Chapter 25

Fine.

Chi Ning sat at the table, counting on his fingers. When he noticed dust from the school wall still on his palms, he immediately rubbed them against his pants.

Before he could wipe it clean, Chi Baichuan said, "Ning, your brother is holding a birthday banquet in a couple of weeks. Keep Saturday and Sunday free."

"Okay."

Once the birthday banquet was held, Chi Yang would officially be pushed into the spotlight as the heir. He would no longer need to pretend to be a playboy and could do whatever he wanted.

The Chi family and the Shen Family would also completely tear off their masks and turn against each other.

The two bowls of egg custard had made Chi Yang sick of the taste. He wolfed them down, then turned and asked, "Ning, do you want to take part in managing the group?"

Chi Ning: Was he kidding?

He leaned back slightly, as though sitting on pins and needles. "Brother, what do you mean? Are you trying to trick me into working?"

Chi Yang froze.

Chi Ning asked, "Why would I make things so hard for myself?"

Why would he give up being a perfectly good

slacker

or abandon scientific research, just to inherit some lousy family fortune and get played like a fiddle by the people under him?

"Did you believe some paparazzi nonsense?" Chi Ning eyed him suspiciously from head to toe, then waved a hand in refusal. "I don't want to."

Chi Yang: ...

Fine.

Without giving his biological brother another chance to speak, Chi Ning headed upstairs.

He had climbed over the wall to fool his brother. After falling off it, he had even rolled on the ground, getting covered in dust. He desperately wanted a shower.

After showering and changing into clean pajamas, just as he was about to lie down, Chi Ning saw his eldest brother sitting beside his bed with a book in hand.

"What's wrong?" Chi Ning asked, rubbing his hair as he tilted his head in confusion.

He had the feeling his brother had been paying him a little too much attention today.

After a moment of silence, Chi Yang took out a long statement and placed it in front of Chi Ning. "Take a look."

Chi Ning picked it up suspiciously.

The heading on the statement read Huashang Gold Seal Bank, followed by clear transaction records, one after another.

Halfway through reading it, Chi Ning's guilt began bubbling up.

The cardholder listed on the statement was him. The last four digits of the bank card were 9904—the card he used to save his scholarships and allowance.

Chi Ning flipped to the balance—10,600 yuan.

Not a cent off.

Grabbing his wrist, Chi Yang asked in a low voice, "How did you spend so much all at once? Every payment was at least twenty thousand, and there was another big one for over two hundred thousand. Where did it go?"

Chi Ning pressed his lips tightly together, raised both hands, and wrapped the towel around his head like a cat's-eye snail burrowing into the sand.

Chi Yang reached out and yanked away Chi Ning's disguise. "Where's the card?"

Chi Ning: ...

He had given the card to Qin Heng.

How had this happened? How did his brother know?

He had been so discreet!

Chi Yang stood up. At six foot three with those long legs, his presence was overwhelmingly oppressive.

He walked over to Chi Ning. "Did someone scam you out of money?"

Chi Ning shook his head. "I spent it myself."

Chi Yang did not believe him. "How could you possibly spend that much?"

"But if it really was a scammer, why would he kindly leave me ten thousand?" Chi Ning argued reasonably.

Chi Yang fell silent.

That made some sense.

"Then how did you spend it? If you really bought something, where is it?"

Chi Ning did not know how to explain.

At first, he had secretly set up a laboratory behind his parents' backs so he could apply for patents, quietly carve into the market, and help his parents bring down the Shen Family.

Later, the laboratory had been set up just like that, though it was not yet complete. Unfortunately, Madam Shen had done something spectacularly stupid because Shen Minyi gave him a gold medal.

That had pushed the Chi family into completing the recovery of shares that had originally been expected to take at least five years.

Recovering the shares was the most important step. After that, there should still be things like clearing out corporate spies and minor lackeys.

Did that mean he no longer needed to hide it from his parents?

No, that would not work either... His current patents were all things he had spent countless sleepless nights researching in his previous life. What if his parents thought he was a monster if he revealed them outright?

Chi Ning tentatively came clean. "Brother, is there a possibility that I set up a laboratory outside? Secretly did scientific research, applied for patents, and then suddenly revealed them to give you all a surprise?"

Chi Yang was speechless. "Do you think your brother is that easy to fool? No matter how talented someone is, they can't be doing scientific research in their senior year of high school, can they?"

Chi Ning pursed his lips. "How about this? What if I take you to see the laboratory?"

Chi Yang gave a short laugh. "Your brother was once your age too. I know you could rent someone else's laboratory, then tell me it's yours. Do you think I'll believe you just because you take me there?"

Chi Ning: Oh. You're the one who doesn't believe me...

You didn't want to believe the truth, right?

Then he could start making things up!

After brainstorming for a moment, Chi Ning decisively dumped the blame onto his vague, nonexistent sweetheart.

