21 Unconvinced

Xie Guilan had not expected Cen Wu to show up. Perhaps Cen Wu felt fearless, banking on the support of the Cen family, but Cen Wu was not a fool; what good would it do him to get tangled up in so much trouble?

The few thugs on the ground finally regained some composure. Although they still couldn't stand, they could manage a few groans. Each of their faces was covered in blood, especially the ringleader with the tattooed arm, who was coughing up blood. The yellow-haired lackey beside him was so terrified he had nearly wet himself, struggling to drag his body further away, fearing the leader might die right next to him.

Xie Guilan’s methods were too brutal. Cen Wu’s heart pounded; the tattooed man and his crew had struck first and even tried to rob them, so Xie Guilan was technically in the right, but beating them to this extent would be hard to resolve.

The original story was an old-fashioned melodrama, filled with dark tropes like heart and kidney harvesting. On the surface, Blue Night was a legitimate business, but behind the scenes, it was the largest underground casino in Huaijing. If the tattooed man and his goons were hanging around here, they were likely casino employees. Xie Guilan didn’t know this yet, but Cen Wu did: the owner of the casino was actually Xie Mingcheng.

Xie Mingcheng had grown up in poverty and clawed his way to the top; wives and children were secondary to him. He was ruthless in Huaijing, obsessed with accumulating wealth by any means necessary. His business dealings were dirty and tainted with illicit funds. When Xie Guilan later annexed the Xie family enterprise, Blue Night had collapsed along with it.

That plot point was still more than three years away. The tattooed man didn't recognize him, so he was likely just a small-time thug. A beating didn't matter, but he would definitely hold a grudge tonight and seek revenge against Xie Guilan. Cen Wu worried that Xie Guilan would anger the people above the thug, and if Xie Mingcheng were involved, things would surely turn ugly. It would be better to take the blame himself.

With that thought, Cen Wu grabbed Xie Guilan’s hand. Xie Guilan’s cold eyelids dropped. He had just removed the blood-stained chain when Cen Wu seized his hand. Xie Guilan frowned, his expression growing colder. Did he really like holding hands with him this much? Even when his hands were covered in blood?

Cen Wu didn't care about his cold demeanor; he forcibly held Xie Guilan’s hand and began wiping the blood away. A thug nearby, still unwilling to give up, tried to stand up shakily to retaliate, but Cen Wu impatiently struck him with a steel pipe, sending him crashing back to the ground.

Xie Guilan: "..."

Sometimes he wondered if Cen Wu was just acting. He was clearly much tougher than before. In the past, even if Cen Wu was arrogant, he would never have dared to come to a place like this alone. Even during that incident at the bar, if Wang Yue had provoked him, he would have surely let Chu Zijian handle it, never daring to fight anyone himself.

But Cen Wu’s courage was fleeting. After hitting the man with the pipe, he met Xie Guilan’s eyes, and his expression turned cautious again, struggling to even get a sentence out after a long pause.

Xie Guilan lowered his eyes, staring at the dark whorl of hair on Cen Wu’s crown. He noticed that Cen Wu’s hair was slightly wavy, though the curve was subtle, and the tiny red mole on his cold, white earlobe was particularly striking. Cen Wu felt uncomfortable under his gaze, his earlobes burning bit by bit; under the night sky, that mole looked like a burning red dwarf star. He gripped Xie Guilan’s fingers, lowering his head to earnestly wipe the blood from his knuckles.

No matter how cold Xie Guilan was, he was only seventeen or eighteen. He possessed the vibrant, natural warmth of a youth, and having just fought, his palms were so hot that thin beads of sweat appeared on the bridge of Cen Wu’s nose.

"..."

He had been holding his hand for so long without letting go that Xie Guilan wondered if Cen Wu had forgotten they weren't actually a couple. Xie Guilan didn't know what he was thinking; he loosely closed his fingers, and Cen Wu’s hand was almost completely enveloped in his scorching palm. Cen Wu froze, his snow-white cheeks turning bright red, his eyes filled with panic. *No, what is this for?*

Fortunately, Xie Guilan let go after less than a second, and Cen Wu breathed a sigh of relief, assuming it was an accident. He didn't look up, so he didn't see the trace of vicious yet wicked pleasure in Xie Guilan’s eyes as he stared at his trembling eyelashes and suddenly flushed cheeks.

"You... you listen to me," Cen Wu instructed him. "No matter who asks, just say I was the one who beat them up tonight."

He expected Xie Guilan to have questions or to ignore him entirely, but to his surprise, Xie Guilan didn't seem to care at all. He just stared at him and said, "Fine."

Cen Wu: "???"

Cen Wu had been thinking about how to convince him, but Xie Guilan’s sudden agreement left him stunned.

The thugs: "..."

*Are you kidding me?!* They weren't dead, just unable to stand. Didn't they have any dignity? They were busy holding hands and arguing about who beat them up—they had truly encountered living demons.

The tattooed leader was so angry he spat out another mouthful of blood. He pointed a trembling finger at Cen Wu, "You... you, you, you..."

"What about me?" Cen Wu’s face turned cold. He kicked the man’s hand away and looked down at him. "You don't recognize me, yet you dare to hang around Blue Night?"

