Chapter 51
An acquaintance sent Qi Qianli the exact spark that had set off Shi Ye targeting him.
Just because of a like?
Leaning against the headboard, Qi Qianli rolled his eyes after finding out the reason. He thought Shi Ye had no grace at all. So what if Xia Fengsheng liked one of his posts?
If Xia Fengsheng hadn’t wanted to like it, would there have been a like under his Moments post? He only had that like because Xia Fengsheng had wanted to give it to him, okay?
He truly couldn’t understand how someone so petty had managed to make Xia Fengsheng willing to date him.
Wasn’t Shi Ye usually very generous? How could he be this calculating over something so small?
Sure enough, you never really know a person just by their face.
Qi Qianli clicked into Xia Fengsheng’s profile picture again and checked his Moments background. Shi Ye’s photo was hanging there.
Qi Qianli threw off the blanket and ran into the bathroom, comparing his own face in the mirror to Shi Ye’s, measuring who was more handsome, more stylish.
Shi Ye’s parents were both the striking-feature type, and Shi Ye himself was even more so. His deep-set features and brows gave him an almost mixed-blood look whenever he showed his forehead. Normally, when his hair was down, his image was sunny and upbeat. Combined with a body built through constant exercise and training, he was big and gave people a strong sense of security.
His temper was pretty good, though it was said that because he liked men, he had been thrown into the military twice a year for three years, which had added a bit more ferocity to him.
If you asked Qi Qianli, Shi Ye’s family was still too old-fashioned.
His own father, Qilian Mountain, was a fashionable old man. If he brought home a man to date, even with his legs unable to move, the old man would still knock over his own wheelchair and raise both hands and feet in support.
As long as Qi Qianli would just date properly and stop fooling around.
Sure enough, when your starting point was high, your standards rose with it.
Someone like him, with a lower starting point, could do anything and still be accepted.
Qi Qianli’s face was handsome in that flirtatious, dashing way. Looking at himself in the mirror, he didn’t think there was anywhere he truly lost to Shi Ye—except that his build wasn’t as solid.
But he definitely wouldn’t get mad just because his lover liked someone else’s post.
Looking at himself in the mirror, convinced he was no worse than Shi Ye, Qi Qianli lay back on the bed and started wondering why Xia Fengsheng would date Shi Ye in the first place.
What exactly did he like about him?
Shi Ye was obviously vain and small-minded.
Qi Qianli thought about it so much he ended up unable to sleep, tossing and turning the entire night.
On the other side of the ocean, someone else likewise found sleep impossible.
Shi Ye clutched his phone under the blankets and completely cracked.
Staring at the like notification on the screen—
Why had Xia Fengsheng liked Qi Qianli’s post?
Shi Ye had some impression of Qi Qianli. He knew he was a playboy. Worried he might be misunderstanding his image, he even went to ask Ding Qizhen, who replied that yes, Qi Qianli really was a playboy.
In Shi Ye’s memory, Qi Qianli was no good person. He drank and fooled around, and he was always introducing stand-ins to people.
He had originally gone to bed planning to sleep beautifully after chatting with Xia Fengsheng, but now all sleepiness was gone.
Shi Ye: “:(”
How did they know each other? When had they added each other on WeChat?
Shi Ye wanted to ask Xia Fengsheng, but then felt that would be crossing a line. Interfering in your partner’s friendships while dating was totally against the rules. He didn’t want to become that kind of person. Acting like that would only make him lose points in Xia Fengsheng’s mind.
Extreme relationships were bad for mental and physical health.
Thinking and thinking like that, Shi Ye’s head tilted—
and he shut down.
The next morning, Shi Ye got up and started working with his collaborators. He got very busy when he worked, practically spending the whole day in the studio. By the time he came back out, it was already afternoon in Hawaii.
That meant it should be around six or seven in the morning in China. Xia Fengsheng had the habit of getting up early.
Shi Ye sent him a message:
What are you doing?
Of course people in love were supposed to contact each other every day. That was what made it love.
Xia Fengsheng was clearly already awake and replied quickly.
Shi Ye: “:D”
The reply came super fast!
Then his eyes moved down to the message.
Xia Fengsheng: With a little puppy.
Shi Ye: ……
Shi Ye stood there holding the phone, petrified on the spot.
His collaborator at his side nearly jumped. “Oh! Ye! You’re hard as hell right now.”
