Chapter 18
After he reminded him, Pei Huai was also stunned. He bent down to straighten his wrinkled clothes. Only then did he realize that his chest was almost exposed. He buttoned the front of his clothes and quickly wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
Xiang Mingqi wanted to hand him a piece of paper, but was slapped away by his hand. He could only watch his senior walk into the cloakroom without saying a word.
The former smiled and shrugged, resting his elbow on the back of the chair, watching the whole process of the waiter's twisting and struggling, and applauded in approval.
"Okay, I have something to say before we get down to business. You don't mind, do you?" The corners of his mouth turned up, and his shallow dimples carried a hint of malice.
In the grip of fear, the waiter did not immediately hear his warning and continued to shout for help in the direction of the corridor.
Xiang Mingqi laughed and walked over, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a new-style folding knife. The blade popped out with a "snap" and stabbed directly into the back of the other person's palm.
The hoarse scream from under him was also suppressed back into his chest by a hand.
"I forgot to remind you. Unlike him, I never hold back when I hit you." He flicked his wrist, leaned against the sofa and hummed a song, "I'm only careful with him... Does it hurt? That's great, just shut up and be a good boy."
He traced the knife handle, which had pierced through flesh, with his index finger, and said slowly, "My brother, he's very handsome, isn't he?" Seeing that the other party was speechless for a moment, he frowned and asked angrily, "Why don't you answer? Do you have any objections?"
The horrified waiter shook his head vigorously: "No, no..."
Hearing this, Xiang Mingqi immediately beamed and high-fived. "That's what I said. How could anyone think he's not handsome? He has a face that will attract attention wherever he goes. Oh, by the way, I want to tell you something important—are you ready?"
The waiter was so sad that he could not even cry, so he nodded in agreement.
"—I like him." His knuckles tapped as he paused, and he spoke slowly, as if chewing on each word. "I've always, always, always liked him."
The listener flinched under his gaze and asked in a mosquito-like whisper, "Why do you say...this to me?"
"Because I like to share secrets with others." Xiang Mingqi smiled at him, "Every night? Every morning? Anyway, when I see him, I feel like my head is filled with something. Let me think..." He blew the bangs in front of his forehead, and spoke faster and faster, "It's 'I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him——'"
After taking a very deep breath, he leaned closer, and smiled again at the listener's pale face.
"I know. He's been having a hard time. Alone, yet he's been bitten and clinging to countless locusts. So, don't cause him any trouble. I'll be unhappy." He rested his chin on his hand, pressed his index finger against her soft cheek, and murmured, "Of course, liking him isn't okay."
"Because twelve years ago, I've been... in love with him to the point of madness." He retracted his hand, alternately sitting and lying on the sofa, rocking, laughing with intoxication. "Even though he's forgotten me, I will always remember that day—my brother, the brother I loved, was so close to me for the first time. I clearly remember the rhythm of his heartbeat."
Her ring finger tapped out a melody in front of her knee, making him so excited that he bit his lips.
"Haha...yes, that's how I feel right now."
Listening to his half-confession, half-venting, the waiter's expression was quite striking: his features were twisted to the extreme with pain, and cold sweat streamed down his face. He desperately sucked in oxygen, but his teeth kept chattering.
I don’t know if he changed his mind, but Xiang Mingqi suddenly sighed with regret and grasped the hilt of the knife.
"...I won't tolerate anyone who has hurt him. They sucked his blood, used him as a topic of conversation, a gamble, used him and discarded him, and even made him carry the deepest malice along the way. That's why he's used to being the best."
"But I won't give up. Even if he's not perfect, even if it's unprofitable, I still like him." He slowly pulled the dagger out from the waiter's palm, his voice cold and terrifying. "I will...eliminate all those flies buzzing around him for him..."
"His brother is the first one."
-
After emerging from the cloakroom, Pei Huai changed into a brand new shirt and a black tie, leaving his lower attire unchanged. He glanced around and noticed the waiter on the sofa was gone. His peripheral vision swept over the small bloodstains left on the floor.
Xiang Mingqi sat on a chair that had been obviously tidied, humming a nursery rhyme and happily grabbed a handful of nuts from the bottom of the snack rack.
"Where's the person?" Pei Huai threw his changed shirt onto the back of the chair.
The junior turned around and made an OK sign, his right eye observing him from behind the circle of his two fingers: "Don't worry. I've confessed everything. I'll release him after I've done that."
His solar plexus jumped, and Pei Huai hummed habitually: "Hmm?"
"I told him he could leave work early today." Xiang Mingqi gave him a confident smile. "Don't worry, nothing will happen. I'm reliable." Before he could raise his thumb, his wrist was suddenly hit to the side. Pei Huai didn't even glance at him and walked out.
Seeing his boots clattering against the carpet and his hand bones crackling, Xiang Mingqi rushed to his arm and loudly assured that the waiter would never reveal their identities.
