Chapter 4 (1/2)

The talks of a transport line with country A carried on steadily. In the past two months, Luo Yu successfully closed several business deals. Ruan Zheng and his Zhen Ting became quiet once more.

One day, Luo Yu asked Xing Licheng about it, so Xing Licheng started an investigation. This time, they finally got some results.

Ruan Zheng had appeared in Laos three months ago. There had been an informant for the Ping City police present. He took a picture with a view of Ruan Zheng's back; Ruan Zheng had dyed his hair silvery-white. His body was covered by the back of the chair, so the only thing one could tell from the photo was that he was very pale.

This picture pa.s.sed through various hands before finally ending up with the Ping City police. The next day, Luo Yu walked in to find it lying on his desk.

Luo Yu had stayed up late with Su Jiawen last night. Even now his mind was filled with the incomprehensible feeling Su Jiawen gave him in bed; it was always an itch in his heart. Luo Yu was glad that he was the one who had run into Su Jiawen and brought him home. Otherwise, someone as pure and soft as Su Jiawen would end up in a morgue sooner rather than later working at a place like White Nest.

Upon seeing the picture on the table and listening to Xing Licheng describe how the photo came to be, Luo Yu picked it up to examine closely. He asked Xing Licheng, ”How can you confirm it's Ruan Zheng?”

”This person,” Xing Licheng pointed at the man standing next to the male with white hair, ”Is Zhen Ting's Jiang Qi. The undercover police agent heard Jiang Qi call him Ah Zheng.”

”There's no picture of his face?” Luo Yu furrowed his brows. What was he supposed to be able to tell from a back.

Xing Licheng shook his head. ”The agent said that if it weren't for them lowering their guard outside of the country and Jiang Qi calling Ruan Zheng by name, he wouldn't have thought this person was Ruan Zheng. He didn't pay attention to his appearance at first. When he realized, he only had time to sneak a picture of his back before being escorted out.”

Luo Yu gazed at the picture. In it, Jiang Qi's posture was truly respectful. He pondered a bit, then asked, ”Laos. Ruan Zheng wants to touch drugs?”

Luo Yu and Ruan Zheng both had never dealt with drugs, but illegal substances could often be found in the clubs under He Yonggui's name.

Before Xing Licheng could answer, Luo Yu rejected his own theory. ”Not necessarily.”

He put the photo off to the side and ordered Xing Licheng, ”Get someone to keep a close eye on He Yonggui and Zhen Ting. It seems to me that someone is too greedy and the snake wants to swallow the elephant.”

Xing Licheng nodded. Luo Yu released him to go work on what he needed to, then signed all the doc.u.ments needing signatures. Luo Yu asked Lu Yi, who was standing beside him, if he had any special schedules planned for tonight.

Lu Yi had been whipped last time by Elder Song. Now, he was extra careful in his work. He looked at the planner again before saying, ”There's a charity gala tonight, organized by Hai Sheng's CEO Lin.”

Luo Yu had recently acquired a fresh new thing at home, so stopped his frequent visits to these parties. He looked at the invitation and suddenly thought of how Su Jiawen had only been to sea once in all the time Luo Yu had kept him locked up at home. He thought Su Jiawen was quite pitiful, so ordered, ”Make a trip home for me and take Su Jiawen shopping for a new set of clothes. Get him cleaned up; I'm taking him with me to the gala tonight.”

Lu Yi had seen Su Jiawen a couple of times at Luo Yu's house; they had even chatted a few times. Upon hearing Luo Yu tell him to go pick up that boy, he remembered how Su Jiawen often kept his head down when talking to him. Something in his heart twitched.

Luo Yu didn't hear a response from Lu Yi. He looked up at him. Lu Yi finally reacted, lowly saying yes.

When Lu Yi arrived at Luo Yu's house, Su Jiawen was in the middle of giving Abel a bath. He wore a T-s.h.i.+rt and shorts in the heated room, nozzle in his hand as he chased Abel.

