Awkward Chapter 61

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Ye Mu was momentarily stunned and instinctively pulled up his collar to cover it.

Yan Chen’s eyes were deep and intense as he fixed his gaze on him. “Tell me.”

Ye Mu turned his face away, hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly spoke. “Someone from a bar. I don’t know him very well.”

Ye Mu’s recent entanglement with Chen Mo had already been complicated. At this juncture, he didn’t want Yan Chen interfering. The issues from his time in prison had always been a thorn in his side.

Yan Chen’s face darkened with anger. “You slept with someone you don’t know? Aren’t you afraid of getting an infection?”

Ye Mu looked down, pressing his lips together. “I used protection.”

Yan Chen persisted, “Were you on top or bottom?”

Ye Mu turned his head, his face indifferent. “It’s none of your business.”

Yan Chen’s heart ached suddenly, his expression pained. “What’s with your tone? I’m concerned about you.”

Ye Mu looked down, not appreciating the concern. “I don’t need it.”

Yan Chen gritted his teeth, his handsome face showing thinly veiled anger. “What do you mean you don’t need it? You never spoke to me like this before.”

Ye Mu raised his eyes to look at him, his gaze steady and calm. “You also said that was the past. It’s over now.”

Yan Chen clicked his tongue, showing irritation. “Which bar? When? Where did you book a room?”

Ye Mu frowned, cutting him off. “Enough. I don’t want to repeat myself!”

Yan Chen looked at him, “Repeat what?”

Ye Mu looked back at him, his voice heavy and deliberate. “We broke up, Yan Chen! So who I sleep with and where has nothing to do with you.”

Yan Chen froze for a moment, then lowered his head, feeling a surge of emotions. He wiped his face, trying to calm down. “It doesn’t concern me, but who knows how dirty those people in the bars are? Aren’t you afraid of getting sick?”

Ye Mu was impatient. “Getting sick is my own problem. It’s not your concern. We’re here for an inspection today. If you can’t let this go, then we should part ways and meet another day.”

With that, Ye Mu opened the car door and sat in the driver’s seat.

Yan Chen forcefully pulled him out, his black eyes filled with gloom. “Come back. You need to explain yourself.”

Ye Mu furrowed his brow immediately. “Explain what? It’s just that I had too much to drink and ended up with someone.”

Yan Chen’s face grew darker, his voice stern. “Why did you drink so much? What were you doing at a bar?”

Ye Mu, fed up, couldn’t help but swear. “It’s none of your d*mn business. Stop meddling.”

Yan Chen’s face showed unmasked anger, his voice laced with contempt. “None of my business? You’re just wallowing in self-destruction! Is it because you’re lonely or empty? Why go to such dirty places and mess around?”

Ye Mu clenched his fists, his nails digging into his skin, his eyes cold. “You’re overstepping. Who do you think you are?”

Yan Chen’s eyes flashed with a moment of discomfort, but he quickly regained his dark expression. “An ex! As my ex, don’t I have the right to tell you to stay clean?”

Ye Mu, radiating coldness, stared at him with determination. “Fine, then as your ex, I order you to stop being a meddler!”

Yan Chen’s rage flared, his eyes blazing with fury as he stared at Ye Mu, looking like he was ready to strangle him.

Ye Mu was equally resolute, his face set in a hard expression, showing no sign of compromise or surrender.

The tension between them was palpable, almost explosive, with a real risk of physical confrontation.

“Ding~”

Suddenly, someone’s phone rang.

Yan Chen bit his lip, glanced at his phone, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath when he saw the caller.

“Hello, Gu Huai.” His voice, suddenly calm and warm, was a stark contrast to his earlier tone.

Ye Mu looked at him with a cold, disdainful smirk, noting how quickly he had changed his demeanor.

“Are you on-site at Jiulong Bay?” The voice on the other end of the phone came unexpectedly.

Yan Chen replied quietly, “Yes.”

Gu Huai, sitting in the car and steering with one hand, asked, “Have you gone in yet?”

Yan Chen responded briefly, “Not yet.”

Gu Huai, looking ahead with a flat expression, said, “I’m passing by. I’ll join you.”

Yan Chen frowned. “No, you have no experience in this area. You’ll just be a hindrance.”

“Is it because you’re worried about being disturbed in your little world?” Gu Huai raised an eyebrow.

Yan Chen’s face grew colder. “That’s not what I meant.”

Gu Huai smiled, braking to a stop. “You look so grim. I was just joking. I’m here now.”

Yan Chen turned to see him getting out of the car.

Gu Huai, with his lashes fluttering, walked over casually, placing his hand on Yan Chen’s arm. His eyes were full of warmth as he greeted Ye Mu. “Ye Mu, long time no see.”

Ye Mu, coldly, looked down and didn’t respond, clearly uninterested in engaging.

Gu Huai’s eyes narrowed slightly, but before he could speak, Yan Chen interrupted.

“Why did you come all of a sudden?”

Gu Huai glanced at him, his tone significant. “I thought about it and decided I couldn’t leave it alone. By the way, what were you arguing about earlier? I saw your face was red with anger.”

Yan Chen frowned deeply and turned his head to look ahead, trying to casually move past the topic. “It’s nothing. Are you serious about wanting to join the field investigation?”

Gu Huai nodded and looked up at him, asking in return, “Why, can’t I?”

A trace of concern flashed across Yan Chen’s handsome face. “The place is full of uncultured roughnecks. I’m worried something might happen.”

Gu Huai shrugged, looking indifferent. “It’s just an investigation. You’re overthinking it.”

Yan Chen was still uneasy and didn’t really want him to go. His voice deepened, “That place is covered in dust, and you’re wearing white. When you get home, you’ll complain about the dirt again.”

