Shan Yu held the knife in one hand and pressed down on the back of Fang Xu’s head with the other. His knee was on Fang Xu’s backside. Under the quilt, only Fang Xu’s arms and legs could move, flailing desperately.
But he couldn’t see the person, only the edge of the quilt rising and falling.
And Fang Xu’s muffled screams and pleas for mercy from under the quilt.
Probably because his nose was being pressed, his voice was also distorted: “I was wrong, Shan Yu—ah—help me—Yue Lang—Brother Lang—”
When Yue Lang, Xiao Lu, and the others rushed into the room, Shan Yu’s third stab had already landed.
The speed was fast; you could vaguely hear the wind whistling as his hand moved through the air.
All three stabs were in the area of Fang Xu’s back.
Through the quilt.
Yue Lang reached out a couple of times, trying to grab Shan Yu’s arm, but failed. Shan Yu continued to stab down another four or five times, each one heavy.
You could hear the dull thuds.
Feathers kept floating out from the places where the quilt was cut by the tip of the knife.
…You can hear dull thuds?
Yue Lang paused, then pulled away Xiao Lu and Da Kang, who were futilely trying to hold Shan Yu back.
“Brother Lang?” Da Kang looked at Yue Lang, confused.
Yue Lang didn’t say anything, just watched Shan Yu.
Shan Yu didn’t stop. The knife in his hand was still stabbing down onto the quilt, from the back to the waist, and then to the legs.
After a dozen or so stabs, bloodstains began to appear on the quilt.
Fang Xu was still wailing underneath.
Yue Lang saw his chance and, the moment Shan Yu’s movements slowed, he rushed up and grabbed his wrist.
Shan Yu was panting heavily, and he finally stopped.
But Fang Xu hadn’t stopped talking: “Help me…”
Shan Yu released his hand from Fang Xu’s head, slowly stood up, and tossed the knife aside.
He looked down and saw blood seeping out from the cut on his palm.
“Damn it,” Yue Lang cursed, not sure who he wanted to curse.
Half of the knife blade had been gripped in Shan Yu’s hand.
Yue Lang went over and lifted the quilt. Fang Xu immediately covered his head and curled into a ball.
You could see specks of blood on the back of his clothes. The tip of the knife had pierced the quilt, but because Shan Yu hadn’t left much of the blade exposed, the cuts on Fang Xu’s body were probably not as deep as the wound on Shan Yu’s hand.
His crotch, however, was soaked.
“What the hell are you wailing about?” Yue Lang asked with a frown.
Fang Xu finally fell silent. He was stunned for a long time before he suddenly flipped over, sat on the floor, and felt his back. Then he looked at Shan Yu in a daze.
“Mr. Fang,” Shan Yu walked up to Fang Xu, bent down, and wiped his hand on his clothes. Fang Xu’s chest was soon smeared with blood.
He looked at Fang Xu and said, word by word, “You owe me. My time, my money, my trust in a friend, my parents’ expectations.”
Fang Xu didn’t move.
“I didn’t cripple you because you’re not worthy… In this lifetime, I never want to see you or hear from you again,” Shan Yu said.
Fang Xu looked at him, his mouth half-open, the fear on his face not yet faded.
“Did you hear me?” Shan Yu patted his face again.
A few bloody handprints were left on Fang Xu’s face.
“I… heard you,” his voice was so hoarse it was almost gone.
“Good,” Shan Yu nodded, straightened up, walked to the bedside table, opened the drawer, took out a small first-aid kit, and handed it to Yue Lang.
Yue Lang opened the box, took out a bottle of iodine, looked at it, then turned to Fang Xu. “This stuff hasn’t expired, has it?”
“No,” Fang Xu’s voice was completely gone.
Yue Lang poured the entire bottle of iodine onto Shan Yu’s hand.
Shan Yu shook his hand, took a roll of bandages, wrapped it around his hand a few times, kicked the quilt on the floor aside, and walked out of the bedroom.
Xiao Lu and Da Kang waited for Yue Lang to follow before walking out together, slamming the bedroom door shut behind them.
A few seconds later, Fang Xu’s emotionally complex wails came from the bedroom.
The few of them walked out of the building. It was still quiet all around. An old woman returning from grocery shopping glanced at them and continued on her way.
