Chapter 33

Shen Tingyu merely chuckled after hearing him out and said nothing.

He stood one step higher, and when their eyes met, it almost felt as though he were looking down on him.

Many people said that Shen Tingyu was an E-Type rarely seen in the world.

Born into a distinguished family, he was handsome and rational, courteous and gentle toward others, and rarely lost his temper or showed a cold face over anything unrelated to official business.

But Lu Cheng didn't like him.

He had once seen the coldest, cruelest side of this man known as a gentleman.

At the depths of those ocean-deep eyes lay a piercing chill untouched by light. With a vicious red glimmer, he had brutally trampled and slaughtered someone begging him for mercy. There had not been a trace of warmth or sympathy, as though that were his true self.

He also knew that he had seen it.

Even so, whenever they met again in public, no matter how many times, he could still greet him and talk to him with the most mild and courteous smile and manner. Even when they were occasionally almost alone, he could pretend nothing had happened that day and interact with him naturally.

Lu Cheng was straightforward by nature, and he admitted he couldn't play along with someone like Shen Tingyu.

So whenever they met, he could hardly manage to be pleasant, though he felt he had already shown the other man plenty of courtesy. Yet this masked villain had actually reached out to Xu Qingran?

Was this revenge?

Lu Cheng was still waiting for an explanation from Shen Tingyu, but to his surprise, the first person to shake off his hand was Xu Qingran.

Resistance was written plainly across Xu Qingran's face. "What? If you're from Silver Dragon, you can't associate with people from Golden Wing?"

Since when was there a rule like that?

Lu Cheng paused. "...That's not what I mean. It's just that Shen Tingyu isn't a good person. Don't hang around with him."

Xu Qingran listened and smiled. "What a coincidence. I think so too."

Faced with the two of them bad-mouthing him to his face, Shen Tingyu merely smiled and didn't get angry.

Xu Qingran looked at Lu Cheng's abandoned-puppy expression in confusion. "Mr. Lu, as I recall, you're already engaged to that dear younger brother of mine. Why are you still interfering in my social life?"

Lu Cheng thought, Sure enough, Xu Qingran knows perfectly well that I hate Shen Tingyu more than anyone, but he came to see him anyway. He's doing it on purpose because he's upset about my engagement to Xu Qing'an.

He heaved a sigh and said to Xu Qingran as though coaxing a child, "Come with me first. Whatever it is, we can talk about it when we get back, all right?"

Xu Qingran replied, "Not really, but there's something I can make clear to you right now. Come a little closer."

Lu Cheng didn't think much of it and was willing to do whatever Xu Qingran asked of him now.

But the moment he leaned closer, a vicious punch caught him off guard and landed on his face.

It happened so suddenly that he hadn't even put up a defense and took Xu Qingran's punch squarely. The blow made his head spin and sent him staggering a few steps. He was completely dazed, almost unable to believe it.

The Xu Qingran he remembered had been soft and gentle. When had he ever raised a hand against him?

Xu Qingran rubbed his fingers, a cold look of disgust in his eyes. "Don't fucking touch me."

As expected of a scum gong. No wonder he had the original owner completely under his thumb.

With the original owner's love brain, even the mutated beasts of the apocalypse might not have wanted to eat it.

At the thought, he sneered and added, "Get the fuck out of here. Get as far away as you can, and stop coming around me acting all devoted like a pathetic bastard."

With that, he shoved Shen Tingyu, who had been thoroughly enjoying the show at the side, inside and slammed the door shut.

On the small screen inside the house, they could still see Lu Cheng's shock and daze at being left outside. Only after finally realizing that Xu Qingran wouldn't go with him did he leave dejectedly, like a forlorn puppy.

After that little interlude, Sister-in-law Song finished preparing dinner.

The dinner table was quite quiet. Shen Tingyu had only eaten a few bites before he began tapping at his wristband again, busy with who knew what. His young nephew, who had tried to assert himself in front of Xu Qingran when they first met, didn't dare look at him, half his face practically buried in his bowl.

It was as though he feared one more look would get him beaten up too.

Xu Qingran looked away and chuckled.

The system hadn't been wrong. He hadn't really come to find a partner. Although there had been a slight problem with the compatibility target, he had already achieved the first step of getting close, so he decided to follow the plan.

About two days later, Shen Tingyu's driver took him back to the Xu Family home.

As soon as he entered, he saw that every corner of the living room was filled with boxes of all sizes.

His stepmother was flushed with excitement, bustling about. "When An'an and Lu Cheng move into their new home, they'll probably need these duvet covers too... Qingran?!"

His stepmother was very surprised to see him back.

Father Xu came out from the back hall at the sound, immediately stiffening his face and instinctively wanting to scold him again. But when he saw the injuries all over him, he thought better of it.

"Why didn't you tell us you were coming back? I could have sent the driver to pick you up," Father Xu said sternly.

Xu Qingran replied, "It's fine. Someone gave me a ride."

Without talking to them any further, he went straight upstairs to his room.

The people downstairs didn't pay him any mind. He could still hear Father Xu shouting, "What's in this box? Is Qing'an taking this with him too?"

"Oh, not that one. Those are toys I bought yesterday for the baby who hasn't been born yet..."

The furnishings in his room were just as they had always been. Aside from the household cleaning robot coming in for its regular cleaning, it seemed no one else had been there.

Xu Qingran found his suitcase, dragged it out, and began packing his essential daily necessities and clothes. As he searched, he also found a new-era phone, a lightboard, and other items in his desk drawer.

The lightboard miraculously still had power. As soon as he approached, its screen lit up on its own.

It was on the homepage of a forum called Star Horizon.

A wildly popular thread was trending at the top. He clicked on it and found that it was the gossip thread about the highly compatible couple that the Evil Tower medical department staff had mentioned before.

More than half a month had passed, but instead of fading away, the thread had only attracted more and more discussion.