Troubled and Restless

Sunlight streamed through the glass into the room, making the roses on the little table look especially delicate and vibrant.

There were no withered leaves or drooping petals. Clearly, someone had been replacing them regularly.

Shi Junyi pulled the curtains he had just opened halfway shut again, no more and no less, perfectly blocking the bouquet of roses from view.

After taking two steps away, he turned back and yanked the curtains fully open.

Some things could not be hidden.

He had to keep looking at them to remind himself to stay clear-headed.

Ever since Shi Junyi had transferred Fu Zhilan to work on the second floor, Fu Zhilan had become quite idle.

Every day, aside from cleaning during work hours and handling a few miscellaneous tasks whenever Shi Junyi needed him, he listened to Xiao Duo talk about the trivial ups and downs of her family life.

Xiao Duo was the auntie who had previously been in charge of cleaning Shi Junyi's bedroom.

After finishing the cleaning in the outer room today, Fu Zhilan had remained seated on a barstool, waiting.

Because Shi Junyi had not gotten up yet, neither he nor Chen Sheng, who had switched to the morning shift to stand guard in the outer room, dared speak loudly. They could only converse in hushed voices.

"Brother Chen Sheng, do you know if the young master has a boyfriend?"

Chen Sheng looked puzzled. "A boyfriend?!"

Fu Zhilan nodded.

Chen Sheng answered decisively, "No. He only has a girlfriend."

Fu Zhilan froze. "A girlfriend?!"

Chen Sheng nodded. "His fiancée."

Fu Zhilan fell into thought. Could his gaydar have malfunctioned? He had always felt that Shi Junyi was not all that straight.

And those piles of tissues from before—although Jiang Qiao had said that Shi Junyi might simply have had a high demand, Fu Zhilan still felt that something was off.

He asked, "Has his fiancée ever stayed here?"

Chen Sheng shook his head. "No."

Everyone knew that, so there was nothing that could not be said.

Fu Zhilan's eyes shifted. "Then aside from his fiancée, has anyone else ever stayed here?"

The first person Chen Sheng thought of was himself. He had previously been forced to shower in Shi Junyi's bedroom and had nearly ended up in Shi Junyi's bed.

He shuddered, hurriedly stopped letting his thoughts run wild, shook his head, and then thought of Yan Wei.

But Yan Wei had not stayed over either. He had only come by briefly before leaving.

Still, Chen Sheng had no intention of telling Fu Zhilan any of that. This was Shi Junyi's privacy. If Shi Junyi found out he had a loose mouth, Chen Sheng feared he would not have much life left.

So he gave a light cough and said, "I don't know."

Out of consideration for the friendship they had built by eating, drinking, and breaking rules together, he even reminded Fu Zhilan, "Don't ask about everything."

Fu Zhilan stuck out his tongue, thinking, Just as I thought. For this kind of thing, I still have to rely on Jiang Qiao. Everyone else keeps their mouths shut tight.

He no longer tried to pry information out of Chen Sheng and simply waited quietly.

Only when he faintly heard movement in the bedroom did Fu Zhilan use the coffee machine in the outer room to make a cup of coffee, without sugar or milk, along with a small plate of cookies he had baked himself.

The moment Shi Junyi opened the door and came out, Fu Zhilan immediately carried everything to the dining table. "Good morning, Young Master."

"Young Master." Chen Sheng stood up.

Shi Junyi gave a hum. "Do you have something to report?"

After returning yesterday, he had spent all his time wrapping up arrangements for the recent work and dealing with Jiang Qiao.

He had not had the chance to ask about anything else.

Chen Sheng glanced at Fu Zhilan, who hurriedly said, "I'll go clean!"

With that, he gathered his cleaning supplies, slipped into the inner bedroom, and gently closed the door.

Chen Sheng then opened the small notebook he carried with him and reported everything that had happened from the morning Shi Junyi left until he returned yesterday afternoon.

