Chapter 63
In the early hours of the morning, the night was deep, and all was silent.
A black car quietly drove into the villa area.
The dog named Sunset twitched its right ear twice in its sleep and then opened its eyes.
A man in a black suit had somehow appeared in the house.
Spotting the person asleep on the sofa, Lu Jiuxu, who was taking off his coat and loosening his tie, softened his steps considerably.
Seeing Lu Jiuxu return, Sunset wagged its tail excitedly and bounded towards him.
But after taking just two short steps, the dog noticed the man signaling it to stay quiet.
The puppy instantly fell silent.
Lu Jiuxu averted his eyes and softly knelt before Su Xingyao, looking down at him.
His look was tender.
He had barely slept in almost three days, and his narrow eyes were bloodshot.
Following Lu Tianyan's abrupt departure, everyone sought to oust him from the power center.
But after lurking and managing by that scoundrel's side for so many years, it wasn't for mourning his death.
He aimed to seize all the industries under the Lu family's control.
With Lu Tianyan's unexpected passing today, countless matters at both the company and home awaited his attention.
Lu Jiuxu knew he couldn't afford to waste time on distractions at such a critical moment.
But an instinctive urge compelled him to make this late-night journey.
Initially, he merely wished to catch a fleeting glimpse of Su Xingyao.
Lu Jiuxu's gaze dropped, lingering on the serene sleeping face.
The sleeper looked both docile and beautiful.
His thick lashes curled delicately upwards, and his pale lips were soft and tender.
The individual, naturally as gentle as water, appeared even more serene in sleep.
Compelled by an irresistible force, Lu Jiuxu edged closer, and the sleeper was instantly shrouded in his shadow, as if embraced in his arms.
The figure on the sofa shifted his head slightly, his delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed.
Possibly finding the sleeping position uncomfortable, Su Xingyao's curled eyelashes fluttered gently, and his body turned to the right.
His hands slowly folded and placed beside his right cheek, his slender, pale legs also slightly bent.
The warm skin of his calves exposed to the air pressed against Lu Jiuxu's leg through the suit.
The oversized pajamas also revealed half of the round, fair flesh of his right shoulder due to this turn.
His long fingers, as if with a mind of their own, longed to touch the soft, warm lips of the person before him.
But in the end, Lu Jiuxu only let his gaze linger on the other's beautiful face, holding back.
"Why didn't you go back to your room to sleep?"
Su Xingyao, curled up on the sofa and sleeping as sweetly as a kitten, mumbled in response.
But ultimately, he didn't wake up for even a second.
Lu Jiuxu chuckled softly, the weariness in his eyes vanishing.
With his left hand, he gently lifted the pair of pale, slim legs, and with his right hand, he wrapped it around Su Xingyao's slender waist through the fabric.
Lu Jiuxu held Su Xingyao in his arms, carrying him back to the bedroom with gentle movements.
After lying down on the soft bed, Su Xingyao, whose body finally relaxed, let out a soft, satisfied hum.
With a faint smile, Lu Jiuxu draped a thin blanket over Su Xingyao and turned on the small nightlight he had given him by the bedside.
The soft light filled the room, but it wasn't as bright as before.
Something seemed to be blocking it, obscuring half of the nightlight's glow.
Lu Jiuxu turned the nightlight around and found a simple sketch hidden behind the photo.
He looked down and pulled out the drawing.
After seeing the figure on it clearly, Lu Jiuxu chuckled.
The figure on it looked a lot like him.
"Meow~"
Coral, who had been sleeping in its bed, had somehow climbed onto the bed.
After swishing its tail gently, it settled down beside Su Xingyao's pillow.
His phone buzzed softly in his pocket, and the assistant downstairs called Lu Jiuxu, telling him it was time to go.
Lu Jiuxu didn't answer, just silencing the phone.
The room returned to silence, not even a buzz remained.
Glancing at Coral, comfortably asleep next to Su Xingyao, Lu Jiuxu reached out and gave its head a pat.
"Be good, don't wake him up."
The cute cat didn’t budge, not even bothering to open its eyes, clearly ignoring him.
Lu Jiuxu smirked and stood up, "You little turncoat."
As he closed the door, in the soft glow of the nightlight, Lu Jiuxu stared at the sleeping figure on the bed for a moment longer before striding downstairs.
Returning to the living room, he picked up the coat he had taken off earlier.
Turning around, Lu Jiuxu noticed that Sunset was climbing onto Su Xingyao's easel.
As he went forward to pick up the dog, he saw the line written on the painting.
—I've taken good care of both Coral and Sunset.
The slender eyes instantly lit up with a hint of amusement.
*
The next morning, Su Xingyao was awakened by the soft fur of Coral, the cat.
Still half-asleep and in a daze, he looked at the fluffy cat snuggling up to him and reached out to pat its head.
