“Is it not good?” Loren rested his chin on his hand and chuckled softly.
Cen Wan blinked twice. “No, it’s delicious.” After all, this was said to be the most expensive private club in the Upper District, serving VIPs only.
Not to mention Loren had booked the entire place today all the head chefs were serving just their table.
Money really can do anything, Cen Wan thought.
“Then why are you so distracted?”
“You just spent twenty minutes staring at your phone, changing your expression three times. You haven’t looked at me once, or at any of these pastries.”
“I thought they weren’t to your taste.”
Loren’s brow furrowed slightly, as if deeply concerned about Cen Wan’s needs the very picture of a perfect lover whose heart belonged to you and you alone.
Cen Wan thought of the protagonist shou who had just added him as a friend and sent him a message asking for help.
After much deliberation, he still couldn’t put his mind at ease.
Besides, after the way he’d treated Jiang Xinian, the guy had still stood up for him in front of F1.
Cen Wan poked at 0813 in his head: [System, you’re sure this is the protagonist shou’s phone number, right?]
0813 sounded dazed: [I don’t know But the original book did say the protagonist shou works at the biggest commercial KTV here, and there’s a plot scene that takes place there something with F4, I think. It doesn’t say exactly when it happens.]
Cen Wan thought for a moment.
Well, he’d already eaten. Rather than keep dragging things out with F1 over food that tasted like wax, he might as well hurry and check whether the protagonist shou was really in danger.
“Young Master Loren, I have plans with a friend tonight.”
“So… I’m sorry, I’ll have to head out early.”
The boy set down his silver teaspoon, a bit of pale gold caramel sauce still clinging to his lips. When he looked over with those guileless, crystal-clear eyes innocent as a small animal, easy to read at a glance anyone would soften and find it impossible to refuse him.
“No.”
Loren sneered. To this day, no one had ever dared to leave the table midway through a meal with him.
Cen Wan hadn’t expected to be refused, and let out a disappointed “ah.”
“Have I done something wrong?” Loren lowered his eyes, looking almost heartbroken.
Cen Wan gave a perfunctory no, no, then his eyes darted around as he raised a hand to call over the attendant waiting nearby.
“Could I get a few more glasses of tea? Something light, please.”
“Young Master Loren, I’m not used to overly sweet things you don’t mind if I drink a few more cups of tea, right?” Well, he’d already asked.
Cen Wan snorted inwardly. Otherwise F1 would just say later that removing them and replacing them with another batch of desserts would suffice.
Loren still smiled gently. “No need to be so polite. Order whatever you’d like.”
As soon as the water arrived, Cen Wan started gulping it down not just his own, but inviting Loren to drink too.
Loren’s smile stiffened slightly, but he still took a few sips.
Seeing Cen Wan eating and drinking with such a healthy appetite, Loren, for once, developed a bit of one himself and drank quite a lot of water.
After finishing everything on the table, Cen Wan was so stuffed he kept hiccupping and F1 still showed no sign of going to the bathroom.
His own bladder couldn’t hold out any longer.
Left with no choice, his face flushing slightly, he said quietly:
“I… I need to use the restroom.”
Loren finished the last bit of water in his glass and glanced at him. “Perfect timing. Let’s go together.”
What a perfect opportunity!
Cen Wan’s face turned red as he deliberately said, “No, I… I’d be embarrassed to go with someone.”
“I’ll be quick.”
Loren narrowed his eyes and studied him for a moment, but finally relented.
“Go ahead.”
Sure enough, less than two minutes later, Cen Wan returned.
Loren’s lips curled into a smile, and he rose unhurriedly and headed to the restroom as well.
Cen Wan raised his hand again, called the waiter over, and ordered a huge pile of food.
He even asked the waiter to fetch him two blankets.
The moment the waiter left, Cen Wan pulled out a napkin, left an apology note, and slipped away.
Fortunately, the restaurant was very close to the host club where the protagonist worked. Cen Wan grabbed a cab and arrived in just over ten minutes.
He stood at the entrance looking around for a while before an attendant came up and asked:
“Is something the matter, sir? Do you need anything?”
Cen Wan pressed his lips together and asked:
“Do you have a staff member here named Jiang Xinian?”
The attendant pulled out his phone and checked.
“Oh you’re here looking for him?”
“Yes, he’s on shift tonight. Is something wrong?”
Cen Wan breathed a sigh of relief. “Nothing. Could you take me to private room B243? My friend is there.”
The attendant asked no further questions and led Cen Wan into the elevator.
The place was huge. The attendant led Cen Wan through endless twists and turns, and the surrounding noise grew fainter and fainter.
Cen Wan felt that something was off but couldn’t say what. He deliberately slowed his pace, planning to ask someone else in a moment.
The attendant in front of him, without turning his head, seemed to notice that Cen Wan hadn’t kept up, and slowly stopped as well. He looked back at Cen Wan and smiled:
“Is something the matter?”
Cen Wan shook his head, then abruptly spun around and bolted back the way they’d come,
The tattoo behind the attendant’s ear was identical to the family crest on the red-haired man’s name tag from yesterday!
Drenched strands of hair clung to his sweaty forehead, and the light cast by the domed ceiling above twisted into white whirlpools. Cen Wan gasped so hard his lungs began to dry out and sting; the taste of rust rose in his throat, and his calf muscles cramped uncontrollably.
Yet the distance between him and his pursuer kept shrinking.
The attendant was clearly in far better physical shape than he was. Once his identity was discovered, he didn’t even bother with a single word just silently fixed his gaze on Cen Wan and chased.
