TLSMLMMM Chapter 28

Si Yunyi lowered his gaze, staring at Chu Junlie before him.

Perhaps he still didn’t know what it truly meant… to lose one’s freedom.

“Are you sure you want me to restrain you?” Si Yunyi spoke steadily. “Or is it that… you simply want more attention?”

“Mr. Si controlling me is him caring about me.” Chu Junlie’s dark eyes fixed straight on Si Yunyi, firm and earnest. “As long as Mr. Si is willing to keep me under his watch, no matter what it is, I’ll listen to you.”

“Give me an example,” Si Yunyi said as he sat back down, resting his hand against his cheek, his gaze carrying a hint of probing curiosity.

In the original story, the traits Chu Junlie showed were mostly defiance, rebellion rooted in his nature.

The Chus wanted him to inherit the family business, yet he insisted on starting his own company.

After marrying into the Si family’s side branch, they told him to stay away from those “disreputable” friends of his, but he deliberately became close friends with an elderly scavenger.

Even while living with the Si family, he could’ve behaved a bit more obediently to reduce the beatings… but the thorns in his bones made him do the opposite of whatever that matriarch ordered. She told him to go left….he went right, and his reward was starvation and freezing in a locked basement.

In his dreams, any obedience Chu Junlie showed was always because he’d been cornered, or it served his own plans, or it aligned with his desires.

Now he was voluntarily asking to be controlled, and even promising obedience. To Si Yunyi, this felt like a choice where the slightest misstep could send him tumbling into a trap.

When asked for a real example, Chu Junlie’s ears reddened for some reason. He stepped closer and crouched down in front of Si Yunyi, lifting his head with bright, moist black eyes.

“I have a colleague,” he began, “whose partner checks his bills—every cent, where it was spent. And every day after work, they call him to ask where he is, and who he’s with.” Chu Junlie’s eyes sparkled with longing.

“They also check his social media interactions, and they use an app where you can see each other’s location anytime—it’s so useful.”

Si Yunyi silently questioned whether this “colleague” was real.

Those tasks require time and effort, basically a part-time job.

“I know you’re busy.” Chu Junlie looked up with hope. “If you just called me once a day, asked a few random questions, I’d already be very happy.”

Desperation filled his gaze as he stared at the silent man on the chair. If he had a tail, it would have been wagging bald by now. “Any time is okay. Please… manage me.”

Si Yunyi looked at him thoughtfully.

Freedom, to him, might feel like neglect.

And if all it took was one call a day to give him peace… perhaps that wasn’t too much.

Those cold, lofty eyes looking down at him only made Chu Junlie crave that tiny bit of intimacy even more. He tilted his head, and very cautiously rubbed his cheek against the side of Si Yunyi’s black suit trousers—

Like a big dog begging for its owner’s mercy.

Feeling that fleeting warmth against his leg, Si Yunyi calmly moved his leg away and stood up.

This submissive posture of Chu Junlie’s came from his awareness of his “live-in son-in-law” status. Once his memories returned, he would probably be too ashamed to ever think about these humiliating moments again.

“Mr. Si!” The moment Si Yunyi rose from his chair and seemed ready to leave, Chu Junlie panicked and jumped up to follow, terrified that he’d done something wrong and that Mr. Si would no longer pay him any attention.

Si Yunyi walked back toward the courtyard, where several younger family members were gathered around his seat, whispering over something.

As soon as they saw their uncle return, the nieces and nephews scattered with ingratiating smiles.

Chu Junlie followed nervously behind. When Si Yunyi stopped, he quickly looked forward too—seeing several members of the Si family his age smiling brightly.

The second son, Si Beiyuan, secretly nudged his sister. Si Xuanxuan gathered her courage and looked pitifully at her uncle.

“Uncle, it’s Mid-Autumn and National Day, prime shopping season. I made plans to go out with friends, but… I’m completely broke.”

She blinked her eyes and opened her pocket for him to see only a few sunflower seed shells inside.

Her cousins exchanged looks. They had just agreed that Xuanxuan should be the one to speak up to plead for salvation from the tragedy of their frozen credit cards.

Xuanxuan was the only girl among the younger generation; their uncle had always been extra lenient with her. If he loosened her card limit, the rest of them would be saved too.

Si Yunyi glanced at their expressions. Their cards had been frozen for a month, and the punishment period had already ended.

“I’ll have your credit cards unlocked,” he said. Then he looked back at the dejected Chu Junlie, before turning again to the nephews.

“But you’ll have to do some work.”

✦ ✦ ✦

Once the double holiday passed, business at the mall slowed down. Taking advantage of the quiet time, the clothing store owner supervised the employees mopping the floor, occasionally barking orders.

“You call that mopping? Do you even clean your own homes? Move those display props and mop underneath. If customers see you cutting corners like this, what do you think they’ll think?”

The head clerk finished reviewing the revised schedule and handed it to the owner. The owner browsed through it, and then noticed someone missing.

“Where’s that Chu guy?” he asked, scanning the shop.

