HR Chapter 57
by VolareThe surname Zhongwu is rare, so Sicheng Zhengzhe couldn’t help but notice it. But what truly piqued Sicheng Zhengzhe’s interest was this Zhongwu Rui’s performance. He received excellent marks in all subjects, yet his mission assessments were all just passing. The reason was simply that he had never killed anyone, but his identity was that of an assassin.
An assassin who doesn’t kill.
Sicheng Zhengzhe was particularly eager to meet him.
The man was brought over in the afternoon. Sicheng Zhengzhe had just woken from his nap, rubbing his hair as he walked into the parlor in soft cotton pajamas.
The man stood in the sunlight, as if bathed in a layer of golden light. He wore black clothes, his back straight, and his exposed skin was fair, almost translucent in the sunlight.
“Young Master,” the servant greeted Sicheng Zhengzhe, then turned and left.
The man turned at this moment, his expression indifferent, his gaze shallow, possessing an ethereal air of detachment from the mortal world. Sicheng Zhengzhe was suddenly struck by him. There’s a saying: “Rising from the mud, yet unstained; cleansed by the clear ripples, yet not seductive.” This probably described Zhongwu Rui.
Sicheng Zhengzhe picked up the documents on the table and flipped through them casually. After reading them, he tossed them back onto the table, picked up his teacup, and drank tea, showing no intention of speaking.
Zhongwu Rui waited patiently, his gaze vacant, thinking about his own matters.
Just this morning, Zhongwu Rui had received a task that gave him a major headache. The content was actually very simple: harvest a fruit, if only this fruit wasn’t a human head.
This task differed from previous assignments. This time, it was personally assigned by the Young Master and would naturally be personally inspected, making it much harder to fool his way through.
Zhongwu Rui was thinking that this time he would have to find a reliable sucker to fool through this time.
Before he could choose a sucker, Zhongwu Rui was summoned here, a wordless standoff.
Sicheng Zhengzhe naturally had a slightly raspy voice, which was even raspier when he first woke up. Therefore, he always drank tea to soothe his throat before speaking, a habit he had developed since childhood.
After drinking more than half a cup of tea, feeling that his throat wasn’t as dry as before, Sicheng Zhengzhe coughed softly: “How did you get through your previous missions?”
His voice was soft, like jade gently rubbing against sandpaper, smooth and slightly raspy, like a faint, ethereal, and deep Brahma sound, yet pleasing to the ear.
Zhongwu Rui lowered his eyes and said, “I had someone else do them for me.”
Sicheng Zhengzhe smiled slightly: “Who are you planning to find this time?”
Zhongwu Rui didn’t say anything.
Sicheng Zhengzhe picked up the documents again and couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Reason?”
“…I faint at the sight of blood.” After a long silence, Zhongwu Rui reluctantly stated the truth.
Zhongwu Rui fainted particularly easily at the sight of blood; he couldn’t stand seeing even a little. He only discovered this during training, but by then it was impossible to quit.
“Faint at the sight of blood?” Sicheng Zhengzhe slowly repeated the words, rising to walk over, extending a finger in front of Zhongwu Rui’s eyes: “Look…”
Zhongwu Rui subconsciously looked up, seeing a touch of crimson on the fingertip. Because they were close, he could smell the scent of blood. In an instant, Zhongwu Rui felt a buzzing in his ears and a wave of dizziness. His face turned as pale as paper, and cold sweat sprouted on his forehead like bamboo shoots after a rain.
Zhongwu Rui swayed, tilting to one side. Sicheng Zhengzhe reached out in time, wrapped his arm around Zhongwu Rui’s waist, and half-dragged, half-carried him to the sofa, laying him down flat.
Sicheng Zhengzhe looked down at him, finding him more pleasing to the eye the more he looked, especially when he had touched Zhongwu Rui’s waist earlier, slender and strong, not at all like those other pretty boys.
After a while, Zhongwu Rui felt a little better and tremblingly opened his eyes, meeting a pair of eager eyes, dark and bright.
“Be my bed partner.” Then he heard a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
Zhongwu Rui looked blankly at Sicheng Zhengzhe, not yet able to react to what the words meant.
“Bed partner or mission, you can only choose one,” Sicheng Zhengzhe reminded him. “You signed a contract. You can’t keep fooling your way through your missions. You faint at the sight of blood, and I happen to think this job isn’t suitable for you either.”
