The CEO Saw Everything… Then Carried Me to the Shower

Ning Shixue’s breath caught.

He gripped his phone tightly.
His entire burning, flushed face was buried in the pillow.
He was so suffocated he could barely breathe.
He was simply too embarrassed to lift his head.

Damn it, he hadn’t said anything, had he?
How did Xie Zhaozhou find out?

“Ningning?”
Xie Zhaozhou called him again in a low voice.

Ning Shixue forced himself to act normal.
The tips of his ears were bright red.
He turned his head away and muttered,
“I’m sleeping… not doing anything.”

Xie Zhaozhou was silent for a few seconds.
Ning Shixue thought he had finally given up.
Unexpectedly, Xie Zhaozhou switched the call to video.
Ning Shixue was caught off guard.
He instinctively answered.
Then he suddenly realized and flipped the phone screen-down on the bed.

“What’s wrong?”
Xie Zhaozhou’s tone was low and suggestive, with a hint of grievance.
“Does Teacher Xiao Ning not want to see me?”

He was even turning the tables.

Ning Shixue’s skin wasn’t as thick as his.

But he was always left speechless by Xie Zhaozhou, and he wasn’t very willing to accept it either.
Ning Shixue hesitated for a moment.
Before Xie Zhaozhou could speak again, he threw caution to the wind.
He grabbed his phone and said, embarrassed and angry,
“Look, then.”

Xie Zhaozhou was still at the company.
He had put the video call aside and continued looking through documents.
When he looked up, he couldn’t help being stunned.

He pressed his thin lips together and didn’t make a sound.

Ning Shixue’s pale cheeks were flushed red.
He was only wearing a bathrobe, curled up under the covers.
Logically, you couldn’t see much.
But his legs were still clamping the blanket.
The backs of his knees, which rarely saw the light, were exposed in front of the camera.

He was even holding Xie Zhaozhou’s suit jacket in his arms.
The black jacket draped over him made his skin look even fairer and smoother.

Like he was indulging in desire.
A very decadent kind of beauty.

What Ning Shixue had done that night was obvious.
And he had even done it holding Xie Zhaozhou’s jacket.

Xie Zhaozhou’s voice suddenly went hoarse.
He couldn’t even bring himself to flirt anymore.
Ning Shixue was easily stirred up and blushed so easily.
But at times like this, he could be so straightforward that it caught him off guard.

“Is that enough?”
Ning Shixue said, looking away uncomfortably.
But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Xie Zhaozhou’s ears were also red.

They stared at each other for a few minutes.
Xie Zhaozhou finally couldn’t help chuckling.
His usually cool voice was blurred by the static, sounding much gentler.
“Enough.”

Ning Shixue finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Good thing Xie Zhaozhou wasn’t completely shameless.

Xie Zhaozhou asked him again if his stomach still hurt.
Ning Shixue lay on the bed, talking to him.
Before he knew it, over half an hour had passed.
It wasn’t until Xie Zhaozhou said goodnight that he realized it was already this late.
He mumbled,
“Goodnight, Second Brother.”

Xie Zhaozhou’s tongue ran over his teeth.
Flirtatious words almost slipped out.
He had originally wanted to tell Ning Shixue he would come back to be with him in a few days.
But he was afraid Ning Shixue would be so angry he couldn’t sleep.
In the end, he held back and waited for Ning Shixue to hang up first.

There was still one last stop for the parenting show.
As usual, the last stop was a vacation.
There would be a long break in between.

He Lin had already started preparing for the filming of Last Night’s Star.
Actually, preparations for this movie had started half a year ago.
Everything was ready, just waiting for the right male lead.

This time, filming was still in Yan City.
Because the real-life incident the movie was based on happened in Yan City.

The male lead Ning Shixue played in the movie was called Wen Yu.
The younger sister was called Xiaoyan’er.
He stayed home for three days, reading the script from beginning to end several times.
He memorized everything he needed to.
Soon, it was time to start filming.

The day filming started happened to be the day Xie Yaoyao’s kindergarten opened.
The driver dropped them off one by one in the morning.