A terrible way to phrase it, and it only made Shi Ye’s heart feel even colder.
Why was Xia Fengsheng with a little puppy?
Thinking carefully, Qi Qianli did seem to be two years younger than him.
Had Xia Fengsheng changed his tastes and started liking younger ones now?
Buzz buzz—two more messages came through.
Xia Fengsheng: Drinking. Typo in the earlier one.
Xia Fengsheng: [image]
In the image, Xia Fengsheng’s pale jade-white fingers were wrapped around a bottle of Want Want milk drink.
The moment Shi Ye saw the photo, he felt better at once.
So he was drinking Want Want.
That morning, Xia Fengsheng had gone downstairs and seen Qilian Mountain sitting in the living room, drinking Want Want and watching the morning news.
Xia Fengsheng had sat down beside him and, right after that, grabbed the other bottle, stuck in a straw, and started drinking too.
Qilian Mountain, who was only allowed to drink two bottles of Want Want per month, was furious but dared not speak.
He cast a resentful glance at the bandit who had stolen the other bottle.
Such a young man—and yet so gluttonous.
Every month, exactly how many sweets he was allowed to eat was personally regulated by Qiming Yue. If he ate more, then for the next three months he would be banned from sweets entirely.
Though Qilian Mountain had a bad temper, Qiming Yue was the unquestioned authority in the house. If both of them gave orders at the same time, the housekeeper and servants would obey Qiming Yue unconditionally.
Today just so happened to be his blessed day for enjoying Want Want.
Who knew that just as one bottle was nearly finished, the other would be directly stolen by a bandit.
There were also a few chocolates beside Qilian Mountain, the only ones he was allowed this month. Afraid Xia Fengsheng might rob him of those too, Qilian Mountain hurriedly said, “Have you had breakfast? Breakfast’s in the dining room.”
Sure enough, the moment Xia Fengsheng heard there was breakfast, he left the living room.
Qilian Mountain watched him go, then hurriedly started tearing open the chocolate wrappers, planning to eat them all at once.
Who knew Xia Fengsheng would return by the exact same route and stop right in front of him.
Qilian Mountain said, “Wasn’t I told you to go eat breakfast?”
Xia Fengsheng immediately snatched the chocolate from his hand. “Dessert after the meal.”
Then he turned and left with it.
Qilian Mountain: ……
Taking the chocolate, Xia Fengsheng walked into the dining room. The housekeeper appeared like an NPC respawning.
“Mr. Xia, are you having breakfast? I’ll bring it for you.”
Xia Fengsheng waved him off. “No need.”
Qiming Yue and Qilian Mountain both rose early and had already finished breakfast. Xia Fengsheng didn’t want to trouble someone else to bring it to him, so he went into the kitchen himself to see whether there was anything to eat.
The kitchen was full of rising steam.
Following the sound, he saw bamboo steamers of pastries. An elderly lady dressed neatly in a spotless white apron was wearing gloves and taking pastries out of the steamers.
Her hair was white, but her movements were still brisk and nimble.
Seeing Xia Fengsheng suddenly appear in the kitchen, the old lady smiled kindly. “You’ve come looking for something to eat, haven’t you?”
Xia Fengsheng nodded and made a quiet sound of assent.
The old lady was the Qi family’s pastry chef.
She knew Xia Fengsheng was a guest of the Qi family. Since Qi Qianli liked Chinese pastries, whenever he was at home, she would make them for him.
The old lady was warmhearted. Her grandson was around the same age as Xia Fengsheng, and, moved by instinctive affection, she warmly picked up a piece of pastry with her chopsticks and held it out to Xia Fengsheng’s mouth.
“Child, try this. It’s just come out of the steamer. It tastes best while it’s hot.” The elderly woman’s smile was kind and soft, the way old people always wanted the children before them to eat the very best.
The sudden gesture made Xia Fengsheng freeze in place.
Seeing his slightly widened eyes, the old lady realized what she had done.
She had simply been so happy on seeing the child that she had directly fed the pastry to his lips.
Apology appeared on her face. “Child, I’m sorry, I…”
“It’s fine.”
The next second, the tall figure bowed his head and ate the pastry directly from the chopsticks.
Qi Qianli walked into the kitchen just in time to see this scene.
Xia Fengsheng had only just woken up, and there was a softness about him that never showed ordinarily. His home clothes reduced the distance in his cool appearance. With his pale neck bent low, he looked like a swan dipping down to peck the lake’s surface.