Back in the house Yue Lang had rented across the street, Shan Yu stood at the window again, pulled back the curtains to look over there, and then closed them again.
“Let’s stay at a hotel tonight,” he said, sitting on the sofa.
“Okay,” Yue Lang replied. “Is the cut deep? If not, let’s go get a couple of stitches.”
“It’s fine,” Shan Yu said.
“You’re really damn crazy,” Yue Lang said.
“I’ll go buy some medicine to stop the bleeding,” Xiao Lu said, looking at Shan Yu’s hand.
The bandage wrapped around his hand was already soaked with blood.
“You two go,” Yue Lang said.
“Okay,” Da Kang nodded and went out with Xiao Lu.
Shan Yu sat on the sofa, his elbows on his knees, looking at the bright red on his hand. His fingertips were trembling uncontrollably.
“Did you let off some steam?” Yue Lang asked. “If not, I’ll go over and rough him up again. If he dares to call the police, I’ll even look up to him…”
“A busy office elite shouldn’t be thinking about these things,” Shan Yu said.
“Then can Boss Shan stop thinking about these things in the future?” Yue Lang asked.
“No,” Shan Yu’s voice was still steady. “I can’t.”
Yue Lang didn’t say anything.
“But it can only go this far,” Shan Yu said.
“You’ve grown up,” Yue Lang smiled.
“I’m already six years old,” Shan Yu said.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Yue Lang looked at him. Although he didn’t understand, he didn’t let the conversation drop. “My son.”
“You old bastard,” Shan Yu laughed, leaned back slowly on the sofa, and tilted his head back.
He let out a long sigh.
Yue Lang didn’t say anything. He took a few tissues from the table, pinched his sleeve to lift his hand from the sofa, placed the tissues underneath, and then put his hand back. “If you get the sofa dirty, they’ll deduct my deposit.”
The wound on his hand wasn’t shallow. After all, the blade would shift when stabbing down, cutting deeper than just gripping it tightly.
Da Kang and Xiao Lu came back with a pile of medicine. After repeatedly washing the wound with iodine, Da Kang looked at Yue Lang. “Brother Lang.”
Yue Lang leaned over to take a look and immediately frowned. “This damn…”
“I’ll wrap it myself,” Shan Yu pulled his hand back.
“If you’re not getting stitches, at least go to a clinic to get it wrapped,” Yue Lang said. “Don’t let your hand be useless before your leg is even fully healed.”
“Are all you elites so delicate?” Shan Yu said.
“Yes,” Yue Lang said, walking towards the door.
Shan Yu didn’t say anything, just looked at him.
“Let’s go,” Yue Lang said. “Don’t make me carry you.”
“That wouldn’t be so bad,” Shan Yu said.
“Go!” Yue Lang shouted.
Shan Yu clicked his tongue and stood up.
At the clinic, after disinfecting the wound again and while waiting for it to be bandaged, Shan Yu fumbled in his pocket. “I didn’t bring my phone.”
Yue Lang sat next to him, watching him.
“I don’t know where I put it,” Shan Yu looked back at Xiao Lu and Da Kang, who were sitting behind him. “One of you go back and help me find it.”
“I’ll go,” Da Kang stood up. “Where might it be?”
“Either this crack or that crack,” Yue Lang said, tossing him the keys. “Check the sofa by the bed.”
“Okay,” Da Kang caught the keys and went out.
Yue Lang continued to watch him.
Shan Yu glanced back at him. “What are you looking at? There’s no chance for us.”
“Damn,” Yue Lang laughed. “You used to be fine without your phone for a whole day. Now, if you reply to a message the next day, that’s considered a deep relationship…”
“I have a lot of things to do at my guesthouse,” Shan Yu said.
“Oh,” Yue Lang nodded. “Boss Shan is busy.”
Not long after his hand was bandaged, Da Kang returned to the clinic with his phone.
Shan Yu took the phone and looked at it.
No new messages.
What kind of damn manager is this?
Usually, he has to check in with every employee in the shop in the morning. When the boss is not in the shop, he doesn’t even report a single punctuation mark.
Before he could turn off the screen, Yue Lang reached over and snatched his phone.
“I’m looking,” Yue Lang said.
