"What did you see?"
Bai Le had never seen him smile like that before, and for some reason, he felt a little scared.
Author's note: Fourth Master's ability to express his feelings when he falls for someone is scarwy. P.S. I'm working hard to build up a stockpile of 6,000-character daily updates for after the novel goes VIP~ Once the two of them discover the baby, it'll be a sweet married life~ Thanks to the little angels who gave me Overlord tickets or irrigated me with nutrient solution between 2020-02-15 21:37:03 and 2020-02-16 23:48:12~
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated me with nutrient solution: Cha Juan Weiliang, 5 bottles;
Thank you all so much for your support. I'll keep working hard!
Chapter 16
Bai Le was in a panic. He hadn't expected the owner to catch him sneaking a look inside his room, and for a moment he didn't know what to do.
He could only stammer out a denial. "I didn't see anything."
The moment the words left his mouth, he knew he was in trouble. Xi Yan could tell he was lying, and sure enough, when Bai Le glanced over, he saw Xi Yan staring at him expressionlessly.
"All right... I saw it." Bai Le's voice grew quieter and quieter. "It was just the birthday present I bought you. What's there to be embarrassed about?"
It seemed that although Xi Yan appeared moody and ill-tempered, he was still starved for love. He even treasured a birthday present someone had casually given him.
But he really was too awkward. What was wrong with letting Bai Le see it? Was this what they called lashing out in embarrassment?
Xi Yan's expression softened slightly, though his lips remained pressed tight. "Come downstairs with me," he said coldly.
Bai Le was taken aback. His gaze fell on Xi Yan's wheelchair, and he wondered how he was going to get down the stairs, but he obediently followed him anyway.
When Bai Le saw the elevator in front of him, he clicked his tongue in admiration. As expected of the Xi Family.
In the elevator, Bai Le was still puzzled. He glanced at Xi Yan, pretending it was an idle look. How had he brought the fish back? Weren't they forbidden on planes?
Xi Yan noticed his gaze. "If you have something to say, say it," he said unhurriedly.
Bai Le cautiously voiced his question. Xi Yan showed no particular reaction after hearing it.
Bai Le paused, then figured it out without waiting for him to answer. "Don't tell me you took a private plane."
When Xi Yan didn't deny it, Bai Le felt envious. They were both rich second-generation heirs, so why was there such a huge difference between them? Maybe this was the difference between having real power and having none.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Xi Defeng was talking to Old Master Xi.
"I thought your birthday celebration would be held at the Xi Family's main house. I didn't expect it to be held here at Little Fourth's." Xi Defeng chuckled as he spoke, seemingly in passing.
Old Master Xi gave him a cold glance. "They'd make a complete mess of the house I live in. Besides, what if a guest ruins my flowers? Would you compensate me?"
Seeing that Xi Defeng fell silent in embarrassment, Old Master Xi snorted and looked away, bringing up the matter at hand. "I still prefer that Bai family girl. She doesn't seem to have so many schemes, and she's quite suited to Xi Yan. The Xie Family girl is calculating. She and Xi Yan wouldn't work together."
Xi Defeng's eyes flickered. "That may be, but isn't she a little too young?"
Old Master Xi took a few steps with his cane. "What of it? Your mother married me when she was eighteen."
After saying that, he seemed to remember something. "By the way, where's Xi Yan?"
Xi Defeng looked around and finally saw Bai Le come out, pushing Xi Yan of his own accord.
Old Master Xi narrowed his eyes. "I remember he's a Bai family child too, isn't he?"
"Yes, Bai Huizhang's eldest son. He's twenty-two this year."
"It seems he's close to the Bai family too."
Xi Defeng murmured his agreement and lowered his head slightly, hiding the glint in his eyes. It seemed there was no way to get the old master on his side, so he could only hope Xie Qizhi would prove capable.
When he had arranged for Ye Feifei to approach Xi Yan, he had given careful thought to his choice of candidate.
She was beautiful enough and smart enough, with a little ambition but a need to rely on others. Someone like her was the most likely to succeed and the best person to succeed. Xie Qizhi was only a smokescreen for her at present. After all, when faced with a marriage partner forced on him by his elders, the true love he "happened" to encounter himself would be more likely to make him lose his head. He just hadn't expected Xi Yan to be so wary, to learn that Ye Feifei was his person, and even to have her warn him.
Now that things had come to this, Xie Qizhi, a useless piece on the board, had become useful too. He had originally thought Old Master Xi favored her as well, so even if Xi Yan was wary of her because she came from the Xie Family, if she could further win Old Master Xi's favor, it wouldn't be impossible for her to marry Xi Yan.
Bai Le pushed Xi Yan to his destination and was about to turn and leave when Wu Hua suddenly came over and hooked an arm around his neck, a plate of desserts in his hand.
"Where did you run off to, Lele? I found your favorite desserts for you."
Bai Le glanced at them. The brightly colored desserts did nothing to whet his appetite; instead, they looked cloying. But when Wu Hua said he liked them, he was afraid of giving himself away, so he picked one up and tried it.
After only a few bites, however, he began to retch. Wu Hua hurriedly handed him some water.
"What's wrong? Does it taste bad?"
He remembered that Bai Le had been delicate since childhood. In the past, if a meal wasn't to his taste, he would rather go hungry than eat another bite.
Bai Le's little face was deathly pale. "It tastes awful..." he said weakly.
Xi Yan frowned, his fingers interlaced on his lap, and stared at Bai Le without speaking.
Seeing how pale he looked, Wu Hua asked with concern, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Bai Le nodded. He didn't know what was wrong with him either.
Wu Hua was a little worried and suggested he go home first. Bai Le didn't refuse.
"Then make sure to tell my dad I wasn't feeling well and went home first."
"No problem. Leave it to me."
After Bai Le got home, he headed straight to his room and lay down on the bed. He didn't feel as ill as before, and the nausea didn't return. He was just terribly sleepy.
He yawned and browsed Weibo on his phone for a while. Looking through the trending searches, he saw plenty of news about his company's artists. The highest-ranked item was about that talent show. The final episode's rankings were out, and sure enough, the male trainee from his company whom he had high hopes for had secured one of the five spots in the boy group.