Unexpected Incident : Chapter 5

Spared from harassment, Xiao Teng slept fairly well that night.

That was quite something.

Only when he woke up, he felt something off about his body. Besides a faint headache, as soon as he spoke he noticed his throat was uncomfortable. Xiao Teng cleared his throat with some force, and heard how hoarse his voice was. Sure enough, he had caught a cold.

But this was just a very trivial matter, completely not affecting today’s schedule.

Xiao Teng arrived at the company on time as usual, and appearing with him was Rong Liu, back from sick leave.

So Xiao Teng experienced the long missed noise.

On the way to the office, everyone they encountered was avoiding him on one side, while suppressing their volume and making a fuss behind his back: “Rong Liu, have you been sick this whole time?”

“Haven’t seen you in ages.”

“Are you alright?”

“Have you been working too hard?”

Rong Liu was smiling and nodding gracefully all the way: “Thanks for the concern, I’m all better now.”

“…”

Even the cleaning lady, when she came to the office to change the trash bags, showed kind concern for Rong Liu: “Are you still a bit unwell? You don’t seem to talk much today.”

“…”

This guy was normally such a chatterbox that when he occasionally shut up, everyone fussed over him.

Xiao Teng silently flipped through his documents.

Not a single person noticed he was sick!

That’s how quiet people get the short end of the stick!

Not that he cared at all.

Enduring the discomfort in his body, he worked for a while, when suddenly a cup of almond tea and a box of throat lozenges appeared before him.

Rong Liu said quite eagerly: “Remember to take them.”

“…”

“You have a cold.”

“…”

Xiao Teng had just frowned when the young man said: “Is it a headache? Let me rub it for you.”

Xiao Teng was about to tell him to get lost, but the perfectly measured pressure of fingers on his temples made him hesitate for a moment.

That moment of hesitation gave him the laziness to go with the flow, so he remained frowning, but closed his eyes and accepted this not bad service.

Anyway, if Rong Liu dared any out of line behavior, he would immediately slap him into the wall.

The young man skillfully pressed his head, forehead, sides, and the back of his neck, the pressure just right. Truly nothing to complain about.

Under those experienced kneading motions, the originally faint pain faded, and his mind cleared up somewhat. Xiao Teng immediately said: “Alright, go do your work.”

Hearing this, Rong Liu withdrew his hands, then said: “I’ve finished my work…”

“…”

Not just ordinarily efficient. “Then go sit somewhere else.”

Rong Liu smiled: “Alright.”

Newly recovered from a minor illness, the young man had already returned to that grinning, invulnerable look.

Xiao Teng sat at his desk working, while Rong Liu sat to one side resting his chin in his hand, watching him.

Xiao Teng’s face was about to go stiff from being watched.

This guy might count as handsome in others’ eyes, but he only found that self satisfied smile on that face incredibly annoying.

Xiao Teng finally could not hold back, and said coldly: “What are you looking at?”

The young man was actually quite frank: “Looking at you.”

“What’s there to look at?”

“I think you’re good looking.”

“…”

He was actually speechless.

That was bad enough, but Rong Liu even dared to ask back: “Hasn’t anyone else ever done this?”

Xiao Teng was practically speechless: “…No one is as bored as you.”

Rong Liu smiled: “This isn’t being bored.”

“…”

Xiao Teng almost followed up with: “Then what is it?” Luckily he stopped himself in time, then said in a deep voice: “Stop looking.”

Rong Liu smiled: “Why?”

“…”

“Just let me look, it’s not like you’ll lose a piece of flesh. Or I’ll stand farther away and watch, without you knowing I’m watching, how about that?”

“…”

Xiao Teng said: “Go farther away.”

He absolutely did not have any emotions like shyness or stage fright. He had been the center of attention countless times, what scene had he not seen.

Only, the feeling of being watched so seriously in private was just too strange. Or rather, too unfamiliar.

