Xie Yu's head didn't even hurt anymore. He thought blankly, 'Bring what on?'

His fingers rested in the drawer, groping around slightly before taking out the leather box. At first, he was still guessing what kind of gift was placed inside, but the moment he unfastened the latch, even his fingertips froze in place.

Xie Yu: "?"

He found it somewhat hard to believe his eyes.

The box was lined with velvet cloth, and resting upon the cloth was a pitch-black whip.

The leather at the tip was soft, the craftsmanship was exquisite, and the grip was comfortable. If it were certain enthusiasts, they would probably like it very much.

Xie Yu: "..."

Connecting this with the previous events, he seemed to know what had happened.

Shen Ci heard the sound of the box opening. He tensed his back. Due to the cold and nervousness, a layer of fine goosebumps appeared on his skin. As Xie Yu approached, he suddenly spoke in a very quiet voice, "Porcelain."

The footsteps behind him paused.

Shen Ci let out a sigh of relief. His tensed back relaxed and gently smoothed out once more.

They hadn't done anything yet, so naturally, it wasn't a situation that required the use of a Safe Word. Rather than calling a halt to the game, this felt like a small test. Shen Ci wanted to confirm if the Safe Word was still effective after five years, testing whether Xie Yu would stop when he couldn't bear it anymore.

The result was verified. Shen Ci turned back around and said, "It's fine, you can continue."

There was no sound of a whip breaking the air; he only heard a shallow sigh.

Then, there was the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground. Shen Ci looked back, only to see that the leather box, along with the contents inside, had been thrown out by Xie Yu. It traced a parabola in the air and landed in the corner of the wall with a clatter. Unable to bear the heavy impact, two corners of the box were smashed flat. It rolled a few times along the floor before lying there pitifully, looking incredibly miserable.

...Why did he throw it away?

He felt slightly astonished and was just about to ask, but saw Xie Yu striding over with a displeased expression. Then, a sudden feeling of weightlessness came over his body, and he was lifted entirely into the air.

"Xie Yu!"

Xie Yu chuckled. "Now you know to call out to me?"

He hooked his arms under the bends of Shen Ci's knees, picking the person up directly. Shen Ci only felt the world spin. After a wave of dizziness, he was carried into the bedroom and tossed straight onto the bed.

Xie Yu valued his sleep quality and had purposely changed the mattress. This one in the bedroom was very soft, so being thrown onto it didn't hurt. Shen Ci sank into the soft quilt. Before he even had time to speak, a handsome face suddenly magnified—Xie Yu pressed down on him. He grabbed Shen Ci's wrists, pinning them above his head, firmly trapping him within the small space enclosed by his arms and the bed.

This was truly a dangerous posture. The distance between them was less than two inches. Xie Yu was very strong, and Shen Ci was like a herbivore targeted by a predator, suppressed entirely with no power to fight back. He could only lay his body open, at the mercy of the other. He stared anxiously at Xie Yu in front of him and nervously shifted his wrists.

Then, the predator stretched out a finger and poked his head.

The movement wasn't light; it hurt a little.

Xie Yu felt quite a headache. "Not to criticize you, Shen Ci, but what on earth goes on in that little head of yours?"

He roughly knew what Shen Ci was thinking. Probably, the way Xie Yu's head hurt after his hangover looked a bit like a psychiatric episode. Plus, the last time he snapped his fingers was also after drinking, which gave Shen Ci psychological trauma, making him think that Xie Yu would have a psychiatric episode and self-harm after drinking. Moreover, Xu Qingshan had analyzed the condition at the time, saying that the original owner's illness was severe, and that he previously only found relief by beating people. Weighing the options, Shen Ci felt that compared to letting him stay crazy, being crazy and self-harming, getting beaten a couple of times was acceptable.

...Fortunately, he wasn't completely stupid. Xie Yu weighed the memory of that whip; it was a lightweight erotic toy, and Shen Ci even remembered to say the Safe Word.

Pinned to the bed, Shen Ci looked at him with blank innocence.

