Zhou Ruo An squatted in the back alley and rinsed his mouth with water. With a flick of his wrist, he hurled the bottle into a nearby trash can.
There was viciousness in his eyes, but his mouth curled into a mocking smile. “Some people keep saying they like me, but when their own boss starts getting handsy with me, they don’t dare let out so much as a fart. That kind of love is really fucking pathetic.”
His long, narrow eyes rolled upward as he looked at the tall man beside him. “Brother Lin, don’t you think that guy’s a coward?”
Lin Yi was smoking. He removed the cigarette from his lips, lowered his head, and looked at the mockery in Zhou Ruo An’s eyes before calmly admitting, “He is.”
Zhou Ruo An pushed himself upright with one hand on his knee and met the man’s gaze directly. “Not only is he a coward, that pathetic bastard even took his anger out on me. Now he’s kissed my mouth and bitten my tongue. Brother Lin, have you calmed down yet?”
Zhou Ruo An’s words were vicious, yet Lin Yi’s expression barely changed. He merely dragged on his cigarette harder and faster, half his face buried in smoke, his gaze as black and heavy as the shadows filling the alley.
“Don’t deliberately provoke Bai Jiu. I’ll help you acquire the electronics factory as quickly as possible. Once your position in the Zhou family is secure, he won’t dare touch you so easily.”
Zhou Ruo An gave a short scoff. “So now you finally know Bai Jiu has his eye on me? Before this, you always thought I was lying to you, didn’t you? Think about it. If I weren’t a young master of the Zhou family right now, I’d probably already have been dragged into his bed. But getting into your bed isn’t any different from getting into his. You’re both fucking bastards.”
A draft swept through the alley. Holding the cigarette between his lips, Lin Yi buttoned Zhou Ruo An’s coat for him. Smoke stung his eyes, making him narrow one eye as he spoke around the cigarette. “I’m not the same as him. He has a wife, sleeps with men and women alike, and doesn’t treat people like people.”
Zhou Ruo An abruptly yanked down the collar of his turtleneck, exposing the red marks on his neck. “And you fucking treated me like a person?”
There were kiss marks on his neck, along with strangulation marks left by the necktie. Against his cold, pale skin, they looked like blemishes staining white porcelain glaze. A pity, perhaps, yet poised at the edge of ruin, they carried endless implications and allure.
Lin Yi raised a hand and slipped it inside the collar, his fingertips gently pressing and stroking the vivid red marks. “Bai Jiu isn’t much good in that department. He just likes whips and all kinds of things that hurt people. He’s ruined a lot of people. He’s a real sadist.” Hooking a hand around the back of Zhou Ruo An’s neck, he pulled him closer and bent slightly, emphasizing again, “Zhou Ruo An, don’t provoke Bai Jiu. I still can’t beat him right now.”
Those words finally brought out the doubts Zhou Ruo An had been suppressing. Earlier in the private room at the teahouse, Lin Yi had actually been allowed to sit and talk in Bai Jiu’s presence, just like Wang Zhi Ping.
Zhou Ruo An understood enough about the rules of the underworld. In Bai Jiu’s line of work, being able to sit as an equal with the boss amounted to an acknowledgment of status.
Lin Yi’s hand was still pressed against the back of Zhou Ruo An’s neck. They stood extremely close, their breaths almost mingling, at a distance somehow even more intimate than mere ambiguity.
Zhou Ruo An slapped Lin Yi’s hand away and stepped back. “Lin Yi, what exactly did you do for Bai Jiu? How did you gain his favor so quickly?”
Lin Yi took the final drag from his cigarette, tossed the butt away, then very naturally caught Zhou Ruo An’s hand and began gently kneading it.
“Don’t move.” He tightened his grip around the wrist trying to pull free. “If you don’t want to talk business, I can do you again.”
Zhou Ruo An had never known Lin Yi could be this unreasonable. Wary of the man’s habit of doing exactly what he said, he could only swallow his anger and compromise.
Lin Yi slowly rubbed from the base of Zhou Ruo An’s fingers toward the tips, lightly scraping the soft pads with his calluses as he spoke in a deep, steady voice. “Bai Jiu has several companies registered under my name. I’m listed as the legal representative, while he stays behind the scenes as the hidden boss. I also manage quite a few of his businesses now.”
Watching Zhou Ruo An’s brows gradually draw together, Lin Yi smiled. “People who can’t see through it think I’m some rising star, maybe even half a step above Wang Zhi Ping in status. But the ones who understand—like you—know that sooner or later, I’ll be the one taking the fall for Bai Jiu.”
“If you understand all the twists and traps involved, why are you still jumping into the pit?”
Lin Yi seemed particularly fond of Zhou Ruo An’s ring finger, having kneaded it several times already. “I don’t have another choice. This is the only way I can rise quickly.”
His broad hand moved upward and stroked through Zhou Ruo An’s soft hair. “Don’t worry about me. If I’m lucky, I can gamble for something big. If I’m unlucky, then no one will bother you anymore afterward.”
Zhou Ruo An gave a gloomy scoff. “Then I hope your luck turns bad soon and you end up taking a bullet for Bai Jiu.”
The rough calluses scraping against him made Zhou Ruo An’s palm itch faintly. He curled his fingers. “But before you take that bullet, finish handling my business. When are you planning to report it…”
“The sooner, the better. I’ve been keeping an eye on his hideout. The moment anything happens, I’ll call the police.”
Having gotten the answer he wanted, Zhou Ruo An pulled his hand back and turned toward the alley exit. “Delete the recording on your phone. If I ever hear it again, I’ll kill you.”
Behind him, Lin Yi replied at an unhurried pace, “If you’d call me ‘husband’ to my face more often, I wouldn’t be so obsessed with recording it.”
“Shit!” Zhou Ruo An abruptly stopped and turned back. “If I call you that once, does it mean I can do whatever I want?”
Laughter appeared in Lin Yi’s eyes. “Try it and see.”
Zhou Ruo An raised his fist and swung. “Husband.”
The punch landed heavily on Lin Yi’s face. Zhou Ruo An followed it with another taunting call. “Husband, you look fucking handsome when you don’t fight back.”
The second punch came whistling toward him. Lin Yi tilted aside, taking only half the force.
The next instant, Zhou Ruo An grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back. “Why dodge, husband? Ducking left and right like that really ruins your style.”
With that, he delivered another vicious punch.
Lin Yi actually laughed from being hit. He wrapped an arm around Zhou Ruo An and pulled him into his embrace. “You can hit me anywhere else as much as you want, but I can’t have unexplained injuries on my face. If Bai Jiu sees them, he’ll ask questions. Last time, when you had people corner me in the alley and stomped on my hand, he claimed he wanted to help me get revenge, but really he was afraid I’d cause trouble for him—or that I was making moves behind his back. I barely managed to cover it up last time so he wouldn’t trace it back to you.”
Zhou Ruo An broke free from his arms and disgustedly brushed at nonexistent dust on his clothes. “Stop acting like some lovesick fool. If you’re really that devoted, then handle my business properly.”
His right hand slipped into his pocket and rubbed the coin inside. “When you call the police, widen the scope a little. If the report is too targeted, it’ll be easy for someone to follow the trail back to you.”
Lin Yi nodded. “There are a few other villas nearby doing dirty business too. I’ll report them together and use them as a smokescreen.”
“Good.” Zhou Ruo An abruptly grabbed Lin Yi’s collar again and drove a punch into his stomach. “I’m off, husband. I’ll be waiting for your good news.”