After Accidentally Sending Empathy Dolls to My Four Top Donors - Chapter 3

When Wen Leling opened his eyes again, it was already noon.

Bleary-eyed and nursing a headache, he crawled out from under the covers. One side of his face was flushed from sleep, and as the quilt slid down, it revealed thin shoulders and a back as delicate as glazed glass. Bathed in the golden sunlight, he looked dreamily beautiful.

He sat on the bed for a while to clear his head. Like a rising tide, the dramatic events of last night came rushing back. His sleepy eyes snapped wide open. Fearing he had lost something vital, Wen Leling scrambled to rummage through the bed until he found his phone. With a sigh of relief, he knelt limply on the mattress to check for any replies.

The screen lit up, and a deluge of messages flooded his vision.

Wen Leling randomly tapped into one chat box:

Tietie Lele: [Good morning, baby. Are you feeling unwell? Why did you sleep so late?]

Tietie Lele: [Baby?]

Tietie Lele: [Baby? Not awake yet?]

Tietie Lele: [Baby, don’t scare me (Crying.jpg)]

Tietie Lele: [Baby? Baby? Baby?]

Wen Leling frowned, his small face scrunched up in distaste. He slowly typed: [Good morning, Brother. I’m here. Today, I am not streaming.]

He had not found the doll yet; he was in no mood to livestream.

The reply came almost instantly: [Baby! Did you just wake up? Why did you stay up so late yesterday?]

Lele: [Yes, Brother. I woke up and went back to sleep. I did not stay up late.]

Tietie Lele: [That is good. Then why are you not streaming today?]

Wen Leling hesitated before making up an excuse: [I am going out to have fun with some friends.]

The typing indicator appeared for a moment, and then a transfer notification popped up.

Tietie Lele: [Transferred to you: 200,000.00]

Tietie Lele: [Have fun, baby.]

So generous. So much money.

But at the thought of the missing empathy doll, and the fact that his life and death were in someone else’s hands, Wen Leling truly could not find it in himself to be happy.

Yet, it was not realistic to say he was not moved at all. The moment the transfer notification appeared, his emotions felt like a roller coaster hitting an incline. His heart hammered, his lashes trembled, and with a thwack, he tossed the phone onto the bed. His clean, slender fingers flew up to cover his mouth, which had hung open wide enough to fit an egg.

A moment later, however, he hit the downhill slope. Like a deflated ball, his whole body went limp. Weighted by his worries, he accepted the 200,000 and thought carefully before sending a message.

Lele: [Thank you, Brother. Brother, are you busy right now? I want to discuss something with you.]

Tietie Lele: [What is wrong, baby?]

Wen Leling did not want to test the waters anymore. He planned to ask for the dolls back from the remaining two suspicious candidates. Whether he had to pay double back or lose two “Gold Thighs” entirely, nothing could stop his determination to get those dolls back!

He cut to the chase. Only after deleting and editing his message several times did he anxiously hit send: [Brother, could you mail back the bonus doll I sent you this time?]

The reply followed quickly as usual.

Tietie Lele: [Baby, what is this about? Did I do something to upset you?]

Tietie Lele: [Transferred to you: 52,000.00]

Tietie Lele: [Baby, is this what you mean?]

Immediately after the transfer, the other party initiated a video call.

Wen Leling had never done a video call with Tietie Lele. The phone suddenly felt like a hot potato, jumping in his palm like it was performing a street dance before falling onto the bed. His thumb accidentally brushed the decline button.

With a ding, the call ended.

Wen Leling’s heart sank halfway.

He picked up the phone with trepidation, praying the other person was not petty and would not fly into a rage over this.

The screen refreshed, and a series of question mark emojis flew past.

“…”

Speechless for a moment, Wen Leling nervously got out of bed to retrieve his mask before initiating a call back.

The other party answered in a second.

“Baby.” A man’s voice came through. Compared to the childishness shown in his messages, the man’s voice was clearly that of an adult, and it was very cold, like it had fallen into an ice cellar.

The man did not show his face. Wen Leling could not help but wonder if there were two different people on the other end switching off to chat with him. How could a person with that kind of voice act the way he did in text?

“Baby?” The man called out again when he did not see anyone or get a response.

Wen Leling finally snapped out of it and appeared on camera. In a voice as quiet as a mosquito, he asked tentatively, “Brother, are you angry?”

The man replied instantly, his voice airy but blunt: “I am very angry.”

It was too direct, devoid of any politeness.

Wen Leling’s face stiffened. His throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton. He choked for a second, then his expression shifted to one of timid apology.

“I am sorry, Brother. I did not mean to hang up the video. You know, Brother, this was the first time I received a video invite from you, so I was a little, a little, excited. And then…”

Wen Leling trailed off. Beneath the mask, his delicate face flushed red. It was not because he was embarrassed, but because he hated saying such sappy things. Though he felt awkward deep down, it did not stop his voice from sounding as sweet as honeyed fruit. His crystalline eyes filled with a few stray tears, making him look innocent, aggrieved, and pitiful. But the moment he saw the man’s face, his courage fled.

It was a terrifyingly fierce face with a hideous scar at the temple. As it appeared in the call window, the eyes were chillingly cold. The man’s mouth curled into a “perfect” smile that actually looked contradictory, like a knife hidden behind a grin.

The man took a deep breath. Wen Leling had not expected him to show his face; he stared blankly, terrified, mistakenly thinking the man was unimpressed by his soft act and about to blow up. He held his breath.

