The ceiling light swayed back and forth in his field of vision, blurring before his eyes. Lian Que made a strenuous effort to lift his hand and reach upward, only for it to be firmly caught in mid-air by a single palm.
“Someone smashed an open gash into your head, yet you still refuse to stay still.”
A face leaned into his view. With a stern expression, Chen Xingjian tucked Lian Que’s hand back beneath the covers.
Prompted by this reminder, Lian Que belatedly felt a throb of pain on his head, muffledly retorting with a grumble, “I’m not being restless. I just saw the light on the ceiling wobbling back and forth and wanted to press it down.”
Chen Xingjian let out a sigh. “Looks like he’s still not fully conscious.”
“I am conscious. I’d never go to work with a muddled head,” Lian Que pouted in serious protest, though the scent of disinfectant flooding his nasal passages still made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.
“Work?” Sitting squarely on a chair, Chen Xingjian cast a glance down at Lian Que. “How much can you even make?”
Lian Que was stung by Chen Xingjian’s seemingly mocking gaze, but since he had saddled himself with such a financial backer, he didn’t really have any counterexamples to throw back.
“Don’t look down on me. This is just a case of a hero trapped in a shallow well.” Lian Que clenched his hand into a fist beneath the blankets. “The financial backer I recently latched onto is a bit stingy and doesn’t give me money. I used to be able to make at least a little bit.”
Chen Xingjian chuckled in exasperation. Staring at Lian Que’s sweet, well-behaved little face, he gave it a firm pinch. “We’ve already signed the marriage agreement, yet you still treat me like a sugar daddy.”
“What damn marriage agreement?”
Perhaps it was the alcohol from the disinfectant going to his head, or perhaps his head simply hurt too much, but Lian Que grew increasingly unbridled with his words.
“I see you look pretty decent too even though you’re not quite as marketable as me, your going rate is probably still decent. So I’m just going to give you a piece of friendly advice as a courtesy!”
“In our line of work, the absolute biggest taboo is falling in love with your client.”
With a dark expression, Chen Xingjian spoke in an icy, foreboding tone: “You really have quite a bit of experience.”
Lian Que completely missed the profound implication behind those words, lifting his chin in a triumphant huff before turning over and crashing straight back to sleep with a carefree abandon.
On this exact same night, while one person could rage at their financial backer and still sleep soundly, an entire family gathered around a square table, tossing and turning in sleepless misery.
The tea on the table had been replaced round after round, with anxiety, unease, and terror etched equally across the faces of Lian Qingfu and Li Fangya.
Lian Qingfu had already lost his temper enough times over these past few days; the porcelain in the house had been smashed to smithereens. Reaching this point, the mere sight of Lian Cheng left him with no energy or breath left to blow his top.
“You unfilial wretch, what on earth were you thinking? For all these years, Lian Que has been tossed around and trampled on like a lump of dough, and you’ve bullied him for ages. Now, before he’s even made a move, you went and laid hands on him?”
Lian Cheng shoved the teacup in his hand down hard against the edge of the table, clattering loudly. “Dad, what kind of talk is that? He’s your biological son—would I viciously set him up like that? Chen Xingjian was standing right there beside us, am I out of my mind?!”
“My ass you’re sane! That old cook who does the boiling and stewing in our house would he have dared to lay a finger on Lian Que without you egging him on?”
“You can claim our family is innocent all you want, and that nobody meddled in this mess, but that won’t hold up! Only when Chen Xingjian actually believes it will we truly be in the clear!”
Lian Qingfu was choked up to the point of breathlessness. He had seen it crystal clear from where he stood: that old geezer had charged right at him brandishing a wooden club as thick as a rice bowl, and even he hadn’t reacted in time.
If Lian Que hadn’t managed to reach out and block it in time, buffering the force of the club, whether he could have made it out of the hospital alive was a genuine question.
“I don’t care. The moment Lian Que wakes up, you are immediately taking gifts and going over to apologize in person.” Lian Qingfu fished out the keys to the family safe, instantly bustling about to gather some high-value gifts to send over.
