06 : not a hickey

 Yin Luo never expected that such strange, ambiguous words would come from the mouth of a seemingly very serious man.

Perhaps due to excessive surprise, or perhaps due to the system's announcement of "Bullying points increased by five," his mind went blank, and for a moment he forgot to be angry. He

just stood there, his light-colored eyes wide open.

By the time his mind could process anything, Shang Chengning had already taken a few steps back, widening the distance between them, and even said "Sorry."

Yin Luo gave a dull "Oh," dragging out the last syllable, but didn't notice the increasingly profound gaze in the other person's eyes.

System: [The five bullying points were gained because the host mocked Shang Chengning for never having been in a relationship~]

So that's why it increased. But after asking that question, did Shang Chengning ask him something else?

It seems so…

In the somewhat dim corridor, a boy's clear and slightly dissatisfied voice suddenly rang out: "I've never been in a relationship."

The answer, given after a long pause, brought the man wearing gold-rimmed glasses back to his senses. Then, he heard Yin Luo continue in that tone, "I'm so young, what's the point of dating... The back of your neck you mentioned, it was from an accidental touch. I get bruises easily."

"It's not a hickey."

"And it wasn't sucked out."

Shang Chengning was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry, I was rude just now."

The man's tone was sincere, and he apologized twice. Yin Luo felt that pursuing the matter further would make her seem petty, so she pouted, "It's okay."

As if nothing had happened, the two went to the front desk.

While waiting to pay, Shang Chengning suddenly said, "Then I'll take you home. Do I not need to ask, just do it?"

W-what?

Yin Luo hadn't planned on having Shang Chengning take her home.

But those were the words he had said when he mocked her earlier.

So how could she refuse...?

While she was still hesitating, Shang Chengning spoke again, "I want to take you home."

This time, she really couldn't refuse.

After calling the driver, Yin Luo got into Shang Chengning's car.

The air conditioning in the car was already on, and the temperature was comfortable. The boy leaned against the window, half the sky now painted a vibrant pink, staring at the scenery, lost in thought.

"This is for you," Shang Chengnin suddenly said.

Yin Luo turned around, just as the car was turning, and he

bumped lightly into Shang Chengnin.

The private space of a car could easily create an ambiguous atmosphere.

But Yin Luo's attention was focused on the gift box in Shang Chengnin's hand, completely unaware of the slight pause in the other's body.

It was a small, unassuming box. After taking it, the man's voice sounded above his head: "You can open it now and see if you like it."

"I prepared it a long time ago, but I didn't expect to meet today."

Yin Luo opened the box with curiosity. Inside was a pair of black Bluetooth earphones. He took them out; they felt high-quality and somewhat heavy.

Shang Chengnin: "You can try connecting them to your phone."

Yin Luo took out his phone, connecting via Bluetooth while saying to the system: [He will be a powerful enemy. I really like these earphones.]

System: [Host, our points can also be exchanged for any item~]

Yin Luo naturally didn't want to save his points for going home. He maintained proper etiquette, saying "thank you" to the person next to him before putting on the earphones.

From Shang Chengnin's perspective, the boy sat in the corner, the setting sun casting its rays through the window on his profile, looking beautiful and obedient.

Completely different from the rumors circulating outside.

The man's gaze was drawn to him.

Yin Luo's skin was very fair, and the earphones were black; the stark contrast made every inch of his skin appear like white jade.

When he lowered his head, the curve of his neck revealed a beautiful, delicate line, adorned with dark marks.

Like a vibrant and alluring painting.

Shang Chengnin slightly averted his gaze, but Yin Luo's earlier words kept echoing in his ears—

"It's not a hickey."

"It wasn't from being sucked..."

"I bruise easily."

The emotion in his eyes became even more ambiguous.

*

Shang Chengnin parked his car outside the Yin family's villa.

After Yin Luo got out of the car, the man kept asking questions like, "Will you have time next time?" and "Can I ask you out?" He originally wanted to say, "Of course," since he needed the man's help to see Duan Muze, but the thought of the bullying points made him arrogant: "It depends."

He added, "I'm very busy."

The boy's proud expression pleased Shang Chengning: "Okay, I'll call you."

Taking the gift box, Yin Luo walked through the garden: [How is it? Has the bullying point increased?]

System

: [Hmm? Host, are you disgusted with him?]

Yin Luo: [Of course I am disgusted. I didn't agree to meet him just now.]

The system crashed for a few seconds: [...But what I see here is that your statement is playing hard to get, waiting for him to ask you out.] "

..."

Yin Luo didn't understand the specific calculation of the bullying points, but Shang Chengning had already increased them by a few points today, so the task was considered completed, and he didn't dwell on the matter anymore.

When he got home, his parents were sitting on the sofa. Seeing him return, his mother immediately asked, "How did it go? How did the blind date go?"

Yin Luo stubbornly insisted, "Mom, it wasn't a blind date."

"Alright, alright, how did it go? Xiao Shang seems pretty good, right? He looks very handsome in the photos."

"It was alright." Yin Luo dreaded these questions from his parents. Seeing a tall figure in the kitchen, he immediately said, "Is my brother cooking? I'll go help him!"

His mother noticed and chuckled, "This child, running off already."

His father said, "He's always shy, don't ask. Let the young people get to know each other better."

