out of control
"I should have realized it was you."
Zhong Qiqian stood in the small room, which was already small, and became even narrower after three people were put in it.
Jiang Zhi sat on the sofa and kissed the forehead of the person in his arms. "I should have realized that Cheng Yin had become so dependent on you."
Both of them had murderous intent in their eyes.
Zhong Qiqian glanced at the cast on his leg. "Is this your new little trick?"
Jiang Zhi remained noncommittal.
Zhong Qiqian looked past him at the small house across the street and suddenly understood why Fang Chengyin had called him here. "Since you've gotten back to him, you should help him instead of letting him put himself in danger. Also, he's annoyed by you, the kind of annoyance that comes from strangers who don't know their place."
Jiang Zhi laughed: "It's nothing. You'll remember it eventually if you keep bothering it. It's better than not being interested at all."
Zhong Qiqian sat down, avoiding the gaze from the man in the opposite house, and changed the subject, "Is that man the murderer?"
"perhaps?"
"You don't know and you just let Cheng Yin do whatever he wants?"
Jiang Zhi laughed: "I've tried my best to control the situation. So who did you just see?"
I took out my phone and opened a few photos.
Zhong Qiqian looked at them. "None of them."
It wasn't Fang Bokang, Yang Yuzan, Liu Desheng, or Li Jingning—it wasn't anyone who reappeared beside Song Zixin.
Zhong Qiqian: "Much younger than them, with a beauty mark under his right eye."
Jiang Zhi's expression shifted slightly. "That big star?"
He was referring to Chen Du.
Zhong Qiqian: "..."
Jiang Zhi: "The siblings of a big star?"
Zhong Qiqian looked at him with disdain: "…………"
Jiang Zhi also looked at Zhong Qiqian with disdain.
Zhong Qiqian: "Although I can't be sure, I think he's a prostitute. He looked listless and pale, and just now he had a strong masculine smell on him."
"He just opened the door for you like that?"
Zhong Qiqian didn't know what he meant by that, "I kicked the door hard."
"Really?" Jiang Zhi stroked Fang Chengyin's hair.
Zhong Qiqian hated that he was touching Fang Chengyin inappropriately. "Otherwise?"
"Now that we have this clue, Young Master Zhong should be able to find out where he went tonight, right?"
Zhong Qiqian scoffed, "Young Master Jiang, are you conspiring with me?"
Jiang Zhi didn't take it to heart: "Young Master Zhong's status is now far higher than mine, and he can be of greater help to Cheng Yin."
"That's true, summer is almost over. Young Master Jiang's trial should also have a result by then. I wonder if he will still have anything left to hold in his hands."
"Whether it's possible or not, the role of the host can only be mine."
"Ha, but now I have to hand him over to you."
“Yes, sometimes you have to be ruthless to achieve your goals.” Jiang Zhi kissed Fang Chengyin’s lips, licked them, and then released him, meeting Zhong Qiqian’s cold gaze. “If anything of mine is touched, I will make him wish he were dead. Young Master Zhong has seen it, hasn’t he?”
Zhong Qiqian's face darkened as he recalled the past. He took Fang Chengyin from his arms and said as he walked to the door, "If he ever finds out you're back, I think he'll reconsider choosing someone else."
This is the kind of confrontational style where they feel they have to stab someone in the back before leaving to vent their anger; this has always been their relationship.
Because of his family background, he had met Zhong Qiqian and his father a few times when they visited. Their families complemented each other professionally, but he and Zhong Qiqian disliked each other. The fact that they didn't fight was just a matter of upbringing.
Later, when he learned that Zhong Qiqian had become Fang Chengyin's best friend, Young Master Jiang had considered dragging him into a dark alley in the middle of the night and beating him up. However, when Fang Chengyin was going through a difficult time, it was Zhong Qiqian who cared for him and looked after him regardless of what others thought, until he returned home.
He thanked Zhong Qiqian, but that was all.
Jiang Zhi took off his cast, stood up, climbed onto the windowsill, and jumped to the other side. No one knows how he managed to open the latch, but he just brazenly entered the man's house.
"Who are you?"
As Zhong Qiqian said, the man did have a baby face that made it difficult to tell his exact age; he looked like a high school student. However, his calm and composed demeanor suggested that he had been working in society for many years.
Jiang Zhi glanced at the clothes he had previously taken off and tossed aside, and casually asked, "Where's your employer tonight?"
Jiang Zhi was sturdy and tall, making men appear delicate in his presence, which added credibility to his words.
The man frowned. "We're not entertaining guests tonight."
Jiang Zhi teased, "What? You've been played with too much?"
"Please have some self-respect!"
Jiang Zhi exclaimed as if he had discovered a new continent: "So there's shame in selling yourself?"
