Page 41

Chi Ning took a small bowl of strawberries and said to Gu Zhe as he ate, "Being love-brained isn't advisable."

Gu Zhe:?

You were just saying you couldn't give the person you liked what they wanted, and now you were saying being love-brained wasn't advisable?

That was a pretty fast change, wasn't it? Even more fickle than him.

He didn't quite understand, but sitting around doing nothing was boring, so he took out his phone and tapped away. "What's your number? Let's save each other's contacts."

With a strawberry in his mouth, Chi Ning studied Gu Zhe carefully. Only after confirming that he didn't have that sort of ambiguous affection did he say, "Sure."

Feelings that were too vivid and intense were a burden. If he didn't have to socialize, he could stay curled up in a lab or his own room for at least a month.

As long as there was internet.

As he thought, Chi Ning discreetly observed the people at the banquet.

The banquet was drawing to a close. The younger guests had gathered in small groups, most chatting while picking at the food.

After looking around, he didn't spot Jiang Shijie.

The Jiang Family probably no longer had plans to develop in Yangcheng, but not one of Jiang Shijie's old fair-weather friends was missing.

They looked somewhat idle, gathered in an inconspicuous corner playing cards.

Chi Ning watched them for a while but couldn't make sense of anything.

By the time he finished his strawberries, Sun Boxing had made a move. He didn't seem very upset, and Shen Minyi apparently hadn't blamed him.

"Hmph." Chi Ning gave a soft snort. "Now he knows how to keep his emotions steady."

He reached out for some diced braised meat, but the moment his fingers touched the porcelain plate, someone caught his wrist.

Chi Ning followed that hand upward and met Qin Heng's gaze.

It was difficult to describe what kind of look it was.

Deep and sharp, black as ink. Those eyes usually held a touch of cynical amusement when they looked at him. If that smile ever reached his eyes, that face would surely have countless people flocking to him.

But now, those eyes were still as an ancient well, like a deep pool. They weren't intimidating enough to make one shudder, merely a little forceful, and very... familiar.

Chi Ning instinctively drew his hand back a little.

Gu Zhe's eyes immediately sharpened. "Qin Heng, what are you doing? Keep your hands to yourself."

Qin Heng released him and smoothly moved the plate of beef cubes farther away. "This dish has lemon juice in it. It's sour and salty, and you just had strawberries. Eating this afterward could upset your stomach."

Chi Ning froze. "How did you know I had stomach problems?"

That shouldn't have been possible. It was too strange.

The Chi Ning of his previous life had stomach problems. In this life, he had promptly given up striving, eaten on time, paid attention to his health and his stomach, and stamped out the illness before it could even develop.

Qin Heng shouldn't have known.

An absurd suspicion suddenly occurred to Chi Ning.

He reached out and grabbed Qin Heng's wrist, pressing his thumb against Qin Heng's artery. Blood pulsed rhythmically beneath his fingertip.

He asked, "The first time we met, you already knew I didn't like using bottles other people had used. Why?"

Confusion flashed across Qin Heng's face. "I don't know." He had simply instinctively felt that Chi Ning would never like bottles others had used, that he had a slight germophobia, and that his stomach was delicate and needed careful care.

The pulse beneath his hand remained relatively steady throughout, without the slightest sign of speeding up.

He wasn't pretending. Qin Heng really seemed not to know why.

Chi Ning withdrew his hand, avoided Qin Heng's bewildered gaze, and bit down on the soft flesh inside his cheek.

Gu Zhe looked from Chi Ning to Qin Heng, then quietly squeezed himself into the corner of the sofa.

Neither of them had actually done anything, yet the atmosphere that had erupted in that instant had been so intense that he hardly dared breathe, his face turning red.

How strange. Suddenly, he felt a little like a third wheel.

Why had Qin Heng looked at Chi Ning like that? It was a forceful expression, carrying a trace of restraint and desire.

Gu Zhe swallowed and suddenly remembered that he was supposed to make things difficult for Qin Heng. He grabbed Chi Ning's arm and pointed at the beef. "I want some. My stomach is great!"

The frozen atmosphere suddenly began flowing again.

Qin Heng's eyebrow twitched.

Chi Ning unconsciously pressed his lips together, lifted the plate of beef, and handed it to Gu Zhe. "Eat."

After a pause, he added softly, "Save one for me."

After saying that, Chi Ning darted a quick glance at Qin Heng. Seeing that Qin Heng hadn't noticed, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He suddenly remembered something from shortly after he had met Qin Heng in his previous life.

At the time, he had just started university. His stomach problems had been severe, and he had also had low blood sugar. While receiving an IV in the hospital lobby, he had run into Qin Heng, who was there with a friend receiving an IV.

He had needed a lot of drips and had fallen asleep against his chair. Qin Heng had been the one to call a nurse to change his IV... When he went to buy porridge for his friend, he had even bought an extra portion.

He had been incredibly warmhearted.

If not for that, Chi Ning would never have completely believed Qin Heng when he claimed to be an exemplary young man.

For a while afterward, Qin Heng began appearing in his field of vision with increasing frequency.

Chi Ning drifted off for a moment. Soon, his lips went cool as a piece of beef was forcefully stuffed into his mouth.

