Chapter 12: A Game of Words

After returning, Lu Shi planned to just coast along, occasionally getting under the Chen family’s skin to make them uncomfortable. He had no desire to prove himself anymore.

But today was an exception.

How could he possibly be afraid of Shen Zheming?

Shen Zheming might be cold, but it’s not like he’d eat him.

He just wasn’t familiar with Shen Zheming and didn’t want to stay next to a fully automatic cold air conditioner.

“Brother Shen, you’re practically my driver already. I happen to need one, so how about I pay you some salary and you come work at my place?”

Inside the car, Lu Shi tilted his neck back in a relaxed pose, deliberately sitting next to Shen Zheming.

At his words, Shen Zheming’s gaze shifted slightly, scanning his face. “Seems like you weren’t in that much pain just now, since your mouth can still run.”

The driver in the front couldn’t help glancing at the backseat through the rearview mirror.

He felt his thoughts were a bit dirty.

But this conversation really was a bit strange.

Especially since the lean boy’s eyes were still red when he got in the car.

Lu Shi’s temple twitched.

‘Hah, so he was playing innuendo-laden word games with me in a subtle way.’

He retracted his earlier assessment that Shen Zheming was very well-mannered.

Suddenly, a long-lost competitive spirit blazed in Lu Shi’s heart.

He ground his teeth, unwilling to back down. “What a coincidence. I don’t have many strengths, but besides being good at fighting, I’m good with my mouth. Want to give it a try?”

The driver’s eyes went wide: “…”

“I don’t understand, I don’t understand.”

Shen Zheming looked at his phone as usual, then raised his other hand.

Lu Shi thought the other couldn’t stand it anymore and wanted to push him away, and was about to show a triumphant smile.

Suddenly, that hand came down.

Lu Shi froze completely.

His whole body jolted as if electrocuted. Half a second later, he sprang to the farthest edge of the back seat. If the car door hadn’t stopped him, he would have bounced eight hundred meters away.

Shen Zheming: “Be quiet.”

Lu Shi’s heart pounded violently in his chest, and his back inexplicably grew hot.

‘Damn…’

This guy actually pinched his neck through his clothes.

Shen Zheming’s fingers were long, with slightly prominent knuckles—both strong and attractive.

Lu Shi averted his gaze and unconsciously tilted his head to rub his ear.

‘He had never noticed before; Shen Zheming was actually a stone-cold secret pervert.’

As Shen Zheming wished, that one action effectively silenced Lu Shi. For the entire journey back, Lu Shi didn’t say another word.

The phone at his side kept vibrating.

Shen Zheming caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye—it was Chen Qiming calling.

Lu Shi glanced at it and directly hung up, followed immediately by a WeChat message.

The car stopped at a quiet, upscale residential area.

It was close to Capital University, clearly a place Shen Zheming usually lived alone.

“Since it’s just me, I bought a modest one back then.”

Shen Zheming swiped his card.

One apartment per floor. When the elevator doors opened, Lu Shi looked around the several-hundred-square-meter flat with panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows and complained, “Don’t you think saying that is super humblebrag?”

Shen Zheming said flatly, “Er Bai Wu.”

Lu Shi thought Shen Zheming was cursing him.

Unexpectedly, a few seconds later, a robot glided slowly toward him. Its retractable mechanical arm placed the slippers it was holding on the floor, and a flat, slightly distorted mechanical male voice sounded.

“Hello, I am the smart butler here, Er Bai Wu.”

Lu Shi stood at the door, exchanging a look with the robot for a moment.

The robot’s screen, square like a tablet, had two vertical oval eyes, and its mouth was pressed into a single line.

Lu Shi appraised it a few times, then quickly glanced at Shen Zheming.

For some reason, he saw the word ‘indifference’ on this artificial idiot, and felt its chilly tone was somewhat similar to Shen Zheming’s.

Could it be that after spending too much time with Shen Zheming, even an artificial idiot caught his coldness?

Shen Zheming gave orders as he walked: “Go take out the new pajamas I bought and give them to him. Then adjust the bathroom water temperature and bring the patch.”

Er Bai Wu didn’t say a word, as if each word was worth a thousand gold. It turned smoothly to carry out the tasks.

