Chapter 9#

The Cowardly Corporate Slave 9#

Shen Anyu couldn’t open his mouth to speak.

Everything before his eyes exceeded his imagination.

Gazing at the garish, dazzling world downstairs, Shen Anyu stood frozen in place, his overlong bangs obscuring what he was thinking.

Xie Yuzhi patted the sofa beside him. “Brother-in-law, sit down and take your time looking. The view is better from here.”

Shen Anyu walked over. After a long while, he took out his phone and typed: Did your sister… come here before too?

Xie Yuzhi’s familiarity and casualness with the place didn’t seem like it was his first time here. Especially just now, downstairs, Shen Anyu had seen quite a few people who, when they made out Xie Yuzhi’s face, moved to approach and strike up a conversation.

What about Shen Xifu then?

As Xie Yuzhi’s sister, had he come here before too?

Otherwise, there was no way he could have walked in without any obstruction into a place that still verified identities and proof of assets.

Xie Yuzhi: “He’s been here.” He leaned against the sofa, posture careless, and turned his head to look at Shen Anyu, who had a mild, dull look on his face, and let out a light laugh. “Who here hasn’t been?”

Anyone in the capital who had grown up a bit and whose family had a little money had basically been coaxed in here by people around them. The earliest Xie Yuzhi had also been secretly dragged in by a classmate to see the so-called world.

In fact, it was just seeing the world.

Xie Yuzhi had no interest in these things.

Especially back then—his own brother Shen Xifu had already lost his mind and married Shen Anyu for three years. In his view, rather than wasting time coming here, he might as well put his effort into breaking up Shen Xifu and Shen Anyu.

As for whether Shen Xifu had come here—

How would Xie Yuzhi know?

But any chance to stir up a misunderstanding between them was something Xie Yuzhi would never let go of.

“Still, this place isn’t the den of mixed company you’re imagining.”

Xie Yuzhi looked at Shen Anyu, who had clearly let his thoughts run wild, and though he hadn’t planned to explain, he still said: “It’s true there are some people with improper intentions, but with higher-ups keeping things in check, and with the identity behind the owner, no one dares go too far.” As he spoke, he raised his chin, signaling for Shen Anyu to look downstairs.

Under the dazzling lights, amid the reveling crowd, there was no shortage of people holding glasses as they wove through, chatting and laughing with others. When a glass was emptied, they would move on to the next person.

—Only playing at ambiguity, never talking//dirty.

“……”

Mottled light and shadow reflected in Shen Anyu’s eyes.

He quietly lowered his gaze.

In that eye-dazzling environment, he looked like a handful of fresh snow on a mountaintop.

Xie Yuzhi looked at Shen Anyu and, for the first time, discovered that his brother-in-law had very long eyelashes…

As he lost focus, Xie Yuzhi reached out a hand, wanting to touch to see if it felt as he’d imagined, but just before he could make contact, Shen Anyu grabbed his wrist—

“?”

He snapped back to his senses.

Shen Anyu urgently signaled with his eyes for him to look downstairs.

Xie Yuzhi glanced down unintentionally and, to his surprise, spotted Shen Xifu’s figure in the crowd. And beside Shen Xifu was a person he found extremely familiar—Jian Lixu.

Except the man who used to be full of refined elegance was now clearly reeking of alcohol.

Shen Xifu was said to be supporting him, but in actuality, it looked more like coldly standing by, standing beside Jian Lixu’s assistant and saying something.

Based on Xie Yuzhi’s understanding of Shen Xifu, he could be one hundred percent certain that it definitely wasn’t anything nice.

Xie Yuzhi snapped back to attention.

He looked at Shen Anyu, who seemed as though all his heart and soul had been sucked away by Shen Xifu.

“Tsk.”

Shen Anyu looked at him, finally snapping out of it. He stood up, made an urgent “ah ah” sound, pointed at the two people downstairs, and wanted to go down.

After all, the purpose of this trip was to see what kind of person could make Shen Xifu’s “heart waver.”

