After almost eight hours of intensive work, Qin Yubai had already calmed down from his violent mood at noon. He decided not to invest any more emotion in Yan Shuang.
“Pa–”
The folder was thrown to Yan Shuang’s feet.
“Take a look for yourself.”
Qin Yubai’s voice was cold.
Yan Shuang knew what was inside without even looking.
He already figured it out in the car. Since Wei Yichen appeared on a street less than ten meters from the hotel, he 100% went to the hotel to investigate him.
Yan Shuang pretended to not know anything as he picked up the folder. He opened it and briefly glanced inside, only to be captivated by the contents.
It had to be said, Wei Yichen was really good at doing his job.
The structure was clear, the wording accurate, and the pictures included vivid and descriptive.
The aesthetics were also pretty good.
The composition of the pictures taken from the hotel surveillance cameras were perfect.
Ji Yao opening a room with his ID card while Yan Shuang stood with his head down not far away. They seemed like a young couple coming to a hotel to sample the forbidden fruit. Even though that wasn’t the case, this photo certainly looked quite ambiguous.
Yan Shuang was full of praise as he examined it.
Nice, nice.
He wanted to frame this picture and give it to Ji Yao as a gift later on.
The sight of Yan Shuang stiffly staring blankly at the document made all the anger Qin Yubai had managed to suppress begin to rise again.
He pressed down hard on the table and got up abruptly. With every step he took in Yan Shuang’s direction, his anger rose.
On the one hand, he told himself that he had to be calm. On the other hand, he couldn’t restrain the irritability in his heart.
How could he allow others to touch something that he owned.
His chin suddenly lifted, Yan Shuang’s ink-coloured hair scattered from his forehead. His eyes behind the lenses were as calm as ever.
This pair of eyes was too similar to Qin Qing’s. It was to the point where Qin Yubai became confused momentarily.
They were both as clear and tranquil as a puddle of water, but why did Yan Shuang’s eyes make him feel like there was an undercurrent surging under the water, the dangerous unknown hidden within. There lay resistance, provocation, and temptation.
“Tell me,” Qin Yubai’s tone was gentle to conceal his violently fluctuating mood, “what did you two do in the hotel?”
The tone he thought was calm was harsh to Yan Shuang’s ears, like a thin layer of ice that would break at the slightest touch.
Yan Shuang decided to help him.
After all, it wasn’t healthy to hold your anger in for too long.
“On the bed, we…”
A hand choked his throat before he could even finish.
“Shut up.”
The two words squeezed out from clenched teeth and the terrifying force his neck was registering indicated that Qin Yubai was about to explode.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Yan Shuang was forced to lean back. He sneered with difficulty. “Funny, isn’t it. You don’t believe me when I say nothing happened, and you tell me to shut up when I say I got in bed with him…” Yan Shuang struggled to look up, his eyes tearing up because of how difficult it was to breathe. “Qin Yubai, are you so insecure?”
“Dbbw–“
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But it wasn’t enough.
There were still people who trampled him beneath their feet.
Like the Ji family.
The two families once stood on equal footing, but now the Qin family was being held back by the other almost everyday.
There are no friends when it comes to doing business.
The Ji family had no small hand in the Qin family’s fall from glory. Qin Yubai couldn’t accept losing to anyone, especially someone surnamed Ji.
It had almost become an internal demon of sorts for him.
Qin Yubai let go.
Yan Shuang bent over to one side, holding his throat and coughing.
The wound on the palm of his hand had reopened due to the force he used just now, the gauze now dyed a faint pink colour. Qin Yubai stared at his palm. He knew very clearly that he had lost control once again.
–Because of Yan Shuang.
Yan Shuang pretended to cough for a while, his ears perked up to catch any sounds of movement in the room.
The room was so quiet that even the sound of breathing couldn’t be heard.
Yan Shuang was astonished. Did he anger Qin Yubai to the point of fainting?
Dude, we still have to grind the plot tonight! Don’t be such a spoilsport!