That day he went to negotiate another big government cooperation project. This juicy piece of meat had already been half eaten by others, yet Xiao Teng had the ability to pull it right out of their mouths, like pulling a tooth from a tiger’s jaw.

Socially things were not going smoothly, but in business he had always been triumphant. Unstoppable, leaving people no room to fight back.

After finishing the negotiation, he still had to attend an official cocktail party that evening. Xiao Teng was pressed for time and had little patience, so he left the others behind, with only Rong Liu by his side.

Taking the elevator to the underground parking garage, as they were about to get the car, he suddenly felt something odd.

As if announcing the correctness of his intuition, he turned his head and saw a car speeding toward them with clear intent.

Before he could react, the young man beside him had already grabbed him and dodged aside. Even though they moved quickly, both were still heavily grazed, staggering a few steps before steadying themselves.

After the car screeched to a halt, the doors opened and several men got out one after another, aggressive and menacing, steel pipes in hand.

Xiao Teng’s mind went blank for a moment. Instinctively he stepped back, wanting to pull that dead weight sickly weakling behind him.

Who knew Rong Liu had already stepped forward, and before the lead thug could swing his steel pipe, threw an extremely fast and precise punch to the man’s nose, not leaving a single gap, then immediately raised a foot and kicked the man hard in the stomach.

“…”

He moved fast and his strength was clearly considerable. That man’s face was covered in blood, stumbling backward and falling to the ground, unable to get up for the moment.

Xiao Teng was briefly stunned. The remaining few men were coming now. This time he did not waste any more time, quickly picking up the steel pipe the still groaning thug had dropped on the ground, and holding it up before him in time.

The feeling of steel pipes colliding made his arm slightly numb, his mind a bit chaotic for a moment.

These people were murderous and had a clear target, ultimately different from a business person like him who only knew bloodless methods.

Xiao Teng kept his composure, not panicking before this burly man, managing to fend him off and not get hit. Only he could not help but think, could Rong Liu handle those few?

The burly man facing him was full of killing intent, aiming for his face, when he was suddenly struck from behind, not even making a sound before falling forward.

Rong Liu, standing behind him, stepped on the man’s back, delivered another hard blow, then threw away the steel pipe in his hand and said: “Go!”

Several of the men were injured to varying degrees, but those who could still move made as if to surround them. Xiao Teng did not think much. He completely trusted Rong Liu’s judgment, and immediately without any delay sprinted toward his own car.

Rong Liu got in the car first, pulled him in, then closed the door and started the engine. Xiao Teng watched Rong Liu grip the steering wheel and, without hesitation, step hard on the gas toward those men.

The fierce expression on the young man’s face startled Xiao Teng, and he quickly pressed down on his hand: “Rong Liu!”

They did not successfully hit anyone, as those people scattered and fled in all directions. Rong Liu cursed, stopped fighting, and quickly turned the car to drive out of the garage.

The car drove on the road for a stretch, both still breathing hard, not knowing if from the running earlier or from the shock.

The fighting skills in that brawl seemed like a brief burst that had exhausted his strength. Rong Liu’s face looked excessively pale, his breathing rapid.

Xiao Teng saw the large bruise on his arm, and his pants were torn with a gash, blood seeping out.

Rong Liu noticed his gaze, also looked down at his own leg, and said: “Uh, dear, I’m bleeding.”

Xiao Teng’s heart beat faster, but he kept a straight face: “What’s a little bleeding worth, is this something to brag about?”

“No, I don’t stop bleeding easily. If I bleed too much and die, it’ll cause you trouble.”

Xiao Teng was startled again inside, but said: “How can you be so…”

Rong Liu smiled: “Useless, right?”

He said it like that, and Xiao Teng was momentarily at a loss for words.

“So let’s go to the hospital first.”

Did that even need to be said?

Xiao Teng could only say: “At least be careful, don’t get yourself killed.”

Rong Liu said: “Can’t help it, no matter what I have to protect you.”

