Chi Yu casually flicked away the ash gathering between his fingers, letting it fall to the ground. As if by chance, he turned his head and noticed a group of young men and women not far away. His gaze lingered for a moment on one of the girls, a tall beauty with delicate features, before he lowered his eyes and exhaled a ring of smoke, concealing a hint of interest behind his downcast gaze.
His expression looked utterly bored, as though he couldn’t be more impatient, yet his feet remained rooted to the spot.
It wasn’t until the mutual friend who had gone over earlier returned to his side that he spoke. “That beautiful girl over there, she’s Xiao Zhao’s girlfriend’s best friend. She said she’ll come over and chat with you in a bit. Stub out your cigarette first.”
Following the direction the mutual friend pointed, Chi Yu looked over again. Just then, he met the tall beauty’s eyes. Realizing she was the girl the friend had been talking about, the one who wanted to come over and speak with him, his mood, which had been sinking all evening, finally improved a little.
Chi Yu simply responded, “Mm.” He didn’t seem particularly affected.
But when he saw the tall beauty walking toward him, he secretly straightened his back. He’d gone to bed late last night and was still a little tired.
The beauty’s voice was low and pleasant, almost exactly his favorite type. It wasn’t every day that casually joining a gathering led him to meet someone so perfectly to his taste. Yet the very first thing she said was like a bucket of cold water dumped over his head, instantly ruining his mood and making him feel as though he’d stepped in dog shit.
“Hi. I heard you’re Chi Tong’s older brother.”
The mere mention of the name Chi Tong was enough to kill Chi Yu’s interest. His expression became difficult to describe, and he almost failed to maintain even his surface-level composure. After several seconds, he finally suppressed his irritation and replied, “Yeah.”
Even though he knew the conversation was probably about to veer completely out of his control, Chi Yu still thought to himself that if heaven had any mercy, and if this beauty had even a little common sense, she’d only be using Chi Tong as an icebreaker to start a conversation with him.
“So it’s true. That’s great. I hope this isn’t too forward, but I’m actually a fan of Chi Tong. I’ve really wanted to get to know him. Could you give me his WeChat?”
The beauty smiled, steering the conversation even farther away from him. The prettier her smile was, the more irritated Chi Yu felt.
“I don’t have his WeChat.” Chi Yu’s tone turned stiff, and his face grew cold.
“Huh? But aren’t you his brother?” The tall beauty clearly didn’t believe him, assuming he was only refusing because he didn’t want her bothering Chi Tong. Still, since he’d already rejected her, she politely nodded and took a step back despite her disappointment. “Alright then. Sorry to bother you.”
She turned to leave, but Chi Yu’s voice stopped her from behind.
“Hey, there’s something I really don’t get. What exactly do all of you like about him?”
It should have been nothing more than a simple question. There was even a trace of amusement in Chi Yu’s voice. But that amusement was laced with mockery, and together it made his tone sound hostile and disgruntled, almost accusatory.
The tall beauty had already been disappointed and ready to leave. Hearing him call out, she turned back with a slight frown. “What did you say?”
“I said,” Chi Yu repeated, emphasizing every word, “what the hell do all of you see in that idiot?”
The girl’s expression darkened as well. She now understood that although Chi Yu and Chi Tong were cousins, their relationship was probably far from good. It was just that her friends hadn’t known Chi Yu for very long, so none of them had been aware of it.
But that still wasn’t a reason for Chi Yu to suddenly lash out at her.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Are you crazy?”
The group of young men and women nearby hadn’t been paying attention to what the two of them were talking about, joking among themselves instead. But when they heard their voices getting louder, they immediately came over.
Friends from each side naturally gathered around their own companion. They had all come out together as part of a gathering organized by mutual friends, expecting that after tonight everyone would get to know one another. No one had anticipated the atmosphere turning so unpleasant so suddenly.
Hearing the words “Are you crazy?”, the mockery on Chi Yu’s face deepened.
“If you think I’m crazy, then isn’t Chi Tong even crazier? He’s the son of a lunatic. Mental illness is hereditary, don’t you know that? And you still want to get to know him? If he kills you one day, he won’t even have to take responsibility. Your big brother here is looking out for you, got it?”
