Chapter 11: Ring the bell to "let him off the hook"
Chapter eleven.
After the auction, it was time for the dinner. Wen Jiangchu originally wanted to take Chen Qiudu downstairs to meet other people, but Chen Qiudu refused outright. He remained silent and watched Wen Jiangchu go downstairs to socialize as he had no choice.
Chen Qiudu stood alone by the stairs on the second floor, leaning on the handrail. His dark suit made it difficult to attract attention. His eyes wandered over the faces of the prominent people in Suzhou City in the hall.
Soon, they discovered that a waiter with a strange expression appeared not far from Wen Jiangchu. He was holding a glass of red wine and looked normal, but he raised his eyes from time to time to search for Wen Jiangchu's figure, which was very suspicious.
Chen Qiudu frowned and was about to pick up his phone to send a text message to Wen Jiangchu to remind him, but someone suddenly pressed his wrist.
Chen Qiudu looked back and saw that Xu Zhouye had sneaked up again at some point.
"Why are you upstairs again?"
Although Chen Qiudu didn't have a good impression of Wen Jiangchu at the moment, Xu Zhouye was the person that made him even more irritated. Therefore, Chen Qiudu was too lazy to speak to him in a good tone.
Xu Zhouye smiled at him nonchalantly, "I saw you were alone on the second floor, and I was afraid you were bored, so I thought of coming up to keep you company. What, you don't want to stay with me?"
"You are quite self-aware."
“…”
Xu Zhouye didn't expect that Chen Qiudu would not give him any face at all. The smile on his lips froze and he withdrew his hand angrily.
"Okay, but I just saw that you wanted to send a text message to Wen Jiangchu to remind him that there was something wrong with that waiter, right?"
"How do you know?"
Chen Qiudu tightened his grip on the phone and glanced calmly at Xu Zhouye beside him. There was an emotion in his dark eyes that he couldn't see clearly.
Xu Zhouye chuckled, "It can only be said that you and Wen Jiangchu haven't been together for a long time. I've long been accustomed to these things, and so has Wen Jiangchu."
"Do you know how many times Wen Jiangchu has been drugged since he was a child? It happens almost once every three banquets. He's become immune to this drug."
"So you don't have to worry. Wen Jiangchu will see through it himself. He's not as simple as you think."
Chen Qiudu did not reply, his eyes quietly fell on Wen Jiangchu who was chatting happily with others on the first floor. He saw him smiling gently but distantly, taking the red wine glass handed to him without hesitation and drinking it all.
"So, after he finds out, what will he do? Throw it away? And then arrest the mastermind behind it?"
"Catch him?"
Xu Zhouye looked like he had heard some extremely innocent joke. The wine glass in his hand shook uncontrollably, and he raised his hand to cover his face.
"Chen Qiudu, should I say you are naive or stupid?"
"But it's true. People like you probably only had one life problem in the past, and that was how to make money to survive. After all, having enough food and clothing was a problem."
"But Chen Qiudu and Wen Jiangchu are different. The people who do these dirty things have backgrounds more valuable than everyone in your entire slum combined. Their interests are intertwined like a spider web, and one move can affect the entire body. Don't you understand this principle?"
"Indeed, before Wen Jiangchu's parents passed away, not many people would dare to do this. His family would also vent his anger for him. After all, everyone in Suzhou City has to fear the Wen family."
"But now, it's completely different."
"What's different?"
Xu Zhuye took a sip of red wine, sighed softly, turned around and leaned against the railing, hiding the strong sarcasm in his eyes.
"His entire family is dead."
"Wen Jiangchu doesn't have anyone behind him anymore, so there's no one to support him and vent his anger."
"You probably don't know what the Wen family has become in our circle, right?"
"In the eyes of these greedy people, the Wen family is just a treasure trove without an owner, and anyone can get involved. No matter how powerful Wen Jiangchu is, he can't take care of everyone."
"For such a minor matter as drugging, Wen Jiangchu can only turn a blind eye. However, he is almost developing an immunity to the drug now, so no matter how much he drinks, it won't have much of an impact."
Xu Zhouye spoke in a relaxed tone, and even swayed his body with interest to match the violin music, as if the "Wen Jiangchu" he was talking about was just a stranger, not a good friend with whom he had been together for many years.
Chen Qiudu inexplicably felt angry, not only towards Xu Zhouye, but also towards Wen Jiangchu.
He was angry at Xu Zhouye's nonchalant, condescending and stingy attitude. He was also angry that as Wen Jiangchu's close friend, he watched Wen Jiangchu fall into the whirlpool and acted as if it was a matter of course.
But he was even more surprised that someone would have so many evil thoughts about him, and in this situation, he would just suffer losses in silence.
