Chapter 19 The slap mark and the teeth mark It was just a slap, not a bite...
Ye Qishan's first reaction was to hang up the phone and turn it off.
The red light at the intersection ahead turned on, and he stepped on the brakes. After the car came to a smooth stop at the line, he almost instinctively turned his head and stared straight at Jiang Xiliu in the back seat, with a hint of barely perceptible panic, as if he were confirming something.
Jin Zhao, in the passenger seat, keenly sensed something was amiss. He turned his head slightly, his eyes filled with inquiry.
"Why are you all looking at me!" The young lady in the back seat had a rosy complexion, her flowing hair ribbon cascading down her shoulders, and a particularly bright smile playing on her lips. She raised her chin at Ye Qishan, "Ye Qishan, you're finished! You actually dared to hang up on your master! Aren't you afraid he'll really get angry and dump you?"
Seeing that she could still smile, Ye Qishan's heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled down, and his tense back relaxed as he leaned back in his chair.
He turned around, released the brake, and said helplessly, "What master? Don't talk nonsense, okay?"
"Oh—" Jiang Xiliu drawled, deliberately tilting her head to look him up and down, her smile widening, but her words becoming even more impolite, "Since you don't admit you're his dog."
She paused, noticing Ye Qishan's face darken instantly, and then added with amusement, "So what are you? His ever-present sidekick? Or..."
"Jiang Xiliu, can't you say something nice?" Ye Qishan didn't like what she was saying. "Is it so hard to say the words 'brother' and 'friend'?"
Thinking of the recording from this morning, and seeing Jiang Xiliu's excited state at this moment, he would really be a fool if he still didn't realize that she was the one who told him.
"At least be more subtle about sowing discord," Ye Qishan glanced at the boy next door. "There are outsiders here."
Jin Zhao, an outsider, gave a faint smile: "I really don't have a fetish for being a dog."
Jiang Xiliu's eyes lit up instantly. For once, she felt that Jin Zhao, besides having a face that suited her aesthetic, could finally say something pleasing to the ear: "See! I told you, we all think you're a dog!"
In an instant, the outsider changed from Jin Zhao to Ye Qishan.
Ye Qishan was furious and didn't want to talk to them anymore; the more he talked, the angrier he became.
He stepped on the gas, and the strong push-back feeling instantly propelled the people in the car forward. Jiang Xiliu, who had been teasing him with her chin propped up, instantly lost her enthusiasm and frantically grabbed the back of the front seat, her voice rising a little: "Ye Qishan! Are you crazy? You're in such a hurry to be reborn that you can't take me with you!"
Ye Qishan looked into the rearview mirror and could clearly see Jiang Xiliu's slightly furrowed brows and somewhat flustered eyes. His voice was deep and hoarse, yet it carried a stubbornness: "If I really have to be reincarnated, I will definitely take you with me. Even if we die, we will die together."
As soon as she finished speaking, the box next to Jiang Xiliu rolled onto the floor mat with a "clatter." She cursed angrily, "Are you crazy? You've gone mad from being a dog."
Ye Qishan clearly had no intention of responding; he simply gripped the steering wheel and steadily controlled the car's speed.
Jin Zhao, in the passenger seat, took in the scene. He didn't move much, but his peripheral vision kept falling on the figure in the driver's seat.
From Ye Qishan's steady grip to the undisguised concern in his eyes for Jiang Xiliu, it was clear that he had no intention of "dying together." His words just now were merely ramblings in anger, or rather, harsh words deliberately said to Jiang Xiliu.
Jiang Xiliu's angry curses still lingered in the car. Jin Zhao lowered his eyelashes, and a thought silently crossed his mind: Even if Ye Qishan really went to extremes and wanted to die with Jiang Xiliu, he would never be willing to take him along.
After all, from beginning to end, he was just an insignificant outsider in Ye Qishan's eyes, or perhaps a slightly annoying outsider.
The car came to a steady stop in the parking space in front of the club. Jiang Xiliu didn't wait for Ye Qishan to turn off the engine or for someone to open the car door for her. She simply unlocked the car, slammed the door shut, got out, and walked around to the driver's side in her high heels, pulling the door open.
As soon as Ye Qishan looked up at her, her hand landed on his face.
