Chapter 45
Chapter 45
Whenever Xiao Huai grew excited, the tips of his ears turned faintly red. Snowflakes as soft as feathers settled in his hair. When the wind blew, the shirt beneath his coat shifted, offering fleeting glimpses of skin.
Lu Yuanshi stared until Xiao Huai’s skin crawled. Xiao Huai moved aside to make room. “If you want to ride it, you can.”
“I don’t know how.”
Lu Yuanshi answered without the slightest hesitation.
The corner of Xiao Huai’s mouth twitched as though he were suppressing a laugh. “That’s fine. I do. You’ll have to suffer through riding pillion.”
Lu Yuanshi watched his every move, then tilted his head and chuckled softly.
Xiao Huai did not notice. He was still examining the motorcycle. The key was already in the ignition, and the fuel gauge showed a normal level.
What incredible luck.
It was rare for the god of fortune to favor him.
Wind howled past. In the distance came the sound of an approaching car, and Xiao Huai looked toward the iron gate.
“They’re here.”
He exchanged a glance with Lu Yuanshi, and the two hid behind a small shed.
Before long, four people dressed in black appeared against the snow.
They carried several baskets of produce, and each wore thick leather gloves. Upon reaching the manor gate, they checked the mailbox.
Only after confirming it contained no letters did they leave the baskets at the entrance.
Xiao Huai watched them intently. As soon as they departed, he called to Lu Yuanshi and leaped onto the driver’s seat. Leaning forward, he twisted the throttle.
The winter cold made the engine slow to start.
Xiao Huai worked the choke. By then, Lu Yuanshi had seated himself behind him, though he still kept some distance between them.
Starting the motorcycle had already cost them time, and the coming acceleration could easily throw a passenger off through sheer inertia.
Lu Yuanshi was injured. No matter how much Xiao Huai disliked physical contact, he would not make such a basic mistake.
His right hand remained on the throttle. Glancing back from the corner of his eye, Xiao Huai caught one of Lu Yuanshi’s hands where it hung at his side and gave it a firm tug.
Lu Yuanshi froze. The next second, his hand rested against Xiao Huai’s waist.
Xiao Huai’s voice came from within his arms. “Hold tight.”
The instant the words left his mouth, the engine roared. The smell of burning fuel flooded the air.
Yet all Lu Yuanshi could smell was Xiao Huai’s distinctive scent.
It held the clean sweetness of night-blooming cereus opening on a midsummer night. It lacked the cloying sweetness of perfume, yet inspired an irresistible longing.
Xiao Huai opened the throttle, and the motorcycle surged forward, its tires carving tracks through the snow.
Lu Yuanshi instinctively gripped Xiao Huai’s waist.
Xiao Huai was not excessively muscular. He was tall, lean, and well proportioned, his lines smooth and clean.
Whenever he concentrated, his muscles tightened unconsciously.
Lu Yuanshi held his waist with one hand. The taut contours of Xiao Huai’s abdomen stirred an inexplicable itch in his fingers, a constant temptation to give them a squeeze.
Xiao Huai glanced sideways at him.
What was he looking at?
“Nice abs.” Lu Yuanshi suddenly rested his chin against Xiao Huai’s back and wrapped both arms firmly around his waist.
The unexpected movement made Xiao Huai’s spine go rigid. The freezing wind tousled his hair and left his ears aching with cold.
When Lu Yuanshi spoke, hot breath spilled across the back of his neck, sending a tremor through his entire body. If Lu Yuanshi had not been injured and if he had not been as warm as a living hand warmer, Xiao Huai would have accelerated just to throw him off.
The people in black drove a white sedan toward town.
Xiao Huai deliberately maintained enough distance to avoid detection while keeping the car within sight.
They drove for a very long time. Before they knew it, sunset had climbed across the sky, staining it orange-red with its brilliant afterglow.
The town center gradually came into focus, filled with shops and low-rise buildings.
At last, the white sedan entered a factory. A set of crooked characters above the entrance read: DIAMOND FACTORY.
Xiao Huai stopped the motorcycle a short distance away. They had finally arrived. After the long ride, nearly his entire body had gone numb.
Warm breath had repeatedly washed over the sensitive skin at the back of his neck. He had even heard the slow rhythm of steady breathing.
Lu Yuanshi had definitely fallen asleep against him.
“Hey, Lu Yuanshi. Wake up.” Xiao Huai smacked twice at the hands clasped around his waist.
Lu Yuanshi only hugged him tighter. Xiao Huai clicked his tongue and drove an elbow backward.
“Hiss…”
Lu Yuanshi’s pained sound brushed his ear. His grip loosened, and Xiao Huai immediately dismounted.
Without its driver to steady it, the motorcycle nearly toppled over. Lu Yuanshi seemed startled and hurriedly caught its balance.
Whether or not he had slept well, Xiao Huai had certainly woken him now.
“Sleep well?” The corner of Xiao Huai’s mouth curved upward, teasing amusement in his eyes.
Lu Yuanshi steadied the motorcycle and put on the most transparently fake expression of grievance imaginable.
“I’m still injured, you know.”
Xiao Huai snorted. Being injured didn’t give you the right to breathe down my neck the whole way.
Xiao Huai was skilled at concealing his emotions, but his skin was precisely the opposite. It reacted visibly to the slightest stimulation.
Even now, his neck remained flushed crimson.
Xiao Huai sighed. “Next time, don’t press so close to me. I get…”
He could not bring himself to finish. Lu Yuanshi, utterly incapable of reading the mood, leaned closer and tilted his head.
“You get what?”
“Worked up easily!” Xiao Huai shouted. Almost at once, he realized how strange that answer sounded.
What he had meant was that his skin reacted easily.
He could only hope Lu Yuanshi would not misunderstand.
Lu Yuanshi froze, then arched an eyebrow with interest. “So that’s what you’re into.”
His tone was teasing. Xiao Huai did not understand at first. When realization dawned, his expression darkened and his back teeth clenched.
“You really are…” Xiao Huai glared at him, searching through countless insults before finally managing only, “Heh. You’re imagining things.”
Unwilling to continue the subject, Xiao Huai turned toward the Diamond Factory.
The four-story building was brightly lit. Guards patrolled the entrance, and any attempt to barge in would be noticed at once.
As he studied the factory’s structure and surroundings, a cool voice sounded unexpectedly behind him.
“Why do you want to enter the factory? Do you think there are clues inside?”
Xiao Huai did not turn toward Lu Yuanshi. He bought a pair of binoculars from the System Shop and carefully inspected every corner of the factory, searching for a way in.
He heard Lu Yuanshi’s question clearly and answered it.
“The reason is simple: the game’s title. This instance is called *Diamond Magnate*, and magnates usually possess enormous wealth. Beneath that wealth lies a vast commercial empire, and behind such an empire, there is always an army of suffering workers.”
He lowered the binoculars and cast Lu Yuanshi a sidelong, almost playful glance as he finished his thought.
“If we make proper use of their suffering, those workers themselves become our clues.”