11 PM
The night was just getting started. At the Phantom Bar, on the dazzling stage bathed in neon lights, men and women were pressed together in heated dancing. The music blared deafeningly, and multicolored lights flashed so brightly they made it hard to keep one’s eyes open.
Just then, a man strolled in slowly from the bar’s entrance. He was dressed all in black, his hoodie casually draped over his head, one hand tucked into his pants pocket while the other twirled a key between his fingers.
He caught sight of a woman drinking at the bar counter, furrowed his brow—she seemed vaguely familiar, but he didn’t dwell on it. Casually, he made his way toward the booth seats. The moment he sat down, the guy beside him yanked the hood off his head. He tossed the key carelessly onto the table in front of him, grabbed an unopened bottle of beer, popped it open with a bottle opener, and chugged it straight down. Then he slumped lazily back into the sofa.
“Yo, Young Master Wen, what’s going on with you? How dare you come out drinking tonight? Aren’t you afraid your big brother will beat you up when you get home?” The man sitting next to Wen Moci said, one hand holding a beer bottle, the other idly scrolling through his phone, wearing an expression that practically begged to be punched.
“Ugh, don’t even mention it,” Wen Moci said, his tone laced with helplessness. “My brother’s on a business trip—that’s the only reason I snuck out. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have seen me at all.” He took another swig of beer after speaking. The guy beside him kept playing with his phone.
“Tsk, Young Master Wen, it’s been so long since you’ve had a drink with us brothers—you ought to punish yourself with three glasses, right?” A voice from across the table rang out. “Yeah, Young Master Wen, you’ve left us hanging for ages. Aren’t you going to drink a bit?” Voices of agreement rose up around him. Wen Moci didn’t want to kill the mood either. “Fine, tonight we drink till we’re wasted.” With that, he started drinking.
Upstairs, in the private room
The door shut out the clamor from outside. Inside, there was only the sound of men’s conversation and the clinking of glasses.
“Brother Yu, what’s going on? You come back from a business trip and you’re like this? Don’t tell me someone swindled you.” Song Jianshen said with a serious expression. He’d just gotten back from his own business trip when his brother called him over here. He’d originally wanted to rest at home, but then he thought about his mother’s phone call—well, he couldn’t rest at home anyway, so he might as well come.
“Hmph, if he’d been swindled, we’d be bankrupt by now,” Jiang Huaian said with a teasing grin, his eyes still glued to his phone.
“Then why?” Song Jianshen took a sip of wine, a flicker of cunning flashing in his eyes. Suppressing a smile, he said, “Have you found yourself a wife yet? Hurry it up—Godmother’s been pushing the marriage talk all the way to me.” He shot Wen Yu a meaningful glance after saying it.
Wen Yu’s face darkened. Bringing up exactly the sore spot. He was already annoyed about that very matter. Seeing his face turn black, Song Jianshen didn’t dare keep teasing and quickly tried to smooth things over. “Uh, well, that—this thing, no rush. You’ve got to find the right person, right? Don’t you think so, Brother Huaian?” He glanced at Wen Yu cautiously, his heart pounding with panic.
Wen Yu raised the glass in front of him and downed it in one go, then set it down heavily on the table. He stood up, said to Song Jianshen, “Worry about yourself,” and headed to the restroom.
After he left, Song Jianshen slumped back into the sofa as if a huge weight had been lifted. He patted the woman beside him, and she took the hint and left. Song Jianshen leaned back on the sofa, catching his breath. God knows he’d nearly been scared to death just now—he’d been ready to bolt.
“Fuck, that scared me to death.” Song Jianshen stared blankly at the ceiling. His mental fortitude was so strong precisely because Wen Yu had scared it into him, but being around him still made him a bit nervous. The man beside him chuckled softly at him, “Are you stupid? Why would you bring up that of all things? You were practically asking for a beating.”
“I was just joking, how was I supposed to know he’d be that fierce?”
