“Young Master, people are basically throwing their abacuses right in your face, and you are not the least bit anxious?” Xue Pi just speeded over in his sports car and pushed open the door.
“What abacuses?”
Su Lixia unconcernedly had a cigar clamped in his mouth, crossing his legs as he watched the fashion show downstairs.
“Swapping the civet cat for the prince! You are that very prince, and the true young master they want to find is that civet cat!” Xue Pi walked over with a righteous and indignant tone, blocking his view.
“So what?” Su Lixia raised his eyebrows indifferently, unconcerned.
“So what?! You are the dignified Crown Prince of the Su family, the rightful heir of the Sushan Group, and they are about to brand you as a fake young master and kick you out of the Su family based on a few dubious DNA tests. And you still say so what?!” Xue Pi said, looking exasperated.
Su Lixia raised an eyebrow and glanced at him: “The Sushan Group is the apex of the Federation’s entire medical industry. Are you saying tests produced by so many top professional equipment are fake just because you say so? Who says I might not actually be the Su family’s spawn?”
Xue Pi was struck speechless. Thinking of the Chairman of the Sushan Group, that powerful iron-fisted figure who had dominated the Federation for many years, a part of him found it hard to believe that anyone could pull off such a clumsy trick right under that person’s nose.
Unless… He raised his eyes at the same time, looking at Su Lixia with a complicated expression.
As Su Lixia’s childhood friend, he knew the chaotic wealthy family relationships of the Su family inside out.
Su Lixia’s mother was the daughter of the Sushan Group, while his father was Chairman Su’s proudest student who had married into the Su family as a son-in-law. Later on, Su’s mother passed away in a car accident, but Su’s father subsequently fell in love with one of his male patients and even sealed his scalpel for him, transitioning into the Sushan Group’s management. What was even more ironic was that shortly after, that male patient even became the chief special assistant by Old Chairman Su’s side.
This setup regarding the true and false young masters was obviously a conspiracy colluded between those two scumbags specifically engineered against Su Lixia!
“Impossible! Didn’t you also have informants investigating those two DNA test reports? What were the results?” Xue Pi asked anxiously.
“Mm, the results are out.” Su Lixia closed his eyes, lazily leaning back in his reclining chair.
Xue Pi’s eyes lit up: “Well? What did they say?”
Su Lixia: “They are real. If they were forged, it must have cost a huge price, and they were made so well they could completely pass for the real thing.”
Su Lixia opened his eyes in surprise: “Are you asking if I am the true young master or the false young master?”
“Cut the crap! Of course I am asking about that DNA test!” Xue Pi was genuinely worried for his brother and was getting heated seeing him maintain this flippant attitude.
Su Lixia raised an eyebrow: “Then do you think I am the real one or the fake one?”
Xue Pi hesitated for two seconds: “Real, right? Real! It has to be real!”
Su Lixia chuckled, reaching out to pat his shoulder: “My informant found a secretly deleted fake DNA test record abroad. Do you still think I am real?”
Hearing this, Xue Pi breathed a sigh of relief. Then, remembering something, he hurriedly asked:
“Since that is the case, why on earth are you causing a fuss about running away from home, moving out of the Su family estate, and living in this sleazy Baiwu Mansion?”
Yet that young master just smiled without answering, instead picking up a tablet and casually checking a few photos of male models.
After checking them, he casually raised his eyes to signal him to look outside: “Take a look at the one standing at the door. What do you think?”
“The door?”
Sidetracked by his words, Xue Pi looked up for a closer look. Outside the private booth, a waiter in a black-and-white uniform stood straight. He looked quite cold, with his eyes lowered, carrying a sense of aloof detachment that felt completely out of place with this establishment. He didn’t look like any of those smooth-talking models downstairs at all; he looked utterly plain.
“He really is quite handsome. Tsk tsk, as expected of someone working in the VIP booth, his temperament is miles ahead of that crowd of attention-seeking models downstairs.” Xue Pi raised an eyebrow. “But since he is working as a waiter instead of a model in a place like this, he probably does not offer host services, right?”
Su Lixia smoked his cigar with a lazy, smiling expression: “If they do not offer services, there are ways to make them.”
Xue Pi was surprised and casually joked: “What, you are planning to keep him as your kept man?”