The housekeeper brought Lu Yi into the room. Through the gla.s.s, he saw Su Jiawen fiercely chasing the Canary Mastiff. He didn't think and pushed open the door to walk in. Abel was agitated from being splashed with water by Su Jiawen, and as soon as he saw a stranger, he paused before ferociously howling. He charged forward to bite Lu Yi's arm.

Lu Yi was nimble on his feet. He took a quick step sideways to avoid Abel, but the Canary Mastiff was faster. Upon seeing that he had missed the first time, Abel crouched down the second he landed, launching himself at Lu Yi's ankle so fast that Lu Yi didn't even see him clearly.

In the midst of this chaos, Su Jiawen calmly called out, ”Abel.”

He wasn't loud, but the three humans and one dog in the room all heard him clearly. Su Jiawen shut off the water; Lu Yi and the housekeeper didn't make a sound. Abel froze, legs straight and unmoving. It was quiet enough to hear the sound of a needle dropping on the floor.

”Abel.” Su Jiawen gestured at the dog, so Abel ran over to him. ”Let's get clean, okay?”

Su Jiawen bargained with Abel and squeezed out some pet shampoo into the palm of his hand. His white T-s.h.i.+rt was wet, skin slightly showing through. The ends of his hair were damp too. Normally, this would be the picture of innocence, but for some reason, Lu Yi felt that the scene seemed somewhat demonic.

The housekeeper beside him seemed to think this way too. His expression was severe as he stood there, motionless.

”Mr. Lu, please wait a moment.” Su Jiawen was in the middle of lathering Abel. He didn't even lift his gaze as he spoke, ”Let me finish was.h.i.+ng Abel.”

Lu Yi forcefully lifted the corners of his lips, then walked out.

After Su Jiawen finished bathing Abel, he gave the housekeeper the task of drying him. He went upstairs to shower too, then came back downstairs, clean.

Lu Yi explained why he was there. Su Jiawen followed him out in antic.i.p.ation, eyes curved into crescents. ”What will the charity gala be like?”

Lu Yi had driven there himself. Su Jiawen sat in the pa.s.senger seat. He relayed how the gala was going to go to Su Jiawen, including the dress code. Su Jiawen listened patiently, treating him with the same politeness that he treated Luo Yu.

Lu Yi became a bit full of himself. When he was purchasing the suit for Su Jiawen, he almost swiped his own card.

Su Jiawen had spent quite a bit of time was.h.i.+ng the dog. They also managed to hit evening traffic hour, so Lu Yi was unable to get Su Jiawen to the hotel in time for dinner. He frightfully called Luo Yu; as he waited for the other to pick up, Su Jiawen poked his shoulder and pointed at himself.

In the moment that Luo Yu answered the call, the phone had already been transferred from Lu Yi's hand into Su Jiawen's.

”Mr. Luo,” Su Jiawen obediently greeted the other, then explained the situation, ”We're stuck in traffic, so might not make it on time.”

Luo Yu said something. Su Jiawen glanced at Lu Yi and admitted his own mistake first. ”No, it's because I took too long bathing Abel this afternoon.”

He softened his voice and pleaded with Luo Yu for a while before Luo Yu's tone finally became better. Su Jiawen hung up and told Lu Yi, ”Mr. Luo says it wouldn't be good to go in during mealtime. He said to wait until after dinner finishes and before the auction starts. He'll come and get me.”

Luo Yu put his phone away and took a sip of his wine, expression dark. He had never showed up to one of these events alone before. The circular table he was sitting at was filled with esteemed guests, and their companions were all exquisite. Only he and the second-in-charge at Zhen Ting, who was sitting across from him, stared at each other. Neither of them were accompanied.

At a formal event, Zheng Ting and Huan An normally wouldn't be arranged to sit at the same table, but this time, the event organizer had messed up the seating situation. Jiang Qi had ended up at Luo Yu's table. Immediately, the atmosphere became fairly awkward.

After a couple rounds of alcohol, everyone relaxed. As they all made toasts, a lady Jiang Qi had previously met a few times asked half sincerely and half in jest, ”CEO Jiang, your Mr. Ruan is quite hard to invite. When will he show his face?”

