After forcing a bottle of yogurt down Chi Nian’s throat, he finally sobered up a bit.
Chi Nian cherished money more than his own father. Recalling the lavish gifts he’d received today, he grinned so widely his mouth could hardly close. With a grand wave of his hand, he ordered the server to bring over several bottles of expensive imported liquor.
“Filthy rich dog,” Yu Wanli muttered, blowing on her five swollen fingers as she couldn’t help but chuckle.
Yu Huairan shook his head at the sound, his stern face half-hidden in the dim light, his features sharp and captivating. His voice was low as he said, “Xing Hui is bound to make a scene, and Uncle Yu will likely scold you a bit for appearances. If anything happens, call me.”
“Don’t worry, Brother Huai. You know my temper, right?” She never let herself suffer, and she wasn’t afraid of anything.
Oh, wait—that wasn’t entirely true! She should say that aside from Zhou Jinyue and being broke, there was nothing she feared!
If she had to choose between the two…
She’d definitely pick being broke!
The revelry lasted well into the early hours of the morning. By the time the young masters and ladies had all dispersed, the private room was a mess, leaving only the six friends chatting casually as they always did.
It was then that the server finally brought in the cake. Though not large, it was exquisitely crafted—a gleaming golden ingot, impossible to miss!
Yu Wanli stared in disbelief. “Even the candles are wrapped in gold foil? Chi Nian, you filthy rich dog, are you afraid people won’t know you’re loaded?”
“You’re the filthy rich dog!” Chi Nian rolled his eyes, exhaling a puff of smoke. Holding a cigarette between his fingers, he took the cake from the server. “Come on, this cake isn’t to celebrate my birthday—it’s to celebrate the reunion of our six!”
“Then you should’ve picked a round one! What’s with the ingot?” Yu Wanli grumbled under her breath, reaching for the lighter on the table. Her two swollen fingertips accidentally brushed against each other, sending a sharp pain that brought tears to her eyes.
Chi Nian teased, “Wow, look how moved our Yu Fupo is!”
“I’m your damn—” As she spoke, Yu Wanli raised her hand to wipe her tears, but her fingers touched the corner of her eye, causing such intense pain that tears streamed down her face. She turned and buried her face in Yu Huairan’s shoulder, sobbing and rubbing her tears against him.
Qiao Ling burst into laughter, her eyes crinkling like ripples on a clear lake nestled among ochre mountains, with a pink-blue sunset spreading across the sky—so beautiful it seemed unreal.
Zhou Jinyue glanced sideways, his gaze fixed on her face with a hint of infatuation, the corners of his lips unconsciously lifting.
“We should still have a doctor come take a look,” Xie Songting said, sending a message. His cold eyes held a flicker of a smile, like the moon hanging in the sky—aloof yet captivating.
Seeing her crying with snot and tears, Chi Nian quickly set the cake down and coaxed an apology. “Yu Fupo, Grandma, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have teased you. Please stop crying. How about I give you a bottle of 60-year-old malt whiskey as an apology?”
Besides being a wealthy lady, Yu Wanli was also a heavy drinker!
Hearing this, she immediately stopped crying. Lifting her head, her makeup smeared and eyes brimming with tears, she asked, “Really?”
“Really, really!” Chi Nian nodded so vigorously his head nearly fell off.
Yu Wanli grinned, looking as if she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. “How about two bottles?”
“Fine, fine, as long as you stop wailing, Grandma!” Chi Nian sighed in relief, grabbed a tissue, and haphazardly wiped her face.The smudged mascara left a long black streak on Yu Wanli’s face, making the girl’s pretty features not exactly terrifying, but far from attractive.
Chi Nian’s purely retaliatory act was immediately noticed by Yu Wanli.
Unsurprisingly, he received two hard slaps.
The two of them roughhoused just like when they were kids, while Qiao Ling and the others stood by laughing. Although they had grown up, each pursuing their own careers and no longer gathering together daily as they did in childhood, no matter how long they went without seeing each other or spending time together, their friendship remained evergreen.
By the time they left Zunshi Nightclub, it was already five in the morning. The sky was beginning to lighten with the first hints of dawn, tinged with the pale glow of early morning.
Having all drunk quite a bit, they called over drivers who were gathered at the entrance.
Chi Nian, that guy, was still obsessing over the Lamborghini Veneno that Zhou Jinyue had given him. As soon as he stepped outside, he made a beeline for the outrageously cool sports car, sitting on the hood while stuffing tissues up his nostrils and giggling foolishly.
The motorcycle Yu Wanli had given him was parked nearby too, so he kept hopping from the bike to the sports car and back again.
The morning breeze tousled the young man’s short hair into disarray. If not for his striking face and wild, unrestrained aura, he would surely have been mistaken for a complete idiot.
“Even though he’s the most doted-on young master of the Chi Family, and has seen so many luxurious things, he still acts like he’s never seen the world before,” Yu Wanli remarked disdainfully, curling her lip as she signaled a driver to pull him into a car.
“He’s genuinely happy today,” Qiao Ling said, gathering her hair with both hands, revealing a sliver of milky-white skin at her waist. Her voice was slightly hoarse. “I’m tired. Let’s hurry back.”
After exchanging goodbyes, the two of them left first.
“See you,” Zhou Jinyue didn’t linger either, watching them get into their car before turning to leave.
The black G-Class slowly drove off into the distance. Suddenly, a black Maybach was seen heading in the same direction as the departing G-Class.
