When Han Jia woke up, he felt as if he had been torn apart and used as adornment.

He lied down slowly first and took a few deep breaths. Suddenly, he sat up on the bed with a spurt of energy, turned over and got off the bed. He found a small stool at the side of the door, took his clothes off, neatly folded it before he quickly put on new clothes, pushed the door open and walked out.

Once he was out of the door, he froze in place immediately. As he turned around for another glance, he came torealize that he actually had the privilege of staying in the master bedroom on the second floor of Zhou Shijie"s villa last night. That knowledge made a confused expression creep up his face.

Normally, when Zhou Shijie messed with anyone, he would never stay the night at his own place and would disappear before dawn. As a routine, Zhou Shijie"s servant would always see Han Jia and the others out the door. Meanwhile, Han Jia would also make Zhang Xueming drive over and wait for him outside. But this time, I"m here by myself. s.h.i.t, it was hard to bear Zhou Shijie"s gameplay yesterday. I must have pa.s.sed out halfway. Doesn"t Zhang Xueming know to come in and ask for me when I didn"t come out?

While thinking that, Han Jia calmly walked down the stairs—not because he wanted to uphold a refined appearance, but there was no place on his whole body that wasn"t aching.

Both sides of the first-floor hall had French-style windows that let the warm sunlight in to brighten the room up. Once Han Jia reached the end of the stairs and stood still for a moment, he heard someone asked from the side, "You"re awake?"

Han Jia turned around and "put on" a faint smile, "Mr. Zhou."

Zhou Shijie had a strong and healthy stature, with very fierce eyes that he normally hid with a pair of non-prescription spectacles. Just one glance at him, Han Jia sincerely thought that that kind of concealment was unusually effective since compared to last night, Zhou Shijie"s current appearance makes him look like a normal person.

Aside from their occasional "gameplay", Zhou Shijie and him rarely converse. Now that they unexpectedly encountered each other, there was an awkward silence of about four to five seconds. Han Jia dreaded him completely and did not dare to rashly reveal his charm, but instead he continued to wear a small smile that conformed with the norms of society. "Mr. Zhou, if there"s nothing else, I"ll take my leave first."

Zhou Shijie had on a rather arrogant expression as he nodded and said, "Your footman came in to look for you yesterday, but I told him that you had pa.s.sed out and needed to rest for a while, so he left."

"Thank you for letting me stay the night." Han Jia said even though in his head he was beating Zhang Xueming viciously a few times.

Shou Shijie glanced at him, pondered for a bit and he said, "How does my father normally pay you?"

"In this kind of situation, Man Li and Ah Kai are worth three thousand each time." Han Jia answered carefully.

"And you?"

"I"m the procurer." Han Jian said but seeing no reaction from Zhou Shijie, he knew immediately that he did not understand what he meant. He lowered his voice, "It"s my honored that Mr. Zhou is willing to do business with us. How can I shamelessly take any money from you as well?"

"I understand," Zhou Shijie said before he searched his pocket for his wallet and pa.s.sed it to Han Jia. "I didn"t prepare anything. You can take this first."

Han Jia was a bit sunned, "This…I can"t accept it…"

Zhou Shijie stared at him, "Take it. I went on a business trip in another province a while ago and joined a club with some fellow enthusiasts." He stopped and continued without moving, "The "slaves" there are quite professional, but only when I think of you do I become excited."

Hearing that, Han Jia was a bit scared and on the edge. However, he still put forth a respectful appearance.

"Yesterday, those two people didn"t come, and you also pa.s.sed out. But, don"t worry. I won"t blame any of you. I really did enjoy myself to the fullest. Next time I call for someone, it"s fine if you come alone. I won"t treat you badly."

Han Jia"s heart twisted into a tight ball. He managed to squeeze out a smile as he reached his hand out to receive the wallet that Zhou Shijie had pa.s.sed to him while asking, "I understand. If there"s nothing else, I"ll take my leave first then?"

Suddenly, Zhou Shijie"s hand came towards his face and lifted his chin up. He scrutinized him with a completely expressionless face before turning Han Jia"s face side to side as if he was examining a piece of furniture. Han Jia pressed his luck and revealed a very charming, yet ambiguous smile.

"I heard that when you smile, it"s really intoxicating." Zhou Shijie tightened his brows, "But, actually when you cry…" he paused and let his hand go, "You can leave."

The second he heard those three words, Han Jia felt as though he had received a huge amnesty. Disregarding his physical discomfort, he employed the quickest speed he could managed and walked towards the front door. Once he was outside, he realized that his whole body had broken out in cold sweats.

Surprisingly enough, Zhang Xueming was not without conscience. He actually knew to wait for him outside.

When Han Jia sat down in the pa.s.senger seat, he didn"t even bother to scold him and say that he didn"t know how to handle anything. Instead, he just weakly signaled for him to drive while he, himself, leaned against the window and closed his eyes for a rest.

Zhang Xueming started the car and remained silence throughout the entire tide. By the time he stopped at Jin Ting, Han Jia automatically opened his eyes.

"Why did you park at the side door?" He muttered that question, then leaned back into the seat for a long while before he pushed the door open and got out of the car.

Before he had a chance to stand firmly, a dark silhouette suddenly pounced on top of him.

"Han Laoban! Han Laoban, please help me!" The person was a woman with curly hair. After rushing toward him like that, she hugged Han Jia"s waist firmly, looking as though she wanted to kneel.

"Man Li?" Han Jia was shock and was completely awake now.

The subordinate at the door saw that and was about to run over when Han Jia waved his hand and gestured for him now to come. Then he slowed his voice and said, "Stand up and talk properly."

Man Li held his hand lightly, but rather than standing up, she directly kneeled down and look up Han Jia instead.

