Can't Live Without Me

Shi Junyi sat up and looked at Jiang Qiao.

The lights were off in the room. Jiang Qiao dressed unhurriedly, but the way he buttoned his shirt and the sudden drop in the atmospheric pressure around him made his displeasure obvious.

"Throwing another tantrum?" Shi Junyi frowned.

This was already the second time Jiang Qiao had given him attitude. Forget the other subordinates and bodyguards of the Shi family—even across the entire Binhai Special Zone, there probably weren't many who dared lose their temper at Shi Junyi.

Once dressed, Jiang Qiao smiled at Shi Junyi. "How would I dare?"

Shi Junyi stepped forward and grabbed Jiang Qiao by the collar. "Looks to me like you dare plenty."

Jiang Qiao took hold of Shi Junyi's hand and gently pried it away. "Brother, stop it. I'm not in the mood. I don't want to fight with you."

Shi Junyi laughed angrily. "Who's the one making a scene?"

Jiang Qiao did not argue with him. "Me. Let go. I'm going back to rest."

Shi Junyi released him, but before his fingertips had even left Jiang Qiao's hand, Jiang Qiao said, "If you leave, don't come back."

I was ready to throw my life away for you, and you can't even give me one fucking explanation.

Shi Junyi had never given Jiang Qiao any response in the first place, and Jiang Qiao had already prepared himself for a long pursuit.

No matter how terrible Shi Junyi's temper was, how sarcastic he became, how unpredictable his moods were, or how often he pointed a gun at him, Jiang Qiao would not get angry. He would only try his best to coax him.

He was a man, after all. If he could not put up with this much from the person he liked, what was the point of calling it love?

But the premise was that Shi Junyi could not get involved with someone else.

Besides, today had been special. Jiang Qiao had just escaped death, not come here to be upset.

He glanced at Shi Junyi, said nothing, walked straight to the window, opened it, and jumped down.

Leaving Shi Junyi standing there alone.

Jiang Qiao went back to the dormitory with a bellyful of anger, changed clothes, burrowed beneath the covers, and fell asleep immediately.

It was not until nearly noon the next day that a knock at the door woke him.

He had spent the entire night having one messy dream after another. With hair like a bird's nest, he opened the door impatiently and glared at the visitor with a dark expression.

Chen Sheng jumped. "Are you all right?"

"Talk," Jiang Qiao said harshly.

Chen Sheng said, "Uh, I'm here to pass along a message."

"What message?" Jiang Qiao asked.

"The young master said that nothing happened between him and Yan Wei last night," Chen Sheng said.

He himself was utterly confused. When Shi Junyi got up that morning, that had been the first thing he said.

Before Chen Sheng could figure out why Shi Junyi had suddenly explained that to him, Shi Junyi added, "Go tell Jiang Qiao."

Jiang Qiao raised a brow. "He sent you to tell me that?"

Chen Sheng nodded. "Yeah. You don't understand it either, do you? It's so strange. Why would he tell the two of us about his private life?"

The anger Jiang Qiao had bottled up all night vanished in an instant.

That bastard had rushed to send someone over first thing in the morning to explain himself. No way he did not feel anything for me.

"What else did he say?" Jiang Qiao asked Chen Sheng.

Chen Sheng looked at Jiang Qiao, his expression slightly awkward. "He told you to go to the second basement level at three this afternoon."

"For what?" Jiang Qiao knew the Shi family residence had three floors above ground and three below, but he had not visited them in the past few days.

"To get measured for clothes, choose a gun, and attend training," Chen Sheng said.

"Didn't you go to the young lady's side? Didn't the young master reject you? Why are you back again?" he could not help asking.

Jiang Qiao winked at him, grabbed Chen Sheng by the tie, leaned close to his ear, and drew out his words in an exceptionally sickening tone. "Of course it's because... he needs me. He can't live without me."

Chen Sheng was straight. The warm breath Jiang Qiao exhaled against his ear gave him goosebumps all over.

He quickly put distance between himself and Jiang Qiao and gave up asking further questions. "Don't forget. Sang Ye will be waiting upstairs when the time comes. I need to accompany the young master to a meeting at the company, so I'm leaving first."

Jiang Qiao deliberately disgusted him further and blew him a kiss. "Go on, baby. Stay safe."

Chen Sheng stumbled, then fled in panic.

Jiang Qiao was left standing at the dormitory door, laughing for five straight minutes.

When Shen Guiyi came out of her room with disheveled hair and dark circles under her eyes, she saw a neatly arranged breakfast on the table and Jiang Qiao sitting ramrod straight on the sofa, seriously reading the latest issue of a gay men's magazine.

"You're in a good mood. Looking at porn magazines this early?" she said with a yawn.

Jiang Qiao pointed at the wall clock, whose hands sat between two and three. "It's not that early."

Shen Guiyi pushed aside the soy milk on the table, took alcohol from the safe, and poured herself a glass.

"You're drinking right after waking up?" Jiang Qiao asked.

"To wake myself up. Shi Jiao called first thing this morning. I never disturb her when she's sleeping, but the second she opens her eyes, it's 'Guiyi, Guiyi,' nonstop." Shen Guiyi complained.

Jiang Qiao consoled her, "She's probably afraid you'll suddenly die."

Shen Guiyi smoked, drank, gambled, and raced cars. She had more bad habits than one could count on both hands, and her schedule was a complete mess. It was hardly strange for Shi Jiao to worry.

"My life's tough. Even if she dies, I won't," Shen Guiyi said, lighting another cigarette.

Jiang Qiao closed the magazine, which had not offered much worth looking at, and casually tossed it onto the coffee table. "I'm leaving."

Shen Guiyi waved him off without asking where he was going.

Before heading to the third basement level, Jiang Qiao first used the heavily monitored landline to call Jiang Zhenhai.

"Hello."

"You little bastard, you've been gone for a week and didn't even know to make one call! I thought you were dead. I almost decided to adopt another son!"

The moment Jiang Qiao spoke, Jiang Zhenhai's roar came through from the other end.

"Stop pretending. How could you not know I'm at the Shi family's place?" Jiang Qiao said.

Jiang Zhenhai snorted. "How is it? Being a Shi family bodyguard isn't an easy job. You should come back and inherit the family fortune sooner rather than later."

"It's great. I don't have the energy to worry about your family fortune. You should hurry up and have another child," Jiang Qiao said.

"You unfilial brat! I'm sixty this year!" Jiang Zhenhai shouted.

Jiang Qiao held the phone away from his ear and rubbed it. "You're still strong and vigorous in your old age. Having another ten or eight kids would be no problem. Stop worrying about me, all right? Be good."

Jiang Zhenhai laughed angrily. "How did I raise such a worthless thing?"

"All right, Dad, I'm done talking nonsense with you. The Shi family's phone is monitored. If people hear you scolding me like this, it'll damage my image," Jiang Qiao said seriously.

Knowing Jiang Qiao was safe, Jiang Zhenhai finally relaxed and reminded him, "Remember to call home when you have time!"

"Got it." Jiang Qiao hung up after speaking.

The layout and size of the Shi family's second basement level far exceeded Jiang Qiao's expectations.

He had originally thought the dormitory area on the third basement level was so quiet because the Shi family did not have many bodyguards, servants, or other staff, and because his recent schedule differed from everyone else's.

Who would have thought that the moment he arrived at the second basement level, his entire understanding would be overturned.