Rebirth of Chen An - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: The man hiding in the bathroom

Dizzy --

Chen An opened his eyes slovvly in a daze. Although it was darkness everyvvhere, but he was lucid enough to teli that he is in a bedroom - one that isn't his.

Unless it is a premium VIP cabin, there isn't a room this big in the ship.

Chen An's head stili felt foggy. Releasing a long sigh, he slovvly sat up on the bed. He seemed to recall drinking with Ivanov before the gap in his memory began.

Damn it, he actually got drunk - and from a single glass!

Could it be drugged?

But Ivanov didn't seem to have the need to drug him.

Feeling stifled, Chen An gently tugged on his clothes and undid the top two buttons on his shirt.

Just as he was about to fumble around the room to switch on the lights, a figüre suddenly charged at him from the side, a hand raised to deliver a blow to his head. Chen An instantly snapped into sobriety.

Although his alcoholic tolerance became terrible now, but the habits and vigilance that had been deeply ingrained into his soul have not disappeared.

Chen An aimed a kick at his opponent but the latter was even more nimble, choosing to rush forvvard towards him.

Once Chen An locked the bathroom door, he turned to find Ding Sheng staring at him. İn a voice filled with confusion and anxiousness, Ding

Sheng asked, 'Uncle Chen, why are you here?'

While Ding Sheng was curious about Chen An's presence in Ivanov's room, but there was stili no suspicion in his eyes regarding Chen An's identity.

In a flash, Chen An thought of a counter strategy. Giving Ding Sheng a deliberate glare, he vvhispered, 'I should be the one asking that question. Are you a thief?'

'I..." For a moment, Ding Sheng didn't know how to ansvver. The present situation was simply a hot mess.

Their conversation stilled when a voice from outside the bathroom door interrupted them. Chen An immediately reached out a hand to turned on the shower. A rain of warm water started scattering down them from above.

'An, is it you in there?' Ivanov knocked on the bathroom door lightly.

When he had entered the bedroom, he had found the bed empty. But the bed was stili slightly warm to his touch so it seems like Chen An had only just woken up.

Catching Ding Sheng’s eye, Chen An suddenly realised that Ding Sheng was staring at him like a puppy, his bright eyes were filled with both innocence and a fear of abandonment.

Is this guy really the same Interpol agent who once chased doggedly at his heels?

'Yeah, it's me.' Chen An ansvvered flippantly.

'I thought you would be asleep till the morning tomorrovv. How did it feel? It must have felt great to wake up in a strange bedroom. I see that you are certainly happy enough to help yourself to the shovver.'

Ivanov seem to be leaning outside against the bathroom door, releasing peals of teasing laughter.

'Are you sober now? I’m scared that you will faint inside the bathroom.

How about it? Do you want a kind Samaritan to help you bathe?'

Ivanov grinned as he continued to rap his knuckles against the door.

He was feeling very satisfied right now. He had eaten well, drank well and done the appropriate acts. There was definitely no way he will feel that kind of urge towards a chubby man again.

Yeah, definitely.

As though he had suddenly received a talisman, Ivanov easily cast aside ali memory of the inappropriate thoughts he had tovvards the man earlier. There was nary a pause where he considered why he was willing to banter with such an ordinary man.

'Stop bothering me!' Chen An hastily locked the second lock on the bathroom door.

Chen An then turned his attention back to the silent Ding Sheng. They couldn't stay here forever; they have to leave at some point or Ivanov would get suspicious.

'In a short moment, l'll help you draw him away. You find a way to get yourself out of here.' To prevent Ivanov from overhearing them, Chen

An had his lips pressed closely to Ding Sheng's ear; it was so close that they were almost touching. His lowered voice was like a mosquito buzzing at his ear, releasing vvaves of tingling itches.

Feeling only the sensation of a large mass pressing on to him, Chen An's back crashed onto the bed but just as the assailant was about to aim a powerful strike to his nape, he hesitated.

Seizing ahold of the moment, Chen An took the opportunity to see the man's face clearly in the moonlight streaming through the window.

'Ding Sheng?'

Chen An's brain started to revolve rapidly; So it vvasn't an assassin gunning for Ivanov but a cop.

'Uncle Chen, you...' Ding Sheng was also in shock; never in his vvildest thoughts vvould he ever expect to meet Chen An in Ivanov's room.

Although he knew that Chen An was taking a holiday overseas, it didn't occur to him that it vvould be in Vietnam let alone meeting in this place in such a manner.

'Peng

From outside the bedroom, the sound of a door and a man's indistinctive humming of a Russian ditty could be heard. Ivanov has returned.

If Ding Sheng were to be discovered, it vvould not be good news for either him or Ding Sheng. Ding Sheng could have hidden himself away if it he had knocked Chen An out earlier.

Chen An took in Ding Sheng's getup. And before the puzzlement in the other man's eyes could fade, Chen An grabbed his hand, gestured at him to keep silent and dragged him into the bathroom inside the bedroom.