Su Lixia smiled: “Why not?”
Xue Pi sighed helplessly: “Fine, sure, of course you can. But is this really the time for that? Don’t forget that the Su family is about to bring that civet cat back…” He leaned in, hinting with an expression of exasperation. “If you stay this indifferent, when your grandfather makes an announcement later, even a fake will become real!”
Hearing this, Su Lixia unhurriedly raised his chin slightly to point at the person outside the glass door:
“That is the civet cat.”
“Civet what?!” Xue Pi’s brain spun a circle, and he got a huge fright. “Wait, really or fake? The Su family hasn’t even found the person yet, and you found him first? Hey, wait, what are you trying to do?”
Su Lixia chuckled derisively, giving him a look that spoke volumes. Under the other’s stunned gaze, he lazily took another drag of his cigar, propped his hands to lean back, tilted his head back with half-closed eyes, and slowly blew out a wisp of ethereal white smoke.
Indulgent in luxury, yet looking down upon everything.
Xue Pi was completely stunned.
Right at that moment, the few male models Su Lixia had just ordered walked in, led by that civet cat, ah no, that waiter. These people were wearing trendy outfits suited for the mansion, dressed rather scantily despite the ten-degree weather. Their upper bodies were draped with clinking chains, cosplaying everything from foxes to rabbits, faintly exposing large areas of pinkish-white or wheat-colored chest muscles, complete with abs and V-lines.
Xue Pi stared so hard his eyes went straight.
Su Lixia beckoned a male fox model over. Seeing that fluffy white tail behind him, he couldn’t help reaching out to stroke it. The other party let out a professional hum, making even Xue Pi blush.
In contrast, Su Lixia chuckled, unconcernedly pulling a wad of cash out of his wallet to stuff into the model’s chest: “Go ask that waiter outside to bring a few bottles of Macallan and Dalmore 62.”
Hearing this, the male model’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly lowered his gaze shyly, asking softly: “Is it on my account?”
“Sure, on your account.” Su Lixia smiled gently, reaching out to ruffle the fox ears on top of his head. “Go on.”
Liquor worth millions meant a commission of over a hundred thousand. The other male models grew green with envy and hurriedly swarmed toward Su Lixia’s side, a scheming bunny boy shaking his fluffy ball tail behind him.
But Su Lixia had already lost interest. Propping his chin with one hand, he put down the cigar that had only a third left.
He merely pressed his slightly bitter lips together, and immediately someone quick-witted ran over to open the private room’s refrigerator, carefully serving him a portion of Victoria ice cream topped with a few lychees, exquisite and pretty.
He presented it like offering a treasure:
“Young Master, the wine hasn’t arrived yet. Would you like to sweeten your mouth first?”
Su Lixia let out an affirmative hum, took it, and left it untouched in front of him. Feeling severely neglected, Xue Pi hmphed. A foreign-looking dark-skinned puppy-type model immediately seized the opportunity to lean in with a smile and ask: “Brother, would you also like a bottle of Dalmore 62 or some ice cream?”
Xue Pi: “…”
Trying to boost your sales quota with me, aren’t you?
Returning to the main point, his heart itching with curiosity about that civet cat, he leaned close to Su Lixia and asked in a low voice: “Young Master, stop keeping me in suspense. What on earth are you planning to do with that, just what sort of civet cat?”
Speak of the civet cat, and the civet cat arrives.
A tall, slender, and upright young man pushed a drink cart into the room, keeping his gaze lowered as he placed the bottles on the table one by one. Staring at the prominent anklebones above the red-bottomed leather shoes right in front of him, he only asked with calm politeness: “Sir, which bottle would you like me to open first?”
“Look up when you talk.” Su Lixia stared down at him with a half-smile, amused to find that after stepping out, the guy had actually put on a pair of black-rimmed glasses. “Why did you put on glasses?”
“I am nearsighted. My contacts fell out when I went to the cellar for wine just now,” the young man answered in a muffled voice. Hearing this, he lifted his gaze slightly to meet Su Lixia’s smiling eyes, then blankly lowered them once more. The stray bangs across his forehead covered his brows, frames, and eyes, giving off a clean college-student vibe.
