147: Layer by Layer, Stripped Away (full chapter)
At dawn, a blinding light shot into the room. Meng Tao squinted his eyes and woke up.
The room’s environment had already changed, and his clothes had been swapped. It was obvious he had fallen into someone else’s hands again.
On the surface, Meng Tao seemed intact, no different from when he arrived — except for a scar on his wrist. But only he knew: he couldn’t sit up straight or stand, couldn’t even urinate normally anymore — he was already half-disabled.
After a while, seven or eight people entered the room.
Li Wang squatted down, pinched Meng Tao’s jaw, and asked, “Do you know where this is?”
Meng Tao stared at Li Wang for a moment before closing his eyes blankly. Of course, he knew where this was — but he couldn’t be bothered to answer.
“You don’t know?” Li Wang sneered. “Then let me help you find out.”
As he spoke, he pulled a snake from his pocket — not long, only about as thick as a finger. He held it upside down in front of Meng Tao’s face. The snake’s tongue flicked repeatedly across his cheek before Li Wang suddenly pinched its tail — and the snake’s head darted forward and bit Meng Tao’s face.
Meng Tao smelled blood and couldn’t help wiping his face — his hand came away smeared with red.
“Poisonous?” he asked Li Wang.
Li Wang laughed loudly. “You wish! Why would I just kill you for nothing?”
Then he jerked his chin. Two men came over, one holding Meng Tao down, the other pulling his pants off. Li Wang squatted down and watched gleefully. “Looks like this little chrysanthemum of yours hasn’t bloomed yet, huh?”
Meng Tao glared at him angrily. “All you bastards know are these filthy tricks!”
“You get what you deserve,” Li Wang replied coldly. “What kind of classy treatment do you think scum like you deserves?”
Just then, one of the men smeared something onto Meng Tao’s opening. As soon as the snake smelled it, its sharp head burrowed directly into his hole.
Meng Tao writhed in terror, letting out a chilling scream.
Li Wang grinned cruelly and squeezed the snake’s tail hard — the snake bit viciously inside Meng Tao’s intestines as it kept burrowing deeper and deeper, until only its tail remained outside in Li Wang’s hand.
Meng Tao rolled on the ground in agony, his screams filling the room.
At that moment, Guo Chengyu strolled in steadily, sat down on the sofa, and leisurely sipped a cup of water.
Li Wang continued to torment him while laughing: “Guozi, look at him twisting his ass like a slut!” He smacked Meng Tao’s rear. “My hand hasn’t even touched you yet — what are you whining about?”
To the untrained eye, it was hard to see the snake’s tail in Li Wang’s hand, or imagine most of the snake was wreaking havoc inside Meng Tao’s gut — it just looked like he was squirming on the floor for no reason.
Just like how Chi Cheng had once nearly killed Meng Tao, yet outwardly he appeared fine — same idea.
“Guo Chengyu… you’ll pay for this… ahhhh…”
Guo Chengyu only smiled, saying nothing.
Meng Tao continued to curse, “You do this… Jiang Xiaoshuai… will hate you forever… ahhhh…”
Still, Guo Chengyu didn’t respond.
Then Li Wang gave a fake scare, “Oops, I let go!”
Meng Tao’s pupils contracted, his legs trembling violently.
Li Wang sneered, then yanked the snake out and flung it out the window, patting Meng Tao’s still-twitching buttocks. “Remember — this is Master Guo’s snake garden. That was just a welcome gift.”
Meng Tao lay on the floor, his guts twisting in agony, unable to speak.
Li Wang was called out, leaving the room in silence.
Guo Chengyu still sat calmly on the sofa, drinking his tea, as if he was just there to watch the show — as if none of it had anything to do with him.
Meng Tao’s genitals had been ruined — that was his own fault for “cheating” in the archives room. His intestines shredded — just an “accident” from a runaway snake.
His blood loss — from his own “suicide attempt.”
From start to finish, it seemed Guo Chengyu hadn’t lifted a finger.
