When Qin Zaiyu saw Shen Zhu, he suddenly recalled the photo he had taken at the nightclub the other night.
Normally, he would never set foot in a low-end venue like that. However, one of his regular buddies had taken a liking to a server there and had insisted on dragging the group along to help the guy boost his sales.
As luck would have it, right after he had asked Zhou Shi for a photo of Shen Zhu, he ran straight into the living, breathing version of him at the club.
And the boy wasn’t quite like what Zhou Shi had described.
According to the intelligence he had gathered, his new sister-in-law was supposed to be an obedient, docile little white rabbit—the type who would silently swallow his grievances even if he got bullied.
Who would have thought his true identity was a wolf in sheep’s clothing?
That was exactly why he had taken the photo in the first place—he wanted to find an opportunity to show it to Su Xingque and warn him to watch his back so he wouldn’t get played. Unfortunately, he had too many social gatherings to attend afterward, and in all his partying, he had completely forgotten about it.
Thanks to their somewhat close family ties, Qin Zaiyu was privy to more insider details than Su Xingque’s circle of friends. He knew about the marriage agreement, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but be curious.
Given his cousin’s current status and power, backing out of the marriage would have been child’s play. How on earth had he crashed and burned when it came to Shen Zhu, leaping straight from a lifelong bachelor into the grave of marriage?
And judging by today’s situation, his cousin seemed to be resting extremely peacefully in that grave, with absolutely no intention of crawling back out.
Qin Zaiyu narrowed his eyes, his left hand pressing down on his phone on the desk, exerting an invisible, pressuring aura over Shen Zhu.
Since his cousin had tacitly let the guy use his shoulder as a pillow, their relationship must be going quite well. This was a rare blooming of his cousin’s iron tree, so he had to tread carefully. He didn’t want to rashly expose the truth and shatter Su Xingque’s faith in love forever.
Qin Zaiyu didn’t want to see his cousin slip back into the state he was in when he and Bai Que broke up years ago.
I’ll let him off the hook for now, Qin Zaiyu thought, withdrawing his gaze and effortlessly resuming his conversation with Su Xingque as if nothing had happened.
“You said you had your eye on a sports car,” Su Xingque reminded him, his index finger tapping the desk impatiently. Qin Zaiyu knew this was his cousin’s habitual gesture when he was annoyed.
“Oh, right!” Qin Zaiyu instantly put on an exaggeratedly obsequious expression. “The old man at home is holding out on my allowance, so I’m a bit strapped for cash lately. Brother, could you—”
Without looking up, Su Xingque said, “Go back and take a figurehead president role. Won’t you have whatever you want then?”
His cousin hadn’t even mocked him for being a slacker today. Qin Zaiyu sensed an opportunity.
“I’d rather you just acquire my family’s company directly, Brother, just like you did with those other uncles and aunts.” Qin Zaiyu leaned back lazily, draping an arm over the back of the chair. “That way, I’d have an even better chance of getting whatever I want.”
Su Xingque finally deigned to look up and give him a glance.
Qin Zaiyu actually read a trace of disappointed, fatherly exasperation in that look.
When Su Xingque wrested power from Old Master Su years ago, his very first act upon taking office was to crush the uncles, aunts, and cousins who had looked down on him and made life miserable for him and Meng Jing. He had been as cold and ruthless as a violent machine that had no concept of family ties.
After all, in a strict sense, those people were merely his father’s siblings, and as for the relationship between him and his father, there was nothing left but hollow titles of kinship.
Logically speaking, Qin Zaiyu’s parents should have been on Su Xingque’s hit list too. But perhaps because of Qin Zaiyu’s presence, they had been fortunate enough to escape unscathed.
Su Xingque remained silent, making it crystal clear that the matter was non-negotiable. Qin Zaiyu wasn’t in a rush either; he hummed a few idle tunes while staring at the ceiling, before turning his gaze to scan Shen Zhu from head to toe.
Shen Zhu felt deeply uncomfortable under the X-ray-like scrutiny but had nowhere to hide, so he simply kept his head down and mindlessly scrolled through his phone.
“Sister-in-law,” Qin Zaiyu called out.
