Chapter 1: What a Wicked Man!

That evening, Fu Yanshen came home. The moment he stepped through the door, his eyes swept over me, dark and unreadable, as if he could see straight through me.

My mother and Uncle Fu were off traveling abroad, and the housekeeper had already gone home. That left just the two of us in the enormous house.

Dinner was tense enough to snap. Neither of us mentioned what had happened the night before. I kept quiet, and he didn’t say a word either.

When we finished eating, I was just about to sneak upstairs when he called after me.

“Hứa An An!”

I turned around. He looked at me meaningfully.

“Nothing you want to say to me?”

I put on my most innocent expression.

“About last night? I was really drunk and accidentally walked into the wrong room. I’m sorry. It was just an accident, so please don’t take it to heart.”

With that, I turned and walked away, while screaming internally:

Drunk, my ass! I deliberately drank enough to work up the courage, then pretended I’d gotten lost and wandered into his room!

That night, after taking a shower, I quietly crept downstairs for some water. The moment I turned into the hallway, a dark figure standing on the balcony nearly scared me half to death.

“It’s me.”

His deep, husky voice came from the darkness.

I saw the cigarette glowing red between his fingers and whispered, “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

He stubbed out the cigarette and walked toward me before suddenly asking the one question that made me want the floor to swallow me whole.

“Does it still hurt?”

“Huh… What?”

“Down there.”

My face instantly felt like it was on fire.

“A little…”

“Did you put any medicine on it?”

“No…”

Fu Yanshen sighed. “Go back to your room and wait for me.”

I stared at him blankly, but obediently shuffled back to my room.

It wasn’t long before he knocked on the door, a tube of ointment already in his hand. I wanted to refuse just to spare myself the embarrassment, but one look at his I’m not kidding around expression was enough to make me give up.

When he came closer, I nervously squeezed my eyes shut and even pulled the blanket over my head.

Through a tiny gap, I secretly peeked at him.

And then I saw him swallow.

Well, well. So even the great “Buddha” had moments when he was only human after all.

Fu Yanshen was ridiculously busy. By the time I woke up, he was already gone. Most days, I wouldn’t see him again until he came home that evening.

He was six years older than me and my stepbrother, but over the years, our relationship had gradually grown distant.

When we were kids, he used to dote on me endlessly. Now, we were practically strangers walking in opposite directions.

Thinking about it made me sad, so I went to the bakery near our house and bought myself some sweets to cheer up.

Unfortunately, the moment I stepped outside, the sky opened up.

I stood beneath an awning for shelter when the old woman selling umbrellas nearby called out to me.

“Sweetheart, why don’t you buy an umbrella? It’s pouring. You’ll catch a cold.”

Catch a cold?

A brilliant idea suddenly popped into my head.

I smiled at the old woman…

…and then ran straight out into the rain.

By the time I got home, I was soaked from head to toe.

Fu Yanshen gave me a flat look.

“You didn’t bring an umbrella?”

“I forgot.”

The corner of his mouth lifted.

“Why don’t you just forget about yourself altogether while you’re at it?”

I ignored his sharp tongue, went straight to the bathroom, filled the tub with cold water, and climbed in.

I sat there shivering until I finally sneezed loudly enough to convince myself I’d done the job, then got out.

A while later, he brought me a cup of ginger tea. Then, without saying anything, he picked up the hair dryer and walked behind me.

I sat perfectly still, watching him through the mirror.

His fingers ran gently through my hair as he dried it, his movements unexpectedly tender.

The focused look on his face suddenly reminded me of the old days—when he was still the older brother who had always treated me with endless patience and affection.

“Is it pretty?”

His voice suddenly broke through my thoughts, making me jump.

I realized I’d been staring at him for far too long.

I quickly lowered my gaze and tried to act composed.

“Thank you.”

What an accomplishment.

I had actually managed to catch a cold.

And not just some mild little cold, either. I ended up with a high fever and was practically delirious.

My body had always been a spoiled little princess. Whenever I caught even the slightest illness, it acted like the world was ending.

Fu Yanshen wanted to take me to the hospital.

With my nose completely stuffed, I stubbornly refused.

“I’m not going!”

He knew perfectly well that I was terrified of getting injections, so he didn’t force me. Instead, he quietly got some fever medicine and tucked the blankets around me.

After taking the medicine, sleepiness swept over me, and I sank into a hazy dream.

In my feverish state, I vaguely felt the door open.

Someone sat down beside my bed.

A cool hand rested against my forehead.

The relief was like stumbling upon an oasis in the middle of a desert. Without thinking, I grabbed that hand and pulled it against my burning cheek.

“I want… some water…” I mumbled unconsciously.

The hand slipped away.

A moment later, it returned, gently squeezing my cheeks. My mouth was forced open, and cool water trickled down my throat, soothing the unbearable dryness.

The pounding in my head eased a little.

I opened my unfocused eyes.

Fu Yanshen’s handsome face was incredibly close.

So close that I could make out every one of his long lashes.

He gave a faint smile, but there was something dangerous about it.

“Hứa An An, I’ve gone through all this trouble taking care of you. Don’t you think you should pay me a little ‘interest’?”

At that point, my fever had completely fried my brain.

I simply squeezed my eyes shut and decided to leave the world to its own devices.

What interest? I was sick, and he was still here collecting debts?

…

The next morning, I woke up feeling much better.

When I went downstairs, I spotted Fu Yanshen setting dinner on the table, and suddenly I was starving.

I wasn’t sure whether his cooking was genuinely that good or I was simply ravenous, but I demolished an entire bowl of rice.

Fu Yanshen ate with effortless elegance, carrying himself with that unmistakable “Buddha” aura.

I was the complete opposite.

Every now and then, I couldn’t help sneaking a glance at his lips, and my thoughts inevitably drifted back to what had happened the night before.

My face grew hotter and hotter until it was probably as red as a ripe persimmon.

Right then, he looked up and calmly asked,

“Hứa An An, do I have rice on my face? Or are you staring at something?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin.

I hurriedly cleared my throat a few times, then buried my face in my bowl and focused desperately on eating.

There was no way I dared look at this “Buddha” again.

What a wicked man!