“Two Hundred!”
The woven sack hit the ground. Zhang Chi spun around in an instant and yanked Xue Bao Tian away from where he stood. At that exact moment, a broken roof tile came crashing down from above, skimming past Xue Bao Tian’s body before smashing violently against the ground!
The tile struck hard, fragments exploding and bouncing in every direction. Xue Bao Tian was still frozen in shock when Zhang Chi had already thrown his head back. His gaze swept upward once, then immediately locked onto a disappearing corner of clothing beside the railing on the third floor.
“Get in the car! Lock the doors!” He shoved Xue Bao Tian toward the sports car and sprinted toward the stairwell himself.
The circular public parking garage had six floors altogether. Zhang Chi cleared several steps at a time and reached the third floor within moments. The garage was too empty to conceal the sound of footsteps. Zhang Chi tilted his head slightly, judging the other man’s approximate position from the sound alone.
He lightened his footsteps without slowing down, lowering his body as he searched between the rows of parked cars.
Beneath one of the cars, a leg flashed past!
The instant he confirmed the direction, Zhang Chi moved. While sprinting forward, he planted one hand against the hood of a nearby car and used the momentum to vault lightly over it. After only a few bounds, he had already caught up with the man.
Without giving the other party any chance to react, Zhang Chi threw a punch. His fist tore through the air with a sharp whistle as it drove viciously toward a vital point.
A dull impact echoed through the empty parking garage. The man failed to withstand the blow and staggered backward. Zhang Chi seized the opening at once, sweeping out one leg and striking directly at his unstable footing.
The attacker was a big man as well. When his body hit the ground, the impact landed with a tremendous thud! Zhang Chi’s arm strength was astonishing. Before the man could recover, he seized his arm and hauled upward, flipping him facedown onto the ground. One hand locked tightly around his arm while the other somehow produced a zip tie, expertly wrenching both hands behind his back and binding his wrists together.
A large foot came down on the man’s face as Zhang Chi leaned slightly over him. “We’ve met before. I saw you in the private room just now. You work for Mr. Huang, right?”
The man beneath his foot was stubborn. Even restrained, he simply closed his eyes and refused to speak.
Zhang Chi remained fairly polite. He removed his foot from the man’s face, crouched down, and tried to negotiate. “Call Mr. Huang. Once we talk this through, we’ll let the matter end here.”
The man only gave a faint snort, utterly uncooperative.
Zhang Chi slowly stood and looked helplessly at the burly man sprawled on the ground. “Brother, then I’ll have to offend you.”
His newly bought leather shoe settled over the man’s left ribs and gradually began applying pressure. “You should know this area is fragile, right? If I step down from this angle, the ribs break very easily. It isn’t life-threatening or anything. Just painful. You’d probably have to stay in bed for three to five months.”
The sole ground downward. The man’s face slowly contorted, fine sweat breaking out across his forehead. Bone and flesh compressed beneath the terrifying pressure, and agony spread endlessly from beneath Zhang Chi’s shoe.
The muscles in Zhang Chi’s leg suddenly tensed. He stamped down harder, expressionless except for the slight lift of one eyebrow as a miserable scream tore through the garage.
“AH!” The restrained man’s face instantly turned deathly pale. His eyes flew open, briefly losing focus, while large beads of sweat poured down his forehead. His entire body began trembling uncontrollably.
“Want to continue?” Zhang Chi shifted his shoe slightly to another spot. “There are still a few more bones here.”
“I’ll call! I’ll call him!” The man finally broke under the pain. “The phone’s in my pocket.”
Zhang Chi retrieved the phone, asked for the passcode, unlocked it, and found Huang Song’s number. Then he once again rested his foot against the man’s ribs. “Answer whatever he asks. If he doesn’t ask, don’t say a single extra word. Understand?”
As the man nodded frantically, Zhang Chi tapped the screen and made the call. It had not even rung once before the line connected.
“How’d it go?” Huang Song’s voice came through immediately.
Zhang Chi applied a little pressure with his foot. The man on the ground swallowed before answering, “Sorry, boss. I failed.”
“You failed? You couldn’t even teach someone like Xue Bao Tian a lesson?”
Sweat pouring from his forehead, the man glanced at Zhang Chi looming over him like a mountain before speaking toward the phone lying on the ground. “When the tile came down, someone pulled him away.”
“Who? That bodyguard of his?”
“Yeah.”
“You fucking useless piece of trash! What am I paying you for?!”