“Go ahead,” Shan Yu said.
Yue Lang glanced at the phone. It was still on the private chat with Chen Yuluoyan.
He then tapped on Chen Yuluoyan’s profile picture to take a look.
“This is your manager?” Yue Lang asked.
“Yeah,” Shan Yu nodded.
Yue Lang exited the private chat and looked again. “You bastard, you created a new account?”
“Yeah,” Shan Yu nodded.
“And your manager is the only friend?” Yue Lang asked again.
“Yeah,” Shan Yu continued to nod.
“Got a picture?” Yue Lang looked at him.
Shan Yu didn’t say anything.
Yue Lang didn’t say anything more either. He directly opened the photo album, tapped on the first photo, and after being stunned for two seconds, he said, “Pretty handsome.”
“Yeah,” Shan Yu replied.
“How old?” Yue Lang looked at the photo.
“Twenty,” Shan Yu said.
_
“No way, that cheating partner is at least twenty-five,” Hu Pan said, resting her chin on her hands at the front desk. “She just dresses to look younger.”
“I thought she looked pretty young,” Sanbing leaned against the front desk.
“You don’t know shit,” Hu Pan said.
“Stop talking,” Chen Jian said, flipping through the inventory list next to them. “She’s coming down.”
The woman from 208 came down the stairs, dressed in sportswear, looking like she was going hiking, and carrying a backpack.
“We weren’t talking about her,” Sanbing said in a low voice.
“Did you lose your brain?” Hu Pan gave him a sideways glance, then smiled and greeted the woman from 208. “Going out, sis?”
“Going to find someone at the guesthouse inside,” 208 said, putting on her sunglasses.
Chen Jian and the others all turned to look at her at the same time.
Not even trying to hide it, huh?
After 208 walked out the door, Chen Jian was silent for a moment, then tilted his head at Sanbing. “Let’s go.”
“I’m going too, I’m going too,” Hu Pan said in a string of words, running out from behind the front desk.
“Record a video,” Chen Jian said. “In case they start fighting… Sanbing and I have to stop them.”
“You’d be better off relying on me than on Sanbing,” Hu Pan took out her phone, started the video, and rolled up her sleeves to reveal her sleeve tattoo. “I’ve been fighting for years too.”
Chen Jian looked at her. “We’re supposed to stop them from fighting, not help them fight.”
“Okay, got it,” Hu Pan rolled her sleeves back down.
“Let’s go, let’s go,” Sanbing quickly walked towards the back door.
Through the garden, the back door opened directly into Suiyun’s yard.
The few of them hid inside the door, watching 208 walk into Suiyun’s main gate.
“Let’s wait in the pavilion and see what happens,” Chen Jian said.
The few of them walked out the back door. Before they could even turn off the path, they heard a man’s roar from Suiyun’s side: “What are you doing!”
They probably ran into the kissing monsters on their way out to play before they could even get upstairs.
“Let’s go,” Chen Jian immediately turned around.
When they ran into the main gate over there, they saw 208 holding up her phone, filming a man and a woman. The man was holding the woman in his arms, covering her face.
“Why are you covering her face? Afraid someone will recognize her?” 208 was very calm, not shouting or screaming. “Don’t worry, I’ll blur it for you. I’m only recording my husband, so his relatives, friends, and company colleagues can see…”
“Put it down!” the man pointed at her. “Are you going to put it down or not!”
“Dare to do it, dare to admit it, dear,” 208 said. “Why didn’t you have this attitude when you were cheating me out of money to spend on someone else?”
“I said I want a divorce!” the man still held the woman with one hand and pointed at her with the other. “You refuse to divorce and now you’re pulling this crap! You’re pestering me…”
“Give me back the money!” 208 suddenly raised her voice. “You think you can run away without paying me back? In your dreams!”
The man threw the woman behind him and rushed forward with his hand raised.
“What are you doing!” Hu Pan’s shout came out, startling even Chen Jian, who was rushing forward.
The man was also stunned for a moment.
Chen Jian blocked the man’s path and looked at him. “You want to hit someone?”
“Who the hell are you to meddle?” the man pointed at him. “Believe it or not, I’ll beat you up too?”
