TA •Chapter 43

Jiang Yuduo usually did not like going to bars. His little brothers did, and only after they dragged him along a lot would he go a couple of times.

The music was too loud, the lights too flashy, there were too many people, and the drinks tasted awful. By the time he came out, his brain would be pounding.

Everyone thought he simply did not like that kind of environment. No one knew that this kind of chaos made him tense, and that in many moments it would suddenly drag him back to certain fragments in his memory.

Though it was not quite the same, he never knew when a point, a detail, even just a fleeting glimmer of light and shadow, would hit him.

Jiang Yuduo pulled his cap lower, then lowered his head again to look at the stamp on his hand before following behind Chen Qing into the bar.

When he came in, he saw two girls standing by the door talking on the phone. He paused. So it was not all men… Were those two girls? Or were they with that florist owner… Oh, he could hear their voices, so they were young girls…

The bar was pretty big. After checking in his coat, Jiang Yuduo did not have time to look at anything else and first took a few glances to get his bearings.

There were two floors. Past the hallway was the restroom, and across the dance floor was the bar… It was the busiest time in the bar right now. In the dance floor and in front of the bar, there were people everywhere. Around them, people stood or walked, burying the tables from sight.

"Holy shit! Third Brother!" After going in, Chen Qing turned around and yelled at him, his face full of shock.

Before Jiang Yuduo could figure out what he was shocked about, he felt a hand swipe across his waist. When it was about to keep moving toward his ass, he caught it at once.

He turned his head and saw a man in his forties. When the man saw him turn around, he smiled.

That smile was way too blatant. Jiang Yuduo had only ever dealt with Cheng Ke, a gay man who did not look even a little like one, but with just one look he already understood what was contained in that smile.

He shook the man’s hand off violently, turned around, and shoved Chen Qing aside.

"Third Brother!" Chen Qing leaned into his ear and pointed toward a raised platform deeper in the dance floor. "Look! This is fucking…"

For Chen Qing and the others, the most interesting thing about going to a bar had always been the dancers. This was the first time he had ever seen one and looked like this.

Jiang Yuduo frowned and glanced over there.

"…a guy?" he said.

"Yeah! Are you blind?" Chen Qing shouted in his ear. "He’s bare-chested and doesn’t even have boobs! Can’t you see that?"

Three men on the platform were dancing wildly. They were only wearing underwear and boots, writhing around the pole to the beat.

Jiang Yuduo felt a little overstimulated. Usually, when he watched girls dance like this, he did not feel anything special, but now, seeing three half-naked men, soaked through and dancing wildly with their whole bodies…

The key thing was that in all the years he had lived, he only knew Cheng Ke as a gay man, so whenever he imagined anything related to gay men, he would subconsciously map it onto Cheng Ke.

Right now, he could suddenly imagine Cheng Ke onstage…

"This bar is not right!" Chen Qing shouted again into his ear. "Third Brother! This bar is kind of weird!"

No kidding.

Jiang Yuduo did not bother with him. He had only been standing here for less than two minutes, and already three people had brushed against him on purpose or by accident as they passed. He was no longer able to make the right judgment in this kind of situation, unable to tell whether the touches were dangerous or casual flirtation.

He needed to find a corner to stay in.

"Find a table!" he shouted at Chen Qing.

"There are no tables left at this hour! Go to the bar first!" Chen Qing said.

"For what?" Jiang Yuduo glanced at the bar. To get there from here, he would have to push through the crowd, and he really did not want to go any deeper inside.

"For the drink!" Chen Qing shook the fluorescent stamp on his hand. "The ticket comes with one drink!"

"Drink my ass!" Jiang Yuduo glared at him. "You drove here, you fucking idiot!"

Chen Qing paused. "Since when do you care if I drink and drive?"

"I’m not going." Jiang Yuduo frowned.

"Perfect," Chen Qing said. "Then you drive later!"

Before Jiang Yuduo could speak, Chen Qing looked around and pointed to a corner near the stairs. "Third Brother, wait for me over there! I’ll come over after I get the drinks! You want anything to drink? My treat!"

