Chapter 27: The next morning

When he woke up the next day, Hou Yizhen was dazed for a moment. It took him a few seconds to realize that the ceiling above him belonged to the old homestead villa he had inherited from his grandfather in Beigou Village.

The room was quite bright. Last night, he hadn’t had time to close the windows or curtains because he had been busy taking care of the sleeping boy,.

The boy—his nephew.

Hou Yizhen’s attention finally shifted from the ceiling to the soft body lying in his arms. He looked down and saw the boy’s sleeping face, clearly exhausted from the previous day’s events.

The man stared at him quietly, momentarily lost in thought.

The air was peaceful.

He could hear the wind passing through the few leaves on the surrounding trees, carrying the chirping of birds through the morning air.

The curtains swayed gently in the breeze coming from the open windows.

How long had it been since he had experienced such a peaceful moment?

As a highly ambitious, arrogant, and proud man, Hou Yizhen’s life was constantly in motion. He was busy with company affairs, socializing, countering his enemies’ schemes, and satisfying his seemingly endless libido as a well-known Casanova.

Hou Yizhen’s strange attraction to Lin Feng, the boy who had suddenly appeared in his life, was something he knew was dangerous.

He was a man with strong instincts. The moment he decided to indulge this attraction, he could already see himself standing at the edge of a cliff, surrounded by nothing but empty air, with a deep, rocky abyss below.

However, Hou Yizhen had always had absolute confidence in himself. Even if he chose to step into this forbidden relationship, he still believed that he could remain in control of everything. He would never be foolish enough to keep inching toward the edge until he eventually fell.

His gaze gradually cleared, and the dazed expression disappeared.

Soon, Hou Yizhen had returned to his usual cold, aloof, and arrogant self.

He stood up and carefully stepped out of bed before walking toward the bathroom with silent steps.

At that moment, he didn’t realize how gentle his movements had been.

Had he noticed, perhaps he would have been even more cautious and distant around the boy he believed he could easily control.

Lin Feng woke up in a daze when he heard the sound of rushing water.

The pair of foggy, amber eyes blinked several times, trying to clear the fog from his mind before finally remembering what had happened the previous night.

!

All the sensations in his body immediately came rushing back.

It’s not at all related to lust, but body pain from all the labor he did!

"Oww." ℯ

A painful moan escaped his mouth as his eyes widened in surprise.

His entire body ached terribly. It hurt so much that Lin Feng couldn’t bear to move at all.

Why is it so painful?

Lin Feng was already aware that overexerting himself while working on the empty plot of land would leave his body aching. This was exactly what Housekeeper Yang had warned him about. That was also why the elder had offered to give him a massage.

However, Lin Feng had thought he could endure it.

Unexpectedly, he had severely underestimated just how intense the pain would be!

How did the farmers endure living under this kind of pain?

To think back then, when he was still Madam Lin, he had only sighed a few times after hearing the plight of farmers who planted their land yet had nothing to harvest!

How much despair did they feel after enduring countless painful days and nights in hope for a bountiful harvest to reward their pain, only to receive nothing in the end?

Madam Lin had farmlands in her dowry too, yet she failed to understand her tenants’ difficulties.

And she was proud of herself for being known as a virtuous woman of great compassion by her meager donations!

The boy tried to move, but pain shot through his muscles.

"Ow, ow. Oh my, how can it hurt so much..."

The delicate Lin Feng murmured painfully, his face pale. His eyes were red, but he stubbornly held the tears back.

How could he cry? If he cried from the pain now that he was a man, wouldn’t Hou Yizhen look down on him even more?

Hou Yizhen.

Suddenly, he remembered the man.

Hearing the sound of water splashing in the bathroom, Lin Feng deduced that Hou Yizhen must be inside and washing up.

A moment later, the water stopped, and the bathroom door opened.

Hou Yizhen stepped out, revealing his tall figure and deeply tanned skin. His black hair was still wet, with droplets of water running down his neck and chest. He held a towel over his head, rubbing his hair dry.

When he saw that the boy was awake, the man paused for a moment before walking over.

"It’s only six in the morning. Why did you wake up so early? Aren’t you tired from yesterday’s work?"

Yesterday’s work?

Hou Yizhen was referring to the heavy labor in the empty plot of land.

However, Lin Feng misunderstood him and thought he was referring to the intimate service he had provided the man.

Lin Feng’s face immediately flushed red. He buried his face in the pillow, desperately trying to compose himself.

’Lin Feng, you’re a man now. You’re a man now. So don’t act so womanly.’

Throwing away the towel in his hand, Hou Yizhen watched his reaction with amusement while opening the wardrobe.

Housekeeper Yang had moved his clothes into the room the previous night while he and the sleeping Lin Feng had been washing up in the bathroom, so his clothes were all here.

Hou Yizhen took off his robe, revealing his powerful and naked body, the muscles on his back flexing with the movements.

Lin Feng finally recovered and raised his head, intending to speak to the man, only to be met with the naked sight before him.

He accidentally let out a startled yelp before burying his face in the pillow again.

’I’m acting too womanly again!’ The boy gritted his teeth, annoyed with himself.

Glancing back at the embarrassed boy, Hou Yizhen raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"I thought your whole body would be aching by now, but it seems you’re fine. I didn’t know you were used to heavy labor."

"Ah."

Only then did Lin Feng remember the state of his body. The waves of pain immediately came rushing back.

The boy tilted his head and glared at the man, his amber eyes filled with blame. He had finally managed to distract himself from the pain, but this man just had to remind him.

However, in the man’s eyes, the boy looked at him pitifully like a small puppy asking for his master’s pity and love.

"Uncle Hou, my whole body aches a lot. I can’t move because it uhurts so much," the fluffy puppy complained.

Hou Yizhen paused again. Seeing the boy’s pale face, he frowned.

"Is it really that painful? Should I call someone to give you a massage?"

Lin Feng remembered that Housekeeper Yang had told him a massage would help ease the pain.