The Domineering CEO's Vain Trophy Husband 25

Moonlight fell upon Lin Zhi's body, but in Ming Yao's eyes, it was as if a brush had carried the moonlight, making that expanse of skin luminous and radiant.

Ming Yao didn't understand art, yet in this moment, he seemed to grasp what landscapes looked like through an artist's eyes.

The silver radiance was no longer ordinary. In Ming Yao's gaze, Lin Zhi at this moment was a work of art, bearing a beauty that lured people into oblivion.

“Entry-level copying, like a beginner tracing characters, placing paper over a master's work, sketching stroke by stroke, feeling the bone structure and framework of the characters.”

Lin Zhi's voice was measured and unhurried. As he spoke, the brush moved across Ming Yao's shoulder, delineating bone structure.

He dipped the brush in clear water and walked to the windowsill.

“The light here is quite nice. What does Mr. Ming think?”

Lin Zhi was cradled in moonlight, the brush in his hand casually gliding across his chest, red beads glistening.

Ming Yao took a long time to respond, his gaze never leaving Lin Zhi for a moment.

The feverish desires sparked by Lin Zhi had long since crawled through every corner of his heart, firmly occupying his mind.

His eyes looked at the water marks on Lin Zhi's chest with near-obsessive intensity, and within him, the desire to destroy and the impulse to cherish were born simultaneously.

Lin Zhi under the moonlight was like an illusory, beautiful flower, exuding a harmless, flamboyant allure.

A sweet, worldly lover, a wife whose heart had never truly belonged to him.

When he didn't love him, he thought him superficial and materialistic; when he did, he found the even talk of money endearing and captivating.

Ming Yao's study was carpeted, and the wheelchair glided silently across it.

Lin Zhi placed one hand on the windowsill, already prepared to sit on it and step onto Ming Yao's lap for him to practice on, only to find Ming Yao had stopped two steps away.

As Lin Zhi's eyes widened, Ming Yao stood up and moved toward him.

Shadows descended from above, engulfing him within Ming Yao's domain.

Lin Zhi tilted his head back with pleasant surprise: “You can walk again?”

“Only extremely short distances.”

Ming Yao didn't hide it. In fact, to take these two steps steadily, he had spent nearly half a month preparing. The pain in his legs had left a layer of sweat on his back, yet his expression remained calm.

He felt Lin Zhi's joy for him, picked him up and placed him on the windowsill, kissing his neck softly.

“That's already impressive, Mr. Ming. You're truly amazing.”

Lin Zhi had never been stingy with verbal praise, his curved eyes brimming with laughter, soft and beautiful.

What answered him was Ming Yao's kiss. Ming Yao's features were like the cold moon, with hidden burning light.

The clean brush came into Ming Yao's hands. He had never held such a brush before, yet that didn't prevent him from wielding it with ease.

After all, his teacher had been so tolerant, he only needed to copy.

The skeleton of the human body lay hidden beneath skin, following the meridians slowly and gently, over and over again.

Tonight there was no wind, the clouds sparse.

The bright moon, like a silver plate, hung high, casting unobstructed light.

The clear water on the brush had long since been used up in the painting, but a bountiful new water source was found, only it wasn't strawberry-flavored.

Standing Ming Yao had an absolute height advantage. Lin Zhi watched the blurred moonlight while swaying and moving.

Ming Yao saw their intertwined shadows and lowered his head to gently kiss Lin Zhi's wrist.

It was a kind of serious greed, concealed within the interplay of light and shadow.

The entire fifth floor had only two rooms—one master bedroom and one study—so both rooms were very large.

Ming Yao's legs were still insufficient to support casual walking, but holding Lin Zhi while remaining stationary was effortless.

The crumpled painting paper was given a pure white soul once more, the tip of the brush sliding slowly outward, then grasped by distinctly boned hands.

The deformed brush, with expensive white pigment, sketched a few strokes above the beautiful man's heart.

Ming Yao's eyes narrowed with pleasure, and Lin Zhi's eyes grew moist, reflecting his face.

This feeling was impossibly wonderful, different from any emotion Ming Yao had experienced before, making him feel the world had become quite nice.

As the mist grew increasingly thin, Ming Yao carried the sleeping Lin Zhi away.

The intelligently controlled wheelchair could map routes. Before leaving the study, Ming Yao paused before the easel for a while.

Though the background was the study, Lin Zhi had placed him in a blooming rose garden, as if he were surrounded by love.

This painting was actually only half-finished, his outline still somewhat blurred, but Ming Yao felt it was already perfect enough.

His gaze lingered on Lin Zhi's face—a silent determination to possess.

Lin Zhi woke late the next day, fortunately the morning had no project meetings scheduled.

