WHF Ch 8 – The Collar of Pleasure!

Xiu Ma stood facing the river, behind him was the expectant errenzhuan troupe and Yu Tianbai who was holding an unlit cigarette. This was no ordinary river—according to the water system, this was a tributary of the Songhua River, and if you followed it upstream, you would reach Chagan Lake.

“Listen,” the young master turned his head against the sunset, “can you drive the car closer to the ice?”

Even though he had just been angry, Yu Tianbai had to admit that his face still looked good from a distance. From the excited whispers of the aunties nearby, he could also sense that as long as someone’s face was handsome enough, even the blondest hair wouldn’t stop people’s hearts from breaking for him.

“I’m not driving onto the ice!”

Yu Tianbai didn’t want to take a single step forward and shouted from a distance.

“It doesn’t matter,” Xiu Ma said, stretching his limbs as he came over, “I can reach it.”

Actually, the car that had fallen into the river wasn’t far from the shore, at most two meters away. But since the Beginning of Spring, the ice layer had loosened, and nobody dared to go onto the water. Could this kid be planning to make a valiant jump using momentum? Yu Tianbai put the cigarette he was holding back into the cigarette pack.

It’s fine, anyway if the car breaks down they could drive the Ferrari.

Following the young master’s instructions, Yu Tianbai drove the car to the muddy bank of the river. He looked at the young master holding the cable and silently made a “please” gesture.

Xiu Ma ignored his challenging demeanor, stepped back to look at the car roof, then looked at Yu Tianbai:

“Hold this for me.”

Before Yu Tianbai could understand what he meant, he was hit square in the face by the coat thrown at him.

In the golden light of the setting sun, Xiu Ma leaped onto the hood of the car against the wind. The cable rope pulled him down, but he reached out and touched the car in front, moving as if walking on flat ground, his steps swift. Despite being over 1.8 meters tall, there wasn’t the slightest noise from the water surface to the car roof.

It wasn’t until the crowd started making noise that Yu Tianbai realized the guy had succeeded, and the clothes thrown on him were slipping down. By the time he had secured the Canada Goose jacket in his hands and looked up, Xiu Ma was standing on the roof of the car, with the wind making his short-sleeved shirt flutter. His first glance was back at Yu Tianbai, looking with a smile.

Wait, short sleeves?

Yes, our young master is just like that—wearing short sleeves even on an icy river surface at minus fifteen degrees. Young people have such good stamina.

Xiu Ma’s smile vanished in an instant as he turned to look at the cheering aunties. Yu Tianbai was still looking up in the cold wind, his gaze fixed on the sand-gold hair being tossed by the wind.

This feeling of being looked at first was both good and bad. He knew this was just Xiu Ma showing off with a childish mentality—look, I can do it—and he could indeed. But this kind of expression should appear in classrooms or sports fields, not on a frozen riverbank with cheers rising and falling, and especially not directed at Yu Tianbai.

The successful baby was still enjoying everyone’s flowers and applause on the car, when Yu Tianbai stepped back a few steps and shouted toward the roof:

“Come down!”

The only response he got was the cheers and screams of the uncles and aunties.

Yu Tianbai didn’t say anything more. He opened the door and got into the driver’s seat—handbrake, gear shift, accelerator. There was no sound of falling from the roof as he had expected. The car straightened the cable, and suddenly the successful baby appeared beside the driver’s seat.

“Did you think I would fall off the car?” Xiu Ma’s elbow was propped on the window sill, his tone containing a hint of successful excitement.

The driver stared straight ahead: “I won’t pay for your health insurance. Be careful not to freeze to death.”

Xiu Ma’s appearance was eye-catching, especially in winter when everyone else was bundled up like rice dumplings. Just looking at him was enough to give Yu Tianbai goosebumps, but Xiu Ma was still staring at him with excitement.

Waiting for praise?

Yu Tianbai moved back a bit and gestured with his chin for him to look at the passenger seat where the coat was.

