The two of them gazed at each other through the misty water.
They seemed so close, and yet it felt as if thousands of mountains and rivers lay between them.
Lu Zhuonian’s brows and eyes were dark, his expression devoid of emotion—like a pair of cold jade beads untouched by time, distant and inhuman.
He approached soundlessly, like a water ghost emerging from nowhere, silently seizing the substitute lost in the white mist, intent on dragging him down beneath the surface.
Chen Zemian had naturally been startled when his wrist was suddenly seized. His heart skipped a beat, then pounded faster.
As the unique and absolute male protagonist of the original book, Lu Zhuonian’s appearance was, of course, one in a million.
Handsome, powerful, and saturated with masculine allure.
The mountain breeze stirred the mist, swaying the bamboo leaves and carrying the fluttering pear blossoms.
Lu Zhuonian stood in the center of the pool. The petals drifting in front of him resembled falling snow; the mist behind him curled and lingered like something enchanted. Droplets condensed and slid from his sculpted cheekbones, down his throat, clinging to his collarbone before falling—each one rising and falling with his breath.
His body was tight and lean, the muscle lines chiseled like a statue, each curve the perfect golden ratio.
“What are you staring at?”
Lu Zhuonian’s thumb pressed lightly against Chen Zemian’s wrist, his magnetic voice reverberating through his chest. “Is it good-looking?”
Chen Zemian replied honestly, “It’s good-looking—better than a male model.”
“You’re comparing me to a male model?” Lu Zhuonian laughed, half in exasperation. He raised his hand to gently pat Chen Zemian’s cheek. “When did you order one? Why didn’t I hear about it?”
Chen Zemian sniffed. “I didn’t. I just see them sometimes when I scroll through short videos.”
Lu Zhuonian pursed his lips, suppressing the curve of a smile. “Short video recommendations are based on algorithms. Why would they push male models to you for no reason?”
Chen Zemian shook his head, honest and baffled. “I don’t know either.”
Lu Zhuonian’s tone was light. “Might be related to one of the websites you bookmarked.”
Chen Zemian blinked. “What website?”
Lu Zhuonian casually recited a domain name.
At that, Chen Zemian’s face flushed red.
It was a site he’d found while doing research for a film—after hopping through layer after layer of sketchy links to reach it. Locating that obscure domain had taken a herculean effort, and after finally bookmarking it, he’d completely forgotten to delete it. Ever since, it had been sitting quietly in his favorites.
But the question was—how did Lu Zhuonian know?!
Suddenly, it hit him—
It was the mini program that auto-shared messages!
That program automatically grabbed bookmarked URLs and occasionally sent them to Lu Zhuonian.
Once, Chen Zemian had saved a gaming console on a shopping app, and the mini program had promptly shared the link with Lu Zhuonian—who then placed an order and bought it for him.
After discovering this magical feature, Chen Zemian hadn’t disabled the mini program completely. He’d just reduced the sharing frequency, planning to use it as a sneaky wishlist if he ever wanted something he couldn’t bring himself to buy.
He hadn’t expected this. Truly a case of picking up sesame seeds and dropping a watermelon.
Lu Zhuonian lowered his eyes to meet his gaze. “Why were you looking at that kind of stuff?”
Chen Zemian had no idea how to explain.
He began to sink into the water without realizing it, inching down until only his eyes were visible, bubbling gently at the surface—conveying with great dignity the unspoken message: If you keep asking, I will drown myself right here.
“Don’t hide.”
Lu Zhuonian pulled him up by the arm, face unreadable. “Tell me. Why did you watch it?”
Chen Zemian muttered, “I just… watched it.”
“And then?”
“Nothing happened. I felt sick. I threw up.”
Lu Zhuonian seemed to make a connection. “That day?”
He meant the day after his episode—the day Chen Zemian vomited after lunch.
It was also the day he began avoiding Lu Zhuonian, coming up with every excuse to not return home.
