Chapter 18

He was still fuming, so he spoke loudly enough to draw the attention of several groups of customers nearby.

The man's face turned livid. "Don't regret this!"

He and his friends scraped together the money bit by bit, turning their pockets inside out before they finally gathered 350. As they left, he shot Gu Zhe a vicious glare.

Gu Zhe pursed his lips. The more he thought about it, the more wronged he felt. In the end, he turned and threw himself into Chi Ning's arms, bursting into loud sobs.

"Seven years! I was so good to him, why? Wuwuwuwu—hic! Even if I'd raised a dog, it should've been loyal to its owner and grown attached to me."

He hiccupped, sniffling against Chi Ning's chest. As if his brain had short-circuited, his words came out muddled. "Young Master Chi, you smell so nice."

Chi Ning's whole body went rigid, and he had no idea where to put his hands.

The corner of Qin Heng's mouth twitched. This kid had just gotten dumped and was already planning to seamlessly move on to someone better?

He knew Chi Ning would get fooled!

Qin Heng stepped forward, peeled Gu Zhe off Chi Ning, and carried him to the side. He casually patted down Chi Ning's rumpled clothes, then turned back to Gu Zhe with a provocative smile, as menacing as an evil ghost.

When he turned back to Chi Ning, his eyes were smiling and his tone was unrestrained. "These clothes are expensive. It wouldn't be good if they got wrinkled. Who knows what certain paparazzi would write if they caught it on camera. Want me to take you somewhere to iron them?"

Listening to this, Gu Zhe caught the implication.

Aha! Wasn't this exactly the caring, scheming green tea type who lured people in?

He swore on the seven years he'd spent hopelessly in love that this waiter was interested in the Second Young Master Chi!

But the Second Young Master Chi already liked someone!

Gu Zhe thought Chi Ning was a good person. Gathering his courage, he bravely stepped forward under a gaze sharp enough to kill. "Y-you, how can you touch people so casually? He already has someone he likes. You can't do this."

The air abruptly fell deathly silent.

Zhang Qiuwen: Holy shit!

Chi Ning had someone he liked? What was Brother Qin supposed to do?

He couldn't be sure, but he didn't believe Brother Qin felt nothing for Chi Ning.

Qin Heng slowly lowered his hand. As the back of it slid down, his knuckles brushed over the buttons at the hem of Chi Ning's shirt one by one. An indescribable restlessness wound around his heart.

Chi Ning was despairing.

He had used that lie to fool three people, all just to avoid a little trouble. And now, everyone in the world thought he really had someone he liked.

What was he supposed to do?

Whatever. Let it be.

Chi Ning pressed his lips together, neither denying nor admitting it, determined to go with the flow.

Qin Heng glanced at Gu Zhe, his eyes devoid of emotion.

Gu Zhe was so frightened that he stumbled two steps back and hid behind Zhang Qiuwen. Then he heard Qin Heng say softly, "How is straightening someone's clothes considered touching them inappropriately? This is VIP treatment at our gym. When you try on clothes at a mall, don't the staff help straighten them out too?"

Gu Zhe:?

T-that made a little sense?

Zhang Qiuwen:...

Big bro, it's one thing to fool us.

Just don't fool yourself too.

Qin Heng adjusted Chi Ning's collar. He wanted to ask who Chi Ning liked, but he knew it was best to let the matter pass for now.

He leaned close to Chi Ning's ear and asked in an extremely soft whisper, "The agent has mostly sorted out the house. When do you want to go sign the contract?"

His warm breath brushed Chi Ning's ear, making it itch a little.

Thinking of business, Chi Ning instantly threw the fake

crush

and the awkward exposure to the back of his mind. "Tonight, then. I'll treat you to dinner. I'll give you the money then, and I'll leave the rental entirely to you."

Qin Heng smiled.

So what if Chi Ning had someone he liked?

Whenever he had a problem he couldn't solve, Qin Heng was the first person Chi Ning thought of.

At five in the evening, Xu Jiahao gave Zhang Qiuwen and Qin Heng their usual two and a half hours for dinner.

On the way to the restaurant, Chi Ning took out a list of lab equipment and handed it to Qin Heng. "I'm planning to gradually buy experimental equipment for the house. There are too many paparazzi watching the Chi family right now, so I can't show up in person. Can you help me? I'll give you an additional commission. I won't make you work for nothing."

Qin Heng held the sheet covered in notes and remained silent for a long while. "You... aren't going to live there?"

Chi Ning said, "No."

Where outside could possibly be more comfortable than home?

"You can choose the largest and best room as your bedroom, and move in whatever furniture you want to keep. I want to clear out the rest and use it all for lab equipment."

Holding the list, Qin Heng felt ridiculous for the first time.

Last night, he had lain awake in bed for half the night, worried that if he lived with Chi Ning, the young master might not be able to accept his habits.

After getting up and working half the day, he had even gone to get the photos developed as if possessed.

And now Chi Ning was telling him the house was not meant for living in at all?

Chi Ning thought Qin Heng was worried about Zhang Qiuwen. "If you still want to live with Zhang Qiuwen, you can leave him a room too. The duplex is quite big. One more person won't matter."

Without a second thought, Qin Heng said, "Zhang Qiuwen has somewhere to live."

He was no longer as poor as before. He had earned quite a bit as a sparring partner. If Xu Jiahao really gave him a place to stay later, he would let Zhang Qiuwen have that place. If not, he would use his prize money to rent Zhang Qiuwen another apartment.

