After Failing to Raise a Child

Gong Yuyan was locked up for ten years.

From the age of eight to eighteen, Gan Zhixu fed him and gave him a place to live, but never let him go outside. He tried smashing doors, starving himself, and tearing apart the house. He tried every trick in the book, but Gan Zhixu never even raised an eyelid.

Until one day, after eating too much, he squatted in front of the TV and casually patted his stomach. On the screen, Gan Zhixu was hosting a meeting when he suddenly paused, his face as pale as a corpse's.

Gong Yuyan had a sudden inspiration. Seizing an opportunity, he hit his own stomach in front of Gan Zhixu, and sure enough, Gan Zhixu turned deathly pale with pain.

His pain had somehow been transferred to Gan Zhixu, apparently magnified several times over. Gong Yuyan was thrilled. He tested it again and again, convinced he had found the weakness of Gan Zhixu, the iron-fisted, merciless director of the Special Supervision Bureau.

"What are you messing around for?" Gan Zhixu said irritably.

"You've kept me locked up for ten years. What's wrong with making you hurt a little?" Gong Yuyan said smugly.

Gan Zhixu didn't even bother to answer. He turned and walked away.

Gong Yuyan shouted after him:

"I'll take a cold shower tonight."

"I'll make myself throw up tomorrow."

"The day after, I'll sleep on the floor. I'll hit my stomach every day. Let's see how long you can take it!"

Gan Zhixu ignored him, so he went even further and tormented himself. It wasn't him who felt the pain, no matter what he did. What did he have to fear?

Later, Gan Zhixu spent the whole night unconscious in the intensive care unit, while Gong Yuyan lay sprawled on the floor, laughing until he cried.

At the time, he still didn't know there was a feeling called "heartache."

[Reader's Guide | Important notes and content warnings are marked]

1. The setting is wildly unrealistic and medically inaccurate. Don't expect research or realism.

2. There will be lots of descriptions of the bottom's injuries and pain.

3. Younger man, age gap of over ten years.

4. Happy ending. The romance is a roller coaster, so this may not suit fans of either lead.

This is a companion novel to My Brother's Always on the Verge of Dying. It shares the same world, but neither of its two leads appeared in My Brother, so you can read this without reading the earlier novel.

About the character-design cover: The character art was purchased from an authorized online commercial-use asset collection. It isn't exclusive, but the cover is free of copyright concerns and the design is unique.

Blurb written on October 22, 2026, and archived.

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