RTCBM 8

Because something came up, He Dongying had to leave halfway through the first movie. Mu Yuan stayed behind and continued watching by himself.

By the time he walked out of the cinema, it was already eight in the evening. His stomach was growling from hunger. He found a northeastern dumpling restaurant nearby and settled his dinner there.

Compared to the empty dumpling shop, the specialty restaurant next door was packed.
A crowd had gathered at the entrance, chatting and buzzing with excitement.
Mu Yuan’s curiosity got the better of him, and he wandered over to join the commotion.

To attract customers, the restaurant would display all kinds of live ingredients outside, such as snakes, exotic seafood, and other rare creatures.

Tonight, locked inside a metal cage, was a giant water monitor lizard the owner had recently acquired. It was being put up for public sale. The shop owner, knowing nothing about reptiles, simply saw it as meat to be eaten, selling it by weight.

Most people had come just to gawk. It was rare to see such a large lizard. After taking a good look and snapping some pictures, the crowd gradually dispersed. The shop owner called out for a long time, but with no one buying, he ended up standing there looking embarrassed and out of place.

Once the crowd had mostly cleared out, Mu Yuan stepped forward. He tapped the shop owner’s arm, pointed at the giant lizard in the cage, and said, “Boss, sell that one to me.”

The shop owner squinted at him. Thinking it would not be worth the effort to slaughter such a big animal for just a small portion, he said, “You want the whole thing? I will not sell it unless you buy the entire lizard.”

“Of course I want the whole thing,” Mu Yuan replied.

A few days ago, Mu Yuan’s friend invited him to a villa for dinner, where they served a lizard feast. At first, he thought lizard meat would not be anything special, but after tasting it once, he could not get the flavor out of his mind. Now, looking at the fat, heavy lizard in front of him, Mu Yuan could barely contain his excitement.

Hearing that he wanted to buy the whole thing, the shop owner was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. “Good, good, please come inside. I will get you the best private room and have the chef prepare it right away.”

“No, no,” Mu Yuan quickly reached out to stop him. He had never tasted this restaurant’s cooking before, and just to be safe, he thought it would be better to bring the lizard back to the villa where he had eaten before and let them handle it.

He said to the owner, “I want it packed to go. Do you take WeChat or Alipay?”

“Either one, either one,” the owner said, rubbing his hands together with a big grin.
“As long as you have the money, that is all that matters.”

Since the shop did not offer delivery, Mu Yuan paid the owner and asked them to move the cage to a less noticeable spot by the roadside. Then he pulled out his phone and called A Zhi.

“Hello? Boss, what’s up?”

“A Zhi, find a few strong guys and drive over to this address: XXXXX.”

Hearing this, A Zhi’s first reaction was to assume Mu Yuan was planning to get into a fight. He immediately said, “Should I bring even more people? I can have the brothers bring all the tools too.”

“Tch, damn it. When did I ever say I was starting a fight? I need you guys to help me move something. Make sure you bring a big van. Otherwise, it will not fit.”

“Got it, Boss. Understood.”

A Zhi asked again, “Boss, what exactly do you want us to move?”

“Why are you asking so many questions? You will know when you get here. Oh, one more thing, tell the brothers to go to Yi He Villa and grab a few tables. Tonight, Boss is treating everyone to a big feast.”

Meanwhile, Wen Shang, following the information he had forced out of the two pet thieves, stormed his way to the specialty restaurant.

The moment he stepped through the entrance, he ignored the waiter trying to greet him and headed straight for the front desk.

The girl at the front desk lit up when she saw a handsome man approaching, but the moment she caught the murderous look in his eyes, she shrank back in fear.

“How… how can I help you?” she asked timidly.

Wen Shang did not waste any time and went straight to the point. “Where is the lizard your restaurant bought yesterday? Hand it over.”

His tone was not a request, but a command.

“A customer just bought it,” the girl stammered.

Hearing that, Wen Shang slammed his fist heavily onto the counter, making the girl jump and nearly stop breathing.

“When?”

“Just a moment ago.”

“Be specific.”

“About ten minutes ago…”

“Where is that person now?” Wen Shang pressed harder.

The girl looked like she was about to cry.
“I… I am not sure…”

“Get your boss out here,” Wen Shang snapped.

Wen Shang was in a hurry and did not have time to argue with the restaurant owner. He decided to settle that account later.

According to what the owner told him, the customer who had bought Nai Gai was still waiting at the corner of the street, apparently waiting for someone to help move the lizard.

Wen Shang took off running.

Mu Yuan was crouching happily by the cage, resting his chin in his hands and grinning like an idiot at the giant water monitor inside. Every now and then, he would reach into the cage and poke at the lizard’s body, already planning in his mind whether to have it braised or stewed later, and what kind of seasoning would go best with it.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed closer. A pair of polished leather shoes stopped in front of him, leading up to a pair of long legs clad in neatly pressed suit pants.

“Did you just buy this giant lizard?”

Mu Yuan looked up, meeting Wen Shang’s gaze. He froze on the spot, completely stunned.

Wen Shang had not expected the buyer to be him either. This was already the second time they had crossed paths today.