Xie Yu sighed silently. Feeling his anger had not entirely dissipated, he poked him in the forehead again, making Shen Ci's head wobble back and forth, and then scolded, "Teaching Assistant Shen, are you an idiot?"

When he had hugged Shen Ci earlier, the body in his arms was still trembling slightly. Only now, wrapped in the quilt, had he quieted down. Shen Ci clearly didn't have any special fetishes and didn't enjoy pain; when Xie Yu grabbed the whip, he had even been afraid.

Yet even so, he had still prepared the tools in the living room cabinet.

Shen Ci turned his tilted head back, looking quietly at Xie Yu, cautiously observing his complexion: Although it was still pale, it was within a normal range. It was just that his expression was somewhat ugly. His brows were tightly knitted, and his lips were pressed tightly together. He seemed exasperated to the extreme, and there was even a bit of self-abandoning dejection.

Shen Ci asked softly, "Are you alright now?"

He struggled slightly. "Let me take you to Qingshan Hospital. Let go of me first, I'll give Doctor Xu a call..."

—He really still thought Xie Yu was mentally ill.

Xie Yu thought to himself, 'How can anyone live like this?' Previously, they only had a task relationship. If Shen Ci thought he was mentally ill, OK, no problem; once the task was complete, they'd go their separate ways anyway. But now they had met the parents, and the person in his arms was going to become his wife. If he still thought he was mentally ill, every time they had a bit of fun, drank some wine, or when he occasionally had a headache, Shen Ci would want to send him to Qingshan Hospital. How could they live like this?

Xie Yu already had a slight headache, and now it was throbbing even more painfully. He pressed down on Shen Ci, refusing to yield an inch. "I must make this clear. I am not mentally ill."

Meeting Shen Ci's confused gaze, he gave up in resignation: "—Fine, I used to have it, but it was very mild and I'm already cured. Furthermore, I don't like hitting people. I don't have that kind of perverted hobby. I have never hit anyone..."

"Alright." He took a deep breath, continuing to resign himself, "I beat up a delinquent at the school gate, but that was because he snatched a girl's wallet. I saw that the girl was about to cry, so I took action."

Shen Ci still looked at him hesitantly, pursing his lips slightly: "But..."

Xie Yu didn't want to hear "but". He couldn't explain this matter right now, nor could he explain it clearly, otherwise the label of having a psychiatric episode would be pinned on him forever. Therefore, he cupped the back of Shen Ci's neck, forcing him to look up, and then leaned down, kissing him directly.

"!"

Xie Yu had never kissed anyone, and neither had Shen Ci. In the beginning, the two were like inexperienced primary schoolers, lips touching and teeth clashing. But perhaps compared to a good boy who grew up perfectly like Shen Ci, someone like Xie Yu who had a history of rebelliousness naturally had an advantage. Before long, he had grasped the technique of kissing.

He pried open Shen Ci's teeth, forcing that bewildered tongue to accept him, to cater to him, and then licked and sucked, producing wet smacking sounds. His hand, cushioning the back of Shen Ci's head, held on tightly, cutting off all routes of retreat, forcing Shen Ci to keep his head raised.

He plundered the air in the other's mouth. At some unknown point, the person in his arms had gone completely limp, staring at him blankly, as if kissed silly.

Xie Yu sighed again. "Teaching Assistant Shen, breathe."

He bullied the person with moderate intensity. Seeing the person in his arms looking utterly foolish, he felt a bit disappointed at his failure to meet expectations. He put on a stern face and scolded him: "Do you know what that thing is used for? Yet you dared to let me use it? Do you know the consequences of using this thing if I can't put on the brakes?"

If it fell into the hands of someone like the original owner, it would definitely lead to an accident.

Shen Ci was somewhat unconvinced. His competitive top-student genes popped out untimely: "I know."

"Oh? So you actually know?" Xie Yu raised an eyebrow. "Alright, as it happens, I don't know. Teaching Assistant Shen, explain it to me. How exactly do you play with it?"

"..."

