Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"015"

Lu Ao was making up excuses.

Xiao Lancui knew it.

He'd seen Lu Ao lose it before.

It was the night they'd hidden from assassins deep in the mountains.

That night, they were separated and chased by dozens of assassins, until Lu Ao carried him on his back into a cave and collapsed, unconscious. Only then did Xiao Lancui see the two arrows lodged in Lu Ao's back.

Xiao Lancui pulled the arrowheads out of Lu Ao's back, tore a strip off his own clothes, and bound the wounds. The wounds weren't poisoned, and the bleeding stopped quickly. But in the middle of the night, Lu Ao spiked a fever, his body freezing cold, and he kept murmuring that he wanted water.

Xiao Lancui had lost his wheelchair, so he made do with two branches as crutches and went out of the cave to find water and herbs for Lu Ao.

He found the herbs, but there was no water nearby.

Going farther risked running into the assassins. After a moment's thought, Xiao Lancui managed to catch a small wild deer, fed Lu Ao its blood, and roasted some venison for them to eat.

The problem was the deer blood.

After drinking it, Lu Ao woke up and even had a good appetite, wolfing down a big piece of roasted venison. But a moment later, he suddenly grabbed Xiao Lancui, his body burning hot, murmuring over and over, "Teacher... I feel awful..."

Xiao Lancui thought his wounds were hurting and was about to apply the herbs when something pressed against his abdomen.

Only then did he realize Lu Ao's discomfort was of a different kind.

Xiao Lancui had no experience with this. He frowned, trying to think of a solution, but Lu Ao let go of him, lowered his head, and turned him around, his voice hoarse. "Teacher, don't look at me."

Xiao Lancui turned away. Only when dawn broke did the sounds behind him finally stop.

If deer blood alone could provoke such a violent reaction, the imperial palace surely had no shortage of secret formulas to ensure Lu Ao's line would continue.

It was Lu Ao who didn't want that.

He was staying faithful to that personal eunuch of his.

Xiao Lancui had always had weak ties with his own family, though he did share some teacher-student affection with the first master who taught him to read and write. But that teacher had left to roam after a few years and was never seen again.

As for romantic love—

Xiao Lancui had never experienced it, nor had he ever thought about it.

He didn't approve of Lu Ao, as an emperor, staying chaste for a man, and he understood Sun Mai even less—

It was normal to like men, but liking Lu Siye of all people—

Lu Siye was promiscuous and heartless, didn't care about gender, and changed bed partners faster than he changed clothes. Just last night, he'd gone to bed with a man and a woman at the same time.

And Lu Siye never hid any of this. Everyone who knew him knew his private life was messier than a garbage dump.

Sun Mai knew all that too.

Yet he still almost died for Lu Siye.

In the original story, Xiao Anfeng got into a car accident, and Sun Mai almost did too.

Midway through the race, Sun Mai refused to let Xiao Anfeng overtake him. He floored the accelerator to chase Xiao Anfeng, going too fast, and at a turn he couldn't slow down in time and careened sideways into the guardrail. But since he was just a minor supporting character meant to advance the protagonists' relationship, his car hit the barrier and stopped in time. He just knocked his forehead against the steering wheel and drew a little blood.

Xiao Lancui met Sun Mai's envious, scrutinizing gaze and answered his line: "Not interested. I'm not gay."

Before Sun Mai could react, Lu Siye beside him burst out laughing. He was genuinely howling with laughter, so much so that he nearly couldn't stay standing and had to grab onto something. He reached for Xiao Lancui's arm, but Xiao Lancui stepped back, so he grabbed Sun Mai's arm instead.

The three of them were standing very close.

Tears of laughter welled up in Lu Siye's eyes. He didn't mind that he'd grabbed Sun Mai, but Sun Mai, at his touch, felt his heart race and his face heat up. Luckily, it was late at night with colorful car lights flashing everywhere, so it wasn't noticeable.

When Lu Siye was done laughing, he still didn't let go of Sun Mai. Instead, he leaned in closer, staring into Sun Mai's eyes, and asked, "So what do we do now, Sun Mai? He says he's not gay."

But he was watching Xiao Lancui out of the corner of his eye.

Xiao Lancui stood off to the side alone, his expression indifferent, not even looking at them. The night wind from the mountain stirred his black hair, and Lu Siye suddenly realized something—

Xiao Lancui didn't look down on them. It wasn't contempt. It was that he simply didn't consider them worth his attention.

Him included.

A wave of intense irritation surged through Lu Siye. Xiao Lancui was a nobody, an unwanted orphan, only given the chance to stand before him because the Xiao family had taken him in. How dare he not consider Lu Siye worth his attention?

Who the hell did Xiao Lancui think he was?!

The smile still lingered at the corners of Lu Siye's mouth, but his eyes had gone icy. Others couldn't see this change, but Fu Chen's heart jolted—Lu Siye was really angry.

Fu Chen didn't understand. In such a short time, Lu Siye's mood had swung too violently. He had no idea what was happening, only instinctively looked toward Xiao Lancui.

Xiao Lancui knew someone was watching him but didn't care. It was getting chilly, so he wrapped his scarf tighter and heard Sun Mai's sneering laugh.

"Bro here loves turning straight guys gay!"

"Oh? You want to turn our A Lan gay? That's going to be tough." Lu Siye's voice was slow and drawling.

Lu Siye looked over, curling his lips into a smile at Xiao Lancui. "What are we gonna do, A Lan? He wants to turn you."

From here on, things differed from the original story.

In the original, Xiao Anfeng was gay—he'd figured out he liked men in middle school—and this conversation never happened.

And the one who proposed the bet wasn't Sun Mai either.

