Chapter 3: Something About Chen Zhe
Chen Zemian licked his dry lips and then closed his mouth again.
Lu Zhuonian raised an eyebrow: “Why aren’t you speaking anymore?”
Chen Zemian warily asked, “Young Master Lu, do you think that my memory loss… is ridiculous?”
Lu Zhuonian didn’t reply.
A chill ran down Chen Zemian’s neck, and his hairs stood on end. “Then I’ll go home and think it over. Maybe I’ll be fine in a few days.”
Lu Zhuonian remained silent, his deep eyes still fixed on him.
Chen Zemian felt like a rabbit being stared at by a snake. He hurriedly dropped a sentence: “Good night, Young Master Lu. Goodbye, Young Master Lu.”
Before he finished speaking, Chen Zemian quickly bypassed Lu Zhuonian and made to leave.
Four bodyguards stepped out from behind Lu Zhuonian, lined up in a row, and blocked the hallway, stopping Chen Zemian’s way.
Chen Zemian’s expression shifted instantly, his face tightening into a cold, sculpted indifference. “You can’t stop me.”
The sound of footsteps came, and four more bodyguards appeared in front of Chen Zemian.
Eight burly men blocked the corridor. Even without lifting a hand, their presence alone was enough to suppress anyone.
Chen Zemian’s expression didn’t change. He simply shifted his neck: “Then come at me.”
The lead bodyguard looked questioningly at Lu Zhuonian.
Lu Zhuonian took the leather gloves handed to him by the bodyguard and slowly put them on. The black leather encased his long fingers, and the soft, fine quality of the lambskin shone with a luxurious, warm glow under the light.
Chen Zemian took half a step back, as though facing a great threat.
In the original text, Lu Zhuonian’s action of putting on gloves is very symbolic.
Due to his extreme cleanliness obsession, Lu Zhuonian always wears gloves before he does anything personally.
The black lambskin gloves themselves represent restraint and abstinence, and this action subtly hints at the violence that is about to unfold.
The stark contrast builds up the reader’s anticipation, making it almost a memorable scene in the story.
The calm and restrained male lead, even when furious, remains unflappable. He slowly puts on his gloves, then strikes decisively and mercilessly—each punch landing with full force, turning the opponent’s face into a bloody mess. He then rises leisurely, looking down at the person with a gaze akin to that of a dog, and tosses the bloodstained black gloves to the ground before turning and walking away. The tension reaches its peak, and readers can’t help but cheer.
However, Lu Zhuonian’s status is so high that he never needs to take matters into his own hands. The rare scenes where he puts on gloves make those moments even more iconic. The few times he’s done so have been because the opponent truly crossed the line, violating his principles and bottom line, prompting him to personally take action.
But now, Lu Zhuonian actually put on gloves?!
‘What did I do?’
Chen Zemian was completely dumbfounded.
‘I didn’t even say anything.’
‘Why did Lu Zhuonian put on gloves? Did my words violate his principles and bottom line?!’
‘Withdraw! Withdraw! Retreat!’
Chen Zemian’s pupils dilated slightly, frozen in place as he mentally pressed Ctrl+Z.
Lu Zhuonian was quite pleased with Chen Zemian’s reaction.
He leisurely rolled up his sleeves, folding the cuffs of his shirt to his elbows, and calmly asked, “Can I stop you?”
Chen Zemian’s pupils contracted, and he immediately turned to run.
Lu Zhuonian was quick on the draw, grabbing the back of Chen Zemian’s collar.
Chen Zemian didn’t hesitate for a moment. He lifted the hem of his shirt with both hands, preparing to escape in a “cicada shedding its shell” move.
He lifted his shirt, revealing a narrow, slender waist with skin as white as porcelain.
Lu Zhuonian yanked Chen Zemian’s collar backward, and then reached out to grab his neck.
Chen Zemian thought to himself, ‘What kind of move is this?’ He tilted his head to avoid the hold but was caught by Lu Zhuonian on the wrist. He twisted his arm downward, applying pressure to Lu Zhuonian’s palm.
Lu Zhuonian frowned and quietly called, “Chen Zhe.”
Chen Zemian momentarily loosened his grip, but when he raised his face, the defiance in his eyes was unmistakable. “You can’t stop me either.”
“I may not be able to stop you, but I bet you won’t dare to lay a hand on me.” Lu Zhuonian suddenly yanked Chen Zemian toward him. “So, you can only come with me. There are no other choices.”
