Money-squandering establishments like this, with their stink of perfume, were usually off-putting to He Yu. But now, this was the only place where he could experience a hint of the carnal warmth of the human world.
"Young Master He."
"Hello, Young Master He."
The hostess was reverential as she opened the door to the private room; she welcomed him with her head lowered, not even daring to raise her eyes.
The Skynight Club was a den of decadence where bodies writhed in luxurious debauchery. It was operated as a fully aboveboard entertainment venue, but all the hosts it employed were not only fit and beautiful, but they were also excellent conversationalists; even the revelers on the dance floor at the ground level were gorgeous. Many of these handsome men and beautiful women were willing to be taken out by clients on their own time, and when it came to a private relationship between individuals, well, that was just ordinary pleasure sought between couples in the middle of the night—just a fortuitous encounter, right? Simple romance. It was no one's business to interfere.
With the lure of such temptations, there was always a stream of luxury vehicles lining up outside the Skynight Club's front doors, and countless pairs of pale, milky legs would climb into their car seats and snuggle up to those VIPs with a smile as they rode off into the night.
He Yu had come here tonight with the malevolent intent to lash out. Falling into the muck had ignited a self-destructive kind of thrill in him.
It was the same mindset as that of a student who had put all his efforts and savings into his studies but failed to achieve respectable test results. No matter how hard he had strived, when the motivation to keep pushing onward finally dried out, when he failed the entrance exam once again, he would inevitably abandon himself to despair.
He Yu had finally figured it out. Why should he have to suffer so much just to hear pretty lies?
In a place like the Skynight Club, people would trip over themselves to cozy up to him; he could hear all kinds of pleasant talk and gentle coaxing all night long without a repeated word from any of them. He didn't need to lie to himself at all; as long as he opened his wallet, there were plenty of people who were happy to deceive him.
They wouldn't run off halfway through like Xie Qingcheng, and they definitely wouldn't scorn his lack of allowance during their escape.
"Young Master He, these are the brightest hostesses that I have on staff. They'll be in charge of serving your private room, so if there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to let them know."
He Yu didn't bother getting up from the sofa. He watched with an apathetic expression as the manager on duty, having received his permission, brought in two lines of hostesses. These were the top-end staff at the entertainment venue, each of them a different flavor of beauty. They filed in with smiles on their faces and stood behind the manager as he introduced them one by one. After that, the manager astutely took his leave, closing the door smoothly behind him.
"Young Master He, is there a game you would like to play today?"
Although this customer had a rather unfriendly look on his face, these well-trained hostesses nevertheless maintained their sweet smiles as they tentatively sounded him out.
After a moment of silence, He Yu smiled. "Let's break out some drinks. I feel bad, making all of you stand here so awkwardly."
The heavy, gilded drinks menu was passed into his hands. It was fucking first-degree robbery; bottles costing less than ten thousand yuan were a rare sight, but there were plenty of wines with price tags of a hundred or two hundred thousand yuan.
Leaning indolently back against the sofa, He Yu checked off everything on the front page without batting an eye. Then, his eyes fell on a signature liquor named Plum Fragrance 59.
He'd been here with clients countless times and knew exactly what kind of signature liquor this was. The string of zeros listed on the drink's price tag, as well as the three flaming heart symbols beside it, made certain that the customer knew what kind of experience this drink would provide. When He Yu had picked up the check on his previous visits, he'd see "Plum Fragrance 59" listed on almost every bill.
"You might think that it smells very sophisticated at first," a half-drunk scoundrel who'd recommended it to He Yu had said as he laughed into his ear, "but…it's also very cheap and depraved. You know what I mean, Young Master He?"
He Yu checked off Plum Fragrance 59 and carelessly passed the order list over to the young woman closest to him.
The hostesses glanced at each other as excitement and delight filled their eyes. When they walked into the room, they'd thought that He Yu would be a tough customer. However, they were finding that he was actually handsome and pleasant—and generous, at that. They didn't even have to coax him into ordering the most expensive champagne tower on the menu.
"Young Master He, do you play dice?"
He Yu smiled and said mildly, "I do. I'm just afraid you won't be able to keep up with me."
The girl who had asked the question flirtatiously chided him, "Well, if I can't keep up with you, Young Master He ought to be a gentleman and let me win."
"That's right…"
Soft, warm bodies pressed closer into his sides, against his arms and legs, as He Yu looked at them with calm indifference. Indeed, given his current status, what kind of fawning ingratiation couldn't he afford, as long as he didn't seek sincerity?
Bottles were opened and the champagne tower was built. The girls giggled ecstatically as they grew increasingly fearless in the glimmering liquid light.
"Young Master He, why are you here all alone today? Where are your friends?"
"Young Master He, can you tell us about what happened at Huzhou University? The rumors are wild, and I want to hear your side of the story…"
Amidst the gentle banter, He Yu's cell phone suddenly began to ring. He glanced at it, and his expression subtly shifted. It was Xie Qingcheng.
"Who is it?"
"It's nothing," replied He Yu. After a beat of silence, he propped his chin on his hand and casually swiped a finger over his screen to reject the call. He turned back to the girl before him, who had been in the middle of cracking a joke. "Go on."
