Chapter 54
It was already evening when Lu Yichuan arrived.
Li An and two other bodyguards were squatting by the entrance, eating instant noodles. Seeing him, Li An wiped his mouth and stood up. “Boss, you’re here.”
It was raining outside, the sound of the rain drumming against the roof. The man in the black windbreaker shook the water off his umbrella and looked at Li An.
Li An hiccuped. “I was watching a historical suspense drama, got a bit carried away, wanted to act all sophisticated in front of that idiot, and forgot to…maintain my composure.”
He handed his instant noodles to one of the bodyguards, took Lu Yichuan’s umbrella, and seamlessly corrected himself. “Boss, I’ve brought him here. His language was rather…unrefined, so I dislocated his jaw. Didn’t touch anything else, just waiting for your arrival.”
Lu Yichuan twirled his watch. “Open the door.”
The room was dark, the curtains drawn tightly, not a single ray of light penetrating the darkness. Li An went in first and turned on the light, the sudden brightness illuminating the room.
It was a storage room, filled with discarded furniture. A small area in the center had been cleared, and Li Xingyue and Lin Chen were lying on the floor, tied up. They instinctively closed their eyes against the sudden brightness.
When Li Xingyue opened his eyes again, he saw the man who had “invited” him from the hospital earlier placing a clean chair in front of him, another tall, slender figure sitting down on it.
He looked up and saw the man’s cold, refined face.
“Huh…” Li Xingyue’s eyes widened, but his dislocated jaw prevented him from speaking, only allowing him to make a few incoherent sounds, which, combined with his untreated wounds, made him look both menacing and pathetic.
“How could I forget.” Li An slapped his forehead. “I forgot our esteemed guest, Young Master Li, can’t speak! My apologies, please don’t be offended. I’ll fix it right away…”
He approached Li Xingyue, gripped his jaw, and with a sharp crack, popped it back into place.
Li Xingyue swallowed, then glared at the man in front of him, now able to speak. “Lu Yichuan! How dare you do this to me?!”
Lu Yichuan’s fingertips twitched, his clothes slightly damp from the rain outside. “Why wouldn’t I dare?”
He leaned forward slightly. “Li Xingyue, after all these years, you haven’t changed at all, still…incredibly stupid.”
“Lu Yichuan!” Li Xingyue struggled to get up. “You dare to kidnap me?! If my father finds out, he’ll destroy the Lu family!”
“Oh, really?” The man smiled. “What does the Lu family’s fate have to do with a discarded outcast like me?”
Li Xingyue struggled to sit up. “Then what about you? The Li family won’t let you go!”
After he finished speaking, the man sitting in front of him stood up and stepped on his back. He looked so thin and frail, yet with just a little pressure, Li Xingyue was forced to the ground, the bones in his back cracking audibly.
Lu Yichuan bent down, his voice still calm and gentle, “I’ll be waiting for the Li family to destroy me. But…do you think you’ll live to see it?”
Li Xingyue froze, finally understanding the gravity of his situation. His face paled, his voice trembling. “Lu Yichuan, what are you going to do? I’m warning you, this is illegal!”
Li An interjected, “Illegal? Don’t be absurd, Mr. Li. I obtained your consent. If you don’t believe me, you can ask your…companion.”
He glanced at Lin Chen, who had been cowering in the corner like a turtle, and the man immediately started trembling, unable to speak.
Truly…
Li An thought inwardly, only an idiot like Li Xingyue would think stealing Lin Chen would anger Lu Yichuan.
Lu Yichuan stepped off Li Xingyue, took out a handkerchief, and wiped his hands, his eyes lowered. “You’ve been trying so hard to provoke me, haven’t you? Now I’m finally angry, and you don’t seem very happy about it.”
He squatted down, watching the color drain from the man’s face. “You have such a sharp tongue, how about I cut it out?”
“Lu Yichuan…” Li Xingyue crawled forward. “I was wrong! I shouldn’t have said those things! Please forgive me! Just tell me what you want! I’ll call my father right now, I’ll give you anything…”
Lu Yichuan watched him approach, then, just as he was about to reach him, Li Xingyue suddenly broke free from the ropes and lunged at him.
Before he could get within ten centimeters, Li An grabbed him by the hair and slammed him to the ground, stomping on his foot, and Li Xingyue shrieked in pain.
Lu Yichuan clapped his hands and stood up. “You still haven’t learned your lesson after all this time.”
Li Xingyue glared at him, his eyes red. “Lu Yichuan! The Li family won’t let you go! I’ll chop you into pieces and feed you to the dogs!”
Seeing him unresponsive, he seemed to remember something and laughed. “So angry, is it because I hit a nerve? Jiang Heng’s death was your fault!”
“You were there, weren’t you? I even read the news that day. Poor little young master, the only one crushed under the car. They say many people who saw the scene vomited, the blood couldn’t be washed away, the police couldn’t even put the body back together…”
He stared at him with malice. “Did you help look for him? What did his pretty face look like then? No, wait, he didn’t have a face anymore. Did you…ugh…”
His eyes widened, his tongue pinned down by a metal pipe, unable to speak. The next moment, with a sharp crack, the pipe was forced into his mouth, blood and teeth spraying out.
