When Zhou Ruo An boarded the plane, Lin Yi moved into the hospital.
He had gone looking for trouble with Fang Fei and ended up tied up by Zhang Xu Yao in the back hills of a scenic area, left there to feed mosquitoes for half the night.
The smell of disinfectant in the hospital stung painfully in the nose. Lin Yi lay on the hospital bed, his swollen eyelids bruised purple beneath the fluorescent lights. Dark red rashes spread from his neck all the way to his cuffs. The IV needle taped to the back of his right hand trembled faintly with every breath. He stared at the medicine dripping steadily through the IV tube, his Adam’s apple rolling with difficulty beneath the inflamed skin.
“Even Xiong Er after getting stung by bees didn’t look as miserable as you.”
Elio’s Notes: Xiong Er is one of the bear brothers from the Chinese animated series Boonie Bears. The joke compares Lin Yi’s swollen appearance to the cartoon bear after being attacked by bees.
A flame burst up in the hospital room’s visitor area. Bai Jiu rolled a cigar over the lighter, then bit it between his teeth once the smoke rose. Casually, he tossed the lighter into the hospital’s metal tray, the impact making the glass medicine bottles clink noisily.
“I heard you got hung up in the back hills as a human mosquito coil?” Bai Jiu’s voice drifted over wrapped in the burnt fragrance of the cigar. “Your brother here was originally planning to take one of that guy’s arms off as compensation for you. Anyone who dares touch my brother is asking for death.”
“But after checking, turns out the person you provoked was Zhang Xu Yao.” He flicked away ash with his fingers, his face filled with helplessness. “He used to be my instructor. Half my skills were taught by him. By rights, even you should respectfully call him Mister Zhang. It’s not that your brother won’t help you vent your anger. It’s that I can’t touch the person you provoked.”
Sprawling his legs wide, he slouched across the hospital’s stiff sofa. “I heard you did all this to help Zhou Ruo An vent his anger. Your relationship really is pretty good.”
Lin Yi struggled to open his eyes. His lips barely parted. “We all grew up in the same place. If I can help, I help. Besides, Young Master Zhou really did pay quite a lot.”
The words slipped out so faintly they were almost soundless. Bai Jiu had to lean forward just to hear them. His eyes were already small to begin with, and now that he smiled, they narrowed into slits like A’Bing’s.
Elio’s Notes: A’Bing refers to Hua Yanjun, a famous blind Chinese street musician often depicted with nearly closed eyes. The comparison jokingly describes Bai Jiu’s eyes narrowing into tiny slits when he smiles.
“I thought you were one of those men charging into battle for a beauty.”
He settled back down on the sofa. “The news that you like men already spread long ago. It’s not a big deal. Man or woman doesn’t matter—as long as they’re good in bed, there’s no difference. But what I don’t understand is this: Zhou Ruo An looks pretty good and sticks around you all day long. How come you never got tempted?”
His swollen fingers lightly scratched at the bedsheet. “We grew up together running around naked. Too familiar. Can’t get interested.”
“I guess that makes sense.” Bai Jiu stood up and straightened his suit. “I’ve got things to do, so I won’t stay long. If you need anything, have Huang San Er contact me.”
Walking to the bedside, he looked down at Lin Yi from above, the coldness in his eyes almost imperceptible. “I’m hosting a banquet tomorrow to apologize to Zhang Xu Yao. Want to come offer him a drink?”
Lin Yi lowered his head with difficulty and looked at his current state, laughing bitterly. “Looking like this…”
“Honestly, it is pretty terrifying.” Bai Jiu chuckled softly, his fingertip brushing through the air over Lin Yi’s swollen eyelid. “Looks like I’ll have to drink this apology wine on your behalf.”
He made as if to turn away, but paused mid-step. Reaching beneath the pillow, he pulled out a phone with a blinking screen. “So it was a call notification. I was wondering what kept flashing.” He toyed with the phone absentmindedly. “Why’s it on silent too? Want to answer it?”