Shen Ci turned his head to the side and curled his fingers, embarrassment written all over his face.

Knowing was one thing, but saying it out loud was another. Not to mention, he was the toy in question. Teaching someone how to play with him was simply too much.

Xie Yu made up his mind to teach him a lesson: "Say it. What's the method of playing? What are the consequences? How many days will it hurt? How painful will it be? How many lashes can you withstand? Say it."

"..."

He relentlessly pressed on, questioning him sentence by sentence. Shen Ci, pushed to his limits, blurted out, "I did my research!"

Xie Yu laughed out of anger.

He twirled a strand of Shen Ci's hair and let out a meaningful 'Oh': "Oh, so you even did your homework. Truly worthy of being Top Student Shen. You can even do homework for this kind of thing. Come on, tell this young master, what homework did you do?"

Xie Yu had a mild temperament now, but back then he was also a rebellious character. Hidden in his bones was a wicked desire to tease people. The more reluctant Shen Ci was, the more he wanted to bully him.

Shen Ci's face was blushing almost as red as a boiled shrimp, and even his toes curled up under the covers. He struggled slightly, but was held firmly in place. It seemed that if he didn't give an answer, Xie Yu would not let him go.

Shen Ci composed himself slightly and lowered his eyes: "It's like this: I searched related papers, read research literature on foreign websites, and compared images post-injury to get a general understanding of the pain levels. The tool also went through repeated comparisons to choose a model with minimal harm. At the same time, I purchased medical alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory antibiotics, as well as chitosan antibacterial film medications to promote wound healing..."

Xie Yu: "..."

At first, Shen Ci's voice was as quiet as a mosquito, but the more he spoke, the more confident he became. In the end, he was speaking with assurance, evidently treating it as a science that required careful demonstration.

He really did research it thoroughly.

Xie Yu's face was covered in dark lines.

Shen Ci: "At the same time, I compared the mechanisms of action of the various drugs and selected the one with side effects... Mmph mmph!"

Unable to bear it any longer, Xie Yu kissed him again.

This time, he kissed the person until he was breathless before letting go. Shen Ci gasped for air, looking at him in disbelief, his eyes covered in a thin layer of watery mist.

Xie Yu watched him at his leisure: "I don't want to hear about this. Teaching Assistant Shen, tell me first, how exactly do you play with this?"

Shen Ci: "..."

He didn't utter a single word.

"Cat got your tongue now? Speak." Xie Yu pinched his chin. "Didn't you want to make me happy? Tell me, what will you do to make me happy?"

Shen Ci continued to remain silent.

This time he didn't speak for a long time, so long that Xie Yu suspected he had teased him too far. He hesitated over whether to let the person go and coax him. After all, Shen Ci had done it for his sake, yet ended up pinned to the bed and scolded; it was inevitable he would feel wronged.

However, before he could let go, Shen Ci suddenly raised his arms, wrapped them around his neck, and hugged him.

Xie Yu's hands were originally propped up on either side. Caught off guard by his hug, he flopped onto the bed, pressing tightly together with Shen Ci.

Shen Ci looped his arms around Xie Yu's back, bringing his cheek close to his shoulder, and asked, "...Like this?"

He acted just like an exemplary top student, cautiously probing for the correct answer to a question.

Xie Yu lay down on his side, rubbing Shen Ci's hair while at it, and sighed, "Although I can't explain it clearly right now, but, but, Shen Ci, I swear, I have never thought of hurting you, with a whip, or any other thing."

When dealing with the plot by making him wear that ear clip at the time, Xie Yu hadn't even let Shen Ci pierce his ears.

From the very first moment Xie Yu met Shen Ci, he had never considered hurting the young man in front of him. He couldn't bear to leave any marks on that white glaze-like skin. Beautiful Porcelain should be carefully placed in a glass display case, wrapped in velvet to be protected, rather than smashed to pieces.

Xie Yu planted a brief, light kiss on Shen Ci's forehead like a dragonfly skimming water: "Really, seeing you get hurt wouldn't make me happy. Quite the opposite, I would be very sad. So please protect yourself, and never play such jokes with me ever again."

