8 1.8

In his hotel room, Zhao Cui lay next to Shao Li, occasionally petting his soft hair and pecking his petal-like lips. During such a moment, Chen Yu blearily blinked open his eyes. With his bewildered expression and glassy red eyes, he seemed especially pitiful, and Zhao Cui couldn't help but give him another kiss.

When Shao Li instinctively shied away, Zhao Cui's expression sank momentarily, but he quickly recovered and asked, "Teacher Shao, you're awake? How do you feel?"

Chen Yu sat up and glanced at the luxurious surroundings before flushing and scrambling back with his arms crossed over his chest. He stammered, "I-I'm fine. Thank you for letting me stay, but c-can I go home now?"

Zhao Cui smiled gloomily and pulled over one of Shao Li's hands. Holding onto the fragile wrist, he gazed into the youth's anxious face and replied, "No, I've told your headmaster that you won't be in for the rest of this week, so let's take some time to talk first."

Chen Yu waited curiously to see what approach this man would take. After all, in everyone's eyes, Shao Li was a delicate, innocent white flower.

But contrary to his expectations, Zhao Cui didn't cover anything up, instead directly stating, "I've wanted you for a while now. How do you feel about dating me?"

"Ah?" Shao Li stared blankly. "I'm a m-man!"

Zhao Cui chuckled and leaned close to Shao Li's ear, which he'd noticed yesterday was very sensitive. "I know, I am too."

Before Chen Yu could recover from the stimulation, Zhao Cui grasped the back of Shao Li's neck and crushed their lips together. Sweeping between the youth's teeth, his tongue thrust in and out, imitating what he fantasized about doing with their lower bodies. Wet sounds echoed in the large suite, along with panting gasps and moans.

Only when Shao Li's body lost the strength to protest and surrendered completely did Zhao Cui reluctantly separate their mouths.

Leaning his forehead against Shao Li's, Zhao Cui gazed feverishly at the red tongue peeking out between glistening lips and whispered, "Are you disgusted?"

Chen Yu cursed in his heart, I'm damn horny!

On the surface, he blushed furiously and lowered his glittering eyes.

Seeing that he didn't try to get away, Zhao Cui's hope rose uncontrollably. He lifted Shao Li's body onto his thighs and locked him into his embrace. Nibbling on Shao Li's neck, he questioned, "Really uncomfortable?"

"En..." Shao Li mumbled.

Of course it was uncomfortable, he was getting blue balls!

Chen Yu somewhat regretted not yielding to Zhao Cui's advances yesterday. From what he could feel of the hot, stiff pressure under his butt, it would have been worth it.

Still, from the brief mention he'd glimpsed in the original plot, Zhao Jia wasn't something he wanted to touch casually. Getting involved with this Zhao Cui would be troublesome, so he'd observe a while longer.

Shao Li, trembling, breathed unsteadily, "M-Mr. Zhao, it feels strange..."

Zhao Cui instantly gentled his hold, reminded of Shao Li's previous panic.

But feeling Shao Shao's fidgeting legs and burning temperature, his heart was ecstatic, knowing that Shao Li was aroused as well. The heart that had been left hanging since Shao Li burst into tears yesterday finally dropped down, and Zhao Cui exhaled a heavy sigh of relief and closed his eyes.

Shao Shao was just scared in the car because he's too innocent, his baby didn't hate this, he didn't hate him. He just needed to ease him in.

He grasped Shao Li's face and cherishingly pressed his lips against every surface, brushing across his forehead, both of his misty eyes, blushing cheeks, and red lips, murmuring, "Shao Shao, don't be afraid, I'll teach you everything slowly, we're together now, I love you, love you, love you."

Chen Yu, who had long collapsed against Zhao Cui, silently buried his face into the wide chest with the tips of his red ears left visible.

Zhao Cui laughed affectionately and nuzzled the top of his head.

---

Back at the academy, Headmaster Feng paced around his office, seething at Zhao Cui's perfunctory call. Without even asking permission, the man had declared that his own employee would be missing work. And this employee was the very same one who had made his position at the academy insecure. Good, very good! Really left this headmaster no face!

Naturally, he knew that Zhao Cui and Liu Yao were more blameworthy. But one was far too powerful for him to touch, and the other was the woman he loved. He could only place all his hatred on Shao Li.

Headmaster Feng's steps paused as he considered, and he turned towards the personnel files. Shao Li...an orphaned young man without any backing...a smirk formed on his face, and he quickly crossed to his phone.

"Yao'er, it's me. I know you're upset, of course I've reached out to my friends. Just wait for a bit, and I'll get you a teaching position soon."

After pacifying Liu Yao for a while, the headmaster reached the point he'd called for. "We couldn't do anything yesterday because Zhao Cui was there, but I've thought of a way to vent some anger for you. Yes, really, it's to do with that Shao Li..."

That same evening, a blog post went viral.

Posted by the fairly well-liked user Class_Act, the article related how a ruthless music student teacher "SL" at a famous high school schemed to crush the hands of his female superior, Teacher "LY" because he was jealous of her musical talent. This SL didn't stop there. He further colluded with "NW," a sophomore student from a rich family who was rejected by LY, to frame LY for violent behavior. On top of the injury which prevented her from using instruments and actively instructing students, the academy was forced to fire her or face the threat of SL spreading rumors of the school headmaster shielding LY for personal interests.

Along with the photos of bandaged hands and detailed descriptions, the account was quite convincing, and many netizens criticized that cruel student teacher and depraved student while expressing their sympathies for the injured teacher.

From the clues provided, meticulous individuals pieced together who these people were.

They also uncovered the social media accounts of everyone involved. Liu Yao and Shao Li's newsfeeds especially overflowed, one with messages of encouragement and the other with condemnations to die, maim himself, and so on.

Because of the rising censure of corruption in elitist institutions like private schools, this issue became such a hot topic that when Chen Yu checked the news in the evening, it was the first item listed.

He promptly opened Shao Li's rarely-used social media accounts, and scanning the threats of torture and death notes, Chen Yu almost couldn't keep the smirk off his face.

Indeed, this was the best scheme they could think up, in the original plot and now. Well, he'd play anytime.

Holding a mug of hot chocolate for his baby, Zhao Cui walked over to the couch where Shao Li was sitting and wrapped his body up from the back. When Chen Yu heard the footsteps nearing, he had 'hastily' snapped his phone shut, but it was too late.

Zhao Cui straightaway noticed the boy's pale complexion, and he hurried to turn him around and ask, "What happened, what were you reading?"

Chen Yu shook his head guiltily, tucking his hands behind his back. Of course, he couldn't withstand Zhao Cui's strength, so everything was soon revealed.

Guessing exactly who had so shamelessly inverted black and white, Zhao Cui gritted his teeth, but in front of Shao Li, he could only pet him and soothe, "Shao Shao, let me find out what's going on. It won't take long to fix this. Before things settle down, I'll have some guards follow you, okay?"

In fact, Chen Yu didn't really want Zhao Cui to interfere, as it would ruin his fun. As the naïve Shao Li however, he couldn't get involved with such murky matters without going out of character. Besides, this was an opportunity to put Zhao Cui's obsessive tendencies to use.

So Shao Li obediently nodded and gazed dependently up at Zhao Cui, but to fill some of his dissatisfaction, he said, "Sometimes I've felt like someone was following me. Can the guards keep him away?"

At this, Zhao Cui laughed and shifted his eyes nervously. "Of course they can, you can believe in their skills."

Chen Yu smiled back shyly and agreed, indeed he'd experienced their skills in stalking. But taunting Zhao Cui this much was enough to make him content for now, so he didn't say much more.