TLSOTMTKOGAYWHTDI Chapter 100

Chapter 99: Eat Something Good

The night deepened, and wisps of smoke rose from the barbecue grill on the cruise ship deck.

Zhuo Huaimo held a glass of champagne, leaning alone against the railing, watching the sea.

Footsteps came from behind, and Lin Jianhe approached with two glasses of red wine.

“Director Zhuo, all alone?”

Lin Jianhe handed over a glass. “Where’s President Qi?”

“Getting food.”

Zhuo Huaimo took the glass, gently swirling it. “Mr. Lin, did you grow up abroad?”

“Yes, London.”

Lin Jianhe took a sip of wine. “My father does import and export trade, and my mother is a university teacher.”

He said this calmly, as if stating the background of an ordinary family.

“Sounds very happy.” Zhuo Huaimo smiled.

“I suppose.”

Lin Jianhe’s gaze turned to the distance. “But my parents were busy with work, and I was often home alone when I was little.”

The sea breeze blew, ruffling Zhuo Huaimo’s hair. He asked seemingly casually, “Which university in London?”

“Imperial College.”

Lin Jianhe pushed up his glasses. “Studied finance.”

Zhuo Huaimo raised an eyebrow. “No wonder Yu Fengran said you do the reports better than him.”

“You flatter me.”

Lin Jianhe chuckled. “Just some basic work.”

The two fell into a brief silence.

Qi Yanwang’s laughter came from afar. He was competing with several employees to eat chili peppers, jumping up and down from the spiciness.

“What about Director Zhuo’s parents?”

Lin Jianhe suddenly asked, “They must be amazing to have raised someone as outstanding as you.”

Zhuo Huaimo’s fingers tightened slightly. “They’re both gone.”

“I’m sorry,” Lin Jianhe said immediately.

“It’s okay.” Zhuo Huaimo shook his head. “It’s been many years.”

Under the moonlight, his profile appeared particularly cold.

“A fortune teller said when I was little that my fate was bad, that I would bring misfortune to my parents.”

Zhuo Huaimo smiled self-deprecatingly. “Now that I think about it, there’s no such thing as fate, it’s just…”

“A man-made disaster?” Lin Jianhe finished the sentence.

Zhuo Huaimo suddenly looked up, meeting Lin Jianhe’s probing gaze behind his lenses.

“Just a guess.”

Lin Jianhe explained, “You mentioned earlier ‘not fate’.”

“Yes.”

Zhuo Huaimo relaxed. “I’ve been investigating some old matters recently.”

“Need any help?”

Lin Jianhe’s tone was sincere. “I have some connections in the auditing industry.”

“Thank you, but no.”

Zhuo Huaimo declined politely. “Yanwang is investigating!”

“A case involving human lives…”

Lin Jianhe gently swirled his wine glass, his gaze behind the lenses deepening. “It must involve some secrets you shouldn’t know, right?”

Zhuo Huaimo’s fingertips paused, and the champagne rippled in the glass.

“Mr. Lin seems to understand these things very well?” He asked back, his voice calm.

“Occupational sensitivity.”

Lin Jianhe smiled. “Auditing has exposed me to too many dirty things behind the accounts.”

He suddenly lowered his voice. “Some secrets… the fewer people who know them, the better.”

The sea breeze suddenly intensified, scattering the final sounds.

“Thank you for the reminder.”

Zhuo Huaimo looked directly into his eyes. “But I’m the kind of person who likes to get to the bottom of things.”

Lin Jianhe suddenly chuckled, reaching out to straighten Zhuo Huaimo’s collar, which had been ruffled by the wind. “Then… I wish you good luck.”

His fingertips brushed against Zhuo Huaimo’s collarbone, as cold as a snake’s tongue. “After all, the reason secrets are secrets—”

“—is because speaking them will get you killed.”

Qi Yanwang’s voice suddenly interjected, holding a mountain of barbecue. He squeezed between the two with a smile that hid a knife.

“What are you two chatting about so happily?”

In the distance, Yu Fengran waved towards them. “Jianhe! Come try this!”

