Ch 24: How To Be A Good Lackey

Red wine?

Mango pudding with red wine? What a strange combination.

But if the president wanted to eat it that way, there had to be a reason.

Shao Ye nodded and made a mental note of it.

By now, he had basically moved his daily essentials and spare clothes over. As he rummaged through his suitcase for something suitable to wear at the president’s place, he also wondered which winery’s red wine would pair well with pudding.

Xi Guanming crouched down beside him, picking up the clothes he had tossed aside, neatly folding them and putting them back into the suitcase.

After packing what he needed, they stopped by Luostin to get a mango pudding, then drove away from Golden Laburnum.

Xi Guanming’s house was in the suburbs, not far from the school—a two-story villa he had bought two years ago. He didn’t come here often, but he hired a cleaner to tidy up every Saturday.

Today was Sunday, so the place still looked fairly clean, with hardly any dust. The décor was simple, similar to the dorm, with only a few basic pieces of furniture and appliances.

Xi Guanming led Shao Ye upstairs, pushed open the bedroom door, and said, “The other rooms haven’t been cleaned. Sleep with me tonight, okay?”

“Sure,” Shao Ye said. They already slept together at school anyway. He went in and casually set his bag by the bedside.

Xi Guanming stood at the doorway watching him, a smile lingering at the corner of his lips. How could he be so easy to fool?

“What do you want to eat?” he asked.

“Anything’s fine,” Shao Ye replied, turning back to him. “President, can you cook?”

“I can a little,” Xi Guanming said, “but there’s no cookware or ingredients here. We’ll have to order takeout tonight.”

Shao Ye didn’t mind. He wasn’t picky—just as long as it wasn’t terrible.

After dinner, Shao Ye took the mango pudding out of the fridge and tapped it twice with a spoon. The whole thing wobbled with a soft duang duang.

Xi Guanming narrowed his eyes slightly at the pudding on the table. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. He took a sip of water and shifted his sitting position.

After tapping it, Shao Ye looked up and asked, “President, you really don’t want any? It’s really good.”

Xi Guanming set his glass down and shook his head. “I’ll have something later. You go ahead.”

So Shao Ye finished the whole pudding himself. Sitting on the couch, he rubbed his stomach in satisfaction. Full and content, he started to feel sleepy—but it also seemed a bit early to go to bed.

“If you’re tired, go lie down for a bit,” Xi Guanming said kindly, since he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep later.

It was a holiday anyway—no need to wake up early tomorrow. A nap didn’t sound like a bad idea. Shao Ye yawned and headed upstairs. After climbing a couple of steps, he paused, sensing something off, and turned back.

“President, aren’t you coming up?”

Xi Guanming sat on the couch and turned his head toward him. “You go ahead. I ordered something online. It’ll be delivered soon.”

“Oh,” Shao Ye said, not asking what it was, and slowly went upstairs.

Xi Guanming waited downstairs for over half an hour before the doorbell rang. The item he had been waiting for had arrived.

Carrying the sealed package and a bottle of red wine that had already been decanted, he leisurely went upstairs.

In the bedroom, Shao Ye was already asleep on his bed. Xi Guanming stood there for a while, looking at him, thinking everything about him was just right—except for one thing.

He hadn’t taken all his clothes off.

How could he go to bed like that?

Xi Guanming didn’t wake him. Instead, he sat down by the bed and unwrapped the package at an unhurried pace, carefully checking everything inside. Once he confirmed that the models and dates were correct, he arranged them neatly on the cabinet in the order he planned to use them.

The room was dimly lit, and Shao Ye seemed to be sleeping even more soundly. Xi Guanming still didn’t wake him. He turned down the volume on his phone and watched a couple of short videos first.

Shao Ye slept for more than three hours. After finishing the videos, Xi Guanming went to the next room to grab two pillows, thinking they might be useful later. Then he took a shower and changed into fresh clothes.

When he returned, the person on the bed was finally starting to wake up. He leaned down and kissed the corner of Shao Ye’s lips.

“President?” Shao Ye opened his eyes and called out.

The moment he spoke, Xi Guanming’s tongue slipped into his mouth, exploring freely. It still tasted faintly of mango pudding.

Shao Ye had just woken up and wasn’t fully conscious yet. His eyes widened as he let Xi Guanming take in the lingering sweetness from his mouth.

The kiss was intense—so much so that Shao Ye felt like he was about to be swallowed whole. And yet… it felt good, so good that his whole body seemed to melt.

Why was the president so good at this?

After a long while, the kiss finally ended. Xi Guanming pinned Shao Ye’s right hand above his head with one hand, while the other deftly began undoing the buttons on his shirt. Looking at Shao Ye’s flushed face, he lowered his head to kiss him again and asked:

“Do you like me?”

Under the hazy light, with a faint jasmine scent in the air, Shao Ye looked at him and thought the president somehow looked even better than before he fell asleep.

Without thinking, he answered, “I like you.”

“Do you really like me?” Xi Guanming asked.

“I really do.”

“Tell me the truth.”

That was the truth. So Shao Ye repeated, “I like you.”

“Then do you love me?” Xi Guanming asked again.