Xie Yaoyao was dropped off at kindergarten first.
He didn’t actually mind going to kindergarten.
In the car, he hugged Ning Shixue’s neck and cried for a while.
Then he put on his little dinosaur backpack and was taken to the kindergarten gate.

The teacher was waiting for them at the gate.
She took the children’s hands one by one and led them to their classrooms.

Xie Yaoyao also pattered over.
But he hadn’t let go of Ning Shixue’s hand yet.
His fair, tender little cheeks puffed out as he said worriedly,
“Baby, I’ll come pick you up tonight.”

Ning Shixue: “…”

Father and son reversed.

Who was picking up who?

Ning Shixue couldn’t help feeling awkward when he met the teacher.

The teacher was grinning from ear to ear.
She had, of course, watched the show featuring the kids from her class.
She looked down and asked Xie Yaoyao,
“You’re going to pick the baby up tonight?”

“Yes oh,”
Xie Yaoyao said, sighing maturely.
“Baby doesn’t know the way. If I don’t pick him up, he’ll get lost.”

Ning Shixue had no idea why Xie Yaoyao was so insistent on picking him up.

Touching, but really unnecessary.

After Xie Yaoyao left, Ning Shixue also went to the set.

Wen Yu had brought along three children.
Besides Xiaoyan’er, there was also a three-year-old little boy named Mengmeng in the movie.
The last one wasn’t brought from the uncle’s place.
Wen Yu had found him one winter near a rundown apartment building.

He was found not long after he was born.
He was a child who had been abandoned because he was blind from birth.

But the first scene only had Wen Yu and Xiaoyan’er.
The other children weren’t there.

Ning Shixue went to change clothes.
He Lin watched him get his makeup done.
His skin already had that sickly pallor.
He didn’t even need to put on foundation.
His lower eyelids were deep, giving him a cold look.
He Lin had the makeup artist soften his features.

In this world, Wen Yu was like this.
After he sent Xiaoyan’er home, Xiaoyan’er’s parents insisted on taking a photo with him.

He Lin was stunned when he first saw it.
He was indeed a very delicate and good-looking young man.
Even though he was emaciated from serious illness, it hadn’t completely stripped away the appearance heaven had given him.

His eyes were clear, black and white, very shy.
And full of a gentle, enduring strength.

During the day, they had a script reading and took promotional photos.
Official filming started that evening.

Wen Yu lived with his uncle and aunt.
When Ning Shixue joined the cast a few days earlier, He Lin had already filmed the childhood scenes with the child actor.
Including having his leg broken and becoming completely disabled.

Ning Shixue started acting directly from when Wen Yu was sixteen.
He wore a short-sleeved shirt that was washed gray and torn at the shoulder.
Below were loose, ill-fitting sweatpants.

He had worn them for several years.
The pants were too short, frayed at the hems, revealing a section of his thin, pale ankle.

“All departments ready!”

He Lin attached great importance to this movie.
For the first scene, he personally stood by the monitor and clapped the slate.
His expression was very serious.
“Last Night’s Star, Scene 1, Take 1! Action!”

It had rained that evening.
The rundown, dirty mountain village was covered in puddles everywhere.
Wen Yu limped on his left leg.
He crouched by the sheep pen, washing clothes for his uncle and aunt and their several children.
His knuckles were rubbed red.
The backs of his hands were covered in bruises.

The lights were dim and dark.
Suddenly, a little girl’s cry came from the yard entrance.
She struggled until her face was red, kicking her legs nonstop.

The man’s palms were dark, covered in sticky sweat.
He viciously pulled her by her little pigtails, dragging her towards the sheep pen.
He couldn’t help cursing under his breath.
“You f*cking ate my food for so long, and now you don’t want to earn money for me? If I hadn’t picked you up from outside, you’d have starved to death by now. What are you screaming for?!”

His uncle and aunt had three children, all sleeping in the main room.
Wen Yu and the five or six children his uncle had picked up slept in the mud-brick house next to the sheep pen.

