“When did this little…”
“When did this little beauty show up at the school?” Loren accepted the drink handed to him by the person beside him, but only swirled it idly in his hand. His features were deep-set and striking, and the luxurious peak-lapeled tailcoat he wore made him look all the more elegant and dazzling.
Beside him, a boy with delicate, soft features gazed at him with infatuated eyes.
Lu Yan propped his head up with one hand against the sofa and said flatly:
“What, you’re interested in this one too?”
Loren gave a small laugh, his azure pupils full of amusement.
“Not bad.” With that, he took a sip of his drink.
“Boring.”
Lu Yan was long used to this manner of his. Without even looking at who Loren was talking about, he offered a single comment, then listlessly lowered his long lashes and closed his eyes, his long hair draped over one shoulder.
Knowing Loren’s style, he was probably about to play that same old trick again taking some new, pretty thing that caught his interest and keeping them at his side for romantic strolls, savoring the taste of holding power at the very peak. And once that person’s heart and eyes were filled with nothing but him, he would lose all interest completely.
These people fell from heaven. Those with backbone went back to their old lives; those without clung to him like dogs. But above all, they’d better not annoy Loren.
So each person’s shelf life with him lasted only until the moment they fell in love with him.
Some tried playing hard to get, but at most two months later, he’d grow tired of them anyway.
The one beside him was decent-looking enough, and had barely lasted nearly two months by now Loren had already stopped keeping his eyes on him.
Because he’d found a more interesting new toy.
“I was just saying. That type is obviously an empty-headed fool. Nothing but a pretty face.”
“It’d be more fun to play with that special-admission student who just joined our class. Quite the stubborn backbone, hm. Want to bet on how long they’ll last?”
Loren still smiled gently, but his words were sharp enough to sting.
“Loren.” A man of exceptionally tall stature, with sharp bone structure and restrained intensity, his skin tone considerably darker than the other two, spoke up.
“Don’t play this too far. Your family traced things back to me.” Fu Xingjian didn’t much like Loren doing these things, but those people were almost always willing participants, and what they gained was nearly all benefits it was hard to say whether Loren was right or wrong.
Besides, he never actually touched any of them. As for those who wanted to go further, Loren was always the first to pull away without looking back.
“Aiya, aiya, I know, I know. Those pieces of trash. So annoying.” The smile on Loren’s face didn’t fade, but his eyes turned dark and cold. He changed the subject:
“Enough of that. Lights-out is coming soon.”
“Go get ready.”
[Yes! Before it starts, they usually go to the bathroom. We just have to pretend to go too, find a chance to follow behind, and sprinkle a bit of the powder on F3’s clothes or cuffs!]
[If that doesn’t work, hide near them and sprinkle some in the chaos when the lights go out.]
Cen Wan and 0813 had finally come up with a plan riddled with holes.
Worst case, they’d fail to complete this plot segment and lose two days then it would just be left to fate.
Seeing Fu Xingjian stand up over there and head for the bathroom, Cen Wan scrambled out from her corner and hurried after him.
“Found it at last. You really know how to hide.”
“He’s going to the bathroom!”
In the banquet hall, several people exchanged glances, murmured a few words, and followed in Cen Wan’s footsteps toward the bathroom.
As Cen Wan walked along, he suddenly noticed several unfamiliar men had appeared beside him, crowding in jostlingly close. There was plenty of space around, why did they all have to press in toward him?
He held back, then wondered if he was just being paranoid.
Frowning, he changed direction and quickened his pace, but the men sped up along with him.
He still had important business to attend to; he had no time to compete in a race-walking contest with these people. Glancing around, he saw that the F3 group had all disappeared from view, and Cen Wan stopped in irritation.
The shameless men stopped right along with him.
Cen Wan looked at the one crowding closest a sharp-featured boy with a head of red hair and snapped in anger:
“You’re practically glued to my body. Can’t you keep some distance when you walk?”
