Chapter 43#

“What happened to your mouth?” Xia Yuantu pointed at Qiao Nanqi’s lower lip.

Qiao Nanqi sat down to one side, offering no answer to the question.

It wasn’t even late at night, yet he looked utterly exhausted, resting his forehead on one hand with his eyes half-closed.

Whether it was Xiao Wu or Xia Yuantu, they were starting to get used to him being in this state.

Xia Yuantu saw through it at a glance: “What’s going on with you and Zhao Rong again?”

At the mention of this name, Qiao Nanqi slowly opened his eyes.

He didn’t speak immediately. Instead, his gaze darkened as if he had thought of something. After a moment, he said: “Today… I placed everything I own before him, but he said I…”

“He said I don’t know how to love someone.”

Xia Yuantu raised an eyebrow: “How rare, he was actually telling the truth.”

Qiao Nanqi shot him a glance.

But he was far too dejected today. In the past, such a look would have been a few degrees colder, but now it couldn’t even manage a chill.

Xia Yuantu wasn’t intimidated by the look. “I used to think you didn’t really care about the things between you and Zhao Rong. I even thought you, Old Qiao, were quite impressive when it came to being heartless.”

“I didn’t expect to see the day you’d admit defeat.”

In the past, Qiao Nanqi wouldn’t have responded to a single word of such talk, treating it all as Xia Yuantu’s usual noisiness.

But this time, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he gave a rare, self-deprecating smile.

“Yes, I’ve fallen for him.”

Xia Yuantu was stunned.

The tone still carried a sense of solemnity; even his admission was made with a great deal of pride. Yet, Xia Yuantu could hear the madness bordering on collapse within it.

He subconsciously looked at the materials in front of him that needed to be transferred to Qiao Nanqi, and suddenly felt a bit hesitant.

But Qiao Nanqi asked him: “What exactly is the matter? Xiao Wu told me that the involvement with Chen Senior and Chen Junior brought up some of Zhao Rong’s matters?”

He sat up straight, his previously dejected expression completely vanishing, replaced by sheer sharpness.

Seeing his look—as if he would handle the aftermath for Zhao Rong even if the man had done something heinous—Xia Yuantu hurriedly said: “It’s not that those messy affairs are related to Zhao Rong. How should I put it… sigh, just look at these yourself. Of those two pieces of trash from the Chen family, Chen Senior still has some backbone, but Chen Junior was quick to buckle. He even thought of snitching on some of Chen Senior’s affairs to reduce his own sentence. This is one of the matters regarding Zhao Rong that he confessed to.”

He pushed the items toward Qiao Nanqi, his expression somewhat conflicted.

If this matter had happened a few months ago, perhaps even if Qiao Nanqi had known, it would have just been one more thing added to the list of what He Nan and the Chen family had done.

But for the current Qiao Nanqi…

He added: “I’ll give you a heads-up first. These things happened many years ago, and both Chen Senior and Chen Junior are already finished. It’s useless to have any thoughts about it now.”

“Stay calm after you finish reading.”

Xia Yuantu’s words seemed to have the opposite effect, making Qiao Nanqi’s already serious expression grow even deeper.

He took the materials and began to read carefully from the very first line.

After reading just a few paragraphs, his hand not holding the documents quietly clenched into a fist.

He didn’t say a word; he just kept his head lowered, and no one could see his expression.

The silence was terrifying.

Perhaps worried that Qiao Nanqi’s quiet reading was too frightening, Xia Yuantu thought for a moment and still tried to speak in a lighthearted tone: “Most of this was said by Chen Junior and their family’s nanny.”

“It’s only a few pages; you should finish reading it soon.”

Night.

Night had just fallen, the very time when the excitement began amidst the glitz and glamour of prosperity.

A waiter walked through the corridor, carrying freshly brewed tea, and arrived at the billiard table at the very end.

