The most terrifying thing in the world was waking up one morning to find yourself lying naked in bed, wrapped in the arms of your romantic rival.
Ye Nanqi struggled with a splitting headache as he fought his way out of the arms holding him tightly. He staggered upright, only to feel something trickling down his thigh.
His waist ached, and his legs were weak. He immediately collapsed back onto his knees on the bed.
A dull, sluggish pain crept through every nerve in his body.
Ye Nanqi, who was usually so composed, felt his face stiffen.
It was obviously a hotel suite. The curtains were drawn, leaving the room dim, and the lingering scent in the air had yet to dissipate.
Ye Nanqi took ten seconds to figure out what had happened.
The man beside him moved slightly. Ye Nanqi’s nerves suddenly snapped. He kicked out violently, sending the man tumbling off the bed.
The man’s head hit the floor. He woke up completely, furrowing his brows as he opened his eyes. His dark eyes were filled with anger.
Sitting on the bed, Ye Nanqi raised his middle finger at him and cursed through gritted teeth, “Shen Du, fuck your damn ancestors!”
The two had been bitter enemies since childhood. After being separated for many years, they had reunited only to become romantic rivals. Even the close relationship between their families couldn’t stop them from trading sarcastic remarks and barbed insults whenever they met.
But Ye Nanqi had never imagined that one day they would end up in the same bed.
He hadn’t even had time to put on his clothes. The marks covering his body made it perfectly clear what had happened.
Shen Du froze for a moment. His expression immediately darkened, and his temples throbbed. Narrowing his eyes, he stood up and said, “You’ve really gone as far as climbing into my bed now.”
If his body weren’t aching so badly, Ye Nanqi would have rushed over and punched him several times. Hearing those words only made him angrier.
He sneered, “You got dumped and hadn’t even gone looking for a male escort yet, but President Shen has already come knocking to offer his services. I’ll give you a tip later.”
Shen Du wiped the corner of his mouth. His gaze swept over the string of kiss marks on Ye Nanqi’s neck, and his brows furrowed strangely. The words he had been about to say suddenly got stuck in his throat.
Ye Nanqi pressed his throbbing temples and tried to piece together what had led to this catastrophe—
Yesterday, their mutual crush, his junior fellow apprentice, Jiang Yuanyu, had gotten married. Not only had both of them failed to win his affection, but they had also been invited to attend the wedding banquet. They had been so miserable that they had temporarily lost their sense of restraint…
And gotten drunk.
What happened after that?
Ye Nanqi felt like killing someone to cover it up.
He needed to calm down.
He needed to take a shower, hurry home, and call his manager.
Just as he was thinking through the headache-inducing situation, someone suddenly knocked on the door.
“Shen Du! Get your ass out here! I take my eyes off you for one day, and you start stirring up trouble? Keeping a little lover on the side now?!”
Ye Nanqi jerked his head up. “Why is Auntie here?!”
Shen Du was startled too.
The Shen family had always maintained strict family values and wouldn’t tolerate such improper behavior. Even after getting married and starting their own families, the children were still expected to return home every week for their parents’ inspection.
Shen Du hadn’t gone home for half a month, and his mother had been keeping an eye on him for quite some time.
Now that it was already noon the day after he had checked into a hotel, Shen’s mother had finally lost her patience and personally come looking for him.
Shen Du glanced at Ye Nanqi, quickly regained his composure, and put a cigarette between his lips.
“Go to the bathroom.”
Ye Nanqi wasn’t shameless enough to run around naked in front of an elder. He threw back the covers and got out of bed—without realizing that his body’s equipment had suffered too much damage.
Thump!
He fell to his knees.
He swallowed a curse before it could escape his mouth.
Shen Du’s expression turned peculiar. His gaze swept over Ye Nanqi’s slender waist in a way that was difficult to describe, then briefly passed over the two beautiful shoulder blades that looked as though they could spread their wings and fly away.
After a slight hesitation, he still didn’t reach out to help him. Instead, he turned around and began putting on his clothes.
The knocking grew louder. Shen’s mother was getting extremely impatient and threatened to kick the door down.
Not daring to waste any more time, Ye Nanqi said nothing as he leaned against the wall and limped into the bathroom.
The sound of the door opening came from outside. Ye Nanqi heard a sharp slap.
Leaning against the cold wall, he secretly listened and thought, Auntie, please give him a few more slaps!
“Of all the people to imitate, you had to copy your cousin and start keeping a lover! Where is he?!”
Shen Du remained expressionless. “Mom, your thinking is outdated. Keeping a lover is a mutual arrangement between two consenting adults. It doesn’t concern anyone else. Besides, I haven’t kept anyone.”