After being utterly ignored, he pressed forward unwillingly, wrapping his arms around his waist and dragging him backward. But Xiang Mingqi was the only one being dragged along by the opposing forces. Seeing the odds stacked against him, he pleaded, shifting his feet. Seeing that didn't work, he pressed his face even harder against Pei Huai's back, rubbing against him. He was determined to force the latter to step on him.
"Is this the end?" Pei Huai glared at him fiercely.
"Brother—don't go! Don't leave me alone in a place full of perverts." He pretended to squat down and reached out to brush off the dust on his shoes. In fact, he was waiting for an opportunity to hug Pei Huai's calf and not let go. "Brother, Brother Pei Huai! For a young man like me, it would be very dangerous to be alone. If I can't keep my chastity, how can I face you..."
What does it have to do with me? Pei Huai twisted his fingers with a stern face.
After a meaningless struggle, Xiang Mingqi finally wailed and confessed the information he had extracted.
The target was indeed in the VIP room, Room 19. His identity was confirmed: a middle-aged man with an unshaven beard and thinning hair. He had arrived at Blue Moth three days prior, checked into the private room, and ordered a single brand of foreign liquor.
He had a very bad temper and often vented his frustrations on waiters by using broken bottles, which left a deep impression on the waiters.
After listening carefully to the story, Pei Huai only gave one instruction: "Wipe the floor clean."
Xiang Mingqi slumped to his knees and followed instructions, scrubbing the floor with extra effort. "Do you need to remind me of something as trivial as destroying evidence? Handsome guy, lift your feet."
"Also, I will report this mistake truthfully." Pei Huai put on a pair of fingerless gloves and flexed his knuckles. The gloves fit perfectly, and the undulating indentations between the knuckles were clearly visible.
"Will I be fined then? Forget it, my internship salary is already half off—so do I have to write a self-criticism? How many words, what's the title, what's the content, how should I sign it, and when should I submit it?" Xiang Mingqi finished mopping the floor and followed him, peppering him with questions. "I've been terrible at holding a pen since my freshman year; the calluses on my middle finger are gone. Can I submit an electronic version?"
The door of the private room creaked and was pushed to the corner by the tip of the toe.
"What do you think?" Pei Huai turned around to look at him, and in the corridor, a waiter pushing a wine cart just happened to pass by him.
——Without saying a word, he bent his elbow and struck out, hitting the opponent's side of the head with brutality and precision.
The sound of bones cracking was subtle. Pei Huai seemed completely oblivious to the fallen body. He took the cart with one hand, picked up the bills pressed under the wooden frame, and pushed it forward as if nothing had happened.
As the wheel was moving further and further away, Xiang Mingqi stepped aside and, not wanting to be inconsiderate, stretched out his foot and tripped the waiter who fell backwards.
——This can avoid the possibility of the back of the head hitting the ground.
The unfortunate fellow on the ground seemed to be unconscious. He was a little surprised, as it was usually the most difficult to control the force when hitting a vital organ like the head.
If the striking position deviates by just one centimeter or the force is misjudged, the consequences will be disastrous.
And Pei Huai is obviously an expert in this.
"Then I'd better write a self-criticism." He remembered the elbow strike that was half a warning, and chased after him noisily, "—Wait for me, I'll write it, isn't it okay if I write it!"
The cart stopped in front of Room 19. Xiang Mingqi beckoned, but no one responded. Patiently, he knocked a few more times, until his index finger cramped in pain, before finally getting permission. A drunken man's voice echoed from inside.
After the door opened, Pei Huai switched to holding the car with one hand, and calmly reached behind his waist with his other hand, holding the dagger.
Just before they could see the scene inside the room clearly, in the blind spot of their vision, two bottles of champagne popped open with a "pop" sound, and the liquid rushed out and sprayed directly at the two of them.
This attack caught them off guard, but with Pei Huai in front, Xiang Mingqi luckily dodged before getting soaked. But the former was already unavoidable.
"Welcome to private room No. 19!" Two boys in nurse uniforms raised their bottles and opened their arms enthusiastically towards them, "Daddy, the wine we ordered is here--" One of them cast a coquettish glance at the middle-aged man in the middle of the booth.
"Bring it up, bring it all up." The man who raised his glass rubbed a boy's butt in an obscene manner and urged him to go down.
For a moment, Xiang Mingqi didn't know where to put his eyes.
The water continued to trickle down. Pei Huai wiped his wet cheek with the back of his hand and said nothing. Drops of water hung from the peak of his sculpted nose, trickling down to his chin.
His chest was soaked, and his newly changed shirt clung to his waist, revealing the faint flesh of his chest and abdomen. The lower he went, the narrower his waistline became, almost enough to be held in one hand.
He wiped the wine dripping from his chin with force, and his eyes were moist and confused for a moment.
"Wow, brother, you are so sexy——" Xiang Mingqi covered his nose with both hands and exclaimed in surprise.
Hearing this, Pei Huai raised his head abruptly and stared at him with a pair of eyes full of murderous intent and embarrassment.
"What did you say?"
Xiang Mingqi straightened his waist and bowed ninety degrees.
"—I mean, those two perverts are so shameless. Just two bottles of champagne...ah, my nose is bleeding."
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