Fifth floor.

Xie Yuzhi pulled Shen Anyu by the hand and stood in front of the door, panting.

If they hadn’t left in time just now—and, after realizing that Shen Xifu’s route from the bar was heading home, hadn’t flagged down a driver and paid him an extra three hundred yuan to overtake the car ahead—then the person standing at the door right now might have been Shen Xifu, having discovered that they’d been secretly tailing him.

“Hurry, hurry—open the door.”

Xie Yuzhi panted while observing Shen Xifu’s movements downstairs.

Like a thief.

Shen Anyu was panting even harder, and even his hand holding the key was trembling. If it weren’t for Xie Yuzhi grabbing his hand and forcing him to climb to the fifth floor in an extremely short amount of time, with a body that had been a corporate slave for N years, Shen Anyu would have given up halfway.

The door opened.

Shen Anyu was steadying his breathing, but his arm was yanked by Xie Yuzhi, and his whole body stumbled forward two steps into the room. Xie Yuzhi gasped: “My br—… Shen Xifu is coming up the stairs.”

“……”

Shen Anyu didn’t know how to react.

The scene in the bar just now hadn’t yet faded from his mind.

In three years of marriage, Shen Xifu had never liked contact with people—yet at that time, he had been willing to support the drunk Jian Lixu. The many more subtle details in that moment had made Shen Anyu, who was watching from the shadows at that time, feel a moment of suffocation.

Now.

Before Shen Anyu could even perform the kind of complicated emotions the office worker in the original book would have, he heard a “ding-dong—” from outside the door.

Xie Yuzhi, who had been sitting on the sofa, instantly jumped up. He exchanged a glance with Shen Anyu for one second, but neither had the courage to open that door alone.

“…Brother-in-law?” Xie Yuzhi wanted Shen Anyu to go.

Shen Anyu pretended he hadn’t heard: “……”

He was mute and couldn’t speak.

In only a few seconds, the two had already gone through a fierce psychological struggle, and in the end, they decided to open the door together.

At the entryway.

As the door opened, the security door, slightly rusted and loose from disuse, let out an unpleasant “creak.”

Shen Anyu faced Shen Xifu across the threshold, but his gaze fell on Jian Lixu, who was being supported beside him. For a moment, no one spoke.

Pale fingers gripped the door handle, gradually tightening.

“Husband?” said Shen Xifu, who was wearing a trench coat.

It was as if Shen Anyu finally woke from a dream. He hurriedly stepped back to make a gap—but unexpectedly bumped into Xie Yuzhi behind him.

“Hiss—” Xie Yuzhi cried out in pain.

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

Xie Yuzhi, who had been steadying himself with a hand on Shen Anyu’s shoulder, instinctively looked up and met Shen Xifu’s deep, dark eyes at the doorway. He sheepishly let go:

“Uh… sis—you, you’re back?”

Shen Xifu silently walked past him, went straight into the house, and set the drunk Jian Lixu down on the sofa. He looked at Shen Anyu, who stood not far away watching him, and said softly: “Why are you standing there?”

He said: “Just now, President Jian called the wrong number while drunk and asked me to pick him up. I don’t know where President Jian lives, so I brought him back along the way. After all, staying at a hotel would cost money.”

That served as an explanation for what had just happened.

“Would your husband mind?” Shen Xifu asked.

Shen Anyu stood in the center of the living room, a suffocation that clung to him like his shadow enveloping him. He moved his lips soundlessly and shook his head mutely—he didn’t mind.

There was nothing to mind, either.

Compared to minding Jian Lixu’s presence, at this moment, Shen Anyu was more concerned about the words Shen Xifu had said before leaving: “my husband is waiting for me at home.”

He wasn’t certain whether Shen Xifu had discovered him when he’d followed him to the bar with Xie Yuzhi earlier without permission.

Shen Anyu couldn’t see anything wrong on Shen Xifu’s face.

But the familiarity of three years of living together always faintly gave Shen Anyu an odd feeling.

