two was icy at best. Shen Hong had remarried less than six months after his first wife passed away. Consequently, the original Shen Xinghuai didn’t just have a strained relationship with his father; he treated his stepmother and half-brother like mortal enemies.

Shen Hong was likely calling to fish for information after seeing the news online.

Shen Xinghuai took a breath and answered, but hung up after only a few words.

Tian Yuanyuan looked worried. “Does your dad know about you and Ye Xiuchen now?”

Shen Xinghuai nodded. “Yeah. He wants me to come home and explain everything.” There was no way he was going back. As soon as he hung up, he moved Shen Hong’s number straight to his blacklist.

Shen Hong was a muddled old fool who treated his own son with cold indifference while giving his stepson everything he asked for. He only viewed his biological son as a bargaining chip for networking and resources. Anyone who wanted a “trash dad” like that was welcome to him; Shen Xinghuai was opting out.

“What are you going to do? Don’t go back there. Come stay at my place instead.” Tian Yuanyuan knew the family situation well and didn’t want his friend to go back and be mistreated.

Shen Xinghuai grabbed his phone and headed out of the hotel with Tian Yuanyuan. “Drop me off somewhere else first.”

At the same time, a knock sounded at Ye Xiuchen’s office door. “Sir, the Old Master has sent someone to pick you up.”

The Ye family was a titan of Lincheng’s elite, with deep roots and a century-old ancestral estate in the north of the city. The surrounding residential area was populated by various branches of the Ye clan, though the main lineage was sparse. In the current generation, only Ye Xiujun remained as a direct heir.

Ye Xiuchen wasn’t considered a legitimate successor because he was an illegitimate son. His mother had been an actress—beautiful, but obscure. She had managed to climb into the bed of Ye Xiuchen’s father, Ye Ding, and became pregnant soon after. She gave birth in secret and traded the child for a massive breakup settlement.

Ye Ding already had a wife and child at the time. To prevent a scandal, he kept Ye Xiuchen hidden away in the house, raising him under constant abuse. For over a decade, Ye Xiuchen’s childhood was worse than that of his elder brother Ye Xiujun’s pet dog.

It was only by chance that Old Master Ye visited Ye Ding’s home and discovered him.

Upon learning the truth, the Old Master pitied the boy and brought him to the ancestral estate to be raised by his side. From that day on, Ye Xiuchen finally lived like a human being. In return, he viewed the Old Master as his only true family.

If Ye Xiuchen was a wild, rampaging horse, Old Master Ye was the only person who could hold the reins.

When Ye Xiuchen arrived at the estate, the Old Master was by the koi pond in the west garden, feeding the fish. He was advanced in years and had broken his leg at the start of the year; he had been confined to a wheelchair ever since, his health declining by the day.

Ye Xiuchen slowed his pace, approaching the Old Master and kneeling on one knee. He shed his usual ruthlessness, appearing respectful and even devout. “Grandfather, I’m here.”

The Old Master was in an exceptionally good mood today. Seeing his grandson, he handed the fish food to a nearby servant. “Xiuchen, why didn’t you tell Grandfather you were in a relationship?”

Ye Xiuchen opened his mouth to explain it was all a misunderstanding, but the Old Master patted the dust from his hands and grasped Xiuchen’s wrist. Though he gripped with all his strength—the tendons on the back of his hand protruding—Ye Xiuchen only felt a faint, trembling pressure.

Grandfather really was getting old.

“Xiuchen, seeing you in love and married is what I’ve been hoping for most. It’s the one worry I can’t let go of. Do you understand my heart?” The Old Master knew his grandson had a terrible reputation and was desperately anxious about his marriage. Ye Xiuchen had spent years being an “iron tree” that refused to bloom, so seeing the news of his relationship today had made the old man overjoyed.

Feeling the slight tremor in the hand on his wrist and seeing the genuine joy in the Old Master’s eyes, Ye Xiuchen found he couldn’t utter a single word of explanation. He took a deep breath. “Grandfather, he and I will get along well. I’ll bring him to meet you in a few days.”

Tian Yuanyuan drove Shen Xinghuai from the hotel to the airport. He rolled down the window as they arrived. “Will the plane be fast enough?”

“Is a plane really the fastest thing here? No spaceships? How do you get to other planets?” Shen Xinghuai sounded disappointed. The technological level of this world was leagues behind his original one; the civilization levels weren’t even on the same scale.

Tian Yuanyuan rolled his eyes. “Xinghuai, how about I call my boyfriend and tell him about your situation?”

Shen Xinghuai’s eyes lit up. He grabbed his friend’s wrist gratefully. “Your boyfriend has a spaceship?”

“My boyfriend is a psychiatrist.”

Shen Xinghuai: “…” He hurriedly unbuckled his seatbelt. Since there were no spaceships, a plane would have to do. He needed to make his getaway first and worry about the rest later.

He had already changed the plot. He hadn’t sent the Ye lunatic to jail, nor had he indirectly caused the grandfather’s death. He would take this chance to hide far away and never return!

Tian Yuanyuan called out from the window, “Where are you going in such a rush? When are you coming back?”

Shen Xinghuai quickened his pace. If all went according to plan, he would be a wanderer from this day forward, never to return. But to keep Tian Yuanyuan from getting suspicious, he tossed out a random excuse: “I’m going to see a performance. I’ll be back soon.”

Since the original owner was a pianist, Tian Yuanyuan didn’t doubt him for a second. “Alright, let me know when you’re back and I’ll pick you up.”

Shen Xinghuai booked a ticket for the earliest flight, which left in about two hours. He bought a pair of sunglasses, a hat, and a mask, muffling his face completely before waiting at the gate nearest to the boarding area.

