Chapter 25
The next day, Xue Wensong was awakened by the buzzing of his phone.
The incessant buzzing of the phone ceased when it received no response from its owner.
Xue Wensong propped himself up, only to be immediately met with discomfort in his waist. It was then that he realized how sore his entire body was, as if he had overexerted himself.
The memories of last night flooded back like a tide, and he quickly lifted the blanket to look at his side. Instead of Lin Lu, who usually woke up in his embrace, he found him lying naked beside him, covered in marks like a broken doll.
His buttocks bore the brunt of numerous impacts, swollen and bruised. Between his legs, dried blood and a mixture of fluids could be seen, while clear handprints were visible on his sides, indicating the force used to restrain him.
In addition, there was a prominent bite mark on the back of his neck, with blood seeping from the indented area, and the surrounding skin was swollen.
Xue Wensong furrowed his brow, muttering a curse under his breath. “Damn.”
He tried to piece together what had happened but couldn’t fathom how things had turned out this way.
As his phone vibrated again, Xue Wensong picked up his trousers from the floor and answered the call, greeted by Luo Yun’s frantic voice. “Boss, what the hell happened?”
Xue Wensong massaged his temples, feeling a headache coming on. “What’s going on?”
He remembered attending a friend’s birthday party last night. Initially uninterested, he had felt obligated to attend due to social etiquette. As the night progressed, a few friends had brought in escorts, and he had decided to leave. However, one of them had insisted he stay for three more drinks, and he had obliged, thinking it wouldn’t hurt to have a few more.
His tolerance for alcohol was good, but he felt strange after leaving the private room. A waiter suddenly appeared and helped him to an empty room. He rested there for a while, feeling uncomfortable, before Lin Lu arrived.
He had been drunk before, but never like this. Looking back now, he was sure he had been drugged, but why?
Luo Yun’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Check Weibo, there’s media exposure of your infidelity, boss!”
The severed clues continued to extend at this moment, leading to the ultimate answer.
Xue Wensong’s eyes narrowed, and he hung up the phone to check Weibo. The news of his infidelity was already trending, with detailed allegations and several photos taken inside a taxi.
The person in the car was clearly him, embracing someone intimately.
Xue Wensong breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that whoever tried to frame him had made a mistake. They didn’t know that the person he was holding was his wife.
But that didn’t extinguish the anger in his heart.
Then a new question arose: Why was Lin Lu there?
He checked his missed calls, which included calls from his team, Tang Yi, and one from someone he didn’t have much contact with—Qin Chuan.
Normally, people from the Qin family wouldn’t rush to contact him; they would wait for the situation to develop.
He called Qin Chuan, and after just two rings, the call connected.
Qin Chuan said, “I just want to ask, is the person in the car Lin Lu?”
Xue Wensong furrowed his brow. “How did you know?”
Qin Chuan visibly relaxed. “I thought I had my father’s people held up. How did this still happen?”
Xue Wensong fell silent for a moment, quickly realizing that Lin Lu had been sent by Qin Chuan. He asked, “Why did you help me?”
Qin Chuan chuckled. “I felt sorry for my cousin. Can’t I spoil him a bit?”
Xue Wensong knew that Qin Chuan was a bit of a maverick in the Qin family and didn’t want to speculate on his intentions. He just said thank you and hung up.
He had more important things to do.
After all, there was still a wounded little deer in his bed.
Xue Wensong returned to the bed and gently shook Lin Lu’s shoulder, softly calling, “Darling.”
Lin Lu’s dense eyelashes fluttered a few times, and when he saw the person in front of him, a clear look of fear appeared in his eyes.
“Don’t…” Lin Lu shrank away, looking at Xue Wensong with fear.
Xue Wensong felt like his heart had been pricked. He furrowed his brow. “Darling, let’s go see a doctor.”
“No,” Lin Lu recalled last night’s events and started crying again. “I don’t want to see a doctor.”
Xue Wensong’s heart clenched. He hurriedly wiped away the tears on Lin Lu’s face. “I’m sorry, darling, it’s my fault.”
“I… I hate you,” Lin Lu choked out. “You hurt me so much.”
“It’s all my fault. How about we take a shower first?” Xue Wensong lifted Lin Lu into his arms, feeling the trembling of the little deer in his arms.
He gritted his teeth. He had lived for thirty years and had never been so angry before.
He placed Lin Lu in the bathtub and then got in himself.
Lin Lu’s eyes avoided his, but after feeling the warm water, his expression finally calmed down.
Xue Wensong silently washed away the dirt on Lin Lu’s body, his expression frighteningly grim.
A while later, the warm steam relaxed Lin Lu somewhat, and he looked at Xue Wensong, saying, “Actually, what I said earlier was just out of anger.”
Xue Wensong relaxed his furrowed brows and asked, “What?”
“I said I hate you,” Lin Lu paused, blinking innocently. “It was just anger. I know someone is targeting you, and I don’t blame you.”
