Wen Qi waved his hands and said loudly, “Stop right there! President Duan, please spare me. Let’s just say I was being ignorant and I apologize to you. Stop saying things that are not suitable for children… I don’t want to, I haven’t finished playing yet…”
“I haven’t even said anything yet, how did you know it was unsuitable for children?” The corners of Duan Linrang’s eyes twitched upward slightly.
“Ah…” Wen Qi always liked to prepare for the worst-case scenario. He spoke in a voice no louder than a mosquito’s, “Let’s just assume I overthought it. I’ll sleep on the sofa, and you sleep on the bed. That’s settled!”
Duan Linrang approached Wen Qi step by step. Standing just beside him, while Wen Qi’s heart felt as though it had stopped beating, nervous and trembling, Duan Linrang who took everything in said with a beaming smile, “Wen Qi, you’re… a bit silly. Get some rest early, I’ll be right in the room next to you. Good night.”
Those last four words were spoken just as Duan Linrang opened the door to leave.
After a long while, a flush of crimson spread across Wen Qi’s face.
In short, he had been played for a fool by Duan Linrang…
Only he was left behind in the massive suite.
After Duan Linrang left, a lingering and steady woody fragrance lingered cozily in the room. His body growing limp, Wen Qi collapsed right into the center of the spacious bed, his blushing face pressed tightly against the bedding as he raised his chilled hands to pat his cheeks.
“Seems… not quite right…” Wen Qi muttered to himself.
Interacting with Duan Linrang acted as a temporary stimulant for him; his face was still burning hot, completely different from the red flush of anger when playing games.
It was a warmth free of agitation and filled with improved moods.
One that was exceptionally enjoyable.
Drifting off into a deep sleep amidst this unprecedented mood, and playing games until the early hours of the morning, his biological clock ran completely contrary to a normal routine. Unsurprisingly, he slept all the way until twelve noon.
At noon, a familiar figure had already appeared inside the room.
Rubbing his sleep-heavy eyes, Wen Qi cleared up a bit upon seeing the newcomer’s face, and smiled, “President Duan, good noon.”
Duan Linrang put down the newspaper in his hand and looked toward Wen Qi, who was curled up inside the quilt. “Good noon, time to get up and eat breakfast.”
Coughing twice, Wen Qi said, “True, but you didn’t have to wait for me, President Duan.” He tossed off the quilt, wearing only a pair of trousers while his upper body remained bare.
His frail and slender torso was exposed directly to Duan Linrang’s eyes he was terribly thin.
Stripped of desire and bewilderment, Duan Linrang’s eyes floated solely with heartache and tender pity.
“Where do you usually live?” Duan Linrang asked. “What do you usually eat?”
Stooping down to grab his clothes and pull them over his head, Wen Qi slipped his head through the collar and said, “I live at my friends’ places, or my friends and I just hang out and stay at internet cafés together. As for what I eat? Food is food, whatever works, just make do with a couple of bites.”
“What about Wen Jiangwu and the others?”
With an indifferent hum, Wen Qi replied, “Them? I have no idea.”
Without a word, Duan Linrang instructed the front desk to have lunch delivered straight to the room, making it convenient for him and Wen Qi to share a meal together.
“You woke up so early, aren’t you tired?” Wen Qi asked.
Duan Linrang replied, “My daily routine has always been like this.”
“Not enough sleep and your mental state won’t be good either,” Wen Qi remarked.
“Is that so? Then see for yourself whether my mental state looks very poor right now.”
Halting his progress of shoveling food into his mouth, Wen Qi blinked his eyes to carefully inspect Duan Linrang’s handsome, striking face, and shook his head. “Not poor.”
He fell into deep contemplation. “Your mental state is simply too good. The last time I pulled an all-nighter playing games, I had to accompany a friend to school exams the next morning, getting zero rest for a whole day. Back then, I could practically be said to be hanging on by a single breath, like my soul had been sucked right out of me.”
Lowering his gaze, Duan Linrang said, “Pulling all-nighters is not a good habit.”
“I know that,” Wen Qi explained while eating. “I rarely pull all-nighters unless it’s absolutely unavoidable. Just take what I said as an example, you know I take very good care of my health.”
