Chapter Ten: Social Oblivion

A few seconds later, the door swung open. Zhou Haoran, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts and looking thoroughly impatient, stared at Lin Lei standing outside.

“What do you want? Make it quick!”

Lin Lei smiled slightly, then threw a punch at Zhou Haoran.

Smack!

Completely unprepared, Zhou Haoran’s entire body pivoted on his face, spinning a full one hundred and eighty degrees in the air before crashing heavily onto the floor.

Boom!

With a pitiful howl, Zhou Haoran’s body convulsed, his hands clutching his bloodied, swollen cheeks.

“Ah!!”

Even though Lin Lei had restrained his strength as best he could, Zhou Haoran, a mere ordinary man, could never withstand such force.

In the next moment, Lin Lei had already stepped forward, closing the door tightly behind him. Since it was a hotel for couples, the soundproofing was excellent once the door was shut. Lin Lei, with his abnormal hearing, could catch everything inside, but no one else would be able to hear a thing. Zhou Haoran’s cries, no matter how desperate, were in vain. In fact, in a couples’ hotel, such cries were hardly uncommon.

Lin Lei strode over, grabbed Zhou Haoran by the hair, and dragged him, struggling, into the room.

On the heart-shaped bed lay a voluptuous and striking woman. She was clad in leather from head to toe, her upper body accentuated, a gag in her mouth, an eye mask across her face, and her hands spread and shackled to the headboard with iron chains. As she heard Zhou Haoran’s suffering, her body trembled, writhing against her restraints, muffled sounds escaping from behind the gag.

“Tsk, quite the kinky game,” Lin Lei muttered, his gaze sweeping over the woman, only to freeze in surprise...

This was not a woman. Or rather, not just a woman.

Interesting.

He twisted his head back with an odd expression, then kicked Zhou Haoran squarely between the legs.

So you like this sort of thing, and yet you still pester Sister Yan? What’s your excuse?

“Ah! Stop—”

Zhou Haoran curled into a shrimp-like shape, wailing in agony, his body shuddering uncontrollably.

Lin Lei turned away, walked to the bedside table, picked up the two phones lying there, and raised his voice deliberately as he questioned Zhou Haoran, “Which one’s yours?”

Through tears and sniffling, Zhou Haoran managed a choked reply, “The black one…”

Lin Lei took the phone. “Password?”

Zhou Haoran sobbed, “472885…”

With the device unlocked, Lin Lei immediately opened the photo album.

He quickly found the hidden album, used the same password to access it, and was greeted by scenes that were more than a little disturbing. Zhou Haoran didn’t just enjoy playing—he liked being played.

Among the content, there were also a few short videos of him with ordinary women. His tastes were broad, to say the least.

Lin Lei sneered, selected these videos in bulk, and decisively sent them en masse via WeChat.

Many clips showed Zhou Haoran’s face clearly. The records within were enough to ensure his social destruction.

Afterward, Lin Lei tossed the phone aside, turned, and strode out without looking back.

…

He walked home late at night.

Just as he arrived, Lin Lei’s stomach rumbled audibly.

He changed clothes, then left the house openly.

He wandered to the nearby snack street.

The night was deep and the street nearly deserted, far less crowded than before.

Lin Lei walked along, casually buying a variety of snacks—grilled cold noodles, meat sandwiches, hand-grabbed pancakes, skewers of all kinds...

No one would bat an eye if he bought a mountain of snacks here, but in a restaurant, eating so much alone would surely draw the owner’s astonished gaze.

He ate as he walked, but soon his steps paused as his eyes caught sight of a boy by the roadside.

A delicate-looking youth, just over ten years old, with a crew cut, wearing a tattered oversized T-shirt and straight white pants, his face smudged and muddy, barefoot and standing quietly at the edge of the street.

Despite his shabby appearance and unkempt hair, his eyes were clear and bright, his features quite handsome. If not for the crew cut and obviously masculine clothes, Lin Lei would have mistaken him for a girl.

The boy held a bare bamboo skewer, his gaze intersecting with Lin Lei’s, lingering on the pile of food Lin Lei carried.

Yet he only watched quietly, not making any move to beg.

Lin Lei paused, but didn’t approach the boy. Instead, he turned to a stall on the other side of the street, where a man was selling savory pancakes.

“Ten yuan’s worth!” he called.

The vendor, a somewhat sleazy-looking middle-aged man in a shabby jacket, forced a smile and quickly sliced and weighed the pancakes.

Lin Lei pulled out his wallet and produced a badge from the Special Operations Division of the Security Bureau. “Do you know what this is?”

The vendor saw the badge and instantly froze, sweat breaking out on his brow, his hands trembling.

“Officer, I haven’t been involved in any petty thefts for ages!”

Lin Lei rolled his eyes, inwardly admitting his knack for picking the right people. He sighed, “That’s not what I’m here for… Have you noticed the kid behind me?”

The vendor hesitated.

Lin Lei then took out two large bills from his wallet and placed them in the man’s hand. “Get him something to eat, and help him get to the shelter…”

Lin Lei was not overflowing with sympathy; he knew the world was full of people in need. But as a human being, he possessed a basic compassion. If he saw something within his power to help, he wouldn’t hesitate to lend a hand.

The boy’s clothes were filthy, but his hair looked freshly cut and his skin was still fair beneath the dirt, not like someone who’d been homeless for long. Sending him to the shelter might quickly reunite him with his family.

The vendor clicked his tongue, “You really are a good man.”

Lin Lei snorted, saying nothing.

The man quickly packed Lin Lei’s snacks. “Take care.”

“I know you. Don’t think about slacking off… If you do, you’ll regret it!”

Lin Lei pointed to his badge again, then took the savory pancake and turned to leave.

Only after Lin Lei walked away did the vendor exhale in relief, glancing at the two bills in his hand with a satisfied click of his tongue.

He then beckoned to the boy across the street, “Hey, kid, you—come over here!”

…

Late at night, at the hospital.

Zhou Haoran, wrapped head to toe in bandages, his face swollen like a pig’s, lay moaning on the hospital bed.

Though Lin Lei had restrained himself, his strength was still far beyond what Zhou Haoran could endure.

The bones in his cheeks were completely shattered, and even with surgery, recovery was unlikely. His once-handsome face would never return to its former state.

Just then, a few burly figures barged into the empty ward.

The leader was bald.

When Zhou Haoran saw him, his cries grew even more desperate.

“Second Brother, finally you’re here. I remember that guy’s face! You must avenge me—”

The bald man strode over, squinting at him.

“Haoran, losing face is a small matter, but you have to understand—without your face, you can’t carry out the mission Brother Tian assigned to you!”

“We worked hard to get you your current position, just to make your operations easier. If you can’t handle something so minor… Do you know how disappointed Brother Tian is?”

Zhou Haoran sobbed, “If someone hadn’t interfered, I would’ve finished the job… How could I have predicted what happened yesterday?”

“Someone interfered?” The bald man raised an eyebrow.

“Tell me exactly what happened… Who was messing things up?”