“Don’t get so worked up. Who told that cat to step on my new clothes? Those were the latest seasonal design.” Lian Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly, a satisfied curve tugging at his lips.
He shoved Lian Jue backward onto the bed, leaning in close to his ear to whisper: “Of course I sold it, sold it right to a dog meat restaurant. I went through quite a bit of trouble to get the owner to take that cat in, and I stood there watching with my own eyes as it got skinned before I came back.”
“Did you know? Even after getting its skin peeled off, a small cat can still live for a little while, covered all over in blood, twisting in agony on the ground”
Lian Jue flipped over and sprang up, completely forgetting about the injury on his head as he wrapped both hands straight around Lian Cheng’s throat, his eyes blazing a furious crimson: “You lunatic, I’m going to kill you today!”
Lian Cheng’s breathing grew increasingly constricted, until finally Lian Qingfu yanked Lian Jue away and flipped him onto the floor, allowing a long-awaited rush of air to flood back into his lungs.
Greedily gasping for air, Lian Cheng didn’t forget to keep provoking Lian Jue: “If you could do it all over again, you’d better properly discipline that cat of yours and keep it far away from my clothes.”
“Though it is rather strange now that I think about it. When I first tried to catch that cat back then, no matter how I called it, it refused to come out of the drainage pipe. But the moment I stood outside and called your name, it came running right out wagging its tail.”
Lian Jue’s chest felt as though two bloody gashes had been sliced straight into it, hurting so intensely he could barely breathe.
A cat—a living, breathing life—was actually considered worth less than a seasonal piece of clothing.
Outside the window, the sunlight faded entirely from the ward. Against the fading light, Lian Jue licked his dry lips, raising his eyes to look at Lian Cheng like a Rakshasa demon crawling straight up from the depths ofes hell.
“Lian Cheng, if we really could do it all over again, the moment Xiao Mi tumbled into my arms, I would have batted it away and hurled it as far away as possible.”
The situation had slipped past expected boundaries. Lian Cheng’s expression stiffened slightly, the smile freezing on his lips.
With a cold, sinister tone, Lian Jue enunciated every single word with grim exactness: “Whoever becomes a hostage the Lian family uses to manipulate me, I will dare to cut them loose, no matter who they are. From this moment on, between me and the Lian family, it’s a fight to the death.”
Stepping out of the hospital into the brilliant weather, goosebumps instinctively broke out all over his skin.
Lian Jue’s demeanor and those words of absolute vow seemed to still linger in the air. Frowning, Lian Qingfu exhaled a breath and cast a disapproving look at Lian Cheng.
“The things you said today went way too far. You’d better watch out—Lian Jue might actually mean it.”
Lian Cheng shrugged unconcernedly: “He’s just riding on someone else’s coattails because of his looks. What kind of capital does he have to fight us to the death?”
“He might want to fight us to the death, but what about Chen Xingjian? He’s a businessman who values profit above all else, and our two families are still in the middle of business negotiations. Surely he isn’t that muddle-headed.”
“That may be true, but…”
Despite Lian Cheng’s comforting words, Lian Qingfu’s brow remained tightly furrowed, clearly unable to shake off what had just transpired.
Any discerning person could see which family was clinging to a higher branch when it came to the cooperation between the Lian and Chen families. Moreover, Chen Xingjian’s thought process couldn’t be judged by ordinary standards; what if he let anger drive him to champion a beauty and actually listened to Lian Jue whispering sweet nothings in his ear? What then?
Stopping in place outside the display window of a shopping mall, Lian Cheng raised his chin toward Lian Qingfu: “Dad, what do you think of the clothes in that shop? There’s a chance Chen Xingjian might show up at the auditions, and I think this outfit flatters me quite nicely.”
“Why should Lian Jue be the only one who can whisper pillow talk into Chen Xingjian’s ear? My last name is Lian too, and my appearance isn’t inferior why shouldn’t I be the one whispering in his ear?”
Thinking back to how utterly protective Chen Xingjian had been of Lian Jue the other day left a sour, unpleasant taste in his mouth. If Lian Jue hadn’t been there muddying the waters, all of this should have belonged to him.
Once he entered the preliminary auditions and won the favor of Bai Yishu, he refused to believe Chen Xingjian’s gaze wouldn’t be hooked even if only for a fraction of a second.
