At that moment, Zhou Hui didn’t say anything. He just stared blankly at Chu He, his gaze lingering for a long time on the bit of collarbone visible under Chu He’s shirt.
It took a full ten seconds before he suddenly snapped out of it and asked, “What are you doing here?!”
Mr. Tan clearly hadn’t predicted this twist in the plot and stood there looking utterly baffled. The friends sitting beside Zhou Hui were stunned too. The laughter, joking, and drinking gradually died down.
Chu He strode forward with one hand in his trouser pocket, the other grabbing Zhou Hui by the collar and yanking him up—though he looked thin, the motion was powerful and sharp, pulling Zhou Hui clean over the coffee table. Fruit trays and bottles crashed to the ground in a flurry. A bottle of cognac worth tens of thousands shattered into pieces.
The hand that had been in his pocket came up and delivered a solid punch straight to Zhou Hui’s face—that face so handsome it had once “shaken the Party Central.”
“Running off to chase girls the moment I look away? You think you’re something now, huh?!”
The punch landed hard. Zhou Hui was knocked back over the coffee table, soaked in spilled alcohol. Everyone nearby cried out and leapt to their feet in shock!
Zhou Hui shook his head to clear it, panting hard as he scrambled up and grabbed Chu He: “F**k, you’re actually serious?! I knew it—you’ve wanted to beat me up for ages, haven’t you?!”
“That’s right, I have wanted to beat you up!” Chu He kicked him again. “Suck it up!”
Zhou Hui flew back and crashed into the sofa, his head hitting the wall with a thud. He nearly coughed up blood. The girl in the white dress—Xiao Xi—screamed and ran out, along with several hostesses and hosts. Just as Chu He stepped over the coffee table, clearly about to continue the beating, Mr. Tan rushed over to intervene.
“Brother Zhou! Brother Zhou, what’s going on?! President Chu, what are you doing?! Someone help—get security!”
Everyone finally snapped out of their stupor. A few of the stunned rich kids ran up, shouting “What’s going on?!” trying to separate the two.
But Zhou Hui had now been provoked into a fury. He shoved Mr. Tan aside and roared, “Like you haven’t been coming to places like this yourself! Who the hell are you to talk down to me?!” Then he lunged and tackled Chu He, both of them crashing to the ground.
Zhou Hui didn’t care about the shattered glass around him—he immediately reached for Chu He’s neck, but Chu He was quick and locked his arms, flipping him over in one move. Judging by their sizes, no one would have expected Chu He to be this good at fighting. People began to panic and yell for the floor manager and staff:
“Call security! Call security!”
“I dare anyone to call!” Zhou Hui bellowed in rage. “No one move! —Feng Si, you son of a b***h, I’m settling this with you today!”
“Feng Si? Wait—he’s the fourth leader of the Feng Division?” someone exclaimed.
“No way, I thought Feng Si was supposed to be this rare beauty?”
“What do we do now? Hey, stop fighting! Talk it out!…”
A few who were about to intervene hesitated—realizing it was a domestic quarrel, they backed off. Only Mr. Tan, worried that his guest might end up seriously hurt, still tried to pull them apart. But Zhang Shun, seeing his brother had the upper hand, casually tripped Mr. Tan, sending him crashing onto the floor with a loud clatter and a pained groan.
Zhou Hui took the chance to drag Chu He out of the room. Amid screams from the hostesses, they wrestled their way into the corridor used by staff to serve food. Then there was a loud BANG, followed by Zhou Hui’s furious yell:
“F**k! Are you trying to cripple me?!”
Out in the hallway, Zhou Hui flipped the fight with a burst of strength.
He pinned Chu He hard against the wall, one hand at his throat, the other angrily pulling at his shirt collar. “—You hit me that hard? You really wanted to punch me, didn’t you?!”
“…” Chu He blocked his hand, calmly replying, “You’re overthinking it.”
