Chapter 57 – Shangri-La

There was a soft, soothing voice beside his ear and the jazz music playing in the background was also very pleasant.

The wooden walnut decoration, combined with the soft couches and cushions, showed off this place’s comfortable but also very luxurious space. There was also floor-length windows, which in this high-rise location, showed a stunning city night view. There was also a balcony where one could go outside to get a breath of the fresh night air. This was the most popular evening bar inside the exclusive, members-only club “Shangri-La”.

Lin ChenYuan carefully placed down the wine menu. He opened his peach blossom eyes wide and looked at his surroundings, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

Kang Jian was holding another wine menu. In it, the cheapest glass of wine started from 1000 yuan, even a glass of soda water cost 100. Although this made his skin hurt slightly, Kang Jian remained calm and ordered a glass of wine slightly more expensive than the cheapest one, and then looked at Lin ChenYuan who was sitting opposite him on the couch. “How about you?”

Lin ChenYuan was still looking all around him. He hurried to shake his head, “You choose.”

Kang Jian smiled. He added a glass of the same and after waving off the waiter, turned to Lin ChenYuan and said, “Xiao Yuan, relax. In the future we will often come here to pass the time.”

Everyone around them was speaking softly and there was also the sound of polite clinking of glasses. This made Lin ChenYuan also not help but suppress his voice too. “Brother Kang do you often come here to talk business ah? This place is so high-class. I’m scared of doing something wrong and embarrassing Brother Kang.”

Kang Jian leaned into the sofa in a casual pose. He adjusted his suit. “Once you get used to it, it’s okay. The people that come here aren’t that special, they have just deep pockets that’s all. Although just having money isn’t enough, if you want to become a member of “Shangri-La’, you need to be introduced by another member. You will only be allowed to join after confirming your identity, otherwise you can only use an experience card to come three times.”

“Then is Brother Kang a legitimate member? So amazing!” Lin ChenYuan’s eyes were filled with admiration.

“I will be one soon. Xiao Xu asked Brother Dong to introduce me to become a member. Thinking about it, I should get my members card this month.” Kang Jian puffed out his chest as he talked.

“Oh, are there many benefits to being a member? Just then those wines were so expensive I almost died.” It was clear to Lin ChenYuan that Kang Jian was very proud of his previous statement so he followed along and said a few pleasing things.

Kang Jian immediately smiled joyfully. “The most important thing is the connections, not the wine ah Xiao Yuan. I can get familiar with the bosses that come around here, and that way I can find lots of opportunities to earn money. That’s the real value of this place.” The other reason Kang Jian was very pleased with Lin ChenYuan was because Lin ChenYuan was always filled with admiration for him, and not like Li Sha who was always looking down on him.

“I see.” Lin ChenYuan nodded his head respectfully. He looked around. “Then are there any bosses that Brother Kang recognizes tonight? Do you need to go and make any greetings?”

Kang Jian looked around. There were really a few people present whom he had met while following Xiao Xu. But right now they were all in conversation with other people, and behaved as though they totally hadn’t seen him. Kang Jian felt unsure whether or not he should go over to make a greeting. Now that he thought about all of these things were previously done with Xiao Xu guiding him.

Now that he saw these bosses talking amongst each other, Kang Jian felt a bit intimidated. Also Lin ChenYuan was by his side and watching so Kang Jian didn’t want to do anything risky. At this time the waiter came with the wine so Kang Jian used the opportunity to change the subject. “Come, drink up. Tonight I brought you here to open your eyes a bit, so tonight you’re the main character.”

When Lin ChenYuan heard this, his smile grew more vibrant. “Thank you Brother Kang!”

Kang Jian was very satisfied with the awe and worship he saw in Lin ChenYuan’s eyes. He took a pleased sip of the wine. But he hadn’t even had the chance to ponder whether or not the taste of the wine matched its price tag on the menu, when there was a sudden and obvious disturbance and commotion which arose around him.

