Chapter 14 He’s Full of Tricks—He Must Be Good at Playing

Chapter 14: He's Full of Tricks, Probably a Real Player

In the strange surroundings, Li Wangyue woke up earlier than usual.

The corner of his lip stung sharply. Frowning, he touched the crack on his lip, still stinging hot, and his fingertip came away stained with blood.

Maybe it was the island's unpredictable weather—coming ashore and crashing for a night, his body couldn't adapt. He woke up with a dry mouth and cracked lips.

But the morning view on the island was really nice. Li Wangyue wanted to go to the balcony for some fresh air. Just as he was about to pull open the door, he found it locked. He couldn't even remember if he'd locked it the night before.

The morning sun in the distance was just right. Unlike the sunset, the light fell on the sea, crystal clear and dazzling.

Li Wangyue snapped a photo, opened his gallery, and swiped around, feeling like something was off.

A photo was missing.

The one Meng Chi sent him yesterday.

He checked the trash, and sure enough, it was there. Maybe he'd accidentally deleted it. He restored the photo, saved it properly, and sent the sunrise shot he just took to Meng Chi as a thank-you.

While washing up, the cut on his lip still hurt like hell, so Li Wangyue had to be careful to avoid it.

There was no medicine around here, and the injury was hard to hide, so he just let it go. But the thought of maybe seeing Ting Zhenxi later made him nervous.

He wanted to look good in front of Ting Zhenxi, but it never seemed to work out.

Fate was always messing with him.

Even though Zhao Bing and the others had basically forced him to stay the night, they'd prepped everything he needed, even a set of clothes that fit him perfectly. Looked like they really knew him inside and out.

He'd agreed with Ting Zhenxi yesterday to come back today to pick up something he'd left behind. Even though Li Wangyue couldn't remember what he'd lost, seeing Ting Zhenxi was always a plus.

Walking to the west side of the building, he bumped into Ji Zhijia coming out of a room.

"What's up with your mouth?" Ji Zhijia looked like he was grabbing something from his room, all in a rush with a bulging bag.

"Just got some internal heat."

Ji Zhijia teased him: "I just saw Ting Zhenxi's lip is busted too. Don't tell me you snuck into his room last night and made out with him."

Li Wangyue couldn't help but laugh, but the grin pulled at the cut, making him wince and stop.

"When are you gonna learn to shut that mouth of yours?" he said.

He'd seen Ji Zhijia's personality up close—blunt and unfiltered. Back in college, Ji Zhijia had verbally sparred with a group and made a guy over six feet tall cry, who then ran to the advisor to complain. Later, when Ji Zhijia became a forensic pathologist, his first comment was, "At least the clients don't talk back."

Otherwise, he'd have to shoot the breeze with them.

But despite his loose lips, he'd never caused any trouble, and Li Wangyue trusted him completely.

Hearing that Ting Zhenxi also had a busted lip made Li Wangyue worry. The island's climate was really unpredictable, or maybe it was just a coincidence. After living with Ting Zhenxi for so long, it was inevitable they'd adapt to the same environment—and also not adapt to it.

Coming out of the elevator, he wanted to ask where to meet Ting Zhenxi, but when he looked up, he saw the person he'd been longing for in the lobby.

Ting Zhenxi stood by a pillar, looking at his phone sideways, while Zhao Bing fussed around him.

"Look at you, not listening. Now I gotta go all the way to get you medicine…"

Muttering, Zhao Bing looked up and froze when he saw Li Wangyue.

"You too—what's up with you two?"

Li Wangyue didn't know how to answer. He just felt the guy's gaze land on his lips, like he was checking him out.

Zhao Bing spoke up: "Did you drink that stuff too? That little black bottle, a small one—the liquor in it was harsh, like wasabi?"

Li Wangyue nodded: "I saw it in the room's minibar. Was it not supposed to be drunk?"

"That's not liquor at all. It's just a mix to add flavor. Drinking it straight burns your mouth, and it tastes terrible. You two are probably the only ones on the whole island who could choke it down. Truly brothers…" Zhao Bing angrily jabbed the cotton swab into the medicine bottle, muttering under his breath, then shot a guilty look at Ting Zhenxi.

Li Wangyue finally got why, after landing on the island yesterday, even though he didn't know any of Ting Zhenxi's friends, they weren't surprised to see him and didn't ask for introductions. They only occasionally exchanged a few work-related words with Ji Zhijia.

So everyone knew about his relationship with Ting Zhenxi.

That polite, distant attitude was probably Ting Zhenxi's call too.

Zhao Bing squeezed the medicine bottle and walked up to him, tilting his chin up to carefully apply the medicine.

"Thanks." Li Wangyue nodded slightly.

The wound on Ting Zhenxi's lip wasn't as severe as his, which gave Li Wangyue some comfort.

"You said yesterday that my thing…"

Ting Zhenxi took a lighter out of his pocket and handed it to him.

Li Wangyue glanced at it: "This isn't mine."

"Then they must have made a mistake. I'll have them re-post it in lost and found." Ting Zhenxi casually stopped a server and handed the item to him.

Li Wangyue watched the server walk away, feeling a twinge of regret. It was just a misunderstanding. If it had really been his lost item, found by Ting Zhenxi, kept overnight, and returned to him, he would have treasured it.

