8: Rescue

The fragrance of the wine dispersed the uncomfortable odor in the private room.

It was clear that Shen Cizhu intentionally spilled wine on himself, but he did it so discreetly that to outsiders, it seemed like Xie Hou was just clumsy and inexperienced in pouring wine.

The red wine stained Shen Cizhu’s wrist and, following the motion of his arm, seeped into his clothing.

Shen Cizhu only appeared “momentarily flustered” before regaining his composure and didn’t reprimand the “clueless” waiter.

The small idol who had entered the room with Shen Cizhu saw that his clothes were wet and volunteered to fetch a new outfit.

Shen Cizhu expressed his gratitude, and after the person left, he took off his suit jacket, leaving him in only a white dress shirt. The shirt had some wine stains, but it was still wearable. Although he looked somewhat disheveled, it didn’t qualify as losing his temper. The fabric was just clinging to his skin, which felt somewhat unpleasant.

All of this was observed by the prying eyes of the people in the private room.

Shen Cizhu’s muscular lines were elegant and seductive, with an allure that went beyond the ordinary male form, impossible to describe. He wore his shirt with exceptional grace, and the silvery snake-shaped tie clip added a touch of luxury, glistening in the dim yellowish light of the private room.

“Sorry, Mr. Shen, I will compensate you for this suit,” Xie Hou placed the wine bottle on the table and glanced at Shen Cizhu without much change in his expression.

“It’s fine,” Shen Cizhu shook his head gently, showing no signs of anger, but someone else did.

“Hahaha, you’ll compensate him? F*ck! This suit cost two million! You probably can’t even afford it even if you sell yourself,” Zhou Ping, the undistinguished son of the Zhou family, chimed in.

He stared at Xie Hou’s face, filled with envy. Xie Hou had a really good-looking face, distinct from Shen Cizhu’s beauty.

Shen Cizhu was strikingly dazzling, while this kid had a pure and handsome look due to his youth. His eyes and brows had not fully developed, and there was a beautiful ambiguity in his gaze.

However, when he stared at people with coldness, it exuded excessive dominance, creating a sense of crisis and competition.

“Xie Hou, look at you with this cheap look. You’re not wearing any designer labels, right? If it weren’t for your good looks, I wouldn’t have let you work at my shop. Are you even qualified? You had a fight with a customer tonight, didn’t you? You’ve embarrassed Laozi.”

“If it weren’t for Shen Cizhu stopping me, Laozi would’ve beaten you to death a long time ago. Why should I let you continue working here? Laozi is not a philanthropist, and I don’t need to support a broke loser with a billion in debt.” Zhou Ping sat across from Shen Cizhu, reclined on the sofa, smoking and cursing Xie Hou.

The Beijing dialect emerged from Zhou Ping’s mouth, sounding distorted and foul. His words pierced Xie Hou’s self-esteem like a bloody knife.

Xie Hou remained silent, standing next to Shen Cizhu, holding the wine-soaked suit jacket gracefully. He stood tall, his body like a crane, casting a shadow over Shen Cizhu.

Shen Cizhu didn’t intervene on the boy’s behalf. He leaned back on the sofa, leisurely sipping his red wine. As the wine touched his lips, sensuously shaped like a blade, he listened to these people mocking Xie Hou.

“Debt?”

“Just a billion, and you can’t pay it back?”

“Poor thing, have you lost your family? Why do you have to work as soon as you turn eighteen?”

“What do you know? This is how people from poor families survive. Otherwise, how can they get by? Hahaha.”

“Instead of being a waiter, you might as well sell yourself to make quick money.”

The atmosphere in the private room grew hostile as their malicious gazes fell upon Xie Hou. They seemed eager to see him suffer.

There were about a dozen people in the private room, all of whom were close to Zhou Ping. They had gathered here tonight with a common goal: to take advantage of Shen Cizhu. Rumor had it that the winds were shifting at the Shen family, with the board members seemingly supporting Wen He, that despicable homewrecker, to rise in status. Shen Cizhu might lose his influence, making it highly likely he couldn’t inherit the Shen family. If that happened, Wen He wouldn’t spare Shen Cizhu, and Shen Cizhu would likely end up as someone’s plaything.

