Blinded chapter 64
Ye Shaoyin returned home late at night. His house was located in the city center of Harbor city, occupying a large apartment. As he entered, a cold atmosphere greeted him.
Having not been home for several days and having consumed a considerable amount of alcohol, Ye Shaoyin staggered through the door, carelessly dropping his coat on the floor and stepping on it with his expensive shoes.
Thirsty, he headed to the dining room, opening the refrigerator to grab a bottle of mineral water. Tilting his head back, he drank almost half of it in one go, then closed the bottle, leaving the remaining half on the dining table.
Recently, he had befriended a group of people he met during gambling, most of whom were wealthy sons of officials and businessmen from other provinces. Ye Shaoyin spent his days with this group, gambling, drinking, and indulging in women. He hadn’t returned home for almost half a month.
Walking towards his room, which was dark with the door slightly open, he found someone lying on the large bed in the middle of the room, covered tightly with a quilt.
Approaching the bed, he reached out, grabbed a handful of soft long hair scattered on the pillow, and pulled the person up, delivering a slap to their face.
Ruan Qiuyuan gasped for air, instinctively raising her hand to shield her face.
Ye Shaoyin said, “I’m back. Didn’t you hear? Why pretend to be dead lying on the bed?”
Ruan Qiuyuan, sitting on the bed with her legs pulled up to her chest, continuously scooted back. Her voice was hoarse as she said, “I didn’t hear you come back.”
Ye Shaoyin raised his hand again.
Ruan Qiuyuan hurriedly buried her head in her arms, curling her entire body, trembling slightly.
Instead of striking, Ye Shaoyin scolded, “Like a dead dog,” before walking to the foot of the bed to start undressing.
Carefully getting out of bed after Ye Shaoyin finished undressing, Ruan Qiuyuan said, “Let me prepare a bath for you.” She avoided looking at Ye Shaoyin and headed to the bathroom.
Ye Shaoyin, shirtless, lying on the bed after the bath, heard Ruan Qiuyuan’s weak breathing beside him. After a moment of silence, impatiently, he reached over, grabbed her neck, and began choking her.
Ruan Qiuyuan grabbed his hand, desperately trying to get him to release her. Lacking strength, she watched as she was about to suffocate. Only then did Ye Shaoyin retract his hand. Ruan Qiuyuan started coughing violently.
Raising both arms, Ye Shaoyin stacked his hands behind his head. Thinking of the young model named Xiao Ka, who followed him during gambling in the past few days, he found her more youthful and active in bed compared to Ruan Qiuyuan. He couldn’t understand why he kept Ruan Qiuyuan around.
Beside him, Ruan Qiuyuan coughed for a long time. Ye Shaoyin, eyes still open, remained restless, finding it difficult to fall asleep. Suddenly, he heard Ruan Qiuyuan approaching, softly calling, “Shaoyin.”
Ye Shaoyin opened his eyes, casting a cold look at her in the darkness.
The room was too dim to see her expression clearly, but her voice was husky and gentle as she said, “Have you encountered something troubling?”
Ye Shaoyin did not answer. His frowning forehead became even more pronounced.
Ruan Qiuyuan’s soft fingers pressed against his forehead. She said, “When you’re anxious, you always get like this.”
Ye Shaoyin suddenly turned over, pulling the blanket up to his chin, closing his eyes to sleep.
Ruan Qiuyuan touched his tense temples and said, “Go to sleep.”
The room fell silent, and suddenly Ye Shaoyin said, “I owe someone money.”
Ruan Qiuyuan opened her eyes, her gaze clear. In a soft, muffled tone, she asked, “Is it a significant amount?”
Ye Shaoyin sat up, letting the blanket slide down to his waist. He replied, “More than you can imagine.”
Ruan Qiuyuan also sat up and asked, “What happened?”
Ye Shaoyin explained, “I met a group of wealthy people from another province. They hold underground gambling sessions every night, and I joined in. I lost a substantial amount of money.”
