ADTCP Ch26

The sky had gone completely dark. Not far away, the starry-sky hotel lit up, its soft glow like a lighthouse in the boundless deep sea. Most of the tourists had already left; yellow-and-white umbrellas stuck askew in the sand, with a few soda cans scattered on the ground.

The exhilarating water fight was over. Once neat and relaxed, everyone now looked like drowned rats fished out of a mud pit. Exhausted, they trudged to the lounge chairs to grab their belongings and prepared to head back to the hotel.

Tao Zhen helped Tong Xia pack up the water guns, then shook his head hard like a little dog, trying to fling off the gritty sand clinging tightly to him. Unfortunately, it didn’t help much and only earned him Gu Xingzhou’s merciless laughter.

He didn’t sulk, though, he simply dashed over and smeared the mud and sand onto Gu Xingzhou, earning a shriek that nearly split the sky: “Tao Zhen, you’re dead!” Tao Zhen grinned mischievously, darted behind Zhu Wensheng, and laughed with his eyes curved into crescents.

Zhu Wensheng’s breathing hitched slightly, then the next second he turned and pulled Tao Zhen protectively into his arms.

When the cold, handsome black-haired youth lowered his gaze, the pressure was overwhelming, forcing Gu Xingzhou to stumble to a halt.

Gu Xingzhou could only turn to tug pitifully on Tong Xia’s sleeve, fake-crying: “Honey, say something for me!”

Tong Xia snorted and almost burst out laughing, glancing at Jiang Shan, who was watching with amusement. She glared at him, then lowered her voice:
“Don’t worry, darling. I’ll send you straight to heaven in a moment.”

Tao Zhen was so entertained he couldn’t stop laughing, even sneezing twice without noticing. Zhu Wensheng, however, caught the sound, frowned slightly, and asked: “Caught a chill?”

Tao Zhen rubbed the sand from his own cheek with the back of his hand, then flashed his little tiger tooth at Zhu Wensheng: “Nope, it’s his fault. I’ll be fine after a shower.”

Tao Zhen had really enjoyed himself today, acting differently from usual.

He was always lively, but never this unrestrained, except in front of Gu Xingzhou and Tong Xia. Zhu Wensheng understood why: though their words were sharp, in their hearts they treated Tao Zhen as their own cub, even calling him affectionately “Zhenbao.”

Zhenbao.

Such an intimate nickname, surely they had been calling him that for over ten years.

Seeing Tao Zhen about to run off and chat with Gu Xingzhou again, Zhu Wensheng blinked.
His dark eyes remained outwardly calm, but he took Tao Zhen’s phone from his pocket and handed it over: “The video’s been up for a while. Want to see how it’s doing?”

As expected, Tao Zhen’s attention shifted instantly. With a loud “mm,” he hurriedly opened his dashboard.

The stats were as good as ever: in just two hours, the video had already reached a hundred thousand likes, with comments full of praise, and plenty of people shrieking about his “Dayu Bay” location, saying they wanted to come and bump into him.

Like a squirrel dropped into a granary, he scrolled with glowing satisfaction, then opened his private messages.

Seeing that the girl who had drawn him before had sent another picture, he clicked eagerly, and burst out laughing when he saw the chibi black-clad figure at his side, quickly sending over a big red envelope.

After saving the picture, he skimmed her new messages and pondered for a moment.

#Zhenxieqing#, so that was “Zhen & Photographer Love”?

Thinking so, Tao Zhen innocently tapped into the tag and refreshed the trending feed. Instantly, a black-and-white comic strip popped up.
In it, the blond boy frowned slightly, cheeks flushed, tears clinging pitifully to the corners of his eyes, mouth parted to breathe out damp heat.
Still sitting in the Maybach singing Baby, only this time his expression was different, and his clothes were gone.

…What the hell was this?!
Was this even allowed??

Tao Zhen’s face went crimson in an instant. He quickly flipped his phone over, scanning the surroundings in panic, terrified someone had seen what he was looking at.

The October night breeze was cool, but it did nothing to lower the heat burning in his cheeks. After a long while, curiosity overcame shame. While the others were still playing around, he slowly flipped his phone back and cautiously scrolled down,

The next frame: a large hand clutching “Tao Zhen’s” waist, pinching the soft flesh of his stomach, glowing with fullness. Then further down, gripping a spot strategically censored by blinding white light.

Tao Zhen nearly combusted. He couldn’t imagine what sort of mindset the artist had while drawing this, and quickly swiped past. But when he saw the following panel, his fingers froze.

The owner of that big hand appeared. Most of his face was shrouded in darkness, cloaked in mist. But his body beneath the clothes was drawn perfectly, broad shoulders, full chest, a lean, powerful waist, a flawless inverted triangle, effortlessly enveloping “Tao Zhen” within. Fierce, domineering, explosive.
Tao Zhen couldn’t help staring for several seconds, suddenly short of breath, heat pooling in his chest. It made him think of the very first night he’d met Zhu Wensheng, when he accidentally stumbled upon a pair of lovers, nearly caught, and Zhu Wensheng had pinned him against the wall with that same commanding grip and cold, handsome gaze.
At the time, he had never imagined that pose could have other meanings.

“Zhenxieqing”, so it wasn’t the curled tongue “zhī,” but the flat “xié.”

