EWH 20

Xu Wanhe left in the middle of the night.

When Yang Moshou woke up in the morning, the spot next to him was empty. Not a soul in sight.

He lay in bed for a while and felt a bit cold, so he turned off the air conditioner.

While he was at it, he lifted the covers and leaned over the sheets to look carefully.

Not a single hair left behind, let alone a strand from the head.

Didn’t expect the guy to be this clean. Even his hair follicles seemed well-trained.

Since he woke up earlier than usual, Yang Moshou just lay there with his eyes open until the alarm rang. Then he got up, washed up, got ready, and headed out to squeeze onto the bus for work.

Just the usual treating patients, sneaking in breakfast when there’s time, zoning out in front of his phone at the desk.

That morning, Yang Moshou got two phone calls. One from his mom asking if he’d been eating properly, and the other from a friend who was planning to treat someone to a meal and wanted restaurant recommendations.

Not in the best mood, Yang Moshou recommended an insanely spicy place to that little bottom.

After hanging up, he sipped on soy milk and flipped through the medical journal on his desk.

Around ten o’clock, his phone rang again.

Unknown number.

Yang Moshou closed the book and picked up, “Hello, who’s this?”

“Um… are you Xiao Yang-ge?”

Yang Moshou tossed his empty soy milk cup into the trash. “My last name is Yang, sure, but I’m definitely not your ‘Xiao Yang-ge.’”

“Are you a doctor?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Perfect. Xu-ge told me to come pick you up. I didn’t get the number wrong, right…”

Yang Moshou sat up straighter. “Xu Wanhe? That’s me. What does he want?”

“My car’s already parked at your hospital entrance. Look for the one with the license plate 728. Just come out when you’re off at noon.”

They didn’t exchange many words before hanging up.

Yang Moshou couldn’t focus on his book anymore, just sat there waiting for the shift to end. When there were ten minutes left, he bolted downstairs and stood next to the time clock, waiting.

He even brought a bag of sunflower seeds for the ride.

The old security guard coming back from the restroom nearly jumped when he saw him. “Xiao Yang… rushing off to lunch again, huh…”

Yang Moshou shoved his hands into his pockets, glanced at his watch, and swiped his card in a flash before turning and walking off.

The old man looked at his back and chuckled, then spotted the sunflower seeds on the desk and hurried after him. “Xiao Yang… you forgot your stuff… this kid, honestly…”

Yang Moshou walked out the hospital gate and saw an Audi with the plate ending in 728.

The car was parked right at the hospital entrance like it owned the place. The nearby security guard looked pissed but didn’t say anything.

Yang Moshou walked over and knocked on the window.

The guy getting out from the passenger side was tall and dark. “Xiao Yang-ge?”

Yang Moshou tilted his head slightly, staring at this walking lump of charcoal. He wondered if Xu Wanhe picked his underlings based on appearance. Finding ones even darker than him just to make his own fair skin and good looks stand out.

Yang Moshou nodded. “Just call me Doctor Yang. Don’t call me Xiao Yang-ge. I’m not trying to get into the underworld.”

The guy nodded quickly and opened the door with both hands, respectfully ushering Yang Moshou into the car, then returned to the passenger seat.

Twenty minutes later, Yang Moshou stood in front of Donghai Tower, staring at rows of luxury cars and groups of lackeys.

The two men led him inside. One of them dialed a number and started talking to someone, but it wasn’t clear who.

A man walked toward them looking trendy. His hair was slightly long and dyed a light ash brown. His skin was fair, and there was a seductive charm in his features. He stood in the lobby, glancing around until his gaze finally settled on Yang Moshou. Then he ended his call and walked over.

One of the guys stepped up and greeted him. “Lu-ge… here’s the deal. Xu-ge said to have you take care of this guy first. He’s not sure when he’ll finish up, so he’ll call you when he’s done.”

“Got it. You guys can go. I’ll take it from here.” The man glanced at Yang Moshou a few times. “I’m Yang Lu. Just follow me.”

Yang Moshou let out a soft “mm” and didn’t say much.

Yang Lu shot him a sideways look. “What’s your name?”

Yang Moshou felt uncomfortable under the stare. “Yang Moshou.”

Yang Lu chuckled. “Oh, then we share the same surname.”

As they stepped into the elevator, Yang Moshou noticed something under the corner of Yang Lu’s eye that looked like a birthmark. On closer look, it was actually a tattoo.

Yang Lu raised his hand to press the floor number, but suddenly switched to the door open button and held it down.

Yang Moshou noticed no one was trying to get in, so he stared at Yang Lu, confused.

Yang Lu’s eyes were wide, fixed in one direction.

Like he’d seen a ghost.

Yang Moshou followed his line of sight.