Riley pulled out a rather wicked smile: “You didn’t build the road. What business is it of yours where I walk?”
The other tall, big-built men chimed in:
“Exactly, he’s not actually touching you. Talking like anyone wants to do something to you.”
“You know who we are? And you use that tone with us?”
“I think it’s because we haven’t done anything that he’s upset.”
A round of malicious laughter.
【What is wrong with these people!! Aaargh, I’m so mad I want to electrocute them all to death!!】
Cen Wan was cornered by a group of men much taller than him, and there was no one nearby. If he provoked them, he definitely couldn’t win a fight.
Scared inside, he gritted his teeth and said softly:
“I’m sorry, I misunderstood you. My friend is waiting for me please let me through.”
With that, he tried to squeeze through a gap in their formation, but the red-haired man grabbed his arm: “Hey, leaving before we’ve finished talking isn’t that a bit rude?”
“What friend could be more powerful than us? Give us a name, then.”
Even as slow as Cen Wan could be, he knew these people must hold high status and had probably done this sort of thing many times before.
So he steeled himself, shook off the red-haired man’s hand, and glared at them with feigned arrogance:
“Who do you think you are?”
“I belong to Fu Xingjian. Try touching me again, I dare you.”
Sure enough, far from being scared, the men burst into gleeful laughter at his words, sneering:
“Hahahahaha, you belong to Fu Xingjian? Have you ever even spoken to Fu Xingjian, waving his banner around like that?”
“I think you mean you belong to whoever hatches chicks! Hahahahahahaha!”
While they were still laughing, Cen Wan seized the moment and, like a cannonball, slammed into the thinnest one with the heaviest dark circles under his eyes sure enough, the kidney-deficient guy. Caught off guard, he toppled over under Cen Wan’s impact, dragging down those beside him in a sprawl.
“You filthy bitch, how dare you bump into me!”
“Get him!”
Cen Wan ran for his life, trying to make it back to the stage and vanish into the crowd.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t outrun several men who were taller and stronger than him.
Seeing them about to catch up, a layer of mist welled in Cen Wan’s eyes. Suppressing his terror, he screamed:
“Help! There’s… mmph”
A broad palm clamped precisely over the lower half of Cen Wan’s face, the heel of the hand pressed against his upturned nose tip, squeezing until his nose stung. His trembling lashes brushed against the steel-hard knuckles by his eye.
Cen Wan’s pupils constricted sharply; all his struggling and whimpering was muffled into the man’s palm. The grip was so forceful that the hand pressed his tender lips and cheek until they ached.
Almost instantly, tears threatened to spill from Cen Wan’s eyes, but he fought them back desperately if he cried, he’d lose his strength. He pried with both hands at the arms locked across his chest, trying to force them outward, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t make the person behind him let go.
As they were about to half-drag, half-carry him back to that corner again, Cen Wan switched tactics and went for the hand clamped over his face. The moment he’d pried loose a sliver of room, he seized the chance and bit down hard on Riley’s knuckle.
“Fuck! You dare bite me?!” Riley’s grip slackened, and he snarled at the others:
“Idiots! Hurry up and slap this little bitch!”
Riley cursed as he tried to shake off Cen Wan’s bite.
Cen Wan had braced himself for a beating today, resolved that even if he died, he’d make them pay for it.
The kidney-deficient man, seeing the others still hesitating, sneered:
“Hmph, little slut. If they can’t bear to hit you, I will.”
With that, he raised his hand high
Cen Wan shut his eyes tight, despair settling in his heart, though his jaw never loosened. A thick, coppery taste of blood filled his mouth.
“Smack!”
The sound of the slap rang out, but the pain was slow in coming. Instead, an abrupt dead silence fell around him.
“Let go.” A low, unfamiliar male voice.
Cen Wan’s lashes trembled as he slowly opened his eyes and met Fu Xingjian’s ink-dark pupils and calm expression.
