There were two cars at the villa. One was the SUV that Chu Tingyun had driven with Yan Xun, parked in the yard. The other was a delivery truck used for transporting wood, grains, and food, stored in the garage.
But Yan Xun didn’t know this; he thought there was only one car and never considered that Chu Tingyun, who had taken a small amount of sleeping pills, could wake up so quickly. Perhaps the bottle didn’t actually contain sleeping pills, or maybe he had given himself away a few days ago…
But none of that mattered now; he had already been captured.
So, Yan Xun and Chu Tingyun fell into another cold war, but this time Chu Tingyun didn’t sleep in another room; he stayed in bed with Yan Xun every night, almost constantly watching him.
After a few days of cold war, Chu Tingyun finally couldn’t hold back and spoke first.
“Yan Xun, if you don’t like me, why did you take care of me when I had a fever, cook for me, and stay with me in the hospital overnight?”
In response to this question, Yan Xun answered clearly and coldly.
“You’re thinking too much, Chu Tingyun. I did those things purely out of gratitude and sympathy.”
Gratitude for Chu Tingyun standing up for him at the Jiang family, and sympathy for Chu Tingyun being sick at home alone with no one to take care of him.
“…”
Chu Tingyun understood.
In short, if it had been someone else instead of him, Yan Xun would have done the same.
Because Yan Xun was that kind of person—kind, grateful, and disliking to owe others.
Yan Xun never liked him.
The person Yan Xun had always liked was Jiang Jingshu, that gentle and lovely woman, like an innocent little rabbit, not someone like him—a lunatic.
Chu Tingyun didn’t ask further; he didn’t want to confirm this humiliating truth repeatedly. He actually knew that what he was doing now was way beyond what he had originally intended.
But even Chu Tingyun himself couldn’t understand why.
Initially, it was just a matter of physiological desire and a desire to conquer. He had already succeeded; if it was about revenge on Yan Xun, it should have been enough by now, he had already succeeded.
Rationality told Chu Tingyun that there was no need to escalate things to this point, no need to truly become a lunatic.
But he seemed unable to stop.
Whenever Chu Tingyun thought of Yan Xun not liking him and desperately trying to escape, he could not remain calm. He felt incredibly miserable, as if his heart and rationality were shattered and burned to ashes by the flames of jealousy and malice.
It hurt to the bone, and he couldn’t control himself at all.
So Chu Tingyun could only embrace Yan Xun, kiss him, trying to prove through physical contact and bodily fusion that the other person was wrong.
At least this person had some feelings for him, even if it was just a natural physiological reaction.
“Chu Tingyun! You… bastard, shameless! You’re simply… mmm…”
Yan Xun bit him angrily, but Chu Tingyun didn’t care; he preferred the pain and continued kissing.
This led to Chu Tingyun’s mouth being sore and cut for a week or two, his tongue hurt, and he could only eat milk-soaked cereal, very soft, and drink it carefully through a straw.
When drinking through a straw, Chu Tingyun would deliberately come in front of Yan Xun, because seeing him in such a miserable and painful state would make Yan Xun laugh.
Though it was a mocking laugh, it was better than nothing.
Later, Chu Tingyun also got Yan Xun drunk and proceeded to do full-body hair removal because it would be troublesome if the other person was awake, and he thought hair removal was cleaner and more hygienic, not to mention more comfortable to sit on.
But to Yan Xun, this was a huge humiliation. It felt like being slapped in the face, and his voice trembled:
“Chu Tingyun, you might as well get a massager! Isn’t it cleaner and more hygienic to disinfect a hundred times with alcohol?!”
“No.”
Chu Tingyun buried himself deeply into Yan Xun’s neck,
“I just want you.”
“…”
So the two were entangled tightly.
When Chu Tingyun straddled him and casually removed his top, Yan Xun noticed that Chu Tingyun had hung his jade pendant around his waist. His small Guanyin, which he had cherished for over a decade, was now hanging on this man’s lower abdomen, swaying slightly.
The sense of desecration and shock from this scene was almost overwhelming, and Yan Xun felt all his blood boil.
“Give it back to me!”
He tried to pull his jade pendant from Chu Tingyun, to get it back, but Chu Tingyun seemed to have replaced the string, and he couldn’t break it. He only saw the red string deeply embedded in the man’s waist, leaving thin marks on the white skin.
