“Are you kidding me?” Wen Qi said. “Hurry up and tell the driver to come back and drive away.”
Duan Linrang cast a sideways glance at Wen Qi. “It’s fine, I can wait for you to change your mind.”
He raised a hand to signal the chief assistant back into the car, then asked, “Where are you heading back to?”
“The internet café from just now.”
“No, aren’t you afraid that Wen Jiangwu might be lurking around to ambush you?”
“What is there to be afraid of? That little mistress he freshly married loathes that place to death, how could she possibly not want to leave?”
“Turn the car around and go back.”
“Thanks a lot, President Duan.”
“Call me by my name.”
Wen Qi: “Duan, Linrang. Which lin? Which rang?”
“Lin as in the harsh cold of the biting winter, rang as in courtesy and yielding.”
“Such a pleasant-sounding name, huh.”
“So is yours,” Duan Linrang said.
“Mine isn’t pleasant at all. Xunqi searching for a wife sounds awful to death,” Wen Qi muttered under his breath.
“Aren’t you called Wen Qi?”
Wen Qi flashed a smile. “True, that’s all in the past now.”
They turned the car around and headed back to the internet café. As soon as Wen Qi stepped out of the vehicle and was about to bid farewell to Duan Linrang inside the car—after all, through this brief association, he at least knew that Duan Linrang was not standing on Wen Jiangwu’s side.
Yet both people inside the car remained absent.
Stepping back up, Wen Qi discovered that Duan Linrang was standing on the other side of the vehicle. Puzzled, he asked, “Are you walking me inside?”
Duan Linrang acknowledged it with a hum.
“No need, it’s just such a short stretch of road.” Wen Qi walked around to stand in front of Duan Linrang. “Want to see me style on some people in a game?”
“Mn, may I?”
“Of course you can!”
Duan Linrang raised a hand to signal the chief assistant to drive off, and then followed right behind Wen Qi’s footsteps.
Duan Linrang’s attire stood out in stark, incompatible contrast with the people inside the internet café.
“You just sit right here, are you going to open a station for yourself?”
Duan Linrang shook his head. “I don’t really know how to play, just watching you will be enough.”
Wen Qi hummed disapprovingly. “Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance, bro. If other people say I mistreated you, it has nothing to do with me.”
“Alright.”
Despite saying that, Wen Qi’s heart inevitably softened in the end, prompting him to open a gaming station for Duan Linrang.
Even though Duan Linrang spent the entire time staring fixedly at his computer screen.
Since a newcomer had joined their small circle, everyone grew somewhat curious about Duan Linrang, assuming that white-collar workers dressed in such well-tailored attire would never frequent places like internet cafés or bars.
They ended up playing games for a full three hours, approaching midnight. The longer they played, the more unusual Wen Qi found it. Logically speaking, after dropping him off and watching him execute a single play, Duan Linrang should have left…
How on earth had he ended up staying for three full hours?
Wen Qi gave a light cough. “How is it? My plays.”
Not playing the game himself, Duan Linrang nodded. “Very impressive.”
“Of course, it’s rare to see someone hit a hundred stars right at the start of a new season. We’re all geniuses here, alright? When we five-man queue, we are absolute geniuses.” Wen Qi introduced his friends without a shred of modesty.
“How impressive is that?”
Rolling his intelligence around, Wen Qi offered a colloquial analogy: “The level of impressive is like… lasting the entire night and then some, that kind.”
Duan Linrang: “Understood.”
“Good as long as you understand.”
Suddenly realizing where something sounded off, Wen Qi violently slapped a hand to his forehead, regretting it more than words could express. He hunched his shoulders, his spine inching slightly closer to the computer desk while his head aimed straight at Duan Linrang.
Annoyed, he snapped: “If we’re friends, don’t go telling other people…”
Duan Linrang leaned forward slightly, mirroring his posture so that their heads were nearly leveled with one another. Duan Linrang smiled gently, completely devoid of the gloomy, detached, and chilling air he had radiated during their very first encounter.
He had mistakenly assumed that what awaited him would be transactional exchanges of interests between businessmen.
For instance, coercing him into an arranged marriage, or something of the sort…
Never would he have imagined that Duan Linrang would whisper in his ear: “Consider it a secret between us.”
