Zhou Ruo An held a nominal sinecure at Shengkai Foreign Trade. In the past, even if he wandered into the company, no one would spare him a proper glance. But ever since he had led the opening toast at the Zhou family’s New Year’s Eve banquet, his status had risen with the tide. The younger members of each branch took turns hosting gatherings, invitations arrived one after another, and throughout the entire Spring Festival, Zhou Ruo An spent his days drunk on pleasure and indulgence. He did everything there was to do—except touch a woman.
After leaving the club, Zhou Ruo An tightened his overcoat. The flattery had sounded particularly sweet tonight, so he had indulged in a few more drinks than usual.
His steps were unsteady, yet he walked with slow arrogance. His coat hem swayed behind him, loose bangs shadowing a pair of beautiful drunken eyes. Only the distant lights illuminated the parking lot, and he seemed to be walking at the very edge of the light, carrying material desire, decadence, and the most beautiful form of ruin with him step by step until he reached Lin Yi’s car.
He opened the door and got in. Warm air immediately wrapped around him. The chill was still buried in his bones, and when cold met heat, Zhou Ruo An shivered.
Leaning back against the seat, he closed his eyes and endured the mild dizziness. “How long have you been waiting?”
“Not long.” Lin Yi fastened his seat belt for him, glancing only briefly at the small mole hidden in his brow.
“Want some water?”
Lin Yi’s voice wasn’t close to him, so Zhou Ruo An gave a relieved “Mm.” A moment later, water was brought to his lips. He drank two mouthfuls from Lin Yi’s hand, then turned his head away to indicate that it was enough.
Ever since the two of them had made their three-month agreement, they had been seeing each other much more frequently. Zhou Ruo An slept by day and was active at night, and Lin Yi was always there to pick him up and drop him off. Aside from that, their interactions hadn’t changed much. Lin Yi didn’t excessively flatter or fawn over him, nor did he get handsy in violation of their agreement. It took Zhou Ruo An barely a week to go from anxious and wary to completely comfortable.
“You don’t need to pick me up every single time. This is your busy season too.”
Lin Yi started the car and pulled away, offering only one not particularly gentle reply. “I want to.”
Zhou Ruo An smiled with his eyes still closed. “Lin Yi, do you think you count as a simp?”
Lin Yi glanced at him. “I guess.”
“Like hell.” Zhou Ruo An laughed from the passenger seat. “A few days ago you were still threatening to give me a cigarette-burn scar. What kind of simp does that?”
Amusement appeared in Lin Yi’s eyes as well. “That’s because you’re too damn difficult.”
“Lin Yi.” Zhou Ruo An opened his eyes and looked toward the driver through a drunken haze. “I don’t want us to become distant, but I don’t want to date you either.”
Lin Yi kept the car moving steadily, one hand on the steering wheel while the other reached over and ruffled Zhou Ruo An’s hair. “You can’t have it both ways. You have to choose one of those roads.” Zhou Ruo An had been drinking, so his thoughts and movements were both sluggish. He only tried to dodge after Lin Yi’s palm was already resting on his head, but Lin Yi gently held him in place. The man spared him a glance, unexpectedly tender. “Promise me you’ll stay properly by my side for these three months. If it really doesn’t work, I’ll leave on my own.”
His thumb stroked lightly across Zhou Ruo An’s forehead. “Okay?” Lin Yi’s voice was low, almost coaxing.
The car was steady, but that couldn’t stop the alcohol surging through Zhou Ruo An. He was dizzy, hot, and uncomfortable. He slapped Lin Yi’s hand away and turned toward the window.
Only after a long while did Zhou Ruo An’s chest vibrate faintly.
“Mm.”
…
Ever since Madam Zhou returned from vacation, family dinners had become frequent at the Zhou residence. Whenever the old housekeeper informed Zhou Ruo An, his tone was extraordinarily perfunctory. Anyone with even half a brain could hear the unspoken message: It’s fine if you don’t come.
Zhou Ruo An attended every single one anyway, pretending to be foolish, cracking jokes, and earning no shortage of cold looks.
The Third Miss was favored and often remained beside Madam Zhou. She seemed good-tempered, smiled frequently, and liked hawthorn preserves.
Occasionally, the Third Miss would step outside for some air. At those times, the smile vanished from her face. Once the disguise fell away, it became clear that the girl actually had an icy countenance, her brows and eyes seeming dusted with frost, the kind of face that looked difficult to approach.
