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Chapter 15: Ready for Counterattack

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I locked his lips before he could say anything.

Grabbing his arms, I forced him to bend backward with my kiss. After his struggles failed, he started responding to me.

He seemed weak at physical work as always.

At the end of our make-out, he was panting heavily. He eyed me up with a soft expression on his face, “Why are you so horny? The bedroom is on that side…”

So I dragged him towards that door.

I opened the door and DaBiao’s gun pointed at my head. “Boss Ou let go of Young Master be careful otherwise I am afraid I will hurt you.”

A sentence with no punctuation. He seemed very serious, leaving me no choice but to let him go.

Lin Ye stood next to me, slowly and patiently smoothing his shirt that was rumpled, then said to DaBiao, “Why are you pointing the gun at him? He is my guest.”

So DaBiao put down the gun respectfully.

Lin Ye walked to my back and put his hands on my shoulder, his eyelashes covered his lowered eyes, “Finally, you came to my house. Let’s not talk about these unhappy things. How about I show you the garden?”

“I didn’t know this is your house…” I smiled drily.

His eyes darkened, “This has always been my house. It belongs to me from the beginning. Before, those were just some passers-by. The garden is at the back, let’s talk on our way there.”

The winding trail led to somewhere secluded. He walked in the front, and I followed. The dew on the grass drenched his pants, but he didn’t seem to care at all.

Gazing at the slim silhouette, I couldn’t help but try to combine the two different Lins in my mind, but it was impossible.

One was an ill-tempered naughty kitten, always stretching out his claws trying to scratch people, but was never able to hurt anyone; the other was a cold, hideous snake, tangling at the corner waiting for a chance to attack. He seemed to have countless layers of skin to shed, but beneath every layer was always a monstrous lurid face.

The narrow trail was full of bumps and holes, filled with rainwater.

In the end, I had to admit I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have treated him the way I treated other women, because ultimately he was a man.

Something, ignited in my heart this morning, was gradually taking shape…

After all, I also climbed up from the bottom step by step on other people’s bodies. Having seen all those filthy intrigues at the rotten corners of the society, I was no less familiar with the dirty tricks men could do behind each other’s back.

——I felt like the time was rewinded back to when I first started my business. Every step was calculated, and every word was rehearsed. Even if I knew clearly what they were planning, I had to pretend I was clueless about the intrigues and scams, and I needed to fool everyone. Surrounding me were all tigers and wolves, everyone only wanted to skin each other alive.

Lin Ye and I walked in tandem on the tree-lined trail, and DaBiao followed behind us at a distance.

“See? All these flowers have bloomed. I remember when we last met, it was still snowing.” He stopped in the middle of the flowers, smiled as brightly as the blossoms. The sunlight shined through the leaves onto his face, making it as elusive as the shadow of the flowers.

I caught up with him, “I remember it too. It was your birthday.”

“You wrote on the cake that you wished me best luck and that everything would go well. I need to thank you for your auspicious prophecy.” He took my arms and smiled at me.

“Didn’t expect it to reflect the reality like this.” I returned a bitter smile.

“Are you blaming me?”

“How dare I? I am blaming my eyes – They must have been blind for failing to recognize a true hero.”

“Your eyes are blind? Your eyes are so bright! Do you know how many people beg to know me and couldn’t have the chance? What more can you wish that I am bought by your cheap broken roses?”

“Heh heh, true, true.”

“Oh, by the way, is it okay that you are leaving your company behind?”

He asked me even though he clearly knew the answer.

“I have sold it.”

“Are you busy recently?”

Haven’t I been busy rescuing Chu Yuan Jiang? “I have nothing to do that I get so bored.”

“You know, I just return home, and everybody wants to bully me and take advantage of me. Are you willing to help me?”

I raised my eyes, and saw him staring deeply at me. His smiles had faded away completely, leaving no expression on his handsome face, but the dark eyes that were so cold that they froze my heart.

I nodded my head, “Whatever you want me to do.”

“I have recently taken over a company that sells heavy machinery, which has been at a loss for years. Are you willing to work there?”

“To earn you one yi?”

He smiled, “You are not ashamed of saying that? A single equipment would cost more than a hundred million. One yi is nothing.”

“……”

“I hope you can turn the deficits into profits. At least this much annually.” He poked my chest with his finger.

“……”

“Hmm? Are you scared?”

I nodded solemnly, “Leave it to me.”

He walked ahead holding my arms, “I didn’t ask you without thinking. You have experience in regard to machinery. Wasn’t your last company pretty successful? It even got listed…”

“Heh heh, I was lucky.”

“You are very down-to-earth, which makes you good at industry. We can talk more in detail during dinner.”

“Sure.”

DaBiao drove us to an elite club. A menu was offered to Lin Ye and he passed it to me, “You should order. This meal is the welcoming feast for you.”^[1]

“Okay.”

I non-stop ordered enough dishes to fill the table. The other groups of people enjoying a sip here were peeking at us under the stylish lights.

I knew, people came here for delicacy, for the style – this was not a food stall on the side of the street; but since Young Master Lin had praised my dumb brain, today was a chance for me to show him exactly how dumb I could be.

The corner of Lin Ye’s month twisted, “Are you feeding a pig? You ordered so much.”

“Nah, you don’t know me enough. How can a pig compare to me? I eat much more than a pig.”

