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. "You'll regret this!"

He and his friends scraped together the money bit by bit, turning their pockets inside out before they managed to gather 350. As he 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 treated him so well, why? Wuwuwuwu—hic! Even if I'd raised a dog, it should've been loyal to its owner and developed feelings for 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 went completely stiff, not knowing where to put his hands.

Qin Heng's mouth twitched. This kid had just gone through a breakup and was already planning to seamlessly move on to someone better, was he?

He knew Chi Ning would get fooled!

Qin Heng stepped forward, peeled the man off Chi Ning, and carried him to one side. He casually patted Chi Ning's wrinkled clothes, then turned back and gave Gu Zhe a provocative smile, as ferocious as an evil ghost.

When he turned back to Chi Ning, his eyes were smiling and his tone was carefree. "Your clothes are expensive. It wouldn't be good if they got wrinkled. Who knows what the paparazzi would write if they got photos. Want me to take you to iron them?"

As Gu Zhe listened, he caught the implication.

Damn! Wasn't this exactly the considerate, flirtatious green-tea type?

He swore on seven years of love-struck experience that this waiter was interested in Second Young Master Chi!

But Second Young Master Chi already had someone he liked!

Gu Zhe thought Chi Ning was a good person. He gathered his courage and bravely stepped forward despite the murderous gaze fixed on him. "Y-you can't just touch people like that. He already has someone he likes. You can't do this."

Chapter 18

The air abruptly fell silent.

Zhang Qiuwen: Holy shit!

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

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

Qin Heng slowly lowered his hand. As the back of it slid downward, his knuckles brushed over the buttons at the hem of Chi Ning's shirt one by one, and an indescribable irritation coiled around his heart.

Chi Ning despaired.

He had used that excuse to fool three people, all just to avoid some trouble. And now, the whole 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. He decided to go with the flow.

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

Gu Zhe stumbled two steps back in fright and hid behind Zhang Qiuwen. Then he heard Qin Heng say softly, "How is straightening someone's clothes considered touching them? This is VIP treatment at our billiards hall. When you try on clothes at the mall, don't the staff help straighten them 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, wanting to ask who Chi Ning liked. But he knew it was better to let the matter drop for now.

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

His warm breath brushed Chi Ning's ear, making him a little itchy.

Thinking of the important matter, Chi Ning instantly cast the fake crush and his slip-up from his mind. "Tonight. I'll treat you to dinner, and I'll give you the money then. I'll leave the rental to you entirely."

Qin Heng smiled.

So what if Chi Ning had someone he liked?

Whenever there was something he couldn't solve, Qin Heng was the first person Chi Ning thought of.

At five that evening, Xu Jiahao gave Zhang Qiuwen and Qin Heng their usual two-and-a-half-hour dinner break.

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

Qin Heng held the paper full of notes and fell silent for a long while. "You... aren't moving in?"

Chi Ning said, "No."

Where outside could possibly be more comfortable than home?

"You can choose the biggest and best room as your bedroom and move in any furniture you want to keep. I want to clear out the rest and use it all for experimental 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 Chi Ning might not be able to accept his lifestyle habits after they moved in together.

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

And now Chi Ning was telling him that the house wasn't 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 pretty big. One more person won't matter."

Without thinking, Qin Heng said, "Zhang Qiuwen has somewhere to live."

He wasn't as poor as before. He had made quite a bit from being a sparring partner. If Xu Jiahao really gave him a place to live later, he would give that place to Zhang Qiuwen. If not, he would use his prize money to rent Zhang Qiuwen another place.

Qin Heng folded the paper. "I'll help you. There's no need for 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 around everywhere. Once the work really starts, the house's water and electricity bills will also be an issue. Since I'm asking you for help, I can't make you spend your own money."

This time, Qin Heng didn't refuse.

The two went to eat spicy red-oil frog hotpot.

The waiter serving Chi Ning and Qin Heng recognized Second Young Master Chi at a glance. He had been appearing in gossip tabloids a lot lately, and every time the waiter came over, he secretly glanced at him.

Second Young Master Chi seemed unable to handle spice. He nibbled at frog legs while hissing from the heat, his lips bright red and tears glistening in his eyes, yet he couldn't bear to take even one less bite.

Waiter:...

So this was what it meant to love spicy food despite not being able to handle it, and to keep playing despite being terrible at it?

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

"No." Chi Ning kept hissing. "It won't taste good that way."

The lights spilled over the young man, and the image struck Qin Heng's eyes.

His heart gave a heavy thump. The grains of sand that had accumulated in his heart over time suddenly collapsed, leaving him dizzy and his ears ringing.

Everything in the private room seemed covered in a halo of light. Chi Ning was enclosed within it like a white hydrangea blooming in the sunlight.

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

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

Qin Heng watched him quietly.

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

The gaze enveloping him suddenly loosened.

Only then did Chi Ning's breathing ease.

He had just secretly let out a breath when Qin Heng lifted his eyes, his gaze once again locking Chi Ning up like an airtight net.

Qin Heng held his chopsticks and slowly picked up a piece of meat, placing it in his mouth. His chewing motions were small, but though he was eating meat, his eyes never left the person across from him.

Chi Ning felt as though Qin Heng wasn't chewing meat, but his neck.

He instinctively shrank his shoulders.

Just as that ambiguous, hazy feeling surfaced, the gaze on him vanished 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 one bite at a time, forgetting all about the hotpot.

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

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

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

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

He could coast through other things by being efficient, but fitness and exercise had always been a matter of getting what one worked for.

He was dissatisfied with his weak body and feared that one careless moment might get him killed again. Every session, he trained especially seriously, astonishing both Father Chi and Coach Han, who had assumed he wouldn't be able to keep it up.

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

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

After all, a month ago, Chi Ning had been a pitiful thing who panted after every step, couldn't even truss a chicken, and would fall with a push.

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

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

After learning combat sports, he naturally spent less time at the billiards hall. He only had a little free time after dinner each day.

Mo Yuanzhou played billiards at night and often ran into Chi Ning. The two would play for hours at a time.

Every time Chi Ning went, he headed straight for the freezer 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. "Ningzai, Qin Heng made this drink, right? Why haven't I seen him around?"

Xu Jiahao happily cut in from the side. "He's my godson now, and he'll be taking over from me in the future. I've hired quite a few teachers for him lately, so he's got a lot on his plate. In the afternoons, he also has to run around buying all that messy 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."

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

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

Xu Jiahao glanced at Mo Yuanzhou and thought with a smile: The little lamb still hasn't caught on. Some people wouldn't want to refund the money no matter how busy they were. Once something was in their mouth, why would they spit it out?