"Anything but alcohol is fine," Jiang Yuduo sighed, shoved him once, and said, "Get lost."

Watching Chen Qing squeeze into the crowd and head toward the bar, Jiang Yuduo walked over to the stairs.

The spot Chen Qing had picked for him was pretty good. He could see the whole first floor, and the corner behind him was a wall, so it was very safe.

He did not know whether Cheng Ke would go to the second floor, so he planned to look around on the first floor first.

The flickering light and shadow in front of him, like a series of lagging frames of people, mixed together with the pounding music until everything became a mess.

If he had only come out to have fun with Chen Qing, he could still barely tolerate it. But now, in a state where there were men kissing on both sides of him, half-naked men dancing in front of him, and he kept getting brushed against or bumped, unable to hear or see anything clearly, he had to find Cheng Ke, could not let Cheng Ke see him, and also had to spot any potential danger…

He did not even see when the young man in front of him had appeared.

The young man was quite tall and had a delicate face. He held up a glass of wine and gave it a little shake at him. "Handsome, alone?"

"…No." Jiang Yuduo said.

"Oh," the young man said with some disappointment, but then quickly added, "Did you come with your boyfriend?"

Boyfriend?

Boyfriend your damn ass!

Jiang Yuduo had never answered such a difficult question before. He saw Chen Qing, who was struggling through the crowd with two drinks in his hands, trying hard to get over to him.

It took him two seconds before he gritted out, "Yes."

"I see. Sorry, then," the young man smiled. "I hope I can run into you again next time you come alone."

Jiang Yuduo froze.

"Third Brother!" Chen Qing was already shouting from several meters away. "Third Brother-"

The young man, who had been about to leave, glanced at Chen Qing, then looked back at him, and only then slowly walked away.

"Do you want me to get you a loudspeaker?" Jiang Yuduo glared at Chen Qing.

"Fuck!" Chen Qing shoved one of the drinks, he did not even know what, into his hand. "Fuck! This is a gay bar! A gay bar!"

"Didn’t I tell you that from the start? What the hell are you shocked about now?" Jiang Yuduo took a sip of the drink in the cup. It was sweet and tart and fizzy, and he had no idea what it was.

"Someone just pinched my ass," Chen Qing looked terrified. "Not touched, Third Brother! Pinched!"

Jiang Yuduo sighed and said nothing. He used his hand to shove Chen Qing aside a little and kept searching through the crowd.

"I’m seriously suspicious of Jijia now," Chen Qing said, leaning into his ear. "He came to this kind of place to drink! Do you think he’s… gay?"

"Aren’t you here too?" Jiang Yuduo said.

"…Oh." Chen Qing answered blankly.

Jiang Yuduo had not done this in a long time, just picking something at random to stare at, staring until all the sounds by his ear disappeared, then lifting his eyes to search in the seemingly sealed-off environment.

Usually, he did this while staring down an opponent. When everything was shut out between himself and the other side, he could see every single movement they made, even the smallest one.

Actually, Cheng Ke was very easy to find. Cheng Ke was handsome, with a kind of presence that was different from most people’s. If he was with a big handsome guy like Lin Xu…

Even sitting in the shadows, he could be seen.

At the upper-right side of the stage, there happened to be a patch of shadow. Cheng Ke and Lin Xu were leaning beside a tall table.

Lin Xu was wearing a gray T-shirt, somewhat fitted, faintly outlining his muscles. Combined with that handsome face that was rare even among ordinary people, from across the distance of a whole dance floor Jiang Yuduo could still see the hungry gazes around them.

Jiang Yuduo felt that Cheng Ke was probably pretty hungry too, after all, he had already been kissed by him twice for no reason.

But for about three minutes, Cheng Ke’s gaze remained distracted. Now and then he would turn slightly to listen to Lin Xu speak, a faint smile hanging at the corners of his mouth.

After locking onto Cheng Ke’s position, Jiang Yuduo used it as the center point and slowly expanded his search outward, looking for any suspicious person and any suspicious movement.