Xia Fengsheng held the pastry between his lips, cheeks moving slightly as he tasted it seriously.
The old lady looked at him expectantly. “Child, is it good?”
With the pastry still between his lips, Xia Fengsheng made a cold but muffled sound. “Good.”
The old lady broke into laughter at once. Her laugh was broad and almost comically loud with age. Xia Fengsheng was amused by the sound, and looking at the overjoyed old lady in front of him, his eyes curved very slightly without his meaning to.
Seeing her made him think of the aunt from the barbecue shop where he had worked in high school.
That aunt had been mute and deaf. When she laughed, it was the same as this old lady—her whole face wrinkled up with the force of it.
Later, her daughter had gotten into a prestigious university, entered a major company, and become a high-ranking executive. After that, she took her mother away to a big city to retire.
Xia Fengsheng had never seen her again.
Even now, his nice new phone still stored her number.
He had just never once called it.
Perhaps even Xia Fengsheng himself did not know this, but he liked people who treated him with warmth.
The kind of warmth that came without warning, the kind that burdened you. The more intense, the better. Enough to engulf him like a tidal wave and suffocate him—that was what he enjoyed most.
And it couldn’t be the kind where someone hated him at first and only later grew warm. No. It had to be the type who, from the very first glance, treated him warmly for no reason at all.
Even if later on someone who had always been unconditionally warm to him made some mistake, or stopped liking him, or even betrayed him, he would still tolerate them endlessly.
The old lady told him there was still sweet porridge cooking and that he should go wait in the living room for a while.
Xia Fengsheng bit into the pastry and turned to head to the dining room, only to see Qi Qianli.
His brows knitted instinctively.
Meeting those pitch-black eyes, Qi Qianli suddenly felt nervous. He didn’t know how to start a conversation with him. His mind was full of that slight smile from just now. After choking on it for half a day, all he managed was, “You look really good when you smile.”
Since politeness called for reciprocity, Xia Fengsheng answered, “No need to envy me. You look pretty funny too.”
Qi Qianli: ???
Xia Fengsheng ignored him and went straight to the dining room. Qi Qianli, undeterred, continued trying to chat with him.
He himself didn’t know why, but it felt as though Xia Fengsheng carried some kind of force around him, something that drew him in.
Xia Fengsheng sat at the dining table, and Qi Qianli sat opposite him.
When the sweet porridge arrived, Qi Qianli took a photo of it. Xia Fengsheng ate very elegantly. Qi Qianli quietly shifted the frame, angling the lens so one of Xia Fengsheng’s hands entered the shot.
Two pale, slender fingers appeared in the upper left corner of the image.
Qi Qianli looked at the photo, satisfied, and posted it to Moments.
Qi Qianli: Breakfast.
.
That evening was the annual party for Qi Group.
Once the annual party ended, the New Year holiday would begin.
Qilian Mountain would go onstage to give remarks, so from the afternoon onward there had already been a great deal of bustling preparation.
Watching Xia Fengsheng, who stood before the floor-length mirror adjusting his tie, Qilian Mountain voiced his resistance from the wheelchair.
“Why are you tying your tie in my room?”
Xia Fengsheng was unhurried and calm. “The mirror in the guest room isn’t as big as this one.”
In the reflection, the noble ease with which Xia Fengsheng tidied his attire made him look as though he were some aristocratic heir from a great family. Every movement was cool, steady, and poised.
Qilian Mountain couldn’t help thinking—
If only his son had even a third of Xia Fengsheng’s qualities.
Soon enough evening arrived.
Xia Fengsheng pushed Qilian Mountain into the venue. The annual party had already begun, though Qiming Yue would be arriving somewhat later for other reasons.
She had sent a message to her secretary telling them to let the annual party proceed as normal. After all, annual parties were for giving benefits to employees. Whether or not the chairwoman herself attended didn’t affect the employees receiving those benefits.
Qilian Mountain’s speech was the grand finale of the night, so there was still time.
Xia Fengsheng stood beside him eating a small cake.
Qilian Mountain said, “Why didn’t you get one for me too?”
Xia Fengsheng lowered his eyes and looked at him. “So greedy, are we?”
Qilian Mountain: ……
Right then, the host walked onstage and announced the first event of the annual party.
A ceremonial hostess pushed up a cart covered with red cloth. No one knew what was under it.
The host dramatically whipped off the cloth.
