Mouth like a Lotus Flower, Heart like a Sword Jiang Xiao Ning"s motor skill[1] had always been rather active, but what made him staggered this time was the fear in his heart.
There was someone chasing him from behind. His footsteps became more and more chaotic, and both his legs were practically going soft at the knees.
His cell phone was in his hand—in spite of being in the midst of the confusion, he actually remembered that he couldn"t call his father or the police, so as he ran as fast as he could. He dialed the number of the one other person he trusted aside from his father.
"Qi Laoshi, help me…"
He tried his hardest to suppress his sobs and then quickly said, "I"m at Jin Ting, I… ah!"
As he took a step up a flight of stairs, he accidentally tripped. His entire body fell forward and hit the stairs with a loud thud. The cell phone flew out of his hand and fell hard on the ground.
He tried to get up and reached for the phone.
But before he could do so, a pair of powerful hands had already gripped his shoulders, nearly lifting his whole body up just to have control over him.
"Let me go! I want to go home! Let me go!" He kept kicking and struggling, but the person behind him was not affected at all as they semi-dragged, semi-lifted him to the next room.
The moment he saw Han Jia sitting leisurely in that room, not only did the sound of his screams increased, but even his manifested anger flourished to another degree.
"You don"t keep your word! You said that this was voluntary! Let me go!"
"You reacted rather quickly. Unfortunately, fleeing in confusion like that, you had only one option and that was to go up the stairs." Han Jia stood up and approached him with a blank expression.
Jiang Xiao Ning gasped and softened his voice as he pleaded. "Han Laoban, I want to go home. My dad is still waiting for me at home."
Han Jia frowned. He looked at him for a few seconds and then stated, "It"s fine if you don"t want to work at Jin Ting. Don"t you also sell yourself? I"ll buy you for a night."
"I"m not selling myself." Jiang Xiao Ning was already incapable of trusting him as he continued to implore. "Han Laoban, I"m begging you, I want to go home."
"What are we going to do, hmmm?" Han Jia said softly. He smiled and moved in closer to touch his face. "I can"t bear to let you go…"
Looking at his posture, Jiang Xiao Ning knew that he wasn"t going to be able to escape, so he struggled and evaded Han Jia"s hand and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Help me! Let me go! Let me go—" He struggled with all his might, but the hands that clung to his shoulders were like iron made by the immortals, they did not budge at all. An immense rush of fear attacked him, causing him to nearly cry.
"G.o.d, it"s so noisy. Make him shut up." Han Jia became impatient.
Soon after, another person came into the room. The two st.u.r.dy men pressed his legs down and pushed him to the carpet. Jiang Xiao Ning"s struggle was akin to pouring a small stream of water into a raging fire—it was completely ineffective.
Within a short span of time, he did not have the power to struggle or shout, and simply lied on the ground gasping for breath with his widened eyes watching as Han Jia walked toward him.
Han Jia crouched down beside him and sighed. "What are you so scared of to become like this? It"s not like you"ve never been bought before."
Jiang Xiao Ning looked at him, his chest was undulating, and his voice was hoa.r.s.e due to the excessive yelling. "Han Laoban, I was just playing around. Let me go, let me go home, all right?…"
Han Jia"s eyes were full of pity as he clicked his tongue and gently said, "You"re all covered in sweat and your voice is also hoa.r.s.e. How are you going to work with me today?"
"I don"t want to work…" His field of vision became blurry for a moment and then cleared up as something warm flowed down the side of his cheeks. Jiang Xiao Ning closed his eyes and asked for mercy. "Han Laoban, my dad is still waiting for me at home. He will be worried… please, please…"
Han Jia"s fingers traveled up his face. Jiang Xiao Ning knew that he was wiping his tears away for him, but new tears continued flowing out. He did not know that he could actually be so useless, so weak… and that shame, resentment and fear would make him close his mouth that tightly as his entire body trembled.
"Han Laoban, the drug," someone said, and a man dressed in black emerged into his line of sight.
Han Jia"s hand left his cheeks and he stood up.
Jiang Xiao Ning closed his eyes. He heard the faint sound of gla.s.s coming into contact with something; the sound of liquid being stirred while the tone of that person"s voice was smooth and hard like the gla.s.s. "Han Laoban, your paths will cross again someday[2]… If he is successful later on, I"m afraid you won"t be able to handle it."
"Oh? How do you know that he can be successful?" Han Jia laughed, and his voice was soft and unrestrained as he spoke. "You think that just because he"s beautiful he will certainly be big? Don"t think too highly of him. This boy is very stupid. It"s fine if he doesn"t want to work with us, but he actually came here to Jin Ting, and then fled in the wrong direction…" Han Jia paused, "What a pity…"
He didn"t say anything else. Jiang Xiao Ning sensed someone kneeling beside him. He opened his eyes and saw the guy in black reaching out to pry his mouth open.
"He"s going to choke to death if you do it that way. Get out of the way." Han Jia"s voice entered his ears.
