Chapter 28

Shen Minyi had thought the worst possible outcome was Chi Ning becoming obsessed with academia and never falling in love with anyone for the rest of his life.

Until this moment... The young man said nothing, but there was laughter in his eyes and at the corners of his brows. Even his ears had turned red.

Shen Minyi panicked a little.

He had no choice but to put on an act with Sun Boxing. He needed someone like him as his hidden pawn. The Shen Family was not like the Chi family, where the brothers respected and cared for each other. If he lost the fight, his fate would not be pleasant.

But Chi Ning was different. Even if the Chi family fell, he could still protect Chi Ning forever.

Shen Minyi pinched his fingertips, his breathing quickening as though a piece of his heart had been hollowed out. "Do you... know what it means to become Xu Jiahao's adopted son?! How is he any different from those lowlifes scraping by in shady trades?"

Chi Ning thought Shen Minyi was absurd.

Even if it really was a lowly profession, so what? As long as it was not illegal.

Was everyone in the world born a rich second-generation heir? Did having money make someone superior?

He had just been cheered up by three egg tarts, but Shen Minyi's words instantly made his temper flare again.

What a piece of trash.

Forget his previous life. In this life, Shen Minyi had incited others to investigate the Chi family's research direction and used the Chi family as a stepping stone to fight for the family inheritance. Did that make him high-class?

He went around talking about lowlifes, shady trades, and thugs every day, yet still thought himself above everyone else?

Fucking disgusting.

Chi Ning's face went pale.

He wanted to throw up.

When Shen Minyi saw Chi Ning's pale face and silence, he felt guilty again, thinking he had spoken too harshly. "I just think you should..."

Chi Ning straightened his back, looking slightly puzzled. "Who are you to lecture me?"

Shen Minyi choked.

He truly had no standing at all.

To outsiders, they were the sons of rival families. Privately, he and Chi Ning could barely even be considered friends.

He wanted to speak aloud the secret feelings in his heart, but he could not.

Chi Ning gave a soft snort. "Shen Minyi, don't tell me you don't know what today's banquet means. The entire elite circle of Yangcheng is here."

Everyone knew this was about tearing off all pretenses and forcing people to choose sides.

Chi Ning withdrew his hand, now completely dry from the hand dryer.

If Shen Minyi were truly a man, he should fight his brother openly and honorably instead of acting like a stinking fish in a gutter.

He shot Shen Minyi a glance and turned to leave.

That one look lit the fuse.

Shen Minyi's head buzzed, and the volcano in his heart erupted all at once.

He grabbed Chi Ning by the wrist and shoved him toward a bathroom stall. "Do you really like him? Since when? Just because he took you home in the middle of the night?"

Chi Ning was speechless.

There was probably something wrong with Shen Minyi's brain. He was at least somewhat insane.

For the sake of fighting over the inheritance, he had pretended to be straight and tried to trick a young lady from an influential family into marrying him. He claimed to like Chi Ning, yet could let paparazzi write filthy things about him in the newspapers.

Chi Ning made a token struggle, but could not break free.

Shen Minyi raised his hand to open the stall door and shoved him inside.

Chi Ning looked up.

The banquet hall's security was quite good. The bathroom stalls were completely enclosed, and there could not possibly be cameras or anything of the sort inside.

Good. There were none.

Chi Ning grabbed the fingers clutching his wrist and twisted them back. Before Shen Minyi could cry out in pain, he reached over and covered Shen Minyi's mouth.

Shen Minyi was half a head taller than him and not exactly slight, but he was average in a fight. After all, he was the eldest son, busy competing and learning schemes and intrigue, with no time to train his combat skills.

Chi Ning let out a satisfied, cold laugh. "I've wanted to say this for a long time. You really make me sick."

He drove his knee up, slamming it straight into Shen Minyi's lower abdomen and kicking a muffled groan out of him. With his mouth covered, only a faint sound escaped through Chi Ning's fingers.

Chi Ning said, "I never thought I'd use this move on you."

New grudges and old hatred converged into that knee strike.

It felt absolutely wonderful.

Chi Ning released him. Shen Minyi immediately doubled over and coughed twice, bracing himself against the toilet tank as he panted in disarray.

He said, "How could you..."

"How could I?" Chi Ning grabbed Shen Minyi's collar with both hands and forced him upright, then smoothed out a slight wrinkle in his clothes. "Don't look so disheveled. It'll be hard to explain when you go out later. You can't exactly say you got beaten up in the bathroom by the Chi family's second young master, can you?"

How humiliating would that be?

Chi Ning wiped away the dampness from his hand with Shen Minyi's clothes.

He lifted his lashes and looked up into Shen Minyi's eyes. He still wore that obedient expression, soft as a cloud anyone could knead at will.

But his words were like a poisoned dagger. "Young Master Shen, there are no cameras inside the stall, but there's a high-definition one by the sinks outside."

"You dragged me in here yourself. The camera caught it all clearly. Think carefully before you speak when we go out."

Shen Minyi's Adam's apple bobbed, and he nearly went mad. He had originally thought it was fine to keep Chi Ning in a laboratory, but he no longer thought so.

