Chapter 9: So fast, so vicious

My face was distorted because of the pressure being exerted from above. I struggled instinctively, but I failed to budge Ran Qingzhuang even the slightest bit.

“That was the only thing I still had from him. Must you destroy that too?” Ran Qingzhuang said furiously before he grabbed my hair and forcefully pulled my head back.

As a result, our current appearances were reflected in the mirror in front of me.

Because of the pain and fear, my complexion was ashen and colorless, and my glasses clung crookedly and pathetically to my face. Meanwhile, Ran Qingzhuang’s expression was somewhat sinister, and his veins stood out prominently from his neck. His jaw was drawn taut, and his eyes were dark and heavy, like the surface of the sea that had been frozen over by a layer of thick ice in the dead of night. All I could sense was a terrible, bone-piercing chill.

I could feel his grip tightening on my arms bit by bit, as if he was in the middle of contemplating and considering the most efficient way to break those troublesome limbs in order to avenge his precious ring.

When the pain began to intensify, I panicked and started to plead for mercy. “Don’t! Sorry, I’m sorry… It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have picked it up without permission, I’m sorry… I’m begging you, please don’t break my arms…”

I did indeed say before that I wanted to make it up to Ran Qingzhuang to the best of my abilities, no matter what kind of price I had to pay in the process. But now that I was truly about to “pay a price,” I still couldn’t help but feel afraid and pained; I still couldn’t help but bargain with him.

“You can… you can hit me with a belt.” Just like how my mom used to punish me in the past, every time I did something wrong. I negotiated with him: “But please don’t… don’t ruin my hands, or else I won’t be able to… play the cello anymore.”

My voice grew increasingly nasally as a glassy sheen covered my eyes. On the verge of bursting into tears, I prayed that Ran Qingzhuang would have mercy on me.

I met his callous gaze through the mirror. He was breathing heavily and trying desperately to restrain his anger; there were even a few moments when his face seemed like it was about to twist and distort into something else because of the opposing emotions warring inside him.

Then, he looked up and caught sight of himself in the mirror.

He froze, stunned, as if he was seeing someone entirely unfamiliar to him. A beat later, he released his hold on me and closed his eyes. Like floodwater after the passing of a storm, the turbulent emotions in his gaze swiftly receded, leaving behind nothing but devastation and chaos in its wake.

Rubbing the numbers tattooed across his neck, he retreated to the bathroom wall. By the time he spoke again, his voice had already calmed down. In fact… it was even calmer than before, like a stagnant pool of water without any ripples whatsoever.

“What’s a grown man like you crying for? Don’t be disgusting.” He leaned against the wall and patted the pocket of his pants, seemingly in search of cigarettes. Unfortunately, despite searching for a while, he didn’t end up finding anything.

With the vigilance of a startled animal, I cautiously pushed myself up from the sink. My gaze never wavered from him, as if he would lunge at me and rip me apart the instant my eyes strayed even the slightest bit.

“I… I’ll go contact maintenance right now, so they can help retrieve your ring.” I wiped away the burgeoning tears in my eyes with a knuckle before I straightened my glasses and saw that my phone had fallen next to Ran Qingzhuang’s feet. Since I didn’t really have the guts to approach him and get it, I decided to go downstairs and fetch maintenance myself.

“No need.”

Hand braced against the door frame, I looked back in astonishment.

Ran Qingzhuang slowly leaned over and picked up my phone from the ground. After glancing at its screen, he tossed it to me.

As I scrambled to catch it, I heard him say, “You lost my ring and I broke your phone, so we’re even. It’s been many years—that ring was long overdue to be tossed anyway.”

He straightened upright and brushed past me to stride into his bedroom. Closing the door forcefully behind him, he didn’t emerge for quite a while afterwards.

I was afraid that he would get hungry during the night, so I picked up some food from the cafeteria and left it on the dining table for him. However, when I got up the next morning, it was still completely untouched.

It had started at our reunion, but it seemed like he was always trying his hardest to distance himself from me. The night I helped cover for him, he said that everything from the past would be written off; after I lost his ring, he said that we were even.

It was almost as if I were some virus that resulted in instant death, and he was afraid that I would infect him immediately if he let his guard down even for a moment, causing him to die in an unsightly manner.

—

My phone was now completely broken, and it wouldn’t even turn on anymore. Although I wasn’t the type of person who couldn’t be without their phone for a single hour, in the end it was still inconvenient to go without one in modern society. On top of that, I was also worried that my mom and little sister wouldn’t be able to reach me if they needed something.

I asked Chen Qiao if there was anywhere on the island where I could buy a phone. After thinking for a bit, he told me that there were several boutique shops connected to the hotel on the east side of the island where the casino was. It was possible to buy clothes and jewelry there, so we could go take a look and see.

As a result, one day after work, Chen Qiao took me directly to the eastern half of the island where Helian Resort was located.