His body felt fresh, with a slight chill.

The red bruises on his knees seemed to have been massaged with medicinal oil, emitting a faint medicinal scent.

Lin Zhi raised an eyebrow: “He can walk properly now?”

This level of care was clearly not something Ming Yao could manage with just being able to walk extremely short distances, and Lin Zhi had no memory of being awakened.

System No. 01 replied: [No, he put you on the sofa first and got water to help clean you up.]

System No. 01 was in a good mood, even its tone was cheerful.

More considerate than Lin Zhi had imagined, though thinking about Ming Yao's serious and meticulous character, it seemed quite normal.

Another fifty million transfer appeared on his phone. Lin Zhi curved his lips and went to Ming Yao's bathroom, where there were new toiletries.

After washing up, Lin Zhi lay back on Ming Yao's bed and messaged the maid to bring lunch.

He didn't return to his own room, so his computer wasn't nearby, and his phone screen was too small for good work, so Lin Zhi directly used the tablet Ming Yao had left beside the bed.

One of Ming Yao's work accounts was open on it, and due to dual-end synchronization, Lin Zhi could see the synced messages.

Special Assistant Gao was sending files about a recent project between the Ming Family and the government.

Ming Yao really did trust him. Though if such things were revealed, it wouldn't matter—others couldn't get the core data anyway.

The Ming Family was involved not only in medicine and biotechnology but also in chemicals.

This project with the government included basic infrastructure wastewater treatment, and the profits from such projects were not to be underestimated—indeed quite considerable.

Lin Zhi wasn't very familiar with this field, but that didn't prevent him from being interested. After all, the more one knew, the more opportunities arose.

Lin Zhi opened the files to read, knowing Ming Yao would receive a notification, but he didn't mind.

The maid arrived quickly, bringing seafood congee and several light side dishes.

Seeing that Lin Zhi had no intention of getting out of bed, the maid immediately set up a bed desk, allowing him to dine.

As for whether President Ming would mind his wife eating in bed, it was none of their concern.

The maid thought of how the young master had instructed the kitchen to prepare congee that morning and figured he probably wouldn't mind.

Lin Zhi's phone vibrated—a message from Ming Yao.

Ming Yao: You're awake? Remember to eat.

Lin Zhi: Already eating.

Lin Zhi casually took a photo and sent it to Ming Yao, continuing to drink congee while reading the somewhat obscure document.

The experimental data was somewhat challenging for a layperson like him. Suddenly, he somewhat understood Ming Yao's feelings from yesterday when he had accompanied him to the exhibition.

Ming Yao saw where Lin Zhi was eating and fell silent for a moment.

Not because of Lin Zhi's actions, but because of himself.

He didn't normally like such behavior, but on Lin Zhi, he felt no aversion—quite the opposite, he felt it was natural. After all, Lin Zhi was tired, and besides, Lin Zhi was staying in his room, which pleased him.

This feeling of liking was indeed miraculous, able to make one change standards and be filled with joy.

Ming Yao: Are you interested in this project?

Lin Zhi: Not really knowledgeable, since I'm an outsider, but it does seem quite interesting.

In truth, those complicated data tables had nothing to do with 'interesting,' but Lin Zhi could sense the commercial value from the comparisons within—absolutely a worthwhile investment that would yield returns.

Ming Yao didn't reply for a while, but then sent several files. When Lin Zhi opened them, he was surprised to see core technology summaries.

Ming Yao's laboratory had developed more advanced technology that could accelerate wastewater treatment speed and improve water quality. Though Ming Yao's file didn't provide specific equations or core data, if someone determined enough obtained such information and persistently researched it, finding answers and replicating it would merely be a matter of time and money. Ming Yao had shown him this?

Ming Yao: It will be clearer if you look at it together with this.

Ming Yao's intention was clear—whatever Lin Zhi liked, he would give.

Lin Zhi: You trust me this much, President Ming?

Ming Yao: You are my wife.

Whether this meant 'you are my wife so I trust you' or 'you are my wife and we are a community of interests,' Lin Zhi couldn't tell—perhaps it was both.

Lin Zhi's fingers hovered over the keyboard for a while before finally typing and sending a kiss emoji, then setting his phone aside.

Ming Yao, seeing the kiss emoji displayed on his screen, silently nodded at his own behavior. Well done, keep it up.

Lin Zhi read Ming Yao's files while researching materials, doing so carefully and thoroughly, even noting down things he couldn't understand or find explanations for.

After all, there would be another transmigration. Who knew if these things he wasn't good at might come in handy? It was best to be prepared.

When Lin Zhi reached a certain point, his gaze paused slightly.

He had an impression of this compound—something major must have happened regarding it.