The originally quiet voices talking became louder. There was even some people who stood up and walked towards the bar entrance. This meant that there was definitely a big boss who had an even wider influence who had appeared, so Kang Jian turned around and looked over curiously as well.

Initially he couldn’t see anything except for a group of people in the way. They were voices talking. “Oh, you came too?” “How come you’re here too?” “Come come, we’re just waiting on you!” After these greetings, the people’s backs parted and through the crowd, Kang Jian suddenly saw Qiu Qian and Bai Lang. In front of these two people, there was also a broadly smiling middle aged person leading the way. Kang Jian recognized this middle aged person. It was the club manager that Xiao Xu had introduced to him when bringing him here.

However the club manager’s movements, or the people surrounding Qiu Qian, were no longer the focus of Kang Jian’s attention. One look was all it took for all of Kang Jian’s focus to be fixated on Bai Lang’s body.

As Qiu Qian dealt with the people around him, Bai Lang was taking the opportunity to have a look around this high-roofed wine bar made of walnut wood.

He was wearing a light-colored casual shirt and his hands were tucked into trouser pockets. This Bai Lang who he hadn’t in several months looked relaxed and chic.

Kang Jian didn’t realize that he had completely gone frozen. He only knew that intense conflicting emotions appeared in his heart. He wanted Bai Lang to discover him, but at the same time he didn’t want him to.

Even right now Kang Jian wasn’t completely sure what type of feelings he had towards Bai Lang.

He was always jealous of Bai Lang’s good luck, and also hated Bai Lang’s “materialism”. However at the same time, the itchy feelings and admiration he had in his heart towards Bai Lang, had never faded. Also the humiliation of being discovered at having betrayed Bai Lang in the beginning, these conflicting feelings warred together inside Kang Jian’s heart. Right now when Kang Jian saw Bai Lang in the flesh, he could only breathe heavily and hoarsely.

All the way until Bai Lang’s glance suddenly swept over to him, making Kang Jian violently shake.

However he didn’t expect that Bai Lang behaved that he hadn’t seen anything at all. His glance casually slid away without any reaction.

All of a sudden Kang Jian was seized with the hot flush of humiliation.

It was just like if the name that was called out as the winner of an award wasn’t you, but you had already stood up in preparation to get the award. That kind of anger, humiliation and embarrassment.

Even so, Kang Jian still couldn’t avert this eyes.

At this time Qiu Qian seemed to have finished greeting everyone who had rushed forward to talk to him. He lowered his head and said a few words to Bai Lang, then put his arm around his waist and walked together with the club’s manager towards stairs on one side of the bar.

Kang Jian knew that these stairs led a special honored guest’s rooms in the mezzanine level upstairs. There, there was a private space and an even more perfect night view. This was a special service for the VIPs among VIPs.

Kang Jian thus stared at the group of people who went upstairs. All the way until Lin ChenYuan’s voice penetrated his foggy thoughts.

“Brother Kang! Brother Kang!? Are you okay, why aren’t you responding!?”

“Just now that was Bai Lang ba? I didn’t think he would come here too. The person next to him must be Boss Qiu, he’s even more good-looking than in his photos….”

“Previously there were a lot of people that said that I looked a little bit like Bai Lang. Keke, it was good at first but afterwards I found it a bit troublesome, so that’s why I wanted to change things a bit…”

Kang Jian completely wasn’t listening.

For the next few hours, his eyes kept returning to the room upstairs.

Especially when waiters would go up and down, opening the door screen that blocked it from view.

The wine that he felt was expensive enough to hurt his skin previously, Kang Jian afterwards didn’t hesitate to order glass after glass.

It was as though as when the wine entered his stomach, it would be able to suppress the nameless boiling emotions inside his heart.

***

Drinking like this, when Kang Jian was helped out by Lin ChenYuan that night, he had long become drunk out of his mind.

