Chapter 1: The Botched Theft
[Author’s Note: Look over here, my darlings! This story is, once again, a dual male lead forced love story. Forced love! The bottom (Shou) will definitely be abused and coerced in the early stages. Extreme Shou-con fans, please stop here; don’t make yourselves upset! Just like the last book, the top (Gong) falls in love with the bottom very early on. But he doesn’t know how to express it and tries to keep his lover by force—chains, basements, and the ‘little black room’ are all in play. Our Shou dares to punch anyone but is terrified only of the Gong. In front of the Gong, he acts like an obedient little puppy, smooth and opportunistic, seeking advantage and avoiding harm. But in his bones, he is incredibly resilient and doesn’t compromise easily. So, the Gong’s “crematorium” journey to win his wife back will burn like a sea of fire before he finally wins the beauty over. Enough talk, get in the car!]
Imperial Capital.
Grand Island Blue Bay International Hotel.
Inside the banquet hall, the atmosphere was bustling and extraordinary.
Tonight, a birthday banquet was being held here.
The Gu family, one of the four great wealthy families of the Imperial Capital, was celebrating the Old Master’s birthday.
It was a dazzling display of wealth and elegance, feasting and revelry. Guests exchanged toasts and chatted cheerfully amidst the fragrant clothes and shadows of hair.
Waiters dressed in stiff, wine-red uniforms busied themselves in the banquet hall, providing the highest quality service.
Among them was a young waiter with a particularly outstanding appearance who attracted the intentional and unintentional gazes of many guests around him.
His name tag read: “Qin Wan.”
He looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old.
His features were exquisite and handsome.
Especially those extremely beautiful fox eyes—his pupils were clear and black, looking gentle, lively, and playful all at once.
His thick, soft hair was cut in a textured fringe that had grown a bit long, with a few strands hanging down to cover his brow bone.
It was a face both obedient and beautiful.
He maintained an approachable smile as he wove through the crowd.
However, no one knew that the pockets beneath Qin Wan’s work uniform were currently stuffed to the bursting point.
Ten minutes ago, he had found an excuse to slip into the back kitchen.
Taking advantage of the chefs being busy, he stole a packet of white truffles, a box of two-headed South African abalone, and a small bag of top-tier cordyceps.
He grabbed them and ran.
He planned to leave the hotel immediately, find a place to hide the goods first, and then come back to serve the banquet.
Unknowingly, unconsciously.
Thinking that the things in his pocket could be sold for a lot of money, enough to pay back a portion of the debt he owed those people, Qin Wan felt happy. The smile on his pretty little face deepened.
However, his happiness didn’t last more than three seconds.
At the end of the corridor, two men wearing chef uniforms ran over.
“Hey! He’s over there!”
“Quick, don’t let him get away!”
The smile on Qin Wan’s face froze instantly.
He didn’t expect to be discovered so quickly.
He turned and ran.
He certainly didn’t want to be caught red-handed with the stolen goods; that would be huge trouble.
The corridor was currently empty, as the guests were all over in the banquet hall.
Qin Wan took to his heels, running so fast he left an afterimage.
The two chubby chefs actually found it quite strenuous to chase him.
But just as Qin Wan ran to the corner of the corridor, completely caught off guard, an elderly man walked out from the blind spot of the turn.
It was too late to dodge.
Due to inertia, Qin Wan’s body slammed heavily into the old man.
“Ah—” the old man cried out in alarm, falling backward.
Four or five bodyguards in black, who were following a few steps behind the old man, quickly ran up.
Qin Wan wanted to run back the way he came, but the two chefs chasing him had already arrived.
And so, in the corridor, Qin Wan was surrounded by seven or eight people.
Some of the black-clad bodyguards supported the old man, while others rushed toward Qin Wan.
“Who are you? You dare to crash into our Old Master? Are you tired of living?” the lead bodyguard shouted angrily.
Panting heavily, one of the chefs said, “This kid slipped into the back kitchen and stole our high-end ingredients!”
Qin Wan’s fair, handsome face was now flushed red.
“No, I didn’t…”
He was panicked inside.
Although he fought often, the other side had superior numbers right now.
It was impossible for him to gain the upper hand.
Three burly men, over 1.9 meters tall and well-trained, pounced on him.
Without time to think, Qin Wan instinctively raised his leg and kicked.
His movement was fast and ruthless, landing a square kick on the lower abdomen of one of the big guys.
The big guy yelped, stumbling back several steps and hitting the wall.
But being outnumbered was inevitable.
The other two who pounced firmly twisted Qin Wan’s arms.
During the desperate struggle, his suit jacket was torn off, and the stolen goods in Qin Wan’s pockets spilled all over the floor.