"Good morning, Coral~"
After snuggling with the cat, Su Xingyao forced his eyes open and instinctively reached for his phone by the bed.
Having forgotten to charge it last night, the phone's battery was now below ten percent.
Instead of immediately looking for the charger, Su Xingyao opened WeChat first.
The pinned chat, which had been silent for a while, today surprisingly showed a small red dot.
Su Xingyao hesitated for a moment, then quickly tapped on it.
Mr. Lu: Hm
A vague, almost cold reply.
His mind was still hazy in the early morning.
Su Xingyao stared at the word for a while before fully waking up.
Then he suddenly realized that he was now lying in the big bed in the bedroom.
Pushing himself up with his hands on the soft bed, Su Xingyao scanned his room before looking down at Coral.
He remembered painting on the sofa downstairs last night. When had he come back to sleep?
A sudden thought popped into his head.
Su Xingyao kicked off the blanket, slipped on his slippers, and ran downstairs.
Auntie Zhang had already made breakfast.
Seeing Su Xingyao come down, she told him to hurry up and eat.
Without even responding, Su Xingyao asked abruptly, "Auntie Zhang, did Mr. Lu come back last night?"
Auntie Zhang put down the plate in her hand and gave Su Xingyao a puzzled look. "No, he didn't."
"Mr. Lu hasn't been back for several days."
For a moment, Su Xingyao's heart felt suddenly hollow.
His steps slowed as he descended the stairs, and the light in his eyes dimmed.
Had it just been his imagination?
After going back upstairs to freshen up and change, Su Xingyao returned to the dining room.
As he was eating the fried dumplings Auntie Zhang had made for him, Sunset, the puppy, came trotting over on its short legs.
The restless little dog circled around his legs, its tiny tail brushing against his ankle, tickling his skin.
"Arf arf arf~"
Su Xingyao thought the puppy was hungry and got up to get him some dog food.
However, when he looked down, he saw the puppy clutching a tie in its mouth.
Since the puppy was too short, the other end of the tie was dragging on the ground.
"Arf arf arf!!!"
Luori's floppy ears perked up, and he tilted his head back, straining to lift his tiny head so Su Xingyao could see better.
Su Xingyao was startled, "Luori, why are you biting Mr. Lu's tie?"
Realizing his little master didn’t get it, Luori spun around and dashed to the sofa where Su Xingyao had slept the night before, circling it frantically.
"Arf arf arf!!!!"
"Arf arf arf!!"
Su Xingyao followed him, but clueless about dog language and last night’s events, he had no idea what Luori was trying to say.
He crouched down, gently tugging at the tie, "Luori, be a good boy, let go of the tie, don’t ruin it..."
Luori’s big, shiny black eyes locked onto Su Xingyao, as if trying to communicate something incomprehensible.
The puppy refused to let go, hopping back and forth on the sofa, his tiny paws tapping impatiently.
Su Xingyao had watched a video of a dog destroying a house yesterday.
Seeing Luori act this way, Su Xingyao assumed the puppy had caught the destructive bug and was now a full-fledged home wrecker. At a loss, he pulled out his phone and started recording.
A few minutes later, Lu Jiuxu got a video message on WeChat.
Below it was a message.
Su Maomao: The dog’s gone wild, I can’t handle him anymore.
*
On the day of Lu Tianyan's funeral, both the business and fan circles were thrown into chaos.
The business world was stunned by Lu Jiuxu, Lu Tianyan’s eldest son, who had been brought back into the fold and was known for his low-key demeanor.
This time, however, he acted swiftly and ruthlessly, quickly eliminating all obstacles in just a week and seamlessly securing control of the Lu Group.
Not only that, but he completely overhauled the Lu Group’s internal shareholders, and those who had opposed him vanished from the scene.
His ruthless efficiency struck fear into everyone and catapulted Lu Jiuxu to fame.
As the Jin City business elite marveled, a paparazzi shot of Lu Jiuxu in a black suit at the funeral went viral in fan circles, instantly making him the heartthrob of countless young fans.
With no Weibo account of his own, fans flocked to the Lu Group’s subsidiaries to express their adoration.
"Is there really a CEO out there who’s young, drop-dead gorgeous, and filthy rich?"
"Wuwuwuwu, my hubby’s so alpha, I’m weak in the knees."
"Hubby, come get me!"
"Hubby, need a college-educated leg ornament?"
"Ahhhhh, even with the National Anti-Fraud app, Mr. Lu still stole my heart."
While scrolling through netizens gushing over Lu Jiuxu, Su Xingyao was interrupted by a sudden message on his phone.
Lu Doggy: Hey, Su Maomao.
Su Xingyao barely had time to read it before another message popped up.
Lu Doggy: I’ve got this.