He couldn’t bear to use those fine treasures himself; they were items he had diligently hoarded over the years, things he usually only dared to cradle in his arms for a quick peek.
Handing over items he had spent the better part of his life accumulating felt even more painful than having a piece of flesh carved straight from his chest.
Regardless of the cost, as long as it could appease Chen Xingjian’s wrath, he was willing to do it.
Watching Lian Qingfu bustle about in a panic, Lian Cheng wore a look of utter disdain. “Dad, since when did you grow such a coward’s spine?”
So what if that little bish got hurt? It had nothing to do with their family. At worst, it was just that old fool cooking in the house having a psychotic episode, and no matter how people tried to spin it, it could never be tied back to them.
Instead of rushing to apologize to Lian Que right now, they should be figuring out how to patch up the financial deficit in the company.
Lian Cheng let out a soft huff, leisurely pulling an invitation letter out of his suit pocket.
“What piece of junk is that?” Lian Qingfu absentmindedly accepted the small slip of paper, looking deeply skeptical.
Could this piece of junk possibly be more important than going over to apologize?
Lian Cheng hurriedly retorted in defense, “This is no junk piece of paper! This is an audition invitation for Yuanhe even C-list celebrities on TV might not necessarily get one.”
Just securing this single copy had taken all kinds of sweet-talking, flattering an industry model until she was completely placated, and showering her with countless gifts before he finally managed to bring the invitation back.
“Yuanhe is backed by the colossal wealth of the Chen Group. I heard Chen Xingjian’s mother is running the company right now, and the first-place prize for this audition is a cool one million in cash alone!”
“Besides, I’ve already taken the judges of this competition out to dinner. When the time comes, we’ll just put in a few extra good words with her and have her pull some strings behind the scenes. Isn’t first place as good as ours?”
Lian Cheng took a sip of water to moisten his throat, letting out a light scoff. “Once I take first place and get my hands on that million-dollar prize, won’t our company have the cash flow it needs?”
Lian Qingfu’s eyes lit up. That actually was a viable method.
As long as he could get that one million injected into the company, it could at least serve as a temporary emergency lifeline.
“With a competition of this scale, Chen Xingjian’s mother will definitely be presiding over it in person. If I catch her eye and win her favor, Chen Xingjian won’t even dare to come looking for trouble with our family.” Lian Cheng could barely conceal his inner excitement.
If he could establish a good relationship with Chen Xingjian’s mother, he could go back to badmouthing Lian Que just like he used to, turning her against him. There was an 80% chance he could wrestle this marriage engagement right back into his own hands.
Having weathered plenty of major storms in his life, Lian Qingfu wasn’t completely blinded just yet, cautioning him, “Didn’t I hear that President Chen has a bad relationship with his mother?”
Allegedly, after Chen Xingjian’s father passed away, Chen Xingjian announced he was taking over his father’s position to run the company. Not long after, his mother moved straight out of the Chen family villa and even publicly announced in public that she no longer had a son named Chen Xingjian.
Lian Cheng stood up to refill Lian Qingfu’s teacup, his tone filled with disdain.
“So what if he does? They’re mother and son by blood. No matter how powerful Chen Xingjian is, could he possibly override his own biological mother?”
“Dad, just rest easy. The first-place winner of this audition contest is definitely going to be me!”
Lian Qingfu smiled until his eyes crinkled into slits, patting Lian Cheng’s shoulder in praise. “That’s my boy for having a plan. Dad will just sit back and wait for your good news.”
Lian Cheng let out a soft chuckle.
With the judges already buttered up in advance, his own established minor fame in the industry, and a solid fan base on social media, he couldn’t possibly fathom any reason why he would lose.
This competition he was bound to win it.
Lian Que’s momentary triumph meant nothing. With just a slight flick of his brain, Lian Que would have no choice but to crawl right back to him obediently just like before.
How could he possibly tolerate someone who used to stay quietly at home acting like a loyal dog suddenly standing up on his own two feet and daring to walk around?