At five in the morning, as dawn was breaking, Sister Hong and a group of male escorts saw off the last drunken guest at the entrance.
Only after watching the van drive far away with a smile did the one on her face seem to disappear. Everyone was a little tired.
A male escort sidled up to the boss's wife and asked, "Sister Hong, I still don't understand, how did Brother Yun Chen win that round?"
Sister Hong lit a cigarette and leaned against the doorframe. Several curious male escorts also came closer to join the fun.
"I taught you no less than anyone else, it's just that he understood a principle."
"What is it?"
"As long as it's a game, reaching the highest level isn't about how to win, but about how to intentionally lose without the opponent noticing."
Sister Hong flicked the ash, took the last puff of her cigarette, and crushed it on the cigarette pack. A male escort reached out to catch the glowing tip.
The boss's wife looked at these children who earned money for her, understanding that it was rare for someone outstanding to appear in this profession in many years.
And in order to cultivate Ou Yun Chen, she had taught him everything she could. The rest depended on his beautiful face that attracted the patronage of wealthy women.
"Alright, everyone has worked hard. I'm leaving now. You all should get some rest too. See you tonight."
On the other side of the club.
Unlike everyone else, Ou Yun Chen would come to the back door of the club to daydream alone every time it closed.
He didn't like to be disturbed at this time, and coupled with his unsociable personality, the other male escorts had long since categorized him as someone who couldn't be approached alone.
Perhaps even though they fawned over guests all day, they wouldn't use those skills to fawn over a colleague.
Naturally, Ou Yun Chen had no friends to talk to here. Besides the boss's wife who had saved his life, he could only engage in superficial pleasantries during work.
Ou Yun Chen sat on the steps. The morning was a bit foggy, and the humid air entering his lungs made his throat feel sticky.
Besides his identity as a male escort, he had another, unrevealed identity.
Three years ago, he was being chased by an organization and fled here, hiding in a corner of the alley behind the club.
He lay there, barely clinging to life, his festering, inflamed wounds making him delirious. He didn't want to die. He had once been one of the adopted sons of the Tang Empire; he shouldn't have died so ignominiously at the hands of his brothers.
That battle among the adopted sons had made him realize that even brothers who had faced life and death together would kill each other for profit. Wasn't it all for the succession of the empire?
He hated Axe, who had now ascended the Tang throne. This man was so unscrupulous that he would even eliminate his own siblings!
If he wanted the Tang throne, why couldn't he fight openly? Where had all the years of brotherhood gone?
If it weren't for this battle among the adopted sons, he might have voluntarily given up the succession!
Ou Yun Chen's mind involuntarily drifted to Axe's appearance. He remembered when they were children, among the group of children adopted by Tang, he and Axe were the two who got along best…
They were disciplined together, beaten together, and even bathed together…
Oh, right, the instructor at the time had even given them a combined name: the "Axeo" combination, because Ou Yun Chen's original name was Ou Zhan, and his codename was 'O'.
—Ou Yun Chen's Recollection—
That year, Ou Zhan had just turned eighteen. Although he was only just an adult, he had already undertaken dangerous missions from Tang multiple times.
As for Axe, being two years younger, he was mostly assigned to Tier 2 missions. But both of them competed internally, as neither was inferior to the other.
O: "Hey! It's my birthday today, did you prepare any gifts for me?"
Axe: "Get your hand off me! Stop putting your arm around me like that, I think you're trying to push down on my shoulders so I won't grow taller!"
However, the more Axe dodged, the more Ou Zhan insisted on pushing him, not only pushing his shoulders but also vigorously patting his head, making Axe jump up and retaliate!
They would sometimes unintentionally use lethal force when roughhousing, due to their special training, and would only let go when one tapped the ground to surrender.
But it had to be said that Axe was more adept at close combat. Six or seven out of ten times, Axe would beat O black and blue.
This time seemed no different. Axe had O's right arm pinned tightly behind his back; if he applied any more pressure, they would hear his arm dislocate.
O: "Stop, stop, stop! You bastard, it's my grand birthday today, and this is how you congratulate me?"
Axe forcefully pushed O away and even kicked him in the butt.
Axe: "If you ruin my hairstyle again, I'll get you!"
O rubbed his shoulder and looked at Axe provocatively.
O: "Have you been lusting after me for a long time? Are you going to give me your first time as a birthday gift?"
Axe: "Get lost! I'm afraid your chrysanthemum will wilt!"
Axe: "Ahem, you want a birthday gift, huh? Then you'll have to exchange something with me."
O: "Huh? What kind of logic is that? How can you ask for something in return for giving a birthday gift?"
Axe: "Fully cracked PSP games, want them or not?"
O: "Damn it! Just tell me what you want in exchange!"
Axe: "Let me see your portable hard drive that you never show me."
O: "Listen to your brother, let's not look. I have to protect a minor."
Axe: "Then I'll have to give this PSP to someone else. Anyway, you're not the only one with a portable hard drive."
O: "No, no, no, let's negotiate. I'll give it to you in two years, how about that?"
Axe: "No."
O: "Fine, I'll let you see it! But I need to make a backup in case you don't return it or lose it…"
Axe: "Deal! I'll go ask K for the PSP right now!"
O: "So after all that, it's not even your gift?"
Axe: "It doesn't matter who cracks it, it's guaranteed you can play anything!"
Axe eagerly ran off to get the PSP, while Ou Zhan quickly ran back to his room and copied the contents of the portable hard drive.
When Ou Zhan received the PSP, he then handed the portable hard drive to Axe. But when Axe locked the door, turned off the lights, and prepared to watch the contents of the portable hard drive with a large roll of toilet paper, he discovered that the files had all been swapped. The original videos had been replaced with "The Simpsons"…
Meanwhile, Ou Zhan was excitedly turning on the PSP, ready for a day and night of gaming, only to find that although the PSP was a cracked version, all the games had save data and could not be reset…
O Axe: "Damn it!!!"
As expected, brothers are meant to be betrayed…
—End of Ou Yun Chen's Recollection—
Gulp. With the last satisfying gulp of soda, Ou Yun Chen crushed the can with force and threw it on the ground. Aiming for the trash can by the roadside, he kicked it!
Whoosh—
The can performed a perfect parabolic trajectory!