“Mm..”
Shen Guai squeezed her eyes shut as tears gathered in the corners. Her shoulders bunched up, trembling slightly.
“It hurts…”
Shen Guai couldn’t help but gasp. Qin Chaomu’s kisses fell like a rainstorm, crashing against her body and throwing her senses into chaos. Slowly opening her watery eyes, she met Qin Chaomu’s gaze.
Qin Chaomu stared greedily at Shen Guai’s lips, her eyes brimming with desire. “Didn’t you say you’d pay with your body? You have the guts to say it, but not the guts to do it?”
Qin Chaomu’s fingertip brushed over Shen Guai’s lips, her smile deepening. “Beg me now, and maybe I’ll consider being a little gentler.”
“Qin Chaomu! You turtle-bastard!” Shen Guai struggled violently. Qin Chaomu gnawed at the lobe of her ear, drawing a bead of blood in the struggle.
Qin Chaomu licked her own lips, her eyes filled with an uncontrollable craving. She wrapped an arm around Shen Guai’s neck, dragging her firmly into her embrace.
With her back pressed against Qin Chaomu, Shen Guai was completely pinned down, leaving her no room to escape.
Qin Chaomu covered Shen Guai’s mouth with one hand and rested her head on Shen Guai’s shoulder. Her lips pressed against the curve of Shen Guai’s ear, giving it a soft nip. “So naughty. Did I never tell you? You should call me Sister.”
With her mouth clamped shut, Shen Guai’s eyes widened as she let out a series of muffled, indistinct sounds.
Qin Chaomu didn’t need a brain to know those were foul insults.
“How should I punish you?”
“How about… three fingers?”
As Shen Guai’s struggles intensified, Qin Chaomu’s smile grew wider, looking every bit like a complete, natural born pervert.
BANG!
A violent thud accompanied a jolt through the Rolls-Royce. Outside the window, an old man on a tricycle had collapsed to the ground, his vehicle flipped over.
Qin Chaomu frowned and hissed a low curse. She buttoned her collar, opened the door, and stepped out.
“Ahhh… I was just one step away from sleeping with her!”
Shen Guai frustratedly ruffled her long hair, glaring resentfully at the old man outside. Suddenly, her heart froze.
The dress sash tied around her wrists was easily slipped off by Shen Guai. She smoothed her hair and clothes, her gaze turning chillingly cold.
“It’s the middle of the night, don’t you look where you’re riding?”
Qin Chaomu was fuming. She wasn’t angry about the scratched paint on her Rolls-Royce, she was angry because the “cooked duck” was at her lips and had just flown away.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”
The old man looked to be in his sixties extremely thin, sallow-faced, with sunken eyes and high cheekbones. His head was completely bald.
“Is an apology enough? At your age, are you trying to run a scam?”
Qin Chaomu pressed her tongue against her upper teeth, her cheeks puffed out in anger. She had been so close, if not for this damned, blind old man!
“Qin Chaomu, let it go.”
Shen Guai suddenly appeared behind Qin Chaomu. She leaned down to help the old man right his tricycle, smiling softly. “Grandpa, are you okay? Should I take you to the hospital?”
“No need, no need.” The old man waved his hands frantically, keeping his head low, not daring to look at the two young women.
Qin Chaomu had intended to make things difficult for him, but seeing Shen Guai step in to help, she fell silent.
She thought to herself: Am I being too malicious? Scolding an old man… if I keep being this aggressive, will Shen Guai think even worse of me?
After a moment of deliberation, Qin Chaomu said expressionlessly, “Fine, just go. You don’t need to pay for the damages.”
She knew the old man couldn’t afford it anyway, so she might as well let him leave.
“Wait!”
Shen Guai stopped the old man and asked for his phone, typing in a string of numbers. “Grandpa, this is my number. If you need anything, call me. You’re elderly, if you really got hurt, we youngsters wouldn’t be able to live with ourselves.”
The old man gave a few grateful nods and limped away, pushing his cart.
“How did you get untied?”
Qin Chaomu narrowed her eyes, leaning against the hood of the car to hem Shen Guai in. She was referring to the makeshift rope on Shen Guai’s wrists.
Qin Chaomu’s knots were professional, the more force used, the tighter they became. They required a specific technique to undo.
“I don’t know, it just fell off suddenly.”
Shen Guai pushed Qin Chaomu away, feigning shyness. “Qin Chaomu, we’re at the hotel entrance. There are cameras.”
Qin Chaomu let out a light chuckle, took a compact mirror from her bag to touch up her makeup, and said airily, “If you don’t like being tied up, shall we try something else next time?”
“Qin Chaomu, you’re truly shameless.” Shen Guai’s ears turned beet red.
Qin Chaomu’s eyes crinkled with amusement. She leaned over to ruffle Shen Guai’s hair, her voice uncharacteristically tender.
“Go ahead and scold me. Get it all out now, because you won’t be allowed to scold me when we’re actually doing it~”
With that, she locked the car and walked into the hotel lobby in high spirits.
Once Qin Chaomu was gone, Shen Guai stared at the distant silhouette of the old man. A look of unprecedented malice surfaced on her face.
“Found you… at last.”
Shen Guai would never forget that face.
