Chapter 01: “It’s quite an extravagant play.”

It was 8 o’clock in the evening, the perfect time for the bright lights and lively atmosphere.

Jiang Yao was lounging on the sofa in the club, staring blankly at the empty glass with only ice cubes left.

The stage performance of a sentimental love song had just ended, and a few women were smiling as they sat down beside him, pushing a few bottles of foreign liquor onto the table.

“Young Master Jiang, this is the newly arrived liquor, air-shipped from a private winery in Country F…”

“No need for the introduction.”

Jiang Yao interrupted the woman’s words, as if he had just regained his senses, opening his half-closed eyes.

“Just put it on my tab as usual.”

With a single sentence from the young master, the weekly sales target was instantly met.

The group laughed cheerfully as they poured him a drink, and under the intertwining lights and shadows, their gazes lingered on him, with a touch of infatuation.

The face in front of them was almost flawless, no matter how many times they had seen it, the sight still made their hearts skip a beat.

But to describe him as handsome would not be quite accurate.

Unlike the sharp-browed and bright-eyed appearance, Jiang Yao has a pair of peach blossom eyes, with a hint of romantic charm in his eyebrows, always having a nonchalant sexiness.

Especially today, this sexiness seems to have been ignited, becoming even more intense.

Unfortunately, their task is to be playing cards partners, without the opportunity to delve into the warmth beneath this appearance.

Jiang Yao rarely hesitates when playing cards, and his card-playing speed today is even more outrageous, even a bit out of order.

It’s as if all his strength is concentrated on his fingertips, being thrown out ceaselessly, lest it have no place to vent.

With the movement of picking up and putting down the cards, the slightly loose sleeves of the black shirt slightly bulged and rolled, and revealed the cold white skin inside repeatedly.

Near the protruding wrist bones, there are obvious half-circles of dark red.

The other wrist also has them.

Like signals of having been tied up for a long time.

Apart from Jiang Yao at the table, everyone else was experienced veterans on this field, who could immediately see how much unusual stimulation these marks carried.

“I never expected that Young Master Jiang would play so extravagantly in private.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yao followed their gazes, lowered his eyes, and adjusted his sleeves on both sides without saying a word.

His secretive attitude actually aroused the curiosity of the surrounding gossips.

Jiang Yao was a regular customer here, generous in character and lavish in spending. Every time he came, he would invite a group of high-value service staff to accompany him, but it stopped at that.

He usually just drank and played cards, if he won, winning money went to his card partners, if he lost, it was on him, and those with good card skills were generously tipped.

No matter how many people expressed their desire for him, he never showed any favor to his “followers”.

Despite clearly having a face that looked like he had “ten girlfriends”.

It was hard not to be curious about his private life.

A purple-haired woman continued to probe: “Is it one of us?”

“It’s not a human being.” Jiang Yao said expressionlessly, “It’s a beast.”

The purple-haired woman was stunned by his response. Despite her eloquence, she was momentarily at a loss for words on how to respond, as Jiang Yao impatiently urged her to play her card quickly.

–

Yesterday, Jiang Yao attended a wedding where the groom was Shen Tang, whom he had a brief crush on during his youth.

Although the shallow and casual admiration of his youth had long been erased by the passage of time, when Jiang Yao looked at the man on the stage, who was as gentle as jade and as humble and shy as he had been ten years ago, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of disbelief.

However, the one who was even more bewildered was probably the person sitting next to his table.

Jiang Yao took a glance at him.

His former rival, Duan Zhuxian, was sitting there, listening to Shen Tang’s passionate vows to his wife.

Duan Zhuxian had European ancestry, with deep eyes set under slightly high brows, as dark as the sea, and utterly devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

Jiang Yao refused to believe it and stared at him for a long time.

Fortunately, heaven does not abandon those with good intentions, and at the moment the newlyweds exchanged rings, that sculptural face finally loosened up a bit, with the corners of his lips curling into an almost imperceptible arc.

He must have smiled.

Jiang Yao confirmed it several times.

This smile was naturally interpreted by Jiang Yao as a self-mocking gesture of magnanimity.

It’s said that this five-star hotel wedding was sponsored by Duan Zhuxian as a good buddy, giving off a vibe of a defeated dog sending off his beloved to marriage.

Thinking about this, Jiang Yao’s heart brightened, and he arrogantly took a sip of his drink.

He and Duan Zhuxian are not the same.

After graduating from high school, he only occasionally met Shen Tang on holidays, and the many beautiful thoughts he once had have now all disappeared.

But Duan Zhuxian not only studied in the same university as Shen Tang, but also went to study in North America one after the other. Chasing so closely, it seems impossible for him to give up.

Thinking about this, Duan Zhuxian was really masochistic enough.

However, Jiang Yao had not reached the point of feeling pity for those he disliked.

Duan Zhuxian was simply seeking trouble, and bringing suffering upon himself!

After the wedding, Shen Tang opened a private room in the hotel’s entertainment area and invited their old classmates to gather.

Jiang Yao and Duan Zhuxian both went, sitting at opposite ends like usual, pretending not to know each other, and not speaking a word from start to finish.

At the gathering, Jiang Yao saw many of his former classmates, and he was in a good mood, so he drank a few more bottles. After getting drunk, he vaguely went into the guest room prepared for him by Shen Tang and slept until 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

Upon waking up, Jiang Yao was very confused, feeling incredibly sore all over, as if he had been lifting weights in the gym all night.

