Chapter 15 Vulgar Gift

Chapter 15: Vulgar Gift

Li Wangyue leaned against the door, his heart thumping.

Suddenly, two sharp clicks of a lock came from next door, as if reminding him of something.

He raised his hand and touched the wound on his lip again. It was oozing blood, mixed with the medicine Zhao Bing had put on him earlier, wet and sticky.

The box in his arms felt like it was burning. Li Wangyue’s arms shook as he clutched the box, breathing hard. He walked over to the table, shoved the box into the trash can, then pulled up the garbage bag and tied it.

Back in the car, Ting Zhenxi had been staring at his lips, lost in thought.

Li Wangyue thought he might have been smiling, but he couldn’t tell if Ting Zhenxi was really smiling or if it was just his imagination again.

“My lips are too dry,” he answered cautiously. “Maybe it’s the sea air not agreeing with me.”

Ting Zhenxi unbuckled his seatbelt without looking at him. “Drink more water.”

“Yeah, I will.” Li Wangyue dropped his head a little.

Ting Zhenxi got out of the car first and headed for the door.

Li Wangyue followed, getting out behind him and hurrying to catch up.

Under the porch was a package, looked like a delivery box. Li Wangyue’s eyes followed him. The package was small, about two palms wide, like a gift. He wondered what Ting Zhenxi had ordered.

Ting Zhenxi bent down, leaned against the railing, and tore open the outer packaging. Li Wangyue, meanwhile, hurried over, fumbling for his keys to unlock the door.

Under the outer packaging, the gift box was clearer—a pearly red box, definitely a present. Li Wangyue wondered, was he giving it to someone, or had he gotten it?

As the door opened, Li Wangyue was about to let him go in first when Ting Zhenxi leaned over and handed him the package.

“It’s yours.”

Li Wangyue was surprised. “I didn’t order anything.”

“It’s got your name on it,” Ting Zhenxi said, smoothing the torn outer packaging back over the red gift box.

Li Wangyue hesitated a moment before taking the package. Sure enough, the recipient line said “Wangyue.”

He was sure he hadn’t bought anything, but it could be from Li Ping or something.

“Thanks.” Li Wangyue pressed his lips into a smile. Since it was already opened, curiosity got the better of him, so he opened it.

Inside the red gift box was a classy black lining with a set of white lace underwear.

Li Wangyue snapped the box shut.

“What’s wrong?” Ting Zhenxi asked when he heard it.

Li Wangyue’s breath stopped for a second. With shaking hands, he gripped the box tight and lowered it to his side. “Nothing, a gift from a friend. Surprise.”

“Surprise?” Ting Zhenxi repeated, noncommittal.

Luckily, he didn’t pay much attention and went inside first. Li Wangyue watched his back nervously, made sure he went to the dining room, then hurried upstairs in three steps, hid in his room, and locked the door.

He opened the box back up.

Lace cutout design, ties on the left side, to show off the waist and hips, and a mesh pouch. It was obvious at a glance it wasn’t for modesty but for fun.

Under the few pieces of fabric was a postcard with a collage letter on it—every word cut out from somewhere else, not printed or handwritten.

“Baby, a gift for you. Hope you like it.”

“You need it now too, don’t you?”

Li Wangyue remembered his missing underwear.

How bored does someone have to be to do something so disgusting, carefully making a collage letter, cutting pieces from newspapers and putting them together, like they’re enjoying the game? But this game wasn’t fun at all.

Qin You had gone too far.

He had managed to deliver the package right to the doorstep, no doubt a provocation, pushing boundaries, ridiculous and over the top.

Li Wangyue shoved the box into the trash can, wrapped it tight in the garbage bag, out of sight, out of mind.

He carried the garbage bag downstairs and ran into Ting Zhenxi coming out of his room.

He had been too flustered earlier to hear the lock click next door.

Ting Zhenxi had changed into lounge clothes. Li Wangyue couldn’t help glancing at him a couple of times before he spoke up, “I’m heading out. Something came up at school.”

Ting Zhenxi just glanced at him, then went to the balcony with his tea.

Li Wangyue didn’t stick around. Clutching the garbage bag, he hurried downstairs, grabbed his coat, and walked out.

He didn’t throw it in the trash can at the corner. He walked two more blocks before tossing the bag.

He had lied to Ting Zhenxi. He wasn’t going to school. He was going to Qin You’s research institute to settle things.

The bag he carried held all the evidence he had collected. If Qin You still pestered him despite repeated warnings, he wouldn’t hesitate to hand the evidence over to the institute’s oversight committee.

Li Wangyue’s leg jittered restlessly, his fists clenching and unclenching, clenching and unclenching. The anger in his heart even outweighed the panic.

How had Qin You found out the address of the Ting family villa? And how had he taken his clothes?

He didn’t want to think about it, didn’t dare to.

A sharp pain shot through his palm. Li Wangyue looked down and saw his hand bloody and raw.

He moved his fingers, staring at the marks from his nails. On a whim, he lowered his head, brought his palm close, and licked it.

The wound hurt. His tongue tasted of rust. Li Wangyue’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He lowered his hand, pulled a disinfectant wipe from his bag, roughly wiped it twice, and clenched it in his palm.

On a weekday morning, the research institute was bustling with people, each face weary. Those coming off shift still carried the lingering smell of medicine, exhausted, clearly earning high salaries but paying with their lives.

Li Wangyue unblocked the number on his blacklist and sent a message to meet at the entrance.

No reply came for a long time.