Zhou Hui gestured at his own crotch, shouting indignantly, “The whole Security Bureau’s gonna hear about this tomorrow! Wasn’t playing the fool all night enough? What now—you wanna cripple me and have to use a cucumber next time, you lunatic?!”
“…” Chu He replied with chilling calm, “I told you, you’re overthinking it. Hands off!”
Zhou Hui suddenly flipped him around, slamming him face-first against the wall. Chu He’s outfit was form-fitting today, but Zhou Hui’s strength tore his belt half-open. One arm held down Chu He’s neck; the other slid inside from behind, fingers trailing down until—
He shoved two fingers inside.
Chu He grunted, the sound laced with clear pain—and beneath it, a faint, stifled pleasure.
“Someone… someone will come! Let go!”
“If they come, I’ll kill them.” Zhou Hui thrust harder and leaned in close, whispering, “Before you die, you can watch how I do you, how you cry and beg me to go faster… Damn shame I didn’t record last time. You act like you don’t even know me once we’re out of bed. Haven’t shown your face in days, and now you show up pulling this act. What were you doing in the next room with that Tan bastard?”
Chu He braced one hand against the wall, the other gripping Zhou Hui’s arm tightly—but the fingers inside him kept moving with no sign of stopping. Footsteps were approaching fast from the stairs nearby.
“…Let go!” Chu He gasped, voice hoarse with fury. “We haven’t even discussed the real issue yet, you—”
“I’m the bastard who makes you cry in bed,” Zhou Hui proudly finished the sentence for him, finally withdrawing his hand and holding it up in front of Chu He’s face. “Look at this—you’re soaked. Still want to talk business?”
Chu He slapped his hand away, trembling as he hastily straightened himself and began buttoning up his torn shirt.
“—That place you mentioned last time, I’ve checked it these past few days. Found nothing,” he said hoarsely, buckling his belt. “Whatever you suspected might not be real. Keep observing for now.”
Zhou Hui rubbed his chin and muttered “Mm,” then said, “Can’t hurt to stay cautious. You keep watching—I’ll go ask that poor guy myself. Honestly, I think he’s about to lose his mind staying here…”
Then he flexed his fingers and grinned. “Ex-wife, you’re so damn wet. You miss me that much, huh?”
Chu He smacked him hard from below, making Zhou Hui stagger back with a groan.
Just then, footsteps approached from the other end of the hall. Someone from the private room had finally come to check. Leading the way was Zhang Shun. He blocked the panicked Mr. Tan and ran forward, shouting:
“Brother!”
Chu He looked up, and his expression shifted. “Why are you here?”
Zhang Shun felt a surge of inexplicable rage. Before he could respond, Zhou Hui turned and shouted while rubbing his face:
“Exactly! Kids like you should just play DOTA at the internet café. Coming to a nightclub like a grown-up—are you out of your mind? Get the hell out of here already!”
Chu He said coldly, “I meant—why is he in Beijing? You—”
“Oh, I already scolded that dumbass Hu Qing,” Zhou Hui said. “But you’ve got to cut your little sister-in-law some slack—she’s a fox spirit, after all, not exactly the academic type. She doesn’t think before doing things. If she screws up again, I’ll help you beat her to death.”
For a split second, Zhang Shun truly felt he should’ve killed Zhou Hui. Why didn’t he jump in earlier, grab a bottle, and smash it over this lunatic’s head when his brother was already beating him?
Chu He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he had already suppressed his emotions. By then, Mr. Tan and a few others had run over. Chu He glanced quickly at Zhang Shun and said, “Leave Beijing immediately. This isn’t a place you should be.”
Then he tidied his sleeve, like someone storming off after an argument, and walked right past Zhou Hui without sparing him a glance, heading straight for the stairs.
Zhang Shun, who had been filled with a mix of rage and questions, now had only rage left. That one sentence made it boil over.
“—Stop right there!” he blurted.
Chu He turned around, face like frost, and Zhang Shun instinctively paused.
