Sometimes I'm quite afraid of Qiaoqiao... Every time I'm with her, I feel like I'm "dying before sunset".
How to put it: It's like you clearly see a famous Peking Opera actress, a leading lady, come on stage. Her flowing sleeves dance, her every movement and expression is full of tender emotion, she delicately twirls her fingers, takes small, graceful steps, and is about to begin singing... but the first thing she says is a rendition of "A Fire in Winter"...
Gu Long looks decent enough to be considered handsome, though he's a bit too thin. He's dressed in high-end designer clothes... but not ostentatiously. In fact, the more expensive the clothes, the more understated they appear. Those odd outfits with seventeen or eighteen pockets all over, full of holes and chains, are all cheap knock-offs.
As for the man sitting opposite him, he looked even more handsome than Gu Long. He had bronze skin, dressed casually, and had a handsome face with a touch of heroism... but his eyes just looked a bit lewd, the light in them was too bright, like a wolf's!
I know... what I really feel is jealousy. These two people are a whole level above me in terms of appearance, no matter how you look at them.
Gu Long spotted Qiao Qiao from afar, immediately stood up, and casually pulled out a chair next to him. He acted quite gentlemanly, though we Chinese don't usually do that.
"Qiao Qiao, hello." Gu Longdi's voice was very pleasant, deep yet melodious, with a magnetic quality. I maliciously thought: even if his family went bankrupt, he wouldn't starve if he had to busk. However, I didn't show it on my face. Gu Longdi had already introduced the other handsome guy next to him: "This is Tang Fang, my classmate in England." Then, as he was about to introduce Qiao Qiao to Tang Fang, he gave me a questioning look: "And this one?"
"Chen Yang, Qiao Qiao's friend."
Gu Long seemed to have a somewhat Westernized style, not minding at all that Qiao Qiao had dragged me in, and even shook hands with me.
After sitting down, Gu Long didn't forget to gently compliment her: "Joe, you look beautiful tonight."
Depend on!
If I or Aze had said those words, Qiaoqiao would probably have burst out laughing on the spot and replied with something like, "Are you feeling all horny?" But now she actually put on a shy and demure look, acting as ladylike as could be, and whispered, "Thank you."
Gu Long looked at me and smiled, "I've always wanted to meet Qiao Qiao's friends. Let's have dinner together tonight, chat casually, and we'll be friends from now on."
Then they called the waiter to order.
This is a Western restaurant. Gu Long ordered a plate of shrimp, the handsome Tang Fang ordered a plate of pan-fried foie gras, I casually ordered a steak, and after looking at the menu for a while, Qiao Qiao suddenly raised her head and said in a very polite tone, "A basket of xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) and two salted duck eggs."
The three of us: "..."
The waitress was probably quite annoyed; it was likely the first time she'd ever seen someone order xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) at such a high-end Western restaurant. She was almost stunned, staring wide-eyed at Qiaoqiao: "Little Miss, what did you say?"
Qiao Qiao quickly repeated it again, still with that elegant and ladylike demeanor, looking as dignified as could be!
This sounds familiar... I guess everyone in Suijiacang is like this! (Suijiacang is a very famous place in Nanjing: a mental hospital. Of course, it's officially called a brain hospital.)
Gu Long looked a little embarrassed, but Tang Fang reacted the fastest, quickly pulling out a few bills and handing them to the waiter: "Please think of a way."
Having money makes things easier.
"A few hundred yuan is enough to buy a hundred baskets of steamed buns!" After the waiter ran away, looking pale, Tang Fang smiled and said to Qiao Qiao, "Miss Qiao has a very interesting personality."
Gu Long sipped his tea to mask his embarrassment, then turned to look at me, seemingly trying to ease the awkward atmosphere by talking to me: "Mr. Chen Yang, where do you work?"
“Oh, I work in finance,” I replied.
"Oh? At a bank? Or an accounting firm?"
“Underground banks,” I replied calmly. “They’re places that lend money at exorbitant interest rates! Oh, in our country they’re called loan sharks.”
"..." Gu Long probably choked on his tea. He stared at it for a full five seconds before catching his breath. He stammered, "Um... a very... interesting profession."
Qiaoqiao immediately pursed her alluring little lips, revealing a smile that could charm anyone to death, and said sweetly, "Yes, yes, Chen Yang's job is so much fun! Last time I went with him to collect a debt, and I watched as a bunch of us set the debtor's house on fire. It was so much fun!"
Gu Long was deathly pale: "The...the house was burned down?" He swallowed hard: "But...wasn't that...illegal?"
