Ch 41

The Cheng Tian Group is the Zhao family's largest base of operations within mainland China. On the surface, it is politely referred to as an industry. In more plainspoken terms, it is a money-laundering base. Its operations had been so outstanding in the past few decades that few realized the Cheng Tian Group and the powerful underworld Zhao family had inseparable ties.

{T/N: Reminder, Cheng Tian is Jing Cheng's name after he ascended to the throne}

Publicly, Lin Feifan was the CEO of the Cheng Tian Group. However, those senior officers of Cheng Tian's staff knew that Lin Feifan was just the figurehead. The real power was held by the Zhao family who worked behind the scenes, but none would dare say it out loud.

The Cheng Tian Group is listed in the top 500 conglomerates in the Eurasian market, but compared to the behemoth which was the Zhao family, it paled in significance.

And at this moment, the one person who was wielding all this power within the Zhao family, was seated in a high-end conference hall within the Cheng Tian conglomerate. What was meant to be a routine meeting had suddenly turned heavy and solemn. Some of the less experienced executives were even trying desperately to lighten the sounds of their breathing.

In this strange atmosphere, Zhao Feng suddenly bared his teeth in a fierce grin. Bolstered by their fevered imaginations of what this could entail, the entire conference hall fell into terrified silence. The very air seemed to freeze. Only Lin Feifan stood out as the calm one.

He asked, "Zhao yé, is there a problem?"

Zhao Feng lifted his gaze, then slowly pressed the lid of his laptop down. "No. Continue."

Although he said 'No', but in the eyes of his audience, there was obviously a huge problem.

Zhao yé was infamous for his terrible temper. With the power and position he holds, he can flip out in a violent rage with no regard for the time or place. Based on his expression earlier, it was clear he was already fuming but he had restrained himself. What could this mean? Obviously, he means to solve it in private!

If the problem had been laid out on the table, one would maybe suffer a severe dressing down, demotion, or reduced wages. At the very most, they would be told to pack up and get lost. But now that the boss man intends to settle it privately, one can only start praying for divine luck.

But the Zhao family has connections to both sides of the law!

These societal elites, the entire executive committee, were all at risk. Every following statement they made after that was painstakingly considered, every word scrutinized and turned over for inspection before they dared utter them, for fear of accidentally touching their boss's sore point again.

When the meeting ended, Zhao Feng said calmly, "What's wrong with these subordinates of yours? Their mentalities are terrible. How did they manage to get promoted to begin with?"

Lin Feifan: "..." You blaming me?

Utterly oblivious, Lin Feifan was forced to shoulder this blame as he fumed silently without daring to utter a word in protest. When he returned, he immediately began chewing up his subordinates. The entirety of Cheng Tian Group's high-level officers then sank into a frenzy of overtime.

=========

Come dinner time, Su Yang and Zhao Qi sat at the dining table looking ravenous. But neither dared to pick up their chopsticks, because the great Devil King Zhao Feng has yet to return.

As a child, Zhao Qi was less able to endure his hunger. He whispered, "I wanna eat."

Su Yang swallowed the saliva that had pooled in his mouth. "Then, then let's each take a mouthful."

He picked up his chopsticks and picked up a slice of beef. Using his hands, he carefully tore it into two even halves, one for himself, one for Zhao Qi. The first mouthful naturally led to the second mouthful, then the third, then the fourth…. By the time Zhao Feng returned, the two of them, one big one small, were already half full.

As he strode in, Su Yang feigned calm and greeted him cheerfully, "Feng gē, you're back. Go wash your hands and come eat, we've been waiting for you."

Zhao Feng gave a faint chuckle. "Haven't you two already started eating?"

Su Yang's back stiffened. He immediately shook his head. "No ah, how could we eat first when you're not back yet? Right, Ah Qi?"

The little steamed bun, Zhao Qi, gave a satisfied burp. "Right! We didn't take a single bite!" he said firmly.

Zhao Feng said nothing. He lifted the little steamed bun and set him aside, before seating himself at Su Yang's side, looking at the youth with a smile that was not a smile.

Su Yang broke into goosebumps from being stared at in such a way. He was just about to blurt out the truth when Zhao Feng suddenly stretched out a finger and gently swiped it over his lips. A drop of beef sauce lay glistening on his fingertip.

Su Yang: "..."

Zhao Feng said teasingly, "Has no one ever told you to wipe your mouth clean after stealing food?"

Su Yang weakly tried to explain. "I, I was just giving it a taste..." Before he could finish, his lower jaw was clamped in Zhao Feng's grip. He blinked stupidly, and then Zhao Feng stuck his finger into Su Yang's mouth.

"Lick it clean."