Before putting it down, the waiter couldn’t help but steal a few glances at the young man who was leaning over to push the cue—tall, well-built, and possessing a temperament rarely seen even in such high-class establishments.

Not until the other party neatly sent off the first ball, turned his head to look at him, and smiled, saying: “Thank you, just leave it there.”

He had clearly sensed the waiter’s gaze.

Despite this, he remained composed, his peach-blossom eyes curving slightly. He was gentle and polite, showing no intention of blaming the person for staring.

Caught red-handed, the waiter hurriedly set down the items, averted his gaze, and left.

Liu Shun watched the whole thing and nudged Zhao Rong with his elbow: “Hey, Third Young Master, it’s different coming out with you. Even the people serving tea take a few extra looks. When I come with others, these people can’t wait to leave.”

Zhao Rong smiled helplessly, stepped forward, took a sip of the tea, and said: “It’s your turn. I’ve finished the break.”

Liu Shun glanced at the tea in his cup: “Didn’t you use to love drinking Longjing? Why is it red?”

Zhao Rong used to drink Longjing often. Whenever he wasn’t drinking alcohol, he would drink Longjing. Actually, it was because Qiao Nanqi loved it.

Although he also loved tea, he preferred black tea. It was because Qiao Nanqi was elegant and loved Longjing. Naturally, back then, he wanted to be closer to Qiao Nanqi in every way, so he followed Qiao Nanqi in drinking Longjing. After drinking it for a while, he even got somewhat used to it.

Now, he had just finished his physical checkup and was preparing to take good care of his health, so he naturally couldn’t keep those habits any longer.

He didn’t mention this and simply replied: “Changing flavors. I got tired of it and wanted to try something different.”

In the blink of an eye, Liu Shun had already missed a shot. But he wasn’t annoyed at all, immediately stepping aside of his own accord to let Zhao Rong take the next shot.

Everyone in the circle knew Zhao Rong played billiards well. Before the Chen family collapsed, everyone said the Third Young Master of the Chen family was a good-for-nothing no different from them. However, he was the exception of being “fair without and foul within”—he was a player, excelling in all such activities.

For something like this, Zhao Rong had only invited him, saying they’d play together, but in reality, he was just looking for someone to chat with—after all, his meager skills were nowhere near Zhao Rong’s level.

Sure enough, after Zhao Rong picked up the cue, Liu Shun stood by and watched as ball after ball went into the holes in succession; there was nothing for him to do.

Big Qiao is also an expert in this area…

Thinking of the matters between Zhao Rong and Qiao Nanqi that he hadn’t quite fully processed yet, Liu Shun’s curiosity was piqued: “Third Young Master, your skill… did Big Qiao teach you…?”

Zhao Rong positioned his cue methodically, his movement to push the cue showing no hesitation.

Amidst the crisp sound of the balls colliding, he said: “No.”

How could Qiao Nanqi possibly have taught him?

“Then what’s the situation between you and that one from the Lu family? Thinking about it, I still find it too hard to believe,” Liu Shun was usually someone without much ambition, so his words lacked any hidden undercurrents. It could be said his lack of emotional intelligence was at its peak. “Lately, others have been making all sorts of guesses about your family and the Qiao family, except for… cough. Now that you’ve broken up, if Big Qiao finds out you’ve had a change of heart for someone named Lu…”

The others around them were far away, but Liu Shun was subconsciously very guilty, lowering his voice: “Will we be dealt with?”

Knowing what kind of person Liu Shun was, Zhao Rong wasn’t angry. He just said: “Stop making up things in your head every day.”

Previously, he had been worried that Qiao Nanqi would intervene in his marriage contract with Lu Xingping, or that Lu Xingping would directly tell Qiao Nanqi all his secrets. That was why he had acted so carefully before.

In the blink of an eye, the thing he had to worry about now had changed.

“You don’t need to worry about the matter between me and Senior.”

He and Lu Xingping were still giving each other time to consider.