Then I started devouring the dishes like a storm sweeping across the table. Lin Ye simply put down his chopsticks and stopped eating, just holding his face looking at me from the other side. I suddenly swallowed too hard and almost choked myself, and Lin Ye put a wire glass in front of me. Before I drank, he asked, “Aren’t you gonna say something?”

I responded without hesitation, ”This is for Young Master Lin, and best wishes for our future collaboration. I earn you money, and you protect my life. I will empty the cup, you drink at will.” Then I emptied the cup and showed him the empty bottom.

Lin Ye’s cup had just reached his lips, and I had started devouring again.

Lin Ye placed his cup gently on the table. “You are wonderful. Those who know, knows that I am bringing Boss Ou here; those who don’t will wonder if I have brought a hungry refugee from Africa.”

“Even the African refugees has the United Nations World Food Programme. I am now unemployed and homeless, I only have you.”

“You are not afraid of people laughing at your table manner huh.”

“Relax, nobody recognizes me in City B. It doesn’t matter.”

“…You have been jumping around for months now. It would be difficult to not recognize you.”

“I don’t want to be a celebrity either., but that’s what happens with Young Master Lin’s promotion.”

“You know what’s the toughest thing in the world?”

“Nope.”

“Your beard.”

“No way. You are still holding that grudge because it hurt your last time?”

“It manages to grow out despite your thick skin, that is marvelous.”

I touched my chin but only received a handful of oil.

“Would you die if you eat slower?”

I got a napkin to wipe off the oil, “I have been fasting for the entire day, waiting for your meal.”

“……”

Then I gave him a bright oily smile, “I couldn’t eat or sleep because I wanted to see you so much.”

Lin Ye clenched his teeth. “Get me the bill.”

I waved my hands, “Wait, waiter! Get me some to-go boxes!”

“……”

“Look, there are so many leftovers. Too wasteful.” I pitied.

“Where do you see waste? All of these are the bones and sauces.”

“Hey…”

“……”

“It’s been awhile since I last met my brother. I kinda miss him.”

“……”

“Lin Ye?”

“DaBiao will take you there soon.”

“Thanks.”

I wiped my face with the towel on the table again, stood up in Lin Ye’s disdain look, and proudly walked next to him, showing no care of what I had done.

“I will never take you out for a meal again.” He said in a low voice when he walked out.

“Haha, you want to hide your precious in your palace, I understand. So many people were peeking on me just now. How can these nobodies get to admire my beauty?”

“Just stop shaming me…”

I burped loudly.

He looked sideways at me, and took a deep breath. “There is rice on your shirt.”

“Where? How can I not see it?”

“Collar.”

“Oh.” So I picked up that piece of rice and ate it.

“……”

I walked to the reception desk, and before I said anything, the receptionist girl greeted me with the standard six-teeth smile, “Welcome, Mister. The gym is in the west area, the stadium is in the south area, the swimming pool is on the fourth floor, and massage and sauna…”

I sniffed, “Where is the toilet?”

Before I could get my answer, Lin Ye grabbed my collar from the back and dragged me away.

When he threw me into the car I couldn’t control my smile.

Last year when it snowed, I did want to break up with him, and he seemed to have the same thoughts too. He had his secret plans, and so did I. But unexpectedly, after a winter, the reality forced me to come to him and prove my loyalty. Such an irony.

He needed me my help too, so we both pretended nothing had ever happened.

My level of hypocrisy followed the steps of his human skin masks, leveling up every day.

His identity had changed, and even the atmosphere around him had changed, which made him look unapproachable. He was quiet, but his smiles made you feel intimidated.

But, the more he was like this, the more I wanted to crush him and trample him into sludge.

Before, it was my negligence.

I shouldn’t have thought that I should tolerate him just because he was good-looking.

Moreover, I shouldn’t have thought he was not a real man just because I wanted to fúck him.

Before, as long as he apologized, a few sweet words could kill my anger, because I thought of him as someone who needed to be taken care of. He was wild outside, but he could only find serenity and liberation with me.

I once believed that I was his protector.

I once believed that I was his man even if we were only for sex.

I ought to pamper him, and provide him with a broad chest to rely on.

But in the end, it was me that was wrong.

Even in the past, I wasn’t really serious. Now, he was forcing me to set him up…

Even if this was only for Chu Yuan Jiang, I needed to be 120% careful.

The good thing was, he thought of me as a dumbass.

Today, I childishly pissed him off with a meal, which would only prove to him that I was helplessly stupid.

“What are you so happy for?” He asked me frowning, seemingly disgusted by the smell of food on me.

“I feel happy every time I see you.” I simpered.

“You never feel ashamed, huh? What I have promised to you, I won’t regret. Do you need to behave like this? Do you know you look really bad right now?”

“You misunderstood me.”

“One who is unaccountably solicitous either wants to steal or to commit adultery.”*

“I don’t want to steal.”^[2]

“You…”

“Heh heh.” I reached out my hands to touch him, and got pushed away by him with disdain.

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Footnotes:

[1]Chinese meals are shared, so people at the same table do not order food separately.

[2]This is an idiom which literally translates as ‘One who is unaccountably solicitous is hiding evil intentions/either a wicked man or a thief.’ However, the word for ‘wicked’ 奸 in modern Chinese often means ‘rape; adultery’, which has became a common misinterpretation.

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