Shen’s mother scolded him, “You young people simply don’t know how to take responsibility for yourselves! Tell him to come out!”
Shen Du couldn’t distract his mother’s attention. With the cigarette between his lips, he lowered his head, finding it somewhat difficult to accept the fact that he had slept with his romantic rival.
Ye Nanqi no longer felt like enjoying the show either. After all, he was the most miserable person in this entire drama.
It was obviously impossible to sneak out of here. He knew Auntie’s temper, and if he didn’t come out soon, she would probably smash the door down.
After changing into a clean bathrobe, Ye Nanqi was somewhat disappointed that Shen Du had only received one slap. He lingered by the bathroom door with a little anticipation.
After confirming that there wouldn’t be a second slap, he rubbed his aching waist and walked out.
The moment Shen’s mother saw Ye Nanqi, her scolding abruptly stopped.
Whether in the past or now, Shen’s mother had always treated Ye Nanqi very well.
Feeling terribly guilty about having slept with her son, Ye Nanqi didn’t dare look at her. He lowered his head apologetically.
“Auntie, I’m sorry. We drank too much last night…”
The expected scolding never came, and Ye Nanqi didn’t know what else to say.
He raised his head in confusion, only to see an expression of surprise and delight on Shen’s mother’s face.
A chill immediately ran down his spine.
The two men, who had just experienced an outrageous joke played on them by fate, exchanged a rare look of understanding. At the same time, they both sensed that something was terribly wrong.
Sure enough, Shen’s mother, who had been furious just moments ago, looked Ye Nanqi up and down with an increasingly delighted smile.
“You two children! Why didn’t you tell us you were dating? Honestly, my boy isn’t getting any younger. I was beginning to think no one would ever want him. Just a few days ago, I was discussing with your mother whether we should let the two of you give it a try.”
Ye Nanqi: “…”
Shen Du: “…”
Shen’s mother muttered a few more words to herself before making the decision on the spot.
“Since you’re already together, then get married!”
Ye Nanqi and Shen Du’s faces turned an assortment of pale and green. In perfect unison, they exclaimed, “No!”
Shen’s mother shot Shen Du a cold glance. But when she turned to Ye Nanqi, her expression immediately softened like a spring breeze.
“Nanqi, don’t be shy. Don’t worry. This brat will absolutely take responsibility for you.”
Mistaking their reaction for the embarrassment of a young couple, Shen’s mother didn’t give them any time to respond. She immediately left and closed the door behind her, happily going off to discuss the marriage between the two families with her best friend.
Ye Nanqi put on a fake smile.
“A man who can’t control what’s below his waist is nothing but a beast.”
The beast glanced at him nonchalantly. “You say that as if you weren’t hard yourself.”
When they were children, the two often got into arguments over the most trivial matters, making a complete mess of everything around them. Each had regarded the other as a thorn in his side.
After being separated for so many years, their old acquaintance hadn’t become any more lovable. Instead, they had turned into exactly the kind of people the other despised most.
It was quite a rare kind of… fate.
The room remained quiet for less than a minute before a phone began ringing like an alarm signaling someone’s impending doom.
Ye Nanqi irritably grabbed his phone. Seeing who was calling, he quickly answered.
His manager, who had been greeted with “The user you are calling is unavailable” all night and throughout the morning, made no effort to hide his displeasure.
With a fake smile, he asked, “Why are you only answering now? Don’t tell me you really went and got a hotel room with someone?”
Ye Nanqi replied, “Really?”
Wen Chen clicked his tongue. “Tsk. Looks like it really is true. Congratulations, Superstar Ye. You and someone else were photographed checking into a hotel by paparazzi. The frontal shots are crystal clear. Pick an auspicious day and prepare to disembowel yourself.”
“…” Ye Nanqi felt a little guilty. “Brother Wen, listen to me…”
Wen Chen suppressed his anger for a moment before gritting his teeth.
“Get your ass over here and explain everything!”
Ye Nanqi’s luck had already been terrible, but ever since he reunited with Shen Du just a few months ago, his misfortune had reached an entirely new level.
Faced with the choice between his chastity and his livelihood, Ye Nanqi didn’t hesitate for even a second. He hung up, stopped looking at Shen Du, picked up the clothes that had somehow managed to survive the previous night’s disaster, and quickly put them on.
Shen Du watched him move and frowned.
“Where are you going?”
Ye Nanqi paused. He raised a smile so fake that he couldn’t even be bothered to disguise its insincerity.
“What’s it to you?”
Shen Du also wished it had nothing to do with him.
Unfortunately, after the two of them had slept together, it really wasn’t that easy to claim they had nothing to do with each other.
