Zhu Xing and Qu Qingyu immediately drew attention the moment they walked over, not just because of their striking appearances, but also because of the implications behind it.
“Are the Second Young Master of the Zhu family and the Second Young Master of the Qu family actually together? I keep seeing them hanging out together,” Mrs. Chen remarked.
“Who is to say otherwise? The last time I went to inspect our family’s horse ranch, both of these young masters were there,” the Second Young Lady of the Zhao family added.
“On the day of Young Master Qu’s birthday last month, one of my buddies was at the shooting club, and let me tell you how intimate they were, they.” The eldest young master of the Song family hadn’t finished his sentence when the passing figure of Bai Ling cut him off.
After all, what was truly going on between Young Master Zhu and the eldest young master of the Ying family had not yet been settled.
As soon as Zhu Xing stepped through the doors, he caught sight of Ying Chi, though Lin Yu was nowhere by his side. Looking around, he wondered where Ying Chi had gone and hidden him.
Qu Qingyu raised a hand to cover Zhu Xing’s eyes.
“What are you worrying about? Are you up to no good?” With his vision blocked, everything before him turned pitch black as Zhu Xing stumbled along, half-supported in Qu Qingyu’s embrace.
As surrounding gazes turned their way, Qu Qingyu acted as though they did not exist at all.
After swatting at Qu Qingyu’s hand for a good while, Zhu Xing let out a sigh and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Tell me honestly, why did you insist on bringing me here?” Qu Qingyu leaned close to Zhu Xing’s ear, his warm breath fanning against Zhu Xing’s earlobe like a passing tongue of flame.
“Let go of me first, and I will tell you.”
Qu Qingyu released his grip, grabbed Zhu Xing’s hand, and led him toward the garden. At some point, holding hands had already become a natural habit between the two of them.
The garden, on the verge of winter, lacked blossoming flowers and was instead planted with numerous trees that retained their leaves through the cold season. The lighting was somewhat dim, illuminated only by the faint glow spilling from the banquet hall.
Without caring whether it was clean or not, Qu Qingyu sat directly on the concrete pillar of a flower bed and looked up at Zhu Xing.
Meeting Qu Qingyu’s eager expression, Zhu Xing offered a mysterious smile.
“I dragged you over here to do bad things!” Qu Qingyu’s heart skipped a beat, assuming Zhu Xing meant that one thing he had been thinking about constantly.
Taking a deep breath, he asked, “Are you trying to drag me down with you into doing bad things?”
Zhu Xing nodded. “Yes. I see that you have exceptional bones and talent, making you very suited to follow my lead.”
“Am I doing them, or are you doing them?”
“We are doing them together!” Zhu Xing blurted out, before instantly feeling like something was off with that phrasing.
Suddenly, the sound of approaching conversation drifted over from not far away. Zhu Xing hurriedly pulled Qu Qingyu to hide behind a large tree, giving him a forceful shove while trying his best to shrink back into the shadows.
Qu Qingyu reached out to pull the person into his arms, utterly baffled as to why they were hiding. They certainly were not engaging in an illicit affair.
Still, being able to hold someone in his arms meant he didn’t care about Zhu Xing’s strange behavior.
Catching a glimpse of the figures drawing near, Zhu Xing hurriedly turned his head back, only to feel a warm sensation brush past his forehead. Realizing what had happened, he stiffened and loosened his grip.
Qu Qingyu abruptly grabbed Zhu Xing’s hand and placed it on his waist. Feeling how powerfully toned his waist felt beneath the fabric, Zhu Xing couldn’t help giving it a squeeze.
Qu Qingyu’s gaze turned terrifying, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Feeling a chill crawl up the back of his neck, Zhu Xing wanted to pull his hand back.
“Mmh.” Qu Qingyu suddenly leaned down and kissed him. Zhu Xing’s mind went completely blank; he only felt that the other’s lips were scorching hot, while strong arms wrapped tightly around his body, fixing him firmly in place so he couldn’t move at all.
The people talking in the distance grew closer and closer. Zhu Xing held his breath, not daring to make the slightest sound.
Qu Qingyu seemed to notice his fear and became even more mischievous.
His cupid’s bow was sucked with an unprecedented fullness, and his lips were forced apart to let the other plunder the sweetness within. The heat radiating from Qu Qingyu’s body washed over Zhu Xing, stirring up a steaming wave of warmth.
Zhu Xing couldn’t understand why Qu Qingyu had to be so aggressive. By the time the passing pedestrians finally walked away, Zhu Xing found that his face felt damp and itchy all over.
“Why are you crying?” Qu Qingyu used his thumb to wipe away the tear tracks on Zhu Xing’s face, his voice husky, before pressing his soft lips back over Zhu Xing’s cupid’s bow to lick it slowly.
Zhu Xing felt as though his lips had been scalded by boiling water, stinging and numb, his cupid’s bow swollen, and his mouth aching. He didn’t even know when he had started crying.
