At that point, Qin Jin’s consciousness returned, and his gaze slowly turned to the man on the sofa.
The bar, the younger male cousin, the many people who had found him.
Put all these elements together.
This person had to be the protagonist, Xiao Muyu.
This should have been a plot that unfolded between Xiao Muyu and another protagonist.
But now, through a strange twist of fate, it had become him.
The man slept on his side, his face twisting uneasily. His slightly pale hair lay smoothly to one side, and the exposed face was drawn into a tight frown, as if he were deeply unhappy.
After studying the man, Qin Jin began to size up his surroundings.
He wanted to find something handy to beat the man with.
But cold sweat kept pouring down his neck, and his throat could not produce even a complete syllable.
And of all times, he had a fever.
Even if he had to crawl, Qin Jin would crawl out.
If I’d known I’d end up in this sorry state, why bother being reincarnated just to get stirred by shit-stirrers again?
The more he thought, the worse he felt. Qin Jin wanted to cry, but no tears would come.
He left the private room, but his legs gave out and he crashed heavily to the floor.
A wailing sound rose in his ears, drifting from far to near, faint but unending.
It slowly came toward him.
A pair of black Martin boots made chaotic footsteps on the floor, along with a dragging, rustling sound.
“I told you to text me. Where did you send it?”
Ri Tinglong had dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes blazed as if tempered in fire, full of rage.
He was still dragging Xiao An by the collar.
Poor Xiao An could only be dragged this way and that like a sack.
“Brother Long, Brother Long, I was wrong… sob.” Xiao An was a mess of snot and tears.
“I waited at the airport at four in the morning, waited until ten now. Every number I called was unreachable. He’s one thing, but you? Are your ears stuffed with crap, or were you dropped on your head?”
Hearing this, Xiao An trembled and cursed Ri Tinglong a million times in his heart.
Who knew that bastard Ri would also be at this nightclub.
He hit people whenever he felt like it, with zero class at all, but no matter how unhappy he was, Xiao An could only plead outwardly: “I’ll take you there. I’ll take you there right now.”
His cousin had never sent him any messages, which proved he was still in the private room.
He could only pray that the male escort had already finished and left the scene.
But as bad luck would have it, someone in ragged clothes was lying right at the private room door.
It was none other than last night’s toad!
Now he was a frog poked by a steel pipe: he was in for a first-rate beating, and the steel pipe was Ri Tinglong.
Xiao An refused to take another step closer no matter what.
But Ri Tinglong first let go of Xiao An and went straight to the man in rags.
Hm?
After years without seeing him, smelling the familiar tea fragrance, he thought the person on the ground was Xiao Muyu.
The tea and wine scents tangled in his nose, along with a strange, sickly, rotting smell.
He saw the person on the ground wearing a light beige shirt, clearly the Charvet Xiao Muyu loved to wear.
The exposed skin was mottled.
Battle-hardened Ri Tinglong knew at a glance that this person had definitely been with Xiao Muyu last night.
An indescribable anger and sense of betrayal gradually surged in his heart.
He had waited from dark until the sun was high, and it turned out someone had been enjoying a night with an escort.
For a moment, the veins on Ri Tinglong’s neck bulged almost up to his jaw as he roared at Xiao An:
“Get your ass over here.”
The low, hoarse voice barely contained his last shred of reason.
Hearing this voice, Xiao An’s legs went weak immediately.
It was clearly a sign of an impending eruption.
In less than two seconds, he darted over.
Sure enough, he got two kicks.
Xiao An clutched his stomach, face twisted in pain, rolled twice on the ground, then lay flat and played dead.
Wine bottles were scattered all over the private room.
It was impossible to tell the sofa was a sofa or the table a table; stepping inside was enough to make anyone sick.
They had not seen each other for three and a half years.
He and Xiao Muyu had never been apart this long.
Now, seeing Xiao Muyu’s face again, his heart still clenched despite himself.
But he had waited at the airport for nearly seven hours, and when he finally found the person, what he saw was a scene so absurd it defied belief.
Even if his heart twisted itself into knots, it did no good!
Ri Tinglong teetered back and forth on the edge of exploding, his eyes so red they could drip blood.
He grabbed Xiao Muyu’s wrist and hauled him up.
“Hiss.”
The man who had been hauled up had a splitting headache.
The hangover and hazy pleasure felt like a dream, but when he opened his eyes, what he saw was the furious face of King Yama.
Especially those accusing eyes.
Xiao Muyu’s head buzzed, and his eyes widened instantly.
Even his mouth fell open involuntarily in shock.
His brain began absorbing it like a sponge, frantically… the scene from last night: an ordinary male escort, a nightclub private room, a one-night stand, and now he hadn’t even washed properly, his clothes torn and ragged!
A lingering auditory hallucination echoed in his ears.
Xiao Muyu covered his mouth, his hands trembling.
He shoved the man away and rushed into the restroom, vomiting violently.
Usually regarded by everyone as the Little Prince, he was not only skilled in instruments and calligraphy, but excelled at every sport and had won all kinds of awards.
Not to mention his outstanding business mind and eye for investment.
At 18, barely an adult, with solid strength and courage, he used small stakes to win big in the stock market and earned his first pot of gold.
Everyone thought he was the future helmsman of the Xiao family, a rising star.
Perhaps also the object of countless girls’ and boys’ affection.
But now he had actually gotten mixed up with a nightclub male escort; it felt as absurd as a celestial fairy untouched by mortal dust suddenly sprinkling barbecue seasoning on chive pockets at a barbecue stall.
Yet someone added fuel to the fire.
“Xiao Muyu, you had a good time last night, didn’t you?”
Ri Tinglong gritted his teeth, walked to the restroom doorway, and looked at the person who had vomited himself limp with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
“Your mother is really ruthless. She kicked you out just like that, didn’t even assign you a bodyguard or assistant. Now look… if your family knew their precious son had spent a night with a male escort…”
“!”
Xiao Muyu’s dazed eyes snapped into focus, and he bolted out of the nightclub private room.
He did not even have time to notice the two people lying in the corridor.
In less than half a minute, the so-called Little Prince, in worn-out clothes, was fleeing down the streets.
In the corridor.
Xiao An, lying on the floor, saw his cousin flee in a daze and guiltily touched his nose.
His cousin should have been a shrewd person.
Yet he was utterly naive about clubs with bright lights and wine.
No matter what, it could not be blamed on him.
He had done it to help his cousin escape the sea of love; his cousin should be thanking him.
After comforting himself, Xiao An still found it a struggle to stand.
Ri Tinglong’s two kicks had nearly bruised his stomach black and blue.
This grudge must be avenged…
The thought had just risen when his right cheek suddenly exploded with pain! As if his jawbone would shatter, salty blood flooded his mouth, and his head was thrown back uncontrollably.
Xiao An took Qin Jin’s right hook to the face.
His bones cracked audibly.
Without warming up and while feverish, Qin Jin, who had just recovered a little, sent him flying with sheer monstrous rage.
So you’re the one who gave me that drugged wine, huh.
After the punch, his whole body was carried by momentum toward the ground.
Qin Jin did not even close his eyes.
But unexpectedly, the pain never came. Instead, he fell into a chest thick with agarwood fragrance.