The man’s irritable, suppressed cursing sounded.
Several children couldn’t help starting to cry, but didn’t dare cry out loud.

Through the broken wooden door, Wen Yu could hear the children’s soft sobs behind him.

He lowered his head to his chest, afraid of angering the man.
Until the little girl suddenly cried out, screaming desperately for her mother.
Wen Yu’s hand shook.
He knocked over the basin.
The clothes fell to the ground, covered in mud.
The noise was loud.

The man had originally been about to break the little girl’s leg, making her beg with Wen Yu.
They would pretend to be siblings.
The brother was already not well, and the sister had been in a car accident.

But Wen Yu’s commotion annoyed him.
He stormed out of the sheep pen, kicked Wen Yu in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
His fists and feet rained down.
He grabbed Wen Yu by the hair, slamming his head into the ground.
He cursed filthy words,
“You f*cking want to die too?!”

“Oh, that’s enough,”
his aunt couldn’t help lifting the curtain and coming out.
“If you want to hit him, do it outside. The kids are all woken up.”

Only then did the man stop.

“Cut!”
The script supervisor clapped the slate.

Of course, they didn’t actually hit each other during filming.
But Ning Shixue and He Miao were still covered in dirt.
He Miao’s little pigtails were also pulled loose.
He Lin’s heart ached for her.

That’s why he hadn’t dared tell Xie Zhaozhou at first.
He knew filming this movie would be very hard.

Even knowing it was just acting, people couldn’t help feeling sorry.

Under the cover of night, they still had to film the second scene that night.
It was Wen Yu’s first escape attempt with the children.

But this attempt failed.

“Scene 2, Take 1! Action!”
He Lin raised his hand to signal the lighting crew.

Under the night sky, several large lights came on at once.

The man had given up on breaking the little girl’s leg that night.
He threw her to Wen Yu.
Wen Yu was shaking nervously, but he still quietly asked her if she remembered where her home was.
He handed her a tissue to wipe her face and asked,
“What’s your name?”

“Xiaoyan’er,”
the little girl sobbed.

Wen Yu had a younger brother, not much younger than Xiaoyan’er.
The other children didn’t remember their parents.
He couldn’t take them all.
That night, while his uncle was asleep, he took Xiaoyan’er and his brother and left.

He had saved up dozens of yuan and bought a few bus tickets.
Taking advantage of the night, he caught the last bus out of the mountain village.
He wanted to go to the town and call the police.

Although Xiaoyan’er had wandered to this village, maybe the police could still find her family.
Even if they couldn’t find them, at least she wouldn’t have her leg broken.
Wen Yu thought, once Xiaoyan’er was settled, he would leave with his brother.
He could support the two of them.

But Wen Yu never expected that just as the bus reached the edge of town, it suddenly stopped.
His uncle, with a dark face, got on the bus.
He grabbed Wen Yu’s arm and dragged him off.

His aunt also looked unfriendly.
She grabbed Xiaoyan’er and the younger brother, pinching their arms as she pushed them off.

The uncle even turned and smiled sheepishly at the driver.
“Sorry about that. The kid ran away from home.”

The driver didn’t think much of it.
Wen Yu and the others looked like older kids taking care of two little ones.
It did look like running away from home.

After the driver drove off, the man’s face changed.

“You’ve grown wings, huh,”
the man said, having driven over in a van.
His expression was dark.
He snatched Wen Yu’s money and slapped him across the face.
“You dare to run?!”

Wen Yu, his brother, and Xiaoyan’er were all pushed into the van.
The two children were so scared they cried.
Especially the younger brother, who cried the hardest.
Even though it was late at night, cars still passed by occasionally.
This place was quite close to the police station.
The aunt quickly covered his mouth.

The uncle drove towards the village.
Halfway there, the van went silent.
He lit a cigarette and asked impatiently,
“Finally stopped crying?”

“Old Wen, he… he seems to have stopped breathing,”
the aunt said, her face full of terror.
She tremblingly let go.

The script supervisor clapped the slate again.