“You told him he didn’t need to come back after the holidays,” the clerk replied tactfully, remembering the previous incident. “Actually, he was just starting to get the hang of things… he’s smart…”

“What good is smart if you can’t sell clothes?” the owner cut him off. “He better know what’s good for him. If he has the nerve to show up again, it’ll be ugly when I kick him out.”

The clerk dared not speak further.

The owner counted the days, and grinned. “He only worked three days this month. No need to pay him.”

The clerk could only nod helplessly, took the schedule back, and posted a photo of it in the staff group chat.

Thinking about how Chu Junlie had worked a few days for free, the clothing shop owner was feeling pleased with himself. When he looked up and saw a few customers walk into the store, he felt even happier.

The salesperson went up immediately, smiling as she chatted with them. But after asking a few questions and glancing around at the clothes, the customers turned and left.

“What was that? Were they just asking for directions?” the owner noticed their strange behavior.

“No… They said they came looking for a store clerk they know.” The salesperson hesitated but told the truth.

“Who are they looking for?” The owner frowned. “Call them to come over then.”

“They were looking for Xiao Chu.” The salesperson looked uncomfortable.

“Looking for Chu Junlie?” The owner paused, brows tightly knitted, biting back his words.

Throughout the morning, three or four more groups of customers came in. Each asked for a familiar salesperson… and each one was looking for Chu Junlie.

After thinking it over all morning, the owner finally felt that something wasn’t right.

The head clerk grew anxious watching so many customers walk away. He tried asking if they should call back Chu Junlie, but the owner just waved a dismissive hand, his face full of scorn.

“Those people are obviously hired by that Chu guy to put on a show. Like they can actually afford to shop here. As if they’d really buy anything!”

Then, another two young men walked in. They looked at the suits for a while. When the salesperson approached to introduce items, one of them waved her off, saying they were here to find a familiar clerk.

The owner finally couldn’t help stepping forward, smiling as he looked at the two boys.

“You’re here to see Chu Junlie?”

The two looked at each other, confused, then nodded.

“I don’t recall ever seeing either of you buy anything here,” the owner said mockingly. “How exactly do you know him?”

“He’s our little uncle-in-law,” one of them answered.

“Little uncle-in-law?!” The owner burst into laughter and turned to the staff, pointing at the boys. “Look at this! Actors these days making up fake parents wasn’t enough, now they’re inventing uncles by marriage!”

“He really is our uncle-in-law.” Si Beicheng frowned at the owner. “Why would I lie to you for no reason?”

During the Mid-Autumn banquet, their uncle had finally taken pity on them and unfroze their credit cards with only one condition: after the holiday, they must go to the shop where Chu Junlie worked and buy a suit from him.

A suit here cost barely anything compared to their credit limits, so they had eagerly agreed thinking it couldn’t be any easier.

But the way this owner was acting made Si Beicheng and Si Beiyuan frown. Was this man mentally unsound?

“Oh sure, keep spinning your stories,” the owner sneered. “Instead of doing something proper at your age, you come here trying to scam people! A couple of snot-nosed brats want to fool me? Do you even have the money to shop here? Know your place!”

The insults made both cousins flare up with anger. They wanted to show him exactly how much money they had but they were not about to let this owner benefit from them.

Without another word, they turned and walked out of the shop. Looking to the side, they spotted another mid-to-high-end clothing store.

The owner followed them out, still cursing nonstop. When he saw the two walk into the neighboring shop, he rushed over and leaned against the doorway, warning that shop’s owner:

“Those two punks are scammers. The fired employee hired them to come cause trouble—watch out!”

The two shops were close and often interacted. Hearing this, the neighboring owner immediately became wary. When he saw one of the boys touching their suits, he hurried over to block him.

“Sir, please don’t touch unless you’re buying.”

Si Beicheng stared at him, forcing down his anger. In all his life, he had never been humiliated like this.

“Cousin, let’s go to that one.” Si Beiyuan motioned toward a third suit store across from them.

With a stomach full of suppressed rage, they stormed out again and headed straight into the shop across the street.

“Should we go warn them too?” The neighboring shop owner considered following but the first owner grabbed him back.

“You know what that store’s manager is like. We invite her to play mahjong and she refuses—says nonsense like donating ten percent of profits to families with critical illness for every suit sold. I bet that’s a scam too. Serves her right to be tricked!”

The other owner paused and stayed with him to watch the drama unfold.

Si Beicheng and Si Beiyuan walked into the third shop, faces full of hostility. The salesperson approached with a friendly smile, but the cousins said nothing just grabbed a few flashy, gaudy suits.

Seeing their behavior, the salesperson grew nervous and quickly called the manager over. The manager rushed forward just as the older cousin tossed several showy suits onto the sofa.

“Everything except these wrap them up.”

Even the experienced manager froze, her almond eyes widening.

“I’m sorry… could you repeat that?”

“My cousin said, everything except these… pack them all.” Si Beiyuan pulled out their credit cards. “Swipe it.”