A small copper coin had bought him a basement filled to the brim, but His Majesty the Emperor not only wasn’t grateful, he was actually in a rather bad mood.
Wang Dian had refused his proposal to go traveling.
Wang Dian’s patience was limited, and Liang Ye’s patience was even more limited than his. Although he could spare no expense to find Wang Dian and pretend to be docile and considerate to coax him, it clearly depended entirely on His Majesty the Emperor’s mood.
Except for the time he went to see Yu Zetian, Liang Ye hadn’t mentioned going out, and had been constantly accompanying Wang Dian whose emotions weren’t very stable. Wang Dian then had a moment of conscience and took him to play at the mountain estate for a few days. Afterward, to keep things fresh for Liang Ye, they stayed at each of their residences in turn, but without exception, Liang Ye was under his watchful eye almost every moment, even his time playing games and using his phone was strictly limited.
This wasn’t a healthy way to interact. In the past, Wang Dian might have reflected on this himself and then forced himself to give Liang Ye enough personal space, but as his memories gradually returned, he had no such intention.
He needed to keep him close and nurture him well. As for contact with others… Liang Ye didn’t need that.
Liang Ye only needed him in his world, and that was enough.
When Liang Ye was unhappy, he would torment him with all his might. The sofa was really too small for two grown men to stretch out on. Wang Dian hit the back of the sofa, hooked his neck and pulled him toward himself, suppressing his gasps to appease him, “Wait… New Year’s Eve, I’ll take you out… damn it, be gentler!”
Liang Ye lifted his sweaty eyelashes, revealing those pitch-black eyes, smiling with pure innocence, “After the Maple Frost Fall was resolved, the forgotten things will gradually come back to memory… guess what Zhen has remembered?”
Wang Dian narrowed his eyes.
“Zhen is giving you a chance to confess—” Liang Ye leaned forward maliciously.
Wang Dian’s hands gripping his arms suddenly tightened, his head buried in the crook of his neck, cursing him viciously, “You little bastard!”
Liang Ye held his chin and leaned in to kiss him.
Wang Dian was already breathing rapidly and was nearly suffocated by his relentless kissing. Despite using great effort, he couldn’t push him away and could only laboriously extract the tiniest bit of air from the other’s mouth.
Like a fish being drowned alive in water.
“Wang Dian, you’re the real beast in human clothing.” Liang Ye slowly raised his head, his lips touching his cheek vaguely, “You simply took advantage of Zhen being easy to bully.”
Wang Dian tilted his head back and smiled slightly at him, the corners of his eyes tinged with a gorgeous crimson. He raised his hand to lift Liang Ye’s chin, “Come on, if you peeled off your skin, neither of us is a good person. If you can’t win, just accept it honestly. As long as I’m still alive, I won’t let you leave—ugh!”
The newly purchased sofa was soft and durable, with an outer skin cut from high-quality leather. Its low-key elegant black color made it look very sophisticated, though occasionally it would make the sound of springs being compressed. The stains on it were also somewhat troublesome to clean, and Wang Dian had once thought about replacing it.
Especially when he discovered that Liang Ye liked to curl up on it to sleep.
The possessiveness and extreme obsessiveness deeply engraved in his bones were usually perfectly hidden beneath a gentle exterior. After a while, even he almost believed it himself, but human intuition is usually terrifyingly accurate. Perhaps even they themselves weren’t aware of it, but their instinct for self-preservation had saved them many times without them realizing.
He had consistently performed terribly in intimate relationships. As Wang Dian, despite having an outstanding appearance and an exceptional family background, and despite presenting himself as gentle and polite, he had almost no true friends from childhood to adulthood. Even his parents, who should have been closest to him, occasionally displayed a politeness and distance that shouldn’t have been there.
No one could stand him, after all, no one likes to be completely controlled by another person.
After all, even Ms. Zhong Qianyan’s greatest wish was for him to be a good person and stay out of prison.
That’s why when they learned that Liang Ye wanted to marry him, they showed that expression of both worry and joy, probably concerned that Liang Ye wouldn’t be able to tolerate his terrifying possessiveness and controlling nature, yet pleasantly surprised that someone was willing to genuinely like him.
Wang Dian pillowed his arm as he stared at Liang Ye’s sleeping face, holding his hand methodically kissed it against his lips, making sure to attend to each fingertip, and still unsatisfied, he sighed, “Can we go to the island for New Year’s Eve?”
Liang Ye, with his naturally keen hearing, blinked his eyelids and pulled him into his arms with his eyes closed, “Sleep, tired.”
“That small island is surrounded by sea, far from land, it takes quite a while even by boat.” Wang Dian said against his ear, “Only the two of us will go.”
Liang Ye struggled to open one eye, “Not going. Zhen doesn’t like sea islands. Zhen wants a palace.”
“I’ll build you a palace on the island,” Wang Dian said.
Liang Ye grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him into his arms, his voice still heavy with sleepiness, “You can’t trap Zhen, give up.”
Wang Dian touched the carotid artery in his neck, “Not necessarily.”
“You wouldn’t bear to hurt me anyway.” Liang Ye hugged him tighter and mumbled something else unclearly. Before Wang Dian had time to hear clearly and think about it, the familiar scent of Liang Ye made him fall into a sound sleep.
Early the next morning, Wang Dian was awakened by the sound of firecrackers in the yard.
First, he was bewildered for a moment, then suddenly startled, and reached out to push Liang Ye next to him, only to find emptiness.
“Liang Ye!?”
But Liang Ye’s presence was very close to him.
“Wang Dian!” Someone was calling him from outside.
Wang Dian, still drowsy, walked barefoot out to the balcony and saw Liang Ye standing in the yard, full of energy, waving at him, “Awake?”