“…” Pouring a glass of warm water, Duan Linrang pushed it across the dining table toward the other side. “After checking out, I have to head back to the company.”
“You go ahead, I can handle checking out by myself,” Wen Qi said.
Duan Linrang fished a card out of his pocket. “This is my private number, you must contact me if anything comes up.”
Licking the corner of his lips, Wen Qi replied, “Okay.”
“Eat slowly, you can take your sweet time checking out whenever you want.”
Just then, a knock sounded at the door. “President Duan, the meeting is about to start.”
“I’m leaving first, contact me anytime,” Duan Linrang said.
“See ya~”
Not long after, standing by the window with his rice bowl in hand, Wen Qi looked down from the high floor at the cars driving past below, watching the vehicles vanish from sight until he poked the rice twice with his chopsticks.
Standing at high altitudes, he gazed down at the “dust” drifting in the mortal world.
Duan Linrang’s starting point seemed fundamentally different from that of ordinary families. Having grown up in a relatively wealthy household, Wen Qi had at least lived through a period of adequate refinement in his childhood.
Yet he still had no way to compare himself to Duan Linrang.
After cleaning up the trash in the suite, he went to the front desk and checked out.
Good times do not last long. Less than an hour after leaving the hotel while heading out to look for a part-time job, Wen Jiangwu tracked him down.
Looking agitated and wanting to make his escape, Wen Qi was preempted by Lu Ning, who grabbed hold of him a step faster.
Lu Ning, Wen Jiangwu’s newly wedded wife, and the two of them made up a “complete and harmonious” family.
Yet in Wen Qi’s eyes, this was nothing more than an unfaithful man and a third-party homewrecker forcefully destroying a genuine family.
Having been kicked out of the house for so long, Wen Qi refused to believe this had happened without Lu Ning instigating it behind the scenes.
Nor was Wen Jiangwu any good; since they were birds of a feather flocking together, naturally it was impossible to raise two loyal and untainted souls.
“Qiqi, dear, go back and have a proper talk with your dad, stop being so stubborn,” Lu Ning feigned persuasion.
The next second, she looped her arm through Wen Qi’s and said, “Your dad is getting older, and the company is facing an economic crisis. He really had no other choice when he made the decision to have you enter an arranged marriage. Besides… President Duan isn’t a bad person either, let’s go back and have a good talk, alright?”
Wen Qi’s hands hung naturally by his sides, yet no matter how hard Lu Ning pulled, she couldn’t budge him an inch.
“Let go,” Wen Qi warned.
Lu Ning let out a cold laugh. Lowering her voice with an icy tone, she hissed, “Don’t forget, your mom’s ashes are still in my possession. If you dare defy my orders, I can hardly guarantee which stinky drainage ditch her ashes will end up scattered in, so don’t even dream about her resting in peace on the road to the underworld.”
“You lunatic, are you even human?!” Wen Qi gripped her wrist tightly with force.
“I am,” Lu Ning said. “Your mom is just a pile of ash, after all.”
Blinding rage igniting in his chest, Wen Qi clamped a hand around Lu Ning’s throat. “Say that again if you’ve got the guts!”
“Do you want to kill me?” Lu Ning showed zero fear.
This commotion inevitably attracted plenty of clueless onlookers.
Catching sight of this scene from inside his car, Wen Jiangwu stepped out swiftly and, without a second word, delivered a vicious kick straight into Wen Qi’s lower abdomen.
Right out in the street amidst a gathering crowd, Wen Qi was trampled underfoot, reduced to public gossip fodder for others.
Retreating a few steps to endure the pain, Wen Qi pressed his back against a utility pole while bending one leg slightly to find a proper support point for his ceaselessly aching abdomen.
Of all people, Wen Qi was the one who could understand Wen Jiangwu’s actions the most.
When Wen Qi’s mother was still alive, what she had endured was far from just a simple kick like this.
“You beast, how could you lay a hand on your mother! Do you still regard her as your elder?!” Pointing straight at Wen Qi’s nose, Wen Jiangwu cursed him up and down. “I feed you, house you, and spend money on you, only to raise an ungrateful wolf like you!”
