PTBLSI chapter 11

 

Qi Xi walked from the cafeteria to the library, but Fu Yanchuan ignored him. Aside from when Fu Yanchuan received the transfer and sent an automatic reply after they added each other, he hadn’t sent Qi Xi a single message.

He clicked his tongue at his phone, put it away, and laid down to sleep in a corner of the library. As for whether he was gay or liked men, he felt it wasn’t important and couldn’t be proven, so he decided not to think about it. After all, he wasn’t planning to date Fu Yanchuan.

During the afternoon classes, Qi Xi tried to pay attention, but he started to get sleepy. He had wanted to apply to an art academy back then, but his dad felt that drawing was useless and that you couldn’t find a job doing it, so he forced him to apply to a bottom-tier business school. After studying for so long, he had reached the point where it felt like listening to heavenly scriptures: no matter how hard he try, there are still no results.

However, time passed quickly when he dozed off in class. He had just started to dream when class ended. He immediately packed his things and went to his dad’s place to get clothes.

When he lived with his dad, he took the subway to school every day. His dad had never driven him because the school was too far away, yet he felt that his home was close enough and that there was no need for him to live on campus.

At the entrance of the residential compound, the security guard who knew him greeted him: “School’s over?”

“I don’t live here anymore. I’m just here to get some things today. I won’t be coming again.”

The guard had worked there for many years and knew something about the Qi Xi family. When he heard Qi Xi say this, he guessed the reason and wanted to comfort the child.

However, Qi Xi didn’t look sad at all, he spun past the guard like a top.

Qi Xi walked to the front door of the house that had been his home just two days ago and entered the code to open it. The system reminded him: “Wrong password.”

He tried again, then a third time, but it was still wrong. Then the nanny came to open the door. Seeing him didn’t surprise her; it was as if she had guessed he would come.

He smiled and said, “Auntie, I’m here to get the rest of my clothes. Can I go in?”

The nanny looked at him strangely, then made space at the door. He went straight for the stairs, but after taking one step, someone called out to him from behind.

“Qi Xi, what are you here for?”

Qi Xi turned around. His father’s second wife walked over from the living room. He replied, “Getting clothes,” then ran upstairs. He pushed open the door to his room and froze at the doorway.

The cat climbing frame was gone. The bed had been dismantled. The wardrobe was gone, too. Even the wall paint had been scraped off. Clearly, it was being prepared for renovation. Not a single thing that belonged to him was left.

His stepmother, Cui Tingting, walked up behind him, crossed her arms, and said carelessly, “You didn’t say you were coming back to get anything. I thought you didn’t want it anymore, so everything in the room was thrown out yesterday.”

Qi Xi had always had a good temper. You could say he was stupid or careless; most of the time, he really didn’t care. Even when he was kicked out of the house on his birthday, he wasn’t angry.

But at that moment, he glared angrily at Cui Tingting. “Why did you throw away my clothes without telling me?”

Cui Tingting didn’t take his anger seriously. She replied disdainfully, “You didn’t say you wanted them. Didn’t you say that everything was already packed when you left? I thought you didn’t want them. How is that my fault?”

Qi Xi sniffed and suddenly kicked the door hard. The door panel slammed into the wall with a loud bang. Holding back tears, he said fiercely to Cui Tingting, “You did it on purpose. You’re afraid I’ll come back, so you rushed to tear down my room and throw away my clothes. I don’t care at all. My dad not coming home isn’t because you keep arguing with me. It’s because he doesn’t like his wife. He didn’t like my mom, and he doesn’t like you either. Even if you drive all of us away, he still won’t come back.”

Smack!

Cui Tingting slapped Qi Xi, but he squatted down, so her slap hit the doorframe instead. It hurt her hand so much that she stomped her foot in pain.

She gritted her teeth and glared at Qi Xi. “Uneducated thing! Stop talking nonsense!”

Qi Xi slipped out from under Cui Tingting’s arm and stood in the middle of the hallway. Copying Fu Yanchuan, he looked at Cui Tingting and said, “Hmph. Whether I’m talking nonsense or not, you know best. I came today to get clothes and to do one more thing.”

Cui Tingting rubbed her swollen, red hand. She had thought about getting along well with Qi Xi, but less than half a year after she moved in, Qi Feng had gone behind her back and messed around outside again. Naturally, the helpless Qi Xi became the scapegoat for the family’s conflicts.

She looked at Qi Xi coldly and sneered, “I don’t care what business you have. Your dad won’t agree to let you come back.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. I don’t want to come back either.”

Qi Xi organized his thoughts and said, “I want to talk about my grandpa’s house. Why did my uncle sell it? Did my grandpa leave a will? You have to get the house back for me. Otherwise, I’ll come back and live here, and I’ll make your life miserable every day.”

“What are you talking about?”