As he looked away, Li Wangyue felt like Ting Zhenxi was watching him, but when he looked over, the man's gaze was only on his phone.

Leaving the island was already noon. Ji Zhijia was supposed to go to the evidence room with a few others, but two tall men flanked him on either side, grinning as they "softly" confined him to the car and drove off quietly.

Before leaving, he could only hurriedly say goodbye to Li Wangyue, who understood his work demands.

But now he had to find his own way back. Li Wangyue checked his schedule—nothing pressing to do. The only thing…

Was probably dealing with Qin You's mess.

It was Saturday, so the research institute was closed. Going there would only be a waste of time.

Li Wangyue was about to hail a taxi when a voice called out from behind him.

"Li Wangyue."

He turned around, but only saw passengers disembarking from the shuttle boat, all in a hurry, none paying attention to him.

Did he mishear?

Li Wangyue looked confused, gripping his phone tightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a car by the roadside, its driver's window rolled down low.

Ting Zhenxi was looking at him.

His heart skipped a beat, and Li Wangyue walked over involuntarily.

"Get in." Ting Zhenxi's words were brief, leaving no room for refusal.

Li Wangyue hesitated for a moment between the passenger seat and the back seat, he chose the back seat. Though it was a pity, he really didn't have the right to sit up front anymore; the last time in the sports car, that was a rare opportunity because the back seat was occupied.

"Sit in front," Ting Zhenxi spoke up again.

Li Wangyue had no choice but to shut the door he'd just opened.

Ting Zhenxi seemed to have been waiting in the driver's seat for a while. The car wasn't on—no AC, no music—and he was leaning his elbow on the window frame, lost in thought.

He told Li Wangyue to sit up front, but didn't even look at him.

Li Wangyue opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat.

The moment he sat down, he realized that this car seemed to be a black Chevrolet.

He froze.

"What are you waiting for?" Ting Zhenxi asked.

"Nothing," Li Wangyue said quickly, getting in, shutting the door, and buckling up in one fluid motion.

"Where to?"

"Just take me home. I don't have class today."

Ting Zhenxi turned the key to start the engine, the engine sounded muffled, like through a layer of fog.

Li Wangyue quietly checked out the car. The interior was very retro, likely a product from many years ago—no touchscreen, and all the gauges were analog, not digital.

The gear shift lever's color scheme, the leather of the armrests, the dark walnut imitation wood on the front console—this car was definitely old.

He seemed into this kind of stuff.

Despite being a young man, he had a taste for vintage items, which was hard to figure out.

Li Wangyue took a chance to speak up: "I almost didn't see you back there. I thought your car was different."

"It's getting fixed."

"So, did you borrow this from a friend? It's pretty nice," Li Wangyue said casually, his hand, hidden at his side, unconsciously gripping the seat.

"It's mine," he answered.

Hearing that, Li Wangyue's mind went blank.

This car was Ting Zhenxi's own. It was just that back then, he was too focused on ditching Qin You, and the sudden appearance of that Chevrolet threw off his train of thought. He only caught the color, not the plate.

Could it have been Ting Zhenxi? ...

No way.

Ting Zhenxi had no reason to be there, let alone pull something like that.

Besides, there are tons of black Chevys out there. It was just a coincidence. He shouldn't get ahead of himself.

Li Wangyue stayed quiet.

Ting Zhenxi turned his head to look at him: "You wanna drive?"

Li Wangyue gave a polite smile and shook his head: "You drive. I was just asking. You've got good taste."

Ting Zhenxi's eyes lingered on him a beat longer, and that one look made Li Wangyue wonder if he'd pissed him off by commenting on his taste.

"You're bad at flattery."

"Not really, but I meant it," Li Wangyue answered smoothly.

"The truth, huh? ..." Ting Zhenxi repeated with an unreadable tone, his long fingers tapping slowly on the wheel, staring straight ahead.

He left it hanging, not commenting or giving anything away, but Li Wangyue felt he wasn't just sitting there with an empty mind.

Though Ting Zhenxi had taken over family affairs at a young age and had to appear steady and reliable under heavy pressure, his nature didn't bother to hide his emotions.

When Li Wangyue met his gaze, he could always see deliberate provocation and teasing in his eyes.

Unlike his cold and ruthless exterior, he had a lot of mischief.

He must be great at playing the waiting game.

Desirable yet unattainable, stirring up turbulent waves without calming them, instead sitting aloft, enjoying his embarrassment, taking pleasure in his anxious, pained breaths.

Very wicked.

Lost in thought, Li Wangyue didn't even realize the car had stopped until he was staring blankly out the window.

A moment later, he came to, lowered his head to unbuckle his seatbelt, and noticed the driver hadn't left either. Ting Zhenxi leaned back against the seat, silent, just watching his surprise and fluster.

"I was just thinking about something. Thanks for the ride," Li Wangyue said with a slight bow.

Ting Zhenxi was still looking at him.

Li Wangyue slowly lifted his eyes to meet his gaze.

Ting Zhenxi lowered his eyes, staring at his lips. His eyes were narrow, the morning light reflecting in them, adding a hint of color.

"Li Wangyue."

"Your lip is bleeding."