Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1194: Chapter 35: Eggs and Jade

“Sorry, we can’t casually disclose students’ personal information. If you’re really friends, you shouldn’t have to come here to find out.”

Facing the puzzled look and questions from the staff at the teaching office, Tara and Chen Mingming didn’t say much, responded briefly, and hurriedly left.

When it comes to searching for that person, what Tara thought of was no more than the occasional checking of the person’s information registered in the Library and then coming to this school.

However, within the university district, it is usually quite convenient for students to freely enter and exit different schools, so the two of them finding their way to the university’s teaching office wasn’t difficult.

Upon coming, Tara boasted.

“Sorry… I really didn’t expect that he had already withdrawn.”

Chen Mingming shook his head, saying nothing.

This was originally a very peculiar matter, beyond Chen Mingming’s expectations for daily life planning… just like the mysterious place he once visited, filled with an unpredictable feeling.

He’s someone who plans everything, always believing that planned things, even if errors occur, should be controllable.

Tara sat down somewhat dejectedly on a bench along the walkway under the teaching building of this school, half-jokingly, half-resignedly said, “Great, now you borrowed his books and even learned to study abroad!”

Chen Mingming lowered his head, deep in thought.

But without a doubt, Tara is a girl full of strange ideas… or rather, she wasn’t very constrained by anything, she crouched in front of Chen Mingming, hands on her chin, looking up at his lowered face.

Like she was teasing a cat, crouching Tara reached out, trying to poke Chen Mingming’s forehead with her finger.

But before she succeeded, Chen Mingming had already grabbed her wrist.

Tara smiled, “You’re holding the wrong place.”

Her hand miraculously slipped out of Chen Mingming’s palm, then her fingers clasped over his, “This is how it should be.”

She showed a triumphant expression.

The delicate feel transmitted from the girl’s fingers was very clear, like jade, smooth and cool.

But Chen Mingming soon released his hand, calmly said, “It’s getting late, let’s call it a day.”

Tara showed a disappointed face, then quickly perked herself up, “Tomorrow, let’s go find him again, okay?”

“How do we find him?” Chen Mingming shook his head.

Tara chuckled, “Just wander around randomly, maybe we’ll bump into him.”

If he has already withdrawn and gone abroad to study, he naturally won’t be here anymore, and naturally, won’t be seen… there’s no ‘maybe’.

Chen Mingming didn’t agree, turning around, casually waving his hand, showing refusal.

Tara, however, called out towards Chen Mingming’s back, hands clasped to her lips, “I’ll come find you tomorrow!”

Chen Mingming didn’t mind. If he’s not at the Library, he won’t be seen… yes, this is controllable.

…

…

In the moment of turning, a burning sensation brought Zhao Le gradually back to his senses.

The instant he opened his eyes, everything around was blurry. He instinctively reached for his glasses… found them, just on the cabinet beside him.

With glasses on, Chen Mingming looked around suspiciously.

Unmistakably, this is a hotel room, and the decor is very exquisite, presumably not cheap for a night’s stay – but this isn’t what concerns him; what matters is how he ended up here.

When did he fall asleep, who brought him to this place, and… pain.

He felt his body burning with pain, not just in one place. A flash of panic passed in Zhao Le’s eyes… he hurriedly ran to the room’s bathroom, frantically stripped off his outer clothes, turned his back to the mirror, looking at his back.

Red injuries… streaks of red injuries, even breaking the skin, resembling coils of red snakes, entwined on his back. Each streak of injury was the source of burning stinging pain.

Zhao Le only felt his head still heavy… What really happened during the phase when he lost consciousness?

He couldn’t have fallen asleep inexplicably… was it Dong Shaofeng?

Instinctively, Zhao Le grabbed his phone, opened the social app – on the way here, Dong Shaofeng used instructing a friend as an excuse, causing Zhao Le to reluctantly add him as a friend.

——What did you do to me!!

After sending the message, Zhao Le gripped the phone tightly, staring at the screen with all his attention, as time ticked by.

Suddenly, the screen flickered.

A photo popped up!

In the photo, Zhao Le saw himself… he instantly felt enveloped in icy chill, his face growing pale!