I held back my laughter, forcing a confident air. I waved my hand and said, "What's there to be afraid of! Paying back debts is a matter of course! That guy's incorrigible, standing on the rooftop threatening to jump! Damn, I'm not easily scared! You say it's illegal? Damn, I'm in this business, I know the ropes! I have connections! Anyone who dares not pay back their money! I'll make sure they go in for nothing and come out red-handed!" I pointed upwards, adding mysteriously, "I have connections up there!"
Even the usually composed Tang Fang changed color slightly, seemingly unable to resist moving his chair a little further away to the other side.
The waiter then brought our food, and I stared at the steak in front of me. I deliberately slashed at the plate with the knife, making a loud screeching sound. Gu Long and Tang Fang both tried their best to maintain an elegant demeanor, pretending to be deaf and ignoring me.
Qiaoqiao gave me a wink, and I knew it was time to use my trump card!
I cursed and slammed the knife on the table: "Damn it, this knife isn't sharp enough!"
Then I got up, propped one leg up on the chair, rolled up my trouser leg, and pulled a folding knife out of my shoe!
This is one of those folding knives that thugs and hooligans often use. I held it in my hand and flashed it a few times, making a butterfly-like flourish. My movements were quite practiced... Damn, I did spend some time out there! I learned kung fu, so I can handle a knife!
The knife flashed, and the steak on the plate was shredded to pieces, blood and flesh flying everywhere. I put away the knife, looked at the mess on the plate, and smiled smugly: "Sorry, it looks terrible... I'm used to chopping people up, so I'm not very good at cutting steak."
Looking at Gu Long and Tang Fang, they already looked like they wanted to stand up and run away. Meanwhile, Qiao Qiao was giving me a thumbs up from the table.
"Cough cough..." Gu Long said with a mournful face, "So Mr. Chen is from the underworld... My apologies..."
I sighed and turned to look at Qiaoqiao: "Sigh, those of us in the underworld always risk our lives. What goes around comes around! I just couldn't bear to see Qiaoqiao living in fear with me, that's why we broke up..."
"Pfft!" Tang Fang, who was trying to hide his embarrassment by drinking water, spat out a mouthful of water upon hearing this and stared at me and Qiao Qiao with wide eyes.
A hint of malice flashed in my eyes as I looked at Gu Long: "You'd better treat Qiao Qiao better from now on! Otherwise... hmph hmph hmph!"
Gu Long's expression was very strange; he wanted to get angry, but he didn't dare. He felt a mix of fear, helplessness, and contempt. He just gave a vague, bitter smile.
But then, Qiaoqiao suddenly dropped a bombshell! She pulled out a tissue to wipe her tears and sobbed pitifully, "Chen Yang...you're so good to me...waaaaaah..."
Seeing us gazing deeply into each other's eyes, Gu Long finally couldn't contain himself any longer. He slammed his hand on the table and stood up. He glared at me angrily, about to speak, when suddenly a voice came from behind, filled with boundless joy!
"Qiaoqiao! It really is you! I never expected to meet you here!!"
Looking back, I saw Aze strutting towards me with a lewd smile on his face.
The stallion, as always, was dressed like an artist, in a wrinkled outfit that seemed to have a bit of paint on it, but upon closer inspection, it was an Armani suit!
He had long hair, with a tuft hanging down in front of his forehead, obscuring half of his eyelid. His handsome face carried a hint of melancholy, but his smile now looked rather furtive; it seemed his acting skills were still lacking…
Gu Long was about to lose his temper, but when he saw outsiders coming, he immediately suppressed his anger... People who are highly educated are all very concerned about their image.
"And who is this?" He glanced at Qiao Qiao. To his surprise, Qiao Qiao stared at Aze, her eyes suddenly bursting with boundless joy, as if she hadn't seen Aze for a hundred years! Then, she exclaimed with joy, jumped up, and like a swallow returning to its nest, leaped into Aze's arms, and the two shared a deep, intimate embrace!
Gu Long's face was on the verge of collapse, but he patiently waited for the two to separate. Qiao Qiao, her face flushed, pulled Aze to us and said in a sweet voice, "This is a friend of mine from before... um...
This is just a futile attempt to cover up the truth!
When a woman uses this tone, this expression, this gaze, and says this sentence... it's essentially telling everyone, "This is my old flame."
Aze was still very easygoing and shook hands with Gulong Tangfang with great manners. Then he introduced himself to me and arrogantly pulled out a business card and handed it to Gulong: "Please call me Aze. I am a painter."
His well-mannered behavior immediately calmed Gu Long's anger down a bit.
After all, this guy is a returnee from overseas. The atmosphere abroad is more open, so encountering your fiancée's ex-boyfriend isn't as embarrassing as it is for people in China.
Everyone sat down, but then Aze casually said something that almost made Gu Long's eyes pop out.