“…”

The two quickly went to the hospital and got the wounds treated. On the way, Xiao Teng had already made a phone call, telling people to get this matter figured out, clean up the mess, and he would not attend the evening cocktail party.

When they finally got home, they were greeted by a wave of fuss from the household.

Xiao Teng had more or less recovered. He was fine. Rong Liu had some injuries, but they were all superficial, and they could basically be said to have gotten away unscathed. Rather, those other guys had it worse.

Thinking back, he also felt some fear. He had been too careless this time.

If he had not happened to have Rong Liu with him, the outcome would really be hard to say. What would have happened would entirely depend on what those people’s goal was.

He might have just died.

So to some extent, Rong Liu was his…

“Dear…”

Xiao Teng looked up from his newspaper, expressionlessly looking at the young man half reclining on the sofa in his room, looking all fragile.

“Could you get me a glass of water?”

Xiao Teng poured water for him, then said: “If there’s anything else that wasn’t dealt with, anything uncomfortable, remember to say so.”

After all, the Rong family had entrusted this precious only son here to recuperate. If people found out he had nearly been beaten to death following him around, this matter really would not settle down easily.

Even with Xiao Teng’s heart of steel, he felt slightly guilty about Rong Liu getting hurt for his sake.

The young man suddenly said: “My toe hurts…”

“…What?”

“I kicked too hard, seems like I might have injured my big toe.”

“…”

Rong Liu put his foot on Xiao Teng’s leg, looking at him with pure innocence: “Could you massage my injured toe for me?”

Xiao Teng looked at that unexpectedly fair and clean foot, and said: “Wouldn’t it be easier to just chop it off?”

Rong Liu’s face went pale with shock: “Don’t abuse me, please don’t chop off my big toe!”

Hearing him beg for mercy so easily, Xiao Teng felt a previously unprecedented surge of pleasure rise in his heart.

Rong Liu said pitifully: “Or else I won’t be able to wear flip flops anymore.”

“…”

Xiao Teng just wanted to bash him to death with a crystal glass.

“Speaking of which, who was behind this, did you find out?”

Xiao Teng flipped through his newspaper: “Not yet, but soon.”

“Aren’t you curious who wants to go after you?”

Xiao Teng’s eyebrows furrowed slightly: “What’s there to be curious about? There are plenty of people who want me dead.”

“Why?”

“…They hate me.”

Rong Liu asked again: “Oh? Is that so? Why?”

“…Because I’m a bad person.”

“Ah…” Rong Liu pressed against a pillow on the sofa, propping up his cheek, “How surprising, you have quite good self awareness.”

“…”

Xiao Teng neither confirmed nor denied, not even moving an eyebrow.

“I thought you would speak ill of them. Looks like you not only have a correct understanding of yourself, but also the courage to admit it. Dear, I admire you even more.”

Xiao Teng gave a slight hum, unmoved, continuing to read his newspaper.

After reading the newspaper front to back, the young man still showed no intention of leaving. Xiao Teng said: “If there’s nothing else, go to sleep.”

Rong Liu sighed, stood up, and slowly walked toward the door.

He not only walked slowly, but deliberately walked with a pitiful limp, making Xiao Teng want to break his leg.

Xiao Teng said coldly: “You like being a cripple that much? Want me to help you out?”

Rong Liu showed a frightened expression: “Oh my god, dear, is this how you treat people who are good to you? No wonder no one dares to want you.”

Then he patted his chest and laughed: “But I’m not afraid, I’ll take you.”

“…Get out.”

After dawdling along for a stretch, he seemed to trip on something, very vividly and naturally “accidentally” falling onto Xiao Teng’s bed.

“Ouch…”

“…”

“I’m so tired, just let me rest here a bit.”

Xiao Teng went over with a dark face and grabbed him by the collar.

“Go back to your own room.”

Rong Liu rolled around, like a cat begging for affection: “No…”

Xiao Teng gritted his teeth and grabbed him by the back of the neck to throw him out, and he flopped all over the bed.