Cui Tingting didn’t understand what Qi Xi meant. Qi Xi said impatiently, “Why are you so stupid? My uncle sold my grandpa’s house, and you still let me move there? Now I’m homeless! Got it?”

“Your uncle? Didn’t he die a long time ago? How could he sell a house? Stop messing around with me.”

“Your uncle is the one who supposedly died. He just disappeared.”

Cui Tingting snorted coldly. “He sold your house, and you’re still speaking up for him?”

“Right.” Qi Xi realized he’d gone off track and returned to the point. “Anyway, if you don’t give the house back to me, I won’t have a home. I’ll come back here to live. You decide!”

Cui Tingting was confused. After Qi Xi finished speaking, he arrogantly turned around and left. She realized that, in just two days, this little brat had become increasingly irritating.

Qi Xi went downstairs and ran into Qi Zhounan, who had just come home from school. The teenager stopped at the door and called out to him, “Brother.”

Qi Xi casually patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, “Your mom is very angry today. Bye.”

“Brother!”

Qi Zhounan tried to grab him, but when he turned around, Qi Xi had already run out of the yard. When he went back inside, Cui Tingting kicked the potted plant on the stairway with one foot, making a loud crash.

He lowered his head, his eyes turning cold for an instant. After a moment, they became gentle and obedient again. He walked toward Cui Tingting and said, “Mom, you know Brother’s not very smart. He didn’t mean what he said.”

“He didn’t mean it?” Cui Tingting’s anger grew as she spoke, venting all her emotions at Qi Zhounan. “I do so much and endure so much. None of it is for anyone but you! Who knows if your dad has made you a few more brothers outside? And you just play around every day. Your dad didn’t come home last night either. Couldn’t you even call to ask?”

Qi Zhounan lightly curled the corner of his mouth but didn’t reply.

Qi Xi walked outside the residential compound, stopped by the roadside, kicked the flowerbed, and then crouched down, unsure of what to do.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t sad. It was just that he had already understood a few years ago that being sad was useless—no one cared whether he was sad or not. He blamed himself for not taking all his clothes when he left. The coldest time of year was about to arrive, and the money he had left was only enough to buy one coat at most. Brother Zha said he’d help him look for jobs, but he still hadn’t replied. Soon, he wouldn’t have any clothes to wear.

In that instant, all of Qi Xi’s grievances came rushing back. He wondered if Fu Yanchuan could lend him some more clothes.

Just as he thought of him, Qi Xi’s phone rang. He took it out, and sure enough, it was Fu Yanchuan. He happily picked up and immediately heard Fu Yanchuan’s gentle, pleasant voice.

“Are you out of class? I’ve sent the driver to pick you up.”

“I’m not at school. I left a while ago.”

Fu Yanchuan’s voice paused for half a second. “Where are you? Send me your location.”

“I—I—”

Thinking about where he was, Qi Xi suddenly felt aggrieved again. “I’m at my dad’s place. I came to get my clothes, but they threw all my clothes away! They tore down my bed and destroyed my whole room. He doesn’t want me anymore. Brother Yan, I don’t even have a dad anymore.”

Fu Yanchuan was silent for a moment, then said, “Send me your location.”

“Are you coming to pick me up?”

“I’ll have the driver go over.”

Hearing that Fu Yanchuan wasn’t coming himself, Qi Xi felt a little disappointed.

Fu Yanchuan hung up, looked at the location Qi Xi had sent him, and only then noticed the earlier message.

[Do you think I’m gay?]

The question came out of nowhere. He couldn’t figure out why Qi Xi had sent it and didn’t take it seriously. He forwarded Qi Xi’s location to the driver and, as he was about to exit, he sent Qi Xi one more message.

[Wait where you are. Don’t run around.]

Outside the top-floor conference room was a glass corridor. A man who looked somewhat like Fu Yanchuan came around the corner. Seeing Fu Yanchuan, the man showed a provocative smile and asked, “Yanchuan, why are you here alone and not going in?”

The man was Fu Yuejiang, Fu Yanchuan’s cousin and the son of Fu Zhenrong’s older brother. The only resemblance between them was their height and bearing.

Fu Yanchuan turned off his phone. Fu Yuejiang stared at the phone and sneered. “By the way, has the date of your engagement to Miss He been set? I didn’t get the chance to congratulate you.”

Fu Yanchuan ignored him and turned away. Fu Yuejiang blocked his way and said, “I heard that Miss He also studied dance. She’s unbelievably beautiful. I wonder how she compares with Seventh Aunt.”

When Fu Yanchuan remained silent, Fu Yuejiang continued, “After you get married, are you planning to let her keep dancing? Or will you have her stay home and be a virtuous wife and mother like Seventh Aunt?”

“That’s none of your business.”

Fu Yanchuan finally replied to Fu Yuejiang, his gaze as cold as frost.

