Chapter 24

Shen Minyi could not even be bothered to say the word "father." "Mom, you're not smart. Just stay home and be your wealthy wife. You don't need to worry about the inheritance."

"Who I like and what I do with them is none of your business either. Do you think President Shen would find my actions inappropriate? He would only regret that I didn't succeed."

Chi Ning felt cold all over. He had guessed that the photos and reports were connected to the Shen Family. He had thought Madam Shen was behind it, but he had never expected Shen Minyi to have tacitly approved of it, or even fanned the flames afterward.

Shen Minyi was only seventeen!

Shen Minyi paused, then gritted his teeth. "Mom, you alerted the enemy!"

If Madam Shen had not been Shen Minyi's mother, Chi Ning felt that he would have cursed the words "good-for-nothing" out loud.

"President Shen and I have been watching the Chi family's shares for a long time. Now they hit the limit down ahead of schedule, shareholders are dumping in large numbers, and retail investors are entering the market. By the time we found out, it was too late. It'll be difficult to buy them back now. Mom, look at President Chi's wife, Chen Mingxian. She would never do something this stupid. She's even more decisive than President Chi when it comes to business."

Shen Minyi's tone was full of undisguised disappointment. "Yet all you can do is obsess over whether your future daughter-in-law is a man and whether she can bear the eldest grandson."

Madam Shen flipped over the table in front of her. "How dare you speak to me like that? A son does not despise his mother for being ugly, and a dog does not despise its home for being poor! How are you any different from a dog? Get out!"

Chi Ning heard the door of the neighboring private room slam shut.

He waited for a while. Once he was sure Shen Minyi would not return, he immediately rushed into the restroom inside the private room and dry-heaved at the sink.

Shen Minyi was utterly disgusting!

How could someone like that have fallen for him? If Shen Minyi liked him, then what had all the suffering of his past life meant? What had his parents and older brother meant in that man's eyes?

Shen Minyi had drugged him, stolen his data, taken his patents, and treated him like an object to toy with at will. Could that possibly be called love?

Chi Ning held it in, scooped up a handful of water to splash over his face, then took another mouthful to rinse his mouth.

But the nausea he had barely suppressed rose again.

That idiot Shen Minyi really was just as insane as President Shen!

Compared to him, even Qin Heng from his past life seemed adorable.

That "domineering CEO" who lied and dressed himself up, who had carried a lunchbox to bring him "fake meals" for ten years and devised new ways to coax him into being happy every day, was far more lovable than that idiot enemy!

Chi Ning gripped the edge of the sink hard and coughed dryly twice, then raised a hand to wipe at his eyes.

When Qin Heng saw his damp eyes, overwhelming fury mixed with bitter concern swept over him in an instant.

He silently walked over and patted Chi Ning's back.

Xu Jiahao had taught him a great deal lately. They were now close business partners with Chongning Group, so they could not possibly be unaware of Chongning Group's current situation.

Calling it sunset decline would be an understatement; it was more like the blazing noon sun.

The stock turmoil was only on the surface. In reality, true control had already fallen into the hands of Chi Baichuan and Chen Mingxian.

Thinking over Shen Minyi's words alongside the hints Xu Jiahao had dropped lately, Qin Heng finally understood why Chi Ning had not wanted him to delete the report.

It had not been because Chi Ning liked him and wanted to spread rumors with him at all. It had been to help his family.

Once Chi Ning had caught his breath, Qin Heng softly asked, "Before school started, you asked whether I didn't want to be associated with you, and you acted pitiful in front of me. Was that because you wanted me to ask my godfather not to delete that report?"

Chi Ning froze.

Qin Heng became even more certain. He used his fingertips to brush away the droplets by Chi Ning's cheek and slowly said, "You didn't deliberately get photographed, but you went with the flow. You used the report to seize the chance Madam Shen gave you when she alerted the enemy, then worked with your parents and brother to turn things around for the Chi family."

He chuckled. "You little liar. You've learned how to act now?"

Chi Ning's mind went blank. He could not even spare the attention to hate Shen Minyi.

This was bad. How had Qin Heng patched up the holes in his logic?

He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Qin Heng wrapped an arm around him, reached around from beside his ear, and covered his mouth with the back of his hand.

Qin Heng's fingers were long, and his knuckles were thick. With one cover, half of Chi Ning's face disappeared beneath his palm.

The two looked at each other through the vanity mirror in front of them.

Chi Ning's eyes widened as he saw Qin Heng, standing behind him, let out a muffled laugh.

He spoke unhurriedly. "I get it. Gu Zhe saying you have someone you like was fake too, wasn't it? You used that to fool him. You were putting on an act for him, right?"

Qin Heng's scent, mingled with the fragrance of mugwort and sea breeze, drifted beneath Chi Ning's nose again. He panicked so badly that he almost felt his heart leap out of his throat.

But Qin Heng said, "Look at that expression. You didn't just tell Gu Zhe that you had someone you liked, did you?"

"The day you secretly went out with me to rent an apartment and got photographed, how did you explain it to your uncle and aunt afterward?"

He paused, then did not press the matter. Instead, he changed the subject. "One report ruined Shen Minyi's entire plan and made him swallow such a huge loss... How are you so smart?"