“Mr. Huang.” Zhang Chi bent down and picked up the phone. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
The voice on the other end stopped abruptly, leaving Zhang Chi to take control of the conversation. “I recorded everything you just said. Attempted murder is a pretty serious charge.”
Silence lingered on the other end before a cold laugh sounded. “That isn’t a charge I’d dare accept. Your boss pissed me off a little just now, so I lost my head and wanted to teach him a lesson. Just scare him, that’s all. I never intended to kill him. Otherwise I wouldn’t have used a roof tile. Those things make a lot of noise, but they can’t really kill anyone.”
Zhang Chi’s eyes were cold, though his voice remained warm. “So I misunderstood. In that case…”
“What does your boss want?”
“My boss always says one more friend means one more road.”
“Young Master Xue is certainly magnanimous—impressive! Tell your boss that on the first day of next month, I’ll host a gathering for him. We can all get together and have a proper good time.” Huang Song paused briefly. “As for that recording…”
Zhang Chi transferred the recording file to his own phone. “Mr. Huang, if this recording stays with my boss, it’ll be perfectly safe. As long as you make sure he stays safe and sound too, no one else will ever hear it.”
It almost sounded as though someone were grinding their teeth on the other end. “Young Master Xue is young and strong. Of course he’ll stay safe and sound. I’ve got nothing to worry about.” Huang Song paused, then asked, “By the way, what’s your name?”
“Me?” Zhang Chi raised his eyes and saw Xue Bao Tian standing several meters away. Looking directly into the man’s eyes, he said, “My name doesn’t matter. I belong to Master Xue.”
After hanging up, he returned the phone to the man lying on the ground, then used a miniature dagger that slipped from his sleeve to cut through the zip tie. “Don’t move yet. Call someone to take you to the hospital.”
After putting the dagger away, Zhang Chi pulled a pair of wool gloves from his pocket, lifted the man’s head, and tucked them underneath. “The floor’s cold. This’ll be more comfortable.”
Once he was finished, Zhang Chi beckoned toward Xue Bao Tian. “Come here.”
Several meters away, cigarette pinched between his fingers, Xue Bao Tian instead took a step backward.
Zhang Chi smiled. “Scared of me?”
“You fucking demand something every time you earn a little credit. How the hell am I supposed not to be scared?”
Zhang Chi walked over, slung an arm around Xue Bao Tian’s shoulders, and led him downstairs. In a whisper only the two of them could hear, he asked, “Can I ask for a hug?”
After they turned the corner, Xue Bao Tian tossed away his cigarette and lowered his head to exhale the last mouthful of smoke. “Just a hug?” he asked slowly.
Zhang Chi pulled him closer and gave a soft “Mm.”
Xue Bao Tian lifted his head, grabbed Zhang Chi by the collar, and tugged him down. Wrapping both arms around those broad, solid shoulders, he hugged him tightly.
Gone was the calm composure from moments earlier. Xue Bao Tian tightened his arms around the man, obvious excitement filling his voice. “That was fucking incredible, Zhang Chi! It was like watching a goddamn movie. You took that guy down in a few moves. And when you had your foot on his ribs, you have no idea how fucking badass you looked—like some goddamn gangster.”
“I bet that bastard Huang Song’s face turned green on the other end of the phone.” Xue Bao Tian shoved at Zhang Chi’s rock-hard muscles. “What was that last line you said again?”
“Which line?”
“The one about belonging to me.”
“My name doesn’t matter. I belong to Master Xue.”
“Fuck. That felt amazing.”
The brief hug ended. Xue Bao Tian loosened his arms and moved slightly away from Zhang Chi. Fishing another cigarette from the pack, he bit it between his lips and lifted his chin. “Say it again.”
Zhang Chi bent slightly and looked directly into his eyes. “My name doesn’t matter. I belong to Master Xue.”
Xue Bao Tian lit the cigarette and started down the stairs, glancing back with a grin. “Again.”
Watching him fool around, Zhang Chi followed and repeated obediently, “My name doesn’t matter. I belong to Master Xue.”
The man ahead removed the cigarette and held it loosely between his fingers. Reaching out, he casually rubbed Zhang Chi’s cheek and said offhandedly, “Master Xue fucking loves you to death.”
The hand he had extended never got the chance to withdraw. Zhang Chi caught his arm and pulled, making Xue Bao Tian stumble directly into his embrace.
“Fuck, what are you doing?”
“Two Hundred.” Zhang Chi held him close. “I earned quite a lot of credit this time.”
