Chapter 16

Yan Tingshen glanced at his phone at the sound.

"She has a very nice personality. If you get along, you might as well see each other a few more times."

Qin You was about to speak when he noticed Yan Tingshen beside him. After a moment's thought, he stood and walked out of the hospital room before saying, "I have no plans to start a family. Please don't arrange any more meetings for me."

Qin Hengzhong frowned. "Qin You, you're already twenty-six. If you're still not thinking about starting a family, how long do you plan to wait? When your dad was your age, you were already three."

Qin You said, "Right now, the most important thing for me is to familiarize myself with the company's business."

Cui Ling had just come up behind him. He had been unsure whether to risk losing his bonus to tell him about Pei Sheng's situation, but when he heard that, he fell into eternal silence, turned around, and went straight back the way he had come.

Although Qin Hengzhong was gratified, he still wanted to persuade him. "There's no need to rush with the company's business—"

Qin You said, "I'm a little tired after dealing with Tongsheng's affairs tonight. Let's talk about this another time."

Hearing that, Qin Hengzhong didn't press him. "All right, go get some rest first."

Qin You ended the call and was about to return to the target's hospital room, only to find that the medical staff were still inside, but the door was locked.

Even the slow-witted system noticed something. [Host, why won't the target let you in? Does he have a problem with you? That can't be right. You didn't offend him just now!]

Qin You looked inside.

Unfortunately, he couldn't see the target from that angle.

He picked up his phone and sent him a message.

Qin: Should I go, then?

Before long, a reply appeared.

.: Suit yourself.

Qin You smiled, checked the time, and sent him a voice message. "It's getting late. You really should get some rest. I'll come see you again tomorrow."

This time, his message went unanswered.

Qin You said nothing more. He took one last look through the door, then turned and returned to Zeshui Bay.

A whole night passed before he returned to the hospital from Zeshui Bay.

As he approached the room, Qin You heard someone speaking through the wide-open door.

"Oh, you scared me to death last night... You were injured on my turf. I deserve to die a thousand deaths, a thousand deaths."

Qi Yan?

Qin You was about to go in when he heard the protagonist's voice from inside.

"If it weren't your turf, I'd make you pay until you lost everything."

Qin You stopped.

Why was Yan Tingshen in the target's room again?

Seeing him turn to leave, the system asked in confusion, [Host, aren't you going in?]

Qin You said, [No.]

It was best for him to have nothing to do with Yan Tingshen.

"Oh, it's my fault. I owe you. Thank you for being so magnanimous and letting me off this time."

Qi Yan wore an expression that invited them to berate him, then added, "The strange thing is, the hotel facilities are inspected regularly. How could the chandelier have fallen..."

Pei Sheng sat in his wheelchair, paying no attention to Qi Yan's useless speculation after the fact. He looked at Yan Tingshen, then followed his gaze toward the door.

There was no one outside.

"Tingshen?"

Yan Tingshen looked away.

Meeting his gaze, Qi Yan hurriedly tried to ingratiate himself. "I was busy until midnight last night and only then heard what happened to you. The thing is, your friend did everything so perfectly. He rescued you so quickly that my people didn't have a chance to do anything! If I hadn't been so far away, and if I hadn't been afraid of disturbing your rest, I would have come straight over to beg your forgiveness. Look how early I came this morning!"

Pei Sheng lowered his head as well.

Last night, he had incurred another debt of gratitude to Qin You.

One favor after another—he seemed to owe him more and more, and had no way to repay it all.

"Really!"

Qi Yan continued pleading. "President Yan, Pei Sheng, you both know I'm not like you. You moved away long ago, but Qingning Road is a long way from here!"

Qingning Road.

Hearing that name,

Yan Tingshen glanced at him.

Chapter 16

As soon as Qi Yan said it, he too fell silent. He instinctively looked at Pei Sheng and said, "Uh... I didn't mean to..."

Unlike the Yan Family, who had chosen to leave Qingning Road, the Pei Family had been forced to give up their house there after bankruptcy and liquidation. Pei Sheng's departure had been anything but glorious.

The Pei Family had been neighbors with the Yan Family, and their status had once been much the same. Like Yan Tingshen, Pei Sheng had attracted a great deal of attention and envy from childhood, and leaving home that time had been especially difficult for him.

Over the years, people in their circle had rarely mentioned the past in front of Pei Sheng, unless someone with a loose tongue deliberately wanted to upset him.

Qi Yan rubbed his nose, unable to help feeling a little regretful.

He had spoken too quickly this time and only realized what he had said afterward.

Pei Sheng shook his head. "It's all right."

But the silence that had settled over the room made Qi Yan deeply uncomfortable, and he racked his brains for another topic.

He happened to see Yan Tingshen looking out the window, which finally piqued his curiosity. He looked outside too, but saw nothing except clear, cloudless skies.