As if—

The Shen Xifu in front of him wasn’t as calm and unaware of everything as “she” appeared to be.

“Is that so?” Shen Xifu laughed. In a joking tone, he said: “Doesn’t my husband suspect anything?”

Shen Anyu shivered for no reason, lowered his head, and typed.

—I don’t… I trust you.

Very obedient.

“Is that so?” Shen Xifu asked.

This was already the second time tonight that Shen Xifu had said “Is that so.” No matter how dull Shen Anyu was, he sensed that something was off. He lifted his head, met Shen Xifu’s eyes under the light, and had expected to see a stretch of calmness—yet instead saw an unfathomable darkness.

For a moment.

Cold sweat swept over Shen Anyu’s back.

Perhaps because Xie Yuzhi was present, Shen Xifu didn’t openly reveal his emotions to Shen Anyu as he used to.

Only after handling everything.

When Shen Anyu was about to prepare dinner for him, he wrapped his arms around Shen Anyu’s waist from behind and, step by step, brought him into the bedroom.

During that time, Xie Yuzhi, who had gone out to pour water, witnessed this scene once again.

Before Shen Xifu could even warn him, Xie Yuzhi had already turned his head of his own accord.

On the way back to his room, he looked at Jian Lixu lying on the sofa.

Compared to him, who at least had a small room to stay in, Jian Lixu, who had been dumped on the sofa after being brought home by Shen Xifu, seemed a bit more pitiful.

With that comparison.

The nameless frustration in Xie Yuzhi’s heart dissipated a little. With a “bang!” he closed the door.

Master bedroom.

Shen Anyu, held around the waist by Shen Xifu, didn’t understand what “she” wanted to do. Hearing the “bang!” from next door, he opened his mouth, but couldn’t emit a single sound.

“Husband…” Shen Xifu’s voice sounded against Shen Anyu’s ear.

His eyes were dark and murky, his arms pressing so tight that Shen Anyu could barely breathe. In the extremely quiet space, Shen Anyu couldn’t help but reach out and try to break free from Shen Xifu’s embrace.

Like a small animal’s instinct to flee when facing danger.

Shen Xifu rested his chin on Shen Anyu’s shoulder and murmured: “Whose room was my husband in this evening?”

That one soft sentence froze Shen Anyu’s struggling movements.

Shen Xifu: “Oh right, I forgot—my husband can’t speak… So how about we play a game, okay?”

“If I guess right, my husband nods. When I’ve accumulated three right answers, my husband has to tell me what he did today, okay? Don’t lie to me…” Shen Xifu said, “Shen Anyu, you know the consequences.” His eyes were dark and murky.

“……”

In the pitch-dark bedroom.

Shen Anyu couldn’t get a single word out. Only his wife’s scorching breath by his ear accompanied him.

It reminded him of those images from the past when he had been with Shen Xifu at every moment.

His heartbeat quickened.

Even his pupils seemed to constrict for a moment.

It wasn’t anticipation—it was fear.

In the darkness, Shen Xifu’s hoarse, low voice continued. “This afternoon, my husband was in Xie Yuzhi’s room, right?”

After a long moment, unable to avoid it, Shen Anyu nodded.

“So obedient…” Shen Xifu said. “What did my husband agree to with Xie Yuzhi at that time?”

He seemed to be recalling, replaying the scenes of seeing Shen Anyu that afternoon frame by frame, scene by scene, deducing as he went. Finally he said: “My husband let Xie Yuzhi look at his face, right?”

He kissed Shen Anyu’s cheek, gentle and lingering.

Shen Anyu’s eyes widened, unsure of how Shen Xifu knew.

But at his ear, his wife, as if aware of what he was thinking, said slowly: “Of course, because my husband didn’t hide his tracks well enough.”

“Also… didn’t I tell my husband to wait for me at home?” Shen Xifu took Shen Anyu’s earlobe into his mouth, his teeth gently grinding.

Completely disregarding his husband’s trembling body.

“Liar.” Shen Xifu said.