Translator: Xena
Editors: CLYo, tart, Celare
Eight o’clock in the evening is a good time for feasting and revelry.
Jiang Yao was lying on the sofa in the club, staring at an empty wine glass with only ice cubes left in it.
The sentimental nonsense love song performance on the stage finally came to an end, and several women sat down beside him with smiles on their faces, pushing several bottles of foreign liquor onto the table.
“Mister Jiang, these are newly arrived wines, airlifted from a private winery in Country F…”
“No need for introductions.”
Jiang Yao interrupted the woman and opened his half-closed eyes as if he had just come to his senses.
“Just put it on my account like before.”
Their weekly performance was maxed out with just one word from Mister Jiang.
Several people poured wine for him with smiles on their faces. Their eyes lingered on him quietly under the overlapping bright and dark lights, appearing somewhat distracted1心猿意馬: lit. heart like a frisky monkey, mind like a cantering horse.
There was not the slightest fault on his face. No matter how many times they had seen it, seeing it again was always a thrill.
But to describe him as handsome wasn’t quite fitting.
Unlike his sword eyebrows and starry gaze, Jiang Yao was born with a pair of peach-blossom eyes. Coupled with the faint romanticism on the tip of his eyebrows, these all gave him a kind of nonchalant sex appeal.
This sex appeal seemed to have been aroused and was even stronger today.
Unfortunately, their job was to be card match partners, so they had no chance to explore the warmth under that skin.
Jiang Yao rarely thought prudently when playing cards. The speed at which he played cards today was absurdly fast, even a little disorganized.
It was as if all the strength in his body was gathered at his fingertips to throw cards out continuously to avoid having nowhere to vent.
As he picked up and put down cards, the cuffs of his black dress shirt, which didn’t fit him well enough, drooped slightly, repeatedly revealing the cold white skin underneath.
There was an obvious dark red semi-circle near his protruding wrist bone.
It was on the other wrist as well.
It appeared to be a sign of being bound for a long time.
Except for Jiang Yao, everyone at the table was a seasoned veteran. They could tell at a glance how much unusual excitement these marks bring.
“I didn’t expect Mister Jiang to play around quite a bit in private.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yao lowered his eyes following along their line of sight. He then straightened his sleeves on both sides and said nothing.
His reserved attitude only aroused the gossiping spirit of those around him.
Jiang Yao was a regular customer here. He was generous and lavish. Every time he came, he would call on a group of good-looking servers to accompany him, but it would go no further.
He usually just drank and played cards. If he won, he would give the money back to his match partner. If he lost, he would take the blame. Those who were good at playing cards got plenty of tips.
No matter how many people expressed their desire for him, he never bestowed mercy to his “believers”.
He clearly has a face that looked like he has had ten girlfriends.
It was hard not to be curious about his private life.
A purple-haired woman continued to sound him out, “Is it someone from our place?”
“Not a human,” Jiang Yao’s face was expressionless as he said, “it was a beast.”
The purple-haired woman was stunned when she heard these words. Even though she was full of witty remarks, she didn’t know how to respond for a moment and was impatiently urged by Jiang Yao to play her cards quickly.
*
Yesterday, Jiang Yao attended a wedding. The groom was Shen Tang, the person he had a brief crush on during his adolescence.
Although the superficial and casual admiration he had in his youth had long been worn away by the years, Jiang Yao still couldn’t help feeling dazed as he looked at the gentle, modest, and shy man on the stage, who seemed to be exactly the same as he was ten years ago.
However, the person sitting across from him might be even more dazed than him.
Jiang Yao thought about it and took a quick look.
His former love rival, Duan Zhuxian, was sitting there, listening to Shen Tang’s affectionate vows to his wife.
Duan Zhuxian’s ancestors were of European descent. He had a pair of deep pupils set under slightly high brow bones. They were as dark as the ocean, where emotional fluctuations couldn’t be detected at all.