Lu Siye grinned, flashing his stark white teeth. "Here's the deal, A Lan."

He said, "Let's make a bet with this cocky little young master. If he loses, he never comes near you again. If he wins—well, he takes you."

Red taillights flashed across Lu Siye's face as he watched Xiao Lancui's expression. He let out a low chuckle, his dark eyes fixed on Xiao Lancui. "Don't worry, I'll win."

"I'll add a condition too." Xiao Lancui interrupted.

Unfazed, he met Lu Siye's gaze and said flatly, "If I win, you and him—both of you get lost."

In an instant, the noisy area at the foot of the mountain fell silent. Their voices weren't loud, but Lu Siye was the center of this group, and everyone was always watching him. When Xiao Lancui's words landed, no one dared to breathe, holding their breath and wishing they could disappear on the spot—including Xiao Anfeng.

Xiao Anfeng stared at Xiao Lancui, stunned.

The sound of the night wind grew clearer. Lu Siye studied Xiao Lancui. Perhaps because he was used to it, he found himself not all that surprised. He shoved Sun Mai away. At this moment, in his eyes, the only ones in the race were himself and Xiao Lancui.

He walked up to Xiao Lancui, standing seven or eight centimeters taller, and looked down at those thin lips, faintly red in the dark. His Adam's apple bobbed as he let out a low chuckle, breaking the silence.

He leaned in close, his nose nearly touching Xiao Lancui's, his voice deep and laced with amusement, meant only for the two of them to hear.

"Not bad. You lose, you sleep with me. All night long."

*

Their racing rules were simple: start at the same time from the southern foot of the mountain, drive one lap around the mountain, and whoever reaches the northern foot first wins.

Fu Chen hadn't expected this to go this far.

He thought Lu Siye just wanted to teach Xiao Lancui a lesson, but he never expected—

that Lu Siye was actually into Xiao Lancui!

He and Lu Siye had grown up together, thick as thieves. The first time he brought his first boyfriend to meet Lu Siye, the guy was really handsome.

Lu Siye didn't say a word, just took a drag on his cigarette, glanced at his boyfriend, and looked away.

He immediately understood—Lu Siye wanted to sleep with his boyfriend.

Guess they had similar tastes.

That very night, he sent his boyfriend to Lu Siye's bed.

And it turned out their tastes really were identical. When they met Xiao Anfeng in college, he fell for him. Lu Siye never said anything, but he could tell Lu Siye was into Xiao Anfeng too.

But—

Xiao Lancui?!

Fu Chen didn't get it.

He acknowledged that Xiao Lancui was good-looking, even a top-tier androgynous look, but he couldn't stand how timid and spineless Xiao Lancui was. It pissed him off just looking at him.

A stiff, weak little guy like Xiao Lancui would definitely be as lifeless as a dead fish in bed. What fun would that be?!

Pretty people—guys, girls—they could have as many as they wanted. What the hell was wrong with Lu Siye?

Fu Chen was still spacing out when that guy—who had nothing but looks—walked up to him. At the same time, Lu Siye's gaze turned hostile.

Fu Chen was caught off guard for a second and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Car keys."

Fu Chen: "My car keys—" He suddenly realized and blurted out, "You want to drive my car?!"

Xiao Lancui said flatly, "You said yourself you'd lend me your car."

Fu Chen had no comeback. He had said that that morning just to get Xiao Lancui to come. Lending the car wasn't the issue—the issue was—he said helplessly, "You don't even know how to drive."

He looked at Xiao Lancui's face and immediately thought of the way Lu Siye had just looked at him—like he wanted to drag him into bed and devour him.

Fu Chen suddenly hesitated, "Stop messing around. You and A Ye are cool—just apologize to him, and this whole thing will blow over."

Xiao Lancui said evenly, "I know how now."

Fu Chen was confused, "You said this morning you didn't know how to drive."

"Now I do."

Fu Chen laughed in disbelief, "Then tell me, how did you learn?"

"You drove just now. I watched."

Fu Chen was speechless.

Sun Mai overheard their conversation. He glanced at Lu Siye and suddenly said, "Pretty boy, don't force it if you can't drive. I don't want to make things hard for you. You're still An Feng's little brother, so today's race can be considered..."

"Scared?" Lu Siye interrupted, but he wasn't talking to Sun Mai. He lit a cigarette, held it between his teeth, and stared at Xiao Lancui with a grin, "Too late. In my dictionary, there's no such word as regret."

Xiao Lancui didn't respond to any of them, just said to Fu Chen again, "Car keys."

Lu Siye's voice floated over, "A Chen, give them to him."

Fu Chen gripped the car keys but still handed them over to Xiao Lancui.

Huo Shenan had gone off to buy burgers and cola in the middle of things, and by the time he got back, three cars were already lined up at the foot of the mountain, about to take off.

"Who took your car?" Huo Shenan bit into his burger.

Fu Chen briefly explained, and Huo Shenan was shocked too. The grilled pineapple in his burger almost fell out—he quickly caught it and laughed, "Isn't that a good thing? Worst case, your car gets totaled, and A Ye will cover it. Why the long face?"

Fu Chen touched his face. Did he look that upset?

But the next second, Huo Shenan's face dropped too. He stopped eating his burger and stared at a familiar figure getting into the passenger seat of the Lamborghini.

Damn it!

His face went cold, and he started walking over, "Why is Xiao Anfeng here?"

And getting into Xiao Lancui's car of all things!

Fu Chen noticed too. He had just shaken his head when Huo Shenan tossed his burger aside and sprinted over.

But Huo Shenan didn't make it in time either.

A gunshot rang out, and the three cars took off one after another into the mountain road, quickly disappearing into the dense forest.