It seemed like Xiu Ma glanced at him again, then the person outside propped himself on the window and stretched his arm. The arm passed in front of Yu Tianbai’s face, and the coat rolled solidly across his face once more. At this point, Yu Tianbai drew two conclusions.

First, this kid had well-trained arms, and second, he smelled nice. Both conclusions put him in an extremely bad mood.

The person in his peripheral vision put on his clothes but still stood by the car door without leaving.

“Are you done?” Yu Tianbai asked him.

“Not yet,” Xiu Ma’s arm was back on the car window, at least wearing a down jacket this time. “I wanted to ask, does it really piss you off to see me show off?”

It was a question, but not really a question. He was almost certain that Yu Tianbai was annoyed, which made him pleased.

Yu Tianbai finally turned his face toward him, with a half-smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Move aside, I’m going to tow the car.”

Unexpectedly, this old van actually had quite a bit of horsepower. On the icy riverbank, amid the rising and falling exclamations of the onlookers, the car in the river was successfully pulled out. The towing hook didn’t break, and the newly repaired tire held up well. The errenzhuan performance troupe swarmed over, and Yu Tianbai pushed open the door and got out of the car.

But the crowd wasn’t surrounding him; they were gathering around the rescued vehicle. The metal frame was filled with water, giving off cold vapor in the minus fifteen degree frozen ground. No one dared to approach.

Yu Tianbai stood in the wind, and that familiar smell came up from behind—he knew it was the young master who had just shown off.

“What do you think is in the car?”

“There’s a driver’s seat, a passenger seat, and most likely a steering wheel.” Yu Tianbai glanced at him sideways, “Don’t guess randomly if there’s nothing wrong, it’s not good for you.”

Seeing that the young man hadn’t moved, Yu Tianbai stepped forward to undo the cable, then returned to the car door.

“Time to go,” he said as he stood sideways near Xiu Ma’s shoulder.

“Go?” The silly kid probably hadn’t seen enough of the excitement. “Aren’t we going to see what’s inside?”

Yu Tianbai stopped his hand from opening the door and asked, “Aren’t you afraid there might really be a dead person inside?”

“What’s there to be afraid of a dead person?” Xiu Ma laughed. “They’re already dead, they can’t follow you.”

Seeing that Yu Tianbai didn’t respond, Xiu Ma’s smile faded.

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid?”

The driver who had just emphasized there was someone in the car was shouting, but no one dared to step forward to open the car door. The aunties were chattering, and the crowd formed a circle around the car.

“Don’t be afraid,” the young master spread his hands and continued airily, “If there is a dead person, I’ll accept divine punishment, okay?”

“How do you do it?” Yu Tianbai suddenly turned his head.

“Huh?” Xiu Ma was puzzled by his question.

“How do you so easily say such stupid things?”

It was half dark now, and the wind had picked up. The window of the car that had been pulled up wasn’t fully closed, and people nearby were arguing about how to open the door.

This time Xiu Ma didn’t immediately explode. He closed his mouth and exhaled, his expression calm, but those who understood social cues knew that this kind of silence was actually the prelude to an outburst.

“Fine,” there was a hint of a smile at the corner of Xiu Ma’s mouth, “if there really is a dead person inside, you can tie me up. That’ll save me from doing stupid things.”

Yu Tianbai didn’t answer him, just stared silently into his eyes.

The noise of the crowd suddenly grew louder. The car door had been pried open, and water gushed out all at once. The onlookers scattered, and puddles quickly formed on the ground.

Just as Yu Tianbai was turning around to respond to Xiu Ma’s proposal, a voice suddenly burst out:

“There’s someone in the car!”

This shout was like throwing a thunder bomb into a pond. The onlookers either ran or dispersed, so when Yu Tianbai turned, he could clearly see through the gaps in the crowd an arm and half a shoulder protruding from between the car seats.

