Chapter 49
Qi Qianli asked around among people he knew about Shi Ye’s recent situation, thinking about how to ask him out to meet.
Shi Ye had no small amount of popularity overseas. He had worked with quite a few singers and had strong brand appeal. Qi Qianli wanted to enter the record industry. If Shi Ye were willing to join him, there would be no problem attracting investment.
Then he wouldn’t have to keep lowering himself and sweet-talking his father and sister for money. Every time he asked for money, he had to waste a huge amount of effort flattering them. His tongue was nearly worn out from talking, and he still never got much. Now they had even directly frozen his card.
While he was sulking, an acquaintance sent him a voice message updating him on Shi Ye’s recent situation.
He said that Shi Ye had temporarily suspended his studies overseas. Although he had plenty of time after returning to China, that didn’t mean Qi Qianli could easily get him out to meet.
“He’s busy right now. He doesn’t have time for you at all.”
Qi Qianli asked, “Busy with what? Investment? Financial management?”
Shi Ye’s father was a well-known international businessman, and his mother was an extremely sharp-minded politician. Shi Ye himself was interested in the arts. He had been exposed to dance from childhood. Later, when his bones developed and he could no longer dance, he stepped into music instead. Though he looked as though he had absolutely no interest in the family business, that didn’t mean he lacked a head for business.
He regularly invested in projects—films, sporting equipment, cruise liners. Anything he participated in and invested in had never lost money.
Quite a few second-generation heirs envied his ruthless eye. Projects that others looked down on, he could look at and see the possibility of a comeback.
The acquaintance said, “Neither. He’s busy dating lately, flying all over the place with his boyfriend. Doesn’t go to anyone’s invitations.”
Qi Qianli clicked his tongue, open disdain in his eyes.
What was so fun about dating?
He had seen too many beauties in his circle. He had played with plenty of them. Love was bullshit.
Still, it was unexpected—Shi Ye was actually dating someone.
Ever since that breakup after the college entrance exams, Qi Qianli had never heard any news about Shi Ye dating. He had thought Shi Ye had locked his heart up and would never date again, drifting through life the way rich second-generation playboys like them did.
But Shi Ye simply had no interest in that sort of thing.
It wasn’t as if nobody had ever tried to set him up. Men, women—every kind. Curvy ones, boneless soft ones, ones skilled in bed. Shi Ye wanted none of them.
They did these things often. Almost every time they invited him out, some version of this would happen. In the end, Shi Ye just stopped coming to their gatherings altogether.
Qi Qianli had even suspected whether Shi Ye might be impotent. Every single beauty they sent was more seductive than the last, yet Shi Ye wouldn’t spare them so much as a glance. If one stuck to him, he’d tell them to go do frog jumps.
Other than impotence, Qi Qianli couldn’t think of any explanation.
Qi Qianli asked, “So who’s he dating? Who’s so impressive they managed to get him?”
Clearly not simple. Who knew what sort of tricks they’d used.
The acquaintance replied, “The same one as before.”
Qi Qianli frowned. “Which one from before?”
The acquaintance typed three words:
Xia Fengsheng.
Seeing those three characters, Qi Qianli froze.
So Shi Ye had gone back and started eating old grass.
He stared at the three words on the screen again and again.
What exactly was so special about this Xia Fengsheng that Shi Ye could never let him go?
Back then, after being dumped, Shi Ye had hated him to death, otherwise he wouldn’t have reacted to a stand-in by making him do frog jumps as punishment.
It wasn’t as if Qi Qianli had never seen Xia Fengsheng’s photo.
He didn’t think there was anything special about him. Just a skinny man, skin pale as a dead person. In the photo he looked stiff and hard in personality too, the kind with no fun in a relationship at all. What was there to keep thinking about?
Qi Qianli sneered.
But what mattered now was getting to the company as fast as possible. Whether he had to wear down his father or his sister, he first needed to get his frozen card restored.
.
After being pushed down fifteen flights of stairs, Qilian Mountain’s wheelchair finally landed safely on flat ground.
The aftereffects of the “rocking car ride” still hadn’t worn off. His whole body was still mentally going thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump…
Xia Fengsheng stood to the side, dusting off his clothes.
The old man really was astonishingly good at enduring things. Even after being tormented like that, he still hadn’t stood up.
The rehabilitation therapist had said it already—Qilian Mountain’s inability to stand had nothing to do with his physical health. It was that his spirit and willpower weren’t firm enough; he couldn’t bear the suffering of rehab.
Since the old man didn’t want to suffer the hardship of standing up, then the only option was to make him suffer the hardship of sitting down.
