Chapter 11#

Du Yijie was, after all, still a big boy, almost of age in another year. Compared to my physique, which had long since stopped developing, it was honestly quite disheartening.

He hugged me from behind, the two of us sitting in the entranceway. At first, we exchanged a few words, but then we fell silent, his arms wrapped around my shoulders. It felt warm and comforting. By the time he let me go, quite a while had passed.

Du Yijie tugged at the corner of his mouth, reached out, and gently rubbed the corners of my eyes. Softly, he said, “I’ll see you off.”

He took my hand and led me downstairs. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure how boys got along with each other. Back when I was with Wang Zheng, I was like a little wife, running wherever he went. Du Yijie’s hands were broader than most boys his age, with distinct knuckles. There were thin calluses on his index finger and the webbing between his thumb and index finger—just like Uncle Jing. Those only came from years of handling guns.

When Old He and the others saw me, they quickly walked over.

“Ah, Little Young Master, you don’t know how frantic the young master’s phone calls were, they nearly scared me to death… Uh, this is…” I was about to introduce him to Old He, but Du Yijie stepped in first and said, “I’m his…classmate.”

Fortunately, Du Yijie was wearing a light-colored shirt and had dyed his hair back to its original color. He had a handsome face, and when he smiled, it made people feel an inexplicable fondness for him. Old He quickly nodded and greeted him warmly.

Du Yijie didn’t let me see him off at the airport. He just smiled and said, “You know how messy my life is. Don’t get mixed up in it. It’s not like I’m never coming back.” When Du Yijie spoke, he liked to lean close to my ear. His voice was very magnetic when he talked softly. Maybe I should suggest he go into multimedia—with his looks and voice, he could probably become famous all over Asia.

I was only as tall as Du Yijie’s chest. When he spoke, he would lean down slightly. His presence had a reassuring quality. I rubbed my ear, my head feeling heavy and drowsy, a vague sensation stirring in my heart.

“H-how do I contact you? If you won’t let me see you off, at least leave me a phone number.” When I spoke, my voice was a little hoarse.

I took the paper and pen Old He always carried. Du Yijie leaned against my shoulder. I felt the tip of the pen move, and then he slowly folded the paper into a small square, placed it in my palm, and covered it tightly with his hand.

As I was leaving, Du Yijie was still standing at the stairway. I kept looking back, only to see that handsome young man smiling at me, his eyes red. I felt a sting in my eyes too.

After getting in the car, I slowly opened my palm.

The paper had been crumpled into a small ball.

I slowly unfolded it, then gently rubbed my eyes.

It was just a blank piece of paper.

I smiled.

There was nothing on it at all.

The annual shareholders’ banquet of the Ren Corporation was as important to them as the Spring Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival. All shareholders of the Ren Corporation would attend, and most of the Ren family’s collateral branches would show up. Among the main family, except for my second aunt, who had married and moved to Canada before I was born, and my mother, everyone would be at the banquet.

In my memory, Grandma Ren only gradually handed over her power to Third Uncle Ren after I entered high school. In this life, many things far exceeded what I remembered. Now, the entire Ren Corporation and even the construction trade in New Country were practically under Third Uncle Ren’s absolute control. Yet Grandma Ren had long since gone to New Zealand to raise sheep and enjoy her retirement.

Come to think of it, in my previous life, although Third Uncle held one-fifth of the Ren Corporation’s shares, he rarely involved himself in its operations. He was at most a titular general manager, probably not even showing his face at the company all year. Third Uncle’s illness was something he’d had since childhood—a respiratory disease with a low survival rate—yet he had endured it for over twenty years.

There’s a saying: “A scourge lasts a thousand years.”

So, I figured he still had another nine hundred and seventy-something years left to cause trouble.

In this life, on one hand, Third Uncle Ren actively sought medical treatment; on the other, he slowly consolidated his power over the Ren Corporation. I suspect that now, even a long speech from Grandma Ren wouldn’t carry as much weight as a single light cough from Third Uncle Ren.

In my previous life, I had attended the annual banquet ever since I could remember. The last year left the deepest impression—Wang Zheng and that bastard stood together at the very top, clinking their glasses, camera flashes flickering, looking like a perfect couple. It made the acid in my stomach churn nonstop. A few days earlier, I had humbled myself and gone to that bastard’s office building, stood there all day, and in the end, didn’t even get to see him before being politely but firmly shown out.

Later, I found out they were in cahoots.