Zhongwu Rui reacted, weakly struggling to sit up. Just as he opened his mouth, Sicheng Zhengzhe reminded him again: “Most of the people who work as bodyguards for the Sicheng family are in desperate need of money. Your gambling-addicted brother is still waiting for you to save his life, and your parents are still waiting for you to save your gambling-addicted brother and bring him home. If you agree, I’ll immediately have someone release your brother. What do you think, Zhongwu?”
The color on Zhongwu Rui’s face, which had just improved a little, immediately drained away. Sicheng Zhengzhe reached out to touch his face, his eyes curving into small crescents: “It doesn’t matter if you don’t agree. I’ll make them disappear so you don’t have to work so hard for them. It breaks my heart to see you like that.”
“…How long?” Zhongwu Rui asked after a long silence.
“Until the contract expires,” Sicheng Zhengzhe said casually, confidently.
“Okay.” Zhongwu Rui lay back down, closed his eyes, and even turned his body to face away from Sicheng Zhengzhe.
Sicheng Zhengzhe was extremely considerate, having someone bring a blanket to personally cover Zhongwu Rui, instructing people not to disturb him and to notify him when he woke up. He then left happily.
Zhongwu Rui didn’t sleep at all, but was troubled and worried about this matter.
Sicheng Zhengzhe was a man of action. Since he had said he would be a bed partner and Zhongwu Rui had agreed, he would inevitably not be able to escape today.
The thought of having to endure with that part of his body made Zhongwu Rui tremble in his heart. He couldn’t accept it no matter how he thought about it. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became, and he couldn’t lie down any longer, so he simply sat up.
As soon as Zhongwu Rui got up, someone notified Sicheng Zhengzhe that he was awake.
Zhongwu Rui hadn’t even caught his breath when he heard Sicheng Zhengzhe’s voice from upstairs: “Zhongwu, come up here.”
Zhongwu Rui’s body trembled. Couldn’t he even wait until night? But his face was calm. He nodded, got up, and went upstairs.
Sicheng Zhengzhe was very straightforward. As soon as Zhongwu Rui entered, he asked, “Do you want to take a bath?”
Zhongwu Rui didn’t say anything and went straight to the bathroom to take a bath. He washed for more than an hour, the steam making him dizzy and weak, his skin pale and wrinkled from being soaked. Only then did Zhongwu Rui wrap himself in a bathrobe and go out.
As soon as one foot stepped out of the bathroom, he was pulled into an embrace. Sicheng Zhengzhe bit Zhongwu Rui’s ear and laughed softly, “Are you scared?”
Zhongwu Rui nodded honestly, lowering his eyes to look down. He had wisely not worn anything inside, and Sicheng Zhengzhe’s tug had caused a slight exposure. Zhongwu Rui simply looked at it, not reaching out to cover himself. He knew that he couldn’t block it.
Sicheng Zhengzhe said softly, “Don’t be afraid.”
Zhongwu Rui comforted himself in his heart: sleeping with someone for one night, the high-interest loan will be paid off, his brother can go home, and his parents will be happy. Three birds with one stone, see? It’s not a loss at all.
But when it came to the moment of truth, all the comfort turned to ashes. Sicheng Zhengzhe was poised and ready, and Zhongwu Rui’s eyes turned red. He was afraid, opening his eyes that had been closed all along, looking at Sicheng Zhengzhe with watery eyes, begging softly with a soft voice: “I can’t do it, let me go…”
When Sicheng Zhengzhe heard this, his battle flag rose again. Unable to restrain himself, he forced himself on him.
Zhongwu Rui cried loudly. Although it hurt terribly, he kept whimpering softly, intermittently, restrained and suppressed. This was even more alluring than the wanton moaning, and Sicheng Zhengzhe was unable to defeat him after a long battle. Hearing him cry until his voice was hoarse, remembering that it was his first time, he forcibly stopped his bestial behavior.
Sicheng Zhengzhe couldn’t care about Zhongwu Rui and went to solve his own problem first. When he came back, he saw Zhongwu Rui trapped in the bedding, originally tall and slender, not small in stature, but now he looked pitifully small, his exposed face still flushed, tears not yet dry, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, his lips tightly pursed, no matter how you looked at him, he was alluring.
