Listen to me, don't go

Li Yi used to love clinging to him, his eyes sparkling as he said he only liked him. Now, when he saw him, he was so annoyed he could barely be bothered to lift his eyelids.

Zhou Xuanze didn't think a person could change so quickly. Even when he'd gone further in the past, all he'd had to do was coax Li Yi a little, and he'd obediently come running back.

Back then, Li Yi was always getting jealous of Junjia, getting angry at the slightest thing. He found it irritating.

When he was in a good mood, he'd coax him a little. When he wasn't, he'd leave him alone, and Li Yi would soothe himself.

This time, he'd kept it up a little longer, but instead of getting annoyed, Zhou Xuanze found himself caring even more.

It felt as though Li Yi meant it this time, as though he was going to break out of his cage and fly beyond his control!

He couldn't help feeling a little panicked.

"Brother Xuanze, why did you come here alone? The race is about to start. Go get ready." Lu Junjia came over to call him, offering thoughtful encouragement. "You'll definitely take first place again tonight!"

"Mm," Zhou Xuanze replied listlessly.

As Li Yi walked along over there, something suddenly occurred to him. Since the main conflict in this part of the plot was whether to save Zhou Xuanze or Wen Chi first, wouldn't eliminating the source of that conflict mean there'd be no conflict?

With that thought, he told Shi Yan, "I still have something to take care of. You guys go ahead."

Watching Li Yi run back the way they'd come, Peng Yuyan turned to Shi Yan with a gossipy look. "The kid's running off to find another man.

"What do you make of that?"

"What do I make of it? I'll watch with my eyes!" Shi Yan set off after him.

"Awesome, bro!" Peng Yuyan laughed and followed.

"Zhou Xuanze! Wait a second." When Li Yi returned, he saw Lu Junjia about to pull Zhou Xuanze away and immediately called out to stop him.

"!" The pleasant surprise came so suddenly that Zhou Xuanze was already chanting in his head: Li Yi came back for me. He's regretting it. He must be regretting it.

"What is it?" His feet stopped at once, while he struggled to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up.

"Can you sit out the race?"

To make his argument more convincing, Li Yi pointed at the grass on the ground. "Look at the Bermuda grass. It's already starting to turn white. That means a downpour is coming.

"Heavy rain won't just block your vision. It'll make your tires skid too. It's dangerous."

"You're... worried about me?" Zhou Xuanze hadn't listened to anything else, only picking out a few key points. Li Yi was afraid the heavy rain would make his tires skid and didn't want him to go.

He really couldn't stop worrying about him after all!

"Li Yi, what nonsense are you talking about? Where's this rain tonight?" Lu Junjia grabbed Zhou Xuanze's sleeve. "Brother Xuanze has been preparing for tonight's race for ages.

"Besides, so many rich kids have gathered here tonight. Are you trying to embarrass Brother Xuanze by making him withdraw now?"

"What's more important, your pride or your life? This is a winding mountain road! If you go over the edge, the car will be wrecked and you'll die!"

Li Yi patiently tried to persuade him. "Don't you value your life more than anyone? Sure, you're only the Zhou family's neglected second son, but at least you don't have to worry about food or clothing. Your older brother isn't actually going to let you starve.

"There's absolutely no need for you to take this risk just to win some lousy first place. That prize is only good for bragging about. It won't put food on the table.

"Listen to me, don't go."

The first part had left Zhou Xuanze a little touched. The rest infuriated him.

"Are you saying I'm afraid to die?"

"Aren't you?" Li Yi answered honestly, still trying to persuade him. "There really will be a downpour. An ambulance won't get here in time. If anything happens, you can just lie down and wait for the end."

"I see it now. You only came to mock me, and to think I still had expectations of you!" Zhou Xuanze's face twisted with anger as he snapped, "Now I'm definitely entering this race!"

"Hey, why does trying to talk you out of it only make you want to go more?"

Watching Zhou Xuanze charge eagerly toward his race car like a fighting rooster, Li Yi grew a little angry too. "You really don't appreciate someone trying to help. I'm telling you not to get yourself killed, but you insist on rushing to your death.

"Fine, die then!"

"Hahaha... With that mouth of his, I wouldn't be surprised if the kid's attempt at persuasion left the guy with internal injuries." Peng Yuyan couldn't stop laughing.

"Not bad." A smile touched Shi Yan's lips, and he turned to leave.

"Hey, that second son of the Zhou family just now is the kid's boyfriend, right?" Peng Yuyan asked.

"Ex-boyfriend," Shi Yan said succinctly.

"They broke up? I only just heard they were together, and now he's already an ex? These young people sure move fast when it comes to dating." Peng Yuyan chuckled. "So he's single now."

"Mm."

"That's all you've got? 'Mm'?"

"What else?"

"The consequence of never opening your mouth is not getting a wife." Peng Yuyan cast him a pointed glance, then haughtily strode ahead.

"..." Shi Yan watched his retreating figure in bewilderment, but his steps began to slow.

A little while later, footsteps sounded behind him.

"President Shi, why are you still here?" Li Yi chuckled. "Were you waiting for me?"

"Mm," Shi Yan replied lightly.

"..." Li Yi stopped chuckling and sneaked a glance at the man beside him. His expressionless face didn't look as though he was joking.

What did that mean?

Was he really waiting for me?

To ease the awkwardness, he waved a hand and casually asked, "Was everything Zhou Xuanze said just now true?"

"What things?"

"That you deliberately arranged a car crash that left your dad in a vegetative state, and smashed your stepmother's kneecaps with a hammer..."

"It's all true. What actually happened was even more horrifying. Want to hear it?"

Li Yi stopped walking and looked at the face turned toward him. Beneath prominent brow bones and broad double eyelids were long, narrow eyes, their ink-dark pupils arresting, as though they could see through everything.

"I... don't need to hear it." Li Yi lowered his head, avoiding his gaze.

"Scared?" Shi Yan's narrow eyes turned cold, a faint sneer lingering at the corners of his mouth.

"No." Li Yi didn't see his expression and simply continued, "I know how you feel. When you hate someone that much, you do get a crazed urge to take revenge on them.

"I just don't have the ability yet. Otherwise, I'd take even harsher revenge than you."

"You don't think I'm frightening? You don't think I'm a madman?" Shi Yan was a little surprised. The sneer faded from his lips, and his face returned to its expressionless state.

"No. At least you're genuine."

Li Yi looked up at him. "Just like the rumors say. Completely unreasonable, doing everything based on your own likes and dislikes, whatever you please. You decided to delete me on WeChat and did it without a word."

"I deleted you on WeChat?" Shi Yan was taken aback, then quickly remembered that he indeed had.

"You remember now, right? Good. Keep it that way," Li Yi said. "That way, I can feel comfortable interacting with you too, instead of having you constantly suspect I have ulterior motives.

"I don't even have you on WeChat, so you don't have to worry about me pestering you."

"Kid, you really hold a grudge." Shi Yan couldn't help laughing. "Then how about I add you back?"