Yan Shuang quietly glanced out of the corner of his eyes. Qin Yubai was still sitting beside him, his hand on his knees. Motionless, he was like a silent and handsome statue.
Only now did Yan Shuang notice that Qin Yubai’s hands were injured.
Aiyo, he would’ve been more restrained with his words had he known. How did he even get injured? Were they going to grind the plot or not tonight, ah??
Yan Shuang was just considering whether he should coax Qin Yubai when the man suddenly turned to him with a cold expression, seeming to have regained his calm. “Take off your clothes.”
Yan Shuang breathed a sigh of relief.
Good job, Qin Yubai! You withstood it!
Yan Shuang has never shied away from this matter.
Ji Yao’s shirt, his own T-shirt, his pants, underwear, even his socks…he took it all off.
The traces left last night hadn’t faded yet. They circled his jade-like body like chains.
Qin Yubai silently took it all in. He suddenly asked, “Do you hate me to your bones?”
Yan Shuang: “…”
It was hard to say.
He didn’t really care because it was, you know, part of going through the plot. It’s normal to run into all kinds of people, and he’s encountered people even more outrageous than this.
But in terms of his role, did Yan Shuang hate Qin Yubai?
That didn’t seem like the case either.
At the very least, Qin Yubai had helped him settle the debts of his adoptive father.
–Of course, this was based on the premise that Yan Shuang hadn’t discovered that said ‘debts’ were completely orchestrated by Qin Yubai himself.
In general, Qin Yubai helped him settle his adoptive father’s gambling debts, but he also forced him to sign a master-servant contract so it was kind of 50-50?
Either that or neutral.
After considering the matter for a subjective and objective point of view, Yan Shuang told the truth. “I don’t hate you.”
“Come here.”
Qin Yubai stretched out his hand.
Yan Shuang hesitated. However, he still inched towards Qin Yubai in the end. If he pissed the man off anymore tonight and he really fainted, he wouldn’t be able to grind the plot tonight.
The moment his hand touched Yan Shuang’s waist, Yan Shuang could feel that the temperature of Qin Yubai’s palm was on the hotter side.
A glance revealed that blood was seeping through the gaze here. The wound even seemed to be getting worse/.
Qin Yubai pulled Yan Shuang onto his lap and took off his glasses, setting them aside.
His finger gently brushed over the red marks on Yan Shuang’s neck. He quietly asked, “Does it hurt?”
While being creeped out by how tender he was being, Yan Shuang’s brain shifted into high gear.
There was bound to be a demon when things went wrong. A mad dog didn’t need a knife to kill.
With the script in hand, the very experienced Yan Shuang immediately realized something.
The relationship line had also accelerated.
Let’s take a closer look at the angsty romance between Qin Yubai and Yan Shuang.
Actually, it was quite simple. Basically, one fled, the other gave chase, and they both ended up worse than they started.
The physical abuse came first, then the realization that he was falling for Yan Shuang was followed by mental abuse. When his heart began to waver for some reason again, it was back to physical abuse. In the end, this endless cycle drove both of them insane.
Qin Yubai was still sober in the end.
With a white moonlight acting as an anchor, he dumped Yan Shuang before he could fall completely to madness.
Now, because of Yan Shuang’s provocations, Qin Yubai was already going mad in advance.
Upon discovering that his previous heavy-handed tricks weren’t working on Yan Shuang, he turned to slightly gentler methods.
An continuous onslaught of violent storms would only make the traveler pull his coat tighter and tighter. Only the warm sun and gentle breeze could make people put down their guard.
Qin Yubai was very smart. He knew how to adjust his approach if need be, as expected of an old fox on the market.
Most importantly, Yan Shuang had hit the most sensitive part of his nerves. He would rather lose to anyone before he admitted defeat to Ji Yao.
Yan Shuang sat on Qin Yubai’s laps, trembling slightly as the man’s hand gently brushed by his skin. He bit down softly on his lip. “Don’t do that.”
