What Bad Intentions Could a Spoiled Little Brat Possibly have? - Chapter 38

Criss-cross Straps

Standing side-by-side in the morning light, the two youths one elegant and gentle, the other dazzling and eye-catching undoubtedly became a striking scene in the corridor of the laboratory building.

Students passing by, whether in a hurry or not, couldn’t help but have their gazes drawn to them, lingering for a moment in their direction.

Fu Zheng’s gaze froze on that intimately close image for a long time. Seeing that Mo Qing’s hand still rested comfortably on Cheng Huai’s shoulder, even carrying a trace of lingering affection, his eyes finally shifted to Mo Qing’s face.

That look was as calm as still water, yet it resembled a deep, bottomless pool, carrying an unspoken scrutiny and warning. The surrounding air seemed to drop in temperature abruptly due to his cold expression.

Cheng Huai merely stared at Fu Zheng, somewhat dazed, completely unaware of everything happening on his own shoulder.

Looking at him like this, Fu Zheng sighed silently in his heart.

Mo Qing was struck by that icy gaze for a split second; his hand immediately trembled and, yielding to Fu Zheng’s authority, he resentfully lowered his hand.

He wasn’t afraid of Fu Zheng. He had already expressed his stance during the confrontation at the champagne tower last time he had a good impression of Cheng Huai and had wanted to get close to him since the first moment they met.

However, Fu Zheng was, after all, Cheng Huai’s older brother and the person in charge of the laboratory. If he wanted to have further contact with Cheng Huai, it was inevitable he would run into this “Great Buddha.”

A wise man submits to circumstances.

Mo Qing believed he handled this sense of propriety quite well.

Mo Qing withdrew his hand smoothly, but his posture wasn’t pathetic. Instead, he flashed a perfectly measured smile at Fu Zheng: “Hello, Senior.”

Simultaneously, he shifted his steps subtly. Far from pulling away, he actually stood closer to Cheng Huai, their clothes nearly touching.

Fu Zheng showed no emotion, merely offering a slight nod, his voice flat: “Come in first.” He took a step forward and pressed his finger against the fingerprint lock; the laboratory door opened in response.

Cheng Huai remained silent from beginning to end.

From the moment Fu Zheng appeared, his body felt as if it were nailed to the spot.

Now, listening to Mo Qing greet Fu Zheng so naturally, the grievances of these past few days mixed with confusion and stubbornness suddenly surged into his heart, clogging his throat with a faint bitterness.

“Cheng Huai, let’s go.” Mo Qing gave Cheng Huai’s arm a microscopic nudge.

Cheng Huai pursed his lips, dejectedly lowering his head to deliberately avoid Fu Zheng’s gaze, completely failing to notice Fu Zheng’s increasingly darkening expression.

Fu Zheng had been standing still. Out of the corner of his eye, Cheng Huai saw Fu Zheng’s figure drawing closer and couldn’t help but hold his breath.

His brother hated it most when he dressed revealingly. Seeing him dressed like this, would he be angry? Would he lose control like before?

Cheng Huai couldn’t distinguish whether the feeling churning in his heart was fear or some sort of hidden expectation.

His thoughts were a tangled mess. At the moment he brushed past Fu Zheng, his arm seemed to have a consciousness of its own, extremely subtly loosening its tension toward Fu Zheng’s direction.

Their arms touched; after that brief contact, the distance widened again, and the heart Cheng Huai had managed to summon instantly plummeted to rock bottom.

“By the way, Senior.” Cheng Huai, walking with his head down, heard Mo Qing’s voice half a step behind him.

“When I had dinner with my cousin last time, she specifically mentioned that you helped her with a big favor a while ago. She’s been wanting to thank you in person but hasn’t found the right opportunity. I didn’t expect to run into you today; I’ll say thank you on her behalf first.”

Cheng Huai’s footsteps stopped abruptly. He turned around, his gaze landing on Mo Qing’s face, his brow furrowing: “Your cousin?”

“Lin Yarou.” Mo Qing nodded with a gentle smile. “You’ve met her.”

Cheng Huai’s gaze slowly turned toward Fu Zheng, asking: “What kind of help?”

“Didn’t Senior mention it to you?” Mo Qing sounded slightly surprised, speaking before Fu Zheng could. His tone carried a hint of subtle inquiry.