Zhou Ruo An walked over, leaned against one of the pillars beneath the corridor, lit a cigarette, and smoked as he stared at the sky beside her.
It was cold, and standing outside became unbearable before long. The Third Miss turned to go back inside. As she passed Zhou Ruo An, she heard him ask as though casually, “You don’t actually like hawthorn preserves, do you?” The girl stopped and shot him a cold glance. “We’re both just trying to survive under this roof. You don’t need to target me. I’m no threat to you.”
“I know.” Zhou Ruo An removed the cigarette from his mouth and lightly flicked away the ash. “I’m just curious. Madam doesn’t genuinely like you, so why bother putting on this act?”
The girl scoffed. “Zhou Ruo An, don’t tell me you actually don’t know why she allows bastards like us through the Zhou family’s doors.”
Zhou Ruo An’s back stiffened. He glanced around from the corner of his eye and lowered his voice. “Why?”
“Marriage alliances.” Mockery crossed the girl’s face. “You don’t seriously think she’s generous and selfless, do you? For a family like the Zhous, if they want to reinforce their foundations and form outside connections, marriage alliances are the easiest way.”
The girl leaned slightly closer to Zhou Ruo An’s ear. “For illegitimate children, the marriage partners are either from mediocre families or have terrible character. Madam is already looking at marriage prospects for you.” She clicked her tongue a few times, then straightened and let her face go cold. “Good luck, Fourth Young Master of the Zhou family.”
At the doorway, her slender fingers, like fresh green shoots, were just about to push open the door when she heard Zhou Ruo An ask lazily, “Who did she pick for you?”
The girl’s plain white qipao nearly disappeared into the snow. Lowering her long lashes, she said softly, “Mind your own business.”
…
The very next day, Zhou Ruo An got himself a girlfriend.
She was a socialite he had met at a dinner party. Her family had some money, and she was beautiful, passionate, and loved wealth—exactly to Zhou Ruo An’s taste.
The contract was signed quickly as well. The woman signed her name at the bottom of the page and twirled the pen between her fingers. “How do you want me to cooperate, Fourth Young Master?”
“If word gets out that I’m being matched for a marriage alliance, cry, make a scene, and threaten to hang yourself.”
The woman stirred her coffee. “So Fourth Young Master doesn’t want his fate controlled by the family?”
Sunlight filled the café, Zhou Ruo An’s face seeming almost to melt into it. Wearing that extraordinarily beautiful face, he spoke the crudest, most mercenary words imaginable. “Other people can control my fate. The price just has to be negotiated properly first.”
“No wonder you were in such a hurry to find a girlfriend. You’re planning to trade ‘true love’ for compensation.”
Zhou Ruo An took a sip of coffee and looked through the window at the couples scattered across the plaza in pairs. “If I’m being asked to give up some grand, passionate love, then I ought to be compensated with either a prestigious family name or hard cash.”
After that, Zhou Ruo An brought the woman to plenty of events. They acted affectionate and inseparable, putting on quite the passionate display.
He hid it from only one person: Lin Yi.
Zhou Ruo An only dared to get into Lin Yi’s car after sending the woman away. Lin Yi wasn’t clingy, which Zhou Ruo An appreciated enormously. With the timing this flexible, he could keep both flags flying without letting either side collapse.
Elio’s Notes: This plays on the joking saying about keeping “the red flag flying at home while colorful flags fly outside,” referring to maintaining an official partner while also keeping lovers on the side. Zhou Ruo An is cheekily applying the metaphor to his two-track arrangement.
One evening, someone arranged a gathering at Lin Yi’s bar. Zhou Ruo An deliberately left his girlfriend behind and went alone.
He came out for a cigarette during the gathering and happened to run into Lin Yi. The man led him to the bar, personally mixed a drink, and slid it toward him across the solid wooden counter. “Try it.”
Lin Yi was excellent at mixing drinks. Zhou Ruo An had learned perhaps thirty percent of his skill, which was already enough to fool people outside. He took a slow sip and praised, “Good.”
Then he added, “Still not as good as it was back then.”
The comment came without context, yet Lin Yi understood. He caught Zhou Ruo An by the wrist and glanced behind the bar. “Come in.”