God forbid Zhu Wensheng ever learned about this, let alone saw it himself. He’d never be able to handle it…

Feeling guilty as a thief, Tao Zhen exited the tag, cleared the app from his phone, rubbed his face hard, and forced down his emotions before following the others back upstairs.

Sand still clung uncomfortably to his body. As soon as he returned to his room, he stripped off his dirty T-shirt and shorts and dashed naked into the bathroom, turning on the shower. Cold water poured down. After a while, it was still icy. Was this new hotel not providing hot water yet?

Confused, he thought of stepping out to check, but looked down at his sand-streaked body and gave up. Shivering, he took a quick cold shower.

Climbing into bed in clean clothes, he sneezed several times, his head light and dizzy. He shook it wearily. Strange, the sand was washed off, so why did he still feel unwell…

***
At night, Dayu Bay was beautiful, streetlights winding down the mountain road like a river of stars.

Zhu Wensheng came out of the bathroom after a hot shower and stepped onto the balcony. At that moment, his pocket buzzed violently. He took out his phone: incoming call, Zhao Zhao.

He answered, immediately met by furious roaring:
“Fuck!! Zhu Wensheng! Are you insane?! You told my cousin you don’t know me?! Do you know how shocked I was when he said that? And you really went and slapped me in the face like that!”

“Give me a reason, or we’re done being brothers, ”

“The five million I lent you, you don’t need to pay it back.” Zhu Wensheng rubbed his brow, his voice flat. “Does that count as a reason?”

Zhao Zhao’s bluster vanished instantly, switching masks in seconds: “Of course, bro, of course. Who the hell dared yell at you just now? Doesn’t he have a death wish!”

Zhu Wensheng: “……”

“But I really am curious, why deny it? You’ve shaken Zhao Ye’s confidence. He even asked me to check if you’re really there.” Zhao Zhao chuckled, then pressed on, “You went with… a friend, right? Isn’t there some video blogger getting popular online…”

Zhu Wensheng was silent a moment: “Mm.”
“That’s Tao Zhen.”

The line went dead quiet. Zhao Zhao cursed under his breath.

He understood. Zhu Wensheng denied knowing them because he couldn’t let Tao Zhen know he was rich. Tao Zhen wasn’t stupid, he might pity a bartender fighting underground matches, but he’d never agree to “keep” the heir of the Zhu family MMA prince.

But could lies really solve anything?
One lie needed a hundred more to cover it.
Could Zhu Wensheng hide his true identity forever?

He was the Zhu family’s only young master. Going against them to fight MMA was already outrageous, and now he was going even further, for a boy. So reckless. So mad.

Zhao Zhao had never seen him like this. With a sigh, he said: “Forget it… You’re smarter than me, you know what you’re doing. Just… since you’ve chosen this, don’t let yourself get exposed. If you need my help, say the word.”

The line beeped dead. Zhu Wensheng pocketed his phone and looked out at the flowing galaxy of lights. The cool night wind eventually cleared his thoughts.

Just as he was about to head inside, the balcony door next door slid open. A tall, elegant woman stepped out, it was Jiang Shan.

Strangely, she still hadn’t showered. Her body was damp with sand, her long hair hanging loose over her shoulders.
She raised her brows when she saw him. “What a coincidence.”

Zhu Wensheng gave a polite nod: “Mm.”

As the two “tag-along friends,” they hadn’t had much to do with each other during the day. Standing here together was even more awkward.
After a moment of silence, Jiang Shan spoke first: “Is your room’s hot water working?”

Zhu Wensheng nodded: “Yours isn’t?”

“No, mine’s working fine. But Xia Xia’s room has a problem, only cold water, so I let her use mine.” Jiang Shan exhaled softly, her voice a little husky. “She’s showering first. I just came out… to get some air.”

The balcony door was open, so the sound of rushing water could be heard from inside the room.

The woman glanced back into the room from time to time, her expression showing not annoyance, but rather a focused attention.

Zhu Wensheng felt a stir in his chest, his dark lashes lifting involuntarily as his pitch-black pupils fixed straight on her.

Naturally, Jiang Shan noticed his gaze. She raised her brows and looked back at him.

A moment later, she laughed, tapped her finger on the balcony railing, and traced out the symmetrical shape of a “田” character.

“Maybe it’s an issue with one section of the pipes. If Xia Xia has no hot water, then Tao Zhen probably doesn’t either.”

Zhu Wensheng froze.

“So, you could always invite him to your room to shower.”

With that, Jiang Shan flipped her hair, turned back inside, and closed the balcony door.

The surroundings fell quiet again. Zhu Wensheng stood still for a few seconds before pulling out his phone.

Every message he sent to Tao Zhen sank like a stone without reply.

He didn’t panic. After waiting ten minutes, he finally placed a voice call.

The “doo-doo” tone rang for a while before the other side picked up.

Perhaps half-unconscious, Tao Zhen had accidentally tapped the video button. On screen, his pretty face was flushed red, his bright blond hair drooping pitifully over his forehead, and at the corners of his eyes, unclear whether it was sweat or tears.

“…mm… Zhu Wensheng…”

As soon as Tao Zhen spoke, even he was startled by the rasp in his voice.

“Why are you… cough… calling me…”

Zhu Wensheng strode quickly out of his room and stopped at Tao Zhen’s door, his tone deep:
“Get up and open the door. Let me come in and check.”

Then, as if realizing his words were too harsh, he paused, and added softly:
“Zhenbao?”