Kevin pushed the cigar box in front of Chen Yunqi. Chen Yunqi wasn't a big smoker and wanted to politely decline, but then he remembered what Kevin had just said and felt that it was impolite to refuse him repeatedly. So he thanked him and took out the cigars and slowly cut them.
Seeing that the conversation had shifted from romance to work, Xue Meng stood up listlessly and said, "You guys keep chatting, I'll go greet the guests." She winked playfully at San San, "Their conversation is so boring, do you want to come with me? I'll show you around."
Although Xue Meng was much older, she still retained a girlish frankness in her words and actions. She treated Chen Yunqi and San San with warmth and naturalness, without any affectation or airs. More importantly, the couple showed great respect for her and Chen Yunqi's relationship, which made San San feel very fond of her and Kevin, and consequently, she also felt very fond of the people in the city.
San San originally thought that her appearance would cause Chen Yunqi to be scorned and despised by those around him, bringing trouble to his life and work. After all, it was precisely because of this that he made the difficult decision to break up with Chen Yunqi under his father's threat.
Before coming, he had worried whether Chen Yunqi, back in his old life, would still be as resolute as he was when facing the villagers of Tianyun Village. But from the moment he saw him again until now, Chen Yunqi's behavior had dispelled all of San San's concerns. No matter where they were, Chen Yunqi could ignore the strange looks from others, openly hold his hand, and walk on the street like any ordinary couple. He openly admitted their relationship to his friends, and his words, "He is my boyfriend," moved San San more than any sweet words he had ever said.
Xue Meng was also a businesswoman who excelled at reading people and understanding their feelings. She noticed San San's shyness and turned to Chen Yunqi to ask, "Mr. Chen, may I borrow San San for a moment? So that my friends can be jealous that I have such a handsome boy by my side besides Lao Cai."
Chen Yunqi didn't realize who Lao Cai was. He smiled and said, "Sister Meng is too funny. San San is still young and doesn't speak very well. Please take good care of him." After saying that, he turned to San San and whispered, "It's okay. Don't be afraid. I'll stay here. Go and take a look. Come back and tell me if you see anything interesting."
With the desire to quickly integrate into Chen Yunqi's life, San San nodded like a chick pecking at rice, got up, and followed Xue Meng. Xue Meng took his arm and led him to visit the bar's VIP room, wine cellar, and cigar lounge. Along the way, she kindly introduced San San as her friend to anyone who greeted them, showing concern for his embarrassment and being very considerate of his feelings.
She led San San to the bar and instructed the bartender to make him a cocktail with a good taste and moderate alcohol content. Just as she was about to introduce the characteristics of the cocktail to him, the waiter came up and whispered in her ear, "Mr. Zhang would like to invite you over. He wants to open our treasured bottle of Romanée-Conti as a gift for Miss Lisa."
The vintage of the Romanée-Conti in the cellar was truly worthy of being called the king of wines. Since Mr. Zhang was a man who didn't know his limits, Xue Meng sighed and said to San San, "Sit down and wait for me for a moment. Order whatever you like to drink. I'll be back in a bit." After saying that, she instructed the bartender to take care of San San and then hurriedly left.
San San glanced back at Chen Yunqi in the distance and saw that he seemed to be discussing something very seriously with Kevin. Although he didn't quite understand what they were saying, he could roughly tell that it was related to Chen Yunqi's work. He was worried that going back at this time would disturb them and distract Chen Yunqi, so he could only sit upright in front of the bar, slowly sipping the colorful cocktail and admiring the bartender's handsome bartending moves.
"Hello, may I sit here?"
San San was engrossed in watching when a deep voice suddenly sounded in his ear, startling him. He turned his head and met a cryptic gaze. It was a man in his early thirties with slicked-back hair, wearing a sharp suit with a slightly loose shirt collar, who was asking San San for his consent in a pretentious and gentlemanly manner.
He was getting a little too close, and San San unconsciously leaned back, lowered her head, and honestly said, "There's no one here..."