He did not find much, except for seeing two people kissing while one of them slid a hand into the other’s pants… That scene made his heart jump in alarm.

Lin Xu had actually brought Cheng Ke to a place like this.

Though the surroundings were chaotic, Jiang Yuduo did not find anything wrong, but the unease in his chest never eased.

That unease came from some kind of feeling, and for Jiang Yuduo, it was usually very accurate.

It was not until he saw Lin Xu again that he finally found the source of that unease all at once.

It was Lin Xu.

At first, he had wanted to think of it as Lin Xu liking Cheng Ke and wanting to pursue him, so he had asked him out. But now, seeing Lin Xu smiling and talking nonstop at Cheng Ke…

It was a little too much. When they were filming the video, it had not looked like he and Cheng Ke were that familiar with each other. They had not interacted all that much either, but this constant, proactive closeness now looked wrong no matter how you saw it.

Jiang Yuduo frowned.

"Third Brother," Chen Qing shouted in his ear, "I think I saw Jijia!"

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo was yanked back from the sealed-off world by that shout. The sounds around him suddenly burst back like an explosion, and it took him several seconds to recover.

"Who’s that guy?" Chen Qing kept shouting. "Looks really familiar with him. Are those two not…"

"Shut up and drink your damn alcohol!" Jiang Yuduo cut him off.

"That guy seems pretty handsome," Chen Qing said. "Like a mod-"

"If you like him that much, should I ask Jijia to introduce you?" Jiang Yuduo glared at him.

"Forget it," Chen Qing said. "I still like women… hey, there are quite a few women in here too. I just saw two, they were gorgeous, but they seemed to be a couple… hey, Third Brother, do you think people would think the two of us…"

"Get lost." Jiang Yuduo looked at him.

"…I’m going to check out the second floor," Chen Qing sighed. "I’ve never played at a bar like this before. Since I’m already here…"

Jiang Yuduo said nothing. After Chen Qing went up the stairs to the second floor, he finally let out a breath.

But not long after Chen Qing left, he again felt some awkward movement around him.

People coming close, gazes fixed on him…

He could only keep his face cold, trying his best to make the people approaching him feel his killing intent and not dare come closer.

Jiang Yuduo really did not understand what was so interesting about sitting around like Cheng Ke did. Lin Xu did think of getting up twice and calling him to go dance for a bit, but Cheng Ke only smiled, and Lin Xu sat back down again.

If you wanted to dance, why not just go dance? Why did you have to drag Cheng Ke along?

Jiang Yuduo swept a glance over the crowd bouncing like crazy in the dance floor. Most of them were facing each other while grinding against one another as they danced, and there were even some kissing while they danced.

At such a distance, with such unguarded contact, it would be far too easy to do something. Forget stabbing someone once, even if you stabbed them ten times, when they fell to the ground, nobody might even notice.

Cheng Ke set down his cup, turned his head, and said something to Lin Xu. Lin Xu nodded, and Cheng Ke stood up.

Leaving?

Jiang Yuduo immediately set the drink in his hand on the stairs and watched Cheng Ke’s surroundings.

Cheng Ke left that table and walked this way. Jiang Yuduo quickly hid himself in the shadows, though given Cheng Ke’s level of sluggishness, even if he stood right in front of him now, Cheng Ke might directly ignore him.

Cheng Ke entered the dance floor. He was probably trying to cross through it. Jiang Yuduo could see him frowning a few times and turning his head… Had he been touched?

After crossing the dance floor, the distance between them was probably less than three meters. Cheng Ke did not notice him and walked straight into the hallway.

He should have been going to the restroom.

Jiang Yuduo hesitated over whether to move to a position where he could see the restroom door, but after casually glancing at the table Cheng Ke had just been sitting at, he suddenly froze.

There was no one by the table anymore. Lin Xu was gone.

Jiang Yuduo instantly tensed up. His hand went to his pants pocket, but there was nothing there. On the way in, he had not been allowed to bring in a knife, so it was stored outside.

He stared at the people heading toward the hallway. If Lin Xu had followed him to the restroom too, then there was definitely a problem.