But he couldn’t remember having such a strange habit after getting drunk.

In the moment he got out of bed in a daze, a sharp pain suddenly shot up his spine from below.

He turned his head, and his gaze was fixed on the trash can at the foot of the bed.

It was full of used condoms, too many to count.

It seemed he hadn’t been lifting weights all night.

But rather, he had been lifted all night.

By that thing.

“Damn it!”

Jiang Yao blurted out a curse word, his eyes almost turning red, his brain buzzing, and the wrists behind his back also starting to ache dully.

He vaguely remembered being tied up with a tie, that madman gripping his wrists with terrifying strength.

Jiang Yao paced back and forth in the suite, grabbing his hair, limping around in circles, trying to find other evidence left by the culprit.

Until he saw a note pressed under his phone on the living room coffee table.

The note had two lines of cursive fountain pen writing: There is an important meeting at the company, contact me if you have any questions.

There was no signature, only a phone number.

Jiang Yao recognized the handwriting at a glance, and the fragmented memories came flooding back, causing his hands to tremble along with his legs.

At this time, he received a voice message from Shen Tang: “Last night you left the private room drunk, Duan Zhuxian said he was going to check on you, but after that neither of you came back. I tried to contact him but couldn’t reach him… is he alright?”

Jiang Yao originally wanted to reply with a voice message, but his overused voice was hoarse and unrecognizable, so he could only raise his shaky thumb to reply: “He is still alive.”

Shen Tang: “I see.”

The tone was clearly tinged with hesitation.

But Jiang Yao was very certain of one thing.

Because the one who was with him last night was none other than Duan Zhuxian.

*

With a clatter.

Jiang Yao bit the ice cubes in his mouth to pieces, grinding it like chewing gravel, and slowly swallowed them down.

This gritted teeth expression startled the woman shuffling the cards across from him, who thought Young Master Jiang was unhappy because she had won the hand.

After calming down that afternoon, Jiang Yao recalled some details from the previous night.

He and Duan Zhuxian bumped into each other at the door of a guest room, both insisting it was their own room.

Duan Zhuxian seemed too lazy to argue with him, and went in first.

He felt annoyed and followed him in, intending to kick Duan Zhuxian off the bed, but somehow they ended up entangled with each other.

He couldn’t remember who initiated it.

They even fought over who would be on top, and the tie came in handy at that time.

And later he realized he had actually gone to the wrong room, his own room was next door.

All of this seemed surreal, like a dream, and he still wasn’t fully awake, feeling disoriented.

Despite the humiliating experience, he couldn’t think of any strategy at the moment, so he just drank alone in his “safe room” like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

Jiang Yao had bad luck today and lost several rounds in a row.

He lost interest towards the end, saying he was tired and needed some fresh air before returning for another round.

The purple-haired woman, named Amy, was a supervisor among the waitstaff. After about ten minutes, she quietly followed him out to check on him and found Jiang Yao standing at the end of a narrow corridor, staring at a painting lost in thought.

His posture seemed somewhat disheveled and unkempt.

It was only when she got closer that she realized the strange feeling was all because of the oversized black shirt Jiang Yao was wearing.

She smiled and asked, “Young Master Jiang, did you buy your shirt a little too big?”

The hanging painting on the wall was a faded imitation of a Song dynasty guqin painting. Jiang Yao shifted his gaze from the strings of the guqin and responded perfunctorily with a “hmm”.

His own shirt had become wrinkled like pickled vegetables after last night’s mess, the buttons had come off, and it was stained with an unknown liquid, so he couldn’t wear it.

Fortunately, there was a shirt on the bedside table that looked quite new, probably one Duan Zhuxian had bought for him.

He had rushed out in a hurry and just put it on without thinking, only now noticing that the size didn’t quite fit.

After playing cards for too long, Jiang Yao unconsciously rubbed his increasingly sore waist.

Seeing this, Amy kindly offered, “If you’re feeling dizzy from drinking too much, you can lean on me.”

He didn’t refuse, and directly sent a few forces to her shoulder.

The two of them walked back along the corridor. Jiang Yao absentmindedly chatted with Amy, took out his phone, opened his social media, and came across a photo from a gathering posted by an acquaintance thirty minutes ago, with the caption: [Guess which big shot has come?]

The image was filled with messy light. Jiang Yao immediately saw Duan Zhuxian sitting on the sofa, casually holding a glass of wine, shining like a piece of jade, standing out conspicuously as if he had a barrier between him and everyone else.

Damn it!

He’s made himself look like this and still have the mood to seek pleasure!

Anger surged in Jiang Yao’s heart. He angrily double-tapped Duan Zhuxian’s forehead in the photo, it zoomed, and accidentally caught sight of a familiar logo at the edge of the wine table.

He looked up at the wall of the corridor, and there was the same pattern on it.

??

He was stunned, and before the alarm could be sounded in his brain, a flattering inquiry came from the front.

“What type does Mr. Duan like? I’ll call a few pretty and sensible ones to warm up the room later.”

Then, a cold voice replied—

“No need.”

【Author’s Note】

It’s been a while, come and have a bite of the happy couple who married first and fell in love later!

I don’t think there are any major plot twists to worry about, and there are no stomach-aching plots like the evil deeds of the white moonlight.

Precious readers who are interested, remember to click favourite, can you give me some comments and starfish?

Tl Note: Support the author in 👉[Gongzicp]👈