Push him far enough, and once he couldn’t stand it anymore, naturally he would stand up.
Inside, Xia Fengsheng was already slowly arranging his own wicked plan.
Part of Qilian Mountain’s bad temper also came from the fact that he stayed indoors too long and sulked at home alone all day. Once his legs got better and he went out more, he wouldn’t be so unhinged anymore.
Environment shaped people.
Even standing now on flat ground, Qilian Mountain still felt like he was going thump-thump-thump.
He glared at Xia Fengsheng. “Look what you did! What exactly are you trying to do, brat?!”
Xia Fengsheng looked perfectly civil, smiling on the outside. Some female staff happened to pass by and couldn’t help glancing toward him.
Xia Fengsheng said, “Didn’t you want to go downstairs, old sir? I simply brought you downstairs.”
Qilian Mountain cursed, “Who brings someone downstairs like that? Get treated like that and even a dead person would be pissed back to life!”
Yes—even a dead person could be angered back to life.
So why were you still not standing?
Xia Fengsheng had not the slightest fear of Qilian Mountain’s rage.
Qiming Yue was not someone who went back on her word. Since she had let him take over her father’s rehabilitation, she naturally wouldn’t interfere in how he handled things. She had also promised to back him up.
So when facing Qilian Mountain, Xia Fengsheng had no trace of flattery in him at all.
Only a burning desire to make the old man angry enough to stand up.
Qilian Mountain said, “No idea where that unfilial daughter dug you up from.” He patted his chest. “You’re really going to be the death of me.”
Xia Fengsheng lowered his eyes.
The moment Qilian Mountain mentioned Qiming Yue, his temper rose even more. Every other sentence out of his mouth was “that unfilial daughter.”
Xia Fengsheng pushed the wheelchair onward. “Have you gone senile, old sir?”
Qilian Mountain snapped, “How do you talk to your elders, brat?”
Xia Fengsheng said, “President Qi is very filial to you.”
Qilian Mountain snorted coldly. “Filial? How come I’ve never noticed?”
Xia Fengsheng smiled gently, spring-breeze-soft. “Which is why I said you’ve gone senile, old sir.”
Qilian Mountain: ……
For the first time in his life, Qilian Mountain had the urge to leap to his feet and hit someone.
“What filial? I handed over the business and all the family assets to her, and yet she won’t even agree to invest in her younger brother. If I’d known she’d be such an ungrateful wretch, I should never have given her any power in the first place.”
Xia Fengsheng had a silver tongue. He didn’t rebut Qilian Mountain immediately. Instead, he asked, “What business venture is Young Master Qi in lately? I heard he’s failed at entrepreneurship many times.”
Qilian Mountain launched into it. “So what if he’s failed? Failure is the mother of success. Experience is built little by little. Qianli has failed quite a few times, yes, but he’ll succeed eventually. If Mingyue would just keep investing, wouldn’t that put him on the road to success? She isn’t even willing to suffer the slightest loss for him!”
Qilian Mountain had ten thousand and one dissatisfactions about Qiming Yue no longer funding Qi Qianli.
Xia Fengsheng glanced at the time. “It’s noon now, old sir. Shall we go eat something?”
Qilian Mountain was indeed a little hungry. “Fine. Push me over to that café and then go buy it.”
“Of course.”
Xia Fengsheng pushed him over and settled him in the café. “Please wait a moment, old sir. I’ll go get a grand feast for you.”
Qilian Mountain laughed when he heard that.
A grand feast? What kind of grand feast had he not eaten before?
Young people these days—short hair, short experience.
Ten minutes later—
Qilian Mountain stared at the face-sized steamed bun in his hand and fell into silence.
“……”
The corner of his eye twitched. Waving the bun, he exploded, “Didn’t you say a grand feast?! Where’s the grand feast?!”
You call this food?
Xia Fengsheng pointed at the bun in his hand. “Isn’t it right there?”
Qilian Mountain clutched the bun tighter. “How does this count as a grand feast?!”
Xia Fengsheng said, “You tell me—is it grand or not?”
Qilian Mountain: ……
Qilian Mountain couldn’t believe it. “My daughter didn’t give you money for my meal?”
“President Qi’s filial heart toward you is boundless, so of course the meal money was handed to me.”
Qilian Mountain looked like he wanted to smash the bun into Xia Fengsheng’s civilized scoundrel of a face. “And this is what you bought me with it?”
Xia Fengsheng said, “Hasn’t old sir always wanted Miss Qi to suffer a bit? I’m just doing my tiny part to help make that happen.”