Su Yang silently cursed him for a pervert. Under Zhao Feng's threatening gaze, he obediently extended a little tongue and carefully gave Zhao Feng's finger a lick. He lowered his lashes as he swallowed, looking he was having a regular meal and and savoring the taste of the dishes.

His lips were a bright pink, the slightly opened mouth giving view of the nimble tongue sliding inside. His two cheeks bulged slightly, like a naughty hamster pilfering food.

Zhao Feng's eyes turned dark as his breathing grew heavier.

The drop of sauce had long been cleaned off by Su Yang, but Zhao Feng did not draw back his hand. For some reason, he felt that this scene was extremely familiar to him, stirring up his emotions.

Like one possessed, he lowered his voice and said, "Give it a bite."

Su Yang's eyes suddenly darted up to meet his. They were shining brightly, seemingly filled with sly laughter. This smiling gaze made Zhao Feng's heart beat speed up abruptly. Then a sharp sting came from his fingertip.

——this little dog can bite.

Zhao Feng looked at his finger which was now oozing blood, then at the youth who was hastily rinsing his mouth. He suddenly gave a low chuckle.

Su Yang muttered to himself, "Sicko."

Zhao Feng privately agreed that he was probably sick, but everything had happened too suddenly. He had not even had time to ponder over his own behavior before his body had already taken the lead. Like he had fallen under some ancient enchantment, his heart was pounding wildly and his blood boiled as reason left him.

Zhao Feng attributed all this to the youth's uncanny resemblance to him, which led to his confusion as he began treating them as the same person, unconsciously transferring his feelings for him to this youth before him.

Since he couldn't hold that person in his arms, than this youth was probably the compensation given to him by Heaven.

Su Yang's scalp began crawling at the sight of the intense gaze he was receiving. Thinking that Zhao Feng was furious, he immediately began correcting himself in terror. "No no, you're not sick, I'm the one who's sick."

Zhao Feng paid no heed to his nonsense, and immediately began hauling him upstairs by the arm.

The little steamed bun was stunned by this series of unexpected events. He clapped his hands over his own greasy mouth, thinking, I must remember to wipe my mouth after stealing food in the future!!

Su Yang had not anticipated that stealing a few mouthfuls of food would lead to him being eaten instead. He clung to the stairway's railings with a death grip, tears streaming down his face as he pleaded, "Feng, Feng gē, I was wrong, I won't ever do it again, please forgive me this one time..."

Zhao Feng slowly crouched down in front of him. He grinned coldly. "So, I'm a scoundrel, eh?"

Su Yang: "...! !"

Zhao Feng continued, "I'm overbearing? Lacking in self-restraint? Is twice a week too much?"

It's not a question of frequency, it's how long you take ah! Su Yang really wanted to run away in tears. Who has been tattling on him!

{T/N: Running in tears pic}

He said pitifully, "This is a misunderstanding, I can explain..."

Zhao Feng gripped his chin, shaking his head slowly. "That little mouth of yours is too sweet, I might be taken in by your honeyed words again."

Without giving Su Yang any more chances to quibble, Zhao Feng hoisted him up by the waist and gave his firm buttocks a resounding smack. A whimper escaped from Su Yang. Fuck, that hurts! QAQ

The sobbing little rabbit was thus carried off into the bedroom by the merciless, big bad wolf.

=========

Late at night, Su Yang woke up to the ringing of a cell phone. Although Zhao Feng treats him fairly well, he has never given him any opportunities to contact the outside world, so Su Yang does not own a cell phone himself. Probably to guard against Su Yang from allying himself with outside forces to set him up again.

What Su Yang does not know is that Xu Yanqing no longer exists on this world. His current status is already listed as deceased.

{T/N: Xu Yanqing is Su Yang's current host body, if you've forgotten...}

He called out dazedly, "Feng gē, the phone..."

There was no response, and the phone continued ringing incessantly. With his eyes closed, Su Yang groped around with his hands and kicked out with his legs, before realizing belatedly that Zhao Feng was not not sleeping by his side.

"Did he go to the bathroom?"

Resigned, Su Yang pulled himself up while rubbing at his eyes. His gaze swept blearily around the dark room before falling on the pile of clothing that Zhao Feng had left on the sofa.

That's right, that beast fucked him on the sofa last night.

Wincing from the soreness in his waist and the pain from his buttocks, he slowly shuffled to the sofa. Flipping the pile of messy clothes apart, he fished out the cell phone from the pocket of Zhao Feng's suit and squinted at the screen. It's not even 4 AM yet!

Su Yang pressed the answer button, and said in a surly tone, "Hello, the person you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later."

There was a pause on the other end. "Who are you?"

Su Yang did not reply. He ended the call and even set the phone on mute.

"The sky's not even bright yet and you're disturbing people's sleep. So what if you have a nice voice."

Yawning, he clambered back onto the bed, quickly forgetting this incident as he sank back into the blissful land of dreams.