Jiang Qi clinked gla.s.ses with the lady and said, ”Ah Zheng is busy being in a relations.h.i.+p these days.”

He was of large build, around the same size as Xing Licheng. When he was expressionless, he appeared quite fierce. He spoke slowly but surely, not extreme enough to cause panic.

”In a relations.h.i.+p?” The lady hadn't thought that gangsters would be like mortals and want to date too. She was immediately stunned. ”With which young lady?”

Jiang Qi smiled but didn't say anything. The lady knew she had overstepped her bounds too, so became silent.

”I would like to see Ruan Zheng too.” Luo Yu lifted his gla.s.s towards Jiang Qi, across the round table. ”There are quite a few things I'd like to ask him.”

Luo Yu was being polite, but also testing the waters. He originally didn't expect Jiang Qi to respond, but Jiang Qi finished the wine in his gla.s.s and said, ”You'll get the chance. We still have plenty of time.”

After dinner, Su Jiawen arrived at the hotel. Luo Yu personally greeted him. Su Jiawen wore a white suit, the pant legs clinging to his body attractively. Luo Yu leaned in and inquired intimately, ”Did you eat dinner?”

”Lu Yi took me to eat,” Su Jiawen said.

The hotel lobby was lavishly magnificent. Two bodyguards stood outside the elevator. Upon seeing Luo Yu approach, they pressed the up arrow for him.

”What did you eat?” Luo Yu guided him into the elevator. The gala was on the fourth floor, but the auction hall was on the fifth floor. Luo Yu simply chose 5, then pressed Su Jiawen against the wall and caressed his newly cut hair. The hairdresser had shaved the sides of his hair so they were fuzzy. It felt nice. ”Who cut your hair?”

”Normal Cantonese cuisine. Someone called Ah Paul, Lu Yi found him.” Su Jiawen answered his questions one by one.

The elevator arrived. Luo Yu maintained a slight distance from him and led him out.

The lighting in the auction hall was dim. There weren't many people, and everyone was gathered in small groups chatting. They saw Luo Yu walk in, so stood up and greeted him. Luo Yu nodded his head at each of them in response.

Su Jiawen was a bit nervous. He wanted to stick closer to Luo Yu but didn't dare to. Luo Yu's spot was in the second row; he took Su Jiawen over to sit down. He said, ”Tell me if you want anything later.”

Su Jiawen nodded as he leaned against him wordlessly.

Luo Yu knew what he was like, so didn't force him to become a social b.u.t.terfly. He picked up the auction pamphlet to look at, discussing with Su Jiawen as he went.

The quality of the items being auctioned off tonight were pretty good. Luo Yu had his eye on two or three things, and was just telling Su Jiawen a watch suited him, when the person next to him sat down. Luo Yu turned his head to look. It was Jiang Qi.

”Mr. Luo.” Jiang Qi politely nodded at him. No one could tell that Zhen Ting and Huan An were close to war.

Luo Yu smiled at him too.

”This one's very pretty.” Su Jiawen was focused on looking through the pamphlet. After Luo Yu finished his greeting, he pointed at a silver flower vase and softly told Luo Yu, ”It matches the dinner table at home.”

Luo Yu leaned in to look. It really was the same style as the dinner table, so they started discussing the decorations at home.

Soon after, the charity auction began. The first items were jewelry, which Su Jiawen and Luo Yu both were uninterested in. Su Jiawen glued himself to Luo Yu's ear and was guessing what price each article would go for.

Luo Yu rarely spoke during auctions, but listening to Su Jiawen's silly chit-chat, he felt quite amused. Thus, he placatingly discussed with him.

The second to last item was the flower vase Su Jiawen had liked. Luo Yu let other bidders raise their paddles first, waiting for the price to settle. When the auctioneer hit his hammer the second time, he finally held up his paddle.

As soon as he made a bid, Jiang Qi also raised his paddle.

Luo Yu furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Jiang Qi. He held up his paddle again and added ten thousand to the bid.