Gu Huai, unusually not fussy, replied, “If my clothes get dirty, I’ll just wash them at home. Didn’t you say you’d go to the movies with me later? If we delay any longer, we’ll be late. Let’s go in already.”

Seeing his determination, Yan Chen stopped trying to dissuade him and led him towards the side gate.

Gu Huai glanced at him. “Are you planning to climb the wall?” The side gate of the village was locked tight; the only way in was to climb over the wall.

Yan Chen’s gaze darkened. “There’s no other choice. The last group we sent through the main gate got chased out. We have to keep a low profile this time.”

As he spoke, he moved to the wall, lifted Gu Huai over it, and helped him climb down, leaving Ye Mu behind.

Ye Mu, feeling reluctant but needing to write a report later, followed them without saying a word and climbed over the wall as well.

The three of them stuck to the more secluded areas as they walked, avoiding detection.

The buildings in the village were old, mostly built from irregular stones. Along the way, they only saw elderly people, with white hair and beards, thin and frail. Even in the dead of winter, they were out in the fields, irrigating and turning the soil.

Ye Mu approached an elderly man who looked kind, trying to start a conversation. But for some reason, as soon as the man saw him, he reacted as if he’d seen a ghost, immediately retreating inside and slamming the door.

The next few attempts with other villagers ended the same way.

Yan Chen pulled him back, stopping him from trying again, and led them further ahead.

In the middle of the road, there were several strong young men constructing what looked like a tall tower, with loud clanging noises echoing from their work. Seeing the “Under Construction, Danger” sign, the three of them stopped at the edge, not daring to get too close.

Ye Mu frowned as he watched the workers and said in a low voice, “I’ve seen the documents for this land. There’s no report about building a tower here. This is an illegal construction.”

Yan Chen responded with a cold “We’ll deal with that later. Right now, we need to find someone who can give us information.”

Just as he finished speaking, a loud voice came from a distance.

“Hey, who are you?” An old man with a dark face, smoking a pipe, walked over aggressively.

Although the three of them were dressed in casual clothes, their tall statures and city-bred demeanor made them stand out.

Yan Chen glanced at the man, masking his usual icy expression, and spoke in a calm tone, “We’re from out of town. We heard about the tower being built here and came to take a look.”

The old man squinted, sizing them up, and snorted, “Yeah right, you look like a bunch of pretentious city slickers here to seize our land! Didn’t you learn your lesson when we broke your guy’s leg last time? How dare you come back? You must have a death wish!”

Ye Mu pressed his lips together, trying to ease the tension. “There might be a misunderstanding. We really just came to look around…”

“Bah!”

The old man spat at him, cutting him off before he could finish. He then shouted at the top of his lungs, “Brothers! Grab your tools! These guys are here to take our land!”

Within moments, a crowd of men came running toward them, brandishing shovels and knives.

In no time, they were surrounded by a dense crowd.

“D*mmit, you b*stards must have a death wish!”

“We said we’re not selling the land! Why can’t you get that through your thick skulls?”

“Aren’t you tired of harassing us every other day? My brother-in-law is a lawyer; you’d better watch out, or I’ll have him sue you!”

“Crooked merchants! You’ll never get our land!”

A group of burly men blocked them in, waving their tools menacingly.

One particularly agitated man, wielding a knife, made a threatening slash at Gu Huai.

Yan Chen’s pupils contracted, and he instinctively pulled Gu Huai into his arms, pushing the man away.

“Son of a b*tch, you dare to fight back!” The man roared, raising his knife to strike again.

Yan Chen blocked the blow with his hand, unable to contain his anger, and kicked the man hard in the abdomen. The man, caught off guard, fell heavily to the ground.

The already tense situation escalated further as the villagers’ anger flared. They began to advance on the three men with serious intent to harm.

Ye Mu raised his hands, trying to calm them down, but the noise was too overwhelming for anyone to hear him.

In the chaos, someone spat at Gu Huai, hitting his clothes. Furious, Gu Huai recoiled, stepping back and accidentally treading on someone’s foot.

The man he stepped on, a burly fellow, immediately flew into a rage, flinging his shovel aside and grabbing Gu Huai by the collar, cursing him.

Yan Chen reacted quickly, and in the heat of the moment, he couldn’t afford to hold back. He swung a fist and landed a hard punch on the man’s nose, drawing blood.

The villagers exploded with rage, throwing down their tools and attacking in earnest, fists flying.

The three of them were trapped in the middle, each taking heavy blows, their bodies pummeled by the angry crowd.

The situation was spiraling out of control. Yan Chen, gritting his teeth, grabbed Gu Huai’s hand and, seizing an opportunity, started pushing through the crowd, making a run for it.

Ye Mu followed closely behind them, barely squeezing through a gap in the crowd. But just as he managed to catch his breath, he was suddenly shoved violently from the front.

He looked up, eyes widening in shock, and realized it was Gu Huai.

Gu Huai sneered, his lips curving into a chilling smile, his entire demeanor exuding malice.

Ye Mu was stunned. He knew they were enemies, but he hadn’t expected such cruelty. As his body was flung backward, he hit the ground hard.

Seeing one of their targets fall, the villagers pounced on him, beating him savagely.

Yan Chen, unaware of what was happening behind him, kept running with Gu Huai, lifting him over the wall before climbing over himself.

Ye Mu laid on the ground, every inch of his body aching as if suffocating. He tried to call for help, but his mouth filled with the taste of blood, and all he could manage was a splatter of red.

The villagers continued to rain blows on him, the pain overwhelming, leaving him struggling to breathe. He tried to push himself up, only to be kicked hard again, his ribs cracking as he collapsed in agony.

Gu Huai, just before escaping over the wall, glanced back at him one last time, his eyes filled with venomous hatred, like a demon from h*ll.

“You wretch, I want you dead!”