Chapter 39

Xia Leyang , with a messy chicken nest on his head and deep dark circles under his eyes, stood listlessly in front of the sink, brushing his teeth.

Last night, Shang Tingzhi had turned his back on him the entire time after taking a shower. Even when he tried to press himself against Shang Tingzhi’s back, shaking him with both hands and feet to make him turn around, Shang Tingzhi ignored him.

“Why are you ignoring me?” Xia Leyang propped up his upper body, leaning over Shang Tingzhi’s shoulder to see his face.

“Sleeping,” Shang Tingzhi replied indifferently, pushing Xia Leyang’s head away with the back of his hand.

So, Xia Leyang had to spend the entire night huddled behind Shang Tingzhi, unable to sleep soundly, feeling completely unrested.

However, he had to admit that before sleeping last night, he did experience something extraordinary. At the age of twenty-five, he felt that sensation for the first time. But judging by Shang Tingzhi’s attitude, if he didn’t make Shang Tingzhi feel the same way, Shang Tingzhi wouldn’t let him experience it again.

Xia Leyang sighed, troubled. He had to figure out a way to continue the activities from last night.

Cleaning the foam from his mouth, Xia Leyang suddenly realized that Shang Tingzhi had gone to great lengths to please him last night. Perhaps Shang Tingzhi intentionally wanted him to savor the experience and then compromise his principles to please Shang Tingzhi in return?

It seemed too devious.

Xia Leyang spat out a mouthful of mouthwash, thinking he needed to find another way to continue last night’s activities.

After cleaning his mouth, Xia Leyang turned around and was startled by the female ghost sitting on the edge of the sink.

“Sister Ghost, you’re back?” After the shameful incident in the bathroom last night, Xia Leyang felt a bit guilty and awkward. He asked dryly, “Um, was it fun outside?”

“Ah.” The female ghost looked at the direction of the bathroom window with a mournful gaze, her eyes vacant as if lost in memories. “I saw some shocking scenes last night.”

Shocking?

Xia Leyang was surprised by her words. Could it be that the female ghost didn’t actually go out last night? What could be more shocking than him secretly inserting something into his own backside?

“Why didn’t you pay attention to me?” Xia Leyang propped up his upper body, leaned over Shang Tingzhi’s shoulder to see his face, and asked.

“I was sleeping.” The female ghost turned her head and glanced at Xia Leyang. She then looked back outside the window and replied, “I wandered around last night. The streets nearby haven’t changed much, and I remembered some things.”

“So, the scenes you saw were memories?” Xia Leyang asked. When he was possessed by the female ghost before, he had also seen similar scenes. Presumably, those were the ghost’s memories, but the man’s face was always unclear in those memory scenes.

“Yes.” The female ghost floated slowly to the edge of the bathtub, looking outside sadly. “I used to be called Chu Chu.”

“Uh…” Xia Leyang hesitated to tell the female ghost about Zhou Runhua’s situation. However, after some thought, since they were only speculating that Zhou Runhua was the murderer, if their speculation was wrong, it might give the female ghost false hope.

“You listen to my explanation,” Xia Leyang quickly said, “I was just curious…”

Before Xia Leyang could finish, the female ghost interrupted him, “I saw the man escorting me home last night, and he called me ‘Chu Chu.’”

“Eh?” Xia Leyang’s brain got stuck for a moment. “Where did you see him?”

“I took a stroll around last night.” The female ghost retracted her gaze, looking at Xia Leyang. “The streets around here haven’t changed much, and I recalled some things.”

“So, the scenes you saw were memories of your past?” Xia Leyang asked. Earlier, when he was possessed by the female ghost, he had seen similar scenes, and he presumed those were her memories. However, the man’s face was always blurry in those memory scenes.

“Yes.” The female ghost floated slowly to the edge of the bathtub, gazing outside with a pensive expression. “I used to be called Chu Chu.”

“Ah, okay.” Xia Leyang nodded. “Can you remember your full name now?”

