The Protagonist and the Villain Both Kissed Me [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 24

Inside the prosperous Night Encounter, the lights were dim and flickering as people of all walks of life moved through the crowd. Su Xi hadn’t come specifically to find Duan Cheng; instead, he had randomly chosen someone from his contact list who had asked him out, set the location at Night Encounter, and said he wanted to talk. The other party had agreed decisively.

Su Xi had stayed home for the past few days, learning about the public discourse only through the internet. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he walked down the corridor wearing a scent-blocker. He also wore a black choker around his neck, designed to suppress the emission of pheromones.

He pursed his lips and took a deep breath. Just as he was about to pull open the door in front of him, someone emerged from behind, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him directly into the adjacent private booth. He let out a startled cry. In the pitch-black room, he couldn’t see the other person’s silhouette clearly; he could only vaguely distinguish that the person was an Alpha by the scent lingering in the air.

“Let go…”

He frowned and tried to push the person away, but the other party’s strength was too immense. He could only be pinned in the corner by his wrists. In the next second, a warm body pressed against him. A domineering kiss followed, filled with intense possessiveness, swallowing the words at the tip of his tongue.

Saliva he couldn’t swallow in time slid from the corner of his mouth. Su Xi was kissed until his legs trembled, even forcing out physiological tears that hung at the corners of his reddened eyes like crystalline pearls. He was trapped between the wall and the man’s arms. To gain a little distance, he had to rely on the cold wall behind him to maintain some semblance of stability.

He pressed his lips tight, trying to push the intruder out, but the scorching heat against his waist caused his hard-won strength to vanish instantly. The choker on his neck was casually torn off and thrown to the floor, allowing a rich orchid fragrance to permeate the air.

“Since when did you like wearing things like this?” The man’s voice was somewhat hoarse. His hand landed on the scent-blocker behind Su Xi’s ear, and with a slight application of force, he crushed the tiny device. His thumb pressed against the fragile gland, stroking it.

Su Xi turned his head away to avoid the man’s touch. The sudden appearance of light made him squint uncomfortably. His fair profile looked innocent, and his lowered eyelashes were thick and curled, casting small shadows beneath his eyes.

He saw the person before him clearly but didn’t make a sound, merely keeping his head down in silence.

“What, are you disappointed to see it’s me?” A stormy wave surged in Duan Cheng’s deep black eyes, appearing almost physical in its intent to devour the person before him.

Su Xi’s breathing was erratic, his teeth biting hard into his lip. After a long while, he spoke in a voice as thin as a mosquito’s hum: “What is the meaning of this?”

“What is the meaning?” Duan Cheng let out a scoff. Seeing the boy’s panicked state, he continued, “The company is very short on money right now, isn’t it? One ice cube, ten million.”

The figure of ten million would have been nothing to the old Su Xi, but things were different now. Following the man’s gaze, he saw a transparent glass on the coffee table filled with steaming ice cubes and a large one-way mirror.

Recalling information he had seen before, his eyes turned red instantly. Why would a normal booth have such things? It was clearly something Duan Cheng had prepared specifically to humiliate him.

After a few minutes, Su Xi spoke up: “I don’t want it.”

His answer was clearly within Duan Cheng’s expectations. Duan Cheng watched him, meeting those eyes. He stopped forcing him and took a step back, saying, “Then drink. One million per glass. Your choice.”

Su Xi hadn’t rejected him for any other reason; he simply couldn’t accept such an act.

Now, the condition Duan Cheng proposed was indeed enticing, and he was moved. “Do you keep your word?”

“Of course.” Duan Cheng suppressed a smile as he sensed the extra scents on Su Xi.

His tone didn’t seem fake. Su Xi pondered for two seconds before walking to the table and looking at the various bottles. Duan Cheng had already walked to the sofa and sat down. He lazily poured a glass of scarlet wine and pushed it toward Su Xi, signaling him to drink.

“Host, you aren’t really going to drink, are you?” System 1368 was somewhat worried. Su Xi’s constitution meant he got drunk at the first sip. He hadn’t been completely wasted before because the system helped him, but the cooling-off period from the last time hadn’t ended yet.

Su Xi acted as if he hadn’t heard the system. He picked up the glass Duan Cheng had poured and downed it. The liquid was spicy; he drank so fast he choked, and his throat felt as if it were burning.

Su Xi endured the discomfort and picked up the next glass. In less than ten minutes, the table was covered with empty glasses.

“So dizzy…” The images before him were overlapping and doubling. He knew he had reached his limit and couldn’t drink anymore, but with a surge of stubbornness, he forced himself to finish half a bottle. His porcelain-white skin was flushed a pale red, like winter plums blooming in the snow.

Duan Cheng watched as the boy endured the misery without making a sound. He lowered his eyelashes to hide the flashes of heartache, reminding himself that Su Xi deserved this and that the boy’s pain didn’t amount to a ten-thousandth of his own.

If my sincerity can be toyed with wantonly, and the promises made can be discarded at a whim, then what is left?

Su Xi swallowed the wine. Thinking that drinking glass by glass wasn’t enough, he leaned over and snatched the remaining half-bottle directly from Duan Cheng’s hand. He tilted his head back and gulped it down. His stomach churned uncomfortably. He frowned, relying only on instinctive movements.