Wen Qi sneered, maximizing the sarcastic undertone instantly: “I never acknowledged any mistress as my mom.”
“You beast!” Wen Jiangwu couldn’t spit out a single uglier curse for a moment.
Lu Ning stepped in to soothe him, speaking with tender gentleness: “I’m fine, stop yelling at Qiqi.”
Causing a severe public dispute out on the street, passersby called the mediation bureau.
Demonstrating zero ability to distinguish right from wrong, the mediation bureau detained Wen Qi for three days.
As for Lu Ning and Wen Jiangwu, the personnel from the mediation bureau declared them innocent on the spot.
Because Wen Qi was being detained, Wen Jiangwu finally got the opportunity to sit down and “converse” with Wen Qi.
No matter what methods were used, Wen Qi stubbornly refused to sign the arranged marriage agreement.
Just as Wen Jiangwu was resorting to hardcore tactics to force Wen Qi into signing and pressing his fingerprint, the people inside the mediation bureau suddenly grew restless.
Acting as if they had received some sort of command, they immediately released Wen Qi.
Wen Jiangwu asked, “Why are you letting him go?”
Without speaking, the mediation staff simply unlocked the handcuffs around Wen Qi’s wrists. Seemingly guessing who had arrived, Wen Qi raised his head to peer down the narrow hallway, searching for the figure he had traced out in his heart.
Sure enough, at the other end of the corridor, an imposing and majestic Duan Linrang had just turned around, their eyes locking onto one another.
A trace of anger lingered on Duan Linrang’s face as he strode rapidly toward Wen Qi, flanked by the flattering director of the mediation bureau.
Heat rushed into Wen Qi’s eye sockets. Even though he had harbored fantasies of Duan Linrang appearing, the moment that fantasy transformed into reality, Duan Linrang looked exceptionally dazzling.
“Wen Qi, are you alright? Were you bullied?” Duan Linrang grabbed Wen Qi’s hand.
“President Duan, thank goodness you came.” Wen Qi suddenly felt a belly full of grievances, lowering his head to say, “My dad forced me to sign that agreement, and when I refused, he threatened to beat me and threw me into a place like this.”
Duan Linrang swept his gaze up and down over Wen Jiangwu, parting his thin lips: “President Wen, did my words mean nothing to you? It seems President Wen is quite eager to terminate our cooperation early.”
“It’s not like that!” Wen Jiangwu hurriedly explained, attempting to shift the blame entirely. “Wen Qi was actually willing, it’s just that Wen Qi doesn’t get along with my wife, leading to some unnecessary verbal spats. President Duan, I don’t want to terminate the cooperation, the Wen family still needs your help…”
Too lazy to listen to Wen Jiangwu’s nonsense, Duan Linrang stated, “I’m afraid I cannot grant your wish, President Wen can pray for his own good fortune. As for everyone participating in mediating this matter today, I do not wish to see their faces a second time.”
Terrified out of his wits like a mouse, the director could only acknowledge the order.
Gripping Wen Qi’s warm palm tightly, Duan Linrang led Wen Qi straight out of the mediation bureau.
After taking two steps, Wen Jiangwu that fellow still chased out after them.
He said to Wen Qi, “Xunqi, go beg President Duan for leniency, the company really can’t hold on any longer, the company needs money…”
Lowering his gaze, Duan Linrang cast a gloomy look toward Wen Jiangwu. “Begging Wen Qi is useless, Wen Qi cannot be equated with money. Oh, and President Wen, pass along my regards to your wife.”
In the blink of an eye, Wen Qi found himself inside a private hospital.
“The patient has a fractured rib right above the abdomen, but his condition has stabilized and turned the corner,” the doctor quickly delivered the results following a detailed examination, stating, “We have applied chest-wall fixation to alleviate the pain. Follow up with active rehabilitation exercises, balanced nutrition, and reduced movement frequency.”
“Alright, you can go attend to other matters,” Duan Linrang said.
Qi Yunyuan let out a cold huff. “When did you and this kid get acquainted?”
“None of your business.”
