Chapter 16

The male manager was now thoroughly furious; if anything happened to this Wu family young master here, his own boss would definitely hold him accountable, and by then his manager position would surely be lost.

"You, you go up and tie these two up; when Young Master Jiang arrives, let him deal with them—quickly!" the male manager ordered the security.

The bodyguards assumed a defensive stance; seeing the two men's muscular builds and hulking frames, the security guards instantly felt a bit timid.

"Come on, what are you scared of? A bunch of good-for-nothings—if anything happens to the Wu family young master, Young Master Jiang will come after someone, and you won't be able to escape." Seeing them hesitate, the male manager angrily berated them, and the security guards had no choice but to step forward.

Song Manager had been at Nyx longer than the male manager and knew the boss a bit better, so just now she dared to threaten the Wu family young master. Seeing the situation, she stepped in to stop them: "No fighting! When Young Master Jiang arrives, I'll explain to him that it was the Wu family young master who first laid hands on the customer with unclean hands."

The male manager himself looked down on women; hearing this, he frowned and said, "What do you know? Would Young Master Jiang really turn against the Wu family over a woman?"

"You!" Song Manager was about to say something when several people walked up from the end of the hallway.

The person leading the group said indifferently, "What's the commotion?"

Everyone turned their heads in unison; the person at the front was none other than Jiang Jibai, the boss of Nyx.

Zhou Yinhe followed lazily behind him, glanced up at the chaotic crowd, then withdrew his gaze expressionlessly.

Because Wen Ling was blocked behind by two bodyguards as big as mountains, Zhou Yinhe simply didn't see her.

"Young Master," the male manager stepped forward, pointing at the two bodyguards and said, "These two beat up the Wu family young master."

Jiang Jibai slightly furrowed his brows, his gaze sweeping over the Wu family young master lying on the ground, covering his mouth and unable to speak, then he looked at the two bodyguards and said coldly, "Whose are you?"

Song Manager stepped forward and explained, "Young Master, it was the Wu family young master who tried to forcibly take the customer into a private room, which is why the customer's bodyguard hit him."

Jiang Jibai was very familiar with these spoiled young masters who often came around, so naturally he also knew this Wu family young master's temperament. He ordered the security to help the Wu family young master up, and the latter, with difficulty, said, "Jiang bro, you have to stand up for me."

Seeing his state, Jiang Jibai could hardly conceal his disgust; he glanced sideways at the woman whose face was half-hidden behind the bodyguards, and felt she looked somewhat familiar.

At that moment, Wen Ling seemed unable to stand; she leaned on the bodyguard and retched once, swayed slightly, and just then her face became fully visible to everyone.

Jiang Jibai saw her and was momentarily stunned: "Wen Ling?"

Zhou Yinhe suddenly lifted his head, staring straight at Wen Ling, and Qi Zhan also seemed dazed.

Song Manager had risen to her position not only because she had a gift for gab but also because she was adept at reading people's expressions; seeing that several young masters' faces were off, she continued, "It's this customer—I couldn't stop the Wu family young master, but fortunately the customer had a bodyguard nearby, otherwise something would surely have happened."

Wen Ling slowly lifted her eyelids, saw Zhou Yinhe not far away looking at her, and a wave of grievance surged up, forcing the tears she had held back all night to spill down her cheeks.

She shoved the bodyguard aside, staggered forward, and flung herself into Zhou Yinhe's arms; he instinctively caught her waist and heard her murmur, "How could you stand me up?"

Song Manager lowered her eyes, realizing that this pretty little girl would surely be fine, and breathed a sigh of relief. On the contrary, the male manager's heart rose to his throat; anyone could see that the relationship between this customer and the Fifth Young Master of the Zhou family was anything but ordinary.

Wen Ling clutched Zhou Yinhe's clothes tightly, sobbing with choking sounds, feeling utterly wronged.

Zhou Yinhe pressed his lips together, still pulling her into his embrace, and whispered an apology: "I'm sorry."

At that moment the air seemed to freeze; the onlookers stared blankly at the Zhou family Fifth Young Master, whose behavior was utterly unlike his usual self, and even Jiang Jibai and Qi Zhan were somewhat stunned.

Jiang Jibai gave Song Manager a look, then told Zhou Yinhe, "Have Song Manager take her first to sober up."

Song Manager stepped forward, half-supporting, half-embracing Wen Ling; Wen Ling slowly loosened her grip on Zhou Yinhe's clothes, lifted her eyes to glance at him, bit her lip in resentment, and still followed Song Manager away.

The two bodyguards followed suit, thinking, "We're unfamiliar with this place—who knows if Song Manager will do something untoward to the young lady?"

Only when Wen Ling's figure disappeared from sight did Zhou Yinhe gradually withdraw his gaze, turning to look at the Wu family young master being helped up by the security.

He clenched his fists, and involuntarily began to imagine what would happen to Wen Ling if she were really dragged away by him.

Before anyone could react, Zhou Yinhe strode forward, threw a punch that landed on the Wu family young master's face, knocking him to the ground—but that wasn't enough; he followed with kick after kick, savagely stomping him.

Zhou Yinhe had rarely fought since childhood and had no need to fight; his sudden lash-out left everyone astonished.

Jiang Jibai didn't intervene either, knowing that stopping Zhou Yinhe now would be futile; only when the Wu family young master's original wails grew faint did Jiang Jibai and Qi Zhan together grab Zhou Yinhe.

Zhou Yinhe's face darkened to a frightening degree; his narrow eyes were filled with hostility, and even as the two men held him back he struggled a bit.

"If you keep beating him, he'll lose his breath," Jiang Jibai advised in a low voice.

Qi Zhan also urged, "Don't kill him; dealing with a corpse would be troublesome. Wait until he sobers up, then take it out on his family."

Zhou Yinhe gritted his teeth, suppressing the surging hostility, and shook out his aching hand.

Seeing him calm down, Jiang Jibai instructed the security: "Take the Wu family young master to the hospital; if his family inquires, tell them to come find me."

"Yes." The security stepped forward, lifted the Wu family young master, and hurried away.

At that moment, Song Manager returned alone and said, "That young lady said she doesn't want to stay here anymore; she's already left."

Zhou Yinhe then calmed down, standing silently in place for a while; just as he was about to leave, Qi Zhan grabbed him.

"Where are you going?"

Zhou Yinhe didn't know either.

Thus he was dragged into the private room; Jiang Jibai closed the door, and the room instantly fell silent.

Zhou Yinhe wearily closed his eyes, leaned his head back against the sofa with his Adam's apple moving a few times, and hoarsely blamed himself: "She came here because I stood her up, leaving her in a bad mood."

"That's not your fault either," Qi Zhan consoled him.

But Zhou Yinhe said, "If I hadn't stood her up, or if I had been more straightforward in telling her, she might not have been so upset, wouldn't have gotten so drunk, and wouldn't have run into that beast."

Jiang Jibai stood beside him, face indifferent, eyes downcast as he looked at him.

"Xiao Wu, you still can't let her go, can you? Even if it might mean repeating history, enduring again the pain you once couldn't bear, you still can't let her go, right?"

Zhou Yinhe opened his eyes, his gaze full of bewilderment: "I don't know either."

What he went through three years ago was truly agonizing, but seeing her cry before him now made him feel even more tormented than that past pain.

Seeing him like this, the two who regarded him as their own younger brother felt just as miserable.

"As long as you're not afraid, just try again." Qi Zhan made up his mind for him.