The tattooed man wanted to sneer, but his face was swollen like a pig’s head, making it impossible to curl his lips. He could only try his best to open his bruised eyelids to express his disdain. What was Cen Wu? He looked like a high school student; why should he know who he was?

However, the yellow-haired man nearby looked up, and in the dim moonlight, he finally saw Cen Wu’s face. The more he looked, the more familiar it became. He was struck with terror and clawed frantically at the leader, "Boss, he... he... he’s the one from the Cen family..."

?

The tattooed man didn't understand what the yellow-haired man was saying, nor did he expect that Cen Wu had actually called the police.

Ten minutes later, the group of thugs, supporting one another with blood-smeared faces and trembling legs, walked into the police station with heavy hearts.

"Why is it you lot again?!" The policewoman’s face turned cold the moment she saw them. "You’ve only been out for a few days and you’re causing trouble again? You didn't even spare a student; look at how scared they are!"

The thugs: "???"

*What an injustice! Your Honor, why don't you look at what we've been reduced to?*

Cen Wu still had a slight fever, a cooling patch stuck to his forehead. He was beautiful and young, with deep tear troughs that were slightly swollen from the fever, his eyelashes wet and clumped together, a blanket draped over his shoulders—he looked very docile. Xie Guilan was also in his school uniform, looking cold and composed; without the ferocity, he actually looked quite like a good student. At least, more so than the thugs.

"Are you scared?" The policewoman asked kindly, pouring them glasses of hot water and offering cookies and fruit candies. "Don't be afraid. They won't dare to touch you again. You’re safe now."

The tattooed man felt like spitting blood, but the yellow-haired man beside him, perhaps having lost his mind, pinned him down and refused to let him open his mouth. Cen Wu’s throat felt tight, making it difficult to speak, but he didn't count on Xie Guilan listening to him, so he stumbled through his words, trying to beat Xie Guilan to the punch.

However, Xie Guilan spoke first.

"My mother is hospitalized and I need money," Xie Guilan said, his skin as pale as mountain snow, his thin lips a deep red that made his features appear even more profound and handsome. He lifted those pitch-black peach-blossom eyes, creating an illusion that was incredibly beguiling. "I was working a part-time job near the school tonight. I don't know these people; they suddenly followed me."

Tattooed leader: "???"

*Are you farting? You dare say you don't know me?!*

The tattooed leader almost exploded in a rage, but was firmly pinned down by a male officer who barked, "Behave yourself!" The leader could only squat down in resentment.

Xie Guilan lifted his eyes slightly, glanced at Cen Wu, and continued, "Thanks to my classmate passing by, he fought them off to save me."

The tattooed leader: "???"

The police: "???"

Cen Wu, with his eyelashes fluttering, looking soft and easy to bully, and still wearing a fever patch: "???"

The policewoman looked at Xie Guilan—nearly six-foot-three and imposing—and then at the sickly, wilted Cen Wu, her expression becoming complicated. But Xie Guilan didn't seem to think there was anything wrong. He turned to Cen Wu and said, "Thank you."

"..." Cen Wu said dryly, "You're... you're welcome."

"It... it really was me who beat them," Cen Wu said, clenching his fist, which was the size of a sandbag. He intended to pretend to punch the tattooed man to demonstrate, but looking at the blood smeared all over the man’s face, he found it too ugly to touch. He turned and punched Xie Guilan’s arm instead, blushing as he said, "It was... it was just like this."

Xie Guilan had just received a "cotton punch."

Xie Guilan: "..."

The way he hit, even the police wanted to say, *Don't reward him.*

The tattooed man: "..."

*Who are you insulting? Can someone please do something?!*

"By the way," just then, an older officer stared at Xie Guilan and suddenly spoke up, "I recognize you. You're Xie Guilan, right? The top student at Huaijing No. 1 High School!" His own child went to the same school, and Xie Guilan’s photo was always on the honors board; it was impossible not to recognize him.

As soon as the officer finished speaking, the thugs felt their necks tighten, as if they were being shredded by the accusatory glares around them. Robbing anyone was bad enough, let alone the top student who was working his way through school.

The nature of the case was simple: robbery near Huaijing No. 1 High School. These individuals were repeat offenders, and the police were well-accustomed to handling them. Cen Wu and Xie Guilan were able to leave quickly.

It had rained briefly, but it had stopped. The moonlight was like water, and a cool night breeze brushed past. Cen Wu was still immersed in an inexplicable sense of shame. He reached up to tug at his messy hair, and when he looked up, he suddenly met Xie Guilan’s eyes. Xie Guilan was staring at his flushed face, and the corners of his lips curled up ever so slightly.

Cen Wu initially thought he had misread the look, but when Xie Guilan turned his head away, he was certain he had seen him smile. He hurried to catch up and grabbed Xie Guilan’s wrist. But looking again, Xie Guilan’s face was back to being a cold, expressionless coffin. Cen Wu said indignantly, "What are you smiling at?"

Xie Guilan ignored him.

Cen Wu’s eyes shimmered in the night. "I... I can beat three of you with one punch. Are you unconvinced?"

*Pretty fierce.*

The fever patch was about to fall off. Xie Guilan reached out and pressed it back onto his forehead, pressing so hard that Cen Wu swayed dizzily before he retracted his hand. "I didn't say I was unconvinced."