Yet, this seemingly kind man — the one who even “called an ambulance” — sat there, silent and smiling faintly, instilling a terror in Meng Tao that cut to the bone.
Finally, Meng Tao couldn’t hold it in anymore. He asked, “What the hell do you want?”
Guo Chengyu still didn’t answer.
Just then, Li Wang returned, leaned over, and whispered in Guo Chengyu’s ear:
“All of them have been arrested for rape. With that charge, once they’re inside, they’ll get what’s coming to them — no need for us to lift a finger.”
Guo Chengyu said faintly, “Their ‘good days’ are just beginning.”
“And one more thing,” Li Wang added, mumbling further.
After listening, Guo Chengyu cast a deep, unreadable look at Meng Tao — a look that almost crushed his last bit of willpower.
But Guo Chengyu still said nothing, returning to the sofa like an outsider.
Li Wang set up a computer and connected it remotely, switching on a large screen.
Suddenly, the screen in front of Meng Tao lit up — it was the lobby of the foreign company where he worked, the big wall display playing its usual news.
Meng Tao’s face paled instantly, eyes filled with fear and panic.
Li Wang switched to another feed, showing a familiar colleague controlling the content of the screen via computer.
“See that?” Li Wang said softly. “All I have to do is give the word, and your coworkers will get an eyeful.”
Up to now — even after everything Chi Cheng had done — Meng Tao had never looked as utterly terrified as he did at that moment.
“What the hell do you want from me? Ahhh…”
The more frenzied Meng Tao became, the calmer Li Wang grew.
“We’re not going to do anything,” Li Wang said coolly, “just put on a live show — let your boss and your coworkers watch a live broadcast.”
Meng Tao’s mind completely collapsed. The thing he valued most in this life was his reputation, his “face.” He lived for the gaze of others. They could humiliate him however they wanted in private, but not trample his dignity so mercilessly in the one place he was most proud of.
“If you dare do this, I’ll bash my head in right now!” he shouted.
Li Wang and Guo Chengyu exchanged a glance, then without hesitation, Li Wang connected the feed — the screen instantly switched.
Meng Tao stared in horror at his own terrified face projected on the screen, his big eyes wide, hands clutching his head as he writhed and howled on the floor. But Li Wang ruthlessly grabbed his hair and forced his face up to the screen.
“Didn’t you say you’d bash your head in? Well then, do it! Right now!”
Meng Tao trembled all over and held out for a moment, but when he saw two employees walk up to the big screen and whisper to each other in surprise, his mind exploded.
He slammed himself to the floor — not to kill himself, but to kowtow — banging his forehead repeatedly as he begged Li Wang:
“Please… turn it off… please, turn it off…”
Li Wang’s voice was thick with sarcasm. “To save face in front of acquaintances, you’re willing to grovel in front of strangers? You really are vain to the core.”
More and more people were gathering in front of the company’s display screen. Meng Tao, already driven nearly insane, pressed his face to the ground and let out a despairing wail.
“Jiang Xiaoshuai! Xiaoshuai! … you misunderstood me, I never even got with Zhao Lu…”
Zhao Lu was the cursed fruit of a careless affair Jiang Xiaoshuai had.
Guo Chengyu gave Li Wang a hand signal, and Li Wang cut off the connection between the two ends.
Half an hour later, Jiang Xiaoshuai walked into the room.
By now, Meng Tao was restrained in a chair, dressed neatly, clean and proper, facing Jiang Xiaoshuai — only his complexion was a little ashen.
“Xiaoshuai,” he began, “all this time you thought that I hooked up with Zhao Lu before we broke up, right? That it was Zhao Lu who sent people to harm you, gave me those photos, made me disgusted with you after seeing them — and that’s why we broke up?”
Jiang Xiaoshuai’s face was cold as he shot back, “Wasn’t it?”
“It was actually all me,” Meng Tao said.
Jiang Xiaoshuai froze, his gaze fixed on him.
