Is This The Right Way To Repay A Favor? Chapter 44

Rushing Over

Jiang Zhou arrived at Diqian (Bar).

Yuan Chong was busy greeting guests, and Jiang Zhou found Rong Hui in a booth. He was with Ding Sheng.

After adding him on WeChat last time, Ding Sheng had been sending him messages, mostly casual inquiries about his well-being. Jiang Zhou had never replied and had even set him to Do Not Disturb mode.

Meeting him now, he didn’t feel awkward at all.

It seemed that except when dealing with Shen Zhiyu, Jiang Zhou was perfectly at ease in front of everyone else.

Ding Sheng wasn’t awkward either; he was quite enthusiastic, leaning in and pouring Jiang Zhou a drink.

“Last time we met, I didn’t even get a chance to have a drink with CEO Jiang. CEO Jiang, I toast you.”

Jiang Zhou had suffered from alcohol before. A male star who wanted to climb the ranks had once drugged his drink to get into his bed.

However, because Jiang Zhou had been tormenting himself so much during that period, his reaction to the drug was not sensitive enough, and he had avoided disaster.

After that, Jiang Zhou was very careful about drinks in social settings.

But tonight, on Yuan Chong’s turf, Jiang Zhou didn’t have so many reservations and accepted the drink.

Seeing Jiang Zhou drink, Ding Sheng thought he had a chance and deliberately moved closer, his hand naturally reaching toward Jiang Zhou’s leg.

Jiang Zhou gave him a cold glance. Ding Sheng was startled by his look and quietly withdrew his hand.

“Ding Sheng, your hands are getting itchy again. Come over here.” Rong Hui intervened.

“This guy, he likes to touch people’s legs when he drinks. Jiang Zhou, please don’t mind. I’ll apologize for him.”

Saying this, Rong Hui raised his glass to Jiang Zhou and downed it in one go.

Only then did Jiang Zhou look at Rong Hui.

Unlike the other two high school classmates, Rong Hui didn’t call him CEO Jiang; he always called him Jiang Zhou.

It seemed that calling him this way made their relationship appear closer than his relationship with the other two.

Perhaps it was closer, after all, they had been deskmates for three months.

But to Jiang Zhou, it made no difference.

Jiang Zhou glanced at Rong Hui again. Rong Hui was also good-looking, the delicate type of boy, just a bit short.

He didn’t look like the type Yuan Chong would like.

Yuan Chong finished greeting guests and returned, smelling of alcohol.

Ding Sheng consciously left Rong Hui and sat back down next to Jiang Zhou, though this time he maintained a good distance.

As soon as Yuan Chong sat down, he put his arm around Rong Hui’s neck. The two whispered a few words to each other, their posture intimate.

Jiang Zhou couldn’t help but think of Lu Shen.

He wasn’t very familiar with Lu Shen, having only met him a few times. But in their limited interactions, he could feel the ingrained refinement in Lu Shen’s bones, and he could also sense his concern for Yuan Chong.

Unfortunately, the one he loved was not a good person.

Yuan Chong was loyal as a friend, but as a partner, he definitely belonged in the category of a scumbag.

Jiang Zhou found it a bit hard to watch and excused himself to go to the restroom.

The moment he entered the restroom, Jiang Zhou immediately realized something was wrong. A strong sense of dizziness invaded his nerves.

That Ding Sheng actually dared to drug him at Diqian.

Jiang Zhou leaned weakly against the stall door. He fumbled to open his phone, but couldn’t unlock it.

Footsteps sounded outside the restroom, along with Ding Sheng’s voice, “CEO Jiang, where are you? CEO Yuan is looking for you.”

Jiang Zhou didn’t make a sound, cursing Yuan Chong inwardly.

After finally managing to open his phone, Jiang Zhou propped himself up with one hand on the door panel and struggled to call Yuan Chong with the other.

The call went through, but no one answered.