As a result, these playboys in their circle grew bolder, forming a plan for the night to seduce Shen Cizhu. However, their plans failed: they couldn’t slip aphrodisiacs, and they didn’t have the courage to force themselves on him. They intended to come up with a new plan, but they never expected a server like Xie Hou to barge in.

Moreover, it seemed like Shen Cizhu was quite interested in Xie Hou. This did not sit well with them, leading to a sense of rivalry.

Verbal taunts were not enough. The third young master of the Xu family, received a signal from Zhou Ping, and he understood what was expected of him.

“Poor boy, just eighteen years old, right? Sigh, your big brother is generous; let me help you out,” Xu *Laosan came from a family involved in stock exchanges in Shanghai and Hong Kong. He was wealthy and carelessly wrote a check for two million, which happened to be the price of Shen Cizhu’s ruined suit jacket.
*徐老三( Xu Laosan) – Xu(family name), lao(prefix used before a numeral indicating the order of birth of children in a family) and San(three)

“Xie Hou, get on the table, crawl over slowly, and bark a few times like a dog. I’ll give you this. Two million, right? It should be enough to cover the cost of Cizhu’s clothes. But as for that one-billion debt… I can’t help you with that. Haha.”

Xu Laosan threw the check on the table, which was long and ornate, glinting with golden highlights at every corner.

Shen Cizhu sat beside Xie Hou at one end of this long table, while the other ten or so people sat across from them, separated by some distance, like participants in a silent and intense confrontation.

“Only two million, is it worth clinging on like this?” Shen Cizhu acted as the voice of reason, playing the role of the savior – compassionate, gentle, and pure-hearted.

“You’re just trying to help him, aren’t you? This kid is so arrogant; doesn’t he need a lesson?” Zhou Ping said.

“Don’t tease him. He’s only eighteen; are you bullying a child?” Shen Cizhu gestured with his fingertips, holding the clear, tall glass. He sat casually, showing a hint of fatigue in his posture.

He smiled gently, crossing his legs, and the curve of his pointed leather shoes was stunning. “Besides, he’s important to me.”

Everyone suddenly turned their attention to Shen Cizhu.

“Important?” Zhou Ping and Xu Laosan exchanged looks.

Their tone was particularly skeptical. “Who is Xie Hou to you? Don’t tell me it’s a lover? Do you only like poor people? You were always bullying Xie Yan earlier…”

“What’s wrong with Xie Yan? Are you unhappy with him? It seemed like you were constantly bullying him while I was dating him. You’ve been tormenting this kid just like you did to Xie Yan.” Shen Cizhu supported his chin with his fingers, leaning on the table, and his long hair cascaded down, covering the lines of his shoulders.

“Zhou Zhou, you’ve gone too far, and besides, this kid is not my lover,” he said, looking at Xie Hou. With his five fingers clenched, it was unclear what Xie Hou was thinking.

The alcohol content was too high, and Shen Cizhu wasn’t a heavy drinker. He got drunk with just a few sips. Tonight, no one was stopping him, so he let himself go. He sat on the couch, while Xie Hou stood. Shen Cizhu leaned in towards Xie Hou, as if seeking comfort and protection.

“He’s not my lover. Xie Hou doesn’t have those intentions towards me,” Shen Cizhu said with a smiling face, gazing at Zhou Ping.

“Xie Hou is my little brother-in-law.”

What!

Little brother-in-law?

Bang!

Xu Laosan accidentally kicked over the mahjong table next to them. Glass bottles shattered, shards reflecting the light with sharp edges.

The mahjong pieces fell to the ground in disarray, and someone shouted in astonishment amid the mess, “Younger brother?!! This Xie Hou… isn’t he Xie Yan’s, that idiot’s, younger brother?”

“Yeah, that’s why Xie Hou and I aren’t related. If we were, it would be an immoral relationship between a sister-in-law and her younger brother. Zhou Zhou, please stop bullying him. Working is not easy for him, and if you all keep ostracizing him… it’s just too pitiful,” Shen Cizhu said with a hint of innocence.