The man seemed to have been prepared all along. Before he could finish speaking, he sat down beside him quite naturally, loosened his tie again, revealing a small patch of skin inside his collar, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly, displaying a confident smile. Looking at the wine in San San's glass, he said, "Is this 'Sunset'?"
San San didn't understand, so she could only shake her head to indicate that she didn't understand. The man casually summoned the bartender and said, "Hello, a Sweet Martini for this gentleman, I'll pay."
This person seemed to have some influence, so the bartender didn't dare to offend him, nor could he complain about the customer's service requests. He could only mix drinks according to his instructions.
During this time, the man kept inquiring about San San's identity, asking if he was a student, where he studied, and how old he was. San San couldn't understand some of the questions and couldn't answer them at all. It wasn't until the bartender placed a drink garnished with a red cherry in front of him that he realized what the man was doing. He quickly waved his hands, blushing, and said, "...No...no...thank you..."
There are always those self-deluded people in this world who like to mistake a polite refusal for a coy invitation, and treat inappropriate actions as a challenge. The man found San San extremely amusing, and his innocent and adorable appearance instantly aroused a wicked desire to conquer him. He felt that after years of navigating the nightlife scene, seducing a naive young boy like San San was a piece of cake, so he deliberately spoke to San San in a reproachful tone: "Xue Meng and I are friends too. Surely you wouldn't refuse a drink?"
This kind of drinking culture, where "if you don't drink, you're disrespecting me," is also common in the mountains. When San San heard him say this, she looked helplessly at the bartender. Seeing that he was busy serving other customers and had no time to defend her, and with Xue Meng not returning, she could only reply softly, "Okay then... thank you."
Seeing that San San had only taken a small sip, the man frowned at him, seemingly dissatisfied, and the reproach was even more obvious. San San had no choice but to quickly pick up the glass and drink it all in one gulp, then put it down with a flushed face, lowering his head uneasily and not daring to say a word.
The seemingly respectable man then jokingly boasted, "Drinking 'Sunset' at this hour is no longer appropriate; a shot of strong liquor would be more fitting for such a wonderful night."
Seeing how easily San San took the bait, he called the bartender again to make her an Absenthe, only to be told that the drink was banned from being mixed and sold due to its high alcohol content. So he had to get her a BckRussian instead, and sat down beside her, urging her to drink it with ill intent.
San San wasn't a good drinker, but after being persuaded by the man to drink several glasses of strong liquor, coupled with the fact that he had already drunk quite a bit of whiskey, he soon got drunk as he wished.
Her thoughts seemed to be there one second and then vanish the next. San San couldn't help but slump onto the bar, her head growing increasingly foggy, muttering incoherently, "Brother, I'm so dizzy, I want to go home..."
Seeing that the time was right, the man asked insincerely in San San's ear, "Feeling unwell? Want to throw up? I'll help you to the restroom."
As he helped San San up to leave, the bartender hesitated and advised, "Mr. Liu, this is Mr. Xue's guest. Please let him sit down and have some water. We'll take care of him..."
Mr. Liu impatiently interrupted him, saying, "I know he's Mr. Xue's guest. I saw him. You don't need to remind me."
Seeing that he was taking away the drunk and limp San San, the bartender quickly called over a waiter and told him to go and inform Xue Meng immediately.
After San San and Xue Meng left, Kevin said to Chen Yunqi, "Actually, the first night I met you, I wanted to ask you why you rejected us. I was really curious. Although from my personal point of view, your so-called 'bad state' is not what an excellent professional should be like. You know how fierce the competition and how much pressure there is in our industry. If personal life affects work decisions and judgments, I don't think I would choose such an emotional employee to join the company. But there were many people that night, and you seemed to be preoccupied, constantly drinking heavily, and later you got drunk, so I didn't get a chance to ask."
