The Flower Of The High Mountain Is Pregnant With The Son Of The Sand Sculpture Ceo Chapter 5
byChapter 5 Further Developments
Chen Shuo glanced at his plastered arm, confirming that what hit Lu Shangyan was his broken hand, not a high-speed motorcycle that had sent him flying.
Lu Shangyan narrowed his eyes. Seeing that Chen Shuo wasn’t leaving, he repeated in a muffled voice, “Pay up.”
His demeanor didn’t suggest injury; it looked more like a provocation.
Chen Shuo was so angry he couldn’t speak clearly: “Last time, you and that wild man you hooked up with outside caused me to be hospitalized for four days! How are we going to settle that score?”
Lu Shangyan recalled that day when Pei Yumin, fearing Chen Shuo might seek revenge later, had prepared for many possibilities while they were at the hospital and taught him corresponding emergency responses for each. He hadn’t expected to actually encounter one today.
So, he mimicked Pei Yumin’s tone and retorted, “Who knows if you deliberately fell after I left just to frame me?”
They hadn’t called the police then, and so much time had passed that Chen Shuo truly had no way to trouble Lu Shangyan again over the incident.
After he was discharged from the hospital, unable to swallow his anger, he sought help from his uncle. But his maternal uncle, Tian Sheng, who had always sided with him before, had instead given him a severe dressing-down this time. Tian Sheng had warned him never to provoke Lu Shangyan again, saying that even the principal had secretly issued a warning, telling Chen Shuo to behave and not cause trouble, or he would be the one to suffer the consequences!
From freshman year until now, junior year—over two years—Chen Shuo had never respected Lu Shangyan.
Furthermore, Lu Shangyan clearly looked like a penniless bumpkin from a small town. Apart from being good-looking, tall, fair-skinned, and having good grades, he was utterly useless—usually just a silent, wooden block.
In Chen Shuo’s eyes, Lu Shangyan had always been a whipping boy, someone he could bully at will. Now, the person he had bullied and antagonized for over two years was suddenly stepping on his head. He couldn’t accept it.
Especially since he had always been “worshipped” at school; he had never suffered such a huge loss.
He had been scolded by Tian Sheng for an entire afternoon, and since then, he had been nursing a grudge. He absolutely had to get revenge personally.
Thinking this, Chen Shuo clenched his fist and spoke with a sneer, “Did you sleep with some school leader? Why else would they be protecting you so much?”
“How many beds have you climbed? How many times have you sold your ass? Such a big incident was completely suppressed in just half an hour.”
Lu Shangyan glared at him: “Watch your mouth. A dirty person sees dirt everywhere.”
He didn’t want to waste time here. Last time was a fluke; they fought, and he didn’t have to pay. If they fought again, judging by Chen Shuo’s stance, he might end up losing all his savings.
Although he barely had any savings, a few hundred yuan was still money.
So, before Chen Shuo could speak again, Lu Shangyan preempted him: “Are you going to pay or not? If you don’t pay, I’m calling the police.”
Chen Shuo frowned, thinking Lu Shangyan was deliberately changing the subject because he felt guilty after being exposed.
He flashed a smug, knowing smirk, pulled two hundred yuan from his pocket, tossed it at Lu Shangyan, and ran downstairs.
“You just wait for me. It won’t be long before I make you and those wild men who protected you after you climbed their beds all kneel and apologize to me!”
Lu Shangyan got up from the ground and stuffed the two hundred yuan into the phone case of his battered phone.
No scrap collector would give a phone like this a second glance, greatly reducing the chance of the money being stolen.
He then quickly returned to the dorm room and packed his few belongings.
Pei Yumin was still waiting obediently at the school gate, and while waiting, he didn’t forget to send a message to Tang Suichen expressing his gratitude.
[m: Good brothers are in the heart. This afternoon, I thought you were jealous that I found true love before you, so you didn’t want to teach me how to pursue someone.]
[m: But I didn’t expect you to personally go find Shangyan tonight. His attitude towards me is much better than a few days ago. Good brother, I will personally talk to my dad about the collaboration your father wants this time.]
Tang Suichen rolled his eyes in exasperation, complaining internally, but typed out:
[Good brother, no need to thank me.]
Pei Yumin’s face was full of smiles. As soon as Lu Shangyan approached, he noticed something was wrong and anxiously asked, “Why are your knees red?”
Lu Shangyan looked unconcerned: “A dog ran out and started barking just now. I bumped myself while dodging it, but the owner paid me two hundred, so I made a profit.”
He certainly made a profit; he recouped the money he spent on the treat today and even got two extra yuan.
Pei Yumin said, “Wasn’t it leashed? Doesn’t anyone manage things in such a big school?”
Lu Shangyan continued without changing his expression: “Don’t worry, it’s a controllable mad dog for now. I actually hope it comes out and bumps into me a few more times. Next time, I’ll definitely demand five hundred.”
Pei Yumin wasn’t stupid about this and immediately understood that the “mad dog” he was referring to was Chen Shuo: “Next time this happens, you must contact me immediately. I’ll help you handle it.”
Lu Shangyan countered, “How will you handle it?”
Pei Yumin was stumped. He almost forgot that his current identity was just that of a simple office worker.
He could only grit his teeth and say, “I entered society a few years before you, at least. I can get my buddies to beat him up.”
Lu Shangyan couldn’t help but chuckle: “Playing the tough guy?”
However, Chen Shuo didn’t frequently come looking for trouble as they had anticipated, indirectly sending money to subsidize the lives of the two poor men.
On the contrary, for four days straight, he showed no sign of wanting to cause trouble, acting as if he had changed his ways, which made Lu Shangyan feel a bit uneasy.