Bad omens come true, not the good ones.

Yu Tianbai immediately turned his head back. The young master must have seen the person too. His gaze was fixed on the car, then back on Yu Tianbai’s face. Before he could utter a syllable, his knee took a kick.

The kick wasn’t hard, but it was well-placed. One leg immediately touched the ground. Xiu Ma looked up, and Yu Tianbai’s hand grabbed his collar.

“Kneel,” Yu Tianbai’s tone revealed no emotion, “you fucking got it right.”

The collar was released, and Xiu Ma was still looking up at Yu Tianbai with his chin raised. After a few seconds, his other supporting leg also knelt on the ground.

Human voices, car sounds, screams—none could compare to the tidal waves in his mind at this moment. In the blurry light, he saw Yu Tianbai push through the crowd and run into the distance. Some people were looking at him, some passed by him, but no one bothered with him. After an unknown amount of time, someone stood in front of him again. Without looking up, he knew it was Yu Tianbai.

Yu Tianbai crouched down, his knees also touching the ground. His hand touched Xiu Ma’s chin.

Bang.

Xiu Ma finally returned to reality. He suddenly raised his face to look at Yu Tianbai. The man’s expression revealed no emotion, while his own chin was being held.

“There really is a dead person in the car,” Xiu Ma repeated dully. This was the fact from a few minutes ago.

“Yes,” Yu Tianbai answered him, increasing the pressure of his hand.

The pain in his jaw intensified. Xiu Ma realized he was still kneeling on the ground. Between breaking free from the hand and standing up, he chose the latter. However, just as he staggered to his feet, there was a cool sensation around his neck.

It wasn’t something hard, but soft. He immediately lowered his head and reached to grab it. The coolness circled his neck once, and finally closed with a crisp sound. It was a leather texture. Xiu Ma raised his face to look forward—the good news was that the hand pinching his chin had let go; the bad news was that he saw a chain in Yu Tianbai’s hand.

A slender, silver-white chain, with the other end seemingly attached to himself. Xiu Ma immediately felt for it, and unsurprisingly, the chain was looped around his neck. It was a collar.

It was a fucking pleasure collar!

And it was white, leather, with a bow and bells in front—a pleasure collar.

All the feelings he had lost in the previous few minutes came back, and with a vengeance. Xiu Ma opened his mouth to curse:

“You motherfucker—”

Yu Tianbai’s hand holding the chain exerted force, bringing the two closer. Compared to the astonishment in Xiu Ma’s eyes, Yu Tianbai was exceptionally calm.

“This was your choice,” the iron chain rattled as he pulled it taut. Yu Tianbai stared into his eyes, then repeated what he had just said, “If there’s a dead person in the car, I’ll tie you up to prevent you from doing stupid things.”

He didn’t imitate Xiu Ma’s tone, probably to save face, otherwise the effect would have been thunderous.

The earth beneath their feet, Yu Tianbai was the thunder, specifically targeting the young master who couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“This lock needs to be opened in a specific sequence. You’d better not struggle on your own, or it will get tighter and tighter.”

Xiu Ma lowered his hand, allowing the person binding him to reach into the car window and fasten the chain to the steering wheel. Yu Tianbai came back into Xiu Ma’s vision and raised his hand to lift the young master’s chin.

Hadn’t he touched enough earlier?

But Xiu Ma didn’t dodge, only raised his face with the pressure. Yu Tianbai’s finger traced past his lips, ice-cold, as if covered in snow.

“I called the police, so you just wait by my car for me. Don’t think about running away, be good.”

As his words fell, Yu Tianbai’s gaze swept over his face once more, then his palm pressed against his cheek.

“You’ve already knelt, so don’t invite divine punishment, young master.”

After saying this, his fingertips lightly patted his face twice, like petting a dog.

Until the dog-petter turned and disappeared into the twilight, Xiu Ma didn’t even remember to curse at him.