Chen Zemian was skilled, and the bodyguards couldn’t do anything to him.
Lu Zhuonian didn’t step in because he was better at fighting; it was because he was certain that Chen Zemian wouldn’t dare to hit him.
Realizing the implication of Lu Zhuonian’s words, a trace of disbelief flickered in Chen Zemian’s eyes. He never expected Lu Zhuonian to play such a game of logic.
It was a little shameless.
“Are you really Lu Zhuonian?”
As he was forced into the car, Chen Zemian had only one question in his mind.
Lu Zhuonian, in the original text, was someone who held his status high, so how could he resort to such an absurd tactic of threatening people with his own position?
Lu Zhuonian sat calmly in the back of the business car, composed as ever. “Do you want to see my ID?”
“Forget it,” Chen Zemian muttered, resigning himself as he leaned back in the seat. “Where are you taking me?”
Lu Zhuonian replied, “You’ve lost your memory due to an internal injury, right? I’m taking you to the hospital for a check-up.”
Chen Zemian felt a flicker of hope. “If they don’t find anything wrong, can I leave?”
Lu Zhuonian shot him a sideways glance. “You’ve lost your memory. How could there be nothing wrong?”
Chen Zemian immediately felt a cold chill inside, realizing that Lu Zhuonian was starting to doubt him. “What if they don’t find anything wrong?”
Lu Zhuonian’s tone remained casual. “Then we’ll keep checking until we find something. Until then, you’ll stay in the hospital. I’ll have people protect you.”
Chen Zemian’s heart sank completely.
Talk about protection—this was nothing more than surveillance.
Chen Zemian quietly protested, “This is restricting my personal freedom. It’s illegal detention.”
Lu Zhuonian gave a slight nod. “Mm, go ahead and call the police.”
“…”
Chen Zemian was speechless.
Is this really Lu Zhuonian?
In the novel, Lu Zhuonian is portrayed as calm and composed, but how come in reality he seems so devious?
His personality differs a bit from the one in the original text, but his appearance is exactly as described.
Lu Zhuonian’s features are striking. His eyebrows are well-shaped, his nose straight, and when the orange light falls on his youthful, handsome face, it accentuates his superior bone structure. His facial features are sharp and well-defined, giving him a cold and deep expression. The aura he exudes is one of haughty grace and authority that doesn’t seem to align with his age.
He almost looks younger than the character described in the book.
The inside of the car is warm and clean, with a fresh scent. There’s no hint of leather or gasoline, and no overpowering fragrance from air fresheners.
Chen Zemian, easily prone to motion sickness after drinking, surprisingly didn’t feel it this time.
The driver’s skills were excellent, the vehicle moving steadily forward with the engine humming rhythmically, lulling Chen Zemian into drowsiness.
He propped himself up, watching Lu Zhuonian, but soon his eyelids grew heavy. The drunkenness took over, and before long, he had fallen asleep.
Lu Zhuonian turned his head to look at the steadily breathing Chen Zemian, finding him increasingly interesting.
The business car pulled into a luxurious private hospital built by the Lu family. The special license plate was scanned at the entrance, and within half a minute, the entire hospital had received the notification that the young master of the Lu family had arrived for treatment.
The car stopped at the emergency entrance, and as it braked, it gently rocked, just enough to wake up the sleeping Chen Zemian.
As soon as Chen Zemian opened his eyes, he saw a dozen or so duty doctors and nurses in white coats waiting at the door, as if the car were carrying a critically ill patient on the verge of death, not a regular person.
The driver opened the door, and several nurses quickly moved forward. Together, they gently yet firmly tried to lift Chen Zemian onto the stretcher.
Chen Zemian repeatedly said, “I can walk, I can walk,” before finally freeing his arms from the nurses’ strong hold.
Before Chen Zemian could say anything else, he was surrounded by a group of doctors and hurried into the lobby. In a daze, he underwent dozens of tests—blood was drawn, CT scans, MRIs, and the only thing left was a lumbar puncture to check his cerebrospinal fluid for signs of meningitis.
“Intellectual decline is a major symptom of meningial damage. Let’s do a lumbar puncture.”
Chen Zemian, lying in the observation room, was lost in thought when he suddenly overheard Lu Zhuonian’s devilish whisper from outside the door.
When the young master spoke, the doctors naturally didn’t dare to refuse. They entered with the nurse, instructing Chen Zemian to lie on his side, not to move, and to curl up while they prepared for the procedure.
The nurse retrieved a specialized needle from the medical cart. The needle was long and thick, with black markings on it, about 12 centimeters in length.