When the club manager saw this type of uncontrollably drunk guest, in order to preserve the peace and elegance of the bar, he had the ability to provide a guest room for the guest to pass the night. Thus half via forcing and half via persuasion, he pushed this guest into the room to rest.

Half an hour later, Kang Jian and Lin ChenYuan were sent into a comfortably furnished suite. Even though right now they were just guests holding a temporary card.

Lin ChenYuan only just helped Kang Jian to lie down and remove his outer clothes, and hadn’t even had time to sigh about the club’s good service, when the lying down Kang Jian suddenly flipped his body around and pressed Lin ChenYuan onto the bed. He began to rip off Lin ChenYuan’s clothing, clearly in a drunken frenzy.

Actually Lin ChenYuan’s first time “doing it” with Kang Jian, was also while drunk. He was also taken advantage of by the pretending to be drunk Kang Jian. So right now seeing Kang Jian like this, Lin ChenYuan didn’t feel surprised. It was only that his alcoholic breath was a bit stinky. Tonight Lin ChenYuan wasn’t drunk and felt a bit unwilling. He wanted to push Kang Jian aside however Kang Jian violently wrestled him down onto the bed.

“Be good–, don’t move–” Kang Jian’s eyes were red and his voice was slurred.

“You’re drunk, you should rest–” Lin ChenYuan pushed him and opened his mouth to talk, however he didn’t even finish his sentence before Kang Jian forcibly blocked his mouth.

This kiss was violent and painful, and stank of alcohol. It wasn’t comfortable at all. Lin ChenYuan frowned and struggled, wanting to turn his neck aside, however his chin was seized painfully by Kang Jian and bitten.

“Oh-wu-wu-!!” Lin ChenYuan continued to struggle. He used all his energy and pushed Kang Jian away.

Kang Jian who was confused while drunk didn’t have too much defence. He was pushed aside. However he took a deep breath and his eyes went even more red. He struck Lin ChenYuan violently on the face and yelled, “I told you to be good so you be good!! Do you hear!!”

Then there was another “pa!!” sound.

Lin ChenYuan’s head was hit until it turned to one side. His lip was bleeding and his head felt dizzy with the impact.

Even the first time they did it, because Lin ChenYuan was drunk at the time, although he didn’t really consent, however he didn’t receive any violent treatment. But right now the Kang Jian in front of him who had red, furious eyes and was clutching his hand so tightly he felt the nerves being damaged, terrified Lin ChenYuan. “Bro- brother Kang….”

“Be good–” Kang Jian looked into his eyes and breathed hoarsely. “Turn around! Open your legs–”

Lin ChenYuan swallowed heavily. During the pause he could feel Kang Jian’s angry violence. His heart jumped and he immediately followed Kang Jian’s instructions.

Afterwards as he was violently and painfully done, Lin ChenYuan could only endure it with a white face.

However all of this wasn’t the most shocking thing that happened to Lin ChenYuan that night.

The most shocking thing was just as he was feeling a terrible tearing pain, Lin ChenYuan actually heard something he could barely believe.

It came out of the mouth of the drunken into a stupor Kang Jian.

“…. Ah Lang, oh, Ah Lang….”

***

The next day when the two people left the club, Kang Jian thought Lin ChenYuan’s pale face was because he had been too violent the night before. He consoled and cajoled him with a smile, however Lin ChenYuan’s thoughts seemed to be elsewhere.

The following days when Kang Jian wanted to coax this person onto the bed, Lin ChenYuan rejected him using the excuse that he still had injuries from that night.

Kang Jian actually treated Lin ChenYuan in quite a spoiling manner. So after hearing that he said a lot of pretty things to comfort him. At that time, Lin ChenYuan suddenly said slowly, “Kang Jian, you see, you’ve earned so much money and you come here so often. Why don’t you just buy a place ah? My contract to rent this apartment is almost over, why don’t you buy a new place and we can live more comfortably.”

“Buy a place?” When Kang Jian heard it was about spending money, he immediately frowned.

