The Vampire Tycoon Secretly Loves Me - Chapter 9

Ye Linghan slept straight through until the sun was high in the sky. Likely due to the medicine, he woke up with a splitting headache. On the bright side, he hadn’t had any dreams and slept quite soundly.

“Hiss…” Ye Linghan tapped his head with his hand. The intense vertigo made him extremely uncomfortable as he struggled to sit up and lean against the headboard.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, the sudden brightness stinging his eyes so much he could hardly open them. He felt his face was swollen; too lazy to lift his hand, he tentatively licked the inside of his cheek. A searing pain shot through him, making him shudder.

Damn, that hurts!

What exactly happened last night? Ye Linghan frowned, carefully retracing the previous evening’s events.

Wang De, that old bastard! Ye Linghan cursed in his heart.

He didn’t even dare to look at his face in the mirror because he knew, without a doubt, it was swollen. As for whether it was bruised or cut, he lacked the experience to analyze it—after all, this was his first time being beaten, and it had happened quite inexplicably.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by a knock on the bedroom door. Ye Linghan grew alert, straightening his posture slightly as he looked toward the entrance.

“Come in.”

The door pushed open, and Yin Ste walked in. “You’re awake?” he said.

A waiter carrying a glass of water followed behind Yin Ste.

Yin Ste and Ye Linghan had only occasionally crossed paths while accompanying Yin Chen outdoors; beyond that, they had no real interaction. His appearance here felt somewhat abrupt.

“Um, Second Young Master…” Ye Linghan greeted him politely. After all, the man was Yin Chen’s younger brother and held a certain level of prestige within the family.

Ye Linghan tried to get up, but Yin Ste stepped forward and pressed him back down. “Just stay lying down. You took quite a beating yesterday, so I thought I’d come check on you.”

Since when did he care so much about me? Ye Linghan maintained a forced smile while inwardly calculating. He recalled Yin Ste being at the scene yesterday, appearing almost immediately after he was hit—the timing was a bit too fast and suspiciously precise.

“Thank you for your concern, Second Young Master,” Ye Linghan nodded.

Yin Ste took the water from the waiter and dismissed him. He sat down beside Ye Linghan. “It’s nothing. Brother told me to look after you more often.”

So it was Yin Chen’s instructions. That made sense. Ye Linghan didn’t give it another thought.

Yin Ste handed him the glass. Ye Linghan took it and took a sip. The water was incredibly timely; having gone all night without a drink, he desperately needed the “source of life.”

The two sat in the room in a stiff silence as the conversation died. The atmosphere grew awkward; they weren’t close and had nothing to talk about.

Eventually, Yin Ste broke the silence. “Brother has pretty much settled everything regarding yesterday’s matter. No one will be able to hurt you again.”

“Oh, I see. That’s quite a lot of trouble for him.” Ye Linghan’s mind was a mess, and he wasn’t sure why he had blurted out such a casual remark.

Beside him, Yin Ste’s mouth twitched, looking at Ye Linghan with an expression of utter confusion.

Realizing his words sounded too flippant, Ye Linghan felt that trying to explain would only make it worse, so he just gave an awkward smile.

“Have you heard of CLY-20?” Yin Ste asked tentatively.

Why is he asking about that? Ye Linghan immediately became guarded. However, one shouldn’t act too clever when out and about, so he chose to play dumb, shaking his head. “No. What is that?”

Yin Ste smiled. “Nothing.” He changed the subject. “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere else?”

Ye Linghan gave a bitter smile. “I’m alright, it’s just my face hurts.”

Based on what Yin Ste had just said, Ye Linghan was fairly certain that Wang De had drugged him with a vampire-specific serum. As for the hidden details behind it, those remained unknown. It had been lost for a long time; why was it suddenly resurfacing now? Or perhaps it had been a long-premeditated plan.

There was plenty of time; he could investigate it slowly on his own.

“By the way, where is the Master?”

He hadn’t seen Yin Chen since he woke up and had no idea where he’d gone.

“Brother is in a meeting. He’ll probably be back in a while,” Yin Ste replied.

So busy…

Ye Linghan suddenly felt that being a boss with a thousand things to do every day wasn’t that great. Although you could take time off whenever you wanted, you weren’t truly free.

“Then I’ll wait for him here.”

In reality, he had no choice but to wait here.