Though there wasn’t a trace of comfort in his tone, the grievances of the entire night came surging out of Cen Wan all at once. He finally released Riley’s hand, his deep red lips impossible to tell stained with blood, or naturally that vivid.
As viciously as Cen Wan had bitten, that was how fiercely the tears fell now. Huge teardrops pattered against the ground, splashing little bursts of water, yet he still bit his lip and wept in silence.
When he looked up and saw Fu Xingjian’s frozen expression, he suddenly let out a whimper and, like a firecracker, threw himself forward to wrap his arms tightly around the man in front of him. His sobs caught in his throat:
“I was so scared…”
It was the first time anyone had embraced Fu Xingjian like this, and he went rigid on the spot. The beautiful boy had been running for so long, and his fragrance had grown even richer, flooding into Fu Xingjian’s nose all at once.
Fu Xingjian’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he mechanically patted the boy’s slender back. Fortunately, as soon as Cen Wan finished speaking, he held back his sobs and obediently released his hold, stepping out of Fu Xingjian’s embrace.
The sudden loss of that warm, soft body a body that seemed born to fit against him brought an uncontrollable pang of disappointment welling up in Fu Xingjian’s heart.
Pretty well-behaved, actually.
Fu Xingjian concluded internally.
He attributed his irrepressible surge of tenderness to the fact that Cen Wan was just so obedient like a younger brother, really. This was simply the protective instinct of an older brother.
Fu Xingjian had no siblings, but right now he was thinking that having a little brother might not be so bad.
“Riley. Wang Cun. Monchel…” Fu Xingjian turned his head and named each of them in turn, his voice forged from ice.
The kidney-deficient man, his face swollen high on one side, felt despair sink in when he realized Fu Xingjian could name every single one of them.
The red-haired man, whose hand was still gushing blood, cowered and dared not make a sound, let alone the others.
“I’ll have your families notified to come pick you up tomorrow.”
“No!” Riley’s face went blank, and he blurted out the protest instinctively. Meeting Fu Xingjian’s cold gaze, he immediately realized his mistake, mumbled a couple of times, and begged:
“Young Master Fu, I’ll do anything you want. I, I’ll be your ox and horse from now on. I didn’t recognize Mount Tai when I saw it, offending your people I deserve death.” As he spoke, his knees buckled and he dropped to the ground. He slapped himself viciously across the face, not daring to hold back any strength. Within a few blows, his face was swollen even higher than the kidney-deficient man’s, and he kept begging between slaps.
The few others around him immediately went pale and knelt down as well some kowtowing, some slapping themselves, the scene descending into utter chaos.
Sure, they’d been arrogant at Saint Rode, but that didn’t mean that after being expelled from Saint Rode and after their families learned they had offended Fu Xingjian they could still sit back and enjoy a comfortable life.
Far more likely, every family present would abandon them, treating them as the worst jinxes alive. The moment they got home, they’d be shipped off to the Fu family to pledge loyalty, each family terrified of being dragged down until their entire clan collapsed.
Fu Xingjian watched coldly as they beat themselves until blood seeped from the corners of their mouths, then said flatly:
“That’s enough.”
The kidney-deficient man reacted the fastest, immediately slamming out three resounding kowtows, shouting between each one:
“Thank you, Young Master Fu!”
“Thank you, Young Master Fu!”
“Thank you, Young Master Fu!”
In his heart, he was still cursing. Once this matter was settled, he’d find a chance to deal with that little bitch Cen Wan. It wasn’t as if they lacked ways to do it without her ever finding out who was behind it.
Having finished kowtowing, he shuffled forward two steps on his knees, looking up at Fu Xingjian with an ingratiating expression, and said carefully:
“Young Master Fu, then I ”
“Thank me?” Fu Xingjian cut him off, a vicious smile suddenly twisting across his face.
“You should be asking him whether he forgives you.”