Every minute that passed allowed his tightened nerves to relax just a little bit more.

When the announcement for boarding finally echoed through the hall, his heart practically leaped with joy! He looked out the massive floor-to-ceiling windows of the terminal and waved a tiny hand in his mind: Bye-bye, Ye lunatic! Goodbye, and may we never meet again!

The line in front of Shen Xinghuai grew shorter and shorter. Just as there were only a few people left ahead of him, a group of tall, heavily built men swarmed through the main entrance of the terminal.

They wore identical black suits, buzzcuts, and sunglasses. The man in the lead scanned the hall and whispered a few words to the person beside him.

The group of thugs moved with terrifying speed and clear intent. They fanned out to cut off all of Shen Xinghuai’s escape routes, surrounding him in a tight circle. The leader gave a perfunctory nod. “Mr. Shen, our Eldest Young Master wishes to see you.”

Eldest Young Master? Which one?

Shen Xinghuai’s mind raced through his memories until he plucked out a name: Ye Xiujun. The Ye lunatic’s half-brother.

If this man was the elder brother to a madman, he was destined to have a twisted streak of his own. While Ye Xiuchen was crazy and ruthless, this one was sinister and petty. Neither brother was a good person.

What Shen Xinghuai couldn’t understand was why this Eldest Young Master—who had no intersection with him in the original plot—was suddenly popping up to kidnap him. “You have the wrong person. My last name is Hu.” As in ‘Hu-shuo’ (Nonsense).

The leader signaled to his men. “Don’t joke around, Mr. Shen. The Eldest Young Master is waiting!”

Before he could even struggle, Shen Xinghuai was hoisted up by two men whose arms were thicker than his legs. He was hauled out of the terminal and shoved into a car. The engine roared, and they sped away.

Crushed into the backseat, Shen Xinghuai stared at the city scenery blurring past the window and slowly regained his calm. There was no way a meeting with Ye Xiujun would be a good thing; he had to find a way to get loose.

Just as he was thinking, the phone in his pocket began to vibrate. With men sitting on either side of him, there was no hiding the sound.

The man in sunglasses glared at him, his voice a low, menacing growl. “Hang up. No answering!”

“Oh, okay.” Shen Xinghuai pulled out his phone with trembling hands. Seeing the name Ye Xiuchen dancing on the screen, he deliberately slid his finger across the green button right in front of the thug.

The man in sunglasses: “!” He ripped off his glasses in fury, his eyes bulging.

Shen Xinghuai looked at him with an innocent, terrified expression, his voice shaking. “I’m sorry! Don’t kill me! I was so nervous I pressed the wrong one! I’ll hang up right now!”

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, followed by Ye Xiuchen’s bone-chilling voice: “Where are you?”

The man in sunglasses was livid. He snatched Shen Xinghuai’s phone, cut the call, and hurled the device out of the open window. “Mr. Shen, don’t think I couldn’t see you did that on purpose! I’m warning you—one more stunt and I won’t be so polite!”

Shen Xinghuai nodded with immediate, hollow obedience. “Understood.”

The car continued to speed along, moving further away from the city. Shen Xinghuai’s heart sank lower with every mile. The surrounding area remained dead silent; it seemed his attempt at a distress call had failed.

As they drove past the residential blocks, the terrain grew increasingly desolate. The roads were empty, with not another vehicle in sight for miles. Shen Xinghuai clasped his hands together, his mind racing with anxiety. Was Ye Xiujun planning to drag him into the mountains and finish him off?

Suddenly, the car rocked violently, followed by the agonizing screech of brakes.

The car Shen Xinghuai was in fishtailed as a black SUV surged from behind, forcing them off the road and to a dead stop. Once he regained his composure, Shen Xinghuai peered out the window, his heart thumping.

The door of the black SUV swung open, and a pair of long legs stepped out. Ye Xiuchen emerged, his expression grim.

Perfectly tailored trousers hugged his straight, lean legs. With his narrow waist and broad shoulders, he cut an imposing figure. Two buttons of his shirt were undone, leaving his sharp, wild Adam’s apple partially visible. His eyes were as sharp and cold as an eagle’s, his lips pressed into a thin, flat line. There was an innate ruthlessness etched into his very bones; he looked as though he were balanced on the razor’s edge of sanity. Just one look at him was enough to make a person tremble.

Shen Xinghuai, pressed against the window, couldn’t take his eyes off the man approaching them. He couldn’t help but offer a silent compliment:

Damn, this lunatic looks good when he’s being ruthless.

Also, he actually came to save me!

Watching the grim figure approach, the muscles in the thug’s face twitched involuntarily. He shot a vicious glare at Shen Xinghuai but didn’t dare utter a word.

Ye Xiuchen came to a halt beside the car. He leisurely placed a cigarette between his lips and squinted at the occupants inside.

The man in sunglasses exchanged a tense look with his accomplice before finally pushing the door open. He stepped out, eyes lowered in submission. “Second Young Master.”

Ye Xiuchen glanced at him, his voice sounding hollow and detached. “Get the person in the car out.”

The man looked conflicted, attempting a final, desperate struggle. “Second Young Master, you misunderstand. The Eldest Young Master only wanted to invite Mr. Shen for a chat—AAAGH!”

His explanation was cut short by a blood-curdling scream.

Ye Xiuchen had ground his lit cigarette directly into the man’s right shoulder. His voice carried a bone-chilling frost: “I’ve killed plenty of Ye Xiujun’s dogs. I’m surprised there are still some who haven’t learned their lesson.”