1: Chapter 1 A Blood-Red Victory Banquet

The wine glass swayed gently in Qiao Yichen's hand, the amber liquid shimmering with an alluring luster under the ambiguous light of the private room.

The fifth glass? Or the sixth? He had already lost count.

"Hahaha!! President Qiao! I toast you with this glass!!! If it weren't for your last-minute efforts to turn the tide on this Huayuan Group deal, we'd all be starving this year!!!" Wang Zhiqiang from the Sales Department stood up, holding a decanter. The gold chain on his thick neck flashed blindingly under the lights.

The private room was currently shrouded in smoke, with two dozen men and women sitting together on the circular sofa. On the adjacent table, lobster shells and empty wine glasses were piled high, and the air was mixed with the scent of perfume, cigarettes, and alcohol.

Seeing this, Qiao Yichen felt a touch of helplessness, but he still stood up, revealing a standard, slight smile with an upward curve at the corner of his mouth, and raised the wine glass in his hand.

"Old Wang, you are too polite. Closing the deal was actually the contribution of everyone here."

His voice was loud and clear, betraying no hint of drunkenness, but only he knew that the fire in his stomach had already burned to his core.

The wine glasses clinked together with a crisp sound. The 54-proof liquor flowed down his throat, feeling like swallowing a scorching knife. But Qiao Yichen still finished the glass without changing his expression. He flashed the bottom of the cup toward Wang Zhiqiang and those around him, immediately drawing a round of cheers from his colleagues.

"President Qiao has great capacity!!!"

"President Qiao is awesome!!!"

"Everyone come and see! This is our President Qiao."

At this moment, the Group Chairman, Li Zheng, also stood up to applaud.

Chairman Li Zheng was in his fifties, his hair appeared somewhat thin but was meticulously styled; he looked very energetic. He patted the seat next to him toward Qiao Yichen. "Yichen, come sit for a while. Tell me, how did Chairman Zhang of Huayuan finally agree?"

Upon hearing this, Qiao Yichen immediately went to Chairman Li Zheng's side. However, as he passed the circular sofa, his palm lightly touched the sofa for a moment—this movement went unnoticed in the dim light of the room.

Li Zheng looked puzzled. "I heard they insisted on a fifteen-point reduction at first."

"Chairman Li, it was like this: Chairman Zhang of Huayuan's son is currently studying in the UK," Qiao Yichen sat down next to Chairman Li, then leaned sideways and lowered his voice to just the right pitch, "I asked a friend in the UK to contact the professors at the school and ask them to look after his son."

Chairman Li's eyes immediately lit up, and he tapped Qiao Yichen twice with his finger: "So that's how it was. You really have a way..."

"Furthermore, his son is studying finance, so I also contacted a friend working at the HSBC London branch, promising to give his son an internship opportunity this summer."

Qiao Yichen showed no expression while saying this, as if he had merely done a small favor casually.

But only he knew how many connections he had utilized and how many favors he owed just for these two things. The friend overseas was his university classmate who went to the UK for advanced studies twelve years after graduation. He had expended great effort to re-establish contact.

The price was a bottle of '82 Lafite that he had collected for five years, and three favors he usually wouldn't even use himself.

"Good! Good! Good!" Chairman Li said 'good' three times in a row, then personally poured him another glass of wine. "Yichen, I knew you could do it. Come, I toast you with this glass."

Another glass.

Qiao Yichen smiled, accepted it, and drank it all in one go. As the liquid rolled down his throat, he glimpsed his reflection in the glass window—a thirty-five-year-old man wearing a custom-made dark gray Italian suit, with a million-dollar Patek Philippe showing at his cuff, and his hair perfectly styled with expensive pomade.

The standard look of a corporate executive.

Only the bloodshot eyes and the unnatural flush on his cheekbones betrayed his body's protest.

"Chairman Li, Brother Yichen has had quite a bit tonight," Lin Wei, sitting diagonally opposite, spoke softly. She was a management trainee who joined last year, twenty-four years old, with delicate features. The way she looked at Qiao Yichen always held something hidden. "Why don't we..."

"Hey, Little Lin, you don't understand," Chairman Li waved his hand. "What day is it today? A celebration banquet! This Huayuan deal is enough for our company to feast on for two years! Yichen, as the number one contributor, how can he not drink his fill?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his glass again: "Come on, everyone! Another toast to our President Qiao!!!"

Immediately, over twenty glasses were raised in unison below.

Seeing this, Qiao Yichen felt his temples throbbing. He had no choice but to take a deep breath, stand up, and raise his glass, which had just been refilled: "Thank you, Chairman Li, and thank you to everyone present. Without everyone's support and effort, I definitely couldn't have secured the Huayuan deal alone. This glass, I toast everyone."

After delivering the pleasantries, another glass went down.

After setting the glass down this time, his hand trembled almost imperceptibly.

"Next stop, I've already booked the next venue!" Chairman Li stood up and shouted. "The largest room at Dynasty KTV! We won't go home until we're drunk tonight!"

At this, the cheers almost shook the roof.

Qiao Yichen took advantage of the commotion to go to the restroom. The moment the door closed, the smile collapsed from his face. He leaned against the cold tile wall, closing his eyes to rest.

After calming down for a moment, he looked in the mirror. The man reflected looked somewhat pale, his lips were chapped, and he exuded an air of exhaustion. He turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on his face; the bone-chilling cold instantly cleared his eyes.

"Brother Yichen? Are you alright?" Lin Wei's voice came cautiously from outside the door.

