Chapter 25 Part 1

Zhong Nian didn’t recognize the object in the man’s hand at first glance.

He didn’t know what it had gone through, but the originally neat and square bow tie had become twisted and deformed, with the stiff fabric all wrinkled.

“Is this the one I lost?” Zhong Nian asked uncertainly.

The man nodded.

Zhong Nian didn’t reach out to take it. He tilted his head, putting on a puzzled and somewhat wary expression. “The thing was on you the whole time. You could have just given it to me directly. Why did you have to bring me to your room?”

The man: “.”

It was rare, but Zhong Nian spotted a hint of emotion on the man’s otherwise unchanging face.

He himself seemed surprised by it too, staring blankly as his arm hung suspended in midair for a long time.

Zhong Nian observed him for a moment, then sighed. “Forget it, give it to me.”

He reached out to take it. Just as his fingertips pinched the edge, the man suddenly closed his fingers and grabbed him.

“?” Zhong Nian tried to pull back his hand and realized the man was using considerable strength—his own fingers had turned a bit pale from the grip.

“Why are you grabbing me? Aren’t you supposed to give it back?”

“…” The man loosened his grip slightly, but the moment Zhong Nian tried to withdraw, he pinched the necktie’s strap again.

Zhong Nian tugged at it, but it wouldn’t budge. He could see the strap deforming.

The man’s contradictory behavior irritated Zhong Nian, so he simply let go. “Are you going to give it back or not?”

“Here.” As if on purpose, the moment Zhong Nian got annoyed, the man immediately handed over the bow tie.

Zhong Nian tucked the bow tie temporarily into the small pocket of his vest. Seeing the man’s gaze fixed intently on it, his thin lips pressed together as if reluctant to part with it.

Zhong Nian said speechlessly, “If you want one, you can ask the ship’s manager for a new one.”

But the man shook his head. “No need.”

“Oh.” Zhong Nian couldn’t understand the man’s thought process and had no desire to. He turned toward the door, not hiding his eagerness to leave.

“I’m leaving now?”

The man watched him. As Zhong Nian tentatively took a step, the man couldn’t help but speak up. “It was I who told Second Brother to let you go.”

“Hm?” The topic jumped abruptly, and it took Zhong Nian a moment to catch on. “You mean Zhan Lu?”

He had heard the youth in the gang call Zhan Lu “Second Brother,” but they didn’t seem like blood brothers. It was probably a rank based on status.

Considering Zhan Lu’s build and strength, it was unquestionable that he was the second-in-command.

The man nodded and continued, “At that time, he didn’t want to let you go. He wanted to keep you locked up forever.”

“Oh…” Zhong Nian scratched his temple. “Well, thanks then?”

“That day, I didn’t mean to.” The man spoke slowly, pausing at times, as if he carefully mulled over each word in his mind, weighing it a hundred times before uttering it. “At the time, I just wanted to help you.”

“What?” Zhong Nian was baffled.

The man rolled his Adam’s apple, his gaze drifting down to Zhong Nian’s waist.

Zhong Nian froze, then instantly understood. His fair face flushed red, blooming with vivid color. “That’s in the past! Why bring it up?”

“I want to apologize to you.”

The man hunched his back, leaning and bowing toward Zhong Nian. His usually sharp, fierce features now looked somewhat honest and meek.

No one saw the hand hanging at his side clenched into a fist, his palm slick with sweat.

It seemed like a very sincere apology.

At first, when Zhong Nian didn’t know his identity, he had thought about getting revenge and making him realize his mistake. But now, hearing the apology only made his chest feel stuffier. His face burned, and he wished he hadn’t heard it.

The man added fuel to the fire in his heart, saying sincerely, “It was my first time taking care of someone. I might not have controlled my strength properly. Did it hurt when I squeezed you? You cried after coming out of the bathroom.”

Zhong Nian wanted to block both the man’s mouth and his own ears. The flush had spread to his ears and neck—if he were in his original form, he definitely would have balled up into an exploding, fluffy rabbit.

“Don’t say any more! It didn’t happen!” He didn’t care if his tone was rude or if it would anger the Kidnapper Boss. “Don’t mention it in the future, and don’t tell anyone else!”

The man’s dark eyes lit up with a brilliant gleam. “So, this is our little secret?”

“Yes, don’t let a third person know!” Zhong Nian only wanted to seal away that mortifying experience completely. Then, he added very strictly, “Not even Zhan Lu.”

The man nodded. “Mm, I won’t tell him.”

“You’ll keep your promise?” Zhong Nian asked skeptically.

“Yes.”

“But Zhan Lu and Charles have both deceived me several times.”

The man choked. “…I’m different from them.”

“Oh.” Zhong Nian responded indifferently.

He didn’t believe it. If Second Brother and Old Three were such good liars, the Boss was even more so.

But if the man really deceived him, there was nothing he could do but swallow the loss.

The most he could do was add viciously, “Liars are little dogs.”

The corners of the man’s mouth curved up ever so slightly. “Mm, little dog.”

–

At the elevator.

Jie Wen had paced back and forth dozens of times. When he saw Zhong Nian emerge from the elevator unscathed, he nearly shed two tears.

“He didn’t do anything to you, right?!” His loud voice and reaction drew a glance from the person guarding nearby.

Zhong Nian pulled him along. “Let’s walk and talk.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Nothing special happened. He just picked up something of mine earlier and wanted to return it…” Zhong Nian reached into his vest pocket to show Jie Wen, then froze.

Jie Wen watched as Zhong Nian emptied the pocket and checked his pants pocket. “What’s wrong? What is it?”

Zhong Nian scratched his cheek, depressed. “My bow tie. I put it in this pocket, but it must have been too shallow and fell out again on the way…”

Jie Wen laughed at his absent-mindedness and accompanied him back along the path to search, but they returned empty-handed.