The child actor playing the younger brother only had this one scene.
Actually, they had cooperated quite tacitly.
But since he had to cry the whole time and couldn’t just fake cry, this scene still took almost three hours.

The younger brother was dead.

From then on, Wen Yu didn’t dare call the police.
When he took Xiaoyan’er and Mengmeng away for the second time, he chose to take them home himself.

Ning Shixue got every scene in one take that night.
When they wrapped up, his lips were a bit pale.
For him, acting wasn’t the hard part.
The hard part was controlling himself from fighting back.

He Lin filmed in real locations.
Tonight, they were filming in a mountain village near Yan City.
Even with the production lights shining and cameras and staff everywhere, it still felt very real.

The actor playing the uncle was tall.
His makeup made him look very fierce and unkempt.
When he kicked Ning Shixue, Ning Shixue almost couldn’t help punching him back.

A crew member brought water over.
Ning Shixue crouched down and washed his face.
The night wind chilled him.
But before he could get cold, his shoulders suddenly felt slightly heavier.

Ning Shixue’s eyelashes still had water droplets on them.
He looked up.
Xie Zhaozhou had taken off his coat and draped it over his shoulders.

Ning Shixue was stunned for a moment before he realized.
At a loss, he asked,
“Second Brother, when did you get here?”

“Just arrived,”
Xie Zhaozhou said, taking the towel from the crew member and wiping his face.

Crew members were coming and going everywhere.
Ning Shixue’s face warmed.
He took the towel and wiped his own face.

Actually, Xie Zhaozhou had driven over over an hour ago.
It happened to be when Ning Shixue and the others were filming the second scene.
He stayed behind the monitor with He Lin.

Even He Lin couldn’t help feeling a chill down his spine.

But Xie Zhaozhou didn’t say anything.
He didn’t blame him for getting Ning Shixue to act in this kind of movie.
His dark eyes just remained deep, watching Ning Shixue through the monitor.

Ning Shixue said goodbye to He Lin and He Miao and went home with Xie Zhaozhou.

It had indeed rained in Yan City that evening.
It was a bit cold at night.
Ning Shixue gathered the suit jacket on his shoulders.
Xie Zhaozhou held his hand.
The moonlight in the mountains was bright.
In the distance, there were still large lights from the production that hadn’t been dismantled.
But the mountain road was still a bit dark.

“Second Brother,”
Ning Shixue looked up and couldn’t help saying,
“The driver could have picked me up.”

Xie Zhaozhou stayed at the company very late every night.
Now he had come to pick him up.
He might have to go back to the company afterwards.

Xie Zhaozhou paused.
He pulled Ning Shixue into his arms.
His eyes were deep.
Rarely not flirting with him, he said quietly,
“It’s dark walking on the mountain road at night. Aren’t you afraid of the dark?”

Ning Shixue’s eyes widened in surprise.

He was indeed afraid of the dark.
When he was little, night was when he got beaten.
Then, in the instance, nights were always the hardest to endure.
But being afraid was meaningless.
This fear no longer affected him.

He just hated the night now.

But how did Xie Zhaozhou know?

“When you sleep at night,”
Xie Zhaozhou said, unable to resist pinching his cheek.
There was a mischievous air about it.
Ning Shixue couldn’t help dodging.
He continued,
“you always leave a crack in the curtains.”

At first, on the show, he thought Ning Shixue just hadn’t closed them properly.
Later, he realized Ning Shixue did it every time.

It was fine in Yan City at night, with the city center dazzling.
But it would be very dark in the mountains.
Even though Ning Shixue would leave the village by car, the mountain road was dark.
Only him and the driver.

So clingy and often sick, Xie Zhaozhou always felt he was easily scared.
And he was acting in this kind of movie.
Even though it was just acting, he was being bullied.
The fists and kicks couldn’t completely miss him.

Xie Zhaozhou really wanted to come and pick him up and take him home.

Even if Ning Shixue wasn’t scared, he still wanted to come.