More than anything, Lu Shangyan feared that Chen Shuo might actually use his dim wits to devise some scheme that would be difficult to resolve and cause him undue suffering.
But soon, he had no time to worry about that, because someone else had started eyeing him before Chen Shuo did.
And it was an overly naked stare.
It was the literal meaning of wanting him naked before staring at him.
Since Lu Shangyan started working, the man had come in three times, and his expression when checking in was always meaningful.
At first, Lu Shangyan could only try his best to avoid him and pretend not to notice. But this time, the man was wearing a shirt identical to Pei Yumin’s, and Lu Shangyan couldn’t help but look a few extra times.
The man, however, seemed to take this as a signal. When receiving the room card, he grabbed Lu Shangyan’s hand and said, “I’ve come here so many times, always staying in the most expensive suite. You must be getting a good commission, right?”
Lu Shangyan shook his head: “I work here part-time. I only get wages and overtime pay.”
The man narrowed his eyes and then stated confidently, “You like men, don’t you?”
The topic changed so quickly that Lu Shangyan didn’t react immediately: “Am I that obvious?”
The man smiled warmly: “The way you look at me is very naked. To me, that’s a sexual invitation.”
Lu Shangyan’s expression stiffened: “Then you are indeed quite sensitive—you keenly sensed an invitation that I didn’t even issue.”
The man let out an awkward, short laugh: “Perhaps I misunderstood.”
This made Lu Shangyan’s clenched fist nowhere to land: “I was just looking because the shirt you’re wearing is the same as my roommate’s.”
The man savored the word “roommate”: “There are only six of these shirts globally. Although it’s a niche brand, the market price has been inflated to 160,000 yuan per piece.”
“If your boyfriend could afford that, you wouldn’t need to work so hard part-time here.”
Lu Shangyan became serious. This comment made him very uncomfortable: “He is not my boyfriend.”
His voice was already slightly displeased, but when the man heard he didn’t have a boyfriend, his eyes instantly lit up: “Not a boyfriend, then a live-in fuck buddy?”
Lu Shangyan tossed the room card onto the counter, his tone worsening: “Just a regular roommate. Not every person who likes men wants to sleep with every member of the same sex near them. Your comment is offensive.”
The man’s mouth slightly opened, and his ears gradually turned red. After a moment of tension, the usual gentle smile returned to his face. He took out his business card and placed it on the counter: “My apologies. I am very interested in you. I thought I might have a chance to take things further just now. I overstepped.”
After the man left, Lu Shangyan didn’t even look at the card before tossing it into the trash. He never wanted to be involved with someone like that again.
But after the man exited the elevator, he shed his gentle demeanor, his eyes filled with malice. He used a burner phone to send a message:
[I’ve taken a fancy to a young, handsome boy, but he’s completely unyielding and rejected me.]
[I need you to spare no expense and use every method possible to secure him for me. It’s been a long time since I met a boy so much to my liking.]
The recipient replied:
[Understood.]
He lit a cigarette and deeply inhaled the scent from the hand that had just grabbed Lu Shangyan.
Downstairs, Lu Shangyan, preparing to clock out, was completely unaware of these dangers. He changed out of his uniform, put on his backpack, and headed toward the intersection.
Since the last time he treated Pei Yumin to the all-you-can-eat barbecue, Pei Yumin had started working overtime until late every night, just in time to pick him up after his shift, and then they would go home together.
Lu Shangyan initially felt bad about troubling Pei Yumin, but within a few days, he had grown used to it.
As soon as he got into the car, he immediately mentioned the strange man he met today, but once he finished speaking, that was the end of it.
What he was most focused on was the shirt: “It was that black jacket with sequins on the collar and hem. You wore it once when we signed the rental contract.”
But for such an expensive jacket, Pei Yumin would definitely deny ownership now: “Mine is a knockoff. My cousin studies fashion design, and he loves making high-quality replicas in his spare time. Some he can’t wear, so he gives them to me. Since it’s a niche brand, people usually won’t notice and mock me for wearing a fake, so I wear it. It helps me save money.”
The more nervous he was, the more he talked.
The shirt was indeed given to him by his cousin, but it wasn’t a knockoff; his cousin was the designer who charged exorbitant prices and was highly sought after.
“If you don’t believe me, you can check when we get back. Mine has zippers on the cuffs, not buttons. I’m not a fool. I’m just an ordinary office worker. Why would I spend my hard-earned money on that kind of luxury item?”
This was because his cousin felt buttons didn’t suit him when he gave him the shirt, so he temporarily changed them to zippers.
Unexpectedly, this became the evidence for identifying it as a knockoff.
Lu Shangyan thought back and then nodded: “You must be under a lot of pressure now that you’ve been kicked out and don’t have your parents’ help.”
After all, he didn’t have parents, and the pressure of growing up had always been immense, especially since starting university.
He sighed: “When I have time this Saturday, I’ll treat you to barbecue again to thank you for driving me around all this time. We’ll go to the 99 yuan per person place; they have more variety.”
His eyes were bright even in the darkness of the night.
Pei Yumin could tell that Lu Shangyan actually wanted to eat it himself and was just using this as an excuse to spend the money.
But he played along and praised him: “Wow, Student Lu is so generous and thoughtful of me. It’s truly my honor to be your roommate.”
He sounded sincere. After hearing this, Lu Shangyan, whose face usually showed little emotion, had to try hard to suppress the corners of his mouth from turning up, though his chin couldn’t help but lift slightly.
“Since you help me so much, I’ll buy you a gift when I get paid.”
Pei Yumin raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help but ask, “What kind of gift?”