In the photo, wearing no clothes, he’s crawling on the ground, with a collar around his neck, connected by a chain, held in the hand of a woman.

The woman wore very revealing leather, adorned with a butterfly-shaped mask…

——Dong Shaofeng!! You bastard, what the hell did you do to me…

But before finishing typing, the screen started flashing continuously, one photo after another flooding Zhao Le’s phone screen.

In the photos, ‘Zhao Le’ appeared thrilled, either lying down or crawling, making hoarse sounds, like a tamed pet, being wantonly manipulated by the woman who appeared like a queen.

Zhao Le couldn’t continue typing the unfinished message; his hands seemed drained of strength, leaning against the wall, sliding down.

At this moment, the flood of images ceased, but a video appeared… Zhao Le’s hand trembled as he tapped the video.

In the footage, the woman’s bright laughs were sharp, wielding a whip, flogging Zhao Le over and over.

“Do you enjoy it, little puppy?”

“Enjoy… enjoy…”

“Shall I hit you a few more times, dear sister?”

“Please…”

“Bark like a dog, bark!!”

“Woof, woof woof!!”

Unbearable images, obscene language… uncensored.

Thump thump thump thump thump——!

—— A voice call requested.

Zhao Le trembled as he answered the phone. Anger erupted within, making him roar, “Dong Shaofeng!! You bastard!!!”

“What’s so bastard about me? This girl wouldn’t play without tens of thousands. Isn’t her body good enough? Aren’t I decent as your brother?”

“Dong Shaofeng!!! What do you want!!!”

“Zhao Le, I won’t beat around the bush with you. The ones I, Dong Shaofeng, want to bully have never resisted. Listen up, from now on, whatever I tell you to do, you do. Even if I make you strip and streak, you best not say no.”

“No way!!!”

“Think it through, you’re a good student… tch tch, imagine if these photos and videos were posted online… oh dear, what would those teachers and classmates who think highly of you say? Huh… this guy’s so filthy! I’ve heard you have an older sister? Maybe I should send some to her too… Don’t worry, there are even more explosive ones, do you want me to show you first, Zhao Le?”

“You dare!!!” Zhao Le’s eyes were about to burst.

“Then watch and see if I dare or not… Remember, playing with me is like an egg striking jade, you’ll shatter, and I’ll just get a little dirty, a quick wipe and I’m clean again. Before class tomorrow, go to the Xicheng District and buy a fried bun from Huang Shanglou for me. Remember, before class.”

“Dong Shaofeng!! Dong Shao…!!!”

——The other party refused to communicate with you.

——The other party refused to communicate with you.

——The other party refused to communicate with you.

Zhao Le’s hand fell down, grabbing his hair… his head kept knocking against the wall.

He seemed to have lost his soul, sitting motionless, eyes dull.

But the phone rang again… Zhao Le twisted his stiff neck and glanced at the phone… it was a call from Zhang Xiaoqin.

His gaze brightened a little, the phone rang just a few times before he answered, everything was instinctive.

“Xiao Le? What’s up with you? You haven’t come for so long, did something happen?”

The tone was worried and urgent.

Zhao Le’s heart trembled, he tried hard to smile, but the sound that came out was hoarse, “It’s fine sis, I’m okay…”

“You’re smiling, what’s really going on?”

“Oh… maybe I just woke up.” Zhao Le breathed deeply and carefully: “There’s an exam in a couple of days, I went to the library in the afternoon to study, probably got too tired and fell asleep… Just woke up, my throat’s a bit uncomfortable.”

“Is that so… you, I’ve already told you not to work too hard.” Zhang Xiaoqin sighed: “How about this, I’ll have someone from the center help me out and I’ll just take a taxi back myself, you don’t need to come pick me, it’s too late.”

“No, it’s okay, I’m coming now.” Zhao Le quickly got up, looking at himself covered in bruises in the mirror, gritted his teeth, and started dressing: “I’ll be there soon, sis, wait a bit more. I don’t feel safe with you alone!”

“Alright then, don’t rush.”

“I got it.”

Zhao Le took a deep breath, dressed neatly, lowered his head, and hurried out of the West Sea Hotel.

