Thirty million.
Lin Jinsen and Su Lixia locked eyes. Hearing that sum, the expression in Lin Jinsen’s eyes changed instantly.
They grew dark and chillingly menacing.
Su Lixia was momentarily taken aback, feeling a slight prickle of unease. Feigning casualness, he turned and sat back down in the original booth, picked up the cup of half-melted ice cream, scooped a spoonful, and shoved it into his mouth.
Lin Jinsen lowered his gaze, concealing his expression, but his tone rang with resolute finality: “No need. I’ll work to earn the money to pay you back for the shattered wine.”
Su Lixia was amused. “Earn the money? If I wait for you to earn it, am I supposed to wait until the Year of the Monkey?”
Hearing the scoff, Lin Jinsen glanced up, his voice cold. “I will definitely pay you back. I’m currently taking on freelance projects, and a single gig pays tens of thousands. I’ll be able to…”
“Stop right there.” Su Lixia couldn’t be bothered to listen to his nonsense. “Tens of thousands? Are you kidding me? The floor you’re standing on right now cost at least three million. Freelancing or taking on projects… don’t those take time?”
He let out a dry laugh and raised an eyebrow. “Is my time worthless?”
Lin Jinsen paused, his face turning terribly pale. “I can pay you interest.”
Su Lixia couldn’t be bothered to argue with him further. “Since you can’t afford to pay for it, let’s just call the police. I trust the Federal Police Department will find a way to handle this.”
The moment those words left his mouth, the manager knew trouble was brewing. He hurried over, grabbed Lin Jinsen by the arm, dragged him aside, and whispered a frantic warning:
“Xiao Lin, stop being so stubborn! If you really involve the police with this much money, you’ll end up with a formal police record! That’ll go on your permanent file!”
“Besides, you can’t afford to cross a young master who drops tens of millions in a single night here. If you go head-to-head with him, you can forget about making a living here from now on. Once it blows up and you get blacklisted on the Federal Credit System, every step you take will be an uphill battle. Let alone doing side gigs—no one will ever dare hire you again. Your university, your entire life—it’ll all be completely ruined.”
Lin Jinsen seemed struck by the gravity of those words. As reality set in, he instantly calmed down.
“Fine.” Lin Jinsen lifted his gaze, staring straight at Su Lixia as the private room fell dead silent.
He stared coldly into Su Lixia’s eyes and said, “I agree. Being a body double—fine. But I won’t do that kind of thing. I’m straight.”
Hearing that, Su Lixia grew impatient. “I’m offering you thirty million a month, and you’re still sitting here negotiating terms with me? What are you playing at? A delicate little flower?”
He stirred the mostly melted ice cream with his spoon using one hand and sneered, “So reluctant? Fine, this young master has changed his mind.”
Keeping his eyes locked on Lin Jinsen, he tipped the container over and poured the ice cream straight down. The cream lychee ball inside landed squarely and stuck to the tip of Lin Jinsen’s shoe.
“Go on, lick my shoe clean.”
“Fifty thousand per lick. Once it’s spotless, your debt for the wine is completely wiped clean.” The corners of his lips curved upward in an arrogant, provocative smirk as he stared down at Lin Jinsen.
The anger Lin Jinsen had just forced down flared up instantly. He clenched his fists, stared right back at him, and ground out every single word:
“If you’ve got the guts, just kill me.”
The moment he said that, the looks directed at Lin Jinsen by the people around them shifted completely.
Watching the two of them standing on the precipice of violence, Xue Pi felt his heart leap into his throat, terrified they were about to throw punches.
At that moment, however, Su Lixia let out a cold laugh, turned his head, and called out in a slouching, swaggering drawl: “Manager! What is going on here? This White Crow Mansion of yours is seriously lame! I guess we really should just call the cops.”
Upon hearing that, the manager knew instantly that this young master was not someone to be trifled with, and that Lin Jinsen had truly kicked a hornet’s nest.
He hurried forward with an ingratiating smile, expertly dropping to his knees with a heavy thud. He planted both hands flat on the floor, doing a painfully realistic imitation of a pug. Even though shards of broken glass bit into his palms, he only dared to grit his teeth, lifting his head to offer a flattering smile:
“Young master, do you think I can lick it for you instead?”
Su Lixia stared in silence.
Lin Jinsen froze, his brows furrowing deeply.
Seeing the manager’s bleeding hands and realizing what a wretched sight he made, Su Lixia felt a sudden wave of discomfort. “Hold on, what gives you the right to step in for him?”
Realizing he had a shot, the manager scuttled efficiently across the floor to Su Lixia’s feet, looked up, and smiled ingratiatingly: “Licking it works just the same. I’ll lick it for him. If you feel satisfied with how I do it, Young Master, please let out your anger and don’t lower yourself to the level of a fool like him.”
