Chapter 15: Don’t Do It

Shi Ran woke up to an empty bed beside her.

The weather was stifling; a cloud, looking as if it were dusted with grime, hung low in the sky. Soon, large raindrops began to lash against the glass windows, accompanied by a howling wind outside.

Oh no, I’m going to be late!

She hastily threw off her silk duvet, got dressed, put on her cloth shoes, quickly washed up, and ran downstairs.

Seeing her anxious expression, Aunt Chen quickly said, “Miss Shi, the CEO has already called in sick for you.”

“…!”

Why didn’t you say so earlier?!

Seeing her reaction, Aunt Chen looked puzzled and said, “The CEO told me to, Miss Shi. Did you forget?”

Shi Ran felt listless. She hadn’t done it all week, and last night had been particularly intense. Taking a day off was fine.

“Oh, right.” She didn’t know, and didn’t want to explain further.

Aunt Chen noticed the numerous marks on the girl’s neck, and covered her mouth, smiling. “The CEO really dotes on Miss Shi.”

“…!”

Shi Ran looked down at herself. To change quickly, she’d put on a round-shouldered, white, Mori girl style dress. Looking down, she saw that from her collarbone down, everything was the handiwork of Lu Beiyuan from last night!

If Lu Beiyuan hadn’t called in sick for her, she would have gone out.

She didn’t dare imagine what the news would say tomorrow!

With the wind and rain still raging outside, Shi Ran simply had breakfast and went back upstairs to rest.

Time slipped away unnoticed. Dusk arrived, and night fell.

A knock came from outside the door. Shi Ran opened her eyes sleepily, rubbed her blurry eyes, and said in a hoarse voice, “Come in.”

Jinju gently opened the door, her footsteps light. She glanced at the woman on the bed and softly said, “Miss Shi, the CEO just called and said he’ll pick you up for Yemei (Night Sleep).”

“…!”

The memory resurfaced: the man playing casually, the woman being played. Shi Ran hadn’t forgotten how long she’d vomited after leaving there last time.

Thinking of this, she threw off the duvet and rushed to the bathroom, hugging the toilet and vomiting again.

Jinju was stunned. She quickly ran in, gently patting the girl’s back, worriedly asking, “Miss Shi, did you eat something bad?”

Shi Ran pushed her hand away, sitting on the floor, her face pale and gasping for breath. “Tell him I’m not going.”

“This…” Jinju clearly looked very troubled.

“Just say I’m not feeling well.”

“Yes. I’ll call a doctor as well.” Jinju helped her sit on the bed, poured her a glass of warm water, and then hurried downstairs.

In less than ten minutes, the sound of leather shoes on the white porcelain floor came from outside.

The door opened, and Lu Beiyuan picked up the girl from the bed, placing his fingers on her forehead to check her temperature. Her forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat. “Ranran, what’s wrong?”

Shi Ran, who hadn’t eaten dinner, had almost vomited up her bile. Her complexion wasn’t good, and she glanced coldly at the man in front of her. “Nauseous.”

Her tone was low. Lu Beiyuan choked. If the girl hadn’t been unwell, he would have almost thought she was saying he made her nauseous.

But the girl’s next words poured a bucket of cold water over his head.

“You know I don’t like that place, why…”

Lu Beiyuan: “I’m sorry, Ranran, I forgot. It’s Bai Qi’s birthday tonight, and they all brought their girlfriends. I thought I…”

Before he finished, his phone rang.

“Ye, we’re waiting for you! Where are you?”

“Not going. Something came up.”

Click. The call was hung up. Chen Lu stared at the disconnected call, somewhat bewildered. He looked at Lao Wu, “Are you sure Ye got off work?”

Lao Wu: “His secretary is my little lover. Do you think I’m sure or not?”

“He said something came up.”

“No, what else could he have besides work? He didn’t even come to his brother’s birthday? Is it that woman?”

Last time, he brought that woman here, it was the first time for their Master Yan to keep a woman, and none of them could figure out the position of this woman in Master Yan’s mind.

However, Master Yan, who had never seen them fooling around, actually stayed with them last time when they were doing business, causing the girl to watch from the side.

Initially, when she realized what they were doing, the girl couldn’t bear it anymore and kept trying to leave.

Unfortunately, there was only one key.

With Bai Qi.

They wanted to see Ye lose control.

As a result, the woman Ye brought directly ran into the bathroom and vomited!

They were interrupted!

Later, they saw how anxious Ye was, shouting angrily: “Get out!”

He ran into the bathroom and gently patted the girl’s back, his voice as soft as if he weren’t the same person who shouted at them.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, let’s go.”

Then they saw their Ye holding the woman and hurrying out, kicking Bai Qi, who was still gasping for breath.

He uttered an “oh,” quickly got up, took out the key, and opened the door.

After they left, Bai Qi woke up as if from a dream and cursed in beautiful Chinese: “Damn it, I almost couldn’t get it up!”

Several men in Yemei each had a woman in their arms, muttering curses.

The five brothers had practically grown up together, all rich second-generation kids, changing women like clothes, indulging in delicacies, occasionally having some plain porridge and vegetables.

Lu Beiyuan got along with them in everything except for women; in that aspect, he was quite different.

“Ye isn’t coming, what’s the point of playing?”

“Ye can not play, but he can’t be absent!”

They turned their attention to Bai Qi, “Brother Qi, you’re the birthday boy today, why don’t you call him?”

Bai Qi stroked the woman beside him, smiling. “Okay, I’ll call.”

He smirked, dialed the number, confidently put it on speakerphone, and threw it on the table.

“Beep beep beep…”

The phone rang busy, the room was quiet, everyone waiting expectantly.

A beep. Shocking everyone.

Chen Lu: “Hung up? Hung up?”

…

Shi Ran wasn’t feeling well, and Lu Beiyuan stayed by her side.

Bai Qi rarely lost his temper, and the other brothers kept calling Lu Beiyuan, as if afraid he didn’t know.

For several days, Lu Beiyuan kept receiving calls from his brothers.

At first, they said Brother Qi was heartbroken and crying in the toilet.

Later, seeing that Lu Beiyuan didn’t care about their brotherhood at all, they started to escalate.

Brother Qi said he wanted to break up with you.

We brothers also want to break up with you. Brothers only have birthdays once a year.

The dramatic brothers became more and more outrageous.

Lu Beiyuan: “You guys are like a bunch of women. Tell me, what do you want?”

“Yemei tonight.”

“I said, do you guys have nowhere else to go besides Yemei?”

Yemei was a famous money pit, the largest entertainment venue in City A.

It had everything, and those who played there were either rich or powerful.

“With our status, being so down-to-earth, where else would we go besides Yemei? Ye, you decide the place?”

So, Chen Lu heard someone’s soft voice on the other end of the phone: “Ranran, I didn’t accompany Bai Qi for his birthday last time, and he’s been sulking for days. Let’s make it up to him. Where do you think we should celebrate?”

A woman’s voice came from the receiver: “I don’t know.”

“Ranran, they went too far before, but it was consensual. Those women willingly demeaned themselves. It was my fault, I shouldn’t have taken you there.”

“Pick a place, okay?”

Shi Ran: “A bar.”

Lu Beiyuan smirked in satisfaction, his voice returning to its cold indifference: “Heard that? Eight o’clock tonight, a bar.”

Without waiting for their wails of protest, he hung up the phone.

A bar? That’s a literary bar! Books, milk tea, coffee, and cats!