"I'm fine." He straightened his tie and pushed the door open.

When he stepped out, Lin Wei was waiting in the hallway, holding a bottle of mineral water.

"Brother Yichen, have some water." She handed it over, her eyes holding unconcealed concern.

Qiao Yichen took it, twisted it open, and took a sip. The plain water diluted the bitterness in his mouth but couldn't wash away the fatigue radiating from his entire body.

"Thank you," he said, his voice a little hoarse.

Lin Wei took a step closer, almost pressing against him. She was wearing a black slip dress today, covered with a small blazer. The blazer was open now, revealing delicate collarbones and faintly visible curves.

"You really look unwell," she said in a low voice, carrying a certain temptation. "Why don't... I accompany you back to rest first?"

Qiao Yichen looked down at her. The twenty-four-year-old girl's skin looked tender enough to squeeze water from, and her eyes were full of innocence untouched by the world, and... naked ambition. He knew what she was thinking—everyone in the company knew that Qiao Yichen was a golden bachelor who was never short of female company, but he had never settled down.

He also knew that Lin Wei was not the first young girl to show him favor. A thirty-five-year-old Vice President of the Group, with a seven-figure annual salary, driving a Bentley, living in a mansion—in this city, he was among the top-tier prey.

"No need." He gently pushed her away, the action very gentle, yet allowing no refusal. "Chairman Li is still waiting for me."

Lin Wei bit her lower lip and said no more.

The Emperor Suite at Dynasty KTV was astonishingly large. The massive circular sofa could seat thirty people, and the top-tier sound system made the floor tremble. The lights were dimmed to an ambiguous dark red, and the air was thick with the smell of alcohol and hormones.

Qiao Yichen was ushered to sit in the very center, with Chairman Li on his left. Soon, a girl in a deep V-neck red dress sat down on his right. She wasn't an escort, but a new intern from the Group's Marketing Department named Xiaoyu, twenty-two years old and fresh out of college.

"President Qiao, I toast you with this glass." She held up her wine glass, her voice sickeningly sweet. "I've long heard that you are the pillar of our Group."

Qiao Yichen smiled but did not reply, merely gesturing with his glass in acknowledgment.

After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere in the room grew increasingly unrestrained. Some started singing, some began playing dice, and some were already leaning together whispering secrets.

Lin Wei sat diagonally opposite, quietly drinking juice, but her gaze never left Qiao Yichen.

After the tenth glass, Qiao Yichen felt his vision beginning to blur. He stood up, intending to go to the restroom, but his footing faltered.

"President Qiao, careful!" Lin Wei immediately rushed over to support him.

Her hands were soft and cool. Qiao Yichen leaned against her, smelling the faint scent of her perfume—not a cheap synthetic smell, but a pleasant, cool-toned fragrance.

"I'll take you to the restroom," she whispered in his ear, her breath brushing against his earlobe.

This time, Qiao Yichen did not refuse.

In the restroom, he leaned over the toilet, vomiting violently. Everything he had eaten at the banquet, all the alcohol, came up.

After vomiting, he leaned against the wall, gasping for breath. The person in the mirror looked utterly wretched—his tie was askew, his shirt wrinkled, his hair messy, and his eyes were full of tiny blood vessels.

Lin Wei walked over, holding wet wipes. She wiped his face, then gently wiped the corner of his mouth. Her movements were slow and delicate.

"Brother Yichen," Lin Wei suddenly spoke. Her voice was also very soft. "Do you know, on my first day joining the company, when I saw you giving a report in the meeting, I..."

She didn't finish, but her meaning was very clear.

Qiao Yichen turned his head to look at her. The girl's face glowed softly in the dim light, her eyes full of naked adoration and desire.

"Lin Wei," he spoke, his voice slightly hoarse, "You are a good girl."

"So what?" Lin Wei stepped closer, almost pressing against him. "So I should just watch you from afar, right?"

Her lips were only a few centimeters from his chin. Qiao Yichen could smell the sweetness of her breath and see the undulating curves beneath her collarbones.

The fire in his body burned even hotter.

It wasn't the fire of alcohol; it was the lust and emptiness that had been suppressed for too long, too long.

He was thirty-five this year, successful in his career, a golden bachelor. But only he knew that he was living somewhat like a hollow person—either socializing or in meetings every day, and returning home to an empty residence and a silent house.

He needed something.

He needed something real, something scorching, something that would make him feel alive.

"Book me a room," he heard himself say, his voice unusually calm. "The nearest five-star hotel."

Lin Wei's eyes instantly lit up.

——————

The top-floor suite at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, nine thousand eight hundred a night.

The moment the door closed, the world seemed to be sealed off outside.

When Lin Wei threw herself at him, he did not refuse.

As if trying to resist the continuously spreading discomfort in his body with the last ounce of impulse.

Her kiss was clumsy, but passionate, like a ball of fire trying to ignite Qiao Yichen.

He gently circled her waist, and as the kiss landed, his steps naturally moved toward the bedroom. Clothes scattered on the dark floor, intermittently from the doorway to the bedside, like some silent invitation.

...

His breathing gradually became erratic.

His vision gradually blurred.

Just as his consciousness was about to completely lose control, a thought flashed through his mind—it must just be extreme fatigue.

The next second.

Deep in his chest cavity, something seemed to tear apart completely.

The entire world was instantly emptied; the lights, the sounds, his body, all faded away.

Darkness instantly enveloped him; he didn't even have time to finish his last word.