Meng Tao continued, “I hired those people. I had them take the photos and deliver them to me. Zhao Lu did like me, but I had no feelings for him. We only got together after we broke up — I used him as a scapegoat so you’d think he did everything, and I was just the one who was fooled.”
Jiang Xiaoshuai’s expression didn’t change much, his voice just as calm as before.
“Why?” he asked.
Meng Tao said, “Because I wanted to get married. I wanted the respect and social standing that normal people have. But you were too naive then — so naive I didn’t even have to say it. I already knew the look of anger and disdain you’d give me if I dared to say the word ‘marriage’ to you. I didn’t want to ruin the image of me you had in your heart. I wanted you to believe I wasn’t worldly, that I wasn’t a coward — to make you think my marriage was just revenge after being hurt by you.”
148: Heaven and Hell (only GuoShuai part)
“Xiaoshuai, do you know? Everything I did was to preserve our relationship. I didn’t want to break up with you, but I also didn’t want to lose my privileged social status — this was the only way.”
“I truly loved you, but my pride wouldn’t allow me to beg you to accept my marriage and continue living as my secret lover. Only by keeping you trapped in my shadow would you stay away from other men, and I would have enough time to get rid of that old woman and reunite with you.”
“You really think that’s possible?” Jiang Xiaoshuai asked.
Meng Tao’s throat tasted of blood. “Why not? If no one had gotten in the way, that day when I came to the clinic to see you, I could have told you the truth. The fact is, back then they never actually touched you, the photos were staged, the semen on them was from themselves.”
Jiang Xiaoshuai’s body jolted violently. “Who can prove that?”
“Guo Chengyu can prove it,” Meng Tao said with absolute conviction, glancing at Guo Chengyu in the distance. “The men I hired were all straight, they weren’t even interested in men.”
Guo Chengyu didn’t speak, but Li Wang spoke up in his place.
“That’s right. After they were detained, they underwent three sexual orientation tests, all came back normal.”
It was like a bolt of lightning exploded over Jiang Xiaoshuai’s head, leaving him numb for a long while before he regained his senses.
“So back then, you kept this card up your sleeve, planning that once you’d achieved success and gotten rid of that old woman, you’d come back to me with this so-called ‘truth,’ tell me it was all a misunderstanding, tell me you divorced for me, waiting for me to burst into tears of joy and take you back. Is that it?”
Meng Tao didn’t respond, but his eyes tacitly admitted Jiang Xiaoshuai’s words.
“This is what you mean by ‘if they hadn’t exposed you, I might have gotten back together with you,’ huh?” Jiang Xiaoshuai pressed.
Meng Tao said, “Xiaoshuai, no matter what I’ve done, my feelings for you are real. Not a moment has passed in these two years that I haven’t thought of you. I know you still think of me too, I know you can’t let me go, so I put everything aside and came here to find you.”
“Put everything aside?” Jiang Xiaoshuai let out a cold laugh. “That word ‘aside’ — how generous of you. And what exactly do you have to ‘hold against’ me? Your salary that isn’t even worth as much as a single snake in the market? Your experience of marrying and clinging to a rich old woman? Or your colorful history of affairs?”
At those words, everyone in the room laughed.
Li Wang couldn’t help chiming in, “Buddy, go ask around on the street, with your qualifications, how many people wouldn’t hold it against you?”
Meng Tao ignored the taunts, his eyes fixed only on Jiang Xiaoshuai.
“Don’t hide your simple, kind heart behind that mask of cold arrogance. No matter how sharp-tongued you get, your heart is soft — you’re still the same Jiang Xiaoshuai I once knew. Xiaoshuai, I know I made you love too humbly, too weakly before. I know you’re bitter, that you can’t let it go. I can apologize to you in front of all these people, lower my head, and beg you to take me back.”
Li Wang wanted to tear off his own ears just hearing it. Guo Chengyu, as always, remained calm.
Suddenly, Jiang Xiaoshuai leaned closer to Meng Tao and said softly, “What if I told you, that I’ve known all along what you’ve been put through these last few days, would you still dare to want me?”
Meng Tao’s bruised lips trembled uncontrollably. “Impossible!”
