Chapter 3Â
It was late at night, and the activity around the swimming pool had also ceased.
The doctor, Dr. Xu, who had been called by phone, stood at the villa’s doorstep, yawning.
The next moment, he stretched and became energetic again.
With a twenty-fold salary, there was no grumpiness about being woken up in the middle of the night.
Dr. Xu pressed the doorbell, and the villa door opened a few seconds later.
The one opening the door was not the butler, but his employer – Yan Shiting.
“Mr. Yan Shiting,” Dr. Xu greeted with a smile.
“Mm.” Yan Shiting was as cold as ever.
In the dim light of the living room, Dr. Xu vaguely noticed a bite mark on Yan Shiting’s collarbone.
He paused for a moment, but his professional ethics quickly made him avert his gaze.
Yan Shiting led Dr. Xu upstairs, to Yu Li’s room.
At the moment, Yu Li was buried in the bedding, already deeply asleep from exhaustion.
His soft black hair was slightly disheveled, his thin eyelids flushed, and his lashes still glistening with moisture, appearing even thicker.
Yan Shiting approached the bedside and gently extracted one of Yu Li’s arms from the blanket.
“He was drugged with two substances tonight. Draw some blood to test for any remaining drug residues and check if it will have any impact on his health.”
This was the most Dr. Xu had ever heard his employer say.
He hesitated for a moment, then quickly regained his composure and took out the equipment to draw blood from Yu Li.
Dr. Xu’s movements were gentle, but Yu Li still let out a soft hum when the needle pierced his skin.
The next moment, Dr. Xu felt an icy gaze on him.
He swallowed, doing his best to maintain a composed expression as he finished the blood draw.
Afterward, Dr. Xu subtly let out a sigh of relief.
However, immediately after, he saw Yan Shiting extend his arm, “And me.”
Dr. Xu: “…”
Two people drugged, the bite mark on the employer’s collarbone.
It seemed he had discovered some earth-shattering secret.
Dr. Xu wiped the nonexistent cold sweat from his forehead and took out a new set of equipment, efficiently drawing Yan Shiting’s blood as well.
“I’ll send these to the hospital for testing right away, and the results will be available by morning.”
Dr. Xu packed up the medical kit, then hesitated and took out a tube of antibiotic ointment.
“Ahem, Mr. Yan Shiting, the antibiotic ointment, or else the person may develop a fever.”
Yan Shiting seemed to pause for a moment, then nodded and took the ointment. When sending Dr. Xu off, he also handed him the ice bucket to be tested along with the blood samples.
…
Yu Li woke up to the chirping of birds.
His head and eyelids were heavy, accompanied by a sore back and an indescribable pain.
After much effort, he finally managed to open his eyes, only to be startled by the strikingly handsome face so close to him, and quickly shut them again.
Yan Shiting!Â
Why was he lying on the same bed as Yan Shiting?!
In a flash, some scenes from last night suddenly surfaced in his mind.
He had gotten drunk, Yan Shiting had brought him back to the room, they had drunk some more, he had looked at Yan Shiting’s Adam’s apple, and then…
Bad news, he had a drunken one-night stand.
Worse news, he was the one who initiated it, and the person he jumped was someone who didn’t like him very much.
Recalling the rumors about Yan Shiting and Yan Shiting’s cold gaze when he had warned him, Yu Li couldn’t help but shudder.
He had pondered the reasons why Yan Shiting would warn him like that – it could either be because of his family background, or because Yan Shiting disliked homosexuality and didn’t want his beloved brother to be pursued by a homosexual.
Both possibilities were quite plausible.
And now, having been slept with by this homosexual he disliked, when Yan Shiting woke up, would he… silence him?
Silencing him would be too extreme, but it’s hard to say he won’t retaliate.
Yu Li’s face turned pale, and he cautiously opened his eyes again.
Yan Shiting was still sleeping, his brows relaxed, his breathing steady.
Yu Li let out a sigh of relief.
If he hasn’t woken up yet, he can make an escape first.
Yu Li carefully got up from the bed, but accidentally pulled something, letting out a soft hiss.
He turned to search for his clothes, and upon seeing the scattered, intertwined pile of clothes by the bed, his face flushed again.
He didn’t dare to think too much about it, quickly put on his clothes, and quietly slipped away on his weak legs.