Jiang Huaian looked at Song Jianshen like he was an idiot. Hadn’t he gotten beaten enough since childhood? Song Jianshen tilted his head to look at Jiang Huaian and inadvertently caught a glimpse of his phone screen. He only glanced at it briefly, then looked at him without saying anything.
“I’m going out for some air.” Song Jianshen stood up and walked out, leaving only Jiang Huaian in the room. His thumb gently brushed over the person in the photo, and finally he slumped back against the sofa in defeat.
After going out, Song Jianshen didn’t go far. He stood in the corridor with both hands resting on the railing, looking down at the dazzling, bustling scene below, lost in thought.
Among the three brothers, Song Jianshen was the youngest, yet he called Wen Yu “brother.” That was because when he was little, he was always asking for trouble, constantly provoking Wen Yu. Wen Yu had never had a good temper since childhood and couldn’t stand being provoked by anyone, let alone by someone younger than himself. So Song Jianshen got beaten plenty as a kid.
There was a period when Wen Yu would raise his hand and Song Jianshen would flinch, raising his arm in defense, then run behind Jiang Huaian to hide.
After that, Song Jianshen never provoked Wen Yu again. Once, when he was bullied at school, it was Wen Yu who avenged him.
Wen Yu carried him home on his back, scolding him for being useless, but Song Jianshen just lay on his back without saying a word. From then on, Song Jianshen followed him around calling him “brother.”
Jiang Huaian was also older than him, but Song Jianshen didn’t call him “brother.” When he was little, he provoked Jiang Huaian, but the guy just ignored him completely. Back then, Jiang Huaian always thought he was an idiot and couldn’t be bothered with him. Over time, Song Jianshen found it boring and stopped provoking him. After that, he called him “Huaian” directly, never “brother,” except in front of their elders.
Yeah, right—Song Jianshen’s respect wasn’t that easy to earn.
Song Jianshen stood outside for a while, then suddenly caught a glimpse of a petite figure. He clicked his tongue inwardly, then returned to the room.
“Huaian, what’s going on with your bar? How did an underage girl get in?” Song Jianshen said as he sat down beside him. Jiang Huaian frowned at that. Underage? His place was a legitimate bar—minors weren’t allowed in. Wen Yu happened to walk out of the bathroom just then. Underage?
“Buzz, buzz, buzz.” A phone rang. Song Jianshen took out his phone and looked at it, immediately feeling a headache coming on. “Alright, you guys have fun. I’m heading out.” With that, he hurriedly left. Did they think only Wen Yu got pressured to marry?
As he passed the bar counter, he deliberately glanced over. Huh, where did that girl go? He looked around a bit. Whatever, none of his business. He continued toward the door.
“Mmph—let me go!” A soft, trembling voice cried out, choked with sobs, followed by her kicking hard at the man in front of her. Then a slap landed on her face. Ning Weiying was knocked to the ground, her cheek swelling instantly, a clear handprint marking her skin.
She braced herself against the ground, tears welling up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “You fucking bitch, you dare hit me? I’ll fucking kill you!” the man in front of her snarled viciously, reaching out to grab Ning Weiying’s arm.
Ning Weiying, her arm seized by him, struggled and kicked her leg up hard into his groin. The man instantly released her and collapsed to the ground. “Ah!” A scream like a slaughtered pig rang out, and Ning Weiying seized the opening to dash away.
Jiang Huaian’s bar—the first floor was legitimate, but upstairs was a whole different story. There was no way a place like this could stay above board.
“Tsk.” An extremely impatient male voice sounded. Wen Yu hadn’t expected to be ambushed by a collision the moment he stepped out the door. His face darkened to its limit, and he was just about to shove the woman who had thrown herself into his arms away when—”Save me~” A soft, tender voice came from his embrace. Wen Yu paused, his hand that was about to push her away landing on her small face instead, tilting it up.
Wen Yu could tell at a glance that something was off about her. “You took something.” The girl in his arms had tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, fine beads of sweat on her straight, delicate nose, an unnatural flush spreading across her cheeks, and her rosy lips slightly parted as she panted for breath. Damp strands of hair clung to her forehead. The girl grabbed at the clothes at his side and nodded frantically.