It didn’t seem as terrible as he had imagined in his mind. He had been the one to speak carelessly first, yet Duan Linrang treated him like this it inevitably made a person prone to illusions.
Wen Qi remarked, “Didn’t they say businessmen always haggle over interests.”
Duan Linrang inched a bit closer to Wen Qi and said, “You’d prefer I haggle over them?”
“I just assumed they would, seeing as my dad always used to negotiate conditions with me. I’m gay, and he’s threatened me over it several times, you know.”
Duan Linrang paused for a moment before saying, “Alright, go play your game.”
Businessmen don’t haggle over the interests of the person they love.
Duan Linrang was no exception.
Shocked, Wen Qi asked, “You’re not going back?”
“I’m changing environments to adapt a bit,” Duan Linrang said.
“No way, how can you live here.” Deeming it improper, Wen Qi pulled off his headphones, pooled three hundred yuan together by scraping it from his other bros, and slapped the cash right onto Duan Linrang’s desk. “There’s a hotel right outside the internet café with people-friendly prices and comfortable accommodations, you should go over there.”
Staring at the crumpled cash, pieced together from twenty and fifty-yuan bills, Duan Linrang pressed his lips together. “Are you feeling burdened by my presence here?”
“Of course not, hey whether you want to live here or not is your business, anyway I’m not going to manage whether you live or die.” With a mock-indignant huff, Wen Qi snatched the money back and returned the scrounged cash to his group of fox-friends and dog-companions.
Watching his every move, Duan Linrang felt his heart accelerate. Such flutters of emotional palpitation were truly rare and precious occurrences.
“If you don’t move your character in the game soon, you’ll be penalized for going AFK,” Duan Linrang kindly reminded him.
Returning to his station, Wen Qi put his headphones back on and muttered to himself: “Don’t let the dragon drop, support secure vision, I’ll clear the jungle and come over to secure a second-by-second dragon rush.”
After a night of combat, the Duan Linrang seated beside Wen Qi had already dozed off leaning against his chair. He couldn’t fathom why Duan Linrang insisted on lingering here, much like that ungrounded, out-of-nowhere declaration of “I like you.”
Utterly baffling to wrap one’s head around.
The surrounding friends had also drifted off to sleep one by one. Bored out of his mind, Wen Qi slid his mouse listlessly.
Suddenly, his hand paused.
The next second, acting on a sudden, inexplicable impulse, he draped his outer jacket over Duan Linrang’s shoulders.
Leaning on his elbow, he slumped half-prone across the computer desk.
Silently reciting Duan Linrang’s name in his heart.
He quietly typed out Duan Linrang’s pinyin on the keyboard. Initially intending to search out of idle curiosity, the results that popped up gave him a profound shock:
Duan Linrang, the youngest businessman, sole chairman and full-share controller of the Duan Financial Conglomerate. His subordinate companies belonged to one of the top ten enterprises worldwide, boasting a net worth exceeding billions. He commanded monopolistic technology and resources, making his company one that enterprises all over the world scrambled to partner with yet failed to secure he could fully be described as holding a monopoly over the skies and earth with a single hand.
Wen Qi was utterly and completely dumbfounded. Exactly what kind of hidden, mega-tycoon mogul had Wen Jiangwu managed to latch onto?!
No wonder he condescended to visit an internet café just to drag him back for an arranged marriage turns out it was solely for the sake of supreme power and influence.
Wen Qi scratched his head in mounting agitation, thinking through every single word Duan Linrang had uttered today, analyzing them frame by frame.
When he said he could help him destroy the Wen family, it really was as simple as crushing an ant beneath one’s foot.
Now it was Wen Qi’s turn to plunge into endless, agonizing contemplation.
The blinding glare of the screen stung his eyes and his heart, too.
Duan Linrang, walking capital.
How on earth could he refuse him.
“So late, why aren’t you sleeping yet?”
Duan Linrang instinctively blocked Wen Qi’s eyes with his hand. “The white light is so bright, you need to protect your eyes even when playing games.” Wen Qi’s jacket was sliding off his chest as he spoke.
Duan Linrang used his free hand to pick up the jacket, catching its faint sandalwood fragrance, and draped it back over Wen Qi’s shoulders. “Thanks for the jacket.”