“No no no…”

“Out.”

Rong Liu said: “Dear, I’m injured, can’t I get gentler treatment?”

Xiao Teng showed no mercy, bending down to grab the young man’s shoulders with both hands, ruthlessly wanting to throw this guy out the door.

The moment he applied force, unexpectedly Rong Liu suddenly moved to pin his arm, using the momentum to flip over, and pressed him down beneath him.

Xiao Teng’s heart jumped in alarm. Without much thought, he quickly used his elbow to press hard against the young man’s chest, to make him lose his strength.

The two were very close, close enough to feel each other’s breath. In this maddeningly close confrontation, Rong Liu seemed to smile and sigh: “Dear, like this, I’m going to die.”

Xiao Teng was about to fly into a rage, but there was nothing he could do, so he only pressed his elbow harder against his chest, then heard Rong Liu say: “I really am going to die.”

The young man’s voice still held a smile, but his face had gone blue.

Xiao Teng suddenly remembered what Old Doctor Su had said: “Rong Liu’s poor health is real.”

At that moment he was slightly startled, but his face showed no change, only calmly asking: “What’s wrong with you now.”

Rong Liu smiled: “My heart isn’t very good. So I can’t take too much external impact…”

“…”

Damn it.

Xiao Teng immediately gave up the confrontation, let go and got up: “Should I call Old Doctor Su?”

Curses aside, if this guy died in his place, the trouble would be more than ordinary.

“No need…” Rong Liu lay on his back, eyes closed, gasping: “Let me rest a bit first.”

Xiao Teng only felt speechless, and at a loss.

Seriously.

Was there any way to throw a guy full of weak points out, without injuring him?

Sometimes brave and invincible, sometimes fragile beyond belief. What kind of attribute was this guy anyway? A jade hammer?

The young man lay motionless on his dark colored bedsheets, his skin looking even fairer, an unhealthy, fragile translucence.

Xiao Teng watched from the side, somewhat wondering if he might pass away at any moment.

After quite a while, the young man slowly opened his eyes, then looked at him, smiled and said: “Dear, just let me sleep here tonight.”

Xiao Teng said firmly: “Get lost.”

“The floor is fine too.”

“…”

“I just want to be closer to you.”

“…”

“Isn’t it too pitiful for an injured person to be alone?”

“…”

“Or should I call my…”

Xiao Teng said: “Alright, you sleep on that sofa.”

If the Rong family found out Rong Liu was injured, he would be asking for trouble. Although, truth be told, he was not afraid of going up against anyone, but creating unnecessary friction with a powerful ally was clearly not a wise move.

So Rong Liu really did sleep on the sofa, quite contentedly wrapped in a blanket.

For a moment, Xiao Teng slightly wondered if he was being too heartless.

But he immediately dropped that bit of reflection.

Willing to hit, willing to take it. There were comfortable places to sleep but he insisted on curling up on the sofa, wasn’t that Rong Liu asking for it himself.

Who else could he blame.

Right.

The next morning, his biological clock woke him before the alarm again. Xiao Teng got up and dressed, then said to the tightly wrapped cocoon on the sofa: “Time to get up.”

After a few seconds, the young man poked out his young, messy haired head from the blanket, smiling sleepily: “Good morning.”

“Going to work today, or resting?”

Rong Liu immediately said: “I’m fine. I’ll go to the company with you.”

Setting aside certain aspects, he truly appreciated a helper like Rong Liu.

“Forget it, you rest at home for a day.”

No matter what, Rong Liu was injured, so he should symbolically rest a bit, lest a group of people see the bruises on this guy’s hand and make a big fuss again.

He also should not be too harsh, using someone too hard all at once, after all this was Rong Liu.

As for himself, of course he would go to work come hell or high water.

Before leaving, Xiao Teng paused, then said: “About yesterday, thank you.”