Jiang Xiaoshuai smiled. “You’ve lost all sexual function, haven’t you? You can’t even pee or poop normally anymore, can you? You can’t sit up or stand, can you? With that crippled body of yours, even if you dared to want me, I wouldn’t dare to want you.”
After saying that, he clapped his hands, turned, and walked toward the door.
Meng Tao tried to grab him, but couldn’t even lift his arms — he could only cry out from the depths of his heart, “Xiaoshuai, you can’t just walk away like this! If you leave, they won’t let me off! Xiaoshuai, you can’t do this to me!”
Jiang Xiaoshuai pushed the door open and stepped out, inhaling a breath of fresh air.
In an instant, he let everything go.
He had imagined countless possibilities before, and every single one had felt like a knife to the heart. He thought that when Meng Tao admitted the truth himself, he would be devastated and fall apart.
But he hadn’t expected that a truth even uglier than he’d imagined would somehow set him free, as if a rotten tree had been uprooted from his chest, leaving his whole body light and unburdened.
In truth, he hadn’t loved him for a long time.
He had just been missing the right moment to fully accept that fact.
Guo Chengyu also got up and left.
In the room, only Li Wang and seven or eight other men remained. The men, trained and orderly, put on their clothes, masked their faces, and slowly approached Meng Tao from all directions.
Meng Tao’s face turned paper-white. “What… what are you going to do?”
Li Wang spoke for them, “Don’t worry. They’re straight too. They won’t touch you — just stroke themselves in front of the camera and spray it on you, that’s all.”
“No!!!” Meng Tao’s throat tasted of blood. “You’re inhuman!”
“Inhuman?” Li Wang sneered. “We learned this from you, though we’re much kinder. We won’t give you any illegal drugs. We’ll make sure you stay awake the whole time and watch the big screen to truly feel the impact.”
Seven or eight men pinned Meng Tao to the floor as he struggled like a trapped beast.
“Don’t force me… don’t force me… ah…”
Li Wang calmly walked to the computer, paused his finger deliberately above the mouse, then — under Meng Tao’s terrified gaze, lightly clicked.
“Connecting.”
A harsh light beamed down, and Meng Tao let out a despairing wail.
“Xiaoshuai, save me, save me…”
Jiang Xiaoshuai’s steps suddenly halted halfway. He turned his head — and sure enough, Guo Chengyu was behind him.
“Who told you to sleep in my bed last night?” he demanded coldly.
Guo Chengyu walked right up to him, getting very close, and spoke in a soft voice — as if dandelion fluff had brushed against Jiang Xiaoshuai’s ear.
“I woke up earlier than you. How do you even know I slept in your bed?”
Jiang Xiaoshuai’s throat tightened. His gaze was still dark and deep, but there was now a faint glimmer of light in it.
“Because you carry this faintly filthy scent,” he said. “I smelled it as soon as I woke up this morning.”
Guo Chengyu’s nose pressed against Jiang Xiaoshuai’s forehead, his Adam’s apple bobbing right in front of him.
“Your nose is really ‘sharp,’ huh? Last night when you burrowed into my arms you didn’t smell it, but once I left, you caught it? Don’t tell me your nose, like your heart, just likes running circles around me?”
Jiang Xiaoshuai suddenly leaned in and bit hard at Guo Chengyu’s Adam’s apple.
Guo Chengyu let out a groan that was both painful and sweet.
Taking advantage of the moment, Jiang Xiaoshuai slipped out of his embrace, broke into a run, and laughed wildly as he ran — the same unrestrained laughter he’d shown to Wu Suowei when Guo Chengyu wasn’t around.
“If I don’t run you around a few circles, how else can I stuff up all those coal-briquette-sized schemes in that head of yours?”
Shouting that, he ran even faster, more happily.
Watching Jiang Xiaoshuai darting about in the yard, even the red veins in Guo Chengyu’s eyes seemed to dissolve into a smile.
*I love the last part so much! Finally say goodbye to Shuai past ><