Lu Yichuan wiped a drop of blood from his eyelid, his long fingers gripping the pipe against Li Xingyue’s throat, his pale face stained with blood, his head lowered slightly. “Why did you stop talking?”
Li Xingyue clutched his mouth, his eyes rolling back as he fainted from the pain.
Lu Yichuan let go, took out a handkerchief, meticulously cleaned his watch first, then wiped the blood off his face.
He zipped up his windbreaker, his long, pale fingers, the knuckles prominent, gripping the zipper, calluses on his fingertips from years of holding a pen, the veins on the back of his hand clearly visible.
The collar of his windbreaker covered his sharp jawline, the black making his face even paler, his features cold and somber.
He looked strangely out of place in the grimy room, his appearance too clean, too frail.
Lu Yichuan stepped over Li Xingyue, tossed the bloodstained handkerchief into a dusty trash can in the corner, and said indifferently,
“Take care of it.”
He took out his phone and checked the time. The sleepy cat at home should be waking up soon.
“Lu-ge, Lu-ge…”
Just as he reached the door, a figure crawled towards him.
Lin Chen clutched his pants leg. “Lu-ge, I didn’t do anything! It was all Li Xingyue! It was him…please, let me go…”
“I…” He trembled, tears welling up in his eyes. “Please…”
Before he could finish his plea, the man at the door turned and looked at him. A calm, emotionless gaze, but it was enough to make Lin Chen freeze, his words dying in his throat, a chill running down his spine, his hair standing on end.
Under his gaze, he slowly loosened his grip, his body collapsing onto the floor.
It was still raining when Jiang Heng woke up.
He had been sleeping in his cat bed on the balcony, covered with a small blanket, the sound of the rain drumming against the plane tree leaves lulling him into a deep sleep until five in the afternoon.
Having slept for so long, he was in a daze. He stretched his front paws, then his hind legs, wiggled his butt, arched his back…
One, two, three…
Wake up…
Failed to wake up.
Jiang Heng tried again.
Stretch, wiggle, roll over, roll over again…
He rolled over too much and tumbled out of the cat bed.
Lying on the cold floor, he had no choice but to wake up.
The balcony was shrouded in a misty rain, and an enticing aroma came from inside.
Jiang Heng twitched his nose, got up, and went back into the villa.
Inside, Lu Yichuan, in a T-shirt and a thin jacket, was making hot pot in his academically-decorated dormitory.
Hot pot…
Jiang Heng’s eyes lit up, and he immediately meowed.
“Lu Yichuan, are we having hot pot tonight?”
Lu Yichuan, holding his phone, saved the video he had just taken of the kitten’s waking up routine and stirred the tomato soup base in the hot pot.
“It’s raining, so we’re having hot pot.”
“Yay…” He jumped onto the table and stared into the pot. “Lots of meatballs, some beef, and Mimi’s favorite shrimp paste.”
Lu Yichuan said, “Some cats only think about eating when they wake up, ordering people around without a shred of guilt.”
The kitten blinked innocently. “But kittens aren’t supposed to do anything.”
He continued shamelessly, “A caretaker’s job is to go to work during the day and then come home at night to serve his cat master with his hard-earned money.”
The man’s fingers twitched.
Jiang Heng dodged nimbly, sticking his tongue out. “Ha! You can’t catch me!”
Seeing that Lu Yichuan had given up, he inched closer, his voice smug. “Hehe! Someone’s getting angry.”
“I’m not angry.”
“Haha! Sure, keep telling yourself that, buddy.”
“I have something much harder than words, do you want to see it?”
Little Jiang Heng, not a decent cat, blushed. “Lu Yichuan, you’re…too much…”
Boop!
Silence descended upon the world.
Two minutes later, Jiang Heng, clutching his head, complained, “Lu Yichuan, that’s not fair!”
“All’s fair in love and war…”
Lu Yichuan opened the container of ingredients and added lots of meatballs, some beef, and Mimi’s favorite shrimp paste to the pot.
“…and cat-teasing.”
The small hot pot, enough for two, bubbled merrily. Lu Yichuan, his eyes half-hidden by the rising steam, said slowly, “I’m curious, what was our little kitty thinking about just now?”
“Huh? Nothing! What could a cat be thinking about?”
Afraid Lu Yichuan would ask again, Jiang Heng pushed his little cat bowl towards him. “Lu Yichuan, the shrimp paste will get overcooked if you leave it in for too long.”
After days of diligent practice, Jiang Heng had finally mastered the art of using his two front paws to hold a fork and eat.
The firm, bouncy beef meatballs were divided into smaller pieces. Jiang Heng, sitting in his custom-made kitty chair, carefully picked up a meatball with his fork and took a bite.
He swung his four-centimeter-long legs and sighed contentedly. “There’s nothing better than hot pot on a rainy day.”
He added after a moment of thought,
“There’s nothing better than hot pot with Lu Yichuan on a rainy day.”