Su Lixia raised an eyebrow slightly, leaned forward, and naturally reached out to touch his glasses frames. Noticing the young man stiffen at his touch, he smiled playfully, then directly reached up with the next movement to push those heavy frames upward. His fingers applied subtle pressure against the other’s forehead while maintaining a smiling exterior, gently appraising his facial features under the guise of gentleness.
Since the young man was already squatting, he was forced to tilt his neck and raise his head under this downward force.
He met the other’s appraising gaze with a poker face, while secretly bracing an upward-resisting force like a leopard with tensed back muscles ready to pounce, calmly maintaining his physical balance in a squatting posture.
Sensing this strength, Su Lixia took advantage of his position as the superior to sneer inwardly. He applied a bit more force with his hand, met the other’s eyes, and smiled leisurely:
“What is your name?”
The young man paused for a second before answering: “My surname is Lin.”
The male fox model nearby sensed something amiss and chimed in with a fox-emboldened snicker: “The Young Master is asking for your full name.”
Su Lixia smiled without a word, his slender, jointed index finger sliding along the other’s temple before stopping, offering a lazy smile: “Speak.”
“Lin Jinsen.”
Finished speaking, the young man reached out to adjust his glasses back into place, his fingertips accidentally brushing against the other’s ice-cold fingers. He immediately tried to pull away, but his fingertip was hooked and entwined by the other’s index finger.
Meanwhile, Su Lixia maintained a steady, clever leverage with his hand, pinning the person firmly in a half-squat right in front of him.
“Don’t move, let me look at you.”
Ignoring everyone else, Su Lixia forcefully pinned the person beside his calf in a single-knee squat, staring intently at his face for several seconds, long enough to leave everyone in the room holding their breath.
Even Xue Pi felt a bit numb.
What on earth is this young master trying to do?
Barely ten seconds passed. In their intersecting gazes, the young man remained unyielding.
He certainly knew how to keep his cool.
Su Lixia shifted his gaze slightly to the row of fine wines on the table to his left, abruptly changing his applied force direction. Pushing forward along with Lin Jinsen’s glasses, his seemingly effortless hand brushed past the side of the other’s face and let go.
Driven by momentum, with the guy squatting and off-balance after matching him strength-for-strength just now, if he unloaded his strength to the right here, this impostor would definitely dive headfirst into the wine table on the left, crashing into a faceplant of epic proportions.
Everyone in the room was startled, seeing that Lin Jinsen was about to take a tumble.
Just as Su Lixia was feeling smug inside, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly, he looked up and saw that the other party only staggered for less than a second before immediately turning with athletic agility, dispersing and utilizing the momentum to steadily bypass that row of expensive wine bottles.
Decisive and quick-witted, Su Lixia immediately reached out and shoved that entire row of wine on the left down along the other’s trajectory.
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
Alongside Lin Jinsen coming to a steady halt, several bottles of red wine crashed to the ground right by his feet.
Instant silence fell over the private room.
Lin Jinsen stood firm, instantly figuring it out as he raised his eyes to look at the culprit.
“Oh my, you knocked my wine over.” Su Lixia lazily pulled back the hand that caused the trouble, propped it under his chin, and shamelessly smiled as he shifted the blame.
“I didn’t knock it over.” Spotting the amusement in the other’s eyes, Lin Jinsen spoke in a deep voice.
Amused, Su Lixia glanced around at the others in the room: “So many pairs of eyes saw it, and you are saying it wasn’t you? Trying to play dumb?”
Without giving him a chance to argue further, he directly raised a hand: “Call your manager over.”
Standing straight and staring right at him, Lin Jinsen didn’t move.
Su Lixia pointed a finger at the rabbit boy: “Go on, you go call him. Hurry up.”
The atmosphere in the room grew even tenser; no one dared to make a sound.
Ignoring Lin Jinsen standing blockingly in front of him, Su Lixia waved to Xue Pi, stood up, and walked around the wreckage to sit down on the sofa beneath the floor-to-ceiling window on the other side of the booth.
Below the VIP booth was an entire performance hall; the warm-up show had just ended, and the much-anticipated runway show was about to begin.