The female ghost shook her head. “I can recall many fragments, but the crucial details remain blurry.”

This was probably due to someone tampering with her ashes. Xia Leyang said, “Don’t worry. Give us some more time, and we’ll help you catch the murderer.”

“But…” The female ghost suddenly turned her head to look at Xia Leyang. “Why can I suddenly leave the Gu family mansion?”

Xia Leyang didn’t want to tell the female ghost about the tampered ashes, so he had to come up with another explanation. “Well, we asked a Taoist priest to perform a ritual, so now you’re a free spirit.”

“I see.” The female ghost smiled at Xia Leyang. “Thank you all. I’ll go rest now.”

After saying this, the female ghost lay down in the bathtub, and her figure gradually disappeared.

Sighing with worry, Xia Leyang considered the kindness of white lies. They could prevent harm to others, but when people unquestionably believed them, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

He shuffled to Shang Tingzhi’s study, asking, “Did you find out about Zhou Runhua’s situation?”

Shang Tingzhi closed the book in his hand, took out his phone to check the chat records, and replied, “His wife is the daughter of a wealthy family. Although her family has declined, in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Zhou Runhua started his business with his wife’s support.”

“I see.” Xia Leyang added, “So, that’s why he didn’t dare to let his wife know about the affair!”

“Yeah.” Shang Tingzhi concurred. “At that time, the Gu family mansion was already abandoned, and he saved on rent.”

“Exactly. If he had a strict wife, he would have to be cautious with money.” Xia Leyang analyzed.

“How about your side?” Shang Tingzhi asked. “Did Wang Zuyu reply to your email?”

“I’ll check.” Xia Leyang, after opening his email, found that Wang Zuyu had replied to him last night.

Wang Zuyu didn’t remember the ghost’s name, but vaguely recalled that she had participated in the Hong Kong Miss pageant with her. The ghost’s ranking was probably not high, explaining why Wang Zuyu didn’t remember her well.

In other words, the female ghost thought Wang Zuyu was her good friend, but in reality, they only had a brief encounter.

Xia Leyang sighed again, thinking it would be better if the female ghost were still alive. Although he couldn’t change her tragic past, at least he could let her experience the joy of being wealthy.

Wang Zuyu was the Hong Kong Miss of 1989, and Xia Leyang couldn’t obtain the list of Miss Hong Kong winners from that year. Therefore, he decided to approach his sister, Xia Tianshui, who had connections with Hong Kong businesses.

Upon hearing Xia Leyang’s words, Xia Tianshui readily agreed, “What kind of person am I? Of course, it’s a small case.”

Touched by his sister’s quick acceptance, Xia Leyang was about to express his admiration for her when Xia Tianshui suddenly changed the topic, “I’ll help you with this favor. Maybe you should repay me as well?”

A question mark appeared above Xia Leyang’s head, “How should I repay you?”

Xia Tianshui lowered her voice and said mysteriously, “Let me borrow your husband for a while.”

Xia Leyang: “?”

Stumped for a moment, Xia Leyang finally realized that Xia Tianshui was referring to Shang Tingzhi. Ignoring the term “husband” for now, his curiosity filled his mind, “What do you want him for?”

“Ah, you don’t know, nowadays men are so easily touched.” Xia Tianshui sighed, “Do you know Lan Xiang? The actor, insists that he’s truly in love with me, no matter what I say.”

Xia Leyang, with a dry smile, retorted, “So?”

“If it were someone else, I wouldn’t have any trouble getting rid of them. But Lan Xiang,” Xia Tianshui paused, “he’s quite handsome. It would be a shame to let him go.”

Xia Leyang understood now. His sister wanted to have a fling but didn’t want to take responsibility.

“My plan is this,” Xia Tianshui continued, “let Brother Shang pretend to be my fiancé. The Shang family and the Xia family have good relations, so it won’t raise suspicions. Besides, Brother Shang is in good condition. Lan Xiang should have some self-awareness and not dare to harbor genuine feelings.”