Twenty years ago, hiding in a closet, she had watched a gang murder her grandmother’s entire family. One of them, a small-statured, middle-aged man, had stabbed her grandmother over a dozen times.
That face was etched into her soul. She would remember it through ten thousand reincarnations.
The old man pushed his cart into a narrow alleyway filled with dilapidated, illegal shacks. It was a bleak, lifeless place.
He pulled a string of brass keys from his pocket and tremblingly opened an iron door. After a few coughs, he stepped inside.
The cramped room was filled with four or five bunk beds. White smoke drifted through the air, illuminated by a dim yellow light. There was little furniture, just a mess of syringes and waste plastic on the floor.
Seven or eight middle-aged men were huddled on the beds. Some were even injecting themselves. It was clearly a drug den.
“I ran into that brat of those two little cops today.”
The old man sat on a bed and rolled a dry cigarette, taking a deep drag. “Those two cops ruined us back then. When the Boss gets out of prison, we’ll finish her off together!”
“She’s just a girl, what’s the point of killing her? Ken showed up a couple of days ago at the bird and fish market. Why don’t we go for a big score?”
An addict pulled out a syringe and let out a satisfied groan. Gasping for air, he continued, “Do you know how much Ken’s head is worth? Two million. Someone is paying two million for his life.”
“Chen Qinghe, what on earth are you doing?”
Qin Chaomu looked at the mountain of takeout bags on the table in near collapse. Chen Qinghe was holding a large chicken leg in her left hand while her right hand frantically tapped the keyboard.
“Ult him! Where’s your ult, Master Yi?! Learn to kite, learn to kite!!”
Chen Qinghe cursed as she slammed her laptop shut. Seeing Qin Chaomu and Shen Guai standing behind her, she froze.
“I didn’t know the little fan was coming too…” Chen Qinghe sounded a bit embarrassed.
“There are three of us, and you booked just one room? It doesn’t even have a window?”
Qin Chaomu hung up her coat and helplessly began clearing the takeout trash. She had to sweep and mop the room herself before she felt comfortable staying.
“How do you live like this every day, Chen Qinghe?” Qin Chaomu sighed, shaking her head.
“I ran out of money, I could only afford this place,” Chen Qinghe shrugged. “If my book doesn’t sell, I won’t even have rent for next month.”
Qin Chaomu looked at her friend, her eyes filled with pity. She shouldn’t have ended up like this.
“Didn’t Xin Shang pay you for the acting gig?” Qin Chaomu asked.
“No, they said they’re withholding pay for two months.” In a few moments, Chen Qinghe had stripped the chicken leg clean. “Hey, little fan, you came over too!”
Chen Qinghe greeted the stunned Shen Guai warmly.
Shen Guai was shocked. The Chen Qinghe she had imagined was nothing like this. Her heart was a mess of emotions, she could feel Chen Qinghe’s hardship, but she could also feel that the relationship between Qin Chaomu and Chen Qinghe was anything but ordinary.
“I came to see you,” Qin Chaomu said, sitting tiredly in a chair. “What’s the schedule for tomorrow?”
“10:00 AM to 12:30 PM at the Xinhua Bookstore. You’re just there to show your face, no media interviews were scheduled.”
Qin Chaomu nodded.
Xinhua Bookstore? Media interviews?
It seemed Qin Chaomu really was here for work. Shen Guai felt a wave of relief.
Chen Qinghe looked at Shen Guai, then at Qin Chaomu, and asked with a smirk, “You two… won’t mind the three of us sharing one bed, right?”
“…”
Qin Chaomu’s gaze looked sharp enough to kill.
She wanted to offer to pay for two more rooms, but the words died in her throat. Chen Qinghe was a proud person; Qin Chaomu feared she would make her feel inferior.
“We’ll follow the host’s lead,” Qin Chaomu said, putting on disposable slippers.
“Wow! Great! Then the three of us can play Fight the Landlord together!”
Chen Qinghe clapped her hands happily. “Mumu, the last time we played together was five years ago.”
Qin Chaomu felt a pang of sadness. Five years. Everything had changed.
Chen Qinghe pulled a deck of cards from a drawer, shuffling them smoothly, a sign of frequent play.
Shen Guai hadn’t expected the night to go this way. She coughed, feeling a bit bashful. “I’ll go shower first.”
The hotel was shabby and the facilities were poor. The water from the showerhead came in fits and starts. Shen Guai’s face was flushed, the thought of sharing a bed with Qin Chaomu made her heart race.
But… with Chen Qinghe in the middle?
What exactly was the deal between Chen Qinghe and Qin Chaomu? If she hadn’t followed them today, would they have slept together?!
The more Shen Guai thought about it, the angrier she got.
Just then, the bathroom door was suddenly pushed open.
Qin Chaomu scanned Shen Guai up and down, her voice calm. “Chen Qinghe is in a hurry to play cards. She’s rushing us to wash up quickly.”
“Qin Chaomu! You per… mmph…”
Before Shen Guai could finish her insult, Qin Chaomu covered her mouth.
Qin Chaomu’s moody, beautiful face was tense. “If you let Chen Qinghe find out we’re a fake couple, you’re dead.”
The warm water from the shower trickled onto Qin Chaomu’s bathrobe. With a quick tug, she easily let the robe slip off.