Qu Qingyu looked completely unfazed, apart from his lips being redder and his voice turning a bit hoarse; nothing else about him seemed changed.
Why was there such a huge difference between the two of them? Feeling dissatisfied, Zhu Xing bit down on Qu Qingyu’s collarbone in retaliation.
Qu Qingyu was enjoying the sensation far too much and simply let him bite.
After finishing the bite, Qu Qingyu held Zhu Xing close and whispered, “From now on, I am your person, and you have to take responsibility for me.”
That was utterly shameless.
Yet Zhu Xing didn’t feel like talking back right now because his mouth hurt, while Qu Qingyu kept up a steady stream of chatter for quite a while.
The two of them finally straightened themselves up before heading back into the banquet hall. To cover up the bite marks on his collarbone, Qu Qingyu ended up wearing his jacket scrunched up like a pickled vegetable.
As for Zhu Xing, he could only wait for his complexion to return to normal, though his lips still ached intensely even after splashing them with cold water. He was so irritated that he ignored Qu Qingyu the entire way back.
When the two returned to the banquet hall, the timing was just right, and the main show had already begun.
Lin Yu stood looking aggrieved by Ying Chi’s side, the surrounding gazes making him appear as though he might sway and collapse at any moment.
Ying Chi half-embraced him, standing defiantly in the middle of the room.
Aside from the members of the Zhu family wearing displeased expressions and the Ying family looking deeply embarrassed, everyone else was simply there to watch a good show, and the Qu family was no exception.
In such a grand banquet hall filled with so many guests, the two main protagonists had somehow managed to create a silence so profound you could practically hear a pin drop.
Everyone kept their eyes wide open, terrified of missing a single movement.
Zhu Xing adjusted his clothes and prepared to take the stage.
Unlike the original plot point where Zhu Xing was supposed to grovel before Ying Chi once more only to face a public slap in the face when Ying Chi professed his love for Lin Yu, things were different now.
Following the Fast-Travel Department’s restructuring, Zhu Xing’s mission, or rather the joint mission shared between him and Qu Qingyu, was to stir up enough trouble for the protagonists to help them break through obstacles and finally get together.
Zhu Xing was more than happy to indulge in this.
Seeing that the other protagonist of this high-society scandal had finally appeared, the crowd shifted their gaze toward Zhu Xing. Qu Qingyu looked over with a gloomy expression, though he quickly reined in his dark gaze.
“Xingxing, you’re here.” Mrs. Zhu’s expression was unsightly. She truly felt heartbroken for her younger son, especially since Elder Ying had promised that Ying Chi would offer a public apology at his birthday banquet to resolve the matters of wronging Zhu Xing and humiliating the Zhu family, which was why they had brought Zhu Xing along. Yet looking at this current spectacle.
Zhu Xing’s grandfather and Ying Chi’s grandfather had once been comrades-in-arms, which was why the relations between the two families had always remained on good terms.
However, Ying Chi’s repeated acts of public defiance had thoroughly enraged the Zhu family, even if they still had to consider Zhu Xing’s feelings.
Mrs. Zhu stroked Zhu Xing’s shoulder gently and murmured, “Why is there a leaf stuck in your hair? Oh, my Xingxing, can we stop liking him from now on, please?” The sorrowful look in Mrs. Zhu’s eyes made Zhu Xing’s heart ache as well. He offered a comforting reassurance, “Mom, leave this to me.”
With that, he walked over to his father, Zhu Heng. “Dad, if what I am about to say damages the relationship between the Ying family and the Zhu family, will you blame me?”
Zhu Heng chuckled softly. “Go ahead and do whatever you want. I will handle whatever comes from Grandpa’s side.”
Elder Zhu was getting on in years and couldn’t stay up late, so he had already headed home earlier.
Standing on the stage, Zhu Xing looked down at the pitiful little couple and the bewildered Ying Chi, recalling the very first sentence he had ever heard upon arriving in this small world on his first day:
“Today, I want to tell everyone here. There is someone I like, and I will never acknowledge this engagement.” These were the exact words Ying Chi had spoken back then, and Zhu Xing repeated them now. But when Zhu Xing had heard them the first time, he at least had his caring parents by his side.
Right now, apart from Lin Yu, Ying Chi had absolutely nothing left.
His parents simply turned away to avoid looking at the mess and left directly. Elder Ying had originally been in high spirits for his birthday, but with his grandson pulling such a stunt once again, he was nearly at his wit’s end.
Sensing that both instances of public humiliation stemmed entirely from Ying Chi, the old man could only shake his head in weary helplessness.
Hearing those identical words, Ying Chi assumed Zhu Xing was merely acting out of petty spite and speaking impulsively.
However, what Zhu Xing said next dropped an even more astonishing bombshell upon the crowd:
“The Second Young Master of the Qu family and I are in mutual affection, and we are preparing to get engaged.”