Go To Your Death Chapter 3
bySuspicion
One year ago, Ruilai International Building.
Rain slammed against the glass curtain wall, making a dull, heavy thudding sound.
Zhou Xubai stood at the entrance of the building, his fingers lightly brushing aside the stray hairs ruffled by the wind. He muttered to himself, “It’s raining so hard!”
“Xiao Bai, the rain is so heavy. How are you going to get back? Do you want me to give you a lift?” his colleague, Meng-jie, asked as she opened her umbrella.
Zhou Xubai shook his head, the corners of his lips curling up slightly to reveal his signature canine teeth. His eyes were startlingly bright. “No need, someone is coming to pick me up.”
“Is it a boyfriend?” Meng-jie winked mischievously.
“It’s not, don’t talk nonsense.” Zhou Xubai gave her a playful, coy glare.
Meng-jie laughed meaningfully and waved her hand. “Alright, alright. I’m heading out then. See you tomorrow!”
“See you tomorrow!” Zhou Xubai replied obediently. He watched his colleagues leave one by one, and the smile on his face gradually faded.
At that moment, the building’s automatic doors slid open, and Lin Jinyao walked out.
The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows, paired with ink-black jeans that emphasized his narrow, powerful waist.
Lin Jinyao’s features were naturally cold; when he wasn’t smiling, he seemed even more unapproachable.
Yet, that white shirt lent him a touch of the ascetic, making him look like a solitary pine tree on a snowy plain—cold, upright, and untouchable.
He walked slowly to Zhou Xubai’s side and silently handed over the folding umbrella in his hand.
However, Zhou Xubai didn’t even spare him a glance. He moved several steps to the side, deliberately putting distance between them.
Lin Jinyao didn’t get angry. He simply stood there quietly, looking at her, and silently retracted the umbrella.
The two of them stood in silence, listening to the sound of the rain. Neither spoke a word.
Ten minutes later, a black Audi slowly pulled up at the building’s entrance.
The window rolled down, revealing Zhou Xuan’s face, which wore a roguish grin. “Yo, are you two cosplaying as door gods? One on each side.”
Zhou Xubai’s eyes lit up, and he called out sweetly, “An’an!”
“Call me ‘Brother’!” Zhou Xuan’s countless attempts at correction were futile. He smiled and said, “Get in, you two ancestors!”
Lin Jinyao glanced at the passenger seat and silently opened the rear door.
Zhou Xuan glanced at Zhou Xubai, who was still standing in place. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with you now? Get in the car!”
Zhou Xubai’s smile instantly froze. “If he’s getting in, I’m not.”
Who was “he”? There was no one else there.
Zhou Xuan sighed and turned to shrug at Lin Jinyao, who was about to get into the car. He looked utterly helpless, as if asking: What should I do?
Lin Jinyao’s expression remained calm. He said nothing, simply closed the car door, took two steps back, and stood under the eaves again.
Only then did Zhou Xubai climb into the passenger seat with satisfaction and fasten his seatbelt.
The car made a U-turn.
Zhou Xuan helplessly rolled down the window and shouted to Lin Jinyao, “A-Yao, I’ll drop Xiao Bai home first and then come back for you!”
Lin Jinyao nodded, not minding in the least.
He simply looked at Zhou Xubai in the passenger seat, waved his hand, and said softly, “Goodbye, Xiao Bai.”
Unfortunately, Zhou Xubai didn’t even give him a look.
As the car drove into the curtain of rain, Zhou Xuan looked at Lin Jinyao through the rearview mirror and couldn’t help but frown. “Xiao Bai, you should at least say something to A-Yao!”
“I don’t want to.” Zhou Xubai kept his head down, playing a mobile game, his tone cold.
“I really don’t understand. The three of us grew up together, yet you’ve always found A-Yao disagreeable. He’s a very good person.”
“None of your business.”
Zhou Xuan was choked by the retort and shook his head helplessly. “Fine, fine. I won’t interfere in your business. You’re all ancestors I can’t afford to offend.”
Zhou Xubai didn’t speak again. He closed his game and turned his head to look out the window. The rain meandered in lines across the glass, blurring the world outside.
Lin Jinyao stood where he was, watching the Audi’s taillights gradually disappear. Only then did he slowly open his umbrella and walk into the rain.
*
When Lin Jinyao came out of the bathroom, Mu Huacheng was on the balcony making a phone call. His voice was uniquely lazy and deep, mixed with fluent American English, sounding both dangerous and seductive.
Mu Huacheng turned to look at him and gestured for him to come over.
But Lin Jinyao was someone who knew how to read the situation. He didn’t go forward, but instead walked slowly to the bed, lifted the covers, and lay down on his side.
He was very tired.
Mu Huacheng hung up the phone and walked over slowly. He also lifted the covers and lay down, placing his hand on Lin Jinyao’s shoulder.
“Going to sleep already?”
Lin Jinyao understood the subtext in Mu Huacheng’s voice. “Mr. Mu, do you want more?”
He really wanted to sleep, but if Mu Huacheng wasn’t satisfied, he could only force himself to endure until Mu Huacheng had played his fill.
“That friend of A-Yao’s seems to have a very big problem with me.”
Lin Jinyao, who was about to succumb to drowsiness, was jolted awake by Mu Huacheng’s words.
Mu Huacheng took hold of his hand, playing with his fingers one by one. But the words he spoke made Lin Jinyao’s scalp tingle. “Since A-Yao and I are getting married, logically, I should invite him. But he dislikes me, which makes things a bit difficult for me.”
Receiving no answer from Lin Jinyao, Mu Huacheng continued to ask, “I know he carries a lot of weight in your heart, but I want to know—between him and me, whose side will A-Yao take?”
Lin Jinyao was almost certain that Mu Huacheng simply didn’t want him to sleep and just wanted to see him make a fool of himself. Putting aside the fact that this man had said something as outrageous as marrying him, he was actually using a nonchalant, jealous tone to ask such a boring question.
“A-Yao, which side are you on?” Mu Huacheng turned Lin Jinyao over and pinned him down, determined to hear an answer.
Lin Jinyao’s eyes drooped. He looked at him for a moment before silently turning his head to the side. “The side.”
Mu Huacheng was stunned for a moment, then he burst out laughing.
Unsurprisingly, sleep was out of the question for Lin Jinyao, and his shower had been in vain.
All night long, Lin Jinyao regretted saying those two words.
Mu Huacheng’s technique was good—it was precisely because it was too good that Lin Jinyao broke down. He felt as if his soul was leaving his body, his eyes losing focus.
Being able to faint would have been the lightest punishment for him!
As it was, he woke up several times.
It wasn’t until dawn that Mu Huacheng finally let him go. Lin Jinyao lay there with his eyes tightly shut, motionless, breathing more out than in.
This time, he must be satisfied, Lin Jinyao thought.
Lin Jinyao actually bore no ill will toward Mu Huacheng; he only wanted to find out the truth about what happened to Zhou Xubai.
Because Mu Huacheng had privately investigated Zhou Xubai!
He was very surprised!
Two people who had nothing to do with each other, who weren’t even on the same parallel line—why would Mu Huacheng suddenly become interested in Zhou Xubai? And only a few days after the investigation began, Zhou Xubai committed suicide.