What lay there was a dense, blinding heap of red banknotes.
A full two million yuan.
Then came a sentence so electrifying it shook the room.
“The two-million-yuan free-for-all cash grab!!!!”
“Wooooah!!!!”
“Holy shit!!!!”
“I can do this! I can!”
The crowd below instantly erupted like a rising tide.
The host was bursting with excitement. “In a moment, we’ll use machines to scatter the two million into the air. Once it’s all gone, whatever you grab is yours to take home as a bonus!”
So raining money from the sky existed not just in dreams.
The employees in the banquet hall instantly went wild with excitement.
Listening to the young people cheering, Qilian Mountain laughed too.
“Hahahahaha! Now that’s what young people should be like.”
The very next second, a hand landed on his shoulder.
Qilian Mountain’s smile froze.
Xia Fengsheng bent down. His demonically charming face appeared beside Qilian Mountain’s, his voice as evil as a devil’s whisper.
“Old sir, for an event like this, even a cripple should crawl up and start picking things up, right?”
Qilian Mountain’s face turned stark white in an instant. He looked up at Xia Fengsheng in disbelief.
Xia Fengsheng’s face was wicked and dangerous.
Qilian Mountain’s pupils shook: He… he can’t possibly be planning to make me crawl on the floor and pick up money for him, can he?
Xia Fengsheng narrowed his long eyes. “Many hands make light work. I’m sure old sir can help me collect quite a lot.”
Then, leaning close to Qilian Mountain’s ear, he whispered:
“Old man, I’ll give you one number. Five hundred thousand.”
.
“President Qi! President Qi!”
The secretary came stumbling out of the banquet hall.
Qiming Yue, who had just arrived, frowned the moment she saw him in such a flustered state. “What is it? Why are you panicking like that?”
The secretary was visibly horrified, none of his usual calm professionalism left. “President Qi, something terrible has happened!”
Qiming Yue’s expression darkened. “What happened?”
Two whole lines spoken, and not one of them reached the point.
The secretary slapped his thigh in agitation, at a total loss for words. In the end, all he could say in helpless urgency was, “President Qi, you’d better come see for yourself.”
She had selected this secretary precisely because of his capable steadiness. For him to be this rattled, something serious had to have happened.
Qiming Yue’s face changed. She strode swiftly toward the banquet hall.
The moment the chairwoman appeared, the employees hurried to pull the doors open for her.
The banquet hall doors opened.
Inside was utter chaos. If you didn’t know better, you’d think some kind of attack had taken place. Everywhere people were shouting, “Stop him, stop him!”
“Move!” the secretary shouted.
The entire place had become a pot of boiling porridge.
Qiming Yue pushed through the crowd and forced her way to the center of the disturbance.
There she saw Qilian Mountain holding up a wheelchair, his legs moving with astonishing speed as he chased after Xia Fengsheng and yelled that he was going to kill him.
Qiming Yue: !
The moment she took in the scene, her vision blackened. Her footing went unsteady and she staggered backward.
“President Qi!” the secretary hurried to support her.
Qiming Yue could not believe her eyes.
For a second she thought she had hallucinated from overwork.
Who was that old man, running through the room carrying a wheelchair?
Her father?
Qiming Yue looked again.
!
It really was…
It really was her father!
Qiming Yue’s eyes widened. Her father had actually stood up!
Qilian Mountain was blazing with fury. As he chased after Xia Fengsheng, he shouted abuse at him. “You brat, you’ve gone too far!!!!”
He had never in his wildest dreams imagined that Xia Fengsheng would actually intend to make him, at his age, crawl on the floor picking up money. Worse, he had threatened that if Qilian Mountain couldn’t collect five hundred thousand, he wouldn’t help him back up.
Qilian Mountain had lived his whole life with pride. He had exhausted himself for the family business. Even in old age, he still had a lifetime of reputation and honor. Which younger generation member did not look at him with a few parts respect?
And now this—kids swarming him just because he was old and powerless. He had finally retired and only just begun to enjoy his later years, and now this brat wanted him crawling around on the floor picking up money.
Was he trying to ruin him?!
Nothing before had managed to force Qilian Mountain to stand.
Not even when the gas canister rolled toward him, when his life was genuinely in danger. Even then he had remained seated in the wheelchair, unmoving.
But life was a small thing.
One’s late reputation was a great thing.
The instant he realized his dignity in old age was at stake, terrifying strength flooded his legs.