Seeing He Yu's interest in her joke, the girl poured even more enthusiasm into her speech.
A few seconds later, Xie Qingcheng called again.
The phone rang nonstop, clamoring for him to pick up. A particularly audacious girl hid a smile behind her hand as she asked, "Is it Young Master He's girlfriend?"
"You're joking." He Yu rejected Xie Qingcheng's call again.
This time the silence lasted longer, but a little over a minute later, the phone began to ring for a third time. He Yu was about to reject it, but his finger froze as it landed on the screen.
This time, the call wasn't from Xie Qingcheng but Xie Xue.
After a brief hesitation, he answered his phone.
"He Yu." Xie Xue called out from the other end of the line.
"Mm."
"He Yu…I-I wanted to ask you…about that day on campus. What exactly happened to my brother when he was with you?" There was a tearful note to Xie Xue's voice, causing the fake smile that He Yu was wearing for all these strangers to fade slightly. "Why did those old recordings of his suddenly get streamed on the murder video channel? I was afraid to look at first…but today, I did a thorough search online and found so many people cursing him. Did you know…there were even people who posted our address online, and someone came to vandalize our front door… I really… I'm really so upset right now…and I'm too scared to call my brother too. Even if I called him, he wouldn't say anything, he'd just scold me for searching up all these things even though he told me not to. I…"
Xie Xue couldn't bear it any longer and burst into tears. All that remained on the line was the sound of her sobbing.
The hostesses of this money-burning establishment had no idea what was happening. They kept smiling as they poured He Yu's wine.
He Yu stroked a hand through a woman's long hair with a twisted tenderness, but as he listened to Xie Xue's tearful lament, the light in his eyes dimmed, the sounds of her despair passing through the speaker and soaking directly into his heart.
"I don't know what to do anymore…"
For a moment, He Yu thought of Wei Dongheng. Even though he was the one Xie Xue had a crush on, when something happened, she chose to go to He Yu instead. He felt slightly comforted for a moment, but then he remembered that Wei Dongheng had taken a leave of absence to visit his father in the military due to the death of an older family member, so he was at a heavily fortified army base with hardly any signal. Besides, He Yu thought, it was just a secret crush—Wei Dongheng might not even know what major Xie Xue taught, so of course she wouldn't seek him out.
"He Yu…" Xie Xue sobbed spasmodically, her voice like an injured kitten. "What should I do…? I wanted to help my brother out, so I-I started a livestream to explain, but…" She whimpered. "I wanted to have a proper conversation, but no one was willing to calmly listen to me tell the whole story… They started to curse at me halfway through, or just didn't listen at all… They even said that I was a fraud, that I wasn't his little sister, that I'm…I'm…"
She sucked in a breath but didn't continue. She sobbed for a while before saying helplessly, "They thought I was trying to use the murders to go viral, so they reported my video… Some people even said that my parents were the real culprits behind the scenes… He Yu, you know they've been gone for years. The dead should be respected. I thought we could leave the deceased out of it…but th-they…they asked me to show my parents' cremation certificate…!"
Xie Xue wept bitterly, unable to continue speaking.
He Yu's knuckles had gone slightly pale.
He was too used to treating Xie Xue well, so upon hearing her cries, his first instinct was to comfort her, to help her solve her problem. But just as he was about to speak, he recalled her messages to Xie Qingcheng.
That human warmth slowly retreated from his disease-ridden, decaying heart. He fell silent.
A voice inside him sighed and tried to coax him. Although Xie Xue wasn't as good to him as he'd imagined, when all was said and done, she hadn't known anything. At the very least, she was the person he was closest to and the one who treated him with the most tenderness. That was enough.
But another voice stabbed into his flesh. There was no need for him to be benevolent or caring anymore. In fact, he should stop being so stupid.
"Can I ask you something, Xie Xue?" He Yu finally said.
"Mm… Go…go ahead…" Xie Xue sniffled.
He Yu, seated in the luxurious private room, said to the girl who was curled up in her rundown and shabby little house, "When the hackers played those videos on all the mobile devices around Huzhou University that day, you saw them too."
"I did…"
"Your brother is a doctor in a field related to psychiatry. It's understandable that he would be attacked if he says things like that. The internet fosters a more emotionally volatile environment in the first place; when nobody has to put a face to the words they're saying or reading, they act much more aggressively. I don't think it's at all strange that he's getting cursed at."
"But it's just a few words he said… All these years, he's always been diligent and responsible when it comes to his work. He's never done things carelessly, you know this…"
"I know," He Yu interrupted her. He'd almost never interrupted Xie Xue before. "But I also know other things about your brother, like how he told you to stay away from me."
Xie Xue seemed to be at a loss for how to respond, as if she didn't know the reason for the turnaround in his attitude.
He Yu, however, was so calm it was disturbing.
"Xie Xue, there's only one thing I want to ask you right now. Hearing your brother warn you about me all these years—have you ever suspected that I might be mentally ill?"
"I—" Xie Xue froze at the unexpected question.
Had she?
Had she ever?
