Futile Devices Scans

The room had two beds. The yellowing white sheets tried their best to conceal even filthier stains. The small window was covered by dark green curtains—or perhaps light green; it was hard to tell, as someone had torn a thread loose, leaving a long, narrow slit. Through it, one could see the grimy glass. The walls were painted a cheap pink, dotted with squashed mosquitoes and splattered blood. From a distance, it looked almost mottled, like falling cherry blossoms drifting in a pink haze.

Xue Bao Tian turned his eyes away in disgust.

Aside from the two beds, there was nowhere to sit. Suppressing his discomfort, he reluctantly sat on the edge of the bed, putting on an imposing air: “Zhang Chi, what does this have to do with me?”

The tall and well-built man sat on the other bed. He was looking at Xue Bao Tian’s crossed legs—the pale ankle exposed between his pants and shoes, glaringly white under the light.

Only when his name was called did he come back to himself. He pointed at a man crouching in the corner. His tone wasn’t harsh, even somewhat polite: “You explain.”

That man had his hands tied behind his back. Half his head was tattooed with black-and-red flames. Beside him were three others, bound in the same way. One of them was a thin and good-looking young man, while the other two had fierce appearances similar to the flame-tattooed man.

Xue Bao Tian pulled out a cigarette from his coat pocket, biting it between his lips, narrowing his eyes with a half-smile: “Yeah, Brother Dao, why don’t you explain? What exactly is going on?”

The flame-tattooed man, nicknamed Brother Dao, was a low-level thug in Yan City. He had done a few shady jobs for wealthy young men, tasted the benefits, and began hanging around outside clubs hoping for chance encounters. Whether they had one more person drinking or one less didn’t matter, but he had some underworld connections, which made him somewhat useful.

Over time, he took on more jobs: dealing with mistresses, intimidating romantic rivals. The money was easy, and the work was simple. A few days ago, through the introduction of a playboy, he met Xue Bao Tian. He heard that the young master of a chain pharmacy had a dispute and needed someone to “handle it.”

Xue Bao Tian wasn’t easy to deal with. Though he looked decent, his features were sinister. He didn’t explain why he had a grudge, only said he wanted to set up a “honey trap” to deal with the person who offended him.

The young master paid generously and even hosted a banquet to show respect. A “honey trap” was Brother Dao’s specialty, so he agreed immediately, patting his chest to guarantee: “I’ll definitely vent your anger!”

But now, this Brother Dao had his head lowered, saying nothing. In their line of work, loyalty mattered. Once he took Xue Bao Tian’s job, he couldn’t turn against his employer. That would be a major taboo.

“I’m talking to you.”

Zhang Chi’s voice wasn’t loud or harsh, yet it made Brother Dao shiver. He could ignore Xue Bao Tian’s questioning, but he couldn’t ignore this man who had effortlessly dislocated his jaw and shoulder.

“…Master Xue, I messed up the job… I’ll return the money.”

Xue Bao Tian ground his teeth in anger, yet smiled: “Brother Dao, we’ve had drinks together a couple of times, but I don’t understand what you’re saying now. You said there’d be something interesting to watch. I like excitement, so I came. Don’t tell me this ‘fun’ is you being tied up like a rice dumpling stuffed with shit?”

Brother Dao grew anxious. Earlier, Zhang Chi had made it clear—if he said anything false, his fingers would be cut off.

He had seen such bloody scenes before—when a boss gathered everyone to make an example. As one of the “monkeys,” his pinky finger had hurt for three whole days.

“Big brother, it was really him who told me to set this up. He said to find a good-looking man to lure you into a room, then we’d break in, scare you and beat you, and finally call the police.”

“Fuck your mother!” Xue Bao Tian kicked Brother Dao. “You took my money and still set me up.”

He bit down on his cigarette and looked at Zhang Chi: “Yeah, your grandpa here did it. I just wanted to kill you. What are you gonna do about it?”

Zhang Chi showed no expression. His gaze swept around until he spotted a brick propping up the bed leg. He stood up, lifted the wooden bed with ease, and pulled the brick out.

“What are you doing?” Xue Bao Tian bit his cigarette butt until it deformed. “…What I said about wanting to kill you was just exaggeration. You wrote essays in elementary school, right? Like saying a car is as fast as a plane.”

“I don’t know, never wrote any.” Zhang Chi replied sincerely. With a lift of his hand, he handed the brick to Xue Bao Tian.

Xue Bao Tian shifted back half his seat: “What do you mean?”

Zhang Chi tilted his chin toward the crouching man: “A spineless guy like this needs a lesson. No loyalty and no guts, yet he still wants to make a living in this line? If you let him go today, tomorrow he’ll twist the truth and come after you.”

Xue Bao Tian removed the cigarette: “You want me to hit him?”

“Yeah.”

For some reason, Xue Bao Tian felt a bit uncomfortable. He and Zhang Chi were supposed to be enemies, so where had things gone wrong? Why did they suddenly seem united against a common enemy?

“Scared?” Zhang Chi stood up and took the brick back from his hand. “I’ll help you.”

With one hand, he covered Xue Bao Tian’s eyes. With the other, he weighed the brick, and amid Brother Dao’s desperate pleas, he slammed it down hard!

Amid the earth-shaking scream, Xue Bao Tian shuddered. He slapped Zhang Chi’s hand away and cursed: “The hell am I scared of? Zhang Chi, did you forget how I smashed you with an ashtray?!”