Less than a minute later, Jiang Yuduo saw Lin Xu come through the dance floor and head toward the hallway.

Lin Xu walked pretty slowly. At that pace, it did not look like he was going to the restroom.

Jiang Yuduo followed him. When he passed a table, he casually picked up an empty tall glass.

Lin Xu did not notice him behind him, not even turning back or looking around. He just walked slowly and unhurriedly to the restroom door.

On the hallway, two people were already wrapped around each other. Jiang Yuduo did not have the time to look at exactly what they were doing. He kept his eyes on Lin Xu.

When Lin Xu reached the restroom door, he did not go in right away. Instead, he hesitated for two seconds.

Those two seconds of hesitation were enough for Jiang Yuduo to confirm his purpose in getting close to Cheng Ke.

Jiang Yuduo rushed over without hesitation. The instant Lin Xu drew in a breath, seemingly to ease his tense nerves before turning to enter the restroom, Jiang Yuduo grabbed his arm, slammed him hard against the wall, and drove an elbow into his throat.

At the same time, he tapped lightly against the wall with his other hand, and the broken-rimmed glass was pressed against Lin Xu’s neck.

"Third Brother?" Lin Xu came back to himself from shock and, after seeing him clearly, cried out in surprise.

"Speak," Jiang Yuduo said in a low voice. "Who sent you."

"What?" Lin Xu looked at him, trying to pry the elbow off his throat.

"Don’t move," Jiang Yuduo said. "Speak."

"Speak what?" Lin Xu looked utterly shocked and terrified. "No, what is going on here?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Jiang Yuduo could see that the two who had been kissing had already run off, and people at the end of the hallway had started looking over. He needed to get Lin Xu out of here as fast as possible.

But before he could move, Cheng Ke came out of the restroom.

"Brother Cheng!" Lin Xu shouted. "What is going on here!"

Cheng Ke was completely frozen on the spot. After a long while, he finally said, "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to the restroom," Lin Xu said.

"I wasn’t asking you." After Cheng Ke came to himself, his gaze first landed on Jiang Yuduo’s face, then on the elbow pressed to Lin Xu’s throat, and finally on the shattered glass.

Jiang Yuduo could see the change in Cheng Ke’s expression, from shock to confusion, and finally to anger mixed with helplessness.

"Jiang Yuduo," Cheng Ke glanced toward the far end of the hallway, then came close enough to him and said word by word, "I’ll give you three seconds. Let him go."

Jiang Yuduo did not move. He looked at Cheng Ke.

He knew Cheng Ke did not believe him, and he also knew how Cheng Ke felt right now. When he rushed over, he had already thought this sort of situation might happen, but until it actually happened, he still had not come up with a way to deal with it. He only wanted to stop Lin Xu before Lin Xu hurt Cheng Ke.

"One," Cheng Ke said, staring into his eyes. "Two…"

Jiang Yuduo’s hand was trembling a little. He knew exactly what would happen if he did not let go.

Even if he let go now, Cheng Ke would no longer be his friend.

"Three," Cheng Ke said.

Jiang Yuduo let go.

Lin Xu touched his own neck. "Brother Cheng…"

"Go back first," Cheng Ke said. "I’ll explain this to you when I have time."

Lin Xu did not move. He looked at Jiang Yuduo, hesitated, and said, "But…"

"It’s fine," Cheng Ke said. "I have some misunderstandings with Third Brother."

Lin Xu stood there for a few more seconds before turning and leaving.

Cheng Ke looked at the glass in Jiang Yuduo’s hand, reached over, and gently took it, placing it on top of the nearby trash can. "Jiang Yuduo?"

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo answered.

"Go get your coat," Cheng Ke looked at him. "We’re leaving."

"…Okay." Jiang Yuduo said.

By the time the bar’s servers and security guards rushed over, they had already left the hallway and gone into the coat check room.

Just as they picked up their coats and were about to leave, someone rushed in from the door. "Third Brother!"

When Cheng Ke recognized that it was Chen Qing, he was no longer even shocked. He just felt drained.

