Chapter 36: The Incompetent and Malicious Ex-Boyfriend
Shen Ci had just stood up when Pei Ye’s voice rang out, sharp and cold. “You want to leave? I haven’t agreed yet!”
He idly toyed with the jade thumb ring on his hand, his gaze shifting to Wu Mu. He spoke in a slow, deliberate drawl. “Wu Mu, you’re openly trying to snatch someone from my hands…”
Wu Mu had long been familiar with Pei Ye’s volatile temper. He didn’t waste words, merely giving a flat “Mm” before looking him in the eye. “Speak. What do you want?”
“The profit distribution for the venues in the west city—I want an increase of… thirty percent on the current basis”. Pei Ye raised an eyebrow at Wu Mu. “How about it?”
Wu Mu glanced at him, his tone unreadable. “Pei Ye, your appetite is a bit too large”.
Pei Ye leaned back in his chair, his posture lazy yet arrogant. A playful smirk curled his lips. “Isn’t he worth that much?”
He was deliberately making an exorbitant demand. If Wu Mu wanted to protect the boy, he had to pay a price; as for how much, that depended entirely on whether Wu Mu was willing to yield.
Shen Ci’s heart, which had just begun to settle, surged back into his throat as he listened to their exchange. From their conversation, it seemed a thirty percent profit share was an enormous amount of money.
Why would Wu Mu sacrifice so much profit to help him? It was fundamentally impossible. Either the man had lost his mind, or he was some kind of peerless saint.
Clearly, neither assumption held water.
A brief silence fell over the room, the air seemingly thickening.
After a moment, Wu Mu spoke calmly. “Pei Ye, twenty percent”.
Pei Ye narrowed his eyes, mentally cursing Wu Mu for being a hypocrite. The man claimed to have no interest in Shen Ci, yet his true colors were revealed the moment he was tested.
Still, he couldn’t refuse to give Wu Mu this face. “Deal,” he said, albeit with a trace of reluctance.
Before Shen Ci could even process what had happened, Wu Mu turned to him, his tone slightly gentler. “Didn’t you say you had things to do? You may go”.
Shen Ci snapped back to reality and hurriedly bowed in thanks. “Thank you, CEO Wu. I’ll be going then”.
After receiving a slight nod from Wu Mu, Shen Ci left the private booth as fast as his legs could carry him.
Once the door clicked shut again, Pei Ye let out a mocking laugh.
“No interest in him? Willing to give up twenty percent of the profits? I didn’t realize Boss Wu had become such a philanthropic humanitarian. You should be the one sitting on the pedestal at Leshan Giant Buddha”.
Pei Ye reached for a cigarette and lit it. He took a deep drag and slowly exhaled the smoke, his undisguised mockery still visible through the haze.
Wu Mu didn’t look at him. He kept his eyes downcast, his eyelashes casting a shallow shadow over his face. He idly turned his cigarette between his fingers, the ash fluttering into the crystal ashtray in front of him.
After a few seconds, he spat out a cold sentence. “He already has a boyfriend”.
“Heh~” Pei Ye chuckled, his tone dismissive. “What does having a boyfriend matter? Just make him break up”.
He leaned forward slightly and tapped the table twice with his finger. “To be honest, I’m quite interested in him”.
Wu Mu’s fingers paused. He then ruthlessly crushed his cigarette out in the ashtray.
“Pei Ye,” he said, his tone deepening with a hint of a warning. “He isn’t the type of person you can just play around with. Put these thoughts away. If you really want a man, I’ll find a few for you another day”.
Pei Ye was momentarily choked. “I didn’t plan on just playing around. I really am interested in him. Don’t send anyone else to me; I don’t care for them”.
“Even if you’re interested, you can’t force people. We live in a society ruled by law”. Wu Mu stood up and walked over to press the service bell. “Let’s stop talking about him. Time to eat”.
Pei Ye extinguished his own cigarette with a cold face. He watched Wu Mu’s back, his mind perfectly clear. He knew Wu Mu was determined to protect Shen Ci.
The moment Shen Ci stepped out of the private booth, he felt like he had just survived a catastrophe.
In his mind, he called out to the System again, wanting to ask exactly what was going on. Surely the System wasn’t intentionally messing with him?
Still, there was no response. The System’s sudden disappearance made Shen Ci frown.
After a moment’s thought, he decided to call Ye Xi first to see where he was and if there was still a chance to “catch him in the act”.
However, as soon as the call was placed, a cold, electronic voice came through the receiver. “The number you have dialed is currently powered off…”
Shen Ci’s frown deepened. A vague, uneasy premonition began to surface in his heart.
He stood there for a moment before putting his phone away. He eventually decided to just go home and wait to get back in touch with the System.
It was nearly eight o’clock by the time Shen Ci arrived home.
After showering, he lay on the sofa watching his favorite eight o’clock soap opera, but his mind wasn’t on the television.
After hesitating for a long time, he couldn’t help but pull out his phone and dial Ye Xi again.
It was still powered off.
Shen Ci felt a growing sense of unease. Usually, Ye Xi kept his phone on twenty-four hours a day. Why would it suddenly be off today?
This abnormal behavior made Shen Ci worry if something had happened to him. Of course, in Shen Ci’s view, it was only natural to worry about a roommate he lived with; it definitely didn’t mean anything else.
The clock was nearing eleven when Shen Ci’s phone suddenly rang in the quiet living room.
Shen Ci jumped and quickly grabbed it to look.
It was a call from Ming Yanzhou. He had thought it might be Ye Xi.
“Hello—”
“Shen-ge, do you have time right now? Can you come to the south district hospital?” Ming Yanzhou’s voice was low and carried a trace of exhaustion.
Shen Ci froze. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Ming Yanzhou glanced at Ye Xi, who was lying on the hospital bed with his entire head wrapped in bandages. He gave a heavy “Mm”. “Something happened to Ye Xi. He just came out of the operating room. If you have—”
Before he could finish, Shen Ci bolted upright from the sofa. His voice was full of shock. “What? What happened to Ye Xi?”
“It’s hard to explain over the phone. Better talk when you get here,” Ming Yanzhou said.
“Fine. Send me the room number. I’m driving over right now”. Shen Ci spoke as he hurried toward his bedroom.
After hanging up, he tossed his phone on the bed, grabbed a random T-shirt and shorts from the closet, and rushed out the door.
The west district hospital was a private institution. Shen Ci checked his GPS; the drive would take over forty minutes.
Fortunately, there was little traffic at that hour. Combined with his anxiety, Shen Ci drove faster than usual and managed to arrive ten minutes early.
After parking, he practically ran into the hospital. Ming Yanzhou had sent a WeChat message saying Ye Xi was in the neurosurgery department on the eighth floor, room 804.
In Room 804, the air felt stagnant. Ming Yanzhou and Jiang Ningyuan sat on the sofa, looking as dejected as frost-bitten eggplants.
Their well-laid plans had gone horribly wrong.
Translator’s Note: Pei Ye is a true “predator” archetype, and it’s interesting to see Wu Mu actually paying a steep price in business profits just to keep Shen Ci safe. In Chinese novels, business “profit distribution” (收益分配) is a very common way to show how high the stakes are.
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