Chapter 24

Chi Ning felt as though the breath he exhaled was trapped in Qin Heng's palm.

That palm was scorching hot. Its lines were deep and rough, and there were thin calluses on it that prickled against his cheek.

He stared blankly at the mirror.

The restroom lighting was dim and suggestive. In the mirror appeared their reflections, along with the dark-patterned European wallpaper in caramel tones behind them.

Qin Heng was not standing pressed against him. One hand covered his mouth, while the other rested loosely in his pocket. He looked measured and effortlessly at ease.

Chi Ning caught the scent of sea breeze mixed with mugwort again, incredibly intense. It smelled so good that he wanted to take a deep breath without thinking.

"Qin Heng." Chi Ning raised his eyes and looked straight into the other man's gaze through the mirror. With his mouth lightly covered, his voice came out muffled. "I'll answer your first question first."

Qin Heng: Hm?

With so much information thrown at him, wouldn't most people answer the last question first?

What was going on with Chi Ning?

Couldn't he see the diamond staircase Qin Heng had painstakingly built for the heartbroken little lamb?

Or had he not praised him sincerely enough?

Chi Ning grabbed Qin Heng's hand and pulled it away. His tone was steady. "First, I'm not a little liar. None of those lies hurt anyone."

You are!

"Second, claiming I have someone I like solves most problems. I'm not planning to date right now."

Qin Heng felt himself split apart like a downtown mall divided into Building A and Building B.

Building A said: Chi Ning is still young. It's good that he isn't planning to date right now.

Building B said: Why isn't he planning to date?

"Lastly." After thinking for a moment, Chi Ning decisively sidestepped the topic of how he had fooled his parents. Mimicking Qin Heng's manner of speaking, he said, "Just from Shen Minyi's words, you were able to piece together the whole story from the clues of recent days. You're very smart. You have a mind well suited to business."

Qin Heng coughed lightly, the tips of his ears turning a little red.

Chi Ning laughed softly. "What a pity. You're a senior in high school, yet you can still get middle school math questions wrong."

The romantic thoughts in Qin Heng's heart vanished completely.

Well, God was still fair.

He had given Chi Ning a mind unmatched in the world and a face capable of driving people mad with infatuation, but had taken away Chi Ning's sensitivity toward romance.

That was fine.

Qin Heng found comfort in hardship. If even he could not reel Chi Ning in, then no one else should even think about it. Everyone was equal.

Equally hopeless.

Feeling that he had regained some ground, Chi Ning raised a hand and patted Qin Heng's shoulder. "Let's go. Time for the lesson."

The vanilla ice cream on the table had already melted into a milkshake. As Chi Ning ate it, he explained the key concepts to Qin Heng.

Basic material was easy to make up. Qin Heng was not stupid, and he was good at drawing inferences from one example. Once each concept was explained to him, he could grasp it completely, making him easy to teach.

Perhaps because he had been stimulated too much, he was unwilling to rest even after studying for three straight hours.

Chi Ning reached out and covered the workbook, feeling guilty for once. "Ahem, that's enough for today. Take a break. It's ten o'clock."

He was almost done reading his Human Genetic Programming.

Qin Heng put down his pen and rotated his wrist. "What do you do when you're tired of studying?"

Chi Ning showed Qin Heng the book in his hand. "Read extracurricular books."

Qin Heng looked as though he wanted to speak but stopped himself.

He glanced at the contents of the book a few times. The diagrams were in color, Chinese and English were mixed together, and nearly half of one page consisted of tables. It had an intense academic air.

"May I ask... how do you define the term 'extracurricular book'?"

Chi Ning immediately answered, "Anything that isn't a textbook."

He felt the urge to share. "This is really interesting. I'm already on the last chapter. Do you know about the major histocompatibility complex?"

"It's abbreviated as MHC and has important immunological functions. It is polygenic and polymorphic."

"If the parents' MHCs are different, their baby will have a richer variety of MHC molecules, and its immune system will be broader, making it less likely to develop cancer."

Qin Heng did not understand, but that did not stop him from liking Chi Ning's eyes, which sparkled like stars beneath the lights.

At that moment, every color faded from his field of vision. Only Chi Ning remained brilliantly colorful.

He saw Chi Ning wrinkle his nose, as though smelling something.

"Actually, the immune system affects how organisms choose mates."

Chi Ning casually closed the book. "Research shows that scent preferences based on MHC are a key factor in how humans choose partners."

Qin Heng sat up straighter. This, he could understand. "Scent is also one of the standards animals use to choose mates?"

"Yes. If you dislike someone's scent, it means your MHCs are similar, and genetically speaking, you're not suited to be partners." Chi Ning rested his chin on his hand and recalled it slowly.

"Ye Xinran smells a little like boiled leaves. If you get close enough to smell him, it makes you dizzy."

Qin Heng could not help muttering to himself: He remembers that? And he even got close enough to smell him?

How close?

Heh.

"Zhang Qiuwen..." Chi Ning frowned and paused. "Mm, sweat. Does he not like bathing very much?"

Qin Heng reflexively lowered his head and smelled himself.