In reality, the situation was much more complex than Ye Shaoyin casually described. He had been in contact with this group for a short time and knew about their major gambling sessions. However, he didn’t dare to place significant bets, just playing along. Later, he unintentionally discovered a young businessman cheating in the gambling den. Unlike him, the other gamblers, not regulars, didn’t notice the cheating methods.
Ye Shaoyin secretly obtained evidence to blackmail the businessman who confessed to colluding with the house to cheat. Ye Shaoyin had been losing small amounts for two or three days, planning to win big on the final day. Motivated by this revelation, he decided to invest a large sum of money on the last day. Lacking sufficient cash, he even borrowed a significant amount at high interest, intending to repay immediately if he won.
Unexpectedly, on the final night, the cheating businessman betrayed him and fled.
Ye Shaoyin found himself entangled in debt, pursued by loan sharks.
At this point, Ruan Qiuyuan asked, “Could it be that those people colluded to deceive you out of your money?”
In fact, when the businessman disappeared, Ye Shaoyin suspected foul play. He had already sent someone to investigate this group tonight but hadn’t received any news. Hearing Ruan Qiuyuan’s question now, he erupted with anger, his face sternly asking, “Do you think I’m a fool?”
Ruan Qiuyuan fell silent for a while and then asked, “To whom do you owe the money?”
Ye Shaoyin tugged at the gold necklace around his neck, saying, “Loan sharks.”
Ruan Qiuyuan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. She said, “In Harbor city, no one dares to defy Mr. Chang, right?”
It was the businessman who introduced Ye Shaoyin to the loan sharks. When he faced the debt collectors, Ye Shaoyin learned about the significant background of the loan sharks which was associated with Juyi. Although Juyi was not as large as Hongfang, they were not hesitant when it came to collecting debts from people associated with Hongfang.
Ye Shaoyin reached for a cigarette from the bedside table, lit it, and took a drag.
Ruan Qiuyuan said to him, “Shaoyin, why not tell Mr. Chang about this?”
Ye Shaoyin looked at her with a tilted smile and asked, “Why do you insist on me telling Chang Guanshan?”
Ruan Qiuyuan placed her hand on his arm. “I’m afraid you’ll get into trouble.”
Ye Shaoyin sneered, “What trouble could I get into? Isn’t that what you want? Don’t you want to take advantage of the opportunity to get close to that old man Chang Guanshan?”
Ruan Qiuyuan said, “I don’t.”
Ye Shaoyin raised his hand and gave her a slap. “Whore.”
Ruan Qiuyuan’s head was knocked sideways, and her long hair covered half of her face. It took her a while before she slowly raised her hand to cover her face. She didn’t speak again.
Leaning against the bedhead, Ye Shaoyin lazily smoked, but the irritation in his eyes remained. He coldly said, “If you don’t want to get close to Chang Guanshan, then you must want to help Xie Li rise in front of Chang Guanshan.”
Ruan Qiuyuan’s mouth seemed to be broken open. She licked a trace of a salty taste with her tongue. She said, “No, since I chose to be with you, the only person I care about is you.”
Ye Shaoyin said, “Don’t talk about this matter to anyone. I’ll naturally find a way to solve it.”
Ruan Qiuyuan nodded. She lay down slowly, and after a while, she moved closer to Ye Shaoyin, sticking to his bare skin.
Ye Shaoyin looked down at her, not pushing her away.
Before Ye Shaoyin finished smoking the cigarette, Ruan Qiuyuan suddenly raised her hand, holding Ye Shaoyin’s arm. She looked at him hesitantly, wanting to say something but stopping.
Ye Shaoyin extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray on the bedside table and used his fingers to hook Ruan Qiuyuan’s jaw, rubbing it, and said, “Say what you want to say.”
Ruan Qiuyuan struggled with her expression for a while. Finally, she spoke, “You still have shares in Hongji Pharmaceutical…” She only said this sentence and didn’t continue. She raised her hand to hug Ye Shaoyin’s waist, resting her cheek on his leg. “Don’t get into trouble, Shaoyin.”
Ye Shaoyin felt her warm tears flow onto his leg, slightly stunned. He raised his hand to touch her hair.