A Level 1 alarm instantly blared in Shen Zhu’s head. He snapped his head up, looking at Qin Zaiyu with his guard raised high.
Qin Zaiyu, however, looked entirely nonchalant, his tone carrying a hint of playfulness. “Let’s negotiate something.”
Shen Zhu glanced at Su Xingque. Confirming that his silent husband didn’t mind him speaking to Qin Zaiyu, he gave a small nod.
“You’re so obedient and so beloved by my brother. If you put in a good word for me, I’m sure he’ll agree,” Qin Zaiyu said, a smirk playing on his lips.
Shen Zhu was so infuriated he nearly choked on his own breath.
How is this a negotiation? This is a blatant, shameless threat! A threat!
He didn’t know how much Qin Zaiyu had deduced about his actual relationship with Su Xingque, but the moment the guy uttered the words “so beloved by my brother,” he was absolutely certain Qin Zaiyu was blackmailing him with the nightclub photo.
What a brilliant piece of sarcasm. Shen Zhu maintained a respectful smile on his face, but a cold sweat broke out across his back.
Their relationship had finally shown the first signs of thawing; he couldn’t let Qin Zaiyu ruin it so easily.
His brain scrambled to find a solution, instinctively settling on a temporary damage-control strategy.
In an instant, a hurt, pitiful expression washed over his gorgeous face. Shen Zhu switched effortlessly into his signature aggrieved mode, deliberately letting his words carry a soft, nasal whine:
“You might be overestimating things,” he said.
“Sir doesn’t actually like me.”
The moment those words left his mouth, the expressions of both other men in the room shifted.
Su Xingque’s fingers typing on the keyboard paused for a fraction of a second—so brief it was almost imperceptible. Qin Zaiyu, on the other hand, let out a soft snort from his nose, radiating pure disbelief.
This guy sure knows how to put on an act.
But it’s actually pretty entertaining.
Like a cat that captures a mouse but refuses to eat it immediately, Qin Zaiyu felt a sudden urge to play with his prey, choosing to play along with Shen Zhu’s narrative.
“Don’t say that, Sister-in-law. My brother will be heartbroken.” Qin Zaiyu pointed at Su Xingque, who was acting completely uninvolved, and fabricated out of thin air, “Look at him, his face is already turning pale.”
He always looks like a lifeless corpse anyway, Shen Zhu grumbled internally.
As Qin Zaiyu spoke, he was also closely watching Su Xingque’s reaction.
If it had been in the past, any attempt to tease Su Xingque about romance would have resulted in a ruthless tongue-lashing. A few times when he had crossed the line, Su Xingque had straight up blacklisted his number.
This time, while there was no overt reaction, even this quiet tolerance was incredibly rare.
It seems he really has caught feelings, Qin Zaiyu surmised.
So, he emboldened himself to tease further. “Sister-in-law, why don’t you plead with my brother on my behalf? Act a little spoiled. Just consider it a favor for your dear brother-in-law.”
While his words sounded like a plea, his eyes flashed with blatant coercion.
Shen Zhu fumed silently, puffed up like an angry blowfish. But with his weakness held hostage by Qin Zaiyu, he had no choice but to submit.
Back at the estate, playing the fragile victim was easy because there were no external witnesses. But now that he was at the office, with Qin Zaiyu—the one person who knew exactly what a little rascal he actually was—watching his every move, Shen Zhu found himself at a loss.
“Hurry up, Sister-in-law,” Qin Zaiyu goaded, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle and stoking the flames. “It’s an absolute emergency.”
Fine, Shen Zhu thought, taking a deep breath.
The feud between him and Qin Zaiyu was officially on.
He slowly dragged his chair closer to Su Xingque. Reaching out, he rested his hand on Su Xingque’s forearm, patting it twice like a kitten kneading dough, and murmured softly, “Why don’t you give him a hand?”
The instant the warmth of Shen Zhu’s palm seeped through the fabric of his sleeve, Su Xingque’s orderly typing descended into absolute chaos.
Though his fingers kept moving at the exact same rhythm, the text appearing on his screen was nothing but a string of garbled gibberish.