Case Files Chapter 112: Still Waters and Bitter Cold (5)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

Guan Jin and Lu YunYang set off once more for Hospital Three.

“I think that after coming back from the hospital, I’m going to have to cross a brazier or take a bath in pomelo leaves ¹.” Guan Jin recalled customs he had read about in a book.

Lu YunYang, who was driving, glanced at him and smiled. “Why?”

“Do you really have to ask? Every time I go to that hospital, something bad happens, which is why I need to go home and get rid of the unluckiness!”

“Makes sense, I agree with the pomelo leaves.”

“Why?” This time, it was Guan Jin’s turn to be curious; it wouldn’t be easy to find pomelo leaves anyway.

“The brazier is unsafe and it’ll get smoke in the house,” Lu YunYang said seriously. He wouldn’t say out loud that Guan Jin taking a bath in pomelo leaves sounded quite appealing.

Guan Jin looked suspiciously at the corner of his mouth that couldn’t help but curve upwards, he narrowed his eyes. “What inappropriate things are you thinking about right now?”

“…Nothing, I’m thinking about where to buy pomelo leaves.” As well as how to convince you to let me help wash you.

*****

“How come you’re so listless?” When Ou Chen walked into the room, he saw Wen JinHan leaning next to the window in low spirits.

Wen JinHan sat up straight as if he had been startled awake, and shrunk back. “I’m fine… I just don’t know what to do by myself.”

Ou Chen walked over and held him in his arms. “You’re bored? That’s true, I have a lot of business to attend to, so I can’t stay here all the time to accompany you. How about this, I’ll bring you out when I leave this morning, and you can stay and play in the club. When you’re tired, ask someone to escort you back.”

Wen JinHan shook his head vigorously, as if he was still frightened by the past events.

“No one will ever dare to touch you anymore. Go, I’ll take you to a place where you can play in peace.” Ou Chen pulled him up.

It was almost noon, so everyone was preparing for the opening. Ou Chen brought Wen JinHan to the huge bar and called the person who was inside over. “Jiang Shu.”

The person turned around and was taken aback, but he quickly walked to the counter and smiled warmly. “Brother Chen, you called.”

Ou Chen rubbed the top of Wen JinHan’s head. “He was bored of being in the room by himself, so in the future, if he wants to play, he’ll go with you in the bar. If you want anything, tell Jiang Shu and he’ll help you. This bar is a safe area, and guests know not to touch the people inside. There’s a price for breaking the rules.”

Wen JinHan examined Jiang Shu; he didn’t seem to fit into a place like this, and he emanated a type of gentleness that made one feel at ease.

“Okay, I’ll get going now.” Ou Chen ignored Wen JinHan’s dodge and kissed him before reluctantly turning around and leaving.

Wen JinHan frantically wiped his mouth, unsure of how to deal with the gazes directed toward him.

Jiang Shu opened the partition and walked to him, holding his hand. “We’re about to open, so you’d best come in.”

Wen JinHan blankly followed him into the bar.

“Actually, there’s not much to play with in here, it’s just wine and drinks and such.” Jiang Shu pulled over a chair for him. “However, there’s a full view of the hall from here, so you don’t have to worry about getting into any trouble.”

Wen JinHan didn’t sit, and he asked quietly and a little cautiously, “Are you also one of them?”

Jiang Shu blinked, and when he understood what he meant, he smiled faintly. “I’m the same as you.”

Wen JinHan’s eyes widened.

“Although this place is hell, we can be considered the lucky ones. Don’t overthink it and take good care of yourself,” Jiang Shu said lightly as he turned and set up the wine glasses.

It seemed that Jiang Shu had also somehow obtained the protection of Ou Chen, which was why he hadn’t become a plaything.

“You know how to bartend?” Wen JinHan asked, looking at the dazzling display of wines.

“Right.”

“Can you teach me?”

“You like bartending?”

“Not really, but there’s nothing else to do. Perhaps I can help you so time can pass faster.” 

“Okay, then I’ll first teach you how to recognize all of the wines here.” Jiang Shu smiled warmly, and Wen JinHan also smiled faintly and nodded vigorously.

Jiang Shu had been right; this was an excellent spot to observe the entire hall, and they were left undisturbed. Wen JinHan was very satisfied with his current progress, not to mention that all of this had fallen into place on its own, so Ou Chen wouldn’t be suspicious. He knew that if he wanted to overthrow such a huge operation, a small piece of information wouldn’t be enough; he needed to obtain the innermost secret and kill them with one hit. Thus, he now had to lie dormant for a long time.

*****

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy to stay out of conflicts, such as right now.

Wen JinHan entered the wine cellar from the trapdoor in the bar. Jiang Shu had taught him how to pick out the wine based on their serial number. When he came back to the bar, concentrating on the wine bottle in his hand, he was interrupted by a figure at the counter.

There was a person standing there with his arms crossed, and his alluring eyes were disdainfully looking Wen JinHan up and down.

Wen JinHan recognized this person; he was quite young and didn’t look too bad, and he seemed to be the assistant to the manager who controlled the servers in the club; of course, this excluded the people in the bar.

“Mo Ran?” Wen JinHan still remembered his name.

“Hmph, you think that you’re so great just because you got into Brother Chen’s bed? Let me tell you, Brother Chen just likes new things, and when you’re not new anymore, you’ll be nothing,” Mo Ran said mockingly.

These two sentences caused the wariness in Wen JinHan’s mind to disappear. It turned out that he was just a jealous, immature boy.

