Zhu Xing suddenly stood up and pulled open the door.
“Where are you going?”
“To back you up.” With that, Zhu Xing strode out toward the lower floor.
Qu Qingyu felt a flicker of helpless amusement, though a smile couldn’t help but tug at his lips as he hurried to follow.
Zhu Xing pushed through the lobby filled with onlookers and stepped outside the main entrance, where a woman was wailing loudly.
“You stole someone else’s child, how on earth do you have the face to come here and cry?” A crisp voice cut straight through Wang Fang’s cries.
“Who are you? I want to see my son!” Wang Fang glared angrily at Zhu Xing.
Ignoring her and pressing on with her attempt to cause a scene, Qu Qingyu stepped directly in front of Zhu Xing.
“If you want to go to prison, feel free to try,” Qu Qingyu said, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Wang Fang with intense, unconcealed disgust.
What Qu Qingyu had never told Zhu Xing was that every single time Wang Fang returned home during those sixteen years, she treated him with utter abhorrence. Even the smallest mistake when he was little would earn him a beating, and as he grew older and tried to run away, Wang Fang simply cut off his living expenses, forcing him to scavenge for plastic bottles to sell at just twelve years old.
As for his fondness for scallion pancakes, it stemmed back to when he was eight. Wang Fang had come home, and looking at the mother he had longed for, he picked up a leftover pancake she had discarded and took a small bite. When Wang Fang asked him if it tasted good, he had nodded.
Seeing him in filthy clothes while eating scraps, Wang Fang had smiled happily, as if reminded of something pleasing.
As for that nominal father, a long-term illness had warped his mind, and seeing Qu Qingyu suffer evoked nothing from him but cold indifference, even though he had no idea Qu Qingyu was not his biological son.
Watching Qu Qingyu endure hardship seemed to bring Wang Fang a strange, inexplicable sense of gratification.
“Xiaocheng, it is your birthday today. Mother just wanted to bring you something,” Wang Fang said ingratiatingly to Qu Qingyu, holding up a plastic bag containing pancakes.
With a dark expression, Qu Qingyu took a single step forward, but Zhu Xing snatched the bag right out of her hand and tossed it straight into a nearby trash can.
“Get lost, and stop calling him Xiaocheng. Otherwise, I will make you pay.”
Wang Fang dismissed Zhu Xing’s threat entirely. As long as Qu Qingyu was still willing to acknowledge her, she believed she still had a chance.
Though Wang Fang had worked as a domestic helper for the Qu family for sixteen years, even servants in top-tier tycoon households lived better than most ordinary people.
Mrs. Qu, who had unexpectedly gone into labor in a small town, remained unconscious right after childbirth and didn’t even get a chance to look at her newborn before Wang Fang swapped the baby.
Looking at Mrs. Qu, who remained exceptionally beautiful despite her post-delivery exhaustion, alongside the plump and fair newborn, Wang Fang compared them to her own son, who had a sallow complexion and was sickly from birth due to his father’s chronic poor health, making him entirely beyond her ability to raise.
The attending nanny had actually noticed something was amiss with the baby, but she dared not speak up, knowing she could never shoulder the responsibility.
With no other choice, she simply tendered her resignation. Meanwhile, Wang Fang sent her own child back to her hometown to fend for itself, eventually making her way to A City to secure a position in the Qu household through sheer effort.
Right up until the child turned sixteen, Wang Fang remained thoroughly convinced that her decision had been an absolute masterpiece.
She got to watch her own child grow up day by day, never imagining that one sudden day Qu Qingyu would track her down in A City.
Reaching out to hold back Zhu Xing, who looked ready to speak again, Qu Qingyu stated in an icy tone, “If you are courting death, keep making a scene. They might let you off easy, but I have plenty of ways to make your life a living hell.”
Qu Wenning clenched the hem of his shirt tightly before finally releasing it with an expression of weary resignation.
Sensing that Qu Qingyu’s threat was entirely genuine, Wang Fang reluctantly withdrew her hand. She grabbed Qu Wenning instead, shoving him forward. “Eldest Young Master, Ningning wanted to see you all. He has missed you.”
Qu Wenning breathed with a tremor, feeling as though the surrounding gazes were piercing daggers at his back.
“I have never missed the Eldest Young Master, nor do I wish to have anything to do with the Qu family.” Hearing Qu Wenning’s words, Wang Fang angrily slapped him on the arm.
