Then he said to Xie Qingcheng, “Just look at how badly you’ve scared her. If she’s not to your liking, you should just tell me. I’ll find someone else to attend to you. I’ll keep swapping them out until you’re satisfied.”
Xie Qingcheng rested his forehead in a shaking hand without a word. The drug had already stoked the heat within him to the point of madness. His mind began to blur, making him feel as though his very blood had caught on fire. He leaned back against the tea table, gasping for breath, his eyes suffused with red as he shuddered uncontrollably from head to toe. Humans were fundamentally weak in the face of such primal desire. Even such a cool-headed and self-disciplined man had no way of staving off the fervent lust that this drug stirred up inside him.
He Yu wound his fingers through the young woman’s long hair repeatedly as he gestured toward another girl. “Your turn now. Go serve him properly. Be smart about it now.”
“Stay away,” groaned Xie Qingcheng.
The girl paused, stuck between a rock and a hard place.
He Yu said mildly, “Just do as I say.”
Steeling herself, the hostess pulled Xie Qingcheng upright and tried her best to bring him over to the sofa. But she wasn’t very strong to begin with, and Xie Qingcheng was heavy; in the process, the woman inadvertently landed in Xie Qingcheng’s arms.
She cried out softly, “Aiya…”
Xie Qingcheng’s scalp went numb. It had indeed been ages since he last slept with anyone. He had never been enthusiastic about sex when he was with Li Ruoqiu, and after they broke up, he had basically been celibate. He rarely even took care of things by himself. With the drugged liquor fanning the flames and heating up the lust in his body to its boiling point, he found himself reacting against his will when that supple body leaned into him, even though he was so furious he wished he were dead.
As it turned out, Xie Qingcheng happened to be just this woman’s type—handsome and tall with an especially masculine aura, so ascetic and self-controlled even as his body burned with lust and gave off a man’s uniquely male hormones. Emboldened, she wrapped her arms around him and enthusiastically pressed closer.
Xie Qingcheng abruptly ducked away from her. He said in an extremely hoarse voice, “Get away from me…”
“Ge…”
Xie Qingcheng bellowed harshly, “Are you deaf? I told you to get away from me!”
He Yu looked on coolly from across the room. This man was really fucking good at acting and restraint, he thought. Even at this point he could still control himself, remaining solemn and composed, unwilling to even touch a woman who had thrown herself at him. He’d spent so long masquerading as a respectable person that he didn’t want to remove his mask anymore, did he?
Just as there were those among the hostesses who were meek, there were also some who were more daring. One of the girls, seeing the way Xie Qingcheng never spared a single glance at her or her fellow hostesses, was suddenly struck by an idea. Hoping to win He Yu’s favor with an unconventional gambit, she assumed the role of a bumbling advisor and whispered to him, “Young Master He, about this friend of yours… Could it be that he’s…”
He Yu didn’t catch her drift. His face cold, he asked, “He’s what?”
Instead of saying it outright, the girl said, “Young Master He, we also have some very handsome male hosts here…”
It took three seconds for He Yu to figure out what she meant.
“He’s not. That won’t be necessary.”
Xie Qingcheng was as straight as an arrow. He’d be disgusted to no end by the attention of those girly little homos.
The girl, however, had a look on her face that said, Well, it’s not like you’d necessarily know whether he’s gay or not. Given the people who patronized this establishment, what kinds of outlandish clientele and acts of absurdity hadn’t these hostesses seen? Young Master He really was too young and lacking in imagination.
Of course, this disrespectful thought had to be kept to herself. Since Young Master He had vetoed her suggestion, she couldn’t insist any further. But for some reason, the girl’s words made He Yu think back to Neverland and the guestbook he had seen.
There had indeed been a lot of bottoms who had written in the guestbook, all of them thirsting after Xie Qingcheng, saying he was so manly, that he was the ideal top. And what about himself? He was the one who kept getting harassed by men in the past, and those blind bastards in that guestbook had even said that they wanted to top him.
He Yu got mad just thinking about it. To outsiders, he was always weaker than Xie Qingcheng. Even in this aspect, he was inferior to Xie Qingcheng.
But now, who was the one who was helpless before the other? He looked down at Xie Qingcheng’s flushed skin and the silent endurance etched into his features. He actually seemed a bit fragile.
He ought to let those damn gays who called Xie Qingcheng “ge” and thought he was invincible see him now—this was the ideal top of their dreams? Such a lustful, wretched appearance, burning under the influence of alcohol yet still unwilling to touch those women.
Now, if he were the one being topped—that would be more like it!
The idea made He Yu’s heart skip a beat, although he didn’t know why. The very thought of Xie Qingcheng getting fucked sent a subtle thrill through his cerebral cortex, as if some nerve had been struck with a jolt of electricity.
A crash snapped He Yu out of his daze.
The girls were just as shocked. Xie Qingcheng’s body was enduring such unbearable torment that he’d abruptly crushed the thick, branch-shaped glass lampstand near the tea table into pieces. He curled up on the ground in pain, the veins on his hands bulging as his body trembled.
The girls who could help relieve his torment were right next to him, yet he would rather endure it all the way through, unwilling to touch or look at them, even if he tortured himself to death.
These girls had seen their share of nasty perverts and usually spent their time rejecting and pushing them away. This was the first time they’d met such a gentleman, and even in their confusion, they felt somewhat bad for him.
Finally, the lead hostess spoke up. “Y-Young Master He, why don’t we try to resolve this a different way… If you have any resentment or grudges, you can resolve it in private in the future. But let’s just leave it at this for today, okay?”
She had a conscience, after all, and didn’t lack guts. Besides, there was a limit to the service offered in this establishment. If they really crossed the line, there wouldn’t be enough tea at the police station to go around.9 She saw how bad Xie Qingcheng’s condition was and how hard he was struggling, and even as her heart pounded in terror, she gathered her courage and lowered her head to try to talk He Yu around.