The Vampire Tycoon Secretly Loves Me - Chapter 4

Ye Linghan had always made it a point never to pry into Yin Chen’s affairs; if the other man didn’t speak of them, Ye Linghan wouldn’t take the initiative to ask.

After Yin Chen was called away by Yin Ste and failed to return for a long while, Ye Linghan took a short nap on the bed before deciding to head back to his own apartment in the city.

The villa was vast and desolate. Even though it was filled with expensive furniture, he always felt a sense of unease when he was there alone.

The suburban area was secluded and far from the commercial districts, making it extremely difficult to hail a cab. Few ride-share drivers were willing to drive such a long distance back and forth to pick up passengers, often resulting in long waits with no one accepting the order.

In the past, Yin Chen’s driver would handle his transportation, but today, the driver had been dismissed by Yin Chen upon their arrival. Consequently, Ye Linghan found himself without anyone to take him home.

Fortunately, money talks. As the saying goes, “money makes the mare go.” After a long and tedious wait, Ye Linghan actually managed to find a driver willing to take the order.

However, the driver would need an hour and a half just to reach the location. Feeling bored from lying in bed, Ye Linghan took advantage of Yin Chen’s absence to wander around the villa.

He had been by Yin Chen’s side since he was very young, but he spent most of his time living in the city. He had only visited this place a handful of times and had never truly explored it.

The villa had four floors, and while one could take the elevator, walking the stairs was a viable option if time permitted.

Ye Linghan pressed the elevator button and descended to the first floor. Since he had time to kill, he decided to walk back up, floor by floor.

The layout of the first floor was simple: a massive living room occupied the center, flanked by a kitchen, a study, and a bedroom. The study and bedroom were for Yin Chen’s work, allowing him a place to rest conveniently after working late into the night.

Although the Yin family managed the entire Vampire Race, very few people—outside of the three Great Families composed of high-ranking vampires—knew the truth. Most people perceived Yin Chen as a mysterious entrepreneur.

It truly was “lonely at the top.” Within this massive space, one couldn’t feel even a spark of domestic warmth. To stand above others, one surely had to endure silence and solitude. As Ye Linghan mused, he unconsciously wandered into Yin Chen’s study. Everything inside was arranged with meticulous precision; there was only a thin stack of documents on the desk, further proof that Yin Chen didn’t visit this place often.

As Ye Linghan strolled past the bookshelf, he suddenly felt a gust of cold wind brush against the side of his neck. Having spent so much time with Yin Chen, his neck had become exceptionally sensitive.

Hmm? In this enclosed space, how could there be wind…

Ye Linghan stopped in his tracks and looked at the bookshelf. The floor-to-ceiling unit was tall and square; its design was plain, making it difficult to spot any hidden features.

His fingers instinctively reached forward to explore, but he was startled by the sudden ringing of his phone.

The ringtone echoed through the slightly hollow study, interrupting his movements. He quickly answered the call; the caller ID showed it was the ride-share driver he had booked on the platform.

“Hello?” Ye Linghan answered.

“Is this Mr. Ye?” the driver’s voice came through.

The voice was already muffled over the phone, but the driver’s tone was particularly hoarse.

“Yes, it is.” Ye Linghan listened carefully to make out the words, trying his best to respond.

“I see your location is at Yueshan Court?”

It was the name of the villa.

Ye Linghan felt a moment of doubt, instinctively wondering if he had entered the wrong address. After a quick check of the app confirmed everything was correct, he felt relieved.

“Mmhmm~” The driver’s hum was melodic and drawn out, with a trailing end. “It’s like this… You know your address is quite far from the city, so…”

The driver paused, leaving the rest of the sentence as an unspoken implication.

How could Ye Linghan not understand? The man was complaining about the distance and wanted more money. Thinking it wouldn’t be a significant amount, Ye Linghan didn’t mind much.

“Fine. How much extra? I’ll pay the difference to you in a bit.”

The sound of flushing water came from the other end of the line. “How about four times the price?”

The driver was clever; knowing the car had a recording system, he deliberately chose to negotiate the price before arriving. However, this price could hardly be called reasonable.

“You…” Ye Linghan frowned. He had booked the most expensive tier on the platform, which was estimated at around two hundred yuan. Charging four times that meant the total would be a thousand yuan. Even though Ye Linghan had plenty of pocket money, he hated being treated like a sucker.

Before he could argue, the driver spoke again: “Or you could just cancel the order and find someone else. But with how remote your location is, I doubt anyone else would be willing to come.” He spoke with bravado, clearly betting that Ye Linghan wouldn’t cancel.

But Ye Linghan wasn’t the type to take a loss lying down. A price could be negotiated at the start, but hiking it up mid-journey was unacceptable. He was just about to press the end-call button when another call coincidentally beeped in, interrupting his conversation with the driver.

Ye Linghan answered the new call. A man’s voice came from the other end: “Linghan, where are you? Get here quickly!”

“Okay,” Ye Linghan agreed.

The person on the other end was his college roommate and one of his few close friends, Zhao Tang, who was currently working as an assistant at the Abnormal Trace Research and Investigation Department.

After hanging up, Ye Linghan’s finger hovered over the driver’s number on his screen. He wanted to dial back, but he felt a surge of indignation. However, for the sake of what Zhao Tang had said, and after a brief internal struggle, he chose to call the driver back.