"I have someone I like. I spent the money buying him gifts."

Chi Ning hid his hands behind his back and squeezed them. In another year or two, once he got to a university laboratory, revealing the patents would not make people suspicious.

Chi Yang flew into a rage. "Who? The one who gave you the gold medal?"

He could not dump all the blame on Qin Heng. That would be too embarrassing.

Chi Ning thought about it, then said, "Not this one."

Chi Yang: ?

There were two more?

Chi Yang flew into a rage. "Who? The one who gave you the gold medal?"

He could not dump all the blame on Qin Heng. That would be too embarrassing.

Chi Ning thought about it, then said, "Not this one."

Chi Yang: ?

There were two more?

"Why don't you take me to see the laboratory instead?"

Compared with two random men, a laboratory was still easier to accept.

Chi Ning's eyes lit up. "You believe me? When are we going?"

Chi Yang: ...

Did he look like he actually believed him?

Facing his younger brother's fair, well-behaved face, he could not bring himself to speak sarcastically. When the words left his mouth, they became, "Forget it. Do you have enough money to spend?"

Chi Ning honestly shook his head. "Not really. But I can earn it. I heard amateur competitions with sponsors have quite a bit of prize money too. I'm fairly good at snooker, so I'm planning to give it a try when I have time."

He had more or less bought the laboratory equipment already, but he still needed to purchase more consumables.

Chi Yang clenched his fist, as big as a sandbag. With barely any reason left, he restrained himself and said, "I'll transfer you some money. Spend it carefully. It's fine to date and spend money, but don't do anything beyond that."

"Got it." Chi Ning sat beside his brother and reached out to hug him. "Thanks, Brother."

Chi Yang felt incomparably heartsore. Just as he was about to hug Chi Ning back, he heard him say against his shoulder, "Brother, I only told you this in secret. You won't tell Mom and Dad, right?"

Chi Yang shoved his brother away with a whoosh.

Chi Ning lowered his lashes. "I told you because I trust you. I know this isn't right, but..."

His long lashes lowered. With the room's fluorescent light shining on the boy's face, before he could even finish speaking, what little reason Chi Yang had left flew away. "It's fine."

He said, "It's not your fault."

The eldest brother who had acted like a playboy outside and remained cold at home for years now spoke gently. "When we planned this act, we didn't tell you, making you feel like you weren't valued. So you wanted more affection. I know. I understand."

Chi Ning: ?

There was such a thing?

He quietly listened as his brother filled in the backstory for him. There was only one huge word in his mind.

Huh?

Chi Yang patted Chi Ning's shoulder. "Go to sleep. I'll transfer you money tomorrow."

No need to save. Spend as much as you want!

Wrapped up in his blankets, Chi Ning did not even understand how that lie had somehow worked out.

As soon as the lights were off, he immediately rolled around on the bed wrapped in his blanket, slowly clutching the corner of it.

Too much had happened today. His body was tired, but his mind was still excited, uncontrollably replaying every detail.

Of all the things Shen Minyi had said, only one sentence was concerning—[Keeping the young master of a fallen family around to watch isn't too excessive, is it?]

Thoughtfully, Chi Ning kneaded the corner of his blanket.

The information revealed by that sentence was interesting. No matter how destitute the Chi family became, they would never sell their youngest son to a competitor.

Why had Shen Minyi been so confident in saying that?

Could his brother's death have been related to Shen Minyi?

If his brother's death had been related to Shen Minyi, and Sun Boxing, who stole the data, was also Shen Minyi's man, then what about his parents?

Could there have been a problem with the hospital his parents went to after they fell ill back then?

Chi Ning abruptly sat up, a chill running down his spine.

If his brother's accident had been intentional, merely stopping him from riding motorcycles would be useless. Without motorcycles, there were cars and bicycles.

He had to fit into his brother's social circle and find the person who had tampered with his brother's vehicle.

He was not good at socializing, but he could learn.

Chi Ning turned on his computer and searched: How to become a social powerhouse?

The search gave him a reading list: "An Actor Prepares," "High Emotional Intelligence Means Knowing How to Speak," "The Art of Communication"...

Chi Ning wrote them down and decided he would buy them tomorrow and start studying as soon as he did.

The next day.

Chi Ning arrived at school and came face-to-face with Li Qiuhe the moment he entered the classroom.

The bespectacled boy yawned and complained resentfully, "Who knows who God Chi was having fun with last night. He actually left dozens of us waiting anxiously in the classroom."

Chi Ning: ...

He took a step back, his sleep-deprived mind a little muddled. "Hm?"

Li Qiuhe followed Chi Ning step by step. After watching him sit down, he leaned mournfully against the doorframe. "We waited half the night over a few problems. Who knows which class God Chi got held up in? He actually ignored us so completely."

Chi Ning understood.

What a Li Daiyu.

He held out his hand. "Give me the questions. Ask me during the day from now on. I won't come for evening self-study."