FSGOR Ch104 – Extra Anchor

Jiang Tian took a lightning-fast combat shower. Once he returned to his bedroom, the whole world quieted down.

The boy closed the door gently and sat at the edge of his bed, opening the birthday gift his sister had given him — the latest model of a popular brand’s e-reader.

Because his phone was outdated, he didn’t have many apps downloaded, and when he held it during calls, it would heat up until his palm felt like it was burning — the warmth even seemed to reach his ear. Otherwise, how else could it feel that hot?

Surely it wasn’t some weird chemical reaction between him and his top donor.

Letting out a small breath of relief, Jiang Tian installed a reading app, logged into his account, and opened the bookmarked story — Little Puppy.

Ding — a message notification pinged from the edge of his desk.

Jiang Tian stretched out his arm to grab the phone. It was a message from the top donor, asking if he was ready.

KIRA: All set.
KIRA: Should I call you, Ge?

***
On the other end, Chu Xuyu had just finished showering. Wearing a bathrobe, he walked back to the bedroom and lazily leaned against the bed.

He lowered his gaze to his phone and dialed first. After two rings, the boy’s voice came through.

“Hello?”

“Mm.” Chu Xuyu curved his lips. “Did you pick out a story?”

Jiang Tian inexplicably felt nervous. “Yes.”

Chu Xuyu lay on the bed. The room’s lighting adjusted automatically into sleep mode, dim to the point of near-total darkness.

“Good,” he said. “Then begin.”

Even though it was late at night, Jiang Tian felt both nervous and oddly excited, since this was his first time attempting something like this.

He hadn’t expected the man to cut straight to the point the moment the call connected — no small talk, just a direct prompt to start reading. Naturally, he wasn’t in the right headspace yet.

“One sec…”

Jiang Tian glanced around his room, quickly shut the window, turned off the main light, and left only a soft desk lamp for reading.

Taking a deep breath, he said toward the phone:
“I’m going to begin now.”

Holding the e-reader with one hand, slim and smooth to the touch, he unconsciously stroked its surface for a few seconds. In the faint glow of the lamp, his face still looked a little flushed from the cold shower.

He opened the story, and with a clear, slightly magnetic voice, began reading:

“Once upon a time…”

Once upon a time, the wolf king of the forest became the strongest among beasts and gained the ability to transform into a human form.

But later, dissatisfied with what he had, he craved more power and wealth, so he and his kind infiltrated the human world.

Meanwhile, a little puppy that had long struggled to survive in the forest caught wind of this and became even more afraid to approach the human world…

Jiang Tian read as he scanned the lines, using a light tone that suited the story. Based on years of watching anime, he had a feeling the wolf king might turn out to be the villain.

He could hear the top donor’s breathing gradually slowing, thinking the man must be drifting off to sleep.

But then a deep voice suddenly interrupted:

“Have you heard this story before?”

Jiang Tian paused. “No.”

He thought maybe the man recognized the story and asked,
“Why? Is something wrong?”

“No,” the man replied, his tone unreadable. “Go on.”

Jiang Tian hesitated a beat, then continued as requested. At the same time, he absorbed the plot details.

In the beginning, the wolf king disguised himself as a human and entered the dazzling city, starting from the bottom of the workforce. Over time, he figured out how society worked and eventually built a powerful business empire alongside his fellow wolves.

Meanwhile, the little puppy, not having heard any news about the wolf king, assumed the danger was gone and decided to try venturing into the human world.

Jiang Tian: “……”

Though he found it strange, he said nothing, not until the story had the puppy accidentally crossing paths with the wolf king, which made Jiang Tian’s suspicions grow.

The clever yet innocent puppy had heard the human world was full of opportunities, so he came to the unfamiliar city. By chance, he landed an internship at the wolf king’s empire, completely unaware that he had walked straight into the jaws of the wolf…

Jiang Tian kept reading seriously, unsure if the top donor was anywhere close to falling asleep, so he softened his voice even more to avoid scaring away the metaphorical sleep bug.

But then, once again, the man interrupted:

“Skip ahead a few pages.”

Jiang Tian didn’t quite understand, but he didn’t object either. Maybe the man thought the intro was dragging on.

Obliging as the narrator, Jiang Tian flipped ahead, only to see a line that made his eyes widen.

