Chapter 21 Part 2

Then, the man silently carried him into the room’s bathroom.

Zhong Nian wore no shoes and could only step on the man’s boots when set down, held steady by an arm around him.

He couldn’t even lift his own shirt hem and had to rely entirely on the man behind him.

After some rustling, a hot palm made him shudder.

“Done,” the man’s low, magnetic voice sounded by his ear, making him tremble again.

Zhong Nian bit his lips white. His legs shook uncontrollably, and soft sobs escaped his throat.

After a moment, the man asked, “Nervous?”

Then, the man “kindly” pressed lightly on his abdomen with the arm wrapped around his front.

…

When they came out, Zhong Nian had cried enough to soak the red cloth strip.

With his physical needs resolved, the anger suppressed by urgency bubbled up. He ground his teeth, planning to bite the man again when he wasn’t paying attention.

As he was about to be placed on the bed, he clutched the man’s clothes tightly, tilting his head to bite—then noticed something off. He switched to sniffing, burying his face in the man’s shoulder for two sniffs.

The man stayed unnaturally still, just watching him.

Confirming the faint smoke scent, Zhong Nian’s face instantly paled.

He struggled fiercely, rolled off the bed onto it, and curled up against the wall.

“Who are you?”

The man watched him shift from relaxed clinginess to extreme wariness in an instant. He rubbed his empty fingers but said nothing.

“You came before,” Zhong Nian said with certainty.

After a long while, the man replied, “Mm.”

That was as good as an admission.

Zhong Nian clenched his fists.

Fine if he’d embarrassed himself in front of Zhan Lu alone, but how…

They didn’t even know each other—why help with something like that?

He furrowed his brows, lost in his own thoughts for a while.

“Did Zhan Lu send you?”

The man didn’t speak.

Zhong Nian asked again, “Why impersonate Zhan Lu?”

“…”

Still no answer. Zhong Nian furrowed his brows tighter, patience exhausted, and directly asked if he was mute.

But the man acted just like a mute. With no recourse, Zhong Nian simply lay on the bed facing the wall, ignoring him.

Perhaps because the other was too quiet, he unknowingly fell asleep.

He didn’t sleep long. In his doze, he kept hearing someone speaking by his ear, his face itchy as if hot breath sprayed over it.

“Two hours already?”

“Let him sleep a bit more. I’ll stand guard here; you all go out.”

“I’m fine anyway; I’ll wait.”

“I want to watch a bit longer too.”

“His skin’s almost chafed raw. Cooks are so rough.”

“…I’ll untie him now.”

His ankle was touched, and Zhong Nian jolted fully awake from his daze, reflexively kicking out.

He didn’t know where he kicked; the sole felt hard, hurting himself instead. As the other grunted in pain, his ankle was grabbed.

“Why do you like kicking people so much—and so hard? Are you a rabbit or something?” the man teased with a laugh.

Zhong Nian recognized Zhan Lu’s voice and subconsciously relaxed, though he snapped grumpily, “Get lost.”

After the fierce words, he weakly defended himself, “I’m not a rabbit. Don’t say that.”

Someone laughed—he wasn’t sure who—mocking mercilessly.

“Second Brother, when did you get so pathetic? Your face is all bitten up, and now you take a kick too.”

Hearing another voice, Zhong Nian froze completely, not daring to move.

“I like it,” Zhan Lu snorted coldly.

Someone else laughed strangely.

Someone coughed lowly, and the room’s noise stopped, returning to quiet.

As Zhan Lu untied the ropes on Zhong Nian’s hands, he said softly, “I’m letting you go back now. No more confining you.”

Zhong Nian was puzzled. “Why?”

“I didn’t want to either, but I have to obey the Boss,” Zhan Lu said, rubbing his reddened wrists. “It’d be different if you stayed willingly. Even the Boss couldn’t interfere then.”

Zhong Nian quickly pulled his hand back. “No!”

The fearful tone, as if terrified of being kept, made Zhan Lu sigh in disappointment. He reached out and yanked off the red cloth strip over Zhong Nian’s eyes.

The strip fell, and harsh cold white light stabbed his eyes. Unable to adjust at first, Zhong Nian squeezed them shut, blinking hard until his vision cleared bit by bit.

When he finally made out the scene, he jumped in fright.

The tiny single room was crammed with five people. Four men in various positions all stared at him without exception.

Besides Zhan Lu, Zhong Nian recognized the man he’d met once before.

He sat in a chair in another corner of the room—not very noticeable, but his presence was overwhelmingly strong, impossible to ignore.

Dressed all in black, with a hard, rugged build and looks, he had a five-centimeter scar over his brow like a broken eyebrow, adding a rough ferocity.

When their eyes met, he calmly looked away, fiddling with an unlit cheap cigarette between his fingers.

So it was him after all, Zhong Nian thought.

“It’s already evening. Want me to take you back to the dormitory?” Zhan Lu’s voice interrupted Zhong Nian’s scrutiny.

“I’ll go myself,” Zhong Nian replied, coming back to himself. He lifted the blanket over his legs and found he’d somehow put his pants back on.

He paused, starting to recall.

When he’d fallen asleep, the silent man hadn’t rebound his feet, but when he woke, Zhan Lu had untied them…

So it was probably that man who’d dressed him.

Zhong Nian felt annoyed at himself.

How could I sleep so soundly? I didn’t feel a thing.

Then, he heard that familiar low, magnetic voice in the room: “Alright, everyone go back.”

Just those few words, but Zhong Nian recognized it instantly—the man who’d impersonated Zhan Lu to help him with the toilet…

The humiliation was memorable. He whipped his head up and met the Black-Clothed Man’s dark gaze again.

What shocked him more was the others chorusing, “Got it, Boss.”