Chapter 4
When Xia Leyang pushed open the door, Shang Tingzhi was in the middle of taking fever-reducing medicine.
He wore navy-blue cotton pajama bottoms on his lower half, and his upper body was bare, revealing a standard inverted triangle physique. Water vapor wafted from his body, and a white towel casually hung around his neck.
The sturdy back moved with the actions of drinking water and tilting his head, showcasing the undulating muscle lines. Xia Leyang silently clicked his tongue in his mind, thinking that this swindler had a pretty good figure.
“Do you need anything?” Shang Tingzhi put down the water glass and wiped the water stains from his temple with the towel.
The persistent low fever made his head heavy, and he felt lethargic all over. Although taking fever-reducing medicine didn’t seem to have much effect, it was better than doing nothing.
“Oh, you’re taking medicine,” Xia Leyang remarked as if searching for something to say.
Before coming to Shang Tingzhi, he had struggled to figure out what excuse to use. Initially planning to reluctantly discuss feng shui against his principles, he unexpectedly stumbled upon a topic as soon as he entered.
“Yeah, fever-reducing medicine,” Shang Tingzhi didn’t intend to hide it. “What do you want?”
Xia Leyang didn’t answer, walked to Shang Tingzhi’s side, and asked, “Are you running a fever?”
“Don’t you know?” Shang Tingzhi raised an eyebrow. “I’m going through tribulation.”
Xia Leyang:…
Shang Tingzhi dried the water droplets on his body with the towel, put on a short-sleeved shirt, then sat on the edge of the bed with his hands behind him, asking, “Your parents didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?” Xia Leyang sat at the desk, continuing the conversation.
Shang Tingzhi semi-jokingly said, “You came to my side to help me go through tribulation.”
Xia Leyang’s mouth twitched, and he thought, “This master…”
The words of sarcasm were on the tip of Xia Leyang’s tongue, but suddenly, he realized that he needed to keep the conversation going to stay longer. So, he swallowed his sarcasm and forced a fake smile, saying, “May I ask what tribulation you’re going through?”
“The yang energy is too strong, needs to be suppressed a bit,” Shang Tingzhi explained in a simple and understandable manner.
Xia Leyang, looking complicated, scrutinized Shang Tingzhi from top to bottom. Shang Tingzhi indeed had a very manly appearance, with strong facial features, sharp eyes, and a seemingly large bulge in that area. However, Xia Leyang didn’t think it had anything to do with “yang energy.”
After a brief thought, following this mystical logic, Xia Leyang asked, “So, that’s why you moved into this haunted house?”
Shang Tingzhi lazily uttered a single word, “Yes.”
Xia Leyang rubbed his chin and, thinking about debate competitions, understood that he needed to address the logic from the opponent’s perspective to find loopholes. So, he stood in the feudal and superstitious perspective and analyzed, “You said you need to suppress yang energy. Shouldn’t you find a woman for that? Using me to suppress yang energy is like adding fuel to the fire, isn’t it?”
Shang Tingzhi chuckled at the comment, treating it as if he heard a joke. He amusingly asked, “Didn’t Uncle Xia tell you that you lack yang energy?”
“Huh?” Xia Leyang was speechless. “Me? Lack yang energy?”
“Otherwise, why do you think your name is Xia Leyang?” Shang Tingzhi retorted.
Xia Leyang wrinkled his brow, “So, my name was given by your family?”
Shang Tingzhi didn’t deny it, and his eyes had already explained everything.
For the time being, Xia Leyang didn’t bother about how much money his family might have been cheated out of. He asked seriously, “You say I lack yang energy? I don’t feel anything.”
Shang Tingzhi didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stared at Xia Leyang for a while. Feeling uneasy under his gaze, Xia Leyang heard Shang Tingzhi slowly say, “You’ve never been in love, right?”
It wasn’t a question but a statement.
Without thinking, Xia Leyang refuted, “Of course, I have been in love.”
This was actually a lie. Despite his good looks, Xia Leyang had been rejected since childhood, and he didn’t know why.
Ignoring Xia Leyang’s refutation, Shang Tingzhi continued, “You lack masculine energy, have no charm for women. Don’t worry; even in a few decades, you won’t find a girlfriend.”
“What?” Xia Leyang held his chest, feeling short of breath. “You’re talking nonsense; I have plenty of people pursuing me!”
Shang Tingzhi faintly curved his mouth without responding, as if he had seen through everything. He didn’t deny that Xia Leyang looked good — small face, big eyes, rosy lips, tender skin — surely there were older girls who liked him. But unfortunately, he had absolutely no romantic connections.
Xia Leyang felt a bit weak under Shang Tingzhi’s gaze, fearing that continuing the conversation would expose his solo status from birth. So, he awkwardly redirected the topic, saying, “You’ve moved into this gloomy house, why do you need me?”
“I didn’t ask for you,” Shang Tingzhi shrugged listlessly. “Uncle Xia and Aunt Ji insisted on sending you to help me.”
Pausing, he added, “You have a perfect destiny, just lacking fire in your fate. It happens to complement mine.”
— Although, even with him here, there seemed to be no effect, occasionally making people extremely irritated.
“Stop, stop, stop.” Xia Leyang couldn’t bear it anymore. “How did your family brainwash my parents?”
Shang Tingzhi didn’t like the terms “brainwash” and “cheat,” and Xia Leyang insisted on using them.
Signs of irritation surfaced in Shang Tingzhi’s mind. He changed his lazy attitude, became expressionless, and said, “Don’t ask me. Go ask your parents.”
Xia Leyang had this intention. After settling things with his dad, he might be able to go home tonight.
Coincidentally, his phone rang at this moment. Taking a look, it was his sister, Xia Tianshui.
Xia Leyang’s mind went blank, suddenly feeling that his sister might lack water in her fate.
Ah, how come he got brainwashed so quickly too?
Xia Leyang didn’t dare to make a call outside, so he simply answered it in front of Shang Tingzhi. Xia Tianshui’s elder sister voice immediately came through the receiver, “Yangyang, what do you mean by that message? How did the Shang family swindle money from our family?”
The volume from the receiver was so loud, comparable to an amplifier. Xia Leyang subconsciously glanced at Shang Tingzhi. As expected, this person had put on an icy expression again.
“I just want to ask you one thing,” Xia Leyang lowered his voice and said to Xia Tianshui, “Did you ask me to stay by Shang Tingzhi’s side so that I could socialize more, or to help him go through some tribulation?”
“Oh, you know,” Xia Tianshui was completely unembarrassed. “Shang-ge needs you. Sacrifice a bit for him.”
“Are you guys crazy? He’s living in a haunted house, a haunted house!” Xia Leyang angrily asked, “You just left me here like this?”
“With Shang-ge around, nothing will happen,” Xia Tianshui said casually. “The Shang family has done a great favor for our family, something that money can’t buy. You can’t turn a blind eye to gratitude, Yangyang.”
“Nonsense! Are you using me to pay off some debt?” Xia Leyang retorted.
“As long as you know. Anyway, you don’t believe in these things. A haunted house is nothing to you, right?” Xia Tianshui replied unconcernedly.
“I…” Xia Leyang was choked, unable to speak. The anger stuck in his chest, neither going up nor down.
As the saying goes, a person fights for a breath, and the Buddha receives an incense stick. Xia Leyang’s temper flared up suddenly. He thought, if they didn’t let him go home, couldn’t he go somewhere else?