Wen Qi’s thoughts were in complete disarray. Subconsciously gripping Duan Linrang’s wrist, he lowered his voice to shift the topic: “D-President Duan, you never mentioned your net worth was so high.”
“You actually believe tabloid rumors made up by marketing accounts?”
“Of course I believe them.”
“Really, my net worth isn’t high, you can buy me for three hundred yuan,” Duan Linrang teased, his bright, hearty laughter sounding exceptionally pleasing to the ear.
Awkwardly smoothing down his jacket, Wen Qi subconsciously straightened his posture. “My intention in scraping together those three hundred yuan was out of goodwill for President Duan, I had no other underlying motives, I didn’t want to demean President Duan’s identity in any way…”
Catching the timid caution woven into Wen Qi’s words, a trace of displeasure rose within Duan Linrang’s heart. Tapping his fingers against the armrest of the chair, he said, “Wen Qi, regarding me, asking me directly will yield information far more accurate than anything you can dig up.”
Uncomprehending, Wen Qi listened as Duan Linrang continued: “I’m right here in front of you, you can ask whatever you want. But don’t believe those crooked, unorthodox things.”
Even though they were all true.
Wen Qi acknowledged with a hum, “I’ll definitely ask next time.”
Duan Linrang stood up. “Let’s go stay at a hotel.”
“Oh.” Wen Qi shut down the computer. “Then I’ll walk you to the hotel entrance.”
Considering Duan Linrang’s identity, no matter what, he had to accompany the other party to check into a hotel room before returning.
“Two rooms,” Duan Linrang stated.
Puzzled, Wen Qi asked, “Why open two rooms?”
“Staying at an internet café isn’t a long-term solution, let’s make do for a night tonight.” Duan Linrang’s reasoning was exceptionally simple.
“Then staying at a hotel isn’t a long-term solution either, wasting money and forcing you to check out on a schedule. You don’t need to worry about me, I’m used to living here.” Wen Qi looked toward the front desk receptionist. “One room is enough for him to stay in, thank you.”
The front desk receptionist offered a soft smile. Her gaze swept over Duan Linrang before asking respectfully and deferentially, “President Duan, would you like two rooms after all or…”
President Duan?!
Even this hotel, which didn’t look particularly high-end or luxurious, was actually one of Duan Linrang’s assets?!
…Wen Qi’s astonishment was abruptly smoothed flat. Rather than constantly questioning Duan Linrang’s assets, he might as well just elevate his own cognitive level.
Simultaneously, Wen Qi felt a deep wave of emotional he and Duan Linrang were both men, yet the gap between them was vast beyond measure.
Duan Linrang: “Two rooms.”
Recovering his wits, Wen Qi blurted out, “Don’t! I didn’t bring my ID, there’s no way to register—one room is enough.”
These words carried an entirely different flavor in the ears of others.
The corners of Duan Linrang’s lips curled upward into a smile. Unhurriedly retrieving an ID card from another pocket, he waved it right in front of Wen Qi’s eyes like a showcased trophy.
Following that, he handed the ID card over to the receptionist.
The dazzling, eye-catching characters of “Wen Qi” printed across the ID card made Wen Qi’s eyes widen instantly. “You… I…”
How on earth had his ID card ended up in Duan Linrang’s possession? On second thought, when he tossed his jacket over Duan Linrang’s shoulders earlier, Duan Linrang had probably already succeeded in his scheme.
“Wen Qi, if you want to share a room with me, we can just open one.”
Astonished, Wen Qi protested, “Hey, hey, hey! I never said I wanted to room with you! Duan Linrang, from which exact words of mine did you gather that I wanted to share a room with you? Open two, two rooms!”
“It’s too late.” Bending over to lean in close right in front of Wen Qi, Duan Linrang raised his index finger toward the receptionist. “One room, executive suite.”
Wen Qi’s trembling hands ultimately never managed to prevent the occurrence of this “tragedy.”
Led all the way by the receptionist, they arrived at the high-floor executive suite. “Then President Duan, Mr. Wen, have an early rest. Please summon us if you need anything.”
Inside the spacious and brightly lit executive suite, Duan Linrang sat upon the sofa, his slender fingers resting against the edge of his sharply defined jawline while a doting expression lingered over Wen Qi.
“Shouldn’t we…” Duan Linrang’s words had yet to leave his lips.