Cough, they weren’t just in cahoots—there really was something going on between them…

The two of them ganged up on me and screwed me over completely. I was still foolishly thinking that he might show some consideration for our past… I, I just hoped he would give the Ren Corporation a hand—after all, at least we both shared the surname Ren. In the end, at the annual banquet, I charged up to him without thinking, pointed at his face, and called him shameless. Ha ha, that was probably the greatest thing I’d ever done.

Actually, the truly shameless one wasn’t him.

It was me.

As soon as the door opened, I saw Wang Zheng the peacock sitting on the sofa, his face as gloomy as that one comrade Lord Bao’s. I had a sudden urge to turn around and go back to the hospital to lie down.

I had come back from Du Yijie’s place just as it was getting dark. As the eldest grandson of the Wang family, Wang Zheng was still hanging around the main residence at this hour—almost as surreal as my rebirth.

But Wang Zheng was indeed dressed in formal wear, wearing white gloves, his hair fixed with wax, looking ready. When the door opened, Wang Zheng’s gaze happened to sweep over to me. My heart sank, and I saw him walking toward me. The black tailcoat fit him perfectly, and with his tall frame and model-like figure, his delicate features, and his naturally rosy lips that were now tightly pressed together, he cut quite a figure.

Old He carefully closed the door. Wang Zheng stopped five steps away from me and said coldly, “Where have you been? Coming back at this hour.”

I said to Old He, “Little He, please take my things upstairs. Yes, the room at the left end of the second-floor hallway. Thank you.”

Based on my experience from the previous life, when Wang Zheng was angry, he especially liked to take it out on the people around him. Li Ling was the perfect example.

“Ren Qiri, I’m talking to you! What kind of attitude is that—!” Wang Zheng suddenly strode over and grabbed my elbow. I sighed inwardly—he knew damned well what was going on, so why was he asking?

“Sorry, I went to see a friend and didn’t tell anyone.”

I looked up at his face—in my previous life, I had outlined the contours of that face in my dreams every night, falling asleep with a silly smile. In this life, I hadn’t really looked at him properly, and with my eyes covered for almost two months. Taking a closer look now, Wang Zheng… seemed a bit thinner.

“Ren Qiri! Don’t give me that bullshit!” I never knew Wang Zheng had such a temper when he was young. I used to think it was just stress back then, but now it seemed those violent tendencies had been cultivated since childhood.

When Old He saw Wang Zheng twisting my arm, he rushed over and stood in front of me, shouting urgently, “Young Master, what are you doing! The young master just recovered from his illness—don’t pull him like that!”

Aunt Zhang heard the commotion and hurried downstairs too. From a distance, it looked like Wang Zheng and I were fighting. Aunt Zhang cried out, “Oh my little ancestors!” and wrapped her arms around Wang Zheng, yelling, “Aiya, aiya! My good young master, what’s wrong, what’s wrong? Can’t you just talk it out?” No matter how hard they tried to pull him away, Wang Zheng kept holding onto my elbow, refusing to let go. Seeing that Aunt Zhang was about to call for more people, I panicked and growled, “Old He, step aside! Aunt Zhang, don’t pull Wang Zheng—pulling him just pulls me too! Wang Zheng, if you’ve had enough of being angry, go upstairs!”

Old He paused, muttered something about “since when did I become Old He,” and obediently stepped aside. Aunt Zhang hesitated, looking at Wang Zheng, then at me. She patted Wang Zheng’s trembling shoulder and said soothingly, “Talk it out nicely, don’t pull and push, mmkay…”

Wang Zheng followed me upstairs. Except for his iron grip on my hand, he was relatively well-behaved.

As soon as I closed the door, Wang Zheng went berserk, slamming me against the door panel and pressing his face close to mine. Startled, I tried to step back, but my foot slipped, and I fell flat on my back.

“Ren Qiri!”

Ouch, ouch, ouch… Why did they have to wax the floor so damned slippery—ouch, ouch, ouch…

Wang Zheng forgot about interrogating me for the moment. He quickly helped me up and set me down on a soft chair. I was in so much pain that tears were probably streaming down my face. Wang Zheng said frantically, “Qiri, wait here. I’ll go get Aunt Zhang! Aunt Zhang! Aunt Zhang—!”

I… I wanted to cry but had no tears.