Having eaten most of the congee, Lin Zhi already had the maid take it away. He leaned on the bed desk, closing his eyes as he recalled related events.

Not long after, his eyes suddenly opened.

The technological level of the world he came from was similar to this one, and in some respects perhaps even more advanced—for instance, this technology Ming Yao was investing in had been researched and applied in his world as well.

In the early stages, it had shown very good results, reducing water pollution problems considerably. But a certain compound within this core technology would bring harm to humans.

That year, newspapers were ubiquitous in reporting this issue. By then, the technology had been in use for four years.

Later, research data showed that with over two years of use, there was a 0.0002% chance of this compound's residue causing a widespread, easily recurring type of skin disease. Children had an even higher infection rate, with severe cases even resulting in death.

Though the probability was small, given large populations, even one case was concerning—after all, daily life was inseparable from water sources.

Though frightening, such incidents weren't particularly prominent among the various diseases caused by water pollution. Logically, it shouldn't have caused such a stir, even sensationalism. But Lin Zhi knew the inside story—someone had already been jealous and acted as a pusher, and under massive public pressure, the relevant corporations suffered enormous losses.

Lin Zhi had actually done some things too—of course, his specialty—charity work.

He had immediately established a special fund for this, eagerly providing medical treatment to the several hundred cases that appeared, even opening free testing sites in over a dozen cities, allowing concerned citizens to get checked.

Because the incidence was low and most citizens were unaffected, they went home at ease. The government was extremely appreciative of him for providing data, soothing the public, and requiring no funding—an entrepreneur like this. His reputation among the people continuously increased, so his company's products sold even better, and the government prioritized him in policies too. It was simply a win-win-win.

Lin Zhi tried to search for related information online but found almost nothing.

System No. 01 observed quietly for a while, then silently conducted a precise search.

Just as Lin Zhi was about to give up searching and was drafting language that would flawlessly convince Ming Yao to continue with the experiment, System No. 01 suddenly spoke: [Found it!]

System No. 01 sent the materials to Lin Zhi's phone—a test report from a Norwegian laboratory proving that this compound could cause illness with prolonged human skin contact.

The report wasn't very detailed, but it was sufficient.

Lin Zhi: [System No. 01, you're really great!]

System No. 01 became bashful: [Host, why are you calling me by my name? I'm still not used to it.]

Lin Zhi's praise just now had been instinctive and sincere, without pretense. He hadn't expected the silly-sweet system not to realize it and was subtly fishing for compliments.

Lin Zhi laughed: [Baby, you're really amazing.]

System No. 01 giggled: [No, no, not really.]

Lin Zhi began organizing the materials. After completing this, Lin Zhi suddenly realized that when he first discovered this, he hadn't thought of it as a way to increase favorability. But clearly, the result would be quite good.

Lin Zhi certainly hadn't forgotten—how had he initially entered Ming Yao's line of sight?

Ming Yao returned home to find organized materials and Lin Zhi's clearly articulated explanation laid out before him.

Lin Zhi had also found the reason—something Ming Yao would absolutely not question.

“My father contracted a serious skin disease before his death, so I used to research various materials back then, and I happened to see this.”

The original owner’s parents being deceased was a fact. Ming Yao liked him and wouldn't probe into his sorrows, much less question him.

Ming Yao indeed didn't ask. The experimental report was entirely in English, which Ming Yao could read without difficulty. His expression turned serious.

Before implementing such technology, he had already conducted repeated experimental research. If this issue existed, then no matter how small the probability, as long as it wasn't zero, it wouldn't do.

“Thank you for looking at this so carefully and telling me something so important. I'll have the laboratory staff continue researching. If there really is a problem, I'll find a solution as quickly as possible. If it can't be solved, we'll have to use the previous technology.”

Ming Yao thanked him very seriously. This matter was important to him.

If the technology couldn't be launched, the massive investment would be lost.

He was quite surprised that Lin Zhi had examined this so carefully, after all, Lin Zhi wasn't skilled in this field. But Lin Zhi's seriousness was admirable to him, even bringing a secret, ineffable emotion—perhaps because Lin Zhi had participated in his otherwise uninteresting life and brought about change.

“'I believe you can solve it.”

Lin Zhi vaguely remembered this not being a technological difficulty. Not long after, someone would improve the technology. Since the technological levels were similar, someone in this world must be capable of doing the same.

Lin Zhi's confident bearing carried a sense of power. Ming Yao wrapped his arm around his waist and relaxed into his embrace, responding softly.

It was a simple embrace unrelated to desire, yet closer to the essence of love.

Lin Zhi's eyes held a smile as his fingers gently stroked Ming Yao's hair.

Truly a pleasant sense of reliance.