“Excuse me.”

Lin Jianhe bowed slightly. “I hope I didn’t offend you.”

“Not at all.” Zhuo Huaimo watched him leave, his brow furrowed.

“What’s wrong?”

“He asked about my parents.” Zhuo Huaimo said in a low voice.

Qi Yanwang immediately became alert. “Why would he suddenly bring that up?”

“I don’t know.” Zhuo Huaimo shook his head.

Qi Yanwang narrowed his eyes, looking at Lin Jianhe in the distance. “I’ll check his background.”

“Slow down…”

Zhuo Huaimo struggled to support the tipsy Qi Yanwang, staggering down the cabin corridor. “I told you to drink less…”

Qi Yanwang hung his entire weight on him, his hot breath on his neck. “Not drunk… Wife is so fragrant…”

“Shut up!”

Zhuo Huaimo pushed away the head that was getting too close, his face red. He swiped his card to open the cabin door.

The sea breeze poured in from the half-open porthole, and moonlight spilled onto the messy sheets.

Zhuo Huaimo had just thrown the man onto the bed when he was pulled down by a brute force.

“Qi Yanwang! You—”

Before he could finish speaking, his lips were sealed.

The kiss was laced with the spiciness of whiskey, and Qi Yanwang’s tongue skillfully pried open his teeth. His palm had already slipped under the hem of his shirt.

“Pretending to be drunk?” Zhuo Huaimo pushed him away breathlessly.

Qi Yanwang laughed like a cat that had stolen cream, with no trace of intoxication left. “How else could I escape? Those little brats insisted on making a wedding night ruckus…”

The cruise ship swayed gently, and Zhuo Huaimo lost his balance and fell onto his lap.

Through the thin fabric, he could clearly feel the other man’s burning temperature.

“You…”

Zhuo Huaimo’s ears burned. “Let go.”

“Not letting go.”

Qi Yanwang nibbled on his earlobe, his fingers already unbuttoning three buttons on his shirt.

“I wanted to do this on the deck… Seeing you chatting so happily with that Lin guy…”

Zhuo Huaimo tilted his head back, gasping. “You’re jealous of that too?… Mmm…”

The rest of his words were swallowed between his lips and teeth.

Moonlight streamed in through the porthole, spreading a layer of silver gauze in the cabin.

Qi Yanwang’s fingertips gently traced Zhuo Huaimo’s eyebrows and eyes, as if touching the most precious work of art.

“Don’t mess around…”

Zhuo Huaimo turned his head away, his hair brushing against the pillow, making a soft sound.

Qi Yanwang chuckled and instead took his hand, interlocking his fingers and pressing them against the pillow.

The cruise ship swayed gently with the waves, and the shadows of the two overlapped on the cabin wall, forming an intimate silhouette.

In the moonlight, Zhuo Huaimo’s eyes glistened with tears.

He tilted his neck back, letting the warm kisses fall on his Adam’s apple, as gentle as the sea breeze.

A shooting star suddenly flashed across the window, and the fleeting light reflected on their clasped hands.

Qi Yanwang lowered his head and saw the entire starry sky reflected in Zhuo Huaimo’s eyes.

“Did you make a wish?” He asked softly.

Zhuo Huaimo curled his lips and pulled him closer with his uninjured hand.

Between their mingling breaths, they heard their heartbeats in sync with the waves.

The champagne on the bedside table bubbled, like the silent, boiling tenderness of the night.

Qi Yanwang carefully embraced him, placing a light, promise-like kiss on his hair.

“Sleep,”

He pulled the velvet blanket over them, “I’ll watch over you.”

On the distant horizon, the morning star quietly rose. The cruise ship cut through the inky sea, carrying a cabin full of tenderness towards dawn.

In the second half of the night, Zhuo Huaimo lay exhausted on Qi Yanwang’s chest, listening to the other man’s strong heartbeat.

Zhuo Huaimo mumbled an “mmm” and, before falling asleep, vaguely heard Qi Yanwang say:

“That Lin Jianhe… I’ll find out everything.”

