Qi Si in His Memories

"What is your relationship with this friend of yours?" Bo Yanqi asked.

Bo Fuyu stammered, unable to give a definite answer.

Bo Yanqi picked up the wine beside him and took a sip.

"Uncle..."

"Fuyu, I'm a businessman. I never make deals that lose money. You can bring someone in, but what role they get depends on their own ability. Whatever value they can create determines where they belong."

Bo Fuyu looked at his uncle, the courage he had just worked up already beginning to deflate.

"Uncle, just give her a chance. She's really outstanding!"

"That makes things even easier. After The Wind Rises, there will be open auditions. Since your friend is so outstanding, I'm sure she can pass the audition."

"Uh..."

Bo Yanqi raised a brow. "What? She can't even pass an audition? That doesn't sound like the outstanding person you described."

"Of course not! She'll definitely pass the audition!" Bo Fuyu immediately said.

"Then isn't there a problem? Have your friend audition and earn the role with her own ability. Wouldn't that be more convincing?" Bo Yanqi smiled at Bo Fuyu, his gaze sincere.

Bo Fuyu knew his uncle was rejecting his request.

But even if he knew, he could not say anything, because there was nothing wrong with what Bo Yanqi had said.

Besides, Bo Fuyu did not dare keep pestering Bo Yanqi. If he truly angered him, it would do Bo Fuyu no good at all.

"Uncle is right."

No matter how unwilling Bo Fuyu was, he could only swallow it and think about how he was supposed to coax her once he got back.

"I was very satisfied with today's hairy crabs. Thank you for the hospitality."

"You're too polite, Uncle. If you liked them, I'll invite you here again next time."

Bo Yanqi merely smiled without saying anything.

Both uncle and nephew knew it was nothing more than polite small talk.

Bo Yanqi had little affection for Bo Fuyu, or for the entire Bo Household. More than anything, they merely maintained a surface-level harmony.

Qi Si returned to his seat and found a neatly arranged plateful of crab meat in front of him.

Qi Si paused and looked at Qi Wang across from him.

"Why are you looking at me? Eat. Didn't you say you wanted some?" Qi Wang looked as though it were only natural.

Qi Si was a little moved. "Brother, you're way too good to me! Your future wife will be so lucky!"

"Even food can't shut your mouth." Qi Wang laughed as he scolded him.

Qi Si ate to his heart's content.

Seeing how satisfied his younger brother looked also made Qi Wang happy.

"Brother, can we have meals like this more often in the future?"

After paying the bill and preparing to head home, Qi Si patted his belly and looked at Qi Wang with lingering reluctance.

Qi Wang indulgently said, "If you behave, you can have anything."

Qi Si smiled.

"I'll behave! I'm the best-behaved!"

Qi Wang shot him a sidelong glance, obvious disbelief in his eyes.

Qi Si thought of everything the original owner had done before and shut his mouth.

Going by the original owner's past behavior, his words truly carried little credibility with Qi Wang.

But it was not a big problem. In the future, he would prove to Qi Wang through his actions that he had truly turned over a new leaf and that he really would behave!

The two brothers chatted as they walked out of the restaurant. After they disappeared from sight, another tall figure emerged from behind a potted plant near the entrance.

Bo Yanqi looked toward the elevators, deep in thought.

When Bo Fuyu walked up beside him, he asked, "Is the Qi Household's young master very well-behaved?"

Bo Fuyu froze, thinking he had misheard.

"Huh? Who's well-behaved? Qi Si?"

"Mm."

"How could Qi Si possibly be well-behaved? He's a real troublemaker."

Hearing that, Bo Yanqi raised a brow and asked, "Very rebellious?"

"I'm not sure whether he's rebellious, but he definitely has several dozen pounds of defiance in his bones," Bo Fuyu replied.

In any case, his impression of Qi Si was not particularly good, but it was not particularly bad either.

It could only be said that, so far, the conflict between him and Qi Si had not run too deep. He could tolerate it by turning a blind eye.

Still, Bo Fuyu had heard about Qi Si's past exploits. Qi Si had every flaw a spoiled rich kid could have.

"So full of personality?"

Bo Fuyu thought his uncle's description was truly rather mild.

"But I remember Qi Si's temper wasn't this bad when he was in school." There was some confusion in Bo Fuyu's voice.

"You were classmates?" Bo Yanqi asked in surprise.

"We were classmates for three years in high school, but I wasn't close with Qi Si. His health seemed pretty poor back then. He often took leave and was hardly ever at school."

Ordinarily, Bo Fuyu would never remember a student like that. Not just anyone could occupy a place in his memory.

One reason he remembered Qi Si was his identity.

The Qi Household's young master. The Qi Household and the Bo Household had always done business together, so naturally he paid some attention to the son of a business partner.

Another reason was that Qi Si was simply too beautiful.

Not the handsome kind of beautiful.

When Qi Si was in high school, his features were especially androgynous, and people often mistook him for a girl.

Bo Fuyu had mistaken him for one before.

Bo Fuyu felt that the reason he was more tolerant of Qi Si than most people now was largely because Qi Si had left too deep an impression on him when they first met.

The first time he saw Qi Si was on the first day of their first year of high school. Qi Si had truly been frail and sickly then, standing among the crowd so pale he seemed to glow.

It was a pale, sickly white.

Qi Si's hair had been somewhat long at the time. Together with his androgynous looks, it was not only Bo Fuyu who mistook him for a girl.

Even the teachers had gotten it wrong at first.

It was only during roll call that they learned he was the Qi Household's young master, and that he was a boy.

Bo Fuyu had even felt a little disappointed then, thinking, Why isn't he a girl?

However, Qi Si had not been able to stay until the end of the opening ceremony that day. He took leave and departed early during the second half.

He did not come to school the next day either.

It was not until a week later that Bo Fuyu saw Qi Si at school again.

Qi Si's complexion still did not look good. He appeared sickly and listless.

After that, he frequently took leave. Altogether, over an entire semester, the number of days Bo Fuyu saw Qi Si at school did not exceed thirty.

Yet what was infuriating was that even with such severe absences, Qi Si's final exam scores still left most of the school far behind.

Bo Fuyu had not liked studying much before. Relying on his family's wealth, he believed that even if he did not study, he would never have to worry about going hungry in the future.

Later, after the first semester ended, Bo Fuyu saw Qi Si's grades and suffered a huge blow.

He attended school every day and listened carefully in class, yet he had actually scored worse than someone who took leave every other day?

Deeply provoked, Bo Fuyu began studying diligently in the days that followed. Everyone in the Bo Household was astonished, thinking he had finally grown up.

In truth, it was not that Bo Fuyu had become mature and sensible. His pride had simply been wounded, and he wanted to compete with Qi Si.

Even now, the elders of the Bo Household did not know why Bo Fuyu had suddenly started loving to study back then.

Unless something unexpected happened, Bo Fuyu would not tell them the real reason either.

After listening to Bo Fuyu, Bo Yanqi found the name Qi Si leaving a deeper mark in his mind.