"Did you drive here?" Cheng Ke asked Chen Qing.

"Yeah." Chen Qing nodded.

"Give me the keys," Cheng Ke said. "Take a taxi back."

Sometimes he understood very clearly why Jiang Yuduo trusted Chen Qing. It was because Chen Qing would unconditionally trust anything and anyone related to Jiang Yuduo.

At this point, he did not even ask another question and simply pulled out the car keys and handed them over.

"Should I drive it back to your shop tomorrow?" Cheng Ke asked.

"It’s fine," Chen Qing said. "The car isn’t being picked up until the day after tomorrow. I know the owner."

"Mm," Cheng Ke nodded. "Don’t stay here either. Leave quickly."

After they walked out of the bar, Chen Qing directly called a taxi and left.

Cheng Ke walked with Jiang Yuduo to the parking spot. "I’ll drive?"

"Didn’t you drink that thing today? It wasn’t alcohol?" Jiang Yuduo asked.

Cheng Ke let out a soft sigh. He did not know when Jiang Yuduo had come, where he had been hiding, or how long he had watched him.

"I drank a soft drink," he said. "Get in."

"I didn’t drink either." Jiang Yuduo said.

"I know." Cheng Ke opened the door and sat in the driver’s seat. "I can smell that you didn’t drink."

Jiang Yuduo got in.

Cheng Ke held the steering wheel, but he did not start the car. His mind was in complete chaos right now. He did not know what he should say, or whether he should say anything at all.

After sitting for a while, his phone rang.

He picked it up and saw that it was Xu Ding calling.

"Hello?" he answered.

"So quiet?" Xu Ding said on the other end. "You’re not at the bar anymore?"

"Mm, we’re out. Why?" Cheng Ke asked.

"Nothing," Xu Ding said with a laugh. "Lin Xu just called me and said Lao San might have drunk too much, so he wanted me to ask."

Cheng Ke let out a breath of relief. Lin Xu had not told Xu Ding what had just happened. He probably had been worried something would go wrong and had found an excuse for Xu Ding to check again.

"It’s fine, we’re already in the car." Cheng Ke said.

"Alright, then I’m hanging up." Xu Ding said.

"Thanks." Cheng Ke smiled and hung up.

After a moment of silence, he turned to look at Jiang Yuduo. "Give me a reason, the reason why you thought Lin Xu had a problem."

"You didn’t know he was also going to the restroom," Jiang Yuduo said. "Not long after you walked off, he followed."

"Do you know that in a bar like this, just a hint is enough to go into the restroom and do something?" Cheng Ke asked.

Jiang Yuduo turned his face toward him, frowning. "Do what?"

Cheng Ke said nothing.

Jiang Yuduo looked at him for a long time. "Then did you hint at him?"

"No." Cheng Ke sighed. He really had not expected Lin Xu to follow him, and he had really not given Lin Xu any hint. He did not have the habit of arranging a hookup with someone after filming a video.

"Then isn’t that enough?" Jiang Yuduo said.

"If he wanted to, he could follow anyway," Cheng Ke said. He really did not know how to explain it. Leaning back in his seat, he closed his eyes, and after a while he spoke again. "Jiang Yuduo."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo answered.

"I know you wanted to protect me," Cheng Ke said. "But I really can’t handle this kind of thing."

Jiang Yuduo said nothing.

"Tonight, you have to answer every question I ask you," Cheng Ke said. "If you don’t want to answer, I’ll move out next month. My life is already annoying enough. I can’t handle dealing with this much stuff too."

"Move out?" Jiang Yuduo froze.

"Just pretend I’m not even your friend." Cheng Ke said.

"No!" Jiang Yuduo suddenly raised his voice.

The urgency in that voice surprised Cheng Ke. He opened his eyes and turned his head. He did not understand why Jiang Yuduo had such a huge reaction.

Jiang Yuduo looked at him. After a very long time, he spoke again, his voice already a little hoarse. "What do you want to ask?"

"Who were they?" Cheng Ke asked. "What did you see?"