After all that commotion, Old He, who had watched me grow up, was about to pull down my pants. I was in pain, but I still had my dignity to think about, so I grabbed my pants and held on for dear life. Old He had no choice but to hurry and get some medicinal wine. Seeing my state, he said sternly to Wang Zheng, a rare show of backbone, “Young Master, you know as well as anyone how fragile the young master’s bones are. You pull him when you’re happy and push him when you’re angry. He’s still your elder cousin, after all!”

Aunt Zhang brought the medicinal wine and handed it over. Seeing the pain I was in, she said, “This… children fighting and bickering, Young Master, there’s no need to be this angry. Besides, Young Master has been waiting since he finished his morning work, and you…”

Wang Zheng suddenly said, “Aunt Zhang, that’s enough. Please leave now.” Then he took the medicinal wine and said to Old He, “Little He, this was my fault… You’ve been busy all day too. Let me apply the medicine for Qiri. You go rest.” Old He froze, looking as if he’d seen a ghost.

Wang Zheng sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at me. Before I could protest, Aunt Zhang and Old He took the hint and left with the others. Wang Zheng’s hand was already on my waist. I quickly said, “N-no need to trouble yourself. I, I, I can do it myself…”

I…

Hallelujah.

Wang Zheng yanked my pants down in one go. He didn’t let me struggle, pressing one hand on my shoulder. When I tried to squirm again, he said angrily, “What?! It’s fine for Little He to see, but not for me?!”

This—this—how could he even compare the two?!

“Ren Qiri—if you keep struggling, I’ll take everything off!”

This—thug! A complete and utter thug!

Wang Zheng’s hands were quite cold as they slid over my hip bone. The pungent smell of medicinal wine hit my nose. I had to hand it to him for putting up with it. I turned my head away, pretending I had hired a handsome child laborer for a full-body massage. Wang Zheng was born with the personality of a young master; he had never served anyone before. Fortunately, his touch was gentle—if he had used the same force he used to grab my hand, I’d probably be heading straight back to the hospital.

Wang Zheng massaged for quite a while, making my eyelids heavy. Suddenly, he spoke, “Does it still hurt?”

I quickly shook my head and hurriedly pulled my pants back up. But Wang Zheng abruptly grabbed my hand.

What now?

I turned around and saw those obsidian-like eyes, their expression shifting. He was looking at my hand, which was slightly red, probably from the rough pulling earlier, with a few scratches still visible. I sighed softly and sat up, holding onto the headboard. Wang Zheng, who had spent some time with me in the hospital, almost instinctively wrapped his arm around my shoulder to help me sit up.

Except, this time, he didn’t let go. He sat down on the edge of the bed and said in a low voice, “I waited for you all afternoon…” Wang Zheng smelled faintly of cologne. “I wanted to pick you up, but Dad needed help. I thought if I hurried up and finished, you’d be back by then, and I could spend the afternoon with you…”

I sniffed and said, “I’m not a critical patient. If you’re busy, you don’t have to keep me company… Don’t pinch me—it hurts.”

This little brat Wang Zheng—I was his elder, after all. Cough.

“Ren Qiri, what did you and Du Yijie do all afternoon? I called over a dozen times, and Little He kept saying you were busy. Busy with what? Ren Qiri, tell me the truth—”

That sounded really weird.

Wang Zheng tightened his grip a little. “Ren Qiri, don’t get involved with those people anymore!”

I sighed softly and patted Wang Zheng’s hand gently, the way I would soothe a son. As it turned out, genes are magical, and blood ties are great.

Wang Zheng gave a cold snort. He leaned his head against mine and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“Wang Zheng, he’s going to Hong Kong. I went to see him and had a meal with him.” My eyes started to sting again, and somehow, there was a sour feeling in my chest too.

“You know I don’t have many friends—just a few…”

Maybe I was really tired, because I started to feel drowsy. Wang Zheng held me, and we lay down together.

When I first met him as a child, we used to do this a lot—sleeping together like this.

Later on, somehow, we drifted apart.

Wang Zheng pressed his head against mine and said, a little petulantly, “What do you need them for? You have me.”

“What time are you going to the annual banquet? It’s already past eight…” I was really sleepy, so I snuggled into the crook of his shoulder. Wang Zheng seemed to like that; his tone softened, and he leaned against me, saying, “I’m not going. I won’t go. I’ll stay and sleep with you.”

I smiled.

Actually, Wang Zheng didn’t need to blame himself.

The day I was caught and beaten up by Ade and the others, it really wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t obligated to watch over me every second.

I sighed softly.

I thought, just give it some time.

Just like when we were kids—once enough time passed—

He would get tired of it.