His kisses trailed from Shao Ye’s lips down to his neck, his shoulders, his collarbone, continuing lower, while his hands kept working. Of the five buttons, only one remained undone.

When Shao Ye didn’t answer, Xi Guanming lightly bit him and asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Shao Ye felt a faint sting. Looking down in confusion, he asked, “Is love… different from liking?”

Xi Guanming lifted his eyes to meet Shao Ye’s confused gaze. After a moment’s thought, he said, “Love is probably liking someone a lot, a lot. It’s when there’s no second choice besides me, and you don’t allow me to have a second choice either.”

He paused, his dark eyes reflecting only Shao Ye. “It’s liking someone with the determination to stay together forever.”

His interest and affection for Shao Ye had already far exceeded what he once thought. If it were only a little, why would he hold back so much? He would have devoured him long ago, instead of slowly guiding him, step by step, into willingly walking into his own net.

Shao Ye nodded, half-understanding. Then, as if suddenly enlightened, he said, “So does that mean I fell in love with you the first time I saw you, President?”

Xi Guanming couldn’t help but laugh. Shao Ye always managed to surprise him in unexpected ways.

The buttons had already been undone. Cooperating, Shao Ye shrank his arms slightly, then lifted his upper body, letting the shirt slide smoothly off him. Xi Guanming tossed it aside, gave his chest a light slap, and joked, “No wonder you’ve been seducing me all along.”

“Huh?” Shao Ye blinked. Where did that come from?!

Xi Guanming smiled and asked, “And you still wanted to match me with Jiang Yan?”

“I just wanted to be your underling,” Shao Ye quickly clarified.

“An irreplaceable underling? One who stays with me forever? One who can support you anytime, anywhere? One who stands on your side unconditionally?” Xi Guanming asked.

With each question, Shao Ye nodded. Exactly! The president finally understood his grand ambition.

Xi Guanming laughed at his own words and patted Shao Ye’s cheek. “Such strong possessiveness for an underling. Are you sure that’s what you want to be?”

Shao Ye’s nod stopped midway. Why couldn’t it be?

“If I were really with someone else, would you be happy?” Xi Guanming asked again.

This question had come up before, and back then it had already shaken Shao Ye’s simple worldview.

“Why aren’t you answering?” Xi Guanming asked, pulling off his pants. “Could you accept someone else treating you like this?”

Shao Ye didn’t even need to imagine it. Just hearing that made goosebumps rise all over his body. “I’d punch his teeth out.”

Xi Guanming laughed softly and looked down at him. Shao Ye was now completely naked on the bed, his honey-colored muscles gleaming under the light.

Xi Guanming knelt on one knee beside the bed. His own clothes were still neatly on, though his shirt was slightly wrinkled from earlier.

Even now, Shao Ye hadn’t realized what was about to happen tonight. After all, similar things had happened in the dorm before. He was just wondering if he should turn over and lie down himself when he saw Xi Guanming suddenly reach for the bottle of red wine by the bedside.

Following his movement, Shao Ye reminded him, “President, I don’t think there are any glasses here.”

“How could there not be?” Xi Guanming unscrewed the cap and said softly.

Shao Ye looked around but still couldn’t find any “glass.” Was it like the emperor’s new clothes, visible only to smart people?

Wait… did that mean he’d just insulted himself again?

When he looked back, he saw Xi Guanming tilting the bottle slightly. Cool wine flowed out in a thin stream, falling onto his body and running down along his chest.

“Isn’t this a glass?” Xi Guanming lowered his head, savoring what he had long desired.

So that was the “glass.”

Shao Ye opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. Surely he wasn’t supposed to shout something dramatic here.

Half a bottle of wine was used up like that. Though today’s “game” was different, Shao Ye was still turned over midway. He couldn’t see what Xi Guanming was doing, only clearly feel the wine flowing down his back and being slowly licked clean.

The sheets and even the mattress underneath were probably beyond saving. He felt as though his entire body had been soaked in wine, the rich fragrance permeating every inch of his skin. Shao Ye was so overwhelmed he could barely think.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xi Guanming pick up something else from the bedside, but before he could see clearly, Xi Guanming had already withdrawn his hand.

It didn’t matter. Soon enough, Shao Ye found out what it was.

As the bed rocked, he heard Xi Guanming whisper in his ear, calling him “Shao Ye,” calling him “baby,” even calling him “wife.”

Shao Ye felt his face burn hot enough to fry an egg. The president really had no filter in moments like this! Completely uninhibited! He even asked Shao Ye to call him “husband.” Shao Ye couldn’t bring himself to say it, but in the end, unable to bear it, he did—followed by another two hours of activity.

The school gave them a seven-day break. For the first three days, Shao Ye didn’t wear a single proper piece of clothing. Most of their time was spent on the bed, and during that time, they changed rooms five times.

The first and second time, Shao Ye didn’t think much of it. By the third time, he finally realized—hadn’t the president said the other rooms weren’t even prepared?

No matter how good his stamina was, three days of this nonstop left him somewhat overwhelmed. So by noon on the fourth day, after strong protest from Shao Ye, they finally decided to go out for a walk.