“Come on,” Chen Jian nodded at him. He was already inexplicably holding in some anger, and now he couldn’t be bothered to tolerate it anymore. “I believe you. Come on.”
The man still pointed at him, not moving.
The woman behind him pulled at him. “Don’t, don’t be impulsive…”
“Come on!” Chen Jian looked at him, raising his voice.
The man’s face twitched, but he still didn’t move.
“You’re not coming, are you?” Chen Jian said, looking at his hand. “If you’re not coming, then put your damn hand down. If you point one more time, it’ll be my turn.”
The man sneered. When the woman behind him pulled him again, he lowered his hand. “You’re recording, trying to provoke me, right?”
“It’s fine, we can turn off the video,” Chen Jian said. “Our fight is a separate matter.”
…What are you saying, manager?
Are you escalating the conflict, manager?
Don’t steal the boss’s job!
“Little brother,” 208 gently patted his shoulder from behind. “Let’s go, I’ve got the recording.”
Chen Jian stared at the man for another moment before slowly turning around. Since he had already stolen the job, he might as well go all in.
“How do you guys do your security work?” Sanbing didn’t forget to lecture the two dazed employees at the front desk of Suiyun before leaving. “A guest is about to hit someone in your shop, and you just watch?”
“Let’s go,” Hu Pan gave him a push.
The few of them walked out the main gate together.
“Thanks,” 208 said, looking at Chen Jian after they returned to Dayin’s garden. “I didn’t expect you guys to follow.”
“You’re alone, and a girl,” Hu Pan said. “Our manager was afraid you’d be at a disadvantage.”
“I’ve been at a disadvantage more than once or twice,” 208 sighed. “This time wouldn’t have been any different. If he really dared to hit me, I would have fought back.”
“It’s not worth it, sis,” Sanbing said. “You’re rich and beautiful, it’s not worth it for a guy like that.”
208 smiled and turned to go inside.
“Chen Jian,” Sanbing watched 208 for a few seconds, then turned to look at Chen Jian. “Are you okay today?”
“Hmm?” Chen Jian glanced at him.
“I thought you were going to fight,” Sanbing said.
“How could I,” Chen Jian said.
“The way you were talking, it was like you were itching for a fight,” Hu Pan patted her chest. “I was about to roll up my sleeves and jump in. I thought Boss Shan had possessed you.”
Chen Jian smiled and walked towards the backyard. “I’m going to work, just taking a walk.”
He originally wanted to go sit on the swing, but there were two guests there with coffee, chatting. He had to sit in a corner of the garden.
There were a few new messages on his phone.
Some from his classmates’ group chat, some from friends he used to work part-time with, but none from Shan Yu.
Although he couldn’t think of any reason for the boss, who was away on personal business, to message the manager, he still found himself taking out his phone to check.
The boss has no reason to message the manager.
But does Shan Yu have any reason to message Chen Jian?
Chen Jian was stunned for a moment, then put his phone back in his pocket, suddenly feeling a little scared.
“He should be scared!” Da Kang said disdainfully. “We looked for him for so long and he didn’t show up. Now he knows to come, damn.”
“What did you do?” Shan Yu looked at Yue Lang.
Qian Yu had been hiding. Shan Yu had people send him a message, but he stubbornly pretended to be dead and didn’t show up. Now that Shan Yu was preparing to go back to the small town, he suddenly contacted them through Yue Lang to arrange a meeting.
“I just sent him a photo yesterday,” Yue Lang said.
“What photo?” Shan Yu asked.
Yue Lang opened his phone and handed it over.
Shan Yu glanced at it. It was a photo of Fang Xu sitting on the ground, his clothes covered in blood. There was even a heart sticker carefully placed over Fang Xu’s face.
“Look, how scary, all bloody,” Yue Lang said. “If he doesn’t show up soon, when Shan Yu finds him, he’ll be next. He’ll get the same treatment.”
“I don’t have that much blood to smear everywhere,” Shan Yu said.
Yue Lang laughed. “Stay one more day, take care of this too. If you can get money, get money. If not, get an IOU.”
“Okay,” Shan Yu frowned.
“So you don’t have to make another trip out here later,” Yue Lang looked at him. “And go through another round of longing and suffering.”
Shan Yu clicked his tongue.