Rong Liu smiled: “You’re welcome.”

“I don’t owe you a favor.”

The young man looked at him: “Oh?”

Xiao Teng said: “You can make a request. I’ll consider it depending on the situation.” Then he immediately warned: “Don’t go overboard.”

Rong Liu widened his eyes and said: “Let me think…”

“I’m going to eat breakfast, you take your time thinking.”

Before he even walked out the door, he heard Rong Liu say behind him: “I thought of what I want!”

“…”

Xiao Teng turned around, expressionlessly: “What?”

He was prepared. If Rong Liu dared to say anything improper, he would immediately reward him with a punch.

Rong Liu said: “Can we watch a movie together tonight?”

Xiao Teng frowned: “What?”

“Watch a movie.”

“…”

“I mean the two of us going to watch a movie together.”

“…”

This was completely not the type of request he had anticipated.

Xiao Teng looked at the serious faced young man for a moment, then said: “Whatever you want.”

The young man smiled, simply brilliant as spring flowers.

“Then do you have any particular movie you want to see?”

“Doesn’t matter. Don’t want to see any of them.”

Rong Liu smiled: “Alright, then I’ll go book the tickets.”

“…Up to you.”

“Once it’s settled I’ll tell you the showtime, we’ll meet at the cinema entrance, okay?”

“…No difference.”

The young man seemed quite excited, practically happy enough to spin in circles.

What the hell. He really did not understand these young people.

That afternoon at work, he suddenly received a phone call.

Xiao Teng frowned at the phone number, then answered: “What is it.”

“Mr. Xiao, there’s news of Ling Mei.”

Xiao Teng suddenly went rigid all over.

For a brief few seconds, his ears were buzzing.

That name exploded in his ear like a thunderclap, giving his eardrums a faint pain.

When that buzzing faded, he heard the person say again: “She’s in T City right now.” The private detective he had hired to track down Ling Mei’s whereabouts, most of the time he felt the other person was just collecting a paycheck for nothing. But now, the voice on the other end of the phone sounded impossibly real.

“I have her current address and contact information, Mr. Xiao. Do you plan to see her?”

Xiao Teng stood at the entrance of the coffee shop in his suit and tie. Before pushing open the door, he involuntarily did something very unfitting for who he was now, something very childish. He straightened his tie.

He had never been this nervous.

He had even once thought he would never be nervous in this lifetime.

Yet he was so tense, so at a loss, practically like a greenhorn kid just starting out.

Pushing open the door, he slowly stepped inside. He was very careful, very cautious, as if afraid of waking from a dream.

The woman sitting by the window, her back was still so graceful, slender, serene. She still wore her hair in a bun, dressed in the qipao she had always liked, the half of her snow white neck showing from the collar. To him, this back view had once contained all the beauty in the world.

He felt his throat go a bit dry.

He called out to her: “Ling…”

The woman turned her head.

Like the hundreds of times she had turned in his dreams.

A gentle face, a shallow dimple when she smiled.

She was actually no longer young, but in his eyes she was still beautiful. Time had only left faint traces on her. She was just as elegant, charming, and elusive as he remembered.

She said: “Xiao Teng?”

“Mm…”

Ling Mei smiled: “You’ve grown taller, and grown up.”

“…”

He was already in his thirties, yet before her, in her heart, he was still like the youth he had been.

He sat down across from her, and she spoke again: “I heard you’ve been looking for me?”

“Mm…”

“Why are you looking for me?”

Xiao Teng said: “…How have you been?”

Ling Mei smiled slightly: “Me, I’ve always been fine. And you?”

“I’m fine too.”

After a moment of silence, he nearly blurted out: “I got married later… had a few children.”

“Oh…” Ling Mei smiled, “That’s good.”

“Then got divorced later.”

He waited for her reaction, but Ling Mei only remained quiet, not asking much, and said: “That’s a shame.”

“…”

For a moment Xiao Teng did not know what to say.