*

Knowing his younger brother had a blind date today, Yin Yuzhou deliberately sped up his work, returning to the villa before five o'clock.

However, when he arrived, Yin Luo hadn't returned yet.

Didn't he leave at four? Why wasn't he back yet?

An hour later, Yin Yuzhou finally heard Yin Luo's voice.

The conversation coming from the living room wasn't very clear. He turned on the tap, intending to wash his hands before going over, when a slender figure appeared in the kitchen. Then, a fluffy head squeezed in next to him.

Yinluo sniffed, "Brother, what are you cooking? It smells so good."

"A soup, almost ready."

Yin Luo genuinely found the aroma delicious; he hadn't expected his brother to be such a culinary expert. Standing idly in the kitchen, he felt superfluous. He

needed to do something.

So he moved closer to Yin Yuzhou, saying, "I'll wash my hands and get the bowls."

His obedient demeanor instantly dispelled the resentment Yin Yuzhou had harbored. However, a few seconds later, that resentment returned.

Yin Yuzhou looked at the phone on the table, and the black box on top of it.

He instinctively felt that it didn't belong to Yin Luo.

"Yin Yin, what's that?"

Yin Luo was wiping his hands when he turned around and saw Yin Yuzhou's gaze fixed on

the phone and box he had casually placed on the table. "That's a Bluetooth headset."

"Did you buy it?"

"No, Shang Chengning gave it to me today."

Yin Yuzhou didn't say anything more. Yin Luo assumed he was just asking casually and didn't take it seriously, so he tilted his head back to get the bowls from the cupboard.

His shirt was too loose, and when he stood on tiptoe, a large portion of his neck was exposed, including the several glaring finger marks.

His once fair ear cartilage also had some red marks.

"—It was from wearing headphones."

Yin Yuzhou's expression turned somber.

Very well.

In just a few days,

his brother's body was covered in marks left by a man.

*

At dinner, Yin's parents didn't ask about his meeting with Shang Chengnin, and the meal was exceptionally harmonious.

After dinner, Yin Luo sat on the sofa listening to his parents chat for a while, then felt a little sleepy and said goodbye before going upstairs.

After showering, he looked in the mirror, tilting his head, but still couldn't see the marks.

【System, what does the back of my neck look like? Can I see it?】

System: 【Sure~】

Then it appeared on the big screen.

Yin Luo stared at it for a while, somewhat puzzled.

Did it look like it was sucked out?

Yin Luo didn't know much about these intimate matters. Although many people had confessed to him in school, he had rejected them all.

He didn't like intimate contact with others

because of his special constitution.

Of course, except for that pervert from high school. Yin Luo didn't want to think about it and quickly stopped his thoughts. He dried his hair halfway, too lazy to blow-dry it, and went straight back to his room.

He planned to play some games before bed, but then noticed a message on WeChat.

It was from Li Feiran.

Since visiting him in the hospital, this person had been messaging him more frequently, but the content was mostly the same: "Yinyin, when are you coming to the hospital again?", "I'm so bored here alone," "Yinyin, what are you doing?", "I wanted to call you," and so on.

Yinluo was busy with his tasks every day and didn't have the energy for him, so he usually just replied perfunctorily, "Okay, I'll come see you later."

The other person immediately replied with a bunch of messages.

It was almost bedtime, so Yinluo scrolled through the messages, deciding not to reply. After exiting the chat, he noticed a small

red dot on his friend request.

Hmm? Who would add him this late?

Yinluo clicked on it, and the friend request simply read: 【Shang Chengning.】

After accepting, the other person didn't immediately message him.

Shang Chengning's WeChat name was just the character "Shang," and his profile picture was a monotonous gray, looking extremely old-fashioned. Yinluo, while complaining, changed his nickname.

After editing "Shang Chengnin," Yinluo thought for a moment, then deleted it and changed it to

"Old Man."

System: [Disliking the target's age, bullying value increased by five points~ Host is awesome~]

Yinluo curled his lips.

Being a villain is so easy.

He had just finished changing it when a message came from the other party: [Sorry, I just Sign up, I'm not very familiar with WeChat yet.]

Yinluo's eyes widened.

This person didn't even exist before?

Yinluo: [You didn't even exist? How do you chat with others?]

Old Man: [Phone calls, or emails.]

Is the life of a CEO this boring? Yinluo suddenly felt a little sorry for this old man and became more patient: [WeChat can be used for chatting, there are emoticons, and you can also make voice and video calls.]

A moment later.

Old Man: [Can I make a video call too?]

Yinluo didn't type anymore and directly made a video call.

It was answered after two rings.

On the other end of the screen, Shang Chengnin seemed to still be in his office, the occasional glint of the screen reflecting off his glasses.

He greeted Yinluo.

"Why don't you even use WeChat?" Yinluo leaned closer to the screen. "Video calls are so convenient sometimes. If you don't want to video chat, you can turn off the camera and switch to voice chat."

"And there are lots of emojis."

"You can send files and short videos too."

Yinluo's lips moved, but the man on the other end of the screen wasn't listening.

His gaze was fixed on the boy's moist, glistening face, captivated by that innocent, completely unguarded look.

His gaze traveled downwards.

Yinluo was wearing… a bathrobe.

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