"Tingshen, what are you thinking about?"

Yan Tingshen turned back.

The mention of Qingning Road had reminded him of Qin You's words.

I still remember that day clearly. I ended up on Qingning Road, hungry and cold. You took my hand and took me in.

Even though it was unlikely, he had intended to ask whether Qi Yan remembered anything about it.

But since it concerned their old homes, he glanced at Pei Sheng, who had his head lowered beside him, and only said, "Have you found any leads on what I asked you to investigate?"

"..." Qi Yan's scalp tingled every time he heard him use that tone. "...Come on, I'm begging you, give me a break. It's only been a few hours!"

Before Yan Tingshen could speak again, he pretended to admire the hospital room and immediately changed the subject. "So, this is the Qin Household's hospital? I hear this floor is only open to absolute insiders of the Qin Household, and even Qi Hailiang would have trouble getting in. You two must be the only outsiders here. You must have a lot of pull!"

Pei Sheng said, "It's thanks to Tingshen."

Having decided to step back into the public eye, he didn't want to keep dwelling on the past, much less let it affect his friends and bring them down. "I'm benefiting from his connections too."

Qi Yan perked up again. "I also heard that Young Mr. Qin is especially close to Tingshen. When the accident happened, he was frantic and threw himself over to save him. What a deep bond between brothers."

Pei Sheng didn't respond to that.

At the time, he had pushed Yan Tingshen aside and used the momentum to move back himself. Because there was so little time, he had fallen backward and accidentally landed on the wound he had hurt last time, knocking himself unconscious.

Fortunately, there had been no serious consequences. He had woken up on the way to the hospital, and when he opened his eyes and saw Cui Ling, he knew without asking that Qin You had saved him again.

But no one had told him how Qin You had saved Tingshen.

Thrown himself over...

Pei Sheng looked at Yan Tingshen.

No wonder Tingshen had shown no intention of transferring hospitals all night.

Perhaps he had realized himself that a friend like that was truly hard to come by.

Qi Yan was still looking around. "By the way, where's Young Mr. Qin? Is he coming this morning?"

As he spoke, he noticed that Yan Tingshen was fiddling with his phone.

What was going on?

After all these years, he had begun to suspect that Yan Tingshen had ordered every function except calls and file transfers stripped from his phone. Had the sun risen in the west today?

He glanced at Pei Sheng in surprise, only to find no change in his expression, as though he were used to it.

Yan Tingshen was looking at his messages.

Qin: Are you awake? I'm downstairs.

.: Yes.

Qin: How are you feeling today? Am I still allowed in?

.: You don't have to come.

Qin: That won't do.

Qin: Is this a good time?

Qi Yan's curiosity reached its peak. "I—"

He had only said one word

when he heard a familiar order.

"You should get back to work. Get me results as soon as possible."

Qi Yan: "..."

Unbelievable...

When would Yan Tingshen finally understand?

He, the dignified President Qi, was not some errand-running lackey!

Noticing that Yan Tingshen had just put down his phone, Pei Sheng also said, "Tingshen really should get some rest. Let's go."

Qi Yan curled his lip.

Look at Pei Sheng. He knew just what to say and made it so easy to bow out gracefully.

Yan Tingshen's mouth was like a poisoned knife, always stabbing him in the heart. He had never made him feel good even once in his life.

Still, when he remembered that everyone got the same treatment from Yan Tingshen, he felt a strange sense of balance.

After leaving the room with Pei Sheng, he was still asking, "How exactly did Young Mr. Qin meet Tingshen?"

Pei Sheng said, "I don't know the details, but the first time I met Young Mr. Qin was after he saved my life when I was in a car accident."

As for Qin You and Tingshen, they must have known each other well before then. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so familiar with each other when they met the next day. Tingshen couldn't possibly have agreed to stay at Qin You's home either.

Qi Yan was startled. "You mean he's saved you more than once?"

At the mention of it, Pei Sheng felt a little ashamed. "Actually, this is the third time."

And he had never been of any help to Qin You.

Qi Yan rubbed his chin, his curiosity about Young Mr. Qin growing even stronger. "He saves you along with Tingshen every time. From the looks of it, he must have a nice personality and be easy to get along with, right?"

Easy to get along with?

Pei Sheng's expression was complicated. He was about to speak when he saw Qin You emerge from around the corner.

Qi Yan soon looked over as well.

The man facing them had traded his immaculate suit for something less formal today: a relatively simple long trench coat.

The coat was unbuttoned, an ordinary black trench coat; underneath, he wore no tie, just an equally ordinary black shirt.

Yet the ordinary outfit did nothing to conceal his tall, straight figure. Instead, its very simplicity made him look even more carefree.

He watched Qin You walk toward them, broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted. The hem of his ankle-length coat moved with his long, straight legs, billowing behind him without any wind, giving him a commanding presence.