“Ningning is just feeling shy. Ningning, speak properly.” Wang Fang urged anxiously.
Qu Qingyu paid no further attention to the entanglements of the group behind them, turning back upstairs with Zhu Xing.
If Wang Fang ever dared to show her face before him again, he would have her thrown out of A City directly.
Noticing that Qu Qingyu had returned to the room in low spirits, Zhu Xing headed downstairs to retrieve an exquisite gift box from the server he had instructed earlier.
“What on earth are you cradling?” Qu Qingyu asked, eyeing the colorful box in Zhu Xing’s arms.
“I bought this for you, hurry up and look.” Zhu Xing placed the box on the table and opened it, revealing a beautiful cake emitting a faint aroma of fresh cream.
“You have to wait in line for a long time at this shop. It might not look quite as elaborate, but it tastes amazing.” There had been an eighteen-tier grand cake in the banquet hall, but Qu Qingyu had only gone through the motions for that and hadn’t tasted a single bite.
“If you were craving it, just say so. I wouldn’t mind if you ordered it under my name. But really, Second Young Master Zhu couldn’t even use your status to cut the line for a cake?”
Zhu Xing inserted the candles into the cake. “Am I the kind of person who likes to flash money? I live a very plain and simple life.”
“Oh, the simple and plain Second Young Master. Thank you for the cake.”
“If your mouth could be a bit sweeter, I’d be even happier.” Zhu Xing ran off to switch off the lights, plunging the room into darkness.
After a few seconds, Zhu Xing turned on his phone’s flashlight and lit the candles.
“Qu Qingyu, make a wish!” Zhu Xing said, looking at him with beaming smiles.
The room was illuminated only by the faint glow of the candles. Qu Qingyu felt as though his heart was about to leap out of his chest, the sound of his own heartbeat deafening in his ears.
“What are you spacing out for? Hurry up!”
Qu Qingyu closed his eyes.
Zhu Xing had no idea what Qu Qingyu was wishing for, but he certainly looked sincere enough.
After blowing out the candles, Zhu Xing switched the lights back on. “Qu Qingyu, what did you wish for?”
“If I say it out loud, it won’t come true.” Qu Qingyu sliced the cake, and Zhu Xing took a piece, leaning forward to take a small bite. His pink, delicate tongue swept up the cream on top, causing Qu Qingyu’s Adam’s apple to bob before he lowered his gaze.
“Right, then don’t tell me. But let me tell you, the birthday wish I made has already come true.”
Qu Qingyu raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What did you wish for?”
“I wished for lots and lots of money. Right after I finished wishing, my parents and older brother gave me tens of millions, plus a car.”
Watching Zhu Xing eat with immense satisfaction, Qu Qingyu remarked, “Isn’t this cake too sweet for you?”
“It’s not sweet at all, you should try some! This place makes the best cake.”
“Oh, let me have a taste of yours.” Qu Qingyu leaned down and took a bite right off the piece of cake in Zhu Xing’s hand.
Zhu Xing stared at Qu Qingyu’s entirely natural action.
After tasting it, Qu Qingyu frowned. “Too sweet.”
“There’s so much of it on the table, why are you eating mine? Do you like tasting my spit or something?” Qu Qingyu was so startled by such an out-of-pocket remark that his heart skipped a beat.
“I don’t mind you, and everything on the table is yours anyway. Still, eat less of it, don’t give yourself a stomachache.” Zhu Xing brushed off Qu Qingyu’s words; after all, the birthday boy was always right.
Yet as he chewed on the cake, he sensed a strange flavor; it almost tasted like the cool, crisp scent that belonged to Qu Qingyu himself.
Qu Qingyu’s scent had always been peculiar; whenever he got close, it felt fresh and invigorating, a smell Zhu Xing actually quite liked breathing in. But when their palms actually brushed, Qu Qingyu’s skin was unusually warm; holding hands in winter would probably feel quite nice.
Wait, what on earth am I thinking? Zhu Xing shook his head vigorously. Why is my mind wandering to holding hands in winter?
Watching Zhu Xing sit there grinning foolishly while eating cake, Qu Qingyu figured his own wish probably wouldn’t be too hard to achieve.
After all, he had only made a single wish: that the person before him would stay safe and happy forever.