Ten hours ago

Ten hours earlier...

1:47 p.m.

Bai Haonan opened his eyes, half-awake and groggy. His gaze, facing upward, focused on the sharply defined, intricate lines of the ceiling, and for at least two or three seconds, he registered with no surprise, thanks to the familiar feel of hotel-laundered sheets wrapped around him, that he had, once again, spent the night in a hotel.

The air was thick with the lingering scent of perfume and that unmistakable trace left after passion, a presence so strong that not even the boutique hotel's ventilation could dispel it. Lazily, Bai Haonan dropped his arm onto the sheets beside him—empty, though still faintly warm. Perhaps it was the sound of the woman leaving that had woken him; his head throbbed with pain, and he couldn't even recall what she looked like. Not that it mattered; women picked up in nightclubs and bars always seemed to look the same, didn't they? But had the whiskey last night been counterfeit? He seemed to have blacked out.

His mind blank, Bai Haonan propped himself up on the soft mattress with an elbow and reached for his phone on the bedside table—a habitual gesture for someone who never wore a watch. His fingers tapped the wooden surface several times; no familiar touch. Blinking in confusion, he finally sat up, his muscular, bare body exposed above the sheets, and glanced around—his phone was nowhere to be seen.

On the bedside table lay only a hotel note, scrawled hurriedly: "Handsome! Good job. Thanks for the phone you gave me!" At the end, a lipstick imprint pressed against the SIM card, removed from his phone.

Bai Haonan couldn't help but curse aloud. In a daze, he vaguely recalled his phone chiming during last night's escapade, and himself, lost in the moment, promising to give the brand-new model to the breathless woman. But it wasn't just about the phone.

At times like that, a man would promise to pluck the moon from the sky.

Damn it!

Wasn't San'er boasting that he'd hooked up with a wealthy woman who paid him for his talents? Why did Bai Haonan only run into these broke girls? Which online novel claimed you could casually meet a female CEO in a nightclub?

Now fully awake, Bai Haonan sprang up, grabbed the sweatshirt and sweatpants strewn across the floor, and slipped them on. He found the car keys still in his pocket, but at that moment, he wished the woman had taken the car instead.

A glance at the hotel alarm clock showed it was nearly two in the afternoon. Bai Haonan wanted to slap himself; what on earth had he drunk last night to sleep this late?

He rushed out of the room, stabbing at the elevator buttons impatiently for the ten seconds of waiting, his right foot tapping anxiously. If he weren’t on the twentieth floor, he’d have run down the stairs.

Passing through the lobby, the familiar manager approached with a sycophantic smile. "Brother Nan..."

Bai Haonan snapped, "Brother my ass! Why aren’t you cleaning up? Why did no one call me? Did you forget what today is?"

The manager hadn't time to protest that Bai Haonan was a long-term guest before Bai, fuming, burst out the door, hurriedly scanned the street, spotted a phone shop to the right, and pressed his car key. He jumped into his second-hand blue Cayman, fired up the engine, and, in his rush, felt the rear-wheel drive scrape the curb as he left the parking lot. Ignoring any possible damage, he sped across the street, tires screeching, drawing awed glances from passersby, parked opposite the commercial district, donned sunglasses, and dashed into the phone shop.

He hadn’t driven the sports car merely to show off; after losing his wallet twice during nightclub hookups, Bai Haonan usually left it under the driver's seat, bringing only some cash and his phone. Who could have predicted even the phone would get stolen?

A few minutes later, his trembling hand powered on the new phone; he stopped cursing, opened the message app—only to see a blank screen.

A brand-new phone, of course, held no history.

He immediately dialed the number he shouldn’t have. Busy. As Bai Haonan exited the phone store, repeatedly redialing, another number called. Though the new phone lacked a contact list, Bai Haonan answered at once, and sure enough, a powerful voice rang out, brimming with fury: "Damn it! Are you trying to pull a stunt on me? Where the hell have you been?"