Worse still, Cen Wan was completely unfamiliar with the place. As he ran, he slowly realized he was running even further off course, into an area where he could barely hear any sounds at all.
This won’t do…
Cen Wan gritted his teeth and turned through corner after corner, shaking off the man behind him, until he arrived at the door of the last private room. Controlling his breathing, he knocked in a steady rhythm:
“Hello, the food you ordered has arrived.”
“Please open the door.”
No response.
Cen Wan immediately switched to the room next door and knocked again.
Still no response.
The sound of heels striking the floor came from far away, drawing closer, then gradually slowing as if the man were beginning to search for Cen Wan’s escape route.
Holding back tears, he knocked on the doors one by one.
Not a single door opened.
Whether no one was inside, or no one believed his story, or they simply couldn’t hear there was no way to know.
The footsteps drew closer and closer, and Cen Wan’s heartbeat grew faster and faster.
Until he spotted a large vase at the end of the corridor.
He smashed the vase open, picked out the largest shard of porcelain, then tore off a corner of his clothing and wrapped it around the base of the shard.
“Over here.” The attendant’s flat voice rang out.
Cen Wan slowly turned around, hands behind his back, watching him warily as he walked step by step toward him,
Just as the man drew near, Cen Wan gripped the porcelain shard through the cloth and, with a sudden burst of vicious force, drove it into the attendant’s abdomen,
“Thwick”
The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh.
“You!” the attendant cried out in disbelief and pain.
【Waaahhh…..Wanwan, you!】At the same time, 0813 was shrieking quietly in his mind, clearly extremely excited.
Though 0813 was noisy, it rarely disturbed Cen Wan when he was in danger or doing something serious, because it knew it couldn’t help much and could only try its best to minimize distractions. The fact that it cried out now showed just how shocked it was.
The thick, sticky red liquid soaked Cen Wan’s fingers. He looked up and met the waiter’s stunned gaze.
The waiter clearly hadn’t expected this frail, slender-looking boy to actually dare to cut someone with a sharp object.
Moreover, Cen Wan’s strike had been vicious and precise, the porcelain shard had buried more than half its length into a vital spot.
Cen Wan took a few deep breaths, yanked out the porcelain shard with force, and calmly backed away several steps:
“Move, or I’ll stab you in the carotid artery of your neck.” As he spoke, he gripped the still blood-dripping porcelain shard with both hands and pointed it at the waiter.
The waiter clutched his bleeding abdomen and slowly turned sideways, beginning to move in a semicircular pattern, always keeping his distance from Cen Wan as they swapped positions.
Only after their positions were completely reversed did Cen Wan slowly start to back away.
“Mmph” A cloth reeking of a pungent odor was clamped over Cen Wan’s face from behind.
Cen Wan’s pupils contracted sharply.
No wonder the waiter had suddenly spoken, and had never intended to fight Cen Wan at all.
He had already called for backup to prevent any accidents.
The fast-acting drug took effect immediately, compounded by the lack of oxygen. The last thing Cen Wan heard was a “click,” and then everything went black as he lost consciousness.
“C’mon, wait two more minutes. I told you, we didn’t use much of the dose.”
“Exactly, what’s the rush? We’ve got plenty of time to play with this little bitch.”
“This is so annoying. Didn’t they say she’d wake up in five minutes? It’s been fifteen.”
“With her eyes closed she’s no fun at all, just like a corpse. Eyes open and moving that’s what’s exciting!”
Cen Wan’s consciousness slowly returned, though he still felt dizzy and groggy. The high-intensity running and muscle tension left him aching all over, his stomach churning with nausea, his hands bound tightly behind his back.
He still kept his eyes shut, not daring to open them, listening to their revolting exchange.
Cen Wan struggled to stay alert.
Who had he offended, to be set up like this for revenge?
“Is he faking it?” a raspy male voice asked.
Cen Wan’s heart leaped to his throat. He kept his breathing even, but unfortunately, he was discovered anyway.
“You little bitch dare to trick me?”
Sensing his collar being seized and yanked tight, Cen Wan slowly opened his eyes, pretending he had just woken up.
He came face to face with an unfamiliar man’s face.
Seeing Cen Wan open his eyes, the man smiled with vicious malice.
“Pick him up.” The voice sounded somewhat familiar.
The man beside him rather roughly grabbed Cen Wan by the back of his collar and hauled him upright.
After a quick scan of the room, he had a general idea of the situation,
The little clique that had been expelled yesterday had come for revenge.
Several faces were familiar, mixed in with strangers about ten people in all.
The most eye-catching thing was a large video camera, carefully set up in the corner, its red light blinking.
“Oh my, isn’t this Young Master Fu’s little pet?” Red Hair sneered, then winced as the motion pulled at the wound on his face, making his expression look comically absurd.
Several other members of the clique were also injured, the worst one with his head wrapped in gauze. But the kidney-deficient guy was nowhere to be seen.
Cen Wan silently cursed these beasts who let their lower heads do the thinking for the one on top, considering how to get out of this.
“Hmph, you’re still counting on your Young Master Fu to come rescue you?” Red Hair sneered.
“Even if you die right here today, Fu Xingjian will never know. I’d like to see him try to be in two places at once.”
After saying this, Red Hair shifted into a more comfortable position and raised an eyebrow.
“But don’t worry there’s no way I could bear to let such a pretty little beauty die at my hands.”
“I’m going to make your life a living hell.”