When he went downstairs, Yu Li saw the butler hurriedly heading upstairs, seemingly looking for something.
He didn’t give it a second glance and, ignoring the discomfort, quickly ran out of the manor and took a taxi to leave.
–
What Yu Li didn’t know was that the moment he gently closed the door, Yan Shiting had already opened his eyes, his gaze clear and lucid.
Soon, Yan Shiting sat up, looking at the messy pillows and blankets beside him.
The lingering warmth of a person’s body was still there.
Yan Shiting retracted his gaze and pinched the bridge of his nose.
He got up, put on the robe by the bed, and just as he was about to return to the third floor, he ran into the descending butler.
The butler’s forehead was beaded with sweat, and upon seeing Yan Shiting, he quickly heaved a sigh of relief: “Mr. Yan, I finally found you.”
The butler hesitated for a moment, then said, “The security guard caught a suspicious person in your room, and after checking the surveillance, we found that he had put something in the ice bucket.”
He paused for a while, then guiltily added, “It was my negligence.”
He was in charge of the security management, and usually patrolled the villa. But after Yan Shiting returned last night, to avoid disturbing him, he had made fewer trips upstairs.
Yan Shiting’s steps faltered slightly.
He frowned, then turned and headed towards another guest room on the second floor.
“It’s not your fault.”
His room was usually locked, but last night when he went downstairs, he hadn’t locked it, allowing that person to sneak in – it wasn’t entirely the butler’s negligence.
“Bring a new set of toiletries, have the housekeeper go up and clean the room, throw away anything that needs to be discarded.”
“Bring the person to the living room and wait there. Oh, and – go wake up Yan Sui and have him come to the living room as well.”
Hearing his icy instructions, the butler’s heart, which had been in his throat, slowly settled back down.
“Yes, sir.”
The party ended after 2 AM, and Yan Sui had only been asleep for a little over 4 hours.
After being woken up by the butler, he dawdled a bit before finishing his grooming, yawning as he went downstairs.
As soon as he reached the living room, his elder brother had already descended the stairs, impeccably dressed.
Yan Sui looked at the two familiar faces sitting glumly in the living room – one was his childhood friend Shen Rui, the other was Qi Jia, whom he had met a few times in their circle.
He then looked at his grim-faced elder brother, puzzled: “What’s going on, brother?”
Yan Shiting sat down on the sofa, coldly saying, “Show him the surveillance footage.”
Yan Sui, looking quite bewildered, took the tablet the butler handed him and watched for a while, then his eyes widened.
The footage showed Shen Rui persistently urging Yu Li to drink, and when Yu Li turned to look at the balcony, Shen Rui took a small plastic bag from his shirt pocket, took out a small blue pill from it, and dropped it into the cup of alcohol he then handed to Yu Li.
Yan Sui angrily slammed down the tablet. “Shen Rui! At my party, you did this to my friend?!”
Shen Rui trembled at being yelled at.Â
“Alvin, I…” he started to speak, but upon seeing Yan Shiting’s cold gaze behind the gold-rimmed glasses, he didn’t dare say anything more.
“What drug did you put in?” Yan Sui pressed further.
Shen Rui quickly replied, “It’s a mild stimulant, with minimal side effects. Alvin, I really haven’t done anything yet, but Mr. Yan Shiting just…”
Mr. Yan Shiting had already taken the person away.
Before he could finish, Yan Shiting spoke: “Take care of your friend yourself.”
Yan Sui clenched his fists, then suddenly stood up, grabbing Shen Rui by the collar and dragging him out.
After the two left, Yan Shiting’s gaze slowly fell on the remaining Qi Jia.
“Who are you?” His voice was devoid of any emotion.
Qi Jia trembled, then finally looked up at Yan Shiting.
“I-I’m Qi Jia, Mr. Yan Shiting.”
The butler supplemented, “The younger son of Qi Shengyuan, the chairman of Shenguan Real Estate.”
Qi Jia’s eyes were hopeful. “Mr. Yan Shiting, do you still remember me?”
The butler glared at him, quickly explaining the situation.
Last night, after learning that Yan Shiting had someone come get the alcohol, Qi Jia had approached the ice bucket and drugged it. Ten minutes later, he sneaked up to Yan Shiting’s third-floor room, saw that Yan Shiting was not there, and stripped off his clothes to wait on the bed.