Liu Shun asked him again: “Then the one I introduced to you that day—are you interested?”

“The one who looks a bit like Lu Xingping?”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

“Dismiss the person properly,” Zhao Rong said. “I’m not…”

He paused.

At that moment, the words about to escape his lips were actually “don’t intend to.”

He didn’t intend to—at least for now, he had no heart to go like anyone else.

He lowered his eyes, stood up, and drank a few more cups of tea.

After playing several rounds of billiards to his heart’s content, the complex emotions brought by Qiao Nanqi during the day were finally suppressed by a lot.

He took out his phone and played with it leisurely for a while, scrolling to the news that the investigation into the cases filed against the Chen family had been completed.

His fingertip scrolling through the screen paused.

At this moment, he thought of many, many things.

Many, many things related to the Chen family.

And one more thing that happened four or five years ago, which he could not forget.

When Zhao Rong transmigrated as a piece of cannon fodder in the book “Journey Home,” he was very clear about the Chen family, Qiao Nanqi, and the original plot line. He knew his position as cannon fodder very well and had also weighed what he could do alone with his limited strength. From the moment he returned to the Chen family at nineteen, he put on an appearance of starting to degenerate because he had just entered a world of glitz and glamour.

In those first two years, Chen Fengnian had just left. Although the old matriarch of the Chen family was bedridden with a serious illness, she hadn’t passed away yet, and the secret will that partitioned the property hadn’t appeared.

At that time, the inheritance rights of the Chen family were undecided. Although everyone assumed it would be Chen Zehe, as long as the old matriarch didn’t hand everything over to Chen Zehe, Zhao Rong was a threat.

In the beginning, Chen Senior and Chen Junior often tested him, both openly and secretly.

Once, Chen Senior asked him: “Xiao Rong, you did so well before university. Why have your grades been so poor after entering university?”

He just smiled: “I didn’t have money to spend before. Now that I don’t need to work hard, why should I still study?”

Only then did Chen Senior feel relieved.

He liked peace and quiet. Sometimes, he really didn’t want to go to those noisy venues one after another. After staying at home for just half a month, Chen Junior would come to ask him: “Xiao Rong, what have you been doing at home lately?”

“Playing games,” Zhao Rong replied. “A new game came out recently that I like a lot.”

“I’m also a bit interested. Why don’t I play with you, Cousin?”

Later, he stayed up all night to buy a game account that had been used for half a month, practiced for a whole night, and completely memorized all the visible information in that account. He finally managed to fool Chen Junior the next day.

He had originally maintained this balance very well.

Until later, for Qiao Nanqi’s sake, he couldn’t hold back and went to the school library to be a librarian.

He did it secretly and didn’t perform any ostentatious acts, but in the end, he was still discovered by Chen Zehe. Chen Senior and Chen Junior, as usual, found a random excuse and asked him to return to the Chen family’s ancestral home for a meal to “catch up.”

At first, Zhao Rong thought this “catching up” would be just like the previous tests and suppression, and he would be fine after enduring one night.

But to his surprise, once he arrived, Chen Zehe directly had bodyguards drag him into a room with sealed windows and took away his phone. The Chen family’s ancestral home occupied too much land, and there were no other people around. In such a place, without a phone and with the windows and doors sealed, it was impossible for him to find a chance to get out.

Zhao Rong’s face turned pale at the time: “Cousin, this is…”

Chen Zehe played with the phone in his hand and said slowly: “Lately, I’ve been hearing the elders say you’re not doing honest work. You are, after all, Eldest Uncle’s only biological son. Being so useless—isn’t that a disgrace to the Chen family?”

This was truly a case of the pot calling the kettle black—clearly, the person who least wanted him to be successful was Chen Zehe.

Zhao Rong smiled forcedly and said: “I don’t have much ambition. Isn’t Cousin here for the Chen family? Even if I’m useless, Cousin won’t ignore me for the rest of my life.”