Qilian Mountain: …… Somehow, the legs that had felt dead for so long were now filling with strength.
There wasn’t anything else to eat, and he was hungry, so in the end he had no choice but to eat it.
While he was eating, Xia Fengsheng still didn’t forget to praise him. “Old sir really is a refined man. He doesn’t even speak while eating.”
Qilian Mountain, nearly choking and rolling his eyes: ……
After lunch, Xia Fengsheng pushed Qilian Mountain to stroll by the river.
Today was Friday, so there were more people at the riverside than usual. Children playing and laughing could be seen everywhere.
The breeze from the river was gentle. Xia Fengsheng pushed Qilian Mountain along slowly. There were plenty of snack vendors along the roadside as well.
Qilian Mountain started grumbling unhappily again. “What did you bring me here for? It’s so noisy. There’s no class to this place at all.”
Usually, if he had free time, he would go watch musicals and dance dramas. At worst he’d stay home and feed birds or keep fish.
A place this loud made his head hurt.
Xia Fengsheng said, “You’ve stayed indoors too long and cut yourself off from people. Coming somewhere lively to look around is good for both physical and mental health.”
Qilian Mountain wore an expression that clearly said I don’t believe a word of your nonsense.
“Ahhh! Get out of the way!”
A scream rose not far away.
Panic broke through the crowd.
Xia Fengsheng and Old Master Qi looked around at the suddenly scattering people in confusion, having no idea what had happened.
Waves of smoke rolled through the air.
A food stall by the roadside had caught fire, and its flaming gas canister was rolling toward the crowd.
In an instant, screams exploded everywhere, stabbing into both nerves and eardrums.
And of all the bad luck, the gas canister was rolling straight toward Xia Fengsheng’s side.
They were on the outermost edge of the crowd. By the time everyone in front of them had fled and they could actually see what was happening, it was already too late to run.
Looking at the canister engulfed in flames, Qilian Mountain turned pale. “Quick—quick!”
The old man was so terrified he couldn’t even get a full sentence out.
Compared to Qilian Mountain’s complete panic, Xia Fengsheng was far calmer.
Without the slightest change in expression, Xia Fengsheng flipped the wheelchair over.
Qilian Mountain was instantly dumped into a flowerbed beside them.
The canister was practically right in front of them now.
Xia Fengsheng grabbed the wheelchair and, like a perfect swing in baseball, sent the canister flying with one tremendous hit into the muddy riverbank. The flaming gas canister went out at once.
His posture remained straight.
The swing was elegant and beautiful, one arm stretched into a clean line, and more importantly, he had saved people from disaster.
The crowd couldn’t help gasping:
“Wowww—”
Applause instantly burst out, one wave after another.
Xia Fengsheng smiled politely and nodded around him. A child came up to him with shining admiration. “Big brother, you were amazing! How did you do that?”
Xia Fengsheng said, “Played golf for a while.”
He didn’t linger to bask in the crowd’s praise. Instead, he pushed the wheelchair over to the flowerbed area.
“Such fine taste you have, old sir. Taking in the flowers, are you?”
Qilian Mountain, forcibly dumped into a flowerbed to appreciate flowers: ……
Beast.
Xia Fengsheng hauled Qilian Mountain back upright into the wheelchair and settled him down again.
Old Master Qi really was not ordinarily stubborn. Even with a gas canister rolling at him, in the middle of overwhelming terror, he still had not stood up and run.
Tsk.
This old man.
After that, Xia Fengsheng dragged him through one bizarre experience after another.
By the time they had spent the whole morning outside, Qilian Mountain had finally had enough. “Take me back to the company. I don’t want to stay outside anymore.”
Xia Fengsheng respected his choice. “Of course.”
So the two of them got into a car and returned to the company.
Once back, Qilian Mountain let out a long breath of relief and waved Xia Fengsheng off. “You can leave now.”
Best if you roll as far away as possible and never let me see you again.
Xia Fengsheng sat down on the chair beside him. “President Qi hired me to keep old sir company. I won’t be leaving.”
Qilian Mountain: “You…”
Xia Fengsheng smiled. “Old sir is so happy you can’t even speak.”
Qilian Mountain: ……
His legs were feeling stronger and stronger.
Today was Qilian Mountain’s birthday.
The fifteenth floor where they were was filled with birthday gifts. The entire floor had been decorated in a birthday atmosphere, all arranged single-handedly by Qiming Yue.
Not only that, she had also invited many of Qilian Mountain’s friends to come and celebrate, all so that her father could have a happy birthday.
But Qilian Mountain didn’t notice any of her good intentions.
