This was way too melodramatic!

Lu Yanchu took a breath, trying hard to steady his emotions. "Whether you believe me or not, Ling Xi has already..."

He was about to say that Ling Xi was no longer with him when Ji Ting suddenly sprang to his feet.

Both men looked over. Ji Ting's expressionless face was as still as water, yet somehow they could sense the anger beneath it.

"Ji Yanzhi, Lu Yanchu." Ji Ting half lowered his eyes, his voice utterly level. "You've gone too far."

With that, he pulled the utterly bewildered Xu Ren to his feet. "Let's go."

As the two of them walked out, Ji Ting kept his eyes straight ahead, as though he were profoundly disappointed in both men.

"Ji..."

Lu Yanchu wanted to ask him to stay, but the door to the private room shut mercilessly before he could.

He lowered his eyes slightly, unable to keep regret from rising in his chest. He had clearly come to discuss business today, yet he had not only gotten into an argument with Ji Yanzhi, but dragged Ji Ting into it as well.

Meanwhile, Ji Yanzhi had worn an icy expression ever since Ji Ting left. Clearly, he was in a foul mood too.

Just as the two men were lost in their own thoughts, Ji Ting's voice abruptly rang out in their heads-

[Hurry up. Fooling them for a moment doesn't mean it'll last. Once they catch on, I won't be able to get away.]

Ji Yanzhi narrowed his dark eyes and let out a cold scoff.

Yet barely had that scoff faded when he heard Lu Yanchu laugh too. He abruptly raised his cold gaze. "What are you laughing at?"

Of course Ji Yanzhi knew what he was laughing at. He was simply annoyed and looking for a fight.

Lu Yanchu's lips remained curved, his smile undiminished. "I'm in a good mood, so naturally I laughed. Does that fall under your jurisdiction too, President Ji?"

Ji Yanzhi's lips curled into a sneer. "If I remember correctly, you came here today to beg me to intervene, didn't you?"

"If you don't give Ji Ting a hard time when you get home, President Ji, I can give up on seeking Shili's help," Lu Yanchu said.

Ji Yanzhi's expression darkened. "He's my brother. Who are you to tell me how to treat him?"

"But Ji Ting was standing up for me..."

Ji Ting had no idea that the two men upstairs had started arguing again because of his thoughts. After leaving, he pulled Xu Ren into the car and quickly drove away from the club.

After turning at the first intersection, he asked, "Xu Ren, should I take you straight back to school?"

Yet even after he finished speaking, Xu Ren gave no answer. Ji Ting turned to look and found Xu Ren staring blankly at him, his mouth half open.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Xu Ren shook his head and asked dazedly, "Teacher Ji, can I ask you something?"

Ji Ting could more or less guess what he wanted to ask, so he replied, "You heard correctly. Ling Xi was my first love, but there's nothing between us anymore."

"She..." Xu Ren licked his dry lips. "Was that girl especially..."

"Ling Xi is a man."

Those words hit Xu Ren like a vicious flick to the forehead. He was utterly stunned. "Teacher Ji, you're gay?!"

Ji Ting fell silent for a moment, then asked evenly, "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, no, no." Xu Ren waved his hands frantically and hurried to explain. "I-I respect all sexual orientations. Really!"

Although same-sex marriage was not yet legal in Huaguo, society had become much more open-minded. Sexual orientation had long since ceased to be an issue.

Xu Ren simply hadn't expected Ji Ting to like men. It wasn't that he couldn't like them; Xu Ren was just astonished that Ji Ting would date anyone at all.

In his mind, Teacher Ji existed to light up the world's technology tree. He was born for physics, and the people the world called geniuses were mere specks of dust beside him.

Could a true god like that actually fall in love like an ordinary mortal?

Even after quite a while, Xu Ren still couldn't calm down. He held back again and again, but ultimately couldn't help asking, "Teacher Ji, how did you and Ling Xi end up dating?"

"He was the son of a good friend of my mother's. Later, the Ling family went bankrupt, and Ling Xi moved into our house temporarily." Ji Ting's tone was utterly unruffled, as though he were recounting someone else's love story. "Perhaps I just fell for his looks. I liked him the moment I saw him."

Good grief, just how good-looking was this Ling Xi???

Xu Ren was still marveling to himself when he suddenly jolted, his eyes widening. "Then-then President Ji..."

Ji Ting thought for a moment, then said calmly, "He probably fell for Ling Xi before I did. He treated Ling Xi very well when they were little, giving him practically anything he wanted."

Buddha, God, heavens above! Two brothers falling for the same person? Wasn't that way too melodramatic? Xu Ren clutched his chest, feeling as though his heart might leap out from the shock.

He swallowed hard several times, his face scrunching up. "No wonder President Ji is always so cold and hostile toward you. So that's part of the reason."

"You've misunderstood. Ji Yanzhi's dislike of me has nothing to do with Ling Xi."

What! There was another reason too??

Xu Ren struggled to squeeze the words out. "Is it... the sort of wealthy-family feud I'm imagining?"

Ji Ting was silent for a few seconds. "You could say that."

Xu Ren was starting to regret asking so many questions. He pressed his lips together. "Teacher Ji, now that I know so much, am I going to be silenced?"

"No. Ji Yanzhi hasn't killed anyone yet."

Xu Ren burst out laughing, unable to resist the way Ji Ting dropped that bombshell in such a calm tone. "Teacher Ji, I never realized you were so funny."

Ji Ting said with complete seriousness, "I've always been funny. Telling jokes is my specialty."

"Hahaha..." Xu Ren grinned and laughed again, finding the statement itself hilarious.

Now that he finally understood what had happened today, he felt a weight lift from his chest and grew curious about something else. "Teacher Ji, did the time Lu Yanchu liked Ling Xi overlap with when you were dating him?"

Ji Ting recalled the original novel's timeline and did a quick mental calculation. "Yes. When Ling Xi saved Lu Yanchu, I hadn't been dumped yet."

"Huh?" Xu Ren blinked rapidly several times. "What did he save Lu Yanchu from?"

Explaining that would require going back to Lu Yanchu's early days, when he had fallen on hard times. Deciding that would take too much talking, Ji Ting summed it up. "Lu Yanchu was in trouble, and Ling Xi happened to be passing by."

"So he saved Lu Yanchu back then, Lu Yanchu fell for him afterward, and then you got dumped?"

That part of the original novel hadn't explained why the two of them broke up at all. It had only described Ji Ting's breakdown and despondency after being dumped.

He made a rough estimate and said, "Lu Yanchu might have played a part, but most likely Ling Xi broke up with me because he thought I was completely useless back then."

"What kind of judgment does Ling Xi have? How could you possibly be useless?"

Faced with his indignation, Ji Ting remained as calm as still water. "His judgment wasn't wrong. I really was a textbook spoiled rich kid before."