The wolf CEO pinned the puppy boy against the desk, lightly biting his ear as he huskily whispered: “You thought I’d let you go?”

“?!”

‘Why does this feel like a complete genre shift?!’

Jiang Tian vaguely sensed that something was off, but he still didn’t think it would go that far. Since he had already made a promise to the top donor, he could only keep reading.

His voice slowed to a snail’s pace:

“Hearing that familiar voice, the little puppy’s ears flushed red, as if burned by fire…”

“His body was also beginning to feel strange. It seemed that the tea he drank earlier had been tampered with by the wolf king’s staff…”

“Now, his body was unbearably hot, like the night years ago during his differentiation when he and the wolf king spent a night together…”

“……”

Wait a second! Is this really a normal fairy tale?!

Jiang Tian’s breathing became uneven, and he couldn’t bring himself to keep going. But on the other end of the call, the man’s low voice urged:

“Continue.”

“I…” Jiang Tian hesitated.

“Don’t want to read anymore?” came Chu Xuyu’s voice.

With his brain swimming like it had been dunked in glue, Jiang Tian somehow convinced himself to push on, reading a few more lines stiffly.

The plot only got more and more ridiculous, it turned out that the wolf king and the little puppy had once had a one-night stand in the forest, and now that they’d reunited… they were at it again.

Jiang Tian’s face burned crimson. Hands trembling, he opened the comment section, only to realize—

This was a CP fanfic in fairy tale style!

The comments were all screaming:

“So sweet! So spicy! Give me MORE of this wallpaper-worthy love!!”

Jiang Tian: “……”

There’s no way the top donor would figure that out, right?

“Already found it.”

The man’s voice didn’t seem to change, but Jiang Tian swore he heard a teasing edge.

“What’s fanfiction?”

Jiang Tian reflexively stammered: “W-What?”

“Don’t play dumb,” Chu Xuyu said flatly. “Didn’t you carefully pick this story for bedtime?”

“…………”
No. No, he did not.

Why did that line sound like “Didn’t you scheme so hard just to seduce me?”

Jiang Tian was speechless. Relying on muscle memory, he flipped ahead, but no amount of blank stares could hide what he saw.

The story had escalated to office romance territory: the wolf king with wolf ears and the puppy boy with dog ears were trying out different positions across the high-rise corporate setting.

Every single word was overstimulating.

He couldn’t keep going.

Jiang Tian’s breath was burning hot. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the man’s voice only grew louder in his ears, like it was right next to him, biting his earlobe:

“You’re sure it wasn’t on purpose?”

“No,” Jiang Tian mumbled, biting his lower lip. “Can’t you trust me?”

The words had a hint of a whine, though he didn’t realize it himself, but to Chu Xuyu, it came through the speaker like honey, soft and tingling.

“Hm?” the man deliberately prodded. “Didn’t catch that.”

“I said…”

“It really wasn’t on purpose.”

“Not on purpose what?”

“Not on purpose… reading that kind of story…”

“Oh.”

Chu Xuyu corrected him, tone slow and suggestive:

“Not going to say ‘not on purpose seducing you’?”

Jiang Tian almost dropped his phone. “…?!”
Seduce?!

How could he possibly have such impure intentions!

And yet… Jiang Tian opened his mouth and found he had no defense. After all, he had chosen the bedtime story. He had suggested reading it aloud. Even if he wanted to blame someone, there was no one to shift the blame to.

All he could do was purse his lips and resign himself to this ambiguous mess.

“I’m getting a little sleepy,” Chu Xuyu finally said.

That sentence was salvation.

Jiang Tian saw light at the end of the tunnel — thank god the top donor wasn’t going to bully him over this and drag the topic out.

“Then…” Jiang Tian tried to steady his voice. “Ge, get some rest.”

“Mm.”

***

Chu Xuyu chuckled softly, clearly still teasing him.

Then he added:
“Can I ask you out?”

“Hm?”

“I want to treat you to a meal,” Chu Xuyu said, using a phrasing even a cautious puppy would accept.

“And if you’re still trying to return the money —”

“Then just use that money to treat me from now on.”

Jiang Tian: “…………”

Wait. How did this go from a sleep-aid voice call to in-person dinner?!

And, that was one million yuan!

How many meals would it take to burn through that amount?!

Surely they weren’t going to eat together for a lifetime… right?!