“Seeing how you two got along last time, I thought you were quite close. I assumed you’d talk about these things often. Actually, it wasn’t anything complicated. My cousin just returned to the country and didn’t want to rely on the family, insisting on moving out on her own. As a result, she ran into some trouble with the property rights when buying a house. In the end, Senior stepped in to help coordinate and resolve it.”

“Is that so?” Cheng Huai looked at Fu Zheng without blinking.

Fu Zheng met his gaze, his expression remaining calm even composed and candid, without a hint of embarrassment.

“A small effort,” he said softly. “Don’t dwell on it.”

Cheng Huai didn’t look away. Instead, he asked Mo Qing: “Where does your cousin live?”

Mo Qing vaguely sensed the atmosphere was somewhat subtle, but he couldn’t put his finger on what exactly was wrong. He answered subconsciously: “Near her company. Weijing isn’t far from Yunhuan; otherwise, she wouldn’t have thought of bothering Senior.”

Cheng Huai suddenly laughed.

The smile was very shallow, floating on the corners of his mouth.

So that was it. All that talk about being busy with work and needing to move out was nothing but an excuse.

“You’ve misunderstood.”

Cheng Huai took a small step back. His gaze swept over Mo Qing and finally landed on Fu Zheng’s quiet profile. The smile on his lips was tinged with self-mockery.

“Misunderstood?” Mo Qing was puzzled.

“Actually, I’m not close with my brother at all. We aren’t related by blood, and our relationship is actually quite bad. He doesn’t tell me everything. He’s very busy and usually has no time to mind me.”

Cheng Huai gave a brilliant smile and looked at Fu Zheng: “Right, Brother?”

Fu Zheng’s face showed irritation as he warned: “Cheng Huai.”

“No… no blood relation?” It was Mo Qing’s turn to be shocked.

As they spoke, the sound of footsteps in the corridor outside the lab grew denser. Other students participating in the assessment and daily experiments were arriving one after another.

Fu Zheng said no more. He took two steps forward, grabbed Cheng Huai’s wrist through his sleeve, and said indisputably: “Come with me.”

“No, let go of me!”

Cheng Huai resisted almost immediately, his wrist instinctively pulling back. However, in the face of absolute strength, his little struggle was utterly futile.

Fu Zheng didn’t increase his strength; he merely maintained a steady grip of control, turned around, and led him away from the door toward the dedicated private laboratory inside.

Thud—

With a dull sound of moderate weight, the heavy security door closed behind Cheng Huai, followed by the clear sound of the lock turning. Inside and outside were instantly isolated into two different worlds.

Outside, Lu Jia, who had just arrived hurriedly with his laptop bag, only managed to catch a glimpse of the corner of Fu Zheng’s clothes as it disappeared behind the door.

He braked hard, eyes wide, subconsciously grabbing the still-dazed Mo Qing. His voice was full of unbelievable excitement: “Holy crap! Did I see that right? The Great God actually came to the lab today?!”

Mo Qing, left alone in his confusion, took a few seconds to realize who Lu Jia was talking about: “Does he not usually come?”

“Far from ‘not usually’!” Lu Jia put down his laptop, saying incredulously: “He’s like a mythical dragon you see the head but never the tail! I thought getting him here for the last assessment was already incredibly difficult. I don’t know what method Professor Gu used to blow him in here today. Has the sun really risen from the west?”

Mo Qing looked in the direction where Fu Zheng and Cheng Huai had disappeared, saying thoughtfully: “Perhaps.”

Inside the door.

Cheng Huai was spun half a turn by an irresistible force, his back crashing firmly against the cold, hard metal door panel.

The moment his bare right shoulder blade touched the door, the biting chill made him shudder, and goosebumps quickly rose on his skin.

Using only one hand, Fu Zheng easily brought Cheng Huai’s wrists together, pinned them, raised them over his head, and pressed them firmly against the door.

Cheng Huai was filled with shame and indignation. This posture made him lose all room for resistance, leaving him completely exposed to the other’s gaze and control. His chest heaved with intense emotion, and his eyes turned a crimson hue of anger and humiliation. He glared at the close-at-hand Fu Zheng, his voice squeezed through his teeth: “Just what do you want to do!”

Fu Zheng didn’t answer immediately. He looked down, his gaze falling on Cheng Huai’s slender waist, which was more prominently exposed due to his struggling.

Further down, at the edge of the low-rise jeans, two nude-colored straps were revealed. They were exquisitely criss-crossed, caught above the narrow hip bones, half-hidden by the waistband.

From a distance, they were completely concealed, but in this proximity where they could almost hear each other breathe, that suggestive detail was glaringly clear.