A heat flow rushed straight to his lower abdomen. Sicheng Zhengzhe reached out to touch Zhongwu Rui’s face, smiling slightly with a hooked lip, but his slender eyebrows frowned slightly imperceptibly, tinged with a faint sorrow.
Sicheng Zhengzhe had many bed partners, too many to count, and the number of people who wanted to climb onto Sicheng Zhengzhe’s bed was even more countless.
Bed partners were only a need for Sicheng Zhengzhe when necessary, and a dispensable pastime when unnecessary.
It was conceivable how lowly and humble the identity of a bed partner was in Sicheng Zhengzhe’s house.
Zhongwu Rui could clearly feel the others’ contempt for him. On the surface, they were respectful, but their eyes were full of disdain. That kind of mocking and ridicule made him feel very uncomfortable, but what was even more uncomfortable was that he couldn’t refute it.
Sicheng Zhengzhe was also a particularly possessive person, not allowing him to go out. He had heard before that being Sicheng Zhengzhe’s bed partner meant being able to endure loneliness and put up with anger.
Two years only, just endure it and it will pass.
Zhongwu Rui could easily endure anything, except for the bed matters. No matter how many times Sicheng Zhengzhe did this and that, he would still cry at the slightest touch, sobbing softly and restrainedly.
Sicheng Zhengzhe said a lot of sweet words, his actions gentle, careful, and cautious, but Zhongwu Rui’s tears still didn’t diminish. He wouldn’t say anything when asked, and if he was forced too hard, he would bite his lip and shake his head frantically, tears flying everywhere.
Once he got out of bed, Zhongwu Rui became as indifferent as water, without desires or needs. Who would have thought of what he looked like when he cried.
Sicheng Zhengzhe felt it was beautiful just thinking about it. He didn’t even need to think about it, only he could make him cry, no one else could.
Two years passed in the blink of an eye. The contract was about to expire, and Zhongwu Rui had made plans early, arranging his itinerary after leaving this place. He had arranged his itinerary very tightly: shopping in Pingyao Ancient City today, and going to Guilin to see the mountains and waters tomorrow, very compact.
Sicheng Zhengzhe had also been busy recently, discovering a bit of an unexpected surprise, but it was more shock than joy.
He knew that this matter couldn’t be concealed when Sicheng Zhengli suddenly barged into the meeting room that day.
He and Sicheng Zhengli were half-brothers genetically, but siblings in terms of ethics, that is, they were just two high-quality genes selected from tens of thousands of eggs, and cultivated with Sicheng Duyi’s sperm in a test tube into seeds, then a beautiful uterus in terms of appearance and family background was found to plant them, waiting quietly for ten months of pregnancy, when the melon was ripe, it would fall.
Their existence was an artificial product, a need created by people, and had nothing to do with feelings.
It would be a lie to say that he wasn’t sad, but it wasn’t that sad either. He just felt, felt sad.
So, he wasn’t necessary after all.
Zhongwu Rui supplemented and supplemented his plan, planning and planning again, finally waiting for Sicheng Zhengzhe to come back, reminding Sicheng Zhengzhe eagerly with a joyful mood that the contract had expired and he should leave.
Sicheng Zhengzhe raised his eyes to look at him, his eyes indescribably indifferent and terrible. Zhongwu Rui instinctively took a step back, turned around and wanted to run, but Sicheng Zhengzhe grabbed him and pressed him on the spot.
Zhongwu Rui cried especially hard this time. Sicheng Zhengzhe became enraged by his crying. The more Zhongwu Rui cried, the more ruthless he became, finally pressing the man on the bed and venting his anger. He pinched Zhongwu Rui’s face and said, “Want to leave? Unless I die.”
Zhongwu Rui’s head was dizzy and he didn’t understand. When he reacted, he trembled with anger, staring at Sicheng Zhengzhe with hatred, biting out two words from between his teeth: “Liar.” Suddenly, his eyes reddened and he roared hoarsely, “Liar, liar, liar!”
Sicheng Zhengzhe was startled by Zhongwu Rui’s roar, and then smiled, “I only lied to you.”
Zhongwu Rui was so angry that he went crazy, glaring with just two words: “Liar!”
Sicheng Zhengzhe touched his face, but Zhongwu Rui turned his head away, closing his eyes and not looking at him.
Sicheng Zhengzhe compromised, “I’m going to take charge of the family recently, and I need people inside and out. Leave after this period of time, and I won’t stop you then.”