The old universe exploded.
He stood up and swung the wheelchair, chasing Xia Fengsheng all over the room.
Xia Fengsheng ran leisurely in front of him. Whenever Qilian Mountain lagged too far behind, he would even stop and wait for him a moment.
Qilian Mountain: ……
B-beast!!!!!!
.
That very night, all the major wealthy families received an invitation from the Qi family.
The banquet was set for three days later, to celebrate Old Master Qi’s rebirth and his victory over his leg condition.
The major families all thought:
Hadn’t he just recently been someone who refused to stand at all because he couldn’t endure the pain of rehabilitation? How had he suddenly stood up all at once?
Because of Qilian Mountain’s recovery, the Qi Group annual party only grew more lively.
After reconciling the conflict between Qilian Mountain and Xia Fengsheng, Qiming Yue made a grand gesture and had another two million yuan scattered for the employees, to make up for the way Qilian Mountain chasing Xia Fengsheng with a wheelchair had ruined the earlier game segment.
What she didn’t know was that the employees had already gotten both money and entertainment out of the whole thing.
The annual party continued.
Qiming Yue came over to invite Xia Fengsheng to attend the family dinner after the annual party, to celebrate Qilian Mountain’s recovery.
Xia Fengsheng didn’t refuse.
It was about time to settle accounts for this assignment.
Qiming Yue said, “From now on, there will certainly be more cooperation between us. You can put your mind at ease. I am not someone who goes back on her word.”
Xia Fengsheng clasped the hand she extended. “I’m very much looking forward to working with President Qi.”
.
Meanwhile, in the VIP lounge, Qi Qianli heard that Xia Fengsheng would also be attending the family dinner.
Qi Qianli was delighted. “Really?”
That meant Xia Fengsheng would be staying at his house again tonight.
Qilian Mountain gave a displeased snort. “Really.”
He still hadn’t gotten over his anger. That little brat Xia Fengsheng had actually dared to treat him like that.
True, he had ended up standing again, but Qilian Mountain was sure of one thing—
if he hadn’t stood, Xia Fengsheng really would have made him crawl on the ground picking up money.
His lifelong reputation!
Still, Qi Qianli felt inexplicably happy at the thought that Xia Fengsheng would stay in the house another night.
Even though they had known each other for less than two days, he already felt pretty strongly about Xia Fengsheng.
Even getting slapped yesterday hadn’t stopped him from being drawn in.
Xia Fengsheng had everything going for him.
Except for the fact that he had a boyfriend.
Tsk.
The moment Qi Qianli thought of Shi Ye, irritation rose in him. Then suddenly he grew curious—what would it feel like to date Xia Fengsheng?
If he could date Xia Fengsheng, he would definitely settle down. He wouldn’t fool around the way he had before. After all, Xia Fengsheng had such means and even knew some fighting.
Just as Qi Qianli was drifting further and further into that fantasy, the lounge door opened.
Qi Qianli assumed Xia Fengsheng had come to retrieve his coat, since Xia Fengsheng’s was the only one still left there.
Instead, the moment he looked up, he saw Shi Ye suddenly appear in a Hawaiian floral shirt, holding two coconuts.
Qi Qianli froze.
Why was Shi Ye here?
Facing Shi Ye, Qi Qianli’s tone unconsciously sharpened with hostility. “Young Master Shi must be mistaken. The celebration banquet for my father is in three days.”
Why show up at his company’s annual party for no reason?
Shi Ye ignored his words entirely.
His handsome face carried an oppressive force. The first thing he said upon seeing Qi Qianli was:
“How did you seduce him?”
Shi Ye would never forget this—working so hard in the studio he practically lost track of day and night, only to come out and immediately see Qi Qianli’s Moments photo with Xia Fengsheng in it.
Even though only a few fingers were visible, Shi Ye could still tell at once that they belonged to Xia Fengsheng.
He could never mistake them.
When he had first been heartbroken after the breakup, the pain had branded Xia Fengsheng into his heart. Even a blurred silhouette, even a short clipped voice—Shi Ye could identify him instantly.
Even if Xia Fengsheng turned to ashes, Shi Ye would still recognize him.
Those were Xia Fengsheng’s fingers.
Why had Xia Fengsheng been at Qi Qianli’s house?
Why had the two of them been having breakfast together?
Shi Ye stood there clutching his phone, feeling himself fall to pieces.