He deliberately stressed the words lunatic and mental illness. Even though Chi Tong wasn’t there, he somehow became the center of attention.
At that point, the situation had become painfully awkward. Although the others quickly pulled Chi Yu and the tall girl apart, most of them simply exchanged helpless, speechless glances.
Everyone had come out to have fun. Who would’ve expected things to end up like this?
They didn’t know whether Chi Tong actually had a mental illness, but Chi Yu certainly didn’t seem particularly normal either. What kind of normal cousin repeatedly called his own cousin mentally ill and said things like, “He’s the son of a lunatic”?
Only those who knew a little about the Chi family’s internal affairs understood what was behind it all. After the two groups went their separate ways, they finally started discussing it.
“How could Chi Yu possibly have a good relationship with his cousin? His dad hates that cousin’s father. The Chi family has such a huge business empire, but his dad can’t get his hands on any real part of it. He carries an impressive title, but it’s just like a skinny camel that’s still bigger than a horse, it looks substantial, but in reality there’s barely anything there.”
“Logically speaking, Chi Yu’s dad is the only son left in the family now. But for some reason, Old Master Chi seems to value Chi Yu’s cousin even more. Over the years, Chi Yu has gone out of his way to curry favor with his grandfather and make himself look good in front of him, but it hasn’t done him much good. Instead, it’s his cousin who has earned the old man’s favor. Tell me, how could Chi Yu possibly accept that? Even if there weren’t any grudges to begin with, he’d create some. Besides, throughout history, how many blood relatives have turned against each other over money?”
“But what did Chi Yu mean earlier by saying his cousin was crazy and the son of a lunatic? Who was he insulting?”
“His aunt, I guess. Although technically she might not even count as his aunt, since his uncle and that woman were never officially married. I don’t know exactly what conflict there was between the two families, but it probably goes back to the older generation, Chi Yu’s grandfather’s generation. Anyway, it caused a massive uproar back then. Even my mom knows a little about it. I think Old Master Chi feels guilty toward his grandson because of what happened.”
“Back then, his grandfather refused to let his uncle and that woman get married. If you’d ever met Old Master Chi, you’d know he was terrifying. He was incredibly domineering when he was younger. His uncle couldn’t do anything about it, and in the end…” The speaker made a gesture of wrapping a hand around their neck and sticking out their tongue. “You get it, right? By then, the woman was already pregnant with his cousin. When she heard the news, she couldn’t take it and completely broke down. She basically… developed a mental illness, just like Chi Yu said. Her family also refused to let their daughter come back here anymore. Later, after she gave birth to Chi Yu’s cousin, they sent the child to the Chi family. So his cousin was basically raised by his grandfather.”
“Damn… that’s…” The listeners were momentarily at a loss for words, not sure how to feel. “His cousin really had it rough. It’s basically like he was born without either a father or a mother.”
“Then Chi Yu’s behavior was way out of line. I bet he bullied his cousin a lot when they were kids.”
Although it wasn’t exactly the right time to say it, the one who knew the family’s situation still felt compelled to defend Chi Yu on that particular point, and to stop everyone from imagining Chi Tong as some helpless, innocent victim.
“That part really isn’t true. Chi Yu couldn’t bully his cousin even if he wanted to. If he actually could, would he have reacted the way he did just now, throwing a fit the moment he heard his cousin was nearby?
“I’ve never met his cousin myself, but I’ve met Chi Yu’s grandfather, and trust me, I never want to see that old man a second time… His cousin was raised personally by his grandfather. With that bad temper of his, Chi Yu doesn’t even dare raise his voice in front of his cousin… Besides, he calls himself the older brother, but he’s only a year older than him.”
The group spent quite a while in the private room saying all the things they would never dare say while Chi Yu was present. Even so, the conversation mostly revolved around Chi Yu.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want to talk more about Chi Yu’s cousin. It was simply that almost no one actually knew much about him.
In the end, they could only piece together a vague, incomplete picture. After going over the same scraps of information from every possible angle, the topic lost its appeal, and they moved on to something else.
Beneath the deep blue sky, white clouds blended seamlessly with the snow from certain angles, only to be broken up now and then by the dark brown rocks rising from the high-altitude mountains. Sunlight painted the landscape in patches of varying brilliance.