In the countless days that had passed, had she ever felt just a sliver of hesitation toward He Yu because of Xie Qingcheng's words? Had she ever suspected, deep in her heart, that the reason why Xie Qingcheng had lived in the He family's residence for so long and admonished her constantly was because He Yu was also a patient? Did she really have no suspicions at all?
"I…" Xie Xue wasn't any good at lying. She paused, hesitating for a long while as she held her phone dazedly. "But…but how would you… Even if you were, then… No, no. You're so outstanding, you definitely wouldn't…"
He Yu's eyelashes quivered, casting wispy shadows over his face. He smiled softly and said, "You're right, I'm not."
One of the hostesses lit a cigarette and tried to pass it to He Yu. He took it, glanced at it, and then returned it to her with a smile and a polite shake of his head. He seemed calm on the surface, but there was a deranged darkness in his eyes.
"Then, He Yu, can you—"
"No," He Yu said gently. "Xie Xue, I'm sorry. I can't."
He was still smiling as he spoke, but the dull pain in his heart was boring through his chest with a force powerful enough to splinter the sky. His cold fingertips played with the woman's hair.
"I have some business to take care of tonight, so I can't step away. Why don't you find someone else to keep you company?" He Yu's lips parted. "We weren't all that close to begin with, isn't that so?"
The girl at the other end of the line was dumbfounded. She'd never seen this side of He Yu before. She'd never heard him speak in a voice so gentle and refined yet devoid of the slightest hint of emotion.
Or perhaps the emotions entwined within were simply too deep, too profound. So profound that they'd crushed that youth—the He Yu that she knew, the He Yu that he himself knew—until he was mangled beyond recognition.
He Yu didn't wait for Xie Xue to reply. He hung up, smiling.
He'd been completely right. Xie Qingcheng's presence had rendered all his past efforts completely futile; he and Xie Xue could never have gotten together.
No. Perhaps, from Xie Qingcheng's perspective, it wasn't just Xie Xue that He Yu shouldn't be having an intimate relationship with, but anyone at all.
Seeing that he'd hung up, the girl clinging to his side, who was the prettiest in the room, pouted. "Young Master He, what do you want to play next?" Her fingertips stroked his thigh indecently.
He Yu put down his phone and stared disdainfully at her. In a mild tone, he said, "Take your hands off me. I don't like it when people touch me without permission. Sit properly, and don't pull any of your tricks. Otherwise, I'll need to ask you to leave."
His erratic behavior gave the girl a fright. The room fell silent. Everyone else sat up straighter, unsure of what to do.
He Yu ignored them as he drank on his own. He even uncorked that bottle of Plum Fragrance 59.
"Young Master He," the leader of the group tried to remind him, "this liquor…"
"I know what this is."
He was very aware. He'd only uncorked the bottle—if or when he would drink it depended on how he ended up feeling.
The atmosphere had become strained, and the girls didn't dare to make a sound. They stood there frozen like that until their feet started aching in their eight-inch heels.
Then, a clamor came from outside the room.
"Sir, you can't go in there…"
"Sir—sir—"
All of a sudden, the door to the private room was rudely thrown open.
He Yu looked askance at the intruder.
The man who appeared before He Yu's icy-cold eyes, wearing a white button-down shirt and slim-fit dress pants, was none other than Xie Qingcheng. He hadn't picked up any of Xie Qingcheng's calls, so Xie Qingcheng had come barging in himself.
The manager on duty by the door turned pale with fright. "Y-you useless waste of space! How could you let someone up here?"
The complexion of the bouncer who was trailing Xie Qingcheng had likewise turned waxy, but before he could say anything, He Yu spoke up lazily from his spot on the sofa. "Forget it." His voice carried the hint of a sneer, cold enough to cut through bone. "He's quite formidable. It's to be expected that you couldn't stop him. Since he's already here, you might as well just let him in."
He Yu was speaking to the two employees, but his eyes remained unblinkingly fixed on Xie Qingcheng.
Xie Qingcheng had rushed here, so he was panting through parted lips, his breathing a bit uneven. Several strands had escaped from his usually neat hair and spilled over his keenly penetrating eyes, which sparked with flames like dots of crimson ink fallen into water.
He Yu stared into those eyes for a while before speaking with surprising composure. "Doctor Xie, please come in."
"Ah…this…" The bouncer who had been trying to stop Xie Qingcheng still hadn't caught up with this sudden change in circumstances.
The manager, however, had a keen eye and was quick to react. How could he not recognize Xie Qingcheng? He'd been all over the internet for the past few days—he had suffered a shock at Huzhou University alongside He Yu. There was definitely some kind of unusual dispute between these two VIPs, and outsiders had better stay as far away as possible to avoid getting swept up in the impending hurricane.
He shot the patrolling guard a meaningful look, and the two of them quickly retreated from the scene, closing the door that Xie Qingcheng had thrown open as they left.
Inside the room, the two men looked at each other, neither of them speaking a word. But the instant their eyes met, both of them knew what was going through the other's mind.
It had only been a handful of days since their last meeting, but at this moment, their perspectives had already been turned on their heads—their positions had been reversed, and everything had changed.