Jiang Yao didn’t believe it and stared for a long time.
Luckily, the Emperor pays off his conscientious people2Hard work pays off. The moment the bride and groom exchanged rings, that sculpture-like face finally relaxed a little, and a barely visible curve appeared at the corners of his lips.
It must be a smile.
Jiang Yao confirmed it several times.
Jiang Yao naturally interpreted this smile as a self-deprecating mockery of pretentious generosity.
It was said that the five-star hotel venue for this wedding was sponsored by Duan Zhuxian as a good brother. It resembled that of a loser who was “marrying off” his beloved.
Thinking of this, Jiang Yao felt happy inside and took a sip of wine with a bit of pride.
He was different from Duan Zhuxian.
After graduating from high school, he only met Shen Tang occasionally during the holidays. All the romantic thoughts he had had towards him have now disappeared.
On the other hand, Duan Zhuxian not only studied at the same university as Shen Tang but also went to study in North America, following after the latter. He pursued him so closely, that there was no way he could’ve let go, right?
Thinking about it this way, Duan Zhuxian was really self-destructive.
However, Jiang Yao was not saintly enough to feel sympathy and affection for the people he hated.
Duan Zhuxian was simply asking for trouble and suffering, and he’s reaped what he’d sown!
After the wedding, Shen Tang booked a private room in the hotel’s entertainment area and invited his old classmates to a reunion.
Jiang Yao and Duan Zhuxian both went and sat at the north and south corners respectively, pretending to be strangers as usual and not saying a word to each other from beginning to end.
At the party, Jiang Yao saw many of his former classmates. He was in a good mood and drank a few more bottles of wine. After getting drunk, he walked into the guest room prepared for him by Shen Tang and slept until three in the afternoon.
When he woke up, Jiang Yao was still very dazed. He just felt extremely sore all over, as if he had been lifting weights in the gym all night.
But he didn’t remember having this quirk when he was drunk.
The moment he got out of bed still in a daze, a sharp pain suddenly shot up his spine from the bottom.
Turning around, his eyes fixed on the trash can at the end of the bed.
There were so many used condoms in there that he couldn’t count them.
Apparently, he didn’t lift weights at the gym that night.
Instead, he was the one who was lifted all night.
Using that thing.
“Fuck!”
Jiang Yao blurted out the quintessence of the national culture3He swore/cursed, his eyes almost turning red. His brain was buzzing and his wrists that were supporting his waist from behind began to ache slightly.
He had a vague memory of being tied up with a tie as the madman held his wrists with terrifying force.
Jiang Yao grabbed his hair back and forth while limping around the suite, turning around and around, trying to find incriminating evidence left behind by the murderer.
Finally, he saw a note pressed under his cell phone on the coffee table in the living room.
There were two lines of flamboyant handwriting on the note: The company has an important meeting, please contact me anytime if you have any questions.
There was no name, only a mobile phone number.
Jiang Yao recognized the handwriting at a glance. Fragments of memory came back to him at that moment, and his hands and legs began to tremble.
Right then, he received a voice message from Shen Tang. “You left the room drunk last night, Zhuxian said he wanted to go see you, and then you two didn’t come back. I need him for something, but I can’t contact him… Is he okay?”
Jiang Yao wanted to speak, but his voice had become hoarse from overuse, so he could only raise his trembling thumbs and tap a reply, [He is still alive.]
Shen Tang: “I see.”
There was a hint of hesitation in his tone.
But Jiang Yao was very sure of this.
Because the person who slept with him last night was none other than Duan Zhuxian.
*
Crunching sounds were heard.
Jiang Yao bit the ice in his mouth, chewed the crumbs like he was grinding his teeth, and swallowed them slowly into his stomach.
The gnashing look scared the woman who was shuffling the cards opposite him. She thought she had won the game and made Mister Jiang unhappy.
After calming down in the afternoon, Jiang Yao remembered a little of what happened last night.