Chen Yunqi looked at him with some shame and said, "I understand, you're right. I do have many problems with my personality. Even at my age, I'm still easily impulsive and willful. I've always felt that I've encountered many setbacks in my life, that I have too many shortcomings. Now it seems that this thought is really childish, a bit like whining without reason. That night... I was indeed in a bad mood and intentionally wanted to drown my sorrows in alcohol, and I lost control..."
“I think I have a pretty good idea what was bothering you that day,” Kevin turned to look at San San, who was following behind Xue Meng, and said with a smile, “Because when I saw you again today, I felt like you were a different person.”
Seeing that Chen Yunqi had realized his problem and was very humble, Kevin took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to him.
Chen Yunqi took the business card and saw the words "Cai Jifeng, China Region of Shengrui" printed on it. The job description below the name was "Risk Department & Managing Director". He immediately recognized the name, which his teachers had repeatedly mentioned during his school days, and which frequently appeared in the headlines of major financial journals and news reports. He was a name that was only heard of but never seen in the industry.
"Mr. Cai, it's an honor to meet you," Chen Yunqi said, putting away his business card and greeting the man in front of him formally once again.
Kevin looked very well-maintained and much younger than his actual age. He waved his hand at Chen Yunqi and said, "No, don't listen to those flattering remarks. I'm just an ordinary person. In my spare time, I like to smoke cigars, drink whiskey, listen to music, and I'm afraid of my wife."
He smiled knowingly at Chen Yunqi, as if he had already unilaterally categorized him as a comrade-in-arms in the same camp.
"Applying for a Visa in Europe is now more difficult than in China, so we've given up on large-scale recruitment in Europe and the Americas to bring people back to Asia. You should be well aware that Shengrui ranks first among global financial institutions in terms of asset size, core capital, total deposits, and market capitalization. I won't say much more; I admire your confidence in you, and if you're interested, I'd love for you to join us."
“Of course,” he said confidently before Chen Yunqi could answer, “the four rounds of interviews and two rounds of written tests will still be conducted according to regulations. Whether you can get in or not depends entirely on yourself.”
Now that they had a home, it was time to work hard for their future and that of San San. Chen Yunqi had so much he wanted to give San San, and these thoughts all became powerful motivation with his arrival. Chen Yunqi said gratefully to Kevin, "President Cai, thank you for your appreciation. I really don't know how I could be so lucky. I think I won't let you down."
Kevin laughed heartily again upon hearing this: "It takes skill to seize an opportunity when it comes. Your luck is that you met Xue Meng. Although she knows nothing about the financial industry, she has a good eye for people. She praised you and said that your eyes light up when you talk about your profession. She insisted that you are like me when I was young."
The friendship between gentlemen is the most comfortable and pleasant. After a few drinks, Kevin said that he would arrange for HR to contact Chen Yunqi again on Monday for a phone interview. Chen Yunqi suddenly felt hopeful about life. He put down his glass and then remembered San San. He turned around to look, but San San was nowhere to be seen at the bar.
San San's hands and feet were completely out of control, and his brain had lost all self-awareness. The man carried San San into the bathroom, made him sit on the toilet, turned around and closed the stall door. He impatiently held San San's head with one hand, and hurriedly unbuckled his belt and pulled down his zipper with the other, took out a dirty thing, grabbed San San's chin and was about to shove it into his mouth.
San San finally realized something was wrong and started to dodge, desperately using her arms to protect herself, shouting for him to get away. The man, who had seen many clingy, obsequious people, was almost insanely lustful for San San's natural innocence. He kept prying San San's hands apart, tearing at her hair, and shamelessly coaxing her, "Be good, open your mouth. Is this your first time? It'll feel great, you'll see once you try."
San San was extremely dizzy; just maintaining his balance and preventing himself from falling was already a huge struggle. In the midst of the scuffle, he mustered all his strength and shoved the man, sending his lower back slamming into the doorknob, causing him to gasp in pain. Enraged, the man slapped San San across the face, his eyes flashing with malice as he snarled, "You slut, weren't you just sitting there waiting to be fucked? Stop pretending to be innocent."