His collaborator was horrified and shouted into his hands like a megaphone:
“Shi Ye shattered! Everybody come put the puzzle back together! (English)”
Qi Qianli was a famous playboy in their circle, with chaotic private life and no taboos around men or women. He had once introduced Shi Ye to a stand-in. His personal defining trait was that every investment failed and every stock he touched dropped.
Sometimes, when Shi Ye considered investing in something, he would quietly check whether Qi Qianli had recently bought into it, then quietly avoid it. Qi Qianli functioned rather well as a lightning rod.
Shi Ye had no idea how Xia Fengsheng even came to know Qi Qianli.
Qi Qianli had not appeared many times in front of him, but every single time, he left an impression worse than the last.
Shi Ye was not stupid.
The moment he saw those fingers in the photo Qi Qianli had posted, he understood at once that it was a naked and blatant provocation.
So Shi Ye had immediately arranged a flight path and come back by private jet.
The Qi Group annual party was being held at a five-star luxury hotel. Every time Shi Ye came to Shanghai, he stayed there himself, and he also had investments tied up there, so he was familiar with the place.
He knew Qiming Yue fairly well. The hotel staff assumed he had come as an invited guest to the annual party. After asking a server where Qi Qianli was, he came straight here.
Seeing Shi Ye arrive like a killing intent made flesh, Qi Qianli couldn’t help looking smug.
He had thought Shi Ye wouldn’t be able to tell from that photo he posted this morning.
“What seduce?” Qi Qianli said. “Young Master Shi, don’t you think your wording is a little ugly?”
Then he added, “We haven’t seen each other in years, and you come up to me saying something that nasty—is that really appropriate?”
“The outside world keeps saying Young Master Shi is refined and courteous. Looks like all of that was fake.”
Qi Qianli continued confidently, “And besides, I didn’t seduce Xia Fengsheng. We only came to know each other through fighting.”
Shi Ye instantly latched on to the key phrase. He seized Qi Qianli by the collar with one hand. “You hit him?”
Holy shit! Why is he so strong?!
Being yanked up without warning, Qi Qianli jolted in fear. “Th-that’s not exactly it. I didn’t hit back.”
What they called “not acquainted without a fight” was, in truth, simply Qi Qianli getting beaten one-sidedly.
Qi Qianli said, “The injury on my face was from him.”
Shi Ye caught another key point. “He touched your face too?”
Qi Qianli: ……
Qi Qianli said, “So? Jealous?”
Shi Ye ground his teeth.
So he got to enjoy the real thing, huh.
Qi Qianli refused to miss a single chance to drive a wedge between Shi Ye and Xia Fengsheng. He slapped Shi Ye’s hand away. “Why are you so angry over Xia Fengsheng touching me?”
Then he smacked his forehead like he had only just remembered. “Oh, right. I forgot—you and Xia Fengsheng got back together, didn’t you?”
Qi Qianli wore a mockingly enlightened expression, his tone dripping with ridicule. “If you hadn’t shown up, I never would have remembered. These past two days, Xia Fengsheng hasn’t mentioned you once. I almost forgot he even had a boyfriend.”
“Having one or not having one doesn’t seem to make much difference.” He leaned in close to Shi Ye and said in a low voice, “Xia Fengsheng has never touched you, has he?”
Shi Ye didn’t need to ask what kind of “touched” he meant.
He was asking whether Xia Fengsheng had slept with him.
That was private. Shi Ye would never discuss that with outsiders. “What’s it to you?”
Qi Qianli spread his hands. “Nothing to do with me, of course. I just think you’re pitiful. Xia Fengsheng won’t even touch you.”
Ever since breaking up with Xia Fengsheng, Shi Ye hadn’t dated anyone again. Qi Qianli logically suspected impotence. Otherwise why, all these years, had there been no one around him even to solve his physical needs?
And if he was with an impotent man, Xia Fengsheng was destined never to be happy.
So how could Xia Fengsheng possibly want to touch Shi Ye?
Shi Ye bit out, “What would you understand? He’s cherishing me.”
“Pfft—hahahahaha!”
Qi Qianli laughed wildly, having guessed right at last. Delight spilled from every inch of him.
“Cherishing you? Do you even believe that when you say it yourself?”
Shi Ye’s eyes turned dark and muddy as he stared him down.