Watching Ye Nanqi leave the room with an awkward gait while stubbornly keeping his back straight, Shen Du sighed. He picked up his phone and made a call.
With a mask on, Ye Nanqi took a taxi to the café Wen Chen had specified. The moment he entered the private room, he was greeted with a scolding.
Several photographs were thrown in front of him.
Ye Nanqi took one look and immediately recognized himself and Shen Du.
Shen Du was relatively fine, with half his face hidden in the shadows. But Ye Nanqi’s face was exposed clearly. Only a blind person could fail to recognize him.
The other party hadn’t made the photographs public yet. Instead, they were trying to extort a large sum of money from him.
Ye Nanqi had only recently become popular. He had been presented to the public as a healthy, sunny, hardworking, and gentle celebrity. Although there had been plenty of rumors and gossip surrounding him, his fans firmly believed he was the sun shining in the sky.
If these photographs were released, the rumors about him would finally have concrete evidence behind them. His relatively smooth career would inevitably suffer a serious setback.
Ye Nanqi furrowed his brows, thought for a moment, and asked, “How much does he want?”
Wen Chen held up one finger.
Ye Nanqi asked, “Ten thousand per photo?”
Wen Chen smacked him on the head.
“In your dreams! One hundred thousand per photo! He wants the full amount upfront before sending over the original files.”
There were probably twenty photographs here.
The other party was clearly extorting him, and doing so without the slightest bit of mercy.
Ye Nanqi counted them, then looked up seriously.
“Brother Wen, how much do you think my kidney is worth?”
“……”
The two sat facing each other in silence.
Wen Chen smoked, looking utterly miserable.
“Sigh. Everyone in the industry keeps saying you’re being supported by a bunch of rich benefactors. If only you really had a sugar daddy. That would make things so much easier.”
If he didn’t pay out of his own pocket, the matter could only be handed over to the company.
Unfortunately, just last month, one of the company’s senior executives had tried to have some “in-depth interaction” with Ye Nanqi and been rejected. He was still holding a grudge and had deliberately made things difficult for Ye Nanqi several times.
If this matter were reported to the company…
Ye Nanqi didn’t smoke. All he could do was drink coffee and share Wen Chen’s gloomy mood.
He had no idea what kind of chaos had happened the previous night, but his entire body was still aching. His lower half was especially uncomfortable. Simply sitting here calmly and discussing the matter with Wen Chen was already the limit of his endurance.
His expression remained indifferent, but inwardly, he cursed Shen Du all over again without using a single swear word.
Wen Chen had a whole pile of ideas running through his mind and was about to discuss them with Ye Nanqi. But when he looked up, he noticed the marks left by restraints on Ye Nanqi’s wrist, which hadn’t completely faded, as well as the messy kiss marks along the side of his neck when he lowered his head.
Wen Chen: “…”
He swallowed the words he had been about to say and spoke earnestly instead.
“On a completely unrelated note, young people really need to take care of their health. Don’t go overboard with that kind of thing.”
Ye Nanqi: “…”
Taking his silence as an attempt to play dumb, Wen Chen continued puffing on his cigarette and contemplating life.
“Tell me, you really don’t have much of your acting income left?”
Ye Nanqi paused and said helplessly, “You know my younger sister’s situation.”
Besides, he had only become popular after starring in two films. His future earning potential was promising, but he really didn’t have much savings at the moment.
Wen Chen nodded and patted his shoulder reassuringly.
“If it really comes down to it, I’ll help you scrape some money together. Once we get past this hurdle, a few endorsement deals should make the money back.”
Ye Nanqi immediately shook his head.
Wen Chen had only recently gotten married. Buying and renovating a house in A City was already difficult enough. How could he possibly have that much spare money to lend him?
He thought for a while, frowning as he scrolled through his phone contacts. Suddenly, an incoming call popped up.
It was Shen Du.
On an emotional level, Ye Nanqi wanted to reject the call. But rationally, he still held back his anger and answered.
Shen Du’s voice was deep and magnetic, carrying a certain allure as it sounded beside his ear.
“Where are you?”
Ye Nanqi immediately raised his hand, intending to hang up.
Shen Du continued, “The matter with the photographs has already been settled. My mother and your mother are waiting for us to discuss something.”
Ye Nanqi froze.
Even if he had been desperate enough to sell a kidney, he had never considered asking Shen Du for help. He hadn’t expected Shen Du to act so quickly, quietly resolving the matter without saying a word.
He frowned and asked, “What matter?”
Shen Du chuckled, apparently finding the whole situation absurd.
“To discuss which day we’re getting married.”