A gust of wind passed by.
The young lady used all her strength, and her palm made a crisp sound as it landed on her skin.
After finishing the call, she didn't look at Ye Qishan's face, which froze instantly. She slammed the car door shut and didn't even glance at Jin Zhao in the passenger seat. Without looking back, she stormed towards the club's entrance, her back view still radiating displeasure.
"Hey, she hit me, did you see that?" Ye Qishan's voice was filled with barely suppressed pleasure. He grabbed Jin Zhao's wrist and forcefully kept him in the passenger seat, preventing him from getting out.
He practically brought the left half of his face close to Jin Zhao's face to show off.
The patch of skin on his face that had been touched by the young lady was flushed with a fresh redness, and a faint, blurry handprint was visible on it.
Despite being beaten, Ye Qishang showed no displeasure or grievance whatsoever; on the contrary, his eyes shone with an unusual brightness.
Jin Zhao lifted his eyelids, glanced at the handprint, and uttered a emotionless "hmm" from his throat.
With a slight twist of his wrist, he easily pulled Ye Qishan's hand away and prepared to push the door open and go downstairs.
But Ye Qishan was not good at reading between the lines, or more likely, Jin Zhao was not worth his careful treatment.
Even after his hand was shaken off, he didn't give up. He switched hands and clung to Jin Zhao again, this time grabbing his arm with much more force than before: "Don't go."
Jin Zhao, the only audience member present, was forcibly kept there by him: "She finally hit me! You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this!"
Jin Zhao frowned, suddenly remembering that Jiang Xiliu had said her friend wasn't very bright. He had thought it was the young lady attacking indiscriminately, but now, seeing Ye Qishan's ecstatic expression after being beaten, he realized that what Jiang Xiliu said might be true.
Ye Qishan, whose mind wasn't quite right, completely missed the slightly complicated look in Jin Zhao's eyes, and continued excitedly, "Do you know what this means?"
He answered his own question, laughing out loud, his eyes shining even brighter: "This means she finally doesn't treat me like an ordinary friend anymore. Let me tell you, she would never lay a hand on a friend; she only hits her man!"
When Ye Qishan mentioned "her man," he could hardly contain his pride.
Jin Zhao was annoyed by his noise, and since he wasn't familiar with Ye Qishan, he just wanted to get off the bus as soon as possible.
He reached up to his collar and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. The collar, now unsupported, slid down, revealing his collarbone. He turned his face to the side, revealing a small patch of slightly uneven skin on the back of his neck.
To show off the slap mark, Ye Qishan stood very close to Jin Zhao, clearly seeing the teeth marks with several scabs.
His smile froze, and he stared intently at the teeth marks.
Jin Zhao glanced at him indifferently, his tone as calm as if he were saying, "The weather is nice today."
"It was just a slap, I didn't bite you, don't overthink it, okay?"
...
"Family members, family members!" Wan Jiayu burst in, walked to the bar, grabbed a brightly colored cocktail, took a big gulp, and suppressed her gasp, "Guess what I just saw?"
Jiang Xiliu sat in the middle, next to a fair-skinned girl who was holding her hand and massaging it. Hearing Wan Jiayu's words, she softly flattered her, "What did you see? Why are you so excited? Stop keeping me in suspense and tell me quickly."
Wan Jiayu shoved the girl aside and sat down next to Jiang Xiliu before excitedly whispering, "I saw our protagonist today stripping someone's clothes off in the car!"
"He's already reached into her collar, he looks like he's about to explode."
Jiang Xiliu: ? ? ? Ye Qishan is taking off Jin Zhao's clothes?
She called out to the system: "What's going on? I beat up Ye Qishan, and he's taking his anger out on Jin Zhao?"
[System 0777 chimes in: ...No, he just wanted to see clearly the teeth marks on Jin Zhao's neck, the ones you bit that day, Miss.]
Someone immediately chimed in, "Who is it? Ye Qishan?"
"Ye Er actually has a girlfriend? Didn't he just have an affair with Xi Liu a few days ago..." The man covered his mouth.
The area in front of the bar fell silent instantly. Everyone looked at each other, their eyes seemingly glancing at Jiang Xiliu.
Jiang Xiliu looked up: "What? Didn't you see the photos I posted in the group?"