Then he heard: “Alright, I was just teasing you. How could I ever be angry with you? Do not cry.”

Wen Leling felt a shiver of horror crawl up from the soles of his feet.

Although the man’s tone was not dropping icicles like before, it was not much better. It gave Wen Leling the illusion that whether the man was angry or not did not really matter. The only difference was that if he were angry, he would devour him brutally, and if he were not, he would devour him gently.

Either way, he was dead. An image flashed in Wen Leling’s mind of a successful predator greedily feasting on the bloody remains of its prey. He suddenly shrugged his shoulders and shook his head like a chilled little animal.

That was so scary. He told himself not to think about it.

But the man suddenly continued: “Baby, you still have not told me why exactly you want to take back my doll? Do you not want me anymore? Or did someone say something to you to drive a wedge between us? Baby, tell me, which one of your good brothers is trying to sabotage us? I can explain.”

His tone gradually lost what little softness it had. It became low and oppressive, like a snake’s tongue flicking into Wen Leling’s ear, leaving him tingling and paralyzed. It was slow and deliberate, dragging Wen Leling into a swamp of anxiety.

He hallucinated the man with a contorted face, pinning him against a wall and choking him, demanding answers without regard for his life. Wen Leling broke into a cold sweat, his mind going blank.

He blinked blankly. Then, the man let out a high pressure “Hmm?” Wen Leling waved his hands frantically to explain: “Brother, no! That is not what I meant!”

How could he not want the money being handed to him? But he had to get that doll back. And please, Big Brothers, do not fight!

Anxious as an ant on a hot pan and fearing the man would overthink, Wen Leling’s waving hands became a blur. “No one said anything to me, I just…”

“Just what?”

Wen Leling’s explanation hit a sudden brake. The man first narrowed his eyes in displeasure, but in the blink of an eye, he returned to his original expression. His brow smoothed out, but something complex welled up in his eyes that Wen Leling could not decipher.

Wen Leling bit his lower lip, unable to decide whether to lie. His heart felt like a bird trapped in a tiny golden cage, beating fast and erratically. His palms were sweating, and waves of cold air seemed to seep from his pores, making him shiver uncontrollably.

No, better not.

Rich playboys like this could probably find a person with the flick of a finger. If he found out he was being lied to and got angry, showing up at the door would be big trouble.

Wen Leling abandoned the idea and skipped the reason to go straight to the request.

“It is nothing, just, if Brother is willing to return the doll to me, I can send you two more dolls, okay? Brother, I am begging you.” As he spoke, his eyes brimmed with tears. He looked as if he were about to weep like rain hitting pear blossoms, a pitiful sight that made it hard for anyone to refuse.

Seeing the man’s gaze waver, Wen Leling thought he saw a glimmer of hope; a star seemed to light up in his eyes.

But then, the screen lagged. Then came another ding.

The call was disconnected.

The sudden turn of events left Wen Leling stunned. He stared at the phone with lingering expectation, his brow twitching twice. The light that had just appeared in his eyes died out, leaving them empty. He looked like a drunkard who had just been jolted awake from a long stupor, staring blankly, not knowing where he was.

After a moment, he blinked. He did not open the phone immediately. Instead, he pressed his palms together with the phone sandwiched between them and bowed to it as if performing a ritual. He whispered: “Agree, agree, agree, agree.”

He squinted his eyes as he unlocked the phone, peeking through a tiny slit. The man had sent a neutral message, one that did not completely kill Wen Leling’s hopes but did not offer much either.

Tietie Lele: [Baby, I have work. Let us chat when I get back tonight.]

“…”

Another waste of time.

Wen Leling sat at his desk. He typed a few words several times and then deleted them in a long string. Ultimately, he sent nothing. He rested his face in his hands and stared into space. His brain was like a computer on a 2G network, loading with painful lag.

Eventually, the loading finished. He let out a long sigh and searched for the addresses of Tietie Lele and Loving Lele for a Lifetime on the navigation app, noting down the routes.

Wen Leling was going to give up on the bribery method. Plan C: He decided to be a thief and steal the dolls back!

It would save time and money. The only downside was the possibility of being caught red-handed by the Big Brothers and sent to the police station as a burglar. That would be the end of everything. High risk, high reward!

Therefore, he had to ask around beforehand and choose a time to strike when they were not home.

Since he knew Tietie Lele was busy, that left Loving Lele for a Lifetime. He entered the chat interface and reviewed what the man had sent yesterday:

Loving Lele for a Lifetime: [Not asleep yet? What are you doing?]

Loving Lele for a Lifetime: [Insomnia?]

Loving Lele for a Lifetime: [Asleep? Give me a call when you wake up.]

Loving Lele for a Lifetime: [Good morning, Lele. Still not awake?]

Loving Lele for a Lifetime: [Lele, remember to reply when you see this.]

Wen Leling tapped the keyboard quickly and sent two texts.

Lele: [Just woke up. I had a bit of insomnia yesterday.]

Lele: [Good morning, Brother.]

While waiting for a reply, he checked in on Lele’s Only Certified Husband.

This person was impatient. Ever since he woke up and realized Wen Leling had not made a move for half the day, his messages had not stopped.

Looking at the 99+ unread chat box, Wen Leling had a bad premonition. He clicked in reluctantly.

Sure enough, hundreds of bomb stickers met his eyes, shaking the screen continuously and making his palm feel numb from the vibrations. With great effort, he managed to send a message, only for a conspicuous red exclamation mark to pop up.

Wen Leling: ?

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