So he’d been frightened by those videos?
The dots connected, forming a complete cause-and-effect chain. Every lingering question had been answered.
Lu Zhuonian’s taut nerves relaxed at last, though his amusement simmered just beneath the surface.
Seeing that he was merely smiling silently, Chen Zemian grew indignant and punched his shoulder. “Don’t laugh!”
Lu Zhuonian lowered his eyes, voice soft. “Don’t be afraid.”
“Who’s afraid?” Chen Zemian stiffened his neck. “I just thought it was disgusting.”
“Then why watch it?”
Chen Zemian wrinkled his nose. “Because… your needs might keep escalating. What if one day, nothing else satisfies you anymore?”
Lu Zhuonian’s heart skipped a beat. “I won’t force you to do anything you can’t accept.”
Chen Zemian stole a glance at him and muttered inwardly, You really didn’t force me. But once I got started, I forgot everything.
Just like the time with his mouth—Lu Zhuonian had only needed one touch to make him forget his “no.”
But if that could be mutual, what about other things?
Chen Zemian shook his head hard.
No, no. What am I thinking?
Hold the bottom line, Zemian. Quickly—where is your bottom line? Stop thinking about mouths. Think about that awful video instead. Focus. Stay calm. Reduce desire.
He grew flustered and averted his gaze.
But when he looked down, his eyes landed squarely on Lu Zhuonian’s chest.
The outline of his pecs was flawless. The muscle definition was perfectly proportioned—powerful, but not overbearing. His entire body radiated raw physical tension, and yet his skin was pale and cool like the thinnest porcelain.
The stark contrast—sensual heat beneath cold elegance—drew the eye with magnetic force.
This kind of beauty transcended gender.
The hot spring steam curled upward, blurring Lu Zhuonian’s expressionless, handsome face.
With the vast sky above, green mountains behind, bamboo groves and pear blossoms as the backdrop—he looked like the very soul of a painting, stepped down from some ethereal scroll.
So beautiful it hurt to breathe.
Chen Zemian’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
And the bottom line he was struggling so hard to find… was already starting to give way.
Lu Zhuonian was dignified and graceful. Even standing in the hot spring with his upper body bare, he didn’t look frivolous or vulgar at all.
Instead, he appeared aloof and arrogant. Although he was addicted to sex, Lu Zhuonian showed no trace of sexual desire. He remained cold, noble, and aloof.
This was completely different from the sticky, greasy sex portrayed by the two people in the movie.
The first impression of Lu Zhuonian was that he was expensive.
The second impression was that he was clean.
He always seemed to carry a faint fragrance.
So if I had sex with Lu Zhuonian just once, it seemed… it seemed like it might be okay, right?
Chen Zemian’s heartbeat quickened.
Lu Zhuonian didn’t know what Chen Zemian was thinking, but he could hear his heartbeat pounding like a drum and whispered softly, “Why is your heartbeat so fast?”
Chen Zemian didn’t dare admit the real reason.
The gentler Lu Zhuonian’s tone became, the more confused Chen Zemian felt. He almost blurted out that maybe they should try it once each.
Thinking he might be a little lightheaded from the lack of oxygen in the hot spring, Chen Zemian quickly grabbed the teacup on the tray and gulped down two cups of tea to calm himself.
After drinking the tea, he felt slightly more sober. He was about to continue discussing how to treat Lu Zhuonian’s illness, but stopped when he saw a waiter approaching, bypassing the screen to refill their tea.
The waiter half-knelt by the pool and whispered softly, “Mr. Chen, there’s a Mr. Zheng outside who wants to see you. May he come in?”
Lu Zhuonian raised his eyes.
There was no other Mr. Zheng who could be visiting Chen Zemian except Zheng Huaiyu.
Chen Zemian put on his bathrobe and stepped out of the hot spring pool. “I’ll go see what he wants.”
Lu Zhuonian said nonchalantly, “Didn’t you say you were recuperating and let Liu Yuebo take him out first?”