Zhongwu Rui was still angry, having just been tricked badly, and wouldn’t believe anything he said.
Sicheng Zhengzhe sighed slightly, “I was just saying angry words. I’m not feeling well recently, please understand me. I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you, it was my fault.”
Zhongwu Rui turned his face to look at him, and Sicheng Zhengzhe smiled slightly, “Are you not angry anymore? Can you listen to me for a while?” He deliberately softened his tone, looking at Zhongwu Rui with an appearance of needing comfort.
Zhongwu Rui hid suspicion in his eyes, but still nodded, saying in a hoarse voice, “Wash me first, I’m not comfortable.” If he could, he would rather do it himself, but he really didn’t have any strength.
Sicheng Zhengzhe carried Zhongwu Rui to wash, honestly not making any excessive movements. Zhongwu Rui was drowsy and about to fall asleep when he was awakened by Sicheng Zhengzhe patting him: “I haven’t finished talking.”
“Sleepy…” Zhongwu Rui pulled the quilt over himself and instantly fell into a deep sleep.
Sicheng Zhengzhe held the man in his arms, wide awake.
In addition to the artificial product, there was also a crystallization of love, but this crystallization was even more tragic.
To completely control the Sicheng family, Sicheng Houzai must be emptied, but how could that be so easy? He had to find some reason to break two of his arms, without alerting him.
Because of this ordeal, and without timely cleaning, Zhongwu Rui had a fever the next day. Sicheng Zhengzhe pushed away all the meetings and stayed at home to accompany him.
Sicheng Houzai heard the news and came to question him, but Sicheng Zhengzhe retorted coldly, “I’m not a work machine, I need to rest, Grandpa.”
After investigation, he learned that it was for a bed partner.
Sicheng Houzai had someone bring Zhongwu Rui over, sneering and saying, “You’re the one who’s been by Zhengzhe’s side the longest, but how long can you last? I don’t know how many bed partners have come and gone by his side, and I don’t know what’s so good about you that makes him remember you.” He stared at Zhongwu Rui with cold eyes, seemingly considering something, and then spoke again after a long time, “Why not find someone to try…”
Zhongwu Rui’s back was instantly shocked with a cold sweat. When he calmed down, his back was ice-cold. He barely steadied his mind and said indifferently, “Leaving is what I’m hoping for. I’m grateful if the old gentleman is willing to help.”
“Oh?” Sicheng Houzai suddenly wasn’t angry anymore, saying with interest, “In that case, I can’t help you. You can go back.”
Zhongwu Rui was still sent back. As soon as he walked into the villa, his legs softened and he knelt on the ground, panting heavily, his hands trembling slightly as he propped himself on the ground.
A passing servant wanted to help him up, but left when he saw Sicheng Zhengzhe’s figure in the distance.
Sicheng Zhengzhe received the news and rushed back, but unfortunately he was out of town and was still one step late.
“Don’t be afraid, Zhongwu, don’t be afraid,” Sicheng Zhengzhe hugged Zhongwu Rui tightly, lowering his head to kiss his forehead and cheeks, comforting him softly and gently, “It’s all over, I won’t let anyone take you away again, I’ll help you teach him a lesson, okay?”
Zhongwu Rui only closed his eyes and trembled, grabbing Sicheng Zhengzhe’s clothes with both hands, with a force that almost tore his clothes apart.
Sicheng Zhengzhe was heartbroken, hugging and coaxing him for a while, and only took him to the room when Zhongwu Rui’s emotions stabilized.
Bed matters were originally a heart disease for Zhongwu Rui. Being frightened by Sicheng Houzai, he slowly recovered after having nightmares for several days.
Sicheng Zhengzhe kept his word, neatly cutting off one of Sicheng Houzai’s arms, doing it without anyone knowing.
At the same time, he reflected that the reason why Sicheng Houzai didn’t take Zhongwu Rui seriously was because Zhongwu Rui was just a bed partner, no different from other bed partners, dispensable, and that wouldn’t do.
“You be my housekeeper.”
This sentence was equivalent to “You be my wife”, and like the sentence “Be my bed partner” two years ago, there was no right to refuse.
“I’ll leave when you’re in charge of the family.” Zhongwu Rui understood the consequences of agreeing, and struggled inwardly. He didn’t want to be tied down by Sicheng Zhengzhe’s words, unable to go anywhere.