The Resort was the collective name for the casino and the hotel. Both were situated within the same enormous, extravagant European-style building. There were over one hundred casino tables and four hundred hotel rooms in the Resort, and it was open twenty-four hours a day, every single day of the year. No matter what a visitor was here for—whether that be sightseeing or gambling—there was sure to be ample accommodation and entertainment at their fingertips. It was all very convenient.

Apart from the entrances to the hotel and the casino, the first floor was filled with boutique shops selling all sorts of luxury goods. A scan of the display windows showed products expensive enough to render someone speechless.

“Do people really buy things here?” I asked Chen Qiao.

“Of course, the people who win money do.” Chen Qiao laughed and said, “Anyway, it doesn’t matter who wins or loses. We’re the ones making a profit.”

Out of the boutiques, there was only one that sold electronics, so I went there and purchased the cheapest phone they had in the store. I was originally planning to head straight back after paying, but then I ended up passing by a jewelry store. Upon seeing one of the rings in the display window, I stopped in my tracks.

I stared at the thin platinum ring without saying anything for quite a while—probably at least three or four minutes. It went on for so long that Chen Qiao started to grow puzzled, and he asked me, “Ning-ge, are you… interested in buying it?”

I gazed at the ring for another long moment. The more I looked at it, the more I liked it, so I responded with a soft hum and went into the store.

“How much is the men’s ring in the window?” I asked.

The sales representative welcomed me and glanced at the front of the store before rattling off a number.

It wasn’t too bad, just a month of my pay. If I bought the ring, I would still have five months of wages left. Once I was dead, the money I was originally saving for a car would go to my mom, and the five months of pay would go to my little sister. As long as she was a little frugal with it in college, it should be enough.

While taking out an identical ring for me from the counter, the representative launched into a pitch about how this was their store’s most classic model, and how many couples used it as their wedding ring.

She definitely thought that I was getting married.

“I’ll take this one. Please wrap it up for me.” After examining the ring some more, I was very pleased with it, and I handed my card to her.

She asked, “Would you like a pair?”

I shook my head. “Just one is enough. The men’s version.”

In a display of exceptional professionalism, the sales representative didn’t say anything more on the matter. Once she confirmed the size, she took my card and went to ring me up.

“Ning-ge, you’re buying a ring for Yao-ge?” Chen Qiao shuffled closer and glanced at the ring that was evidently much too large for my finger.

I closed the red velvet ring box and nodded slightly without providing much more of an explanation to Chen Qiao.

—

It was getting a little late by the time I finished purchasing the ring. Chen Qiao suggested that we may as well eat dinner at the hotel restaurant before heading back, but because I was hurting from the huge sum of money I had just spent, I wanted to go back and get food from the cafeteria.

“Oh, don’t go, Ning-ge. Just give it a taste! Don’t worry, it’s all reimbursable.” Noticing my hesitation, Chen Qiao hooked an arm around my shoulders and started dragging me towards the hotel.

Since Western-style food was a little slow to be served, it was well past eight once we finally finished dinner. After checking the time, Chen Qiao promptly urged, “Well, since we’re already here, we might as well take a look around the casino. Ning-ge, don’t you agree?”

Not really.

In the end, gambling was still wrong and something to be avoided at all costs. I couldn’t grow careless just because I was going to die soon.

Human nature was not something to be underestimated. How many tragedies were the result of a single moment of oversight? I shouldn’t let myself get even the tiniest bit curious about anything bad or evil.

Right as I was about to decline, Chen Qiao continued, “Yao-ge just so happens to be helping out at the casino today. Why don’t we go find him, so we can pick him up and go back to the dorm together?”

Me: “…”

This excuse was truly rather reasonable, and I found myself unable to really say anything in return.

—

Consequently, for the first time in my twenty-five years of life, I stepped into a casino.

A space that could accommodate over one hundred table games was destined to be large. I had pictured its size before, but I didn’t expect its decor to be so lavish.

The entire venue could only be described as “gloriously opulent.” Thick carpet blanketed the floor, while murals lined in gold covered the ceiling. Huge crystal chandeliers dangled down, illuminating the entire hall until it was as bright as day.

The dealers were all young, good-looking men and women. Quite a few male players were also accompanied by beautifully dressed girls in formal attire—Chen Qiao said that those were “lucky girls.” Like good luck charms, their sole job was to stay by the guest’s side and boost their luck. If the guest won, the girl would receive a considerable tip as well; if the guest lost, the girl would be blamed for having bad luck, and she wouldn’t receive any money.

As he spoke, one of the lucky girls approached us.

“Little Pineapple, did you manage to buy what I asked you to get me outside?” She seemed to be around the same age as Chen Qiao, and her face still held some lingering baby fat that had yet to be shed. Her eyes were especially remarkable, big and piercing, and her mouth was very small and slightly pursed. When she wasn’t talking, it looked as if she was pouting.