As Jiang Zhou was about to dial a second time, the stall door was knocked on.

“CEO Jiang, are you in here? Open the door.”

Jiang Zhou braced himself against the door.

He didn’t know what drug this person had used, but the effect was much stronger than the last time he was targeted.

His whole body felt weak and unbearably hot. It was as if tens of thousands of ants were gnawing and screaming inside him. His strength was rapidly fading, and he was close to collapsing.

His rationality was also beginning to slip away.

Jiang Zhou’s hand randomly tapped the phone screen, somehow opening a video call to Shen Zhiyu.

Shen Zhiyu had just finished filming a scene and was still wearing his ancient costume.

He was surprised that Jiang Zhou had initiated a video call.

As soon as he answered, the screen displayed a face flushed red and breathing rapidly.

Shen Zhiyu immediately sensed something was wrong. “Jiang Zhou! Where are you?”

Jiang Zhou, startled by Shen Zhiyu’s voice, hurriedly hung up the phone.

The person outside the stall also heard the sound and forcefully slammed against the door.

Jiang Zhou’s strength was completely exhausted. He slid down the stall door, and his phone fell with him.

The person rushed in, grabbing Jiang Zhou in an embrace. “CEO Jiang, you’re here!”

“Are you drunk? Come, let me help you.”

“Let go.” Jiang Zhou snapped.

But the sound that came out was soft and weak, carrying a slight hoarseness, devoid of any deterrent power.

“CEO Jiang, don’t be so formal with me. We’re high school classmates!”

“Come, let me help you walk.” Ding Sheng wrapped one arm around his waist and used the other to lift Jiang Zhou’s arm, draping it over his neck, dragging him out.

An anxious, hot impulse inside his body was slowly eroding Jiang Zhou’s sanity.

His body grew hotter and hotter, like balls of fire were burning within him.

Ding Sheng held him, walked out of the restroom, and headed toward a room upstairs.

—-

Shen Zhiyu immediately called Jiang Zhou back on WeChat, but there was no answer.

Jiang Zhou’s face in the video was abnormally red.

Shen Zhiyu was frantic. He rushed out, calling his driver as he went. “Come to the entrance, take me back to Haishi now.”

Once in the car, he called Lu Shen.

Lu Shen was in Jingshi and didn’t know what had happened.

Seeing Shen Zhiyu’s urgency, he called Yuan Chong, but Yuan Chong’s phone was also unreachable.

Lu Shen couldn’t sit still either. He quickly grabbed his car keys and headed toward Haishi.

—–

Jiang Zhou was taken into a room upstairs.

The heat inside his body had completely consumed his rationality. He uncontrollably began to tear at his clothes.

Ding Sheng was on the phone. “He’s in the room. When are you coming?”

“I’ll be right there. Set up the cameras first.”

Ding Sheng took a tripod out of his backpack and placed one at each of the four corners of the bed.

Just as he was about to mount his phone, he heard suppressed gasps coming from the bed.

The sounds were delicate.

Ding Sheng felt a stirring of desire. He walked toward the bed.

Jiang Zhou was wearing a shirt that night. The buttons were already undone, revealing a patch of fair skin mixed with crimson.

His face was also very red, covering his pale complexion, like a vibrant, delicate flower, and his eyes were moist and flushed at the corners.

“Damn it! Looking like that, who are you trying to seduce!” Ding Sheng’s mouth was dry.

Just as he was about to reach out, the room door was opened with a key card.

Ding Sheng immediately retracted his hand, pretending to fiddle with the tripod.

“Brother Rong, you finally came.”

It wasn’t Rong Hui who came, but Yuan Chong.

“How did you…”

As soon Sheng opened his mouth, he was violently kicked away.

The employee who followed Yuan Chong immediately stepped forward and restrained him.

Yuan Chong picked up Jiang Zhou from the bed and instructed, “Just don’t kill him.”

As the door closed, agonizing screams came from inside.