Sicheng Zhengzhe didn’t deny it, retreating a step and saying, “Help me manage the house before I’m in charge of the family, okay?” This was a question.
Zhongwu Rui still wanted to refuse, but Sicheng Zhengzhe preempted him, “I won’t restrict your freedom anymore. Just tell me where you want to go to play. Are you still not agreeing?” The last sentence was completely a pitiful request.
“…Okay.” At the same time as agreeing, Zhongwu Rui frowned fiercely, despising himself in his heart, telling him to be soft-hearted and agree, he wouldn’t have the face to cry in the future.
Sicheng Zhengzhe was immediately overjoyed, considerately putting food on Zhongwu Rui’s plate, but at night he pressed the man on the bed and did this and that until he couldn’t even cry.
Zhongwu Rui cried out that he had been deceived. What he didn’t expect was that Sicheng Zhengzhe’s path to taking charge of the family would be so long, taking two whole years but still not being able to fully control it. The magnitude of the family and Sicheng Houzai’s influence on the family were evident.
Zhongwu Rui repeatedly proposed to leave, but was rejected by Sicheng Zhengzhe with various reasons, either “You promised, how can you go back?”, or threatened “Your brother still owes me money!”, or acted like a rascal “I can only be carefree with you managing the house! I don’t care, you can’t leave!”
Speaking of his brother owing money, Zhongwu Rui found it funny. It had been paid off two years ago. Sicheng Zhengzhe was quite dissatisfied with this result, personally finding his brother and forcing him to gamble. He couldn’t refuse to gamble, and the amount couldn’t be too small. Finally, he had his brother write an IOU, took it to show him, and pretended to be worried, saying, “Your brother owes money again, it’s really hopeless.”
Zhongwu Rui really believed it at the time, taking the IOU and sighing in his heart, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to leave for the rest of his life.
The IOU wrote, “No need to repay the money, take the person as collateral”, and at the end, he added two words: “Dead Pledge!”
Zhongwu Rui directly tore up the IOU, tilted his head to look at Sicheng Zhengzhe and smiled, “Let me put a stamp on you,” his eyes slowly glancing to the side, “Dead Pledge… It’s okay.”
Sicheng Zhengzhe also looked at him and smiled, taking it for granted, “Sign and seal, of course.”
As if afraid that Zhongwu Rui would go back on his word, Sicheng Zhengzhe immediately dragged the man into the bedroom, quickly undressed and lay down on the bed, opening his legs: “Zhongwu, please be gentle.” Smilingly like a seductive gigolo.
For a moment, Zhongwu Rui softened. Sicheng Zhengzhe shouldn’t be like this. He was the pride of heaven, he should be high above, unique and supreme, noble and graceful, gentle as jade, modest like bamboo. No matter what, he shouldn’t be like this.
Zhongwu Rui held Sicheng Zhengzhe’s face, met his eyes, and then lowered his head to kiss Sicheng Zhengzhe’s lips, kissing carefully.
Zhongwu Rui was still a novice after all, and no matter how careful he was, he still hurt Sicheng Zhengzhe. Zhongwu Rui was ashamed and felt he had nowhere to hide. Sicheng Zhengzhe, although he occasionally had moments of indiscretion, had never hurt him, but he, the first time, hurt him.
Sicheng Zhengzhe hooked the corners of his mouth and smiled. Although he was uncomfortable, it was worth it. He also considerately advised, “It’s okay, the memory is more profound.”
Zhongwu Rui looked at Sicheng Zhengzhe quietly, “Remember it a few more times in the future, lest you forget.”
Sicheng Zhengzhe’s smile stiffened, then he nodded, “Okay.”
This man, he was really going all out to keep himself.
Zhongwu Rui shook his head, “I’m kidding you, once is enough. In the future, let’s just go back to the way it was before.”
Seeing you in pain, I’m in even more pain than you. Forget it, who told me to be caught by this person.
Sicheng Zhengzhe stretched out a hand, signaling Zhongwu Rui to stretch out one as well. The two hands gently clasped together, and Sicheng Zhengzhe lay back down, holding Zhongwu Rui’s hand to sleep, but couldn’t help but raise the corners of his mouth.
Zhongwu Rui looked at Sicheng Zhengzhe and smiled, also smiling softly, cursing secretly in his heart: “Would it kill you to say you like me!”
But wasn’t he the same, too shy to open his mouth.
Saying nothing, just tying you to my side and treating you well.