Coming in from a distance was a drag queen with thick limbs, walking a catwalk in ten-centimeter heels. A pair of sunglasses covered half the face, and a massive blond curly wig bounced with every exaggerated head flick, only to be pushed back in place before it slipped off.

Never in his life had he seen such an over-the-top drag act.

Yang Lu couldn’t take his eyes off and stepped out of the elevator, dragging Yang Moshou along just to get a better look. He didn’t even notice the tall dark shadow getting closer.

Yang Moshou watched them nearly collide and wondered if they were really going to crash. In the end, they didn’t, but their feet got tangled and they both stumbled.

Yang Lu let out a startled yelp and was about to curse when he turned his head and immediately cooled down.

“Qi-ge, what are you doing down here…”

Fei Qi didn’t say a word. He glanced at the drag queen, who stiffened with a shudder before spinning around and sashaying away.

Yang Lu lowered his voice. “Isn’t that You Hou… he actually has the nerve to come back…”

Fei Qi gave a signal to the guys behind him.

“Even Shen Han comes by often. Why shouldn’t he show his face?”

The three men rolled up their sleeves and started after the drag queen. At first they just walked fast, but as soon as the drag queen started running, it turned into a full-on sprint. Because of the heels, the drag queen got blocked pretty quickly.

Yang Moshou had expected a scene where the muscle guys would beat the hell out of the drag queen, but instead, the drag queen’s muscles exploded into action. With one swift hand chop, he took down the guy who tried to snatch his sunglasses.

By the time Fei Qi walked over, two of his men were already on the ground. The last one cupped his groin with both hands and shouted, “We’re all men here, did you really have to go for the balls!”

Fei Qi grabbed the drag queen’s wig, trying to spin him around, but ended up ripping the whole thing off instead.

The man turned around, a hairnet on his head, and swung a punch. Fei Qi dodged it cleanly.

He reached out and ripped the sunglasses off his face.

“So it really is you.”

The man with the heavy makeup rolled his eyes, snatched back the wig, and plopped it on his head. “You’ve got the wrong person. I’m not your sweetheart.”

Fei Qi turned away with a dark face, leaving the man behind to keep striking poses.

“Hey, cool guy, if you’re into me, we can get to know each other. Come on… let’s have some fun… we’ve got all the time in the world…”

Yang Moshou nudged Yang Lu’s arm. “Let’s go find Xu Wanhe. Looks like a fight’s about to break out here.”

Yang Lu looked surprised. “How can you tell?”

Yang Moshou clenched his fists. “If I hadn’t seen how strong he was just now, I would’ve stepped in already.”

Yang Lu chuckled. “You’re just not used to it. We are.”

When the two of them entered the elevator, the sound of scuffling echoed faintly behind them.

Yang Moshou took a quick glance outside and saw the two men tangled up, rolling on the ground.

At first glance, it looked like they were doing it, but that wasn’t it.

As the elevator doors closed, Yang Lu checked himself out in the mirrored wall. “I got you a private room. Xu-ge is having lunch on the thirteenth floor. You just wait for him there. Oh, by the way, did you bring lube?”

Yang Moshou turned to look at him. “Huh?”

Yang Lu smiled. “Best to use KY. It doesn’t dry out fast, saves you the trouble of having to reapply midway. You’ve got to think for yourself. Xu-ge isn’t exactly gentle.”

Yang Moshou took a moment to process what that meant.

“Oh, so you’ve stood by and watched him do it?”

As the elevator doors opened, Yang Lu stepped out. “No one dares to stand next to him and watch. He’s not like Tang-ge. When it comes to this stuff, he’s actually pretty conservative.”

Then he turned back and glanced at Yang Moshou. “What I mean is, we’re all the same. It’s just a matter of who gets there first.”

Yang Moshou followed behind. “Oh. So he’s had a lot of partners?”

Yang Lu greeted an old man across the hall. “Too many to count. By the way, did you bring it or not?”

Yang Moshou dodged the question. “Sigh… what a pitiful bunch…”

Yang Lu blinked. “Who’s pitiful?”

Yang Moshou shook his head and sighed. “Us. I’ll tell you once we get inside.”

Yang Lu opened the door with the keycard and stepped aside to let Yang Moshou in.

“Alright, spill. What’s going on?”

Yang Moshou looked distressed. “You know what? That man’s sick. Last night I found a soft chancre down there. I had to soak my ass in potassium permanganate all night. Barely slept.”

Yang Lu’s butthole clenched on reflex. “Syphilis?”

“That’s not all. There’s also hypertrophic red patches on the tip,” Yang Moshou’s face looked sickly. “It’s a sign of penile cancer. You’d better not sleep with him again. If something happens to you, he’ll pin it on you. What would you even compensate him with?”