PE Ch28: Mr. Huai is in a good mood

“You’ve been staring at my girlfriend for too long,” the man across from him suddenly snapped his wallet shut with a “clap.”

He was like a person flaunting his treasure, afraid others wouldn’t notice, but if anyone looked too long, he wanted to gouge out their eyes.

“Want me to recommend a better photo-editing software?” Jian Yan asked.

“…”

The bartender carefully placed a drink between them, sensing the tension.

The man across took a sip from his glass and said, “Yeah, my editing skills aren’t great. Can’t be helped, long-distance relationship. Haven’t had new photos for a while.”

Jian Yan also took a sip, saying, “The person I like is also waiting for me far away.”

“Oh, then we share the same fate.” The man patted Jian Yan’s shoulder.

Their glasses clinked in midair, making a crisp sound.

The other person downed his drink in one go. Jian Yan looked down at the liquid in his glass and said, “Is this vodka? It’s too strong. Sorry, I can’t get used to it.”

“Sorry, I need to check in first. If it’s convenient, can you leave your name and contact information? I need to thank you for your help today.”

The other person smoothly left his name and number.

He even thoughtfully wrote it down on a piece of paper.

“See you next time,” Jian Yan said, pushing his two boxes as he walked out.

The other person didn’t stop him.

It wasn’t until Jian Yan had walked far away that he got off the high stool and smashed the glass on the head of the person next to him: “Idiot! Next time, make sure to check the person before you kidnap them!”

“I did check. He is a Beta…”

“Look at the boxes he’s using! Idiot! Military standard issue, they’re filled with firearms from Haigu!”

“So, so…”

“A Beta from Haigu, didn’t your pig brain connect any dots?”

“Huai Yu? He’s a Beta trained in Huai Yu’s pilot program…” The subordinate’s face changed.

This person lit a cigarette and said softly, “We can’t provoke Huai Yu right now. Even though Betas coming out of military school should be more resilient and have a higher success rate for experiments… There will be opportunities in the future.”

“Y-yes. Those guys who died today…”

“If I hadn’t come out to kill them, wouldn’t they have been caught by Huai Yu’s people and blabbed?” He blew out a smoke ring, “They were just locals, their deaths are no loss.”

“Right, right!”

He walked to another side door, where the local guide who had warned Jian Yan to be careful was waiting.

First, he raised the danger awareness in the target’s mind to increase trust, then smoothly led them into the trap—clearly, the guide was very skilled at this process.

The guide smiled and said, “I thought he looked a lot like the person in your photo. I thought you’d be especially happy to keep him here.”

“Not even a bit similar, not at all.”

Jian Yan slowly walked away, his expression growing grim.

That young man in slippers was obviously not a good person… Did he know Pan Yinchuan? Otherwise, how could he dream to such an extent?

He looked down again at the name on the paper:

Li Dayong.

Obviously a fake name.

…

Pan Yinchuan finally got enough sleep, just like after a vigorous gym class, taking a hot shower, then comfortably crawling into bed for a nap.

He felt indescribably relaxed.

It was time to wake up, he thought, opening his eyes and instinctively rolling over.

“Slap.”

His flung arm hit someone.

Pan Yinchuan’s eyes flew open completely: “Mr. Huai.”

Huai Yu was sitting by his side, leaning against the headboard, one long leg bent.

Huai Yu asked, “Are you dissatisfied with it?”

Pan Yinchuan’s gaze lowered.

His hand was resting near Huai Yu’s thigh, just a bit off from hitting a certain bulge.

Pan Yinchuan quickly withdrew his hand: “No dissatisfaction, Mr. Huai.”

Huai Yu put down the book in his hand.

Pan Yinchuan was lying down while he was sitting, giving an impression of looking down from above. Alpha’s hand slipped into Pan Yinchuan’s collar, through his hair at the back, gently rubbing his nape.

“You’re sweating,” Huai Yu said in a low voice.

Alpha’s hand was broad, with calluses from handling guns, which scraped across the skin, mixing tenderness with roughness.

Goosebumps rose on Pan Yinchuan’s skin, and the hair at his nape became even wetter.

“What are you nervous about?” Huai Yu said casually, then withdrew his hand, asking, “Can you get up?”

“I should be able to.”

“Should?” Huai Yu leaned towards him, then reached out to help Pan Yinchuan sit up again.

“Everything Yu Jia’an gave you has been found… Quite well kept, huh?” As soon as Pan Yinchuan sat up, he heard Huai Yu say this.

“I always keep what others give me,” Pan Yinchuan emphasized that Yu Jia’an wasn’t an exception.

“Very gentlemanly.”

“Not gentlemanly,” Pan Yinchuan shook his head, “In case one day the person wants it back, I can still give it to them.”

