On Thursday afternoon, Leopard took Xu Ye to the Flower Court clubhouse for an appointment.
This kind of gathering was nothing more than a gathering of young masters and brothers to eat, drink, have fun, chat and share some business information. On weekdays, Xu Ye would occasionally make time to attend such events.
Liu Jing was also there, and when he saw Xu Ye coming, he teased, “Where did you escape to for leisure?”
“I finally gave myself a few days off to rest, but I was summoned by you again.” Xu Ye was wearing a yellow polo shirt today and looked quite energetic.
“Please have a seat.” The owner of the club, Kuang Weiren, pulled him to sit next to him, pointed to the young man sitting across from him, and said, “I suppose you two haven’t met. This is Zhang Yucheng from Xinlan Electronics.”
“Hello. I am Xu Ye.” Xu Ye stretched out his hand and shook it. He felt the other person looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he saw him, so he asked tentatively, “Have we met before?”
The man in the dark brown shirt smiled, “As far as I know, we probably haven’t.”
He actually denied it so directly. Xu Ye felt a little strange, but he couldn’t ask further questions. So he could only search for this face in his memory while chatting about various topics with them.
A server brought a fruit platter and an assortment of snacks. Seeing Xu Ye not touching anything, Kuang Weiren asked, “Nothing appealing to your taste? Let me have them prepare something you’d like.”
“My stomach hasn’t been feeling well recently, so I can’t risk eating unfamiliar things,” Xu Ye found an excuse to decline politely. Chu Yu explicitly forbade him to eat outside, and he didn’t want to go back and get whipped for it.
“What’s wrong with your stomach? Did Chu Family’s Third Young Master mess it up?” Liu Jing asked with a furrowed brow.
The incident where Xu Ye was forced to drink had already become widely known, and now everyone was expressing their anger while criticizing Chu Xuan’s domineering behaviour. Xu Ye laughed helplessly. He understood that these young masters wouldn’t dare to provoke Third Young Master Chu directly, but now they were just venting their grievances under the guise of complaining about his injustice, so he remained silent. His eyes swept across Zhang Yucheng, who was also silent, and he had a flash of realization crossed his mind, and he finally remembered where he had seen him before.
It was at the East Coast Club.
He was one of the Lion’s slaves.
Since he himself could recognize Zhang Yucheng, Zhang Yucheng must have recognized him as well. Xu Ye’s expression stiffened momentarily as he saw Zhang Yucheng subtly press his index finger against his lips in a shushing gesture, and then his gaze shifted sideways towards the outside. Zhang Yucheng got up and walked out.
After a while, Xu Ye also walked outside, looking around and eventually spotting Zhang Yucheng in the courtyard.
“Sit for a while.” Zhang Yucheng sat on the bench with a cigarette between his fingers.
“I didn’t recognize you at first glance.” Xu Ye sat down and said.
“It’s a good thing you didn’t recognize me, otherwise you would’ve blown my cover.” The man laughed.
Xu Ye was a little embarrassed, “I wouldn’t have said anything. Besides, I am… part of that circle myself.”
The BDSM community has strict guidelines, one of the most important of which is not to disclose the identity of others.
“How is the Earl treating you?” Zhang Yucheng asked suddenly.
“Very good.” Xu Ye’s face turned slightly red as he thought of Chu Yu. It was the first time he had spoken about his master to someone else, and he felt a strange mix of emotions.
Seeing his reaction, the man chuckled, “They say that all the Earl’s sub will fall in love with him in the end. It seems to be true.”
Xu Ye’s heart skipped a beat, and his face turned even redder, “It’s just a game whether you like it or not.”
Zhang Yucheng laughed silently, “That’s right, it’s best to stay clear-headed. Those who get too deep into this game end up in a lot of pain.”
Xu Ye glanced at him from the corner of his eye and caught a fleeting glimpse of sorrow in the man’s eyes. He couldn’t help but sigh internally. Zhang Yucheng seemed to have fallen in love with the Lion. However, the Lion had once stated that he would never develop genuine feelings for any sub. If his slaves were to express love, they would be discarded. For Zhang Yucheng to stay by his side, he had to suppress his emotions without showing a trace. Xu Ye felt a bit sympathetic towards him and wanted to offer some comforting words, but he was interrupted before he could say anything.
“The Earl doesn’t seem to have brought you to the club.”
“I’m not quite used to that state yet.” Xu Ye pursed his lips, seemed to think of something, hesitated for a moment, and asked, “Um… in usual circumstances, does a dom suppress their desires towards a sub?”
He had just stepped into this world and didn’t have anyone to ask such questions until now. Finally encountering someone in the same situation, he decided to ask the question that had been weighing on his mind.
“You… haven’t done it yet?” The other party looked very surprised, “The Earl has taken you in for several weeks, right?”
Xu Ye blushed and nodded in embarrassment.
“I’m quite familiar with one of the earl’s former subs. From what he said, the Earl isn’t someone who suppresses his desires. Have you directly asked him about how he feels towards you?
“He does have desires towards me, I think, but he stops before crossing a certain line.” Xu Ye said helplessly, “I don’t know how other dom-sub relationships work, as he’s my first dom. Maybe I’m not good enough, and that’s why he’s not willing… to go further with me.”
