Heavy footsteps echoed as numerous burly men flooded in, tightly surrounding the small room. The old man's fallen attendants were efficiently bound and tossed into a corner, emitting muffled sounds.
This sudden turn of events caused the old man to instinctively step back, but he quickly regained his composure, forcing a seemingly steady smile.
"...If this isn't Mr. Xie, what wind has blown you here?"
"Heh."
The person who had entered, laughing and calling the old man a "dead old man," slowly emerged from the crowd of men.
His pale pink shirt, coupled with his exceptionally handsome face, gave him a fleeting illusion of frailty. However, the smooth muscle lines revealed as he casually rolled up his sleeves quickly betrayed his dangerous nature.
...This person was like a flower with thorns.
Wu Tianzhen's mind suddenly flashed with this thought.
Perhaps it was the overly arrogant and conspicuous way he was staring, but the man in pink tilted his head slightly, looking at him with a smile. Although it didn't seem malicious, Wu Tianzhen still shivered and lowered his head.
"...Mr. Xie," the old man, seeing that the man in pink was paying him no mind, could no longer hold back his impatience and questioned, "What is the meaning of this?"
"Oh? What did I do?"
This person's voice was also pleasant, with a slight, soft elongation at the end, clear yet tinged with gentleness.
But his tone was clearly laced with mockery, making his beautiful voice hateful.
The old man panted like a deflated balloon. None of the men he had stationed outside had appeared; it was clear they had already been dealt with by this arrogant junior.
He suddenly slammed his hand on the table, his withered knuckles as unsightly as decaying branches. "...Don't forget we have a partnership!"
"If I withdraw my investment now, you won't be able to—"
"Ah, about that," Mr. Xie seemed to be reminded of something by the old man's words and suddenly interrupted, "Old Mr. Pu, have you been here too long? Has the snow clogged your brain?"
His words were incongruous with his refined and elegant appearance, instead carrying a hint of ruthlessness and an undercurrent of rogueishness.
"If you go back and take a look now, you might discover that the Pu family is already mired in scandal and unable to extricate themselves."
"You don't actually think," his smile gradually vanished, and without it, his expression turned unusually cold and unyielding, "that I don't know about the tricks you've been playing in our partnership, do you?"
"...!!" The old man was momentarily stunned by his expression and the implications of his words, retreating several steps in quick succession.
"...Optical brain, where is the optical brain?!"
His attendants were all tied up on the ground, piled together like overcooked zongzi. Not a single one could fetch the optical brain for him.
"Dead old man," Mr. Xie raised his wrist, glancing at the slightly bluish veins, and reverted to the earlier address, "Considering your old age and frailty, and that you won't live much longer, I'll let you go back this time."
The men who had been standing still like statues heard his words and untied the "zongzi." However, the subsequent cracking sounds indicated that the "zongzi" had their arm joints dislocated.
"Just lie at home and wait to die."
---
The old man left in disgrace, but Wu Tianzhen and Fatty hadn't.
It wasn't that they were captivated by the newcomer's beauty and had forgotten their escape plan; the main reason was—
Wu Tianzhen stealthily glanced at the men blocking the doorway. These men were even more imposing and terrifying than the previous ones. He swallowed, his hand trembling slightly as he reached for the teacup.
"Damn it, out of the tiger's den and into the wolf's jaws!" Fatty was also distraught. He now felt that he and Xiao Wu were on their last legs, already contemplating whether his beloved pets would be lonely and cold after he died.
Just then, Mr. Xie slowly sat down opposite them, scrutinizing them thoughtfully, and suddenly broke into a playful smile.
"Wu Tianzhen, you don't recognize me?"
"Pfft—!!!" Wu Tianzhen had just taken a sip of the icy tea when he sprayed out more than half of it.
Fortunately, his animal-like sense of crisis made him abruptly turn his head the moment he sprayed the tea towards the person opposite him, causing the scattered droplets to evenly drench Fatty's large face.
But Fatty couldn't even bother to wipe the water away. He felt like a melon farmer in a field, unable to find the specific melon. Before his brain could process it, he blurted out:
"Damn! Where did you get this romantic entanglement?!"
Wu Tianzhen: ????
"It's not that I've had romantic entanglements—"
"That's not entirely wrong," Mr. Xie suddenly spoke, immediately categorizing Wu Tianzhen as a scumbag. "After all, you once said you wanted to marry me, sigh~"
Fatty: ...Holy cow! Spicy!
Wu Tianzhen: Holy cow! You damn liar!
Wu Tianzhen almost wanted to commit suicide on the spot to prove his innocence. But at that moment, he stared at Mr. Xie's face, and the more he looked, the more familiar his features seemed.
"...Xiao Hua?" he asked hesitantly, each word seeming to be forced out of his throat with difficulty.
Under Fatty's gaze of "Damn, I never knew you were like this, Wu Tianzhen," Wu Tianzhen was shocked to see the person opposite nod.
...? Xiao Hua? Is it really Xiao Hua? Holy crap!
He recalled the young girl with two buns in her hair, dressed like a beautiful little fairy, who lived next door to his childhood home. He almost swallowed his tongue.
Who would have thought! Who could have imagined this!
Wu Tianzhen wanted to speak but stopped, then wanted to speak again, but ultimately, his curiosity got the better of him.
He asked tactfully, "......Um, did you go to Thailand?"
Xie Yuchen: ...
Seeing his childhood friend's expression turn obscure, Wu Tianzhen thought he had stumbled upon a secret. He very considerately (in his own opinion) gave a dry laugh, trying to comfort him.
"It's okay, this kind of thing is very normal nowadays, very normal hahaha..."
"I was always a boy!" Xie Yuchen couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted Wu Tianzhen's wild assumptions. His expression, which had remained unperturbed even when Mount Tai collapsed before him, faltered for a moment. "Always!"
Wu Tianzhen: ...?
Wu Tianzhen: ...!!!
He remembered his own youthful ignorance when he had loudly declared on the street that he would marry Xiao Hua someday, and Xiao Hua's half-smile. It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck his forehead.
Wu Tianzhen: ...Forget it, I'd rather die.
But Fatty's words quickly interrupted his despair.
"Mr. Xie," Fatty smiled, "I assume you didn't come today to reminisce about childhood with us, did you?"
"Is there something you need to say directly?"
Xie Yuchen paused, then waved away the men.
Only when the room was left with the three of them did he become serious and say,
"Do you know you've been under surveillance all along?"