On the screen, a number without any saved name was flashing frantically. With his eyes swollen shut, Lin Yi’s field of vision was narrow. He glanced at it from beneath the shadows of his lashes and answered calmly, “Looking like this is pretty embarrassing. Don’t want people seeing me and laughing.”
“Then I’ll answer it for you and curse them out for bothering Brother Lin at a time like this.”
Cigar clenched between his teeth, he freed one hand and let his finger touch the cold screen.
“No need…”
Before the words could finish, Bai Jiu had already swiped to answer. But because the call had gone unanswered for too long, the connection happened to cut off at that exact moment, returning to silence. Bai Jiu raised an eyebrow slightly. His thumb hovered over the callback button. “Four missed calls. Maybe it’s something urgent. Since it’s inconvenient for you to answer, how about I ask for you?”
Without waiting for Lin Yi to respond, he grabbed the hand with the IV needle embedded in it and pressed it against the phone to unlock the screen. Then he quickly called the number back.
The touched skin itched maddeningly. The IV needle shifted. Blood flowed backward, a streak of red slowly spreading through the clear medicine and winding along the thin tube.
“Who is it?” Lin Yi’s voice tightened.
Bai Jiu lowered his eyes and searched Lin Yi’s swollen face for a moment before slowly lifting the phone to his ear.
What came through was only a long stretch of disconnected tones.
“They turned their phone off. Looks like someone got hurt feelings.” Bai Jiu smiled as he spoke.
He placed the phone back beside Lin Yi’s pillow and casually patted the man’s shoulder. “I’m leaving. Get some rest.”
The moment Bai Jiu turned around, the chest on the hospital bed rose and fell slowly. Lin Yi’s tightly tensed fingers finally relaxed.
——————————
Outside the door, a trusted subordinate had long been waiting there, respectfully offering a wet towel. Bai Jiu accepted it and leisurely wiped each finger clean one by one. The subordinate lowered his voice and asked, “Master Bai, can Lin Yi be trusted?”
Bai Jiu folded the wet towel in half and twisted it around all ten fingers. “So far, we haven’t found anything suspicious. But Yancheng’s territory is split in half by the river. Since he boarded my ship, he shouldn’t be rowing the rival side’s oar anymore.” His narrow triangular eyes narrowed slightly—the expression he always wore while calculating people’s hearts. “Still, the rumors about him secretly contacting people from the other side came from the opposition. It’s also possible they’re trying to sow discord.”
The towel was crumpled into a ball in his hand and casually tossed into the trash can. Bai Jiu’s voice carried a chill. “Still, better to kill the wrong person than let one slip through. Go investigate whether Lin Yi has any relatives left, or anyone he cares about. At critical moments, those people can be useful.”
Then he asked, “What did you find out about Zhou Ruo An and Lin Yi’s relationship?”
The subordinate hurriedly reported, “Over the past year, large sums have consistently been transferred into Lin Yi’s account. We checked—the sender was always Zhou Ruo An. Rumor has it Lin Yi has squeezed him for money quite a bit. And over the past few months, they haven’t met much, so their relationship probably isn’t that close.”
Bai Jiu gave a cold snort, his tone filled with mockery. “A relationship built on taking bullets for money can’t become Lin Yi’s weakness. That little young master from the Zhou family can be ruled out for now.”
His footsteps suddenly stopped. Bai Jiu turned his head toward the subordinate, and a disturbing hint of lust surfaced in his eyes. “Find someone to investigate Zhou Ruo An. See whether he has any weaknesses we can use against him. Your Master Bai has been craving him for a long time—it’s about time I got a taste.”
The subordinate immediately understood and quickly piled on a fawning smile. “Yes, Master Bai. Don’t worry, I’ll send people to investigate right away. We’ll definitely handle it perfectly for you.”