"Yes, I'm a painter specializing in nude art... Qiaoqiao and I are old friends... She was my professional model for several years back then, and many of the paintings I did for her received high praise at numerous art exhibitions..."
silence……
silence……
Still silence...
I reckon Gu Long is so angry he could kill someone right now!
Actually, I also think Qiaoqiao's move was a bit too ruthless... Any man would probably be spitting blood if he did it!
His fiancée had been a model for a "nude painting artist" for several years... and works featuring her as a model had received high praise at many art exhibitions...
I don't know about men from other countries... but I doubt many Chinese men could stand this!
Seeing Gu Long's expression as if he wanted to vomit blood, I tried my best to suppress my laughter.
And then, the wood finally makes its grand entrance!
A man with disheveled hair staggered toward us, his face grim and his gaze cold... Most importantly, he was wearing a trench coat, but it was unbuttoned, as if deliberately revealing a blue hospital gown underneath...
A blue striped top with a line of striking red lettering on the chest:
Suijiacang Mental Hospital
The wooden man swayed over, his demeanor resembling that of a cold-blooded killer. Suddenly, he stopped abruptly, staring intently at Qiao Qiao, his lips trembling: "Qiao Qiao! Qiao Qiao! Why did you leave me! Why did you choose him!!"
Gu Long and Tang Fang were startled, and everyone at our table stood up. We saw Mu Tou stagger towards us, muttering to himself in a neurotic voice, "I'm going to kill him! Kill him! Kill him, and you'll be mine!"
Then a crazed look flashed in his eyes, and he glared at us, yelling, "Who! Who stole your man! Who!!"
Aze and I immediately raised our hands in perfect unison, pointing at Gulong...
Wood let out a low growl and lunged at Gu Long, swinging his arm to deliver a powerful slap. With a resounding crack, Gu Long was sent spinning 360 degrees before crashing to the ground.
Mu Tou rushed up and kicked him twice more. I saw Tang Fang pounce on him, so I quickly pulled Mu Tou away and used my body to block him from continuing to attack Gu Long.
Actually, I was trying to protect the wood. I've been a master of this kind of biased approach since I was fifteen.
Gu Long sat on the ground, covering his cheek, his gaze somewhat dazed, before suddenly snapping out of his daze and screaming, "You dare hit me!! You dare hit me!!"
He jumped up abruptly, pointing at Qiao Qiao and yelling, "You... what kind of trashy friends do you have! A bunch of scum! A bunch of trash! If I had known you were this kind of woman, I wouldn't have fallen for you! They're crazy, and you're crazy too! You crazy woman! If you weren't from the Qiao family, do you think I would have even looked at you?!" Then, as he shouted, the man suddenly burst into tears!
He actually cried!
Then he crashed into Tang Fang's arms, who was supporting him, and clung to him tightly, crying in a voice that sent chills down our spines: "Tang Tang... he hit me! He actually dared to hit me! Let's go back, let's go back!"
Tang Fang glanced at us with grief and indignation, then hugged Gu Long tenderly and said softly, "Alright, alright, I'm here, don't be afraid... Sigh, I told you long ago, no woman is any good! You wouldn't listen, you insisted on coveting someone else's family fortune... Let's go! Let's go now!"
Then, the two grown men embraced each other tenderly and ran away quickly.
We four hooligans were left dumbfounded, looking at each other, almost frozen in place.
"Holy crap!" Qiao Qiao suddenly realized.
Then Aze yelled, "Damn it!"
"Damn it." I spat out a mouthful of saliva. "They are actually...they are..."
"Glass." Finally, wood was mentioned as the final element.
Book 1, Chapter 60: Never seen a beautiful woman who likes threesomes before?
We called over a waiter and asked her to clean up the leftover food on the table, so we ordered a whole new table of delicious food.
However, everyone fell silent. That final twist was truly baffling...
Aze suddenly couldn't help but sigh: "The Great Wall of Glass will never fall, and the Yellow River of BL will flow on and on!" Then his tone turned to grief and indignation: "Qiaoqiao, your mother is so irresponsible! She threw you out without even investigating beforehand! This is your happiness for a lifetime!"
Qiaoqiao, who had been deep in thought, suddenly shouted, "Oh no! What a loss! A huge loss!!"
"What?" Aze asked, somewhat bewildered.
"What a pity! Actually, putting aside other factors, Gu Long is quite good... If I had known he was also 'in the industry,' I would have just married him! After we got married, he could date his handsome guys, and I could date my beautiful girls, and we wouldn't interfere with each other..." Qiao Qiao said, a blissful expression on her face: "Ah, what a wonderful life!"
My mind involuntarily conjured up images of a gay man and a lesbian, their married life... Then I felt a chill run down my spine and shivered violently.
Suddenly, Mu Tou stood up from the chair and strode to the side.