The cold blade pressed against Zhao Muqing’s neck, and he instantly froze in fear.
The next second, a handkerchief covered his nose and mouth, and an indescribable odor invaded his nasal cavity. Within moments, he lost consciousness. When he opened his eyes again, Zhao Muqing was on the rooftop of the hotel’s top floor. His mouth was stuffed with something, his hands were bound together with a belt, and his feet were tied with what looked like shoelaces or a trouser cord.
“Awake?” Zhou Ling’s knife was still pressed against his throat. “Don’t move. Do you still want your things?”
Hearing this, Zhao Muqing looked at what Zhou Ling was holding. Both of his clip-on earrings were in the other person’s hands, along with his phone, which was left open on the chat window with Shen Guanzhi.
The message he had prepared to send had been completely deleted, and in its place was a voice message that had already been successfully sent to the other party. “Just wait. Once your boss gets here, the two of you can hit the road together.”
Seeing that Zhou Ling had contacted Shen Guanzhi, Zhao Muqing actually felt relieved. Shen Guanzhi had freedom of movement inside the hotel, and his communication signal hadn’t been cut off. Calling the police or notifying a few of his subordinates to subdue Zhou Ling should have been simple enough.
However, Zhao Muqing leaned against the wall and waited for a long time, almost falling asleep, yet no shadow of anyone appeared at the rooftop stairwell.
“Look at that,” Zhou Ling tapped the flat of the blade against Zhao Muqing’s cheek. “Is a person like this even worth it?”
Zhao Muqing’s heart sank halfway. Shen Guanzhi wasn’t actually going to abandon him here, was he? It seemed Zhou Ling’s true target was Shen Guanzhi, so since no one was showing up, Zhou Ling wouldn’t actually do anything to him.
Still, that didn’t mean he enjoyed feeding mosquitoes up here, Zhao Muqing complained internally.
He remained in a stalemate with Zhou Ling. Finding himself utterly bored, Zhao Muqing simply raised his head to count the stars in the sky. Just as he counted to the eighth star, he finally heard footsteps approaching from the stairs.
Zhou Ling grabbed Zhao Muqing, pulling him down to lean against his feet with the blade pressed back against his throat. Shen Guanzhi calmly stepped onto the final step and stood before the other two. “Speak.”
“It’s simple, Shen Guanzhi,” Zhou Ling let out a strange, low chuckle. “Your little lover is in my hands right now. As long as you jump off this building right now, I’ll let him go.”
Zhao Muqing almost wanted to laugh. He was actually glad his mouth was stuffed; even if he wanted to laugh, no sound would come out.
Shen Guanzhi let out a cold laugh. “Little lover? Just a plaything. You think you can use him to threaten me? You’re too ridiculous.”
“A plaything?” Zhou Ling tossed Zhao Muqing’s phone aside and held up the pair of greenish-blue gemstone clip-on earrings to show Shen Guanzhi. “Didn’t you give these to him? Dryad, am I right?”
“This isn’t Dryad, just a fake,” Shen Guanzhi said with a steady voice. “I already said, Zhao Muqing has no value to me whatsoever. There’s no way I would give him the real one.”
“What?” Zhou Ling wore an incredulous expression. “Then where is the real Dryad? You can’t possibly not know!”
“No one has ever seen Dryad. You’re just blindly believing rumors and assuming Dryad is a greenish-blue gemstone, aren’t you?”
“Impossible! If it didn’t exist, why did my dad fight your dad to the death back then?”
“Only the people involved would know, but they’ve both passed away.”
Zhou Ling’s expression turned startled, as if he was only just learning of the death. “Enough, Shen Guanzhi. Your dad ruined our family anyway. My dad helped him smuggle jewelry for so long and helped him make so much money, yet when my mom got sick and asked him for the money she was rightfully owed, he refused. He even beat my dad up and pocketed Dryad.”
His emotions grew increasingly agitated. “If it weren’t for your dad, my mom wouldn’t have died of illness!”
Shen Guanzhi had no intention of defending any of his father’s actions. “Zhou Ling, that’s a matter of the older generation, and my father has also passed away. Is it really worth ruining the rest of your life just to pursue this?”
He paused, then continued, “And by the way, Dryad wasn’t smuggled goods. It belonged to my mother.”
“You can say whatever you want!” Zhou Ling’s blade pressed down harder against Zhao Muqing’s neck. “Since I can’t escape anyway, neither of you are walking out of here.”
“If you stop now, you’ll serve a few years inside and get out. But if you kill him, or me, you’ll spend the rest of your life behind bars. Think it over carefully.” Shen Guanzhi took a step toward Zhao Muqing.
“Don’t come any closer!” Zhou Ling’s hand was trembling, and the blade at Zhao Muqing’s neck instinctively pulled back slightly.
Right at that moment, someone lunged out from behind Zhou Ling. It seemed they had been lying in ambush, waiting for the assailant’s guard to drop before seizing the chance to subdue him.
Zhou Ling’s small knife clattered to the ground. Shen Guanzhi kicked it far away, then pulled the wad of paper out of Zhao Muqing’s mouth and untied his bonds. “Are you alright?”
“Didn’t you see? I have several mosquito bites on my arm.” Zhao Muqing finally regained his voice and couldn’t help taking a deep breath. “I thought you weren’t coming.”
“I wouldn’t just stand by and let someone die.”
“I knew it, you at least would have called the police.” Before Zhao Muqing could finish his sentence, he abruptly noticed that behind Shen Guanzhi, Zhou Ling was charging toward them with another knife in hand.