Brightly colored ski suits streaked across the snow between the rocky outcrops, two vivid flashes chasing each other down the mountainside.
The cold wind whistled past their ears. There was nothing but speed, speed beyond speed. With every jump, every turn, every sharp bite of the ski edges into the snow, every sensation became magnified, as though the entire world had been left far behind.
By the time Chi Tong finally slowed to a stop, Jiang Chengyi was on the verge of collapsing.
Pulling off his ski goggles, he panted heavily. “Damn, are you insane?”
Last week, when Chi Tong had suddenly flown over to go skiing, Jiang Chengyi had assumed it was just a little side activity for fun. He didn’t expect skiing to be the main event.
“If you ski like this again tomorrow, I’m seriously not doing it.” Jiang Chengyi walked back alongside Chi Tong.
Fortunately, Chi Tong finally seemed to take pity on him.
“We’re flying back tomorrow.”
“Thank God. The esports team I put together has been doing pretty well in the Summer Split, and I already promised the players I’d have dinner with them after I got back. I was starting to think I wouldn’t make it home.”
“Seriously, what’s going on with you? You’re definitely not yourself.” Jiang Chengyi wasn’t really expecting an answer. They had been friends for over a decade, and he knew that if Chi Tong didn’t want to talk about something, he simply wouldn’t.
As a friend, all he could do was stay by Chi Tong’s side and let him vent his emotions.
What Chi Tong had buried deep in his heart, unable to tell anyone, was the news of his mother’s death.
Outsiders knew very little about the truth of his family situation, so they naturally assumed that he had had no contact with his biological mother after he was born.
In reality, his mother’s illness had always fluctuated. When she was doing well, she was perfectly lucid, almost no different from how she had been before she became ill.
When Chi Tong was still very young, his mother missed him deeply and even found ways to come see him. The Chi family never stopped her from visiting. In fact, Chi Tong’s eldest uncle—Chi Yu’s father, had even tried to use those visits as an opportunity to persuade her to take Chi Tong away.
From a legal standpoint, there would have been nothing wrong with a child being raised by his biological mother. As for how much selfish calculation lay behind that suggestion, outsiders could only speculate.
At the time, Chi Tong knew nothing about the family’s internal power struggles. Whenever his mother appeared, he was filled with anticipation and joy, and he was more than willing to leave with her. She was gentle and soft-spoken. Compared to the Chi family, she was, to the young Chi Tong, like the exit from a black prison, the only path leading toward hope.
But his maternal grandfather hated the Chi family with every fiber of his being, and that hatred extended to Chi Tong himself. On top of that, almost every time his mother visited him, her illness would relapse afterward. Naturally, her family refused to let a woman who couldn’t even fully control her own condition continue coming into contact with what they regarded as the “source of the illness.”
As time passed, Chi Tong was all but cut off from seeing his mother. Eventually, he could no longer clearly remember what she even looked like. He had once secretly memorized her address and tried to go see her, but after that single occasion, when he had only watched from outside the high walls, his maternal family immediately abandoned that residence, as though they were fleeing from a plague.
He was the product of his parents’ love. But in a relationship that had never been blessed, that was scarred beyond repair, and that ultimately ended in mutual destruction, even though most people chose to remain silent about it, Chi Tong’s very existence was, in a sense, the original sin.
At least, that was how he saw it.
Years later, Chi Tong managed to reconnect with his mother by chance. She desperately wanted to know how he was doing, but because their communication was sporadic and easily discovered, they couldn’t say much during their conversations. So Chi Tong began editing snippets of his daily life into videos and posting them online, using them to maintain a secret connection with her.
Now, however, with his mother’s unexpected death, even that threadlike bond had been severed completely, with no possibility of ever being restored.
The cat he had raised as a child had died. The large stuffed doll that had lulled him to sleep as a little boy had faded with time. Every person and every thing to which Chi Tong had formed an emotional attachment eventually slipped beyond his control.
The more desperately he tried to hold on, the more everything unraveled, just like the emotions that were now spiraling completely out of control.
To a certain extent, what Chi Yu had said was true.
The abnormality at the root of it all was impossible to correct.