Shi Ye wore a Hawaiian floral shirt, a black cord around his neck with a straw hat hanging on his back, and held two coconuts in his hand. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he had come to the hotel for vacation.
But the low pressure radiating from him was like the stillness before a storm.
“You like him?”
The blunt question landed in the lounge.
Qi Qianli had not expected Shi Ye to say it so directly, but he didn’t dodge.
So what if he liked Xia Fengsheng? Whether Xia Fengsheng had a boyfriend or not had nothing to do with him. It wasn’t like he liked Xia Fengsheng’s boyfriend.
Thinking of Xia Fengsheng’s slightly curved smile in the kitchen that morning—beautiful as a swan on a lake—Qi Qianli admitted it without the slightest shame. “A little. So what?”
Liking someone was freedom.
Even if the King of Heaven himself came, he couldn’t forbid that.
He looked to gauge Shi Ye’s reaction.
Instead of the furious explosion he expected, Shi Ye only spat out a few icy words:
“You think you deserve him?”
Qi Qianli jolted.
The Shi Ye before him seemed like a different person entirely.
His gaze was dark and terrifying. The way he looked at Qi Qianli was like he was looking at some loach writhing in mud, violence rising off him.
Qi Qianli suddenly remembered that Shi Ye had once been thrown into the military by his grandfather to be trained because he liked men.
Special forces were no place for normal people. Almost nobody could meet the physical standards there. Forget a day—train half a day and a normal person would crawl out no longer shaped like one.
Yet Shi Ye had gone twice every year, winter and summer.
Qi Qianli swallowed and still forced himself to retort, “How do I not deserve him?!”
A cold glint flashed in Shi Ye’s eyes. “A parasite sucking blood while living under the shelter of his sister? Of course you don’t.”
Qi Qianli was instantly stepped on right where it hurt most. What he hated most was being compared with his sister. His face turned ugly. “What did you say?!”
Shi Ye lifted a brow. The current of his eyes held none of his usual sunshine. With ordinary people, Shi Ye could let gains and losses slide. But if someone tried to take something of his—
he would make sure they paid dearly.
“Was I wrong?” Shi Ye said. “If you had even half the ability of your sister Qiming Yue, you wouldn’t still be this useless now, wagging your tail like some lapdog begging the family for money.”
Qi Qianli’s title of useless second-generation wastrel was known across the whole circle. People only avoided saying it to his face.
Liking Xia Fengsheng?
In Shi Ye’s mind appeared Xia Fengsheng’s elegant, gentlemanly figure.
He deserved that?
Qi Qianli hated hearing this more than anything. Plenty of his friends had failed at startups too, but they had all entered their family companies and found something to do. Only he remained idle and useless. Usually nobody said anything because they were wary of the power of the Qi family. But Shi Ye had no such fear. The Shi family had once done the Qi family a great favor. Now he tore away Qi Qianli’s last bit of face, leaving him nowhere to hide.
Shi Ye’s expression turned mocking. “I heard your sister froze your card. That was your only source of income, wasn’t it? Want me to give you some?”
Since Qiming Yue was older than him and they’d met a few times, Shi Ye always called her sister.
He stepped forward. His wide, straight shoulders blocked the overhead light. He felt like a black storm cloud descending from the sky, full of pressure.
“No need to lower yourself and beg. You just have to spin around on the floor a couple times and bark a few times for me, and I’ll give you money. How does that sound?”
Shi Ye looked down on him as though he were an ant. There was cruel amusement in his peach blossom eyes.
“A little lapdog like you should be best at barking, right?”
This was humiliation beyond endurance.
Qi Qianli had never expected Shi Ye to humiliate him like this. His hands and feet trembled. His face flushed bright red with rage. He grabbed a glass of water from the table and flung it straight at Shi Ye.
It was at that exact moment that Xia Fengsheng came in to get his coat.
He walked in just in time to see that scene.
Water splashed over Shi Ye’s face.
Just as Shi Ye was about to smash one of the coconuts over Qi Qianli’s head, he saw Xia Fengsheng standing at the doorway.
The arm he had raised instantly lowered.
All the ferocity around Shi Ye vanished in less than a second.
His eyes turned clear and harmless, his whole expression suddenly mild and without menace.
And just to make absolutely sure Xia Fengsheng could see what he looked like now, Shi Ye subtly tilted his still-dripping handsome face to the side, his peach blossom eyes filling with a kind of frightened innocence that didn’t match his build at all.
“Ah—so cold.”