Qi Yunyuan wanted to continue pressing, but Duan Linrang didn’t afford him the chance, walking straight toward the hospital ward.
Hearing the door open, Wen Qi turned his head sideways. Seeing that it was Duan Linrang, he averted his gaze with an emotional quirk of attitude.
On the way to receive medical treatment, Wen Qi had stubbornly resisted. His lower abdomen had indeed throbbed intermittently at the time, but he had assumed it was simple pain that would pass if he just endured it.
Fortunately, Duan Linrang had also remained utterly resolute.
“How are you feeling, Wen Qi?” Duan Linrang’s rough palms stroked across the bedding, resembling the way he would stroke Wen Qi’s scar-covered body.
“Pretty good.” Wen Qi murmured softly.
He continued, “Sorry, because of the arranged marriage agreement, I never imagined your family would act so extreme. Rest assured, I keep my word the arranged marriage agreement is null and void as of now.”
“Sigh, I’m not blaming you,” Wen Qi muttered in a small voice. “I should be thanking you for bringing me to see a doctor…”
Duan Linrang bent over, leaning close against the edge of the bed. “I had Assistant Ding tail you; the moment I learned you were in trouble, I rushed right over, yet I still arrived a step too late.”
Overflowing with remorse.
It practically made Wen Qi feel a wave of guilt, as if it were his own injury that had caused the other party to become so frightened and worried.
“President Duan, stop acting like this, you’re triggering my guilt-trip meter.” Wen Qi’s fingers groped blindly until they touched Duan Linrang’s hair, his fingertips lightly brushing the crown of Duan Linrang’s head and playing with his strands of hair.
Duan Linrang tilted his head, bringing his sharply defined profile right into the palm of Wen Qi’s hand.
At that very moment, he intimately felt the temperature of Duan Linrang’s face it was somewhat cool.
Beyond that chill, he found himself thoroughly conquered by Duan Linrang’s charm.
Dropping his head, Wen Qi left his arm suspended mid-air as the warmth of his palm gradually merged with the chill of Duan Linrang’s cheek, half-warm and half-cool.
At a complete loss for what to do and wanting to retract his hand, Duan Linrang smiled warmly as he wrapped his fingers firmly around Wen Qi’s wrist. Following that, shameless to the core, Duan Linrang leaned right up to Wen Qi’s face. “Holding it is exhausting, wouldn’t touching my face like this feel a bit better?”
His pupils dilating in shock, Wen Qi realized he had zero desire to touch Duan Linrang! Clearly, Duan Linrang had rubbed against him of his own accord!
Attempting to violently push Duan Linrang away, he didn’t expect that Duan Linrang had anticipated his thought, pinning down both of his hands while a doting voice echoed beside his ear:
“Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. Pulling at your stitches will make me sad all by myself, so you need to rest properly and get well soon.”
With that, Duan Linrang slowly released Wen Qi bit by bit until Wen Qi lay securely and obediently flat upon the bed.
Duan Linrang said, “I’ll be right outside, I’m not going anywhere. If you need anything, you must learn to call my name.”
Once he finished speaking, Wen Qi’s heart resumed its frantic, pounding palpitations.
Tears actually slipped past the corners of his eyes.
So happy, so happy…
“President Duan.” Seeing Duan Linrang finish soothing Wen Qi, Ding Tong hurried up to meet him and said, “Lu Ning has been resuscitated and is currently in the ICU. People are saying she broke her leg in the crash.”
“Oh,” Duan Linrang said indifferently. “It’d be a pity if she died, I haven’t even formally greeted her yet. Staying alive works too.”
Ding Tong acknowledged, “Understood President Duan, I know what to do.”
Suddenly, Duan Linrang heard someone calling his name.
It was Wen Qi.
Wen Qi was calling out his name with youthful, unripe innocence.
Instantly softening his heart, Duan Linrang told Ding Tong, “You should get some rest early too, Wen Qi’s matter isn’t your fault, don’t be too constrained.”
“Thank you, President Duan, for your magnanimity.”
Click,
Duan Linrang pushed the door open and stepped inside—
A sliver of light filtered through the crack of the door, dazzling far brighter than the lights inside the hospital room.