His body had reached its limit. Suddenly, he slammed the bottle onto the table, covered his mouth, and stumbled back several steps. He shook his head to try and stay conscious, but the alcohol had already numbed his brain. He felt only flickering, blurred images. After a long while, he lifted his eyes to look at Duan Cheng, forcing out words through his misery: “I finished it.”

Duan Cheng looked at the boy’s deathly pale face. Keeping his promise, he directly transferred thirty million. To think he would choose to drink and torment himself rather than compromise with three ice cubes and show a little weakness did he truly believe Duan Cheng wouldn’t go soft on him?

Having secured the money, Su Xi could barely stand. He could only lean against the wall and slowly shuffle outward. But he truly had no strength left, and his vision plunged into darkness.

By the time he woke up again, he was in the hospital. Drizzling rain was falling outside. The room was decorated in blue and white, and the air was thick with the smell of disinfectant. His brain was muddled and throbbed with pain. Looking down at the hand currently receiving an IV, he pursed his lips, ruthlessly pulled out the needle, and prepared to stand up.

With a “ding,” the door was pulled open.

He looked at the person at the door in a daze. The memories of what happened yesterday resurfaced, and the flickering images pieced together a complete picture.

Su Xi bit his lip and backed away several steps in fear.

Duan Cheng’s gaze swept over the boy’s pale face and landed on the hand oozing blood. The bright red against the fair skin was exceptionally eye-catching. He stepped forward, intending to grab him.

“Don’t come near me.” A flash of panic appeared in Su Xi’s eyes as he backed away further. His stomach still felt very uncomfortable, especially when his emotions were heightened.

“Su Xi.” Duan Cheng seemed angry, calling him by his full name.

It was unclear what Su Xi thought of, but he lowered his eyelashes and spoke in a voice like a mosquito’s hum: “I’ll pay you back the medical fees. Step aside, I want to go home.”

System 1368 followed Su Xi’s instructions and sent out word. Fu Heng, who had hurried over after receiving the message, naturally saw the confrontation between Duan Cheng and Su Xi. His expression was complex. During this period, he had pulled many people to help, yet every time he was either rejected by Su Xi or obstructed by others.

To think he would get a message from a stranger saying Su Xi was in the hospital.

“A-Heng.” Su Xi spoke in surprise upon seeing Fu Heng. He wanted to step forward, but since he had to pass Duan Cheng to leave, he froze in place out of fear.

Seeing Su Xi so reliant on Fu Heng even when he had no other options, the ferocity in Duan Cheng’s features intensified. He spoke up abruptly: “Su Xi, you don’t have a home anymore.”

“What?” It took Su Xi a long while to process Duan Cheng’s meaning. He blinked in shock, feeling as if the sky had collapsed. His overloaded body could no longer handle the intense emotions, and his vision went black as he fainted.

Through a hazy white light, he vaguely saw many people coming and going. They were all dressed differently, but without exception, they were all telling him that he was the culprit behind every disaster.

Lying on the bed, Su Xi did not sleep peacefully. His forehead was covered in fine sweat, and noisy, clear conversations rang in his ears. He tried hard to listen and could only vaguely understand the gist. The conclusion was: Duan Cheng was the one behind everything that happened to the Su family.

Duan Cheng was clearly an Alpha. As expected, the thing he had seen the man preparing to inject on the balcony was a gene-altering drug. Disguising himself as an ordinary Beta made it easier for him to do anything. Combined with the previous trending rumors that the Duan family had only faked their decline for cooperation, it was clear that now that the goal was achieved, they were back in glory.

He watched with his own eyes as his parents leaped from a high building, their bright red blood filling his vision, splashing like Red Spider Lilies blooming on the road to the underworld.

“Hah—” He jerked his eyes open, his temples drenched in fine sweat. His fingertips gripped the bedding so hard they turned white.

The dryness from not drinking water for a long time made his throat burn with pain. Su Xi sat quietly with his eyes lowered, hiding his emotions. He surveyed his surroundings; he was no longer in the hospital but in a residence. The room’s layout was identical to his own.

A slight sound came from the door. He instinctively looked up, but the person he saw wasn’t Duan Cheng; it was a robot. It was the most advanced design aside from lacking emotion and life, it was nearly identical to a human. This particular robot looked like a very young boy.

The robot seemed to have received a command; it walked to the table with a clear purpose, poured a glass of water, walked slowly to Su Xi’s side, and handed it to him.

Su Xi was indeed thirsty. He hesitated for a moment before taking the water and drinking it in small sips. His communicator was still with him. He nervously turned it on to check the information; everything was perfectly consistent with his dream.

“Awake?” At some point, the robot had left, and Duan Cheng’s figure appeared in the doorway.

Su Xi’s hand holding the glass trembled. His eyes were red, and his heart raced violently.

With a crisp sound, the glass shattered. Duan Cheng looked down at the water and shards on the floor, his eyes showing not a single ripple of emotion. He walked calmly to the bedside and looked down at the boy’s face, which was flushed with anger. “Why be so angry?”