Not long after he fell asleep, Zhao Feng pushed open the door and entered. He pulled the youth on the bed into his arms, hugging him firmly. The icy chill emanating from his body caused the sleeping Su Yang to subconsciously shiver.

Early the next morning, Su Yang was roused by the hungry kiss of a certain ravenous wolf. His cheek stung from the teeth marks imprinted on it, and he resisted the urge to swear.

He was about to give voice to his grievance when Zhao Feng shook his injured finger in front of Su Yang's face. Su Yang had not been gentle while chomping down on it yesterday, and the wound was still visible. A single deep tooth mark could be faintly made out.

"We're even now," said Bandit Zhao.

"Even?!" Su Yang was so infuriated by the self-righteous expression on Zhao Feng's face that reason deserted him. He immediately shoved the man away and tore open his own pajama top, exposing the savage marks on his body. "Look at this!" he exclaimed angrily. "You still have the gall to claim we're even?!"

Zhao Feng's eyes lingered over his body for a moment, then said in a rather strained manner, "Well... I'll let you bite me back."

Su Yang: "...I'm not a dog! !"

=========

It happened to be Saturday. Zhao Feng decided to give himself a day off and stay at home with Su Yang.

Little Zhao Qi said resentfully, "When dad asked you to take care of me you're always busy. But when Xu gē gē is here, you're free everyday!" He scrunched his face into a grimace.

{T/N: gē gē is the same as gē, as in Older Brother. It's a more childish/familiar term}

The corners of Zhao Feng's lips curled. He pressed the little steamed bun firmly down on his legs and began tickling his armpits.

Zhao Qi writhed about on his legs as he burst into helpless shrieks of laughter. "Xu gē gē, savemesaveme hahahaha..." he howled.

Su Yang gave him a look filled with pity, then silently turned his face away, clearly expressing that he has seen nothing and heard nothing.

In this household, all alliances are useless. A wise man looks after his own hide!

The elderly butler entered while the two brothers were busy making a ruckus. "Eldest Master, security has just reported that Second Young Master was seen making his way up here in Mister Lin's car."

{T/N: Mr Lin is Lin Feifan}

Zhao Feng finally ceased tormenting his little brother. He unceremoniously dumped aside the little Zhao Qi who had laughed himself stupid and said, "Let him through."

Su Yang looked at him strangely. Does his own brother need to seek his permission to come home?

Zhao Feng could see through to his thoughts at a glance. He explained, "All of the Zhao family's descendants of the same generation are viewed as competitors. If you were to rashly let a rival enter your own territory, you might end up getting stabbed in the back. Biological brothers are no exception."

He patted Zhao Qi's little head with a large hand. "This brat too. Once he's ten years old, he'll be viewed as having officially entered the fray."

Zhao Qi glowered at him with his wolf-cub eyes. "When I'm grown up, you'll be a useless old man. I'll definitely take my revenge on you!"

Zhao Feng said lightly, "We'll see if you live that long."

The little wolf-cub wilted again.

Hey hey! He's still a kid ah! Su Yang swallowed silently. Are you really brothers? It's more believable if you say you're enemies!

Zhao Feng's brows suddenly drew together. "Second brother has always observed propriety. How could he just show up without any prior notice this time."

Su Yang froze. He seemed to recall answering a phone in a daze during the wee hours of the morning, and the caller ID was... Zhao Jue? From the surname and the numerical naming method, in all probability it had been Boss Zhao's younger brother.

{T/N: 珏 (jué) – a type of jade ornament that comes in pairs, loosely meaning 2 pieces of jade combined as one. pic Much better sounding than Zhao Qi, which is a plain ol' Zhao Seven.}

He confessed, "Actually, I answered one of your calls early this morning. You weren't around and the phone kept ringing, so I hung up the call for you..."

"And then?" Zhao Feng said.

"..." Su Yang hung his head as he muttered, "And then I-I set your phone on mute."

#This hand is sick, need a cure! !#

{T/N: Kinda pinning all the blame for your own actions on your hand. It's also a name of a novel.}

Zhao Feng looked at him fixedly in silence, his expression dark. Su Yang knew he was in the wrong. He slowly inched his way towards Zhao Feng's chest and shifted Zhao Feng's arms to drape around his own shoulders. This is definitely him taking the most initiative for the first time in history!

However, Zhao Feng remained unmoved. He said frostily, "Do you know how much your actions could have cost me."

Su Yang shook his head, then pressed forwards and gave Zhao Feng's cheek a kiss.

Zhao Feng paused, then said, "If it had been an emergency, and I had not dealt with it on time..."

Su Yang slowly moved closer, brushing his lips over the thinned line of Zhao Feng's mouth.