His grandfather had married four wives and had nine children in total. Fu Zhenrong ranked seventh. While his grandfather was alive, his uncles and aunts fought each other to the death over inheritance rights. To leave the family assets to the fiercest “wolf,” his grandfather deliberately left no will.

In the end, Fu Zhenrong won that war. Having probably learned from the past, Fu Zhenrong didn’t want his children scheming against each other, so he had only one child, Fu Yanchuan.

However, in order to qualify him as an heir, he was raised extremely strictly from a young age. He almost never had a normal childhood.

Fu Zhenrong taught him to stop at nothing and control everything while establishing absolute authority over him. Fu Yanchuan dared not resist Fu Zhenrong.

After Fu Yanchuan killed a dog at age ten, Fu Zhenrong bought a dog-training base and kept over a hundred carefully selected dogs. Whenever Fu Yanchuan disobeyed him, Fu Zhenrong would take him to the base, pick the most obedient and loyal dog, and make Fu Yanchuan inject it with euthanasia[mfn]a medication used to intentionally and humanely end a life, usually to relieve severe suffering, most commonly in medical or veterinary contexts.[/mfn] himself.

“Fu Yanchuan?” Fu Yuejiang suddenly laughed mockingly. “You wouldn’t still be unable to forget Qiao Ye, would you? Qin Hui really died for nothing—”

Fu Yanchuan suddenly shot him a sharp glance. “Don’t let me hear you mention Qin Hui again. You’re not qualified.”

Fu Yuejiang laughed indifferently. “I liked him so much. You drove him into the sea. You’re the one who’s not qualified to speak for him, right?”

Without an expression, Fu Yanchuan loosened his cufflinks, walked toward Fu Yuejiang, grabbed him by the collar, and slammed him against the wall with a dull thud.

His eyes were like those of a hunting wolf as he stared at Fu Yuejiang. “You know best why he jumped into the sea. I’m only letting you live because of the law, not because I don’t dare.”

Today was the year-end shareholders’ meeting. Zhou Zhiwei was carrying documents upstairs when, from over ten meters away, she could already feel Fu Yanchuan’s terrifying aura.

It wasn’t just her; even the shareholders who had come for the meeting stopped in their tracks, not daring to approach. They restrained their breathing, afraid to make a loud sound, until Fu Yanchuan released Fu Yuejiang and returned to his usual emotionless, machine-like state. Only then did the frozen air start flowing again.

Qi Xi finally met with the driver. It was the same driver and car as before. On the way, Qi Xi wanted to buy a few cheap outfits online, but there were too many options, and he didn’t know how to choose. He compared options the whole way and, even after entering the house, he still hadn’t bought anything.

The nanny only came in the morning to clean and make breakfast and was usually not there. Lunch and dinner were prepared by a chef based on Fu Yanchuan’s requests.

Qi Xi thought no one would be home when he arrived, but he saw people coming and going in his room, scaring the orange cat into hiding in the kitchen.

“Mr. Qi, you’re back.”

Uncle Quan came out when he saw Qi Xi. Qi Xi looked toward the room door. “Uncle Quan, what are you doing?”

“Come in and take a look.”

Uncle Quan brought Qi Xi into the walk-in closet, and he was instantly dumbfounded.

The closet, which had been empty, was now completely filled. There were clothes for all four seasons, divided into homewear and going-out clothes, as well as pajamas, underwear, shoes, and socks.

“Uncle Quan, this is…”

“It was arranged by Sir for you. The sizes were provided by him. They’re mostly casual, younger styles and should fit very well. Formal wear needs to be custom-made. If you need any, we can have the tailor come measure you tomorrow.”

Qi Xi’s nose suddenly turned sour. Fu Yanchuan knew he didn’t have any clothes and bought him so many. Moved, he said, “No need! This is already enough. Brother Yan is too good to me. I need to call him and thank him.”

He immediately picked up his phone. Uncle Quan reminded him, “He’s very busy. He won’t answer. It’ll be the same if you wait until he gets back.”

As soon as Uncle Quan finished speaking, Fu Yanchuan answered. Uncle Quan’s eyes widened in surprise. Qi Xi raised his phone, and tears immediately rolled out as he cried to Fu Yanchuan.

“Brother Yan, how could you be so kind? You knew my clothes had been thrown away, yet you bought me new ones—and so many! How much did this cost? I don’t have the money to pay you back.”

Fu Yanchuan was in a meeting. Fu Zhenrong didn’t come today, so his uncles and aunts directed all their hidden hostility toward him. After dealing with rounds of questioning in the name of the shareholders, his temples throbbed with pain.

He held up his phone, stood up, and swept his gaze across the people at the table. In a completely flat tone, he said, “If there are no other questions, we’ll end here today.”

Everyone at the table watched as Fu Yanchuan turned around. The moment he walked out of the conference room, he spoke into the phone in a softer tone, “What did you just say?”

 

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