After saying that, he grabbed San San's hair again and forced him to face him. But before he could do anything inappropriate, he heard someone outside the door shouting anxiously, "San San! San San! Are you in there?!"
The man covered San San's mouth to stop him from crying for help. He was so panicked that he dared not breathe, thinking that this would allow him to escape the people outside the door. But a moment later, the stall door was kicked open, and he was instantly knocked down by the door, hitting his face on the edge of the shelf behind the toilet. He immediately lost a front tooth and his mouth was full of blood.
Chen Yunqi kicked away the man kneeling on the ground, helped San San up and picked him up in his arms. He said to Kevin, who was standing next to him, with a cold face, "President Cai, please call the police for me."
The man, covering his mouth, scrambled to his feet, spitting out blood and yelling at Chen Yunqi, "Who the hell do you think you are?! You have to wait in line if you want to do this, okay? Call the police? Go ahead and call them, don't be ashamed!"
Chen Yunqi said with a gloomy expression, "I am his boyfriend."
The man, who had also drunk quite a bit, wiped the blood from his face and was about to continue shouting when he suddenly noticed Kevin standing behind Chen Yunqi. His expression instantly changed, and he forced himself to remain calm, saying, "President Cai..."
Kevin stared at the man coldly without responding. Chen Yunqi's eyes seemed to spit fire as he suppressed the urge to tear the man to pieces and said, "I'm not a real man if I don't beat you up right now, but I promised I wouldn't fight again. Save your words for the police."
The store manager had already dialed the police. Chen Yunqi carried San San out of the restroom and said to Xue Meng and the bartender who were standing at the door looking guilty, "It's okay, it was my own carelessness in not watching him properly." He held San San's drooping arm tightly and said to Xue Meng, "Sister Meng, can I use your rest room for a bit? I'll let him sober up before the police arrive."
San San was so drunk he couldn't even wrap his arms around Chen Yunqi's neck. Once inside the lounge, Chen Yunqi threw him heavily onto the sofa, turned and locked the door. He strode back to the sofa, knelt between San San's legs, and, seeing San San's bleary eyes and muttering, "Don't touch me, don't come any closer," gritted his teeth and leaned down, saying, "Why do you look like this? Why do you drink so much? Look at me! Who am I?!"
Chapter Sixty-Nine: Growth
San San's cheeks were flushed, his eyes glazed with intoxication. His long eyelashes fluttered sluggishly with his eyelids, revealing a gentle ripple in his gaze. His clothes were crumpled and twisted in a mess. He kicked weakly, pushing against Chen Yunqi with his hands, repeatedly muttering, "Don't touch me... Brother, where are you... I want to go home..."
As soon as he opened his mouth, a strong smell of alcohol wafted over, seemingly mixed with a faint body fragrance. There was not a trace of unpleasant odor; instead, it was filled with an indescribable sweet and alluring aroma.
The drunken San San was as limp as a cotton candy, completely at everyone's mercy. Chen Yunqi was furious. This appearance, which he had never seen before, would easily arouse the thoughts of a good person, let alone a villain with ulterior motives. He couldn't imagine how bad the consequences would have been if he had arrived a moment later.
Heartache, anger, and the previous anxiety and fear all converged together, along with a nameless jealousy, quickly intertwining and solidifying into a strange, malevolent aura pressing against his chest. Chen Yunqi had also drunk quite a bit, though not as drunk as San San, but not much better off. He hadn't mixed different kinds of alcohol, and his alcohol tolerance was decent, but this sudden provocation made his head burn with irrationality. His eyes narrowed dangerously, staring intently at San San, when he suddenly exerted force, flipping him over and lifting his waist to make him assume a welcoming position.
San San was too weak to straighten his back and kept collapsing downwards. Chen Yunqi grabbed him with one hand, forcing him to kneel down, and with the other hand, he cruelly pulled down his pants, then ripped open his own zipper, took out his penis, and forced it inside.