He turned a blind eye to everything Qiming Yue had done.
Instead, he pulled out his phone and opened Qi Qianli’s messages to see whether his son had wished him a happy birthday.
He had not.
The last time Qi Qianli had messaged was to ask him for money.
As if Xia Fengsheng knew exactly what he was doing, he asked at precisely the wrong moment, “It’s old sir’s birthday today. Did Young Master wish you happy birthday?”
Qilian Mountain barked loudly, “You don’t have the surname Qi. Why do you care so much?!”
Then it occurred to him that Xia Fengsheng and Qi Qianli were about the same age. So he asked, “Tell me, why does a child your age not come home?”
Qi Qianli hadn’t come back to see him in over a month. He had thought his son would return today for his birthday.
Who knew half the day would pass and Qi Qianli still wouldn’t show.
His sincere expectations had come to nothing.
It left a bitter taste in his heart.
The child he doted on most was precisely this son, Qi Qianli.
Xia Fengsheng said lightly, “What other reason could there be? Because he has no conscience.”
“What nonsense are you talking! Our Qianli is not that kind of child.”
Qilian Mountain rushed to cover for him. “It must be because of his sister. His sister is too cold toward him, that’s why he doesn’t come home.”
Xia Fengsheng asked, “President Qi and the young master don’t get along?”
Qilian Mountain nodded. “They don’t.”
Qi Qianli alone treated Qiming Yue kindly. Qiming Yue simply ignored him.
Xia Fengsheng said, “I see.”
Qilian Mountain sighed. “Yes.”
The next second—
Xia Fengsheng said, “When siblings don’t get along, it usually means the elder generation lacks virtue.”
“……” This brat really found a new way to badmouth him every single day.
Qilian Mountain snapped, “You really don’t want to keep working in this industry, do you?”
Xia Fengsheng asked, “Then old sir, do you think what I said was wrong?”
Meeting those pitch-black eyes of his, Qilian Mountain had one brief moment of dazed confusion.
His eyes were too black—like some ink-dark pool that fed on human blood.
Xia Fengsheng said softly, “You wronged her.”
Qilian Mountain knew exactly who this “her” referred to.
He clenched his teeth. “How have I wronged her?! I gave her the whole family business! I let a daughter inherit everything! Haven’t I treated her well enough?!”
Xia Fengsheng still said only one thing:
“You wronged her.”
Qilian Mountain went silent.
Only he himself knew how much he had wronged Qiming Yue.
Everyone else could see it, yet he refused to admit it.
For a moment, Qilian Mountain was flooded with shame.
Though Xia Fengsheng didn’t know much about the Qi family, he understood enough.
Qilian Mountain had only handed the business to Qiming Yue because Qi Qianli was hopeless and unable to bear the responsibility. In just a few short years after Qiming Yue took over, she had restored the somewhat declining Qi family to prosperity. It was obvious that beneath her current position lay endless days and nights of hard work.
Merchants valued profit and cared little for emotional partings.
Qilian Mountain wasn’t stupid. No matter how much he liked Qi Qianli, he would never let him destroy a century-old family enterprise. Even if he knew it was impossible, deep down he still wanted Qi Qianli to inherit it.
If Qi Qianli had even half of Qiming Yue’s ability, the position of family head would never have fallen to Qiming Yue.
And yet Qiming Yue did everything for the Qi family. She treated her father’s favoritism as something she simply did not see. She still respected him. Even after the car accident left Qilian Mountain unable to walk, she personally sought out help for her father’s rehabilitation.
And through all of it, Qilian Mountain gave her nothing.
Qiming Yue did all this only to be labeled an unfilial daughter.
He had wronged her.
Looking at the wounded, dispirited Qilian Mountain, Xia Fengsheng said, “Since today is your birthday, old sir, let’s open the gifts first.”
Qilian Mountain’s mood wasn’t high, but he didn’t refuse.
Just as Xia Fengsheng was moving the gifts over one by one, the door was shoved open.
Qi Qianli strode in. “Dad, I’m back.”
.
Not long after his card was frozen, Qi Qianli had driven over to the company.
His sister was out discussing business, so he asked an assistant where his father was.
The assistant said, “Old Master is on the fifteenth floor with Mr. Xia.”
Mr. Xia?
When had someone with that title appeared? Qi Qianli didn’t know anyone surnamed Xia.
“Which Mr. Xia?”
The assistant replied, “Xia Fengsheng, Mr. Xia.”
Qi Qianli had heard that name just this morning.
“Xia Fengsheng?!”
Wasn’t that Shi Ye’s love interest?