“I can’t explain to you right now,” Chu He cut in during that pause, quickly saying, “If you can’t leave, stick close to Zhou Hui for now.”
—Can’t leave? Why can’t I leave? And what do you mean, stick with this lunatic? What the hell? Do you guys all think I’m Hello Kitty or something?
Zhang Shun was thoroughly frustrated, like a lit bomb had been stuffed into his chest and was now smoldering away.
He didn’t have time to say anything before watching helplessly as his brother finished speaking and turned around. Everyone automatically made way for Chu He, but he ignored them all, walking down the stairs without even glancing back.
·
Zhou Hui was helped back into the private room, where people hurriedly checked his injuries, applied ointment, and handed him water.
After such a scene, the rich young crowd obviously wasn’t in the mood to party anymore. The unfamiliar ones made polite excuses to leave, while the closer ones stayed a little longer to console Zhou Hui—saying things like “Enjoy life while you can,” and “Everyone looks polished on the outside, but who hasn’t had their wife scratch their face to ribbons behind closed doors? You’ll get used to it.”
No one dared dig too deep. All six units under the special ops division of the national security bureau were freakish in their own ways, and Feng Si was no pushover either. Push too far and she might be standing by your bed tonight ready to slap you awake.
Zhou Hui sat there with a dark expression, a cold towel pressed to his face, eyes glinting like a wolf’s. None of his friends dared linger. They quickly called over Xiao Xi in her white dress to serve tea and water and urged her to take good care of Brother Zhou before making their own exits.
Zhou Hui didn’t try to stop anyone. He smiled coldly and said, “Sorry for tonight, I really ruined everyone’s mood—next time I’ll host again and make it up to you.”
Everyone waved it off, saying it was fine and they understood—take care of the home front first.
Once everyone had gone, the only ones left in the room were Zhou Hui, Zhang Shun, and Xiao Xi. As soon as the door closed, Zhou Hui jumped up from the sofa, tossed aside the ice towel, and shouted, “Let’s go, let’s go! A spring night is worth a thousand gold coins—I’m about to explode here!”
Zhang Shun was totally baffled. He and Xiao Xi were dragged out by Zhou Hui. Downstairs, a silver Lexus was already waiting at the curb. Zhou Hui shoved Zhang Shun inside, then climbed in himself and shouted, “To the usual place—quick!”
Driver Xiao Liu started the car without a word.
Zhang Shun noticed Xiao Xi had come along too and asked in confusion, “Where are we going? Just get me a hotel! I’m going home tomorrow!”
Zhou Hui replied casually, “Little brother-in-law, your big bro entrusted you to me. From now on, wherever I am is your home.”
The driver almost spit out his laughter, but when he caught Zhang Shun’s expression in the rearview mirror, he quickly straightened up and pretended he hadn’t heard anything.
The Lexus drove straight to a nondescript hotel outside Jianguomen. Zhou Hui got out first, dragging Zhang Shun with him, Xiao Xi trailing behind. Without bothering with check-in procedures, they went straight up the elevator. Zhou Hui pulled a room key from his pocket.
Zhang Shun was alarmed. “What are you guys doing? I’m not sharing a room with you two!”
“Too late,” Zhou Hui said.
He opened the door to reveal a double suite with decent furnishings. Xiao Xi walked in first and sat on the bed. Then Zhou Hui shoved a struggling Zhang Shun inside and shut the door behind them.
Zhang Shun stared at the big bed in disbelief, then at the calm-looking Xiao Xi, then at Zhou Hui, who was nonchalantly removing his jacket.
“…What the hell is going on?” he asked, his voice shaking. “What are you two planning?!”
Zhou Hui hung his jacket on the coat rack, rolled up his sleeves to reveal muscular forearms, and looked seriously at Zhang Shun.
“Little brother-in-law,” he said solemnly, “have you ever heard of a ‘three-some’?”