“Yep, I got all the face masks and manhua. I’ll send them over to you tomorrow.” Chen Qiao was clearly acquainted with the other person.

“Oh Little Pineapple, you’re the best!” Ami hugged Chen Qiao’s arm, assuming an air of intimacy. As she did so, her gaze chanced upon me, and she said sweetly, “Little Pineapple, who’s this handsome young man? How come I’ve never seen him before?”

While speaking, she reached out towards me, seemingly with the intent of running her delicate hands stickily across my body. “Do you wanna play? I can be your lucky girl if you’d like—my luck’s been really good tonight.”

“I…”

Before I could respond, Chen Qiao tugged on the strap of Ami’s long gown and swiftly dragged her back.

“You’re out of your mind, this is sister-in-law Yao. Don’t just make moves on every man you see, okay?” There was a long-suffering expression on Chen Qiao’s face.

“Sister-in-law Yao? He’s that…” As for that “what,” Ami didn’t say. Instead, she forced out an awkward laugh and said, “Sorry about that, sister-in-law, I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m sure you’re very magnanimous, so there’s no need to hold a grudge against a child like me. Ah, someone’s looking for me over there, I’ve gotta go.” Immediately after, she lifted the hem of her skirt and rapidly fled the scene.

“She’s always so scatterbrained, especially considering her age.” For once, Chen Qiao sounded rather mature, and he told me, “Ning-ge, don’t take offense, okay? She and I came to the island around the same time, so we’re basically in the same ‘class,’ which is why we’re pretty close. She’s a good person, but her personality is just a bit too lively.”

“It’s fine, no big deal,” I replied with a smile.

—

Chen Qiao and I strolled through the casino while simultaneously keeping an eye out for Ran  Qingzhuang. Chen Qiao probably thought that it was quite a shame to come all the way here without playing at least one game, so he offered to exchange some chips for me, if I wanted to give it a try, but I turned him down politely.

The casino was packed with guests, their voices a noisy clamor. All of a sudden, a conflict seemed to break out somewhere, and screams and curses filled the air, after which the crowd devolved into chaos.

I was pushed around and crammed aside, and I ended up being separated from Chen Qiao. By the time I got my bearings, I was already standing in front of a large poker table.

A middle-aged bald man was standing on top of the table. He had a scraggly beard, and he wore a dispirited expression; his clothes were also extremely disheveled.

Waving around a half-broken champagne bottle in his hand, he appeared to have gone completely mad. “Stay back, stay back! This is all mine, all mine, nobody can take them from me! Nobody can take them from me!!” As he spoke, he kept hunching over to gather up the chips on the table before stuffing them into the pockets of his suit trousers, which were full to the point of bursting.

A dealer was slumped on the ground in front of the table, clutching at their arm with a panic-stricken and pained look on their face. Blood seeped out from between their fingers—they had evidently been stabbed by the middle-aged man.

The crowd was so agitated earlier precisely because everyone was attempting to get away from this place. But since I was abruptly pushed closer to the table, I immediately drew the man’s attention.

He glared at me warily as he aimed the sharp glass at me. “Don’t even think about stealing my money!”

I raised both of my hands in the air to show him that I was harmless. “I’m not trying to steal your money. Sir, just calm down a little. Everything can be resolved, there’s no need to take things so far…”

“That’s impossible! I lost several million, there’s no turning back now.” Out of nowhere, the man suddenly started sobbing. “I’m too ashamed to face my family like this. At first, I wanted to come here to turn things around, but I just ended up being thoroughly finished instead. What’s the point of living anymore? What’s the point?! It’s all because of the Jin family—all of you ruthless, greedy leeches! I’ll haunt you even as a ghost!”

His monologue grew increasingly mournful, and near the end, it was almost as if he had been possessed. He pointed the broken bottle towards himself, seemingly on the verge of piercing his own neck.

Noise erupted around me, and I took a step forward in a frantic attempt to stop him. “Don’t!”

At that exact moment, an athletic figure leaped smoothly onto the table like a black leopard and hooked an arm around the man’s neck from behind. Incredibly quickly, the newcomer caught the hand holding the bottle and bent it almost effortlessly. The middle-aged man instantly let out a miserable howl and dropped the bottle.

Ran Qingzhuang’s expression was chilly, and he didn’t relent in the slightest even upon hearing the man’s shriek. After forcing the other person down onto his stomach, he dug his knee into the center of the man’s back and bore down on him like a mountain, causing the other person to groan in pain.

So fast, so vicious.

I pulled back my foot again, alarmed. Then I swallowed unconsciously and hid my hands behind my back with a bit of retrospective fear.

What a close call. A little more, and my arms would’ve also been broken just like that yesterday…

—

HNQ: Obey the law, stay away from gambling??