Zhou Ruo An’s mind went blank for a brief moment.
When he felt an unfamiliar slick warmth inside his mouth, the sky erupted in its most dazzling colors. Fireworks poured downward like a falling river of stars.
Zhou Ruo An had always looked down on overly sentimental writing, yet for some reason, at that moment he suddenly remembered the notebook of copied passages that had belonged to his middle-school deskmate, its pages fluttering in the wind.
Only those who have seen love and fireworks can understand both the sorrow and beauty of this world.
The sentence had been copied in red ballpoint pen.
The handwriting was ugly.
Bang!
Zhou Ruo An swung a vicious punch at Lin Yi without the slightest hesitation.
Much later, on extremely rare occasions, Zhou Ruo An would think back on his first kiss. It had been very brief—so brief that the fireworks had not even finished fading.
He had put every ounce of strength into that punch. Even Lin Yi was forced a step backward.
“Zhou Ruo An.” Ignoring the dull ache in his face, Lin Yi brushed aside the willow branch that had swung back toward him. His tone was unexpectedly earnest. “Should we talk?”
The final traces of falling light were swallowed by the dark sky. The park lamps did not reach this far into the shadows, and darkness gradually wrapped itself around them, concealing both their expressions.
There was still moisture on Zhou Ruo An’s lips, and the lingering slickness in his mouth disgusted him. Suppressing the urge to rinse it out, he slipped a hand into his pocket and found the coin tucked into the fold of his clothes. His thumb rubbed over the engraved pattern as he fought to suppress his anger.
With his rationality finally back online, his mind repeatedly weighed two choices: cutting Lin Yi off completely or continuing to make use of him.
In the end, Zhou Ruo An put a cigarette between his lips, using its faint bitterness to cover the sensation that remained. He stepped forward until he was closer to Lin Yi.
“You like men?”
The tiny ember at the tip of the cigarette illuminated Zhou Ruo An’s eyes.
Lin Yi saw no disgust in them.
“Yes.”
Zhou Ruo An looked away, his smile lazy and striking. “That’s good. At least there’s no fucking need to worry about contraception. But next time, watch yourself. Don’t get a few drinks in you and start… grabbing people at random.”
Bang!
Another firework burst across the sky.
This time, both men kept their eyes lowered. Neither looked up.
＊
That very night, Zhou Ruo An sent two male escorts to Lin Yi’s room—one muscular, the other alluring, both among the best the county had to offer.
The crack in Zhou Ruo An’s door was so narrow that he could barely fit half an eye against it.
His room and Lin Yi’s were separated by a long corridor. At the opposite end, the two men knocked on Lin Yi’s door.
They were too far away, and Lin Yi’s voice was naturally low, so Zhou Ruo An couldn’t make out what he said. He did, however, hear the higher-voiced escort cheerfully mention Zhou Ruo An’s name.
The man inside fell silent for a moment before stepping aside and letting them through.
The two entered one after the other. As they passed Lin Yi, fingertips lightly hooked across his sleeveless black shirt. Even from the other end of the corridor, their blatant flirtation was impossible to miss.
Zhou Ruo An put a cigarette between his lips and scoffed. “Fucking fag.”
Suddenly, the phone in his pocket rang, startling the voyeur.
He pulled it out and casually glanced at the name on the screen.
Zhou Ruo An froze, then abruptly raised his head and peered through the crack again.
At the other end of the corridor, Lin Yi was leaning against his own door. He lifted his phone and gave it a slight shake in Zhou Ruo An’s direction before slowly bringing it back to his ear.
He said nothing. Only the faint sound of his breathing came through the receiver, warm against Zhou Ruo An’s ear.
Since he had already been caught spying, there was no point hiding anymore. Zhou Ruo An pushed his door open and moved the phone slightly away from his ear. “Like the gift I sent you?”
“I do.”
“Good. Let Brother Lin blow off some steam so you don’t get desperate and start grabbing people again.” Zhou Ruo An looked across the corridor at the tall man and joked as casually as if they were still buddies. “I paid a fucking fortune for them. Make sure I get my money’s worth.”
Lin Yi smiled too. “Definitely.”
After that, their voices fell silent.
One corridor, two open doors. Everything was quiet.
Only after a long while did Lin Yi turn and walk back into his room. Before closing the door, he left Zhou Ruo An with one final sentence.
“Zhou Ruo An, I shouldn’t have gone soft on you.”
＊
Zhou Ruo An remained standing in the doorway for so long that Ren Yu began to wonder whether he had fallen asleep on his feet.
Only after Ren Yu softly called out to him did he finally come back to his senses.
Zhou Ruo An tossed away the cigarette butt that had nearly burned his fingers, returned to the living room, and sat down on the sofa. “You said you had something to report?”
“Zhou Zhe went to the electronics factory. He brought the circuit-board components he bought at a high price through his connections.”