Su Lixia stared in silence.
Before he could say a word, he watched as the manager lowered his head, preparing to stretch out his tongue and lick his shoe.
Then, seeing the manager’s bleeding hands and knees crawling forward over shards of crushed glass, leaving actual trails of blood behind, all while wearing that shameless, grinning face, a wave of revulsion hit him so hard that the words stuck in his throat.
“Wait, no, hold on a second!” He scrambled to pull his foot back in haste, sliding sideways to escape onto the sofa.
Seriously, don’t you dare come over here!
Fortunately, Lin Jinsen suddenly stepped forward, catching the blood-smeared manager by the arm with a grip like steel pliers and hauling him straight up from the floor.
“Stop kneeling, and definitely don’t lick that.”
Su Lixia let out an immediate sigh of relief, only to look up and run straight into Lin Jinsen’s gaze, a look that felt as though he were staring at absolute scum.
Suddenly feeling rather uneasy under that scrutiny, he shifted his eyes away defensively, only to catch his childhood friend Xue Pi giving him a look that clearly said, “See? You played with fire and burned yourself.”
He glanced back down at the manager, who still looked pitiful and pathetic, and felt a genuine twinge of sympathy.
Turning away, he feigned nonchalance as he kicked off his leather shoes, curled up sideways on the sofa in his bare feet, and muttered under his breath: “Tch, what a total buzzkill.”
He casually pointed at a bunny boy hiding in the background. “Hey, you. Help me throw those shoes in the trash.”
Instead of being brave, the bunny boy was actually rather timid; trembling slightly, he grabbed a pack of tissues and carefully wiped the pair of leather shoes clean.
Su Lixia didn’t speak up to stop him. Once the shoes were cleaned, he shifted into a more comfortable posture, leaning lazily against the back of the sofa, and looked back at Lin Jinsen.
“Well, I can’t just let you off the hook completely.” He reached out and felt around the table until he found a cigar box, pulled one out, and lit it. “Fine by your conditions, then. Here, smoke this.”
Su Lixia looked up at him. “Smoke this, and I’ll agree to your terms.”
Lin Jinsen stared at the cigar, his brow furrowed tightly. Working at White Crow Mansion, he had seen far too much shady, unwholesome business.
Noticing his hesitation, Su Lixia raised an eyebrow and held the cigar directly between his lips. “Afraid it’s poisoned? Fine, I’ll smoke it for you to see.”
He took a drag, pulled it away, exhaled a plume of smoke, and shrugged with a grin to show he was completely fine.
Lin Jinsen watched him for a few seconds before stepping forward, taking the cigar from his hand, and bringing it to his lips just as Su Lixia had. Suddenly realizing this was the exact spot where Su Lixia’s mouth had just been, he looked up and caught Su Lixia’s smug, triumphant expression, prompting him to frown in disgust.
Since it was his first time ever smoking, and a cigar at that, he kept his wary eyes fixed on Su Lixia, right up until he noticed the other man’s strange, mocking smile.
That smile caught him completely off guard. Reacting on pure reflex, he stepped back, causing his mouth, still holding the cigar, to contract sharply. He accidentally inhaled a deep lungful of smoke. The harsh, bitter spice rushed straight down his throat, choking him so violently that his entire body shuddered and he could barely stay upright.
“Hahahahaha!” Having successfully pranked his target, the mischievous young master threw his head back and roared with laughter.
His shoulders shook with amusement. “Never smoked before? Why are you reacting this way?”
Looking thoroughly disheveled, Lin Jinsen raised his gaze to glare at him. Right by his foot lay the cigar he had dropped in a fit of coughing.
That look could have killed; it was hidden sharp and fierce behind the frames of his glasses.
Realizing the situation had settled, the manager wisely made a discreet exit to tend to his wounds, quietly dispatching a fresh batch of servers to replace the ruined alcohol, along with a quick-handed custodian to clean up the mess on the floor.
With a leisurely movement, Su Lixia stretched out his legs to clear some space, keeping his eyes on Lin Jinsen as he stood there.
“Man, you really look just like him,” the playboy, who had never experienced a serious first love in his life, lied smoothly through his teeth. “So don’t worry, today was just a joke. I won’t bully you from now on. Now that I’ve finally found a body double, I’d hate to lose you.”
I’d hate to lose you.
Lin Jinsen froze, lifting his eyes to look at him.
Meanwhile, Xue Pi had just poured himself a fresh glass of wine and taken a sip; hearing those words nearly made him choke and spit it out.