“Who would want something back once they’ve given it away?”

“They would. In sixth grade, near graduation, my deskmate and I bought those musical cards for each other. But later, he wanted to break up with me and asked for the card back.”

“Did you return it?”

“I couldn’t find it, so I remembered this lesson.”

“……”

A sixth grader saying they wanted to break up was like a hunger strike, just empty talk.

Essentially, it was a bid for attention.

Only Pan Yinchuan took it seriously. If he had really found the card and returned it, the other person would have been even angrier.

Not bad, when they meet, he will tell Yu Jia’an to remember to thank that sixth grader, or else his stuff wouldn’t have had a chance to enter Pan Yinchuan’s cabinet.

Mr. Huai rubbed his fingertips, then said, “But there’s one thing you didn’t keep well.”

Pan Yinchuan froze: “What? Is something missing?”

“The fish tank you described in your dream.”

“That… no way, my parents and I couldn’t keep fish alive. They died quickly. My dad said, no changing the feng shui, our family probably won’t get rich, just like that.”

Pan Yinchuan said awkwardly. Thinking of the conversation in the dream, he couldn’t help but say, “Yu Jia’an still wants to turn into a fish. If he really turned into a fish, he’d just get killed by me.”

Huai Yu: “……”

What to say?

At that moment, Mr. Huai was in quite a good mood.

“The tank was always empty and took up a lot of space. Later, I went downstairs, got a shovel of dirt, and filled it. I put the tank on the windowsill. Birds passing by left seeds, the wind brought seeds, and seeds hidden in the soil sprouted… I didn’t need to water it; rainwater came in, and slowly the tank grew lots of little grasses and flowers, even a string of chili peppers.”

Pan Yinchuan said a long string of words.

His tone was different from how he usually spoke in front of Huai Yu.

Pan Yinchuan seemed to care more about that string of chili peppers than about Yu Jia’an.

This thought popped into Huai Yu’s mind.

His gaze rested on Pan Yinchuan’s face, an unconscious, prolonged stare.

“…Anyway, it became a scenic pot,” Pan Yinchuan paused and said, “When the fish died, I buried it downstairs. I washed the tank several times and didn’t notice anything unusual. There couldn’t have been anything strange about the fish, right? That fish has been buried for many years; you can’t find anything now.”

Huai Yu didn’t comment on this, just made a call to have someone bring the scenic pot from the balcony.

“Sir, we’ve brought everything.” The bodyguards came in one after another, filling the floor with items.

By this time, Pan Yinchuan was already dressed and sitting at the dining table eating.

“Is this the scenic pot?” Huai Yu pointed to the most conspicuous one.

Because there were two large strings of chili peppers hanging on it.

Pan Yinchuan replied awkwardly, “Yes.”

“Dig it out,” Huai Yu ordered.

The soil inside had grown very compact. Yes, grown.

Countless small roots of various plants passed through the soil, binding it into one piece, extending to the tank body, entwining it completely.

It couldn’t be dumped out, only dug out.

One shovelful after another.

The tank was quickly more than half empty.

“The tank is cracked,” a bodyguard suddenly said.

Assistant Zhang frowned, thinking the man was clumsy. He rolled up his sleeves to do it himself, only to see: “It is cracked, and it cracked a long time ago. Some plant roots have penetrated through… Let me see, hmm, there’s really something here…”

Assistant Zhang took out a very tiny object: “Penetrated by plant roots, it’s a micro-camera.”

Huai Yu said coldly, “Yu Jia’an did become a fish after all.”

Pan Yinchuan shuddered with disgust: “He used this thing to watch me all the time?”

“This fish tank has a thick bottom, and there are mottled black spots from outdated firing techniques. The camera mixed in, probably looked just like one of those black spots.”

Assistant Zhang found it fascinating: “Mr. Pan killed the fish, filled it with dirt, and let various plants grow wildly in it… Eventually, the tank couldn’t contain their growth, and the thick bottom was drilled through, leaving this thing occupied by roots.”

Assistant Zhang clapped his hands lightly: “Yu Jia’an’s wonderful plan was thus foiled.”

Huai Yu gave him a cold look.

Assistant Zhang repeated: “Yu Jia’an’s vile plan was thus foiled!”

“Continue checking the other items,” Huai Yu paused and said, “Make sure to dismantle and break them into pieces for thorough inspection.”

Pan Yinchuan had no objections to this.

After all, this was to get rid of his big trouble.

Assistant Zhang secretly thought, isn’t this taking advantage of the situation? Making Pan Yinchuan watch everything be smashed to pieces, leaving nothing… If he were Yu Jia’an, he’d die of anger on the spot.