His cheeks were slightly flushed due to the alcohol, and he gently brushed against Xie Hou’s forearm, which felt icy cold.

So comfortable…

He didn’t look at Xie Hou, but he kept rubbing against him repeatedly.

“You… haven’t broken up with Xie Yan? And you’re involved with his younger brother?” Zhou Ping said through clenched teeth.

“I am innocent with this kid,” Shen Cizhu blinked his eyes.

Who would believe that?

Zhou Ping looked at Xie Hou’s cold and indifferent attitude, and he was suddenly consumed by rage!

F*ck! Zhou Ping finally realized why the name Xie Hou sounded so familiar. It was Xie Yan’s younger brother!

He actually hired the younger brother of his love rival to work at his club and paid him a salary!

F*ck, Shen Cizhu is just a naive and gullible fool! He was fooled into multiple relationships with people from poor families, and poor folks can easily seduce him. For Shen Cizhu, he had to resort to such underhanded tactics as drugging him, but even that failed. Shen Cizhu probably didn’t realize it; if he had, he might never have had another opportunity…

Zhou Ping was consumed by jealousy. Damn it, why can Xie Yan catch Shen Cizhu’s eye? Xie Yan isn’t enough, and now his younger brother, Xie Hou, is involved?

Xu Laosan laughed heartily, gripping the check tightly, with veins popping on his hand. “Stop fooling around, Cizhu. Everyone knows your old man doesn’t want you to be with Xie Yan. Didn’t you two break up long ago?”

“Can’t we reconcile? I’m back together with Xie Yan,” Shen Cizhu said after a few seconds of silence, followed by a smile.

“Do you still love Xie Yan? What’s so special about this bodyguard…” someone grumbled.

Shen Cizhu didn’t answer them. There were a few scattered playing cards on the table, and he pinched one between his fingertips. Slowly, he pushed it towards Zhou Ping and the others across from him.

“Enough with the talk about love. How about a game of cards?” Shen Cizhu said.

Zhou Ping hadn’t reacted yet when Shen Cizhu flipped over the card that had not been revealed to anyone. The ornate golden crystal chandelier on the ceiling creaked slightly as he held the card with two fingers, raised it gently, and flipped it towards them.

It was the Ace of Spades.

Before anyone could react, Shen Cizhu turned the card back to his hand. One second later, he flipped it again, revealing four more cards in his palm. When combined with the Ace, it formed a royal flush: 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of Spades.

Except for Xie Hou, everyone in the room was left with their jaws dropped in disbelief. They wished they could clean their eyeballs and look at it again. A royal flush?

A royal flush is the trump card technique in Texas Hold’em, the ultimate unbeatable hand in a five-card showdown, winning every time.

What were the odds of this? In a four-player card game, the probability of getting a royal flush is almost one in 127,000 hands, and that’s not considering having the entire hand and playing it successfully!

127,000 times… even a card shuffler expert with thirty years of experience and thousands of hands wouldn’t dare to claim they could play this hand confidently. But Shen Cizhu casually pulled it out from a shuffled deck!

No one saw when Shen Cizhu had taken four additional cards, when he hid them, and when he presented them along with the Ace of Spades. He did all this empty-handed!

When did Shen Cizhu learn this? There was no one in their circle who had such skills.

Everyone stared with wide eyes, unable to believe that the usually gentle and reserved Shen Cizhu was a gambling master.

Shen Cizhu threw the five cards onto the table with an air of nonchalance. His snake-like eyes were slightly raised, and his emerald eyes, intoxicated by the alcohol, revealed an ambiguous softness. His mole, once amorous and cool, now looked like the mouth of a snake with long, sharp fangs.

His gaze stopped on the hands of Xu Laosan, who held a 4A check for two million.

“If I win, these two million will be mine. And you all should stop bullying Xie Hou. Agreed?” Shen Cizhu lifted his chin.

He was truly drunk, almost forgetting his disguise entirely. His eyes, now disdainful and arrogant, looked down at the others.

“Only two million, want to play?”