Crimson Instinct

Chapter 127: Who's next?

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A certain bar at Dongcheng.

"Yue!"

The owner, a man in his mid-forties, called a young woman serving drinks at a table. She just touched twenty a few days ago.

"Yes, sir." She plainly said with no change in her expression.

"Take these drinks and go to the first floor in the lounge. One of the man is our regular here, so be nice."

Although he didn't need to tell her that because she didn't cause any trouble until now. 

Ying Yue nodded. She took the tray in her hands and walked upstairs.

Yue knocked on the door.

"Come in."

She twisted the knob and gently pushed the door. As she entered, she saw three men sitting on the big couch with cigarettes lit in their mouths. Ying Yue furrowed her brows a bit, but she went back to her original expression in no time.

She knew that customers here liked to smoke a lot, but she always detested that smell. She still couldn't get used to that thin cloud of smoke smelled like something was on fire. It was suffocating.

Ying Yue politely bowed.

She was fairly new to this bar, so she wondered who was the regular of this bar.

The single-seat couch on her left looked as if somebody was sitting on it a few minutes ago.

There were four glasses and three men on the couch.

They were discussing something when they looked up at her.

"Ah, here are our drinks."

As she served them, she faintly heard their conversation.

"Damn that boy. This is the first time that we cannot have fun."

The second man gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Why did our boss listen to that boy's request?"

"I still remember how he blatantly insulted us. I cannot wait that long!"

"That's why we are here to meet him."

Ying Yue was impassive. The first thing she learned when she started working in this bar was not to ask any questions about any guest or whatever she heard. There were all types of people and all types of deals going under the table.

She had just to serve the drinks as the waitress and keep her mouth shut.

As soon as she served the third glass to the last guest in line, the man grabbed her wrist.

Ying Yue didn't show any expression.

"Yes, sir?"

"Don't you know how to smile?"

The man was short-tempered. He got irked for no reason. He was in a bad mood just thinking about that teenage boy, and Ying Yue annoyed him further. Now he just wanted an excuse to vent.

"Why were you serving the drinks with that blank and dead expression? Are you looking down on me, you bitch?"

She wasn't affected by that curse.

Ying Yue said, "I had no intention as such, Sir."

"Then why didn't you smile!?" He spoke in a much harsher tone than before.

"Hey, calm down, man. Let it go." The first man snorted.

Ying Yue seriously said, "When I joined here, there was nothing as such said in the rules to compulsory smile while serving the drinks. Sir, this is the normal expression I work with. I didn't look down on you."

"Are you talking back to me!?" He roared and pinched her wrist harder than before.

Ying Yue winced for a moment. She blinked her eyes. "Sir, I don't understand. How is it talking back to you? You asked me two questions. I simply answered them."

"Shut up!"

He pulled her and forced her to sit on his lap.

Ying Yue stiffened a bit.

"You talk a lot."

"Sir, please let me go."

He sneered. "Isn't your job to serve the guests? Do your job properly." He placed his hand on her thigh.

Ying Yue calmly said, "Sir, my job is to serve drinks, not to serve your sexual gratification. That is not what I am paid for."

The other two men widened their eyes. Nobody ever talked to him like that before.

The man's blood boiled in anger.

He pinched her chin hard. "What will you do if I use you for my sexual gratification, you bitch?"

"I will take it to the owner."

The man burst into laughter. "You think he would help you?"

"Yes, sir. The owner has the responsibility to take care of its employees from any harassment, and he does take it." She said it as a matter of fact.

Even though the owner said to shut their mouths, that didn't mean he let anybody harass his workers, especially the waitresses. He had rules, and every guest knew it. The owner himself belonged to the underworld once, so no guest went against him.

"That will be when you will be able to leave this room after I have my way with you."

Ying Yue didn't show it on her face, but her heart skipped several beats in anxiety.

He was about to tear her dress apart, but a hand grabbed his wrist.

"Stop."

Ying Yue took this chance and quickly stepped back. She felt relieved. She looked up to see the man who stopped him.

She mildly raised her brows as she distinctly remembered him.

"Rodey! Leave my hand!"

Rodey tilted his head and smiled. "You know my rules, bastard."

He gulped.

That was right. As long as they had anything to deal with Rodey, they had to do it his way. And he had that freedom to enforce his rules because he was the right hand of the boss.

"Tell me what my rule is."

He said nothing.

Rodey tightened the grasp on his wrist. 

The man's brows furrowed in pain. He was furious, but he didn't have the balls to fight against Rodey. "Anything but sexual harassment."

Ying Yue's eyelids slightly trembled as she recalled the past incident.

'Even if I am a villain, I have a principle. Rodey doesn't rape women.'

"Good." He released his hand. 

Nobody knew why Rodey had that principle. But they just knew to follow it without arguing. Whether it be kidnapping or smuggling or anything, as long as one had to go through Rodey, they had to follow the rule. Even if they kidnapped women, they weren't allowed to touch them.

Rodey narrowed her eyes at Ying Yue, who silently stood at the side and said, "Do you need an invitation to serve my glass?"

Ying Yue picked up the tray again and served him his drink.

"Get out."

Ying Yue bowed and left the room.

As she stepped out, she didn't move for a long time.

He is the same man who killed those men.

When that incident was over, she was a little fearful of the police coming at her door one day, interrogating the four deaths.

Ying Yue wasn't the type to lie. So, it was the first time a situation came where she thought she might have to.

This time, it was hard, to tell the truth because Rodey had killed those men and saved her. How could she let the man who helped her go to jail because of her?

But that day never came. No police cars came by, and there was no interrogation.

Inwardly, she felt relieved.

I think he didn't recognize me since he didn't react, she thought. There was no change in her expression like always.

She didn't think about it much and left.

---

Inside the lounge, the first man quickly came back to the topic to ease the tension.

"Rodey. You know why we came here."

Rodey lazily took a drag from his cigarette. His attention was on the door for a moment before he retracted his gaze back to them.

"I know."

"We talked to the boss, and it also agreed on our thoughts. It has promised that teenage boy to let him live until his birthday."

The second man smiled. "But that doesn't mean that we cannot find another source of enjoyment to kill time."

"So we have to find another fish who we can trap in our net. As always. The same method."

Rodey rested his head on his cheek. "Who is next?"

The second man said, "We have shortlisted some candidates that can fall for it. But we have to expedite since we don't have much time like we gave that woman and that boy."

Rodey looked at the details with a bored expression. 

"Choose any one of them and get done with it."

They nodded.

The man who harassed Ying Yue said, "I heard that Duan Deming is caught."

Rodey looked unaffected. "He couldn't take care of a single deal."

"Comes from the man who got caught by the army."

Rodey laughed. "That was fun, though. It made me realize so many things."

"You don't want him out, right? After all, he has always threatened your position."

"When did he threaten my position? I don't remember. You need to see a doctor. Get out now, you three. The discussion is over."

---

As the three men went out with the third one more agitated than before, Rodey leaned back on his couch and stared at the wine glass he held, alone in the lounge.

After a few minutes, he picked up the phone and dialed the owner's extension number. "Call that waitress back here."