It seemed all words were inappropriate, some too frivolous, some too dull, some meaningless, some too heavy.

Ling Mei lowered her head slightly, stirred the coffee in her cup, then said: “To be honest, I don’t know why you came to find me.”

“…”

She spoke very gently, her voice soft, but with a kind of distant coldness.

Xiao Teng said: “I have never… been able to forget you.”

Ling Mei looked at him, still with that shallow, perfectly measured beautiful smile.

“We separated back then because we couldn’t make our own decisions.”

“…”

“And now it’s different.”

Yes, to some extent, he was free now, and strong enough. He might be able to get back some things he had never been able to let go of.

Ling Mei suddenly said indifferently: “Actually, nothing is different.”

“…”

She turned the sparkling ring on her ring finger, and said: “If we’re talking about what’s different between you and me, it’s that I did not get divorced.”

Xiao Teng averted his gaze, and said: “That’s not a problem.”

Ling Mei sighed almost inaudibly: “Poor thing.”

“What?”

“How can you be so foolish.”

“…”

“Do you think, back then, I truly loved you?”

“…”

“Don’t be silly.”

“…”

“It was for the money.”

“…”

“I knew they would spare no expense to make me leave you. The Xiao family has always been generous.”

“…”

“I just never imagined you would hold on to it for so many years.”

She looked at him with slightly pitying eyes: “It’s all in the past, don’t think about it anymore.”

Xiao Teng could not quite remember when he walked out of the shop. The overcast weather when he arrived was now pouring rain.

He did not use an umbrella, walking directly into the pouring curtain of rain, with an indifferent, fearless posture, striding toward the car his driver had parked by the roadside.

He had been wrong.

Turns out no one had ever truly loved him.

He could hear the sound of the rain, the sound of his own heartbeat, all sounds becoming unreasonably clear.

He was as tall and powerful as ever, nothing could shake him.

He pulled open the car door and got in. The distracted driver only then noticed his arrival, startled, and hurriedly asked: “Mr. Xiao, where to now?”

After a while, he said: “Anywhere.”

“…”

The derelict driver did not dare ask more, and drove off in the rain.

The car drove aimlessly on the road. Xiao Teng sat straight backed, expressionless.

He looked out the car window, the people coming and going in the rain, fleeting by, like ants. All kinds of shallow flashy backgrounds, boring light box ads, huge cinema posters…

He suddenly remembered that Rong Liu had said he would wait for him.

And he had completely forgotten.

Coming back to himself, he said to the driver: “Go to Jinyi Cinema.”

A downpour had driven away the people shopping and strolling on the streets, and the cinema entrance was quite sparse and deserted. But Xiao Teng saw someone standing there from far away.

The eaves were somewhat shelter from the rain, but because the wind was strong, hiding here still meant getting drenched head to face.

So the young man was soaking wet, his appearance slightly disheveled.

Seeing him approach, the young man slowly widened his eyes, showing a bright and brilliant smile even in the rain, then said: “You came.”

“…”

“I thought you didn’t want to come.”

Xiao Teng held an umbrella, standing a few steps away from the young man.

He did not really want to approach, nor did he plan to say much. His heart was completely indifferent.

“The tickets I bought earlier expired, let’s buy new ones now. What do you want to watch?”

Xiao Teng said: “Let’s go back.”

“…”

The young man looked at him, then suddenly said: “Xiao Teng.”

“…”

“I’m sincere.”

“…”

“Really.”

“…”

“Maybe you don’t believe it, but before this, I’ve never tried to be serious about anyone.”

“…”

“So I don’t have much experience.”

“…”

“Maybe the beginning between us wasn’t good, and you don’t like it.”

“…”

“But I’ll give you a better future.”

“…”

“I’m serious.”

Xiao Teng looked expressionlessly at this young man. That overly fair face, wet and cold, those pitch black eyes, unfathomably deep, yet also seeming like they could ignite at any moment.

This time he said: “Come here.”