Wen Yu looked at the girl’s state, and a ripple stirred in his heart. He pressed his lips together and lifted her horizontally into his arms, as if calculating something. He carried her out of the bar and walked toward a Rolls-Royce.
Chen Yan saw his boss coming out and immediately got out of the car to open the door. The moment he stepped out, he froze. He saw that his boss was carrying—carrying a, a woman. A woman! Chen Yan’s inner self was already screaming like a prairie dog, but he didn’t dare stare. As his boss approached, he lowered his head and opened the rear door. “To the city hospital.” Wen Yu said, glancing at the girl in his arms.
Chen Yan looked at the girl in his boss’s arms through the rearview mirror. “Yes.”
The Rolls-Royce sped through the night. Wen Yu looked at the girl in his arms. Somehow, he didn’t dislike this girl. She whimpered in his arms, saying she was hot, and her hands went to tear at her own clothes. Wen Yu quickly caught her hands, then freed one of his own to press against her small face, coaxing her in a low voice, “Be good, bear with it. In a little while, you won’t feel uncomfortable anymore. Behave.”
Chen Yan, driving up front, nearly lost his grip on the steering wheel. Did he just hear that? His boss was—coaxing—a woman! Had he been possessed? He’d been by his boss’s side for so many years and had never heard him speak so gently a single word, let alone to a woman. Aaah! Chen Yan’s face remained calm and unruffled, but inside, he was going absolutely insane.
“Drive faster.”
Chen Yan stepped on the gas again. Damn, he was practically flying the car already.
At the hospital.
“This young lady is fine. She’ll be able to leave once she wakes up after this IV drip finishes,” a male doctor said.
“Alright, thank you, doctor,” Chen Yan replied.
Wen Yu looked at the girl lying on the hospital bed and said nothing. Chen Yan didn’t dare interject either.
“You go back first. Come pick me up tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, CEO.” With that, Chen Yan withdrew.
“Buzz buzz buzz.” Wen Yu’s phone rang. Afraid of disturbing the girl’s rest, he stepped outside to take the call.
He glanced at the phone, raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, and finally answered it with resignation.
“Mom.”
“Son, how’s it going? Found a girlfriend yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet? You’re almost forty, you need to get a move on.”
“Mom, I’m only 26.” Wen Yu said helplessly.
“26, that’s 28 in nominal age, which rounds up to 30, and that’s practically almost forty.” Mrs. Zhou said with a serious face.
Wen Yu: …
“Alright Mom, I’m going to sleep now, I’ll call you back tomorrow.” With that, he hung up the phone.
“Hey, I wasn’t—” Before she could finish, Mrs. Zhou looked at the hung-up phone. Honestly, two sons, and not a single one of them gave her any peace of mind.
Wen Yu returned to the hospital room and lay down on the sofa. This was a VIP ward, and he planned to rough it here for the night.
The next day
Ning Weiying opened her eyes and immediately smelled the scent of disinfectant. She hated that smell the most, wrinkling her nose and furrowing her brows.
“You’re awake.” A hoarse male voice sounded.
Ning Weiying propped herself up and sat up, only to see a man sitting on a chair beside the hospital bed.
Ning Weiying looked at him, her big eyes fixed on him. Wow, he’s so handsome. Sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, a high straight nose above sexy thin lips, a face with distinct features. His hair was slicked back, but a few stray strands lazily fell across his forehead. He was devastatingly handsome. Wen Yu looked into her eyes. Though they were beautiful, he felt like something was missing from them.
“Don’t remember last night?” Wen Yu asked her.
“Huh?” Ning Weiying snapped back to reality and replied, “I remember.”
“Then how do you plan to repay me?” Wen Yu asked directly, catching Ning Weiying off guard.
“How do you want me to repay you?” Ning Weiying said timidly. She knew he was the one who had saved her.
Wen Yu let out a light chuckle. “Marry me. Deal?”