…

——”Dong Shaofeng!! Dong Shao…”

In the club’s private room, the phone issued a beastly roar before Dong Shaofeng directly turned off the communication. After that, Dong Shaofeng’s two teammates immediately burst into laughter.

“I can already picture how that coward is freaking out! So funny, Young Master Feng! This move is brilliant!!”

“Yeah, yeah, I bet that coward is definitely hiding somewhere crying now!”

“Crying? More like he’s getting off to his own ‘glorious exposure’ now, haha!!”

Dong Shaofeng didn’t speak, just coldly smiled at these laughing guys, then casually picked up a beer bottle and slowly drank.

His teammate stopped laughing, “But Young Master Feng, I thought you were going to post those photos and videos tomorrow. So, you’re really planning to make Zhao Le your servant?”

Dong Shaofeng said calmly, “Posting them now just means playing once. But as long as I hold onto these things, in the coming years, I can play however I want, isn’t having an extra toy in school nice?”

The teammate said, “Just letting him buy a fried bun tomorrow, isn’t that too cheap?”

The other teammate slapped him on the head, “Pig! Young Master Feng is wooing the faculty flower from the adjacent department, the bun is to buy for her to eat! If that coward doesn’t buy it, are you going to?”

Saying this, he then looked at Dong Shaofeng, flattering, “Young Master Feng, why don’t you send some of those photos to me too, let me have some fun?”

“Then, Young Master Feng, give me a copy too!”

Dong Shaofeng did pass one over, “Keep an eye on it, don’t overplay it and ruin it, there’s still a long way to go.”

“Understood!”

Then the music in the private room started, and the invited princesses began to enter the scene.

…

“Sis, you’ve had a hard day, rest and drink some water.”

After washing and massaging Zhang Xiaoqin’s feet, Zhao Le helped Zhang Xiaoqin lie down, covered her with the blanket, turned off the lights, and left the room.

“You, don’t read later, go to sleep too. If you get exhausted, I wouldn’t even know how to take care of you.”

Lying on the bed, Zhang Xiaoqin turned to Zhao Le and carefully reminded him.

“I understand.” Zhao Le softly replied before closing the door.

His smile, his composure, finally couldn’t be maintained at this moment… Zhao Le just stood in front of Zhang Xiaoqin’s room door, his hand pressed against it, slowly sliding down, gripping… gripping until his knuckles whitened.

He stood there for a long time before returning to his room, took off his clothes, and then found some medicine to start treating the scars on his body.

The instant the medicine touched the wounds, the burning pain made Zhao Le gritting his teeth tightly.

Zhao Le’s gaze erupted with terrifying hatred… at this moment, it seemed something was calling to him, he instinctively looked up at the wardrobe – at the box he had shoved up there.

He did not know who sent what was inside the box, perhaps just a prank, or maybe something else… but he didn’t dare to casually deal with the contents of the box, intuition told him, whatever was inside, was real.

The instructions about the silver gun written on the discarded card clearly floated in Zhao Le’s mind.

He suddenly stood up.

Just too abruptly, bumping the desk, causing the desk calendar to fall down. Zhao Le saw the vivid numbers circled in red, in an instant, he slumped down, letting himself calm down.

“I can’t… take risks.”

He took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.

…

When Chen Mingming returned home, there was no one.

Unlike Zhou Yusheng’s father, Chen Mingming’s mother has considerable achievements in her career—although his mother and Zhou Yusheng’s divorce was just a few months ago, they had been separated for a long time.

The house was purchased less than a year ago, in a bustling area, spending quite a bit of money.

Judging by the situation, his mother was probably not returning tonight, casually taking a bottle of water from the fridge, he returned to his room.

He sat at the desk, his mind flashing back to the events that happened after meeting Tara today.

He then shook his head, started to tidy up his things—his desk, each item neatly organized, even the bottle label faced the desk edge precisely.

Chen Mingming opened a drawer, taking out a sketchbook.

Flipping it open, on one page, was the sketch he drew a few days ago at the riverside corridor… his skills are quite good, considered hyper-realistic style.

Looking at the sketch, the back on the stone bench by the riverbank, Chen Mingming gradually got lost in thought…