Pointing at Nai Gai inside the cage, Wen Shang spoke. “That is my pet lizard. Yesterday, my housekeeper was careless and let it slip out. Someone took it and sold it to the restaurant.”

Mu Yuan blinked, unable to say a single word.

“I heard from the restaurant owner just now that someone bought it. Was that you?”

Tch.
This sick pervert even had such heavy tastes when it came to pets. Damn it. Mu Yuan cursed inwardly. What kind of cursed fate was this, bumping into him everywhere?

If Mu Yuan had known the lizard belonged to Wen Shang, he would never have bought it, not even if someone beat him to death.
But now, here he was, caught red-handed.
What the hell was he supposed to do?

Mu Yuan’s heart raced with tension.
Dear God, please do not let this bastard recognize him. Otherwise, he could kiss that secretly filmed video goodbye.

Mu Yuan let out a vague grunt, not knowing how to answer.

Wen Shang took it as confirmation.

He had been burning with anger earlier, but when he saw the boy, the fire in his chest somehow died down. His tone softened as he spoke again.

“We met this morning, remember?”

Mu Yuan quietly thanked the heavens that his identity was still safe. He did not say anything, only nodded slightly.

Wen Shang asked once more, “What did you buy it for?”

Since he was already putting on a show, and the sick pervert still had not realized who he was, Mu Yuan decided to keep going. He paused for two seconds to think, then deliberately changed his tone when he spoke, making his voice sound gentle and sincere.

“Well… I was just passing by and saw that this lizard was about to be slaughtered.
It looked kind of pitiful… so I bought it.
I was planning to release it back into the wild.”

After speaking, he even pursed his lips slightly, putting on a shy and modest act.

Mu Yuan had always been full of tricks.
He might not excel at everything else, but when it came to putting on an act, he could pull off a whole series without blinking.
When he was young, Mu Yuan used to idolize Mu Huafeng’s underworld lifestyle.
He copied everything about him, from his speech to his mannerisms.

But Mu Huafeng hated seeing him behave that way. He would beat him every time he caught him acting out, trying to hammer the bad habits out of him.

After enduring countless punishments, Mu Yuan finally learned to behave. In front of Mu Huafeng, he always presented himself as a well-behaved, obedient student. Only when he was outside did he unleash his wild side.

Mu Yuan caused his fair share of trouble growing up. Whenever someone came knocking to complain, he would hide behind Mu Huafeng, putting on a pitiful and innocent face. If someone pushed him too hard, he would even pretend to cry.

Mu Huafeng had a soft spot for this act.
He firmly believed his nephew was genuinely well-behaved, convinced that anyone coming to accuse him was only picking a fight because of Mu Huafeng’s underworld background. Without bothering to investigate, Mu Huafeng would drive the accusers away with a scolding. If words did not work, he would personally make sure they left by force.

Over time, no one dared to come and complain again.

If anyone deserved the title of a true “drama king,” it would have to be Mu Yuan.
After Mu Huafeng was gone, Mu Yuan no longer needed to hide his real nature.
He let his fiery temper show without holding back. Even though he had not played the role of a good boy for years, it was still a skill he had mastered. That acting ability had never left him.

“Thank you for saving him,” Wen Shang said sincerely. Seeing Mu Yuan’s slightly shy and timid expression, he could not help but chuckle softly.

Mu Yuan stared at him in a daze.
He had seen Wen Shang smile before, but it was always the kind of wicked, nasty smirk that reeked of scumbag energy.
This gentle, genuinely human smile was the first time he had ever witnessed it.

Mu Yuan’s black eyes swirled rapidly, and for a moment, he was completely speechless.

“By the way, how much did you pay to buy Nai Gai?” Wen Shang asked.
“I will reimburse you.”

Giving such a huge, terrifying lizard a soft and cute name like Nai Gai really said everything about this sick pervert’s taste.
And what was wrong with him, stepping even closer while talking?
Was he sick in the head or what?

Mu Yuan took a few steps back to put some distance between them.

“I can transfer the money to you now,” Wen Shang offered.

Mu Yuan thought quickly.
No way.
If he handed over his account details, Wen Shang would definitely find out who he was.

Wen Shang was sharp. Noticing Mu Yuan’s hesitation, he guessed that the boy probably did not want to give his contact information to a stranger. Without pressing the issue, Wen Shang quickly changed his approach.

“How about this? I will give you cash instead. I do not have enough on me though. I will need to find an ATM nearby.”

Before Mu Yuan could answer, his phone suddenly rang. It was a call from A Zhi.
Mu Yuan did not dare pick up, so he hung up immediately.

A few seconds later, A Zhi sent a text saying that he and the others had already arrived at the restaurant entrance, but they did not see Mu Yuan and were asking where he was.

This was bad.
If the underlings showed up now, not only would he be unable to keep his identity hidden, but if Wen Shang found out he had been fooling him, tomorrow’s city headlines would definitely be all about him.

He had to find a way to get out of here fast.

Mu Yuan grabbed Wen Shang’s arm and quickly turned around, making sure his back faced the food street.

“Let’s go. I will come with you to get the money.”