"Why, after listening to me, you feel sorry for Wen Jiangchu?"
Seeing that Chen Qiudu kept his eyelashes down and remained silent, Xu Zhouye raised his eyebrows and looked over, but met Chen Qiudu's cold eyes.
"I just think you talk too much."
"When are you leaving here? I like to be alone. I advise you to stay out of my way, otherwise I really won't leave."
Chen Qiudu realized very early on that he was the dominant one in this agreement that he had verbally agreed to with Xu Zhouye.
Although he didn't know why Xu Zhouye insisted on taking him away, he was happy to make use of Xu Zhouye, a man with some mental problems, and it would be a waste if he was not used well.
As expected, Xu Zhouye's face darkened immediately after hearing this. "I'll leave after I finish this drink."
But as soon as Xu Zhouye's lips approached the rim of the cup, Chen Qiudu snatched it away and mercilessly spilled it all on the floor.
"Fuck, do you know how much this red wine is worth? Chen Qiudu, are you sick?!"
Chen Qiudu ignored the angry Xu Zhouye, casually stuffed the wine glass into his hand, and turned away.
"have no idea."
"But I know you have to go."
Chen Qiudu closed the door of the box directly, blocking out Xu Zhouye's intermittent cursing. The lights in the room were turned on, and Chen Qiudu walked straight into Uncle Liang's smiling eyes.
It seems that Uncle Liang must have heard what I said and did to Xu Zhouye just now.
Fortunately, I didn’t say anything I shouldn’t have to Xu Zhouye.
Chen Qiudu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, though he didn't know why he felt so guilty. He turned his eyes away and greeted him in a low voice, "Uncle Liang."
Uncle Liang chuckled softly, motioned for Shen Qiudu to sit down, poured him a cup of tea himself, and handed him a tissue.
"Hurry up and wipe your hands. You must have gotten some of them on your hands when you poured the wine just now, right?"
"...Thank you, Uncle Liang."
Chen Qiudu took the tissue and wiped it, but Uncle Liang's eyes never left him. Chen Qiudu felt uncomfortable and pursed his lips awkwardly.
"Thank you."
Suddenly, Uncle Liang's hoarse but sincere voice rang in my ears.
Shen Qiudu was not good at dealing with such sincere and honest words. His body stiffened and he didn't dare to look up at Uncle Liang.
Uncle Liang stroked the crutch in his palm and sighed, "I heard a lot of what Master Xu said just now, and he is indeed quite right."
"Achu has suffered a lot in the past few years. He always endured it alone, or hid in the study to heal his wounds."
"This is all my fault. I'm old and useless now. I can't take good care of Achu like Achu's parents did and help Achu feel better."
"Many people have said those things, and they are true, but apart from Ah Chu's family, no one has ever stood up for Ah Chu. So, thank you, Qiu Du."
"I'm not standing up for him, it's just that Xu Zhouye is too annoying."
Chen Qiudu retorted mercilessly, then raised his eyes and looked directly at Uncle Liang, saying solemnly: "Don't think too much, and don't tell Wen Jiangchu."
"Okay, okay, I won't tell you..." Uncle Liang couldn't help but chuckle and nodded repeatedly as if teasing a child.
Chen Qiudu looked away, but still a little reluctantly asked, "So today... will Wen Jiangchu still drink that glass of wine?"
Uncle Liang suppressed his smile and nodded helplessly, "Well, the family has prepared the antidote and called the doctor. If anything goes wrong, he's on call at any time."
"Don't worry, Ah Chu knows his limits. He's already familiar with these steps."
Chen Qiudu frowned, "So you don't know what drug was used?"
"After all, we're not gods with omnipotent powers. We can only try it little by little. Ah Chu can only drink it with a smile and accept all the reactions. After all, they don't dare to use a lethal dose, nor do they dare to use drugs that will take someone's life. We can still guarantee this."
Chen Qiudu raised his eyes silently and looked at the waiter on the screen who was approaching Wen Jiangchu. He watched Wen Jiangchu take it with a smile and drink it up bit by bit.
The pale cheeks looked even more haggard and hopeless under the blue light. Chen Qiudu could clearly see that Wen Jiangchu's body trembled and his eyes were a little dazed, but he still supported himself to deal with the people coming and going.
Finally, he couldn't sit still anymore.
"Don't tell Chen Qiudu that I went downstairs."
Leaving behind this simple sentence, Chen Qiudu went down to the second floor from the opposite direction, followed closely by the waiter, and left the hall.
For the first time, Chen Qiudu was thankful for his small stature, which allowed him to easily lead the crowd unnoticed.