Ning Shixue didn’t know there was a thing called ‘your boyfriend thinks you’re scared.’
But since Xie Zhaozhou had come, he was actually a bit happy.
His fingers gripped Xie Zhaozhou’s palm.
They swung their hands like kindergarten kids.

Xie Yaoyao the Great Demon King was the most aggrieved one.
He had also wanted to pick the baby up.
But Big Daddy wouldn’t take him.

The butler grandpa also wouldn’t let him go.
He said little kids should be asleep by 8:30.

Xie Yaoyao lay on his little bed, even sticking out his little bottom in protest.
He was almost in tears.
When would he be as tall as a little monster?
Big Daddy simply didn’t need to drive to pick up the baby.
He could just hop there.

Xie Zhaozhou came home that night too.
He and Ning Shixue arrived home at almost twelve.
Xie Yaoyao’s eyes were swollen like little peaches from crying.
He was already asleep.
Ning Shixue secretly went to see him.

Ning Shixue felt he was done for.
Why was he going to see the chubby kid sleeping late at night?

When he left the playroom, the light in Xie Zhaozhou’s study was on.
He couldn’t help walking over again.

He was completely done for.

“Second Brother, aren’t you sleeping yet?”
Ning Shixue asked, leaning against the study door.

Xie Zhaozhou had draped his suit jacket over the back of the chair.
His narrow, dark eyes curved.
The light reflected in his deep eyes.
He reached out a hand to Ning Shixue.
“Come here, Ningning.”

Ning Shixue was very unwilling.

He always felt it sounded like calling a dog.

But he still went over.

Xie Zhaozhou wrapped his arm around his waist and pulled him onto his lap.
Ning Shixue looked down and noticed many files open on his computer screen.
They all belonged to a pair of siblings named Jiang.

At first, Ning Shixue’s expression was confused.
But when he noticed their ages, he finally pressed his lips together.

The brother was called Jiang Zhan.
The sister was called Jiang Xin.
They were twins, exactly one year younger than Xie Sui.

They were probably Xie Xiangshan’s illegitimate children with that bar girl.

“These two,”
Xie Zhaozhou said quietly, looking down,
“were high school classmates with that truck driver’s brother.”

The truck driver who killed Xie Sui, Li Yuan, had a brother who was a worker on a Xie Group construction site.
He died accidentally on the site thirteen years ago.
Everyone thought this was his only connection to the Xie Group.

But now, it seemed not.

He might have known Jiang Zhan and Jiang Xin.

“Jiang Zhan and Jiang Xin’s mother also died thirteen years ago,”
Xie Zhaozhou continued.

Xie Sui’s car accident was three years ago.
Both of these people’s deaths happened ten years before the accident.

Now it had been a full thirteen years.

She had cancer.
She could have lasted a few more years with surgery.
But Jiang Zhan and Jiang Xin had no money at the time.
This woman had no savings either.
She even gambled.
She didn’t even have a house to sell.

So she died in the hospital.

Ning Shixue pieced everything together.
He asked Xie Zhaozhou,
“Second Brother, do you suspect they asked Xie Xiangshan for money?”

This woman drank, gambled, and even did drugs, without any restraint.
Ning Shixue had seen many people like this.
Based on guesswork, he thought she probably believed she would marry Xie Xiangshan back then.
She didn’t expect it was just a fling.

Then she fell into depravity.

She probably resented Xie Xiangshan.
She might have complained to Jiang Zhan and Jiang Xin that the eldest son of the Xie family was their father.

When she got sick, Jiang Zhan and Jiang Xin went to Xie Xiangshan for money.
But Xie Xiangshan was afraid of Liao Yanwan and also afraid of Old Master Xie finding out about the illegitimate children.
He most likely refused to lend it.

Jiang Zhan and Jiang Xin probably also resented Xie Xiangshan.
And Li Yuan hated Xie Xiangshan because of his brother’s death.

“There’s no record of such a large expense from Xie Xiangshan’s accounts.”
Xie Zhaozhou’s eyes were dark.
He showed the information to Ning Shixue.
He even had the presence of mind to bounce him a little on his lap.

