Chapter 55
Yu Zhi stared blankly at Fu Suxi, his first reaction being that he’d misheard.
What?
Ex-boyfriend?
Current boyfriend?
It wasn’t until Fu Suxi stepped closer, those ink-black eyes right in front of him, looking down at him, that Yu Zhi slowly realized Fu Suxi intended to keep this act going.
Fu Suxi fixed his gaze on him, enunciating each word: “Or… do you want to enjoy the best of both worlds?”
He spoke slowly and clearly, ensuring everyone present could hear every word. Yu Zhi could practically feel the collective gasps behind him. He was going numb. This mad dog was doing this on purpose. Yu Zhi had put on a show in front of everyone before, and now Fu Suxi was returning the favor, also in front of everyone. Petty! So utterly petty!
He could feel the heat from all those stares on his back. Yu Zhi took a deep breath and ground out between clenched teeth, “You’re just my younger… brother.”
Fu Suxi arched a brow. “A half-brother with different parents?”
Yu Zhi: “…”
Another round of gasps rose from behind.
Some of Shang Yu’s subordinates who didn’t know the details were left dumbstruck. Were they even supposed to be hearing this? Could there be more?
Others, like Shang Yu and Zuo Feiyang, who knew at least something of the indescribable relationship between the “brothers,” were suddenly enlightened. No wonder the two looked nothing alike—turns out there was no blood relation at all.
Among everyone present, only Lu Liming was still stuck on the realization that “Fu Suxi is actually Yu Yi.” He was shocked and found it unbelievable that the person cooperating with Brother Yu was Fu Suxi! How could it be Fu Suxi? Not long ago, Fu Suxi was still trying to kill them! What exactly had happened these past few days while he was stuck in the observation room?
Lu Liming stood there with mouth agape, mind in chaos. He glanced at Yu Zhi, then at Fu Suxi. Meeting Fu Suxi’s cold, mocking gaze made him suddenly recall the earlier words—introducing the current boyfriend to an ex-boyfriend. If Fu Suxi was the current boyfriend, then the ex-boyfriend must be…
Lu Liming looked at Zuo Feiyang, then at himself. His heart gave a heavy thump, blood surging. Who else but him could be Brother Yu’s ex-boyfriend?!
He tried to act natural, but that only made him stiffer. His cheeks twitched uncontrollably, and he forced out a dry greeting to Fu Suxi: “You-younger… brother…”
Fu Suxi: “…”
Yu Zhi: “…” Seriously?
Fearing that Fu Suxi might just snap Lu Liming’s neck right then, Yu Zhi stomped on Lu Liming’s foot. “Don’t call him that.”
Fu Suxi took a drag of his cigarette. His gaze swept between the two of them, noticing not a hint of anything remotely romantic. He realized that all this “boyfriend” talk was just Yu Zhi’s nonsense. He curved his lips without any real smile in his eyes and looked darkly at Lu Liming: “You call him ‘Brother Yu’—what should you be calling me, then?”
A sudden chill ran up Lu Liming’s spine. He sensed danger and immediately changed his address: “Sister-in-law.”
Everyone: “…..”
Fu Suxi: “…..”
Yu Zhi’s mouth twitched. He caught a glimpse of anger flickering in Fu Suxi’s eyes. Quickly, he stepped forward to distract him. “What do you want from me?”
Fu Suxi then shifted his gaze to Yu Zhi’s face. “What do you think?”
Yu Zhi looked back and saw Shang Yu and the others still standing there, clearly enjoying the show. He withdrew his gaze and said to Fu Suxi, “Let’s talk alone.”
With that, he grabbed Fu Suxi and headed for a nearby testing room.
Lu Liming instinctively followed, but as soon as he reached the doorway, Fu Suxi closed the door from inside. There was a click, and the door was locked.
Both main actors were now gone, and the rest slowly came back to their senses.
Zuo Feiyang coughed lightly and said to Lu Liming, “Let’s go to another room. Don’t worry about Brother Yu.”
Lu Liming wasn’t worried, exactly—he just wasn’t used to not sticking close to Yu Zhi. Meeting Zuo Feiyang’s awkward, concerned gaze, he sighed, adopting his new persona: “You’re right. After all, I’m just the ex-boyfriend.”