Yin Ste nodded. Seeing that Ye Linghan was fine, he didn’t stay much longer. “Since you seem okay, I won’t disturb your rest.” He stood up to leave, taking a small bottle from his pocket and handing it to Ye Linghan.

“This helps with blood circulation and removing bruises. Brother told me to give it to you.” After saying this, Yin Ste pointed to the corner of his own mouth, then at Ye Linghan.

Would Yin Chen really ask him to bring medicine? Though suspicious, Ye Linghan instinctively reached out to take it. “Thank you.”

After watching Yin Ste leave, Ye Linghan examined the ointment. It was a small, round porcelain jar. He opened it and took a sniff; aside from the bitter scent of herbs, there was nothing unusual about it.

In the vampire world, especially among the high-ranking circles, interpersonal relationships were chaotic, and most people harbored ulterior motives. Everything was based on interest. From his standpoint, he trusted no one except Yin Chen.

Therefore, Ye Linghan did not use the medicine Yin Ste gave him, but instead placed it casually on the nightstand.

Furthermore, the latter’s motive was blurry. Besides, for high-ranking vampires, Yin Chen only needed to move a finger to heal the bruises—even the two blood-holes in his neck were repaired instantly. There was no need for ointment.

“Gurgle—” Ye Linghan covered his stomach. Luckily, he was alone in the room. Thinking back to the night before, he had been too busy fending off drinks and hadn’t eaten much since. It was only natural for his stomach to protest.

But his body was in too much pain, and he was too lazy to go downstairs. He pressed the dedicated phone by the bed. “Hello, please send up some breakfast.”

“Certainly, sir. What would you like to eat? Any dietary restrictions?” the waiter’s voice replied.

“No, nothing specific. Just bring whatever you think is best.”

It was going on Yin Chen’s tab anyway; his only job was to eat.

Because he was aching all over, Ye Linghan curled up on the bed, hugging the quilt to rest his eyes. In a daze, he heard the door to the outer room push open.

Is the service this attentive now? Bringing it right in?

Ye Linghan felt his current state wasn’t fit for company, so he said loudly, “Please just leave it outside the room.”

He planned to wait until they left before getting out of bed to eat.

To his surprise, the footsteps outside grew closer, showing no sign of stopping. Then, the bedroom door was pushed open. At the same time, Ye Linghan “catapulted” into a sitting position, looking toward the door.

“You…” He was about to ask the waiter why they hadn’t left it outside, but the words died in his throat when he saw the visitor. Yin Chen stood leaning against the doorway with a tray, looking at him with a half-smile.

Ye Linghan swallowed. “I…”

Why is it him? Is the boss doing a grassroots inspection?

“Where are you eating?” Yin Chen asked.

Ye Linghan blurted out, “Outside.”

“Okay.” As Yin Chen spoke, he walked straight toward Ye Linghan.

Hey! Wait, didn’t I say outside? Ye Linghan watched the approaching Yin Chen, wondering if he had misspoken.

Amidst Ye Linghan’s look of utter bewilderment, Yin Chen placed the tray on the long table at the foot of the bed. Then, he came to Ye Linghan’s side and raised his hand. His fingertips brushed against Ye Linghan’s swollen cheek; the touch wasn’t exactly gentle, but it didn’t hurt much either.

“Does it still hurt?”

Ye Linghan nodded honestly. “Yes.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw a faint purple light suddenly appear in Yin Chen’s palm. Yin Chen’s hand swept down, and Ye Linghan could clearly feel that his face no longer hurt as it had before.

If there were a mirror in front of him, he would have seen the bruises slowly fading away.

“It’s better now.” Yin Chen withdrew his hand and walked straight back to the end of the bed.

Ye Linghan picked up the bottle of ointment from the nightstand. “The Second Young Master said you told him to give this to me.”

“Throw it away. I didn’t tell him to give you anything.” Yin Chen didn’t look back; he simply picked up the tray and walked out.

Eh? Ye Linghan’s hand, holding the ointment, froze in mid-air, leaving him at a loss.

What’s wrong with him? Why so cold all of a sudden…

Ye Linghan slowly lowered his hand and tossed the ointment onto the nightstand. He rubbed his chest. It hurts so much—

On the plane back to Dongcheng, Ye Linghan sat cross-legged on the sofa in a daze. His mind was a mess, unable to focus on any one thing. Within two seconds, he would invariably think of Yin Chen’s back.

Ye Linghan’s gaze drifted toward the workaholic Yin Chen, who sat diagonally across from him. Rare for a business trip, Yin Chen hadn’t locked himself in the study for a meeting but was currently holding a magazine.

