Wan Fuqi Was Here

"G-Give it a try. If you don't make money when it's right there, wouldn't that make you a b-big idiot?"

Li Mao still couldn't resist the temptation of the cigarette pack on the bedside table. Following his usual routine, he put one between his lips and lit it before forcing his exhausted body out of bed.

As he made his way with practiced ease toward the bathroom he had visited countless times over the past few days, he continued speaking into the phone. "I-I've still got some things to take care of here. Send the d-details of that job to my WeChat later."

Li Mao stopped in front of the toilet, lifted the lid, pinned the phone to his ear with his shoulder, and happily relieved himself.

"One more thing, A-Qiang. Find a f-few people, bring a barrel of gasoline, and wait for me at Liu Yong's c-clinic in the alley at No. 19 Blossom Road, South District. Once I'm done here, I'll head over immediately."

After saying that, Li Mao took the cigarette from his mouth and flicked it into the toilet, then flushed it.

The moment A-Qiang heard "gasoline," he knew roughly what Li Mao was planning.

He teased, "Bunny, be careful playing with fire or you'll wet the bed. I've been to that clinic a few times. That old man barely has any hair left—how did he offend you?"

"Why so m-much damn nonsense?!"

Li Mao planted his hands on his hips and cursed, "Go do it! If you screw it u-up, I'll roast you first!"

"Alright, Bunny said it, so I guess that old man's out of luck, huh? See you at the clinic entrance later. Don't be too late. Oh, right—where are you, Bunny? Let me see if it's on the way. If it is, I'll drive over and pick you up, and we can go together."

Li Mao was instantly stumped by A-Qiang's perfectly ordinary question.

He stood there in a daze for a long while before remembering that he had been living here for over a week without ever learning the address.

He changed the subject. "D-Don't worry about me. I can get there soon. Just do as I said. W-When you get there, don't make a scene. Find that M-Mediterranean old man for me, then h-hold him down. Don't let him run away. I've got something to settle with him in person."

"Fine, Bunny. I'll hang up first and go gather the guys to back you up."

"Mm. H-Hang up."

After hurriedly ending the call, Li Mao quickly opened the ride-hailing app. It immediately auto-located where he was.

It was the most upscale residential complex in Willow City. Rumor had it that even having money didn't guarantee you could buy a place there. Everyone living inside was either rich or powerful; it was more than a level above Green Woods Hotel's VIP rooms.

Li Mao knew that deaf dog had money. Forget the VIP suite—just the way he casually threw the hearing aid off his ear onto the floor, more naturally than Li Mao tossed sunflower seed shells, proved it. How could he not have money?

And the decorations and furnishings in this place were nothing like the potentially carcinogenic plywood in Li Mao's rental apartment.

That massage bathtub alone was probably something he couldn't afford even if he drained every last drop of his pheromones.

But he had never expected Wan Fuqi to be this rich.

And the guy was only eighteen. Starting out this way the moment he began living alone, his family probably had more than money—they likely had some social standing too.

Li Mao curled his lip.

Who would have thought that his dream experience of living in a luxury home would come from fooling around with that deaf dog?

How degenerate!

Li Mao, you've fallen way too far!

After scornfully berating himself in his heart, Li Mao lowered his head and entered the clinic he wanted to burn to the ground into the destination field.

That damn Mediterranean bastard!

This time, he would take back everything that belonged to him!!!

Only after seeing that a driver had accepted the order did Li Mao set down his phone. He grabbed the comb Wan Fuqi had bought for him from beside the bathtub rack and combed through his somewhat messy long hair.

Combing Li Mao's hair had become Wan Fuqi's newest hobby over the past seven days.

Li Mao was beginning to suspect that the man had been a hairstylist in a past life, considering how obsessed he was with washing, cutting, and blow-drying hair.

Li Mao himself could barely be bothered to take care of his own long hair, yet Wan Fuqi patiently helped him manage it.

Logically speaking, a lazy person like him should have gotten a crew cut, or simply shaved his head bald. He could even save on shampoo—just smear some facial cleanser over it, and his washing up would be done.