The man was unfazed: "You're no better, are you? Weren't you just forcing yourself on the other side? Who knows how many people you've slept with? You must be riddled with diseases! Uh..."
Jiang Zhi grabbed the man's neck, his deep eyes filled with unspoken thoughts. The man suddenly trembled and frantically tried to pry open the incredibly strong hand.
"Uh... let go..."
Jiang Zhi's initial anger had turned into pleasure, as if he had seized the prey's weakness. Just as the man was about to suffocate, he threw him off, and the man fell into the pile of clothes, landing right on the black clothes that Jiang Zhi had just changed out of.
Looking down at him, Jiang Zhi remarked, "This tastes truly amazing."
The man shuddered and hastily stuffed his clothes into the pile of clothes, as if he were trying to hide something.
Jiang Zhi: "You should be glad I'm not one of your employers, otherwise you would have to pay a price today."
Seeing that Jiang Zhi had no intention of investigating further, the man regained his composure.
Jiang Zhi ignored the man and walked around the room.
The layout had long since changed; the content on the blackboard had been erased and replaced with new content, consisting of connections between letters, presumably representing the object of a man's affections.
"Can this industry really make that much money?"
There was actually no discriminatory intent in the words; in fact, the unseemly behavior was even described as an industry.
The man didn't reply, but he seemed to waver a little towards Jiang Zhi. However, this didn't make him less wary; no one would have a good impression of someone who barged into their house at night.
Jiang Zhi didn't care about the man's thoughts and continued looking around. "The previous tenant sublet the place to you in an emergency, right? Or are you just a decoy he hired today?"
The man stood up, leaning against the wall, but still didn't say anything.
Jiang Zhi looked at him, as if he had discovered some little secret: "You even left such obvious traces."
The man's pupils contracted.
Jiang Zhi: "Do you want me to call the police for you? How about reporting it as a robbery?"
His words were loaded with meaning, and the man blurted out, "No need! Please leave!"
I don't know what the man was afraid of. Was he afraid that he was selling himself, or that he had really been raped, or that the house couldn't withstand a search?
Jiang Zhi shrugged. "Alright, then I can't help you with that."
The door behind him was slammed shut with a long, dull thud. Jiang Zhi's upturned lips drooped, his eyes darkened, and his slightly cool hands slipped into his coat. His slender figure disappeared into the night.
·
At four in the morning, the streets were deserted, with only the occasional drunk young man or woman hailing a taxi on the roadside. The shops in Yanyang Plaza had long since closed, except for the luxurious KTV and bar on the top floor, which were still open.
The autumn wind was bleak as two drunken youths staggered out of the mall, supporting each other.
One of the men covered his mouth: "I'm going to throw up..."
"You fucking..." he burped, "Don't spit everywhere, have some manners! Haha!"
The man shook off his companion's hand, "Damn it... there's not even a trash can!"
My classmate squinted and pointed to a black object in the center of the square: "Hey! Over there, in the middle... that trash can!"
The man was walking in the opposite direction when his companion grabbed him and pulled him towards the black object, yelling, "You son of a bitch! Don't you know anything about civility?!"
The two staggered over quickly, and the man who was about to vomit knelt down as if he had found a lifeline and was about to throw up.
His companion quickly grabbed his shoulder to stop him, "The woven bag isn't even opened yet, kid! Spitting in there...that's more civilized!"
His companion was also very drunk. He tried to unzip the zipper several times but couldn't. Finally, with a hissing sound, a pungent smell rushed towards the two of them on the autumn wind, and the man couldn't help but lean to one side and vomit violently.
The strange yet familiar smell jolted his companion slightly awake. He looked at the black woven bag and saw bloody, mangled limbs.
Terrified screams pierced through Yanyang City.
·
When Fang Chengyin woke up, the sky was already showing the first light of dawn. The environment he was in was neither unfamiliar nor strange, as he had only stayed there once or twice when he was drunk.
There were two photos on the desk. One was a family photo of Zhong Qiqian, and the other was a photo of himself and Zhong Qiqian, taken during his junior high school graduation trip. It turned out that he and Zhong Qiqian had known each other for so long.
When I got up and went downstairs, Zhong Qiqian was sitting in the living room watching the morning news. He was barely making any noise, probably because he didn't want to disturb me.
"Awake?" Hearing the noise, Zhong Qiqian turned around. "Are you dizzy? Do you want to eat breakfast right away or later?"
Fang Chengyin sat down next to him. "We'll eat in a bit. Yesterday—"
He didn't ask any further questions. His gaze fixed on the LCD screen, his pupils contracting. "Could you turn the volume up a bit?"
Chung Chi-chien found it strange, but he turned up the volume of the news broadcast.