For the first time that entire day, Zhou Ruo An smiled genuinely. “What did he look like when he found out I’d already recovered the stolen components?”
“His face turned green.” Ren Yu promptly offered him a glass of liquor. “Fourth Young Master, you stayed one step ahead of him at every turn. Second Young Master wanted to use this to rise on his own, but instead he’s ended up doing all the work for your benefit.”
“When are we going to expose Zhou Zhe as the mastermind behind this whole incident?” Ren Yu asked.
Zhou Ruo An crossed his legs and answered with a smile of his own. “Why would we expose him?”
Ren Yu couldn’t immediately follow his reasoning and looked surprised. “Then we’d have one less serious rival.”
“I’m an illegitimate son who’s been back in the Zhou family for less than three months. If I immediately bring down their perfectly legitimate Second Young Master, forget whether we can even pin the crime on Zhou Zhe. Even if we could, I probably wouldn’t be able to take another step forward afterward.”
Ren Yu considered this for a moment. “So that’s why you didn’t send Cui Liu to the police station and have him charged with theft? You didn’t want him implicating the Second Young Master?”
“He’ll definitely talk. The question is how we make him talk.” Zhou Ruo An glanced at his phone. “I already have his statement. I’ll keep it as a bargaining chip. Maybe it’ll come in handy someday.”
“He’s willing to testify against the Second Young Master?”
“With Lin Yi around, something like that isn’t difficult.”
The name caused Zhou Ruo An’s speech to falter slightly. After a brief silence, he asked awkwardly, “Those two male escorts you found… they don’t have any diseases, right?”
It was Ren Yu’s first time being assigned a task like this, and his answer lacked conviction. “They… probably don’t.”
Zhou Ruo An’s expression turned unpleasant. He brought the glass to his lips, trapping his muttered words against its rim. “That idiot… who knows if he even knows how to use a condom.”
As though unwilling to linger on the subject of Lin Yi any longer, Zhou Ruo An drained the glass and deliberately quickened his speech. “Besides, Zhou Zhe is still useful to me. Have you read the proposal Zhou Zhe submitted at the beginning of the year?”
Ren Yu thought for a moment. “At the beginning of the year, all the proposals were organized and archived by our General Office. Second Young Master’s proposal… argued that the company should gradually shift from a trade-based business model toward an industrial one. He proposed reducing our reliance on contract manufacturers and instead building or acquiring processing plants owned by Shengkai itself.”
“Exactly. He set up such a huge scheme not merely to claim the credit. More importantly, he wanted to use this incident to force the board of directors to take his proposal seriously and then turn his idea into reality.”
Zhou Ruo An possessed a shrewdness completely at odds with his age. His gaze looked calm, but it was anything but clear. Beneath it lay layer upon layer of tightly concealed ambition.
“If headquarters approves this project, Zhou Zhe will very likely be appointed project leader. He’ll shoot straight to the top.”
“So you intend to…”
“Now that Zhou Zhe has lost his chance to claim the credit, he definitely won’t give up on the factory project. I’ll wait for him to raise it himself, and then…”
“And then, based on what you accomplished during this incident, you’ll naturally be able to reap the benefits?” Ren Yu’s eyes shone brightly, as though he could already see a smooth road stretching ahead.
“It’s not that simple.” Zhou Ruo An looked out at the deep darkness beyond the window. “I can only do my best and try.”
＊
The next morning, Zhou Ruo An sat in his car and watched the two men leave the hotel.
Without makeup, they looked somewhat haggard. Their movements were stiff, their steps dragging slightly.
Less than ten minutes later, Lin Yi emerged from the hotel as well, carrying a bag.
Zhou Ruo An sounded the horn, lowered his window, and waved him over.
Lin Yi walked up to the car, bent slightly, and rested an arm against the window frame. His expression was cold. “What?”
“I fucking paid for you to have a good time, and I don’t even get a smile?”
Zhou Ruo An suddenly felt that the distance between them was a little too small and subtly leaned backward.
Lin Yi, however, leaned his upper body farther into the car, following him until Zhou Ruo An had nowhere left to retreat. “Get to the point.”
Sometimes Zhou Ruo An really hated how good his mind was at making associations.
Like now, when he suddenly remembered Lin Yi’s scorching breath against his neck in the pool—and the slick, soft sensation inside his mouth beneath the fireworks.
So fucking annoying.
He took a deep breath. “From now on… I’ll have to ask Brother Lin to look after me.”
“Easy enough. Pay me, and we can do business. I won’t disappoint you, Fourth Young Master.”
Lin Yi reached over and pulled the seat belt across him. Watching Zhou Ruo An visibly startle, he smiled. “Half a month from now, I’ll come collect the interest. We’ll settle our accounts little by little.”
Click.
The seat belt snapped into its buckle.
Zhou Ruo An’s heart tightened. For reasons he couldn’t explain, he suddenly felt as though a beast had herded him into its hunting ground…