Back in the ward, Lian Jue carefully wiped away the tears hanging from his eyelashes, then deliberately checked his reflection in the mirror.
He was terrified that when Chen Xingjian returned, he would manage to detect any lingering clues.
To Chen Xingjian, looking at him was no different from looking at a little dog or cat; he was willing to stand up for him during arguments and spats simply to amuse a little pet. But the moment real interests were involved, Lian Jue didn’t believe for a single second that Chen Xingjian would stand by his side.
The warmth and coldness of human relationships were lessons he had tasted long ago.
Yet one thing still baffled him: where on earth was Lian Cheng getting the confidence to pick a fight with him, and how could Lian Qingfu allow him to act so recklessly?
Had Chen Xingjian secretly promised them something in private, or did the Lian family have a way to secure funding from somewhere else even if they broke things off with Chen Xingjian?
A flash of inspiration struck, and Lian Jue suddenly recalled the invitation card Lian Cheng had mentioned the day he went home.
He murmured under his breath: “Jewelry exhibition, a million-dollar prize…”
Was the Lian family treating that event as their ultimate trump card?
Lian Jue opened his phone’s email app and began drafting a message.
He deleted and rewrote the contents of the email repeatedly, unable to achieve a satisfactory result.
After countless edits and trims, only a single sentence remained at the end:
[Hello Interviewer, I am Lian Jue. I would like to request an opportunity to meet and talk with you in person regarding the issues surrounding this preliminary audition.]
Watching the screen display that the email had been sent successfully, Lian Jue leaned back against the head of the bed, clutching his phone and letting out a long sigh.
When Chen Xingjian returned, Lian Jue behaved with an unsettling, terrifying obedience, lying tucked under the blanket wrapped up so tightly that only a palm-sized little face remained exposed.
Pulling a chair over to sit beside the bed, Chen Xingjian poked the soft flesh beside Lian Jue’s cheek: “What’s wrong? Did the Lian family give you a hard time?”
The moment those words dropped, a figure lunged into his arms like a little firecracker, bringing along a wave of warm, cozy fragrance.
Stunned for a fleeting second, Chen Xingjian raised a hand to cup the back of Lian Jue’s head: “What’s going on?”
Burying his face deeper into Chen Xingjian’s chest, Lian Jue muffled his voice: “I missed you.”
“Didn’t we just see each other?” Chen Xingjian remarked. “Acting this pitiful—you must have been wronged. Tell me about it, and I’ll consider standing up for you.”
For reasons unknown, Lian Jue couldn’t bring himself to open up to Chen Xingjian about those pathetic family matters.
He couldn’t bring himself to say that he had acted like an utter fool, played with like a dog by Lian Cheng; couldn’t say that he couldn’t even protect a single stray cat; couldn’t say that he had been locked outside the door in the dead of winter, nearly freezing to death.
It felt so pathetic. So humiliating.
With burning-red eye rims, Lian Jue choked back the knot in his throat: “Are you negotiating a business partnership with the Lian family?”
“Mmm.” Chen Xingjian acknowledged, patting the top of Lian Jue’s head. “Lian Qingfu isn’t entirely honest, but he handles affairs with a certain degree of dedication.”
Lian Jue’s heart skipped a beat, as though hanging suspended in mid-air for a fraction of a second.
Was this Chen Xingjian’s way of saying he was very satisfied with Lian Qingfu?
“However, I’m still considering it. To be honest, he isn’t the only candidate who meets the standards.” Chen Xingjian shifted his tone abruptly. “What’s this? Are you trying to whisper pillow talk in my ear?”
“No!” Glaring with wide eyes, Lian Jue popped his head out from Chen Xingjian’s arms he desperately wished that deadbeat scumbag Lian Qingfu would utterly crash and burn. “The company is yours, so naturally you make the decisions.”
A slight lift of Chen Xingjian’s brow: “Quite obedient, aren’t you? Knowing what should be asked and what shouldn’t.”
A tiny diamond was pressed into Lian Jue’s palm, sparkling with a rippling, delicate shimmer beneath the overhead incandescent light, so pretty it was impossible to look away.
Tracing the diamond with his fingertip, Chen Xingjian leisurely brushed it across Lian Jue’s palm: “Accompany me somewhere tomorrow. I’m taking you to meet my mother.”
“Huh?” Lian Jue’s brain scrambled into a brief haze. “Me? You’re taking me… to meet your parents?”