Yu Huairan and Xie Songting, still standing where they were, exchanged a glance. Simultaneously, they raised their eyebrows and shared a knowing smile.
Yu Huairan remarked, “The Young Master went the wrong way. His home is in the east of the city.”
Xie Songting replied, “Can’t he just take a detour for a drive?”
…
Twenty minutes later.
Ziyuan.
The black G-Class parked on the small road below the building. The driver left cheerfully after being paid, while Qiao Ling and Yu Wanli went upstairs together.
At that moment.
The window of the slowly stopping Maybach rolled down completely. A young man’s pale, cool forearm rested casually against the window frame, faint blue veins visible beneath the skin, the bones of his wrist prominent. Long fingers held a cigarette, the back of his hand crisscrossed with veins.
It exuded an aura of restrained desire.
The red ember burned quickly. The young man curled his index finger and lightly tapped the cigarette. The breeze scattered the falling ash, breaking its trajectory into fragments.
The light on the twenty-eighth floor turned on.
A long time passed.
The light went out.
After a pause, the last cigarette butt, burned to its end, was tossed to the ground. The Maybach’s window rolled up, its wheels rolling over the pile of discarded butts as it slowly drove away.
The price of a night of wild revelry was a pounding headache.
Qiao Ling woke up in the evening, rubbing her temples. She got out of bed, swallowed a pill, washed her face, then took the medicine to another bedroom.
Pushing the door open, the room was pitch black, impossible to see a thing.
Qiao Ling turned on the light, only to find the bed empty. Instead, a “cocoon” lay on the floor.
“Sweetie,” Yu Wanli’s voice emerged, hoarse and faint, “The light… it’s too bright… blinding…”Qiao Ling turned off the main light, leaving only a dim circle of wall lamps, and said softly, “Get up and drink some water, then take your medicine.”
There was silence for two seconds.
Yu Wanli opened her eyes, rolled twice on the floor, and stood up cursing while complaining of pain, “Damn it, I forgot to turn off my phone before sleeping today. That old hag Xing Hui bombarded me with calls like a madwoman.”
“How’s your hand?” Qiao Ling walked over to her, placed the pill in her mouth, gave her water, and continued, “Show me your hand.”
Yu Wanli obediently lifted her fingers, which varied in thickness. The severely injured ones were red and swollen at the tips, as if stung by bees, and the side of the nail bed on her right ring finger was still oozing blood.
It was much worse than last night.
Qiao Ling frowned, put down the water glass, and went back to her room to get her phone. Yu Wanli, still bleary-eyed, followed her, continuing to curse, “My scumbag father is even more outrageous. He sent several long messages trying to persuade me to go back and apologize to that little green tea bitch, not a single word of concern for me.”
“I really hope that pair of dog lovers hurry up and get into their coffins. When that happens, I’ll hang lanterns and decorations, beat drums and gongs, and hold a grand celebration at the Yu family estate for days to celebrate them getting into their coffins.”
“This time they’re going straight into the coffins? You’re not going to fight for the inheritance to piss them off first?” Qiao Ling yawned, opened her phone to send a message to the family doctor, when a WeChat message suddenly popped up on the screen—
x: [Lingling, the doctor is outside.]
The message was sent in the afternoon, but since she had just turned on her phone, it only appeared now.
Qiao Ling replied, tossed her phone aside, and walked to the door.
Yu Wanli still followed her, her face dark with anger, gritting her teeth as she said, “The inheritance is definitely mine! That green tea mother-daughter pair won’t get a single cent! After my thesis defense, I’m heading straight to the Yu Corporation!”
“Hmph! I’ll parade in front of them every day and send them to their coffins sooner!”
As they reached the door, she paused and asked curiously, “Hey? Are you going out, sweetie?”
“No, the doctor is outside.” Qiao Ling opened the door to see three unfamiliar men leaning against the wall, looking bored, all turning their gaze toward her.
One of them, a man in a suit carrying a medical kit, quickly walked toward her and greeted her respectfully, “Hello, Miss Qiao. I’m Lu Jiang, President Xie’s personal doctor.”
At that moment, the other two spoke one after another:
“Miss, I was sent by Master Jin to deliver dinner to you.”
“Me too!”
Qiao Ling lowered her gaze, glanced at the food containers placed on the floor, and said in a calm tone, “The food is cold…”
“No, no, it’s not cold! This batch of food was just delivered!” one of them interrupted her hastily. “Master Jin said you’d probably wake up around this time, so he told us to replace the food with a fresh batch every twenty minutes. We were only supposed to knock when we saw the lights on here.”
“Our buddy downstairs just sent a message, and you opened the door right after.”
Qiao Ling pursed her red lips slightly, her delicate face showing no expression. She turned around, a faint smile curling at the corner of her mouth, and said, “Come in.”
“Miss Yu, let’s treat your injury first.” Lu Jiang spotted Yu Wanli’s hand at a glance and opened his medical kit as he walked.
The two men at the door each carried two large black food containers inside, accurately found the kitchen, set out the food, and quickly left.The air, filled with the fragrance of flowers and fruits, gradually took on the aroma of cooked dishes.
Qiao Ling stood beside Yu Wanli, quietly watching Lu Jiang tend to her wounds. Her face remained calm, but waves of emotion surged within her heart.
“Darling, these dishes…” Yu Wanli sniffed the air, her gradually curving lips carrying a meaningful hint. “These dishes all seem to be your favorites.”
Provided by the great author Boluonian, “The Wild Rose’s Tempting Kiss: The Sickly Bigshot Clings to Me Addictively.”