Shao Ye had actually planned to find a gym nearby. All this “activity” hadn’t really trained his muscles at all! His chest still looked the same in the mirror, but that might just be because it had been… overworked.

Xi Guanming drove him to a nearby mall. After walking around, Shao Ye didn’t find a gym, but he did run into Jiang Yan. She was working part-time at a milk tea shop during the break. As expected, Si Xu had followed her there and immediately ordered a hundred cups of milk tea, thoroughly irritating her.

Xi Guanming had stepped aside earlier to take a phone call and hadn’t returned yet. So Shao Ye stood under a sign holding two portions of fried chicken, watching the scene while waiting.

Soon, Si Xu was kicked out of the shop. When he spotted Shao Ye nearby, he let out a cold laugh. As a straight man, learning that Xi Guanming was gay and had chosen someone like Shao Ye made him feel, overnight, like he had risen above him in status.

When Shao Ye saw him smiling like a bad guy, he asked, “What’s wrong with your mouth? Why is it crooked like that? Did you become someone’s kept husband or something?”

“You—” Si Xu was so angry his temples throbbed. But knowing he couldn’t beat Shao Ye, he could only snort coldly and turn to leave.

By the time Xi Guanming finished his call and came over, he happened to see Si Xu storming off in frustration. Taking the fried chicken Shao Ye handed him, he asked, “Did you provoke him again?”

“Uh…” Only then did Shao Ye remember that the president had told him not to get involved in matters between Si Xu and Jiang Yan. Did this count as getting involved? He asked a bit nervously, “Am I not allowed to provoke him?”

“You are,” Xi Guanming said without hesitation. “At Golden Laburnum, there’s basically nothing you’re not allowed to do. But…”

Shao Ye widened his eyes, waiting seriously for what came next, afraid he might miss something and cause trouble for the president.

Then he heard Xi Guanming smile and say, “Let’s go home first. I bought you a few sets of clothes online. They should’ve arrived already. Try them on when we get back and let me see.”

Shao Ye said innocently, “Why buy me clothes? I already have enough to wear.”

“They’re ones you haven’t worn before,” Xi Guanming replied.

Shao Ye’s brain didn’t quite process that. Clothes were just clothes, weren’t they? How could there be ones he hadn’t worn before?

⸻

Author’s note:

Bonus short scene:

When Shao Ye heard the president wanted to drink red wine, he remembered his dad had a bottle of top-quality wine at home and immediately encouraged the president to go steal it.

The president thought about how Shao Ye’s dad had been mocked for twenty years just for bringing half a box of rotten apples. If they got caught stealing wine, he’d probably be nagged to death, so he wasn’t very willing. But now that Shao Ye had “upgraded” to boyfriend status, his temper had grown too. The president couldn’t refuse him and ended up going along to steal it.

Afterward, thinking about what the wine would be used for, the president’s last bit of morality made him swap the bottle out. Shao Ye never noticed.

⸻

[As of this morning, I’ve watched swans for 86 hours, 27 minutes, and 31 seconds. Do you know how I survived those 86 hours?! Why are we still watching swans even after they went to the president’s house?!]

: Gotta say, both the president and No. 6 have great stamina

: From my observation, the two swans at the president’s house are at least a few pounds heavier than the ones at school. The smaller one has an asymmetrical black marking on its beak, its left wing has about three fewer feathers than the right, and its tail looks like it’s been pecked… hold on, I need to switch positions before I continue

: You don’t need to continue, we already know you’ve been watching way too long

: Why watch swans? Go watch explosions in other streams! It’s way more exciting, especially in a campus setting

: If I’d heard the president say No. 6 could do anything in Golden Laburnum before, I’d say he was just acting cool. Now after seeing three explosions, I can only say… No. 6, your good fortune is yet to come

: Are we sure the explosions were all done by the president?

: He didn’t show up directly, but his presence is everywhere

: I’m speechless. The principal even patted the president’s shoulder and said “good job”

: Well, it probably did take a lot of effort to arrange all this

: Three auditoriums exploded, and the official side has nothing to say?

: The official says NPCs in Neverland have their own motivations, not under their control

: …

: I thought No. 1, the top student, would graduate smoothly. Who knew going to school could be life-threatening

: My childhood dream of blowing up a school came true in a way I really didn’t want

: Good thing this is just a campus world. I don’t even want to imagine what the president would do in a war setting

: I have an idea. What would happen if we dropped No. 6 into another stream?

: I don’t know about the other streams, but No. 6’s stream would probably explode instantly

: I’m starting to believe the president and No. 6 really aren’t arranged by the system

: Why not? No. 6 was already a guaranteed entrant. This kind of plot isn’t that strange

: ?????

: Not strange???

: Who is No. 6 supposed to be? You think he can get this kind of cheat? Behind the system is the Elders Council

: I’ve been saying he’s some kind of chief eunuch all along, and none of you believed me!!!

: #%￥#￥%…

: @moderator There’s someone losing their mind in here, call the police

≽^•⩊•^≼

Thandar: Please give this novel a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on novel updates if you enjoy it so far. It’ll motivate this translator to release new chapters faster 🥲😘

Previous