"Han Laoban, let me come back. I, I"ve already quit…"

Han Jia looked at Man Li"s pale face underneath the sunlight and saw the makeup she had especially put on for this encounter. He sighed and dropped the temperature of his voice, "Man Li, you know the rules."

"I know, I shouldn"t look for you, Han Laoban. But in any case, I"ve been with you for three years and you drove me away…I, I can only go work at "those others places". I…"

As Man Li spoke, she started to cry miserably. Having been in Jin Ting for three years, she had always walked a gentle and beautiful route. Now that the truth had been revealed, she sobbed incessantly, making it even more pitiful.

Frowning just a bit, Han Jia slowly said, "I remember, wasn"t there an architecture that was really good to you before?"

Man Li"s big eyes looked at him as her tears dropped to the ground. "Han Laoban, since we"re like this, since we"re like this…" she couldn"t complete her sentence and started to cry bitterly again. "Han Laoban, I beg you. I"m not the kind that plays with the lottery…with the debt that I owe Qing Ye, if I were to really work at "those places" to pay back the money, I will die, I will die…"

Han Jia pursed his lips and looked at her. He knew that the so-called "those places" were the lower level prost.i.tution sites in the gang. The income was small, the guests were a mixture of different characters, and the procures over there embezzled money without regulation. On top of that, Man Li had a drug addiction that will certainly make her life even more difficult. It was certain that the rich and beautiful face before him now will slowly become thin and pallid until it ultimately become wizened.

Will die? Will really die… that"s not a rare matter.

Two or three subordinates had made their way over. Han Jia took out the wallet that Zhou Shijie gave him and pa.s.sed it to Man Li. "If you knew already that it would come to this, then why did you do it back then? There"s some money in there, you can take it first—"

"I don"t want it. Han Laoban, let me return—" Man Li held his legs tightly and pleaded, "Han Laoban, I beg you. I have quit already, I will pay attention, I will definitely pay attention to…" Han Jia stepped back and tried to break away from her hands, but she held his legs even tighter. Her speech sped up, afraid that Han Jia would not listen to her. "I can do a lot of things, I do everything, Han Laoban. Did you just meet with Mr. Zhou? You can"t endure it alone, right… I can, I can! Let me go there. I can accompany you again, or, you can let me go alone… Han Laoban, I beg you…"

Han Jia"s brows tightened up. He glanced to the side and screamed, "Why haven"t you pull her away?!"

Two subordinates immediately came over and held Man Li"s arms while another dragged her by the waist. In spite of her struggles, they pulled her away from him while her voice became even more miserable.

"Han Laoban, have pity on me! My sick is still sick, have pit on my child! Please have pity on my sick child!"

Her voice was accompanied by the sobbing tones that pierced into the eardrums of everyone at the scene. A subordinate standing to the side could no longer look on and twisted his head away.

Han Jia felt his body becoming even more unwell as he slowly walked over and put the wallet into her pocket. He then reached out to move her fringes and said in a low and cold voice, "If it honestly doesn"t work out, give the child to someone else."

From the look of it, Man Li did not listen to what he said at all. When she saw him walk over, a stubborn ray of light suddenly flashed before he eyes. Even though, the makeup on her face had already been messed up by the tears, she still hurriedly and urgently spoke. "Han Laoban, I will be your footman. Let me be your footman… I am stronger than Zhang Xueming. What does he have? He doesn"t know anything. He will betray you without a care! Han Laoban, I will obey and listen to you. Han Laoban, Han Laoban… Han Laoban, help me!…"

Han Jia sighed and stood up without any hesitation. He slowly approached the side door into Jin Ting, leaving Man Li to cry behind him.

The sounds of footstep came from behind him—it was Zhang Xueming.

Han Jia waited for Zhang Xueming to catch up to him and asked in a low voice, "When you rarely helped someone and end up being undermined by that person, how does it feel?"

Zhang Xue Ming didn"t say anything.

"Humph! You knew the time that I would come back and drove specifically to the side door, wasn"t it all for Man Li?"

"I just think that she"s quite pitiful…"

"Did you fall in love with her?" Han Jia asked with a harsh tone.

Zhang Xueming was obviously nervous. He wanted to say something again while his forehead broke out in cold sweats.

Han Jia snorted with a somewhat exhausted appearance.

"Han Laoban," a subordinate appeared in the hallway and ran over. "We caught the traitor that has been carrying narcotics in Jin Ting. Li Ge is interrogating him right now. He wanted me to ask if you wanted to go over there for a look?"

Han Jia laughed, "He just got with that pretty boy yesterday. Shouldn"t you tell him that he should enjoy himself more? Now, he has to interrogate someone first thing in the morning, aren"t you being a killjoy?"

When that subordinate also laughed, Han Jia said, "Let him wait a minute, I"ll be there soon."

The subordinate nodded and walked away. Han Jia took two steps and turned into a bathroom that was on this floor. He splashed cool water on his face and then looked at himself in the mirror, exposing a flawless smile.

Han Jia, the playboy of Jin Ting, let never let himself be knocked down by anything.

Translator"s Note:

"it all depends on the legs" refers to when one spread their legs open, so the legs can be spread for anyone that comes since in the end they are guests (customers)

The last couple paragraphs of this chapter lead to Lawless Gangster c11. ? and before c9 (when HJ gave JXN aka the "pretty boy" to XL)

I wonder if Man Li is one of the girls that tried to sleep with XL in Lawless c14, because one of the girls, name Jing Jing, was described to have "curly hair" as well. Like, why is there a need to mention that she has curly hair if it"s not a clue and they"re not the same person? If it"s her, she must have changed her name and went to work for Luo Dong. I"m just speculating since I didn"t read this novel yet, just reading as I translate. HAHAHAHA.