Yin Chen was focused on the magazine, his slender fingers moving as he toyed with the corner of a page. “If you have something to say, say it.”

For a moment, Ye Linghan felt like a student caught daydreaming in class. He immediately straightened his back. “No, it’s nothing.”

He didn’t know what to ask. He couldn’t exactly ask why the other man was being so cold to him; he didn’t have the standing to do so.

Yin Chen looked up, glancing at Ye Linghan with a raised eyebrow and a mocking smile. Not only was Ye Linghan dazing off, but Yin Chen himself hadn’t flipped a single page of the magazine; it had stayed the same.

“Really, nothing you want to ask?” Yin Chen’s tone was icy. He sometimes wondered if he wasn’t good enough for Ye Linghan, which is why the boy had said those things last night. Yet, he was also afraid that being too good to him would prevent him from keeping the boy safe.

Yin Chen had blamed himself for a long time for not arriving on time the previous night.

“That President Wang…” Ye Linghan didn’t know what to say and grabbed a random topic.

“Sun Mao handled him.” Hearing Ye Linghan ask about another man, Yin Chen’s dissatisfaction grew.

“Huh?” Yin Chen didn’t say how he was handled, but Ye Linghan assumed he was dead. He widened his eyes, his lips slightly parted as he stared blankly at Yin Chen.

Is he worried about that man? Yin Chen narrowed his eyes.

Clearly, he had misunderstood.

But he couldn’t just answer. “Mhm,” Yin Chen said coldly.

Seeing that Yin Chen was unwilling to say more, Ye Linghan assumed he was just tired from the recent meetings and stopped asking.

Ye Linghan rubbed the ring on his finger. He wasn’t used to wearing one, so it felt like an uncomfortable foreign object. But because Yin Chen had given it to him, he couldn’t bear to take it off, so he could only force himself to adapt.

Yin Chen, however, keenly captured this detail.

It seems he really likes it, Yin Chen silently convinced himself. His icy expression softened slightly, and he looked down at the magazine again, managing to flip a few pages.

After returning to Dongcheng, Yin Chen went back to the office. Ye Linghan changed into light, casual clothes and put on a black baseball cap. He went to the busiest section of the commercial street. Next to the entrance of a shopping mall’s underground parking lot, there was a narrow side door. The sign above it had long since peeled, making the text unreadable.

However, Ye Linghan approached it with great familiarity. The dilapidated wall stood in stark contrast to the surrounding luxury. Two oil lamps emitting a dim light were mounted on the walls on either side of the door.

Ye Linghan reached for the pull ring under one of the lamps. After pulling it gently, he turned his hand. With a “click,” the small door swung open. It was pitch black inside, with only a faint glimmer from the far end allowing one to barely see the path beneath their feet.

Despite the exterior decay, the dim light revealed that the inside was well-maintained. Ye Linghan didn’t hesitate and walked straight in.

Once inside, there was another small door. A boy stood to the side, standing on his tiptoes to peer out. Upon seeing Ye Linghan, his face filled with irrepressible joy.

“Master, you’re here!” The boy skipped over to Ye Linghan. He was quite a bit shorter, so he had to look up to speak.

The boy was very handsome, with delicate features and no hint of aggression; he was the type of person people instinctively wanted to be near.

“Mm. How has your practice been today?” Ye Linghan reached out and patted the boy’s head with a hint of doting.

The boy couldn’t hide his grin, which revealed a pair of shallow dimples.

“Master, I’ve been practicing hard! Why are you so late today?” The boy took Ye Linghan’s hand and led him further inside.

He let the boy pull him along, following behind. “I’ve been busy these past few days and didn’t have time to come. Let me see if you’ve made any progress.”

“I definitely have!” The boy spoke with a trace of pride.

There was a bar counter near the entrance. The boy pulled Ye Linghan along for a few quick steps to the counter and said to the middle-aged man sitting inside, “Dad, Master is here!”

The middle-aged man hurriedly stood up when he saw Ye Linghan and walked around the counter. “I’m really sorry to trouble you, coming here all the time to teach my son.” He then looked at the boy. “Zilian, you must learn marksmanship well from your teacher. That way, you can help more people in the future, understand?”

Zilian nodded. “Mm, I know!”

This boy’s name was Xu Zilian, a child Ye Linghan had rescued from a vampire two years ago.