"I see, Xi Liu has a much more handsome boyfriend than Ye Ershuai."
"Exactly, don't think of Xiliu just because Ye Er is mentioned. Ye Er really managed to get involved in that incident a few days ago."
...
"It wasn't a woman!" Wan Jiayu waved her hand and took a sip of her wine to calm herself down. "If it were a woman, would I be so surprised? Let me tell you, it was a man! He was quite handsome, and the two of them were almost kissing in the car. Ye Er's hand was even inside his collar."
After saying that, Wan Jiayu immediately turned to look at Jiang Xiliu and began to spread rumors about Ye Qishan without hesitation: "Xiliu, you didn't see that scene. Ye Er definitely likes men. Luckily you didn't agree to the marriage alliance with the Ye family back then, otherwise how would you live?"
Everyone agreed: "That's right, we were almost fooled by Ye Er."
Jiang Xiliu: "..."
A few people were chatting about whether Ye Qishan liked men or not when the main character suddenly appeared. Ye Qishan came in and went straight over there: "What are you all just sitting here for? Aren't you going to play?"
Leap Star Club is a private amusement park that was jointly funded by a few playful rich kids in the industry. They didn't expect to make any money from it at all. They just felt that changing venues while playing outside was too much of a waste of travel time, so they simply spent money to build a place in the suburbs where they could play as they pleased.
Upon entering, you'll find the bar area, with dozens of functional private rooms upstairs: e-sports rooms, holographic karaoke rooms, board game lounges, and more...
Further inside, you'll find all sorts of random places, including a billiards hall and a bowling alley.
The outdoor area also includes a horse riding area and a racetrack. Between these two areas, there is an artificial beach area that cannot be dug out from the sea, but it is surrounded by a temperature-controlled swimming pool.
Although it was a terrible mess, it was indeed comprehensive.
All eyes turned past Ye Qishan and landed on the man following behind him, filled with curiosity and inquiry.
Wan Jiayu cleared her throat twice, as if to say: See? I didn't lie to you.
Ye Qishan first looked at Jiang Xiliu and found that she was still angry and didn't want to talk to him.
He sighed, then noticed the strange looks from the others: "What are you all looking at?"
Following everyone's gaze, he also glanced back at Jin Zhao.
He turned to the side, and everyone could see him more clearly.
The man following Ye Qishan was thin, his cotton shirt was badly wrinkled, and the top button seemed to have been pulled open by force, revealing a slightly sunken collarbone. Moving the gaze upwards, there seemed to be a red mark on his neck.
Beneath his casually rolled-up sleeves, there was a ring of red marks around his wrist.
Ouch, that jerk Ye Qishan has no sense of proportion. He hit so hard, look how badly he's strangled someone's hand.
Just as everyone's thoughts were wandering and about to change color, Jiang Xiliu, who hadn't said much, suddenly spoke up.
Her voice carried clearly to everyone's ears: "Jin Zhao, come here."
Jin Zhao ignored the stares around him and was about to walk towards Jiang Xiliu when a figure suddenly blocked his way. Ye Qishan spread his arms to block him, glaring at Jiang Xiliu: "What about me? You're just going to tell him to go over there?"
Jiang Xiliu looked up, saw the red mark on his face, snorted coldly, and said without any politeness, "Get out of my way."
She had cursed Ye Qishan eight hundred times in her heart: Ye Er, that idiot, that lunatic! She would be a pig if she ever rode in his car again.
Wan Jiayu, standing nearby, had her eyes darting around quickly. She had thought the man behind Ye Qishan looked familiar, and now that she was closer, she took a closer look and her heart skipped a beat.
She secretly took out her phone and discovered that the man's profile was exactly the same as the man in the photo Jiang Xiliu had posted!
Good heavens, so what kind of development is this?
Is Ye Qishan fighting with Jiang Xiliu for a man?
Ye Qishan acted like a rogue, simply blocking Jin Zhao's way and preventing him from passing.
Jiang Xiliu was surrounded by girls, so Jin Zhao couldn't force his way through and could only stand there and watch Jiang Xiliu.
Jiang Xiliu rolled her eyes and stood up abruptly: "Ye Qishan, how childish are you?"