Yanyang News reports for you:
At 4:00 AM this morning, a bag containing dismembered remains was found at Yanyang Square near Flower Kindergarten. The deceased was identified as Liu Jinyi, a high school student from Yanyang No. 1 Middle School.
"Fang Chengyin! You stop right there!"
Zhong Qiqian shouted at the person who was already standing blankly by the pool.
After seeing the morning news, he told Zhong Qiqian that he wanted to go for a walk. Zhong Qiqian didn't stop him; he didn't know he knew Liu Jinyi.
But when he finished making breakfast and looked outside, Fang Chengyin wasn't in the yard. He was only wearing a thin nightgown when he went out. He searched around the villa for a long time before finally finding Fang Chengyin by the pool in the side yard, seemingly staring blankly at the clear water, and then looking like he was about to jump in.
Zhong Qiqian grasped his wrist, feeling its coolness, and draped the blanket over Fang Chengyin, holding it tightly without letting go.
Fang Chengyin snapped out of his daze, said thank you, and then said he was going back to his school dormitory.
"Eat breakfast first." Zhong Qiqian didn't notice anything wrong with him, assuming he wanted to go back for a nap. "There's a limit to how much you should sleep."
Fang Chengyin is a heavy sleeper. Apart from his part-time job, he basically sleeps all the time, as if he has never had enough sleep.
Zhong Qiqian then helped him tuck the blanket around him.
Fang Chengyin then asked, "How did I get back yesterday?"
Zhong Qiqian laughed: "Which one do you want to hear? Do you want me to carry you back in my arms, or carry you back on my back?"
Fang Cheng ignored him: "Have you seen my roommate?"
Zhong Qiqian let go and pulled the person back: "So he's your roommate? He looks decent enough, but he's awful."
Fang Cheng recalled being knocked unconscious, "After we came back, what happened to him?"
"I don't know, they should be staying there," Zhong Qiqian replied casually, as he didn't care about the matter.
Fang Chengyin turned to look at him: "You said before that you didn't want me to have any contact with him, but now that we've met, you don't object anymore."
Zhong Qiqian paused for a moment, then covered up his lie by saying, "I only realized he was different from the rumors after we met. It's like how even if I warned you beforehand, you still let your guard down after spending time with him."
Fang Chengyin stopped talking, and the television in the living room was turned off.
During breakfast, Zhong Qiqian repeatedly checked to make sure he was alright, only to be scolded by Fang Chengyin, who said he had a motherly mentality and needed to change it.
After the meal, Zhong Qiqian drove them home. This was his first visit since Fang Chengyin and Jiang Zhi started sharing the apartment, and he was disgusted by the new layout. What he disliked even more was Jiang Zhi, the instigator, who was sitting on the sofa eating boiled eggs with plain water, his leg still in a cast.
"Oh, what a rare guest!" That's how he teased Zhong Qiqian when he saw him, then added, "Goodbye and don't bother seeing me off."
Fang Chengyin, with his keen observation, asked, "You two know each other?"
Jiang Zhi scoffed: "More than just acquaintances?"
That was the end of the story. Fang Chengyin turned to look at Zhong Qiqian in confusion. Zhong Qiqian said casually, "When I arrived yesterday, I saw him hugging you. I thought he was a hooligan and insulted him."
"Well, thankfully I didn't lay a hand on him. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the spare money to pay for his medical expenses if he suffered a level 10 disability."
Zhong Qiqian had no intention of arguing with him, and the other party replied, "No classes today, have a good rest."
Fang Chengyin hummed in agreement.
After watching Zhong Qiqian leave, his face darkened. "What did you mean yesterday?"
Jiang Zhi continued drinking plain water: "Just like you felt, I made you dizzy."
"Why?"
"Why could there be? My foot is injured, and you came to take care of me, but you want to run away halfway through."
"You son of a bitch...! Are you out of your mind, Jiang Zhi?!"
Jiang Zhi remained noncommittal, patting the sofa beside him with a clear meaning.
Fang Chengyin took a few steps forward and grabbed his collar. Before he could even speak, Jiang Zhi's expression changed, and he growled at him, "You can't do anything! Didn't I tell you that already? Why didn't you listen? Hmm, Fang Chengyin? Who do you think you are, capable of taking responsibility for everything?"
Fang Chengyin's eyes reddened; his anger had been extinguished, replaced by a sudden fear. Jiang Zhi abruptly pulled him to lie down on his side, embracing him tightly. Fang Chengyin buried his face in Jiang Zhi's neck like a startled rabbit, his hands gripping Jiang Zhi's clothes tightly.
Jiang Zhi's eyes darkened, and he reached into the man's pocket with his right hand to pull out his phone, where he indeed saw several messages from unknown numbers:
"Do you like this wonderful gift?"