Xue Bao Tian immediately grew wary. “So?”
“So I want something else.”
He tightened his arms around him, buried his face in the hollow of Xue Bao Tian’s neck, and inhaled deeply. “You smell really good, Two Hundred.”
Xue Bao Tian pushed at his head and deliberately played dumb. “You want my cologne? I’ll give you the whole bottle. Smell it all you fucking want.”
Zhang Chi’s arms tightened again, pressing their bodies flush together. The hardness between them made Xue Bao Tian distinctly uncomfortable, forcing him to acknowledge that Zhang Chi was once again going back on his word.
“Brother, can either of us keep one fucking promise?”
“You were the one teasing me.”
Xue Bao Tian regretted it so much he wanted to slap himself. Feeling the heat pressed against him growing hotter by the second and looking at Zhang Chi, who was clearly worked up already, he gritted his teeth. “One last time today. After this, we’re completely done.”
Zhang Chi’s embrace loosened for the briefest instant before tightening until it was almost suffocating. He bit lightly at Xue Bao Tian’s earlobe and said in a low voice, “Whatever Master Xue says.”
The car door slammed shut, trapping Xue Bao Tian’s curses inside the cramped space. “Are you really this fucking desperate? You can’t even wait until we find a bed? Zhang Chi, you’re too goddamn big. This car can’t fit you.”
Bent over, Zhang Chi caught Xue Bao Tian by the ankle and tugged him closer, answering concisely, “It fits.”
Xue Bao Tian had dressed lightly for the sake of looking stylish, so it did not take much effort to strip him bare. It was late autumn edging into early winter, and even though the car was parked indoors, a faint chill still hung in the air.
A fine layer of goosebumps rose over Xue Bao Tian’s skin. He had just opened his mouth to curse when Zhang Chi’s large body covered him completely, wrapping him tightly in warmth.
Every time Xue Bao Tian saw Zhang Chi’s body without anything obstructing his view, he was a little shaken. Broad, solid shoulders and back, a lean powerful waist, long sturdy legs—the developed muscles across his entire frame carried a latent beauty of strength in every movement.
Xue Bao Tian draped an arm across Zhang Chi’s shoulder and mocked him with obvious envy. “Your shoulders are so fucking wide, taking a taxi from one side to the other would cost the starting fare. Making clothes for you is a waste of fabric.”
Zhang Chi ignored the chatter and shut him up with his mouth. After kissing him for a while, sticky and lingering, he took Xue Bao Tian’s hand and placed it against his chest.
“Feel.”
Kissed slightly breathless, Xue Bao Tian instinctively squeezed and gave a dazed “Hm?”
“Do mine feel better, or did that woman’s feel better?”
Only then did Xue Bao Tian understand what he meant. Pulling his hand back, he scoffed. “How the fuck are they the same? Hers are way mo—”
Before the word bigger could come out, Zhang Chi lowered his body slightly, frightening Xue Bao Tian so badly that his entire body tensed. In the cramped car, he twisted away as far as he could from what was below him.
“Brother Chi, Brother Chi, wait. Let me check again.” Xue Bao Tian put his hand back on the firm muscle, patting it, rubbing it, then finally giving it another squeeze.
“A little… hard.” He immediately added, “But it feels really good.”
Zhang Chi bent down and kissed his lips. “I just exercised pretty intensely, so the muscles are pumped and a little hard right now. They’ll soften in a while.”
Already dizzy from the kisses, Xue Bao Tian answered without thinking. “Then I’ll feel them again later.”
“Good.” Zhang Chi lifted one of Xue Bao Tian’s legs onto his shoulder, tilted his head to kiss the tender skin, then asked gently, “What was that line you said on the stairs just now?”
“Which line?”
“The one you said while touching my face.”
Xue Bao Tian froze, then turned his face away in embarrassed irritation. “Are we doing this or not? If not, get the fuck off.”
Good-tempered as ever, Zhang Chi did not ask again. But in the next instant, Xue Bao Tian threw his head back, gritted his teeth, and cursed, “Zhang Chi, you’re fucking taking revenge on me!”
Half an hour later, a hand abruptly slapped against the car window, leaving a warm palm print on the freezing glass.
Another larger hand covered it. Amid heavy, uneven breathing, someone asked in a low voice, “What was that thing you said on the stairs?”
“Zhang Chi, you fu—ngh!”
“Love you! Fine, I said I fucking love you, okay?!”
“Say it again.”
“Zhang Chi, I love you so fucking much I want you dead!”