Jiang Xiao Ning saw the man in black standing up and walking away. Han Jia soon kneeled down beside him instead. He drank the liquid that was in the small gla.s.s, then leaned down and held the back of Jiang Xiao Ning"s head with one hand before his lips covered his.
Firmly biting his teeth, Jiang Xiao Ning could feel his cheek bone being pressed, making it impossible for him to control his own jaw. His mouth opened completely of its own free will, ignoring his thoughts.
When the cold liquid and the tip of the ice-cold tongue entered his mouth, brushed in a kind of flirtatious manner against the inside of his cheeks and then licked over his teeth, Jiang Xiao Ning retracted in disgust. Han Jia"s small laughter tickled the side of his mouth before the tip of his tongue forcefully tangled with Jiang Xiao Ning"s over and over again. Seemingly enjoying the pleasure, Han Jia even slanted his head slightly to adjust the angle as to deepen the kiss.
As their tongues moved and tied together rather harmoniously, the liquid became warm and flowed toward his throat. Jiang Xiao Ning swallowed unconsciously. Han Jia made a low yet soft grunting sound due to the movement of his mouth—even his tongue was exerting more strength as it knotted into the Jiang Xiao Ning"s.
When Han Jia was finished and got up, Jiang Xiao Ning quickly turned his head to the side and coughed desperately, trying to spit out what he had just swallowed.
The man in black crouched beside him and turned his face back over, covered his mouth and looked up. "Han Laoban, you also took in some of the drug. You should go wash it out with water."
"There"s no need to do that. It was only a little." Han Jia"s voice was hoa.r.s.er than before. "And, for this evening… it may be better if I take in just a bit of drug."
The restraint on his limbs disappeared and the hand confining his mouth was removed, but his strength seemed to have also faded. Jiang Xiao Ning tried to move his fingers, but he didn"t even have the energy to turn his head to the side to see if his fingers had moved or not.
"Don"t be scared," Han Jia said softly. "It will be fine in a while. You will feel very good."
What a really nice voice, Jiang Xiao Ning vaguely thought as a gust of warm force began to flow in his body, first to comfort his chest, then spreading out to his limbs—he sighed comfortably and relaxed his body.
The sound of music could be heard, but for some reason, it ended abruptly. Han Jia was talking again, and his voice had become soft and pleasant to listen to.
"Yeah…. this little beauty"s temper is very strong. He was just given… what? I didn"t hear wrongly, did I? Are you in the mood to play?
His voice stopped, Jiang Xiao Ning was a bit disappointed as he waited to hear that voice again, however, he heard another person"s voice instead. "Han Laoban?"
"Hold him and come with me." The soft voice became very unhappy.
Someone moved with his arms and legs. He felt his own body rise into the air as if someone was carrying him in their arms. Then, after several ups and downs, the door to the room sounded with a creak.
When the door opened, and the cold wind blew in, Jiang Xiao Ning moved and suddenly became somewhat sober.
The man in black was holding him while Han Jia walked beside them with no expression. They were walking in a brightly lit hallway.
"Han Laoban…" He powerlessly opened his mouth, "Please, I beg you…"
Han Jia glanced at him and turned his eyes away.
"Please…"
"You"re going to enjoy a happy and prosperous moment, what are you begging for?" He grudgingly said. "Behave yourself in a bit. Xiao Li will be very gentle with you, don"t make him unhappy."
Jiang Xiao Ning did not understand what he meant—he only knew to whisper for mercy.
Snorting impatiently, Han Jia"s footstep paused before he moved closer to Jiang Xiao Ning and moved his fringes as if to scrutinize him for a moment.
The ups and downs and swaying movements created by the walk made Jiang Xiao Ning"s mind gradually become dull. And before he fell into a deep sleep, he only heard Han Jia say a few words.
"How are you luckier than me?"
Translator"s Note:
[1]motor skills – A motor skill is a function, which involves the precise movement of muscles with the intent to perform a specific act.
[2] "…your paths will cross again someday." (idiom) 山水有相逢 – lit. the mountains and rivers will inevitably meet (even when you consider how far apart they can be from each other). Usually, this idiom is used when you meet someone in an unexpected place, but it can also be used to refer to "it"s always possible to meet again in the future, somewhere, someday", thus: the usage: "We will meet again, it"s a small world after all!"
In other words:
"…指人生總有相遇、打交道的機會，勸人行事不要做得太絕，總得留有餘地." – there are always opportunities for people to meet and deal with each other, so if you do something to someone, don"t go to the extreme and leave a way out for yourself.
Note: At the end, when Han Jia said, "How come you"re luckier than me?", most likely eluded to what had happened to him in the past whereas the same thing might have happened to him, but he was not as lucky as Jiang Xiao Ning who was "saved" by someone. This chapter connects to the ending of chapter 7 of Lawless Gangster and move into chapter 9 when Xiao Li called Han Jia after Qi Xiu Yuan asked for his help.