Yuan Chong carried Jiang Zhou to his own room and covered him with a quilt.

Yuan Rong arrived quickly after receiving the message and set up an IV drip for Jiang Zhou.

After a while, Jiang Zhou woke up.

His first words upon waking were, “Where is my phone?”

Yuan Chong handed him his phone.

The phone was of good quality; it hadn’t shattered when it fell.

Jiang Zhou opened WeChat and saw over a dozen missed video calls from Shen Zhiyu.

Jiang Zhou trembling sent him a message: “I’m fine.”

He had just finished sending it when the other side immediately called back.

Jiang Zhou glanced at Yuan Chong, who immediately pulled Yuan Rong out of the room.

Only then did Jiang Zhou answer the video call.

Jiang Zhou didn’t point the camera at himself, casually aiming it at the ceiling. “I’m fine. I pressed it by accident.”

“Turn it around,” Shen Zhiyu said.

Jiang Zhou didn’t dare.

“Jiang Zhou!” Shen Zhiyu’s tone deepened.

Jiang Zhou immediately turned the camera.

The flush on his face hadn’t completely faded. His eyes were hazy, a layer of mist covering them, and the corners of his eyes were still tinged with red.

Shen Zhiyu’s eyes were dark and deep, his gaze like a sharp, cold sword, instantly choking Jiang Zhou’s breath.

“It was my negligence.”

Shen Zhiyu: “I’ll be there in ten minutes. Wait for me there.”

With that, he hung up the phone.

The people standing outside the door heard the silence inside and walked in.

“I’m sorry, Ah Zhou. I didn’t realize you were their target.”

Yuan Chong had originally thought Rong Hui was targeting him, and since he had been in a bad mood lately, he decided to play along. He hadn’t expected both of them to be targeting Jiang Zhou.

Fortunately, the security at his bar was thorough, with employees monitoring everywhere.

When Jiang Zhou was helped out of the restroom by Ding Sheng, an employee immediately went to find Yuan Chong.

While Jiang Zhou was on the IV drip, Yuan Chong had investigated the whole situation.

It turned out that Rong Hui and Ding Sheng were not first-time offenders but repeat offenders. They used drugs to film the victims being assaulted and then blackmailed them.

Yuan Chong called the police and handed everything over to them.

It was a relief that Jiang Zhou hadn’t suffered any harm. If something had happened to Jiang Zhou at Diqian, Yuan Chong would have blamed himself for the rest of his life.

Jiang Zhou didn’t blame him. “It’s not entirely your fault. I was careless myself.”

Jiang Zhou also bore some responsibility. Yuan Chong had warned him before not to drink any alcohol in his bar unless he watched it being poured.

He had lowered his guard and given others an opportunity.

The two let the matter drop.

Jiang Zhou remembered Shen Zhiyu saying he would arrive in ten minutes.

“How did he know to come?”

“You video-called him. He thought you looked wrong and was worried something happened to you, so he had Lu Shen contact me.”

So that was it.

Jiang Zhou got out of bed and went to the restroom to clean up.

His body temperature hadn’t completely dropped yet.

Jiang Zhou thought for a moment and quickly took a cold shower, attempting to wash away all traces.

Just as Jiang Zhou finished dressing, Shen Zhiyu arrived.

Yuan Chong tactfully left.

A chilling cold emanated from Jiang Zhou’s body.

Shen Zhiyu glanced at the still-damp restroom, guessing what had happened.

Shen Zhiyu beckoned to him. “Come here.”

Jiang Zhou slowly shuffled over.

The expected interrogation didn’t come. The other man simply reached out and touched his hair, then turned and entered the restroom, retrieving a clean towel.

Before Jiang Zhou could react, the thick towel was placed over his face.

First, it was pressed down overall, absorbing the excess moisture with steady, strong movements.

His fingertips were warm, the heat transferring through the towel. The subtle friction sound was exceptionally clear in the quiet space.