"...Okay."

It truly was an attitude of care and respect, without the slightest bit of contempt.

In a daze, Shen Ci recalled the past. Apart from that initially insulting contract, Xie Yu had actually always been like this—always peaceful and gentle. It was his own overthinking that had nearly caused him to miss it.

Comparing the vulgar and domineering Xie Yu who brought up the contract with the carefree and unrestrained Xie Yu hugging him in front of him, it seemed as if they were two different people.

With matters cleared up halfway to this point, Xie Yu breathed a sigh of relief. Maintaining the persona of an idiotic playboy every day was quite exhausting. In a rather good mood, he faced Shen Ci and began studying another issue.

He asked softly, "Teaching Assistant Shen, could you tell me why you like me?"

Speaking of this, Xie Yu was completely baffled. He had treated it like playing a game, following the script step by step, and had even smoothly passed the 50% mark. Yet, from some unknown point, the plot seemed to suffer a seizure, wildly speeding off in a bizarre direction—ten horses couldn't drag it back. There were several times when Xie Yu felt like the System was going to have a brain hemorrhage. And the protagonist, who was supposed to hate him to death, was accompanying him at his bedside and shedding tears, and now was on the verge of becoming his wife.

Xie Yu had never been in a relationship. Although a male wife was indeed unexpected, with Shen Ci being so good-looking, what more could he possibly ask for?

Shen Ci paused.

If he had to say it, he had actually liked Xie Yu since five years ago.

The first half of Shen Ci's life had been very busy. Like a precise screw, there was no room for even a single mistake. His family's condition was too poor, and he had a sick grandmother. Every step was like walking a tightrope on the edge of a cliff; a slight misstep would mean eternal doom.

During primary school, while other children were playing or attending extracurricular classes, Shen Ci was doing Mathematical Olympiad problems. Only by entering junior high school among the top few in the whole school would he get a scholarship. That money might just be enough for one trip in the eyes of his classmates, but to him, it was living expenses for several months.

During junior high, he also studied desperately. Because only by passing the independent enrollment exams and getting into the best class could he be exempted from tuition and miscellaneous fees; if he wasn't exempted, he wouldn't be able to attend high school.

University was the same. For the scholarship quota given to only the top one percent of the grade, other students had piano competitions and comprehensive quality bonus points. Shen Ci had nothing. If he wanted to compete, he could only relentlessly grind out top grades.

No child was born liking exams and loving the rat race, and Shen Ci was no exception. He, too, had felt like vomiting from looking at experimental data, but aside from continuing to look, he had no other way.

He was a string pulled far too taut; if he weren't tough enough, he would have snapped long ago.

But Xie Yu was different. He naturally possessed a sense of relaxation. When encircled in his arms, it felt like being protected, bringing an inexplicable sense of security, as if all the pressure was unloaded from his shoulders.

Xie Yu took Shen Ci to ride motorcycles and cruise ships, accompanied him as he walked down the school's Ginkgo Avenue, through commercial streets, to see scenery that Shen Ci had never noticed despite staying there for seven years, and to drink milk tea he had seen countless times but never tried... It was as if vibrant colors had been forcefully cast into a black-and-white world. For the first time in his twenty-odd years of life, Shen Ci felt that he was vividly alive.

In fact, before meeting Xie Yu, and after they separated, Shen Ci had always suffered from mild insomnia. Before, it was due to family pressure, and later, it was due to complex company affairs. He was used to keeping his clockwork tightly wound up, leaving his whole body tense at night and making it difficult to fall asleep.

Yet beside Xie Yu, perhaps infected by that sense of relaxation, or perhaps assured of his safety, he always slept so peacefully.

On the day Xie Yu returned to Jiang City, he had his first good dream in five years.

Shen Ci remained silent for a long time. Xie Yu had no idea he was thinking of so many things in his head, so he patted Shen Ci's shoulder. "Say it, what's there that you can't say? I'm genuinely curious."