Without saying a word, Qin Yubai lightly pressed his forehead to Yan Shuang’s chest. Qin Yubai’s forehead seemed a little hot too.
Like he was running a fever.
“Since we signed a contract, we should abide by its terms. Don’t always make me angry during the contract period.”
His tone was light, even somewhat tired.
Coming from a man who was nearing 30 years old, this was almost a disguised way of acting cute.
When he spoke harshly and condescendingly, Yan Shuang would instinctively raise all the quills on his body and stubbornly resist.
But what would Yan Shuang do when Qin Yubai took a softer approach?
Yan Shuang, in his mind: Good grief. Was this the open audition site for the ‘Super Actor’ TV show?
It seemed like Qin Yubai was really furious, to use such ancient palace methods on an inexperienced university student like Yan Shuang.
Yan Shuang decided to play along.
Let’s accelerate the relationship line together!
The quicker we grind through one, the quicker we move on.
“I…” Yan Shuang hesitated. “I really didn’t do anything…”
Qin Yubai looked up.
Yan Shuang saw the light that seemed to appear in Qin Yubai’s eyes and thought:Dude, with this level of acting you would be eliminated in the first round. You can’t have your eyes gleam like a wolf’s as soon as your scheme pays off. Your eyes are so bright that even the blind will be able to see again.
“My neck…” Yan Shuang continued to explain, “It would’ve been too conspicuous in the dormitory.”
Qin Yubai already understood.
The hickeys on the neck were too attention-grabbing, so Ji Yao, who lived in the same dormitory as him, couldn’t stand it and made him go live in a hotel. It made sense logically.
However, that didn’t explain why Ji Yao would drive over to the vineyard and demand Yan Shuang be handed over.
Something the investigation didn’t pick up on must’ve happened between the two.
“Since we are both parties to the contract, I think we should have a little respect for each other. I will pay more attention to this in the future.”
Qin Yubai’s second concession immediately made Yan Shuang lower his head as if he had done something wrong.
“Thank you.”
The soft tank you made Qin Yubai turn away. A mocking smile flashed across his face.
Just a naive university student who just became an adult after all. No matter how hard his bones were, he would never think to look for the many honey-coated traps out there in the world. As soon as he fell in, he would die a most terrible death.
And Qin Yubai would teach him this lesson. This was Yan Shuang’s first time trying the cowgirl position.
After Qin Yubai brought up all that spill about ‘mutual respect’, he promised to no longer make marks in conspicuous areas. He implied that Yan Shuang should return the favour.
Qin Yubai sat on the sofa fully clothed, only his zipper unzipped while Yan Shuang was as bare as a newborn lamb.
“Hold on to my shoulder…” Qin Yubai’s voice was calm. His hands wrapped around Yan Shuang’s waist, the blood seeping from the gauze leaving faint marks on the area.
Tonight was another first for Yan Shuang.
Qin Yubai thought coldly.
Marking the fall of one party into the other’s trap.
Oof I could feel the intensity in the air while QY was choking him. Thanks for the chapter!!!
Thank you for the chapter!
LOLOL MC talking about how Scum 1 has ✨✨ in his eyes is so funny because most Yandere novels have that description XD
Seriously, I almost laugh so hard in the middle of class when he said scum 1’s eyes are so bright that even the blind would be able to see again🤣🤣
Thank you for the chapter!💕
Yan Shuang is so chill like: you’re not the first and not the last scum I encountered what’s there to hate -v-
Qin Yubai: abuse when angy
Ji Yao: appears
Qin Yubai: acting cute (disguised)
Yan Shuang: nods You’re doing well trying to trick me, Scum #1. I’ll act as you wish then~
Wei Jishan (in the background of backgrounds): … Hm. squints hard, trying to see past the fog that is Yan Shuang
Who fell in whose trap, it’s not yet concluded.
little does QY know he’s really the one falling into the others trap lol
Fufufu he underestimated our mc