11: Can you take me home?

Willing Participants

When Xie Hou entered the private room, the door was left slightly ajar. He pushed the door open and was met with a blend of alcohol and tobacco scents filling the room. Shen Cizhu’s cheeks were flushed from drinking, even his pale forehead had a pinkish tint. He was reclining on a long sofa, with his neck resting on a cushion. One leg was stretched out on the sofa, while the other hung over the edge, very close to the floor.

Shen Cizhu lightly tapped the tip of his shoe, which was barely hanging on, and even the heel of the shoe was clearly visible. The slender ankles under his suit pants were wrapped in black socks, displaying exquisite and graceful lines. His long jet-black hair flowed down, swaying just like Shen Cizhu.

A red hairband dangled from his neck like a trace of blood.

“Gentille Alouette Alouette, Je te plumerai Alouette, gentille…” Shen Cizhu was in a half-awake and half-dream state. He closed his eyes, tired and sleepy, humming the song in this world of intoxication, murmuring like a child learning to speak.

It was the French nursery rhyme “Alouette.” Xie Hou had never imagined that this innocent nursery rhyme would carry a hint of sensuality in its trembling notes, playing in his ears.

The room was a mess; Shen Cizhu had carelessly spilled expensive liquor all over the table, and there were glass shards everywhere. Extremely rare brand-name playing cards were set on fire by a lighter. The gambling table was aflame, but Shen Cizhu remained in a relaxed, half-asleep state.

After extinguishing the fire, Xie Hou silently approached Shen Cizhu, keeping a strange and cold distance, just as instructed by the girl at the front desk.

He had only come to escort Shen Cizhu back home, as Mr. Shen was leaving for the night.

However, he sat on the edge of the sofa and held Shen Cizhu’s wrist through the shirt cuff. He took out a medium-priced ointment for treating wounds from his pocket and prepared to apply it to Shen Cizhu’s palm.

Shen Cizhu’s palm had been wounded during the fight and was now coagulated with dried blood. Merely applying ointment was not sufficient; he needed to go to the hospital for proper treatment.

Xie Hou considered this and put the ointment back in his shoulder bag. Instead, he covered Shen Cizhu with a thin blanket.

He quietly waited for Shen Cizhu to wake up.

Shen Cizhu had a cigarette between his lips, looking sickly and dispirited. The cigarette ash fell on the tip of his nose, but he didn’t seem to mind. He indulged in the faint warmth and clarity the cigarette butt provided.

“Why is it you?” Shen Cizhu reclined on the couch, a lazy, languid gaze in his eyes. He turned his face slightly, curled up on the sofa, and looked at Xie Hou’s back.

Xie Hou was in a black T-shirt and shorts, wearing a pair of discontinued sports shoes. He sat on the edge of the sofa, not even casting a sidelong glance at Shen Cizhu.

“Xie Hou,” Shen Cizhu softly called out his name.

“Hasn’t your brother come to find me yet?”

“I’m not my brother. Are you disappointed?” Xie Hou’s expression was cold, and he raised an eyebrow slightly. He glanced at Shen Cizhu, and the eyes under his eyelashes radiated a faint gleam.

Clean and clear, like precious gems.

“What’s there to be disappointed about? Since he’s not here, how about you take me back?” Shen Cizhu placed the cigarette on his fingertips, extinguishing it directly on the sofa. He then exerted some effort to sit up. His long hair was disheveled, covering half of his face.

The white shirt he was wearing was wrinkled due to the red wine stains, now clinging to his waistline, making him feel uncomfortable.

“My clothes? Didn’t you bring them for me?” He waved his hand, sounding a bit upset. “The one I’m wearing now got soaked in wine because of you. I can’t go out like this.”

Thinking about it, Shen Cizhu moved his lips with a hint of confusion. “I remember bringing a young man into the private room. Did he say he was going to get me new clothes? Why hasn’t he returned yet? Did I get it wrong?”

Had the young man he saw been a figment of his imagination?

Or had he drunk too much and lost his memory?

Where had that young man gone?