Qin Heng folded the sheet of paper. "I'll help you. There's no need for the money."

"There is." Chi Ning handed Qin Heng the bank card he had prepared along with the list. "These things are very expensive, and you'll have to run all over the place. Once the work really starts, the house's utilities will be an issue too. I'm asking you for help, so I can't let you spend your own money."

This time, Qin Heng did not refuse.

The two went to eat spicy red-oil frog hot pot.

The waiter responsible for serving Chi Ning and Qin Heng recognized at a glance that this was the Second Young Master Chi who had recently been appearing frequently in gossip tabloids. Every time he came by, the waiter secretly glanced over.

The Second Young Master Chi seemed unable to handle spicy food. He took tiny bites of frog legs while hissing from the heat, his lips bright red and his eyes glistening with tears, yet he could not bear to eat even one bite less.

Waiter:...

So this was what it meant to love spicy food despite not being able to handle it, to be bad at something but still insist on playing?

Qin Heng went to the self-serve ice cream station with a helpless smile and scooped out a fist-sized ball of milk ice cream, placing it in front of Chi Ning. "It'll cool the burn. Want me to get you a bowl of water so you can rinse it before eating?"

"That won't do." Chi Ning hissed through the heat. "It won't taste good that way."

The lights fell over the youth, and the image struck Qin Heng's eyes.

His heart gave a heavy thump. The grit that had accumulated in his heart day after day suddenly collapsed, leaving him dizzy and ears ringing.

Everything in the private room seemed veiled in a soft halo of light. Chi Ning was enveloped within it, like a white hydrangea blooming in sunlight.

Qin Heng was a little dazed, his hand holding the chopsticks stiffening.

When Chi Ning looked up, he crashed into Qin Heng's eyes, as though sinking into a bottomless, still lake.

Qin Heng stared at him quietly.

Chi Ning froze for a second, then switched to a clean serving pair of chopsticks and fished out a lean, muscular frog, placing it into Qin Heng's dipping dish. "Eat?"

The gaze enveloping him suddenly loosened.

Only then did Chi Ning's breathing smooth out.

Just as he secretly sighed in relief, Qin Heng lifted his eyes, and his gaze once again locked him up tight like an inescapable net.

Holding his chopsticks, Qin Heng slowly picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth. His chewing movements were slight. Though he was clearly eating meat, his eyes remained fixed on the person across from him.

Chi Ning felt as though Qin Heng was not chewing meat, but his neck.

Instinctively, he drew his shoulders in.

Just as that ambiguous, muddled feeling surfaced, the gaze on him disappeared again.

Chi Ning immediately felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles.

What did that mean?

Was the frog not good?

Lost in thought, Chi Ning ate the milk ice cream bite by bite, even neglecting the hot pot.

After Qin Heng finished what Chi Ning had picked for him, he fished out another frog. Using the serving chopsticks, he carefully removed the meat and placed it in a clean small bowl, which he set by Chi Ning's hand. "Eat."

Looking at the pile of leg meat in the small bowl, Chi Ning felt that something had changed after Qin Heng stared at him for a while.

After dinner, one went home while the other went back to work. Neither expected that meal to be the last time they saw each other for the next two months.

Chi Ning's summer vacation officially began under the relentless urging of his boxing coach.

Everything else could be handled through efficiency, but fitness and exercise had always been about getting what one worked for.

He was dissatisfied with his weak body and terrified that he might suddenly kick the bucket again one day. Every session, he trained especially seriously, astonishing both Father Chi and Coach Han, who had originally thought he would never last.

Coach Han sighed to Chi Baichuan. "I thought your son would only last a week, but he's been training for over a month. His weight and muscle mass have both improved, and his physical condition is much better too."

Chi Baichuan gave a hum. "I didn't expect it either."

After all, just a month ago, Chi Ning had been a frail little thing who panted after every few steps, could not even tie up a chicken, and would fall over with one push.

But now, he could already last three minutes against Coach Han.

Chi Ning was very satisfied with the speed of his progress.

After learning boxing, he naturally spent less time at the gym. He only had a little free time each day after dinner.

Mo Yuanzhou played basketball at night and often ran into Chi Ning. Whenever they did, they played for hours.

Every time Chi Ning went, he headed straight for the refrigerator and took the bottle of bayberry juice Qin Heng had freshly left for him that day, drinking it while he played.

After a while, Mo Yuanzhou found it strange. "Ning, Qin Heng made this drink, right? Why haven't I seen him around?"

Xu Jiahao happily chimed in from the side, "He's my godson now and will take over for me in the future. I've hired quite a few teachers to give him lessons lately, so he has a lot going on. In the afternoons, he also has to run around buying all those random pieces of equipment I can't make heads or tails of. But no matter how busy he is, he still makes a bottle of bayberry juice every day and asks me to bring it over."

Feeling guilty, Chi Ning rubbed his ear. "If he really doesn't have time, it's not like the money can't be returned."

Mo Yuanzhou felt a little sour. Chi Ning was the smartest and most worry-free student he had ever taught. Someone eyeing him was like someone eyeing the little cabbage in his yard.

Xu Jiahao glanced at Mo Yuanzhou and smiled to himself. The little lamb still hasn't caught on. Some people would rather stay busy than return the money. Once something has gone into their mouth, how could they possibly spit it back out?