Perhaps Zhou Ruo An had drunk a little too much, because he actually cooperated. He circled the long wooden counter and stepped behind the bar. Lin Yi put a beer crate on the floor, and Zhou Ruo An sat on it with practiced ease, his back against the wooden panel inside the counter. The shadows pressed down over him, almost completely hiding him.
Lin Yi stood beside him and looked down. “How is it now?”
Zhou Ruo An took another sip and smiled. “A few years ago, when you couldn’t find any work beating people up, you worked as a bartender. I used to hide behind the bar, sneaking drinks while I waited for you to get off work. Do you remember the road home afterward? Ten kilometers from Bar Street to the urban village. Hot in summer, freezing in winter. We suffered plenty.”
Just then, someone ordered a drink. Lin Yi withdrew his gaze and began mixing it in place of the bartender. During the occasional lull, he would lower his right hand and gently stroke the top of Zhou Ruo An’s head, winding the fine, soft strands around his fingers until Zhou Ruo An dodged away, at which point he would withdraw. Sometimes Lin Yi would bring him a piece of candy too, unwrapping it while chatting with a customer, then lowering his hand and accurately slipping it into Zhou Ruo An’s mouth without even looking.
The candy was sweet and the liquor strong; they didn’t pair at all. Zhou Ruo An wanted either to spit out the candy or put down his drink, yet in the end he did neither. He merely tilted his head and looked hazily at the man beside him before muttering a curse under his breath.
When Lin Yi finally had a moment free, he crouched beside Zhou Ruo An and studied him closely before leaning in. “Does the drink taste good?”
“Mm. Try it.”
“Forget it. I’m afraid you’ll curse at me.”
Zhou Ruo An looked confused for a moment before abruptly understanding. A trace of embarrassed anger passed over his face, leaving a layer of frost behind.
Somehow, that seemed to strike one of Lin Yi’s peculiar tastes. His gaze gradually deepened as he hooked a finger beneath one of Zhou Ruo An’s buttons and pulled him forward.
At that distance, their breaths could almost touch each other’s skin. In the dim light, their gazes intertwined like thick, overgrown vines.
“Lin Yi.” Zhou Ruo An’s voice tightened. “You said you wouldn’t do anything excessive.”
“I won’t.”
In the roaring noise of the bar, hidden in the secluded corner beneath the counter, Zhou Ruo An felt a gentle stroke down his back. Lin Yi leaned closer to his ear. “Zhou Ruo An, do you remember the word ‘filth’? Dirty, unclean, base, lowly—that’s my life. And you… you’re the only beautiful dream in all of my wretchedness.”
The candy pressed lightly against Zhou Ruo An’s teeth. The liquor in his glass rippled. Something unfamiliar spread through the silence, squeezing the air until his chest felt tight and he could barely breathe.
He turned away from that burning gaze, crushed the candy between his teeth, and poured the rest of the liquor into his mouth.
After swallowing, he smiled around the fragments of candy still between his teeth. “Where’d you learn words like that?”
Lin Yi drew back slightly and admitted it without shame. “I looked up the words in a dictionary. The rest I came up with myself. Took me several days to memorize it.”
Zhou Ruo An laughed and said, “Shit. Don’t say things like that anymore. It’s creepy.”
Lin Yi ran his hand through those soft strands again and disagreed. “You’ll get used to it if you hear it often enough. Next time I’ll come up with something different. One way or another, I’m going to make sure you know I like you.”
“…”
His alcohol-clouded mind couldn’t find a suitable answer. Fortunately, in the next moment, Zhou Ruo An heard Bai Ban’s voice.
Bai Ban had been searching everywhere for Lin Yi. He leaned across the bar and peered behind it, too preoccupied even to care about the strange positions Lin Yi and Zhou Ruo An were in. “Bro, Master Bai is looking for you. Says they caught a broker and wants you to go handle him.”
Lin Yi’s warm palm brushed once across Zhou Ruo An’s cheek. “I’ll go over there for a bit. You go back to the private room. I’m almost done with work anyway. We’ll go home together afterward.”
Zhou Ruo An grabbed him before he could stand and looked up. “Don’t let them use you as a knife.”
Lin Yi smiled and tidied the hair across Zhou Ruo An’s forehead. “Aren’t you using me as a knife too? If I’m not a knife, what value do I have?”
There wasn’t a trace of grief or self-pity in Lin Yi’s voice, as though he were merely stating a fact he had accepted long ago. He turned and left, crossing the dance floor until his tall, straight back gradually disappeared among the twisting bodies, like the final shot of a music video—lingering and lonely.