Chu Tingyun groaned, seeming to be in pain, but the sound also carried a hint of pleasure. Yan Xun was furious and suddenly turned around, pinning Chu Tingyun beneath him. The chain was extended by Chu Tingyun, and now he could move freely on the bed. The old wooden bed started to shake violently.
Chu Tingyun’s face was deeply pressed into the pillow, creating a feeling of suffocation. He kept his eyes tightly shut, but tears still soaked the pillowcase. After an unknown amount of time, colorful fireworks suddenly exploded in the pitch-black vision.
At that moment, his soul seemed to float up. The extreme pleasure made Chu Tingyun temporarily forget everything he wanted to forget.
But the next second, his neck was locked by the custom-made chain.
“Where’s the key?”
Yan Xun felt that even making such a move made him insane, but he still demanded Chu Tingyun,
“Give me the key.”
“Ha…”
Chu Tingyun just laughed.
His laughter came from the damp pillow, muffled.
But soon, Chu Tingyun obediently pulled the key from under the mattress and handed it to him.
Yan Xun finally freed himself from the restraint.
He got up, dressed, and was about to leave. But the next second, he heard Chu Tingyun’s hoarse voice from behind.
“You won’t find the way, and you won’t find the car keys.”
The man lay naked on the bed, his entire face wet, with a red mark around his neck from the chain.
“The temperature is dropping quickly. If you rely on just your legs, you’ll freeze to death on the way.”
Yan Xun turned around abruptly, took a few large steps, and grabbed Chu Tingyun’s wrist, almost lifting him up with one arm.
“Where’s the car key?”
“…”
Chu Tingyun didn’t struggle, just looked up at Yan Xun. A few seconds later, he suddenly smiled. The area around his eyes was cool and damp, looking bright under the light.
“Yan Xun, I thought you would strangle me to get it out of me. Then say something like ‘if you don’t hand it over, I’ll kill you’.”
“…”
Yan Xun’s expression was one of intense restraint, and in the end, he didn’t lose his temper but only laughed sarcastically,
“Chu Tingyun, do you think your life is worth me dirtying my hands and ruining my future for?”
“…”
Chu Tingyun was stunned, as if suddenly understanding something, and laughed self-deprecatingly.
“Of course not, how precious you are.”
But Yan Xun didn’t want to discuss this further and continued to demand,
“Where’s the car key?”
“If I just refuse, what will you do, Yan Xun?”
Chu Tingyun looked up at him, like a swan about to be broken.
“…”
Yan Xun stared coldly at him, his deep black eyes seeming to ignite a great fire.
“Chu Tingyun, did you lock me here just for what happened on the bed?”
This question was clearly not meant for Chu Tingyun, because the next second, Yan Xun directly dragged Chu Tingyun off the bed.
“Well then.”
“Yan Xun…”
Chu Tingyun sensed that something was wrong, but it was too late. He was roughly dragged by Yan Xun from the bedroom to the bathroom.
This person had too much strength; Chu Tingyun couldn’t break free, especially after just enduring an intense bout. His legs were weak. Having been here for almost two months, Yan Xun’s spirit had been tortured, and he disliked the food Chu Tingyun made, but he had never refused the three meals a day. He needed to maintain good health in preparation for leaving.
So Yan Xun’s physical condition was still good, while Chu Tingyun had lost quite a bit of weight.
Not to mention that since the beginning, their physical strengths were not on the same level. Chu Tingyun managed to keep Yan Xun here for so long mainly due to the advantage of timing, place, and his prior preparation of tools.
So when he released Yan Xun’s restraint, the roles of the aggressor and the victim were instantly reversed.
Sounds of items clattering and falling, as well as the sounds of two people arguing, immediately filled the bathroom.
“Hmm…”
The muffled groans of the man in pain came from inside. After a while, Chu Tingyun, clinging to the bathroom door, almost crawled out, but another large hand immediately grabbed his leg and dragged him back.
“Bang—”
The bathroom door was heavily slammed shut from the inside and locked. Only faint handprints could be seen on the frosted glass.
“Yan Xun… Yan…”
Chu Tingyun really wanted to say that he had been completely drained, that there was nothing left. But Yan Xun still didn’t let up on him. Eventually, he lost all dignity and wet himself… Only then did it stop. But of course, Yan Xun had never intended to go this far.
He just wanted to use the same methods to retaliate against Chu Tingyun, to let him understand how despicable such actions were, hoping that this way, Chu Tingyun would let him go.