“En. Just a simple apartment will work ah.” Lin ChenYuan said. “Look, the rent is already this much. If you use the rent money for a mortgage, then you only need to add a little bit on top every month. It’s very cost-effective. If it’s not convenient for you to write your name on the title for the house, you can use mine. Aren’t you always complaining that the snack shop from next door makes this place smell like oil and smoke? Why don’t we use the opportunity and change to some place with a better atmosphere?”

“This…” Kang Jian went quiet, thinking about it slowly.

Lin ChenYuan saw that Kang Jian didn’t reply. He lowered his eyes and an emotion flashed through them. He said, “If it’s not okay then don’t worry about it. It’s just a suggestion. I saw that the rent was almost up so I thought I would ask.”

When Kang Jian heard this his expression became better. He embraced Lin ChenYuan and said in a tender voice, “I think it’s pretty good here. Yes the air is a bit bad, but it’s quite private. Let’s just live here for a while, and when I earn more money, I’ll buy a better one and we can move out then.”

Lin ChenYuan smiled faintly. He looked at Kang Jian’s tender expression, and thought about whether or not this fellow also coaxed his wife in the same manner.

***

The timing was just about right, so Qiu Qian finally set the final trap for Kang Jian.

The timing chosen was the end of the month. Just as Kang Jian really received a legitimate member’s card for “Shangri-La” and was filled with joy and trust in Brother Dong. One day Brother Dong invited Kang Jian to drink at the club, however at the very last minute something came up so he was late. On that day another person called Xiao Chen who had been invited to the club by Brother Dong struck up a conversation with Kang Jian while they both waited for Brother Dong.

It turns out this Xiao Chen had come to look for Brother Dong because he wanted to borrow money in a hurry. It should be mentioned that Brother Dong had been introduced to Kang Jian by Xiao Xu as a very powerful underground money lending boss. The reason that Xiao Chen wanted to borrow money from Brother Dong was because he had his eye on a real estate company which had a direct sales model. The model involved raising funds by direct selling, then using the money to invest in real estate development projects. Although investing in this manner would not allow you to flip your investment by several times, however it was very stable and secure and you could expect a profit of around 30%.

The scale of this type of investment funding is very large, and the projects were all those that involved tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. The dividends from this type of large-scale project will be very impressive. This type of guaranteed to be profitable business, even if you had to borrow money from a money lender to invest in it, it would still be a good earning. Xiao Chen had heard that the new investment target of the real estate company was the refurbishment of some large and old buildings in an elite area. They expected double the profit as usual, that’s why Xiao Chen was in such a hurry to borrow money so he could be involved. He wanted as much as he could, the more the better.

When Kang Jian heard Xiao Chen’s glib tongue, his heart naturally began to itch and feel impatient. The more the heard the more interested he was. So he immediately arranged with Xiao Chen to go by the real estate company tomorrow to listen to the investment proposal.

However in reality this so-called “direct sales” model was pretty much just an unscrupulous pyramid scheme. The so-called “great profits’ earned by the company were simply the new funds placed into the company by new investors, which they would distribute the old investors. All the earnings on the investments reflected on the books were only a visage. After all where would there really be an investment that was guaranteed to never fail and would only earn money?

In order to hide itself from the eyes of the law, the entire company from top to bottom had been prettily packaged so that the appearance looked like a well-invested, profitable company in order to attract ignorant and greedy new investors to join. Why greedy? Because promising that your investment would never fail was obviously not logical. People who were willing to believe this were mostly people who only cared about money and had no mind for other things. As long as profits were distributed to them, they wouldn’t care to look under the surface.

As the boss of an underground money manor, Brother Dong did not lack in his network of this type of greedy gamblers. They all dreamed of borrowing money to make more money. Thus, all it required was to arrange time for this type of gambler to encounter Kang Jian. Then based on Kang Jian’s ignorance inability to withstand the temptation of high profits, he would definitely use all the money he had on hand and sink it in.

Just as expected, Kang Jian was immediately hooked.