Without any dilation or lubrication, the engorged penis, swollen from anger, made penetration extremely difficult, causing Chen Yunqi himself to grit his teeth and wince in pain.
San San screamed in pain, "Ah! No! Don't touch me! No!"
Chen Yunqi covered San San's mouth, enduring the pain as he thrust into him hard, panting heavily as he whispered, "Does it hurt? Are you sober now? Do you know who I am?"
San San was so badly injured that he couldn't utter a complete sentence. He couldn't even kneel steadily, yet he couldn't fall down. The excruciating pain from the tearing in his lower body caused his whole body to spasm, tremble uncontrollably, and break out in a cold sweat.
"It hurts! Don't touch me... I want my brother... Let me go..."
"Brother? Who's my brother? Huh? You still remember having a brother? Who was that person just now? Why were you drinking his wine? Why didn't you come back to find me? Why?!"
Chen Yunqi grew angrier as he spoke, completely unaware that San San's lips were turning blue from the pain and that blood was seeping from her lower body.
"Where did he touch you? Whose are you? Huh? This is what a brother should be like. Remember this feeling, this is what a brother should be like, understand?"
"No one is allowed to touch you...no! Why are you so beautiful? Why are you so wonderful...who do you want? Speak! Who do you want??"
San San endured the impact painfully, biting her fingers and crying softly.
"I was wrong... I'll never do it again... I want my brother... please let me go... I don't understand anything... I don't want to embarrass him... I'm so scared... I'm afraid of doing the wrong thing... I'm afraid of affecting him and dragging him down... I'm your brother's... please don't touch me..."
"...I need Chen Yunqi...where are you...?"
That call was like a hand breaking through the clouds, crushing Chen Yunqi's heart. In an instant, reason returned to his mind like sunlight dispelling the gloom and illuminating the earth anew—his San San was looking for him…how helpless his San San was…
The impact finally stopped, and the vision, blinded by jealousy, gradually cleared. Chen Yunqi pulled away from San San's body, pulled him down to sit, and let him lean against him. While calming his own wildly beating heart and raging emotions, he gently stroked San San's back and whispered, "San San, it's me...it's Chen Yunqi...Don't be afraid, your brother is here, it's me...I won't let anyone else touch you...I'm sorry..."
Chen Yunqi patiently comforted her for a long time before San San gradually stopped struggling and quieted down, curling up in his arms and sobbing softly while murmuring to herself.
"I don't want to drink... I want to go home..."
"Okay, I'll take you home and never let you out of my sight again..." Chen Yunqi helped him put on his pants, looking at the faint bloodstains on his body, he sighed repeatedly with heartache and regret.
If it weren't for tonight's events, he probably would never have discovered that beneath his gentle and humble exterior lay such a despicable nature. He kept saying he wanted to protect and cherish San San, yet he had repeatedly let his impulses and possessiveness get the better of him, hurting her. He felt he wasn't a good boyfriend, but rather a scoundrel who couldn't change his ways, constantly regretting and apologizing afterward, and accepting San San's forgiveness with a clear conscience—how was he any different from Zhou Jun back then? But this time, he couldn't forgive himself either.
He kept questioning himself, wondering why he had become so foolish. San San had lost her family and everything to be with him, coming alone to a strange city, cautiously learning to live with him, still holding onto a pure expectation of this malicious world. Faced with everything that left him bewildered, even malicious demands, all she considered was whether Chen Yunqi would be affected or implicated. He was so obedient, so sensible, yet he was treated violently by his lover without any explanation. Even so, there was only one name on his mind and lips: his lover, his salvation, his beloved brother Chen Yunqi.
San San seemed to be asleep in his arms. Chen Yunqi held him without moving until Xue Menglai knocked on the door to inform him that the police had arrived and that the parties involved needed to come out and give their account of what happened. Only then did Chen Yunqi absentmindedly pick up San San and walk out.