“Ha…”
Chu Tingyun lay on the floor, laughing hoarsely. This was probably the dirtiest and most undignified moment of his life.
“Yan Xun, why don’t you just kill me?”
“…”
Yan Xun’s voice was hoarse, and he realized he might have been terribly wrong.
He had thought that exacting revenge on Chu Tingyun in the same way, showing him how vile such actions could be, would bring him satisfaction.
But it didn’t.
Yan Xun didn’t feel any satisfaction at all, only a deep sense of powerlessness and exhaustion, even an indescribable self-loathing. Reflecting on the previous wild events, he found he barely recognized himself.
So in the end, Yan Xun picked up Chu Tingyun, cleaned him up, and put him back on the bed.
Throughout the process, Chu Tingyun didn’t say another word.
Afterward, for the first time, Yan Xun had the urge to smoke. He found Chu Tingyun’s cigarettes and lighter and went to the attic to smoke.
One cigarette after another…
The smell of smoke, which Yan Xun used to frown at, now seemed suddenly acceptable.
After smoking half a pack, Yan Xun spent the night in the attic, sleeping poorly. He was haunted by nightmares and couldn’t wake up. When he finally managed to open his eyes, the first thing he saw was Chu Tingyun.
The man was curled up beside him, hugging his legs as he slept.
“…”
At that moment, Yan Xun couldn’t describe his feelings, only that Chu Tingyun was truly incomprehensible.
So they remained cold for a few more days. Yan Xun slept poorly every night.
He didn’t understand why he felt so uncomfortable. Clearly, Chu Tingyun no longer locked him up. They just didn’t speak.
“When are you planning to let me go?”
This question had been asked by Yan Xun so many times already.
But Chu Tingyun still didn’t answer, perhaps he didn’t even know himself.
So the next day, Yan Xun stopped eating.
Chu Tingyun still cooked for him. At first, when the food was spilled, the man would sharply criticize Yan Xun, telling him if he didn’t want to eat, then don’t.
But after two days, three days of this, Chu Tingyun softened.
He began to coax Yan Xun into eating, feeding him water while he was asleep. If the carefully prepared food was spilled, Chu Tingyun would not get angry but would clean up and make a new batch.
On the fourth day, Yan Xun clearly became weak. Chu Tingyun force-fed him water and food, which Yan Xun vomited.
By then, Chu Tingyun had completely forgotten his cleanliness obsession and meticulously cleaned the soiled clothes and carpet.
He looked at Yan Xun’s pale and weak face and finally began to feel afraid.
On the fifth day, Chu Tingyun, with red eyes and a lowered voice, apologized to Yan Xun, saying he was sorry and that he would take him back once the snow stopped, pleading for him to eat something.
At midnight, Yan Xun finally spoke, asking for lychees.
Actually, they both knew that this request was purely for difficulty. But Chu Tingyun immediately went out to find them.
In the middle of the night, braving the wind and snow, he went from door to door.
He didn’t find fresh lychees, only lychee-flavored candies.
The candy lacked the natural fragrance of lychees, only the deliberately replicated taste of industrial sweeteners.
But it was still sweet, even a bit too sweet.
It was as if Chu Tingyun could never give Yan Xun what he wanted—healthy and beautiful love—only his self-righteous, twisted, and forced affection.
Yan Xun felt like something inside him had shattered, and then something else, like a seed, had deeply embedded itself.
By morning, Yan Xun told Chu Tingyun, who was guarding the bedside:
“I’m hungry.”
“…”
When Chu Tingyun heard this, his expression was blank for a moment, then his lips quivered, as if he wanted to cry.
But in the end, he smiled happily, got up unsteadily, and went to the kitchen.
After having a bit of food, Chu Tingyun gave Yan Xun his ID, passport, as well as his phone and car keys.
He even bought a plane ticket for Yan Xun in front of him.
“After a couple of days, when you’re feeling better, we’ll go back. This time it’s real; I’m not lying to you.”
“… Okay.”
Because he caught a cold while looking for lychees, Chu Tingyun was sick.
This time he didn’t delay, took his medicine on time, and took good care of himself. However, Chu Tingyun no longer shared a bed with Yan Xun, fearing he might infect him or provoke him.
But Chu Tingyun had to keep an eye on Yan Xun at all times, so for the past few nights, he had been curling up on the single sofa beside the bed with a blanket, like a cat that had to stay close to its master.