"..."

Saying such things out loud was simply too strange. Shen Ci became somewhat flustered and exasperated: "Liking is liking, do I still need a reason?"

"Alright." Xie Yu shrugged, knowing Shen Ci was thin-skinned. "Tell me when you're willing to."

The two of them nuzzled affectionately for a while. Both were at a hot-blooded age and had never tasted the forbidden fruit before; how could they hold back? Since they hadn't fully opened up today but had cleared the air by half, they continued being affectionate until they found themselves kissing again.

Xie Yu toyed with Shen Ci's hair. Starting from the forehead, he kissed him, trailing all the way down the temple, past the sideburns, the cheek, and finally planting a kiss on his earlobe.

The earlobe wasn't completely round and smooth. Near the edge of the ear, there was a hard protrusion that was icy cold, like some sort of metal object.

Shen Ci's hair was grown out strangely; he had deliberately left it longer on this ear to just barely cover the earlobe. He had been kissed into a trance, but when the kisses reached his ear, he paused. He wanted to turn his head to dodge, but after closing his eyes, he offered his ear back with a do-or-die resolve, letting Xie Yu kiss it.

Xie Yu stopped his movements and brushed aside the hair. "What are you wearing?"

He pulled that round, beautiful earlobe out from the hair and slightly raised an eyebrow. He saw impressively a tiny accessory upon it—it was precisely the 'X' that he had gifted him.

When he chose this design back then, Xie Yu had merely been appeasing the plot. Not wanting others to see it, he had deliberately picked the smallest one. This little thing gleamed silver, but it was only the size of a grain of rice; hidden in the hair, nothing could be seen.

"You've been wearing it all along?"

Xie Yu tugged at it and found that it was worn quite tightly. He flipped Shen Ci's earlobe over. What he originally gave was an ear clip, but now it was an ear stud. The item was still the same, but the style had been altered by someone.

Shen Ci had gotten his ears pierced.

Xie Yu muttered, "I couldn't even bear to make you pierce your ears, afraid that you'd feel pain, yet you went and got them pierced anyway."

Dangling from the ear, that tiny little piece actually looked quite nice. Xie Yu kissed the earlobe and bit the small object lightly: "Why not use an ear clip? Was the ear clip not good?"

For some reason, Shen Ci's ears were burning hot. There clearly weren't many nerves there, but it was incredibly sensitive, swelling up with just a light touch. He gently pushed Xie Yu: "The original clip broke."

Xie Yu kissed him affectionately. "Wouldn't changing the clip have been enough?"

Shen Ci: "When things drop on the ground, they are too small and hard to find. I was afraid it would fall off again in the future and be lost completely, so I simply changed it to a stud. It won't fall off easily."

Xie Yu: "It doesn't matter if it gets lost. It's just a little trinket."

He hadn't bought it seriously at the time, yet Shen Ci had worn it seriously.

Xie Yu noticed this little detail and felt quite delighted. He asked vaguely, "Why wear it all the time? Do you like this design a lot?"

Wearing this thing really had nothing to do with its design. Shen Ci opened his mouth. Not knowing what Xie Yu's question had made him think of, his face suddenly turned red, and he turned his head away.

Xie Yu: "Speak up, why have you always worn it? If you like it, we can go pick out two more."

He still had millions in his card; he really ought to buy a pair of matching rings or something.

"..."

This was originally a very ordinary question. Shen Ci just needed to answer routinely with 'I like it' or 'I don't like it', and that would be fine. But after agonizing over it for a long time, he suddenly reached out and hugged Xie Yu.

Had it been in the past, Shen Ci would absolutely never have said the words he was about to say next. But the two had just poured their hearts out to each other. Shen Ci knew that Xie Yu only had respect and care for him, with absolutely no trace of degradation. Thus, those slightly shameful words he had seen on websites—words he absolutely couldn't bring himself to say—became the perfect flirtation.

He turned his head away and lowered his eyes, his voice as soft as a mosquito's: "Bestowed by the Young Master, I wouldn't dare take it off."