The call was answered quickly. The driver’s voice remained hoarse, now mixed with a hint of laziness. He said flatly, “Now it’s five times.”

Profiteer—you’ll never make a cent in your life! Ye Linghan cursed in his heart, but his tone remained pleasant. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Fine, five times it is. Please hurry.”

“Sure thing~” Seeing how readily Ye Linghan agreed, the greedy driver only regretted that he hadn’t pushed the price even higher.

After that unpleasant interlude, Ye Linghan no longer felt like investigating the strange bookshelf. Instead, he went back to the upstairs bedroom; the lingering scent there helped put his mind at ease.

As noon approached, the sun was at its peak. However, the air in the East City was relatively humid, so it wasn’t overly dry.

The phone rang again. In the distance outside the window, the sound of a car horn blared intermittently—the black-hearted driver’s impatient signal. It made Ye Linghan feel quite irritable.

He walked up to the car. Just as he pulled the door open, a cloud of white smoke billowed out toward him. Ye Linghan instinctively ducked back.

What is this? As he wondered, he felt a slight, sharp pain in his head.

“Are you getting in or what?” Seeing Ye Linghan hesitating, the driver rolled down the window and grumbled.

Ye Linghan frowned, suppressed his anger, and got into the car. He went through the routine of confirming the last digits of his phone number. Once inside, he finally got a clear look at the driver through the rearview mirror.

The man looked exactly as Ye Linghan had imagined: a middle-aged man in his forties, bald, with a fleshy face. He wore a floral shirt and a thick gold chain around his neck—the kind that looked like it might not be pure gold. He looked like someone who was not to be messed with.

“Damn, this smoke is strong,” the driver muttered to himself, stubbing out a cigarette butt that was only an inch long in the overflowing ashtray on the passenger side.

Ye Linghan followed the movement of the driver’s hand. The ashtray was shockingly full of butts, far exceeding a normal daily intake for an adult male. Judging by the pile, there were about thirty of them.

Ye Linghan observed quietly. He’s smoked this much and hasn’t died yet? His filtration system must be powerful.

He wasn’t sure if the cigarettes had accumulated over time or if this was just the morning’s intake. If it were only from this morning, it would be frightening. Then again, considering the smoke that had poured out of the car earlier, it was self-explanatory.

As the engine started, Ye Linghan asked, “Master, what brand are those cigarettes?”

“No brand. Custom-made.” Perhaps because they were talking about a topic of interest, the driver’s tone became unexpectedly relaxed. He lazily looked up and glanced at Ye Linghan through the mirror. “What? Want one? That’ll cost you. A pack of these isn’t cheap.”

How expensive could it be? Ye Linghan didn’t smoke, so he didn’t know.

The route from the villa to the city passed through a stretch of sparsely populated land with wide roads. There were no villages or shops nearby, and not another car in sight. The driver slowed down and held up two hooked fingers toward the back.

Seeing this, Ye Linghan blurted out, “Ninety?”

To his surprise, the driver snorted. “Heh, I tell you, what’s the point of living in such a nice villa if you’ve got no worldliness at all?” As he spoke, he shook his hand more vigorously. “It’s nine thousand!”

He emphasized the number, sounding both boastful and dismissive.

Nine thousand? Ye Linghan’s mouth hung open in shock. He truly hadn’t expected a seemingly ordinary pack of cigarettes to cost nine thousand yuan.

He wasn’t the “unworldly” person the driver claimed he was. Having grown up beside Yin Chen, he had seen plenty of luxury and extravagance. However, a nine-thousand-yuan pack of cigarettes didn’t fit into his worldview.

Furthermore, he rarely saw Yin Chen smoke, so he had even less contact with such things.

No wonder the fare was so high; this man was clearly an old hand at scamming people for money. He was making a living on “black heart” money. While shocked, Ye Linghan cursed him inwardly.

But where would a taxi driver get the connections to buy cigarettes worth nine thousand yuan? How could a driver have such channels and a network?

“Where can one buy these?”

Seeing Ye Linghan ask, a smug smile spread across the driver’s face. He seemed to think that showing off to a wealthy person gave him more prestige. “These cigarettes are hard to find. But if you give me a purchasing fee, maybe I can help you out.”

Ye Linghan didn’t take the bait immediately. “If they’re so expensive, they must be unique, right?” He wasn’t the type to fall for the same trick twice with the same person. Besides, he had his own connections; he didn’t need to suffer this loss.

“You don’t smoke?” the driver asked.

Ye Linghan nodded. “No. How did you know?”

The driver sneered. “Cigarettes are addictive. The way you asked that question so calmly… It’s obvious you’ve never smoked.”

Ye Linghan smiled. “It’s true, it’s not for me. It’s for my mas… my friend.” In the past, he had been forced to call Yin Chen “Master.” As time went on, he found the title strange and gradually stopped using it. Fortunately, Yin Chen seemed to allow the change.

However, having used the term for so many years, it still slipped out occasionally.

Perhaps it was because the smoke had dissipated, but the faint headache Ye Linghan had felt earlier had subsided significantly.

“Shit!” Suddenly, the driver’s curse and the screech of brakes pierced through Ye Linghan’s ears.