With a push, Zhang Chi ignored him and sat on the edge of the bed very close to Brother Dao. Looking at the group huddled together in fear, he showed a cold gaze for the first time.

“Brother Dao, right? This time you lost face. You’ll come back for revenge later, won’t you?”

“No, no, no, I won’t!” Brother Dao forced his blood-covered eyes open, trying to appear sincere. “This time it’s my fault. I absolutely won’t think about revenge.”

“You wouldn’t dare take revenge on me, but what about him?” Zhang Chi pointed at Xue Bao Tian.

“No, no! I owe Master Xue for this.” Unable to figure out the relationship between the two, Brother Dao could only make assurances based on his guess. “If I ever take revenge on Master Xue, may I never have children.”

Zhang Chi seemed satisfied with that answer. He untied the ropes binding them. The thin young man was so frightened he couldn’t stand up, so Zhang Chi even helped him.

After rummaging through his jeans pocket for a while, he pulled out a little over two hundred yuan in mixed bills and handed it to Brother Dao: “Go get your wounds treated. It’s not much money, just take it.”

Brother Dao couldn’t figure out Zhang Chi’s intentions. To him, this man who switched between gentleness and cruelty was downright insane. He didn’t dare take the money, clutching his head wound as he shrank back.

The money was stuffed into Brother Dao’s pocket. The door was opened, and the group left in fear. Zhang Chi extended his long arm and stopped the last person.

“Two hundred yuan, you stay.”

Xue Bao Tian, who had been trying to slip out quietly, patted Zhang Chi’s arm, pretending familiarity: “I’ll go settle the room fee. You stay here and get some rest. It’s late—no need to go back to the construction site.”

“Mm, not going back.”

With a bang, the door was shut. Zhang Chi pulled the escaping Xue Bao Tian into his arms: “Two hundred yuan, it’s time we settle our score.”

“Settle accounts?” Xue Bao Tian immediately bristled. He grabbed the blood-stained brick: “Here, you take one hit too, and we’re even.”

Zhang Chi pulled him closer, lowered his head, and sniffed at his collar: “What perfume are you wearing? It’s different from last time.”

Xue Bao Tian suddenly realized that something hot and growing was pressing against his side waist. He twisted his body, stammering as he begged: “Zhang Chi, Brother Chi, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have tried to get back at you. How about this—tomorrow I’ll host a gathering to apologize. I’ll drink a dozen depth charges, how about that?”

Zhang Chi’s hand had already slipped under the hem of Xue Bao Tian’s shirt, kneading that narrow waist he favored: “Two hundred yuan, I could call the police. Extortion isn’t a light charge. The consequences might not be severe, but detention or supervision would be unavoidable.” He leaned down and kissed the man’s soft earlobe, coaxing: “Do it once, and we’re even.”

Xue Bao Tian had neither morals nor shame, so why fear detention? But not now.

He was currently locked in a fierce struggle with his brother-in-law. Just a few days ago, he had set him up and taken control of twelve pharmacies in the western district. He knew exactly what kind of person his brother-in-law was. Any mistake now would become a weapon against him. His father always sided with outsiders. If he were really detained, those high-society people would mock his father as a nouveau riche who failed to raise his son properly, and who knew what punishment he would face.

Xue Bao Tian grabbed the wandering hand, grinding his teeth: “I’ll call that boy back. Since you came to open a room with him, you must have liked him. I’ll have him come back—you can do whatever you want.”

“Didn’t like him.” Zhang Chi began unbuttoning Xue Bao Tian’s shirt. “There’s no one dressed like him here. Even if there were, they wouldn’t be interested in me. It was obviously a setup.”

Xue Bao Tian cursed as he tried to button his shirt back up: “You knew it was a setup and still came along?!”

“I figured you were the one trying to mess with me.” Zhang Chi went to undo the buttons again, adding a gentle threat: “I don’t want to tear your clothes. They look expensive.”

He quickened his movements: “When I heard your voice on the phone, I was actually happy.” Finally undoing all the buttons, he peeled Xue Bao Tian out of his clothes, lowering his head to kiss him, murmuring: “I haven’t done it for half a month. When I dragged you into the room, I already wanted to send them away.”

Xue Bao Tian calculated the timing. Half a month ago was exactly the night he had someone abduct Zhang Chi. That night… he chose to forget. So the other man had been holding back for half a month, and today he had delivered himself right to the door. He cursed and pushed at the head: “If you bite me again, I’ll fucking kill you!”

Zhang Chi was easy to talk to; the next moment, he loosened his bite. He reached out and pulled open the drawer of the simple bedside cabinet, taking out a box of condoms.

Xue Bao Tian covered his eyes, resigning himself and lying stiff like a corpse: “Zhang Chi, we agreed it’s just one time. If there’s more, I’ll cut you.”

“Mm.” Before anything even started, Zhang Chi’s voice had already turned husky.

The plastic wrapper was torn open. Xue Bao Tian felt Zhang Chi go still for a moment on top of him.

“There’s something like this?” he heard the man ask.

Xue Bao Tian removed his arm, squinting through a slit. He looked at the thing in Zhang Chi’s hand and sneered: “You little idiot, your experience is even poorer than your brain. This one has textured bumps—never seen it before?”

As soon as he finished speaking, his face turned pale: “This… this isn’t good to use. Brother Chi, let’s switch to a normal one.”

Zhang Chi held the condom between his lips, flipped Xue Bao Tian over, and leaned over his ear, murmuring faintly: “Two hundred yuan, I want to broaden my horizons.”

“Zhang Chi, damn you! You’d better just call the police!”

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