Cheng Huai was wearing criss-cross strap underwear.

Fu Zheng’s brain buzzed. The knuckles holding Cheng Huai’s wrists tightened unconsciously, the force increasing out of control.

“Hiss…” A sharp pain came from his wrist bone being squeezed. Cheng Huai gasped from the pain.

The helplessness of being imprisoned, the stifling frustration of finding out about his private contact with Lin Yarou, the grievance of being deliberately neglected for days… all sorts of emotions exploded.

Cheng Huai’s wrist struggled once, his voice carrying a hint of a sob: “Let go of me, you’re hurting me.”

“I’m sorry.”

Fu Zheng’s tightened fingers suddenly released. He lowered Cheng Huai’s wrists, holding them in his palms to massage them.

Looking at Fu Zheng’s tense lips and jaw, Cheng Huai suddenly felt everything was utterly pointless. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the shimmering tears in his eyes had been forcibly suppressed.

He forcefully pulled his wrists from Fu Zheng’s warm palms, looking at the other with an icy gaze: “Why did you call me in here?”

Fu Zheng glanced at him, emotions churning in his eyes. Finally, he looked back at the bare shoulder and reached out his fingers to pull Cheng Huai’s clothes upward.

“Uncle Wang said the meals sent over lately haven’t been touched.” Fu Zheng watched as Cheng Huai pulled the clothes he had just adjusted back to their original position. His voice deepened: “Why aren’t you eating properly?”

After not seeing each other for two whole weeks, the first thing Fu Zheng said to him was this. Cheng Huai’s nose felt sour, and tears almost fell.

Fu Zheng couldn’t stand his outfit. He tried to convince himself he shouldn’t interfere too much, but after an internal struggle, he couldn’t just sit idly by. He unfolded the suit jacket on his arm and, without brook of argument, put it on Cheng Huai.

With a light swing of his hand, Cheng Huai threw the jacket Fu Zheng had put on him onto the floor, saying with red eyes: “Stop pretending to care about me. I said it—whether I’m dead or alive has nothing to do with you.”

Fu Zheng picked up the jacket, patting away non-existent dust, and put it on Cheng Huai again. This time, the force was even more irresistible: “You can throw whatever tantrum you want with me, but Professor Gu is coming today. He is conservative and values appearance. If you want to pass the assessment and stay here, wear it obediently.”

Cheng Huai glared at him, and as expected, stopped struggling.

Fu Zheng looked down at him. That face was flushed from shame and anger, and his lips were glistening. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he said: “Secretary Zhou handled Lin Yarou’s matter. I didn’t go to see her.”

Cheng Huai froze. Was he explaining?

Then he changed his mind and gave a light scoff: “Is there a difference if it’s you or Secretary Zhou? Everyone knows Zhou Yuan is your secretary. Without your silent permission and authorization, would he bother handling these trifles for an irrelevant person?”

“Yunhuan and Weijing have a cooperation agreement.”

Cheng Huai’s eyes were bloodshot: “What damn cooperation.” He poked Fu Zheng’s chest with his finger, saying word by word: “Don’t tell me your sudden decision to move out had absolutely nothing to do with that Lin Yarou!”

His questioning was so overbearing, placing his love, jealousy, and insecurity nakedly above all logic and boundaries as if Fu Zheng were naturally meant to disclose everything to him and explain it all.

He never thought that perhaps Fu Zheng had no obligation to account for these things to him.

“It has nothing to do with her.” Fu Zheng caught the hand poking his chest, holding it in his palm and pressing it against his own heart: “Stop making a scene. Come home with me today.”

“I’m not going back.” Cheng Huai withdrew his hand and turned his face away. “And I’m not making a scene. You have no right to control me anymore.”

Fu Zheng said: “I’m just worried about your health.”

“If you were really worried, you wouldn’t have wanted to move away!” Cheng Huai complained aggrievedly. He suddenly became emotional and pushed Fu Zheng hard.

Cheng Huai glared at Fu Zheng, as if to vent all the grievances in his heart: “I will never let Lin Yarou have any chance to get close to you!”

After saying that, he turned around and opened the security door behind him with a loud clatter.

Four or five people had gathered in the lab for today’s assessment. When Cheng Huai burst out, the sound of discussion stopped abruptly, and all eyes landed on him.

Cheng Huai was wearing a suit jacket that clearly didn’t fit his frame, and Fu Zheng followed closely behind him.

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