Chapter 140: In the Throes of Passion
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The temperature in the lounge plummeted.
Zhou Yili still wore that languid, carefree expression. Fine starlight shimmered at the ends of his blue hair, but the smile in his eyes was dangerous, never reaching their depths.
“Or let me put it another way.”
“Who drove Shen Jixing into a corner with nowhere left to turn?”
Xiong Xiong’s entire back went cold.
He felt that the netizens had all been wrong. How could anyone say Zhou Yili had a low IQ?
A few days ago, Xiong Xiong had already let slip that Brother Shen had given up an endorsement for him, yet Her Majesty had not believed him at all.
Now he was even asking, “Could it have been you?”
Xiong Xiong: “…”
Xiong Xiong: “Huh? Me?”
Zhou Yili could not think of anyone else.
The most likely culprit had already gone abroad, wrapped in a tortoiseshell and covered in wounds.
No one else would treat Shen Jixing that way.
The person capable of hurting Shen Jixing most deeply could only be someone closest to him. Other than Xiong Xiong, Zhou Yili could think of no one.
Xiong Xiong nervously pressed his lips together. “If it was me, would you kill me to silence me?”
Zhou Yili casually hooked one long leg around a chair and kicked it against the door, blocking it.
He curved his lips into a faint smile. “What do you think?”
That was terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
Xiong Xiong stumbled backward, calculating inwardly. If he told Brother Shen, Brother Shen would kill him to keep him quiet. If he did not tell him, he would be killed right now.
Before him lay only two choices: die sooner or die later.
Xiong Xiong steeled himself. “It was you.”
Zhou Yili gave a cold, careless laugh and rose from his seat, walking toward him. “I knew it was… Who? Me?”
Xiong Xiong nodded. “Yes.”
“Do you think I’m an idiot?” Zhou Yili scoffed, almost wanting to laugh. “I know everything about him. I could pull him down from his position as a top star whenever I wanted, but I simply disdain doing such despicable things. Understand?”
Disdain was not the same as being incapable of it.
He hated Shen Jixing, and he loved Shen Jixing.
Rather than break his wings and imprison him in his arms, he would rather see him remain forever above the clouds, even if not the slightest trace of himself ever appeared in those eyes.
Xiong Xiong’s awkward voice sounded beside him. “But my brother was never driven into a corner. You were the path he chose with his own hands.”
It was as though a roar had exploded beside his ear.
Zhou Yili said, “What did you say?”
In the silent lounge, Xiong Xiong spoke each word clearly.
“No one pulled him down. He came down on his own.”
“He said he wanted to see you.”
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…
For a moment, the memories seemed to blur.
Zhou Yili heard Shen Jixing’s voice beside his ear, calm and muted beneath the sound of falling snow.
“If we’re talking about selfish motives, I have them too.”
“I hope you stay safe.”
“I want to see you.”
That man had never known how to express love.
So it turned out that “I want to see you” was his way of saying “I love you.”
“Star Entertainment treated him badly, didn’t they?” Zhou Yili suddenly asked after a long silence.
That rose blooming in the snow had never been favored in the story. Day after day, it endured the torment of being refined in poison.
Then what about his Shen Jixing?
“Badly.” Merely recalling the day Shen Jixing debuted made Xiong Xiong’s eyes redden. “They ignored Brother Shen’s wishes, forcibly fabricated an identity for him, and saddled him with all kinds of malicious false reputations.”
Xiong Xiong chose to assume the worst of them.
“They did it deliberately.”
They feared that Shen Jixing’s future would become uncontrollable. They feared he would spread his wings and fly into skies too distant to reach. So they had forged his chains from the very beginning, trapping him within a small corner of the world.
At any moment, they could crush him to pieces.
Xiong Xiong had always known about these things. He had simply never told anyone—not even Manager Pei.
Yet he had always felt that he could tell the man before him. Somehow, this man seemed worthy of trust.
Somehow, it seemed that Brother Shen liked him very, very much.
Zhou Yili remained silent for a long time before finally lowering his eyelids. “I understand. Go outside.”
Xiong Xiong carefully backed out of the room.
As he closed the door, he saw a speck of starlight fall, mingled with the man’s soft, murmured laugh.
“No wonder I couldn’t find out who it was. So it was me.”
Zhou Yili sat on the lounge sofa and raised a hand, resting it lightly over his eyes.
Back then, when Shen Jixing had abandoned everything to come looking for him, treating him as his last refuge—what had Zhou Yili done?
He had snapped at him, ignored him, mocked him.
He had deliberately bought him coffee without sugar and told him to go squeeze in with the stray dogs downstairs.
Zhou Yili still remembered that day. After he had sneered and gone upstairs, Shen Jixing had remained seated on his sofa, quietly and motionlessly holding that cup of bitter, unsweetened coffee.
What had he been thinking then?
Had he been wondering why there was not a single person in this world who could treat him a little more kindly?
The day Shen Jixing had given up everything to come to him—
He had been hungry, yet still drunk a cup of bitter coffee without sugar.
Zhou Yili covered his eyes, his Adam’s apple moving faintly as he felt his heart ache with a sour, bitter pain.
“No wonder you never told me when you began to like me.”
“So you had loved me all along.”
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Shen Jixing had simply been uncertain.
Uncertain whether Zhou Yili still wanted him.
So he had always gazed at him in quiet silence, foolishly hoping to find, beneath his stubborn exterior, the slightest sign that there might still be room for him.
Did he sometimes wonder, too—
If the little lion no longer loved him, where would he go from then on?
Why were there ten thousand glowing windows in this world,
yet not a single light belonged to him?
…
Shen Jixing paid no attention to that minor incident.
Not until night fell, when he went to the concert venue with Fu Chensheng and Sheng Que.
“There are so many people.” Sheng Que was stunned by the sight. “Are they planning to attack Blue Catalpa Sports Center?”
Fu Chen swept his gaze over the densely packed crowd. “Zhou Yili certainly has plenty of fans, but it seems that most of them belong to someone else.”
Everywhere they looked, the crowd was filled with blue six-pointed stars.
Shen Jixing smiled faintly. “It’s all the same. We’re one family.”
He had deliberately kept a low profile that day, wearing casual clothes and a hat. Yet the moment his exceptional figure emerged from the car, it attracted countless eyes.
Before Shen Jixing could react, a loud and spirited cry rang out.
“Wifey!!!”
They had gone to the backstage entrance, where fans were not allowed.
Shen Jixing had more than enough time to leave, but when he saw those delighted, excited faces, he stopped where he was instead.
“Shh. I’ll only sign for three minutes.”
He raised his pale, cool fingers before his mask. The elegant curve of his long lashes was cold and sharp, and a wave of shrieks erupted from the crowd.
With a helpless expression, Shen Jixing accepted the pen and signed for them one by one.
“Go inside and wait for me. Three minutes probably won’t be enough.”
He had stayed out of the public eye for too long. These young girls had actually tracked him down to Zhou Yili’s concert.
Their cheeks flushed with excitement.
“We thought you wouldn’t come to the concert to avoid suspicion. Everyone online said you wouldn’t be here.”
Shen Jixing lowered his eyes as he signed. “Is that so?”
Even without checking Weibo, Shen Jixing could guess.
Most likely, because of his personality, he would not have wanted to make a spectacle of himself. But if Zhou Yili saw such trending searches, he would probably make a fuss again.
Several cameras were aimed directly at him. Shen Jixing smiled faintly.
“I’m not avoiding suspicion.”
“We’re in the middle of a passionate romance.”
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