Ning Shixue almost wanted to be widowed right then and there.

Xie Zhaozhou’s voice was low.
He couldn’t help chuckling softly and pulled him closer.
Actually, he thought the same as Ning Shixue.
He also thought they had probably asked for money, and Xie Xiangshan hadn’t given it.

Xie Zhaozhou, not waiting for Ning Shixue to hit him, changed the subject and said quietly,
“Look at this.”

Ning Shixue had no choice but to look up.

Song Li had investigated.
Jiang Zhan, Jiang Xin, and Li Yuan had no financial dealings.
They didn’t seem close privately, nor had they met.

But that was only on the surface.

Xie Zhaozhou cooperated with the police to check surveillance footage.
They finally found that three years ago, Jiang Zhan had brushed past Li Yuan outside a freight company.
It even seemed like he said something.

Song Li also went to Jiang Zhan and Jiang Xin’s hometown.
A small supermarket owner there said that thirteen years ago, Jiang Xin had met with Li Yuan.

He had a good memory anyway and had watched Li Yuan grow up since he was little.
Jiang Xin was also very beautiful.
He thought she was Li Yuan’s girlfriend, which is why he took a second look and remembered it until now.

Besides this, there were a few other times.

They definitely knew each other.

A mother and child who depended on each other for survival, and a pair of brothers who also depended on each other for survival, both died because of the same person.
Such hatred might have led them to join forces and decide to kill someone.

There was a book beside Xie Zhaozhou.

Ning Shixue couldn’t help reading the line on the cover.
“My life is like walking in the dark night.”

“Li Yuan had read this book in the car,”
Xie Zhaozhou said.

No one knew what kind of agreement the three of them had made.
But after that, Jiang Zhan and Jiang Xin started a company and tried every way to get close to Xie Xiangshan.
Li Yuan, on the other hand, worked at various moving companies and freight companies.
In short, he worked in inconspicuous places.

On the surface, they had no relationship and didn’t know each other.
Privately, Jiang Zhan and Jiang Xin were feeding Li Yuan information.

Maybe they were waiting for a chance to strike a fatal blow.

But before that chance came, Li Yuan happened to be working at that freight company.

He happened to be driving that day.
And Xie Sui and the others happened to be on that road.

Such a chance might not come again in another ten years.

Ning Shixue and Xie Zhaozhou looked at each other.
He knew what Xie Zhaozhou was thinking.
It was probably the same as him.

His voice suddenly went hoarse.

No wonder no one found the murderer in the end.
After all, it was three people, filled with hatred, carefully planning for ten years.

After Xie Zhaozhou showed him everything without hiding anything, Ning Shixue hadn’t even snapped out of it when he was suddenly lifted by the waist.

“What are you doing?”
Ning Shixue struggled.

Xie Zhaozhou ignored his struggle and carried him to the bathroom,不容抗拒ly saying,
“Time to sleep.”

Ning Shixue still had to act the next day.
He did need to sleep.
But when they got to the bathroom, Xie Zhaozhou didn’t let go of him.
Hot water streamed down his shoulders, over his pale back, disappearing into deeper places.

Ning Shixue almost bit his own lip until it bled.
The bathroom light swayed in his eyes.
His eyelashes trembled.
He drifted in the trembling.
Finally, he grabbed Xie Zhaozhou’s hair and pulled him up.

“What’s wrong?”
Xie Zhaozhou’s dark phoenix eyes curved.
His red lips also curved involuntarily.
He asked hoarsely.

Ning Shixue turned his head away.
The tips of his ears under his dark hair were bright red.
He didn’t dare look at him.

Xie Zhaozhou held him and rinsed him off.
Then he put his pajamas on him.
Ning Shixue reached out to grab the pajamas, mumbling with a red face,
“I can put them on myself.”

Xie Zhaozhou stared at the tips of his pale, red ears.
He really couldn’t help it.
He said lazily,
“I took them off.”

Ning Shixue looked up blankly.

“So I have to put them back on.”

Ning Shixue: “…”