Pushing His Luck

"What are you doing?! I'm Young Master's man!" the man cried in terror.

Jiang Qiao's peach-blossom eyes curved into a beautiful arc. He curled his lip and exaggeratedly mimicked the man's tone. "Young Master~ Young Master~ Look, he's hitting me! Come save me!"

After saying that, he burst into laughter by himself. A moment later, his expression abruptly changed as he said in a low voice, "That shit won't work on me. Hand over the money and get lost. Keep yapping, and I'll feed you to the fish right now."

As if it understood, the bull shark in the fish tank below viciously rammed its head against the tempered glass beneath their feet.

There were no surveillance cameras in this living room of the Shi family, and nobody knew how many people that bull shark had eaten.

The man jumped in fright. "Let go, let go! I'll give it to you, okay?!"

He hurriedly pulled a stack of bills from his clothes and stuffed it into Jiang Qiao's hand, saying resentfully, "Young Master said to save any good stuff for him in the future."

Only then did Jiang Qiao release him, smiling sweetly. "Sure, no problem."

After watching Jiang Qiao leave, the man did not immediately deliver the item to Shi Youxi. Instead, he took the stairs to the second floor and stopped outside Shi Junyi's door.

"Got it?" Chen Sheng asked.

The man nodded.

Chen Sheng called Shi Junyi. "Young Master, A Jin is here."

"Let him in."

Chen Sheng opened the door and nodded at A Jin.

A Jin entered the room, set the cardboard box on the coffee table, and said to Shi Junyi, who was seated on the sofa, "Young Master, this is what Jiang Qiao gave them."

Shi Junyi set down his coffee. "Did you open it?"

A Jin shook his head. "No."

The cardboard box was not sealed. It only had an ill-fitting lid loosely placed over it.

Shi Junyi removed the lid and took out the items inside.

There were seven books in total.

"How much did Shi Youxi give Jiang Qiao?" Shi Junyi flipped through the books in his hands, his expression somewhat strange.

"Twenty thousand," A Jin said. Standing at a distance, A Jin could not make out the titles on the books.

That afternoon, Chen Sheng had sent A Jin a message telling A Jin to keep an eye on Shi Youxi's movements.

When Shi Youxi mysteriously sent someone to Jiang Qiao that evening to retrieve something, A Jin had volunteered for the job.

"Is there a problem?" A Jin frowned.

Shi Junyi flipped through every book from beginning to end. There was nothing tucked inside, nor were there any markings.

He chuckled, shook his head, and tossed the books onto the coffee table. "No. Take them back and report in."

With that, he stood and turned into the inner bedroom.

Only then did A Jin step closer curiously and pick up the books for a look.

The titles of the books were as follows--------------------------------------

Late at night.

When Jiang Qiao climbed through the window into Shi Junyi's bedroom again, Shi Junyi had just showered and was sitting by the bed with damp hair, reading.

The second time around, Jiang Qiao was familiar with the routine. The moment Shi Junyi heard the sound, he knew Jiang Qiao had come again. He merely glanced up at him before lowering his head and continuing to read.

Jiang Qiao held a small bunch of bright, delicate red roses, with a few drops of dew still rolling over the petals.

He placed the roses by Shi Junyi's bedside. The moment his butt touched the edge of the bed, Shi Junyi stopped him.

"Pants."

Jiang Qiao lowered his head and looked at his pants. "I just changed."

Shi Junyi could not accept clothes that had been worn outside touching his clean, neatly made bedsheets.

He looked at Jiang Qiao without saying anything.

Jiang Qiao moved closer to inspect the cover of the English book in Shi Junyi's hand.

"What's this?" Jiang Qiao asked.

He still had not even learned to recognize the writing of Country Y.

"The Unbearable Lightness of Being," Shi Junyi said.

His pronunciation was impeccable, no different from an announcer on an English broadcast, except his voice was more natural and gentle.

It was much softer than his usual way of speaking.

Jiang Qiao did not understand. After two seconds of silence, he asked again, "What's it about?"

"A love triangle where they keep cheating on each other," Shi Junyi said flatly.

"That exciting? Why read such an immoral story?" Jiang Qiao had not expected someone like Shi Junyi to read this sort of literary work in his spare time to cultivate his sensibilities.

"That's why it's a tragedy." Shi Junyi set the book down and looked at Jiang Qiao.

Jiang Qiao turned sideways and looked at the little bookshelf beside Shi Junyi's bed, where there were many more books whose words he could not recognize at all. "Are all of these tragedies?"

Shi Junyi was unusually patient tonight. "Yes."

"You like tragedies? Don't they make you feel depressed?" Jiang Qiao asked. After all, Shi Junyi did not look the least bit sentimental.

Jiang Qiao himself did not like tragedies. He had watched the movie Gone with the Wind before, probably because his literary appreciation was not particularly high.

To be honest, he had not really understood it.

"No. I can't relate to profound love. Only tragedies can give me emotional satisfaction," Shi Junyi said.

In the original novel, Shi Junyi really was that kind of person.

It was not exactly an emotional deficiency, but he was indeed overly indifferent to everything. Even regarding his eventual relationship with Fu Zhilan, Jiang Qiao felt that something was lacking.

Looking into Shi Junyi's eyes, Jiang Qiao keenly felt that the road ahead was long and difficult.

He gave an oh and suddenly changed the subject. "Sleeping with wet hair will give you a headache. Let me dry your hair, Brother."

Shi Junyi did not refuse. "The hair dryer is in the bathroom cabinet."

Jiang Qiao got off the bed on his bare legs, fetched the hair dryer, and returned. Kneeling beside Shi Junyi, he gently let Shi Junyi's hair slide through his fingers.

Looking at Shi Junyi's profile in the dim light, he felt that the distance between them did not seem so far after all.

"Jiang Qiao, what are you looking at?"

Over the hum of the hair dryer, Jiang Qiao heard Shi Junyi asking him.

Jiang Qiao turned off the hair dryer. Without blinking, his eyes settled on Shi Junyi's beautifully shaped thin lips as he softly said, "Brother's hair is so soft. It's nothing like you."

Shi Junyi turned his head toward Jiang Qiao. "Come here."

Jiang Qiao lowered his head and leaned closer.

Shi Junyi raised a hand, pinched Jiang Qiao's chin, and lightly kissed the corner of his mouth.

It was over as soon as it began.

"Good little dog deserves a reward today," he said.

Jiang Qiao stared wide-eyed at the small mole at the corner of Shi Junyi's eye. His pupils contracted slightly, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

But just as he was about to do something more,

Shi Junyi kicked him off the bed.

"Pushing your luck," Shi Junyi said.