Bai Haonan took a deep breath before interjecting, "Boss! My phone was stolen, early this morning. I just bought a new one and am heading back now. I’m right next door, I’ll be there in a moment..."

Once again, before a crowd of envious onlookers, he opened the sports car door and sped away.

But every time he redialed the previous number, the line was still busy.

In just a few minutes, the flashy blue sports car rolled through the security-manned gates. The guard, an old man, gave him a sympathetic look. "Nan, you’re in trouble..."

Bai Haonan responded with a lazy middle finger.

The throaty roar of the exhaust seemed especially abrasive as he parked among a lineup of equally flashy sports cars and off-roaders. Before he could even remove his sunglasses, a burly figure leapt to his car door and began beating him.

Bai Haonan, overwhelmed, could only shield his head and dodge. His newly bought phone was snatched and smashed against a rough exterior wall five or six meters away, shattering. Another heavy slap landed on his face, fingers brushing his eyes.

No time to mourn for the phone; Bai Haonan clutched his eye in pain and squatted down, screaming.

The burly middle-aged man showed no mercy, continuing to kick him. Bai Haonan quickly rolled onto the ground, then was dragged by the arm and hauled like a dead dog onto the open space, where he was kicked again: "Acting tough! All you do is chase girls! Buying that damn car just so you can scam women!"

Bai Haonan, muscular as he was, didn’t resist—he curled up tightly, rolling to dodge, wailing louder than a slaughtered pig. Soon, faces poked out from the three- or four-story building, laughing. Two older men ran out to pull them apart. "Enough, Chen! That’s enough, he’s just a tough nut!"

Dragged away, Old Chen still vented his anger with a parting kick, even if only with his toe: "If you’d just put in a bit more effort! Look at you..."

Bai Haonan looked as shameless as ever, sprawled on the ground, peeking through his fingers as the others went inside, then sat up with a grin and nonchalantly flashed middle fingers to everyone watching from the windows.

Suddenly remembering his phone, he scrambled over. The screen of his newly purchased five-thousand-yuan phone was shattered. Still, he stubbornly tried to piece together the fragments and power it on, but no matter how he fiddled, it wouldn’t light up—he was clearly no expert.

Those few minutes of delay were enough for the faces upstairs to come down, laughing and dragging Bai Haonan along. "Brother Haonan! Finished collecting protection money in the district? Heard you found a student girl last night!"

Bai Haonan was desperate. "Phone! Who has a phone? Lend me one, sell me one!"

The group laughed even harder. "Hey, Brother Haonan, the student girl’s number? Was she any good? I saw her from behind, looked like a killer..."

Bai Haonan snapped, "Your mother! She took my phone, and the one I just bought got smashed by Old Chen..."

The crowd’s laughter grew louder. A dozen or so fit young men, about Bai Haonan’s age, teased him mercilessly. Even when Bai Haonan raised his voice, no one responded—they all cared more about his exploits last night. Bai Haonan boasted, "You know my rules! If not for today, I’d be a seven-times-a-night guy!"

The crowd jeered, "Seven seconds each time, huh?"

"No... One second!"

Just then, several middle-aged men emerged. Old Chen’s thunderous shout rang out: "Cut the crap! Get inside, now! Bai Haonan, you layabout, get over here! Watch how I deal with you today!"

Everyone scrambled inside like students caught by their homeroom teacher.

Bai Haonan looked at the fragments in his hand, squeezed his eyes shut, and accepted reality. He pulled out the SIM card, tossed the rest into a flower bed, and snuck around to avoid Old Chen before going in.

Old Chen followed with a flying kick. Bai Haonan dodged nimbly and had to steady the man to keep him from falling. Old Chen stared at his eye. "Damn! Are you some delicate maiden? Two scratches and you’re swollen already?"

Bai Haonan touched his eyelid—it was indeed burning and swollen from the slap.

Old Chen cupped Bai Haonan’s head with concern, looking as if he might kiss him right then and there.