Wen JinHan also crossed his arms and leaned against the counter, smirking. “Judging from your expression, you’ve also gone through the same thing. I sympathize with you, but unfortunately, I’m still the new one right now. When I’m not new anymore, I’ll consider whether I want to learn from you or not.”

Mo Ran was taken aback, and his face immediately turned various shades of colors. In the end, he pointed at Wen JinHan and shouted, “I knew that you being well-behaved was just a front. Brother Chen simply got momentarily enchanted by you, but he’s smart, and he’ll see through your disguise sooner or later!”

“I couldn’t tell before that you were such an avid fan of Brother Chen.” Wen JinHan scoffed, “Since your Brother Chen is so smart, what are you worried about? Those things will get sorted out in the future, and I’m trying to learn about different types of wine right now. When I go back in the evening, Brother Chen is still waiting for my report on today’s success.” Wen JinHan winked.

“You——” Mo Ran’s expression twisted, and he glared at him viciously. He left the bar angrily, though not before exclaiming, “Just you wait and see!”

Wen JinHan shrugged; it seemed that the future days wouldn’t be so lifeless after all.

*****

JiaMan’s nights seemed to be relatively calm. Many guests came and went, but they all abided by the rules and would only drink wine at the bar and chat with the people there. On the surface, at least, there weren’t any particularly unsightly scenes, and the music coming from the stage was soft jazz.

However, Wen JinHan knew that there were countless places to shelter evil in this building and that this place was merely a cover-up.

“How are you feeling about it?” For the past few days, Jiang Shu had been patiently teaching him how to bartend.

Wen JinHan nodded. “Good, I feel a lot better now that I have something to do.”

As they were talking, Li Long strided into the bar, and when he saw Wen JinHan, he began flirting with him. However, he gave up after seeing his cold indifference and turned to some other bartenders. Wen JinHan was well aware that he was just putting up a front to purposely have some fun, and that he wouldn’t do anything to the people in the bar. The person Li Long really wanted to find was Jiang Shu.

Originally, he had thought that Ou Chen had taken a liking to Jiang Shu, but he now realized that it was actually Li Long protecting him.

“Brother Long, you can have fun outside, I can’t work like this,” Jiang Shu said patiently.

“How am I disturbing your work? You haven’t stopped yet,” said Li Long as he massaged Jiang Shu’s waist.

Jiang Shu’s personality was gentle, and he never got annoyed. He merely smiled helplessly and continued what he was doing.

Wen JinHan was far away from them, but he observed them carefully. He wanted to see how sincere Li Long was to Jiang Shu; at a crucial moment, Jiang Shu might become an important part in his plan.

Wen JinHan went into the wine cellar to pick out various wines, lost in thought, nearly bumping into Mo Ran.

“What kind of expression is that?” Mo Ran asked suspiciously.

Wen JinHan had been about to ridicule him again, but he keenly noticed that Mo Ran had his hand in his pocket and was moving around slightly. Wen JinHan’s mind whirled, though his expression didn’t change. His tone was timid as he said, “Nothing, I just didn’t expect to see anyone else in the cellar, so I’m a little surprised.”

Mo Ran was taken aback, as if he hadn’t expected this reaction. He sneered, “Stop pretending to be so innocent.”

“I don’t understand.” Wen JinHan acted confused.

“You really are a fox. Brother Chen was merely tricked by you, acting like a helpless chick all the time. Perhaps he’s been played countless times already!” The more Mo Ran talked, the more he got into it, and it was clear he was just trying to irritate him.

Wen JinHan wanted to laugh; he had gotten bored of playing with people like this in elementary school.

“D-Don’t slander me! I don’t even want to be here at all, nor do I want to fight over this. If you could let me out, I would leave in a heartbeat!” Wen JinHan cried out, his eyes rimmed with red.

Mo Ran was completely dumbfounded; why was nothing going as planned, did this person have dissociative identity disorder…?

“Hey, who’s bothering my treasure, I could hear you even through the roof.”

Mo Ran froze, and his expression was ugly as he turned around to see Ou Chen behind him. He looked down and muttered, “Brother Chen…”

Ou Chen glanced at him and walked to Wen JinHan, pinching his chin to force him to look at him.

“Were you crying? Who bullied you? Or are you unhappy here?” Ou Chen felt his heart melt a little; he had clearly heard what he had said just now, but he couldn’t get angry, and instead felt a little sympathetic.

Wen JinHan turned away. “Nothing, it might just be too stuffy here in the cellar.”

“Then what were you arguing about with him just now?”

Mo Ran shuddered and didn’t dare to look up.

Wen JinHan looked at him and pursed his lips before saying, “It wasn’t an argument. I was just in a bad mood, but I don’t want Mo Ran to think too much of it.”

Mo Ran looked up in shock before looking down again in fright from Ou Chen’s stare.

“If that’s so, then I’ll let this slide. Mo Ran, I don’t want to see this happen again.”

Mo Ran shook his head. “O-of c-course.”

Ou Chen put a hand around Wen JinHan’s waist and led him away.

Mo Ran stared at their receding backs and gritted his teeth in frustration. Suddenly, he saw Wen JinHan turn around and smile smugly at him.

…

His original plan had been to lure Brother Chen over and then record what Wen JinHan would say and show him so he could see how insidious he was. However, things had completely backfired, and now Brother Chen had a bad impression of him. Moreover, that foxy Wen JinHan had even saved him.

 

Bastard!!! Mo Ran furiously took out the recording pen in his pocket and threw it onto the ground, fracturing it into pieces.