“He was taken away by someone,” Xie Hou said as he stood up and brought the clothes that were hanging on the floor rack by the door.

“Put these on for now,” Xie Hou told him.

It wasn’t a suit. This club didn’t have anything Shen Cizhu would consider wearing. Following the front desk’s recommendation, Xie Hou had brought a brand-new high-end casual shirt.

The shirt was a light brown color with a loose neckline that curved like a crescent moon. The cuffs covered the wrist bone just right, gently and warmly adhering to Shen Cizhu’s body.

As Shen Cizhu changed his clothes, Xie Hou stood with his back turned to him and didn’t look.

“We’re both men. Why are you turning your back on me?” Shen Cizhu stood up, letting his long hair fall to shoulder-length, his almond-shaped eyes glistening, lips slightly flushed, exuding an indescribable decadent beauty.

Shen Cizhu’s remark was just casual teasing, but Xie Hou didn’t seem to take it that way.

“You’re ge ge’s partner,” Xie Hou said indifferently. “The way you change clothes, it doesn’t suit me to watch.”

“A bit old-fashioned, aren’t you?” Shen Cizhu said leisurely as he put his black leather gloves back on.

Did Xie Hou know that Shen Cizhu had already broken up with Xie Yan?

Had Xie Yan not told him?

Shen Cizhu had a mischievous idea in mind. He dressed himself and quietly approached Xie Hou from behind.

Xie Hou was still waiting at the door for him to change his clothes before leaving the club.

“For the first time,” he whispered something to Xie Hou’s ear as he leaned in, teasing, “Do you remember the first time you…?”

“The first time you saw me, you said my murderous intent was too obvious, and you knew I wanted to strangle you, right?” Shen Cizhu abruptly changed the subject.

Xie Hou turned around, facing Shen Cizhu.

There’s always a certain charm when seeing a beauty under the light. Shen Cizhu’s beauty was intoxicating, with a hint of a cruel allure in his eyes.

His deep green pupils appeared particularly cold and alluring in the luxurious setting of perfume and hair shadows, but in the shimmering water night illusion, for a fleeting moment, Shen Cizhu seemed fragile and pitiful.

His sickly and infatuated face had an abnormal quality to it.

“Xie Hou, that night you were so cold to me, and you said my gentleness was just a facade. You’re quite smart, aren’t you?” Shen Cizhu suddenly approached Xie Hou. Xie Hou, who was only eighteen, was already taller than him, so Shen Cizhu had to lift his heels to meet him, dress shoes against sneakers.

Xie Hou’s youthful appearance seemed out of place. Shen Cizhu found it amusing that the cool little fairy only had this one expression.

Is he always so cold and indifferent?

Anyway, there’s no one here… just playing around.

“Xie Hou, you’re so smart, do you know everything? Do you know that my brother and I in bed—”

“Shut up,” Xie Hou said with his eyelashes lowered, concealing his expression. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“Alright,” Shen Cizhu’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Just like your brother said, you can’t handle playing.”

“Your brother told me not to provoke you, said you’re only eighteen and shouldn’t be messed with,” Shen Cizhu said slowly, raising his gaze. “He really worries a lot. Why would I want to play with my little brother-in-law?”

Xie Hou heard Shen Cizhu laugh. He even maintained his proper etiquette while laughing.

With the gentle and elegant facade of a noble son, even this sense of impropriety had a hint of innocence.

It was almost as if it were Xie Hou’s fault.

“So what are you doing now? You’re too close, sister-in-law,” Xie Hou was pressed against the wall by Shen Cizhu. He lowered his eyes, looking at Shen Cizhu.

Shen Cizhu had no filter, as if the alcohol had clouded his judgment.

Xie Hou wondered.

“You’re really beautiful, and nothing like your brother,” Shen Cizhu pinched his chin and examined his face closely. “Why are you working at this club? Do you need money? Working here isn’t clean, and I worry about you.”

“Are you still in school? You’re eighteen, so you should be preparing for the college entrance exam, right?” Shen Cizhu’s eyes shifted to the black school bag on Xie Hou’s shoulder and asked, “Do you still have homework in your bag?”