“What are you doing?” Wang Dian yawned, putting his hand on the cold railing, looking down from his height to admire the lean waist revealed when he bent over.
“Setting off firecrackers.” Liang Ye lit them with a lighter, then jumped up to the second-floor balcony with a series of hops and leaps, embracing Wang Dian with a body full of cold air amidst the sound of firecrackers, “Isn’t it the New Year?”
“Today is only New Year’s Eve.” Wang Dian was chilled by him, “Where did you find the firecrackers?”
“Of course I bought them at the supermarket.” Liang Ye was proud for half a moment, then his voice stopped abruptly. He pushed Wang Dian into the room, closed the balcony door, and said considerately, “Be careful of catching cold.”
“You know about supermarkets?” Wang Dian paused, “Did you see it online?”
“Ah, yes.” Liang Ye nodded obediently, “Everything is online, Zhen bought the firecrackers online.”
“…” Wang Dian touched his slightly cool hand, his tone growing cold, “You didn’t go out, did you?”
“Heh, Zhen doesn’t even know all the roads in the neighborhood,” Liang Ye said confidently, “Even navigation couldn’t guide me out.”
Very good, he even knew about navigation.
“It’s the New Year, let’s go out for a stroll,” Wang Dian smiled and ruffled his hair.
Liang Ye’s eyes immediately brightened, “Really? Where to?”
“Where would you like to go?” Wang Dian asked him considerately.
“To—wherever you decide,” Liang Ye smiled. “Zhen is unfamiliar with this place.”
Wang Dian didn’t often stay in this residential complex. When he drove out of the complex, the security guard greeted him warmly, “Oh, Xiao Liang, why did you cut your hair?”
Wang Dian turned to look at Liang Ye in the passenger seat. Liang Ye adjusted his seat, covered his face with Wang Dian’s coat, and lay down pretending to be dead.
“Thanks for helping catch that thief the night before last. The police station contacted us saying they want to give you a banner for your bravery,” the security guard waved enthusiastically, “I’ll tell you more when you come back. Go ahead with your business.”
Wang Dian stepped on the gas, watching the traffic light ahead, and smiled, “I seem to remember that the night before last you went to bed early and wouldn’t even let me handle work matters, hmm?”
“Must have mistaken for someone else,” Liang Ye said with a straight face, patting away some down feathers that had somehow gotten on the coat.
Wang Dian smiled coldly and said, “I was even worried about you not being used to the schedule. It seems you’ve probably familiarized yourself with the entire neighborhood in these few days. Do you even know exactly how many stray cats there are in the complex?”
“No cats, there’s one stray dog,” Liang Ye touched his nose. “Sent it to the pet hospital. It was making too much noise at night for Zhen to sleep.”
“I was wondering why you suddenly wanted cash, turns out it’s because using a card would send notifications to my phone.” Wang Dian gripped the steering wheel tightly and turned to give him a cold look, “You’d better come clean about what you’ve been doing while I was asleep.”
“Nothing much,” Liang Ye said vaguely, “Just went out for meals, shopping at the mall, watching movies… bars…”
Wang Dian turned the wheel sharply and slammed on the brakes, turning to glare at him darkly, “Where did you say you went?”
“The mall,” Liang Ye blinked innocently.
Wang Dian’s gaze was icy, “The last one.”
“Bars, but Zhen only went to quiet bars, just to taste what your modern alcohol is like.” Liang Ye said with a serious face, “Completely different from nightclubs.”
Very good, damn it, he even knew the difference between quiet bars and nightclubs.
“What about the home surveillance?” Wang Dian checked the surveillance footage every day and hadn’t noticed anything unusual.
“Zhen has a friend who knows a bit about that, and asked for his help,” Liang Ye swallowed nervously.
Very good, he even had a friend.
“How did you meet?” Wang Dian asked with a cold smile. “Not at a nightclub, I hope?”
“Of course not,” Liang Ye denied with a righteous face, “Zhen met him at a fighting club.”
Wang Dian smiled wickedly. “Your phone is connected to mine, how did you contact them?”
“I hid one,” Liang Ye was nervous for half a second, then pulled out a new phone from under the seat and gave it to him, saying seriously, “There’s no such thing as limited internet time. It was simply you deceiving Zhen.”
“Just one?” Wang Dian looked at the series of contacts on the phone screen, his blood pressure rising.
“…” Liang Ye was silent for a moment, then produced four or five more phones from somewhere, “Zhen just wanted to try which brand of phone works well.”
Even the phone cases were specially customized with photos of Wang Dian, and the screensavers and desktops were all secretly taken pictures of Wang Dian, with aesthetics that were downright awful.
Wang Dian took a deep breath, threw the other phones into his lap, and waved the first phone that had been handed over.
The screen displayed hundreds of search records in full view.
‘How to make your boyfriend willingly stay home?’
‘How to make your partner think you’re obedient?’
‘How to make your lover think you’re pitiful?’
‘I want to lock up my wife, what’s the safest way?’
‘How to unbind credit card notification messages?’
‘Interest rates for deposits at major banks?’
‘How much does it cost to buy an aircraft carrier?’
‘Is private gun ownership legal?’
‘Will knowing qinggong make me stand out too much?’
‘How to make your wife only see you and no one else?’
‘Male anatomy diagram’
‘Computer password cracking for beginners’
‘………..’
If it weren’t for some questions that seemed so ridiculous, Wang Dian would have suspected these were his own search records.
He had indeed been trying every way to keep Liang Ye from going out recently, who knew that in the end he would be the one willingly staying home, while Liang Ye had been secretly roaming around everywhere.
“Explain these search records to me, what’s going on?”