Ye Qishan felt wronged after being scolded by her: "Hey, today is my birthday, can't you be nicer to me?"
"Haven't I been good to you?" Jiang Xiliu said matter-of-factly. "Didn't I just give you a big gift in the car?"
The group exchanged bewildered glances: So, actually, all three of them came together?
Speaking of the big gift in the car, Ye Qishan touched the phone in his pocket; he still hadn't dared to turn it on.
"Ye Er, what are you doing here?" Someone was looking for Ye Qishan, holding a birthday hat in their hand, and said anxiously, "I couldn't get through to you on the phone, come over quickly, everyone is waiting for you to come over."
Ye Qishan glanced back at Jiang Xiliu, then glared at Jin Zhao, before finally being dragged away against his will.
Once the troublesome person left, Jiang Xiliu stretched out two fingers and pinched Jin Zhao's sleeve, glancing disdainfully at the red mark on his wrist: "How useless! Did Ye Qishan bully you?"
Jin Zhao silently pulled down his sleeve to cover the red mark.
Although Ye Qishan grabbed his wrist, he didn't leave any marks. These marks were made by Ye Qishan himself before getting out of the car.
As expected, the young lady doesn't know how to be considerate.
He sighed inwardly, thinking that he had probably caught Ye Qishan's bad temper and was now even hoping that she would say a few words of concern.
"I wasn't bullied by him." Jin Zhao already knew that playing the victim would only make the young lady look down on him.
He added casually, "But he was almost driven mad by me just now."
The young lady raised an eyebrow, giving him a suspicious look. Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes clearly conveyed two words: You?
Before Jin Zhao could explain, Wan Jiayu leaned over and said, "Xi Liu, a few of us are planning to go out and have some fun. You and..."
She glanced at Jin Zhao and tactfully changed her words: "Does your boyfriend want to come along? It'll be more fun with more people."
The people around them nodded in agreement, tacitly avoiding mentioning their earlier wild guesses, and simply echoed, "Come on, let's play together."
Jiang Xiliu had come here to relax, so naturally she wouldn't refuse.
As for Jin Zhao, he was her most dazzling accessory tonight: when he didn't speak and obediently acted as a decorative vase, he was quite likable.
The system now knows how to speak nicely, but its language data has not been updated yet, so its speech sounds old-fashioned and unsophisticated.
[System 0777: Being able to serve as a decorative figure beside the young lady is an honor he's earned through eight lifetimes of good deeds.]
Jiang Xiliu almost choked: "You'd better shut up. You're acting like a robot, every word you say is awkward."
The fun they came up with was a treasure hunt game.
Since it is Ye Qishan's birthday today, most of them brought gifts, and those who did not bring gifts could use the things they had on them as "treasures".
The rules of the game are simple.
Everyone has to hand over their treasure to the staff, put it in a sealed bag, write their name on it, and then bury it in the artificial beach area. After that, everyone goes down to dig together, and the treasures they dig up have to be handed over to the staff. In order not to waste too much time, the owners of the first ten treasures to hand over are the unlucky ones in this game.
The unlucky guys need to retrieve a colorful ball from a box at the bottom of the swimming pool and complete various "challenges" written inside the ball.
So, a few people who were riding horses happily at the racetrack next door suddenly noticed a group of people surging over the originally smooth, soft, and warmly glowing beach. Each of them was carrying a small shovel and a bucket, digging a hole here and prying a hole there. In no time, the beautiful beach became pitted and uneven, looking just like a yellow honeycomb briquette full of holes.
Jiang Xiliu wouldn't be like those people, squatting on the beach with her hands covered in sand. She took off her shoes and stepped barefoot into the cool, fine sand, standing beside Jin Zhao like a supervisor overseeing him as he dug the hole.
Jiang Xiliu directed: "Deeper."
Jiang Xiliu questioned, "Are you out of energy?"
Jiang Xiliu urged, "Are you sure you can do it? Hurry up and use your strength!"
Jin Zhao's hand holding the shovel trembled slightly. He looked up at her and said: ...
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Jiang Xiliu was puzzled by his gaze, so she kicked his shin, the fine sand on her sole falling onto his trouser leg with the movement. "Don't slack off, get to work. If someone else finds my treasure first, you're finished!"
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