He instinctively shoved Shen Guanzhi out of the way. “Watch out!”
The blade plunged into Zhao Muqing’s body, and a wave of intense pain instantly spread through him. Zhao Muqing couldn’t help crying out. Damn it, he forgot to dodge.
The sound of overlapping footsteps echoed up the stairs as the police arrived on the scene, finally preventing Zhou Ling from pulling any more stunts. The person who had just subdued Zhou Ling was only struck hard in the hand by the knife hilt and was in no serious condition.
“Zhao Muqing,” Shen Guanzhi hurriedly pulled him into his arms, one hand instinctively pressing down on the bleeding wound. His voice carried a tremor that even Zhao Muqing, standing closest to him, could barely detect. “The ambulance is almost here. You’ll be fine.”
Zhao Muqing couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh. “Why are you so nervous? Aren’t you the one who usually comforts me?”
Shen Guanzhi used his free hand to pat the dust-off Zhao Muqing’s clothes. “At a time like this, you can still laugh.”
“I can feel it. The wound isn’t deep; I’m not going to die.” Zhao Muqing wanted to say more, but Shen Guanzhi simply covered his mouth. “You’re hurt, stop talking so much.”
Zhao Muqing had no choice but to obediently shut his mouth and wait for the ambulance to arrive at the hotel entrance. Shen Guanzhi personally escorted him into the vehicle and accompanied him all the way to the hospital.
The doctor examined Zhao Muqing’s wound, performed the necessary treatment, and had him transferred to a top-floor private VIP ward. Without needing to guess, Zhao Muqing knew this was Shen Guanzhi’s doing.
His wound wasn’t severe and would heal after a period of rest, though it might leave a scar. He gently touched the injury; it looked like he would have a hard time working as underwear or swimwear models from now on.
“How does it feel?” Shen Guanzhi entered the room carrying a large bag.
Zhao Muqing watched as Shen Guanzhi took out fruit and some light, fragrant food, sending a rich aroma wafting through the air.
“Aside from not being able to move too much and the possibility of a scar, everything else is great.” Zhao Muqing smiled, seemingly trying to comfort Shen Guanzhi.
“Hungry?” Shen Guanzhi pointed to the food and fruit he had just placed on the table. “Just bought it, fresh.”
To be honest, although Zhao Muqing had wolfed down his food earlier at the banquet, Xu Yintang’s sudden appearance had completely interrupted the meal, leaving him far from full.
“Is there meat?” Zhao Muqing cast an expectant look at Shen Guanzhi.
“Meat soup.” Shen Guanzhi picked up a delivery container filled with soup, where several large pork bones were clearly visible. “Want some?”
“Of course! I didn’t expect you to bring home-style dishes like this. I thought rich people only ate fancy gourmet food.”
“Home-style flavors taste good too.” Shen Guanzhi opened the lid, scooped up a spoonful, and fed it to Zhao Muqing.
Zhao Muqing blinked in surprise. Shen Guanzhi wouldn’t be taking care of him this attentively out of guilt, would he? Just because he took that knife blow for him? He hadn’t actually meant to do it on purpose.
“Don’t overthink it. You don’t owe me anything, I just didn’t dodge in time.” Zhao Muqing reached out to take the spoon. “I can drink it myself.”
Shen Guanzhi didn’t insist. He placed the soup on the small table over Zhao Muqing’s bed. “Careful.”
He watched as Zhao Muqing gulped down the meat soup like a starved ghost and chewed the meat off the pork bones until they were completely clean, before handing him two sheets of tissue to wipe his hands. “Anything you want to ask me?”
“Why did Zhou Ling show up?”
“Li Shuqiao likes him a lot and brought him along to rub shoulders with people to make it easier for him to get work later.” Shen Guanzhi paused. “I opposed it, but she insisted.”
Zhao Muqing frowned imperceptibly. Li Shuqiao’s taste in men left much to be desired.
Shen Guanzhi paused, then spoke again. “I’m not entirely sure if what he said about his father is true, but if my father really did those things, it wouldn’t be surprising.”
He cleaned up the trash on Zhao Muqing’s table. “He was right about one thing. My father was a jewelry smuggler. But after he left home back then, every single cent he made was taken with him. Every penny in my hands is clean.”
“It must have been tough back then, right?” Zhao Muqing’s movements involuntarily paused.
“It’s nothing, it’s all in the past.” Seeing that Zhao Muqing had no intention of eating anymore, Shen Guanzhi stood up to leave the room.
On a sudden impulse, Zhao Muqing called out to him. “Are you going back to take sleeping pills?”
“Yeah. If you need anything, contact me. My phone won’t be turned off.”
“Come up here,” Zhao Muqing shifted toward the edge of the hospital bed. “There’s enough room to sleep.”
The private ward’s bed was larger than an ordinary hospital bed, barely enough for two people.
Shen Guanzhi hesitated in place for a moment, then took off his suit jacket, loosened his tie, removed his glasses and placed them on the bedside table, and lay down in the empty space beside Zhao Muqing.
Sharing the same pillow and the same thin blanket forced them close together. Shen Guanzhi felt as though a slight tilt of his head would brush against Zhao Muqing’s face.
“Going to sleep then,” Zhao Muqing turned off the ward lights.
Silence enveloped the room. Shen Guanzhi accidentally brushed against Zhao Muqing’s hand; it was very cold.
He pulled that chilly hand into his own palm and pressed it against his chest.
“Why did you do that?”
His voice was lighter than the clouds outside the window.
“I didn’t want to go soft.”