The chef started shouting, “Look! Let’s see what you have to say now!”
At this moment, the bodyguard supporting the old man cried out in alarm, “Old Master Gu! Are you alright?”
The old man being supported had drooping eyelids and didn’t make a sound.
“Quick, call an ambulance!”
The scene was in chaos.
Qin Wan knew he had caused a massive disaster this time.
Because he recognized this old man.
It was the birthday star celebrating here today, the old patriarch of the Gu family, one of the four great families of the Imperial Capital.
Accompanied by the sound of steady footsteps, someone else walked over.
The crowd automatically parted to the sides.
“President Gu!” almost everyone greeted respectfully at the same time.
A young man wearing a high-end, dark grey bespoke suit walked over.
He scanned the surroundings without speaking. The people around him quickly stepped forward to report.
“President Gu, this little waiter has unclean hands; he stole things. While escaping, he knocked into Old Master Gu!” a bodyguard said.
While struggling, Qin Wan sized up the person walking over.
It was an extremely good-looking young man.
In his early twenties, with a tall and handsome figure, his appearance was stunning.
However, although this person looked handsome and noble, the lines of his face were too sharp, and his features were highly aggressive.
Especially the light flashing in those exquisite phoenix eyes—it was extremely sinister and cold.
Seeing the respectful attitude of these people, Qin Wan understood that this was a powerful character.
Just a moment ago, he was like a little beast trying to break out of a cage, but seeing this man, he became well-behaved.
His movements slowly came to a halt.
He felt an inexplicable fear of the cold aura radiating from this man.
He didn’t even dare to make eye contact, lowering his head.
Gu Xinglan’s eyes lifted slightly.
He looked at the bodyguard leaning against the wall, clutching his stomach and groaning in pain.
Then he glanced at the little waiter not far in front of him, who was hanging his head while having his arms twisted and wrists pinched.
Although his small face was pale right now, full of panic and breaking out in a cold sweat, it wasn’t hard to see that this was a youth with very handsome features.
From this angle, there was a faint scar on the youth’s lowered right eyelid.
Gu Xinglan studied him, his eyes narrowing slightly.
His eye color shifted along with his thoughts.
But it was well concealed by his usual cold and indifferent expression, making it almost imperceptible.
“I’ll send the Old Master to the hospital first.”
He turned his head slightly and spoke to the four black-clad bodyguards he had brought with him.
“You few, find a room and watch him closely. Wait for me to come back and interrogate him.”
Hearing the man say he was going to lock him up for interrogation, Qin Wan immediately raised his head.
“No!” he shouted, his gaze turning toward Gu Xinglan.
“Sir, I know I was wrong, I won’t dare do it again! I didn’t mean to bump into the elderly man either. Please, let me go!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Please have mercy!”
His voice trembled slightly.
Although there was an element of deliberately acting obedient to gain sympathy, he was also truly afraid.
Gu Xinglan glanced at him coldly.
He didn’t respond.
He simply tipped his chin at the bodyguards.
The four tall and strong bodyguards offered no explanation, twisting his arms and pressing his shoulders to drag Qin Wan into a nearby room.
Seeing that submission and begging for mercy were useless, Qin Wan got anxious.
Abandoning his obedient act of admitting fault, his handsome brows furrowed tightly, and his pretty little face filled with anger.
“Let go of me! What right do you have to lock me up! Why are you people so unreasonable? I didn’t take the things, and I apologized; what more do you want?”
He was never one to surrender without a fight.
Moreover, he had many things to do tonight; he couldn’t be locked up here.
Qin Wan kicked and stomped, twisted and thrashed.
He performed a carp kip, then a hawk kick, and even bit one of the bodyguards on the hand.
He cursed continuously: “Let go! You f*ckers… let go of me!”
Gu Xinglan seemed impatient; his brow raised almost imperceptibly as he spoke faintly: “Make him quiet.”
The bodyguard nodded in understanding and delivered a hand chop to the side of Qin Wan’s neck.
Qin Wan lost consciousness in an instant…
When he groggily woke up again, Qin Wan felt his whole body aching.
He reached out to rub his eyes and climbed up from the floor.
The surrounding lights weren’t bright, somewhat dim, but enough for him to see his current situation clearly.
At this moment, he was in a luxury presidential suite at the Grand Island Hotel.
His memory slowly returned, and he remembered what had happened earlier.
His heart sank.
His theft was botched, he knocked over the birthday star, got caught, and was now locked up here!
He wanted to stand up, but only then did he realize that his ankles were shackled, firmly locked to one of the legs of a floor-standing coat rack.
He couldn’t move an inch.
The next second, a pleasant but extremely cold male voice rang out.
“Awake? Let’s talk.”
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