Li Wangyue waited half an hour. Passersby occasionally glanced at him. He kept his hands in his pockets, looking up at the tree by the roadside.

The tree was very lush, its crown neatly trimmed, but almost too dense. Standing under its shadow and looking up, he couldn’t see a single ray of sunlight piercing through. Somehow, when Li Wangyue looked up from under the tree’s canopy, he felt a suffocating sensation, like gazing at the sea surface from underwater.

He took a deep breath, recovering his breath.

“Wangyue?”

A few people nearby stopped, looking surprised to see him.

Li Wangyue remembered these people—they were Qin You's fellow students, neither close nor distant. Qin You had brought him to company events before, so he had gotten to know them.

Back then, Qin You's high-profile pursuit had caused quite a stir, and their relationship was practically common knowledge. Naturally, so was their breakup.

But Qin You had two faces. Aside from Li Wangyue and Ji Zhijia, almost no one knew he was a scoundrel behind the scenes.

"What are you doing here?" the man walked over. "Is Ji Zhijia up to something?"

"I came on my own." Li Wangyue shook his head, offering a polite, faint smile, then asked, "Is Qin You in the lab? Could you call him for me? I can't reach him."

The group exchanged glances, their lips parting as if to speak, then stopping.

Li Wangyue sensed something was off. "What's wrong?"

The man looked troubled. "Brother Qin is in the hospital."

Li Wangyue asked, "A work meeting? At the hospital?"

"He got into a car accident." The man glanced around before lowering his voice. "It happened last night. I haven't visited him yet, but I heard both his arms are broken. He's still lying in the hospital."

Li Wangyue froze.

A car accident?

His mind flashed back to that incident on the narrow road—the Chevrolet barreling down the road, and the panicked Qin You.

A car accident. What a coincidence...

"Brother Qin is really unlucky. To put it morbidly, if he'd broken his legs, he could still work—even from a wheelchair. But how do you manage to break both arms..."

"I heard it was some rich kid who was drunk or high that caused the wreck."

"What rich kid? It's just a Chevrolet. Like, anyone can afford one."

"That car's an antique, a collector's item. It doesn't even have airbags. Clearly, it's not meant to be driven—it's for show."

"A car with no airbags, and they still take it on the road..."

"Who knows."

"Wangyue, we're heading out." The man waved.

Li Wangyue nodded, distracted.

Car accident—Chevrolet—antique.

His mind was a mess, but every tangled thread pointed to the same person.

But last night, they were both out at dusk. Li Wangyue was sure—at least before he fell asleep—that Ting Zhenxi was at the resort hotel on the island.

It couldn't be Ting Zhenxi.

There was no reason it could be Ting Zhenxi.

Ting Zhenxi didn't even know Qin You, and he had no reason to do this.

Maybe it's just karma. Li Wangyue calmed himself down. He was selfish—last night, he'd gotten a barrage of humiliating messages from Qin You, and today, hearing that his tormentor had been in an accident, Li Wangyue felt a flicker of satisfaction.

He asked a friend which hospital Qin You was in and got a quick rundown.

The friend even pushed him to visit Qin You: "He hasn't been able to eat or sleep lately. It's pitiful. They say he was so lost in thought about you that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, and that's how the accident happened. Wangyue, go see him, for old times' sake?"

Li Wangyue didn't agree or refuse. "I understand. Thank you."

If it had been earlier, he might have still considered their past connection. But recently, Qin You had gotten worse, grinding away the last shred of sympathy Li Wangyue had.

He still had a sliver of kindness and didn't plan to go now and make things worse for Qin You. He figured he'd talk to him later, after some time had passed.

As he left the research institute, the college called again. He was on the list for the scholarship review meeting and was told to attend in the afternoon to finalize the scholarship slots.

Li Wangyue remembered how he'd been running back and forth earlier, all to help students get their scores in quickly and qualify for the scholarship. Now that it was finally settled, he wanted to see the outcome.

Back at the villa that evening, the house was all lit up. Someone was home. There was only one car in the garage—Ting Zhenxi hadn't left, and Ting Huayi hadn't come back.

Good.

In the moonlight, Li Wangyue glanced at the car's silhouette. He meant to head for the door, but his steps involuntarily veered toward the garage.

He held his breath as he got closer. The black Chevrolet seemed to dissolve into the night.

He walked around to the door, bent down, and pressed his face close to the window, trying to see if the car had airbags.

It was too dark to see clearly. He looked for the word AIRBAG, but the center of the steering wheel was just a horn cover—he couldn't tell if it had one...

Li Wangyue leaned in even closer.

"If you want to drive it, you can ask me for the keys." A voice came from behind, soft and unsettling.

Li Wangyue's shoulders twitched. He clenched his palm to steady himself. Ting Zhenxi had somehow appeared at the garage's side door, arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe, standing a few steps up and looking down at him.

Li Wangyue coughed lightly. "Just looking. I think your car is beautiful."

Ting Zhenxi's dark eyes narrowed slightly, saying nothing. He dangled a key with a silver ring on his fingertip, swaying it in front of Li Wangyue.

Li Wangyue's gaze followed the swinging key, moving slightly left and right.

If he could get the keys and drive the car, he could verify whether it had airbags.

Li Wangyue took a quiet, deep breath and smiled at him. "Thanks, I'll give it a try."

Just as Li Wangyue reached out to take the keys, Ting Zhenxi raised his hand, making him miss.

A faint, barely perceptible smile curled at the corner of his lips as he kindly reminded Li Wangyue:

"Remember to drive slowly. This car has no airbags."