Lu Shi changed into slippers: “Hey, Shen Zheming, what does your pheromone smell like?”

Shen Zheming paused, his brow slightly furrowed. “Do you know what it means to ask an Alpha that question?”

“I know, casually asking about someone’s pheromone scent is like sexual harassment.”

Lu Shi surveyed Shen Zheming’s house, his tone the most serious it had been all night.

“But I’m not trying to harass you. I’m just curious—I think your scent smells really nice.”

Shen Zheming looked at him for two seconds and coldly dropped a line: “Your biology class was a waste.”

He turned and entered the room.

Er Bai Wu glided over, raised its mechanical arm to point at the bathroom where water was pattering, and remaining as economical with words as ever, said, “Done.”

‘If he didn’t want to say, fine.’

Lu Shi regretfully patted Er Bai Wu’s head. “Thanks.”

Er Bai Wu stood still, using its stiff mechanical claw to touch the spot where Lu Shi had patted, and blinked its screen eyes twice.

Shen Zheming’s bathroom was large and spacious. Lu Shi washed while listening to music, enjoying a comfortable bath until his fingertips grew soft.

When he came out, his phone showed a text from Wang Xiuzhi.

– Wang Xiuzhi: Xiao Shi, how have you been lately? I recently came to the capital and brought you some free-range eggs.

After Wang Xiuzhi’s baby-swapping scheme was exposed, the Chen family took Lu Shi back.

But to avoid a big scandal, they didn’t sue Wang Xiuzhi and Lu Jinguo; instead, they gave them hush money and told them not to accept any media interviews or mention the incident anywhere.

Both families peacefully got what they wanted, casually glossing over the eighteen years that were a nightmare for Lu Shi.

Seeing no reply from Lu Shi, Wang Xiuzhi continued.

Wang Xiuzhi: Youxuan is immature. He must find it hard to accept his true origin, but he’ll be fine after a while. He has always been kind-hearted since childhood; he will treat you like a real brother.

Wang Xiuzhi had previously come to the capital under the pretext of visiting distant relatives to see Chen Youxuan.

Lu Shi felt like laughing.

‘In the end, she was still thinking about her own son. Sending me things was just to pry some information about Chen Youxuan from me.’

 Lu Shi: Don’t you have it backwards? Whether he sees me as a brother doesn’t matter. I’m the one who doesn’t acknowledge him, who doesn’t want to be his little brother.

Lu Shi: Stop sending me free-range eggs. If you want to see Chen Youxuan, come find him yourself.

Lu Shi directly told Wang Xiuzhi the password to the Chen family’s back gate. He knew she wouldn’t be able to resist sneaking in.

Wang Xiuzhi: Xiao Shi, why are you helping me?

Lu Shi typed coldly: After all, you raised me for eighteen years. There’s still some affection.

After sending, Lu Shi tossed his phone aside.

‘Did he have any affection for Wang Xiuzhi?’

‘Bullshit.’

He couldn’t hate her enough. How could he possibly help her?

Wang Xiuzhi would go to great lengths to sneak into the Chen family, looking for an opportunity to have a touching mother-son reunion with Chen Youxuan, telling him how much she loved and missed him.

Little did she know, Chen Youxuan would never acknowledge her; he would even avoid her like the plague.

Lu Shi was eager to see what expressions Wang Xiuzhi and Chen Youxuan would have—it would definitely be spectacular.

Shen Zheming finished his own matters and came out with a cup to get water.

Lu Shi was wearing the pajamas he most often wore, fiddling with the patch in front of the bathroom mirror. His hair was still damp, and he shook it like an animal.

Shen Zheming found Er Bai Wu and kicked it.

“Didn’t I tell you to get new ones?”

Er Bai Wu spun around from the kick and said flatly, “They’re all the same. You’re welcome.”

Shen Zheming: “Who told you to take liberties?”

A line of text suddenly appeared on Er Bai Wu’s screen: [Detected that the proportion of positive emotions in the airborne pheromones has increased by 0.5 percentage points.]

Shen Zheming narrowed his eyes. “You can f*ck off now.”

At that moment, Lu Shi’s voice came from the bathroom.

“Brother Shen, can I trouble you with something?”

Lu Shi shook the patch in his hand.

“Could you help me put it on? My neck hurts and I can’t move.”

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