“Don’t think too much. Maybe he’s using a different approach to train you.” Zhang Yucheng said, “I think you can try to be more proactive. After all, popular doms like the Earl tend to have many admirers. If he remains distant from you, he might find a more interesting sub and shift his focus.”
Xu Ye’s heart trembled, and he wanted to say something, but his words were cut off by the footsteps that approached from behind.
Kuang Weiren yelled boisterously, “Look at you two, coming here to bond with each other while dragging us along.”
Zhang Yucheng chuckled, “Just stepping out for a smoke.”
The three of them chatted for a while and then returned to join the lively afternoon tea party.
These young masters were not stingy when it came to spending money. When they realized it was getting late, someone took the initiative to suggest dinner together. Xu Ye felt a little bored and made an excuse about having something to attend to and left early.
Liu Jing stopped him, “Stay a bit longer. Your fiancée will be here soon.”
Xu Ye froze, “Who?”
“Song Yueran. She inquired about where you are to me. So I told her you are here and asked her to come over for dinner.”
“Mind your own business!” Xu Ye glared at him.
“What’s the matter? You’re fighting?” Liu Jing asked.
“Not worth mentioning. I’m leaving first.”
Xu Ye didn’t want to see that woman from the bottom of his heart. Over the past few days, she had called him numerous times, all of which he had ignored. He had always been polite to women, but that didn’t mean he was willing to be manipulated by them.
By coincidence, Song Yueran walked in when he just arrived at the door, just in time to meet him.
“Xu Ye.” She softly called out, with a bit of grievance in her eyes, “I come here, and you’re leaving. Do you really not want to see me that much?”
When he thought about how she had casually taken a life before, Xu Ye felt sick to his stomach when looking at her innocent and beautiful face. He replied in a low voice, “I have something to take care of. I’m leaving.”
“Wait!”
Xu Ye stopped and looked at her.
Tears welled up in Song Yueran’s eyes, “I don’t understand what I did wrong to deserve this kind of treatment from you. Even if our families won’t be united through marriage, we still have a business partnership. At the very least, we could be friends. Nothing happened during that night in Asakawa, but I’m a girl, and we’ve spent the entire night together in the same bed. Afterwards, you cut off all contact, even avoiding even to see me. What do you mean by that?”
Xu Ye’s tone was cold, “There are things I haven’t exposed to save us both some face. As for how I ended up in your bed that night, you should be very clear about it.”
Her face changed slightly, “What do you mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.”
“You actually think I did it? That I would shamelessly throw myself at you and sleep in the same bed?” Song Yueran burst into tears, “Dad did those things because he wanted to match us up. I didn’t even know about it. You can’t accuse me so unfairly…” Before she finished speaking, she already broke down in tears.
Had he not known her character, Xu Ye might have been deceived by her superb acting skills. But now, he just felt chills in his heart. He sneered and said, “Do you know how your ex-boyfriend, Chen Jianzhe, died?”
Song Yueran’s body stiffened, her lips trembling. Before she could say anything, Xu Ye had already walked out the gate.
After dinner, Chu Yu changed into a dark black slim-fit long military uniform, high leather military boots, epaulettes and cufflinks glowing with a silver cold light. This kind of attire was full of seriousness and restraint that was captivating.
Xu Ye’s gaze was drawn to him, and he felt a surge of heat within him. He blushed and said, “You look very handsome tonight.” It wasn’t mere flattery; Chu Yu’s well-built figure, combined with his captivating face, made any attire look good on him.
The man smiled and put on the soft black leather gloves, “Tonight is the club’s members’ activity night.”
Xu Ye bit his lip and hesitated for a while, then said, “Master, can you take me with you?”
Chu Yu’s eyes rested on his face, considering for a moment before saying, “Go to the cage and pick an outfit from the wardrobe that matches mine and come down dressed.”
Xu Ye grinned and ran upstairs. All the clothes in the cage were custom-made to his size, and he picked out a white military uniform to put on. This set was much simpler compared to Chu Yu’s gorgeous and complex silver line outline. The white uniform appeared crisp and neat, accentuating his figure with a well-fitted leather belt. When he walked downstairs, Chu Yu’s gaze shifted, and a smile appeared on his lips.
Xu Ye stood quietly, with a slightly shy expression on his face. Those bright black eyes made him look like an inexperienced sergeant, innocent yet loyal.
“Not bad.” Chu Yu lifted Xu Ye’s chin with his hand. He undid the top button of his shirt and then picked up a deep brown collar button from the table, fastening it around Xu Ye’s neck. This movement made Xu Ye’s body tense, and he hesitated to speak, “Master, do I want to wear this to go out?”
Chu Yu adjusted the collar’s position, looked at him and asked, “Don’t want to wear it?”
Xu Ye bit his lip and said, “I’m not used to going out like this.”
“I’ll give you the opportunity to get used to it.” The man curled up his lips, and his deep eyes sucked away all the light, “Slave, always remember that everything about you is under my control.”
Notes:
Heyy, sorry for the long pause coz I’m still organizing my rl shits, now that everything is somewhat under control I can spend more time finishing book 1 by this month… I planned to finished book 1 and started book 2 this month
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