He followed the waiter into the abandoned garden outside the banquet hall, holding the long stick he had just picked up in his hand. His body was trembling slightly because he was too tense, and the sound of his heart was about to cover everything, but Chen Qiudu did not dare to relax.
In fact, Chen Qiudu didn't know why he followed, but he felt a little uncomfortable after seeing Wen Jiangchu become like that.
And with his strength, he might be exhausted before he could even pick up the stick.
But Chen Qiudu always felt that he should be the only one who could administer the medicine.
Wen Jiangchu can only be bullied by him.
So even if he ended up hurting the enemy by a thousand and himself by eight hundred, he still wanted to give it a try.
Shen Qiudu had seen a map of the dinner venue before, and knew that the garden could only lead to the circular fountain in the center, so Shen Qiudu took a gamble and hid next to the fountain from the other direction, waiting for the waiter to be caught.
Sure enough, he made the right bet.
After the waiter arrived at the empty fountain, he relaxed his guard and quickly took off his black and white clothes and prepared to run away. Chen Qiudu raised his hand without hesitation and hit him with a stick from behind, knocking him unconscious.
If he was the one who gave the drug, perhaps he could find information about the antidote.
Even if not, you can still teach him a lesson.
Anyway, no matter what, it’s not a loss.
Thinking of this, Chen Qiudu kicked the man who fell to the ground twice more, and then threw away all the clothes he had not changed, leaving him with no choice but to leave naked.
Chen Qiudu took out a pill from the man's pocket. He guessed that this pill should be the antidote, so he took it back.
After doing all this, Chen Qiudu had exhausted all his strength, with some sweat on his forehead. He was breathing heavily, holding onto the wall with his hands and trying to leave.
Although this was not the first time that Chen Qiudu had done such a thing, it was the first time that he had actually used brute force. His already weak body, which had not recovered yet, was now like dragging a huge snail shell, walking slowly.
The increasingly blurred consciousness made Chen Qiudu subconsciously want to look for a familiar smell.
So, he just walked straight into the hall. Everyone on the first floor fell silent instantly. They saw Chen Qiudu, who was in a mess and even smelled of blood, tremblingly walking up to Wen Jiangchu.
"Qiu...Qiudu?!"
Wen Jiangchu was so surprised that he stood there in a daze, but his actions were faster than his brain, and he quickly pulled Chen Qiudu into his arms.
"What's going on? Where have you been? Didn't you promise to stay on the second floor?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone understood that Chen Qiudu and Wen Jiangchu had an unusual relationship, and for a moment, their inquiring gazes became gossip.
Chen Qiudu was too lazy to care. He put the medicine in his hand into Wen Jiangchu's arms and whispered in his ear: "Medicine..."
Wen Jiangchu's body froze, and he took Chen Qiudu away from the scene without caring about everyone present, and ran to the second floor, leaving the bodyguards to stabilize the crowd.
When I walked into the private room on the second floor, Uncle Liang was no longer there, and even the lights were turned to a dim purple-blue color.
However, neither of them noticed anything wrong. Wen Jiangchu hurriedly put Chen Qiudu in his arms and adjusted him to a comfortable position, constantly feeding him small sips of water.
"Qiu Du...Qiu Du, has he been poisoned?"
"It's okay, it's okay... Don't be afraid, I'm here."
"I'll call the doctor right now."
Wen Jiangchu's voice trembled. He was so nervous and scared that he spilled the water in the cup. He even cried a little, fearing that Chen Qiudu had accidentally eaten something.
The warm embrace was a level of care that Chen Qiudu had not experienced in a long time.
Chen Qiudu just thought Wen Jiangchu was really stupid.
She didn't care at all about being drugged, but she was so scared and nervous about him.
This person is really strange.
Seeing that Wen Jiangchu was about to burst into tears, Chen Qiudu had to force his eyes open, "This is... medicine for you..."
"For me?"
Wen Jiangchu was stunned. "Are you going to drug me too?"
It's confirmed, this guy is really a psychopath.
Chen Qiudu was so angry that he laughed. He used all his strength to push Wen Jiangchu's head down so that he could get close to his ear.
But for a moment he was not paying attention to the strength, and the hot thin lips touched Wen Jiangchu's cheek.
"! Qiu Du, you..."
Chen Qiudu didn't react and angrily whispered in his ear, "Fuck you, this is the antidote for you! Only a psychopath would give you...drug!"
After saying the last sentence, Chen Qiudu could no longer hold on and gave up all his strength, wanting only to bury his head in Wen Jiangchu's shoulder.
The familiar scent made him feel at ease, and his heart slowly calmed down.
In the last moment before falling asleep, Shen Qiudu had only one thought -
It’s just getting warmer, why does it smell so good?
What kind of perfume is it that suits his taste so well?
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