“Ugh.” Xia Leyang, realizing the situation, responded firmly, “Absolutely not!”

“Why are you so stingy?” Xia Tianshui’s tone changed, “Brother Shang and I already had an engagement. I didn’t say anything false.”

“But your engagement has already been dissolved!” Xia Leyang protested.

“No need for your reminder. That’s why I said ‘pretend’!” Xia Tianshui retorted.

“No, no way!” Xia Leyang was adamant, “I won’t lend him to you!”

“Do you still want to check the Miss Hong Kong list?” Xia Tianshui threatened.

“You…!”

Unable to resist Xia Tianshui, Xia Leyang angrily hung up the phone and muttered to the screen of his phone, “Big, mean, sister!”

“What’s wrong?” Shang Tingzhi happened to come down from the study, seeing Xia Leyang sulking on the sofa, and walked over to sit beside him.

“My sister actually wants to use you!” The righteous Xia Leyang passionately recounted his sister’s “crime.” However, after hearing the story, Shang Tingzhi responded nonchalantly, “Got it.”

“What do you understand?” Xia Leyang asked Shang Tingzhi, staring at him.

“She needs my help, right?” Shang Tingzhi said calmly, “We’re all family; helping each other is not a big deal.”

Xia Leyang took a sharp breath, feeling wronged. Both he and Xia Tianshui, unexpectedly, found Shang Tingzhi on Xia Tianshui’s side. Pouting, he said, “If you want to help, just help. It’s up to you.”

This time, Xia Leyang held his grudge for a long time, not speaking to Shang Tingzhi even when going to bed.

After the events of last night, Shang Tingzhi couldn’t be bothered to console the little rascal. Whatever he wanted to do, he could go ahead. If Xia Leyang ignored him, then he didn’t have to sleep in an awkward position.

However, what Shang Tingzhi didn’t expect was that, as soon as he turned off the bedside lamp and lay down, Xia Leyang, who had been huddled at the edge of the bed, rolled into his arms.

For a moment, Shang Tingzhi hesitated about whether to push Xia Leyang away or not. After all, the little rascal had firmly said “no” after enjoying himself last night.

Honestly, he still held a grudge.

But in the end, Shang Tingzhi sighed and compromised. He hugged Xia Leyang, asking, “Not mad anymore?”

Xia Leyang snorted softly, “I’m afraid you’ll have a headache tomorrow.” Actually, he just wanted to sleep comfortably.

“Sleep.” Shang Tingzhi smoothed out the wrinkled blanket for Xia Leyang, closed his eyes. However, at that moment, he suddenly felt something moving under the blanket.

“Yangyang.” Shang Tingzhi abruptly opened his eyes, furrowed his brows, and locked eyes with Xia Leyang’s wide, watery eyes. “Don’t cause trouble.”
!
“Don’t you want me to give you a little pleasure?” Xia Leyang blinked, and the hand under the blanket persistently moved towards a certain area.

Xia Leyang had planned it well. As long as Shang Tingzhi couldn’t resist and let him indulge in a little pleasure, the intimate activities from last night could continue.

However, Xia Leyang, with all his calculations, didn’t anticipate that Shang Tingzhi’s self-control was so strong.

“Don’t want.” Shang Tingzhi grasped Xia Leyang’s wrist, pulling it behind him, preventing the mischievous hand from causing any further trouble.

“Why don’t you want?” Xia Leyang started to feel anxious. In Shang Tingzhi’s embrace, he twisted and turned, trying to retrieve his hand from behind, “I can make you feel good.”

“No need.” Shang Tingzhi suddenly increased the strength in his arms, tightly enclosing Xia Leyang, making the little fish unable to struggle. He leaned close to Xia Leyang’s ear, lowering his voice, “You know what I want.”

Of course, Xia Leyang knew.

His face turned crimson, realizing that his plan for today had failed. However, another mischievous idea quickly popped into his head.

You have good self-control, huh?

I’ll try something else tomorrow. I don’t believe you won’t want it