Chapter 001: Victoria’s Secret

Perhaps it was only a brief moment, or perhaps an eternity had passed. Lin Yu gradually regained consciousness, his head throbbing with a dull ache, weighed down by a heaviness. Images flickered through his mind like slides, as if he had just awoken from a wretched yet vivid dream, or as though he’d lived half a lifetime awash in decadence and aimless wandering.

“Damn, this feels awful!” he muttered weakly, his lips barely moving. Slowly, he pried open his dark eyes, lifting his head to drowsily survey his surroundings.

His mind was in chaos, circuits on the verge of shorting out. The last memory he could grasp was being ambushed by more than a dozen enemies—after taking down four or five with all his might, he’d finally been hacked unconscious in a flurry of blades.

“Wait, what’s going on here?”

After a brief inspection, Lin Yu realized he was lying on a luxurious Simmons mattress, and beside him lay a fair-skinned girl.

Her silky, jet-black hair draped over her shoulders as she slept soundly, occasionally murmuring in her dreams. She wore nothing but a set of black lace lingerie. Her smooth back and creamy, slender legs were mostly exposed to the air, radiating an enticing allure.

But what Lin Yu liked most was the way the lace panties barely concealed her firm, round curves—so full of youthful elasticity.

His roving eyes feasted on the sight for a long while, blood surging with excitement. With a mischievous tone, he murmured, “Tsk tsk, this girl’s got quality—long legs, just my type. And she’s wearing Victoria’s Secret—must be loaded. Did I score something at the bar last night? Guess that whole getting hacked up was just a dream. Yesterday must’ve been the usual—a drunken night out. Brought a girl to a hotel, but didn’t do anything. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be sleeping in her underwear.”

He kept staring, indulging himself in the spectacle, and seeing that the girl still hadn’t woken, he gave her a playful smack and nipped her ear, saying, “Alright, sweetheart, time to wake up. Let’s finish what we didn’t last night.”

“Mmm… what are you doing? I’m not done sleeping…” The girl, still groggy, rubbed her eyes, her face buried in the pillow, mumbling as she opened her sleepy eyes to Lin Yu’s mischievous grin.

“Lin Yu… you…” Once she saw him clearly, she screamed hoarsely, hastily covering her exposed chest with both hands.

She wasn’t the only one stunned—Lin Yu, recognizing her, was equally taken aback, a wave of bewilderment rising within him.

Unable to restrain his confusion, he blurted, “Qi Yue? Did you go to Korea for plastic surgery? You look so much younger…”

He knew this girl—her name was Qi Yue, a classic troubled heiress, and his “sworn brother” of many years. They’d been classmates from middle school through high school, always hanging out together, getting into all sorts of trouble. After graduation, Lin Yu had introduced her to his boss, Wang Yan, and they became a couple. The group had kept close ties into adulthood.

So now, finding himself in bed with her left Lin Yu feeling uneasy.

He had always valued brotherhood and lived by the rule that a friend’s girl was off-limits. Wang Yan and the others had been his closest friends since those days in high school, when they’d pool their money for a single pack of cigarettes.

But what surprised him most wasn’t just waking up next to Qi Yue, but that she looked so much younger than he remembered—so much more innocent, none of that commanding presence she’d developed. It was as if she’d become the Qi Yue of ten years ago.

“Of course it’s me, who else would it be? I’m only eighteen, how could I not look young? Did you drink so much your brain’s addled again?” Qi Yue, noticing his dazed look, teased him impatiently as she slipped on a white loungewear top from beside the bed. She stretched her fair, slender arms, yawning languidly.

She wore nothing on her lower half, but the oversized top fell to her upper thighs. After stretching, she glared at Lin Yu, who was propped against the headboard, head tilted as he watched her, and frowned, “Did you do anything to me last night?”

Her tone was somewhat accusatory, but there was no anger in her eyes.

“What’s your game?” Lin Yu wondered silently. Then, as if struck by a revelation, he slapped his forehead and said, “You must be Qi Yue’s younger sister, right? Where’s your sister? You little rascal, trying to act all grown up!”

He remembered that Qi Yue had a half-sister about ten years younger.

But the girl in the white loungewear leaped onto the bed and aimed a kick between his legs—nearly hitting her mark—cursing, “Lin Yu, are you an idiot? You sleep with me and then pretend to be crazy? Are you even a man? Give me back my sister—she’s only eight!”

There are three kinds of people in this world with the worst tempers: third, beautiful women; second, the police; and first, ruffians.

Qi Yue, with her long legs, belonged to the first; Lin Yu, clearly, to the last, with an even shorter fuse.

So when the long-legged beauty kicked him and kept nagging, he lost his patience, sprang up, and snapped, “Still pretending? Let’s see how long you can keep this up. If you’re really Qi Yue, don’t fight back!”

With practiced ease, he tackled her onto the bed and kissed her cherry lips, his hands wandering in a way that made his intentions clear.

At first, the long-legged beauty was momentarily stunned, but then she closed her eyes peacefully. Soon, she wrapped her arms around Lin Yu’s neck and responded eagerly.

This threw Lin Yu into a quandary. Wickedly, he thought, “These post-90s girls are really something—way too open. You’re even bolder than your sister.”

Little did he know, she really was Qi Yue—just the Qi Yue from a decade earlier.

He glanced out at the bright sunshine streaming through the window. Judging by the light, it was already midday. From the age of ten to twenty-eight, whenever he had time in the afternoon, he’d train at a professional taekwondo gym in Bincheng. By twenty-eight, he was a fifth-degree black belt, able to spar with many professionals.

So Lin Yu had no interest in bantering with a little girl. He was convinced this long-legged beauty was Qi Yue’s sister; there was no point in dragging this out. He’d rather go to the gym and kick around some Korean instructors. Otherwise, if something really happened between them, how could he ever face Qi Yue again?

So, pushing aside the panting, flushed girl, he said gruffly, “Not bad, kid—you’re more of a woman than your sister. But I’ve got to hit the gym this afternoon, so I won’t tease you. When you were asleep, your Victoria’s Secret was still intact, so I probably didn’t touch you. That’s it, I’m off.”

With an indifferent air, he got out of bed, searching for his clothes in just his black boxers.

At that moment, Qi Yue, in her white nightshirt, pulled a blue tracksuit from under the bed and tossed it at him. “Keep playing dumb, Lin Yu! Here, your stinky old school uniform. Put it on and get lost. By the way, today’s September 2nd, Monday, the first day of senior year. We’ve already missed the whole morning. Don’t tell me you’re skipping the afternoon too?”

“Monday, first day of senior year?”

Lin Yu froze, clutching the blue uniform. For a moment, his blood rushed so fiercely he nearly fainted. He examined his arms and body, then dashed madly to the bathroom to look in the mirror.

Meanwhile, Qi Yue, cheeks flushed, slipped out of her sexy Victoria’s Secret.

She muttered under her breath, “Hmph! Cowardly pervert!”