Chapter 7

By the way...

He would check out Brother Xu's billiards hall.

He wanted to see what else Qin Heng had lied to him about in his previous life, aside from where he "went to school."

Chapter 7

It happened to be dinner time for the household staff, so Chi Ning did not disturb the driver. He hailed a cab himself and found the storefront at No. 26 Yongning Road.

The billiards hall had a fairly large frontage. A conspicuous price list stood at the entrance: twenty yuan an hour, already considered expensive.

Chi Ning lifted the drooping PVC soundproof curtain at the glass door. The moment he pushed his way inside, cool air washed over him, dispelling the summer heat.

The billiards hall was quiet. Conversations were kept low, and even the occasional laughter was subdued. The clacking of billiard balls striking one another was particularly prominent.

The owner, seated behind the counter polishing walnuts, said, "Handsome kid, first time here? What are you standing around for?"

Chi Ning turned to look at him.

The owner froze.

In business, calling someone "handsome" was just polite small talk. He had not expected to run into the real thing today.

The boy before him clearly looked like he had been pampered since childhood. Though somewhat thin, the air about him could not be faked.

Innocence and the unique steadiness of an adult had somehow found a delicate balance within him.

Most importantly, the eyes beneath those long lashes were pure and bright. Standing near the relatively well-lit entrance, he looked like some little spirit that had run out of the mountains.

The owner's walnut-polishing hand stopped. "My surname is Xu. Just call me Brother Xu."

Xu Jiahao, dressed in a floral shirt with a gold chain around his neck, unconsciously lowered his voice. "Looking for someone, or opening a table?"

"Opening a table." Chi Ning absentmindedly took out money. Catching sight of the VIP card application process on the counter, he put down the twenty yuan he had already touched, then pulled out three hundred and handed it over. "I want a card."

"You need an ID card to get one. You're not an adult yet, are you?"

"I have an ID." Chi Ning pulled his resident ID card from the inner compartment of his wallet.

He had been traveling all over for various competitions since middle school. Going abroad or out of the province was commonplace, so he had gotten his ID card years ago.

Xu Jiahao processed the card while sneakily glancing at the ID photo.

In all his life, he had never seen anyone who could look this good in an ID photo, and this one was even a boy. He was so good-looking that he was more eye-catching than the little celebrity singing on TV.

Fuck, was he gay?

Was this why he still had not found a girlfriend at thirty-five?

With a world-weary expression, Xu Jiahao handed Chi Ning a navy-blue membership card. "The three hundred has been loaded onto it. How many hours do you want? Chinese nine-ball, American pool, or snooker?"

In Chi Ning's previous life, there had only been experiments. He had never imagined billiards was merely a collective term. "What's the difference?"

Xu Jiahao stared at the bewildered Chi Ning in shock. He rummaged through the counter, found a promotional booklet, and tossed it in front of him. "It's all in there. Go sit over there and read it yourself."

Chi Ning picked it up and sat by the bar, reading through the more than twenty-page promotional booklet.

When he flipped to the tournament introduction, two unexpected people walked in through the door.

It was Zhang Qiuwen and Qin Heng. Both wore brand-new suits and looked quite presentable.

Chi Ning absentmindedly turned a page, his ears perking up.

Zhang Qiuwen stood properly in front of the counter. The flippant air he had during the day was gone, and he said with some unease, "Brother Xu, we're here."

"Mm." Xu Jiahao swept his gaze over their clothes. "Now you look more decent. If you're coming to work, at least dress properly. Otherwise, people will think I'm some kind of cheapskate. If the clothes are too small, tell me, and I'll reimburse you for a bigger set."

Zhang Qiuwen did not know how to respond and looked helplessly toward Qin Heng.

A perfectly measured smile entered Qin Heng's voice as he replied neither obsequiously nor arrogantly, "Thank you, Boss Xu."

Boss Xu said, "Come here. I'll teach you how to open tables today."

The two of them walked around Chi Ning, who was seated at the bar, without sparing him a second glance. They obediently stood beside the owner to learn how to operate the system.

Their positions shifted, leaving them face-to-face.

Chi Ning's gaze quietly crept over the top of the booklet and settled on Qin Heng.

The suit was not made of quality material and could not compare to the custom-tailored ones Boss Qin often wore in his previous life. On the teenager's body, which had not fully filled out yet, it made him look a little thin. The hostility between his brows also seemed more restrained because of the outfit.

Chi Ning looked at him and thought.

If Qin Heng had only lied about the school he attended, then he could still be forgiven.

After all, Class 18 of No. 1 High School had a truly terrible reputation.

As the worst Blue Sky Class in a key high school, most of its students were publicly funded students from poor families, or even those with intellectual or physical issues.

The government subsidized each school with fifty thousand yuan, assigning children who truly could not afford schooling to various schools to ensure they finished high school. Once they had padded their records with a few achievements, they simply washed their hands of them.

It was still understandable for Boss Qin to tell a lie for the sake of a polished résumé.

As long as he was still an upstanding young man.

The thought had barely surfaced when Xu Jiahao said, "I hired you because you're good at fighting. Do you know why I need people who are good at fighting?"