Why would he be at his company?
Qi Qianli couldn’t make sense of it, nor could he understand how a man could make Shi Ye so obsessed.
Judging from the photo, he seemed pretty ordinary.
Qi Qianli took the elevator up to the fifteenth floor.
The instant he pushed the door open, what greeted his eyes was a lone figure standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, striking in a way impossible to ignore.
Hearing the sound, Xia Fengsheng cast a casual glance in his direction.
It was clearly their first time meeting.
And yet the look Xia Fengsheng gave him was full of cool disdain.
A gaze that looked at him like trash.
Qi Qianli was stunned by his appearance.
He was certain this was Xia Fengsheng, because the mole at the corner of his mouth and that damp, eerie aura matched the photo exactly.
Only…
Qi Qianli’s eyes glued themselves to him.
Why was the photo so different from the real person?
The Xia Fengsheng in the photo had none of the beauty of the man standing here.
That damp, sinister beauty, paired with that sharp and slender figure—one glance was enough to make anyone remember him forever.
Qi Qianli felt disgusted with himself for staring.
What beauty had he not seen before? Xia Fengsheng was only somewhat better-looking, that was all.
Were there not countless people like him if you just grabbed a handful from the crowd? What exactly was Shi Ye so fixated on?
He forcibly tore his eyes away from Xia Fengsheng and focused on the real matter—getting his father to restore his frozen card.
The moment Qilian Mountain saw Qi Qianli come in, his whole being lit up with delighted surprise.
Qianli had come back to celebrate his birthday after all.
Yet the moment Qi Qianli opened his mouth, all he said was:
“Dad, my card got frozen. Help me get it restored.”
There was one instant of disappointment on Qilian Mountain’s face, but he quickly buried it.
He was already happy enough just that Qi Qianli had come home.
But the card…
That was not something he could solve.
“Well…” Qilian Mountain’s tone turned awkward.
Qi Qianli crouched down beside him. “Why not? Just say the word. My sister won’t refuse to listen to you. And lately I’ve had no progress at all with my startup because I have no money. Didn’t you always say you wanted me to build a career of my own?”
Qilian Mountain looked troubled. “Qianli, you should stop the startup for now. You’ve tried too many times these past few years. You must be tired too. This time, take a proper rest for a while.”
The smile on Qi Qianli’s face stiffened. “But Dad, I can’t be without money. If I don’t have money, I can’t do anything.”
“Don’t you still have the allowance I give you?”
“That little bit of money? What can it even do?!”
A few meals treating people out, one nice car, and it’s gone.
Once he realized his father truly couldn’t restore his card, Qi Qianli’s expression changed. “Fuck. You can’t even get one card restored.”
It was obvious Qi Qianli had been spoiled rotten by Qilian Mountain. He showed absolutely no respect to his elders, grumbling endlessly. “You keep encouraging me to build my own career, but then won’t give me money. What kind of bullshit encouragement is that?”
He cursed openly. “Damn woman. Damn old man.”
Qilian Mountain couldn’t believe his ears. “What did you just say?!”
He had assumed Qi Qianli came home for his birthday.
Instead, this was what he heard from his son’s mouth.
The entire fifteenth floor was decorated for his birthday.
Qi Qianli saw none of it.
No gift. No “happy birthday.” Not even memory of the fact it was his birthday.
The moment he spoke, it was only to ask for money.
And once things didn’t go his way, he instantly exploded into foul-mouthed abuse, with not a scrap of manners.
How had he raised a son like this?
Clutching his chest, Qilian Mountain’s face turned livid. “You… say that again.”
Qi Qianli was still blazing with anger. “Damn woman, damn old man. Did you hear me or not?!”
He didn’t care about his father’s or sister’s dignity in the least.
He kept shouting, louder and louder.
“Damn woman, damn old man!”
“Damn woman, damn old—”
Smack.
A solid slap landed dead across Qi Qianli’s face.
Everyone in the room was stunned.
The assistant standing beside Qi Qianli was so frightened he hardly dared breathe.
For a moment, the air itself seemed to freeze.
“Sometimes I really do wonder how someone like President Qi could have a younger brother like you.”
Xia Fengsheng slowly took out a handkerchief and methodically wiped each finger, as if he had touched something filthy.
That one slap stunned everyone present senseless.
Standing above him, Xia Fengsheng’s voice was icy. “Old Master Qi failed in teaching his son. So today, I’ll teach you properly in his place.”
Qi Qianli, sitting on the ground clutching his face, trembled in shock.
Fuck—
The first thing he noticed was the fragrance.