He focused on the matter involving Jiang Qiao and the white instructor, as well as what had happened during the group dinner.

"Young Master, I don't think Jiang Qiao is much of a problem," Chen Sheng said. He had kept an eye on Jiang Qiao ever since Jiang Qiao entered the Shi family, and nothing Jiang Qiao had done seemed suspicious. The people Jiang Qiao had interacted with were also very straightforward.

His personality was fairly direct as well. His likes and dislikes were written all over his face, and he did not seem like someone with deep schemes.

Shi Junyi took a sip of coffee. "I know."

Chen Sheng asked, "Then should we keep watching him?"

Shi Junyi turned to look out the window, seemingly lost in thought. Only after a long while did he softly say, "No need. Arrange his work normally."

Shi Junyi had returned, but Jiang Qiao's mood did not improve because of it.

He was not someone who knew how to be content.

He wanted to win in the ring, and he was unwilling to lose in love as well.

Either he wanted nothing at all, or, once he wanted something, it had to be all of it.

He and Shi Junyi had clearly made considerable progress, yet because of a single earring, he had suddenly fallen into a vicious cycle. He could neither move forward nor retreat, and it left him restless and irritated.

If Shi Junyi had even the slightest feelings for his fiancée, he would never have developed this kind of relationship with Jiang Qiao. That was not what Jiang Qiao was worried about.

But they were bound together by mutual interests.

That was an unbreakable barrier.

In the face of such enormous interests, Jiang Qiao could not tell how important he needed to become in Shi Junyi's heart before Shi Junyi would be willing to offend the largest arms manufacturer in Country Y, abandon that damned fiancée of his, and choose to be with him.

It was easy enough to steal someone's lover, but far harder to undermine someone's interests. It was not something he could solve with petty schemes and little tricks.

It gave him an intense sense of frustration, leaving his whole body listless.

And in his heart, he cursed the original author bloody.

What kind of bullshit was this? Nothing was explained clearly.

According to the original novel, Shi Junyi had not even liked Fu Zhilan all that much, had he?

Judging by Shi Junyi's current attitude, how exactly had Fu Zhilan become the final winner?

Could it be that he had gotten hold of some leverage over the Duan family and made Duan Xu call off the engagement herself?

Or had he acknowledged the old master of the Duan family as his godfather and married Shi Junyi in Duan Xu's place?

Fuck, why is it so damn hard when it comes to me?

He genuinely liked Shi Junyi, and he was getting more and more obsessed. He could not let go, yet he was unwilling to keep things this ambiguous forever.

It could not be that after Shi Junyi got married, Jiang Qiao would still have to be his lover, could it?

That would be fucking ridiculous.

And once they became a proper married couple, would they have to fulfill their marital duties?

What would happen to him then? Would he stand watch for the two of them? Would he need to bring them hot water in the middle of the night?

Once they had a child, would he have to make formula and change diapers? When the child got older, would he have to take the kid to school too?

How would that make him any different from the original Jiang Qiao, that ten-year cerebral thrombosis patient?

Fuck that.

If Shi Junyi dared get married, Jiang Qiao would blow up the whole wedding venue, and they could all meet underground.

Troubled and restless, Jiang Qiao decided to give himself a day off.

He lay in his room all morning. At noon, he had a servant bring his meal to his room. After finishing his steak and pasta, he piled the vegetables onto Shen Guiyi's plate.

That afternoon, he went alone to see Alice. Perhaps because she had been raised in captivity since she was young, Alice seemed very docile and was extremely friendly toward Jiang Qiao.

She allowed Jiang Qiao to stroke her head, then pushed the little lion cub, which had already learned to walk, in front of Jiang Qiao and had him watch the child for a while.

That improved Jiang Qiao's mood considerably. He took the two lion cubs and played wildly with them on the lawn for quite some time.

He even ran into someone he had wanted to meet but had never encountered.