Is this question really that hard to answer?
"Six days. If you still don't have an answer after six days, or if your answer isn't satisfactory, I'll give you another big gift."
"Just enjoy the view over the next few days as I package this wonderful gift. It looks beautiful; I put so much effort into it."
"First, let's see how to dislocate a person's right hand: Video MP4"
It's such a pity, the college entrance exam is just around the corner.
After the video was played, Jiang Zhi tightened his grip on his phone, then leaned down and kissed Fang Chengyin's hairline. He picked up his own phone, pressed it against Fang Chengyin's face, read all the information, and then turned off Fang Chengyin's messaging channels.
The latest news appeared on Jiang Zhi's phone:
"Fang Chengyin, six days to go."
What is the most painful way to die, and also the most satisfying way to vent one's anger?
Jiang Zhi ignored it and moved all the received messages into Mine, creating a two-person chat room that was only visible to himself.
The other party was unaware that the recipient of the message had changed.
Jiang Zhi turned off his phone.
“You can leave… I’ll go act and pay you back, you can move out…” the person in my arms said in a trembling voice.
Jiang Zhi sighed, pried his hands apart, and intertwined his fingers. "Didn't you say I was a new farmer favored by official media? How come you changed your mind so quickly?"
"Don't you understand? He'll hurt everyone around me just to provoke me."
"Am I someone close to you now? I'm so happy."
Something damp slid down his neck. Jiang Zhi tightened his grip on her hand. "Fang Chengyin, I won't let myself get hurt. I'll always be with you. It's too late to push me away now. Remember that? If you don't, I don't mind helping you."
He tried to push the person away to check on the situation, but Fang Chengyin was trembling violently and clung tightly to him, not moving. "He's cruel... He's a beast! He..."
Jiang Zhi cut off his almost broken rationality: "You don't know the man across the hall yesterday."
This only provoked Fang Chengyin more. He stopped talking and just cried out of fear.
Jiang Zhi gently stroked his back, her eyes filled with unreadable heartache.
Soon after, Zhong Qiqian sent him a message containing surveillance video of Liu Jinyi and Fang Chengyin arguing in the villa area.
Adding a note: "After appeasing Cheng Yin, resolve the matter; I'll take charge of the orchard."
Jiang Zhi: "You probably can't handle my orchard."
Zhong Qiqian: "Jiang Zhi, I only care about the results. Otherwise, I'd be happy to see Cheng Yin leave you."
Jiang Zhi: "Get lost!"
He turned off his phone and ignored it, but the person in his arms started muttering, "So dark! So dark!"
This time, Jiang Zhi easily saw his hidden face, eyes tightly closed, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. Jiang Zhi hugged him and sat up, which unexpectedly caused Fang Chengyin to cry out in surprise and cling to him even tighter.
Jiang Zhi then realized something was wrong—Fang Cheng had developed a fever, his whole body was burning hot, and his mind had been taken over by someone else.
His eyes were closed, and he kept repeating the word "black" on his lips.
Jiang Zhi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and picked him up.
He carried the person to the washbasin, filled a basin with hot water and put on a towel, and then carried him into the room. Perhaps to calm himself down, Jiang Zhi did not take it upon himself to carry him into his own room this time.
"Darkness...I'm scared!"
Jiang Zhi had no choice but to sit on the edge of the bed with the person in his arms, wring out a towel to wipe his face, but this couldn't go on, he had to get up to get the medicine, so he coaxed, "Yinyin, open your eyes and it won't be dark anymore, open your eyes."
This was the nickname his parents used for him, and Fang Chengyin took it to heart, but he just kept shaking his head, "Black..."
Jiang Zhi felt heartbroken and whispered in his ear, "Fang Chengyin, do you know I lied to you? My leg wasn't injured, and the cast was fake. Open your eyes and look, I didn't lie to you this time."
Fang Chengyin stopped sobbing. His nose was very red, and his eyes were rolling around as if he was desperately trying to open them.
Jiang Zhi was both amused and exasperated. "Do you hate it when I lie to you that much?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Chengyin opened his eyes, looking bewildered as if he had just been reborn from a cage. After seeing Jiang Zhi's face clearly, he raised his hand and slapped him. Despite having a high fever, he didn't know where the strength came from, but a few marks appeared on Jiang Zhi's face.
Fang Chengyin gritted his teeth: "Madman!"
Jiang Zhi chuckled and grabbed his wrist: "Yeah, you're crazy. So, you can be crazy too!"
After saying that, he kissed her. There was no comforting, no tenderness, only plunder. He stole all of her breath, stole all the pain and hatred, and uncontrollably offered her his love, even if it meant being trampled on like a donkey's liver and lungs.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com