But Chen Zehe said: “That won’t do. Second Brother and I discussed it. You don’t like studying, so we will supervise your studies.”

At first, Zhao Rong didn’t understand what Chen Zehe meant by those words.

But he was locked up in the Chen family. The nannies and bodyguards in the house were all Chen Zehe’s people. No one helped him, and he couldn’t do anything or contact anyone.

On the second day of being locked up by Chen Zehe, Chen Zehe had someone bring him some books that were all related to company management. Using the high-sounding reason of supervising him, he said: “To prevent you from being distracted, I’ll keep the phone. I’ll tell your friends. Work hard, Xiao Rong. Eat after you finish reading what’s required for today.”

Zhao Rong immediately understood Chen Zehe’s purpose.

If he truly read them, all his previous disguises would be for naught, and the consequences would be unimaginable. He didn’t matter as an individual, but Zhao Ming was still in the nursing home.

But if he didn’t read them, Chen Zehe clearly intended to starve him, using this method to force him and see if he was truly a dandy.

Zhao Rong naturally didn’t read.

And naturally, Chen Zehe was as good as his word and gave him nothing to eat.

Zhao Rong had been in poor health since childhood. In the first few days, he was so hungry it was truly painful. Looking at those things on the desk, for a moment, he did think—he would go and tell Chen Zehe that he knew these things, so that he could get out and stop being in pain.

But in the end, he still held back.

He pretended he was facing these things every day but just couldn’t memorize or learn them.

Chen Zehe had an excellent grasp of his state. Whenever his body was about to give out, he would have someone bring him a meal. After he finished eating, it was another round of tug-of-war. This person also always had the bodyguards wake him up in the middle of the night, claiming it was wrong to be lazy.

This lasted for a whole month.

Listening to him say over and over again “I really don’t know how,” Chen Zehe finally said with a hint of satisfaction: “You’re truly hopeless.”

Only then did he let Zhao Rong leave.

After getting out, Zhao Rong went directly into the hospital for recuperation.

Chen Senior and Chen Junior’s hands were already dirty; they were adept at doing these things and left no handles behind. Zhao Rong had no chance to call for help while locked in the Chen family home. After coming out, whatever he did was already meaningless and might even harm Zhao Ming, who had no way of protecting herself without him.

He could only act as if nothing had happened.

Afterward, although he still went to the library often and kept those book lists for Qiao Nanqi, he never read a book in front of others again.

Moreover, the miniature alarm he carried with him never left his side again.

Qiao Nanqi’s palms were pierced by his own fingernails.

His expression grew deeper and deeper, his back teeth clenched, and the veins on his forehead bulged slightly under extreme anger. His eyes turned imperceptibly red.

But he didn’t lash out immediately.

He still read word by word until the last line.

When he saw the last word, his hand on the materials suddenly locked, the corners of the papers crumpled, and he directly balled the materials in his hand, clutching them tightly.

Xia Yuantu watched from the side and, seeing things were not good, said: “Old Qiao, stay calm…”

Qiao Nanqi took a deep breath.

But he couldn’t stay calm at all.

He never knew what Zhao Rong had gone through in those years before they were together.

He also never knew what Chen Zehe had done to Zhao Rong.

Looking back now, he realized that besides Zhao Rong’s family background and their first meeting, he actually knew nothing about what Zhao Rong had experienced or what he was like when not in front of him.

He even thought, when Zhao Rong moved out, that Zhao Rong was throwing a tantrum over those dirty trash of the Chen family.

Today—he had almost made Zhao Rong feel that kind of despair of being isolated and without help again today.

“Rrip—”

A dull sound of paper tearing rang out. Qiao Nanqi came to his senses only to find that, unconsciously, he had used too much force and already torn the materials.

He let go.

“You said I deserved it,” he said to Xia Yuantu. “He said I never knew him.”

“You were both right.”