Turning his head, he saw Gu Zhe's sly smile.

Gu Zhe curled his lips and gestured. "The biggest piece."

Under Qin Heng's stare, Chi Ning's gaze wandered.

Ridiculous...

How could eating beef make him feel like he was sneaking around?

Chi Ning was absentminded.

Why didn't this beef have any taste?

Qin Heng's Adam's apple bobbed as he cast Gu Zhe a cold glance.

Gu Zhe now regarded Chi Ning only as a friend and wasn't afraid of him at all. He could even plant his hands on his hips and glare back, completely confident as he flaunted his victory: I told you before, just wait and see.

Chi Ning savored the beef and finished it. The vacant look in his eyes gradually focused.

The banquet was slowly approaching its end. Although they hadn't found the person who wanted to harm his eldest brother this time, the person trying to steal the Chi family's patent had revealed their true colors.

It was still quite a fruitful harvest.

He stood up, narrowed his eyes, stretched his arms forward, and yawned. "I'm going to see the guests off. You two make yourselves at home."

Everyone could go back to their own homes.

After seeing everyone off, Chi Ning rubbed his face, stiff from smiling. By the time he got home, it was nearly midnight. His head was so sleepy it barely felt like his own. After a quick shower, he collapsed into bed, and the next day, he was still a little groggy.

Socializing was far too draining.

Chi Ning ate breakfast while yawning nonstop. His attention wasn't particularly focused when he left the house, but he still heard several camera shutters clicking.

There seemed to be even more paparazzi squatting outside the house.

Strange. If they wanted photos, shouldn't they be photographing Young Master Chi, who had just inherited the family business, rather than him, a high schooler who clearly looked like a lazy bum?

What was there to photograph about him?

Chi Ning got into the car and slept a little more on the way.

The dark green Bentley stopped steadily at a fork in the road not far from the school gate.

Uncle Chen, the driver, looked at the paparazzi clustered at the school gate and turned around with a frown. "Second Young Master, these people seem to be here for you. What should we do?"

Looking at the at least fifty groups of cameras and telephoto lenses, Chi Ning's scalp went numb. "Turn around. Take a detour around half the block and go to the school's back wall."

Uncle Chen immediately turned the steering wheel, quietly backed away unnoticed, and slipped away from the beehive-like school gate.

Still shaken, Chi Ning touched the leather seat of the vintage Bentley.

Luckily, Uncle Chen was driving this dark green car today. If he had driven either of the usual silver or red ones, stopping at the fork in the road wouldn't have helped at all.

Carrying his schoolbag, Chi Ning found the spot where he had climbed over the wall last time. He first tossed his schoolbag over, then gave Uncle Chen an OK sign.

Uncle Chen:?

I thought you came to the back wall because there was a back gate here, but you came to climb over it?

But wasn't this wall... a little too high?

The younger master was so much shorter than the eldest master. Could he get over it?

The eldest master probably could, considering he was six foot three. How tall was the younger master? At most, five foot eight?

The moment that thought surfaced, Chi Ning, without even taking off his shoes, stepped onto the Bentley's hood with a smack. Then he pushed off with both legs and lunged for the top of the wall, barely managing to grab it.

The moment Uncle Chen saw Chi Ning step on the Bentley, Munch's famous painting The Scream appeared in his mind.

Bentley red badge! Ten million!

When Chi Ning jumped, The Scream.jpg had already become The Scream.gif.

Young Master! Don't fall!

Once Chi Ning straddled the top of the wall, Uncle Chen broke out in a cold sweat and muttered, "Mom..." I really want to quit.

Straddling the wall, Chi Ning waved at the driver outside. "Bye-bye. You don't need to pick me up tonight. I'll go home by myself."

Uncle Chen said, "Okay, okay, okay."

He grabbed the prayer beads looped around the handbrake and rapidly rolled them one by one with his right hand, while waving at Chi Ning with his left. "Goodbye, Second Young Master."

Chi Ning nodded and jumped down.

His joy at escaping the paparazzi blockade made him forget to check what was beneath the wall.

Chi Ning never expected there to be people in a place that normally saw almost no one.

And there were seven of them!

Directly beneath where he was landing stood Yue Yaozong from Class Eighteen. Facing Yue Yaozong was Qin Heng, who had already raised his fist and grabbed Yue Yaozong by the collar to hit him.

It was a group fight involving seven people!

Chi Ning shouted sharply, "Move!"

Qin Heng froze and reflexively let go of the person he was holding.

Yue Yaozong lost his balance and crashed headfirst to the ground. He got a mouthful of bamboo leaves and rolled miserably to the side.

The moment he turned onto his side, Chi Ning stepped on his calf.

Yue Yaozong screamed miserably, "Aah—"

The impact from falling off the wall was considerable. To avoid breaking a fellow student's leg, Chi Ning didn't dare put his full weight down. The moment he touched something, he went with the momentum and dropped to his knees.

Actually landing on his knees would definitely hurt.

Qin Heng hurriedly reached out, stepped forward, and caught Chi Ning in his arms.

The sequence of movements had been too rushed, and neither of them had been prepared.

Chi Ning's waist was encircled, but Qin Heng's arms seemed to leak like a sieve. The downward momentum made him slide lower and lower. He slid down...