Su Lixia crossed his legs to watch the show with a calm, half-smiling expression. Realizing that Su Lixia simply wanted to mess with this civet cat, Xue Pi relaxed his posture, sat down next to him, and settled in to watch a good show.
In less than three minutes, the manager of the Baiwu Mansion VIP booth hurried over, followed by the innocent-looking bunny boy.
Su Lixia turned around on his single-seater sofa, looked at the manager, and spoke nonchalantly:
“Your waiter knocked my wine over.”
Within seconds of entering, the slick manager quickly assessed the situation and immediately apologized with a fawning expression, “Respected guest, I am truly sorry! Rest assured, I will handle this severely!”
Turning around, he immediately glared fiercely at Lin Jinsen: “Xiao Lin, look at how you pissed off the guest with your clumsy hands and feet! Hurry up and come apologize to the guest!”
“I didn’t knock it over. You can check the surveillance cameras.” Lin Jinsen’s expression was as calm as water as he stared coldly at Su Lixia.
“Xiao Tu already made everything clear on the way here. You were the only one standing by the wine table and lost your footing to crash into it. If you didn’t knock it over, who did? You still want to check the surveillance? Do you even know there are no cameras in the VIP booths?!” The manager’s tone grew increasingly sharp and mean. “So many people are watching; are they going to wrong you? If you want to default on the bill, just say so!”
Looking like a blade, Lin Jinsen’s gaze remained fixed on the man: “Fine, I’ll pay for it. How much? Just deduct it from my salary.”
Hearing that, the manager couldn’t help laughing, pointing at a broken wine bottle on the floor: “You’ll pay? What are you going to pay with? Do you know how much just this bottle of Dalmore 62 costs? Your little salary isn’t enough to pay for a fart! You wouldn’t even earn a fraction of it if you stripped naked and danced on the stage downstairs! How are you going to pay?”
Akimbo, the manager ranted until his mouth was dry, then turned back around with his back to Su Lixia, not forgetting to butter up the VIP: “Serving the Young Master is an honor for trash like you; you better learn to show some gratitude!”
Hearing this, Lin Jinsen’s expression darkened as he pressed his thin lips together.
Like a slippery fish, the manager finished scolding him and immediately slid right up to Su Lixia’s side. Putting on a flattering face that looked like he was pleading for mercy, he was actually probing: “So, Young Master, seeing as he is just a poor student who can’t afford to pay, why don’t we have him pay in another way?”
Hearing this, Su Lixia let out a mental exclamation and raised his eyebrows slightly. He hadn’t expected this old fox to be so street-smart, wondering how many illegal deals he had pimped out right here in Baiwu Mansion.
He casually raised his eyes, feigning impatience as he looked Lin Jinsen up and down, more like inspecting a commodity than when he had closely lifted his frames to stare at him earlier.
Extending his index finger, he tapped rhythmically against the sofa armrest:
“His face… looks a bit like an old friend of mine.”
After a moment, he said lazily:
“Forget it, he will do.”
The manager instantly understood. He turned around with a beaming smile, patted Lin Jinsen’s shoulder, and pushed him forward: “Xiao Lin, why aren’t you thanking the Young Master? He just gave you a huge opportunity!”
Pushed off-balance, Lin Jinsen frowned: “What do you mean?”
Su Lixia chuckled, turned sideways, and stood up to walk toward him.
“What? Getting too high-and-mighty now?”
“Looks like you think the money is too little. Well, those millions in wine did shatter into pieces after all.” Walking over with his red-bottomed leather shoes crunching on the shards beneath his feet, he raised his eyes to meet Lin Jinsen’s gaze. “How about this then? Besides what you owe me, I will give you another five hundred thousand a month?”
Lin Jinsen let out a cold laugh, looking at Su Lixia as if looking at a fool. Meanwhile, hearing that figure, several male models in the booth grew faintly stirred.
“One million?”
“Three million?”
Three million a month?! Not only the manager and the crowd of male models couldn’t believe it, even Xue Pi’s eyes flickered as he frowned and looked over.
“Still unwilling?” Su Lixia smiled, stepping closer to Lin Jinsen. “Then… thirty million?”
Everyone else in the room drew in a sharp breath in unison.
Xue Pi frantically shot warning glances at Su Lixia, thinking, Young Master, have you lost your mind?!