Zuo Feiyang: “……”
Inside the testing room, only Yu Zhi and Fu Suxi remained.
Yu Zhi handed Chen Wan’s phone to Fu Suxi and got straight to the point: “This is Chen Wan’s phone. Take a look at her chat records with Chen Tingting. The clues are inside.”
Now that they were talking business, Fu Suxi dropped the “brothers” act. He accepted the phone and lazily tapped the screen with his fingertip, scrolling through the WeChat records.
Yu Zhi sat across from him. It was the first time he’d sat so calmly face-to-face with Fu Suxi. He couldn’t help stealing a few more glances. With his head lowered, the glasses on his nose had slipped down slightly. He still held a half-smoked cigarette, and wisps of pale smoke curled around the sharp contours of his face, blurring some of the savage, violent madness beneath his brows. At first glance, he actually looked kind of like a refined… lowlife.
Suddenly, the man lifted his lids, his falcon-like gaze sweeping over: “What’s the relationship between Meteorite Biotechnology and Meteorite Apartments?”
Yu Zhi averted his eyes and answered honestly: “They’re the apartment’s sponsor company.”
Fu Suxi studied him for two seconds, slipped Chen Wan’s phone into his storage space, and said pointedly, “These last two pollution sources have both been connected to you.”
Yu Zhi gave a hollow laugh. As if he had any control over that?
He snapped, “Could there be a possibility that I’m just a victim chosen by them as well?”
Hearing this, Fu Suxi’s lips twitched slightly, and he nodded with apparent earnestness. “That could be.”
Yu Zhi was taken aback. Had the mad dog turned over a new leaf?
He looked up, only to meet a pair of eyes filled with malicious amusement. His heart gave a lurch, and a second later he heard Fu Suxi’s next words: “If you want to live, starting today, don’t leave my side, not even for a moment.”
Yu Zhi fell silent. So this was what he’d been waiting for. “That’s not really appropriate, is it?”
Fu Suxi: “What’s inappropriate about it?”
Yu Zhi racked his brain and forced out a reason: “Two single men sticking together day and night—it’s kind of ambiguous, don’t you think?”
At that, Fu Suxi’s smile deepened. Yu Zhi got goosebumps all over, and then he heard Fu Suxi’s slow, almost malicious words: “Don’t forget, we’re now a well-known incestuous couple in everyone’s eyes.”
Yu Zhi: “…”
Damn it! So that’s why he said all that nonsense in front of so many people. He wanted to make their “couple” relationship official.
Yu Zhi opened his mouth, thinking he could claim he was forced—but on second thought, if he said he was forced, wouldn’t it make staying by Fu Suxi’s side even more “reasonable”? Even if they set aside the couple angle, there was still the “brother” angle.
Yu Zhi’s vision darkened. He recalled that flimsy lie he’d told Lin Xiangyuan and Dr. Qi—that he was off to B City to find his younger brother and accidentally got dragged into the Taijiang High School instance. Now that he’d finally found his “younger brother,” wasn’t it perfectly reasonable for them to stay together?
Well, well, well. This boomerang had finally come back to hit him right where it hurt.
Yu Zhi opened his mouth several times, closed it again, then stubbornly continued, “You groped my butt last time we met. What if one day you lose control and try to assault me?”
Fu Suxi gave a derisive laugh and looked at him. “Wouldn’t you enjoy taking advantage of me?”
Yu Zhi’s face remained expressionless. Enjoy your grandpa! he thought furiously.
He closed his eyes, took a moment to calm down, and lowered his gaze to the coffee table, thinking rapidly.
Fu Suxi was still suspicious that he was working for Meteorite Biotechnology. Unfortunately, Yu Zhi himself had claimed to be a victim, so now if he refused, it would look suspicious; if he didn’t refuse, he’d be stuck closely following Fu Suxi around all day, constantly on edge.
Seemingly sensing his reluctance, Fu Suxi suddenly said, “As the next victim, what’s more important than your life?”
“The future of humanity?” he asked mockingly.
Yu Zhi frowned and lifted his eyes. “Don’t try to test me. I really am not one of them.”
Fu Suxi tapped the ash from his cigarette. “Nie Yue is dead, not long after you all left. Her house in S City was burned down too.”