The man surnamed Liu outside the door didn't expect Chen Yunqi to actually call the police. This wasn't the first time he'd done something like this; in the past, the boys he'd molested would remain silent out of shame. This time, he felt he'd hit a brick wall and, unwilling to accept it, loudly argued with the police, claiming that he hadn't forced San San, but rather that San San had seduced him, and therefore it didn't count as forced molestation.
His statement was quickly refuted by the bartender and other staff, who all witnessed him encouraging San San to drink and taking him to the restroom, a claim corroborated by CCTV footage. However, there were no cameras in the restroom, and no other eyewitnesses could directly corroborate his actions towards San San. Given that the person involved was too drunk to cooperate with evidence collection, and after repeatedly confirming that San San did not need to go to the hospital for a medical examination or biological evidence collection, the police said helplessly, "Go back and rest first, and come back to give a statement when you've sobered up."
After thanking the police, Chen Yunqi asked with concern, "What should we do with that man? Although he didn't succeed, we saw that he had already taken off his pants when we went in. This is attempted sexual assault, so shouldn't we be able to file a case?"
The police officer looked at San San in Chen Yunqi's arms and asked, "Who are you to him? Is he over eighteen? Does he have no other family members?"
“He is an adult, not a local, and I am his partner,” Chen Yunqi replied.
"Oh! Partner...?" The police officer immediately understood, forced a smile and said, "This is really messy... Don't worry, we handle attempted crimes too. If he has a clear intention and actually uses language or actions to force the other person to have sex with him, it constitutes forced indecency. Whether you pursue it or not, we will file a public prosecution."
Due to insufficient evidence, the police were temporarily unable to arrest or detain the person. They could only summon the person to the police station within 24 hours to cooperate with the investigation. So after the police left, the man surnamed Liu also slunk away.
Kevin watched Liu Xin walk out the door and said to Chen Yunqi, "This Liu Xin is the young master of Zhengzhong Capital, a notorious playboy. He came to the Wealth Summit with his father. With so many media outlets watching him these past two days, he still dared to cause trouble like this. His father will definitely step in to suppress this. You need to be rational and not act impulsively no matter what the outcome. We also bear some responsibility for this. Tomorrow, Xiaomeng and I will go with you to the police station."
"Thank you, Mr. Cai," Chen Yunqi said with a tired face and a bitter smile. "In the end, it's all my fault. I can't blame anyone else. I didn't take good care of him."
Kevin patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't blame yourself too much. Go back and get some rest."
Xue Meng asked the store manager to drive Chen Yunqi and San San home in her car. San San had been asleep the whole time. After arriving home, Chen Yunqi carefully washed him with a hot towel, applied some anti-inflammatory ointment, and made a pot of lemon water, which he then refrigerated. After doing all this, he sobered up. Still disturbed by the events of the night, he couldn't sleep and could only stay by San San's side. Looking at his somewhat thin face, he seriously considered how to help San San develop self-protection awareness and understand that society was not as simple as he imagined, and that the people here were fundamentally different from those in the mountains.
He woke up before dawn three or three days later, completely drunk and unable to remember anything that happened the night before. His last memory was of Liu Xin urging him to drink a second glass of wine. When he turned over, he felt a tearing pain and then recalled the chaotic scene in the bathroom. He panicked and suddenly sat up and shouted loudly.
"elder brother!!"
"Hey! I'm here!" Chen Yunqi, wearing an apron, rushed in from outside without even putting down his spoon, hugged the flustered San San and kept comforting her, "I'm here, baby, don't be afraid."
"Brother, what happened to me yesterday? I don't remember anything at all?" San San buried her head in his arms, clutching his collar tightly, and asked in a tearful voice.
"Silly girl, you've had too much to drink. You'll drink all sorts of weird liquor. Aren't you afraid I'll punish you?"
"No... Someone... Someone said he was Sister Meng's friend and wanted to buy me drinks, and I didn't dare refuse... I wanted to go back to you, but I was afraid of disturbing your work conversation, and I was afraid of offending your friend... Brother, it hurts so much... What happened? I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I was so stupid..."
As her memories gradually became clearer, San San cried in despair.