—————————
Zhou Ruo An only turned off his phone at the very last moment before the plane took off. Every call he made to Lin Yi had gone unanswered.
The orange-yellow reading light in first class cast shadows across the side of his face. His slender fingers unconsciously rubbed at the diamond bracelet on his wrist as he gazed out the window. The clouds were white enough to block out the sunlight…
Then the person beside him abruptly spoke up. “Fourth Young Master, have you ever been locked in detention?”
Zhou Ruo An stared at the clouds and sighed. The tiny bit of sorrow he had finally managed to brew up vanished with a snap.
He turned to look at Ren Yu. “With a question like that, you ought to call me Daddy if I don’t fire you.”
Only then did Ren Yu realize he had misspoken. After apologizing, he changed the angle of the question. “Do you have to pay money if you get locked up?”
Zhou Ruo An was quick-witted. He looked Ren Yu up and down before asking, “Fu Chun Shen got detained?”
Ren Yu looked surprised. “Fourth Young Master, how did you know?”
“The only broke person around me is him.” The man seated by the window leaned slightly closer and asked in a low voice, “Why was he detained?”
Ren Yu did not answer immediately and maintained his silence. Zhou Ruo An already had countless thoughts tangling through his head and naturally did not care that much about this gossip. He gave a soft laugh and let the matter drop.
In the end, Ren Yu was the first to cave. Frowning, he spoke rapidly. “Fu Chun Shen followed me around every day, so I called the police.”
What he said was true, though not the full story.
The actual situation was that every night at exactly ten o’clock, Fu Chun Shen would punctually knock on Ren Yu’s door.
At first Ren Yu had remained wary. Whenever he cracked open the door, he practically wished he could wear ten layers of clothes inside and out. Yet Fu Chun Shen would simply stand there like a straight bamboo stalk and politely say, “Good night.”
That’s right. Then at exactly seven in the morning, he would knock again just to say, “Good morning.”
Ren Yu had nearly been driven insane by him. One morning, with disheveled hair, he yanked open the door and demanded, “Fu Chun Shen, I accidentally put something in the wrong place ten years ago. Is it really necessary for you to torment me like this ten years later?”
Fu Chun Shen looked slightly surprised and seriously explained, “I’m not tormenting you. Aren’t we dating now? Couples should say good morning and good night to each other. Of course, you haven’t been doing very well in that regard.”
“Dating?” The refined gentleman was finally driven to cursing. “Fu Chun Shen, is there something fucking wrong with your brain? Since when were we dating?”
Fu Chun Shen stepped closer, trying to take Ren Yu’s hand, only to have it slapped away. He could only speak somewhat dejectedly. “You said it yourself—if there’s no hand-holding, hugging, or kissing, then it doesn’t count as dating. That day at the bar, I held your hand, hugged you, and we properly kissed.”
When a person reaches the peak of anger, there is only silence.
Ren Yu lost his voice for a full minute before finally pulling his phone from his pajama pocket and decisively dialing 110. “Officer, someone is harassing me.”
Amid the drone of the airplane, Zhou Ruo An laughed and asked, “You called the police just because he followed you around every day?”
Ren Yu gulped down some water and countered, “Shouldn’t I have?”
“You should, you should. Weren’t you asking whether you have to pay money after getting locked in detention?” He smiled and made things up on the spot. “Food and lodging cost 150 yuan a day. If you can’t pay, then you do unpaid labor—mopping floors, scrubbing toilets. Your food supply gets cut in half until your detention period ends.”
Watching Ren Yu’s eyes gradually narrow, he had just been about to add, “Feeling bad for him?”
When the person beside him suddenly said, “How can I make him stay in there a few more days? Can I pay the government extra?”
Zhou Ruo An turned his head to look out the window. The sunlight blazing through the clouds was dazzling. He felt that the idea of recruiting Fu Chun Shen to his side had been fucking naïve.
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