He and Duan Zhuxian met at the door of the guest room, and both insisted that it was their room.
Duan Zhuxian looked as if he was too lazy to argue with him and walked in first.
He followed in unhappily, wanting to kick Duan Zhuxian off the bed, but later the two of them inexplicably got entangled with each other.
He couldn’t remember who took the initiative.
They even fought over who would be on top and that was where the tie came in handy.
Later on, he found out that he had indeed walked into the wrong room because his room was next door.
All of this was so absurd, like a dream. Even now, he was still not fully awake and was still in shock.
Although he had suffered a great humiliation, he could not think of any solution at the time and could only retreat into his “safe house” and drink down his sorrows.
Jiang Yao had bad luck today and lost several hands in a row.
He lost interest in the match towards the end. He said he was tired and wanted to go out for some fresh air, and that he would continue to play later.
The purple-haired woman was called Amy, and she was the head waitress among the waiters. More than ten minutes later, she quietly followed him out to see what was going on, and found Jiang Yao standing at the end of a long and narrow corridor, staring at a painting lost in thought.
There was something indescribably melancholy about his figure.
When she got closer, she realized that the strange feeling was caused by the ill-fitting black dress shirt on Jiang Yao.
She smiled and asked, “Mister Jiang, isn’t the clothing you bought a little too big?”
The painting on the wall was a yellowed imitation of a Song Dynasty guqin. Jiang Yao shifted his gaze from the strings and uttered a perfunctory “hmm”.
His own shirt was wrinkled like pickled vegetables after last night’s fooling around, the buttons were loose and stained with unknown liquids, making it impossible to wear it.
Fortunately, there was a shirt on the bedside table. It looked new and must have been bought by Duan Zhuxian.
He was in a hurry to get away, so he put it on without thinking. Only now did he notice that the size didn’t fit him well.
Jiang Yao had just played cards for too long, and he subconsciously rubbed his increasingly sore waist.
Seeing this, Amy kindly suggested, “If you feel dizzy after drinking too much, I can support you.”
Jiang Yao didn’t refuse and directly put some force on her shoulder.
The two walked back along the corridor. Jiang Yao chatted with Amy casually. He took out his mobile phone, opened his Moments, and saw a photo of a gathering posted by an acquaintance thirty minutes ago with the caption: [Guess which big boss graced us with his presence?]
The screen was filled with chaotic lights. Jiang Yao saw Duan Zhuxian sitting on the sofa with a glass of wine in his hand. He was like a piece of jade, shining conspicuously, as if there was a wall between him and everyone around him.
Dog shit!
He’d done him into this state, and yet he was still in the mood to have fun!
Jiang Yao was filled with anger and hit Duan Zhuxian’s forehead with his thumb. He enlarged the photo and accidentally caught a glimpse of a familiar sign on the edge of the wine table.
He looked up at the corridor wall, which had the same pattern on it.
??
He was stunned. Before he could sound the alarm in his mind, he heard a flattering inquiry coming from the front.
“What type does President Duan like? When we get back to the private room later, I’ll ask a few pretty and sensible girls to come over to liven up the atmosphere.”
Then, and indifferent voice replied—
“No need.”
【Author’s words】
Long time no see, let’s have a bite of happy enemies’ marriage first, love later!
After thinking about it, there shouldn’t be any minefields that need clearing, and there also won’t be any stomach-aching plots like white moonlight ruining things.
To the interested baobeis, please remember to bookmark oh. Can you give me some comments and starfish ma?
Xena's corner
Hi everyone! I’m starting another novel, I’m so excited! I looked far and wide for my next novel and I ended up with two choices until I finally translated this. I wanted something easy in between translating Quick Transmigration: I’m Almost Dead, which has a lot of undertones. Even if I haven’t read this to the end, I can feel that it has that sweetness, angst, lover’s quarrel that I love. Thank you for giving this a chance~