Everything seemed to be getting better until the night before their departure, when they encountered a home invasion.
It was around 3 a.m.
Two robbers pried open the door lock and quietly sneaked in.
They had been observing the beautiful yet secluded villa for a week and had noticed that only two men lived there—one of whom had a wobbly gait and a pale face, looking sickly, while the other was slim and had a pretty face, looking like he couldn’t fight.
After some planning, they finally decided to act.
Yan Xun was the first to sense something wrong. He was a light sleeper, and the wooden stairs easily made noise when someone stepped on them.
However, Yan Xun didn’t immediately think of thieves or a home invasion. Having lived in a secure environment all his life, and with his father owning a martial arts school, he had never encountered such situations.
Later, while studying in the capital, he felt even safer.
So at the time, Yan Xun thought it might be a mouse or the natural sound of old wood. Since he couldn’t sleep, he decided to check it out.
Chu Tingyun had taken cold medicine, and the sedative component made him sleep soundly through the night.
Unbeknownst to him, Yan Xun, after opening the bedroom door and taking a few steps, was hit on the back of the head by a heavy blow from behind.
Buzz!
Yan Xun actually heard the swooshing sound of the bat from behind. In theory, he could have avoided it, but his weakened body from fasting recently slowed his reflexes.
“Bang—”
The metal baseball bat struck his head.
Yan Xun groaned and fell heavily to the ground. But he wasn’t unconscious; he gritted his teeth and immediately tried to alert the person still sleeping inside.
“Chu… Chu Tingyun!”
The moment Chu Tingyun was awakened by the sound, the first thing he saw was Yan Xun lying on the ground, while a shadow was raising a bat high above him.
At that moment, Chu Tingyun’s brain didn’t react in time, but his body rushed forward. However, there was more than one intruder.
At this moment, Yan Xun, having rolled on the ground to avoid the second blow, saw Chu Tingyun already engaged in a struggle with another person.
The latter was covered in tattoos, clearly stronger and armed, and Chu Tingyun quickly fell at a disadvantage. He was hit in the ribs and fell to the ground.
Yan Xun quickly got up, kicked the bat out of the thief’s hand, and then struck the thief on the ear with a knife.
This spot seemed insignificant but was especially vulnerable. A forceful blow could easily rupture the eardrum, leading to shock or even death.
Indeed, the thief let out a scream.
But Yan Xun didn’t kill him, and the thief seemed to be in good health, so he didn’t lose his fighting ability immediately.
Furious, Yan Xun drew his knife and angrily shouted a few sentences in Russian.
The next second, the tattooed accomplice abandoned Chu Tingyun on the ground and came over to help. Unexpectedly, Chu Tingyun suddenly grabbed the man’s leg and smashed a nearby vase onto his foot.
“Ah—!”
After a resentful cry of pain, Chu Tingyun was violently kicked away, but it wasn’t over yet. The attacker continued to brutally kick his abdomen.
Chu Tingyun was in excruciating pain and suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood.
At that moment, Yan Xun felt like his heartbeat had stopped.
Spitting blood…
Such a situation was likely caused by a severe external injury leading to gastric bleeding, and if it was more serious, it could mean internal organ rupture.
If it was the latter, Chu Tingyun would die here.
“…”
Yan Xun ducked to avoid a knife, then grabbed the man’s wrist and pulled him forcefully towards himself, elbowing him sharply in the chest.
Bang!
After the muffled sound, the man immediately went dark, and the next second, his hand was twisted back, the wrist bone making a clear “crack” sound.
The knife fell to the ground.
Yan Xun had trained in martial arts with his adoptive father since he was seven. Although the family martial arts school closed a few years later, his father still practiced with him at home. Even after his father’s death, Yan Xun didn’t completely abandon this skill.
He had learned both the exhibition moves for competitions and the practical combat techniques for real danger.
As a teenager, he was very interested in these and even studied old documentaries. Those techniques were lethal. Unlike the dramatic exchanges seen in movies, if the intent was to kill, life or death could be decided in a few seconds.
What was once just an interest was now Yan Xun’s first practical application of those techniques. After incapacitating the first attacker, he didn’t hold back and turned to face the second one, targeting vital points with each strike.
After several muffled thuds of hitting flesh, the tattooed attacker who had kicked Chu Tingyun until he vomited blood was pinned down by Yan Xun, who knelt on his back.
His nose was broken, and his face was covered in blood.