Zhao Feng was left speechless. The little rabbit in his arms was soft, tender and smelled delicious. The perky buttocks were lightly rubbing against his legs, and the red lips were oh so sweet. Bewitched, he lifted Su Yang by the waist and began to madly plunder his mouth.

By the time the kiss ended, Su Yang was gasping heavily against his shoulder, and Zhao Feng had forgotten why he was even angry to begin with.

Little Zhao Qi stared at them foolishly, his mouth gaped as wide as a goose's egg.

=========

The second child of the Zhao family was called Zhao Jue, and was two years younger than Zhao Feng. Dressed in an elegant white suit, he looked like a graceful, kindly gentleman. In short, he and Zhao Feng were worlds apart.

But little Zhao Qi seemed to dislike this second brother of his.

In fact, Su Yang had always been able to tell that despite the child's frequent squabbles with Zhao Feng, he mostly adored and worshiped his eldest brother. Towards Zhao Jue however, there was only pure, unadulterated dislike.

He believed in a child's keen intuition, and so was subconsciously wary of Zhao Jue.

The other person, Mister Lin, was surprisingly attentive, having prepared gifts for him and little Zhao Qi. Clearly, he had known about the both of them being here, and was likely pretty close with Zhao Feng.

Zhao Jue smiled gently. "I couldn't get through to you on your phone, so I called Chief Lin instead. Eldest brother wouldn't fault me for acting on my own initiative, right?"

Zhao Feng placed a pork rib into Su Yang's rice bowl. He said blandly, "How long do you plan to stay this time."

"I don't intend to leave home this time. I've been wandering about outside for so long, I always get homesick." Zhao Jue smiled faintly. "After all, we're no longer young. There would always be a day when the falling leaf would return to its roots."

{T/N: Meaning all things would eventually return to its source.}

Zhao Feng did not beat around the bush with him. "You have three days. After three days, you'll move out," he said bluntly.

Zhao Jue's smile did not waver. "Eldest brother is still so unreasonable. Can't you be more charitable towards your own brother?" His eyes turned towards little Zhao Qi and said brightly, "School's about to start soon, father told me to ask Little Qi when he'll return."

The little steamed bun immediately raised his head, his cheeks puffed indignantly. "I'm not going back!"

Zhao Feng said, "I'll arrange it myself."

Zhao Jue shook his head and laughed softly. "Sure enough, in eldest brother's eyes, only Little Qi is your brother. The rest of us are only dispensable pieces which you even find irksome, isn't that so?"

Zhao Feng sneered. "The lot of you only view this eldest brother as a hindrance, so cut the pity act."

Zhao Jue did not refute him. He calmly fished out a business card from his bag. "I've bought over this hospital. If eldest brother has any troubles in the future, come find me."

He placed the business card on the table, turned and left.

Su Yang picked up the business card, clicking his tongue. "He's a doctor!" The second master of this underworld family was actually a doctor who helps the dying and heals the injured!

Lin Feifan could not hold back a chuckle. "What's so amazing about being a doctor? Do you know what Zhao yé used to do before he took over the family business?"

Su Yang snuck a look at Zhao Feng, but saw the man calmly eating his rice.

Lin Feifan dropped his voice in an enigmatic whisper, "Zhao yé used to teach archaeology at S University."

Su Yang: "..."

Su Yang thought he had heard the world's funniest joke. This crime lord with the explosive temper who breaks people's legs at the slightest provocation, was actually a former university lecturer, and one who teaches archaeology at that. What else can this be if not a joke?

#Let's take roll call today. Who's absent? Break their legs :)#

#Failed the course? Come, which hand do you want to keep? :)#

#Cheated on your exam? Pray there're no exams in heaven :)#

The thought of Zhao Feng holding a class for students is just too surreal for him to visualize! !

"You better believe it. Zhao yé completed his entire university courses when he was fifteen. He was already an associate professor in his twenties, and also spent part of his time helping the National Museum of Cultural Relics restore the historical relics. He's very fond of collecting the Yu Dynasty's works like books, calligraphies and paintings, and what he likes the most is..."

"That's enough," Zhao Feng said dully.

Lin Feifan slapped both hands over his mouth and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, that just slipped out."

Su Yang was burning with curiosity. He immediately asked, "Likes what? What does he like the most ah?"

Zhao Feng glared at him. "I like stupid rabbits like you the most. Now eat your food."

At this moment, little Zhao Qi heroically and fearlessly raised his hand to answer. "I know I know, Zhao Feng likes ice cubes the most!"

The corner of Su Yang's lips twitched. "Ice...cubes...?"

Zhao Feng's expression tightened as little Zhao Qi blurted out, "The person lying inside the ice cube, the one who looks like Xu gē gē!"

Su Yang's head spun.

A person lying in the ice... a person lying... a person...

Fuck! Is this hiding the body after committing a murder! ! !