The only reason he had grown his hair long was because there had been a time when he had been too poor to afford a haircut. His hair clippers at home had also happened to break, so he simply let it grow wild.

At first, when it was uneven and jagged, it gave him a bit of that rugged, edgy look.

But once it grew long enough to tie up, he started binding it with an elastic every day. Out of sight, out of mind, and he kept it that way for years.

When he later wanted to cut it short again, he found himself reluctant to part with hair he had grown for so many years.

So he merely trimmed it into shape and continued keeping it long.

This eye-catching pale blond color came from a debt-collection job he had taken last month. The debtor had owned a hair salon.

The man had no money, so Li Mao told the junior guys in the trade to take anything valuable they saw. Meanwhile, he sat boldly on the only chair that hadn't been hauled away and had Tony, who was crying tears and snot, serve him.

Naturally, he chose the most expensive services available.

Li Mao had his entire head of long hair bleached to an extremely pale shade.

His crew even removed and carried off the salon's shampoo basin.

In the end, after selling off the things they had taken, they had managed to recover the minimum amount required by the client.

And Li Mao had gotten himself a new hair color in the process.

"Ah... w-what a shame!" Li Mao shook his head and sighed. "Your tenderness was w-wasted on the wrong person, Little Qi."

With Wan Fuqi's looks and circumstances, if he hadn't latched onto a rock from the bottom of a latrine like Li Mao, he would have long since won himself a beauty.

Li Mao picked an acceptable elastic from a new box Wan Fuqi had also had his assistant buy for him, then deftly tied his hair into a bun.

A ponytail got in the way when working. A bun was the most convenient.

Li Mao picked up his phone again. As he looked over the information on the new job A-Qiang had sent him through WeChat, he prepared to go out and find something he could wear.

That idiot hadn't taken his measurements for nothing. He had bought several sets of loungewear and underwear for Li Mao, but not a single outfit for going out. He was insane.

He wouldn't shower. It was a waste of time.

Too many times, he had gotten hung up on the showering step.

Not learning from a setback was one thing, but repeating the same mistake without end was another.

Besides, when he and Wan Fuqi had finished last time, he had been washed squeaky clean. Wan Fuqi had even changed the entire set of bedding before Li Mao lay down to sleep. He couldn't be that dirty.

Li Mao was secretly pleased with his own improvement when he suddenly caught sight of a streak of red on his rear in the mirror.

"What the fuck?"

He hurried over to the mirror, turned around, twisted his neck, and painstakingly examined what kind of "skin disease" he had on his ass.

When he saw that it was a string of phone numbers, followed by "Wan Fuqi Was Here," he nearly crushed the phone in his hand.

"You b-bastard!!"

Li Mao snatched Wan Fuqi's face towel, dampened it with water, and scrubbed hard at his ass.

As he scrubbed, he cursed with a flushed face.

"F-Fuck... fuck! No w-wonder you kept b-blocking the mirror whenever I showered these past few days! Are you sick?! You used someone else's a-ass as a message board! Who the fuck wants to k-know your name and phone number?! And you even dared write 'was here'! Did you t-take my ass for a tourist attraction?! You dog!"

Li Mao had no idea when Wan Fuqi had written it or what he had used. He had rubbed the skin there until it was even redder than the writing, and it looked as though he was about to scrub himself raw, yet the phone number barely faded at all.

"I'll k-kill you sooner or later! Wan Fuqi! Just wait until I b-buy a call blaster and b-blow up your phone!"

In a rage, Li Mao threw Wan Fuqi's face towel to the floor and stomped on it several times.

Just then, his phone began vibrating again.

He answered irritably and shouted, "Hello! W-What do you want?!"

The person on the other end froze from being yelled at, then said weakly, "Is this Mr. Li? I'm your ride-hailing driver. I've arrived at the pickup point marked by your location. How long until you get here?"

Because everyone in this residential complex was either rich or powerful, Li Mao felt as though even the ride-hailing driver's tone had been possessed by another soul.

Unable to keep fighting the "was here" on his ass, Li Mao could only give up resistance. He stormed out of the bathroom, ready to get dressed and go downstairs.

He shouted, "T-Three minutes!"