Xue Wensong’s anger intensified. He gently tapped Lin Lu’s nose. “I blame myself for not protecting you.”
Lin Lu shook his head and smiled faintly. “As long as I protect you, it’s enough.”
Thinking back, he had rescued a trapped tiger from a perilous hunting ground, and he never knew he had that capability.
Xue Wensong felt intense heartache. He turned off the shower and filled the bathtub with hot water, saying to Lin Lu, “Soak for a while. I’ll go buy medicine for you.”
“Okay.” Lin Lu nodded shyly, his face flushed. Although he could endure the pain elsewhere, that particular area was extremely uncomfortable…
After Xue Wensong left the house, he made a phone call.
For the first time in his life, he said, “Mom, I need your help.”
Lin Lu soaked in the bathtub for a while, feeling a bit dizzy. Reluctantly, he got out of the tub and took a step forward, only to feel a sharp pain in his lower body. He almost lost his balance and fell back into the water.
He leaned against the wall, drying himself off, and slowly made his way back to the bed. There, he noticed that Xue Wensong had already changed the sheets and covers.
He lay back on the soft bed, returning to this place of torment. The memories of last night came flooding back vividly.
Although his first experience was far from pleasant, he couldn’t deny that the big tiger in his family was indeed fierce.
Thinking about it, Lin Lu’s face flushed. He buried his face in the blanket. After a while, he suddenly remembered something. He picked up his coat from the floor, took out his phone, but found that it was dead and powered off.
After charging it, he turned it on and was inundated with countless WeChat messages, all revolving around one topic: infidelity.
Lin Lu was stunned. He had opened his phone to check if everything was okay on Weibo, but when he opened it, he found that news of Xue Wensong’s infidelity had been reposted all over.
Without hesitation, he quickly called Xue Wensong. However, just as he did, he heard the sound of the fingerprint lock. He quickly sat up and said to Xue Wensong, who was entering with a bag from the pharmacy, “Quick, check Weibo. They’re saying you cheated.”
“It’s fine, someone has already taken care of it,” Xue Wensong said as he took off his coat and approached the bed.
“How was it resolved?” Lin Lu asked anxiously. “The Qin Ge Group won’t do anything to you, right?”
Xue Wensong sat down beside the bed and smiled. “Didn’t you read the content?”
“Huh?” Lin Lu buried his head to look at the news pictures and blushed. “I-It’s about me.”
“Yeah, so there’s nothing to worry about,” Xue Wensong pinched Lin Lu’s earlobe and said, “Come on, lie down, I’ll apply the medicine for you.”
Lin Lu hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “I-I’ll do it myself in the bathroom.”
“I’ve seen every part of your body,” Xue Wensong said firmly, not allowing any refusal. “Listen to me.”
“No, I’ll take care of that part myself,” Lin Lu quickly objected.
“You’ve let me touch that part before, so what’s the difference?” Xue Wensong squinted his eyes.
Lin Lu blushed and didn’t say anything, obediently turning around.
When he saw the swollen wound, Xue Wensong’s face darkened. He applied the ointment around the wound gently. “If it hurts, let me know.”
“It doesn’t hurt,” Lin Lu replied sullenly. Instead, it felt a bit itchy.
To change the subject, Lin Lu said, “I met Big Brother there last night.”
“Uh-huh,” Xue Wensong responded. “He was there last night too.”
“He must have arranged it, right?” Lin Lu said indignantly. “I’m going to talk to him.”
Xue Wensong chuckled. “What are you going to do? Have a fight with him?”
“But what can we do…” Lin Lu said reluctantly. “He did something so excessive, are we just going to let it go like this?”
“Of course not,” Xue Wensong said, his eyes flashing with a barely noticeable fierceness. “This matter wasn’t done by him alone. The entire Qin Ge Group is behind him.”
“…Then it seems we have no choice but to let it go,” Lin Lu said, pursing his lips. “We can’t possibly confront the Qin Ge Group.”
“Who said we can’t?” Xue Wensong raised an eyebrow.
Lin Lu turned around, looking at Xue Wensong with confusion. “Your company isn’t stable yet, so shouldn’t we avoid trouble?”
Xue Wensong found it amusing. “Who was just now all fired up to go find someone?”
Lin Lu blushed. “I-I just don’t want to affect you now.”
“Leave it to me, baby,” Xue Wensong finished applying the medicine, covering Lin Lu with the blanket again. “It doesn’t matter if it affects me, but when it involves you, I can’t just let it go.”
Lin Lu blinked, suddenly feeling that his family’s big tiger had become even more handsome.
He whispered, “I thought you didn’t care about many things.”
“I don’t, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have boundaries,” Xue Wensong said, looking straight into Lin Lu’s eyes. “Baby, you’re my boundary.”
The author’s note:
Once a big tiger is touched at his limit, he goes crazy.