But to his surprise, Yan Shiting never came back, and this morning he was caught red-handed by the housekeeper, Mr. He, who was in charge of the residents’ daily life.
Yan Shiting listened without responding, only opening his phone to look at the lab report sent by Dr. Xu.
Fortunately, Yu Li and his blood test results were normal.
The drug found in the ice bucket was a newly developed foreign drug, specifically for people with that kind of disorder. It took effect quickly and strongly, but also metabolized quickly in the body with minimal side effects, which was why it was widely popular on the market.
Perhaps wary of carrying out such an act on the Yan Shiting family’s property, Shen Rui and Qi Jia hadn’t dared to use any illegal drugs.
Yan Shiting turned off his phone screen.
He lifted his gaze, his eyes icy cold as they fell on Qi Jia. “Take him to the police station.”
The butler responded, “Yes, sir.”
Qi Jia’s face turned deathly pale. “Mr. Yan Shiting, I’m sorry, it was my mistake. Please don’t send me to the police station, my father will kill me if he finds out.”
The butler sneered, calling the security guards over. “You had the nerve to drug someone, but no courage to face the consequences?”
The security guards quickly took Qi Jia away, and the living room fell silent.
Yan Shiting closed his eyes, tapping his fingers lightly on his leg.
After a few minutes, Yan Sui returned, his head hung low.
He sat down on the sofa, unable to fully accept that the friend he had grown up with could do such a thing.
And last night was the first time he had hosted a party on his own, but two such disastrous incidents had occurred.
His good friend was drugged, and his brother had also…
From the sofa across, Yan Shiting spoke up in a detached tone, “Knowing he was your childhood friend, Yu Li trusted him just as you did.”
Yan Sui trembled, “Brother, it’s my fault.”
Yan Shiting opened his eyes, looking at the younger brother he had raised himself.
“Yan Sui,” he called his name in an unusually icy tone, “I’ve never interfered with your social life, but you should learn to better screen the friends around you.”
Yan Sui pressed his lips tightly together.
He nodded solemnly, “I understand, brother.”
…
On the other side, after returning to his rented studio, Yu Li was so exhausted that he collapsed on the bed and slept for a long time.
It wasn’t until the afternoon that he was awakened by the ringing of his own phone.
The call was from his mother.
Anxiously, his mother asked over the phone, “Li’er, why did you send so much money? Do you have enough for your living expenses?”
A few days ago, Yu Li had received his wages from the restaurant where he worked a summer job, and he had sent some money back home.
Previously, he had also worked part-time jobs during school breaks, but the money was only enough for his tuition and living expenses. This was the first time he had sent money back home.
Yu Li shook his head, feeling a bit more energetic.
He spoke gently, “It’s enough. The restaurant provides two meals, so I don’t spend much. And the wages at the high-end restaurant are much higher than the part-time jobs I’ve had before.”
His mother’s voice relaxed, “That’s good, that’s good.”
Yu Li continued, “Mom, Xin’xin said she wanted to buy a bicycle last time she called. Please take her to buy a good one, so she can ride to school in the mornings and sleep in a bit more.”
“It’s hot now, don’t be stingy with the electricity, turn on the air conditioning if you need to, be careful not to get heatstroke.”
“Okay, I know. Don’t worry about us, just take care of yourself.”
Yu Li’s eyes became moist, and he nodded, “Okay, I know all that.”
In the cramped studio, Yu Li huddled on the bed, letting the electric fan blow on him as he chatted with his family for a long time.
It wasn’t until his stomach started growling that he finally hung up the phone.
He got up and cooked a bowl of noodles. After turning on the stove, the temperature in the room rose, and the single electric fan was not enough. By the time he finished eating, he was already sweating profusely.
Yu Li rested for a while, then went to the bathroom to take a shower.
After undressing, he saw the marks on his body and blushed again.
He hurried through the shower and ran back to the bed to lie down.
As he lay there, sleepiness overcame him again.
In his half-awake, half-asleep state, some scenes from last night resurfaced in his mind.
He remembered his waist being gripped, and he had tilted his head up to see Yan Shiting’s handsome face, with that look of desire.
Yan Shiting’s forehead was beaded with sweat, the droplets flinging off with his movements.
The next moment, a bead of sweat slid down his cheek, falling onto Yu Li’s eyelashes…
“!!”
Yu Li suddenly sat up.
His small face flushed red as he covered it, silently screaming.
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