He should lock him up, put a chain on him, and keep him in a villa.

Things were slipping out of his control.

"Chi Ning..." Shen Minyi asked hoarsely, "When did you learn to fight?"

"That has nothing to do with you." Chi Ning opened the stall door and walked out, casually pulling it shut behind him before going to the sinks and carefully scrubbing his hands again.

As he washed, he felt a little regretful.

Why did it have to be his brother's birthday party today?

If it had been a banquet hosted by anyone else, he would not have needed to give the host any face. He could have pulled a sack over Shen Minyi's head, planted one foot on his chest, and beaten him until he stopped going crazy.

Chi Ning scrubbed his fingers until they were red before turning to leave. He had barely reached the door when Qin Heng blocked his path.

Qin Heng seemed to have had some alcohol. His face was slightly red, and he held quite a few business cards.

Chi Ning lowered his gaze and swept over them. The first one read [Ms. Dong Lanzhi], and beneath it was [Miss Shen Xichun].

He was quite popular.

The Shen Family was desperate to forge ties with Xu Jiahao. Since they could not get close to Boss Xu, were they trying to start with Qin Heng through their daughter?

Disgusting.

Chi Ning walked around Qin Heng, intending to leave, but Qin Heng grabbed him.

Qin Heng lowered his head and pitifully rubbed the red marks Shen Minyi had left on Chi Ning's wrist. "How could you go into the stall with him?"

Chi Ning paused.

Qin Heng added, "After you went in, I had to stand out here and keep watch for you."

How could he do that?

The stall door had been banging loudly. What exactly had they been doing inside? He had wanted to pull open the door and question them, but he felt that would be too rude and would make him unlikeable, so he endured it.

Hadn't Chi Ning said he was not planning to date anyone?

He knew that, given how much Chi Ning disliked Shen Minyi, Chi Ning would never do anything with him, but still...

Chi Ning found him amusing. "Are you drunk?"

Qin Heng said, "No. I only had wine and champagne."

Chi Ning understood.

He had mixed them together. Of course he was drunk.

He raised a hand to straighten Qin Heng's loosened tie, coaxing him as if he were a puppy. "Raise your arm."

Qin Heng raised his arm.

He wore his suit carelessly, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and exposing two muscular forearms.

Chi Ning laughed. He meant to provoke Shen Minyi. If Shen Minyi became unhappy, then he would be happy.

Taking advantage of Qin Heng's lack of clarity, he lifted Qin Heng's arm and asked, "Whose arm is this?"

Qin Heng said, "Mine."

Chi Ning nodded. "That's right."

To keep the person in the stall from hearing, he leaned close to Qin Heng's ear and said, "Take a little taste. It's sweet."

Qin Heng stared fixedly at the back of Chi Ning's neck for a moment. Seeing the fair spine disappearing into the wine-red shirt, he suddenly felt that even if poison had been smeared on his arm, he could take a little taste.

Fuck, he was so beautiful.

Qin Heng took a taste of his own arm, making a loud smacking sound.

Shen Minyi crouched in the first stall. He could not see outside and could only hear some faint sounds.

The blood in his head rushed straight to his crown.

Chi Ning... How the fuck could Chi Ning take the initiative to kiss Qin Heng? Fuck!

Chi Ning thought the current Qin Heng was much cuter than when he was sharp and calculating. He led him toward the banquet hall while continuing to fool him. "Come on, I'll take you to a private room to rest for a while and sober up."

He paused, then asked, "Why didn't you put those business cards away?"

Qin Heng froze briefly, then raised his hand and stuffed them into his pocket.

Chi Ning: ...

You really are obedient, huh?

Chapter 28

Qin Heng was drunk, but not entirely drunk.

He wanted to use the alcohol as an excuse to do something he would normally not dare to do, such as throwing away that stack of business cards in front of Chi Ning and telling him he liked men.

But Chi Ning had told him to keep them, so he wanted to put them in his pocket and see Chi Ning's reaction.

Under the lights, Chi Ning's figure looked somewhat hazy. His lips were pressed together, his eyes lowered slightly, and his white suit reflected the light brilliantly. He looked like he was glowing.

Beautiful.

Once he stood in the banquet hall later, wouldn't little business cards fly into his arms like snowflakes?

Qin Heng said softly, "You're just too good-tempered."

He was not even jealous. There was such a huge stack of cards. If Zhang Qiuwen saw them, he would definitely make a sarcastic remark: "Tsk tsk, Brother Qin is really making it big. I'm not his only brother anymore?"

What about Chi Ning?

Chi Ning said sincerely, "Actually, my temper is just average."

If he had a good temper, he would not have directly beaten Shen Minyi just now, nor would he have snapped at Qin Heng after seeing him accept business cards from the Shen Family.

Just as they were about to reach the banquet hall's main hall, Zhang Qiuwen hurried over. "Brother Qin, where did you go? This banquet is terrifying. I don't want to stay by myself."

Chi Ning was startled. "When did you get here?"

Zhang Qiuwen was also stunned. "Come on, sir, I've been standing beside Brother Qin the whole time. Before we came in, I even winked at you to say hello. You ignored me then. Don't tell me you just didn't see me?"