Zhou Ruo An remained where he was for a while. Only after there was no sweetness left to suck from the candy in his mouth did he get up and slowly return to the private room.
The entire night passed in a haze of drunken extravagance and decadence. Zhou Ruo An kept waiting for news from Lin Yi, but his message list remained empty.
When the gathering finally broke up, he went downstairs with the rest of the spoiled rich kids. While they waited for the elevator, his gaze wandered along the long corridor and landed on a man standing beside the window at the far end.
Making an excuse to leave the group, Zhou Ruo An headed toward the window. As soon as he drew close, the acrid smell of smoke hit him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Lin Yi didn’t lift his eyes. The coldness surrounding him was naked and intense, completely different from the warmth he had shown two hours earlier.
Zhou Ruo An frowned slightly. Without thinking, he slid his hand into his pocket and felt for his coin. Lin Yi extended his cigarette over the trash bin in the corner and tapped it lightly. Ash drifted down, as casual as the tone in which he spoke. “Bai Jiu caught a broker who sells all kinds of information. Recently, he sold the address of Bai Jiu’s lover. Someone dislocated the lover’s arm and jaw and dumped them right in front of Bai Jiu’s wife.”
“It was an open provocation. Bai Jiu isn’t going to spare his enemies, and naturally he isn’t going to spare the broker either. He already beat the man half to death, and before finishing him off, he had him questioned.” Lin Yi finally looked at Zhou Ruo An. “Guess what they got out of him?”
The coin was clenched tightly in Zhou Ruo An’s palm. His throat moved cautiously. “What?”
“The broker said that a few months ago, some con artist surnamed Zhou from the urban village paid several thousand yuan for the phone number of Bai Jiu’s chief steward.”
Through the gathered smoke, Lin Yi asked calmly, “Zhou Ruo An, that thing you told me before—about Bai Jiu taking a liking to you and having someone around him call you—that was a lie, wasn’t it? You wanted to use it to push me, make me help you get into the Zhou family.”
The sentence fell like a heavy stone into a deep pool, plunging both of them into a long silence.
The night was already deep, and it was the peak time for guests to leave. Behind them came occasional bursts of noise and the sharp clack-clack of a woman’s high heels against the floor.
The footsteps drew closer and closer, until both Zhou Ruo An and Lin Yi were forced to look over.
“Darling! It really is you?”
A soft, curvy woman suddenly rushed over and looped herself around Zhou Ruo An’s arm. “I thought I was seeing things! I can’t believe it really is you. Didn’t you say you were working overtime tonight? Why are you here?”
Zhou Ruo An’s pupils contracted sharply, the muscles in his face visibly stiffening. He darted a glance toward Lin Yi and saw that the man’s dark gaze was glued to the woman’s hand around his arm. Zhou Ruo An’s heart immediately sank.
He tried to pull his arm free, but the woman clung even tighter. Only then did Lin Yi, who had remained silent for some time, speak.
“Who is she?”
With Lin Yi, the fewer the words, the bigger the trouble.
Zhou Ruo An steadied his breathing and forced himself to calm down. Standing beneath the overhead light at the end of the corridor, he remained silent for a long time. Only when the woman began to grow impatient did he put an arm around her soft shoulders and look at Lin Yi.
“She’s my girlfriend.”
Lin Yi still didn’t lose his temper. He removed the cigarette from his mouth. “Since when?”
“Just the last few days. We’re getting along pretty well.”
Lin Yi took one final drag before pressing the cigarette into the white sand inside the trash bin. He ground it out with unusual care, leaving not a single spark.
“Zhou Ruo An,” he said as he worked, “you’re not someone who deserves respect.”
Only black ash remained. Lin Yi dusted off his hands and slowly approached Zhou Ruo An. Without warning, he seized both of his arms. As the woman cried out in shock, Lin Yi leaned close to Zhou Ruo An’s ear and said in a low voice, “You fucking belong tied up and made to beg.”
Elio’s Notes: The official Changpei edition skips directly from Chapter 27 to Chapter 29. This is not a missing Futile Devices chapter: Changpei’s internal chapter sequence remains continuous, and Chapter 29 continues directly from the final scene of Chapter 27. The author appears simply to have skipped the number 28 when labeling the chapter.