Lian Jue’s standards for his own morality were not high—at the very least, they weren’t as high as Chen Xingjian’s, who wouldn’t bother asking if someone was a minor right when he was at the crucial moment.
He flipped his phone over onto the edge of the bed and tapped his fingertip against the back casing.
Whoever crossed paths with him would find themselves crossing paths with trouble.
He hoped “Big Brother” would like the grand gift he was sending his way. If this made him so furious that he lost his mind and ended up checking into a psychiatric hospital, he would be even happier.
Chen Xingjian emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a cloud of steam. After briefly drying his hair, he slipped that mutton-fat jade bracelet back onto his wrist.
“What do you want?”
He leisurely lit a cigarette, the scarlet glow at his fingertips blinking in and out of existence as he raised his eyes to look at Lian Jue.
Lian Jue froze for a moment, only now realizing that Chen Xingjian possessed quite a striking appearance: his phoenix eyes were long and narrow, and his pale gray pupils exuded a detached aloofness, as though the only time passion and sensuality ever touched his gaze was when they were in bed.
He had heard that when Chen Xingjian was eighteen, his father passed away, leaving only the mother and son behind in the household. Everyone thought the Chen family would never be able to make a comeback.
Countless people had coveted the Chen family’s estate like wolves eyeing a piece of cake, but no one expected Chen Xingjian to shoulder the heavy burden entirely on his own.
“I don’t play the homewrecker,” Lian Jue collected his thoughts, spoke in a soft voice, and gripped the sheets beneath him tightly.
Given a choice, of course he would rather stand proudly in the light for all to see.
Chen Xingjian raised an eyebrow, suddenly recalling that blurry ID card.
Lian Jue.
Families bearing the surname Lian in the capital were exceedingly few and far on the ground; if one were to really trace it down, it seemed there was only that single household.
Long ago, the elders of the families had taken charge of arranging an engagement between the two households. The matter hadn’t been neatly settled back then, and recently he had been driven to distraction over it.
“Lian Qingfu’s son?”
Lian Jue nodded, making no effort to conceal it. “I’m Lian Qingfu’s illegitimate son.”
Chen Xingjian suddenly let out a low laugh, the amusement laced with a chilling coldness. “Are you plotting against me?”
“Sir, I don’t understand what you mean.” Lian Jue’s heart tightened slightly as he shook his head with a pitiful air. “Lian Qingfu has never paid any attention to me, treating me just like air. I only came to the hotel to pick up a shift, and I accidentally ran into you.”
Lian Jue’s pair of round almond eyes were flushed red and brimmed with pitiful sorrow, while deep inside, he laughed with unrestrained glee.
Whether there are dates on the tree or not, you swing the pole twice just in case either way, he had nothing to lose.
At that inopportune moment, a cell phone ringtone broke out intrusively, its cheerful, bouncy melody echoing through the suite.
Lian Jue glanced sideways at the caller ID.
Lian Cheng was even more impatient than he had anticipated; he had probably flown into a panic the moment he saw the message and hurriedly called back, desperate to interrogate and hold him accountable.
Just as Lian Jue reached to decline the call, he noticed Chen Xingjian extending an open palm toward him.
The pair of hands before him had distinct knuckles and slender fingers, making them quite pleasing to the eye.
“What?”
“Give me the phone.”
Lian Jue saw no reason to provoke the sugar daddy’s anger at this juncture, so he obediently handed the phone over to Chen Xingjian.
Chen Xingjian glanced down at the caller ID on the screen and pressed accept.
“Lian Jue, you piece of trash! I swear to God I won’t let you off!”
“How dare you even touch Chen Xingjian? Aren’t you afraid I’ll broadcast all your dirty little secrets for the whole world to see?”
“Dad already knows what fine work you’ve pulled off now, so you might as well just sit back and wait to be ruined!”
The voice on the other end was distorted and unrecognizable, its malice seeming to seep right through the voice line, making it exceptionally frightening.
Lian Jue clutched the duvet around himself, his graceful shoulders half-bare, and slowly crept over to Chen Xingjian, pitifully tugging at the corner of his sleeve.
Look at him, why is he talking about me like this?
I get bullied by Lian Cheng all the time at home, I have it so miserably hard! You have to stand up for me!
Fortunately, Chen Xingjian seemed quite receptive to this routine, raising a hand to smooth down Lian Jue’s soft locks.
“I am Chen Xingjian.” He parted his thin lips, cutting off Lian Cheng’s unuttered stream of abuse right in mid-air.
“Ch—Chen, President Chen?”
A flurry of chaotic noises came from the other side, and Lian Cheng’s throat seemed blocked by a stone, unable to force a single word out.
Did Chen Xingjian hear that?
Why does he have Lian Jue’s phone?
He had been cursing so hideously what must Chen Xingjian think of him now?
“Put Lian Qingfu on the phone.” Without lowering his head, Chen Xingjian locked his gaze squarely onto Lian Jue’s shining eyes.
Unwilling to squander the hard-won opportunity to speak directly with Chen Xingjian, Lian Cheng gritted his teeth and said with a trembling voice, “President Chen, please let me explain.”
Chen Xingjian let out a light scoff. “You aren’t qualified. Tell Lian Qingfu to come talk to me.”
Lian Jue’s eyes and brows curved upward in triumph.
Flowers raised in a greenhouse truly fail to perceive the realities of the world, always assuming that wherever they happen to be, that is where the greenhouse remains.
“President Chen, were you looking for me?” Lian Qingfu rushed over in a flurry, still panting heavily as he took the phone.
Chen Xingjian gave a faint hum of acknowledgment. “I accept the engagement. In a few days, I’ll bring Lian Jue over.”
His tone was casual, sounding less like a request and more like an official notification.
Yet, judging by Chen Xingjian’s financial standing and family background, he indeed possessed the capital to act with such unyielding firmness in front of Lian Qingfu.
Lian Jue?
The smile on Lian Qingfu’s face froze for a split second.
Whenever these matters were brought up previously, Chen Xingjian had always delayed and evaded, leading him to assume the arrangement was a dead end. Who could have imagined that it was actually his second son who had caught Chen Xingjian’s eye?
“That’s wonderful, simply wonderful! We’d be more than thrilled as a family to form a marital alliance with President Chen.”
“Dad! How can you say that! You clearly said before”
The sound of Lian Cheng throwing a tantrum seemed to echo from the other end of the line, but it was quickly cut short, accompanied moments later by the sharp sound of a slap.
When all is said and done, a political marriage is nothing more than an exchange of interests. For Lian Qingfu, as long as he could forge a connection with Chen Xingjian, it made no difference at all whether it was his eldest son or his second son.
After hanging up the phone, just as Lian Jue reached out to take back his phone, Chen Xingjian raised his hand and tossed it straight onto the floor.
Lian Jue swallowed the irritation rising in his chest, intending to bend down and pick it up himself, but Chen Xingjian stopped him.
“Don’t bother picking it up. I’ll get you a better one, or else people might think I’ve been mistreating you.”
Lian Jue’s irritation instantly evaporated into a puff of steam and vanished entirely without a trace.
When it came to money, he was always extraordinarily magnanimous.
“Happy just like that? The fact that you pulled a fast one behind my back isn’t settled yet.” Chen Xingjian said indifferently.
Lian Jue couldn’t stay happy anymore.