He wanted to respond but couldn’t fight off the sleepiness.

In his last conscious thought, was Qi Yanwang’s light kiss on the top of his head, and the cries of seagulls in the distance.

In the moonlight, Qi Yanwang stared at the sea outside the porthole, his eyes clear, with no trace of sleepiness.

He gently caressed the small mole on the back of Zhuo Huaimo’s neck, as if confirming that the most precious treasure was safe and sound.

Where the sea and sky met, the rising sun was quietly brewing.

The morning sea sparkled with gold-like luster.

Qi Yanwang was holding hot milk and leaving the restaurant when he bumped into Lin Jianhe, who was leaning against the railing watching the sunrise.

“President Qi is up early.”

Lin Jianhe pushed his glasses up, the lenses reflecting the morning light, making it impossible to see his eyes.

“Getting breakfast for my wife.”

Qi Yanwang shook the milk cup in his hand, his tone casual. “Mr. Lin can’t sleep either?”

“I’m used to it.”

Lin Jianhe turned to face the sea. “The morning mist in London is even thicker than this.”

The two fell into a brief silence, with only the sound of waves gently lapping against the hull of the ship.

“You two have a really good relationship.”

Lin Jianhe suddenly spoke. “Fengran often mentions it.”

Qi Yanwang raised an eyebrow. “Yu Fengran is good to you too.”

“Yes.”

Lin Jianhe chuckled. “He’s very considerate… otherwise, how could he have secretly loved Director Zhuo for so many years without Director Zhuo even noticing?”

The milk cup in Qi Yanwang’s hand paused slightly.

He narrowed his eyes, his smile not reaching them. “So many people across the country love my wife. I can only say, Fengran has good taste!”

“Yes… Fengran is very good at hiding his feelings.”

He paused. “Like me, loving him means naturally respecting and accepting everything about him.”

Qi Yanwang sneered and suddenly took a step closer. “Yu Fengran is a friend to both Huaimo and me.”

His voice was very low, but every word was like a knife. “We won’t let anyone who tries to hurt him get away with it.”

Lin Jianhe’s expression didn’t change, but the eyes behind the lenses narrowed slightly.

“Also,”

Qi Yanwang took half a step back, his tone returning to casual. “My wife is timid, and I’m very jealous. In the future, if anything comes up…”

He shook his phone meaningfully. “Talk to me directly.”

Lin Jianhe suddenly laughed. “President Qi is indeed worthy of his reputation.”

He straightened his cuffs, revealing an expensive Patek Philippe watch on his wrist. “Don’t worry, I cherish my current life very much.”

As the rising sun completely leaped out of the sea, the two left the deck one after the other.

Qi Yanwang walked to the corner, turned back to look at Lin Jianhe’s back, and dialed his assistant’s number with a grim look:

“Check that watch… yes, limited edition, the serial number should be from three years ago…”

At the same time, Lin Jianhe stood in the shadows, watching Qi Yanwang leave.

He took off his glasses, wiping them slowly and deliberately, a meaningful smile curling at the corner of his mouth…

In the top-floor suite of the cruise ship, Lin Jianhe put his cleaned glasses back on in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

He took out his phone and quickly entered a string of code, and an encrypted folder immediately popped up on the screen.

Outside the window, seagulls skimmed over the waves.

Lin Jianhe suddenly thought of something and called Yu Fengran.

“Hello?”

Yu Fengran’s sleepy voice came from the other end of the phone. “So early?”

“Missing you.”

Lin Jianhe’s voice instantly softened. “What do you want for breakfast? I’ll bring it to you.”

“Anything…”

Yu Fengran yawned. “Where did you go so early? I woke up and didn’t see you.”

“Watching the sunrise, but you were sleeping soundly so I didn’t wake you!”

Lin Jianhe looked at the fading wake of the cruise ship in the distance. “I regretted it later, such a beautiful view, I should have been with you!”

After hanging up, he took one last look in the direction Qi Yanwang disappeared and turned to walk towards the elevator…