“I don’t need you to… mind me,” Xie Hou tilted his neck slightly and looked toward the door, which was just a stone’s throw away and still well-lit. The door was wide open, and anyone passing by could see inside clearly.

“You don’t need me to mind? Am I not your sister-in-law?” Shen Cizhu pulled on his collar. “Why did you come to the capital? I remember Xie Yan said you were in Shandong before. Did you come to the capital to escape debt? Or are you here because you’re afraid, and you came to your brother for protection?”

“I don’t need his protection,” Xie Hou said lightly. “Can you let go of me now, Shen Cizhu? I’m going to take you home, and then I’ll go home too.”

“I don’t want to go home. Can you take me to your place?”

“Why do you want to go back with me? If you’re just doing this to annoy my brother, I don’t think it’s necessary.”

Shen Cizhu’s nose was close to Xie Hou’s neck, gently sniffing.

His gaze was fixed on the red mole near Xie Hou’s throat, a mole that had irritated him from the moment he first saw it, making him want to tear it off.

“Xie Hou,” Shen Cizhu leaned in closer to the mole, “if you don’t want me to continue causing trouble for your brother, how about locking me up in your house?”

“Xie Hou, we can keep it a secret from your brother, nobody will know. You lock me up, watch over me, and I won’t cause trouble for your brother anymore, okay?” Shen Cizhu’s voice became lower and almost drowsy.

“Take me home, please. I don’t want to go with Xie Yan,” his face hung limp, buried in Xie Hou’s shoulder.

Shen Cizhu heard Xie Hou say to him:

“I’m very poor.”

“I like poor,” Shen Cizhu replied.

Xie Hou’s tone had more emotion, “I’m ugly.”

“I like blind,” Shen Cizhu responded.

“I’m not of marriageable age yet; I’m eighteen.”

“I like to cultivate,” Shen Cizhu said.

“I don’t like you,” Xie Hou said.

Shen Cizhu held his hand and whispered, “I like you.”

Xie Hou: “…”

He remained silent but suddenly noticed a shadow entering the private room from outside.

“Zhu Zhu…” It was Xie Yan. Xie Yan looked disheveled and anxious, his handsome and mature face covered in sweat. It seemed he had searched every club in the capital, finally coming to this one where his younger brother had told him Shen Cizhu wasn’t.

God only knows how guilty he felt when he drove here, doubting his own brother. He thought he had wronged him. But Shen Cizhu wasn’t just here.

Shen Cizhu was here, and he was… getting cozy with his little brother?

Shen Cizhu tilted his head, not showing any panic when he saw Xie Yan, as if he had anticipated this. “Oh, you’re here?”

Xie Hou’s eyes slightly widened. “Brother?”

Xie Hou couldn’t remember how many years it had been since he last saw his brother angry. But at this moment, his brother approached, twelve years his senior, an elder brother like a father, and even his anger was gentle.

He said to Xie Hou, “Come outside.”

Xie Yan didn’t dare to look at Shen Cizhu. He simply led his brother out.

For some reason, outside the club tonight, there were sirens blaring urgently, and there was a lot of commotion with people coming and going.

Xie Yan looked at his brother, the one he was so proud of.

The one who was always first in school, who always shone at award ceremonies, though he hardly ever spoke more than two words when giving a speech – a simple “thank you.” He appeared particularly aloof, but people still liked him.

This young man had a fragile appearance but stood in the spotlight of countless students’ admiration, envy, and affection. His blue-and-white school uniform emphasized a sense of restraint and a rather cold and aloof youthful aura.

His brother was much more dazzling than he was, and everyone liked his brother.

Everyone.

“How long has it been?” Xie Yan asked. “Him being like this with you…”

“Nothing happened,” Xie Hou answered quietly.

“Right, I must have overreacted… I was wrong to blame you.” Xie Yan smiled as if his anger from earlier had been a hallucination.

“He probably doesn’t want to come home with me tonight. Xie Hou, can you take care of him for one night on behalf of your brother?”

Unusually, there was a puzzled emotion in Xie Hou’s eyes.