“Liu Yuebo is too ugly,” Zheng Huaiyu had said before arriving. “I don’t want to hang out with those ugly things. I’d rather see something pleasing to the eye.”
The service staff hadn’t expected Zheng Huaiyu to come in directly and immediately stood up to stop him.
But how could they stop him?
His slender, tall figure pushed aside the white mist, bypassed the scattered hot spring pools, and walked slowly across the pear blossoms scattered on the ground.
The two hot spring pools were separated by a gilded filigree enamel glass screen.
The screen’s surface was made of frosted glass, vague and blurred like looking at flowers through fog. Movements were indistinct, but a human figure was visible in outline.
Zheng Huaiyu stopped in front of the screen and said politely, “You didn’t invite me to such an elegant event as taking a hot spring bath. You don’t even consider me a friend.”
Lu Zhuonian replied in a neutral tone, “You’ve only known each other for two days. Isn’t it strange to expect him to consider you a friend?”
Zheng Huaiyu said, “I’m just talking to you, Lu Shao. You and I have known each other for more than ten years. We’re distant relatives.”
Lu Zhuonian didn’t even raise his eyelids. “What do you want, distant relative?”
Zheng Huaiyu said lightly, “I’m General Manager Chen’s secretary. I’m supposed to follow the boss.”
Chen Zemian tied his bathrobe and walked around the screen. “You don’t have to follow me. Didn’t I let Liu Yuebo take you out to play?”
Zheng Huaiyu frowned unhappily. “I said he’s too ugly.”
Chen Zemian said, “How is he ugly? I think he’s quite handsome.”
Zheng Huaiyu expressed disbelief. “Where do you see that?”
Chen Zemian thought for a moment. “He’s tall and looks pretty good.”
“Is that what you call handsome?” Zheng Huaiyu strongly disagreed. “You really have low standards for boys.”
Chen Zemian: “…”
The weather in April wasn’t completely warm, and the mountain hot spring pool felt even colder. Although steam rose from the water, it was still quite chilly to stand outside.
Chen Zemian gathered his bathrobe, took out his phone, and showed Zheng Huaiyu a photo of Xue Duo. “Then can he take you out for two days?”
Zheng Huaiyu leaned over and scrutinized the photo for two seconds. “This one finally looks a bit human, but he’s much worse than you.”
“You’re choosing a concubine; what choice do you have in men?” Chen Zemian smelled the fragrance lingering on Zheng Huaiyu’s body. His throat tightened and he coughed twice, carefully choosing his words euphemistically, “Can you spray less perfume next time you come to see me? I have asthma. Cough, cough.”
Zheng Huaiyu looked at Chen Zemian strangely. “I didn’t spray perfume.”
Chen Zemian was stunned. “Then why do you smell so good?”
Zheng Huaiyu lifted his collar, lowered his head, and sniffed gently. “It smells like laundry detergent. I’ll go back and ask them to change it.”
Chen Zemian didn’t believe laundry detergent could smell so good, so he leaned over to sniff.
This was way too fragrant!
The strong scent steamed up from the space between Zheng Huaiyu’s collar and chest, rushing straight to Chen Zemian’s nose.
It was as if rouge powder had been spilled, choking and dizzying him.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Chen Zemian suddenly started coughing violently and lost his balance, bumping into Zheng Huaiyu.
Zheng Huaiyu supported him, his eyes flickering as a plan formed in his mind.
He leaned back and deliberately fell into the hot spring behind him.
Chen Zemian didn’t expect this and quickly reached out to pull him up.
Chen Zemian reacted quickly and was strong—he had already grabbed Zheng Huaiyu, but Zheng Huaiyu deliberately let himself fall back, and under the pull of gravity, they both slipped into the hot spring together.
Water splashed everywhere with a loud splash.
At the same moment, Lu Zhuonian suddenly stood up behind the screen.
*****
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Author: LazyHermitGal
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