Close Yet Distant

Chen Sheng's scalp prickled. He raised both hands. "Young Master, Young Master, Young Master! I've followed you for eleven years! I've never said a single thing I shouldn't have!"

Shi Junyi looked at Chen Sheng. "I know. The magazine is in your hands. What are you afraid of?"

Chen Sheng tremblingly returned the magazine to Shi Junyi to show his obedience, then swore to heaven, "I'll keep it absolutely confidential."

Shi Junyi lowered the gun, reloaded the magazine, and said nothing.

Right now, secrecy was not even the main issue.

Back at Xie Xun's place, Jiang Qiao had already appeared in public as his boyfriend.

Though he had agreed to it in a moment of lust, Shi Junyi did not particularly care about what people outside might say.

Even if the Duan family found out, he did not care. The Duan family would not easily give up their marriage alliance with the Shi family just because he was keeping a man.

As long as no one knew that he and Jiang Qiao were actually involved, if Old Master Shi asked, he could simply say it was a cover.

For dealing with certain occasions where it was inconvenient to bring bodyguards.

Even if Old Master Shi truly found out that he and Jiang Qiao had something going on, at most he would scold him and tell him not to fool around or let it interfere with important matters.

Annoying as that would be, it was not impossible to deal with.

What truly troubled Shi Junyi was that he had realized he was actually starting to care about Jiang Qiao.

Especially last night, when he sensed the despondency in Jiang Qiao's emotions, his first reaction had not been to blame him for being greedy and never satisfied.

It had been to comfort him.

That was terrifying.

An uncontrollable factor like this could affect many established goals and cause him a great deal of trouble.

Su Min had been secretly gathering power behind the scenes, even wanting his life. She had deeply entrenched connections within the Shi family's corporation, making it difficult for Shi Junyi to intervene.

Old Master Shi was advanced in years and not in good health. Once he passed away, Su Min would inevitably wage a war without smoke against Shi Junyi and his sister.

Joining forces with the Duan family was the way out Shi Xiao'an had prepared for Shi Junyi and his sister, and undoubtedly Shi Junyi's best choice at present.

And Jiang Qiao would make things difficult for him.

Jiang Qiao did not talk much with Zhao Xu. It was not time yet.

From just a few of Zhao Xu's words, he could tell that Zhao Xu definitely held many secrets concerning Su Min, perhaps even leverage against her.

But Zhao Xu would not trust him now, much less help him. He still needed to wait for another opportunity to completely turn Zhao Xu to his side.

He said goodbye to Zhao Xu and went to the seaside alone. He wandered aimlessly for a while, then found a rock to sit on and watched hermit crabs roll balls of sand along the beach.

The hermit crabs worked tirelessly. The waves washed away the tiny sand balls again and again, and they rolled them out anew again and again.

The sea breeze was gentle, and the sunlight warm.

As Jiang Qiao watched, the gloom he had suppressed all day suddenly cleared away.

How embarrassing. I'm a grown man, yet I don't even have the determination of those tiny little crabs.

It was not as if he had received no response at all.

Why was he sitting here moping over nothing?

Shi Junyi had clearly already developed feelings for him. As long as he kept at it, if that little slut Fu Zhilan could pull it off in the end, could Jiang Qiao really fail?

At worst, he could change tactics.

Shi Junyi's current behavior made it seem like he intended to hide, perhaps even give him the cold shoulder.

Clinging to him relentlessly definitely would not work, then.

The tighter Jiang Qiao clung, the more guarded Shi Junyi would become. Not only would they both be exhausted, it could also wear away at their feelings for each other.

Since Shi Junyi wanted to hide, Jiang Qiao would go along with him and let him hide.

Keeping him close, then distant, was the most appropriate way to resolve the difficulties at this stage.

With a plan in mind, Jiang Qiao immediately pulled himself together again.

He picked up a hermit crab from the ground, gave its shell a hard kiss, then put it back where it had been and strode toward the main house.

"Guiyi, do you have any face masks?" When Jiang Qiao entered, he saw Shen Guiyi doing a plank on a yoga mat, with a row of uncapped lipsticks laid out beneath her.

Shen Guiyi held her breath, raised one hand to stop the timer displaying 136 minutes and 42 seconds, then rolled over and sat up.

"You want to use a face mask?"

Jiang Qiao nodded. "Yeah."

Shen Guiyi fell silent for two seconds, then asked, "Where are you putting it? On your ass?"

Jiang Qiao fell silent too.

He thought about it. "How about... lending me... three?"

Shen Guiyi immediately burst into wild laughter.

Jiang Qiao watched her laugh expressionlessly. Once she was done, he said, "Shi Junyi is resting at home today. Fu Zhilan has stayed upstairs all day and still hasn't come back down."

Shen Guiyi instantly stopped laughing, turned and went into the room. Five minutes later, she carried out a box and shoved it into Jiang Qiao's arms.

Jiang Qiao rummaged through it. It contained all kinds of high-end face masks, skincare products, perfume, breath spray, and a bag of men's underwear.

Jiang Qiao pulled one out for a look. ------------------------------------- There was a rich variety of styles, patterns, and types.

Because they used very little fabric and were highly elastic, they were all one-size-fits-all, so there was no issue of sizing. ----------

"Pretty edgy," Jiang Qiao commented.

Shen Guiyi said indignantly, "I bought these for my future boyfriend. Now you get to benefit from them."

Jiang Qiao clicked his tongue. "Much appreciated."

He carried the box back to his bedroom, scrubbed himself spotless inside and out, used half a bottle of hair removal cream, then applied three face masks while staring into the mirror.

He even used the excess essence on other important areas.

He still used the same body lotion Fu Zhilan had used before, and while shaving, he also trimmed his eyebrows.

He had already been handsome, but now he looked even more refined from head to toe, his entire being radiating the irresistibly charming aura of a scumbag.

He -------- chose a pair with a black lambskin texture, then put on a black leather choker that perfectly matched the diamond stud in his left ear.

He looked sexy as hell.

Before going out, he asked Shen Guiyi, "Well? How do I look?"

Shen Guiyi carefully circled Jiang Qiao and examined him from every angle. "Right now, you look like the kind of person who'd be dating at least seventeen or eighteen people at once."

Jiang Qiao did not understand. "Do I really look like I'd --?"

That could not possibly be a compliment, could it? He was loyal as hell.

"You're just too seductive. Seriously, Jiang Qiao, I guarantee that as long as they're into men, no one would not want to sleep with you, no matter whether they're top or bottom."

That was the only way Shen Guiyi could describe it.

Put that way, Jiang Qiao could barely accept it.

Only after repeatedly confirming that there was nothing wrong with his appearance did he take the roses delivered that day and head out.