Although Mr. Lin, Chu Tingyun’s father, had intended for Yan Xun to help his biological son in the future, he was not a completely bad person.
At least before his death, he had taken on most of the responsibilities of a father.
When he first took Yan Xun to the martial arts school, he had told his younger son that the purpose of martial arts was to exercise, self-defense, and protect the weak, and that one shouldn’t bully others just because of one’s own strength.
Even when it was necessary to act, one should remember to control oneself and never harm someone’s life.
[“Okay, Dad, I remember.”]
Yan Xun had always remembered these words. From the age of seven to twenty-two, he had kept these words deeply in his heart and constantly restrained his own actions.
But at this moment, it seemed that all those things were completely forgotten by Yan Xun.
Extreme anger, and perhaps some unrecognized hatred, had overwhelmed his mind like a flood, causing the usually rational and calm youth to completely lose control.
He picked up the knife that the attacker had dropped and raised it high, aiming at the man’s neck.
Buzz—
In the moment the blade descended, Chu Tingyun, who had somehow crawled over, grabbed Yan Xun’s pant leg.
Whoosh!
The next second, the knife blade, barely missing the attacker’s neck, deeply stabbed into the nearby wooden floor.
Yan Xun slowly blinked, belatedly turning his head.
He saw Chu Tingyun curled up on the floor, his face pale from pain, his body convulsing, blood staining half of his face, unable to utter a single sound.
Yet despite the intense pain, the man didn’t let go but tightly clutched Yan Xun’s pant leg.
At the moment when Yan Xun was about to fall into an abyss of irreversible destruction, Chu Tingyun pulled him back.
“…”
Yan Xun closed his eyes and took a heavy breath.
His hands were trembling, covered in someone else’s blood.
But at that moment, Yan Xun had no time for fear. He quickly used the handcuffs Chu Tingyun had used to imprison him to cuff the two robbers, securing them to the stair railing.
Then, he picked up Chu Tingyun and immediately drove him to the hospital.
That night, it was probably the fastest Yan Xun had ever driven since he learned to drive. The three-hour route on the GPS was covered in just one and a half hours.
When they finally arrived at the hospital, Chu Tingyun was nearly unconscious and was immediately rushed into the emergency room for rescue.
Doctors and nurses came out in succession, speaking urgently to Yan Xun, but their speech was too fast and all in Russian, which Yan Xun couldn’t understand. He could only repeatedly say a few Russian words he knew.
“Please… please… help…”
“Save him…”
He was trembling all over with anxiety.
Fortunately, a doctor who spoke English arrived later. Yan Xun’s English was also good, so he was able to understand Chu Tingyun’s current condition.
It turned out to be a ruptured spleen; if they had been any later, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
The doctor reassuringly patted his shoulder and asked:
“Immediate surgery is needed. Are you his relative? We need a signature for the surgery consent form.”
“I…”
Yan Xun wasn’t a relative and couldn’t sign.
But where could he find Chu Tingyun’s relatives to sign?
At that moment, he really wanted to grab the consent form and sign his name to get the surgery started as soon as possible.
But he couldn’t.
Doing so would only disrupt the hospital’s normal procedures and might delay Chu Tingyun’s surgery.
“His family is in China and can’t come…”
Yan Xun’s voice was trembling, but he still tried to express that it was impossible to find a relative to sign and hoped the hospital would make an exception. Fortunately, the hospital’s director was present, and after the chief physician got approval, the surgery began.
It wasn’t until a nurse came to ask how the patient got injured that Yan Xun belatedly reported the crime to the police.
At 9 a.m., the surgery was successfully completed, and Chu Tingyun was out of danger.
Yan Xun followed him to the ward, and a few hours later, the police who went to capture the criminals also returned.
They successfully arrested the two robbers who had been cuffed to the stairs and came to ask Yan Xun about the details of last night’s events.
A Russian police officer called Yan Xun outside the ward and asked about his relationship with Chu Tingyun and their purpose for being there.
“…”
Yan Xun looked through the glass at Chu Tingyun lying in the hospital bed, remained silent for a long time, and finally said with difficulty:
“Мы ……любовники， приехали……сюда на каникулы.” (We… are lovers, came… here on vacation.)
Fearing the other party wouldn’t understand Chinese, Yan Xun constructed the sentence with the Russian words Chu Tingyun had taught him.
He told the officer—
They are lovers who came here on vacation.
__
Author’s Note:
The Russian was machine-translated.