Qin Heng said nothing, while Zhang Qiuwen shook his head.

"A good environment has to be maintained." Xu Jiahao's expression was unreadable. "Gangnan is a mixed bag. There are often little punks around, and plenty of people involved in shady business. If you're going to make a living out here, you need to know how to fight."

He pointed at the rules posted behind him.

There were fifteen in total, including a ban on smoking.

"Keep these in mind. If a customer breaks one, go over and politely advise them once. If they won't listen, ask them to leave. I don't care who you used to run with. Now that you're with me, behave yourselves and learn the rules."

Boss Xu paused, then added, "Be sharp around customers who come alone. Ask whether they need a sparring partner. Ten yuan an hour, and you can keep the money yourselves. If the customer says they don't need one, don't cling to them and keep selling. You're adults too..."

Chi Ning's head buzzed, and he could no longer take in a word.

It was not as though he could not understand Xu Jiahao's tactic of offering a carrot before delivering a warning. Nor could he miss all the implications in his words.

He had even used phrases like "who you used to run with"...

Chi Ning thought of the gold chain around Boss Xu's neck. Even the words in the promotional booklet seemed to double.

When Qin Heng was young, he had not merely been some little punk.

He had gotten involved in the real thing.

Fortunately, Xu Jiahao seemed like a decent enough person. He would not go as far as murder and robbery. At most, he probably did a little smuggling. Judging by the man, his businesses might already have all been laundered clean, and he was nearing retirement.

Chi Ning was so furious that his mind went blank.

Boss Xu had said Qin Heng and Zhang Qiuwen were adults.

Qin Heng was actually an adult?

In his previous life, this man had told him they were only a year apart. Chi Ning was sixteen now, so Qin Heng should have been seventeen.

Nothing but lies!

The only real thing about him was that handsome face.

What upstanding young man, what model student—fake, all fake!

This man had repeatedly claimed that the meals he brought Chi Ning were cooked by himself. Thinking about it now, that might not have been true either.

After all, he and Qin Heng had always met near the laboratory. Who knew whether Qin Heng had made the food himself or hired a chef to prepare it, packed it into lunch boxes, and brought it over to fool him?

Ha!

Chi Ning gave a short, cold laugh in his heart.

A CEO managing countless affairs every day—how could he possibly have time to cook for Chi Ning himself? Yet Chi Ning had believed him completely! He had even seriously considered whether he should try being with Qin Heng.

He had truly been blind!

No.

That was not right either.

Thinking it over carefully, perhaps he had just been too moved by those "fake meals," and too lonely in life. He had wanted someone to keep him company. It did not necessarily mean he had fallen for Qin Heng. He had probably only thought the Qin Heng of that time was suitable.

But it did not matter now.

His entire family was alive now. He was not lonely at all.

Chi Ning comforted himself and gradually calmed down. Once his gaze refocused, the words in the booklet no longer doubled. They read smoothly and clearly again.

"...The championship prize for the Huaguo Nine-Ball Open is forty thousand US dollars, the championship prize for the Huaguo American Pool Open is fifty thousand US dollars, and the Huaguo Snooker Open offers eighty-five thousand British pounds, equivalent to one hundred and five thousand US dollars.

Other private tournaments are settled according to the sponsorship fees provided by the sponsors, with no fixed amount."

Looking at the prize amounts in the booklet, Chi Ning quickly calculated how much it would cost to set up a personal laboratory. The last trace of anger in his heart vanished.

Provided he won the championships, he would need to compete in the Huaguo Snooker Open twice to finish outfitting his laboratory.

Dating?

Nothing but an obstacle.

Chi Ning calmly put down the promotional booklet and said to Boss Xu, "A snooker table for two hours."

Xu Jiahao got to his feet, grabbed Zhang Qiuwen by the shoulder, and pushed him in front of the computer. "Come on. I just taught you. Do it once for me."

Only then did Zhang Qiuwen realize who had spoken. He immediately forgot his fear of the owner and said happily, "Wow, Second Young Master Chi, you really came?"

Chi Ning frowned slightly. "Just call me by my name."

Xu Jiahao gave Chi Ning another look.

He had not noticed before, but thinking about it now, Chi was not a common surname. There was only one wealthy Chi family in Yangcheng. He did not pay much attention to wealthy families, so he had failed to recognize him immediately.

He had not expected the two young men he had casually hired to have connections like this.

Xu Jiahao casually asked, "Are you friends?"

Just as Qin Heng was about to speak, Chi Ning cut in first. "No. We met once."

Qin Heng raised an eyebrow, then closed his open mouth again.

Earlier that day, when Chi Ning had walked up to him, he had started smiling before even saying anything. He had seemed obedient and friendly, but after learning Qin Heng was not a student at Gangnan International High School, he had turned cold and distant.

Qin Heng lowered his eyes, recalling the customer who had later approached him holding two hundred yuan.

That person was not anyone who had bought bayberry juice from him before. He remembered every customer who had paid him, and that person was a complete stranger.

It was strange for someone who had never even drunk a bottle of bayberry juice to buy an entire case.

Suspicion had arisen in him. He followed the person for a while and saw him get into a silver-gray business van. He also saw Chi Ning in the back seat.