Yu Zhi merely said, “Oh,” without any surprise. “She said too many things she shouldn’t have. Destroying the body and evidence is normal.”
Fu Suxi gave him a meaningful look. “You also know things you shouldn’t.”
Yu Zhi blurted out, “They don’t know that I know about Meteorite Biotechnology.”
The mysterious figure at Taijiang High School only knew he had Chen Tingting’s diary and that Nie Yue had let slip something about pollutant source experiments, but they didn’t know he’d learned about Meteorite Biotechnology from Chen Wan’s phone.
Fu Suxi said blandly, “They’ll know soon enough.”
Yu Zhi’s frown deepened. He linked Fu Suxi’s actions together and suddenly realized what the man was plotting.
Right now, he is “Yu You,” the brother of the Operations Department Minister in the Special Operations Bureau. It was perfectly natural for him to hand over a phone he found in an instance. The Bureau would crack it open and discover Meteorite Biotechnology. The minister might then share this secret with his brother who got caught up in all this. Everything was perfectly reasonable.
Damn it!
Fu Suxi was planning to push him right into the spotlight, leaving him no escape, and forcing him to seek Fu Suxi’s protection as a safe haven.
Yu Zhi felt numb. What Fu Suxi had thrown back at him wasn’t just a boomerang, it was a forty-meter-long spinning blade.
He realized the livestream’s viewers had also caught on and were mocking him with bullet comments:
[User “Pure Love Warrior” praises your self-inflicted suffering.]
[User “Gaze of the Abyss” commends your intricate scheming and well-deserved consequences.]
[User “Strongest King” greatly enjoys seeing you ensnared by your own traps and tips you 10 universal coins.]
Yu Zhi: “…”
Was there any other way out?
After careful thought, no. The enemy lurked unseen, while he stood in the open. He was inside the Bureau, and the enemy had moles here. Until he understood Meteorite Biotechnology thoroughly, sticking with Fu Suxi really was the safest option.
Yu Zhi sighed softly. When it came down to a dead end, his body began to produce dopamine to adjust his mood automatically.
Looking on the bright side, following Fu Suxi meant he only had to deal with him. Fu Suxi could solve any attackers sent by Meteorite Biotechnology. Maybe Yu Zhi could even find a chance to score some money from Fu Suxi, given that he’d spent all the money from his last auction. Another way to see it was that Fu Suxi was offering to be his free bodyguard, providing both muscle and funds.
Satisfied with his reasoning, Yu Zhi slowly spoke up, “How long do I have to stay with you?” Fu Suxi casually gave a timeframe, “A month.”
Yu Zhi immediately refused, “Too long.”
Fu Suxi responded, “Then two months.”
Yu Zhi understood. This mad dog didn’t have a complete plan to deal with Meteorite Biotechnology yet; he was just stringing Yu Zhi along.
He took a deep breath, trying to reason with him, “I have to go to B City to find my… family. In two months, he might be dead.”
A hint of surprise passed over Fu Suxi’s face. He then acted as if he were easy to talk to. “Give me the name and address. I’ll arrange protection.”
Yu Zhi sneered internally—protection, my ass! More like surveillance and leverage!
Keeping his expression neutral, he said, “Forget it. Let’s not waste national resources. Let him fend for himself.”
Hearing this, Fu Suxi took one last drag and exhaled grayish-white smoke, the haze obscuring his dark, brooding eyes.
Someone in B City he was worried about… Interesting…
He stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray and looked at Yu Zhi’s faintly trembling eyelashes, reconsidering the man’s true identity and intentions.
After waiting a while, with Yu Zhi not speaking and showing no particular emotion, Fu Suxi abruptly asked, “What are you thinking?”
Yu Zhi gave him a long, meaningful look and said earnestly, “I’m thinking about our future as brothers.”
Fu Suxi: “…”
Seeing that the two had reached an agreement, the livestream exploded with congratulations.
[User “Cutest Girl in the World” comfortingly wishes you a harmonious relationship for a hundred years and tips you 20 universal coins.]
[User “Pure in Heart and Few Desires” praises your playful kink and tips you 20 universal coins.]
[User “Arrogant Rich Young Master” sighs over your tortuous romance and tips you 0.1 universal coins.]
[User “Reborn from Another Universe’s True Love” congratulates you on becoming a true couple in the end.]