The silver-white needle gleamed coldly under the operating light.
Chen Zemian immediately woke up, panic rising in his chest.
Blood tests and scans were one thing, but extracting cerebrospinal fluid? That was going too far.
With a roll, Chen Zemian threw himself off the bed, shouting loudly, “Lu Zhuonian! Lu Zhuonian!”
Lu Zhuonian didn’t respond at first, but after Chen Zemian called his name several times, he slowly entered the observation room. “What’s wrong?”
Chen Zemian pushed through the obstacles and grabbed the sleeve of Lu Zhuonian, pleading, “I was wrong, Young Master Lu, I was wrong! Please don’t take my cerebrospinal fluid. That stuff really hurts!”
A faint smile flickered in Lu Zhuonian’s eyes, barely noticeable. “What did you do wrong?”
Chen Zemian answered quickly, “Everything! I really don’t have any problems, please stop the tests, I beg you.”
Lu Zhuonian lowered his gaze, looking at him with a smile that seemed on the verge of breaking through. “So now you’re begging me? I thought you were someone with a backbone, someone who would insist on getting a gastroscopy or bronchoscopy before admitting the truth.”
Gastroscopy, colonoscopy, bronchoscopy?
Threatening people with these? Lu Zhuonian must be a devil.
The human trachea is incredibly fragile—just choking on water can cause coughing for ages, let alone having an instrument shoved down it. The sensation of that invasive procedure is a hundred times more intense than choking on water. Not only can you not cough it out, but the instrument keeps pushing deeper and moving around in the trachea, creating a feeling of drowning that could drive anyone to madness.
Under the threat of various endoscopic procedures, it’s hard for anyone to maintain their composure.
Chen Zemian instantly gave in.
He clutched Lu Zhuonian’s sleeve tightly, as though holding onto a lifeline, and softened his tone. “I have no backbone at all. I’m very honest.”
Lu Zhuonian glanced at his sleeve. “Hand.”
Chen Zemian immediately remembered Lu Zhuonian’s obsessive cleanliness. He let go of the sleeve, quickly grabbed an alcohol wipe from the medical cart, and exaggeratedly wiped the spot he had touched, as though he were cleaning a piece of contaminated equipment.
Lu Zhuonian was satisfied.
Chen Zemian clenched his fists inwardly, silently repeating ‘Don’t bully the young and poor, one day I will step on you’ a hundred times, barely managing to suppress the impulse to shove it into Lu Zhuonian’s smirking face.
Seeing Chen Zhe acting obediently, though clearly begrudging it, Lu Zhuonian felt a rare flicker of interest.
It was a thrill more stimulating than extreme sports.
From the moment he was born, Lu Zhuonian had always gotten whatever he wanted with ease.
Because it was easy to obtain, it lost its appeal and became tasteless.
A life of smooth sailing, wealth, and prestige was like a grand and elegant court symphony—majestic and dazzling, but steady, uneventful, and monotonous.
Day after day, life was always simple and predictable. Lu Zhuonian didn’t even need to think; he could see the future with a single glance.
But tonight, something strange had disrupted the familiar tune.
Lu Zhuonian should have corrected him, pushed him away, distanced himself from him.
But this Chen Zhe was too alive.
He was full of vitality, brimming with energy—so vivid that, for the first time in twenty years, Lu Zhuonian felt like he was looking at a real person.
The mere threat of a lumbar puncture, enough to scare someone into pale-faced panic, causing them to shout Lu Zhuonian’s name in the observation room and desperately clutch at him, begging for mercy and help.
In that moment, the satisfaction Lu Zhuonian felt surpassed even the thrill of bungee jumping or skydiving.
He had always thought of himself as someone with a strong sense of morality, someone with principles and boundaries far beyond the average person. He shouldn’t find amusement in bullying others. And if the way to derive pleasure was so simple and crude, he probably would have been a schoolyard bully back in middle school.
So why did teasing Chen Zhe bring him such enjoyment?
Why not someone else? Why Chen Zhe, of all people?
Lu Zhuonian thought for a moment and concluded that this was probably not his issue.
It must be something about Chen Zhe himself.
<< _ >>
**TN
So, someone already picked this up a day earlier than me. I didn’t know. Waaa. So my TL ends here. But since I already TLed 3 chaps, might as well upload it. Pity, I already TLed this yesterday; I was just stocking up chaps for the next day. Ahahaha. Oh well. XD Here’s the page link.