A body double? Whose bloody body double?
If nobody else understood Su Lixia, he certainly did. The guy’s reputation for womanizing and manizing preceded him every single day. He accepted all comers, stunning men and women alike, acting like some sort of federal heartbreaker. In reality, though, he treated relationships like playing a game with hired labor; the moment they were over, they were over, and he was as aromantic as they came, completely devoid of any worldly desires.
Aside from his obsession with extreme sports to get a rush of adrenaline, Xue Pi often suspected that the pretty, smiling shell Su Lixia wore day-to-day was just a housing for a half-dead skeleton.
The painted skeleton in question noticed Lin Jinsen standing there in dead silence and assumed he had accepted. Suddenly sensing that the man had gone uncharacteristically quiet, he looked up to check on him.
One look, and he was startled. Even the thick black frames of Lin Jinsen’s glasses couldn’t hide his intensely flushed, feverish face. Standing right there before him, whether his heart was beating fast or not, his breathing was unmistakably rapid and heavy.
Hesitating for a moment as a thought crossed his mind, Su Lixia’s expression shifted. He suddenly stepped forward, yanked open the collar of Lin Jinsen’s shirt, and saw a patch of angry red hives spreading across his skin. His face darkened immediately. “Are you allergic to something, too?”
Hearing that, Xue Pi, who hadn’t suspected anything unusual yet, suddenly made a connection. Recalling that Lin Jinsen had just taken that single drag from the cigar, his eyes widened in sudden horror as he looked at Su Lixia, his heart leaping straight into his throat.
Then he threw a wary, cautious glance back at Lin Jinsen. This guy was practically a walking landmine custom-built by the Su family specifically for Su Lixia.
“I am not.” A shudder ran through Lin Jinsen at the touch of Su Lixia’s skin, feeling as though he had been scorched by fire. He immediately jerked away to break Su Lixia’s grip, stepping back with ragged breaths as he instinctively tried to cover himself.
“Not allergic? Whether it’s your first time or not, how would you even know?” A sudden wave of intense irritation welled up inside Su Lixia. He instinctively reached for his cigar box to light another, then stopped himself. His knuckles turned white from gripping it too hard, and his temples throbbed relentlessly; only tobacco could suppress that jittery, fragile restlessness threatening to break through at any second.
The atmosphere in the private room took a sharp plunge because of this young master’s mood swing, and no one dared to risk provoking his wrath.
“Really, I’m not.” Despite what he said, Lin Jinsen’s heartbeat was racing out of control. An unfamiliar, surging heat was boiling through his body, accompanied by a prickling itch on his skin. An inexpressible, abnormal sensation was building up inside him, forcing him to stiffen his spine in humiliation and turn abruptly away.
It wasn’t an allergy at all; it was clearly that drag from the cigar he’d just taken. Right at that moment, the performance on the main stage down on the first floor outside was reaching a fever pitch. From the vantage point of their private booth, the sights below were enough to make anyone’s blood run hot.
“I…” Feeling his body grow scorching hot, his muscles rigid, and his thoughts spinning in chaos, Lin Jinsen took a long moment to drag his tight, strained voice back under control. “May I use the washroom?”
Su Lixia blinked. “You sure you don’t need a hospital?”
With his back half-turned to him, Lin Jinsen gritted his teeth. “Positive.”
Still uneasy, Su Lixia fired off a quick message to his personal doctor.
[Born Rich, Sorry About It: Someone took a drag of my cigar and looks like they’re having a mild allergic reaction, acting like they’ve been drugged. Any ideas, bro?]
[Red and Black: A single drag? Then it’s nothing. That guy’s got a pretty decent constitution, just one puff threw his hormones completely out of whack, and his body panicked over the perceived hormone deficiency, driving his system into a mad, compensatory flare of hypersecretion. The actual effect is no different than being drugged. Just let him metabolize it out.]
[Red and Black: Tsk tsk, learned something new today. You can even play games like that. Young Master sure knows how to have a wild time.]
Frowning darkly, Su Lixia closed the chat app on his phone, though a second later, a sense of amusement crept in. He glanced over at Lin Jinsen, his expression relaxing into a lazy, half-mocking grin.
“Tch, virgin? Just one puff, and you’re already this energized? You must be hard enough to cut glass right about now, huh?”
Lin Jinsen clenched his fists in silence.
Su Lixia burst out laughing, and the rest of the room, who had been holding their breath without daring to make a sound, instantly broke out into relieved chuckles. Even Xue Pi, who had been sweating bullets with worry the whole time, was left speechless by the comment.
“Go on then, before that pink diamond turns into a purple diamond.” Su Lixia bit down on another cigar, chuckling as he bantered.